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« *l 
 
 
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 SKETCHES 
 
 FROM 
 
 MISSION FIELDS 
 
 , it 
 
 i 
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 FIRST SERIES, 
 
 ** An Ambassador is sent to the heathen." — Jer. x\ix. li. 
 
 TORONTO: 
 
 METHODIST BOOK AND PUBLISHING HOUSE, 
 
 T8 & 80 KING STREET BA'^f, 
 
 1 881. 
 
McMASTER lllvMVHKMTY LI8IIMQI 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The growing interest in Missionary work felt by all 
 sections of the Christian Church, has led to a demand 
 for fuller information on the subject, especially such 
 information as will show the practical results of Mis- 
 sionary effort, in the enlightenment and conversion of 
 the heathen. 
 
 The first three Sketches in the following collection are 
 from a volume entitled " South African ]\Iission Fields," 
 by Rev. J. E. Carlyle ; most of the others are from " Mis- 
 sionary Stories," and "Missionary Anecdotes," by the 
 Rev. Wm. Moister. They will be found both interesting 
 and profitable, combining, as they do, the historical, 
 biographical and experimental aspects of tlie work. 
 Though designed more particularly for the youth of the 
 Church, they will interest "children of a larger growth ;" 
 and it is hoped their perusal may kindle a more fervent 
 Missionary spirit in the Church at large. 
 
 Mission Rooms, 
 
 Toronto, Feb. 10, 1881. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I^THE KAFFIR OR BANTU TRIBES » 
 
 II -OUTLINES OF KAFFIR HISTORY 24 
 
 III.— WESLEYAN MISSIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA . 38 
 
 IV.— MISSION TO WESTERN AFRICA 44 
 
 V. BURNING OF THE " TANJORE " 78 
 
 VI. EARTHQUAKE IN ANTIGUA 82 
 
 • VII.— THIRST IN THE DESERT 90 
 
 VIII.— REVIVALS ON MISSION STATIONS 08 
 
 IX.— AN IDOL PUT TO GOOD USE 109 
 
 X.— A REMARKABLE CONVERSION ..116 
 
 XL— LITTLE BENOME 128 
 
 Xn. —NEGRO WITCHCRAFT 127 
 
:ll 
 
I. 
 
 ■0 
 
 THE KAFFIR OR BANTU TRIBES. 
 
 A MORE carei'ul study of these races and 
 their history is needed than of the Hot- 
 tentots or the Bushmen. The future of South 
 Africa must in large measure depen<l upon their 
 civilization and Christianization. 
 
 These tribes are by far the predominating^ race 
 in South Africa. If we take the River Lim- 
 popo, the northern frontier of the Transvaal, as 
 the boundary, they are probably as six to one 
 to the Hottentots and Bushmen unitedly, and 
 they stand in nearly the same ratio to the 
 colonists. If we include, again, the Kaffir tribes 
 farther north up to the Zambesi, they may be 
 reckoned, perhaps, in round numbers at three 
 millions. But the same race stretches also widely 
 east and west in Central Africa, and they have 
 been reckoned as numbering some eighteen mil- 
 lions. According to other calculations, the 
 
 1 
 
i 
 
 10 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 whole of these Bantu tribes, allied in language, 
 usages, and origin, may form fully one-fourth of 
 the inhabitants of Africa. If this estimate be 
 correct it would raise their numbers to forty or 
 fifty millions. But I shall not attempt so wide 
 a survey ; my limit will be South Africa ; only 
 the fact deserves to be noted from its bearing 
 on the future civilization and Christianization 
 of Central Africa. 
 
 I can glance only at some leading facts con- 
 nected with these tribes, such as their distribu- 
 tion, origin, tribal characteristics, history, and 
 probable future. The present sad crisis in South 
 Africa may well suggest that some careful study 
 of the Kaffir tribes is due, on the part of the 
 British politician and the Christian philanthro- 
 pist. It is, indeed, one of the greatest problems, 
 we may say, that has ever arisen in our British 
 colonial rule, how to put an end to these bar- 
 barous, sanguinary raids, so ruinous to life and 
 property in South Africa, and how to educate 
 and to elevate the Kaffir, so that he may be 
 fitted to enjoy ultimately all the benefits of 
 self-government. The Boers, indeed, cut the 
 Gordian knot by enslaving or exterminating the 
 aborigines ; but this is a solution which Eng- 
 and will not adopt, first, because it is opposed 
 
THE KAFFIR OR BANTU TRIBES. 
 
 11 
 
 to that humane policy which has been nowhere 
 more conspicuous than in our past relations with 
 South Africa, and also because the Kaflir is not 
 80 readily to be extinguished. On the contrary, 
 the black population is growing. In Natal there 
 has been, indeed, an astonishing increase, far 
 exceeding that of the European colonists, not 
 only by natural growth, but by an immense 
 black immigration into its territories. What 
 are we to do with this growing population of 
 semi-savage tribes ? It is a question most hard 
 to answer. Let me illustrate its difficulty. In 
 the old Roman empire, which, in many features, 
 had its analogies to our own, there was the 
 Colonia and the Provincia, the former occupied 
 by Roman citizens under Roman law, the lattei 
 governed by native law under Roman rule. We 
 have the same thing in the British empire — the 
 Colonia, as in Canada, Australia, or New Zea- 
 land ; the Provincia, agaiL , in India. But South 
 Africa is not as in India, where the native popu- 
 lation is governed, if wisely and justly, yet abso- 
 lutely, by a superior race ; South Africa is, on 
 the other hand, colonial in its institutions, while 
 yet the vast majority of its population is very 
 far below the Indian standard of culture and 
 civilization. And yet the very idea of a colony 
 
12 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 i|! 
 
 must rest on the assimilation in culture of its 
 races, without which there cannot be self- 
 government. It may be said this problem is 
 being solved ir the United States as regards its 
 southern negro population, but with what ad- 
 vpntages ? Z^'irst, an overwhelming American 
 civilized populatioii, and then a black people, 
 Christian, and trained in civilized usages. In 
 South Africa, on the other hand, we have to do 
 with race3 deg'^aded, barbarous, polygamists, 
 with the power of Christianity as yet imperfectly 
 developed. Mr. Trollope, in his recent work on 
 South Africa, has very well seized this point 
 and illustrated how arduous must be its solu- 
 tion. 
 
 We would now glance at some leading facts 
 relating to these tribea. There is their origin. 
 All their traditions point to the north-east — 
 Egypt or the sources of the Nile — as the cradle 
 of their race. It is thus, for instance, as *vr 
 have already noticed, that the Bechuanas still 
 bury their dead with their faces turned in this 
 direction. Mr. Merensky observes : — " The 
 houses of the natives in Abyssinia are almost 
 exactly the same as those of the Bechuanas or 
 Basutos in South Africa. When we saw pictures 
 of Magdala and other villages of the Abys- 
 
THE KAFFIR OR BANTU TRIBES. 
 
 13 
 
 sinians du'-ing the English campaign in that 
 country, we had quite as correct pictures of the 
 villages of our Basutos." I may add that the 
 same applies to many of the photographs Mr. 
 Stanley gives of East Africa in the " Dark Con- 
 tinent." Mr. Merensky further observes : 
 " Many of the usages of the Kaffir tribes point 
 to Egypt or its influence. In the same way it 
 has struck us that the brown people, which are 
 found painted on the walls as in battle with the 
 Egyptians, or as prisoners, bear throughout the 
 stamp of the Kaffir tribes. The weapons, the form 
 of the shields of ox-skin, the clothing, the type 
 of race are surprisingly like those of South 
 Africa." The Kaffirs seem gradually to have 
 emigrated to South Africa rather than to have 
 approached it as conquerors. The Amatongas, 
 or Knob-nosed Kaffirs, have probably occupied 
 the low -lying country between the Zambesi and 
 the Limpopo since three centuries ago ; other 
 races, as the Matabeies, followed them. The 
 Amaxosas of Kaifraria, tribes which have come 
 into greater prominence during our Cape colon- 
 ial rule, probably reached the Kei, where there 
 has been so much recent fighting, about 1G70. 
 The Bechuanas, among whom Moffat and Liv- 
 ingstone had their mission work, were probably 
 
14 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 among the last arrivals. It has been supposed 
 by some that the Kaffirs are of Shemitic origin, 
 and there are certain of their usages which seem 
 remarkably to favour the idea : as, for instance, 
 circumcision, the law of marriage and the widow, 
 the distinction of clean and unclean animals ; 
 and one of their tribes towards the north, the 
 Makalakas, seems still to hold sacred a seventh 
 day. The structure of the Kaffir language does 
 not, however, support this idea, which is now 
 abandoned. It is probable, at the same time, 
 that in their southern wanderings there may 
 have been added a considerable mixture of 
 Shemitic blood, as Arab rule long prevailed on 
 the east coasts of Africa ; and this mp.y in part 
 account for these usages. It is a question of 
 greater difficulty how far the Kaffirs are a 
 Hamitic race. Much mystery still hangs around 
 that great people whose history begins for us at 
 the time of Babel, and culminates in the early 
 splendour of Egyptian civilization. It ^v&s they, 
 too, whose races aided so powerfully the great 
 Shemitic invasions of Europe by Hannibal; aiid 
 in the middle ages by the Moors. There is every 
 likelihood that the affinity is close of the Kaffir 
 to the Copt and the Berber of North Africa, the 
 ancient Numidian, and to those warlike tribes 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
THE KAFFIR OR BANTU TRIBES. 
 
 15 
 
 represented, for instance, still by the Turcos in 
 the French army. 
 
 Passing from the origin to the distribution of 
 the Kaffirs in South Africa, to enumerate all 
 these tribes would be beyond our limits, and 
 would scarcely interest our readc rs. Those who 
 care for the study will find a very complete 
 classification of them in the pages of Dr. Fritsch, 
 an eminent German anatomist and anthropolo- 
 gist. For the practical purposes of this paper, 
 the following enumeration may be enough. 
 There are the Amaxosa tribes of Kaffirland, the 
 Galekas, Tambookees, Slambies, with the Gaikas. 
 Kreli, with whom we have been at war, and 
 with whom originated the late struggle, is the 
 paramount chief of these tribes. There are 
 also the Fingoes, Pondos, and Griquas in the 
 same region. If we go farther north, and pass 
 Natal, we have the warlike Zulus, of Zululand, 
 with Cetywayo, their chief, whose present atti- 
 tude to our colonial governments gives cause for 
 just alarm.*'* Farther inland, again, on the south, 
 beyond that great range of the Drachenberg, 
 separating Natal from the lofty plateau of the 
 interior, there are the Basutos, of Basutoland. 
 These are located near the sources of the great 
 
 * This was written before the lat<e Zulu War. 
 
16 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 Orange river. Farther north than these, on the 
 other side of the Vaal, we have in the Trans- 
 vaal, kindred Basnto tribes, of which Sekukuni, 
 lately at war with the Boers and now with 
 England, may be regarded as the leading chief 
 and representative. If we go still farther west, 
 again, than these, we have on the confines of the 
 Transvaal the Bechuana tribes, whose territories 
 stretch on to the great Kalihari desert. And 
 still west of these, on the other side of the con- 
 tinent, we have the Hereos. If we advance still 
 farther north, beyond the South African colonies 
 and the River Limpopo, but to the south of the 
 Zambezi, we have the Matabeles, Makalakas, 
 Banyai, and the tribes on the east occupying 
 Umzil as kingdom. 
 
 And now to notice some of the Kaffir charac- 
 teristics. Their language, for instance, may 
 deserve a moment's notice. It is of a hicrh char- 
 acter, melodious and soft ; its grammar is marked 
 by its regularity, with comparatively few excep- 
 tions. The forms of the verb are so varied that 
 its paradigma would almost fill a book. It is a 
 language nearer to the Shemitic than the Indo- 
 Germanic, but it has still marked features of its 
 own. 'The development and beauty of the 
 Kaffir languages," says Merensky, " which sur- 
 prise every one who has really insight into them, 
 
THE KAFFIR OR BANTU TRIBES. 
 
 17 
 
 have been to many a ground for supposing that 
 these people must have originally stood on a 
 higher platform of culture. We hold this for a 
 false conclusion, for when the mental and intel- 
 lectual culture of a people declines, its language 
 declines all the more that it does not possess 
 written records, and on this account the language, 
 as it lives in its tongue, is always the exact ex- 
 pression of its mental and intellectual force. As, 
 then, the development and beauty of the Kaffir 
 tongue is not to be ignored, we believe that we 
 are justified in the conclusion that the mental 
 powers of the Kaffirs are greater than we are 
 usually inclined to admit." 
 
 Another characteristic of the Kaffirs is that 
 they are physically of a higher formation than 
 the other South African races. We agree, in- 
 deed, with Dr. Fritsch, who has described with 
 great care these tribes physically, that there has 
 been exaggeration in some accounts of them, as 
 if they were Herculeses in strength or Apollos 
 in symmetry. This is quite an exaggeration. 
 The European is generally their superior, both 
 in muscular power and in proportion. Still the 
 Kaffir is a well-built and muscular man, with 
 good features, and were he civilized he might be 
 more nearly on a level with the Europeans. His 
 2 
 
18 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 mental capacities, as we have noticed his language 
 implies, are considerable. He has undoubted 
 sagacity in counsel and ready eloquence in the 
 Pitso, or tribal assembly, where war and tribal 
 questions are settled. He differs also from the 
 other South African races industrially. He is 
 not like the Bushman, a mere hunter of the 
 wild, and a child of the rock or the desert, with- 
 out a home, without cattle, without knowlege of 
 agriculture, living on roots which he digs out of 
 the ground with his rude stone hammer. Nor 
 is he like the Hottentot, a mere herdsman of 
 cattle. On the contrary, the Kaffir cultivates 
 the soil, and he understands so well the growing 
 of Indian corn and millet, and other vegetables, 
 that he has little to learn from the European. 
 It is somewhat curious the division of labour 
 among the Kaffirs. The man is the hunter, and 
 also the herdsman ; he tends the cattle and milks 
 the cows, the women not being admitted usually 
 into the cowstail. The woman, on the other 
 hand, with her rude hoe, aided by her children, 
 digs the soil and plants and reaps its fruit. She 
 not only thus, indeed, grows the corn and the 
 vegetables used, but she prepares the food for 
 her husband and makes the Kaffir beer. The 
 life of woman among the Kaffirs is thus a great 
 
THE KAFFIR OR BANTU TRIBES. 
 
 19 
 
 m 
 
 ir 
 
 ^y 
 
 drudgery, and she is reduced almost to the rank 
 of a slave. The Kaffir is a polygamist, more so, 
 we may say, than even the Mohammedan, both 
 because he can marry more wives, and especially 
 because he can gain more profit by them. The 
 mor^ wives he can obtain the more land he can 
 cultivate and the more wealthy he can thus be- 
 come. The wives are purchased by cattle, a 
 degrading usage, which has been a real obstacle 
 in mission progress. Such a life as that of the 
 Kaffir woman sadly crushes and terribly de- 
 grades her. The daughter of Africa is, we may 
 almost say, the lost sheep of her sex, far fro:n 
 the fold and the shepherd, and from all tha"* 
 love and gentleness that should encompass her. 
 There is another diiference betwixt the Kaffir 
 and other South African rcces. They are far 
 more of a people than the Bushmen or the Hot- 
 tentots. Their organization is tribal ; their con- 
 dition is not unlike that of our Scottish clans 
 two centuries ago. All rally round their chief- 
 tain, who allots the lands of the tribe, decides 
 with his counsellors judicial cases, and is, be- 
 sides, supposed to possess supernatural powers. 
 Dr. Wangemann, superintendent of the Berlin 
 Mission, justly says on thi^ subject : *' The Hot- 
 tentot has no feeling for nationality ; even with 
 
20 
 
 SKETCHES FROM xMISSION FIELDS. 
 
 » I 
 
 the 350,000 of his people they are in no respect 
 a race ; while it* but a few hundred Kaffirs live 
 together they feel as Kaffirs. The Hottentot, 
 too, is of a slavish mind, who sees in the white 
 man his master ; the Kaffir, on the other hand, 
 looks on the European as an encroacher, whom 
 he fears and hates, whose yoke he would will- 
 ingly fling to the winds, to whom he can never 
 resolve to submit himself slavishly as his master." 
 We think the latter statement, although true to 
 a certain extent, yet somewhat exaggerated. 
 The Kaffir will certainly never be a slave ; hence 
 his hatred of the Boer. His tribal organization 
 will serve, too, as a rallying-point ; so that, if 
 oppressed, he will again and again revolt. But 
 the language is inaccurate as regards the feelings 
 of the Kaffirs towards British rule. It is just as 
 regards, perhaps, many of their brutal chiefs, but 
 not of the tribes generally, who have learned to 
 appreciate the rectitude and mildness of our 
 rule. Even as regards the heads of the tribes, 
 we have Moshesh, the great Basuto chief, placing 
 himself under British protection. Perhaps a 
 still more decided proof of this native feeling 
 may be gathered from the words of Moselekatze, 
 the rude yet able chief of the Matabeles 
 ** These," he said of the English, " are the mas- 
 
 M 
 
'■^ 
 
 THE KAFFIR OH BANTU TRIBES. 
 
 11 
 
 ters of the world. When the great men in the 
 wliito man's country send their traders for the. 
 ivory, do you think they give me beautiful 
 things in exchange because they could not take 
 my ivory by force ? They couM come and take 
 them by force and ai. my cattle also ; and yet 
 look at them, they are humble and quiet and 
 easily pleased. The Englishmen are the friends 
 of Moselekatze, and they are the masters of the 
 world ! " We believe that such impressions of 
 our colonial policy are largely held among the 
 Kaffir tribes, especially among those under our 
 direct rule. It is by cultivating such feelings 
 that our hold on Africa can alone be made 
 secure and honourable, alike to the natives and 
 ourselves. 
 
