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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Through lands that were dark, by F. H.
+Hawkins
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: Through lands that were dark
+
+Author: F. H. Hawkins
+
+Release Date: January 29, 2023 [eBook #69906]
+
+Language: English
+
+Produced by: Peter Becker and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+             at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
+             generously made available by The Internet Archive)
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THROUGH LANDS THAT WERE
+DARK ***
+
+
+
+
+
+                     THROUGH LANDS THAT WERE DARK
+
+  [Illustration: KHAMA, THE CHRISTIAN CHIEF OF THE BAMANGWATO TRIBE.]
+
+
+
+
+                             THROUGH LANDS
+                            THAT WERE DARK
+
+             Being a Record of a Year’s Missionary Journey
+                       in Africa and Madagascar
+
+
+                                  BY
+                         F. H. HAWKINS, LL.B.,
+
+ Foreign Secretary of the London Missionary Society for Africa, China
+                            and Madagascar.
+
+
+             “_To the Darkness and the Sorrow of the Night
+             Came the Wonder and the Glory of the Light_”
+
+
+                       LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY
+                  16, New Bridge Street, London, E.C.
+                                 1914
+
+
+
+
+                              Dedication
+
+
+This little Book is dedicated (without permission) to the Friend whose
+generosity made it possible for the journey herein recorded to be taken
+free of any expense to the London Missionary Society.
+
+
+
+
+                           Table of Contents
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+  FOREWORD                                                             9
+
+  A. SOUTH AFRICA:
+
+  I. Darkness and Light                                               13
+
+  II. The Light Spreading Northward                                   27
+
+  III. Tiger Kloof--“A Lamp Shining in a Dark Place”                  62
+
+
+  B. CENTRAL AFRICA:
+
+  IV. The Heart of the Dark Continent                                 66
+
+  V. The Brightness of His Rising                                     79
+
+
+  C. MADAGASCAR:
+
+  VI. Tananarive--“A City set on a Hill”                             106
+
+  VII. Imerina Country Districts--“Fields White Unto Harvest”        126
+
+  VIII. Betsileo--“The Sombre Fringes of the Night”                  139
+
+  IX. Glad and Golden Days                                           149
+
+
+
+
+                         List of Illustrations
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+  Chief Khama                                             _Frontispiece_
+
+  1. Map of South Africa                                              15
+
+  2. Kuruman Mission House                               _facing_     34
+
+  3. The New Kuruman Waggon                                    ”      34
+
+  4. Tiger Kloof                                               ”      64
+
+  5. Map of Central Africa                                            67
+
+  6. Missionaries’ Children                               _facing_    70
+
+  7. Native with Fish Trap                                     ”      82
+
+  8. Kafukula Mission House                                    ”      95
+
+  9. Map of Madagascar                                               109
+
+  10. Malagasy Girls at Girls’ Home                      _facing_    121
+
+  11. Dr. and Mrs. Sibree                                      ”     152
+
+
+
+
+  I hear a clear voice calling, calling,
+  Calling out of the night,
+  O, you who live in the Light of Life,
+        Bring us the Light!
+
+  We are bound in the chains of darkness,
+  Our eyes received no sight,
+  O, you who have never been bound or blind,
+        Bring us the Light!
+
+  We live amid turmoil and horror,
+  Where might is the only right,
+  O, you to whom life is liberty,
+        Bring us the Light!
+
+  We stand in the ashes of ruins,
+  We are ready to fight the fight,
+  O, you whose feet are firm on the Rock,
+        Bring us the Light!
+
+  You cannot--you shall not forget us,
+  Out here in the darkest night,
+  We are drowning men, we are dying men,
+        Bring, O, bring us the Light!
+
+  JOHN OXENHAM.
+
+
+
+
+                               FOREWORD
+
+
+This short record of a year’s missionary journey in Africa and
+Madagascar is written at the request of the Directors of the London
+Missionary Society, and is based upon a series of Journal Letters
+written to my family and friends while I have been on my travels. This
+fact must be my excuse for writing in the first person. This little
+book has been prepared in the midst of the pressure of Secretarial work.
+
+My visit to South Africa was a Secretarial visit. In Central Africa
+and Madagascar I formed one of a Deputation from the London Missionary
+Society. My colleague in Central Africa was the Rev. W. S. Houghton of
+Birmingham, and in Madagascar the other members of the Deputation were
+Mr. Houghton and Mr. Talbot E. B. Wilson of Sheffield.
+
+It is not my purpose to attempt to give any description of the three
+Mission Fields which it has been my privilege to visit during the
+journey. Details with regard to the countries and the peoples will be
+found in three Handbooks published by the Society.[1]
+
+Nor does the discussion of questions of missionary policy or any
+account of the details of the work in the various fields fall within
+the scope of this book. These matters have been dealt with in Reports
+prepared for the Directors of the Society. Further information with
+regard to all the fields can be obtained in the Society’s Annual
+Report. Some account of Madagascar and the missionary work there
+will be also found in a book just published, entitled “Madagascar
+for Christ,” being the Joint Report of the Simultaneous Deputations
+from the London Missionary Society, The Friends’ Foreign Mission
+Association, and the Paris Missionary Society, which have recently
+returned from Madagascar.[2]
+
+The journey has been one of great fascination. From the point of view
+of the traveller it has been full of interest. From the point of view
+of a Secretary of a Missionary Society carrying on work in the lands
+visited, the outstanding impression has been that of the growing
+Christian Church. In Central Africa that Church is in its infancy,
+but it is an infancy full of promise. In South Africa and Madagascar
+the Native Church is nearly a century old. Its foundations have been
+well and truly laid, and it exhibits all the signs of healthy life and
+growth. As one travelled from station to station and came into contact
+with the Native Church in all stages of development and met the Native
+leaders of that Church, one looked into the future and saw a vision
+of a Church which would one day become not only self-supporting and
+self-governing, but so possessed with the missionary spirit that it
+would be an instrument in God’s hands for evangelising the peoples
+amongst whom it is now set as a lamp in the night. One hundred years
+ago and less these lands were in gross darkness; to-day the curtains
+of the night are being lifted and long closed doors are wide open to
+the light. The darkness has turned to dawning and the growing Church is
+becoming “a burning and a shining light” in the lands which aforetime
+sat “in darkness and in the shadow of death.”
+
+                                                               F. H. H.
+
+                                                  _31st January, 1914._
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] “South Africa”: Rev. W. A. Elliott (price 6d., post free 8d.);
+“Central Africa”: Mrs. John May, B.A. (price 6d., post free 7¹⁄₂d.);
+“Madagascar”: Rev. James Sibree, D.D., F.R.G.S. (price 6d., post free
+8d.). I am much indebted to the “Ten Years’ Review” of the Madagascar
+Mission, edited by Dr. Sibree (L.M.S., price 2s. 6d. net), for much
+information embodied in the Madagascar section of the book.
+
+[2] Copies can be obtained at the L.M.S., 6d. net, post free 8d.
+
+
+
+
+                     Through Lands That Were Dark
+
+
+
+
+                           A.--SOUTH AFRICA
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER I
+
+                          Darkness and Light
+
+  A land of lights and shadows intervolved,
+  A land of blazing sun and blackest night.
+
+  JOHN OXENHAM.
+
+
+South Africa exercises a great charm over those who visit it. It is a
+land of sunshine. An unkind critic has described it as “a land of trees
+without shade, rivers without water, flowers without scent, and birds
+without song.” It is a land of vast distances and sparse population.
+The portion of the African Continent which is popularly referred to as
+“South Africa” is that part which lies south of the Zambesi. This great
+expanse of country is as large as Europe without Russia, Scandinavia
+and the British Isles, but its entire population is less than that of
+greater London.
+
+I left England in the late autumn and arrived at Cape Town seventeen
+days later in the early summer. London fog was exchanged for a land
+of lovely flowers and luscious fruits. Cape Town has been so often
+described that I will not dwell upon its beauties or attempt to draw a
+picture of Table Mountain, The Devil’s Peak, The Lion’s Head, or The
+Twelve Apostles.
+
+My first impression--and it is a lasting one--was of the abounding
+kindness and hospitality of the Colonials wherever I went. On the
+day of my arrival I was entertained by the Executive Committee of
+the Congregational Union of South Africa. On the following day I
+was the guest of the Archbishop of Cape Town at his lovely home at
+Bishopscourt, where I met fourteen South African Bishops in full
+canonicals gathered together for their Annual Synod. Bishopscourt is
+a beautiful old Dutch House with a far-famed garden which surpassed
+in luxuriance of colour anything I had ever seen except in Japan.
+All through South and Central Africa I was often the guest of
+Government officials and European residents, and everywhere received,
+as the representative of the Society, a warm welcome and the utmost
+hospitality and kindness.
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF SOUTH AFRICA, SHOWING L.M.S. MISSION STATIONS.]
+
+My next impression was of the great contribution which the London
+Missionary Society has made to the public life and development of Cape
+Colony and South Africa generally, quite apart from the direct work
+which its missionaries have been able to accomplish. Evidences of the
+value of this contribution abounded everywhere I went. In Cape Town
+I had the pleasure of meeting the Hon. W. P. Schreiner, who was the
+Prime Minister of Cape Colony at the outbreak of the Boer War. Mr.
+Schreiner is now a member of the Senate, specially chosen to represent
+the interests of the Native population. He is recognised as the
+leading lawyer in South Africa. I also met his brother, Mr. Theophilus
+Schreiner, who is also a member of the Legislature and is well-known
+as a leading Temperance advocate. Their sister, Olive Schreiner, the
+authoress of “The Story of an African Farm,” is known wherever English
+literature is read. This distinguished family are the children of an L.
+M. S. Missionary.
+
+It is not often that three brothers receive the honour of knighthood
+for public services. Sir William Solomon, Sir Saul Solomon and the
+late Sir Richard Solomon (who was Agent-General for the Commonwealth
+of South Africa, and who died a few weeks ago) are sons of an L. M.
+S. Missionary. In its Review of the year 1913, the _Times_ speaks of
+Sir Richard Solomon as “the most distinguished South African of his
+generation, a man who was loved by his intimates and respected by all
+for his ability and efficiency,” and of Sir William Solomon as “an
+eminent judge.”
+
+Dr. Mackenzie, the leading physician in Kimberley; his brother, Dr. W.
+Douglas Mackenzie, the Principal of the Hartford Theological Seminary,
+U.S.A.; and another brother, at present Solicitor-General for Southern
+Rhodesia, are three sons of John Mackenzie, the missionary-statesman of
+South Africa and Lord Rosebery’s friend, who had so much to do with the
+making of history in South Africa thirty years ago. I need only mention
+other families whose names are household words in South Africa, and
+whose representatives are to be found in many places--the Philips, the
+Moffats, the Kaysers, the Andersons, the Helms, the Rose-Innes, to show
+how large a part the L. M. S. has indirectly played in building up the
+Commonwealth of South Africa.
+
+Throughout Cape Colony I found numerous Congregational Churches of
+coloured people at places which were formerly Mission Stations of
+the Society. Amongst others, Pacaltsdorp, Kruisfontein, Hankey,
+Port Elizabeth, King Williams Town, and Fort Beaufort were visited.
+The Society many years ago withdrew its missionaries and left these
+Churches to develop along their own lines into self-governing
+communities, supporting their own pastorate and carrying on their
+own work. Wherever one went, one found evidences of the great part
+which the Society had played in days gone by in planting churches
+which are now independent, thus contributing both to the civilisation
+and evangelization of the peoples of the land. Passing reference may
+be made to one of these Churches which I visited. In the Brownlee
+location at King Williams Town I found at work the Rev. John Harper,
+who nearly thirty years ago exchanged his position as a missionary
+of the Society for that of pastor of the Congregational Church. For
+forty-five years he has laboured there as the minister of the Kaffir
+Church in the Native Location and in charge of nineteen out-stations.
+This veteran not only ministers to the spiritual needs of a very large
+congregation, but acts both as doctor and lawyer to all the natives.
+In 1912 he treated 4,000 patients and acted as guide, philosopher and
+friend to the members of his congregations, advising them in all their
+difficulties, drawing up their wills for them and ever looking after
+their temporal and spiritual interests. Many of these coloured Churches
+are now served by ministers of their own race, who have been trained
+for the pastorate.
+
+From Cape Town I proceeded to Great Brak River and paid a short visit
+to Mr. Thomas Searle, who for some years has been the Society’s Agent
+for its properties at Hankey and Kruisfontein. The history of the
+Searle family at Great Brak River during the last fifty years affords a
+good example of the contribution to the development of the Colony which
+Christian families have been able to make.
+
+On the 31st December, 1859, the late Mr. Charles Searle arrived at
+Great Brak River with his wife and four children to take up the
+position of toll-keeper at the Causeway carrying the main road over the
+river. The toll-house was the only habitation in the place. Mr. Searle
+erected a house for the accommodation of travellers, and afterwards a
+shop and a store. Four more children were born. He purchased a farm of
+354 acres for £91, and spent some money in constructing water-furrows.
+A church was built. The business grew and subsequently a tannery and
+boot-and-shoe factory were started. Branch stores were afterwards
+established at George, Oudtshoorn, Heidelberg, Riversdale and a
+wholesale depot at Mossel Bay. Mr. Searle had three sons, Charles,
+William, and Thomas, who entered the business, and now direct the
+Limited Company, which has been formed to carry it on. As the place
+grew the Searles successfully opposed all applications for a licence
+for the sale of intoxicating drinks, and to-day there is no licence
+between Mossel Bay, 16 miles to the west, and George, 18³⁄₄ miles to
+the east. The present population of Great Brak River exceeds 900, all
+of whom are in the employ of, or dependent on, the Searles, except
+the doctor, the post-master and the school-teacher. At first, all the
+employees were coloured people. Latterly, however, white people have
+also been employed, but they are treated exactly in the same way as the
+coloured people and receive the same wages as coloured people doing
+similar work. A very large new factory is now being built. Mr. Thomas
+Searle preaches regularly in the spacious church. Dutch is the language
+spoken. There is an excellent golf course. About six years ago old Mr.
+and Mrs. Charles Searle died. They and other members of the family are
+buried in the beautiful little private cemetery in Mr. Thomas Searle’s
+garden--the first of numerous garden burial places I saw in different
+places in the Colony. The three sons continue to reside in Great Brak
+River honoured and esteemed by the whole countryside.
+
+While at Great Brak River I paid a visit to Pacaltsdorp, an old L.
+M. S. station founded 100 years ago, where the Rev. G. B. Anderson,
+whose father and grandfather were L. M. S. missionaries, is pastor. A
+massive stone Church was erected in 1824, and is a memorial to the Rev.
+Charles Pacalt, who devoted his salary to the building of the Church.
+In addition to being pastor, Mr. Anderson is also schoolmaster,
+post-master, registrar of births, marriages and deaths and agent for
+the Society’s property known as Hansmoeskraal farm.
+
+Mr. Searle kindly took me in his motor car to visit Kruisfontein and
+Hankey, where the Society still owns property. The South African roads
+are not constructed for motor car traffic. They defy description and
+I shall not soon forget this journey. The gradients are very bad, the
+surface execrable. The ruts, rocks, stones and especially the sand
+made rapid travel in a motor car a mixed pleasure. Rivers, and more
+often dry river-beds, had to be crossed. For the most part the roads
+were very narrow and were often over-hung with trees and prickly-pear,
+constantly blocked by great ox-waggons with teams of fourteen to
+eighteen oxen, or by goats, sheep, pigs, cows and more often than all
+by ostriches, which seemed to take a delight in trying to race the car.
+In spite of, or perhaps partly because of, these drawbacks, however,
+the journey was most enjoyable. Some parts were very wild and desolate,
+but others were scenes of sylvan beauty. There were mountain passes,
+ravines, funereal forests (in one of which wild elephants are still to
+be found), fairy glens and water-falls (often with very little water on
+account of the prolonged drought), and in turn one was reminded of the
+Pass of Glencoe, the Barmouth Estuary, the Precipice Walk, Dolgelley,
+the New Forest and the Highlands of Scotland.
+
+Hankey is a name well known to all interested in the work of the L.
+M. S. in South Africa. Through the engineering skill of one of the
+missionaries applied to the construction of a tunnel through a narrow
+mountain ridge, the waters of the Gamtoos River were made available for
+watering the Hankey valley, and ever since the desert has “blossomed
+as the rose.” Above this tunnel, near the top of the mountain, is a
+remarkable natural feature known as “The Window.” It is a large opening
+in the rocky ridge through which a beautiful landscape can be seen on
+both sides.
+
+Another feature of Hankey which impresses a stranger from Europe is the
+frogs’ chorus every evening rising from an innumerable multitude of
+these amphibious reptiles which infest the fields and water-furrows.
+They are known as the canaries of South Africa, and reminded one of the
+music so characteristic of the rice fields of Central China.
+
+At Hankey there is a large Church of coloured people, representing an
+old mission station of the Society, and an Institution for the training
+of teachers now under the control of the South African Congregational
+Union. Through the sale of the Society’s property a considerable
+population of Europeans has been attracted to Hankey, and I had the
+honour during my visit of opening the new European Church.
+
+From Hankey I proceeded to Port Elizabeth, where I was again hospitably
+entertained. I had an opportunity of meeting the Congregational
+ministers and the leading laymen at a Reception, and learnt much of
+the contribution of the L. M. S. to the development of this part of
+South Africa. The coloured Church there for so many years ministered
+to by the Rev. William Dower, formerly a missionary of the Society,
+is another instance of a strong self-supporting and self-governing
+Church which has grown out of the missionary work of years gone by. On
+the occasion of my visit it was crowded from floor to ceiling with a
+congregation of coloured people, who are under the pastoral care of a
+young and able coloured minister.
+
+After leaving Port Elizabeth I had the privilege of paying a visit to
+two of the greatest Native Institutions in South Africa. At Healdtown,
+near Fort Beaufort, the Wesleyans are carrying on a great work in the
+training of Native Teachers. There are 185 boy and 84 girl boarders.
+The results obtained in the Government examinations are the best in the
+Colony. The students come from all parts; most of them are Kaffirs. The
+medium of instruction is English. This great work is mainly the result
+of the blessing of God upon the labours of one man, Principal R. F.
+Hornabrook, who is in supreme control. The Institution is nominally in
+charge of a Committee which, however, has not met for ten years. When
+he commenced work there twenty-two years ago there were thirty-three
+students. Mr. Hornabrook is his own architect and builder. He is also
+a farmer and a doctor. The fees charged are £12 a year, and there is a
+large Government grant. Some small help is given by the Wesleyans in
+South Africa. Not a penny comes from England. The buildings are quite
+unambitious in character, and for the most part have been erected
+from the profits made from carrying on the Institution. The whole
+enterprise is a triumph of organisation. There are four white men
+teachers, three white lady teachers, two matrons and several coloured
+teachers. The course is three years, and the students must have passed
+the sixth standard before they enter. All have a little manual labour
+to do, but there is no industrial department except so far as it is
+necessary to teach woodwork. All sorts of difficulties have had to be
+surmounted, the chief physical one being the water-supply, which is
+now satisfactorily provided by a windmill. The whole Institution is a
+monument of what can be done by one man with comparatively small funds.
+Mr. Hornabrook is doing great things for South Africa.
+
+From Healdtown I journeyed to Lovedale, the centre of the world-famed
+labours of Dr. James Stewart, who will always be known as “Stewart
+of Lovedale.” This is an Institution carried on by the Free Church
+of Scotland. There are 550 boarders from all parts of South Africa,
+and of these 155 are girls. There is also a “practising school”
+with 210 children. The fees range from £12 to £16 a year. Since the
+Institution was commenced considerably over £100,000 has been received
+in fees. Preachers and teachers for the South African Churches and
+schools are trained here. The industrial work is widely known. The
+Natives are taught carpentry, waggon-making, smith’s work, printing,
+book-binding, boot and shoe making, office work, needle and laundry
+work, horticulture and many other industrial pursuits.
+
+The present Principal is the Rev. James Henderson, formerly of the
+Nyasaland Mission. The Warden of the Boys’ department is Dr. Moore
+Anderson, a son of Sir Robert Anderson, at one time Chief of the
+Metropolitan Police Force. On the staff there is the famous South
+African astronomer, Dr. Roberts. It was good to find the daughter of
+one of our present South African missionaries occupying a responsible
+position in the Girls’ department. Words fail me to describe the great
+work which is being done. The Institution is an enduring memorial to
+the ability and devotion of Dr. Stewart. Over the grave of this great
+and good man, which I visited, is the simple inscription, “James
+Stewart, Missionary.” On the hill-top is a huge stone monument erected
+to his memory.
+
+On leaving Lovedale I journeyed _via_ King Williams Town, Blaney
+Junction, and De Aar to Kimberley. The railway meanders in and out
+amongst the hills through picturesque scenery. Great rocks are much
+in evidence. On the latter part of the journey I passed numerous
+block-houses and stretches of galvanised wire fencing reminiscent
+of the Boer war. Here as elsewhere the country has an unfinished
+look about it. Most of the buildings are of galvanised iron. Long
+distances were traversed without any signs of human habitation, and
+where such signs appeared they were not always pleasing. The wretched
+huts of “red-blanket kaffirs,” and the abject poverty in which they
+live, showed that there is still much to be done to raise the native
+inhabitants out of their degradation and to teach them to live decent
+lives.
+
+In order to see at first-hand the conditions under which so many of
+the Bechuanaland Natives live in the Compounds of the great De Beers’
+Diamond Mines, I visited Kimberley. Dr. Mackenzie kindly took me over
+the diamond mine workings and one of the Compounds. From these mines
+the bulk of the world’s supply of diamonds comes. I was very pleased
+with what I saw in the Compound I visited, where 4,762 natives were
+quartered. The annual death rate is only eight per thousand, about
+half that of London. Every provision is made for the comfort, health
+and well-being of the native workers. There is an admirable hospital
+and a well-organised store, where the necessaries of life are to be
+obtained at cost price. The fact that the natives are well cared for is
+evidenced by the popularity of the work in the Kimberley mines all over
+South Africa. Natives who have worked there return again and again for
+a further period. There can be no doubt that the restraint upon their
+liberty, to which they voluntarily submit while at work in the mines,
+is greatly to their advantage, and the facilities which exist for the
+remitting of wages to their families obviate, to a great extent, the
+risks they would run if they left the Compound with large sums of money
+in their possession. Nor are their spiritual needs neglected.
+
+While at Kimberley I paid a visit to Barkly West, formerly a mission
+station of the Society for many years, associated with the name of
+William Ashton. From Kimberley I proceeded to Tiger Kloof. I shall
+refer to the great work which is being carried on there later in this
+narrative.
+
+As one travelled through the Cape Province and visited many places,
+which were at one time stations of the Society in the charge of
+missionaries and entirely supported by funds from home, but are now
+independent Churches carrying on their own work, one realised the
+power of the growing Church in the lands which 100 years ago were
+in darkness. This province is still “A land of lights and shadows
+intervolved, a land of blazing sun and blackest night,” and some of
+its portals are still “barred against the light.” That light has for a
+century and more been beating up against “close-barred doors,” but the
+missionary traveller looking down “the future’s broadening way” sees
+many a sign that the time will surely come--
+
+                      “When, like a swelling tide,
+  The Word shall leap the barriers, and The Light
+  Shall sweep the land; and Faith and Love and Hope
+  Shall win for Christ this stronghold of the night.”
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II
+
+                     The Light Spreading Northward
+
+  Kingdoms wide that sit in darkness,
+    Grant them, Lord, Thy glorious light;
+  And from eastern coast to western,
+    May the morning chase the night.
+
+  WILLIAM WILLIAMS.
+
+
+Up to this stage the narrative of travel has taken us through districts
+in which the London Missionary Society has laboured in days gone by.
+We shall now visit the stations where it is carrying on work at the
+present day.
+
+Until quite recently the South Africa Mission of the L. M. S. might
+be described, from the point of view of means of locomotion, as “an
+Ox-waggon Mission.” The days of the Ox-waggon are rapidly passing.
+This slow cumbersome means of conveyance, which was formerly almost
+universal throughout South Africa, is giving place to the Cape cart and
+the Railway. The change is symptomatic of the progress in the methods
+of work. Greater facilities of communication have revolutionized the
+conditions under which Missionary work is carried on. Missionaries are
+no longer isolated from their fellows as they were in the days of old.
+Until recently they were obliged to spend a considerable portion of
+their time in actual travel in the ox-waggon. Now they can get about
+rapidly and are able to cover much more ground and visit many more
+out-stations in a given period of time. I was enabled to visit the
+Society’s stations in Bechuanaland and Matebeleland in one-fifth of the
+time which would have been necessary for such a visitation thirty years
+ago.
+
+After a few days’ stay at Tiger Kloof, the first place I visited was
+Vryburg, where the Rev. A. J. Wookey, the missionary in charge of the
+numerous scattered Churches of the Baralong tribe, resides. Vryburg
+is not in a true sense a station of the Society, but the headquarters
+for an extensive out-station work. After a stay of two days there,
+I journeyed with Mr. Wookey in a Cape cart drawn by four horses to
+Ganyesa, forty miles to the north-west. The growth of the work in
+the lifetime of a single missionary is well illustrated by what has
+happened at this place. When Mr. Wookey first visited it, forty-three
+years ago, two or three people met with him for worship in a hut there.
+A man read the Scriptures, and a woman led in prayer and preached.
+Now there is a good stone Church with 120 Church members, and an
+Anglo-vernacular school with seventy children. Connected with it are
+three branch churches and schools.
+
+A short description of the visit to Ganyesa will serve to illustrate
+one’s experience at many a country out-station in Bechuanaland and
+Matebeleland. I started from Vryburg at 7.10 and reached Ganyesa at
+4.30, after out-spanning twice. We camped for the night on an open
+common, in the middle of a large Native Reserve, close to an ox-waggon
+which had brought two other missionaries, Mr. Helm and Mr. Haydon
+Lewis, to the place. On all sides stretched the illimitable veldt.
+There were very few trees, but almost all around the sky-line was
+broken by the conical thatched roofs of the Native huts. Close at
+hand were to be seen emaciated oxen returning from the almost dry
+watering-places in charge of little black herd-boys, who were nearly
+naked, their bodies glistening like polished ebony, and having an
+appearance which suggested that they had recently been black-leaded,
+and presenting a great contrast with the white of their eyes and of
+their perfect teeth. After my arrival I was visited by the schoolmaster
+and the deacons, and afterwards attended a concert in the Church,
+organised to raise funds to help to send a teacher to Tiger Kloof.
+The price of a ticket for the concert was 6d. The night was hot, and
+the Church was packed. In spite of the almost overpowering heat the
+doors and windows were kept closed, in order that the crowd outside
+should not enjoy the music for which they had not paid! The atmosphere
+within was beyond description. Evening meetings are almost unknown
+in Bechuanaland. Some antique lamps had been requisitioned, and the
+air was laden with the pungent smell of the lamp oil. The “Bouquet
+d’Afrique” was also strongly in evidence. The audience afforded a
+picturesque scene in the dim lamp light. Most of the women wore highly
+coloured head-dresses, and with their numerous babies sat on the floor,
+which was made of a mixture of sand and cow-dung. The rest of their
+dress was remarkable for its colour and variety. Many of the boys and
+men were in dilapidated European costume. There were 100 items on the
+programme, and the concert continued until the small hours of Sunday
+morning. I left before midnight, and slept on the ground underneath the
+bright penetrating stars. The darkness of the night was illuminated by
+flashes of summer lightning on the eastern horizon.
+
+The following day, Sunday, will live in my memory. The service was
+announced to begin at eleven o’clock, but at ten o’clock the evangelist
+came to say that the chapel was already full, and forthwith the service
+commenced. The building was crowded to its utmost capacity, and there
+were large numbers of men, women and children sitting in the shade on
+the ground outside. I spoke to the people from a side-door in order
+that my words might be heard by the crowd inside and out. After the
+service I was visited by a large number of deacons and workers from
+the Churches for many miles round. Afterwards I went to see an old
+woman named Dipepeng in her kraal near by. She is over eighty years
+of age, and for a long time has not had the use of her legs. She sat
+in the entrance to her hut in the shadow of the over-hanging eaves,
+reading her Sechuana Bible. She told me she had been a servant to Dr.
+and Mrs. Moffat at Kuruman, and remembered David Livingstone courting
+Mary Moffat under the historic almond tree, and was present at their
+wedding. She described them, and spoke of an arbour in the garden where
+they used to sit. The old woman has been a Christian for sixty years,
+and is deeply interested in the Church at Ganyesa.
+
+I visited the only European in the place, he being a store-keeper. In
+the afternoon there was a baptismal service, Sunday School, a sermon,
+and a crowded Communion Service conducted with great reverence. At
+the close the people all rose and sang, “God be with you till we meet
+again.” At day-break on the following morning there was a prayer
+meeting. This was followed by the wedding of five couples, and a visit
+to the school. Later in the morning Mr. Wookey and I started on our
+return journey to Vryburg in the Cape cart.
+
+Later in the week I journeyed by rail and cart to Taungs where Mr.
+McGee is the resident missionary. The Society has carried on work there
+for forty-five years, and although the Church membership in connection
+with Taungs and its out-stations is the largest (1,184) connected with
+any L. M. S. Church in South Africa, the place was described quite
+recently by an experienced missionary as “a back-water of heathenism.”
+The signs of heathenism are certainly very apparent. The Native Chief
+is a bad specimen of a Bechuana. Some of his headmen make themselves
+particularly hideous by a plentiful application of the contents of
+the blue-bag to their faces and heads. There are many evidences of
+superstition and heathenism, and yet there is another side to the
+picture. On the Sunday the spacious Church--which has recently been
+built by the tribe, heathen and Christian alike contributing--was
+crowded both morning and afternoon. Twenty infants and thirty adults
+were baptised. The scene from the platform was extremely picturesque.
+About half the congregation consisted of women, most of whom wore
+brilliantly coloured head-dresses, vivid yellows and startling pinks
+predominating. Many were clad in gaudy shawls. In the afternoon a
+solemn Communion Service was held, at which individual communion cups
+were used. The service was rendered the more impressive by the fact
+that a great thunderstorm broke before it closed. Looking through the
+great west doors of the Church at the beginning of the service one
+could see the wide-spreading veldt stretching away into the distance
+as far as the eye could reach, and looking dry and thirsty in the
+pitiless blaze of the afternoon sun. Then a kind of mist appeared
+on the horizon. It was a dust-storm approaching. The natives have a
+proverb which says that “God sweeps His land before He waters it.”
+The clouds of dust came nearer, until at last all the doors had to be
+shut. The Church became dark. Then came claps of thunder, which made
+speaking difficult, while the dim interior was from time to time lit
+up with brilliant flashes of lightning. Then followed a downpour of
+heavy rain upon the galvanised iron roof, making a terrific noise. The
+storm increased in intensity until there was a perfect artillery of
+thunder, while the lightning was continuous and most vivid. In spite
+of the storm the service was continued in an orderly fashion, and the
+crowded congregation seemed perfectly oblivious to the hurricane raging
+outside. The service concluded with thanksgiving for the rain, for
+which the people had long been praying.
+
+Taungs is the centre of a widespread district, in which there are
+twenty-three outstations regularly visited by the missionary. I
+visited one of them, called Manthe, nine miles away. That visit was
+impressed upon my memory by one of the appalling contrasts which are
+so common in heathen lands. Under an extemporised roof at the back of
+the evangelist’s house I saw and talked with a bright Christian boy,
+the eldest son of the evangelist, by name Golekynie, who had been for
+seven years at Tiger Kloof. He was on the point of passing his third
+and final examination as a pupil-teacher, when, a month before, he had
+been compelled to return home in an advanced stage of consumption. He
+was lying on his bed in the open air. He spoke excellent English and
+had a refined face and manner, and was evidently an earnest Christian
+youth. He realised that he could not live long, and spoke with high
+appreciation of the happiness that had come into his life at Tiger
+Kloof. He told me that he was not afraid to die.
+
+An hour afterwards I paid a visit to the Chief of the village, who was
+slowly dying of a loathsome disease in a wretched, evil-smelling native
+house. He lay on a dirty mattress with a coloured blanket over him. He
+was a heathen of a low type. Two of his wives and several children were
+on the verandah outside the open window. After Mr. McGee and I had left
+he sent to us to ask us to return to pray for him, the first time he
+had ever made a request for spiritual help.
+
+From Taungs I proceeded to the historic station of Kuruman,
+accomplishing the journey of 143 miles by cart, rail, motor-car and
+ox-waggon. The contrast in the modes of travel is illustrated by the
+fact that the first seventy-seven miles occupied five hours, and the
+remaining sixty-six miles--which were travelled by ox-waggon--occupied
+three nights and two days. This journey helped to bring home the
+sparseness of the population. On Christmas Eve I travelled from early
+morning till late at night in the ox-waggon without seeing a single
+human habitation, or a single human being, except those who were
+accompanying me, and this not in the recesses of Central Africa but in
+British Bechuanaland, which is part of the Cape Province. I travelled
+in a new waggon recently made by the boys at Lovedale for the Kuruman
+station. It was drawn by fourteen oxen, kindly provided by the Church
+at Kuruman, with two supernumeraries in reserve in case of accidents.
+As travelling by ox-waggon is rapidly becoming a thing of the past,
+it is worth while attempting a short description of the journey. The
+waggon in which I travelled, although a new one, had no springs.
+The road was of a most primitive description, although the main
+thoroughfare between two important centres of population. The jolting
+and bumping defy description. The speed is nearly two miles an hour
+if all goes well. The discomfort of travelling is somewhat mitigated
+by the “cartel”--a wooden frame hung within the waggon by very short
+chains of three links. Across the frame are stretched “rims” or strips
+of undressed ox-hide about a quarter of an inch broad. When the waggon
+is at rest this makes a very comfortable bed, far more so than some
+of the beds of my experience in China, such as the boards of a Chinese
+chapel vestry, or the planks of a Chinese boat.
+
+                            [Illustration:
+
+          _Photo by_]                       [_Mrs. Hawkins._
+
+         KURUMAN MISSION HOUSE, BUILT BY MOFFAT AND HAMILTON.]
+
+                            [Illustration:
+
+         _Photo by_]                        [_Neville Jones._
+
+       THE NEW KURUMAN WAGGON, WITH MR. AND MRS. J. TOM BROWN.]
+
+The oxen are outspanned about three times a day at places where there
+is water, or where they are likely to find some grass. No reins are
+used in driving, but the oxen are controlled by a very long whip which
+is used with great dexterity either by the driver from the front of the
+waggon or by his assistant walking alongside the oxen. These two men
+also act as cooks. A Christmas Day spent in these conditions will live
+in the memory.
+
+The stay at Kuruman was a delightful experience. This place is a
+veritable oasis in the desert with a perennial water supply from the
+Kuruman river, which issues from a place called “The Fountain” in the
+Kuruman township three miles away from the Mission station. Thence in
+summer and winter, in flood and in drought, flows 4,000,000 gallons
+of water a day. By means of water-furrows, constructed by the early
+missionaries, the dry and thirsty land is converted into a paradise of
+green. The trees in the garden are a constant delight.
+
+I stayed in the Mission House built by Robert Moffat and Robert
+Hamilton eighty years ago. The whole place is rich with associations.
+It was here that David Livingstone courted Mary Moffat. The almond tree
+in the garden under which he proposed to her is still flourishing.
+Close by is the great Church, built by Moffat, and rich with many a
+memory. Next to it is the house where William Ashton lived for many
+years, which is now occupied by Mrs. Bevan Wookey, who is in charge
+of the excellent Mission School at Kuruman. Behind is the school
+and the old printing office. The garden is most fertile; oranges,
+lemons, quinces, mulberries, pears, apples, plums, apricots, peaches,
+pomegranates, walnuts, melons and richly-laden vines, abounding. For
+more than a quarter of a century the Rev. J. Tom Brown has carried on
+Missionary work at this station.
+
+The great fact of the growing Christian Church in South Africa was
+abundantly emphasised on the Sunday of my stay at Kuruman. From
+outstations far and near the Christians came in for the Communion
+Service on the last Sunday of the year and for the New Year’s meetings.
+In the morning some 1,500 gathered together for public worship, and
+three services were carried on simultaneously. Moffat’s long, and
+somewhat dark Church, with its great wooden beams, was filled with a
+Sechuana-speaking congregation. The dimness of the Church was relieved
+by the orange, yellow, pink and blue of the dresses of the women. In
+the spacious school there was a crowded service for the Dutch-speaking
+natives and coloured people. In the yard of Mrs. Wookey’s house there
+was a service, conducted by an evangelist, for the Damaras, a stalwart
+tribe of blackest hue. These people are refugees from German South-West
+Africa. In the afternoon all the Church members gathered together in
+the Church at a solemn Communion Service. A stranger will not soon
+forget the impressive quietness and reverence of the service as the
+bare-footed deacons moved noiselessly along the serried ranks of the
+great black crowd that was present.
+
+The meetings on the following day were further evidence of the
+growing Church. A large gathering of Church members was held at
+which discussions took place on several subjects quite familiar to
+the Home Churches, many Natives joining in with great intelligence
+and earnestness. The Native Pastor at Kuruman, the Rev. Maphakela
+Lekalaka, an eloquent preacher, a capable minister, and a master of
+metaphor--known as the “Joseph Parker of Bechuanaland”--superintended
+the work of the station with ability and success during the absence of
+the Missionary on furlough.
+
+The journey back to Vryburg was made in an old ox-waggon drawn
+by fourteen oxen kindly lent by the Church at one of the Kuruman
+outstations. I travelled back _via_ Motito, which has pathetic
+associations. In a tiny grave-yard there are buried two or three
+missionary children. There is also a grave which recalls a grim
+tragedy,--that of Jean Fredoux, a son-in-law of Dr. Moffat, and a
+missionary of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society, which was
+formerly at work there. It was in 1865 that he met his death. A
+“depraved European” (to quote from the inscription on the gravestone)
+attacked his wife in his absence. The Native Christians defended her
+and made him prisoner, intending to send him to Kuruman for trial. Next
+day they were afraid they might get into trouble for arresting a white
+man and they let him go. He escaped in his waggon to the place where
+Mr. Fredoux was, and the Natives followed and told the latter what had
+happened. Mr. Fredoux went to speak to the man, who retreated inside
+his waggon. Then followed an explosion of gunpowder, which blew the
+waggon, the “depraved European,” Mr. Fredoux and all the Natives to
+pieces.
+
+At the conclusion of the journey from Kuruman I paid a short visit
+to Tiger Kloof and then proceeded north to visit the Matebeleland
+stations, in what is now known as Southern Rhodesia, taking three days’
+holiday to see the wonderful Victoria Falls and places of interest in
+Bulawayo and the neighbourhood. Every Britisher naturally associates
+Rhodesia with the name and work of Cecil Rhodes. His statue stands in
+a commanding position in Bulawayo. His grave in the rocky fastness of
+the Matopo Hills is an impressive monument to his memory. All round are
+immense blocks of granite piled up in fantastic shapes. Four groups of
+these granite boulders almost completely enclose a rocky surface about
+30 yards square, in the centre of which there is a large untrimmed
+block of granite lying on the ground. On the top of this is a sheet of
+bronze about 10 feet by 4 feet and 2 inches thick, on which are deeply
+cut these words:--
+
+  “HERE LIE THE
+  REMAINS OF
+  CECIL JOHN RHODES.”
+
+There is no date. Close by on the slope of the hill there is a white
+marble rectangular monument, with bronze panels, commemorating Major
+Wilson and thirty-four men who laid down their lives in one of the
+Matebeleland wars. The inscription reads:
+
+  “TO BRAVE MEN.”
+
+Few people, perhaps, realise what Rhodesia owes to the lives and
+labours of L. M. S. Missionaries. When Cecil Rhodes was a youth of
+twenty Mr. Helm was establishing the Mission Station at Hope Fountain,
+10 miles away from the present town of Bulawayo, which was then
+non-existent. Rhodes was always ready to acknowledge the value of
+the services rendered by Mr. Helm in his early pioneering days in
+the country which afterwards was named Southern Rhodesia. He was a
+constant visitor to Hope Fountain, and Mr. Helm often took part in
+his negotiations with Lobenguela, the blood-thirsty Matebele king.
+John Smith Moffat, the son of Dr. Moffat, at one time an L. M. S.
+Missionary, afterwards for many years a Government official, and
+always the friend of the Natives, played an important part in the
+establishment of British rule in Rhodesia. John Mackenzie, too, did a
+great work in this direction, and was ever a stalwart champion of the
+rights of the Natives.
+
+Mr. Helm drove me from Bulawayo to Hope Fountain in a cart drawn by
+four mules, the two leaders rejoicing in the names of “Bella” and
+“Donna.” At Hope Fountain the Society holds for the benefit of the
+Natives a farm upon which some 500 people are living. In Southern
+Rhodesia, outside the towns, it is very difficult, if not impossible,
+to carry on missionary work except on such farms or in Native
+Reserves. Throughout the country farms are being rapidly taken up
+by white farmers, and the Natives are steadily and inevitably being
+driven off the lands which they previously occupied into the great
+Native Reserves provided for them by the Government. Hope Fountain
+is the centre of some thirteen outstations, most of which are under
+the charge of resident evangelists. These men and many of the Native
+Christians came into the head-station to meet me. These small Churches
+form another example of the growing Native Christian Church of South
+Africa. The principles of self-support have been inculcated with such
+success that they raise for the support of their own Christian work a
+sum considerably in excess of that raised at any other station of the
+Society in the sub-continent.
+
+At Hope Fountain, as in so many places in the Mission Field, one is
+reminded of the great and good men who have given their lives to the
+work in days gone by. In the cemetery there David Carnegie is buried,
+and his white stone tomb can be seen from the Mission House across the
+valley. His widow and family live at a house on the road between Hope
+Fountain and Bulawayo.
+
+The next week of my travel was devoted to exploring one of the great
+Native Reserves above referred to. Mr. Helm drove me from Bulawayo to
+Inyati, the most northern station of the Society in South Africa, a
+journey of forty-five miles. Thence, accompanied by Mr. Cullen Reed and
+Mr. R. Lanning, the Native Commissioner, I paid a visit to the Shangani
+Reserve, which comprises a large tract of country situated about midway
+between Bulawayo and the Zambesi. This Reserve has been set apart by
+the authorities for the accommodation of Natives who have been driven
+off the land by the gradual settlement of white farmers. The expedition
+involved a cart journey over rough country of some 220 miles, some of
+it through virgin tropical forest across which the road consisted of
+little more than a track. For seven nights I slept on the ground near
+the great fires which were necessary to keep off lions and other beasts
+of prey. The experience was a delightful one in spite of a too abundant
+insect life which often proved troublesome. Mr. Lanning has a unique
+knowledge of the country and his experience of travel on the veldt
+added greatly to the comfort and the pleasure of the journey. Moreover,
+he is a keen hunter and kept the larder well supplied with fresh meat.
+The cart was drawn by six mules and we were accompanied by another cart
+which conveyed the Native servants, the luggage and the camp equipment.
+The interest of the journey was enhanced by meetings with Native chiefs
+and headmen at different places. They may be typified in the person of
+Tjakalisa, Lobenguela’s third son, a fine specimen of the human race,
+standing over six feet high and every inch of him an aristocrat.
+
+Clad in a vest and a short leather apron and some wire bracelets, he
+looked like the son of a king. Years ago he was nearly burnt to death
+in a tree in which he had taken refuge from a bush fire. David Carnegie
+treated him and saved his life. On another occasion he was out hunting
+with his father. His cartridges were several sizes too small for his
+gun. As fast as he put them in at the breech they fell out at the
+muzzle. Lobenguela insisted that he was bewitched, and this opinion was
+apparently confirmed when, on his shooting expedition, his horse took
+fright and threw him, breaking his leg into splinters. Mr. Helm came to
+the rescue and effected a complete cure.
+
+Nowadays Tjakalisa has settled down in the Shangani as a farmer on a
+large scale. He has been known to realise as much as £600 at one time
+on the sale of his produce. He came to discuss with us the question
+of the settlement of a resident missionary. He was accompanied by
+a fine old chief, Sivalo, who still wears one of the old Matebele
+iron circlets on the top of his head. I shall not soon forget the
+long morning spent in the blazing sun--in “the splendour, shadowless
+and broad,” of a South African midsummer. Tjakalisa and Sivalo were
+attended by a score of headmen. They were eloquent in praise of their
+new country, which had not suffered from the terrible drought which has
+been afflicting so much of the sub-continent. They realise the benefits
+of elementary education and promised to support a school and to build a
+house for a teacher. They were filled with enthusiasm for the future of
+this promised land.
+
+Later on the same night I was lying on my bed, consisting of leaves and
+grass and a rug, under the stars which were soon to be extinguished by
+the brilliant light of a South African full moon. A few yards away our
+black servants were sitting around the camp-fire. One of these was a
+Basuto who had passed some of his life in prison and was now a servant
+in the mission. Another was a black, curly-headed herd-boy from one of
+our mission stations. With them were some naked Matebele. Before I
+slept I heard the strains of a hymn in the native language, sung to a
+well-known tune. It was:
+
+      Jesus, still lead on,
+      Till our rest be won;
+  And, although the way be cheerless,
+  We will follow, calm and fearless;
+      Guide us by Thy hand
+      To our Fatherland.
+
+I fell asleep to dream of the African church of the future in this new
+fatherland of their race.
+
+Already under the steady pressure of white settlement large numbers
+of Natives have been driven into this Reserve and month after month
+there are fresh arrivals. In the old days the L. M. S. was ever to the
+front as the pioneer Society in the evangelization of South Africa. In
+these days it is looking forward to establishing a new mission station
+in this Reserve, unless prevented by the great deficiency and the
+lukewarmness of the Home Churches.
+
+From Shangani I returned to Inyati, the station where Mr. Bowen Rees
+has laboured so long and faithfully. He was away on furlough at the
+time of my visit. During my stay there I was reminded of some of the
+minor inconveniences--not to say dangers--of a missionary’s life. One
+evening while we were sitting on the verandah a snake paid us a visit,
+while the next day a cobra was caught in the woodstack close at hand.
+
+I inspected the school and attended a large gathering in the Church of
+Christians from Inyati and its outstations. Most of the adults squatted
+on the floor with their families around them. The naked babies tumbled
+over each other in their playful frolics, or slept on their mothers’
+backs while I was trying to speak to their parents.
+
+From Inyati Mr. Helm drove me to Insiza, formerly a station of the
+Society. On the following morning I left at 4 a.m. by train for
+Bulawayo, where I proceeded to Marula Tank Siding _en route_ for the
+new Arthington station at Tjimali, where our Missionary, Mr. Whiteside,
+met me. A drive of twenty miles in the mule cart brought us to the
+Mission House, which is beautifully situated in the midst of granite
+kopjes which form the western spur of the Matopo Hills. The view is
+magnificent. The garden terminates in a forbidding precipice some
+hundreds of feet deep. On one side of the house is a lofty rocky hill
+which commands a wide stretch of mountainous country in all directions
+with intervening valleys, and plains and hills. There are, however,
+drawbacks to Tjimali as a residence. The baboons are very numerous in
+the immediate neighbourhood and go about in herds of forty or fifty
+and rob the gardens in the day time. The wild cats steal the chickens
+at night. The eagles carry off the lambs, and the insect life is
+super-abundant. Tjimali is the Society’s newest station in Matebeleland
+and the work is in its early stages. There are ten outstations, at each
+of which there is a native teacher who conducts school during the week
+and acts as pastor-evangelist on Sundays, preaching and holding classes
+for inquirers. The work is bright with promise and is reaching the
+miners who are settling in the outskirts of the district.
+
+From Tjimali I journeyed by cart to Dombodema, a long day’s drive
+of fifty-eight miles. My experience that day illustrates one of the
+disadvantages of the new mode of travel in South Africa. I had been
+driven to the Marula Siding to catch the train for Plumtree, the
+station for Dombodema. On arrival there I found that on the previous
+day the time for the starting of the train had been put forward four
+hours without any notice whatever to the public or even the station
+master, and hence there was nothing for it but to drive the whole
+distance. On the way I was met by Mr. Cullen Reed, the Dombodema
+missionary, who has been at work there since the foundation of the
+station in 1895. Mr. Reed has to carry on his work in three languages
+and has to itinerate a parish of 3,000 square miles inhabited by 15,000
+people. On each side of the Mission station are low picturesque kopjes.
+The day before I arrived Mr. Reed had killed a snake fifteen feet long
+in the garden.
+
+Preachers, teachers and Christian workers had come in from the
+outstations for the meeting. Three of them had travelled all the
+way from Nekati, a distance of 150 miles. At this place Segkome
+Khama lives. He is the eldest son of Khama, the famous Chief of the
+Bamangwato tribe. For the Sunday service the Church was crowded, the
+congregation sitting on the floor, and some scores more finding seats
+under the shadow of a great fig tree outside the door. The Service was
+conducted in two languages. In the afternoon an impressive Communion
+Service was held.
