250 LIBERIA. 



in color. The appearance of this rock, especially where it is revealed 

 by the roads which the Americo-Liberians have cleared in the coast 

 region, is curiously pitted and honeycombed. It is hard, becoming 

 especially indurated on exjDosure, and this makes it a good surface for 

 road making, as it does not degenerate into mud. Very little is known 

 about the possible mineral wealth of Liberia up to the present time, as 

 the extremely dense forest of the interior is a great obstacle to a rapid 

 survey of the country. Apart from hematite iron, which appears to 

 exist nearly everywhere, there are traces of gold in the mud of the 

 rivers, and native stories assert the existence of alluvial gold in the 

 Mandingo uplands beyond the forest region. Lead has been dis- 

 covered recently in the Kelipo country in eastern Liberia, and zinc ore 

 in the vicinity of Monrovia. In the Kavalli region there is a great 

 deal of corundum in the rocks. It has been alleged that a diamond 

 was discovered in the hills behind Grand Basa by a Liberian; but as 

 yet no confirmation of this discovery has reached me ; nor have I been 

 able to ascertain where the copper comes from which is used to a 

 limited extent in some of theMandingo weapons from the far interior. 

 The Liberian forests contain most of the West African timber trees. 

 Such ebony as is exported, however, does not seem to be so good as 

 that which is derived from the genus Diospyros. It is very probably 

 derived from a papilionaceous tree belonging to the botanical genus of 

 Dalbergia." The wealth of this forest in india-rubber-producing trees, 

 vines, and bushes is without parallel in any other part of Africa, unless 

 it be one or two small areas of the Kongo basin. Counting the four 

 rubber-producing figs, there appear to be at least twenty-tAvo trees, 

 plants, or vines which j^roduce saleable rubber. These species include 

 the well-known and widespread LandoJphia oioarieyisis and the mag- 

 nificent Funtumia elastica, the rubber tree once so abundant in Lagos 

 colony. The Funtumia elastica is stated to groAv to over 200 feet in 

 height. It closely resembles in appearance the allied species Funtumia 

 africana, but there is a very considerable difference in the price of the 

 rubber yielded by the one and the other — the rubber derived from Fun- 

 tumia africana may, perhaps, be sold for 18 pence a pound, but the 

 well-prepared rubber of Funtumia elastica ranges in value from 8 to 

 4 shillings. The distinctive features of the leaves, flowers, and fruit, 

 which enable the observer to decide whether he is tapping the valu- 

 able or the valueless Funtuwjia^ will shortly be illustrated in my book 

 on Liberia. The range of the Funtumia elastica appears to extend 

 from the middle of Liberia eastward as far as western Uganda. It 

 is found in a portion of the Bahr-al-Ghazal region and in the northern 



« There are two species of ebony-producing Dalhergia in Liberia, one of which 

 has just been discovered by an agent of the Monrovian Rubber Company — Dal- 

 bergla Uberica. 