 We shall only add here, as regards the charac- 
 teristics of the Kaffirs, that it is quite an error 
 to suppose they have no religious ideas. What 
 they possess, indeed, are probably only fragments 
 of purer earlier traditions of Divine truths, but 
 still they indicate a certain feeling after God 
 and of the need of mediation. The Kaffir proper 
 name for Deity signifies the highest existence, 
 dispensing fate, giving life, sending good and 
 bad fortune. But still their deity can scarcely 
 be regarded as having any likeness to the God 
 
i 
 
 1 1 
 
 22 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 of Christianity. There seems to be no doctrine 
 of faith in him nor of love towards him. He is 
 destiny alone. In place of him the true objects 
 of worship appear to be the manes of the dead, 
 especiall}^ the dead chiefs of the tribes. To them 
 offerings are brought, the priest praying after a 
 certain ritual over the animal slain. There are 
 traces also of human offerings being made, as, 
 for example, the Zulu chief Chaka sacrificed ten 
 of the virgins of the tribe, whom he buried alive 
 at the grave of his mother. This was indeed 
 but a small part of the holocaust offered by that 
 savage chief to the manes of his mother. With 
 the dead it is supposed also intercourse can be 
 held. As in the Greek play of the Persians, 
 Darius, emerging from the tomb, tells of the 
 destinies of Xerxes his son, Chaka held thus that 
 he had converse with the Induna, or minister of 
 his father, and received inspirations from him. 
 Then the dead were supposed by some of the 
 Kaffir tribes, as the Zulus, to live in serpents ; 
 and hence a foi-m of serpent- worship like that of 
 the Gall as in North Africa. But we do not 
 dwell on these religious rites and ceremonies 
 further than to show, what has been sometimes 
 denied, that there is a religious element in the 
 Kaffirs' nature. Christian Kaffirs, when asked 
 
THE KAFFIR OR BANTU TRIBES. 
 
 23 
 
 what they thought of God as heathens, have 
 answered, " We never thought, only dreamed of 
 Him." Their religious ideas were vain and fan- 
 tastical ; still it is important to know, if we would 
 understand the Kaffir, that these have been 
 wrought into a compact and powerful religious 
 system. They have their holy places, their holy 
 mountains, lioly springs, and their magical 
 waters, by which they purify the tribe or 
 strengthen it for the battle. One strong form of 
 their superstition is the dread of witches and of 
 witchcraft — a belief of which, it is to be remem- 
 bered, Christendom has only lately, if now, even 
 got rid. The chiefs and their Indunas turn thh 
 credulity frequently to their own advantage as a 
 means of plundering the rich native, or of get- 
 ting rid of those they hate. Cetywayo, the 
 Zulu chief, has thus, we have reason to believe 
 sought to free himself of the Christian Zulus. 
 Kaffirs have, again, their sacred animals, as, for 
 instance, the crocodile, a relic probably of their 
 old Egyptian or Hamitic worship. We have 
 already noticed how in circumcision and other 
 usages they approach Shemitic forms of wor- 
 ship. 
 

 IL 
 
 OUTLINES OF KAFFIR HISTORY. 
 
 ir 
 
 j 
 
 AND now to glance at the history of the 
 Kaffir tribes. We shall do so mainly as it 
 may elucidate the present great crisis in South 
 Africa, and its relations to the future. Two 
 Kaffir races stand out prominently at present : 
 the Kaffirs of Kattraria, and the Zulus of Zulu- 
 land. As regards the Kaffirs of KatFraria, their 
 later history is that of a long series of warlike 
 conflicts with the Cape Colony. These began in 
 1811, not many years after our possession of the 
 Cape, and the end is not yet, although it seems 
 approaching. The uprising of the Kaffirs we 
 have lately witnessed is the sixth in the long 
 succession. The wars of South Africa almost 
 recall to us those of the French in Algeria, al- 
 though they have not been on the same scale. 
 The resemblance is not wonderful, as in the 
 Kaffir we have to do with a kindred, warlike, 
 
 [„ , 
 
OUTLINES OF KAFFIP HISTORY. 
 
 25 
 
 and obstinate race, with a similar strong tribal 
 organization. The Kaffirs have, during the 
 course of these conflicts, been gradually driven 
 back on the East Coast, first from the Fish River 
 to the Keiskamma, and latterly the Kei has been 
 the boundary. We presume it will be now the 
 Ba.shee or Umtata, but a cession it seems has 
 also been made of the western bank of St. John's 
 River. This has always been hitherto resisted 
 by Umgekila and the Pondos generally ; and it 
 may issue in another stiniggle. But perhaps it 
 is better at once to take a step of this kind which 
 ultimately must be necessary for the security 
 ot our South African Colonies. This step brings 
 the Cape Colony nearer Natal, and is thus some 
 guarantee of the safety of South Africa. 
 Within the Cape Colony, thus extended as we 
 have said for more than a quarter of a century 
 to the Kei, there has been naturally a larger 
 Kaffir population under Biitish rule. These 
 were permitted to remain in their old locations, 
 but subject to our control. Sandilli the Guika, 
 chief of a tribe closely allied to the Galekas, has 
 thus been allowed perhaps too much indepen- 
 dence of action, and the result has been his recent 
 fierce struggle with us, which has ended so dis- 
 astrously for himself, his family, and his tribe. 
 
26 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDvS. 
 
 [ I 
 
 We do not enter on the history of their long 
 confli* s : we shall mark only the more important 
 facts bearing on the present state of South 
 Africa. One of these wsis. the wise resolution, 
 after a second severe struggle with the Kaffirs in 
 1818, to introduce into the East Cape Colony, 
 British settlers. These arrive 1 in 1820, find have 
 infused quite a new life and enterprise into the 
 Colony. We have already referred to the honour- 
 able place which the Wesleyans have occupied in 
 this. These British Colonists, and we may add, 
 some more recent bands of German settlers, have 
 done much for the progress and development of 
 South Africa. The Eastern Cape Province well 
 deserves an honourable place in the future 
 Federation that is contemplated. Another fact 
 which stands prominently out as we review this 
 Colonial history, is that a firm, while yet a mild 
 policy, is the best in dealing with the Kaffirs. 
 It is necessary while cherishing the more ben6- 
 volent sentiments, to act with firmness, for a 
 savage interprets anything else as weakness. 
 The administration of Sir Benjamin Durban was 
 an honourable instance of this ; and liis ablest 
 successors have followed the same policy. This 
 intermediate course did not go far enough, how- 
 ever, for many British philanthropists, nor for 
 
OUTLINES or KAFFIR HISTORY. 
 
 vr 
 
 Lord Glenelg, at the time of Sir Benjamin's ad- 
 ministration, the secretary for the Colonies. The 
 whole native settlement, proposed by Sir Ben- 
 jamin, was rebuked as unjust, and was unwisely 
 reversed. New concessions proposed in favour 
 of the Kaffirs were loyally tried and carried out ; 
 but the result was a miserable failure. The 
 Kaffirs simply availed themselves of these to 
 renew their depredations, until these became in- 
 tolerable. A furious war broke out again in 
 1846 ; the Colony was boldly invaded, much 
 booty was seized, many homesteads were ravaged 
 and destroyed, many missions broken up, many 
 valuable lives were lost. This policy, which had 
 in the end to be quite reversed, not only inflicted 
 terrible hardships on the Colonists, but untold 
 miseries on the Kaffirs. We may notice another 
 feature in the later colonial policy. It is the 
 wise effi)rt of the Colonial Government to educate 
 the Kaffirs, and to train them to industrial 
 habits. We may say here that it was under the 
 able administration of Sir George Grey this plan 
 was mainly instituted, in which his successors 
 have energetically followed him. Very many 
 thousands of the natives are thus being annually 
 educated with the help of the Government, chief- 
 ly we may add in the mission schools. A large 
 
T 
 
 28 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 I; 
 
 staff of native teachers are being trained up with 
 care. Establishments are being formed with a 
 special view to industrial training. Lovedale, a 
 Free Church institution, receives thus aid from 
 the Government, we believe, to the extent of 
 some £2,000 a year. With its large staff of 
 missionaries, teachers, and European masters of 
 industrial departments, and with its some 500 
 pupils and boarders, it is quite a model institu- 
 tion of its character in South Africa. 
 
 Another fact to be noticed, in its bearing on 
 the present and future, is the strength of the 
 superstitious element in the Kalhr character. We 
 shall have this great difficulty to grapple with 
 until by civilization and Christianity it be re- 
 moved. We may take as instances, the fact that 
 the prophecies of a reputed Kaffir seer in 1850, 
 chiefly led to that disastrous and deadly strug- 
 gle. A still more striking instance of this 
 fanaticism occurred in 1857. The Amaxosas then 
 perpetrated a doed of madness scarcely to be 
 rivalled in history. A prophet foretold to them 
 the resurrection of all their dead warriors and 
 chiefs, vast herds of cattle were to issue from 
 the ground, corn without their culture was to 
 spring up, the living were to be clothed in new 
 beauty, and the white man was to fade away. 
 
 I 
 
OUTLINES OF KAFFIR HISTORY. 
 
 29 
 
 Only this must hinge on a heroic faith — they 
 must kill all their cattle, and destroy all they 
 possessed, save the arms of the warrior. This 
 almost incredible prediction was accepted, with 
 the connivance of their chiefs, who probably 
 acted for theij- own purposes, to rouse their 
 tribea to the last effort against the colonists. But 
 if this were their policy, it turned out a futile 
 one. The Kaffirs destroyed their corn and killed 
 their cattle, and then nearly 50,000 of them per- 
 ished of hunger, and famished thousands invaded 
 the Colony, not as conquerors, but as beggars. 
 It would be beyond our limits to attempt any 
 description of the events of the late insurrection, 
 now, we trust, happily suppressed. The full 
 materials for such a narrative are scarcely yet 
 to be had. But from the numerous blue books 
 on " the affairs of South Africa," recently pub- 
 lished, some correct general ideas may be formed 
 regarding it. The occasion of the insurrection 
 was evidently an obscure brawl betwixt the 
 Galekas and the Fingoes ; but its real cause, as 
 is well known, was the intense jealousy of the 
 Galekas at the prosperity of a rival race occupy- 
 ing what was formerly their territory, and who 
 had, at no distant period, been their serfs or 
 slaves. The truth is, the Cape Colonial Gov- 
 
ff 
 
 H 
 
 If 
 
 30 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 ernment is partly to be blamed for this. They 
 allowed Kreli, some years ago, to attack with 
 impunity the Tambookies, another Kaffir tribe, 
 and he probably fancied he might act in the 
 same way as regards the Fingoes. But the latter 
 owed, we may say, their very existence to us, 
 as a people, and we were pledged to their pro- 
 tection. 
 
 The history of this insurrection is another in- 
 stance of the need of energy and promptitude in 
 grappling with native difficulties. Sir Bartle 
 Frere, from his large Indian experience, at once 
 saw his position, and we cannot indeed read 
 these South African blue books without observ- 
 ing in how many ways the experience of Indian 
 Administration is invaluable, in the treatment 
 of native races. Had Sir Bartle Frere been sup- 
 ported by his Cape Government as Sir Benjamin 
 Pine was by Natal, in suppressing the insurrec- 
 tion of Langalibalele, probably the struggle 
 might have ended in a few days or weeks ; but 
 the Cape ministry did not at first realize the 
 peril. Even when fully aroused to a sense of 
 this, and when they had taken energetic mea- 
 sures for the suppression of the insurrection, 
 they still showed an unworthy jealousy of Her 
 Majesty's military forces, and attempted to put 
 
 -41 
 
OUTLINES OF KAFFIR HISTORY. 
 
 31 
 
 down the rebels by their Colonial troops alone. 
 This they succeeded for a time in doing, and the 
 greatest honour is due to the volunteers, police, 
 and native forces for their valour and disci- 
 pline. Unfortunately, a premature disbandment 
 nearly made shipwreck of the enterprise. The 
 ministry seemed to have lost their heads, to have 
 got perplexed in the mazes of constitutional puz- 
 zles, and but for Sir Bartle Frere and the com- 
 mander of the British Forces, Sir A. Cunning- 
 ham, the Colony might have been exposed to the 
 greatest danger. The result might have been 
 as disastrous to the Colonial Forces and their 
 military prestige, as that which happened two 
 years ago to the Boers in the Transvaal, when 
 they were so ignominiously repulsed by Secku- 
 kuni. An attempt was made by liMr. Molteno 
 and his Cabinet to call in question the rights of 
 Sir Bartle Frere, the Governor and High Com- 
 missioner, and as from his office, the Commander- 
 in-chief of the Forces in South Africa. To have 
 conceded this would have been to disturb, if we 
 may so speak, the whole hierarchical order of 
 the British Army. This is a position which Sir 
 Bartle Frere occupies, not only as Governor, but 
 as High Commissioner, having entrusted to him 
 not only Colonial interests, but the protection 
 
82 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 and defence of the native tribes of South Africa. 
 The theory of the Colonial Cabinet was, that 
 they were at liberty to supersede the Commander 
 of the Forces, at least as regards the Colonial 
 Forces, and to take them under their own ex- 
 r^lusive management, and they practically acted 
 upon this. This was a clear invasion of the 
 Royal prerogative, and would reduce the execu- 
 tive power of the Empire to a position inferior 
 to that of the President of a Republic. It would 
 strike, in fact, at the whole unity of the British 
 Colonial Empire, the connecting link of which 
 consists for the present, at least, in the constitu- 
 tional rights and authority of the Crown. Prac- 
 tically, also, this division of the military Forces 
 under two separate commands was most inju- 
 rious in the Campaign, and but for Sir Bartle 
 Frere's obtaining additional forces from England, 
 and for the successes they won in the field, the 
 state of the Colony might still be precarious. 
 Fortunately, the British Cabinet gave their 
 sanction to this ruling of Sir Bartle Frere, and 
 the majority of the Cape Parliament have, after 
 a long and somewhat embittered discussion, also 
 acceeded heartily to it. 
 
;rica. 
 that 
 ,nder 
 onial 
 I ex- 
 [icted 
 f the 
 xecu- 
 fc'erior 
 vould 
 ritish 
 tvhich 
 istitu- 
 Prac- 
 p'orces 
 inju- 
 lartle 
 gland, 
 d, the 
 irious. 
 their 
 3, and 
 , after 
 Q, also 
 
 III. 
 
 WESLEYAN MISSIONS IN SOUTH 
 
 AFRICA. 
 
 THE Wesleyan Missions are the next which 
 claim our attention. Their strength, it 
 may be said, still lies in the Cape Colony, al- 
 though their stations stretch widely beyond. 
 With its usual Christian zeal and enterprise, the 
 Wesleyan body was early in the field in South 
 Africa. In 1814, they sought to begin a Mission 
 at Cape Town, but permission was at first re- 
 fused by the Cape authorities. This led them 
 to enter on Mission work in Lesser Namaqua- 
 land, which is still continued with success. At 
 last, the Rev. Barnabas Shaw obtained permis- 
 sion to open services in Cape Tow^n itself, and 
 one of his colleagues, the Rev. Mr. Edwards, 
 began to preach there. It was at first the day 
 of small things with the Mission. The first 
 
 place where worship was held was an empty 
 3 
 
V 
 
 34 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 
 wine-shop — where service was held in the Dutch 
 and English languages ; later two churches were 
 built in the town. Now, by the last Wesleyan 
 returns, there are seven chapels. The work of 
 the Society gradually from this centre spread 
 over the Western Colony, where now there are 
 many chapels, and the attendants number nearly 
 10,000. 
 
 But it is in the East Cape Colony that Wes- 
 leyanism has struck its deepest roots. It is, we 
 may say, since 1820, and its settlement of British 
 emigrants in the Eastern districts, that the Wes- 
 leyan body has achieved its most remarkable 
 successes. This plan of colonization was doubt- 
 less intended by the Government mainly as a 
 defence of the Colony against Kaffir aggressions. 
 But it has issued in nobler results in the exten- 
 sion of the gospel among these warlike tribes. 
 It is one of the finest instances we know of 
 colonization speeding the cause of Christianity. 
 The East Cape Colony, now the most thriving, 
 populous, and enterprising Province of South 
 Africa, owes a great deal, as we have already 
 said, to the Wesleyans, not only religiously, but 
 materially and morally. It has had a number 
 of eminent and successful Missionaries. The 
 Rev. William Shaw, who is not to be confounded 
 
 I 
 
 I t 
 
WESLETAN MISSIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 85 
 
 with the Rev. Barnabas Shaw, of the West 
 Cape, who came out as one of the Colonial pas- 
 tors, was in every way fitted to be a Christian 
 pioneer, distinguished by his great ability and 
 sagacity, his pov^er of organizing, his deep 
 Christian interest in his work, and his sincere 
 piety. He has left his mark in the district, es- 
 pecially, we may say, in Graham's Town, the 
 very centre we may call it of the Eastern life 
 of the Colony. The story he has himself writ- 
 ten of his Mission is a work full of interest. 
 The Rev. Mr. Shepstone, the father of Sir Theo- 
 philus Shepstone, now the Governor of the 
 Transvaal, occupied here also an honourable 
 place with Mr. Ayliff, whose family havo since 
 taken distinguished positions in the Colony and 
 Natal. Nor should Alison be overlooked, to 
 whom we have already referred, first as a Wes- 
 leyan Missionary, and then as joining the Free 
 Church of Scotland. His earnest Mission work 
 will ever merit honour in Natal. 
 
