ances and orders by my predecessor, to the amount of two or three thousand dollars, and the current expenses of the Colonial officers and school teachers, after his departure, came in upon me like a flood. Many of these accounts, from the situation of the claimants, and all of them on account of their long standing, could not, with justice, be left any longer unsettled. To satisfy them, and even to meet the current expenses of the Agency House, I could resort only to orders and drafts. This I have done; and though the amount may appear very great, I am convinced that justice to claimants, and the best interests of the Society required such a course; and I confidently believe the proceeding will meet the approbation of the Board.

The public Store, if well supplied with goods, would have greatly lightened the expenses and drafts: but so far from helping, the necessity of having some supply of goods, of which it could afford none, has compelled me to purchase from vessels to the amount of twelve or thirteen hundred dollars, for which I have also drafted. The utter paucity of available property on my arrival, will clearly appear to you on examining the paper (A), wherein is an inventory of public property left by Dr. Mechlin, a part of which had been expended. (No. 1) A list of acceptances and orders, also left by him, with a written permission for Mr. Russwurm to draft for them two months after his departure. (No. 2) The salaries due to officers up to the date of my arrival. (No. 3) It will be seen by the schedule of agency property, how completely the house was destitute of necessary articles for daily consumption. To supply this deficit, I had recourse to merchants and captains for sugar, tea, hams, &c. &c.; and also for $100 in cash, to purchase fresh provisions, as they were needed. This, I obtained from Capt. Peters, and included in his draft. The same document will make apparent the destitute state of the store. The provisions on hand, from which more than fifty infirm persons and widows were drawing, consisted only of 4 barrels of beef, 300 kroos of rice, and some damaged meal. In order as much as possible to supply their necessities, and supply the labourers with provisions, all the beef which could be obtained at a reasonable price from vessels touching here, was procured; but the supply was wholly inadequate to the demand; and we are now under the necessity of issuing only rice and meal to the infirmary list.

The necessity of having some goods on hand to pay off labourers, and supply the schooner with a cargo for trade, has compelled me also to make some purchases; the expectation of receiving a supply from America, has induced me to proceed no farther than the urgent wants of our situation demanded. The inadequacy of the supplies, notwithstanding the purchases mentioned, has been a constant obstacle to the progress of the current business; and in order to accomplish the works mentioned below, I have been compelled to give many orders, at a double expense of time, trouble, and funds; one half of which might have been saved by a well supplied store. Allow me, while on this subject, to add a few words as to the importance, nay, the absolute necessity of a well supplied store. The Society will ever be obliged to employ agents and labourers. These must be paid. A public store, with a well selected assortment of goods, would meet their wants, and secure to the Society 75 per cent. profit on their investments.Take a case: For repairing the public boat, the bill is $20. The debt can be liquidated

1. By Cash or Draft,

2.

"Order, which becomes Draft,

3. "purchasing goods on the Coast,

4. supply of goods sent from the United States,

$20 00

20 00

15 00

10 00

The result in favour of the store well supplied, is one hundred per cent.; or

in other words, $100, expended in America, in the purchase of suitable

goods, will procure the same amount of labour as $200 sent out in silver, or paid by draft. Moreover, setting aside its pecuniary advantage, its convenience in furnishing a constant supply of necessary articles to the colonists, its tendency to prevent the monopoly which would otherwise often exist; its regulating the market, and thus securing to the poor, a defence against extortion, and finally, its necessity in the procuring of rice, &c.-are suflicient to make it an object of the first importance. Add to all this, the fact that the Society would be at no additional expense, it paying at present a store-keeper and book-keeper, who could transact ten times the business n›v performed, and prevent the apparent waste in paying salaries without excting corresponding labor. In this way, and this alone, according to my judgment, can the Society ever make the public schooner support itseli. The balance against her last year was over one thousand, eight hundred dollars; being the amount of her expenses over her receipts. To be profitable, she must be in constant employ; and not make a short trip, and then to lie by a month. In order to secure constant employment, the public store must be well supplied, and one or two factories, for the purchase of various articles, be kept on the coast. Her time might, when not engaged in other necessary employment, be divided between trading on the coast, and carrying goods to, and bringing away the purchased articles fron, the factories. Without some such plan, she will always prove a burden and expense.

I will proceed now to particularise the various sources of expense, since my arrival; and as I have said much already concerning the schooner, I will commence with it.

The Schooner.

