Letter no. 61
8th May 1909
Miss Slessor is worried not to have had news from Mr Partridge, and begs for "a wee wordie". A visit is expected from the Governor and much work is being carried out on the Road and Telegraph in readiness for this. However his timing is unfortunate as the people wish to concentrate on bringing in their harvest, which this year is a good one. She gives news of the latest wrongdoings and of the Courts, including Udo Antia. Itu now has a District Commissioner and Court of its own. She reports on a visit to a new type of house made of bamboo.
Very dear & valued friend,
What is the matter? Did you not get my note which crossed yours? or are you ill again? I have been both busy & unwell, & have allowed the mails to slip past, till I'm getting to think something is wrong. Please send if only one side of a sheet of paper, just to say, "Well" & "How Do?" It will keep the feeling of uncertainty away.
I have not any news tho' Im sending this. I hear the governor is coming soon; & so they are making great to do about getting the Rd. right, & the Telegraph lines cleared. Thats the only news I have. It is produce & Farm time, & this is a splendid produce season - so the people will not take it with good nature I fear. As it is so untimely. The new D.C. [Note 1] Court is a fact now at Itu, & Mr Dickson is kept busy, while we are the usual 100 - or so cases behind & are sitting twice a week. If they sent 20 D.C.s they would still have crowded offices. I need hardly say that many at Itu are little asides from Ikot Obon. They don’t get any encouragement however, for Mr D. is most loyal to us. We have a recrudescence of the old thing I came here to stop. Attempts to claim people & land etc. by Calabar & the Coco House. The latter have a claim for a whole house 8 persons, & lands & whole possession of an Itu House refuted by a book produced as Cocos own, of having sold himself by Mbian oath [Note 2] to Coco.
Another is a boy claimed by Eyo House, who is also claimed by Udo Antia. Neither of the Efiks have a shadow of right on their side, but it is Mr D.s palaver, not mine. Udo Antia, has learned at last I think his proper place, & comes now in sackcloth & ashes, no more shoes & socks. His boys have all been in revolt, since the raid, & his wives, are *all* scattered after having been spoiled by the boys, 4 of the lads got 6 months H.L. [Note 3] a fortnight ago, & after giving Udo a punishment for his brutality to a wife with 4 fine children she has brought up for him, she was given up to him, & he has duk donam [Note 4] to take medical treatment for the witch & Ibok of his people. He tried to bluff, till he found it was no good, so he has at last sat down after many of his old sins have chased him into Court. Ofon Ikot was here & asking about you last week, with Compts [Note 5] from his old Mother. He wondered if they might see Esien. I'm to ask if his mother may, when Im in Calabar 3 weeks hence, D.V. [Note 6] Ninety [90] prisoners are on the Rd here, from Ikot Okpene. The motor carries gravel & red sand, & the natives are taking out all the stones they can, *&* *they* *are* *getting* *such* heaps all along the route - & the prisoners are laying a layer of large stones, then the gravel, so they are making a fair bottom I think, but the Motor tyres still make a small rut if there is a shower. The 4 mile camp have got a new house built up there, & on a new plan. All the partitions are bamboo, like a Huge Organ, all pipes. It is very cool. 2 men are in it, & they asked the 2 ladies from I'Obon & myself to afternoon tea to see the house, so we went & spent a quiet nice hour with them. One is a Mr Rising. I don’t know the others name, but he used to be at Itu. Whether in Rds Depot. Mfiokke, the old trick of catching produce on the rd. has been revived at Okopedi. Mr Underhill is on the watch & we have had several prosecutions, but they are all given by Mr Dickson as yet. I have not any news as I said, so I shall just let this scrap go to shew that you are still cared for & thought of in this old place, which is very new in its personel & ways. Write a wee, *wee* wordie, & take care of yourself, & may God have you in His special & Holy Keeping. I am your sincere old friend
Mary M Slessor
Miss Peacock wd send a message if she knew I was writing MMS I'm awfully well now.
Editorial Notes:
- DC = District Commissioner
- Mbian oath. A solemn oath involving the use of mbiam, a "liquid substance which is tasted, & sometimes put on various parts of the body". "It is supposed to cause dropsy, & so destroy any individual swearing falsely", from "Dictionary of Efik" by Rev. Hugh Goldie.
- H.L. = Hard Labour
- Duk donam. Meaning unclear, perhaps Latin?
- Compts. = Compliments
- D V = God willing [Deo Volente]
Letter no. 62
7th July 1909
Here she explains why it took so long for a Telegram from Mr Partidge to reach her and she describes an agonising illsness, blood poisoning, which produced hundreds of painful boils all over her head rendering her partly bald. As a result, she has been unable to attend the court for almost 5 weeks on end. There is more news of the Coco House claim against Itu, and of the local ude of lawyers to argue Court decisions. Mr. Partridge is about to go on leave again, and she hopes the weather keeps fair for him. Towards the close of her letter she tells him of her conviction that, without Christian teaching, the white man will never hold what he has in Africa, citing the Indian Mutiny as an example of what happens when this is ignored.
