11. Five lines of steamers make regular stops upon the coast of Liberia. Chief of these is the great Woermann Line, of Hamburg. Two regular sailings weekly in both directions touch at Monrovia. Next in importance are the British steamships controlled by Elder Dempster and Co. They have a combination consisting of the African Steamship Co. and the British African Steam-Navigation Co. These boats make two weekly sailings from Liverpool and one monthly sailing from Hamburg. Nor are these the only landings made by these lines at Liberian ports. It is probable that the Woermann Line makes three hundred calls annually, and the Elder Dempster Lines two hundred and fifty, at Liberian ports. A recent arrangement which, if given fair attention, promises a notable development, has been entered into between these two companies, whereby every two months a boat sails from New York to Monrovia and return; The English and German lines alternate in supplying this steamer. Besides these two lines of chief importance, three other lines make stops at Monrovia--the _Spanish Trans-Atlantic Co._, of Barcelona, _Fraissinet and Co._, of Marseilles, France, and the _Belgian Maritime Co. of Congo_, from Antwerp. 12. Considering the dangers of its coast, the light-house service of the Republic is far from satisfactory. The old light-house at Monrovia, for years a disgrace, has been replaced by a more modern apparatus; at Grand Bassa a light-house was erected at the private expense of Mr. S. G. Harmon, a successful Liberian merchant, now the Vice-President of the Republic; at Cape Palmas a good light-house has been erected, visible at all times to a distance of six miles--this cost about $9000 and was a gift from the French authorities. It is somewhat doubtful whether it was good policy to accept a gift from a neighbor, who has made definite efforts to crowd Liberians out of the Cavalla River, which forms the natural boundary between the Grain Coast (Liberia) and the Ivory Coast (French). 13. The whole west coast of Africa has for centuries depended only on foreign trade. Portuguese, Dutch, French, English, Germans, have all played their part. Most of these nations still have interests in that portion of the world. So far as the Liberian Republic is concerned, representatives of foreign houses have numerous trading-posts upon its coast. The house of A. Woermann has factories at Monrovia, Cape Mount, Bassa, Sinoe, and Cape Palmas. J. W. West (Hamburg) is established at Monrovia, Cape Mount, Grand Bassa, and Sinoe. Wiechers and Helm are at Monrovia and Cape Palmas. Wooden and Co. (Liverpool), Patterson and Zachonis (Liverpool), Vietor and Huber, C. F. Wilhelm Jantzen (Hamburg), and the American Trading Co. (established only in 1911), are among those who trade in Liberia.