4 REPORT OF THE HARVARD AFRICAN EXPEDITION 
No survey had yet been made of the diseases which afflict human beings, 
animals, or plants in the interior of Liberia, and the fauna and flora had not been 
fully investigated. Moreover, there was no record that any scientific medical 
expedition had been made into the interior of Liberia. But aside from our lack 
of medical and biological knowledge regarding the interior of Liberia there were 
several other reasons why it seemed advisable to the writer to conduct an 
expedition from the United States into that country. 
First, Liberia is the only negro republic in Africa, and was founded in 1821 
as an American colony at what is now the capital of the country, Monrovia. 
With the exception of Haiti, in which the United States has also been interested, 
it is the only negro republic in the world. 
Second, since the Treaty of Versailles, the United States has been acting as 
the adviser in Liberian affairs, especially with reference to financial questions. 
Third, Liberia may become an important source of supply of rubber to this 
country, for it is a great rubber-producing country, and Mr. Harvey 8. Firestone 
of Akron, Ohio, has acquired a ninety-nine-year lease of a million acres of land 
there, upon which to raise rubber. 
Fourth, the International Loan of 1912 has been refunded and replaced by a 
new loan from the Finance Corporation of America, with the National City 
Bank of New York acting as fiscal agent. 
Our observations and studies were made both along the seacoast and in the 
interior of Liberia; the country was crossed in three directions, and investiga- 
tions were carried out along the way, from base camps established at strategic 
points. Entering at Monrovia we travelled first to the northeastern part of the 
country, bordering upon French Guinea at Garmu and Banga, then to the east- 
ern border at Sauro, touching the hinterland of the Ivory Coast, and thence 
southward to the coast at Sino (Greenville), and northwest to Cape Mount. 
Map II roughly illustrates the routes which we followed in the interior. It is per- 
haps superfluous to say that there is no trustworthy map of the hinterland of 
Liberia. The greater part of the country has not been accurately surveyed from 
a geographical standpoint, and most of the prominent features are inaccurately 
placed on the various maps obtainable. Those maps which are published illus- 
trating the interior of the country are grossly inadequate and incorrect. The 
sources and courses of rivers, the heights of mountains, the situations and posi- 
tions of towns are usually apparently hypothetical. We found that the names 
of the great majority of the towns and villages in the interior, inscribed on the 
published maps were unknown to the inhabitants of the regions concerned. The 
map of Liberia published in this Report has been prepared largely by some of 
the engineers of the Firestone Plantations Company and by members of this 
Expedition, particularly Dr. Shattuck, Mr. Whitman, and Dr. Bequaert. While 
obviously incorrect in many details since no geographical surveys were con- 
ducted in the central portions of the country, it gives a more nearly correct idea 
of the names and situations of the towns and villages in the interior than any 
other map available. 
After the investigations had been completed in Liberia, the route travelled 
