which is almost entirely uninhabited and occupies an area of about
6000 sq. m. between the Pō hills and the British frontier. There is
another very dense forest stretching with little interruption from the
eastern side of the St Paul’s river nearly to the Cavalla. The Nidi
forest is noteworthy for its magnificent growth of Funtumia rubber
trees. It extends between the Duobe and the Cavalla rivers. The
extreme north of Liberia is still for the most part a very well-watered
country, covered with a rich vegetation, but there are said to be a
few breaks that are rather stony and that have a very well-marked
dry season in which the vegetation is a good deal burnt up. In the
main Liberia is the forest country par excellence of West Africa,
and although this region of dense forests overlaps the political
frontiers of both Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast, it is a feature of
physical geography so nearly coincident with the actual frontiers
of Liberia as to give this country special characteristics clearly
marked in its existing fauna.
Fauna.—The fauna of Liberia is sufficiently peculiar, at any rate
as regards vertebrates, to make it very nearly identical with a
“district” or sub-province of the West African province, though
in this case the Liberian “district” would not include the northernmost
portions of the country and would overlap on the east and west
into Sierra Leone and the French Ivory Coast. It is probable that
the Liberian chimpanzee may offer one or more distinct varieties;
there is an interesting local development of the Diana monkey,
sometimes called the bay-thighed monkey (Cercopithecus diana
ignita) on account of its brilliant orange-red thighs. One or more
species of bats are peculiar to the country—Vespertilio stampflii,
and perhaps Roussettus büttikoferi; two species of shrew (Crocidura),
one dormouse (Graphiurus nagtglasii); the pygmy hippopotamus
(H. liberiensis)—differing from the common hippopotamus by its
much smaller size and by the reduction of the incisor teeth to a
single pair in either jaw, or occasionally to the odd number of three;
and two remarkable Cephalophus antelopes peculiar to this region
so far as is known—these are the white-shouldered duiker, Cephalophus
jentinki, and the zebra antelope, C. doriae, a creature the size
of a small goat, of a bright bay brown, with broad black zebra-like
stripes. Amongst other interesting mammals are four species of the
long-haired Colobus monkeys (black, black and white, greenish-grey
and reddish-brown); the Potto lemur, fruit bats of large size
with monstrous heads (Hypsignathus monstrosus); the brush-tailed
African porcupine; several very brightly coloured squirrels;
the scaly-tailed flying Anomalurus; the common porcupine; the
leopard, serval, golden cat (Felis celidogaster) in two varieties, the
copper-coloured and the grey, possibly the same animal at different
ages; the striped and spotted hyenas (beyond the forest region);
two large otters; the tree hyrax, elephant and manati; the red
bush pig (Potamochoerus porcus); the West African chevrotain
(Dorcatherium); the Senegalese buffalo; Bongo antelope (Boocercus);
large yellow-backed duiker (Cephalophus sylvicultrix), black duiker,
West African hartebeest (beyond the forest), pygmy antelope
(Neotragus); and three species of Manis or pangolin (M. gigantea,
M. longicaudata and M. tricuspis).
The birds of Liberia are not quite so peculiar as the mammals. There is the interesting white-necked guineafowl, Agelastes (which is found on the Gold Coast and elsewhere west of the lower Niger); there is one peculiar species of eagle owl (Bubo lettii) and a very handsome sparrow-hawk (Accipiter büttikoferi); a few sun-birds, warblers and shrikes are peculiar to the region. The other birds are mainly those of Senegambia and of the West African forest region generally. A common and handsome bird is the blue plantain-eater (Corythaeola). The fishing vulture (Gypohierax) is found in all the coast districts, but true vultures are almost entirely absent except from the north, where the small brown Percnopterus makes its appearance. A flamingo (Phoeniconaias) visits Fisherman Lake, and there are a good many species of herons. Cuckoos are abundant, some of them of lovely plumage, also rollers, kingfishers and horn-bills. The last family is well represented, especially by the three forest forms—the elate hornbill and black hornbill (Ceratogymna), and the long-tailed, white-crested hornbill (Ortholophus leucolophus). There is one trogon—green and crimson, a brightly coloured ground thrush (Pitta), numerous woodpeckers and barbets; glossy starlings, the black and white African crow and a great variety of brilliantly coloured weaver birds, waxbills, shrikes and sun-birds.
