LIBERIA, a negro republic in West Africa, extending along the coast of northern Guinea about 300 m., between the British colony of Sierra Leone on the N.W. and the French colony of the Ivory Coast on the S.E. The westernmost point of Liberia (at the mouth of the river Mano) lies in about 6° 55′ N. and 11° 32′ W. The southernmost point of Liberia, and at the same time almost its most eastern extension, is at the mouth of the Cavalla, beyond Cape Palmas, only 4° 22′ N. of the equator, and in about 7° 33′ W. The width of Liberia inland varies very considerably; it is greatest, about 200 m., from N.E. to S.W. The Liberia-Sierra Leone boundary was determined by a frontier commission in 1903. Commencing at the mouth of the river Mano, it follows the Mano up stream till that river cuts 10° 40′ W. It then followed this line of longitude to its intersection with N. latitude 9° 6′, but by the Franco-Liberian understanding of 1907 the frontier on this side was withdrawn to 8° 25′ N., where the river Makona crosses 10° 40’ W. The Liberian frontier with the adjacent French possessions was defined by the Franco-Liberian treaty of 1892, but as the definition therein given was found to be very difficult of reconciliation with geographical features (for in 1892 the whole of the Liberian interior was unmapped) further negotiations were set on foot. In 1905 Liberia proposed to France that the boundary line should follow the river Moa from the British frontier of Sierra Leone up stream to near the source of the Moa (or Makona), and that from this point the boundary should run eastwards along the line of water-parting between the system of the Niger on the north and that of the coast rivers (Moa, Lofa, St Paul’s) on the south, until the 8th degree of N. latitude was reached, thence following this 8th degree eastwards to where it cuts the head stream of the Cavalla river. From this point the boundary between France and Liberia would be the course of the Cavalla river from near its source to the sea. Within the limits above described Liberia would possess a total area of about 43,000 to 45,000 sq. m. But after deliberation and as the result of certain “frontier incidents” France modified her counter-proposals in 1907, and the actual definition of the northern and eastern frontiers of Liberia is as follows:—
Starting from the point on the frontier of the British colony of Sierra Leone where the river Moa or Makona crosses that frontier, the Franco-Liberian frontier shall follow the left bank of the river Makona up stream to a point 5 kilometres to the south of the town of Bofosso. From this point the frontier shall leave the line of the Makona and be carried in a south-easterly direction to the source of the most north-westerly affluent of the Nuon river or Western Cavalla. This line shall be so drawn as to leave on the French side of the boundary the following towns: Kutumai, Kisi Kurumai, Sundibú, Zuapa, Nzibila, Koiama, Bangwedu and Lola. From the north-westernmost source of the Nuon the boundary shall follow the right bank of the said Nuon river down stream to its presumed confluence with the Cavalla, and thenceforward the right bank of the river Cavalla down to the sea. If the ultimate destination of the Nuon is not the Cavalla river, then the boundary shall follow the right bank of the Nuon down stream as far as the town of Tuleplan. A line shall then be drawn from the southern outskirts of the town of Tuleplan due E. to the Cavalla river, and thence shall follow the right bank of the Cavalla river to the sea.
(The delimitation commission proved that the Nuon does not flow into the Cavalla, but about 6° 30′ N. it flows very near the north-westernmost bend of that river. Tuleplan is in about lat. 6° 50′ N. The river Makona takes a much more northerly course than had been estimated. The river Nuon also is situated 20 or 30 m. farther to the east than had been supposed. Consequently the territory of Liberia as thus demarcated is rather larger than it would appear on the uncorrected English maps of 1907—about 41,000 sq. m.)
It is at the southern extremity of Liberia, Cape Palmas, that the West African coast from Morocco to the southernmost extremity of Guinea turns somewhat abruptly eastwards and northwards and faces the Gulf of Guinea. As the whole coastline of Liberia thus fronts the sea route from Europe to South Africa it is always likely to possess a certain degree of strategical importance. The coast, however, is unprovided with a single good harbour. The anchorage at Monrovia is safe, and with some expenditure of money a smooth harbour could be made in front of Grand Basa.
