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 OGICAL 
 

LIFE AND LABOURS 
 
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 OF 
 
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 ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D„ 
 
 MISSIONARY IN SOUTH AFRICA, 
 
 WITH 
 
 ADDITIONAL CHAPTERS ON CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN 
 AFRICA AND TUROUOHOUT THE WORLD. 
 
 BY 
 
 / 
 
 REV. WILLIAM WALTERS. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, 
 
 530 BROADWAY. 
 
PHI 
 
 
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 ^HRISTIAN" Foreign Missions, on the scale and in 
 the manner in which they are now carried forward by 
 the Church of Christ, are characteristic of the nine- 
 teenth century. Among the men sent out to preach the 
 Gospel to the heathen are some of the greatest and best 
 of the age, and some of the most eminent benefactors of 
 the race. A true missionary is one of the world's highest 
 nobles. The Rev. Griffith John, who has been for above a 
 quarter of a century teaching Christianity in China, said 
 the other day: "I look upon the missionary work as the 
 noblest work under heaven ; and I look upon the position 
 of the missionary, though he be the humblest, as the 
 highest and noblest in the world." That is a correct 
 estimate of missionary work and character. 
 
 Kobert Moffat, whose life has been sketched in the follow- 
 ing pages, occupies a place in the front rank of the mission- 
 ary band. His history is a marvellous illustration of the 
 grandeur and power of goodness, and his labours are full of 
 proof of the saving efficacy and civilising effects of the Gospel 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 of Jesus Christ, He still lives among us, having retired 
 from his more active toils to enjoy in his old days the happy 
 recollections of his past useful life, and to look forward \vith 
 all the pleasures of a "good hope" to his heavenly reward. 
 
 It has been thought well to add two chapters — one on 
 African Missions generally, and another on missions through- 
 out the world — as calculated to increase the usefulness of 
 the book and promote the cause to which Dr. Moffat has 
 devoted his life. 
 
 The writer is indebted to many sources for the varied 
 information he has been enabled to collect and present in 
 this volume. While gratefully acknowledging his obliga- 
 tions to all, he would make special mention of " Missionary 
 Labours and Scenes in South Africa," by Robert MotFat ; 
 "Ten Years North of the Orange E-iver," by Rev. John 
 Mackenzie ; and the " Printed Proceedings of the General 
 Conference on Foreign Missions," held in London in October 
 1878. 
 
 WILLIAM WALTERS. 
 
 Tynemovth, March 1SS2. 
 
m^'^: 
 
 ^^S^Ofi/ 
 
 
 CONTENTS. " 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Page 
 First Christian Missions to South Africa — Moravians — Dr. 
 
 Yanderkerap 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Moffat's immediate Predecessors — Condition of the Bushmen - 16 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Moffat's Early Life — Call to Mission Work — Consecration 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 22 
 
 The Missionary's Designation — Departure — Eutmnce on Work — 
 
 Dutch Farmers - r-. *. en, - - - 28 
 
 CHAPTER T. 
 
 Residence at Africaner's Kraal — Discomfort and Loneliness - - 36 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Travelling in the Interior — Lions — Thirst — Eiding on Oxen • 41 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. P^GE 
 
 Scenes in Namaqua Land— Cruelty to the Aged— Mode of Living 48 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 Visit to Griqua Town— Crow and Tortoise— The Orange River — 
 Poisoned Water 54 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 History and Character of Africaner — Africaner and the Dutch 
 Fanner — Africaner at Cape Town — His Death - - - 61 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Bechuana Mission — MofHit's Marriage— Bechuana Tribes and 
 Customs .--70 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Increased Dangers at Lithako — The Rain-maker — Moffat's 
 Courage ..79 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 Invasion of the Mantatees — Kuruman Fountain — Visit to Cape 
 Town 84 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Moffat's Visit to the Chief Makaba — Mrs. Moffat's Danger and 
 Deliverance 91 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 First Years at Kuruman — Locusts — Visit to the Barolongs — 
 Formation of Native Church 97 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Kuruman under the Influence of the Gospel — Houses and Gardens 
 — Sunday at Kuruman — Successes 105 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. PAGE 
 
 Moselekatse and the Matabele — Moffat's Visit to Moselekatse — 
 
 Houses in Trees — Ruined Villages . - - - - 115 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Varied Experiences — Visit to Cape Town — Mamonyatsi— Moslieu 
 
 — A Singing Class 126 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Translations and tlie Printincj Press — Influence of tlie Bible - 131 
 
 CHAPTER XTX. 
 
 Visit to England — Return to Africa — Encouragement - • .149 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 Sechele, Chief of the Bakwena — Kolobeng — Liteyana . - - 155 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 * Second and Third Visits to Moselekatse — Supplies for Living- 
 stone — Liberation of Macheng 164 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Matabele and Makololo Mission — Missionaries Settle among the 
 Matabele — Dreadful Disaster to JSIr. and Mrs. Ilelniorc and 
 Family — Mr. Price's Calamity 177 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Changes at Kuruman — Bereavements — The Station Visited by 
 
 Drought — John Moffat assists his Father — Moffat's Liflucuce 193 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Retirement from the Mission Field — Port Elizabeth — Cape Town 
 
 — Welcome Home 203 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. page 
 
 Fruitful and Honourable Age — Enthusiastic Recc[ttion in Exeter 
 
 Hall— Testimonial from Friends — Speeches— Magazine Papers 214 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Elements of Character — Philanthropy — Courage — Spirit of Adven- 
 ture — Adaptation to Circumstances — Comprehensive View of 
 his Work — Mechanical Ingenuity — Perseverance — Love for 
 the People — Devotion to Christ 236 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Other African Missions : Wesleyan — Free Church of Scotland — 
 Paris Society — Rhenish Society — Berlin Society — American 
 Board — Society of Friends — Moravians — Universities' Mission 
 — Baptist — Basle — United Methodist Free Church — Missions 
 in Egypt and Central Africa 252 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 General Survey of Missions throughout the World —Progi'ess of 
 Christianity : India, China, Japan, Burmah, Polynesia, Mada- 
 gascar, New Hebrides, New Guinea, West Indies, Ottoman 
 Empire, Indian Archipelago — Testimonies of Travellers — 
 Faith in Missions -------.- 275 
 
LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT^ D.D. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PITIST CHRISTIAN MISSIONS TO SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 |N presenting our readers with a narrative of the life 
 and labours of Robert Moffat, the " Apostle of 
 South Africa," it may be well to devote one or two 
 chapters to some notice of missionary labours in 
 that part of the world prior to his time. 
 
 The honour of sending forth the first Christian missionary 
 to South Africa belongs to the Dutch nation. In 1652 the 
 Cape of Good Hope, which was discovered and doubled 
 by Bartholojiew Diaz, a Portuguese navigator, as early as 
 1486, was taken possession of by Holland, and became a 
 Dutch colony. The whole of the district, afterwards 
 designated the colony proper, was inhabited by Hottentots, 
 a degraded, despised, and oppressed race. Some Christian 
 people in Amsterdam hearing of their sad condition were 
 moved with compassion towards them, and resolved to 
 make an effort to promote their present and eternal welfare 
 
10 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 l»y providing them with the Gospel. They accordingly 
 applied to the Moravian Church to send out a missionary to 
 the Cape, that he might instruct the natives in the Christian 
 religion. 
 
 One George Schmidt, a native of Germany, a man of 
 zeal and courage, offered himself for this service, and in 1736 
 left Europe for Africa. The following year he arrived at 
 the Cape, and ultimately fixed his residence at a desert 
 place on Sergeant's Hiver, about one hundred and twenty 
 miles east of Cape Town, known by the name of Bavian's 
 Kloof, or the Baboon's Glen — a name which was afterwards 
 changed to Gnadenthal, or the Yale of Grace. Here he 
 assembled many of the people, and began a school, which 
 soon numbered fifty children. He also preached the glad 
 tidings of salvation through Jesus Christ ; and though he 
 could only address these Hottentots through the medium of 
 an interpreter, the blessing of God so rested on his labours 
 that in a short time some of his hearers were led to a 
 saving knowledge of the Gospel, and became true Christians. 
 At the same time the general native population regarded 
 him with reverence and affection. The mission appeared 
 likely to prove very prosperous, and was shewing signs of 
 great encouragement, when, in 1743, circumstances com- 
 pelled Schmidt to return to Europe. 
 
 This enforced abandonment of the v/ork was extremely 
 unfortunate. The enemies of religious instruction, both in 
 the mother-country and the colony, exerted themselves to 
 prevent his resumption of it, and their unhallowed efforts 
 were but too successful. The Dutch East India Company, 
 who exercised authority in the colony, actuated by repre- 
 sentations that to instruct the Hottentots would be 
 injurious to colonial interests, refused to sanction the 
 missionary's return to his field of labour. The Church of 
 Holland was in this matter unfaithful to her Lord, and 
 failed in the discharge of her solemn duty, in spite of the 
 
MISSIONS TO SOUTU AFRICA. 11 
 
 earnest representations and entreaties of a faithful few 
 within her pale. The successful opposition to the mis- 
 sionary's departure again for Africa, and resumption of his 
 work there, was all the more distressing to those who 
 sympathised with his noble efforts, because of the intelli- 
 gence which was received of the anxiety with which the 
 Hottentots awaited his return. Patiently they assembled 
 from time to time to edify one another by reading the 
 word of God, and by praying that their eyes might once 
 more see their teacher. Their desires and prayers, however, 
 were in vain. Every attempt to resume the mission was 
 for the time fruitless. 
 
 At length, almost half a century after Schmidt's labours, 
 three other missionaries — Marsveldt, Schwinn, and Kiichnel 
 — were allowed to sail for the Cape. They arrived toward 
 the end of November 1792, and were well received. The 
 place indicated to them as the most eligible for a settlement 
 was the very spot which Schmidt had occupied. Accordingly 
 they hastened thither. On their arrival they found part of 
 the walls of his house still standing, and also several fruit- 
 trees planted by him in his garden; among them was a 
 large pear tree, under whose shade they held their meetings 
 for worship until their new dwelling was completed. At a 
 short distance from the remains of the missionary's house 
 other ruined walls marked the site of the humble cottaires 
 which his affectionate hearers once inhabited. Among the 
 people who came to visit them was an old woman, who, 
 though about seventy years of age, seemed to have a 
 tolerable recollection of her former pastor, and shewed them 
 a Dutch New Testament which he had given her, and 
 which, from its worn condition, appeared to have been in 
 constant use. She had preserved it as a precious treasure, 
 and, although feeble and bending under the weight of years, 
 she expressed her great joy at their arrival to renew the 
 work which had been abandoned so long. This old disciple 
 
12 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 spent her last years in peace at the Moravian station, and 
 amidst many bodily sufferings maintained the character of a 
 true child of God. She died in January 1800, being, as was 
 thought, nearly a hundred years old. 
 
 The Hottentots who had any recollection of Schmidt and 
 his labours, or who had heard of them from others, soon 
 gathered around his successors. A school was opened shortly 
 after their settlement, in which both adults and children 
 received instruction. Their attendance was most regular, 
 and they manifested an eager desire for learning. In the 
 first year seven of them professed Christianity. Many and 
 severe were the trials and distresses of the missionaries ; 
 and they were often threatened by their enemies with the 
 destruction of their goods and with death. But God had 
 them in his safe keeping, so that no harm befel them. The 
 new converts, too, had to encounter much opposition from 
 the Dutch colonists, and even from some of the officials at 
 Cape Town. The following incident is worthy of preserva- 
 tion, and cannot fail to be read with interest. One of the 
 converts, finding that his master wished to prevent Iiis 
 going to the meetings conducted by the missionaries, said to 
 him, "If you will answer for my soul then I will stay." 
 The words arrested the master's attention and pierced his 
 conscience. "I cannot answer," lie replied, "for my own 
 soul, much less for that of another ; " and forthwith he 
 granted the servant full permission to go. In spite of all 
 opposition the work was attended with such success that, in 
 1799, out of about twelve hundred residents at the settle- 
 ment of Bavian's Kloof, upwards of tliree hundred were 
 members of the congregation. The blessed effects of the 
 Gospel were seen not only in the spiritual change of the 
 people, but also in the general and very marked improve- 
 ment of their temporal condition. 
 
 In March 1799, another devoted band of Christian 
 missionaries, sent out under the auspices of the London 
 
MISSIONS TO SOUTH AFRICA. 13 
 
 Missionary Society, landed at Cape Town. The chief of these 
 was the Rev. Dr. Vanderkemp, a native of Holland — a man 
 of distinguished talents and attainments, great courage and 
 decision of character, considerable experience, and heroic 
 self-sacrifice. Having cast his eye over the condition of the 
 Hottentots, he concluded that there was scarcely any pos- 
 sibility of making progress among a people so proscribed by 
 Government, and at the mercy of their white neighbours, on 
 whom they could not look without indignation, as any other 
 human beings would have done under similar circumstances ; 
 he consequently very naturally directed his steps to those 
 who were yet free from these unjustifiable restrictions. 
 Instead, therefore, of settling amongst the Hottentots, 
 Vanderkemp determined to go and preach to the CafFres. 
 In a few months after his arrival he left Cape Town for 
 Caffraria, the chosen scene of his labours. The country 
 through which he and Mr. Edmonds, his companion, 
 travelled was thinly populated, and they experienced 
 many narrow escapes from wild beasts, as well as from 
 Hottentots and Bushmen, of character still more ferocious. 
 ♦They were, however, kindly treated by the colonists 
 through whose farms they passed, and who embraced every 
 opportunity of hearing them preach. After a journey of 
 about eight weeks they reached the borders of Caffraria, 
 and sent an embassy to Gaika, the king of the country, who 
 invited them to settle in his territories. When, however, 
 they arrived at his residence, and explained their object to 
 him, he informed them that they had come at an unfor- 
 tunate time, for disturbances had broken out between the 
 colonists and some of his people, which might expose them 
 to danger. 
 
 The truth of the matter was, that a deadly strife had long 
 existed, and was now bitterly raging, between the Caffres 
 and the colonial farmers. The former were continually 
 making depredations on the farms of the latter, whom they 
 
14 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 regarded as intruders, and stealing their cattle ; while the 
 latter naturally resisted these raids, and fought for the pre- 
 servation of their property. It should be stated that the 
 native chiefs affirmed that they were prompted to their 
 conduct by the example set first, and on a larger scale, by 
 the colonists. Such being the state of affairs, Gaika and his 
 people regarded their new visitors as spies, who had come 
 to try to secure their cattle, and probably get possession of 
 their country. The missionaries found their residence 
 among the people full of inconvenience and peril, and not 
 likely to be productive of much good. Mr. Edmonds soon 
 left, and afterwards proceeded to the East Indies. After 
 remaining a few months longer, Vanderkemp also retired 
 from the country, and settled down to labour among the 
 Hottentots. He wrought hard among these people for up- 
 wards of ten years, not only imparting religious instruction 
 and seeking their salvation, but endeavouring, by practical 
 sympathy with them in their oppression, by publicly expos- 
 ing their wrongs and pleading on their behalf, to lighten 
 their temporal lot. Not content with this sphere of self- 
 sacrifice and toil, he had long contemplated a mission to 
 Madagascar ; and though he was advanced in years, his 
 soul burned with youthful ardour to enter on that difiicult 
 and dangerous undertaking. It was in his heart, but God 
 had ordered otherwise. After a few days' illness he died, 
 in the midst of the Hottentot people, December 15th, 1811. 
 His last words were — "All is well.'' 
 
 Speaking of Vanderkemp's character, Dr. Moffat bears 
 this noble testimony : — " He was a man of exalted genius 
 and learning. He had mingled with courtiers. He had 
 been an inmate of the universities of Ley den and Edinburgh. 
 He had obtained plaudits for his remarkable progress in 
 literature, in philosophy, divinity, physic, and the military 
 art. He was not only a profound student in ancient 
 languages, but in all tlic modern European tongues, even 
 
MISSIONS TO SOUTH AFRICA. 15 
 
 to that of the Highlanders of Scotland, and had distinguished 
 himself in the armies of his earthly sovereign, in connection 
 with which he rose to be captain of horse and lieutenant of 
 dragoon guards. Yet this man, constrained by the love of 
 Christ, could cheerfully lay aside all his honours, mingle 
 with savages, bear their sneers and contumely, condescend 
 to serve the meanest of his troublesome guests — take the 
 axe, the sickle, the spade, and the mattock — lie down on 
 the place where dogs repose, and spend nights with his 
 couch drenched with rain, the cold wind bringing his 
 fragile house about his ears. Though annoyed by the 
 nightly visits of hungry hyenas, sometimes destroying his 
 sheep and travelling appurtenances, and even seizing the leg 
 of beef at his tent door ; though compelled to wander about 
 in quest of lost cattle, and exposed to the perplexing and 
 humbling caprice of those whose characters were stains on 
 human nature — whisperings occasionally reaching his ears 
 that murderous plans were in progress for his destruction — 
 he calmly proceeded with his benevolent efforts, and to 
 secure his object would stoop with the meekness of wisdom 
 to please and propitiate the rude and wayward children of 
 the desert whom he sought to bless. He came from a 
 university to stoop to teach the alphabet to the poor native 
 Hottentot and CafFre — from the society of nobles to associate 
 with beings of the lowest grade in the scale of humanity — 
 from stately mansions to the filthy hovel of the greasy 
 African — from the army to instruct the fierce savage the 
 tactics of a heavenly warfare under the banner of the Prince 
 of Peace — from the study of physic to become the guide to 
 the balm in Gilead, and the physician there — and finally, 
 from a life of earthly honour and ease, to be exposed to 
 perils of waters, of robbers, of his own countrymen, of the 
 heathen, in the city, in the wilderness." "He was little," 
 says another in fewer words, yet not less expressive and 
 true, "behind the cLiefest apostles of our Lord." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 MOFFAT S IMMEDIATE PREDECESSORS. 
 
 E have already spoken of Dr. Vanderkemp and his 
 work, but some mention should be made of the 
 labours of others no less devoted, though perhaps not 
 so distinguished — men whose witness is in Heaven 
 and whose record is on high. While Dr. Yanderkemp and Mr. 
 Edmonds proceeded to CafFraria, three of their companions, 
 Messrs. Kicherer, Kramer, and Edwards, directed their way 
 to the Zak Hiver, between four and five hundred miles north- 
 east of Cape Town. Here they laboured with untiring 
 diligence and zeal among the Bushmen, a degraded race. 
 It is scarcely possible to find a more wretched people among 
 all the tribes of the earth. "With the exception of the 
 Troglodytes, a people said by Pliny to exist in the interior 
 of JSorthern Africa, no tribe or people are surely more 
 brutish, ignorant, and miserable than the Bushmen of the 
 interior of Southern Africa. They have neither house nor 
 shed, neither flocks nor herds. Their most delightful home 
 is afar in the desert, the unfrequented mountain pass, or 
 the secluded recesses of a cave or ravine. They remove 
 from place to place, as convenience or necessity requires. 
 The man takes his spear, and suspends his bow and quiver 
 
MO F Pats iMMEDIA'PE PREDECESSOnS. 17 
 
 on his shoulders ; while the women, in addition to the 
 burden of a helpless infant, frequently carries a mat, an 
 earthen pot, a number of ostrich egg-shells, and a few ragged 
 skins, bundled on her head or shoulder. Accustomed to a 
 migratory life, and entirely dependent on the chase for a 
 precarious subsistence, they have contracted habits which 
 could scarcely be credited of human beings. Hunger com- 
 pels them to feed on everything edible — Ixias, wild garlic, 
 mysembryanthemums, the core of aloes, gum of acacias, and 
 several other plants and berries, some of which are extremely 
 unwholesome, constitute their fruits of the field ; whilst 
 almost every kind of living creature is eagerly devoured — 
 lizards, locusts, and grasshoppers not excepted. The poison- 
 ous as well as innoxious serpents they roast and eat. They 
 cut off the head of the former, which they dissect, and care- 
 fully extract the bags, or reservoirs of poison, which com- 
 municate with the fangs of the upper jaw. They mingle it 
 with the milky juice of the euphorbia, or with that of a 
 poisonous bulb. After simmering for some time on a slow 
 fire it acquires the consistency of wax, with which they 
 » cover the points of their arrows." 
 
 To the above description, supplied by Moffat, we may add 
 the further testimony of Mr. Kicherer, whose opportunities, 
 while living among them, of becoming acquainted with their 
 condition were most ample. " Their manner of life is ex- 
 tremely wretched and disgusting. They delight to besmear 
 their bodies with the fat of animals, mingled with ochre, 
 and sometimes with grime. They are utter strangers to 
 cleanliness, as they never Mash their bodies, but suffer tlie 
 dirt to accumulate, so that it will hang a considerable length 
 from their elbows. Their huts are formed by digging a 
 hole in the earth about three feet deep, and then making a 
 roof of reeds, which is, however, insufficient to keep off the 
 rains. Here they lie close together, like pigs in a sty. 
 They are extremely lazy, so that nothing will rouse them to 
 
IS LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 action but excessive hunger. They will continue several 
 days together without food rather than be at the pains of 
 procuring it. When compelled to sally forth for prey, they 
 are dexterous at destroying the various beasts which abound 
 in the country ; and they can run almost as well as a horse. 
 They are total strangers to domestic happiness. The men 
 have several wives, but conjugal affection is little known. 
 They take no great care of their children, and never correct 
 them except in a fit of rage, w^hen they almost kill them by 
 severe usage. In a quarrel between father and mother, or 
 the several wives of a husband, the defeated party wreaks 
 his or her vengeance on the child of the conqueror, which 
 in general loses its life." 
 
 The labour of the missionaries among these people was 
 beset by many difficulties and discouragements ; and though 
 some were enlightened, and gave evidence of conversion to 
 God, the mission as a whole proved a failure, and the station 
 was at length given up. Mr. Kicherer having visited 
 Europe, found things on his return in a declining state ; and 
 despairing of resuscitating them, he entered the Dutch 
 church, leaving the station in charge of two brethren. The 
 men to whose care it was entrusted, though distinguished 
 by exemplary patience under groat privations and hardships, 
 were at length compelled, in 1806, to retire from the post. 
 On the day of their departure one of them thus writes : — • 
 "This day we leave Zak River, the place which has cost us 
 so many sighs, tears, and drops of sweat; that place in 
 which we have laboured so many days and nights for the 
 salvation of immortal souls ; the place which, probably 
 before long, will become a heap of ruins." 
 
 Not altogether disheartened by the small success among 
 the Bushmen at Zak River, the friends of missions made 
 other efforts to benefit this degraded tribe. In 1814: Messrs. 
 Smith and Corner established a mission at Toornberg, south 
 of the Great River. About five hundred Bushmen took up 
 
MOFFArS IMMEDIATE PREDECESSORS. 19 
 
 their abode with these brethren, and for a time things 
 looked bright and encouraging. The people however be- 
 came suspicious of their teachers. There was strife between 
 the Bushmen and the farmers ;- and though the missionaries 
 endeavoured to be just and impartial in all their conduct, 
 they were regarded by many of the Bushmen as agents 
 employed by the farmers to carry out their purposes and 
 plans. Consequently, while a Christian church was formed 
 and Christian civilisation began to dawn, yet the early 
 promise of success was not fulfilled in the results. Another 
 mission, begun among the Bushmen at Hephzibah, passed 
 through a similar experience. It was extremely difficult for 
 the missionaries to keep themselves clear of the disputes 
 between the aborigines and the colonists, and the evils to 
 which their position exposed them soon proved the means 
 of obstructing their labours and blighting all their hopes of 
 usefulness. At length the Cape authorities issued an order 
 requiring all the missionaries to retire within the borders of 
 the colony, and thus evangelising labours among these wild 
 people ceased. 
 
 Though Zak Kiver, and the other stations formed specially 
 for the benefit of the Bushmen, did not fulfil the desires 
 and expectations of their promoters, yet they served to 
 point the way and become a stepping-stone to other fields 
 which have since yielded an abundant harvest. It was by 
 means of the mission to the Bushmen and Hottentots of 
 Zak Biver that the Namaquas, Corannas, Griquas, and 
 Bechuanas became known to the Christian world. 
 
 As early as 1801 a Mr. Anderson, who had lately arrived 
 at the Zak, set off for the Orange Biver, to make known 
 the Gospel in that district. He had to encounter many 
 difficulties, but succeeded in forming the settlement of 
 Griqua Town, together with a number of smaller stations 
 near at hand, in all of which he introduced a knowledge of 
 agriculture, and established order and obedience to authority. 
 
20 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D,D. 
 
 When the Kev. John Campbell visited this station in 1813 
 he found upwards of two th'^- sand six hundred Griquas 
 and Corannas living n^" ^ aome of whom were members 
 of the church. 
 
 In October 1804, two brothers, Messrs. Christian and 
 Abraham Albrecht, and others, were sent out by the 
 Netherland Missionary Society from Holland to South 
 Africa, and settled in Namaqua Land. The country is 
 described as most destitute and miserable. Moffat says 
 that when he journeyed thither, several years after, he 
 asked a person whom he met on the road, and who had spent 
 years in the country, what was its character and appear- 
 ance. " Sir," the man replied, " you will find plenty of 
 sand and stones, a thinly scattered population, always 
 suffering from want of water, on plains and hills, roasted 
 like a burnt loaf under the scorching rays of a cloudless 
 sun." The truth of this description was soon proved. The 
 inhabitants of the district were a tribe or tribes of Hot- 
 tentots, distinguished by all the characteristics of that 
 nation, which includes Hottentots, Corannas, Naraaquas, and 
 Bushmen. In their native state they were deeply sunk in 
 ignorance, and were disgusting in their appearance and 
 manners ; but their intercourse with such European sailors 
 as had visited them from the western coast, and with other 
 white men professedly Christian, had tended to degrade 
 them lower still. They regarded white men with savage 
 disgust. When Moffat asked one of them why he had 
 never visited the missionary station, his reply was : " I have 
 been taught from my infancy to look upon hat-men (hat- 
 wearers) as the robbers and murderers of the Namaquas. 
 Our friends and parents have been robbed of their cattle, 
 and shot by the hat- wearers." 
 
 The devotion of the Albrechts and their companions to the 
 welfare of these people involved much self-sacrifice, toil, and 
 suffering. Those whom they sought to benefit were, more- 
 
MOFFAT'S IMMEDIATE PREDECESSORS. 21 
 
 over, suspicious of their real motives, and utterly unable to 
 appreciate their philanthropic and Christian zeal. The 
 government authorities at the Cape, instead of affording 
 them hearty encouragement, fettered them with needless and 
 annoying restrictions. Nevertheless, some blessing rested 
 on their efforts. They soon had a considerable number of 
 the natives under their care, whose temporal condition was 
 much improved, and not a few, it is hoped, were converted 
 to God. 
 
