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Sessor, Mary Letter no. 50 20th June 1908
Miss Slessor apologises for not having written to Mr. Partridge. She had been
visiting the Presbytery in Duke Town and had been much occupied there. A
large boil was also causing her great discomfort. While at Calabar she had
made a disressing visit to Esien, Mr Partridge's former interpreter, in prison there
awaiting trial. Various news of friends and neighbours.
Use Ikot Oku
20th June 1908
Dear Mr Partridge
You did not get a letter last Mail, for which I am sorry. I was at
the Presbytery meeting in Duke Town for a week & was so much taken up with
visitors, & visiting & running out on my Cycle with the Mission Groups, & etc,
that I cd not get other than the official Mission letters written for that mail.
Then I had a boil, a huge thing like that I had when I went to the Govt. Rest
House to [Note 1] you about Dr Robertsons Ground Plan, Do you remember
being so angry at my attempt to climb the hill in the heat? Well the thing has
kept me for a week, almost lying on my back with applications on it & now it
has broken I cant well sit up or raise my arm to write. But I cant let another
week pass. I have been 2 weeks in continuation absent from Court, a thing I
never was guilty of before.
I met Mr Biddell on my return, at Okopedi beach. He looked much better in
health than he was before. He did not call on his way back.
Mrs Fosbery kindly sent a Hammock for me while I was down at Calabar, so I
had a very nice little time at Govt House, but the Gentlemen were on duty, so I
saw little of them, & have no news to give you.
I went to see Esien in Prison. The Superintendant was most kind. Esien did
not know all the charges against him more than we do. He owned to an ugly
one, but not to having helped or hidden murderers etc, nor to the abstraction of
the "White Girl" you spoke once of to me. He cried very very bitterly, when I
touched him, & when I was on my way out of the Court, I heard an outbreak that
cut me to the heart after the doors were locked. I cd. not sleep that night. I told
him you had never once failed to ask for him & he broke down then, & said
"Will he never come back?" "It seems so long", & groaned. I dare not tell his
mother all. I have not told her that he is in a cell by himself, among dangerous
characters. I cant trust myself to speak to her to tell her his message, so sent
Jean, & then his brother Ofon to tell her. Mr Fosbery leaves in a week. His
brave bonny wife has enjoyed her stay, & has endeared herself to many. The
ladies in the Mission all like her. - Trade is looking up a wee bit, but for 2
months it was nill. I have not got more about Udo Antia. Mr B- has not
mentioned him, but Imuk is at liberty, so Halliday tells me. You say, the latter
cd. give me news. Perhaps! I have asked him about some things you have
asked, but he knows little. He is most courteous, & never once has been other
than obliging, but I cant bring my pride down to seek any news directly from
him. Indeed, there is a whole continent - nay a whole sphere, between Ikot
Okpene & this station.
I hear Sir Walter leaves next year, & Col. Moorhouse takes rank. That is surely
not correct? I'm longing for you to be at the head of things again, & so are
many, Halliday among them. The A.D.C. [Note 2] Mr Sydenham is removed
again I hear, & Mr B. is alone. He is not strong, & it is a heavy work, as every
District is, but his time is nearly done, & O I do hope you will be in time to take
your own place for you made the District & its yours. "The ladies" are always
asking about you, & never forget that you were such a perfect gentleman in all
your help to them on board, as well as when they were here. You will be
warmly welcomed by them & by Mr Hanson of the Rds Dept [Note 3]- who has
high opinions of you gathered from the others. He left the Okopedi Camp last
week for the 4 mile one at Ikot Obon, & he works on to Ikot Okpene repairing
the ravages of a very wet season. Mr Underhill will miss Him as also Johns, the
assist. at "Russells".
Now I have a lot of news away back in my mind, for I met a number of people at
Calabar, but I cant get it written. Ekpo Nive, & Ekpo Adiaha of Itu, & many
others send request that you do not forget to come back, & so does your most
humble & obedient & expectant Friend
M M Slessor
of course if the Heiress comes in, I utterly absolve, tho' I wont forgive you.
Bring her with you, & bring a motor car & such luxuries for her & for you. Eh?
The few silver & gold threads which tried to reflect the sun, & to cover my scalp
at the same time are going so fast, I fear you will not be in time to meet many of
them. It is not trouble, or affliction, but age - dreadful truth, *AGE*.
Yours notwithstanding in hope to be able for some work yet. MMS
EDITORIAL NOTES:
1] it seems that a word is missing here, suggest "see"
2] ADC = Aide-de-camp
3] Rds Dep = Roads Department
TRANSCRIPTION BY: Leslie A Mackenzie, 1997
DATA ENTERED BY: Ruth E Riding, 1997Slessor, Mary Letter no. 51 21st June 1908
Enclosed in her last letter, a jubilant note on hearing Mr. Partridge is about to
return to Calabar.
Mail Come
21. 6. 8
Glorious news! You are to leave in the end or beginning or middle of this or
next month. Hurrah! Two letters too, & you say I missed another mail! I dont
think so. A lady at home in Scotland says she was missed & I dont think so!
Have my letters been left at the beach till too late?
This may not find you at home!!! Hurrah Again. Come on old man, with or
without the Heiress! It is all one, so be you come, no new news.
M M Slessor
TRANSCRIPTION BY : Leslie A Mackenzie, 1997
DATA ENTERED BY: Ruth Riding, 1997Slessor, Mary Letter no. 52 14th July 1908
The buoyancy of letter 51 is gone. Mr. Partridge is to serve in Lagos on his
return to Calabar. Again she is angry with Halliday, the clerk, who has been
issuing instructions without her authority which have brought about the death of
her Court Messenger Ekpenyon. She waits for the new ladies to arrive from
Calabar, so that she can move to Ikpe, a new location.
Use Ikot Oku
14. 7. '8
Dear Mr Partridge
Your letter has quite upset me! What a sell! What a dead down
dump!! Of course it means promotion to be called to the Lagos side, but waes
me [Note 1] for those left here! & when we were resting on the assurance that
we were just out of the wood & that all was to be well once more. Things have
been so unsatisfactory somehow, & no one seems to see, or know where to put
in one's hand, & the feeling of - oh never mind, bear on for a few weeks more &
it will be all right was stiffening us, & here comes this!