 The Wesleyan body has taken a large part in 
 promoting Colonial Christianity in South Africa. 
 This, I may say, is in part owing to its organiza- 
 tion, v/hich has so far a certain analogy to that 
 of the S. P. G. (Society for the Propogation of 
 the Gospel). Its Missionaries are in many in- 
 
86 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 stances also Colonial ministers, or, we might 
 express it vice versa — its Colonial ministry is 
 also missionary. This is a question of Mission 
 polity which is not vmworthy of serious consid- 
 eration. For my own part I should think it 
 preferable that the Missionary should be mainly 
 a Missionary, and the Colonial ministry Colo- 
 nial. They are separate vocations needing 
 different gifts and mental habits, while their 
 work will at the same time meet at many points ; 
 and if they are men of a right spirit they will 
 be mutually helpful and valuable coadjutors. In 
 point of fact, it is but rarely that the great Mis- 
 sionary will be found the acceptable Colonial or 
 home preacher. And even if he had the gifts, 
 it is doubtful, from the whole setting of his 
 habits, if he would find himself quite at home 
 in such work. On the other hand, still more 
 rarely would the brilliant. Christian orator, who 
 wields such power over his audiences, be found 
 to possess the gifts which would make him a 
 successful and great Missionary. Doubtless, in- 
 stances of such distinction have been found, but 
 it is as rare as a doul^le first at the University. 
 At the same time, I must own that weighty 
 opinions are to be found on the other side. The 
 Rev. Mr. Calderwood, an able and experienced 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
>\t:sleyan missions in south Africa. 
 
 37 
 
 Missionary of the London Missionary Society, 
 and afterward a Government Commissioner, 
 writes : " The Wesleyans have understood this 
 subject better than any of the kindred Societies, 
 and have acted accordingly. The}' have through- 
 out the Colony, especially in its Eastern Pro- 
 vince, a large number of European members who 
 take a deep interest in Missions to the heathen." 
 Mr. Shaw, again, the Superintendent of the Mis- 
 sion, whom we have already noticed, ol)serves : 
 " It is a great charity to take the Gospel to our 
 emigrant population. How many professed 
 Christians and their children have tlius been 
 saved from deofeneracv into heathenism." On 
 the other side, however, it may be reasoned that 
 the course pursued by the London Missionary, 
 the Presbyterian, the American, and the Foreign 
 Societies, has issued in greater Missionary re- 
 sults. This is a matter, of course, of apprecia- 
 tion. But howevei" this may be, may not these 
 words be addressed, if not to the Foreign Mis- 
 sions in South Africa, yet to other British Mis- 
 sion Churches : " This ought ye to have done, 
 and not to leave the other undone." Have not 
 your Colonial fallen countrymen, your kinsmen 
 according to the flesh, a strong claim upon you ? 
 If formed by you into Christian Churches, would 
 
 
 :t 
 
^ 
 
 38 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 I 
 
 not their Colonial aid powerfully help yon ( Be 
 this as it may, Wesleyanisui thus occupies, 
 Colonially, a position of the highest importance, 
 in which we cannot indeed but rejoice. She is, 
 along with the Dutch Church, a stronghold of 
 defence against that Ritualism which threatens 
 South African Kvangelical (Christianity. An- 
 other valuable result has been that the Wesleyan 
 Colonists are increasingly intereste<l in Christian 
 work. We say increasingly, because it is an 
 interesting fact that some at least of the original 
 Colonists were drawn to South Africa as a 
 Mission field of work. But now they have many 
 of them consideraljle means at their disposal, 
 and this is their resolution according to a late 
 report : " Our friends will rejoice to hear the 
 evidence of the fact that the African Mission 
 Churches are becoming more and more misaion- 
 ary in their spirit and action. Our churches 
 are aware of the danger of Colonial self-sustain- 
 ing churches settling down into quiet parishes, 
 and their pastors ii.^o easy chaplaincies wherein 
 all local resource.: are consumed within the area 
 of the several churches." " The organization of 
 a Missionary Society for South Africa was a step 
 in the right direction, a platform on which we 
 may raise broad expectations." " The work is 
 
WESLEY AN MIStJlUNS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 »9 
 
 expanding — new ideas are spreading — Christian 
 public sentiment is maturing. Tlie relations 
 which Colonial Churches bear to surrounding 
 heathen populations have of late been more dis- 
 tinctly apprehended, and the numerous obliga- 
 tions arising from these relationships have been 
 more clearly recognized and more cheerfully 
 responded to." " If rightly worked, we are per- 
 suaded that this will prove one of the most 
 powerful means possible for the evangelization 
 of the millions of that great Continent." 
 
 As regards Mission work more especially, the 
 Wesley an Missionary Society, like the London, 
 has been a pioneer in the field. It is inferior to 
 the latter only in the extent of its exploration, 
 and the only other Mission which is perhaps 
 abreast of it in this, is the Berlin Society. It 
 had, as we have observed, early Missions in 
 Lesser Namaqualand, which were gradually ex- 
 tended to Greater Namaqualand, from which it 
 has since retired. Its work has embraced 
 Orlams, and Bastaids, Griquas, and Barolongs, 
 Fingoes, and Galekas, Pondos, Zulus, &lc. Like 
 the London Missionary Society, it has indeed 
 wisely receded from some of these extended 
 positions, when other societies were prepared to 
 occupy them ; but as regards most of the South 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
I 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 40 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 i' \ 
 
 African races — the Hottentots, the Kaffirs of 
 Kafiraria, the Zulus, the Barolongs — it has firm- 
 ly kept its hold on them, gradually but vigour- 
 ously extending, indeed, its operations. As 
 regards the last race, the Barolongs, we may 
 single out one of their stations, Thaba Nchu, as 
 in extent and evangelistic progress belonging to 
 the first order of South African Mission Stations. 
 Thaba Nchu is an enclave of the Free State sur- 
 rounded by it on all sides. To the honour of 
 that Republic it has never made any encroach- 
 ment on the Ea.rolong territory. This has been 
 doubtless owing to the prudent conduct of 
 Maroko the chief, and the counsel of the Wes- 
 leyan Missionaries. The Barolong population 
 amounts to some 20,000, the number of members 
 is above 1,000, and of church attendants 4,500. 
 Mr. Trollope, in his South African Tour, gives 
 an interesting and friendly notice of this station. 
 The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 
 has since 18G3 a station here. It seems strange 
 that they should pla.nt a Mission on ground pre- 
 occupied by another Christian Society during 
 so many years. They say, indeed, that " in the 
 face of the vastness of heathendom, the Wes- 
 leyan and Church Missions do not clash in any 
 ofl:ensive way." The comment of Grundemann, 
 
WESLEYAN MISSIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 41 
 
 the able German Mission historian, on the sub- 
 ject, is this (we translate it) : " It is to be 
 regretted that there should be such encroach- 
 ments on the work belonging to others in the 
 Mission sphere." 
 
 The circuits of the Wesleyan Society in South 
 Africa are large and well arranged to support 
 one another. An unbroken chain of stations 
 stretches along the coasts, beginning in Lesser 
 Namaqualand in the West, extending over the 
 South and only terminating on the East at the 
 boundaries of Zululand. All the circuits repre- 
 sent very considerable bodies of Church attend- 
 ants ; the Cape district which comes first, some 
 10,000 ; the district of Grahamstown and Port 
 Elizabeth on the south-east, some 23,000 ; the 
 Queenstown district, including British KafFraria 
 and most of KafFraria beyond, 21,000; Natal, 
 including the Pondos, but exclusive of the 
 Coolies, nearly 16,000. Then inland there is 
 the vast circuit of the Free State and the Trans- 
 vaal with some 13,000. 
 
 To give a summary of the general statistics 
 for South Africa, there are 240 Wesleyan 
 Chapels, besides other preaching places, 102 
 Missionaries and assistants, 17,233 members, 
 83,602 Church attendants, apart from Coolies. 
 
M 
 
 ^ 
 
 42 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 198 Day Schools, and 11,552 Day Scholars. I 
 regret that it is impossible to gather from the 
 Wesleyan returns the number separately of 
 native Mission adherents and members. I can 
 only offer as an approximation, partly based on 
 the last C^ape Colonial statistics, that its native 
 adherents may amount to some 28,000, and its 
 native members to some 5,500. In connection 
 with the Day Schools it is to be observed that 
 at Heald Town there is a Collegiate Institute of 
 a high character for the education of the native 
 ministry and for educating native teachers. 
 
 As regards Central Africa, the Wesleyan body 
 is not yet prepared to follow in the course indi- 
 cated by the Free Church Mission and the 
 London Missionary Society. " The Committee," 
 the Wesleyan report says, " rejoice in the Mis- 
 sion of other Churches to the Central Lakes, 
 but while there are such dense masses in the 
 North -Eastern frontier of the Colony, easy of 
 access, the Committee feel it their paramount 
 duty, in the first instance, to care for them." It 
 is satisfactory to gather from this that the 
 Society intend to pursue an evangelistic and 
 advancing work in the North-East. We may 
 add that they have given still more definite 
 expression to this in their Report for this year. 
 
WESLEY AN MISSIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA. 43 
 
 >> 
 
 They propose that a strong and effective Mission 
 should be commenced in the Transvaal without 
 delay, and that the South African districts 
 should take an active part in this. Arrange- 
 ments are suggested also for practically carry- 
 ing this into effect. With its usual catholicity 
 of spirit we have no doubt that this purpose of 
 the Wesleyan Society will be accomplished 
 without, in any way, trenching on the work of 
 other Missions, which now occupy in part the 
 Transvaal. There is wide room for all. May 
 we regard this resolution of so important a 
 Missionary Society as the Wesleyan, as some 
 pledge that speedily all the native tribes south 
 of the Zambesi will be brought within the joyful 
 sound of the Gospel ? 
 
 * 
 
 i 
 
 
 I' 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 i ! 
 
 IV. 
 
 MISSION TO WESTERN AFRICA. 
 
 HAVIi'^ ■;den brought to a saving know- 
 ledge of the truth in early life, and 
 called to the work of the Christian ministry, I 
 was accepted as a probationer for the sacred 
 office, by the Wesleyan Conference of 1830. In 
 the autumn of the same year I was instructed 
 to proceed to London, for examination with 
 reference to the Missionary department of the 
 work, for which I had from the- beginning felt 
 and expressed a decided preference. There I 
 met with several other Missionary candidates, to 
 whom I became united by the strongest ties of 
 Christian affection, and with whom I had many 
 blessed seasons of social prayer and holy fellow- 
 ship, in the well known upper room at the old 
 Mission House in Hatton Garden. Most of 
 those dear brethren, and other associates of my 
 
'•I 
 
 l'. 
 
 MISSION TO WESTERN AFRICA. 
 
 45 
 
 
 youthful days, have gone the way of all flesh ; 
 
 and, through the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, 
 I hope to meet them in heaven. 
 
 After our examination was over, and several 
 of us were anxiously waiting for further infor- 
 mation as to the probable sphere of our future 
 labours, a little incident occurred which unex- 
 pectedly led to my appointment to Western 
 Africa. One cold morning in the month of 
 October, 1830, a Negro girl presented herself at 
 the door of the Mission House, carrying in her 
 arms a pale, sickly-looking white child. This 
 little infant was the orphan son of the late Rev- 
 Richard Marshall, who had died of malignant 
 fever at the Gambia Station, Western Africa, on 
 the 19th of August in the same year. Mrs. 
 Marshall had embraced the first opportunity 
 which presented itself, and embarked for Eng- 
 land two days after the funeral of her dear 
 husband, bringing with her their infant son, and 
 the African girl Sally to wait upon them during 
 the passage. When they arrived in Bristol, Mrs. 
 Marshall found herself in a state of great bodily 
 weakness, as well as extreme mental suffering ; 
 and was naturally anxious to proceed at once 
 to her friends in the north. But, in the order 
 of Divine Providence, this was denied hei*. She 
 
 
 in 
 
46 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 became suddenly worse, being seized with con- 
 vulsions ; all hope of life now vanished, and she 
 expired about forty-eight hours after she had 
 landed on the shores of her native country, 
 before she had an opportunity of seeing any of 
 her relatives, leaving her helpless orphan and 
 his African nurse strangers in a strange land. 
 Sally had been faithful to her precious charge ; 
 and, having proceeded to London immediately 
 after the funeral of her beloved mistress, she 
 brought the little boy to the Mission House. 
 
 As candidates for the foreign work, we all felt 
 deeply interested in the little Missionary orphan 
 boy ; we crowded round him and his Negro 
 nurse, and eagerly listened to the affecting story 
 of their sad bereavement as related by Sally, 
 with much feeling and pathos, in her own sweet, 
 broken English, while big tears rolled down her 
 sable cheeks. It had been stated by the Com- 
 mittee that a Missionary was required immedi- 
 ately for the Station left vacant by the death of 
 Mr. Marshall ; but that any one willing to go 
 must make a voluntary offer of his services, in 
 consequence of the great mortality which had 
 taken place on the Society's Stations on the 
 Western Coast of Africa. I had felt disposed 
 from the first to volunteer for the Gambia ; but 
 
MISSION TO WESTERN AFRICA. 
 
 47 
 
 still more so when, soon after the arrival of the 
 Missionary orphan boy and his coloured nurse, 
 the General Secretaries directed my attention to 
 the subject, from an impression that my type of 
 constitution was well adapted for the climate 
 Therefore, after sincere prayer to God for Divine 
 direction, and consulting with my friends upon 
 the subject, I felt it upon my heart to say with 
 the prophet, " Here am I, send me ; " and I was 
 at once appointed to St. Maiy's on the I'iver 
 Gambia, as successor to the lamented Mr. 
 Marshall. 
 
 Although I was not favoured with a minis- 
 terial colleague on the occasion of my first 
 Mission to Africa, I was kindly permitted to be 
 united, in a closer relation, to one who was 
 willing to share with me the joys and sorrows, 
 the difficulties and dangers, of Missionary life 
 even in the trying climate of the Western Coast ; 
 female influence and effort being considered 
 "essential to the success of the enterprise. The 
 necessary preparations having been made, we 
 took an affectionate leave of parents, brothers^ 
 sisters, and Christian friends, without much hope 
 of ever seeing them again in this world ; and, 
 accompanied by our dear friend Dr. Hoole, on 
 Saturday, the 12th of February, 1831, we went 
 
 
 ,i • 
 
4S 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 ..i 
 
 
 on board a steamer at London Bridge to join our 
 ship at Gravesend. The vessel not having as 
 yet come down the river, we were permitted to 
 spend the Sabbath on shore ; and I preached in 
 the Wesleyan chapel morning and evening to a 
 loving people, in whose sympathies and prayers 
 we obtained an interest which, in our peculiar 
 circumstances, we highly prized. On the folio w- 
 day the brig " Amelia," on board of which our 
 passage was taken, having arrived, and the wind 
 and tide being favourable, we embarked, and 
 proceeded on our voyage, trusting in Him who 
 said, for the encouragement of His Ambassadors, 
 " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end 
 of the world." 
 
 Our voyage out was on the whole favourable. 
 Captain M'Taggart and his officers were kind 
 and attentive, and our fellow-passengers were 
 affable and agreeable. When sea-sickness had 
 in a measure subsided, and we had become some- 
 what accustomed to the motion of the ship, we 
 spent our time pleasantly and profitably in read- 
 ing, conversation, and prayer, and in preparing, 
 as best we could, for the great work which was 
 before us. When we had been about a month 
 at sea, we heard one morning the welcome sound 
 of " Land ahead ! " and were soon gratified with 
 
MISSION TO WESTERN AFRICA. 
 
 49 
 
 a sight of Cape Verd and the Island of Goree. 
 The following day, the 10th of March, we took 
 a negro pilot on board from Bird Island, entered 
 the mouth of the Gambia, and in a few hours 
 came to anchor oft* St. Mary's, with the coast of 
 Africa stretching itself before our view. 
 
 It was on the afternoon of fl beautiful day 
 for the tropicus, although the sun poured down 
 its fiery rays upon us, that we stood upon the 
 deck of the " Amelia " as she rode at anchor 
 before the neat little town of Bathurst, on the 
 Island of St. Mary, and contemplated with 
 peculiar feelings the novel scene which was 
 before us. The Government-house, military 
 hospital, soldiers' barracks, and the houses of the 
 principal merchants and otlier European resi- 
 dents which faced the river, appeared to be good 
 buildings, being constructed chiefly of stone, 
 stuccoed and whitewashed, and were generally 
 two or three stories high, with neat verandahs 
 in front, and jalousie windows. Each house 
 being detached from the rest, and surrounded 
 with a yard, garden ground, or shrubbery, in 
 which grew various kinds of tropical trees, as 
 the palm, cocoanut, and banana, with their rich 
 foliage gracefully waving in the breeze. The 
 scene was of a most charming character, and 
 
 ? 
 
 > 
 
50 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 ■ v| 
 
 r.l 
 
 scarcely harmonized with our preconceived ideas 
 of the " wilds of Africa." The native huts, 
 whicli were chiefly built of a circular shape, 
 with sides formed of bamboo-cane wattled work, 
 the roof thatched with long grass, stood in the 
 back part of the town, so that we beheld the 
 settlement to the best advantage in viewing it 
 from the river. , 
 
 Whilst the sailors were preparing the boats 
 for our landing, I observed a number of negroes 
 assembling on the beach, and watching our 
 movements with apparent interest. These were 
 natives connected with the Mission who had 
 heard that a Missionary and his wife were on 
 board the brig from England ; and such was 
 their anxiety to welcome us that several of them 
 actually plunged into the w^ater to meet the 
 boat as it approached the land ; and having 
 dragged the boat partly out of the sea, they 
 carried us on shore in triumph in their arms. 
 This they did to express their gratitude and joy 
 at our arrival, as well as to save us from >)eing 
 wet with the surge, which was dashing violently 
 against the sandy beach. We had no sooner set 
 our feet on the shores of Africa than we were 
 surrounded with a large concourse of natives, 
 some of whom had received the Gospel at the 
 
MISSION TO WESTERN AFRICA. 
 
