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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Coast touches first at a Liberian port to 

 take on a hundred or so Km boys. 



These sturdy fellows take charge of 

 loading and unloading all the cargo at 

 the little ports down the coast as far as 

 Loanda, and are then brought hack to 

 Liberia, paid off, and sent ashore to await 

 the next southward-bound vessel. This 

 practice has been found necessary because 

 of the impossibility of white crews "work- 

 ing" the cargo in the terrific tropical heat. 



PHONOGRAPHS AND SEWING-MACHINES 



IN KRU HUTS 



The purser in signing the Km hoys 

 on the ship's articles gives them names 

 which he can spell and pronounce. Gen- 

 erally the Kru hoy is very proud or his 

 sailor name, using it forever after. Thus 

 one should not he surprised to find a Kru 

 seaman hearing the appellation Bill To- 

 bacco, Bottle Beer, Fifteen Cents, or per- 

 haps Soap Box. 



One of the largest Kru villages is Kru- 

 town, on the riverside near Monrovia, 

 where some three thousand of these 

 sailor folk and their families live. Due 

 to their industrious ways, they, of course, 

 have more money than other natives, and 

 hence their huts often boast phonographs 

 and sewing-machines, and their attire 

 includes several, if not all, of the neces- 

 sary articles of European dress. The 

 Kru seaman insists, however, upon wear- 

 ing the European shirt outside the 

 trousers. 



Kru homes are built by erecting four 

 posts, one at each corner, and fastening 

 between them large mats woven of bam- 

 boo splits. Grass and palm branches form 

 the roof, and there is a small entryway 

 at one corner, but usually no window. 

 The village is always gay and happy with 

 native dances going on to the thumping 

 of tom-toms in the rear of the huts. 



THE kpwesis are Liberia's bush men 



Another trait of the Krus is patriotism, 

 their love of country being so great as to 

 render almost fruitless efforts to induce 

 these valuable laborers to settle and re- 

 main in neighboring British and French 

 colonies. 



The third element, the Kpwesis, and 



kindred pagan tribes of the interior, of 

 which the most important branches are 

 the Zawquellis and Buzis, are still primi- 

 tive "bushmen." They are slender, wiry, 

 very black in color, and ol a low order 

 of intelligence, having petty jealousies. 

 which frequently lead to internecine war- 

 fare. 



They live in small villages, usually of 

 only fifteen to thirty huts, and raise 

 sufficient rice, sweet potatoes, and cassava 

 for food. Each male has as many wives 

 as he is able to buy, and the wives do 

 most of the work. 



Yet these are the tribes that inhabit 

 the regions where lies Liberia's natural 

 wealth; they are the ones who must he 

 brought into contact with the coastal 

 tribes and who must be taught to produce 

 and to supply the palm nuts, palm kernels, 

 palm oil, ivory, piassaba, rubber, and 

 other articles of trade. 



They are not entirely unwilling to assist 

 the government. During the last year of 

 the war, when steamers from Europe 

 were few and far between, there was a 

 great scarcity of rice for feeding the 

 frontier force. 



The price of the imported article was 

 twelve cents per pound — more than the 

 government could afford to pay. Word 

 was sent far into the interior to a certain 

 Kpwesis chief. He answered the call by 

 sending a caravan of two hundred of his 

 tribesmen to Monrovia — a distance of ioo 

 miles — on foot, every man carrying on 

 his head a parcel of 56 pounds of native 

 rice carefully packed in palm-leaf ham- 

 pers. 



Each of these carriers was given a 

 Liberian dime and a piece of cotton print 

 for his labor, and they returned highly 

 contented to their villages. This rice 

 cost the government about two cents per 

 pound, and the first caravan was only the 

 forerunner of others. 



Liberia, therefore, possesses the natural 

 resources. The will to develop them also 

 exists. These factors should create a new 

 era in this African country, especially if 

 Liberia's appeal for financial aid is suc- 

 cessful. A change for the better, develop- 

 ment along sound lines — these are things 

 that should take place in the Republic. 



