PIONEERING EXPEDITION TO SAN SALVADOR. 67 
Baptist Missionary Society the desirability of sending 
out a preliminary expedition with a view to missionary 
work ; at the same time expressing the high and sacred 
pleasure it would afford him to defray the expenses 
which would be incurred. This offer was accoriipanied 
by a still more generous proposal should the expedi- 
tion prove successful — viz., the presentation to the 
Society of a steamer for use on the Congo River. 
After much careful inquiry, the Committee of the 
Society were thankful and glad to accept so noble a 
gift ; and steps were forthwith taken with a view to 
its practical application. The two brethren invited 
to undertake the expedition were Mr. Grenfell and 
Mr. Comber, — no wiser choice could have been made ; 
and the Society was indeed fortunate in having men 
already in Africa possessing in such a marked manner 
so many of the requisite qualifications. 
It will be gathered from what has preceded that 
these brethren were not unaware of the movements at 
home, and of the probable wishes of the Committee 
with respect to themselves ; so that when, on the 
5th of January, 1878, definite instructions arrived 
requesting them to accept the undertaking, they were 
prepared to receive them, and were soon ready with 
their reply. Mr. Comber wrote thus : — 
“Together with my brother, Mr. Grenfell, I read 
your important letter yesterday, and hasten to answer 
it. 
“ So long as the earnest and long cherished desire 
of my heart (to labour for Christ among the real 
heathen of the interior) can be carried out, I do not 
mind whether it be on the Congo, or interior of 
Cameroons. 
“ I must confess that I am a little bit sorry for 
Bakundu, having had my thoughts and sympathies 
centred on that place lately, fully expecting to go 
there, having chosen ground for house and schools, 
and made all arrangements with the people for my 
settlement amongst them ; and I most earnestly hope 
