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—1. There are various inherent difficulties in African Geography. The population of the Dark Continent is composed of an enormous number of separate tribes, each with its own name, each with its own language. Most of these tribes are small and occupy but small areas. For a mountain, or other conspicuous natural landmark, each tribe will have its own name. What name is given by a traveler to the feature will be a matter of accident, depending upon the tribe among which he may be at the time that he inquires about the name; different names may thus be easily applied to the same place, and confusion of course results. Even within the limits of a single tribe different names in the one language may be applied to the same place; thus, it is regular for rivers to have different names in different parts of their course; it is nothing uncommon for the same river to have four or five names among the people of a single tribe, for this reason. Throughout Negro Africa, towns are generally called by the name of the chief; when he dies, the name of the town changes, that of the new chief being assumed. Again, throughout Africa, towns change location frequently; they may be rebuilt upon almost the same spot as they before occupied, or they may be placed in distant and totally new surroundings. For all these reasons, it is difficult to follow the itinerary of any traveler a few years after his report has been published. All these difficulties exist in Liberia, as in other parts of Africa. More than that, Liberia has itself been sadly neglected by explorers. Few expeditions into the interior have been so reported as to give adequate information. Sir Harry Johnston says that the interior of Liberia is the “least known part of Africa.”

2. Liberia is situated on the west coast of Africa, in the western part of what on old maps was known as Upper Guinea. Both Upper and Lower Guinea have long been frequented by European traders; different parts of the long coast line have received special names according to the natural products which form their characteristic feature in trade; thus we have the Grain Coast, Ivory Coast, Slave Coast, Gold Coast. Liberia is the same as the old Grain Coast and was so called because from it were taken the grains of “Malagueta Pepper,” once a notable import in Europe. Liberia has a coast line of some 350 miles, from the Mano River on the west to the Caballa River on the east and includes the country extending from 7° 33′ west to 11° 32′ west longitude, and from 4° 22′ north to 8° 50′ north latitude. Its area is approximately 43,000 square miles—a little more than that of the state of Ohio.

3. The coast of Liberia is for the most part low and singularly uninteresting. Throughout most of its extent a rather narrow sandy beach is exposed to an almost continuous beating of surf; there is not a single good natural harbor; where rivers enter the sea there is regularly a dangerous bar; here and there, ragged reefs of rocks render entrance difficult. There is no place where vessels actually attempt to make an entrance; they regularly anchor at a considerable distance from the shore and load and unload by means of canoes and small boats sent out from the towns. At Cape Mount near the western limit of the country a promontory rises to a height of 1068 feet above the sea. It is the most striking feature of the whole coast. There is no other until Cape Mesurado, upon which the city of Monrovia stands; it is a notable cliff, but rises only to a height of 290 feet. At Bafu Point, east of the Sanguin River, there is a noticeable height. These three, diminishing from west to east, are the only three actual interruptions in the monotonous coast line.

4. Five-sixths of the total area of the Republic is covered with a forest, dense even for the tropics. Almost everywhere this forest comes close down to the sandy beach and the impression made upon the traveler who sails along the coast is one of perpetual verdure. The highest lands are found in the east half of the country. In the region of the Upper Caballa River just outside of Liberia, French authorities claim that Mount Druple rises to a height of 3000 meters. The same authorities claim that the highest point of the Nimba Mountains, which occurs within the limits of Liberia, is about 2000 meters (6560 feet). Further south is the Satro-Nidi-Kelipo mass of highlands bordering the Caballa basin on the southwest; Sir Harry Johnson claims that it offers nothing more than 4000 feet in height. Northeast of the Caballa are Gamutro and Duna which rise to 5000 feet. There are no heights comparable to these found in the western half of the Republic, though there are peaks of significance among the upper waters of the St. Paul’s River and its tributaries. In the lower half of this river’s course there is a hilly or mountainous region known as the Po Hills, where possible heights of 3000 feet may be reached. In the northwestern part of the country the forest gives way to the Mandingo Plateau, high grass-land. Benjamin Anderson, a Liberian explorer, says that he emerged from the forest at Bulota where the ground rose to the height of 2253 feet. This plateau region is open park-like country of tall grass with few trees.

