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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/8906-8.txt b/8906-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..468c979 --- /dev/null +++ b/8906-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13353 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneer Missionary +by W. P. Livingstone + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneer Missionary + +Author: W. P. Livingstone + +Release Date: September, 2005 [EBook #8906] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on August 23, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARY SLESSOR OF CALABAR *** + + + + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + MARY SLESSOR + + OF CALABAR + + PIONEER MISSIONARY + + BY + + W. P. LIVINGSTONE + + + + PREFATORY NOTE + + +_Life for most people is governed by authority and convention, but +behind these there lies always the mystery of human nature, uncertain +and elusive, and apt now and again to go off at a tangent and disturb +the smooth working of organised routine. Some man or woman will appear +who departs from the normal order of procedure, who follows ideals +rather than rules, and whose methods are irregular, and often, in the +eyes of onlookers, unwise. They may be poor or frail, and in their own +estimation of no account, yet it is often they who are used for the +accomplishment--of important ends. Such a one was Mary Slessor._ + +_Towards the end of her days she was urged to write her autobiography, +but was surprised at the proposal, and asked what she had done to merit +the distinction of being put in a book. She was so humble-minded that +she could not discern any special virtue in her life of self-sacrifice +and heroism; and she disliked publicity and was shamed by praise. When +the matter was pressed upon her in view of the inspiration which a +narrative of her experiences and adventures would be for others, she +began to consider whether it might not be a duty, she never shrank from +any duty however unpleasant. Her belief was that argument and theory +had no effect in arousing interest in missionary enterprise; that the +only means of setting the heart on fire the magnetism of personal touch +and example; and she indicated that if account of her service would +help to stimulate and strengthen the faith of the supporters of the +work, she would be prepared to supply the material. She died before the +intention could be carried further, but from many sources, and chiefly +from her own letters, it has been possible to piece together the main +facts of her wonderful career._ + +_One, however, has no hope of giving an adequate picture of her complex +nature, so full of contrasts and opposites. She was a woman of affairs, +with a wide and catholic outlook upon humanity, and yet she was a shy +solitary walking alone in puritan simplicity and childlike faith. Few +ham possessed such moral and physical courage, or exercised such +imperious power over savage peoples, yet on trivial occasions she was +abjectly timid and afraid, A sufferer from chronic malarial affection, +and a martyr to pains her days were filled in with unremitting toil. +Overflowing with love and tender feeling, she could be stern and +exacting. Shrewd, practical, and matter of fact, she believed that +sentiment was a gift of God, and frankly indulged in it. Living always +in the midst of dense spiritual darkness, and often depressed and +worried, she maintained unimpaired a sense of humour and laughter. +Strong and tenacious of will, she admitted the right of others to +oppose her. These are but illustrations of the perpetual play of light +and shade in her character which made her difficult to understand. Many +could not see her greatness for what they called her eccentricities, +forgetting, or perhaps being unaware of, what she had passed through, +experiences such as no other woman had undergone, which explained much +that seemed unusual in her conduct. But when her life is viewed as a +whole, and in the light of what she achieved, all these angles and +oddities fall away, and she stands out, a woman of unique and inspiring +personality, and one of the most heroic figures of the age._ + +_Some have said that she was in a sense a miracle, and not, therefore, +for ordinary people to emulate. Such an estimate she would have stoutly +repudiated. It is true that she began life with the gift of a strong +character, but many possess that and yet come to nothing. She had, on +the other hand, disadvantages and obstacles that few have to encounter. +It was by surrender, dedication, and unwearied devotion that she grew +into her power of attainment, and all can adventure on the same path. +It was love for Christ that made her what she was, and there is no +limit set in that direction. Such opportunity as she had, lies before +the lowliest disciples; even out of the commonplace Love can carve +heroines. "There is nothing small or trivial," she once said, "for God +is ready to take every act and motive and work through them to the +formation of character and the development of holy and useful lives +that will convey grace to the world." It was so in her case, and hence +the value of her example, and the warrant for telling the story of her +life so that others may be influenced to follow aims as noble, and to +strive, if not always in the same manner, at least with a like courage, +and in the same patient and indomitable spirit. + + W.P.L._ + + + + + CONTENTS + + FIRST PHASE + + A SCOTTISH FACTORY GIRL + + CHAPTER I. SAVED BY FEAR + CHAPTER II. IN THE WEAVING-SHED + CHAPTER III. MISERY + CHAPTER IV. TAMING THE ROUGHS + CHAPTER V. SELF-CULTURE + CHAPTER VI. A TRAGIC LAND + CHAPTER VII. THE THREE MARYS + + + SECOND PHASE + + WORK AND ADVENTURE AT THE BASE + +CHAPTER I. THE BREATH OF THE TROPICS +CHAPTER II. FIRST IMPRESSIONS +CHAPTER III. IN THE UNDERWORLD +CHAPTER IV. THE PULL OF HOME +CHAPTER V. AT THE SEAT OF SATAN +CHAPTER VI. IN ELEPHANT COUNTRY +CHAPTER VII. WITH BACK TO THE WALL +CHAPTER VIII. BEREFT +CHAPTER IX. THE SORROWS OF CREEK TOWN +CHAPTER X. THE FULNESS OF THE TIME + + + THIRD PHASE + + THE CONQUEST OF OKOYONG + +CHAPTER I. A TRIBE OF TERRORISTS +CHAPTER II. IN THE ROYAL CANOE +CHAPTER III. THE ADVENTURE OF TAKING POSSESSION +CHAPTER IV. FACING AN ANGBY MOB +CHAPTER V. LIFE IN THE HAREM +CHAPTER VI. STRANGE DOINGS +CHAPTER VII. FIGHTING A GRIM FOE +CHAPTER VIII. THE POWER OF WITCHCRAFT +CHAPTER IX. SORCERY IN THE PATH +CHAPTER X. HOW HOUSE AND HALL WERE BUILT +CHAPTER XI. A PALAVER AT THE PALACE +CHAPTER XII. THE SCOTTISH CARPENTER +CHAPTER XIII. HER GREATEST BATTLE AND VICTORY +CHAPTER XIV. THE AFTERMATH +CHAPTER XV. THE SWEET AND THE STRONG +CHAPTER XVI. WAR IN THE GATES +CHAPTER XVII. AMONG THE CHURCHES +CHAPTER XVIII. LOVE OF LOVER +CHAPTER XIX. A LETTER AND ITS RESULT +CHAPTER XX. THE BLOOD COVENANT +CHAPTER XXI. "RUN, MA! RUN!" +CHAPTER XXII. A GOVERNMENT AGENT +CHAPTER XXIII. "ECCENTRICITIES," SPADE-WORK, AND DAY-DREAMS +CHAPTER XXIV. MAIDEN-MOTHER AND ANGEL-CHILD +CHAPTER XXV. MARY KINGSLEY'S VISIT +CHAPTER XXVI. AN ALL-NIGHT JOURNEY +CHAPTER XXVII. AKOM: A FIRST-FRUIT +CHAPTER XXVIII. THE BOX FROM HOME +CHAPTER XXIX. AN APPEAL TO THE CONSUL +CHAPTER XXX. AFTER SEVEN YEARS +CHAPTER XXXI. THE PASSING OF THE CHIEFS +CHAPTER XXXII. CLOTHED BY FAITH +CHAPTER XXXIII. THE SHY SPEAKER +CHAPTER XXXIV. ISOLATION + 1. A MOTHER IN ISRAEL + 2. THE CARES OF A HOUSEHOLD +CHAPTER XXXV. EXILED TO CREEK TOWN +CHAPTER XXXVI. PICTURES AND IMPRESSIONS +CHAPTER XXXVII. A NIGHT IN THE BUSH +CHAPTER XXXVIII. WITH LOVING-KINDNESS CROWNED + + + FOURTH PHASE + + THE ROMANCE OF THE ENYONG CREEK + +CHAPTER I. THE REIGN OF THE LONG JUJU +CHAPTER II. PLANTING A BASE +CHAPTER III. ON TO AROCHUKU +CHAPTER IV. A SLAVE-GIRL'S TRIUMPH +CHAPTER V. A BUSH FURLOUGH +CHAPTER VI. BEGINNINGS +CHAPTER VII. MOVING INLAND +CHAPTER VIII. THE PROBLEM OF THE WOMEN +CHAPTER IX. A CHRISTMAS PARTY +CHAPTER X. MUTINOUS +CHAPTER XI. ON THE BENCH +CHAPTER XII. A VISITOR'S NOTES +CHAPTER XIII. A REST-HOME +CHAPTER XIV. SCOTLAND: THE LAST FAREWELL +CHAPTER XV. GROWING WEATHER +CHAPTER XVI. "THE PITY OF IT" +CHAPTER XVII. THE SETTLEMENT BEGUN +CHAPTER XVIII. A SCOTTISH GUEST +CHAPTER XIX. A MOTOR CAR ROMANCE +CHAPTER XX. STRUCK DOWN + + + FIFTH PHASE + + ONWARD STILL + +CHAPTER I. IN HEATHEN DEEPS +CHAPTER II. "REAL LIFE" +CHAPTER III. THE AUTOCRATIC DOCTOR +CHAPTER IV. GOD'S WONDERFUL PALAVER +CHAPTER V. WEAK BUT STRONG +CHAPTER VI. HER FIRST HOLIDAY +CHAPTER VII. INJURED +CHAPTER VIII. FRIENDSHIPS WITH OFFICIALS +CHAPTER IX. POWER THBOUGH PRAYER +CHAPTER X. BIBLE STUDENT +CHAPTER XI. BACK TO THE OLD HAUNTS +CHAPTER XII. ROYAL RECOGNITION +CHAPTER XIII. BATTLE FOR A LIFE +CHAPTER XIV. A VISION OF THE NIGHT +CHAPTER XV. STORMING THE CITADELS +CHAPTER XVI. CLARION CALLS +CHAPTER XVII. LOVE-LETTERS +CHAPTER XVIII. A LONELY FIGURE +CHAPTER XIX. WHEN THE GREAT WAR CAME +CHAPTER XX. THE TIME OF THE SINGING OF BIRDS +CHAPTER XXI. TRIBUTE AND TREASURE +CHAPTER XXII. SEEN AND UNSEEN +CHAPTER XXIII. THE ALABASTER BOX + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Mary M. Slessor +Calabar Mission Field in 1876 +Miss Slessor and some of the People of Ekenge +Calabar Chief of the Present Day +Calabar Sword +King Eyo's State Canoe +The First Church in Okoyong--at Ifako +Miss Slessor's Mission House at Ekenge +"Ma's" Quarters at Akpap +The Tragedy of Twins +The Okoyong Household in Scotland +Native Court in Okoyong +Calabar Mission Map of the Present Day +A Glimpse of the Enyong Creek +Itu, showing the Beach where the Slave-market was held +Court House at Ikotobong +"Ma," with the Material for the Native Oath at her Feet +Administering the Native Oath to a Witness +The Government Motor Car +Miss Slessor's Heathen Friend, Ma Eme +One of Miss Slessor's Bibles +Miss Slessor's Silver Cross +The House on the Hill-top at Odoro Ikpe +The Last Photograph of the Household + + + + + FIRST PHASE + + 1848-1876. Age 1-28. + + A SCOTTISH FACTORY GIRL + + _"It was the dream of my girlhood to be a missionary + to Calabar_." + + I. SAVED BY FEAR + +When the founding of the Calabar Mission on the West Coast of Africa +was creating a stir throughout Scotland, there came into a lowly home +in Aberdeen a life that was to be known far and wide in connection with +the enterprise. On December 2, 1848, Mary Mitchell Slessor was born in +Gilcomston, a suburb of the city. + +Her father, Robert Slessor, belonged to Buchan, and was a shoemaker. +Her mother, who came from Old Meldrum, was an only child, and had been +brought up in a home of refinement and piety. She is described by those +who knew her as a sweet-faced woman, patient, gentle, and retiring, +with a deeply religious disposition, but without any special feature of +character, such as one would have expected to find in the mother of so +uncommon a daughter. It was from her, however, that Mary got her soft +voice and loving heart. + +Mary was the second of seven children. Of her infancy and girlhood +little is known. Her own earliest recollections were associated with +the name of Calabar. Mrs. Slessor was a member of Belmont Street United +Presbyterian Church, and was deeply interested in the adventure going +forward in that foreign field. "I had," said Mary, "my missionary +enthusiasm for Calabar in particular from her--she knew from its +inception all that was to be known of its history." Both she and her +elder brother Robert heard much talk of it in the home, and the latter +used to announce that he was going to be a missionary when he was a +man. So great a career was, of course, out of the reach of girls, but +he consoled Mary by promising to take her with him into the pulpit. +Often Mary played at keeping school; and it is interesting to note that +the imaginary scholars she taught and admonished were always black. +Robert did not survive these years, and Mary became the eldest. + +Dark days came. Mr. Slessor unhappily drifted into habits of +intemperance and lost his situation, and when he suggested removing to +Dundee, then coming to the front as an industrial town and promising +opportunities for the employment of young people, his wife consented, +although it was hard for her to part from old friends and associations. +But she hoped that in a strange city, where the past was unknown, her +husband might begin life afresh and succeed. The family went south in +1859, and entered on a period of struggle and hardship. The money +realised by the sale of the furniture melted away, and the new house +was bare and comfortless, Mr. Slessor continued his occupation as a +shoemaker, and then became a labourer in one of the mills. + +The youngest child, Janie, was born in Dundee. All the family were +delicate, and it was not long before Mary was left with only two +sisters and a brother--Susan, John, and Janie. Mrs. Slessor's fragility +prevented her battling successfully with trial and misfortune, but no +children could have been trained with more scrupulous care. "I owe a +great debt of gratitude to my sainted mother," said Mary, long +afterwards. Especially was she solicitous for their religious well- +being. On coming to Dundee she had connected herself with Wishart +Church in the east end of the Cowgate, a modest building, above a +series of shops near the Port Gate from the parapets of which George +Wishart preached during the plague of 1544. Here the children were sent +to the regular services--with a drop of perfume on their handkerchiefs +and gloves and a peppermint in their pockets for sermon-time--and also +attended the Sunday School. + +Mary's own recollection of herself at this period was that she was "a +wild lassie." She would often go back in thought to these days, and +incidents would flash into memory that half amused and half shamed her. +Some of her escapades she would describe with whimsical zest, and +trivial as they were they served to show that, even then, her native +wit and resource were always ready to hand. But very early the Change +came. An old widow, living in a room in the back lands, used to watch +the children running about the doors, and in her anxiety for their +welfare sought to gather some of the girls together and talk to them, +young as they were, about the matters that concerned their souls. One +afternoon in winter they had come out of the cold and darkness into the +glow of her fire, and were sitting listening to her description of the +dangers that beset all who neglected salvation. + +"Do ye see that fire?" she exclaimed suddenly. "If ye were to put your +hand into the lowes it would be gey sair. It would burn ye. But if ye +dinna repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ your soul will burn +in the lowin' bleezin' fire for ever and ever!" + +The words went like arrows to Mary's heart; she could not get the +vision of eternal torment out of her mind: it banished sleep, and she +came to the conclusion that it would be best for her to make her peace +with God. She "repented and believed." It was hell-fire that drove her +into the Kingdom, she would sometimes say. But once there she found it +to be a Kingdom of love and tenderness and mercy, and never throughout +her career did she seek to bring any one into it, as she had come, by +the process of shock and fear. + + + + + II. IN THE WEAVING-SHED + +The time came when Mrs. Slessor herself was compelled to enter one of +the factories in order to maintain the home, and many of the cares and +worries of a household fell upon Mary. But at eleven she, too, was sent +out to begin to earn a livelihood. In the textile works of Messrs. +Baxter Brothers & Company she became what was known as a half-timer, +one who wrought half the day and went to the school in connection with +the works the other half. When she was put on full time she attended +the school held at night. Shortly afterward she entered Rashiewell +factory to learn weaving under the supervision of her mother. After +trying the conditions in two other works she returned, about the age of +fourteen, to Baxter's, where she soon became an expert and well-paid +worker. Her designation was a "weaver" or "factory girl," not a "mill- +girl," this term locally being restricted to spinners in the mills. +When she handed her first earnings to her mother the latter wept over +them, and put them away as too sacred to use. But her wage was +indispensable for the support of the home, and eventually she became +its chief mainstay. + +Life in the great factory in which she was but a unit amongst thousands +was hard and monotonous. The hours of the workers were from six A.M. to +six P.M., with one hour for breakfast and one for dinner. Mary was +stationed in a room or shed, which has very much the same appearance +to-day. Now as then the belts are whirring, the looms are moving, the +girls are handling the shuttles, and the air is filled with a din so +continuous and intense that speech is well-nigh impossible. Mary had to +be up every morning at five o'clock, as she helped in the work of the +home before going out, while similar duties claimed her at night. +Though naturally bright and refined in disposition she was at this time +almost wholly uneducated. From the factory schools she had brought only +a meagre knowledge of reading and arithmetic, and she had read little +save the books obtained from the library of the Sunday School. But her +mind was opening, she was becoming conscious of the outer world and all +its interests and wonders, and she was eager to know and understand. In +order to study she began to steal time from sleep. She carried a book +with her to the mill, and, like David Livingstone at Blantyre, laid it +on the loom and glanced at it in her free moments. So anxious was she +to learn that she read on her way to and from the factory. It was not a +royal road, that thoroughfare of grim streets, but it led her into many +a shining region. + +Her only source of outside interest was the Church. From the Sunday +School she passed into the Bible Class, where her attendance was never +perfunctory, for she enjoyed the teaching and extracted all she could +out of it. She would carry home the statements that arrested and +puzzled her, and refer them to her mother, who, however, did not always +find it easy to satisfy her. "Is baptism necessary for salvation, +mother?" was one of her questions. "Well," her mother replied, "it says +that he that repents and is baptized shall be saved; but it does not +say that he that repents and is not baptized shall be damned." Some of +her mother's sayings at this time she never forgot. "When one duty +jostles another, one is not a duty," she was once told. And again, +"Thank God for what you receive: thank God for what you do not receive: +thank God for the sins you are delivered from; and thank God for the +sins that you know nothing at all about, and are never tempted to +commit." + +Mary was a favourite with her classmates. There was something about her +even then which drew others to her. One, the daughter of an elder, +tells how, though much younger, she was attracted to her by her +goodness and her kind ways, and how she would often go early to meet +her in order to enjoy her company to the class. + + + + + III. MISERY + +The explanation of much in Mary Slessor's character lies in these early +years, and she cannot be fully understood unless the unhappy +circumstances in her home are taken into account. She was usually +reticent regarding her father, but once she wrote and published under +her own name what is known to be the story of this painful period of +her girlhood. There is no need to reproduce it, but some reference to +the facts is necessary if only to show how bravely she battled against +hardship and difficulties even then. + +The weakness of Mr. Slessor was not cured by the change in his +surroundings. All the endearments of his wife and daughter were +powerless to save the man whose heart was tender enough when he was +sober, but whose moral sensibilities continued to be sapped by his +indulgence in drink. Every penny he could lay hands upon was spent in +this way, and the mother was often reduced to sore straits to feed and +clothe the children. Not infrequently Mary had to perform a duty +repugnant to her sensitive nature. She would leave the factory after +her long toil, and run home, pick up a parcel which her mother had +prepared, and fly like a hunted thing along the shadiest and quietest +streets, making many a turning in order to avoid her friends, to the +nearest pawnbroker's. Then with sufficient money for the week's +requirements she would hurry back with a thankful heart, and answer the +mother's anxious, questioning eyes with a glad light in her own. A kiss +would be her reward, and she would be sent out to pay the more pressing +bills. + +There was one night of terror in every week. On Saturday, after the +other children were in bed, the mother and daughter sat sewing or +knitting in silence through long hours, waiting in sickening +apprehension for the sound of uncertain footsteps on the stairs. Now +and again they prayed to quieten their hearts. Yet they longed for his +coming. When he appeared he would throw into the fire the supper they +had stinted themselves to provide for him. Sometimes Mary was forced +out into the streets where she wandered in the dark, alone, sobbing out +her misery. + +All the efforts of wife and daughter were directed towards hiding the +skeleton in the house. The fear of exposure before the neighbours, the +dread lest Mary's church friends should come to know the secret, made +the two sad souls pinch and struggle and suffer with endless patience. +None of the other children was aware of the long vigils that were +spent. The fact that the family was never disgraced in public was +attributed to prayer. The mother prayed, the daughter prayed, +ceaselessly, with utter simplicity of belief, and they were never once +left stranded or put to shame. Their faith not only saved them from +despair, it made them happy in the intervals of their distress. Few +brighter or more hopeful families gathered in church from Sunday to +Sunday. + +Nevertheless these days left their mark upon Mary for life. She was at +the plastic age, she was gentle and sensitive and loving, and what she +passed through hurt and saddened her spirit. To the end it was the only +memory that had power to send a shaft of bitterness across the +sweetness of her nature. It added to her shyness and to her reluctance +to appear in public and speak, which was afterwards so much commented +upon, for always at the back of her mind was the consciousness of that +dark and wretched time. The reaction on her character, however, was not +all evil; suffering in the innocent has its compensations. It deepened +her sympathy and pity for others. It made her the fierce champion of +little children, and the refuge of the weak and oppressed. It prepared +her also for the task of combating the trade in spirits on the West +Coast, and for dealing with the drunken tribes amongst whom she came to +dwell. Her experience then was, indeed, the beginning of her training +for the work she had to accomplish in the future.... + +The father died, and the strain was removed, and Mary became the chief +support of the home. Those who knew her then state that her life was +one long act of self-denial; all her own inclinations and interests +were surrendered for the sake of the family, and she was content with +bare necessaries so long as they were provided for. + + + + + IV. TAMING THE ROUGHS + +In her church work she continued to find the little distraction from +toil which gave life its savour. She began to attend the Sabbath +Morning Fellowship and week-night prayer meetings. She also taught a +class of "lovable lassies" in the Sabbath School--"I had the impudence +of ignorance then in special degree surely" was her mature comment on +this--and became a distributor of the _Monthly Visitor_. Despite the +weary hours in the factory, and a long walk to and from the church, she +was never absent from any of the services or meetings. "We would as +soon have thought of going to the moon as of being absent from a +service," she wrote shortly before she died. "And we throve very well +on it too. How often, when lying awake at night, my time for thinking, +do I go back to those wonderful days!" + +She owed much to her association with the Church, but more to her +Bible. Once a girl asked her for something to read, and she handed her +the Book saying, "Take that; it has made me a changed lassie." The +study of it was less a duty than a joy; it was like reading a message +addressed specially to herself, containing news of surpassing personal +interest and import. God was very real to her. To think that behind all +the strain and struggle and show of the world there was a Personality, +not a thought or a dream, not something she could not tell what, in +spaces she knew not where, but One who was actual and close to her, +overflowing with love and compassion, and ready to listen to her, and +to heal and guide and strengthen her--it was marvellous. She wished to +know all He had to tell her, in order that she might rule her conduct +according to His will. Most of all it was the story of Christ that she +pored over and thought about. His Divine majesty, the beauty and grace +of His life, the pathos of His death on the Cross, affected her +inexpressibly. But it was His love, so strong, so tender, so pitiful, +that won her heart and devotion and filled her with a happiness and +peace that suffused her inner life like sunshine. In return she loved +Him with a love so intense that it was often a pain. She felt that she +could not do enough for one who had done so much for her. As the years +passed she surrendered herself more and more to His influence, and was +ready for any duty she was called upon to do for Him, no matter how +humble or exacting it might be. It was this passion of love and +gratitude, this abandonment of self, this longing for service, that +carried her into her life-work. + +Wishart Church stood in the midst of slums. Pends, or arched passages, +led from the Cowgate into tall tenements with outside spiral stairs +which opened upon a maze of landings and homes. Out of these sunless +rookeries tides of young life poured by night and day, and spread over +the neighbouring streets in undisciplined freedom. Mary's heart often +ached for these boys and girls, whom she loved in spite of all their +roughness; and when a mission was determined on, and a room was taken +at 6 Queen Street--a small side thoroughfare nearly opposite Quarry +Pend, one of the worst of the alleys--she volunteered as a teacher. And +so began a second period of stem training which was to serve her well +in the years to come. The wilder spirits made sport of the meetings and +endeavoured to wreck them. "That little room," she wrote, "was full of +romantic experiences." There was danger outside when the staff +separated, and she recalled how several of the older men surrounded the +"smaller individuals" when they faced the storm. One of these was Mr. +J. H. Smith, who became her warm friend and counsellor. + +As the mission developed, a shop under the church at the side of +Wishart Pend was taken and the meetings transferred to it, she having +charge of classes for boys and girls both on Sundays and week-nights. +Open-air work was at that time dangerous, but she and a few others +attempted it: they were opposed by roughs and pelted with mud. There +was one gang that was resolved to break up the mission with which she +had come to be identified. One night they closed in about her on the +street. The leader carried a leaden weight at the end of a piece of +cord, and swung it threateningly round her head. She stood her ground. +Nearer and nearer the missile came. It shaved her brow. She never +winced. The weight crashed to the ground. "She's game, boys," he +exclaimed. To show their appreciation of her spirit they went in a body +to the meeting. There her bright eyes, her sympathy, and her firmness +shaped them into order and attention.... + +On the wall of one of her bush houses in West Africa there used to hang +a photograph of a man and his wife and family. The man was the lad who +had swung the lead. On attaining a good position he had sent her the +photograph in grateful remembrance of what had been the turning-point +in his life.... + +Another lad, a bully, used to stand outside the hall with a whip in +hand driving the young fellows into "Mary Slessor's meeting," but +refusing to go in himself. One day the girl weaver faced him. "If we +changed places what would happen?" she asked, and he replied, "I would +get this whip across my back." She turned her back. "I'll bear it for +you if you'll go in," she said. "Would you really bear that for me?" +"Yes, and far more--go on, I mean it." He threw down the whip and +followed her in, and gave himself the same day to Christ. Even then she +was unconventional in her methods and was criticised for it. She had a +passion for the countryside, and often on Saturday afternoons she would +take her class of lads away out to the green fields, regardless of +social canons. + +By and by a new field of work was opened up when a number of +progressive minds in the city formed Victoria Street United +Presbyterian congregation, not far from her familiar haunts. In +connection with the movement a mission service for the young was +started on Sunday mornings under the presidency of Mr. James Logic, of +Tay Square Church, and to him Mary offered her services as a monitor. +Mr. Logie soon noticed the capacity of the young assistant and won her +confidence and regard. Like most people she was unconscious at the +moment of the unseen forces moulding her life, but she came in after +days to realise the wise ordering of this friendship. Mr. Logie became +interested in her work and ideals, and sought to promote her interests +in every way. She came to trust Mm implicitly--"He is the best earthly +friend I have," she wrote-and he guided her thenceforward in all her +money affairs. + +She was as successful with the lads at this service as she had been +elsewhere. Before the meeting she would flit through the dark passages +in the tenements and knock, and rouse them up from sleep, and plead +with them to turn out to it. Her influence over them was extraordinary, +They adored her and gave her shy allegiance, and the result was seen in +changed habits and transformed lives. It was the same in the houses she +visited. She went there not as one who was superior to the inmates, but +as one of themselves. In the most natural way she would sit down by the +fire and nurse a child, or take a cup of tea at the table. Her +sympathy, her delicate tact, her cheery counsel won many a woman's +heart and braced her for higher endeavour. It was the same in the +factory; her influence told on the workers about her; some she +strengthened, others she won over to Christ, and these created an +atmosphere which was felt throughout the building. + +And yet what was she? Only a working girl, plain in appearance and in +dress, diffident and self-effacing. "But," says one whom she used to +take down as a boy to the mission and place beside her as she taught, +"she possessed something we could not grasp, something indefinable." It +was the glow of the spirit of Christ which lit up her inner life and +shone in her face, and which, unknown even to herself, was then and +afterwards the source of her distinction and her power. + + + + + V. SELF-CULTURE + +For fourteen years, and these the freshest and fairest years of her +life, she toiled in the factory for ten hours each full day, while she +also gave faithful service in the mission. And yet she continued to +find time for the sedulous culture of her mind. She was always +borrowing books and extracting what was best in them. Not all were +profitable. One was _The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul_ by +Philip Doddridge, a volume much pondered then in Scottish homes. A +friend who noticed that she was somewhat cast down said to her, "Why, +Mary, what's the matter? You look very glum." "I canna do it," she +replied. "Canna do what?" "I canna meditate, and Doddridge says it is +necessary for the soul. If I try to meditate my mind just goes a' +roads." "Well, never mind meditation," her friend said. "Go and work, +for that's what God means us to do," and she followed his advice. Of +her introduction to the fields of higher literature we have one +reminiscence. Her spirit was so eager, she read so much and so quickly, +that a friend sought to test her by lending her _Sartor Resartus_. She +carried it home, and when next he met her he asked quizzically how she +had got on with Carlyle. "It is grand!" she replied. "I sat up reading +it, and was so interested that I did not know what the time was, until +I heard the factory bells calling me to work in the morning!" + +There was no restraining her after that. She broadened and deepened in +thought and outlook, and gradually acquired the art of expressing +herself, both in speech and writing, in language that was deft, lucid, +and vigorous, Her style was formed insensibly from her constant reading +of the Bible, and had then a grave dignity and balance unlike the more +picturesque, if looser, touch of later years. The papers that were read +from her at the Fellowship Association were marked by a felicity of +phrase as well as an insight and spiritual fervour unusual in a girl. +Her alertness of intellect often astonished those who heard her engaged +in argument with the agnostics and freethinkers whom she encountered in +the course of her visiting. She spoke simply, but with a directness and +sincerity that arrested attention. Often asked to address meetings in +other parts of Dundee, she shrank from the ordeal. On one occasion a +friend went with her, but she could not be persuaded to go on the +platform. She sat in the middle of the hall and had a quiet talk on the +words, "The common people heard Him gladly." "And," writes her friend, +"the common people heard her gladly, and crowded round her and pleaded +that she should come again." + + + + + VI. A TRAGIC LAND + +There was never a time when Mary was not interested in foreign +missions. The story of Calabar had impressed her imagination when a +child, and all through the years her eyes had been fixed on the great +struggle going on between the forces of light and darkness in the +sphere of heathenism. The United Presbyterian Church in which she was +brought up placed the work abroad in the forefront of its activity; it +had missions in India, China, Jamaica, Calabar, and Kaffraria; and +reports of the operations were given month by month in its _Missionary +Record_, and read in practically all the homes of its members. It was +pioneer work, and the missionaries were perpetually in the midst of +adventure and peril. Their letters and narratives were eagerly looked +for; they gave to people who had never travelled visions of strange +lands; they brought to them the scent and colour of the Orient and the +tropics; and they introduced into the quietude of orderly homes the din +of the bazaar and harem and kraal. These men and women in the far +outposts became heroic figures to the Church, and whenever they +returned on furlough the people thronged to their meetings to see for +themselves the actors in such amazing happenings, and to hear from +their own lips the story of their difficulties and triumphs. + +Mrs. Slessor never missed hearing those who came to Dundee, and once +she was so much moved by an address from the Rev. William Anderson as +to the needs of Old Calabar that she longed to dedicate her son John to +the work. He was a gentle lad, much loved by Mary. Apprenticed to a +blacksmith, his health began to fail, and a change of climate became +imperative. He emigrated to New Zealand, but died a week after landing. +His mother felt the blow to her hopes even more than his death. To Mary +the event was a bitter grief, and it turned her thoughts more directly +to the foreign field. Could she fill her brother's place? Would it be +possible for her ever to become a missionary? The idea floated for a +time through her mind, unformed and unconfessed, until it gradually +resolved itself into a definite purpose. Sometimes she thought of +Kaffraria, with its red-blanketed people, but it was always Calabar to +which she came back: it had from the first captivated her imagination, +as it for good reason captivated the imagination of the Church. + +The founding of the Mission had been a romance. It was not from +Scotland that the impulse came but from Jamaica in the West Indies. The +slave population of that colony had been brought from the West Coast, +and chiefly from the Calabar region, and although ground remorselessly +in the mill of plantation life they had never forgotten their old home. +When emancipation came and they settled down in freedom under the +direction and care of the missionaries their thoughts went over the +ocean to their fatherland, and they longed to see it also enjoy the +blessings which the Gospel had brought to them. The agents of the +Scottish Missionary Society and of the United Secession Church, who, +together, formed the Jamaica Presbytery, talked over the matter, and +resolved to take action; and eight of their number dedicated themselves +for the service if called upon. A society was formed, and a fund was +established to which the people contributed liberally. But the +officials at home were cold; they deprecated so uncertain a venture in +a pestilential climate. The Presbytery, undaunted, persevered with its +preparations, and chose the Rev. Hope M. Waddell to be the first agent +of the Society. + +It is a far cry from Jamaica to Calabar, but a link of communication +was provided in a remarkable way. Many years previously a slaver had +been wrecked in the neighbourhood of Calabar. The surgeon on board was +a young medical man named Ferguson, and he and the crew were treated +with kindness by the natives. After a time they were able by another +slaver to sail for the West Indies, whence Dr. Ferguson returned home. +He became surgeon on a trader between Liverpool and Jamaica, making +several voyages, and becoming well known in the colony. Settling down +in Liverpool he experienced a spiritual change and became a Christian. +He was interested to hear of the movement in Jamaica, and remembering +with gratitude the friendliness shown him by the Calabar natives he +undertook to find out whether they would accept a mission. This he did +through captains of the trading vessels to whom he was hospitable. In +1848 a memorial from the local king and seven chiefs was sent to him, +offering ground and a welcome to any missionaries who might care to +come, This settled the matter. Mr. Waddell sailed from Jamaica for +Scotland to promote and organise the undertaking. + +Happily the Secession Church adopted the Calabar scheme, and after +securing funds and a ship--one of the first subscriptions, it is +interesting to note, was £1000 from Dr. Ferguson--Mr. Waddell, with +several assistants sailed in 1846, and after many difficulties, which +he conquered with indomitable spirit and patience, founded the Mission. +In the following year it was taken over by the United Presbyterian +Church, which had been formed by the union of the United Secession and +Relief Churches. + +In no part of the foreign field were conditions more formidable. +Calabar exhibited the worst side of nature and of man. While much of it +was beautiful, it was one of the most unhealthy spots in the world-- +sickness, disease, and swift death attacking the Europeans who ventured +there. The natives were considered to be the most degraded of any in +Africa. They were, in reality, the slum-dwellers of negro-land. From +time immemorial their race had occupied the equatorial region of the +continent, a people without a history, with only a past of confused +movement, oppression, and terror. They seem to have been visited by +adventurous navigators of galleys before the Christian era, but the +world in general knew nothing of them. On the land side they were shut +in without hope of expansion. When they endeavoured to move up to the +drier Sahara and Soudanese regions they were met and pressed back by +the outposts of the higher civilisations of Egypt and Arabia, who +preyed upon them, crushed them, enslaved them in vast numbers. And just +as the coloured folk of American cities are kept in the low-lying and +least desirable localities, and as the humbler classes in European +towns find a home in east-end tenements, so all that was weakest and +poorest in the negro race gravitated to the jungle areas and the +poisonous swamps of the coast, where, hemmed in by the pathless sea, +they existed in unbroken isolation for ages. It was not until the +fifteenth century that the explorations of the Portuguese opened up the +coast. Then, to the horrors of the internal slave-trade was added the +horror of the traffic for the markets of the West Indies and America. +Calabar provided the slavers with their richest freight, the lands +behind were decimated and desolated, and scenes of tragedy and +suffering unspeakable were enacted on land and sea. Yet for 400 years +Europeans never penetrated more than a few miles inland. Away in the +far interior of the continent great kingdoms were known to exist, but +all the vast coastal region was a mystery of rivers, swamps, and +forests inhabited by savage negroes and wild beasts. + +It is not surprising that when the missionaries arrived in Calabar they +found the natives to have been demoralised and degraded by the long +period of lawlessness and rapine through which they had passed. They +characterised them in a way that was appalling: many seemed indeed to +have difficulty in selecting words expressive enough for their purpose. +"Bloody," "savage," "crafty," "cruel," "treacherous," "sensual," +"devilish," "thievish," "cannibals," "fetish-worshippers," "murderers," +were a few of the epithets applied to them by men accustomed to observe +closely and to weigh their words. + +Not an attractive people to work amongst. Neither must the dwellers of +the earth have appeared to Christ when He looked down from heaven ere +He took His place in their midst. And Mary Slessor shrank from nothing +which she thought her Master would have done: she rather welcomed the +hardest tasks, and considered it an honour and privilege to be given +them to do. She was not blind to the conditions at home. Often when at +the Mission she realised how great was the need of the slums, with +their problems of poverty and irreligion and misery. But the people +there were within sight of church spires and within hearing of church +bells, and there were many workers as capable as she: whilst down in +the slums of Africa there were millions who knew no more of the +redemptive power of Christ than did the beasts of the field. She was +too intelligent a student of the New Testament not to know that Christ +meant His disciples to spread His Gospel throughout the world, and too +honest not to realise that the command was laid upon every one who +loved Him in spirit and in truth. It was therefore with a quiet and +assured mind that she went forward to the realisation of the dream. She +told no one: she shrank even from mentioning the matter to her mother, +but patiently prepared for the coming change. In the factory she took +charge of two 60-inch looms, hard work for a young woman, but she +needed the money, and she never thought of toil if her object could be +gained. + +Early in 1874 the news of the death of Dr. Livingstone stirred the +land: it was followed by a wave of missionary enthusiasm; and the call +for workers for the dark continent thrilled many a heart. It thrilled +Mary Slessor into action. She reviewed the situation. Her sisters were +now in good situations, and she saw her way to continue her share in +the support of the home. What this loyal determination implied she did +not guess then, but it was to have a large share in shaping her life. +Broaching the subject to her mother she obtained a glad consent. One or +two of her church friends were lukewarm; others, like Mr. Logic and Mr. +Smith, encouraged her. The former, who was deeply interested in foreign +missions and soon afterwards became a member of the Foreign Mission +Committee, promised to look after her affairs during her sojourn +abroad. + +In May 1875 she offered her services to the Foreign Mission Board. Her +heart was set on Calabar, but so eager was she to be accepted that she +said she would be willing to go to any other field. Women agents had +long been engaged in Calabar. The first, Miss Miller, had gone out with +Mr. Waddell in l849-she became the "Mammy" Sutherland who did such +noble service-and they were playing an ever more important part, and +were stated to be both "economical and effective." Requests had just +been made for additions to the staff. The application was, therefore, +opportune. Her personality, and the accounts given of her character and +work, made such an impression on the officials that they reported +favourably to the Board, and she was accepted as a teacher for Calabar +and told to continue her studies in Dundee. In December it was decided +to bring her to Edinburgh, at the expense of the Board, for three +months, for special preparation.... + +The night before she left Dundee, in March 1876, she stood, a tearful +figure, at the mouth of the "close" where she lived. "Good-bye," she +said to a friend, and then passionately, "Pray for me!" + + + + + VII. THE THREE MARYS + +A stranger in Edinburgh, Mary Slessor turned instinctively to Darling's +Temperance Hotel, which was then, and is still, looked upon as a home +by travellers from all parts of the globe. The Darlings, who were +associated with all good work, were then taking part in the revival +movement of Messrs. Moody and Sankey, and the two daughters, Bella and +Jane, were solo-singers at the meetings. The humble Dundee girl had +heard of their powers, and she entered the hotel as if it were a +shrine. Feeling very lonely and very shy, she attended the little +gathering for worship which is held every evening, and was comforted +and strengthened. + +She found a lodging in the home of Mr. Robert Martin, a city +missionary, connected with Bristo Street congregation, and formed a +friendship for Ms daughter Mary. By her she was taken to visit a +companion, Mary Doig, who lived in the south side. The three became +intimates, and shortly afterward Miss Slessor went to live with the +Doigs, and remained with them during her stay in the city. It was a +happy event for her. Warm-hearted and sympathetic, they treated her as +one of the family. A daughter who was married, Mrs. M'Crindle, also met +her, and a lifelong affection sprang up between the two. In later days +it was to Mrs. M'Crindle's house the tired missionary first came on her +furloughs. + +Though she attended the Normal School in the Canongate, she was not +enrolled as a regular student, and her name does not appear on the +books; but a memory of her presence lingers like a sweet fragrance, and +she appears to have been a power for good. One who was a student with +her says: "She had a most gracious and winning personality, and +impressed the students by her courage in going to what was called 'the +white man's grave.' Her reply to questioners was that Calabar was the +post of danger, and was therefore the post of honour. Few would +volunteer for service there, hence she wished to go, for it was there +the Master needed her. The beauty of her character showed itself in her +face, and I have rarely seen one which showed so plainly that the love +of God dwelt within. It was always associated in my mind with that of +Miss Angelica Fraser; a heavenly radiance seemed to emanate from both." + +Her leisure hours were given up to miscellaneous mission work in the +city. Mary Doig and Mary Martin were both connected with Bristo Street +congregation, and worked in the mission at Cowan's Close, +Crosscauseway, and they naturally took Mary Slessor with them. Another +intimate friendship was formed with Miss Paxton, a worker in connection +with South Gray's Close Mission in the High Street. Miss Paxton was +standing at the entrance to the close one Sunday, after a meeting, when +Miss Slessor passed up with a Mr. Bishop, who afterwards became the +printer at Calabar. Mr. Bishop introduced her. "You want some one to +help you?" he said; "you cannot do better than take Miss Slessor." The +two were kindred spirits, and Mary was soon at home among Miss Paxton's +classes. Her first address to the women stands out clearly in the +memory of her friend, and is interesting as indicating her standpoint +then and throughout her life. It was on the question, "What shall I do +with Jesus?" She told them that Christ was standing before them as +surely as He stood before Pilate; and very earnestly she went on, "Dear +women, you must do something with Him: you must reject Him or you must +accept Him. What are you going to do?" She gave them no vision of hell- +fire: she spoke to their reason and judgment, putting the great issue +before them as a simple proposition, clear as light, inexorable as +logic, and left them to decide for themselves. + +Her two companions soon came under her influence. Their culture, piety, +and practical gifts seemed to mark them out for missionaries, and as a +result of her persuasion they offered themselves to the Foreign Mission +Committee of the Church, and were accepted for China. In July the +Committee satisfied itself with regard to Miss Slessor's proficiency, +and decided to send her out at once to Calabar. Her salary was fixed at +£60. Before sailing for their different stations the three Marys, as +they came to be known, attended many meetings together, and were a +source of interest to the Church. + +Miss Slessor was now twenty-eight years of age, a type of nature +peculiarly characteristic of Scotland, the result of its godly +motherhood, the severe discipline of its social conditions, its stern +toil, its warm church life, its missionary enthusiasm. Mature in mind +and body, she retained the freshness of girlhood, was vivacious and +sympathetic, and, while aglow with spirituality, was very human and +likeable, with a heart as tender and wistful as a child's. What +specially distinguished her, says one who knew her well, were her +humility and the width and depth of her love. With diffidence, but in +high hope, she went forward to weave the pattern of her service in the +Mission Field.... + +She sailed on August 5, 1876. Two Dundee companions went with her to +Liverpool. At the docks they saw going on board the steamer Ethiopia, +by which she was to travel, a large number of casks of spirits for the +West Coast. "Scores of casks!" she exclaimed ruefully, "and only one +missionary!" + + + + + SECOND PHASE + + 1876-1888. Age 28-40. + + WORK AND ADVENTURE AT THE BASE + + _"I am passing through the lights and shadows of life_." + + I. THE BREATH OF THE TROPICS + +There is a glamour like the glamour of the dawn about one's first +voyage to the tropics; and as the _Ethiopia_ passed out of the grey +atmosphere of England into the spring belt of the world, and then into +a region where the days were a glory of sunshine and colour and the +nights balmy and serene, Miss Slessor, so long confined within the bare +walls of a factory, found the experience a pure delight in spite of a +sense of loneliness that sometimes stole over her. Her chief grievance +was that Sunday was kept like other days. Trained in the habits of a +religious Scottish home it seemed to her extraordinary that no service +should be held. "My very heart and flesh cried out for the courts of +God's house," she wrote. Some of the crew comforted her by saying that +there was always a Sabbath in Calabar. + +It was not until the headland of Cape Verde was sighted and passed, and +she saw in succession stretches of green banks, white sands upon which +the surf beat, and long grey levels of mangrove, that she began to +realise the presence of Africa. From the shore came hot whiffs of that +indescribable smell so subtly suggestive of a tropical land; while the +names of the districts--the Ivory Coast, the Gold Coast, the Slave +Coast--conjured up the old days of adventure, blood-red with deeds of +cruelty and shame. This Gulf of Guinea was the heart of the slave +trade: more vessels loaded up here with their black cargo than at any +other port of the continent, and the Bight of Biafra, on which Calabar +is situated, was ever the busiest spot. Mangrove forests, unequalled +anywhere for immensity and gloom, fringe the entire sweep of the Gulf. +Rooted in slime, malodorous and malarious, they form a putrescent +paradise for all manner of loathly creatures. + +Out of the blue waters of the Atlantic the _Ethiopia_ ran, on Saturday, +September 11, into the mud-coloured estuary of the Cross and Calabar +Rivers. On the left lay the flat delta of the Niger, ahead stretched +the landscape of mangrove as far as the eye could range; to the south- +east rose the vast bulk of the Cameroon Mountains. With what interest +Mary gazed on the scene one can imagine. Somewhere at the back of these +swamps was the spot where she was to settle and work. That it was near +the coast she knew, for all that more distant land was unexplored and +unknown: most of what was within sight, indeed, was still outside the +pale of civilisation; through the bush and along the creeks and lagoons +moved nude people, most of whom had never seen a white face. It might +well seem an amazing thing to her, in view of the fact that there had +been commerce with the coast for centuries. Vessels had plied to it for +slaves, spices, gold dust, ivory, and palm oil; traders mingled with +the people, and spoke their tongue; and yet it remained a land of +mystery. + +There were many reasons for this. The country was owned by no European +Power. Britain regarded it--somewhat unwillingly at first--as a sphere +of influence, but had no footing in it, and no control over the people. +These were divided into many tribes and sections of tribes, each +speaking a different tongue, and each perpetually at war with its +neighbour. The necessities of trade fostered a certain intercourse; +there was neutral ground where transactions took place, and products +for the traders filtered down to the people at the coast who acted as +middlemen. These, for obvious reasons, objected to the white men going +inland--they would get into touch with the tribes, their authority +would be undermined and their business ruined, and as they controlled +the avenues of approach and were masters in their own house their veto +could not be disregarded. In any case a journey up-river was full of +peril. Every bend brought one to a new tribe, alert, suspicious, +threatening. For Europeans it was a foodless country, in which they had +to face hunger, fever, and death. Even the missionaries had only been +feeling their way very slowly: they explored and planted out stations +here and there, as permission was obtained from the chiefs, but their +main efforts were directed to the task of establishing a strong base at +the coast. + +The estuary is about twelve miles in breadth, its banks are lined by +mangrove, and here and there its surface is broken by islands. From +these, as the steamer passed, parrots flew in flocks. From the +sandbanks and mudbanks alligators slid into the water with a splash. +Occasionally a shrimp-fisher in his canoe was seen. Higher up were the +ruins of the barracoons, where the slaves were penned while waiting for +shipment. Some fifty miles from the sea the steamer swung round to the +east and entered the Calabar River; the swamps gave place to clay +cliffs thick with undergrowth and trees, and far ahead a cluster of +houses came into view--this, Mary knew, was Old Town. Then the hulks in +the stream, used as stores and homes by the traders, appeared, and the +steamer anchored opposite Duke Town. It lay on the right among swamps +in a receding hollow of the cliff: a collection of mud-dwellings +thatched with palm leaf, slovenly and sordid, and broiling in the hot +rays of a brilliant sun. + +It was the scene she had often endeavoured to picture in her mind. +There was the hill where into the bush the dead bodies of natives used +to be cast to become the food of wild beasts, now crowned with the +Mission buildings. What memories had already gathered about these! What +experiences lay behind the men and women who lived there! What a land +was this she had chosen to make her dwelling-place--a land formless, +mysterious, terrible, ruled by witchcraft and the terrorism of secret +societies; where the skull was worshipped and blood-sacrifices were +offered to jujus; where guilt was decided by ordeal of poison and +boiling oil; where scores of people were murdered when a chief died, +and his wives decked themselves in finery and were strangled to keep +him company in the spirit-land; where men and women were bound and left +to perish by the water-side to placate the god of shrimps; where the +alligators were satiated with feeding on human flesh; where twins were +done to death, and the mother banished to the bush; where semi- +nakedness was compulsory, and girls were sent to farms to be fattened +for marriage. A land, also, of disease and fever and white graves. + +There, too, lay her own future, as dark and unknown as the land, full +of hard work, she knew, full, it might be of danger and trial and +sorrow.... + +But the boats of the traders and the missionaries came off, the canoes +of the natives swarmed around, the whole town seemed to be on the +water. With eyes that were bright and expectant Mary stepped from the +Mission boat and set foot on African soil. + + + + + II. FIRST IMPRESSIONS + +The young missionary-teacher was delighted with the novelty and wonders +of her surroundings. She revelled in the sunshine, the warmth, the +luxuriant beauty, and began to doubt whether the climate was so deadly +after all: some of the missionaries told her that much of the illness +was due to the lack of proper care, and there was even one who said he +preferred Calabar to Scotland. + +She was impressed with the Mission. The organisation of church and +school, the regular routine of life, the large attendance at the +services, the demeanour of the Christians, the quiet and persistent +aggressive work going on, satisfied her sense of the fitness of things +and made her glad and hopeful. To hear the chime of Sabbath bells; to +listen to the natives singing, in their own tongue, the hymns +associated with her home life, the Sabbath school and the social +meeting; and to watch one of them give an address with eloquence and +power, was a revelation. She went to a congregational meeting at Creek +Town and heard King Eyo Honesty VII. speaking, and so many were +present, and the feeling was so hearty and united that it might have +served as a model for the home churches. She was attracted by the King; +a sincere kindly Christian man, she found him to be. When she told him +that her mother was much interested in him, he was so pleased that he +wrote Mrs. Slessor, and the two corresponded--he a negro King in Africa +and she an obscure woman in Scotland, drawn to each other across 4000 +miles of sea by the influence of the Gospel. + +It was true that the results of thirty years' work in Calabar did not +seem large. The number of members in all the congregations was 174, +though the attendances at the services each Sunday was over a thousand. +The staff, however, had never been very large; of Europeans at this +time there were four ordained missionaries, four men teachers, and four +women teachers, and of natives one ordained missionary and eighteen +agents; and efforts were confined to Duke Town, Old Town, Creek Town, +Ikunetu, and Ikorofiong--all on the banks of the rivers or creeks--with +several out-stations. + +Her work at first was simple: it was to teach in the day-school on +Mission Hill and visit in the yards, both on week-days and Sundays. Not +until the strangeness of things had worn off a little did she begin to +see below the surface and discover the difficulties of the situation. +What assisted the process was a tour of the stations, which it was +thought well she should make in order to become acquainted with the +conditions. In the out-districts she came into contact with the raw +heathen, and felt herself down at the very foundations of humanity. +Most of the journeying was through the bush: there were long and +fatiguing marches, and much climbing and jumping and wading to do, in +which she had the help of three Kroo boys, but being active in body and +buoyant in spirit, she enjoyed it thoroughly. A white "Ma" was so +curious a sight in some of the districts that the children would run +away, screaming with fright, and the women would crowd round her +talking, gesticulating, and fingering, so that the chiefs had to drive +them off with a whip. She was a little startled by these +demonstrations, but was told the people were merely wishing to make +friends with her, and she soon overcame her nervousness. + +Her first meeting was held while she was with one of the native agents, +John Baillie, and took place in the shade of a large tree beside a +devil-house built for a dead man's spirit, and stocked with food. After +the agent had spoken in Efik he turned to her and said, "Have you +anything to say to them?" She looked at the dark throng, degraded, +ignorant, superstitious. All eyes were fixed on her. For once she found +it difficult to speak. Asking Mr. Baillie to read John v. 1-24, she +tried to arrange her thoughts, but seemed to grow more helpless. When +she began, the words came, and very simply, very earnestly--the agent +interpreting--she spoke of their need of healing and saving, of which +they must be conscious through their dissatisfaction with this life, +the promptings of their higher natures, the experience of suffering and +sorrow, and the dark future beyond death, and, asking the question, +"Wilt thou be made whole?" pointed the way to peace. + +As she observed and assimilated, she came to hold a clearer view of the +people and the problems confronting the missionaries. She realised that +the raw negroes, though savage enough, were not destitute of religious +beliefs: their "theology," indeed, seemed somewhat too complicated for +comprehension. Nor were their lives unregulated by principles and laws; +they were ruled by canons and conventions as powerful as those of +Europe, as merciless as the caste code of India; their social life was +rooted in a tangle of relationships and customs as intricate as any in +the world. The basis of the community was the House, at the head of +which was a Master or Chief, independent and autocratic within his own +limited domain, which consisted merely of a cluster of mud-huts in the +bush. In this compound or yard, or "town" as it was sometimes called, +lived connected families. Each chief had numerous wives and slaves, +over whom he exercised absolute control. The slaves enjoyed +considerable freedom, many occupying good positions and paying tribute, +but they could be sold or killed at the will of their master. All +belonging to a House were under its protection, and once outside that +protection they were pariahs, subject to no law, and at the mercy of +Egbo. This secret society was composed of select and graded classes +initiated according to certain rites. Its agents were Egbo-runners, +supposed to represent a supernatural being in the bush, who came +suddenly out, masked and dressed in fantastic garb, and with a long +whip rushed about and committed excesses. At these times all women were +obliged to hide, for if found they would be flogged and stripped of +their clothing. Egbo, however, had a certain power for good, and was +often evoked in aid of law and order. Naturally it was the divorcing of +superfluous wives, and the freeing of slaves that formed the greatest +difficulty for the missionaries--it meant nothing less than breaking up +a social system developed and fortified by long centuries of custom. +Thus early Miss Slessor came to see that it was the duty of the +missionary to bring about a new set of conditions in which it would be +possible for the converts to live, and the thought influenced her whole +after-career. + +The district of Calabar afforded a striking object-lesson of what could +be achieved. There was no central native government, and the British +consular jurisdiction was of the most shadowy character. So far there +had been but the quiet pressure of a moral and spiritual agency at +work, but under its influence the people had become habituated to the +orderly ways of civilisation, and were living in peace and amity. It +was admitted by the officials that the agreements which they concluded +with the chiefs had only been rendered possible by the teaching of the +missionaries: and later it was largely upon the same sure and solid +foundations that British authority was to build. + +So, she realised, it was not a case where one could say, "Let there be +light," and light would shine. The work of the Mission was like +building a lighthouse stone by stone, layer by layer, with infinite +toil and infinite patience. Yet she often found it hard to restrain her +eagerness. "It is difficult to wait," she said. One text, however, kept +repeating itself--"Learn of Me." "Christ never was in a hurry," she +wrote. "There was no rushing forward, no anticipating, no fretting over +what might be, Every day's duties were done as every day brought them, +and the rest was left with God. 'He that believeth shall not make +haste.'" And in that spirit she worked. + +Her better knowledge of the position made her resolve to acquire a +thorough mastery of the language in order to enter completely into the +life and thought of the natives. Interpretation she had already found +to be untrustworthy, and she was told the tale of a native who, +translating an address on the rich man and Lazarus, remarked, in an +aside to the audience, that for himself he would prefer to be the rich +man! Efik was the tongue of Calabar and of trade and commerce, and was +understood more or less over a wide tract of country. She learnt it by +ear, and from the people, rather than from the book, and soon picked up +enough to take a larger share in the varied work of the Mission. + +Life had a piquancy in these days when she lived with the Andersons on +Mission Hill. "Daddy" Anderson was a veteran of the Mission, but it was +"Mammy" Anderson with whom she came into closest relation. Of strong +individuality, she ruled the town from the Mission House, and the +chiefs were fain to do her bidding. At first Mary stood somewhat in awe +of her. One of the duties assigned to her was to ring, before dawn, the +first bell for the day to call the faithful to morning prayer. There +were no alarm clocks then, and occasionally she overslept, and the +rebuke she received from Mrs. Anderson made her cheeks burn. Sometimes +she would wake with a start to find her room flooded with light. Half- +dazed with sleep and shamed at her remissness she would hurry out to +ring the bell, only to discover that it was not dawn but the light of +the moon that was making the world so bright. + +At one time when doing duty in Old Town she had to walk along a narrow +native track through the bush. To let off the high spirits that had +been bottled up in the Mission House she would climb any tree that took +her fancy. She affirmed that she had climbed every tree worthy of the +name between Duke Town and Old Town. Sometimes her fun made her late +for meals, and Mrs. Anderson would warn her that if she offended again +she would go without food. She did offend, and then Mr. Anderson would +smuggle biscuits and bananas to her, with, she was confident, the +connivance of his wife. She had a warm affection for all the members of +the Mission staff, but for none more than for "Mammy" Anderson. + +There was one of the humbler inmates of the Mission who watched with +affectionate interest the young missionary with the soft voice and +dancing eyes. This was Mrs. Fuller, a coloured woman who had come over +from Jamaica in 1858 with the Rev. Mr. Robb and Mrs. Robb as a nurse, +and married and remained after they left to be a help and comfort to +many. She remembered the day when the slaves were emancipated in the +West Indies. A kindly, happy, unselfish soul, she never spoke ill of +any one. Somebody said to her, "Mammy, I believe you would say a good +word about the devil himself." "Well," she replied, "at any rate he +minds his own business." "Dear old Mammy Fuller," Miss Slessor called +her, little dreaming that Mammy would live to throw flowers into her +grave. + + + + + III. IN THE UNDERWORLD + +In the hush of a beautiful Sunday morning the new missionary begins +what she calls the commonplace work of the day. Looking out some +illustrated texts she sends a few with a kindly message to all the big +men, reminding them that Mr. Anderson expects them at service. Then she +sets out for the town, and few people escape her keen eye and +persuasive words. + +"Why are you not going to God's House?" she asks a man who is sitting +at the door of his hut. Close by are the remains of a devil-house. + +He rocks himself and replies, "If your heart was vexed would you go any +place? Would you not rather sit at home and nurse your sorrow?" + +Mary learns that his only child has died and has been buried in the +house, and according to custom the family is sitting in filth, squalor, +and drunkenness. She talks to him of the resurrection, and he becomes +interested, and takes her into a room where the mother is sitting with +bowed head over the grave, the form of which can be seen distinctly +under a blue cloth that covers the ground. A bunch of dirty muslin is +hanging from the ceiling. It is a dismal scene. She reads part of John +xi., and speaks about life and death and the beyond. + +"Well," remarked the man, "if God took the child I don't care so much-- +but to think an enemy bewitched it!" + +To the mother she says, "Do you not find comfort in these words?" + +"No," is the sullen reply. "Why should I find comfort when my child is +gone?" + +Mary pats her on the head, and tells her how her own mother has found +comfort in the thought of the reunion hereafter. The woman is touched +and weeps: the mother-heart is much the same all the world over. + +A few slave-girls are all she finds in the next yard, the other inmates +having gone to work at the farms; but she speaks to them and they +listen respectfully. Another yard is crowded with women, some eating, +some sleeping, some dressing each other's hair, some lounging half- +naked on the ground gossiping--a picture of sheer animalism. Her advent +creates a welcome diversion, and they are willing to listen: it helps +to pass the time. They take her into an inner yard where a fine-looking +young woman is being fattened for her future husband. She flouts the +message, and is spoken to sternly and left half-crestfallen, half- +defiant. It is scenes like this which convince Mary that the women are +the greatest problem in the Mission Field. She does not wonder that the +men are as they are. If they are to be reached more must be done for +the women, and a prayer goes up that the Church at home may realise the +situation. + +Farther on is a heathen house. The master is dead: the mistress is an +old woman, hardened and repulsive, the embodiment of all that is evil, +who is counting coppers in a room filled with bush, skulls, sacrifices, +and charms. A number of half-starved cowed women and girls covered with +dirt and sores are quarrelling over a pipe. The shrill voice and long +arms of the mistress settle the matter, and make them fly helter- +skelter. They call on Mary to speak, and after many interruptions she +subdues and controls them, and leaves them, for the moment, impressed. + +She arrives at a district which the lady agents have long worked. The +women are cleanly, pleasant, and industrious, but polished hypocrites, +always ready to protest with smooth tongue and honeyed words that they +are eager to be "god-women," but never taking the first step forwards. +Mary, who is learning to be sarcastic, on occasion, gives them a bit of +her mind and goes away heart-sick. But she is cheered at the next yard, +where she has a large and attentive audience. + +In the poorest part she comes upon a group of men selling rum. At the +sight of the "white Ma" they put the stuff away and beg her to stay. +They are quiet until she denounces the sale of the liquor; then one +interrupts: + +"What for white man bring them rum suppose them rum no be good? He be +god-man bring the rum--then what for god-man talk so?" + +What can she answer? + +It is a vile fluid this trade spirit, yet the country is deluged with +it, and it leaves behind it disaster and demoralisation and ruined +homes. Mary feels bitter against the civilised countries that seek +profit from the moral devastation of humanity. + +She cannot answer the man. + +A husband brings his woebegone wife who has lost five children. Can +"Ma" not give her some medicine? She again speaks of the resurrection. +A crowd gathers and listens breathlessly. When she says that even the +twin-children are safe with God, and that they will yet confront their +murderers, the people start, shrug their shoulders, and with looks of +terror slink one by one away. + +She visits many of the hovels, which are little better than ruins. +Pools of filth send out pestilential odours. There is starvation in +every pinched face and misery in every sunken eye. Covered with sores +the inmates lie huddled together and clamour only for food. One old +woman says: + +"I have prayed and prayed till there is no breath left in me. God does +not answer. He does not care." + +"To whom do you pray?" + +"I don't know, but I call Him God. I tell Him I have no friend. I say +'You see me. I am sick. I am hungry. I am good. I don't steal. I don't +keep bread from any one. I don't kill. I don't speak with my mouth when +my heart is far away. Have mercy upon me.'" + +Mary talks to her lovingly and earnestly, and when she leaves, the +heart of the wretched woman is quietened and grateful. + +It is afternoon, and time for the Efik service at four o'clock, and +Mary, a little tired with the heat and the strain, turns and makes for +Mission Hill. + + + + + IV. THE PULL OF HOME + +It was not long before she had to revise her opinion of the climate. +Nature was beautiful, but beneath its fair appearance lurked influences +that were cruel and pitiless. "Calabar needs a brave heart and a stout +body," she wrote; "not that I have very much of the former, but I have +felt the need for it often when sick and lonely." Both the dry and +rainy seasons had their drawbacks, but she especially disliked the +former-which lasted from December to March-because of the "smokes" or +harmattan, a haze composed of fine dust blown from the great African +desert, that withered her up and sucked out all the energy she +possessed. She was frequently attacked by fever, and laid aside, and on +one occasion was at the point of death. But she never lost her +confidence in God. Once she thought she had. It was during an illness +when she was only semi-conscious, but on recovering the clearness of +her mind she realised that she had given herself into His keeping and +need not fear, and a sense of comfort and peace stole over her. So many +attacks weakened her constitution and made her think oftener of home. +She began to have a longing to look again upon loved faces, to have +grey skies overhead, and to feel the tang of the clean cool air on her +cheek, "I want my home and my mother," she confessed. It was home- +sickness, and there is only one cure for that. It comes, however, to +pass. It is not so overpowering after the first home-going, and it +grows less importunate after each visit. One finds after a short +absence that things in the old environment are, somehow, not the same; +that there has ceased to be a niche which one can fill; that one has a +fresh point of view; and as time goes on and the roots of life go +deeper into the soil of the new country, the realisation comes that it +is in the homeland where one is homeless, and in the land of exile +where one is at home. But at first the pull of the old associations is +irresistible; and so when her furlough was due, Mary flew to Scotland +as a wandered bird flies wing-weary back to its nest. + +She left Calabar in June 1879 and proceeded straight to Dundee. During +her stay she removed her mother and sisters to Downfield, a village on +the outskirts of the city, and was happy in the knowledge that all was +well with them. Friends who listened to her graphic account of Calabar +tell that even then she spoke of her desire to go up country into the +unworked fields, and especially to the Okoyong district, but "Daddy" +Anderson was opposed to the idea. Before returning, she wrote the +Foreign Mission Committee and begged to be sent to a station other than +Duke Town, though she loyally added that she would do whatever was +thought best. She sailed with the Rev. Hugh Goldie, one of the veteran +pioneers of the Mission, and Mrs. Goldie, and on arrival at Calabar, in +October 1880, found to her joy that she was to be in charge of Old +Town, and that she was a real missionary at last. + + + + + V. AT THE SEAT OF SATAN + +The first sight she saw on entering her new sphere was a human skull +hung on a pole at the entrance to the town. In Old Town and the smaller +stations of Qua, Akim, and Ikot Ansa, lying back in the tribal district +of Ekoi, the people were amongst the most degraded in Calabar. It was a +difficult field, but she entered upon it with zest. Although under the +supervision of Duke Town, she was practically her own mistress, and +could carry out her own ideas and methods. This was important for her, +for, to her chagrin, she had found that boarding was expensive in +Calabar, and as she had to leave a large portion of her salary at home +for the support of her mother and sisters, she could not afford to live +as the other lady agents did. She had to economise in every direction, +and took to subsisting wholly on native food. It was in this way she +acquired those simple, Spartan-like habits which accompanied her +through life. Her colleagues attributed her desire for isolation and +native ways to natural inclination, not dreaming that they were a +matter of compulsion, for she was too loyal to her home and too proud +of spirit to reveal the reason for her action. + +One drawback of the situation was the dilapidated state of the house. +It was built of wattle and mud, had a mat roof and a whitewashed +interior. She did not, however, mind its condition; she was so absorbed +in the work that personal comfort was a matter of indifference to her. +Her household consisted of a young woman and several boys and girls, +with whose training she took endless pains, and who helped her and +accompanied her to her meetings. School work made large drafts on her +time at Old Town, Qua, and Akim. Young and old came as scholars. At Qua +the chief man of the place after the king sat on a bench with little +children, and along with them repeated the Sunday School lessons. He +set them an example, for he was never absent. + +But to preach the love of Christ was her passion. With every visitor +who called to give compliments, with every passer-by who came out of +curiosity to see what the white woman and her house were like, with all +who brought a dispute to settle, she had talk about the Saviour of the +world. Sunday was a day of special effort in this direction. She would +set out early for Qua, where two boys carrying a bell slung on a pole +summoned the people to service. One of the chiefs would fix the benches +and arrange the audience, which usually numbered from 80 to 100, She +would go on to Akim or Ikot Ansa, where a similar meeting was held. On +the way she would visit sick folk, or call in at farms, have friendly +conversation with master and dependants, and give a brief address and +prayer. By mid-day she would be back at Old Town, where she conducted a +large Sunday School. In the evening a regular church service was held, +attended by almost the entire community. This, to her, was the meeting +of the week. It took place in the yard of the chief. At one side stood +a table, covered with a white cloth, on which were a primitive lamp and +a Bible. The darkness, the rows of dusky faces just revealed by the +flickering light, the strained attention, the visible emotion made up a +strange picture. At the end came hearty "good-nights," and she would be +escorted home by a procession of lantern-bearers. + +Such service, incessant and loving, began to tell. The behaviour of the +people improved; the god of the town was banished; the chiefs went the +length of saying that their laws and customs were clearly at variance +with God's fashions. Mr. Anderson reported to the Church at home that +she was "doing nobly." When two deputies went out and inspected the +Mission in 1881-82, they were much impressed by her energy and +devotion. "Her labours are manifold," they stated, "but she sustains +them cheerfully--she enjoys the unreserved friendship and confidence of +the people, and has much influence over them." This they attributed +partly to the singular ease with which she spoke the language. Learning +that she preferred her present manner of life to being associated with +another white person--they were unaware, like others, of the real +reason which governed her--they recommended that she should be allowed +to continue her solitary course. + +It was at Old Town that she came first into close contact with the more +sinister aspects of mission work, and obtained that training and +experience in dealing with the natives and native problems which led +her into the larger responsibilities of the future. Despite the +influence of the missionaries and the British Consul, many of the worst +heathen iniquities were being practised. A short time previously the +Consul had made a strong effort to get the chiefs to enforce the laws +regarding twin-murder, human sacrifice, the stripping and flogging of +women by Egbo-runners, and other offences, and an agreement had been +reached; but no treaty, no Egbo proclamation could root out the customs +of centuries, and they continued to be followed, in secret in the towns +and openly in the country districts. + +The evil of twin-murder had a terrible fascination for her. A woman who +gave birth to twins was regarded with horror. The belief was that the +father of one of the infants was an evil spirit, and that the mother +had been guilty of a great sin; one at least of the children was +believed to be a monster, and as they were never seen by outsiders or +allowed to live, no one could disprove the fact. They were seized, +their backs were broken, and they were crushed into a calabash or +water-pot and taken out--not by the doorway, but by a hole broken in +the back wall, which was at once built up--and thrown into the bush, +where they were left to be eaten by insects and wild beasts. Sometimes +they would be placed alive into the pots. As for the mother, she was +driven outside the bounds of decent society and compelled to live alone +in the bush. In such circumstances there was only one thing for the +missionaries to do. As soon as twins were born they sought to obtain +possession of them, and gave them the security and care of the Mission +House. Some of the Mission compounds were alive with babies. It was no +use taking the mother along with them. She believed she must be +accursed, for otherwise she would never be in such a position. First +one and then the other child would die, and she would make her escape +and fly to the bush. + +Mary realised that the system was the outcome of superstition and fear, +and she could even see how, from the native point of view, it was +essential for the safety of the House, but her heart was hot against +it; nothing, indeed, roused her so fiercely as the senseless cruelty of +putting these innocent babes to death, and she joined in the campaign +with fearless energy. + +She could also understand why the natives threw away infants whose +slave-mother died. No slave had time to bring up another woman's child. +If she did undertake the task, it would only be hers during childhood; +after that it became the property of the master. The chances of a +slave-child surviving were not good enough for a free woman to try the +experiment, and as life in any case was of little value, it was +considered best that the infant should be put out of the way. + +The need of special service in these directions made her suggest to the +Foreign Mission Committee that one of the woman agents should be set +apart to take care of the children that were rescued. It was +impossible, she said, for one to do school or other work, and attend to +them as well. "If such a crowd of twins should come to her as I have to +manage, she would require to devote her whole time to them." More and +more also she was convinced of the necessity of women's work among the +women in the farming districts, and she pressed the matter upon the +Committee. She was in line with the old chief who remarked that "them +women be the best man for the Mission." + +Another evil which violated her sense of justice and right, and against +which she took up arms, was the trade attitude of the Calabar people. +Although they had settled on the coast only by grace of the Ekois, they +endeavoured to monopolise all dealings with the Europeans and prevent +the inland tribes from doing business direct with the factories. Often +the up-river men would make their way down stealthily, but if caught +they were slain or mutilated, and a bitter vendetta would ensue. She +recognised that it would only be by the tribes coming to know and +respect each other, and by the adoption of unrestricted trade with the +stores that the full reward of industry could be secured. She +accordingly took up the cause of the inland tribes. When Efik was at +war with Qua, sentries were posted at all the paths to the factories, +but the people came to her by night, and she would lead them down the +track running through the Mission property. At the factory next to the +Mission beach they would deliver their palm oil or kernels, and take +back the goods for which they had bartered them. In this way she helped +to open up the country. It was not, perhaps, mission work in the +ordinary sense any more than much of Dr. Livingstone's work was +missionary work, but it was an effort to break down the conditions that +perpetuated wrong and dispeace, and to introduce the forces of +righteousness and goodwill. In all this work she had the sympathy of +the traders, who showed her much kindness. She was a missionary after +their own heart. + + + + + VI. IN ELEPHANT COUNTRY + +The spirit of the pioneer would not allow her to be content with the +routine of village work. She began to go afield, and made trips of +exploration along the river. The people found her different from other +missionaries; she would enter their townships as one of themselves, +show them in a moment that she was mistress of their thought and ways, +and get right into their confidence. Always carrying medicine, she +attended the sick, and so many maimed and diseased crowded to her that +often she would lose the tide twice over. In her opinion no preaching +surpassed these patient, intimate interviews on the banks of the river +and by the wayside, when she listened to tales of suffering and sorrow +and gave sympathy and practical help. Sometimes she remained away for +nights at a time, and on these occasions her only accommodation was a +mud hut and her only bed a bundle of filthy rags. + +A larger venture was made at the instance of a chief named Okon, a +political refugee whom she knew. He had settled at a spot on the +western bank of the estuary, then called Ibaka, now James Town, and had +long urged her to pay the place a visit. It was only some thirty miles +away, but thirty miles to the African is more than two hundred to a +European, and Old Town was in a state of excitement for days before she +left. Nine A.M. was the hour fixed for departure, but Mary knew local +ways, and forenoon found her calmly cooking the dinner. The house was +crowded with visitors begging her to be careful, and threatening +vengeance if anything happened to their "Ma." At 6 P.M. came word that +all was ready, and, followed by a retinue comprising half the +population, she made her way to the beach. Women who were not +ordinarily permitted to be viewed by the public eye waited at every +yard to embrace hers and to charge all concerned to look well alter her +comfort. + +A State canoe sent by the King lay at the water-side. It had been +repainted for the occasion in the gayest of colours, while thoughtful +hands had erected a little arch of matting to seclude her from the +paddlers and afford protection from the dew, and had arranged some +rice-bags as a couch. The pathos of the tribute touched her, and with a +smile and a word of thanks she stepped into her place and settled the +four house-children about the feet of the paddlers. More hours were +lost in one way or another. Darkness fell, and only the red gleam of +the torches lit up the scene. Alligators and snakes haunted the spot, +but she had no fear so long as the clamour of the crowd continued. + +At last, "Sio udeñ!" The command was answered by the "dip-dip" of +thirty-three paddles, and the canoe glided into the middle of the river +and sped onwards. In her crib she tried to read by the light of a +candle, while the paddlers extemporised songs in her honour, assigning +to her all the virtues under the sun-- + + _Ma, our beautiful, beloved mother, is on board, + Ho! Ho! Ho_! + +The gentle movement, the monotonous "tom-tom-tum" of the drummer, and +the voice of the steersman, became mingled in a dreamy jumble, and she +slept through the night as soundly as on a bed of down. Ten hours' +paddling brought the craft to its destination, and at dawn she was +carried ashore over golden sand and under great trees, and deposited in +the chief's compound amongst goats, dogs, and fowls. She and the +children were given the master's room--which always opens out into the +women's yard--and as it possessed no door a piece of calico was hung up +as a screen. The days were tolerable, but the nights were such as even +she, inured to African conditions, found almost unbearable. It was the +etiquette of the country that all the wives should sit as close to the +white woman as was compatible with her idea of comfort, and as the aim +of each was to be fatter than the other, and they all perspired freely, +and there was no ventilation, it required all her courage to outlast +the ordeal. Lizards, too, played among the matting of the roof, and +sent down showers of dust, while rats performed hop, skip, and jump +over the sleepers. + +Crowds began to pour in from a wide area. Many of the people had never +looked upon a white woman, and she had to submit to being handled and +examined in order to prove that she was flesh and blood like +themselves. Doubtful men and women were forcibly dragged to her by +laughing companions and made to touch her skin. At meal times she was +on exhibition to a favoured few, who watched how she ate and drank, and +then described the operations to the others outside. + +Day by day she prescribed and bandaged, cut out garments, superintended +washing, and initiated women into the secrets of starching and ironing. +Day by day she held a morning and evening service, and it was with +difficulty that she prevented the one from merging into the other. On +Sabbath the yard became strangely quiet: all connected with it were +clothed and clean, and in a corner stood a table with a white cloth and +upon it a Bible and hymn-book. As the fierce-looking, noisy men from a +distance entered they stopped involuntarily and a hush fell upon them. +Many heard the story of Christ for the first time, and never had she a +more appreciative audience. In the evening the throng was so great that +her voice could barely reach them all, and at the end they came up to +her and with deep feeling wished her good-night and then vanished +quietly into the darkness. + +The people would not allow her to walk out much on account of the +presence of wild beasts. Elephants were numerous--it was because of the +destruction they had wrought on the farms that fishing had become the +main support of the township. Early one morning a commotion broke out: +a boa constrictor had been seen during the night, and bands of men +armed with clubs, cutlasses, and muskets set off, yelling, to hunt the +monster. Whenever she moved out she was followed by all the men, women, +and children. On every side she saw skulls, rudely carved images, +peace-offerings of food to hungry spirits, and other evidences of +debased fetishism, while cases of witchcraft and poisoning were +frequent. + +One day she noticed a tornado brewing on the Cameroon heights, and kept +indoors. While sitting sewing the storm burst. The wind seized the +village, lifting fences, canoes, trees, and buildings; lightning played +and crackled about the hut; the thunder pealed overhead; and rain fell +in floods. Then a column of flame leapt from the sky to earth, and a +terrific crash deafened the cowering people. Accustomed