A Liberian Journey

Creator

Richard Pearson Strong

Date

10/31/26

Coverage

Sinoe Town, Sinoe County, Liberia

Transcription

Sunday, October 31st.

Have just made a brief medical survey of “Fish town”, a suburb of Sino occupied chiefly by Kru fishermen. Sino is a sleepy town of perhaps some 2,000 or 1,500 people, with two streets “paved” with pounded sand. It is very tropical. There is a high surf along a sandy beach and our house is situated between the mouth of the river on one side (which we are 20 feet from) and the beach on the other, 100 yards away.

There are many coconut trees, orange, banana, coffee, cacao, and bread fruit trees about. For flowers we have oleanders, frangipani, bougainvillea and several flowering leguminous trees of the locust type, but with yellow or red blossoms. There are six white men in the town, the first white men we have seen outside of our party for several months. They are all traders -- three Dutchmen, two Germans and one Englishman. One of the Germans has his wife here, I understand. She is the only white woman here. The entire population of Sino is said to be about 2,000.

This morning at five-thirty I took a sea bath in the surf and it was very agreeable, the water perhaps a little cooler than it is at the Cape. By contrast, it reminded me of Revere, as I was the only bather, though George came in later.

Type

Diary

Citation