A Liberian Journey

Creator

Richard Pearson Strong

Date

11/1/26

Coverage

Sinoe Town, Sinoe County, Liberia

Transcription

November 1st.

We start on our perilous (?) journey tomorrow morning. That is, we embark with all our belongings in a whaleboat for Monrovia. This will be the first time I have put out on a voyage on the Atlantic in a whaleboat manned by ten oars, and there is also a sail. As the boat has no keel, we can only sail before the wind, and the crew will only row for an hour or two at most, they say, during the day. If a tornado or storm comes up we may be driven almost anywhere on the coast -- which might not be so bad unless we lost all our specimens and other scientific material. We wanted to go to Cape Palmas first (in the opposite direction from Monrovia) but the wind is not favorable to go there and our steamer sails from Monrovia for the Congo on November 10th or November 15th. We cannot find out here which date. We have given up hope of getting a steamer here to take us to Monrovia. We saw one steaming by in the distance yesterday but were unable to hail her. Why should any steamer stop here unless she has a cargo or wishes to get one?

Type

Diary

Citation