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Nearly all of the natives tribes have their own language, which is only partially, or not at all, intelligible to the members of the neighbouring tribe. The languages of the Liberian natives may currently be classified within two groups: the Mande and the Kru languages. The Bassa language is indeed very closely related to the Kru language. Strangely enough, and especially for the numbers 1-10, a close relatedness may be observed between the languages of the Kosso, the Vey and the Pessy. Closer down towards the coast, the natives are frequently in touch with the English-speaking Liberians. Some will have been in their service or in the service of Europeans; others have learned to speak English fairly well in the mission schools. The languages of the natives are very well developed, and this is most readily observed at the numerous palavers where the speakers display a quite admirable eloquence. Keywords:Bassa language; English-speaking Liberians; Kru language; Liberian natives; Mande language; Negro languages

Liberia was settled during the nineteenth century by freed blacks, mainly from America, whose power was broken by a coup in 1980. Sharing languages and cultures with their neighbours in today's western Ivory Coast, the peoples of the region helped to shape the Liberian state. This chapter outlines the making of a polity, Sasstown, in Grand Kru County, southeastern Liberia, a region with common linguistic and cultural affinities, and common coastal histories, extending eastwards into Cote d'Ivoire, conventionally to the Bandama River. A couple of linguistic islands, Dey and Belle, still further west, presumably attest to a former extension of Kru language speakers confronted earlier by the West Atlantic/Mel and Mande speakers who developed communities around them. Transport had become a massive problem of the southeast, hampering attempts to develop local cash crops. Keywords: America; Kru language; nineteenth century; Sasstown; southeastern Liberia