An account of the native Africans in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, Vol. 2 (of 2) : to which is added an account of the present state of medicine among them

This historical account explores medical knowledge and healing practices among the Timmanees, Bulloms, and neighboring peoples around Sierra Leone. It considers how medicine emerged alongside magic and spiritual belief, how local practitioners treated illness, and why every society developed remedies long before formal physicians appeared.

Drawing on observation, interpreters, local names, and comparisons with other African communities, the work discusses diseases, medicinal plants, and the therapeutic customs of the region. Its descriptions range from everyday treatments to the author’s efforts to understand practices that were often closely guarded from outsiders.

The book also reveals the challenges of studying medicine across languages and cultures, while recognizing that valuable discoveries may come from communities whose knowledge has been overlooked. Listeners will find a mixture of early medical history, natural history, ethnography, and firsthand reflection on life in and around the Sierra Leone colony.