read to my great satisfaction a sermon written by Dr.
Lupton. While I was reading, I saw him in the pulpit
and I sat in the pew & listened very attentively. The
afternoon passed away, and nothing done but I put in
the day very pleasantly reading some more sermons. Now
we are going to my room to have prayers. While we are
praying I hope our friends in America will be praying
for use A very nice little meeting 4 in noe Now I go
to retire but find everything in our stateroom piled on
the upper berth ~ Morrisons. I quietly take them off
and put them in their respective places and say nothing
to M about for he is so easy to take exceptions, at
times. You see the Belgians, our fellow passengers, are
having a little innocent fun, they think, at our expense.
And I suppose as they are cut off from the wild life
they have at home they feel as though they must do some-
thing mischievous. I get serenaded twice and the 2”
time I encore, to let them know I enjoyed it? No, but
to pretend so, and as it did not worry me they stopped &
I had a good nights rest the remainder of the night.

Dec. 21 ~ Monday

I got up feeling dreadfully bad and while I was dressing
I heard a pattering of drops of water on deek & looking
out I saw it was raining real hard - the first real hard
rain I've seen since I left N. York City - or at least
Croton Lake, the day that Cousin Nellie & I went out to
see Brother Me. About 12 o'cloek, N. I came to the little
town of Monrovia in Liberia on the west coast of Africa.
But some time before we got there, say 8 o'clock, we saw
the top of Cape Mount not far off. And after passing
that, we saw the coast, with its trees all the way to
Monrovia. We did not go to the town for the Captain
would not permit. We anehored about s mile away - and
just as we anchored we shot off a cannon a signal to let
them know we were ready and immediately quite a number
of canoes came to the ship bearing nearly one hundred
black men. An officer, with the name of each who was to
make the remainder of the trip with us got on board and
although he was black he spoke good English. I thought
I had seen an American Negro but he said he was born
here. Now these men of whom I spoke as going to make
the remainder of the trip with us, are forty in number.
They are going as deck hands - roust-abouts we would
