From Beach to Jungle 
 
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 A Narrative of the West Africa Mission 
 
From Beach to Jungle 
 
 A Narrative of the West Africa Mission 
 
 Compiled by Margaret Boyle 
 
 Price, Ten Cents 
 
 The Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church, 
 501 Witherspoon Building, Philadelphia. 
 
From Beach to Jungle 
 
 A Narrative of the West Africa Mission 
 
 FOUNDATIONS. 
 
 “Tell the Church at home that the Lord is doing glorious 
 things in Africa.” This is the message that comes to us from 
 a land devastated by war. It epitomizes the devotion of the 
 Presbyterian missionaries of the West Africa Alission. ()n 
 the island of Corisco, on the Gulf of Guinea, in the jungles 
 and forests of the interior, has been enacted the story of a 
 brave band, struggling against fearful odds, even to threat¬ 
 ened annihilation in the hour of triumph. 
 
 It began about seventy-five years ago, this drama on the 
 A’est Coast of Africa. The shore is dangerous with reefs, 
 rocks and sand bars at the mouths of the rivers. First comes 
 the narrow beach, then a jungle, then swamps, and back of 
 that two or three hundred miles of forest. Within its depths 
 roam elephants, monkeys, many ’wild animals—and black 
 men. These natives are hunting ivory, palm oil, etc., but they 
 live in villages on the banks of streams, for the only highways 
 are the water courses. There are no roads, only paths 
 “through the Bush;” there is no money, only barter of beads 
 and such things; no written language of the many dialects 
 The features of the people are typically Negro, some more 
 delicately fashioned than others. They are divided into 
 numerous and exceedingly clannish tribes. Slavery as a 
 punishment existed here long before it was stimulated by the 
 foreign market. Polygamy, with its kindred vices, is pre¬ 
 dominant. They have no worship, only a religion of super¬ 
 stition, called Fetishism, wdiich is a veritable bondage. 
 
 Into these wilds, in the year 1842, three men and their 
 wives were sent by the American Board of Commissioners 
 
 3 
 
for Foreign Missions. They settled at Baraka (Libreville), 
 thus founding the Gaboon Mission. They started schools, 
 prepared a grammar, and Dr. Henry A. Ford wrote a mono¬ 
 graph on African fevers which is still a standard for reference. 
 The greatest difificnlty, as in all mission work in Africa, was 
 the climate, which made it hard to keep a sufficient force on 
 the field. The natives are less subject to fever than the 
 foreigners, but they suffer from rheumatism, pneumonia, 
 dysentery and skin diseases of all kinds. Malaria is the dis¬ 
 ease most fatal to white people, especially the malignant type 
 
 AN AFRICAN TRAIL 
 
 known as '^‘black water fever.” Thus the frequent returns 
 of those disabled by illness and the scarcity of reinforcements 
 left Gaboon in 1870 with only one station, Baraka. 
 
 Meanwhile, in 1850, a distinctly Presbyterian Mission was 
 opened on the beautiful island of Corisco. It was thought 
 that the insular position would assure exemption from fever, 
 and that the natives, when educated, would carry the message 
 to distant regions. Evangasimba was the place of the first 
 station, and here the name of Mackey left its impress upon 
 
 4 
 
the natives. Four stations were opened and schools begun. 
 Later, the work was consolidated at Elongo, under Rev. and 
 Mrs. De Heer and Mrs. Reutlinger. But the expectations of 
 the founders were not realized. The island was as unhealthy 
 as the mainland, and the tribal quarrels precluded work of 
 native agents. After twelve years, the Corisco^ work was 
 left in the hands of the first convert, Rev. Ibia J. Ikenge, and 
 in 1864 a new station was opened on the mainland. 
 
 The place chosen was Mbade (Benito), at the mouth of 
 the Benito River. Here Isabella A. Nassau for several years 
 did much of the entire work, ecclesiastical, educational and 
 financial. Here also in later years is the scene of the won¬ 
 derful record of Mrs. De Heer and Mrs. Reutlinger, who 
 worked together for more than forty years, often having 
 entire oversight of the schools and religious work. They 
 also, with Miss Christensen, managed the dispensary by 
 turns for years, when no doctor could be stationed here. 
 
 In 1871, the station at Baraka was transferred to the 
 Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, and united with 
 Corisco and Benito under the title, “Gaboon and Corisco 
 Mission.” Reinforcements were sent to Baraka, and it was 
 for some time the central station of the mission. 
 
 In 1881, a station was opened at Angom, for the Fang 
 people, a division of the Bantu, more energetic and indus¬ 
 trious than the coast tribes. Dr. and Mrs. Marling labored 
 here for sixteen years. After Dr. Marling’s death in 1896, 
 Angom became an out-station of Baraka. 
 
