98 CAPE PALMAS. [June 23, 1856. 



ADDITIONAL NOTICES. 



1. The Cape Palmas Settlement of Liberated Negroes. By Philip 



SCHONLEIN. 



^Communicated by Dr. Hodgkin, f.r.g.s. 



Cape Palmas, 28th September, 1855. 

 The apparent object of the Colonization Society, in re-transporting tlie coloured 

 people to the land of their fathers, has been, I think, to make them cultivate 

 the soil, and thereby not only to improve their own condition, but to set the 

 natives an example of the blessings of agriculture. This, however, has been 

 attained in a very limited degree, the chief obstacle being the facility for 

 making money on a small scale afforded by the trade with the natives. It 

 seems that this evil has been fully foreseen by the Society, for I found 

 in its ' Collection of Ordinances ' a clause which forbids trade with the 

 natives, except in articles of food, to all but those who had taken out 

 a licence. I think, however, the exact line of distinction between articles of 

 food and those adapted for commerce is difficult to mark out, especially in 

 Africa, where the very same fruit, the palm-nut, furnishes the chief commer- 

 cial commodity, and, at the same time, an important national dish — the so- 

 called palm-butter. However that may be, ever since the declaration of 

 independence that law has been entirely disregarded. At present, by far the 

 greater part of the settlers confine themselves to the cultivation of fruits and 

 vegetables, little exceeding in quantity their own wants ; for the rest of their 

 earnings they depend on the trade with the natives, either by carrying it on 

 on a small scale for their own account, or by working on board one of the 

 small coasting vessels belonging to the wealthier members of the community. 

 In general, the poorer classes of the people here, prefer working for wages to 

 working on their own farms. One of them said very significantly, when he 

 spent a day in planting potatoes in his own garden, he got the worth of his 

 day's labour only in three months, by selling the potatoes ; but when he 

 worked in another man's emplo}--, he got his pay at the end of the week. A 

 great number of the colonists, especially mechanics, are constantly employed 

 at Government works, or at buildings erected at the expense and for the pur- 

 pose of the difi'erent missionary societies. The best proof that I could allege 

 for the truth of what I have mentioned is the fact, that notwithstanding a 

 peaceable existence of twenty-one years, the colony does not produce a single 

 penny's-worth of the merchandise exported, it being entirely derived from 

 the trade with the natives. And yet the soil throughout the colony is emi- 

 nently fertile : all African and West Indian fruits and vegetables grow 

 luxuriantly, but they are raised on so small a scale that foreign vessels trading 

 on this coast seldom, if ever, take in fresh provisions at Cape Palmas, on 

 account of their being too dear. Indigo is growing wild on the Cape, covering 

 acres of ground ; the senna shrub and the castor-oil plant may be seen every- 

 where. But it has been found out that the soil is particularly well fitted for the 

 cultivation of coffee. The bean is said to be of a better flavour than that grown 

 in the Brazils ; besides that, the tree grows faster and yields a more abundant 

 crop than in the latter country. Notwithstanding this important discovery, 

 coffee is but little cultivated, and those whogi-ow it at all, have, for the greater 

 part, but a few trees in their gardens, producing one or two dozen pounds a 

 year. Here, however, I am glad to have to state an honourable exception, 

 which shows what can be done in a comparatively short time. 



