rds upon the topography of the country and upon the aborigines
may not be out of place. Liberia is by no means the dreary waste of sand
and swamp that some imagine it. The view from the sea has been
described as one of unspeakable beauty and grandeur. From the low-lying
coast the land rises in a terraced slope--a succession of hills and
plateaux as far as the eye can reach, all covered with the dense
perennial verdure of the primeval forest. Perhaps the best authority on
the natural features of the country is the zooelogist of the Royal Museum
of Leyden, J. Buettikofer, who has made Liberia several visits and spent
several years in its scientific exploration. The account of his
investigations is most interesting. Small as is the area of the country
all kinds of soil are represented, and corresponding to this variety is
a remarkably rich and varied flora. Amidst this luxuriance is found an
unusually large number of products of commercial value. Cotton, indigo,
coffee, pepper, the pineapple, gum tree, oil palm, and many others grow
wild in abundance, while a little cultivation produces ample crops of
rice, corn, potatoes, yams, arrowroot, ginger, and especially sugar,
tobacco, and a very superior grade of coffee. The fertility of the soil
renders possible the production of almost any crop.

The fauna of the land is scarcely less remarkable in variety and
abundance. The larger animals, including domestic cattle and horses, do
not thrive on the coast, but are plentiful farther inland. On the
Mandingo Plateau, elephants are not uncommon. Buffaloes, leopards,
tigers, antelopes, porcupines, the great ant-eater, divers species of
monkeys, and numerous other animals are found, besides many varieties of
birds.

The native Africans inhabiting this territory are probably more than a
million in number, and belong to several different stocks of somewhat
varying characteristics. The most common type is of medium size, well
formed, coal-black in color and rather good-looking. They are
intelligent and easily taught, but are extremely indolent. Their
paganism takes the form of gross superstition, as seen in their constant
use of gree-gree charms and in their sassa-wood ordeal. Like all the
races of Africa, they are polygamists; and as the women manage the farms
and do nearly all the work, a man's wealth and importance are often
estimated by the number of his wives. Domestic slavery is universal
among them, the great majority of slaves b