 .M 
 
 Hands of former Missionaries, ere they were 
 smitten down with fever, and found their early 
 graves in African soil. Many wept for joy at 
 our aiTiv^al. They kissed our hands again and 
 again, and bedewed them with their tears, ex- 
 claiming, " Tank God ! tank God ! Mr. Marshall 
 die ; but God send us 'nuder Minister." The 
 scene was most affecting, and it brought tears 
 from our own eyes to witness such manifesta- 
 tions of love and deep feeling on the part of 
 these untutored Africans. With some difficulty 
 we passed through the crowd, and were con- 
 ducted to the residence of Charles Grant, Esq., 
 a kind-hearted Christian gentleman, well known 
 as a friend to the Missionaries, to whom 1 had 
 letters of introduction. Mr. Grant received us 
 with a kindness and cordiality which made us 
 feel quite at* home ; and, having invited us to 
 remain with him at his hospitable njansion till 
 the Mission-house could be prepared for us, we 
 spent the evening in interesting conversation on 
 the circumstances connected with Mr. Marshall's 
 death, and the affairs of the Mission. 
 
 The next morning we arose early, and I can 
 scarcely describe the sensations with which we 
 reflected upon the fact that we were really in 
 Africa. On looking round, we were surprised 
 
 
 
52 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 and delighted with the various objects which 
 attracted our attention. Everything appeared 
 strange and new, and totally unlike what we 
 had been accustomed to in our native land. The 
 bright blue sky above was without a cloud ; the 
 sun shone brilliantly upon tlie placid waters of 
 the broad river ; Mandingo traders were drag- 
 ging their frail canoes up the sandy beach, 
 having just arrived with their produce for the 
 market from the other side of the river ; native 
 servants and mechanics were bustling about, or 
 attending to their respective callings, with 
 remarkable intelligence ; and all was life and 
 activity among the sal)lo aborigines. At. the 
 same time there were pale-faced Europear ere 
 and there, with their broad-brimmed straw iiats 
 to screen them from the fiery rays of the sun, 
 superintending or giving directions to the 
 natives, who were thus pursuing their various 
 avocations. 
 
 After breakfast we gladly availed ourselves 
 of the kind offer of our friend Mr. Grant to 
 take a walk with us as far as the Mission-house. 
 As we proceeded along the outskirts of the 
 town, new objects arrested our intention at every 
 turn ; and we were especially amused with the 
 wild but apparently good-natured noise and con- 
 
MISSION TO WESTERN AFRICA. 
 
 53 
 
 fusion which prevailed at the native market- 
 place through w^hich we passed. This scene 
 forcibly reminded me of the confusion of tongues 
 at the building of the Tower of Babel ; for the 
 clatter of discordant voices was almost deafen- 
 ing, and I was informed that the concourse of 
 persons composing the heterogeneous mass of 
 human beings were actually conversing in more 
 than a dozen different lani^uages ! 
 
 We found the Mission-house situated in one of 
 the back streets of the town of Bathurst, sur- 
 rounded by native huts w^ith their small plots of 
 garden ground. It was a plain and humble 
 building, with a lai ,e hall for chapel and school 
 on the ground floor, and rooms for the Mission- 
 ary's residence above. On entering the yard, 
 we observed growing at the foot of the steps 
 leading to the dv/elling-house a beautiful wild 
 flower — a kind of jessamine. " There," said I, 
 " that little flower seems to smile upon us, and 
 to welcome our arrival. If I were inclined to 
 be superstitious, I should say it is a good omen." 
 " Let us take it for a good omen, at any rate," 
 said my dear wife ; " but let us not forget, at 
 the same time, that its very situation shows that 
 the hand of death has been here ; for, had not 
 the house been unoccupied for several months, 
 
 J "i 
 
 W 
 
■^ 
 
 i|i 
 
 il I 
 
 54 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 the pretty little intruder could not have retained 
 its place, overhanging the steps." In the interior 
 of the house every thing woj-e a gloomy aspect, 
 and we were naturally led to speak of the early 
 removal of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall froii) this the 
 interesting sphere of their hallowed labour. 
 Whilst thus engaged, it is n^t surprising that a 
 feeling bordering upon sadness should steal over 
 cur spirits at the thought that we also might 
 ere long be smitten down, and laid in the silent 
 dust by the side of those devoted servants of 
 God who had so nobly fallen in the work of 
 their Divine Master in this unhealthy climate. 
 We strove to suppress this melancholy train of 
 thought, however, changed the subject of con- 
 versation, and lifted up our hearts in silent 
 prayer to God for His protection and blessing. 
 After giving directions to the people engaged in 
 whitewashing and cleaning the house, we re- 
 turned with Mr. Grant to his residence, accord- 
 ing to his kind invitation, till ours should be 
 ready for our reception. 
 
 In the course of the day I called upon His 
 Excellency the Governor to pay my respects and 
 to show him my credentials. He received me 
 most courteously . wished me much success in 
 my important undertaking ; and kindly invited 
 
MISSION TO WESTERN AFRICA. 
 
 55 
 
 us to dine with him in the evening, and to meet 
 a select party of friends at the Government- 
 house. We cordially accepted the invitation in 
 the spirit in which it was giv^en, and spent a 
 very pleasant evening. Thus I had an early and 
 favourable opportunity of explaining the object 
 of my Mission to the principal gentlemen of the 
 settlement, and of bespeaking their kind co- 
 operation in my humble efforts to elevate and 
 improve the condition of the natives, and to 
 benefit, as far as possible, all classes of the com> 
 munity. To tlie credit of the Government 
 authorities, the naval and military officers, the 
 Eui^pean and native merchants, and the inhabit- 
 ants generally, I may say that from that day, to 
 the time of our departure from the coast, we 
 lived in much peace and harmony with them all, 
 while, of course, we gladly availed ourselves of 
 every opportunity of doing them good. 
 
 The first Sabbath we spent in Africa was a 
 day never to be forgotten. At dawn the native 
 prayer-meeting was held, in which public thanks 
 were presented to Almighty God for our safe 
 arrival, and His special blessing was implored 
 upon our future labours. In the forencoii I read 
 prayers, and opened my commission by preach- 
 ing from that delightful text, " This is a faithful 
 
 
 i j 
 
 !< ^ 'J 
 

 \ 
 
 56 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ 
 Jesus came into the world to save sinners." The 
 people heard with marked attention, and the 
 appearance of the congregation was truly pleas- 
 ing. It afforded an interesting proof that the 
 labours of my revered predecessors had not been 
 in vain in the Lord, although some of them had 
 been called hence at an early period after the 
 commencement of their work. The natives who 
 had been brought to a saving knowledge of the 
 truth, both male and female, with their children, 
 came to the house of God neatly clothed ; and 
 in their general aspect they presented a striking 
 contrast to their fellow-countrymen who still 
 remained in heathen darkness. They sang the 
 praises of God most delightfully, and altogether 
 they exhibited a state of intelligence and pro- 
 gress far in advance of what I expected to see 
 as the Mission had only been commenced a few 
 years before. Another service in the evening, 
 conducted partly in the native language and 
 partly in English, closed the exercises of this 
 memorable day, and we retired to rest truly 
 thankful to God for what our eyes had seen and 
 our hearts had felt of His goodness, whilst 
 engaged in the services of the sanctuary. 
 
 On examining the state of the Mission I was 
 
 ii 
 
MISSION TO VVESTERN AFRICA. 
 
 57 
 
 happy to find that the few native converts who 
 had been united in Church-fellowship — about 
 forty in number — had been kept together by 
 their Leaders since the death of Mr. Marshall ; 
 and that, during the time that they had been 
 left as sheep without a shepherd, their meetings 
 for prayer and Christian worship had been 
 regularly held in the chapel, both on Sundays 
 and week-nights, in confident expectation that 
 God in His Providence would remember them in 
 mercy, and dispose the hearts of their friends in 
 England to send them another Missionary. 
 
 When we had become in a measure settled in 
 our new and interesting sphere of labour, the 
 arrangement for the weekly services in our 
 chapel at Bathurst was nearly as follows : — 
 Every Sabbath morning I read prayers and 
 preached in English, for liie benefit of the 
 European residents an*" intelligent persons of 
 colour who understand our language, who u^* d 
 to f^.ttend our chapel in consi'lcrable numbers. 
 To this was added another service m the t .urch 
 at the barracks for the troops and others, after 
 I had received the appointment of Acting 
 Colonial Chaplain," there being no clergyman of 
 the Church of England resident in the C( ny. 
 In the afternoon we held Sunday-school och for 
 
 
SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 ii| 
 
 children and adults. On the Sabbath evening I 
 delivered a short discourse in English, the sub- 
 stance of which was afterwards repeated in 
 Jalloff by one of the native exhorters. As a 
 preparation for this service we generally fixed 
 upon a subject beforehand, and made it a matter 
 of special conversation and study. On Wed- 
 nesday night I preached by an interpreter, every 
 sentence being rendered into Jalloff as it was 
 uttered. On the other evenings of the week we 
 had Prayer-meetings and Class-meetings, in 
 which the English, the JallofF, or the Mandingo 
 language was used according to circumstances. 
 The congregations were generally good ; a 
 gracious influence frequently rested upon the 
 people ; and a goodly number of natives were, 
 from time to time, brought to a saving know- 
 ledge of the truth, and received into Church - 
 fellowship by the sacred rite of baptism ; whilst 
 we were favoured to witness their marked pro- 
 gress in general knowledge and civilization. 
 
 At the same time we directed our attention to 
 the education and training of the rising gener- 
 ation. The Mission day-school, which had been 
 given up on the death of my predecessor, was 
 re-established, and the former teacher, an intelli- 
 gent young man of colour, having also been cut 
 
 till 
 
 i, 
 
MISSION TO WESTERN AFRICA. 
 
 59 
 
 down by fever, and no other help being available, 
 we undertook the instruction of the children our- 
 selves, in addition to other duties ; Mrs. Moister 
 taking charge of the girls, and I of the boys. 
 The bell was rung every morning at six o'clock, 
 when the school exercises commenced, and they 
 continued, with a short interval for breakfast, 
 till two in the afternoon. By this arrangement 
 we were able to get through the heaviest part of 
 our school-work before the heat of the day 
 fairly set in, which was so oppressive that we 
 soon found it render both scholars and teachers 
 incapable of close mental application. In this 
 department of our work, as in every other, we 
 met with much encouragement. The children 
 in general made rapid progress in learning ; a 
 . few were brought under the influence of Divine 
 grace in early life, and two or three promising 
 youths in the higher classes soon became useful 
 as assistant teachers in the school, and were 
 ultimately called to preach the Gospel of Christ 
 to their fellow-countrymen. 
 
 These labours at the commencement of our 
 career were very arduous in a tropical climate ; 
 but we were young and healthy and strong, not 
 having as yet been enfeebled by repeated attacks 
 of fever, and we felt a real pleasure in devoting 
 
 
60 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 
 the strength and energy which God had given 
 to His blessed service. We soon found ourselves 
 so thoroughly interested in our beloved work, 
 and so busy with our every-day duties, that we 
 had actually no time or leisure io speculate on 
 the future, or to concern ourselves with anxious 
 thoughts about the probability of sickness or 
 health, life or death, — a circumstance which I 
 have since recjarded as highly favourab)'^ to 
 health and success. We were, moreover, gratified 
 with tokens for good on the Station, and led to 
 expect still greater results in the future ; so that 
 we were truly happy in our work, and the time 
 passed "sweetly and swiftly away." 
 
 When two of the native Teachers, who had 
 been raised up by the Providence and grace of 
 God on the Station, were sufficiently advanced 
 to be efficient helpers in the work, I felt an 
 earnest desire to plant the standard of the Cross 
 in the regions beyond, where the name of Christ 
 was unknown. Having heard of a favourable 
 opening at Macarthy's Island, nearly three hun- 
 dred miles from the coast, I left my dear wife 
 in charge of the schools, and commenced my 
 first voyage up the noble Gambia. This mag- 
 nificent river follows a serpentine course. It is 
 twelve miles wide at its mouth ; but it speedily 
 
 11 
 
MISSION TO WESTERN AFRICA. 
 
 61 
 
 contracts to about three miles. It is navigable 
 for vessels of several tons' burden for some four 
 hundred miles from the coast ; for which dis- 
 tance, after it has begun to narrow, its breadth 
 varies from one mile to three. After sailing day 
 after day, and night after night, a^s the wind and 
 tide would permit, for more than a week, I 
 reached my destination. 
 
 The scenes through which I passed in the 
 course of my first journey into the interior of 
 Africa, and the various incidents which occurred 
 when calling at the native towns on the banks 
 of the river, and when brought into close prox- 
 imity to wild beasts and savage men, were too 
 numerous and diversified to admit of being 
 dwelt upon here. In this short and hurried 
 sketch all that I can do is briefly to indicate the 
 steps which were taken at this early period to 
 promote the extension of the work of the 
 Mission, and the immediate results which we 
 were favoured to witness by the blessing of God 
 upon our humble labours. 
 
 On my arrival at Macarthy's Island I was 
 much impressed with the spiritual destitution of 
 the natives, and the great necessity for some 
 effort being made to ,raise them from the deep 
 moral degradation in which they were involved. 
 
 M 
 
 a 
 < 
 
M 
 
 'A 
 
 » 
 
>nSSTON TO WESTERN AFRICA. 
 
 m 
 
 Or* ascending the river, I found tlmt the nativeg 
 on the northern bank, whether Jalloflfs or Man- 
 dingoes, were cliiefly Mohammedans, whilst 
 those on the other side were mostly Pagans ; 
 but, as far as spiritual enlightenment was con- 
 cerned, they were equally " without God and 
 without hope in the world." Arriving late in 
 the evening, I obtained a lodging for the night 
 in a native hut ; and when I awoke next morn- 
 ing and saw, by the light which penetrated 
 through the wicker-work of which the hut was 
 formed, that there were suspended over my head 
 bows and arrows, spears, greegrees, fetish, and 
 other implements of war and superstition, I 
 felt as I had never done before, that I was indeed 
 in a heathen land. I took a lonely walk by the 
 river side, and if ever I prayed in my life I 
 prayed then, that God would have mercy upon 
 this people, and make my coming among them 
 the beginning of good days to them and their 
 children. Nor was this prayer offered in vain, 
 as subsequent events proved. 
 
 On the occasion of this my first visit to 
 Macarthy's Island I spent two Sabbaths and the 
 intervening days in preaching to the people, and 
 in collecting information with a view t* ' future 
 operations ; and, by the blessing of God on the 
 
 II 
 
 r 
 
 ;!S_ 
 
 iif 
 
 1'^ 
 
 
64 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 H 1 
 
 means employed, the impression made upon the 
 minds of the natives was such that they were 
 unwilling that I should leave them, till I pro- 
 mised that, if spared, I would i-etui-n and, if 
 possible, bring them a Teaeher, that they also 
 might be taught the Word of God as well as the 
 people at St. Mary's. Having so far accom- 
 plished the object of my journey, I gladly 
 turned my face homeward, and descended the 
 river in a small sloop laden with corn, calling at 
 the native towns on the way, and trying to do 
 good as 1 had opportunity. By the good Pro- 
 vidence of God I reached home in peace and 
 safety, truly thankful for preserving mercies, and 
 especially that my dear partner had been kept 
 in tolerable health and comfort during my 
 absence. 
 
 As the work of the Mission at St. Mary'-'^ 
 proceeded satisfactorily, I should soon have 
 visited Macarthy's again according to promise, 
 but was prevented fi'om doing so by the occur- 
 rence of a very painful event, which for a time 
 made travelling impracticable. This was the 
 sudden and unexpected breaking out of war 
 between the Mandingoes, on the northern side of 
 the river, and the English settlement. This war 
 continued for five months, during which we were 
 
MISSION TO WESTERN AFRICA. 
 
 65 
 
 exposed to much discomfort and many perils ; 
 but as soon as peace was onco more restored to 
 the land, and the country was again open, I 
 commenced my second voyage up the Gambia. 
 On this occasion John Cupidon, a native Teacher, 
 accompanied me ; we took with us school requi- 
 sites, and everything necessary tor the com- 
 mencement of a Mission Station at Macarthy's 
 Island. We ascended the river in the same way 
 as before, calling at the native towns as often as 
 we had opportunity, to make known the glad 
 tidings of salvation to the benighted inhabitants, 
 and to do all the good in our power. On the 
 tenth day of our voyage we reached Macarthy's 
 Island, where we met with a cordial welcome 
 from the people, and began at once to carry out 
 the object of our vist. Having obtained a 
 suitable plot of ground, we proceeded to erect a 
 rude native building to answer the purpose of a 
 place of worship and a school-house, with two 
 small rooms at one end for the Teacher. It was 
 a humble structure, formed of posts planted in 
 the ground, and wattled bamboo-canes, roofed 
 with grass ; but it was the first Christian sanc- 
 tuary ever built in that part of Africa. When 
 finished, it was soon filled with a congregation 
 of humble worshippers on the Sabbath ; and, 
 
 5 
 
 •I' 
 
 !< 
 

 ^ 
 
 ■ 
 
 ; 
 
 66 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 during the week, a goodly number of little black 
 children were collected together for instruction, 
 — a scene never before witnessed in that 
 country. 
 