 In February 1815, four other missionaries were sent by 
 the London Missionary Society from England to South 
 Africa. The Rev. John Campbell, who had gone out to 
 visit the stations and report on them and on the prospects 
 of missionary work generally in that part of the world, had 
 represented Lattakoo as a proper place for a station. The 
 new comers, after making two unsuccessful attempts to 
 settle at that town, found the king resolutely opposed to 
 the religious instruction of his people ; but at length, after 
 learning that various articles would be sent for the use of 
 himself and his subjects, he mitigated his opposition. They 
 were allowed to build at a new town, about three days' 
 journey from Lattakoo, a commodious place of worship, 
 capable of holding four hundred persons, and a long row of 
 houses, provided with excellent gardens. With the assistance 
 of the Hottentots attached to their service they dug a 
 canal three miles long, by which the whole water of the 
 neighbouring river could be brought into their extensive 
 fields. Still they found the bigoted adherence of the natives 
 to their ancient customs a most powerful barrier in the way 
 both of their civilisation and conversion to Christianity. 
 After all, the seed of Divine truth was not sown by these 
 faithful men in vain. The way was being prepared for 
 that eminent and successful toiler in the same field of whose 
 life and work we begin a record in the next chapter. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Moffat's early life and call to mission work. 
 
 GOTLAND has given to the Church of Christ some 
 of her best men — men who have fought with dis- 
 tinguished bravery in the foremost ranks of the 
 soldiers of the Cross. Of this number Robert 
 Moffat is one. He was born at Ormiston, near Haddington, 
 in Haddingtonshire or East Lothian, in 1795. The county- 
 is distinguished for many things. Here are two battle- 
 fields — Dunbar, Avhere Cromwell defeated the Covenanting 
 army in 1650, and Prestonpans, where the Pretender 
 defeated the Royal troops in 1745. It has long enjoyed, in 
 a special degree, high agricultural fame. It produces from 
 year to year abundant crops of the best turnips and potatoes, 
 rape and clover, and wheat. It has also given birth to 
 some eminent men ; not the least eminent is the veteran 
 missionary Avho is the hero of our pages. 
 
 Though Ormiston was his birthplace, his youthful years 
 were for the most part spent at Carron Shore, near the 
 great Carron Ironworks, about three miles to the east of 
 Ealkirk. Here his father held an appointment in the 
 Customs. The boy was only about twelve years of age when 
 a ship's captain, who was a friend of his father, endeavoured 
 
EARLY LIFE AND MISSION WORK, 23 
 
 to persuade him to become a sailor, and for this purpose 
 induced him to try a taste of sea-life in a coasting vessel. 
 The first trial however was sufficient. A seafaring occu- 
 pation was not to the lad's mind, and he returned to school. 
 When the time came for him to leave school, he felt and 
 expressed a strong desire to study botany and horticulture ; 
 and that his desire might be gratified, and that he might 
 be trained for some useful calling in life, he was apprenticed 
 as a "Scotch gardener." Some time after this his father 
 was removed from Carron to Inverkeithing, in the county 
 of Fife ; and he, going with the family, took service in the 
 Earl of Moray's gardens near that town. After remaining 
 at this post a year he crossed the Tweed (like so many of 
 his calling, for " Scotch gardeners '* are to be found in every 
 county of England and Wales), having accepted an invita- 
 tion to a situation in Cheshire. In this manner God was 
 ordering the plan of his life. He was preparing the way 
 for the circumstances which were to rule the whole current 
 of future years, and He was preparing the man for some of 
 the peculiarities of his life-long work. MofFat filled this 
 'Cheshire situation with credit to himself and satisfaction to 
 his employers for nearly three years. 
 
 The parents of the Scotch youth feared God. The father 
 was such a man as Robert Burns has immortalised in his 
 " Cottar's Saturday Night ; " and his consistent example 
 produced on his son its natural impression and result. It 
 was the mother, however, who took the most pains in im- 
 parting instruction to the lad of a positively religious nature. 
 Like the mother of Timothy, and tens of thousands of 
 Christian mothers since her day, this excellent woman had 
 set her heart upon his knowing from a child the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, believing that they were able to make him wise unto 
 salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus. She used 
 to talk to him about the progress of the Gospel ; and as 
 the labours and hardships of the Moravian Brethren in 
 
24 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D, 
 
 Greenland were at that time exciting much interest, she 
 endeavoured to inform the child's mind and fire his heart 
 with the story of their adventurous mission. When he was 
 about to leave Scotland for Cheshire, she was filled with the 
 deepest concern for his spiritual welfare. She thought of 
 him, removed from the religious restraints and influences of 
 his pious home, exposed perhaps to many temptations ; and 
 having in her mind the truth of the Psalmist's words — it 
 may be the very words themselves — "Wherewithal shall a 
 young man cleanse his way 1 by taking heed thereto accord- 
 ing to Thy word," she earnestly besought him to promise 
 her, before going, that he would read the Bible morning 
 and evening every day. The request he felt to be one of 
 great importance. Conscious of his own weakness, and 
 feeling, probably, a boyish disinclination to commit himself 
 to such a course of daily action, he parried the question. 
 At the last moment she pressed his hand, and looking him 
 full in the face, imploringly said — " Robert, you loill promise 
 me to read the Bible, more particularly the New Testament, 
 and most especially the Gospels — those are the words of 
 Christ Himself, and there you cannot possibly go astray." 
 It was the hour when all his nature was dissolved in filial 
 affection, and he found it impossible to refuse a request 
 thus made by one whom he so dearly loved. "Yes, 
 mother," he replied, " I make you the promise." He knew, 
 as he afterwards said when relating the circumstance, that 
 the promise, once made, must be kept ; and keep it he 
 did, with sacred honour, — not reluctantly, but with a glad 
 heart. 
 
 It was Avhile he was in Cheshire the circumstances 
 occurred which led to his consecration to the missionary 
 cause. One calm summer's eveninc: he was walkinir in 
 an abstracted, meditative mood from High Leigh into 
 Warrington, when, just as he had crossed the bridge, a 
 placard caught his eye. He had never seen one of the kind 
 
EARLY LIFE AND 3{ISSI0N WORK. 25 
 
 before. Two lines (it may have been partly from the size 
 of the type) especially arrested his attention ; they were 
 " London Missionary Society," and " Rev. William Roby of 
 Manchester." These two lines changed, and henceforth 
 dominated, his whole life. He could not move from the 
 spot or withdraw his eyes from the placard. Passers-by 
 may have thought that he was some ignorant youth thirsting 
 for knowledge, and striving, by the aid of these large letters, 
 to learn to read. He saw that the bill was out of date, the 
 meeting announced having been already held, and that 
 therefore he could receive no instruction or influence from 
 its proceedings. But thoughts had been awakened in his 
 mind that could no longer sleep, and he had already started 
 on a new career. The sight of the placard alone had, to 
 use his own expression, " made him another man ; " and 
 between the few hours of his coming to Warrington and 
 returning to Leigh, " an entire revolution had taken place 
 in his views and prospects." The stories his mother had 
 told him concerning the Moravian missionaries, amid the 
 snows and ice of Greenland, were recalled to his memory. 
 ♦He was fired with a noble resolve to emulate their example, 
 and become a messenger of salvation to some benighted part 
 of the world. "^ "A flattering and lucrative prospect, far 
 beyond what such a youth as he could expect," lay before 
 him, but immediately it lost all its attractions. All at 
 once it dwindled into nothingness and vanished out of sight. 
 It was totally eclipsed by the bright prospect of service 
 among the perishing heathen. So thoroughly had the mis- 
 sionary spirit possessed him, that it ruled all his thought and 
 feeling, speech and action. Friends who had both the power 
 and wil] to serve him, who were ready to further his tem- 
 poral interests, when they heard him talk about renouncing 
 every prospect in this country, and going to spend his life 
 among savage tribes, said "his brains were turned," "And 
 so they were," he said, "but the right way." 
 
2G LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 We cannot think of Moffat's decision for a missionary- 
 life without reflecting how little we know of the result of 
 our most ordinary conduct. Sometimes those actions which 
 seem to us the least noteworthy are most fruitful, and live 
 with mightiest power. "When the mother of Moses placed 
 him in a cradle on the banks of the Nile, she could have 
 had no thought of the consequences that would accrue. 
 When Ruth went up with Naomi from Moah to Bethlehem, 
 she never dreamt of the subsequent events by which she 
 v/as to become ancestress of David, and so of "David's 
 greater son." Our Lord's disciples little imagined that 
 when they asked Him to teach them to pray, they were 
 providing in form, as well as in substance, for the liturgy of 
 the church through all time. When Mary anointed our 
 Lord, she had no idea that it would be told for a memorial 
 of her wheresoever the Gospel should be preached, and would 
 become the inspiration and the measure of devotion to His 
 cause. So, when the Warrington billsticker posted that 
 placard announcing Mr. Koby's visit on behalf of the 
 mission cause, he never thought that it would be a chief 
 agency in sending out to Africa an angel of mercy, whose 
 Ions: residence amons: its heathen tribes would be one of its 
 greatest and most lasting blessings. Yet so it was. He 
 who worketh all things according to the counsel of His own 
 will wrought in this fashion, S3 ordering His providence, 
 and so influencing His servant's heart. 
 
 Other steps led on. Though he was a stranger to Mr. 
 Koby, and only a youth, he resolved to go to Manchester, 
 seek him out, and tell him all that was in his heart. 
 Arriving in Manchester, he found the minister's house, and 
 with some trepidation and distrust knocked at the door. 
 He was admitted, and the interview served to strengthen 
 his purpose and scatter his fears to the winds. He sums 
 up all that took place in these few but expressive words : — 
 " He received me with great kindness, listened to my simple 
 
EARLY LIFE AND MISSION WORK. 27 
 
 tale, took me by the hand, and told me to be of good 
 courage." 
 
 The next stage was reached when E-obert Moffat, acting 
 under Mr. Roby's advice, offered himself to the Directors of 
 the London Missionary Society. From that point the pur- 
 poses and plans of Providence ripened fast. After hearing 
 all that the youth had to say, and such opinions of others as 
 were offered in his favour, they declared their satisfaction. 
 The question now came — a most proper question under such 
 circumstances — "Have you acquainted your parents with 
 your purpose % " At this question trembling and faintncss 
 seized him, for he had not spoken to them on the matter, 
 and he was afraid they might withhold their consent. Here 
 again his fears were set at rest, and his way made plain. 
 Feeling the claims of God upon themselves, and appre- 
 ciating the spirit and motives of their son, they replied, 
 when he laid the matter before them — " We have thoudit 
 of your proposal to become a missionary ; we have prayed 
 over it, and we cannot withhold you from so good a work." 
 Thus they surrendered their son to Him who is worthy to 
 ♦ receive our best gifts, whose love to us is so great, especially 
 His love in our redemption by Jesus Christ, that we may 
 well say : — 
 
 " "Were the whole realm of nature mine, 
 That Avere a present far too small, 
 Love so amazing, so divine, 
 
 Demands my soul, my life, my all." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE missionary's DESIGNATION, DEPARTURE, AND ENTRANCE 
 
 ON HIS WORK. 
 
 acfe- 
 
 LL the preliminary examinations and inquiries having 
 proved satisfactory, Robert Moffat was accepted by 
 the Directors of the London Missionary Society for 
 service in Africa. He was only twenty years of 
 -a mere stripling — but he was a mature man in self- 
 possession and in Christian faith ; and these are the main 
 qualities required in missionary enterprise. 
 
 Early in October 1816, he was publicly designated in 
 Surrey Chapel, London, to his work. The meeting at 
 Avhich this was done was one of deep and unusual interest. 
 Nine young men were on that occasion ordained as mis- 
 sionaries. Four of the nine were set apart for the South 
 Sea Islands ; the remaining five were appointed to South 
 Africa. Without under-estimating the work or usefulness 
 of any of these honoured men, we cannot help remarking 
 that one in each of these divisions has proved pre-eminently 
 a great man — John Williams, " Tlie Apostle of Polynesia 
 and the Martyr of Erromanga," and Robert Moffat. In the 
 preface to his well-known volume, " Missionary Labours and 
 Scenes in South Africa," Moffat makes this brief allusion to 
 
JENTRAKCE ON HIS WORIC ^D 
 
 the meeting : — " Of those who began at the same period 
 with himself the career of missionary toil, the greater number 
 have sunk into the grave, and not a few of those who 
 followed Ions: after have also been gathered to their fathers. 
 He is especially reminded of one, much honoured and 
 endeared, whose tragical death, of all others, has most 
 affected him. John Williams and he were accepted by the 
 Directors at the same time, and designated to the work of 
 God, at Surrey Chapel, on the same occasion." 
 
 On the last day of October 1816, Moffat sailed for the 
 Cape of Good Hope, and in due time reached the place of 
 his destination. Like the pioneers of Protestant missions in 
 India, he was tried by a discouraging reception ; but he 
 was not to be turned aside by the first wind of opposition. 
 He had devoted himself to the cause without wavering, and 
 he entered on his arduous work with self-reliant hope. His 
 first battle was not with the heathen, however, but with the 
 British governor, who was loath to give his sanction to 
 missionaries proceeding outside the Cape Colony, as it was 
 feared that, through want of discretion, they would get the 
 'tribes of the interior into misunderstandings and broils. 
 He was as firm in his representations and applications as 
 the governor was in his refusals, and patiently waited his 
 time. The post of resident with one of the Caffre chiefs 
 was offered to him, where, in the discharge of his duties, he 
 might have acted as Government agent and as Christian 
 instructor at the same time ; but he declined to be fettered, 
 as he felt he must be in such a position, and sought the 
 untrammelled liberty of a missionary of the Cross. 
 
 The missionary's time of waiting was not wasted. While 
 he was thus detained in suspense within the colonial ter- 
 ritory, he took up his abode with a pious Hollander, who 
 taught him the Dutch language. By this means, on lea\ ing 
 his friend's hospitable roof, he was qualified to preach to the 
 Boers, and to as many of their native servants as had 
 
30 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D, 
 
 acquired a smattering of this imported tongue. So he made 
 the best use of his time and opportunities. 
 
 At length he was permitted to go up the country. On 
 his journey he sometimes encountered rather rough treat- 
 ment. On the whole, however, he was well received. 
 Many years afterwards, writing with the experience of this 
 up-country journey in mind, he says : — " The Dutch farmers, 
 notwithstanding all that has been said against them by 
 some travellers, are, as a people, exceedingly hospitable and 
 kind to strangers. Exceptions there are, but few, and 
 perhaps more rare than in any other country under the 
 sun." On one occasion, while thus going out into the 
 wilderness, he begged of one of these men a night's lodging. 
 The burly farmer roared out his denial like an enraged lion, 
 and the denial itself was less dreadful to the young stranger 
 than the stern and rough tones in which it was conveyed. 
 Nevertheless, he retained his self-possession and common- 
 sense. His request, negatived by the husband, he made to 
 the wife, and she, having the heart of a woman and a 
 mother, gave the homeless stranger a very different recep- 
 tion. Cheerfully she offered board and lodging ; but she 
 was anxious to know whither he was bound, and what was 
 his errand. When he told her that he was bound for 
 Orange E-iver, to teach the rude tribes of that country the 
 way of salvation, she exclaimed with astonishment and un- 
 belief — " What ! to Namaqua Land, that hot and barbarous 
 region ; and will the people there listen to the Gospel, do 
 you think, or understand it if they do 1 " The good woman 
 then added that she would be very glad if he would preach 
 in the evening to the family. The evening came, and 
 arrangements were made for the service. The Boer had a 
 hundred Hottentots in his employ, but these did not at 
 first appear. Looking down the long barn in which the 
 meeting was to be held, the young missionary could only 
 see, beside the master of the house and his frau, three boys 
 
ENTRANCE ON HIS WORK. 31 
 
 and two girls. "May none of your servants come in?" he 
 said to the master. " Eh ! " roared the man ; " Hottentots ! 
 Are you come to preach to Hottentots 1 Go to the moun- 
 tains and preach to the baboons ; or, if you like, I'll fetch 
 my dogs, and you may preach to them ! " The reply sug- 
 gested to the quick-witted preacher his text. He had 
 intended taking the question, " How shall we escape if we 
 neglect so great salvation % " but taking the word out of his 
 gruff entertainer's lips, he read as his text, " Truth, Lord ; 
 yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their 
 master's table." Again and again was the text repeated 
 with emphasis, and every fresh repetition seemed to drive 
 the nail further into the man's conscience. At last he 
 cried, " No more of that. Wait a moment, and I'll bring 
 you all the Hottentots in the place." He was as good as 
 his word. Soon the barn was crowded, the sermon was 
 preached, and the service gave evident satisfaction to alL 
 After the people had dispersed, the farmer, in much subdued 
 and more pleasant tones, said to Moffat, " Who hardened 
 your hammer to deal my head such a blow"? I'll never 
 ,object to the preaching of the Gospel to Hottentots again.'* 
 As Moffat was on his way to the Orange River, the 
 nearer he approached the boundaries of the colony the more 
 did the farmers seek to terrify him with their predictions as 
 to the unfavourable reception he would get. Africaner, the 
 powerful chief, who had made his name a terror by his 
 maraudings and murders, was especially represented as a 
 man to be feared. On all hands the young missionary was 
 warned against approaching him. Referring to the dread 
 expressed, he says : — " One said he (Africaner) would set me 
 up as a mark for his boys to shoot at ; and another, that he 
 would strip off my skin and make a drum of it to dance to ; 
 another most consoling prediction was, that he would make 
 a drinking-cup of my skull. I believe they were serious, 
 and especially a kind motherly lady, who, wiping the tear 
 
32 LIPE OP EOBEKI" M0PFA1\ b.D, 
 
 from lier eye, bade me farewell, saying, ' Had you been an 
 old man it would have been nothing, for you would soon 
 have died, whether or no ; but you are young, and going to 
 become a prey to that monster,' " 
 
 In spite of these prophecies of evil Moffat went on — over 
 desert plains, where sometimes the oxen would sink down 
 in the sand from sheer fatigue, and where the want of water 
 was a terrible infliction ; and over rocky mountains, where 
 the exposure to the scorching heat of the hot season was 
 like to induce fever every moment. The following descrip- 
 tion of passages in the journey is from his own hand : — 
 " The task of driving the loose cattle was not an easy one, 
 for frequently the oxen would take one course, the sheep 
 another, and the horses a third. It required no little per- 
 severance as well as courage, when sometimes the hyena would 
 approach with his unearthly howl, and set the poor timid 
 sheep to their heels ; and the missionary, dreading the loss 
 of his mutton, in his haste gets his legs lacerated by one 
 bush, and his face scratched by another, now tumbles pros- 
 trate over an ant-hill, and then headlong into the large hole 
 of a wild boar. He frequently arrives at the halting-place 
 long after the waggons, when the keen eye of the native 
 waggon-driver surveys the cattle, and announces to the 
 breathless and thirsty missionary that he has lost some of 
 his charge. He sits down by the fire, which is always 
 behind a bush, if such is to be found, tells his exploits, 
 looks at his wounds, and so ends his day's labours with a 
 sound sleep. Next morning he gets up early to seek tlie 
 strayed, and if it happen to be a sheep he is almost sure to 
 find only the bones, the hyena having made a repast on the 
 rest. We had troubles of another kind, and such as we did 
 not expect in so dry and thirsty a land. Rain had fallen 
 soine time previous in the neighbourhood of Kamies Berg ; 
 the loose soil, abounding in limy particles, had become so 
 saturated tliat frequently, as the oxen and waggons went 
 
ENTRANCE ON HIS WORK. 33 
 
 along the road, they would suddenly sink into a mire, from 
 which they were extricated with difficulty, being obliged to 
 unload the waggons and drag them out backwards." 
 
 He describes in another plaee how they went through a 
 comparatively trackless desert : — "Having travelled nearly 
 the whole night through deep sand, the oxen began to lie 
 down in the yoke from fatigue, obliging us to halt before 
 reaching water. The next day we pursued our course, and 
 on arriving at the place where we had hoped to find water 
 we were disappointed. As it appeared evident that if we 
 continued the same route we must perish from thirst, at the 
 suggestion of my guide we turned northward, over a dreary, 
 trackless, sandy waste, without one green blade of grass, 
 and scarcely a bush on which the wearied eye could rest. 
 Becoming dark, the oxen unable to proceed, ourselves ex- 
 hausted with dreadful thirst and fatigue, we stretched our 
 wearied limbs on sand still warm from the noontide heat, 
 being the hot season of the year. Thirst aroused us at an 
 early hour, and finding the oxen incapable of moving the 
 waggon one inch, we took a spade and, with the oxen, pro- 
 ceeded to a hollow in a neighbouring mountain. There we 
 laboured for a long time digging an immense hole in the 
 sand, whence we obtained a scanty supply, exactly resembling 
 the old bilge-water of a ship, but which was drunk with an 
 avidity which no pen can describe. Hours were occupied 
 in incessant labour to obtain a sufficiency for the oxen, 
 which, by the time all had partaken, were ready for a second 
 draught ; while some, from the depth of the hole and the 
 loose sand, got scarcely any. We filled the small vessels 
 which we had brought, and returned to the waggon over a 
 plain glowing with a meridian sun : the sand being so hot 
 it was distressingly painful to walk. The oxen ran frantic 
 till they came to a place indurated with little sand. Here 
 they stood together to cool their burning hoofs in the shade 
 of their own bodies, those on the outside always trying to 
 
 3 
 
34 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 get into the centre. Three days T remained with ray 
 waggon-driver on this burning plain, with scarcely a breath 
 of wind, and what there was felt as if coming from the 
 mouth of an oven. We had only tufts of dry grass to make 
 a small fire, or rather flame, and little was needful, for we 
 had scarcely any food to prepare. We saw ho human being, 
 although we had an extensive prospect ; not a single antelope 
 or beast of prey made its appearance, but in the dead of the 
 night we sometimes heard the distant roar of the lion on 
 the mountain, where we had to go twice a-day for our 
 nauseous but grateful beverage." 
 
 As the missionary came near the end of his journey 
 fresh difticulties presented themselves. The river had to be 
 crossed, and this was how it was done : — " The waggon and 
 its contents were swam over piecemeal on a fragile raft of 
 dry willow logs, about six feet long, and from four to six 
 inches in diameter, fastened together with the inner bark of 
 the mimosas, which stud the banks of the river, which is at 
 this place five hundred yards wide, rocky, with a rapid cur- 
 rent. The rafts are carried a great distance down by the 
 stream, taken to pieces every time of crossing, each man 
 swimming back with a log. When, after some days' labour, 
 all was conveyed to the opposite shore, the last raft was pre- 
 pared for me, on which I was requested to place myself and 
 hold fast. I confess, though a swimmer, I did not like the 
 voyage, independently of not wishing to give them the 
 trouble of another laborious crossing. I withdrew along 
 the woody bank, and plunged into the river, leaving my 
 clothes to be conveyed over. As soon as they saw me 
 approaching the middle of the current, terrified lest evil 
 should befall me, some of the most expert swimmers plunged 
 in, and laboured hard to overtake me, but in vain ', and 
 when I reached the northern bank an individual came up 
 to me, almost out of breath, and asked, 'Were you born 
 in the great sea water % ' " After the whole party had safely 
 
ENTRANCE ON HIS WORK. 35 
 
 crossed, great pressure was brought to bear on the missionary 
 to induce him to settle at a station called Warm Bath. 
 The native teacher there and his people beset the waggon, 
 reasoning, pleading, and praying that he would go with 
 them. The women came like a regiment, and declared that 
 if he left them he must take the waggon over their bodies, 
 for they would lie down before the wheels. It was in vain 
 he pleaded the necessity of proceeding first to Africaner, to 
 whom specially he had been sent. At last a party of 
 Africaner's people, with three of his brethren, having heard 
 of Moffat's arrival, were seen approaching in the distance. 
 This ended the painful scene ; for, awed by their presence, 
 Magerman, the teacher, and his people retired in grief and 
 tears. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 EESIDENCE AT AFRICANER'S KRAAL. 
 
 HE post of duty which Moffat was appointed to occupy 
 was on the north-west border of the colony, beyond 
 the Orange River, where a Hottentot family, known 
 as the Africaners, had gathered a body of marauders 
 about them and fixed their abode. Their chief, the eldest of 
 the brothers, had, from his shrewdness and prowess, obtained 
 the reins of the government of his tribe at an early age. 
 He was now outlawed from the colony for the cold-blooded 
 murder of a farmer named Pienaar, who was shot down in 
 the presence of his wife and family. Commandos had gone 
 out against him ; rewards were offered for his capture, but 
 lie defied the Colonial Government and the farmers, and 
 dared them to approach his territories. Their efforts to 
 take him only roused himself and his followers to further 
 outrages on the scattered residents of the border, until the 
 name of Africaner became a terror throughout the Namaqua 
 Land frontier. 
 
 On the 2Gth of January 1818 Moffat reached Africaner's 
 kraal. His reception was not cordial. The chief kept him 
 waiting for an hour before he came to welcome him. At 
 length he made his appearance, but liis manner was cool 
 
RESIDENCE AT AFRICANER'S KRAAL. 37 
 
 and reserved. After the customary salutation, he asked if 
 Moffat was the missionary sent out from England. On 
 receiving an affirmative reply, he expressed his pleasure, 
 and said that he hoped himself and his people might long 
 enjoy the missionary's residence in their country. He then 
 ordered a number of women to build a house for the new 
 visitor. Immediately they formed a circle, fixed a number 
 of long slender poles, tied them down in a hemispheric form, 
 covered them with native mats, and had the house finished 
 and ready for habitation in less than an hour. For nearly 
 six months Moffat lived in this hut. It was frequently 
 shaken and loosened by storms, and needed repairs. At 
 the best it was an uncomfortable dwelling-place. He thus 
 describes it : — " When the sun shone, it was unbearably 
 hot ; when the rain fell, I came in for a share of it ; when 
 the wind blew, I had frequently to decamp to escape the 
 dust ; and in addition to these little inconveniences, any 
 hungry cur of a dog that wished a night's lodgings would 
 force itself through the frail wall, and not unfrequently 
 deprive me of my anticipated meal for the coming day ; and 
 ,1 have more than once found a serpent coiled up in a 
 corner. Nor Avere these all the contingencies of such a 
 dwelling, for as the cattle belonging to the village had no 
 fold, but strolled about, I have been compelled to start up 
 from a sound sleep, and try to defend myself and my dwel- 
 ling from being crushed to pieces by the rage of two bulls, 
 which had met to fight a nocturnal duel." 
 
 During the stillness of the first night's repose in this new 
 habitation the young missionary reviewed his past history ; 
 he thought of the home and friends he had left, perhaps 
 for ever ; he reflected that the vast ocean rolled between 
 them and the present dreary land to which he had come ; 
 he thought of the goodness and grace of God towards him in 
 bygone years ; and again and again he involuntarily said or 
 sung the grateful lines of Robinson : — ^ 
 
38 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 * * Here I raise my Ebcnezer, 
 Hither by Thy help I'm come." 
 
 An unpleasant feeling, of the existence of which MofTat 
 had no previous knowledge, existed between Mr. Ebner the 
 missionary whom he had joined, and who had resided at the 
 station some time, and the people. This hostility culmin- 
 ated in a quarrel with one of Africaner's brothers, and in 
 Mr. Ebner's determination to leave the place for Warm 
 Bath, where the chief Bondlezwarts had invited him to 
 labour. Ebner's departure left Moffat alone with a people 
 suspicious in the extreme, and jealous of their rights, which 
 they had obtained by hard and bloody conflict. He felt his 
 isolated condition keenly. " I had no friend or brother," 
 he writes, "■ with whom I could participate in the communion 
 of saints, — none to whom I could look for counsel and 
 advice; a barren country; a small salary of £25 per 
 annum ; no grain, and consequently no bread, and no pros- 
 pect of getting any, from the want of water to cultivate the 
 ground ; and destitute of all means of sending to the 
 colony." 
 