as she was to +tornadoes Mary was afraid. The slaves came rushing into the yard, +shrieking, and at the same moment the roof of her hut was swept away, +and she was beaten to the ground by the violence of the rain. In the +light of the vivid flashes she groped her way through the water, now up +to her ankles, and from her boxes obtained all the wraps she possessed. +To keep up the spirits of the children she started a hymn, "Oh, come +let us sing." Amidst the roar of the elements they caught the tune, and +gradually their terror was subdued. When the torrent ceased she was in +a high fever. She dosed herself with quinine, and as the shadow of +death is never very far away in Africa she made all arrangements in +case the end should come. But her temperature fell, and in two days she +was herself again. + +There was a morning when her greetings were responded to with such +gravity that she knew something serious had occurred. During the night +two of the young wives of a chief had broken the strictest law in Efik, +had left the women's yard and entered one where a boy was sleeping, and +as nothing can be hidden in a slave community their husband knew at +once. The culprits were called out, and with them two other girls, who +were aware of the escapade, but did not tell. The chief, and the men of +position in his compound and district, sat in judgment upon them, and +decided that each must receive one hundred stripes. + +Mary sought out Okon and talked the matter over. "Ma," he said, "it be +proper big palaver, but if you say we must not flog we must listen to +you as our mother and our guest. But they will say that God's word be +no good if it destroy the power of the law to punish evildoers." + +He agreed, however, to delay the punishment, and to bring the judges +and the people together in a palaver at mid-day. When all were +assembled she addressed the girls: + +"You have brought much shame on us by your folly and by abusing your +master's confidence while the yard is in our possession. Though God's +word teaches men to be merciful, it does not countenance or pass over +sin, and I cannot shelter you from punishment. You have knowingly and +deliberately brought it on yourselves. Ask God to keep you in the +future so that your conduct may not be a reproach to yourselves and the +word of God which you know." + +Many were the grunts of satisfaction from the people, and the faces of +the big men cleared as they heard their verdict being endorsed, while +darker and more defiant grew the looks of the girls. + +With a swift movement she turned to the gathering: + +"Ay, but you are really to blame. It is your system of polygamy which +is a disgrace to you and a cruel injustice to these helpless women. +Girls like these, sixteen years old, are not beyond the age of fun and +frolic. To confine them as you do is a shame and a blot on your +manhood: obedience such as you command is not worth the having." + +Frowns greeted this denunciation, and the old men muttered: + +"When the punishment is severe, neither slave nor wife dare disobey: +the old fashions are better than the new." + +Much heated discussion followed, but at last she succeeded in getting +the punishment reduced to the infliction of ten stripes and nothing +more. She had gone as far as she dared. Under ordinary circumstances +salt would have been rubbed into the wounds, and mutilation or +dismemberment would have followed. She thanked the men, enjoined the +wives and slaves to show their gratitude by a willing and true service, +and went to prepare alleviations for the victims. + +Through the shouting and laughing of the operators and onlookers she +heard piercing screams, as strong arms plied the alligator hide, and +one by one the girls came running into her, bleeding and quivering in +the agony of pain. By and by the opiate did its work and all sank into +uneasy slumber. + +Fourteen days went by, and it was time for the return journey. The same +noise and excitement and delay occurred, and it was afternoon ere the +canoe left the beach. The evening meal, a mess of yam and herbs, cooked +in palm oil, which had been carried on board smoking hot from the fire +and was served in the pot, had scarcely been disposed of when the +splendour of the sunset and afterglow was swept aside by a mass of +angry cloud, and the moaning of the wind fell threateningly on the ear. +"A stormy night ahead," said Mary apprehensively to Okon, who gave a +long look upward and steered for the lee of an island. The sky +blackened, thunder growled, and the water began to lift. The first rush +of wind gripped the canoe and whirled it round, while the crew, hissing +through their set teeth, pulled their hardest. In vain. They got out of +hand, and there was uproar and craven fear. Sharing in the panic the +master was powerless. At the sight of others in peril Mary threw aside +her own nervousness and anxiety and took command. In a few moments +order was restored and the boat was brought close to the tangle of +bush, and the men, springing up like monkeys into the branches, held on +to the canoe, which was now being dashed up and down like a straw. Mary +sat with the water up to her knees, the children lashed to her by a +waterproof, their heads hidden in her lap. Lightning, thunder, rain, +and wave combined to make one of the grandest displays of the earth's +forces she had ever witnessed. + +As quickly as it came the storm passed, and to the strains of a hymn +which she started the journey was resumed. She was shaking with ague, +and in order to put some heat into her the chief came and sat down on +one side, while his big wife sat on the other. As her temperature rose, +the paddlers grew alarmed, and pulled as they had never done in their +lives. Dawn was stealing over the land when Old Town was reached, and +as "Ma" was hardly a fit sight for critical eyes, she was carried up by +a bush path to the Mission House. + +Ill as she was, her first care was to make a fire to obtain hot tea for +the children and to tuck them away comfortably for the night. Then she +tottered to her bed, to rise some days later, a wreck of her former +self, but smiling and cheerful as usual.... + +Towards the close of the year 1882 a tornado swept over Old Town and +damaged the house to such an extent that she had to make a hasty escape +and take refuge in a factory. The Presbytery brought her to Duke Town, +but she became so ill as a result of her strenuous life and her +experience in the storm, that she was ordered home, and left in April +1888. She was so frail that she was carried on board, and it was +considered doubtful whether she would outlive the voyage. With her was +a girl-twin she had rescued. She had saved both, a boy and girl, but +whilst she was absent from the house for a little, the relatives came, +and, by false pretences, obtained possession of the boy, and killed +him. She was determined that the girl should live and grow up to +confute their fears, and she would not incur the risk of leaving her +behind. + + + + + VII. WITH BACK TO THE WALL + +Many strange experiences came to Mary Slessor in her life, but it is +doubtful whether any adventure equalled that which she was now to go +through in the quiet places of home, or whether any period of her +career was so crowded with emotion and called for higher courage and +resource. + +She remained for the greater part of the time with her mother and +sisters at Downfield, seeing few people, and nursing the little black +twin, who was baptized in Wishart Sunday School, and called Janie, +after her sister. + +One of her earliest visits was to her friends the Doigs in the south +side of Edinburgh, and here again her life touched and influenced +another life. There was in connection with Bristo Street Church a girl +named Jessie F. Hogg, who worked in the mission at Cowan's Close where +the "two Marys" had formerly taught. She had heard much about Mary +Slessor, and when, one Sunday, a lady friend remarked that she was +going to visit the missionary, Miss Hogg declared she would give much +to meet her. "Then come with me," said the lady, "I will leave you at +the foot of the stair, and if you are to come up I will call you." She +was invited up, and was not five minutes in Mary's presence before the +latter said, "And what are you doing at home? What is hindering you +from going to the mission field?" "There is nothing to hinder me," was +the reply. "Then come: there is a good work waiting for you to do." +Miss Hogg applied to the Foreign Mission Committee and was accepted, +received some medical training, and was in Calabar before Mary herself +returned. The anticipations of the latter were fulfilled. For thirteen +years, with quiet heroism, Miss Hogg did a great work as one of the +"Mothers of the Mission": her name was a household word, both in +Calabar and at home: and when, through ill-health, she retired, she +left a memory that is still cherished by the natives. There were few of +the missionaries then who loved and understood Mary better, and whom +Mary loved so well. + +Mary's ideas of the qualities needed for work among the ignorant and +degraded may be gathered from a letter which she wrote at this time to +a friend in Dundee: + +Nothing, I believe, will ever touch or raise fallen ones except +sympathy. They shrink from self-righteousness which would stoop to +them, and they hate patronage and pity. Of sympathy and patience they +stand in need. They also need refinement, for the humble classes +respect it, and they are sharper at detecting the want of it than many +of those above them in the social scale. I am not a believer in the +craze for "ticket-of-leave men" and "converted prize-fighters" to +preach to the poor and the outcast. I think the more of real refinement +and beauty and education that enter into all Christian work, the more +real success and lasting, wide-reaching results of a Christian and +elevating nature will follow. Vulgarity and ignorance can never in +themselves lay hold on the uneducated classes, or on any class, though +God often shows us how He can dispense with man's help altogether. Then +there is need for knowledge in such a work, knowledge of the Bible as a +whole, not merely of the special passages which are adapted for +evangelistic services. They know all the set phrases belonging to +special services and open-sir meetings. They want teaching, and they +will respect nothing else. I am pained often at home that there is so +little of depth, and of God's word, in the speeches and addresses I +hear. It seems as if they thought anything will do for children, and +that any kind of talk about coming to Christ, and believing on Christ, +will feed and nourish immortal souls. + +In January 1884 she informed the Foreign Mission Committee that her +health was re-established and that she was ready to return, and in +accordance with her own desire it was arranged to make the house +habitable at Old Town and send her back there. Meanwhile she had begun +to address meetings in connection with the missionary organisations of +congregations, and at these her simple but vivid style, the human +interest of her story, and the living illustration she presented in the +shape of Janie, made so great an impression that the ladies of Glasgow +besought the Committee to retain her for a time in order that she might +go through the country and give her account of the work to quiet +gatherings of women, young and old. The suggestion was acted upon, and +for some months she was engaged in itinerating. It was not in the line +of her inclination. She was very shy, and had a humbling consciousness +of her defects, and to appear in public was an ordeal. It was often a +sheer impossibility for her to open her lips when men were present, and +she would make it a condition that none should be in her audience. When +some distinguished minister or Church leader had been requisitioned to +preside, a situation was created as embarrassing to him as to her. She +did not, however, seem to mind if the disturbing factor was out of +sight, and the difficulty was usually overcome by placing the chairman +somewhere behind. These meetings taxed her strength more than the work +in Africa, and she began to long for release. In December the Committee +gave her permission to return, but, as conditions in the field had +changed, decided to send her in the meantime to Creek Town to assist +Miss Johnstone, who was not in good health. + +Within a few weeks a situation developed which altered her plans. The +severe weather had told on the delicate constitution of her youngest +sister Janie, a quiet, timid girl, but bright and intelligent, and +somewhat akin to herself in mind and manner; and it was made clear that +only a change to a milder climate would save her life. Mary was torn +with apprehension. She had a heart that was bigger than her body, and +she loved her own people with passionate intensity, and was ready for +any further sacrifice for their sake. Never bold on her own behalf, she +would dare anything for others. Thinking out the problem how best she +could reconcile her affection for her sister and her duty to the +Mission, she fell upon a plan which she would have shrunk from +proposing had she alone been concerned. If she could take the invalid +out with her to Creek Town, and if they were allowed to dwell by +themselves, the life of her sister would not only be prolonged, but she +herself would be able to continue, by living native fashion, to pay her +share of the expenses at home. To the Committee, accordingly, she wrote +early in 1885, stating that she would not feel free to go to Creek Town +unless she were permitted to take her sister with her, and unless she +were allowed, instead of boarding with any of the Mission agents, to +build a small mud house for their accommodation. + +The Committee received the proposal with a certain mild astonishment. +It had many a problem to solve in its administration of the affairs of +the Missions, but its difficulties were always increased when it came +into contact with that incalculable element, human nature. It could not +be supposed to know all the personal and private circumstances that +influenced the attitude of the missionaries: it could only judge from +the surface facts placed before it; and as a rule it decided wisely, +and was never lacking in the spirit of kindness and generosity. But +even if the members had known of that fluttering heart in Dundee, they +could not, in the best interests of the Mission, have acquiesced in her +scheme, and it was probably well, also, for Mary that it was gently but +firmly put aside. + +For her the way out was found in the recommendation of an Exeter lady +whom she had met, who advised her to take her sister to Devonshire. She +seized on the idea, and forthwith wrote a letter stating that she felt +it to be her duty to remove the invalid to the South of England, where +she hoped her health would be restored, and asking whether in the event +of her own way being cleared she would be allowed to return to Calabar, +or whether she was to consider herself finally separated from the +Mission. Nothing could have been more sympathetic than the reply of the +Board. It regretted her family afflictions, said it would be glad to +have the offer of her services again in the future, and in +consideration of her work continued her home allowance till the end of +April. + +Meanwhile Mary had, in her swift fashion, carried off her sister, and +her answer came from Devonshire. She thanked the Committee for its +consideration, but, with the independence which always characterised +her, accepted the allowance only up to the end of February. Thus +voluntarily, and from a sense of duty, but with a sore heart, she cut +herself adrift, for the time being, from the service of the Church. + +As the climate of Devonshire seemed to suit her sister, they went to +Topsham, where a house was secured with the help of a Mr. Ellis, a +deacon in the Congregational Church, to whom she was introduced. It was +soon furnished, and then her mother was brought down, and for all her +toil and self-sacrifice she was rewarded by seeing a steady improvement +in the condition of the invalid, and the quiet happiness of both. The +place proved too relaxing for her own health, and she was never free +from headaches, but she was not one to allow indisposition to interfere +with her service for the Master. In the Congregational Church her +winning ways made many friends, and she was soon taking an active part +in the meetings and addressing large gatherings on her work in Calabar. + +And then another event occurred which further complicated the +situation. Her sister Susan in Scotland went to pay a visit to Mrs. +M'Crindle, and died suddenly on entering her house. Mary had now the +full responsibility for the home and its upkeep; she was earning +nothing, and she had her mother and sister and the African baby to +provide and care for. Happily the invalid continued to improve, and as +it was imperative for Mary to be back at work, it was decided that she +should apply for reinstatement. She told her mother of her desire to go +up-country, and asked whether she would allow her to do so if the +opportunity came. "You are my child, given to me by God," was the +reply, "and I have given you back to Him. When He needs you and where +He sends you, there I would have you be." Mary never forgot these brave +words, which were a comfort to her throughout her life. On applying to +the Foreign Mission Committee stating that she was willing, if it saw +fit, to go back at once, she was gladly reinstated, and Calabar was +consulted regarding her location. As there was some talk of a forward +movement it was resolved to leave the matter over, and send her in the +meantime to Creek Town. + +Her friends in Topsham assured her that they would look well after her +mother and sister, but all the arrangements she had made for the smooth +working of the household collapsed a month before she was booked to +sail. Her mother suddenly failed and took to her bed. Mary grew +desperate with strain and anxiety, and like a wild creature at bay +turned this way and that for an avenue of escape. In her agony of mind +she went to Him who had never failed her yet, and He gave her guidance. +Next day a letter was on its way to Dundee to an old factory friend, +asking if she would come and take charge of the household. A strange +mingling of pathos and dignity, a passionate love and solicitude, +marked the appeal, which, happily, evoked a ready assent. Not less +moving in its way was the practical letter she sent to her friend, with +long and minute directions as to travelling; there was not a detail +forgotten, the mention of which might contribute to her ease and +comfort. Her friend arrived a few days before her departure. On Guy +Fawkes' Day Mary wished to take her to a church meeting to introduce +her to some acquaintances, but was too afraid to venture out among the +roughs--she who was soon to face alone some of the most savage crowds +in Africa! + +On the sea the past months receded and became like an uneasy dream. She +was content simply to lie In her chair on deck and rest her tired mind +and body. On arriving it was pleasant to receive a warm welcome from +all the Mission friends, and still more pleasant to find that there had +been talk of her going to Ikunetu to attempt to obtain a footing among +the wild people of Okoyong. + + + + + VIII. BEREFT + +Despite her happiness in being back at the work she loved, there was an +underlying current of anxiety in her life. Her thoughts dwelt on the +invalids at home; she wearied for letters; she trembled before the +arrival of the mails; even her dreams influenced her. But she would not +allow herself to grow morbid. Every morning she went to the houses in +the Mission before breakfast to have a chat and cheer up the inmates. +On New Year's Eve, fearing the adoption of European customs by the +natives, and wishing to forestall them, she invited all the young men +who were Christians to a prayer-meeting from eleven o'clock till +midnight. They then went up and serenaded Mr. and Mrs. Luke, two new +missionaries, whose subsequent pioneer work up-river was a record of +toil and heroism. Mr. Luke entered into the spirit of the innovation. +He gave out the 2nd Paraphrase and read the 90th Psalm. Prayer was +uttered, and the company separated, singing the evening hymn in Efik. + +Next morning, the first of the year 1886, she arose early and wrote a +letter, overflowing with love and tenderness and cheer, to her mother +and sister. It was finished on the third, on the arrival of the home +mail. She was at tea with Mrs. Luke before going to a meeting in the +church, when the letters came. "I was hardly able to wait for mine," +she wrote; "and then I rushed to my room and behaved like a silly body, +as if it had been bad news. It brought you all so clearly before me. At +church I sat beside the King and cried quietly into my wrap all the +evening," The last words in her letter were, "Tell me all your +troubles, and be sure you take care of yourselves." She never received +a reply. Mrs. Slessor had died suddenly and peacefully at the turn of +the year. She had been nursed by loving hands, whilst her medical +attendant and the minister of the Congregational Church, and his wife, +showed her much kindness. Three months later Janie also passed away, +and was laid beside her mother in Topsham cemetery, the deacons and +members of the church and many friends attending and showing honour to +one whom they had learned to love for her own sake as well as for her +sister's. + +Mary was inconsolable. "I, who all my life have been caring and +planning and living for them, am left, as it were, stranded and alone." +A sense of desolation and loneliness unsupportable swept over her. +After all the sorrow that had crowded upon her she felt no desire to do +anything. "There is no one to write and tell all my stories and +troubles and nonsense to." One solace remained. "Heaven is now nearer +to me than Britain, and no one will be anxious about me if I go up- +country." It was characteristic of her that the same night she heard of +her mother's death she conducted her regular prayer-meeting: she felt +that her mother would have wished her to do so, and she went through +the service with a breaking heart, none knowing what had happened. + +She wrote hungrily for all details of the last hours, and specified the +keepsakes she wished to have. "I would like something to look at," was +her repeated cry. To her friend who had taken charge of the home she +was for ever grateful. In the midst of her grief she was thoughtful for +her welfare and attended to the minutest details, even repaying the +sixpences expended for the postage of her letters to Calabar. All +admirers of Mary Slessor will honour this lowly Scotswoman who came to +her help in the day of her greatest need, and who quietly and +efficiently fulfilled her task.... + +So the home life, the source of warmth and sweetness and sympathy, was +closed down and she turned to face the future alone. + + + + + IX. THE SORROWS OF CREEK TOWN + +Again three Marys were in close association--Miss Mary Edgerley, Miss +Mary Johnstone, and Miss Mary Slessor. During the year, however, the +two former proceeded home on furlough, and the last was left in entire +charge of the women's side of the work at Creek Town. It was the final +stage of her training for the larger responsibilities that awaited her. +There was at first little in the situation to beguile her spirits. It +was a bad season of rain and want, and she was seldom out of the abodes +of sickness and death. So great was the destitution that she lived on +rice and sauce, in order to feed the hungry. And never had she suffered +so much from fever as she did now in Creek Town. + +Her duties lay in the Day School, Sunday School, Bible Class, and +Infant Class, but, as usual, the more personal aspect of the work +engaged her chief energies. The training of her household, which, as +she was occupying a part of Mr. Goldie's house and had less +accommodation, was a small one then, took much of her time and thought +and wit. First in her affections came Janie, now a big and strong girl +of four years, and as wild as a boy, who kept her in constant hot- +water. She was a link with the home that had been, and Mary regarded +her as specially her own: she shared her bed and her meals, and even +her thoughts, for she would talk to her about those who had gone. The +child's memory of Britain soon faded, but she never ceased to pray for +"all in Scotland who remember us." She was made more of than was good +for her, but was always brought to her level outside of Creek Town. +Mary had heard that both her parents were dead, but one day the father +appeared at the Mission House. She asked him to come and look at his +child. He shrugged his shoulders, and said, "Let me look from a +distance." Mary seized him and drew him towards the child, who was +trembling with terror. In response to a command in Efik the girl threw +her arms around his neck, and his face relaxed and became almost +beautiful. When he looked into her eyes, and she hid her head on his +breast, the victory was complete. He set her upon his knee and would +scarcely give her up. Although he lived a long way off he returned +every other day with his new wife and a gift of food. + +Next came a girl of six years, whose father was a Christian. She also +was full of tricks, and, with Janie, was enough for one house. But +there was also Okin, a boy of about eight, whose mother was a slave +with no voice in his upbringing, but whose mistress wished him to be +trained up for God, a mischievous fellow whose new clothes lasted +usually about a week, but willing and affectionate and, on the whole, +good; and another boy of ten called Ekim, a son of the King of Old +Town, whose mother gave him to Mary when she first went out. On her +departure for Scotland he had gone back to his heathen home and its +fashions, but returned to her when she settled in Creek Town. He was +truthful, warm-hearted, and clever, and as a free boy and heir to a +responsible position the moulding of his character gave her much +thought and care. The last was Inyang, a girl of thirteen, but bigger +than Mary herself, possessing no brains, but for faithfulness, +truthfulness, honesty, and industry without a peer. She hated to dress +or to leave the kitchen, but she washed, baked, and did the housework +without assistance, and was kind to the children. These constituted +her inner circle, but she was always taking in and caring for derelict +children. At this time there were several in the house or yard. Two +were twins five months old, whom she had found lying on the ground +discarded and forlorn, and who had developed into beautiful children. +Their father was a drunken parasite, with a number of wives, whom he +battered and beat in turn. Another castaway came to her in a wretched +state. The father had stolen a dog, and the mother had helped him to +eat it. The owner threw down a native charm at their door, and the +woman sickened and died, and as all believed that the medicine had +killed her no one would touch the child. The woman's mistress was a +daughter of old King Eyo, and a friend of Mary, and she sent the +infant, dirty and starved, to the Mission House with her compliments. +Mary washed and fed it and nursed it back to decent life, but on +sending to the mistress a request that one of the slave women might +care for it, she got the reply, "Let it die." She let it live. + +In the mornings, while busy with her household, there were perpetual +interruptions. Sick folk came to have their ailments diagnosed and +prescribed for. Some of the diseases she attended to were of the most +loathsome type, but that made no difference in her compassionate care. +Hungry people came to her to be fed, those in trouble visited her to +obtain advice and help, disputes were referred to her to be settled. +When all these cases had been dealt with she would go her round of the +yards, the inmates of which had come to look upon her as a mother. She +would sit down and chat with them and discuss their homes, children, +marketing, illness, or whatever subject interested them, sometimes +scolding them, but always leading them to the only things that +mattered. "If I told you what I have seen and known of human sorrow +during the past months you would weep till your heart ached," she wrote +to a friend. Some of her experiences she could not tell; they revealed +such depths of depravity and horror that the actions of the wild beasts +of the bush were tame in comparison. + +At Creek Town, as elsewhere, it was not easy to tabulate what had been +achieved, as the fact that women could not make open confession without +incurring the gravest penalties kept the missionaries ignorant of the +effect of their work. But Mary saw behind the veil; she knew quiet +women whose souls looked out of their eyes, and who were more in touch +with the unseen than they dared tell; women who prayed and communed +with God even while condemned to heathen practices. There was one blind +woman whom she placed far before herself in the Christian race: + +She is so poor that she has not one farthing in the world but what she +gets from us--not a creature to do a thing for her, her house all open +to rain and sun, and into which the cows rush at times--but blind Mary +is our one living, bright, clear light. Her voice is ever set to music, +a miracle to the people here, who only know how to groan and grumble at +the best. She is ever praising the Lord for some wonderful +manifestation of mercy and love, and her testimony to her Saviour is +not a shabby one. The other day I heard the King say that she was the +only visible witness among the Church members in the town, but he +added, "She is a proper one." Far advanced in spiritual knowledge and +experience, she knows the deep things of God. That old hut is like a +heaven here to more than me. + +"Pray for us here" was the appeal in all her letters to Scotland at +this time. "Pray in a business-like fashion, earnestly, definitely, +statedly." + +For herself she found a friend in King Eyo, to whom she could go at any +time and relate her troubles and receive sympathy and support. She, in +turn, was often in his State room advising him regarding the private +and complicated affairs of his little kingdom and his relations with +the British Government. He honoured her in various ways, but to her the +dumb affection of a slave woman whom she had saved was more than all +the favours which others, high in the social scale, sought to show her. + + + + + X. THE FULNESS OF THE TIME + +The question of her future location received much consideration. The +needs of the stations on the Cross River, the highway into the +interior, were urgent, and it was thought by some that the interests of +the Mission called for her presence there, but her mind could not be +turned from the direction in which she believed she could do the best +work. She was essentially a pioneer. Her thoughts were for ever going +forward, looking past the limitations and the hopes of others, into the +fields beyond teeming with populations as yet unreached. She was of the +order of spirits to which Dr. Livingstone belonged. Like him she said, +"I am ready to go anywhere, provided it be forward." From the districts +inland came reports of atrocity and wrong: accusations of witchcraft, +the ordeal of the poison bean, the shooting of slaves, and the +destruction of infants; and she felt the impelling call to go and +attack these evils. It was not that she did not recognise the value of +base-work, of order and organisation and routine. + +The fact that she spent twelve years in patient and loyal service at +Duke Town, Old Town, and Creek Town demonstrates how important she +considered these to be. But they had been years of training meant to +perfect her powers before she went forward on her own path to realise +the vision given her from above, and they were now ended. For her the +fulness of the time had come, and with it the way opened up. The local +Mission Committee decided, in October 1886, to send her into the +district of Okoyong, and informed the authorities in Scotland of the +fact, carefully adding that this was in line with her own desire. + +A change had just been made in the relation of the women on the staff +of the Mission to the administration at home. The Zenana Scheme of the +Church had been constituted as a distinct department of the Foreign +Mission operations in 1881, and having appealed to the women of the +congregations, had proved a success. It was now thought expedient that +the Calabar lady agents should be brought into the scheme, and +accordingly, in May 1886, they became responsible to the Zenana +Committee, and through them to the Foreign Mission Board. The Zenana +Committee recommended that the arrangement regarding Mary should be +carried out, and the Foreign Mission Board agreed. + + + + THIRD PHASE + + 1888-1902. Age 40-54. + + THE CONQUEST OF OKOYONG + +"_I am going to a new tribe up-country, a fierce, cruel people, and +every one tells me that they will kill me. But I don't fear any hurt- +only to combat their savage customs will require courage and firmness +on my part._" + + + + + I. A TRIBE OF TERRORISTS + +Some time in the dim past a raiding force had swept down from the +mountains to the east of Calabar, entered the triangle of dense forest- +land formed by the junction of the Cross and Calabar Hirers, fought and +defeated the Ibibios who dwelt there, and taken possession of the +territory. They were of the tribe of Okoyong believed to be an outpost, +probably the most westerly outpost, of the Bantu race of Central and +South Africa, who had thrust themselves forward like a wedge into +negro-land. Physically they were of a higher type than the people of +Calabar. They were taller and more muscular, their nose was higher, the +mouth and chin were firmer, their eye was more fearless and piercing, +and their general bearing contrasted strongly with that of the supine +negro of the coast. + +To their superior bodily development they added the worst qualities of +heathenism: there was not a phase of African devilry in which they did +not indulge. They were openly addicted to witchcraft and the sacrifice +of animals. They were utterly lawless and contemptuous of authority. +Among themselves slave-stealing, plunder of property, theft of every +kind, went on indiscriminately. To survive in the struggle of life a +man required to possess wives and children and slaves--in the abundance +of these lay his power. But if, through incompetence or sickness or +misfortune, he failed he was regarded as the lawful prey of the chief +nearest him. To weaken the House of a neighbour was as clear a duty as +to strengthen one's own. Oppression and outrage were of common +occurrence. So suspicious were they even of each other that the chiefs +and their retainers lived in isolated clearings with armed scouts +constantly on the watch on all the pathways, and they ate and worked +with their weapons ready to their hands. Even Egbo law with all its +power was often resisted by the slaves and women regardless of the +consequences. No free Egbo man would submit to be dictated to by the +Egbo drum sent by another. A fine might be imposed, but he would sit +unsubdued and sullen, and then obtain his revenge by seizing or +murdering some passing victim. But all combined in a common enmity +against other tribes, and the region was enclosed with a fence of +terrorism as impenetrable as a ring of steel. The Calabar people were +hated because of the favoured position they enjoyed on the coast, and +their wealth and power; and a state of chronic war existed with them. +Each sought to outrival the other in the number of heads captured or +the number of slaves stolen or harboured, and naturally there was no +end to the fighting. All efforts to bring them together in the +interests of trade had been in vain. Even British authority was defied, +and messages from the Consul were ignored or treated with contempt. + +They had their own idea of justice and judicial methods, and trials by +ordeal formed the test of innocence or guilt, the two commonest being +by burning oil and poison. In the one case a pot was filled with palm +oil which was brought to the boil. The stuff was poured over the hands +of the prisoner, and if the skin became blistered he was adjudged to be +guilty and punished. In the other case the eséré bean--the product of a +vine--was pounded and mixed with water and drunk: if the body ejected +the poison it was a sign of innocence. This method was the surest and +least troublesome--for the investigation, sentence, and punishment were +carried out simultaneously--unless the witch-doctor had been +influenced, which sometimes happened, for there were various means of +manipulating the test. + +These tests were applied when it was desired to discover a thief, or +when a village wanted to know whose spirit dwelt in the leopard that +slew a goat, or when a chief wished to prove that his wife was faithful +to him in her heart, but chiefly in cases of sickness or death. They +believed that sickness was unnatural, and that death never occurred +except from extreme old age. When a freeman became ill or died, sorcery +would be alleged. The witchdoctor would be called in, and he would name +one individual after another, and all, bond and free, were chained and +tried, and there would be much grim merriment as the victims writhed in +agony and their heads were chopped off. The skulls would be kept in the +family as trophies. Occasionally the relations of the victims would be +powerful enough to take exception to the summary procedure and seek +redress by force of arms, and a vendetta would reign for years. + +If a man or woman were blamed for some evil deed an appeal could be +made to the law of substitution, and a sufficient number of slaves +could be furnished as would be equivalent for themselves, and these +would be killed in their stead. The eldest son of a free House, for +instance, would be spared by the sacrifice of the life of a younger +brother. + +The fact that a man's position in the spirit-world was determined by +his rank and wealth in this one, demanded the sacrifice of much life +when chiefs died. A few months before Miss Slessor went up amongst them +a chief of moderate means died, and with him were buried eight slave +men, eight slave women, ten girls, ten boys, and four free wives. These +were in addition to the men and women who died as a result of taking +the poison ordeal. Even when death was due to natural decay the retinue +provided was the same. After her settlement she made careful enquiry, +and found that the number of lives sacrificed annually at the instance +of this custom could not have averaged fewer than 150 within a radius +of twenty miles, while the same number must have died from ordeals and +decapitation on charges of causing sickness. To these had to be added +the number killed in the constant warfare. + +Infanticide was also responsible for much destruction of life. Twin +murder was practised with an even fiercer zeal than it had been in +Calabar. Child life in general was of little value. + +It was significant of the state of the district that gin, guns, and +chains were practically the only articles of commerce that entered it. +Gin or rum was in every home. It was given to every babe: all work was +paid for in it: every fine and debt could be redeemed with it: every +visitor had to be treated to it: every one drank it, and many drank it +all the time. Quarrels were the outcome of it. Then the guns came into +play. After that the chains and padlocks. + +Women were often the worst where drink was concerned, There were +certain bands formed of those born in the same year who were allowed +freer action than others: they could handle gun and sword, and were +used for patrol and fighting purposes, and were so powerful that they +compelled concessions from Egbo. They exacted fines for breach of their +rules, and feasted and drank and danced for days and nights at a time +at the expense of the offenders. + +Such lawlessness and degradation at the very doors had long caused the +Calabar Presbytery much thought. Efforts had been made to enter the +district both from the Cross and the Calabar Rivers. In one of his +tours of exploration Mr. Edgerley was seized, with the object of being +held for a ransom of rum, and it was only with difficulty that he +escaped. Others were received less violently, though every member of +the tribe was going about with guns on full cock. Asked why, they said, +"Inside or outside, speaking, eating, or sleeping, we must have them +ready for use. We trust no man." When they learned of the new laws in +Calabar their amazement was unbounded. "Killing for witchcraft +prohibited!" they exclaimed. "What steps have been taken to prevent +witchcraft from killing?" "Widows not compelled to sit for more than a +month in seclusion and filth!--outrageous!" "Twins and their mothers +taken to Duke Town--horrible! Has no calamity happened?" + +Very little result was achieved from these tours of observation. A +Calabar teacher was ultimately induced to settle amongst them, but +after a shooting affray was compelled to fly for his life. +Missionaries, however, are never daunted by difficulties, nor do they +acquiesce in defeat. Ever, like their Master, they stand at the door +and knock. Once again the challenge was taken up, and this time by a +woman. So difficult was the position, that the negotiations for Miss +Slessor's settlement lasted a year. Three times parties from the +Mission went up, she accompanying them, only to find the people--every +man, woman, and child--armed and sullen, and disinclined to promise +anything. "I had often a lump in my throat," she wrote, "and my courage +repeatedly threatened to take wings and fly away--though nobody guessed +it!" + +At last, in June 1888, in spite of her fears, she resolved to go up and +make final arrangements for her sojourn. + + + + + II. IN THE ROYAL CANOE + +She went up the river in state. Ever ready to do her a kindness, King +Eyo had provided her with the Royal canoe, a hollow tree-trunk twenty +feet long, and she lay in comfort under the cool cover of a framework +of palm leaves, freshly lopped from the tree, and shut off from the +crew by a gaudy curtain. Beneath was a piece of Brussels carpet, and +about her were arranged no fewer than six pillows, for the well-to-do +natives of Calabar made larger and more skilful use of these than the +Europeans. + +The scene was one of quiet beauty; there was a clear sky and a windless +air; the banks of the river--high and dense masses of vegetation-- +glowed with colour; the broad sweep of water was like a sheet of molten +silver and shimmered and eddied to the play of the gleaming paddles. As +they moved easily and swiftly along, the paddlemen, dressed in loin- +cloth and singlet, improvised blithe song in her praise. Strange and +primitive as were the conditions, she felt she would not have exchanged +them for all the luxuries of civilisation. + +She needed sustenance, for there was trying work before her, and this a +paraffin stove, a pot of tea, a tin of stewed steak, and a loaf of +home-made bread gave her. Wise mental preparation also she needed, for +there were elements of uncertainty and danger in the situation. The +Okoyong might be on the war-path: her paddlers were their sworn +enemies: a tactless word or act might ruin the expedition. As the canoe +glided along the river she communed with God, and in the end left the +issue with Him. "Man," she thought, "can do nothing with such a +people." + +Arriving at the landing beach she made her way by a forest track to a +village of mud huts called Ekenge, four miles inland. Her reception was +a noisy one; men, women, and children thronged about her, and called +her "Mother," and seemed pleased at her courage at coming alone. The +chief, Edem, one of the aristocrats of Okoyong, was sober, but his +neighbour at Ifako, two miles farther on, whom she wished to meet, was +unfit for human company, and she was not allowed to proceed. She stayed +the night at Ekenge, where she gathered the King's boys about her to +hold family worship. The crowd of semi-naked people standing curiously +watching the proceedings exclaimed in wonder as they heard the words +repeated in unison: "God so loved the world," and so on. At ten o'clock +the women were still holding her fast in talk. One, the chiefs sister, +called Ma Eme, attracted her. "I think," she said, "she will be my +friend, and be an attentive hearer of the Gospel." Wearied at last with +the strain she was forced to retire into the hut set apart for her. + +A shot next morning startled the village. Two women on going outside +had been fired at from the bush. In a moment every man had his gun and +sword and was searching for the assailant. Mary went with one of the +parties, but to find any one in such a labyrinth was impossible, and +the task was given up. Going to Ifako she interviewed the chiefs. The +charm of her personality, her frankness, her fearlessness, won them +over, and they promised her ground for a schoolhouse. Would, she asked, +the same privilege be extended to it as to the Mission buildings in +Calabar? Would it be a place of refuge for criminals, those charged +with witchcraft, or those liable to be killed for the dead, until their +case could be taken into consideration? They assented. And the house +she would build for herself--would it also be a harbour of refuge? +Again they assented. She thanked them and promptly went and chose two +sites, one at Ekenge and one at Ifako, about twenty to thirty minutes' +walk apart, according to the state of the track, in order that the +benefits of the concession might operate over as wide an area as +possible. She foresaw, however, that as they were an agricultural and +shifting people, and spread over a large extent of territory, she would +require to be constantly travelling, and to sleep as often in her +hammock as in her bed. + +Rejoicing over the improved prospects, she set out on the return +journey to Creek Town. It was the rainy season, and ere long the canoe +ran into a deluge and she was soaked. Then the tide was so strong that +they had to lie in a cove for two hours. The carcase of a huge snake +drifted past, followed by a human body. She was on the outlook for +alligators, but only saw crowds of crabs on the rotten tree-stumps and +black mud fighting as fiercely as the Okoyong people. She was too +watchful to sleep, but she heard the boys say softly, "Don't shake the +canoe and wake Ma," or "Speak lower and let Ma sleep." When they were +once more out on the river she slumbered, and awoke to find the lights +of Creek Town shining through the darkness. + +When her friends saw her packing her belongings they looked at her in +wonder and pity. They said she was going on a forlorn hope, and that no +power on earth could subdue the Okoyong save a Consul and a gunboat. +But she smiled and went on with her preparations. King Eyo again +offered his canoe and paddlers and a number of bearers for her baggage. +By Friday evening, August 3, 1888, all was ready, and she lay down to +rest but not to sleep. On the morrow she would enter on the great +adventure of her life, and the strangeness of it, the seriousness of +it, the possibilities it might hold for her, kept her awake and +thoughtful throughout the night. + + + + + III. THE ADVENTURE OF TAKING POSSESSION + +The dawn came to Creek Town grey and wet. The rain fell in torrents, +and the negroes, moving about with the packages, grumbled and +quarrelled. Wearied and unrefreshed after her sleepless night, Mary was +not in the best of spirits, and she was glad to see King Eyo, who had +come to supervise the loading and packing of the canoe: his kind eyes, +cheery smile, and sympathetic words did her good, and her courage +revived. Few of the natives wished her God-speed. One young man said +with a sob in his voice, "I will constantly pray for you, but you are +courting death." Not great faith for a Christian perhaps, but her own +faith at the moment was not so strong that she could afford to cast a +stone at him. As the hours wore on, the air of depression became +general, and when the party was about to start Mr. Goldie suddenly +decided to send one of the Mission staff to accompany her on the +journey. Mr. Bishop, the printer, who was standing by, volunteered, and +there and then stepped into the canoe. Mary and her retinue of five +children stowed themselves into a corner, the paddlers pushed off, and +the canoe swept up the river and disappeared in the rain. + +The light was fading ere they reached the landing beach for Ekenge, and +there was yet the journey of four miles through the dripping forest to +be overtaken. It was decided that she should go on ahead with the +children in order to get them food and put them to sleep, and that Mr. +Bishop and one or two men should follow with dry clothes, cooking +utensils, and the door and window needed for the hut, whilst the +carriers would come on later with the loads. As Mary faced the forest, +now dark and mysterious, and filled with the noises of night, a feeling +of helplessness and fear came over her. What unseen perils might she +not meet? What would she find at the end? How would she be received on +this occasion? Would the natives be fighting or drinking or dancing? +Her heart played the coward; she felt a desire to turn and flee. But +she remembered that never in her life had God failed her, not once had +there been cause to doubt the reality of His guidance and care. Still +the shrinking was there; she could not even move her lips in prayer; +she could only look up and utter inwardly one appealing word, "Father!" + +Surely no stranger procession had footed it through the African forest. +First came a boy, about eleven years of age, tired and afraid, a box +containing tea, sugar, and bread upon his head, his garments, soaked +with the rain, clinging to his body, his feet slipping in the black +mud. Behind him was another boy, eight years old, in tears, bearing a +kettle and pots. With these a little fellow of three, weeping loudly, +tried hard to keep up, and close at his heels trotted a maiden of five, +also shaken with sobs. Their white mother formed the rear. On one arm +was slung a bundle, and astride her shoulders sat a baby girl, no light +burden, so that she had to pull herself along with the aid of branches +and twigs. She was singing nonsense--snatches to lighten the way for +the little ones, but the tears were perilously near her own eyes. Had +ever such a company marched out against the entrenched forces of evil? +Surely God had made a mistake in going to Okoyong in such a guise? And +yet He often chooses the weakest things of this world to confound and +defeat the mighty. + +The village was reached at last, but instead of the noise and confusion +that form a bush welcome there was absolute stillness. Mary called out +and two slaves appeared. They stated that the chief's mother at Ifako +had died that morning, and all the people had gone to the carnival. One +obtained fire and a little water, while the other made off to carry the +news that the white woman had arrived. She undressed the children and +hushed them to sleep, and sat in her wet garments and waited. When Mr. +Bishop appeared it was to say that the men were exhausted and refused +to bring up anything that night. A woman of weaker fibre and feebler +faith would have been in despair: Mary acted with her usual decision. +The glow of the fire was cheerful and the singing of the kettle +tempting, but the morrow was Sunday, there was no food, the children +were naked, and she herself wet to the skin. She gave one of the lads +who had arrived with Mr. Bishop a lantern, and despatched him to the +beach with a peremptory message that the mea must come at once and +bring what they could. But knowing their character she asked Mr. Bishop +to collect some of the slaves who had been left to watch the farms, and +send them after her as carriers, and then, bootless and hatless, she +plunged back into the forest. + +She had not gone far before one of the other lads came running after +her to keep her company; a touch of chivalry which, pleased and +comforted her. So dense was the darkness that she often lost sight of +her companion's white clothes, and was constantly stumbling and +falling. The shrilling of the insects, the pulsation of the fire-flies, +the screams of the night-birds and the flapping of their wings, the +cries of wild animals, the rush of dark objects, the falling of decayed +branches all intensified the weirdness and mystery of the forest gloom. +Even the echo of their own voices as they called aloud to frighten the +beasts of prey struck on their ears with peculiar strangeness. + +By and by came an answer to their cries, and a glimmer of light showed +in the darkness. It was the lad with the lantern. As she had surmised, +he had failed in his mission. She moved swiftly to the river, splashed +into the water, and, reaching the canoe, threw back the cover under +which the men were sleeping, and routed them out, dazed and shamefaced. +So skilful, however, was she in managing these dusky giants that in a +short time, weary as they were, they were working good-humouredly at +the boxes. With the assistance of the slaves who came on the scene they +transferred what was needed to Ekenge, and by midnight she felt that +the worst was over. + +Sunday did not find her in more cheerful mood. Her tired limbs refused +to move, and wounds she had been unconscious of in the excitement of +the journey made themselves felt, while her feet were in such a state +that for six weeks afterwards she was unable to wear boots. Whether it +was the persistent rain and the mud and the weariness and the squalid +surroundings, or the fact that the tribe she had come to civilise and +evangelise were given over to the service of the devil, or that her +faith had weakened, or whether it was all of these together, her first +Sunday in Okoyong was one of the saddest she ever experienced. More +than once she was on the verge of tears. + +And yet she was eager to begin work. Prudence, however, held her back +from visiting the scene of debauchery at Ifako. A few women had come +home with fractious babies, or to procure more food for the revellers, +and gathering these about her she held a little service, telling them +in her simple and direct way the story of the Christ who came from the +Unseen to make their lives sweeter and happier. + +It was the first faint gleam of a better day for Okoyong. + + + + + IV. FACING AN ANGRY MOB + +The room allotted to Mary was one of those in the women's yard or harem +of Edem the chief, and had been previously used by a free wife, who had +left its mud floor and mud walls in a filthy state. At one entrance she +caused a door to be hung, while a hole was made in the wall and a +window frame fitted in. The work was rude and gaps yawned round the +sides, but she ensured sufficient privacy by draping them with +bedcovers. The absence of the villagers at Ifako gave her time to +complete the work, and with her own hands she filled in the spaces with +mud. She also cleared a portion of the ground set apart for her and +circled it with a fence, and within this did her washing. But soon +there were calls upon her. + +"_He took a little child and set him in the midst_." Her work began +with a child. In a fight between Okoyong and Calabar a man of Ekenge +had been beheaded. His head was recovered and sent home, thus removing +the disgrace, but his wife did not survive the shock, and left a baby +girl, which was now brought to Mary. It had been fed on a little water, +palm oil, and cane juice, and looked less like an infant than a half- +boiled chicken. Its appearance provoked mirth in the yard, but she +stooped down and lifted it and took it to her heart, resolving to give +it a double share of the care and comfort of which it had been +defrauded. As she carried it about in her arms, or sat with it in her +lap, she was regarded with a kind of amused astonishment. But the old +grandmother came and blessed her. At first the child rallied to the new +treatment: it grew human-like: sometimes Mary thought it looked bonnie: +but in a few days it drooped and died. + +The bodies of children were usually placed anywhere in the earth near +the huts or under the bush by the wayside, but she dressed the tiny +form in white and laid it in a provision box and covered it with +flowers. A native carried the box to a spot which she had reserved in +her ground: here a grave was dug, and she stood beside it and prayed. +The grandmother knelt at her feet, sobbing. Looking on at a distance, +curious and scornful, were the revellers from Ifako; they had heard of +the proceedings, and had come to witness the white woman's +"witchcraft." All that they said in effect when they saw the good box +and the white robe was, "Why this waste?" And so the work in Okoyong +was consecrated by the death and Christian burial of a little child. + +When the people came crowding back from the devil-making they sought +out a young lad who had detached himself from the orgies and remained +in the village, where he had been very attentive to Mary. They accused +him of deserting their ancient customs. She saw him standing in their +midst near a pot of oil which was being heated over a fire, and noticed +the chief, in front going through some movements and the lad holding +out his arms, but was unaware of what was taking place until she saw a +man seize a ladle, plunge it into the boiling oil, and advance to the +boy. In a moment the truth flashed upon her and she darted forward, but +was too late. The stuff was poured over the lad's hands, and he +shuddered in agony. It was doubtful whether her intervention at that +early period would have done any good. They were following the law of +the country, and if she had managed to prevent the act they would +probably have resorted to the ordeal thereafter in secret; and her +object was to show them a better way. + +Immediately after this the men of the village left on an expedition of +revenge against a number of mourners with whom they had quarrelled. A +week of rioting followed. Then a freeman died in the neighbourhood, and +once more the village was deserted. Mary, meanwhile, moved hither and +thither, making friends with the women, healing the sick, tending the +children, and doing any little service that came in her way. + +The return to normal conditions brought her into active conflict with +the powers of evil. The mistress of a harem in the vicinity bought a +good-looking young woman whom the master coveted, and she became a +slave-wife. She appeared sullen and unhappy. One afternoon Mary saw her +mudding a house that was being built for a new free-born wife, and +spoke to her kindly in passing. A few minutes later the girl made her +way to one of her master's farms, and sat down in the hut of a slave. +The latter was alarmed, knowing well what the consequences would be, +but she refused to move. The man went off to his work, and she walked +into the forest and hanged herself. Next morning the slave was brought +in heavily ironed, and at a palaver the master and his relatives +decreed he must die; they had been degraded by being associated in this +way with a common slave. + +Mary, who was present, protested against the injustice of the sentence; +the man, she argued, had done no wrong; it was not his fault that the +girl had gone to his hut. "But," was the reply, "he has used sorcery +and put the thought into the girl's mind, and the witch-doctor has +pronounced him guilty." She persisted. The crowd became angry and +excited; they surged round her demanding why a stranger who was there +on sufferance should interfere with the dignity and power of free-born +people, and clamoured for the instant death of the prisoner. Threats +were shouted, guns and swords were waved, and the position grew +critical, but she stood her ground, quiet and cool and patient. Her +tact, her good humour, that spiritual force which seemed to emanate +from her in times of peril, at last prevailed. The noise and confusion +calmed down, and ultimately it was decided to spare the man's life. She +had won her first victory. + +But the victim was loaded with chains, placed in the women's yard, +starved, and then flogged, and his body cruelly cut in order to +exorcise the powers of sorcery that were in him. When Mary went to him +he was a bruised and bleeding heap of flesh lying unconscious by the +post to which he was fastened. The women in the yard were sitting about +indifferent to his plight. + + + + + V. LIFE IN HAREM + +For many weeks she was an inmate of the harem, a witness of its +degraded intimacies, enduring the pollution of its moral and physical +atmosphere, with no other support than hallowed memories and the +companionship of her Bible. Her room was next that of the chief and his +head wife: the quarters of five lesser wives were close by; other wives +whose work and huts were at the farms shared the yard with the slaves, +visitors, and children; two cows--small native animals that do not +produce milk--occupied the apartment on the other side of the +partition; goats, fowls, cats, rats, cockroaches, and centipedes were +everywhere. In her own room the three boys slept behind an erection of +boxes and furniture, and the two girls shared her portion. Every night +her belongings had to be taken outside in order to provide sufficient +accommodation for them all, and as it was the wet season they had +usually to undergo a process of drying in the sun each day before being +replaced. + +There was a ceaseless coming and going in the yard, a perpetual +chattering of raucous voices. The wives were always bickering and +scolding, the tongue of one of them going day and night, her chief butt +being a naked and sickly slave, who was for ever being flogged. There +was no sleep for Mary when this woman had any grievance, real or +imaginary, on her mind. + +Both wives and visitors conceived it their duty to sit and entertain +their white guest. To an African woman the idea of loneliness is +terrible, and good manners made it incumbent that as large a gathering +as possible should keep a stranger company. All is implied in the word +"home," its sacredness and freedom, its privacy, lies outside the +knowledge and experience of polygamists. Kind and neighbourly as the +women were, they could not understand the desire of Mary to be +sometimes by herself. She needed silence and solitude; her spirit +craved for communion with her Father, and she longed for a place in +which to pour out her heart aloud to Him. As often as politeness +permitted, she fled to the ground reserved for her, but they followed +her there, and in desperation she would take a machete and hack at the +bush, praying the while, so that her voice was lost in the noise she +made. + +One woman of mark was Eme Ete--Ma Eme as she was usually called--a +sister of the master, the same who had attracted her attention on the +previous visit. She was the widow of a big chief, and had just returned +from the ceremonies in connection with her husband's death, where she +had undergone a terrible ordeal. All his wives lay under suspicion, and +each brought to the place of trial a white fowl, and from the way in +which it fluttered after its head was cut off the judgment was +pronounced. The strain was such that when the witch-doctor announced Ma +Eme free from guilt she fainted. Big-boned and big-featured, she had +been fattened to immensity. One day Mary pointed to some marks on her +arms and said, "White people have marks like these," showing the +vaccination cicatrice on her own arm. Ma Eme simply said, "These are +the marks of the teeth of my husband." In that land a man could do as +he liked with his free-born wife--bite her, beat her, kill her, and +nobody cared. When consorting with the others Ma Eme had the coarse +tone common to all, but as she spoke to Mary or the children her voice +softened and her instincts and manners were refined and gentle. A +mother to every one, she scolded, encouraged, and advised in turn, and +when the chief was drunk or peevish she was always between him and his +wives as intercessor and peacemaker. She watched over Mary, brought her +food, looked after her comfort, and helped her in every way, and did it +with the delicacy and reserve of a well-bred lady. Unknown to all she +constituted herself Mary's ally, becoming a sort of secret intelligence +department, and, at the risk of her life, keeping her informed of all +the underground doings of the tribe. "A noble woman," Mary called her, +"according to her lights and knowledge." + +The wives appeared to have less liberty than the slaves. How carefully +guarded their position was by unwritten law Mary had reason to know. A +girl-wife employed a slave-man to do work for a day. His master +unexpectedly sent for him, and he asked the girl for the food which was +part of his wage. She at first declined; her husband was absent, and it +was against the law of the harem, but as he insisted she yielded and +handed him a piece of yam. When this became known she was seized, +bound, and condemned to undergo the ordeal of the burning oil. It was +an occasion for feasting and merriment, and as the fun progressed the +cords were gradually tightened until she screamed piteously with the +pain. Mary went and faced the crowd and pled for her release. There was +the usual uproar, but she succeeded in carrying off the victim, who was +kept chained to her verandah until the dancing and rioting ended with +the dawn. + +Conditions in the harem were not favourable to child life. The mothers +were ignorant and superstitious, and there was no discipline or +training. Infants were often given intoxicating drink in order that fun +might be made of their antics and foolish talk. As they grew up they +learned nothing but what was vile. The slave children became thieves-- +they had to steal in order to live. But if caught they would be chained +to a post and starved or branded with fire-sticks. They became +deceitful--they had to lie in order to gain favour. In this they simply +followed the instinctive impulses of their nature and of the lower +nature about them. As the insects mimicked inanimate objects to escape +injury or death, so they simulated the truth to save themselves a +beating or mutilation. The free-born children did not require to steal, +but lying was in the air like a contagion, and none could avoid its +influence. Of the older boys and girls Mary wrote: "They are such a +pest to every one that it is almost impossible to love them." Yet with +a divine pity she gathered them to her and mothered them. + +Her earlier observations of the character of the African women were +confirmed by her sojourn in the harem. Hard and callous, as a result of +centuries of bush law and outrage, their patience and self-repression +under the most terrible indignities were to her a marvel. They were not +devoid of fine feeling, and beneath the surface of their nature the +flow of affection and pity often ran pure and sweet. On one occasion a +large number of prisoners were chained previous to undergoing the +ordeal of the poison bean. There were mothers with infants in their +arms, who throughout a hot day lay on the ground in torture and terror. +At dusk the guards left them for a time, and seizing the chance a few +of the older women stole tremblingly towards them with water, which +they gave to the children and divided the remainder among the mothers. +Anticipating such an opportunity Mary had had some rice cooked, and +this also the women smuggled to the prisoners. Had they been discovered +their lives would have been forfeited. + +Bands of women of the special class already described came from a +distance to see the white "Ma," always more or less under the influence +of drink; loose in speech, and destitute of modesty, these Amazons made +her angry. They would appear at night and demand admittance to the yard +in the hope of obtaining rum and other good things from the wealthy +white woman. When barred out they threatened reprisals. The chief, who +never allowed his wives to go out of the yard to dance even with his +own relatives, stood on guard all night before his guest's room, and it +was only after sunrise, when all were astir, that they were admitted. +Haggard after their night's debauch, they presented a sorry sight, +their bare bodies painted and decked with beads, coloured wools, and +scraps of red and yellow silk, and many with babies at their side. Mary +regarded them with pity, but all they could extract from her was +disapproval and rebuke, and they left with threats to make her position +untenable. + +Some of the scenes she witnessed in the harem cannot be described. "Had +I not felt my Saviour close beside me," she said, "I would have lost my +reason." When at home the memory of these would make her wince and +flush with indignation and shame. She had no patience with people who +expounded the theory of the innocence of man outside the pale of +civilisation--she would tell them to go and live for a month in a West +African harem. + + + + + VI. STRANGE DOINGS + +The sound of native voices chanting came through the brooding stillness +of the hot afternoon. With the wild war-song of Okoyong the forest +familiar, but words were strange and wonderful; + + _Jesus the Son of God came down to earth + He came to save us from our sins. + He was born poor that He might feel for us. + Wicked men killed Him and hanged Him on a tree, + He rose and went to heaven to prepare a place for us_.... + +They were sung with a tremendous force, and as each voice fell into the +part which suited it, the result was a harmony that thrilled the heart +of the white woman who listened. + +It was Mary Slessor's day school. + +For a people possessing no written language, no literature, no +knowledge beyond that handed down from father to son, the first step +towards right living, apart from the preaching of the Gospel, is +education. Schools go hand in hand with churches in missionary effort. +Mary began hers before she had the buildings in which to teach, one at +Ekenge and the other at Ifako. The latter was held in the afternoon in +order that she might be back in her yard by sunset. The schoolroom was +the verandah of a house by the wayside; the seats were pieces of +firewood; the equipment an alphabet card hung on one of the posts. + +At first the entire population turned out and conned the letters, but +as novelty wore off and the men and women returned to their work the +attendance dropped to thirty. Good progress was made, and ere long the +dark-skinned pupils were spelling out words of one and two syllables. +The lesson ended with a scripture lesson, a short prayer, and the +singing of the sentences she taught. The last was so much enjoyed that +it was often dark before she could get away. + +The school at Ekenge was held in the outer yard of the chief's house in +the evening, when all the wives and slaves were at leisure. Men and +women, old and young, bond and free, crowded and hustled into the yard, +amidst much noise and fun. After a lesson on the alphabet and the +multiplication-table she conducted worship. It was a weird scene--the +white woman, slim and slight, standing bareheaded and barefooted beside +a little table on which were a lamp and the Book; in front, squatting +on the ground, the mass of half-naked people as dark as the night, +their shining faces here and there catching the gleam of the light; the +earnest singing that drowned the voices of the forest, and the strange +hush that fell, as in grave sweet tones the speaker prayed to what was +to them the Unknown God. + +The tale of such doings was carried to every corner of Okoyong, and +invitations began to arrive from chiefs in other parts. Some, who were +known as "the terror of Calabar," came personally to ask her to visit +their villages, and all laid down their arms at the entrance to her +yard before entering into her presence. But her own chief warned her +against acting too hastily, and she would probably have followed his +advice and sought to strengthen her position at Ekenge and Ifako had +the matter not been taken out of her hands. + + + + + VII. FIGHTING A GRIM FOE + +The principal wife of a harem in close neighbourhood to Mary went to +pay a visit to her son and daughter at a village in the vicinity of the +Cross River, some eight hours distant from Ekenge. She found the chief +so near death that the head man and the people were waiting outside, +ready for the event. Hastening into the harem she spoke of the power of +the white "Ma" at Ekenge. Had she not cured her grandchild who had bees +very ill? Had she not saved many others? Let them send for her and the +chief would not die. Her advice was acted upon, and a deputation was +despatched with a bottle and four rods--about the value of a shilling-- +to secure Mary's aid. She was called to the private room of her chief, +where she found the messengers. "What is the matter with him?" she +asked. As no one knew she decided to go and see for herself. Edem and +Ma Eme objected--the length of the journey, the deep streams to be +crossed, the heavy rains, made the task impossible. "I am going to get +ready," was her reply. Finding her immovable, the chief turned with a +face of gloom to the deputation and sent, them back with a demand for +an escort of freewomen and armed men. Mary imagined he was merely +endeavouring to mark time until the death took place: in reality he saw +the district given over to violence and murder, and she in the midst +and her life imperilled. + +She passed a sleepless night. Was she right, after all, in taking so +great a risk? She laid the matter where she laid all her problems, and +came to the conclusion that she was. With the morning appeared the +guard of women, who intimated that the armed men would join them +outside the village. The rain was falling as they set out later came +down in torrents, continuous, and pitiless. Her boots were soon +abandoned; then her stockings; next her umbrella, broken in battle with +the vegetation, was thrown aside. Bit by bit her clothes, too heavy to +be endured, were transferred to the calabashes carried by the women on +their heads, and in the lightest of garments she struggled on through +the steaming bush. + +Three hours of trudging brought her to a market-place where, in the +clearing atmosphere, hundreds of natives were gathering. They gazed at +her in amazement. Feeling humiliated at her appearance, she slunk shyly +and swiftly through their midst and went on, wondering if she had "lost +face" and their respect. Afterwards she learnt that the self-denial and +courage which that walk in the rain exhibited had done more than +anything else to win their hearts. Others, however, were not so well- +disposed. At one town the old chief was anything but courtly, and only +with reluctance allowed her to pass. + +When she reached the sick man's village and looked into the grim +expectant faces of the armed crowd, she felt as if she were walking +into a den of wild beasts. At any moment the signal might be given, and +the slaughter of the retinue for the spirit-land begin. The women, +silent and fear-stricken, carried off her wet clothes to dry. She was +cold and feverish, but went straight to the patient and tended him as +well as she could. Then she turned to the pile of odds and ends of +garments which had been collected for her, and looked at them with a +shudder. But there was no alternative, and, arraying herself in the +rags, she went forth to meet the critical gaze of the crowd. + +The medicine she had brought had proved insufficient, and more must be +obtained; many lives, she knew, depended upon it. To go back to Ekenge +was out of the question. Was there, she asked the people about her, a +way to Ikorofiong? The Rev. Alexander Cruickshank was stationed there, +and he would supply what was needed. They confessed that there was a +road to the river and a canoe could be got to cross, but they dared not +go there, they would never come back, they would be seized and killed. +Some one told her that a Calabar man, whose mother was an Okoyong woman +and who came to trade, was living in his canoe not far off. "Seek him," +said she. He was found, but would not land until assured that it was a +white woman who wanted him. Mary prevailed upon him to undertake the +journey; and he returned with all she required and more. With the +thoughtfulness and kindliness of pioneer missionaries Mr. and Mrs. +Cruickshank sent over tea and sugar and other comforts and, what she +valued not less, a letter of cheer and sympathy. Hot with fever, racked +with headache, she brewed the tea in a basin, and it seemed to her a +royal feast. The world of friends had drawn nearer, she felt less +lonely, her spirits revived. + +The patient drew back from the valley of death, regained consciousness, +and gathered strength; and the women looking on in wonder, became +obedient and reliable nurses; the freemen thought no more of sacrifice +and blood; the whole community had visions of peace; they expressed a +wish to make terms with Calabar and to trade with the Europeans and +learn "book." She was engaged all day in answering questions. Morning +and evening she held a simple service, and seldom had a more reverent +audience. Much worn out, she left them at last with regret, promising +to be always their mother, to try and secure a teacher, and to come +again and see them. + +Her faith and fearlessness had been justified, and she had her reward, +for from that time forward Okoyong was free to her. + + + + + VIII. THE POWER OF WITCHCRAFT + +The belief in witchcraft dominated the lives of the people like a dark +shadow more menacing than the shadow of death. Taking advantage of +their superstition and fear the witch-doctors--some of the cunningest +rogues the world has produced--held them in abject bondage, and Mary +was constantly at battle with the results of their handiwork. + +The chief of Ekenge was lying ill. Since she had taken up residence in +his yard he had treated her with consideration, and guarded her +interests and well-being, and now came the opportunity to reciprocate +his kindness. She found him suffering from an abscess in his back, and +gave herself up to the task of nursing and curing him. All was going +well, when one morning, as she entered with his tea and bread, she saw +a living fowl impaled on a stick. Scattered about were palm branches +and eggs, and round the neck and limbs of the patient were placed +various charms. The brightness of her greeting died away. Edem was +suspiciously voluble and frank, flattered the goodness and ability of +the white people, but said they could not understand the malignity of +the black man's heart. "Ma, it has been made known to us that some one +is to blame for this sickness, and here is proof of it--all these have +been taken out of my back." He held out a parcel which, on opening, she +found to contain shot, powder, teeth, bones, seeds, egg-shells, and +other odds and ends. + +On seeing the collection the natives standing around shook with terror, +and frantically denounced the wickedness of the persons who had sought +to compass the death of the chief. Mary's heart sank, she knew what the +accusation meant. At once, before her eyes, men and women were singled +out, and seized and chained and fastened to posts in the yard. +Remonstrance, rebuke, argument were in vain. The chief at last became +irritated with her importunity, and ordered his retainers to carry him +to one of his farms, whither he was accompanied by his wives, those of +note belonging to his house, and the prisoners. He forbade "Ma" to +follow, and enjoined secrecy upon all, in order that no tales might be +carried back to her. But she had her own means of obtaining +intelligence of what was going on, and she heard that many others were +being chained, as they were denounced by the witch-doctors. + +The chief became worse, and stronger measures were decided on: all the +suspected must die. Mary was powerless to do more than send a message +of stern warning. Days of suspense and prayer followed. On the last +night of the year she was lying awake thinking of the old days and the +old friends, her heart homesick, and the hot tears in her eyes, when +the sound of voices and the flash of a lantern made her start up. It +was a deputation from the farm. They had learnt that the native pastor, +the Rev. Esien Ukpabio, at Adiabo--the first native convert in Calabar +--was skilled in this form of disease, and would "Ma" give them a letter +asking him to come over and see the chief? The letter was quickly +given, and she returned to her rest and her memories. + +When the native pastor asked what was the matter, the reply was that +"Some one's soul was troubling the chief." "In that case," he said, "I +can do nothing," and no persuasion or bribe could move him from his +position. His sister, however, thought it might be well for her to go +and see what she could do, and he consented. Under her care the abscess +broke and the chief recovered, and all the prisoners were released with +the exception of one woman, who was put to death. + +Aware of the uncanny way in which his guest heard of things the chief +sent his son to forestall any tale-bearer. "No one has been injured," +she was assured. "Only one worthless slave woman has been sold to the +Inokon." As it was the custom to dispose of slaves who were criminals +and incorrigible to this cannibal section of the Aros for food at their +high feasts the story was plausible, but she knew better, and when the +son added that the three children of the victim had been "quite +agreeable," she thought of the misery she had witnessed on their faces. +She pretended to believe the message, however, for to have shown +knowledge of the murder would have been to condemn scores to the poison +ordeal, in order that her informant might be discovered. + +When the chief was convalescent it was announced by drum that he would +emerge on a certain day from his filth--for the natives do not wash +during illness--and that gifts would be received. His wives and friends +and slaves brought rum, rods, clothes, goats, and fowls, and there +ensued a week of drinking, dancing, and fighting, worse than Mary had +yet seen. + +In the midst of it all she moved, helpless and lonely, and somewhat +sad, yet not without faith in a better time, + + + + + IX. SORCERY IN THE PATH + +A more extraordinary instance of superstition occurred soon after. A +chief in the vicinity, noted far and wide for his ferocity, intimated +that he was coming to Ekenge on a visit. It meant trouble for the +women, and she prayed earnestly that he might be deterred from his +purpose. But he duly appeared, and throwing all her anxiety upon God, +she faced him calm and unafraid. Days and nights of wild licence +followed, accompanied by an outcrop of disputes, most of which were +brought to her to settle. + +One morning she found the guest drunk to excess, but determined to +return at once to his village. His freemen and slaves were beyond +control, and soon the place was in an uproar: swords were drawn, guns +were fired, the excitement reached fever heat. With a courage that +seemed reckless she hustled them into order and hurried them off and +accompanied them for the protection of the villages through which they +must pass. She was able to prevent more drink being supplied to them, +and all went well until, at one point on the bush track, they came upon +a plantain sucker stuck in the ground, and, lying about, a cocoanut +shell, palm leaves, and nuts. The fierce warriors who had been +challenging each other and every one they came across to fight to the +death, were paralysed at the sight of the rubbish, and turning with a +yell of terror rushed back the way they had come. Mary sought forcibly +to restrain them, but, frantic with fright, they eluded her grasp, and +ran shrieking towards the last town they had passed to wreak vengeance +on the sorcerers. She ran with them, praying for swiftness and +strength: she passed them one by one, and breathlessly threw herself +into the middle of the path, and dared them to advance. She felt she +was almost as mad as they were, but she relied on a Power Who had never +failed her, and He did not fail her now. Her audacity awed them: they +stopped, protested, argued, and gradually their hot anger, resentment, +and fear died down, and eventually they retraced their steps. She took +up the "medicine" they dreaded, and pitched it into the bush, +ironically invoking the sorcery to pass into her body if it wanted a +victim. But nobody could persuade them to proceed that way, and they +made a long detour. + +Unfortunately drink was smuggled to the band, and fighting began. She +induced the more sober to assist her to tie a few of the desperadoes to +trees. Leaving these, the company went on dancing, brandishing arms, +embracing each other, and committing such folly that she felt that she +could bear it no longer. As the swift twilight fell she called her few +followers and returned, releasing on the way the delinquents bound to +the trees, but sending them homewards with their hands fastened behind +their backs. On passing the scene of the sorcery she picked up the +plantain sucker, laughingly remarking that she would plant it in her +yard, and give the witchcraft it possessed an opportunity of proving +its powers. + +Nothing is hidden in an African community, news travels swiftly. Next +morning came a messenger from the chief she had escorted home. It had +been a terrible night, he said; the native doctor had come to his +master and had taken teeth, shot, hair, seeds, fish-bones, salt, and +what not, out of his leg, If they had been left in the body they would +have killed him. It was the plantain sucker that was to blame, and his +master demanded it back. Mary read the menace in the request: the plant +was to be used as evidence against some victim. Argument and sarcasm +alike failed, and she was obliged to hand it over, Edem was standing +by. "That," he grimly remarked, "means the death of some one." + +On the arrival of the sucker native oaths were administered to all in +the village accused of the sorcery, ordeals of various kinds were +imposed on young and old, slave and free, and the life-blood of a man +was demanded by way of settlement of the matter. Strong in their +innocence the people resisted the claim, but by guile the chief's +myrmidons caught and handcuffed a fine-looking young man belonging to +one of the best families and dragged him into hiding. Any attempt to +effect a rescue would have meant his murder, and in their dilemma the +people thought of the white "Ma" and sent and begged her to come and +plead with the chief for the life and liberty of the prisoner. + +She had never a more unpleasant task, for she detested the callous +savage, but there was nothing else to do; and she went depending less +upon herself than upon God. She walked tremblingly into the man's +presence, but her fear soon passed into disgust and indignation. He was +the personification of brutality, selfishness, and cowardice. Laughing +at her entreaties he told her to bring the villagers and let them fight +it out. She pointed out that neither he nor his House had suffered by +what had happened; that the accused people had taken every oath and +ordeal prescribed by their laws; and that his procedure was therefore +unjust and unlawful, "It is due to your presence alone that I escaped," +he retorted; "they murdered, me in intention if not in fact." His head +wile backed him up, and both became so rude and offensive to Mary that +it took all her grace to keep her temper and her ground. As she would +not leave the house the chief said he would, and walked out, remarking +that he was going to his farm on business. Swallowing her pride she +followed him and begged him humbly as an act of clemency to free the +young man. He turned, elated at her suppliant attitude, laughed loudly, +and said that no violence would be used until all his demands had been +complied with. + +She returned to her yard, and days of strain followed. The situation +developed into a quarrel between the truculent chief and Edem, and +every man went armed, women crept about in fear, scouts arrived hourly +with the latest tidings. Her life was a long prayer.... + +One day the young man was set free, without reason or apology being +given or condition exacted, and told to go to his people. With his +safety all desire for revenge was stilled, and matters resumed their +normal course. The heart of Mary once more overflowed with gratitude +and joy. + + + + + X. HOW HOUSE AND HALL WERE BUILT + +She was impatient to have a house of her own, but the natives were slow +to come to her assistance. They thought the haste she exhibited was +undignified, and smiled compassionately upon her. There was no hurry-- +there never is in Africa. If she would but wait all would be well. When +argument failed, they went off and left her to cut down the bush and +dig out the roots herself. Lounging about in the village they +commiserated a Mother who was so strongheaded and wilful, and consoled +themselves with the thought of the work they would do when once they +began. She could make no progress, and there was nothing for it but to +tend the sick, receive visitors, mend the rags of the village, cut out +clothing for those who developed a desire for it, and look after her +family of bairns. + +One day, however, the spirit moved the people and they flocked to the +ground. She constituted herself architect, clerk of works, and chief +labourer. Her idea was to construct a number of small mud-huts and +sheds, which would eventually form the back buildings of the Mission +House proper. Four tree-trunks with forked tops were driven into the +ground, and upon them were laid other logs. Bamboos, crossed and +recrossed, and covered with palm mats, formed the roof and verandah. +Upright sticks, interlaced and daubed with red clay, made the walls. +Two rooms, each eleven feet by six with a shaded verandah, thus came +into existence. Then a shed was added to each end, making three sides +of a square. Fires were kept blazing day and night, in order to dry the +material and to smoke it as a protection against vermin. Drains were +dug and the surrounding bush cleared. + +In one of the rooms she put a fireplace of red clay, and close to it a +sideboard and dresser of the same material. Holes were cut out for +bowls, cups, and other dishes, and rubbed with a stone until the +surface was smooth. The top had a cornice to keep the plates from +falling off, and was polished with a native black dye. Her next +achievement was a mud-sofa where she could recline, and a seat near the +fireside where the cook could sit and attend to her duties. + +In the other room she deposited her boxes, books, and furniture. +Hanging upon the posts were pots and pans and jugs, and her alphabet +and reading-sheets. In front stood her sewing-machine, rusty and +useless after its exposure in the damp air. There also at night was a +small organ, which during the day occupied her bed. + +Such was the "caravan," as Mary called it, which was her dwelling for a +year: a wonderful house it seemed to the people of Okoyong, who +regarded it with astonishment and awe. To herself it was a delight. +Never had the building of a home been watched with such loving +interest. And when it was finished no palace held a merrier family. At +meals all sat round one pot, spoons were a luxury none required, and +never had food tasted so sweet. There were drawbacks--all the cows, +goats, and fowls in the neighbourhood, for instance, seemed to think +the little open yard was the finest rendezvous in the village. + +Her next thought was for the church and schoolhouse. A mistress of +missionary strategy, she wished to build this at Ifako, in order that +she might control a larger area, but the chiefs for long showed no +interest in the matter. One morning, however, an Ifako boy sought her +with the message, "My master wants you." She thought the command +somewhat peremptory, but went. To her surprise she found the ground +cleared; posts, sticks, and mud ready, and the chiefs waiting her +orders. She designed a hall thirty feet by twenty-five, with two rooms +at the end for her own use, in case storm or sickness or palaver should +prevent her going home. Work was started; and not a single slave was +employed in the carrying of the material or in the construction. King +Eyo sent the mats, some thousands in number, for the roof, and free +women carried them the four miles from the beach, plastered the walls, +moulded the mud-seats, beat the floor, and cleared up, and all +cheerfully, and without thought of reward. Doors and windows were still +awanting, but she asked for the services of a carpenter from Calabar to +do this bit of work; and meanwhile the humble building, the first ever +erected for the worship of God in Okoyong, was formally opened. + +It was a day of days for the people. Mary had prepared them for it, and +all appeared in their new Sunday attire, which, in many cases, +consisted of nothing more than a clean skin. But the contents of +various Mission boxes had been kept for the occasion, and the