 After thus hastily organizing this important 
 out-post which I hoped would be the first link 
 in a chain of Stations that would ultimately 
 stretch far into the interior of the vast con- 
 tinent, I committed it to the care of Cupidon 
 and returned to St. Mary's, where I had left my 
 dear wife in charge of the schools, and for 
 whose welfare and safety I felt much concerned, 
 as she was at that time the only European 
 female in the country. Through a kind and 
 gracious Providence I was again allowed to 
 meet her in health and comfort, and we con- 
 tinued to labour during the following year on 
 our principal Station with a cheering measure 
 of success. 
 
 When the new Mission at Macarthy's Island 
 had been established about twelve months, 
 during which the native Teacher had been 
 instrumental in winning souls for Christ, and 
 successful in teaching both children and adults 
 to read the Word of God, I was earnestly 
 requested once more to visit the Station, and I 
 commenced my third voyage up the river 
 
MISSION TO WESTERN AFRICA. 
 
 67 
 
 Gambia. This journey was marked by many 
 interesting incidents, which cannot be here 
 narrated in detail. Suffice it to say, that on 
 reaching the new Station, after a tedious and 
 perilous voyage, I was delighted to behold the 
 great change which had taken place in so short 
 a time. The Sabbath which I spent at 
 Macarthy's Island at this time will never be 
 forgotten. The native chapel was tilled with a 
 congregation of devout worshippers, many of 
 whom had been converted and were ready to be 
 united in Church-fellowship. Believing parents 
 with their children were on that day dedicated 
 to God in holy baptism, and several couples 
 were religiously united in marriage, who had 
 previously been living together in the darkness 
 and degradation of heathenism. In the Mission- 
 school I found children who in the short space 
 of twelve months had learned to read easy 
 lessons in the New Testament Scriptures ; and 
 the people generally had rapidly advanced in 
 knowledge and civilization. 
 
 Having held several delightful services with 
 the people, administered the sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper, regulated the affairs of the 
 infant Church, and given directions to the 
 native Assistant in reference to the carrying on 
 
 :il 
 
 • i 
 
 f 
 
 i-" 
 
68 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIEx^DS. 
 
 • !i 
 
 of the work, I commenced my journey home- 
 ward. On descending the river I was attacked 
 with fever, as I had frequently been before, and 
 suffered much from the want of proper meib'cine 
 and attention, although the little black boy, 
 who waited upon me, did every thing in his 
 power to alleviate my tlistress. At length I 
 reached St. Mary's, thankful to God for His 
 preserving goodness, and that we had succeeded, 
 with His blessing, in planting the standard of 
 the Cross in the distant interior. 
 
 There were several circumstances connected 
 with the establishment of our new station at 
 Macarthy's Island which clearly showed the 
 interposition of Divine Providence on our behalf. 
 Having undertaken this extension of the Mission 
 without waiti*?g for the formal sanction of the 
 Committee in London, I was not without my 
 fears as to whether the expense which it in- 
 volved would be allowed. But before I had 
 time to suffer much anxiety on this account, 
 supplies came from a quarter little expected. 
 At an early period I had been requested by His 
 Excellency the Governor to accept the office of 
 Acting Colonial Chaplain, during the absence in 
 England of tliat functionary. The performance 
 of double duty which this arrangement involved 
 
MISSION TO WESTERN AFRIOA. 
 
 69 
 
 was, in that trying climate, very arduous ; but, 
 as compensation, I received half the Chaplain's 
 salary, which enabled me to purchase land at 
 Macarthy's Island, build a native chapel, pay the 
 salary of the native Teacher for the first year, 
 and to hand over the new Station in thorough 
 working order to the Society, without the cost 
 of a single shilling to their funds. When this 
 source of supply was no longer available in con- 
 sequence of the Colonial Chaplain's return to 
 his post, the Lord raised up friends in England 
 to relieve the Society from the expense of carry- 
 ing on the work. A Committer was formed in 
 Southampton, which guaranteed the sum of 
 £500 per annum for five years, for the extension 
 of the Mission to the Foula tribe, which was 
 numerous in that part of Western Africa, and in 
 the welfare of which the members felt a deep 
 interest. Substantial buildings were, moreover, 
 soon erected, chiefly at the expense of the same 
 kind friends, in the place of the frail tenements 
 that we had first put up, and the Mission wavS 
 placed upon a sure and permanent basis. More 
 than forty years have passed away since this 
 humble beginning was made, but ever since that 
 time Macarthy's Island has been a centre of 
 light and influence to all around, and there are 
 
 
 
 
- 
 
 f: ; i 
 
 ll I 
 
 70 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 t! 
 
 
 now nearly two hundred native converts united 
 in Church -fellowship there, who, for their piety 
 and intelligence, would be a credit to any Chris- 
 tian community. 
 
 Whilst the good work was thus advancing at 
 Macarthy's Island, the cause was not less pros- 
 perous at St. Mary's. The congregation and ' 
 school at Bathurst soon recovered from the 
 effects of the Mandingo war, the services at 
 Jollar Town were resumed, and the blessing of 
 God attended the word preached, both in Eng- 
 lish and in Jallotf. The consequence was a 
 considerable addition to the number of our 
 Church members, and a manifest improvement 
 in the moral and social condition of the people 
 generally. The success of our efibrts to train 
 up the rising generation in the way they should 
 go was also cause of gratitude and joy, as it 
 afforded ground of hope for still greater pros- 
 perity in time to come. Our labours had often 
 been prosecuted amid affliction and trials, known 
 only to those whose lot has been cast on solitary 
 stations, in unhealthy climes ; but during the 
 period of our residence at the Gambia, we were 
 frequently cheered by clear indications of the - 
 presence and power of the great Head of the 
 Church, which more than compensated for all 
 our toils. 
 
MISSION TO WESTERN AFRICA. 
 
 71 
 
 For further details of my first Mission, and 
 for ample particulars in reference to the country 
 and the people, — their character, superstitions, 
 and general features, I would refer the reader to 
 a volume entitled " Missionary Labours in 
 Western Africa," &c., published some time ago. 
 In bringing this brief narrative to a close, it 
 may suffice to say that, having been mercifully 
 spared to complete the term of our appointment 
 to the Gambia, we were relieved by the arrival, 
 in April, 1833, of the Rev. William and Mrs. 
 Fox, and the Rev. Thomas and Mrs. Dowe, — one 
 of the Missionaries to take my place at St. 
 Mary's, and the other to occupy the new Station 
 at Macarthy's Island. When we had seen our 
 successors comfortably settled, I and my dear 
 wife embraced the first favourable opportunity 
 of returning to England, our health and strength 
 having become considerably impaired by 
 repeated attacks of fever. We had often been 
 brought to the verge of the grave, and as often 
 raised up again to declare the goodness of God 
 and to prosecute our beloved labours. We em- 
 barked for our native land, truly thankful that 
 our lives were spared whilst so many had fallen, 
 and hoping that when our health should be 
 recruited we misrht be allowed to labour in some 
 
 
 •'; ) 
 
 I 
 
 < 
 
72 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 other part of the Mission field, which hope wa« 
 happily realized. Other devoted labourers suc- 
 ceeded us at the Gambia in after years, besides 
 those already named, many of whom, alas ! fell 
 in the glorious enterprise ; but their reward is 
 with the Almighty. There has been ample 
 evidence from time to time that the faithful 
 servants of God were not permitted to labour in 
 vain, or to spend their strength for nought. It is 
 to be hoped that many souls won to Christ 
 through our humble instrumentality in Western 
 Africa will be our joy and the crown of our 
 rejoicing in the day of the Lord. Encouraged 
 by this feeling, we proceeded to other scenes of 
 hallowed toil, trusting m the promised presence 
 and blessinor of Him who had hitherto been our 
 never-failing Friend and Saviour. 
 
 " Let us in life, in death, 
 
 Thy steadfast truth declare, 
 And publish with our latest breath 
 Thy love and guardian care." 
 
 H'' 
 
 
V. 
 
 BUBNTNG OF THE " TAN JORE." 
 
 IN the early records of the Wesleyan Mission- 
 ary Society, we notice many striking 
 instances of the special providence and watchful 
 care of the Almighty over His servants in times 
 of imminent peril. Of the numerous instances 
 which might be given none excited more interest 
 at the time it occurred, than the burning of the 
 " Tanjore " East Indiaman, when almost in sight 
 of her destined port, with two Missionaries on 
 board, who, with many others, narrowly escaped 
 the fire. 
 
 The beautiful ship " Tanjore " sailed from 
 Gravesend for India on the 19th of May, 1820, 
 with the Rev. James and Mrs. Mowat and the 
 Rev. Elijah Hoole on board, who had b'^en 
 appointed to preach the Gospel to the heathen 
 at Bangalore. The young Missionaries were 
 highly favoured in having for their fellow- 
 
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 I 
 
 1(1 
 
 74 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 passenger Sir Richard Otley, who had been a 
 steadfast friend to Missions in the West Indies, 
 and who was now proceeding to Ceylon to fill a 
 high judicial situation in that country. Sir 
 Richard acknowledged himself to be unspeak- 
 ably indebted to one of our Missionaries in the 
 island of Grenada for havinjj <]:uided him to 
 a clearer knowledge of the way of salvation 
 than he ever realized before ; and in token of 
 his gratitude, as well as from the spontaneous 
 promptings of a naturally benevolent heart, he 
 was ever ready to show kindness to the faithful 
 servants of the Lord. There were also on board 
 as passengers Mr. and Mrs. Browning, of the 
 Church Missionary Society ; and two Singhalese 
 converts, who had been educated in England 
 under the care of Dr. Adam Clarke, and who 
 were now returning to their native land. 
 
 Nothing very particular occurred during the 
 principal part of their passage out, which occu- 
 pied between three and four months, and which 
 is stated to have been " very pleasant and 
 agreeable." It was when the voyage was almost 
 completed that the sad calamity was experi- 
 enced. On Sunday morning, the 3rd of Sep- 
 tember, they made the Island of Ceylon, to the 
 eastward of Point de Galle. Not beins able to 
 
 \ I 
 
BURNING OF THE " TANJORE." 
 
 76 
 
 reach the port, the wind and the current being 
 against her, the gallant ship steered for Batti- 
 caloa. On Tuesday, the 5th, she came to anchor 
 off the river, and landed Sir Richard Otley and 
 suite, Mr. and Mrs. Browning, and the other 
 Ceylon passengers. On the following da}" about 
 noon, after landing the last of the luggage, and 
 finishing her business with the port, the 
 " Tanjore " weighed anchor, and stood away for 
 Madras ; the Missionaries, Messrs. Mowat and 
 Hoole, feeling keenly at parting with Sir 
 Richard and their other friends, in whose com- 
 pany they had spent so many happy days. 
 They seem to have had a strange presentiment 
 that the pleasantest part of the voyage was 
 ended, which, indeed, proved to be the case. 
 
 The ship left Ceylon with a light breeze and 
 fine weather, but at sunset the sky had assumed 
 a threatening appearance, and, as a precaution, 
 the captain gave orders to shorten sail. About 
 seven o'clock heavy squalls commenced, with 
 rain and vivid lightning, far surpassing any- 
 thing which the passengers had ever witnessed 
 in England. About half -past eight, while some 
 were at supper, and others retiring to rest, the 
 noble ship was struck with lightning and imme- 
 diately set on fire. The consternation caused 
 
 
 
 
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76 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
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 by an event so appalling in its nature, and so 
 sudden and unexpected in its occurrence, may 
 be more readily imagined than described. The 
 captain and crew used every exertion to 
 extinguish the flames, which first appeared in 
 the main hold ; but as the fire and smoke 
 increased in all directions, and indications 
 showed themselves of the ship being on fire in 
 almost every part, orders were issued for the 
 boats to be got ready. With considerable diffi- 
 culty, the men succeeded in hoisting out the 
 yawl, which was stowed in the long-boat ; and 
 other preparations were made for leaving the 
 burning vessel with all possible haste. The 
 confusion which ensued no words could paint. 
 The vessel was all on ftre below, and sent forth 
 at the hatchways a volume of heat and smoke 
 that was almost suffocating. The darkness of 
 the night, relieved only by vivid flashes of 
 lightning — which had already proved fatal to 
 two of the seamen — added to the general terror. 
 The flames soon took hold of the long-boat and 
 rendered it useless. The only other boat avail- 
 able was a small one for four oars on the 
 larboard quarter. At length this was lowered ; 
 and, with great difficulty, the passengers and 
 seamen made their way over the side of the 
 
BURNING OF THE " TANJORE. 
 
 77 
 
 vessel through the smoke and flames, which 
 were now burning out on all sides. 
 
 So rapid was the progress of the conflagration 
 that there v/as no time to secure many articles 
 which were desirable. A binnacle, a compass, a 
 tin case containing the ship's papers and a lx)x 
 of dollars which was in the cabin, were all that 
 was saved. An attempt was made to obtain a 
 little fresh water and bread ; but the violence 
 of the flames made this impossible. Except the 
 two sailors who were killed by the lightning, all 
 the ship's company, forty-eight in number, got 
 into the boats, every soul being obliged to leave 
 the vessel to save his life. Unfortunately there 
 were only three oars for the two boats, and no 
 rudder to the largest one. By and bye they 
 secured several pieces of wood, of which they 
 made paddles as substitutes for oars, and 
 obtained candle sufficient to give them light till 
 daybreak. Having done everything practicable 
 in the circumstances, they moved off* as best 
 they could ; but the death from which they 
 were attempting to escape still threatened them. 
 For the wind, changing several times, together 
 with the force of the current, drifted the vessel 
 after them ; and obliged the boats frequently to 
 alter their course, to avoid being run down by 
 
1 
 
 78 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 the burning ship, which seemed to pursue them 
 like a thing of life. When thus tossed on the 
 mighty deep in open boats, exposed to the most 
 imminent danger, the necessity and importance 
 of true religion was acknowledged by all ; and 
 the Missionaries, whose confidence and courage 
 were unshaken, were earnest and incessant in 
 their spiritual counsels and in their supplications 
 to the Almighty that He would be pleased to 
 interpose on their belialf. 
 
 At length the b* >* succeeded in getting a 
 considerable distance from the burning vessel ; 
 and through that oloomy night the people on 
 board contemplated, witli peculiar feelings, the 
 awfully grand spectacle which was before them. 
 When the conflagration was at its height, it 
 illuminated, with a strange lurid glare, the sur- 
 rounding sea for several miles. About ten 
 o'clock they saw the main and mizzen masts fall 
 overboard with a trem.endous crash ; and in 
 half an hour afterwards the foremast followed, 
 nor was the fire extinguished till four o'clock on 
 the following morning. After pulling inces- 
 santly all night, on the return of daylight land 
 was discovered at a distance, — a circumstance 
 which filled every heart with gratitude and joy. 
 
 The prospect of reaching the shore in safety 
 was truly cheering ; for the whole party, having 
 
BUBNING OF THE " TANJORE." 
 
 79 
 
 been obliged to make their escape so precipi- 
 tately, were in poor plight with respect to 
 clothing, and ill prepared to endure p^ tracted 
 exposure on the open sea. There was but one 
 person among tliem who was at all decently 
 dressed ; and the pitiful, not to say hidicrous, 
 appearance of the rest might have excited a 
 smile in other circumstances. About seven 
 o'clock A.M. thev discovered a native boat off the 
 shore ; and, by a diligent use of their oars and 
 paddles, about ten o'clock they came up with 
 her, and the whole party were taken on board. 
 It was now ascertained that Trincomalee was 
 only sixteen miles away ; and as all were nmch 
 fatigued and ahnost exhausted, it was considered 
 best to steer for that place, and so get on shore 
 with as little delay as possible. An arrange- 
 ment was accordingly made with the master of 
 the native boat ; and, in the mean time, the 
 shipwrecked voyagers refreshed themselves by 
 partaking of a mess of cocoanuts and milk, the 
 only food which was to be had. 
 
 About eight o'clock on the following morning, 
 September the ^>th, being in sight of the Trin- 
 comalee flagstaff, with a contrary wind which 
 kept them from entering the port, the chief 
 officer was sent on shore to report the occurrence 
 and the situation of the Missionaries and their 
 
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 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS, 
 
 fellow voyagers. On receiving the intelligence 
 about noon, Mr. Upton, the Commissioner of the 
 Government Dockyard, immediately sent off 
 boats to land the whole party. Having literally 
 " suffered the loss of all things," and escaped 
 from the burning ship with nothing but what 
 they happened to have on at the time, the 
 Missionaries landed in a miserable plight. Poor 
 Mrs. Mowat was without bonnet, or anything of 
 her own to cover her, and Mr. Hoole was with- 
 out a hat ; but they were truly thankful for 
 life, and rejoiced to be permitted »>o set their 
 feet on the shore of India, after such a remark- 
 able interposition of Divine Providence on their 
 behalf. They were kindly received by the Rev. 
 Messrs. Carver and Stead, the Missionaries at 
 Trincomalee, who promptly supplied them with 
 a few necessary garments, and did everything 
 in their power to promote their comfort. After 
 resting a few days they proceeded to Madras, 
 and ultimately to their appointed Stations, 
 where they entered upon their Missionary 
 labours in the spirit of their Divine Master. 
 
 It is pleasing to be able to add that these two 
 earnest servants of God were spared for many 
 years after this affecting incident, and were 
 honoured to render important service in the 
 cause of Christ both at home and abroad. 
 
BURNING OF THE " TANJORE. 
 
 81 
 
 two 
 
 lany 
 
 rere 
 
 the 
 
 toad. 
 