Well I hope it will work on in Compound Interest for you, thats the main thing,
& you would have got a jumble here, I fear, only you *understand* & things
would have fallen right back into place. Udo Antias reappearance has brought
such an element of discord, & disappointment into the district, & you would
have known his position & his lying, & cd. have made the Court a paramount
influence & set him down.
While I was up at Ikpe - which made me miss a mail - he went to Court & asked
for a C M [Note 2] to go to Anan to work a proclamation of some kind at the
Obo Market, & Halliday gave my poor old C M Ekpenyon the job, & the boy
was shot dead while at it. Im so mad, I cant yet feel sure enough of myself to go
into it all, but Halliday equivocates in such a hopeless way when I demand who
gave him authority to do such a thing & everybody is blaming another & the
D.C.[Note 3] getting his interpretation from H [Note 4], & others of course can
only believe that Ekpenyon must have done something to provoke it. I shall sift
the whole matter to the bottom this week. The murderer is not caught, of course
not,
When I came from Ikpe, Mr Underhill & others met us at the beach, & his first
words were "Hurrah, guess my news! Mr Partridge will be here in another
mail." I dont think he knows yet.
I've not begun to wonder yet whom we shall have for Boss! It will be all the
same who comes now it is not you.
Esien is being tried I hear this week at *Duke* *Town* at the Assizes. He has
sent up a request per the Sup [Note 5] of Prisons for me to be there, but I have
just written that it wd. do no good, as I dont even know his alleged crime. It has
been a long time to keep him untried, & now to judge him so far from the scene
of his work & fault.
Your boy has not come yet, but I shall see Mr Rankin this week I hope, & as he
is settled in Aro Chuku & is great friends with the DC there, I hope to find the
boy, & shall do my best to get any kind of good for him. I shall attend to the 5/-
[Note 6] being given him. I have a fine young fellow Mr McGregor & his
pretty wife, with me just now for a 10 days, & we expect to have a lady or
perhaps 2 in another day.
It is the Holiday season for Schools in Calabar so the teachers are all spread
abroad. Mr McGregor is Principal of the Training College at Duke Town. You
wd. enjoy his company I know tho' he is a Sky Pilot [Note 7]. He is a
***fine***, broad one, & cultured & literary.
We all dine at Miss Peacocks on Thursday after Court. Miss Reid leaves us for
the Girls School at Creek Town, till the new Matron there learns & then she will
be married to an Artizan Missionary in Calabar. So Miss P- will be alone, & I
have promised to go to Ikpe for good whenever the 4 new ladies appointed for
Calabar come out, & given one to this, - This to be made a station for women, &
with some industrial work. The first start to be in basket making, for the Rd
Dept [Note 8]. I am awfully, rudely well, only a couple of boils have been
humbugging me the last month. I was out round Ntan & Ididep 9 hours on
sabbath. Let me know *at* *once* how & where you are settled. I do hope it
is not in Lagos Town. I beleive it is hateful in every sense.
Now tata for a time, as I'm at my small siesta & must get tea for our friends.
With every good kind wish I am as ever Yours most sincerely
Mary M Slessor. shall write next boat.
Remember me to Mr Maxwell
My visitors & I are reading your book. When does the next one come? Mr
McG- is writing on the Nsibidi,- the [H...?] & glyphics of the people around.
He has sent some things home I think. Yours again
MMS
EDITORIAL NOTES:
1] waes me = sad am I [Scots]
2] C M = Court Messenger
3] D.C. = District Commissioner
4] H. = Halliday
5] Sup = Superintendant
6] 5/- = five shillings [or 25 new pence]
7] Sky Pilot = slang term for a Minister of Religion
8] Rd Dep = Roads Department
TRANSCRIPTION BY: Leslie A. Mackenzie, 1997
DATA ENTERED BY: Ruth E. Riding, 1997
Slessor, Mary Letter no. 53 14th August 1908
Miss Slessor still bemoans the fact that Mr. Partridge is to go to Lagos, but tells
him that it is perhaps better since life there may be less strenuous than Calabar.
A further report on the extraordinary happenings leading to wrongful arrests and
the murder of the C.M. Ekpenyon, leading to turmoil in the whole District.
Once more Mr Biddell & Halliday are under fire. An enquiry has been held,
however, by Mr Hargrove the new District Commissioner and the results related.
Mr Hargrove is approved of. Mr. Partridge's old houseboy visited Miss Slessor
and received his "dash" of 5/- at Court. Advises Mr Partridge of the importance
of prayer & supplication.
Use Ikot Oku
14. 8. '08
My dear old Boss
My heart is very sore over this "displacement". I feel quite soft
over it, & Im disappointed that you cant see me as I am, rejuvenated, & with
teeth, -i.e. when I dont forget to put them in - & with my "Pretty Hair" as thick,
tho' more silvern, than ever it was, & I'm quite affronted that you cant see how I
run on my Bike like a youngster; & I'm sorry you cant see our lovely road, In
some places 3 carriages cd run abreast. &____! O, I cd. go on, but I wont!!
For you wont want rain seeing the dry season is not quite come in yet. But I do
hope you are fit, & that the voyage has done you good, & that the new place will
not be quite so strenuous as the old one is.
I sometimes feel that it is perhaps better that you have been spared all the trouble
you wd see here, tho' on the other hand, you are the fittest to put things right
again. This is no more like the District you left a year ago than the one you go
to now is like it. Neither road nor market has been safe or prosperous, & the
whole way - from Oko Ita to away beyond Manya has been as sulky & sullen as
possible. When Udo Antia came home, as he did before his time, the first thing
he did was to catch Imuk, & tie him up & take him to Ikot Okpene, where he
was kept on the most ridiculous charges, & he is lame & sick from it till now.
His shirt lost, & his boys insulted, & etc. You, who know the past, & the
district can imagine how the news spread like wild fire, & as D.C. [Note 1] kept
Imuk for a time. Took no notice of how the arrest of a citizen without warrant.