We arrived in January, and, as you are doubtless aware, missed the harvest of rice, which can be procured abundantly in October and November, and with difficulty at any other period. Unfortunately, after her return from Goree, and the departure of Dr. Mechlin, she was allowed to remain unemployed, and thus neglected to improve the most favourable season of the year. This was, in a measure, unavoidable, both on account of her situation, and the utter impossibility of obtaining a cargo from the public store. There being but little rice in the Colony, and a probability that much would be needed, I determined at once to make an effort to obtain some, by sending her to leeward. With all my efforts, she was only able to sail on the 26th of February. This great delay was rendered necessary by the time occupied in making repairs. These were very extensive.— On the first attempt to heave her out, she sunk on account of the openness of her seams; and when, after a thorough caulking, we succeeded in throwing her down to examine her bottom, I was almost disheartened. The copper was worn quite through in very many places, and very thin in all. On the keel, it was much torn up, and four sheets off, occasioned by her having struck on the bar at the commencement of her voyage to Goree.In these places, the planks very much resembled a honey comb, so completely had the worms bored them. We were under the necessity of ma king a little lead, given us by the Captain of a British Brig of War, and a large supply of pitch, the substitutes for copper, and have rendered her fit for one trip at least. Captain Cooper and his mate made an entire set of new sails, from materials kindly left us by the Commander of the U. S. Ship John Adams, before my arrival, whose liberality also supplied us with his own six-oared barge, provided with awnings, &c. &c. &c. The schooner has received a new coat of paint, and with the new sails makes a beautiful appearance. The expense of these repairs amounted to nearly three hundred dollars. To this, I have added a cargo of nearly fourteen hundred dollars and sent her down the coast. The season is very unfa

vourable; but notwithstanding this, I have sent no ardent spirits, which is considered indispensable to successful trade at any season. I shall await her return with deep interest. I cannot be too urgent, if you desire to preserve the vessel, that no time be lost in sending out entire new copper and nails; cordage for rigging; cloth for a suit of sails, and for mending old ones. No time should be lost. Two anchors, of from 270 to 350) pounds are also needed. Both masts are badly injured by the dry rot, and can be supplied cheaper and better from the United States, than we can obtain them here.

The Hospitals.

Had no other reason existed, we might have accommodated all the emigrants who came with us in the buildings already erected at Caldwell. But believing that the interests of the Colony and of Africa, connected with the preservation of the lives of the missionaries, who could not obtain convenient houses at Caldwell, and would have been too far from medical attendance, had Dr. Todsen been sent up with the emigrants, I determined to permit them all to remain on the Cape, and proceed at once to erect the two hospitals. In less than three weeks, nearly all the emigrants were located in one of them, which makes a most beautiful appearance from the harbour. The other is placed at right angles with it, on the same lot; and but for the want of timber, would have been completed ere this. I trust it will be ready to receive any emigrants who may come in the next expedition. Had no other reason moved me to this speedy erection, the importance of saving the timber would have been ample. Already much of the timber and shingles, even the cypress ones sent from America, have been considerably injured by exposure; certainly far more than they could have been on a building. The one finished has been whitewashed, as have also those at Caldwell; a very cheap mode of giving them a neat appear

ance.

The Agency House and Yard.

pro

Notwithstanding the expensive bill of Mr. Ruffin, amounting to more than $600, most of which I have drafted for, the house I found in a state hardly tenantable. The floor of the upper piazza was torn up behind, and partially at the two ends. The bannisters and railing for the same part were all down. The lower piazza floor and frame were entirely torn up, and the boards lost, having access to the house on either side only by plank. The sills and studs were decayed all around, from the united attacks of ants and weather; so that the house had sunk, and nothing prevented its falling but the piazza. The doors were unhinged, and the plastering off more or less. I have endeavoured to put it in repair, and have made considerable gress. New sills have been put in all around; the weatherboarding, which was torn off, replaced with new. The deep hole under the lower floor of the piazza has been filled up with rocks and sand, and a mason is now employed in laying a brick pavement instead of a floor, trusting that neither ants nor raiu will injure it. The house has received a coat of paint, and the carpenter is now busily engaged in repairing the floor of the upper piazza. The lot attached to the house has been enclosed with a secure pailing; and I intend that pine-apples, limes, &c. &c. shall replace the rank growth of weeds which have been cut down and burnt. Your Society will, without doubt, need a new building in one or two years, for the Agent: and though I shall not be here, I would unhesitatingly advise, that its walls be of stone.

The Flag Staff.

Just before my departure for America last year, the flag staff was taken down for repairs. By the neglect of those who raised it, its foundation was

not rendered secure, and the tornado of last summer overturned and broke it. As a temporary substitute, the flag has been raised on a branch of the high tree on the Cape, but I hope in a few days to see a new staff erected. The delay hitherto has been caused by the difficulty of procuring suitable timber. The expenses of these repairs I intend to charge upon the Colonial treasury, and if it is found too poor, I trust your future legislation will replenish it by a more general tariff and heavier taxes. Indeed the time when the colonists should begin to support themselves, has arrived; and a new jail, court house, buildings for schools and public offices, they ought at once to erect at their own expense.

These constitute the main sources of expenditure hitherto; they are necessarily large, owing to the circumstance before alluded to; but there is one consideration, that they are only temporary, and may not occur again; at least not so many at the same moment. The final accounts relative to them, I have concluded to delay until the period of quarterly reports.

