June 23, 1856.] CAPE PALMAS. 99 



Mr. Smith arrived here from America in the fall of 1850, and now, after 

 only two years, he has nine acres carefully planted with coffee trees, which, 

 in two years more, promise to yield an abundant crop. This man, working 

 hard all the time from his first arrival, has suffered less from the fever thau 

 many idlers, who make the latter disease an excuse for their avoiding exercise. 

 Sugar might also he raised advantageously in the colony ; but it is true that 

 this would require machinery, and consequently an outlay of capital beyond 

 the reach of most of the settlers. A coloured gentleman, one of the chief 

 palm-oil traders of this place, seemed to think, however, that the want of 

 machinery was but a minor obstacle ; " for," said he, " what our people want 

 more than sugar mills, and what it would be more difficult to give them, is 

 energy and perseverance to plant, keep the plantatioDs clean, and cut the 

 cane." 



The astonishing discrepancy which manifests itself in the progress of this 

 colony and that of its more northerly sister, Monrovia, can only be accounted 

 for by taking into consideration the difference of the sources from which the 

 populations of both are derived. Monrovia, Marshall, and Bassa Cove have 

 been settled by the American Colonization Society ; Sinou, by those of Penn- 

 sylvania and Mississippi. In these places, therefore, a large part of the 

 inhabitants consists of highly-educated persons from the free states, where 

 the coloured f)eople are not in the same measure deprived of schools and 

 facilities for acquiring useful knowledge, as in the southern or slave states. 

 The settlement at Cape Palmas having been formeji by the Maryland Colo- 

 nization Society, with a view to be chiefly peopled by the coloured inha- 

 bitants of the state of Maryland, the bulk of the colonists consists of fonner 

 slaves who have been manumitted only a short time previous to their emigra- 

 tion from America. The few educated men who have come to this colony are 

 mainly engaged either in the coasting trade or in the management of Govern- 

 ment business ; and I think it reflects the highest credit on the leading men 

 of this community, that during the twenty-one years from the first settlement 

 down to the present day, not a single shot, nor even angry word, has been 

 exchanged with the surrounding native tribes. 1'his lucky result is doubt- 

 less owing, in part, to the restraint put on the traffic in rum. On the whole, 

 I think, brighter days may confidently be looked for. Several missionary 

 societies have established schools in the colony, and are doing their best to 

 enlighten the minds and understandings of the growing generation. There are 

 now four places of worship in the colony : two belonging to the Episcopal 

 Church, one Baptist, and one Methodist chapel. Another church, belonging to 

 the latter .congregation, is in course of erection. Of these three different 

 churches the two latter confine themselves to service in the colony ; the 

 Episcopal is the only one attending to the conversion of the natives. There 

 are two more stations of this church near Cape Palmas — one at Eocktown, 

 and one at Cavally. The latter is a bishopric. 



The total number of inhabitants, exclusive of natives, is at present little 

 more than 1000 ; the annual immigration amounts to about 60. The farming 

 establishment of the colonists extends 3 miles into the interior in an E.N.E. 

 direction. Last year, the colony declared itself independent, and elected its 

 own governor, who is, however, as formerly, paid by the Colonization Society. 

 Of late, the question of annexation to the Northern Republic has been dis- 

 cussed, but the Liberian government insists upon this colony being annexed 

 as a county, while the public opinion here is in favour of forming a federal 

 state like the American union. As a reason for refusing to join Liberia as a 

 county, it is asserted that the centralized form of government, introduced into 

 the latter by the new constitution, might injure the interests of the Cape 

 Palmas colony. 



As to commerce, the exports consist in palm-oil, camwood, and occasion- 

 ally a little rice (which might be procured in any quantity, being extensively - 