Very little as yet is known of the geology of Liberia. On the whole, its rocks appear to be ancient metamorphic rocks—gneiss, granulite, amphibolite, granites, pegmatite, all abundantly intersected by quartz veins. Decomposition products from these rocks overlie most of the country. The material and structure of the coast region is concealed by deposits of recent alluvium and the dense growth of forest; a conspicuous lithological phenomenon is laterite which covers very considerable areas and is the result of the disintegration of gneiss. As yet little is known of actual mineral values. Gold certainly occurs; magnetite and limonite appear to be widely distributed and are no doubt in abundant quantity; copper, perhaps native, certainly in good ores, occurs in the western part of the country; various localities of corundum are known, and it is claimed that rubies of good quality have been found; companies have been organized for the mining of diamonds, and it is claimed that actual gems are obtained.

5. There are many rivers in Liberia and the country is well watered. Several of these rivers are broad in their lower reaches, but they are extremely variable in depth and are generally shallow. Few of them are navigable to any distance from their mouth, and then only by small boats; thus the St. Paul’s can be ascended only to a distance of about twenty miles, the Dukwia to a distance of thirty (but along a very winding course, so that one does not anywhere reach a great distance from the coast), the Sinoe for fifteen miles, but by canoes, the Caballa (the longest of all Liberian rivers) to eighty miles.

A notable feature in the physiography of Liberia is the great number of sluggish lagoons or wide rivers, shallow, running parallel to the coast behind long and narrow peninsulas or spits of sand; there are so many of these that they practically form a continuous line of lagoons lying behind the sandy beach. These lagoons open onto the sea at the mouths of the more important rivers; smaller rivers in considerable numbers enter them so that in reality almost every river-mouth in Liberia may be considered not the point of entrance of a single river, but of a cluster of rivers which have opened into a common reservoir and made an outlet through one channel. As good examples of these curious lagoons, we may mention from west to east the Sugari River, Fisherman’s Lake, Stockton Creek, Mesurado Lagoon, Junk River, etc., etc.

Inasmuch as the rivers are the best known features of Liberian geography, and as they determine all its other details, we shall present here a complete list of them, in their order from west to east, together with a few observations concerning the more important.

Mano—Mannah: Bewa, in its upper course; the western boundary of the country; flows through a dense forest; no town at its mouth; not navigable to any distance; Gene, a trading village, twenty miles up; Liberian settlements a few miles east of the mouth.

Shuguri, (Sugary), Sugari, only a few miles in length; extends toward the southeast, parallel to the coast.

Behind the peninsula upon which Cape Mount stands is a lagoon called Fisherman’s Lake, which parallels the coast for a distance of ten miles; this shallow, brackish, lagoon is about six miles wide at its widest part, and is nowhere more than twelve or thirteen feet in depth; it is so related to the Marphy and Sugari Rivers that it is said of them, “These rivers with Fisherman’s Lake have a common outlet, across which the surf breaks heavily”; where these three water bodies enter the sea by a narrow mouth there is but three feet depth of water.

Half Cape Mount River, Little Cape Mount River, Lofa (in its upper part). Of considerable length; in the dry season a bank of sand closes its mouth; the village of Half Cape Mount is here.

Po, Poba. Small stream eight miles from last; here are the Vai village of Digby and the Liberian settlement of Royesville.

St. Paul’s, De; Diani, further up. This great river, the second of Liberia, rises on the Mandingo Plateau, about 8° 55′ north latitude; it is perhaps 280 miles long; it receives several important tributaries. There is a bar at its mouth, and it is not directly entered from the sea; it is navigable, after once being entered through Stockton Creek, to White Plains, about twenty miles from its mouth.

