I 



-»> Governors of Liberia 



He had been on a vessel to Marshall, at the mouth of the 

 Junk River, and here had narrowly escaped drowning in the 

 surf, his soaking with sea water being followed by exposure 

 to drenching rain. He returned to Basa very ill with fever, 

 recovered somewhat, and then imprudently left his sick-room 

 to resume business before he was properly convalescent. He 

 was seized with a relapse, and after a tough struggle for life 

 died, to the deep regret of natives and colonists alike along 

 the coast regions of Liberia. After him were named the 

 two principal Liberian settlements at Grand Basa — Upper and 

 Lower Buchanan. He was the last of the white administrators 

 of Liberia. 



His successor in the Governorship was General Joseph 

 Jenkins Roberts, the first man of colour ^ to rule Liberia. 

 He was a native of Virginia, born in 1809. He came to 

 Liberia as a young man of twenty years old in 1829. Roberts 

 at first was a trader, had seen something of the nearer interior 

 in this capacity, and had developed very friendly relations with 

 several native chiefs. Entering the Liberian Militia, he rose 

 rapidly to a position of command, and was already a " General " 

 in 1839 when he was placed by Buchanan at the head of the 

 troops which delivered such a spirited attack on Gatumba's 

 stronghold. His success in the armed forces marked him out 

 very naturally as the leading man of the colony in succession 

 to Buchanan. Fie took up the reins of office as soon as the 

 news reached Monrovia of Buchanan's death, and was later 

 on confirmed in the position of Governor by the American 

 Colonisation Society. 



He had not been in office many months when he was 



• His tinge of Negro blood was but slight. He is generally called an 

 octoroon, and at the age of (say) forty was a slight-built, handsome man with 

 a very English-looking face, brown hair, blonde moustache and grey eyes. As 

 he grew older and stayed longer in Africa he became more sallow in complexion, 