 But this servant of God knew the secret of strensjth and 
 peace. Mark his testimony : — " These circumstances led to 
 great searchings of heart, to see if I had hitherto arrived at 
 doing and suffering the will of Him in whose service I had 
 embarked. Satisfied that I had not run unsent, and havins: 
 in the intricate and sometimes obscure course I had come 
 heard the still small voice saying, ' This is the way, walk yc 
 in it,' I was wont to pour out my soul among the granite 
 rocks surrounding this station, now in sorrow and then in 
 joy ; and more than once I took my violin (once belonging 
 to Christian Albrecht), and reclining on one of the huge 
 masses, have, in the stillness of the evening, played and 
 sung the well-known hymn, a favourite with my mother ; — 
 
 'Awake, my soul, in joyful lays, 
 To sing the great Redeemer's praise,' " &c. 
 
RESIDENCE AT AFRICANERS KRAAL. 39 
 
 Apart from his confidence in God, Moffat's natural 
 qualities fitted him in the highest degree for the perilous 
 and difficult service in which he was now engaged. He 
 displayed in a remarkable manner promptitude, shrewdness, 
 firmness, and tact. If you study the portraits of him as 
 he looked when he was in the maturity and fulness of his 
 strength, you see in his eye and in his whole bearing that 
 he was born to manage men. Had he continued in his 
 secular calling he would no doubt have been a most suc- 
 cessful man of business. The grace of God consecrated 
 his natural faculties, and so he became an able and a 
 successful missionary. 
 
 His fitness for the work which he had undertaken was 
 thoroughly tested at the very outset ; but his wisdom was 
 equal to every emergency, and his chivalrous devotion rose 
 as hardships and difficulties increased. In spite of the 
 barrenness of the country, the want of water, the thinness of 
 the population, the dangers that surrounded him, he began 
 his work. He established stated services for worship and 
 instruction, which, according to the missionary custom of 
 that period, were public worship morning and evening, and 
 school for three or four hours during the day. He travelled 
 among the surrounding villages, speaking to the people 
 about Christ and His great salvation, wherever and when- 
 ever an opportunity offered. His food was milk and flesh ; 
 living for ^veeks together on one, and then on the other, 
 and then for a while on both, often having recourse to a 
 "fasting girdle." 
 
 The chief Africaner himself was one of Moffat's most 
 regular and attentive hearers. Already he had manifested 
 some interest in religion, hence the missionary's visit to his 
 kraal. There had been, however, much vacillation in his 
 conduct, and for some time past he had been in a doubtful 
 state. Now he attended the services with regularity, and 
 the rise of to-morrow's sun might have been as well doubted 
 
40 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 as his attendance on the appointed means of grace. One of 
 his brothers, who was a terror to most of his neighbours, 
 and a fearful example of wickedness, became also a greatly 
 altered man, and a steady and unwavering friend to the 
 missionary. He was the only person of importance who 
 had two wives, and resisted all persuasion to give either of 
 them up, though he admitted that a man with two wives 
 was not to be envied. " He is often in an uproar," he 
 added, "and when they quarrel he does not know whose 
 part to take." Two other brothers were zealous assistants 
 in the mission work of the station, and truly Christian 
 men. 
 
 So Moffat laboured for years. Often it seemed to him as 
 if he was beating the air, and his soul was heavy and sank 
 within him. It was well that he had outward as v/cll as 
 inward resources. He could put his hand to anything; 
 this helped him to pass away many hours in a pleasant and 
 useful manner that otherwise would have proved very long 
 and wearisome. It also secured him respect from the 
 Namaqua men more than his learning. "My dear old 
 mother," he tells us himself, " to keep me out of mischief 
 in the long winter evenings, taught me to knit and sew. 
 When I would tell her I meant to be a man, she would 
 say, * Lad, ye dinna ken whaur your lot may be cast.' She 
 was right, for I have often had occasion to use the needle 
 since." He was not seldom in sore straits for food, but 
 he only found more time for prayer. He travelled, and 
 taught, and preached without faltering, and after many 
 days the blessing came. 
 
CHAPTER YI. 
 
 TRAVELLING IN THE INTERIOR. 
 
 ^i^FTER some stay at Africaner's station Moffat dis- 
 covered that the general character of the place and 
 the condition of the people were such that he never 
 could make it a permanent residence. Having 
 come to this conclusion, he resolved on a journey of explor- 
 ation in a northerly direction, that he might examine a 
 country near Damara Land, which was said to abound with 
 fountains of water. But how was such a resolution to be 
 carried into effect 1 He had only one waggon, and that was 
 in a broken-down state. There were neither carpenters nor 
 ;5miths on the station to repair the vehicle ; and the unford- 
 ableness of the Orange River at the time, and the ricketty 
 condition of the waggon, rendered it impossible to convey it 
 to Pella, where it might have been repaired. 
 
 There was only one course, and that was for the mis- 
 sionary to try and repair it himself. He had seen the smiths 
 at work in their shops at Cape Town, and had picked up a 
 few lessons, which he now brought to bear upon the necessi- 
 ties of the case. His first effort to weld some iron was un- 
 successful, owing to the imperfection of the native bellows 
 employed; but setting hjg wits to work, he soon made 
 
42 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 improvements in tlie instrument, and had all the people 
 around him to witness the success of his operations. Finish- 
 ing what was necessary for the waggon, he then repaired 
 the gun-locks, which were as essential for the comfort and 
 success of the journey as the waggon. Everything being in 
 readiness, he started with an exploring party of thirty men. 
 Although at first the formidable appearance of so large a 
 party was not to Moffat's mind, yet he afterwards found 
 that it was none too large. Africaner had suggested that a 
 large party would have the tendency of preventing any 
 attack, and in this it turned out he was perfectly right. 
 
 The following specimen of African travel will be interesting 
 to our readers : — " The country over which we passed was 
 sterile in the extreme, sandy from the abundance of granite. 
 Ironstone was also to be found, and occasionally indications 
 of copper. Slaty formations were also to be met with, and 
 much quartz, filling up large fissures occasioned by former 
 convulsions, and the hills in some places presenting a mass 
 of confusion ; the strata bending and dipping from the per- 
 pendicular to the horizontal, and in others extending in a 
 straight line from one hill to another. Native iron, in a 
 very pure state, is procured in these regions ; and from the 
 account given by the natives, I should suppose some of it is 
 meteoric. The plains are invariably sand}'", and there are 
 even hills of pure sand. I also found near some of the 
 mountains large pieces of trees in a fossil state. Zebras 
 abounded, and wild asses, though less numerous than the 
 former. Giraffes were frequently met with, sometimes thirty 
 or forty together. Elks, koodoos, and the smaller species 
 of antelopes were also in great numbers. The rhinoceros 
 (the kenengyane, or black chukwm of tlie Bechuanas) is also 
 to be found, but scarce. Buffaloes had nearly disappeared, 
 at least in the region I visited. We had a tolerable supply, 
 chiefly of the flesh of zebras and giraffes ; the latter, when 
 fat, was preferred, though nothing came amiss to hungry 
 
TEA YELLING IN THE INTERIOR. 43 
 
 travellers. When one of the larger animals was shot, we 
 generally remained a day to cut the meat up into thin 
 pieces, which, spread on the bushes, sbon dried. The best 
 parts were always eaten first ; and when pressed with 
 hunger, recourse was had to the leaner portions, which had 
 been stowed away in the waggon ; and to make it palat- 
 able (for it much resembles a piece of sole leather) it 
 was necessary to put it under the hot ashes, and then 
 beat it between two stones till the fibres were loosened ; 
 and then it required very hard chewing : and many, a time 
 have I risen from a meal with my jaw-bone so sore I felt 
 no inclination to speak. Meat prepared in this way, or 
 fresh, with a draught of water, was our usual fare. I had a 
 small quantity of coffee with me, which, as long as it lasted, 
 I found very refreshing. Some may think that this mode 
 of life was a great sacrifice, but habit makes it much less so 
 than they suppose. It is true I did feel it a sacrifice to 
 have nothing at all to eat, and to bind the stomach with a 
 thong to prevent the gnawing of hunger, and, under these 
 circumstances, to break the bread of eternal life to the 
 perishing heathen. Water was in general very scarce; 
 sometimes in small pools, stagnant, and with a green froth ; 
 and more than once we had to dispute with lions the 
 possession of a pool. One day our guide (for it was a 
 country without roads) led us towards a ravine which pre- 
 sented an animated appearance, the sides of the hills beinf>' 
 covered with a lovely green, but on our reaching them, 
 scarcely anything was to be seen but a species of euphorbia, 
 useless either to man or beast, and through which we with 
 difiiculty made our way. Being hot, and the oxen worn out, 
 we halted ; and some of the men having been successful in 
 finding honey in the fissures of the rocks, we ate with no 
 little relish, thinking ourselves fortunate, for food was 
 scarce. Shortly after, an individual complained that his 
 throat was becoming very hot ; then a second, then a third, 
 
44 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 till all who had eaten felt as though their throats were on 
 fire. A native coming up, and seeing our hands and faces 
 besmeared with honey, with the greatest simplicity said : 
 ' You had better not eat the honey of this vale ; do you not 
 see the poison bushes (euphorbia), from the flowers of which 
 the bees extract the honey and the poison too 1 ' Every one 
 had recourse to the little water that remained in the vessels, 
 for the inward heat was terrible ; and the water, instead of 
 allaying, only increased the pain. No serious consequences 
 followed, but it was several days before we got rid of a most 
 unpleasant sensation in the head as well as the throat." 
 
 On their journey the party occasionally came to a Nam- 
 aqua village : in such cases they always halted for a day or 
 two, so that the people might hear the Gospel of salvation. 
 They continued their journey till they reached some of the 
 branches of the Fish River, where they were brought to a 
 stand. The inhabitants of the district were suspicious of 
 their visit, and it was not quite certain whether they would 
 flee or endeavour to oppose their progress. Probably if the 
 travelling party had been smaller the latter course would 
 have been adopted. Notwithstanding their suspicions, they 
 listened with great attention to the Gospel message. Here 
 they met a native sorcerer, who, the previous night, had 
 made the people believe that he had entered into a lion 
 which had been killing their cattle. Moffat coaxed him 
 into conversation by giving him a piece of tobacco, but he 
 declined to suffer his powers to be tested, adding that 
 Moffat was a white sorcerer himself, from the strange 
 doctrines he taught. 
 
 At Africaner's suggestion, the party, instead of proceeding 
 further, determined to return. The report received of the 
 country further north was not encouraging, and there was 
 some risk of resistance, and consequently the shedding of 
 blood. Or their homeward route they halted at a spot 
 where a strange scene once occurred, and which was described 
 

Ma veiling in the iNTEition. 45 
 
 by an individual who witnessed it when a boy. Moftat thus 
 refers to it : — " Near a very small fountain, which was 
 shewn to me, stood a camel-thorn-tree (Acacia Giraffe). It 
 was a stiff tree, about twelve feet high, with a flat, bushy 
 top. Many years before, the relater, then a boy, was return- 
 ing to his village, and having turned aside to the fountain 
 for a drink, lay down on the bank and fell asleep. Being 
 awoke by the piercing rays of the^ sun, he saw, through the 
 bush behind which he lay, a giraffe browsing at ease on the 
 tender shoots of the tree, and to his horror a lion, creeping 
 like a cat only a dozen yards from him, preparing to pounce 
 on his prey. The lion eyed the giraffe for a few moments, 
 his body gave a shake, and he bounded into the air to seize 
 the head of the animal, which instantly turned his stately 
 neck, and the lion missing his grasp, fell on his back in the 
 centre of the mass of thorns, like spikes, and the giraffe 
 bounded over the plain. The boy instantly followed the 
 example, expecting, as a matter of course, that the enraged 
 lion would soon find his way to the earth. Some time 
 afterwards the people of the village, who seldom visited that 
 spot, saw the eagles hovering in the air, and as it is almost 
 always a certain sign that the lion has killed game or some 
 animal is lying dead, they went to the place and sought in 
 vain, til], coming under the lee of the tree, their olfactory 
 nef'ves directed them to where the lion lay dead in his 
 thorny bed. I still found some of his bones under the tree, 
 and hair on its branches, to convince me of what I scarcely 
 could have credited. The lion will sometimes manage to 
 mount the back of a giraffe, and, fixing his sharp claws into 
 each shoulder, gnaw away till he reaches the vertebrae of 
 the neck, when both fall ; and oftimes the lion is lamed for 
 his trouble. If the giraffe happens to be very strong, he 
 succeeds in bringing his rider to the ground. Among those 
 that we shot on our journey, the healed wounds of the lion's 
 claws on the shoulder, and marks of his teeth on the back of 
 
46 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 the neck, gave us ocular demonstration that two of them had 
 carried the monarch of the forest on their backs, and yet 
 came off triumphant." 
 
 They endeavoured to return by a shorter route farther to 
 the east, but nearly paid heavily for their haste, for they 
 found themselves in a plain of deep sand, and thought at 
 one time they would have to abandon their waggon. Every 
 one went in search of water, but none could be found ; and 
 though they met with some water-melons, they were bitter 
 as gall. When at length a number of them found water 
 and drank some, their thirst became excessive. The wdiole 
 party hastened to the river, and a most exciting scene 
 ensued. All the people, without exception, rushed down the 
 bank ; some kept their feet, others rolled, and some tumbled 
 headlong into the muddy pool, or deep bed at the top of the 
 river. It was well that the water was warmed by the 
 scorching rays of the sun ; for instances have been known of 
 thirsty travellers drinking largely in their heated state, and 
 dying at once with their faces in the water. This journey 
 to the north and back decided Moffat to remain for the 
 present at Africaner's station. 
 
 He now resumed on a larger scale his itinerating expedi- 
 tions. Riding on the back of an ox with horns was both awk- 
 ward and dangerou s. Cases have occurred of persons so riding 
 having been thrown forward on the horns and killed. Yet 
 this was at times the only mode of travel. These preaching 
 journeys were often full of privations as well as dangers. 
 Owing to the migratory habits of the people in search of 
 water and grass, they could not always be found. Starting 
 in the morning, having breakfasted on a good draught of 
 milk, he and his interpreter would travel slowly all day, and 
 in the evening reach their proposed destination, to find the 
 natives all removed, having left nothing but empty huts. 
 The only living creatures to be seen would be some vultures 
 or crows perched on a bush or rock, picking up bits of skin 
 
TBA YELLING IN THE INTERIOU. 47 
 
 and other refuse. Hungry and thirsty they would lie down 
 to rest, not seldom disturbed by visits from hyenas, jackals, 
 and sometimes the lion himself. The first concern the next 
 morning would be to find water ; if successful, they would 
 breakfast on a draught, and again set off on their lonely 
 course, going slowly, not to lose the spoor, or track, and 
 thankful if at last they succeeded in finding the wanderers. 
 Frequently, after a long and ^hot day's ride, they would 
 reach a village in the evening, and after taking a drink of 
 sweet milk, gather young and old in a nook, that the 
 missionary might address them on the nature and importance 
 of salvation. When the service was over, he would take 
 another draught of milk, renew his conversation with the 
 people, and then lie down on a mat to rest for the night. 
 Sometimes a kind and thoughtful housewife would hang a 
 wooden vessel filled with milk on a forked stick near his head, 
 that he might, if necessary, drink through the night. Once 
 he slept on the ground near the hut of the principal man in 
 the village. In the night he heard something moving about 
 outside the thorn fence, and in the morning he said to 
 the man, " It looks as if some of your cattle have broken 
 loose." *' Oh," he replied, " a lion has been ; " adding, "A 
 few nights ago he sprang over on to the very spot on which 
 you have been lying, and seized a goat and carried it off. 
 Here are some of the mats we tore from the house and 
 burned to frighten him away." When Moffat asked him 
 how he could think of choosing that spot for him to sleep 
 on, he exclaimed, " Oh, the lion would not have had the 
 impudence to jump over on you ! " 
 
•;■ v^^^.v:^-'//f«^ ■■p^ 
 
 
 
 .i:;^vg^f-!-^;^ 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SCENES IN NAMAQUA LAND. 
 
 r^HS we have seen, Moffat and his party were often 
 exposed to danger from lions, which from the 
 scarcity of water frequented the pools or fountains. 
 One night they were encamped at a small pool, 
 when, just as they had closed their evening worship, they 
 heard the terrific roar of a lion. The oxen, which were 
 quietly chewing their cud, rushed about in terror, trampled 
 down the fires, knocked down the men, and left them pros- 
 trated in a cloud of dust and sand. Hats and hymn-books, 
 Bibles and guns, were all scattered in wild confusion. 
 Providentially the forest king did not make his appearance, 
 and no great harm Avas done. 
 
 Going on one occasion through a valley, they came to a 
 spot where the lion appeared to have been taking leaping 
 exercise. Presently tliey met a native who had been an 
 eye-witness of what had transj^ired. A large lion had crept 
 towards a short black stump, very like a man ; when about 
 a dozen yards off he bounded on liis imagined prey, but fell a 
 foot or two short. For a time ho lay steadfastly eyeing his 
 supposed meal, then arose, smelt it, and returned to tlie 
 spot whence he had ta'ten liis leap. The first leap ^ai* 
 
SCENES IN NAM AQUA LAND. 49 
 
 followed by four others in succession, till at last he placed 
 his paw on the object. Discovering his mistake, he turned 
 away in disappointment and disgust. Moffat relates 
 another lion scene witnessed by Africaner. A troop of 
 zebras were passing round a rock when a lion attempted to 
 leap on the large stallion, which always brings up the rear, 
 but missed his mark. After repeated attempts, and ultimate 
 failure, two more lions came up, and the whole party seemed 
 to enter on a serious consultation. After they had in- 
 dulged in an interchange of roars, the first lion led the 
 other two twice round the rock, and closed the conference 
 by making a final grand leap, as if to shew what could and 
 must be done. After this the trio departed, and were seen 
 no more. At that time an encounter of some sort with a 
 lion was one of the most common adventures in South 
 African travelling. One night about a dozen hunters were 
 sleeping around a fire, within a circle of bushes ; as soon as 
 the blaze of the fire was out a lion sprang in upon them, 
 seized one by his shoulder, and conveyed him to some dis- 
 tance. The others, aroused by the noise, fired in the direc- 
 tion of the retreating lion and hit him. In the act of 
 roaring he let the man drop, who immediately bolted in 
 among his companions. Moffat afterwards saw the marks 
 of the lion's teeth in the man's shoulder. 
 
 We cannot resist the temptation to add another scene of 
 African life : — " A man belonging to Mr. Schmelen's con- 
 gregation at Bethany, returning homewards from a visit to 
 his friends, took a circuitous course in order to pass a small 
 fountain, or rather pool, where he hoped to kill an antelope 
 to carry home to his family. The sun had risen to some 
 height by the time he reached the spot, and seeing no game, 
 he laid his gun down on a shelving low rock, the back part 
 of Avhich was covered over with a species of dwarf thorn- 
 bushes. He went to the water, took a hearty drink, and 
 returned to the rock, smoked his pipe, and being a little 
 
 4 
 
60 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 tired, fell asleep. In a short time the heat reflected from 
 the rock awoke him, and opening his eyes, he saw a large 
 lion crouching before him, with its eyes glaring in his face, 
 and within little more than a yard of his feet. He sat motion- 
 less for a few minutes, till he had recovered his presence 
 of mind, then eyeing his gun, moved his hand slowly to- 
 wards it. The lion seeing him, raised its head, and gave a 
 tremendous roar; he made another and another attempt, 
 but the gun being far beyond his reach ho gave it up, as 
 the lion seemed well aware of his object, and was enraged 
 whenever he attempted to move his hand. His situation 
 now became painful in the extreme ; the rock on which he 
 sat became so hot that he could scarcely bear his naked 
 feet to touch it, and kept moving them, alternately placing 
 one above the other. The day passed, and the night also, 
 but the lion never moved from the spot ; the sun rose again, 
 and its intense heat soon rendered his feet past feeling. 
 At noon the lion rose and walked to the water, only 
 a few yards distant, looking behind as it went, lest the 
 man should mo?*©, and seeing him stretdl out his hand 
 to take his gun, turned in a rage, and was on the 
 point of springing upon him. The animal went to the 
 water, drank, and returning, lay down again at the edge 
 of the rock. Another night passed : the man, in describ- 
 ing it, said he knew not whether he slept, but if he did, 
 it must have been with his eyes open, for he always saw the 
 lion at his feet. Next day, in tlie forenoon, the animal 
 went again to the water, and while there he listened to 
 some noise apparently from an opposite quarter, and dis- 
 appeared in the bushes. The man now made another effort, 
 and seized his gun ; but on attempting to rise, he fell, his 
 ankles being without power. With his gun in his hand he 
 crept towards the water and drank, but looking at his feet 
 he saw, as ho expressed it, his ' toes roasted,' and the skin 
 torn oir ^^ith the grass. There he sat a few moments 
 

 
 ^ 
 
 
SCENES IN NAMAQUA LAND, 51 
 
 expecting the lion's return, when he was resolved to send the 
 contents of the gun through its head ; but as it did not 
 appear, tying his gun to his back, the poor man made the 
 best of his way on his hands and knees to the nearest path, 
 hoping some solitary individual might pass. He could go 
 no further, when, providentially, a person came up who 
 took him to a place of safety, from whence he obtained help, 
 though he lost his toes and was a cripple for life." 
 
 The missionary tells a heart-rending story of the way in 
 which aged parents are sometimes abandoned by their own 
 children. During one of his journeys, he was so sleepless 
 one night through thirst that he rose very early in the 
 morning, and set off with a companion in search of water. 
 After walking a great distance, they saw smoke curling up 
 among the bushes. The sight quickened their steps, as they 
 expected now to be able to quench their thirst. Approach- 
 ing the bushes, they were startled to see by footprints on the 
 sand that lions had been there only a short time before. 
 Still the thirst for water, and tlie hope of obtaining it, 
 overcame their fear, and they hurried on. Reaching the 
 spot whence the smoke ascended, they beheld an object of 
 heart-rending distress. Crouching on the ground before the 
 fire was an old woman, with her head leaning on her knees. 
 She was terrified at their presence, and tried to rise, but, 
 trembling with weakness, fell to the ground. After her 
 fears had been overcome by the kindness of her visitors, she 
 told them that four days ago her children, three sons and 
 two daughters, had gone away and left her there to die. 
 When asked vrhy they had abandoned her, slie replied, 
 spreading out her hands, " I am old, you see, and I am no 
 longer able to serve them. When they kill game, I am too 
 feeble to help in carrying home the flesh ; I am not able to 
 gather wood to make fire ; and I cannot carry their children 
 on ray back as I used to do." Though the missionary's 
 tongue was cleaving to the roof of his mouth for want of 
 
52 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 water, yet the sight of the old woman forsaken by her 
 children to die, and her touching story, made his eyes 
 fountains of tears. They would have taken her with them, 
 but she was so terrified at the proposal that death seemed 
 imminent. They collected wood, therefore, to replenish the 
 fire, gave her some dried meat, some tobacco, a knife, and 
 other necessaries, and telling her to keep up a good fire, left, 
 promising to return. On the way back, true to his word, 
 Moflfat went to the spot, but the old woman was nowhere 
 to be seen. Months afterwards he heard that her sons 
 having heard of his visit, feared that he was a great chief 
 who would come and punish them for their cruelty, and so 
 fetched her away, and took lier once more to their home. 
 
 Moffat's general mode of living in Namaqua Land was 
 very plain ; there was, as we have remarked already, little 
 variety in his food. He had neither bread nor vegetables. 
 A friend once sent him, from Pella, a bag containing a few 
 pounds of salt ; but when he came to use some he could 
 scarcely tell whether there was most sand or salt, and 
 having become accustomed to do without it, he hung it upon 
 a nail, where it remained untouched. Sometimes, after the 
 morning service, he would shoulder his gun, and go to the 
 plain or the mountain in search of something to eat. His 
 raiment was as scanty as his food was plain. The clothes 
 he carried from England soon wore out. There were no 
 laundrymaids there, nor anything like ironing or mangling. 
 The old woman who washed his linen, sometimes with soap, 
 oftener without, used to make one shirt into a bag and put 
 the others in it. When he was a youth at home, his 
 mother once shewed him how to smooth a shirt by folding 
 it properly, and pounding it with a piece of wood. Wanting 
 a nice shirt on one occasion, he folded it up, placed it on a 
 block of fine granite, and with a mallet of wood hammered 
 lustily. When he had finished he found the shirt riddled 
 ■with holes, some large enough to receive the point of hi^ 
 
SCFiVl^JS IN NAM AQUA LAND. 
 
 53 
 
 finger. Thus, like the first preachers of the Gospel, he was 
 in much patience, in necessities, in labours, in watchings, in 
 fastings ; yet with Paul he could say, " I have learned in 
 whatsoever state I am therein to be content. I know how 
 to be abased, and I know also how to abound ; in every- 
 thing: and in all thinojs have I learned the secret both to 
 be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in 
 want." 
 
CHAPTEH VIII. 
 
 VISIT TO GRIQUA TOWN. 
 
 HOUGH Moffat still continued to labour in Namaqua 
 Land, it was felt that another attempt should be 
 made to find a more convenient spot for the mission. 
 Africaner was as anxious to leave as MofTat, and 
 he urojed a visit of inspection to the Griqua country, to 
 which he and his people had been invited by the Griqua 
 chiefs. Accordingly Moffat, with two of Africaner's 
 brothers, his son, and a guide, undertook the journey. Their 
 course lay chiefly on the north side of the Orange River. 
 They found few villages on their way, and these were small, 
 with a scanty population. They suffered much from hunger 
 and thirst. Sometimes they were compelled to scramble 
 over the rocks, where baboons were numerous and impu- 
 dent; at other times they had to cross the river. On 
 reaching the Falls, the river presented the appearance of a 
 plain, miles in breadth, entirely covered with mimosa trees, 
 among which the many branches of the river run, and then 
 tumble over the precipices, raising clouds of mist. Here 
 Moffat learnt something of the habits of African crows. 
 He was reclining on a rock one day, when he noticed a crow 
 rise from the earth, carrying something dangling in its 
 
VISIT TO GRIQUA TOWN, 55 
 
 talons. On directing his companions to the sight, they said, 
 " It is only a crow with a tortoise — you will see it fall 
 presently ; " and down it fell. The crow descended, and up 
 went the tortoise again to a still greater height, from which 
 it dropped, and the crow instantly followed. On hastening 
 to the spot they found the crow feasting on the mangled 
 tortoise ; and looking around the flat rock, they saw the 
 place covered with the shells of^ victims that had been slain 
 in the same manner. The natives said the kites killed the 
 tortoises after the same fashion. 
 