Very Dear Old Friend,
I only got your Telegram last week. I went to the "Commission" & went very ill, with at least 100 boils over my head! But that was not nearly enough! I lay down, or *stretched* *accross*, is nearer the thing - Mrs Wilkies bed, & for a whole month I was in one prolonged agony of pain. Then the boils came in shoals, over my face, till you wd. not have recognized me, all over my neck & ears, & whenever I got rested long enough from one operation of having the cores pressed out, another began & I cried like a child. When I was not shrieking all the long weeks, no sleeping draught cd keep out the pain, & I am a very shakey bundle of nerves down to this hour. I could not see to read, if I had been able, for my very eyelids were full, so my letters & all lay unopened. The Telegram was not delivered till I was gone from Ikot Obon & it was sent up to Court - from there to Miss Peacock, who opened it to see if it needed an immediate answer or what, & she sent it back to the office, where it seems to have lain ------ When will they put a white officer on at Itu Post Office??? I have often written to & joked with you in my own mind tho' about the "Pretty Hair" & the halo. Poor hair!! Poor head!! It is as bald as a sixpence now all over the back, & I wear a H.K.F [Note 1] knotted at the four corners! as we did in school days. How long this will continue I know not - for the few hairs left on the front are like those of a dolls head put on with bad glue. Every time I put in the brush, it comes off in heaps. I don’t think it can last many days more, & it is so very painful still to brush my hair that I dread the process. The Dr never saw anything like it, & said it was blood poisoning, which I beleive is right, as one day 3 weeks or so before it came on, while teaching a fly got on my head, & a girl said "sit still Ma" & clapped the thing which was so full of blood that it splashed all over us, & the cloth I was sewing was soiled. Next day it itched, & I scraped it with my comb - I have worn combs since I was at home of course ----- & I scraped it so very fiercely every day after that, when the itch came back, till 3 small boils came, which was the awful beginning. So nervous am I, that Yest was the first day I dared ride over the tracks of the motor in the mud. I have had to come off, but yest. I came on very well, which gives me hope that I am on the road to betterness. I was absent from Court 4 or 5 weeks, 10 Court days. But as I told you, they superseeded me by putting an A.D.C. [Note 2] at Itu, who is President of Ikot Obon Court, so he often goes ill & it is not of much matter. He is a **very** **very** nice fellow though, & never does a thing without me. He is just as a "Chum", so it has been easy, & he does not bring Halliday to interpret, but we do the thing together, & it is very helpful, but poor fellow, It is a hard seat. The Lawyers , have their tools all up this creek, & Eniyon & Aro Chuku never get a summons but they go to a Lawyer, & get a bigger summons or they take the Courts finding, & appeal to a Lawyer so that our Findings have no finality or even meaning. At this rate the Court will soon be a sham & a joke.
I think I told you the Coco House [Note 3] brought a claim for a whole house with all their lands & etc against Itu. They did not think it wd. be brought up here, & when he made his first statement, & was so severely questioned, as to the secrecy of the transaction with Coco, not a Cheif from Itu; etc, & was told that a Jury wd. be brought from Eniyon & Ibibio who were entirely neutral, & who wd be larger & perhaps more unbiased than we wd. be alone. He transferred his case to a Lawyer, or says so, & so on, so on & so on! Had he wanted to go to the Judge, or to Calabar, why wait 5 years, for it is that time since the man died, & the man told me in his life time that they wanted his coco farm, but never said they wanted himself. The proof is an entry in a book, purporting to be in Cocos handwriting, without a witness. It is the boy at the Okopedi beach, "Inna" with whom you kpe-d [Note 4] the ground for Russels that he wants.
Did you know the Signor Comr [Note 3] men? They were very kind to me. I was far from well, & they were most courteous. I do wish I had known, to have asked about you, for you seem so far off some how, & the idea of your going home seems to put you farther off still. But it will be good for you to get a voyage & a sight of the Homeland, & you will have the lovely autumn weather which is even better & bonnier than summer. I hope it will be a good time for you & yours. Our folks at home are all telling me I must not on any account stay more than 2 years, but that is nonsense. I have never got to redeem my promise to Ikpe Ikot Nkon yet. A lady - a Miss Turner comes out to me in August, so I am hoping to leave her here a week at a time, or more if the two ladies at Ikot Obon will share their nights with her, & so get some more of this doubtful mission work spread. I know this more & more from all I see, & hear, that without the Gospel, the White Man will never *keep* or *rule* what he is trying to snatch. The very men you are educating with gun & motor & Telegraph will turn you all out & keep Africa for the Africans. Only Xtianity [Note 4] will give them a motive for loyalty, & good living, & obedience to law. The Indian Mutiny & Sierra Leone can be redone on other conditions. This is not pessimism. I *Know* the Gospel wd hold them, & *all* Xtians are not of the evil order. We have loads & loads of good Xtian people, who are the producers & real citizens of Calabar & neighbouring districts, but they don’t appear at the Courts. Now hit back hard, but don’t hit my head! It is pitted all over, & *soft* - **soft** ***soft***, which you will take for the reason of the foregoing. All right!! Im not near!! I had a plea for a reading of your "Cross River Natives", last week from Itu trading houses. I don’t know the houses or the agents, but he hoped "He was not too cheeky," as he was very anxious to have a reading of it. Capn Werrey has got an A.D.C. as well as the one at Itu so they are beginning to learn what your old district means. Our good Mr Hargrove has gone to Nyo. Im so sorry. He is just a man after your type & your heart, & when I say that, Ive said all I can say. But this must go as it is without any news, as I have none, but it goes with a very warm heartful of love & good wishes. Do let me have a line & let me know your whereabouts, & may God bless you & keep you, & give you every good, I am Yours affcetly M M Slessor
not a boil came below my neck.