Mesurado River (Mesurado Lagoon) enters the sea at Monrovia and lies behind the high ridge on which that town is built. Through the same mouth with it Stockton Creek enters the sea, and through Stockton Creek, which runs across to the St. Paul’s, the latter is accessible for boats from Monrovia and the sea, although at low water there is but two feet of depth. At White Plains the St. Paul’s River is broken by rapids which occur at intervals for a distance of about seventy miles. Above these rapids it is probably possible to ascend the St. Paul’s and its tributary Tuma, Toma, might be navigable for a combined distance of about 150 miles. There are many Liberian settlements on the lower St. Paul’s River, and it is said that “quite half the Americo-Liberian population is settled in a region between Careysburg and the coast.”

Junk River parallels the coast and nearly reaches Mesurado Lagoon; a long, winding tidal creek; at its mouth three streams really enter the sea together—the Junk, Dukwia, and Farmington. On account of the near approach of this river to the Mesurado Lagoon, Monrovia is almost on an island thirty miles long and three miles wide, surrounded by the Mesurado, Junk, and the sea.

Dukwia. Very winding; navigable for thirty miles; source unknown; at its mouth is the settlement of Marshall; one of the worst bars of the coast is here.

Little Bassa, Farmington. As already stated, enters the sea together with the Junk and the Dukwia.

Mechlin, Mecklin. A small stream.

St. John’s, Hartford.

Benson, Bisso (Bissaw). The Mecklin, St. John’s, and Benson enter the sea by a common mouth. At or near this mouth are Edina, Upper Buchanan, Lower Buchanan—the latter at a fair harbor, though with a bad bar.

Little Kulloh, Kurrah. Small, but accessible to boats.

Tembo.

Fen.

Mannah.

Cestos, Cess. A considerable river, rising probably in the Satro Mountains, close to the basin of the Cavalla; very bad bar—rocks in the middle and only three feet of water.

Pua.

Pobama.

New.

Bruni.

Sanguin. Of some size; rises in the Nidi Mountains; entrance beset with rocks; though the bar here is bad, there is a depth of nine or ten feet of water, and a promising port might be developed.

Baffni.

Tubo, Tuba.

Sinu, Sinoe, San Vincento, Rio Dulce. Savage rocks, bad bar; Greenville is located at the mouth; canoes can ascend for about 15 miles; rises in the Niete or Nidi Mountains, close to the Cavalla watershed. There are three channels by which boats may enter this river. Here again we have long narrow lagoons paralleling the coast and with a mere strip of land between them and the sea. Going from the west toward the east we find the Blubara Creek and the Sinoe entering with them. The Blubara Creek is supplied by two streams, the

Bluba and the

Plassa.

Uro.

Dru. A stream of some magnitude.

Esereus, Baddhu, Dewa, Escravos. It rises in or near the Niete Mountains, not far from the sources of the Sinoe and Grand Sesters.

Ferruma, near Sasstown.

Grand Sesters. Empties into a lagoon nearly three miles in length.

Garraway, Garawe, Try. Accessible at all times to canoes and boats. Within the next eight miles there are three small streams,

Gida.

Dia—with a rock reef stretching out from it.

Mano.

Hoffman. Another lagoon-river, which forms Cape Palmas harbor; it is one hundred yards wide at its entrance to the sea. The town of Harper is situated upon it.

Cavalla; Yubu (in its upper part); also Diugu or Duyu. The largest river of the country; forms the boundary with French possessions; very bad bar; goods going up the river are landed at Harper and sent across the lagoon which parallels the Atlantic for nine miles and is separated from it only by a narrow strip of land; navigable for small steam vessels for about fifty miles; boats of considerable size ascend to a distance of eighty miles; it rises in the Nimba Mountains at about 8° north latitude; it receives a number of important tributaries.

There are no true lakes in Liberia, although the name “lake” is rather frequently applied to the brackish lagoons so often referred to. Thus we hear of Fisherman’s Lake, Sheppard Lake, etc.