 The most serious practical question was that of language. 
 Benito was in Spanish territory, Baraka and its out-stations in 
 French Congo, Batanga in the German Kamerun. Each of 
 these governments discouraged the use of the vernacular, and 
 made its own language compulsory in the schools. The 
 difficulties in French territory became so great that in 1892 
 the stations, except Baraka, were transferred to the Paris 
 Evangelical Mission Society. 
 
 The guiding principle in planting new stations had been 
 to reach the interior by means of the rivers. The Gaboon, 
 the Benito and the Ogowe had been tried in vain. In 1889 
 the main mission centre was transferred to Batanga, in Ger¬ 
 man territory, with the purpose of gaining access from there 
 to the higher and more healthful inland regions. A boys’ 
 
 5 
 
boarding school was opened by Rev. A. C. Godduhn, and a 
 girls’ school by Miss Nassau. 
 
 After long and careful exploration, Dr. Adolphus Good* 
 established the first inland station at Efulen in 1893, at a 
 spot fifty-seven miles from Batanga. Here, he claimed, the 
 natives were so extremely and persistently wicked that, once 
 converted, they would be equally strong Christians! He 
 reduced the Bulu language to writing, and translated the 
 Gospels. Under the guidance of Mr. M. Henry Kerr, native 
 workmen constructed a house, a school and a dormitory for 
 boys, with the necessary furniture. 
 
 During his last journey, in 1895, Dr. Good selected a 
 desirable site at Elat, seventy-five miles east of Efulen, for 
 the second interior station. Later, the German government 
 wished to buy the hill for a military post, so a new site of 
 one hundred and thirty-six acres, admirably located, was 
 secured. The boys’ school was most prosperous from the 
 beginning, and a church was organized in 1903. 
 
 ()n one of Dr. Good’s exploring trips, he came upon a 
 village of dwarfs, and his published account of this visit 
 aroused the interest of Miss Margaret McLean of Scotland. 
 She offered to support a mission among the dwarfs if the 
 Presbyterian Ifoard of Foreign Missions would undertake it. 
 As a result, the station of Lolodorf, eighty-one miles north¬ 
 east of Batanga, was established in 1897. The first year was 
 spent in erecting buildings, though a school for boys was 
 begun at once. The Sunday audiences soon outgrew the 
 school room. Lolodorf was a military post, and a centre of 
 commercial enterprise, therefore a unique opportunity for 
 evangelistic work was afforded by the numbers of carriers 
 passing back and forth with merchandise. A “palaver house” 
 was built on the mission grounds, to welcome them at any 
 time, and it l^ecame one man's work to preach to this shifting 
 audience, always glad to listen. 
 
 A VISIT. 
 
 The year 1904 marks a memorable date for the West 
 Africa Mission, when for the first time it was visited bv a 
 representative of the Board of h'oreign Alissions. Secretarv 
 
 * “The Chief’s First White Alan,” price 3 cents. 
 
 6 
 
A. W. Halsey landed at Lil^reville and spent many weeks in 
 visiting the different stations, preaching to large congrega¬ 
 tions in the churches, traveling by steam launch through the 
 silent rivers to distant outposts, penetrating the jungle on 
 foot with the caravans of carriers, camping with the dwarfs 
 in the shadowy forest recesses. Everywhere he was received 
 with enthusiasm, and the problems of each station were laid 
 before him and considered with wisdom and sympathy. 
 
 These problems were neither few nor small. There \vere 
 the rivalries of the three European governments in whose 
 possessions we were established; the jealousies among dif¬ 
 ferent tribes, each demanding the use of its own dialect in 
 books and teaching; cpiestions of language, of industrial edu¬ 
 cation, of wages, of personal and racial incompatibility. 
 Greatest of all was the seeming impossibility of keeping the 
 stations adecpiately manned, and redeeming the promises of 
 help and advancement made to the people in all good faith. 
 Many friends of the Mission in America, discouraged by the 
 slow advance, had seriously ciuestioned whether the expendi¬ 
 ture of life and money for so many years was justified by the 
 results. It was felt that a crisis had been reached in the 
 klission's history, and that the next ten years must decide 
 whether there was any promise for its future. 
 
 To the visitors from the West it seemed wonderful that 
 so much had been accom])lished within the memory of living- 
 men in the transition fr(-)m ])rimitive barbarism to the begin- 
 niim's (ff Christian civilization. In the older stations thev 
 
 O - 
 
 found the second and th.ird generations of Christians, trained 
 from infancy in Christian schools. worshi])ping in decent 
 churches, l)uilt and supported by themselves. I'hey found 
 Sundav schools filled with children and adults, all well 
 grounded in the fundamentals of Scripture knowledge, and 
 trained men serving as preachers and evangelists to their own 
 people. Most hopeful of all were the daily schools, where 
 both boys and girls were learning order, attention and dili- 
 o-ence, with the rudiments of education. 
 
