“Sunday, 22nd.—In bed with fever, rather bad. Bessie (Mrs. Mayo) is nursing me.
“Monday, 23rd.—Sat up to-day. Normal all day.
“Tuesday, 24th.—Loaded and arranged caravan this morning. Feeling a bit queer, but much better.
“Wednesday, 25th.—Started, went to Kintina.”
A few words of comment upon these entries are perhaps called for. The reader will wonder why Mrs. Lewis, just up from fever, made so much haste to depart upon the long, trying journey to Kibokolo. The cause of her haste was her concern for Mrs. Mayo. She felt that her young friend must not be allowed to remain a day longer than was absolutely necessary amid the scenes of her recent suffering and sorrow. Her nerves were perilously overstrained; she could not sleep, and Mrs. Lewis judged that the journey to Kibokolo, with its inevitable hardships, would be far preferable to a prolonged stay in San Salvador. In her own home, too, she would be naturally able to give, with fuller freedom and competency, the careful, sympathetic treatment which the case required. So on the day after her recovery from fever, and while still “feeling a bit queer,” Mrs. Lewis “loaded and arranged the caravan.” And these words are to be taken literally. It was a man’s job, but masculine help being unavailable at the moment, in her determination to get away quickly Mrs. Lewis did it herself.
From Wednesday, May 25th, to Tuesday, 31st, the diary is blank. The journey yielded no incidents of special moment. The usual discomforts were endured, aggravated by the inexperience of the hammock bearers. On May 31st occurs this entry:—
“Met Tom on the Nyanza. All came in together this afternoon. ‘Chopped’ at Bowskills.”
Mr. Lewis was returning from a vain journey to Tumba. When Mrs. Lewis was starting from San Salvador to escort Mrs. Mayo to the coast, she wrote to her husband, informing him of her project, saying also that in returning she purposed to take the train from Matadi to Tumba, and asking him to meet her there and accompany her home. Turned back from the flooded Lunda, she wrote again, hoping to be able to prevent his setting out. The second message arrived too late.
The question naturally arises: If Mrs. Lewis could not consent to her husband’s leaving Kibokolo to accompany her to San Salvador, how was it she felt able to ask him to meet her at Tumba? One can only surmise either that less anxious conditions at home made his short absence feasible, or that she foresaw that her own probable exhaustion would make his escort necessary, even at some risk.
A fortnight later Mr. John Pinnock arrived at Kibokolo, and took Mrs. Mayo to the coast, whence she sailed for England. At home her health and vigour were happily restored. Later, she was married to Mr. Kirkland, with whom she has since rendered excellent service to the Mission in the Congo region.