Thats the *first* Telegram Ive had in Africa
MMS
Editorial Notes:
- H.K.F. = Handkerchief
- A.D.C. = Aide-de-camp
- Comr = Commissioner
- Xtianity = Christianity
Letter no. 63
15th October 1909
Mary has been very busy and had to leave several letters unanswered. However she now gives a report of a marriage in her household, but also sad news of the deaths of old Ekpo Nive, Captain Werrey and Mr Wessels. Also problems with certain unprincipled Calabar people. The cloak that he had given her is about to be pressed into service again for a friend, but the precious Bike has suffered harm and she is waiting for it to be returned mended. Comments on modern exploration and travel.
Re-addressed to (Baelore?) Herefordshire
Postmarks show it was sent from Stowmarket by the 9.30 post on 10th November 1909, and received in Hereford the same day.
My Dear Old Boss,
Your very welcome letters came all right, & tho all are unanswered by pen they have been answered often in my own mind. The photo too, is just simply splendid. It is perfectly life like & everyone thinks you look well. I do hope you have got some strength after your illness, & that the bracing weather of the Autumn will clear off West Africa from your system entirely, body & brain.
I have had a good deal of fever, but not too severe, & I can keep on my work - but with nothing to spare. We have been to Creek Town for Presby. [Note 1] for one week & I have had visitors, & have also had a marriage in the house. Mary has been married to the motor driver here, & there has been a very quiet wedding, but it made a deal of work too, to get her off nicely & to clear up after it. She did a deal of the heavy work of the house too before she went. Wedding & building & so we were kept at it.
He is a steady lad, & his mother has written from Lagos, & his brother who holds evidently a good post, so I am pleased, & it is her own choice tho' 2 other men, one Ibibio & one Okoyong man were waiting for her consent. don’t be sarcastic now over this! Annie was there with her husband and baby, & they seem to do well & have a decent home; so tho' I'm short handed - for the babies come all the time - Im glad to see them settled. Poor old Ekpo Nive died this last week. He was blind & very stupid, so it was a happy release for him. There was no drinking or rowdyism at all, only the mourning women, & the Egbo [Note 2] drum during the first night were heard. All the males of his house are church folks, & his wife is a candidate for baptism, & the funeral was quiet & orderly, & very decent in regard to the appointments of the grave & the body. Next day most people from the village were at the fishing, & the school has not been interfered with at all. What a change from say 2 years ago! Now, again! don’t be sarcastic!! I'm not to say one word in answer to all you say about Ikpe, & the poor bit of work I do, & the Gospel I preach & the - Big D. - you speak of, and I am not to pose as a Martyr for "*I* *love* My Master & I will not go out from Him". & I do beleive that I am doing Ikpe & Use good, by giving them that which takes away the hunger of the Spirit, & gives them a definite "tangible" Helper & hope & life. So there!!! As long as I can nurse a motherless bairn, or help to keep peace in a home or town; or be a mother to my own bairns, I'm to stick to my post, & you wd. be the first to cry shame if I turned tail for a bit of fever, or even a bald head. My hair is growing in nicely, & I hope it will be quite covering the scalp before you come out to see me.
Now I've not good news this week from Ikot Okpene. Poor Capn. Werry is dead. Died very suddenly. Went into the new bungalow on the Saturday, & was in his usual, only had lumbago & sciatica, but wd. not go home as he had only a month to do. He took a fit of coughing next morning, & Dr Foran went over with a temperature of 105: to him, stopped the cough, which came back during the day, & in the evening he was dead from swelling in the Throat. Foran too has gone down, was carried past last Sunday in a hammock very ill. Now all this week Mr Wessels has been lying with Blackwater [Note 3], the Dr from [Bomy?] has been there, & I asked for a Hammock to go & stay but Mr & Mrs Moffat from Calabar were staying with Miss Peacock & they went over & are not back yet. I expect a Dr will have come to help last night with the mail boat. So you see we have had an anxious week, but I am hoping that as he has kept on so long, he will get over it. Mr Dickson, the ADC [Note 4] at Itu too has had boils for a long time & needs his relief badly, tho' I am sorry to lose him as he is a perfect gentleman, & so easy to work with. I shall feel releived if he can go tomorrow.
Those Calabars! The Coco house & others, & the Lawyers & Eniyon worry his life out. The former came back again like bees when he came, seeking to take whole houses from him, but when they saw that he only heard these Cases at Ikot Obon, they have all, without exception, backed out & fled. The Lawyers are bleeding Eniyon to the tune of from £40 " " for small things, to £350 all paid down for those fellows Ekanden Nmo Akpan, & Ishi, & all those you & Mr Mansfield settled. The best is, the Lawyers never appear. The Assizes are on now at Aro, & all the cases from this Court for malcontents are in this fix. After lying for months, Halliday still works for Mr Dickson, Clerk & Interpreter. Mr Underhill for Russell & all the usual people, Jury Men included, & all keep you in their Kindest membrances. You are preEminently, their father now. I must stop, as I have a lot of Church folks to write to. I have only one copy of my Photo taken at home. If I could make it up I should post it for you. I shall get some one to do it soon, tho' Im sure you don't want to have an old fad of a woman like me in your Album. I'm just to close this & get out my fur Cloak to give to Miss Amess to go home with. It went with Miss McKinney & has come back without a spot, or a moth bite, so Mina shall get it, & it will bring out some other one before I require it, so you see it is in harness. My Bike was left at Russell's & they put it against the Iron, & blistered & tore all my tyres, & it is in Calabar to see if ladies size can be got there. I'm so anxious for Monday to see if it comes, for it is as the loss of my right hand, & the Court road is long without it.
Thank you so much for Shackleton! Isnt it a wonderful time, South & North poles, & the air so far conquered! surely you will not be so foolish as to try the dirigibles or the aeroplanes. Better cross the Chanell by boat, or even by Tube! Eh?