 Discouragements there were in full measure. At Ba- 
 tanga, a serious disaffection in the church had reached such 
 a pitch that it seemed wise to close the schools temporarily 
 and withdraw the mission force for a time. Buit this misfor- 
 
tune was more tlian offset by the wonderful progress of the 
 new inland stations, where literally thousands of people gath¬ 
 ered in and around the great churches. The Secretary and 
 his party visited Efnlen, where the hill, crowned with the 
 Mission buildings, is a monument to the foresight and devo¬ 
 tion of Adolphus Good; thence to Elat, with its splendid 
 estate, its church crowded with generous givers, and its six 
 hundred boys in training for useful work; to Lolodorf, with 
 its great bark “palaver house;” and then back to the coast. 
 
 AFRICAN SCHOOL GIRLS 
 
 to take the steamer for home, and bid the church and its 
 representatives arise and go for\vard with thankful hearts to 
 meet the great opportunities and responsibilities of West 
 Africa. 
 
 AFTER THE TEST. 
 
 Ten years later the correctness of the Secretary’s im¬ 
 pression was made manifest. Not one of the stations existing 
 
 8 
 
at the time of the visit had failed to stand the test; but. while 
 the record showed one thousand per cent, increase in the 
 number of persons listening directly to the Gospel, there was 
 only sixty-five per cent, increase in the missionary force. 
 What devotion, energy, prayer and hope were put into those 
 years remain unwritten in human languag'e. One can read 
 only the cold facts, but imagination must picture the human 
 souls speaking through eyes that smile with a new hope. 
 
 The Mission was no longer on trial. It had justified its 
 right to existence. In the process it had made several dis¬ 
 coveries: that the missionary was most effective as a super¬ 
 visor of the native worker and convert; that the itinerating 
 method of St. Paul was most practical; that Christian educa¬ 
 tion was for the purpose of evangelization, and the evangel¬ 
 istic zeal of the pupil could be used for scattering the seed; 
 also that the introduction of industrial work greatly aided the 
 development of Christian ideals. The crowning glory of the 
 West Africa Mission was the well-rounded, well-developed 
 character of the native Christian Church. It was self- 
 
 supporting, evangelistic, 
 pure! Thus equipped, it 
 went forth to meet the 
 real test of its strength 
 and sincerity. The full 
 story of how it made its 
 way through the blasting 
 horrors of w’ar can only 
 be told when the w'orld is 
 at peace once more. 
 
 The West Africa Mis¬ 
 sion is a unit, but the 
 conditions, work and ex¬ 
 periences of each station 
 have been so varied that 
 only by studying the sta¬ 
 tions separately can we 
 know the story of the 
 Mission from the com¬ 
 pletion of its probation 
 years to the present time. 
 
 9 
 
THEN—THE WAR. 
 
 Benito had a flourishing church and ont-stations, all 
 Benito, under native pastors, who stimulated weekly pledges 
 and offerings from each member. Also, it had board¬ 
 ing schools, with industrial work, such as gardening for boys 
 and sewing for girls. The Fang boys were industrious in 
 school, and earnest in evangelistic work in the neighboring 
 villages. 
 
 Then, into this neutral Spanish territory came indirectly 
 the disturbing conditions of war. The Germans, fleeing from 
 the Kamerun before the French, brought with them over 
 forty thousand natives as carriers or soldiers. These neither 
 German officers nor Spanish officials could restrain from 
 devastating the gardens for miles. As a consequence, the 
 natives of Benito faced starvation. 
 
 Activities were lessened and schools reduced, although 
 the entire missionary force from Batanga was added. Local 
 itinerating and the forwarding of provisions became the occu¬ 
 pation of the missionaries. Benito was necessarily made the 
 distributing point for the Cameroun,* and from the beginning 
 of the war it has taken time, patience and Christian fortitude 
 to accomplish this task. For instance, at one time one hun¬ 
 dred and fifty-six cases of goods were landed in surf boats 
 and had to be examined and dried before being sent inland 
 by carrier. It was also necessary to make provision for mis¬ 
 sionaries waiting to enter the Cameroun. 
 
 In spite of all difficulties, there were never so many tribes 
 represented at the meetings. Seven self-supporting churches 
 with native pastors are now at work. Regular services are 
 held at the station, and various services during the week; and 
 the theological candidates are active in other centres. The 
 boarding schools were compelled to close, because of lack of 
 food for the scholars, but a class of six theological candidates 
 was carried on regularly. The medical work has been large, 
 but principally among white patients. This has aided friendly 
 relations by winning courtesies from the officials, through 
 gratitude for medical attention. 
 
 ^French, “CamerounGerman, “Kamerun.” 
 
 10 
 
At Itatanga, once so discontented, a missionary was 
 Batanga. l)nsy superintending evangelists and clnirches with 
 native pastors. l)oys’ school was kee]n'ng iij) to 
 the standard of the government examinations, and a girls’ 
 school was adding sewing and h(msekeei''ing classes to regular 
 lessons. There was a docttny also a hus'ness manager for the 
 caravan work. This station was the door through which went 
 food, supnlies and machinery to the interior stations. Over 
 four hundred caravans of from three to fifty men, and a boat 
 every week to Uenito, are reported in one year. Foiwvarding 
 is an important task, as upon the caravans that travel from 
 beach to jungle depend the life and development of the inland 
 stations. 
 