6. We have already mentioned that there are no natural harbors of any value in Liberia; boats anchor at a considerable distance from the beach, and all loading and landing is done by means of small boats or canoes; at all points there is a dangerous bar, and it is a common thing for boats to be capsized in crossing it.

There are almost no islands of any consequence off the coast. There are indeed many masses of land included in the networks of river-mouths and lagoons, but they are not usually thought of as being islands. There are also many rocky islets and reefs along the coast, particularly from the mouth of the River Cestos eastward. Such, however, are mere masses of bare and jagged rocks. Of actual islands to which names have been given, four are best known, two of which are in Montserrado County and two in Maryland County. Bushrod Island, named from Bushrod Washington, the first president of the American Colonization Society, is a large, cultivable island near Monrovia, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the St. Paul’s River, and Stockton Creek. A very small island in the Mesurado, known as Providence or Perseverance Island, is interesting as having been at one time the only land occupied by the colonists. Garawé Island, also called Old Garawé, at the mouth of the Garawé River, is about three miles long. Russwurm, or Dead Island, lies in the Atlantic, opposite Cape Palmas, with about two hundred feet of water between it and the mainland; it measures about 700 by 120 yards; the name Dead Island is due to the fact that the aborigines buried their dead here.

7. The climate of Liberia is very imperfectly known. Our most recent data are derived from Sir Harry Johnston, the best informant on all scientific matters. He states that there is probably a marked difference between the climate of the forest region and that of the Mandingo Plateau. In the forest region the dry season is short; it is the hottest period of the year and includes the months of December, January, and February; February is the hottest and dryest month of the year and the temperature ranges from 55° at night to 100° in the shade at midday. During the wet season the daily range is almost nothing; the constant temperature stands at about 75°. The coolest month of the year is August with a day temperature of 69° and a night temperature of 65°. Upon the Mandingo Plateau the annual rainfall is believed to be not more than from 60 to 70 inches; the dry season extends from November to May; during that time the vegetation is parched; the nights are cool, becoming cold with an altitude of 3000 feet; the hottest time of the year is at the beginning and end of the rainy season when the thermometer may mark more than 100° at midday.

8. On the whole, we still have nothing better in regard to the climate than the description given by Dr. Lugenbeel in 1850. He traces the characteristics of the weather through the year month by month. He says:

“January is usually the dryest, and one of the warmest months in the year. Sometimes, during this month, no rain at all falls; but generally there are occasional slight showers, particularly at night. Were it not for the sea-breeze, which prevails with almost uninterrupted regularity, during the greater part of the day, on almost every day throughout the year, the weather would be exceedingly oppressive, during the first three or four months of the year. As it is, the oppressiveness of the rays of the tropical sun, is greatly mitigated by the cooling breezes from the ocean; which usually blow from about 10 o’clock A. M. to about 10 o’clock P. M., the land-breezes occupying the remainder of the night and morning; except for an hour or two about the middle of the night, and about an hour in the forenoon. During these intervals, the atmosphere is sometimes very oppressive. The regularity of the sea-breeze, especially during the month of January, is sometimes interrupted by the longer continuance of the land-breeze, which occasionally does not cease blowing until 2 or 3 o’clock P. M. This is what is called the harmattan wind; about which a great deal has been written; but which does not generally fully accord with the forced descriptions of hasty observers or copyists.

The principal peculiarity of the harmattan wind consists in its drying properties, and its very sensible coolness, especially early in the morning. It seldom, perhaps never, continues during the whole day; and usually not much longer than the ordinary land-breeze, at other times in the year. When this wind blows pretty strongly, the leaves and covers of books sometimes curl, as if they had been placed near a fire; the seams of furniture, and of wooden vessels sometimes open considerably, and the skin of persons sometimes feels peculiarly dry and unpleasant, in consequence of the rapid evaporation of both the sensible and the insensible perspiration. But these effects are usually by no means so great as they have been represented to be. What is generally called the harmattan season usually commences about the middle of December, and continues until the latter part of February. During this time, especially during the month of January, the atmosphere has a smoky appearance, similar to what is termed Indian summer in the United States, but generally more hazy.