Dear boy, good bye. I cd yarn all day if duties manifold did not call me. If you don’t get books, beleive me to be ever the same, & to have you in remembrance before my Fathers throne. May your stay at home be happy & health-full & if I may, may I wish for you a help mate or, meet, or both to make your life full & complete.
All good be yours. I am ever
Yours Affectionately
Mary M Slessor
don’t pay me out by failing to write.
Mokop? [Note 5]
[Written halfway down on the blank page opposing page 5] "Word just come that Mr Wessells is dead."
Editorial Notes:
- Presby. The Meeting of the Presbytery
- Egbo = Efik secret society
- Blackwater = Blackwater Fever: a severe infectious disease, a complication of Malaria
- ADC = Aide-de-camp
- Mokop. An Efik word, meaning unknown
Letter no. 64
9th December 1909
Miss Slessor apologises for her previous un-stamped letter and then goes on to relate in detail the circumstances under which she felt it necessary to resign from her Court work. New government administrators have taken office who are not known personally to her, and a short letter of acceptance had been received. She had had some interesting visitors, and the ladies at Ikot Obon Mission had been sent a bicycle by Mr Fosbery. The Road is in fine condition, and she goes on to give some household news. She finishes on a plea for news and to know when he will be returning to Nigeria.
My dear Old Governor
If you only knew the shame & mortification I have writhed under you would pity me rather than blame me for the *UN*-stamped card you got by last mail. I could not get a messenger, & so sent the girls & told them to tell MacCauley to weigh & stamp them & see the girl stamp the letters. The Str [Note 1] was lading, & he wd. be worried, & he took them all, impatient of her talk, & put them all in the bag, giving her [1/3?] [Note 2] worth of stamps back with her. When I saw them, you may guess how I felt, & as the truth dawned on me more & more it was horrid for days. Please *do* forgive me, or rather the Clerk & the girls. It was entirely a mistake, due to the pride of our ancestors who tried to build a Tower which wd make them independent. Alas! For the descendents of those proud men! Is the race extinct think you?
Well, I have not written; partly because I waited for the "Convenient" time & *more* *partly*, because I wanted my news to be definite & my pride to go down lest I shd. be unjust to any one. For a few months back, the *new* road men, *not* big offficers, have resented their boys coming to me with any complaint. Later the bigger officers have made it plain that they beleive themselves to be the only persons responsible or competent to judge anything for their boys. *I* hold that at work & under limits they have a right to settle all disputes; but outside the days work; or if discipline as administered by an Efik scamp who has picked up a little English at the beaches be to the Effusion of blood, or be given *out* *side* the work hours & place, the rights of citizenship have been invaded, & every boy has a right to take out a summons & be heard in open Court. This **may** have something to do with developments, but I'm only *supposing* it has. I don’t know. It is the *first* time we have had any trouble with work men . Messers Darly, Rosario & Hanson, got every thing explained here; & were always satisfied & even grateful. Now it is not so. Well, you know the sad sad time we had at Ikot Okpene. Good Capn Werry, & then in a week or two, Mr Wessells both died, & they sent a man named Hodgeson as A.D.C. I heard that he too had been sent down sick, & as they carried a White Man in a hammock lying down, towards Itu while we were in Church that week, I beleived it. Any how I did not then know his name, & I thought there was no White Officer at the Station. Meanwhile Ibianan came one morning very early with a broken demijohn & telling that a woman had fallen out in the bush at the edge of the town, had cut an artery & bled to death, & as they had got her from another village, they were afraid there wd be trouble with her people "What shd they do?" "Wd. we send to see the body" I sent at once to the Clerk to send on the oldest C.M. [Note 3] to see the body & report on Mbian oath [Note 4], also Okodi to go at once to the womans relatives & ask them to go & see the body, & get it buried decently & if there was to be palaver [Note 5], we wd make the strictest enquiry. Meanwhile a messenger came from the Rds Dept [Note 6] to say there had been, what they feared was a murder, the noise attracted them & the blood. I explained that we had done what was necessary, & as the C.M.s had their orders, it wd. be well that no outsider interfered. - A day or two later Itu Ndem sent Chiefs & lads to say that 2 White Men had come to their town & taken 9 or 10 people to Ikot Okpene, & their followers had wrecked a lot of property. Would I send to Ikot Okpene & ask what the palaver was, as they did not know. I wrote on one side of a sheet of paper & did not enclose it a query to that effect, adding nothing, as I did not know if a White Man was there. Two large sheets of Rhodomontade [Note 6] came back type written, with such an impossible story, & with what I can only call insult to me. I wrote at once - again on half a sheet of paper, - "Sir, as I have yet to learn when & where I ever interfered with "a case being handled by a D C [Note 8]," as I have also to learn how & when I "shewed active sympathy" or passive sympathy either for that part, "with *those* *people*", I fail to see the point of this communication, & of course it is impossible for me to serve any longer under your rule, in any form, so I resign all connection with Ikot Obon Court. In a P.S. I added " an M.P. sent by you last week to Mr Dickson, regarding a case judged first while I was in Britain, & again for contempt of that judgement, judged & sentenced by A.D.C. [Note 9] impugned the probity & ability of the Ikot Obon Court & made them guilty of ------ Hence I told Mr Dickson at that time that I cd not serve under the writer of *such* a letter.
