Saker, Alfred

Saker, Alfred a missionary to the "Dark Continent," was born in England, July 21, 1814. At the age of twenty-nine he was accepted by the Baptist Missionary Society for the mission on the west coast of Africa. In 1845 Saker settled at King Aqua's Town, the seat of a large tribe, on the left bank of the Cameroons River, and about twenty miles from its mouth. With great difficulty he mastered the Dualla language, spoken by the people among whom he lived. Early in November 1849, he baptized the first convert, and in the afternoon of the day a church was formed, consisting of the missionary and his wife, the native helpers, and the Dualla convert. Mr. Saker translated the Bible into the Dualla language, and died at Victoria, March 13, 1880, having spent thirty-four years in Africa. (B.P.)