children, +after being washed, were decked for the first time in garments of many +shapes and colour--"the wearing of a garment," said Mary, "never fails +to create self-respect." It was a radiant and excited company that +gathered in the hall. There was perhaps little depth in their emotion, +but she regarded the event as a step towards better things. Her idea +was to separate the day from the rest, and to make it a means of +bringing about cleanliness and personal dignity, while it also imposed +upon the people a little of that discipline which they so much needed. + +The chiefs were present, and they voluntarily made the promise before +all that the house would be kept sacred to God and His service, that +the slave-women and children would be sent to it for instruction, that +no weapon of warfare would be carried into it, and that it would be a +sanctuary for those who fled to it for refuge. + +Services and day school were now held regularly in the hall. The latter +was well attended, all the pupils showing eagerness to learn "book," +and many making rapid progress. + +The larger Mission House, which Mary intended to occupy the space in +front of the yard at Ekenge, was a stiffer problem for the people, and +for a time they hung back from the attempt to build it. + + + + + XI. A PALAYER AT THE PALACE + +Perhaps the greatest obstacle to Christian truth and progress was not +superstition or custom, but drink. She had seen something of the +traffic in rum and gin at the coast, but she was amazed at what went on +in Okoyong. All in the community, old and young, drank, and often she +lay down to rest at night knowing that not a sober man and hardly a +sober woman was within miles of her. When the villagers came home from +a drunken bout the chief men would rouse her up and demand why she had +not risen to receive them. At all hours of the day and night they would +stagger into the hut, and lie down and fall asleep. Her power, then, +was not strong enough to prevent them--but the time came. + +The spirit came up from Calabar and was the chief article of trade. +When a supply arrived processions of girls carrying demijohns trooped +in from all quarters, as if they were going to the spring for water. At +the funeral of one big man seven casks of liquor were consumed, in +addition to that bought in small quantities by the poorer classes. A +refugee of good birth and conduct remarked to Mary once that he had +been three days in the yard and had not tasted the white man's rum. +"Three days!" she replied, "and you think that long!" "Ma," he said, in +evident astonishment, "three whole days! I have never passed a day +without drinking since I was a boy." + +She fought this evil with all her energy and skill. Her persuasion so +wrought on the chiefs that on several occasions they agreed to put away +the drink at palavers, with the result that those who had come from a +distance departed, sober and in peace, to the wonderment of all around. + +She saw that the people were tempted and fell because of their idleness +and isolation; for they still maintained their aloofness from all their +neighbours, and there was yet no free communication with Calabar. If a +missionary happened to pay her a visit he would be stopped on the +forest track by sentries who, after satisfying themselves as to his +identity, "cooeed" to other watchers farther on. Dr. Livingstone +believed that the opening up of Central Africa to trade would help to +stamp out the slave traffic, and in the same way she was convinced that +more legitimate commerce and the development of wants among the people +would to some extent undermine the power of drink. All the ordinary +trade she had seen done so far was the sale of five shillings' worth of +handkerchiefs and a sixpenny looking-glass. She urged the chiefs to +take the initiative, and was never tired of showing them her +possessions, in order to incite within them a desire to own similar +articles. They were greatly taken with the glass windows and doors, and +one determined to procure wood and "shut himself in." Her clock, +sewing-machine, and organ were always a source of wonder, and people +came from far and near to see them. The women quickly became envious of +her household goods, and she could have sold her bedcovers, curtains, +meat-safe, bedstead, chest of drawers, and other objects a score of +times. More promising still was their desire to have clean dresses like +their "Ma," and she spent a large portion of her time cutting out and +shaping the long simple garment that served to hide their nakedness. + +She also sent down to Calabar and asked some of the native trading +people whom she knew to come up with cloth, pots, and dishes, and other +useful articles, guaranteeing them her protection; but so great was +their fear of the Okoyong warriors and so poor their faith in her +power, that they refused point blank--they would as soon have thought +of going-to the moon. "Well," said Mary, "if they won't come to us we +must go to them." She had been seeking to familiarise the minds of the +chiefs with the idea of settling their disputes by means of arbitration +instead of by fighting, and had been cherishing the hope that she might +persuade some of them to proceed to Creek Town and discuss the subject +with King Eyo. She now proposed to the King that he should invite them +to a palaver at his house, and at the same time she would endeavour to +have some produce sent down direct to the traders. + +The King had never ceased to take an interest in her work: he +frequently sent up special messengers to enquire if all was well, and +always reminded her that he was willing to be of service to the Okoyong +people. A grandson of the first King Eyo also sent men occasionally, +with instructions to do anything they could for the white Mother, and +to bring down her messages to Calabar. Such kindly thought often took +the edge off her loneliness. + +The King at once sent the invitation, and, trusting more in the word of +Mary than in that of the King, all the chiefs in her neighbourhood +accepted the offer and an expedition to Creek Town was organised. A +canoe was obtained, and heaped with yams and plantains, gifts for the +King, and with bags of palm-kernels and a barrel of oil, the first +instalment of trade with the Europeans. Alas! the natives know nothing +about a load-line, and as the tide rose the canoe sank. It was not an +unmixed pleasure setting out with men who were ignorant of the +management of canoes, but another day was fixed and another canoe was +found. The whole of Okoyong seemed to be at the beach, and every man, +woman, and child was uttering counsel and heartening the intrepid +voyagers. Several of the chiefs drew back and disappeared, and of the +half-dozen who remained only two could be persuaded to embark when they +learnt that guns and swords must be left behind. + +"Ma, you make women of us! Did ever a man go to a strange place without +his arms?" "Ma" was inexorable. She sat down and waited, and after a +two hours' palaver swords were ungirt and handed with the guns to the +women. Those who still declined to go were received back with +rejoicing, and farewells were made with those who went, amidst wailings +and tears. A start was made, but the craft proved to be ill-balanced, +and the cargo had to be shifted. As this was being done she detected a +number of swords hidden below the bags of kernels. Her eyes flashed, +and the people scattered out of the way as she pitched the arms out on +the beach. With a meekness that was amusing the men scrambled into +their places and the canoe shot into the river, Mary taking a paddle +and wielding it with the best of the men. The journey was made through +dense darkness and drizzling rain, and occupied twelve hours. + +But she was rewarded by the result. Nothing could exceed the kindness +of King Eyo. He bore himself as a Christian gentleman, listened +courteously to the passionate and foolish speech of the Okoyong +representatives, reminded the supercilious Calabar chiefs that the +Gospel which had made them what they were had only just been taken to +Okoyong, and in giving the verdict which went against them, he gently +made it the finding of righteousness, according to the laws of God. +When all had been settled he asked Mary to take the chiefs over his +palace, and invited them to a meeting in the church in the evening, +where he spoke words of cheer and counsel from the words, "To give +light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide +our feet into the way of peace." + +This experience made a great impression upon the chiefs: they left with +a profound reverence for the King and a determination to abide by his +decisions in the future, whilst Mary had added much to her dignity and +position. This was proved the morning after they returned to Ekenge. +She was awakened by a confused noise, and on looking out was astonished +to find several chiefs directing slaves, who were working with building +material. "What is the matter?" she asked in wonder. Instead of +answering her one of the chiefs who had accompanied her to Calabar +turned to the crowd and, in a burst of eloquence, described all he had +seen at Creek Town, how the Europeans lived, and how King Eyo and every +chief and gentleman had treated their Mother as a person superior to +them, and given her all honour. They in Okoyong must now treat her as +befitted her rank and station, and must build her a proper house to +live in, Mary was hard put to it to preserve her gravity. Soon +afterwards a young slave, for whom she had often pled, began to wash +his hands in some dirty water in a dish outside: his master ran at him +with a whip, and it was all she could do to prevent him being lashed. +Opening out again and again he called the lad a fool for daring to +touch a dish used by their Great White Mother. + +But what was more important than all was the fact that the way had at +last been opened up for trade relations with Calabar. The people began +to make oil and buy and sell kernels, and to send the produce down the +river direct to the factories. As she had foreseen, they had now less +time for palavers, and less inclination for useless drinking, and still +more useless quarrelling and fighting. + + + + + XII. THE SCOTTISH CARPENTER + +The story of the settlement in Okoyong and of the building of the hut +and hall was related by Miss Slessor in the _Missionary Record_ of the +Church for March 1889. The hall she described as "a beautiful building, +though neither doors nor windows are yet put in, as we are waiting for +a carpenter. And," she added, "if there were only a house built, any +other agent could come and take up the work if I fail." In the same +number of the _Record_ there appeared an appeal by the Foreign Mission +Committee for "a practical carpenter, with an interest in Christian +work," for Calabar. + +There happened to be in Edinburgh at this time a carpenter named Mr. +Charles Ovens, belonging to the Free Church, who was keenly interested +in foreign missions. As a boy he had wished to be a missionary, but +believing that only ministers could hold such a post he relinquished +the idea. He was an experienced tradesman of the fine old type, a Scot +of Scots, with the happy knack of looking on the bright side of things. +Having been in America on a prolonged visit he was about to return +there, and had gone to say good-bye to an old lady friend, a United +Presbyterian. The latter remarked to him, "I see Miss Slessor wants a +man to put in her doors and windows--why don't you go to Calabar?" He +had never heard of Miss Slessor, but the suggestion struck him as good, +and he straightway saw the Foreign Mission Secretary, and then went and +changed the address on his baggage. He left in May, and on his arrival +in Calabar was sent up to finish the work Mary had begun. All his +speech at Duke Town was of America and its wonders, but when he +returned some months later he could talk of nothing but Okoyong. + +He found Mary attired in a simple dress, without hat or shoes, dining +at a table in the yard in the company of goats and hens. She sprang up +with delight on hearing the Scots tongue, and welcomed him warmly. The +conditions were most primitive, and his room was only eight feet long +and five feet wide, but he possessed much of her Spartan spirit. +Although ignorant of the native language he was of great assistance to +her during his stay, while his humour and irresistible laugh lightened +many a weary day. As he worked he sang "auld Scots sangs," like the +"Rowan Tree" and "The Auld Hoose." When she heard the latter tears came +into her eyes at the memories it recalled. Even Tom, his native +assistant, was affected. "I don't like these songs," he said, "they +make my heart big and my eyes water!" + +The Mission House had progressed well under Mary's superintendence. She +had aimed at making it equal to any at the big stations, and had +planned an "upstairs" building with a verandah six feet above the +ground, and a kitchen and dispensary. She had mudded the walls, and the +mat roof was being tied on, and now that Mr. Ovens was at work all was +promising well, when an event occurred which put a stop to operations +for months. + + + + + XIII. HER GREATEST BATTLE AND VICTORY + +One morning, when nature was as lovely as a dream, Mr. Ovens was +working at the new house, and Miss Slessor was sitting on the verandah +watching him. Suddenly, from far away in the forest, there came a +strange, eerie sound. Ever on the alert for danger, Mary rose and +listened. + +"There is something wrong," she exclaimed. + +For a moment she stood in the tense attitude of a hunter seeking to +locate the quarry, and then, swiftly moving into the forest, vanished +from sight. Mr. Ovens sent Tom, his boy, off after her to find out what +was the matter. He returned with a message that there had been an +accident, and that Mr. Ovens was to come at once and bring +restoratives. As the ominous news became known to the natives standing +around a look of fear came into their faces. + +Mr. Ovens found her sitting beside the unconscious body of a young man. +"It is Etim, the eldest son of our chief, Edem," she explained. "He was +about to be married, and had been building a house. He came here to +lift and bring a tree; when handling the log it slipped and struck him +on the back of the neck, and paralysis has ensued." + +He glanced at her face as if surprised at its gravity. She divined what +he thought, and speaking out of her intimate knowledge of the people +and their ways she said, "There's going to be trouble; no death of a +violent character comes apart from witchcraft.... Can you make some +sort of a litter to carry him?" + +Divesting himself of part of his clothing, and obtaining some strong +sticks, he made a rough stretcher, on which the inert form was laid +conveyed to Ekenge. + +For a fortnight Mary tended the patient in his mother's house, hoping +against hope that he would recover, and that the crisis she dreaded +would be averted, but he was beyond human help. One Sunday morning he +lay dying, and the news sent a spasm of terror throughout the district. +Hearing the sound of wailing Mary rushed to the yard and found the lad +being held up, some natives blowing smoke into his nostrils, some +rubbing ground pepper into his eyes, others pressing Ms mouth open, and +his uncle, Ekpenyong, shouting into his ears. Such treatment naturally +hastened the end. When life was fled, the chief dropped the body into +her arms and shouted, "Sorcerers have killed and they must die. Bring +the witch-doctor." + +At the words every man and woman disappeared, leaving only the mother, +who, in an agony of grief, cast herself down beside the body. When the +medicine-man arrived he laid the blame of the tragedy upon a certain +village, to which the armed freemen at once marched. They seized over a +dozen men and women, the others escaping into the forest, and after +sacking all the houses returned with the prisoners loaded with chains, +and fastened them to posts in the yard, which had only one entrance. + +Anxious to pacify the rage of the chiefs, father and uncle, Mary +undertook to do honour to the dead lad by dressing him in the style +befitting his rank. Fine silk cloth was wound round his body, shirts +and vests were put on, over these went a suit of clothes which she had +made for his father, the head was shaved into patterns and painted +yellow, and round it was wound a silk turban, all being crowned with a +tall black and scarlet hat with plumes of brilliant feathers. Thus +attired the body was carried out into a booth in the women's yard, +where it was fastened, seated in an arm-chair, under a large umbrella. +To the hands were tied the whip and silver-headed stick that denoted +his position, while a mirror was arranged in front of him, in order +that he might enjoy the reflection of his grandeur. Beside him was a +table, upon which were set out all the treasures of the house, +including the skulls taken in war, and a few candles begged from Mary. + +When the people were admitted and saw the weird spectacle they became +frenzied with delight, danced and capered, and started on a course of +drinking and wantonness. + +"You'll have to stop all work," Mary said to Mr. Ovens, who felt as if +he were moving in some grotesque fantasy of sleep; "this is going to be +a serious business. We can't leave these prisoners for a moment. I'll +watch beside them all night and you'll take the day." + +And time and time about in that filthy yard, through the heat of the +day and the chill of the night, these two brave souls kept guard +opposite the wretched band of prisoners, with the half-naked people, +armed with guns and machetes, dancing drinking about them. As one +barrel of rum was finished another was brought in, and the supply +seemed endless. The days went by, and Mr. Ovens lost patience, and +declared he would go and get a chisel and hammer and free the prisoners +at all costs. "Na, na," replied Mary wisely, "we'll have a little more +patience." + +One day she went to Mr. Ovens and said, "They want a coffin." + +"They'll have to make one," he retorted. + +"I think you'd better do it," she rejoined; "the boy's father has some +wood of his own, of which he was going to make a door like mine, and he +is willing to use it for the purpose." + +They proceeded to the yard to obtain measurements, and as they entered +Mary caught sight of some eséré beans lying on the pounding stone. She +shivered. What could she do! She returned to her hut. Prayer had been +her solace and strength during all these days and nights, and now with +passionate entreaty she beseeched God for guidance and help in the +struggle that was to come. When she rose from her knees her fear had +vanished, and she was tranquil and confident. Reaching the yard she +took the two brother chiefs aside, and told them that there must be no +sacrifice of life. They did not deny that the poison ordeal was about +to take place, but they argued that only those guilty of causing the +death would suffer. She did not reply, but went to the door of the +compound and sat down: from there she was determined not to move until +the issue was decided. The chiefs were angry. To have a white woman-- +and such a woman--amongst them was good, but she must not interfere +with their customs and laws. The mother of the dead lad became violent. +Even the slaves were openly hostile and threatening. The crowd; +maddened by drink, ran wildly about, flourishing their guns and swords. +"Raise our master from the dead," they cried, "and you shall have the +prisoners." + +Night fell. Mr. Ovens gathered up the children and put them to bed. +Mary scribbled a note to Duke Town and gave it to the two native +assistant carpenters, and directed them in English to steal in the +darkness to the beach and make their way down the river. There was +distraction within the yard as well as without. Three of the women were +mothers with babies, who were crying incessantly from hunger and fear. +Another, who had chains round her neck and bare limbs, had an only +daughter about fifteen years of age, who was a cousin of the dead lad, +and the betrothed wife of his father. The girl clung to her mother, +weeping piteously. Sometimes she would come and clasp "Ma's" feet, +beseeching her to help her, or waylay the chiefs, and offer herself in +servitude for life in exchange for her mother's freedom. + +Mr. Ovens had gone to the hut, and Mary was keeping vigil when a stir +warned her of danger. Several men came and unlocked the chains on one +of the women--a mother--and ordered her to the front of the corpse to +take the bean. Mary was in a dilemma. Was it a ruse to get her out of +the yard? If she followed, would they bar the entrance and wreak their +vengeance on the others who remained? "Do not go," they cried, and +gazed at her pleadingly. But she could not see a woman walk straight to +death. + +One swift appeal to God and she was after the woman. The table was +covered with a white cloth, and upon it stood a glass of water +containing the poison. As the victim was in the act of lifting the +glass she touched her on the shoulder and whispered, "_'Ifehe!_" (run). +She gave a quick glance of intelligence into the compelling eyes and +off both bounded, and were in the bush before any one realised they +were gone. They reached the hut. "Quick," Mary cried to Mr. Ovens, +"take the woman and hide her." In a moment he had drawn her in and +locked the door, and Mary flew back to the yard. "Where is she?" the +prisoners cried. "Safe in my house," she answered. They were amazed. +She herself wondered at her immunity from harm. It might be that the +natives were stupefied with drink--but she thought of her prayer. + +Finding that she was not to be moved, the chiefs endeavoured to cajole +and deceive her. "God will not let anybody die of the bean if they are +not guilty," they said. They released two of the prisoners, +substituting imbiam, the native oath, for the poison ordeal, and later, +five others. She still stood firm, and two more obtained their freedom. +There they stopped. "We have done more for you than we have ever done +for any one, and we will die before we go further." Three remained. One +woman, with a baby, they would not release. "Akpo, the chief of her +house, escaped into the bush, and the fact of his flight proves his +guilt," they argued; "we cannot ransom her." The other two, a freeman +and the woman named Inyam with the daughter, were relatives of the +bereaved mother, and also specially implicated, and they were seized +and led away. Mary hesitated to follow, but hoping that the girl might +be able to keep her informed of what was going on she decided to remain +with the woman with the infant. + +Another dawn brought visitors from a distance, who only added to the +rioting and her perplexity. They told her that Egbo was coming, and +advised her to fly to Calabar. She replied that he could come and play +the fool as much as he pleased, but she would not desert her post. The +father stormed and threatened, and declared he would burn down the +house. "You are welcome," she said, "it is not mine." In a blazing +passion he cried that the woman would die. So terrified and exhausted +was the victim that she begged "Ma" to give in. At this point Ma Eme +came to the rescue: kneeling to her brother she besought him to allow +Mary to have the prisoner in the meantime--she could be chained to the +verandah of the hut, and could not possibly escape with such a weight +of irons. Mary caught at the plan, and declared that she would give a +fair hearing to the charges against the house which she represented. + +To her infinite surprise the chiefs gave in. "But," said they, "if she +is sent out of the way to Calabar, you pay a heavy fine, and leave here +for ever." Fearing they would repent, she hastily called for the keys +to unlock the chain, but the slaves pretended ignorance, said they +could not find them, and denounced the liberation of the murderers. +Patience and firmness again succeeded, the keys were produced, the +locks were opened. Mary gathered up the long folds of chain, and Ma +Eme, also trembling with eagerness, pushed them out in order that they +might escape the crowd. They ran through the scrub to the hut, and here +the mother and child were housed in a large packing-case, while a +barricade was put up to make the position more secure. + +During the afternoon two of the Calabar missionaries arrived, and added +the weight of their influence to Mary's, giving a magic-lantern +exhibition in the open, and in other ways endeavouring to lend prestige +to the funeral, in order to compensate for the lack of human sacrifice. +A quieter night followed, though the vigil was unbroken. In the morning +the father of the dead lad called her aside, and in a long harangue +justified his desire to do his son honour by giving him a retinue in +the spirit-land. Then calling to his retainers he ordered them to bring +the freeman. Dragging him forward, limping and dazed, he presented him +formally to "Ma," saying, "This further act of clemency must satisfy +you. The woman who is left must take the poison: you cannot object--she +will recover if she is innocent." + +She thanked him warmly, but renewed her entreaties for the release of +the woman also. The chief turned away in anger and disgust, and the +battle went on. As the missionaries were obliged to return to Calabar +she and Mr. Ovens were again left alone. All day she followed the +chief, coaxing and pleading. Sometimes he ignored her; sometimes he +brusquely showed his annoyance; sometimes he looked at her in pity, as +if he thought she were crazed. But he gave her no hope. When a whisper +came to her ears that the burial would take place that night in the +house of the chief she was heart-sick with dread. + +Late in the evening, as she was busy with her household, she heard a +faint cry at the barricade: + +"Ma, Ma, make haste, let me in." + +Noiselessly she pulled aside the planks, and Inyam, heavily ironed, +crawled on her hands and knees into the room. Her story was that she +had managed by friction to cut one of the links of the chain which +bound her, and had escaped by climbing the roof. Mary looked at the +thick chain hanging about her, and guessed whose were the kindly black +hands that had given her aid, but she kept her thought to herself. The +last of the prisoners was now safe, the funeral in the house of the +chief had taken place, and only a cow had been placed in the coffin, +and her joy was great. But her troubles were not over. + +A party of natives coming to the funeral met another party returning +drunk with excitement and rum. Recalling some old quarrel the latter +killed one of the men they met, cut off his head, and carried it away +as a trophy. Fighting became general between the factions, and many +were seriously wounded. + +One afternoon the village went suddenly mad with panic. All the women +and children and all the men without arms rushed frantically about. +Mothers clutched their babies, wives and slaves seized what belongings +they could carry, children screamed and held on to the first person +they met. They had heard sounds that heralded the advance of the +dreaded Egbo. Then, by a common impulse, all rushed for the protection +of the white woman's yard. She pulled down the barricade, packed as +many children and women into her room as it could hold, and ordered the +others into the bush at the back. The women were almost insane with +terror, and the manacled prisoner begged to be killed. As the beating +of the drum and the shouting of the mob drew near Mary trembled, but +again prayer restored her to calm. Even when the village was invaded +and shouting began, she was without fear. And, strange to say, the mob +remained but a short time, and not a shot went home. They had set fire +to every house in the village from which the prisoners had been taken, +and wrecked another and burned the stock alive. As no powerful chief +submitted to Egbo sent out by another House, Edem's village also ran +amok, and for over a week the population haunted the forest, shooting +down indiscriminately every man and woman who passed. It was not until +much blood had been shed that the various bands became tired of the +struggle and returned to their dwellings. + +For three weeks the prisoners were kept in the hut, and then "Ma's" +pressure on the chiefs succeeded, and the chained woman was released on +condition that if her chief Akpo were caught he would take the poison +ordeal, whilst Inyam, taking advantage of all the people being drunk +one night, stole out into the forest and escaped. What became of her +Mary never knew, until one day, months after, when travelling, she +passed a number of huts in the bush, and was accosted by name and found +herself face to face with the refugee. + +This was the longest and severest strain to which she was subjected; it +was her worst encounter with the passions of the natives, her greatest +conflict with the most terrible of their customs, and she came out of +it victorious. For the first time in the dark history of the tribe the +death and funeral of one of the rank of a chief had occurred without +the sacrifice of life. In some mysterious way she had been able to +subdue these wild people and bend them to her will. Her fame went far +and wide throughout Okoyong and beyond into regions still unexplored, +and many thought of her with a kind of awe as one possessing superhuman +power. There were, indeed, some amongst those who knew her who had a +lurking suspicion that she was more than woman. + + + + + XIV. THE AFTERMATH + +Various incidents came as an aftermath to these happenings. One +afternoon the women came running to "Ma" saying that the elder chief, +Ekpenyong, was bent on taking the poison ordeal. When she reached his +yard she found him in a fury, shouting and threatening, the women +remonstrating, the slaves weeping. It was some time ere she could learn +the cause of the uproar. A man from a neighbouring village had been +about whispering that Ekpenyong had slain his nephew, in order that his +own son might absorb the inheritance. Ekpenyong was determined to +undergo the test, and in accordance with native law, which gave the +right to a freeman to call others of equal rank to share the trial with +him, he demanded that his brother Edem--who it was alleged had +instigated the man to make the accusation--should also take the poison. + +When Mary had grasped the situation she ridiculed the attitude of the +chief, scolded him unmercifully, and at last secured his promise not to +carry out his threat. As a guarantee of his good faith she claimed +possession of the eséré beans. He denied that he had any. With the help +of his womenkind she made a secret search, and found eleven beans at +the bottom of a basket, which she conveyed in the darkness to her hut. +As more beans could not be obtained until the morning she felt that all +was well for the night. Shouting, however, made her run back. Mad with +drink the chief was clinging to a bag which the women were endeavouring +to seize. He was hitting out at them with his heavy hand, and most of +them were bleeding. "There is poison in that bag," they cried. "No, Ma, +only my palm-nuts and cartridges." Quietly, firmly, persistently, she +demanded the bag. He threw it at her. Opening it she found palm-nuts +and cartridges. For a moment she looked foolish, but diving deeper she +pulled out no fewer than forty of the deadly beans. "I'll take the +liberty of keeping these," she said coolly, but with a swiftly beating +heart. "No, no," he shouted, and his followers joined him in protest. +Outwardly calm she walked between the lines of armed men, ironically +bidding them take the bag from her. But their hands were held, and she +passed safely through, reached her hut, handed the beans to Mr. Ovens, +and returned to the scene to pacify the crowd. + +Next morning she learnt to her consternation that Ekpenyong had risen +stealthily during the night and gone off on his errand of death. +Fortunately a chief some miles off detained him by force until she +arrived. She stuck resolutely to him, and as all the more powerful +chiefs came over to her side from sheer admiration of her pluck, he had +eventually to abandon his purpose. After taking the native oath he +betook himself to another part of the forest, where he built up a new +settlement. + +One more episode remained to round off the sequence of events. The +murderer of the young man in the funeral party was the oldest son of a +House noted for bloody deeds, and the act roused the slumbering fury of +its neighbours. War was declared and fighting began. Mary interfered +and pressed for arbitration, and both sides at last acceded to her +request, and asked her to conduct the palaver. Aware that the man was a +triple murderer and the penalty death, she shrank from the duty, and +begged them to put the matter into the hands of a Calabar chief. This +they did, and went to Ikunetu on the Cross River, where "blood for +blood" was the verdict. Fines and death by substitution of slaves were +offered and refused; the youngest son, a mere baby, was sent in +atonement and rejected; then the second son, a lad of twenty, was +despatched, and it was agreed that his death would redeem his brother. +Mary's distress was acute, especially as she had declined to act as +judge, but she was relieved on learning that the prisoner had escaped, +and was being sheltered by one of the slave-traders across the river. +She wished to get him into her own yard, but the weeping mother said it +was too dangerously near home. + +One morning, early, she heard the sound of rapid firing, and in alarm +she sent messengers to enquire the cause. The lad had been betrayed, +brought back, filled with gin, and amidst discharge of guns, beating of +drums, singing and dancing, had been strangled and hung in the presence +of his mother and sister. These two alone mourned the dead, the others +were glad that the matter had been so easily settled, and for a week +the loafers and drunkards in the district held high carnival. + +As time passed and the heat of the persecution cooled, Mary made +tentative proposals that Akpo, the escaped chief, and his family, +should be allowed to return. "I will go and fetch them myself if their +safety be guaranteed," she said. Edem, the father of the dead lad, +replied, "Very well, Ma, you can say that all thought of vengeance is +gone from our heart, and if he wishes to come to his own village or +live in your home or go anywhere in Okoyong he is at liberty to do so." +But trust is rare in Africa, and suspicion dies hard, and Akpo could +not bring himself to believe that Edem wished him well, and he elected +to remain where he was. Again she paid the exile a visit, taking with +her an elderly man, who was betrothed to his daughter, but he could not +overcome his fears. In his heart he and his friends were incredulous +that the chiefs of Okoyong would listen to a woman. A third time the +patient Mary went to him, and succeeded in bringing him and his son +back with her, the women remaining behind until a new house could be +built. + +The home-coming was fall of pathos. House, farm, clothing, seed-corn, +yams, goats, fowls, all had vanished. But as the chief stood amidst the +familiar surroundings his gloom and silence fell away, and he knelt and +clasped "Ma's" feet, and with eyes filled with tears vowed that he and +his house would be under yoke to her for ever, and that they would +never rebel against any commands she gave or do anything contrary to +her wishes. Most people, white and black, occasionally felt disposed to +dispute her rulings, and more than once her will and that of the chief +clashed, but he stood to his word, and there was no family in the +district who gave her message a more loyal hearing. + +Edem acted nobly. He not only arranged for the housing of the two men, +but gave them a piece of ground and seed for food plants. When she went +to tell him all had been done, he simply said, "Thank you, Ma." But in +the evening he came alone to her, knelt and held her feet, and thanked +her again and again for her wonderful love and courage, for her action, +in forbidding them to take life at his son's death, and for all the +peaceful ways which she was introducing. "We are all weary of the old +customs," he said, "but no single person or House among us has power to +break them off, because they are part of the Egbo system." + +And one by one, secretly and unknown to each other, the free people +came to her and thanked her gratefully for the state of safety she was +bringing about, and charged her to keep a stout heart and to go forward +and do away with all the old fashions, the end of which was always +death. + + + + + + XV. THE SWEET AND THE STRONG + +Meanwhile the Mission House had evolved into what was in her eyes a +thing of beauty. She could at any rate boast that it was the finest +dwelling in Okoyong, and it was a happy day when she removed +"upstairs." Nor was the house all that was accomplished during these +troublous times. Mr. Goldie had made her a gift of a canoe; but without +a boathouse it was exposed to rain and ants and thieves, and she +planned a shelter at the beach that would do both for it and for +herself. Ma Eme brought her people to the spot, the men cut down trees +and erected the framework, and the women dug the mud and filled in the +walls, and Mr. Ovens made a door and provided a padlock. + +Thus, in the course of a short time, she had built a hut; a good house +with accommodation for children, servants, and visitors; a dispensary; +a church; and a double-roomed boathouse. All the native labour had been +given cheerfully and without idea of money, but from time to time she +distributed amongst the workers a few gifts from the Mission boxes, or +a goat or a bag of rice. In addition to her house at Ekenge she had a +room in several of the villages, where she put up on her journeys; and +it was characteristic of her that she secured these not for her own +convenience but for the sake of the people, in order that they might +feel that they were being looked after. + +It was, indeed, for the people she lived. Mr. Ovens states that she was +at their beck and call day and night; she taught in the schools, +preached in the church, and, as he puts it, "washed the wee bairnies +herself," and dressed the most loathsome diseases, all with tenderness +and gay humour. "I never saw a frown on her face," he says. She was +always ready for anything and equal to any emergency. "One morning," he +recalls, "she came to me. 'Twins,' she said, 'and we have to go.' When +we arrived at the spot we found that the bairns had been murdered by +the grandmother, and the mother was lying on the bare ground in a hut +some distance away. Miss Slessor sent her a bed and pillow, and told +her husband to be kind to her. The man took her back into the house-- +such a thing had never been known before." + +It was at this time that the plump and pretty infant referred to by +Miss Kingsley in her _Travels in West Africa_ was saved. The mother +died a few days after the birth, and as there was a quarrel between her +family and that of the father the child was thrown into the bush by the +side of the road leading to the market, and lay there for five days and +six nights. + +This particular market is held every ninth day, and on the succeeding +market-day, some women from the village by the side of Miss Slessor's +house happened to pass along the path and heard the child feebly +crying: they came into Miss Slessor's yard in the evening, and sat +chatting over the day's shopping, and casually mentioned in the way of +conversation that they had heard the child crying, and that it was +rather remarkable that it should be still alive. Needless to say Miss +Slessor was off, and had that waif home. It was truly in an awful +state, but just alive. In a marvellous way it had been left by leopards +and snakes, with which this bit of forest abounds, and, more marvellous +still, the driver ants had not scented it. Other ants had considerably +eaten into it one way and another; nose, eyes, etc., were swarming with +them and flies; the cartilage of the nose and part of the upper lip had +been absolutely eaten into, but in spite of this she is now one of the +prettiest black children I have ever seen, which is saying a good deal, +for negro children are very pretty with their round faces, their large +mouths not yet coarsened by heavy lips, their beautifully-shaped flat +little ears, and their immense melancholy deer-like eyes, and above +these charms they possess that of being fairly quiet. This child is not +an object of terror, like the twin children; it was just thrown away +because no one would be bothered to rear it--but when Miss Slessor had +had all the trouble of it the natives had no objection to pet and play +with it, calling it "the child of wonder," because of its survival. +This child was named Mary after the house mother, and completed the +number of those who for long constituted the inner circle of the +family. The others were Janie, Alice--a rescued twin of "royal" blood, +and Annie--the child of the woman who took a native oath to prove that +she did not help her husband to eat a stolen dog. These four were to +grow up and become a comfort to their white "Mother," and will reappear +from time to time in the course of the story. Another helper in the +house at this time was Mana, a faithful girl, who had been caught by +two men when going home from a spring, and brought to Okoyong and sold +to Ma Erne. Other children there were, all with more or less tragic +histories, and all were looked after and trained and loved. + +But Mary could be as stern and strong as her native granite when +combating evil. Mr. Ovens saw her repeatedly thrust brawny negroes away +from the drink, taking them round the neck, and throwing them back to +the ground. An intoxicated man, carrying a loaded gun, once came to see +her. She ordered him to put the weapon in a corner of the verandah. He +declined. She went up, wrested the gun from him, placed it in a corner, +and defied him to touch it. He went away, and came back every day for a +week before she gave it up. Another man came to her for medicine, and +after he had described his symptoms she brought a bottle of castor oil +and told him to open his mouth. Fearful that it might be some sort of +witchcraft, he demurred. "Ma" simply gave him a smart box on the ear +and repeated the order, whereupon he meekly took the stuff and went +ruefully away. About this time, also, she went and prevented two tribes +from fighting: although her heart was beating wildly she stood between +them and made each pile their guns on opposite sides of her, until the +heaps were five feet high. On another occasion she stopped and +impounded a canoe-load of machetes that were going up-river to be used +in a war. + +Mr. Ovens was struck by her mental power and wide outlook. Despite her +incessant preoccupation with matters about her she never ceased the +cultivation of intellectual interests. She was a loving student of the +Bible, a wide and discriminating reader, and she followed with a +brooding mind the development of world affairs throughout the world. + +Before his work was finished Mr. Ovens began to suffer from the +exposure, and she nursed him day and night through a serious illness. +When he returned to Duke Town she missed his cheery company; her +isolation and loneliness seemed intensified, and she was only sustained +by her faith in the efficacy of prayer and by her communion with the +Father, "My one great consolation and rest," she wrote, "is in prayer." +So invariably was she comforted: so invariably was she preserved from +harm and hurt, that her reliance upon a higher strength became an +instinctive habit. It conquered her natural nervousness and +apprehension. She had frequently to take journeys through the forest +with the leopards swarming around her. "I did not use to believe the +story of Daniel in the lions dens" she often said, "until I had to take +some of these awful marches, and then I knew it was true, and that it +was written for my comfort. Many a time I walked along praying, 'O God +of Daniel shut their mouths,' and He did." If she happened to be +travelling with bearers or paddlers, she would make them sing and keep +them singing; "And, _Etubom_" (Sir, Chief, or White Man), she would +say, when telling her experiences, "ye ken what like their singing is-- +it would frighten any decent respectable leopard." And yet in some +things she was as timid as a child. When travelling in the Mission +steam-launch she would bury her head in her hands and cry out in fear +if the engine gave a screech or if the vessel bumped on a sandbank. She +was in terror all the time she was on board. + +It was not possible for her to go on expending so much nervous force +without a breakdown, and as attacks of fever were coming with +increasing frequency she began to think of her furlough. The difficulty +was to fill her place. In 1890 Mr. Goldie reported that only she or a +man could fill it; no native agent could go from. Calabar on account of +tribal unfriendliness. But she thought otherwise. "No person connected +with me need fear to come to Okoyong, or suffer from lack of +hospitality." Okoyong was a very different place from what it had been +in 1888. There was greater order and security, and much less drinking +among the younger people, many of whom were at school; none dared to +use the slightest freedom with, her; they might come as far as the +verandah but no farther. The people were becoming ashamed of their +superstition, and were ready to inform her secretly when palavers and +sacrifices were in contemplation. Chiefs came voluntarily and requested +her to sit in the seat of judgment and adjudge their disputes. The +tribe, as a whole, was also working better, and developing a regular +trade with the Europeans. The problem was solved by another woman with +a stout heart, who voluntarily agreed to occupy the station during her +absence. This was Miss Dunlop. The Home Board were anxious as to her +safety, and recommended frequent communications with her; and later, +Miss Hutton, who had just arrived from Scotland, was appointed to keep +her company. When Miss Dunlop went up before "Ma" left, she was met by +what she thought was a crowd of peaceful, cheerful--people, eager only +to greet her and to help her. She modified her opinion later: a "wild +and lawless class," she called them, "boasting of their wildness," and +who came to the services drunk. When she spoke of God's love they would +say, "Yes, Ma Slessor tell us that plenty times." But she bravely held +the fort. + + + + + XVI. WAR IN THE GATES + +At the last moment she was busy packing when messengers arrived from a +far-off township with intelligence that a young freeman had +accidentally shot his hand while hunting, and a request that she would +come to him with medicine. She was weak and ill: she was expecting +tidings of the steamer; she was beset with visitors from all parts who +had come to bid her farewell. Telling them what to do, and asking them +to let her know only if serious symptoms set in, she gave them what was +needed. Almost immediately came secret news that the man had died, that +his brother had wounded one of the chiefs, and that all the warriors of +the latter had been ordered to prepare for fighting on the morrow. She +never knew how this message had come or who had brought it. She made up +her mind to proceed to the spot, but the chief people about her opposed +the idea. They pointed to her weakness, and the probability of her +missing the steamer. They enlarged on the savage character of those +concerned. "They own no authority"; "They will insult you in their +drunken rage"; "The bush will be full of armed men, and they will fire +indiscriminately;" "The darkness will prevent them recognising you." +But they could not prevail upon her to relinquish what she thought was +a duty to those who had sought her aid. She, however, compromised by +consenting to take two armed attendants with lanterns, and to call at a +chief's place some eight miles distant, and secure a freeman to beat +the Egbo drum before her, thus letting the people in the fighting area +know that a free protected person was coming. + +She reached their village about midnight. The chief was reported to be +at his farm, and she was urged to lie down until the morning, She +suspected that he was not many yards away, and she persuaded a +messenger to carry an urgent request to him for an escort and drum. The +reply was in the language of diplomacy all the world over: + +"I have heard of no war, but will enquire regarding it in the morning. +If, in the event of there being war, you persist in going on you prove +your ignorance of the people, who from all time have been a war-loving +people, are not likely to be helped by a woman." + +This put her on her mettle. + +"In measuring the woman's power," she responded, "you have evidently +forgotten to take into account the woman's God." + +She decided to go on. The people were astonished, not so much at her +folly in risking her life as in daring to disobey the despot, who held +their fate in the hollow of his hand. Somewhat chilled by her +unsympathetic reception she started, without much enthusiasm, on her +journey, but with her faith in God as strong as ever. + +Reaching the first town belonging to the belligerents she found it so +silent and dark that she began to imagine the chief was right, and she +had come on a wild-goose chase. She crept quietly up to the house of an +old freewoman whose granddaughter had once lived with her: there was a +cautious movement within and a whispered, "Who's there?" She had barely +answered, when she was surrounded by a band of armed men, whose dark +bodies were like shadows in the night. In a few moments they were +joined by scores of others, and the greatest confusion prevailed. She +was asked what her business was and who were her informants, but +ultimately the chiefs permitted her to remain, and the women saw to her +comfort. + +After conferring together the chiefs thanked her for coming at such +discomfort to herself, and promised that no fighting, so far as they +were concerned, would take place until she heard the whole story. + +"All the same," they averred, "we must fight to wipe out the disgrace +that has been put on us-see here are men badly wounded. Now, Ma, go to +bed, and we shall wake you at cock-crow, and you can accompany us." + +This meant an hour's rest, which she urgently needed. At second cock- +crow she was called, but before she was steady on her feet they were +off and away down the steep hillside and through the stream at the foot +like a herd of wild goats. The women were at every house. + +"Run, Ma!" they cried. + +Run! Was she not running as fast as her weak and breathless state +allowed her? But she soon lost sight of the warriors, and could only +fall back upon prayer. + +A hundred yards from the village of the enemy she came upon the band in +the bush making preparations for attack: the war-fever was at its +height, and the air resounded with wild yells. Walking quietly forward +she addressed them as one would speak to schoolboys, telling them to +hold their peace and behave like men and not like fools. Passing on to +the village she encountered a solid wall of armed men. Giving them +greeting, she got no reply. The silence was ominous. Twitting them on +their perfect manners she went up to them, and was about to force a +passage. Then a strange thing happened. + +From out of the sullen line of dark-skinned warriors there stepped an +old man, who came and knelt at her feet. + +"Ma, we thank you for coming. We admit the wounding of the chief, but +it was the act of one man and not the fault of the town. We beg you to +use your influence with the injured party in the interests of peace." + +It was the chief whom she had travelled in the rain to see and heal +when she first came to Okoyong. Her act of self-sacrifice and courage +had borne fruit after many days. + +She was so thankful that her impulse was to run back to their opponents +in the forest and arrange matters there and then; but she restrained +herself, and, instead, purposely told the men with an air of authority +to remain where they were while her wants were attended to. + +"I am not going to starve while you fight," she said, "and meanwhile +you can find a comfortable seat In the bush where I can confer with the +two sides; choose two or three men of good address and good judgment +for the purpose." + +They obeyed her like children. + +When the two deputies from the other side came forward, two chiefs laid +down their arms and went and knelt before them and held their feet +saying it was foolish and unjust to punish the whole district for the +action of a drunken boy, begging them to place the matter before the +White Ma, and expressing their willingness to pay whatever fine might +be imposed. She, too, knelt and begged that magnanimity might be shown, +and that arbitration might be substituted for war. So novel a proposal +was not agreed to at once. The next few hours witnessed scenes of wild +excitement, rising sometimes to frenzy. Bands of men kept advancing +from both sides and joining in the palaver, and every arrival increased +the indignation and the resolution to abide by the old, manlier way of +war. She was well-nigh worn out, but her wonderful patience and tact, +coupled with her knowledge of all the outs and ins of their character, +again won her the victory. It was agreed that a fine should settle the +quarrel, and one was imposed which she thought exorbitant In the +extreme, but the delinquents accepted it, and promptly paid part in +trade gin. + +Here was another peril. As the boxes and demijohns were brought forward +and put down the mob began to grow excited at the thought of the drink. +She foresaw trouble and disaster, but though her voice was now too +feeble to be heard in the babel of sound, she was not yet at the end of +her resources. Divesting herself of as many of her garments as was +possible, she threw them over the stuff, thus giving it the protection +of her own body, according to Egbo law. + +It was a custom for providers of spirits which might have been tampered +with on the way from the boat, to taste the liquor in order to prove +that neither sorcery nor poison had been placed in it, and every man +wanted to be the taster on this occasion. As soon as the test had been +applied, every man on the other side likewise demanded the gin, and for +a time it seemed as if all had gone mad. + +Mary seized the one glass which they held, and as each bottle was +opened she dealt out to the older and chief men one glass only, +resolutely refusing to give more, and placed the bottle under the cover +of her garments. No one dared to touch the stuff. There was some +jostling around her, but a few of the men constituted themselves into a +bodyguard, and by whip and drum kept the mob off. Amidst much tumult +and grumbling and laughter at her sallies she got them to agree to +leave the spirit in her charge on her declaring that she would be +surety for it arriving in their several villages in good time, and +untampered with. + +She made them promise to go straight home and remain at peace during +her furlough (a promise that was loyally kept); but there was one party +she was obliged to accompany for a mile or two. They had--declared that +they were ashamed to return "like women," without having fought. They +begged her to allow them to have a "small scrap," in order to prove +they were not cowards. Not till they were safely past the danger zone +did she leave them. She remained till night at the village. The feeling +was still too disturbed to permit of a regular service, but she spoke +to them quietly of Christ as a Saviour: and then ordering all to their +rest she set out, tired as she was, on her lonely tramp through the +long miles of forest path. + +She found her baggage had gone, and that messengers had arrived to take +her down to Duke Town. + + + + + XVII. AMONG THE CHURCHES + +Arriving in England la January 1891 with Janie, who proved a great +comfort and help, she went straight to Topsham to view the graves of +her mother and sister. She was anxious to spend as much of her furlough +as possible amongst the scenes and with the friends associated with her +loved ones, and she secured and furnished a house. It possessed a fine +garden, and there, with the little black girl, she passed a quiet and +restful time until the autumn, when she went to Scotland, making her +headquarters at the home of her friend, Mrs. M'Crindle, now at Joppa. +For many months she was engaged on the deputation work which +missionaries on furlough undertake for the stimulation of the home +congregations. She had less liking than ever for addressing meetings, +but she did not shirk the duty. "It is a trial to speak," she said; +"but He has asked me to, and it is an honour to be allowed to testify +for Him in any way, and I wish to do it cheerfully." She wanted also to +persuade the women in the Church to give themselves up more whole- +heartedly to Christ, and to consecrate themselves to His cause. No +trouble was too great if it served that purpose. As a halo of romance +was beginning to gather about her she was in great request; wherever +she went the interest of the meeting centred in her, and her visits +were often followed by the formation of a Zenana Mission Committee. + +Not always, however, did she satisfy expectations. She would talk +freely at the manse tea-table, especially if children were present, and +be led on to give vivid pictures of her life in the bush, so that the +company would be still sitting entranced when the bell rang for the +meeting. Then a rush would be made to the hall, where impatient people +would be waiting to be thrilled by stories of heroic service. And what +they heard was an evangelistic address! The minister would look +disappointed, feeling that he could have done as well himself. But she +sometimes deprecated surface interest, and said that if the heart was +right and the life consecrated, mission work would be well supported +without any adventitious aid. + +After addressing a meeting at Slateford near Edinburgh she was on the +way to the station when a woman who had been in the audience took Janie +and kissed her and pressed some money into her hand. Next day the +minister received a letter inscribed: + +_"For the lady who gave Janie the money and the kiss on the way to the +station.-M. M. Slessor."_ + +Enclosed was a photograph of Janie and a letter in which she wrote: + +MY DEAR FRIEND--For such I must call you. Such a true womanly Christian +spirit as you showed yesterday is one of the fruits of our holy +Christianity--I thank you for loving and kissing the child--God bless +you, my dear sister. I may yet see you in the flesh. I will if I go +back to Slateford. But I may be sure of meeting you in the Father's +house when the shadows flee away and the everlasting glory has dawned. + +The recipient kept the photograph and letter and still treasures them +as mementoes of one of whom she never ceased to think and for whom she +always prayed. It was in such ways that she knit hearts to her. + +She made many friends in the manses and in the homes of the members of +the Church, and greatly increased the interest in her work in Calabar, +with the result that after she returned a larger stream of +correspondence and Mission boxes began to flow to Okoyong. + + + + + XVIII. LOVE OF LOVER + +Aware of her singleness of mind and aim in the service of Christ, and +her whole-hearted devotion to the interests of the people of Okoyong, +it came as a surprise to her friends to learn that she was engaged to +be married. The hidden romance was disclosed at a meeting of the +Mission Board in September. + +The suitor for her hand was Mr. Charles W. Morrison, one of the +teachers on the Mission staff, a young man from Kirkintilloch, +Scotland, then in his twenty-fifth year. His career at home had been a +successful one; he had been an active Christian worker, and when he +applied to the Board for an appointment in Calabar he was accepted at +once and sent out to Duke Town. He was a man of fine feeling, with a +distinct literary gift. On the few occasions that he had seen Mary he +was attracted by the brilliant, unconventional little woman, and when +she was ill was very attentive and kind to her. Before she left on +furlough they had become engaged on the understanding that he would +come and live at Okoyong. + +She made it clear to the Board that she had pledged her word to her +people not to leave them, and that she would not, even for her personal +happiness, break her promise, Mr. Morrison, she believed, would make a +very good missionary, and they would be able to relieve each other, as +she would remain at Okoyong when he was at home. The Board took time to +consider the proposal, and meanwhile Mary received the congratulations +of her friends. Her replies indicate that there was no uncertainty in +her own mind on the subject: + +I lay it all in God's hands, and will take from Him whatever He sees +best for His work in Okoyong. My life was laid on His altar for that +people long ago, and I would not take one jot or tittle of it back. If +it be for His glory and the advantage of His cause there to let another +join in it I will be grateful. If not I will still try to be grateful, +as He knows best. + +Both were a little doubtful as to the action of the Board, and Mr. +Morrison asked her whether, in the event of a refusal, she would +consent to return to Duke Town, Such a project, however, she would not +entertain: + +"It is out of the question," she explained to a friend. "1 would never +take the idea into consideration, I could not leave my work for such a +reason. To leave a field like Okoyong without a worker and go to one of +ten or a dozen where the people have an open Bible and plenty of +privilege! It is absurd. If God does not send him up here then he must +do his work and I must do mine where we have been placed. If he does +not come I must ask the Committee to give me some one, for it is +impossible for me to work the station alone." + +The Board, seemingly, were not sure of the wisdom of the arrangement, +and their decision was a qualified refusal. The work which Mr. Morrison +was doing at Duke Town, they said, was important, and they could not +sanction his transference to Okoyong until full provision was made for +carrying it on effectively and to the satisfaction of the Calabar +Committee. + +When Mary was told the result she merely said, "What the Lord ordains +is right," and, apparently, dismissed the subject from her mind. + +Mr. Morrison was, shortly afterwards, compelled to return to Scotland +on account of his health. A medical specialist advised him against +resuming work in Calabar, and he offered for service in Kaffraria, but +there was no opening in that field, and to the regret and +disappointment of the Committee, who regarded him as an able and valued +worker, he resigned. He went later to America and was living in a hut +among the balsam woods of North Carolina when a fire took place in +which his much-treasured literary papers were consumed. The loss +affected him greatly, and hastened his death, which occurred shortly +afterwards. + +Amongst the few treasured books which Mary left at the end were +battered copies of _Eugene Aram_ and _Sketches by Boz._ On the fly-leaf +of one in her handwriting are the letters: + + _C. W. M. + M. M. S._ + + +On the other are signatures in their respective hands: + + _C. MORRISON. + M. M. SLESSOR._ + + +Love of mother and sister had been lost to her long since, and now love +of lover and husband was denied, and again she turned her face, alone, +towards the future. + + _Yes, without cheer of sister or of daughter, + Yes, without stay of father or of son, + Lone on the land and homeless on the water, + Pass I in patience till my work be done._ + + + + + XIX. A LETTER AND ITS RESULT + +A sharp attack of influenza followed by +bronchitis cut short her engagements. During her convalescence she one +day took up the Missionary Record, and read a letter by the Rev. James +Luke entitled "An Appeal for Lay Missionaries for Old Calabar." Like +her own writing it had a touch of style and originality, and her +comment was "Splendid!" But there was one incidental statement with +which she did not agree. Mr. Luke called for two more artisan +missionaries--"not to teach the trades; we haven't sufficient men for +that, even were Calabar ripe for such instruction." As the result of +her own observation and experience she had often felt that something +ought to be done to develop the industrial capabilities of the natives. +The subject had not been lost sight of by the missionaries and the +Mission Board, and the latter had sought, by sending out competent +artisans, to attend not only to the work required in connection with +the Mission but to train some of the native youths in the various +departments of labour. There had, however, been no attempt to establish +the work on organised lines, and the remark which Mr. Luke made induced +her to place the whole matter before the Church. She penned a long +letter, the writing of which so exhausted her that she scarcely knew +whether or not the words were rightly spelled. It went to Dr. George +Robson, then beginning his long and honourable editorship of the +_Record_, and appeared in the next issue under the signature of "One of +the Zenana Staff." + +It was a letter which displayed all the qualities of missionary +statesmanship, was clear, logical, and vigorous in style, and glowed +with restrained enthusiasm. She pointed out that it was necessary to +help the natives to become an industrial people as well as to +Christianise them, and she combated the idea that they were not capable +of being taught trades; their weak point no doubt was their want of +staying power, their lack of persistence in the face of difficulties, +but this could be accounted for by their history; their only rule and +mode of life hitherto having been "force of circumstance," The question +of training them, however, was too large a problem for the unaided +missionary, too large even for the Mission Board; it was a matter for +the whole Church to take up. "Let the science of the evangelisation of +the nations occupy the attention of our sermons, our congregations, our +conferences, and our Church literature, and we will soon have more +workers, more wealth, more life, as well as new methods." + +So earnest an appeal caused some stir in official circles. The Mission +Committee took up the subject, and after interviewing the missionaries +who were at home at the time, including herself, referred to Calabar +for information. As she had no further connection with the matter the +outcome may be briefly noted here. The Calabar Committee were +favourable to any scheme of industrial training, and the local +Government also expressed their willingness to assist. After the Rev. +Dr. Laws, of Livingstonia, and the Rev. W. Risk Thomson, had gone out +and reported on the situation and outlook, the proposal rapidly took +shape, and the Hope Waddell Training Institute--thus called after the +founder of the Mission--came into being, and was soon performing for +West Africa the same valuable service that Lovedale and Blythswood were +doing for South Africa. She never took any credit for her part in +promoting the undertaking, and never made a single reference to it in +her letters. She was content to see it realised.... + +Medical advice sent her down to Devon to recruit. She did not complain +or worry about the readjustment of her plans. "We alter things for the +good of our children," she said, "and God does the same to us." With +Janie she left for Calabar in February 1892, the Congregational Church +at Topsham bidding her farewell at a public meeting convened in her +honour. + + + + + XX. THE BLOOD COVENANT + +It was strange, even for her, to pass from the trim, well-ordered life +of Britain into the midst of West African heathenism,--to find waiting +for her in her yard two refugees who, being charged with witchcraft, +had been condemned to be sold and killed and preserved as food,--to be +interviewed by a slave woman who had been bought by an Okoyong chief as +one of his many wives, after having been the wife of other two men, one +of whom had been disposed of to the cannibal tribe, whilst her boy had +been carried to Calabar in bondage. Such were the conditions into which +she was once more plunged. + +The majority of the people admired and trusted hers and gave her +implicit obedience, but there were some who avoided and feared her, and +sought to undermine her authority and perpetuate the old customs. Her +own chiefs remained staunch, and Ma Erne, although a heathen, continued +to be her truest friend and best ally. It was to her that Mary was +still mainly indebted for news of what was going on. If there was any +devilry afoot she would send a certain bottle to the Mission House with +a request for medicine. It was a secret warning that she was to be +ready to act at a moment's notice. As a result of these hints she was +able to prevent many a terrible crime. On one occasion, when the +natives were seeking to compass a man's death, she lay down without +undressing for a month of nights, ready to set out, and the first night +she took off her clothes and endeavoured to obtain a good sleep she was +called. And just as she was she set out for the scene. The chiefs began +to think it was useless to hoodwink or browbeat the wonderful woman who +seemed to know their inmost thoughts and all their hidden plans. + +Sometimes, when she received the intimation that a palaver was +beginning, and that a fight was imminent, she would not be ready, and +would resort to stratagem: she would seize a large sheet of paper and +scribble some words--any words--upon it and add some splashes of +sealing--wax to make it look important. This she would despatch by a +swift runner to the chiefs, and by the time they had discussed the +mysterious official--looking document, which none of them, could read, +she would come on the scene and allay the excitement and settle the +dispute. + +One of her favourite devices during palavers was to knit. She fancied +that the act kept her from being nervous, as well as from showing fear, +while the sight of the knitting going quietly and steadily on, in the +midst of uproar, helped to calm the excitement. She used to say that it +was only during these long palavers that she could get some knitting +done. We can well believe this when we are told by an official that on +one occasion she stayed knitting and listening the whole of one day and +night, until the opposing powers became hungry, and retired without a +fight. + +The story of one of these knitting palavers must suffice. Shortly after +she returned she wished to settle an important dispute that had been +going on for a time between two sections of the Okoyong people. Three +years before, a gathering such as she summoned would have been +impossible--they would have laid down "medicine" and fought. She +trembled to go, and longed for some of the Calabar missionaries to come +up and accompany her. But God gave her peace. After a sleepless night +she started with her knitting material, and reaching the clearing in +the forest passed alone through the guards of armed men. Every chief +was there, dressed in all the colours of the rainbow,--thanks chiefly +to Mission boxes,--each sitting under a huge umbrella of blue and red +and yellow silk, with from twenty to fifty of his men forming a cordon +about him, all with guns loaded and swords hanging from their sides. + +The sky was sober and grey, and the magnificent foliage overhead made +the atmosphere cool and sweet. A chair was placed for her beside the +oldest chief, in the centre, with the one party on the right and the +other on the left. But first she moved from one group to the other, +drawing laughter as she went with her jokes and by-play, and trying to +lessen the tension that all experienced. Then she took her seat, +started her knitting, and the business began. A word from her was +sufficient to check any outburst of feeling, but she only spoke now and +then, in order to elicit information or to make clear a bit of +evidence. + +Time was nothing to these men, and, accustomed to one square meal a +day, they did not mind a long sitting; but Mary knew what backache and +chill and hunger were and she was often tempted to tell them to keep to +the point, but it would have been of no avail. + +Night fell, torches were lit, the voices waxed louder, the excitement +spread, until Mary felt that matters were getting out of hand, and +brought the issue to a head. An old chief summed up, and did so with +rare tact and patience and good humour. She gathered up the main points +and gave her verdict, which was unanimously adopted with ringing +cheers. A native oath had now to be taken to ratify the agreement, and +the necessary materials were sent for--a razor, corn, salt, pepper, and +rum. A freeman from, each side was called forward, and after divesting +themselves of all superfluous clothing they knelt at her feet and +clasped each other's fingers. Another made an incision with the razor +on the back of their hands, and when the blood had flowed a little +salt, pepper, and corn were laid upon the wounds. Then out of courtesy +to "Ma," they asked her to say a prayer. But she always witnessed the +oath under protest, recognising that they knew no better way, and she +would not comply with their request, though she offered no objection to +one of the chiefs praying. After the terrible oath formula had been +repeated, the two men sucked up the blood-saturated ingredients and +swallowed them, and the covenant was ratified. Relieved from the +strain, the whole assemblage became suddenly smitten with the spirit of +fun. The proceedings were over before midnight, and after a tea hours' +sitting Mary began her homeward journey of four miles, tired and +hungry, but happy. + + + + + XXI. "RUN, MA! RUN!" + +Her letters at this time bear witness to the strenuous character of the +life she led. They often begin with a description of household events: +then a break will occur: the next entry starts with "It is many days +since I had to leave off here," and then follows an account of some +sudden journey and adventure. Another interruption will take place, +caused by some long palaver or rescue: and the end will be a remark +such as this: "So, you see, life here, as at home, is just a record of +small duties which occupy the time, and task the strength without much +to show for it." + +Here are some incidents which reveal to us the nature of what she +deemed her "commonplace" work: + + + 1. _A Forest Vigil_ + +"Run, run, Ma! there is something going on!" was the significant +message. "Where?" She was told, and went straight off. A chief had +died, and the people were administering the poison ordeal at a spot +deep in the forest, in order to avoid her interference. She arrived +before the proceedings began, and for four days and four nights she +remained there constantly on the watch. Her clothes were never off--and +only those who have lived in tropical lands know what this means. All +the rest she allowed herself was a short half-slumber, as she lay upon +some plantain fronds. The men would not leave the spot, hoping to tire +her out, and at night they lit fires to keep off the wild beasts of +prey, and slept about her. In these long hours she was often afraid, +not of the armed men, but of the wild creatures of the bush that came +creeping up, and with sombre eyes stared at her for a moment ere they +slunk away from the flames. Such courage and endurance could not be +withstood,--in the end the people gave in and life was saved. + + + 2. _Egbo_ + +She was sitting quietly in the house, thinking she was alone, when a +stealthy step behind made her look round: it was a woman, followed by +others all crowding in as smoothly as tigers. "Run, Ma! run!" they +said. The words were no sooner spoken than Mary was down the stair and +out in the open "square," where she found a number of men pulling about +and frightening the slaves and women. She seized hold of one fellow and +locked him in her yard, and the act brought quiet. The mob turned out +to be Egbo from a far-off town, come to sue for a debt due by a widow, +who had already given up everything to liquidate it. She knew the +people, had been kind to them, and had induced them to trade with +Calabar. She at once ordered them out of the place, and made them +restore the property they had seized, and in a short time the matter +was settled, + + + 3. _Robbers_ + +One day she was busy standing on a box plastering a wall when the +warning cry came, "Run, Ma! run!" The villagers had gone off with their +arms and were fighting a band of plunderers, who had stolen two slave- +girls and two slave-men from Ma Eme's farm. Washing the mud off her +hands and face she ran to the scene, and all next day, Sunday, she was +sitting in the midst of a drinking mob trying to keep down their +passions, and succeeded at last in finding a pacific solution. + + + 4. Twins + +Again the cry, "Run, Ma! run!" this time from two boys. It was a case +of twins born of a Calabar mother, who had come to Okoyong after trade +began. The father and his womenkind were furious, and the mother lay +deserted and alone. Mary took the two babies into her lap, and as they +were Calabar twins sent word to the elder chief. The answer she +received was "Ahem!" But the messenger added, "A big lady said, 'Why +don't you take the twins to Calabar?'" + +She next sent to the younger chief, and asked him to come and confer +with her at a distance. + +After two hours' weary waiting the reply was, "I am not coming, what +should I come for? Should I tell my Mother what to do? Let her do what +she sees fit." + +"Well," said Mary, "as one chief says, 'Ahem' and the other gives no +command, I shall take the children by a back road to my own house, and +during the night the mother can follow, and we will see how things turn +round." + +On being told that she had brought twins to the house Edem groaned and +said, "Then I cannot go to my Mother's house any more. Are they +upstairs?" + +"Yes," said the messenger, "and they are in her own bed." + +He groaned again, "No, no, I cannot ever go any more." + +Mary went to his yard to see a sick baby, whom she had nursed back from +death's door after the witch-doctors had done their best with their +charms and medicine, but the mother held the child tightly in her arms +and said, "Ma, you shall not touch her!" She turned away, her heart +sore. + +On the Sunday rain fell all day, and she could not leave one of the +children who was ill, but in the late evening she took two lanterns and +went to the roadside and held a short service with the few prepared to +come, and who huddled together in the rain. But none of them guessed +how near to tears the speaker was. She felt the alienation from her +people keenly; it was the greatest trial that had come to her, but she +was resolved not to give in. + +One of the twins died, and some days later Edem offered her a present +of yams, but she declined the gift, as it might be mistaken for a bribe +to her conscience. He remonstrated, but she remained firm, although it +cost her much. Gradually, however, he and his House showed contrition, +and the shadow passed away. + +Then a chief from another village came, also with a present of yams. +Going on his knees he held her feet and begged her not to give up the +child. "You are our Mother; and a woman has proved stronger than all +the men of the tribe: we will be able to believe in all you ask us by +and by, but have patience with us." + +When he was gone a message came: "A chief from a distance wants to see +you; come for a little." + +This man was from a turbulent part of Okoyong and given to fighting and +plundering. + +"I live in my house as ever I did," was her spirited reply; "and if any +one wishes to see me I am here." She felt pretty sure of her ground, +though she could not help trembling for the result. + +The strangers arrived, and Edem with them, and chairs and mats were +placed for them in the court. To her surprise she was asked for her +advice, and the visitor went away convinced that the new ways were +better than the old. + +The elder chief, Ekpenyong, next sent and begged for forgiveness. "The +Mother cannot keep a strong heart against her son. Are you not the hope +and strength and counsellor of my life? Forgive me, for it was +foolishness, I have not been taught from my youth, and have never seen +a twin." + +Thus good came out of the trial, and the bonds that bound her to the +people were strengthened. What was still more remarkable than the +attitude of the chiefs was the fact that the husband took the twin- +mother and the surviving child home. + + + 5. _The Poison Bean_ + +A slave woman of importance who occupied a position of trust died +suddenly. When her master was told he flew into a passion and +despatched a messenger to Mary with the rude intimation that "somebody +hereabouts knew how to kill people." She returned a curt reply, and he +sent an apology. The next development was the appearance of some chiefs +and a crowd of armed men in her yard. With them was a young man, not a +favourite of hers, to whom they attributed the woman's death. She +questioned him, and he asserted that he had not seen the woman for +months, and knew nothing of the supposed witchcraft; but he would take +the poison bean, and, he added vindictively, if he did not die he would +see that they paid for the outrage. She sent a message by the chiefs to +the owner of the woman to dissuade him from inflicting the extreme +test. There was the usual period of uproar, and on her part the usual +recourse to prayer, and then back came the chiefs with the astonishing +reply: + +"I have heard. I understand that the Mother is determined in her way. +What can I do but submit." + +Instead of death the sequel was a feast, a goat was killed, drink +procured, and dancing was indulged in all night. Next day the young man +went home to his aged mother. + + + 6. _Runaway Slaves_ + +One day when she was baking, a man and his wife, slaves of a chief in +the neighbourhood, came to the door of the Mission House, and after +giving compliments squatted down with the air of people who had come to +stay. + +"Well, what is the matter?" she asked. She knew the woman had a child, +which could not have been left at home. + +A long tale was told. The woman had been in the field all morning +hoeing grass: as the sun rose she and her child grew hungry and she +went home to cook some food. As she was doing so her master, who was +not a favourite either with bond or free, unexpectedly appeared, and +angrily ordered her back to her work. She protested that she needed +food, but, brandishing a sword, he frightened her into flight. Her +husband, a palm-oil worker, heard the noise, and came on the scene, +stopped her, and told her to return and take the food. "What does it +matter?" he remarked, "we are his; he can kill us if he likes; we have +nothing to live for." The master, enraged, seized a gun and fired at +the man, but missed. Taking hold of the screaming child he declared he +would kill it and went off. + +It was a simple case, but required delicate handling. She sent one of +her girls to the chief with the message that his slaves were in her +yard, and that as they were householders and elderly people and +parents, she hoped there would be no palaver, and that he would take +them back. + +"I will come to-morrow," was the reply. + +The runaways slept in the yard and held something of the nature of a +reception, the other slaves coming and condoling with them as the poor +do with each other all the world over. It was like a scene from _Uncle +Tom's Cabin_. One moment the company would encourage them cheerily, +urging them to have patience, then came a string of doleful tales, then +a gush of warm sympathy, and next a burst of laughter, followed by a +shower of tears. + +Next day their master did not appear, and they went to work on the +station grounds. The woman was fretting for her child, and Mana, one of +the girls, was sent with another message, to the effect that if he +could not come himself he must, for the woman's sake, send on the babe. +The messenger brought back the news that he was on his way, but was +tipsy, and breathing out dire threats against everybody. When Mary +heard that three of his wives were with him, and that her own chief had +joined the party, her mind was at ease. + +His first act was to lie down at her feet. "Ma," he said, "you are the +owner not only of my head but of all my house and my possessions. These +wretched slaves did well to come to you"--and so forth. + +She sent for a chair and a palaver of several hours began. The master +sometimes lost control of himself and charged the slave with being full +of sorcery and responsible for all the deaths of recent years. Shaking +his fist in the man's face he cried: + +"If it wasn't for the reign of the white woman I would cut you in two! +The white woman is your salvation." + +The slave biased with passion, but Mary entreated him to be calm. She +set the matter in the best light. Both had been angry and behaved as +angry people usually do, saying and doing things which in their saner +moods they would have avoided. Alternately scolding and beseeching, and +throwing in a few jokes occasionally, she at last said both must go +home, the master to restrain himself, and the slaves to work faithfully +and not to provoke him, as he had troubles of which they were unaware. + +Thus with wise words she pacified them, and when she had given them a +few presents they went off in great good humour. The slaves found that +during their absence thieves had stolen their goats and fowls, but the +return of the child compensated for the loss, and in their gratitude +they sent "Ma" a gift of food. + + + 7. _Spoilt Fashions_ + +A woman was seized on the assumption that she was concerned in the +death of a girl, and Mary watched day and night until the burial was +over. A goat was killed and placed in the grave, along with cloth, +dishes, pots, salt, a lamp, a lantern, and a tin case of cooked food. +But her presence prevented any one being murdered to bear the dead +company. "Ma!" said a freeman reproachfully, "you have spoiled our +fashions. Before you came, a person took his people with him: now one +must go alone like this poor girl; you have confused Okoyong too much." +The woman who was seized was allowed to take the native oath, praying +that if she had a hand in the girl's death _mbiam_ should eat her and +corrupt her body until she died. + + + 8. _The Cost_ + +Mr. W. T. Weir, who had joined the Mission staff, paid her a visit one +day, and they were enjoying a cup of tea when she suddenly became alert +and said, "There's something wrong, they will be here in a moment." The +words were hardly spoken when they heard the pit-pat of bare feet +running towards the house. A number of natives appeared, and placing +their hands on the floor shouted, "Ma! come! come! come!" + +She said to her guest, "Come on." They reached a large compound filled +with people excitedly shouting and gesticulating. On one side of the +yard lay a girl on a mud slab who seemed to be ill, and opposite was +her mother, in appearance a fiend incarnate. It appeared that the girl, +the daughter of an old chief, had taken a fainting fit, and the mother, +who had once been a refugee in "Ma's" yard, was blaming people for +taking her life. + +Mr. Weir examined the girl, and said there was nothing much wrong, but +she was terribly excited with the noise. Mary at once said, "I'll get +quietness," and springing into the middle of the compound she seemed to +exert her utmost will-power, and, crying in the native manner, "_Soi, +wara do_" (Shoo, go out there!), pointed to the door. In a moment, men, +women, and children, including the staid old chief of the village, and +the girl's mother, struggled with each other to get out of the +compound. The scene reminded Mr. Weir of nothing so much as a lot of +sheep being hurried through a gate by a dog. She then came to where he +stood. She was trembling from head to foot, and as she sat down she +remarked, "I am done for this day." The girl was taken over to the +Mission House, and under her care made a quick recovery.... + +Never in all her dealings with the tribes was she molested in any way. +Once only, in a compound brawl, in which she intervened, was she +struck, but the native who wielded the stick had touched her +accidentally. The cry immediately went up that "Ma" was hurt, and both +sides fell on the wretched man, and would have killed him had she not +gone to the rescue. + + + + + XXII. A GOVERNMENT AGENT + +In these years far-reaching changes were taking place in regard to the +political status and destiny of the country. Hitherto the British +Government had exercised only a nominal influence over the coast +districts. A consul was stationed at Duke Towns but he had no means of +exercising authority, and the tribes higher up the Cross River would +war upon one another, block the navigation, and murder at will. In 1889 +the Imperial Government took steps to arrange for an efficient +administration, and despite difficulties incidental to the absence of a +central native authority succeeded in obtaining the sanction of the +principal chiefs to the establishment of a protectorate--the Niger +Coast Protectorate. In 1891 Sir Claude Macdonald, who had carried out +the negotiations, was appointed Consul--General. No man was better +fitted to lay the foundations of British authority in so backward a +territory. The period of transition from native to civilised rule +brought to the surface many delicate and perplexing problems requiring +tact, skill, and unwearied patience, but the task was successfully +accomplished, though not without an occasional display of force. It was +a special cause of thankfulness to the missionaries that Sir Claude was +in full sympathy with their work, and co-operated with them in every +scheme for the benefit of the people. When he was promoted to Pekin, +the Foreign Mission Board in Scotland expressed their sense of the +value of his efforts in promoting the welfare of the native population. + +Sir Claude appointed vice-consuls for the various districts, and was +proposing to send some one to Okoyong. Miss Slessor knew that her +people were not ready for the sudden introduction of new laws, and that +there would be trouble if an outside official came in to impose them. +Sir Claude took her point of view, and recognising her unique position +and influence, empowered her to do all that was necessary, and to +organise and supervise a native court. He then left her very much to +herself, with the result that the inevitable changes were felt least of +all in Okoyong, where they were made through a woman whom the chiefs +and people implicitly trusted. Her position was akin to that of a +consular agent, and she conducted all the public affairs of the tribe. +She presided at the native court. Cases would be referred to her from +Duke Town, and she would travel over Okoyong to try these, taking with +her the consular messenger, who carried back her decision to +headquarters for official signature. Crowds of the natives also visited +her to consult her regarding the readjustment and co-ordination of +their customs with the new laws, and she was able to settle these +matters so quietly that little was heard of her achievements. Although +she rendered great service in this way, creating public opinion, +establishing just laws, and protecting the poor, it was a work she did +not like, and she only accepted it because she thought it in line with +her allegiance to Christ. + +Her duties brought her in contact with the officials of the country. +Government men came to see her, and were not only amazed at her +political influence, but charmed with her original qualities. One of +these, Mr. T. D. Maxwell, for whom she had a great regard--"a dear +laddie" she called him--writes: + +What sort of woman I expected to see I hardly know; certainly not what +I did. A little frail old lady with a lace or lace-like shawl over her +head and shoulders (that must, I think, have been a concession to a +stranger, for I never saw the thing again), swaying herself in a +rocking-chair and crooning to a black baby in her arms. I remember +being struck--most unreasonably--by the very strong Scottish accent. +Her welcome was everything kind and cordial. I had had a long march, it +was an appallingly hot day, and she insisted on complete rest before we +proceeded to the business of the Court. It was held just below her +house. Her compound was full of litigants, witnesses, and onlookers, +and it was impressive to see how deep was the respect with which she +was treated by them all. She was again in her rocking-chair surrounded +by several ladies-and babies-in-waiting, nursing another infant. + +Suddenly she jumped up with an angry growl: her shawl fell off, the +baby was hurriedly transferred to some one qualified to hold it, and +with a few trenchant words she made for the door where a hulking, +overdressed native stood. In a moment she seized him by the scruff of +the neck, boxed his ears, and hustled him out into the yard, telling +him quite explicitly what he might expect if he came back again without +her consent. I watched him and his followers slink away very +crestfallen. Then, as suddenly as it had arisen the tornado subsided, +and (lace shawl, baby, and all) she was again gently swaying in her +chair. The man was a local monarch of sorts, who had been impudent to +her, and she had forbidden him to come near her house again until he +had not only apologised but done some prescribed penance. Under the +pretext of calling on me he had defied her orders--and that was the +result. + +I have had a good deal of experience of Nigerian Courts of various +kinds, but have never met one which better deserves to be termed a +Court of Justice than that over which she presided. The litigants +emphatically got justice--sometimes, perhaps, like Shylock, "more than +they desired"--and it was essential justice unhampered by legal +technicalities. One decision I recall--I have often subsequently wished +that I could follow it as a precedent. A sued B for a small debt. B +admitted owing the money, and the Court (that is "Ma") ordered him to +pay accordingly: but she added, "A is a rascal. He treats his mother +shamefully, he neglects his children, only the other day he beat one of +his wives with quite unnecessary vehemence, yes and she was B's sister +too, his farm is a disgrace, he seldom washes, and then there was the +palaver about C's goat a month ago. Oh, of course A didn't steal it, he +was found not guilty wasn't he?