Gasengo Hill [Kasengu], Mahagi, Belgian Congo, Africa

Sat. morn. Nov. 16, 1912

My dear Aunt Annie:

        Don’t know why, but first thing this morning I tho’t of you and have been having you on my mind so much I just tho’t I must write you again. Think our last letters must have met some place along the way - anyway I know when your last letter came I felt very glad that I had just written you. I fear some of you dear ones think we’re awful careless and neglectful but really Aunt Annie, if you had lived as we have since Mar. 21 I doubt whether you’d get much writing done either.

        Just now we are more comfortable than we’ve been for some time. You see we are at another place. Got here a week ago today and are already in a temporary house. I’ll tell you later about it. You see, at Api Hill, there was so much fever. There were mosquitos there in spite of everything we could do to fight them. However we thot there was no place better and were just resigning ourselves to it and trying to get the buildings up and then make them as mosquito proof as possible. Our house was going up fine and fast since Mr. Gribble had joined us. When one Fri. evening while at the supper table the men decided to take a trip the next day to the top of a high hill just beside us. We had often looked up & wondered if there were mosquitos there but thot there were no people there. However the trip the next day unsettled things at the station pretty generally. For the men found lots of people and a much better place all the way around and apparently no mosquitos for it was much higher than Api Hill. But we tho’t some one better go & try it first before we move. So on the next Mon. Jno & Mr. G. left for a short trip. They went to the top of the hill & camped & found mosquitos. The next day they went on further along the Lake & camped and found mosquitos then they struck back into the hills and found quite a high place. 2000 ft. higher than Api Hill and after camping two nights they found no mosquitos so came back elated over it. It took all the grace I could muster to say I was willing to move. I tho’t we were at the end of our moving. and to think of going on again when I knew if we staid there we’d be in our house in another month - well, it quite upset me and yet I didn’t dare say anything for I’m the only one in the lot who hasn’t had fever. Raymonds hard sickness of two weeks of fever helped me to get out easier for I tho’t if he’d be better at another place I was willing to go & leave all the work done there. So we came.

        We brot only necessary things at first as we couldn’t get porters there. So have had no table, no chairs and only such cooking things & food as we had to have but yesterday 44 men went back to get our things and they’ll come in today. We will appreciate everything again.

        It is quite cold here nights. There are some mosquitos but not the bad kind, and I think when we get a good lot of eucalyptus trees planted the few that are here will disappear. Mr. Gribble and our family came alone & are putting up temporary houses for all and when they are all ready then the others will come.

        There are many more people here and a much better people than those we left. Nothing has been taken yet and over there it seemed as tho things disappeared every day - hang a towel out to dry & when you go for it it’s gone - and they were such beggars and lazy & impudent. These seem like a different tribe and yet they aren’t but the others aren’t far from the Gov’t Station and are a bad set.

        We hire our workmen with cloth. 1 ½ yds of muslin for 4 days work. We get unbleached muslin, called Americani, because it comes from America, by the bolt at about $3 a bolt. When we pay these men bringing our loads we’ll be out again. We ordered 6 bolts in our last order & got only 4 - so it keeps us short all the time.

        We are getting an iron roof with some extra money that came for us and by economizing we tho’t we could get it so we have to cut down on large quantities of goods until we get the iron all paid for. We are expecting to put up our permanent house first since we have the iron for it and then every body move in with us until other houses are put up. Think I told you in my last about the plan of our house & now I must tell you how these temporary houses are made.

        We have awful storms here - mostly wind so we wanted something that would stand the racket. Here is ours: [Hand drawn diagram of gable roof framing with 5 ft high side walls and eaves reaching to the ground. Ridge pole supported by heavy timbers.]

        Mostly of bamboo. The end uprights are big posts but the rest is bamboo put into the ground & extending to the ridgepole - this has grass tied onto it until within a foot from the ground and the 5 ft. wall is made of split bamboo driven into the ground. Then we’ve put our tent up. Really just lined the building with it and where it doesn’t come down to the floor we’ve put up some coarse native blankets to keep the wind out. We were unfortunate to get a heavy rain just the night before we moved in and it’s hard to get the floor dry now. Today I have two fires made on the floor hoping that that will help. The back part will have the children’s & my beds and most of the boxes and the middle part will have Jno’s bed and the rest of the boxes & the front part is a veranda & will have the table and chairs. Jno is going to fix up some cupboards so we’ll have things quite handy. It is nice to have a place where we can stand up. The tent was so low. the first night we were here we had an awful wind storm - if we hadn’t had our tent up in the roof it never would have stood it. Mr. G’s tent which is new and smaller than ours was pretty badly riddled. He’s getting a roof over his today but he’ll not get it finished for he & Jno are working alone - so it goes slowly.

        Now I must get dinner. We’ve been living mostly on native foods for we brot only a little with us. They have such nice green corn and sweet potatoes & a kind of squash and chickens but since our cloth is almost done we’ve been buying things with salt some but they want cloth more than anything else.

        And now its almost 4 P.M. and the porters not in yet. I feel so unsettled - can’t get at doing anything for expecting the porters. We had hoped they’d come in early so we could get things straightened up a little before night so we’d be more comfortable tomorrow. Jno is burning grass around the place & my eyes are about smoked out.