In relation to other transactions, the situation of the Eboes and Congoes early attracted my attention. They were in a state approaching to war, from disputes and jealousies relative to their officers. It was apprehended that I should find considerable difficulty in reconciling them again; however, by permitting each tribe to have a set of officers, as had been done always previously to the last election, all parties seemed satisfied. Concerning their location, I have had more perplexity. By a law made by Mr. Ashmun, they were to have been located three miles from any other settlement. Lott Carey placed them, or rather attempted to place them, immediately back of some lands given the colonists on Stockton, about half way from Monrovia to Caldwell, hence called the "Half Way Farms," a location very inexpedient, both to the colonists and themselves; however, by mistake, they were actually placed upon lands belonging to individuals.By some neglect they have never been removed by my predecessor, and now it would be cruel and unjust to do so. They certainly are the most enterprising labourers in the Colony, and are making the most rapid advances of any. Last year they left their old town of thatch houses, and have laid out another near the river, containing many frame buildings; and not less than twenty such are now under way.

I could not reconcile it to my sense of duty, to leave them at the mercy of the colonists, on whose lands they had built, and some of whom were already boasting of their advantage; I have therefore determined to make exchanges, even at the expense of parting with town lots of considerable value. By this means, I hope to obtain lands there of sufficient extent to lay them out a town on the Stockton, that the experiment there may have a full trial. When informed of this plan, their joy seemed to know no bounds; and in their efforts to evidence it, by firing a great gun, three were very severely burned. The value of town lots and lands given in exchange for the farms, will be communicated at a future period.

The state of colonial surveys in general, and the disposition of lands, as in the preceding case, may evidence the great confusion that is likely to arise at a future period. At Millsburg, there is at present, no difficulty; and after visiting it, I have ordered deeds to be given to several individuals, whose improvements legally permitted it. At Edina, in Bassa, there is no difficulty as to the present surveys, except their paucity, compared with the number of farms wanted. But at Caldwell, and on the Cape, the confusion is complete. Neither the number nor location of a large part are known, even of town lots; and as to farms, the case is still worse. The confusion began in the loss of the copy and records (if any were ever made) of Mr. Ashmun's survey, and was continued by the death of Mr. Shepherd, and the consequent loss of his drafts; and since his time, by the

inattention or incompetence of his successors. I have ordered all who have claims for lots, to leave their names with the Register, and after proceeding to number anew the Caldwell lots and farms, shall assign every man his farm as soon as it can be surveyed. By this procedure, I hope that confusion may be avoided in future, and the excuse of having no farms, be heard no more from the careless and idle. A perfect remedy can be obtained only by employing and sending out a competent surveyor, to lay off the whole country. The plan of the United States' surveys in the western States would be of infinite service in this Colony, and save your Agent much trouble. I trust this subject will occupy a large share of the attention of the Board, and that, too, speedily.

Your Agent has left no means unemployed to excite, if possible, a spirit for agricultural improvement, and may hope not entirely without success. As an auxiliary to these efforts, and to ease the burthen of supporting many poor, whose labours, under proper directions, might support themselves, he has commenced a small farm near Caldwell; and nothing but the want of suitable implements, the poorest kind of which are with difficulty obtained, prevents rapid progress. To reap the full benefit of such a plan will require the erection of a Poor House. In it we could employ the numerous old women, widows, &c. who are now eating, from the Agency store, the bread of idleness. They might be employed in picking oakum, carding and spinning cotton, weaving and making up their own apparel. Thus the colonial largesses, instead of encouraging the idleness, would minister to the industry of the Colony. The importance of such a measure presses upon my mind with peculiar weight. The growth of the Colony will, yes, must be greatly retarded if it is neglected. Cotton might be abundantly raised on the farm, though perhaps two or three bales might be sent out profitably at first. Cards, I mean hand cards and wheels, must be supplied from America.

I do trust, that in this matter, the views of the Board may correspond with those just expressed, and that the succeeding Agent may be instructed and enabled to proceed to its accomplishment at once. This subject naturally introduces another, of which it is only a branch. I mean a general and complete code of laws. It is utterly impossible for one who has never had the experience, to imagine, much less realize the difficulties in our Courts.

The Colonial Laws do not touch on one point in a hundred which come before us, and the single direction to be guided by the common law of England and the United States, leads to endless difficulties. In relation to the estates of intestates, the rules of administrators, the courts of probate, the provision and government, &c. &c. of the poor, we are in utter confusion. So also in relation to the port regulations, the tariff for the supply of the treasury, and many other points of vital importance to the interests of the Colony. On some of these points, with the advice of the Council, I have attempted some amendment, until a regular system of laws can be framed and sent out by the Board. They are drawn out in document (B). Connected with the subject also, is the erection of a light, perhaps a light house. Its importance on the coast is very great both to strangers and colonists, and all no doubt would cheerfully submit to pay a "Light duty", to defray the expense. An ordinance has been passed, but its action is suspended for a time, till the light is or shall be erected. The old house for administering the laws, is now in a ruinous situation, and it is greatly to be hoped the people will unite their energies to build another and larger.

In order that no excuse may arise on the part of the colonists, by which to palliate neglect of duties clearly incumbent upon them, I have directed. that all monies due the treasury be paid in money, and that no Agency or•