 "The windings of the river sometimes flowed through 
 immense chasms, overhung with stupendous precipices, and 
 then like a translucent lake, with the beautiful towering 
 mimosas and willows reflected from its bosom, and a rich 
 variety of birds, of fine plumage, though v/ithout a song ; 
 wild geese, ducks, snipes, flamingoes, in perfect security 
 feeding on the banks, beneath the green shade, or basking 
 in the sun's rays on the verdant islands, far from the 
 fowler«s snare. The swallows also, mounting aloft, or skim- 
 ming the surface of the mirror stream ; while the ravens, 
 with their hoarse note, might be seen seeking their daily 
 food among the watery tribe, or cawing on the bending 
 tops of the weeping-willows. Flocks of guinea-fowl would 
 occasionally add to the varied scene, with their shrill cry 
 and whirling flight from the open plain to the umbrage of 
 sloping bank, where they pass the night amidst the branches 
 of the tall acacias. But here, too, the curse reigns ] for the 
 kites and hawks might be seen hovering in the air, watch- 
 ing the motions of the creatures beneath, and ready to dart 
 down with the fleetness of an arrow on a duckling straying 
 from its parent, or on a bird or a hare moving too far from 
 the shelter of a bush or tree. The fox miajht also be seen 
 stealing slowly along from the desert waste to slake his 
 thirst in the refreshing stream, and seek for some unfortu- 
 nate brood which might fall within his reach, and the 
 
56 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 cobra and green-serpent ascending the trees to suck the 
 eggs or to devour the young birds ; while the feathered 
 tribe, uniting against the common enemy, gather around 
 and rend the air with their screams. The African tiger, 
 too, comes in for a share of the feathered spoil. With his 
 sharp claws he ascends the trees in the dead of night, and 
 seizes the guinea-fowls on their aerial roost. The hyena, 
 also, here seeks his spoil, and gorges some strayed kid, or 
 pursues the troop for the new-fallen antelope or foal ; and 
 to fill up the picture, the lion may be heard in the distance 
 roaring for his prey." 
 
 As they journeyed on they fell in with various kinds 
 of persons, and their reception changed according to the 
 character of the people whom they met. When they came 
 upon any among whom missionaries had sojourned they at 
 once felt at home, and were treated with kindness. At 
 other times the people would neither give them meat nor 
 drink. 
 
 This journey was full of adventure. On one occasion 
 Moffat experienced a marvellous escape from death through 
 drinking poisoned water. After a long ride under a burning 
 sun, they came one afternoon to a little pool branching off 
 from the river, and being thirsty he dismounted, and lay 
 down to drink. Immediately he felt a strange taste in his 
 raoutli, and looking at the water, and the bush fence round 
 it, suspected it was poisoned for tlie purpose of killing any 
 game who might come there to drink. At that moment a 
 Bushman from a village near by came running in breathless 
 haste, and took him by the hand, as if to prevent him from 
 approaching the water, and talking in a very excited manner, 
 though they could not understand a single word. When 
 Moffat made signs that he had drank, the poor man seemed 
 for a moment struck dumb, and then hastened back to the 
 village. Moffat and his party followed. The poor Bush- 
 men looked on the poisoned man with great compassion ; 
 
VISIT TO GRIQUA TOWN. 57 
 
 but when they found that though sliewing symptoms of 
 the eflfects of the poison, yet he did not die, they grew 
 frantic with joy — the women striking their elbows against 
 their naked sides. Soon after they gave the travellers some 
 meat of zebras which had died the previous day from 
 drinking this poisoned water ; and the missionary says that 
 having fasted all day he enjoyed a steak of the black- 
 looking flesh with its yellow fat.- 
 
 The dangers of the journey were many and great. One 
 evening they had scarcely ended their worship before 
 retiring to rest, when the howls of the hyena and the 
 jabbering of the jackal announced that these were to be 
 their companions for the night. To these sounds were 
 added a blowing and snorting chorus from the hippopotami 
 on the river. When a little while after the dismal notes of 
 the hooting owl were heard also, one of the men remarked, 
 *' We want only the lion's roar to complete the music of the 
 desert." 
 
 At times they were reduced almost to starvation. One 
 evening, after two days' fasting, they reached a bushless 
 plain, and made a fire. The terrific roar of a lion soon 
 startled them, and as it was again and again repeated, kept 
 them in a state of terror. They resumed their journey in 
 haste, and at last escaped the danger, and halted to rest. 
 "♦The last sound we heard to soothe us," says Moffat, " was 
 the distant roar of the lion, but we were too much exhausted 
 to feel anything like fear. Sleep came to our relief, and it 
 seemed made up of scenes the most lovely, forming a glowing 
 contrast to our real situation. I felt as if engaged, during 
 my short repose, in roving among ambrosial bowers of 
 paradisaical delight, hearing sounds of music as if from 
 angels' harps : it was the night wind falling on my ears 
 from the neighbouring hill. I seemed to pass from stream 
 to stream, in which I bathed and slaked my thirst at many 
 a crystal fount flowing from golden mountains enriched 
 
58 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 Avith living green. These Elysian pleasures continued till 
 morning dawn, when we awoke speechless with thirst, our 
 eyes inflamed, and our whole frames burning like a coal. 
 We were, however, somewhat less fatigued, but wanted 
 water, and had recourse to another pipe before we could 
 articulate a word." He went in search of water, but could 
 find none. Happening to cough, he was instantly sur- 
 rounded by almost a hundred baboons, some of them very 
 large. They grunted, gi'inned, and sprang from rock to 
 rock, protruding their mouths, and drawing back the skin 
 of their foreheads, threatening an instant attack. Though 
 he had his gun with him he dared not fire, for if he had 
 v^-ounded one of them, he would have been skinned in five 
 minutes. After a time they halted and appeared to hold 
 a noisy council, and the traveller passed on unharmed. 
 
 It was on this journey that Moflat first saw the mirage. 
 Still searching for v/ater, they were driving slowly and 
 silently over the burning plain when this strange pheno- 
 menon tantalised them with exhibitions of pictures of lakes 
 and pools studded with lovely islets, and magnificent trees 
 on their banks. Some seemed to be mercantile harbours, 
 with jetties, coves, and moving rafts and oars. Sometimes 
 the heat was so intense that they thrust their heads into 
 old ant-hnis excavated by the ant-eater, that they might 
 have something solid between their heated brains and the 
 fierce rays of the sun. The crown of tlie head felt as if 
 covered with live coal, and their minds began to wander. 
 At length they came to water. Kot daring to drink at 
 once, they rested for a while under a bush to cool. When 
 they ventured to drink, although the pool was moving with 
 animalcula?, muddy, and nauseous with filth, it furnished a 
 reviving drauglit. That night they reached their journey's 
 end. At a late hour they arrived at the house of Mr. 
 Anderson, one of the missionaries at Griqua Town. Moflat 
 entered the door haggard and speechless, covered with per- 
 
VISIT TO GRIQUA TOWX. 59 
 
 spiration and dust, but at once procured, by signs, a drauglifc 
 of water. Afterwards he was refreshed with a cup of coffee 
 and some food, which he had not tasted for three days. 
 
 Moffat found the society of the missionaries and their 
 wives at Griqua Town most refreshing. The crowded and 
 attentive congregation, and the work of education in the 
 daily school, soon caused him to forget all the inconveniences 
 and hardships of the journey, and he found unspeakable 
 joy in preaching to the Griquas the glad tidings of redomp- 
 tion. From Griqua Town he went on to Lattakoo, about a 
 hundred miles to the north, on the Kuruman River. Here 
 he received a hearty welcome from the missionaries at the 
 station, and stopped some days. At this place he first saw, 
 in any numbers, the Bechuanas, but little thought, as he 
 addressed them on the great salvation, that this part of the 
 continent was to be the scene of his future labours. 
 
 The time came for the party to return to Xamaqua Land, 
 and the return journey had its adventures as well as the 
 journey out. They were overtaken by a thunderstorm and 
 torrents of rain, till they were drenched to the skin. The 
 biscuit that had been given them at Griqua Town was com- 
 pletely destroyed by the wet They could light no fires. 
 At nights they were nearly frozen with cold, and they were 
 almost scorched during the day. They were '• in fastings 
 oft." God, however, watched over them, and sometimes 
 interposed remarkably on their behalf. One incident may 
 be given in proof. " We had passed the night without 
 food, and after a long day's ride the sun was descending on 
 us, with little prospect of meeting with anything to assuage 
 the pains of hunger, when, as we were descending from the 
 high ground, v/eak and weary, we saw at a great distance, 
 on the opposite ridge, a line of dust approaching with the 
 fleetness of the ostrich. It proved to be a spring-buck, 
 closely pursued by a wild dog, which must have brought it 
 many miles, for it was seized within two hundred yards 
 
60 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 of the spot where we stood and instantly despatched. We 
 of course thankfully took possession of his prize, the right 
 to which the wild dog seemed much inclined to dispute with 
 us. I proposed to leave half of it for the pursuer. 'No,' 
 said one of my men, ' he is not so hungry as we are, or he 
 would not run so fast.' " 
 
 The night before reaching Africaner's station they had a 
 narrow escape from a hippopotamus. They were crossing 
 the river at a narrow part when the animal came furiously 
 up the stream, snortnig so loud as to be echoed back from 
 the neighbouring rocks. It was with the utmost difficulty 
 they succeeded in making their escape. These animals are 
 timid enough in their undisturbed lakes and pools, but when 
 tiiey have been hunted from year to year they become 
 dangerous. 
 
 On their arrival home they were welcomed with joy by 
 Africaner, before whom they laid an account of their ex- 
 pedition. The whole of their researches and proceedings 
 gave him the fullest satisfaction ; and it was thought best to 
 defer for a season his removal to Griqua Town. Before we 
 proceed further, it is important that we should give some- 
 thing more than a passing notice to the remarkable career 
 of Africaner, inasmuch as he offers one of the noblest 
 illustrations of the triumphs of the Gospel in this or any 
 other age. The next chapter w411 therefore be devoted to a 
 sketch of his life and character. 
 

 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HISTORY AND CHARACTER OF AFRICANER. 
 
 y^RiFRICANER and his father once roamed over their 
 native hills and dales within one hundred miles of 
 Cape Town, pastured their own flocks, killed their 
 own game, drank of their own streams, and mingled 
 the music of their heathen songs with the winds which burst 
 over the Witsemberg and Winterhock mountains, once the 
 strongholds of his clan." Gradually the Dutch settlers 
 encroached upon their lands, and they were driven farther 
 and farther away from the home of their forefathers, until 
 at length Africaner and his diminished clan became the 
 servants of one of these settlers. In a quarrel which after- 
 wards arose between them, the Hottentot clan murdered 
 the farmer and his family, and Africaner, outlawed from 
 the colony, fled with them to the Orange River. Here he 
 became a terror, not only to the colony on the south, but 
 also to the tribes on the north. His name carried dismay 
 even to the solitary wastes of the desert. When the 
 missionaries Albrecht and their companions settled at 
 "Warm Bath station, they were about one hundred miles 
 west of the neighbourhood of Africaner. That desperado 
 and part of his people occasionally attended their instruc- 
 
62 LIFE OF FiOBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 tions, and they visited his place in return. Even at this 
 time he listened with attention, and he used afterwards to 
 refer to it as the period when he saw "men as trees 
 w^alking." 
 
 When the Rev. John Campbell first visitt)d Africa to 
 examine into the state of the missionary cause there, ho 
 found in every village through which he passed the terror 
 of Africaner's name. Feeling how important it was that 
 such a man should be won to Christ, Mr. Campbell wrote 
 him a kind conciliatory letter, and forwarded it by a trusty 
 messenger. To this letter Africaner sent a favourable 
 reply, and the result of the correspondence was a promise to 
 send out a missionary to Africaner's own station. Hence 
 when the directors of the London Missionary Society sent 
 Robert Moffat out to South Africa, this was his destination. 
 
 Africaner may be regarded as the first convert of the 
 mission. During the nine years of Moffat's hard labours in 
 Namaqua Land, he seemed to himself often as if beating the 
 air or talking to the deaf, but the gain of this one man was 
 a great success. Africaner was no ordinary character, and 
 his mind, once aroused by the quickening influence of the 
 Spirit of God, knew no rest till it found peace in the love 
 of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. His attention to the 
 means of grace was most exemplary. He was not a very 
 fluent reader, but the New Testament became his constant 
 companion. He might be seen under the shadow of a great 
 rock, nearly all day, eagerly perusing the pages of Divine 
 inspiration ; or he would sit in his hut, unconscious of the 
 affairs of the family around or the entrance of a stranger, 
 with his eye gazing on the blessed Book, and his mind 
 absorbed in spiritual and Divine things. Often, too, at 
 night, he would sit on a great stone at the door of the 
 missionary's dwelling conversing till the dawn of the next 
 day on creation, Providence, redemption, and the heavenly 
 world. 
 
HISTORY OF AFEICABER. C3 
 
 On these occasions he would repeat to his friend and 
 teacher, generally in the very words of Scripture, such 
 passages as he could not fully comprehend, and ask their 
 meaning. lie loved to search the Scriptures. He had no 
 commentary except the living voice of the missionary. He 
 had not even the help afforded by marginal references ; but 
 he soon discovered the importance of consulting parallel 
 passages, and having an excellent memory, he was able 
 readily to find them. He studied the volume of Nature as 
 well as that of revelation. He would regard the starry 
 heavens with the deepest interest and the works of God 
 around him. Sometimes, after Moffat had been explaining 
 to him the wonders of creation, he would rub his hands on 
 his head and say, " I have heard enough ; I feel as if my 
 head was too small, and as if it would swell with these 
 great subjects." 
 
 Speaking of his character, Moffat says: — "During the 
 whole period I lived there I do not remember having occa- 
 sion to be grieved with him, or to complain of any part of 
 his conduct ; his very faults seemed to lean to virtue's side. 
 One day, when seated together, I happened in absence of 
 mind to be gazing steadfastly on him. It arrested his 
 attention, and he modestly inquired the cause. I replied, 
 * I was trying to picture to myself your carrying fire and 
 sword through the country, and I could not think how eyes 
 like yours could smile at human woe.' He answered not, 
 but shed a flood of tears. It may be emphatically said of 
 Africaner that ' he wept with those that wept,' for wherever 
 he heard of a case of distress thither his sympathies were 
 directed ; and notwithstanding all his spoils of former years, 
 he had little to spare, but he was ever on the alert to 
 stretch out a helping hand to the widow and fatherless. 
 At an early period I also became an object of his charity, 
 for, finding out that I sometimes sat down to a scanty meal, 
 he presented me with two cows, which, though in that 
 
04 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 country giving little milk, often saved me many a hungry 
 night to which I was exposed. He was a man of peace ; 
 and though I could not expound to him that the * sword of 
 the magistrate' implied that he was calmly to sit at home 
 and see Bushmen or marauders carry off his cattle and slay 
 his servants, yet so fully did he understand and appreciate 
 the principles of the Gospel of Peace, that nothing could 
 grieve him more than to hear of individuals or villages con- 
 tending with one another. He who was formerly like a 
 firebrand, spreading discord, enmity, and war among the 
 neighbouring tribes, w^ould now make any sacrifice to prevent 
 anything like a collision between two contending parties ; 
 and when he might have raised his arm, and dared them to 
 lift a spear or draw a bow, he would stand in the attitude 
 of a suppliant and entreat them to be reconciled to each 
 other; and pointing to his past life, add, 'What have I 
 now of all the battles I have fought and all the cattle 
 I took but shame and remorse 1' " 
 
 Africaner's love for Moffat was sincere and lasting;, and 
 he experienced many proofs of it. During a season of sick- 
 ness — a severe attack of bilious fever — which in the course 
 of a few days induced delirium, opening his eyes in the first 
 lucid moments he saw Africaner sitting before his couch 
 gazing on him with eyes full of sympathy and tenderness. 
 He nursed him throughout the season, and when he saw 
 him fully restored his joy was unbounded. 
 
 The outlawed robber chieftain now yielded himself en- 
 tirely to the instruction and guidance of his Christian 
 teacher ; and when, after some time, circumstances required 
 Moffat to visit Cape Town, and he desired Africaner to 
 accompany him, the chief expressed his readiness to do so. 
 At first, when the proposal was made to him, he looked at 
 his friend with a searching glance, and gravely asked if he 
 were in earnest. " I had thought you loved me," he said, 
 *' and do you advise me to go to the Government to be hung 
 
HISTORY OF AFRICANER. 65 
 
 up as a spectacle of public justice 1" And putting his hanrl 
 to his head, he asked, " Do you not know that I am an 
 outlaw, and that a thousand rix-dollars have been offered 
 for this poor head ? " When Moffat assured him that he 
 need not fear any evil consequences — that the results would 
 be satisfactory to himself and to the Governor of the Cape, 
 he said, "Well, I shall deliberate, and commit" (or, as ho 
 used the word according to the Dutch translation) " roll ray 
 way upon the Lord ; I know He will not leave me." 
 
 When they started for Cape Town nearly all the in- 
 habitants accompanied them half a day's journey to the 
 Orange River, and there they parted amid the shedding of 
 tears on both sides. When they reached Pella the scene 
 was most affecting. Men met who had not seen each other 
 since they had met in mutual combat for each other's 
 destruction — met now as brethren in Christ, and talked of 
 Him who had subdued both by His love. After spending 
 some pleasant days here they set off to pass through the 
 territories of the farmers to Cape Town. 
 
 Their appearance in the colony surprised all. " Some of 
 the worthy people on the borders of the colony congratulated 
 me," says Mr. Moffat, " on returning alive, having often 
 heard, as they said, that I had been long ago murdered by 
 Africaner. Much wonder was expressed at my narrow 
 escape from such a monster of cruelty, the report having 
 been spread that Mr. Ebner had but just escaped with the 
 skin of his teeth. While some would scarcely credit my 
 identity, my testimony as to the entire reformation of 
 Africaner's character and his conversion was discarded as 
 the effusion of a frenzied brain. It sometimes afforded no 
 little entertainment to Africaner and the Namaquas to 
 hear a farmer denounce this supposed irreclaimable savage. 
 Therewere only a few, however, who were sceptical on this 
 subject. At one farm a novel scene exhibited the state of 
 feeling respecting Africaner and myself, and likewise dis- 
 
66 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 played the power of Divine grace under peculiar circum- 
 stances. It was necessary, from the scarcity of water, to 
 call at such places as lay in our road. The farmer referred 
 to was a good man in the best sense of the word, and he 
 and his wife had both shewn me kindness on my way to 
 Namaqua Land. On approaching the house, which was on 
 an eminence, I directed my men to take the waggon to the 
 valley below, while I walked towards the house. The 
 farmer, seeing a stranger, came slowly down the descent to 
 meet me. When within a few yards I addressed him in 
 the usual way, and, stretching out my hand, expressed my 
 pleasure at seeing him again. He put his hand behind him, 
 and asked me rather wildly who I was. I replied that I 
 was Moffat, expressing my wonder that he should have 
 forgotten me. ' Moffat ! ' he rejoined in a faltering voice ; 
 *it is your ghost ! ' and moved backward. ' I am no ghost,' 
 I replied. 'Don't come near me!' he exclaimed; 'you 
 have long been murdered by Africaner.' 'But I am> no 
 ghost,' I said, feeling my hands as if to convince him, and 
 myself too, of my materiality, but his alarm only increased. 
 ' Everybody says you were murdered ; f%nd a man told me 
 he had seen your bones;' and ho continued to gaze at me, 
 to the no small astonishment of the good wife and children 
 who were standing at the door, as also to that of my people, 
 who were looking on from the waggon below. At length 
 he extended his trembling hand, saying, ' AVhen did you 
 rise from the dead ? ' As he feared my presence would 
 alarm his wife, we bent our steps towards the waggon, and 
 Africaner was the subject of our conversation. I gave him 
 in a few words my views of his present character, saying, 
 ' He is now a truly good man ; ' to which he replied, ' I can 
 believe almost anything you say, but tliat I cannot credit ; 
 there arc seven wonders in the world — that would be 
 the eighth.' I appealed to the displays of Divine grace in 
 a Paul, a Manasseh, and referred to his own experience. 
 
HISTORY OF AFRICANEE. 6V 
 
 He replied, these were another description of men, but that 
 Africaner was one of the accursed sons of Ham, enumerating 
 some of the atrocities of which he had been guilty. Dy 
 this time we were standing near to Africaner, on whoKo 
 countenance sat a smile, for he well knew the prejudices of 
 some of the farmers. The farmer closed the conversation 
 by saying, with much earnestness, ' Well, if what you assert 
 be true respecting that man, I have only one wish, and that 
 is to see him before I die ; and when you return, as sure as 
 the sun is over our heads, I will go with you to see him, 
 though he killed my own uncle.' I was not before aware 
 of this fact, and now felt some hesitation whether to dis- 
 cover to him the object of his wonder ; but knowing the 
 sincerity of the farmer and the goodness of his disposition, 
 I said, ' This, then, is Africaner ! ' He started back, look- 
 ing intensely at the man, as if he had just dropped from the 
 clouds. ' Are you Africaner *? ' he exclaimed. The chief 
 arose, doffed his old hat, and making a polite bow, answered, 
 *I am.' The farmer seemed thunderstruck; but when, by 
 a few questions, he had assured himself of the fact that the 
 former bugbear of the border stood before him, now meek 
 and lamb-like in his whole deportment, he lifted up his eyes 
 and exclaimed, ' O God, what a miracle of Thy power ! 
 what cannot Thy grace accomplish ! ' The kind farmer, and 
 nis no less hospitable wife, now abundantly supplied out 
 wants : but we hastened our departure, lest the intelligence 
 might get abroad that Africaner was with me, and bring 
 unpleasant visitors." 
 
 The arrival of Moffat and Africaner at Cape Town gave 
 satisfaction to all parties. Lord Charles Somerset, the 
 Governor, as a testimony of his good feeling, presented 
 Africaner with an excellent waggon. Mr. Campbell and Dr. 
 Philip, who had just arrived at the Cape from England for 
 the purpose of examining into the state of the Africai? 
 ^nissions, rejoiced to see before them such a trophy of DivinC 
 
68 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 grace. Africaner's appearance excited much interest among 
 the people of Cape Town generally. They were struck with 
 his mildness and gentleness of disposition, and with his piety 
 and accurate knowledge of the Bible. His New Testament 
 was an interesting object of attention, it was so completely 
 thumbed and worn by use. 
 
 When Moffat went with Africaner to Cape Town, it was 
 his full intention to return with him to his station, but 
 this was not to be, for it was the wish of Mr. Campbell and 
 Dr. Philip that the tried missionary should accompany 
 them in their visits to the several stations, and eventually 
 be appointed to mission work among the Bechuanas. Much 
 to Africaner's regret, though with his full consent, he was 
 thus separated from his old friend, and went home alone. 
 About a year afterwards they met once more. On this 
 occasion they parted with some hope that again they might 
 see each other on earth ; but no — it was the last farewell ; 
 for scarcely two years had elapsed when Africaner was 
 called to enter into the joy of his Lord. His death was 
 calm and peaceful. The Rev. J. Archbell, Wesleyan mis- 
 sionary, in a letter to Dr. Philip, thus describes the closing 
 scene of the life of this remarkable man : — " Africaner was 
 a man of sound judgment, and of undaunted courage ; and 
 although he himself was one of the first and severest perse- 
 cutors of the Christian cause, he would, had he lived, have 
 spilled his blood, if necessary, for his missionary. When he 
 found his end approaching, he called all his people together, 
 after tlie example of Joshua, and gave them directions as to 
 their future conduct. ' We are not,' said he, ' what we 
 were, savages, but men professing to be taught according to 
 the Gospel. Let us then do accordingly. Live peaceably 
 with all men, if possible ; and if impossible, consult those 
 ■who are placed over you before you engage in anything. 
 Remain together as you have done since I knew you. Then, 
 when the directors think fit to send you a missionary, yoq 
 
HISTORY OF AFRiCANl^n. CD 
 
 may be ready to receive him. Behave to any teacher yov; 
 may have sent as one sent of God, as I have great hope 
 that God will hless you in this respect when T am gone to 
 Heaven. I feel that I love God, and that he has done much 
 for me of which I am totally unworthy. My former life is 
 stained with blood, but Jesus Christ has pardoned me, and 
 I am going to Heaven. Oh, beware of falling into the same 
 evils into which I have led you frequently ; but seek God, 
 and He will be found of you to direct you." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE BECHUANA MISSION". 
 
 HE first visit Mr. MofTat paid to Cape Town, aftor Iiis 
 residence at the Orange River, was most important, 
 regarded in the light of his future career. Here, 
 and now, he was united in marriage to the jDartner 
 and sharer of his toils and labours, Miss Smith, to wliom he 
 liad been long previously engaged, and who had arrived 
 from England. She was his loving and faithful companion 
 for upwards of fifty years of his life in Africa, and returned 
 home with him to England at the close of his missionary 
 w^ork. After a short illness, ending in bronchitis, she died 
 in peace on 10th January 1871. Their English loneliness 
 on Africa's soil made the wife as essential to the husband's 
 usefulness as the husband Nvas essential to the wife's safety. 
 They Avere thoroughly one in thought, feeling, purpose, and 
 aim. Slie always studied her husband's comfort, never 
 hindered him in his work, but did what she could at all 
 times to keep him up to it. The following brief but 
 faithful sketch of lier character is from the Missionary 
 Chronicle of February 1871:— ''Mrs. Moffat arrived in 
 Cape Town, and was married to the Rev. Robert Moffat 
 in 1819 ; and henceforth, for lifty-one years, she was a 
 
THE BECIIUANA MISSION. 71 
 
 sharer of all the toil, the sorrow, and the joy of her devoted 
 husband. Her object was to live for him, that he might be 
 wholly free to live for the tribes around. None looked 
 upon the dark races with a more compassionate eye — none 
 more tenderly yearned over them in their ignorance, or more 
 truly longed for the day of their redemption. During the 
 last few weeks of her life, night and day, her soul was full 
 of the thought that a new edition of the whole Bechuana 
 Bible is to be printed in London ; and she contemplated 
 with intense satisfaction the prospect of its wide circulation 
 among the tribes who seemed to have wakened up anew to 
 appreciate it. The loss to Mr. Moffat of one who was his 
 beloved companion, not only for so many years, but in 
 circumstances which made them all-in-all to each other, is 
 unspeakably great." 
 
 Another important event, growing out of Moffat's visit to 
 Cape Town, was his appointment to the Bechuana mission. 
 Apart from the regret of leaving Africaner and the Namaqua 
 congregation, this new field of labour was a very inviting 
 one to the vounsj missionarv, whose fitness and zeal in the 
 apostolic work had been increased by experience. The 
 station he was appointed to occupy was one of the foremost 
 posts on heathen soil, and beyond it were regions thickly 
 populated by races who had never seen the face of a white 
 man, and to whom Christianity and its attendant blessings 
 were as yet unknown. Twenty years before this an attempt 
 had been made by the Dutch Missionary Society in Cape 
 Town amonij the Bechuanas. The two men who were sent 
 to them not being able to accomplish anything as mission- 
 aries, turned their attention to trading. In 1805, Dr. 
 Lichtensteiii visited the Bechuanas, and after him Burchell 
 and others. In 1816, two missionaries were sent out by 
 the London Missionary Society, at the request of the chief 
 Mothibi ; but when the chief and his people found they 
 came empty-handed, and had nothing to trade or barter, 
 
72 LIFE OF no BERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 they declined to receive tliem, and actually re-yoked their 
 waggons and ordered them away. In 1821, Mr. and Mrs. 
 INIoffat settled among them under more auspicious circum- 
 stances, and such blessed results, as these pages will presently 
 shew. 
 
