The native chiefs not unfrequently proposed to the colonists to aid them in their wars, promising as an inducement the whole of the enemy’s country. This was of course declined, on the ground that the colony was established for the benefit, and not for the destruction of their neighbors; and that their military means were sacred to the purpose of self-defence. The kings were now favorable to the colony, and began to appreciate the benefits of legal trade. The U. S. schooner _Shark_, and the U. S. sloop-of-war _Ontario_, arrived on the coast during the year 1827, and besides affording aid to the colony, rendered good service towards the suppression of the slave-trade. A reinforcement of emigrants was received; the school system reorganized and put in comparatively efficient condition, under the superintendence of the Rev. G. M’Gill, a colored teacher. The schools were all taught by colored people: the number of scholars amounted to two hundred and twenty-seven, of whom forty-five were natives. The native children belonged to the principal men in the adjoining country. The Chief of Cape Mount, fifty-two miles N. E. from Cape Mesurado, entered into stipulations with the colonial government to establish a large factory for legal trade between it and the interior. The land north of the St. John’s River, about sixty miles southeast of Cape Mesurado, was ceded to the colonists. In this extent of territory there were eight eligible sites, upon which comfortable settlements have been founded. Four schooners were built. The colony was mainly supported by its own industry. The life of this industry was, however, rather in trade and commerce than in agriculture, the fact being overlooked that men ought to seek in the latter the sources of their prosperity. Liberia has suffered from the want of steady agricultural effort. Industry like that of our Puritan fathers in New England, would, with the Liberian soil and climate, have prevented the recurrence of difficulty, and produced uninterrupted abundance. On leaving Liberia, the commander of the “Ontario” permitted eight of his crew, colored men, to remain, furnishing them with a valuable collection of seeds, obtained in the Mediterranean and up the Archipelago. On his arrival in the United States, the captain bore testimony to the encouraging prospects of the colony, and its salutary influence over the native tribes.