86 free African Americans (including missionary Daniel Coker), as well as three ACS agents, as the first ACS sponsored group to Sherbro Island. Disease and fever quickly killed more than a quarter of the would-be settlers. The survivors relocated in April 1822 to Providence Island at Cape Mesurado in what developed as the nation of present-day Liberia. In 1861 the British Crown Colony at Freetown acquired Sherbro Island from the Sherbro people, putting it under the jurisdiction of its government. The Sherbro continued to live there. The colonial and later protectorate government administered it until Sierra Leone achieved independence in 1961. Environment Sherbro Island is believed to be a breeding ground for green sea turtles as well as leatherback sea turtles. The waters surrounding the island hold some of the biggest tarpon in the world. Records of the sportfishing organisation IGFA have been made by catches from this area. Population In May 2013, the Government of Sierra Leone's record of the island's population was 28,457. References External links 1746 map of the Guinea Coast, including Sierra Leone, by N. Bellin. Published in German. Navigantium Atque Itinerantium Bibliotheca, Google Books Islands of Sierra Leone Southern Province, Sierra Leone Sherbro people