this number, reckoning the Africans sent out by the Government, five hundred and thirty-three have been introduced since our last anniversary. Of course, three hundred and ninety-one have, the year past, been transported by the Society. To have added a larger number to the infant Colony, during the same period, even had the Society possessed the most ample means, would, in the opinion of the Managers, have been inexpedient. They doubt not, however, that every ensuing year may witness a considerable increase of emigration, without injury to the Colony.

The Managers rejoice to state, that Liberia and the adjacent country possess resources sufficient to meet the necessities of a very numerous population. On this subject, the Board beg leave to make a short extract from an Address of the Colonists to the Free People of Colour of the United States, dated the 27th August, 1827: "Away with all the false notions that are circulating about the barrenness of this country; they are the observations of such ignorant or designing men as would injure both it and you. A more fertile soil, and a more productive country, so far as it is cultivated, there is not, we believe, on the face of the earth.Even the natives of the country, almost without farming tools, without skill, and with very little labour, make more grain and vegetables than they can consume, and often more than they can sell. Cattle, swine, fowls, ducks, goats, and sheep, thrive without feeding, and require no other care than to keep them from straying. Cotton, coffee, indigo, and the sugar cane, are all the spontaneous growth of our forests; and may be cultivated at pleasure, to any extent, by such as are disposed. The same may be said of rice, Guinea corn, millet, and too many species of fruits and vegetables to be enumerated. Nature is here constantly renewing herself, and constantly pouring her treasures into the laps of the industrious."

In confirmation of this testimony, might be adduced the opinions of many disinterested individuals who have visited the Colony; yet, considering the fact, that, while neglected almost entirely, as has been the agriculture of this part of Africa, in consequence of the slave trade, African provisions can, at present, be purchased cheaper, by one-half, than American, none will question its truth. Fine cattle may be bought at a little distance from the Colony, at from three to six dollars the head; rice, of the best quality, for less than a dollar the bushel; and palm oil, answering all the uses of butter and lard, for culinary purposes, at twenty cents per gallon, equal, in cookery, to six pounds of butter. "The Colony is wholly supplied with coffee from its own limits." It grows without culture in great profusion, and may be purchased of the natives at about five cents the pound. The settlers find their time too valuable to be employed in gathering it, yet, in the opinion of Mr. Ashmun, it may, should no new plantations be made, finally be exported, in considerable quantities, from the Colony.

Agriculture, it must be confessed, has received too little attention. The reasons of this are found in the perplexed and difficult circumstances of the earliest settlers; the unfavourable nature of the lands of the Cape; the habits of many who first emigrated, acquired by their long residence in our large cities, and the ignorance of all, of the modes of cultivation best adapted to the climate and productions of Africa; the necessity

of employing time in the erection of houses and fortifications; and, above all, the strong temptation to engage in the very profitable trade of the country.

The inhabitants of Caldwell, and the other settle. ments on Stockton creek, are beginning to engage in this pursuit with great decision and energy; and enough has already been accomplished to prove, that we have not overrated, in the preceding remarks, the productiveness of Africa; and that time, experience, and effort, alone are requisite to realize all the advantages enjoyed by the cultivators of the soil, in the most fertile and favoured tropical countries.

The trade of the Colony is rapidly increasing, and to this is it principally indebted for its present remarkable prosperity. "It is carried on (say the Colonists, in their late address,) in the productions of the country, consisting of rice, palm oil, ivory, tortoise shell, dye woods, gold, hides, wax, and a small amount of coffee; and it brings us, in return, the products and manufactures of the four quarters of the world. Seldom, indeed, is our harbour clear of European and American vessels; and the bustle and thronging of our streets, show something, already, of the activity of the smaller seaports of the United States."

By means of this trade the Managers are informed, that many of the colonists have, in the course of three or four years, acquired property to the amount of several thousand dollars, each; and that there exists, throughout the settlements, an abundance, not only of the necessaries, but of the comforts, and not a few of the luxuries of life. The great advantages of this traffic are manifest from the fact, that the Colonial Agent estimates the annual nett profits of a small schooner, employed by him, in conveying articles for barter to several factories established under the authority of the Colony, to the leeward of Monrovia, and bringing in return the supplies accumulated in exchange for these articles, at $4,700, a sum nearly adequate to defray the expense of the whole organization for the public service, both for the United States' Agency, and the Colonial Government. In consequence of an injury done to the schooner, this intercourse has been for a season discontinued, but is probably resumed before the present time. The possession of larger vessels would, doubtless, add immensely to the trade of the country, and the interests of the Colony.

The Board rejoice to state, that three new fortifications, and thirteen public buildings, exclusive of the churches, are either completed already, or so far advanced as to authorize the expectation that they will be finished in the course of the year. Forty workmen, says Mr. Ashmun, in a letter of March last, are employed in erecting them. In the expense of many of these, it is true, (being indispensable to the fulfilment of the benevolent objects of its Agency,) the Government has shared; yet several of great importance have been commenced, and depend for their completion upon the resources of the Society and the colonists.

It is a fact, highly creditable to the public spirit of the people, that a company has been incorporated for improving the navigation of Montserado river, and a subscription raised to the amount of about one thousand dollars, while, with laudable zeal, the stockholders have pledged themselves to increase the sum to four thousand, if necessary, to effect their object. To encourage this object, the Colonial Agent has been authorized by the Board of Managers to subscribe for stock, should he judge it expedient, to the amount of one thousand dollars. (Appendix C.)

The sum of fourteen hundred dollars, annually, including three hundred dollars subscribed by the Colonial Agent in the name of the Society, the colonists have voluntarily engaged to pay for the support of schools; and also expressed a disposition to aid liberally in securing the services of a physician.

The system of government,* adopted in 1824, has continued without any material changes during the year, and has fulfilled, in a very efficient and satisfactory manner, the great purposes for which government is instituted. At the last election, most of the officers of the preceding year, were reappointed, and "we commence the year," says Mr. Ashmun, "with a better prospect of harmony in the different operations of our little civil machine, than ever before. The principles of social order and of a good, equable, and energetic government, are deeply and plentifully implanted in the minds of the influential part, if not of a majority, of the colonists, and promise the certain arrival (I do not think it will be early however,) of that state of improvement, when the Board can safely withdraw their Agents, and leave the people to the government of themselves."

The Managers have nothing to relate in reference to the moral and religious interests of the Colony, that will add much to the expectations which the statements of their last report were calculated to excite. The motives by which the earliest emigrants were animated, and the severity of the trials to which they were sub

* Appendix A.