+
+On leaving Dombodema I proceeded south to Serowe, spending two days
+on the way at the British Residency, Francistown, as the guest of
+Major Daniel, the Assistant Commissioner for the Northern half of
+the Bechuanaland Protectorate. My visit to Serowe was one of my most
+interesting experiences in South Africa. Leaving Phalapye Road railway
+station at 3.20 a.m. in the faint light of the waning moon I started
+on the cart ride of thirty-five miles to Serowe. The cart was drawn
+by eight fine mules kindly put at my disposal by the Government. It
+was the dustiest ride I have ever experienced, in many places the road
+being several inches deep in sand and dust. The dust of the Plain of
+Chihli in North China makes an impression on the memory which it is not
+easy to forget, but the drive to Serowe was a more trying experience,
+because eight galloping mules travel much faster than the sorry beasts
+which draw the Peking carts of North China. About three miles from
+Serowe we saw a cloud of dust ahead and there emerged from it a company
+of horsemen whom Khama had sent to escort me. A mile further on the
+whole veldt seemed to be enveloped in a mighty dust-storm. When it
+reached us we stopped. Khama had come in person with some hundreds of
+horsemen. The old Chief sprang from his saddle like a man of 26 rather
+than a man of 76. He joined me in the cart and we renewed our drive.
+The horsemen galloped before and behind and on either side. The drivers
+thrashed their mules with two whips to force them to keep pace with
+the horsemen. A regular stampede ensued. Fresh detachments of Natives,
+all mounted on fine steeds, joined the cavalcade every two or three
+minutes. The Chief thoroughly enjoyed the fun and laughed heartily
+as the horses of the various members of our escort kept cannonading
+against one another in the mad rush.
+
+Serowe, the largest Native town in South Africa, contains about 26,000
+inhabitants, and is picturesquely situated. Mr. Jennings, the L. M. S.
+missionary, has carried on work there for upwards of ten years. It is
+a typical Bechuana town, having no streets but consisting of numerous
+collections of native huts within fenced kraals. The position of the
+Mission House is particularly striking, lying as it does between three
+great piles of rocks.
+
+The town owes much of its importance to the fact that it is Khama’s
+capital. This old Chief--the Jubilee of whose baptism was celebrated
+two years ago--is the most distinguished Native of South Africa.
+He is undoubtedly one of the busiest men in the world. He spends
+laborious days in the Kgotla--the great open-air meeting place of the
+tribe--dealing with all sorts of questions affecting his people, and
+acting as judge. Nothing concerning the life of the tribe is too minute
+for his careful attention. He knows all that happens and rules his
+people with a firm hand, exercising a benevolent despotism.
+
+In a very true sense Khama is head of the Church as well as head of
+the State. He is most regular in his attendance at Sunday services and
+religious meetings. Under his leadership his people have just built
+a magnificent stone Church, on the foundation stone of which are
+inscribed these words:--
+
+  “THIS CHURCH WAS ERECTED TO THE GLORY OF GOD
+  BY CHIEF KHAMA AND THE BAMANGWATO TRIBE.”
+
+Two great meetings in the Kgotla will live in my memory. At day-break
+on the morning after my arrival I attended a prayer meeting for rain.
+These meetings had been held for weeks. About 800 men and women were
+present in almost equal proportions. Most of the women sat upon the
+ground and the men on low chairs or stools which they brought with
+them. Khama sat on a deck chair under the shadow of a tree in the
+middle of one of the sides of the oval into which the people had
+grouped themselves. His young wife sat on his left hand. There was
+singing, reading and prayer. The Chief himself led the meeting in the
+final prayer, which lasted about five minutes. I am told he compared
+his country to a wilderness where there was no river, and his people to
+a lonely dog in the desert crying for water.
+
+Another memorable meeting in the Kgotla was the Sunday morning service.
+Between 4,000 and 5,000 people assembled at 7 a.m., most of the men
+sitting on the right and the women on the left. The scene was a most
+picturesque one. The coloured head-dresses of the women were brilliant
+in the morning sunshine. Khama and his wife were present. A deacon
+with a fine voice led the singing, which was very hearty, and was
+unaccompanied by any instrument.
+
+Many other gatherings were held during my visit to Serowe. I met
+deacons, Church members, catechumens, inquirers, Sunday School
+teachers, and other Christian workers. In several conversations
+with the Chief I found him to be deeply interested in Christian
+work in other parts of the world. He has the high spirits of a boy
+and told many yarns of hunting experiences. He had some interesting
+reminiscences of his meetings with David Livingstone to narrate. He
+told me that he remembered Livingstone visiting his father, Segkome, on
+three occasions. On the first and second of these visits Livingstone
+was riding on a hornless ox. On the third occasion he was travelling
+in an ox-waggon and came to Shoshong. “After that,” Khama added, “he
+went beyond the Zambesi, and I never saw him again.” Of his own accord
+he told me of Livingstone’s encounter with the lion, and described the
+damage to the arm and told me he remembered hearing of the incident at
+the time.
+
+Khama has two houses, one a spacious and well-built native hut, where
+he lives with his wife, Semane, who was trained at the L. M. S. School,
+and is a fine specimen of a Native Christian woman. She takes great
+interest in the work and often visits the schools and is a regular
+attendant at the services in the Kgotla. Khama’s other residence is a
+European house, brick-built, with a verandah in front and containing
+four rooms. I visited him there, and was received in his sitting-room,
+which is about 18 feet square. The floor was covered with linoleum
+upon which was a Turkey carpet. There were two tables--one a large
+old-fashioned drawing-room table, on which stood a photograph of Earl
+Selborne in a silver frame and two other photographs, and the other a
+light folding table on which was a richly framed autograph photograph
+of Queen Victoria, which she had given to the Chief when he was in
+England in 1895. On this table also stood a very large blue enamel
+milk-pail full of milk and a bottle of vinegar. In the corner was an
+Address from the Serowe Chamber of Commerce on the occasion of the
+Jubilee of his baptism. On the walls were portraits of the late King
+Edward, Queen Alexandra, King George and other Royalties. He showed
+me a gold hunter watch he was wearing, which contained an inscription
+recording that it was presented to him by the Duke and Duchess of
+Connaught. He was very interested in political matters and was most
+anxious about the future of his people, being apprehensive that the
+Protectorate might one day be incorporated in the South Africa Union,
+and keenly desirous of preventing the occurrence of anything in the
+nature of such a catastrophe, as he deems it would be.
+
+Khama is a man of great physical strength. A week or two before I saw
+him he had ridden sixty miles to Shoshong on horse-back in a single
+day, and after a day or two’s stay had made the return journey in the
+same way. He exercises a tremendous influence over the tribe, and in
+recent years has put a stop to the manufacture and drinking of Native
+beer. The story is told of him that some time ago a man who had tried
+to bewitch him died of fright, when Khama reminded him that he was the
+son of the greatest of witch doctors, Segkome, and that he could kill
+him if he wished to do so.
+
+My week’s intercourse with Khama made two impressions on my mind. The
+first is that he is a Christian gentleman, and the second is that he is
+one of the most cautious and astute men I have ever met in my life. He
+has a remarkable mind, the working of which it is not always easy to
+understand, but of his desire to spread the light amongst the people
+over whom he rules with a rod of iron there cannot be a shadow of doubt.
+
+Of the growing Church among the Bamangwato there are many manifest
+signs. Apart from the salaries of the missionaries and a small
+grant to keep the Mission House in repair, the work at Serowe is
+self-supporting. Moreover, the Church is a Missionary Church, and is
+seeking to pass on the light to others. For many years it has done much
+to sustain the work for God at Lake Ngami, which is the Mission field
+of the Bamangwato Church. It sends out its own missionaries. For twenty
+years Shomolekae has been the devoted and much loved evangelist of the
+far-away Lake Ngami district and has bravely held the fort in spite of
+loneliness and isolation and repeated attacks of fever. He has now been
+joined by Andrew Kgasi, who was trained at Tiger Kloof, and volunteered
+for service at the Lake.
+
+From Serowe I travelled to Shoshong, being driven to Phalapye Road
+Station by the Acting-Magistrate in the Government mule cart.
+Proceeding south by railway to Mahalapye I was there met by Mr. Lloyd,
+the Shoshong missionary, with his ox-waggon. We travelled all night
+and reached Shoshong at mid-day. This place in the old days was the
+capital of the Bamangwato tribe. It was here that Segkome, Khama’s
+father, ruled and Khama himself was baptised fifty-two years ago. Here
+David Livingstone preached and practised in the early forties, and
+later on John Mackenzie, Roger Price and J. D. Hepburn laboured. But
+its glory departed when in 1886 Khama moved his capital to Phalapye.
+
+Shoshong is picturesquely situated in a wide plain with mountains on
+all sides, but there are few traces of its former greatness. The site
+of the old town is covered with bush. The present town consists of
+three large kraals under three local chiefs or head-men, one of whom
+is Khamane, Khama’s brother, and another Tshwene, Khama’s son-in-law.
+At the time of my visit Shoshong was experiencing the terrible effects
+of the prolonged drought. The only water supply was two miles away in
+the river bed, over one of the roughest paths I have ever traversed.
+Between the boulders over the stones and across the rocks the narrow
+serpentine track had been worn quite smooth by the long procession of
+women walking up and down day by day to fetch water from holes dug in
+the bed of the river. One of the vivid impressions of travel in these
+parts is that of a string of women carrying very heavy clay pots of
+water balanced on their heads, climbing over rocks and making their way
+through thorn bushes, and never spilling a drop of the water. These
+great pots are 18 inches across in the broadest part and one foot high,
+and when filled are very heavy. I tried to lift one on to my head
+but entirely failed. The women help each other to hoist them and they
+do this very cleverly and quickly. A man attempted to help a woman to
+replace on her head the pot I had tried to lift. The woman said “No!
+you are no good, you are only a man! You cannot do it.” An old woman of
+sixty came to the rescue and between them they succeeded in replacing
+the pot upon the head of its bearer.
+
+Shoshong is the centre of a large district comprising thirty-nine
+outstations, some of which, however, are little more than preaching
+stations. The missionary visits them from time to time. There are only
+seven schools in the district.
+
+On my return journey to the railway I had an experience of travel which
+was much more common formerly, when the ox-waggon was the only means of
+conveyance, than to-day, when its place has been largely taken by carts
+and trains. We left Shoshong in the waggon at 10 p.m. The herd-boy had
+been unable to find two of the best oxen, and we started with a span of
+twelve, at least two of which were very poor specimens. In the first
+two miles we had to stop a score of times. Finally, one of the oxen
+laid down and refused to move. We left this creature and its fellow
+behind, and proceeded with ten oxen only. The heavy thunderstorm of the
+previous day had left water behind it on the road and our progress was
+slow. Between five and six on the following morning I was wakened by a
+tremendous banging and found one of the drivers standing on the front
+seat of the waggon chopping off a branch of a tree which barred our
+way. Fifty yards further on, owing to careless driving and tired oxen,
+the wheels on one side of the waggon got lodged in a deep rut full of
+water and mud. I got up to find the waggon at an angle of forty-five
+degrees and in imminent danger of overturning. Dressing hurriedly and
+getting out of the waggon I found the boys had unyoked the oxen and
+fastened them on to the back in the vain hope that they might thus pull
+it out of the rut backwards. A futile effort was then made to dig out
+the two wheels, but it was impossible to move the waggon. The boy went
+off post-haste to Bonwapitse, two miles away, to borrow oxen and men
+from the Chief to extricate us. In two hours twenty men, including the
+Chief’s son, and ten of the most powerful oxen I have ever seen, came
+to our rescue. A chain was fastened round the back axle and in less
+time than it takes to describe the incident the waggon was dragged
+out of the rut. The new oxen, however, were not content with their
+performance, but rushed off, dragging the waggon backwards, and soon
+two considerable trees were levelled to the ground in the stampede.
+Fortunately, the oxen took a semi-circular course, and the great trees
+and dense bush checked them in their mad career, but not before some
+damage had been done and the interior of the waggon half-filled with
+broken branches of trees.
+
+It was Sunday morning. On reaching Bonwapitse we held a Service under
+the trees, which was attended by the Chief and his wife and about 100
+people. This was one of the many open-air services which will live in
+the memory. The trees afforded little shade. The almost vertical rays
+of the South Africa summer sun beat down with merciless severity upon
+the people gathered together as they joined in singing their hymns and
+listened with great attention to the words spoken to them, and took
+part with great devoutness in the prayers which were offered.
+
+I proceeded by railway to Gaberones, arriving there between two and
+three in the morning. Alighting from the train I waited in the darkness
+until two men appeared with a lantern to conduct me to the Government
+waggon which Mr. Ellenberger had kindly sent. We in-spanned early
+in the morning and I was taken to the Residency three miles away,
+where a warm welcome awaited me. Mr. Ellenberger is the Assistant
+Commissioner for the Southern portion of the Protectorate. He is the
+son of a missionary of the Paris Missionary Society who laboured in
+Basutoland, and his wife is the daughter of the well-known Dr. Casalis
+of the same Society. I experienced from them the same kindness which
+was always extended to me by the Government officials, and my two days’
+stay at the Residency was altogether delightful. They kindly drove me
+in the Government cart to Khumakwane, where we found the waggon which
+had conveyed my luggage on the previous day, awaiting us. Mr. Haydon
+Lewis, the missionary from Molepolole, met us there with his waggon.
+Afterwards another open-air service was held under a great tree, in the
+course of which Mr. Ellenberger spoke to the people in Sechuana, and
+a business interview followed with the neighbouring Chief, at whose
+village the Mission Chapel had been burnt some time before at the
+instigation of a “false prophet.”
+
+Mr. Ellenberger drove us to Kolobeng, where we saw the ruins of the
+house which Livingstone had built seventy years before, and which was
+destroyed during his absence by the Boers. The outline of the house
+was quite distinct, and on one side the walls are still standing about
+7 feet high. The bricks were of the roughest description, and the
+marvel is that they have stood the storms of seventy years without
+disappearing altogether. In Livingstone’s day there was a large town
+here, but now not a hut is to be seen owing to tribal migration. The
+Kolobeng river itself has almost disappeared, but its course is clearly
+marked by a great line of reeds and rushes.
+
+I met two old men who remembered Livingstone, and gave me some details
+of his personal appearance. One of them as a boy was doctored by him,
+the other still cultivates Livingstone’s garden--a small patch near
+the ruins, where mealies are grown. Close by are the remains of an old
+Dispensary, and a little further off are two nameless graves. It was
+a scene of desolation, nature having completely re-asserted herself,
+and obliterated all traces of the former town. But from the site there
+was a fine view of undulating veldt and valley and mountain, and one
+thought with gratitude of the great man who had “passed like light
+across the darkened land”--
+
+  “To lift the sombre fringes of the Night
+    To open lands long darkened to the Light,
+  To heal grim wounds, to give the blind new sight,
+    Right mightily wrought he.”
+
+Next day I left for Molepolole with Mr. Haydon Lewis. This town, where
+missionary work has been carried on since 1866, is the capital of
+the Bakwena tribe. In the afternoon there was a great gathering of
+school children for their annual sports. Just after I had distributed
+the prizes a youth galloped up on a bare-backed horse, scattering
+the children in all directions. He was the Chief’s son and has the
+reputation of being a graceless young rascal, constantly under the
+influence of drink and a veritable vagabond in the tribe. He rejoices
+in the name of Ralph Wardlaw Thompson Sebele, having been born about
+the time when Dr. Thompson was last in Molepolole, and receiving at
+baptism the honoured name to which he is anything but a credit.
+
+During my visit I inspected the schools and met the Church members
+and congregation, and was present at a crowded lantern service in the
+Church. In spite of great difficulties the evangelistic work is being
+carried on with success by means of twenty-eight native preachers
+trained on the station. This tribe has set an example to the other
+Bechuanaland tribes by levying a school tax of 2/-per annum upon all
+tax-payers, thus providing ample funds for educational purposes.
+Except for the salary of the missionaries and an annual grant for
+itineration the work at this station is self-supporting, and the Church
+is realising the duties of providing for its own work, of governing
+itself and of spreading the Gospel in the outlying parts. Its Mission
+field is the North central part of the Khalahari Desert which adjoins
+the territory of the tribe on the west. At Molepolole, as well as at
+other stations, the missionary is also the doctor. A considerable
+portion of each morning, when he is at home, is spent in examining
+patients and dispensing medicines. He is ably seconded by his wife, who
+was a trained nurse. Thus the light is spread not only by the preaching
+of the Gospel and the teaching in the schools, but also by the healing
+of the sick. So our missionaries are found following in the footsteps
+of the Great Physician.
+
+From Molepolole I travelled south in the ox-waggon to Mahatelo on my
+way to Kanye. Early next morning I was met at Gamoshupa by a cart
+and four mules, kindly sent for me by Seapapico, the Chief of the
+Bangwaketsi tribe. After a drive through beautiful scenery I reached
+Kanye, a town of 10,000 inhabitants, and the capital of the tribe, in
+the afternoon. I spent the greater part of a week at this station,
+where missionary work has been carried on under the superintendence
+of a resident missionary for forty years, and where Mr. and Mrs.
+Howard Williams were labouring. While this book is passing through
+the press a cablegram has been received, conveying the sad news that
+Mr. Williams has been called to the higher service, after a devoted
+missionary life of well-nigh thirty years. The increasing activities
+of a growing Church of nearly 700 members were apparent in the town
+itself and in the numerous outstations in the district. On the Sunday
+the spacious Church, which was provided by the tribe and cost £3,000
+apart from the bricks, and contains a fine organ, the gift of the late
+Chief Bathoen, was packed to its utmost capacity, many having come in
+from the outstations. The women’s head-dresses, which were of all the
+colours of the rainbow, were in striking contrast to the black heads
+of the men. After the service thirty-four adults were baptised, and
+in the afternoon a Communion Service was held, at which 550 Church
+members gathered round the table of our Lord. On the following days I
+attended meetings of Church members and Christian workers and of women,
+inspected the schools, and had interviews with some of the leading men.
+
+The present Chief, Seapapico, is a young man of twenty-six, and the son
+of Bathoen, who accompanied Khama to England in 1895. The young man was
+educated at Lovedale, and speaks English well, and was a great support
+to the missionary, Mr. Howard Williams. His mother, Bathoen’s widow, is
+a fine Christian woman and gives great assistance to Mrs. Williams in
+her work amongst the women of the tribe. She was the favourite daughter
+of Sechele, the old Chief of the Bakwena tribe. When she was a girl she
+had a quarrel with a friend and destroyed her eyesight with a thorn.
+Sechele had one of his daughter’s eyes put out, on the principle of “an
+eye for an eye,” and she bears the mark of this parental correction to
+this day.
+
+From Kanye I was driven in the Chief’s cart to the railway at Lobatsi,
+whence on the following day I was escorted by the native ordained
+minister, Roger K. Mokadi, to his station at Maanwane, over the
+Transvaal border. After a service in the Church and a visit to Roger’s
+kraal, a hot tramp under a fierce sun brought us at Mabotsa to the
+ruins of the old Mission house built by Livingstone and Edwards. Some
+of the walls were standing seven or eight feet high, but the interior
+was overgrown with bush. Close by is the hill where Livingstone had
+his famous encounter with the lion, and near at hand an old native
+Christian lives who was with Livingstone at the time. A drive through
+Linokani, where the German Lutherans are carrying on a fine piece of
+missionary work, brought me to Zeerust and next day by means of the
+train I reached Johannesburg. It does not fall within the scope of
+this book to describe this wonderful city, the creation of the last
+twenty-five years. It is by far the largest business town in South
+Africa and is the centre of the greatest gold producing mines in the
+world. Here I experienced the utmost kindness from members of the
+Congregational Church and met my colleague, Mr. Houghton, with whom
+I was to travel for the next nine months. Nor must I stay to refer
+to a deeply interesting visit to Pretoria. At these great centres
+the evidence of the appalling racial conflict, which constitutes the
+greatest problem confronting the Christian Church in South Africa
+to-day, was abundantly apparent.
+
+A few days later I travelled to Mafeking, for ever immortalised for
+its heroic defence during the Boer war, to see Colonel Panzera, the
+Resident Commissioner for the Bechuanaland Protectorate, and thence
+proceeded to Tiger Kloof to meet all the Society’s South African
+missionaries for consultation upon the work and its problems.
+
+Throughout my journeys amongst the Churches in Bechuanaland and
+Matebeleland there were many signs of the growing power and promise of
+the Native South African Church. That Church, planted first by Moffat
+and his colleagues at Kuruman, and carried north by Livingstone and
+his successors until it has well-nigh reached the Zambesi, has had a
+chequered career, but its progress has been unmistakably onward and
+upward. It has been tried and purified by the struggles of the past,
+and to-day its “far-flung battle line” is making a steady advance
+against the forces of superstition and heathenism with which it is
+confronted.
+
+“Climbing through darkness up to God,” the members of that Church
+are bravely carrying “the wonder and the glory of the light” into
+“the darkness and the sorrow of the night” in which so many of their
+fellow-countrymen are still enshrouded. Through the open doors “the
+true Light, which lighteth every man coming into the world,” is pouring
+its ever-brightening rays.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER III
+
+             Tiger Kloof--“A Lamp Shining in a Dark Place”
+
+  From North, and South, and East, and West
+  They come.
+
+  JOHN OXENHAM.
+
+
+The crown of the work of the L. M. S. in South Africa is the Tiger
+Kloof Native Institution. Ten years ago the site on which its buildings
+now stand was bare veldt. To-day it is a centre of light for all the
+L. M. S. work in South Africa. Situated on the Cape-to-Cairo Railway,
+767 miles north of Cape Town, the Institution buildings, which
+challenge the attention of every passing traveller, are a monument to
+the princely munificence of that great missionary-hearted man Robert
+Arthington of Leeds, to the energy, ability, devotion and far-seeing
+statesmanship of the Rev. W. C. Willoughby, and to what can be
+accomplished by the South African boys trained in the Institution, who
+have erected most of the buildings which are now so notable a feature
+of the landscape.[3]
+
+It is to Tiger Kloof that the brightest and best boys, who have
+received their early training at the Mission stations of the Society in
+South Africa, are sent to complete their education. It is from Tiger
+Kloof that the teachers and preachers, who are to be God’s instruments
+in building up the growing Native Church, proceed after receiving
+training to fit them for their work. Tiger Kloof is the strategic
+centre of the Society’s work in South Africa. In the coming days it
+will also be the training place for teachers and preachers connected
+with the Central Africa Mission.
+
+Within the limits of this sketch it is impossible to describe the
+manifold activities of this great Institution. I visited it on three
+occasions, and altogether spent upwards of a month there, and I had
+many opportunities of seeing and learning to appreciate the great work
+which is carried on. At the present time there are nearly 200 students
+in residence.
+
+On the 8th March, 1904, Mr. Willoughby and his wife outspanned their
+waggon, and that a borrowed one, on the veldt at the corner of a large
+farm which the Society had previously bought. The word “farm” conveys
+a false impression. It was an unfenced wilderness covered with stone
+and low bush. The foundation stone of the Institution was laid in
+1905 by Earl Selborne, the Governor of Cape Colony. Year after year
+buildings have been added, and the Institution now comprises a fine
+dining-hall with a clock tower, six dormitories, commodious school and
+class rooms, carpenters’ and tailors’ shops and work-rooms, offices and
+residences for the members of the staff, and a series of cottages for
+the theological students and their families.
+
+In the scholastic department the boys are taught the subjects
+prescribed by the Cape code. There is an excellent normal school for
+the training of teachers. Apprentices are taught masonry, carpentry,
+tailoring and office work, and there is a theological department where
+the students are trained for the ministry.
+
+On arrival at Tiger Kloof the visitor to whom the Institution wishes
+to show honour is met by the boys in full-dress Sunday uniform and the
+Band. As such visitors are not infrequent the sight of the boys at the
+Siding, smartly attired in their blue uniforms, and the strains of the
+Band help to make known the Institution to the numerous travellers
+passing through by train.
+
+Daily Prayers are held in the Hall at 6.45 a.m. precisely. The English
+language is employed and the Mill Hill School Service book is used.
+These gatherings for morning prayers are characterised by a quiet
+dignity and reverence which is very impressive. The singing is good
+and the musical responses are very effectively rendered. The singing
+of “Crown Him Lord of all,” to the tune “Diadem,” will not soon be
+forgotten by those who have listened to it. After prayers the boys
+march out of the Hall and form themselves into companies outside and
+proceed to the parade ground for drill. The discipline is perfect. The
+work of the Institution has constantly received high praise from the
+Government Inspectors, and large Government grants are earned.
+
+                            [Illustration:
+
+                 _Photo by_]      [_W. C. Willoughby._
+
+                  PORTION OF TIGER KLOOF INSTITUTION.
+
+   Right to left: DORMITORY, DINING HALL, PRINCIPAL’S HOUSE BEYOND.]
+
+The influence of the work there is already being felt throughout the
+South Africa Mission. Not only are ordained pastors and certificated
+teachers, who have received their training at Tiger Kloof, to be found
+at the various stations, but masons and carpenters who have learnt
+their trades there, after returning to their homes, occupy themselves
+with erecting Churches, schools and houses, and in many cases their
+life and example is a blessing to the people amongst whom they live.
+In this and other ways Tiger Kloof is making its contribution to the
+building up of a strong Christian Church in South Africa, and sending
+out Christian youths to spread the light in many a dark place.
+
+An Institution on similar lines for girls is in course of erection at
+Tiger Kloof. When it gets to work the most promising girls from the
+different Mission stations will be sent there for higher training. Many
+of them will become the wives of the preachers and teachers, and thus
+it is hoped will help to build up Christian homes in South Africa,
+which will be centres of light in different parts of the field.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[3] The genesis and development of the great work at Tiger Kloof is
+admirably described in the Handbook by Mr. Willoughby, entitled “Tiger
+Kloof,” published by the L.M.S. Price, 1s. net; post free 1s. 2d.
+
+
+
+
+                          B.--CENTRAL AFRICA
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV
+
+                    The Heart of the Dark Continent
+
+  Watchman, what of the night?
+  The Watchman said, The morning cometh.
+
+  ISAIAH.
+
+  The night is far spent and the day is at hand.
+
+  ST. PAUL.
+
+
+After four and a-half months spent in South Africa, where the Native
+Church has been planted for a century, I proceeded north to Central
+Africa, where missionary work is in its early stages and the Native
+Church in its infancy. Leaving Tiger Kloof towards the end of March,
+I travelled by the Cape-to-Cairo Railway through the Protectorate and
+Southern Rhodesia, and was joined by the other member of the Central
+African Deputation, Mr. Houghton, at the Victoria Falls. The Railway
+took us to Ndola, 1,373 miles north of Tiger Kloof. There we were met
+by Mr. Nutter, of Mbereshi, in our Central Africa Mission, and over 100
+native carriers who were to be our companions for many a day to come.
+Before attempting any description of travel in Central Africa it will
+be well to say something about the country itself.
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF CENTRAL AFRICA, SHOWING L. M. S. MISSION STATIONS.
+
+         (Kambole should be west, and not south of Kafukula).]
+
+As late as the middle of last century maps of Africa described the
+central regions of the Dark Continent as unexplored. The labours
+of Livingstone, his contemporaries and successors have revealed to
+the peoples of the West a vast area as extensive as Europe which is
+somewhat vaguely described as Central Africa. Towards the end of
+the century this great expanse of country had been parcelled out
+amongst the great Powers of Europe. Internal peace has taken the
+place of tribal warfare, and the land has been thrown open to Western
+colonization. Foremost amongst the pioneers of civilization has been
+the Christian Missionary, and one of the earliest Societies to enter
+the field was our own. A remarkable and immediate result of the
+travels of Livingstone was the occupation of Central Africa by some
+of the missionary organizations of Britain. The work commenced by our
+own Society, the Church Missionary Society, the Universities’ Mission
+and the Presbyterian Missions was due directly or indirectly to the
+influence of that great Missionary explorer--David Livingstone.
+
+Central Africa exercises a singular fascination on those who visit it.
+Its great lakes, its mighty rivers, its boundless forests, its glorious
+sunshine, the black races which inhabit it, all combine to make travel
+in that region a unique and delightful experience. In our case that
+travel was made the more pleasant by the company of one and another of
+our missionaries on our journeys, and the great privilege we enjoyed
+of fellowship with them and their families in their homes, and the
+opportunities afforded us of seeing something of the work which they
+are carrying on amongst the people of the land.
+
+One of the first impressions a traveller receives is that of the
+vastness of the territory and the comparative sparseness of the
+population. These facts, together with the want of facilities for rapid
+travel, constitute serious difficulties in carrying on missionary work.
+
+My colleague and I were the first Deputation from the Society to
+visit Central Africa. As long ago as 1879 the Directors accepted an
+offer from the Society’s Foreign Secretary, Dr. Mullens, to visit the
+Mission. He proceeded to Zanzibar and started on his journey to Lake
+Tanganyika, but died at Chakombe in July of that year and was buried
+in the C. M. S. cemetery at Mpwapwa, between Tabora and Dar-es-Salaam.
+Since that day conditions of travel and of life in Northern Rhodesia
+(which is the part of Central Africa in which the L. M. S. carries on
+nearly all its work) have completely changed. No more striking evidence
+of the change can be afforded than a comparison between the experiences
+of the early missionaries and of their successors, twenty-five years
+later. The average term of service for the first ten missionaries
+who served in Central Africa was well under three years. The ten
+missionaries at present on the field have already to their credit an
+average term of service of thirteen years, and the majority of them are
+still under forty years of age. Moreover, in the first ten years of the
+Mission eleven missionaries died on the field, and six were invalided
+home, and (with one exception) did not return. During the last ten
+years not a single missionary has died on the field, and no missionary
+has retired on account of ill-health.
+
+It was our good fortune to visit Central Africa during its winter, and
+our experience of the climate was altogether delightful. Even during
+the hot season the heat is not so extreme as might be expected from
+the geographical position of the country. At the Society’s stations
+the thermometer seldom, if ever, reaches 100° Fahrenheit during the
+hottest season--a point often exceeded further south. Nevertheless,
+Central Africa is still a trying place for many people. The liability
+to malarial fever, dysentery, and cognate diseases is considerable.
+Nor must it be forgotten that all our stations are necessarily at a
+high altitude above sea level. The lowest of them--Kafukula--is nearly
+as high as the top of Snowdon, while all the remaining stations are
+between 4,700 and 5,600 feet up, except Mbereshi, the altitude of which
+is 3,900 feet. Life at this altitude is often trying to the nerves and
+heart, and the strain is all the more severe owing to the impossibility
+of securing a substantial change of altitude without great expenditure
+of time and money. The distance to the coast is so great, the travel
+is so trying, and the cost is so heavy that it is practically
+impossible for our missionaries and their families to obtain a complete
+change--either as a mid-term furlough or otherwise.
+
+Perhaps the best indication of the changed conditions of life and the
+improved health of the Mission in these later days is afforded by the
+splendid health enjoyed by the missionaries’ children. The picture
+facing this page speaks for itself.
+
+But there is an aspect of life in Central Africa which must not be
+over-looked, namely its isolation. At only one of our stations is
+any other white man in residence. There are less than a dozen white
+people--officials and a trader--at Kawambwa, the Government station
+twenty miles from Mbereshi, and about a dozen at Abercorn--the
+Metropolis, as it is called, of the white people in the Society’s
+area--ten miles from Kawimbe.
+
+                            [Illustration:
+
+                  _Photo by_]      [_Bernard Turner._
+
+  Hilda. Gay. Kenneth. Ethel. Dennis. Sylvia. Hope. Monica. Marjorie.
+                               Franklin.
+
+            HEALTHY MISSIONARY CHILDREN IN CENTRAL AFRICA.]
+
+The exercise of a little imagination will enable the reader to realise
+something of the loneliness of men and women living in a country
+where there are so few people of their own race. Moreover, the Mission
+stations are widely separated from each other. Mbereshi is five days’
+journey from Mpolokoso, eight days’ journey from Kambole, nine and
+a-half days’ journey from Kafukula, and eleven days’ journey from
+Kawimbe.
+
+For the greater part of the three months following our departure from
+the railway at Ndola we lived in tents, and travelled through the
+great Central African forest, which in fact extended nearly all the
+way from Bulawayo, the capital of Southern Rhodesia, to Dar-es-Salaam,
+the capital of German East Africa, situated on the east coast of
+the Continent, 80 miles south of Zanzibar. Almost the whole of this
+country is a plateau from 4,000 to 6,000 feet above the level of the
+sea. The southern part of this forest is traversed by the Zambesi,
+and the western portion is bounded by the Congo, there known as the
+Luapula, while situated on the table-land there are the great lakes of
+Bangweolo, Mweru and Tanganyika, the two last of which we visited. In
+travelling through the forest one day’s journey is very like another,
+although each day abounds with a variety of incidents and new sights
+and new experiences for one who visits the country for the first time.
+A general description of the means and conditions of travel will
+suffice.
+
+We were almost wholly dependent upon native carriers. With the
+exception of bicycles and single-wheeled bush-cars there is no wheeled
+traffic in Northern Rhodesia. There are practically no roads in our
+meaning of that term. The travel-routes are native paths--often very
+narrow and overgrown. In the long grass, which is a remarkable feature
+of the country, the path often cannot be seen, but can only be felt by
+the feet. There are no inns or rest-houses. Tents, bedding, cooking
+utensils, food, etc., must all be carried everywhere. The minimum
+number of carriers required by one person on a short journey is about
+twelve if a bicycle is used, or eighteen to twenty if a machila is the
+means of conveyance. A machila is a chair slung between two poles and
+carried by four men. For longer journeys extra men are needed to carry
+supplies, or in case of sickness among the carriers. Should native food
+not be easily obtained--as at certain seasons is the case everywhere,
+and along many of the main travel-routes, more or less constantly all
+the year round--five more men are needed for each week that food has
+to be carried. Carriers cost about 1s. 6d. per man per week away from
+their homes. The general practice is to pay 1s. a week in cash on
+discharge, and the balance in calico, cash, salt or food, weekly in
+advance. The speed of travel is, of course, dependent on the ability
+of the carriers, and the nature of the country traversed, but it may
+be taken as about seventeen or eighteen miles a day, or three miles
+an hour, including rests. Sometimes over thirty miles is accomplished
+with loads, or even more with a letter only. Our average day’s travel
+from Ndola to Mbereshi was just under twenty miles, but on two days we
+covered over thirty miles.
+
+Our experience of Central African travel was a delightful one. We left
+the rail a week or two before the rainy season comes to an end in most
+years, and we had been warned that we should probably meet with a good
+deal of rain on our way to Mbereshi. We only had two or three showers
+the whole way, and with one trifling exception all these fell after we
+were in camp. We tasted some of the joys of crossing Central African
+swamps, but with the kindly assistance of our carriers, whose backs and
+shoulders were always at our service, we were none the worse. Numerous
+rivers and streams were crossed in dug-out canoes, on men’s backs and
+shoulders, and by means of tree trunks, stones, or bridges made of the
+branches of trees. The Luapula (Congo) was crossed in a steel boat.
+
+On the recommendation of the missionaries on the spot we had provided
+ourselves with bush-cars as our means of conveyance after leaving the
+railway. A bush-car is a seat fixed over a motor-cycle wheel with
+steel tube shafts back and front. It is propelled by two men, whereas
+a machila requires four men, and thus a bush-car halves the cost of
+carriers. Moreover, it is a much quicker means of conveyance than a
+machila. The experiment was entirely justified. Some days we were
+enabled to travel upwards of thirty miles without undue fatigue.
+
+It may be of interest to describe shortly a typical day’s programme on
+“ulendo”--as travel with carriers is universally called in Northern
+Rhodesia. We rose at six. Before we had finished dressing a number
+of carriers would be besieging our tents to snatch up our boxes and
+other luggage in order to make an early start. Within a few minutes
+of vacating our tents they would be taken down and made into suitable
+loads and our beds and bedding would be packed and carried away. We
+breakfasted in the open air about 6.45, and generally by 7.15 or 7.30
+we were under way. It was our custom to walk for the first hour or
+two in spite of the heavy dew, which during the first part of our
+trip covered the giant grass and the trees until the sun was well up.
+Fortunately for us the cavalcade of carriers who had gone on ahead
+acted as “dew-driers” by brushing the water off the grass as they
+passed along.
+
+For the most part our journey lay through forest and bush and tall
+grass, along native paths or roads three or four feet wide, which
+had been made under the direction of the Government, but were often
+overgrown with grass and shrubs except for a narrow track a foot or
+eighteen inches in width, which had been kept clear by the constant
+passing of natives along it. The greater part of our travel was over
+the plateau, on which the paths were fairly level except at the
+depressions caused by the numerous streams which drain it. From time
+to time, however, there were steep, rocky hills to be surmounted, and
+there were occasional swamps. It was not often possible to ride more
+than a few miles in the bush-car without alighting and walking for some
+distance. A very uncomfortable experience is to travel by bush-car or
+on a bicycle along a path over which elephants have passed a short time
+before. The sensation of bumping over footprints fifteen inches across
+and three or more inches deep, and occupying the whole width of the
+path, can be better imagined than described.
+
+We generally took luncheon between twelve and one, at a place where
+water was to be found, either in a native village or in the forest. We
+often found the table spread and the meal awaiting us, but sometimes we
+had to wait long for it if our luncheon box happened to be far behind
+us on the road. Then came two or three hours’ further travel before we
+finished our journey for the day. Then came a cup of tea, and as soon
+as the tents were pitched a bath and change of clothing. We dined about
+sunset. Then followed what was to us the most delightful of the day’s
+experiences. The rule on “ulendo” is for every man, when he collects
+the firewood for his own watch fire, to bring a log for the white
+man’s fire. Night after night we had magnificent camp-fires. Often the
+missionary accompanying us would gather the men together for a service
+round the fire, and sometimes the villagers also came. Those camp-fire
+services will long live in my memory. The men would sit round the fire,
+most of them naked to the waist, with their faces lit up by the fitful
+flames or the light of the moon. They would listen with rapt attention
+to the reading of the Scriptures or the words of the missionary, or
+would join in prayer, often led by one of themselves, with the utmost
+devoutness. But the most impressive part to us of these services was
+the hearty and reverent singing of the hymns in the native language to
+tunes well-known at home. These people have wonderful verbal memories.
+Hymn books seemed quite superfluous. Many of them knew by heart most
+of the hymns in their collection, and it was quite evident that they
+much enjoyed singing them. After the men had dispersed to their own
+camp-fires came an hour or two’s talk round our fire before we sought
+the shelter of our tents and our mosquito nets. It was our practice
+to join in English evening prayers immediately after dinner. But
+often long before we had left our chairs round the fire our native
+servants, and oft-times many of the carriers, would spread their mats,
+or, failing mats, lay some grass on the ground, as near the fire as
+possible, with their bare feet towards it, and wrap themselves in
+blanket or cloth and go to sleep under the stars, grateful for the
+genial warmth of the fire in the cold night of a Central African
+winter, and for the protection it afforded them against the beasts of
+prey who were often prowling near at hand.
+
+Thus we travelled through Northern Rhodesia, visiting the stations of
+our Central Africa Mission, calling upon the European Magistrates and
+Native Commissioners, meeting Native Head-men and Chiefs, and passing
+through numbers of small native villages, at all of which we received
+a hearty welcome. When we entered a village, or met native carriers
+on the path through the forest, we were greeted with the salutation
+“Mutende,” which, being interpreted, means “Peace.” The carriers would
+take their loads off their heads or shoulders, squat down on their
+haunches, clap their hands and give us their salutation. On leaving
+a village we were often accompanied for a mile or two by a running
+crowd of natives, consisting for the most part of women with babies
+tied upon their backs and laughing children, who would shout and sing
+as they ran behind and before the bush-cars or bicycle. We soon got
+accustomed to the sight of these natives, nearly all of them naked to
+the waist, and many of the children altogether naked. Most of those
+whom we saw were smiling, happy-looking people, but that there was
+another side to the picture was often painfully apparent. In many
+villages the faces of nearly all the adults were marked with small-pox.
+We frequently met cripples and lepers. Sore eyes, caused by the smoke
+of the wood fires in the huts, for which there is no escape but the
+door, were much in evidence, and we heard sad stories of the high rate
+of mortality amongst these children of nature. Certain forms of disease
+were very prevalent, and laid a heavy toll upon the people. Signs of
+the superstition which shadowed their lives, and which is the main
+feature of their animistic religions, were abundant. In many a village
+the rude “spirit-hut,” with offerings of food spread in front of it was
+to be seen, and we heard many sad stories of the influence wielded by
+sorcerer and witch-doctor upon the lives of the people.
+
+Everywhere we experienced the good-will and hospitality of the
+inhabitants. On arrival at our camping places a dozen women would
+appear with brooms made of the twigs of the trees and brushes to sweep
+the site of the camp clean before the tents were pitched. Others would
+hasten off to the nearest watering-place to get a supply of water in
+very large rough clay vessels for ourselves and our men. We often
+pitched our camp in the middle of a village, and on these occasions
+many of our men slept in the huts of the villagers which had been
+willingly vacated to afford this accommodation. Mealies, manioc, and
+native flour would be purchased by the missionary in charge of the
+expedition for the men, and fowls and eggs for our own larder. Portions
+of Scripture and hymn books would be sold by the missionary, and there
+were many applications for them. Wherever we went the people were
+always most grateful for any recognition of their efforts to show us
+hospitality. Their desire for books for themselves and schools for
+their children was everywhere apparent; while they were always willing
+to come to the open-air services round the camp-fires. In the parts
+of Northern Rhodesia through which our journey lay there were but
+small indications of the advance of Mohammedanism from the north, of
+which we had heard much. In the territory recognised as the Society’s
+field of operations we have the country almost to ourselves. But in
+the northern part of this territory there were not wanting indications
+that the followers of the “false prophet” were already at work. In the
+northern part of Central Africa Islam is advancing like a flood, and it
+was clear that unless our Society is able effectively to occupy this
+territory, we shall before many years be face to face with the growing
+forces of Mohammedanism in its most debased form. The light which is
+brightening the sky in Central Africa has this background of threatened
+cloud and storm.
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER V
+
+                     The Brightness of His Rising
+
+ Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is
+ risen upon thee. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and
+ gross darkness the peoples; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and
+ his glory shall be seen upon thee. And nations shall come to thy
+ light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.--ISAIAH.
+
+
+After fifteen days’ travel by bush-car, on bicycle, and on foot we
+had traversed the 286 miles between the railway and Mbereshi. We
+crossed a strip of the Congo-Belge territory shortly after leaving the
+railway. At Sakania, the first station over the boundary, all our men
+were examined by the doctor, and everyone who had not had small-pox
+was vaccinated. We heard a gruesome story of a native postman who had
+been arrested a fortnight before, in whose wallet a half-eaten human
+foot had been discovered. A day or two later we crossed the Congo back
+into Northern Rhodesia again. In the interval many rivers had to be
+crossed, sometimes on tree trunks, but more often on the shoulders of
+our carriers. The forest was magnificent, one of its most striking
+features, perhaps, being the large number of giant ant-hills, some
+30 feet high, generally around some great tree, and always covered
+with bush and grass, flowers and trees. Butterflies were to be seen
+in myriads, exhibiting all the colours of the rainbow. The crossing
+of the Congo was a new experience. Descending the hill from the last
+Belgian Post Office, Kalunga, the post-master of which was a young
+Belgian Count, we crossed a bit of swampy ground on men’s shoulders and
+then reached the landing-place, where pandemonium was raging. Our crowd
+of carriers were there struggling for the two or three dug-out canoes
+in which to transport themselves and their loads across the river,
+which at this place--although it is thousands of miles from the sea--is
+considerably wider than the Thames at London Bridge. It swarms with
+hippopotami and crocodiles. But my most vivid recollection of the Congo
+is that one of my bearers managed to drop an iron box containing my
+papers into the river. Unfortunately it leaked and considerable damage
+resulted.
+
+The village on the other side, in which we encamped, was typical of
+many another village we passed through on our journey. Just behind our
+tents were three spirit-huts; all around us were native houses built
+of straw and mud, and then came an enormous growth of kaffir-corn
+about twelve feet high. Surrounding this was forest, save where the
+river wound its tortuous course. In the clear light of the evening the
+somewhat sparse foliage stood out with great distinctness against the
+blue of the sky, each twig and leaf being defined as if seen through a
+stereoscope. The neighbourhood abounds with lions, leopards, elephants,
+buffaloes, rhinoceros, zebras and hyenas.
+
+Half-way on our journey we camped for one night at Fort Rosebery, the
+Government centre for the district. There we were the guests of the
+Native Commissioner, Mr. Denton Thompson, one of the small band of
+young Cambridge men who are now being employed by the Chartered Company
+as Magistrates and Native Commissioners. It is satisfactory to be able
+to state that almost without exception the Government officials we came
+across in Northern Rhodesia were men really interested in the welfare
+of the natives and anxious to do their duty by them. Here as elsewhere
+we received the kindest hospitality. Whenever we visited the Government
+station we were invariably entertained by the officials, to whom no
+trouble seemed too great which ministered to our comfort.
+
+During the following week we passed through country infested with
+lions. At Mupeta we saw the skin of an enormous lion which had been
+killed the day before. During the previous week this lion had killed
+five natives. The people in the village laid a trap for him by tying a
+goat in an empty hut, on each side of the door of which they had dug
+a pit and had covered them over with laths smeared with mud. At the
+bottom of the pits they had fixed spears pointing upwards. The lion
+fell into one of them and the natives, who were on the watch, speared
+him from above. There were at least a dozen holes in his skin. In
+this neighbourhood twenty-two natives had been killed by lions in a
+fortnight. We passed through one village where on the previous day a
+man had been carried off by a lion, and a day or two before a woman and
+a child, who were laying fish traps in the stream, had been killed and
+carried away.
+
+On our arrival at Mbereshi we received a very warm welcome. About five
+miles from the station some fifty boys met us and ran with us along the
+broad road, which has been made by Mr. Nutter, for some distance into
+the forest. The men in charge of the bush-cars raced at full speed.
+Groups of people met us nearer the station, all of whom joined the
+racing cavalcade. Loud peals of thunder kept reverberating overhead
+and drowned the reports of the guns which were fired to welcome us. We
+arrived just as the first drops of a terrific thunderstorm fell. Mr.
+Nutter’s house was soon crowded with natives, and there was endless
+shouting and hand-shaking. Never had the natives had such a time in
+Mbereshi. The whole village rose to the occasion and turned out to give
+the representatives of the L. M. S. a hearty welcome. On the following
+day we were the recipients of numerous presents of fowl, flour, goats
+and eggs.
+
+                            [Illustration:
+
+                  _Photo by_]      [_Bernard Turner._
+
+                        NATIVE WITH FISH TRAP.]
+
+Mbereshi is a delightful station with a magnificent view to the
+westward from the front of the Mission Houses, rolling parkland and
+forest, with the Mofwe Lagoon four miles away on the horizon. Along
+the shores of this lake and beyond there are about thirty villages
+with a large population, which has settled there as a result of the
+regulations to combat the sleeping-sickness. These have had the effect
+of driving the Natives from the east and south shores of Lake Mweru
+to the Mofwe villages. All the missionary activities of a flourishing
+Mission station are in operation. There are Sunday services, schools,
+classes for hearers and catechumens, and prayer meetings. The
+Christians from the head-station go out to the villages on Sundays to
+conduct services. Industrial work is being carried on under the able
+superintendence of Mr. Bernard Turner. The fame of the cabinet-making
+and carpentry of the boys trained by him is spread far and wide
+over Northern Rhodesia. Much of the furniture in the houses of the
+Government officials was manufactured here or at Kambole. Medical
+work, too, has been carried on at this station, and for several years
+a doctor was in residence. Leprosy is common. In the district there
+are 147 registered cases, and probably not less than 200 people are
+suffering from the disease. Our Mission work was commenced here in
+1900, and the early days were times of great trial. One of the first
+missionaries, Mr. Purvis, died there in 1901, a fortnight after Mr.
+Nutter’s arrival, and his grave is to be seen under a tree near the
+Mission houses. In 1903 a missionary and a missionary’s wife died on
+two successive days. God buries his workmen, but carries on His work.
+
+During our stay at Mbereshi we visited Kazembe, the paramount Chief of
+the district, who nominally rules over 30,000 people. His town is some
+six miles away from Mbereshi, through the thick forest and the long
+grass. He received us outside his hut in the centre of the kraal, in
+which are a hundred huts for his hundred wives. He was seated on the
+ground, gorgeously and grotesquely adorned with beads and skins and
+gaily coloured skirts, and wore four large bells, gaiters of beads, and
+numerous heavy anklets above his bare feet.
