XII 
GEOLOGY AND FLORA 
No careful geological investigations have been made in many parts of Liberia, 
but no minerals are known to occur there in sufficient quantities to be of such 
great commercial value as to justify their being worked. Yet, a government 
announcement was published in the Liberian News for April 1925, which read 
in part as follows: ‘‘The Republic of Liberia, the Garden of West Africa, 400 
miles of Atlantic seacoast. It has the most fertile soil in West Africa. Its 
hinterland is covered with virgin forest. . .. Diamonds, gold, coal, iron, 
mica, and precious stones of every description have been discovered. Further 
information can be obtained from the chief Bureau of Information, Department 
of State, Liberia.”’ 
We saw evidences that prospectors had sought for minerals in a number 
of places in the interior, — plainly without success. A few years ago a small 
diamond deposit was found near the St. Paul River and a small gold mine 
near Careysberg, both not far from the coast. Although the mines were worked 
for a few years, nothing of great value was obtained from either of them and 
they have since been abandoned. However, granite, quartz, and mica are found 
in some parts of the interior and specimens of haematite have been obtained 
from central Liberia where, particularly in former years, the natives used to 
make use of this iron stone in the manufacture of knives, spear heads, hoes, 
and so forth. 
The prevailing surface soil lying above the layers of granite or quartz con- 
sists for the most part of decomposed laterite, with more or less disintegrated 
organic material, and is interspersed with varying quantities of gravel and 
occasionally with small stones. Consequently, the soil in general is of a reddish 
or soft brown color, the redness of which varies according to the amount of 
the particles of oxidized iron which it contains. In other areas the soil is charac- 
terized by a layer of dark organic mold. This remark particularly applies to 
the soil around and among the hard brown laterite rocks seen near the coast. 
In still other regions, particularly on the banks of rivers, the soft black leaf 
mold prevails and constitutes a very rich nutritious soil. In other localities 
the laterite soil contains a variable proportion of clay or of sand which gives 
it a particularly sticky consistency when moist, and a lighter color. This soil, 
while not so rich as the leaf mold, gives rise to many herbaceous plants and 
is satisfactory for the cultivation of ordinary crops, particularly when it is 
mixed with the ashes of the natural vegetation. 
Near the coast a friable sandy soil occurs which is also found in certain 
parts of the interior, where outcrops of sandstone are also sometimes seen. 
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