BOOKS OF REFERENCE. 62 1
There are no statistics regarding the extent of the commercial rela- tions of the republic with the United Kingdom, the ' Annual Statement of Trade and Navigation ' issued by the Board of Trade not mentioning Liberia, but only ' "Western Africa.' The value of the exports of the region thus designated to Great Britain in the year 1869 was 1,446,770/., and of the imports of British produce 682,399/. The principal articles of export from Liberia are coffee, sugar, palm oil, and various other products of the soil of Africa.
Money, Weights, and Measures.
The money chiefly used is that of Great Britain, but accounts are kept generally in American dollars and cents. In the traffic with natives on the west coast of Africa, gold is bought and sold by Usanos, each of 16 Akis. A Usano of Gold is reckoned equal in value -to 16,000 * Cowries.' It contains 314*76 English troy grains, or 20*396 Grammes.
Weights and measures are mostly British. In the trade with the interior of Africa, the Ardeb is the chief measure of capacity for dry goods. The Gondar Ardeb contains 10 Madegas, or 120 Uckieh, or 1,440 Dirhems, and is equal to about 7*7473 British imperial pints. The Massuah Ardeb contains 24 Madegas, and is equal to 2*3242 British imperial gallons. The Kuba is the chief liquid measure ; it is equal to 1*7887 British imperial pint.
Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Liberia.
Non-Official Publications.
Die Negerrepublic Liberia. In ' Unsere Zeit.' Vol. III. 8. Leipzig, 1858.
Hutchinson (E.) Impressions of Western Africa. 8. London, 1858.
Bitter (Karl) Begriindung und gegenwartige Zustande der Republic Liberia. In ' Zeitschrift fiir allgemeine Erdkunde.' Vol.1. 8. Leipzig, 1853.
Sfockwell (G. S.), The Republic of Liberia : its geography, climate, soil, and productions. With a history of its early settlement. 12. New York, 1868.
Valdez (H.), Six Years of a Traveller's Life in Western Africa. 8. London, 1861.
Wilson (J.), Western Africa. 8. London, 1856.
