A Liberian Journey

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Tues Sept 14^th Well we have returned to Naama today. We got up just at dawn and packed our beds before breakfast at 530. Then we started to load up. I took my camera about 600 and went down to the village where I took some pictures in the half life of the morning. In one I showed the lower slopes of the hill disappearing into the fog which lay over the entire country. Then back to the barracks and off. It was quite cool in the early morning and the men practically ran all the way to Banga. There however they got a bit discouraged and slowed down to a steady pace. When we got to Bonshu we stopped and again shifted some of the men. The pleasant Rd. Commissioner gave us some ripe bananas, some more eggs, etc, and we retaliated with some tobacco.

            Just before I got to Bonshu I took some movies of the road builders. Those beating the dirt flat working on every beat of native music – those digging fresh dirt to be put on the road working on alternate beats. One man in the meantime playing vigorously on the drum. And in Bonshu I took some movies of wool cotton spinning.

            But we were off again – this time only for an hour – to Naama where we decided to spend the night. The govt compound is the most civilized of any of the ones I have been in so far. In the first place it is smaller so that it is a yard rather than a pasture. Secondly it has more houses per square foot and 3rdly it has paths lined with bordered with stones passing across it. <Drawing of government compound>The house which we used was similar to that at Garmu but was bigger and much more swell having a shower room (S.R.) a kitchen (K) and 3 mother rooms which we did not use. We slept on the porch as usually.

            During the afternoon several things happened – the Ass’t D.C. was quite hurt at our not calling him during our as we passed thru. He is a stout educated pretentious damn fool who is absolutely harmless. We salved him. The school Teacher came around with his two sons and two daughters and gave us 4 cabbages – monsters and well headed. He have them to us – for 4 5 shillings. The third thing was a dance. Day before yesterday several youths were taken into the devil bush. In consequence there has been great celebration in the town. This dance was performed by 8 young damsels 6 of whom stood in a row singing and stamping their feet. The other two danced round one another at times slowly at times actively with much hard stamping and much wavings of their posterior portions.

            And in the evening we had another glorious moon to gaze at as well as a devil who came into town escorted by drums harps and horns – to talk in a hot potato and extremely noisy manners. We finally go to sleep but it was hard to stay in bed before that. 

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