AFRICA.
The development of the work among the Freedmen, the interest taken in African civilization by the most thoughtful people in the country at large, and the enthusiasm awakened among the blacks for the land of their ancestors, constantly remind us of the call we have for mission work in Africa. We have paid much attention to the consideration of this call. In accordance with the suggestion of the last Annual Meeting, we have appointed a Superintendent of African Missions, not only to supervise the work we have carried on so long on the West Coast, but to lay the foundations of the Arthington Mission on the Upper Nile. Great care was taken in selecting a Superintendent, resulting in the choice of Rev. Henry M. Ladd, the son of a missionary, who spent the first sixteen years of his life in the East, after which he came to this country, pursued a course of study and entered the ministry at Walton, N.Y. Mr. Ladd left America for the Mendi Mission in February, reaching the West Coast the last of March. He made a careful examination of the methods of missionary work at Freetown, Sierra Leone, under the care of our British brethren, and afterward proceeded to Good Hope Station, where we have a church and school. Mr. Ladd was accompanied to Africa by Mr. Kelly M. Kemp and his wife, from Lincoln University. A council was called at Good Hope Station for the ordination of Mr. Kemp, and representatives of the Shengay and other missions were present. It was thought advisable that Mr. A. E. White, who had acted as teacher at this point, should return to America. He has since done so, and at present is pursuing his studies at Oberlin College, with a view of preparing himself for better service on the mission field. Mr. Nurse also retired from the mission, giving place to Bro. Kemp, whose experiences and education rendered himself a desirable person as pastor over the church at this point. After arranging details of affairs at Good Hope, Mr. Ladd visited the Avery Station, and was encouraged by the good work under the supervision of Mr. Jackson at this inland station.
Our saw-mill, being the only one on the coast, can be brought into service constantly. Logs are plentiful in the neighborhood, and the people are willing to work. The coffee farm at Avery shows signs of progress, and very soon we may hope for a yield that will test the value of the experiment. The church and school have been kept up, much attention being given in the church to rigorous discipline, where the members had inclined too strongly toward the barbarous customs of the heathen about them. We have long felt the need of a business superintendent to manage the affairs of the mill and farm at Avery, to take care of the property at Good Hope and Debia, and to keep the temporary home at Freetown in readiness for the missionaries on their way to and fro. Mr. I. J. St. John, a man of considerable experience in business affairs, has been appointed to fill this position. In common with other missionary societies, laboring for the redemption of Africa, we find that where there are no roads or domestic animals, but many rivers, a suitable steamer would be quite serviceable in promoting the interests of our civilizing operations, and in adding to the comfort of our missionaries. We believe we ought to provide such a steamer for the Mendi Mission as early as possible, and our appeals are already out for $10,000 as a special fund for this purpose.
We were saddened early in the summer by the unexpected death of Rev. Mr. Kemp, which was followed soon after by the death of his wife, just as they were settling down to the life work they had chosen. Both of these dear missionaries were unavoidably exposed in open boats to the bad influences of the climate. By their death they illustrate our need of more speed and better shelter in transporting missionaries from station to station.
We have appointed Rev. J. M. Williams, a native of South America and an experienced worker in Africa, to carry on the work at Kaw Mendi, the first station occupied on the return of the Amistad captives.
Rev. J. M. Hall, a graduate of Maryville College and of the Theological Department of Howard University, has consented to fill the place vacated by the death of Mr. Kemp, and he, with Mr. St. John, left America in October for the mission.
Three lads from the Mendi country are at school in America, one at Fisk University, and the others at Hampton Institute.
Early in December, Mr. Robt. Arthington, of Leeds, Eng., signified his readiness to pay over the £3,000 he had pledged as a nucleus, provided we would plant a mission on the Upper Nile. Already Dr. O. H. White, Secretary of the Freedmen’s Missions Aid Society of London, had made good progress in securing £3,000 additional to Mr. Arthington’s pledge for the same purpose. It was evident to us that the $30,000 asked for from Great Britain toward the $50,000 fund for this mission would be speedily made up. As we had pledged ourselves to furnish $20,000 on condition that we received in all from Great Britain $30,000, the question of the establishment of the mission directly was thrown upon us. We felt that the call to us was to go forward, and Mr. Ladd’s services were secured at the earliest day possible with a view to this necessity. As the plan of sending forward two men to look over the mission field, select a site for the station, and to determine what supplies and facilities would be needful for the mission, fully met Mr. Arthington’s view, we determined to send forward Mr. Ladd early in the autumn for the purpose mentioned. We were happy, also, in securing the services of a former parishioner of Mr. Ladd, Dr. E. E. Snow, a physician of much experience, to accompany him on his journey. These two brethren left New York in September. They had provided themselves with a valuable letter from Secretary Blaine, instructing the Consul General of the United States at Cairo to further their object as much as he might be able. On their way they purposed to procure letters of introduction from the English Government, hoping thereby to be assisted in making favorable arrangements with the Khedive of Egypt for transportation to the field of their destination, and also for the privilege of using a steamboat on the waters of the Upper Nile. Their plan of route will be to visit Cairo, and proceed from thence to Souakim, on the Red Sea; from this point they will pursue a camel route a distance of 240 miles to Berber, where they hope to find steamboat facilities for the remainder of their journey. The point which they seek to reach is about 1,500 miles in a direct line south of the Mediterranean and near the mouth of the Sobat, where the people are in the depth of barbarism. It is the hope of your Committee that Brothers Ladd and Snow will be able to return in early summer, at which time Dr. Snow will devote himself to procuring a suitable steamer for mission purposes on the Nile, and other supplies and facilities needful for the comfort and success of the enterprise. Supt. Ladd will devote himself to organizing a suitable corps of missionaries for the Arthington mission, two of whom are already under appointment, with a view of proceeding up the Nile next autumn to their field of labor. Our African work is not without its hazards, its embarrassments and inevitable discouragements. We believe, however, that the good tidings of great joy must be preached to the millions of newly-discovered peoples in Central Africa, and that the negro race with which we have so much to do has an urgent and imperative call in this direction. We accept, therefore, cheerfully and prayerfully, our part of the burden, trusting that the many friends of the long despised and forgotten Africans will sustain us by their prayers and by their contributions, while we go forward as the Lord opens the way, performing our tasks as best we are able until the day shall dawn.