124 REPORT OF THE HARVARD AFRICAN EXPEDITION 
In sharp contrast with some other parts of Africa, the country is everywhere 
well supplied with clear, potable water. Palm wine made for the most part from 
the juice of the palm, Raphia vinifera, is freely partaken of. It varies greatly 
in aleoholie strength according to the length of time it has been fermented. 
Trade gin is everywhere sought after and highly prized. It is, however, prac- 
tically never obtainable in the interior of the country and is only occasionally 
brought in for trading purposes. Rum is sometimes made from the sugar cane 
raised locally. Severe drunkenness among Liberians in the interior is very un- 
common, but many of them become mildly intoxicated with palm wine. After 
drinking more than they should they generally lie down and go to sleep. They 
are rarely boisterous. 
Among the most important forest products commercially is palm oil, ob- 
tained from Elaeis guineensis. This is perhaps the most valuable palm in 
Liberia. The nuts furnish palm oil of two varieties, Boechina and Nechina, 
so valuable in the manufacture of European soap, oleomargarine, etc. The 
kernels of the nuts also supply another oil, one of whose commercial uses is 
in connection with the preparation of a special kind of steel. Unfortunately, 
the palm oil as it occurs in the nut itself is perishable unless extracted shortly 
after the nut is gathered, and hence must be extracted at or near the place at 
which the nut is grown. As furnished by the native Liberians, it is usually rancid 
and thus is often of little value for export. However, the oil in the kernels is 
more stable and cannot easily be injured by the natives, and, since the oil 
from them need not be extracted in the country, they are exported directly 
to the European factories. The uses of palm oil for food have already been 
referred to. Palm wine is also sometimes obtained from this species. 
The Raphia vinifera palm, which grows in greatest abundance particularly 
along the banks of a number of Liberian rivers, is another valuable product. It is 
used in building houses, the trunks for the framework, and the large ostrich 
plume-like fronds for the roofs. The bast furnishes the piassava fiber used in 
the manufacture of brushes and brooms. In 1925, 13,558,000 pounds of piassava 
fiber were exported, and 20,094,000 pounds of palm kernels, while only 672,606 
gallons of palm oil were exported. 
With the exception of rubber, the only important vegetable product ex- 
ported which does not come from plants or trees that grow wild, is coffee. In 
the earlier days of the colony, coffee had become the chief crop of commercial 
value, and upon its cultivation and marketing, much of the prosperity of the 
country is said to have depended. However, owing to the fall in the price of coffee, 
consequent on the development and extension of the coffee industry in Brazil, 
and especially to the poor quality of the coffee furnished by the Liberian planters, 
largely through neglect of the plantations and poor care of the crops collected, 
the trade rapidly declined. Since planters found themselves unable to produce 
coffee at the former satisfactory profit, the plantations of the Americo-Libe- 
rians after a few years fell into neglect. Native laborers were paid less, or not 
at all, and finally refused to work. Moreover, it was found that government 
service was not only more lucrative but required less labor, and the coffee 
