he Junk River,
which district, farther than the settlement at the mouth, I did not
visit. The people are willing and anxious for improvement, and on
introducing to many of the farmers the utility of cutting off the centre
of each young coffee-tree so soon as it grew above the reach of a man
of ordinary height, I had the satisfaction of seeing them immediately
commence the execution of the work. The branches of the tree spread, in
proportion to the checking of the height; hence, instead of eight feet
apart, as some of the farmers have done, the trees should be planted at
least twenty feet apart, thus leaving ample space between for the
spreading of the branches. The tree should never be permitted to grow
too high to admit of the berry being picked from the ground, or at least
from a stand which may be stepped upon without climbing.

Schools

The schools are generally good, every settlement being amply
accommodated with them; and in Monrovia and at Cape Palmas the classics
are being rigidly prosecuted.[4]

Churches Missionaries

Churches are many and commodious, of every Christian
denomination--except, I believe, the Roman Catholic. The Missionaries
seem to be doing a good work, there being many earnest and faithful
laborers among them of both sexes, black and white, and many native
catechists and teachers, as well as some few preachers.

Business, Professions, Theology, Medicine, Law

The principal business carried on in Liberia is that of trading in
native and foreign produce, the greater part being at the Capital. The
greater part of merchants here are Liberians; but there are also three
white houses--two German and one American. And along the coast there are
a number of native trading-posts, the proprietors of which are white
foreigners, with black agents. Many of the Liberian Clergy of all
denominations are well educated gentlemen; and the Medical Profession is
well represented by highly accomplished Physicians; but of all the
professions, the Law is the most poorly represented--there being, as I
learnt when there, but one young gentlemen at the bar who had been bred
to the profession; and not a Judge on the bench who was learned in the
law. This I do not mention in disparagement of the gentlemen who fill
those honorable positions of presiding over the legal investigations of
their country, as many--indeed, I believe the majority of them--are
clergymen, who from necessity have accepted those positions, a