Tying him up & abusing on his own account in his private house, was a most
flagrant breach of law. Rather stood with the false accuser. The whole place
rang with execrations & threats of the old time came back again.
Well, while I was at Ikpe, Mr Udo sent to Eso Okpo to bring a Police & come &
"wuk" [Note 2] certain things in the market at Obo; Eso went to Halliday, who
on the recept of 4/- [Note 3] sent Ekpenyon off with those 2 swells, without any
authorization from Ikot Okpene - whose district it is - or from our Court. When
the proclamation was made, instead of Eso coming off home with the C.M.
[Note 4] he went off to drink with the Chiefs & private friends of Udo Antias. I
sent Ekpenyon on a private Errand to a man, where Udo Antias slave, Udo Niva
fired a gun & shot Ekpenyon, dead. The D.C. gave Udo Antia the charge of 7
policemen with a corporal, to go & find the murderer, & was to pay £10 [Note 5]
to the person who brought him to the station, & so these dogs of war were let
loose with all Udo boys on these poor villages with the result, that there has been
a reign of Terror, every Chief insulted chained & tied up, beaten, women & men
haled to Udo Antias place & beaten & kept in Hunger & fear, the villages
plundered clean of every thing, & all the time I had to sit & bear it. Knowing
that the DC had given the order. When Mr Bedwell came up, I did not hide the
state the place was in, & he sent word & had it stopped, but I had a row with
Biddell about it, because he pooh poohed the whole thing, & was angry no doubt
of my telling it to the P.C. [Note 6] However, we have got a man after your own
kind, & he held a regular investigation yesterday, & he saw whether it was a
myth or a Panic. They were not slow to shew their temper over it, & on the
D.C. asking them to let byegones be byegones they sulkily refused, & said, "It is
not the first time." Which is a good deal for an Ibibio Audience to shew to a big
officer. However, our hands are so tied by the fact, that Udo was sent with this
horde without any head or restraint, by the administrator; & it is so difficult to
bring the guilt home to *any* *individual* where so many were at it, that Udo
has his own, or the D's luck [Note 7] once more, & he is only *threatened*,
which hurts all these old Chiefs sorely. However He *is* threatened with
banishment - permanent & entire - from the Ibibio Country if he ever again
breaks the peace. He, & *they* *all* understand that, & they are to be
compensated for the "looting" from Court funds - tho' they wont know it is not
from the offenders.
It is a most delicate situation for Mr Hargrove, who *must* blame his
predecessor, & yet shrinks from it, & from putting it on paper. All I hope is,
that we shall never see the like of that fellow again. How often have we said, ,
"All Udo Afia's [Note 8] work spoiled!" But it isnt, & this man is to get rest
houses put up as you had, all over, so that confidence be restored & the markets
be revived. There is a good solid substratum underneath, & this muck will dry
up again.
A good many things have been proved against Halliday too, but I think he has
got a lesson, & while I think we ought to punish him, I shd. never think of giving
him up. With guidance & supervision he will do good work yet. Esien Ndo
has got 5 years. His poor mother is in dispair. Your old boy, came to the house
& as he was going on to pay a call at Ikot Okpene, He left his "dash" [Note 9]
with me till he came back, which happened on Court day, so he got his 5/- [Note
10] in Court, & was very proud. How his face opened when he smiled & said
"tell him thank you" & tell him "I dont know that far country, but I shall always
work for him when he comes near." & everybody in Court echoed his sigh when
I said, When shall that be? Mr Bedwell is up the Cross River I hear, & will be
down tomorrow, so Mr Hargrove is to go to see him, & tell him of this bungled
business of Bid.s - as it is easier than writing it.
Mr Hargrove has a great respect for you, says, I cant say more than he is
prepared to say regarding your worth, so you see there is a bond of union
between us already. Miss Peacock is quite disappointed that you are not
coming, she never fails to ask when mails come, how you are, & all about you.
Take great Care this term & dont repeat that giving of yourself up to doing
record work. It wont pay, & then you dont profess to have a Halo waiting, so
please, dont try the break neck pace this time, & if you buckle on your work
with its perplexities & worries to the Throne of God & by "prayer & supplication
with thanks-giving make your requests known to Him He will keep your Heart
& mind in perfect peace, & unravel lots of things that are tangled, & so the body
will share in the salvation. *I've* *tried* it for as long as you have lived, so *I*
*know*. It is 32 years last Wednesday since I sailed for Calabar. Best regards
to Mr Maxwell, & all you can wish for yourself. I wish & pray, for you, &
beleive me to be yours Yours ever sincerely
Mary M Slessor
I shall send you my Photo, Eh?
Poor Mr Biddell I feel quite guilty at saying these hard things, for he is very
kindhearted & was good to me when I was sick, but you will understand, & it is
only for yourself. MMS
EDITORIAL NOTES:
1] D.C. = District Commissioner
2] "wuk". Efik term meaning "to proclaim as a law" from "Dictionary of Efik"
by Rev. Hugh Goldie.
3] 4/- = four shillings [or 20 new pence]
4] C.M. = Court Messenger
5] £10 = ten pounds
6] P.C. = Provincial Commissioner
7] D's luck = Devil's luck
8] Udo Afia. Charles Partridge, whose local name was Udo Afia Ikot Okpene
9] "dash". A gratuity, tip or gift
10] 5/- = five shillings [or 25 new pence]
TRANSCRPTION BY: Leslie A Mackenzie, 1997
DATA ENTERED BY: Ruth Riding, 1997Slessor, Mary Letter no. 54 29th August 1908
Miss Slessor hopes that Mr. Partridge has settled in at his new post, and has not
been badly hit by the heat after so long in England. Mr. Hargrove, the new
District Commissioner, is thoroughly approved of. There is a great deal for him
to do as the district becomes daily more lawless. The bulk of the remainder of
the letter is concerned with the affairs of Esien, Mr Partridge's former interpreter,
who had at last been tried and sentenced to 5 years in prison.
Use Ikot Oku
29th Aug. 1908.