The average height of the mercury in the thermometer, during the month of January, is about 85°, it seldom varies more than 10°, during the 24 hours of the day; and usually it does not vary more than 4° between the hours of 10 A. M. and 10 P. M. During this month, however, I have seen the mercury stand at the lowest mark, at which I ever observed it, in Liberia, that is, at 68°. This was early in the morning during the prevalence of a very strong land-breeze. During this month I have also seen the mercury stand at the highest mark, at which I ever observed it—that is, at 90°. The air is sometimes uncomfortably cool, before 8 o’clock A. M., during this month.

During the month of February the weather is generally similar to that of January. There are, however, usually more frequent showers of rain; and sometimes, towards the close of this month, slight tornadoes are experienced. The harmattan haze generally disappears about the last of this month; and the atmosphere becomes clear. The range of the thermometer is about the same as in January.

March is perhaps the most trying month in the year to the constitutions of new-comers. The atmosphere is usually very oppressive during this month—the sun being nearly vertical. The occasional showers of rain, and the slight tornadoes, which occur in this month, do not usually mitigate the oppressiveness of the atmosphere, as might be supposed. The variation in the state of the atmosphere, as indicated by the thermometer, seldom exceeds 6° during the whole of this month. The average height of the mercury is about 85°.

April is significantly called the ‘tornado month,’ the most numerous and most violent tornadoes usually occurring during this month. The ordinary state of the weather, in reference to the degree of heat, and its influence on the system, is not very different from that of the three preceding months. The showers of rain are usually more frequent, however; and the visitations of those peculiar gusts, called tornadoes, are much more common in April, than in any other month. These are sudden, and sometimes violent gusts, which occur much more frequently at night, than during the day. Although they usually approach suddenly and rapidly, yet certain premonitory evidences of their approach are almost always presented, which are generally easily recognized by persons who have frequently observed them. They generally commence from northeast, or east-northeast, and rapidly shift around to nearly southeast; by which time the storm is at its height.

At the commencement of a tornado, dark clouds appear above the eastern horizon, which rapidly ascend, until a dense looking mass spreads over the whole hemisphere. As the heavy mass of clouds ascends and spreads, the roaring sound of the wind becomes stronger and louder, until suddenly it bursts forth in its fury; sometimes seeming as if it would sweep away every opposing object. Very seldom, however, is any material injury sustained from these violent gusts. The scene is sometimes awfully grand, for fifteen or twenty minutes, during the formation and continuance of a heavy tornado. Sometimes the whole hemisphere presents a scene of the deepest gloom; the darkness of which is momentarily illuminated by vivid flashes of lightning, in rapid succession; and sometimes tremendous peals of thunder burst upon the solemn stillness of the scene. The rain seldom falls, until the violence of the gust begins to subside; when a torrent of rain usually pours down for a short time, seldom more than half an hour; after which, the wind shifts around towards the west; and generally, in about an hour from the commencement of the tornado, the sky becomes serene, and sometimes almost cloudless.

The weather during the month of May is usually more pleasant, than during the two preceding months. The atmosphere is generally not quite so warm and oppressive. Sometimes copious and protracted showers of rain fall, during the latter half of this month; so that the beginning of the rainy season usually occurs in this month. Tornadoes also occasionally appear, during the month of May. The average height of the mercury in the thermometer is usually two or three degrees less, than during the four preceding months.

June is perhaps the most rainy month in the year. More or less rain usually falls nearly every day or night in this month. Although there are sometimes clear and pleasant days in June; yet, there are seldom twenty-four successive hours of entire freedom from rain. The sun is, however, seldom entirely obscured for a week at a time; and he frequently shines out brightly and pleasantly, in the interstices between the floating clouds, several times during the day; occasionally for several hours at a time. During this month, as during all the other rainy months, more rain always falls at night than in the day time; and, indeed, there are very few days in the year, in which the use of an umbrella may not be dispensed with some time during the ordinary business hours. In the month of June, the atmosphere is always considerably cooler than during the preceding month; and I have generally found it necessary to wear woolen outer as well as under garments; and to sleep beneath thick covering at night, in order to be comfortably warm. The sensible perspiration is always much less, during the month, and the five succeeding months, than during the other six months in the year. The mercury in the thermometer seldom rises above 80° in this month, the average height being about 75°.