 For some years Mr. Hamilton shared with them, at 
 Lattakoo or Lithako, the labours and anxieties of this 
 frontier station. Their difficulties were increased by the 
 unsettled condition of the country. There was no peace in 
 the land. Cattle-lifting expeditions were constantly on the 
 move, and in these engagements the Bechuanas were not 
 always the victors. They had no religious system, no idea 
 of a Creator, no belief in the immortality of the soul — • 
 nothing- which miiiht form a scroundwork for conveying; to 
 them instruction in spiritual things. " They looked on the 
 sun with the eyes of an ox." For a bit of tobacco, or some 
 small equivalent, the missionary might gain their attention 
 for a little time, but his efforts to convey to them the idea 
 of a Creator and of a Saviour appeared as futile as to 
 convert a granite rock into arable land. 
 
 The following description of the people is from the pen 
 of Mr. Cumming, who describes them as he saw them : — 
 "As I had now reached the southern border of that vast 
 tract of Southern Africa inhabited by the numerous tribes 
 of the Bechuanas, it will be necessary, before proceeding 
 further, to give a sketch of their manners and customs. 
 They are a lively and intelligent race of people, and remark- 
 able for their goodhumour ; they are well-formed, if not 
 starved in infancy. They possess pleasing featui'es, and 
 very fine eyes and teeth ; their hair is short and woolly ; the 
 colour of their complexion is of a light copper. The various 
 tribes live in kraals or ^ illages of various sizes, along with 
 their respective chiefs. Their wigwams are built in a 
 circular form, and thatched with long grass ; the floor and 
 wall, inside and out, are plastered with a compound of clay 
 
THE BECUUANA MISSION'. 73 
 
 and cow-dunnf. The entrances are about three feet hi!2;h 
 and i.wo feet broad. Each wigwam is surrounded by a 
 hedge of wicker-work, while one grand hedge of wait-a-bit 
 thorns surrounds the entire kraal, protecting the inmates 
 from lions and other animals. 
 
 " The dress of the men consists of a kaross, which hangs 
 gracefully from their shoulders^ and another garment called 
 tsecha, which encircles their loins, and is likewise made of 
 skin. On their feet they wear a simple sandal, formed of 
 the skin of the buffalo or camelopard. On their legs and 
 arms they carry ornaments of brass and copper, of different 
 patterns, which are manufactured by themselves. The men 
 also wear a few ornaments of beads round their necks and 
 on their arms. Around their necks, besides beads, they 
 carry a variety of other appendages, the majority of which 
 are believed to possess a powerful charm to preserve them 
 from evil. One of these is a small hollow bone, through 
 which they blow when in peril ; another is a set of dice 
 formed of ivory, which they rattle in their hands and cast 
 on the ground, to ascertain if they are to be lucky in any 
 enterprise in which they may be about to engage ; also a 
 host of bits of root and bark which are medicinal. From 
 their necks also depend gourd snuff-boxes, made of an 
 'exceedingly diminutive species of pumpkin, trained to grow 
 in a bottle-like shape. 
 
 " They never move without their arras, which consist of a 
 shield, a bundle of assagais, a battle-axe, and a knobkerry. 
 The shields are formed of the hide of the buffalo or camelo- 
 pard ; their shape among some tribes are oval, among others 
 round. The assagai is a sort of light spear or javelin, 
 havinc' a wooden shaft about six feet in lensfth attached to 
 
 O O 
 
 it. Some of these are formed solely for throwing, and a 
 skilful warrior will send one through a man's body at one 
 hundred yards. Another variety of assagai is formed solely 
 for stabbing. The blades of these are stouter, and the 
 
74 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 shafts shorter and tjiicker, than tlie other variety. They 
 are found mostly among the tribes very far in tlie interior. 
 Their battle-axes are elegantly formed, consisting of a 
 triangular-shaped blade fastened in a handle formed of the 
 horn of the rhinoceros. The men employ their time in war 
 and hunting, and in dressing the skins of wild animals. 
 
 " The dress of the women consists of a kaross, depending 
 from the shoulder, and a short kilt, formed of the skin of 
 the pall ah or some other antelope. Around their necks, 
 arms, waists, and ankles they wear large and cumbrous 
 coils of beads of a variety of colours, tastefully arranged in 
 different patterns. The women chiefly employ their time 
 in cultivatinsf their fields and gardens, in which thev rear 
 corn, pumpkins, and water-melons, and likewise in harvest' 
 ing their crops and grinding their corn. Both men and 
 women go bare-headed ; they anoint their heads with sebilo, 
 a shining composition, being a mixture of fat and a grey 
 sparkling ore, having the appearance of mica. Some of the 
 tribes besmear their bodies with a mixture of fat and rod 
 clay, imparting to them the appearance of Red Indians. 
 Most of the tribes possess cattle ; these are attended to and 
 milked solely by the men, a woman never being allowed to 
 set foot within the cattle-kraal. Polygamy is allowed, and 
 any man may keep as many wives as he pleases ; the wife, 
 however, has in the first instance to be purchased. Among 
 tribes possessed of cattle the price of a wife is ten head of 
 cattle ; but among the poorer tribes a wife may be obtained 
 for a few spades with which they cultivate their fields. 
 These spades, which are manufactured by themselves, are 
 fastened in the end of a long shaft, and arc used as our 
 labourers use the hoe. Rows of women may be seen dig- 
 ging together in the fields, singing songs, to which they 
 keep time with their spades." 
 
 Mr. Thompson, in his " Travels," correctly remarks that, 
 "like most barbarians, their political wisdom consists in 
 
THE BECHUANA MISSIO.Y. 75 
 
 duplicity and petty cunning ; and their ordinary wars were 
 merely predatory incursions upon their weaker neighbours, 
 for the purpose of carrying off cattle, with as little exposure 
 as possible of their own lives. Their exj^editions against 
 the Bushmen were peculiarly vindictive, and conducted with 
 all the insidiousness and murderous ferocity, without the 
 heroic intrepidity, of American .or New Zealand savages." 
 Falsehood, revenge, robbery, and murder were among their 
 chief characteristics, and in all of which they were adepts. 
 
 The Bechuanas were as tenacious of their customs as the 
 Hindoos of caste. " Their youth, for instance," says Moffat, 
 "would forfeit anything rather than go uncircumcised. 
 This national ceremony is performed from the age of eight 
 to fourteen, and even to manhood, though tlis children born 
 previous to their parents being initiated cannot be heirs to 
 regal power. There is much feasting and dancing on the 
 occasion, and every heart is elated at these festivities. The 
 females also have their hoyali at the same age, in which 
 they are under the tuition of matrons, and initiated into all 
 the duties of wives, in which it merits notice that passive 
 obedience is especially inculcated." 
 
 After these tedious ceremonies are over the youth appears 
 lubricated, assuminix the character and wearinsf the dress of 
 h man, while he is considered able to bear the shield and 
 wield the javelin. The girls also, when they have gone the 
 round of weeks of drillinsf, dancing:, sinsjino", and listeninfj 
 to the precepts of the grave old women, have a piece of iron 
 rather hot put into their hands, which they must hold fast 
 for a time, though painful, to shew that their hands are 
 hard and strong for labour. They are then anointed, and 
 having put on the usual female dress, the lower part of their 
 hair is shaven off, and the upper part profusely bedaubed 
 with a paste of butter and sehilo — black shining ochre. 
 Kaised thus from comparative infancy to what they consider 
 womanhood, they view themselves with as much complacency 
 
76 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 as if they were enrobed in the attire of the daughters of an 
 eastern potentate. They have reached nearly to a climax 
 in their life, for they expect soon to be married, and to 
 be a mother thoy consider the chief end of a woman's 
 existence. 
 
 These ceremonies were prodigious barriers to the Gospel. 
 Polygamy was another obstacle, and the Bechuanas, jealous 
 of any diminution in their self-indulgence by being deprived 
 of the services of their wives, looked with an extremely 
 suspicious eye on any innovation on this ancient custom. 
 While going to war, hunting, watching the cattle, milking 
 the cows, and preparing the furs and skins for mantles, was 
 the work of the men, the women had by far the heavier task 
 of agriculture, building the houses, fencing, bringing firewood, 
 and heavier than all, nature's charge, the rearing of a family. 
 The greater part of the year they are constantly eniployed ; 
 and during the season of picking and sowing their gardens 
 their task is galling, living on a coarse, scanty fare, and 
 frequently having a babe fastened to their backs while thus 
 cultivating the ground. 
 
 The men, for obvious reasons, found it convenient to have 
 a number of such vassals rather than only one, while the 
 woman would be perfectly amazed at one's ignorance were 
 she to be told that she would be much happier in a single 
 state or widowhood than being the mere concubine and 
 drudge of a haughty husband, who spent the greater part of 
 his life in lounging in the shade, while she was compelled, 
 for his comfort as well as her own, to labour under the rays 
 of an almost vertical sun, in a hot and withering climate. 
 Their houses, which require considerable ingenuity as well 
 as hard labour, are entirely the work of the women, who 
 are extremely thankful to carry houie even the heavier 
 timbers, if their husbands will take their axes and fell them 
 in the thicket, which may be many miles distant. The 
 centre of the conical roof will in many houses be eighteen 
 
THE EEC EVAN A 31 IS S 10 K 77 
 
 feet high, and it requires no little scrambling, in the absence 
 of ladders, for females to climb to such a height, but the 
 men pass and repass, and look on with the most perfect 
 indifference ; while it never enters their heads that their 
 wife, their daughter, or their mother may fall and break a 
 leg or neck. These houses, though temporary, and requiring 
 great labour to keep them constantly in repair, are never- 
 theless very well adapted to the climate. They admit little 
 light, which is not desirable in a hot country, and among 
 millions of house-flies ; liut during the winter season they 
 are uncomfortably airy and cold. 
 
 For more than five j-ears tliese people continued callous 
 and indifferent to all instruction, unless it were followed by 
 some immediate temporal benefit. Notwithstanding their 
 many discouragements, the mission party perseveringly went 
 on with their work. They had to build their own dwellings 
 and enclose their gardens and folds. The site of the station 
 was a light sandy soil, where no kind of vegetables would 
 grow without constant irrigation ; it was necessary, there- 
 fore, to make water-furrows, leading from the Kuruman 
 River, to water their grain and vegetables. When their 
 crops came to perfection, or before, they were often stolen 
 by the natives. Standing in the sawpit, labouring at the 
 anvil, treading clay for making bricks, preaching to the 
 motley few who attended their place of worship — such were 
 the duties of each returning day. When the evening came, 
 it was often the burden of conversation that their utensils 
 and tools had been taken, or their water-furrows destroyed. 
 More than once, on returning from preaching, they found a 
 stone left in the pot instead of the meat they had placed 
 there, and on which they had hoped to dine. Their morti- 
 fications, losses, and disappointments were endless. Still, 
 they encouraged themselves in the Lord their God. Though 
 cast down there was no yielding to despair. They knew 
 they were at the post of duty, and that fidelity was required 
 
78 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 of them. Tiiey knew that though they were nob respon- 
 sible for success, yet they were responsible for faithfulness. 
 They knew that if they persevered in their labours, sooner 
 or later they should witness success. They remembered 
 the words of their Lord, and rejoiced in them : — " All 
 authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. 
 Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, 
 baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son 
 and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all 
 things whatsoever I commanded you ; and lo, I am with 
 you alway, even unto the end of the world." 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 INCREASED DANGERS AT LITHAKO. 
 
 {0 add to all their other trials, a rain-maker, imported 
 from a distant tribe, brought upon them the re- 
 proaches and hostility of the people. The country 
 had long suffered from a severe drought ; the heavens 
 were as brass ; scarcely a cloud had been seen for months ; 
 the land was barren ; cattle were dying rapidly ; and many 
 of the people, emaciated almost to skeletons, were living on 
 reptiles and roots. In Southern Africa, the people at such 
 a time resort to rain-makers for help. Mr. Kay very 
 properly calls these men "the missionaries inveterate 
 enemies ; " and says that they uniformly oppose, to the 
 utmost of their power, the introduction of the Gospel among 
 their countrymen. Like the angelcoks of the Greenlanders, 
 the iiaivaws of the Indians, and the greegrees of Western 
 Africa, they are amongst the strongest pillars of Satan's 
 kingdom. Their influence over the minds of the people is 
 greater than even that of the chief or king, who is obliged 
 to yield to their commands. The Bechuanas held a council, 
 and passed resolutions to send for a rain-maker of renown 
 from the Bahurutsi tribe, two hundred miles north-east of 
 the Kuruman station. The ambassadors who vrere sent to 
 
80 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 request his presence and help, promised that if he would 
 return with them and cause the needed rain to fall, he 
 should receive rewards beyond all calculation. One day, 
 after the return of the messengers was overdue, and the 
 people were waiting in anxious expectation, a sudden shout 
 was raised, and the whole town was .in motion. The rain- 
 maker was at hand. Every voice was elevated to the 
 highest pitch in exclamations of joy. All at once the 
 clouds began to gather, the lightnings darted, the thunders 
 roared in awful grandeur, and a few heavy drops of rain 
 fell. The deluded people were frantic with excitement ; 
 and as the impostor proclaimed aloud that that year the 
 women would have to cultivate their gardens on the hills, 
 because the valleys would be deluged, the shoutings of joy 
 baffled all description. After the noise and tumult had 
 somewhat subsided, a few of the multitude waited on the 
 missionaries, and treated them and their doctrines witli 
 derision. One asked, with a sneer, " Where is your God 1 
 Have you not seen our Morimo 1 Have you not beheld 
 him cast from his arm his fiery spears, and heard his voice 
 in the clouds % You talk of Jehovah, and Jesus ; what can 
 they do 1 " Referring to this interview, Moffat observes : 
 " Never in my life do I remember a text being brought 
 home with such power as the words of the Psalmist — 'Be 
 still, and know that I am God ; I will be exalted among 
 the heathen.' " 
 
 Just then there was every probability of the darkness 
 which had gathered around the missionaries becoming darker 
 still. The rain-maker boasted of his powers, and told the 
 most wonderful tales of his control over the elements on 
 former occasions and among other tribes. But all too soon 
 the clouds in Bechuana vanished again ; no shower followed 
 the first few drops ; the burning sun once more parched the 
 earth, and all creatures that had life seemed as if they 
 must soon die. The clouds were obstinate, and the showers 
 
INCREASED DANGERS AT LITHAKO. 81 
 
 of rain more obstinate still ; the rain-maker called them, but 
 they would not come. Various obstacles were suggested as 
 being in the way, and various remedies thought of. The 
 women were required to gather certain roots and herbs, that 
 when the moon was new, and afterwards full, he might 
 kindle fires with them on the hills. There was smoke, but 
 no rain. A baboon was to be brought to him, without a 
 blemish, and that had never lost a hair ; the baboon was 
 brought, but no rain came. A lion's heart was needed, for 
 the clouds required strong medicine ; the lion's heart was 
 procured, but no rain. A tree that had been struck with 
 lightning was cut down and burned to ashes, yet no rain 
 fell. All the men of the town were sprinkled with a 
 zebra's tail that had been dipped in water, with which had 
 been mixed an infusion of certain bulbs, still no rain. At 
 last the people grew impatient ; and then it appeared that 
 the man had been privately attributing his failure to the 
 presence of the missionaries. 
 
 The people now poured forth their curses on Messrs. 
 Hamilton and Moffat as the cause of all their sorrows. 
 They said the bell that was rung for public worship 
 frightened the clouds ; blame was cast upon their prayers. 
 "Don't you," said a chief angrily, ''bow down in your 
 houses, and pray and talk to something bad in the ground % " 
 For a fortnight the rain-maker kept himself secluded ; at 
 the close of that period he publicly proclaimed that he had 
 , discovered the cause of the drought. " Do you not see," 
 he exclaimed, "when clouds come over us, that Hamilton 
 and Mofiat look at them 1 " This question receiving a 
 hearty and unanimous affirmation, he added that their 
 white faces frightened the clouds away, and that no rain 
 need be expected so long as they were in the country. 
 Shortly after, Moflfat learnt that the unfortunate man was 
 to be speared on account of his failures, and pleaded hard, 
 and at last successfully, for the preservation of his life, 
 ' ■ ' 6 
 
82 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 Mothibi, the chief, conducted him over the plain towards 
 the Matluarin River, and sent him to his own land. 
 
 Though the rain-maker was removed, and therefore one 
 great danger taken away, yet a public opinion had been 
 created opposed to the continued residence of the mission- 
 aries in tlie country. As they proceeded with their work 
 their prospects became worse and worse. They were sus- 
 pected of befriending the Bushmen, because they condemned 
 the Bechuana system of vengeance and extirpation practised 
 against them ; they were told to go to certain professors of 
 religion whose conduct out there had been inconsistent with 
 their profession, and make them good before attempting to 
 reform the Bechuanas ; and they were still accused of being 
 the cause of all the drought. At length the hostility to- 
 wards them grew to such a height that they were informed 
 they must immediately leave the country, and that measures 
 of a violent nature would be resorted to if they disobeyed. 
 
 One day, about noon, a chief and a dozen of liis men 
 came and seated themselves under the shadow of a lar^re 
 tree near Moffixt's house. A secret council had been held 
 in the field, under pretence of a hunt, and the present party 
 was a deputation to apprise the missionaries of the result. 
 They stood patiently to hear the message. The chief 
 quivered his spear in his right hand, and rising, confronted 
 jNIofTat. Mild though he was, Moffat was in courage and 
 nerve a match for the sternest and bravest of men. Before 
 the deputed chief and his twelve attendants he fearlessly 
 lield Jiis own — weak in himself, but strong in the Lord. 
 There, too, stood his intrepid wife, an infant in her arms. 
 With a steadfast gaze the tall missionary looked the spear- 
 bearing chief straight in the eyes, while he listened to the 
 declaration that it was the determination of the chiefs of 
 the people that he and his companions should leave the 
 country. Then came the brave reply: — "We have indeed 
 felt most reluctant to leave, and are now more than ever 
 
INCREASED DANGERS AT LITHAKO. 83 
 
 resolved to abide by our post. We pity you, for you know 
 not what you do. We have suffered, it is true ; and He 
 whose servants we are has directed us in His Word, 
 * When they persecute you in one city, flee ye to another ; ' 
 but although we have suffered, we do not consider all that 
 has been done to us by the people amounts to persecution ; 
 we are prepared to expect it from such as know no better. 
 If you are resolved to rid yourselves of us, you must resort 
 to stronger measures, for our hearts are with you. You 
 may shed our blood or burn us out. We know you will 
 not touch our wives and children. Then shall they who 
 sent us know, and God, who sees and hears what we do, 
 shall know, that we have been persecuted indeed." When 
 Moffat had finished speaking, the chief looked at his com- 
 panions, remarking to them, with a significant shake of the 
 head, ''These men must have ten lives, when they are so 
 fearless of death ; there must be something in immortality." 
 The meeting broke up, the deputation leaving to inform 
 those who had sent them that these were impracticable 
 men. 
 
 The missionaries were devoutly thankful that this inter- 
 view closed so favourably. They were also thankful that 
 there was no public prohibition issued against attendance 
 on Divine worship ; a few therefore generally came. A 
 large majority had never entered the chapel, being threatened 
 by their superiors if they did ; and others would not for 
 , their lives have set a foot within the threshold. No further 
 threats were made against life ; and presently circumstances 
 occurred which, threatening the Bechuanas and the mission- 
 aries with common danger, tended to establish more friendly 
 relations between them, and led to results most favourable 
 to the mission. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 INVASION BY THE MANTATEES. 
 
 OR a year or more alarming rumours came from all 
 quarters of the advance from the interior of an 
 invincible army, numerous as the locusts, carrying 
 with them everywhere death and desolation. Some 
 of the reports were of the wildest character. It was said 
 that the head of this mighty army was a woman, that she 
 nourished it with her own milk, and sent out hornets 
 before its march. Mr. Moffat had long felt a desire to visit 
 Makaba, the chief of the Bauangketsi, a powerful tribe 
 situated upwards of two hundred miles north-east of 
 Lithako. He was anxious to become better acquainted 
 with the surrounding tribes — with their localities, habits, 
 and language. He thought, too, that he might do some- 
 thing to promote friendliness between them, and so prepare 
 the way for the wider spread of the Gospel. About this 
 time, receiving an ivitation from Makaba, the path of duty 
 was plain ; but Mothibi and his people were against the 
 step. So strong was Mothibi's opposition that on the day 
 of departure, finding he could not prevail by argument, he 
 positively forbade those under his control to accompany the 
 
 party. Mo fill t, 
 
 feeling 
 
 no inclination to abandon his 
 
INVASION BY THE MANTATEES. 85 
 
 purpose, started with such men as he had. He had not 
 proceeded far when he ascertained that the invading force 
 was near at hand ; that they were known as Mantatees, a 
 section of the Basuto race, who, having been driven from 
 their own country by the Zulus, had fallen back upon 
 weaker tribes, and gathering strength with each successive 
 victory, were now advancing upon Lithako. 
 
 Respecting the real name of the Mantatees there is some 
 difference of opinion. Stockenstrom, who was familiar with 
 many of the tribe, says that -the word Mantatee signiiies 
 "invader," or -'marauder," in the Bechuana language, and 
 that the tribe universally disclaimed it. They are described 
 as a tall, robust people, in features resembling the Bechuanas. 
 Moffat, speaking from personal observation, says : — " This 
 barbarous horde appeared, when all collected in one body, 
 extremely numerous, amounting at the very lowest compu- 
 tation to about forty thousand souls. The men were tall 
 and muscular, and their bodies being smeared over with a 
 mixture of charcoal and grease, they appeared as blaci as 
 pitch. Their natural colour is scarcely a shade darker than 
 that of the Bechuanas, whom in features they also nearly 
 resemble. Their language appears to be merely a dialect of 
 the Bechuana tongue. Their dress consisted in general of 
 prepared or tanned skins, hanging loose over their shoulders. 
 Some of the chiefs had karosses of a superior description, 
 and not a few wore very long loose shawls of cotton cloth ; 
 but most of the women were almost destitute of clothing, 
 having for the greater part only a small piece of skin sus- 
 pended from their loins to cover their nakedness. The men, 
 during the engagement, having thrown off* their mantles, 
 were entirely naked, excepting this piece of skin tied about 
 their loins. Their ornaments were plumes of black ostrich 
 feathers on their heads, large copper rings, sometimes six or 
 eight in number, round their necks, with numerous rings of 
 the same metal on their arms and legs, and rings or large 
 
86 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 plates hanging from their ears. Their weapons were spears 
 or assagais, liattle-axes, and clubs ; and many of tliem had 
 a weapon of a very peculiar construction, being an iron 
 blade of a circular shape, with a cutting sabre-edge, fastened 
 on a stick with a heavy knobbed head, and used both as a 
 missile and in close combat. They had also large shields 
 of bullock's hide, which, like those of the Caffres, covered 
 almost the whole body." Referring to another attack the 
 ^[antatees made on their neighbours, he says: — "Their 
 appearance was extremely fierce and savage, and their 
 attitude very menacing. It was evident that they were 
 reluctant to depart, which was a convincing proof that a 
 night attack w^as premeditated ; and when it was growing 
 dark they compelled us to retreat, till a few shots were tired 
 into the air, when they again fled, and we pursued^ hoping 
 to increase their flight. We overtook one, whom we sur- 
 rounded for the purpose of informing him who we were, 
 and that we had no intention of doing them harm. He 
 stood with his shield and war-axe in his left hand, and a 
 spear in his right, raised as if in the act of hurling it. I 
 confess I never saw anything so fiend-like as that man, and 
 concluded that, if he was a specimen of his tribe, all hope 
 had fled for the Baralongs. His body lubricated with 
 grease and charcoal ; a large round cockade of black ostrich 
 feathers on his head ; his eyes glaring with rage ; while his 
 open mouth, displaying his white teeth, poured forth the 
 most opprobrious epithets and obscene curses, threatening 
 to give our flesh to the hyenas and our eyes to the crows, 
 as he made a run first at one of us and then at another. 
 One of tlie men, in order to frighten him, fired a ball directly 
 over his head, when he fell, and the liorsemen rushed for- 
 ward to seize him before he rose, but he was too expert, 
 and made us quickly turn away in no little confusion ; and 
 liad it not been for the fear of losing his spear, it would 
 certainly have been plunged into one of our number. It 
 
INVASION BY THE MANTATEES. 87 
 
 was now becoming too dark to make any further attempts^ 
 and we let him go, and turned in the direction of the 
 waggons, which were about seven miles distant." 
 
 As soon as Mr. Moffat was assured of the near approach 
 of the Mantatees, he hastened back to apprise the Bechuanas 
 of the impending danger ; and apprehending from their 
 weakness and cowardice they would easily fall a prey to 
 the enemy, determined to go on to Griqua Town to secure 
 assistance. This bold and judicious action saved from 
 destruction the chief and people, who a little while before 
 had sought to drive their best earthly friends from the 
 country. The Griquas formed a strong commando, and 
 joining with the Bechuanas, advanced against the invading 
 array. A terrible battle ensued, and after a long and 
 sometimes doubtful struggle, and great loss of life on the 
 side of the invaders, they were put to flight. As fighting 
 was not Moffat's province, he avoided discharging a single 
 shot, though at the request of the chiefs he remained with 
 the commando as the only means of safety. As soon as 
 the enemy had fled, the Bechuanas began to plunder and 
 despatch the wounded men, and to butcher the women and 
 children with their spears and war-axes. 
 
 The compassion of the missionary was stirred by the 
 heartrending scenes he was compelled to witness, and his 
 influence was exerted to prevent these acts of cruelty. By 
 galloping in among them, he deterred many of the Bechu- 
 anas from their barbarous purpose. It was distressing to 
 see mothers and infants rolled in blood, and the living babe 
 in the arms of a dead mother. The women, seeing that 
 through Moffat's influence mercy was shewn them, instead 
 of fleeing, generally sat down, and baring their bosoms, 
 exclaimed, " I am a woman, I am a woman ! " The men, 
 struggling with death, would raise themselves from the 
 ground and discharge their arrows at any within their 
 reach, and several times the missionary narrowly escaped 
 
88 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 llioir spears and war-axes while he was busy in rescuing 
 the women and children. 
 
 Reviewing these events, Dr. Pliilip judiciously and de- 
 voutly observes : — "We cannot help noticing with gratitude 
 the hand of God in ail the circumstances connected with 
 the deliverance of our missionary friends and the people of 
 Lithako. Had Mr. Moffat not undertaken the journey he 
 proposed, lie might have remained ignorant of the approach 
 of the enemy ; or had he gone forward on his journey 
 without hearing of them, as he might have done in that 
 country, Lithako must have fallen, and he himself and the 
 mission families might have been involved in the same 
 destruction ; and had he been spared to return from his 
 visit to Makaba, one cannot contemplate him, even in ima- 
 gination, standing on the ruins of Lithako and treading 
 on the ashes of his murdered wife and children, without 
 shuddering with horror ! But the circumstances which 
 indicate an invisible arm in the preservation of our friends 
 do not stop here. Had he delayed his journey, or had he 
 deferred calling in the Griquas, whatever escape might 
 have been provided for him and our other missionary 
 friends, Mothibi and his people would have been ruined. 
 The influence of the missionaries upon them would in all 
 prol^ability have been lost, and their circumstances might 
 have been rendered so desperate as to preclude all hope of 
 being of any service to them in future." 
 
