mains suspended in the water, while the former is removed. The milky fluid thus formed is strained and allowed to stand several hours, until the fecula, or starch, shall have settled at the bottom of the vessel. It is then washed with a fresh portion of water, strained again, and allowed to subside again; this process sometimes being performed three or four times, after which it is spread out and dried in the sun. About eight pounds of the pure powder or flour may be produced from a bushel of the roots.

6. As arrow-root may be produced so abundantly in Liberia, and as it is one of the most important exportable articles, as well as one of the most valuable articles of food, it deserves particular notice. The cultivation of the plant requires so little labor or attention, and the process of manufacturing the fecula from the roots is so very simple and so easily performed, that I am quite certain this article may be rendered a source of wealth by exportation. From having frequently seen it growing, and having seen the quantity which a very small piece of ground produced, I think the average quantity that may be raised on almost every kind of soil in Liberia may be safely and truly set down at one hundred bushels to the acre—that is, eight hundred pounds of pure manufactured arrow-root, or fecula.

7. An old gentleman at Monrovia, who has raised a considerable quantity of it, stated to me, that from the quantity he has made from a certain portion of land he was quite satisfied that one acre, properly cultivated, will yield two thousand pounds. And a farmer at Caldwell assured me that he made one hundred and thirty pounds from the produce of one sixteenth of an acre of ground. But, as it will be perceived, I have placed the average quantity at less than one half of the proportionate quantity that has actually been raised; and this, I think, is not beyond a fair estimate. Assuming, therefore, that one half an acre will produce four hundred pounds (a quantity which almost any family may easily raise and manufacture), and allowing the average net price to be only fifteen cents a pound,

it will appear that $60 may be realized from this small quantity of land, with comparatively little labor.

8. During the last few years arrow-root has been used pretty extensively in Liberia as a substitute for wheatflour; and as I have frequently eaten it, in various forms of bread, I hesitate not to say that I believe it to be not only a good substitute for flour, but much more suitable and wholesome for persons residing in tropical climates. It makes very fine biscuits, either alone or when mixed with a small quantity of sweet potatoes. It also makes very good pie-crust; and I have seen light or leavened bread made of arrow-root which so much resembled wheatflour bread, in both appearance and taste, as to deceive professed judges. Besides these, I have eaten the nicest kind of pound and other sweet cakes made of this article instead of flour, with the ordinary adjuvants.

9. The foregoing-named articles constitute the principal exportable articles of agriculture that may be raised in Liberia, and I have endeavored to give faithful and truthful statements in reference to each of them. And while I regret that greater attention has not yet been given to the cultivation of these articles, I cherish the hope that the period will arrive at which all of them will be cultivated extensively; if not by the present inhabitants, by others who may emigrate thither, having more energy, industry, and perseverance. I candidly believe that a man may acquire more wealth in Liberia by judicious management in the cultivation of the soil than he could. acquire in any part of the United States with double the quantity of land, double the amount of labor, and in double the length of time; even allowing for all the disadvantages under which he may have to labor in Liberia, and all the facilities which he might have in the United States.

10. I am quite certain that, by pursuing a regular, systematic, and persevering course of agricultural industry and frugality, the citizens of Liberia may, with no other

means than those which every individual can readily procure, produce not only enough of those articles that are peculiar to tropical climates for their own use, but a large surplus for exportation. And any man in Liberia, who enjoys a tolerable degree of health, and who does not live comfortably and independently, may, without any violation of the principles of truth or justice, charge the deficiency to his own account.

CHAPTER XV.

PRODUCTIONS.-Continued.

1. ONE of the most important and valuable indigenous articles of the vegetable kingdom in intertropical Africa is the palm, which is one of the most remarkable and useful trees in the world. There are two or three varieties of the palm in Liberia, one of which, by its towering height and graceful appearance, attracts particular attention. The tree that yields the nuts from which oil is extracted seldom grows to the height of more than twenty-five feet. It resembles the cocoa-nut tree, having, like that, long leaves or branches attached to the upper part of the body of the tree, and which hang in graceful curves.

2. The fruit grows in clusters or bunches near the base of the stalks of the leaves. The nut is oval, about an inch long, and when ripe is of a deep red color. The oil is extracted from the pulp of the nut, which yields very abundantly. It is manufactured by the natives, and several hundred thousand gallons are annually exported from Liberia.

3. Palm-trees may be seen in every part of Liberia, adorning the hills and valleys, and furnishing not only great quantities of oil for exportation, as well as for

domestic uses, but yielding a variety of other useful substances: a peculiar beverage called "palm wine," procured by tapping the tree, and which in taste very much resembles wine-whey; also a substance that grows at the top of the tree called "palm-cabbage," and which when boiled has an agreeable taste; and from the fibers of the leaves the natives get materials for making baskets, hats, etc.

4. Palm-oil is extensively used by the Liberians as a substitute for sperm-oil and candles, and also in culinary operations as a substitute for lard and butter; and for all needful purposes to which those articles are applied, it answers very well. The average price of palm-oil in Liberia is about thirty-three cents a gallon.

5. Another valuable tree, which is indigenous and peculiar to intertropical Africa, is the camwood, which grows abundantly in the forests about a hundred miles from the coast. This is one of the most valuable dye-woods in the world, and hundreds of tons are annually exported from Liberia.

6. The palma-christi, the seeds of which yield castor-oil, is also indigenous to Liberia, and I have no doubt that the regular cultivation of this valuable shrub would richly repay the laborer for the little trouble that it would require.

7. The tree which yields the medicinal balsam called copaiva, may also be seen occasionally growing wild in the forests of Liberia, and I doubt not that the juice might be collected in sufficient quantities to become a valuable article of exportation.

8. Several varieties of the acacia (gum-arabic tree) grow in Liberia, and some of the gum is of superior quality. I have seen some specimens of olibanum (frankincense), which, as the natives informed me, were collected from large trees that grow abundantly in the forest. I have frequently seen the caoutchouc, or gum-elastic tree, growing in Liberia, some of which are forty feet or more in height.

9. The forests of Liberia also furnish many different

kinds of valuable timber, well suited for ship or boat building, cabinet-work, and all the various operations in carpentry; the principal of which are-wist more, brimstone, rose-wood, mulberry, bastard mahogany, saffron, mangrove, African oak, hickory, poplar, persimmon, and sassawood. Some of these make very beautiful cabinet-work.

10. A considerable variety of medicinal plants, besides those to which I have alluded, may be found in Liberia; among which is the croton tiglium, a small tree or shrub with spreading branches, yielding a capsular fruit, from the seeds of which croton-oil is extracted.

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CHAPTER XVI.

ANIMALS.

1. THE principal wild animals which infest the forests or rivers of Liberia are the elephant, leopard, hippopotamus, crocodile, porcupine, wild-hog, boa-constrictor, several varieties of the deer, and several of the ape.

2. Elephants are quite numerous about a hundred miles back in the interior, and the natives make a regular business of hunting and killing them for the ivory of which their tusks are composed. These animals were formerly frequently seen in the vicinity of some of the settlements, but they are now seldom seen within fifty miles of the

sea-coast.

3. Leopards are occasionally seen prowling about the outskirts of some of the settlements, and they sometimes carry away small domesticated animals at night. But they are much less numerous and troublesome than formerly. They never attack a person except after having been wounded.