Richard Pearson Strong Diary: September 4, 1926

Creator

Richard Pearson Strong

Date

9/4/26

Transcription

September 4th, Gbanga.

Suah Coco kept her word and we had plenty of porters to start off with at seven-thirty A. M., September 2nd. I took a piece of tissue, the skin of another case of blastomycetic infection, and also made some microscopical scrapings of the lesions just before starting. I got Harold to take a photograph of the case. There were many red cannas and marigolds and <space> along the trail similar to those we cultivate at home, also a white flower on a tree with petals as white as gardenia but with small stamens and pistils in the center. The trail led again over low hills and we reached Gbanga after passing through the towns of Mellorkeh, Galalahlinidae and Melinda, reaching here after a four hours walk.

I have not spoken of the driver ants, of which there are several species of the genus Ponera and which we meet every day crossing the trails. They cross in billions. One species makes sand tunnels about an inch or two high and three or four inches in breadth. Other species, when they are making perhaps a quick march cross unprotected; they go a yard in several seconds, the soldiers apparently aiding in keeping the column. They destroy every living thing in their path. When they invade a house the only thing to do is to move out temporarily. They eat up every living thing such as birds, chickens, reptiles, insects, lizards, etc., which cross their path. After they have eaten everything they leave the house.

Type

Diary

Citation

Richard Pearson Strong, “Richard Pearson Strong Diary: September 4, 1926,” A Liberian Journey: History, Memory, and the Making of a Nation, accessed March 28, 2024, https://liberianhistory.org/items/show/1137.