 But, in 1914, a French warship, firing shells as it steamed 
 up the river, gave pause to these activities. The neutral flag 
 saved the mission, but the missionaries, being betw-een French 
 and German lines, were compelled to leave for Benito. The 
 natives were scattered, some to refugee or concentration 
 camps, some to the interior as political prisoners, and others 
 to serve as carriers or soldiers. Many escaped to the Bush, 
 and lived and died like hunted animals. 
 
 Over a year later the commander of the Allied forces 
 authorized the reoccupation of Batanga station. The mis¬ 
 sionaries found their homes stripped and badly damaged, and 
 their grounds overgrown. The natives returned to looted 
 villages, ruined houses and vanished gardens—in short, to 
 destitution. Weakened wdth suffering, hunger and disease, 
 they were in urgent need of medical assistance, but nearly all 
 the medicines had been commandeered. Supplies were gath¬ 
 ered, however, from various sources, and large numbers of 
 the thousands wdio passed through the station grounds were 
 helped, though many died of starvation and dysentery. 
 
 The missionaries returned to heavy tasks, wdth financial 
 worries added to the burden. A large number of guests, 
 white refugees from Bata, had to be cared for, wdiile the work 
 of cleaning up and repairing was still in process. In addi¬ 
 tion, the relief w'ork for the natives was put on a systematic 
 basis, for food shortage in all the district was the great 
 problem. Slowly conditions improved, with a prospect of 
 self-help. 
 
During all the fighting, at all the plantations and refugee 
 camps, services were held by the native ministers and elders, 
 and the spiritual life of the people was better than might have 
 been expected. The work of the past created a sentiment 
 favorable to law and order, and, in spite of two years without 
 the white man’s direction, the people are adjusting themselves 
 favorably to the changes of government. 
 
 The caravan work is now kept up. Three churches and 
 fifteen chapels are active, but there is no income since the 
 
 IN THE CAMEROUN 
 
 return of the impoverished people, and so the Mission has 
 assumed temporarily the support of the pastors and nineteen 
 evangelists. The entire station has devoted itself to evan¬ 
 gelistic work, and the field has been virtually covered monthly 
 by itinerating trips. The village schools started in the ver¬ 
 nacular, and the French school under Miss Marie Cocker, 
 opened in October, 1916, with nineteen boys. Now there are 
 over two hundred, many of them formerly teachers. The 
 
 12 
 
French Commissioner of Education wrote a letter of thanks 
 to Miss Cocker for the assistance of the missionaries in pro¬ 
 moting the knowledge of French. To fill the need of an 
 interpreter for the Mission with the French Government in 
 Cameroun, i\Iiss Jean Mackenzie was asked to return from 
 America. After three months on the way, she finally arrived 
 at Batanga, and is now hard at work. She says: ‘Tt does 
 seem as if old Batanga were feeling new life.” As an exam¬ 
 ple of this, one thousand people of the beach tribes gathered 
 to give thanks that their lives were rescued by the English 
 from starvation, that they were returned to their homes by 
 the Allies, and that food began again to grow in their gardens. 
 
 The missionaries, too, are thankful to be again at their 
 work. They feel it must be re-established in every depart¬ 
 ment. The amount and character of the effort now exerted 
 will affect the whole future of the cause in West Africa. 
 
 In spite of the “distinctly spiritual atmosphere” of 
 Efulen. Ffulen, 1913 marks “an awakening.” The church 
 was left without walls in order that the large crowd 
 outside might hear and see. At communion times over two 
 thousand sit down inside and out. some from eighty miles 
 away. There was a membership of several hundred who had 
 accomplished the year of testing and instruction. Free-will 
 gifts and free work on the chapel were on the increase. Some 
 Ffulen boys had taken theological courses, and were at 
 preaching stations, and many graduates Avere acting as evan¬ 
 gelists. 
 
 The first year of the war is “another year of great 
 things.” Men in large numbers, including headmen, joined 
 the Kingdom. The increase in numbers was equalled by the 
 increase in spiritual strength. Fives showed it more than 
 figures. A great interest in systematic effort to win indi¬ 
 viduals was displayed, and men pledged days for personal 
 work. Efulen church became so large that it decided to 
 organize two new churches, and dismiss to them half its 
 members. 
 
