THE LAND OF THE FREE IN AFRICA 



413 



Phelps-Stokes Fund Photograph 

 THE EXECUTIVE MANSION AT MONROVIA 

 The official residence of the President of Liberia, like our White House, has an "East Room." 



found to be a perfect "blue-white" speci- 

 men. It would appear, therefore, that 

 Liberia is in the position of a multimil- 

 lionaire owning block after block of prop- 

 erty on Broadway, but who finds himself 

 in need of borrowing the necessary capital 

 to develop it. 



That the Republic should first come to 

 America for aid is not unnatural. No- 

 where in the world can there be found a 

 foreign country so like the United States 

 in history, language, customs, and form 

 of government. After traveling up the 

 West African coast, touching at ports 

 in British, French, Belgian, and Portu- 

 guese colonies, all of which are decidedly 

 foreign, distinctly West African, and al- 

 together " far-away" and different in char- 

 acter, most Americans experience, when 

 the slow West Coast steamer turns its 

 nose into Monrovia . Bay (see Map of 

 Africa, B-8, issued as a supplement with 

 this number of The Geographic) , a 

 feeling of being much nearer home than 

 the 4,000 miles which actually separates 

 him from the nearest American ports. 



The steamer, cautiously approaching 

 the shore, finally drops anchor and awaits 



a brave little surfboat, pulled by twenty 

 stalwart natives in white duck uniforms, 

 at first a tiny speck in the huge waves 

 churning so threateningly over the dan- 

 gerous bar. This feeling of interest is in- 

 tensified when the boat approaches nearer 

 and a flag is made out at its stern, so like 

 the Stars and Stripes as to be readily mis- 

 taken for it. The Liberian emblem, how- 

 ever, has only eleven stripes and one lone 

 star. 



Next the customs officer approaches — 

 his English is decidedly American in ac- 

 cent — and demands that each passenger 

 landing in Liberia prove that he has $100 

 in his possession. This requirement safe- 

 guards the little Republic from having to 

 care for public charges. And he doesn't 

 speak of pounds, francs, or pesetas, either ; 

 he says, in plain American, "one hundred 

 dollars" — another link with home, the 

 only place in Africa where the currency is 

 the same as ours ! 



uberia's capital named for president 



MONROE 



Monrovia, the capital, named for an 

 illustrious American President, is the 



