MISSION STATION 207

I had no means of getting more money at Sinoe and
I should not have enough to pay the carriers after
the longer trek.

We thought it politic to walk up through Ganta to
call on the D.C. He wore a well-cut tropical suit, a
small military moustache, his skin was slightly yellow;
he looked more Latin than African. He had a reputa-
tion for fairness, honesty and efficiency. Now he was
engaged in driving the Sanoquelleh-Ganta road south.
Once again we were encountering Liberian patriot-
ism. This time it was of a more European brand.
There was not a carrier who would not have wel-
comed white intervention; patriotism in their minds
had nothing to do with who ruled them, it was love
of a certain territory. But Commissioner Dunbar was
one of the rulers, His patriotism was like a Euro-
pean's; to him the thought of white interference was
hateful and because England's attitude to the Kru
rebellion suggested a danger to Liberian indepen-
dence, he suspected and disliked the English. He was
courteous and reserved and it was hopeless to try to
convince him that our journey had no political
motive. I felt our amicable expressions becoming
shrill in the effort to convince, beating hopelessly
against the hard courteous surface of his mind. There
was no need to convince him; but he was a man'with
such admirable qualities that one wanted to leave
him with a good impression. But the more we strug-
gled to leave that good impression, the more our
voices sounded in our own ears false and hypocritical.
I tried to make him express some of his suspicions
by mentioning the town on the forbidden coast-line,
but he contented himself with saying that it would