+
+We sat down on low stools and Mr. Nutter helped us to talk to him. He
+showed us his treasures. One was a bloodthirsty-looking dagger which
+had belonged to ten chiefs before him, and had often been used to kill
+men. He produced a large number of charms, which he believes keep the
+lions away, and played tunes on a wooden drum cut by himself out of a
+solid tree trunk and decorated with brass-headed nails. He uses this
+to call his servants when he wants them. The heads of the drum-sticks
+are made of raw rubber. He sent for another and much larger drum made
+in the same fashion, and carried by two men on a pole, and also showed
+us two dulcimers made of wood and calabash. He gave us some raw green
+mealies (Indian corn) to eat. Kazembe smoked cigarettes, and when
+a member of the party offered him one he wanted to keep the silver
+cigarette-case. Then he took us to the Mission School where there were
+186 black boys and girls, many of whom were quite naked, and most of
+the rest were dressed in pieces of string!
+
+A day or two afterwards Kazembe came to pay us a return visit,
+accompanied by hundreds of his followers. He was seated on a platform
+suspended between two tree trunks and carried by thirty men, a great
+umbrella being held over his head. He himself beat his wooden drum to
+tell us he was coming, and a man carrying great yellow and black flags
+walked in front of him, and when he got off the platform he strutted
+about like a peacock.
+
+Twenty years ago the Chief was a great warrior, and often led his
+tribe to battle; but the coming of the British Government and of the
+missionaries has changed all that. For fifteen years not a shot has
+been fired in anger in his country, and the nearest British soldier or
+policeman is stationed more than a thousand miles away at Bulawayo.
+Such is the influence of the Pax Britannica in Northern Rhodesia!
+
+On another day we crossed the picturesque Mbereshi river by the ferry
+in two dug-out canoes, passing through masses of cream and mauve
+water-lilies, visiting a considerable number of the Mofwe villages,
+inspecting the schools and receiving the greetings of the Chiefs and
+Headmen, with whom we exchanged gifts. The villages consist of one wide
+street, and are almost continuous. The people live on fish and tapioca.
+At the farthest point at the north end of the Lagoon was a village, on
+the site of an older moated village, where Livingstone stayed for some
+weeks when he first visited the district. We interviewed one or two of
+the old inhabitants, who well remembered seeing him and were able to
+describe him to us.
+
+After a stay of ten days at Mbereshi we plunged into the forest again
+and journeyed to Chiengi on the north-east shore of Lake Mweru, which
+was discovered by Livingstone in the late sixties. On the way we
+paid a visit to Kashiba, a proposed site for the new station for the
+Chiengi district. This visit brought home to us very clearly some of
+the discomforts of Central African travel. After leaving our camp we
+had to traverse some half-mile of bad swamp, being carried through
+several stretches of water on the shoulders of our bearers. I used a
+bicycle, but before we had gone very far a tremendous storm broke and
+flooded the path. We sought shelter in a hut in one of the villages.
+There was a fire inside, the smoke from which filled the hut and only
+partially escaped through the thatch and the door. Except for the glow
+of the fire and the flashes of lightning seen through the doorway
+it was perfectly dark. The village street gradually became a raging
+torrent. After the storm had ceased we pushed on through the long
+grass, six to ten feet high and laden with water, arching over the
+narrow winding path. We passed through a succession of villages, and
+as we neared the site of the proposed station the people, who knew why
+we were coming and who are most anxious to have a missionary residing
+amongst them, gave us an ovation. The site overlooks the rapids of the
+great Kalungwishi river, and a mile away a column of spray indicated
+the presence of a great waterfall. Another deluge of rain descended
+as we turned back. I hastened in front on the bicycle and reached the
+swamp as it was getting dark. The heavy rain had converted it into a
+lake. I rode along the path until the water was up to the pedals, then
+I dismounted and pushed the machine. Soon both wheels were under water.
+It grew deeper and deeper until finally, when the water became breast
+high, I was obliged to lift the machine and carry it over my head. Such
+are the joys of travel in Central Africa!
+
+Next day we entered the sleeping-sickness area and crossed the great
+Game Reserve to get our first sight of Lake Mweru. The day afterwards
+we arrived at Chiengi, after experiencing the delights of travelling on
+a narrow path along which for miles elephants had been walking after
+the rain. Cycling under such conditions is a somewhat trying experience.
+
+The view of Lake Mweru from the verandah of the Native Commissioner’s
+house at Chiengi is of surpassing loveliness. To the south the lake
+stretches away as far as the eye can see, bordered on the left side by
+the forest and on the right by the mountains of the Belgian Congo 25
+miles away. Opposite, a little to the south, is Lunza, the beautiful
+home of Mr. Dan Crawford, the famous author of “Thinking Black.” At
+one’s feet the water broke in tiny wavelets on the golden sand. Its
+music was in our ears throughout our stay. The Central African sunset
+from Chiengi was a sight to be remembered. The sun went down behind a
+bar of cloud. A purple light, which rapidly turned to green, lit up the
+western shores of the lake. After the sun had sunk below the horizon
+there was a perfect blaze of colour over a large portion of the sky,
+and purple, green and golden light stretched in broad bands above the
+surface of the lake.
+
+From Chiengi we journeyed to Mpolokoso, the newest of the stations
+of the L. M. S. in Central Africa, where Dr. McFarlane has a small
+hospital consisting of eight native huts. Our stay here was curtailed
+owing to a very serious outbreak of small-pox, nearly half the
+inhabitants of the village suffering from this scourge. Most of
+those who were not isolated in the segregation camp had already had
+the disease. Mpolokoso himself, the Chief of the village, succumbed
+to it a few days later. The Government officials were using every
+effort to stay the spread of the disease; all infected huts were at
+once destroyed by fire, and no one was allowed to enter or leave the
+village. The thin columns of smoke ascending from the burning huts into
+the cloudless sky told a pathetic tale. On arrival our carriers were
+put into custody to prevent them mixing with the people, and every
+precaution was taken for the safety of ourselves and our men. One felt
+great sympathy with Mr. Cullen Gouldsbury, the Native Commissioner,
+upon whom great responsibility rested. Mr. Gouldsbury is a man of many
+parts. He is in the service of the British South Africa Company’s
+Administration, and we had many indications of the sympathetic way
+in which he carried out his duties in looking after the welfare of
+the natives. Moreover, he is a poet of no mean order, a constant
+contributor of verse to the columns of the _Bulawayo Chronicle_, has
+written a delightful book of poems, is the joint author of “The Great
+Plateau of Northern Rhodesia,” the most authoritative work on the
+country through which we were travelling, and last year published a
+book entitled “An African Year.” He has always been a friend of the
+Mission, and it will be of interest to quote his testimony from his
+latest book, as to one of our missionaries and his wife, which is
+rendered all the more valuable by the fact that Mr. Gouldsbury is
+himself a Roman Catholic.
+
+ “My views upon missionaries and their work, from the general point of
+ view, stand recorded elsewhere. I have no intention of recapitulating
+ them here. Let me rather dwell upon the personal standpoint, as
+ exemplified in the festive little couple who are our neighbours at
+ ---- six miles away.
+
+ “Let us call them Saunders--since that is not their name, and quite
+ sufficiently unlike it--Joseph Saunders and Jane his wife.
+
+ “All missionaries in this country, whether Baptist, Presbyterian,
+ Church of England, or White Fathers, are hard-working, whatever else
+ they may be. Saunders himself is a man hung upon wires, each of which
+ would seem charged with a full circuit of electricity. He and his wife
+ and the sun rise together--a most energetic trio. Before breakfast
+ he has conducted service, taught for an hour or two in the school,
+ visited the workshops and checked the labourers about the station.
+ During the rest of the day he is occupied with blacksmithery, joinery
+ and the like--laid in slabs between other chunks of teaching. As
+ likely as not in the evening he will go out after a buck, for Joseph
+ Saunders is that _rara avis_ among missionaries, a keen hunter; and
+ after dinner if there are people in the house he will play ping-pong
+ till all is blue. Not the ordinary ping-pong, you may be sure; that
+ does not afford sufficient outlet for his exuberant spirits. Kapembwa
+ ping-pong has mysterious rules of its own, such as that the players
+ must bound upon the table between the strokes, or lie flat on the
+ floor between serving and receiving the return. It is a curious game.
+ I can generally stay out two sets, after that Beryl (the author’s
+ wife) and I sit on the sofa and watch Saunders and his wife play.
+
+ “As for Mrs. Saunders, she is one of the nicest little women in
+ Africa. Demure, placid, and the very antithesis of Joseph--an adorable
+ touch of Lancashire in her soft drawling speech, and an utter freedom
+ from affectation or pose of any kind--she is the ideal next-door
+ neighbour in Central Africa.
+
+ “Saunders sent over the _junga_ for Beryl, so that she was able
+ to cover the six miles in comparative comfort, while I paddled
+ furiously behind upon an antediluvian bicycle. For the benefit of
+ the uninitiated I should perhaps explain that a _junga_ is anything
+ which moves upon wheels. Originally it meant a bicycle, but in this
+ particular instance it refers to a marvellous construction, balanced
+ upon one wheel, which has been built by Saunders himself in the
+ Kapembwa workshop out of some old packing cases and gas piping,
+ and which has to my mind solved the question of locomotion in this
+ country.”
+
+We stayed for two nights at the Mission house at Mpolokoso with Dr.
+McFarlane. On account of the small*pox it was impossible to visit the
+schools or to meet with the people, though on the Sunday night some
+half-dozen of the Mission staff, who do not live in the village, met us
+and presented us with a generous offering to the L. M. S. of £4 12s.
+6d., made by the infant Church, which consisted of nine members only,
+a welcome token of the missionary spirit of the newest and smallest of
+the Central African Churches.
+
+Travelling eastward from Mpolokoso we reached Kambole, near the south
+end of Lake Tanganyika, after three days’ journey. On our way we had
+our first view of this great lonely lake, eight miles away through the
+trees, probably from the very spot where Livingstone saw it for the
+first time. As we approached the station the people ran beside the
+bicycle and bush-car shouting their salutations and showing their joy
+in welcoming us in many other ways.
+
+Kambole is the centre of a very widely-scattered district, and is in
+an isolated position. The nearest village is an hour and a-half’s walk
+away from the station-village, and some out-stations lie three or four
+days’ journey distant. It takes the missionaries five weeks’ continuous
+travelling to make a circuit of the district.
+
+Many branches of missionary work are carried on at this centre. We
+attended crowded services in the Church, and meetings with the classes
+for hearers, catechumens, teachers and women. Some ninety-six youths,
+who were teachers at the schools in the outstations, at which there
+are 1,800 scholars, gathered at Kambole during our visit to attend the
+school for the training of teachers, which is held twice a year at
+the head station and lasts for about two months. Mr. Stewart Wright,
+one of the Kambole missionaries, carries on an extensive out-patient
+work at the dispensary near the wattle-and-daub church. Mr. Ross, the
+other missionary, is engaged in manifold activities and has charge
+of the industrial department which was established and carried on
+so successfully by Mr. Bernard Turner, who is now at Mbereshi. The
+prolific mission garden is another indication of the practical value
+of Mr. Turner’s work. It is excellently irrigated by the construction
+of water-furrows. Palms, limes, bamboos, bananas, yams, pineapples,
+guavas, grenadiloes, coffee, wheat, tapioca, rice, rubber, and many
+vegetables and flowers flourish abundantly.
+
+Half-an-hour’s walk from the Mission House, along an eight-foot road
+cut through the forest for a mile and a-half, at a total cost of £2
+10s. 0d., takes one to the edge of the Tanganyika Plateau, where there
+is a sheer fall of from 400 to 500 feet. On the right is the river,
+which descends in a series of beautiful waterfalls, arched over with
+foliage and rock, to the level of the lake below. In front the lake
+stretches away into the distance extending for 400 miles northward.
+It is bordered on the left by the mountains of the Belgian Congo
+and on the right by the hills of German East Africa. At the foot of
+the precipice is a fertile valley, once thickly populated but now
+uninhabited, owing to the sleeping sickness, and through this beautiful
+valley flows the river Lovu.
+
+At Kambole we came across a cripple, by name Kalolo, whose history
+affords an illustration of the sort of missionary work which is being
+carried on in our Central Africa Mission.
+
+Mr. Ross found Kalolo at Katwe, near Kambole, in 1906, destitute and
+emaciated, cowering over a few embers of fire, his feet a mass of
+putrid ulcers, which had not been washed or dressed for many a long
+day. He seemed to have no relations. Mr. Ross brought him to the
+station at Kambole, and on his arrival prepared lotions for him, and
+put him in charge of another youth, also a cripple, whom he told to
+wash Kalolo’s sores. Cripple No. 2, by name Nundo, was afraid and
+demurred. Mr. Ross took him into the house and read to him the story
+of the Good Samaritan, and told him to go and help Kalolo. He then
+consented, and assisted the missionary to attend to Kalolo for a long
+time. Mr. Ross had taught Nundo to repair boots and shoes, and this
+work he did for some time, but ultimately disappeared while Mr. Ross
+was on furlough. Mr. and Mrs. Ross did their best for Kalolo for five
+years, thus bearing witness to the people of the compassionate spirit
+of the Gospel they had come to teach. The Mission doctors when visiting
+the station treated Kalolo, but at last (in 1910) Dr. Wareham, after
+vainly endeavouring to cure his tedious ulcers by palliative measures,
+amputated both feet. When Kalolo returned to consciousness he was so
+depressed that he tried to destroy himself. He still bears a scar on
+his forehead caused by dashing his head upon the ground in his despair.
+He was, however, brought through that crisis, and when he had recovered
+he was sent back to Kambole station. A wooden waggon was made in the
+joiner’s shop to enable him to get about. Then he was taught boot and
+shoe repairing, as the Europeans in the neighbourhood all sent their
+boots and shoes to Kambole to be repaired. Kalolo was highly delighted
+to have a means of making a living, and became a most useful man at
+that station. Later, when Mr. Ross wished to find employment for two
+blind men who came seeking work, he put them with Kalolo to grind
+wheat. They proved to be a most successful trio at this work, and in
+sawing up timber with the cross-cut saw, at which employment they were
+engaged during my visit. Kalolo came to Mr. Ross long ago to say that
+he wished to join the Enquirers’ Class, and was enrolled. He afterwards
+came to the missionary and offered to help to dress the repulsive sores
+of another unfortunate occupant of the little station hospital. Thus
+the light of the Gospel is spreading in Darkest Africa, and the Native
+torch-bearers are lifting it high, and passing it on from hand to hand
+until “the beauty and the glory of the Light” shall illumine the people
+that are now sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death.
+
+Accompanied by a large crowd of people, who escorted us on our way
+for two or three miles, we left Kambole, still travelling eastward,
+for Kafukula, a mission station near the south-eastern corner of
+Lake Tanganyika, staying for a night at a village to which some of
+the people on the lake shore had been moved in consequence of the
+sleeping-sickness. It was amongst these people that Livingstone stayed
+for some weeks when he first visited the lake. The exterior of many
+of the huts was decorated with charms in the shape of snail shells.
+Nearly all the women of the village had holes, about the size of
+five-shilling pieces, in the lobes of their ears, in which large discs
+of wood, decorated with grotesque specimens of native art, were placed.
+
+                            [Illustration:
+
+                 _Photo by_]      [_Ernest H. Clark._
+
+               KAFUKULA MISSION HOUSE, WHICH COST £40.]
+
+On the following day, escorted by Mr. Clark, the Kafukula missionary,
+we reached that station, having descended some 2,000 feet from the edge
+of the Plateau, enjoying on the way magnificent views of the lake,
+near the shores of which we could see the ruins of the old Mission
+station at Niamkolo, which we were to visit a few days later. The
+Kafukula Mission house is a wattle-and-daub erection, and one of the
+most picturesque residences in Central Africa, as will be seen from the
+picture on the opposite page. It was built by Mr. Clark in 1910 at a
+total cost of £40. The view from the verandah can never be forgotten.
+In front the valley shelves down to the lake shore some 300 feet below.
+A small island, which is the property of the Society, nestles in the
+lake close to the bank, while beyond away to the north stretch the
+crystal waters in their mysterious loneliness. The eastern shore is
+visible for some distance, but the western is hidden by the trees in
+the foreground. This exquisite picture is framed by the forest-crowned
+hills on either side.
+
+We had a great reception. As soon as we were seen descending the hill
+the drums began to beat, the bugle sounded and a gun was discharged.
+The people showed their gladness by smacking their mouths with their
+hands while emitting a clear bell-like sound. At the bottom of the hill
+the village Headman, a Christian, and a Church member of many years’
+standing, met us, and we walked into the village between rows of people
+who, as we passed along, closed in behind and formed a long procession.
+Here and there were groups of children singing hymns, some of them in
+the native language and some in English. We passed through the village
+and down the slope to the beautiful river Lunzua, a rushing torrent,
+over which a primitive bridge of tree-trunks and mud in the shape of a
+crescent moon leads to the path to the Mission house, which is situated
+on a hill on the other side and is reached by a flight of forty-five
+steps.
+
+Kafukula is the village to which many of the people from Niamkolo on
+the lake shore were moved in consequence of the sleeping-sickness
+regulations. During our stay we paid a visit to Niamkolo and the lake.
+The following description, written on the evening of the day of our
+visit, will speak for itself:--
+
+ “We were up early--as is usual in Central Africa. After breakfast
+ we started for Niamkolo and the lake shore. On Mr. Clark’s advice I
+ donned my ‘ulendo’ dress--a large white sun-helmet, a khaki flannel
+ bush-shirt, khaki shorts, and stout boots and stockings and leather
+ leggings. The Mission family accompanied us, Mrs. Clark travelling in
+ a machila; the children--Dennis and Marjorie Clark--were accommodated
+ in a box slung on a pole, carried by two men. My colleague travelled
+ in a chair suspended between two poles and carried by relays of four
+ men. Mr. Clark and I walked. It was a glorious morning. We stayed for
+ a few moments at two villages to see the schools, or rather to see the
+ teacher and his scholars, for school is held in a kind of stockade
+ open to the sky, but partially shaded by a tree. The children sang
+ lustily some verses of Mambwe hymns. Like all Central Africans they
+ have wonderful memories, and soon learn the hymn-book of nearly one
+ hundred hymns by heart.
+
+ “The walk was somewhat arduous, as much of it was through very long,
+ thick, bamboo-like grass. Beyond the second village the land is
+ uninhabited, and is forbidden ground owing to the sleeping-sickness
+ regulations. We had to obtain special passes from the officials at
+ Abercorn to permit us to make the trip. Mr. Clark had gone down with
+ thirty men a week before to clear the path as much as possible and to
+ burn the grass where necessary and practicable. It was an eight-mile
+ walk to the former Mission station at Niamkolo, and nearly two miles
+ further to the shore. The old station was a pathetic sight. The brick
+ house in which the Stewart Wrights and the Clarks had lived was in
+ ruins, as it had been left after the fire seven years ago. The walls
+ were standing to the first floor, and inside trees, shrubs and grasses
+ were growing in wild profusion. It was on Saturday evening, the 29th
+ June, 1906, that the detached kitchen took fire in a great gale of
+ wind. The sparks were carried on to the thatch of the dwelling house,
+ and in two hours the place was burnt out--very little being saved.
+ The Clarks were there to see their home destroyed before their eyes.
+ This was the first time Mrs. Clark had visited the spot since the
+ conflagration.
+
+ “Then came the walk down the hill past the site of the house in which
+ Mr. and Mrs. Hemans, the black missionaries from Jamaica, used to
+ live. Then we crossed the plain, once a great garden and rice field,
+ now a swamp, to reach the Church and the shore. I was carried across
+ the swamp by two men holding hands, on which I sat with my arms round
+ their necks. We reached the ruins of the Church about mid-day. It
+ is picturesquely situated on a hill overlooking the south end of
+ the lake, and the island belonging to the Society. Its appearance
+ suggests, on a smaller scale, the ruins of Iona Cathedral far more
+ than those of a Church in Central Africa. The walls and gable end
+ and the roofless bell-tower are still standing--and what walls
+ they are!--all of light stone fashioned in large slabs, and a yard
+ thick. We had lunch in the bell-tower in some trepidation, as the
+ over-hanging stones threatened to fall, and then we made our way down
+ to the stony beach, where we lingered long. The scene was beautiful
+ beyond description. The lake stretched away to the north into the
+ ‘glow and glory of the distance,’ where water and sky met on the
+ horizon. The hills on each side were clothed with sylvan loveliness.
+ The sky was reflected on the bosom of the water. White cloud was piled
+ on white cloud with many a glimpse of deepest blue, and the glorious
+ sunshine dominated the scene. It was a dream of beauty.
+
+ “The beach is covered with the loveliest shells of all descriptions.
+ As we sat on the shore the wind blew the spray from the waves into our
+ faces. The children and I paddled, and though, doubtless, there were
+ crocodiles in the bulrushes to our left, we did not see any. After tea
+ we turned our faces towards Kafukula. Long before we arrived at our
+ destination the shadows of departing day crept on, and by the time
+ we reached the villages it was quite dark. The sunset was worthy of
+ the beauty of the day. For some moments the western sky looked like
+ the very gate of the eternal. Then the fireflies flitted about in
+ thousands. Their light was, however, from time to time obliterated,
+ as it were, by flashes of summer lightning. Then the moon came out,
+ nearly at her fullest, and lit up the landscape with clear, cool,
+ placid light, and in the solemn beauty of the scene we forgot all
+ about the lions and puff-adders which infest the country after dark.
+
+ “We had a great reception in the villages. The people all turned out
+ and greeted us, and bade us farewell with ear-splitting salutations,
+ following us for two miles and keeping up an unearthly noise all the
+ time. Then all was peaceful again as Mr. Clark and I reached Kafukula,
+ and crossed the arched bridge over the rushing river, and climbed up
+ the steps to the Mission House. From the verandah we could see the
+ great lake ten miles away peacefully asleep in the moonlight. It has
+ been a glorious day, which will live in the memory as long as life
+ lasts.”
+
+Evangelistic and educational work is carried on in Kafukula itself and
+in the district of which it is the centre. Services and classes for
+inquirers and catechumens are regularly held, and the missionary visits
+the whole district three times a year, conducting services, inspecting
+schools, interviewing inquirers and carrying on the usual missionary
+activities. There are seventy-nine teachers connected with the station
+whose wages range from £1 (one senior teacher alone gets this; the next
+gets 9s. 6d.), to 1s. 6d. a month, and these wages are only paid during
+the six or seven months that teaching in the schools is carried on. If
+the teacher is placed far from his home he gets in addition 1s. a month
+for food. There is also an evangelist, paid at the rate of 6s. a month,
+who visits and preaches in the villages. There are 1,300 scholars in
+thirty-two schools, and their education consists of reading, writing,
+very elementary arithmetic and the memorising of the Lord’s Prayer, the
+Commandments, the Beatitudes and other passages of Scripture and hymns.
+Valuable medical work is also carried on. Some of the teachers acquire
+a little knowledge of the English language, which they are proud to
+show off on occasion. After our meeting with the teachers we received a
+letter in English, signed by some seventy of them and addressed to the
+Directors, from which the following extracts may be given as specimens
+of their English scholarship. The opening sentence is as follows:
+
+ “We are exceedingly glad to write you this little note to give you
+ a hearty greeting to you all in this district, so that the old men,
+ women childrens, boys and girls and whose tribes of this country are
+ anxiously to send you a good compliments as they couldn’t reach there
+ to see your faces or to gathered in the same Church.”
+
+ It goes on: “But we were very glad to receipt those representatives
+ who came from their long journey as far as when they came from and we
+ had a very good general service and Mr. Horlick was one who had held
+ the service in our Church and it was interests wonderful to hear from
+ him about his describes preaching he told us many things about jesus
+ christ our saviour and how a man would follow the secularity of the
+ kingdom of God.”
+
+ The letter concluded as follows: “We thanks you very much for sending
+ us these Deputation to visit us and to hear many things from them
+ how do you loved us. We haven’t more information to tell you about.
+ farewell, Sirs with lots of salutation to all. We hope you are whole
+ in good health we should like to hear if you are better.”
+
+“Mr. Horlick” requires some explanation. The natives were not familiar
+with the names of the strangers who had come amongst them, but seeing
+on the walls of the verandah a glazed sheet, which had arrived a few
+days before, advertising the merits of “Horlick’s Malted Milk,” they
+assumed that this “banner with a strange device” had some reference to
+their visitors. Hence the mistake.
+
+From Kafukula we continued our journey eastward to Kawimbe, the oldest
+of the Society’s Mission stations in Central Africa. On the road, which
+was hilly and very beautiful, we were met by Dr. Wareham. At Abercorn,
+the Government centre for the northern part of Northern Rhodesia, we
+were hospitably entertained by the Magistrate, and then we continued
+our journey to Kawimbe, ten miles away, where another great welcome
+awaited us. Hundreds came out to meet us, many of the women and girls
+being decorated for the occasion with yellow and red flowers in their
+black woolly hair. They escorted us, laughing, singing and dancing all
+the way to the Mission station, which is 5,600 feet above the level
+of the sea, and picturesquely situated in a shallow basin. The native
+village is built on the hillside half-a-mile away, and is well laid
+out. Four miles off to the west is Fwambo, the original site of the
+first Mission station on the Tanganyika Plateau. A few miles to the
+east is the boundary between Northern Rhodesia and German East Africa.
+To the south-east is the fertile and populous Saise Valley, forty miles
+along which the sphere of the Society’s work abuts upon the field of
+the great Livingstonia Mission of the Free Church of Scotland. It may
+be mentioned that the river Congo takes its rise a few miles south of
+the Mission station. We remained at Kawimbe for nearly three weeks.
+The Annual Meetings of the Central Africa District Committee were held
+there during our stay. The first week was spent in seeing the work,
+visiting parts of the district and interviewing the missionaries and
+preparing for the meetings of the District Committee. One day, under
+the guidance of Mr. Govan Robertson, we spent over twelve hours in
+visiting several of the villages of the district, and accomplished the
+latter part of the journey in the dark. We shall long remember the
+struggle in the dusk through the almost impenetrable undergrowth of a
+picturesque mountain pass, and afterwards through the long grass.
+
+The three Sundays spent at Kawimbe were days of great interest. On
+the first two large numbers of people came in to meet us from the
+neighbouring villages. On the second a crowded harvest-thanksgiving
+service was held at which offerings in kind were contributed, including
+sheep, goats, fowl, eggs, nuts, maize, beans, flour, cloth, bracelets,
+cash, etc. On the third Sunday I visited one of the adjacent villages
+with Mr. Robertson. Communion Services for the Native Christians
+and the Missionaries were held. An interesting incident during our
+stay was the unveiling of a brass tablet in the Church commemorating
+the twenty-fifth anniversary of the commencement of the work on the
+Plateau.
+
+The work at Kawimbe is divided amongst the three missionaries by mutual
+arrangement. We had not the pleasure of meeting the senior missionary,
+Mr. Draper, who was away on furlough.
+
+An early morning prayer meeting, a morning service and an afternoon
+class are held every Sunday. The number of Church members has been
+steadily increasing in later years and has now reached forty-seven.
+There are in addition fifty Catechumens (Christians under probation).
+The Church work, as far as the men are concerned, has been affected
+by the attraction of better pay offered elsewhere at the mines,
+in the stores and in German East Africa. Most, however, of the
+Christian men who have remained at Kawimbe have gone out regularly to
+preach, and some have conducted Bible classes in the villages in the
+neighbourhood. Besides the station classes and Sunday schools there
+have been during last year classes in fifty-three villages, attended
+by over 900 persons. There is a branch of the International Bible
+Reading Association. The Educational work makes steady progress, and
+schools are held in every village in the extensive district. At the
+close of 1912 there were 2,408 children on the school rolls, with an
+average attendance of 1,691. For the most part the school buildings
+are provided by the people themselves. Dr. Wareham carries on a much
+valued medical work, connected with which is a small hospital admirably
+adapted for its purpose.
+
+Our visit to Kawimbe completed our tour of the Society’s Central Africa
+stations.
+
+Northern Rhodesia can still be described as a land that is dark, but at
+the mission stations we visited, and at many a little outstation, the
+light of the Gospel is being kindled, and everywhere there is promise
+that the darkness is turning to dawning. The Church is in its infancy,
+but it is a growing Church; and, under the blessing of God, will in the
+days that are coming be His instrument in spreading the light where now
+the darkness reigns.
+
+
+
+
+                            C.--MADAGASCAR
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI
+
+                 =Tananarive--“A City Set on a Hill”=
+
+  Earth has not anything to show more fair;
+  Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
+  A sight so touching in its majesty:
+  This City now doth, like a garment, wear
+  The beauty of the morning.
+
+  WORDSWORTH.
+
+We travelled from Kawimbe in Northern Rhodesia to Madagascar by way
+of German East Africa and Zanzibar. Owing to unavoidable delays at
+the ports the journey occupied ten weeks. For the first three we
+travelled by chair and bicycle and on foot, northward to Tabora, along
+a road almost parallel with the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. On
+the first night we encamped at a village near the Kalambo river, the
+boundary between Northern Rhodesia and German East Africa, close to
+the wonderful Kalambo Falls. The river, which is deep and about thirty
+yards wide, plunges over a perpendicular wall of rock 900 feet high
+into an awful chasm in one sheer drop. The rocky walls on each side
+of the gorge are vertical. Looking westward one has a lovely view
+of Lake Tanganyika, vignetted between cloudless blue sky and the
+purple-breasted mountains in which the gorge terminates, lying calm and
+peaceful in the “splendour shadowless and broad.”
+
+A week-end was spent at Kasanga, now known as Bismarckburg, the
+administrative centre of the southern part of German East Africa, where
+we met some educated and courteous German officials, who have always
+done what they could to facilitate the missionary work of the Society
+in the small section of their territory in which it is being carried
+on, and gave us some interesting information with regard to native
+customs and superstitions. We learnt that the natives offer sacrifices
+of goats, sheep and fowls at the Kalambo Falls to propitiate the gods
+who are supposed to dwell in the chasm, and to bring them luck. They
+have a superstition that the land at the bottom of the Falls would
+belong to the posterity of any person who threw himself over. A woman
+recently sacrificed herself in this way, and the Chief gave the land
+at the foot of the Falls to her family. When twins are born it is the
+custom to do away with one of them. Children who cut the upper teeth
+first are killed. Cannibalism amongst the natives is by no means
+extinct, and as late as six years ago a European was killed and eaten.
+There are well authenticated recent cases of the widow of a Chief being
+buried alive in the grave of her dead husband. This part of German East
+Africa is certainly a land that is dark.
+
+But I must not linger over the journey. Towards the end of June we
+reached Tabora, a large native town of some 30,000 inhabitants, whence
+we took train to Dar-es-Salaam on the east coast of the Continent--the
+capital of the German colony. This place is beautifully situated on
+the shores of a land-locked harbour, and the streets are bordered
+with stately cocoanut palms and shady acacias. It was formerly the
+centre of the Arab slave trade, but, to-day, except for the tropical
+vegetation, it reminds one of a modern European town. A few hours on
+a steamer brought us to Zanzibar, one of the most fascinating places
+we visited in our travels. After a stay of some days there we embarked
+on the Messageries Maritimes boat for Tamatave, on the east coast of
+Madagascar. On the boat we joined our colleague in the Deputation work
+in Madagascar, Mr. Talbot Wilson, and with him were the three members
+of the Deputation from the Friends’ Foreign Mission Association, and
+one of the Deputation from the Paris Missionary Society. A voyage of
+seven days, calling on the way at ports on the north-west and northern
+coast of Madagascar, brought us to the Port of Tamatave, some 1,500
+miles south of Zanzibar. From Tamatave we travelled by the splendidly
+engineered new French railway to Tananarive, a distance of 239
+miles, passing on the way great lagoons near the sea coast, crossing
+picturesque rivers, traversing belts of beautiful forest, and rising
+by circular curves on the railway up the mountain side to the Central
+Plateau of Madagascar, some 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. As
+the train neared the capital it was joined by various missionaries who
+had come part way to meet us. At the terminus--a great modern station
+lit with arc lamps--nearly all the missionaries at work in the city
+and around it, and thousands of Malagasy Native Christians in their
+straw hats and white lambas, met us, and gave us a great welcome.
+
+     [Illustration: MAP OF MADAGASCAR, SHOWING L. M. S. STATIONS.
+
+ Madagascar is nearly 1,000 miles in length. Its area exceeds that of
+ France, Belgium and Holland put together, but its population is less
+           than one-fourteenth of that of these countries. ]
+
+Tananarive is built upon a very narrow lofty ridge in the middle of
+far-spreading rice fields, bordered by ranges of hills and mountains.
+The ridge, which rises rapidly from the north, runs due south, and is
+crowned at its highest point by the Palace of the former kings and
+queens of the Island, which can be seen from a great distance around.
+The crest consists of a steeply-rising thoroughfare, from many points
+of which both horizons, east and west, can be seen. In the northern
+portion, known as Faravohitra, are several of the Society’s mission
+houses, and at the top is the Faravohitra Memorial Church. Continuing
+southward, and still rising for the greater part of the way, the
+British Consulate is passed on the right, and a short way beyond
+this on the left is the massive building, now known as the Palais de
+Justice, which was formerly the L. M. S. Theological College. After
+a slight depression the road winds steeply upwards, until, leaving
+the Palace of the Prime Minister on the left, and catching sight
+of the Memorial Church of Ampamarinana on the right, we arrive at
+the Queen’s Palace. The ridge then falls and rises again until its
+southern extremity is reached at Ambohipotsy, where stand another of
+the Memorial Churches and the present United Theological College of the
+L. M. S. and F. F. M. A., and some Mission houses. The view is one of
+great grandeur, especially looking to the west and to the south-west
+towards the rugged ridges of the Ankaratra mountains. Looking
+northwards one sees the wooded slopes of Ambohimanga, the ancient
+capital of Imerina, like a crouching lion dark against the distant
+hills. On the west, at the foot of the northern part of the ridge, is
+the great Analakely market, which on Fridays is visited by thousands
+of people, and adjoining the market is our handsome Analakely Church,
+while beyond are the Residency, the railway station and the shops and
+offices of the modern French town. A little above this the spire of
+the Ambatonakanga Memorial Church and the two large school buildings
+adjoining can be seen standing at the junction of two main roads, where
+the traffic is at its busiest. One of the features of the landscape in
+Tananarive is the large number of Church spires and towers which can be
+seen on the plains below. It is said that there are some 150 of them
+in sight, by far the greater number of them being now, or formerly,
+Churches connected with the London Missionary Society.
+
+We had come to Madagascar from Central Africa, where missionary work
+was in its earliest stages. In the “great African Island” the contrast
+was very striking. There is only one brick Church in the Central Africa
+Mission, the rest being wattle-and-daub. In Madagascar there are many
+hundreds of spacious well-built brick Churches, and some handsome stone
+ones. In Central Africa the Church is in its infancy, and comprises
+less than 150 Church members. In Madagascar there are over 30,000
+Church members, and nearly five times as many other native adherents.
+The magnificent results which have followed the work of the Society’s
+missionaries, under the blessing of God, are everywhere apparent.
+Wherever we went great crowds of Christian people gathered together to
+meet us as the representatives of the L. M. S. The Churches were nearly
+always full and often crowded to overflowing.
+
+The congregations find great enjoyment in the singing of hymns, and
+very large numbers read their Bibles, while Sunday School work is
+splendidly organized. A considerable proportion of the Church members
+take part in Christian work. There are more than seven times as many
+ordained native agents at work in connection with the Society in
+Madagascar as in all the other Mission fields of the Society combined,
+except Polynesia. In addition, there are over 2,500 preachers, a number
+largely in excess of the number of preachers in all the other fields of
+the Society put together. Moreover, the number of Church members and of
+other native adherents in Madagascar connected with the Society is far
+more than those in any other Mission field, and the same remark applies
+to the number of Sunday Schools and Sunday School scholars.
+
+One cannot fail to be much impressed by the great capacity of the
+Native leaders of the Christian Church in Madagascar. It would be
+difficult to find a more capable set of men in any Mission field. They
+are doing splendid work, and if this “apostolic succession” can be
+maintained, the Malagasy Church of the coming days will not lack for
+competent native leadership.
+
+Moreover, as the work of our Missionaries in Madagascar is examined,
+it becomes clear that the Mission is admirably organized. The men and
+women who have served the Society in Madagascar in the past have,
+under the guidance of God, laid the foundations of the work wisely and
+well. Their successors are worthy of their great heritage. It was a
+cause for rejoicing to find that the Native Church built upon those
+foundations is a strong and living Church--full of promise for the
+future. If the present Missionary work can be continued, and possibly
+slightly increased, for a few more years, there is every reason to
+hope that the Native Church will, in the not distant future, become a
+self-supporting, self-governing, as it is already, to a limited extent,
+a self-propagating Church, and strong enough to carry on its own work
+of evangelizing the whole island.
+
+This growing Native Church is largely composed of Hovas, the
+most advanced tribe among the Malagasy, and is to a great extent
+concentrated in the Central Province of Imerina round Tananarive. This
+is not an accident. It is believed that the best way to bring about the
+coming of the Kingdom in the Island is to build up a strong Church in
+the centre. As that Church increases in numbers and in spiritual power
+it will be able to extend its own Missionary efforts, which are already
+not inconsiderable, and to dispense, as time goes on, with the help of
+the white Missionary to an ever-increasing degree, thus freeing him for
+any work that remains to be done in the outlying parts, and ultimately
+making it possible for him to withdraw altogether--having finished
+his work. To weaken our efforts at the present time would be to delay
+and imperil this consummation. To maintain them will be the surest
+and most speedy way of hastening on the day when the Missionary force
+can be withdrawn and the Native Church left to bring each successive
+generation into the Kingdom.
+
+There were many indications that the Native Church is itself steadily
+keeping in view this ideal. I may quote a paragraph from the
+translation of an Address presented to us by the Pastors of the Commune
+of Tananarive the day after our arrival:
+
+ “We want you to know that we earnestly desire our Churches to become
+ independent, i.e. self-supporting. It is natural for young people to
+ want to set up housekeeping for themselves, and it is the same with
+ the Church. The near approach of the hundredth anniversary of the
+ arrival of Missionaries amongst us makes our hearts all aglow with the
+ desire for the independence of our Churches. There is no day which we
+ should more like to see than that on which we shall go with the last
+ Missionary to the railway station. On that day we shall overflow with
+ joy and sorrow, and our laughter will mingle with our tears.”
+
+The inner circle of Churches in Imerina is associated with seven
+Churches in the capital known as “the Mother Churches.” Four of
+these are the Memorial Churches erected in the years following the
+re-opening of the Mission in 1862, after the twenty-five years of
+the great persecution. The oldest and most famous is the Church of
+Ambatonakanga, which was opened in 1867. It is the Mother Church of all
+Madagascar. On its site the Bible was first printed in Malagasy in the
+thirties of the nineteenth century, here the first converts made their
+public profession of Christianity, and here stood one of the two first
+places of Christian worship in the Island. The simple chapel erected in
+1831 was afterwards turned into a gaol during the persecution, and here
+many Christians suffered imprisonment. Adjoining it is the grave-yard,
+where rest the remains of several British missionaries who have given
+their lives to the service of Christ in Madagascar. This Church, which
+has long been self-supporting, has associated with it twenty-seven
+country Churches, and for some years has been under the pastoral care
+of the Rev. William Evans, one of the noble succession of Welshmen who
+have done so much to advance the coming of the Kingdom in the Island.
+
+Mr. Evans has also charge of the Martyr Memorial Church of
+Ampamarinana--“the place of Hurling”--which is situated on the
+south-west of the ridge on which the city is built. To the west of
+the Church is the top of a rocky precipice, where in earlier years
+sorcerers were executed by being hurled down the cliff to the plain,
+400 feet below. During the persecution, as Christians were supposed to
+possess some powerful charms enabling them to defy their persecutors,
+fourteen of the noble army of martyrs were in 1849 thus put to death.
+The present Native pastor of the Church is Andriamifidy, who was
+at one time Foreign Secretary in the old Malagasy Government, and
+from this Church several of the present leading Native Pastors have
+come. Associated with it in the district to the west of the city are
+twenty-seven country Churches.
+
+The third Martyr Memorial Church is that of Ambohipotsy, situated in
+a commanding position at the extreme south of the city ridge with
+a magnificent view on all sides. This beautiful stone building was
+erected to commemorate the first Christian martyrdom--that of the brave
+Christian woman Rasalama, who was speared to death near the spot in
+1837, in a place where other Christians subsequently met their doom
+in like fashion. The work of this Church and district, comprising
+some forty-six country outstations to the south of the city, is now
+superintended by Mrs. Thorne, who is bravely and successfully carrying
+on the work of her late husband.
+
+The fourth Memorial Church is that of Faravohitra, erected on the
+northern ridge of the capital by the contributions of the children of
+Great Britain to commemorate the burning alive of four martyrs in 1849.
+The work at Faravohitra and in its extensive district to the north,
+comprising fifty country Churches, is under the charge of the Rev.
+Robert Griffith, another of the Welsh missionaries who have devoted
+themselves to the service of Christ in Madagascar.
+
+Not far from Ambatonakanga, at the western foot of the ridge, is
+the spacious Church of Amparibe, built of brick and stone. This is
+the third Church on the same site. The work there and amongst the
+twenty-four country Churches lying to the north-west of the capital,
+has during the last two years been under the care of the Rev. F. W.
+Dennis.
+
+The sixth Mother Church is that of Analakely, a short distance to the
+north of Ambatonakanga, and adjoining the great market place. This
+Church also is the third building erected on the present site. It was
+opened in 1895, a few months before the French occupation, the ex-Queen
+Ranavalona III. and her Court being present on the occasion. For thirty
+years the veteran Missionary, Dr. Sibree, has been the missionary
+in charge, and has superintended the work there and at the fourteen
+country churches connected with it.
+
+The remaining Mother Church is that of Isotry, another large building
+in the populous western district of the capital. It is only recently
+that the Church at Isotry has been reckoned as one of the Mother
+Churches of the capital. Mr. Stowell Ashwell has had charge of the work
+there for some years.
+
+The Institutional work of the Imerina Mission is centred in Tananarive.
+Of these Institutions the most important is the United Theological
+College, where pastors and evangelists for the work of the Mission
+receive their training. For upwards of forty years the L. M. S.
+Theological College in Tananarive has rendered great service by
+preparing hundreds of young men for their work as evangelists and
+pastors. After the French conquest the conspicuous College building
+on the northern part of the ridge was appropriated by the French
+Government and, as already mentioned, converted into Law Courts. The
+work of the College was removed to a smaller building a little further
+to the north, adjoining the Faravohitra Church. In 1910 a union in
+Theological training was entered into with the F. F. M. A., and the
+College was removed to a large house at Ambohipotsy and became a
+residential Institution. A notable feature of the present work is the
+training of the students’ wives.
+
+A number of cottages, named after Missionary Tutors of past days, have
+been erected on land adjoining the College, and this department has
+been superintended with great energy and devotion by Mrs. Sharman, the
+wife of the present Principal, the Rev. James Sharman. The College
+course extends over four years. Upon the staff are missionaries of
+both Societies and four competent Native teachers, Pastors Rabary,
+Rabetageka, Rakotovao, and Ravelo. The College at present contains
+thirty-two students, and is doing a great work in making more adequate
+provision for a well-trained and consecrated native ministry. In a
+very true sense the College is the key to the missionary situation in
+Imerina. If the Native Church is to maintain and extend its position,
+it is necessary that a constant succession of well-educated and devoted
+Christian men should go forth from the College to act as pastors of the
+Churches and to be the leaders of the people in all their Christian
+activities.
+
+Reference has already been made to the two conspicuous buildings in
+the centre of the city, adjoining the Ambatonakanga Memorial Church,
+in which are carried on the Boys’ High School and a Girls’ School.
+After the French occupation, Mr. Sharman started the Boys’ School in
+1897. It grew rapidly, and the present building was erected and opened
+in 1901 by Governor-General Galieni, when there were 500 pupils on
+the books. This number increased to 720, but was subsequently reduced
+to 530 owing to Government regulations. It is at present conducted by
+our Missionary, M. Henri Noyer, with the help of a staff of Malagasy
+Assistant Masters. The average attendance at the School is 91 per cent.
+of the number upon the books. In addition to the ordinary curriculum of
+a school of this character, which directs great attention to the French
+language, there are industrial departments for carpentry, woodwork, and
+metal work in which a high standard of efficiency is reached.
+
+Adjoining the Boys’ High School is the Girls’ School, founded by Dr.
+T. T. Matthews, where for many years some of the brightest girls from
+the Churches of Imerina have received a good education. The Missionary
+in charge of it is Miss Ysabel Du Commun, who, however, at the time
+of our visit, was absent on furlough, Miss Craven taking her place as
+Superintendent. The Government regulations only allow 230 girls in
+the School, although there is ample accommodation for a much larger
+number, and there are many girls now waiting admission when there are
+vacancies. There are seven classes, with three men and four women
+teachers and two sewing mistresses. In addition to the ordinary
+curriculum for such a School, training is given in hygiene, cookery,
+dressmaking and fancy work.
+
+In another part of the town, at Andohalo, stands the Girls’ Central
+School, where for upwards of forty years a fine educational work has
+been carried on. There are now 400 girls on the books, and many more
+are waiting for admission. The average attendance is 380. Amongst the
+special subjects taught in the School are straw-plaiting, hatmaking,
+lacemaking, first-aid and ambulance work. The staff consists of Miss
+Elsie Sibree, the devoted head-mistress, two masters and eight women
+teachers. The French Government regulations do not at present admit
+of the employment of women teachers, except those who were appointed
+before the present rules came into force. The present buildings,
+which were erected twenty years ago, comprise a large and lofty
+central hall, with a spacious gallery and six class-rooms. The sight
+of the crowded school at morning prayers is a most impressive one.
+The girls, bare-footed, dressed in their white lambas, with “shining
+morning face,” and with that happy, placid expression, which is so
+characteristic of the Christian girls and women of Madagascar, file
+into the central hall and take their places with order and reverence
+and join with heartiness and devotion in the singing and in the
+prayers. It is a very rare thing for more than one or two to be late.
+The tone of the school is of the highest, and the head-mistress always
+strives, by prayer-meetings for the staff and in many other ways, to
+impress the teachers with the missionary character of their work.
+
+     [Illustration: MALAGASY GIRLS AT MISS CRAVEN’S GIRLS’ HOME.]
+
+Another branch of the work amongst girls is the Girls’ Home,
+successfully carried on by Miss Craven for twenty years. Here is a
+home provided for the daughters of evangelists and pastors and other
+Christian workers who come to Tananarive for their education. The
+girls attend the Central School and live in Miss Craven’s house, where
+they are taught domestic duties, lacemaking, embroidery, and other
+needlework at very small expense to the Society. Thirty girls are in
+residence, and there are always more waiting for admission. Miss Craven
+describes the work being carried on as follows:
+
+ “Now for a picture of the Home itself. There are one sitting and two
+ bed rooms, all large and airy; the former has tables and benches, but,
+ except for meals and preparation, the matted floor is just as much
+ used. Books and small possessions are kept in covered baskets, one to
+ each girl, and their clothes are in a cupboard or tin boxes. The girls
+ sleep on mattresses laid on the floor, besides which there is no other
+ furniture in the dormitories. They bring their own clothes, plates,
+ spoons, mattresses and coverings, but as there is more ventilation
+ than in their rooms at home, I keep a supply of blankets to lend to
+ them when the nights are cold; an outside building provides kitchen,
+ rice-house, bath-house, etc.
+
+ “The days’ occupations vary little; the girls are up at daylight,
+ say 5.30 in the summer and 6.0 in winter, and, after a wash in the
+ bath-house, come back to their household duties, sweeping and dusting
+ their own rooms and some of ours, and preparing their breakfast of
+ rice and milk, which is ready before seven o’clock. After that all
+ the household assembles for morning prayers, and then there is the
+ bustle of final preparation for school before they form in line and
+ march off, two by two, looking a clean, tidy, and intelligent family,
+ of which we may well feel proud. They all go to the Girls’ Central
+ School, under the care of Miss Sibree, school hours being from 8 a.m.
+ to 12.45 p.m. One hour every afternoon is given to school preparation,
+ the remainder of the time being filled up with different kinds of
+ needlework, while the little ones divide their time between work and
+ play. One afternoon most of them are away at the C. E. weekly meeting
+ at Analakely. The evening meal is ready at 6.30, we have prayers at
+ 7 o’clock, and then they say ‘good-night,’ and troop off to bed, a
+ few of the elder ones staying a little longer to do more lessons, or
+ finish some piece of needlework. Saturday brings a change of work,
+ for most of the girls go to do their weekly washing, not getting home
+ until about 3 p.m. After dinner they are busy until bedtime ironing
+ their clothes and getting ready for Sunday.
+
+ “At different times they have attended Faravohitra, Ampamarinana,
+ Ambohipotsy, and Analakely Churches, and the Sunday Schools connected
+ with them. Sunday evening is spent with me singing hymns, discussing
+ Sunday School lessons and sermons, and other matters of interest.
+ It is a happy time, and one to which we all look forward. The Sunday
+ School has a great attraction for them, especially the yearly
+ examination, for which they prepare several weeks beforehand, and from
+ which they carry off some of the best prizes.
