Residence of the United States Consular AgentMonrovia, Liberia, July 12th, 1859To His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Liberia:Sir—By a Convention of Colored People of the United States and the Canadas, Martin R. Delany, Robert Douglass, Robert Campbell, Amos Aray, and James W. Purnell, were appointed as Commissioners under the name of the 'Niger Valley Exploring Party,' to make an Exploration through different parts of Africa.I have arrived, Sir, near your Government, and expect soon to meet other members of the party. Any aid, orally, documentary, or in the person of an Official Commissioner, which you may please to give to facilitate the mission in Liberia will be gratefully and highly appreciated. I ask the favor of an interview with your Excellency, either privately or in Cabinet Council, or with any other gentlemen that the occasion may suggest, at such time as may be designated.I am happy, Sir, of the opportunity of giving your Excellency assurance of my most distinguished consideration.M. R. Delany
Residence of the United States Consular AgentMonrovia, Liberia, July 12th, 1859
To His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Liberia:Sir—By a Convention of Colored People of the United States and the Canadas, Martin R. Delany, Robert Douglass, Robert Campbell, Amos Aray, and James W. Purnell, were appointed as Commissioners under the name of the 'Niger Valley Exploring Party,' to make an Exploration through different parts of Africa.
I have arrived, Sir, near your Government, and expect soon to meet other members of the party. Any aid, orally, documentary, or in the person of an Official Commissioner, which you may please to give to facilitate the mission in Liberia will be gratefully and highly appreciated. I ask the favor of an interview with your Excellency, either privately or in Cabinet Council, or with any other gentlemen that the occasion may suggest, at such time as may be designated.
I am happy, Sir, of the opportunity of giving your Excellency assurance of my most distinguished consideration.
M. R. Delany
His Excellency, President Benson.Government House, Monrovia, July 13, 1859Sir—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 12th instant, conveying to me the information of your appointment (in connection with colleagues expected soon to arrive), by a Convention of the colored people of the United States and the Canadas, 'Commissioners,' under the name of 'The Niger Valley Exploring Party'; and of your arrival near this Government. You have also been pleased to signify, that you will duly appreciate any aid, oral, documentary or in the form of an official Commissioner this Government may feel disposed to afford you, in facilitation of the enterprise.In reply, I have to express my deep regret, that the receipt of your very interesting note is on the very eve of my leaving this city on an official visit to the leeward counties, which will, for the present, deprive me of the pleasure I had anticipated of an interview with you on the very interesting and highly important objects of your mission.The Hon. John N. Lewis, Secretary of State, with whom I will converse on the subject matter of your note before leaving, will be pleased to grant you an audience; and will, with pleasure, meet your wishes, so far as he can consistently.Please be reassured of the deep interest I feel in your very laudable enterprise; and that, if it were not for very important despatches received last week from the county of Maryland, which make it absolutely necessary that I should delay no time in reaching there, I would defer my departure a couple of days for the express purpose of consultation with you in person.I have the honor to be most respectfully,Your very obedient servant,To M. R. Delany, Esq., &c.Stephen A. Benson
His Excellency, President Benson.
Government House, Monrovia, July 13, 1859
Sir—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 12th instant, conveying to me the information of your appointment (in connection with colleagues expected soon to arrive), by a Convention of the colored people of the United States and the Canadas, 'Commissioners,' under the name of 'The Niger Valley Exploring Party'; and of your arrival near this Government. You have also been pleased to signify, that you will duly appreciate any aid, oral, documentary or in the form of an official Commissioner this Government may feel disposed to afford you, in facilitation of the enterprise.
In reply, I have to express my deep regret, that the receipt of your very interesting note is on the very eve of my leaving this city on an official visit to the leeward counties, which will, for the present, deprive me of the pleasure I had anticipated of an interview with you on the very interesting and highly important objects of your mission.
The Hon. John N. Lewis, Secretary of State, with whom I will converse on the subject matter of your note before leaving, will be pleased to grant you an audience; and will, with pleasure, meet your wishes, so far as he can consistently.
Please be reassured of the deep interest I feel in your very laudable enterprise; and that, if it were not for very important despatches received last week from the county of Maryland, which make it absolutely necessary that I should delay no time in reaching there, I would defer my departure a couple of days for the express purpose of consultation with you in person.
I have the honor to be most respectfully,Your very obedient servant,
To M. R. Delany, Esq., &c.Stephen A. Benson
Monrovia, July 13, 1859Martin R. Delany, Esq.:Dear Sir—The undersigned, citizens of the city of Monrovia, having long heard of you and your efforts in the United States to elevate our down-trodden race, though those efforts were not infrequently directed against Liberia, are glad to welcome you, in behalf of the community to these shores; recognizing, as they do in you, an ardent and devoted lover of the African race, and an industrious agent in promoting their interests. And they take this opportunity of expressing to you their most cordial sympathy with the enterprise which has brought you to theseshores, sincerely praying that your endeavors may be crowned with complete success.The undersigned, further, in the name and behalf of the members of this community, respectfully request that you would favor the citizens with a lecture to-morrow evening, or on any other evening you may choose to appoint, at half-past seven o'clock, on any subject you may be pleased to select.On receiving your reply notices will be issued accordingly.