        The men & children have such enormous appetites. Just can’t hardly get enough to fill them up. Raymond’s arms got so burned coming over and now they’re peeling off and yesterday he came to me and said “Just look, mama, how I’m wearing out”. We tell him it’s because he eats so much his skin is splitting open. He is getting quite plump just since we’re here.

        The people back at Api Hill have all been sick since we left. Miss Harland hadn’t had fever since they came to Api from the Gov’t Station where she had been so sick. We are anxious to get them over here feeling confident they’ll be better here. Hope to get them in another week.

        Tues. A.M. Am alone today. The men have gone on a trip to look over a little more of the country. The people on the old station seem to feel a little reluctant about moving - seem to fear that this isn’t a healthy place. They’d change their minds if they’d see Raymond. He has picked up wonderfully since we are here.

        I’m so sleepy; we were up at 4:30 and since we are here where it’s cooler I just can’t get enough sleep. I dont have the enormous appetite that the men do but I sleep like a log. I was aroused this morning by Jno who got such a fright. We can hire boys here for 5 days at a time and one boy’s time was out last night and there are so many boys who want the work that altho I had told one he should come, another came real early, thinking that if he got here first I’d let him stay on - but I didn’t. I took the one whom I had promised last night. And they had come at 4:30, mind you, to start the fire before any one else came. and Jno just heard a little noise and saw the reflection of the fire & the first thing he tho’t of was that the house was afire for he does so dread fire near here. and always worries for fear this might catch afire. When the iron comes for the house we will line the roof with it until we are ready to put it onto the house.

        And now for your last letter - but first I must run out & get Claudon - he’s gone way down the path calling “Daddy”. - - - And now we’ve had our dinner and a rest & my head aches like 60 or so. Had an early dinner because we had such an early breakfast. I had the work done up and had done some mending when I tho’t it must be about 10 and it was just 7. I tho’t I’d get a lot of writing done today but somehow I don’t make much progress.

        Now if you have a map showing lake Albert look on the West shore for us. Most maps show Mahagi and if you have a real large map it might show Mswa abut half way down the Lake. Then - Mswa is at the mouth of a large river and we are up that river about 7 or 8 miles. There are such a lot of people around here. There isn’t 5 min. of the day that there aren’t anywhere from 5 to 20 or more people around here; just around the fire I mean. We will get up a school building and have school as soon as possible. Don’t know whether they will come or not but they listen to us at services and repeat verses better than the people at the other place did. so I’m hoping for more interest in school work too.

        We’ve no doubt received the $5 but haven’t had the little blue slip from the Treas. yet. If it has come it has gone into the iron for the roof and I’m sure you’ll be glad to have us use it in that way. For we need fireplaces as it’s so cold & damp some days and we couldn’t have fire with a grass roof. and then it will mean so much less work for Jno. I just dreaded to have him put a grass roof on for it is hard work & seldom can be made so it doesn’t leak. Windows we’ll get later and after we’ve sent for all our things from Kijabe we will sometime get an order ready for Montgomery Wards. We have to pay such heavy customs getting goods into here. They add 20% to the price given and then take 10% of that.

        Mahagi is an open port now and we hope Mulungit can come to see us soon. I am so anxious to see him again. The people at Kijabe think so much of him and think he has improved so much. For some time he was staying with Kala & Ida, Downings boy & his wife but he couldn’t eat the food they had. He never complained but Ida told Mrs. D. that he didn’t eat so finally Mrs. D. decided to have him eat in Mr. D’s. study of the food she prepared just the common things of course, and he wrote me about it . He was so pleased and grateful. He said he didn’t want to make any trouble & didn’t say anything but he couldn’t eat the food Ida prepared. He is rather unsettled I think because the Masai are still unsettled. The gov’t want to move them but they wont go. Having lots of trouble.

        Don’t you forget it. I’ll never forget the birthday of 1912. That day we landed in the Congo and if we had known all that would befall us in the next months it might have made us more tho’tful. Such decisions to make & misunderstandings to overlook & sicknesses to watch thro’ as I’ve never experienced before. It isn’t all overwith by any means for as long as there is work there is Satan to fight & sometimes the very air seems full of him & his power but we know our God is faithful and we will finally triumph.

        So Rena’s friend is a farmer. I know so little about him. Lora wrote she met him & some of his people. Wonder if Rena got to Ill. for Sept. 12. How we tho’t of every body and all that day. Hope we can have a picture of Rena’s friend some day. Yes, I suppose you are glad to keep her as long as possible. Will she live near Abilene?

        Thanks so much for the Christian Herald. We all read it. It goes from one house to another.

        We have a puppy for the boys and then he barks when any one comes around at night which helps to keep thieves away. Just now C. was playing with him & would turn around to see if I was looking & would laugh so cunning some how made me think of Lynn. How I wish the home folks could see them. They make a good team but very opposite. C. still sucks his thumb. I have such a time to make him stop. I imagine he & Floyd would make a pretty interesting team.

        Aunt Mary Urban died on Raymond’s birthday. R. is twisting around the post in the middle of the house and all at once he began to cry & said the pole was falling over. I’m trying to tell him he’ll get sick but he doesn’t think so so I’ll let him find out for himself. In his sleep this P.M. he called out “Claudon’s going out without his hat”. That’s such a usual call. We have to be so careful. That’s the cause of my headache. It was cloudy this morning & I went out to the fire a few times without my hat & now I have it in the back of my neck.

        [rest of letter is missing]

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