Page:A Chapter on Slavery.djvu/84

 says, in a letter to the Corresponding Secretary of the above-named Society, "You may congratulate yourself on your steadfast affection for Bassa Cove, for indeed it is a paradise. The climate is abundantly good, the soil prolific and various in its productions, the rivers abound in excellent fish and very superior oysters, and the water is pure and wholesome. Our position is somewhat remarkable, having a river in our rear, the ocean in front, and the magnificent St. John’s sweeping past on our right. The luxuriant and various foliage which overhangs the banks of the river, and recedes back into the interminable forests, gives a perpetual freshness to the scene, which ever animates the beholder. In America it is difficult to conceive of African scenery without picturing to our imagination a plentiful supply of burning sand, with here and there a fiery serpent; but what a pleasing reversion the feelings undergo, when for the first time we witness the reality; then the imaginary arid scene, with its odious accompaniments, is exchanged for the broad river of blue waters, the stately forest, and the ever verdant landscape, and all Nature charms with her ever varying, yet ever beautiful and living riches."

A still grander view of Liberian scenery is presented us in the following extract from the report of Mr. Whitehurst, a commissioner sent by the Colonial Government on a visit into the interior. It is descriptive of a port of the country, about eighty or a hundred miles back from Monrovia. Mr. Whitehurst remarks, — "Everything conspires to render this spot desirable for human happiness, if the propensity for war which