During the months of July and August, a great deal of rain also generally falls; but perhaps less in both these months than in the preceding month. There is always a short season of comparatively dry, and very pleasant weather, in one or both of these months. This season usually continues from three to five weeks; and generally commences about the 20th or 25th of July, Sometimes, for several successive days, the sun shines brilliantly and pleasantly all day; and no rain falls at night. The air, however, is always refreshingly cool and agreeable. This is perhaps the most pleasant time in the year. This is what is commonly called ‘the middle dries.’ It seems as if Providence has specially ordered this temporary cessation of the rains, for the purpose of permitting the ripening and gathering of the crops of rice, which are generally harvested in August.

September and October are also generally very rainy months; especially the former. Sometimes more rain falls in September, than in any other month in the year. Towards the close of October, rains begins to be less copious; and sometimes slight tornadoes appear, indicative of the cessation of the rainy season. The sea-breezes are usually very strong, during these two months; and the atmosphere is generally uniformly cool, and invigorating to the physical system.

During the month of November the weather is generally very pleasant, the temperature of the atmosphere being agreeable to the feelings—not so cool as during the five preceding months, and not so warm as during the five succeeding months, the average height of the mercury in the thermometer being about 82°. Frequent showers of rain usually fall during this month, both in the day and at night; but generally they are of short duration. Slight tornadoes also generally appear in this month. The sun may usually be seen during a part of every day in the month; and frequently he is not obscured by clouds, during the whole of the time in which he is above the horizon. The middle of this month may be regarded as the beginning of the dry season.

December is also generally a very pleasant month. Occasional slight showers of rain fall during this month, sometimes several sprinklings in one day, but seldom for more than a few minutes at a time. The mornings in this month are peculiarly delightful. The sun usually rises with brilliancy and beauty; and the hills and groves, teeming with the verdure of perpetual spring, are enriched by the mingled melody of a thousand cheerful songsters. Nothing that I have ever witnessed in the United States exceeds the loveliness of a December morning in Liberia.”

9. Closely related to climate is health. Here again we have no better information than that supplied us by Dr. Lugenbeel. He asserts that “the rainy season is decidedly more conducive to health than the dry season in both new-comers and old settlers. The oppressiveness of the atmosphere and the enervating effects of the weather, during the dry season, tend to debilitate the physical system, and thereby to render it more susceptible of being affected. Persons who arrive in Liberia during this season are more liable to attacks of fever than those who arrive during the rainy season.” Monrovia is usually ranked with Freetown as being unusually unhealthy; conditions have, however, considerably improved and are by no means so bad as in the early days. All new-comers, white and black alike, must undergo the acclimating fever, but on the whole, blacks seem to suffer least. Remittent and intermittent fevers, diarrhoea and dysentery are among the more common and serious diseases. Rheumatism occurs, though it is rarely violent either in a chronic or acute form; dropsical affections are rather common, often due to debility after fever; enlargement of the liver and spleen are common, the latter being most frequent in whites and mulattoes, and usually following upon fevers; the most common eruptive diseases are measles and erysipelas—both mild; varioloid, though common, is rarely fatal; flatulent colics are common; slight scratches and abrasions give rise readily to ulcers, more common in whites and mulattoes than in blacks. Leprosy is occasional among natives. Curious local diseases are craw craw and yaws, both endemic cutaneous troubles. The famous sleeping sickness, the scourge of Africa, is more frequent among natives than among the Americo-Liberians, but it has long been known in that region. The list sounds like a long and dreadful one, but is, after all, far from appalling. Dr. Lugenbeel says: “Some other diseases, which are common to most countries, may be occasionally observed in Liberia; but the variety is much less than in the United States; and except in some old chronic affections, in broken down constitutions, convalescence is generally much more rapid; in consequence of the less violence of the attack. Among the many attacks of fever, which I experienced, I never was obliged to remain in my room more than a week, at any one time; and I very seldom was confined to my bed longer than twenty-four hours. The danger in new-comers generally consists more in the frequency than in the violence of the attacks of sickness. And the majority of colored immigrants, who have sufficient prudence to use such means for the preservation of good health in Liberia as enlightened judgment would dictate, usually enjoy as good health, after the first year of their residence, as they formerly enjoyed in the United States. In some cases, indeed, the state of the health of the immigrant is decidedly improved by the change of residence from America to Africa.” In another place, he says: “In some cases, persons who might have enjoyed tolerable health in the United States, die very soon after their arrival in Liberia, in consequence of the physical system not being sufficiently vigorous to undergo the necessary change, in order to become adapted to the climate. Hence the impropriety of persons emigrating to Liberia whose constitutions have become much impaired by previous diseases, by intemperance, or otherwise. And hence the necessity of missionary societies being careful to guard the physical as well as the moral qualifications of persons who offer themselves as missionaries to Africa.”