 After labouring faithfully for nine years in 
 India, Dr. Hoole returned to England ; and 
 occupied, with credit to himself and advantage 
 to the cause, the honourable position of General 
 Secretary to the Wesleyan Missionary Society 
 for the long period of thirty-eight years, being 
 highly respected and esteemed by all who knew 
 him. He tinished his course with joy, in Lon- 
 don, on the 17th of June, 1872, in the seventy- 
 fifth year of his age. Mr. Mowat also returned 
 home after an honourable service of ten years 
 in the East, and was spared to labour with 
 acceptance and success in several English 
 Circuits. In 1862 he retired as a Super- 
 numerary ; and, at the present writing, although 
 very feeble, he still lives, much beloved by his 
 friends and brethren, and calmly waiting the 
 summons of the Master to join the company of 
 those who have gone before to take possession 
 of the better land. How diversified are the 
 dealings of God with the children of men ! and 
 yet all His w^ays are marked by wisdom and 
 goodness and mercy and love. 
 
 " With even mind thy course of duty run : 
 God nothing does, or suffers to be done, 
 But thou wouldst do thyself, if thou could.st see 
 The end of all events as well as He." 
 
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 VI. 
 
 EARTHQUAKE IN THE ANTIGUA 
 DISTRICT. 
 
 ONE of the most disastrous earthquakes 
 ever known in the West Indies in 
 modern times, and one which involved the 
 Mission Stations in the largest amount of loss 
 and suffering, occurred in Antigua and neigh- 
 bouring islands on Wednesday, the 8th of 
 February, 1843. A few brief extracts from the 
 communications of the Missionaries will show 
 in some measure the nature and extent of this 
 dire calamity. 
 
 Writing from Augusta, a few days afterwards, 
 the Rev. H. Cheesebrough gives the following 
 account of what happened in that island : " At 
 twenty minutes before eleven o'clock, on W^ed- 
 nesday morning, the 8th instant, Antigua was 
 visited by a dreadful earthquake. The business 
 of the District Meeting had closed the day 
 before ; some of the brethren had already left 
 
EARTHQUAKE IN ANTIGUA DLSTRICI- 
 
 83 
 
 I 
 
 .■ 
 
 irds, 
 ring 
 '" At 
 Ved- 
 was 
 Iness 
 day 
 left 
 
 us, and others were in the acx of bidding us 
 adieu, when the Mission-house began to reel 
 beneath our feet. This was attended bv those 
 indescribable subterranean noises which usually 
 accompany violent earthquakes. We stood look- 
 ing at each other ;n mute astonishment for a 
 moment ; but finding the motion lasting and 
 getting worse, we rushed into the streets, where 
 we were joined by hundreds of persons running 
 together from all parts of the town, pale with 
 fear, and rending the air with their cries, 
 prayers, and lamentations. At this moment I 
 looked at our fine large chapel, which shook like 
 a leaf, and then gave way ; all the upper parts 
 of the building descending first, and being 
 instantly followed by the hewn stones which 
 form the facing of the front. Simultaneously 
 with this sad event there arose clouds of dust 
 from every part of the town ; and the crash of 
 falling buildings was heard, blended with the 
 piercing shrieks of the people, and accompanied 
 by that horrid heaving and trembling of the 
 earth beneath our feet, which awakened a 
 general apprehension that we were all about to 
 descend into a common grave. But God had 
 mercy on us, and restrained the power of the 
 mighty agent, after it had been at its work of 
 ruin aboufc two minutes and a half. 
 
 i 
 
 
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 (I 
 
 84 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 I 
 
 On the dust 
 
 saw the 
 
 leaving away w 
 extent of the mischief which had been wrought. 
 Almost every piece of masonr^^ in St. John's is 
 in ruins. The parish church is totally destroyed. 
 All the stone-built stores and dwellings are 
 either entirely level with the ground, or left in 
 such a state of dilapidation as to require imme- 
 diate demolition in order to public safety. Our 
 noble Ebenezer chapel is so far injured that it 
 is doubtful whether it can ever be used as a 
 place of worship again. Our Parham chapel is 
 not much injured ; but the Mission-house is 
 seriously damaged, and the out-buildings and 
 fences are all down. The Willoughby Bay 
 chapel, a large stone building, is totally ruined, 
 and the Mission-house is also much injured. 
 English Harbour chapel is damaged, but not 
 much, being a wooden structure. The Bolan's 
 chapel is level with the ground, and the Mission- 
 house is so far injured as to be incapable of 
 repairs. Sawcotts is badly injured ; and the 
 Point chapel, St. John's, will require extensive 
 repairs. 
 
 " Our desolations are great, but not so great 
 as God's mercies. Ho hath shaken the earth 
 terribly, and made of the city a heap; yet, 
 amid an overthrow so general, not more than a 
 
EARTHQUAKE IN ANTIGUA DISTRICT. 
 
 85 
 
 few lives have been lost. He has taken our 
 property, but preserved the souls of the im- 
 penitent from going down to perdition. May 
 the deep religious impressions which appear to 
 have been made result in the unfeigned repent- 
 ance and salvation of all the people ! The 
 Mission families are all safe. We were separ- 
 ated from our children, but God took care of 
 them ; and when we found them they had 
 narrowly escaped destruction by the falling of 
 the chapel, but were unharmed. To God be all 
 the praise ! We have taken refuge in a small 
 house of two rooms, the one we previously 
 occupied being untenable. We have held 
 prayer-meetings in different parts of the ^own, 
 and on Sunday we shall worship God imder the 
 broad canopy of heaven." 
 
 Writing from St. Kitt's the Rev. James Cox 
 oays : " On that fatal da}^ Wednesday, February 
 8th, we left Antigua, having closed our business 
 the preceding evening. The last service held 
 in that chapel I shall never forget. Mr. Hors- 
 ford preached to a large congregation on Col. 
 iii. 4. The brethren and their wives then united 
 in partaking of the sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper ; a custom we have always observed in 
 this District on the eve of our separation. The 
 
 
 
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 86 
 
 SKETCHES FEOM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 overshadowing presence of the Lord was felt in 
 our midst, and we separated, uncertain of ever 
 assembling again on earth, but in joyful antici- 
 pation o^ a reunion in heaven. At a quarter 
 past eight next morning our vessel, containing 
 the Montserrat and St. Kitt's Missionaries, was 
 under weigh. The day was beautifully clear. 
 Not a cloud wa^ io be seen on the Montserrat 
 or Anticrua ; whe/i at twenty minutes before 
 eleven o'clock, vm f^HX the earth quake ! Our 
 vessel trembled mi4 e;r4s0^ed in evf;ry timber ! 
 It lasted more than * MiiMii# ; Mid if so violent 
 on the sea, we feared liiMli for tho, land Lurid 
 smoke covered Montser/at inmediaielv, and 
 some parts of Antigua. Our capta'a exclaimed, 
 'See the cloud of smokf on Ouadaloupe, — a 
 volcano 1 ' On MtWm^ at Montserrat, about 
 four hours afterwar^'j^, we heard dismal tidings 
 of cliffs falling, li/>u»eH r#oi, 4W»tates prostrated, 
 four lives lost, otir Mission property seriously 
 injured, &c. Aftor l«r»/lini^ Mr. TiOggatt and 
 family, and Mr Hawkins, we hastened away to 
 our own Circuit, to know what had befallen us 
 here. The moon shone in silvery brightness, 
 smiling on the sct'ie of desolation. O how 
 grateful to God did we feel on learning the 
 comparative esca|>e we had iiad here 1 for, 
 
EARTHQUAKE IN ANTIGUA DISTRICT. 
 
 87 
 
 ?>n 
 
 though our island has suffered, it is nothing 
 compared to Antigua. While several stone 
 buildings have been thrown down in Basseterre, 
 and others fractured and seriously injured, it is 
 with unfeigned gratitude that I am enabled to 
 report that our large chapel, though slightly 
 cracked above the arch of each window, is not 
 seriously damaged, and its state excites no 
 alarm. This is the case also with our chapels at 
 Palmetto Point, Old Road, and Sandy Point. 
 This is a most serious dispen.sation for the 
 District; but we Mibmit. 'Thy will be done!' 
 ' Clouds and darkness are ar.. ad about Him : ' 
 but He is good, infinitely good, still. Such a 
 tremendous vi-sitati-^n has ne' er been known in 
 these islands before. We are endeavouring; to 
 improve it." 
 
 In reference to Nevis, the Rev. J. Pilcher, 
 after describing the sudden, hollow, rumljling 
 sound with which the earthquake commenced, 
 says: "Putting my hand up«m our m»wly- 
 arrived brother Steele, I said, ' This is an earth- 
 quake ! thinking it would be over in a second 
 or two ; but, no! it increased in violence; and 
 I instantly proceeded to my wife and children, 
 who were in the sitting-room. We hastened 
 out of the house as soon as possible, scarcely 
 
 
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 88 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 
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 able to keep upon our legs ; and when we got 
 out, 0, what a scene ! The roar, the trembling, 
 the awful rocklnor to and fro, the fallinor walls 
 and chimneys, boards literally thrown off the 
 pile, the general cry, especially of our two 
 hundred school-children, in the school, altogether 
 beggars description. Thank God, not a hair of 
 our head is injured ! Though greatly shaken, 
 we are well. 
 
 "As soon as we had a little recovered we 
 hastened to look to our premises ; which, we 
 are thankful to say, though injured, are not 
 irreparably so. Happily for us, neither the 
 new stone-house nor the new stone-chapel were 
 finished, or they must have come down. In 
 town the destruction of property is consider- 
 able ; nor is it less in the country. The earth 
 opened in several places ; but there has l^een no 
 sinking. Our poor chapel at Gingerland is all 
 but down : nothing saves it but the new addi- 
 tion in course of erection. I fear it must come 
 down. The chapel at Newcastle is rent and 
 shattered, but I do not yet know to what extent. 
 Thank God that the earthquake occurred in the 
 daytime, that we were here, and that no life 
 was lost ! On the fearful morning many ran to 
 the chapel ; and at twelve o'clock we had public 
 prayers, and also at night. On Wednesday we 
 
Earthquake in ajs'tiqua district. 
 
 89 
 
 e 
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 intend holding a day of humiliation and prayer ; 
 and we trust that God will hear and save us. 
 O that this visitation' may be sanctified to the 
 awakening of sinners I But how are we to build 
 our waste places, seeing our people are so im- 
 poverished, and our financial resources cut off? " 
 
 Other Missionaries besides Mr. Pilcher made 
 similar inquiries, and appealed to the Missionary 
 Committee for help to rebuild or repair the 
 chapels destroyed or injured by the earthquake. 
 
 The appeal was promptly and cheerfully 
 responded to, and, although the damage done to 
 Mission property in the Antigua District 
 amounted to more than £10,000, assisted by the 
 friends of the cause in England, the Committee 
 were in a position to make such grants in aid as 
 enabled the Missionaries and their people to 
 repair the waste places of Zion, and the work 
 of evangelization in all the islands proceeded as 
 before. Thus did Divine Providence work in 
 wisdom and goodness, for the defence of •His 
 servants and for the accomplishment of His 
 purposes of mercy, in a manner far beyond the 
 expectations of the most sanguine. 
 
 " Far, far above thy thought 
 His counsel shall appear, 
 When fully He the work hath v.Tought 
 That caused thy needless fear." 
 
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 ■:;■■;,; VII 
 
 THIRST IN THE DESERT. 
 
 WHEN Dr. Livingstone returned from his 
 famous journey across the Continent 
 of Africa in 1856, he recommended the estab- 
 lishment of a Mission among the Makololo, an 
 interesting tribe on the banks of the Zambesi. 
 An expedition was planned and equipped accord- 
 ingly by the London Missionary Society, and 
 the enterprise was undertaken with a hopeful 
 prospect. The young Ministers and their wives 
 sent out by the Society for this special work 
 were as fine a Mission party as ever landed on 
 the shores of Africa, and I have a vivid recol- 
 lection of a ofrand social meetinn: which was 
 held in Cape Town to welcome them to the 
 Cape of Good Hope, and of happy personal 
 intercourse with them for several weeks previous 
 
THIRST IN THE DESEHT. 
 
 91 
 
 to their departure for the interior. But prom- 
 ising as was the prospect of the Makololo 
 Mission in its commencement, there ultimately 
 fell upon it a series of trials, difficulties, disap- 
 pointments, afflictions, bereavements and dis- 
 asters which have scarcely a parallel in the 
 history of the propagation of the Gospel in 
 heathen lands. Passing over the incidents of 
 the earlier stages of their long and weary 
 journey which were marked by almost constant 
 suffering and privation, we propose, in this brief 
 sketch, to view their position in the desert far 
 beyond the colonial boundaiy, and to indicate 
 what they endured from the w^ant of water, in 
 addition to other untoward circumstances. 
 
 Mrs. Helmore, the wife of the senior Mission- 
 ary, who had previously had considerable 
 experience in African Mission work, writing to 
 her sister in England gives the following touch- 
 ing account : 
 
 " We are expecting rain this month, and are 
 longing for it as those only can long who have 
 travelled through a dry and parched wilderness 
 where no water is. Our poor oxen were at one 
 time four, and at another five, da3^s without 
 drinking. It was quite painful to see how tame 
 they were rendered by thirst : they crowded 
 
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 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 around the waggons, licked the water-ca&ks, and 
 put their noses down to the dishes and basins, 
 and then looked up to our faces as if asking for 
 water. We suffered very much ourselves from 
 thirst, being obliged to economize the little we 
 had in our vessels, not knowing when we should 
 get more. Tuesday, the 6th instant, was one of 
 the most trying days I ever passed. About 
 sunrise the poor oxen, which had been dragging 
 the heavy waggons through the deep sands 
 during the night, stopping now and then to 
 draw breath, gave signs of giving up altogether. 
 My husband now resolved to remain behind 
 with one waggon and a single man, while I and 
 the children and the rest of the people went 
 forward with all the oxen, thinking that we 
 should certainly reach water before night. We 
 had had a very scanty supply the day before : 
 the men had not tasted drink since breakfast 
 till late in the evening. We divided a bottleful 
 among four of them. There now remained five 
 bottles of water. I gave my husband three, 
 and reserved two for the children, expecting 
 that we should get water first. It was a sor- 
 rowful parting, for we were all faint from 
 thirst, and of course eating was out of the 
 question. After dragging on for four hours, the 
 heat obliged us to stop. 
 
TTimST TN THE DESERT. 
 
 "The poor children continually asked for 
 water ; I put them off as long as I could, and 
 when they could be denied no longer, doled the 
 precious fluid out a spoonful at a time to each 
 of them. Poor Selina and Harry cried bitterly. 
 Willie bore up manfully, but his sunken eyes 
 showed how much he suffered. Occasionally I 
 observed a convulsive twitch of his features, 
 showing what an effort he was making to 
 restrain his feelings. As for dear Lizzie, she 
 did not utter a single word of complaint, nor 
 even ask for water, but lay all day on the ground 
 perfectly quiet, hi.v lips quite parched and 
 blackened. Ab(»ut sunset we made another 
 attempt and got on about five miles. The 
 people then proposed going on with the oxen in 
 search of water, promising to return with a 
 supply to the waggon, but I urged their resting 
 a little and then making another attempt, that 
 we might if possible get near enough to walk 
 on to it. They yielded, tied up the oxen to 
 prevent their wandering, and lay down to sleep, 
 having tasted neither food nor drink all day. 
 None of us could eat. I gave the children a 
 little dried fruit, slightly acid, in the middle of 
 the day, but thirst took away all desire to eat. 
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 after a desperate effort not to cry, asked me if 
 he might go and drain the bottles. Of course 
 I assented, and presently he called out to me, 
 with much eagerness, that he had ' found some.' 
 Poor little fellow, it must have been little 
 indeed, for his sister Selina had drained them 
 already. 
 
 " The water being long since gone, as a last 
 resource, just before dark I divided among the 
 children half a teaspoonful of wnie and water, 
 which I had been reserving in case I should feel 
 faint. They were revived by it, and said, ' How 
 nice it was,' though it scarcely allayed their 
 thirst. Henry at length cried himself to sleep, 
 and the rest were dosing feverishly. It was a 
 beautiful moonlight night, but the air was hot 
 and sultry. I sat in front of the waggon, unable 
 to sleep, hoping that water might arrive before 
 the children awoke on another day. About 
 half -past ten, I saw some persons approaching ; 
 they proved to be two Bakalahari, bringing -a 
 tin canteen half full of water, and a note from 
 Mrs. Price, saying that having heard of the 
 trouble we were in from the man we had sent 
 forward, and being themselves not very far from 
 water, they had sent us all they had. The sound 
 of water soon roused the children, who had 
 
THIBST IN THE DESERT. 
 
 95 
 
 tried in vain to sleep ; and I shall not soon 
 forget the rush they made to get a drink. I 
 gave each of the children and men a cupful, and 
 then drank myself. It was the first liquid that 
 had passed my lips for twenty-four hours, and 
 I had eaten nothing. The Bakalahari passed 
 on, after depositing the precious treasure, saying 
 that though they had brought me water they 
 had none themselves. They were merely passing 
 travellers. I almost thought they were angels 
 sent from heaven. All now slept comfortably 
 except myself ; my mind had been too much 
 excited for sleep. And now a fresh disturbance 
 arose ; the poor oxen had smelt the water, and 
 became very troublesome ; the loose cattle 
 crowded round the waggon, licking and snuffing, 
 and pushing their noses towards me, as if beg- 
 ging for water. At two o'clock I aroused the 
 men, telling them that if we were to make 
 another attempt to reach the water no time was 
 to be lost. They were tired and faint, and very 
 unwilling to move ; but at last they got up and 
 began to unloose the oxen, and drive them off 
 without the waggon. I remonstrated, but in 
 vain; they had lost all spirit. 
 