 The circumstances connected with the invasion of the 
 Mantatees made a marked impression upon the chief 
 Mothibi and his people in favour of the missionaries, whose 
 self-sacrificing conduct they could not but feel and acknow- 
 ledge. They wondered that they remained in the country 
 when they might have escaped to the Colony with com- 
 paratively little loss of property, and they did not hesitate 
 to express their wonder with evident admiration. Advan- 
 tage was taken of this state of things to obtain a new site 
 
INVASION BY THE MANTATEES. 89 
 
 for the mission, the place which they occupied being in 
 many respects unsuitable. Owing to the succession of dry 
 seasons, there was every prospect, from the diminution of the 
 fountain that supplied theni with water, of its becoming 
 still more trying. A place eight miles distant, and about 
 three miles below the Kuruman fountain, was examined, 
 and appeared from the locality to be a more eligible spot 
 than any other. The Kuruman fountain issues, full and 
 flowing, from caverns in a little hill, composed of the blue 
 and grey limestone, mixed with flint. Its noble stream, 
 though pure and wholesome, ^ is rather calcareous. Its 
 source must be at a very great distance, for the rains falling 
 on the hills and plains for forty miles round, in any one year, 
 could not supply such a stream even for a month. Indeed, 
 throughout this limestone basin fountains are very pre- 
 carious ; even the Kuruman does not send forth its former 
 torrents, and like many other African streams, it is largest 
 at its source, and, partly by evaporation and partly by 
 absorption, is completely lost about ten miles to the north- 
 west. 
 
 While arrangements were pending for removing to 
 Kuruman, Mr. Moffat, taking with him the chief's son and 
 one of the principal men, paid a visit to Cape Town. It 
 was hoped that the visit would make a favourable impres- 
 sion on the young prince and his companion, and convince 
 them, and through them their people, that the missionaries 
 had friends, and were not obliged to live among the Bechu- 
 anas because they could not live anywhere else. They were 
 delighted with their reception at Cape Town, and with 
 everything they saw. It was with great difficulty they 
 were prevailed upon to go on board one of the ships in the 
 bay. The size of the hull and the height of the masts 
 astounded them. When they saw a boy mount the rigging 
 and go to the masthead, they thought he was an ape. 
 W^hen they entered the cabin, and looked down into the 
 
90 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 liold, they thought the ship was resting on the bottom of 
 the ocean. *' Do these water-houses," said they, " unyoke 
 like waggon-oxen every night 1 " " Do they graze in the 
 sea to keep them alive 1 " When asked what they thought 
 of a ship in full sail that was approaching the roads, 
 they replied, "We have no thoughts here; we hope to 
 think again when we get on shore." This visit to the 
 Cape gave great satisfaction to all parties. Having com- 
 pleted the business for which it had been made, Moffat 
 prepared to return ; and after enduring for two months the 
 tedium and monotony of an African journey, reached the 
 station in May 1824. The original engagement for the land 
 on which to establish their new station was ratified, and 
 forthwith they proceeded to settle themselves at Kuruman. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 MOFFAT S VISIT TO THE CHIEF MAKABA. 
 
 |OOISr after the removal to the Kuruman, Mr. Moffat 
 fullilled a promise he had made to visit Makaba, 
 king of the Bauangketsi. As he and his party 
 proceeded on their journey they travelled over a 
 country of limestone, covered v>dth the hookthorn acacia in 
 some places ; in others, adorned with trees and shrubs of 
 various kinds, and alive with an abundance of game. The 
 principal part of the game obtained by the natives they 
 caught in pitfalls. Some of the holes were sixteen feet 
 deep, where even the tall giraffe and ponderous rhinoceros 
 were entrapped. Some of them were formed like a funnel, 
 others were an oblong square, with sharp stakes fastened in 
 ♦ the bottom ; the earth taken out was generally scattered, 
 and the opening covered over with sticks and grass. 
 
 The latter part of the journey was through pleasant 
 scenery, and as they approached the Molapo River, on the 
 distant horizon hills in the Bauangketsi country were seen, 
 apparently covered with timber, indicating a fertile region. 
 When they reached Pitsan, the principal town of the 
 Barolong tribe, Tauane, the chief, tried to dissuade Moffat 
 from visiting Makaba. Pitsan contained upwards of twenty 
 
92 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 thousand people, all of whom had congregated there after 
 the attack of the Mantatees. As the party remained there 
 over the Sabbath the missionary held Divine service, and 
 conversed with the principal men on the subject of a 
 missionary settling among them. 
 
 Outside Makaba's town they were met by messengers 
 whom he had sent out to welcome them, and who said the 
 chief had not slept for joy because of their approach. As 
 they reached the top of the hill, at the foot of which lay 
 the capital of the Bauangketsi, and looked to the north, 
 they were surprised at the immense number of towns which 
 lay scattered in the valleys. Makaba, standing at the door 
 of one of his houses, welcomed them on their approach, and 
 provided them with refreshment. About sunset he sent 
 one of his wives to deliver a sack full of thick milk ; and 
 next morning he sent for slaughter three oxen, and in the 
 course of the day boiled corn, pottage, and beer, Moffat 
 repeatedly endeavoured to interest the chief in mission 
 work, and offered to send a missionary to labour among his 
 people ; to which he replied, that he hoped in future no 
 grass would .be allowed to grow on the road between the 
 Kuruman and his country, and that men of peace should 
 live in every nation to keep up friendly intercourse. But 
 his ideas concerning the benefit to be derived from the 
 residence of a missionary were very vague, and he resolutely 
 refrained from conversing on religious subjects. Sometimes, 
 when the missionary had been trying to arrest his attention 
 by repeating something striking in the works of God, or in 
 the life of the Saviour, lie would interrupt by asking a 
 question as distant as the antipodes from the subject. 
 
 The time for Mr. Moffat's return to Kuruman was ap- 
 proaching, and he felt miserable at the prospect of leaving 
 without the satisfaction of having told Makaba what was 
 the only object of a missionary, especially as he had pro- 
 fessed his wish to have one. He therefore determined to 
 
VISIT TO THE CHIEF MAKABA. 93 
 
 pay him a formal visit for this purpose. One Sabbath 
 morning, after prayer, taking some of his company with 
 him, they went into the town, and found the chief seated 
 amidst a large number of his principal men, all engaged 
 either preparing skins, cutting them, sewing mantles, or 
 telling nesvs. Arrived in the presence of the great man, 
 surrounded by his nobles and counsellors, he said he had 
 come to tell him good tidings. The chief's countenance 
 lighted up in the expectation of hearing about some subject 
 or other congenial to his savage disposition ; but when he 
 found that the tidings were only about God and Christ and 
 salvation, he resumed his knife and jackal's skin, and began, 
 to hum a native air. 
 
 Though, however, Makaba was inattentive, one of his 
 nobles appeared struck with the character of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and especially with the account of His 
 miracles ; and on hearing that He had raised the dead, 
 exclaimed, "What an excellent doctor He must have 
 been ! " This led to some further talk as to His power in 
 the resurrection of the dead at the last day. The ear of 
 Makaba was opened, and in a quick and astonished tone, 
 he exclaimed, "What! what are these words about 1 The 
 dead, shall they arise 1 " " Yes, all the dead shall arise.'* 
 "Will my father arise'?" "Yes, your father will arise." 
 "Will all the slain in battle arise T' " ^es." "And will 
 all that have been killed and devoured by lions, tigers, 
 hyenas, and crocodiles again revive ? " " Yes, and come to 
 judgment." "And will those whose bodies have been left 
 to waste and wither on the desert plains and be scattered 
 to the winds, again arise % " he asked, with a kind of triumph. 
 " Yes," was the reply ; " not one will be left behind." Look- 
 ing then at Moflfat for a few moments with a searching 
 gaze, he turned to his people, and exclaimed, " Hark, ye 
 wise men, whoever is among you, did you ever hear such 
 news as this 1 This is strange and unheard of news 
 
94 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 indeed ! " Then addressing himself to the missionary, he 
 said, " Father, I love you much. Your visit and your 
 presence have made my heart as white as milk. The 
 words of your mouth are sweet as honey, but the words of 
 a resurrection are too great to be heard. I do not wish to 
 liear again about the dead rising. The dead cannot arise 1 
 The dead must not arise!" "Why'?" was the inquiry. 
 "Why must not one speak of a resurrection T' Raising 
 and uncovering his arm, and shaking his hand as if quiver- 
 ing a spear, he solemnly answered, " I have slain my 
 thousands, and shall they arise 1" The dawning of the 
 light of revelation upon his dark mind awoke his slumbering 
 conscience, and remorse and fear began to torment him for 
 the countless deeds of rapine and murder which had marked 
 his past career. 
 
 The parting between the missionary and the mighty chief 
 was satisfactory and pleasant on both sides. The man 
 aojainst whom Moffat had been warned as a dans-erous 
 enem3^ in whose hands his life would not be safe, he found 
 a most agreeabiii and hospitable host. Oii his return, how- 
 ever, Moffat nearly fell into the hands of the marauding 
 Mantatees, as they surged onward in their devastating 
 course among the tri]3es of the interior. For several days 
 the lives of himself and his companions were endangered ; 
 but God was his merciful and strong refuge, and he thank- 
 fully bent his course at last to his home. During this time 
 Mrs. Moffat, left alone at the station, was exposed to the 
 most distressing suspense. 
 
 About this period a party of marauders from the Orange 
 Kiver collected in the Long Mountains, some forty miles 
 west of the station, attacked several villages along the 
 Kuruman River, and were preparing to attack the mission 
 premises. This, of course, excited in Mrs. Moffat's mind 
 much alarm. She knew their desperate character, and 
 feared they might be templed to attack the house for the 
 
VISIT TO THE CHIEF MAKABA. 95 
 
 sake of the ammunition they might get there. One evening 
 the servant came in wringing her hands, and in great dis- 
 tress said the Mantatees were on their way to the Kuruman. 
 This was no pleasant news to one who, witli two babes, had 
 no means of escape. A message was sent to Mothibi, the 
 chief, who said the news was too true, but he thought there 
 was no danger till the mornin*]:. The noble woman com- 
 mended herself and her little ones to the care of God, and 
 lay down to sleep. At midnight she was awoke by a loud 
 rapping at the door ; Mothibi had come to announce the 
 dreaded intelligence that the Mantatees were approaching. 
 The sound of alarm and uproar was raised in every part 
 of the town ; preparations were made for a hasty flight ; 
 warriors were assembling; each succeeding messenger brought 
 fresh alarms : but about noon the next day it was ascertained 
 that the dreaded invaders had directed their course away 
 from the Kuruman. 
 
 This glad intelligence scattered all gloomy fears, and filled 
 every heart with joy ; but the news that made the people 
 generally so glad produced in Mrs. Moffat the greatest 
 terror, as the conviction flashed across her mind that if the 
 Mantatees were on the march to the Barolongs as reported, 
 nothing less than a miracle could save her husband from 
 destruction, as he would be returning through that region 
 at that time. Though the people saw the danger, and sym- 
 pathised with her in her fears and distress, no one could be 
 ♦persuaded to 2;o in search. The very idea of her husband's 
 falling in with such a horde of savages was almost unendur- 
 able, and for three weeks she was in a state of the extremest 
 mental agony. Nothing but incessant prayer sustained her. 
 During this period continual reports came to hand that 
 Moffat had been killed. One man had seen a piece of the 
 waggon ; another had found a part of his saddle ; and some 
 had picked up portions of his linen stained with Ijlood. At 
 last two or three men were prevailed on to go and ascertain 
 
96 
 
 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 the facts, and they started on their expedition on the morn- 
 ing of the very day on which Moffat made his appearance. 
 Thus, though there had been abundant cause for alarm, and 
 for the exercise of prayer and trust in God, yet through His 
 gracious providence their fears were turned to rejoicings 
 and songs of praise. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 FIRST YEARS AT KURUMAN. 
 
 jOFFAT'S position during the first years of his life 
 at Kuruman was a difficult one in many ways. He 
 shall state some of the trials himself : — " Some of 
 our newly-arrived assistants, finding themselves in a 
 country where the restraints of law were unknown, and not 
 being, under the influence of religion, would not submit to 
 the privations which we patiently endured, but murmured 
 exceedingly. Armed robbers were continually making 
 inroads, threatening death and extirpation. We were com- 
 pelled to work daily at every species of labour, most of 
 which was very heavy, under a burning sun and in a dry 
 climate, where only one shower had fallen during the pre- 
 ceding twelve months. These are only imperfect samples of 
 our engagements for several years at the new station, while 
 at the same time the language, which was entirely oral, 
 had to be acquired. A spelling-book, catechism, and small 
 portions of scripture were prepared, and even sent to the 
 Cape to be printed, in 1825 ; but, as if our measure of 
 disappointment was not full, they were by some mistake 
 sent to England, and before they could possibly return to 
 our station we might have had several improved editions." 
 
98 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D,D. 
 
 The missionary had long felt that the acquisition of the 
 language was an object of the first importance. At 
 Lithako the circumstances were most unfavourable, as there 
 •was neither place nor time for study, and no interpreter 
 worthy the name. "Mary," said Moffat one day to his 
 wife, "this is hard work." "It is hard work, my love," 
 she said ; " but take courage, our lives shall be given us for 
 a prey." "But think, my dear," he replied, "how long w^e 
 have been preaching to this people, and no fruits yet 
 appear." The wise woman, it is said, rejoined after this 
 manner: — "The gospel has not yet been preached to them 
 in their own tongue wherein they were born. They have 
 heard only through interpreters, and interpreters who have 
 themselves no just understanding or real love of the truth. 
 We must not expect the blessing till you are able, from 
 your own lips and in their own language, to convey it 
 through their ears into their hearts." " From that hour," 
 said Mr. Moffat, in relating the conversation, " I gave 
 myself with untiring diligence to the acquisition of the 
 language." 
 
 At first only a few words were collected, and these were 
 very incorrect, owing to the ignorance of the interpreter. 
 It was something like groping in the dark, and many 
 ludicrous blunders were made. The native was^s took 
 pleasure, when giving him sentences and forms of speech, 
 in leading him into all sorts of egregious mistakes and 
 blunders. Though, however, he had to pay in this coin for 
 his credulity, he learned something. Perseverance was 
 ultimately crowned with success. Of that success we shall 
 presently have to record a series of signal illustrations and 
 proofs. The printing-press of Kuruman has been one of the 
 greatest blessings to South Africa ; but the history of its 
 operations require a chapter to itself. 
 
 For several years the region had suffered from great 
 drought; but in 182G it was blessed with plentiful rains, 
 
FIRST YEARS AT KURVMAN. 99 
 
 and the earth grew verdant, and gave promise of plenty. 
 Soon, however, the hopes of abundance were cut off by- 
 swarms of locusts which infested every part of the country, 
 and devoured every kind of vegetation. Moffat's descrip- 
 tion of them is most graphic, and though lengthy, cannot 
 well be abridged: — "They might be seen passing over like 
 an immense cloud, extending from the earth to a consider- 
 able height, producing with their wings a great noise. 
 They always proceed nearly in the direction of the wind, 
 those in advance descending to eat anything they light upon, 
 and rising in the rear as the cloud advances. ' They have 
 no king, but they go forth, all of them, by bands,' and 
 are gathered together in one place in the evening, where 
 they rest, and from their immense numbers they weigh 
 down the shrubs, and lie at times one on the other to the 
 depth of several inches. In the morning when the sun 
 begins to diffuse warmth, they take wing, leaving a large 
 extent without one vestige of verdure ; even the plants and 
 shrubs are barked. Wherever they halt for the night or 
 alight during the day, they become a prey to other animals, 
 and are eaten not only by beasts of prey but by all kinds of 
 game, serpents, lizards, and frogs. When passing through 
 the air, kites, vultures, crows, and particularly the locust 
 bird, as it is called, may be seen devouring them. When a 
 swarm alights on gardens, or even fields, the crop for one 
 season is destroyed. I have observed a field of young 
 maize devoured in the space of two hours. They eat not 
 only tobacco and everything vegetable, but also flannel and 
 linen. The natives embrace every opportunity of gathering 
 them, which can be done during the night. Whenever 
 the cloud alights at a place not very distant from a town, 
 the inhabitants turn out with sacks, and often with pack- 
 oxen gather loads, and return the next day with millions. 
 It has happened that, in gathering them, individuals have 
 been bitten by serpents ; and on one occasion a woman had 
 
100 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 been travelling several miles with a large bundle of locusts 
 on her head^ when a serpent, which had been put into the 
 sack with them, found its way out. The woman supposing 
 it to be a thong dangling about her shoulders, laid hold of it 
 with her hand, and feeling that it was alive, instantly 
 precipitated both to the ground and fled. The locusts are 
 prepared for eating by simple boiling, or rather steaming, 
 as they are put into a large pot with a little water, and 
 covered closely up ; after boiling for a short time they are 
 taken out and spread on mats in the sun to dry, when they 
 are winnowed, something like corn, to clear them of their 
 legs and wings ; and when perfectly dry, are put into sacks, 
 or laid upon the house floor in a heap. The natives eat them 
 whole, adding a little salt when they can obtain it ; or they 
 pound them in a wooden mortar, and when they have 
 reduced them to something like meal, they mix them with a 
 little water and make a kind of cold stir-about. 
 
 *' When locusts abound, the natives become quite fat, and 
 would even reward any old lady who said that she had 
 coaxed them to alisrht within reach of the inhabitants. 
 They are, on the whole, not bad food, and when hunger has 
 made them palatable, are eaten as a matter of course. When 
 well fed they are almost as good as shrimps. There is a 
 species not eatable, with reddish wings, larger than those 
 described, and which, though less numerous, are more 
 destructive. The exploits of these armies, fearful as they 
 are, bear no comparison to the devastation they make before 
 they are able to fly, in which state they are called ' boyane.' 
 They receive a new name in every stage of their growth, 
 till they reach maturity, when they are called 'letsie.' 
 They never emerge from the sand where they were deposited 
 as eggs till rain has fallen to raise grass for the young 
 progeny. In their course, from which nothing can divert 
 them, they appear like a dark red stream, extending often 
 more than a mile broad, and from their incessant hopping, 
 
FIRST YEARS AT KURUMAN: 101 
 
 the dust appears as if alive. Nothing but a broad and 
 rapid torrent could arrest their progress, and that only by- 
 drowning them ; and if one reached the opposite shore, it 
 would keep the original direction. A small rivulet avails 
 nothing, as they swim dexterously. A line of fire is no 
 barrier, as they leap into it till it is extinguished, and the 
 others walk over the dead. Walls and houses form no 
 impediment ; they climb the very chimneys, either obliquely 
 or straight over such obstacles, just as their instinct leads 
 them. All other earthly powers, from the fiercest lion to a 
 marshalled army, are nothing compared with these diminu- 
 tive insects. The course they have followed is stripped of 
 every leaf or blade of verdure. It is enough to make the 
 inhabitants of a village turn pale to hear that they are 
 coming in a straight line to their gardens. When a country 
 is not extensive, and is bounded by the sea, the scourge is 
 soon over, the winds carrying them away like clouds to the 
 watery waste, where they alight to rise^no more. Thus the 
 immense flights which pass to the south and east rarely 
 return, but fresh supplies are always pouring down from 
 the north." 
 
 In the same year Moffat paid a visit to the Barolongs, 
 near the Malapo, that he might devote himself more closely 
 to the study of the language. His journey lay over a wild 
 and dreary country, and thinly inhabited. One night they 
 came across no fewer than six full-grown lions and a cub, 
 , and knew not how soon any one of them, fearless of the 
 travellers' small hre, might rush in among them ; but the 
 lions were apparently as distrustful of them as they were of 
 the lions. The few natives that he fell in with furnished 
 the saddest proofs of ignorance and depravity. The descrip- 
 tion he gave of the character of God, and the sinful and 
 ruined condition of men only amused them, and drew forth 
 expressions of pity that he should talk such foolishness. 
 At two of the villages of the Barolongs he spent ten weeks 
 
102 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 studying the language. The people were kind, and his 
 blunders in conversation gave rise to many bursts of 
 laughter. No one would correct a word or sentence till he 
 or she had mimicked the original so effectually as to give 
 great merriment to others. Every opportunity was em- 
 braced to try to instruct them, but all the preaching and 
 talking seemed like casting seed on the wayside or the rock. 
 Their highest happiness consisted in having an abundance 
 of meat. The missionary found the place not very favour- 
 able to study, after all, and lie prepared to return. Before 
 leaving he received a visit from Sebegne, the son of 
 Makaba, who was now king of the Bauangketsi, in the 
 stead of his late father. He desired Moffat to go and live 
 with him and his people, and when informed that this was 
 not possible, at least at present, he said at parting, "Well, 
 then, trust me as you trusted my father." 
 
 The Sabbath before Moffat left he 2:athered the Barolonos 
 together and preached his last discourse to them, exhorting 
 them to forsake their sins and believe in Jesus Christ the 
 Saviour. Having reached his home at Kuruman, he could 
 not but feel grateful for the comforts that surrounded him 
 there, and the progress he had been able to make in the 
 language. One of the difficulties of a missionary residence 
 in the country at that time was the uncertainty of com- 
 munication. It was not easy to convey letters, owing to a 
 dangerous desert path, and the tribes living in constant 
 suspicion of each other. Often ambassadors never returned, 
 and trading parties were entirely cut off. Postmen and 
 carriers were not easily found, though they were safe if 
 known to belong to the missionaries. More than once 
 Moffat found it difficult to convince a messenger that the 
 letter would not say a word to him on the road, and part of 
 a journal and a letter to Mrs. Moffat were thrown away 
 from this superstitious fear. 
 
 About the year 1828 our missionary began to see some 
 
FIRST YEARS AT KURUMAF. 103 
 
 fruit of his labours at Kuruman. The prospect, which had 
 hitherto been so dark that there was some talk on the part 
 of the Directors in London of abandoninsj the station as 
 hopeless, began to brighten. Some thousands of the natives 
 had gathered near them on the opposite side of the valley, 
 and would collect in different parts of the town for instruc- 
 tion. They manifested a greater desire to attend to the 
 Gospel, and though there was nothing like true conversion, 
 there were indications of coming blessing — enough to excite 
 thanksgiving and hope. Aid in the erection of a church and 
 school-house was voluntarily and cheerfully given. Great 
 improvements appeared in the social habits of the people. 
 Their greasy skins were covered with decent . raiment. 
 During public worship those who were present behaved with 
 greater propriety and decorum. The arts of civilized life 
 were to some extent studied and became better known. 
 Some who had years before regarded a waggon as a 
 " walking-house," and gazed at it with wonder, now learned 
 to make one. As they stood around the forge while Moffat 
 blew the bellows, or smote the iron on the anvil, his long 
 black beard tied in a knot at the back of his neck to escape 
 the sparks, they learned something of the usefulness and 
 pleasure and dignity of labour. As they assembled at the 
 doorway of the room where a printing-press had been put 
 \up, they stared with astonishment at the process by which 
 sheets of white paper, after disappearing for a moment, 
 came again to view covered with letters, conveying to them 
 in their own lano-uacje the word of God, 
 
 At last the set time to favour Zion had come. " The 
 moral wilderness," says Moffat, "was now about to blossom. 
 Sable cheeks bedewed with tears attracted our observation. 
 To see females weep was nothing extraordinary ; it was, 
 according to Bechuana notions, their province, and theirs 
 alone. Men would not weep. After having by the rite of 
 circumcision become men, they scorned to shed a tear. In 
 
104 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 family or national afflictions it was the woman's work to 
 weep and wail, the man's to sit in sullen silence, often 
 brooding deeds of revenge and death. The simple Gospel 
 now melted their flinty hearts, and eyes now wept which 
 never before shed the tear of hallowed sorrow. ISTotwith- 
 standing our earnest desires and fervent prayers, we were 
 taken by surprise. We had so long been accustomed to 
 indifference that we felt unprepared to look on a scene 
 which perfectly overwhelmed our minds." 
 
 The formation of the first native church in Kuruman took 
 place in 1829, in the presence of strangers from all parts of 
 the region around. The whole of the first service was con- 
 ducted in the language of the country. Hymns and prayers, 
 lessons and sermon, were all in Sechuana ; the preparatory 
 examination of candidates for membership had been of 
 course in the same tongue, with one exception, where the 
 person examined was questioned in Dutch, she being more 
 conversant with that language. We may imagine the 
 feelings of the missionaries on that memorable occasion. 
 The time had come on which all their energies had been 
 fixed, for which they had fervently and without ceasing 
 prayed ; the time when they should see a church gathered 
 from among a people who had so long boasted that they 
 would never worship and confess Jesus as their Lord. 
 Now again, as often before in the history of the people of 
 God, was fulfilled the words of the psalmist, " He that 
 goeth forth and wecpeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubt- 
 less come again Mith rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with 
 him." 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 KURUMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE G03PEL. 
 
 HE Kuruman Station was commenced in 1824. A 
 tract of about two miles of the country was bought 
 by the missionaries from Mothibe, and paid for with 
 articles which Mr. Moffat had brought from Cape 
 Town. Plere were raised ultimately a large and substantial 
 church and some good dwelling-houses, all of stone. The 
 station was laid out by Mr. Moffat, who to his services as 
 land-surveyor and architect added, with equal diligence, the 
 humbler but no less necessary and arduous callings of 
 quarrier of stones and hewer of timber. The Kuruman 
 station became one of those marks in a country which testify 
 to the skill and power of the founders, and to the beneficial 
 influences of Christianity. 
 
 From a succession of travellers we obtain three or four 
 charming pictures of the station, as it has appeared at 
 different periods and impressed different men. In 1834, 
 Dr. Andrew Smith, at the head of an exploring party sent 
 out to obtain a knowledge of the geography, the inhabitants, 
 and the products of the country, paid the missionaries a 
 visit. He was much gratified with all he saw and heard ; 
 but found Moffat prostrated by fever — the effects of over- 
 
106 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 work at translation and printing in the hot season of the 
 year. The missionary, as soon as he recovered, consented to 
 guide this expedition to the dominions of Moselekatze, whom 
 he had previously visited himself. Dr. Smith, in his pub- 
 lished report, gives an interesting account of their friendly 
 reception by the Matabele king, and testifies that " nothing 
 could exceed the respect shown by him for Mr. Moffat, a 
 circumstance which was exceedingly pleasing to me, 
 inasmuch as I knew it was most abundantly merited." 
 
 David Livingstone first visited Kuruman in 1840. After 
 speaking of his arrival at the Cape from England, he 
 says : — " I shortly afterwards went to Algoa Bay, and soon 
 proceeded inland to the Kuruman mission-station, in the 
 Bechuana country. This station is about seven hundred 
 miles from Cape Town, and had been established many 
 years before by Messrs. Hamilton and Moffat. The mission- 
 houses and church are built of stone. The gardens, irrigated 
 by a rivulet, are well stocked with fruit-trees and vines, and 
 yield European vegetables and grain readily. The pleasant- 
 ness of the place is enhanced by the contrast it presents to the 
 surrounding scenery, and the fact that it owes all its beauty 
 to the manual labour of the missionaries. Externally it 
 presents a picture of civilised comfort to the adjacent tribes ; 
 and the printing-press, worked by the original founders of 
 the mission and several younger men who have entered into 
 their labours, gradually diffuses the light of Christianity 
 through the neighbouring region. This oasis became doubly 
 interesting to me, from something like a practical exposition 
 of the text, Mark x. 29 ; for after nearly four years of 
 African life as a bachelor, I screwed up courage to put a 
 question beneath one of the fruit-trees, the result of which 
 was that, in 1844, I became united in marriage to IMr. 
 Moffat's eldest daughter Mary. Having been born in the 
 country, and being expert in household matters, she was 
 always the best spoke in the v/licel at home ; and wlien I 
 
THE INFLUENCE OF THE GOSPEL. 107 
 
 took her with me on two occasions to Lake Ngami, and far 
 beyond, she endured more than some who have written 
 large books of travels." 
 
