Following the American War of Independence, thousands of enslaved people were emancipated by the British government in recognition for their service in the war. Around 3,000 then emigrated to Canada where they settled in Nova Scotia, while others made their way to Britain, often settling in ports such as Liverpool, Bristol and London. However, they still faced discrimination and in 1792 around 1,200 people were persuaded to join an expedition organised by the Sierra Leone Company, and supported by prominent abolitionists in Britain, to establish a Black colony in West Africa.

In April 1792, fifteen ships left Halifax, Nova Scotia to sail to the island of Bolama in West Africa (now part of Guinea-Bissau) where the proposed colony was to be founded. The fleet was joined by another carrying Black settlers that had left London around the same time. This book, by Philip Beaver, one of the naval officers commissioned to lead the expedition, describes the ill-fated attempts at establishing the settlement. The account is notable for Beaver’s strong beliefs against enslavement and his support of the abolitionist cause.

Bolama island consists of mangrove swamps, meaning that a permanent settlement was difficult to establish and the timescales estimated for the colony to become prosperous were impossible to achieve. The settlers were soon blamed by the investors and the press for being lazy and disorganised (a common trope used against Black people and people from other minority ethnic groups in the eighteenth century) and the directors quickly lost interest in the colony, leaving Beaver in command of the venture for 18 months. Beaver was determined to make the settlement succeed and accused the directors for losing faith too soon, but following the deaths of most of the settlers, the colony was abandoned in November 1793. The survivors travelled to the mainland where they founded a more successful colony at Settler Town (now Freetown, Sierra Leone).