 In the course of the following day the sufferers 
 were supplied with a more ample stock of water 
 
 
w 
 
 
 
 96 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 by their friends Mr. and Mrs. Price, the junior 
 Missionary and his wife, who were in advance 
 of them, and who had providentially met with 
 a small fountain. The first supply was brought 
 in a calabash on the head of a native servant 
 girl, who had walked with her precious burden 
 four hours. Then came a pack-ox with two 
 kegs of water, and at length the whole Mission 
 party reached the fountain, where they were 
 joined by Mr. Helmorc, who had been left 
 behind in the desert, and they all united in 
 sincere thanksgiving to Almighty God for 
 having once more graciously interposed on their 
 behalf. 
 
 The "perils in the wilderness" of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Helmore, wdth their dear children, who 
 were veterans in African Mission work, and of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Price just arrived from England, 
 did not terminate here. They nobly pushed 
 forward through every difficulty to their destin- 
 ation in the Makololo country, where they wore 
 one after another smitten down with fever, till 
 in a few short months they were all laid in their 
 graves in the interior of Africa, with the excep- 
 tion of Mr. Price, who was alone spared to 
 return to the Cape Colony to tell the mournful 
 story. The feelings of this bereaved Mission- 
 
THIRST IN THE DESimT. 
 
 07 
 
 ary, as he wended his solitary way towards the 
 nearest Station, after having laid the remains 
 of his beloved wife in her lonely grave in the 
 desert, all the rest having died some time before, 
 may be better imagined than described. But 
 he was Divinely sustai •< : in his sorrow, and, 
 possessing the heart of a true ambassador of 
 Christ, when the Makololo Mission had failed 
 through these and other adverse circumstances, 
 he nobly turned his attention to other heathen 
 tribes in the interior of Africa, among whom he 
 still labours as a faithful Missionary of the 
 Cross. Little did I think, when I took leave of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Helmore, and their children, and 
 of dear Mrs. Price, on their departure for the 
 interior, that they would so soon be numbered 
 with the silent dead, and that I should see them 
 no more in this world. I hope to meet them in 
 heaven, where the conflicts and sufferings of 
 earth will be known no more for ever. " They 
 shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more." 
 (Rev. vii. 16.) 
 
 *' Tiiere we shall see His face, 
 And never, never sin ; 
 There from the rivers of His grac« 
 Drink endless pleasures in." 
 
 
VIII. 
 
 REVIVALS ON MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 ! 1: 
 
 \\\ 
 
 WHEN the self-denying Missionary, or 
 those who went before him, have 
 laboured loner and faithfully in the Lord's vine- 
 yard, it is truly delightful to look forth and to 
 behold " the fields white unto the harvest." 
 And it is still more pleasing to see the precious 
 grain gathered in, and the beautiful figure fully 
 realized in the accession of faithful living mem- 
 bers to the Church of Christ, through the 
 regenerating power of the Gospel. From 
 peculiar circumstances it has sometimes hap- 
 pened that the faith and patience of the 
 Missionary have been severely tried by the 
 absence of any specific and tangible results 
 after years of unwearied toil ; but when the 
 first visible fruit appears the man of God 
 
 i ii 
 
REVIVALS ON MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 99 
 
 the 
 jrod 
 
 rejoices as one who has found great spoil. Many 
 touching incidents, illustrative of this, nught be 
 given ; but it may be more to the point to take 
 a brief but general view of times of refreshing 
 with which some portions of the Mission field 
 have been visited. 
 
 At an early period of the Wesleyan Mission 
 to the West Indies the work assumed the char- 
 acter of a continuous unbroken revival of true 
 religion. Without any particular excitement or 
 outburst of feeling, beyond evident manifesta- 
 tions of half -suppressed emotion under the 
 influence of the word preached, sinners were 
 convinced and led to seek the Saviour at almost 
 every service. Scarcely a week passed on some 
 Stations without inquirers being gathered into 
 the Classej, and added as probationers to the 
 Church of Christ. This was the case especially 
 after the emancipation of the slaves, when in 
 the course of a single year more than a thous- 
 and new members joined the Society in one 
 Circuit in which I laboured. The joy with 
 which my dear colleagues and I ministered to 
 attentive and attached congregations in the 
 West Indies during those years of special bless- 
 ing and unparalleled prosperity, left an impres- 
 sion upon the mind never to be obliterated. 
 
 3 
 
<**>'*»»'i'»*gfmtKgfmf^it0f» 
 
 il ! 
 
 100 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 f ■ 
 
 ^- f 
 
 i; > 
 
 In the Friendly Islands also a very remarkable 
 revival of religion occurred in 1834, which 
 greatly cheered the hearts of the Missionaries 
 who had been toiling for several years without 
 seeing much fruit of their labours. It broke 
 out on Tuesday, the 23rd of July, while a Native 
 Local Preacher was preaching in Vavau at a 
 village named Utui. The word came with such 
 power that the whole congregation was moved 
 to tears. All confessed themselves to be sinners ; 
 and many cried aloud for mercy. They were 
 unwillmg to leave the place v/ithout a blessing 
 and actually rem.inded together most of the 
 night in humble prayer and supplication ; and 
 many of them before morning found peace in 
 believing. On the following Sabbath, at another 
 village similar results followed the ordinary 
 services of the day. Five hundred persons, the 
 whole of the inhabitants of the place, from the 
 least to the greatest, joined in earnestly seeking 
 salvation. The Missionaries and a few of their 
 faithful people who had been praying for the 
 outpouring of the Spirit and the conversion of 
 souls were amazed. They had asked largely ; 
 but God had given them more than they asked 
 or hoped to witness. In a single day during 
 this movement there is reason to believe that 
 

 REVIVALS ON MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 101 
 
 more than one thousand souls were truly con- 
 verted to God. King George and his Queen 
 Charlotte, who were then staying at Vavau, 
 were among the saved, and were ever afterwards 
 exemplary Christians and faithful workers in 
 the Lord's vineyard. 
 
 The revival soon spread to Haal)ai and Tonga 
 and to the whole of the Friendly Inlands, and 
 there was a general turning unto the Lord. The 
 Rev. Charles Tucker, who was then stationed at 
 Lifuka, gives the following account of the com- 
 mencement of the work there : " As soon as the 
 service began on Monday morning the cries of 
 the people began. They were melted into tears ^ 
 on every hand, and many of them cried aloud 
 by reason of the disquietude of their souls. O, 
 what a solemn but joyful sight ! One thousand 
 or more bowed before the Lord, weeping at the 
 feet of Jesus, and praying in an agony of soul. 
 I never saw such distress, I never heard such 
 cries for mercy, or such confession of sin before. 
 These things were universal from the greatest 
 chiefs in the land to the meanest of the people. 
 The Lord heard the sighing of the prisoners, 
 He bound up many a broken-hearted sinner in 
 that meeting, and proclaimed liberty to many a 
 captive. We were filled with wonder and grati- 
 
 
102 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 ii 
 
 tude, and lost in praise, on witnessing the Lord 
 making bare His arm so gloriously in the sight 
 of the heathen. We met again about nine 
 o'clock, and had a siii)ilar scene ; hundreds wept 
 aloud, and many trembled from head to foot, as 
 though they were about to be judged at the bar 
 of God. We were engaged the whole day in 
 this blessed work. I attended five services, and 
 saw hundreds of precious souls made happy by a 
 sense of the Saviour's love. There never was 
 such a Sabbath ; it was indeed one of the days 
 of the Son of Man. Many will remember it 
 with pleasure througliout eternity, as the day of 
 their adoption into the heavenly family. During 
 the following week the concern of the people 
 was so great that they laid aside their work. 
 We had service twice every day but once, and 
 the chapel was always full. It was a week of 
 Sabbaths and of much prayer and praise. Not 
 a day or a night passed but some were dis- 
 burthened of their load of guilt and sin » by 
 believing with their hearts unto righteousness.'* 
 The result of this glorious revival in the 
 Friendly Islands, and of the faithful labours of 
 the Missionaries generally, was the conversion 
 of thousands of precious souls to God, the entire 
 overthrow of idolatry, and the subjugation of 
 
REVIVALS ON MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 103 
 
 of 
 
 the whole group to the authority of Christ, so 
 that now an idol is not to be found in the land, 
 and the population are all nominally, and a large 
 proportion of them really, Christians. 
 
 In 18GG a gracious outpouring of the Holy 
 Spirit was vouchsafed in Southern Africa, where 
 the Missionaries had been sowing the good seed 
 of the kingdom for many years, hoping and 
 praying for a glorious harvest. The chief 
 instruments in the hands of God in bringing 
 multitudes of both colonists and natives to 
 religious decision were the Rev. Wm. Taylor, an 
 earnest American Missionary, who was on a visit 
 to the country, and Charles Pamla, a devoted 
 Native Evangelist. The meetings held by these 
 two eminent servants of God in various parts of 
 Albany, Kaftraria, and Natal, supported by the 
 resident Missionaries, were seasons of wonderful 
 spiritual power and blessing ; and it was esti- 
 mated that nearly eight thousand souls were 
 brought to a saving knowledge of the truth in 
 the short space of seven months. Nor were 
 the results of this movement transitory. Ten 
 months after Mr. Taylor had left the country 
 the Rev. Peter Hargreaves, writing to him from 
 Clarkebury, bears the following testimony to 
 the permanency of the work : " Here we have 
 
 t 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
I \ammmturw 
 
 ■-^ 
 
REVIVAr.S (IN MISSION ST ATKINS. 
 
 io:> 
 
 o 
 
 1-4 
 
 s; 
 ((< 
 
 n 
 
 H 
 O 
 
 o 
 xn 
 
 o 
 
 H 
 cfl 
 
 I— < 
 
 » 
 
 auundant cause to remember your visit, and to 
 feel j]fratefnl for the ' showers of blessing ' which 
 accompaniiMl and followed your faithful and 
 zealous labours among us. Grace has made a 
 great and happy change in the moral and mental 
 habits of the people around us. The blessed 
 revival of rolioion did not cease when you left 
 US. It continued, and continues even to this 
 day. When it C(mimenced there were scarcely 
 one hund.red persons meeting in (.^lass on this 
 Station ; now we have more than four hundred 
 and sixty persons in Society with us." Another 
 Missionary says : " We rejoice over the souls 
 brought to God when you were here, as those 
 who have found great spoil. Heathenism then 
 received a great shock, and a few more would 
 make the powers of darkness tremble to their 
 foundation." 
 
 In the months of July and August, 1809 
 special services were held in several of the 
 Wesleyan Circuits of the South Ceylon Dist ict, 
 which likewise resulted in the gathering of 
 many precious souls into the fold of the 
 Redeemer. An interesting account was pub- 
 lished at the time. At Kandy " thirty-five 
 persons professed to receive a sense of God's 
 pardoning love : of these ten were Singhalese. 
 
 ^ 
 
^' ■ "^ a s m t i tmsfjiSfJime mS 
 
 106 
 
 8KETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 >^ 
 
 i 
 
 At a band-meeting held on the Sunday follow- 
 ing about forty persons stood up and spoke of 
 what God had done for their souls." In another 
 Circuit at one of the services, "fourteen souls 
 tasted of the joys of salvation." After another 
 meeting it was found that " seven others, includ- 
 ing a Buddhist, had experienced a saving 
 change." At another place " every house was 
 open for Prayer-meetings, and seventy-five per- 
 sons were made to rejoice in knowing that God 
 for Ciirist's sake had pardoned their sins." From 
 another Station it was reported : " Ten persons 
 have found Jesus, and one or two Buddhists 
 have joined the Society." At Pantura there 
 were " sixty-six persons who found peace in one 
 week." At Galle there were "seventeen peni- 
 tents, of whom twelve obtained the blessing." 
 A Love-feast on the Monday following concluded 
 the services, at which " fourteen spoke, giving a 
 clear testimony as to their acceptance with God." 
 The special services .^t Matura were also said to 
 have been " very successful." 
 
 Nor should we forget or under-estimate the 
 great and wonderful changes which have been 
 effected by the faithful preaching of the Gospel 
 and the successful training of the rising genera- 
 tion in the knov.dedge of God's holy Word, in 
 
REVIVALS ON MISSION STATIONS. 
 
 107 
 
 countries where revivals of religion have been 
 unattended by outward demonstrations of deep 
 feeling. In Tahiti, Fiji, Madagavscar, and other 
 places, after long nights of toiling, and waiting, 
 and watching, the day dawned and the light of 
 Divine truth shone upon tens of thousands who 
 were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of 
 death, to the unspeakable joy and delight of the 
 faithful men who had so long and so faithfully 
 laboured in those parts of the Mission field. 
 
 We can testify from experience that the suc- 
 cess of the enterprise in all or in any of its 
 forms is a source <.-f unspeakable joy to the 
 Christian Missionary. When we have discovered 
 unmistakable signs of religious impressions in 
 individual seekers of .salvation, a-nd still more 
 when we have seen multitudes gathered into 
 the fold of Christ, and our places of worship 
 filled with happy joyful Christians, won by the 
 power of the Gospel from the territories of 
 heathendom, we have felt our hearts glow with 
 a joy more elevated and more pure than that of 
 any earthly conqueror, and have been more than 
 compensated for all the trials and conflicts which 
 attended the work in its earlier stages. This 
 joy has been enhanced by the confirmation of 
 our faith in the truth of prophecy and the 
 
1 
 
 108 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 approach of the time when it will be said, " The 
 kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms 
 of our Lord and of His Christ; and Ho shall 
 reign for ever and ever." (Rev. xi. 15.) - 
 
 " Jesus shall reign where'er the sun • 
 
 Doth his successive journeys run ; 
 His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, 
 Till suns shall rise and set no more." 
 
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 ms 
 
 
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 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 IX. 
 AN IDOL PUT TO GOOD USE. 
 
 YOU have often heard, dear children, of 
 Serampore, where Dr. Carey, Dr. Marsh- 
 man, and Mr. Ward laboured. 
 
 Many converts lived in the town and neigh- 
 bourhood, and were accustomed to worship at 
 Serampore. But many others lived in villages 
 more distant, and only came into head(j[uarters 
 upon special occasions, and when extraordinary 
 services were to be held. Then the Christian 
 brethren and sisters held pleasant fellowship 
 together, and the kindness and hospitality of 
 the converts in the town towards the strangers 
 from the country were very great indeed. 
 
 Among the converts in Serampore there was 
 a man named Narayana and his wife Lutchmee, 
 who, in the days of their ignorance, were accus- 
 
^usaa 
 
 SSS9BCI 
 
 if" 
 
 i 
 
 
 X 
 
 i 
 
 y' 
 
 ll 
 
 ' 
 
 110 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 turned to worship Juggernaut, whose festivities 
 at Pooree used to be celebrated with so much 
 blood and cruelty. Their household deity was 
 called after this gigantic murderer, and was kept 
 in the interior of their dwelling, and received 
 their domestic worship and offerings. As soon 
 as they were converted to Christ, and felt the 
 power of his love, the question with Lutchmee 
 was, " What shall we do with Juggernaut ? " 
 " Oh," said Narayana, " I have got a place for 
 him." " Where will that be ? " said his wife. " I 
 mean," said Narayana, " to dig a hole in the 
 garden, and plant him there as a scarecrow to 
 frighten away the birds and the fowls from the 
 grounds, and defend its produce from their dis- 
 honest propensities." 
 
 Well, Juggernaut was planted accordingly, and 
 performed his business well, and gained much' 
 credit in driving away the crows and other 
 birds from the rice-grounds, and in preserving 
 tlui crops to be gathered into the garner. - 
 
 But, on one of the occasions to which I have 
 alluded, many converts from the country stations 
 were expected, and as Narayana was very hospit- 
 able, he said to Lutchmee, " Come, dear, to-morrow 
 is to be a high day, and we must entertain a 
 good many brethren and sisters. I should like 
 
ler 
 mar 
 
 tve 
 )ns 
 
 )W 
 
 ke 
 
S i 
 
 i ;, 1 
 
 
 4 
 
 if: 
 It 
 
 - .--f. 
 ' 1 
 
 i 
 
 112 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 twenty at least to come and dine with us, and 1 
 hope you are well prepared to give them a 
 feast." " Well," said Lutchmee, " there is rice 
 enough and curry enough and vegetables enough, 
 but there is very little firewood with which to 
 cook the food, and I must look to you, Narayana, 
 to find more." " Oh," said the husband, " we 
 shall not want for that Here is old Juggernaut 
 in the garden ; I shall pull him up and chop him 
 to pieces, and he will make a capital fire to make 
 the pot boil." So he went and pulled up the 
 idol, and Juggernaut was turned into firewood, 
 and did good service in cooking the rice for the 
 Christians' dinner. 
 
 I cannot but hope and pray that the old, cruel, 
 and monstrous idol who is worshipped at Pooree, 
 and who delights in the blood of his victims, 
 will one of these days meet with a similar fate ; 
 but are there no Juggernauts amongst ourselves 
 who deserve to meet with the same destruction ? 
 Have you not heard of old Self, and gfasping 
 Mammon, and furious Bacchus, and raging Pride, 
 whose devotees are under a yoke as galling and 
 as cruel as those of the heathen deity, and to 
 deliver us from whose power and despotism it 
 well becomes us to cry to the living God : — 
 
AN IDOl, I'UT To (iOOI) USE. 
 
 113 
 
 ion? 
 
 Tlie clearest idol I have known, 
 
 Wliatu'er that idol be, 
 Help me to tear it from Thy throne, 
 
 And worship only Thee ! 
 
 That was a very good use to make of Jugger- 
 naut ; but let ine tell you of another idol, and 
 how he was used in a good service. 
 
