XI 
TRAVEL IN THE INTERIOR AND CARE 
OF PERSONNEL 
As there were no completed automobile roads anywhere in the interior of 
Liberia, all our travelling with the exception of one journey made by canoe and 
launch up a partly navigable river, was done on foot, and our baggage and 
equipment were carried on the heads or backs of porters, in loads not exceeding 
sixty pounds in weight. Heavier loads were strung on poles and carried on 
the shoulders or heads of two or even four men. In some regions it was found 
advisable and even necessary to reduce the load considerably. The men usually 
performed very well marches of five or six hours. In some parts of the country, 
however, it was necessary to shorten the day’s march and in others to lengthen 
it. Among some of the tribes women largely replaced the men as porters. We 
did not at any time make use of chairs. None of the members of the Expedi- 
tion were ever carried; we saved all of our native man power for the transport 
of luggage and supplies and for other work of the Expedition. All the porters 
proved to be honest; that is no man ever absconded with his load. Numbers 
of them ran away at different times, particularly when in the forest and isolated 
districts, but they always left their loads in plain sight either on the trail or 
near it where it could later be recovered. We had at times as many as three 
hundred and fifty loads, because in going into an unknown country we had 
to carry not only our scientific and camp equipment, but also food supplies. 
It was also necessary to carry some five thousand dollars in silver coins, shillings, 
and six-pence pieces, but although the porters knew that they were carrying 
silver, they never either lost or stole any of it. The tobacco which we carried 
and which was also used as currency, was probably a greater temptation for 
them than the money. 
It was customary for the porters to carry either from village to village, or 
within the territories of their own tribe. They would seldom go further than 
the first village beyond their own boundaries. This was obviously due both to 
custom and to fear that they would be detained or retained by the neighboring 
tribe. There was no active and open hostility between any of the interior tribes, 
but even when at peace, they usually associate little with one another, and if 
a stray outsider is caught in a village away from his tribe, he may very likely 
be held by the chief as a slave until ransomed by his own people. When the 
porters travel in a body they apparently feel more courageous than when 
one or two are alone and, as stated, will often carry to the first village beyond 
their borders. However, they never tarry long in the strange village and in 
some districts they start back immediately. Each group of porters from a 
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