APPENDIX.

( A.)

TESTIMONIES IN FAVOUR OF THE COLONY.

[The following letters from gentlemen of great respectability, who visited Liberia during the last year (one of them, Capt. Abels, so late as the 27th of December last), will afford the highest encouragement to the friends of the Society. Captain Kennedy commanded the United States' Frigate Java. We invite the attention of our readers to these letters, particularly to Captain Abels', as giving the true state of the Colony at the present time.)

Captain Kennedy's Letter.

NORFOLK, JUNE 22, 1831.

SIR:-I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of yours of the 11th inst. requesting my opinion of the condition, prospects and necessities of the Colony at Liberia, and of the best method to be adopted by the Society for the more effectual prosecution of the great work in which they are engaged.

I hope I need not assure you that it affords me great gratification to comply with your request, and to lay before you a statement of the facts which presented themselves to me during the visit I made to Montserado, in the Frigate Java, under my command.

The wisdom and talent which distinguish the councils of the Society to which you belong, and the vast materials which your experience and zeal have enabled you to collect, cause great diffidence on my part in the suggestion of any new plan of operations. I was, however, not an idle observer during my stay among the Colonists, and the conclusions which pressed upon my mind, as the results of my inquiries, shall be most cheerfully submitted for your better judgment and consideration.

It may not be improper to observe in the outset, that my inquiries were commenced under auspices very unfavourable to the practicability of the scheme of your Society; for while, I trust, I yielded unfeigned acknowledgment of the piety and purity of purpose which governed its worthy and disinterested projectors, yet the vast difficulties attending the prosecution of their labours, and the very prob. lematical results, in the want of success, left an impression upon my mind, altogether unfavourable to the Institution-under these impressions, therefore, I commenced my inquiry with great caution. I sought out the most shrewd and intelligent of the Colonists, many of whom were personally known to me, and by long and weary conversations, endeavoured to elicit from them any dissatisfaction with their condition (if such existed) or any latent design to return to their native country-neither of these did I observe; on the contrary, I thought I could perceive that they considered that they had started into a new existence; that, disencumbered of the mortifying relations in which they formerly stood in society-they felt themselves proud in their attitude, and seemed conscious that while they were the ounders of a new Empire, they were prosecuting the noble purpose of the regen-] eration of the land of their fathers.

I was pleased to observe that they were impressed with the vast importance of a proper education, not only of their children, but of the children of the natives; and that to this they looked confidently as the means of effecting their high object, namely, the civilization of their benighted brethren in Africa.

I observed with great satisfaction, that their children, in many instances, could converse in the languages of the tribes by which the Colony is surrounded. Thus the obstacles which formerly embarrassed its commerce with the interior, and which, by the by, are even now but few, must in a very short time cease entirely to exist. Most of the articles of traffic which can be profitably used in barter with the natives, are familiar to your readers; but there are yet some which have not employed the enterprise of our citizens, and of those embraced in their speculations, many improvements in quality might advantageously be enumerated. The inhabitants of King Boatswain's town, (one hundred and eighty miles up the St. Paul's River, and twenty miles from it, which empties into the bay of Montserado) interchange with the most friendly dispositions towards the Colonists.

In the article of salt, more especially, most advantageous traffic is conducted, and yet susceptible of great increase; in bartering with that article, the Colonists readily receive in gold dust, ivory, dye-wood, &c. at the rate of two dollars per quart.It is to me a matter of astonishment, that our enterprising citizens have not sought in that particular article, a channel for the most profitable speculation. An extent of eight or ten leagues South-West of the Cape, is well adapted for the making of salt by evaporation, with but comparatively little labour. One extended salt port, indeed the Isle of Mayo (one of the Cape de Verds), only eight or nine days' sail from the Montserado, would furnish abundance of salt for the commercial purposes of the Colony, at a low price.

I would recommend for the better prosecution of this traffic, that the salt should be imported in iron pots and kettles of various sizes, as they would be disposed of at a very great price,

It is hardly necessary to say that guns, pistols, beads of various colours, checks and various coloured calicoes, flints, &c. constitute a source of abundant profit in this traffic. Powder, more especially demands attention; that which is received from foreign vessels (and I think very likely from our own,) is so damaged and worthless, that it serves hardly any useful purposes; so inferior is its strength, that the natives, in their attacks upon the elephant, are compelled to load the barrels of their pieces half way to the muzzle, and for the leaden ball, to substitute a dart or spear, made expressly to fit the calibre of the gun; short muskets, carrying a two ounce ball, (particularly if loaded in the breech like the late invented rifles,) would be found a most saleable article.

It can hardly be expected that I can throw any additional light upon this part of my subject-and I will proceed to consider, somewhat at large, the condition of the Colony, as regards the progress of its improvements, and its deficiency in certain articles of indispensable utility and necessity.

I is known to you that the Colonists are erecting a mill at the falls of the St. Paul's river. This has been for a long time a desideratum; but yet, for its more effectual operation on the affairs of the Colony, I would suggest, for the facilitating the descent of produce from above the falls to Millsburg, that a small steam boat of leht draught be built, and employed to tow the produce boats and traffic beats te the falls, and up the river. From the falls to the mouth of the river, there can be

no manner of difficulty in its transportation in boats manned by Kroos, or Kroomen, natives of the coast, a hardy, industrious, honest, and intelligent race, nearly all speaking English. They are emphatically termed "the workers of the coast," and can be hired for 20 cents per day. Other changes and improvements in the affairs of the Colony occurred to me; many of these suggested themselves to me from conversations with the Agent, Dr. Mechlin, a gentleman of intelligence, and admirable qualifications for the very important duties and responsibilities confided to him.

