May 6 - 
I spent the morning at home packing* while Bill sup? r vised 
tne packing at the rice shed* There really is considerable packing 
to do this time, as we are moving over to Vi's house when we" return 
from this trip • Bernice has been quite ill, in the hosp i tal tor 
four days last week? George is going to Cap’e Palmas; and aSyway 
tne house is rather crowded with us here for so long a time* while 
Vi has a big house next door with nobody there but himself* We sent 
over all our trunks except the ones we are taking to Cape Mount* 
After lunch we drove into Monrovia* did a few errands* called 
on Mr. Wharton, and about five thirty went down to the dock to put 
0 ~; lr truck-load of gear aboard the Helene* She is a fifty-foot 
fishing boat, with sails and an auxiliary engine, and we chartered 
her for the overnight run to Cape Mount at a cost of h 7 - 10. We 
took our three best boys - Flomo * Bobo and Pay-Pay with us* Mrs* 
Bodewes wanted to visit some friends in Cape Mount* so we invited her 
to come along* 
About six- thirty we left the fish wharf, and set out under the 
able guidance of Captain Rosen* a young German, and his crew of eleven 
boys. 
The other day at the Seybolds ’ we met a young couple called 
Low , who have lived for the past two years on a thirty-five foot 
sail boat* coming down here from Tallinn, and sailing down the West 
Coast and back. They carry no crew at all, take their turns at 
watch, have no engine to supplement the sails, have been capsized 
three times ( she can't swim), and altogether struck us as about the 
most courageous, or plumb f Mi-hardy youngsters we had ever met. She 
is a tiny thing, looks about fourteen years old, and is as brown as 
an Indian. 
Tonight as we left the dock a small sail boat hailed us, and 
to our surprise Captain Rosen stopped the Helene . threw out a towing 
rope* and we picked up the Low's little craft. We had heard George 
say that they wanted to go to Marshall * but were afraid to tackle 
the bar by themselves* so we at once understood that we were to tow 
them out,^ Crossing the bar with a boat the size of the Helene is 
a ticklish business, and although the sailboat is smaller than the 
one we were on* it has a bigger draft, and we all held our breaths 
while the boatmen found a way to get us all through the breakers 
and over the sand bar. Looking ahead* and seeing the curling crests 
of the waves rushing toward you, it seems an impossible feat* but we 
got through without any bad bumps* and just a certain amount of 
pitching and rolling. When we were well out to see we let loose the 
tow rope, and waved farewell to our gallant little Esthonians. 
It was dark before we had a chance to get at our lunch box* 
and we found that to eat at all was going to be difficult. There is 
no deck space on the Helene except a passage way of about three feet 
each, side of the center hatch* The cabin was so hot that it was 
impossible to sit in it for more than a minute; Bill* however* thought 
the cabin was preferable to the cluttered deck* so he stayed down there* 
dripping with perspiration* and Mrs* Bodewes and I arranged ourselves 
on top of the hatch, which was full of fish nets with cork feafefesxxf loat s 
on them • We had to hang on, as the boat rocked and rolled so badly. 