--all the same the affair was never +satisfactorily cleared up, and he did look unusually sleek just about +then. On the other hand, B was thrifty and respectable, so before B +paid the amount due he would give A a good sound caning in the presence +of everybody." + + + + + XXIII. "ECCENTRICITIES," SPADE-WORK, AND DAY-DREAMS + +Does it seem as if we were watching the career of a woman of hard, +self-reliant, and masculine character, capable of living by herself and +preferring it, and unconscious of the natural weakness of her sex? In +reality Mary was a winsome soul, womanly in all her ways, tremulous +with feeling and sympathy, loving love and companionship, and not +unacquainted with nervousness and fear. + +When people saw, or heard of her, toiling with her hands they were apt +to imagine that she possessed a constitution of iron, never realising +that her life was one long martyrdom. She was seldom free from illness +and pain. Whether her methods of life were partly responsible for this +cannot be stated. In any case, she seemed able to do things that would +have proved fatal to other people. She never used mosquito-netting, +which is considered to be indispensable for the security of health in +the tropics. She never wore a hat, which seems a miracle to those who +know the strength of the sun in these regions. Her hair she kept cut +close, partly because it was a cleanlier fashion, and partly because it +was less trouble to look after. Shoes and stockings, also, she never +wore, although jiggers and snakes and poisonous plants were common in +the bush pathways. Mr. James Lindsay, who was the engineer of the +Mission at this time, says, "I walked many miles with her through the +bush, and only once did I know her to be troubled with her feet. She +had been to Duke Town, attending Presbytery, and made some small +concession to the conventions by wearing a pair of knitted woollen +slippers. On returning to Okoyong through the bush, small twigs and +sticks penetrated the wool and pricked her feet. With an expression of +disgust she took the slippers off and threw them into the bush. That +was the only time I saw her other than barefoot." She never boiled or +filtered the water she drank, two precautions which Europeans do not +omit without suffering. She ate native food, and was not particular +when meals were served. Breakfast might be at seven one morning and at +ten the next; dinner might be an hour or two late; but this was, of +course, mainly due to the constant calls upon her time, for she was +often afoot most of the night, and her days were frequently taken up +with long palavers. + +These habits, so seemingly eccentric to people lapped In the civilised +order of things, grown naturally out of the circumstances into which +she had been forced In pursuit of the task she had set herself. She had +deliberately given up everything for her Master, and she accepted all +the consequences that the renunciation, involved. What she did was for +Him and as she was not her own and had taken Him at His word and +believed that He would care for her if she kept in line with His will, +she went forward without fear, knowing that she might, through +inadvertence, incur suffering, but willing to bear it for His sake and +His cause. Her faith devotion led her into strange situations, and +these shaped the character of her outward life and habits. She shed +many conventions, simply because it was necessary in order to carry out +the will of Christ. She knew there were some people like the official +who saw her pushing a canoe down to the river and preferred not to know +her; but she was always sustained by the knowledge that she was acting +in her Master's spirit. She found in her New Testament that He ignored +the opinion of the world, and she was never afraid to follow where He +led. "What," says Mr. Lindsay, "she lost in outward respectability she +more than gained in mobility and usefulness. She kept herself +untrammelled in the matter of dress that she might be ready for any +emergency. In of a sudden call in the night to some distant village +where twin children had been thrown out or a bloody quarrel was +imminent, she was literally ready to leave at a moment's notice." The +one thing essential to her was her work, and anything that hampered her +freedom of action was dropped. + +Not that she was thoughtlessly reckless of her health. She frequently +wrote about the need of conserving her strength, and stated that she +was taking all due care. She apologised for reading her Bible in bed on +Sunday mornings; it gave her a rest, she said, before she began her +day's work. As her Sunday began at 5.30 A.M. and ended at 7 P.M., and +during the greater part of that time she was walking, preaching, and +teaching, she might well allow herself the indulgence. It may be noted +that she sometimes misplaced Sunday. "I lost it a fortnight ago," she +wrote, "and kept it on a Saturday. Never mind, God would hear all the +prayers and answer them all the same." On another occasion she was +discovered on a Sunday on the roof of the house executing repairs, +thinking it was Monday. + +Mr. Ovens relates that once when he went up on a Monday to do some work +he found her holding a service. She was glad to see him; "but what," +said she, "is Duke Town coming to when its carpenter travels on the +Sabbath Day?" + +"Sabbath Day!" he echoed. "It's Monday." + +"Monday! why, I thought it was Sabbath. Well, we'll have to keep it as +Sabbath now." + +"Na, na," he replied, "it's no Sabbath wi' me. I canna afford two +Sabbaths in a week." + +"Ah, we must though," she said; adding in a whisper, "I was +whitewashing the rooms yesterday." + +Realising that he must "save her face," he took part in the service and +started his work next morning. + +In one of Mr. Goldie's letters to a friend at this time there is a +delightful touch. "I am at Okoyong," he wrote, "and am not sure of the +date." + +Her womanly sympathy and tenderness were never better exhibited than in +her relations with her dark sisters about her. She entered into their +lives as few have been able to do. She treated them as human beings, +saw the romance and tragedy in their patient lives, wept over their +trials, and rejoiced in their joys. There was one little idyll of harem +life which she liked to tell. + +Some slave-dealers arrived at Ekenge, and among their "bargains" was a +young and handsome girl, whom Edem bought for one of his chief men. Ma +Erne, who heard of the transaction but paid no attention to it, had a +respectable slave-woman at one of her farms whom she ordered to come +and live in her own yard. The woman obeyed somewhat unwillingly, and in +the village began to grumble to others about her enforced removal. The +new slave-girl was cooking her master's food when she heard the voice. +As she listened memories were stirred within her and she ran out and +gazed at the woman, then went nearer and stared closely into her face. +The woman demanded what she was looking at. The girl screamed and +caught her round the neck and uttered a word in a strange language. It +was the name of the woman, who, in turn, stared at the girl. When the +latter called out her own name the two embraced and held each other in +a grip of iron. The daughter had found a mother who had been stolen +many years before. Both went into the yard and sat on the ground +discussing their experiences and receiving the warm congratulations of +the other women in the village. + +There was trouble at the time in the district, and Mary had occasion to +see Ma Eme after midnight. She found the two sitting beside some +burning logs, with Ma Eme on the other side, all three talking over the +mystery of life and its pain and parting and sorrow. She squatted down +beside them, and gradually the girl told her story. How she had prayed +to the great God for some one to capture her so that she might have a +chance of finding her mother when the traders went to Calabar. She +believed that among the crowds at Duke Town she would see her face, and +when they left there she almost lost hope. + +But "Ma" craved the companionship of her kind, and she enjoyed going +down to Duke Town to the various meetings, and seeing the ladies of the +Mission. She would not leave the children behind, and as the whole +family would descend unexpectedly on a member of the Mission staff, +some embarrassing situations occurred. One missionary, a bachelor, was +preparing to turn in about 10 P.M. when he heard people crowding up the +stairs of the verandahs and a babel of voices. It was "Ma" and all her +boys and girls and babies come to lodge with him for a week. +Fortunately he knew his guests, and, as he surmised, they were content +with the floor. When the household grew, and she could not leave the +children so often, she would sometimes walk with them to Adiabo on the +Calabar River, taking provisions with her, and there, halfway, would +meet and picnic with the Calabar lady agents. + +It was about this time that the sense of her loneliness grew upon her +to such, an extent that she could not sleep at nights, "I feel +dreadfully lonely," she wrote, "and want a helper, and I have made up +my mind to ask the Committee at next meeting for a companion." But when +she went to Duke Town and realised the depleted state of the Mission +caused by illness and death, and the manner in which the staff was +overworked, she could not find the heart to prefer her request, and +instead she thanked God for being able to hold on. She added her appeal +to the other requests for workers that were so constantly sent home +then, and her idea of the kind of woman most suited for the Calabar +field is of interest: + +... Consecrated, affectionate women who are not afraid of work or of +filth of any kind, moral or material. Women who can nurse a baby or +teach a child to wash and comb as well as to read and write, women who +can tactfully smooth over a roughness and for Christ's sake bear a +snub, and take any place which may open. Women who can take everything +to Jesus and there get strength to smile and persevere and pull on +under any circumstances. If they can play Beethoven and paint and draw +and speak French and German so much the better, but we can want all +these latter accomplishments if they have only a loving heart, willing +hands, and common sense. Surely such women are not out of our reach. +There are thousands of them in our churches, and our home churches have +no monopoly of privilege in choosing to keep them. Spare us a few. +Induce them to come forward. If there be the call from the Holy Spirit +do not let mere accomplishments be a _sine qua non_. Help them to come +forward. Take them to your own homes and let them have the benefit of +all the conversation and refinement and beauty which fill these, and so +gently lead them out of their timidity and accustom them to society +that they may meet out in the world, and hand them on to us. Up in a +station like mine they want to teach the first principles of +everything, and they need to help in times of trouble in the home or in +the town palaver. They will not need fine English, for there is none to +admire it. No one knows other than native languages, and I would gladly +hail any warm-hearted woman from any sphere if she would come to me. I +cannot pretend to work this station: the school work is simply a +scramble at the thing, mostly by the girls of the house. I can't +overtake it. It is because I am not doing it efficiently that I am +grieved. + +On her visits to Calabar she was an object of much interest. One who +knew her then says: "She had the power of attracting young men, and she +had great influence with them. Whether they were in Mission work, or +traders, or government men, they were sure to be attracted by her +vigorous character and by the large-hearted, understanding way she +would talk to them or listen to their talk of their work or other +interests. She loved to stir them to do great things." + +It was sometimes remarked by visitors that her surroundings had not the +spick-and-span appearance which usually characterises a Scottish +Mission station. She had, nevertheless, a real appreciation of order +and beauty, and liked to have everything clean and tidy about her. How +to accomplish this was her daily problem, and perhaps only those who +have lived in tropical lands can understand the position. The +difficulty there is not how to make things grow, but how to prevent +them growing. She waged as fierce and incessant a war with vegetation +as she did with man, but it proved too much for her strength. "I +think," she wrote, "if I left alone some of the outdoor work, even it +the place did go to bush and dirt, I would not be so tired, and I could +do more otherwise. But I can't help it. I must put my hands in wherever +there is work to be done." The task had not become easier for her, for +the new trade with Calabar had brought about a demand for Okoyong yams, +and the people were so busy planting at their farms that she was unable +to hire labour. The bush would creep up swiftly and stealthily to the +edge of the dwellings and become a covering for beasts of prey, and, +then she and her girls would sally out and cut it down and burn it and +dig out the roots. And in its place would be planted corn and cocos and +yams and other products, the children each having a plot to tend. A +private pathway to the spring which she had constructed in order that +the girls might not mix with the village women and hear their talk had +also to be kept clear. It was hard work in the hot sunshine, and she +and her bairns literally watered the soil with their perspiration. But +no tears were shed at the work save those caused by merry jokes and +laughter. She often surveyed the scene with pride, revelling in the +wild beauty of form and colour, the brilliancy of the flowering trees, +the tender green of the yams on their supports, the starry jasmine with +its keen perfume. She loved flowers, and taught her scholars to bring +them to school. They had never been conscious of these before, and the +fact that they began to appreciate them was, she considered, a step +forward in their educational development. + +Often she longed for the power to bring out thousands of the slum +people from the cities at home to enjoy the open life, and to work the +rich lands. Not that she used the word "slum"; it seemed to reflect on +the poor, many of whom she regarded as the heroes and heroines of God; +in her humility she believed that many of them would have been far +ahead of her if they had had the same advantages. One of her day-dreams +was to inherit a fortune and to spend it all on the poor. "If only"-- +but she would check herself and say, "Mary Slessor! as if God does not +know what to give and how to give it, and as if He did not love and +think for all these poor creatures who are so mercilessly pushed aside +in the race of life." + + + + + XXIV. MAIDEN-MOTHER AND ANGEL-CHILD + +Of all the tasks to which she put her hand the sweetest as well as the +saddest was the care of the babes of the bush. Her house was the refuge +of little children: sickly ones that were left with her to nurse and +return; discarded ones that were taken to her; outcast ones that she +rescued from injury and death. So many came, received names, were +described in her letters, and then passed out of sight, that her +friends in Scotland were unable to keep abreast of her efforts in this +direction. + +They arrived in all stages of sickness, but usually the last. With many +a broken body she had never a chance, but with marvellous patience and +tenderness she washed them and nursed them and loved them and fought +the dark shadow that was ever ready to hover over the tiny forms. Night +after night she would sit up watching a face that was wasted and +twisted with pain, or walk to and fro crooning snatches of song to +soothe a restless mite in her arms. Sometimes a hammock was slung up +beside her into which they were placed, so that if they awoke during +the night she could touch it with her foot and swing them to sleep +again. More than once, when the supply of condensed milk ran out, she +strapped her latest baby to her body and tramped the long miles to +Creek Town through the bush, and returned next day with the child and +the tins. + +The children that were brought back to health and strength and restored +to their parents it was always a pang to part with. She wished she +could have kept them and trained them up away from the degraded +influences of their homes. Those who died she dressed and placed among +flowers in a box, held a service over them, and buried them in a little +cemetery, which by and by became full of tiny graves. She mourned over +them as if they had been blood of her blood. Mr. Ovens used to say to +her, "Never mind, lassie, you'll get plenty mair"--and indeed there +were always plenty, + +Of all the African children that passed through her hands none endeared +itself so much to her as Susie, her first Okoyong twin. The mother, +Iye, was a slave from Bende, light in colour and handsome, and was the +property of one of the big women, who treated her with kindness and +consideration. When the twins arrived all was changed. Miss Kingsley, +who arrived at Ekenge the same day on a visit to Mary, thus describes +the scene: + +She was subjected to torrents of virulent abuse, her things were torn +from her, her English china basins, possessions she valued most highly, +were smashed, her clothes were torn, and she was driven out as an +unclean thing. Had it not been for the fear of incurring Miss Slessor's +anger, she would, at this point have been killed with her children, and +the bodies thrown into the bush. As it was, she was hounded out of the +village. The rest of her possessions were jammed into an empty gin-case +and cast to her. No one would touch her, as they might not touch to +kill. Miss Slessor had heard of the twins' arrival and had started off, +barefooted and bareheaded, at that pace she can go down a bush path. By +the time she had gone four miles she met the procession, the woman +coming to her, and all the rest of the village yelling and howling +behind her. On the top of her head was the gin-case, into which the +children had been stuffed, on the top of them the woman's big brass +skillet, and on the top of that her two market calabashes. Needless to +say, on arriving Miss Slessor took charge of affairs, relieving the +unfortunate, weak, staggering woman from her load and carrying it +herself, for no one else would touch it, or anything belonging to those +awful twin things, and they started back together to Miss Slessor's +house in the forest-clearing, saved by that tact which, coupled with +her courage, has given Miss Slessor an influence and a power among the +negroes unmatched in its way by that of any other white. + +She did not take the twins and their mother down the village path to +her own house, for though, had she done so, the people of Okoyong would +not have prevented her, yet so polluted would the path have been and so +dangerous to pass down, that they would have been compelled to cut +another, no light task in that bit of forest, I assure you. So Miss +Slessor stood waiting in the broiling sun, in the hot season's height, +while a path was being cut to enable her just to get through to her own +grounds. The natives worked away hard, knowing that it saved the +polluting of a long stretch of market road, and when it was finished +Miss Slessor went to her own house by it, and attended with all +kindness, promptness, and skill to the woman and children. I arrived in +the middle of this affair for my first meeting with Miss Slessor, and +things at Okoyong were rather crowded, one way and another, that +afternoon. All the attention one of the children wanted--the boy, for +there were a boy and a girl--was burying, for the people who had +crammed them into the box had utterly smashed the child's head. The +other child was alive, and is still a member of that household of +rescued children, all of whom owe their lives to Miss Slessor. + +The natives would not touch it, and only approached it after some days, +and then only when it was held by Miss Slessor or me. If either of us +wanted to do or get something, and we handed over the bundle to one of +the house children to hold, there was a stampede of men and women off +the verandah, out of the yard, and over the fence, if need be, that was +exceedingly comic, but most convincing as to the reality of the terror +and horror in which they held the thing. Even its own mother could not +be trusted with the child; she would have killed it. She never betrayed +the slightest desire to have it with her, and after a few days' nursing +and feeding up she was anxious to go back to her mistress, who, being +an enlightened woman, was willing to have her if she came without the +child. + +The woman's own lamentations were pathetic. She would sit for hours +singing or rather mourning out a kind of dirge over herself: "Yesterday +I was a woman, now I am a horror, a thing all people ran from. +Yesterday they would eat with me, now they spit on me. Yesterday they +would talk to me with sweet mouth, and now they greet me only with +curses and execrations. They have smashed my basin, they have torn my +clothes," so on, and so on. There was no complaint against the people +for doing these things, only a bitter sense of injury against some +superhuman power that had sent this withering curse of twins down on +her, + +The surviving infant, Susie, was not commonplace in feature like the +other black children; she was not in reality a negress, but fair, +shapely, and clean-skinned, with a nose like a white child's and a +sweet mouth--a mouth which Miss Kingsley called the "button-hole." +Every one loved her, and she was queen of the household. + +When she was fourteen months old Miss Slessor one day went to the +dispensary and left her in charge of Mana, who put down a jug of +boiling water on the floor beside her. Susie thought it a plaything, +and, seizing it, pulled it over upon herself. Instead of calling for +"Ma" Mana ran with the child to the bathroom and poured cold water over +the wounds. For thirteen days and nights she was never out of Mary's +hands. Fortunately Miss Murray, a lady agent who, at her own request, +had been stationed at Okoyong for a time, and whose companionship she +valued, helped her greatly. "She was like a sister to me," she wrote. +Thinking more might be done by a medical man she started off with the +child in her arms, arrived at Creek Town at midnight, and woke up the +doctor, who, however, said he could not do more than she had done. She +returned at once to Ekenge, and again watched the suffering babe by day +and night. In the darkness and silence, when all were asleep, she would +hear the faint words, "Mem, Mem, Mem!"--the child's name for her--and +the wee hand would be held up for her to kiss. Early one Sunday morning +she passed away in her arms. Robed in a pinafore, with her beads and a +sash, and a flower in her hand, she looked "like an angel child." + +The event caused a strange stir in Okoyong. None of the villagers went +to their farms or market while the child was hovering on the brink of +death, and when she passed away they came and mourned with "Ma." + +She was buried in the cemetery where so many other hapless waifs were +already at rest. In her anguish Mary could not conduct the service, but +sat at the window and looked out while Miss Murray bravely took her +place. The people, respectful and sad, gathered round the grave--the +grave of a twin!--and one of the women, a leader in heathenism, praised +the white Mother's God for the child, and prayed that they might all +have her hope in the Beyond. "Surely," was Mary's comment, "they all +felt the vast difference between their burials with all their drink and +madness, and ours so full of quiet hope and expectant faith." + +The slave-mother had often come to visit her, and had actually got to +love the child, and when it died she was heartbroken. "Ma," she said, +"don't cry. I have done this. God hates me. I shall go away and not +bring any more evil on you." With that she went back to her hut in the +bush. + +"If I were a wealthy woman," said "Ma," "I would buy her; but I cannot +afford it, so we must do our best to cheer her up." + +Although she objected to buying slave-women, even to restore them to +freedom, on account of the wrong impression it left on the native mind, +she made an exception in the case of Iye, and not long afterwards she +was able to purchase her liberty for £10, and she became an inmate of +the Mission House, Miss Slessor's intention being to train her so that +she might be useful to any lady who lived at the station during her +absences in Scotland. To the natives Iye was an outcast, and had "no +character." "_Etubom_," Mary said to Mr. Ovens, "If a slave-dealer came +round I would not get £6 for her." "Why?" said he. "She has no +character." "But he would buy her and take her up country." "What for?" +"To feed her for chop!"... + +For some time she suffered physically from the shock she had received. +No mother could have grieved more bitterly over the loss of a beloved +child. "My heart aches for my darling," she wrote. "Oh the empty place, +and the silence and the vain longing for the sweet voice and the soft +caress and the funny ways. Oh, Susie, Susie!" + + + + + XXV. MARY KINGSLEY'S VISIT + +Miss Kingsley paid her visit to the West Coast in 1893. Like all who +travelled in West Africa, she heard of the woman missionary who lived +alone among the wild Okoyong, and made a point of going up to see her. +Miss Slessor welcomed so capable and earnest a worker, "She gave me," +says Miss Kingsley, "some of the pleasantest days of my life." In some +respects these two brilliant women were much akin, though they were +poles asunder in regard to their outlook on spiritual verities. They +had long discussions on religious subjects, and would sit up late +beating over such questions as the immortality of the soul. Miss +Kingsley was profoundly impressed. "I would give anything to possess +your beliefs," she said wistfully, "but I can't, I can't; when God made +me He must have left out the part that one believes with." + +Nevertheless Miss Slessor said that for all her beliefs and unbeliefs +she was one of the most truly Christian women she had ever met. On her +return to England Miss Kingsley spoke often of her in terms of +affection and admiration, and acknowledged to friends that she had done +her much spiritual good. Mary, on her part, poured into her possession +all her treasures of knowledge concerning the fetish ideas and +practices of the natives, and probably none knew more about these +matters than she. Most missionaries confess that they never get to the +back of the negro mind, and one who worked in a neighbouring field once +said that after nineteen years' careful study he had yet to master the +intricacies of native superstition. The information that Mary supplied +was therefore of great value, and much of it was utilised in Miss +Kingsley's books. In _Travels in West Africa_ she gives the following +considered view of the missionary: + +This very wonderful lady has been eighteen years in Calabar; for the +last six or seven living entirely alone, as far as white folks go, in a +clearing in the forest near to one of the principal villages of the +Okoyong district, and ruling as a veritable white chief over the entire +district. Her great abilities, both physical and intellectual, have +given her among the savage tribe a unique position, and won her, from +white and black who know her, a profound esteem. Her knowledge of the +native, his language, his ways of thought, his diseases, his +difficulties, and all that is his, is extraordinary, and the amount of +good she has done, no man can fully estimate. Okoyong, when she went +there alone--living in the native houses while she built, with the +assistance of the natives, her present house--was a district regarded +with fear by the Duke and Creek Town natives, and practically unknown +to Europeans. It was given, as most of the surrounding districts still +are, to killing at funerals, ordeal by poison, and perpetual +internecine wars. Many of these evil customs she has stamped out, and +Okoyong rarely gives trouble to its nominal rulers, the Consuls, in Old +Calabar, and trade passes freely through it down to the seaports. This +instance of what one white can do would give many important lessons in +West Coast administration and development. Only the sort of man Miss +Slessor represents is rare. There are but few who have the same power +of resisting the malarial climate, and of acquiring the language and an +insight into the negro mind, so perhaps after all it is no great wonder +that Miss Slessor stands alone, as she certainly does. + +With all her robust ability Miss Kingsley's mental range was curiously +narrow. She wrote strongly against Protestant missionary aims and +methods in West Africa, her views being entirely opposed to those of +the White Woman of Okoyong, who had a much greater right to speak on +the subject. But the latter, nevertheless, loved her, and when the news +of her death came, some years later, she was plunged into grief. "The +world held not many so brave and so noble," she wrote. "Life feels very +cold and seems grey and sunless." Hearing of a proposed memorial to the +intrepid traveller she sent a guinea as her mite towards it. + + + + + XXVI. AN ALL-NIGHT JOURNEY + +An outburst of fighting had taken place amongst the factions around +Ekenge. Women were the cause of it, and a number had been herded into a +stockade near the Mission House, where a band of men were proceeding to +murder them. Mary came on the scene and held them at bay. All day she +stood there and all night, her girls handing her from time to time a +cup of tea through the poles of the enclosure. Next night matters had +become quieter, a tornado of rain and wind having eased the situation, +but she was soaked, whilst the mats of the Mission House had blown up +and the interior had been flooded, so that both the girls and herself +needed dry garments. Then the condensed milk was nearly done, she was +told, and the baby she was nursing would suffer without it. Both +clothing and milk could only be procured from Calabar, and as she had +no messenger to despatch there, she resolved to go herself. + +After dark she stole out of the stockade, placed the child in a basket, +secured a woman as guide, and with a lantern started out to walk +through the bush to Creek Town. She reached Adiabo on the Calabar River +about half-past ten, obtained a cup of tea from the native pastor, and +pushed on. Her guide lost the way, a deluge of rain fell, and they +wandered aimlessly for a time through the dripping forest, before again +striking the track. + +Creek Town was reached at four o'clock in the morning. She knocked up +Miss Johnstone, who sent her to bed for an hour, and sought for some +tins of milk. As soon as two had been procured Mary was eager to be +off. Miss Johnstone gave her some changes of clothing, and King Eyo put +his canoe and a strong crew at her disposal, and she was soon speeding +up-river. On her arrival she found to her satisfaction that her absence +had not been discovered, and she was able eventually to restore peace +without the shedding of blood. + +Two days later a canoe which came down-river to Duke Town brought word +that she was ill with dysentery. Dr. Laws of Livingstonia, who was then +visiting the Mission as a deputy, happened to be at Creek Town and was +asked to go and see her with Mr. Manson, one of the industrial staff, +as guide. Their canoe was nearly swamped by rain, and they had to +change their clothing when they arrived. She was soon up and through to +the hall to provide hospitality for her guests, supporting herself by +the table the while. A peremptory order came from Dr. Laws to return to +bed at once. She gave him a long curious look, and then without a word +went and lay down. He noticed that his companion appeared both +astonished and amused, and it was not until he returned to Calabar, and +heard Mr. Manson telling how "Ma" Slessor had been taken in charge for +once, that he realised how bold he had been. Dr. Laws thought that few +women, or even men, could have stood the isolation that she endured. + + + + + XXVII. AKOM: A FIRST-FRUIT + + Although force of circumstances made her the instrument of law and +order her chief aim was to win the people to Christ, and all her +efforts were directed to that end. It was for souls she was always +hungering, and the lack of conversions was her greatest sorrow. +Nevertheless she was making progress. The people were becoming familiar +with the name of God and Christ and the principles underlying the +Gospel, and there were many who leant more to the new way than to the +old, whilst some in their hearts believed. The boys that were being +trained at school and service were perhaps the most cheering element in +the situation, and upon them she set her hopes. + +It was wonderful that she achieved what she did in view of the +conditions that prevailed. How difficult it was for a native to break +away from habits and customs ingrained in them through centuries of +repetition may be gathered from the story of Akom, a freewoman, one of +the most self-righteous of the big ladies of the district. She had been +betrothed, when a year old, to a young and powerful chief, and had been +brought up in the harem and was a zealous upholder of all superstitious +practices. On her lord's death she escaped the poison ordeal, and was +active in placing wives and slaves into the grave. By and by Ekpenyong +made her his wife and mistress of the harem, and for twenty years she +held undisputed sway. + +When Edem's son was killed by the falling of a log it will be +remembered that Ekpenyong was blamed for the event and retired to the +bush. Not long afterwards a young chief there fell sick, and the witch- +doctor on consulting his oracle declared that he saw Akom and her son +dancing the whole night long, and gaily piercing the sick man with +knives and spears. Akom was charged with sorcery, and asked to take the +poison ordeal. Her friends advised her to flee, and she and her son +disappeared during the night and took refuge in Umon, where the people +gave them the protection of their _ibritam_ or juju. + +"Ma" was in Scotland at the time. When she returned Ekpenyong begged +her to interfere and have his wife brought back. This she managed to do +after Akom had taken _mbiam_--the strongest and most dreaded of native +oaths, which included the drinking of blood shed from the wrist. The +woman came to see her, but stood outside. "What?" exclaimed "Ma," "you +cannot come within my gate?" "No," was the reply; "you had a twin- +mother once living in the yard, and I cannot come in lest I touch the +place she touched," Those who took the _mbiam_ oath, believed that they +would die if they came in contact in any way with a twin-mother. "Ma" +pretended to be hurt, and said, "If my house is polluted you had better +go home, as I do not receive visitors on the road." After a time Akom +ventured in, and she was kind to her and gave her an order for mats, at +the making of which she was an adept. + +She then came regularly and listened intently to "Ma's" teaching, +although she said nothing. By and by she began to remark on the purity +of the Gospel religion and show increased reverence at the services. +Twins came, and she mastered her fear and went into the house. But +alas! a mysterious pain straightway developed in her foot, and this +surely was _mbiam_ punishing her; and when a skin disease followed, her +faith nearly failed her, and she wailed and mourned in despair. "Ma" +spoke strongly to her; and at last she rose and said, "I am a fool; my +God, my Father, listen not to my foolishness. Kill me if Thou wilt, but +do not leave me." + +The disease was checked, and a native medicine effected a cure. But she +stood out against any sacrifice, saying very sensibly, "My Father owns +the bush and gives us the knowledge of the medicine, and as the Master +knows what He has made He knows also how to bless it apart from any +outsider." + +Ekpenyong all this while had ignored his wife, expecting that the +_mbiam_ would do its work. He looked grimly on, and when she injured +her foot against a root he believed the end had arrived. All the people +watched the struggle between the white woman's prayers and the +_mbiam's_ power, and when the wound healed they were nonplussed, but +quaintly explained the miracle by saying that their Mother was +different from other white people, and so had prevailed. + +Akom grew in grace despite her surroundings, and found strength in her +contact with Christ. An amazing thing to her was that the man who had +accused her of witchcraft came and made friends with her. + +"Ma," she said, "see what God has wrought. The man who demanded my life +comes to tell me his affairs! I sometimes wanted to take revenge, but I +have got it from God, and His revenge is of a sweeter kind than that of +the Consul." + +It was cases like this that coloured Miss Slessor's life with joy. +Sometimes, too, she was unexpectedly cheered by evidence of the fruit +of her work in past days. In 1894 a lad, an old scholar of hers in Duke +Town, turned up in the village. He had made good use of his education, +and wherever he went, on farm and on beach, he held worship and got the +people to listen. It was not surprising that she regarded the boys as +her most hopeful agents, although she was always very careful in +choosing them as teachers for bush schools; she thought it belittled +the message to send those who were not thoroughly fit for the work. + + + + + XXVIII. THE BOX FROM HOME + +The most joyous break in the domestic life at Ekenge, both for the +house-mother and the children, was caused by the arrival of boxes of +gifts from Scotland. So many congregations and Sunday Schools had +become interested in her and her work that there was a continuous +stream of packages to Okoyong. "I am ashamed at receiving so much," she +would say. Her own friends also remembered her; and on one occasion she +wrote to a lady who had sent a personal contribution, "It seems like a +box from a whole congregation, not from an individual." + +She was specially delighted with the articles that came from the +children of the Church, and many a letter she wrote in return to the +scholars in Sunday Schools. None knew better how to thank them. She +would give them a picture of the landing of the boxes at Duke Town, and +the journey up the Calabar River in the canoe or in the steamer _David +Williamson_--which they had themselves subscribed for and supplied--to +the beach, and of the excitement when the engineer came over, perhaps +with visitors, to announce the arrival. "White people come, Ma!" The +cry by day or night always roused the household. One girl ran to make +up the fire and put on the kettle, another placed the spare room in +order, a third took the hand parcels and wraps, and "Ma" herself +welcomed the guests with a Scottish word or two, and a warm hand-clasp. +They would give her home letters, but these she would lay aside until +she was more at leisure. Then a whisper would go round that there were +goods at the beach, and every man, woman, and child about the place +would be eager to be off to bring them up. But the boxes would be too +large and heavy to be borne on heads through the forest, and they would +be opened and the contents made up into packages, with which the +carriers marched off in single file. Depositing them at the house they +would return for more until all were safely conveyed. Then the articles +would be exposed amidst cries of wonder and delight, and the house +become like a bazaar. Sometimes there would be a mix-up of articles, +but the loving messages pinned on to each would clear up the confusion. +Mary dearly loved to linger over each gift and spin a little history +into it, and she would pray with a full heart, "Lord Jesus thou knowest +the giver and the love and the prayers and the self-denial. Bless and +accept and use all for Thy glory and for the good of these poor +straying ignorant children, and repay all a thousandfold." + +She was careful in her allocation of the gifts amongst the people in +order that they might not be regarded as a bribe to ensure good +behaviour or attendance at the services. She would not even give them +as payment for work done, as this, she thought, put the service on a +commercial basis and made them look again for an equivalent gain. +Pictures and texts, like dolls, were somewhat of a problem, as there +was a danger of the people worshipping them. But they liked to beautify +their squalid huts with them, and she regarded them as an educative and +civilising agency not to be despised. Also to a certain extent they +gave an indication of those who had sympathy with the new ideas, and +were sometimes a silent confession of a break with heathenism. + +To one old woman, the first Christian, was given a copy of "The Light +of the World." Holding it reverently she exclaimed, "Oh! I shall never +be lonely any more. I can't read the Book, but I can sit or lie and +look at my Lord, and we can speak together. Oh, my Saviour, keep me +till I see you up yonder!" It was explained that the picture was an +allegory, and the woman understood; but she simply saw Christ in all +the fervour of her newborn love and faith, and Mary trusted to keep her +right by daily teaching. + +Some of the articles found odd uses. A dress would be given to a girl +who was entering into seclusion for fattening; a dressing-gown would go +to the chief who was a member of the native Court, and he would wear it +when trying cases, to the admiration of the people; a white shirt would +be presented to another chief, and he would don it like a State robe +when paying "Ma" a formal visit. Blouses she retained, since no native +women wore them. The pretty baby-clothes were a source of wonder to the +people--they were speechless at the idea of infants wearing such +priceless things. It must be confessed that there was something for +which "Ma" always searched when a box from her own friends arrived. +Like the children she was fond of sweets, and there would be a shriek +of delight from more than juvenile lips when the well-known tins and +bottles were discovered in some corner where they had been designedly +hidden. + + + + + XXIX. AN APPEAL TO THE CONSUL + +"Religious missions have worked persistently and well, and pointed out +to the people the evil of their cruelties and wrongdoing, but there +comes a time when their efforts need backing up by the strong arm of +the law of civilisation and right." + +Sir Claude Macdonald wrote this in the autumn of 1894. Perhaps he had +in mind the case of Okoyong. For in that year Miss Slessor came to the +conclusion that it was time to invoke the great power which lay behind +her in order to put a stop to the practice of killing on charges of +witchcraft. + +She was busy with a twin-murder case when word suddenly arrived that a +man was being blamed for causing his master's death, and that a palaver +was going on. She sent some of the children at once to say that when +her household had retired she would walk over in the moonlight. But a +tornado came on, and the rain poured all night. As soon as it cleared +she despatched a message: "Don't do anything till I come--I will come +when the bush is drier." On receiving this the accuser rose: "Am I not +to give him any ordeal till Ma comes? I will not be able to do it then! +She won't be willing. Unlock his chains and take him to Okat Ikan, +where he will be beyond her reach." + +Seizing the man his henchmen hurried him off, and the chief followed +with a grunt of satisfaction at having outwitted the White Mother. + +When she heard of the manoeuvre she determined not to go wandering +aimlessly in the bush in search of the party. She resolved to do what +she had never done before, send down to the Consulate at Duke Town and +seek the assistance of the Government not only to rescue this +particular victim, but to end the evil throughout the length and +breadth of Okoyong. + +The house-girls became aware of her intention, and the news that "Ma's" +patience, so often and so sorely tried, was at last exhausted, and that +she was going to adopt stronger measures, spread swiftly through the +villages. In order not to involve any native in the transaction she was +the bearer of her own communication to the beach, and she was not long +gone on her walk through the forest when the people concerned arrived +breathlessly at the Mission House to beg her to forgive them for going +beyond her voice. + +"Ma is away," announced the children, "and you cannot reach her now." + +Sadder and wiser they returned to their village, for they feared the +Consul, who was associated in their minds with big guns and burnt +towns. She returned late at night, wearied with the journey, yet was up +early in the morning again and walked six miles in intense heat to a +palaver, carrying a couple of babies. When she arrived she was at the +point of fainting. + +The next night the slave who had been carried off succeeded in breaking +the lock of his chains and escaped to the Mission House. In his baffled +rage his master chained all who belonged to him, but fear of the +impending visit of the Consul made him reflect, and he sent word later +to "Ma" to ask her forgiveness, and to say that all the people had been +freed. He asked her to go down to Duke Town and make the Consul come +"in peace and not in war." She did so, taking the refugee with her. The +Consul adopted her view of the situation, and arranged to visit the +district and hold a conference. To this she invited all the chiefs, +telling them to free their minds of fear, and preparing them for the +subjects that would be dealt with. + +It was Mr. Moor, the Vice-Consul, who came, and he brought a small +guard of honour which paraded in the village, and gave Okoyong a +greater thrill than it had yet experienced. Mr. Moor found "Ma" on the +roof of her house repairing the mats which had been leaking, but she +was not in the least perturbed, and received him with perfect +composure. He was very patient and kind with the chiefs, but sought to +impress upon them the necessity for some improvement in their habits. +Already Mary had been much impressed with the new stamp of Government +official under Sir Claude Macdonald, and this representative of the +class she thought one of the best. + +As a result of the conference the chiefs promised to abstain from +killing at funerals, and to allow "Ma" to have an opportunity of saving +twins and caring for them in a special hut. She gave thanks to God; but +she knew the African nature, and did not relax her vigilance. A month +after the Consul's visit a kinsman of the above chief, older and much +more wealthy, died suddenly. "We trembled for their promise to the +Consul," she wrote, "but we left them to themselves, believing that it +was better to trust them to a great extent, and instead of going and +staying with them to watch, we sent our compliments and gifts, and told +them we expected they would remember their treaty and the consequences +of any breach of faith. After all was over not a slave or vassal was +missing, and though there were not wanting idle tongues let loose by +the unlimited supply of strong drink, and brawlings, and determinations +to take the poison of their own accord in order to prove their +innocence, not one person has died as the direct result of the dread +event." + +Mrs. Weir once spent a week-end at Okoyong, and accompanied her to a +village two or three miles away where she was in the habit of going to +conduct a service. When they arrived they found that the head of a +house had died, and was being buried, according to custom, inside the +house. They were taken to the place and saw the dead man's possessions +--his pipe, snuff-box, powder-flask, and other articles--placed in the +grave in order that they might be useful to him in the other world. +Mrs. Weir could not help wondering at their superstition after all the +teaching that they had been given. She said nothing; but Mary, with her +keen intuition, read her thoughts and said. "You will be thinking they +are not very different yet, but when I came to Okoyong, do you think I +would have seen men and women moving freely about like this? They would +have all been refugees in the bush, and those who had been caught would +have been in chains, waiting to be put to death, so that their spirits +might accompany the chief." + +Towards the end of the year she had what she called one of her descents +into the valley of the shadow, and was removed to Duke Town. "Daddy" +Anderson, who had retired, but had come out again to Calabar on a +visit, walked over to see her; he said very little, but just sat and +held her hand. He, himself, was passing into the shadow, but not to +return. She was with him at the last, and did her best to comfort him. +"Dear Daddy Anderson!" she wrote; "Calabar seems a strange land to me +now. All the friends are strangers to the old order. The Calabar of my +girlhood is among the things of the past." + +Her scepticism regarding the promise of the people was justified, for +the killing of twins went on as usual; and in the following year she +brought up Sir Claude Macdonald himself to renew the covenant. Sir +Claude was all kindness and courtesy, assuring the chiefs that he did +not come to take their country, but to guide them into a proper way of +governing it, that all, bond and free, might dwell in safety and peace. +What he insisted on was their recognition of the claims of justice and +humanity. The spokesman, an old greyheaded man, said they wished to +retire, in order to consult together. On returning he naively excused +their conduct by stating that when they only heard words once they +thought the matter unworthy of their consideration, but when they were +repeated, they thought there must be something in them, and so they +would obey the requirements of the Government this time. As regards +twins, they were doubtful, "We are not sure that no evil will happen to +us if we obey you; we have our fear, but we will try." They would not, +however, consent to keep them in their own homes, and again Mary said +that if they would notify her of the births she would be responsible +for their welfare. + +She had been acting as interpreter, and as the palaver lasted from +early morning until after dark she was much fatigued. Her last words +were to encourage the chiefs to keep their pledge, and they would enjoy +the benefits when she might be no more with them. The very suggestion +of farewell alarmed them. "God cannot take you away from your +children," they exclaimed, "until they are able to walk by themselves." + + + + + XXX. AFTER SEVEN YEARS + +Africa is slow to change: the centuries roll over it, leaving scarcely +a trace of their passing: the years come and go, and the people remain +the same: all effort seems in vain. Could one weak woman affect the +conditions even in a small district of the mighty continent? + +It had been uphill work for her. At first there had been only a dogged +response to the message she had brought. When some impression had been +made she found that it soon disappeared. In ordinary life the people +were volatile, quick as fire to resent, and as quick to forgive and +forget, and they were the same in regard to higher things. They went +into rapture over the Gospel, prayed aloud, clasped their hands, shed +tears, and then went back to their drinking, sacrificing, and +quarrelling. They kept to all the old ways, in case they might miss the +right one. "Yes, Ma," they would say, "that is right for you; but you +and we are different." + +But she never lost hope. "There is not much progress to report," she +was accustomed to say, "and yet very much to thank God for, and to lead +us to take courage." She was quite content to go on bringing rays of +sunshine into the dark lives of the people, and securing for the +children better conditions than their fathers had. "After all," she +would say, "it comes back to this, Christ sent me to preach the Gospel, +and He will look after results." She was always much comforted by the +thought of something she had heard the Rev. Dr. Beatt, of her old +church in Aberdeen, say in a sermon: she could recall nothing but the +heads, and one of these was, "_Between the sower and the reaper stands +the Husbandman._" But results there were of a most important kind, and +it is time to take stock of them. Fortunately she was induced at this +time to jot down some impressions of her work, and these, which were +never published, give the best idea of the remarkable change which had +been wrought in the life and habits of Okoyong. It will be noticed that +she does not use the pronoun "I." Whenever she gave a statement of her +work she always wrote "we," as if she were a co-worker with a Higher +Power. + +"In these days of high pressure," she says, "men demand large profits +and quick returns in every department of our commercial and national +life, and these must be served up with the definiteness and precision +of statistics. This abnormal and feverish haste has entered to some +extent into our religious work, and is felt more or less in all the +pulses of our Church. Whatever may be the reasons for such a course in +regard to worldly callings, its methods and standards are utterly +foreign to the laws of Christ's kingdom, and can only result in +distortions and miscalculations when applied to His work. While +thanking God for every evidence of life and growth, we shrink from +reducing the throes of spiritual life, the development and workings of +the conscience, or the impulse and trend toward God and righteousness, +to any given number of figures on a table. Hence it is with the +greatest reluctance that we endeavour to sum up some tangible proof of +the power of God's Word among our heathen neighbours. While to our +shame and confusion of face it has not been what it might, and would +have been had we been more faithful and kept more in line with the will +and spirit of God, it has to the praise of the glory of His grace +proved stronger than sin and Satan. + +"We do not attempt to give in numbers those who are nominally +Christian. Women, lads, girls, and a few men profess to have placed +themselves in God's hands. All the children within reach are sent to +the school without stipulation. One lady of free birth and good +position has borne persecution for Christ's sake. We speak with +diffidence; for as no ordained minister has ever been resident or +available for more than a short visit, no observance of the ordinances +of Baptism or the Lord's Supper have been held and we have not had the +usual definite offers of persons as candidates for Church membership, +We have just kept on sowing the seed of the Word, believing that when +God's time comes to gather them into the visible Church there will be +some among us ready to participate in the privilege and honour. + +"Of results as affecting the condition and conduct of our people +generally, it is more easy to speak. Raiding, plundering, the stealing +of slaves, have almost entirely ceased. Any person from any place can +come now for trade of pleasure, and stay wherever they choose, their +persons and property being as safe as in Calabar. For fully a year we +have heard of nothing like violence from even the most backward of our +people. They have thanked me for restraining them in the past, and +begged me to be their consul, as they neither wished black man nor +white man to be their king. It would be impossible, apart from a belief +in God's particular and personal providence in answer to prayer, to +account for the ready obedience and submission to our judgment which +was accorded to us. It seemed sometimes to be almost miraculous that +hordes of armed, drunken, passion-swayed men should give heed and +chivalrous homage to a woman, and one who had neither wealth nor +outward display of any kind to produce the slightest sentiment in her +favour. But such was the case, and we do not recollect one instance of +insubordination. + +"As their intercourse with the white men increased through trade or +otherwise, they found that to submit to his authority did not mean loss +of liberty but the opposite, and gradually their objections cleared +away, till in 1894 they formally met and bound themselves to some +extent by treaty with the Consul. Again, later, our considerate, +patient, tactful Governor, Sir Claude Macdonald, met them, and at that +interview the last objection was removed, and they promised +unconditional surrender of the old laws which were based on +unrighteousness and cruelty, and cordial acceptance of the just and, as +they called it, 'clean' code which he proffered them in return, Since +then he has proclaimed them a free people in every respect among +neighbouring tribes, and so, placing them on their honour, so to speak, +has made out of the roughest material a lot of self-respecting men who +conduct their business in a fashion from which Europeans might take +lessons. Of course they need superintendence and watching, for their +ideas are not so nicely balanced as ours in regard to the shades and +degrees of right and wrong, but as compared with their former ideas and +practice they are far away ahead of what we expected. + +"No tribe was formerly so feared because of their utter disregard of +human life, but human life is now safe. No chief ever died without the +sacrifice of many lives, but this custom has now ceased. Only last +month the man who, for age, wealth, and general influence, exceeded all +the other chiefs in Okoyong, died from the effects of cold caught three +months before. We trembled, as they are at some distance from us, and +every drop of European drink which could be bought from all the towns +around was bought at once, and canoes were sent from every hamlet with +all the produce at command to Duke Town for some more, and all was +consumed before the people dispersed from the funeral. But the only +death resulting has been that of a man, who, on being blamed by the +witch-doctors, went and hanged himself because the chiefs in +attendance--drunk as they were--refused to give him the poison ordeal. +Some chiefs, gathered for palaver at our house on the day of his death, +in commenting on the wonderful change said, 'Ma, you white people are +God Almighty. No other power could have done this.' + +"With regard to infanticide and twin-murder we can speak hopefully. It +will doubtless take some time to develop in them the spirit of self- +sacrifice to the extent of nursing the vital spark for the mere love of +God and humanity among the body of the people. The ideals of those +emerging from heathenism are almost necessarily low. What the foreigner +does is all very well for the foreigner, but the force of habit or +something more subtle evidently excuses the practice of the virtue +among themselves. Of course there are exceptions. All the evidence goes +to show that something more tangible than sentiment or principle +determines the conduct of the multitude, even among those avowedly +Christian. But with all this there has dawned on them the fact that +life is worth saving, even at the risk of one's own: and though chiefs +and subjects alike, less than two years ago, refused to hear of the +saving of twins, we have already their promise and the first instalment +of their fidelity to their promise in the persons of two baby girls +aged six and five months respectively, who have already won the hearts +of some of our neighbours and the love of all the school children. +Seven women have literally touched them, and all the people, including +the most practical of the chiefs, come to the house and hold their +palavers in full view of where the children are being nursed. One chief +who, with fierce gesticulations, some years ago protested that we must +draw the line at twins, and that they should never be brought to light +in his lifetime, brought one of his children who was very ill, two +months ago, and laid it on our knee alongside the twin already there, +saying with a sob in his voice, 'There! they are all yours, living or +dying, they are all yours. Do what you like with mine.' + +"Drinking, especially among the women, is on the decrease. The old +bands of roving women who came to us at first are now only a memory and +a name. The women still drink, but it is at home where the husband can +keep them in check. In our immediate neighbourhood it is an extremely +rare thing to see a woman intoxicated, even on feast days and at +funerals. None of the women who frequent our house ever taste it at +all, but they still keep it for sale and give it to visitors. Indeed it +is the only thing which commands a ready sale and brings ready money, +and their excuse is just that of many of the Church members at home, +that those who want it will get it elsewhere, and perhaps in greater +measure. But we have noted a decided stand being taken by several of +the young mothers who have been our friends and scholars against its +being given by husbands or visitors to their children. We have also +thankfully noted for long that on our making an appearance anywhere +there is a run made to hide the bottles, and the chief indignantly +threatens any slave who brings it into our presence. + +"All this points to an improvement in the condition of the people +generally. They are eager for education. Instead of the apathy and +incredulous laugh which the mention of the Word formerly brought, the +cry from all parts is for teachers; and there is a disposition to be +friendly to any one who will help them towards a higher plane of +living. But it brings vividly before us the failures and weaknesses in +our work; for instance, the desultoriness of our teaching, which of +necessity stultifies the results that under better conditions would be +sure to follow. School teaching has been carried on under great +difficulties owing to the scattered population, the family quarrels +which made it formerly a risk to walk alone, the fear of sorcery and of +the evil spirits which are supposed to dwell in the forest, the +denseness of the forest itself, which makes it dangerous for children +to go from one place to another without an armed escort, the +withdrawing of girls when they have just been able to read in order to +go to their seclusion and fattening, and the consequent drafting of +them to great distances to their husbands' farms, the irregular +attendance of boys who accompany their masters wherever they go, and +who take the place of postmen and news-agents-general to the country. + +"There have been difficulties on our own side--the distances consume +time and strength, the multifarious claims made on the Mission House, +the household itself which is usually a large one having in addition to +servants those who are training for future usefulness in special +spheres--as the Mission House has been until quite lately the only +means of getting such training--and having usually one or more of the +rescued victims of heathen customs. The Dispensary work calls also for +much time and strength, nursing often having to accompany the medicine; +the very ignorance and superstition of the patients and their friends +making the task doubly trying. Then one must be ever at hand to hear +the plaint of and to shelter and reconcile the runaway slave or wife or +the threatened victim of oppression and superstition. Visitors are to +be received, and all the bothersome and, to European notions, stupid +details of native etiquette are to be observed if we are to win the +favour and confidence of the people. + +"Moreover we must be both able and willing to help ourselves in regard +to the wear and tear in our dwelling and station buildings. We must +make and keep in repair buildings, fences, drainage, etc., and all amid +surroundings in which the climate and its forces are leagued against +us. + +"Add to all this the cares of housekeeping when there is no baker +supply, no butcher supply, no water supply, no gas supply, no coal +supply, no laundry supply, no trained-servant supply, nor untrained +either for that matter, except when some native can and will lend you a +slave to help you or when you can buy one--which, under ordinary +circumstances is a very doubtful practice, as, though in buying the +person you are literally freeing him, the natives are apt to +misinterpret the motive, and unless you are very fortunate in your +purchase, the slave may bring you into conflict with the powers that +be, owing to their law which recognises no freedom except that +conferred by birth. After all this is seen to day by day, where is the +time and strength for comprehensive and consecutive work of a more +directly evangelistic and teaching type?--specially when the latter is +manned year by year by the magnificent total of one individual. Is it +fair to expect results under such circumstances?" + + + + + XXXI. THE PASSING OF THE CHIEFS + +In the year 1896 Miss Slessor realised that she was no longer in the +centre of her people. Like all agricultural populations addicted to +primitive methods of cultivation, they had gradually moved on to richer +lands elsewhere. Even Ma Erne had gone to a farm some distance away. A +market had been opened at a place called Akpap, farther inland and +nearer the Cross River, and farms and villages had grown up around it, +and she saw that it would be necessary to follow the population there. +The Calabar Committee--a Committee had succeeded the Presbytery--was at +first doubtful of the wisdom of transferring the station, largely owing +to the remoteness and inaccessibility of the new site, the nearest +landing-place being six miles away, at Ikunetu on the Cross River. +There was some advantage in this, however, for the Mission launch was +constantly moving up and down the waterway. The voyage was between low, +bush-covered banks broken by vistas of cool green inlets, with here a +tall palm tree or bunch of feathery bamboos, and there a cluster of +huts, while canoes were frequently passed laden with hogsheads of palm +oil for the factory, or a little dug-out containing a solitary fisher. +The track from Ikunetu to Akpap was the ordinary shady bush path, +bordered by palms, bananas, orange trees, ferns, and orchids, but in +the wet season it was overgrown with thick grass, higher than one's +head, which made a guide necessary, since one trail in the African +forest looks exactly like another. + +After some consideration it was decided to sanction the change, and to +build a good Mission House with a beach shed at Ikunetu. Long before +the house was built, however, and even before it was begun, Mary +installed herself at Akpap, in conditions similar to those of her first +year at Ekenge. Her home consisted of a small shed of two divisions, +without windows or floor, into which she and the children and the +furniture were packed. And from this humble abode, as from a palace, +she ruled Okoyong with all the dignity and power of a queen. Never had +her days been so busy or her nights so broken and sleepless. No +quarrel, tribal or domestic, no question of difficulty of any kind, was +settled other than in the Mission hut. Sometimes the strain was almost +greater than she could bear. There was much sickness among the +children, and an infectious native disease, introduced by a new baby, +caused the death of four. Matters were not mended by an epidemic of +small-pox, which swept over the country and carried off hundreds of the +people. For hours every day she was employed in vaccinating all who +came to her. Mr. Alexander, who was the engineer of the Mission at this +time--the natives called him _etúbom ubom nsuñikañ_ "captain of the +smoking canoe"--remembers arriving when her supply of lymph had run +out, and of assisting her with a penknife from the arms of those who +had already been inoculated. + +The outbreak was severe at Ekenge, and she went over and converted her +old house into a hospital. The people who were attacked flocked to it, +but all who could fled from the plague-stricken scene, and she was +unable to secure any one to nurse the patients or bury them when they +died. She was saddened by the loss of many friends. Ekpenyong was +seized and succumbed, and she committed his body to the earth. Then +Edem, her own chief, caught the infection, and she braced herself to +save him. She could not forget his kindness and consideration for her +throughout all these years, and she fought for his life day and night, +tending him with the utmost solicitude and patience. It was in vain. He +passed away in the middle of the night. She was alone, but with her own +hands she fashioned a coffin and placed him into it, and with her own +hands she dug a grave and buried him. Then turning from the ghostly +spot with its melancholy community of dead and dying, she tramped +through the dark and dew-sodden forest to Akpap, where, utterly +exhausted, she threw herself on her bed as the land was whitening +before the dawn. + +Towards the village that day two white men made their way,--Mr. Ovens, +who was coming to build a Mission House, and Mr. Alexander who had +brought him up. When they arrived at the little shed it was eleven +o'clock in the forenoon. All was quiet. "Something wrong," remarked Mr. +Alexander, and they moved quickly to the hut. A weak voice answered +their knock and call, and on gaining entrance they found "Ma" tired and +heavy-eyed. "I had only just now fallen asleep," she confessed. But it +was not for some time that they learned where she had been and what she +had done. + +When, two days later, Mr. Alexander went over to bring some material +from the old house, he found it full of corpses and not a soul to be +seen. The place was never fit for habitation again, and gradually it +was engulfed in bush and vanished from the face of the earth. + +Conditions were the same far and wide, and her heart was full of pity +for the helpless people, "Heartrending accounts," she wrote, "come from +up-country, where the people, panic-stricken, are fleeing and leaving +the dead and dying in their houses, only to be stricken down themselves +in the bush. They have no helper up there, and know of no Saviour. I am +just thinking that perhaps the reason God has taken my four bairns is +that I may be free to go up and help them. If the brethren say that I +should go I shall." + +It is not surprising that these events had a depressing effect upon +her; she said she had no heart for anything. It was an unusual note to +come from her, and indicated that her strength was waning. The presence +of Mr. Ovens was a help; his sense of humour seasoned the days, and he +made light of difficulty and trial, though he was far from comfortable. +One of the divisions in the shed had been turned over to him, she and +her children crowding into the other. The place was infested by ants +and lizards, and all night the rats used his body as a springboard to +reach the roof. There was always one scene in the strange household +which touched him with a feeling of pathos and reverence--family +worship in the evening. A light from a small lamp illumined the +interior. Miss Slessor sat on the mud-floor with her back resting on +the wall. Squatting before her in a half-circle were the girls and boys +of the house. Behind these were ranged a number of baskets filled with +twin babies. "Ma" spoke and prayed very simply and naturally. Then a +hymn of her own composition was sung in Efik to the tune of "Rothesay +Bay," she accompanying it with a tambourine. If the attention of the +girls wandered she would lean forward and tap them on the head with the +instrument. + +One human solace never failed her--the letters from home. How eagerly +she longed for them! How they lifted her out of her surroundings and +chased away for a time the moral miasma that surrounded her and often +seemed to choke her as if it were physical. Some one wrote about the +Synod meetings. "It is easy to be good," she said, "with all the holy +and helpful influences about you. Fancy a crowd of Christians that fill +the Synod Hall! It makes me envious to read about it. Away up here +among heathenism, working away with the twos and the threes and the +tens, one almost forgets that there are crowds who would die for +Christ. But, with all their imperfections, there are, and we are not in +a losing cause at all. I am seldom in Duke Town or Creek Town, and hear +little in the way of sermons, and have little of the outward help you +have. But Christ is here and the Holy Spirit, and if I am seldom in a +triumphant or ecstatic mood I am always satisfied and happy in His +love." + +Her furlough was overdue, but there was a difficulty in filling her +place, and she would not leave the people alone. Meanwhile she kept +"drudging away" as well as she could from dawn till dark. People were +coming to her now from far-off spots, many from across the river from +unknown regions who had never seen a white person before, drawn to her +by the fame of her goodness and power. At first they sat outside, and +would not cook or eat or drink inside the compound because of the +twins, but by and by they gained courage and mixed with the household. +The majority of these people were neither bright nor good-looking, but +she only saw souls that were precious in the sight of her Master. In +one of her letters she describes what was the daily scene: "Four at my +feet listening; five boys outside getting a reading-lesson from Janie; +a man lying on the ground who has run away from his master and is +taking refuge until I get him forgiven; an old chief with a girl who +has a bad ulcer; a woman begging for my intervention with her husband; +a nice girl with heavy leglets from her knee to the ankles, with pieces +of cloth wrapped round to prevent the skin being cut, whom I am +teaching; and three for vaccination." + +On the last night of the year she wrote: "My bairns have been made +happy and myself glad by a handsome Christmas box from the Consul- +General and Colonel Boisragon of our Consular staff. They were up with +a party, and spent the greater part of three days with me, trying to do +good among my people: and they have sent dolls and sweets and fruit and +biscuits, and many useful things for the house, and a carpenter to mend +my stair, and plane and rehang my doors. He is here now doing odds and +ends about the house, so I feel quite cheered up. He (the Consul) must +have gone to a steamer and got all these things for us, for there are +no such things for sale here, and it shows how much interested he is in +mission work. It is seldom, comparatively, that Government officials +care for these things." + + + + + XXXII. CLOTHED BY FAITH + +As Mr. Ovens was at Akpap engaged on the new Mission House the Calabar +Committee decided to send her home in 1898 whether they could supply +the station or not. "It will be rather trying to get back to the home +kind of life and language," she said; "but I shall just want a place to +hide in: away from conventionalities and all the paraphernalia of +civilisation." Her chief problem was the disposal of the children, whom +she dreaded to leave under native influences. There were so few +missionaries in the field then that it was difficult to find homes for +them. She settled two babies, some of her girls, and the former slave- +woman with a lady agent. The rest she made up her mind to take with +her. It was a daring thing to do, but doing daring things was her +normal habit. She justified herself to a friend by saying that Janie +was now a big girl and a great help. Mary was five years old and able +to fend for herself; Alice was about three and fairly independent, and +Maggie was sixteen months, and could sit about and be easily amused. + +The next problem was how to equip both herself and her retinue for the +voyage. Her wardrobe had been gradually deplenished in the bush, and +during her illnesses ants had eaten up all that remained. She and the +children had nothing but the old garments they had on. But she was not +dismayed: in the simplicity of her faith she believed that the Master +knew her difficulty, and would come to her aid and provide all her +needs. And she was not disappointed. + +When at Duke Town, preparatory to departure, a box from Renfield Street +Church, Glasgow, arrived for her, and she went down to the beach and +opened it to see if it contained anything she might require. And +everything she required was there, including many knitted and woollen +articles--a most uncommon circumstance. There was also a shawl--"I do +not know what I should have done without that on the voyage," she said. +The ladies of the Mission took the cloth and flannelette and soon had +the whole party fitted out. In acknowledging the box she begged the +givers not to be vexed at what she had done: the articles had been used +in the service of Christ as much as if they had been distributed in +Okoyong. + +She was so far spent that she was carried on board. On the voyage she +received much kindness, and believing that God was behind it all she +accepted everything as from Him and was very grateful. Her simple faith +in the goodness of her kind was shown by the fact that the telegram she +despatched on arriving at Liverpool to Mrs. M'Crindle, Joppa, was the +first intimation that lady received that she was coming. And at the +railway station she confidingly handed her purse to the porter, asking +him to take it and buy the tickets, Mrs. M'Crindle met her at the +Waverley Station, Edinburgh. There was the usual bustle on the arrival +of a train from the South. The sight of a little black girl being +handed down from the carriage caused a mild stir, when another came the +interest increased, when a third dropped down a crowd gathered, when a +fourth stepped out the cabmen and porters forgot their fares and +stared, wondering who the slight, foreign-looking lady could be who had +brought so strange a family. + + + + + XXXIII. THE SHY SPEAKER + +Eagerly looked for after her heroic service in Okoyong she received a +warm welcome from her friends in the United Presbyterian Church. For +some weeks she lived at Joppa, and then anxious to be independent she +took a small house near at hand, where she and Janie managed the work +and cooking. It was not a very comfortable _ménage_, and Miss Adam, one +of the "chief women" of the Church and Convener of the Zenana Mission +Committee, made arrangements for her and the children staying at +Bowden, St. Boswells. Here, looking down upon a beautiful expanse of +historic border country, she spent a quiet and restful time. As her +vitality and spirits came back she began to address meetings, and found +that the interest in her work had deepened and extended. + +She was, if anything, shyer than ever, and would not speak before men. +At a drawing-room gathering in Glasgow the husband of the lady of the +house and two well-known ministers were present. She rose to give an +address, but no words came. Turning to the men she said, "Will the +gentlemen kindly go away?" The lady of the house said it would be a +great disappointment to them not to hear her, "Then," she replied, +"will they kindly go and sit where I cannot see them?" When she began +to speak she seemed to forget her diffidence, and she held the little +audience spell-bound. At a Stirling meeting a gentleman slipped in. +After a slight pause she said, "If the gentleman in the meeting would +hide behind the lady in front of him I would be more at my ease." On +another occasion she fled from the platform when called on to speak, +and it was only with difficulty that she was brought back. When people +began to praise her she slipped out and remained away until they had +finished. + +"She was a most gentle-looking lady," writes one who heard her then, +"rather below the average height, a complexion like yellow parchment, +and short lank brown hair: a most pleasing expression and winning +smile, and when she spoke I thought I had never heard such a musical +voice." She went to her home-city, Aberdeen, and addressed a meeting in +Belmont Street Church, which her mother had attended; and of her power +of speech the Rev. Dr. Beatt, the minister, who was in the chair, says: +"It was characterised by a simple diction, a tearful sympathy, a +restrained passion, and a pleading love for her people, which made it +difficult to listen to her without deep emotion." At one meeting in +Glasgow she spent an hour shaking hands. "What a lot of love there is +in the world after all," she said gratefully. She received such a +reception at a meeting in Edinburgh that she broke down. Recovering +herself she earnestly denied that her work was more remarkable than +that of any other missionary in Calabar: "They all work as hard or +harder than I do." She went on to plead for an ordained missionary for +Okoyong. "I feel that my work there is done, I can teach them no more. +I would like to go farther inland and make a home among a tribe of +cannibals." + +Many a stirring appeal she made for workers. + +"If missions are a failure," she said, "it is our failure and not +God's. If we only prayed and had more faith what a difference it would +make! In Calabar we are going back every day. For years we have been +going back. The China Inland Mission keep on asking for men, men, men, +and they get what they want and more than we get. We keep calling for +money, money, money, and we get money--of great value in its place--but +not the men and the women. Where are they? When Sir Herbert Kitchener, +going out to conquer the Soudan required help, thousands of the +brightest of our young men were ready. Where are the soldiers of the +Cross? In a recent war in Africa in a region with the same climate and +the same malarial swamp as Calabar there were hundreds of officers and +men offering their services, and a Royal Prince went out. But the +banner of the Cross goes a-begging. Why should the Queen have good +soldiers and not the King of Kings?" + +Her nervous timidity was often curiously exhibited. She was, for +instance, afraid of crowds, and she would never cross a city street +alone; and once, when she was proceeding to a village meeting she would +not take a short cut through a field because there was a cow in it. Yet +she was never lacking in high courage when the need arose. At a meeting +in Edinburgh several addresses had been delivered, and the collection +was announced. As is often the case the audience drew a sigh of relief, +relaxed attention, and made a stir in changing positions. Some began to +whisper and to carry on a conversation with those sitting near them. +She stood the situation as long as she could, then rose, and spoke, +regardless of all the dignitaries about her, and rebuked the audience +for their want of reverence. Were they not presenting their offerings +to the Lord? Was that not as much an act of worship as singing and +praying? How then could they behave in such a thoughtless and +unbecoming manner? There was something of scorn in her voice as she +contrasted the way in which the Calabar converts presented their +offerings with that of the well-educated Edinburgh audience. When she +sat down it was amidst profound silence. "That is a brave woman," was +the thought of many. + +With her bairns she left towards the end of the year (1898), Miss Adam +accompanying them to Liverpool to see them safely on board. A more +notable person than she realised, she was sought out by a special +representative of Reuter's Agency and interviewed. Her story of the +superstitious practices connected with the birth of twins in West +Africa had the element of horror which makes good "copy," and most of +the newspapers in the kingdom next day gave a long description of these +customs and of her work of rescue. Incidentally she stated that up to +that time she had saved fifty-one twins from destruction. She thought +nothing of this talk with the reporter, never mentioning it to any one, +and was unaware of the wide publicity accorded to her remarks. She +spent Christmas on board the steamer. Again every one was kind to her, +the officers and stewards vying with each other in showing her +attention. All along the coast she was well known, and invitations came +from officials at Government headquarters, but these she modestly +declined. She was interested in all things that interested others, and +would discuss engineering and railway extension and trade prices and +the last new book as readily as mission work and policy. The children +she kept in the background, as she had done in Scotland, and would not +allow them to be spoiled. On arrival in Calabar they were much made of, +and it was only the experienced Janie who did not like the process. + + + + + XXXIV. ISOLATION + +An exceptionally trying experience followed. Arrangements had been made +by the Committee in Scotland for the better staffing of the station, +but these broke down, and for the next three years she worked alone, +her isolation only being relieved by an occasional visit from the lady +missionaries in Calabar. During that long period she fought, single- +handed, a double battle in the depths of the forest. She was +incessantly at war with the evils that were still rife about her, and +she had to struggle against long spells of low fever and sleeplessness. +And right bravely did she engage in the task, conquering her ill-health +by sheer will-power, and gaining an ever greater personal ascendancy +over the people. + + + 1. A Mother in Israel + +The gradual pacification of Okoyong brought about by her influence and +authority increased rather than diminished her work. As the people +settled down to orderly occupations and trade the land became valuable, +and disputes were constantly cropping up regarding ownerships and +boundaries. There was much underground palavering, of which no one knew +but herself, which kept her always on the strain. She had to mother the +whole tribe, and it took all her patience and tact to prevent them +reverting to their old violent practices. A Government official of that +time, who had to enquire into a number of cases over which there had +been correspondence with her, says, "I stayed with 'Ma' and had my +first lesson in how to deal with natives. It did not require very long +for even a 'fresher' to see what a power in the land she was. All came +to her in any kind of trouble. As an interpreter she made every palaver +an easy one to settle, by the fact that she could represent to each +side accurately what the other party wished to convey." + +Her fame had gone still farther, and people were now coming from places +a hundred miles distant to see the wonderful person who was ruling the +land and doing away with all the evil fashions. And what did they see? +A powerful Sultana sitting in a palace with an army at her command? No. +Only a weak woman in a lowly house surrounded by a number of helpless +children. But they, too, came under her mysterious spell. They told her +of all the troubles that perplexed their lives, and she gave them +advice and helped them. In one week she had deputations from four +different tribes, each with a tale of wrong and oppression. Innocent +people fled to her to escape the fate decreed by the witch-doctor: +guilty people sheltered with her, knowing that they were sure at least +of nothing worse than justice. She welcomed them all, and to all she +spoke of the Saviour, and strove to bring them to His feet. And none +went away without carrying some of the fragrance of that knowledge, and +in remote districts unvisited by the white man it lingered for years, +so that when missionaries went there later on they would come across a +man or a woman who said, "Oh, I know all about Jesus, the White Mother +once told me." + +She was so interested in these strangers that the desire came to know +more about them and their surroundings, and she made numerous trips up +the Cross River by Mission steamer and canoe and visited the townships +on the banks. On one of these journeys she felt for the first time that +death was at her side. A dispute had arisen between Okoyong and Umon, +and the Umon people, strong in the belief that she would mete out +justice even against her own tribe, begged her to come and decide the +quarrel. It was a long day's journey for the best walkers, "but," said +she, "if they can do it in a day, so can I." A well-manned canoe was, +however, sent for her, and she proceeded in it with some of the twin- +children. They were speeding down a narrow creek leading into the +river, a man standing with his paddle at the bow to negotiate the canoe +past the logs and trees, when a hippopotamus, which was attended by its +young, rose immediately in front and attacked it savagely. The man at +the bow instantly thrust the paddle into the gaping mouth, and shoved +the canoe violently to one side. Mary seized some large tin basins with +covers, which the natives used for holding cooked food, and placed them +outside in front of the part where the children were sitting, and where +the infuriated hippopotamus was trying to grip and upset the canoe. +These curious weapons succeeded in baffling the monster. Several times +it made a rush and failed. The shouting, the snapping of the jaws, the +whirling of the paddles, the cries of the children--"_O Abasi ibom Ete +nyaña nyin mbok O!_" ("O God, Father, please save us, Oh!")