Dear Old friend
I am wearying to hear how you have felt on seeing your new
domicile! & whether you are likely to like the people. I do hope it will not be
too hard on you, & that you will take care of yourself, & not over do the thing
till you are quite settled down & your system has got over the shock of its hot
bath in the tropics after such a long stay in the cold of the Homeland.
Sometimes I feel a bit glad that you have not come here after your severe illness,
for this district is in a sad state. One year of this slackness & -------- has had an
effect that break your heart. This District which was so perfectly known by you
& so well under control, to get all out of hand, & to have their confidence in the
White Man so rudely shaken. so that it seems as if all were to be done over
again. We have got as good a man as I believe the protectorate could produce
for the situation. A Mr Hargrove. He is just after your own heart, & if any one
will pull up things he will. He has a young lad for A.D.C. [Note 1] & he has got
a fine Kettle of fish to begin with. I'm praying all the time that he may have
sabi [Note 2] & coolheadedness for it. Mr Hargrove had to start off at once on a
tour of ???? The whole place is new to him & a miserable Interpreter - Dibue -
He had just started when Udo Antias slave who shot the C.M. Ekpenyon - &
who had been secured, & the witnesses called for the prosecution - escaped, after
the manner of his Illustrious Master. Biddell was wound round the Bush Kings
Finger, & I fear his accomplices from Calabar are too many yet for Justice.
Messengers were sent at once to call the big Chief Udo - & "he was not well, but
if he was better when he took some medicine, he wd. go." Fancy that for
cheek!!!
I sent Halliday off on his Cycle with the message that "if his leg was so bad he
cd. not walk, he had better get the mob who looted all last month for him, to
carry him, else some one wd. help him to walk." What was the answer I do not
know, but I told Halliday to stay on, & see if he cd help in the capture, if he were
needed. The young A.D.C. has no decent interpreter & they are not to be
trusted Yonder, Udo is old fashioned enough to keep himself out of the *direct*
agency. He is as cunning as a certain old Gent noted for that quality besides
being quite as qualified as the Father of lies himself on that other special calling.
Mr Underhill went round for a few days last week by Ikot Okpene & the Ino Ibo
river, seeking some outlet for his energies in developing trade, but there was not
any thing much to report. He is to meet the D.C. [Note 3] at Ikpe one of these
days, to see if he can get a footing there. I cant get up yet, as the Court is not in
a state to be left, & the market is not law abiding. All the up river tribes come
down, & as it is the famine season, the New Yams feast, not being made yet,
they are all trying to sell & out sell, & there are frequent brawls, & then
Hallidays palaver has not been gone into yet. The D.C. has not had time. Also
the First Baptisms are to be observed this month - no, next sunday week.
Cruickshank from Ikot Offion is coming, & I am anxious to be here till these are
all settled.
There are none whom you know, except Ofon Ikot & his Mother *may* be
admitted to the Church, & his 2 wives, but I do not think so, as their future
relations are not quite settled. The women must be provided for. They 3 and
the Mother are agreed as to what they shall do, but Mr C may not be satisfied. I
dont know. It is a great trial to the native giving up what they gloried in, their
Egbo [Note 4] & its drinkings & orgies & the glory thereof, & all that
differentiates a big man from a nobody. & it curtails their liberties as heathens to
live as they used to, but it is the usual outcome of the Gospel & the
compensations are evidently sufficient, as there are no inducements other than
the moral & spiritual ones. Can you explain why the Gospel should always
have this effect, as I never asked any one to be Baptized or to put his house in
order. I only gave the Gospel, & over a score of our best young lads & some
women are thus working the old sequel.
Esien your old interpreter is begun to beg for my interference, as is the rule with
the man who is sorry for the punishment, but fails to see the sin. I never answer
his letters in the direct way, Else it wd. be simply a "No", but I have asked Mr
McGregor of the Institute, who is a very nice lad, & has plenty head to do the
*right* thing, to look after him. He wishes his boy & girl to get the best
education possible in Calabar, at the expense of the Mission, & I am to get Coin
& send to him. I am also "to look after his house & his affairs." Rather a tall
order, Eh? His fathers in law have already been to see what about Dowries &
daughters, & he has not left a single penny to settle them, except a couple of
pounds with one of his fathers people. I shall however do my best to keep his
affairs in solvency, & to get his wives put back to their peoples hands, as his
brother Ofon refuses to have any thing to do with them, & his mother is not able
to fight them. Poor Old thing! she is a pathetic figure, & she lives on the Hope
of my being able to get her a sight of him one day. He petitions to be set apart
to work alone, & not to be with the Herd. He remembers the days when he was
a man apart with such company as the DC etc. Eh? I have no news. We get
new men on the Rd - & I see them as the gangs are on our side, but dont know
them. My Cycle is still my best friend. I have been running up & down getting
the Rest House prepared, as this man means to do as you did, & look after the
roads & the people.
Let me know how you are & how you get on, & if I can do any thing here for
you. Did I tell you, we were to compensate those who were looted; by the
Court money? Mr Bedwell concurs in this, but Halliday forgot to send for the
Claimants. It will be merely a fraction they will get. It is raining like mad, so
this will not get down tonight, as the Clerk being absent, I must send down the
CMs [Note 5] early with their one prisoner, but I hope it will go in some way
before the mail leaves. I am adding to the old place, & as it will be given to two
ladies, it is getting more like a dwelling place. Miss Peacock is well & busy &
making her way among the people. Dr McDonald vaccinated successfully a
score of the small fry of Ikot Obon. Ekpo Nive is very far gone poor man. He
asks for you constantly, so do all the Chiefs. My best regards, & all the etctras,
& etc, Yours ever sincerely
M M Slessor
EDITORIAL NOTES:
1] A.D.C. = Aide-de-camp
2] sabi. Meaning unclear, but possibly savvy - common sense, shrewdness,
understanding
3] DC = District Commissioner
4] Egbo = Efik secret society
5] CMs = Court Messengers
TRANSCRIPTION BY: Leslie A Mackenzie, 1997
DATA ENTERED BY: Ruth Riding, 1997Slessor, Mary Letter no. 55 13th September 1908
The first letter after Mr. Partridge had settled into his new job. The conditions
there are so good that Miss Slessor likens it to the "Land of Corn & Wine". He
has a dairyman and, in contrast, she goes on to relate the purchase of a cow, and
the trouble entailed in taming the animal. She brings him up to date with affairs
regarding Udo Antia. Halliday, the recalcitrant clerk, has finally been told to
go, and there is still a need for interpreters. Miss Slessor, however, is well and
still enjoying her bicycle.