 Bible readers and itinerating students did not cease their 
 efforts even when, in September, 1915, the government de- 
 
 13 
 
dared the station was in the war zone and seized it for a 
 military post. All missionaries were hastily withdrawn, and 
 all Christian work left in the hands of the natives. The vil¬ 
 lages were not disturbed, and native evangelists and teachers 
 remained and continued the work. The Christians built a 
 temporary house of God three miles away, and held their 
 meetings without interruption, keeping collection Sundays, 
 and hiding the collections in the forest. During this time 
 there was no communion service held, and some Christians 
 fell, but many were faithful. Although there was no fighting 
 in the immediate vicinity, there were suffering and death, and 
 the proximity to the coast offered peculiar temptations. The 
 native churches met the responsibility with courage and 
 wisdom. 
 
 When the missionaries returned in February, 1916, their 
 hearts were full of joy to find how many had held fast their 
 faith, not neglecting the house of God, nor withholding their 
 contributions because of the war. Twenty-four evangelists 
 did heroic work for the Master during the troubled days. 
 Some went with the people into the forest, enduring hardships 
 in order to preach; and some, while serving as soldiers, 
 worked continuously for the Kingdom. After the Germans 
 fled from the station, the English encamped there for several 
 days. On their departure, Moondo and Engoto, two natives, 
 courageously took possession, preventing further looting. 
 
 Now Efulen has three churches and supports its own 
 evangelists and teachers. The churches of this station have the 
 reputation of “asking many questions,” and the system has 
 given them a strong hold on the hearts of the people, and has 
 created a better knowledge of the Bible. Attendance at preach¬ 
 ing steadily increases. More are received into the Church and 
 fewer fall away than usual, and sixteen young men are pre¬ 
 paring for the ministry. This period .of strife and trouble 
 has been rich in blessings to the Efulen church. 
 
 Although all school work was interrupted by the war, 
 over three hundred boys have returned. They come in spite 
 of the fact that only the vernacular can be used and that sup¬ 
 plies and books are gone. Eroni this school went twenty-six 
 teachers to the Teachers’ Vacation School at Elat, and four 
 teachers to the Erench school at Batanga. Never before 
 
 14 
 
have so many “real men” desired to read the Bible, nor so 
 many women and girls attended school. 
 
 1914 was a marked year for Efnlen, because of the new 
 Schauffler Dispensary, with three rooms. Here Gospel 
 teaching accompanied medical treatment, and many souls 
 were born anew. The Schauffler Hospital, occupied in 1913, 
 was always over-crowded. 
 
 Then came the “requisition," and afterward the medical 
 supplies were still further depleted, for the Germans left a 
 dog shut up in the dispensary, which, in its attempts to escape, 
 destroyed much medicine and chewed up many medical books. 
 It was a severe hardship, with suffering all about, to be unable 
 to help because of the lack of medicines. One wrote that 
 “the sick people were spread all over the hill.” The women 
 from Elat were occupying the girls’ dormitory, and not only 
 the new hospital, but the old dilapidated one, was full. The 
 recent arrival of a case of new instruments, an operating room 
 equipment, and especially a sterilizing table, caused much 
 rejoicing to Efnlen hospital, where the purpose, “Healing of 
 body the better to serve its Maker,” is never forgotten. 
 
 “A more hopeful outlook it would be hard to find 
 Lolodorf. than that presented in the entire field of Lolodorf.” 
 
 These words were spoken thirteen years ago, but 
 they apply aptly to the steady progress of McLean Memorial 
 Station. There were before the war three organized churches 
 with Bible readers, twenty-three native evangelists, and an 
 out-station at Olama, all self-supporting. A communion 
 service with two thousand two hundred present was remem¬ 
 bered for months afterwards as the “big meeting.” 
 
 The solidness of the advance became apparent when the 
 war cloud overshadowed Lolodorf for eleven months in 1916. 
 Gnder it the evangelistic work not only held its own, but 
 progressed. Four communion services were held during the 
 year, with an average attendance of over one thousand four 
 hundred. The self-sacrifice of the people in giving for the 
 maintenance of the work in a time of great scarcity is a source 
 of gratitude. 
 
 Before the war, the consecration of the school boys was 
 apparent. The twenty pupils of the graduating class were 
 
 IS 
 
all to teach for one year. The efficiency of the training they 
 had received was shown by the fact that the two hundred and 
 eighty-four pupils passed the government examination. The 
 school buildings were erected by the boys, and made of brick 
 from the clay dug and baked on the place. Roofing with tiles 
 and the use of a farina mill were introduced. The care of 
 the gardens, tailoring and rope-making taught the boys better 
 methods and the dignity of work. 
 
 The educational policy of McLean Memorial is: 
 “We aim to put the Bible in the hands of the people, to train 
 workers for every branch of our work, and to fit the people 
 for the life they live and will live. We believe there ought 
 to be much more stress put upon the dignity of labor, and 
 especially more stress upon the training of boys for efficient 
 labor.” This business efficiency and common-sense were 
 keenly appreciated by the five hundred guests who were re¬ 
 ceived at Lolodorf on arrangement with the government. 
 They were fed from gardens carefully planted during the war 
 in anticipation of the need to come. 
 