Monrovia, July 13, 1859
Martin R. Delany, Esq.:
Dear Sir—The undersigned, citizens of the city of Monrovia, having long heard of you and your efforts in the United States to elevate our down-trodden race, though those efforts were not infrequently directed against Liberia, are glad to welcome you, in behalf of the community to these shores; recognizing, as they do in you, an ardent and devoted lover of the African race, and an industrious agent in promoting their interests. And they take this opportunity of expressing to you their most cordial sympathy with the enterprise which has brought you to theseshores, sincerely praying that your endeavors may be crowned with complete success.
The undersigned, further, in the name and behalf of the members of this community, respectfully request that you would favor the citizens with a lecture to-morrow evening, or on any other evening you may choose to appoint, at half-past seven o'clock, on any subject you may be pleased to select.
On receiving your reply notices will be issued accordingly.
B. P. YatesH. W. DennisD. B. WarnerUrias A. McGillSaml. F. McGillH. A. JohnsonB. V. R. JamesEdw. W. BlydenSaml. Matthews
Residence of the United States Consular Agent,Monrovia, July 13th, 1859Gentlemen—Your note of to-day has been received, for the honor of which I thank you, and beg to say that numerous engagements prevent me from complying with your request on to-morrow evening.You are mistaken, gentlemen, in supposing that I have ever spoken directly 'against Liberia,' as wherever I have been I have always acknowledged a unity of interests in our race wherever located; and any seeming opposition to Liberia could only be constructively such, for which I am not responsible.Should it be your pleasure, I will do myself the honor serving you on Monday evening next, or any other evening during the week, by a discourse on the 'Political Destiny of the African Race,' and assure you of the pleasure with which I have the honor to be,Your most obedient servant,M. R. DelanyCol. B. P. Yates; Hon. D. B. Warner; S. F. McGill, M.D.; Hon. B. V. R. James; Rev. Saml. Matthews; Urias McGill, Esq.; Rev. Edw. W. Blyden; H. W. Dennis, Esq.; H. A. Johnson, Esq., District Attorney.
Residence of the United States Consular Agent,Monrovia, July 13th, 1859
Gentlemen—Your note of to-day has been received, for the honor of which I thank you, and beg to say that numerous engagements prevent me from complying with your request on to-morrow evening.
You are mistaken, gentlemen, in supposing that I have ever spoken directly 'against Liberia,' as wherever I have been I have always acknowledged a unity of interests in our race wherever located; and any seeming opposition to Liberia could only be constructively such, for which I am not responsible.
Should it be your pleasure, I will do myself the honor serving you on Monday evening next, or any other evening during the week, by a discourse on the 'Political Destiny of the African Race,' and assure you of the pleasure with which I have the honor to be,
Your most obedient servant,
M. R. Delany
Col. B. P. Yates; Hon. D. B. Warner; S. F. McGill, M.D.; Hon. B. V. R. James; Rev. Saml. Matthews; Urias McGill, Esq.; Rev. Edw. W. Blyden; H. W. Dennis, Esq.; H. A. Johnson, Esq., District Attorney.
M. R. Delany, Esq.:Monrovia, July 14, 1859Sir—We have the honor to acknowledge your note of to-day in reply to an invitation of yesterday from us requesting that you would favor us, with many others, with an address on to-morrow evening, or at any other time agreeable to yourself. Having signified to us that next Monday evening you would be pleased to comply with the request, we tender you our thanks and will be happy to listen to a discourse on the 'Political destiny of the African Race.'We have the honor to be, very respectfully, &c., yours,B. V. R. JamesSaml. MatthewsAnd others
M. R. Delany, Esq.:Monrovia, July 14, 1859
Sir—We have the honor to acknowledge your note of to-day in reply to an invitation of yesterday from us requesting that you would favor us, with many others, with an address on to-morrow evening, or at any other time agreeable to yourself. Having signified to us that next Monday evening you would be pleased to comply with the request, we tender you our thanks and will be happy to listen to a discourse on the 'Political destiny of the African Race.'
We have the honor to be, very respectfully, &c., yours,
B. V. R. JamesSaml. MatthewsAnd others
On Monday evening, the 19th of July, having addressed a crowded audience in the Methodist Episcopal Church, Ex-Governor McGill in the chair, T. M. Chester, Esq., Secretary; Ex-President Roberts rose and in a short speech, in the name of the Liberians, welcomed me to Africa. By a vote of thanks and request to continue the discourse on a subsequent evening, this request was complied with on the following Tuesday evening.