Use Ikot Oku
13th Sep 1908
My dear Old Boss
Youve "reached the Land of Corn & wine" surely! Your
description makes ones teeth water
I'm sorry I wasted so much pity & sympathy on the benighted stranger in a
dreadful Waste Howling desert!! Long may the conditions remain as favourable
as they seem to be. "No Worries!" [Iuai?] [Note 1] !!! I'll be over by first
Excursion Boat! Aro *Railway* Station!!! Our Motor visit & our Telegraph
line, are not much after that!!! send round your Poulterer Please, & your Dairy
Man!! I'm quite in an envious mood!! And really I must try to have an
aeroplane or something constructed in order to link this benighted place with
Neko. I've done my best here, for I've bought a cow. A man in trouble in Ikot
Obon was to give it to Halliday for 50/- [Note 2] which was shamefully low, &
H--- has no place for a cow, without becoming a nuisance to the gardens around,
so I gave 70/- [ Note 3] & the cow has been added to the menagerie. She took
us all in tow the first week, every night & morning, & gave us a run through
bush & every thing till of course we had to let go, & then we had wild
excursions all over the bush with an occasionall race after her again, till again
she took the rope, & thus we played in the moonlight till I was at my wits end, &
every thing was broken to peices. My hands are wounded still. One night she
took the young men of Use for a run, & had them up well on the road to Ikot
Obon, but at length she did arrive dragging four or 5 of them, & she was kept a
prisoner with grass & water in her room. Speak of milking this creature! But
she lets me scratch her nose now, & she came home with Jean tonight quite
quietly, so I shall try to tame & pet her, & perhaps in the future, we too, may
have Fresh Milk, *not* *necessarily* out of Whisky bottles, well, well! I'm
very thankful that you have got such a decent place & so very High up ought to
have a beneficial effect, in *every* sense. But remember the old injunction "Be
not High Minded" etc. Could you take over your old friend Udo Antia to these
decent people? I'm sorry I have *not* been "able to counteract" & etc, Udo's
man has been recaptured, & the DC [Note 2] is asking for witnesses. The boy
he murdered was alone poor fellow, so there are no witnesses. However we
shall see how the Case develops & how Udo comes out. Five Chiefs all as mad
on revenge, came to the Court on Thursday to take oath on what the "Raid" had
taken from their places, in order to get compensation. Udo is certainly not
beloved by his neighbours. I too, have wondered **why** he got off before his
time? Was it through that scoundrel Etim Walker His Son in Law?? Why???
Ah!!! The clemency is not appreciated here, & he had better walk softly now.
Halliday has been abusing his wife (sic) & she has taken a summons out against
him. He hired her to cook the chop [Note 4] for all Ikot Okpenes prisoners at
12/- [Note 5] per month, & he has never paid it. Who paid him the cooks
salary? Who hired him? She cooked for 10 months & 15 days for nothing.
Did he get a salary for it? Ive had to write in his Cash Book this month about
his charges for Prisoners rations here. It is preposterous what he charges, & I
am paying the men all the time out of my purse. Also many other things for
which he has been rebuked again & again. I have told him I cannot keep him
longer as he is neither truthful nor honest. It has been very disagreeable, but it
had to be done. I told him last week, it was wrong on me to hold my peace
longer. They are sorely needing some good interpreters for Dibue is very poor,
poor also is the Sierra Leone man, as he has not a word of Ibibio & he needs an
interpreter. I have a long letter from Major Colburn at Bendi re- a transport
service by Creek to Bendi, via Ikpe Ikot Nkon He expects me as his neighbour,
& is trying to get a Court up there which will include Ikpe. It will be a great
mistake & the Ikpe people are wild, as they cannot hear what goes on in Aro
language. I have not got up yet, owing to the state of the district since the
Kingly Udo came home, & now I am not willing to leave till Mr Hargrove gets
settled & his young man Mr Fabor gets also settled. They are both in dead
earnest to work back the district to its old solid footing. The DC has been on
tour, & has come for Udo's slave who has been recaptured, to be examined. Mr
Fabor is also going round this side all the time & getting the Rest Houses all put
up again.
Miss Peacock was down for an hour yest she is quite well & very happy. Miss
Reid is still at Creek Town, but we hope to get a new lady soon to stay at Ikot
Obon as Miss Peacock looks rather tired. All the Chiefs send greetings, they are
glad to hear that you like your new place but grumphed at the changing. I have
been out in the bush, round by Ntan & Ididep all day long, & so am feeling a
wee bit tired, & it is late. Old Ekpo Nive today looks up a little, but is very
feeble. He is with a daughter in Ikot Okobo, for nursing & change. I havent
any news! O yes, Russells man has got a site for a shop at Ikpe but Eniyon dont
like it. Russell is a fine man himself, & deserves to succeed. Now, please, dont
get mis-anthropic, seeing your nearest white neighbour is far off, & dont write
too much. Let the new things simmer on your mind & when you have strength
& time, work them out. "Physician heal thyself," *I'm* *fit* [so is my Bike, &
I love it more than ever] *& I am yours most* sincerely M M Slessor
EDITORIAL NOTES: Letter no. 56, although undated by Mary, appears to
be a Postscript to this letter
1] Iuai. Presumably an Efik word, meaning unknown.
2] DC = District Commissioner
3] 70/- . Seventy shillings, or three pounds and ten shillings (or £3.50 pence in
current coinage)
4] Chop = food
5] 12/- = twelve shillings (or 60pence in current coinage)
TRANSCRIPTION BY: Leslie A Mackenzie, 1997
DATA ENTERED BY: Ruth Riding, 1997Slessor, Mary Letter no. 56 13th September 1908
Note requesting instructions as to how she might take out money she deposited
in Mr. Partridge's safe before he went to England. Most probably a postscript to
Letter no. 55
P.S.