 The schools all over the station were disturbed by the 
 abnormal conditions. The boys tried to be brave, and a 
 graduating class of thirty remained in the boarding school. 
 Fourteen of these were given places as teachers in the village 
 schools. At Lolodorf it is felt that it pays to give time to 
 the education of girls also, since it is hard to carry on work 
 for women extensively. In 1915 there were eighty-nine 
 pupils who continued throughout the year. In 1916, the 
 girls’ school lasted only one month because of the mothers’ 
 anxiety, but it is now reopening. In 1917, an eight weeks’ 
 school for Bible readers was held with two hundred and forty 
 young women. Prospective teachers were sent to Elat to 
 the Teachers’ Institute, and later sent out to reopen village 
 schools. 
 
 From seven hundred miles to east and west came patients 
 for the hospital. Yet for a time there has been no doctor, 
 only a faithful native boy, Moondo, looking after the work. 
 Many patients must be turned away, and no important opera¬ 
 tions can be performed. Only cases of serious illness are 
 cared for in the hospital, but several patients have openly 
 confessed Christ. 
 
 16 
 
Even in 1904 the sixteen Christians of the Elat church 
 Elat, were referred to as of a high grade. In 1913 there 
 were seven hundred and twelve worshipping in a 
 church built by the natives to accommodate four thousand, 
 The collections amounted to one thousand dollars, and itin¬ 
 erating work was systematic. 
 
 In 1914, outposts were established at Eulasi and 
 Endenge. Eulasi. being a road centre, developed so fast that 
 it was necessary to keep a missionary there continually. 
 
 A record-breaking year for Elat under Mr. Dager is the 
 report for 1915.* In brief, a membership of 2,297, a com¬ 
 munion service with 7,700 in attendance, and an average of 
 600 a month definitely confessing Christ and successfully 
 passing the year’s probation. This probation is no idle form 
 in Africa, but a real straightening out of the life to match 
 the profession. Elat church had 15,000 contributors under 
 the envelope plan, so that the church was not only self- 
 supporting, but it met all evangelistic and other expenses. 
 Eulasi church was organized with over three hundred mem¬ 
 bers, and with active itinerating under its charge. Eifty-five 
 evangelists were stationed regularly, and fifty-two students 
 were devoting their vacations to this service. 
 
 Suddenly, at the end of the year, the knell of this great 
 flourishing station seemed to be rung, d'he German govern¬ 
 ment commandeered the buildings of the Industrial School 
 for a munition factory. The missionaries all left for Meteh 
 except two, who stayed in a nearby town to care for the in¬ 
 terests of the Mission. 
 
 Elat was taken by the Erench in January, 1916. Mr. 
 Eraser and Mr. Dager then returned to the station, to find 
 it littered with rubbish and small shelters erected by the 
 refugees, of whom three thousand were still on the place. 
 The other missionaries followed, and all set to work to clean 
 up and festore ruined gardens and damaged buildings. 
 
 Through all, the church stood as a lighthouse. Evangel¬ 
 ists were able to remain at their posts, and church work con¬ 
 tinued to grow, though in restricted territory. The Elat 
 church added over a thousand members, and its offerings in 
 this year of hardships were larger than in any previous one. 
 
 *See “How It Has Grown,” price 3 cents. 
 
 17 
 
The one hundred Bible readers scattered over the country 
 had a splendid effect during the interval between govern¬ 
 ments. The thought, “God has gone,” was disabused by the 
 fact of the evangelists at their posts. Sixty thousand refugees 
 went through Elat in one month; and one missionary, un¬ 
 armed, held three thousand mutineers out of the mission. 
 
 In the last six months, communion services have been 
 successfully held covering the entire field of Elat church. It 
 has now four thousand six hundred and seventy-four mem¬ 
 bers—twenty-five per cent, increase in a year. Offerings 
 have been taken equal to the previous six months, which, 
 considering the scarcity of-money and the high value of salt 
 and cloth, is amazing. Over one hundred evangelists are out 
 in the field under the control of six theological students, yet 
 still there are repeated appeals from people south of the 
 Campo, literally saying: “Come over and help us.” Men are 
 willing to go and the support is guaranteed, but the mission¬ 
 ary force is too small to spare a man to superintend it. 
 Many calls come, “Tell us of the Word of God;” and it is a 
 wonderful opportunity, carrying with it great responsibilities. 
 
 Beside the record of the church, stands that of the 
 schools, its feeders. The boys’ boarding school in both Bulu 
 and German branches was flourishing, and the girls’ school 
 had increased in punctuality, regularity and co-operation with 
 the mothers. The girls were being taught gardening, sewing 
 and the making of oil and bamboo hats. All students worked 
 and paid about half their expenses. There were also about 
 ninety village schools and one leper school. 
 