Dr. M. R. Delany,Monrovia, July 28, 1859Dear Sir—The undersigned citizens of Monrovia having been much edified by listening to two very interesting lectures delivered by you in the Methodist church, avail themselves of this method to express their appreciation of the same, and to respectfully request that you will favor the community with a popular lecture on 'Physiology' on Friday evening, the 29th inst.Henry J. RobertsSaml. F. McGillB. P. YatesHenry W. DennisEdwd. W. Blyden
Dr. M. R. Delany,Monrovia, July 28, 1859
Dear Sir—The undersigned citizens of Monrovia having been much edified by listening to two very interesting lectures delivered by you in the Methodist church, avail themselves of this method to express their appreciation of the same, and to respectfully request that you will favor the community with a popular lecture on 'Physiology' on Friday evening, the 29th inst.
Henry J. RobertsSaml. F. McGillB. P. YatesHenry W. DennisEdwd. W. Blyden
The reply to this polite invitation of Doctors Roberts and McGill, and others, having been mislaid, I simply remark here that the request was complied with on the evening of August 3d, in the Methodist Church, to a crowded house of the most intelligent citizens of Monrovia, of both sexes and all ages.
Departure from Monrovia.Coasting, Cape Palmas
On the evening of August 5th, I left Monrovia in the bark Mendi, stopping at Junk, Little Bassa, Grand Bassa mouth ofSt. John's River, Sinou, arriving at Cape Palmas Sabbath noon, August 20th.
Half an hour after my arrival, I was called upon by the Rev. Mr. Hoffman, Principal of the Female Orphan Asylum, at the residence of John Marshall, Esq., whose hospitality I was then receiving, and in the name of the white Missionaries welcomed to that part of Liberia. Before Mr. Hoffman left I was honored by a visit also from Rev. Alexander Crummell, Principal of Mount Vaughan High School, where, after partaking of the hospitality of Mr. Marshall during that day and evening, I took up my residence during a month's stay in this part of Liberia.
Having taken theacclimating feveron the 5th of the month, the day I left Monrovia, and besides regularly a dessert spoonful of a solution of the sulphate ofquiniathree times a day, and the night of my arrival two eight grain doses of Dover's Powder, the reference to "the state of my health" in the following correspondence, will be understood:
To Dr. M. R. Delany:Dear Sir—We, the undersigned citizens of the county of Maryland, Liberia, beg to tender you a heartfelt welcome to our neighborhood, and to assure you of our warmest interest in the important mission which has called you to the coast of Africa. Perhaps you will consent, should your health permit, to favor us with a public interview before you leave. We would be most happy to hear your views concerning the interest of our race in general, and of your mission in particular. Moreover, by so doing, you will afford us an opportunity of paying you that respect which your reputation, talents, and noble mission command, and which it is our sincere desire to pay you.If Thursday or Friday will suit your convenience it will be agreeable to us; but we leave the character of the meeting to be designated by yourself.Aug. 23,1859Alex CrummelD. R. FletcherThos. FullerB. J. DraytonRichd. W. KnightJ. T. GibsonJohn MarshallC. H. HarmonGiles ElemS. B. D'LyonT. S. DentL. R. HamiltonA. WoodBenjamin CookJ. W WilliamsH. W. MoultonWm. W. PearceAnsburn TubmanR. A. GrayJames M. MoultonJas. AdamsN. Jackson, Jun.J. W. CooperJno. E. MoultonMount Vaughan, near Harper, Cape PalmasAugust 27th, 1859Gentlemen—Your note of the 23rd inst., requesting me, should my health permit, to appear before the citizens of your county, is before me, and for the sentiments therein expressed I thank you most kindly.As I have reason to believe that I am now convalescent from my second attack of native fever, should my health continue to improve I shall start on an exploration for the head of Kavalla river on Monday next ensuing, to return on Friday evening.Should it be your pleasure, gentlemen, and my health will permit, I will meet you on Monday, the 5th of September, the place and hour to be hereafter named according to circumstances.I assure you of the pleasure, Gentlemen, with which I have the honor to be,Your most obedient servant,M. R. DelanyGen. Wood; Judge Drayton; Rev. Alex. Crummell; JohnMarshall, Esq.; Hon. J. T. Gibson; C. H. Harmon,Esq.; J. W. Cooper, Esq.; Dr. Fletcher; Giles Elem,Esq.; Jas. M. Moulton, Esq.; Benjamin Cook, Esq.; S.B. D'Lyon, M.D., and others, Committee, &c., &c.
To Dr. M. R. Delany:
Dear Sir—We, the undersigned citizens of the county of Maryland, Liberia, beg to tender you a heartfelt welcome to our neighborhood, and to assure you of our warmest interest in the important mission which has called you to the coast of Africa. Perhaps you will consent, should your health permit, to favor us with a public interview before you leave. We would be most happy to hear your views concerning the interest of our race in general, and of your mission in particular. Moreover, by so doing, you will afford us an opportunity of paying you that respect which your reputation, talents, and noble mission command, and which it is our sincere desire to pay you.
