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GEOGRAPHY 
LIBERIA, with an area usually estimated at from 42,000 to 43,000 square miles, 
lies on the west coast of Africa, approximately between 4° 22’ to 8° 50’ north 
latitude, and 7° 33’ to 11° 32’ longitude west of Greenwich. It is bounded on the 
west by the British Colony of Sierra Leone, on the north and east by French 
Guinea and the Ivory Coast, and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean. 
The general trend of the coast line is from northwest to southeast, so that it 
is nearly parallel to the course taken by steamers plying between Europe and 
West and South Africa. The country has a coast line of about 350 miles which 
is little indented, and which possesses no natural harbors or points of sheltered 
anchorage; and the mouths of all rivers are closed to steamers by sand bars. 
The coast is in general low and monotonous and more or less broken up by 
lagoons and tidal creeks. Its monotony, however, is relieved as you travel south 
from the northern boundary by several capes and promontories which especially 
attract attention. Of these, Cape Mount with an altitude of 1,068 feet above 
the sea is by far the most striking. The next promontory of importance is Cape 
Mesurado, on the northwestern face of which the town of Monrovia is built. 
The headland, however, consists of hardly more than a series of cliffs from one 
hundred and forty to three hundred feet above sea level. Although there is 
no harbor, the shelter from the southeast formed by Cape Mesurado makes it 
safe for large vessels to anchor on the sandy bottom. In landing from steamers 
one must pass from such an anchorage in surf boats manned by Kru oarsmen, 
across the sand bar into the quiet waters of the Mesurado Lagoon. Still further 
southward, but to the east of the Sangwin River, is another promontory known 
as Baffu Point; and a fourth promontory is at Cape Palmas, near the southern 
boundary of the country. 
The coast and hinterland from just above Cape Mount and below Cape 
Palmas are divided into four unequal sections by four of the largest rivers which 
flow into the ocean. These are the Mano, St. Paul, St. John, and Cavalla. The 
Mano, after passing through thick forest country in the interior gains the sea 
a short distance above Cape Mount. The Mano River is virtually valueless as a 
navigable waterway, for it is usable only by small boats and canoes for a short 
distance from the sea. However, it is of geographical importance since through 
part of its course it forms the western boundary of the Republic. Travelling south- 
eastwardly along the coast one next reaches a small stream some thirty-five miles 
in length, known as the Mafa River which is also shallow and not navigable for 
any distance from the sea. It discharges its waters partly into a large lagoon 
known as Fisherman’s Lake, and partly into the ocean. In addition it gives rise 
to a long creek that runs parallel with the coast, and that is sometimes called the 
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