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