--almost +unnerved her. The hippo at last made for the stern, where some of the +paddlers beat it off and kept it at bay long enough to enable the +others to turn the canoe and rush it out of its reach. + +But she could not now afford to be long away from her station, for the +utmost vigilance was required to combat the evils around her. In spite +of British laws and gunboats twin-murder continued in secret. She +noticed, however, that where the people came within the influence of +the Mission their fears gradually disappeared. What pleased her was +that women to whom she had been kind voluntarily brought in twins to +her that would otherwise have been killed. One day she and Mr. +Alexander were sitting at breakfast when a woman walked in, and without +remark placed a large calabash on the table. Mary thought it was a dish +of native food and said, "You have come too late, we have just +finished." Still the woman was silent. Mary opened the calabash and +found that it contained two twin boys. + +There were other promising signs. The mother of a twin baby who was +saved came to the Mission House and lived there, working at the farm +during the day. One master took a twin and the mother home. All his +other wives at once gathered up their children and left him, but he +remained firm. As the woman had been a neighbour of "Ma's" at Ekenge, +it is probable that her influence had told on her then. But the +outstanding event in this direction was that a twin boy was taken home +by his parents, who were determined to keep him. The affair made a +great stir, but she told all the chiefs that she would stand by the +parents, and if they dared to say a word or trace any calamity to the +family she would "make palaver." They were grimly silent, but could not +dispute her word. She believed that their attitude was only due to +fear, which would die away if a stand were made. + +Her work in school and Bible Class was beginning to tell. Six of the +best boys of free birth and good standing whom she was training were +now Christians, and working in the villages around. Two, sons of the +most powerful chiefs in the district, took the reading and another was +the speaker. It was not much to boast of perhaps. "I feel the smallness +of the returns" she said, "but is the labour lost? A thousand times +No!" + + + 2. _The Cares of a Household_ + +Her most trying fight during these years was with ill-health. She was +now occupying the new house, which she pronounced "lovely," but it was +hotter than any she had lived in, and she often sighed for "her lowly +mud-hut" again. At one time she was three months in bed, and recovery +was always a slow and weary process. The people were afraid she would +have to go to Scotland and came and assisted her in every way, while +her boy scholars maintained the services. But often she would struggle +up and conduct the Sunday meetings herself, although it meant a +sleepless night. "I am ashamed to confess," she wrote, "that our poor +wee services here take as much out of me as the great meetings at home +did." To fill in the wakeful hours she would rise in the middle of the +night, light a candle, and answer a batch of correspondence. There were +friends to whom she did not require to write often: "Ours is like the +life above, we do not need to tell; we can go on loving and praying, +but this is a rare thing in the world." Others were not so considerate. +Some of her letters at this period are marked "Midnight," "3 A.M.," +"Just before dawn," and so on. But more often she was unable to sit up, +and was too tired to write, and lay thinking of her last visit home, +and particularly of her sojourn at Bowden; "I never had such a time; I +live everything all over again during these sleepless nights; it grips +me more than my real home life of long ago." + +She never grumbled to her correspondents, even when in the grip of +nervous debility. Her letters are filled with loving enquiries about +people, especially young people, at home. She kept them all in mind, +followed their lives with interest, and was always anxious to know if +they had consecrated themselves to the service of Christ. "Life is so +great and so grand," she would write, and "eternity is so real and so +terrible in its issues. Surely my lads out here are not to take the +crown from my boys at home." + +Now and again, however, a strain of sadness is perceptible in her +letters, perhaps due to the state of her health and her isolation, as +well as the outlook abroad, which was then unrestful. "All is dark," +she said, "except above. Calvary stands safe and sure." Often she +wondered what worldlings did in the midst of all their entanglements +and the mysteries of life and death without some higher hope and +strength. "Life apart from Christ," she would say, "is a dreadful +gift." + +Her own future loomed uncertain, and the thought of the children began +to weigh upon her mind: "It is not likely I shall ever go home again. I +feel as if I did not want to. How could I leave the bairns in this +dreadful land? Who would mother them in this sink of iniquity?" And +soon afterwards she wrote: "I do not think I could bear the parting +with my children again. If I be spared a few years more I shall have a +bit of land and build a wee house of my own near one of the principal +stations, and just stay out my days there with my bairns and lie down +among them. They need a mother's care and a mother's love more than +ever as they grow up among heathen people, and I could do a little, +through them, for the dark homes and hearts around, and it would be a +house and home for them when I am gone, where the missionaries could be +near them." + +Janie, the faithful, unselfish soul who had been with her from +babyhood, was at last married. "Her husband," she said, "is my best +scholar, and if his social standing is not the highest, he is a real +companion to her and to my bairns, who worship him." The ceremony was +performed by "Ma," and the entry, in Efik, in a tiny marriage register +runs as follows:-- + + +_December 21, 1899. + +Janie Annan took oath before Obon (chief), Okon Ekpo, and Erne Ete, +that she will marry Akibo Eyo alone, Akibo also took oath that he will +marry Jane alone. They went to the farm with Eme Ete. + +M.M.S._ + + +The break in the family life gave her much more to do, but Janie--or +Jean as she was now more often called--still clung to her, and spent +much time at the Mission House attending to the babies as before, her +husband not objecting to her handling the twins, and even allowing her +to take one home to her house during the day. But difficulty and +disappointment came, as they so often do in Africa, and once more Jean +became an inmate of the household, in which she was to remain to the +end. One day a baby arrived whose mother had died after giving it +birth, and she took it and made it her special child. This was Dan +MacArthur Slessor--called after a home friend of the Mission--a black +boy who was to become almost as well known in Scotland as Jean herself. + +By and by with returning strength the house-mother was able to resume +her old strenuous ways from cock-crow till star-shine. The cares of her +household never grew fewer. "Housekeeping in the bush," she would +remark, "means so much more as well as so much less than in Scotland. +There are no 'at homes,' no drawing-room ornaments to dust, no starched +dresses, but on the other hand there are no butchers or bakers or +nurses or washerwomen, and so I have to keep my shoulder to the wheel +both indoors and out of doors." There were defects in the situation; +she did not need other people to tell her that; she was often +overwhelmed with the multitude of her duties, at her wits' end to +manage all the children. "I have only three girls at present," she +writes, "and I have nine babies, and what with the washing and the +school and the palavers and the visitors, you may be sure there are no +drones in this house." Sometimes she would stand in a state of +pretended distraction and repeat-- + +_"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe, She had so many children +she didn't know what to do."_ + +She was not a housewife in the real sense, although she knew domestic +economy with the best, and there were days when she arose in her might +and introduced order and tidiness, but matters soon fell back into the +normal conditions. She was always quite candid about her deficiencies. +"I have not an elaborate system or method of work; it is just +everything as it comes. I am afraid my mind is not a trained machine. +It only works as it chooses." + +Yet no family of white children could have been more cared for or +loved. She endeavoured to make Sunday a specially pleasant day for +them, and tea then was always a happy function. All sat at a big table +in the hall--Jean, Mana, Annie, Mary, Alice, and Maggie, with bunches +of small boys and girls on the floor. It was then that boxes of +delicacies from home were opened and devoured. How grateful she was to +all her friends! "The gifts," she would write, "are veiled in a mist of +love, real Scottish love, reticent but deep and strong, full of pathos +and prayer; the dear love inspired in our strong rugged Scots character +by the Holy Ghost and moulded by our beloved Presbyterianism of the +olden time; love that does not forget with the passing years." Two +years after she returned she related cheerfully that she was still +wearing the dress that had been given to her on furlough as her best on +the occasions when Government officials called upon her. + +She saw pathos in these gifts, but none of that deeper pathos which lay +in her own life. She saw nothing to grieve about in her own position, +but only in the empty houses along the Cross River. She was not anxious +about herself, but desperately anxious about the extension of Roman +Catholic influence in Calabar. "To think," she exclaimed, "that all our +blood and treasure, love and sacrifice and prayer, should have been +given to make a place for them." + +From her house in the bush she had been eagerly watching the sweep of +that great movement which culminated in 1900 in the union of the United +Presbyterian and Free Churches of Scotland. She loved the blue banner +of the United Presbyterian Church, and one of her constant admonitions +to the younger generation was to carry on the grand old traditions. At +first she had been inclined to favour a kind of fraternal federation, +each denomination keeping its distinctive principles, but she came to +believe in the transfusion of the two streams of spiritual life. + +"We must not forget," she wrote, "that the Free Church people were met +at the Disruption by an empty exchequer and a confusion and blank that +taxed all their energies. It took them such hard work in those days to +get churches and homes for themselves that they got a bias that way, +and the outlook to the 'other sheep' may not have been so wide as that +of our forefathers. These used the little prayer-houses and humble +meeting-places for prayer and preaching: they were men nursed in +persecution and contempt and poverty, and they reaped God's +compensations in a detachment from the world, and in the grit and +spirituality and faith and unity which stress and persecution breed. +And we have inherited it all, and it is our contribution to the Church +life of to-day." + +Her hope was that the Union might create a new and enlarged interest in +the foreign field and fill up the ranks in Calabar; but she was to be +disappointed in this, and she often expressed the view that the Mission +to which she had given her heart and life had been swallowed up, and +had somehow lost its individuality.... + +Into the United Free Church the United Presbyterians brought thirty- +eight women missionaries and one hundred and eighty-five women agents, +and the Free Church brought sixty European women missionaries and ten +Eurasians, and nearly four hundred native women agents, making, on the +women's side of the work alone, a total missionary staff in round +numbers of one hundred European workers assisted by nearly six hundred +local agents, and all these were now put under a new body, the Women's +Foreign Mission Committee, composed of some of the most gifted and +consecrated minds of the Church. + + + + + XXXV. EXILED TO CREEK TOWN + +A dramatic public event which vitally affected her own life and the +course of the mission enterprise brought her seclusion to an end. The +story belongs more to the next phase of her career, but may be briefly +noticed here. With the extension of British influence into the interior +of the continent the form of Government had undergone another +development. Two protectorates were formed, Northern and Southern +Nigeria, and Sir Ralph Moor was appointed High Commissioner of the +latter. The same policy of pacifying and "cleaning up" the country +continued; but there were still large stretches practically untouched +by the agents of the Government, including the territory lying between +the Cross River and the Niger, in the upper part of which slave-raiding +and trading went on as it had done for centuries. The Aros, a powerful +tribe who controlled the juju worship, were the people responsible for +this evil. They would not submit to the new conditions, continued to +make war on peaceable tribes, and indulged in human sacrifices, blocked +the trade routes, and resisted the authority of the Government. One +officer was only able to penetrate fifteen miles west of the Cross +River, not without perilous experiences, and then was obliged to beat a +rapid retreat to escape being killed and eaten. The Government was very +patient and conciliatory; but it became absolutely necessary at last to +despatch a small expedition, and a field force was organised at Calabar +for the purpose. Dr. Rattray of the Mission staff was attached to it as +medical officer. The Aros did not wait for the advance; they raided a +village only fifteen miles from Ikorofiong, and, as a precaution, all +the missionaries upriver were ordered down to Duke and Creek Towns. + +Okoyong was unmoved by these matters, "Ma" Slessor's authority was +supreme, but while the Government believed that all would be well, they +thought it better that she should also come to Calabar until the +trouble was over. Very much against her will she complied. They sent up +a special convoy for her, and treated her with all consideration. They +even offered to build a house at Creek Town for her and her large +family; but she did not wish to become too closely identified with the +Government, and declined their kindly assistance. She found +accommodation in part of the hospital, where, however, she had no +privacy, and was not very comfortable. + +It was the first time she had been in Calabar since her arrival three +years before, and she was not happy. She was never otherwise than ill, +and she longed to get away from the crowd and "the bright, the terribly +bright sky." The children also were unwell. But there were +compensations. The Okoyong people kept steady during the unrest, and +remained true to their Queen. They came down to see her, brought all +their disputes for her to settle, and loaded her with gifts of food, +which were very acceptable, as prices had risen. Her lads kept on the +services, and the people attended regularly. She heard good news of the +twins, which the mothers had taken in order to relieve her; they were +in four different homes in four different districts, and nothing had +been said by the people. One of her oldest friends, the wife of a big +chief, a wealthy leisured woman, bore twins. She instantly wrote to the +chief telling him to put her into a canoe and send her down to Creek +Town. "I am sorry for her," she said, "but we cannot make different +laws for the rich and for the poor, and yet one may press too far with +a chief, and incite rebellion. After all we are foreigners, and they +own the country, so I always try to make the law fit in, while we +adjust things between us." + +A campaign of three months sufficed to break the power of the Aros, but +long before that she was wearying to be back in Okoyong. At last she +appealed to the Commissioner. He asked her to wait until a certain +movement of troops was completed. Smilingly she replied that she would +be off at the first opportunity--and she went. + +Her enforced sojourn in Creek Town was followed by the best results. +New missionaries had come out in whom she became interested. The one to +whom she owed most was the Rev. A. W. Wilkie, B.D., who soon afterwards +married a daughter of Dr. George Robson, the Editor of the _Missionary +Record_. With these two she formed a friendship which was to prove one +of the joys of her life. Mr. Wilkie understood her from the first; his +keen insight enabled him to explore a character that was growing ever +more complex, and he possessed that quality of understanding sympathy +to which alone her sensitive nature responded. + +She enjoyed meeting these young workers who had come to carry on the +traditions of the Mission; she liked them because of their eagerness +and energy and their desire to do things. All her knowledge was at +their disposal, and she would tell them of the golden days of the past +and describe the characteristics and superstitions of the people as +well as speak of the higher things of life. Some of them thought her +the most fascinating woman they had ever met. "Her talks," they +declared, "are better than medicine." Many a wise bit of counsel she +passed on to her sister missionaries. "She gave me at the very +beginning of life in Calabar," says one, "a piece of advice that I have +never forgotten, and which has comforted me over and over again. I was +saying that in a place like Duke Town it was so difficult to know +exactly what to do, and she said, '_Do?_ lassie, _do?_ You've not got +to do, you've just got to _be_, and the doing will follow.'" "Make a +bold stand for purity of speech and charity of judgment," she told +another, "and let none of the froth that rises to the top of the life +around you vex or disturb your peace." Many acknowledged that they had +their lives enriched, their faith strengthened, and their work helped +by contact with her. + + + + + XXXVI. PICTURES AND IMPRESSIONS + +The younger missionaries began to frequent Akpap, and from the accounts +of their visits we obtain some unstudied and vivid pictures of "Ma" and +her household. This slight woman with the shrunk and colourless skin, +the remarkable deep-set eyes, and the Scots tongue, so poor in the +gifts of the world, so rich in the qualities of the spirit, made a deep +impression upon them, although it is a question whether they ever fully +understood all she was and did. They lived in the European atmosphere, +she in the native; they noticed only superficial aspects, she moved +deep beneath the surface amongst conditions of which they were only +dimly aware. + +"We walk for five or six miles along the pleasant bush path," writes +one, "and as we near the big trees and the clearing round the Mission +House, children's voices cry, 'Ma is coming,' and a sweet, somewhat +strident voice inquires, 'What Ma? Jean put the kettle on, Jean put the +kettle on.' 'And we'll all have tea,' sings out my friend. 'How are +you, Ma?' for we have reached the verandah, and 'Ma,' eagerly +hospitable, is giving us a royal welcome." She was usually found +barefooted and bareheaded, with a twin-baby in her arms and a swarm of +children about her, or on the roof nailing down the sheet-iron which a +tornado had shifted, or holding a palaver from the verandah, or sitting +in Court, but always busy. "No one can have much time for rest here," +was the verdict of one missionary after a short stay. "Her power," +wrote another, "is amazing; she is really Queen of the whole of Okoyong +district. The High Commissioner and his staff leave the administration +of it in her hands. It is wonderful to see the grip she has of the most +intricate native and political questions of the country. The people +tell me she knows their language better than they do themselves, and +that they appeal to her on their own customs and laws. She has done a +magnificent work, and the people have a deeper reverence for her than +you can imagine. When they speak of her their tones change. One thing I +noticed, she never allowed a native to sit in her presence. She keeps +them all at a respectful distance, although when they are ill, +sometimes with the most loathsome diseases, she will nurse them; and +she never shakes hands with them. She told the High Commissioner to do +so with some--but for herself, never! When I asked her the reason she +looked at me and said simply, 'I live alone.'" + +The reference to her command of the language bears out what all +competent observers have stated. Some missionaries retain their accent +even after long service and speak as foreigners, but she had all the +vocabulary, the idioms, the inflections, the guttural sounds, the +interjections, and sarcasms, as well as the quick characteristic +gestures that belong only to the natives. "She excelled even the +natives themselves in their own tongue," says Mr. Luke. "She could play +with it and make the people smile; she could cut with it and make them +wince; she could pour spates of indignation until they cried out, +'_Ekem!_ Enough, Ma!' and she could croon with it and make the twins +she saved happy, and she could sing with it softly to comfort and +cheer." One visitor who accompanied a missionary friend found her +haranguing a crowd who had arrived to palaver. She stopped now and +again and spoke to the visitors in broad Scots. "Well," said the +missionary afterwards, "what do you think of her?" "I would not like +her to catch me stealing her chickens!" was the reply. + +One of the qualities which astonished her guests was her utter +fearlessness. There were no locks on her mission doors. She went +everywhere, condemning chiefs, fining them, divorcing them; and came +home to her bairns to be a child with them, and to romp and sing to +them queer little chants of her own composition. One story of these +days her visitors carried away. A murder had been committed, and the +slayer was pursued by the people, who intended to follow out their +custom and torture him. He was seized and chained. Straining to break +loose, his eyes almost bursting from their sockets, he cried, "Beware! +You may kill me, but my spirit will come back and spoil you. Ay, it +will not be you, the slaves, but you, the chiefs, that will suffer. +Beware! I will come if you do not take me to Ma's house." + +He was taken to "Ma," who on hearing the evidence ordered him to be +conveyed to Duke Town. Then she loosed him from his chains and sat down +with him alone in the house for the whole afternoon. The doors and +windows were open, and all he had to do was to strike her down and fly. +But she showed no fear. At night he was again chained and placed in the +prayer-room or store-room underneath until the guard arrived. During +the night he managed to slip off his chains and was free to escape into +the bush. When she went into the room in the morning with food and +called him, there was no sound or reply. It was dark in the place, but +she entered and moved around to find the prisoner. At the back of the +door she came into contact with his swinging body. He had taken off his +loin-cloth and hanged himself. + +Her visitors noticed, almost with wonders her devotion to her children +and the little morsels of humanity that came pouring in upon her. Miss +Welsh, LL.A., thus describes the household: "Jean, the ever-cheerful +and willing helper; Annie the drawer of water and hewer of wood, kind +willing worker; Mary the smart, handsome favourite; Alice the stolid +dependable little body, and Maggie the fusionless, Dannie the imp, and +Asoquö who looked with his big innocent eyes a wee angel, and who yet +was in constant trouble, chiefly for insisting on sharing the cat's +meals. Then there were the babies--a lovely wee twin-girl, whom their +mother was nursing, a poor wee boy almost skin and bone lying cradled +in a box. Behind the house in a rough shelter was another twin-mother +caring none too kindly for her surviving child." Another writes, "I +never saw anything more beautiful than her devotion to these black +children. She had a poor sick boy in her arms all the time, and nursed +him while walking up and down directing the girls. He died at 11.30 and +she slept with him in her arms all night. Next morning he was put in a +small milk packing-case, and the children dug a grave and buried it and +held a service." + +And here we have the scene at evening prayers: "We began with an Efik +hymn of her own, which she repeated line by line, while the little ones +chanted it with a weird intonation. They then sang the whole to the +tune _French_. She tested their memory of the morning lesson, and gave +them a homely but powerful address, interrupting herself once to tell +us how hydrophobia had broken out a few days before, and how she had +held one poor lad of ten in her arms until he died. She prayed, and the +children bowed down their heads till they rested upon the ground. They +next chanted the 'Amen,' and half-chanted the Lord's Prayer, and +finished with what she called 'one of the new fanciful English hymns-- +'If I come to Jesus.' Then very simply and sweetly she commended us all +to the Father's love and care." + +Long talks, often prolonged into the night, would follow. "How Ma +talked," says Miss Welsh, "and what a privilege it was to listen, what +an experience, and what an education! How she made the past vivid as +she lived it over again--the days of her girlhood--her mischievous +pranks, her love of fun, her early days in Calabar, tales of the old +worthies, tales of herself, and her own life, of her early pioneering, +of loved ones at home, of kind letters whose messages of cheer she +would share, of comfort and help from God's word--from the passage of +the day's reading, of new lessons learned, of new light revealed. I can +still hear her, still listen with the old fascination, still enjoy her +wild indignations, still marvel at her amazing personality, her +extraordinary vitality and energy, still feel as I have ever felt her +God-given power to draw one nearer to the Lord she loved so well." + +When her guests departed she would walk with them a long way, her feet +bare, her head uncovered. "No," said a missionary, "I would not like to +see other ladies do that, but I would not care to see her different. It +is easy to give a false impression of her. She is not unwomanly. She is +eccentric if you like, but she is gentle of heart, with a beautiful +simplicity of nature, I join in the reverence which the natives show +her." + + + + + XXXVII. A NIGHT IN THE BUSH + +Miss Slessor began to feel that her days in Okoyong were drawing to a +close. Her part of the work there was done. The district was civilised, +and all that the station required was organisation in detail and steady +development. But she was not one to rest in any circumstances in which +she was placed. She abated nothing of her devotion in the interests of +the peoples and although her strength did not now allow her to take +long journeys on foot she never hesitated to answer the call upon her +sympathy and courage. She had more than one adventure in these days, +but she had passed through so many hard experiences that she made light +of them, regarding them as mere incidents in the day's work. + +One afternoon, while she was in school, there appeared before her a +young man of the superior class of slaves, who said his wife had given +birth to twins in the bush more than twelve miles away. All the people +had deserted her, a tornado was brewing--would she come and help? + +"Ma" thought of her brood of children, and one a sickly baby, but +turning them over to the slave twin-mother she had bought, and leaving +food with her in her hut, she committed the whole twelve to Providence +and set out with Jean. + +The young man led them at a breathless pace. "If only you could _dion_ +the rain-cloud," he cried back. "I am praying that God may keep it +back," was all Mary could jerk out. The way seemed endless, and the +shadows of night fell swiftly about them, but at last they arrived near +the spot and were joined by the mistress of the slave and an old naked +woman. They found the mother lying on the ground surrounded by charms. +"Ma" pushed these away with her foot. The night was pitch dark, there +were occasional raindrops, and the woman was delirious. She ordered the +husband and his slave-man to make a stretcher. They regarded the idea +with horror, and pleaded that they could never carry her, their belief +doubtless being that they would die if they touched the unclean burden. +All begged "Ma" to leave the woman to her fate, but she turned upon +them with a voice of scorn, and such was her power that the men hastily +set to and constructed a rough stretcher of branches and leaves, and +even helped to place the woman upon it. + +Before leaving, a sad little ceremony had to take place. One of the +infants was dead, and Jean took her machete and dug a little cavity in +the ground, and upon some soft leaves the child was laid and covered +up. She then lifted the other twin, the men raised the stretcher, and +the party set off, a fire-stick, red at the point, and twirled to +maintain the glow, dimly showing them the way. The rain kept off, but +it was so dark that "Ma" had to keep hold of the hem of Jean's dress in +order not to lose her. The latter stumbled and fell, bringing down Mary +also. "Where are you?" each cried, and then a hand or a foot was held +out and gripped. Sometimes the men dropped to their knees, but the +jolting brought no cry from the unconscious form they were carrying. + +By and by they drew up in the utter solitude, and had to confess they +were lost. The men left to grope for signs of the path and the two +women were alone. Jean grew depressed, not on her own account but on +"Ma's," for she knew that she was utterly exhausted, and could not hold +out much longer. "What if they desert us?" she said. "Well," replied +Mary, trying to appear as if fatigue and fear and wild beasts had no +existence, "we shall just stay here until the morning." Jean's response +was something like a grunt. One of the men returned. "Can't find a +road," he grumbled, and disappeared again. + +What was that? A firefly? No, a light. The other man had discovered a +hut, and had procured a lighted palm tassel dipped in oil. Poor as it +was the light served to show the way until the path was reached. + +After sore toil they gained the Mission yard. The men laid the +stretcher in an open shed and, overcome with their exertions, threw +themselves down anywhere and went asleep. But there was no rest yet for +Mary. Securing some old doors and sheets of iron she patched up a room +for the woman, In which she could pass the night. + +The children were awakened and crawled out of Iye's hut into the yard +crying in sleepy misery. Jean and Annie carried them to the Mission +House and put them to bed, and brought back some hot food for the +patient, who was constantly moaning, "Cold, cold; give me a fire." + +Not till she was fed and soothed did Mary give in. She could not summon +sufficient strength to go upstairs, but lay down on the floor where she +was, with her clothes on, and all the dirt of the journey upon her, and +slept till daybreak. + +The baby died next day, and the mother hovered at the point of death. +Mary strove hard to save her, but the result was doubtful from the +first. None in the yard would give any help save Jean; the woman was a +social leper, and all sat at a safe distance, dumb or blaspheming. +Conscious at the end, the poor girl cried piteously to her husband not +to reproach her. "It is not my fault," she said, "I did not mean to +insult you." + +"Ma" placed her hand on her hot brow calming her, and prayed that she +might find an entrance into a better world than the one which had +treated her so badly. When she passed away she thrust aside the leper +woman whom her people sent to assist her, and washed the body herself +and dressed her so that for once a twin-mother was honoured in her +death. She was placed in a coffin of corrugated iron, strengthened with +bamboo splints, and beside her were put the spoons and pot and dish and +other things which she had used. + +Her husband and his slave bore her away into the bush, and there at a +desolate spot, where no one was likely to live or plant or build, they +left her and stole from the place in terror. + + + + + XXXVIII. WITH LOVING-KINDNESS CROWNED + +On the fifteenth anniversary of that notable Sunday in 1888 when Mary +settled at Ekenge, the first communion service in Okoyong was held. It +crowned her service there, and put a seal upon the wonderful work she +had accomplished for civilisation and for Christ. Alone, she had done +in Okoyong what it had taken a whole Mission to do in Calabar. The old +order of heathenism had been broken up, the business of life was no +longer fighting and killing, women were free from outrage and the death +menace, slaves had begun to realise that they were human beings with +human rights, industry and trade were established, peace reigned. Above +all, people were openly living the Christian life, and many lads were +actively engaged in Church work. + +No congregation had been formally organised, but the readiness of the +young people to join the Church was brought to the notice of the Rev. +W. T. Weir, who was stationed at Creek Town, with the result that he +was appointed to go up and conduct the necessary services. + +On the Saturday night in August corresponding to the one when she +arrived, a preparatory service was held in the hall beneath the Mission +House, and in the presence of the people seven young Christians were +received into the Church by baptism. More were coming forward, but the +fears of their friends succeeded in preventing them. "Wait and see," +they urged, "until we know what the thing is." Some of the parents +anxiously asked "Ma" whether the ceremony was in any way connected with +_mbiam_. + +On Sunday came a great throng, which filled the hall and overflowed +into the grounds, many sitting on native stools and chairs, and even on +gin-boxes. Before the communion service she presented eleven of the +children, including six she had rescued, for baptism. + +It was a quiet and beautiful day, with the hush that comes with God's +rest-day all the world over. As the company gathered to the first +Memorial Table in Okoyong, she thought of all the years that lay +behind, and was greatly moved. In the stillness the old Scottish Psalm +tunes rose thrilling with the gratitude and praise of a new-born +people. After the bread and wine had been partaken of, thanks were +returned by the singing of the 103rd Psalm to the tune _Stroudwater_. +When the third and fourth verses were being sung-- + + +_Kprukpru muquañkpõ ke ima | All thine iniquities who doth + Enye adahado; | Most graciously forgive: + Anam udöñõ okure, | Who thy diseases all and pains + Ye ndutukhö fo. | Doth heal, and thee relieve. + + +Enye onïm fi ke uwem, | Who doth redeem thy life, that thou + Osio ka mkpa; | To death may'st not go down; + Onyuñ odori fi eti | Who thee with loving-kindness doth + Mfön y'aqua ima_. | And tender mercies crown-- + + +She seemed to be lost In a trance of thought, her face had a far-away +look, and tears stood in her eyes. She was thinking of the greatness of +God's love that could win even the oppressed people of dark Okoyong. + +She could not let the assembly break up without saying a few words. Now +that they had the beginnings of a congregation they must, she said, +build a church large enough for all who cared to come. And she pled +with those who had been received to remain true to the faith. "Okoyong +now looks to you more than to me for proof of the power of the Gospel." + +In the quiet of the evening in the Mission House, she seemed to dwell +in the past. Long she spoke of what the conditions had been fifteen +years before, and of the changes that had come since. But her joy was +in those who had been brought to confess Christ, and she was glad to +think that, after all, the work had not been a failure. And all the +glory she gave to her Father who had so marvellously helped her. + +For a moment also her fancy turned to the future. She would be no +longer there, but she knew the work would go on from strength to +strength, and her eyes shone as she saw in vision the gradual +ingathering of the people, and her beloved Okoyong at last fair and +redeemed. + + + + + FOURTH PHASE + + 1902-1910. Age 54-62. + + THE ROMANCE OF THE ENYONG CREEK# + + _"I feel drawn on and on by the magnetism of this land of dense + darkness and mysterious weird forest."_ + + + I. THE REIGN OF THE LONG JUJU + +Again had come the fulness of the time, and again Mary Slessor, at an +age when most women begin to think of taking their ease, went forward +to a new and great work for Christ and civilisation. Kind eyes and +loving hands beckoned to her from Scotland to come and rest, but she +gazed into the interior, towards vast regions as yet unentered, and saw +there the gleam of the Divine light leading her on, and she turned with +a happy sigh to follow it. + +In this case there was no sharp division between the old and new +spheres of service. For ten years she had been brooding over the +conditions in the territory on the west side of the Cross River, so +near at hand, so constantly skirted by missionaries, traders, and +officials as they sailed up-river, and yet so unknown, and so full of +the worst abominations of heathenism. + +Just above Calabar the Cross River bends back upon itself, and here at +the point of the elbow the Enyong Creek runs inland into the heart of +the territory towards the Niger. At its mouth on high ground stands the +township of Itu, of sinister reputation in the history of the West +Coast. For there on the broad beach at the foot of the cliff was held & +market which for centuries supplied Calabar and the New World with +slaves. Down through the forest paths, down the quiet waters of the +Creek, countless victims of man's cupidity had poured, had been huddled +together there, had been inspected, appraised, and sold, and then had +been scattered to compounds throughout the country or shipped across +the sea. And there still a market, was held, and along the upper +borders of the Creek human sacrifice and cannibalism were practised. +Only recently a chief had died, and sixty slave people had been killed +and eaten. One day twenty-five were set in a row with their hands tied +behind them, and a man came and with a knife chopped off their heads. + +It is a strange irony that this old slave creek, the scene of so much +misery and anguish, is one of the prettiest waterways in West Africa. +It is narrow and still and winding, and great tropical trees covered +with the delicate tracery of creepers line the banks, their branches +sometimes interlacing above, while the undergrowth is rich in foliage +and blossom. Lovely orchids and ferns grow in the hollows of the boughs +and old trunks that have fallen; but the glory of the Creek is its +water-lilies, which cover the surface everywhere, so that a boat has +often to cut its way through their mass. On either hand, side-creeks +can be seen twisting among the trees and running deeper into the heart +of the forest. The silence of the primeval solitude is unbroken save +when a canoe passes, and then a startled alligator will slip into the +water, monkeys will scurry chattering from branch to branch, parrots +will fly screaming away, blue kingfishers and wild ducks will disappear +from their perch, and yellow palm birds will gleam for a moment as they +flit through the sunlight. The Creek is beautiful at all times, but in +the early morning when the air is cool and the light is misty and the +vistas are veiled in dimness, the scene is one of fairy-like +enchantment. + +Above the Creek all the country between the Cross River and the Niger +up to near Lokoja in Northern Nigeria, was occupied by the Ibo tribe, +numbering about four millions, of a fairly high racial type, who were +dominated by the Aros clan dwelling in some twenty or thirty towns +situated close together in the district of Arochuku ("God of the +Aros"). A remarkable and mysterious people, the Aros were light- +coloured, intelligent, subtle, and cunning. More intellectual and +commercial than warlike, they developed two lines of activity--trade +and religion--and made each serve the other. Their chief commodity was +slaves. Each town controlled certain slave routes, and each had a +definite sphere of influence which extended over a wide tract of +territory. When slaves were scarce they engaged mercenaries to raid +villages and capture them. But they had usually a supply from the Long +Juju situated in a secret, well-guarded gorge. The fame of this fetish +was like that of the Delphic oracle of old; it spread over the country, +and people came far distances to make sacrifices at its shrine, and +consult the priests on all possible subjects. These priests were men +chosen by the various towns, who were raised to a semi-sacred status in +the eyes of the people. Enormous fees and fines were imposed, but the +majority who entered the spot never left it alive; they were either +sacrificed and eaten, or sold into slavery. The shrine was built in the +middle of a stream, which was alive with ugly fish with glaring eyes +that were regarded as sacred. When the friends of the man who had +entered saw the water running red, they believed that the Juju had +devoured him. In reality some red material had been cast in, and the +man would be sent as a slave to a remote part of the country. + +The priests despatched their emissaries far and wide; they settled in +townships, swore blood brotherhood with the chiefs, and took part in +local affairs. They planted farms, and traded and acquired enormous +power. When disputes arose they got the matter sent for adjustment to +the town in Aro within whose sphere of influence they lived, or to the +Long Juju. In this way they acted as agents of the slave system. Other +men took round the slaves on definite routes. Their usual plan was to +leave one on approval, obtaining on their own part so much on each, or +a slave of lower value. When the trader returned the bargain would be +completed. The usual price of a new slave was 200 or 300 rods and a bad +slave. So widespread was the net east by the Aros, and so powerful +their influence, that if a chief living a full week's journey to the +north were asked, "What road is that?" he would say, "The road to Aro." +All roads in the country led to Aro. + +A few years before this a party of eight hundred natives had proceeded +from the territories about the Niger to consult the Long Juju on +various matters. They were led by a circuitous route to Arochuku, and +housed in a village. Batches of from ten to twenty were regularly taken +away, ostensibly to the Juju, but were either sacrificed or sold into +servitude, only a miserable remnant of 130 succeeding in reaching the +hands of Government officials. + +Of a totally different type were the people living to the south of the +Creek, called the Ibibios. They were one of the poorest races in +Africa, both morally and physically, a result largely due to centuries +of fear and oppression. Ibibio was the chief raiding-ground of the +head-hunters, and the people lived in small isolated huts and villages +deep in the forest, in order to lessen the risk of capture. In +demeanour they were cowed and sullen, gliding past one furtively and +swiftly, as if afraid; in language and life they were untruthful and +filthy. The women, who wore no clothing save a small piece of native +cloth made of palm fibre, were mere beasts of burden. All the young +people went naked. Most unpromising material they seemed. Yet they +never ceased to draw out the sympathy and hope of the White Mother of +Okoyong; there was no people, she believed, who could not be recreated. + +She knew a great deal about the Aros and their slave system, more, +probably, than any other white person in the country. Indeed few had +any knowledge of them. "What is sad about the Aro Expedition," wrote +Mr. Luke, one of the Cross River pioneers, "is that nearly all the town +names in connection with it are unknown to those of us who thought we +had a passable knowledge of Old Calabar. I never heard of the Aros, of +Bende, or of Arochuku. It is somewhat humiliating that after over fifty +years' work as a mission, the district on the right bank should be so +little known to us." Mary had first-hand acquaintance with the people. +Refugees came to her from both Ibo and Ibibio with stories of cruelty +and wrong and oppression; chiefs from both regions sought her out for +advice and guidance; slave-dealers from Arochuku and Bende, with their +human wares, called at Ekenge and Akpap, and with many of these she was +friendly, and learned from them the secrets of their trade. She told +them frankly that she was coming some day to their country, and they +gave her a cordial invitation, but hinted that it might not be quite +safe. It was not the danger that prevented her. She would have gone +before, but the difficulty was providing for Okoyong when she was +absent. She would not leave her people unless they were cared for by +competent hands. She asked for two ladies to be sent in order that she +might be free to carry out her idea of visiting the Aro country, but +none could be spared, and so she had, perforce, to wait. It was not +easy, but she loyally submitted. "The test of a real good missionary," +she wrote, "is this waiting, silent, seemingly useless time. So many +who can distinguish themselves at home, missing the excitement and the +results, get discontented, morose, cynical, and depreciate everything. +Everything, however seemingly secular and small, is God's work for the +moment, and worthy of our very best endeavour. To such, a mission +house, even in its humdrum days, is a magnificent opportunity of +service. In a home like mine a woman can find infinite happiness and +satisfaction. It is an exhilaration of constant joy--I cannot fancy +anything to surpass it on earth." + +Then came the military expedition to break up the slave system and the +false gods of Aro. The troops were moved into Arochuku by way of the +Creek, and the forces of civilisation encountered the warriors of +barbarism in the swamps and bush that edge the waterway. When the +troops entered the towns they found juju-houses everywhere, and in +almost every home were rude images smeared with the blood of sacrifice. +The dreaded Long Juju was discovered in a gloomy defile about a mile +from Arochuku. The path to it wound a tortuous way through dense bush, +with others constantly leading off on both sides, evidently intended to +puzzle the uninitiated. A watch-tower was passed where sentinels had +been posted. At the bottom of the valley, between high rocky banks +clothed with ferns and creepers, ran a stream which widened out into a +pool covered with water-lilies. In the dim light was seen a small +island, and upon it a rude shelter surrounded by a fence of gun- +barrels. Lying about were gin-bottles, cooking-pots, and human skulls, +the witness of past orgies. At the entrance was a white goat starving +to death. + +Most of the chiefs had never seen-a white man, and when Sir Ralph Moor +went up to hold a palaver, their interest was intense. They sat on the +ground in a semicircle in the shade of a giant cotton tree, suspicious +and hostile, listening to the terms of the Government, which included +disarmament, the suppression of the juju-worship, and the prohibition +of the buying, pawning, and selling of slaves. After much palaver these +were agreed to. Over two thousand five hundred war-guns were +surrendered, but sacrifices continued--and still to some extent go on +in secret in the depths of the forest. Much work also had still to be +done before Government rule was generally accepted. Throughout the +whole time occupied by the expedition, but more particularly in the +later stages, the important chiefs kept continually in touch with "Ma" +Slessor, and one official states that it was to her influence more than +all the force and power of the Government emissaries that the final +settlement of the country was due.... + +It is interesting to speculate what might have been the course of +events had she been able to carry out her plan before the punitive +expedition was called for. Mr. Wilkie goes so far as to say that "had +she been settled in the Aro country it is doubtful whether an armed +expedition would have been necessary, and it is at least possible that +the suppression of the slave-trade would have been achieved by the +peaceable means of the Gospel." Primitive peoples often bend more +quickly before Christ than break before might of arms. + + + + + II. PLANTING A BASE + +A large tract of new territory was now open to outside influences. Who +was to be the first to settle in it--official, trader, or missionary? +Mary studied the situation again in the light of the new conditions, +obtaining information first-hand from officials and natives. There were +two stations on the west of the Cross River--Ikorofiong, which, +however, was really an Efik trading town, and higher up, Unwana, which +was a back-water and unfit for a base for inland work. Tentative +efforts had been made from time to time to secure a footing elsewhere, +but had come to nothing, and the policy of the Mission had been to +continue up-river as being the line of least resistance. Her conviction +was that extension, for the present at least, should take place not up +the river, where the stations were cut off from the base during the dry +season, but laterally across the country between the Cross River and +the Niger. There were, she saw, three strategetic factors which +dominated the situation--the Enyong Creek giving admission to the new +territory, Itu at its mouth, and Arochuku, the religious and political +centre of the Ibos. The central position of Itu impressed her; it +commanded the three contiguous regions and peoples--the Ibo, Ibibio, +and Efik, and her plan was to seize and hold it as a base, then one of +the towns of Arochuku as the threshold of Iboland, and, if possible, +Bende. Her views did not commend themselves to all her colleagues in +Calabar, but how wise, how far-seeing, how statesmanlike was her policy +the later history of the Mission proves. + +She felt she could do nothing until help was obtained for Akpap. +Fortunately there was one lady missionary in Calabar who had the +courage to prefer Okoyong to quieter stations-Miss Wright of the Girls' +Institute, who asked the local Committee to send her there as assistant +to Miss Slessor; and although the Committee approved, the matter was +referred to the Women's Committee at home. As there seemed no prospect +of anything being done, she began to move quietly along her own lines. +Her school lads were now old enough and educated enough to be used as +advance agents, and her hope lay in these. In January 1903 she left +Akpap with two boys, Esien and Effiom, and one of her girls, Mana, and +canoed to Itu, and planted them there to teach school and hold +services. Esien took the chief part in the latter, whilst Effiom led +the singing. Mana's work was the teaching of the girls. A few weeks +later she found that the results had exceeded all her dreams. The chief +said he was too old to change his ways, but the younger ones could +learn the new ideas--anyway God had made him, and so was bound to look +after him whatever sins he committed. But the children were eager to +learn, and made apt scholars, and the people crowded to the services +until there was no more room for them. She went up again and selected a +site on the top of the hill with a magnificent view and built a school, +speeding the work with her own hands, and set the willing people to +construct a church, with two rooms for herself at the end. When one of +her fellow-missionaries, Dr. Rattray, heard of this he wrote: "Bravo! +Uganda was evangelised by this means, and the teachers there could only +read the gospels and could not write or count; the Mission understood +its business to be to spread the Gospel, and all who could read taught +others and spread the news. Perhaps we educate the people too much, and +make them think that education is religion." + +When in February she heard that the Roman Catholics were intending to +settle at Bende her heart was heavy. "The thought that all that is +holiest in the Church, should have been shed to create an opening for +that corrupt body makes me ill. And not even a station opened or the +hope of one! Oh, if I were able to go or send even a few of my bairns +just to take hold. The country is far from being at rest, but if the +Roman Catholics can go so can I.... There is a great future for +Nigeria; if only I were young again and had money!" + +She wrote to Dr. Adam, a Government friend in Bende, a soldier of the +Church as well as a servant of the King, and he supplied her with all +the information she needed. Bende, he said, was not the place it was +supposed to be; the population numbered from two to four thousand; it +was not likely to become a trading centre; whilst the overland +transport was a disadvantage. The journey was by launch to Itu, by +steel canoe up the Enyong Creek, thence by foot or hammock to Arochuku +and Bende. He stated that Bishop Johnston of the Church Missionary +Society was already in Bende prospecting. + +When she received his letter she said to herself, "Shall I go?" She did +not wish to compromise the mission in any way, and proposed to go about +the matter quietly, at her own expense. She would travel if necessary +in a hammock, as she was not so sure of herself as of old, and would +find rest at wayside huts, and she would take Iye to act as interpreter +where the women did not know Efik. "I would do what I like, and would +come back to my work rested and refreshed. But--I want God to send me." + +What was influencing her also was the conviction that the end had come +for her at Akpap. Again she had the consciousness that it was time for +the station to be taken over by an ordained missionary, who would build +up a congregation. "I shall not say that I shall leave my home without +a pang, but I know that I can do work which new folk cannot do, and my +days of service are closing in, and I cannot build up a church in the +way a minister can." She believed that in the special conditions of +West Africa women were better than men for beginning work in the +interior. And she still retained her faith in the home-trained +domesticated type--girls who had brothers and sisters and had learned +to give and take and find duty in doing common things, rather than +those turned out by the training schools, who were, she thought, apt to +be too artificial and full of theories. Her ideal of a man missionary +was Dr. Rattray, who was a good carpenter and shoemaker and general +handy-man,--"far better accomplishments than a college education for +the African field." She did not, of course, depreciate culture, so long +as practical qualities of heart and hand went with it. + +The proposal regarding Miss Wright going to Akpap having been agreed +to, she began to look forward to her advent as an event that would +determine the future. Seldom has one been so eagerly watched for; for +months it was nothing but "When Miss Wright comes," "Wait till Miss +Wright comes," so on. For days before she appeared the household were +in excited mood, every morning fresh flowers were placed in her +bedroom, the boys and girls kept themselves dressed and ready to +receive her. When she did arrive it made all the difference that was +hoped. She was a capable, unselfish, plucky girl; she knew the +language, and was experienced in the ways of the people. Very quietly +she slipped into the method of the house, taking the school and +dispensary off "Ma's" hands, and looking after the babies with the same +pitying sympathy. The girls became quite at home with her, in the long +nights she would sing to them, recalling the times in the bush when Mr. +Ovens used to entertain them. "She is a right sisterly helpmate," wrote +Mary, "and a real help and comfort in every way. Things go as smoothly +as on a summer's day, and I don't know how I got on alone. It seems too +good to be true." + + + + + III. On To Arochuku + +On a morning of June 1908 she left Akpap for Itu, tramping the forest +path to Ikunetu in order to pick up the Government launch on its weekly +journey to the garrisons up-river. The Government, as usual, gave her +every facility for carrying on her new work, granted her free passages, +took charge of her packages and letters, placed their Rest Houses at +her disposal, and told her to ask for whatever she wanted. She did not +care to trouble them unduly, but was very grateful for their +consideration. On arriving at Ikunetu she went into the teacher's house +to rest, charging the boys to call her as soon as they sighted the +launch. They did not notice it until it was too late for her to signal, +and it passed onwards and out of sight. But she was not put out; her +faith was always strong in the guiding hand of God; and she turned and +tramped back the same long road. When she reached the Mission House +tired and weary, she assured Miss Wright that all was well--God had not +meant her to travel that day, and she must have been kept back for some +purpose. + +Next week she set out again, and when she joined the launch at Ikunetu, +Colonel Montanaro, the Commander of the Forces, was on board on his way +up to Arochuku. In the course of their conversation he gave her a +pressing invitation to go there, and to accept his escort. She was +almost startled by what seemed so direct a leading. But she was not +prepared for a longer journey; she had no change of clothing or supply +of food. She thought and prayed over the matter all the way. "Here is +the challenge to enter that region of unbroken gloom and despair," she +mused. "If it is not entered now, the Roman Catholics will come in, and +the key position to the whole territory will be taken out of our hands, +and only the coast tribes be left to the Mission. If I go now we shall +be the first in the field, and it will not be discourteous to the Roman +Catholics--as it would be if we came in afterwards." Before the end of +the journey she consented to go. + +When she arrived at Arochuku she found herself in the old slave centre +of the Aros, a densely populated district, some 80,000 people living +within a radius of a few square miles. It was a strange experience to +walk over these roads that had been trodden for centuries by countless +feet on their way to the pens of the coast and the horrors of the +"middle passage," and latterly to the Efik slave-market, and to gaze on +the spot where the secret iniquities of the Long Juju had taken place; +stranger still to receive a welcome from the men who had been +responsible for these evils. The chiefs and traders, many of whom she +knew, were delighted with her courage and touched by her self- +sacrifice, and promised to do all they could to assist her work. Making +arrangements to come up later and start a school, she left, profoundly +thankful for the privilege she had been granted, and praying that the +Church at home would have a vision of the grand opportunity opening up +before it. + +The officials of the Church, of course, knew of the opportunity, but +the members at large were not interested. Dr. Robson, as Convener of +the Calabar Sub-Committee, pointed out how the situation was +practically a crisis--no ground had been broken west of the Cross +River, no teachers had been sent to the east. For a quarter of a +century the supply of men had not sufficed for the existing needs of +the Mission, and extension had been impossible. The givings of the +Church for foreign missions had been far below the urgent requirements. +Either, he said, the staff and income must be largely increased, or +they would have to step aside and invite others to divide the field +with them. No adequate response was made to this and similar appeals, +and the lonely pioneer was forced onwards upon her solitary path. + +A short time afterwards she went back to Arochuku, taking two lads, and +a school was opened in the palaver shed of Amasu, one of the towns +nearest the Creek, A hundred children crowded into the building along +with women and men, and not a few of the old slavers, and the scholars +were soon well on in the first book. In one village which she visited +she found a young trader who had brought news of the Christ religion +from the Niger, and was anxious to introduce a church and teacher. When +she left the district again, the people came to the landing-beach and +cried after her, "Don't be long in coming back, Ma! If you don't care +for us, who will care for us?" + +As her canoe was paddled down the creek, she lay back enjoying the +beauty of the scene. The water was as smooth as a mirror, and like a +mirror reflected the delicate tracery of the overhanging foliage; +bright birds sailed hither and thither, gorgeous butterflies flitted +about, and brilliant blossoms coloured the banks. She had passed in +succession two snakes attempting to cross the stream, and was watching +the efforts of a third when a small canoe shot out from behind a clump +of bushes and bumped into her craft. She apologised to the man in it, +but standing cap in hand he said, "I meant it, Ma; I have been waiting +for you; my master at Akani Obio sent me to waylay you and bring you to +his house." Taking a letter from his cap he handed it to her. + +The canoe was turned and entered a still creek, a picture of delicate +loveliness, with multitudes of lilies and other aquatic plants, which +made her feel as if she were moving through an exquisite dream. A +shingly beach, evidently a busy trading-place, was reached, and there +stood a young man and young woman, handsome and well-dressed, who +assisted her to land. They led her into a good house and into a pretty +room with concrete floor, a European bedstead, clean and dainty, with +mosquito curtains and all the appointments that indicated people of +taste. The man was Onoyom Iya Nya, a born statesman, the only one in +the district who had not been disarmed by the Government, and the one +who had been chosen President of the Native Court, and was shaping well +as a wise and enlightened ruler. + +It was a moving story that Mary heard from his lips, while his wife +stood by and listened. It went back to 1875 when he was a boy. One day +a white man appeared in the Creek, and all the people decamped and hid. +He, alone, stayed on the beach, and in response to a request from the +white man, offered to lead him to the chief's house. During the palaver +that ensued he lingered by, an absorbed listener. When the white man +left he was tried by the heads of the town and severely punished for +having acted as guide. The stranger was the Rev. Dr. Robb, one of the +ablest missionaries in the Mission, then stationed at Ikorofiong. + +The boy never forgot the incident. But he grew up a heathen, and went +to the cannibal feasts at Arochuku. When his father died, ten little +girls were slaughtered, and five of the bodies were placed beneath the +corpse, and five above, that they might occupy the position of wives in +the spirit world. He married, but misfortune seemed to dog him. His +house was burned down, and then his child died. Seeking for the man who +had wrought these things by witchcraft, in order to murder him, he met +a native who had once been a Mission teacher in Calabar, but who had +fallen into evil ways and was now homeless and a drunkard. + +"How do you know," the latter said, "that it is not the God of the +white man that is angry with you? He is all-powerful." + +"Where can I find this God!" the chief queried. + +"I am not worthy to say, but go to the white Ma at Itu, and she will +tell you." + +"I will go," was the reply. + +He took a canoe and watched for Mary on the Creek, but missed her. In +his impatience he engaged the old teacher, who had still his Bible, to +come and read _Iko Abasi_ to him. Again he sent for "Ma," but she had +gone on to Arochuku. Then he kept a man on the look-out in the Creek, +and it was he who had intercepted her. + +"And now," he said, "will you show me what to do?" + +As he told the story several big, fattened ladies had come in, and a +number of children and dependants. She prayed with them, sent for the +teacher's Bible, and talked with them long and earnestly. The chief's +wife made her a cup of tea, and she left, promising to come later and +see what she could do to develop a station. + +The detour had made her late, and the canoe ran into a sudden storm of +wind and rain, but her heart was jubilant, and kept singing and praying +all the way to Itu. For God was good, and He was leading her, and that +was perfect happiness. + + + + + IV. A SLAVE-GIRL'S TRIUMPH + +The problem was how to follow up so promising a beginning. It occupied +her thoughts day and night, but she came to the conclusion that she +could not conscientiously leave Miss Wright alone at Akpap. The station +was too isolated for her, and if she became ill it might be weeks +before any one knew. An alternative was to remain herself at Akpap, and +allow Miss Wright to go to Itu, where she would be in touch with the +Mission, and could canoe down to Calabar if anything went wrong. The +plan she liked best was to hand the station over to a minister, so that +both she and Miss Wright could establish themselves at Itu and work the +Creek between them. As the months went by and she paid flying visits to +the infant causes at Itu and Amasu, she became more and more convinced +of the magnificent opportunity lying to the Church's hand in these +regions. At Itu the congregation had grown to one of over three hundred +intelligent and well-dressed people meeting in a church built by +themselves. In August at Amasu she found a school of sixty-eight on a +wet day, and of these thirty-eight could read the first book. That they +had been brought under discipline was shown by the fact that as she +entered all rose silently and simultaneously, as if they had been years +instead of weeks at school. + +The same month witnessed an event which gave her unbounded happiness. +Jean, and Mana the slave-girl, Iye the twin-mother of Susie, Akom the +first-fruit of Ekenge, and Esien the teacher at Itu, were baptized, and +sat down at the communion-table. Many others were there, and joined in +spirit in the celebration, but owing to difficult native complications +could not take the step, and Mary never cared to force matters. Esien's +mother had been very unwilling for her son to come under Christian +influence, and now she was not only present, but actually sat beside +two twin-mothers. Akom's face was transfigured. Jean's adopted child, +Dan, was also baptized on the occasion, and it was a great and solemn +joy to Mary to see her oldest bairn give him to God, and promise to +bring him up in His fear. + +In October she was at Itu watching the building of the house for +herself and teacher, and nothing delighted her more than the way in +which the women worked along with the men. "I wish Crockett had been +here to gather the shafts and sparks of wit and satire that flew with +as much zest as ever obtained in a Galloway byre or market fairin'. It +is such a treat to me, for no intercourse is permitted between the +sexes in Okoyong, except that of the family, and then it is strained +and unnatural, but here they were daffin' and lauchin' as in Scotland. +How wholesome are God's own laws of freedom and simplicity." The house +was to, have six rooms--three for herself, one for Miss Wright or other +lady missionary, one for Mana, and one for Esien and Effiom. "I'm +afraid that is too much for you," she said, thinking of the mats which +were not easy to obtain. "It's not too much, Ma; nothing can be too +much. We will do it." One woman came and insisted on washing her feet +in hot water. She had to give in, and as she sat down the woman said, +"Ma, I've been so frightened you would take our teacher away because we +are so unworthy. I think I could not live again in darkness. I pray all +the time. I lay my basket down and just pray on the road." + +This woman sometimes prayed in the meetings, and electrified the +audience, and she had begun to have devotions in her own home, though +her husband laughed at her. There were many others of the same type, +and it was a black slave-girl who had been the one behind it all. Mana +taught and nursed and trained them, quietly and modestly, as a mother +might. It was an inspiration to Mary to see her; as she looked upon +such results she cried, "Oh! if only the Church knew. If only it would +back us up." To her friends she wrote, "Prayer can do anything; let us +try its power." + +Returning to Akpap with two of the girls and some small children, she +was caught in a tornado and made her way over the six miles of bush- +road through pelting rain. The darkness was lit up by almost continuous +lightning, but they lost their way, and she had at last to commandeer +an old native to lead them. Such experiences were now part of her +ordinary life again. On her trips up and down the Creek she was +constantly drifting into strange situations, and being reduced to +sleeping on mud floors, or on straw in the open, drinking tea made in +empty milk tins, and subsisting for days on yam and oranges. And always +she was treated by the natives with as much gallantry and courtesy as +if she were a queen, and always she was singing in her heart psalms of +thanksgiving and gratitude. + +But she was not able as formerly to resist the effects of such +exposure, and was often weary, and her weariness brought nervousness +and lack of sleep. At times she was afraid of the unknown future +opening out before her, and appalled when she thought of all the +details of labour, supplies, and management that were coming upon her +shoulders. In the dark she would rise and cry, "Calm me, O God, and +keep me calm." Then she would go and look at the sleeping children and +comfort herself with the sight. "Surely," she would say, "I have more +reason to trust God than childhood has after all the way He has led +me." + + + + + V. A BUSH FURLOUGH + +She at last determined to give up her furlough in Scotland, now drawing +near, and spend the time instead in prospecting in the new country. All +her hopes and aims were expressed in a definite and formal way in the +following document, which she sent to be read at the November meeting +of the Committee--now the Mission Council--at Calabar: + +I think it is an open secret that for many years the workers here have +felt that our methods and modes were very far from adequate to overtake +the needs of our immense field, and, as the opportunities multiply and +the needs grow more clamant, the question grows in importance and +gravity. The fact that only by stated consecutive work can a church be +evolved and built up, and a pagan nation be moulded into a Christian +people, cannot be gainsaid, and yet there is an essential need for +something between, something more mobile and flexible than ordinary +congregational work and methods. The scattered broken units into which +our African populations are divided, their various _jujus_ and _mbiams_ +and superstitions which segregate even the houses of any common +village, make it necessary for us to do more than merely pay an +occasional visit, even if that visit results in a church or a school +being built. + +Many plans suggest themselves. Church members organised into bands of +two or three or four to itinerate for a week over local neighbourhoods; +native teachers spending a given number of days in each month in the +outlying parts of their districts; trading members of the church +undertaking service in any humble capacity on up-river trading +stations--in these and many other ways the gaps might be bridged and a +chain of personal interest and living sympathy link on the raw heathen +to the church centres, and the first rays of gospel light be conveyed +and communication be opened without the material expense which the +opening of new stations involves. For instance, I have spent a Sabbath +at Umon, and ever so many Efik traders, men and women, joined in the +congregational worship, reading from Bibles and hymn-books which had +been locked in their boxes; but either timidity or some other cause +kept them silent when there was no one to lead. Could not a beginning +be made for those, either by initiating such a service or organising +those who were trading at any place so that evening worship or some +such simple way of bringing gospel truth before the minds of the +heathen could go on continuously? The same holds good of Itu and other +places. + +For the last decade the nearer reaches of the river on which we ply +have occupied a great deal of my thoughts, but from various causes no +sort of supervision at all adequate suggested itself. So there has been +little definite work accomplished. A few readers at Odot, desultory +teaching at Eki and the back of Itu, and Umon, covers it all, I fear. + +With Miss Wright's coming, opportunities, not of our personal seeking, +have forced themselves on us, and though we have done the best we could +with the materials at hand, all seems so little and incomplete that the +following proposal or petition or request or whatever you may term it, +has been prepared, and that from no mere impulse of the moment but +after careful, prayerful consideration. I may say here that Miss Wright +is fully in sympathy with it, and it is from both of us. + +By the 2nd January 1904 I shall have been out five years, and so my +furlough would then be due, but as I have not the slightest intention +of going to Britain--I am thankful to say I do not feel any necessity +for so doing--I propose to ask leave from the station for six months, +during which time I should, in a very easy way, try to keep up an +informal system of itinerating between Okoyong and Amasu. Already I +have seen a church and a dwelling-house built at Itu, and a school and +a couple of rooms at Amasu. I have visited several towns of Enyong in +the Creek, and have found good enough accommodation, as there are semi- +European houses available and open for a lodging. I shall find my own +canoe and crew, and shall stay at any given place any length of time +which the circumstances suggests so as not to tax my own strength, and +members of my own family shall help in the elementary teaching in the +schools. From our home here we should thus superintend the small school +at Idot, and start in a small way work at Eki, and reside mostly at Itu +as the base, working the Creek where the Enyon towns are on the way to +the farther base at Amasu, reside there or itinerate from there among +the Aro people in an easy way, and back again by Creek and Itu home. + +What I have to ask of you is that in order to do this a lady be sent +out to be with Miss Wright. The latter is perfectly capable of +attending to the station; the school and dispensary work are already in +her hands, and with some one to help her I have not the slightest +hesitation in leaving her in charge. Both ladies could co-operate in +the travelling as choice or circumstances pointed, and as Miss Wright +has had a large share in the formation and equipment of the Itu and Aro +stations it would be very natural that she should take such a part in +developing them as might suggest itself to her. The three of us, I have +no doubt, could dovetail the details of the work so that no part should +suffer, nor should any special strain be put on our health. We should +like this to take shape by the end of the year, as the people will be +more get-at-able in their villages in such a visitation kind of way +than in the ordinary church methods during the dry season. All work in +towns is slack then, and village and visitation work have their proper +value. + +In proposing this I know I am going in the very face of what seems to +be the only possible way of dividing our stations. My own desire is to +have a missionary with his wife and a native teacher take over Okoyong, +congregate the educated, and at least nominal Christian part of our +community, and build up a church in the ordinary way. He has more than +he can undertake to work upon in Okoyong alone, and he has endless +scope for extension up between the rivers toward Ugep and Edi-Iba. + +It may be out of my province to speak of anything outside my own +station, but in as far as I know I am voicing the opinion of the +missionaries who are now working up Higher. I may say that if we are to +compass the peoples that lie at our hands, such as Itu, Enyong, Umon, +and those who may be reached all the year round, we ought to have Itu +manned as a proper European station. All and each of these peoples can +be reached and worked from Itu. Then as a natural and strategic point +in the business conduct of our Mission, Itu is incomparable. It was not +without reason that it was the slave mart, and that it became the +Government base for all work both for north and flank. The gateway to +the Aros and the Ibibios, holding the Enyong, and being just a day's +journey from what must ever be our base, namely the seaport of the +ocean steamers, having waterway all the year round and a good beach +front, it is the natural point, I think, at which our up and down river +work should converge. + +But I am willing to change, and Miss Wright is willing to change, any +plan of ours in order to let any larger undertaking make way if it +should be proposed. + +This communication was considered, and various proposals made, but the +finding of the Council was that they were unable to accept the whole +responsibility of the scheme, and that the matter should be forwarded +to the Women's Committee in Scotland, and Miss Slessor asked to wait +their decision. The question of further development was, however, +discussed, and the unanimous opinion was that Itu should be adopted as +a medical station in view of extension into the Aro country. + +Miss Slessor was not discouraged. She next asked Mr. Wilkie to come and +see the nature of the ground for himself, and the possibilities it +held; and the result was a New Year trip up the Creek, the party +consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Wilkie, Miss Wright, and herself. She was +far from well--far more unwell than even Miss Wright was aware of--but +she, nevertheless, resolved to go, and was conveyed to Ikunetu in a +hammock. At Itu they camped at the church and house, neither of which +was yet finished, the doors being temporary erections, and the windows +being screened by grass mats. Mrs. Wilkie's camp-bed occupied one end +of the church, Miss Wright's the centre, whilst at the other end Miss +Slessor's native sofa was placed with mats round it for the children. +Mr. Wilkie found a resting-place in one of the native houses in the +town. Military operations were still progressing, and there was a camp +of soldiers at the foot of the hill, whose presence terrified the +people, and they besought the missionaries to remain for their +protection until the men moved on, and this they did. Colonel +Montanaro, who arrived later, called on the ladies, and had a long talk +with Mary, to whom he expressed his delight at the result of his +invitation to Arochuku. "These men," she wrote, "are held by invisible +but strong bands to what is good, though outsiders do not see it." + +On the way up the Creek they were obliged to pass the night at Akani +Obio, where Chief Onoyom came down to the beach and escorted them to +his house, and gave them all the room they required, two courts lit up +by European lamps, and new mats. His fine face and courteous manners +made the same impression on the strangers as they had done on Miss +Slessor. It was found that the native teacher had been doing his best, +but the chief was keen for all the advantages of a station, and was +relying upon "Ma's" word to assist him. Next morning they again took to +the canoe, but the water became so shallow that they had to land and +tramp six miles to Amasu, passing the trenches where the natives sought +to ambush the punitive force. New roads were being constructed +everywhere, and barracks had been erected on a wind-swept hill in the +neighbourhood. + +The church was built near the Creek, and was still incomplete. As there +was no house they camped in the church as best they could, Mrs. Wilkie +sleeping on a mud seat. The district, including the scene of the Long +Juju, was inspected, and the people interviewed, and the party returned +as they had come. They stopped at several villages, in one of which an +old chief brought out a box containing Bibles and a _Pilgrim's +Progress_ and reading-books. "I had a son," he said, "I was fond of +him, and he was anxious to learn book and God palavers, and I bought +these books and got some one to teach him, and was looking forward to +my boy becoming a great man and teaching the people good ways, but two +moons ago he died, and I have no more heart for anything.... I want +God," he continued fiercely, "and you won't leave me till I find Him." +"Oh, father," replied Mary, "God is here. He is waiting for you." The +chief found God, and became a Christian. + + + + + VI. BEGINNINGS + +Miss Slessor's indomitable spirit never gave in, but her body sometimes +did. She had been suffering much these past months from weakening +ailments brought on as the result of exposure and lack of nourishing +food, and she finally collapsed and was again far down in the dark +valley. But kind hands ministered to her and nursed her back to health. +"I rose," she said, "a mere wreck of what I was, and that was not much +at the best. My hair is silvered enough to please any one now, and I am +nervous and easily knocked up, and so rheumatic that I cannot get up or +down without pain." She was gladdened by the news that the Mission +Council had given her permission to make her proposed tour, and was not +troubled by the condition that she must not commit the Mission to +extension. The Council thought that in view of her illness she ought +rather to go home, and offered to provide for the work at Akpap and +care for her children until she returned. But the burden of the Creek +lay sore on her mind, and as Miss Wright's furlough was also due, she +wished to be near Akpap in case of need. She informed the Council that +if she could be relieved she would begin her tour at once. When Miss +Wright left she gave more into the hands of Jean, who, she said, was as +good as any white servant; her right hand and her left. + +When the matter once more came up at the Council it was decided to send +up two ladies to Akpap, and she was at last free to carry out her +desire. She looked forward to the enterprise with mingled feelings. "It +seems strange," she said, "to be starting with a family on a gipsy life +in a canoe, but God will take care of us. Whether I shall find His +place for me up-river or whether I shall come back to my own people +again, I do not know. He knows, and that is enough." + +Perhaps the most remarkable feature of this new forward movement was +that she was going at her own expense, backed by the private liberality +of friends in Scotland, and assisted by native girls and boys, who +received nothing from her but their board. She never asked the Mission +to defray any of the expenditure which she incurred, and the building +was accomplished by herself and household, with the free labour of the +people. All that the opening up of the Enyong Creek to the Gospel cost +the Mission was her salary--which was now £100 per annum. She spent +scarcely anything of this on her own personal wants. "I have no object +on earth," she wrote at this time, "but to get my food and raiment, +which are of the plainest, and to bring up my bairns." A certain amount +was reserved at home by Mr. Logie, who all these years had managed her +affairs, and even this she was always encroaching upon. Whenever she +saw an appeal in the Press for any good object she would write to him +and request him to send a contribution. + +There were many matters to be attended to before she left Akpap, and +she went down to Duke Town to hand over the business of the native +Court, and buy material for the buildings in the Creek. It was the +first time for many years that she had been on Mission Hill, and she +greatly enjoyed her stay with the Wilkies, in whose home she was able +to find quietness and comfort. The old people who knew the early +pioneers of the Mission flocked to see her, and her sojourn was one +long reception. A "command" invitation also came from the Commissioner, +but this she had the temerity to decline, saying that she was not +visiting. It is doubtful whether she had the attire fit for the +occasion. He, however, came to see her, and was charmed with her +personality. + +It was on this visit that she brought another of the younger +missionaries under her spell--the Rev. J. K. Macgregor, B.D., Principal +of the Hope Waddell Institute. After his first meeting he wrote: "A +slim figure, of middle height, fine eyes full of power, she is no +ordinary woman. It was wonderful to sit and listen to her talking, for +she is most fascinating, and besides being a humorist is a mine of +information on mission history and Efik custom." Mr. and Mrs. Macgregor +grew into intimate friends, and their home, like that of the Wilkies', +thereafter became a haven of healing and rest. + +She reached her base, Itu, with her family, in July, her health still +enfeebled, but her spirit burning like a pure fire, and established +herself in a house that was still unfinished. "What a picture it +presented," writes a Government doctor who visited her then. "A native +hut with a few of the barest necessities of furniture. She was sitting +on a chair rocking a tiny baby, while five others were quietly sleeping +wrapped up in bits of brown paper and newspapers in other parts of the +room. How she managed to look after all these children, and to do the +colossal work she did my comprehension." The joy of the people at her +advent boundless. Her bairns had done wonders; the congregation +numbered 350, all devout, intelligent people. "To-day," she wrote, "as +the custom is after the lesson, the bairns each took a part in prayer, +and before we rose a boy started 'Come, Holy Spirit, come.' We sang it +through on our knees." + +But calls came every day from other regions. A deputation from the +interior of Ibibio pled, "Give us even a boy!" Another brought a +message from a chief in the Creek; "It is not book that I want; it is +God!" The chief of Akani Obio again came. "Ma," he said, "we have £3 in +hand for a teacher, and some of the boys are finished with the books +Mr. Wilkie gave us and are at a standstill." And, most pathetic of all, +one night, late, while she was reading by the light of a candle, a +blaze of light shone through the cracks of the house, and fifteen young +men from Okoyong appeared before her to say that the young ladies who +had come to Akpap had already gone, and they were left without a "Ma." +She sent them to a shelter for the night, and spent the hours in +prayer, "Oh Britain," she exclaimed, "surfeited with privilege! tired +of Sabbath and Church, would that you could send over to us what you +are throwing away!" + +Invited to the Mission Council in November 1904, she went, this being +her first attendance for six years, and gave what the minutes call a +"graphic and interesting account" of what had been accomplished. In Itu +a church and teacher's house had been built; and there were regular +Sabbath services and a catechumens' class, with forty candidates, and a +day-school was conducted. At Amasu, Arochuku, a good school was built, +and ground had been given by the chiefs. There were also the beginnings +of congregations and buildings at four points in the Creek, at Okpo, +Akani Obio, Odot, and Asang. The work, she said, had not yet reached a +stage when she could conscientiously leave it; but she hoped before +departing to see established such a native, self-supporting agency +under the control of the Mission as would guarantee a continuance of +the enterprise. The Council received her report with thankfulness, and +gave her permission to continue for other six months on the same +condition as before--that no expense to the Mission should be involved +in what she undertook. + +Many months of strenuous upbuilding followed, constantly interrupted by +petty illnesses of a depressing kind. The house at Itu was completed, +she herself laying down a cement floor, and Jean whitewashing the +walls. Cement underfoot for many reasons was preferred, one being that +it was impervious to ants. If these pests obtained hold of a house it +was difficult to drive them out, and many a night her entire family was +up waging battle with them. In connection with her supplies of cement +she was once picked up at Ikunetu by some of her colleagues, who +remarked on the number of trunks which accompanied her. "You are surely +richer than usual in household gear," they said. "Household gear!" she +echoed; "these are filled with cement--I had nothing else to bring it +in!" Once in Scotland a lady asked her if she had had any lessons in +making cement. "No," she replied; "I just stir it like porridge; turn +it out, smooth it with a stick, and all the time keep praying, 'Lord, +here's the cement if to Thy glory, set it,' and it has never once gone +wrong." + +A picture of the days at this time is supplied by Miss Welsh: "We +visited the women in their homes--we had evening prayers in such yards +as the owners were willing to allow them. From morning till night 'Ma' +was busy--often far into the night. One brought a story of an unjust +divorce, another was sick; one brought a primer for a reading-lesson, +another was accused of debt and wished 'Ma' to vouch for his innocence; +another had, he declared, been cheated in a land case. All found a +ready listener, a friendly adviser and helper, though not all found +their protestations of innocence believed in, and none went away +without hearing of the salvation God had prepared for them." + +The Okoyong people continued to come to her with their troubles. "They +seem to think," she says, "that no one can settle their affairs but +this old lady." Rescues of twin-children were also going on all this +time. She could not now rush off, as she used to do, when the news +arrived, but she sent Jean flying to the spot, and the infants would be +seized and the excited people held in check until she came on the +scene. "One more woman spoilt," she would say, "and another home broken +up." + +Nothing gave her greater joy than the rapid development going on at +Akani Obio. Chief Onoyom had never swerved from his determination to +Christianise his people, and, although knowing practically nothing of +the white man's religion, had already started to build a church, using +for the purpose £800 which he had saved. At first he planned a native +building, but reflecting that if he were constructing a house for +himself it would be of iron, he felt he could not do less for God. He +therefore decided to put up as fine a structure as he could, with walls +of iron and cement floor and a bell-tower. To make the seats and pulpit +he had the courage to use a magnificent tree which was regarded as the +principal juju of the town. The story goes that the people declared the +juju would never permit it to be cut down. "God is stronger than juju," +said Onoyom, and went out with a following to attack it. They did not +succeed the first day, and the people were jubilant. Next morning they +returned and knelt down and prayed that God would show Himself stronger +than juju, and then, hacking at the trunk with increased vigour, they +soon brought it to earth. That the people might have no excuse for +absenting themselves from the services during the wet season, Onoyom +also erected a bridge over the Creek for their use. + +To the dedication of the building came a reverent, well-dressed +assembly. The chief himself was attired in a black suit, with black +silk necktie and soft felt hat. He provided food for the entire +gathering, but would not allow anything stronger than palm wine to be +drunk. Very shyly he came up to "Ma" and offered her a handful of +money, asking her to buy provisions for herself, as he did not know +what kind she liked. + +Two short years before, the place and people had been known only to +traders. + +Up in Arochuku similar progress was being made. Her first long stay +there, spent in a hut without furniture--with not even a chair to sit +on--was a happy and strenuous one. She was busily engaged in erecting a +schoolhouse with two rooms at the back. "Little did I dream," she +wrote, "that I would mud walls and hang doors again. But the Creek is +at the back door, and we have bathing in the sunshine, and it is a +delightful holiday." The earlier meetings were held in the open; the +chiefs sat on improvised seats, the principal women, clothed and +unclothed, squatted on skins or mats on the ground, lads and children +stood about, the townspeople kept well back amongst the protecting +foliage. In the centre, in the shade of a giant tree, was a table +covered with a fine white cloth, and upon it a Bible and a native +primer. Here she stood to conduct the service, so strange to the savage +people. As she began, there was a stir at the side and a big chief, one +of the principal traders to Okoyong in former days, moved into the +circle, along with his head wife. He was followed by another and his +children, and then others appeared, until she had a great audience. She +could scarcely command her voice. To gain time she asked a chief to +begin with prayer in the Ibo tongue. All knelt. A hymn followed; there +was not the least semblance of a tune, all joining in anyhow, but +sweeter music she never heard. The ten commandments were translated, +sentence by sentence, by a chief, as were also the lessons and the +address. Another hymn was sung, then came a prayer by an old man, and +another by a woman, and the meeting closed with all repeating the +Lord's Prayer. + +It was the same at other towns and villages along the Creek. Churches +or schools were going up and congregations being formed. The notable +thing was that women were taking a prominent part in the meetings; +this, no doubt, was due to the fact that the pioneer missionary was a +woman. And the cry from all the districts was for women and not men--"A +White Ma to teach our women book and washing and machine." + +In July Mr. Macgregor was able to visit the infant stations, and was +greatly impressed. To him the journey up Creek was a new experience. As +the canoe pushed its way through the water-lilies the Institute boys +sang Scottish Psalms to the tunes _Invocation_ and _St. George's_ much +to Mary's delight. "It's a long time since I heard these," she +exclaimed. "It puts me in a fine key for Sabbath." At Asang she +translated Mr. Macgregor's sermon to a gathering of 300 people. "Her +interpretation," he says, "was most dramatic; she gave the address far +more force in Efik than it had in English. It was magnificent. And how +the people listened!" He had the opportunity here of seeing how deftly +she handled a "bad" native. "Don't come to God's house." she ended; +"God has no need of the likes of you with your deceit and craft. He can +get on quite well without you--though you can't get on without God. Ay, +you have that lesson to learn yet." + +At Arochuku it happened to be Egbo day, and the place was astir with +naked people, who came and stared