A Liberian Journey

Creator

Richard Pearson Strong

Date

8/9/26

Coverage

Campsite near the Du (Dukwai) River, Liberia

Transcription

August 9th.

Gray dawn saw his camp fires in the rain.

It has rained every day since August 4th. It rains most of the night and there are some showers every day; some days it rains most of the time. I am already used to being half wet a great deal of the time as of course I do not let the rain interfere with my getting about. It is too hot to walk in a raincoat or even one’s under coat, and although one does not feel the heat, after walking for fifteen to twenty minutes, one is in a dripping perspiration. So, as I said, when I am tramping and away from camp, I am at least half wet most of the time. My stout umbrella, which I also took to Brazil, has been the greatest comfort to me. It may sound curious to carry an umbrella in Africa, but all my men are carrying them to great advantage from both rain and sun. However, none has as good a one as mine. The chair I have been sitting in has a back and a rather funnel shaped seat. Yesterday morning at breakfast it was raining and a stream of water from the edge of the tent fly ran down into the seat so there was about 3 inches of water in it. As I sat back I was given an unexpected Sitz bath, much to the amusement of all.
I have noticed that my bathing water in my canvas tub has not been very clear lately and this morning I found a snail in it. I called the boy and asked him where he got it and he said from the river. Later I saw in my hand basin about a dozen mosquito larvae. I then called him and showed them to him and found he had been getting the water from a ditch nearby. A few days ago I found that a bucket of water from the river had been put in the Lister Bag without chlorination. I have had George S. seal the drinking water since. Well that is enough about rain and water, is it not?

As our hunters Allen and Coolidge have not been very successful in their collection of mammals, we have engaged a professional native hunter yesterday, at the large sum of L 1/3 per month and 6 pence a day for his food. He brought in three large Colobus ferruginous monkeys yesterday -- the largest monkeys I have seen. Allen has skinned them and saved the skeletons. We found them infected with three intestinal parasites.

This morning I took George and we walked over to Plantation No. 4, about an hour and a half walk from here through the forest. It was raining hard when we started but cleared up just as we arrived there. I arranged with Mr. Schofield and the Chief of the village for 250 porters next Wednesday to take my supplies and camp equipment to Owens Grove. I expect to move the men in three shifts. After returning here I did some rifle practice.

With our ten tents and several extra flies for cooking etc. and our food and ammunition boxes stored under one of the latter, the appearance is much that of a military camp. Also our expedition flag flies in front of my tent and at different hours of the day rifle shots or reports from shot guns are heard in the forest. All the men are now well, and are gradually becoming hardened and accustomed to the camp-tropical life. Loring Whitman seems to have entirely recovered his strength but I am keeping a close eye on him. I shall try and send these notes out by runner before starting for our next base camp, which I hope to locate at Zanga town, said to be the heart of the elephant country.

Type

Diary

Citation