English Baptist Mission at the Cameroons
The English Baptist Mission at the Cameroons, Africa, has been seriously interfered with as the result of the annexation of this region by Germany. It seems that King Bell, chief of Bell Town, ceded not only his own territory but that of another chief, Joss. The latter refused to regard the transaction as valid. A petty warfare followed between these native chiefs and their adherents, when, on December 9, two German men-of-war arrived at the mouth of the river and forcibly interfered in the conflict. In the bombardment on December 20, Bell Town and Hickory Town were burned, including the mission premises. Along the river for many miles there is not a single house standing. The people having been proclaimed rebels, it is not probable that they will settle there again, and this prosperous mission, founded nearly forty years ago by the famous missionary, Alfred Saker, has received a stunning, if not a fatal blow.—Missionary Herald.