The Nova Scotian Settlers on Bolama

A map of Bolama, Guinea-Bissau, made during the attempt to settle 275 former slaves from America on the island. The map was published in ''An Essay on Colonisation Particularly Applied to the Western Coast of Africa'', by Swedish abolitionist Carl Bernhard Wadström (1746-99). In this work he argued that a colony would profit more from trade with the locals than exploited them as slaves. This map is decorated with a title cartouche depicting a smart row of houses with an avenue of palm trees, lining a dock. The reality was different: by the time of publication the colony had collapsed, with most of the settlers dying and the remainder moving to Freetown in Sierra Leone in November 1793.