Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/277

 LIBERIA. 227 been several times occupied by the Sultan of Medina, a fortified town lying two or three days' journey farther east. Recent treaties with Liberia appear to have restored peace, and given the political suzerainty to the Monrovian Government. The women of Masadu and the neighbouring Billelah Kdifal wear jewellery made with the gold imported from the Fpper Niger washings. According to Anderson, the most productive placer is at Biihi, a four days' march to the east of Masadu. The small port of Marshall, at the mouth of the Junk, is but little frequented, whereas Grand Bassa, officially called Buchanan, is the commercial centre of the republic. Here are the chief factories, and the place is regularly visited by the large steamers plying along the west coast. On the opposite side of the St. John River stands Edina, over against Grand Bassa. Farther south the port of Green- ville, at the mouth of the Sinu, lies near the Kroo territory east of the Great and Little Butu rocks, coasts, and villages. Still farther south the new port of Nifa has been lately opened to foreign trade. Cape Palmas, at the angle of the continent, marks the site of the "American " town of Harper, the Bamnepo of the natives. Capital of the old colony of Mary- land, and now annexed to Liberia, Harper occupies one of the most salubrious positions on the coast, standing on a hilly island connected by a strip of sand with the mainland. The roadstead is sheltered by the islet of Russwurm, which is separated from the headland by a navigable channel. The white houses of Harper are visible from the sea through the clusters of cocoa-nuts which have given their name to Cape Palmas. But landwards the horizon is everywhere bounded by the unbroken skyline of the woodlands. The chief station of the Protestant m^'ssions lies to the north-east, on the banks of the Cavally River, and above this point follow several other settlements as far as Bohlen, at the head of the fluvial navigation. Bohlen lies in a region of auriferous sands, which have not yet been explored, because the tutelar deity demands human victims, and in this land of petty republican confederacies men are too valuable to be thus sacrificed. (Win wood Reade.) Not far from the mouth of the Cavally rises the " Stone of the Great Devil," a rock pierced at the base, which is frequented by awe-stricken pilgrims from every part of the Kroo territory. Their presents of corals, glass beads, tobacco, rum, animals, when placed at the entrance of the grotto suddenly disappear in a mysterious way. The sound made by the hidden demon swallowing the offerings of his worshippers is distinctly heard, say the believers. Near the stone is also shown the twisted stem of a tree, which is stated to be an impious scoffer, who laughed at the miracle as the clumsy trick of some knavish priest concealed in the recesses of the cave. Administration. The Liberian constitution is slavishly modelled on that of the L^nited States, without the slightest original feature adapted to the difference of race and climate. The Government consists of a President and a Vice-President, each selected for a period of two years from the class of proprietors worth at least £120. The