+
+ “Quarrels and troubles have not been frequent, and during the last two
+ or three years have been increasingly rare. Severe discipline has been
+ needed in very few cases, one being that of a girl who was sent away
+ for continuing a clandestine correspondence; she has been carefully
+ watched at home, and is turning out well. About three years ago we
+ were very grieved when one, who had been with us for many years, took
+ the law into her own hands and ran away to be married. We do not,
+ however, give up hope that she will become a Christian woman and train
+ her children well. The health of the girls has always been a great
+ responsibility, and malarial fever has been very much more frequent
+ during the latter half of the decade. We have not lost any by death,
+ except one who died at home during holidays. We generally find that
+ the girls improve in health while under our care, and we do not often
+ need to call for the help of a doctor. Occasionally we have to regret
+ that girls are removed by their parents while still young, but as a
+ rule they remain with us until about to be married, or get married
+ soon after leaving.
+
+ “As to the spiritual results, we may speak with some confidence.
+ Three have joined the Church, and one has been baptised on profession
+ of faith while still in the Home, and others have become Church
+ members soon after marriage. The Spirit of Christ is clearly working
+ in the hearts and lives of many who are still with us. Of one dear
+ girl, who died very happily after the birth of her first child, her
+ husband said to me: ‘I rejoice over the months we have lived together;
+ she has done me good.’”
+
+Another department of Institutional work is the L. M. S. Printing Press
+in Tananarive, which stands for much more than its name implies. It
+is true that a prosperous business in printing and book-binding is
+carried on, seventy men being constantly employed. But the Printing
+Press is a kind of “Universal Provider,” and anything, from a harmonium
+to a needle, can be purchased there. Under the able superintendence
+of Mr. Ashwell, a considerable annual profit is made. The magnitude
+of its operations is surprising. In the ten years ending in 1910,
+1,833,243 books and pamphlets were issued from the office, including
+over 40,000 Bibles, 60,000 New Testaments (printed in England), nearly
+350,000 lesson books, over 131,000 hymn books, and a large number of
+commentaries and other religious works.
+
+No sketch of the Institutional work in Tananarive would be complete
+without a reference to the Medical Mission, which for many years has
+been carried on jointly by the F. F. M. A. and the L. M. S., the doctor
+being a missionary of the former Society. For the last sixteen years
+Dr. Moss has been the medical missionary in charge, and in his own
+person illustrates the close union between the two Societies in this
+work. He has been a missionary of the F. F. M. A., and is the son of
+an L. M. S. missionary, and his wife, a trained nurse, is the daughter
+of an L. M. S. missionary, the saintly Joseph Pearse. No department of
+missionary work in the capital suffered more from the advent of the
+French than the Medical Mission. A fine commodious hospital, opened
+in 1891 by the ex-Queen, was appropriated by the French Government
+in 1896, and since then the hospital work has been on a much smaller
+scale, and in fact there was no hospital at all between 1897 and 1903,
+although a large out-patient work was carried on. In the latter year
+a small Cottage Hospital was erected, round which the work has since
+centred under the devoted superintendence of Dr. and Mrs. Moss.
+
+In barest outline some account has been given of the Institutional work
+of the Imerina Mission, which is centred in Tananarive. In this work
+the European missionary and the Native agent, working together side
+by side and in closest co-operation, are contributing to the building
+up of a strong Native Church, which in the future is to be God’s
+instrument in spreading the light into the dark places of the Island.
+This Church is as “a city set on a hill that cannot be hid.”
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VII
+
+       =Imerina Country Districts--“Fields White Unto Harvest”=
+
+  Say not the struggle naught availeth,
+  The labour and the wounds are vain,
+  The enemy faints not, nor faileth,
+  And as things have been they remain.
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
+  Seem here no painful inch to gain;
+  Far back, through creeks, and inlets making,
+  Comes, silent, flooding in the main.
+
+  CLOUGH.
+
+
+It was not until 1870 that the L. M. S. established its first country
+station in Madagascar. In that year Dr. Sibree founded a residential
+station at Ambohimanga, the ancient capital of the Hovas, and one of
+the three towns in Madagascar which, until the French occupation, no
+European was permitted to enter. Ambohimanga lies about eleven miles
+north of Tananarive, whence its wooded heights can be clearly seen.
+
+At the top of the hill is the old royal palace, built for King
+Andrianampoinimerina, who reigned from 1788 to 1810, and was the first
+king who had any claim to be regarded as monarch of the whole Island.
+He was the father of Radama I., who moved the capital to Tananarive.
+After its removal the old royal palace was visited by the sovereign at
+least once a year. The building is at all sorts of levels, and there
+are great trees growing in most unexpected places. When the walls which
+supported the wooden palace were last plastered the white of eggs was
+used to make the plaster, so as to give it a glazed appearance. It is
+said that millions of eggs were used in the process. At the very top of
+the hill are some rocks, from which there is a most magnificent view
+nearly all round the horizon. On these rocks superstitious practices
+are still observed, indications of which were very apparent to us at
+the time of our visit. To the north is a precipice, and at its foot
+rice fields stretch away into the distance to the hills and mountains
+which bound the horizon. The present Native Governor of the town is
+an old L. M. S. boy from Betsileo, trained by Mr. Rowlands. He showed
+to us with great pride a silver watch which his former missionary had
+given to him.
+
+Ambohimanga is reached by pousse-pousse (rickshaw), the journey
+occupying two hours. Its first three missionaries were Dr. Sibree,
+Mr. Wills, and Mr. Peill, all of whom have had the honour of giving
+children to the Mission field in Madagascar and in other parts of
+the world. The Ambohimanga Mission house must be the centre of happy
+memories for missionaries now at work in China, India, and Samoa.
+The contribution which the Madagascar missionaries have made to the
+Society’s staff, especially in China, is remarkable. Dr. Sibree has
+given a daughter to the Medical Mission at Hong Kong, and a son to the
+South Sea Mission, in addition to two daughters to the Madagascar
+Mission. Mr. Wills was the father of a medical missionary carrying
+on work in Central China, and another son is at work in India. Mr.
+Peill has given four sons to the North China Mission, three of them
+being doctors. A son of Mr. Peake’s is also a medical missionary in
+North China. Mr. Rowlands has two sons and a daughter missionaries in
+China. A daughter of Mr. Pearse is the wife of a medical missionary in
+North China; and a second daughter is the wife of a medical missionary
+in Madagascar. A son of Mr. Huckett was for a short time a medical
+missionary in India. Three children of Mr. George Cousins have become
+missionaries in China. And so the Apostolic succession is continued.
+
+Since Mr. Peill left Ambohimanga the Mission there has been in charge
+of two Welshmen, Mr. Griffith, and the present missionary, Mr. Owen
+Jones, thus carrying on the tradition that Madagascar is pre-eminently
+the Mission Field of the Welsh Churches.
+
+On the occasion of the visit of the Deputation a great gathering was
+held in the largest of the three L. M. S. Churches at Ambohimanga, all
+outside the city walls, on account of the old law, above referred to,
+excluding Europeans from the town itself. Thirty-five Churches were
+represented in the crowded congregation from the Ambohimanga district
+which gathered together to meet us. There were all the indications of
+a strong and growing Christian work, which was further evidenced by
+the efficient school work, and the work amongst women which is being
+carried on, and by the long and earnest discussion we had with the
+native pastors and preachers.
+
+Twelve miles east of the capital is the country station of Isoavina,
+where for nearly forty years the Rev. P. G. Peake carried on his
+vigorous and varied missionary labours. The Mission house is
+beautifully situated in the hills amidst fine trees planted by Mr.
+Peake in a beautiful garden, intersected by two perennial streams
+of water. There are school buildings, workshops, and a row of
+cottages bearing testimony to the work of this earnest missionary. He
+established an industrial school at the station and taught carpentry,
+iron-work, tinsmith’s work, and other industrial pursuits. The
+industrial department was, however, suppressed by the French officials
+in 1896, but was afterwards resumed on a smaller scale in 1907. But
+perhaps the missionary activity by which Mr. Peake will be best
+remembered is the founding of the leper settlement at Imanankavaly, an
+hour’s walk away from Isoavina, which has since grown to such large
+proportions under the French Government. Mr. Peake has himself told the
+story of the genesis of this great work in the “Ten Years’ Review.”
+
+In 1900 the French authorities purchased the Leper Settlement, and
+have since carried on and developed the work there to an amazing
+extent. There are now 1,500 lepers in residence. The Settlement is
+a large village, consisting for the most part of rows of detached
+huts in which the lepers live, and is a model of cleanliness and
+order. I visited the Institution and was greatly impressed with what
+I saw. Nearly all the inmates bear the awful marks of leprosy upon
+them. Many have bandages round their feet, legs and arms. Many have
+lost feet and hands and are horribly mutilated or deformed. Many have
+terribly distorted faces. Some hid themselves away as they saw visitors
+approaching. Others lay in the sunshine huddled up in dark blankets.
+Many, however, were able to work, and were engaged in building new huts
+or in agricultural pursuits. There were men and women, boys and girls,
+a most pathetic multitude. Yet smiling faces were quite common as the
+lepers saluted us as we passed along between the rows of cottages. It
+was Saturday, the weekly cleaning day, and all the meagre furniture,
+pots and pans, were turned out of doors. The staple article of food is
+rice, of which over five tons a week are consumed. Twice a week meat is
+supplied, and the Government also provide soap, candles and salt. The
+whole Institution is a wonderful example of method and organization.
+But the most remarkable fact in connection with the work is that it is
+entirely directed by a woman of sixty-five years of age, Mlle. Sapino.
+This lady came to Madagascar some eighteen years ago as a missionary
+of the Paris Missionary Society. On severing her connection with that
+Society she took up this work amongst the lepers. She controls the
+whole of the Institution down to the minutest details. She superintends
+the buildings. She buys all the stores, and I saw her weighing out
+the rice for distribution to the Lepers. She examines every case
+as it comes in, and puts all the particulars down on a chart. She
+personally dresses the wounds in the worst cases, and was engaged in
+doing this Christ-like work when we arrived. For all her services she
+receives the munificent stipend of £80 per annum and a house. Out of
+this at the present time she is keeping some forty untainted children
+of lepers born in the Institution. The Government will not make her
+any grant because these children are not lepers. Some months ago she
+sold her drawing-room furniture to get money to keep the children. She
+is a remarkable-looking woman--tall, with prominent features and iron
+grey hair. She reminded me more than any other woman I ever saw of the
+pictures of George Eliot. She told me that the Government respected
+her, but did not love her. They know she is indispensable. A week or
+two previous to my visit they sent her an unsatisfactory Frenchman
+to be an assistant. She objected and resigned. In a few hours a high
+official’s wife came out to tell her that the Government would do
+anything she asked with regard to the Frenchman. She demanded his
+immediate removal, and in twenty-four hours he was gone. She has no
+European assistant, but seven untainted Malagasy, including a doctor.
+All the rest of the work is done by lepers--except that the Government
+have sent recently five Malagasy soldiers as a guard. I was told that
+Mademoiselle always carries a loaded revolver about with her for fear
+of trouble. At the time of my visit she had no servant in her house,
+and did all her own cooking and housework. She is one of the most
+remarkable women I have ever met, and carries on a wonderful piece of
+work. She is a strong Protestant. There is a school and a Protestant
+and Catholic Church in the Institution. The cost is very small--less
+than 35s. per inmate per annum, which seems almost incredible.
+
+But to return to Isoavina. During our visit a great united meeting of
+the Isan-Efa-Bolana (four-monthly meeting) for the whole district was
+held in the Church. The schools were inspected and interviews held
+with the leading Christian workers. At this place, as at nearly every
+other place in Madagascar which we visited, presentations were made
+to us by the Native Christians in order to express their gratitude
+to the Society for sending us to visit them and their pleasure at
+seeing us. At various places we were the recipients of numberless
+turkeys, fowls and eggs. Offerings of other kinds of food were made,
+and we received more permanent reminders of our visit in the shape of
+lambas, walking sticks, lace, rafia work, embroideries, scarf pins,
+serviette rings, photographs, hats, addresses, etc. In their joy at
+seeing representatives of the Society in their midst it seemed that our
+friends could not do enough to express their appreciation and gratitude.
+
+Some half-hour’s walk from Isoavina, the “Rest-House,” or Sanatorium
+belonging to the Mission is situated at Ambatovory in the midst of
+lovely country commanding fine views. It is here that many of the
+Imerina missionaries spend their hard-earned holidays.
+
+During my stay at Isoavina I paid a surprise Sunday morning visit to
+a small outstation called Fararina. Every precaution was taken to
+conceal the fact that a visit was going to be made, so that the visitor
+might have an opportunity of seeing a country outstation under normal
+conditions. The Church was a small and primitive wattle-and-daub
+building, with a brick pulpit, covered with the commonest and most
+gaudy wallpaper. The earth floor was covered with matting. I was
+delighted to find that the chapel was practically full. Afterwards
+a Communion Service was held. The “bread” was nearly black. It was
+made of manioc root and coarse black sugar almost like treacle. The
+“wine” was pine-apple juice. The cups and plates were tin painted red.
+Although the visit was a complete surprise, the people would not let me
+go without making the customary gifts. As I descended the steep hill
+after the service some of the Church members overtook me bringing a
+fowl, and as I reached the foot others came running after me with eggs.
+
+Ten miles north-west of Tananarive is Ambohidratrimo, where the late
+Mr. Baron lived for two years in the seventies. In 1901 Ambohidratrimo
+was re-opened as a residential station under the care of the Rev. F.
+W. Dennis, and it is now in charge of the Rev. H. A. Ridgwell. In past
+days it was the capital of one of the four small kingdoms into which
+the present province of Imerina was divided, and it still retains
+marks of its former importance. At the top of a lofty hill behind the
+Mission house the royal village once stood, where a century ago the
+Malagasy king ruled over his petty kingdom. There are still several
+royal tombs to be seen. Towards three-quarters of the horizon a great
+plain stretches out into the distance. In the middle of it towards
+the south-east amidst the rice-fields is Tananarive. All around are
+mountains. The country looked like a gigantic relief map, and the view
+must be similar to that to be seen from an aeroplane.
+
+Ambohidratrimo is reached by a two hours’ ride in a pousse-pousse
+through rice fields and pine-apple gardens. In passing along the road
+I could see the women very busy in the rice fields, transplanting the
+young rice and working in water half up their legs. Pine-apples are
+very plentiful in the district, and three large ones can be bought for
+a penny. During our visit we attended two great meetings, one in the
+Mission Church consisting only of men, representing some sixty-eight
+Churches in the district, while the other, for women only, was held at
+an outstation in a large village Church with very few seats. The Church
+was crowded, most of the women being seated on the floor looking very
+clean, happy and bright in their white lambas. Many of them had walked
+for several hours to attend the meeting. The wife of the evangelist
+made an admirable president, and several women took part in the meeting.
+
+Fourteen miles north-west of Ambohidratrimo is Vangaina, which became
+the residence of a missionary in 1903. It is the centre of fifty
+outstations, which are superintended by the Vangaina missionary,
+the Rev. Thomas Tester. The beautifully situated Mission house has
+been built on the hillside some distance off the main motor-car road
+from Tananarive to the Port of Majunga on the north-west coast. At
+the station there is a Church and a school. A united meeting for the
+Churches of the district was held at the outstation, Ampanotokana, at
+which forty-four Churches were represented, crowding the building to
+its utmost capacity.
+
+Our journeys to these country stations afforded many opportunities of
+seeing various sides of native life. On the way to Vangaina we visited
+the large native market at Mahitsy on market day. We went up and down
+between the stalls in the market place. The vendors must have numbered
+many hundreds, and the people attending the market some thousands from
+all over the countryside. Amongst the articles for sale were straw hats
+and mats, spades and hatchets, great heaps of fine pineapples, sugar
+cane, pigs, cattle, rice, meat, great piles of a small kind of dried
+fish, salt, tinware, calico, black soap (like the soap our missionary,
+Mr. Cameron, taught the natives to make eighty years ago), buttons,
+biscuits, ducks, vegetables--all in the greatest profusion. Perhaps the
+most interesting feature was the space set apart for the blacksmiths,
+who were repairing spades, tinware, cart-wheels, etc., with the help
+of primitive forges. The blast was created by two upright cylinders
+of wood with pipes from the bottom of them to convey the wind to the
+charcoal fire. The air was driven into these pipes by means of plates
+of wood, which were forced up and down the cylinders by poles attached
+to the upper surface and worked by men’s hands. They formed very
+effective bellows.
+
+Vangaina itself is a small village with two moats, each about twenty
+feet deep, in which banana trees were growing. An interesting feature
+in the village is a great tree in which I saw three enormous nests
+of the crested-umber built in the forks of the tree and made of hay,
+straw, grass, and twigs, each one being about six feet long by six
+feet wide. The bird is about the size of the domestic fowl with longer
+wings, and is called the Taketra. It is a bird of ill-omen, and in the
+old days when the ex-Queen used to come out to Ambohimanga she would
+turn back again to Tananarive if one of these birds crossed her path.
+The old Malagasy believe that these birds bring leprosy.
+
+The most distant country station in Imerina from Tananarive is that of
+Anjozorobe, between sixty and seventy miles north-east of the Capital.
+On the way one passes through the town of Ambohitrolomahitsy, for some
+years the residential station for the district, at which the late
+Rev. Percy Milledge, and after him the Rev. W. Kendal Gale, carried
+on work. We attended three large meetings at this place. The journey
+thither to Anjozorobe led us over a range of mountains, one of which
+bears a Malagasy name meaning “The mountain which cannot be climbed.”
+Anjozorobe, which is beautifully situated, became a residential station
+in 1910, when Mr. Gale moved there from Ambohitrolomahitsy. He and
+his family live in a newly-erected Mission house bearing a Malagasy
+name, which being interpreted means “The house of sweet breezes,” now
+quite familiar to readers of the Society’s magazines. His missionary
+colleague, Mrs. Milledge, formerly Miss May Sibree, lives some
+distance away in the centre of the native village in a Malagasy house.
+Anjozorobe is the centre of a very extensive district, in which there
+are forty large outstations, and includes the northern part of the
+Bezanozano country, the southern portion of which is connected with the
+Isoavina Station. It was not my privilege to visit the Bezanozano, but
+one of my colleagues, Mr. Talbot Wilson, spent nine days in a tour in
+this country.
+
+During our visit to Anjozorobe a large united meeting for the whole
+district was held at the Church. Visits were also paid to some of the
+nearer outstations. The schools were inspected, and a gathering held
+for the native workers. Much of Mr. Gale’s time is spent away from
+home, his itinerating work through a widespread district necessitating
+his absence for many days at a time. Mrs. Milledge, too, spends much
+of her life travelling between outstations, living in native houses,
+and holding classes for women and girls in both the Anjozorobe and
+Ambohitrolomahitsy districts.
+
+The journey back to the capital took us through Ankazandandy and
+Ambohibao, where crowded and enthusiastic meetings were held.
+
+By the work of our missionaries at these country stations, and of
+hundreds of native pastors and preachers, the light is being spread
+through the central province of Imerina. Before the French occupation
+the L. M. S. work was much more extensive than it is at present. It
+became necessary to hand over some of the work to the Paris Missionary
+Society, whose missionaries, with those of the F. F. M. A. and the
+S. P. G. and their native workers, have now for many years past been
+engaged in passing on the light from place to place. The Church is
+steadily growing and extending into the dark places beyond.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII
+
+             =Betsileo--“The Sombre Fringes of the Night”=
+
+  The glad Dawn sets his fires upon the hills,
+  Then floods the valley with his golden light,
+  And, triumphing o’er all the hosts of night,
+  The waiting world with new-born rapture fills.
+
+  L. C. MOULTON.
+
+
+The scene now changes to the province of Betsileo, in the south of the
+Island, where the work is carried on amongst a backward people, whose
+territory abuts upon the districts occupied by tribes more benighted
+still--the Sakalava, the Bara, and the Tanala.
+
+Until quite recently the work in Betsileo was separated from the work
+in Imerina by a journey in a filanjana (palanquin) occupying from
+eight to ten days. Now the 264 miles which separate Tananarive from
+Fianarantsoa are covered in two days in comfortable automobiles, along
+a magnificent road which has been constructed by the French. For almost
+the whole of the distance the country is very hilly, the road rising to
+4,500 feet above the sea level, and being carried over mountains in a
+continuous series of curves with easy gradients.
+
+We were travelling in the middle of the Malagasy winter. The mornings
+were cold and misty, but before long the sun broke out and we enjoyed
+a changing panorama of hill and mountain, waterfall and river, and
+far-spreading distant views. Peaks sixty miles away appeared to be
+quite near. Time after time the road traversed amphitheatres in the
+mountains, and I was often reminded of stretches of country in the
+province of Hunan in Central China.
+
+Fianarantsoa is the capital of the Betsileo province, the inhabitants
+of which are a curly-haired, dark-skinned people of a somewhat low
+type, except in the large towns where most of the population is Hova.
+Work is also carried on at outstations amongst the Bara and Tanala
+tribes in the south. The L. M. S. first sent resident missionaries to
+settle in Betsileo in 1870, and the Paris Missionary Society and the
+Norwegian Society are also at work there.
+
+Fianarantsoa is picturesquely situated in a mountainous region. It
+stands considerably higher than the top of Snowdon, and commands a
+wonderful view on all sides--of mountains and moorland, forest and
+river in infinite variety. During our visit, in the early mornings
+great seas of mist lay in the valleys, but later in the day the whole
+landscape was flooded with brilliant sunshine.
+
+The work in the Capital itself and at seventy-four outstations is
+in charge of Mr. Huckett and Mr. Johnson, who have borne the burden
+and heat of the day for upwards of thirty years, while Miss Hare has
+been in charge of the Girls’ School for the last seventeen years. The
+Mission Compound is extensive and contains the Girls’ School, three
+Mission houses, the Theological College, which was once a hospital,
+and cottage accommodation for the students at work in the College and
+the boys from the L. M. S. country stations attending the Boys’ School
+of the Paris Missionary Society. In Fianarantsoa there were all the
+evidences of extensive missionary activities and of a successful work.
+The numerous meetings that were held during our visit were crowded.
+During our stay the annual gatherings of the Betsileo Isan-Kerin-Taona
+(yearly meeting) were held.
+
+They were the first gatherings of the kind at which I had been present
+in Madagascar. As I attended meeting after meeting the impression made
+upon me as a visitor was that of “fields white unto harvest.” To my
+unaccustomed eyes the white lambas, which seemed to fill the Churches,
+suggested the white fields referred to in the Gospels. And then came
+the thought which gave rise to glad thanksgiving, that in Madagascar
+the harvest indeed had been plenteous, though the labourers had been
+few. Then came a vision of the great harvest-home when from the north
+and south, the east and west of this island men and women, boys and
+girls would all be gathered into the Kingdom, and those who sowed and
+those who reaped would rejoice together.
+
+Three meetings stand out in my memory. On the Wednesday there was
+a representative gathering of the delegates from the L. M. S. and
+P. M. S. Churches in Antranobiriky Church. M. Couve, of the Paris
+Society, addressed some burning words to the delegates, which went to
+their hearts. I spoke of the United Malagasy Church of the future,
+and rejoiced to find so hearty a response to the idea of union. Next
+day at the Assembly M. Couve spoke with great earnestness on the
+duty of self-support, and Mr. Houghton gave an eloquent address on
+self-government.
+
+The third meeting was a memorable one. It was a united Communion
+Service held on Thursday afternoon in the Church of the French
+Protestant Mission. The spacious church was crowded to its utmost
+limits. The aisles and stairs were thronged with devout worshippers.
+A native pastor conducted the service. Missionaries and evangelists,
+pastors and preachers joined with some 800 Christians and the
+Deputations from the two societies round the table of our Lord. Men
+and women, brown and white, were all as one in that sacred service of
+commemoration and consecration. The solemnity of the gathering was
+emphasised by the thunderstorm which broke over the town while the
+service was proceeding. The church became dark. The wind howled. The
+lightning flashed. The thunder rolled. The rain fell. And then came the
+brilliant sunshine--a prophetic vision of the history of the Church
+of Christ in Madagascar. Persecution, trouble, and anxiety have beset
+that Church in the past. Even now there are clouds upon the horizon.
+But the day is surely coming when the glorious shining of the Sun of
+Righteousness will flood this great island with light and love, and all
+who live in it “shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and ...
+as the stars for ever and ever.”
+
+Mr. Huckett has long carried on a fine piece of work in the
+Theological Seminary. Here pastors and evangelists receive a three
+years’ course of training, and there is a two years’ course for
+catechists and itinerating preachers. Mr. Huckett also superintends
+the boys and youths from the country mission stations, who come up to
+Fianarantsoa to complete their education, living in the cottages above
+referred to, which are supported by the Glasgow Foundry Boys’ Religious
+Association. Another branch of Mr. Huckett’s manifold labours is the
+secretaryship of the local agency of the British and Foreign Bible
+Society. From the Bible and Book Room in the Compound the Scriptures
+are distributed to the whole of the South of Madagascar, and five
+colporteurs are at work.
+
+At the Girls’ High School, conducted by Miss Hare, there are one
+hundred girls on the books, of whom on the occasion of our visit
+ninety-six were present. There is ample accommodation for more
+scholars, but the Government regulations prevent it being utilised.
+Some of the girls at the school come from the country stations and
+live in the Mission house with Miss Hare. It would be a very great
+help to the work if a Boarding Home for Girls could be established
+in Fianarantsoa. In addition to her duties in the School, Miss Hare
+also has the oversight of the wives of the students at the Theological
+Seminary. The Paris Mission carries on the Boys’ High School and a
+Normal School, to which the L. M. S. students go.
+
+About an hour’s journey from Fianarantsoa another fine example of
+missionary activity is to be seen at the Leper Home, at a place
+pathetically called “The Village of Hope.” This work was started by
+Mrs. Huckett twenty years ago. My visit was a sad experience, and will
+be an abiding memory. No leper who enters this home, in which there are
+forty-three inmates, ever comes out again. The sufferers die, and are
+buried in the grounds. My thoughts naturally carried me back to Dr.
+Fowler’s Leper Home in Central China at Siao Kan. “The Village of Hope”
+might well be called the “Village of Despair,” for maimed and missing
+hands and feet told their tale only too plainly, and pitiable sores on
+the legs and face were common. But without exception all the patients
+seemed bright and happy, and one could not doubt the joy that had come
+into the lives of the poor afflicted creatures, thirty-three of whom
+were Church members, while others were enquirers. We visited the rooms
+in which they live, and afterwards attended a pathetic and yet happy
+meeting in the Chapel at which we all spoke. The lepers were genuinely
+glad to see us and gave us a hearty welcome. After we left we could see
+the whole community, standing in their white lambas just outside the
+gate on the top of the hill, waving farewells to us for fully half an
+hour.
+
+Thirty-two miles south of Fianarantsoa is the growing Government
+town of Ambalavao, which is reached by pousse-pousse along another
+well-engineered road through the mountains. As we approached the town
+we were met by streams of natives, many gaily decorated, returning
+from the annual three days’ fair. For many years Ambalavao was worked
+from Ambohimandroso, but it has been a residential station since 1903
+under the care of the Rev. D. M. Rees, whose untiring efforts are
+ably seconded by those of his wife, who has the great advantage of an
+excellent knowledge of French. The Mission house is an old Malagasy
+residence which has been enlarged. The Station Church is one of the
+most handsome and best built churches in Madagascar. On the occasion
+of our visit it was crowded to its utmost capacity by a gathering
+representing the forty-four outstations in the district.
+
+Six miles south of Ambalavao is situated Ambohimandroso, the most
+southerly station of the L. M. S., where the Rev. Thomas and Mrs.
+Rowlands (who, like Mr. and Mrs. Rees, keep up the connection between
+Wales and Madagascar) have faithfully carried on work for the last
+thirty-four years. At the bottom of the valley between the two stations
+is a river which is crossed by a ferry, where I was met by a crowd
+of school children who escorted me up the steep hill to the Mission
+house, the boys assisting in propelling the pousse-pousse. Here again a
+crowded and enthusiastic united meeting was held, with representatives
+from most of the fifty-one out-stations connected with this Mission.
+Schools were inspected, visits paid to some of the Native workers,
+and other gatherings held. Mr. and Mrs. Rowlands find house-room for
+a dozen girls from country districts who are attending school. Each
+evening these girls file into the drawing-room for singing and prayer.
+On the occasion of my visit they sang “Nearer my God to Thee” in
+English. Then followed their salutation, “Good-night, Mr. Hawkins,”
+with a curtsey. I replied, “Good-night, girls; God bless you.” Then
+came their answer, “Thank you, Mr. Hawkins.” The same formula is gone
+through with “Madame” and “Sir.”
+
+The morning I left, the girls were up early to see me off, and stood in
+a row alongside the filanjana. In a frivolous moment as I was leaving
+I pretended to weep to express my sorrow at parting from them, and
+off I went. Mrs. Rowlands told me a week or two afterwards that at
+my departure all the girls had burst into tears and cried bitterly,
+saying, “What a tender-hearted gentleman to cry when he leaves us. He
+must be thinking of his own daughter in England who has dark hair and
+dark eyes like us!”
+
+From Ambohimandroso I proceeded to the Society’s newest station
+in Betsileo at Alakamisy Itenina, where since 1905 the Rev. D. D.
+Green, another Welshman, has resided and superintended the work of
+the thirty-seven outstations, of which this place is the centre. The
+journey occupied all day, and the road lay amongst the mountains,
+the views of the hills and clouds being magnificent. Several crowded
+meetings were held at the station and at outstations. At one place the
+crowd that had gathered together was three times as large as the Church
+could contain, and the meeting was held in the open-air, in defiance, I
+am afraid, of the French law. I stood under the shadow of the Church.
+In the immediate foreground was the great congregation, some on the
+seats which had been taken out of the Church, and some on the ground--a
+very picturesque crowd in white and gaily-coloured lambas. Beyond the
+worshippers stretched a glorious vista of mountain and valley, rolling
+away into “the purple distance fair,” with the brilliant sunshine
+bathing all in a flood of golden light.
+
+The only residential station in Madagascar which I was unable to visit
+was that at Ambohimahasoa, a town of growing importance, where the Rev.
+Charles Collins has laboured for the last eleven years, superintending
+from that centre thirty-eight outstations. Both my colleagues, however,
+were able to visit it, and attended a large number of meetings there.
+
+The Society’s work in Betsileo is well organised, and has been carried
+on for the last forty-three years with great and growing success. From
+the centre at Fianarantsoa, over a wide-spreading district comprising
+244 outstations, the Gospel has been faithfully preached, schools
+have been conducted, Christian Endeavour Societies, Dorcas meetings,
+and many other missionary activities have been carried on, and this
+manifold work has been accomplished by means of a small European staff
+which has never exceeded ten missionaries. Their efforts have been
+seconded by a native staff of about fifty ordained pastors and 500
+preachers. The Church is a growing one, but much yet remains to be done
+to complete the evangelization of the large territory in which the
+Society is at work. Beyond to the south, as already mentioned, are the
+unevangelized tribes of the Bara and Tanala districts, amongst whom up
+to the present very little work has been done. But the future is rich
+with promise, and if the existing work can be maintained and somewhat
+extended, the Society will have a rich reward in building up a Native
+Church so strong and so missionary, that before many years have passed
+it will be able to carry the light into the dark places around.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX
+
+                        =Glad and Golden Days=
+
+  Spread the Light! Spread the Light!
+  Till earth’s remotest bounds have heard
+  The glory of the Living Word;
+  Till those that see not have their sight;
+  Till all the fringes of the night
+  Are lifted, and the long-closed doors
+  Are wide for ever to the Light.
+  Spread the Light!
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  O then shall dawn the golden days,
+  To which true hearts are pressing;
+  When earth’s discordant strains shall blend--
+  The one true God confessing;
+  When Christly thought and Christly deed
+  Shall bind each heart and nation,
+  In one Grand Brotherhood of Men,
+  And one high consecration.
+
+  JOHN OXENHAM.
+
+
+After our return from Betsileo and our visitation of the Imerina
+country stations, we spent three weeks in Tananarive to meet with the
+missionaries in their District Committee, in order to consult together
+as to the present position and future work. We also took part in a
+Conference with the representatives of all the Protestant Missionary
+Societies at work in the island, and attended the great half-yearly
+meeting of the native Christians known as the Isan-Enim-Bolana. It
+is not the purpose of this record of travel to discuss questions
+of missionary politics, or to deal with matters considered at the
+Joint Conference. Suffice it to say that the intercourse with the
+missionaries of our own and other Societies during those closing weeks
+of our stay was a time of happy fellowship. In the interludes between
+more serious work delightful social receptions and garden parties were
+organised by several of the Missions, and we enjoyed the hospitality of
+the Bishop of Madagascar and of our French and Norwegian friends.
+
+There was one gathering, however, of very special interest to us, as
+representatives of the L. M. S. On September 30th it was our privilege
+to take part in the celebration of the jubilee of the landing at
+Tamatave of our honoured veteran missionary, Dr. James Sibree. Mr.
+Sibree, as he was then, went out to Madagascar as architect of the
+Memorial Churches to be erected in Tananarive in commemoration of the
+martyrs “faithful unto death,” who lost their lives during the time
+of persecution. These Churches remain until this day, not only as
+memorials to the martyrs, but as monuments to the taste and skill of
+Mr. Sibree as an architect. But his services in this direction have not
+been confined to the Memorial Churches. In after years to the present
+time he has prepared the plans of upwards of 40 Churches in different
+parts of Madagascar.
+
+But Dr. Sibree will leave behind him, when the time comes for him to
+bid farewell to Madagascar, a more enduring memorial than churches
+of brick and stone. When he had completed the task which originally
+took him to the island he returned to England, and, after taking
+his theological course at Spring Hill, went back to Madagascar as a
+clerical missionary, and from that day to this, with ceaseless energy
+and devotion, he has been engaged in building the Invisible Church, “a
+house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
+
+The epitaph upon the tomb of another architect, Sir Christopher Wren,
+in St. Paul’s Cathedral, “Si monumentum requiris circumspice,” is
+equally applicable to Dr. Sibree, for no missionary has left behind
+him in Madagascar a more enduring memorial of his life and work than
+will Dr. Sibree. His energies, too, have found an outlet in other
+directions. His most conspicuous service to the Mission has been
+rendered in connection with the training of preachers and pastors.
+For upwards of thirty years he has been associated with the Society’s
+Theological College in Tananarive, and during that period several
+hundred students have received the benefit of his instruction and
+influence. As a writer of books and articles he has given to the world
+much information, not only with regard to Madagascar, but also with
+regard to the Cathedrals of the Homeland. The articles on Madagascar
+in the last two editions of the Encyclopedia Britannica have come from
+his pen, and he is a recognised authority on all matters relating to
+the island. He has rendered invaluable service as a translator, and
+especially in the revision of the Malagasy Scriptures. He does not know
+what it is to be idle. In his seventy-seventh year he is an example
+and a rebuke to men of half his age; from early morning until late at
+night he is always at work.
+
+Dr. Sibree has, throughout his missionary life, been ably seconded
+and supported in all his “works of faith and labours of love” by his
+devoted wife, to whom the women and girls of Ambohimanga, and, in later
+years, of Tananarive, owe so much. As I have already mentioned, Dr. and
+Mrs. Sibree have given four children to missionary work. Two of their
+daughters, Mrs. Milledge and Miss Elsie Sibree are to-day rendering
+fine service to the kingdom in Madagascar.
+
+On the Jubilee day a great gathering of missionaries was held
+in Faravohitra Church in honour of Dr. and Mrs. Sibree. Several
+presentations were made to them from the Directors of our Society, from
+their fellow missionaries and from the missionaries of other Societies,
+in recognition of the services they have rendered, and of the respect,
+esteem and affection in which they are held. It is said that never
+before in the history of Madagascar has such a large gathering of
+missionaries taken place. Later in the same day a reception and garden
+party were held, at which even a larger number of the missionary
+community were present to celebrate the occasion. A few days afterwards
+a great gathering of past and present students of the Theological
+College met to offer their tribute of gratitude and esteem to the
+missionary who had trained so many of the preachers, pastors, and
+evangelists, now engaged in the evangelization of the island.
+
+[Illustration: DR. AND MRS. SIBREE.]
+
+Only a passing reference can be made to the meetings of the Joint
+Conference. This gathering was unique, for it is believed that never
+before in the history of the Christian Church have all the Protestant
+Missionary Societies at work in a mission field appointed simultaneous
+deputations to unite with the missionaries on the spot to study in
+common the problems and needs of the field, and to plan together
+for its evangelization. Many matters of common interest to all the
+Societies were considered, and important discussions were held with
+the Malagasy Christian leaders. The subjects of the evangelization of
+the island, the work of delimitation, education, the social and moral
+condition of the people, the recrudescence of heathenism, the growth
+of atheism and agnosticism, and many other questions vitally affecting
+the life of the people and the growth of the Church came up for
+discussion. The meetings were held in the beautiful French Protestant
+Church in Tananarive in the early days of October. The tone and spirit
+which prevailed throughout the deliberations were of the highest. The
+Conference owed much to its Chairman, M. le Pasteur Couve, who presided
+throughout with wisdom, tact, patience and good humour. The holding
+of such a Conference in which High Anglican, Lutheran, Quaker and
+Congregationalist, British, French, Norwegian, and American took an
+equal part, was a remarkable evidence of the growth of the spirit of
+comity and co-operation in the mission field.
+
+But amongst the many vivid experiences of those crowded closing days
+in Tananarive, the most lasting impression was that made by the great
+meetings of the Isan-Enim-Bolana. This institution is a federation
+of the Imerina Churches of the L. M. S., F. F. M. A., and P. M. S.,
+and it holds a warm place in the regard and affection of the Malagasy
+Christians. Moreover, it is a Missionary Society and sends its own
+native missionaries into the outlying districts in the North where,
+but for its efforts, there would be no Christian work carried on. It
+is the child of the London Missionary Society, and came into being in
+the year 1868. Since then it has met every half-year in the Capital,
+and its gatherings are always marked with a spirit of great earnestness
+and enthusiasm. It met in October, and high as our expectations
+were from what we had heard, the gatherings surpassed all that our
+imagination had pictured. On Wednesday afternoon, October 8th, five
+preaching services were held at the same hour in five of the largest
+Churches in the Capital, and these were followed by two great meetings
+in connection with the Christian Endeavour Societies. Perhaps a short
+account of my own experiences at the Isan-Enim-Bolana, which were
+similar to those of my fellow-delegates, will convey some impression
+of the character of these Meetings. I was taking lunch with a party
+of French Missionaries, when M. Pierre de Seynes came to tell me that
+the French Church in which I was to speak was already crowded to its
+utmost limits, although it was nearly two hours before the time for
+the commencement of the service. On reaching the Church an hour and
+a half later I had the greatest difficulty in effecting an entrance.
+There was a dense crowd round the door of those who could not find
+room. It required great care to walk up the aisle without treading
+upon the women, who were sitting on the ground two abreast. The great
+congregation occupied every foot of available space; the floor of the
+chancel was packed, and men were sitting on the communion rails, on the
+top of the harmonium, and on the pulpit steps. Moreover, there were
+groups of people round the numerous open windows on the ground floor,
+and the gallery and the steps leading to it were likewise crowded. The
+scene from the pulpit can never be forgotten. The contrast between the
+black hair, brown faces and white lambas of the worshippers formed a
+striking picture. Pastor Rabary, the Chairman of the Isan-Enim-Bolana,
+translated for me. The vigorous action and fine declamation of the
+interpreter, combined with the inspiration which one receives from the
+enthusiasm and devoutness of a great audience, had their effect upon
+the quieter methods of the more phlegmatic Englishman, and I found
+myself moved to speak with a force and earnestness rarely experienced
+before. My address was followed by what I am told was an eloquent
+sermon by one of the ablest of the younger Malagasy leaders, Pastor
+Rakotonirainy, who is also a successful master in one of the F. F. M.
+A. Schools. As soon as the service was over the congregation hurried
+away to a great Christian Endeavour meeting at Ampamarinana, where
+the Church was already packed. An overflow meeting was arranged to be
+held in the Church which we had just left, and in a few moments that
+building was again filled to overflowing, and I was called upon to give
+another address, which was translated by Pastor Razafimahefa, who
+interprets from both French or English into Malagasy with wonderful
+force and fluency.
+
+But the greatest gatherings took place on the following morning. At
+6 o’clock seven of the most spacious Churches were thronged to their
+utmost capacity, some having arrived at 4 a.m. to secure a seat for
+the meetings, which were not to commence till four hours later. I
+was appointed to speak at the great meeting for men in the spacious
+Ampamarinana Church, which had for hours been filled to overflowing.
+As soon as I had spoken I was hurried away in a chair to an overflow
+meeting in a neighbouring Church, and, having spoken there, went on to
+Faravohitra Church, which was crowded with women, where my address was
+translated by Mrs. Milledge, who speaks Malagasy like a native. The
+service at this Church was concluded by eleven o’clock. Then came one
+of the characteristic features of the meetings of the Isan-Enim-Bolana.
+It is the practice for the Mother Churches in the Capital to entertain
+the delegates from the various Daughter Churches in the country. I
+went to Analakely, where some 1,400 people sat down in five relays
+to abundant meals of rice and meat prepared by their hosts. The same
+gracious hospitality was shown in each of the Mother Churches of
+Tananarive. After attending such gatherings one wonders whether there
+is any place in the world, unless it is Korea, where such great crowds
+gather for Christian worship.
+
+The hearts of sympathetic visitors to Madagascar are often thrilled
+at these manifest signs of the Divine blessing upon the work of the
+Missionaries, but very little investigation shows that there is another
+side to the picture, and that the young Malagasy Church needs all its
+zeal and courage to face the difficulties and dangers with which it is
+surrounded. Apart from the experience which unfortunately is common in
+all Christian communities, that practice does not always correspond
+with profession, the Malagasy Christians have special difficulties of
+their own which confront the growing Church. They have to face the
+temptations which beset a backward race living in the tropics, and the
+struggle with sensualism and immorality is a severe one.
+
+Moreover, in recent years materialism and agnosticism have come
+into the land like a flood, and tax to the uttermost the wisdom and
+consecration of the Christian workers in the island. Again, it must be
+remembered that the activities of the Church are being carried on in
+an unsympathetic environment, for apart from the deadening influence
+of the native heathenism amidst which the Church is at work, the
+unfriendly attitude towards religion of the French official class is
+felt on every hand. Again, on the north-east and north-west coasts the
+menace of the advance of Islam is increasingly felt, and already there
+are at least 75,000 Moslems in the country, professing a degraded type
+of Mohammedanism and introducing many vices, especially drunkenness
+and immorality. It will be a surprise to many to know that during the
+recent Balkan war a collection was made in Madagascar to help the
+Turks to fight “the vile Christians.”
+
+With these and other difficulties confronting the young Malagasy
+Church, it will be readily understood that the battle is by no means
+won. Moreover, much of the field has, up to the present, not been
+occupied by the Christian army, and great is the work remaining to be
+accomplished.
+
+If one stands on the verandah of “the House of Sweet Breezes” at
+Anjozorobe, the Society’s most northern station, and turn one’s eyes
+to the north, there is a stretch of country extending well-nigh 500
+miles to Diego Suarez. In this vast district, the area of which exceeds
+that of England and Wales, there is at the present time but one white
+missionary. It is true that some dozen native missionaries, sent out
+by the Isan-Enim-Bolana of Imerina, are at work in this territory,
+and many of these men are carrying on their missionary labours with
+energy and devotion, but without any European supervision. The Native
+Missionary organisation which sent them forth would welcome such
+supervision, and would be prepared to send more labourers into the
+vineyard, if well-trained men were available for service. In the near
+future the main work of the European missionary must be the training
+of the Native missionary. As the Church at the centre grows and
+multiplies, and becomes stronger and more efficient, the need of the
+presence of a large number of European missionaries will gradually
+diminish. The test of the success of their work will be that they have
+made themselves unnecessary. As the College in Tananarive attracts
+and trains and sets to work Christian Natives of good education
+and apostolic fervour, so the work now carried on by the European
+missionaries will steadily pass into the hands of the Native Pastors,
+and, under the blessing of God, the day will come in the not distant
+future when the foreign worker will be able to withdraw, having
+completed his task.
+
+  “And lo! already on the hills
+    The flags of dawn appear;
+  Gird up your loins, ye prophet souls,
+    Proclaim the day is near;
+
+  The day in whose clear-shining light
+    All wrong shall stand revealed,
+  When justice shall be clothed with might,
+    And every hurt be healed:
+
+  When knowledge, hand in hand with peace,
+    Shall walk the earth abroad,--
+  The day of perfect righteousness,
+    The promised day of God.”
