"Cotton Tree..."

Often when we walk around town, we hear about the big cotton tree, a land mark in town.   So, the other day, my friend and I set out to see the big cotton tree.  I was absolutely shocked at how big the tree was.

In the deep crevasses of the tree, it is a home for large bats.

But more importantly, the tree has a very interesting history.   "The Cotton Tree is an historic symbol of Freetown.  Legend says the "Cotton Tree" gained importance in 1792 when a group of former African American slaves, who had gained their freedom by fighting for the British during the American War of Independence, settled the site of modern Freetown...According to tradition, they landed on the shoreline and walked up to a giant tree just above the bay and held a thanksgiving service there, gathering around the tree in a large group and praying and singing hymns to thank God for their deliverance to a free land. Its exact age is unknown, but it is known to have existed in 1787.  Today, a huge Cotton Tree stands in the oldest part of Freetown near the Supreme Court building and the National Museum. Sierra Leoneans believe that this is very tree was where the "Nova Scotian settlers prayed more than two hundreds years ago, and they regard it as the symbol of their capital city. Sierra Leoneans still pray and make offerings to the ancestors for peace and prosperity beneath the great Cotton Tree. This was especially true during the Sierra Leone civil war (1991-2002)."

 (According to Wikipedia)

(Please let me know if the pictures are turing out...internet issues again!)