2. In contrast to the character of this company was that of the emigrants by the America, 182 in number, who arrived on the 15th of September. The following is the account given of them by the colonial agent, in his letter announcing to the Board their arrival: "With respect to the character of the people composing this expedition, I regret to be compelled to state that they are, with the exception of those from Washington, the family of the Pages from Virginia, and a few others, the lowest and most abandoned of their class.

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3. From such materials it is in vain to expect that an industrious, intelligent, and enterprising community can possibly be formed; the thing is utterly impracticable, and they can not but retard instead of advance the prosperity of the Colony. I am induced to be thus unreserved in my remarks, as it is from the sufferings of people of this stamp, occasioned by their own indolence and stupidity, that the slanderous reports circulated in the United States have originated. Our respectable colonists themselves are becoming alarmed at the great number of ignorant and abandoned characters that have arrived within the last twelve months, and almost daily representations are made by those who have applied themselves to the cultivation of the soil, of the depredations committed on their crops by the above-described class of people, who can not be induced to labor for their own support."

4. The health of the Colony had never been better than this year, with the exception of intermittent fever in the summer at Caldwell, attributed to local causes. The diseases of the climate yielded so generally to the skill and attention of the physicians, and the deaths from acclimating fever among the emigrants, by the several late expeditions, had been so very few, that it seemed as if the climate was no longer to be dreaded.

5. A manifest improvement in the schools was reported this year, and a more general desire of the colonists for the promotion of education. Besides the six day-schools for

children, there was an evening school for adults. The female schools at Monrovia and Caldwell were well conducted, and attended by nearly a hundred girls. The teachers, Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Cesar, were paid by a society of ladies in Philadelphia. At Millsburg there was no good school, and none of any kind among the recaptured Africans, except Sunday-schools, which were well attended and taught by their own people, many of whom could read.

6. Each tribe had a house of worship, and a town or palaver house built by voluntary subscription and joint labor. A street separated the neat and well-built villages of the Eboes and Congoes; their farms adjacent to the village were under excellent cultivation, and they were stated to be the most industrious and thriving of any people in the Colony, but they had very imperfect notions of republican government. They had several times attempted to choose a chief without success, the minority refusing submission to the person chosen. This year they solicited the colonial agent to superintend their election; it was held in his presence, and after he had explained to them the object of an election, and the necessity of submitting to the will of the majority, they appeared perfectly satisfied.

7. These recaptured Africans not unfrequently procured wives from the adjacent tribes by paying a small sum to the parents of the girls. The women thus obtained were married and dressed according to the customs of the Colony, and in a short time adopted the habits of the settlers, so as scarcely to be distinguished from those who had been several years in the United States.

8. The settlement of Grand Bassa was commenced on the 18th of December, by thirty-eight emigrants, under the most encouraging circumstances. The chiefs and people of the country received them in the most cordial manner, assisted them in building houses, and constructing a barricade upon which their guns were mounted, though there was no prospect of their being required for defense.

Bob

Gray, one of the chiefs from whom the territory was purchased, had planted a large quantity of cassada and sweet potatoes on their land for the use of the settlers. Mr. Williams, the vice-agent, who accompanied these emigrants, performed divine service several times during his stay, and found among the natives (most of whom could speak English) a numerous and attentive congregation. They were anxious to have a school established among them.

9. The following extracts of letters written from Monrovia will show how the colonists estimated their own advantages-one wrote to her former mistress in Virginia: "Our house has one front room, a shed-room, and one above stairs. When Mr. Hatter returns, he intends to build a stone house. Our lot is in a very pretty part of the town, and I have a great many very pretty trees growing in it. I send you, by Mr. Hatter, some tortoise-shell and a little ivory tooth; and some shells to Miss

and Give my love to them, and tell them I wish they had such a sweet beach to take their morning and evening walks on as we have here. My dear mistress, you do not know how thankful I am to you for buying my husband." The same wrote to her sister: "I never was better satisfied in my life, if I only had my dear relations and friends with me. We enjoy the same liberty here that our masters and mistresses do in America. I am so well pleased with my situation, I would not change it for all America.

10. "You need not be afraid to come; every person has to see trouble and inconvenience at first, in a new country. I have seen about as much trouble as anybody, and I know I am satisfied. I get a great deal of work to do. I keep a girl, ten years old, for her victuals and clothes. I have taught her to read and sew, and she assists me in cooking and cleaning. I have coffee in my lot, a good many other trees, and the guava, which makes nice sweetmeats. If I only had you and your family, mother and her family, and if my dear husband was returned, I should be as happy as the day is long."

11. Another wrote to his mistress: It gives me great satisfaction that everything I do is for myself and my children. I would not give the enjoyment I have had since I have been in Africa for all I have seen in America. I have set out all kinds of trees that are in Africa. As soon as my coffee-trees bear, I will send you some. We have preaching every Sunday, and prayer-meeting every night through the week. Many of the recaptured Africans come to be baptized, and we expect more shortly; they appear to be more diligent than the Americans.”

CHAPTER XLI.

1833-THE POPULATION OF THE COLONY.

1. IN 1833, 649 emigrants were landed at Monrovia, from six different vessels, five of which left the United States the latter part of 1832. The arrival of so great a number of emigrants in so short a time had not been anticipated by the agent, nor were the means provided by the Board sufficient to furnish the provisions and accommodations necessary for the health and comfort of these new-comers. The consequence was suffering, discontent, and complaint. 2. In July, the brig Ajax arrived from New Orleans, with a large company of emigrants from Kentucky and Tennessee, nearly all of whom were manumitted that they might proceed as freemen to Liberia. The entire company were of the most respectable character, and only eleven, out of the 150 that left the United States, were over forty years of age. They were accompanied by an agent from Tennessee, and Mr. Savage, from Ohio, who had devoted himself to the moral and intellectual improvement of Africa. The cholera was just beginning its ravages in New Orleans at the time the Ajax sailed from that port,

and twenty-nine of the emigrants fell victims to that disease during the early part of the passage.

3. A large company of emigrants from South Carolina were enterprising, intelligent, and industrious. Many of them possessed capital. Such as were farmers drew their plantation lots in a body, for their mutual convenience and benefit. Agriculture did not, in general, receive the attention which its importance demanded-the mania for trade still prevailing. The settlement at Grand Bassa increased this year from 33 to 170, and the pioneers, already settled on their inclosed town lots, were making commendable progress in agricultural improvements. Their town, named Edina,* was laid out on a tongue of land on the north side of the St. John's, and presented a fine view from the ocean. A short distance from Edina was the native town of Bob Gray, who considered himself highly honored by having Americans so near him.

"It

4. Between the two settlements was the ancient Devil Bush of the Grand Bassa people, which they reserved in their sale of lands to the colonists, though it was no longer used for the performance of their superstitious rites. is evident," said the editor of the Herald, "to the most casual observer, that the natives in the vicinity of our settlements are gradually becoming more enlightened, and consequently less observant of their superstitious notions and idolatry.

5. "It is pleasing to reflect that the spot near which the nameless bloody rites of Moloch have been perpetrated for centuries, is soon to be the site of a mission-house, which is erecting by the direction of the Rev. Mr. Cox, missionary from the United States." This was the first Methodist missionary to Liberia. He arrived in March, having on

* Through the able and generous efforts of Elliott Cresson, large contributions were obtained in England and Scotland in aid of the American Colonization Society. It was in honor of the liberality of the citizens of Edinburgh that the name Edina was given to the settlement.