■^ The Languages of Liberia 



been under real concern for his soul's salvation, and earnestly- 

 seeking to secure it. In a conversation I had with him he 

 once said to me : ' My heart seeks after God. Once I thought 

 to find God in our book-palaver, but it was not so. Afterwards, 

 I believed that I could find God in Muhammadanism, and have 

 now been praying after the Mandingo fashion these seven years ; 

 but my heart has not yet found God. Now if you can help 

 me, so that I may really find God, I shall be very thankful 

 to you." I was of course delighted to point out to him the 

 new and living way which leads to God and heaven. He was 

 very attentive to, and much pleased with, what I said to him- 

 on this subject. . . . 



" In order to ascertain, as I conceive, whether I should be 

 able to refute the objections of his Muhammadan guide, he 

 introduced this Malam to me. I then told the latter that I 

 was sorry to see him walking on a road which could not lead 

 to heaven. He returned the same compliment to me. There- 

 fore I showed him, in a long conversation, that he neither 

 knew my road nor had a thorough acquaintance with his own,, 

 and that, consequently, he had no reason to pity me. At length 

 he could gainsay no longer, but ran away, the bystanders saying : 

 ' This time palaver caught him.' Even Doalu appeared to be 

 pleased with the defeat of his schoolmaster. Before I left the 

 country, I ofi^ered to take Doalu Bukere with me to Sierra Leone^ 

 in order to instruct him more tully in the Christian religion. 

 But he declined the offer, on the ground that there was then 

 war in the country ; ' for,' said he, ' if I were to go now, the 

 people would say on my return, " He left us while we had war 

 in the country ; so he must now pay a large sum of money." ' 



" I regretted that Doalu could not make up his mind to- 

 accompany me to Sierra Leone, the more so when I after- 

 wards tound that his remaining days of grace were to be so- 



