European merchants ordinarily moor their ships outside harbors or in the Niger Delta because of the hazards of climate and disease for Europeans and the absence of any authority responsive to their interests on the mainland; they use the ships as trading stations and warehouses.

In time, however, they build depots onshore and eventually move up the Niger River to stations established in the interior, like that at Onitsha, where they can bargain with local suppliers and purchase products likely to turn a profit.

Some European traders switch to legitimate business only when the commerce in slaves becomes too hazardous.

Disreputable as many of the traders had been, they often suffer from the precariousness of their position and are at the mercy of what they consider to be unpredictable coastal rulers.

Accordingly, as the volume of trade increases, the British government responds to repeated re- quests of merchants to appoint a consul to cover the region.

As a consequence, John Beecroft is accredited in 1849 as consul for the bights of Benin and Biafra, a jurisdiction stretching from Dahomey to Cameroon.

Beecroft is the British representative to Fernando Po, where the British navy's prevention squadron is stationed.