 The famous Frank James Industrial School, before the 
 war, had a large enrolment. The tailor class had completed 
 two thousand garments, the carpenter class had put up five 
 dormitories in the station, thereby losing the profit from a 
 large outside order. The chair class had fallen off, but the 
 shoe shop had made itself popular with Europeans. Two 
 hundred shoes had been repaired, and the class itself was self- 
 supporting. The press had printed much for the mission, 
 and two pieces of work for the government; the saw mill was 
 going all the time; the finances of the school were satisfactory. 
 The attendance at the apprentices’ school in the evening was 
 most gratifying, and had led to the establishment of a school 
 for wives of apprentices, which met a real need. 
 
 i8 
 
In Fulasi, four hundred and seventy-three pupils were 
 accommodated, out of one thousand three hundred applicants! 
 The boys built dormitories and other buildings, and set out 
 trees. 
 
 The war decreased the attendance in all the schools, but 
 the usual work was kept up, except that the girls had only 
 one term. The Industrial School suffered most by the sud¬ 
 den lack of trade and materials, but considerable work uas 
 accomplished: the carpenter class making a thousand dollars' 
 worth of furniture for the government, in addition to the 
 
 A TAILOR CLASS IX THE FRANK JAMES SCHOOL 
 
 buildings, as well as adding the study of arithmetic and archi¬ 
 tectural drawing to their day’s work. At Fulasi, the board¬ 
 ing school for boys and the school for girls continued 
 tIouri.Shing, and village schools were increasing. The general 
 upkeep of the station was entirely by school boys. 
 
 After the French occupation, no German nor English 
 was allowed to be taught, so the pupils at Elat school were 
 taught in the vernacular by a native teacher. As this was 
 no better than the village schools, the attendance fell off. 
 
 19 
 
In November, 1916, the government organized a school for 
 the study of French at a government station. Since then 
 the boys leave to take np the study of “another language.” 
 Is there need for French-speaking missionaries! 
 
 The girls' school does well. The number of little girls 
 is encouraging, as it shows the effect of the law forbidding 
 child marriages. The girls spend their mornings in the 
 school room, and their afternoons in the gardens or learning 
 to cook. The greater part of their food comes from their 
 own gardens. The smaller girls clean the paths. The con¬ 
 tinuation of the village schools throughout all the time of 
 terror was worth a great deal to the villages, as it gave people 
 confidence at a time when the government control was lack¬ 
 ing. It is impossible to estimate the good the schools are doing 
 in the lives of natives by changing their ideas of life and mode 
 of living. Boys who have been trained to be lazy and look 
 on work as degrading are being made into active, useful men. 
 
 A Teachers’ Institute was conducted at Elat in July. 
 Two hundred and twenty teachers enrolled from all of the 
 Cameroun stations. Practical instruction was given in the 
 vernacular. 
 
 The medical department has not been able to keep pace 
 with the other work of the station, for, in spite of the great 
 need, there was no doctor for three years previous to the 
 war. Medicine has been dispensed, and Mrs. Neal and Mrs. 
 Dager have done energetic work, but there is great need of a 
 physician. The dispensary was closed for a few months by 
 the law requiring a special permit, but has since been re¬ 
 opened. At the evacuation of Elat, many sick and injured 
 were turned over to the Mission for aid. At Eulasi, medical 
 work is much needed; the supply of medicine is limited, and 
 money scarce. 
 
 Metet station was occupied in 1909 by Dr. and Mrs. 
 Metet. Johnson. The church was born in 1913, with ten 
 members and ten Sunday school classes. Itinerating 
 was carried on and an outpost established. 
 
 In a year the church membership reached twenty-eight, 
 the majority of whom were faithful and energetic in bringing 
 others to the services. Evangelists and school boys were 
 busy carrying the message to nearby towns. Considering the 
 
 20 
 
backwardness and shyness of these Bene people, the progress 
 of Metet has been marvelous. At first the men were in the 
 majority, but soon the women also were confessing. The 
 church rapidly became self-supporting, and maintained 
 thirty-three meeting places in the surrounding country. 
 
 When the war zone reached Metet in 1916, it became 
 difficult to protect the Christians. Gambling was rampant; 
 women and young girls were exchanged and given in pawn. 
 Old palavers were revived, the police plundered and beat the 
 people. The hill became the refuge for frightened natives 
 during the change of regime, and the Germans placed a num¬ 
 ber of their women and children there also. In spite of all, 
 the evangelistic work showed steady growth. 
 
 On January 12th, 1916, the Allies entered Metet, and 
 the captain in command ordered that by five o’clock all mis¬ 
 sionaries should leave, each taking three loads of personal 
 effects. Dr. Johnson and Mr. Beanland hurried to the 
 colonel and secured an agreement that the missionaries might 
 stay if they did not communicate with the Germans nor assist 
 them. 
 
 The church has increased to eighty-one members, with 
 fifty-one meeting places. Services are well attended consid¬ 
 ering the condition of affairs, and the people, being trained, 
 contribute as usual in spite of poverty and lack of employ¬ 
 ment. The gifts cover all expenses and salaries of evangelists 
 and helpers. 
 