If Thursday or Friday will suit your convenience it will be agreeable to us; but we leave the character of the meeting to be designated by yourself.
Aug. 23,1859
Alex CrummelD. R. FletcherThos. FullerB. J. DraytonRichd. W. KnightJ. T. GibsonJohn MarshallC. H. HarmonGiles ElemS. B. D'LyonT. S. DentL. R. HamiltonA. WoodBenjamin CookJ. W WilliamsH. W. MoultonWm. W. PearceAnsburn TubmanR. A. GrayJames M. MoultonJas. AdamsN. Jackson, Jun.J. W. CooperJno. E. Moulton
Mount Vaughan, near Harper, Cape PalmasAugust 27th, 1859
Gentlemen—Your note of the 23rd inst., requesting me, should my health permit, to appear before the citizens of your county, is before me, and for the sentiments therein expressed I thank you most kindly.
As I have reason to believe that I am now convalescent from my second attack of native fever, should my health continue to improve I shall start on an exploration for the head of Kavalla river on Monday next ensuing, to return on Friday evening.
Should it be your pleasure, gentlemen, and my health will permit, I will meet you on Monday, the 5th of September, the place and hour to be hereafter named according to circumstances.
I assure you of the pleasure, Gentlemen, with which I have the honor to be,
Your most obedient servant,M. R. Delany
Gen. Wood; Judge Drayton; Rev. Alex. Crummell; JohnMarshall, Esq.; Hon. J. T. Gibson; C. H. Harmon,Esq.; J. W. Cooper, Esq.; Dr. Fletcher; Giles Elem,Esq.; Jas. M. Moulton, Esq.; Benjamin Cook, Esq.; S.B. D'Lyon, M.D., and others, Committee, &c., &c.
On the evening of the 14th this request was complied with in the Methodist Church at Latrobe, an out-village of Harper, by addressing a crowded assemblage of both sexes and all ages of the most respectable people of the Cape, on the part of whom I was most cordially welcomed by Rev. Alexander Crummell.
Liberia extends from a point north of Grand Cape Mount, about 7 deg. 30 min. north lat., on sea shore, northeasterly to the western extremity of the most southern range of the Kong Mountains, lat. 4 deg. 30 min. The climate is generally salubrious, and quite moderate. But it is frequently somewhat oppressive, though mild and genial, and the high hills and mountain ranges sometimes enervating to strangers or foreigners from temperate climates, in consequence of the "air being freighted withfragrance" from theflowersandaromaof the exuberant, rich, rank growth of vegetable matter, as trees, shrubbery, and other herbage.
The temperature is seldom or never great, the average being 85 deg. Fahr.[5]This, it will be perceived, is but 5 deg. abovesummertemperature in the temperatezoneof America, according to Fahrenheit's scale.
It is worthy of observation that, by a natural law, we are enabled to compare the temperature in many parts of Africa satisfactorily with that of some other countries. There are parts of India, and also Central and South America, where it is said thatbeescannot propagate, in consequence of their inability to build their cells because of the heat, the cera or wax melting in their hive or habitation. While in Africa such is not the case, there being no part known to civilized travelers where bees are not seen ever busy on every blossom, gathering their store, leaving laden with the rich delicacies of the blooming flowers; and Doctor Livingstone not only speaks most frequently of the profusion of honey in the extensive country through which he traveled, but says that, while near the coast in Loango, he encountered many persons laden with "tons ofbeeswax" carried on their heads exposed to the sun, on their way to the trading posts. And during our stay at Abbeokuta, Mr. Campbell my colleague, had two swarms of bees; the first taken by him when intransitu(swarmed) and hived, which bred a new swarm in the hive at the Mission House where we resided.
The soil is very rich, which, like that of other parts of Africa through which I traveled, rates from a sandy loam to a rich alluvial, resting on strata of granite, limestone, and quartz with a large percentage of mica, profusely incorporated with iron, and doubtless other rich minerals not yet discovered. Palm oil and camwood are abundant, comprising the principal articles of native products for exportation; a good deal of ivory from the interior through the Golah country, but not so much as formerly; palm nuts, which principally go to France; ginger, arrowroot, pepper, coffee, sugar and molasses, to which three latter articles (as well as pepper, ginger and arrowroot,) the industrious citizens of Liberia have, during the last six years, turned their attention.
The stock consists of fowls of various kinds—as chickens, ducks, common and Muscovy; Guinea fowls in abundance; turkeys, and on one farm—theGaudilla farmof William Spencer Anderson, Esq., sugar planter, on the St. Paul River—geese. Neither are the cows so small as supposed to be from the general account given of them by travelers. Those which are common to, and natives of this part of Africa, which I shall classify as theBassa(pronouncedBassaw) cattle, are handsome and well-built, comparing favorably in size (though neither so long-legged nor long-bodied) with the small cattle in the interior counties of Pennsylvania, U.S., where no attention is paid scientifically to the breeding of cattle; though the Liberia or Bassa aremuch the heaviest, and handsomely made like theGolah, orFulatah, hereafter to be described, resembling the Durham cattle of England in form. Also swine, goats, and sheep are plentiful.
