The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-12 00:00:00

WEST COAST OF AFRICA,

LIVERPOOL, APRIL 11.
The African Royal Mitil steamer Athenian, Capt.
Lowry, arrived here this morning from the west
coast of Africa, Teneriffe, and Madeira. Her dates
are Benin, Feb. 24 ; Cameroons, March 1; Old
Calabar, 3 ; Fernando Po, 4 ; Brass River, Nun, and
Bonny, 7 ; Lvgos, 10 ; Accra, 12 ; Cape Coast
Castle, 14 ; Cape Palmas, 16 ; Sierra Leone, 21 ;
Bathurst, 25 ; Teneriffe, April 1 ; and Madeira, 3.
Among the passengers by this vessel are President
Benson, of Liberia, and his son.

Advices from Bonny are very unsatisfactory, and
the trade at that port was exceedingly dull, while
at nearly all the trading ports on the various rivers
there was a general depression in trade. At Bonny,
the dulness in commerce was caused principally by
the unsettled state of affairs between the people of
that place and the natives of Ebae. There was, up to
the time of the departure of the steamer from that
port, a good deal of fighting going on between the
two parties at a place called Umabager. This town
is so situated over a narrow pass in the river, that
all communications are cut off with the Eboe fairs.
The people of Bonny had been defeated at Umaba-
ger, and canoes were arriving daily at the former
place, filled with killed and wounded. King
Pepple, of Bonny, was in the enjoyment of good
health, but he had taken no active part in the strug.
gle going on between his people and those of Eboe.
By this mail he has written home to appoint a
gentleman in London as his consul at a salary of
£5OO pr annum. He has also applied to a lady
well known for her oharity (understood to be Miss
Burdett Coutts) for a loan of £20,000, to be devoted
to the building of churches at Bonny, He states
that he is desirous that one of the missionary so-
cieties should send him out two clergymen to offi-
ciate as his chaplains. Our readers may possibly
remember that the previous news from this sable
monarch stated that his English attendants had
been so disgusted with the King and his Queen,
that they all left him (most of them, without their
salaries), the habits of these two royal personages
being such as to sicken the most anti-fastidious of
their European officials.
The slave trade on the coast is described as being
as brisk as ever, and in many instances the number
of slaves shipped from Wydah and the adjacent
ports have far, surpassed the shipments made in the
palmy days of the African slave trade.
The Spanish ship Manuel Orliz had been cap.
tured as a slaver, and taken into Cape Coast Castle.
At present there does not appear any prospect of
getting cotton from the windward districts of the
Gold Coast settlements. In the eastern districts,
however, a movement of much importance has been
made. The Basil Mission Society had caused gins
and a press to be fixed at Kooring, on the banks of
the Volta, and as cotton was already grown in some
quantities by the tribes on the opposite bank of the
river, hopes were entertained that there would soon
be the commencement of a cotton trade in that di-
rection which will ultimately lead to great results,
There had been an outbreak in Aquapim ; several
persons had been killed, among whom were the son
of the King, and Olutu, a chief next in rank to the
King.
A Cape Coast correspondent states that every
department of the local government except the re-
venue department was more or less disorganised,
and that the administration of justice was more
impure than it had ever been during 25 years.
Sometimes juries were kept waiting a whole day for
the judge, and on one occasion a jury was kept two
days, and he did not appear. Great anxiety was
felt for the arrival of a new Chief Justice or the
return of Chief Justice Corner. The Hon. Major
Cochrane, who commanded the troops on the Gold
Coast, went out in the Ethiope, and was to return
to England in the same vessel. The cause of this
was, that the major objected to the interference of
Governor Andrews in the details of military duty,
and the Governor in consequence took the extraor-
dinary step of removing Major Cochrane from the
command, and ordering Captain Bronnell to take
his place.
The Gold Coast press has become so obnoxious
to the government that they have made a desperate
attempt to put it down.