 When the Bible readers were at the Teachers’ Institute, 
 their places were supplied by school boys. Several of these 
 boys showed such zeal and earnestness that they have con¬ 
 tinued in the work. The number of confessors does not 
 grow so rapidly because in these localities the people know 
 nothing of the Gospel and only the first seed is being sown. 
 There is a vast unoccupied territory to the east and northeast 
 whence come repeated requests for teachers. 
 
 One year a school of four hundred and fifty at the station, 
 twenty-four village schools, and a girls’ school, all with indus¬ 
 trial work; the next, seven hundred boys at the station school, 
 and twenty-nine town schools. The station school became 
 too large to be handled, so permanent schools were estab¬ 
 lished in a circle all around Metet. Industrial work was in- 
 
 21 
 
creasing, cocoa and oil palms were cultivated by the boys: 
 while the girls were learning gardening, sewing and hygiene. 
 
 In 1915, the INIission’s first Normal Institute was held 
 at INIetet. The war closed nearly all the schools. 
 
 After French \vas established as the foreign language, 
 the schools were gradually reopened. The opposition of the 
 Roman Catholics tends to decrease enrolment, but one hun¬ 
 dred and eighty-five girls studying is a sight to gladden the 
 heart. They are eager to lift themselves from dire ignorance, 
 and are a material aid in keeping the station in order and 
 invaluable in garden work. The gardens and the palm oil 
 industry receive much attention, as it has been proved that. 
 
 A VILLAGE SCHOOL 
 
 with these, the schools can be self-supporting. Now there 
 are very large peanut, corn and cassava gardens cultivated 
 by school pupils, and the products are sold in great quantities. 
 
 A dispensary was erected in 1915, but not stocked with 
 supplies, so part was used as a residence for refugees, and 
 the doctor’s duties became many and varied. Many Euro¬ 
 peans and missionaries of various nationalities found refuge 
 here. As there is no physician, not many patients are taken 
 into the hospital, but out-patients are cared for and medicine 
 is sold. 
 
 22 
 
A new out-station, almost one hnndred and fifty miles 
 inland beyond Metet, has been established. It is to have a 
 missionary in charge, African evangelists and Bible readers. 
 The general line of work is similar to Metet, and the new 
 field includes cannibal Mekae and other wild tribes. 
 
 Fnlasi, seventy miles east of Elat, was occupied in 
 Fulasi. 1916 as a station. In 1917^ the church reports a 
 steady advance throughout the year, having now 
 one thousand five hundred and seventy-six members. Volun¬ 
 tary co-operation is building the chapels, and offerings are 
 increased so that there is a large balance to the credit of the 
 church. 
 
 The schools are open again, with over four thousand 
 pupils. The ground is cleared, palm trees are set out and gar¬ 
 dens planted. Mrs. Love has started the first girls’ boarding 
 school in a house about ten feet wide and thirty feet long. 
 Numbers have been turned away, but forty-four are accom¬ 
 modated. School is run under difficulties without slates or 
 pencils. Some pupils use beeswax on boards and pointed 
 sticks, some write in the dust on the floor. 
 
 AN APPRECIATION. 
 
 Of the force of sixty-one American missionaries con¬ 
 nected with the West Africa Mission, there are twenty-four 
 at home on furlough, anxiously awaiting the permission of 
 the French Government to return to their field. The fur¬ 
 loughs of most of those on the field are overdue, but they 
 cannot come home until the others return to Africa. 
 
 Would that we might name every one of these men 
 and women who have gone out to subordinate themselves 
 and elevate the African Christian, so that he shall more effec¬ 
 tively lead his brothers into the Kingdom. Of their personal 
 sufferings throughout the horrors of this war, we have heard 
 nothing, only of their gratitude and their requests for prayer. 
 
 The African missionaries have been far-seeing and broad¬ 
 minded in the development of a system of responsibility for 
 the native that cultivates his self-respect. They have not 
 been afraid to use the young school boys for fear of slight 
 misconceptions of doctrine. They have not been afraid of 
 
 23 
 
losing converts by demanding work, contributions and a pure 
 life from their pupils and their church members. Nor have 
 they feared to risk their authority by creating native pastors 
 and evangelists. The wisdom of this system has been shown 
 during the war, when the savage convert became a power in 
 the absence of the civilized missionary. 
 
 The West Africa Mission has developed in spite of those 
 who lacked faith in it, and with an utterl}^ inadequate supply 
 of leaders from the home Church. It has stood up under 
 persecution and devastating war, with head higher than be¬ 
 fore. It has found the strong qualities of the African and 
 his ability to develop through practical education, insistence 
 on moral law, and the enthusiasm of a religion that satisfies 
 his imagination and his heart. 
 
 If a small force of missionaries has accomplished so 
 much in this short time, what would be the future of the 
 Church of Africa if the Church at home would respond in 
 proportion? 
 
 September, igiy. 
 
 '^4