I saw but one horse in Liberia, and that on the Gaudilla farm of Mr. Anderson; and though, as the Liberians themselves informed me, they have been taken there by the Mandingo and Golah traders, they never lived. And why—if they live in other parts of Africa, on the western coast, which they do, even near theMangrove swamps, as will hereafter be shown—do they not live in Liberia, the civilized settlements of which as yet, except on the St. Paul and at Careysburg, are confined to the coast? There are certainly causes for this, which I will proceed to show.
In the first place, horses, like all other animals, must have feed naturally adapted to their sustenance. This consists mainly of grass, herbage, and grains, especially the latter when the animal is domesticated. Secondly, adequate shelter from sun and weather, as in the wild state by instinct they obtain these necessary comforts for themselves.
Up to the time, then, when the Liberians ceased the experiment of keeping horses, they had not commenced in any extensive manner to cultivate farms, consequently did not produce either maize (Indian corn), Guinea corn (an excellent article for horses in Africa, resembling the American broom corn both in the stock, blade, and grain, the latter being larger and browner than those of the broom corn, and more nutritious than oats); peas, nor any other grain upon which those animals are fed, and the great, heavy, rich, rank, pseudo reed-grass of the country was totally unfit for them, there being no grass suited either for pasturage or hay. Again, I was informed by intelligent, respectable Liberians, that to their knowledge there never had been a stable or proper shelter prepared for a horse, but that they had, in one or more instances, known horses to be kept standing in the sun the entire day, and in the open air and weather during the entire night, while their owners had them.
It is very evident from this, that horses could not live in Liberia, and since thetsetsefly introduced to the notice of the scientific world recently by Doctor Livingstone the African Explorer, has never been seen nor heard of in this part of the continent, nor any other insect that tormented them, those must have been the prime causes of fatality to these noble and most useful domestic creatures. I have been thus explicit in justice to Liberia, even in opposition to the opinion of some very intelligent and highly qualified gentlemen in that country (among whom is my excellent friend, Doctor Roberts, I think,) because I believe that horses can live there as well as in other parts of Africa, when fairly and scientifically inquired into and tested. Proper feed and care, I have no doubt, will verify my opinion; and should I but be instrumental, by calling the attention of my brethren in Liberia to these facts, in causing themsuccessfullyto test the matter, it will be but another evidence of the fact, that the black race should take their affairs in their own hands, instead of placing them in the hands of others.
My explorations in Liberia extended to every civilized settlement in the Republic except Careysburg, and much beyond these limits up the Kavalla River. There is much improvement recently up the St. Paul River, by the opening up of fine, and in some cases, extensive farms of coffee and sugar; also producing rice, ginger, arrowroot, and pepper, many of which have erected upon them handsome and well-constructed dwellings; also sugar mills and machinery for the manufacture of sugar and molasses, which articles manufactured, compare favorably with the best produced in other countries. There has, as yet, been no improvement introduced in the hulling and drying of coffee, there being probably not enough produced to induce the introduction of machinery. I am informed that there have also been commenced several good farms on the Junk River, which district, farther than the settlement at the mouth, I did not visit. The people are willing and anxious for improvement, and on introducing to many of the farmers the utility of cutting off the centre of each young coffee-tree so soon asit grew above the reach of a man of ordinary height, I had the satisfaction of seeing them immediately commence the execution of the work. The branches of the tree spread, in proportion to the checking of the height; hence, instead of eight feet apart, as some of the farmers have done, the trees should be planted at least twenty feet apart, thus leaving ample space between for the spreading of the branches. The tree should never be permitted to grow too high to admit of the berry being picked from the ground, or at least from a stand which may be stepped upon without climbing.
The schools are generally good, every settlement being amply accommodated with them; and in Monrovia and at Cape Palmas the classics are being rigidly prosecuted.[4]
Churches are many and commodious, of every Christian denomination—except, I believe, the Roman Catholic. The Missionaries seem to be doing a good work, there being many earnest and faithful laborers among them of both sexes, black and white, and many native catechists and teachers, as well as some few preachers.
The principal business carried on in Liberia is that of trading in native and foreign produce, the greater part being at the Capital. The greater part of merchants here are Liberians; but there are also three white houses—two German and one American. And along the coast there are a number of native trading-posts, the proprietors of which are white foreigners, with black agents. Many of the Liberian Clergy of all denominations are well educated gentlemen; and the Medical Profession is well represented by highly accomplished Physicians; but of all the professions, the Law is the most poorly represented—there being, as I learnt when there, but one young gentlemen at the bar who had been bred to the profession; and not a Judge on the bench who was learned in the law. This I do not mention in disparagement of the gentlemen who fill those honorable positions of presiding over the legal investigations of their country, as many—indeed, I believe the majority of them—are clergymen, who from necessity have accepted those positions, and fill their own legitimate callings with credit. I sincerely hope that the day is not far distant when Liberia will have her learned counsellors and jurists—dispensing law, disseminating legal opinions, and framing digests as well as other countries, for the benefit of nations.