at them as they ate. One man, who was +dressed in a hat, a loincloth, and a walking-stick, sat in a corner and +received a lecture from "Ma," which lasted the whole meal. They +explored the district, saw the tree where criminals were hanged after +terrible torture, the old juju-house with its quaint carving and relics +of sacrifices, the new palaver-shed of beaten mud, and the great slave- +road into the interior. At one spot she stopped and exclaimed, "That +was the road to the devil." It was the path to the Long Juju of bloody +memory. They returned by the new road through the _Ikot Mbiam_, the +accursed bush into which the sick and dying slaves were flung when +their days of useful service were over. At first the people would not +use this road; but now the land was laid out in farms and cultivations, +a tribute to the influence of British rule. + +On the voyage down there were frequent showers in the Creek, and Mary +sat with a waterproof over her head and shoulders, a strange figure, +but with a face glowing with spirit. When the end was in sight she +proposed that they should sing the Doxology, and, none offering to +accompany her, she sang it herself-twice.... + +In the quiet of the tropic nights she read the books and magazines and +papers which friends sent her, and in this way kept abreast of world +affairs. Her favourite journals were _The British Weekly, The +Christian, The Life of Faith_, and _The Westminster Gazette_. Her +_Record_ she read from cover to cover. It was with painful interest +that she followed at this time the developments of the great Church +crisis in the homeland. "It tears my heart," she wrote, "to see our +beloved Church dragged in and through the mire of public opinion." But +she had faith that good would issue out of it all. A keen politician, +she thirsted for election telegrams during periods of parliamentary +transition. But in all times of public unrest and excitement she fell +back on the thought that God was on His throne and all was well. + + + + + VII. MOVING INLAND + +Ibo or Ibibio--which was it to be? Both regions were calling to her, +and both attracted her. As the result of an arrangement with the Church +Missionary Society the administrative districts adjoining the Cross +River were recognised as the sphere of the United Free Church Mission. +"Now that this is settled," she wrote, "I shall try to take a firmer +hold in Arochuku. The church there is almost finished. My heart bleeds +for the people, but the Spirit has not yet suffered me to go." The dark +masses behind her at Itu drew her sympathies even more, simply because +they were lower in the scale of humanity. "It is a huge country, and if +I go in I can only touch an infinitesimal part of it. But it would be +criminal to monopolise the rights of occupation and not be able to +occupy." + +Her line of advance was practically determined by the Government. Even +with military operations still going on a marvellous change was being +effected in the condition of Ibibio. The country was being rapidly +opened up, roads were being pushed forward, and courts established; the +stir and the promise of new life was pulsating from end to end of the +land. To her hut at Itu came Government and trade experts, consulting +her on all manner of subjects, and obtaining information which no other +one could supply. The natives, on the other hand, came to her enquiring +as to the meaning of the white man's movements, and she was able to +reassure them and keep their confidence unshaken in the beneficial +character of the changes. + +She made rapid reconnaissances inland, and these set her planning +extension. Even the officials urged her to enter. They pointed to the +road. "Get a bicycle, Ma," they said, "and come as far as you can--we +will soon have a motor car service for you," Motors in Ibibio? The idea +to her was incredible, but in a few months it was realised. "Come on to +Ikot Okpene," wrote the officer at that distant centre--"the road is +going right through, and you will be the first here." She thought of +these men and their privations and their enthusiasm for Empire. "Oh," +she said, "if we would do as much for Christ!" She, at any rate, would +not be found lagging, and in the middle of the year 1905 she sallied +forth, taking with her a boy of twelve years named Etim, who read +English well, and, at a place called Ikotobong, some five and a half +miles inland, she formed a school and the nucleus of a congregation. "I +trust," she said, "that it will be the first of a chain of stations +stretching across the country. The old chief is pleased. He told me +that the future, the mystery of things, was too much for him, and that +he would welcome the light. The people are to give Etim food, and I +will give him 5s. a month for his mother out of my store." + +The lad proved an excellent teacher and disciplinarian, and gathered a +school of half a hundred children about him. Soon she was again in the +thick of building operations, and for a time was too busy even to +write. Slowly but surely Ikotobong became another centre of order and +light. The officials who ran in upon her from time to time said it was +like coming on a bit of Britain, and the Governor who called one day +declared that the place was already too civilised for her. + +Much to her joy there was a forward movement also on the part of the +Church. The Mission Council had not put aside its decision to make Itu +a medical base, and had been pressing the matter upon the Foreign +Mission Committee in Scotland, which also recognised the value of her +pioneer work and the necessity of following it up and placing it upon a +proper basis. It was finally agreed to carry out the suggestion. Dr. +Robertson from Creek Town was transferred to Itu to take oversight of +the work on the Creek, a new mission house and a hospital were planned, +and a motor launch for the Creek journeys was decided on. For the +launch the students of New College, Edinburgh, made themselves +responsible, and they succeeded in raising a sum of nearly £400 for the +purpose. The hospital and dispensary and their equipment were provided +by Mr. A. Kemp, a member of Braid United Free Church, Edinburgh, an +admirer of Miss Slessor's work, and at his suggestion it was called the +Mary Slessor Mission Hospital. When the news came to her she wrote: "It +seems like a fairy tale. I don't know what to say. I can just look up +into the blue sky and say, 'Even so, Father; in good and ill, let me +live and be worthy of it all.' It is a grand gift, and I am so glad for +my people." + +Thus relieved of Itu she established herself at Ikotobong. But she was +again eager to press forwards, and wished to plant a station some +fifteen miles farther on. It was a pace faster than the Church could +go. It had neither the workers nor the means to cope with all the +opportunities she was creating. It is a striking picture this, of the +restless little woman ever forging her way into the wilderness and +dragging a great Church behind her. + +She had been amused at the idea of riding a bicycle, but she would have +tried to fly if she could thereby have advanced the cause of Christ, +and when Mr. Charles Partridge, the District Commissioner of Ikot +Ekpene, presented her with a new machine of the latest pattern, direct +from England, she at once started to learn. "Fancy," she wrote, "an old +woman like me on a cycle! The new road makes it easy to ride, and I'm +running up and down and taking a new bit in a village two miles off. It +has done me all the good in the world, and I will soon be able to +overtake more work. I wonder what the Andersons and the Goldies and the +Edgerleys will say when they see that we can cycle twenty miles in the +bush!" The Commissioner had also brought out a phonograph with him, and +she was asked to speak into it. She recited In Efik the story of the +Prodigal Son, and when the words came forth again, the natives were +electrified, "Does not that open up possibilities," she said, "for +carrying the Gospel messages into the bush?" + +Her work of patient love and faith on the Creek saw fruit towards the +end of the year (1905), when the two churches at Akani Obio and Asang +were opened. A special meeting of Presbytery was held in the district, +and eight members were present at the ceremonies. At Akani Obio the +Rev. John Rankin accepted the key from Chief Onoyom in the name of the +Presbytery, and handed it to Miss Slessor, who inserted it in the lock +and opened the door. There was an atmosphere of intense devotion, and +Mr. Weir preached from the text, "This is none other but the house of +God, and this is the gate of heaven." The collection was over £5. + +Boarding their canoe again the party proceeded to Asang, and were met +by crowds of people. Flags floated everywhere, and they passed under an +arch of welcome. When the new native church, larger even than that at +Akani Obio, came into sight, surrounded by well-dressed men and women +and children, words failed the visitors from Calabar. Again Mary opened +the door, and again the building was unable to hold the audience. Mr. +Rankin preached from "To you is the word of this salvation sent." The +collection was watched with astonishment by the visitors. It was piled +up before the minister on the table, and bundle after bundle of rods +followed one another, coming from those outside as well as those +inside, until the amount reached £20--a remarkable sum from a people +who were still heathen, but who were eager to know and learn about God +and the right way of life. The visitors looked at one another. "It is +wonderful," they said. "Surely it is of God." "Ma" was pleased but not +surprised; she knew how the people were crying for the light, and how +willing they were to give and serve. After the meeting the people would +not depart, and she and Mr. Weir addressed them outside. On the party +returning to Akani Obio an evening service was held, "and," wrote one +of them, "the night closed down on as happy a group of missionaries as +one could imagine," "It was grand," said another; "the best apologetic +for Christianity I ever saw." + +Some weeks later the church at Okpo, where Jean had been teaching the +women and girls, was opened in the view of hundreds of the people, who +contributed a collection of £7. + +Not all the natives regarded these strange doings with equanimity. At +Akani Obio some of the chiefs were so alarmed that they left the town +in the belief that misfortune would come upon them on account of the +church. But when they saw the people throwing away their charms and +flocking to the services and no harm befalling them, they returned. +They were very angry when Onoyom put away his wives--he made ample +provision for them--and took back as his one consort a twin-mother whom +he had discarded. By and by came a fine baby boy to be the light of his +home. Akani Obio became a prohibition town, and on Sundays a white flag +was flown to indicate that no trading was allowed on God's day. + + + + + VIII. THE PROBLEM OF THE WOMEN + +One of the most baffling of West African problems is the problem of the +women. There is no place for them outside the harem; they are dependent +on the social system of the country, and helpless when cast adrift from +it; they have no proper status in the community, being simply the +creatures of man to be exploited and degraded--his labourer, his +drudge, the carrier of his kernels and oil, the boiler of his nuts. A +girl-child, if not betrothed by her guardian, lacks the protection of +the law. She can, if not attached to some man, be insulted or injured +with impunity. There was no subject which had given Mary so much +thought, and she had long come to the conclusion that it was the +economic question which lay at the root of the evil. It seemed clear +that until they were capable of supporting themselves, and subsisting +independently of men, they would continue in their servility and +degradation, a prey to the worst practices of the bush, and a strong +conservative force against the introduction of higher and purer methods +of existence. Enlightened women frankly told Miss Slessor that they +despaired of ever becoming free from the toils of tradition and custom, +and that there seemed no better destiny for them than the life of the +harem and the ways of sin. It was a serious outlook for those who +became Christians,--about whom she was most concerned,--and she could +not leave the matter alone. Her active mind was always moving amongst +the conditions around her, considering them, seeing beyond them, and +suggesting lines of improvement and advance; and in this case she saw +that she would have to show how women could be rendered independent of +the ties of a House, In Calabar Christian women supported themselves by +dressmaking, and much of their work was sent up-country, and she did +not wish to take the bread out of their mouths. Gradually there came to +her the idea of establishing a home in some populous country centre, +where she could place her girls and any twin-mothers, waifs, or strays, +or any Christian unable to find a livelihood outside the harem, and +where they could support themselves by farm and industrial work. A +girls' school could also be attached to it. Two principles were laid +down as essential for such an institution: it must be based on the +land, and it must be self-supporting--she did not believe in homes +maintained from without. All native women understood something of +cultivation and the raising of small stock, and their efforts could be +chiefly engaged in that direction, as well as in washing and +laundrying, baking, basket-making, weaving, shoemaking, and so forth. +Machinery of a simple character run by water-power could be added when +necessary. + +In view of the uncertainty of her own future, and the opening up of the +country, she wisely held back from deciding on a site until she knew +more about the routes of the Government roads and the possible +developments of districts. She wanted virgin land and good water-power, +but she also desired what was still more important--a ready and +sufficient market for the products. In her journeys into the interior +of Ibibio she was constantly prospecting with the home in mind, and +once a chief who thought he had found a suitable site took her into a +region of more utter solitude than she had ever experienced in all her +wanderings, where a path had to be cut for her through the matted +vegetation. Not one of her guides would open his lips; while they +feared the wild beasts and reptiles, they feared still more the spirits +of the forest, and they remained silent in case speech might betray +them to these invisible presences. + +Being a European she could not, according to the law of the land, buy +ground, but she proposed to acquire it in the name of Jean and the +other girls, and then give the Mission a perpetual interest in it. In a +report of her work on the Creek, which Miss Adam induced her to write +at this time, in the shape of a personal letter to herself, and which +appeared in the _Record_, and was characterised by masterly breadth of +outlook and clear insight into the conditions of the country, she made +a reference to the project, saying: "The expenditure of money is not in +question--I am guarded against that by the express command of the +Committee. I shall only expend my own, or what my personal friends give +me." + + + + + IX. A CHRISTMAS PARTY + +With the few white men in the district she was very friendly. They were +chiefly on the Government staff, and included the surveyors on the new +road. Most of them were public-school men, and some, she thought, were +almost too fine for the work. "Life," she said, "is infinitely harder +for these men than for the missionary. But they never complain. They +work very cheerfully in depressing surroundings, living in squalid +huts, and undergoing many privations, doing their bit for civilisation +and the Empire. And they are all somebody's bairns." She won them by +her sympathy, entering into their lives, appreciating their +difficulties and temptations, and acting towards them as a wise mother +would. Her age, she said, gave her a chance others in the Mission had +not, and she sought in the most tactful way to lead them to a +consideration of the highest things. + +Christmastide as a rule came and went in the bush without notice, +except for a strange tightening of the heart, and a renewal of old +memories. But this year, 1905, the spirit of the day seemed to fall +upon these lonely white folk, and they forgathered at Ikotobong, and +spent it in something like the home fashion. In a lowly shed, which had +no front wall, and where the seats were of mud, no fewer than eight +men--officials, engineers, and traders from far and near--sat down to +dinner. "They could have gone elsewhere," wrote "Ma," "but they came +and held an innocently happy day with an old woman, whose day for +entertaining and pleasing is over." + +There was no lack of Christmas fare. An officer of high standing had +received his usual plum-pudding from home, but as he was leaving on +furlough, he sent it to "Ma"; a cake had come from Miss Wright, "the +dear lassie at Okoyong," and shortbread had arrived from Scotland, But +there was not a drop of intoxicating drink on the table. + +After dinner the old home songs and hymns full of memories and +associations were sung, often tremulously, for each had loved ones of +whom he thought. Jean, who had secured a canoe and come from Okpo, and +the other children, were present, and they sang an Efik hymn; and +although Mary was the only Scot present the proceedings were rounded +off with "Auld Long Syne." "I just lay back and enjoyed it all," she +wrote, "It is fifteen years since I spent a Christmas like it. Wasn't +it good of my Father to give me such a treat? I was the happiest woman +in the Mission that night! If I could only win these men for Christ-- +that would be the best reward for their kindness." Next day they sent +her a Christmas card on a huge sheet of surveying-paper, with their +names in the centre. + +Miss Wright, along with Miss Amess, a new colleague, arrived on the +80th on a visit, and three of the Public Works officials spent the +evening with them. Mary began to talk as if it were the last night of +the year. "Oh," said one of the men, "we have another day in which to +repent, Ma." "Have we?" she replied. "I thought it was the last night-- +and I've been confessing my sins of the past year! I'll have to do it +all over again." These officials asked the ladies to dine with them on +New Year's night, the form of invitation being-- + +"_The Disgraces three desire the company of the Graces three to dinner +this evening at seven o'clock. Lanterns and hammocks at 10 P.M. +R.S.V.P_." + +In reply "Ma" wrote some humorous verses. The dinner was given in the +same native shed as before. As the table-boy passed the soup, one of +the men made as if to begin. "Ma," who was sitting beside him, put her +hand on his and said, "No, you don't, my boy, until the blessing is +asked," and then she said grace. After dinner the bairns, who had been +sitting at the door in the light of a big fire, were brought in, and +prayers were conducted by Mary. On that occasion, when Miss Amess was +bidding her "Good-bye," she said to her, "Lassie, keep up your pluck." + +These men were very much afraid of the least appearance of cant, but +they would do anything for "Ma"; and when, a few days later, in order +to give an object-lesson to the natives, she proposed an English +service, they agreed, and one of them read the lessons, and another led +the singing. A short time before white men were unknown to the +district. + + + + + X. MUTINOUS + +She was, under official ruling, to return to Akpap in April 1906, and +she was now reminded of the fact. She was in great distress, and +inclined to be mutinous. "There is an impelling power behind me, and I +dare not look backward," she said. "Even if it cost me my connection +with the Church of my heart's love, I feel I must go forward." And +again, "I am not enthusiastic over Church methods. I would not mind +cutting the rope and going adrift with my bairns, and I can earn our +bite and something more." She had thoughts of taking a post under +Government, or, with the help of her girls, opening a store. In a +letter to the Rev. William Stevenson, the Secretary of the Women's +Foreign Mission Committee, she pointed out how her settlement at Itu +had justified itself, and referred to the rapid development of the +country:-- + +In all this how plainly God has been leading me. I had not a thought of +such things in my lifetime, nor, indeed, in the next generation, and +yet my steps have been led, apart from any plan of mine, right to the +line of God's planning for the country. First Itu, then the Creek, then +back from Aro, where I had set my heart, to a solitary wilderness of +the most forbidding description, where the silence of the bush had +never been broken, and here before three months are past there are +miles of road, and miles and miles more all surveyed and being worked +upon by gangs of men from everywhere, and free labour is being created +and accepted as quickly as even a novelist could imagine. And the +minutes says "I am to return to Akpap in April!" Okoyong and its people +are very dear to me. No place on earth now is quite as dear, but to +leave these hordes of untamed, unwashed, unlovely savages and withdraw +the little sunlight that has begun to flicker out over its darkness! I +dare not think of it. Whether the Church permits it or not, I feel I +must stay here and even go on farther as the roads are made. I cannot +walk now, nor dare I do anything to trifle with my health, which is +very queer now and then, but if the roads are all the easy gradient of +those already made I can get four wheels made and set a box on them, +and the children can draw me about.... With such facts pressing on me +at every point you will understand my saying _I dare not go back_. I +shall rather take the risk of finding my own chop if the Mission do not +see their way to go on. But if they see their way to meet the new needs +and requirements, I shall do all in my power to further them without +extra expense to the Church. + +"This," she characteristically added, "is not for publication; it is +for digestion." + +There had never, of course, been any intention on the part of the +Church to draw back from the task of evangelising the new regions. But +the various bodies responsible for the work were stewards of the money +contributed for foreign missions, and they had to proceed in this +particular part of the field according to their resources. Both men and +means were limited, and had to be adjusted to the needs, not in an +impulsive and haphazard way, but with the utmost care and forethought. +All connected with the Mission were as eager for extension as she was, +but they desired it to be undertaken on thorough and business-like +lines. The difference between them and her was one of method; she, all +afire with energy and enthusiasm, would have gone on in faith; they, +more prudent and calculating, wished to be sure of each step before +they advanced another. + +To her great relief she was permitted to have her way. When it was seen +that she was bent on pressing forward, it was decided to set her free +from ordinary trammels and allow her to act in future as a pioneer +missionary. It was a remarkable position, one not without its +difficulties and dangers, and one naturally that could not become +common. But Mary Slessor was an exceptional woman, and it was to the +honour of the Church that it at last realised the line of her genius, +and in spite of being sometimes at variance with her policy, permitted +her to follow her Master in her own fashion. + +Her faith in the people and their own ability to support the work was +proved more than once. It was a plucky thing for these men and women to +become Christians, since it meant the entire recasting of their lives. +Yet this is what was now being often witnessed. One event at Akani Obio +was to her a "foretaste of heaven"--the baptism of the chief and his +slave-wife and baby, a score of her people, and sixteen young boys and +girls, including one of the lads who had assisted to paddle the canoe +on the day when the Creek was first entered. She was ill, and was +carried to and from the town in sharp pain and much discomfort, but she +forgot her body in the rare pleasure she experienced at the sight of so +many giving themselves to Christ. She had to hide her face on the +communion-table. "Over forty sat down in the afternoon to remember our +Lord's death 'till He come.' It cannot go back this work of His. Akani +Obio is now linked on to Calvary." She thought of those rejoicing +above. "I am sure our Lord will never keep it from my mother." + +The news from Arochuku was also cheering, although the messages told of +persecution of the Infant Church by the chiefs, who threatened to expel +the teachers if they spoiled the old fashions. "And what did you say to +that?" she enquired. "We replied, 'You can put us out of our country, +but you cannot put us away from God.'" "And the women?" "They said they +would die for Jesus Christ." She was anxious to visit Arochuku again, +but there had been exceptional rains, and the Creek had risen beyond +its usual height and flooded the villages. Akani Obio suffered greatly, +the church being inundated. The chief was downcast, and in his +simplicity of faith thought God was punishing him, and searched his +heart to find the cause, until "Ma" comforted him. He determined to +rebuild the church on higher ground, and this intention he carried out +later. About a mile further up the Creek he chose a good site, and +erected a new town called Obufa Obio, the first to be laid out on a +regular plan. The main street is about forty yards wide, and in the +middle of it is the chief's house, with the church close by. The side +streets are about ten yards wide. All the houses have lamps hanging in +front, and these are lit in the evenings, The boys have a large +football field to themselves. Chief Onoyom, who is one of the elders of +session, continues to exercise a powerful influence for good throughout +the Creek. + +One incident of the floods greatly saddened Mary. A native family were +sleeping in their hut, but above the waters. The mother woke suddenly +at the sound of something splashing about below. Thinking it was some +wild animal, she seized a machete and hacked at it. Her husband also +obtained his sword and joined in. When lights came, the mangled form of +the baby, who had fallen from the bed, was seen in the red water. +Distracted at having murdered her child, the mother threw herself into +the Creek and was drowned. + +So convinced was Mary of the importance of Arochuku, and so anxious to +have a recognised station there, that she offered to build a house free +of expense to the Mission, if two agents could be sent up. This brought +the whole matter of extension to a definite issue, and a forward +movement was unanimously agreed on by the Council--the ladies being +specially anxious for this--any developments to take place by the way +of the Enyong Creek. A committee was appointed to visit Arochuku and to +confer with Mary. Two ladies were actually appointed by the Council, +one being Miss Martha Peacock, who was afterwards to be so closely +allied with her. When these matters came before the Foreign Mission +Committee in Scotland, a resolution was passed, which it is well to +give in full: + +1. That they recognise the general principle, that, in all ordinary +circumstances the Women's Foreign Mission should not make the first +advance into new territory, but follow the lead of the Foreign Mission +Committee, the function of the former being to supply the necessary +complement to the work of the latter. + +2. That, however, in view of (_a_) the earnest desire of the people of +the district in question to receive Christian teaching, and their +willingness to help in providing it; (_b_) the fact that the region has +been claimed by the United Free Church as within the sphere of its +operations, and has had that claim acknowledged by the Church +Missionary Society; (_c_) the steps which have already been taken by +Miss Slessor, and what she is further prepared to do: they regard it as +not only highly desirable, but the duty of the Church to occupy the +region in question as soon as it is possible. + +3. That in view, on the other hand, of the present condition of their +funds, which are overtaxed by the already existing work, the Committee +deeply regret that it is beyond their means to add two new members to +the staff, as the Council requests, and that, therefore, the sending of +two new agents to Arochuku must be meantime delayed. + +4. That the Committee, however, approve of the acceptance by the +Mission Council of Miss Slessor's generous offer to build the house, +but recommend the Council to consider whether the execution of the work +should not be delayed till there is a nearer prospect of new agents +being supplied. + +They further return thanks to Miss Slessor for her generosity, and +record their warm appreciation of her brave pioneer work; and they +express the earnest hope that the Church, by larger liberality, may +soon enable them to make the advance which has been so well prepared. + +Meanwhile the Rev. John Rankln had been given a roving commission in +order to ascertain the best location for the future station, and he +came back from a tour in Ibo and Ibibio and fired the Council with the +tale of what he had seen, and the wonderful possibilities of this great +and populous region. + +"Close to Arochuku within a circle, the diameter of which is less than +three miles, there are," he said, "nineteen large towns. I visited +sixteen of these, each of which is larger than Creek Town, The people +are a stalwart race, far in advance of Efik. The majority are very +anxious for help. A section is strongly opposed, even to the point of +persecution of those who are under the influence of Miss Slessor, and +others have already begun to try to live in 'God's fashion.' This +opposition seems to be one of the most hopeful signs, as proving that +there will be at least no indifference. The head chief of all the Aros, +who was the chief formerly in control of the 'long juju' is one of +those most favourable. He has already announced to the other chiefs his +intention to rule in God's ways. He has been the most keen in asking +the missionary to come. A new church will be built, and he offers to +build a house for any missionary who will come." + +With something like enthusiasm the Committee set apart Mr. Rankin +himself to take up the work at Arochuku, and accepted the +responsibility of sending him at once.... + +Thus Arochuku, like Itu, passed into the control of the Foreign Mission +Committee, and became one of their stations and the centre of further +developments, and thus Miss Slessor's long period of anxiety regarding +its position and future was at an end. + + + + + XI. ON THE BENCH + +Recognising that "Ma" had an influence with the natives, which it was +impossible to abrogate, the Government decided to invest her with the +powers of a magistrate. + +The native courts of Nigeria consist of a number of leading chiefs in +each district, who take turns to try cases between native and native. +The District Commissioner is _ex-officio_ president of those within his +sphere, and each court is composed of a permanent vice-president and +three chiefs. + +Before leaving Itu she was asked informally whether she would consent +to take the superintendence of Court affairs in the district, as she +had done in Okoyong, but on a recognised basis. If she agreed, the +Court would be transferred to Ikotobong to suit her convenience and +safeguard her strength. She was pleased that the Government thought her +worthy of the position, and was favourable to the idea. Already she was +by common consent the chief arbiter in all disputes, and wielded unique +power, but she thought that if she were also the official agent of the +Government she might increase the range of her usefulness. Her aim was +to help the poor and the oppressed, and specially to protect her own +downtrodden sex and secure their rights, and to educate the people up +to the Christian standard of conduct; and such an appointment would +give her additional advantage and authority. "It will be a good +chance," she said, "to preach the Gospel, and to create confidence and +inspire hope in these poor wretches, who fear white and black man +alike; while it will neither hamper my work nor restrict my liberty." +On stating that she would do the work she was told that a salary was +attached to the post, but she declared that nothing would induce her to +accept it, "I'm born and bred, and am in every fibre of my being, a +voluntary." + +The formal offer came in May 1905, in the shape of this letter: + +1. I am directed by His Excellency the High Commissioner to enquire +whether you would accept office as a Member of Itu Native Court with +the status of permanent Vice-President. His Excellency is desirous of +securing the advantage of your experience and intimate knowledge of +native affairs and sympathetic interest in the welfare of the +villagers, and understands that you would not be averse to place your +service at the disposal of the Government. + +2. It is proposed to assign you a nominal salary of one pound a year, +and to hand you the balance--forty-seven pounds per annum--for use in +forwarding your Mission work. + +3. It is proposed to transfer Itu Court to Ikotobong. + +She thanked the Government for the honour and for the confidence +reposed in her, and said she was willing to give her services for the +good of the people in any way, but she declined to accept any +remuneration. + +She took over the books in October, acting then and often afterwards, +as clerk, and carrying through all the tedious clerical duties. It was +strange and terrible, but to her not unfamiliar work. She came face to +face with the worst side of a low-down savage people, and dealt with +the queerest of queer cases. One of the first was a murder charge in +which a woman was involved. Women were indeed at the bottom of almost +every mischief and palaver in the country. With marriage was mixed up +poisoning, sacrifice, exactions, oaths, debts, and cruelty unspeakable. +Mary was often sick with the loathing of it all. "God help these poor +helpless women!" she wrote. "What a crowd of people I have had to-day, +and how debased! They are just like brutes in regard to women. I have +had a murder, an eséré case, a suicide, a man for branding his slave- +wife all over her face and body; a man with a gun who has shot four +persons--it is all horrible!" + +Here are three specimen charges, and the results, in her own writing:-- + + + FOR IMPRISONMENT + +O. I. Found guilty of brawling in market and taking by force 8 rods +from a woman's basket. One month's hard labour. + +P. B. Chasing a girl into the bush with intent to injure. One month's +hard labour. + +U. A. (a) Seizing a woman in the market. (b) Chaining her for 14 days +by neck and wrists. Throwing _mbiam_ with intent to kill should she +reveal it to white man. Sentenced to six months' hard labour, and to be +sent back on expiry of sentence to pay costs. + +She had the right of inflicting punishment up to six months' +imprisonment, but often, instead of administering the law, she +administered justice by giving the prisoner a blow on the side of the +head! + +The oath taken was usually the heathen mbiam. For this were needed a +skull and a vile concoction in a bottle, that was kept outside the +Court House on account of the smell. After a witness had promised to +speak the truth, one of the members of the Court would take some of the +stuff and draw it across his tongue and over his face, and touch his +legs and arms. It was believed that if he spoke falsely he would die. +After Miss Slessor took up her duties, a heathen native, who had +clearly borne false witness, dropped down dead on leaving the Court, +with the result that _mbiam_ was in high repute for a time in the +district. + +Although three local chiefs sat by her side on the "bench," and the +jury behind her, she ruled supreme. "I have seen her get up," says a +Government official of that time, "and box the ears of a chief because +he continued to interrupt after being warned to be quiet. The act +caused the greatest amusement to the other chiefs." They often writhed +under her new edicts regarding women, but they always acquiesced in her +judgment. For not providing water for twin-mothers, she fined a town +£3. Miss Amess tells of a poor woman wishing a divorce from her scamp +of a husband. The "Court" evidently thought she had sufficient cause, +and there and then granted the request, and asked her colleague to +witness the act. The woman was triumphant, feeling very important at +having two white people on her side, while the man stood trembling, as +"Ma" expressed her candid opinion of him. In the Government report for +1907 it was stated that a number of summonses had been issued by the +District Commissioner against husbands of twin-bearing women for +desertion and support, and in every case the husbands agreed to take +the women back, the sequel being that other women in the same plight +were also received again into their families. "The result," says the +report, "is a sign of the civilising influence worked through the Court +by that admirable lady, Miss Slessor." + +Some of her methods were not of the accepted judicial character. She +would try a batch of men for an offence, lecture them, and then impose +a fine. Finding they had no money she would take them up to the house +and give them work to earn the amount, and feed them well. Needless to +say they went back to their homes her devoted admirers. Her excuse for +such irregular procedure was, that while they were working she could +talk to them, and exercise an influence that might prove abiding in +their lives. This was the motive animating all her actions in the +Court. "When 'Ma' Slessor presided," it was said, "her Master was +beside her, and His spirit guided her." + +The Court was popular, for the natives had their tales heard at first +hand, and not through an interpreter. "Ma's" complete mastery of their +tongue, customs, habits, and very nature, gave her, of course, an +exceptional advantage. One District Commissioner spent three days in +trying a single case, hearing innumerable witnesses, without coming +within sight of the truth. In despair he sought her aid, and she +settled the whole dispute to the satisfaction of every one by asking +two simple questions. It was impossible for any native to deceive her. +A Government doctor had occasion to interview a chief through an +interpreter. She was standing by. As the chief spoke she suddenly broke +in, and the man simply crumpled up before her. The doctor afterwards +asked her what the chief had done. "He told a lie, and I reprimanded +him--but I cannot understand how he could possibly expect me not to +know." Again and again she reverted to the matter. "To think he could +have expected to deceive _me_!" Another official tells how a tall, +well-built, muscular chief cowered before her. "Having no knowledge of +the language, I could not tell what it was all about, but plainly the +man looked as if his very soul had been laid bare, and as though he +wished the earth would open and swallow him. She combined most happily +kindliness and severity, and indeed I cannot imagine any native trying +to take advantage of her kindness and of her great-hearted love for the +people. This is the more remarkable to any one with intimate personal +acquaintance with the native, and of his readiness to regard kindness +as weakness or softness, and his endeavour to exploit it to the +utmost." + +All this Court business added to her toil, as a constant stream of +people came to her at the Mission House in connection with their cases. +She did not, however, see them all. It became her practice to sit in a +room writing at her desk or reading, and send the girls to obtain the +salient features of the story. They knew how to question, and what +facts to take to her, and she sent them back with directions as to what +should be done. When she was ill and feeble she extended this practice +to other palavers. People still came from great distances to secure her +ruling on some knotty dispute, and having had their statements conveyed +to her, she would either give the reply through the girls, or speak out +of the open window, and the deputation would depart satisfied, and act +on her advice. Her correspondence also increased in volume, and she +received many a curious communication. The natives would sometimes be +puzzled how to address her, and to make absolutely sure they would send +their letters to "Madam, Mr., Miss, Slessor." + + + + + XII. A VISITOR'S NOTES + +A pleasant glimpse of her at this time is given in some notes by Miss +Amess. On Miss Wright going home--she shortly afterwards married Dr. +Rattray of the Mission staff, both subsequently settling in England-- +Miss Amess was not permitted to stay alone in Okoyong, and she asked to +be associated with Miss Slessor at Ikotobong. It was a happy +arrangement for the latter. "What a relief it is," she wrote, "to have +some one to lean on and share the responsibility of the bairns. Miss +Amess is so sane and capable and helpful, and is always on the watch to +do what is to be done--a dear consecrated lassie." Miss Amess says: + +When I went to Calabar I heard a great deal about Miss Slessor, and +naturally I wished to see her. She had been so courageous that I +imagined she must be somewhat masculine, with a very commanding +appearance, but I was pleasantly disappointed when I found she was a +true woman, with a heart full of motherly affection. Her welcome was +the heartiest I received. Her originality, brightness, and almost +girlish spirit fascinated me. One could not be long in her company +without enjoying a right hearty laugh. As her semi-native house was +just finished, and she always did with the minimum of furniture and +culinary articles, the Council authorised me to take a filter, dishes, +and cooking utensils from Akpap, and I had also provision cases and +personal luggage. I was not sure of what "Ma" would say about sixteen +loads arriving, because there were no wardrobes or presses, and one had +just to live in one's boxes. When "Ma" saw the filter she said, "Ye +maun a' hae yer filters noo-a-days. Filters werna created; they were an +after-thocht." She quite approved of my having it all the same. + +Mail day was always a red-letter day. We only got letters fortnightly +then. She was always interested in my home news and told me hers, so +that we had generally a very happy hour together. Then the papers would +be read and their contents discussed. To be with her was an education. +She had such a complete grasp of all that was going on in the world. +One day after studying Efik for two hours she said to me, "Lassie, you +have had enough of that to-day, go away and read a novel for a short +time." + +She was very childlike with her bairns and dearly loved them. One night +I had to share her bed, and during the night felt her clapping me on +the shoulder. I think she had been so used with black babies that this +was the force of habit, for she was amused when I told her of it in the +morning. + +There was no routine with "Ma." One never knew what she would be doing. +One hour she might be having a political discussion with a District +Commissioner, the next supervising the building of a house, and later +on judging native palavers. Late one evening I heard a good deal of +talking and also the sound of working. I went in to see what was doing +and there was "Ma" making cement and the bairns spreading it on the +floor with their hands in candle light. The whole scene at so late an +hour was too much for my gravity. + +When at prayers with her children she would sometimes play a tambourine +at the singing, and if the bairns were half asleep it struck their +curly heads instead of her elbow. + +Her outstanding characteristic was her great sympathy, which enabled +her to get into touch with the highest and the lowest. Once while +cycling together we met the Provincial Commissioner. After salutations +and some conversation with him she finished up by saying, "Good-bye, +and see and be a guid laddie!" + +While out walking one Sabbath we came across several booths where the +natives who were making the Government road were living. She began +chatting with them, and then told them the Parable of the Lost Sheep. +She told everything in a graphic way, and with a perfect knowledge of +the vernacular, and they followed her with reverence and intense +interest all through. To most of them, if not to all, that would be the +first time they had heard of a God of Love. + +She had really two personalities. In the morning one would hear +evildoers getting hotly lectured for their "fashions," and in the +evening when all was quiet she lifted one up to the very heights +regarding the things of the Kingdom. She always had a wonderful vision +of what the power of the Gospel could make of the most degraded, though +bound by the strongest chains of superstition and heathenism. One might +enter her house feeling pessimistic, but one always left it an +optimist. + + + + + XIII. A REST-HOME + +A touch of romance seemed to be connected with all her work. The next +idea she sought to develop was a Rest-House or week-end, holiday, or +convalescent home, where the ladies of the Mission, when out of +spirits, or run down in health, could reside and recuperate without the +fear of being a trouble or expense to others. In a tropical country, +where a change and rest is so often essential to white workers, such a +quiet accessible resort would, she thought, prove a blessing. But there +was no money for the purpose. One day, however, she received a cheque +for £20. Years before, in Okoyong, Dr. Dutton of the Tropical School of +Medicine had stayed with her for scientific study. He went on to the +Congo, and there succumbed. On going over his papers, his family found +her letters, and in recognition of her kindness and interest, sent her +a gift of £20. Thinking of a way of spending the money which would have +pleased her friend, she determined to apply it to the building of her +Rest-House. + +The site for such a resort required to be near the Creek, and she +discovered one on high land at Use between Ikotobong and Itu, and two +miles from the landing-beach. The road here winds round hills from +which beautiful views are obtained. On this side one sees far into Ibo +beyond Arochuku, on that the vision is of Itu and the country behind +it, while on the west the palm-covered plain rises into the highlands +of Ikot Ekpene. It is one of the fairest of landscapes, but is the +haunt of leopards and other wild beasts, and after rain the roadway is +often covered with the marks of their feet. + +The ground was cleared, and building operations begun, the plan worked +out being a small semi-European cottage and native yard. Other cottages +would follow. Before long, however, the feeling grew that Ikotobong +should be taken over by the Women's Foreign Mission Committee, and she +foresaw that Use would require to be her own headquarters. + +Towards the end of the year Miss E, M'Kinney, one of the lady agents, +called at Use, and found her living in a single room, and sleeping on a +mattress placed upon a sheet of corrugated iron. As the visitor had to +leave early in the morning, and there were no clocks in the hut, "Ma" +adopted the novel device of tying a rooster to her bed. The plan +succeeded; at first cock-crow the sleepers were aroused from their +slumbers. + +It was not so much a rest-house for others that was needed, as a rest +for herself. She was gradually coming to the end of her strength. +Throughout the year 1906 she suffered from diarrhoea, boils, and other +weakening complaints, and the Government doctor at last frankly told +her that if she wished to live and work another day, she must go home +at once. Her answer to his fiat was to rally in a wonderful way. "It +looks," she said, "as if God has forbidden my going. Does this appear +as if He could not do without me? Oh, dear me, poor old lady, how +little you can do! But I can at least keep a door open." It was, +however, only a respite. By the beginning of 1907 she could not walk +half-a-dozen steps, her limbs refused to move, and she needed to be +carried about. It was obvious, even to herself, that she must go home. +Home! the very word brought tears to her eyes. The passion for the old +land and "kent" faces, and the graves of her beloved, grew with her +failing power. A home picture made her heart leap and long. "Oh, the +dear homeland," she cried, "shall I really be there and worship in its +churches again! How I long for a wee look at a winter landscape, to +feel the cold wind, and see the frost in the cart-ruts, to hear the +ring of shoes on the hard frozen ground, to see the glare of the shops, +and the hurrying scurrying crowd, to take a back seat in a church, and +hear without a care of my own the congregation singing, and hear how +they preach and pray and rest their souls in the hush and solemnity." + +She arranged to leave in May, and set about putting her household +affairs in order. The safeguarding of the children gave her much +solicitude. For Jean and the older girls she trembled. "They must be +left in charge of the babies, with only God to protect them." Dan, now +six years old, she took with her as a help to fetch and carry. Her +departure and journey were made wonderfully easy by the kindness of +Government officials, who vied with each other in taking care of her +and making her comfortable. One of her friends, Mr. Gray, packed for +her, stored her furniture, conveyed her to Duke Town, and asked his +sister in Edinburgh to meet her. Mr. Middleton, of Lagos, wrote to say +he was going home, and would wait for her in order to "convoy her +safely through all the foreign countries between Lagos and the other +side of the Tweed." "Now there," she wrote to the Wilkies--"Doth Job +serve God for nought?" Very grateful she was for all the attention. +"God must repay these men," she said, "for I cannot. He will not forget +they did it to a child of His, unworthy though she is." After the +voyage she wrote: "Mr. Middleton has faithfully and very tenderly +carried out all his promises. Had I been his mother, he could not have +been more attentive or kind." + + + + + XIV. SCOTLAND: THE LAST FAREWELL + +A telegram to Mrs. M'Crindle at Joppa informed her that her friend had +arrived at Liverpool and was on the way to Edinburgh. She met the +train, and saw an old wrinkled lady huddled in a corner of a carriage. +Could that be Miss Slessor? With a pitying hand she helped her out and +conveyed her, with Dan, to the comfort of her home. + +But soon letters, postcards, invitations, parcels began flowing in. +"This correspondence," she wrote, "is overwhelming. I cannot keep pace +with it." There was no end to the kindness which people showered upon +her. Gifts of flowers, clothes, and money for herself and her work, and +toys for Dan were her daily portion. "It is a wonderful service this," +she said, "which makes the heart leap to do His will, and it is all +unknown to the nearest neighbour or the dearest friend, but it keeps +the Kingdom of Heaven coming every day anew on the earth." One £5 was +slipped into her hand for her bairns. "My bairns don't require it," she +replied, "and won't get it either, but it is put aside, till I see the +Board, as the nest-egg of my Home for Girls and Women in Calabar. If I +can get them to give the woman or women, I shall give half of my salary +to help hers, and will give the house and find the servants, and I can +find the passage money from personal friends. Pray that the Board may +dare to go on in faith, and take up this work." + +Between spells of colds and fevers she visited friends. At Bowden again +she had the exquisite experience of enjoying utter rest and happiness. +A pleasant stay was at Stanley, with the family of Miss Amess, who was +also at home, and with whom she rose early in the morning and went out +cycling. She cycled also with Miss Logie at Newport, but was very timid +on the road. If she saw a dog in front she would dismount, and remount +after she had passed it. She went over to Dundee and roamed through her +former haunts with an old factory companion, looking wistfully at the +scenes of her girlhood. + +"I have been gladdened," she wrote to an English friend, "at finding +many of those I taught in young days walking in the fear and love of +God, and many are heads of families who are a strength and ornament to +the Church of Christ. About thirty-five or thirty-eight years ago three +ladies and myself began to work in a dreadful district-one became a +district nurse, one worked among the fallen women and the prisons of +our cities, and one has been at home working quietly--and we all met in +good health and had such a day together. We went up the old roads and +talked of all God had done for us and for the people, and again +dedicated ourselves to Him. It was probably the last time we shall meet +down here, but we were glad in the hope of eternity." + +She had not been in Scotland since the Union of the Churches, and one +of her first duties was to call upon Mr. Stevenson, the Secretary of +the Women's Foreign Mission Committee, and his assistant, Miss +Crawford. She had a high sense of the value of the work going on at +headquarters, and always maintained that the task of organising at home +was much harder than service in the field. But she had a natural +aversion to officialdom, and anticipated the interviews with dread. She +pictured two cold, unsympathetic individuals--a conception afterwards +recalled with amusement. What the reality was may be gathered from a +letter she wrote later to Mr. Stevenson: "I have never felt much at +home with our new conditions, and feared the result of the Union in its +detail, though I most heartily approved of it in theory and fact. No! I +shall not be afraid of you. Both Miss Crawford and yourself have been a +revelation to me, and I am ashamed of my former fancies and fears, and +I shall ever think of, and pray for the secretaries with a very warm +and thankful heart." + +There was an element of humour in her meeting with Miss Crawford. The +two women, somewhat nervous, stood on opposite sides of the office +door. She, without, was afraid to enter, shrinking from the task of +facing the unknown personage within--a woman who had been in India and +written a book, and was sure to be masculine and hard! She, within, of +gentle face and soft speech, leant timidly on her desk, nerving herself +for the coming shock, for the famous pioneer missionary was sure to be +"difficult" and aggressive. When Mary entered they glanced at one +another, looked into each other's eyes, and with a sigh of relief +smiled and straightway fell in love. When Mary gave her affection she +gave it with a passionate abandon, and Miss Crawford was taken into the +inmost sanctuary of her heart. "You have been one of God's most +precious gifts to me on this furlough," she said later. In her humility +Miss Crawford spoke about not being worthy to tie her shoe. "Dear +daughter of the King," exclaimed the missionary, "why do you say that? +If you knew me as God does! Never say that kind of thing again!" + +The ordeal of meeting the Women's Foreign Mission Committee was also a +disillusionment. Her friend, Dr. Robson, was in the chair, and his +opening prayer was an inspiration, and lifted the proceedings to the +highest level. Nothing could have been kinder than her reception, which +delighted her greatly. "There was such a sympathetic hearing for +Calabar, especially from the old Free Church section, who are as eager +for the Mission as the old United Presbyterians." A conference was held +with her in regard to the position of Ikotobong, and her heart was +gladdened by the decision to take over the station and place two lady +missionaries there, Miss Peacock and Miss Reid. At another conference +with a sub-committee she discussed the matter of the Settlement, gave +an outline of her plans, and intimated that already two ladies had +offered £100 each to start the enterprise, while other sums were also +on hand. The sub-committee was much impressed with the sense of both +the necessity and promise of the scheme, and recommended the Women's +Committee to express general approval of it, and earnest sympathy with +the end in view, and to authorise her to take the necessary steps on +her return for the selection of a suitable site, the preparation of +plans, and estimates of the cost of the ground, buildings, and agents, +in order that the whole scheme might be submitted through the Mission +Council, at the earliest practicable date, for sanction. The general +Committee unanimously and cordially adopted this recommendation. + +It was expected that she would address many meetings throughout the +country during her furlough to interest people in her work and +projects, but she astonished every one by intimating that she was +leaving for Calabar in October, although she had only been a few months +at home. In her eyes friends saw a look of sorrow, and said to one +another that the burden of the work was lying upon her heart. But few +knew the secret of her sadness. To some who remonstrated she said, "My +heart yearns for my bairns--they are more to me than myself." The truth +was that a story about Jean had been set afloat by a native and had +reached her in letters, and she could hardly contain herself until she +had found out the meaning of it. At all costs she must get back. Even +her pilgrimage to the graves of her dear ones in Devon must be given +up. + +Much against her will and pleading she was tied down to give at least +three addresses in the great towns, but with her whole being unhinged +by the shadow that overhung her, she had little mind for public +speaking. Her old nervousness in the face of an audience returned with +tenfold force. "I am trembling for the meetings," she wrote, "but +surely God will help me. It is His own cause." And again, "I am +suffering tortures of fear, and yet why is it that I cannot rest in +Him? If He sends me work, surely He will help me to deliver His +message, and to do it for His glory. He never failed me before. If He +be glorified that is all, whether I be considered able or not." + +She never prepared a set speech, and when she was going up to the +Edinburgh meeting with Mrs. M'Crindle, she turned to her and said, +"What am I to say?" "Just open your lips and let God speak," replied +her friend. She was greatly pleased with the answer, and on that +occasion she never spoke better. Dr. Robson presided, and Mrs. Duncan +M'Laren, in bidding her farewell on behalf of the audience, said, +"There are times when it needs God-given vision to see the guiding +hand. We feel that our friend has this heavenly vision, and that she +has not been disobedient to it. We all feel humbled when we hear what +she and her brave colleagues have done. In God's keeping we may safely +leave her." + +At the meeting in Glasgow the feeling was even more tense and +emotional, and a hush came over the audience as the plain little woman +made her appeal, and told them that in all probability she would never +again be back. At the benediction she stood, a pathetic figure, her +head drooping, her whole attitude one of utter weariness. + +On the eve of her departure she was staying with friends. At night they +went into her room and found her weeping quietly in bed. They tried to +comfort her, and she said half-whimsically that she had been overcome +by the feeling that she was homeless and without kith and kin la her +own country. "I'm a poor solitary with only memories." "But you have +troops of friends--you have us all--we all love you." "Yes, I ken, and +I am grateful," she replied, "but"--wistfully--"it's just that I've +none of my ain folk to say good-bye to." + +She was very tired when she left, "I'm hardly myself in this country," +she said. "It has too many things, and it is always in such a hurry. I +lose my head." Again kind hands eased her way, and settled her on the +steamer. Dan was inconsolable, and wept to be taken back to Joppa. + +The voyage gave her a new lease of life. The quietness and peace and +meditation, the warm sunshine and the breezes, the loveliness of the +sky and sea, rested and healed her. This, despite the conduct of some +wild passengers bound for the gold-mines. One day she rose and left the +table by way of protest, but in the end they bade her a kindly good- +bye, and listened to her advice. At Lagos the Governor sent off his +aide-de-camp with greetings, and a case of milk for the children. Mr. +Grey also appeared and escorted her to Calabar. "Am I not a privileged +and happy woman?" she wrote to his sister. + +The same note of gratitude filled a letter which she wrote on board to +Dr. Robson, asking him to put a few lines in the _Record_ thanking +every one for their kindness, as it was impossible to answer all the +letters she had received. The letter itself was inserted, and we give +the concluding paragraph: + +To all who have received me into their homes, and given me a share of +what are the most sacred things of earth, I give heartfelt thanks. What +the Bethany house must have been to our Lord, no one can better +appreciate than the missionary coming home to a strange place, +homeless. I thank all those who have rested me, and nursed me back to +health and strength, and who have nerved me for future service by the +sweet ministries and hallowing influences of their home life. To the +members of the Mission Board for their courtesy, their confidence, and +sympathetic helpfulness, I owe much gratitude. And not only for +services which can be tabulated, but for the whole atmosphere of +sympathy which has surrounded me; for the hand-clasps which have spoken +volumes; for the looks of love which have beamed from eyes soft with +feeling; for the prayer which has upheld and guided in days gone by, +and on which I count for strength in days to come; for all I pray that +God may say to each giving, sympathetic heart, "Inasmuch as ye did it +to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto Me." + +She was praying all the while for her bairn. On her arrival, as fast as +boat would take her, she sped up to Use. The chiefs and people came +crowding to welcome her, bringing lavish gifts of food-yams and salt +and fish and fowl. There were even fifty yams, and a goat from the back +of Okoyong. Dan with his English clothes was the centre of admiration, +and grave greybeards sat and listened to the ticking of his watch, and +played with his toy train.... + +To her unspeakable relief she found the story about Jean to be a native +lie. She was too grateful to be angry. + + + + + XV. GROWING WEATHER + +The short furlough in Scotland, broken by so much movement and +excitement, had done little permanent good. She was tired when she +began her work, and there came a long series of "up and down" days +which handicapped her activity, yet she continued her duties with a +resolution that was unquenched and unquenchable. "Things are humdrum," +she wrote, "just like this growing weather of ours, rainy and cloudy, +with a blink here and there. We know the brightness would scorch and +destroy if it were constant; still the bursts of glory that come +between the clouds are a rich provision for our frail and sensitive +lives." Her conception of achievement was a little out of the common. +One day she sat in court for eight hours; other two hours were spent +with the clerk making out warrants; afterwards she had to find tasks to +employ some labour; then she went out at dusk and attended a birth case +all night, returning at dawn. Whole days were occupied with palavers, +many of the people coming such long distances that she had to provide +sleeping accommodation for them. Old chiefs would pay her visits and +stay for hours. "It is a great tax," she remarked, "but it pays even if +it tires." Sundays were her busiest days; she went far afield +preaching, and had usually from six to twelve meetings in villages and +by the wayside. Often on these excursions she came across natives who +had made the journey to Okoyong to consult her in the old days. The +situation was now reversed, for people from Okoyong came to her. One +day after a ten hours' sitting in Court she went home to find about +fifty natives from the hinterland of that district waiting with their +usual tributes of food and a peck of troubles for her to straighten +out. It was after midnight before there was quiet and sleep for her. +Her heart went out to these great-limbed, straight-nosed, sons of the +aboriginal forest, and she determined to cross the river and visit +them. She spent three days fixing up all their domestic and social +affairs, and making a few proclamations, and diligently sowing the +seeds of the Gospel. When she left she had with her four boys and a +girl as wild and undisciplined as mountain goats, who were added to her +household to undergo the process of taming, training, and educating ere +they were sent back. + +In what she called her spare time she was engaged in the endless task +of repairing and extending her forlorn little shanties. There was +always something on hand, and she worked as hard as the children, +nailing up corrugated iron, sawing boards, cementing floors, or cutting +bush. Jean, the ever-willing and cheerful, was practically in charge of +the house, keeping the babies, looking after their mothers, and +teaching the little ones in the school. Up to this period she had never +received more than her board, and "Ma" felt it was time to acknowledge +her services, and she therefore began to pay her 1s. per week. + +Now and again in her letters there came the ominous words, "I'm tired, +tired." On the last night of the year she was sitting up writing. "I'm +tired," she said, "and have a few things to do. My mother went home +eighteen years ago on the passage of the old year, so it is rather +lonely to-night with so many memories. The bairns are all asleep. But +He hath not failed, and He is all-sufficient." She was often so wearied +that she could not sit up straight. She was too exhausted to take off +her clothes and brush her hair until she had obtained what she called +her "first rest." Then she rose and finished her undressing. She would +begin a letter and not be able to finish it. The ladies nearest her, +Miss Peacock and Miss Reid at Ikotobong, redoubled their attentions. +Miss Reid she said was "a bonnie lassie, tenderly kind to me." What +Miss Peacock was to her no one but herself knew. She was a keen judge +of character, though generous, almost extravagant in her appreciation +of those she loved, and Miss Peacock has justified her estimate and her +praise. "Sterling as a Christian, splendid as a woman, whole-hearted as +a missionary, capable as a teacher, she is one after my own heart," she +wrote. "She is very good and kind to me, and a tower of strength. I am +proud of her and the great work she is doing." Miss Peacock began the +habit about this time of cycling down on Saturday afternoons and +spending a few hours with her, and Mary looked forward to these visits +with the greatest zest. + +The friends at home were also ceaseless in their kindness. They +scrutinised every letter she sent, and were frequently able to read +between the lines and anticipate and supply her needs,--much to her +surprise. "Have I been grumbling?" she would enquire. "You make me +ashamed. I am better off than thousands who give their money to support +me." A carpet arrived. "And oh," she writes, "what a difference it has +made to our comfort. You have no idea of the transformation! The mud +and cement were transformed at once into something as artistic as the +'boards' of the bungalow, and the coziness was simply beyond belief. It +did not look a bit hot, and it was so soothing to the bare feet, and I +need not say it was a wonder to the natives, who can't understand a +white man stepping on a cloth--and such a cloth!" On another occasion a +bed was sent out to her, and she wrote: "I've been jumping my tired +body up and down on it just to get the beautiful swing, and to feel +that I am lying level. I'm tired and I'm happy and I'm half-ashamed at +my own luxury." And next morning, "What a lovely sleep I've had!" + +The Macgregors made their first visit to Use in 1908, and on arrival +found "Ma" sitting with a morsel of infant in her lap. She was dressed +in a print overall with low neck; it was tied at the middle with a +sash, and she was without stockings or shoes. On the Sunday she set out +early on foot on her customary round, carrying two roasted corn-cobs as +her day's rations, whilst Mr. Macgregor took the service at Ikotobong. +He was tired after his one effort, but when he returned in the evening +he discovered her preaching at Use Church-her tenth meeting for the +day, and her tour had not been so extensive as usual. At six o'clock +next morning people had already arrived with palavers. One woman wanted +a husband. "Ma" looked at her with those shrewd eyes that read people +through and through, and then began in Scots, "It's bad eneuch being a +marriage registrar, without being a matrimonial agent forby. _Eke +mi'o!_ Mr. Macgregor, send up any o' your laddies that's wanting +wives." Then she went into Efik that made the woman wince, and pointed +out that she had come to the wrong place. + +She watched with interest the progress of the Creek stations, although +they were out of her hands. There were now at Okpo forty members in +full communion, and the contributions for the year amounted to £48: 3: +3. At Akani Obio, where there were forty-five members in full +communion, the total contributions amounted to £98: 11: 4. And at +Asang, where there were one hundred and fifteen members, the +contributions amounted to £146: 68. At those three stations the total +expenses were fully met, and there was a large surplus. Where four +years ago there was no church member and no offering, there were now +two hundred members, and contributions amounting in all to £287. + +So the Kingdom of her Lord grew. + + + + + XVI. "THE PITY OF IT" + +One experience of 1908, when she was down at Duke Town attending the +Council meetings, is worth noting. Though she liked the bush better she +was always interested in watching the movements there. "It is a great +cheer to me," she said, "to meet all the young folks, and to be with +them in their enthusiasm and optimism, and this vast hive of industry, +the Hope Waddell Institution, with its swarm of young men and boys, +gives me the highest hopes for the future of the Church and the nation +now in their infancy. Mr. Macgregor is a perfect Principal, sane, self- +restrained, and tactful, but I would not be in his place for millions." +The town was a very different place from that which she first saw in +1876. It was now a flourishing seaport, with many fine streets and +buildings. The swamp had been drained. There was a fully-equipped +native hospital, and a magnificent church in the centre of the town, +and the Europeans enjoyed most of the conveniences and even the +luxuries of civilisation. + +On this occasion an invitation came from the High Commissioner to dine +at Government House, and meet a certain woman writer of books. She +would not hear of it. She had no clothes for such a function, and she +did not wish to be lionised. The Macgregors, with whom she was staying, +advised her to go; they thought it would do her good. She consented at +last, but when she left in a hammock, which had been specially sent for +her, there was the light of battle in her eyes. Mr. Macgregor knew that +look and laughed; there was no doubt she was going to enjoy herself; +she had still the heart of a school-girl, and greatly loved a prank. +When she returned, her face was full of mischief. "Ay," she said, "I +met your lady writer, and I made her greet four times and she gied me +half a sovereign for my bairns!" + +Under the title of "But yet the pity of it," the authoress gave an +account of the meeting in the _Morning Post_, in a way which excited +laughter and derision in the Calabar bush. It was in the pathetic +strain: + +"I am not given to admiring missionary enterprise," she wrote. "The +enthusiasm which seems to so many magnificent seems to me but a +meddling in other people's business; the money that is poured out, so +much bread and light and air and happiness filched from the smitten +children at home. + +"But this missionary conquered me if she did not convert me. + +"She was a woman close on sixty, with a heavily-lined face, and a skin +from which the freshness and bloom had long, long ago departed; but +there was fire in her old eyes still, tired though they looked; there +was sweetness and firmness about her lined mouth. Heaven knows who had +dressed her. She wore a skimpy tweed skirt and a cheap nun's veiling +blouse, and on her iron-grey hair was perched rakishly a forlorn broken +picture-hat of faded green, chiffon with a knot of bright red ribbon to +give the bizarre touch of colour she had learned to admire among her +surroundings. + +"'Ye'll excuse my hands,' she said, and she held them out. + +"They were hardened and roughened by work, work in the past, and they +were just now bleeding from work finished but now; the skin of the +palms was gone, the nails were worn to the quick; that they were +painful there could be no doubt, but she only apologised for their +appearance." + +"Ma" is thus made to tell the incident of the witness dying suddenly +after attending the court at Ikotobong: + +"'If you put _mbiam_ on a man and he swears falsely he dies. Oh, he +does. I ken it. I've seen it mysel'. There was a man brought up before +me in the court and he was charged wi' stealing some plantains. He said +he had naught to do with them, so I put _mbiam_ on him, an' still he +said he had naught to do wi' them, so I sent him down to Calabar. An' +see now. As he was going he stopped the policeman an' laid himself +down, because he was sick. An' he died. He died there. I put _mbiam_ on +him, an' he knew he had stolen them and died.' + +"There was pity in her face for the man she had killed with his own +lie, but only pity, no regret." + +So well was she succeeding with her mystification that she went on to +talk of the hard lot of women and "the puir bairns," and then comes the +conclusion: + +"'My time's been wasted. The puir bairns. They'd be better dead.' + +"Her scarred hands fumbled with her dress, her tired eyes looked out +into the blazing tropical sunshine, her lips quivered as she summed up +her life's work. 'Failed, failed,' she cried. All that she had hoped, +all that she had prayed for, nothing for herself had she ever sought +except the power to help these children, and she felt that she had not +helped them. They would be better dead.... + +"But the Commissioner did not think she had failed. Is the victory +always to the strong? + +"'She has influence and weight,' he said 'she can go where no white man +dare go. She can sway the people when we cannot sway them. Because of +her they are not so hard on the twins and their mothers as they used to +be. No, she has not failed.'" + +And so with a reference to Thermopylae, and the Coliseum and +Smithfield, the lady litterateur places her in the ranks of the +immortal martyrs of the world. + + + + + XVII. THE SETTLEMENT BEGUN + +This was one of the waiting periods in Mary Slessor's life, which tried +her patience and affected her spirits. The mist had fallen upon her +path, and the direction was dim and uncertain. She had received what +she thought was a call from a distant region up-country, but if she +settled far away, what would become of her home for women and girls? +She had no clear leading, and she wished the way to be made so plain +that there could be no possibility of mistake. Friends were sending her +money, and the Government were urging her to start the Settlement, and +promising to take all the products that were grown. "The District +Commissioner was here to-day," she wrote. "He wonders how he can help +me, has had orders from the Governor to assist me in any way, but the +Pillar does not move. I have building material lying here, and have a +£10 note from a friend at home for any material I want, but there is no +leading towards anything yet.... I am longing for an outlet, but I +can't move without guidance." She would not hurry--the matter was not +in her hands. God, she was assured, was "softly, softly," working +towards a natural solution, and as she was only His instrument, she +could afford to wait His time. + +One night the mist on the path lifted a little, and next day she walked +over the land at Use, and there and then fixed the site for the +undertaking. There was ample room for all the cultivations that would +be required, and plenty of material for building and fencing, and good +surface water. Already she had three cottages built, including the one +she occupied, and these would make a beginning. She at once set about +obtaining legal possession, and with the permission and help of +Government she secured the land in the name of the girls. The Council +agreed with her that it was most advisable to develop industries which +the people had not yet undertaken, such as basket-making, the weaving +of cocoanut fibre, and cane and bamboo work. When asked if she would +agree to remain at Use for one year to establish the Settlement and put +it in working order with the assistance of one or two agents, she would +not commit herself. She rather shrank from the idea of a large +institution; it ought, in her view, to begin in a simple and natural +way by bringing in a few people, instructing them, and then getting +them to teach others. And there were other regions calling to her. When +reminded that a large sum of money was on hand for the project, she +said it was not all intended for this special purpose; much of it was +for extension; and she pointed to the needs of the region up the Cross +River, stating that she was willing to have the funds used for +providing agents there. + +Nothing more definite was decided, and meanwhile she went on quietly +with the beginnings of things. She planted fruit trees sent up by the +Government,--mangoes, guavas, pawpaws, bananas, plantains, avocado +pears, as well as pineapples, and other produce, and began to think of +rubber and cocoa. She also started to accumulate stock, though the +leopards were a constant menace. She had even a cow, which she bought +from a man to prevent him going to prison for debt--and often wished +she had not, for it caused infinite trouble, and the natives went in +terror of it. Although it had a pail attached to it by a rope, it was +often lost, and the whole town were out at nights searching for it. It +would run away with the whole household hanging on, and so little +respect did it pay to dignitaries, that on one occasion it ran off with +the Mother of the Mission and the Principal of the Hope Waddell +Institute, who had been pressed into the humble service of leading it +home. "Ma Slessor's coo" became quite famous in the Mission. + +It was characteristic of her that she did not want her name to be put +to anything, and she thought the Settlement should be called after Mrs. +Anderson or Mrs. Goldie, who did so much for women and girls. + + + + + XVIII. A SCOTTISH GUEST + +During the year 1909 she continued to fight a battle with ill-health. +She was compelled to give up much of her outdoor work, for an +oppressive sense of heart-weakness made her afraid to cross deep +streams and climb the hills. Sometimes she used her cycle, but only +when she could obtain one of the girls or lads to run alongside and +assist her up the ascents. Boils, an old enemy, tortured her again; she +was covered with them from head to foot, and was one mass of pain. +"Only sleeping draughts," she said, "keep me from going off my head." +As the months went on she became feeble almost to fainting point, and +had given up hope of betterment. A note of sadness crept into her +letters. "I cannot write," she told a friend at home, "but there is no +change in the heart's affection, except that it grows stronger and +perhaps a little more wistful as the days go by and life gets more +uncertain." She was anxious to recover sufficiently before March, to do +honour to two deputies who had been appointed by the home Church to +visit the Mission, and who were expected then, and if possible to +return to Scotland with them. But she scarcely anticipated holding out +so long. Jean, unfortunately, was not with her. It had been discovered +that she had long been suffering in silence from an internal complaint, +and the medical men now advised an operation. "Ma" was opposed to this, +and left her for a time at Duke Town for a change and treatment, which +did her much good. + +It was sheer will-power that gained her a little strength to face the +ordeal of the official visit. She determined to make no change whatever +in the course of her daily life, and she was afraid the deputies might +not find things to their liking and be disappointed. They were the Rev. +James Adamson, M.A., B.Sc., of Bonnington, Leith, and the Rev. John +Lindsay, M.A., Bathgate, who was accompanied by Mrs. Lindsay. They +entered the Creek one market day, when it was crowded with canoes, and +the landing-beach--one for the missionaries had just been constructed +at Okopedi--was swarming with people, amongst whom the arrival of the +strangers caused the greatest excitement. On bicycles the party +proceeded uphill to Use. Mr. Adamson went on ahead, and at a spot where +a few rough steps were cut in the steep bank he saw a boy standing, He +called out, "Ma Slessor?" The boy signed to Mm to come--it was a short +cut to the house. Clambering up the bank and making his way through the +bush, Mr. Adamson came upon a little native hut. Miss Slessor advanced +to meet him. "Come awa in, laddie, oot o' the heat," was her greeting. +When the Lindsays arrived it was also her chief concern to get them +into the shade. Mr. Adamson was her guest, whilst the Lindsays went on +to Ikotobong. His room--an erection built out from the house--had mud +walls and a mat roof, and was furnished with a camp-bed, a box for +dressing-table and another for a washstand, and for company he had +abundance of spiders and beetles and lizards. He proved a delightful +guest. "He is a dear laddie," wrote Mary; "all the bairns are in love +with him, and so am I!" + +While he was with her a woman came to the yard with twins. She had been +driven out of her house and town, and had come several miles to "Ma" +for shelter. Her husband and her father were with her--which denoted +some advance--and the three were crouched on the ground, a picture of +misery. The twins were lying in a basket and had not been touched. Mr. +Adamson helped "Ma" to attend to them, and she felt as proud of him as +of a son when she saw him sitting down beside the weeping mother and +gently trying to comfort her. She gave the parents some food and a hut +to sleep in, and made the man promise to stay until the morning. +Neither would, however, look at the twins, and they were given over to +the girls. + +A service was held at which Mr. Lindsay was also present, and about a +hundred people attended. "Take our compliments to the people of your +country," the latter said to the deputies, "and tell them that our need +is great, and that we are in darkness and waiting for the light." What +astonished the natives was to see the white visitors standing up +courteously when spoken to by black men. + +From the meeting the party cycled to the little wattle-and-thatch Court +House at Ikotobong, Miss Slessor being pushed by Dan up the hills. She +took her seat at the table in the simplest possible attire. Before her +was a tin of toffee, her only refreshment, with the exception of a cup +of tea, during a long sitting. The jury, composed of the older and more +responsible men in the various villages, occupied a raised platform +behind. In front was a bamboo railing, which formed the dock; at the +side another railing marked the witness-box. Several cases were heard, +the witnesses giving their evidence with volubility and abundant +gesture, and the judge, jury, and clerk retiring to a little shed at +the back to discuss the verdicts. One was that of a man who, under the +influence of trade gin, had hacked his wife with a machete, because she +had insulted his dignity by accidentally stumbling against him. Such a +case always aroused "Ma's" ire, and she wished a severe punishment +awarded. The jury were very unwilling. The headman started by laying +down as a fundamental principle that men had a perfect right to do +whatever they liked with their wives; otherwise they would become +unmanageable. But in deference to the white woman's peculiar views they +would go the length of admitting that perhaps the husband had gone a +little too far in the use of his instrument. He had not done anything +to merit a severe sentence, but in view of the prejudices of the +"Court," they would send him to prison for a short term. + +Suddenly the "toot" of the Government motor-car was heard, and in a +moment jury, witnesses, prisoners, and policemen rushed out of the +building to catch a glimpse of the "new steamer" that ran on the road. +Then back they drifted, and the proceedings went on. + +Mr. Adamson appreciated the service which Miss Slessor was +accomplishing by her work in the Court. She told him she did not care +for it; "the moral atmosphere of a native court is so bad," she +declared, "that I would never go near one were it not that I want the +people to get justice." But he saw the exceptional opportunity she +possessed of dispensing gospel as well as law. "As a rule," he says, +"her decision is accompanied by some sound words of Christian counsel." +He left Use with a profound admiration both for herself and Miss +Peacock. "Words," he wrote in the _Record_, "cannot describe the value +of the work that is being done by these heroic women." + +There was no improvement in her health as the months went on, and +another severe illness caused by blood-poisoning shattered her nerves. +The Wilkies spared no labour or love to heal and strengthen her. "Once +more," she wrote, "I believe I owe my life to them." + +She felt that the time had come to relinquish her court work, and +accordingly in November she sent in her resignation. The Commissioner +of the Eastern Province wrote in reply: + +DEAR MISS SLESSOR--I have been informed of your decision to resign the +Vice-Presidentship of the Ikotobong Native Court by the District +Commissioner, Ikot Ekpene, which I note with great regret, and take +this opportunity of thanking you for the assistance you have in the +past given the Government, and of expressing my deep appreciation of +the services you have rendered to the country during the period you +have held the office which you have now relinquished.