From time to time, in reading, we have gathered a considerable number of quotations from Liberians, past and present, which seem to us of special interest and pertinence. These we have prefaced to the chapters and sub-divisions of our book. They are all expressions of black men regarding their home and problems. Some of them are eloquent, all of them are sensible. Thoughtful Liberians have never been blind to national dangers, national weaknesses, national problems.
The materials which we present have been culled from many sources; the book contains little that is absolutely new. For its preparation we have read double the literature which has been found mentioned in bibliographies and in books treating of Liberia. We have made constant use of Johnston, Wauwermans, Delafosse, Jore, and Stockwell. As the book is meant for general reading, we have made no precise references. This is not due to neglect of writers and sources, but is in the nature of our treatment. We present no bibliography; it would be easy to fill pages with the titles of books and articles, dealing with Liberia, but such a list would be mere pedantry here, especially as four-fifths of the works named would be absolutely inaccessible even to students with the best library equipment at their disposition. The author has made a considerable collection of pamphlets printed in Liberia, by Liberian authors, dealing with Liberian matters. A list of these almost unknown prints would have real interest for the special student of Liberian affairs and for professional librarians; such a list may perhaps be printed later, in separate form.
Thanks are due to so many friends and helpers that it is impossible to make individual acknowledgment. We were treated with great courtesy, while in Liberia; from President Howard in the Executive Mansion to the school children upon the village streets, every one was kind. It was generally recognized that the author was a white visitor to the Republic without a personal axe to grind. He represented no government, no commission, no institution, was seeking no concession, had no mission—a rara avis truly. While it would be impossible to name all from whom kindness and courtesy were received—for that would be an enumeration of all we met—we may perhaps mention as particularly kind Ex-President Barclay, F. E. R. Johnson, T. McCants Stewart, C. B. Dunbar, Bishop Ferguson and Vice-President Harmon. To Major Charles Young, military attaché to the American Legation, we are under greater obligations than we can mention. Campbell Marvin was our companion and helper throughout our visit to the Republic, and gave us faithful aid in every way. We dedicate the book to William N. Selig, of Chicago, whose kindness and interest made the expedition possible.
The book is written in the hope of arousing some interest in Liberia and its people and of kindling sympathy with them in the effort they are making to solve their problems. For Liberia is the hope of the Dark Continent. Through her, perhaps, African Redemption is to come.
LIBERIA
A more fertile soil, and a more productive country, so far as it is cultivated, there is not, we believe, on the face of the earth. Its hills and its plains are covered with a verdure which never fades; the productions of nature keep on in their growth through all the seasons of the year. Even the natives of the country, almost without farming tools, without skill, and with very little labor, raise more grain and vegetables than they can consume, and often more than they can sell. Cattle, swine, fowls, ducks, goats, and sheep, thrive without feeding, and require no other care than to keep them from straying. Cotton, coffee, indigo, and the sugar cane, are all the spontaneous growth of our forests, and may be cultivated at pleasure, to any extent, by such as are disposed. The same may be said of rice, Indian corn, Guinea corn, millet, and too many species of fruits and vegetables to be enumerated. Add to all this, we have no dreary winter here, for one-half of the year to consume the productions of the other half. Nature is constantly renewing herself, and constantly pouring her treasures, all the year round, into the laps of the industrious.—Address by Liberians: 1827.
DESCRIPTION
Physiography
—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