"Now for Liberia," he continued. "The first settlement in the republic was made in 1820 by the American Colonization Society, which sent some emancipated negroes there. A 'declaration of independence' was made in 1847, and the Republic of Liberia was organized much after the form of the United States. The President holds office four years, the same as with us; there is a regular staff of cabinet officers, and a Senate and House of Representatives. The country extends about six hundred miles along the coast, and has a population of seven hundred and twenty thousand. Seven hundred thousand of them are aborigines, and the rest are negroes from the United States, and their descendants.
MONROVIA, LIBERIA.
"Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, contains about thirteen thousand inhabitants, and has schools, colleges, churches, and the like, similar to Sierra Leone. The colony has been fairly prosperous, and the republic has made treaties of commerce with the principal nations of Europe and America. If you want to know more about it there are several books which give its history in detail."
Frank said he had heard quite as much as he was likely to remember, and with this remark the lesson on the history of the colonies of Sierra Leone and Liberia came to an end.
The Doctor asked Fred what he had learned relative to the healthiness of the African coast, or rather of that part of it which was under discussion.