 In another passage connected w^itli the life at Kuruman 
 he says : — " In consequence of droughts at our station 
 further inward, we were mainly dependent for supplies of 
 food on Kuruman, and were often indebted to the fruit- 
 trees there, and to Mrs. MofTat's kind foresight for the 
 continuance of good health. 
 
 "A native smith taught me to weld iron; and having 
 acquired some further informatfon in this art as well as in 
 carpentering and gardening from Mr. Moffat, I was becoming 
 handy at most mechanical employments in addition to 
 medicine and preaching. My wife could make candles, 
 soap, and clothes ; and thus we had nearly attained to the 
 indispensable accomplishments of a missionary family in 
 Central Africa — the husband to be a jack-of-all-trades 
 without doors, and the wife a maid-of-all-work luithin.^' 
 
 In 1849 the Rev. J. J. Freeman visited Africa, and on 
 arriving at Kuruman received a cordial welcome from Mr. 
 and Mrs. Moffat. The village assumed in his sight a pretty 
 and pleasing appearance, especially the mission premises, 
 with the walled gardens opposite, forming a street wide and 
 long. The gardens were well stocked with fruit and vege- 
 tables, requiring much water, but it was easily obtained 
 from the fountain. On the Sunday morning the chapel bell 
 ](;ang for early service. Breakfasting at seven, all were 
 ready for the schools at half-past eight. The infants were 
 taught by Miss Moffat in their school-house ; more advanced 
 classes were grouped in the open air or collected in the 
 adjacent buildings, The work of separate teaching was over 
 by ten, when young and old assembled in the chapel for 
 public worship. The large and lofty building was comfort- 
 ably filled with men, women, and children, for the most part 
 decently dressed. The day passed in a succession of services 
 
108 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 similar to those of the morning. Monday came, and Mr. 
 Freeman inspected Mr. Moffat's printing-office and bindery. 
 Although till that time the whole burden of these establish- 
 ments had rested on one pair of shoulders, yet they were as 
 orderly, if not as complete, as if they had been in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Paternoster Row. Mr. Freeman, who had been 
 sent out to inspect the stations of the London Missionary 
 Society and report on their condition, returned to England 
 with a deep impression of the value of the station as on the 
 high road to the interior, and as a union and centre of 
 influence to all around. 
 
 Mr. James Chapman, the African traveller, visited Kuru- 
 man in 1854, and thus describes what he saw : — " Next day 
 I rode over to Kuruman, where I found my friend Mr. 
 Thompson, who afterwards travelled in company with us. 
 Here I was introduced to the worthy missionaries, Messrs. 
 Moffat and Asliton, and their families, the meniory of whose 
 uniform kindness I shall ever cherish. Milk, new bread, 
 and fresh butter, we were never in want of while near these 
 good people, and of grapes, apples, peaches, and all other 
 products of the garden, there was never any lack at our 
 waggons. Every one is struck with the beauty of Kuruman, 
 although the site cannot boast of anv natural charms. All 
 we see is the result of well-directed labour. A street of 
 about a quarter of a mile in length is lined on one side by 
 the missionary gardens, enclosed with substantial walls, and 
 teeming with fruit and vegetables of every description. A 
 row of spreading willows is nourished by a fine watercourse, 
 pouring a copious stream at their roots for nearly a mile, 
 and beyond the gardens flows to the eastward the river 
 Kuruman, between tall reeds, with flights of water-fowl 
 splashing on its surface. The river issues a few miles south 
 from a grotto said to be one hundred yards long, and very 
 spacious, the habitation of innumerable bats, owls, and 
 serpents of a large size. Stalactites of various shapes and 
 
THE tNPLUENCl^ OF THE GOSPEL. 109 
 
 figures are to be found in this grotto. I have seen some 
 beautiful specimens adorning mantel-pieces. One party 
 discovered in the roof of this grotto portions of a human 
 skeleton perfectly petrified, and a part of which was 
 broken off. 
 
 " On the opposite side of the street, and facing the row 
 of gardens, the willows, and the stream, is a spacious chapel, 
 calculated to hold more than five hundred people. It is 
 built of stone, with a missionary dwelling-house on either 
 side of it, and a trader's dwelling-house and store at the 
 western end. All these, as well as the smaller but neat 
 dwellings of the Bechuanas, built in the European style, and 
 in good taste, have shady syringa trees planted in the front. 
 At the back of the missionary premises there are store and 
 school-rooms, workshops, &c., with a smithy in front. 
 Behind the chapel is a printing-ofhce, in which native com- 
 positors were setting type for the new editions of Mr. 
 Moffat's bible. Thousands of Sechuana books have been as 
 well printed and as neatly bound in this establishment, under 
 the superintendence of Mr. Ashton, as they could be in 
 England. The natives here are the most enlightened and 
 civilised I have seen, the greater portion wearing clothes, 
 and being able to read and write. It was pleasant on 
 Sunday to see them neatly and cleanly clad going to church 
 three times a day. In their tillage they are also making 
 rapid progress, and having adopted European practices, 
 instead of the hoe they use the plough." 
 
 The visit of Livingstone to this country in 1856, and the 
 publication of his South African researches, greatly revived 
 missionary interest as to that part of the world. One result 
 was, that several young men offered themselves for work in 
 that part of the mission field. Among the number was the 
 Bev. John Mackenzie, who reached the Cape in July 1858. 
 Some years afterwards he published a most interesting and 
 valuable record of his first ten years labours, entitled, 
 
no LIF.E OF FOBEBT MOFFAT, D.D, 
 
 " Ten years north of the Orange River," in which he sketches 
 A^'ith a facile pen his views and impressions of the head- 
 quarters of Moffat's operations. In a few months after their 
 arrival in Africa, he and Mr. Price his companion, hotli of 
 whom were on their way to the Makololo, called at Kuruman, 
 and thus he writes of it: — "It was late on Monday night 
 before we reached Kuruman ; but we were delighted with 
 the appearance of the country in the bright moonlight — the 
 thorn-trees on both sides of the road near Kuruman remind- 
 ing us of the grounds of a country house in England. On 
 approaching the station we found everything in profoundest 
 stillness; the little village w^as asleep. Our knocking, how- 
 ever, soon roused Mr. Moffat, who gave his unexpected 
 visitors a joyous welcome to his South African home, which 
 was repeated by his family, and in the morning by Mr. 
 Ashton, his colleague. I found that most of the people 
 living; at Kuruman have considerable knowledge of ajxricul- 
 ture and the ordinary management of a garden. The hoe 
 has largely given place to the plough, and in such cases the 
 w^ork of the garden ceases to belong to the women, and is 
 performed by the men. Here are the best kept native 
 gardens in Bechuana land ; but even here the straight line 
 in fence and furrow is not always w^hat it ought to be." 
 
 Speaking of the more strictly religious aspect of the place, 
 Mr. Mackenzie goes on to say: — "If you wish to see 
 Kuruman to advantage, you must come to church on 
 Sunday morning. I do not mean to the prayer-meeting at 
 sunrise, but during the hour before service, when the people 
 assemble in groups outside the church in the grateful shade 
 of the syringa trees. Some read the scriptures ; others are 
 going over the spelling-book ; acquaintances are greeting 
 each other ; while occasional strangers from the interior 
 stand in the background in their karosses, and gaze with 
 mute wonder on the scene. Inside the church and school- 
 room the children are singing hymns and listening to the 
 
THE IFPLUBNCE OF THE GOSPEL. Ill 
 
 instructions of tlioir teachers. You see many people who 
 are respectably dressed. Most of the men belonging to the 
 station wear European clothing ; the trousers, however, are 
 frequently of skin, tanned and made by themselves. The 
 Bechuanas are skilful in patching ; and one sees coats and 
 gowns of many colours, and wide-awake hats so operated 
 upon that you cannot well describe either their shape or 
 colour. Most of the women wear a handkerchief (or two) 
 tied tiglitly round the head ; and it is counted rather elegant 
 to have one coloured, while the other is black silk. Ladies' 
 hats were patronised by a fe^v^; and there seemed to be a 
 division of opinion as to whether the hat ought to be worn 
 on the bare head, or over a handkerchief rather ingeniously 
 folded so as to imitate long hair in a net. Shoes are now 
 neatly made, somewhat after the fashion of brogues in 
 Scotland ; but stockings are regarded as equally superfluous 
 with gloves. You observe that a good many have brought 
 with them a pretty large bag, while some r/iso carry a chair on 
 their shoulder. The bag contains the Sediuana Bible, which 
 is in three volumes, and the hymn-book, which, here as 
 elsewhere, is a great favourite. Tlie chairs are brought 
 chiefly by the aristocracy of the village, the reason being, 
 as you see on entering the church, that the congregation sit 
 on benches or forms without backs, which is not the most 
 comfortable position to hear a sermon. The bell rings for 
 service, and the people hasten into the church. The mothers 
 who have little children remain on forms near the door, so 
 €hat in case of a squall they can readily make their exit. 
 
 *' The minister of the day ascends the pulpit ; and as the 
 London Missionary Society is a very broad institution, and 
 takes no notice whatever of clerical dress and appointments, 
 black cloth seldom extended further than the coat ; while 
 pulpit-gowns and bands, and even white neckties, were 
 nowhere ; and it was not unusual for one of the ministers to 
 make his appearance in smoking-cap and wrought slippers ! 
 
112 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 The cap was off in church, and the slippers were not seen in 
 the pulpit, and when both were seen outside, instead ot 
 shocking any of the congregation, they seemed to be much 
 admired. The singing at Kuruman in 1859 was equalled 
 only by that of a Dutch frontier congregation. The latter 
 would bear off the palm on account of the strength of the 
 voices and lungs of the Dutch people. But at Kuruman a 
 great improvement took place in the singing in a very short 
 time. Lessons in church psalmody were given by the Misses 
 Moffat, assisted by an excellent harmonium kindly sent out 
 for the use of the station by some Christian ladies in 
 London. Many of the Bechuanas showed themselves 
 possessed of a fine musical ear. 
 
 " The service now proceeds with the reading and exposition 
 of scripture, succeeded by solemn prayer. A sermon or 
 lecture follows, in which the preacher strives to introduce 
 some incident in the sacred narrative — some parable or 
 doctrine, so as to impress its lesson on the minds of his 
 audience. In 1859 there were three such services at Kuru- 
 man on the Sunday. In the course of the week there is 
 one public evening service conducted by one of the mission- 
 aries, and another entirely in the hands of the natives." 
 
 It is impossible for any candid person to read these 
 several testimonies (not all of them from missionaries, or 
 even men unduly prejudiced in favour of missionary opera- 
 tions) without acknowledging the power and value of the 
 gospel of Christ; and the ability, integrity, and self- 
 sacrificing zeal of those who had gone with their lives in 
 their hands to preach it to these heathen tribes. There are 
 people who make it their business to misrepresent and 
 slander Christian missionaries, and speak of them as indolent 
 and self-seeking men. Let such people hear the testimony 
 of Mr. Chapman, whose description of Kuruman has 
 been already given. He spent fifteen years in South Africa 
 hunting and trading, and saw a great deal of missionary life 
 
THE INFLUENCE OF THE GOSPEL. 113 
 
 and labour ; and, as an impartial observer, bears this 
 honourable testimony: — "The lot of a missionary in 
 Africa is a hard one ; his life is one of trial and self-denial. 
 Deprived, often for months together, of the common neces- 
 saries of life, cut off from society, from friends and relations, 
 with the prospect of never seeing them more, it is cruel 
 that they should be looked upon with suspicion by those 
 whom they have come to benefit, and be despised and 
 slandered by their own countrymen. That a missionary 
 trades in this country is only because he is compelled 
 to do so to obtain the supplies necessary for the wants 
 of his family. You never hear of missionaries exporting 
 cattle, ivory, or any other commodity. They trade for 
 cattle with merchandise, because money is neither known 
 or esteemed. Could the missionary send to the butcher 
 and the baker every day, and buy his few pounds of 
 meat or bread, he would not be compelled to purchase 
 the cattle from the natives. He is compelled to keep a small 
 number of cattle, and slaughter the increase ; and if his 
 wife wants a little milk for her young children, they must 
 have several cows to furnish the supply, as a dozen Damara 
 cows give scarcely as much milk as one European. If God 
 blesses this little flock with a healthy increase, they are 
 pointed out by the jealous and selfish white man as the 
 profits of trade. I have seen a great deal of missionary 
 life, and have every reason to sympathise with them. Their 
 labours are difficult, their trials many, their earthly reward 
 a bare subsistence. I believe that the real causes of dislike 
 to the missionaries in South Africa are the avarice of trade 
 and jealousy of the influence they possess, and the check 
 they are upon those who would like to exercise an arbitrary 
 and unjust authority over the natives. I could say a great 
 deal more on this subject ; but the missionaries are a class 
 of men, generally speaking, so irreproachable, that the 
 scandals of the unprincipled cannot affect them with well- 
 
 8 
 
Ill LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 thinking men, nor do their characters require any further 
 defence by me." 
 
 As to the success of missionary labours in Kurunian and 
 the regions around, Dr. Livingstone thus gives us his own 
 honest and intelligent impressions, and the sensible and 
 discriminative judgment of one of the native chieftains: — 
 " Many hundreds of both Griquas and Bechuanas have 
 become Christians^ and partly civilised, through the teaching 
 of English missionaries. My first impression was that the 
 accounts of the effect which the gospel had had upon them 
 were too highly coloured. When, hov/ever, I passed on to 
 true heathens in countries beyond the sphere of missionary 
 influence, I came to the conclusion that the change produced 
 was unquestionably great. It is a proof of the success of 
 the Bechuana Mission, that when we came back from the 
 interior we always felt on reaching Kuruman that we 
 had returned to civilised life. On askinj:t an intelli- 
 gent chief what he thought of the converts, he replied : 
 ' You white men have no idea how wicked we are ; we know 
 each other better than you. Some feign belief to ingratiate 
 themselves with the missionaries ; some profess Christianity 
 because they like the new system, wliich gives so much 
 more importance to the poor, and desire that the old system 
 may pass away ; and the rest — a pretty large number — 
 profess, because they are really true believers.' This account 
 is very nearly correct." 
 
CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 MOSELEKATSE AND THE MATABELE. 
 
 HE Christian influence of Moffat and his fellow- 
 labourers was not confined to Kuruman and its 
 immediate neighbourhood. Tidings concerning their 
 character and doings had been conveyed to some of 
 the more interior tribes. Their amazing skill, their fear- 
 lessness and bravery, their purity of living, their kindness 
 and compassion, all were reported — in some cases by those 
 who had themselves seen them, in other cases only from 
 hearsay. 
 
 Among those who heard the news v/as Moselekatse, king 
 of the Matabele, whom Moffat calls '* this Napoleon of 
 the desert." This chief was a man of a bold and intrepid 
 character, and had been a marauder from his youth. For 
 years his career was an interminable catalogue of crimes. 
 There was scarcely a spot over extensive regions that did 
 not bear the marks of his deadly ire. His native cunning, 
 and his knowledge of human nature, enabled him to triumph 
 over the minds of his people, and made them regard him 
 as an invincible sovereign. Those v/ho resisted him ho 
 butchered. " He trained the captured youth in his own 
 tactics, so that the majority of his array were foreigners; 
 
IIG LtPE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, b.D. 
 
 but his chiefs and nobles gloried in their descent from the 
 Zulu dynasty. lie had carried his arms far into the tropics, 
 ^vhere, however, he had more than once met his equal ; and 
 on one occasion, of six hundred warriors only a handful 
 returned, who were doomed to be sacrificed, merely because 
 they had not conquered or fallen with their companions." 
 He numbered his warriors by thousands, and governed 
 \N ith a most despotic rule, owning no law but his own 
 capricious will. The country under his sway was that now 
 known as the Transvaal. 
 
 This man was curious to know something more of the 
 white men whose fame had reached him; and so, in 1829, 
 lie sent two of his chief men, in the company of some 
 returning traders, to visit these teachers at Kuruman, and 
 make themselves more particularly acquainted with their 
 manners and instructions. The missionaries, of course, 
 received them with courtesy and kindness, and shewed thera 
 every mark of attention, exhibiting everything that was 
 likely to interest, and specially endeavouring to explain 
 and impress on their minds the great truths of the Gospel. 
 The men were savages, yet a natural politeness and dignity 
 marked their whole behaviour, and shewed that they were 
 persons of rank in their own country. The houses and 
 gardens, the water-ditch conveying water for irrigation 
 from the river, and the smith's forge, especially excited 
 their wonder and admiration, which they expressed in the 
 most respectful manner. " You are men," said they, " we 
 are but children ; Moselekatse must be taught all these 
 thinijs." 
 
 When standing: in the hall of Moffat's house looking: at 
 the furniture, so strange in their eyes, Mrs. Moflat handed 
 one of them a looking-glass. He looked intently on his 
 reflected countenance, and never having seen such a thing 
 before, supposed it was that of one of his attendants on the 
 other side. Abruptly putting his hand behind it, he bade 
 
MOSELEKATSE AND THE MAT ABE LE. 117 
 
 him begone; but looking again at the same face he cautiously 
 turned it. Seeing nothing, he returned the glass with great 
 gravity, observing at the same time that he could not trust 
 it. Nothing, however, in all they saw seemed to interest 
 them so much as the public worship in the chapel. The 
 sidit of men like themselves meetinsr tosrether with such 
 decorum, mothers hushing their babes, the elder children 
 sitting still and silent, was a novel scene. When the 
 missionary ascended the pulpit, they listened to the singing 
 and prayer, the reading and address, with astonishment and 
 reverence; though, from their ^ignorance of the Sechuana 
 language, they could not fully understand. They asked 
 many questions as to the nature of the service, and were 
 greatly surprised to find that the hymns were not war-songs, 
 expressive of the wild reveries which the associations of 
 music alone brouijht to their minds. 
 
 Moselekatse's ambassadors had intended to visit the 
 colony, that they might see the white man's country; but [ 
 
 this was found inconvenient, and involved considerable 
 difficulty as to how they were to return in safety. Tho 
 question of their departure to their own land now occasioned 
 perplexity. Reports were in circulation that some of the 
 Bechuana tribes, through whom they would have to pass on 
 their homeward way, were meditating their destruction ; 
 and the missionaries had reason to fear that the reports 
 were true. They therefore wished their visitors had not 
 come to their station, because they could not pretend to 
 'defend them by physical force ; and they could not help 
 trembling at the possible consequences of their being 
 attacked and murdered on the road. 
 
 After much thought and prayer, Moffat resolved that he 
 would himself undertake to conduct them through the 
 several tribes from whom danger was anticipated, goin-.; 
 with them as far as the Bahurutsi country, from whicli 
 they could proceed without danger to their own land and 
 
18 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 people. The undertaking was attended with considerabls 
 risk ; all through the hundreds of miles that lay before them 
 dangers were to be apprehended both from wild beasts and 
 wild men. But that gracious Providence which watched 
 over the missionar}^ and directed his steps on this remark- 
 able journey preserved him from all harm, and, with the 
 influence of his own good name, secured him kindness and 
 a hearty welcome from the sons of the desert. 
 
 As they went along in some parts, like the mariner on. 
 the ocean, they saw the expanse around them bounded only 
 by the horizon. Here and there were clumps of mimosas 
 and grass, like tall wheat, waving in the breeze. All kinds 
 of game roamed at large. Occasionally some of the solitary 
 inhabitants who lived only on roots and the chase inter- 
 cepted their path, and begged a little tobacco, and some- 
 times passed the night where they encamped. On retiring 
 to rest one night a lion passed near the waggons, occasionally 
 giving a roar, which died away on the extended plain, and 
 was responded to by another in the distance. Directing the 
 attention of these homeless wanderers to the sound, Moffat 
 asked if they thought there was danger; they immediately 
 turned their ears as to a voice with which they were 
 familiar, and after listening for a moment or two replied, 
 " There is no danger ; he has eaten, and is going to sleep." 
 They were right, and the travellers slept also. Being asked 
 in the morning how they knew the lions were going to 
 sleep, they replied, "We live with them; they are our 
 companions." 
 
 Approaching Moselekatse's country the face of nature 
 changed, and the scenery was quite different from what 
 they had passed through. It was now mountainous and 
 wooded to the summits ; evergreens adorned the valleys, in 
 which numerous streams of excellent water flowed through 
 many a winding course. " I was charmed exceedingly," 
 says Moffat, " and was often reminded of Scotia's hills and 
 
MOSELEKATSE AND THE MATABELE. 119 
 
 dales. As it was a rainy season, everything vras fresh ; 
 the clumps of trees that studded the plains being covered 
 with rich and livino- verdure. But these rocks and vales 
 and picturesque scenes were often vocal with the lion's 
 roar. It v/as a country once covered with a dense popula- 
 tion. On the sides of the hills and Kashan mountains were 
 towns in ruins, where thousands once made the country 
 alive, amidst fruitful vales now covered with luxuriant 
 grass, inhabited by game. The extirpating invasions of the 
 Mantatees and Matabele had left to beasts of prey the 
 undisputed right of these lovely woodland glens. The lion, 
 which had revelled on human flesh, as if conscious that 
 there was none to oppose, roamed at large, a terror to tiie 
 traveller, who often heard with dismay his nightly roaring 
 echoed back by the surrounding hills. We were mercifully 
 preserved during the nights, though our slumbers were 
 often interrupted by his fearful howlings. We had fre- 
 quently to take our guns and precede the waggon, as the 
 oxen sometimes took fright at the sudden rush of a rhino- 
 ceros or buffalo from a thicket. More than one instance 
 occurred when a rhinoceros being aroused from its slumbers 
 by the crack of the whips, the oxen would scamper off like 
 race-horses, when destruction of gear and some part of the 
 wagsfon was the result. As there was no road, we were 
 frequently under the necessity of taking very circuitous 
 routes to find a passage through deep ravines ; and we were 
 often obliged to employ picks, spades, and hatchets to 
 'clear our wa}^ When we bivouacked for the night, a plain 
 was generally selected, that we might be the better able to 
 defend ourselves; and when firewood was plentiful, we 
 made a number of fires at a distance around the waggons. 
 But when it rained, our situation was pitiful indeed ; and 
 we only wished it to rain so hard that the lion might not 
 like to leave his lair." 
 
 When they came to the outposts of the Matabelo, th.-^v 
 
120 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 halted l)y a fine rivulet ; and a scene presented itself such 
 as Moffat had not before witnessed. " My attention," he 
 observes, " was arrested by a beautiful and gigantic tree 
 standing in a detile leading into an extensive and woody 
 ravine, between a high range of mountains. Seeing some 
 individuals employed on the ground under its shade, and 
 the conical points of what looked like houses in miniature 
 protruding through its evergreen foliage, I proceeded thither, 
 and found that the tree was inhabited by several families 
 of Bakones, the aborigines of the country. I ascended by 
 the notched trunk, and found to my amazement no less than 
 seventeen of these aerial abodes, and three others unfinished. 
 On reaching the topmost hut, about thirty feet from the 
 ground, I entered and sat down. Its only furniture was 
 the hay which covered the floor, a spear, a spoon, and a 
 bowl full of locusts. Not having eaten anything that day, 
 and from the novelty of my situation not wishing to return 
 immediately to the waggons, I asked a woman who sat at 
 the door with a babe at her breast permission to eat. This 
 she granted with pleasure, and soon brought me more in a 
 powdered state. Several more females came from the 
 neighbouring roosts, stepping from branch to branch, to see 
 the stranger, who was to them as great a curiosity as the 
 tree was to him. I then visited the different abodes, which 
 were on several principal branches. The structure of these 
 houses was very simple. An oblong scaffold, about seven 
 feet wide, is formed of straight sticks ; on one end of this 
 platform a small cone is formed also of straight sticks, and 
 thatched with grass. A person can nearly stand upright in 
 it : the diameter of the floor is about six feet. The house 
 stands on the end of the oblong, so as to leave a little square 
 space before the door. On the day previous I had passed 
 several villages, some containing forty houses, all built on 
 poles, about seven or eight feet from the ground, in the form 
 of a circle ; the ascent and descent is by a knotty branch of 
 
^^u^ 
 
 ^^"'"fel^' »ifa5: 
 
 TYPES OF VARIOUS AFRICAN TRIBES 
 
MOSELEKATSE AND THE MATABELE. 121 
 
 a tiee placed in front of the house. In the centre of the 
 circle there is always a heap of the bones of game they have 
 killed. Such are the domiciles of the impoverished thousands 
 of the aborigines of the country, who having been scattered 
 and peeled by Moselekatse, had neither herd nor stall, but 
 subsisted on locusts, roots, and the chase. They adopted 
 this mode of architecture to escape the lions which abounded 
 in the country. During the day the families descended to 
 the shade beneath to dress their daily food. When the 
 inhabitants increased, they supported the augmented weight 
 on the branches by upright sticks ; but when lightened of 
 their load, they removed these for firewood." 
 
 Having accompanied his charge nearly to the borders of 
 their own country, Moffat, as they could now proceed 
 without danger, desired to leave them and return to his 
 work at Kuruman. The ambassadors, however, pleaded 
 with him to proceed to the end of the journey. They said 
 that as he had shewn them so much kindness, and proved 
 himself such a true friend, he must go and experience the 
 kindness and friendship of their king. Besides, Moselekatse, 
 they said, would kill them if they suffered their guardian to 
 return without having seen him. "Yonder," said they, 
 pointing to the mountains in the distance, " dwells the great 
 Moselekatse, and how shall we approach his presence if you 
 ♦are not with us 1 If you love us still, save us, for when we 
 shall have told our news, he will ask why our conduct gave 
 you pain to cause your return ; and before the sun sets on 
 the day we see his face, we shall be ordered out for execution, 
 because you are not with us. Look at me and my com- 
 panion, and tell us, if you can, that you will not go, for 
 we had better die here than in the sight of our own people." 
 This appeal overruled all Moffat's objections, and he resolved 
 to accompany them to their king. 
 
 The nearer they approached the king's residence the 
 more striking and numerous were the evidences of his 
 
122 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 despotic Pciicl destructive power. Iluined villages, heaps of 
 stones and rubbish mingled with human skulls, told their 
 sad tale. It was clear that not long ago thousands of 
 people had dwelt in the beautiful and charming region 
 through vv'hich the travellers v/ere passing. But the 
 extirpating invasions of the IMatabele had swept them all 
 a^vay. It Avas evident, too, that the ambassadors wished to 
 preserve silence on this state of things, and took care to 
 be always present if possible when any of the aborigines 
 appeared. One of their three servants belonged to the 
 Bakones, and was a native of the country. He would 
 sometimes whisper of the times of war and devastation. 
 He would describe the Bakones and the Bahurutsi as being 
 once numerous as the locusts, rich in cattle, and maintaining 
 a large trade with the distant tribes of the north. His stories 
 of the carrying away of cattle and other possessions, the 
 butchering of the inhabitants, and the wasting of towns and 
 villages by fire, were heartrending. The commandos of 
 Cliaka, the Zulu tyrant, had made frightful havoc, but it 
 was as nothing to the final overthrov/ of the aboriginal 
 tribes by Moselekatse. 
 
