Sierra Leone Mission, Baptist Missionary Society 

Sierra Leone Mission, Baptist Missionary Society – The BMS initiated an expedition to Africa in 1840, sending John Clarke and G. K. Prince to explore the possibilities of establishing a mission on the island of Fernando Po, off the coast of West Africa at the mouth of the Niger River. They arrived at Fernando Po on 1 January 1841, establishing a base station at Clarence as well as making significant contacts with tribal chiefs on the Cameroonian mainland. The operation garnered considerable attention in the pages of the Baptist Magazine during the last half of 1841. As the editor noted when presenting excerpts from several letters by Clarke during his travels to Africa in 1841, “Fernando Po has, however, occupied the greatest part of the attention of our brethren, it being, in their judgment, the spot on which it is desirable to commence operations. The situation of the island, in relation to the mouths of the Niger, and of other great rivers, the intercourse carried on between it and England, the readiness of the natives to listen to instruction, the facilities it affords for the acquisition of African languages, and the comparative salubrity of its climate, have recommended it to them as the spot where a station should first be formed, which may be a stepping-stone to other stations, and a general rendezvous from different parts of the main land. Here, they say, ‘the field is white already to harvest.’  They have made some essays, and the results are encouraging.”  Clarke and Prince left West Africa in the spring of 1842, making a stop at Jamaica before reaching England in September. For the remainder of 1842 and the first half of 1843, both men would travel widely across England, raising funds for the new BMS mission in Africa. One of the chief concerns of Clarke during his deputation work in 1842-1843 was the need for the BMS to purchase a boat that would enable the missionaries to travel along the coast of Africa and up the rivers into the inland. Many of the following letters in this section deal with various issues related to the acquisition of a boat. Richard Johnson of Liverpool, the writer of this letter, will figure prominently in these discussions. See Baptist Magazine 33 (1841), 466.