Contains important eye-witness accounts by English traders who had many years experience in the Delta area.

PREFACE, INTRODUCTION TO SECOND EDITION, INTRODUCTION TO THIRD EDITION, CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTORY, CHAPTER II: SIERRA LEONE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS, CHAPTER III: AFRICAN CHARACTERISTICS, CHAPTER IV: FISHING IN WEST AFRICA, CHAPTER V: FETISH, CHAPTER VI: SCHOOLS OF FETISH, CHAPTER VII: FETISH AND WITCHCRAFT, CHAPTER VIII: AFRICAN MEDICINE, CHAPTER IX: THE WITCH DOCTOR, CHAPTER X: EARLY TRADE IN WEST AFRICA, CHAPTER XI: FRENCH DISCOVERY OF WEST AFRICA, CHAPTER XII: COMMERCE IN WEST AFRICA, CHAPTER XIII: THE CROWN COLONY SYSTEM, CHAPTER XIV: THE CROWN COLONY SYSTEM IN WEST AFRICA, CHAPTER XV: MORE OF THE CROWN COLONY SYSTEM, CHAPTER XVI: THE CLASH OF CULTURES, CHAPTER XVII: AN ALTERNATIVE PLAN, CHAPTER XVIII: AFRICAN PROPERTY, CHAPTER XIX: WEST AFRICAN PROPERTY, CHAPTER XX: AFRICAN RELIGION AND LAW, CHAPTER XXI: IMPERIALISM, CHAPTER XXII: IMPERIALISM IN WEST AFRICA, APPENDIX I: TRADE GOODS USED IN THE EARLY TRADE WITH AFRICA AS GIVEN BY BARBOT AND OTHER WRITERS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, APPENDIX II: AN EARLY AFRICAN VOYAGE, INDEX