--Believe me, +Yours very sincerely, + +W. FOSBERY. + + +She slipped out of the work very quietly, and was glad to be free of a +tie which hindered her from moving onward on her King's more pressing +business. + + + + + XIX. A MOTOR CAR ROMANCE + +The Government motor car, which now ran up and down the road into the +interior, was the cause of several changes in the household of Use. In +charge of it at first was a white chauffeur, who, curiously enough, was +a member of Wellington Street Church in Glasgow, which now supported +Miss Slessor, and with him was a native assistant, a young well- +educated Anglican, who came from Lagos. When the car made its +appearance Dan was so fascinated with it that he could scarcely keep +off the road, and he now struck up an acquaintance with the native +driver, which brought him many a rapturous hour. "Ma," who did not then +know the lad, was in terror for the safety of his body and his morals, +and so despatched him as a pupil to the Institute at Duke Town to be +under the care of Mr. Macgregor. But David, the driver, had done more +than capture Dan; he had captured the heart of one of the girls--Mary. +Annie was already happily married, and she and her husband were +preparing to join the Church; but Mary was not disposed to follow her +example, although she had two suitors, one in Okoyong, and one in +Ibibio. "Why can't I stay at home with you?" she said to "Ma." "I don't +want to go anywhere." But the Lagos lad succeeded where others had +failed, and "Ma," giving her consent, they were married, before the +District Commissioner in Court. David went back to his work, and his +wife to the Mission House, for "Ma" would not allow him to take her +home until the Church ceremony had been performed. Mr. Cruickshank +appeared one day before he was expected, and before the wedding-gown +was quite ready, but a note was sent to David, and he cycled down in +his black suit. Miss Annie M'Minn, then at Ikotobong, came and dressed +the bride, the children put on white frocks, and there was a quaint and +picturesque wedding. + +There was also, of course, a breakfast. It was given in the verandah of +the hut. David was early on the scene arranging tables and forms, and +Miss Peacock and Miss M'Minn laid and decorated them, a conspicuous +object being a bunch of heather from Scotland. Jean and the bride +cooked the breakfast. By 11 o'clock the company had assembled. At the +head sat an aged Mohammedan in white robes and turban, a friend of +David's family. A number of his co-religionists had come to the +district, and some even attended "Ma's" services. This particular man +greatly admired her. "Only God can make you such a mother and helper to +everybody," he had said at his first interview, and on leaving he had +taken her hand and bent over and kissed it, and with tears in his eyes +invoked a blessing upon her. Few expressions of respect from white men +had touched her more, though she was half-afraid her feeling was +scarcely orthodox. Then came the bride and bridegroom and "Ma's" clerk. +At the next table sat another of David's friends--an interpreter--and a +lad from the bride's house, headman on the road Department; David's +next-door neighbours, a man and his wife; and eight headmen over the +road labourers. Outside were the school children, who were fed by Jean +with Calabar chop, sweets, and biscuits. + +After the breakfast the Mohammedan came indoors to Miss Slessor and +made a speech. "I knew David's mother before he was born," he said, +"and I praise God he was led here for a wife." David came forward, +"Mother," he said, "you won't let us go without prayer?" and down he +knelt, and she committed the couple to God, A pie and cake, which the +Ikotobong ladies had baked, were presented, along with a motor cap, +silk handkerchief, ribbon, and scissors. One of "Ma's" presents was a +sewing-machine. Then she walked down to see them off, supported in her +weakness by the Mohammedan, When the pair arrived at their home, the +latter stood on the doorstep praying for them as they entered on their +new life. It was only a bamboo shanty run up by the Government, but it +was a home, and not, like all others, a room in a compound, and family +worship was conducted in it in English. Good news came from it as time +went on. The bride was sometimes seen driving in the motor car. "She +was here this morning," writes the house-mother, "full of importance as +she passed to market. She had biscuits for the children, a new water- +jar and a bunch of fine bananas for me, and the whole house were round +her full of questions and fun, and you would think she had become a +heroine, just because she was married two months ago. She is very happy +and proud of her husband." "Ma" watched over her with jealous care, and +when in due time a baby arrived, she was as delighted as if it had been +of her own blood. + + + + + XX. STRUCK DOWN + +The hot, dry season was always a trial to Miss Slessor; it shrivelled +her up, and reduced her energy, and she panted for the cooling rains. +This year it affected her more than ever. The harmattan was like an +Edinburgh "haar," though it was not cold except between midnight and +daybreak; the air was thick with fine sand dust, and often she could +not see three yards away. She longed for a "wee blink of home," and a +home Sabbath. "But though the tears are coming at the thought, you are +not to think for one moment that I would take the offer if it were +given me! A thousand times no! I feel too grateful to God for His +wonderful condescension in letting me have the privilege of ministering +to those around me here." + +How the interest of the spiritual aspects of her work submerged the +afflictions of her body was seen when the first baptismal service and +communion at Use took place. With her dread of the spectacular she did +not make the event known, but the little native church was crowded, men +and women squatting on the floor, and the mothers with babies on the +verandah. Mr. Cruickshank conducted the service. Mary took a "creepie" +stool--her mother's footstool of old--and sat down by the young +communicants to help them and show them what to do. "David," she wrote, +"had bought a bottle of wine for his wedding, but of course it was +never opened, and he said to me, 'Keep it, Ma, it may be useful yet.' +So it was drawn for our first communion well-watered. The glass sugar- +dish on a teaplate was the baptismal font, but it was all transfigured +and glorified by the Light which never shone on hill or lake or even on +human face, and some of us saw the King in His beauty--and not far off. +Bear with me in my joy; this sounds small in comparison with home +events, but it is only a very short time since this place was dark and +degraded and drunken and besotted." + +The glow and exaltation of the service lingered with her for weeks, and +her letters are full of sprightliness and wit. She told of a visit from +Lady Egerton--"a true woman"--and of the Christmas gift from their +Excellencies--a case of milk; and of the present of a new cycle sent +from England from "her old chief" Mr. Partridge, to replace the old one +which he thought must be worn out by this time. The wonders of aviation +were engrossing the world then, and she merrily imagined a descent upon +her some afternoon of her friends from Scotland, and discussed the +capabilities of her tea-caddy. + +Well on into the next year she was busy with regular station work, +teaching, training, preaching, building up the congregation, and acting +as Mother to her people and to many more. Then in the midst of her +strenuous activity she was suddenly and swiftly struck down by what she +termed "one of the funniest illnesses" she ever had. The children were +alarmed, and sent word to David. He informed the white officers, and +they rushed in a motor car down to Use and removed her to Itu, where +she was nursed back to life by Mrs. Robertson. "I shall never forget +the kindness and the tenderness and the skill which have encompassed +me, and I shall ever remember Dr. Robertson and his devoted wife, and +ask God to remember them for their goodness. Dr. Robertson brought me +out of the valley of the shadows and when I was convalescent he lifted +me up in his strong arms and took me to see the church and garden and +anywhere I wished, just as he might have done to his own mother." Her +friends in Calabar also did everything they could for her, the Hon. Mr. +Bedwell, the Provincial Commissioner, sending up ice and English +chicken and other delicacies in a special launch. + +The little daughter of the missionaries was a source of great delight +to her who loved all children. She was a very winsome girl, and had won +the hearts of the natives, who regarded her with not a little awe. She +was the only white child they had seen, and were not sure whether she +was not a spirit. "Ma" and she had good times together, playing and +make-believing. "Maimie and I," she wrote, "have been having the dolls +out for a drive, and we have just given them their bread and milk and +put them to bed!" + +When she was convalescent the Macgregors insisted on her coming down to +Duke Town for a change, and the Government placed the fast and +comfortable _Maple Leaf_ at their disposal. She protested, saying she +could not put herself on a brother and sister whose lives were so +strenuous, but they would take no refusal. They turned their dining- +room into a bedroom for her convenience, and here she talked and read +the newspapers and the latest new books and her Bible, and wrote long +letters to her friends. "I am doing nothing but eating," she told her +children, "and am growing fat and shedding my buttons all over the +place." But underneath all her gaiety and high spirits she felt +profoundly grateful for the wonderful goodness and mercy God had made +to pass before her, and the perfect peace He had given her. "Here I +am," she said, "being spoiled anew in an atmosphere not merely of +tender love, but of literary and cultured Christian grace and +winsomeness, and it has been as perfect a fortnight as ever I spent." +She had literally to run away from the kind attentions of the +Government officials and doctors, and a swift Government launch again +conveyed her up-river. Jean, who had long since returned, had bravely +held the fort for the five Sabbaths she had been absent, and David and +his wife had been there to protect her, and the work, therefore, had +been kept going. + +After each breakdown she seemed to feel that she must make up for lost +time, and she planned an advance towards Ikot Ekpene, being anxious to +secure that point and the intervening area for her church. On her +bicycle she made a series of pioneer trips into the bush, here and +there selecting sites for schools, interviewing chiefs about twin- +mothers, and generally preparing the way for further operations. About +twelve miles' distant, or half-way to Ikot Ekpene, where there was a +camp, she met some forty chiefs and arranged for ground for a school +and the beginning of the work, and for a hut for herself at the back of +the native prison, where, she thought, she would have some influence +over the warders. As she was never able to establish this station, its +history may be rounded off here. Early in the year 1911 she brought the +matter before the Calabar Council, which agreed to build a house at +Ibiacu out of the extension fund, and later she went in a hammock to +complete the arrangement, accompanied by Miss Welsh, who, as "Ma" +phrased it, "fitted into bush life like a glove," and who occupied and +developed the station. This young missionary lives alone, looks after +the children, has a clever pen and clever hands, and Is following very +much on the lines of the great "Ma." To the chagrin of the latter, Ikot +Ekpene was taken over by the Primitive Methodist Mission before she +could secure it, but she consoled herself with the thought that it did +not matter who did the Master's works so long as it done.... + +Then her path, which had been so long hidden, cleared, and she saw it +stretching out plain and straight before her. + + + + + FIFTH PHASE + + l9l0-January 1915. Age 62-66. + + ONWARD STILL + + "_It is a dark and difficult land, and I am old and weak--but + happy_." + + + I. IN HEATHEN DEEPS + + +The new sphere to which Miss Slessor felt she was called, had been +occupying her attention for some time. During one of the minor military +expeditions into the interior, the troops were suddenly attacked by a +tribe who fled at the first experience of disciplined firing. A lad who +had been used by the soldiers was persuaded by some of their number to +conduct them to the great White Mother for her advice and help. When +they appeared at Use, she and they talked long and earnestly, and they +returned consoled and hopeful. Some time afterwards the guide came down +on his own account, bringing a few other lads with him. Her influence +was such that they wished to become God-men, and they returned to begin +the first Christian movement in one of the most degraded regions of +Nigeria. + +She knew nothing of the place save that it was away up in the north- +west, on one of the higher reaches of the Enyong Creek, and a two days' +journey for her by water. The lads lived at a town called Ikpe, an old +slave centre, that had been in league with Aro, and the focus of the +trade of a wide and populous area. It was a "closed" market, no Calabar +trader being allowed to enter. + +On her return from Scotland the young men again appeared, saying that +there were forty others ready to become Christians, begging her to come +up, and offering to send down a canoe. She disliked all water journeys, +and even on the quiet creek was usually in a state of inward +trepidation. But nothing could separate her from her duty, and she +responded to the call. For eight hours she was paddled along the +beautiful windings of the Creek; then a huge hippopotamus was +encountered, and frightened her into landing for the night on the +Ibibio side, where she put up in a wretched hut reeking with filth and +mosquitoes. Here the Chief was reaching out for the Gospel, holding +prayers in his house, and trying to keep Sabbath, though not a soul +could read, and the people were laughing at him. As the Creek made a +bend she left the canoe and trudged through the bush to Ikpe. She found +the town larger and more prosperous than she had anticipated, with four +different races mingling in the market, but the darkness was terrible, +and the wickedness shameless, even the children being foul-mouthed and +abandoned. The younger and more progressive men gave her a warm +welcome, but the older chiefs were sulky--"Poor old heathen souls," she +remarked, "they have good reason to be, with all they have to hope from +tumbling down about their ears." The would-be Christians had begun to +erect a small church, with two rooms for her at the end. That they were +in earnest was proved by their attitude. She had eager and reverent +audiences, and once, on going unexpectedly into a yard, she found two +lads on their knees praying to the white man's God. + +She made a survey of the district, and came to the conclusion that Ikpe +was another strategic point, the key to several different tribes, which +it would be well to secure for the Church, and she made up her mind to +come and live in the two rooms, and work inland and backwards towards +Arochuku. There was the Settlement to consider, but that, she thought, +she could manage to carry on along with the occupation of Ikpe. + +Her bright and eager spirit did not reckon with the frailties of the +body. When she returned, she entered on a long period of weakness. Now +and again deputations came down to her. Once a score of young men +appeared, and before stating their business said, "Let us pray." She +made another visit, saw the beginnings of the church at Ikpe, and +another at Nkanga on the Creek bank, three miles below Ikpe, and, what +affected her more, heard rumours of a possible occupation by the Roman +Catholics. "I must come," she said to herself. + +On one journey she was accompanied by Miss Peacock, who rose still more +highly in her regard on account of the resolute way in which she braved +the awful smells in the villages. On another, Mr. and Mrs. Macgregor +shared the hardships of the trip with her. When these two arrived at +the landing-beach for Use, a note was put into their hands from "Ma," +to the effect that she had not been able to obtain a canoe, and they +had better come to the house until she saw what the Lord meant by it. +They remained at Use some days, "Ma" suffering from fever, but refusing +to postpone the trip, saying that if she had faith she would be able to +go. They were to start early one morning, but her guests sought to keep +her in sleep until it was too late. They succeeded until 1 A.M., when +she awoke, gave directions about packing, and rose. "What do you think +of her?" they asked of Jean. "She is often like that, and gets better +on the road," she replied, which was true. As "Ma" herself said, "I +begin every day, almost every journey in pain, and in such tiredness +that I am sure I can't go on, and whenever I begin, the strength comes, +and it increases." + +The party left at 3.15 in the moonlight, and soon afterwards were in a +canoe. For hours they paddled, past men with two-pronged fish-spears +fishing, by long stretches of water-lilies of dazzling whiteness, by +farms where the fresh green corn was beginning to sprout, by extensive +reaches of jungle where brilliant birds flitted, and parrots chattered, +and monkeys swung from branch to branch by a bridge of hands. They +stopped for lunch, and Mr. Macgregor was interested in watching her +methods with the people. A chief wished to see the Principal, and said +he was anxious to place two more boys with him in the Institute. She +told Mr. Macgregor to say he would see him after they had eaten. The +business-like Principal thought this a waste of time, but she held that +he must not cheapen himself--if he made food of more importance than +the education of their boys they would think him dignified and respect +him. And she was right. + +By and by they came to a tortuous channel as narrow as a mill-dam, and +it was with difficulty that the canoe was punted through. They swept on +under trees, hung with orchids, where dragon-flies flashed in and out +of the sunlight. This was the country of the hippos, and the banks were +scored by their massive feet; it was also, as they found to their cost, +the haunt of ibots, a fly with a poisonous bite. After passing over a +series of shallows they reached Ikpe beach towards dark, and camped in +the unfinished church, "Ma" in the "vestry," and the Macgregors inside +the building. + +Mr. Macgregor had seen much of Nigeria, but he had never witnessed such +degradation as he found existing here. The girls went without any +clothing, except a string of beads, and the married women wore only a +narrow strip of cloth. He had again a lesson in native manners. Paying +ceremonial visits to the chiefs, they sat and looked at the ground, and +yawned repeatedly, and after a time left. To him the yawning seemed +rude, but "Ma" said it was the correct thing, and when the chiefs +returned the calls he knew that, as usual, she was right. + +One of the questions that the chiefs asked was, "Is this the man you +have brought to stay and teach us?" "Ma" turned to the Principal with a +wry face. "Well," she said in English, "I like that. They'll need to be +content wi' something less than a B.D. for a wee while--till they get +started at any rate." She informed them who Mr. Macgregor was, and the +great work he was doing in Calabar, and that in the goodness of his +heart he had come up to see the position of things in the town. + +"Ma"--incredulously--"do you mean that this is not the man who is to +come and lead us out of darkness?" + +"No, he is not the man-yet." + +"Ma"--reproachfully--"you always say wait. We have waited two years, +and again you come to us and say wait. When are you coming to us?" + +There was nothing for it but to put them off once more. But she +improved the occasion by extolling the Institute, with the result that +when they left, two boys were taken to the canoe and consigned to Mr. +Macgregor's care, one decently clad in a singlet and loin-cloth, and +the other with only a single bead hanging at the throat. + +Mr. Macgregor went exploring on his own account, and came across a +Government Rest House perched on the brow of a cliff, with a +magnificent view over the plain. Here he noticed that the people were +particularly opposed to white men. One of the villages "Ma" had +labelled "dangerous," and he learnt that when the Court messengers +appeared, they were promptly seized, beaten, and cast out. This, it is +interesting to note, came to be the scene of "Ma's" last exploits. He +rejoined the ladies at Nkanga, where the little native church had been +completed. They held the opening service. The Principal had no jacket; +his shirt was torn, his boots bore traces of the streams and mud +through which he had passed. Miss Slessor wore the lightest of +garments. It was one of the strangest opening ceremonies in the history +of Missions, but they worshipped God from the heart, and "Ma" seemed +lifted out of herself, and to be inspired, as she told the people what +the church there in their midst meant, and the way they should use it +for their highest good. + +The Macgregors left her at Arochuku, and she continued down-creek. She +had been upheld by her indomitable spirit throughout the journey, but +now collapsed, and was so ill that she had to spend the night in the +canoe. In the darkness she was awakened by one of the babies crying, +but was so weak that she could not move. The girls were sound asleep, +and could not hear her. Exerting her willpower, she rolled over to the +child, whose head had become wedged between a box and the footboard of +the canoe, and was being slowly killed. In the early dawn the journey +was resumed to Okopedi beach, and thence she crawled over the weary +miles to Use. + + + + + II. "REAL LIFE" + +"I must go. I am in honour bound to go." It was her constant cry. She +heard that services were being held regularly at Ikpe on Sundays and +week-days, and yet no one knew more than the merest rudiments of +Christian truth; none could read. A teacher had gone from Asang, but he +was himself only at the stage of the first standard in the schools, and +could impart but the crudest instruction. They were groping for the +light, and worshipping what to most of them was still the Unknown God, +and yet were already able to withstand persecution. The pathos of the +situation broke her down. "Why," she cried, "cannot the Church send two +ladies there? Why don't they use the money on hand for the purpose? If +the wherewithal should fail at the end of two years, let them take my +salary, I shall only be too glad to live on native food with my +bairns." + +Once more she went up, and once more she stood ashamed before their +reproaches. She could not hold out any longer. "I am coming," she said +decisively. She was not well--she was never well now--she had bad +nights, was always "tired out," "too tired for anything," yet she went +forward to the new life with unshakeable fortitude. In a short time she +was back with fifty sheets of corrugated iron and other material for +the house. "I am committed now," she wrote. "No more idleness for me. I +am entering in the dark as to how and where and when. How I am to +manage I do not know, but my mind is at perfect peace about it, and I +am not afraid. God will carry it through. The Pillar leads." + +She did not care much for the situation that had been granted; it was +low-lying, and she was anxious to conserve her health for the work's +sake, but she had faith that she would be taken care of. Palm trees +bordered the site on three sides, and amidst these the monkeys loved to +romp. "These palms," she said, "are my first joy in the morning when +the dawn comes up, pearly grey in the mist and fine rain, fresh and +cool and beautiful." She lived in two rooms at the back of the church, +with a bit of ground fenced off for kitchen, and her furniture +consisted of a camp-bed and a few dishes. But she was chiefly out of +doors, for she had as many as two hundred and fifty people engaged in +cutting bush, levelling, and stumping. Despite the discomfort and worry +incidental to such conditions, she was quite happy. The natives as a +whole were hostile to white people; they wanted neither them nor their +religion; but there was nothing martial or predatory about "Ma," and +her very helplessness protected her. And there was that in her blood +which made her face the conflict with zest; it always braced her to +meet the dark forces of hell, and conquer them with the simple power of +the Gospel. + +Her fearlessness was as marked as ever. One Sunday, during service, +there was an uproar in the market. She went out and found a mob +fighting with sticks and swords, a woman bleeding, and her husband +wounded and at bay. She seized the man's wrist and compelled quiet, and +soon settled the matter by palaver. On another occasion the Government +sent native agents with police escort to vaccinate the people, as +small-pox was rife. They resented the white man's "juju," and there was +much excitement. The conduct of the agents enraged the crowd, guns +appeared, and bloodshed was imminent, when an appeal was made to "Ma." +She succeeded in calming the rising passions, and in reassuring the +people as to the purpose of the inoculation. "This poor frail woman," +she said, "is the broken reed on which they lean. Isn't it strange? I'm +glad anyhow that I'm of use in protecting the helpless." The people +said if she would perform the operation they would agree, and she sent +to Bende for lymph, and was busy for days. It was a difficult task, the +people were suspicious, and she had to banter and joke and coax when +she herself was at fainting point. Apart from this she doctored men and +women for the worst diseases, nursed the sickly babies, and generally +acted her old part of a "mother in Israel." + +"It is a real life I am living now," she wrote, "not all preaching and +holding meetings, but rather a life and an atmosphere which the people +can touch and live in and be made willing to believe in when the higher +truths are brought before them. In many things it is a most prosaic +life, dirt and dust and noise and silliness and sin in every form, but +full, too, of the kindliness and homeliness and dependence of children +who are not averse to be disciplined and taught, and who understand and +love just as we do. The excitements and surprises and novel situations +would not, however, need to be continuous, as they wear and fray the +body, and fret the spirit and rob one of sleep and restfulness of +soul." + +Use was still her headquarters, and she often traversed the long +stretch of Creek, though the journey always left her terribly +exhausted. On one occasion, when she had arrived at Use racked with +pain, she was asked how she could ever endure it. "Oh," she said, "I +just had to take as big a dose of laudanum as I dared, and wrap myself +up in a blanket, and lie in the bottom of the canoe all the time, and +managed fine." She often met adventures by the way. Once, after +thirteen hours in the canoe, she arrived at Okopedi beach late in the +evening, along with Maggie and Whitie and a big boy baby. Stowing the +baggage in the beach house they started in the dark for Use, "Ma" +carrying a box with five fowls and some odds and ends, and Maggie, who +was ill, the baby. When they reached the house they found they had no +matches and were afraid of snakes, but she was so tired that she lay +down as she was on a bed piled high with clothes, the others on the +floor, the baby crying itself to sleep. At cock-crow fire was obtained +from the village, and a cup of tea made her herself again, and ready +for the inevitable palavers. Again, she went up to Ikpe with supplies +by night; the water had risen, she had to lie flat to escape the +overhanging branches, and finally the canoe ran into a submerged tree +and three of the paddle boys were pitched into the water. Not long +afterwards she left Ikpe at 6.30 A.M., was in the canoe all night, and +reached the landing-beach at 5.30 on Christmas morning with the usual +motherless baby. + +On this occasion she received a message, "Ekereki said I was to tell +you that his mother is asleep"--referring to the death of one of the +first members of the congregation, a gentle and superior woman for whom +she had a great regard. The wording of the message made her realise how +soon the Gospel had the power of changing even the language of a +people. Some time previously Annie's two-year-old boy had died, and the +question of a Christian burial-place had been considered by the +congregation. Heathen adults were buried in the house and the children +under the doorstep. It seemed cruel to leave bodies out in the cold +earth, but of their own volition the members secured a piece of ground +and laid the child there; and now this woman was placed by his side, +the first adult to obtain a Christian burial in that part of Ibibio. + +On New Year's eve she was down with fever, and was very weak, but, she +wrote, "My heart is singing all the time to Him Whose love and tender +mercy crown all the days." In the middle of the night she was obliged +to rise. "My 'first-feet' were driver ants, thousands and thousands of +them, pouring in on every side, and dropping from the roof. We had two +hours' hard work to clear them out." + + + + + III. THE AUTOCRATIC DOCTOR + +Returning from Ikpe on one occasion in 1911, she found that a tornado +had played havoc with the Use house, and immediately set to, and with +her own hands repaired it. The strain was too great for her enfeebled +frame, and symptoms of heart weakness developed. She had nights of high +fever and delirium, and yet so great was her power of will, that she +would rise next day and teach and work, while on Sundays she took the +services, although she was unable to stand. "I had a grand day," she +would say, "notwithstanding intense weakness." + +Dr. Robertson of Itu had gone home on furlough, and there came to take +his place, Dr. Hitchcock, a young, eager, clear-headed man, as +masterful in his quiet way as "Ma." He had proposed going to China in +the service of the Church, but agreed meanwhile to put in a year at +Itu. She watched him for a time with growing admiration, and saw the +curiosity of the natives turn rapidly to confidence, then to +appreciation, then to blind devotion and worship. When she looked at +the great crowds flocking day after day to the dispensary and hospital, +she thought of the scene of old when the poor and the halt and the +maimed gathered round Christ. "A rare man," she said, "a rare +Christian, a rare doctor. A physician for soul and body. I am beginning +to love him like a son." And like a son he treated her. Although he had +scarcely a minute to spare from his work, he ran up every second day to +Use to study her. He believed that she was not being nourished. That +there were grounds for his suspicions her own diary records. There was +money for her in Duke Town, she had often cheques lying beside her, but +it was not always easy to obtain ready cash, and sometimes she ran +short. On June 14 she wrote: + +_Market Morning_.--Have only 3d. in cash in the house; sent it with 2 +Ikpats (the first Efik schoolbook) and New Testament to buy food, and +sold all 3 books for 6d. Got 5 small yams, oil, and shrimps, with +pepper and a few small fresh fish. + +It was on the following morning as early as six o'clock that the doctor +called to examine her again. His decision was that she was not to go to +Ikpe, she was not to cycle, she was to lie down as much as possible. +She laughed, and on the Sunday went to church and conducted two +services; but she almost collapsed, and when the doctor came next day +he ordered her to take to her bed, and not go to any more meetings +until she obtained his permission. Mary had at last met her equal in +resolution. "He is very strict," she confessed, "but he is a dear man. +Thank God for him." + +A trip to Ikpe which she had planned for the Macgregors had to be +cancelled, and they decided to go to Use instead, and aid and abet the +doctor in his care of her. She got up to receive them, and then wrote, +"The doctor has sent me back to bed under a more stringent rule than +ever. Very stern. I dare not rise." "You must eat meat twice a day," +the doctor said. "I'm not a meat eater, doctor," she rejoined. His +reply was to send over a fowl from Itu with instructions as to its +cooking. "Why did you send that fowl, doctor?" she asked next day, +"Because it could not come itself," was all the satisfaction she got. +It was not the first fowl that came from Itu--the next came cooked-- +while the Macgregors telegraphed to Duke Town for their entire stock. +"What a trouble you dear folk take," she sighed. + +"You will have to go to Duke Town for a change," suggested the doctor +one day. "Na, na," she replied; "I've all my plans laid, and I cannot +draw a salary and not do what I can." "You have done so well in the +past," remarked Mr. Macgregor, "that you need not have any qualms about +that." "I've been paid for all I've done," was her retort. But the +doctor insisted, and the very thought of leaving the station and the +household work unattended to, put her in a fever. "Of course," she +said, "to the doctor my health is the only thing, but I can't get rest +for body while my mind is torn about things. He is vexed, and I am +vexed at vexing him." + +Not satisfied with the progress she was making, the doctor transferred +her to Use, where she was under his constant observation. "Life is +hardly worth living," she complained, "but I'm doing what I can to help +him to help me, so that I can be fit again for another spell of work." +That was her one desire, to be well enough to go back to the bush. A +messenger from Ikpe came down to find out when she was returning. +"Seven weeks," was the doctor's firm reply. "I may run up sooner than +that," was hers. "I'm quite well, if he would only believe it." + +But it was well on towards the end of the year before she was, in her +own words, out of the clutches of the "dearest and cleverest and most +autocratic Mission doctor that ever lived." She literally ran away, and +was up at Ikpe at once, exultant at having the privilege of ministering +again to the needs of the people. There was a throng at the beach to +welcome her. She was soon as busy as she had ever been, though she was +usually carried now to and from church and other meetings. Jean she +placed at Nkanga as teacher and evangelist, the people giving her 1s. +per week and her food, and "Ma" providing her clothes. It was +astonishing to her to see how she had developed. An insatiable reader, +she would place a book open anywhere in order that she might obtain a +glimpse of the words in passing, reminding "Ma" of her own device in +the Dundee weaving-shed. Her knowledge of the Bible was so thorough and +correct that the latter considered her the best Efik teacher she knew. +Soon she gathered about her some two hundred men and women from the +upper Enyong farms, who were greatly pleased with her preaching. She +came over to Ikpe for Christmas, the first the household had spent in +that savage land, and there was a service in the church, which was +decorated with palms and wreaths of ferns. Mary told the story of +Bethlehem, and the scholar lads, of their own accord, marched through +the town singing hymns.... About this time Miss Slessor rendered +important service to the Mission by her testimony before an Imperial +Government Commission, which had been sent out to Investigate the +effects of the import, sale, and consumption of alcoholic liquor in +Southern Nigeria. She provided very convincing evidence of the +demoralisation caused through drink, but with keen intuition she felt +that little would come of the "palaver," and she was right. + + + + + IV. GOD'S WONDERFUL PALAVER + +Her attitude to money was as unconventional as her attitude to most +things. It had no place in her interests; she never thought of it +except as a means of helping her to carry out her projects. "How I wish +we could do without it!" she often used to say. "I have no head for it, +or for business." Her salary she counted as Church money, and never +spent a penny of it on herself except for bare living, and until the +last years the girls received nothing but food and their clothes, "You +say," she wrote to one giver, "that you would like me to spend the +money on my personal comfort. Dear friend, I need nothing. My every +want is met and supplied without my asking." Her belief was thus +expressed: "What is money to God? The difficult thing is to make men +and women. Money lies all about us in the world, and He can turn it on +to our path as easily as He sends a shower of rain." Her faith was +justified in a marvellous way, for throughout all these years and +onwards to the end she obtained all she needed, and that was not +little. She required funds for extension, for building, for furniture, +for teachers' wages, for medicines, for the schooling of her children, +and many other purposes, and yet she was never in want. Nothing came +from her people, for she would not accept collections at first, not +wishing to give them the impression that the Gospel was in any way +connected with money. It came from friends, known and unknown, at home +and abroad, who were interested in her and in her brave and lonely +struggle. There was scarcely a mail that did not bring her a cheque or +bank-draft or Post-Office order. "It often happens," she said once, +"that when the purse is empty, immediately comes a new instalment. God +is superbly kind in the matter of money. I do not know how to thank +Him. It is just wonderful how we ever fail in our trust for a moment." +On one occasion, when she was a little anxious, she cried, "Shame on +you, Mary Slessor, after all you know of Him!" + +Her attitude towards all this giving was one of curious detachment. She +looked upon herself as an instrument carrying out the wishes of the +people at home who supplied the means, and she gave them the honour of +what was accomplished. Their gifts justified her going forward in the +work; each fresh £10 note she took as a sign to advance another stage, +so that, in one sense, she felt her Church was backing up her efforts. +As she regarded herself as being owned by the Church, all the money she +received was devoted exclusively to its service; even donations from +outside sources she would not use for personal needs. One day she +received a letter from the Governor conveying to her, with the "deep +thanks of the Government," a gift of £25 to herself, in recognition of +her work. The letter she valued more than the money, which she would +only accept as a contribution towards her home for women. All the sums +were handed over to Mr. Wilkie or Mr. Macgregor, who banked them at +Duke Town, and they formed a general fund upon which she drew when +necessary. She looked upon this fund as belonging to the Mission +Council, to be used for extension purposes either up the Cross River or +the Enyong Creek, or for the Home for Women and Girls when the scheme +matured, and she never sought to have control of it. Mr. Wilkie was +always afraid that she was not just to herself, and she had sometimes +to restrain him from sending more than she required. It was the same +later when Mr. Hart, C.A., had charge of the accounts. This explains +why, on more than one occasion, she was reduced to borrowing or selling +books in order to obtain food for herself and her household. There was +money in abundance at Duke Town, but she would not ask it for private +necessities. Sometimes also she was so remote from civilisation that +she was unable to cash a cheque or draft in time to meet her wants. + +Many a hidden romance lay behind these gifts that came to her--the +romance of love and sacrifice and devotion to Christ. One day there +arrived a sum of £50, accompanied by a charming letter. Long she looked +at both with wonder and tears. Her thoughts went back to the Edinburgh +days, when she was a girl, on the eve of leaving for Calabar. One of +her friends then was a Biblewoman, who was very good to her. Always on +her furloughs she had gone to see her in the humble home in which she +lay an invalid, or as Mary expressed it, "lingering at the gate of the +city." She thought she must now be dependent upon others, for she was +old and frail. And yet here she had sent out £50 to help on her work. + +If there was romance in the giving, there was pathos in the spending. +Acknowledging sums she was bidden expend upon herself, she would go +into detail as to her purchases--a new Efik Bible to replace her old +tattered copy, the hire of three boys to carry her over the streams, +seed coco yams for the girls' plots, a basin and ewer for her guest- +room--"I can't," she said, "ask visitors to wash in a pail,"--a lamp, +and so on. She sought to explain and extenuate the spending of every +penny. "Is that extravagant?" "Is that too selfish?" she anxiously +asked. After enumerating a number of things which she intended to buy +for Ikpe house, she said, "Does that seem too prosaic? But it will +clarify your views of Mission work, and make them more practical and +real, for, you see, the missionary cannot go about like Adam and Eve, +and the natives must be taught cleanliness and order, and be civilised +as well as Christianised." + +Her own small financial affairs had been in the hands of her old friend +Mr. Logic, Dundee, whose death in 1910 sent her into silence and +darkness for weeks. He had been like a father to her; to him, indeed, +she chiefly owed the realisation of her dream to be a missionary. She +did not know for a time how she stood, and as her purse was nearly +empty, she was growing anxious, when a small amount arrived from a +friend, to whom she wrote: "I have been praying for a fortnight for +money to come from somewhere, as I have been living on 7s. given to the +children by a merchant here who is a great friend of our household. So +your gift is a direct answer to prayer. '_Before they call I will +answer_.'" She applied to Mr. Slight, another tried friend, who had +been Treasurer of the United Presbyterian Church, and took a warm +personal interest in all the missionaries, and after the Union was the +accountant of the United Free Church. He made matters simple and clear +to her understanding and set her fears at rest--she had no debts of any +kind save debts of gratitude. Mr. Slight's death in 1912 again made her +feel orphaned. "I had no idea how much I leant on him till he was +removed, and it seems now that my last link with the old Church has +snapped. What he has done for me through a score of years I can never +acknowledge warmly enough." In later years her affairs at home were +managed by Miss Adam. + +Congregations continued to send her boxes of goods, whilst her own +friends were unceasing in their thought for her. "I should never +mention a want," she told them, "because you just take it up and bear +the burden yourselves, and it makes me ashamed. Here are all my needs +in clothing for the children and myself anticipated, and here are +luxuries of food and good things, and all steeped and folded in the +most delicate and tender sympathy and love. Surely no one has so many +mercies as I have." She saw few pretty things, and had never the +opportunity of looking into a shop window, so that the arrival of these +boxes was an occasion of much pleasurable excitement to her and to the +girls. Her only trouble was that she could not hand on some of the food +to others; "When you have a good thing, or read a good thing, or see a +humorous thing, and can't share it, it is worse than having to bear a +trial alone." She was particularly grateful for a box of Christmas +goods that came in 1911. She had been much upset by the local food, and +she ate nothing but shortbread and bun for a week, and that made her +better! + +The people about her, too, were kind. Women would bring her presents of +produce; one, for instance, gave her fifteen large yams and a half- +crown bag of rice, and a large quantity of shrimps. "You are a stranger +in these markets," she said, "and the children may be hungry." + + + + + V. WEAK BUT STRONG + +She met with a severe disappointment early in 1912. The Calabar Council +was willing to send two ladies to Ikpe, but thought it right to obtain +a medical report on the site which had been given for the house. This +was unfavourable; the Creek overflowed its banks for four hundred paces +on one side and thirty on the other, and the surroundings of the house +would be muddy and damp. She would not, however, acquiesce in the +judgment thus passed, and remained on, and prosecuted the work as +usual. The Council was very anxious for her to take a furlough, and her +friends, personal and official, in Scotland were also urging her to +come for a rest. She had now never an hour of real health or strength, +and was growing deaf, and felt like "a spluttering candle," and she +began to think it would be the wisest thing to do. As the idea took +definite shape in her mind, she looked forward with zest to the renewal +of old friendships. "We shall have our fill of talk and the silences +which are the music of friendship." The East Coast of Scotland was now +barred to her by medical opinion, but she had visions of the lonely +hills of the south, and of Yarrow, and all that Border country where +she had spent so many happy days, and would go there, away from the +crowds and the rush. + +Discerning a note of pity in the letters from Scotland, she bade her +friends not to waste their sympathy upon her. "I am just surrounded +with love," she wrote. It was to the children she referred. "I wake up +in the early dusk of the dawn and call them, and before I can see to +take my Bible, the hot cup of tea is there, and a kiddie to kiss me +'Good-morning' and ask, 'Ma, did you sleep?'" It was not wonderful that +she loved those black girls. They had been with her from their birth. +She had nursed them and brought them up and taught them all they knew, +and they had been faithful to her with the faithfulness which is one of +the most remarkable traits in the African nature. Mary could never +abide the superior folk who referred slightingly to them because of +their black skin, and she was too proud to justify her feelings towards +them. Alice, the "princess," had now grown into a fine womanly girl, +quiet and steady and thoughtful. One night in the dark she crept to +"Ma's" side and shyly told her that some months before she had given +her heart to Christ. It was a moment of rare joy. As neither Alice nor +Maggie was betrothed-though often sought after-and they had no legal +protector against insult, she decided to send them for training to the +Edgerley Memorial School, where they would be under the influence and +care of Miss Young, another capable agent whom she had led to become a +missionary and with whom she had a very close and tender friendship. +She regarded her as an ideal worker, for she had been thoroughly +trained in domestic science. "I would have liked that sort of training +better than the Normal training I got at Moray House," she said. + +Meanwhile, as she was forbidden to cycle, her thoughts harked back to +her old plan of a "box on wheels." She had never been reconciled to a +hammock. "I feel a brute in it, it seems so selfish to be lying there, +while four boys sweat like beasts of burden. To push a little carriage +is like skilled labour and no degradation." She, therefore, wrote to +Miss Adam, whom she called the "joint-pastor" of her people, to send +out a catalogue of "these things." Miss Adam was, however, unwell, and +the ladles of Wellington Street Church, Glasgow, hearing of the +request, promptly despatched what was called a Cape cart, a kind of +basket-chair, capable of being wheeled by two boys or girls. The gift +sent her whole being thrilling with gratitude, as well as with shame +for being so unworthy of so much kindness, but her comfort was that it +was for God's work, and she took it as from Him. + +The vehicle proved a success, but the success proved the undoing of her +furlough. "Instead of going home as I had planned, in order to get +strength for a wider range of work, I shall stay on and enjoy the +privilege of going over ground impossible for my poor limbs." On one of +the first drives she had, she went in search of a site for a new and +larger church which she had determined to build., and was gathering +material for, at Use, and then she planned to go to Ikpe via Ikot +Ekpene by the new Government road, opening up out-stations wherever she +could get a village to listen to the message. Her aim, indeed, was +nothing less than to plant the whole Ibibio territory with a network of +schools and churches. She seemed to grow more wonderful the older and +frailer she became. + +The spurt lasted for a time, but again the terrible weakness troubled +her, and she had to conduct household affairs from a couch. School work +was carried through on the verandah, and when she spoke in the church +she was borne there and back. She came to see that only a real change +would do her permanent good, and that it would be true economy to take +a trip home, even for the sake of the voyage, which, much as she feared +the sea, always invigorated her. What made her hesitate now was the +depleted condition of the Mission. "We were never so short-handed +before," she said, "and I can do what others cannot do, what, indeed, +medical opinion would not allow them to try. No one meddles with me, +and I can slip along and do my work with less expenditure of strength +than any," Had there been some one to fill her place she would have +gone, but she was very reluctant to shut the doors of the stations for +so long a period. How she regarded the idea may be gathered from a +letter to a friend who had given her some domestic news:-- + +These little glimpses, like pictures, of home and the old country, of +family ties and love, make me long for just one long summer day in the +midst, if only as an onlooker, and for the touch of loving hands and a +bit of family worship in our own tongue, and maybe a Sabbath service +thrown in with a psalm and an old-fashioned tune, and then I should +feel ready for a long spell of work. But I should fret if it were to +take me from this, my own real life and home and bairns. This life is +full, the other lies at the back quiescent, and is a precious +possession to muse on during the night or in the long evening hours +when I'm too tired to sleep and the light is not good enough to read or +sew, or mostly when I'm not well and the doldrums come very near. But I +should choose this life if I had to begin again; only I should try to +live it to better purpose. + +Another respite or two carried her into the middle of the year, when +her opportunity of a furlough was lost. She said she would have to hold +on now for another winter--or go up higher. In September she completed +thirty-six years as a missionary, and took humorous stock of herself: +"I'm lame and feeble and foolish; the wrinkles are wonderful-no +concertina is so wonderfully folded and convulated. I'm a wee, wee +wifie, verra little buikit--but I grip on well, none the less." "Ay," +said an old doctor friend to her, "you are a strong woman, 'Ma.' You +ought to have been dead by ordinary rule long ago--any one else would." + + + + + VI. HER FIRST HOLIDAY + +Anxiety as to her health deepened both in Calabar and Scotland, and +pressure was brought upon her to take a rest. One of her lady friends +on the Women's Foreign Mission Committee, Miss Cook, appreciated her +fear of the home winter, and wrote asking her to take a holiday to the +Canary Islands, and begged the kindness at her hands of being allowed +to pay the expense. "I believe," she said, "in taking care of the +Lord's servant. I am afraid you do not fully realise how valuable you +are to us all, the Church at home, and the Church In Nigeria." The +offer, so delicately put, brought tears to Mary's eyes, and it made her +wonder whether after all she was safeguarding her health enough in the +interests of the Church. As soon as the matter became a duty, she gave +it careful consideration, resolving to abstain from going up to Ikpe, +and to go down to Duke Town instead, where she would consult the +Wilkies and the Macgregors. But she would not dream of the cost of any +change being borne by Miss Cook, and she asked Miss Adam to find out if +her funds would allow of her taking a trip. There was no difficulty +regarding clothing. Among the Mission boxes she had received was one +full of warm material, and she surmised that God was on the side of a +holiday. + +Her friends at Calabar did not hesitate a moment; they wanted her off +at once. She went to consult her old friend, Dr. Adam, the senior +medical officer, that "burning and shining light," as she called him, +who first showed her through the Hospital, where she spoke with loving +entreaty to every patient she passed, and left many in tears. After a +thorough examination, he earnestly besought her to take the next boat +to Grand Canary. Still she shrank from the prospect. It was a selfish +thing to do; there were others more in need of a holiday than she, it +was a piece of extravagance, it would involve closing up the stations. +And yet might it not be meant? Might it not be of the nature of a good +investment? Might she not be able for better work? Might it not do away +with the necessity for a furlough in the following year? She decided to +go. + +It was arranged that Jean should accompany her, and that she should put +up at the Hotel Santa Catalina, Las Palmas. Letters from Government +officials were sent to smooth the way there for her. Miss Young and +others prepared her outfit, and made her, as she said, "wise-like and +decent,"--she, the while, holding daily receptions, for she was now +regarded as one of the West African sights, and every one came to call +upon her. Mr. Wilkie managed the financial side, and gave the cash-box +to the Captain. When she transhipped at Forcados. it was handed to the +other Captain, and he on arrival at the Islands passed it on to the +manager of the hotel. On board she was carried up and down to meals, +and received the utmost kindness from officers and passengers alike. +The Captain said he was prouder to have shaken hands with her than if +she had been King George. The season at Grand Canary had not begun, +and there were very few visitors at the hotel. Those who were there saw +a frail nervous old lady, followed by a black girl who was too shy to +raise her eyes. "We were certainly a frightened pair," Mary afterwards +confessed. But the management attended to her as if she were a +princess. "What love is wrapped round me!" she wrote. "All are kind,-- +the manager's family, the doctor's family, and the visitors. It is +simply wonderful. I can't say anything else." + +The first days were spent in the grounds, drinking in the pure air, +watching the changing sea and sky, and admiring the brilliant +vegetation. The English flowers, roses and geraniums and Michaelmas +daisies and mignonette, were a continual joy, whilst the crimson clouds +piled above the sapphire sea often made her think of the "city of pure +gold." Later, she was able to ascend the hill at the back, and "there" +she says, "I sat and knitted and crocheted and sewed and worked through +the Bible all the day long, fanned by the sea-breeze and warmed by the +sun, and the good housekeeper sent up lunch and tea to save my walking, +and in the silence and beauty and peace I communed with God. He is so +near and so dear. Oh, if I only get another day in which to work! I +hope it will be more full of earnestness and blessing than the past." + +It was her first real holiday, but she felt it had been worth waiting a +lifetime for. There was something infinitely pathetic in her ecstasy of +enjoyment and the gratitude for the simple pleasures that came to her. +Only one thread of anxiety ran through her days, the thought of the +appalling expense she was incurring, for she had made up her mind that +the cost was to be paid out of her own slender funds. + +A lady in the hotel, with whom she formed an intimate and lasting +friendship, and who saw much of her, gives this impression of her +character: + +She made many friends, her loving sympathy, her simplicity, her keen +interest in all around her, her sense of humour and love of fun +endearing her to all. The entire negation of self which she evinced was +remarkable, as well as her childlike faith and devotion to her Master +and to His service. A lady was heard to say, "Well, after talking to +Miss Slessor I am converted to foreign missions," Her mind was ever +upon her work and her children, and she used often to say she was +idling, there was so much to be done, and so little time in which to do +it. Of all the people I have met she impressed me the most as the +perfect embodiment of the Christian life, + +Jean waited upon her mother-mistress with a patient and thoughtful +devotion which was a wonder to those who saw it. She wore her Calabar +frock and bandana, and had she not been a very sane person, her head +would have been turned, for she was a favourite with every one, and was +given as many ribbons as would serve her all her life. But she was as +shy the day she left as when she arrived. + +The departure came in the middle of the night. A general and his aide- +de-camp and a merchant each offered to convoy her to the ship, and +pleaded that they had conveyances, but the manager of the hotel would +not hear of it, saw her himself safely into her cabin, and placed the +cash-box once more into the Captain's hands. It was the same steamer by +which she had travelled to the Islands, so that she felt at home. On +board also was Dr. Hitchcock, on his way out again to take up work at +Uburu, a large market town in the far north amongst a strangely +interesting tribe. How she envied him, young and strong and +enthusiastic, entering on such glorious pioneer work! At Accra the +Governor of the Gold Coast, a stranger to her, sent off to the steamer +a bouquet of flowers, with an expression of his homage and best wishes +for a renewal of her health. + +When she arrived at Duke Town Dr. Adam again examined her, assisted by +Professor Leiper of the London School of Tropical Medicine, and the +verdict was: "Good for many years-if you only take care." + +She was given written directions as to the care of her health, and +these she regarded with a rueful face. "Life will hardly be worth +living now," she said. "But for the work's sake I must obey. God wants +us to be efficient, and we cannot be so except by living decently and +taking care of the wonderful body He has given us." + +She turned up her Bible and found the verse she had marked as a +"promise" before leaving: "_But if the Spirit of Him that raised up +Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the +dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by the spirit that dwelleth +in you_." She saw now that this meant something besides the +Resurrection, for the voyage, the climate, the food, and the rest had +worked in her a miracle, and she realised more than ever what prayer +and faith could do for the body as well as for the spirit. There was a +lesson in it, too, she thought, for the Church. She had had a month at +sea, and a month in the Islands, with the best of care and food, and no +furlough had ever done her more good. She felt that a visit to Scotland +would not have rested her so much. There was the bustle and excitement +and movement and speaking-of all the bugbears of a furlough, she said, +speaking at meetings was the chief. If only the hard deputy work at +home could be eliminated from the missionaries' programme, they would +have a happier and a better time. But here the personal equation +obscured her judgment. For to abandon the system would be to do away +with the intimate touch and association by which interest in the +Mission Field is so largely maintained. To many missionaries, also, the +duty of telling to the congregations up and down the country the story +of their work is one of the chief pleasures of their furlough. + +Laden with chemical foods, medicines, and advice, she returned to Use +to find that the entire cost of the trip had been defrayed by Miss +Cook, who wrote: "I am only sorry that I did not beg you to stay longer +in order to reap more benefit. Come home next year; we all want to see +you." + + + + + VII. INJURED + +But a furlough home was far from her thoughts. She rejoiced in her new +strength, and set herself with grim determination to redeem the time. +She was now doing double work, carrying on all the activities of the +settled station at Use, and establishing her pioneer centre at Ikpe. +During the next two years she travelled between the two points, +sometimes using the canoe, but more often now the Government motor car, +which ran round by Ikot Ekpene and dropped her at the terminus, five +miles from Ikpe. David was the driver, and she had thus always the +opportunity of seeing Mary, his wife, who lived at Ikot Ekpene. + +At Use the work had gone on as usual; there had been no backsliding, +and the services and classes had been kept up by the people themselves; +and she proceeded with the building of the new church, which was +erected under her superintendence and without any outside help. When +she was at Ikpe she placed Annie's husband--they were both now members +of the Church--in charge, and he conducted the services, but Miss +Peacock, whom Mary styled her "Bishop," gave general supervision. + +On one of her early journeys up to Ikpe she met with a slight accident, +a pellet of mud striking one of her eyes. The people were alarmed at +the result, and would have gone off at once to the District +Commissioner had she not restrained them. Some native workmen passing +his station later mentioned the incident, and within a few minutes the +officer had a mounted messenger speeding along the tract to Ikpe, with +an urgent order to the people to get her conveyed in the Cape cart to +the nearest point on the road, where he would have a motor car waiting. +Next morning, although it was market day, the members of the church +left everything and took her to the spot indicated. Here were the +District Commissioner and a doctor, with eye-shade and medicine and +every comfort, and with the utmost despatch she was taken round the +Government road to Use. The hurt was followed by erysipelas, and she +was blind for a fortnight and suffered acute pain and heavy fever; but +very shame at being ill after so fine a holiday made her get up +although the eye was swollen and "sulky," and she was soon in the midst +of her work at Ikpe as if nothing had happened. + +Building, cementing, painting, varnishing, teaching, healing, and +preaching filled in the days. A visitor found her once at 10 A.M. +finishing school in a shed. She continued it in the afternoon. Then she +visited the yards of the people, and they crowded round her and brought +her gifts of food. Later she leant against a fallen tree trunk and +talked to one and another. In the gathering dusk she sat on a small +stool and attended to the sick and dressed their sores. After dinner +some men and lads arrived carrying lamps, and she held her catechumens' +class--a very earnest and prayerful gathering. + +The burden of the untouched region around her vexed her mind. Sometimes +she was depressed about it all, and said she would need to fill her +letters with nonsense, for "it would not bear writing." Time and again +she sought to impress her friends with the needs of the situation: "The +last time I was at school I counted eight hundred women and girls +running past in eager competition to secure the best places at the +fishing-grounds where the men had been working all the morning, and +these are but a fraction of our womankind. But what can I do with +supervision of the school and church and dispensary and household?" She +did not pretend that she worked her station properly, and she pointed +out how necessary settled, steady, persevering teaching was. "These +infant churches," she said, "need so much to be instructed. The adults +are illiterate, and the young need systematic teaching of the Bible. +They are an emotional people, and are fain to keep to speaking and +singing and long prayers, and the sterner practical side of +Christianity is set aside. They are children in everything that +matters, and when we have led them to Christ we are apt to forget how +much more they need in order to make a strong, upright, ethical +character on which to build a nation. Then we need a literature, and +this, too, is the work of the Church. What ails it? _Is it not +forgetting that God can't give His best till we have given ours?"_ + +With all its bustle it was a very lonely and isolated life she led. +There was no mail delivery, and she had to depend mainly on the +kindness of Government officials to forward her correspondence. "I have +been here seven weeks," she wrote on one occasion, "without one scrap +from the outside--letter or paper--nothing to read but the old +advertisement sheets of papers lining the press and the boxes. If you +wish for the names of hotels or boarding-houses In any part of Europe-- +send to me. I have them all on my tongue's end." It was a red-letter +day when a stray white visitor entered the district, for there would be +tea and a talk, and a bundle of newspapers would be left--one never +forgets another in this way in the bush. She was amused to receive a +note from Scotland asking her to hand on a message to Dr. Hitchcock at +Uburu. "Do you know?" she replied, "you are nearer him than I am--the +quickest way for me to send it is via Britain!" + +Life was not without its menace from wild beasts, the forest being full +of them, and the doors had always to be closed and fastened at night to +keep them out. Snakes were prevalent, and prowled about the building, +and many a fight Jean and the others had with the intruders. + + + + + VIII. FRIENDSHIPS WITH OFFICIALS + +Throughout these years, as always, "Ma" Slessor's relations with the +Government officials were of the most friendly nature, It was +remarkable that although she was essentially feminine and religious, +and although she was engaged in Mission work, she attracted men of all +types of character. Much of this power was due to her intense sympathy, +which enabled her to get close to minds that would otherwise have been +shut to her. What she wrote of another applies to herself: + +What a strange thing is sympathy! Undefinable, untranslatable, and yet +the most real thing and the greatest power in human life! How strangely +our souls leap out to some other soul without our choosing or knowing +the why. The man or woman who has this subtle gift of sympathy and +magnetism of soul possesses the most precious thing on earth. Hence it +is rare. So few could be trusted with such a delicate, sensitive, +Godlike power and hold it unsullied that God seems to be hampered for +want of means for its expression. Is that the reason that He made His +Son a "Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief"? + +Most of these men had no interest in missions, and some did not believe +in them. "The more I see of mission work in West Africa the less I like +it," said one frankly to her. "Give me the genuine bushman, who +respects his ancestral deities and his chief and himself.... But if all +missionaries were like you!" None of these men belonged to her own +Church; three of her favourites were Roman Catholics. Her introductions +to some were of the most informal character. One day a stranger +appeared and found her busy on the roof of the house. "Well," she said, +eyeing him critically, "what do you want?" He stood, hat in hand. +"Please, Ma'am," he replied meekly, "I'm your new District +Commissioner--but I can't help it!" She was delighted, and took him +into the inner circle at once. As frequent changes took place in the +staff, the number whose acquaintance she made gradually increased, +until she became known and talked of in all the colonies on the West +Coast and even in other parts of the world. + +The official view of her work and character differed little from any +other. Says one who knew her long and well: + +I suppose that a pluckier woman has rarely existed. Her life-work she +carried out with immeasurable courage and capacity. Her strength of +character was extraordinary, and her life was one of absolute +unselfishness. She commanded the respect and confidence of all parties, +and for years I would have personally trusted to her judgment on native +matters in preference to all others. Shrewd, quick-witted, sympathetic, +yet down on any one who presumed, she would with wonderful patience +hear all sides equally. Her judgment was prompt, sometimes severe, but +always just. She would speak much of her work to those who, she knew, +took an interest in it, but very rarely of herself. + +Another writes: + +My first impression of her was that she was a lady of great strength of +mind and sound common sense. Also that for one who had lived so many +years in the bush wilds she was very well read and up-to-date on all +subjects. + +Mr. T. D. Maxwell, who knew her in Okoyong days and to the end, says: + +I am sure that her own Church never had a more loyal adherent, but her +outlook on this life--and the next--was never narrow. Her religion was +above religions--certainly above religious differences, I have often +heard her speak of the faiths and rituals of others, but never without +the deepest interest and sympathy. She was young to the end; young in +her enthusiasm, her sympathy, her boundless energy, her never-failing +sense of humour, her gift of repartee, her ability always to strike the +apt--even the corrosive--epithet. A visit to her was, to use one of her +own phrases, "like a breath o' caller air to a weary body"--and in West +Africa that means incomparably more than it can at Home. + +It was a peculiarly affectionate relation that existed between her and +many of those men whom she regarded as "the strength and the glory of +Britain." A witty member of the Mission once said they were given over +to "Mariolatry"--an allusion to her first name. They never were near +without visiting her, and often made long journeys for the privilege of +a talk. They were delighted with her sense of humour, and teased her as +well as lionised her. Half the fun of a visit to her was taking her +unawares, and they often threatened to bring their cameras and +"snapshot" her on sight, "Ma," they would write before calling, "get +your shoes on, we are coming to tea!" + +They wrote her about their work and ambitions and worries as if she +were a mother or sister, and discussed the political and racial +problems of the country as if she were a colleague, always with a +delicate deference to her experience and knowledge, sometimes veiled in +light banter. "I am at your feet, Ma," said one, "and your wisdom is +that of Solomon." They often twitted her about being able to twist them +round her little finger: "You break our hearts, and get your own way +shockingly." On one occasion she received a grave and formal Government +typewritten communication about land, which ended in this way: + + I have the honour to be, + Madam, + + + _and affectionate_ + Your obedient servant. + + +When they left the Colony they kept up the friendship. Many were bad +correspondents, yet from the remotest parts of the world they wrote +letters, as long as her own, full of kind enquiries about her work and +the bairns, and begging for a reply. + +On her part she wrote them racy and informative letters; and she also +got into touch with their mothers, sisters, and wives at home, who +welcomed her news of the absent ones, and were good to her in turn. One +lady she delighted by praising her husband. "Naturally," the lady +replied, "I agree with you, and you are welcome to court and woo him as +much as you like!" A high official brought out his wife, and she wrote +Mary from a desire to make her husband's friends hers also. She ended +in the usual way, but he added, "She sends her kindest regards--_I_ +send my love!" The nature of some of the friendships formed at home +through officials may be surmised from an order she gave for a silver +gift, value £5, to be sent to the first-born child of one of her +"chums." It went to the mother, and the inscription was "From one whom +his father has helped." + +Very notable was the kindness shown by the Government to her as woman +and missionary. Instructions were issued that she was to be allowed to +use any and every conveyance belonging to them in the Colony, on any +road or river, and that every help was to be afforded to her. Workmen +were lent to her to execute repairs on her houses. Individual members +sought opportunities to be kind to her. She was taken her first motor- +car drive by a Commissioner. The highest officials did not think it +beneath them to buy feeding-bottles and forward them on by express +messenger. They sent her gifts of books, magazines, and papers--one +forwarded _The Times_ for years--and at Christmas there would come plum +puddings, crackers, and sweets. One dark, showery night the Governor of +Southern Nigeria, Sir W. Egerton, and several officials appeared at her +house to greet her, and left a case of milk, two cakes, and boxes of +chocolates and crystallised fruit. "The Governor is a Scotsman," she +wrote, "and must be sympathetic to mission work, or else why did he +come with his retinue and all to a mud house and see me at that cost to +his comfort and time on a wet night?" Lord Egerton was charmed with +her. Replying to some remark of his she said, "Hoots, my dear laddie--I +mean Sir!" + +It was the great anxiety of her official friends that she should not +outlive her powers: her influence generally was so great that to them +the thought of this was distressing. They were always very solicitous +about her health, writing to her frequently to say that she should take +life more easily, "Take care of yourself, Ma--as much as you can." +"Don't be so ridiculously unselfish." "Learn a little selfishness--it +will do you all the good in the world," was the advice showered upon +her. When she had the Court work she was often urged to take a month's +holiday. On hearing of her intention to go to Ikpe one wrote, "Dear +Lady, I hate the idea of your going so far into the bush. Don't go. +There are plenty of men willing and eager to be of service to you, but +away up there you are far away from help or care." Another warned her +against the people; "But," he added, "we know you will go in spite of +it--and conquer!" + +Latterly they became more importunate. "Do be careful," one wrote. "Do +take quinine and sleep under a net and drink filtered water." Her +custom of going hatless into the blazing sunshine was long a sore +point, and when they failed to persuade her of the danger, they +resorted to scheming. "We know why you do it," they said artfully. "You +know you have pretty hair and like to display it uncovered, imagining +that it gets its golden glint from the sun. Oh, vanity of vanities! +Fancy a nice, quiet missionary being so vain!" Certainly no argument +could have sent her more quickly to the milliner's. + + + + + IX. POWER THROUGH PRAYER + +The power which enabled Mary Slessor to live so intensely, to triumph +over physical weakness, and to face the dangers of the African bush, +and gave her the magnetic personality that captivated the hearts of +white and black alike, was derived from her intimate and constant +contact with the Unseen, and the means of that contact were prayer and +the Bible. + +She had an implicit belief in the reality of prayer, simply because she +had tested its efficacy every day of her life, and had never found it +to fail. When her old friend, Mr. Smith of Dundee, asked for her +testimony to include in his book, _Our Faithful God: Answers to +Prayer_, she wrote: + +My life is one long daily, hourly, record of answered prayer. For +physical health, for mental overstrain, for guidance given +marvellously, for errors and dangers averted, for enmity to the Gospel +subdued, for food provided at the exact hour needed, for everything +that goes to make up life and my poor service, I can testify with a +full and often wonder-stricken awe that I believe God answers prayer. I +know God answers prayer. I have proved during long decades while alone, +as far as man's help and presence are concerned, that God answers +prayer. Cavilings, logical or physical, are of no avail to me. It is +the very atmosphere in which I live and breathe and have my being, and +it makes life glad and free and a million times worth living. I can +give no other testimony. I am sitting alone here on a log among a +company of natives. My children, whose very lives are a testimony that +God answers prayer, are working round me. Natives are crowding past on +the bush road to attend palavers, and I am at perfect peace, far from +my own countrymen and conditions, because I know God answers prayer. +Food is scarce just now. We live from hand to mouth. We have not more +than will be our breakfast to-day, but I know we shall be fed, for God +answers prayer. + +She realised that prayer was hedged round by conditions, and that +everything depended upon the nature of the correspondence between earth +and heaven. She likened the process to a wireless message, saying, "We +can only obtain God's best by fitness of receiving power. Without +receivers fitted and kept in order the air may tingle and thrill with +the message, but it will not reach my spirit and consciousness." And +she knew equally well that all prayer was not worthy of being answered. +Those who were disappointed she would ask to look intelligently at +first causes as well as regretfully at second causes. To one who said +he had prayed without avail, she wrote: "You thought God was to hear +and answer you by making everything straight and pleasant--not so are +nations or churches or men and women born; not so is character made. +God is answering your prayer in His way." And to another who was in +similar mood she wrote: "I know what it is to pray long years and never +get the answer--I had to pray for my father. But I know my heavenly +Father so well that I can leave it with Him for the lower fatherhood." +In this as in other things she had to confess that she herself often +failed. "I am a poor exponent of faith," she would say. "I ought to +have full faith in our Father that He will do everything, but I am +ashamed of myself, for I want to 'see,' and that sends faith out of +court. I never felt more in sympathy with that old afflicted father +before in his prayer, 'Lord, I believe, help Thou my unbelief'--every +syllable suits me." + +She had absolute faith in intercession, "Prayer," she said, "is the +greatest power God has put into our hands for service--praying is +harder work than doing, at least I find it so, but the dynamic lies +that way to advance the Kingdom." She believed that some of her +official friends, the Empire-builders, were kept straight in this way: +"The bands that mothers and sisters weave by prayer and precept are the +strongest in the world." There was nothing she asked her friends more +often at home to do than to pray for the Mission and the workers. +"Don't stop praying for us," she pleaded, and her injunctions were +sometimes pathetic in their personal application: "Pray that the power +of Christ may rest on me, that He may never be disappointed in me or +find me disobedient to the heavenly vision when He shows the way, pray +that I may make no false moves, but that the spirit will say, 'Go here +and go there,'" She was always convinced that it was the prayers of the +people in Scotland that carried her on and made the work possible. "It +is so customary to put aside those who, like myself, are old-fashioned +and unable for the burden and heat of the day; but in my case it is +care and love and forbearance all the way through; and all this I trace +back to the great amount of prayer which has ever followed me, to the +quality more than the quantity of that intercession. Prayer-waves +pulsate from Britain all through Calabar." To one who had always prayed +for her she also wrote: "I have always said that I have no idea how and +why God has carried me over so many funny and hard places, and made +these hordes of people submit to me, or why the Government should have +given me the privilege of a magistrate among them, except in answer to +prayer made at home for me. It is all beyond my comprehension. The only +way I can explain it is on the ground that I have been prayed for more +than most. Pray on, dear one-the power lies that way." She also urged +prayer for the Mission Committees, Home and Foreign--"We expect them to +do so much and to do it so well, and yet we withhold the means by which +alone they can do it." + +Almost invariably, when acknowledging money, she would beg the donors +to follow up their gifts by prayer for workers. "Now," she would say, +"let us ask God earnestly and constantly for the greater gift of men +and women to fill all these vacant posts." + +She used to pray much for her friends in all their circumstances, +asking for many things for them that they desired, but eventually her +petition came to be, "Lord give them Thy best and it shall suffice them +and me." + +Her religion was a religion of the heart, and her communion with her +Father was of the most natural, most childlike character. No rule or +habit guided her. She just spoke to Him as a child to her Father when +she needed help and strength, or when her heart was filled with joy and +gratitude, at any time, in any place. He was so real to her, so near, +that her words were almost of the nature of conversation. There was no +formality, no self-conscious or stereotyped diction, only the simplest +language from a quiet and humble heart. It is told of her that when in +Scotland, after a tiresome journey, she sat down at the tea-table +alone, and, lifting her eyes, said, "Thank ye, Faither--ye ken I'm +tired," in the most ordinary way, as if she had been addressing her +friends. On another occasion, in the country, she lost her spectacles +while coming from a meeting in the dark. Snow lay on the ground, and +there seemed little hope of recovering them. She could not do without +them, and she prayed simply and directly: "O Father, give me back my +spectacles." Early next morning the milk-boy saw something glistening +in the snow, and she had the spectacles in time to read her Bible. A +lady asked her how she obtained such intimacy with God. "Ah, woman," +she said, "when I am out there in the bush I have often no other one to +speak to but my Father, and I just talk to Him." It was in that way she +kept herself in tune with the highest. Sometimes, when there had been +laughing and frivolous conversation before a meeting, she lost "grip," +and was vexed and restless and dumb. But a little communion with her +Father would put matters right. Once, oppressed by a similar mood, she +foresaw complete failure, but the minister who presided, as if +conscious of her attitude, prayed in such a way as to lift the burden +from her heart, and she was given not only a calm spirit but also an +eloquent tongue. + +How natural it was for her to pray is evidenced by an incident at one +of the ladies' committee meetings at Duke Town. Speaking of it she +said, "All the ladies were laughing and daffin' over something of a +picturesque sort, when it struck me we ought to be praying rather, and +I just said so, and at once the whole lot jumped up, and we went into +the nearest room and were closeted with our Master for a bit." +Sometimes in the Mission House she would call the children to prayer +at odd hours, and Jean would remonstrate and say, "Ma, the time is long +past." "Jean," she would reply, "the gate of heaven is never shut." She +said she wished to teach them that they could pray anywhere and at any +time, and not only in the church. + +"_We are not really apart," she once wrote to a friend in Scotland, +"_for you can touch God direct by prayer, and so can I_." + + + + + X. BIBLE STUDENT + +She had always been an earnest and intelligent student of the Bible, +and to her it grew more wonderful every day. She believed that the +spread of the Book was the simplest and most natural and direct way of +preaching the Gospel and keeping it pure. Her own reading of it was +mainly accomplished in the early morning. As soon as there was light +enough--which was usually about 5.30--she took a fine pen and her Bible +and turned to the book she was studying in the Old or New Testament. +She underlined the governing words and sentences as she went along in +her endeavour to grasp the meaning of the writer and the course of his +argument; word by word, sentence by sentence, she patiently followed +his thought. Sometimes it would be three days before she completed a +chapter, but she would not leave it until she had some kind of idea as +to its purpose. She was her own commentator, and on the margin she +noted the truths she had learned, the lessons she had received, her +opinions about the sentiment expressed, or the character described. If +her expositions were not according to the ordinary canons of exegesis, +they had the merit of being simple, fresh, and unconventional. Her +language was as candid, often as pungent, as her remarks in +conversation, its very frankness and force indicating how real to her +were the life and conditions she was studying. When one Bible was +finished she began another, and repeated the process, for she found +that new thoughts came as the years went by. On one occasion we find +her interested in a recent translation, reading it to discover whether +it gave any clearer construction of the more difficult passages. Such +sedulous study had its effect upon her character and life; she was +interpenetrated with the spirit of the Book; it gave her direction in +all her affairs--in her difficult palavers she would remark, "Let us +see what the Bible says on this point "--it inspired her with hope, +faith, and, and courage. Often after an hour or two of meditation over +it she felt no desire for ordinary literature, all other books seeming +tame and tasteless after its pages. + +Some of the later Bibles she used are in existence, and bear testimony +to the thoroughness of her methods. Almost every page is a mass of +interlineations and notes. As one turns them over, phrases here and +there catch the eye, arresting in thought and epigrammatic in form; +such for instance as these: + +_God is never behind time. + +If you play with temptation do not expect God will deliver you. + +A gracious woman has gracious friendships. + +No gift or genius or position can keep us safe or free from sin. + +Nature is under fixed and fine laws, but it cannot meet the need of +man. + +We must see and know Christ before we can teach. + +Good is good, but it is not enough; it must be God. + +The secret of all failure is disobedience, + +Unspiritual man cannot stand success. + +There is no escape from the reflex action of sin; broken law will have +its revenge, + +Sin is loss for time and eternity, + +The smallest things are as absolutely necessary as the great things. + +An arm of flesh never brings power. + +Half the world's sorrow comes from the unwisdom of parents. + +Obedience brings health, + +Blessed the man and woman who is able to serve cheerfully in the second +rank--a big test, + +What they were weary of was the punishment, not the sin that brought +it. + +Slavery never pays; the slave is spoiled as a man, and the master not +less so. + +It were worth while to die, if thereby a soul could be born again._ + +She was deeply interested in the earlier books, for the reason that the +moral and social conditions depicted there were analogous to those she +had to deal with in Calabar. Every now and then we come across such +remarks as these: "a Calabar palaver," "a chapter of Calabar history," +"a picture of Calabar outside the gospel area," "this happens in +Okoyong every day." Her own experience helped her to understand the +story of these primitive civilisations, and her annotations on this +part of the Bible have always the sharpest point. To the sentence, "The +Lord watch between me and thee," she appends, "Beautiful sentiment, but +a _mbiam_ oath of fear." Jacob she terms in one place a "selfish +beggar." Of Jael she says, "Not a womanly woman, a sorry story; would +God not have showed her a better way if she had asked?" and of part of +Deborah's song she remarks, "Fine poetry, poor morality." Her opinion +of Jezebel is thus expressed: "A vain, heartless woman; one of the most +revolting stories in history, and she might have been such a queen! A +good woman is the most beautiful thing on earth, but a bad woman is a +source of corruption.... Had only her soul been clean, dogs might have +been welcome to her body." + +The book of Job was always well studied. She had a great admiration for +the "upright, wealthy, greatly-feared, and respected sheikh," and +little or none for the "typical philosophers," who came, Calabar +fashion, and sought to comfort him in his day of trial. Job was not, in +her view, rebellious; "his plaint was a relief to his own spirit, and +an appeal for sympathy." On chapter ix. she writes, "The atmosphere is +clearing; the clouds are scattering, glimpses of sunshine, of +starlight, and beauty; the spirit swings back on its pivot and begins +to see God." Farther on, "Right, Job--turn to God I Leave it to Him-- +the fit of depression will pass when you have sounded the depths, and +profit will follow." On chapter xviii. her comment is, "Such is the +friendship of the world"; on chapter xx., "How very sure the fool is in +his explanations of God's ways"; on chapter xxvii., "The ultimate +values of life shall be fixed not by wealth but by character"; on +chapter xxviii., "A very mine of gems and precious things--exquisitely +lovely thoughts and language. Poetry like this in the earliest ages of +the world!" Of Elihu's contentions in chapter xxxiv., "A good many +truths, but served up with bitter herbs, not with love": on chapter +xxxvii., "Beautiful poetry, but a very bleak and barren picture of God; +hard, arbitrary, selfish, self-centred, striking terror into His works, +and compelling obedience and service. Nature cannot reveal Him, Elihu!" +On the next chapter, "The God of nature turns the picture, and behold +it is no more destruction and blind force, but beneficence and gracious +design and beauty,"--and so on to the end, when we read, "The voice of +humanity demands some such judgment and relief from the mysteries and +trials and misrepresentations of this life. The poem rings true to the +cry of the spirit of man. Is there a modern drama in any language to +come near to this ancient production?" + +The New Testament was brooded over and absorbed with a care and +thoroughness which must have made every line and every thought familiar +to her. St. John was her favourite book. A few specimens of her remarks +may be given: + +"_When the people saw that Jesus was not there ... they took shipping +and came ... seeking for Jesus_." + +"The secret of our failures in winning men; they don't find Him with +us." + +"_The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came and tempted Him that He +would, show them a sign from Heaven_." + +"Man's cry for the moon! What does a sign prove? Is God known by +magic?" + +"_And the people asked Him saying, What shall we do then? ... 'He +that hath two coats let him impart to him that hath none_.'" + +"By love serve." + +"_And He said unto them, When I sent you without purse and scrip and +shoes lacked you anything_?" + +"No, Lord, never was lack with Thee!" + +"_And her parents were astonished, but He charged them that they should +tell no man what He had done_." + +"Life will tell. Speech will end in chatter." + +These illustrations, picked out at random, will serve to indicate what +an intimate companion she made of her Bible, and with what loving +patience and insight she studied it for the illumination and deepening +of her spiritual life. + + + + + XI. BACK TO THE OLD HAUNTS + +Eight years had passed since she had left Akpap, and she had never been +back, although she had paid flying visits to the hinterland. Miss +Amess, with whom her friendship had grown close, was in charge, being +minister, doctor, dispenser, teacher, and mentor to the people, and +with her was Miss Ramsay. They had built a new church, which was almost +ready, and Miss Amess determined to bring "Ma" over and have the +Macgregors to meet her. "Ma" could not resist the temptation to revisit +the scenes of her greatest adventures, and went in July 1913, taking +the children with her, except Mary, and ordering the others at Calabar, +including the two youngest, Whitie and Asuquö, who were also natives of +the district, to join her. + +Her arrival caused much excitement, and her stay was one long +reception. All day the Mission House was like a market; from far and +near the people came to _köm_ their Mother. She could scarcely be got +to come to meals. On the first day when she was called, she said, +"These are my meat to-day," and then she told those about her what +Christ had said to His disciples after His conversation with the woman +of Samaria. Such love as the ladies saw on both sides they had not +thought possible between missionary and native. She seemed to remember +the names of most of the people, and all the details of their family +histories. One after another came forward and talked and revived +stories of the old times. But she seemed vexed to see so many who were +interested in her, and with no concern for the things of God, and with +these she pled earnestly to come to church and give themselves to the +Saviour. Two notable figures were Mana, and the mother of Susie, Iye. + +The children were a source of astonishment to all. These healthy, +happy, handsome young people, the babies that had been cast away or +despised--it was wonderful! They gazed upon them in a kind of awe. A +few of the older and women held aloof from the twins, but not in any +offensive way, and the general disposition was to ignore the stain on +their birth. + +There was a touching meeting with Ma Eme, who could not conceal her +affection and joy at seeing her old "Ma" again. Much to Mary's sorrow +she was still a heathen, and a very zealous one, as she sacrificed +daily to the spirits in the crudest way, with food and blood, in +abasement and fear. So strong was superstition rooted in her nature +that she would not touch the twins, although she confessed it was +marvellous that they had grown up. + +The two women, bound by so strange a friendship, talked long about the +old days. It was, "Do you remember this?" "Do you remember that?" and +then would follow reminiscences of the killing time when they worked +hand in hand in secret for the preservation of life. Nothing that "Ma" +could say would induce Ma Eme to throw off her allegiance to her +African beliefs, and at the end of a long day she left, the same kind, +high-bred, mysterious heathen woman that she had always been. She died +shortly after. "My dear old friend and almost sister," said Mary, "she +made the saving of life so often possible in the early days, It is sad +that she did not come out for Christ. She could have been the honoured +leader of God's work had she risen to it. I cannot fancy Okoyong +without her. She made a foolish choice, and yet God cannot forget all +she was to me, and all she helped me to do in those dark and bloody +days." + +A service was arranged, but the throng who wished to hear "Ma" was so +great that it had to be held in the unfinished church, and thus Mary +had the joy of being at the first service. Over four hundred well- +dressed natives were present, the largest number ever in a church in +Okoyong, She thought of the wild old days, and contrasted them with the +present scene. "Truly," she said to herself, "one soweth and another +reapeth." She spoke for half an hour, giving a strong, inspiring talk +on the duties of those who are believers to the world around them. + +With her usual thought for others she sat down and wrote to her old +comrade, Miss Wright (Mrs. Rattray), in England, giving her the details +of her visit, and accounts of the people. "This house," she said, "is +full of memories of you, and you are not forgotten." She described with +pride and hope the way in which the ladies were conducting the station, +and praised them in her usual generous manner. After she left, it +seemed to them that they had greater influence among the people than +ever. + + + + + XII. ROYAL RECOGNITION + +The friends who had known her long were noticing that a new softness +and graciousness were stealing into her life. She never grew +commonplace, and was original as ever, but her character was mellowing, +and her love and humility becoming even more marked. "Love will +overcome all," was her belief, and love, for her, included all the +qualities of the Christian faith--simplicity, kindness, patience, +charity, selflessness, confidence, hope. In herself she was conscious +of many faults. "I don't half live up to the ideal missionary life," +she said, with a sigh. "It is not easier to be a saint here than at +home. We are very human, and not goody-goody at all." Often she was +deep in the valley of humiliation over hasty words spoken and +opportunities of service let slip. But she was saved from depression by +her sense of humour. She laughed and dared the devil. Of one who had +just come out she wrote: "She is very serious, and will take life and +work more in the sense of tasks than of a glad free life ... we want +one to laugh, to hitch on to the yoke, and joke over all that we don't +like." She also became less uncompromising in her views. "My opinions," +she acknowledged, "may not just suit every one, and it is possible +other people may be right and I far wrong.... But although we differ +amongst ourselves, and some things differentiate our work, we are all +in full friendship and sympathy with one another." + +It was not possible for self-abnegation to go farther than it did in +her case. She was unable to see that she had done anything out of the +common. "I have lived my life very quietly and in a very natural and +humble way," she would say, and all the credit of her work was given to +God. "It isn't Mary Slessor doing anything, but Something outside of +her altogether uses her as her small ability allows." She did not say +"my plan," or "my scheme"--if she did she checked herself and said, +"What God wants me to do." And she always paid generous tribute to her +girls, who, she said, did more than she did, though no one counted it +to them. She was distressed to receive letters praising her. One who +saw her go out from Scotland to her life-work, and had lovingly +followed her career ever since, wrote saying that her reward would be a +starry crown in the glory land, and her reply was, "_What would I do +with starry crowns except to cast them at His feet?