“I think you may like to know something about the journey between Cameroons and Victoria. First we are carried by Kroo-boys into the boat, which is a six-oared lifeboat with an awning over one end. Then our course lies down the river for about twenty miles. After that we cross a stretch of sea, and then turn into creeks, which run between mangrove swamps. This time, about eleven o’clock, the boat was pulled up to the bank, and tied fast to a tree. Then we all had ‘chop.’ ... The Kroo-boys eat theirs at the other end of the boat. After rather a rough passage we reached Bimbia about 8 p.m. The sea was too rough to go further that night. I never saw anything more beautiful than the scene as I lay in the boat in Bimbia Bay. The water there was comparatively calm, while outside one could see the raging breakers. The sky was clear overhead, the moon shining brilliantly upon the little town, which consists of a few native houses, surrounded by loveliest trees. There is only one white man’s house, that of the German Agent, at which I was forced to stay the night. He was very kind, got me supper, made up a bed for me, and provided a black girl to sleep with me and to wait upon me. The next morning we started at sunrise, and arrived here (Victoria) at half-past eight. Mr. Lewis, Mr. Hay and John Pinnock were on the beach waiting for me. Mr. Lewis has just come in to say the mail is leaving to-night, so I must not write more. Miss Comber has made good progress. She is sitting up in her room, and with assistance walked twice round the sitting-room to-day. I think she will do well now, with care; but she will need to go for a trip South before resuming her work. Mr. Hay and John Pinnock are both down with fever, and very ill, especially the former. Mr. Lewis is staying with both and nursing both. I do trust they will get over it well. I am very anxious about Mr. Hay. There is a man-of-war at anchor here now. Mr. Lewis and I went on board yesterday for a change. That was before John Pinnock fell ill. The doctor came ashore and saw the two patients, but he is evidently not very reliable. We think he had been drinking. Mr. Lewis is becoming quite a doctor now. I cannot write more.”
As Mr. Lewis, whose name has been mentioned two or three times, is destined to take a very prominent place in this life-story, it is fitting that at least a few words of formal introduction should be accorded to him; and if they are but few, the reader must know that my hand is restrained by his express desire.
Thomas Lewis was born at Whitland, Carmarthenshire, in 1859. He was a Welsh-speaking Welshman, and his early Christian work was done in the vernacular. He can still preach in Welsh upon occasion, though he has lost some of his former fluency. But when he preaches in English his accent and his lilt bewray him. In the order of Providence he learned to work in wood and iron before he studied theology, and his skill as a handicraftsman has been scarcely less useful to him in his African career than his book-learning. After an honourable course at Haverfordwest College he was accepted by the B.M.S. for service in Africa, and was sent to the Cameroons in 1883. When Mr. Lewis first met Miss Thomas he was engaged to Miss Phillips of Haverfordwest, and how he was happily married and swiftly bereaved will be told in the next chapter.
| MR. GEORGE THOMAS. | MRS. THOMAS. |
| MISS THOMAS (At the age of 17). | REV. THOMAS LEWIS. (Photo by Mr. Wickens, Bangor.) |
On August 5th Miss Thomas writes of “our troubles” which came in sequence to the anxious stay at Victoria. She herself has been down with fever, has made a good recovery, but has been “silly enough” to sprain her ankle. Yet on the whole she is in good form, and is pronounced “wonderful” by the local doctor. But Miss Saker’s continued and alarming illness will necessitate her return home. Her things are packed, they are awaiting the arrival of the mail, and Miss Thomas is to accompany her part way. Miss Thomas continues: “It is now a month since I went to Victoria to nurse Miss Comber, and I have been nursing ever since with an interval of five days for my own fever.” The news from Victoria is bad. Miss Comber is very unwell; Mr. Hay is very ill; and the work is at a standstill.
The mail steamer Bonny arrived on August 19th under the command of Captain Dyson, who had shown Miss Thomas and Miss Comber so much kindness on their voyage out from Liverpool. Captain Dyson was amazed and delighted to find his young friend looking so well—better than when she left England, though perceptibly thinner. Mr. and Mrs. Buckenham were with Captain Dyson, and they all spent a day at the Mission. Miss Saker was placed in the Captain’s boat, in a bed, and carried aboard the Bonny, and the homeward voyage was commenced.
While at sea Miss Thomas herself fell ill, and was constrained to go much further than she intended, even to Madeira. Misadventures retard her return, and on October 29th she is still at sea, and dates from the “ss. Congo, between Akassa and Bonny.” Her letter will return from the Cameroons by the mail ship on which she writes. She is quite a good sailor now; never feels sick, and can take her constitutional, however badly the ship may be rolling. But her mind is gravely exercised by grievous thoughts of the long interruption of her work, and the heavy expense to the Society, which this voyage entails. She is dreading to hear from the Mission House lest the official letter may convey rebuke, and Mr. Baynes may be vexed by action on her part which may seem to be ill advised. A vain fear, at the recollection of which she would smile in later years, when she came to know how warm was Mr. Baynes’s friendship for her, and how from earliest days his insight into character had taught him to place implicit reliance upon her good feeling and her good sense. Meanwhile she adds grimly: “I’ll never come bringing invalids home again”—the mere voice of a mood which sympathy will know how to interpret.
While writing this letter her thoughts turn to Christmas. At the great anniversary seasons, friends far sundered, meet in spirit, and she will think much of dear ones at home; though on Christmas day she will be very busy, as the school treat at Bethel will then take place. Little did Miss Thomas realise when she wrote this down, how strange would be the conditions in which that treat would be held, and how little of outward peace the birthday of the Prince of Peace would bring to the Cameroons. The German annexation had been negotiated without the consent of certain local rulers who were concerned, and this fact bred discontent which ultimately fomented insurrection and internecine hostilities between the chiefs who were aggrieved. For an account of the general aspect of the German troubles the reader is referred to Note A at the end of the book. The volcanic upheaval came at the close of the year, and the following graphic letter gives the personal experiences of Miss Thomas, and affords an early disclosure of the heroic material of which she was made:—
“Bethel Station,