Liberia <♦- 



of Islam more or less, without abandoning their initiation 

 ceremonies and "devil dances," The Goras also began to go 

 over to the Arabian religion, which many of them have adopted 

 at the present time ; and the Des, the great Kpwesi tribe in all its 

 various divisions, and all the Kru peoples remained aloof and 

 attached to the vague fetishistic beliefs which they still profess. 

 On the other hand, at Cape Palmas some slight progress was 

 made in Christianising the Grebo people, and the Rev. J. S. 

 Payne (who died in 1874), commenced in 1843 his somewhat 

 remarkable missionary labours amongst them. The cessation 

 of the slave trade and the remarkable activity of Governors 

 Roberts and Russwurm gave a considerable fillip to commerce 

 on the Liberian coast. The natives began to give up their 

 incessant internecine fighting (originally undertaken to supply 

 the slave market), and brought increasing quantities of palm oil, 

 palm kernels, and ivory to the coast. 



The definite establishment of a 6 per cent, ad valorem import 

 duty at the Customs Houses of Liberia provoked a crisis in the 

 status of the colony. British merchants who had come to 

 the country to trade scoffed openly at the idea of a Negro 

 Government, and refused to recognise the rights of Governor 

 Roberts or Governor Russwurm to submit their commerce to 

 any tax, or to interfere in any way with their engagement of 

 Kruboys or other more questionable acts still savouring of the 

 slave trade. They therefore set the Liberian authorities at 

 defiance. 



To deal with these and other problems affecting the 

 continued existence of Liberia, Governor Roberts paid a visit 

 to the United States in 1844, and in the same year an American 

 squadron visited the coast of Liberia. After Roberts returned 

 from America, he concluded an important agreement with the 

 chief Bob Gray, who had long been an ally and friend of 



192 