Brooks came up at that time to take charge, & after he was 3 or 4 days set down he sent a *most* *official* note accepting my resignation & *thanked* *me* *in* *the* *name* *of* *the* *Govr.* *for* *all* *my* *work*. The Ludicrous side then dawned on me, & I laughed & despised the height of the man more than ever. That was three weeks ago. Last boat brought a very nice friendly note from Mr Fosberry regretting that I had found it necessary to resign, & with a *gentlemans* thanks, for service rendered, & wishing me all good. So thats the position! & I'm dismissed & that by utter strangers. The Chiefs & people, & even the Clerk, cant understand, & the people *will* come, & the Clerk asks about things I know of & he doesnt as they were before his time, & how can I act? To let them see my rift within the Lute, wd give the show away. It wd. be fatal, as there wd be 2 parties, & yet I dare not interfere or write a note for any one. If it were not that the down river ladies may come up for the Xmas holidays - they all break up on 16 or 17 ult, I wd. go up to Ikpe & stay till every body fell off. But they will always come, as they have always come before there were Courts, & how am I to meet it, unless God takes me Home out of the way.
Now I have not told a soul but you, so you will respect my confidence & keep it closely in your own heart. Never speak of it. It is an *individual* palaver, & no one outside that is to blame, besides perhaps it is the only way to bring home to me the fact that I'm growing too old to be trusted with the affairs of a people. A new A D C came to Itu at the same time. He was to get any advice as to the laws etc, & was to come up, but I have neither seen him, nor have I had an answer verbal or written to the various things I have been forced to write & send to him since then. Even when I apologised for not having caught his name & had sent all the letters & books & people - to the D C at Itu. He never even enlightened me. I have since heard he is called Hopkinson, so you see Im a social leper.
But I have more pleasant news than this, this is to be forgotten, but I *had* to tell *you* as you made me take up the work. Mr George Gray & another Mr Grey going to Ikot Okpene in some capacity, called early on Sabbath morning. Scarcely had they gone, after a most pleasant talk, when Lady Edgerton called. She had only come the night before to meet him as he came round from I'Ekpene & they wd be going off next day. I think it was so kind of her to come when her time was so limited. She is an example to all ladies in the Protectorate & Mission, by her quiet unassuming behaviour & manner, her pure womanliness, & the plainness & yet elegance of her dress & tastes. His Excellency passed down on a motor cycle as we were in Church at midday, so I have not got a glimpse of him. Then too, one of those days when I was dismissed with Brooks Ironical thanks, Miss Peacock came down & she shewed me an official envelope & a formal note from this new ADC of Itu, saying that the Provincial Comner.[Note 10] had sent up a ladys Bicycle to the ladies at Ikot Obon for their use. It is a fine Bike with the speed thing & all new things, but it is not new, so we think it has been Miss Boggs or Mrs Fosbery's & that they have gone home. However we don’t know. The A D C sent it to "Miss Peacock Principal lady at Ikot Obon", & she wrote back a Formal note of receipt & thanks. Now was not that a kind thought of Mr Fosbery's tho' I don’t beleive he knows there is such a person as Miss Peacock. It was a kind thing for the Station seeing the road is good for so far. So there is sunlight in the world yet. I think the Governor will be pleased with the road. It has been metalled all over. Huge stones laid down under the sand, & the motor which runs all the time makes little impression on it now. The driver of the motor, a Lagos boy, came for my Mary, & they seem very happy & he has been very generous to us all, & is a good quiet Xtian [Note 11] lad. His mother & brother wrote to me from Lagos before I agreed to the marriage, but I am pleased with it, more than I shd have been with those who were seeking her from Ibibio & Okoyon & Ikpe, tho' all were good enough & well to do. His house & manner of life & food & etc are more like what she has been brought up to, & their small house *is* *not* in a compound, thats to me the ugly part of our native life, the publicity of it all. Annie has a fine baby boy & her husband - a school lad of Use - is kind to us all, & helpful to me, & a good boy. Only Jean & the younger ones are at home. Dan & Asogud are gone to the Institute. It wd make them such ninnies to be always among girls even if they had good schooling. I have two baby girls talking, one lies on my knee asleep now, & a wee ricketty boy whose mother died, & his father works on the road & he has no one to look after him. He has just got over that fearful scab - the Yaws [Note 12] - & has swollen feet & hands often, but with codliver oil & milk he puts on flesh apace. Now Bye bye. *Do* *let* *me* *have* *if only a line*. Im wearied to know how you are, & when you mean to be back. God bless you & guide you is the prayer of Yours Affectionately
Mary M Slessor
Editorial Notes:
- Str = Steamer
- one shilling and three pence (or 6 and a half new pence)
- C.M. = Court Messenger
- Mbian oath. A solemn oath taken with the use of Mbiam which is a "liquid substance which is tasted, & sometimes put on various parts of the body. It is supposed to cause dropsy, & so destroy any individual swearing falsely." from Charles Partridge's copy of "Dictionary of the Efik Language" by the Rev. Hugh Goldie.
- palaver = usually denotes a discussion, consultation, or Court Case
- Rds Dept = Roads Department
- Rhodomontade. Extravagant boasting.
- D C = District Commissioner
- ADC = Aide-de-camp
- Comner. = Commissioner
- Xtian = Christian
- Yaws. A contagious disease of the skin.
Letter no. 65
22nd December 1909
Mary writes to Mr Partridge, Senior, to apologize for the unstamped letter [mentioned in letter 64] which would have been received by him after the departure of his son for Lagos. She goes on to congratulate him on having such an excellent person as his son.
(Postmarked Calabar Dec 23rd 1909; further postmarked, Stowmarket 5.30pm Jan 15th 1910.)