Coast Features.—The coast is a good deal indented, almost all the headlands projecting from north-east to south-west. A good deal of the seaboard is dangerous by reason of the sharp rocks which lie near the surface. As most of the rivers have rapids or falls actually at the sea coast or close to it, they are, with the exception of the Cavalla, useless for penetrating far inland, and the whole of this part of Africa from Cape Palmas north-west to the Senegal suggests a sunken land. In all probability the western projection of Africa was connected by a land bridge with the opposite land of Brazil as late as the Eocene period of the Tertiary epoch. The Liberian coast has few lagoons compared with the adjoining littoral of Sierra Leone or that of the Ivory Coast. The coast, in fact, rises in some places rather abruptly from the sea. Cape Mount (on the northern side of which is a large lagoon—Fisherman Lake) at its highest point is 1050 ft. above sea level. Cape Mesurado is about 350 ft., Cape Palmas about 200 ft. above the sea. There is a salt lake or lagoon between the Cape Palmas river and the vicinity of the Cavalla. Although very little of the coast belt is actually swampy, a kind of natural canalization connects many of the rivers at their mouths with each other, though some of these connecting creeks are as yet unmarked on maps. Mountains.—Although there are patches of marsh—generally the swampy bottoms of valleys—the whole surface of Liberia inclines to be hilly or even mountainous at a short distance inland from the coast. In the north-east, French explorers have computed the altitudes of some mountains at figures which would make them the highest land surfaces of the western projection of Africa—from 6000 to 9000 ft. But these altitudes are largely matters of conjecture. The same mountains have been sighted by English explorers coming up from the south and are pronounced to be “very high.” It is possible that they may reach to 6000 ft. in some places. Between the western bend of the Cavalla river and the coast there is a somewhat broken mountain range with altitudes of from 2000 to 5000 ft. (approximate). The Pō range to the west of the St Paul’s river may reach in places to 3000 ft. Rivers.—The work of the Franco-Liberian delimitation commission in 1908–1909 cleared up many points connected with the hydrography of the country. Notably it traced the upper Cavalla, proving that that river was not connected either with the Nuon on the west or the Ko or Zo on the east. The upper river and the left bank of the lower river of the Cavalla are in French territory. It rises in about 7° 50′ N., 8° 30′ W. in the Nimba mountains, where also rise the Nuon, St John’s and Dukwia rivers. After flowing S.E. the Cavalla, between 7° and 6° N., under the name of Dugu, makes a very considerable elbow to the west, thereafter resuming its south-easterly course. It is navigable from the sea for some 80 m. from its mouth and after a long series of rapids is again navigable. Unfortunately the Cavalla does not afford a means of easy penetration into the rich hinterland of Liberia on account of the bad bar at its mouth. The Nuon (or Nipwe), which up to 1908 was described sometimes as the western Cavalla and sometimes as the upper course of the St John’s river, has been shown to be the upper course of the Cestos. About 6° 30′ N. it approaches within 16 m. of the Cavalla. It rises in the Nimba mountains some 10 m. S. of the source of the Cavalla, and like all the Liberian rivers (except the Cavalla) it has a general S.W. flow. The St Paul, though inferior to the Cavalla in length, is a large river with a considerable volume of water. The main branch rises in the Beila country nearly as far north as 9° N. under the name of Diani. Between 8° and 7° N. it is joined by the Wé from the west and the Walé from the east. The important river Lofa flows nearly parallel with the St Paul’s river and enters the sea about 40 m. to the west, under the name of Little Cape Mount river. The Mano or Bewa river rises in the dense Gora forest, but is of no great importance until it becomes the frontier between Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Dukwia and Farmington are tortuous rivers entering the sea under the name of the river Junk (Portuguese, Junco). The Farmington is a short stream, but the Dukwia is believed to be the lower course of the Mani, which rises as the Tigney (Tige), north of the source of the Cavalla, just south of 8° N. The St John’s river of the Basa country appears to be of considerable importance and volume. The Sino river rises in the Niete mountains and brings down a great volume of water to the sea, though it is not a river of considerable length. The Duobe rises at the back of the Satro Mountains and flows nearly parallel with the Cavalla, which it joins. The Moa or Makona river is a fine stream of considerable volume, but its course is perpetually interrupted by rocks and rapids. Its lower course is through the territory of Sierra Leone, and it enters the sea as the Sulima. Climate and Rainfall.—Liberia is almost everywhere well watered. The climate and rainfall over the whole of the coast region for about 120 m. inland are equatorial, the rainfall in the western half of the country being about 150 in. per annum and in the eastern half about 100 in. North of a distance of about 120 m. inland the climate is not quite so rainy, and the weather is much cooler during the dry season. This region beyond the hundred-miles coast belt is far more agreeable and healthy to Europeans. Forests.—Outside a coast belt of about 20 m. and south of 8° N. the country is one vast forest, except where the natives have cleared the land for cultivation. In many districts the land has been cleared and cultivated and then abandoned, and has relapsed into scrub and jungle which is gradually returning to the condition of forest. The densest forest of all would seem to be that known as Gora,