+
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+<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Through lands that were dark, by F. H. Hawkins</p>
+<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
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+
+<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Through lands that were dark</p>
+<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: F. H. Hawkins</p>
+<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January 29, 2023 [eBook #69906]</p>
+<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p>
+  <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Peter Becker and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</p>
+<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THROUGH LANDS THAT WERE DARK ***</div>
+
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span></p>
+<h1>THROUGH LANDS THAT WERE DARK</h1>
+
+<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter"  id="img001">
+<img src="images/001.jpg" class="w50"  alt="Khama, the Christian Chief of the Bamangwato
+Tribe">
+</span></p>
+<p class="center caption"><span class="smcap">Khama, the Christian Chief of the Bamangwato
+Tribe.</span><br></p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+
+
+
+<p class="center"><span class="xbig">
+THROUGH LANDS<br>
+THAT WERE DARK</span><br>
+<br>
+Being a Record of a Year’s Missionary Journey<br>
+in Africa and Madagascar<br>
+</p>
+<p class="center p2">
+BY<br>
+<span class="big">F. H. HAWKINS, LL.B.,</span><br>
+<br>
+Foreign Secretary of the London Missionary Society for Africa, China<br>
+and Madagascar.<br>
+</p>
+<p class="poetry p2">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“<i>To the Darkness and the Sorrow of the Night</i></span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Came the Wonder and the Glory of the Light</i>”</span><br>
+</p>
+<p class="center p2">
+<span class="big">LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY</span><br>
+16, New Bridge Street, London, E.C.<br>
+1914<br>
+</p></div>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="Dedication">Dedication</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>This little Book is dedicated (without permission) to the Friend whose
+generosity made it possible for the journey herein recorded to be taken
+free of any expense to the London Missionary Society</p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="Table_of_Contents">Table of Contents</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<table class="autotable">
+<tr><th></th><th></th><th class="tdr page">PAGE</th></tr>
+<tr><td></td><td>
+<a href="#FOREWORD"><span class="smcap">Foreword</span></a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdl" colspan="3">
+<a href="#A-SOUTH_AFRICA">A. <span class="smcap">South Africa</span>:</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_I">I.</a></td>
+<td><a href="#CHAPTER_I">Darkness and Light</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_II">II.</a></td>
+<td><a href="#CHAPTER_II">The Light Spreading Northward</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_III">III.</a></td>
+<td><a href="#CHAPTER_III">Tiger Kloof—“A Lamp Shining in a Dark Place”</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdl" colspan="3">
+<a href="#B-CENTRAL_AFRICA">B. <span class="smcap">Central Africa</span>:</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV.</a></td>
+<td><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">The Heart of the Dark Continent</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_V">V.</a></td>
+<td><a href="#CHAPTER_V">The Brightness of His Rising</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdl" colspan="3">
+<a href="#C-MADAGASCAR">C. <span class="smcap">Madagascar</span>:</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI.</a></td>
+<td><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">Tananarive—“A City set on a Hill”</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII.</a></td>
+<td><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Imerina Country Districts—“Fields White Unto Harvest”</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#Page_126">126</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII.</a></td>
+<td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">Betsileo—“The Sombre Fringes of the Night”</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">
+<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX.</a></td>
+<td><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Glad and Golden Days</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span></p>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="List_of_Illustrations">List of Illustrations</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<table class="autotable">
+<tr><th></th><th></th><th class="tdr page">PAGE</th></tr>
+<tr><td></td><td>
+<a href="#img001">Chief Khama</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#img001"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">1.</td><td><a href="#img002">Map of South Africa</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#img002">15</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">2.</td><td><a href="#img003">Kuruman Mission House</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#img003"><i>facing</i>     34</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">3.</td><td><a href="#img004">The New Kuruman Waggon</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#img004">”&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;34</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">4.</td><td><a href="#img005">Tiger Kloof</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#img005">”&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;64</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">5.</td><td><a href="#img006">Map of Central Africa</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#img006">67</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">6.</td><td><a href="#img007">Missionaries’ Children</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#img007"><i>facing</i>    70</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">7.</td><td><a href="#img008">Native with Fish Trap</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#img008">”&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;82</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">8.</td><td><a href="#img009">Kafukula Mission House</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#img009">”&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;95</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">9.</td><td><a href="#img010">Map of Madagascar</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#img010">109</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">10.</td><td><a href="#img011">Malagasy Girls at Girls’ Home</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#img011"><i>facing</i>    121</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tdr">11.</td><td><a href="#img012"><abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> and Mrs. Sibree</a></td>
+<td class="tdr page"><a href="#img012">”&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;152</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span></p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p class="poetry">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">I hear a clear voice calling, calling,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Calling out of the night,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">O, you who live in the Light of Life,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Bring us the Light!</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We are bound in the chains of darkness,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Our eyes received no sight,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">O, you who have never been bound or blind,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Bring us the Light!</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We live amid turmoil and horror,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Where might is the only right,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">O, you to whom life is liberty,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Bring us the Light!</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We stand in the ashes of ruins,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We are ready to fight the fight,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">O, you whose feet are firm on the Rock,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Bring us the Light!</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">You cannot—you shall not forget us,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Out here in the darkest night,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We are drowning men, we are dying men,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Bring, O, bring us the Light!</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;"><span class="smcap">John Oxenham.</span></span><br>
+</p></div>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="FOREWORD">FOREWORD</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>This short record of a year’s missionary journey in Africa and
+Madagascar is written at the request of the Directors of the London
+Missionary Society, and is based upon a series of Journal Letters
+written to my family and friends while I have been on my travels. This
+fact must be my excuse for writing in the first person. This little
+book has been prepared in the midst of the pressure of Secretarial work.</p>
+
+<p>My visit to South Africa was a Secretarial visit. In Central Africa
+and Madagascar I formed one of a Deputation from the London Missionary
+Society. My colleague in Central Africa was the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> W. S. Houghton of
+Birmingham, and in Madagascar the other members of the Deputation were
+<abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Houghton and <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Talbot E. B. Wilson of Sheffield.</p>
+
+<p>It is not my purpose to attempt to give any description of the three
+Mission Fields which it has been my privilege to visit during the
+journey. Details with regard to the countries and the peoples will be
+found in three Handbooks published by the Society.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span></p>
+
+<p>Nor does the discussion of questions of missionary policy or any
+account of the details of the work in the various fields fall within
+the scope of this book. These matters have been dealt with in Reports
+prepared for the Directors of the Society. Further information with
+regard to all the fields can be obtained in the Society’s Annual
+Report. Some account of Madagascar and the missionary work there
+will be also found in a book just published, entitled “Madagascar
+for Christ,” being the Joint Report of the Simultaneous Deputations
+from the London Missionary Society, The Friends’ Foreign Mission
+Association, and the Paris Missionary Society, which have recently
+returned from Madagascar.<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
+
+<p>The journey has been one of great fascination. From the point of view
+of the traveller it has been full of interest. From the point of view
+of a Secretary of a Missionary Society carrying on work in the lands
+visited, the outstanding impression has been that of the growing
+Christian Church. In Central Africa that Church is in its infancy,
+but it is an infancy full of promise. In South Africa and Madagascar
+the Native Church is nearly a century old. Its foundations have been
+well and truly laid, and it exhibits all the signs of healthy life and
+growth. As one travelled from station to station and came into contact
+with the Native Church in all stages of development and met the Native
+leaders of that Church, one looked into the future and saw a vision
+of a Church which would one day become not only self-supporting<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span> and
+self-governing, but so possessed with the missionary spirit that it
+would be an instrument in God’s hands for evangelising the peoples
+amongst whom it is now set as a lamp in the night. One hundred years
+ago and less these lands were in gross darkness; to-day the curtains
+of the night are being lifted and long closed doors are wide open to
+the light. The darkness has turned to dawning and the growing Church is
+becoming “a burning and a shining light” in the lands which aforetime
+sat “in darkness and in the shadow of death.”</p>
+
+<p class="right">
+F. H. H.<br>
+</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p><i>31st January, 1914.</i></p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span></p>
+
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> “South Africa”: <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> W. A. Elliott (price 6d., post free
+8d.); “Central Africa”: Mrs. John May, B.A. (price 6d., post free
+7¹⁄₂d.); “Madagascar”: <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> James Sibree, D.D., F.R.G.S. (price 6d.,
+post free 8d.). I am much indebted to the “Ten Years’ Review” of the
+Madagascar Mission, edited by <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Sibree (L.M.S., price 2s. 6d. net),
+for much information embodied in the Madagascar section of the book.</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Copies can be obtained at the L.M.S., 6d. net, post free
+8d.</p>
+
+</div>
+</div>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span></p>
+
+<p class="center xbig">Through Lands That Were Dark</p>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr class="r5">
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="A-SOUTH_AFRICA">A.—SOUTH AFRICA</h2>
+<hr class="r5">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I<br><span class="small">Darkness and Light</span></h3>
+
+
+<p class="poetry">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A land of lights and shadows intervolved,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A land of blazing sun and blackest night.</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;"><span class="smcap">John Oxenham.</span></span><br>
+</p>
+
+
+<p>South Africa exercises a great charm over those who visit it. It is a
+land of sunshine. An unkind critic has described it as “a land of trees
+without shade, rivers without water, flowers without scent, and birds
+without song.” It is a land of vast distances and sparse population.
+The portion of the African Continent which is popularly referred to as
+“South Africa” is that part which lies south of the Zambesi. This great
+expanse of country is as large as Europe without Russia, Scandinavia
+and the British Isles, but its entire population is less than that of
+greater London.</p>
+
+<p>I left England in the late autumn and arrived at Cape Town seventeen
+days later in the early summer. London<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span> fog was exchanged for a land
+of lovely flowers and luscious fruits. Cape Town has been so often
+described that I will not dwell upon its beauties or attempt to draw a
+picture of Table Mountain, The Devil’s Peak, The Lion’s Head, or The
+Twelve Apostles.</p>
+
+<p>My first impression—and it is a lasting one—was of the abounding
+kindness and hospitality of the Colonials wherever I went. On the
+day of my arrival I was entertained by the Executive Committee of
+the Congregational Union of South Africa. On the following day I
+was the guest of the Archbishop of Cape Town at his lovely home at
+Bishopscourt, where I met fourteen South African Bishops in full
+canonicals gathered together for their Annual Synod. Bishopscourt is
+a beautiful old Dutch House with a far-famed garden which surpassed
+in luxuriance of colour anything I had ever seen except in Japan.
+All through South and Central Africa I was often the guest of
+Government officials and European residents, and everywhere received,
+as the representative of the Society, a warm welcome and the utmost
+hospitality and kindness.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter"  id="img002">
+<img src="images/002.jpg" class="w50"  alt="Map of South Africa, showing L.M.S. Mission
+Stations.">
+</span></p>
+<p class="center caption"><span class="smcap">Map of South Africa, showing L.M.S. Mission
+Stations.</span><br></p>
+
+<p>My next impression was of the great contribution which the London
+Missionary Society has made to the public life and development of Cape
+Colony and South Africa generally, quite apart from the direct work
+which its missionaries have been able to accomplish. Evidences of the
+value of this contribution abounded everywhere I went. In Cape Town
+I had the pleasure of meeting the Hon. W. P. Schreiner, who was the
+Prime Minister of Cape Colony at the outbreak of the Boer War. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span>
+Schreiner is now a member of the Senate, specially chosen to represent
+the interests of the Native population. He is recognised as the
+leading lawyer in South Africa. I also met his brother, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Theophilus
+Schreiner, who is also a member of the Legislature and is well-known
+as a leading Temperance advocate. Their sister, Olive Schreiner, the
+authoress of “The Story of an African Farm,” is known wherever English
+literature is read. This distinguished family are the children of an L.
+M. S. Missionary.</p>
+
+<p>It is not often that three brothers receive the honour of knighthood
+for public services. Sir William Solomon, Sir Saul Solomon and the
+late Sir Richard Solomon (who was Agent-General for the Commonwealth
+of South Africa, and who died a few weeks ago) are sons of an L. M. S.
+Missionary. In its Review of the year 1913, the <i>Times</i> speaks of
+Sir Richard Solomon as “the most distinguished South African of his
+generation, a man who was loved by his intimates and respected by all
+for his ability and efficiency,” and of Sir William Solomon as “an
+eminent judge.”</p>
+
+<p><abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Mackenzie, the leading physician in Kimberley; his brother, <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> W.
+Douglas Mackenzie, the Principal of the Hartford Theological Seminary,
+U.S.A.; and another brother, at present Solicitor-General for Southern
+Rhodesia, are three sons of John Mackenzie, the missionary-statesman of
+South Africa and Lord Rosebery’s friend, who had so much to do with the
+making of history in South Africa thirty years ago. I need only mention
+other families whose names are household words in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span> South Africa, and
+whose representatives are to be found in many places—the Philips, the
+Moffats, the Kaysers, the Andersons, the Helms, the Rose-Innes, to show
+how large a part the L. M. S. has indirectly played in building up the
+Commonwealth of South Africa.</p>
+
+<p>Throughout Cape Colony I found numerous Congregational Churches of
+coloured people at places which were formerly Mission Stations of
+the Society. Amongst others, Pacaltsdorp, Kruisfontein, Hankey,
+Port Elizabeth, King Williams Town, and Fort Beaufort were visited.
+The Society many years ago withdrew its missionaries and left these
+Churches to develop along their own lines into self-governing
+communities, supporting their own pastorate and carrying on their
+own work. Wherever one went, one found evidences of the great part
+which the Society had played in days gone by in planting churches
+which are now independent, thus contributing both to the civilisation
+and evangelization of the peoples of the land. Passing reference may
+be made to one of these Churches which I visited. In the Brownlee
+location at King Williams Town I found at work the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> John Harper,
+who nearly thirty years ago exchanged his position as a missionary
+of the Society for that of pastor of the Congregational Church. For
+forty-five years he has laboured there as the minister of the Kaffir
+Church in the Native Location and in charge of nineteen out-stations.
+This veteran not only ministers to the spiritual needs of a very large
+congregation, but acts both as doctor and lawyer to all the natives.
+In 1912 he treated 4,000 patients and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span> acted as guide, philosopher and
+friend to the members of his congregations, advising them in all their
+difficulties, drawing up their wills for them and ever looking after
+their temporal and spiritual interests. Many of these coloured Churches
+are now served by ministers of their own race, who have been trained
+for the pastorate.</p>
+
+<p>From Cape Town I proceeded to Great Brak River and paid a short visit
+to <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Thomas Searle, who for some years has been the Society’s Agent
+for its properties at Hankey and Kruisfontein. The history of the
+Searle family at Great Brak River during the last fifty years affords a
+good example of the contribution to the development of the Colony which
+Christian families have been able to make.</p>
+
+<p>On the 31st December, 1859, the late <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Charles Searle arrived at
+Great Brak River with his wife and four children to take up the
+position of toll-keeper at the Causeway carrying the main road over the
+river. The toll-house was the only habitation in the place. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Searle
+erected a house for the accommodation of travellers, and afterwards a
+shop and a store. Four more children were born. He purchased a farm of
+354 acres for £91, and spent some money in constructing water-furrows.
+A church was built. The business grew and subsequently a tannery and
+boot-and-shoe factory were started. Branch stores were afterwards
+established at George, Oudtshoorn, Heidelberg, Riversdale and a
+wholesale depot at Mossel Bay. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Searle had three sons, Charles,
+William, and Thomas, who entered the business, and now direct the
+Limited Company, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span> has been formed to carry it on. As the place
+grew the Searles successfully opposed all applications for a licence
+for the sale of intoxicating drinks, and to-day there is no licence
+between Mossel Bay, 16 miles to the west, and George, 18³⁄₄ miles to
+the east. The present population of Great Brak River exceeds 900, all
+of whom are in the employ of, or dependent on, the Searles, except
+the doctor, the post-master and the school-teacher. At first, all the
+employees were coloured people. Latterly, however, white people have
+also been employed, but they are treated exactly in the same way as the
+coloured people and receive the same wages as coloured people doing
+similar work. A very large new factory is now being built. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Thomas
+Searle preaches regularly in the spacious church. Dutch is the language
+spoken. There is an excellent golf course. About six years ago old <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr>
+and Mrs. Charles Searle died. They and other members of the family are
+buried in the beautiful little private cemetery in <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Thomas Searle’s
+garden—the first of numerous garden burial places I saw in different
+places in the Colony. The three sons continue to reside in Great Brak
+River honoured and esteemed by the whole countryside.</p>
+
+<p>While at Great Brak River I paid a visit to Pacaltsdorp, an old L.
+M. S. station founded 100 years ago, where the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> G. B. Anderson,
+whose father and grandfather were L. M. S. missionaries, is pastor. A
+massive stone Church was erected in 1824, and is a memorial to the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr>
+Charles Pacalt, who devoted his salary to the building of the Church.
+In addition to being pastor,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span> <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Anderson is also schoolmaster,
+post-master, registrar of births, marriages and deaths and agent for
+the Society’s property known as Hansmoeskraal farm.</p>
+
+<p><abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Searle kindly took me in his motor car to visit Kruisfontein and
+Hankey, where the Society still owns property. The South African roads
+are not constructed for motor car traffic. They defy description and
+I shall not soon forget this journey. The gradients are very bad, the
+surface execrable. The ruts, rocks, stones and especially the sand
+made rapid travel in a motor car a mixed pleasure. Rivers, and more
+often dry river-beds, had to be crossed. For the most part the roads
+were very narrow and were often over-hung with trees and prickly-pear,
+constantly blocked by great ox-waggons with teams of fourteen to
+eighteen oxen, or by goats, sheep, pigs, cows and more often than all
+by ostriches, which seemed to take a delight in trying to race the car.
+In spite of, or perhaps partly because of, these drawbacks, however,
+the journey was most enjoyable. Some parts were very wild and desolate,
+but others were scenes of sylvan beauty. There were mountain passes,
+ravines, funereal forests (in one of which wild elephants are still to
+be found), fairy glens and water-falls (often with very little water on
+account of the prolonged drought), and in turn one was reminded of the
+Pass of Glencoe, the Barmouth Estuary, the Precipice Walk, Dolgelley,
+the New Forest and the Highlands of Scotland.</p>
+
+<p>Hankey is a name well known to all interested in the work of the L.
+M. S. in South Africa. Through the engineering skill of one of the
+missionaries applied to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span> the construction of a tunnel through a narrow
+mountain ridge, the waters of the Gamtoos River were made available for
+watering the Hankey valley, and ever since the desert has “blossomed
+as the rose.” Above this tunnel, near the top of the mountain, is a
+remarkable natural feature known as “The Window.” It is a large opening
+in the rocky ridge through which a beautiful landscape can be seen on
+both sides.</p>
+
+<p>Another feature of Hankey which impresses a stranger from Europe is the
+frogs’ chorus every evening rising from an innumerable multitude of
+these amphibious reptiles which infest the fields and water-furrows.
+They are known as the canaries of South Africa, and reminded one of the
+music so characteristic of the rice fields of Central China.</p>
+
+<p>At Hankey there is a large Church of coloured people, representing an
+old mission station of the Society, and an Institution for the training
+of teachers now under the control of the South African Congregational
+Union. Through the sale of the Society’s property a considerable
+population of Europeans has been attracted to Hankey, and I had the
+honour during my visit of opening the new European Church.</p>
+
+<p>From Hankey I proceeded to Port Elizabeth, where I was again hospitably
+entertained. I had an opportunity of meeting the Congregational
+ministers and the leading laymen at a Reception, and learnt much of
+the contribution of the L. M. S. to the development of this part of
+South Africa. The coloured Church there for so many years ministered
+to by the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> William<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span> Dower, formerly a missionary of the Society,
+is another instance of a strong self-supporting and self-governing
+Church which has grown out of the missionary work of years gone by. On
+the occasion of my visit it was crowded from floor to ceiling with a
+congregation of coloured people, who are under the pastoral care of a
+young and able coloured minister.</p>
+
+<p>After leaving Port Elizabeth I had the privilege of paying a visit to
+two of the greatest Native Institutions in South Africa. At Healdtown,
+near Fort Beaufort, the Wesleyans are carrying on a great work in the
+training of Native Teachers. There are 185 boy and 84 girl boarders.
+The results obtained in the Government examinations are the best in the
+Colony. The students come from all parts; most of them are Kaffirs. The
+medium of instruction is English. This great work is mainly the result
+of the blessing of God upon the labours of one man, Principal R. F.
+Hornabrook, who is in supreme control. The Institution is nominally in
+charge of a Committee which, however, has not met for ten years. When
+he commenced work there twenty-two years ago there were thirty-three
+students. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Hornabrook is his own architect and builder. He is also
+a farmer and a doctor. The fees charged are £12 a year, and there is a
+large Government grant. Some small help is given by the Wesleyans in
+South Africa. Not a penny comes from England. The buildings are quite
+unambitious in character, and for the most part have been erected
+from the profits made from carrying on the Institution. The whole
+enterprise is a triumph<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span> of organisation. There are four white men
+teachers, three white lady teachers, two matrons and several coloured
+teachers. The course is three years, and the students must have passed
+the sixth standard before they enter. All have a little manual labour
+to do, but there is no industrial department except so far as it is
+necessary to teach woodwork. All sorts of difficulties have had to be
+surmounted, the chief physical one being the water-supply, which is
+now satisfactorily provided by a windmill. The whole Institution is a
+monument of what can be done by one man with comparatively small funds.
+<abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Hornabrook is doing great things for South Africa.</p>
+
+<p>From Healdtown I journeyed to Lovedale, the centre of the world-famed
+labours of <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> James Stewart, who will always be known as “Stewart
+of Lovedale.” This is an Institution carried on by the Free Church
+of Scotland. There are 550 boarders from all parts of South Africa,
+and of these 155 are girls. There is also a “practising school”
+with 210 children. The fees range from £12 to £16 a year. Since the
+Institution was commenced considerably over £100,000 has been received
+in fees. Preachers and teachers for the South African Churches and
+schools are trained here. The industrial work is widely known. The
+Natives are taught carpentry, waggon-making, smith’s work, printing,
+book-binding, boot and shoe making, office work, needle and laundry
+work, horticulture and many other industrial pursuits.</p>
+
+<p>The present Principal is the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> James Henderson, formerly of the
+Nyasaland Mission. The Warden of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span> Boys’ department is <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Moore
+Anderson, a son of Sir Robert Anderson, at one time Chief of the
+Metropolitan Police Force. On the staff there is the famous South
+African astronomer, <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Roberts. It was good to find the daughter of
+one of our present South African missionaries occupying a responsible
+position in the Girls’ department. Words fail me to describe the great
+work which is being done. The Institution is an enduring memorial to
+the ability and devotion of <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Stewart. Over the grave of this great
+and good man, which I visited, is the simple inscription, “James
+Stewart, Missionary.” On the hill-top is a huge stone monument erected
+to his memory.</p>
+
+<p>On leaving Lovedale I journeyed <i>via</i> King Williams Town, Blaney
+Junction, and De Aar to Kimberley. The railway meanders in and out
+amongst the hills through picturesque scenery. Great rocks are much
+in evidence. On the latter part of the journey I passed numerous
+block-houses and stretches of galvanised wire fencing reminiscent
+of the Boer war. Here as elsewhere the country has an unfinished
+look about it. Most of the buildings are of galvanised iron. Long
+distances were traversed without any signs of human habitation, and
+where such signs appeared they were not always pleasing. The wretched
+huts of “red-blanket kaffirs,” and the abject poverty in which they
+live, showed that there is still much to be done to raise the native
+inhabitants out of their degradation and to teach them to live decent
+lives.</p>
+
+<p>In order to see at first-hand the conditions under<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span> which so many of
+the Bechuanaland Natives live in the Compounds of the great De Beers’
+Diamond Mines, I visited Kimberley. <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Mackenzie kindly took me over
+the diamond mine workings and one of the Compounds. From these mines
+the bulk of the world’s supply of diamonds comes. I was very pleased
+with what I saw in the Compound I visited, where 4,762 natives were
+quartered. The annual death rate is only eight per thousand, about
+half that of London. Every provision is made for the comfort, health
+and well-being of the native workers. There is an admirable hospital
+and a well-organised store, where the necessaries of life are to be
+obtained at cost price. The fact that the natives are well cared for is
+evidenced by the popularity of the work in the Kimberley mines all over
+South Africa. Natives who have worked there return again and again for
+a further period. There can be no doubt that the restraint upon their
+liberty, to which they voluntarily submit while at work in the mines,
+is greatly to their advantage, and the facilities which exist for the
+remitting of wages to their families obviate, to a great extent, the
+risks they would run if they left the Compound with large sums of money
+in their possession. Nor are their spiritual needs neglected.</p>
+
+<p>While at Kimberley I paid a visit to Barkly West, formerly a mission
+station of the Society for many years, associated with the name of
+William Ashton. From Kimberley I proceeded to Tiger Kloof. I shall
+refer to the great work which is being carried on there later in this
+narrative.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span></p>
+
+<p>As one travelled through the Cape Province and visited many places,
+which were at one time stations of the Society in the charge of
+missionaries and entirely supported by funds from home, but are now
+independent Churches carrying on their own work, one realised the
+power of the growing Church in the lands which 100 years ago were
+in darkness. This province is still “A land of lights and shadows
+intervolved, a land of blazing sun and blackest night,” and some of
+its portals are still “barred against the light.” That light has for a
+century and more been beating up against “close-barred doors,” but the
+missionary traveller looking down “the future’s broadening way” sees
+many a sign that the time will surely come—</p>
+
+<p class="poetry">
+<span style="margin-left: 11em;">“When, like a swelling tide,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The Word shall leap the barriers, and The Light</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shall sweep the land; and Faith and Love and Hope</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shall win for Christ this stronghold of the night.”</span><br>
+</p>
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span></p>
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II<br><span class="small">The Light Spreading Northward</span></h3></div>
+
+<p class="poetry">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Kingdoms wide that sit in darkness,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Grant them, Lord, Thy glorious light;</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And from eastern coast to western,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">May the morning chase the night.</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;"><span class="smcap">William Williams.</span></span><br>
+</p>
+
+
+<p>Up to this stage the narrative of travel has taken us through districts
+in which the London Missionary Society has laboured in days gone by.
+We shall now visit the stations where it is carrying on work at the
+present day.</p>
+
+<p>Until quite recently the South Africa Mission of the L. M. S. might
+be described, from the point of view of means of locomotion, as “an
+Ox-waggon Mission.” The days of the Ox-waggon are rapidly passing.
+This slow cumbersome means of conveyance, which was formerly almost
+universal throughout South Africa, is giving place to the Cape cart and
+the Railway. The change is symptomatic of the progress in the methods
+of work. Greater facilities of communication have revolutionized the
+conditions under which Missionary work is carried on. Missionaries are
+no longer isolated from their fellows as they were in the days of old.
+Until recently they were obliged to spend a considerable portion of
+their time in actual travel in the ox-waggon. Now they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span> can get about
+rapidly and are able to cover much more ground and visit many more
+out-stations in a given period of time. I was enabled to visit the
+Society’s stations in Bechuanaland and Matebeleland in one-fifth of the
+time which would have been necessary for such a visitation thirty years
+ago.</p>
+
+<p>After a few days’ stay at Tiger Kloof, the first place I visited was
+Vryburg, where the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> A. J. Wookey, the missionary in charge of the
+numerous scattered Churches of the Baralong tribe, resides. Vryburg
+is not in a true sense a station of the Society, but the headquarters
+for an extensive out-station work. After a stay of two days there,
+I journeyed with <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Wookey in a Cape cart drawn by four horses to
+Ganyesa, forty miles to the north-west. The growth of the work in
+the lifetime of a single missionary is well illustrated by what has
+happened at this place. When <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Wookey first visited it, forty-three
+years ago, two or three people met with him for worship in a hut there.
+A man read the Scriptures, and a woman led in prayer and preached.
+Now there is a good stone Church with 120 Church members, and an
+Anglo-vernacular school with seventy children. Connected with it are
+three branch churches and schools.</p>
+
+<p>A short description of the visit to Ganyesa will serve to illustrate
+one’s experience at many a country out-station in Bechuanaland and
+Matebeleland. I started from Vryburg at 7.10 and reached Ganyesa at
+4.30, after out-spanning twice. We camped for the night on an open
+common, in the middle of a large Native Reserve, close to an ox-waggon
+which had brought two other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span> missionaries, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Helm and <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Haydon
+Lewis, to the place. On all sides stretched the illimitable veldt.
+There were very few trees, but almost all around the sky-line was
+broken by the conical thatched roofs of the Native huts. Close at
+hand were to be seen emaciated oxen returning from the almost dry
+watering-places in charge of little black herd-boys, who were nearly
+naked, their bodies glistening like polished ebony, and having an
+appearance which suggested that they had recently been black-leaded,
+and presenting a great contrast with the white of their eyes and of
+their perfect teeth. After my arrival I was visited by the schoolmaster
+and the deacons, and afterwards attended a concert in the Church,
+organised to raise funds to help to send a teacher to Tiger Kloof.
+The price of a ticket for the concert was 6d. The night was hot, and
+the Church was packed. In spite of the almost overpowering heat the
+doors and windows were kept closed, in order that the crowd outside
+should not enjoy the music for which they had not paid! The atmosphere
+within was beyond description. Evening meetings are almost unknown
+in Bechuanaland. Some antique lamps had been requisitioned, and the
+air was laden with the pungent smell of the lamp oil. The “Bouquet
+d’Afrique” was also strongly in evidence. The audience afforded a
+picturesque scene in the dim lamp light. Most of the women wore highly
+coloured head-dresses, and with their numerous babies sat on the floor,
+which was made of a mixture of sand and cow-dung. The rest of their
+dress was remarkable for its colour and variety. Many<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span> of the boys and
+men were in dilapidated European costume. There were 100 items on the
+programme, and the concert continued until the small hours of Sunday
+morning. I left before midnight, and slept on the ground underneath the
+bright penetrating stars. The darkness of the night was illuminated by
+flashes of summer lightning on the eastern horizon.</p>
+
+<p>The following day, Sunday, will live in my memory. The service was
+announced to begin at eleven o’clock, but at ten o’clock the evangelist
+came to say that the chapel was already full, and forthwith the service
+commenced. The building was crowded to its utmost capacity, and there
+were large numbers of men, women and children sitting in the shade on
+the ground outside. I spoke to the people from a side-door in order
+that my words might be heard by the crowd inside and out. After the
+service I was visited by a large number of deacons and workers from
+the Churches for many miles round. Afterwards I went to see an old
+woman named Dipepeng in her kraal near by. She is over eighty years
+of age, and for a long time has not had the use of her legs. She sat
+in the entrance to her hut in the shadow of the over-hanging eaves,
+reading her Sechuana Bible. She told me she had been a servant to <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr>
+and Mrs. Moffat at Kuruman, and remembered David Livingstone courting
+Mary Moffat under the historic almond tree, and was present at their
+wedding. She described them, and spoke of an arbour in the garden where
+they used to sit. The old woman has been a Christian for sixty years,
+and is deeply interested in the Church at Ganyesa.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span></p>
+
+<p>I visited the only European in the place, he being a store-keeper. In
+the afternoon there was a baptismal service, Sunday School, a sermon,
+and a crowded Communion Service conducted with great reverence. At
+the close the people all rose and sang, “God be with you till we meet
+again.” At day-break on the following morning there was a prayer
+meeting. This was followed by the wedding of five couples, and a visit
+to the school. Later in the morning <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Wookey and I started on our
+return journey to Vryburg in the Cape cart.</p>
+
+<p>Later in the week I journeyed by rail and cart to Taungs where <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr>
+McGee is the resident missionary. The Society has carried on work there
+for forty-five years, and although the Church membership in connection
+with Taungs and its out-stations is the largest (1,184) connected with
+any L. M. S. Church in South Africa, the place was described quite
+recently by an experienced missionary as “a back-water of heathenism.”
+The signs of heathenism are certainly very apparent. The Native Chief
+is a bad specimen of a Bechuana. Some of his headmen make themselves
+particularly hideous by a plentiful application of the contents of
+the blue-bag to their faces and heads. There are many evidences of
+superstition and heathenism, and yet there is another side to the
+picture. On the Sunday the spacious Church—which has recently been
+built by the tribe, heathen and Christian alike contributing—was
+crowded both morning and afternoon. Twenty infants and thirty adults
+were baptised. The scene from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span> the platform was extremely picturesque.
+About half the congregation consisted of women, most of whom wore
+brilliantly coloured head-dresses, vivid yellows and startling pinks
+predominating. Many were clad in gaudy shawls. In the afternoon a
+solemn Communion Service was held, at which individual communion cups
+were used. The service was rendered the more impressive by the fact
+that a great thunderstorm broke before it closed. Looking through the
+great west doors of the Church at the beginning of the service one
+could see the wide-spreading veldt stretching away into the distance
+as far as the eye could reach, and looking dry and thirsty in the
+pitiless blaze of the afternoon sun. Then a kind of mist appeared
+on the horizon. It was a dust-storm approaching. The natives have a
+proverb which says that “God sweeps His land before He waters it.”
+The clouds of dust came nearer, until at last all the doors had to be
+shut. The Church became dark. Then came claps of thunder, which made
+speaking difficult, while the dim interior was from time to time lit
+up with brilliant flashes of lightning. Then followed a downpour of
+heavy rain upon the galvanised iron roof, making a terrific noise. The
+storm increased in intensity until there was a perfect artillery of
+thunder, while the lightning was continuous and most vivid. In spite
+of the storm the service was continued in an orderly fashion, and the
+crowded congregation seemed perfectly oblivious to the hurricane raging
+outside. The service concluded with thanksgiving for the rain, for
+which the people had long been praying.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span></p>
+
+<p>Taungs is the centre of a widespread district, in which there are
+twenty-three outstations regularly visited by the missionary. I
+visited one of them, called Manthe, nine miles away. That visit was
+impressed upon my memory by one of the appalling contrasts which are
+so common in heathen lands. Under an extemporised roof at the back of
+the evangelist’s house I saw and talked with a bright Christian boy,
+the eldest son of the evangelist, by name Golekynie, who had been for
+seven years at Tiger Kloof. He was on the point of passing his third
+and final examination as a pupil-teacher, when, a month before, he had
+been compelled to return home in an advanced stage of consumption. He
+was lying on his bed in the open air. He spoke excellent English and
+had a refined face and manner, and was evidently an earnest Christian
+youth. He realised that he could not live long, and spoke with high
+appreciation of the happiness that had come into his life at Tiger
+Kloof. He told me that he was not afraid to die.</p>
+
+<p>An hour afterwards I paid a visit to the Chief of the village, who was
+slowly dying of a loathsome disease in a wretched, evil-smelling native
+house. He lay on a dirty mattress with a coloured blanket over him. He
+was a heathen of a low type. Two of his wives and several children were
+on the verandah outside the open window. After <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> McGee and I had left
+he sent to us to ask us to return to pray for him, the first time he
+had ever made a request for spiritual help.</p>
+
+<p>From Taungs I proceeded to the historic station of Kuruman,
+accomplishing the journey of 143 miles by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span> cart, rail, motor-car and
+ox-waggon. The contrast in the modes of travel is illustrated by the
+fact that the first seventy-seven miles occupied five hours, and the
+remaining sixty-six miles—which were travelled by ox-waggon—occupied
+three nights and two days. This journey helped to bring home the
+sparseness of the population. On Christmas Eve I travelled from early
+morning till late at night in the ox-waggon without seeing a single
+human habitation, or a single human being, except those who were
+accompanying me, and this not in the recesses of Central Africa but in
+British Bechuanaland, which is part of the Cape Province. I travelled
+in a new waggon recently made by the boys at Lovedale for the Kuruman
+station. It was drawn by fourteen oxen, kindly provided by the Church
+at Kuruman, with two supernumeraries in reserve in case of accidents.
+As travelling by ox-waggon is rapidly becoming a thing of the past,
+it is worth while attempting a short description of the journey. The
+waggon in which I travelled, although a new one, had no springs.
+The road was of a most primitive description, although the main
+thoroughfare between two important centres of population. The jolting
+and bumping defy description. The speed is nearly two miles an hour
+if all goes well. The discomfort of travelling is somewhat mitigated
+by the “cartel”—a wooden frame hung within the waggon by very short
+chains of three links. Across the frame are stretched “rims” or strips
+of undressed ox-hide about a quarter of an inch broad. When the waggon
+is at rest this makes a very comfortable bed, far more so than some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span>
+of the beds of my experience in China, such as the boards of a Chinese
+chapel vestry, or the planks of a Chinese boat.</p>
+
+<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter"  id="img003">
+<img src="images/003.jpg" class="w50"  alt="Kuruman Mission House, built by Moffat and Hamilton">
+</span></p>
+<p class="center caption"><i>Photo by</i>]&#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160;  [<i>Mrs. Hawkins.</i>
+<br><span class="smcap">Kuruman Mission House, built by Moffat and Hamilton.</span></p>
+
+
+<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter"  id="img004">
+<img src="images/004.jpg" class="w50"  alt="The New Kuruman Waggon, with Mr. and Mrs. J. Tom Brown">
+</span></p>
+<p class="center caption"><i>Photo by</i>]&#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; [<i>Neville Jones.</i>
+<br><span class="smcap">The New Kuruman Waggon, with <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> and Mrs. J. Tom Brown.</span></p>
+
+
+<p>The oxen are outspanned about three times a day at places where there
+is water, or where they are likely to find some grass. No reins are
+used in driving, but the oxen are controlled by a very long whip which
+is used with great dexterity either by the driver from the front of the
+waggon or by his assistant walking alongside the oxen. These two men
+also act as cooks. A Christmas Day spent in these conditions will live
+in the memory.</p>
+
+<p>The stay at Kuruman was a delightful experience. This place is a
+veritable oasis in the desert with a perennial water supply from the
+Kuruman river, which issues from a place called “The Fountain” in the
+Kuruman township three miles away from the Mission station. Thence in
+summer and winter, in flood and in drought, flows 4,000,000 gallons
+of water a day. By means of water-furrows, constructed by the early
+missionaries, the dry and thirsty land is converted into a paradise of
+green. The trees in the garden are a constant delight.</p>
+
+<p>I stayed in the Mission House built by Robert Moffat and Robert
+Hamilton eighty years ago. The whole place is rich with associations.
+It was here that David Livingstone courted Mary Moffat. The almond tree
+in the garden under which he proposed to her is still flourishing.
+Close by is the great Church, built by Moffat, and rich with many a
+memory. Next to it is the house where William Ashton lived for many
+years, which is now occupied by Mrs. Bevan Wookey, who is in charge
+of the excellent Mission School at Kuruman. Behind is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span> the school
+and the old printing office. The garden is most fertile; oranges,
+lemons, quinces, mulberries, pears, apples, plums, apricots, peaches,
+pomegranates, walnuts, melons and richly-laden vines, abounding. For
+more than a quarter of a century the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> J. Tom Brown has carried on
+Missionary work at this station.</p>
+
+<p>The great fact of the growing Christian Church in South Africa was
+abundantly emphasised on the Sunday of my stay at Kuruman. From
+outstations far and near the Christians came in for the Communion
+Service on the last Sunday of the year and for the New Year’s meetings.
+In the morning some 1,500 gathered together for public worship, and
+three services were carried on simultaneously. Moffat’s long, and
+somewhat dark Church, with its great wooden beams, was filled with a
+Sechuana-speaking congregation. The dimness of the Church was relieved
+by the orange, yellow, pink and blue of the dresses of the women. In
+the spacious school there was a crowded service for the Dutch-speaking
+natives and coloured people. In the yard of Mrs. Wookey’s house there
+was a service, conducted by an evangelist, for the Damaras, a stalwart
+tribe of blackest hue. These people are refugees from German South-West
+Africa. In the afternoon all the Church members gathered together in
+the Church at a solemn Communion Service. A stranger will not soon
+forget the impressive quietness and reverence of the service as the
+bare-footed deacons moved noiselessly along the serried ranks of the
+great black crowd that was present.</p>
+
+<p>The meetings on the following day were further evidence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span> of the
+growing Church. A large gathering of Church members was held at
+which discussions took place on several subjects quite familiar to
+the Home Churches, many Natives joining in with great intelligence
+and earnestness. The Native Pastor at Kuruman, the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> Maphakela
+Lekalaka, an eloquent preacher, a capable minister, and a master of
+metaphor—known as the “Joseph Parker of Bechuanaland”—superintended
+the work of the station with ability and success during the absence of
+the Missionary on furlough.</p>
+
+<p>The journey back to Vryburg was made in an old ox-waggon drawn
+by fourteen oxen kindly lent by the Church at one of the Kuruman
+outstations. I travelled back <i>via</i> Motito, which has pathetic
+associations. In a tiny grave-yard there are buried two or three
+missionary children. There is also a grave which recalls a grim
+tragedy,—that of Jean Fredoux, a son-in-law of <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Moffat, and a
+missionary of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society, which was
+formerly at work there. It was in 1865 that he met his death. A
+“depraved European” (to quote from the inscription on the gravestone)
+attacked his wife in his absence. The Native Christians defended her
+and made him prisoner, intending to send him to Kuruman for trial. Next
+day they were afraid they might get into trouble for arresting a white
+man and they let him go. He escaped in his waggon to the place where
+<abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Fredoux was, and the Natives followed and told the latter what had
+happened. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Fredoux went to speak to the man, who retreated inside
+his waggon. Then followed an explosion of gunpowder,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span> which blew the
+waggon, the “depraved European,” <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Fredoux and all the Natives to
+pieces.</p>
+
+<p>At the conclusion of the journey from Kuruman I paid a short visit
+to Tiger Kloof and then proceeded north to visit the Matebeleland
+stations, in what is now known as Southern Rhodesia, taking three days’
+holiday to see the wonderful Victoria Falls and places of interest in
+Bulawayo and the neighbourhood. Every Britisher naturally associates
+Rhodesia with the name and work of Cecil Rhodes. His statue stands in
+a commanding position in Bulawayo. His grave in the rocky fastness of
+the Matopo Hills is an impressive monument to his memory. All round are
+immense blocks of granite piled up in fantastic shapes. Four groups of
+these granite boulders almost completely enclose a rocky surface about
+30 yards square, in the centre of which there is a large untrimmed
+block of granite lying on the ground. On the top of this is a sheet of
+bronze about 10 feet by 4 feet and 2 inches thick, on which are deeply
+cut these words:—</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+“HERE LIE THE<br>
+REMAINS OF<br>
+CECIL JOHN RHODES.”<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>There is no date. Close by on the slope of the hill there is a white
+marble rectangular monument, with bronze panels, commemorating Major
+Wilson and thirty-four men who laid down their lives in one of the
+Matebeleland wars. The inscription reads:</p>
+
+<p class="center">“TO BRAVE MEN.”
+</p>
+
+<p>Few people, perhaps, realise what Rhodesia owes to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span> the lives and
+labours of L. M. S. Missionaries. When Cecil Rhodes was a youth of
+twenty <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Helm was establishing the Mission Station at Hope Fountain,
+10 miles away from the present town of Bulawayo, which was then
+non-existent. Rhodes was always ready to acknowledge the value of
+the services rendered by <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Helm in his early pioneering days in
+the country which afterwards was named Southern Rhodesia. He was a
+constant visitor to Hope Fountain, and <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Helm often took part in
+his negotiations with Lobenguela, the blood-thirsty Matebele king.
+John Smith Moffat, the son of <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Moffat, at one time an L. M. S.
+Missionary, afterwards for many years a Government official, and
+always the friend of the Natives, played an important part in the
+establishment of British rule in Rhodesia. John Mackenzie, too, did a
+great work in this direction, and was ever a stalwart champion of the
+rights of the Natives.</p>
+
+<p><abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Helm drove me from Bulawayo to Hope Fountain in a cart drawn by
+four mules, the two leaders rejoicing in the names of “Bella” and
+“Donna.” At Hope Fountain the Society holds for the benefit of the
+Natives a farm upon which some 500 people are living. In Southern
+Rhodesia, outside the towns, it is very difficult, if not impossible,
+to carry on missionary work except on such farms or in Native
+Reserves. Throughout the country farms are being rapidly taken up
+by white farmers, and the Natives are steadily and inevitably being
+driven off the lands which they previously occupied into the great
+Native Reserves provided for them by the Government.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span> Hope Fountain
+is the centre of some thirteen outstations, most of which are under
+the charge of resident evangelists. These men and many of the Native
+Christians came into the head-station to meet me. These small Churches
+form another example of the growing Native Christian Church of South
+Africa. The principles of self-support have been inculcated with such
+success that they raise for the support of their own Christian work a
+sum considerably in excess of that raised at any other station of the
+Society in the sub-continent.</p>
+
+<p>At Hope Fountain, as in so many places in the Mission Field, one is
+reminded of the great and good men who have given their lives to the
+work in days gone by. In the cemetery there David Carnegie is buried,
+and his white stone tomb can be seen from the Mission House across the
+valley. His widow and family live at a house on the road between Hope
+Fountain and Bulawayo.</p>
+
+<p>The next week of my travel was devoted to exploring one of the great
+Native Reserves above referred to. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Helm drove me from Bulawayo to
+Inyati, the most northern station of the Society in South Africa, a
+journey of forty-five miles. Thence, accompanied by <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Cullen Reed and
+<abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> R. Lanning, the Native Commissioner, I paid a visit to the Shangani
+Reserve, which comprises a large tract of country situated about midway
+between Bulawayo and the Zambesi. This Reserve has been set apart by
+the authorities for the accommodation of Natives who have been driven
+off the land by the gradual settlement of white farmers. The expedition
+involved<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span> a cart journey over rough country of some 220 miles, some of
+it through virgin tropical forest across which the road consisted of
+little more than a track. For seven nights I slept on the ground near
+the great fires which were necessary to keep off lions and other beasts
+of prey. The experience was a delightful one in spite of a too abundant
+insect life which often proved troublesome. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Lanning has a unique
+knowledge of the country and his experience of travel on the veldt
+added greatly to the comfort and the pleasure of the journey. Moreover,
+he is a keen hunter and kept the larder well supplied with fresh meat.
+The cart was drawn by six mules and we were accompanied by another cart
+which conveyed the Native servants, the luggage and the camp equipment.
+The interest of the journey was enhanced by meetings with Native chiefs
+and headmen at different places. They may be typified in the person of
+Tjakalisa, Lobenguela’s third son, a fine specimen of the human race,
+standing over six feet high and every inch of him an aristocrat.</p>
+
+<p>Clad in a vest and a short leather apron and some wire bracelets, he
+looked like the son of a king. Years ago he was nearly burnt to death
+in a tree in which he had taken refuge from a bush fire. David Carnegie
+treated him and saved his life. On another occasion he was out hunting
+with his father. His cartridges were several sizes too small for his
+gun. As fast as he put them in at the breech they fell out at the
+muzzle. Lobenguela insisted that he was bewitched, and this opinion was
+apparently confirmed when, on his shooting<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span> expedition, his horse took
+fright and threw him, breaking his leg into splinters. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Helm came to
+the rescue and effected a complete cure.</p>
+
+<p>Nowadays Tjakalisa has settled down in the Shangani as a farmer on a
+large scale. He has been known to realise as much as £600 at one time
+on the sale of his produce. He came to discuss with us the question
+of the settlement of a resident missionary. He was accompanied by
+a fine old chief, Sivalo, who still wears one of the old Matebele
+iron circlets on the top of his head. I shall not soon forget the
+long morning spent in the blazing sun—in “the splendour, shadowless
+and broad,” of a South African midsummer. Tjakalisa and Sivalo were
+attended by a score of headmen. They were eloquent in praise of their
+new country, which had not suffered from the terrible drought which has
+been afflicting so much of the sub-continent. They realise the benefits
+of elementary education and promised to support a school and to build a
+house for a teacher. They were filled with enthusiasm for the future of
+this promised land.</p>
+
+<p>Later on the same night I was lying on my bed, consisting of leaves and
+grass and a rug, under the stars which were soon to be extinguished by
+the brilliant light of a South African full moon. A few yards away our
+black servants were sitting around the camp-fire. One of these was a
+Basuto who had passed some of his life in prison and was now a servant
+in the mission. Another was a black, curly-headed herd-boy from one of
+our mission stations. With them were some naked Matebele.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span> Before I
+slept I heard the strains of a hymn in the native language, sung to a
+well-known tune. It was:</p>
+
+<p class="poetry">
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Jesus, still lead on,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Till our rest be won;</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And, although the way be cheerless,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">We will follow, calm and fearless;</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Guide us by Thy hand</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To our Fatherland.</span><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>I fell asleep to dream of the African church of the future in this new
+fatherland of their race.</p>
+
+<p>Already under the steady pressure of white settlement large numbers
+of Natives have been driven into this Reserve and month after month
+there are fresh arrivals. In the old days the L. M. S. was ever to the
+front as the pioneer Society in the evangelization of South Africa. In
+these days it is looking forward to establishing a new mission station
+in this Reserve, unless prevented by the great deficiency and the
+lukewarmness of the Home Churches.</p>
+
+<p>From Shangani I returned to Inyati, the station where <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Bowen Rees
+has laboured so long and faithfully. He was away on furlough at the
+time of my visit. During my stay there I was reminded of some of the
+minor inconveniences—not to say dangers—of a missionary’s life. One
+evening while we were sitting on the verandah a snake paid us a visit,
+while the next day a cobra was caught in the woodstack close at hand.</p>
+
+<p>I inspected the school and attended a large gathering in the Church of
+Christians from Inyati and its outstations. Most of the adults squatted
+on the floor with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span> their families around them. The naked babies tumbled
+over each other in their playful frolics, or slept on their mothers’
+backs while I was trying to speak to their parents.</p>
+
+<p>From Inyati <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Helm drove me to Insiza, formerly a station of the
+Society. On the following morning I left at 4 a.m. by train for
+Bulawayo, where I proceeded to Marula Tank Siding <i>en route</i>
+for the new Arthington station at Tjimali, where our Missionary, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr>
+Whiteside, met me. A drive of twenty miles in the mule cart brought us
+to the Mission House, which is beautifully situated in the midst of
+granite kopjes which form the western spur of the Matopo Hills. The
+view is magnificent. The garden terminates in a forbidding precipice
+some hundreds of feet deep. On one side of the house is a lofty
+rocky hill which commands a wide stretch of mountainous country in
+all directions with intervening valleys, and plains and hills. There
+are, however, drawbacks to Tjimali as a residence. The baboons are
+very numerous in the immediate neighbourhood and go about in herds
+of forty or fifty and rob the gardens in the day time. The wild cats
+steal the chickens at night. The eagles carry off the lambs, and the
+insect life is super-abundant. Tjimali is the Society’s newest station
+in Matebeleland and the work is in its early stages. There are ten
+outstations, at each of which there is a native teacher who conducts
+school during the week and acts as pastor-evangelist on Sundays,
+preaching and holding classes for inquirers. The work is bright with
+promise and is reaching the miners who are settling in the outskirts of
+the district.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span></p>
+
+<p>From Tjimali I journeyed by cart to Dombodema, a long day’s drive
+of fifty-eight miles. My experience that day illustrates one of the
+disadvantages of the new mode of travel in South Africa. I had been
+driven to the Marula Siding to catch the train for Plumtree, the
+station for Dombodema. On arrival there I found that on the previous
+day the time for the starting of the train had been put forward four
+hours without any notice whatever to the public or even the station
+master, and hence there was nothing for it but to drive the whole
+distance. On the way I was met by <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Cullen Reed, the Dombodema
+missionary, who has been at work there since the foundation of the
+station in 1895. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Reed has to carry on his work in three languages
+and has to itinerate a parish of 3,000 square miles inhabited by 15,000
+people. On each side of the Mission station are low picturesque kopjes.
+The day before I arrived <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Reed had killed a snake fifteen feet long
+in the garden.</p>
+
+<p>Preachers, teachers and Christian workers had come in from the
+outstations for the meeting. Three of them had travelled all the
+way from Nekati, a distance of 150 miles. At this place Segkome
+Khama lives. He is the eldest son of Khama, the famous Chief of the
+Bamangwato tribe. For the Sunday service the Church was crowded, the
+congregation sitting on the floor, and some scores more finding seats
+under the shadow of a great fig tree outside the door. The Service was
+conducted in two languages. In the afternoon an impressive Communion
+Service was held.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span></p>
+
+<p>On leaving Dombodema I proceeded south to Serowe, spending two days
+on the way at the British Residency, Francistown, as the guest of
+Major Daniel, the Assistant Commissioner for the Northern half of
+the Bechuanaland Protectorate. My visit to Serowe was one of my most
+interesting experiences in South Africa. Leaving Phalapye Road railway
+station at 3.20 a.m. in the faint light of the waning moon I started
+on the cart ride of thirty-five miles to Serowe. The cart was drawn
+by eight fine mules kindly put at my disposal by the Government. It
+was the dustiest ride I have ever experienced, in many places the road
+being several inches deep in sand and dust. The dust of the Plain of
+Chihli in North China makes an impression on the memory which it is not
+easy to forget, but the drive to Serowe was a more trying experience,
+because eight galloping mules travel much faster than the sorry beasts
+which draw the Peking carts of North China. About three miles from
+Serowe we saw a cloud of dust ahead and there emerged from it a company
+of horsemen whom Khama had sent to escort me. A mile further on the
+whole veldt seemed to be enveloped in a mighty dust-storm. When it
+reached us we stopped. Khama had come in person with some hundreds of
+horsemen. The old Chief sprang from his saddle like a man of 26 rather
+than a man of 76. He joined me in the cart and we renewed our drive.