O do you remember my depositing a Bank Order for £50 " " in your safe, at
Ikot Okpene? Did you leave it there? & if so, How can I get it?? Do you
remember writing to me that Mr Mansfield owed both you & me an apology for
not giving a Receipt or something? I asked Biddell of Mr Sydenham about it, &
they treated the thing as a joke, as I could not find the Receipt. I gave my Desk
to Halliday when I left, & tied up my papers, & I was too ill & feeble to do
more, & cant find them now. But dont bother, only if you remember about it,
tell me how to do to get it. If you dont, or if it were removed, never mind,
Yours again
MMSlessor
EDITORIAL NOTE: Although this note is not dated in Mary's hand it would
appear to accompany Letter no. 55 (R.Riding)
TRANSCRIPTION BY: Leslie A Mackenzie, 1997
DATA ENTERED BY: Ruth Riding, 1997
Slessor, Mary Letter no. 57 28th November 1908
Mr. Partridge is informed of the work of his successor as Commissioner, and of
a change of doctor. The road building goes on apace, and new ones are being
asked for by the District Commissioner, whose influence has brought back law
and order to the area. A round-up of news of various people, and activities.
Miss Slessor is amazed at the developments in Europe involving Russia and
Austria. She sends her Xmas greetings.
Use Ikot Oku
28.11.8.
My dear Old Governor,
Is there anything wrong, I have not heard for the last two
mails, & Im very uneasy. Are you quite well? & are things going well with
you? If you cant get a wee scrap written you might just send a card. It will let
me know that at least there is not anything wrong. Is this a bother? & am I a
pest to you? Well, never mind if I am, it is the penalty you have to pay, for
having been so good to me for so long, & I cant afford the loss of your respect &
friendship. Your character stands for a great deal to me in this land of queer
people, & I should be greatly distressed if I lost your good opinion. Now *I*
*must* *write*, though it seems like humbugging, but I dont want to be a bother
to you, just to know that you are well, & that you work prospers, & any how it is
near Xmas, & if I dont get a letter of some kind at that season, then I shall think
I'm cast off indeed.
You write about Halliday! Dont you bother about him. He is not worth it. I
did for him & hid for him, & got all my thanks in the end. He is utterly
worthless, & I'm almost sure he will not shew face here again. So much liberty
was too much for him. They all need good sharp looking after. A new boy
comes from The Institute I believe as clerk. Mr Hargrove is just such a man as
yourself, & having said this, I shall leave it. He has put the District all right
again, & I think I have made *a* *friend*. I shall be extremely sorry when he
goes. We have a very nice boy with us as A.D.C [Note 1] Had they only given
*you* that, you might have been saved a lot of sickness & worry.
Mr Bedwell & Mr Knox Crawford are very good heads to the show, & we are
well off, while the Telegraph, makes things so much easier. All the time, I hear
Mr Hargrove is out on tramp just as you were & so's the young man on this side.
Lemon is off. He drank heavily they say. I dont know who is at Transport,
Sierra Leone I hear, but they ought really to have a White Man. We are
changing doctors. McDonald brought his relief, Dr Adam, in yesterday. The
Road work goes merrily on, & they come from Bendi [-all?] round on cycles
every week now. Mr Rosario is far on past Ikot Okpene, & we have a Scotsman
McDonald here as foreman. Dr Robertson is out I hear & has brought his little
3 years old daughter with him. I do hope he has not cause to rue the day he did
it. It is a sin against the child I think, physically & morally. There is a new
man at Russells, Mr Marson. They are sending up to open a depot at Ikpe Ikot
Nkon at once. Johns the Clerk goes up. I am not there yet, as I have no one to
take my place here yet, but I hope to be there soon.
The two new factories from Calabar are in full swing at Itu, & all do a good
trade, but I wish I saw Mr Russell himself to tell him a few things about his retail
trade. For all that, & all White officers go to the Calabar Houses.
That wretched [Plauge?] [Note 2], & Adelaide have [be gun?] again, & if you
saw the Hideous lies they have written about those Ikabo people. Fancy Itu men
keeping them in chains of slavery!! all as free as you & I am, & a deal better off.
But of course the DC [Note 3] will find all that out for himself. & they were in
irons in Madam Slessors Lock up at Ikot Obon. What a monster Madam Slessor
must be!! We got a twin mother with one baby this week & the mother has
made an awful mess of the childs neck & shoulder. If I cd. be a monster, I
should be so now. Im so angry with her.
We have got a new girl up to Ikot Obon, Miss McMinn, she is very nice & very
quiet, but forceful & full of enthusiasm for her work. She helps mostly in the
school & Dispensary. They do a great deal of Dispensing, the two of them.
Miss Reid will be married in March & I beleive, foolish girl! she is throwing
herself away on that muddlehead of a printer. But she is not quite First Class
herself, so she may shine as a housewife, while she can only glimmer as a
[genon?] agent.
Isnt it wonderful this Kaleidoscope of affairs in the near East? Could you have
beleived it of Turkey?? & it is to stay too. It has every element of permanancy
in it. Isnt Russia behaving finely too? She has been renewed through her
reverses & her internal upheaval, & the Young Element & the liberal Element
will mingle with the abiding elements in the others. If Austria would play up,
we will have an amended Europe for True! America seems to me always at her
worst at Election time, & Im glad we are a Constitutional Shop. Dirty linen can
be most offensive, tho it is good for the linen to be exposed. I cant ever get up
sympathy with these Excitements. "Long live the King" becomes more & more
as the days go bye, the sentiment of every peace & purity lovers Heart.
How goes your Kingdom? Do you ever get the creeps over the old stories of
that terrible [Dahomerys?] land? It was such a Horror at one time.
I'm just waiting for this clerk to come, to go down to Calabar with 2 of the girls
to learn basket making at the prison. I hope to see Esien there, & will probably
take his mother with me, or his children.