At Grand Bassa I held a Council with some of the most eminent Liberians, among whom were several members of the National Legislature—the venerable Judge Hanson inthe chair. Several able speeches were made—the objects of my mission and policy approved; and I shall never forget the profound sensation produced at that ever-memorable Council, and one of the most happy hours of my life. When the honored old judge and sage, sanctioning my adventure, declared that, rather than it should fail, he would join it himself, and with emotion rose to his feet; the effect was inexpressible, each person being as motionless as a statue.
The laws of Liberia seem to be well constructed, and framed to suit the wants of the people, and their public affairs are quite well and creditably conducted. But there is a great deficiency in public improvements, and, as I learned—and facts from actual observation verified until comparatively recent—also in public spirit. There are no public buildings of note, or respectable architectural designs; no harbor improvements, except a lighthouse each on the beautiful summit rock-peaks of Cape Messurado and Cape Palmas—not even a buoy to indicate the shoal; no pier, except a little one at Palmas; nor an attempt at a respectable wharfage for canoes and lighters (the large keels owned by every trading vessel, home and foreign, which touches there.) And, with the exception of a handsome wagon-road, three and a half miles out from Harper, Cape Palmas, beyond Mount Vaughan, there is not a public or municipal road in all Liberia. Neither have I seen a town which has a paved street in it, although the facilities for paving in almost all the towns are very great, owing to the large quantities of stone everywhere to be had.
And what is surprising, Monrovia, although the capital, has not a city municipality to give it respectability as such; hence, there is neither mayor nor council (city council I mean) to give character to any public occasion, but His Excellency the President, the Chief Executive of the nation, must always be dragged down from his reserved and elevated position, and made as common as a common policeman to head every little petty affair among the people. The town was once, by the wisdom of some legislators, chartered into a city, and Dr. T. F. M'Gill (ex-governor) chosen mayor, who, by his high intelligence and fitness for the office, had commenced the most useful and commendable improvements; but the wisdom of other legislators, after a year's duration, in consequence of the heavy expenses incurred to "make Monrovia, where big folks lived, a fine place," repealed the act, degrading their Capital to a town. That is the same as declaring that a court shall not have a judge—the nation a President or Executive, or there shall be no head at all; hence, to reduce the judge to the grade of a lawyer, the lawyer to that of the clerk of the court, the President of the nation to that of the county magistrate, and the county magistrate to that of a constable. How much respect would a people be entitled to who would act thus? They must understand that nothing is greater than its head, and the people of a nation cannot rise above the level of the head of their nation any more than the body of the individual in its natural position can be raised above the head. It is just so with a town population. A villager is a villager, a citizen is a citizen, and a metropolitan is a metropolitan—each of which is always expected to have a standing commensurate with his opportunities.
One word as a suggestion in political economy to the young politician of Liberia: Always bear in mind, that the fundamental principle of every nation isself-reliance, with theability to create their own ways and means: without this, there is no capacity forself-government. In this short review of public affairs, it is done neither to disparage nor under-rate the gentlemen of Liberia with whom, from the acquaintance I have made with them in the great stride for black nationality, I can make common cause, and hesitate not to regard them, in unison with ourselves, a noble band of brothers.
There has been much progress made in the various industrial vocations within a few years past by the munificence of President Benson, aided by the wisdom of the Legislature, through the agency of a national agricultural fair, with liberal premiums on samples exhibited in a spacious receptacle prepared each season for the purpose, in the Public Square in front of the President's mansion, called Palm Palace. Like his predecessor President Roberts, in pressing the claims of his country before the nations of Europe, President Benson has spared no authority which he possessed in developing the agricultural resources of his country. Every man has hisforte, and in his turn probably becomes anecessityfor the time being, according to his faculty. Consequently my opinion is, that theforteand mission of President Roberts for the time being were the establishment of a Nationality, and that of President Benson the development of its resources, especially the agricultural. Neither of these gentlemen, therefore, might be under-rated, as each may have been the instrument which God in his wisdom appointed to a certain work.
To John Moore, Esq., Government Surveyor; the Hon. B. P. Yates, ex-Vice-President of the Republic; Hon. John Seys, U.S. Agent for Re-captured Africans, and Consular Agent, I am much indebted for acts of kindness in facilitating my Explorations in Liberia. The Hon. Mr. Seys and Mr. Moore, for personally accompanying me up the St. Paul River; and Colonel Yates, for the loan of his fine canvas-covered boat for my use. Also to Dr. Henry J. Roberts, for remedies and medicines for my own use; Dr. Thomas F. M'Gill, for offering to make advances on articles of merchandise which I took out on trade to bear expenses, much beyond the market price; and to those excellent gentlemen, Messrs. Johnson, Turpin, and Dunbar, also for large advances made above market price in cash for my commodity, as well as other favors, especially on the part of Mr. Johnson, who, having for years been a resident in Monrovia, did everything to advance my mission and make my duty an agreeable one.
