The Harvard African Expedition, Book 2: October 16, 1926
Creator
Loring WhitmanDate
10/16/26Coverage
Chekomma, Hinterland, LiberiaTranscription
Sat Oct 16th We passed a sleepless night. In the first place our beds were placed under the eaves of used dwelling with merely palm stem walls so that the fire light from inside filtered thru and lighted up our nets. Secondly the mosquitoes were fierce keeping the babies crying and the people slapping. And 3rdly they, the people, either due to the advent of the white man or for other causes palava’d most of the night being particularly noisy around 200. But then such is life. They even kept Dr. Strong awake who was in the eaves of another house.
After breakfast at about 600 we packed up all our beds etc and by 630 had shipped them off, Dr. Strong and Shattuck going along too. Hal and I stayed over to take some pictures of the town. And There was a set of elephant jaws, 4 of them – 2 large and two small , which we took besides some town scenes. Then we started at 730 and walked comfortably across the ridge and down the other side. When we got to the rocky stream we spent about a half an hour swimming and sunning ourselves. Then And so we walked finally into Chekomma to find our beds set up and everything ready for us.
Leave True 720 Arr. Chekomma 1040
5 SE
10 S
15 E
10 S
15 SW
50 S
60 Swim
20 S
10 SW
We got out of our dirty clothes and put on clean ones. Then we looked around. Some patients came in of which I took some pictures for Dr. Strong, while Hal shaved and washed up. I also cut shaved down one of my plate magazines which has swelled and loaded it.
At about 400 Hal and I went out to take some pictures but we were not too successful and the light was getting poor. Some of the children here have made designs in white on their faces – as tho they had used white chalk. When I first went out with my camera all the people fled out of town into the bush.
True town Chekomma is not very large nor very neat altho its population is greater than would be expected from the number of huts. The huts themselves are small and as at True are largely made of stems of palm leaves with a thatch roof. <Drawing of raised hut> The floors of all of these are about 1 ½ - 2 ft above the ground and the fire is also on the same level. Whether this is to keep out ants or water I don’t know. Some of them have a sort of door step upon which they can sit.
In the middle of the town is a clump of palm completely surrounded by the antique lower jaws of elephants killed long ago.
When we first got here we saw several monkeys in the trees nearby they are remarkably tame. In the evening after supper I got out my ukulele and played for about an hour and so to bed. Dr. Strong was asleep when I stopped, I don’t now whether in desperation or not.