_" + +Nothing illustrated this feature so notably as an event which occurred +shortly after her visit to Akpap. Two years previously a few of her +friends in Calabar, official and missionary, had talked over the +possibility of securing some public recognition of her unique service. +Mr. Macgregor wrote an account of her life-work for the Government, but +it was not until Sir Frederick Lugard arrived as Governor-General of +the united provinces of Northern and Southern Nigeria that action was +taken. He was so struck by the heroic record placed before him that he +at once sent home a strong recommendation to the Secretary of State for +the Colonies, that Mary's services should be brought to Royal notice. +The Secretary of State was equally impressed, and laid the matter +before the Chapter-General of the Order of the Hospital of St. John of +Jerusalem in England, of which the King is Sovereign Head, and the Duke +of Connaught Grand Prior. This was done, and she was selected for +admission. When she received the august-looking document asking her to +accept the honour, she said to herself, "Now, who has done this? Who am +I, and what is my distinction that I should have it?" She was in a +quandary how to answer, but eventually complied with the request, +thinking that would be the end of it. Shortly afterwards came a letter +stating that "her selection had received the sanction and approval of +His Most Gracious Majesty King George V." The Chapter-General, it was +stated, elected her "with particular satisfaction" to the grade of +Honorary Associate. This honour is only conferred on persons professing +the Christian faith, who are eminently distinguished for philanthropy, +or who have specially devoted their exertions or professional skill in +aid of the objects of the Order. The Badge of an Honorary Associate is +a Maltese Cross in silver, embellished at the four principal angles +with a lion passant guardant and a unicorn passant alternately. It is +worn by women on the left shoulder, attached to a black watered riband +tied in a bow. + +"Ma" kept the matter a secret, even after she had received the diploma, +but the silver Badge came through the Colonial Office to the +Commissioner at Duke Town, and the honour being made public, her +friends schemed to get her down to a formal presentation. It was a +difficult problem, but it was solved by a letter being sent stating +that the decoration had arrived, that, of course, she would not care to +have it given to her surreptitiously, and that her duty was to come to +Calabar for it. A telegraph form, ready for dispatch, and bearing the +one word "Coming," was enclosed. They knew she would get agitated, and +have no peace until the telegram was out of her hands. Their surmise +was correct. She sent the message and committed herself to the ordeal. + +She was not elated at the prospect of appearing at a Government +function; neither was she perturbed, and she went about her duties as +usual. Miss Gilmour, one of the new lady agents, tells how on the eve +of her departure she gathered the bairns for family worship, and in a +simple and beautiful way read to them the story of the Good Shepherd +and the sheep that followed. Then, as an illustration, she took the +story of Peter's denial of our Lord, and showed that Peter sinned +because he followed "afar off." "Eh, bairns," she said, "it's the wee +lassie that sits beside her mother at meal times that gets all the nice +bittocks. The one who sits far away and sulks disna ken what she +misses. Even the pussy gets more than she does. Keep close to Jesus the +Good Shepherd all the way." + +A Government launch was sent to bring her down, an honour she felt as +much as the bestowal of the insignia, and as she walked up to the +Macgregors' house--the Wilkies were in Scotland--there were many who +were struck by the dignity of her appearance, dressed though she was in +an old but clean cotton dress, straw hat, and list shoes. On the +Saturday afternoon she went to an "At Home" at the Barracks, where she +was lionised in a quiet way. She attended a cricket match--she was an +advocate of all games, and believed they were excellent civilising +agencies--and also witnessed a sham fight, where the "enemy" dressed +themselves up as "savage warriors" and attacked the Barrack Hill. She +was much impressed, and kept saying to her old friend the Hon. Horace +Bedwell, the Provincial Commissioner, "That's just splendid. Look how +the officers lead them." On Sunday she spoke for three-quarters of an +hour to the boys in the Institute in Efik, and no boys could have +listened more intently. On Monday night she was at Government House at +dinner. + +The presentation took place in the Goldie Memorial Hall on Wednesday, +Mr. Macgregor presiding. All the Europeans who could leave business +gathered to do her honour. The boys of the Training Institute and the +girls of the Edgerley Memorial School were also in the hall. Had it not +been that Mr. Bedwell and Mrs. Bedwell were beside her, and that it was +the former who made the presentation, she would have felt more nervous. +As it was, she sat with her head buried in her hands. Mr. Bedwell spoke +of her unique work and influence, and of her genius for friendship in a +way that overcame her. She could not at first find words to reply. She +turned to the children, and in Efik told them to be faithful to the +Government, for at bottom it was Christian, and, as the silver Badge +proved, friendly to missions. Self was thus entirely effaced in her +interpretation of the act; she made it appear to be the recognition by +the Government of the work of the Mission, and suggested that it might +have been awarded to any member of the staff. + +Having recovered her courage she spoke in English, saying that she did +not understand why she had been chosen for the distinction, when others +deserved it more. In a closing passage of simple beauty, she gave God +the honour and praise for all she had been able to accomplish. What had +impressed her at the sham fight was that the officer was always in +front leading and guiding his men. "If I have done anything in my life +it has been easy because the Master has gone before." + +Forty Europeans came to tea at the Macgregors', and "Ma" was brilliant +and entertaining. On Thursday her hosts convoyed her back to Use. Mrs. +Bedwell had presented her with a bouquet of flowers, and she had taken +out the roses--of which she was passionately fond--and placed them in +water. On her arrival she carefully planted one of the stems, and to +her great joy it grew and flourished in front of her hut. + +"Don't think," she wrote home, "that there is any difference in my +designation. I am Mary Mitchell Slessor, nothing more and none other +than the unworthy, unprofitable, but most willing, servant of the King +of Kings. May this be an incentive to work, and to be better than ever +I have been in the past." + +At home the honour was made known chiefly through the _Record_ of the +Church, in which Mr. Macgregor gave some account of her romantic +career. He stipulated that this should be anonymous, for "Ma," he +feared, would never forgive him if she knew that he had been connected +with it. She gained a repute that was akin to fame. Congratulations +from all parts of the world were showered upon her. Sir Frederick +Lugard sent his "hearty and sincere congratulations, and his +appreciation of this well-earned reward for her life of heroic self- +sacrifice." In confusion of heart she escaped to Ikpe. "I shall never +look the world in the face again until all this blarney and publicity +is over," she said. "I feel so glad that I can hide here quietly where +no one knows about newspapers and _Records_, and do my small portion of +work out of sight." + +For a time she was kept busy replying to the correspondence that the +event evoked, and to all she made the same modest reply, that she saw +in the honour "God's goodness to the Mission and her fellow-labourers, +who were levelling and building and consolidating the work on every +side. It is a token that He means to encourage them in the midst of +their discouraging circumstances." + + + + + XIII. BATTLE FOR A LIFE + +Each new kindness shown her was an incentive to harder service. She +threw herself again into work with an extraordinary keenness. +Dissatisfied with what she was doing at Ikpe, she moved in all +directions in her "box on wheels," prospecting for new spheres of +usefulness, fording rivers, crossing swamps, climbing hills, pushing +through bush, traversing roads that were unsafe and where by the law +people had to go in couples, and often putting up at villages six or +ten miles distant. She saw crowds of people, and hundreds of women and +children in every street, but no light; not even a desire for it, +though here and there she found a disciple or two. She met with more +opposition from the chiefs than she had done in all her experience. +They would not hear of "God fashions," and would not permit teachers to +enter their districts or churches to be built; they forbade all +meetings for worship. She braced herself, body and mind, for the fight. +She spent days in palaver, but they would not give in. She insisted +that at least the right of the disciples to meet and worship in their +own homes must be recognised. When the chiefs saw her face, set with +iron resolution, they were afraid, wavered, and agreed. They then +became quite friendly. "We don't object to schools," they admitted. "We +want our children to learn to read and write, but we want no +interference with our fashions. If houses of God are built, we shall +all die, and we are dying fast enough." + +"I shall never give you teachers without the Gospel," she declared. "If +you don't take the one, you won't have the other. But I'm going to +bring both. I shall put up a shed on the roadside, and hold services +there whenever I get a chance." + +"All right, Ma," they said with something like admiration. "Come +yourself, but don't send boys." + +And then she remembered. "How can this poor tabernacle do it, even with +six lads to push and pull and carry the cart through the streams? But I +have opened the way, and that is something." + +In Ikpe itself the currents of heathenism ran deep and strong, and she +found progress as difficult as in Okoyong. But she solved all the +problems in the same fearless way as she had done there. Unlike those +in other centres, the women and girls of the town took no interest in +the work, and would not come forward, and she knew there was no hope +for the community unless she secured their sympathy and attachment to +the cause. At first a few girls had ventured to sit by themselves in +church. Then some village accident made the chiefs believe that their +juju was angry because the girls had forsaken their sacrifices and +deserted the heathen plays, and they placed pressure on them to return. +Some were flogged and made to pray before a clay-pot with an egg in it, +and all were forced out on the moonlight nights to take part in the +plays. "If they don't do that," demanded the chiefs, "how can they have +children for us?" The girls lost courage and forsook the church, but +she did not blame them. "Poor things, they are as timid as hares, and +have never had a choice of what to do until I came. But the chiefs--I +will be hard on them!" + +One day she gathered all those who were faithful to the church laws, +and interviewed the chiefs. The spokesman for her party urged that the +antagonism that had been shown should cease; he agreed that any one who +broke the ordinary laws should be punished, but no girl or young man +should be compelled to sacrifice or pray to idols, or be ostracised or +fined for fearing God. The words were received with scornful looks and +laughs, the chiefs being hardly able to restrain themselves, but they +had a wholesome fear of "Ma," and were never outwardly disrespectful in +her presence. They looked at her. She kept a severe and solemn face, +and they were a little nonplussed. + +"Ma, have you heard?" they asked, + +"Am I not here?" she replied. + +Taking the gift of rods that had been offered, the chiefs retired. When +they returned they said: "Ma, we hear. Let the present of rods lie, we +accept of it, and we promise that we will respect God's laws, in regard +to the joining in our sacrifices; and in regard to the Sabbath, we +shall respect it and leave our work; but we will _not_ join in the +confusions of the church, that we cannot do." + +"God will doubtless be immensely pleased and benefited by your wondrous +condescension," said she with good-humoured sarcasm, and they laughed +heartily and tried to be friendly, but Mary airily told her people to +rise and go. + +Fearing she was not pleased, the chiefs made to accompany her. + +"I'm going round to see a woman in the next street," said Mary +pointedly. They stopped dead at once. Here was the "confusion" they +referred to, for the woman was a twin-mother. + +It was the old weary battle over again, + +Her patience and persistence eventually won a victory for the girls. +They were allowed to return to church, but the line was drawn at the +day-school. The chiefs said girls were meant to work and mother the +babies, and not to learn "book." Even the boys who attended, each +burdened with an infant to justify the waste of time, were not allowed +to bring a baby girl. If the baby of the home was a girl, he looked +after her there and his place was vacant. Mary began to think of +teaching the girls apart from the boys, when one day several girls +marched in; she courted them with all the skill she possessed, and +gradually one or two chiefs brought their daughters, who returned with +dresses from the Mission box, and that ended the opposition. + +But there was no end to the struggle over twins. Time and again she had +to send the girls to bring babes to the Mission House, and many a +stirring night she had, she sleeping with them in her bed, whilst +outside stealthy forms watched for a chance to free the town from the +defilement of their presence. The first that survived was a boy. The +husband, angry and sullen, was for murdering it and putting the mother +into a hole in the swamp. She faced him with the old flash in her eye, +and made him take oath not to hurt or kill the child. He even promised +to permit it to live, for which magnanimity she bowed ironically to the +ground, an act that put his courage at once to flight. She had come to +realise that it was not good to take twins from their mother, and she +insisted on the child being kept in the home. Jean was sent to stay and +sleep with the woman, and as she had, on occasion, as caustic a tongue +as "Ma," the man had not a very agreeable time. It was decided later to +bring the woman and child to the hut, and there, beneath her verandah, +they rigged up a little lean-to, where they were housed, Jean sleeping +with them at night and keeping a watchful eye on the mother. "It is +really," said "Ma," "far braver and kinder of her to live with that +heathen woman with her fretting habits than it is for her to go out in +the dark and fight with snakes. Jean has as many faults as myself, but +she is a darling, none the less, and a treasure." All going well, they +went on Sunday to church and left the mother. When they returned they +found she had broken the baby's thigh and given him some poisonous +stuff. With care the boy recovered, but they redoubled their +precautions, hoping that when the parents saw how handsome and healthy +and normal the little fellow was, they would consent to keep him. + +"Ma" was due at Use, but she would not leave Ikpe until she had +conquered. Another month passed, and she was running out of provisions, +including tea. To be without tea was a tremendous deprivation. She +thought of the big fragrant package that had been sent out as a gift, +and was lying fifty miles away but un-get-at-able, and felt far from +saintly as she resorted to the infusion of old leaves. One Sunday +evening there was a shout. A canoe had arrived, and in it was a box. +With sudden prescience Jean flew for a hammer and chisel and broke it +open, and sure enough inside was the tea from Use. Mary marvelled, and +with all the young folk round her stood and thanked God, the Lord of +the Sabbath, for His goodness. The beverage had never tasted so sweet +and invigorating. Though her thrifty Scottish nature rejoiced that she +had been able to save a little, she confessed that she would never be a +miser where tea was concerned, Whenever she received a package she +invariably sent a share to old Mammy Fuller at Duke Town. "Mammy," she +told a home friend, "has lived a holy and consecrated life here for +fifty years, and is perhaps the best-loved woman in Duke Town. Uncle +Tom in the old cabin is a child in the knowledge of God to Mammy. So we +all love to share anything with her, and she especially loves a cup of +tea." + +The parents of the twin were at last persuaded to take the big happy +child home and provide for it. Four days later they sent for Jean, who +returned, carrying a weak, pinched form that had death written on its +face. It succumbed shortly afterwards--and that was the end of "Ma's" +strenuous fight and Jean's ten weeks' toil by night and day. + + + + + XIV. A VISION OF THE NIGHT + +She was down at Use for Christmastide with all her children about her, +and was very happy at seeing the consummation of her efforts to build a +new church. The opening took place on Christmas Day, + +"A bonnie kirk it is," she wrote. "Mr. Cruickshank officiated, and was +at his very best. Miss Peacock, my dear comrade and her young helper +Miss Cooper--a fine lassie--came and spent the whole day, so we had a +grand time, the biggest Christmas I've ever had in Calabar. Three tall +flag-poles with trade-cloth flags in the most flaming colours hung over +the village from point to point embracing the old and the new churches. +The people provided a plain breakfast in their several homes for over +eighty of our visitors, who therefore stayed over the forenoon. It made +our Christian population look fairly formidable, and certainly very +reputable as a force for uplifting and regenerating society. It looks +but yesterday that they were a horde of the most unlikely and +unresponsive people one could approach, and yet the Gospel has made of +them already something to prove that it is the power of God unto +salvation to a people and to an individual every and anywhere." + +It was to her "one of the reddest of red-letter days," such a day as +only comes at rare intervals, and she fell into the snare, as she said, +"of being carried away with it," with the result that at night she was +down with fever. This kept recurring every alternate night. It was the +harmattan season, in which she always wilted like some delicate flower +in the sun, and she grew so limp and fragile that she could not sit up. +She felt that she would be compelled to go home in the summer with the +Macgregors, but the idea frightened her, chiefly because of the stir +that had been caused by the honour she had received. "I dare not appear +at home after all this publicity," she said. "I simply could not face +the music." As she recovered a little she superintended the work of the +girls outside, and was amused at the way her advice was now received. +"Jean and Annie do not hesitate to set it aside quietly in their +superior way; it often works out better than mine, truth to tell-- +though I say it does so by accident!" This was a different house-mother +from the one who ruled years before. + +In one of her fever nights, tossing in semi-delirium, she had a vision. +She had been following the Chapman-Alexander Mission in Glasgow with +keen interest, and in the long watches her excited brain continued to +dwell on the meetings. She dreamt, or imagined, that out of gratitude +for what had been accomplished, two young Glasgow engineers had taken a +six months' holiday, and come out with their motor car to Calabar. They +spent their days running up and down the Government Road through +Ibibio, singing and giving evangelistic addresses, she interpreting, +the girls, who were packed into the cars, doing the catering and +cooking, and the Government Rest Houses providing the lodging. "What a +night it was!" she wrote. "The bairns were afraid, for I was babbling +more than usual, but to me it was as real as if it had all happened. We +ran backwards and forwards between Itu and Ikpe, spending alternate +Sundays with the Churches, and taking Miss Peacock to her outstations, +and visiting Miss Welsh, It was magnificent." + +The vision did not pass away; she took it as a sign from God; and out +of it in the morning she formulated a scheme which one day she hoped +would be realised. "It is strange," she said, "that it has never dawned +on us before. Here is the Government making use of the motor car to do +its work. Why should not the Church do the same when the roads are +here? It would permit one man to do the work of three, it would save +strength, and make for efficiency. The reason why I have been able to +go farther than my colleagues, is that I have had the privilege of +using Government conveyances by land and water; to have a car and a +mechanic missionary would be supplying us with a grand opportunity for +multiplied service." She expatiated on the matter in letters to her +friends at home, and the longer she thought of the idea, the more it +fired her imagination. Within a few days she was flying over the ground +in the Government car on her way to Ikpe--with many a "ca' canny" to +the driver--and her experience brought the conviction that the +proposal was a good one. It might be too novel a plan for the Church to +take up officially, but she thought wealthy men in Scotland might +materialise her vision as a thank-offering. + + + + + XV. STORMING THE CITADELS + +The Government road went as far as Odoro Ikpe, where a Rest House, used +as a shelter by officials on the march or on judging tours, and the one +seen by Mr. Macgregor, had been built on the brow of a hill above the +township. It was Saturday when she arrived here, and she climbed the +ascent, taking over an hour to do it, and was captivated by the +situation. It had the widest outlook of any spot she had seen; she +seemed to be on the very roof of the world. A vast extent of bush +stretched out before her, unbroken save by the white road winding down +the hill, and instead of the stifling stillness of the plains, a soft +breeze blew and cooled the atmosphere. It was five miles from Ikpe, and +the centre of a number of populous towns. For months past she had been +praying for an entrance into these closed haunts of heathenism, and as +she sat down in the lonely little Rest House, she made up her mind not +to move a step further until she had come to grips with the chiefs. +Knowing that the Government would not object, she took possession of +the building. It had a doorway but no door; the windows were holes in +the wall high up under the eaves; the floor was of mud, and there was +no furniture of any kind. But these things were of no consequence to +the gipsy-missionary. She slept on a camp-bed borrowed from Miss +Peacock, the girls lay on the mud floor among the lizards, and some +pots and pans were obtained from the people until she could procure her +own from Ikpe. The commissariat department was run on the simplest +scale. A tin of fat, some salt and pepper, tea, and sugar, and roasted +plantain for bread, formed the principal constituents of the frugal +meals. Their clothes were taken off piece by piece as each could be +spared, and washed in a pail from the little prison yard. "Ma's" calico +gown went through the process in the forenoon, was dried on the fence +in the hot sun, and donned in the afternoon, in order, as she +humorously put it, to be ready for "visitors and tea." In her eyes it +was a sort of glorified picnic. She did not pity the girls; she thought +such an experience was better for them as African citizens and +missionaries than a secondary education. + +From this high centre as from a fort, she began to bombard the towns in +the neighbourhood. Next day she summoned some disciples from a place +called Ndot, and service was held in the yard. Then the lads pushed her +chair out to Ibam, two miles distant, where she met the headman and his +followers. These were an arrogant, powerful sept--not Ibibios--who had +been allies of the slavers of Aros, and were disliked and suspected by +all. She told them that she wanted the question of Gospel entrance +settled. They looked at her indulgently. "We have no objection to you +coming, Ma," said the chief. + +"And the saving of twins, and the right of twin-mothers to live as +women and not as unclean beasts in the bush?" she asked. + +"No, no, we will not have it. Our town will spoil." + +After much talk they said, "Go home, Ma, and we shall discuss it and +see you again"--the native way of ending a matter. + +Her next discussion was with the town of Odoro Ikpe itself. The old +chief was urbane, and gave her every honour. Bringing out a plate with +_3_s. upon it, he said, "Take that to buy food while staying here, as +we have no market yet." She took the money, kissed it, put her hands on +his head, and thanked him, calling him "father," but requested him to +take it and buy chop for the children, and she would eat with him +another day. The old man went away and returned with some yams, which +he asked her to cook and eat. As they talked he gradually lost his +fear, and then she asked him bluntly about his attitude to the Gospel. +He and his big men told her frankly what their difficulties were, and +these she demolished one by one. After two hours' fencing and arguing +the tension gave way to a hearty laugh, and the old chief said, with a +sweep of his hand toward the crowd: + +"Well, Ma, there they are, take them and teach them what you like--and +you, young men, go and build a house for book." + +"No!" cried "Ma," "we don't begin or end either with a house. We begin +and end with God in our hearts." + +A young man came forward, and without removing a quaint hat he wore, +said, "Ma, we can't take God's word if you bring twins and twin-mothers +into our town." + +It was out at last. Instead of arguing, "Ma" looked at him as +witheringly as she could and replied; "I speak with men and people +worthy of me, and not with a puny bush-boy such as you have shown by +your manners you are." + +Off came the hat, and then "Ma" spoke to him in such a way that the +crowd were fain to cry: + +"Ma, forgive! forgive! he does not know any better." + +There was no more after that about twins, and when she left she felt +that progress had been made. + +Striking while the iron was hot she sent to Ikpe for school books, and +going into the highways and byways, she began to coax the lads to come +and learn. They stood aloof, half-afraid and half-scornful, and would +not respond. Then she adopted a flank movement, and began to speak to +them about the rubber and cocoa which the Government were planting in +the district, and tried to awaken their interest and ambitions by +telling them how the world was moving outside their home circle. +Gradually the sullenness gave way, and they began to ask questions and +to chat. She took the alphabet card, but they shied at the strange- +looking thing, and would not speak. One little fellow who had been at +Ikpe, and knew more than the others, began tremblingly, "A--B--," and +she and Alice who was with her, joined in until one after another +surrendered, and before long all were shouting the letters. By the end +of the week the lads were coming every spare hour for lessons, and +would scarcely give her time to eat. + +The Ikpe disciples had ruefully watched this development, and at last +went to her: + +"Ma, we are glad you have got a footing out here, but are you forsaking +us?" + +Her heart ached at the words, and although now reduced to coming and +going in her Cape cart, she determined to give them every alternate +week when she was not at Use. Thus from now onwards she was keeping +three centres going by her own efforts. + +After a week at Ikpe in fulfilment of her promise, she returned to +Odoro Ikpe to hold the first Sabbath service. A play was being enacted +in the town, and scores of naked young men and women were dancing to +the compelling throb of the drum. But some Ikpe and Ndot lads came to +support the service, and their presence helped the local sympathisers +to come forward. It was very simple; she said it would have seemed +babyish to Europeans, but it was an epoch to the natives. Another +meeting was held in the afternoon; and at night in the dark square, lit +only by the light of the fires where the women were cooking their meal, +she stood, and again proclaimed, with passionate earnestness, the love +of God and the power of Christ to save and uplift. It was, no doubt, a +day of small things, but she knew from long experience that small +things were not to be despised. + +A month later, when she was at Ikpe holding the services, she was +astonished to see thirty of the Odoro Ikpe lads marching into church. +They had grown so interested, that they had come the five miles to hear +her speak. The Ikpe people at once rose and gave the strangers their +seats, finding a place for themselves on the floor. It was pathetic to +see their earnest faces and their ignorance as to what they should do +during the service, which was more elaborate than they had been +accustomed to. Having brought some food they cooked it at the house and +remained all day. + +On her return to Odoro Ikpe the chiefs appeared one morning, and asked +her to come out at once and survey the land, and choose a site for a +station. Her heart leapt at the significance of the request. She +happened to be in her night attire, but as it might have been full +Court dress for all they knew, she went and tramped over the land and +chose what she believed would be the best situation in the Mission. It +was on the brow of a hill overlooking a magnificent stretch of country, +across which a cool breeze blew all the time. She immediately planned a +house--one of six rooms--three living rooms above and stores and hall +and girls' rooms below, with a roof of corrugated iron for security +against wind and insects, and prepared to go down to Use to buy the +material. + +There was one town still holding out, Ibam (where she had been told to +"go home and they would think about it"), and she prayed that it, too, +might accept the new conditions. On the Sunday before she left for Use, +while she was conducting service, six strange men came in and waited +until all had gone. "We are from Ibam," they said. "Come at once, Ma, +and we will build a place to worship God, and will hear and obey." She +was so uplifted that she seemed to live on air for the next few days. +The villagers of Ibam gave up their best yard to her, and, crowds came +to the meetings. + +All the citadels of heathenism in the district had now been stormed. +Sitting one night on the floor of the Rest House, her aching back +leaning against the mud wall, a candle, stuck in its own grease, giving +her light, she wrote to her friends in Scotland, telling them that she +was the happiest and most grateful woman in the world. + + + + + XVI. CLARION CALLS + +The discovery of coal up in the interior at Udi brought a new interest +into her life, for her far-seeing mind at once realised all the +possibilities it contained. She believed it would revolutionise the +conditions of West Africa. And when a railway was projected and begun +from Port Harcourt, west of Calabar, to Udi, and there was talk of an +extension to Itu, she sought to make her friends at home grasp the full +significance of the development. That railway would become the highway +to the interior, and Calabar would cease to be so important a port. +Great stretches of rich oil-palm country would be opened up and +exploited. She urged the need for more men and women to work amongst +the rank heathenism that would soon collect and fester in the new +industrial and commercial centres. Up there also was the menace of +Mohammedanism. "Shall the Cross or the Crescent be first?" she cried. +"We need men and women, oh, we need them!" + +She had been saddened by the closing of stations for furloughs, and the +apathy of the Church at home. + +We are lower in numbers in Calabar than ever--fewer, if you except the +artisans in the Institute, than in the old days before the doors were +opened! Surely there is something very far wrong with our Church, the +largest in Scotland. Where are the men? Are there no heroes in the +making among us? No hearts beating high with the enthusiasm of the +Gospel? Men smile nowadays at the old-fashioned idea of sin and hell +and broken law and a perishing world, but these made men, men of +purpose, of power and achievement, and self-denying devotion to the +highest ideals earth has known. We have really no workers to meet all +this opened country, and our Church, to be honest, should stand back +and give it to some one else. But oh! I cannot think of that. Not that, +Lord! For how could we meet the Goldies, the Edgerleys, the Waddells, +the Andersons? How can our Church look at Christ who has given us the +privilege of making Calabar history, and say to Him, "Take it back. +Give It to another?" + +She had been deeply interested In the great World's Missionary +Conference in Edinburgh in 1910, and had contrasted it with State +diplomacy and dreadnoughts, but was disappointed that so little +practical result had followed. "After all," she said, "it is not +committees and organisations from without that is to bring the revival, +and to send the Gospel to the heathen at home and abroad, but the +living spirit of God working from within the heart." + +All this made her more than ever convinced of the value of her own +policy. She believed in the roughest methods for a raw country like +Nigeria. Too much civilisation and concentration was bad, both for the +work and the natives. There should be, she thought, an office of +itinerating or travelling missionary permanently attached to the +Mission. It would have its drawbacks, as, she recognised, all pioneer +work had, but it would also pay well. She was not sure whether the +missionaries did right in remaining closely to their stations, and +believed that short regular expeditions into the interior would not +only keep them in better health, but give them a closer knowledge of +the people. Not much teaching could be given in this way, but their +confidence would be won, and the way would be prepared for further +advance. Her hope lay in women workers; they made better pioneers than +men, and as they were under no suspicion of being connected with the +Government, their presence was unobjectionable to the natives. They +could move into new spheres and do the spade-work; enter the homes, win +a hearing, guide the people in quiet ways, and live a simple and +natural life amongst them. When confidence had been secured, men +missionaries could enter and train and develop, and build up +congregations in the ordinary manner. + +Even then she did not see why elaborate churches should be erected. She +was always so afraid to put anything forward save Christ, that she was +quite satisfied with her little "mud kirks." The raw heathen knew +nothing of the Church as white people understood it. To give them a +costly building was to give them a foreign thing in which they would +worship a foreign God. To let them worship in an environment of their +own setting meant, she believed, a more real apprehension of spiritual +truth. The money they were trained to give, she would spend, not on +buildings so much as on pioneer work among the tribes. + +So, too, with the Mission houses. She thought these should be as simple +as possible, and semi-native in style; such, she believed, to be the +driest and most healthy. In any case disease could come into a house +costing £200, as into one costing £20, and "there was such a thing as +God's providence." Still, she recognised the importance of preserving +the health of newcomers, and admitted that her ideas might not apply to +them. "It would be wrong," she said, "to insist on mud-huts for a +nervous or æsthetic person." + +It was much the same feeling that ran through her objection to the +natives suddenly transforming themselves into Europeans. Her views in +this respect differed a good deal from those of her co-workers. One +Sunday, after a special service, a number of women who had arrayed +themselves in cheap European finery, boots and stockings and all, +called upon her. She sat on a chair, her back to them, and merely threw +them an occasional word with an angry jerk of her head. They were very +upset, and at last one of them ventured to ask what was the matter. +"Matter!" she exclaimed, and then spoke to them in a way which brought +them all back in the afternoon clothed more appropriately. + +On all these questions she thought simply and naturally, and not in +terms of scientific theory and over-elaborated system. She believed +that the world was burdened and paralysed by conventional methods. But +she did not undervalue the æsthetic side of existence. "So many think +that we missionaries live a sort of glorified glamour of a life, and +have no right to think of any of the little refinements and elegancies +which rest and sooth tired and overstrained nerves--certainly +coarseness and ugliness do not help the Christian life, and ugly things +are not as a rule cheaper than beautiful ones." Her conviction was that +a woman worth her salt could make any kind of house beautiful. At the +same time she believed--and proved it in her own life--that the spirit- +filled woman was to a great extent independent of all accessories. + +What always vexed her was to think of thousands of girls at home living +a purposeless life, spending their time in fashionable wintering- +places, and undergoing the strenuous toil of conventional amusement. +"Why," she asked, "could they not come out here and stay a month or six +months doing light work, helping with the children, cheering the staff? +What a wealth of interest it would introduce into their lives!" She +declared it would be better than stoning windows, for she had no +patience with the policy of the women who sought in blind destruction +the solution of political and social evils. "I'm for votes for women, +but I would prove my right to it by keeping law and helping others to +keep it. God-like motherhood is the finest sphere for women, and the +way to the redemption of the world." + +Many a clarion call she sent to her sisters across the waters: + +"Don't grow up a nervous old maid! Gird yourself for the battle outside +somewhere, and keep your heart young. Give up your whole being to +create music everywhere, in the light places and in the dark places, +and your life will make melody. I'm a witness to the perfect joy and +satisfaction of a single life--with a tail of human tag-rag hanging on. +It is rare! It is as exhilarating as an aeroplane or a dirigible or +whatever they are that are always trying to get up and are always +coming down!... Mine has been such a joyous service," she wrote again. +"God has been good to me, letting me serve Him in this humble way. I +cannot thank Him enough for the honour He conferred upon me when He +sent me to the Dark Continent." + +Over and over again she put this idea of foreign service before her +friends at home. Some were afraid of a rush of cranks who would not +obey rules and so forth. She laughed the idea to scorn. "I wish I could +believe in a crush--but there are sensible men and women enough in the +Church who would be as law-abiding here as at home." + + + + + XVII. LOVE-LETTEBS + +During the course of her career Miss Slessor wrote numberless letters, +many of them productions of six, ten, twelve, and fourteen pages, +closely penned in spidery writing, which she called her "hieroglyphic +style." She had the gift, which more women than men possess, of +expressing her ideas on paper in as affluent and graceful a way as in +conversation. Her letters indeed were long monologues, the spontaneous +outpouring of an active and clever mind. She sat down and talked +vivaciously of everything about her, not of public affairs, because she +knew people at home would not understand about these, but of her +children, the natives, her journeys, her ailments, the services, the +palavers, all as simply and naturally and as fully as if she were +addressing an interested listener. But it was essential that her +correspondent should be in sympathy with her. She could never write a +formal letter; she could not even compose a business letter in the +ordinary way. Neither could she write to order, nor give an official +report of her work. The prospect of appearing in print paralysed her. +It was always the heart and not the mind of her correspondent that she +addressed. What appeared from time to time in the _Record_ and in the +_Women's Missionary Magazine_, were mainly extracts from private +letters, and they derived all their charm and colour from the fact that +they were meant for friends who loved and understood her. In the same +way she would be chilled by receiving a coldly expressed letter. "I +wish you hadn't said _Dear Madam_," she told a lady at home. "I'm just +an insignificant, wee, auld wifey that you would never address in that +way if you knew me. I'll put the _Madam_ aside, and drag up my chair +close to you and the girls you write for, and we'll have a chat by the +fireside." + +She could not help writing; it was the main outlet for her loving +nature, so much repressed in the loneliness of the bush. Had she not +possessed so big and so ardent a heart, she would have written less. +Into her letters she poured all the wealth of her affection; they were +in the real sense love-letters; and her magic gift of sympathy made +them always prized by the recipients. She had no home people of her +own, and she pressed her nearest friends to make her "one of the +family." "If," she would say, "you would let me share in any +disappointments or troubles, I would feel more worthy of your love--I +will tell you some of mine as a counter-irritant!" Many followed her +behest with good result. "I'm cross this morning," wrote a young +missionary at the beginning of a long letter, "and I know it is all my +own fault, but I am sure that writing to you will put me in a better +temper. When things go wrong, there is nothing like a talk with you.... +Now I must stop, the letter has worked the cure." Her letters of +counsel to her colleagues when they were in difficulties with their +work were helpful and inspiring to the highest degree. On occasions of +trial or sorrow she always knew the right word to say. How delicately, +for instance, would she try to take the edge off the grief of bereaved +friends by describing the arrival of the spirit in heaven, and the glad +welcome that would be got there from those who had gone before. "Heaven +is just a meeting and a homing of our real selves. God will never make +us into new personalities. Everlasting life--take that word _life_ and +turn it over and over and press it and try to measure it, and see what +it will yield. It is a magnificent idea which comprises everything that +heart can yearn after." On another occasion she wrote, "I do not like +that petition in the Prayer Book, _From sudden death, good Lord deliver +us_. I never could pray it. It is surely far better to see Him at once +without pain of parting or physical debility. Why should we not be like +the apostle in his confident outburst of praise and assurance, 'For I +am persuaded...'?" Again: "Don't talk about the cold hand of death--it +is the hand of Christ." + +It was not surprising that her correspondence became greater at last +than she could manage. The pile of unanswered communications was like a +millstone round her neck, and in these latter days she began to violate +an old rule and snatch time from the hours of night. Headings such as +"10 P.M.," "Midnight," "8.45 A.M.," became frequent, yet she would give +love's full measure to every correspondent, and there was seldom sign +of undue strain. "If my pen is in a hurry," she would say, "my heart is +not." When she was ill and unable to write, she would simply lie in bed +and speak to her Father about it all. + +There was a number of friends to whom she wrote regularly, and whose +relations to her may be judged from the manner in which they began +their letters. "My lady of Grace," "My beloved missionary," "Dearest +sister," were some of the phrases used. But her nature demanded at +least one confidante to whom she could lay bare her inmost thoughts. +She needed a safety-valve, a city of refuge, a heart and mind with whom +there would be no reservations, and Providence provided her with a kind +of confessor from whom she obtained all the understanding and sympathy +and love she craved for. This was Miss Adam, who, while occasionally +differing from her in minor matters of policy, never, during the +fifteen years of their friendship, once failed her. What she was to the +lonely missionary no one can know. Mary said she knew without being +told what was in her heart, and "how sweet," she added, "it is to be +understood and have love reading between the lines." Month by month she +sent to Bowden the intimate story of her doings, her troubles, hopes, +and fears, and joys, and received in return wise and tender counsel and +encouragement and practical help. She kept the letters under her pillow +and read and reread them. + +Never self-centred or self-sufficient, she depended upon the letters +that came from home to a greater extent than many of her friends +suspected. She needed the inflow of love into her own life, and she +valued the letters that brought her cheer and stimulus and inspiration. +Once she was travelling on foot, and had four miles of hill-road to go, +and was feeling very weary and depressed at the magnitude of the work +and her own weakness, when a letter was handed to her. It was the only +one by that mail, but it was enough. She sat down, and in the quiet of +the bush she opened it, and as she read all the tiredness fled, the +heat was forgotten, the road was easy, and she went blithely up the +hill. + +Outside the circle of her friends many people wrote to her from +Scotland, and some from England, Canada, and America. Boys and girls +whom she had never seen sent her letters telling her of their cats and +dogs, of football, and lessons and school. With her replies sometimes +went a snake skin, a brass tray, a miniature paddle, or other curio. +But it was the letter, rather than the gift, that was enjoyed. As one +girl wrote; "You are away out helping the poor black kiddies and +people, and just as busy doing good as possible, and yet you've time to +send a letter home to a little Scottish girl, a letter fragrant with +everything lovely and good, that makes one try harder than ever to do +right, and that fills one's heart with beautiful helpful thoughts." + +To her own bairns, wherever they were, she wrote letters full of +household news and gentle advice. To Dan at the Institute she wrote +regularly--very pleased she was when she heard he had been at lectures +on bacteria and understood them!--and when Alice and Maggie were +inmates of the Edgerley Memorial School she kept in the closest touch +with them. Here is a specimen of her letters, written chiefly in Efik, +and addressed apparently to Alice: + +MY PRECIOUS CHILDREN--I am thinking a lot about you, for you will soon +be losing our dear Miss Young; and while I am sorry for myself I am +sorrier for you and Calabar. How are you all? and have you been good? +and are you all trying to serve and please Jesus your Lord? Whitie has +gone to sleep. She has been making sand and yöñö-ing my bedroom, the +bit that you did not finish. Janie has yöñö-d the high bits, so Whitie +is very tired. Janie has gone to stay all night with the twin-mother +and her baby in the town where Effiom used to live long ago. One baby +was dead, but she is keeping the other, and the chief says, "Ma, you +are our mother, but what you have done will be the death of us." But I +tell them just to die. + +The mother almost died. One child was born dead, and Janie and I stayed +all night there. Mary is at Ikot Ekpene. We saw her as we passed in the +motor. The whole town came to-day and put splendid beams in the +verandah both in front and behind, swept all behind, and put on a +corrugated iron roof, did the porch and various other things, and the +safe. + +Good-bye. Are you well? We are well, through God's goodness. Are you +coming soon for holidays? My heart is hungry to see you and to touch +your hands. Greetings to Ma Fuller. Greet Ma Wilkie and Mr. Wilkie for +me. Greet each other. All we greet you. With much love to Maggie, Dan, +Asuquö,--I am, in all my prayers, your mother, + M. Slessor. + + +The girls and Dan also wrote regularly to her in Efik--such letters as +this: + +I am pleased to send this little letter to you. Are you well? I am +fairly well through the goodness of God. Why have you delayed to send +us a letter? Perhaps you are too busy to write, but we are coming home +in a fortnight. If you hear we are on the way come quickly out when you +hear the voices of the people from the beach, because you know it will +be us. Greet Whitie, Janie, Annie and all, and accept greeting from +your loving child + MAGGIE. + + +After her death there was found at Use a bundle of papers, evidently +much treasured, labelled "My children's letters." + + + + + XVIII. A LONELY FIGURE + +She returned to Use, but only remained long enough to arrange for the +material for the house at Odoro Ikpe. Of the special difficulties that +would beset her on this occasion, she was quite aware. The timber +supply on the ground was scarce, transport would be expensive, there +was no local skilled labour, and she was unable to work with her own +hands, while it was not easy to procure carriers and other work-people, +since the Government, with the consent of the chiefs, were taking +batches of men from each village for the coalfields and railway, a +measure she approved, as it prevented the worst elements in the +community drifting there. But nothing ever discouraged her, and she +returned at the end of April and embarked once more, and for the last +time, on building operations. + +Friends kept tempting her to come to Scotland. Her friend Miss Young +was now Mrs. Arnot, wife of the Rev. David Arnot, M.A., Blairgowrie, +and from her came a pressing invitation to make her home at the manse. +"I will meet you at Liverpool," Mrs. Arnot wrote, "and bring you +straight here, where you will rest and be nursed back to health again." +It was proposed that Alice should come with her, and be left at +Blairgowrie while Mary visited her friends. She was delighted, and +wrote gaily that when she did come she "would not be a week-end visitor +or a tea visitor, but a barnacle. It is, however, all too alluring. One +only thing can overtop it, and that is duty as put into my hands by my +King." Then she paints a picture of the piles of timber and corrugated +iron about her for the building of a house, "for the happy and +privileged man or woman who shall take up the work of salvage," and of +Ikpe waiting patiently, and the towns surrendering on all sides, and +adds, "Put yourself in my place, and with an accession of strength +given since I camped up here, how could you do other than I have done? +I verily thought to be with the Macgregors, but this came and the +strength has come with it, and there must be no more moving till the +house is up, when I hope and pray some one will come to it. What a +glorious privilege it all is! I can't think why God has so highly +honoured and trusted me." + +She entered on a period of toil and tribulation which proved to be one +of the most trying and exacting in her life. The house itself was a +simple matter. Large posts were inserted in the ground, and split +bamboos were placed between; cross pieces were tied on with strips of +the oil-palm tree, and then clay was prepared and pounded in. But fifty +men and lads were employed, and she had never handled so lazy, so +greedy, so inefficient a gang. Compelled to supervise them constantly, +she often had to sit in the fierce sunshine for eight hours at a time; +then with face unwashed and morning wrapper still on she would go and +conduct school. If she went to Ikpe for a day, all the work done +required to be gone over again. Sometimes she lost all patience, and +resorted to a little "muscular Christianity," which caused huge +amusement, but always had the desired effect. But she was very +philosophical over it. "It is all part of the heathen character, and, +as Mrs. Anderson used to say, 'Well, Daddy, if they were Christians +there would have been no need for you and me here.'" Jean often became +very wroth, and demanded of the people if "Ma" was not to obtain time +to eat, and if they wanted to kill her? + +Annie and her husband had been placed at Nkanga, and Jean now managed +the household affairs. The faithful girl had her own difficulties in +the way of catering, for on account of the isolation money frequently +ran done, and she could not obtain the commonest necessities to feed +her "Ma." An empty purse always worried Mary, but it was a special +trial to her independent and sensitive spirit at this period, for she +was in debt to the skilled carpenter who had been engaged, and to the +labourers, and was compelled to undergo the humiliation of borrowing. +On one occasion she obtained a loan of 5s. from one of her rare +visitors, a Government doctor, a Scot and a Presbyterian, who was +investigating tropical diseases, and who, finding her in the Rest +House, had contentedly settled down with his microscopes in the Court +House shed. After working all day in the bush he spent many evenings +with her, and she was much impressed by his upright character, and his +kindness and courtesy to the natives, and said matters would be very +different in Africa if all civil and military men were of the same +stamp. The only other two visitors she had at this time were Mr. Bowes, +the printer at Duke Town, and Mr. Hart, the accountant, the latter +bringing her all the money she needed. + +By the end of July the house was roughly built, and she was able to +mount up to the top rooms by means of a "hen" ladder, and there on the +loose, unsteady boards she sat tending her last motherless baby, and +feeling uplifted into a new and restful atmosphere. A pathetic picture +she made, sitting gazing over the wide African plain. She had never +been more isolated, never felt more alone. + + So lonely 'twas, that God Himself + Scarce seemed there to be. + +She was without assistance, her body was broken and pitifully weak, and +yet with dauntless spirit and quenchless faith she looked hopefully to +the future, when those infant stations about her would be occupied by +consecrated men and women. + + + + + XIX. When the Great War Came + +Into the African bush, the home of many things that white men cannot +understand, there was stealing a troubled sense of mystery. The air was +electric with expectation and alarm. Impalpable influences seemed +fighting the feeble old woman on the lonely hill-top. She was worried +by transport difficulties. What the causes were she did not know, but +the material did not come, and as she was paying the carpenter a high +wage she was compelled to dismiss him. What work there was to do she +attempted to accomplish with her own thin, worn hands. + +In the early days of August the natives began to whisper to each other +strange stories about fighting going on in the big white world beyond +the seas. News came from Calabar that the European firms had ceased to +buy produce: canoes which went down river for rice and kerosene, +returned again with their cargoes of nuts and oil. She wondered what +was happening. Then excited natives came to her in a panic, with tales +of a mad Europe and of Britain fighting Germany. She pooh-poohed the +rumours and outwardly appeared calm and unafraid in order to reassure +them, but the silence and the suspense were unbearable. On the 13th she +received letters and heard of the outbreak of the war. All the +possibilities involved in that tremendous event came crowding upon her +mind, the immense suffering and sorrow, and, not least to her, the +peril to Calabar. Nigeria was conterminous with the Cameroons, and she +knew the Germans well enough to anticipate trouble. The cost of +articles, too, she realised, would go up, and as she had little food in +the house she at once sent to the market for supplies. Already prices +were doubled. Her kerosene oil gave out, and she had to resort to +lighted firewood to read at prayers. + +She went on bravely with the routine duties of the station--Dan, who +was now with her, helping in the school--but she longed impatiently +for news, "Oh, for a telegram," she would cry, "even a boy bawling in +the street!" The officer at Ikot Ekpene, knowing her anxiety, sent over +the latest intelligence, but she half suspected that he kept back the +worst. The worst came in her first war mail which arrived when she was +sitting superintending operations at the house. She read why Britain +had entered the conflict and exclaimed, "Thank God! our nation is not +the aggressor." Then came the story of the invasion of Belgium and the +reverses of the Allies. Shocked and sad she essayed to rise, but was +unable to move. The girls ran to her aid and lifted her up, but she +could not stand. Exerting her will-power and praying for strength she +directed the girls to carry her over to the Rest House and put her to +bed. Ague came on, and in half an hour she was in a raging fever which +lasted, with scarcely an interval, for a fortnight. She struggled on +amidst increasing difficulties and worries, the horrors of the war with +her night and day. Her old enemy, diarrhoea, returned, and she steadily +weakened and seemed entering the valley of the shadow. She did not fear +death, but the thought of passing away alone in the bush troubled her, +for her skull might be seized and be worshipped as a powerful juju by +the people. + +At last she lay in a stupor as if beyond help. It was a scene which +suggested the final act in Dr. Livingstone's life. The girls were +crying. The church lads stood alarmed and awed. Then they raised her in +her camp-bed and marched with her the five miles to Ikpe. Next morning +they lifted the bed into a canoe and placed her under a tarpaulin and +paddled her down the Creek. They landed at Okopedi beach, where she lay +in the roadway in the moonlight, scarcely breathing. The agent of a +trading-house brought restoratives and sent for Dr. Wood, then at Itu, +who accompanied her to Use and waited the night as he feared she would +not recover. All through the hours her mind was occupied with the war +and the soldiers in the trenches. + +Next day she was a little better, but would not hear of going to Itu to +be cared for there. To her Use was home where the children could +minister to her, but realising her lack of strength she sent a message +to Miss Peacock asking her to come over. Miss Peacock said to her +fellow-worker, "Ma must be very ill before she would send for any one," +and she cycled to Use at once. Mary confided to her that it might be +the end, and "Oh," she exclaimed, "if only the war were over and my +children safe in the Kingdom, how gladly would I go!" She called the +bairns to her and told them what to do in the event of her death. Like +all natives in the presence of serious illness they were greatly upset +and wept bitterly, but as the disorder passed they began to think that +she would get better, and went about their duties, Jean to her +marketing, and Alice to the care of the house, with Whitie to help, +while Maggie looked after the baby. + +The shadow of the war continued to darken her heart. She agonised for +the cause which her native land had taken up, and many a cry went up to +God on its behalf in the hour of trial. Miss Peacock remained several +nights, and returned to Ikotobong with a strong presentiment that "Ma" +was not to be long with them, and she and Miss Couper arranged to keep +in touch with her as closely as possible. + +As she plodded on towards strength and as better news arrived about the +war situation she began to be more like herself and take up her old +duties. For a time she lay in the verandah on a deck chair; and then +went to the church, conducted the Sunday services, but was obliged to +sit all the time and lean her body against the communion-table. Yet in +the midst of her weakness and suffering she had always a bright laugh +and a word of encouragement for others. Reluctantly she came to the +conclusion that nothing would heal her but a voyage home and as she was +longing for a few more hours--it was not years now--of work she made up +her mind to face it, and to include in her furlough a visit to the +graves of her mother and sister at Exeter. The difficulty of the east +wind in Scotland was overcome by a proposal from Mrs. Arnot, who in the +mystery of things, had suddenly been bereft of her husband, that she +would take a small house where they could live together in quiet. "I +shall meet you," that lady wrote, "and make a home for you and care for +you if God puts it into your heart to come." The wonderful kindness of +the offer brought tears to her eyes and she consented with a great +content. Her plan was to return to Odoro Ikpe, complete the house, and +leave for Scotland early in the spring; and she asked Miss Adam to send +her a hat and boots and other articles which civilisation demanded. Her +only regret was at leaving her people and specially those at Ikpe. "It +is ten years since I first took them on, and they have never got a +teacher yet. It is bitterly hard!" Miss Peacock and Miss Couper +noticed, however, that the old recuperative power which had always +surprised them was gone, and one day she said that she had been +overhauling her desk and tearing up letters in case anything should +happen. + +The tragedy of the war came home personally to her. Two of her official +friends, Commander G. Gray and Lieutenant H. A. Child, C.M.G., were +serving in the Navy and were both drowned by the capsizing of a whaler +when crossing the bar at the entrance to the Nyong River. "They were my +oldest and most intimate friends here, capable, sane Empire-builders," +and she sorrowed for them with a great sorrow. Sometimes her old +fighting spirit was roused by the news of the deeds of the enemy. "Oh +if I were thirty years younger, and if I were a man! ... We must not +have peace until Germany licks the dust and is undeceived and stricken +once for all." Her comments brought out the fact that she had followed +European events very closely during the past thirty years, whilst her +letters to her faint-hearted friends in Scotland showed her usual +insight: + +God does not mean you and me to carry the burden, and German soldiers +are flesh and blood and must give out by-and-by, and they cannot create +new armies, and with long-drawn out lines of battle on East and West +they can't send an army that could invade Britain. They could harass, +that's all, and our women are not Belgians; they would fight even +German soldiers. Yes! they would stand up to William the Execrated. +Moreover, Zeppelins can do a lot of hurt, but they can't take London; +and Ostend and Antwerp are no nearer Britain for any kind of air attack +than Berlin is, and above all our perspective is doubtless better than +yours--any one can see that to try and take towns and to fight in +streets filled with civilians has not a pennyworth of military value. +It is a sheer waste of energy and life which should have been utilised +on the armies and strongholds of a country. Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp, +even Paris, had they got it, would be a mere blare of trumpets, a flash +in the pan, a spectacular show, and if they took Edinburgh or London or +Aberdeen, it would be the same, they would still have to reckon with a +nation or nations. It has all been a mistake for their own downfall, +and they will clear out of Belgium poorer than they entered it. Haven't +the East Indians done nobly? Bravo our Allies! + +She had now fallen into calmer mood. "Miss Slessor," she would say +severely to herself, "why do you worry? Is God not fit to take care of +His own universe and purpose? We are not guilty of any aggression or +lust of conquest, and we can trust Him to bring us through. He is not +to be turned aside from the working out of His purpose by any War +Lord." She always fell back on the thought, "The Lord reigneth" as on a +soft pillow and rested there. Writing one morning at 6 o'clock she +described the beauty of the dawn and the earth refreshed and cooled and +the hope and the mystery of a new day opening out, and contrasted it +with the darkness and cold and fog experienced by the army and navy. +"God is always in the world," she said; "the sunshine will break out +and light will triumph." And she did not ignore the deeper issues, "May +our nation be sent from its pleasures to its knees, and the Church be +awed and brought back to Him." + +On Christmas Day a service was held at which she intimated the opening +of the subscription list for the Prince of Wales' Fund. She did not +like to speak of war among Christian nations to natives; but it was +current history, and she made the best explanation she could, though +she was glad to turn their thoughts to the day of National Intercession +on the following Sabbath. Dan acted as interpreter in the evening to +Mr. Hart, who gave an address. + +To a friend she wrote: + +There will be few merry Christmasses in Europe this year. But, thank +God, there will be a more profound sense of all Christ came to be and +do for mankind, and a closer union and communion between Him and His +people, through the sadness and insufficiency of earthly good. He will +Himself draw near, and will fill empty chairs in lonely homes and +hearts, and make His people--aye--and thousands who have not sought Him +in prosperity--to know that here and now He is the Resurrection and the +Life, that he that believeth in Him shall never die. + +On New Year's Day Miss Peacock and Miss Couper went to spend the +afternoon with her, and the former writes: + +According to old-time customs I had made her her favourite plum-pudding +and sent it over with a message that we meant to come to tea on New +Year's Day. On our arrival the tea-table was set, and the plum-pudding +with a rose out of the garden stuck on the top was on the table. Miss +Slessor was as happy as a girl, and said she had to exercise self- +control to keep from tasting the pudding before we arrived. And we had +a merry meal. Then, when we left, she had to escort us to the end of +the road. A new tenderness seemed to have come into her life, and with +regard to those with whom she differed, she seemed to go out of her way +to say the kindest things possible. She spoke to me of something she +had written which she had torn up and said, "I wonder I could have been +so hard." It was not difficult to see the last touches of the Master's +hand to the life He had been moulding for so many years. + + + + + XX. THE TIME OF THE SINGING OF BIRDS + +At the turn of the year her thoughts were again with her mother who had +passed away then, twenty-nine years before. She was feeling very weak, +but read and wrote as usual. Her last letter to Miss Adam told, amongst +other things, of the previous day's service and how Annie's little girl +would run about the church and point to her and call to her--"I can't +say 'Don't bring her' for there should be room enough for the babies in +our Father's house." Her closing words to her old friend were, "God be +with you till we meet again." Even in her feeble state she was always +thinking of others. David had taken his wife to Lagos, and her vivid +imagination conjured up all the dangers of the voyage, and she was +anxious for their safety. In the same letter in which she speaks of +them, written on the 5th, she pours out sympathy and comfort to a lady +friend in Edinburgh whose two sons had joined the Forces. + +My heart bleeds for you, my dear, dear friend, but God's love gave the +mother heart its love and its yearning over its treasures, so He will +know how to honour and care for the mother, and how to comfort her and +keep her treasures for her. Just keep hold on Him, dear one, and put +your boys into His hand, as you did when they were babies. He is able +to keep them safe in the most difficult and dangerous situations. I am +constantly praying with you, and with others of my friends, who, just +as you, are giving up their dearest and most precious at the call of +Duty. God can enrich them and you and all the anxious and exposed ones +even through the terrible fires. In God's governance not one precious +thing can ever be lost. + +On Friday the 8th she sat on a deck-chair in the little garden outside +the door enjoying the sunshine, for the harmattan wind was cold, and +writing some letters. The last she penned was to Mrs. Arnot, in which +she said she was better though "a wee shade weaker than usual." It was +never finished, and was found, later, on her pad. The final words were: +"I can't say definitely whether I shall yet come in March--if I be +spared till then ..." + +In the afternoon there was a recurrence of fever. Alice tended her +unceasingly, seldom leaving her bedside, and stretching herself, when +in need of rest, on a mat beside the bed. She was a great comfort to +Mary. On Sunday spirit again dominated body; she struggled up, went +over to the church, and conducted service. Next day she was suffering +acutely from diarrhoea and vomiting, and one of the girls went to +Ikotobong and summoned Miss Peacock, who immediately cycled over. + +"I got a messenger," says Miss Peacock, "and sent him to Itu stating +the symptoms, and asking Dr. Robertson to come and see her. All the +afternoon the vomiting and diarrhoea continued until Dr. Robertson +arrived. He had secured some ice at one of the factories, and gave her +some medicine, and both the diarrhoea and vomiting were stopped. All +the afternoon there had been a great restlessness and weariness, and +unless to ask for something she seldom spoke. Her mails were brought +into the room by one of the girls, but she took no notice of them. She +was moved from her bed on to her chair, and back again several times, +but did not seem to be able to rest anywhere; then she would give a +great cry of weariness as if she were wearied unto death. + +"As the evening wore on she became quieter, but had a great thirst, and +begged that a little bit of the ice might be put into her mouth. She +had a very quiet night, without any recurrence of the former symptoms, +and I thought she was somewhat better, until the morning revealed how +exhausted she was. The old restlessness began again, and I got a lad +from the school to take a message over to Itu to Dr. Robertson. My +report was that Miss Slessor had had a quiet night, but was suffering +from extreme exhaustion. The doctor sent over some medicine with +instructions, and she seemed again to be able to lie quietly. Once when +I was attending to her she said, 'Ma, it's no use,' and again she +prayed, 'O _Abasi, sana mi yok_' ('O God release me'). As I fed her +with milk or chicken soup, she would sometimes sign to me, or just say +'Ma.' A lonely feeling came into my heart, and as I had to send a +message to Ikotobong, I asked Miss Couper to cycle over in the +afternoon. She stayed all the afternoon, and when she left Miss Slessor +was still quiet, and her pulse was fairly good. This was the 12th. + +"The girls--Janie, Annie, Maggie, Alice, and Whitie--were all with me, +and we made our arrangements for the night-watch. It was not a grand +room with costly furnishings; the walls were of reddish-brown mud, very +roughly built; the floor was of cement, with a rug here and there, and +the roof corrugated iron. Besides the bed, washhand-stand, and a chair +or two, there was a chest of drawers which had belonged to her mother, +and in which was found all that was needed for the last service. Her +greatness was never in her surroundings, for she paid little attention +to these, but in the hidden life which we caught glimpses of now and +then when she forgot herself and revealed what was in her mind with +regard to the things that count. + +"As the hours wore on, several times she signed to us to turn her, and +we noticed that her breathing was becoming more difficult. It was a +very dark night, and the natives were sound asleep in their houses, but +I sent off two of the girls to rouse two men to go to Itu; and we +waited anxiously the coming of the doctor. A strange uneasiness seemed +to come upon us. All the girls were round the bedside, and now and then +one or two would begin to weep. The clock had been forgotten, and we +did not know the time. A cock crew, and one of the girls said, 'Day +must be dawning,' but when I drew aside the curtain there was nothing +but pitch darkness. It was not nearly daybreak, and we felt that the +death-angel was drawing very near. Several times a change passed over +the dear face, and the girls burst out into wild weeping; they knew +only too well the sign of the dread visitor. They wished to rush away, +but I told them they must stay, and together we watched until at 3.30 +God took her to Himself. There was no great struggle at the end; just a +gradual diminishing of the forces of nature, and Ma Akamba, 'The Great +Mother,' entered into the presence of the King." + +And so the long life of toil was over. "The time of the singing of +birds," she used to say, "is where Christ is." For her, now, the winter +was past, the rain was over and gone, the time of the singing of birds +had come.... + +When the girls realised that she was gone, they gave way to their +grief, and lamented their position in the world. "My mother is dead--my +mother is dead--we shall be counted as slaves now that our mother is +dead." The sound of the weeping reached the town and roused the +inhabitants from their slumbers. Men and women came to the house and +mingled their tears with those of the household. They sat about on the +steps, went into the bedroom and gazed sorrowfully on the white still +face of her whom they regarded as a mother and friend. As the news was +passed on, people came from Itu and the district round, to see in death +her who had been _Eka kpukpru owo_, "Everybody's Mother." + +As soon as Mr. Wilkie received the telegram announcing the end, he +obtained a launch and sent it up with the Rev. W. M. Christie, B.A., +who, Mr. Macgregor being at home, was in charge of the Institute. While +it was on the way an English and an Efik service were being held at +Itu. The launch arrived at 5.30 P.M., the coffin was placed on board, +and the return voyage begun. It was midnight ere Duke Town was reached, +and the body rested at Government Beach until dawn. There the mourners +gathered. Government officials, merchants, and missionaries, were all +there. The boys of the Institute were drawn up on the beach, policemen +were posted in the streets, and the pupils of Duke Town school +continued the line to the cemetery. All flags flew at half-mast, and +the town was hushed and still. Great crowds watched the procession, +which moved along in silence. The coffin was draped with the Union +Jack, and was carried shoulder high by the boat boys, who wore black +singlets and mourning loin-cloths, but no caps. + +At the cemetery on Mission Hill stood a throng of natives. Old Mammy +Fuller who had loved Mary so much, sat alone at the top of the grave. +When the procession was approaching she heard some women beginning to +wail, and at once rose. "_Kutua oh, kutua oh_," she said. "Do not cry, +do not cry. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Ma was a great +blessing." + +A short and simple service was conducted by Mr. Wilkie and Mr. Rankin, +and some of the native members led the singing of "_When the day of +toil is done_," and "_Asleep in Jesus_." The coffin was lowered by +eight of the teachers of Duke Town School, and lilies and other flowers +were thrown upon it. Mammy Fuller uttered a grateful sigh. "Safe," she +murmured. One or two women wept quietly, but otherwise there was +absolute silence, and those who know the natives will understand the +restraint which they imposed upon themselves. Upon the grave were +placed crosses of purple bougainvillea and white and pink frangipanni, +and in the earth was planted a slip from the rose bush at Use, that it +might grow and be symbolic of the fragrance and purity and beauty of +her life. + +"Ma," said Mammy Fuller to Mrs. Wilkie when all was over, "I don't know +when I enjoyed anything so much; I have been just near heaven all the +time." + + + + + XXI. TRIBUTE AND TREASURE + +Many tributes were paid to the dead pioneer. As soon as Sir Frederick +Lugard, the Governor-General of Nigeria, heard of the event he +telegraphed to Mr. Wilkie: "It is with the deepest regret that I learn +of the death of Miss Slessor. Her death is a great loss to Nigeria." +And later came the formal black-bordered notice in the Government +_Gazette_:-- + +It is with the deepest regret that His Excellency the Governor-General +has to announce the death at Itu, on 18th January, of Miss Mary +Mitchell Slessor, Honorary Associate of the Order of the Hospital of +St. John of Jerusalem in England. + +For thirty-nine years, with brief and infrequent visits to England, +Miss Slessor has laboured among the people of the Eastern Provinces in +the south of Nigeria. + +By her enthusiasm, self-sacrifice, and greatness of character she has +earned the devotion of thousands of the natives among whom she worked, +and the love and esteem of all Europeans, irrespective of class or +creed, with whom she came in contact. + +She has died, as she herself wished, on the scene of her labours, but +her memory will live long in the hearts of her friends, Native and +European, in Nigeria. + +Testimony regarding her qualities and work was given in Scotland by the +Mission Committees of the United Free Church, by officials, +missionaries, and others who knew her, and by the Press, whilst from +many parts of the world came notices of her career which indicated how +widely known she had been. The appreciation which would perhaps have +pleased her most was a poem written by a Scottish girl, fifteen years +of age, with whom she had carried on a charming correspondence-- +Christine G. M. Orr, daughter of Sheriff Orr, Edinburgh. She would, +doubtless, have had it included in any notice of her work, and here, +therefore, it is given: + +THE LAMENT OF HER AFRICAN CHILDREN + +She who loved us, she who sought us + Through the wild untrodden bushlands, + Brought us healing, brought us comfort, + Brought the sunlight to our darkness, + She has gone--the dear white Mother-- + Gone into the great Hereafter. + + +Never more on rapid waters + Shall she dip her flashing paddle, + Nor again the dry leaves rustle + 'Neath her footstep in the forest, + Never more shall we behold her + Eager, dauntless on her journeyings. + + +Now the children miss their teacher, + And the women mourn their helper; + And the sick, the weak, the outcast + Long that she once more might touch them, + Long to hear her speaking comfort, + Long to feel her strong hand soothing. + + +Much in loneliness and danger, + Fevered oft, beset with trouble, + Still she strove for us, her children; + Taught us of the great good Spirit, + He who dwells beyond the sunrise; + Showed to us the love He bears us, + By her own dear loving-kindness; + Told us not to fear the spirits, + Evil spirits in the shadows, + For our Father-God is watching, + Watching through the cloudless daytime, + Watching at the silent midnight, + So that nothing harms His people; + Taught us how to love each other, + How to care for little children + With a tenderness we knew not, + How, with courtesy and honour, + To respect the gentle women, + Nor despise them for their weakness, + But, as wives and mothers, love them. + + +Thus she taught, and thus she laboured; + Living, spent herself to help us, + Dying, found her rest among us. + Let the dry, harsh winds blow softer + And the river's song fall lower, + While the forest sways and murmurs + In the mystery of evening, + And the lonely bush lies silent, + Silent with a mighty sorrow. + + +Oh! our mother--she who loved us, + She who lost herself in service, + She who lightened all our darkness, + She has left us, and we mourn her + With a lonely, aching sorrow. + May the great good Spirit hear us, + Hear us in our grief and save us, + Compass us with His protection + Till, through suffering and shadow, + We with weary feet have journeyed + And again our mother greets us + In the Land beyond the sunrise. + + +Both the Calabar Council and the Women's Foreign Mission Committee in +Scotland felt that the most fitting memorial to her would be the +continuation of her work, and arrangements were accordingly made for +the appointment and supervision of teachers and evangelists at Use, +Ikpe, and Odoro Ikpe, and for the care of the children. It was also +decided to realise her settlement scheme and call it "The Mary Slessor +Home for Women and Girls," with a memorial missionary in charge, and +later an appeal for a capital sum of £5000 for the purpose was issued. +It would have pleased Mary to know that the lady chosen for the +position of memorial missionary was her old colleague Mrs. Arnot. She +had worked hard and waited long for the accomplishment of this idea, +and she may yet, from above, see of the travail of her soul and be +satisfied.... + +By and by her more special possessions were collected and sent home. If +she had been an ordinary woman one might have expected to see a +collection of the things that a lady likes to gather about her; the +dainty trinkets and souvenirs, the jewellery and knicknacks that have +pleasant associations connected with them. When the little box arrived +it was filled less with these than with pathos and tears. It held +merely a few much-faded articles, one or two Bibles, a hymn-book (the +gift of some twin-mother at home), an old-fashioned scent-bottle, a +pebble brooch, hair bracelet, two old lockets, and her mother's ring-- +all these were evidently relics of the early days--a compass, and a +fountain pen. + +But there also came a large packet of letters, those received during +her last years, which revealed where her treasures on earth were +stored--in a multitude of hearts whose love she had won. They were from +men in Nigeria--Government officials, missionaries, and merchants-- +from men and women in many lands, from the mothers and sisters of the +"boys" to whom she had been kind, from Church officials, from children +--all overflowing with affection and admiration and love. She had often +called herself a "rich woman." One learned from these letters the +reason why. + + + + + XXII. SEEN AND UNSEEN + +Miss Slessor had a sure consciousness of her limitations, and knew she +was nothing but a forerunner, who opened up the way and made it +possible for others to come in and take up the work on normal lines. +Both in the sphere of mission exploration and in the region of ideas +she possessed the qualities of the pioneer,--imagination, daring, +patience,--and like all idealists she met with opposition. It was not, +however, the broad policy she originated that was criticised, so much +as matters of detail, and no doubt there was sometimes justification +for this. She admitted that she had no gifts as an organiser, and when +she engaged in constructive work it was because there was no one else +to do it. + +What she accomplished, therefore, cannot be measured only by the +visible results of her own handiwork. The Hope Waddell Institute was +the outcome of her suggestions, and from it has gone out a host of lads +to teach in schools throughout the country, and to influence the lives +of thousands of others. She laid the foundations of civilised order in +Okoyong, upon which regular church and school life has now been +successfully built. When she unlocked the Enyong Creek, some were +amused at the little kirks and huts she constructed in the bush, and +asked what they were worth--just a few posts plastered with mud, and a +sheet or two of corrugated iron. But they represented a spiritual force +and influence far beyond their material value. They were erected with +her life-blood, they embodied her love for her Master and for the +people, they were outposts, the first dim lights in the darkness of a +dark land, they stood for Christ Himself and His Cross. And to-day +there exist throughout the district nearly fifty churches and schools +in which the work is being carried on carefully and methodically by +trained minds. The membership numbers nearly 1500, and there is a large +body of candidates and enquirers and over 2000 scholars. The remarkable +progress being made in self-support may be gathered from the following +figures taken from the accounts of the five Creek congregations for +1914: + + Members Income Cash in bank + Itu . . . . 109 £113 9 4 £97 13 6 + Okpo . . . . 101 76 7 7 62 16 8 + Asang . . . . 428 184 17 10 865 13 6 + Obufa Obio (Chief + Onoyom) . . . 118 118 16 10 736 19 4 + Ntan Obu . . . 111 83 11 9 204 1 2 + + +All these churches and others that she began are spreading the Gospel +not only by direct effort, but also by means of their members as they +trade up and down the country. + +One cannot estimate the value of her general influence on the natives; +it extended over an area of more than 2000 square miles, from all parts +of which they came to seek her help and advice, whilst her fame reached +even to Northern Nigeria, where she was spoken of as the "good White Ma +who lived alone." To West Africans, a woman is simply a chattel to be +used for pleasure and gain, but she gave them a new conception of +womanhood, and gained their reverence and confidence and obedience. +Although she came to upset all their ideas and customs, which +represented home and habit and life itself to them, they loved her and +would not let the wind blow on her. She thus made it easy for other +women agents to live and work amongst them; probably there is no +similar mission field where these can dwell in such freedom and safety. +And through her womanhood she gave them some idea of the power and +beauty of the religion which could make that womanhood possible. Her +influence will not cease, for in the African bush, where there are no +daily newspapers to crowd out events impressions, and tradition is +tenacious, she will be remembered in hut and harem and by forest camp +fire, and each generation will hand down to the next the story of the +Great White Mother who lived and toiled for their good. + +Upon the Mission staff her example acted like a tonic. Her tireless +energy, her courage, her enthusiasm, were infectious and stimulating, +to the highest degree, and stirred many to action. Such an inspiring +force is a valuable asset in a tropical land, where everything tends to +languor and inertia. And in Scotland her influence was also very great. +Round her name and work gathered a romance which deepened and widened +interest in the missionary enterprise of the Church. Her career +demonstrates how important is the personal touch and tie in sustaining +and increasing the attraction of the work abroad. By the spell of her +personality she was able to draw support not only from large numbers of +people within her own Church, but from many outside who had little +thought or for missions. It was because she not a mere name on a list, +but a warm, living, inspiring, human presence. For while she was great +as a pioneer and worker, she was equally great as a woman. + + + + + XXIII. THE ALABASTER Box + +But the interest in Nigeria on the part of the home people as a whole +was never enough for Miss Slessor. It was largely an interest in +herself and her work, and she wanted rather the larger vision which +would realise the possibilities of that great field, and endeavour to +conquer it for the Master. The general indifference on the subject was +a deep disappointment to her. But it had always been so. + +The story of Calabar is one of the most thrilling in the history of +missions, yet through it also there runs an undercurrent of tragedy-- +the tragedy of unseized opportunities and unfulfilled hopes. As one +reads, he can fancy that he is standing by a forest at night listening +to the sound that the wind brings of a strange conflict between a few +brave spirits, and legions of wild and evil forces, with incessant +cries for help. From the first days of the Mission, urgent appeals for +more workers have constantly been made; there is scarcely a year that +the men and women on the spot have not pressed its urgent needs upon +the home Church, but never once has there been an adequate response. +To-day, as always, the staff is pitifully small. To minister to the +needs of the many millions within the area assigned to the Church, +there are only eighteen European missionaries, three medical +missionaries, and thirteen women agents, apart from the wives of the +married missionaries. In Duke Town and Okoyong, on the Cross River and +the Enyong Creek, and far up at Uburu, the city of the salt lakes, all +the stations are undermanned, and the medical men are overwhelmed by +the thousands of patients who flock to them to be healed. + +What Mary Slessor did, other women are doing in the same spirit of +selflessness and courage, but with the same sense of powerlessness to +overtake what is required. The number of these women agents does not +appreciably increase, for, while fresh appointments are continuously +being made, there are usually more changes amongst them than amongst +the men missionaries, on account of resignations from ill-health or +marriage. Yet in Nigeria women have unlimited opportunities for the +employment of their special gifts. + +The remarkable feature of the situation is that the Mission is face to +face with an open door. It is not a question of sitting down in the +midst of a religiously difficult and even hostile community as in India +or China, and waiting patiently for admission to the hearts of the +people, but of entering in and taking possession. The natives +everywhere are clamouring for teachers and missionaries, education, +enlightenment, and they are clamouring in vain. The peril is that under +the new conditions governing the country, they will be lost to the +Christian Church. With freer intercommunication, Islam is spreading +south. All Mohammedans are missionaries, and their religion has +peculiar attractions for the natives. Already they are trading in the +principal towns, and in Arochuku a Mullah is sitting, smiling and +expectant, and ingratiating himself with the people. Here the position +should be strengthened; it is, as Miss Slessor knew, the master-key to +the Ibo territory, for if the Aros are Christianised, they will carry +the evangel with them over a wide tract of country. + +Miss Slessor's life shadowed by the consciousness of how little had +been done, as well as by the immensity of what was still to do. Making +every allowance for the initial difficulties that had to be overcome, +and the long process of preparing the soil, the net result of seventy +years' effort seemed to her inadequate. There is only a Christian +community of 10,800, and a communion-roll of 3412, and the districts +contiguous to the coast have alone been occupied, whilst no real +impression has been made on the interior. Over the vast, sun-smitten +land she wept, as her Master wept over the great city of old, and she +did what she could--no woman could have done more--to redeem its +people, and sought, year in, year out, to make the Church rise to the +height of its wonderful opportunity--in vain. + +She knew, however, that the presentation of startling facts and figures +alone would never rouse it to action; these might touch the conscience +for a moment, but the only thing that would awaken interest and keep it +active and militant would be a revival of love for Christ in the hearts +of the people; and it was for this she prayed and agonised most of all. +For with it would come a more sympathetic imagination, a warmer faith, +greater courage to go forward and do the seemingly impossible and +foolish thing. It would, she knew, change the aims and ideals of her +sisters, so many of them moving in a narrow world of self, and thrill +them with a desire to take part in the saving and uplifting of the +world. There would be no need then to make appeals, for volunteers +would come forward in abundance for the hardest posts, and consecrated +workers would fill up the ranks in Nigeria and in all the Mission +Fields of the Church. + +She knew, because it was so in her case. Love for Christ made her a +missionary. Like that other Mary who was with Him on earth, her love +constrained her to offer Him her best, and very gladly she took the +alabaster box of her life and broke it and gave the precious ointment +of her service to Him and His cause. + +Many influences move men and women to beautiful and gallant deeds, but +what Mary Slessor was, and what she did, affords one more proof that +the greatest of these is Love. + +THE END + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneer +Missionary, by W. P. Livingstone + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARY SLESSOR OF CALABAR *** + +This file should be named 8906-8.txt or 8906-8.zip +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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