Dear Sir,
My name is Miss Slessor & I had the great pleasure of working under, & I think I *dare* say that I made, & keep the privilege of friendship with your son Mr C Partridge, during that time of co-operation. Well, I sent him a Photograph of myself, as the only Xmas card I had within reach, & to my shame & mortification, the man at the Transport, either too busy, or not able to understand the language of the messenger, threw my heap of mails, several *un*stamped, into the bag, & sent the stamps for the money that was to get stamps for the letters. The Card to Mr Partridge was among them, & when last mail his letter told me he wd have left home by time it was due, I was simply overwhelmed with shame at the fact of the card going *un*paid to *you*. I sent a letter by the next mail apologizing, but you wont see it, so I send this to you to apologise, & trust it has not vexed or shamed you, for I have the very highest regard for Mr Partridge, & only wish I knew how I could serve him to purpose.
I know from him that you are a Xtian [Note 1], & I am a missionary - have been for 33 years - in the Scots Presbyterian Mission here, so I hope you will accept my apology. Also accept my congratu;ations on the possession of such a son as Mr Partridge is. He not only lives a White life out here, but his upright & sympathetic tactfulness as an administrator have endeared him to our people, [who long all the time that he be sent back to this province], but raise their conceptions of what a White Man & a Christian is. Hence he not only serves & adorns & extends the British Empire, but he is a tower of strength to all, who like myself, work against the dreadful odds of heathenism.
Please excuse my forwardness in addressing you, also accept my apologies for the affront given without intent & through the crudeness of our Postal arrangements
I am Yours faithfully
Mary M Slessor
Editorial Note:
- Xtian = Christian
Letter no. 66
23rd December 1909
Mary explains that she has written to Mr Partridge's father to apologise and explain the unstamped letter. She is glad he is returning to Nigeria, but sad that he is not to return to Calabar.
My Dear Old Chief
I got up at first cock-crow, in order to write an apology to your father for an unstamped card I had sent, & which will reach your home *after* you have left. O, if I was ashamed before, I have been simply overwhelmed since with mortification at giving them this affront, & at Xmas time time too!!! I do hope they will not misunderstand, or think that it is disrespect to you, for whom I have a pardonable affection & respect. I had also sent an apology to you the following mail, & you will very much wonder at the other news that letter will give.
I was in the bush yest. & they got a boy to post any letters I had ready, but I cd not get this done then & am hoping that at daybreak, I shall see some of the road workers going to Okopedi who can take this in time to catch the boat this morning.
I cant write a letter, nor thank you for yours, nor touch on the wonderful news that a Xmas present of such magnitude should be given me, all this will go by next week. This will meet you on your arrival at Lagos, & will let you know that your return causes joy to me heart at least.
O I wish you were coming here! shall I ever see you again? I hope you will keep well, & that this Year may bring you every Good that even our God can bestow.
With ever & ever so much of the greetings & good wishes & tender regards associated with the season, I am ever your affectionate friend
M M Slessor
I was 60 years old last week. Fancy that! I cant realize it.
MMS
Letter no. 67
3rd February 1910
Mary writes of her excitement over Mr Partridge's gift of a new bicycle. As she has been attending the Presbytery meeting she has not yet been able to try it!. She cannot write much as her thumb has swollen painfully but promises a letter the next week.
[Postmarks show that it was received in Lagos on February 9th 1910 and arrived in Badagry on February 15th 1910]
O You dear!!
I have been so excited for over a week about my cycle. I only *saw* it for the first time the day before I came down here for Presbytery. Mr Fosbery wrote to me that he had sent it up, & sent me a nice letter, but the A.D.C. [Note 1] to whom it was consigned was, I think, at Ikot Okpene & I was just crazy for a week waiting to see it, then Marys husband told the Chaufeur, & they brought it up, & took it right up to the garage at the Ikot Obon Camp to put it in riding order, & they wanted to bring it down the morning they left, but I said "no, keep it till I come back", so I have not yet got a trial of it. I feel as eager to get to it, as to get to the bairns. But my dear old Rudge [Note 2] is my bosom friend & I'm jealous for the dear Bike that has carried me so long, & given me such pleasure & healthful exercise.
I have still this gouty Calabar swelling & cant hold the pen. My thumb is so sore. So I cant write to you today, & we leave tomorrow. I go to tea with the nurses this after-noon, & to Dinner with the McGregors at the Institute. I brought Dan down after holiday & must see to his clothes too this evening.
Please don’t be vexed with this scribble. I have crops of boils again on my head, but am otherwise well, & I shall be quite able to write to you next week when my hand is better. Mr Child has been up, shall you see him. Im lost about your new place, but shall find out. I do hope you will like it & keep well. Thanks for word of Essien, shall write to him. Ever & ever so much of grateful thanks, & shall tell you all about the station and Bike next time
With affectionate greetings & wishes I am ever your old Friend M M Slessor
Editorial Notes:
- ADC = Aide-de-camp
- Rudge. The manufacturer and trade name of Miss Slessor's first bicycle.
Letter no. 68
3rd March 1910
The boils mentioned in her last letter have multiplied and caused Mary severe pain and even blindness for a time. Dr Thompson has brought about a great improvement enabling her to reply ["by groping over the paper by instinct"] at last to Mr Partridge's letter, and she is looking forward to trying out her new Bike in a couple of days! She expresses her delight at receiving letters from both his parents and hopes to be able to see well enough to write replies in a week's time.
("Badagry" struck out by another hand & re-addressed to Igbeni Hill.