In the first place, the gun carriages of the fort which commands the harbour, are in a state of decay; and inasmuch as the "dry worm" is in that climate exceedingly destructive to all "dead wood," or wood not growing, repairs will be always required at great expense and inconvenience.

To remedy this, I took the liberty of suggesting to the Honorable Secretary of the Navy, in my report, the experiment of substituting iron carriages, for the artillery of the Colony.

Again, the Colonial Schooner, as guarda costa, is totally unfit for the purpose for which it was designed, whether in size, armament, or in complement of men; she could neither resist the attacks nor prevent the operations of the numerous pirates and slavers that infest the coast. The present commander, Thompson, is a brave man, enterprising and competent and with a schooner of 90 or 100 tons, manned with 40 men, shipped in the United States for that service, and carrying a large 9 or 12 pounder a midships, and two 18 or 24 pound carronades, would be fully able to carry into execution the purposes of the service in which he is engaged.* Until the funds of the Society can furaish the means of carrying into effect this idea, I suggested to the Honorable Secretary of the Navy, the propriety of employing one of our national schooners, such as the Shark, or Porpoise, with a crew composed principally of blacks, as a regular cruiser for the protection of the Colonists, suppressing the slave trade, and of determining correctly, the latitude and longitude of all the head lands between Cape Anne, including Cape Anne Shoals (which are very extensive and dangerous), and Cape Palmas, or as far as the Island of Fernando Po, at the mouth of the river Cameroons, in the Gulf of Guinea. It is a fact, that none of the charts that I have seen, indicate the correct longitude, or even latitude of that part of the coast; they sometimes err from 5 to 10 miles in latitude, aud from 8 to 30 in longitude.

There are many articles immediately wanted by the Colonists; for instance-a seine. I left one with them, which was considered as a very great acquisition, and should have left twine also for its repairs, but had none on board to spare.They require also rammers and sponges for their guns, cross-cut saws, and more especially one or two sets of "carry-log" wheels; the tongues and axletrees can be procured there, and a draft of them sent to them, that they may know how to complete them; the wheels should be such as those used in the Navy Yard at Gosport, having the tyre covering from 4 to 6 inches; these are indispensable in clearing new and spongy ground, or for the purpose of transporting timber from the forests near Millsburg.

I would recommend, moreover, that all vessels bound to the Colony should touch at Port Praya, (Cape de Verds) and lay in a supply of vegetable seed, asses and sheep.

* The fine schooner, Margaret Mercer, is now at the Colony. The Schooner here spoken of was captured by pirates.

It gives me pleasure to state, that the Colonists are turning their attention to the cultivation of coffee. That this article of produce is to prove a source of vast wealth to the colonists, there can be no doubt; the labour and expense of its cultivation will be comparatively small; indeed, they have but to clear away the forest trees, and the plantations are ready to their hands. There are two descriptions of the plant indigenous-one a shrub, evidently the same as the Mocha, but yielding a berry of superior flavour; the other a trec, frequently attaining the height of 40 seet; a specimen of the latter, I brought with me to Cuba, in the Java, and left with Mr. Shaler, our Consul, for the Botanic Garden of that City. I had also sev'eral of the shrubs, or small growth, but they all perished by salt water getting to them.

That there are many vast resources, yet undeveloped in Liberia, no one can entertain a doubt; that they will soon be brought forth and made available by the enterprise and intelligence of the Colonists, is equally unquestionable-how earnestly then should every philanthropist apply himself to aid and advance the operations of a society, the object of which is, not only to clevate so large a portion of our fellow beings from the degrading relations in which they stand towards the rest of the human race--but to redeem from the thraldom of ignorance, superstition and vice, a whole continent. That these great results are, under Providence, to be accomplished, is a conviction to which I have been brought by actual experience and scrutinizing observation.

To those who have been the protectors of this undertaking, how enviable the joy derived from the anticipation; and when the happy result shall have been consummated, what monument so glorious to their memory as the gratitude of millions disenthralled!

Rev. R. R. GURLEY.

Respectfully, your obedient servant,

EDWARD P. KENNEDY.

P. S. It would be well, perhaps, to state, that, in a conversation with one of the Kroos, or Kroomen, I was informed by him, that he came with his wife from Timbactoo by water, with the exception of twenty-five miles, the distance that city stands from the Niger; he came down the St. Paul's to Montserado.

In a few days I will take the liberty of sending you, through the Navy Department, an abstract of my cruize in the Java, from Mahon along the coast of Africa, and homewards through the West Indies, which you can trace on a chart of the Atlantic. It may, I think, be useful to vessels returning from Liberia. Mr. Watson, of Washington, late sailing Master of the Java, will cheerfully assist, and give you such information on the subject as you may require. He is a young officer of great observation, and an excellent navigator.

It is customary in leaving the Cape homeward bound, to clear along the shore, endeavoring, by making short tacks, to receive the benefit of the land breeze, and thereby get to windward, out of the variables, and into the trades; but it is a mistake, and also dangerous, as the currents are unsettled, and may throw you on the Shoals of Cape Anne; very green water extends from abreast Cape Anne Shoals, to nearly Cape Montserado, one hundred miles from the coast, and no soundings-by keeping your wind on leaving the Cape, and getting to the Westward, even if you are driven as far South as the line, you will, after passing through the variables in the Thunder Sea, (so called by mariners owing to the incessant thunder and lightning and rain with but little wind-the appearance is truly awful, the heavens and sea appear to be united by flame-this sea lies between the 18th and 20th degrees of West longitude,) take the trades, increasing as you advance to the westward,