I expect the McGregors from the Institute to spend Xmas here, & we mean to go
up D V [Note 4] to Ikot Nkon to see Ikpe Church then. The D C sent to have a
Road made past Nkoot from Ikot Okpene, & Im wondering if that will be a new
road towards Ikpe, overland. I wish I were independent of the canoe, & cd. live
on my cycle, besides being more enjoyable it lets one see the people & their
whereabouts better.
All men here keep asking about you. Their respect for the White Man has had a
revisal since Mr Hargrove came. Old Ekpo Nive is as frail as can be, creeps
about the fire & is more like a shadow than ever. He never forgets you.
Udo Antia has tried on every trick of guile but cant get in, & he has a case
against him going on in which Im sure He lies like a Dragoon. He is trying to
bring in Use, & has only put his foot deeper in the mire. one of his boys was
hung - or to be hung - for the murder of our C M [Note 5] Ekpenyon. Another
bailed himself off from 3 months by paying 60/- [Note 6] last week, but with his
shoes & socks & a khaki shirt, he tries to be a Chief, tho he grovels in his talk &
evidence. He offered to bring a Decision last week, written by his Co-ravager
Effim Okon, tho' there is not a vestige of his Case in Itu Books, & the [pf?]
declare & Ikot Obon Declares, he tried it at Ikot Obon, never in a Court. He has
fallen on evil days & I hope will never get leave to have anything else.
Now ta ta! It is time for my household duties. Ive had a bit of fever, but so
has every one else as the smokes are heavy. I am able to go up hills on my
cycle now I never took before, so that tells its own tale. & I came down in the
dark twice over from Ikot Obon So!!! I ***love*** my cycle, & cd live on it.
If only it cd take me thro bush roads, I shd never be at home.
Now dear Old Man, May your Xmas be a very bright one! Good outwardly &
inwardly. Good every day & every Hour, & may Your never failing
Companion be "One like unto the Son of Man".
Miss Peacock, & my own children, & many others wd. from me did they know I
was writing, I am
Ever sincerely yours
Mary M Slessor
EDITORIAL NOTES:
1] ADC = Aide-de-camp
2] plauge: probably plague is intended
3] DC = District Commissioner
4] D V = God willing [Deo Volente]
5] C M = Court Messenger
6] 60/- = Sixty shillings (Three pounds in modern coinage)
TRANSCRIPTION BY: Leslie A Mackenzie, 1997
DATA ENTERED BY: Ruth Riding, 1997
Slessor, Mary Letter no. 58 Sunday 9th [early 1909]
A short note to Mr. Partridge thanking him for a letter and apologising for not
having written more because of the pressure of her work.
Sunday
9th
How funny this is!! Your letter came last night, & I have opened mine again, at
the risk of not getting it posted this mail, just to thank you. I was up at Ikot
Obon this morning holding a service in the Court House with the 100 prisoners
there, & found Miss Peacock in bed with a little fever. I cant get written to
thank you for your long letter full of news & "golden glamour" but shall try to
write soon. The Mail that brought yours says that the Signor Commissioner is
coming & Im booked for a "Heckling" along with Mr Cruickshank, this month -
also, there are 2 special Courts with Mr D- this month, so I *may* *not* get
written at once, but I'm quite full of gratitude for your most *instructive* - as
well as - the other thing - letter. May you be kept in health & optimism, & in
Gods Keeping! You renegade!
[T** *** O! ?]
Yours in old friends bonds
M M Slessor
Ive only had 2 letters 6 Dec 08, & 23 Feb -09 & I wrote about the Xmas box
which came in lovely condition & with all the Honours of the Hon - name &
style.
Yours again
MMS
TRANSCRIPTION BY: Leslie A Mackenzie, 1997
DATA ENTERED BY: Ruth Riding, 1997
Slessor, Mary Letter no. 59 17th February 1909
Mr Partridge had been expected to replace Mr Hargrove as District
Commissioner, but although this was based on an official Telegram it had
proved untrue, to the regret of many. She explains why she had not been able to
write and asks why he had not written either. Overworked and understaffed, the
district is becoming harder to run, and there has been an increase in violent
crimes. However a new District Commissioner has just been appointed.
Progress is continuing on the road. There is the usual roundup of of news; she
has had a visit from Udo Antia, and we hear that Miss Reid will soon be married.
Dr. Robertson has begun a vaccination scheme with the co-operation of the
villagers. A baby girl is crying, and she ends her letter.
Use Ikot Oku
17.2.'09
Dear Old Chief & friend
Our hopes are all blasted, our dreams all Exploded! No less a
personage than Mr Hargrove, our good & able D.C. [Note 1] gave us to beleive
that you were coming to us again, & while I was up at Ikpe the story was afloat
that you had passed bye, Then, silence! & now, the definite word that we are to
get another A.D.C [Note 2] to help the laddie who sits here just now, & that an
A.D.C. to help Aro Chuku is to sit at Itu, & so take some of this Districts work
off. & lo! we are left to look at each other, & wonder what the future will bring,
not caring too much, some of us, as it seems rather tame, & certainly does not
lend itself to an optimistic look out. Perhaps it is the rebound from our too
brilliant hopes. I did not write, thinking at first, it might miss you. Then I
thought, it was *surer* to miss you, as you would have without doubt have given
over. O come off, & then a pause, wondering if you were in Calabar, & now !!!
such is life! I said to Mr Hargrove - It was as he was going down, going off for
home, that he told us - Would it not be a coming down instead of a going up? -
But he said, you see, It is not easy always to fill in, & it wd. certainly not be
permanent coming down, & we judged it was want of a suitable man, as we have
only that young boy till now, & the District is a large & difficult one -
However, with all my selfishness, I do *not* want to bring you from the
Metropolis to the bush without something better as reward & I just, figuratively,
like the Chiefs, throw out my arms, top my shoulders, & say - "one more
disappointment." but really there was such assurance in the fact that a Telegram
had come saying that Mr Partridge was coming, that we may be excused for
counting our chickens before they were hatched. So here's back to the post as
the next best thing! & I must tell you, that Esiens old mother was here before 6
o/c one morning to say, was it true that Esien's Father had passed in the evening
before? & if so, How could she send her comps. to him as she could not walk to
Ikot Okpene? Poor old thing! I felt sorry to spoil her dream. Why have you
not written? Is it tit for tat? you are not mean enough to get down to that? Eh?
not not half, not even to think it.