Postmarks show it left Itu on March 3rd; then Calabar on March 14th, and arrived at Igbein Hill, Abeokuta on March 14th 1910)
My very dear friend
I thank you ever so much for your cheerful letter which has helped me not a little, & I am sure you are quite right in *all* you say. I cant write a letter, as Im almost blind. Ive had that head & neck of boils again, but Dr Thompson from Ikot Okpene came up with the A D C [Note 1] from Itu & said "Im simply come to take care of you, & youve got to do what I tell you." & he did work a miracle of healing. He said one of the oldest Drs on the Coast had the same thing last year, & I was to take his drastic measures, & when I think of how he has healed me in such a short time, & quite killed the hundreds of things, & made life quite bearable again, I feel mad at the month of agony I suffered last year, & the 3 weeks of the same this year. I was quite blind for a time. Then only yesterday, have been able to read or write again for a week, but it is all right today, & tho Im groping over the paper by instinct there is not any pain in the eye, & in a couple of days, I shall be on my cycle again. Will you beleive me that I've never tried my new one yet! Ive not got my head down so the want of sleep made me so nervous again that I dare not ride or even hear the bairns crying or making a noise. A new baby [nearly died yest] from Nyo has come today but Jean is always pleased & never thinks a baby a trouble so she is keeping it. Mr Gray has been offering me his escort home, as he thought it was time I was going, he leaves this month. Mr Maxwell has written a nice brotherly breezy letter letter. Isnt it good of them? & Dr Thompson I shall never thank him enough for his goodness & skill I hear Mr Bedwell takes Mr Fosberys place here. Im so glad for he is a good man, I understand him, & he me.
Now for my news!! And O you dear boy, I love you better & better for it!! I have had the joy of letters from your dear parents. The dear sweet Mother heart!! I cant speak of her letter, but it makes life richer, & the Father too. I quite *UNDERSTAND* all about it. In Scotland we say "The Rose of Sharon has a smell of its ain." & John Bunyan says "They spoke the language of Canaan," & so we do! & so shall **you** one day, & thats my prayer for you constantly. I shall write if I can see next week to them, & mind this always. You must not fix the faults of Xtians [Note 2]. or their particular or narrow schools, on to the tender perfect Master of us all. Now dear laddie, good life. for a week, God bless you, & keep & company with you. I am ever yours affectionately,
Mary M Slessor
I hope you can read this. Mr Darby is gone back to the [East?]. He wont come back here. His sister [wat--?] this [-?] Our Rd staff are all new. MMSlessor
Editorial Note:
As the letter makes clear this letter was written while Mary was unable to see due to the boils that infested her head. As a result this letter has been very hard to read – the ink is very black [coming through the paper] and the writing is unclear, though an excellent effort considering her difficulty.
More Notes:
- ADC = Aide -de-camp
- Xtians = Christians
Letter no. 69
10th March 1910
Miss Slessor is writing to Mr Partridge's parents. Most of the letter is on Christian subjects, eg. the value of prayer [asking particularly for prayers on behalf of her children], the certainty of God's presence in her work, the value of the Keswick School, etc. with reference to her early life. She gives a short appreciation of their son, touching delightfully on her relationship with him.
(Envelope addressed to:)
Dear Mr & Mrs Partridge
It is my turn now to be glad that something went wrong, in order to get such letters as you have kindly sent me. I have always known that you were Christians. Mr Partridge told me too that you were *evangelical* Christians. Which made me understand more, so that I am not surprised at your letters, & so much have I been told of the dear Mother that I would not be surprised at any attainment on her part. I do thank you so much for taking me so under your circle of friends for we serve One Royal Master, & I shall be glad if you give me a share of your prayers, & if you specially pray for my *dear* Children, that they may be saved & be made saviours of others. I feel so frail sometimes now a days that I feel as if the work must be left to them & while they are all good & affectionate & obedient there is a lack of spiritual life, & the lack of that passion for the saving of others, that I long for in them, & in myself. There is great deadness here, as in the Church at home, an indifference to spiritual things, tho God does not leave himself with [Note 1] a witness, for our catechism class mostly made up of elderly people, & many of them women, which is most hopeful seems to grow in numbers in steadfastness, & we have 4 baptized members. Two & a half years ago the villagers were steeped in degradation & vice, so I am grateful for so much, but oh! for an awakening & a conviction of sin, which will drive them to the Saviour!
Thank you for the booklets!! Do you go to Keswick at all? I am sure you will be thorough in sympathy with that school & all it stands for. Long before I knew about that, in the days of [Parsale?] Smith, & Boardmans Higher life, when I was a young girl, I entered in Gods Great Grace, on the experience of His Keeping sanctifying power & excepting for a very little while when Cheyne & Driver were at their worst in their destructive Criticism, that Perfect Peace & faith has never wavered, & if any one may testify as to the reality of His Presence & power, it is surely this unworthy servant, who has lived & worked *alone* for the long space of 20 years, & in the darkest place of our Field. *He* & *His* *Word* are a living bright reality for sure, & the fact, that I meet my congregation, knowing that it is not me, nor my message, but just that I am in the Hand of the Spirit as the Channel of Communication, & that my part is to see that the Channel is open & clean. This fact I say keeps away the fear & the worry, & the nervousness of being conscious that all their impressions come thro me - which is a tremendous responsibility. This keeps me in quietness of soul, that keeps me in health of body. But what am I writing all this about myself for? I mean to Glorify Him, & to magnify His Grace in me.