+The horsemen galloped before and behind and on either side. The drivers
+thrashed their mules with two whips to force them to keep pace with
+the horsemen. A regular stampede ensued. Fresh detachments of Natives,
+all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span> mounted on fine steeds, joined the cavalcade every two or three
+minutes. The Chief thoroughly enjoyed the fun and laughed heartily
+as the horses of the various members of our escort kept cannonading
+against one another in the mad rush.</p>
+
+<p>Serowe, the largest Native town in South Africa, contains about 26,000
+inhabitants, and is picturesquely situated. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Jennings, the L. M. S.
+missionary, has carried on work there for upwards of ten years. It is
+a typical Bechuana town, having no streets but consisting of numerous
+collections of native huts within fenced kraals. The position of the
+Mission House is particularly striking, lying as it does between three
+great piles of rocks.</p>
+
+<p>The town owes much of its importance to the fact that it is Khama’s
+capital. This old Chief—the Jubilee of whose baptism was celebrated
+two years ago—is the most distinguished Native of South Africa.
+He is undoubtedly one of the busiest men in the world. He spends
+laborious days in the Kgotla—the great open-air meeting place of the
+tribe—dealing with all sorts of questions affecting his people, and
+acting as judge. Nothing concerning the life of the tribe is too minute
+for his careful attention. He knows all that happens and rules his
+people with a firm hand, exercising a benevolent despotism.</p>
+
+<p>In a very true sense Khama is head of the Church as well as head of
+the State. He is most regular in his attendance at Sunday services and
+religious meetings. Under his leadership his people have just built
+a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span> magnificent stone Church, on the foundation stone of which are
+inscribed these words:—</p>
+
+<p class="poetry">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“<span class="smcap">This Church was Erected to the Glory of God</span></span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">by Chief Khama and the Bamangwato Tribe.</span>”</span><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Two great meetings in the Kgotla will live in my memory. At day-break
+on the morning after my arrival I attended a prayer meeting for rain.
+These meetings had been held for weeks. About 800 men and women were
+present in almost equal proportions. Most of the women sat upon the
+ground and the men on low chairs or stools which they brought with
+them. Khama sat on a deck chair under the shadow of a tree in the
+middle of one of the sides of the oval into which the people had
+grouped themselves. His young wife sat on his left hand. There was
+singing, reading and prayer. The Chief himself led the meeting in the
+final prayer, which lasted about five minutes. I am told he compared
+his country to a wilderness where there was no river, and his people to
+a lonely dog in the desert crying for water.</p>
+
+<p>Another memorable meeting in the Kgotla was the Sunday morning service.
+Between 4,000 and 5,000 people assembled at 7 a.m., most of the men
+sitting on the right and the women on the left. The scene was a most
+picturesque one. The coloured head-dresses of the women were brilliant
+in the morning sunshine. Khama and his wife were present. A deacon
+with a fine voice led the singing, which was very hearty, and was
+unaccompanied by any instrument.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span></p>
+
+<p>Many other gatherings were held during my visit to Serowe. I met
+deacons, Church members, catechumens, inquirers, Sunday School
+teachers, and other Christian workers. In several conversations
+with the Chief I found him to be deeply interested in Christian
+work in other parts of the world. He has the high spirits of a boy
+and told many yarns of hunting experiences. He had some interesting
+reminiscences of his meetings with David Livingstone to narrate. He
+told me that he remembered Livingstone visiting his father, Segkome, on
+three occasions. On the first and second of these visits Livingstone
+was riding on a hornless ox. On the third occasion he was travelling
+in an ox-waggon and came to Shoshong. “After that,” Khama added, “he
+went beyond the Zambesi, and I never saw him again.” Of his own accord
+he told me of Livingstone’s encounter with the lion, and described the
+damage to the arm and told me he remembered hearing of the incident at
+the time.</p>
+
+<p>Khama has two houses, one a spacious and well-built native hut, where
+he lives with his wife, Semane, who was trained at the L. M. S. School,
+and is a fine specimen of a Native Christian woman. She takes great
+interest in the work and often visits the schools and is a regular
+attendant at the services in the Kgotla. Khama’s other residence is a
+European house, brick-built, with a verandah in front and containing
+four rooms. I visited him there, and was received in his sitting-room,
+which is about 18 feet square. The floor was covered with linoleum
+upon which was a Turkey carpet. There<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span> were two tables—one a large
+old-fashioned drawing-room table, on which stood a photograph of Earl
+Selborne in a silver frame and two other photographs, and the other a
+light folding table on which was a richly framed autograph photograph
+of Queen Victoria, which she had given to the Chief when he was in
+England in 1895. On this table also stood a very large blue enamel
+milk-pail full of milk and a bottle of vinegar. In the corner was an
+Address from the Serowe Chamber of Commerce on the occasion of the
+Jubilee of his baptism. On the walls were portraits of the late King
+Edward, Queen Alexandra, King George and other Royalties. He showed
+me a gold hunter watch he was wearing, which contained an inscription
+recording that it was presented to him by the Duke and Duchess of
+Connaught. He was very interested in political matters and was most
+anxious about the future of his people, being apprehensive that the
+Protectorate might one day be incorporated in the South Africa Union,
+and keenly desirous of preventing the occurrence of anything in the
+nature of such a catastrophe, as he deems it would be.</p>
+
+<p>Khama is a man of great physical strength. A week or two before I saw
+him he had ridden sixty miles to Shoshong on horse-back in a single
+day, and after a day or two’s stay had made the return journey in the
+same way. He exercises a tremendous influence over the tribe, and in
+recent years has put a stop to the manufacture and drinking of Native
+beer. The story is told of him that some time ago a man who had tried
+to bewitch him died of fright, when Khama reminded him<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span> that he was the
+son of the greatest of witch doctors, Segkome, and that he could kill
+him if he wished to do so.</p>
+
+<p>My week’s intercourse with Khama made two impressions on my mind. The
+first is that he is a Christian gentleman, and the second is that he is
+one of the most cautious and astute men I have ever met in my life. He
+has a remarkable mind, the working of which it is not always easy to
+understand, but of his desire to spread the light amongst the people
+over whom he rules with a rod of iron there cannot be a shadow of doubt.</p>
+
+<p>Of the growing Church among the Bamangwato there are many manifest
+signs. Apart from the salaries of the missionaries and a small
+grant to keep the Mission House in repair, the work at Serowe is
+self-supporting. Moreover, the Church is a Missionary Church, and is
+seeking to pass on the light to others. For many years it has done much
+to sustain the work for God at Lake Ngami, which is the Mission field
+of the Bamangwato Church. It sends out its own missionaries. For twenty
+years Shomolekae has been the devoted and much loved evangelist of the
+far-away Lake Ngami district and has bravely held the fort in spite of
+loneliness and isolation and repeated attacks of fever. He has now been
+joined by Andrew Kgasi, who was trained at Tiger Kloof, and volunteered
+for service at the Lake.</p>
+
+<p>From Serowe I travelled to Shoshong, being driven to Phalapye Road
+Station by the Acting-Magistrate in the Government mule cart.
+Proceeding south by railway to Mahalapye I was there met by <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Lloyd,
+the Shoshong<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span> missionary, with his ox-waggon. We travelled all night
+and reached Shoshong at mid-day. This place in the old days was the
+capital of the Bamangwato tribe. It was here that Segkome, Khama’s
+father, ruled and Khama himself was baptised fifty-two years ago. Here
+David Livingstone preached and practised in the early forties, and
+later on John Mackenzie, Roger Price and J. D. Hepburn laboured. But
+its glory departed when in 1886 Khama moved his capital to Phalapye.</p>
+
+<p>Shoshong is picturesquely situated in a wide plain with mountains on
+all sides, but there are few traces of its former greatness. The site
+of the old town is covered with bush. The present town consists of
+three large kraals under three local chiefs or head-men, one of whom
+is Khamane, Khama’s brother, and another Tshwene, Khama’s son-in-law.
+At the time of my visit Shoshong was experiencing the terrible effects
+of the prolonged drought. The only water supply was two miles away in
+the river bed, over one of the roughest paths I have ever traversed.
+Between the boulders over the stones and across the rocks the narrow
+serpentine track had been worn quite smooth by the long procession of
+women walking up and down day by day to fetch water from holes dug in
+the bed of the river. One of the vivid impressions of travel in these
+parts is that of a string of women carrying very heavy clay pots of
+water balanced on their heads, climbing over rocks and making their way
+through thorn bushes, and never spilling a drop of the water. These
+great pots are 18 inches across in the broadest part and one foot high,
+and when<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span> filled are very heavy. I tried to lift one on to my head
+but entirely failed. The women help each other to hoist them and they
+do this very cleverly and quickly. A man attempted to help a woman to
+replace on her head the pot I had tried to lift. The woman said “No!
+you are no good, you are only a man! You cannot do it.” An old woman of
+sixty came to the rescue and between them they succeeded in replacing
+the pot upon the head of its bearer.</p>
+
+<p>Shoshong is the centre of a large district comprising thirty-nine
+outstations, some of which, however, are little more than preaching
+stations. The missionary visits them from time to time. There are only
+seven schools in the district.</p>
+
+<p>On my return journey to the railway I had an experience of travel which
+was much more common formerly, when the ox-waggon was the only means of
+conveyance, than to-day, when its place has been largely taken by carts
+and trains. We left Shoshong in the waggon at 10 p.m. The herd-boy had
+been unable to find two of the best oxen, and we started with a span of
+twelve, at least two of which were very poor specimens. In the first
+two miles we had to stop a score of times. Finally, one of the oxen
+laid down and refused to move. We left this creature and its fellow
+behind, and proceeded with ten oxen only. The heavy thunderstorm of the
+previous day had left water behind it on the road and our progress was
+slow. Between five and six on the following morning I was wakened by a
+tremendous banging and found one of the drivers standing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span> on the front
+seat of the waggon chopping off a branch of a tree which barred our
+way. Fifty yards further on, owing to careless driving and tired oxen,
+the wheels on one side of the waggon got lodged in a deep rut full of
+water and mud. I got up to find the waggon at an angle of forty-five
+degrees and in imminent danger of overturning. Dressing hurriedly and
+getting out of the waggon I found the boys had unyoked the oxen and
+fastened them on to the back in the vain hope that they might thus pull
+it out of the rut backwards. A futile effort was then made to dig out
+the two wheels, but it was impossible to move the waggon. The boy went
+off post-haste to Bonwapitse, two miles away, to borrow oxen and men
+from the Chief to extricate us. In two hours twenty men, including the
+Chief’s son, and ten of the most powerful oxen I have ever seen, came
+to our rescue. A chain was fastened round the back axle and in less
+time than it takes to describe the incident the waggon was dragged
+out of the rut. The new oxen, however, were not content with their
+performance, but rushed off, dragging the waggon backwards, and soon
+two considerable trees were levelled to the ground in the stampede.
+Fortunately, the oxen took a semi-circular course, and the great trees
+and dense bush checked them in their mad career, but not before some
+damage had been done and the interior of the waggon half-filled with
+broken branches of trees.</p>
+
+<p>It was Sunday morning. On reaching Bonwapitse we held a Service under
+the trees, which was attended by the Chief and his wife and about 100
+people. This was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span> one of the many open-air services which will live in
+the memory. The trees afforded little shade. The almost vertical rays
+of the South Africa summer sun beat down with merciless severity upon
+the people gathered together as they joined in singing their hymns and
+listened with great attention to the words spoken to them, and took
+part with great devoutness in the prayers which were offered.</p>
+
+<p>I proceeded by railway to Gaberones, arriving there between two and
+three in the morning. Alighting from the train I waited in the darkness
+until two men appeared with a lantern to conduct me to the Government
+waggon which <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Ellenberger had kindly sent. We in-spanned early
+in the morning and I was taken to the Residency three miles away,
+where a warm welcome awaited me. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Ellenberger is the Assistant
+Commissioner for the Southern portion of the Protectorate. He is the
+son of a missionary of the Paris Missionary Society who laboured in
+Basutoland, and his wife is the daughter of the well-known <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Casalis
+of the same Society. I experienced from them the same kindness which
+was always extended to me by the Government officials, and my two days’
+stay at the Residency was altogether delightful. They kindly drove me
+in the Government cart to Khumakwane, where we found the waggon which
+had conveyed my luggage on the previous day, awaiting us. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Haydon
+Lewis, the missionary from Molepolole, met us there with his waggon.
+Afterwards another open-air service was held under a great tree, in the
+course of which <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Ellenberger spoke to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span> people in Sechuana, and
+a business interview followed with the neighbouring Chief, at whose
+village the Mission Chapel had been burnt some time before at the
+instigation of a “false prophet.”</p>
+
+<p><abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Ellenberger drove us to Kolobeng, where we saw the ruins of the
+house which Livingstone had built seventy years before, and which was
+destroyed during his absence by the Boers. The outline of the house
+was quite distinct, and on one side the walls are still standing about
+7 feet high. The bricks were of the roughest description, and the
+marvel is that they have stood the storms of seventy years without
+disappearing altogether. In Livingstone’s day there was a large town
+here, but now not a hut is to be seen owing to tribal migration. The
+Kolobeng river itself has almost disappeared, but its course is clearly
+marked by a great line of reeds and rushes.</p>
+
+<p>I met two old men who remembered Livingstone, and gave me some details
+of his personal appearance. One of them as a boy was doctored by him,
+the other still cultivates Livingstone’s garden—a small patch near
+the ruins, where mealies are grown. Close by are the remains of an old
+Dispensary, and a little further off are two nameless graves. It was
+a scene of desolation, nature having completely re-asserted herself,
+and obliterated all traces of the former town. But from the site there
+was a fine view of undulating veldt and valley and mountain, and one
+thought with gratitude of the great man who had “passed like light
+across the darkened land”—</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span></p>
+
+<p class="poetry">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“To lift the sombre fringes of the Night</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To open lands long darkened to the Light,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To heal grim wounds, to give the blind new sight,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Right mightily wrought he.”</span><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Next day I left for Molepolole with <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Haydon Lewis. This town, where
+missionary work has been carried on since 1866, is the capital of
+the Bakwena tribe. In the afternoon there was a great gathering of
+school children for their annual sports. Just after I had distributed
+the prizes a youth galloped up on a bare-backed horse, scattering
+the children in all directions. He was the Chief’s son and has the
+reputation of being a graceless young rascal, constantly under the
+influence of drink and a veritable vagabond in the tribe. He rejoices
+in the name of Ralph Wardlaw Thompson Sebele, having been born about
+the time when <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Thompson was last in Molepolole, and receiving at
+baptism the honoured name to which he is anything but a credit.</p>
+
+<p>During my visit I inspected the schools and met the Church members
+and congregation, and was present at a crowded lantern service in the
+Church. In spite of great difficulties the evangelistic work is being
+carried on with success by means of twenty-eight native preachers
+trained on the station. This tribe has set an example to the other
+Bechuanaland tribes by levying a school tax of 2/-per annum upon all
+tax-payers, thus providing ample funds for educational purposes.
+Except for the salary of the missionaries and an annual grant for
+itineration the work at this station is self-supporting, and the Church
+is realising the duties of providing for its<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span> own work, of governing
+itself and of spreading the Gospel in the outlying parts. Its Mission
+field is the North central part of the Khalahari Desert which adjoins
+the territory of the tribe on the west. At Molepolole, as well as at
+other stations, the missionary is also the doctor. A considerable
+portion of each morning, when he is at home, is spent in examining
+patients and dispensing medicines. He is ably seconded by his wife, who
+was a trained nurse. Thus the light is spread not only by the preaching
+of the Gospel and the teaching in the schools, but also by the healing
+of the sick. So our missionaries are found following in the footsteps
+of the Great Physician.</p>
+
+<p>From Molepolole I travelled south in the ox-waggon to Mahatelo on my
+way to Kanye. Early next morning I was met at Gamoshupa by a cart
+and four mules, kindly sent for me by Seapapico, the Chief of the
+Bangwaketsi tribe. After a drive through beautiful scenery I reached
+Kanye, a town of 10,000 inhabitants, and the capital of the tribe, in
+the afternoon. I spent the greater part of a week at this station,
+where missionary work has been carried on under the superintendence
+of a resident missionary for forty years, and where <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> and Mrs.
+Howard Williams were labouring. While this book is passing through
+the press a cablegram has been received, conveying the sad news that
+<abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Williams has been called to the higher service, after a devoted
+missionary life of well-nigh thirty years. The increasing activities
+of a growing Church of nearly 700 members were apparent in the town
+itself and in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span> the numerous outstations in the district. On the Sunday
+the spacious Church, which was provided by the tribe and cost £3,000
+apart from the bricks, and contains a fine organ, the gift of the late
+Chief Bathoen, was packed to its utmost capacity, many having come in
+from the outstations. The women’s head-dresses, which were of all the
+colours of the rainbow, were in striking contrast to the black heads
+of the men. After the service thirty-four adults were baptised, and
+in the afternoon a Communion Service was held, at which 550 Church
+members gathered round the table of our Lord. On the following days I
+attended meetings of Church members and Christian workers and of women,
+inspected the schools, and had interviews with some of the leading men.</p>
+
+<p>The present Chief, Seapapico, is a young man of twenty-six, and the son
+of Bathoen, who accompanied Khama to England in 1895. The young man was
+educated at Lovedale, and speaks English well, and was a great support
+to the missionary, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Howard Williams. His mother, Bathoen’s widow, is
+a fine Christian woman and gives great assistance to Mrs. Williams in
+her work amongst the women of the tribe. She was the favourite daughter
+of Sechele, the old Chief of the Bakwena tribe. When she was a girl she
+had a quarrel with a friend and destroyed her eyesight with a thorn.
+Sechele had one of his daughter’s eyes put out, on the principle of “an
+eye for an eye,” and she bears the mark of this parental correction to
+this day.</p>
+
+<p>From Kanye I was driven in the Chief’s cart to the railway at Lobatsi,
+whence on the following day I was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span> escorted by the native ordained
+minister, Roger K. Mokadi, to his station at Maanwane, over the
+Transvaal border. After a service in the Church and a visit to Roger’s
+kraal, a hot tramp under a fierce sun brought us at Mabotsa to the
+ruins of the old Mission house built by Livingstone and Edwards. Some
+of the walls were standing seven or eight feet high, but the interior
+was overgrown with bush. Close by is the hill where Livingstone had
+his famous encounter with the lion, and near at hand an old native
+Christian lives who was with Livingstone at the time. A drive through
+Linokani, where the German Lutherans are carrying on a fine piece of
+missionary work, brought me to Zeerust and next day by means of the
+train I reached Johannesburg. It does not fall within the scope of
+this book to describe this wonderful city, the creation of the last
+twenty-five years. It is by far the largest business town in South
+Africa and is the centre of the greatest gold producing mines in the
+world. Here I experienced the utmost kindness from members of the
+Congregational Church and met my colleague, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Houghton, with whom
+I was to travel for the next nine months. Nor must I stay to refer
+to a deeply interesting visit to Pretoria. At these great centres
+the evidence of the appalling racial conflict, which constitutes the
+greatest problem confronting the Christian Church in South Africa
+to-day, was abundantly apparent.</p>
+
+<p>A few days later I travelled to Mafeking, for ever immortalised for
+its heroic defence during the Boer war, to see Colonel Panzera, the
+Resident Commissioner for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span> the Bechuanaland Protectorate, and thence
+proceeded to Tiger Kloof to meet all the Society’s South African
+missionaries for consultation upon the work and its problems.</p>
+
+<p>Throughout my journeys amongst the Churches in Bechuanaland and
+Matebeleland there were many signs of the growing power and promise of
+the Native South African Church. That Church, planted first by Moffat
+and his colleagues at Kuruman, and carried north by Livingstone and
+his successors until it has well-nigh reached the Zambesi, has had a
+chequered career, but its progress has been unmistakably onward and
+upward. It has been tried and purified by the struggles of the past,
+and to-day its “far-flung battle line” is making a steady advance
+against the forces of superstition and heathenism with which it is
+confronted.</p>
+
+<p>“Climbing through darkness up to God,” the members of that Church
+are bravely carrying “the wonder and the glory of the light” into
+“the darkness and the sorrow of the night” in which so many of their
+fellow-countrymen are still enshrouded. Through the open doors “the
+true Light, which lighteth every man coming into the world,” is pouring
+its ever-brightening rays.</p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span></p>
+
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III<br><span class="small">Tiger Kloof—“A Lamp Shining in a Dark Place”</span></h3></div>
+
+<p class="poetry">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">From North, and South, and East, and West</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">They come.</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;"><span class="smcap">John Oxenham.</span></span><br>
+</p>
+
+
+<p>The crown of the work of the L. M. S. in South Africa is the Tiger
+Kloof Native Institution. Ten years ago the site on which its buildings
+now stand was bare veldt. To-day it is a centre of light for all the
+L. M. S. work in South Africa. Situated on the Cape-to-Cairo Railway,
+767 miles north of Cape Town, the Institution buildings, which
+challenge the attention of every passing traveller, are a monument to
+the princely munificence of that great missionary-hearted man Robert
+Arthington of Leeds, to the energy, ability, devotion and far-seeing
+statesmanship of the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> W. C. Willoughby, and to what can be
+accomplished by the South African boys trained in the Institution, who
+have erected most of the buildings which are now so notable a feature
+of the landscape.<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span></p>
+
+<p>It is to Tiger Kloof that the brightest and best boys, who have
+received their early training at the Mission stations of the Society in
+South Africa, are sent to complete their education. It is from Tiger
+Kloof that the teachers and preachers, who are to be God’s instruments
+in building up the growing Native Church, proceed after receiving
+training to fit them for their work. Tiger Kloof is the strategic
+centre of the Society’s work in South Africa. In the coming days it
+will also be the training place for teachers and preachers connected
+with the Central Africa Mission.</p>
+
+<p>Within the limits of this sketch it is impossible to describe the
+manifold activities of this great Institution. I visited it on three
+occasions, and altogether spent upwards of a month there, and I had
+many opportunities of seeing and learning to appreciate the great work
+which is carried on. At the present time there are nearly 200 students
+in residence.</p>
+
+<p>On the 8th March, 1904, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Willoughby and his wife outspanned their
+waggon, and that a borrowed one, on the veldt at the corner of a large
+farm which the Society had previously bought. The word “farm” conveys
+a false impression. It was an unfenced wilderness covered with stone
+and low bush. The foundation stone of the Institution was laid in
+1905 by Earl Selborne, the Governor of Cape Colony. Year after year
+buildings have been added, and the Institution now comprises a fine
+dining-hall with a clock tower, six dormitories, commodious school and
+class rooms, carpenters’ and tailors’ shops and work-rooms, offices and
+residences<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span> for the members of the staff, and a series of cottages for
+the theological students and their families.</p>
+
+<p>In the scholastic department the boys are taught the subjects
+prescribed by the Cape code. There is an excellent normal school for
+the training of teachers. Apprentices are taught masonry, carpentry,
+tailoring and office work, and there is a theological department where
+the students are trained for the ministry.</p>
+
+<p>On arrival at Tiger Kloof the visitor to whom the Institution wishes
+to show honour is met by the boys in full-dress Sunday uniform and the
+Band. As such visitors are not infrequent the sight of the boys at the
+Siding, smartly attired in their blue uniforms, and the strains of the
+Band help to make known the Institution to the numerous travellers
+passing through by train.</p>
+
+<p>Daily Prayers are held in the Hall at 6.45 a.m. precisely. The English
+language is employed and the Mill Hill School Service book is used.
+These gatherings for morning prayers are characterised by a quiet
+dignity and reverence which is very impressive. The singing is good
+and the musical responses are very effectively rendered. The singing
+of “Crown Him Lord of all,” to the tune “Diadem,” will not soon be
+forgotten by those who have listened to it. After prayers the boys
+march out of the Hall and form themselves into companies outside and
+proceed to the parade ground for drill. The discipline is perfect. The
+work of the Institution has constantly received high praise from the
+Government Inspectors, and large Government grants are earned.</p>
+
+<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter"  id="img005">
+<img src="images/005.jpg" class="w50"  alt="Portion of Tiger Kloof Institution">
+</span></p>
+<p class="center caption"><i>Photo by</i>]&#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; [<i>W. C. Willoughby.</i>
+<br><span class="smcap">Portion of Tiger Kloof Institution.</span><br>
+Right to left: <span class="allsmcap">DORMITORY</span>, <span class="allsmcap">DINING HALL</span>,
+<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span><span class="allsmcap">PRINCIPAL’S HOUSE BEYOND</span>.</p>
+
+
+<p>The influence of the work there is already being felt throughout the
+South Africa Mission. Not only are ordained pastors and certificated
+teachers, who have received their training at Tiger Kloof, to be found
+at the various stations, but masons and carpenters who have learnt
+their trades there, after returning to their homes, occupy themselves
+with erecting Churches, schools and houses, and in many cases their
+life and example is a blessing to the people amongst whom they live.
+In this and other ways Tiger Kloof is making its contribution to the
+building up of a strong Christian Church in South Africa, and sending
+out Christian youths to spread the light in many a dark place.</p>
+
+<p>An Institution on similar lines for girls is in course of erection at
+Tiger Kloof. When it gets to work the most promising girls from the
+different Mission stations will be sent there for higher training. Many
+of them will become the wives of the preachers and teachers, and thus
+it is hoped will help to build up Christian homes in South Africa,
+which will be centres of light in different parts of the field.</p>
+
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> The genesis and development of the great work at Tiger
+Kloof is admirably described in the Handbook by <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Willoughby,
+entitled “Tiger Kloof,” published by the L.M.S. Price, 1s. net; post
+free 1s. 2d.</p>
+
+</div>
+</div>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="B-CENTRAL_AFRICA">B.—CENTRAL AFRICA</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV<br><span class="small">The Heart of the Dark Continent</span></h3></div>
+
+<p class="poetry">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Watchman, what of the night?</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The Watchman said, The morning cometh.</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;"><span class="smcap">Isaiah.</span></span><br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poetry p2">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The night is far spent and the day is at hand.</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;"><span class="smcap"><abbr title="saint">St.</abbr> Paul.</span></span><br>
+</p>
+
+
+<p>After four and a-half months spent in South Africa, where the Native
+Church has been planted for a century, I proceeded north to Central
+Africa, where missionary work is in its early stages and the Native
+Church in its infancy. Leaving Tiger Kloof towards the end of March,
+I travelled by the Cape-to-Cairo Railway through the Protectorate and
+Southern Rhodesia, and was joined by the other member of the Central
+African Deputation, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Houghton, at the Victoria Falls. The Railway
+took us to Ndola, 1,373 miles north of Tiger Kloof. There we were met
+by <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Nutter, of Mbereshi, in our Central Africa Mission, and over 100
+native carriers who were to be our companions for many a day to come.
+Before attempting any description of travel in Central Africa it will
+be well to say something about the country itself.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter"  id="img006">
+<img src="images/006.jpg" class="w75"  alt=">Map of Central Africa, showing L. M. S. Mission
+Stations">
+</span></p>
+<p class="center caption"><span class="smcap">Map of Central Africa, showing L. M. S. Mission
+Stations.</span>
+<br>(Kambole should be west, and not south of Kafukula).
+</p>
+
+<p>As late as the middle of last century maps of Africa<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span> described the
+central regions of the Dark Continent as unexplored. The labours
+of Livingstone, his contemporaries and successors have revealed to
+the peoples of the West a vast area as extensive as Europe which is
+somewhat vaguely described as Central Africa. Towards the end of
+the century this great expanse of country had been parcelled out
+amongst the great Powers of Europe. Internal peace has taken the
+place of tribal warfare, and the land has been thrown open to Western
+colonization. Foremost amongst the pioneers of civilization has been
+the Christian Missionary, and one of the earliest Societies to enter
+the field was our own. A remarkable and immediate result of the
+travels<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span> of Livingstone was the occupation of Central Africa by some
+of the missionary organizations of Britain. The work commenced by our
+own Society, the Church Missionary Society, the Universities’ Mission
+and the Presbyterian Missions was due directly or indirectly to the
+influence of that great Missionary explorer—David Livingstone.</p>
+
+<p>Central Africa exercises a singular fascination on those who visit it.
+Its great lakes, its mighty rivers, its boundless forests, its glorious
+sunshine, the black races which inhabit it, all combine to make travel
+in that region a unique and delightful experience. In our case that
+travel was made the more pleasant by the company of one and another of
+our missionaries on our journeys, and the great privilege we enjoyed
+of fellowship with them and their families in their homes, and the
+opportunities afforded us of seeing something of the work which they
+are carrying on amongst the people of the land.</p>
+
+<p>One of the first impressions a traveller receives is that of the
+vastness of the territory and the comparative sparseness of the
+population. These facts, together with the want of facilities for rapid
+travel, constitute serious difficulties in carrying on missionary work.</p>
+
+<p>My colleague and I were the first Deputation from the Society to
+visit Central Africa. As long ago as 1879 the Directors accepted an
+offer from the Society’s Foreign Secretary, <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Mullens, to visit the
+Mission. He proceeded to Zanzibar and started on his journey to Lake
+Tanganyika, but died at Chakombe in July<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span> of that year and was buried
+in the C. M. S. cemetery at Mpwapwa, between Tabora and Dar-es-Salaam.
+Since that day conditions of travel and of life in Northern Rhodesia
+(which is the part of Central Africa in which the L. M. S. carries on
+nearly all its work) have completely changed. No more striking evidence
+of the change can be afforded than a comparison between the experiences
+of the early missionaries and of their successors, twenty-five years
+later. The average term of service for the first ten missionaries
+who served in Central Africa was well under three years. The ten
+missionaries at present on the field have already to their credit an
+average term of service of thirteen years, and the majority of them are
+still under forty years of age. Moreover, in the first ten years of the
+Mission eleven missionaries died on the field, and six were invalided
+home, and (with one exception) did not return. During the last ten
+years not a single missionary has died on the field, and no missionary
+has retired on account of ill-health.</p>
+
+<p>It was our good fortune to visit Central Africa during its winter, and
+our experience of the climate was altogether delightful. Even during
+the hot season the heat is not so extreme as might be expected from
+the geographical position of the country. At the Society’s stations
+the thermometer seldom, if ever, reaches 100° Fahrenheit during the
+hottest season—a point often exceeded further south. Nevertheless,
+Central Africa is still a trying place for many people. The liability
+to malarial fever, dysentery, and cognate diseases is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span> considerable.
+Nor must it be forgotten that all our stations are necessarily at a
+high altitude above sea level. The lowest of them—Kafukula—is nearly
+as high as the top of Snowdon, while all the remaining stations are
+between 4,700 and 5,600 feet up, except Mbereshi, the altitude of which
+is 3,900 feet. Life at this altitude is often trying to the nerves and
+heart, and the strain is all the more severe owing to the impossibility
+of securing a substantial change of altitude without great expenditure
+of time and money. The distance to the coast is so great, the travel
+is so trying, and the cost is so heavy that it is practically
+impossible for our missionaries and their families to obtain a complete
+change—either as a mid-term furlough or otherwise.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps the best indication of the changed conditions of life and the
+improved health of the Mission in these later days is afforded by the
+splendid health enjoyed by the missionaries’ children. The picture
+facing this page speaks for itself.</p>
+
+<p>But there is an aspect of life in Central Africa which must not be
+over-looked, namely its isolation. At only one of our stations is
+any other white man in residence. There are less than a dozen white
+people—officials and a trader—at Kawambwa, the Government station
+twenty miles from Mbereshi, and about a dozen at Abercorn—the
+Metropolis, as it is called, of the white people in the Society’s
+area—ten miles from Kawimbe.</p>
+
+<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter"  id="img007">
+<img src="images/007.jpg" class="w75"  alt="Healthy Missionary Children in Central Africa">
+</span></p>
+<p class="center caption"><i>Photo by</i>]&#160; &#160; &#160; [<i>Bernard Turner.</i>
+<br>Hilda. Gay. Kenneth. Ethel. Dennis. Sylvia. Hope. Monica. Marjorie.
+Franklin.<br><span class="smcap">Healthy Missionary Children in Central Africa.</span>
+</p>
+
+<p>The exercise of a little imagination will enable the reader to realise
+something of the loneliness of men and women living in a country
+where there are so few people of their own race. Moreover, the Mission
+stations are widely separated from each other. Mbereshi is five days’
+journey from Mpolokoso, eight days’ journey from Kambole, nine and
+a-half days’ journey from Kafukula, and eleven days’ journey from
+Kawimbe.</p>
+
+<p>For the greater part of the three months following our departure from
+the railway at Ndola we lived in tents, and travelled through the
+great Central African forest, which in fact extended nearly all the
+way from Bulawayo, the capital of Southern Rhodesia, to Dar-es-Salaam,
+the capital of German East Africa, situated on the east coast of
+the Continent, 80 miles south of Zanzibar. Almost the whole of this
+country is a plateau from 4,000 to 6,000 feet above the level of the
+sea. The southern part of this forest is traversed by the Zambesi,
+and the western portion is bounded by the Congo, there known as the
+Luapula, while situated on the table-land there are the great lakes of
+Bangweolo, Mweru and Tanganyika, the two last of which we visited. In
+travelling through the forest one day’s journey is very like another,
+although each day abounds with a variety of incidents and new sights
+and new experiences for one who visits the country for the first time.
+A general description of the means and conditions of travel will
+suffice.</p>
+
+<p>We were almost wholly dependent upon native carriers. With the
+exception of bicycles and single-wheeled bush-cars there is no wheeled
+traffic in Northern Rhodesia. There are practically no roads in our
+meaning of that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span> term. The travel-routes are native paths—often very
+narrow and overgrown. In the long grass, which is a remarkable feature
+of the country, the path often cannot be seen, but can only be felt by
+the feet. There are no inns or rest-houses. Tents, bedding, cooking
+utensils, food, etc., must all be carried everywhere. The minimum
+number of carriers required by one person on a short journey is about
+twelve if a bicycle is used, or eighteen to twenty if a machila is the
+means of conveyance. A machila is a chair slung between two poles and
+carried by four men. For longer journeys extra men are needed to carry
+supplies, or in case of sickness among the carriers. Should native food
+not be easily obtained—as at certain seasons is the case everywhere,
+and along many of the main travel-routes, more or less constantly all
+the year round—five more men are needed for each week that food has
+to be carried. Carriers cost about 1s. 6d. per man per week away from
+their homes. The general practice is to pay 1s. a week in cash on
+discharge, and the balance in calico, cash, salt or food, weekly in
+advance. The speed of travel is, of course, dependent on the ability
+of the carriers, and the nature of the country traversed, but it may
+be taken as about seventeen or eighteen miles a day, or three miles
+an hour, including rests. Sometimes over thirty miles is accomplished
+with loads, or even more with a letter only. Our average day’s travel
+from Ndola to Mbereshi was just under twenty miles, but on two days we
+covered over thirty miles.</p>
+
+<p>Our experience of Central African travel was a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span> delightful one. We left
+the rail a week or two before the rainy season comes to an end in most
+years, and we had been warned that we should probably meet with a good
+deal of rain on our way to Mbereshi. We only had two or three showers
+the whole way, and with one trifling exception all these fell after we
+were in camp. We tasted some of the joys of crossing Central African
+swamps, but with the kindly assistance of our carriers, whose backs and
+shoulders were always at our service, we were none the worse. Numerous
+rivers and streams were crossed in dug-out canoes, on men’s backs and
+shoulders, and by means of tree trunks, stones, or bridges made of the
+branches of trees. The Luapula (Congo) was crossed in a steel boat.</p>
+
+<p>On the recommendation of the missionaries on the spot we had provided
+ourselves with bush-cars as our means of conveyance after leaving the
+railway. A bush-car is a seat fixed over a motor-cycle wheel with
+steel tube shafts back and front. It is propelled by two men, whereas
+a machila requires four men, and thus a bush-car halves the cost of
+carriers. Moreover, it is a much quicker means of conveyance than a
+machila. The experiment was entirely justified. Some days we were
+enabled to travel upwards of thirty miles without undue fatigue.</p>
+
+<p>It may be of interest to describe shortly a typical day’s programme on
+“ulendo”—as travel with carriers is universally called in Northern
+Rhodesia. We rose at six. Before we had finished dressing a number
+of carriers would be besieging our tents to snatch up our boxes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span> and
+other luggage in order to make an early start. Within a few minutes
+of vacating our tents they would be taken down and made into suitable
+loads and our beds and bedding would be packed and carried away. We
+breakfasted in the open air about 6.45, and generally by 7.15 or 7.30
+we were under way. It was our custom to walk for the first hour or
+two in spite of the heavy dew, which during the first part of our
+trip covered the giant grass and the trees until the sun was well up.
+Fortunately for us the cavalcade of carriers who had gone on ahead
+acted as “dew-driers” by brushing the water off the grass as they
+passed along.</p>
+
+<p>For the most part our journey lay through forest and bush and tall
+grass, along native paths or roads three or four feet wide, which
+had been made under the direction of the Government, but were often
+overgrown with grass and shrubs except for a narrow track a foot or
+eighteen inches in width, which had been kept clear by the constant
+passing of natives along it. The greater part of our travel was over
+the plateau, on which the paths were fairly level except at the
+depressions caused by the numerous streams which drain it. From time
+to time, however, there were steep, rocky hills to be surmounted, and
+there were occasional swamps. It was not often possible to ride more
+than a few miles in the bush-car without alighting and walking for some
+distance. A very uncomfortable experience is to travel by bush-car or
+on a bicycle along a path over which elephants have passed a short time
+before. The sensation of bumping over footprints fifteen inches across
+and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span> three or more inches deep, and occupying the whole width of the
+path, can be better imagined than described.</p>
+
+<p>We generally took luncheon between twelve and one, at a place where
+water was to be found, either in a native village or in the forest. We
+often found the table spread and the meal awaiting us, but sometimes we
+had to wait long for it if our luncheon box happened to be far behind
+us on the road. Then came two or three hours’ further travel before we
+finished our journey for the day. Then came a cup of tea, and as soon
+as the tents were pitched a bath and change of clothing. We dined about
+sunset. Then followed what was to us the most delightful of the day’s
+experiences. The rule on “ulendo” is for every man, when he collects
+the firewood for his own watch fire, to bring a log for the white
+man’s fire. Night after night we had magnificent camp-fires. Often the
+missionary accompanying us would gather the men together for a service
+round the fire, and sometimes the villagers also came. Those camp-fire
+services will long live in my memory. The men would sit round the fire,
+most of them naked to the waist, with their faces lit up by the fitful
+flames or the light of the moon. They would listen with rapt attention
+to the reading of the Scriptures or the words of the missionary, or
+would join in prayer, often led by one of themselves, with the utmost
+devoutness. But the most impressive part to us of these services was
+the hearty and reverent singing of the hymns in the native language to
+tunes well-known at home. These people have wonderful verbal memories.
+Hymn books<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span> seemed quite superfluous. Many of them knew by heart most
+of the hymns in their collection, and it was quite evident that they
+much enjoyed singing them. After the men had dispersed to their own
+camp-fires came an hour or two’s talk round our fire before we sought
+the shelter of our tents and our mosquito nets. It was our practice
+to join in English evening prayers immediately after dinner. But
+often long before we had left our chairs round the fire our native
+servants, and oft-times many of the carriers, would spread their mats,
+or, failing mats, lay some grass on the ground, as near the fire as
+possible, with their bare feet towards it, and wrap themselves in
+blanket or cloth and go to sleep under the stars, grateful for the
+genial warmth of the fire in the cold night of a Central African
+winter, and for the protection it afforded them against the beasts of
+prey who were often prowling near at hand.</p>
+
+<p>Thus we travelled through Northern Rhodesia, visiting the stations of
+our Central Africa Mission, calling upon the European Magistrates and
+Native Commissioners, meeting Native Head-men and Chiefs, and passing
+through numbers of small native villages, at all of which we received
+a hearty welcome. When we entered a village, or met native carriers
+on the path through the forest, we were greeted with the salutation
+“Mutende,” which, being interpreted, means “Peace.” The carriers would
+take their loads off their heads or shoulders, squat down on their
+haunches, clap their hands and give us their salutation. On leaving
+a village we were often accompanied for a mile or two by a running
+crowd<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span> of natives, consisting for the most part of women with babies
+tied upon their backs and laughing children, who would shout and sing
+as they ran behind and before the bush-cars or bicycle. We soon got
+accustomed to the sight of these natives, nearly all of them naked to
+the waist, and many of the children altogether naked. Most of those
+whom we saw were smiling, happy-looking people, but that there was
+another side to the picture was often painfully apparent. In many
+villages the faces of nearly all the adults were marked with small-pox.
+We frequently met cripples and lepers. Sore eyes, caused by the smoke
+of the wood fires in the huts, for which there is no escape but the
+door, were much in evidence, and we heard sad stories of the high rate
+of mortality amongst these children of nature. Certain forms of disease
+were very prevalent, and laid a heavy toll upon the people. Signs of
+the superstition which shadowed their lives, and which is the main
+feature of their animistic religions, were abundant. In many a village
+the rude “spirit-hut,” with offerings of food spread in front of it was
+to be seen, and we heard many sad stories of the influence wielded by
+sorcerer and witch-doctor upon the lives of the people.</p>
+
+<p>Everywhere we experienced the good-will and hospitality of the
+inhabitants. On arrival at our camping places a dozen women would
+appear with brooms made of the twigs of the trees and brushes to sweep
+the site of the camp clean before the tents were pitched. Others would
+hasten off to the nearest watering-place to get a supply of water in
+very large rough clay vessels for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span> ourselves and our men. We often
+pitched our camp in the middle of a village, and on these occasions
+many of our men slept in the huts of the villagers which had been
+willingly vacated to afford this accommodation. Mealies, manioc, and
+native flour would be purchased by the missionary in charge of the
+expedition for the men, and fowls and eggs for our own larder. Portions
+of Scripture and hymn books would be sold by the missionary, and there
+were many applications for them. Wherever we went the people were
+always most grateful for any recognition of their efforts to show us
+hospitality. Their desire for books for themselves and schools for
+their children was everywhere apparent; while they were always willing
+to come to the open-air services round the camp-fires. In the parts
+of Northern Rhodesia through which our journey lay there were but
+small indications of the advance of Mohammedanism from the north, of
+which we had heard much. In the territory recognised as the Society’s
+field of operations we have the country almost to ourselves. But in
+the northern part of this territory there were not wanting indications
+that the followers of the “false prophet” were already at work. In the
+northern part of Central Africa Islam is advancing like a flood, and it
+was clear that unless our Society is able effectively to occupy this
+territory, we shall before many years be face to face with the growing
+forces of Mohammedanism in its most debased form. The light which is
+brightening the sky in Central Africa has this background of threatened
+cloud and storm.</p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span></p>
+
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V<br><span class="small">The Brightness of His Rising</span></h3></div>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p>Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is
+risen upon thee. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and
+gross darkness the peoples; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and
+his glory shall be seen upon thee. And nations shall come to thy
+light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.—<span class="smcap">Isaiah.</span></p>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>After fifteen days’ travel by bush-car, on bicycle, and on foot we
+had traversed the 286 miles between the railway and Mbereshi. We
+crossed a strip of the Congo-Belge territory shortly after leaving the
+railway. At Sakania, the first station over the boundary, all our men
+were examined by the doctor, and everyone who had not had small-pox
+was vaccinated. We heard a gruesome story of a native postman who had
+been arrested a fortnight before, in whose wallet a half-eaten human
+foot had been discovered. A day or two later we crossed the Congo back
+into Northern Rhodesia again. In the interval many rivers had to be
+crossed, sometimes on tree trunks, but more often on the shoulders of
+our carriers. The forest was magnificent, one of its most striking
+features, perhaps, being the large number of giant ant-hills, some
+30 feet high, generally around some great tree, and always covered
+with bush and grass, flowers and trees. Butterflies were to be seen
+in myriads, exhibiting all the colours of the rainbow. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span> crossing
+of the Congo was a new experience. Descending the hill from the last
+Belgian Post Office, Kalunga, the post-master of which was a young
+Belgian Count, we crossed a bit of swampy ground on men’s shoulders and
+then reached the landing-place, where pandemonium was raging. Our crowd
+of carriers were there struggling for the two or three dug-out canoes
+in which to transport themselves and their loads across the river,
+which at this place—although it is thousands of miles from the sea—is
+considerably wider than the Thames at London Bridge. It swarms with
+hippopotami and crocodiles. But my most vivid recollection of the Congo
+is that one of my bearers managed to drop an iron box containing my
+papers into the river. Unfortunately it leaked and considerable damage
+resulted.</p>
+
+<p>The village on the other side, in which we encamped, was typical of
+many another village we passed through on our journey. Just behind our
+tents were three spirit-huts; all around us were native houses built
+of straw and mud, and then came an enormous growth of kaffir-corn
+about twelve feet high. Surrounding this was forest, save where the
+river wound its tortuous course. In the clear light of the evening the
+somewhat sparse foliage stood out with great distinctness against the
+blue of the sky, each twig and leaf being defined as if seen through a
+stereoscope. The neighbourhood abounds with lions, leopards, elephants,
+buffaloes, rhinoceros, zebras and hyenas.</p>
+
+<p>Half-way on our journey we camped for one night at Fort Rosebery, the
+Government centre for the district.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span> There we were the guests of the
+Native Commissioner, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Denton Thompson, one of the small band of
+young Cambridge men who are now being employed by the Chartered Company
+as Magistrates and Native Commissioners. It is satisfactory to be able
+to state that almost without exception the Government officials we came
+across in Northern Rhodesia were men really interested in the welfare
+of the natives and anxious to do their duty by them. Here as elsewhere
+we received the kindest hospitality. Whenever we visited the Government
+station we were invariably entertained by the officials, to whom no
+trouble seemed too great which ministered to our comfort.</p>
+
+<p>During the following week we passed through country infested with
+lions. At Mupeta we saw the skin of an enormous lion which had been
+killed the day before. During the previous week this lion had killed
+five natives. The people in the village laid a trap for him by tying a
+goat in an empty hut, on each side of the door of which they had dug
+a pit and had covered them over with laths smeared with mud. At the
+bottom of the pits they had fixed spears pointing upwards. The lion
+fell into one of them and the natives, who were on the watch, speared
+him from above. There were at least a dozen holes in his skin. In
+this neighbourhood twenty-two natives had been killed by lions in a
+fortnight. We passed through one village where on the previous day a
+man had been carried off by a lion, and a day or two before a woman and
+a child, who were laying fish traps in the stream, had been killed and
+carried away.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span></p>
+
+<p>On our arrival at Mbereshi we received a very warm welcome. About five
+miles from the station some fifty boys met us and ran with us along the
+broad road, which has been made by <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Nutter, for some distance into
+the forest. The men in charge of the bush-cars raced at full speed.