Dear old man. Here's a new month & I have never been able to put a line to the
small complaint on the foregoing page. I have not been *ill* but I have been
unwell, & Janie has been very ill, & Annie is gone to her husband, & Mary is
away at Okoyon, on the same errand, as her young man lives there, so she is
gone to Miss Amess to stay a bit, in order to let her get full knowledge of the
man & his surroundings before her final answer be given for life long. So I
have been left with the little ones, & I have two babies without Mothers, & they
are in my hands night & day, so I have just lain down every time I have had a
spare bit of time, for the reason that my poor back will not sit up. & two mails
have passed & not a line has been written to anywhere. We have not been well
suited of late at the station, & I was contemplating giving up the place
altogether. In fact had told Mr Tabor that I had sat for the last time last week,
but since then, we have got a D.C. a Capn. Warrey. You will know him as he
has been long on the Coast & has come from Lagos, & he came in & asked me
so nicely not to think of it, that I was at once ready - with a capable man & go on
as usual. It is twice a week & is rather heavy, but the Jury men have asked if
they may go back to one day as it is work time, & I am only too glad as I am so
worn out. Why have you not written? Im wearied to hear from you, but you
will be as tired & overwrought as I am.
I have never yet got to Ikpe to stay! There is no one to come & take this place.
There was a vacancy also in Calabar, so they filled it from Ikot Obon, & that is a
very important place now as the school is large & there are several bush schools
taught by boys, & the people crowd the Church till they will soon need an
addition, & the Dispensary is a big work. They come from far & near. Miss
McMinn knew a little about medicine & Miss Peacock works up the thing for all
it is worth, & all accidents as well as sickness go there, while I take the baby
cases. The Church here is growing, & several of the best of the householders
are Candidates for membership. You wd. hardly recognize the Use people now,
they are so changed even in appearance. Old Ekpo Nive is still alive, but it can
not be called anything more, for he is blind, & frail & stupid & just sits in the
door way, or over the hot ashes of a fire. Poor old man! Old age is a dreadful
thing to a savage.
There has been quite an epidemic of crime here of late. A woman has had her
head taken off at Itam. She is the mother of the oldest daughter of the Ikot Edok
carpenter boy, & the mother of His Elder brothers daughter. No trace of the
Head, or the murderer can be found. He is a travelling doctor from Aro Chuku,
& evidently mad. An Aro woman was beheaded also last week by an Ndot man
at Ikpe, & we have had 2 very severe cases of assault. The Ikot Okpene doctor
had to be called, as we cd. not sew the wounds. But things move fairly
smoothly. I had Udo Antia here Yest - in sackcloth & ashes. Every time he
comes, he begins at the beginning again, till I cut him short, & yest. he was
groaning & sighing that his boys were doing all they could to kill him, & they
had taken his wives & goods, & one boy leading the others, made him take
mbiam [Note 3] at their dictation. So the Whirlie-gig goes round. It is their
turn today. I have told him to call them by summons.
There has been a Motor in the shed at the beach for some time I hear, they are
looking for stone, to put in & the Motor will pull the rollers over it to make it
like Home roads. The several officers look in as they pass, & I hear a scrap of
news thus now & then. I am to get a drive on the Motor which I fear I am not
brave enough to accept. The Itu prisoners have been working on the surface of
the road up to the first days march & it is in lovely condition. I do enjoy my
cycle on it to the full. If I had the time I should never be off the saddle. Mr
Rosario is here. He too was disappointed you did not come. The new man at
Russells you will not know, Mr Mann, & he is a good man. Quite a different
type from the last, & brings up the business at bit, but theres some hitch with the
Ikot Okpene DC, & Mr Russell going up to Ikpe. I dont understand it yet, but I
shall try my best to help them, for the place *will* be opened. Ive told [them?]
Ikpe they cant put back the clock, & they had better take a respectable firm in
preference to some rifraff unknown. A man from the Methodist Church has
gone to Ikot Okpene. That place was my objective, & it rather touches on the
laws of comity, but I bid him Godspeed, for he seems a good man & very eager
to work, & they need it in there. Dr Robertson is doing a lot of surgery this
term at Itu & the Hospital is not an empty name any more, the Govt [Note 4] Dr
& he work together well. Our villagers are taking vaccination very well. They
are even anxious for it some of them. Changed days surely.
Miss Reid will be married this month. Miss Peacock is to be bridesmaid, but
I'm not much interested in Him. She has made a miserable choice. She will
live after that at the Institute on the Consular Hill. We have a couple of
Deputies from the Church coming this month. Two are clergymen, one I
dandled almost on my knee. The other has his wife with him. We expect to
have a good time with them & they are coming up here. Here is the baby
yelling for all she is worth, so I suppose I'll have to go to her. When shall I get
more written? The wind blew all my papers off the table in a tornado last week,
& the first sheet of this is much soiled. Will you pardon it? Will you also give
me a small bit of a letter? even if Im not worth it, I'm too old to be able to lose a
friend. Do it of your grace & your youth & your kindness, & it will be greatly
valued. I am dear old friend & fellow helper, Yours every time in sincerer
friendship. M M Slessor.
EDITORIAL NOTES:
1] DC = District Commissioner
2] ADC = Aide-de-camp
3] Mbiam. "The liquid substance which is tasted, & sometimes put on various
parts of the body, in taking a solemn oath. It is supposed to cause dropsy, & so
destroy any individual swearing falsely." Mbiam can also mean "The oath so
taken, & hence sometimes applied to any solemn oath whether mbian had been
used or not." from Charles Partridge's copy of the "Dictionary of the Efik
language" by the Rev. Hugh Goldie.
4] Govt. = Government
TRANSCRIPTION BY: Leslie A Mackenzie, 1997
DATA ENTERED BY: Ruth Riding, 1997
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