10. So far as concerns the flora of the country, four different types present themselves. The beach, the river-swamp, the forest, the grass-lands present their characteristic forms of plant-life. Five-sixths of the Republic are covered with the densest tropical forest; an enormous variety of gigantic trees grow closely crowded together and are bound by a tangle of vines and creeping plants into an almost impenetrable mass. Nowhere perhaps in the world is there a more typical tropical forest. The lower reaches of the rivers are bordered by a thicket of mangroves and pandanus, the former by its curious mode of growth—throwing downward from its branches almost vertical aerial roots which reach the water and strike down into the soft, oozy mud of the river-bottom—stretching far out from the banks themselves over the stream. Among the notable trees of Liberia are mahogany, ebony, and other valuable timber trees; camwood is abundant, and was formerly an object of important export for dyeing purposes; coffee grows wild and is of fine quality; there are various gum-producing trees, among them that which yields the gum arabic; the kola nut is common and has long been exported from the Grain Coast; there are various rubber-producing plants—the funtumia and landolphia, the two most prized rubber-plants of Africa, occur abundantly—the former being a tree, the latter a vine; palms of many species occur; among them are the borassus or fan-palm, the calamus or climbing palm, the oil palm, a raphia, commonly known as the bamboo palm, which yields palm wine and the precious piassava fibre; notable is the great cotton-tree, which is considered sacred by the natives, no doubt on account of its strange appearance, due to enormous, thin, buttressing roots. There are flowers everywhere; water-lilies are common in the swamps, and lovely epiphytic orchids bloom upon the forest trees.

11. The fauna is especially interesting because it presents an ancient facies, more like that of a bygone age than of the present, In fact Sir Harry Johnston refers to it as being of the Miocene type. There are at least a dozen species of apes and monkeys, among which the most interesting is the chimpanzee; there are many species of bats of all sizes, some being insectivorous and others eating fruits; there are a variety of wild cats, including the leopard, and the natives make a specialty of killing them for their spotted skins; two species of mongoose are found; the red river hog is abundant; four species of manis, with curious overlapping scales, able to roll themselves up into a ball something like an armadillo, are among the curious forms; the most interesting animal in the fauna perhaps is the water chevrotain, a creature of no great size, but which presents a curious intermediate or connecting form between the pig and camel on the one side and the deer, giraffe, and antelope on the other; true antelopes are numerous in many species, some of which are dainty little creatures; the buffalo, perhaps the most dangerous animal of Africa, occurs; elephants are still found, and ever since the traders first visited the Grain Coast, ivory has been to some degree exported; the most famous of Liberian animals, however, is the pygmy hippopotamus, just like the larger species, but weighing perhaps only four hundred pounds when fully grown.

