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BASSA.
"BASSA is spoken in a tract
of the sea-coast, about forty miles in length, in lat. 5° N., and long.
10° W.:
this district is now included in the flourishing colony of
Liberia. How far the Bassa
language
extends into the interior of the continent is unknown. The people to
whom it is vernacular reside
chiefly along the coast, and are now estimated at about 125,000 individuals;
their numbers have been
greatly diminished by the slave trade. The language is closely allied
to the Mandingo, and belongs
to the Grebo family. The Gospels of St. Matthew and
St. John, with the Acts of the Apostles, have
been printed in Bassa, at the expense of the Rhenish My. Society; and other
portions of the
sacred volume, translated by the Rhenish mies., are said to be now in a
state of preparation for
the press."--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition)
Samuel Bagster [Info only]
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