 After livinor a long; time among: Hindoos, and 
 returning from India, a military gentleman and 
 his lady brought over a number of idols, and 
 among them a very large one, whom we shall 
 call Krishna-swaiaee. After their settlement at 
 Freshwater, in the Isle of Wight, they put their 
 residence into beautiful order. Norton Cottage 
 was the name of the house. The grounds were 
 green and verdant, and the gardens abounded 
 wdth fruit and flowers. A summer-house in the 
 distance thev determined should be ornaniented, 
 and should serve a missionary purpose. What 
 do you think was done with the idols ? They 
 were ranged in a row, and Krishna-swamee — the 
 laige idol — stood in front and held a missionary- 
 box, on which the words in large capitals were 
 engraved, as though they were his own effusion, 
 " Pity the poor heathen." Visitors were taken 
 to see the gardens, and the museum, and Krishna- 
 swamee was a v(}ry efficient collector for the 
 8 
 
•r-: 
 
 ', I 
 
 i i 
 
 
 ni 
 
 114 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 Missionary Society. A ministerial friend who 
 once beheld this scene was so much taken with 
 the arrangement that he wrote the following 
 verses on the use to which the idol was appro- 
 priated : — 
 
 AN IDOL WELL EMPLOYED. 
 
 Aha ! an idol god ! why ihis is moving ! 
 
 The world, at length, must surely be improving, 
 
 When such a thing as this, an utter folly, 
 
 Can be devoted to a use so holy. 
 
 Scarcely should we have dreamt, thouglit, or asserted, 
 
 That idol gods themselves could be converted.' 
 
 'Tis something new to hear an idol preaching, 
 A metal god, now lecturing, now beseeching ; 
 Yet sure I hear this say, '* While some men slumber, 
 And care not for the heathen without numl)er, 
 E'en stocks and stones themselves arise and pity, 
 And idol gods proclaim the mournful ditty ! 
 
 Stand, Krishna, stand, and help the cause of Jesus, 
 For in no other service canst thou please us ; 
 Continue with both hands to hold the basket — ' 
 The cause wants help, and you can ably ask it ; 
 A face of brass, a never-tiring pleader, 
 Is well employed for Christ, our glorious Leader. 
 
 If idols can thus be turned to use in the 
 missionary cause, what may you not do, my 
 dear children, you who have eyes to weep, and 
 
who 
 with 
 wing 
 ppro- 
 
 AN IDOL PUT TO QOOD USE. ' 115 
 
 If QnsT t ^'' ^P^"' "^ '^^^ advancement 
 of Christ s kingdom ? Let me entreat you to 
 
 pray with all fervour and importunity firtl 
 con™, of the heathen and ',he . tabHshmen^ 
 of Christ s cause m every land, till every heathen 
 emple IS destroyed, and Christ's name i exaltid 
 throughout the earth ! 
 
 -1, 
 
 the 
 , my 
 , and 
 

 X. 
 
 A REMARKABLE CONVERSION. 
 
 THE year 1835 was very memorable in 
 Bangalore and in the Madras Presidency 
 for a spiritual revival both among Europeans 
 and among the natives. As the Germans as well 
 as the Americans began to look for missionary 
 fields in India, the society at Basle sent out 
 four of their brethren to the western coast, and 
 appointed them to labour at Mangalore. That 
 district was Canarese, like the Mysore, and what 
 was the first movement of these brethren thus 
 settled in Canarese territory ? It was to appoint 
 their senior missionary, Mr. Hebic, to visit our 
 mission at Bangalore, to consult with us on the 
 best plans to be adopted, and how difficulties 
 are to be overcome, and what our experience 
 was in our undertaking. I never met with any 
 
A REMARKABLE CONVERSION. 
 
 117 
 
 in 
 acy 
 ans 
 well 
 lary 
 out 
 and 
 hat 
 hat 
 hus 
 oint 
 our 
 the 
 llties 
 nee 
 any 
 
 man to whom God had so much granted the gift 
 of bringing home the truth to every man's con- 
 science as in the siglit of God, as to Mr. Hebic. 
 It mattered little to him whetlier he met his 
 neighbour on V)oard of sliip or on the shore, 
 whether in the way or in the lumse, whether at 
 home or abroad, he felt under the necessity of 
 addre.ssing him on his eternal interests. He 
 became quite a lion at Bangalore. Dear Chris- 
 tian friends used to come in their carriages to 
 take him to visit their worldly friends and 
 acquaintances, for what purpose ? That they 
 might not only have the pleasure of introducing 
 him to them, but tliat he might have the oppor- 
 tunity of speaking plainly and faithfully to 
 them on the concerns of their souls. It was, in 
 reality, ''A house to house visitation^' as pro- 
 posed under the present revival. 
 
 After breakfast and family prayer we were 
 sitting together convei'sing about mission aftairs, 
 when I thought I heard the sound of a carriage 
 coming in the distance. I looked out and recog- 
 nized it to be the carriage of our superintending 
 surgeon. "Here is a gentleman coming to visit 
 me, Mr. Hebic, with whom I have often con- 
 versed on the concerns of his immortality, but 
 I am afraid he is still a very self-righteous man 
 
•mam 
 
 u« 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIEIJ)«. 
 
 Now, I should Hko to leave bini alone with you 
 this inoniing, and J hope your conversation will 
 he blest to his soul." In came the doctor. I 
 introduced him to Mr. Hebic. " How do you 
 do, sir ? " said the missionary. " Thank you," 
 replied the doctor, " I am much better since my 
 return from the Neilgerry Hills," where he and 
 his family had been on a visit for the sake of 
 his health. "Ah!" said the missionary, "it is 
 but compai'ativiily little to be well in the body ; 
 I should like to know how you are in the soul* 
 " Well, sir," replied the doctor, " I am afraid I 
 can say little about that matter, Mr. Hebic." 
 The Bible was lying upon the table. " Why 
 not ? " said Mr. Hebic ; and laying his hand upon 
 the Bible, " Do you believe this Bible to be the 
 Word of God?" "Yes," replied the doctor, 
 " but if it be a divine revelation, I am sometimes 
 inclined to wonder why it has not been circu- 
 lated all over the world before this time." 
 " Well," said the missionary, " leaving that 
 objection for the present, do you believe this 
 Bible to be the Word of God ? " " Yes," replied 
 the (ioctor, but brought up some other objection 
 that was evidently rankling in his mind. " I 
 shall leave you," I .said, "for the present, and 
 hope you will enjoy your convei*sation," and I 
 retired to the library for a time. 
 
A REMARKART.R TON VERSION. 
 
 119 
 
 tion 
 
 "I 
 
 land 
 
 Id I 
 
 I 
 
 In about half an hour or less I heard there 
 were signs of our good doctor taking his depar- 
 ture. I went out to bid him "good-bye," and 
 see him into his carriage. " Have you heard the 
 news," said he, " of this morning, Mr. Campbell ? " 
 " No, sir," I replied ; " what is it, doctor ? " " The 
 races, you know, commenced yesterday morning." 
 "Yes," I replied. "Well, the horse of Captain 
 B was to run the first race. This gentle- 
 man, given up to sporting and to amusements of 
 all kinds, became possessor of the prize. Amidst 
 his triumph and prosperity he was so uplifted 
 with joy that there was a rush of blood to hi.'i 
 heart, and he fell in a fit upon the ground. He 
 was carried in great distress to his home, and he 
 is dead this moining. But alas I Mr. Campbell, 
 it was such a dreadful death ! I have never 
 witnessed such a scene ! " " Ah, doctor," I said, 
 " we must, sir, be prepared to die. Just think 
 of that poor man yesterday morning on the 
 race-course, exulting in his sports ; but where is 
 his soul to-day ? We must, my dear sir, we 
 must be prepared to meet our God." The doctor 
 acquiesced in the truth of the remarks, and bade 
 me farewell. 
 
 On my return to the hall, there was Mr. Hebic, 
 who was now joined by two missionary brethren, 
 
120 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 'I- 
 
 , 
 
 holding up 1 > hands, and was exdaiming, " Who 
 among you will go with nie, and pray for this 
 poor infidel ! " " Oh ! " said I, '' not so bad as 
 that, Mr. Hebic." " Do you know," said the 
 missionary, " I have not met with such an infidel 
 before. Now, it is declared in th" Scriptui-e 
 by our Lord himself, ' Verily I say unto you, if 
 two 01 you agree upon anything that they will 
 ask, it will be done to you by my Father who 
 is in heaven.' Here is just a case in point. 
 Who of you will go with me and pray for this 
 man ? " "I shall go with you. Brother Hebic," 
 I replied ; and we went into the library, and 
 poured out our hearts unitedly and severally 
 that God would extend his mercy to this un- 
 believer ; that He would convince him of the 
 evil of sin, and the necessity of being born again 
 of the Spirit ; that He would bless, to the 
 impression of his mind, the convereation which 
 had been held with hiin that day ; that He 
 would dispel those horrid doubts and frightful 
 delusions which seemed to have obtained a pre- 
 dominance over his mind ; and that He would 
 not leave him till He had brought him to the 
 foot of the cross, and to the foot of the throne ! 
 We left him in the hands of a merciful Creator. 
 Mr. Hebic very soon returned to Mangalore 
 
:lie 
 ich 
 He 
 
 ' 
 
 ' 
 
 A REMARKABLE CONVERSION. 
 
 121 
 
 and I very soon embarked for England. I had 
 only been at home a few months, when at Clap- 
 ham, as a deputation preaching for the Missionaiy 
 Society, 1 met with a yomig friend whom I left 
 behind me at Bangalore, who was numbered 
 among the pious officers of that day, but who 
 had just returned to his home. Very long and 
 very interesting that morning was our conversa- 
 tion about Bangalore, and about those special 
 interests and friends whom we had left behind. 
 In due course, up came the names of Dr. and 
 Mi*s. Underwood. " Have you anything," I 
 asked, " to tell me about them ? " " What," he 
 replied, " have you not heard ? " " No ; not a 
 word since I left thu station." "Oh!" said he, 
 " the good people are all rejoicing at the mercy 
 and grace which God has shown to them ; their 
 conversion has been most striking and remark- 
 abhj ; every one is filled with praise and thanks- 
 giving to God for their deliverance and their 
 decision ! Th(.y who were once so worldly and 
 so carnal, to have bv3Come so devout and spiritual ; 
 they who were so penurious and so illiberal, to 
 have become so kind and benevolent ; and they 
 who were once such stumbling-blocks to many 
 ^j have become such strong and zealous sup- 
 porters of the faith, is really the joy and 
 
li 
 
 
 
 
 122 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 rpjoicing of all." "Thank God," I replied; "is 
 this true that I hear from you ? I, too, rejoice 
 and give - praise to the Lord." This was the 
 physician on behalf of whom Mr. Hebic and 
 myself had poured forth our supplications, and 
 who now with his lady had become the subject 
 of Almighty and regenerating grace. 
 
 
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 XI. . 
 
 LITTLE BENOMfi. 
 
 mHE method of capture and the treatment of 
 A Airican slave-children is touchingly illus- 
 trated by the story of little Benomg, a liberated 
 African g,rl, as related by herself many yearn 
 afterwards, wheu an inmate in the writer's 
 tannly as a free domestic servant. 
 
 Benom^ was bom in the interior of Africa, at 
 a place called Radda, in the Elo country. When 
 about seven yeai-s of age, she went one morning 
 with another little giri to the well for water, and 
 on lookmg round they saw a neighbouring 
 vdlag^e on fire. This was evidence of the ap 
 proach of a slave-hunting party, of which there 
 had been some rumour before. The girls ran 
 home and reported what they had seen ; and the 
 people of Radda, knowing what to expect, fled 
 
124 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 ijit 
 
 into the woods for safety, cherishing a faint hope 
 that their enemies might perhaps pass up the 
 country in another direction. It was not long, 
 however, before they saw their own village on 
 fire, and were themselves pursued by the merci- 
 less man-stealers. Little Benome, with her 
 mother, brother, and elder sister, together with 
 others, were captured by the ruffians, tied to- 
 gether two and two, and marched off towards the 
 coast like a flock of sheep for the market, whilst 
 nothing was heard on every hand but mourning* 
 lamentation, and woe. 
 
 The sufferings endured by the poor captives 
 while travelling through the deseit, as related by 
 little Benome, were distressing in the extreme. 
 On coming to a large river which crossed their 
 path, the sister of Benome was one of the last to 
 ford the stream, being occupied with a little child 
 which she carried in her arms. Annoyed with 
 her delay, the cruel monster in charge of the 
 slaves came and snatched the infant from the 
 arms of its mother, and threw it into the jungle, 
 where it was left to perish ; and with oaths and 
 curses urged the poor captives onward in their 
 march. After travelling for several weeks in 
 succession, they came in sight of the " great salt 
 water," which they beheld with dismay, know- 
 
 
LITTLE BENOME. 
 
 125 
 
 
 
 mg well that they were to be carried beyond the 
 foaming billows to some unknown country. 
 When they reached the coast, all the little people 
 were sold to a certain " black lady," by whom 
 they were kept for a length of time, till they 
 were considered old enough for the foreign 
 market. They were then resold, and shipped for 
 the West Indies. 
 
 Long before the period of embarkation, little 
 Benome had been separated from her mother, 
 sister, and brother, whom she was never again 
 permitted to see in this world. When the vessel 
 in which they sailed got out to sea, according to 
 the account of Benome, the slave children were 
 occasionally allowed to come on deck to dance 
 and " straight their legs." One night, when they 
 had finished their exercises and gone below, be- 
 fore they went to sleep, they heard strange noises 
 on deck, with the trampling of feet, and the 
 firing of guns, the meaning of which they were 
 at first unable to comprehend. Next morning, 
 however, the hatches were removed, and wlien 
 the slaves looked up from the hold in which they 
 were confined, they saw several strangers, 
 " gentlemen with fine blue coats and caps, with 
 shining gold lace and bright buttons." These 
 were the officers of the British man-of-war who 
 had captured the slaver during the night, and 
 
126 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 I 
 s ^1 
 
 ■. : ■ 
 
 who called upon the negroes to come up on deck, 
 assurinff them that they were now all free. 
 
 The liberated slaves were brought to the 
 Island of Trinidad, where the writer laboured as 
 a missionary, and where little Benome was intro- 
 duced into his family to be trained in knowledge 
 and industry, by an arrangement with the Gov- 
 ernment authorities. The little negro girl soon 
 learned to read and write a little, became pious, 
 was baptized by the name of Betsy, and grew up 
 an affectionate, honest, and industrious servant. 
 She continued with us for nine years, till we re- 
 turned to England, after which she faithfully 
 served other missionaries till her marriagfe in 
 1854. She never forgot the kindness shown to 
 her in her youth, and occasionally sent us letters 
 full of affection and love, telling us how her first- 
 born son was called " William " after her dear 
 old master, and her little daughter Jane, after 
 her loving mistress. In 1873 we 'received a 
 letter from her bereaved husband, informing us 
 that Betsy had died in peace, June 12th, 1872, 
 leaving him wdth one son and two daughters, one 
 of whom also wrote a beautiful letter, which 
 showed not only that she had been taught to re- 
 member her mother's benefactors, but also that 
 she had received a good education in the mission- 
 school. 
 
 
I 
 
 XII. 
 
 NEGRO WITCHCRAFT. 
 
 WHEN Christian Missionaries first entered 
 upon their labours in the West Indies, 
 tliey found the negro sUives, to wlioni they were 
 more especially sent, in a very low and degraded 
 condition. In addition to the gross ignorance 
 and stupidity which was no doubt the result of 
 their long-continued bondage and oppression, 
 they had brought with theui from Africa many 
 suj)erstitious notions and usages, which proved 
 serious barriers to their relimous instruction. The 
 principal of these was a species of witchcraft 
 known as obeism and myalisra. Connected with 
 these was a practice of numerous foolish and 
 senseless magical rites, ceremonies, and incanta- 
 tions, by professed obei-men, the influence of 
 which on the popular mind was extensive and 
 powerful. These systems of witchcraft were em- 
 ployed avowedly to revenge injuries, and as a 
 
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 128 
 
 SKETCHES FROM MISSION FIELDS. 
 
 protection against theft or disease, &c., and were 
 almost identical with fetish sm practised on the 
 west coast of Africa. The materials employed, 
 after they had been consecrated by various 
 magical rites, were generally a calabash or gourd 
 containing pieces of rag, cats' teeth, parrots' 
 feathers, toads' feet, egg-shells, fish bones, snakes' 
 teeth, lizards' tails, and such like. These were 
 hung on trees in the gardens, or attached to the 
 doors of the parties against whom the spells 
 W', re directed. Terror and dismay inmiediately 
 seized the individual who first beheld this ar^-ay 
 of well-known rubbish for the practice of obeism, 
 and when he regarded himself as the victim, he 
 would frequently give himself up to a feeling of 
 fear and despondency, and pine away till he died, 
 from the influence of imagination, if poison was 
 not secretly administered through the agency of 
 the obei-man to hasten his death, which it is 
 feared was often the case. We have sometimes 
 known a whole village or estate, where the gos- 
 pel had been but recently introduced, thrown into 
 confusion by the discovery of obei-matter, and it 
 has required our utmost influence to induce the 
 people to resume their work and attendance on 
 divine worship. In proportion as the people be- 
 come spiritually enlightened these superstitious 
 notions lost their influence, and died away. 
 
md were 
 I on the 
 nployed, 
 various 
 or gourd 
 parrots' 
 , snakes' 
 se were 
 i to the 
 spells 
 ediately 
 is ari*ay 
 obeism, 
 3tim, he 
 eling of 
 he died, 
 ^on was 
 ency of 
 3h it is 
 (letimes 
 :he gos- 
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 ice the 
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