The first section of Crossing the River is a novella, "The Pagan Coast," the tale of an ill-fated project of the American Colonization Society to educate slaves in Christian ways and then ship them to Liberia where they will carry the Gospel to the pagans in the interior of Africa. The central characters are Nash and Edward Williams. Edward is a well-meaning but naive slave owner in Virginia, and Nash is his slave, whom he adopts into his family at an early age. When Nash is a young man, groomed for the task and on fire for the mission, Edward sends him to Liberia, where he faithfully sets out to civilize the savages. Gradually - and due in part to a breakdown in communications, which prevents Edward from receiving his letters - Nash becomes disillusioned with.....