12. Bird-life, too, is abundant. There are naturally great numbers of water birds, both swimmers and waders—such as egrets and other herons, ibis, and the strange finfoot; hornbills are common; eagles and vultures occur; one of the commonest and most striking of the birds is the black and white crow; brilliant of plumage is the plantain-eater, but the parrots of the country are dull and inconspicuous. Of reptiles there are plenty. The python is the largest snake, and grows to a length of thirty feet; there are many species of serpents, including ten which are poisonous; lizards are common, among them the chameleon with its varying color and its strange, independently movable eyes; crocodiles are common in all the rivers. There are fish in plenty, but the most curious certainly is the little bommi fish which comes out of the water, jumps about upon the bank, and even crawls among the branches and bushes near the water; in appearance and movement it is so like a frog that one at first does not realize that it is in reality a fish.

13. While beasts, birds, and reptiles are varied and numerous, it is surprising how inconspicuous they are. In fact, unless one is really hunting for these creatures, he may rarely see them. One might spend months in Liberia and upon returning home declare that forest and stream were almost without inhabitants. There are, however, forms of life which are very much in evidence. Insects and other invertebrate forms abound; no one can overlook them. The termites or white ants are everywhere. Sometimes they build their enormous hillocks of clay out in the open country; these are great constructions which rise to a height of six, eight, or ten feet and which, within, present a complicated system of passages and tunnels; in the heart of this great nest the queen lives immured in a clay cell. Another species of the white ant enters houses and works destruction; books, papers, wood, all may be destroyed. This sort dislikes exposure to the sunlight and constructs tunnels to protect themselves from it. Of true ants there are many species, among which of course the driver is the most famous; it travels in droves of millions, running in a continuous black line perhaps an inch in breadth and many rods in length; they are scavengers and clear everything within their path; their bite is painful, and one must look out for their moving column when he is upon the trail; they swarm upon and kill small animals which they encounter and clean their skeletons before they leave; when they enter houses people are wise to vacate and leave them to clean out the place. The famous jigger is a recent importation into Liberia, as into Africa generally; it burrows into human feet, causing an intolerable itching; ensconced, it develops a sack of eggs, round and of considerable size; unless this is removed, the eggs hatch and the young burrow out into the sole of the foot; when itching is felt, search should be made for its cause and the insect, sack and all, carefully removed with a needle; serious injury to the feet may result if jiggers are neglected. When one walks over the trail during rainy weather, he sees great quantities of earth-worms of enormous size, even two feet six inches or three feet in length. Scorpions and centipedes are not uncommon. We have not even suggested the wide range and diversity of insect-life, but have simply mentioned samples of the more conspicuous.

14. The human population of Liberia consists of the Americo-Liberians, who live in a number of small settlements along the coast and upon some of the more important rivers, and the aborigines. The truly native population consists of many different tribes, each with its own language, territory, government, and life. These tribes linguistically form three or four groups. Delafosse, our best authority in regard to Liberian populations, recognizes four such groups; Sir Harry Johnston recognizes three. The four divisions of Delafosse are Kru, Mandingo, Gola, Gbele—Sir Harry Johnston’s are Kru, Mandingo, and Kpwesi. We have already suggested that the tribes are many and diverse; within his Kru group Delafosse names eighteen tribes. The black populations of Africa are usually divided into three great divisions—true Negroes, Bantu, Negrillos (Pygmies and Bushmen). The Liberian tribes are true Negroes and are to be distinguished from the Bantu populations of Congo Belge and southern Africa. Most of the native tribes are pagan. In the western half of Liberia, however, Mohammedanism has taken hold of the great tribes of Mandingo and Vai. Among all these natives the tribal organization and government remain in full force, although most of them recognize the sovereignty of the Republic; native dress, arts, and industries remain; among the pagan tribes polygamy is common; domestic slavery still exists; witchcraft is recognized and the ancient ordeals are practiced.