As regards reptiles, there are at least seven poisonous snakes—two cobras, two puff-adders and three vipers. The brilliantly coloured red and blue lizard (Agama colonorum) is found in the coast region of eastern Liberia. There are three species of crocodile, at least two chameleons (probably more when the forest is further explored), the large West African python (P. sebae) and a rare Boine snake (Calabaria). On the sea coast there is the leathery turtle (Dermochelis) and also the green turtle (Chelone). In the rivers and swamps there are soft-shelled turtle (Trionyx and Sternothaerus). The land tortoises chiefly belong to the genus Cynyxis. The fresh-water fish seem in their affinities to be nearly allied to those of the Niger and the Nile. There is a species of Polypterus, and it is probable that the Protopterus or lung fish is also found there, though its existence has not as yet been established by a specimen. As regards invertebrates, very few species or genera are peculiar to Liberia so far as is yet known, though there are probably one or two butterflies of local range. The gigantic scorpions (Pandinus imperator)—more than 6 in. long—are a common feature in the forest. One noteworthy feature in Liberia, however, is the relative absence of mosquitoes, and the white ants and some other insect pests are not so troublesome here as in other parts of West Africa. The absence or extreme paucity of mosquitoes no doubt accounts for the infrequency of malarial fever in the interior. Flora.—Nowhere, perhaps, does the flora of West Africa attain a more wonderful development than in the republic of Liberia and in the adjoining regions of Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast. This is partly due to the equatorial position and the heavy rainfall. The region of dense forest, however, does not cover the whole of Liberia; the Makona river and the northern tributaries of the Lofa and St Paul’s flow through a mountainous country covered with grass and thinly scattered trees, while the ravines and watercourses are still richly forested. A good deal of this absence of forest is directly due to the action of man. Year by year the influence of the Mahommedan tribes on the north leads to the cutting down of the forest, the extension of both planting and pasture and the introduction of cattle and even horses. In the regions bordering the coast also a good deal of the forest has disappeared, its place being taken (where the land is not actually cultivated) by very dense scrub. The most striking trees in the forest region are, in the basin of the Cavalla, the giant Funtumia elastica, which grows to an altitude of 200 ft.; various kinds of Parinarium, Oldfieldia and Khaya; the bombax or cotton tree, giant dracaenas, many kinds of fig; Borassus palms, oil palms, the climbing Calamus palms, and on the coast the coconut. The most important palm of the country perhaps is the Raphia vinifera, which produces the piassava fibre of commerce. There are about twenty-two different trees, shrubs and vines producing rubber of more or less good quality. These belong chiefly to the Apocynaceous order. In this order is the genus Strophanthus, which is represented in Liberia by several species, amongst others S. gratus. This Strophanthus is not remarkable for its rubber—which is mere bird lime—but for the powerful poison of its seeds, often used for poisoning arrows, but of late much in use as a drug for treating diseases of the heart. Coffee of several species is indigenous and grows wild. The best known is the celebrated Coffea liberica. The kola tree is also indigenous. Large edible nuts are derived from Coula edulis of the order Olacineae. The country is exceedingly rich in Aroids, many of which are epiphytic, festooning the trunks of tall trees with a magnificent drapery of abundant foliage. A genus much represented is Culcasia, and swampy localities are thickly set with the giant Cyrtosperma arum, with flower spathes that are blotched with deep purple. Ground orchids and tree orchids are well represented; Polystachya liberica, an epiphytic orchid with sprays of exquisite small flowers of purple and gold, might well be introduced into horticulture for its beauty. The same might be said of the magnificent Lissochilus roseus, a terrestrial orchid, growing to 7 ft. in height, with rose-coloured flowers nearly 1 in. long; there are other orchids of fantastic design in their green and white flowers, some of which have spurs (nectaries) nearly 7 in. long.
Many trees offer magnificent displays of flowers at certain seasons of the year; perhaps the loveliest effect is derived from the bushes and trailing creepers of the Combretum genus, which, during the “winter” months from December to March, cover the scrub and the forest with mantles of rose colour. Smaethmannia trees are thickly set at this season with large blossoms of waxen white. Very beautiful also are the red velvet or white velvet sepals of the Mussaenda genus. Bamboos of the genus Oxytenanthera are indigenous. Tree ferns are found on the mountains above 4000 ft. The bracken grows in low sandy tracts near the coast. The country in general is a fern paradise, and the iridescent creeping Selaginella (akin to Lycopodium) festoons the undergrowth by the wayside. The cultivated trees and plants of importance are, besides rubber, the manioc or cassada, the orange tree, lime, cacao, coffee, pineapple (which now runs wild over the whole of Liberia), sour sop, ginger, papaw, alligator apple, avocado pear, okro, cotton (Gossypium peruvianum—the kidney cotton), indigo, sweet potato, capsicum (chillie), bread-fruit, arrowroot (Maranta), banana, yam, “coco”-yam (Colocasia antiquorum, var. esculenta), maize, sorghum, sugar cane, rice and eleusine (Eleusine), besides gourds, pumpkins, cabbages and onions. Minerals.—The hinterland of Liberia has been but slightly explored for mineral wealth. In a general way it is supposed that the lands lying between the lower St Paul’s river and the Sierra Leone frontier are not much mineralized, except that in the vicinity of river mouths there are indications of bitumen. The sand of nearly all the rivers contains a varying proportion of gold. Garnets and mica are everywhere found. There have been repeated stories of diamonds obtained from the Finley Mountains (which are volcanic) in the central province, but all specimens sent home, except one, have hitherto proved to be quartz crystals. There are indications of sapphires and other forms of corundum. Corundum indeed is abundantly met with in the eastern half of Liberia. The sand of the rivers contains monazite. Graphite has been discovered in the Pō Hills. Lead has been reported from the Nidi or Niete Mountains. Gold is present in some abundance in the river sand of central Liberia, and native reports speak of the far interior as being rich in gold. Iron—haematite—is present almost everywhere. There are other indications of bitumen, besides those mentioned, in the coast region of eastern Liberia.