To the Rev. Alexander Crummell, who accompanied me up the Kavalla, above the Falls, making my task an easy one; to Drs. Fletcher and D'Lyon, who rendered me professional aid, and also to our excellent, faithful, and reliable guide, Spear Mehia is, a native civilized Christian Prince, the son of the old friend of the missionaries, Nmehia, the deceased King of Kavalla, I here make acknowledgments. And I cannot close this section without an acknowledgment that, wherever I went, the people of the country generallydid everything to make me happy—Esquire Wright at Junk, Dr. Smith at Grand Bassa, and the Hon. Mr. Priest at Sinou whose guest I was, all here will receive my thanks for their aid in facilitating my mission.
I conclude this section by remarking, that Monrovia is one of the handsomest and most eligible sites for a city that I ever saw, and only lacks the population and will of the people to make it a most beautiful place; and how much it is to be regretted that the charter was repealed, and Mayor M'Gill and the City Council cut off in the beginning of the first steps towards a national pride, which was to have a Capital City in reality as well as name.[3]How unsightly to a stranger, as he steps from the boat at the mouth of Stockton Creek, on the Messurado River, is the rude and rugged steep, leading by simple pathways in true native style, from the warehouses up to the town, which, if improved as it might and should be, would be one of the most pleasing as well as attractive approaches to any city in the world. Not even is there a respectable public market-house or market space in town. But wisdom decreed it otherwise, and for the present it must be so. "Wisdom" in this case "hath"not"built her house" neither "hath she hewn out" the stone "pillars" leading from the beach.
Another good site for a city is Edina, on the northeastside of the St. John River, opposite Buchanan, Grand Bassa, which doubtless in time Buchanan will include. This is also a handsome place, from the gradually rising elevation. Edina is the residence of that great-hearted, good old gentleman, Judge Hanson. Junk, Little Bassa, and Sinou, are also good, but each of these are low, and consequently not so imposing.
Next to Monrovia is Cape Palmas for beauty of location and scenery, and a stranger will more readily be pleased at first sight with Harper than the Capital. A beautiful city will in time occupy the extensive Cape for several miles back, including Mount Vaughan and the country around; and it may be remarked, that this place presents greater evidences of public improvement than any town in Liberia, and the only place in the country which has a regular wagon road with ox-teams running upon it.
The private buildings in Liberia are generally good and substantial, and especially those of Monrovia, built of brick. Many of them are handsome and quite extensive mansions, the warehouses mostly being built of stone. The wooden houses generally are well-built frames, and "weather-boarded," and not, as some romancers and wonder-vendors would have it, being either log, bamboo, or mud huts. To take the settlers generally, there cannot be much fault found with their style of living, except perhaps in some instances, rather a little too much extravagance. Caldwell, Clay-Ashland, and Millsburg on the St. Paul, are pleasant and prospectively promising villages, and deserve a notice in this place. Clay-Ashland is the residence of Judge Moore, to whom I am indebted for personal favors and much useful information when examining the land over his extensive sugar and coffee farms. And to my excellent friend Dr. Daniel Laing, of the same place, for similar acts of courtesy and kindness, I am much indebted.
I addressed the citizens in a very long political meeting in the Methodist church, on the evening of my visit there.
The first sight and impressions of the coast of Africa are always inspiring, producing the most pleasant emotions. These pleasing sensations continue for several days, more or less, until they gradually merge into feelings of almost intense excitement, not only mentally, but the entire physical system share largely in it, so that it might be termed a hilarity of feeling almost akin to approaching intoxication; or as I imagine, like the sensation produced by the beverage of champagne wine. Never having enjoyed the taste for it, I cannot say from experience.
The first symptoms are succeeded by a relaxity of feelings, in which there is a disposition to stretch, gape, and yawn, with fatigue.
The second may or may not be succeeded by actual febrile attacks, with nausea, chills, or violent headache; but whether or not such symptoms ensue, there is one most remarkable, as almost (and I think quite) a necessary affection, attendant upon the acclimation at this incipient stage:a feeling of regret that you left your native country for a strange one; an almost frantic desire to see friends and nativity; a despondency and loss of the hope of ever seeing those you love at home again.
These feelings, of course, must be resisted, andregarded as a mere morbid affection of the mindat the time, arising from an approaching disease, which is not necessarily serious, and may soon pass off; which is really the case.
It is generally while laboring under this last-described symptom, that persons send from Africa such despairing accounts of their disappointments and sufferings, with horrible feelings of dread for the worst to come.
