nist. On the contrary, I have known them to render great
facility to our cruisers in taking vessels engaged in that
nefarious traffic.'

"Capt. Dunlop, who had abundant opportunities for becoming
acquainted with Liberia during the years 1848-50, says, 'I
am perfectly satisfied no such thing as domestic slavery
exists in any shape amongst the citizens of the republic.'

"Commodore Sir Charles Hotham, commander-in-chief of her
British Majesty's squadron on the western coast of Africa,
in a letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, dated April
7, 1847, and published in the Parliamentary Returns, says,
'On perusing the correspondence of my predecessors, I found
a great difference of opinion existing as to the views and
objects of the settlers; some even accusing the governor of
lending himself to the slave-trade. After discussing the
whole subject with officers and others best qualified to
judge on the matter, I not only satisfied my own mind that
there is no reasonable cause for such a suspicion, but
further, that this establishment merits all the support we
can give it, for it is only through their means that we can
hope to improve the African race.' Subsequently, in 1849,
the same officer gave his testimony before the House of
Lords, in the following language: 'There is no necessity for
the squadron watching the coast between Sierra Leone and
Cape Palmas, as the liberian territory intervenes, and there
the slave-trade has been extinguished.'"[113]

The government was firmly and wisely administered, and its friends
everywhere found occasion for great pleasure in its marked success.
While the government had more than a quarter of a million of natives
under its care, the greatest caution was exercised in dealing with
them legally. The system was not so complicated as our Indian system,
but the duties of the officers in dealing with the uncivilized tribes
were as delicate as those of an Indian agent in the United States.

"The history of a single case will illustrate the manner in
which Liberia exerts her influence in preventing the native
tribes from warring upon each other. The territory of Little
Cape Mount, Grand Cape Mount, and Gallinas was purchased,
three or four years since, and added to the Republic. The
chiefs, by the term of sale, transferred the rights of