Liberia

LIBERIA, a negro republic in West Africa, extending along the coast of northern Guinea, between the British colony of Sierra Leone on the north-west, and the French colony of the Ivory Coast on the south-east. It has a coast line of some 35o m., its greatest depth is 17o m. and the area is about 40,000 sq. miles. Popula tion uncertain ; probably something over i,soo,000, consisting of a few thousand Liberians and many indigenous tribes (see p. 1003, sec. History).

It is at the southern extremity of Liberia, Cape Palmas, that the West African coast turns somewhat abruptly eastwards and faces the Gulf of Guinea. As the coast of Liberia thus fronts the sea route from Europe to South Africa it possesses a certain degree of strategical importance. The coast, however, is unpro vided with a single good harbour. The anchorage at Monrovia, the capital, is safe, and harbours could be made at Grand Basa and other places.

Physical Features.

Liberia is a plateau country—with a gen eral level of 1,5oo ft., and is in large part densely forested. It is traversed by a number of rivers, mostly with a south-west direc tion, and is everywhere well watered. The coast has many small in dentations and a good deal of the seaboard is dangerous, by reason of sharp rocks which lie near the surface. The whole of this part of Africa, from Cape Palmas north-west to the Senegal, suggests a sunken land. In all probability the western projection of Africa was connected by a land bridge with Brazil as late as the Eocene period. The Liberian coast has few lagoons compared with the adjoining littoral of Sierra Leone or that of the Ivory Coast. The coast, in fact, rises in some places rather abruptly from the sea. Cape Mount (on the northern side of which is a large lagoon —Fisherman lake) at its highest point is 1,o5o ft. above sea level. Cape Mesurado is about 35o ft., Cape Palmas about 200 ft. above the sea. Although little of the coast belt is actually swampy, a kind of natural canalization connects many of the rivers near their mouths with each other.

Going from north to south the chief rivers are the Mano, the Lofa, St. Paul's (which runs through the centre of the country), St. John's, Cestos (in its upper course called Nuon) and Kavalli (Cavalla). The Kavalli and other rivers rise (in French territory) in the Nimba mountains. The Kavalli is navigable from the sea for some 8o m. and after a long series of rapids is again navigable. But there is a bad bar at its mouth. None of the other rivers, owing to rapids near their mouths, are navigable from the sea. The climate and rainfall over the coast region for about 120 m. inland are equatorial, the rainfall in the western half of the coun try being about 15o in. per annum, and in the eastern half about oo inches. The dry season lasts from mid-November to the end of March. Further inland the climate is not quite so rainy, and the weather is much cooler during the dry season.

The settlements of the Liberians are along the coast belt and the rising ground beyond, where the clayey soil is suitable for coffee cultivation. The forest begins at the foot of the mountains and covers the rest of the country, except where the natives have cleared the land for cultivation. In many districts the land has been cleared and cultivated and then abandoned, and has relapsed into scrub and jungle which is gradually returning to the condition of forest. The densest forest of all would seem to be that known as Gora, which is almost uninhabited and covers about 6,000 sq.m. between the PO hills (which run west of the St. Paul's river), and the frontier of Sierra Leone. There is another very dense forest stretching with little interruption from the eastern side of the St. Paul's river nearly to the Cavalla. The Nidi forest is noteworthy for its magnificent growth of Funtumia rubber trees. It extends between the Duobe (a western tributary of the Cavalla) and the Kavalli. In the main Liberia is the forest country par excellence of West Africa.