I am so sorry Mr Partridge is again settled outside our District! It meant such a lot to me, & to my people too, when he left Ikot Okpene. But it is such a blessing for others to have his just, patient, tactful rule that I try to be glad for their sakes. Foolish & superficial & *hireling* administrators are not wanting among us, tho one British rule is far & away the best thing for Africa & for all subject races, that the World Powers know. He never fails to write to me, & always in the most cheerful manner. *Every* place is *good*. He never has a complaint! He acts out the Hymn sentiment, "Go bury thy sorrow"," "Go give them the sunshine" & I am sure, tho' John Bull will never profess any thing lest it be called Cant, that he "Tells Jesus the rest." For all we bicker, & he bothers me & teases me, I know that he worships & tries to serve My Lord. & he knows that my earnest prayer for him. Do you think we thank God enough for, & use enough the ministry of privilege in intercession? I think not. Open your circle to me, & I shall more definitely than ever to you & yours.
A very young boy, whose parents & sisters are Christian, called on me, as he passed up a stranger towards Bendi last week. He is Scots, & of course a Presbyterian, so was in some measure aware of our Mission here. We parted with full hearts. May God bless & Guide & Keep him. I met Mrs Pen Lewis in Scotland some 14 or 15 years ago at the house of mutual friends in Edinburgh. Mr Wilson, the late Chairperson of Keswick was there too. It was a fine time, & ever since I have followed the career of Mrs Pen Lewis with great interest. "She Overcomes", was sent to me a short time ago by some friend unknown, so it is not altogether a stranger. What a Grand Number this is! Those Calvary Papers of Mr Gordon are so intensely searching & uplifting. I feel so far short of any thing on meditating thus on the theme of all themes, The Cross. You are well off at Home with all the privileges of Reading & Conference & Communion of saints. But I wd. *not* change with you, For he is *all* *sufficient* here, & there many souls to be won, & much land to be possessed.
I am under the doctors care ---- Here he comes ----- & have had a weary month of pain from a crop of boils all over my head, then my eyes got bad & this is the first of my using them for writing or reading, so I can not make a decent letter to you, & it is such a selfish letter too, for I think being in the house so much is making me feel morbid, but it goes with a full heart & with much Xtian affection.
Here are the boys to take the letters to the Post. The Dr has sat with me for an hour, so this must go as it is.
With thanks for Your Kindness & with Kindest regards
I am Yours Sincerely
Mary MSlessor
Editorial Notes:
- Surely intended to be "without".
Letter no. 70
27th April 1910
Although Miss Slessor is worried that she has not heard from Mr Partridge recently, her main reason for writing is to ask him to bear witness in the case of Ekpe Ita, who is being asked to pay "that young scamp" Udo Antia £20 or to become, with his household, Udo's slaves. The whole case seems to hinge on actions taken 11 years earlier, with Mr Partridge the only possible witness for the defence.
27th April 1910.
Dear Mr Partridge
If word does not come from you this mail, I shall try to write to someone who will know about you from Lagos. Are you well enough? I'm more than anxious.
But I am not to write about myself in this note. It is written in favour of one of the best & most respectable citizens of Ntit Obio. At Ikot Inyan - Imuk's village. Since I have left the Court Udo Antia is at it again, calling people from here & there, with claims for women & etc, & he seems to have got the right side of a boy whom I put in "Interem" for a sick member for Itu. The fellow hasn't even a Warrant to sit, so I made a visit last week & spoke to the Jury about it, & told them that fellow cant be foreman of Jury.
Udo Antia calls Ekpo Ita of Ikot Imien claiming him & all his House, as his slaves. One part of the Claim rests on an act of 11 years ago, in which he invocked Udo's help with his women. By the brother & other Chiefs this was revocked by the sacrifice of a fowl etc. that part is easily disposed of. But he says he has paid to Udo Afia Ikot Okpene [Note 1], - that is Mr Partridge, the sum of £20 " " for redemption money for Ekpo Ita. in other words *he* *bought* *him* *by* *paying this sum to you*. No one knows for what he paid this. Ekpo Ita never had a palaver with you. You never told him, & you never told me, & he does not know from what he redeemed him at your hands. So he told the Court that he had no witness but you, & he asks me to write & ask if you will tell the Court what he did that you took this money from Udo Antia. As one A.D.C. [Note 2] is gone to Calabar sick, I have taken it on me to forbid the Case going on till his, or a substitute returns, & until Ekpo Itas question to you, be answered. Will you tell him? It means his very life to him.
Now here is his, & Imuks statement about the £20. It may help your memory! Udo Antia held a stubborn wife of Ekpo Ita's, one man seduced her. Udo took 60 rods [Note 3] from that man, & you fined him, Udo Antia, for taking the 60 rods - *i.e. He lost 60 rods of the womans a/c.*
You see I am not doing what I shd. do, were I taking up this Case i.e. writing to Brooks. But the Dept. asks me to write *for* **him** direct to you, as he knows nothing of any transaction on his behalf, between you & Udo Antia. & that young scamp sitting in the foremans Chair without even a Warrant, said a week or more ago, "You must either find £20, or be Udo Antias slave. We know nothing of having a White Man for Witness". *He* *has* *got* *his* *Answer* believe me for that, & they will not think again of transferring a house & a White Man never called. The Eniyon men were attending the Assizes at Aro Chuku when this was spoken. Thats my burden, & if you can help this man, as his Witness, please do so, in the fashion which is to your orderly & official soul, the best one. Of course it shd. go from you pro the D.C. [Note 4] but our swells from Itu seem to be able to do without a D.C. Hence the [Defts?], fear & dread.
With every kind wish & regard I am
Editorial Notes:
- Udo Afia Ikot Okpene. Charles Partridge's local name
- ADC = Aide-de-camp
- rods = brass rods were a medium for barter; local currency
- DC = District Commissioner