12 - 
March 16 - This has been a day of parties. We were invited to the 
Tengwalls * for lunch, where we had an elaborate reistafel. Both Dr. 
and Mrs. Tengwall have spent many years in Java, and have all the 
proper East Indian spices for this native dish. We left about four 
in the afternoon, came home to sleep it off, and then dressed for a 
supper dance at the Club. The party was a welcome home for the Seybolds 
and a bon voyage for the Heilmans, who sail shortly for the States. 
We got home about two in the morning, after a very gay evening. 
March 17 - Bernice gave us palm butter chop for lunch, an excellent 
native dish made with rice, chicken, palm oil and country pepper. 
At five o'clock we went over to watch a baseball game between the 
married men and the bachelors; one amusing feature was that some of the 
players still had a hangover from last night. Shortly before the 
game was over a devil dancer, accompanied by a couple of men beating 
drums, arrived, but the audience was not enthus ia s t i c , as they preferred 
a ball game any day. Prom the ball game we proceeded to the Club 
where we were to have supper and see a movie. The supper was all right 
but the amplifier for the sound broke down, and the movie had to be 
cancelled. 
March 18 - Spent all day packing and getting things in order for our 
bush trip. The Seybolds invited some people in for tea, and they 
stayed until after ten o’clock, so instead of going early to bed as 
we had hoped, it was pretty late when we finished dinner and turned in. 
March 19 - We got up at five o ’ clock, and had breakfasted and packed 
before six. Then we had to wait until seven-thirty for the Johnsons, 
who arrived tired out before they started. Si having been up all night 
packing, and J with a boil swelling on her chin. We drove to Kakata 
in the Seybolds ’ sedan, and on about five miles more to the end of the 
road. All our boys, our boxes and hammocks were in two big Diamond T 
trucks; we saw both trucks in Kakata, and one of them followed us to 
the end of the road, but the other broke down on the way, and we waited 
until 11.30 for it to catch up with us. Finally our safari of 80 
boys was lined up, and started off in line, bearing our strange assort- 
ment of bundles, trunks, boxes and guns - everything except the guns 
balanced on their heads. They carry 50 pounds, and everything had to 
be weighed as it was packed to make certain that none of the loads were 
too heavy. A long, hot sandy stretch, where men were working on the 
continuation of the road stretched ahead of us, and just as we were 
deciding that it was far too hot to start walking just at noon, we 
discovered that our hammock frames had been left behind, and it would 
be impossible to ride. We sent a messenger back for them, and began 
our first j ourney into the Liberian hinterland on foot. We were very 
much out of condition, Bill and I, after our lazy days at sea and on 
the plantation, and found that we were soon streaming with sweat and 
panting for breath. We stopped by the side of the road in the first 
shade we came to, and Johnny Harbor, one of our headmen, began making 
s. crude frames to swing the hammocks on. He cut saplings, tied them 
together with rattan, and fixed two of the hammocks so that we could 
take turns walking and riding. Pour stalwart men carried each hammock, 
and we found that while it was a very j iggly way to ride, it was 
greatly preferable to walking in the heat of the day. Although our 
carriers were soon wet with perspiration, they seemed to mind neither 
the weight nor the sun, and sang and even danced under their loads. 