When an entire recovery takes place, the love of the country is most ardent and abiding. I have given the symptomsfirst, to make a proper impression first.
I have thought it proper to give a section in my Report entirely to the diseases of Liberia, which are the same as those in other parts of Africa, with their complication with diseases carried from America by the settlers.
The native diseases are mainly the native fever, which is nothing but theintermittent feverof America, known in different parts asague,chills and fever,fever and ague, with its varied forms ofbilious,intermittent,remittent,continued, and its worst form ofinflammatorywhen it most generally assumes thecongestivetype of the American Southern States. In this condition, the typhoid symptoms withcoma, give unmistakable evidence of the character of the malady. The native fever which is common to all parts of Africa, in Liberia while to my judgment not necessarily fatal (and in by far the greater percentage of cases in the hands of an intelligent, skilful physician, quite manageable), is generally much worse in its character there than in the Yoruba country, where I have been. The symptoms appear to be much more aggravated and the patient to suffer more intensely.
The density and rankness of the vegetable growth, the saturation of the air continually with fragrance, and othermiasma, and themalariafrom the mangrove swamps, I assignas the cause of difference in the character of the same disease in different parts of the continent. The habits also of the settlers, have much to do with the character of the disease. A free indulgence in improper food and drink, which doubtless is the case in many instances, are exciting causes to take the malady, and aggravating when suffering under it.
There are several other diseases that might be named, which I reserve for a section on another part of Africa, and confine my remarks simply to the complication of the native with foreign. Allscorbutic,scrofulous, orsyphiliticpersons, where the affection has not been fully suppressed, may become easy victims to the fever in Liberia, or lingering sufferers fromulcers,acute rheumatism, orelephantiasis—a frightful enlargement of the limbs.Ulcerated opthalmiais another horrible type, that disease in such chronically affected persons may assume. But any chronic affection—especially lung, liver, kidney, and rheumatic—when not too deeply seated, may, by favorable acclimation, become eliminated, and the ailing person entirely recover from the disease.
The natural remedy for the permanent decrease of the native fever, is the clearing up and cultivation of the land, which will be for some time yet to come, tardy; as emigration to Liberia is very slow, and the natives very unlike those of Yoruba—cultivate little or nothing but rice, cassaba, and yams, and these in comparative small patches, so that there is very little need for clearing off the forest. Neither have they in this part of Africa any large towns of substantial houses,all of which would necessitate a great deal of clearing; but instead, they consist of small clusters of reed or bamboo huts in a circle, always in the densest of the forest, which can scarcely ever be seen (except they be situated on a high hill) until you are right upon them. The clearing away of the mangrove swamps—which is practicable—will add greatly to the sanitary condition of Liberia; but this also will take time, as it must be the work of a general improvement in the country, brought about by populating and civilizing progress.
The treatment of the native fever must be active and prudential. But the remedies are simple and easily obtained, being such as may be had at any well-kept apothecary's shop. Thesulphate of quinia, in moderate doses, three or four times a day, with the usual attention to the febrile changes, gentleaperients,effervescentandacidulousdrinks, taking care to prevent acridness in the stomach. In my advice to persons going to Africa, I shall speak more pointedly of the domestic or social customs to be avoided.
I observed that all elevated places, as Monrovia and Freetown, subject to severe visitations of disease, are situated near mangrove swamps; consequently, from therisingof themalaria, they are much more unhealthy than those in low plains, such as Lagos and many other places,abovewhich themiasmagenerally rises for the most part passing off harmlessly.
I left Cape Palmas, Liberia, on Thursday, 2P.M.the 15thof Sept., on the British Royal Mail African steamer, "Armenian," Captain Walker, to whom and his officers, I make acknowledgments for acts of kindness.
Thursday, the 20th of September, about noon, after stopping at Cape-Coast Castle for twelve hours, on the Coast of Benin, the steamer made her moorings in the roadstead, Bight of Benin, Gulf of Guinea, off Lagos. I disembarked, going ashore with the mail-boat managed by natives; from whence, by the politeness of the gentlemanly young clerk (a native gentleman) of Captain Davies', a native merchant, I was taken in a sail-boat, also manned by natives, up the bay, and landed at the British Consulate; whence I was met by Mr. Carew, the native agent of the Rev. J. M. Harden, a most excellent man, Missionary, and conducted to the Baptist Mission House.
After a stay of five weeks, visiting almost everything and place worthy of note, being called upon by many of the most noted persons, among whom were several chiefs, having several interviews with the authorities, and meeting the most active, intelligent, Christian young men, in several of their associated gatherings, I was waited on by the messenger of the king; when after several interchanges of "words" between us, the following instrument of writing was "duly executed, signed, sealed, and delivered," I, and Mr.Harden being present, and witnessing the measurement of the land, according to the present custom in that place:
Title DeedDr. M. R. Delany
Lagos, October 25th, 1859