+Groups of people met us nearer the station, all of whom joined the
+racing cavalcade. Loud peals of thunder kept reverberating overhead
+and drowned the reports of the guns which were fired to welcome us. We
+arrived just as the first drops of a terrific thunderstorm fell. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr>
+Nutter’s house was soon crowded with natives, and there was endless
+shouting and hand-shaking. Never had the natives had such a time in
+Mbereshi. The whole village rose to the occasion and turned out to give
+the representatives of the L. M. S. a hearty welcome. On the following
+day we were the recipients of numerous presents of fowl, flour, goats
+and eggs.</p>
+<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter"  id="img008">
+<img src="images/008.jpg" class="w50"  alt=">Native with Fish Trap">
+</span></p>
+<p class="center caption"><i>Photo by</i>]&#160; &#160; &#160; [<i>Bernard Turner.</i>
+<br><span class="smcap">Native with Fish Trap.</span>
+</p>
+
+
+<p>Mbereshi is a delightful station with a magnificent view to the
+westward from the front of the Mission Houses, rolling parkland and
+forest, with the Mofwe Lagoon four miles away on the horizon. Along
+the shores of this lake and beyond there are about thirty villages
+with a large population, which has settled there as a result of the
+regulations to combat the sleeping-sickness. These have had the effect
+of driving the Natives from the east and south shores of Lake Mweru
+to the Mofwe villages. All the missionary activities of a flourishing
+Mission station are in operation. There are Sunday services, schools,
+classes for hearers and catechumens, and prayer meetings. The
+Christians from the head-station go out to the villages on Sundays to
+conduct services. Industrial work is being carried on under the able
+superintendence of <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Bernard Turner. The fame of the cabinet-making
+and carpentry of the boys trained by him is spread far and wide
+over Northern Rhodesia. Much of the furniture in the houses of the
+Government officials was manufactured here or at Kambole. Medical
+work, too, has been carried on at this station, and for several years
+a doctor was in residence. Leprosy is common. In the district there
+are 147 registered cases, and probably not less than 200 people are
+suffering from the disease. Our Mission work was commenced here in
+1900, and the early days were times of great trial. One of the first
+missionaries, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Purvis, died there in 1901, a fortnight after <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr>
+Nutter’s arrival, and his grave is to be seen under a tree near the
+Mission houses. In 1903 a missionary and a missionary’s wife died on
+two successive days. God buries his workmen, but carries on His work.</p>
+
+<p>During our stay at Mbereshi we visited Kazembe, the paramount Chief of
+the district, who nominally rules over 30,000 people. His town is some
+six miles away from Mbereshi, through the thick forest and the long
+grass. He received us outside his hut in the centre of the kraal, in
+which are a hundred huts for his hundred wives. He was seated on the
+ground, gorgeously and grotesquely adorned with beads and skins and
+gaily coloured skirts, and wore four large bells, gaiters of beads, and
+numerous heavy anklets above his bare feet.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span></p>
+
+<p>We sat down on low stools and <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Nutter helped us to talk to him. He
+showed us his treasures. One was a bloodthirsty-looking dagger which
+had belonged to ten chiefs before him, and had often been used to kill
+men. He produced a large number of charms, which he believes keep the
+lions away, and played tunes on a wooden drum cut by himself out of a
+solid tree trunk and decorated with brass-headed nails. He uses this
+to call his servants when he wants them. The heads of the drum-sticks
+are made of raw rubber. He sent for another and much larger drum made
+in the same fashion, and carried by two men on a pole, and also showed
+us two dulcimers made of wood and calabash. He gave us some raw green
+mealies (Indian corn) to eat. Kazembe smoked cigarettes, and when
+a member of the party offered him one he wanted to keep the silver
+cigarette-case. Then he took us to the Mission School where there were
+186 black boys and girls, many of whom were quite naked, and most of
+the rest were dressed in pieces of string!</p>
+
+<p>A day or two afterwards Kazembe came to pay us a return visit,
+accompanied by hundreds of his followers. He was seated on a platform
+suspended between two tree trunks and carried by thirty men, a great
+umbrella being held over his head. He himself beat his wooden drum to
+tell us he was coming, and a man carrying great yellow and black flags
+walked in front of him, and when he got off the platform he strutted
+about like a peacock.</p>
+
+<p>Twenty years ago the Chief was a great warrior, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span> often led his
+tribe to battle; but the coming of the British Government and of the
+missionaries has changed all that. For fifteen years not a shot has
+been fired in anger in his country, and the nearest British soldier or
+policeman is stationed more than a thousand miles away at Bulawayo.
+Such is the influence of the Pax Britannica in Northern Rhodesia!</p>
+
+<p>On another day we crossed the picturesque Mbereshi river by the ferry
+in two dug-out canoes, passing through masses of cream and mauve
+water-lilies, visiting a considerable number of the Mofwe villages,
+inspecting the schools and receiving the greetings of the Chiefs and
+Headmen, with whom we exchanged gifts. The villages consist of one wide
+street, and are almost continuous. The people live on fish and tapioca.
+At the farthest point at the north end of the Lagoon was a village, on
+the site of an older moated village, where Livingstone stayed for some
+weeks when he first visited the district. We interviewed one or two of
+the old inhabitants, who well remembered seeing him and were able to
+describe him to us.</p>
+
+<p>After a stay of ten days at Mbereshi we plunged into the forest again
+and journeyed to Chiengi on the north-east shore of Lake Mweru, which
+was discovered by Livingstone in the late sixties. On the way we
+paid a visit to Kashiba, a proposed site for the new station for the
+Chiengi district. This visit brought home to us very clearly some of
+the discomforts of Central African travel. After leaving our camp we
+had to traverse some half-mile of bad swamp, being carried through<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span>
+several stretches of water on the shoulders of our bearers. I used a
+bicycle, but before we had gone very far a tremendous storm broke and
+flooded the path. We sought shelter in a hut in one of the villages.
+There was a fire inside, the smoke from which filled the hut and only
+partially escaped through the thatch and the door. Except for the glow
+of the fire and the flashes of lightning seen through the doorway
+it was perfectly dark. The village street gradually became a raging
+torrent. After the storm had ceased we pushed on through the long
+grass, six to ten feet high and laden with water, arching over the
+narrow winding path. We passed through a succession of villages, and
+as we neared the site of the proposed station the people, who knew why
+we were coming and who are most anxious to have a missionary residing
+amongst them, gave us an ovation. The site overlooks the rapids of the
+great Kalungwishi river, and a mile away a column of spray indicated
+the presence of a great waterfall. Another deluge of rain descended
+as we turned back. I hastened in front on the bicycle and reached the
+swamp as it was getting dark. The heavy rain had converted it into a
+lake. I rode along the path until the water was up to the pedals, then
+I dismounted and pushed the machine. Soon both wheels were under water.
+It grew deeper and deeper until finally, when the water became breast
+high, I was obliged to lift the machine and carry it over my head. Such
+are the joys of travel in Central Africa!</p>
+
+<p>Next day we entered the sleeping-sickness area and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span> crossed the great
+Game Reserve to get our first sight of Lake Mweru. The day afterwards
+we arrived at Chiengi, after experiencing the delights of travelling on
+a narrow path along which for miles elephants had been walking after
+the rain. Cycling under such conditions is a somewhat trying experience.</p>
+
+<p>The view of Lake Mweru from the verandah of the Native Commissioner’s
+house at Chiengi is of surpassing loveliness. To the south the lake
+stretches away as far as the eye can see, bordered on the left side by
+the forest and on the right by the mountains of the Belgian Congo 25
+miles away. Opposite, a little to the south, is Lunza, the beautiful
+home of <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Dan Crawford, the famous author of “Thinking Black.” At
+one’s feet the water broke in tiny wavelets on the golden sand. Its
+music was in our ears throughout our stay. The Central African sunset
+from Chiengi was a sight to be remembered. The sun went down behind a
+bar of cloud. A purple light, which rapidly turned to green, lit up the
+western shores of the lake. After the sun had sunk below the horizon
+there was a perfect blaze of colour over a large portion of the sky,
+and purple, green and golden light stretched in broad bands above the
+surface of the lake.</p>
+
+<p>From Chiengi we journeyed to Mpolokoso, the newest of the stations
+of the L. M. S. in Central Africa, where <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> McFarlane has a small
+hospital consisting of eight native huts. Our stay here was curtailed
+owing to a very serious outbreak of small-pox, nearly half the
+inhabitants of the village suffering from this scourge.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span> Most of
+those who were not isolated in the segregation camp had already had
+the disease. Mpolokoso himself, the Chief of the village, succumbed
+to it a few days later. The Government officials were using every
+effort to stay the spread of the disease; all infected huts were at
+once destroyed by fire, and no one was allowed to enter or leave the
+village. The thin columns of smoke ascending from the burning huts into
+the cloudless sky told a pathetic tale. On arrival our carriers were
+put into custody to prevent them mixing with the people, and every
+precaution was taken for the safety of ourselves and our men. One felt
+great sympathy with <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Cullen Gouldsbury, the Native Commissioner,
+upon whom great responsibility rested. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Gouldsbury is a man of many
+parts. He is in the service of the British South Africa Company’s
+Administration, and we had many indications of the sympathetic way
+in which he carried out his duties in looking after the welfare of
+the natives. Moreover, he is a poet of no mean order, a constant
+contributor of verse to the columns of the <i>Bulawayo Chronicle</i>,
+has written a delightful book of poems, is the joint author of “The
+Great Plateau of Northern Rhodesia,” the most authoritative work on
+the country through which we were travelling, and last year published
+a book entitled “An African Year.” He has always been a friend of
+the Mission, and it will be of interest to quote his testimony from
+his latest book, as to one of our missionaries and his wife, which
+is rendered all the more valuable by the fact that <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Gouldsbury is
+himself a Roman Catholic.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span></p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p>“My views upon missionaries and their work, from the general point of
+view, stand recorded elsewhere. I have no intention of recapitulating
+them here. Let me rather dwell upon the personal standpoint, as
+exemplified in the festive little couple who are our neighbours at
+—— six miles away.</p>
+
+<p>“Let us call them Saunders—since that is not their name, and quite
+sufficiently unlike it—Joseph Saunders and Jane his wife.</p>
+
+<p>“All missionaries in this country, whether Baptist, Presbyterian,
+Church of England, or White Fathers, are hard-working, whatever else
+they may be. Saunders himself is a man hung upon wires, each of
+which would seem charged with a full circuit of electricity. He and
+his wife and the sun rise together—a most energetic trio. Before
+breakfast he has conducted service, taught for an hour or two in the
+school, visited the workshops and checked the labourers about the
+station. During the rest of the day he is occupied with blacksmithery,
+joinery and the like—laid in slabs between other chunks of teaching.
+As likely as not in the evening he will go out after a buck, for
+Joseph Saunders is that <i>rara avis</i> among missionaries, a keen
+hunter; and after dinner if there are people in the house he will
+play ping-pong till all is blue. Not the ordinary ping-pong, you may
+be sure; that does not afford sufficient outlet for his exuberant
+spirits. Kapembwa ping-pong has mysterious rules of its own, such as
+that the players must bound upon the table<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span> between the strokes, or
+lie flat on the floor between serving and receiving the return. It is
+a curious game. I can generally stay out two sets, after that Beryl
+(the author’s wife) and I sit on the sofa and watch Saunders and his
+wife play.</p>
+
+<p>“As for Mrs. Saunders, she is one of the nicest little women in
+Africa. Demure, placid, and the very antithesis of Joseph—an adorable
+touch of Lancashire in her soft drawling speech, and an utter freedom
+from affectation or pose of any kind—she is the ideal next-door
+neighbour in Central Africa.</p>
+
+<p>“Saunders sent over the <i>junga</i> for Beryl, so that she was
+able to cover the six miles in comparative comfort, while I paddled
+furiously behind upon an antediluvian bicycle. For the benefit of
+the uninitiated I should perhaps explain that a <i>junga</i> is
+anything which moves upon wheels. Originally it meant a bicycle, but
+in this particular instance it refers to a marvellous construction,
+balanced upon one wheel, which has been built by Saunders himself in
+the Kapembwa workshop out of some old packing cases and gas piping,
+and which has to my mind solved the question of locomotion in this
+country.”</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>We stayed for two nights at the Mission house at Mpolokoso with <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr>
+McFarlane. On account of the small*pox it was impossible to visit the
+schools or to meet with the people, though on the Sunday night some<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span>
+half-dozen of the Mission staff, who do not live in the village, met us
+and presented us with a generous offering to the L. M. S. of £4 12s.
+6d., made by the infant Church, which consisted of nine members only,
+a welcome token of the missionary spirit of the newest and smallest of
+the Central African Churches.</p>
+
+<p>Travelling eastward from Mpolokoso we reached Kambole, near the south
+end of Lake Tanganyika, after three days’ journey. On our way we had
+our first view of this great lonely lake, eight miles away through the
+trees, probably from the very spot where Livingstone saw it for the
+first time. As we approached the station the people ran beside the
+bicycle and bush-car shouting their salutations and showing their joy
+in welcoming us in many other ways.</p>
+
+<p>Kambole is the centre of a very widely-scattered district, and is in
+an isolated position. The nearest village is an hour and a-half’s walk
+away from the station-village, and some out-stations lie three or four
+days’ journey distant. It takes the missionaries five weeks’ continuous
+travelling to make a circuit of the district.</p>
+
+<p>Many branches of missionary work are carried on at this centre. We
+attended crowded services in the Church, and meetings with the classes
+for hearers, catechumens, teachers and women. Some ninety-six youths,
+who were teachers at the schools in the outstations, at which there
+are 1,800 scholars, gathered at Kambole during our visit to attend the
+school for the training of teachers, which is held twice a year at
+the head station and lasts for about two months. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Stewart<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span> Wright,
+one of the Kambole missionaries, carries on an extensive out-patient
+work at the dispensary near the wattle-and-daub church. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Ross, the
+other missionary, is engaged in manifold activities and has charge
+of the industrial department which was established and carried on
+so successfully by <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Bernard Turner, who is now at Mbereshi. The
+prolific mission garden is another indication of the practical value
+of <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Turner’s work. It is excellently irrigated by the construction
+of water-furrows. Palms, limes, bamboos, bananas, yams, pineapples,
+guavas, grenadiloes, coffee, wheat, tapioca, rice, rubber, and many
+vegetables and flowers flourish abundantly.</p>
+
+<p>Half-an-hour’s walk from the Mission House, along an eight-foot road
+cut through the forest for a mile and a-half, at a total cost of £2
+10s. 0d., takes one to the edge of the Tanganyika Plateau, where there
+is a sheer fall of from 400 to 500 feet. On the right is the river,
+which descends in a series of beautiful waterfalls, arched over with
+foliage and rock, to the level of the lake below. In front the lake
+stretches away into the distance extending for 400 miles northward.
+It is bordered on the left by the mountains of the Belgian Congo
+and on the right by the hills of German East Africa. At the foot of
+the precipice is a fertile valley, once thickly populated but now
+uninhabited, owing to the sleeping sickness, and through this beautiful
+valley flows the river Lovu.</p>
+
+<p>At Kambole we came across a cripple, by name Kalolo, whose history
+affords an illustration of the sort of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span> missionary work which is being
+carried on in our Central Africa Mission.</p>
+
+<p><abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Ross found Kalolo at Katwe, near Kambole, in 1906, destitute and
+emaciated, cowering over a few embers of fire, his feet a mass of
+putrid ulcers, which had not been washed or dressed for many a long
+day. He seemed to have no relations. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Ross brought him to the
+station at Kambole, and on his arrival prepared lotions for him, and
+put him in charge of another youth, also a cripple, whom he told to
+wash Kalolo’s sores. Cripple No. 2, by name Nundo, was afraid and
+demurred. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Ross took him into the house and read to him the story
+of the Good Samaritan, and told him to go and help Kalolo. He then
+consented, and assisted the missionary to attend to Kalolo for a long
+time. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Ross had taught Nundo to repair boots and shoes, and this
+work he did for some time, but ultimately disappeared while <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Ross
+was on furlough. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> and Mrs. Ross did their best for Kalolo for five
+years, thus bearing witness to the people of the compassionate spirit
+of the Gospel they had come to teach. The Mission doctors when visiting
+the station treated Kalolo, but at last (in 1910) <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Wareham, after
+vainly endeavouring to cure his tedious ulcers by palliative measures,
+amputated both feet. When Kalolo returned to consciousness he was so
+depressed that he tried to destroy himself. He still bears a scar on
+his forehead caused by dashing his head upon the ground in his despair.
+He was, however, brought through that crisis, and when he had recovered
+he was sent back to Kambole station. A<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span> wooden waggon was made in the
+joiner’s shop to enable him to get about. Then he was taught boot and
+shoe repairing, as the Europeans in the neighbourhood all sent their
+boots and shoes to Kambole to be repaired. Kalolo was highly delighted
+to have a means of making a living, and became a most useful man at
+that station. Later, when <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Ross wished to find employment for two
+blind men who came seeking work, he put them with Kalolo to grind
+wheat. They proved to be a most successful trio at this work, and in
+sawing up timber with the cross-cut saw, at which employment they were
+engaged during my visit. Kalolo came to <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Ross long ago to say that
+he wished to join the Enquirers’ Class, and was enrolled. He afterwards
+came to the missionary and offered to help to dress the repulsive sores
+of another unfortunate occupant of the little station hospital. Thus
+the light of the Gospel is spreading in Darkest Africa, and the Native
+torch-bearers are lifting it high, and passing it on from hand to hand
+until “the beauty and the glory of the Light” shall illumine the people
+that are now sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death.</p>
+
+<p>Accompanied by a large crowd of people, who escorted us on our way
+for two or three miles, we left Kambole, still travelling eastward,
+for Kafukula, a mission station near the south-eastern corner of
+Lake Tanganyika, staying for a night at a village to which some of
+the people on the lake shore had been moved in consequence of the
+sleeping-sickness. It was amongst these people that Livingstone stayed
+for some weeks when he first<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span> visited the lake. The exterior of many
+of the huts was decorated with charms in the shape of snail shells.
+Nearly all the women of the village had holes, about the size of
+five-shilling pieces, in the lobes of their ears, in which large discs
+of wood, decorated with grotesque specimens of native art, were placed.</p>
+
+<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter"  id="img009">
+<img src="images/009.jpg" class="w75"  alt="Kafukula Mission House, which cost £40">
+</span></p>
+<p class="center caption"><i>Photo by</i>]&#160; &#160; &#160; [<i>Ernest H. Clark.</i>
+<br><span class="smcap">Kafukula Mission House, which cost £40.</span>
+</p>
+
+<p>On the following day, escorted by <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Clark, the Kafukula missionary,
+we reached that station, having descended some 2,000 feet from the edge
+of the Plateau, enjoying on the way magnificent views of the lake,
+near the shores of which we could see the ruins of the old Mission
+station at Niamkolo, which we were to visit a few days later. The
+Kafukula Mission house is a wattle-and-daub erection, and one of the
+most picturesque residences in Central Africa, as will be seen from the
+picture on the opposite page. It was built by <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Clark in 1910 at a
+total cost of £40. The view from the verandah can never be forgotten.
+In front the valley shelves down to the lake shore some 300 feet below.
+A small island, which is the property of the Society, nestles in the
+lake close to the bank, while beyond away to the north stretch the
+crystal waters in their mysterious loneliness. The eastern shore is
+visible for some distance, but the western is hidden by the trees in
+the foreground. This exquisite picture is framed by the forest-crowned
+hills on either side.</p>
+
+<p>We had a great reception. As soon as we were seen descending the hill
+the drums began to beat, the bugle sounded and a gun was discharged.
+The people showed their gladness by smacking their mouths with their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span>
+hands while emitting a clear bell-like sound. At the bottom of the hill
+the village Headman, a Christian, and a Church member of many years’
+standing, met us, and we walked into the village between rows of people
+who, as we passed along, closed in behind and formed a long procession.
+Here and there were groups of children singing hymns, some of them in
+the native language and some in English. We passed through the village
+and down the slope to the beautiful river Lunzua, a rushing torrent,
+over which a primitive bridge of tree-trunks and mud in the shape of a
+crescent moon leads to the path to the Mission house, which is situated
+on a hill on the other side and is reached by a flight of forty-five
+steps.</p>
+
+<p>Kafukula is the village to which many of the people from Niamkolo on
+the lake shore were moved in consequence of the sleeping-sickness
+regulations. During our stay we paid a visit to Niamkolo and the lake.
+The following description, written on the evening of the day of our
+visit, will speak for itself:—</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p>“We were up early—as is usual in Central Africa. After breakfast
+we started for Niamkolo and the lake shore. On <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Clark’s advice I
+donned my ‘ulendo’ dress—a large white sun-helmet, a khaki flannel
+bush-shirt, khaki shorts, and stout boots and stockings and leather
+leggings. The Mission family accompanied us, Mrs. Clark travelling in
+a machila; the children—Dennis and Marjorie Clark—were accommodated
+in a box slung on a pole, carried by two men. My colleague travelled<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span>
+in a chair suspended between two poles and carried by relays of four
+men. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Clark and I walked. It was a glorious morning. We stayed for
+a few moments at two villages to see the schools, or rather to see the
+teacher and his scholars, for school is held in a kind of stockade
+open to the sky, but partially shaded by a tree. The children sang
+lustily some verses of Mambwe hymns. Like all Central Africans they
+have wonderful memories, and soon learn the hymn-book of nearly one
+hundred hymns by heart.</p>
+
+<p>“The walk was somewhat arduous, as much of it was through very long,
+thick, bamboo-like grass. Beyond the second village the land is
+uninhabited, and is forbidden ground owing to the sleeping-sickness
+regulations. We had to obtain special passes from the officials at
+Abercorn to permit us to make the trip. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Clark had gone down with
+thirty men a week before to clear the path as much as possible and to
+burn the grass where necessary and practicable. It was an eight-mile
+walk to the former Mission station at Niamkolo, and nearly two miles
+further to the shore. The old station was a pathetic sight. The brick
+house in which the Stewart Wrights and the Clarks had lived was in
+ruins, as it had been left after the fire seven years ago. The walls
+were standing to the first floor, and inside trees, shrubs and grasses
+were growing in wild profusion. It was on Saturday evening, the 29th
+June, 1906, that the detached<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span> kitchen took fire in a great gale of
+wind. The sparks were carried on to the thatch of the dwelling house,
+and in two hours the place was burnt out—very little being saved.
+The Clarks were there to see their home destroyed before their eyes.
+This was the first time Mrs. Clark had visited the spot since the
+conflagration.</p>
+
+<p>“Then came the walk down the hill past the site of the house in which
+<abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> and Mrs. Hemans, the black missionaries from Jamaica, used to
+live. Then we crossed the plain, once a great garden and rice field,
+now a swamp, to reach the Church and the shore. I was carried across
+the swamp by two men holding hands, on which I sat with my arms round
+their necks. We reached the ruins of the Church about mid-day. It
+is picturesquely situated on a hill overlooking the south end of
+the lake, and the island belonging to the Society. Its appearance
+suggests, on a smaller scale, the ruins of Iona Cathedral far more
+than those of a Church in Central Africa. The walls and gable end
+and the roofless bell-tower are still standing—and what walls they
+are!—all of light stone fashioned in large slabs, and a yard thick.
+We had lunch in the bell-tower in some trepidation, as the over-hanging
+stones threatened to fall, and then we made our way down to the
+stony beach, where we lingered long. The scene was beautiful beyond
+description. The lake stretched away to the north into the ‘glow and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span>
+glory of the distance,’ where water and sky met on the horizon. The
+hills on each side were clothed with sylvan loveliness. The sky was
+reflected on the bosom of the water. White cloud was piled on white
+cloud with many a glimpse of deepest blue, and the glorious sunshine
+dominated the scene. It was a dream of beauty.</p>
+
+<p>“The beach is covered with the loveliest shells of all descriptions.
+As we sat on the shore the wind blew the spray from the waves into our
+faces. The children and I paddled, and though, doubtless, there were
+crocodiles in the bulrushes to our left, we did not see any. After tea
+we turned our faces towards Kafukula. Long before we arrived at our
+destination the shadows of departing day crept on, and by the time
+we reached the villages it was quite dark. The sunset was worthy of
+the beauty of the day. For some moments the western sky looked like
+the very gate of the eternal. Then the fireflies flitted about in
+thousands. Their light was, however, from time to time obliterated,
+as it were, by flashes of summer lightning. Then the moon came out,
+nearly at her fullest, and lit up the landscape with clear, cool,
+placid light, and in the solemn beauty of the scene we forgot all
+about the lions and puff-adders which infest the country after dark.</p>
+
+<p>“We had a great reception in the villages. The people all turned out
+and greeted us, and bade us farewell with ear-splitting salutations,
+following<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span> us for two miles and keeping up an unearthly noise all the
+time. Then all was peaceful again as <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Clark and I reached Kafukula,
+and crossed the arched bridge over the rushing river, and climbed up
+the steps to the Mission House. From the verandah we could see the
+great lake ten miles away peacefully asleep in the moonlight. It has
+been a glorious day, which will live in the memory as long as life
+lasts.”</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Evangelistic and educational work is carried on in Kafukula itself and
+in the district of which it is the centre. Services and classes for
+inquirers and catechumens are regularly held, and the missionary visits
+the whole district three times a year, conducting services, inspecting
+schools, interviewing inquirers and carrying on the usual missionary
+activities. There are seventy-nine teachers connected with the station
+whose wages range from £1 (one senior teacher alone gets this; the next
+gets 9s. 6d.), to 1s. 6d. a month, and these wages are only paid during
+the six or seven months that teaching in the schools is carried on. If
+the teacher is placed far from his home he gets in addition 1s. a month
+for food. There is also an evangelist, paid at the rate of 6s. a month,
+who visits and preaches in the villages. There are 1,300 scholars in
+thirty-two schools, and their education consists of reading, writing,
+very elementary arithmetic and the memorising of the Lord’s Prayer, the
+Commandments, the Beatitudes and other passages of Scripture and hymns.
+Valuable medical work is also carried on. Some of the teachers acquire
+a little knowledge of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span> English language, which they are proud to
+show off on occasion. After our meeting with the teachers we received a
+letter in English, signed by some seventy of them and addressed to the
+Directors, from which the following extracts may be given as specimens
+of their English scholarship. The opening sentence is as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p>“We are exceedingly glad to write you this little note to give you
+a hearty greeting to you all in this district, so that the old men,
+women childrens, boys and girls and whose tribes of this country are
+anxiously to send you a good compliments as they couldn’t reach there
+to see your faces or to gathered in the same Church.”</p>
+
+<p>It goes on: “But we were very glad to receipt those representatives
+who came from their long journey as far as when they came from and we
+had a very good general service and <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Horlick was one who had held
+the service in our Church and it was interests wonderful to hear from
+him about his describes preaching he told us many things about jesus
+christ our saviour and how a man would follow the secularity of the
+kingdom of God.”</p>
+
+<p>The letter concluded as follows: “We thanks you very much for sending
+us these Deputation to visit us and to hear many things from them
+how do you loved us. We haven’t more information to tell you about.
+farewell, Sirs with lots of salutation to all. We hope you are whole
+in good health we should like to hear if you are better.”</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span></p>
+
+<p>“<abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Horlick” requires some explanation. The natives were not familiar
+with the names of the strangers who had come amongst them, but seeing
+on the walls of the verandah a glazed sheet, which had arrived a few
+days before, advertising the merits of “Horlick’s Malted Milk,” they
+assumed that this “banner with a strange device” had some reference to
+their visitors. Hence the mistake.</p>
+
+<p>From Kafukula we continued our journey eastward to Kawimbe, the oldest
+of the Society’s Mission stations in Central Africa. On the road, which
+was hilly and very beautiful, we were met by <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Wareham. At Abercorn,
+the Government centre for the northern part of Northern Rhodesia, we
+were hospitably entertained by the Magistrate, and then we continued
+our journey to Kawimbe, ten miles away, where another great welcome
+awaited us. Hundreds came out to meet us, many of the women and girls
+being decorated for the occasion with yellow and red flowers in their
+black woolly hair. They escorted us, laughing, singing and dancing all
+the way to the Mission station, which is 5,600 feet above the level
+of the sea, and picturesquely situated in a shallow basin. The native
+village is built on the hillside half-a-mile away, and is well laid
+out. Four miles off to the west is Fwambo, the original site of the
+first Mission station on the Tanganyika Plateau. A few miles to the
+east is the boundary between Northern Rhodesia and German East Africa.
+To the south-east is the fertile and populous Saise Valley, forty miles
+along which the sphere of the Society’s work abuts<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span> upon the field of
+the great Livingstonia Mission of the Free Church of Scotland. It may
+be mentioned that the river Congo takes its rise a few miles south of
+the Mission station. We remained at Kawimbe for nearly three weeks.
+The Annual Meetings of the Central Africa District Committee were held
+there during our stay. The first week was spent in seeing the work,
+visiting parts of the district and interviewing the missionaries and
+preparing for the meetings of the District Committee. One day, under
+the guidance of <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Govan Robertson, we spent over twelve hours in
+visiting several of the villages of the district, and accomplished the
+latter part of the journey in the dark. We shall long remember the
+struggle in the dusk through the almost impenetrable undergrowth of a
+picturesque mountain pass, and afterwards through the long grass.</p>
+
+<p>The three Sundays spent at Kawimbe were days of great interest. On
+the first two large numbers of people came in to meet us from the
+neighbouring villages. On the second a crowded harvest-thanksgiving
+service was held at which offerings in kind were contributed, including
+sheep, goats, fowl, eggs, nuts, maize, beans, flour, cloth, bracelets,
+cash, etc. On the third Sunday I visited one of the adjacent villages
+with <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Robertson. Communion Services for the Native Christians
+and the Missionaries were held. An interesting incident during our
+stay was the unveiling of a brass tablet in the Church commemorating
+the twenty-fifth anniversary of the commencement of the work on the
+Plateau.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span></p>
+
+<p>The work at Kawimbe is divided amongst the three missionaries by mutual
+arrangement. We had not the pleasure of meeting the senior missionary,
+<abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Draper, who was away on furlough.</p>
+
+<p>An early morning prayer meeting, a morning service and an afternoon
+class are held every Sunday. The number of Church members has been
+steadily increasing in later years and has now reached forty-seven.
+There are in addition fifty Catechumens (Christians under probation).
+The Church work, as far as the men are concerned, has been affected
+by the attraction of better pay offered elsewhere at the mines,
+in the stores and in German East Africa. Most, however, of the
+Christian men who have remained at Kawimbe have gone out regularly to
+preach, and some have conducted Bible classes in the villages in the
+neighbourhood. Besides the station classes and Sunday schools there
+have been during last year classes in fifty-three villages, attended
+by over 900 persons. There is a branch of the International Bible
+Reading Association. The Educational work makes steady progress, and
+schools are held in every village in the extensive district. At the
+close of 1912 there were 2,408 children on the school rolls, with an
+average attendance of 1,691. For the most part the school buildings
+are provided by the people themselves. <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Wareham carries on a much
+valued medical work, connected with which is a small hospital admirably
+adapted for its purpose.</p>
+
+<p>Our visit to Kawimbe completed our tour of the Society’s Central Africa
+stations.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span></p>
+
+<p>Northern Rhodesia can still be described as a land that is dark, but at
+the mission stations we visited, and at many a little outstation, the
+light of the Gospel is being kindled, and everywhere there is promise
+that the darkness is turning to dawning. The Church is in its infancy,
+but it is a growing Church; and, under the blessing of God, will in the
+days that are coming be His instrument in spreading the light where now
+the darkness reigns.</p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span></p>
+
+<h2 class="nobreak" id="C-MADAGASCAR">C.—MADAGASCAR</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI<br><span class="small"><b>Tananarive—“A City Set on a Hill”</b></span></h3></div>
+
+<p class="poetry">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earth has not anything to show more fair;</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dull would he be of soul who could pass by</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">A sight so touching in its majesty:</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">This City now doth, like a garment, wear</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The beauty of the morning.</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;"><span class="smcap">Wordsworth.</span></span><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>We travelled from Kawimbe in Northern Rhodesia to Madagascar by way
+of German East Africa and Zanzibar. Owing to unavoidable delays at
+the ports the journey occupied ten weeks. For the first three we
+travelled by chair and bicycle and on foot, northward to Tabora, along
+a road almost parallel with the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. On
+the first night we encamped at a village near the Kalambo river, the
+boundary between Northern Rhodesia and German East Africa, close to
+the wonderful Kalambo Falls. The river, which is deep and about thirty
+yards wide, plunges over a perpendicular wall of rock 900 feet high
+into an awful chasm in one sheer drop. The rocky walls on each side
+of the gorge are vertical. Looking westward one has a lovely view
+of Lake Tanganyika, vignetted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span> between cloudless blue sky and the
+purple-breasted mountains in which the gorge terminates, lying calm and
+peaceful in the “splendour shadowless and broad.”</p>
+
+<p>A week-end was spent at Kasanga, now known as Bismarckburg, the
+administrative centre of the southern part of German East Africa, where
+we met some educated and courteous German officials, who have always
+done what they could to facilitate the missionary work of the Society
+in the small section of their territory in which it is being carried
+on, and gave us some interesting information with regard to native
+customs and superstitions. We learnt that the natives offer sacrifices
+of goats, sheep and fowls at the Kalambo Falls to propitiate the gods
+who are supposed to dwell in the chasm, and to bring them luck. They
+have a superstition that the land at the bottom of the Falls would
+belong to the posterity of any person who threw himself over. A woman
+recently sacrificed herself in this way, and the Chief gave the land
+at the foot of the Falls to her family. When twins are born it is the
+custom to do away with one of them. Children who cut the upper teeth
+first are killed. Cannibalism amongst the natives is by no means
+extinct, and as late as six years ago a European was killed and eaten.
+There are well authenticated recent cases of the widow of a Chief being
+buried alive in the grave of her dead husband. This part of German East
+Africa is certainly a land that is dark.</p>
+
+<p>But I must not linger over the journey. Towards the end of June we
+reached Tabora, a large native town of some 30,000 inhabitants, whence
+we took train to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span> Dar-es-Salaam on the east coast of the Continent—the
+capital of the German colony. This place is beautifully situated on
+the shores of a land-locked harbour, and the streets are bordered
+with stately cocoanut palms and shady acacias. It was formerly the
+centre of the Arab slave trade, but, to-day, except for the tropical
+vegetation, it reminds one of a modern European town. A few hours on
+a steamer brought us to Zanzibar, one of the most fascinating places
+we visited in our travels. After a stay of some days there we embarked
+on the Messageries Maritimes boat for Tamatave, on the east coast of
+Madagascar. On the boat we joined our colleague in the Deputation work
+in Madagascar, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Talbot Wilson, and with him were the three members
+of the Deputation from the Friends’ Foreign Mission Association, and
+one of the Deputation from the Paris Missionary Society. A voyage of
+seven days, calling on the way at ports on the north-west and northern
+coast of Madagascar, brought us to the Port of Tamatave, some 1,500
+miles south of Zanzibar. From Tamatave we travelled by the splendidly
+engineered new French railway to Tananarive, a distance of 239
+miles, passing on the way great lagoons near the sea coast, crossing
+picturesque rivers, traversing belts of beautiful forest, and rising
+by circular curves on the railway up the mountain side to the Central
+Plateau of Madagascar, some 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. As
+the train neared the capital it was joined by various missionaries who
+had come part way to meet us. At the terminus—a great modern station
+lit with arc lamps—nearly all<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span> the missionaries at work in the city
+and around it, and thousands of Malagasy Native Christians in their
+straw hats and white lambas, met us, and gave us a great welcome.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter"  id="img010">
+<img src="images/010.jpg" class="w50"  alt="Map of Madagascar, showing L. M. S. Stations">
+</span></p>
+<p class="center caption"><span class="smcap">Map of Madagascar, showing L. M. S. Stations.</span>
+<br>Madagascar is nearly 1,000 miles in length. Its area exceeds that of
+France, Belgium and Holland put together, but its population is less
+than one-fourteenth of that of these countries.
+</p>
+
+<p>Tananarive is built upon a very narrow lofty ridge in the middle of
+far-spreading rice fields, bordered by ranges of hills and mountains.
+The ridge, which rises rapidly from the north, runs due south, and is
+crowned at its highest point by the Palace of the former kings and
+queens of the Island, which can be seen from a great distance around.
+The crest consists of a steeply-rising thoroughfare, from many points
+of which both horizons, east and west, can be seen. In the northern
+portion, known as Faravohitra, are several of the Society’s mission
+houses, and at the top is the Faravohitra Memorial Church. Continuing
+southward, and still rising for the greater part of the way, the
+British Consulate is passed on the right, and a short way beyond
+this on the left is the massive building, now known as the Palais de
+Justice, which was formerly the L. M. S. Theological College. After
+a slight depression the road winds steeply upwards, until, leaving
+the Palace of the Prime Minister on the left, and catching sight
+of the Memorial Church of Ampamarinana on the right, we arrive at
+the Queen’s Palace. The ridge then falls and rises again until its
+southern extremity is reached at Ambohipotsy, where stand another of
+the Memorial Churches and the present United Theological College of the
+L. M. S. and F. F. M. A., and some Mission houses. The view is one of
+great grandeur, especially looking to the west and to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span> south-west
+towards the rugged ridges of the Ankaratra mountains. Looking
+northwards one sees the wooded slopes of Ambohimanga, the ancient
+capital of Imerina, like a crouching lion dark against the distant
+hills. On the west, at the foot of the northern part of the ridge, is
+the great Analakely market, which on Fridays is visited by thousands
+of people, and adjoining the market is our handsome Analakely Church,
+while beyond are the Residency, the railway station and the shops and
+offices of the modern French town. A little above this the spire of
+the Ambatonakanga Memorial Church and the two large school buildings
+adjoining can be seen standing at the junction of two main roads, where
+the traffic is at its busiest. One of the features of the landscape in
+Tananarive is the large number of Church spires and towers which can be
+seen on the plains below. It is said that there are some 150 of them
+in sight, by far the greater number of them being now, or formerly,
+Churches connected with the London Missionary Society.</p>
+
+<p>We had come to Madagascar from Central Africa, where missionary work
+was in its earliest stages. In the “great African Island” the contrast
+was very striking. There is only one brick Church in the Central Africa
+Mission, the rest being wattle-and-daub. In Madagascar there are many
+hundreds of spacious well-built brick Churches, and some handsome stone
+ones. In Central Africa the Church is in its infancy, and comprises
+less than 150 Church members. In Madagascar there are over 30,000
+Church members, and nearly five times as many other native adherents.
+The magnificent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span> results which have followed the work of the Society’s
+missionaries, under the blessing of God, are everywhere apparent.
+Wherever we went great crowds of Christian people gathered together to
+meet us as the representatives of the L. M. S. The Churches were nearly
+always full and often crowded to overflowing.</p>
+
+<p>The congregations find great enjoyment in the singing of hymns, and
+very large numbers read their Bibles, while Sunday School work is
+splendidly organized. A considerable proportion of the Church members
+take part in Christian work. There are more than seven times as many
+ordained native agents at work in connection with the Society in
+Madagascar as in all the other Mission fields of the Society combined,
+except Polynesia. In addition, there are over 2,500 preachers, a number
+largely in excess of the number of preachers in all the other fields of
+the Society put together. Moreover, the number of Church members and of
+other native adherents in Madagascar connected with the Society is far
+more than those in any other Mission field, and the same remark applies
+to the number of Sunday Schools and Sunday School scholars.</p>
+
+<p>One cannot fail to be much impressed by the great capacity of the
+Native leaders of the Christian Church in Madagascar. It would be
+difficult to find a more capable set of men in any Mission field. They
+are doing splendid work, and if this “apostolic succession” can be
+maintained, the Malagasy Church of the coming days will not lack for
+competent native leadership.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, as the work of our Missionaries in Madagascar<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span> is examined,
+it becomes clear that the Mission is admirably organized. The men and
+women who have served the Society in Madagascar in the past have,
+under the guidance of God, laid the foundations of the work wisely and
+well. Their successors are worthy of their great heritage. It was a
+cause for rejoicing to find that the Native Church built upon those
+foundations is a strong and living Church—full of promise for the
+future. If the present Missionary work can be continued, and possibly
+slightly increased, for a few more years, there is every reason to
+hope that the Native Church will, in the not distant future, become a
+self-supporting, self-governing, as it is already, to a limited extent,
+a self-propagating Church, and strong enough to carry on its own work
+of evangelizing the whole island.</p>
+
+<p>This growing Native Church is largely composed of Hovas, the
+most advanced tribe among the Malagasy, and is to a great extent
+concentrated in the Central Province of Imerina round Tananarive. This
+is not an accident. It is believed that the best way to bring about the
+coming of the Kingdom in the Island is to build up a strong Church in
+the centre. As that Church increases in numbers and in spiritual power
+it will be able to extend its own Missionary efforts, which are already
+not inconsiderable, and to dispense, as time goes on, with the help of
+the white Missionary to an ever-increasing degree, thus freeing him for
+any work that remains to be done in the outlying parts, and ultimately
+making it possible for him to withdraw<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span> altogether—having finished
+his work. To weaken our efforts at the present time would be to delay
+and imperil this consummation. To maintain them will be the surest
+and most speedy way of hastening on the day when the Missionary force
+can be withdrawn and the Native Church left to bring each successive
+generation into the Kingdom.</p>
+
+<p>There were many indications that the Native Church is itself steadily
+keeping in view this ideal. I may quote a paragraph from the
+translation of an Address presented to us by the Pastors of the Commune
+of Tananarive the day after our arrival:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p>“We want you to know that we earnestly desire our Churches to become
+independent, i.e. self-supporting. It is natural for young people to
+want to set up housekeeping for themselves, and it is the same with
+the Church. The near approach of the hundredth anniversary of the
+arrival of Missionaries amongst us makes our hearts all aglow with the
+desire for the independence of our Churches. There is no day which we
+should more like to see than that on which we shall go with the last
+Missionary to the railway station. On that day we shall overflow with
+joy and sorrow, and our laughter will mingle with our tears.”</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The inner circle of Churches in Imerina is associated with seven
+Churches in the capital known as “the Mother Churches.” Four of
+these are the Memorial Churches erected in the years following the
+re-opening<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span> of the Mission in 1862, after the twenty-five years of
+the great persecution. The oldest and most famous is the Church of
+Ambatonakanga, which was opened in 1867. It is the Mother Church of all
+Madagascar. On its site the Bible was first printed in Malagasy in the
+thirties of the nineteenth century, here the first converts made their
+public profession of Christianity, and here stood one of the two first
+places of Christian worship in the Island. The simple chapel erected in
+1831 was afterwards turned into a gaol during the persecution, and here
+many Christians suffered imprisonment. Adjoining it is the grave-yard,
+where rest the remains of several British missionaries who have given
+their lives to the service of Christ in Madagascar. This Church, which
+has long been self-supporting, has associated with it twenty-seven
+country Churches, and for some years has been under the pastoral care
+of the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> William Evans, one of the noble succession of Welshmen who
+have done so much to advance the coming of the Kingdom in the Island.</p>
+
+<p><abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Evans has also charge of the Martyr Memorial Church of
+Ampamarinana—“the place of Hurling”—which is situated on the
+south-west of the ridge on which the city is built. To the west of
+the Church is the top of a rocky precipice, where in earlier years
+sorcerers were executed by being hurled down the cliff to the plain,
+400 feet below. During the persecution, as Christians were supposed to
+possess some powerful charms enabling them to defy their persecutors,
+fourteen of the noble army of martyrs were in 1849 thus put to death.
+The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span> present Native pastor of the Church is Andriamifidy, who was
+at one time Foreign Secretary in the old Malagasy Government, and
+from this Church several of the present leading Native Pastors have
+come. Associated with it in the district to the west of the city are
+twenty-seven country Churches.</p>
+
+<p>The third Martyr Memorial Church is that of Ambohipotsy, situated in
+a commanding position at the extreme south of the city ridge with
+a magnificent view on all sides. This beautiful stone building was
+erected to commemorate the first Christian martyrdom—that of the brave
+Christian woman Rasalama, who was speared to death near the spot in
+1837, in a place where other Christians subsequently met their doom
+in like fashion. The work of this Church and district, comprising
+some forty-six country outstations to the south of the city, is now
+superintended by Mrs. Thorne, who is bravely and successfully carrying
+on the work of her late husband.</p>
+
+<p>The fourth Memorial Church is that of Faravohitra, erected on the
+northern ridge of the capital by the contributions of the children of
+Great Britain to commemorate the burning alive of four martyrs in 1849.
+The work at Faravohitra and in its extensive district to the north,
+comprising fifty country Churches, is under the charge of the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr>
+Robert Griffith, another of the Welsh missionaries who have devoted
+themselves to the service of Christ in Madagascar.</p>
+
+<p>Not far from Ambatonakanga, at the western foot of the ridge, is
+the spacious Church of Amparibe, built of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span> brick and stone. This is
+the third Church on the same site. The work there and amongst the
+twenty-four country Churches lying to the north-west of the capital,
+has during the last two years been under the care of the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> F. W.
+Dennis.</p>
+
+<p>The sixth Mother Church is that of Analakely, a short distance to the
+north of Ambatonakanga, and adjoining the great market place. This
+Church also is the third building erected on the present site. It was
+opened in 1895, a few months before the French occupation, the ex-Queen
+Ranavalona III. and her Court being present on the occasion. For thirty
+years the veteran Missionary, <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Sibree, has been the missionary
+in charge, and has superintended the work there and at the fourteen
+country churches connected with it.</p>
+
+<p>The remaining Mother Church is that of Isotry, another large building
+in the populous western district of the capital. It is only recently
+that the Church at Isotry has been reckoned as one of the Mother
+Churches of the capital. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Stowell Ashwell has had charge of the work
+there for some years.</p>
+
+<p>The Institutional work of the Imerina Mission is centred in Tananarive.
+Of these Institutions the most important is the United Theological
+College, where pastors and evangelists for the work of the Mission
+receive their training. For upwards of forty years the L. M. S.
+Theological College in Tananarive has rendered great service by
+preparing hundreds of young men for their work as evangelists and
+pastors. After the French conquest the conspicuous College building
+on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span> northern part of the ridge was appropriated by the French
+Government and, as already mentioned, converted into Law Courts. The
+work of the College was removed to a smaller building a little further
+to the north, adjoining the Faravohitra Church. In 1910 a union in
+Theological training was entered into with the F. F. M. A., and the
+College was removed to a large house at Ambohipotsy and became a
+residential Institution. A notable feature of the present work is the
+training of the students’ wives.</p>
+
+<p>A number of cottages, named after Missionary Tutors of past days, have
+been erected on land adjoining the College, and this department has
+been superintended with great energy and devotion by Mrs. Sharman, the
+wife of the present Principal, the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> James Sharman. The College
+course extends over four years. Upon the staff are missionaries of
+both Societies and four competent Native teachers, Pastors Rabary,
+Rabetageka, Rakotovao, and Ravelo. The College at present contains
+thirty-two students, and is doing a great work in making more adequate
+provision for a well-trained and consecrated native ministry. In a
+very true sense the College is the key to the missionary situation in
+Imerina. If the Native Church is to maintain and extend its position,
+it is necessary that a constant succession of well-educated and devoted
+Christian men should go forth from the College to act as pastors of the
+Churches and to be the leaders of the people in all their Christian
+activities.</p>
+
+<p>Reference has already been made to the two conspicuous<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span> buildings in
+the centre of the city, adjoining the Ambatonakanga Memorial Church,
+in which are carried on the Boys’ High School and a Girls’ School.
+After the French occupation, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Sharman started the Boys’ School in
+1897. It grew rapidly, and the present building was erected and opened
+in 1901 by Governor-General Galieni, when there were 500 pupils on
+the books. This number increased to 720, but was subsequently reduced
+to 530 owing to Government regulations. It is at present conducted by
+our Missionary, M. Henri Noyer, with the help of a staff of Malagasy
+Assistant Masters. The average attendance at the School is 91 per cent.
+of the number upon the books. In addition to the ordinary curriculum of
+a school of this character, which directs great attention to the French
+language, there are industrial departments for carpentry, woodwork, and
+metal work in which a high standard of efficiency is reached.</p>
+
+<p>Adjoining the Boys’ High School is the Girls’ School, founded by <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr>
+T. T. Matthews, where for many years some of the brightest girls from
+the Churches of Imerina have received a good education. The Missionary
+in charge of it is Miss Ysabel Du Commun, who, however, at the time
+of our visit, was absent on furlough, Miss Craven taking her place as
+Superintendent. The Government regulations only allow 230 girls in
+the School, although there is ample accommodation for a much larger
+number, and there are many girls now waiting admission when there are
+vacancies. There are seven classes, with three men and four women
+teachers and two sewing mistresses. In addition to the ordinary<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span>
+curriculum for such a School, training is given in hygiene, cookery,
+dressmaking and fancy work.</p>
+
+<p>In another part of the town, at Andohalo, stands the Girls’ Central
+School, where for upwards of forty years a fine educational work has
+been carried on. There are now 400 girls on the books, and many more
+are waiting for admission. The average attendance is 380. Amongst the
+special subjects taught in the School are straw-plaiting, hatmaking,
+lacemaking, first-aid and ambulance work. The staff consists of Miss
+Elsie Sibree, the devoted head-mistress, two masters and eight women
+teachers. The French Government regulations do not at present admit
+of the employment of women teachers, except those who were appointed
+before the present rules came into force. The present buildings,
+which were erected twenty years ago, comprise a large and lofty
+central hall, with a spacious gallery and six class-rooms. The sight
+of the crowded school at morning prayers is a most impressive one.
+The girls, bare-footed, dressed in their white lambas, with “shining
+morning face,” and with that happy, placid expression, which is so
+characteristic of the Christian girls and women of Madagascar, file
+into the central hall and take their places with order and reverence
+and join with heartiness and devotion in the singing and in the
+prayers. It is a very rare thing for more than one or two to be late.
