African Letters

I am out on the ocean sailing--or rather steaming--to all human appearances to the unknown. Where? I left the great city, New York, yesterday about two o'clock, with peculiar sensations. I had long contemplated a trip to Africa, the world's future paradise, but had never realized what it was to start. I never dreamed that it would take the starch out of a fellow as it did me. The hurly-burly of preparation and the desire to leave absorbed every faculty of my soul; but when I mounted this mighty sea craft and looked down upon the faces of Rev. Theodore Gould, Dr. Derrick, the presiding elders, Morgan and Israel Derricks, and several other ministers who stood with upturned faces--also Mrs. Dr. Derrick, Mrs. Bolden and a number of ladies, all of whom waved handerchiefs at me as the ship steamed out--I began to realize that this was more than an ordinary trip to some portion of our common territory.