LEEWAHDLY CHARACTER OF THE STEAMERS. 89 
said to be not unhealthy at present, though the first 
settlers suffered very severely from remittent and inter- 
mittent fevers, until those who survived became seasoned ; 
they are even now not unfrequent. 
The dangerous nature of the bar at the mouth of the 
river, which must be crossed before landing, made it 
quite impossible to procure wood for fuel. Our light 
boats even were in considerable peril in landing the 
officers. 
One object of our visit to Liberia was however 
attained ; Mr. Carr secured the services of two volun- 
teers for the model farm. One of these, Ralph Moore, 
had been accustomed to the management of cotton 
plantations, on the banks of the Mississippi. He was 
an intelligent, well-conducted negro. 
We gladly availed ourselves of an opportunity of 
sending letters to England by a brig which sailed from 
this place. 
July 6. — At 5 P.M. we left Monrovia. Contrary 
winds soon made us sensible of the impossibility of 
making much progress under sail, owing to the pecu- 
liar construction of the vessels, which were necessarily 
more calculated for river, than sea navigation. We 
made long tacks and short tacks, “ long legs and short 
legs,” hoping to creep along shore, but in the morning 
we found ourselves abreast of the point we had seen 
near us on the preceding evening — so prone were the 
vessels to the odious and disreputable habit of making 
leeway. Nothing would get them to windward but 