+The tone of the school is of the highest, and the head-mistress always
+strives, by prayer-meetings for the staff and in many other ways, to
+impress the teachers with the missionary character of their work.</p>
+
+
+<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter"  id="img011">
+<img src="images/011.jpg" class="w75"  alt="Malagasy Girls at Miss Craven’s Girls’ Home">
+</span></p>
+<p class="center caption"><span class="smcap">Malagasy Girls at Miss Craven’s Girls’ Home.</span></p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span></p>
+
+<p>Another branch of the work amongst girls is the Girls’ Home,
+successfully carried on by Miss Craven for twenty years. Here is a
+home provided for the daughters of evangelists and pastors and other
+Christian workers who come to Tananarive for their education. The
+girls attend the Central School and live in Miss Craven’s house, where
+they are taught domestic duties, lacemaking, embroidery, and other
+needlework at very small expense to the Society. Thirty girls are in
+residence, and there are always more waiting for admission. Miss Craven
+describes the work being carried on as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p>“Now for a picture of the Home itself. There are one sitting and two
+bed rooms, all large and airy; the former has tables and benches, but,
+except for meals and preparation, the matted floor is just as much
+used. Books and small possessions are kept in covered baskets, one to
+each girl, and their clothes are in a cupboard or tin boxes. The girls
+sleep on mattresses laid on the floor, besides which there is no other
+furniture in the dormitories. They bring their own clothes, plates,
+spoons, mattresses and coverings, but as there is more ventilation
+than in their rooms at home, I keep a supply of blankets to lend to
+them when the nights are cold; an outside building provides kitchen,
+rice-house, bath-house, etc.</p>
+
+<p>“The days’ occupations vary little; the girls are up at daylight,
+say 5.30 in the summer and 6.0 in winter, and, after a wash in the
+bath-house, come back to their household duties, sweeping<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span> and dusting
+their own rooms and some of ours, and preparing their breakfast of
+rice and milk, which is ready before seven o’clock. After that all
+the household assembles for morning prayers, and then there is the
+bustle of final preparation for school before they form in line and
+march off, two by two, looking a clean, tidy, and intelligent family,
+of which we may well feel proud. They all go to the Girls’ Central
+School, under the care of Miss Sibree, school hours being from 8 a.m.
+to 12.45 p.m. One hour every afternoon is given to school preparation,
+the remainder of the time being filled up with different kinds of
+needlework, while the little ones divide their time between work and
+play. One afternoon most of them are away at the C. E. weekly meeting
+at Analakely. The evening meal is ready at 6.30, we have prayers at
+7 o’clock, and then they say ‘good-night,’ and troop off to bed, a
+few of the elder ones staying a little longer to do more lessons, or
+finish some piece of needlework. Saturday brings a change of work,
+for most of the girls go to do their weekly washing, not getting home
+until about 3 p.m. After dinner they are busy until bedtime ironing
+their clothes and getting ready for Sunday.</p>
+
+<p>“At different times they have attended Faravohitra, Ampamarinana,
+Ambohipotsy, and Analakely Churches, and the Sunday Schools connected
+with them. Sunday evening is spent with me singing hymns, discussing
+Sunday School lessons and sermons,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span> and other matters of interest.
+It is a happy time, and one to which we all look forward. The Sunday
+School has a great attraction for them, especially the yearly
+examination, for which they prepare several weeks beforehand, and from
+which they carry off some of the best prizes.</p>
+
+<p>“Quarrels and troubles have not been frequent, and during the last two
+or three years have been increasingly rare. Severe discipline has been
+needed in very few cases, one being that of a girl who was sent away
+for continuing a clandestine correspondence; she has been carefully
+watched at home, and is turning out well. About three years ago we
+were very grieved when one, who had been with us for many years, took
+the law into her own hands and ran away to be married. We do not,
+however, give up hope that she will become a Christian woman and train
+her children well. The health of the girls has always been a great
+responsibility, and malarial fever has been very much more frequent
+during the latter half of the decade. We have not lost any by death,
+except one who died at home during holidays. We generally find that
+the girls improve in health while under our care, and we do not often
+need to call for the help of a doctor. Occasionally we have to regret
+that girls are removed by their parents while still young, but as a
+rule they remain with us until about to be married, or get married
+soon after leaving.</p>
+
+<p>“As to the spiritual results, we may speak with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span> some confidence.
+Three have joined the Church, and one has been baptised on profession
+of faith while still in the Home, and others have become Church
+members soon after marriage. The Spirit of Christ is clearly working
+in the hearts and lives of many who are still with us. Of one dear
+girl, who died very happily after the birth of her first child, her
+husband said to me: ‘I rejoice over the months we have lived together;
+she has done me good.’”</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Another department of Institutional work is the L. M. S. Printing Press
+in Tananarive, which stands for much more than its name implies. It
+is true that a prosperous business in printing and book-binding is
+carried on, seventy men being constantly employed. But the Printing
+Press is a kind of “Universal Provider,” and anything, from a harmonium
+to a needle, can be purchased there. Under the able superintendence
+of <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Ashwell, a considerable annual profit is made. The magnitude
+of its operations is surprising. In the ten years ending in 1910,
+1,833,243 books and pamphlets were issued from the office, including
+over 40,000 Bibles, 60,000 New Testaments (printed in England), nearly
+350,000 lesson books, over 131,000 hymn books, and a large number of
+commentaries and other religious works.</p>
+
+<p>No sketch of the Institutional work in Tananarive would be complete
+without a reference to the Medical Mission, which for many years has
+been carried on jointly by the F. F. M. A. and the L. M. S., the doctor
+being a missionary of the former Society. For the last sixteen<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span> years
+<abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Moss has been the medical missionary in charge, and in his own
+person illustrates the close union between the two Societies in this
+work. He has been a missionary of the F. F. M. A., and is the son of
+an L. M. S. missionary, and his wife, a trained nurse, is the daughter
+of an L. M. S. missionary, the saintly Joseph Pearse. No department of
+missionary work in the capital suffered more from the advent of the
+French than the Medical Mission. A fine commodious hospital, opened
+in 1891 by the ex-Queen, was appropriated by the French Government
+in 1896, and since then the hospital work has been on a much smaller
+scale, and in fact there was no hospital at all between 1897 and 1903,
+although a large out-patient work was carried on. In the latter year
+a small Cottage Hospital was erected, round which the work has since
+centred under the devoted superintendence of <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> and Mrs. Moss.</p>
+
+<p>In barest outline some account has been given of the Institutional work
+of the Imerina Mission, which is centred in Tananarive. In this work
+the European missionary and the Native agent, working together side
+by side and in closest co-operation, are contributing to the building
+up of a strong Native Church, which in the future is to be God’s
+instrument in spreading the light into the dark places of the Island.
+This Church is as “a city set on a hill that cannot be hid.”</p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span></p>
+
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII<br><span class="small"><b>Imerina Country Districts—“Fields White Unto Harvest”</b></span></h3></div>
+
+<p class="poetry">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Say not the struggle naught availeth,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The labour and the wounds are vain,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The enemy faints not, nor faileth,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And as things have been they remain.</span><br>
+</p>
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p class="poetry">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Seem here no painful inch to gain;</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Far back, through creeks, and inlets making,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Comes, silent, flooding in the main.</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;"><span class="smcap">Clough.</span></span><br>
+</p>
+
+
+<p>It was not until 1870 that the L. M. S. established its first country
+station in Madagascar. In that year <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Sibree founded a residential
+station at Ambohimanga, the ancient capital of the Hovas, and one of
+the three towns in Madagascar which, until the French occupation, no
+European was permitted to enter. Ambohimanga lies about eleven miles
+north of Tananarive, whence its wooded heights can be clearly seen.</p>
+
+<p>At the top of the hill is the old royal palace, built for King
+Andrianampoinimerina, who reigned from 1788 to 1810, and was the first
+king who had any claim to be regarded as monarch of the whole Island.
+He was the father of Radama I., who moved the capital to Tananarive.
+After its removal the old royal palace<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span> was visited by the sovereign at
+least once a year. The building is at all sorts of levels, and there
+are great trees growing in most unexpected places. When the walls which
+supported the wooden palace were last plastered the white of eggs was
+used to make the plaster, so as to give it a glazed appearance. It is
+said that millions of eggs were used in the process. At the very top of
+the hill are some rocks, from which there is a most magnificent view
+nearly all round the horizon. On these rocks superstitious practices
+are still observed, indications of which were very apparent to us at
+the time of our visit. To the north is a precipice, and at its foot
+rice fields stretch away into the distance to the hills and mountains
+which bound the horizon. The present Native Governor of the town is
+an old L. M. S. boy from Betsileo, trained by <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Rowlands. He showed
+to us with great pride a silver watch which his former missionary had
+given to him.</p>
+
+<p>Ambohimanga is reached by pousse-pousse (rickshaw), the journey
+occupying two hours. Its first three missionaries were <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Sibree,
+<abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Wills, and <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Peill, all of whom have had the honour of giving
+children to the Mission field in Madagascar and in other parts of
+the world. The Ambohimanga Mission house must be the centre of happy
+memories for missionaries now at work in China, India, and Samoa.
+The contribution which the Madagascar missionaries have made to the
+Society’s staff, especially in China, is remarkable. <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Sibree has
+given a daughter to the Medical Mission at Hong Kong, and a son to the
+South Sea Mission, in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span> addition to two daughters to the Madagascar
+Mission. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Wills was the father of a medical missionary carrying
+on work in Central China, and another son is at work in India. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr>
+Peill has given four sons to the North China Mission, three of them
+being doctors. A son of <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Peake’s is also a medical missionary in
+North China. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Rowlands has two sons and a daughter missionaries in
+China. A daughter of <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Pearse is the wife of a medical missionary in
+North China; and a second daughter is the wife of a medical missionary
+in Madagascar. A son of <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Huckett was for a short time a medical
+missionary in India. Three children of <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> George Cousins have become
+missionaries in China. And so the Apostolic succession is continued.</p>
+
+<p>Since <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Peill left Ambohimanga the Mission there has been in charge
+of two Welshmen, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Griffith, and the present missionary, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Owen
+Jones, thus carrying on the tradition that Madagascar is pre-eminently
+the Mission Field of the Welsh Churches.</p>
+
+<p>On the occasion of the visit of the Deputation a great gathering was
+held in the largest of the three L. M. S. Churches at Ambohimanga, all
+outside the city walls, on account of the old law, above referred to,
+excluding Europeans from the town itself. Thirty-five Churches were
+represented in the crowded congregation from the Ambohimanga district
+which gathered together to meet us. There were all the indications of
+a strong and growing Christian work, which was further evidenced by
+the efficient school work, and the work amongst<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span> women which is being
+carried on, and by the long and earnest discussion we had with the
+native pastors and preachers.</p>
+
+<p>Twelve miles east of the capital is the country station of Isoavina,
+where for nearly forty years the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> P. G. Peake carried on his
+vigorous and varied missionary labours. The Mission house is
+beautifully situated in the hills amidst fine trees planted by <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr>
+Peake in a beautiful garden, intersected by two perennial streams
+of water. There are school buildings, workshops, and a row of
+cottages bearing testimony to the work of this earnest missionary. He
+established an industrial school at the station and taught carpentry,
+iron-work, tinsmith’s work, and other industrial pursuits. The
+industrial department was, however, suppressed by the French officials
+in 1896, but was afterwards resumed on a smaller scale in 1907. But
+perhaps the missionary activity by which <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Peake will be best
+remembered is the founding of the leper settlement at Imanankavaly, an
+hour’s walk away from Isoavina, which has since grown to such large
+proportions under the French Government. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Peake has himself told the
+story of the genesis of this great work in the “Ten Years’ Review.”</p>
+
+<p>In 1900 the French authorities purchased the Leper Settlement, and
+have since carried on and developed the work there to an amazing
+extent. There are now 1,500 lepers in residence. The Settlement is
+a large village, consisting for the most part of rows of detached
+huts in which the lepers live, and is a model of cleanliness<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span> and
+order. I visited the Institution and was greatly impressed with what
+I saw. Nearly all the inmates bear the awful marks of leprosy upon
+them. Many have bandages round their feet, legs and arms. Many have
+lost feet and hands and are horribly mutilated or deformed. Many have
+terribly distorted faces. Some hid themselves away as they saw visitors
+approaching. Others lay in the sunshine huddled up in dark blankets.
+Many, however, were able to work, and were engaged in building new huts
+or in agricultural pursuits. There were men and women, boys and girls,
+a most pathetic multitude. Yet smiling faces were quite common as the
+lepers saluted us as we passed along between the rows of cottages. It
+was Saturday, the weekly cleaning day, and all the meagre furniture,
+pots and pans, were turned out of doors. The staple article of food is
+rice, of which over five tons a week are consumed. Twice a week meat is
+supplied, and the Government also provide soap, candles and salt. The
+whole Institution is a wonderful example of method and organization.
+But the most remarkable fact in connection with the work is that it is
+entirely directed by a woman of sixty-five years of age, Mlle. Sapino.
+This lady came to Madagascar some eighteen years ago as a missionary
+of the Paris Missionary Society. On severing her connection with that
+Society she took up this work amongst the lepers. She controls the
+whole of the Institution down to the minutest details. She superintends
+the buildings. She buys all the stores, and I saw her weighing out
+the rice for distribution to the Lepers. She examines every<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span> case
+as it comes in, and puts all the particulars down on a chart. She
+personally dresses the wounds in the worst cases, and was engaged in
+doing this Christ-like work when we arrived. For all her services she
+receives the munificent stipend of £80 per annum and a house. Out of
+this at the present time she is keeping some forty untainted children
+of lepers born in the Institution. The Government will not make her
+any grant because these children are not lepers. Some months ago she
+sold her drawing-room furniture to get money to keep the children. She
+is a remarkable-looking woman—tall, with prominent features and iron
+grey hair. She reminded me more than any other woman I ever saw of the
+pictures of George Eliot. She told me that the Government respected
+her, but did not love her. They know she is indispensable. A week or
+two previous to my visit they sent her an unsatisfactory Frenchman
+to be an assistant. She objected and resigned. In a few hours a high
+official’s wife came out to tell her that the Government would do
+anything she asked with regard to the Frenchman. She demanded his
+immediate removal, and in twenty-four hours he was gone. She has no
+European assistant, but seven untainted Malagasy, including a doctor.
+All the rest of the work is done by lepers—except that the Government
+have sent recently five Malagasy soldiers as a guard. I was told that
+Mademoiselle always carries a loaded revolver about with her for fear
+of trouble. At the time of my visit she had no servant in her house,
+and did all her own cooking and housework. She is<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span> one of the most
+remarkable women I have ever met, and carries on a wonderful piece of
+work. She is a strong Protestant. There is a school and a Protestant
+and Catholic Church in the Institution. The cost is very small—less
+than 35s. per inmate per annum, which seems almost incredible.</p>
+
+<p>But to return to Isoavina. During our visit a great united meeting of
+the Isan-Efa-Bolana (four-monthly meeting) for the whole district was
+held in the Church. The schools were inspected and interviews held
+with the leading Christian workers. At this place, as at nearly every
+other place in Madagascar which we visited, presentations were made
+to us by the Native Christians in order to express their gratitude
+to the Society for sending us to visit them and their pleasure at
+seeing us. At various places we were the recipients of numberless
+turkeys, fowls and eggs. Offerings of other kinds of food were made,
+and we received more permanent reminders of our visit in the shape of
+lambas, walking sticks, lace, rafia work, embroideries, scarf pins,
+serviette rings, photographs, hats, addresses, etc. In their joy at
+seeing representatives of the Society in their midst it seemed that our
+friends could not do enough to express their appreciation and gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>Some half-hour’s walk from Isoavina, the “Rest-House,” or Sanatorium
+belonging to the Mission is situated at Ambatovory in the midst of
+lovely country commanding fine views. It is here that many of the
+Imerina missionaries spend their hard-earned holidays.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span></p>
+
+<p>During my stay at Isoavina I paid a surprise Sunday morning visit to
+a small outstation called Fararina. Every precaution was taken to
+conceal the fact that a visit was going to be made, so that the visitor
+might have an opportunity of seeing a country outstation under normal
+conditions. The Church was a small and primitive wattle-and-daub
+building, with a brick pulpit, covered with the commonest and most
+gaudy wallpaper. The earth floor was covered with matting. I was
+delighted to find that the chapel was practically full. Afterwards
+a Communion Service was held. The “bread” was nearly black. It was
+made of manioc root and coarse black sugar almost like treacle. The
+“wine” was pine-apple juice. The cups and plates were tin painted red.
+Although the visit was a complete surprise, the people would not let me
+go without making the customary gifts. As I descended the steep hill
+after the service some of the Church members overtook me bringing a
+fowl, and as I reached the foot others came running after me with eggs.</p>
+
+<p>Ten miles north-west of Tananarive is Ambohidratrimo, where the late
+<abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Baron lived for two years in the seventies. In 1901 Ambohidratrimo
+was re-opened as a residential station under the care of the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> F.
+W. Dennis, and it is now in charge of the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> H. A. Ridgwell. In past
+days it was the capital of one of the four small kingdoms into which
+the present province of Imerina was divided, and it still retains
+marks of its former importance. At the top of a lofty hill behind the
+Mission house the royal village once stood, where<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span> a century ago the
+Malagasy king ruled over his petty kingdom. There are still several
+royal tombs to be seen. Towards three-quarters of the horizon a great
+plain stretches out into the distance. In the middle of it towards
+the south-east amidst the rice-fields is Tananarive. All around are
+mountains. The country looked like a gigantic relief map, and the view
+must be similar to that to be seen from an aeroplane.</p>
+
+<p>Ambohidratrimo is reached by a two hours’ ride in a pousse-pousse
+through rice fields and pine-apple gardens. In passing along the road
+I could see the women very busy in the rice fields, transplanting the
+young rice and working in water half up their legs. Pine-apples are
+very plentiful in the district, and three large ones can be bought for
+a penny. During our visit we attended two great meetings, one in the
+Mission Church consisting only of men, representing some sixty-eight
+Churches in the district, while the other, for women only, was held at
+an outstation in a large village Church with very few seats. The Church
+was crowded, most of the women being seated on the floor looking very
+clean, happy and bright in their white lambas. Many of them had walked
+for several hours to attend the meeting. The wife of the evangelist
+made an admirable president, and several women took part in the meeting.</p>
+
+<p>Fourteen miles north-west of Ambohidratrimo is Vangaina, which became
+the residence of a missionary in 1903. It is the centre of fifty
+outstations, which are superintended by the Vangaina missionary,
+the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> Thomas Tester. The beautifully situated Mission<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span> house has
+been built on the hillside some distance off the main motor-car road
+from Tananarive to the Port of Majunga on the north-west coast. At
+the station there is a Church and a school. A united meeting for the
+Churches of the district was held at the outstation, Ampanotokana, at
+which forty-four Churches were represented, crowding the building to
+its utmost capacity.</p>
+
+<p>Our journeys to these country stations afforded many opportunities of
+seeing various sides of native life. On the way to Vangaina we visited
+the large native market at Mahitsy on market day. We went up and down
+between the stalls in the market place. The vendors must have numbered
+many hundreds, and the people attending the market some thousands from
+all over the countryside. Amongst the articles for sale were straw
+hats and mats, spades and hatchets, great heaps of fine pineapples,
+sugar cane, pigs, cattle, rice, meat, great piles of a small kind
+of dried fish, salt, tinware, calico, black soap (like the soap our
+missionary, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Cameron, taught the natives to make eighty years ago),
+buttons, biscuits, ducks, vegetables—all in the greatest profusion.
+Perhaps the most interesting feature was the space set apart for the
+blacksmiths, who were repairing spades, tinware, cart-wheels, etc.,
+with the help of primitive forges. The blast was created by two upright
+cylinders of wood with pipes from the bottom of them to convey the wind
+to the charcoal fire. The air was driven into these pipes by means of
+plates of wood, which were forced up and down the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span> cylinders by poles
+attached to the upper surface and worked by men’s hands. They formed
+very effective bellows.</p>
+
+<p>Vangaina itself is a small village with two moats, each about twenty
+feet deep, in which banana trees were growing. An interesting feature
+in the village is a great tree in which I saw three enormous nests
+of the crested-umber built in the forks of the tree and made of hay,
+straw, grass, and twigs, each one being about six feet long by six
+feet wide. The bird is about the size of the domestic fowl with longer
+wings, and is called the Taketra. It is a bird of ill-omen, and in the
+old days when the ex-Queen used to come out to Ambohimanga she would
+turn back again to Tananarive if one of these birds crossed her path.
+The old Malagasy believe that these birds bring leprosy.</p>
+
+<p>The most distant country station in Imerina from Tananarive is that of
+Anjozorobe, between sixty and seventy miles north-east of the Capital.
+On the way one passes through the town of Ambohitrolomahitsy, for some
+years the residential station for the district, at which the late
+<abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> Percy Milledge, and after him the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> W. Kendal Gale, carried
+on work. We attended three large meetings at this place. The journey
+thither to Anjozorobe led us over a range of mountains, one of which
+bears a Malagasy name meaning “The mountain which cannot be climbed.”
+Anjozorobe, which is beautifully situated, became a residential station
+in 1910, when <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Gale moved there from Ambohitrolomahitsy. He and
+his family live in a newly-erected Mission house<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span> bearing a Malagasy
+name, which being interpreted means “The house of sweet breezes,” now
+quite familiar to readers of the Society’s magazines. His missionary
+colleague, Mrs. Milledge, formerly Miss May Sibree, lives some
+distance away in the centre of the native village in a Malagasy house.
+Anjozorobe is the centre of a very extensive district, in which there
+are forty large outstations, and includes the northern part of the
+Bezanozano country, the southern portion of which is connected with the
+Isoavina Station. It was not my privilege to visit the Bezanozano, but
+one of my colleagues, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Talbot Wilson, spent nine days in a tour in
+this country.</p>
+
+<p>During our visit to Anjozorobe a large united meeting for the whole
+district was held at the Church. Visits were also paid to some of the
+nearer outstations. The schools were inspected, and a gathering held
+for the native workers. Much of <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Gale’s time is spent away from
+home, his itinerating work through a widespread district necessitating
+his absence for many days at a time. Mrs. Milledge, too, spends much
+of her life travelling between outstations, living in native houses,
+and holding classes for women and girls in both the Anjozorobe and
+Ambohitrolomahitsy districts.</p>
+
+<p>The journey back to the capital took us through Ankazandandy and
+Ambohibao, where crowded and enthusiastic meetings were held.</p>
+
+<p>By the work of our missionaries at these country stations, and of
+hundreds of native pastors and preachers, the light is being spread
+through the central province<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span> of Imerina. Before the French occupation
+the L. M. S. work was much more extensive than it is at present. It
+became necessary to hand over some of the work to the Paris Missionary
+Society, whose missionaries, with those of the F. F. M. A. and the
+S. P. G. and their native workers, have now for many years past been
+engaged in passing on the light from place to place. The Church is
+steadily growing and extending into the dark places beyond.</p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span></p>
+
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII<br><span class="small"><b>Betsileo—“The Sombre Fringes of the Night”</b></span></h3></div>
+
+<p class="poetry">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The glad Dawn sets his fires upon the hills,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Then floods the valley with his golden light,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And, triumphing o’er all the hosts of night,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The waiting world with new-born rapture fills.</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;"><span class="smcap">L. C. Moulton.</span></span><br>
+</p>
+
+
+<p>The scene now changes to the province of Betsileo, in the south of the
+Island, where the work is carried on amongst a backward people, whose
+territory abuts upon the districts occupied by tribes more benighted
+still—the Sakalava, the Bara, and the Tanala.</p>
+
+<p>Until quite recently the work in Betsileo was separated from the work
+in Imerina by a journey in a filanjana (palanquin) occupying from
+eight to ten days. Now the 264 miles which separate Tananarive from
+Fianarantsoa are covered in two days in comfortable automobiles, along
+a magnificent road which has been constructed by the French. For almost
+the whole of the distance the country is very hilly, the road rising to
+4,500 feet above the sea level, and being carried over mountains in a
+continuous series of curves with easy gradients.</p>
+
+<p>We were travelling in the middle of the Malagasy winter. The mornings
+were cold and misty, but before long the sun broke out and we enjoyed
+a changing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span> panorama of hill and mountain, waterfall and river, and
+far-spreading distant views. Peaks sixty miles away appeared to be
+quite near. Time after time the road traversed amphitheatres in the
+mountains, and I was often reminded of stretches of country in the
+province of Hunan in Central China.</p>
+
+<p>Fianarantsoa is the capital of the Betsileo province, the inhabitants
+of which are a curly-haired, dark-skinned people of a somewhat low
+type, except in the large towns where most of the population is Hova.
+Work is also carried on at outstations amongst the Bara and Tanala
+tribes in the south. The L. M. S. first sent resident missionaries to
+settle in Betsileo in 1870, and the Paris Missionary Society and the
+Norwegian Society are also at work there.</p>
+
+<p>Fianarantsoa is picturesquely situated in a mountainous region. It
+stands considerably higher than the top of Snowdon, and commands a
+wonderful view on all sides—of mountains and moorland, forest and
+river in infinite variety. During our visit, in the early mornings
+great seas of mist lay in the valleys, but later in the day the whole
+landscape was flooded with brilliant sunshine.</p>
+
+<p>The work in the Capital itself and at seventy-four outstations is
+in charge of <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Huckett and <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Johnson, who have borne the burden
+and heat of the day for upwards of thirty years, while Miss Hare has
+been in charge of the Girls’ School for the last seventeen years. The
+Mission Compound is extensive and contains the Girls’ School, three
+Mission houses, the Theological College, which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span> was once a hospital,
+and cottage accommodation for the students at work in the College and
+the boys from the L. M. S. country stations attending the Boys’ School
+of the Paris Missionary Society. In Fianarantsoa there were all the
+evidences of extensive missionary activities and of a successful work.
+The numerous meetings that were held during our visit were crowded.
+During our stay the annual gatherings of the Betsileo Isan-Kerin-Taona
+(yearly meeting) were held.</p>
+
+<p>They were the first gatherings of the kind at which I had been present
+in Madagascar. As I attended meeting after meeting the impression made
+upon me as a visitor was that of “fields white unto harvest.” To my
+unaccustomed eyes the white lambas, which seemed to fill the Churches,
+suggested the white fields referred to in the Gospels. And then came
+the thought which gave rise to glad thanksgiving, that in Madagascar
+the harvest indeed had been plenteous, though the labourers had been
+few. Then came a vision of the great harvest-home when from the north
+and south, the east and west of this island men and women, boys and
+girls would all be gathered into the Kingdom, and those who sowed and
+those who reaped would rejoice together.</p>
+
+<p>Three meetings stand out in my memory. On the Wednesday there was
+a representative gathering of the delegates from the L. M. S. and
+P. M. S. Churches in Antranobiriky Church. M. Couve, of the Paris
+Society, addressed some burning words to the delegates, which went to
+their hearts. I spoke of the United<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span> Malagasy Church of the future,
+and rejoiced to find so hearty a response to the idea of union. Next
+day at the Assembly M. Couve spoke with great earnestness on the
+duty of self-support, and <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Houghton gave an eloquent address on
+self-government.</p>
+
+<p>The third meeting was a memorable one. It was a united Communion
+Service held on Thursday afternoon in the Church of the French
+Protestant Mission. The spacious church was crowded to its utmost
+limits. The aisles and stairs were thronged with devout worshippers.
+A native pastor conducted the service. Missionaries and evangelists,
+pastors and preachers joined with some 800 Christians and the
+Deputations from the two societies round the table of our Lord. Men
+and women, brown and white, were all as one in that sacred service of
+commemoration and consecration. The solemnity of the gathering was
+emphasised by the thunderstorm which broke over the town while the
+service was proceeding. The church became dark. The wind howled. The
+lightning flashed. The thunder rolled. The rain fell. And then came the
+brilliant sunshine—a prophetic vision of the history of the Church
+of Christ in Madagascar. Persecution, trouble, and anxiety have beset
+that Church in the past. Even now there are clouds upon the horizon.
+But the day is surely coming when the glorious shining of the Sun of
+Righteousness will flood this great island with light and love, and all
+who live in it “shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and ...
+as the stars for ever and ever.”</p>
+
+<p><abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Huckett has long carried on a fine piece of work<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span> in the
+Theological Seminary. Here pastors and evangelists receive a three
+years’ course of training, and there is a two years’ course for
+catechists and itinerating preachers. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Huckett also superintends
+the boys and youths from the country mission stations, who come up to
+Fianarantsoa to complete their education, living in the cottages above
+referred to, which are supported by the Glasgow Foundry Boys’ Religious
+Association. Another branch of <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Huckett’s manifold labours is the
+secretaryship of the local agency of the British and Foreign Bible
+Society. From the Bible and Book Room in the Compound the Scriptures
+are distributed to the whole of the South of Madagascar, and five
+colporteurs are at work.</p>
+
+<p>At the Girls’ High School, conducted by Miss Hare, there are one
+hundred girls on the books, of whom on the occasion of our visit
+ninety-six were present. There is ample accommodation for more
+scholars, but the Government regulations prevent it being utilised.
+Some of the girls at the school come from the country stations and
+live in the Mission house with Miss Hare. It would be a very great
+help to the work if a Boarding Home for Girls could be established
+in Fianarantsoa. In addition to her duties in the School, Miss Hare
+also has the oversight of the wives of the students at the Theological
+Seminary. The Paris Mission carries on the Boys’ High School and a
+Normal School, to which the L. M. S. students go.</p>
+
+<p>About an hour’s journey from Fianarantsoa another fine example of
+missionary activity is to be seen at the Leper Home, at a place
+pathetically called “The Village<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span> of Hope.” This work was started by
+Mrs. Huckett twenty years ago. My visit was a sad experience, and will
+be an abiding memory. No leper who enters this home, in which there are
+forty-three inmates, ever comes out again. The sufferers die, and are
+buried in the grounds. My thoughts naturally carried me back to <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr>
+Fowler’s Leper Home in Central China at Siao Kan. “The Village of Hope”
+might well be called the “Village of Despair,” for maimed and missing
+hands and feet told their tale only too plainly, and pitiable sores on
+the legs and face were common. But without exception all the patients
+seemed bright and happy, and one could not doubt the joy that had come
+into the lives of the poor afflicted creatures, thirty-three of whom
+were Church members, while others were enquirers. We visited the rooms
+in which they live, and afterwards attended a pathetic and yet happy
+meeting in the Chapel at which we all spoke. The lepers were genuinely
+glad to see us and gave us a hearty welcome. After we left we could see
+the whole community, standing in their white lambas just outside the
+gate on the top of the hill, waving farewells to us for fully half an
+hour.</p>
+
+<p>Thirty-two miles south of Fianarantsoa is the growing Government
+town of Ambalavao, which is reached by pousse-pousse along another
+well-engineered road through the mountains. As we approached the town
+we were met by streams of natives, many gaily decorated, returning
+from the annual three days’ fair. For many years Ambalavao was worked
+from Ambohimandroso, but it has been a residential station since 1903
+under the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span> care of the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> D. M. Rees, whose untiring efforts are
+ably seconded by those of his wife, who has the great advantage of an
+excellent knowledge of French. The Mission house is an old Malagasy
+residence which has been enlarged. The Station Church is one of the
+most handsome and best built churches in Madagascar. On the occasion
+of our visit it was crowded to its utmost capacity by a gathering
+representing the forty-four outstations in the district.</p>
+
+<p>Six miles south of Ambalavao is situated Ambohimandroso, the most
+southerly station of the L. M. S., where the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> Thomas and Mrs.
+Rowlands (who, like <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> and Mrs. Rees, keep up the connection between
+Wales and Madagascar) have faithfully carried on work for the last
+thirty-four years. At the bottom of the valley between the two stations
+is a river which is crossed by a ferry, where I was met by a crowd
+of school children who escorted me up the steep hill to the Mission
+house, the boys assisting in propelling the pousse-pousse. Here again a
+crowded and enthusiastic united meeting was held, with representatives
+from most of the fifty-one out-stations connected with this Mission.
+Schools were inspected, visits paid to some of the Native workers,
+and other gatherings held. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> and Mrs. Rowlands find house-room for
+a dozen girls from country districts who are attending school. Each
+evening these girls file into the drawing-room for singing and prayer.
+On the occasion of my visit they sang “Nearer my God to Thee” in
+English. Then followed their salutation, “Good-night, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Hawkins,”
+with a curtsey. I replied,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span> “Good-night, girls; God bless you.” Then
+came their answer, “Thank you, <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Hawkins.” The same formula is gone
+through with “Madame” and “Sir.”</p>
+
+<p>The morning I left, the girls were up early to see me off, and stood in
+a row alongside the filanjana. In a frivolous moment as I was leaving
+I pretended to weep to express my sorrow at parting from them, and
+off I went. Mrs. Rowlands told me a week or two afterwards that at
+my departure all the girls had burst into tears and cried bitterly,
+saying, “What a tender-hearted gentleman to cry when he leaves us. He
+must be thinking of his own daughter in England who has dark hair and
+dark eyes like us!”</p>
+
+<p>From Ambohimandroso I proceeded to the Society’s newest station
+in Betsileo at Alakamisy Itenina, where since 1905 the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr> D. D.
+Green, another Welshman, has resided and superintended the work of
+the thirty-seven outstations, of which this place is the centre. The
+journey occupied all day, and the road lay amongst the mountains,
+the views of the hills and clouds being magnificent. Several crowded
+meetings were held at the station and at outstations. At one place the
+crowd that had gathered together was three times as large as the Church
+could contain, and the meeting was held in the open-air, in defiance, I
+am afraid, of the French law. I stood under the shadow of the Church.
+In the immediate foreground was the great congregation, some on the
+seats which had been taken out of the Church, and some on the ground—a
+very picturesque crowd in white and gaily-coloured lambas. Beyond the
+worshippers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span> stretched a glorious vista of mountain and valley, rolling
+away into “the purple distance fair,” with the brilliant sunshine
+bathing all in a flood of golden light.</p>
+
+<p>The only residential station in Madagascar which I was unable to visit
+was that at Ambohimahasoa, a town of growing importance, where the <abbr title="reverend">Rev.</abbr>
+Charles Collins has laboured for the last eleven years, superintending
+from that centre thirty-eight outstations. Both my colleagues, however,
+were able to visit it, and attended a large number of meetings there.</p>
+
+<p>The Society’s work in Betsileo is well organised, and has been carried
+on for the last forty-three years with great and growing success. From
+the centre at Fianarantsoa, over a wide-spreading district comprising
+244 outstations, the Gospel has been faithfully preached, schools
+have been conducted, Christian Endeavour Societies, Dorcas meetings,
+and many other missionary activities have been carried on, and this
+manifold work has been accomplished by means of a small European staff
+which has never exceeded ten missionaries. Their efforts have been
+seconded by a native staff of about fifty ordained pastors and 500
+preachers. The Church is a growing one, but much yet remains to be done
+to complete the evangelization of the large territory in which the
+Society is at work. Beyond to the south, as already mentioned, are the
+unevangelized tribes of the Bara and Tanala districts, amongst whom up
+to the present very little work has been done. But the future is rich
+with promise, and if the existing work can be maintained and somewhat
+extended, the Society<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span> will have a rich reward in building up a Native
+Church so strong and so missionary, that before many years have passed
+it will be able to carry the light into the dark places around.</p>
+<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop">
+
+<div class="chapter">
+<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span></p>
+
+<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX<br><span class="small"><b>Glad and Golden Days</b></span></h3></div>
+
+<p class="poetry">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Spread the Light! Spread the Light!</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Till earth’s remotest bounds have heard</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The glory of the Living Word;</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Till those that see not have their sight;</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Till all the fringes of the night</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Are lifted, and the long-closed doors</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Are wide for ever to the Light.</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Spread the Light!</span><br>
+</p>
+<hr class="tb">
+
+<p class="poetry">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">O then shall dawn the golden days,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To which true hearts are pressing;</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">When earth’s discordant strains shall blend—</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The one true God confessing;</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">When Christly thought and Christly deed</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shall bind each heart and nation,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In one Grand Brotherhood of Men,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">And one high consecration.</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;"><span class="smcap">John Oxenham.</span></span><br>
+</p>
+
+
+<p>After our return from Betsileo and our visitation of the Imerina
+country stations, we spent three weeks in Tananarive to meet with the
+missionaries in their District Committee, in order to consult together
+as to the present position and future work. We also took part in a
+Conference with the representatives of all the Protestant Missionary
+Societies at work in the island, and attended the great half-yearly
+meeting of the native Christians known as the Isan-Enim-Bolana.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span> It
+is not the purpose of this record of travel to discuss questions
+of missionary politics, or to deal with matters considered at the
+Joint Conference. Suffice it to say that the intercourse with the
+missionaries of our own and other Societies during those closing weeks
+of our stay was a time of happy fellowship. In the interludes between
+more serious work delightful social receptions and garden parties were
+organised by several of the Missions, and we enjoyed the hospitality of
+the Bishop of Madagascar and of our French and Norwegian friends.</p>
+
+<p>There was one gathering, however, of very special interest to us, as
+representatives of the L. M. S. On September 30th it was our privilege
+to take part in the celebration of the jubilee of the landing at
+Tamatave of our honoured veteran missionary, <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> James Sibree. <abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr>
+Sibree, as he was then, went out to Madagascar as architect of the
+Memorial Churches to be erected in Tananarive in commemoration of the
+martyrs “faithful unto death,” who lost their lives during the time
+of persecution. These Churches remain until this day, not only as
+memorials to the martyrs, but as monuments to the taste and skill of
+<abbr title="mister">Mr.</abbr> Sibree as an architect. But his services in this direction have not
+been confined to the Memorial Churches. In after years to the present
+time he has prepared the plans of upwards of 40 Churches in different
+parts of Madagascar.</p>
+
+<p>But <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Sibree will leave behind him, when the time comes for him to
+bid farewell to Madagascar, a more enduring memorial than churches
+of brick and stone.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span> When he had completed the task which originally
+took him to the island he returned to England, and, after taking
+his theological course at Spring Hill, went back to Madagascar as a
+clerical missionary, and from that day to this, with ceaseless energy
+and devotion, he has been engaged in building the Invisible Church, “a
+house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”</p>
+
+<p>The epitaph upon the tomb of another architect, Sir Christopher Wren,
+in <abbr title="saint">St.</abbr> Paul’s Cathedral, “Si monumentum requiris circumspice,” is
+equally applicable to <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Sibree, for no missionary has left behind
+him in Madagascar a more enduring memorial of his life and work than
+will <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Sibree. His energies, too, have found an outlet in other
+directions. His most conspicuous service to the Mission has been
+rendered in connection with the training of preachers and pastors.
+For upwards of thirty years he has been associated with the Society’s
+Theological College in Tananarive, and during that period several
+hundred students have received the benefit of his instruction and
+influence. As a writer of books and articles he has given to the world
+much information, not only with regard to Madagascar, but also with
+regard to the Cathedrals of the Homeland. The articles on Madagascar
+in the last two editions of the Encyclopedia Britannica have come from
+his pen, and he is a recognised authority on all matters relating to
+the island. He has rendered invaluable service as a translator, and
+especially in the revision of the Malagasy Scriptures. He does not know
+what it is to be idle. In his seventy-seventh year he is an<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span> example
+and a rebuke to men of half his age; from early morning until late at
+night he is always at work.</p>
+
+<p><abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> Sibree has, throughout his missionary life, been ably seconded
+and supported in all his “works of faith and labours of love” by his
+devoted wife, to whom the women and girls of Ambohimanga, and, in later
+years, of Tananarive, owe so much. As I have already mentioned, <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> and
+Mrs. Sibree have given four children to missionary work. Two of their
+daughters, Mrs. Milledge and Miss Elsie Sibree are to-day rendering
+fine service to the kingdom in Madagascar.</p>
+
+<p>On the Jubilee day a great gathering of missionaries was held
+in Faravohitra Church in honour of <abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> and Mrs. Sibree. Several
+presentations were made to them from the Directors of our Society, from
+their fellow missionaries and from the missionaries of other Societies,
+in recognition of the services they have rendered, and of the respect,
+esteem and affection in which they are held. It is said that never
+before in the history of Madagascar has such a large gathering of
+missionaries taken place. Later in the same day a reception and garden
+party were held, at which even a larger number of the missionary
+community were present to celebrate the occasion. A few days afterwards
+a great gathering of past and present students of the Theological
+College met to offer their tribute of gratitude and esteem to the
+missionary who had trained so many of the preachers, pastors, and
+evangelists, now engaged in the evangelization of the island.</p>
+
+<p class="center p2"><span class="figcenter"  id="img012">
+<img src="images/012.jpg" class="w50"  alt="Dr. and Mrs. Sibree">
+</span></p>
+<p class="center caption"><span class="smcap"><abbr title="doctor">Dr.</abbr> and Mrs. Sibree.</span></p>
+
+
+<p>Only a passing reference can be made to the meetings<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span> of the Joint
+Conference. This gathering was unique, for it is believed that never
+before in the history of the Christian Church have all the Protestant
+Missionary Societies at work in a mission field appointed simultaneous
+deputations to unite with the missionaries on the spot to study in
+common the problems and needs of the field, and to plan together
+for its evangelization. Many matters of common interest to all the
+Societies were considered, and important discussions were held with
+the Malagasy Christian leaders. The subjects of the evangelization of
+the island, the work of delimitation, education, the social and moral
+condition of the people, the recrudescence of heathenism, the growth
+of atheism and agnosticism, and many other questions vitally affecting
+the life of the people and the growth of the Church came up for
+discussion. The meetings were held in the beautiful French Protestant
+Church in Tananarive in the early days of October. The tone and spirit
+which prevailed throughout the deliberations were of the highest. The
+Conference owed much to its Chairman, M. le Pasteur Couve, who presided
+throughout with wisdom, tact, patience and good humour. The holding
+of such a Conference in which High Anglican, Lutheran, Quaker and
+Congregationalist, British, French, Norwegian, and American took an
+equal part, was a remarkable evidence of the growth of the spirit of
+comity and co-operation in the mission field.</p>
+
+<p>But amongst the many vivid experiences of those crowded closing days
+in Tananarive, the most lasting impression was that made by the great
+meetings of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span> Isan-Enim-Bolana. This institution is a federation
+of the Imerina Churches of the L. M. S., F. F. M. A., and P. M. S.,
+and it holds a warm place in the regard and affection of the Malagasy
+Christians. Moreover, it is a Missionary Society and sends its own
+native missionaries into the outlying districts in the North where,
+but for its efforts, there would be no Christian work carried on. It
+is the child of the London Missionary Society, and came into being in
+the year 1868. Since then it has met every half-year in the Capital,
+and its gatherings are always marked with a spirit of great earnestness
+and enthusiasm. It met in October, and high as our expectations
+were from what we had heard, the gatherings surpassed all that our
+imagination had pictured. On Wednesday afternoon, October 8th, five
+preaching services were held at the same hour in five of the largest
+Churches in the Capital, and these were followed by two great meetings
+in connection with the Christian Endeavour Societies. Perhaps a short
+account of my own experiences at the Isan-Enim-Bolana, which were
+similar to those of my fellow-delegates, will convey some impression
+of the character of these Meetings. I was taking lunch with a party
+of French Missionaries, when M. Pierre de Seynes came to tell me that
+the French Church in which I was to speak was already crowded to its
+utmost limits, although it was nearly two hours before the time for
+the commencement of the service. On reaching the Church an hour and
+a half later I had the greatest difficulty in effecting an entrance.
+There was a dense crowd round the door of those who could not find
+room.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span> It required great care to walk up the aisle without treading
+upon the women, who were sitting on the ground two abreast. The great
+congregation occupied every foot of available space; the floor of the
+chancel was packed, and men were sitting on the communion rails, on the
+top of the harmonium, and on the pulpit steps. Moreover, there were
+groups of people round the numerous open windows on the ground floor,
+and the gallery and the steps leading to it were likewise crowded. The
+scene from the pulpit can never be forgotten. The contrast between the
+black hair, brown faces and white lambas of the worshippers formed a
+striking picture. Pastor Rabary, the Chairman of the Isan-Enim-Bolana,
+translated for me. The vigorous action and fine declamation of the
+interpreter, combined with the inspiration which one receives from the
+enthusiasm and devoutness of a great audience, had their effect upon
+the quieter methods of the more phlegmatic Englishman, and I found
+myself moved to speak with a force and earnestness rarely experienced
+before. My address was followed by what I am told was an eloquent
+sermon by one of the ablest of the younger Malagasy leaders, Pastor
+Rakotonirainy, who is also a successful master in one of the F. F. M.
+A. Schools. As soon as the service was over the congregation hurried
+away to a great Christian Endeavour meeting at Ampamarinana, where
+the Church was already packed. An overflow meeting was arranged to be
+held in the Church which we had just left, and in a few moments that
+building was again filled to overflowing, and I was called upon to give
+another address, which was translated<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span> by Pastor Razafimahefa, who
+interprets from both French or English into Malagasy with wonderful
+force and fluency.</p>
+
+<p>But the greatest gatherings took place on the following morning. At
+6 o’clock seven of the most spacious Churches were thronged to their
+utmost capacity, some having arrived at 4 a.m. to secure a seat for
+the meetings, which were not to commence till four hours later. I
+was appointed to speak at the great meeting for men in the spacious
+Ampamarinana Church, which had for hours been filled to overflowing.
+As soon as I had spoken I was hurried away in a chair to an overflow
+meeting in a neighbouring Church, and, having spoken there, went on to
+Faravohitra Church, which was crowded with women, where my address was
+translated by Mrs. Milledge, who speaks Malagasy like a native. The
+service at this Church was concluded by eleven o’clock. Then came one
+of the characteristic features of the meetings of the Isan-Enim-Bolana.
+It is the practice for the Mother Churches in the Capital to entertain
+the delegates from the various Daughter Churches in the country. I
+went to Analakely, where some 1,400 people sat down in five relays
+to abundant meals of rice and meat prepared by their hosts. The same
+gracious hospitality was shown in each of the Mother Churches of
+Tananarive. After attending such gatherings one wonders whether there
+is any place in the world, unless it is Korea, where such great crowds
+gather for Christian worship.</p>
+
+<p>The hearts of sympathetic visitors to Madagascar<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span> are often thrilled
+at these manifest signs of the Divine blessing upon the work of the
+Missionaries, but very little investigation shows that there is another
+side to the picture, and that the young Malagasy Church needs all its
+zeal and courage to face the difficulties and dangers with which it is
+surrounded. Apart from the experience which unfortunately is common in
+all Christian communities, that practice does not always correspond
+with profession, the Malagasy Christians have special difficulties of
+their own which confront the growing Church. They have to face the
+temptations which beset a backward race living in the tropics, and the
+struggle with sensualism and immorality is a severe one.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, in recent years materialism and agnosticism have come
+into the land like a flood, and tax to the uttermost the wisdom and
+consecration of the Christian workers in the island. Again, it must be
+remembered that the activities of the Church are being carried on in
+an unsympathetic environment, for apart from the deadening influence
+of the native heathenism amidst which the Church is at work, the
+unfriendly attitude towards religion of the French official class is
+felt on every hand. Again, on the north-east and north-west coasts the
+menace of the advance of Islam is increasingly felt, and already there
+are at least 75,000 Moslems in the country, professing a degraded type
+of Mohammedanism and introducing many vices, especially drunkenness
+and immorality. It will be a surprise to many to know that during the
+recent Balkan war a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span> collection was made in Madagascar to help the
+Turks to fight “the vile Christians.”</p>
+
+<p>With these and other difficulties confronting the young Malagasy
+Church, it will be readily understood that the battle is by no means
+won. Moreover, much of the field has, up to the present, not been
+occupied by the Christian army, and great is the work remaining to be
+accomplished.</p>
+
+<p>If one stands on the verandah of “the House of Sweet Breezes” at
+Anjozorobe, the Society’s most northern station, and turn one’s eyes
+to the north, there is a stretch of country extending well-nigh 500
+miles to Diego Suarez. In this vast district, the area of which exceeds
+that of England and Wales, there is at the present time but one white
+missionary. It is true that some dozen native missionaries, sent out
+by the Isan-Enim-Bolana of Imerina, are at work in this territory,
+and many of these men are carrying on their missionary labours with
+energy and devotion, but without any European supervision. The Native
+Missionary organisation which sent them forth would welcome such
+supervision, and would be prepared to send more labourers into the
+vineyard, if well-trained men were available for service. In the near
+future the main work of the European missionary must be the training
+of the Native missionary. As the Church at the centre grows and
+multiplies, and becomes stronger and more efficient, the need of the
+presence of a large number of European missionaries will gradually
+diminish. The test of the success of their work will be that they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span> have
+made themselves unnecessary. As the College in Tananarive attracts
+and trains and sets to work Christian Natives of good education
+and apostolic fervour, so the work now carried on by the European
+missionaries will steadily pass into the hands of the Native Pastors,
+and, under the blessing of God, the day will come in the not distant
+future when the foreign worker will be able to withdraw, having
+completed his task.</p>
+
+<p class="poetry">
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">“And lo! already on the hills</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The flags of dawn appear;</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Gird up your loins, ye prophet souls,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Proclaim the day is near;</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The day in whose clear-shining light</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All wrong shall stand revealed,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">When justice shall be clothed with might,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And every hurt be healed:</span><br>
+<br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">When knowledge, hand in hand with peace,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shall walk the earth abroad,—</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The day of perfect righteousness,</span><br>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The promised day of God.”</span><br>
+</p>
+
+
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author	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-01-25 11:33:22 -0800
committer	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-01-25 11:33:22 -0800
commit	9f085906440124d6e53b2cb55b5c7638ca6ebe77 (patch)
tree	564622855fdeadea58695828a2dbf051014d8638