 One Sabbath morning JMoffat ascended a hill to command 
 the prospect around, Avhen his Bakone companion suddenly 
 appeared. He had come to converse with his white friend. 
 Seeing before them a large extent of level ground covered 
 with ruins, the missionary asked what had become of the 
 inhabitants. The man had just sat down, but he im- 
 mediately arose, and stretching forth his arm in the direc- 
 tion of the ruins, said, " I, even I, beheld it ! " He paused 
 a moment, as if in thought, and then continued : " There 
 lived the great chief of multitudes. He reigned among 
 them like a kini::. He was the chief of the blue-coloured 
 cattle. They were numerous as the dense mist on tlie 
 mountain brow ; his ilocks covered the plain. He thought 
 the number of his warriors would awe his enemies. His 
 
MOSELEKATSE AND THE AlATABELE. 123 
 
 people boasted in their spears, and laughed at the cowardice 
 of such as had fled from their towns. ' I shall slay them, 
 and hang up their shields on my hill. Our race is a race 
 of warriors. AYlio ever subdued our fathers % they were 
 mighty in combat. We still possess the spoils of ancient 
 times. Have not our doii'S eaten the shields of their nobles *? 
 The vultures shall devour the slain of our enemies.' Thus 
 they sang and thus they danced,- till they beheld on yonder 
 heights the approaching foe. The noise of their song was 
 liushed in night, and their hearts were filled with dismay. 
 They saw the clouds ascend from the plains. It v^^as the 
 smoke of burnins: towns. The confusion of a wliirlwind 
 was in the heart of the great chief of the blue-coloured 
 cattle. This shout was raised, 'They are friends,' but they 
 shouted again, ' Thej^ are foes,' till their near approach pro- 
 claimed them Matabele. The men seized their arms, and 
 rushed out as if to chase the antelope. The onset was as 
 the voice of lightning, and their spears as the shaking of a 
 forest in the autumn storm. The Matabele lions raised the 
 shout of death, and flew upon their victims. It was the 
 shout of victory. Their hissing and hollow groans told their 
 progress among the dead. A few moments laid hundreds 
 on the ground. The clash of shields was the signal of 
 triumph. Our people fled with their cattle to the top of 
 yonder mount. The Matabele entered the town with the 
 roar of the lion ; they pillaged and fired the houses, speared 
 the mothers, and cast their infants to the flames. The sun 
 w^eut down. The victors emerged from the smoking plain, 
 and pursued their course, surrounding the base of yonder 
 hill. They slaughtered cattle, they danced and sang till the 
 dawn of day, they ascended and killed till their hands were 
 weary of the spear." Then stooping to the ground on 
 which he stood, the narrator took up a little dust in his 
 hand ; blowing it oft", and holding out his naked hand, he 
 added, "That is all that remr.ins of t]ie great chief of the 
 
124 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 blue-coloured cattle ! " Moffat found from other aborigines 
 that this outburst of native poetic eloquence was no fabled 
 song, but merely a compendious sketch of the fearful catas- 
 trophe which had overwhelmed those unhappy tribes. 
 
 Nothing could exceed the heartiness of Moffat's reception 
 by the Matabele king. It took place in a large cattle-fold, 
 which Avas lined by a thousand warriors wearing kilts of 
 ape-skins, their legs and arms adorned with the hair and tails 
 of oxen, and their heads with feathers. Motionless as 
 statues they stood behind their shields, which reached to 
 their chins. After some minutes of profound silence they 
 began a grand war song, when out marched the barbarian 
 monarch, followed by a number of men bearing baskets and 
 bowls filled with food, which were placed at the missionary's 
 feet. The king then shook hands with his visitor, and 
 invited him to partake; and in reply to his expressed desire 
 that a spot outside the town might be appointed for encamp- 
 ment, said, " The land is before you ; you are come to your 
 son; you must sleep where you please." As the waggons 
 approached, he grasped the missionary's hand with awe, and 
 then drew back in doubt as to whether or not they were 
 living creatures. When the oxen were unyoked he ventured, 
 still holding fast by Moffat's arm, to examine the " moving 
 houses." The wheels especially excited his wonder; the 
 greatest mystery of all being how the large band of iron 
 surrounding the felloes of the wheel came to be in one piece, 
 without either end or joint. One of the ambassadors whose 
 visit to Kuruman had made him wiser than his royal master, 
 took hold of Moffat's hand and said, " My eyes saw that very 
 hand cut these bars of iron, take a piece off one end and 
 then join them as you now see them." When the welded 
 part was shewn to the monarch, he said to the ambassador 
 "Does he give medicine to the iron?" " ]S'o," was tho 
 reply; "nothing is used but fire, a hammer, and a chisel." 
 
 Anxious to c:chibit birpself and his nation to the best 
 
MOSELEKAl'SJ^ ANl) THE MATABELE. 125 
 
 advantage, he on one occasion assembled his warriors to the 
 number of ten thousand from their various villages, so that 
 they might engage in a sham fight and a war dance. Mofiat 
 took advantaoje of the exhibition to shew him the evils of 
 war, especially such unprovoked and cruel wars as he had 
 promoted ; and caused no little astonishment by the ex- 
 pression of his sentiments and his lack of interest in the 
 military display. Moselekatse had not been accustomed to 
 be spoken to after the fashion in which he was now addressed ; 
 but the missionary who now spoke to him in the name of 
 the God of Peace was one who never feared the face of any 
 man, and who flinched not from upholding the standard of 
 the Gospel even in the strongest holds of heathenism. 
 
 Man of blood as the barbarian king was, and indifierent as 
 he shewed himself to the message of salvation, he neverthe- 
 less took kindly to Moffat, and was grateful for the way in 
 which the ambassadors had been treated. One day, placing 
 his hand on the missionary's shoulder, he said, " Father ! 
 you have made my heart white as milk. I cease not to 
 wonder at the love of a stranger; you never saw me before, 
 but you love me more than my own people : you fed me 
 when I was hungry, you clothed me when I was naked, you 
 carried me in your bosom, and your arm shielded me from 
 py enemies." When the missionary replied that he was 
 unconscious of having rendered him such service, he pointed 
 to the two ambassadors who were standing near, and said, 
 *' These are great men. When I sent them from my presence 
 to see the land of the white man, I sent my ears, my eyes, 
 my mouth. What they heard I heard ; what they saw I 
 saw; and when they spoke, it was Moselekatse who spoke. 
 You fed them and clothed them ; and when they were to be 
 slain you were their shield. You did it unto me ; you did 
 it unto Moselekatse, the son of Machobane 1 " 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 VARIED EXPERIENCES. 
 
 In MojSfat's return home the Matabele king accom- 
 panied him for two or three days, travelling for the 
 first time in an African waofixon. Advanta2;e was 
 taken to renew entreaties that he would abstain 
 from war ; and as he professed a desire that missionaries 
 should he sent to reside with him, a promise was given that 
 such should be the case. The two friends then parted, to 
 meet, however, again in coming days. After an absence of 
 two months, Mofiat reached Kuruman, and found all well, 
 and the Divine blessing resting still on the work of the 
 mission. 
 
 Shortly after, Mr. and Mrs. Moffat went with their chil- 
 dren, by way of Algoa Bay, to Cape Town. On intimating 
 to the people before leaving that he meant to collect money 
 in the colony towards their new place of worship, a number of 
 them readily came forward and begged to contribute their 
 mite. Some subscribed oxen, some goats, a few gave money, 
 and a number engaged to work. This was very cheering to 
 the missionary's heart. Arriving at Graham's Town, he 
 left his family there while he went to visit several of the 
 mission stations in Caffre Land, and then some of thosa 
 
VARIED EXPERIENCES. 127 
 
 within the colony. Ultimately they all reached Cape 
 Town in October 1830. Here he toiled at arduous printing 
 engagements. These labours were scarcely finished before 
 a severe attack of bilious fever came on, occasioned by over 
 exertion in the hottest season of the year; and he was 
 brought so low that when they started on their homeward 
 journey he had to be carried on a mattress on board ship. 
 A voyage of fourteen days in rough weather to Algoa 
 Bay proved, however, most beneficial; and by June 1831 
 they found themselves once more at the Kurumaii. 
 
 They returned to the station bearing many precious 
 treasures, — an edition of the Gospel of Luke and a hymn- 
 book in the native language, a printing-press, type, paper, 
 ink, contributions for the new chapel, and a box of materials 
 for clothing, for the encouragement of such as were making 
 efforts to clothe themselves. A sewin!>;-scliool was estab- 
 lished and carried on, to the great comfort and improvement 
 of the natives. But this season of pleasure had also its 
 alloy, for the small-pox entered the country and swept away 
 many of the inhabitants, and amongst them one of the 
 missionary's own children. 
 
 Above all, the favour and blessing of God v/ere seen in 
 the real conversions which took place at this time. Con- 
 ♦siderable accessions were made to the number of believers. 
 Strangers from distant tribes were received into the church. 
 There are two illustrations of the power of Divine grace 
 furnished by Moffat himself that carry with them their 
 own praise. " Mamonyatsi, one of these, some years after 
 died in the faith. She was a Matabele captive, and had 
 accompanied me from the interior, remaining some time 
 in the service of Mrs. M., and early displaying a readiness 
 to learn to read, with much quickness of understanding. 
 From the time of her being united with the church till the 
 day of her death she was a living epistle of the power of 
 the Gospel. Once while visiting the sick, as I entered her 
 
128 LiFli: OP nOBElVr MO i" FAT, D.D. 
 
 premises, I found her sitting weeping, with a portion of the 
 word of God in her hand. Addressing her, I said : ' My 
 child, what is the cause of your sorrow 1 Is the baby still 
 unwelH' 'No,' she replied, 'my baby is well.' 'Your 
 mother-in-law 1 ' I inquired. ' No, no,' she said, ' it is my 
 own dear mother who bore me.' Here she again gave vent to 
 her grief, and holding out the Gospel of Luke, in a hand 
 wet with tears, she said, ' My mother will never see this 
 word, she will never hear this good news ! ' She wept 
 again and again, and said, ' Oh my mother and my friends ! 
 They live in heathen darkness ; and shall they die without 
 seeing the light which has shone on me, and without tasting 
 that love which I have tasted 1 ' Raising her eyes to 
 heaven, she sighed a prayer, and I heard the words again, 
 * My mother, my mother ! ' This was the expression of the 
 affection of one of Africa's sable daughters, whose heart had 
 been taught to mourn over the ignorance of a far-distant 
 mother. Shortly after this evidence of divine love in her 
 soul I was called upon to watch her dying pillow, and 
 descended with her to Jordan's bank. She feared no 
 rolling billow. She looked on the babe to w^liich she had 
 but lately given birth, and commended it to the care of her 
 God and Saviour. The last words I heard from her falter- 
 ing lips were, * My mother ! ' " 
 
 The other is the case of an aged blind woman, who from 
 the time of her conversion till her death, a period of several 
 years, continued to adorn her prof ession by a consistent walk 
 and conversation. " A few^ days before her death she wished 
 her children to be gathered together in her presence, desiring 
 to speak to them before she left them. They surrounded 
 her bed, and when informed that all were present, she 
 addressed them : ' My children, I wish you to know that I 
 am to be separated from you, but you must not on that 
 account be sorrowful. Do not murmur at the thought of 
 my decease. The Lord has spared me not a few days, He 
 
VARIED EXPERIENCES, 129 
 
 has taken care of me many years, and has ever been 
 merciful to me; I have wanted no good thing. I know 
 Him to whom I have trusted the salvation of my soul. My 
 hope is fixed on Jesus Christ, who has died for my sins, 
 and lives to intercede. I shall soon die and be at rest ; but 
 my wish is that you will attend to these my words. My 
 children, hold fast your faith in Christ. Trust in Him, 
 love Him, and let not the world turn you away from Him ; 
 and however you may be reviled and troubled in the world, 
 hold very fast the word of God, and faint not in persevering 
 prayer. My last word is, strive to live together in peace. 
 Avoid disputes. Follow peace with all, and especially 
 among yourselves. Love each other, comfort each other, 
 assist and take care of each other in the Lord.' After this 
 charge to her children she said but little. Her last words 
 were spoken some hours before her death, when a church 
 member, ever in attendance at sick beds, called upon her. 
 She heard his voice, and said, ' Yes, I know thee, Mogami, 
 my brother in the Lord. I am going, but thou wilt remain. 
 Hold fast the word of God. Turn not from His ways. 
 And take a message to thy wife, my sister in the Lord, 
 that she must use all diligence to ensure eternal life.' " 
 
 Moffat's visit to Moselekatse and the reports of traders 
 who had arrived from the north excited considerable 
 interest in Cape Town, and led to the sending out of the 
 exploring expedition under Dr. Andrew Smith to which we 
 have already alluded. At the earnest request of Dr. Smith, 
 who, as we have seen, called at Kuruman on his way out, 
 Moffat consented to accompany the expedition ; thus he 
 visited the Matabele king a second time. While the 
 members of the exploring party roamed over the country 
 acquainting themselves with its natural productions, the 
 missionary remained with the king endeavouring to lead 
 him to Christ, pleading for the poor and oppressed, and 
 urging upon him the exercise of mercy and compassion. 
 
 9 
 
130 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 Before returning to Kuruman he was gladdened by the king's 
 consent to the establishment of a mission among his people. 
 
 Towards the close of 1836 Mr. Moffat left home, at the 
 repeated request of the people in the towns on the Kolong 
 River to pay them a visit. Pursuing his course, he met 
 large and attentive congregations. The demands for spelling- 
 books were beyond what he could supply. Proceeding on, 
 he reached at last the distant and isolated villaofe of 
 Mosheu, a Coranna chief. His acquaintance with this man 
 began in 1834, when an entire stranger, with two or three 
 attendants riding on oxen, he stopped at the missionary's 
 door. He was clean and well-dressed, looked mild and 
 pleasant, and asked where he might lodge. He was 
 pointed to an outhouse, to which he went, and where he and 
 his companions slept. He had brought his own supplies of 
 food with him, which in the case of visitors was most 
 unusual. When asked the object of his visit, he replied 
 that he had come to see the white man. After remaininof 
 two days, he left, apparently much pleased with his visit. 
 On leaving, he said to Moffat while holding his hand, " I 
 came to see you ; my visit has given me pleasure, and now 
 I return home." 
 
 After some time Mosheu appeared at Kuruman again 
 with a large retinue, consisting of wives and other relations, 
 servants and oxen. The missionary's words about the love 
 of God in Jesus Christ spoken during the former visit had 
 taken such hold of him, that now he came back to ask what 
 he and his friends must do to be saved. Having remained 
 for some time to hear the gospel of salvation and learn the 
 truth more perfectly, they all took their departure ; not, 
 however, till a promise had been given by Moffat in response 
 to their earnest request to visit their village at the earliest 
 opportunity. 
 
 In fulfilment of this promise Moffat now travelled to 
 Mosheu's village. The journey had been long and weari- 
 
VARIED EXPERIENCES. 137 
 
 some, and at its termination he was so wearied that ht 
 longed for quiet and repose. Rest, however, was out of the 
 question. No sooner did he approach the village than old 
 and young came flocking around to welcome him ; and five 
 hundred people were in a few minutes holding out their 
 hands to shake his, crowding forward, and pressing upon one 
 another in their eagerness. It was twelve o'clock that ni^ht 
 before they were satisfied and he was able to lie down in 
 his waggon to sleep. Next morning by early dawn they 
 were around the waggon again, all waiting for him to preach 
 to them. He heard their eager clamorous voices while 
 dressing himself, and as soon as he appeared, messengers 
 ran to tell those who had not come to the waggon that he 
 was up. Without waiting to take his breakfast, he at once 
 began to preach to the crowd, and spoke to them for an 
 hour on the words, "God so loved the world that He gave 
 His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him 
 should not perish but have everlasting life." They listened 
 with the utmost attention. The cattle wandered away 
 unheeded. Women who had been milking stood with 
 their vessels of milk in their hands all the time ; and some 
 strangers who came up with bows and spears laid down 
 their weapons and listened also. 
 
 The preacher at the close of the service, and while the 
 'people were dispersing, went to a neighbouring pool to 
 refresh himself with a wash, and then returned to his 
 waggon to breakfast. What was his surprise to find the 
 people assembled again, and to learn that they wanted 
 another sermon at once. Pleading hunger, he begged them 
 to wait for half-an-hour. Hearing this, one of the chief 
 women hastened to her hut, and returning with a wooden 
 bowl filled with sour milk, said with a smile, "There, 
 drink away ; drink much, and you will be able to speak 
 long." Cheerfully accepting this hasty African breakfast, 
 the preacher resumed his station, and delivered a second 
 
132 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 discourse to, if possible, a still more attentive congregation. 
 As soon as this second sermon was finished the people 
 divided into groups to talk over what had been said. One 
 young man who had a good memory and power of mimicry, 
 and who had attended to all that had fallen from the 
 preacher's lips, repeated, with all the preacher's movements, 
 the whole of the sermon to a crowd of listeners. 
 
 Two sermons were not enough to satisfy these hungry 
 souls. After the cows had been milked in the evening, 
 when the sun went down, they came once more to the 
 waggon. There, while the clear silvery moon shone on the 
 scene, they listened again to God's message of love ; and 
 long after the service was ended they lingered about asking 
 questions and talking over what they had heard. Next 
 morning tempestuous weather prevented preaching out of 
 doors, so the missionary spent the day talking with them 
 in their huts and trying to teach them to read. Towards 
 evening the wind subsided, and there was preaching again ; 
 but at bed-time all the people wanted another lesson in 
 reading. Two or three young men who had already 
 learned to read had accompanied Moffat from Kuruman. 
 A few spelling-books and sheets of letters were in the 
 waggon, and soon the Kuruman readers were each sur- 
 rounded by a circle of scholars calling out "A, B, 0." 
 It was moonlight, and the letters were small, so that all 
 could not see them clearly ; but all were able to shout 
 "A, B, C." One of the young men from Kuruman had 
 told them that in the schools there the children sang their 
 alphabet. Although it was growing late they began to 
 cry out, *' Oh teach us the A, B, C with music ! " The 
 lesson was therefore sung to *' Auld Lang Syne." The 
 people picked it up very quickly, and were so pleased with 
 their new acquirements that it was between two and three 
 o'clock in the morning before they allowed their teachers to 
 leave them. When Mr. Mofl'at lay down to sleep the 
 
VARIED EXPERIENCES. 133 
 
 people were still singing "A, B, C" to " Auld Lang Syne," 
 and when morning dawned the women went to milk 
 the cows and the boys to tend the calfes still humming 
 "A, B, C" to "Auld Lang Syne." 
 
 When the time came for Moffat's return the whole 
 population of the village accompanied him to a considerable 
 distance, and then stood gazing after him till his waggon 
 was out of sight. Often after this Moshew and his people 
 made visits to Kuruman. It was an interesting spectacle to 
 see forty or fifty men, women, and children traversing the 
 plain all mounted on oxen, accompanied by a number of 
 milch cows, that they might not be burdensome either to 
 the missionaries or the Kuruman people. Their object was 
 to obtain instruction ; and they would remain for several 
 weeks at a time diligently attending to all the opportunities 
 afforded. 
 
 With one incident illustrative of the power of Christian 
 principle in this people, and the influence of their manifesta- 
 tion of it on their enemies, we close this chapter. One 
 Sabbath morning they were assembled in the centre of 
 the village to hold their early prayer-meeting. While at 
 worship a band of marauders made their appearance. 
 Mosheu arose, and begged the people to sit still and trust 
 , in God, while he went to meet the strangers. To his 
 question what they wanted, the reply was, "Your cattle; 
 and it is at your peril you raise a weapon to resist." 
 " There are my cattle," replied the chief, and then retired 
 and resumed his position in the meeting. A hymn was 
 sung, a chapter read, and then all kneeled in prayer to God, 
 who alone could save them in the day of trouble. The 
 sight Avas too sacred and solemn to be gazed on by such a 
 band of ruffians, and they all withdrew from the place 
 without touching a single article belonging to the people. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 TRANSLATIONS AND THE PRINTING-PRESS. 
 
 OR a long time after he began his \\ork in Africa 
 Moffat had to carry it on through the medium of 
 interpreters. But these were sometimes incom- 
 petent men. As in the days of Job and in the 
 land of Uz, an interpreter to any good purpose was barely 
 one among a thousand. One day addressing an audience, 
 the missionary said : "The salvation of the soul is a great 
 and important subject." In conveying the statement to the 
 people the interpreter told them that the salvation of the 
 soul was a very great "sack." He found at last that he 
 must fling his interpreters away, for they could neither 
 understand themselves nor make others understand. " A 
 missionary who commences giving direct instruction to the 
 natives, though far from competent 'u\ the language, is pro- 
 ceeding on safer ground than if he were employing an 
 interpreter who is not proficient in both languages, and lias 
 not a tolerable understanding of the doctrines of the Gospel."' 
 Even though an interpreter be ever so competent, it is well 
 to try to dispense with his services as soon as possible. 
 
 We have seen how Moffat set about learning the Sechuana 
 tongue. It was no easy task. The difficulties of mastering 
 
TRANSLATIONS AND PRINTING. 135 
 
 the language were increased by the variety of its dialects. 
 In the towns its purity and harmony are preserved by 
 means of their " pitchos " or public meetings, at which it is 
 best spoken, and of their festivals and ceremonials, as well 
 as of their son^s and their social intercourse. " But with 
 the isolated villages of the desert," as Moffat remarks in 
 a passage to which Max Muller refers in his Lectures 
 on Language^ "it is far otherwise. They have no such 
 meetings, no festivals, no cattle, nor any kind of manu- 
 factures to keep their energies alive ; riches they have 
 none, their sole care being to keep body and soul together. 
 To accomplish this is with them their 'chief end.' They 
 are compelled to traverse the wilds often to a great distance 
 from their native village. On such occasions fathers and 
 mothers, and all who can bear a burden, often set out for 
 weeks at a time, and leave their children to the care of two 
 or more infirm old people. The infant progeny, some of 
 whom are beginning to lisp, while others can just master a 
 whole sentence, and those still further advanced, romping 
 and playing together through the live-long day, the children 
 of nature become habituated to a language of their own. 
 The more voluble condescend to the less precocious, and 
 thus from this infant Babel proceeds a dialect composed of 
 , a host of mongrel words and phrases joined together with- 
 out rule, and in the course of a generation the entire 
 character of the language is changed." 
 
 Having acquired the language, Moffat felt that the time 
 had now come to enlist the services of the press as an 
 auxiliary to the living voice, without which there could be 
 no great or permanent success. He translated the Assem- 
 bly's Catechism, and put it to press. He also composed, 
 printed, and put into use a collection of hymns for public 
 worship ; and it is one of his many titles to grateful re- 
 membrance that he wrote the first hymn ever penned in 
 the native language, and became in fact the poet of the 
 
136 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 Bechimna sanctuary. But one great need pressed on 
 Moffat's mind — the natives had not the Bible in their own 
 tongue. He saw that it was essential to the prosperity of 
 the great work in which he was engaged that the wholo 
 of the Scriptures should be translated into the Sechuana 
 language, which, with certain modifications, is the language 
 of the interior of Africa. He doubted his own powers, 
 fancying that his early education had not been such as to 
 qualify him for the undertaking, and therefore appealed to 
 the Society in England to send out some one specially to 
 engage in it. 
 
 The circulation of the Scriptures in Africa was taken up 
 by the British and Foreign Bible Society shortly after its 
 formation. Dr. Carlyle, Professor of Arabic at Cambridge, 
 issued a prospectus in 1803 for printing an edition of the 
 Bible in that language. Mungo Park and others encouraged 
 the experiment, inasmuch as they thought Arabic was widely 
 understood. The death of Dr. Carlyle caused a delay, but 
 the enterprise was taken up by his successor and by the 
 Oxford Professor of Arabic, who, together with Barrington, 
 Bishop of Durham, and Porteous, Bishop of London, 
 brought the matter before the Bible Society. "It would," 
 said the latter prelate, " do great credit to the society, and 
 might be of infinite service in sowing the seeds of Chris- 
 tianity over the whole continent of Africa." Three 
 hundred copies were printed from the text of the Polyglot. 
 To the accuracy of that text, however. Dr. Adam Clarke 
 demurred, as did other Arabic scholars, of whom Henry 
 Martyn was one. The expediency of translating the Scrip- 
 tures into the native tongue seems to have been first 
 suggested by Dr. Philip. " The discoveries daily making," 
 he remarked, " lead to a supposition that all the languages 
 spoken, from the Keiskamma to the Arabian Gulf, and 
 from the mouth of the Zambezi to that of the Congo, are 
 derived from the same parent stock, and are so nearly 
 
TRANSLATIONS AND PRINTING. 137 
 
 allied to each other as to furnish great facilities for the 
 translation and general circulation of the Scriptures." A 
 translation of the New Testament was undertaken in the 
 Namaqua language, and the four Gospels were printed at 
 Cape Town. It was the first book ever printed in that 
 language. Meanwhile no help came to Moffat, and the 
 necessity for the work becoming more and more pressing, 
 he resolved to enter upon it himself. For many years he 
 applied every spare moment to translating; the intervals 
 between preaching and teaching, ploughing, working at the 
 forge or at the printing-press, were devoted to it, so that 
 he became almost a stranger in his own family. 
 
 In the year 1832 Moffat completed a translation into 
 Sechuana of the Gospel according to Luke. Even at Cape 
 Town printing at that time of day was in its infancy. Sir 
 Lowry Cole, the Governor, kindly permitted the missiona:py 
 to use the official press. But who was to supply him with 
 compositors ^ There was nothing for it but that the trans- 
 lator must be his own compositor ; and, joined by his 
 colleague, he set in type and struck ofi", under the superin- 
 tendence of the official printer, both his translation of 
 Luke's Gospel and his own hymns. He then returned in 
 triumph to his station, carrying with him the books, the 
 press which had been presented to him by Dr. Philip, and 
 the other articles of which we have previously spoken. 
 
 Four years after he writes of one of his missionary visits 
 thus : — " On this station, as well as at other places I lately 
 visited in the course of my itinerating journey, I was 
 delighted to hear that the attention of the people was first 
 aroused to a sense of the importance of divine truth and 
 a concern for their souls by hearing that Gospel (Luke's) 
 read in their own language. I have frequently listened 
 with surprise to hear how minutely some who were unable 
 to read could repeat the story of the woman who was a 
 sinner, the parables of the great supper, the prodigal son, 
 
138 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 and the rich man and Lazarus, and date their change of 
 views to these simple but all-important truths delivered by 
 the great Master Teacher." 
 
 In a subsequent letter written to the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society in 1838, he says: " Within the last twelve 
 months we have had the inexpressible joy of receiving 
 seventy-one adults (some aged) into the church. The natives 
 on all sides are learning to read. Though there must be 
 about four thousand spelling-books in circulation, the de- 
 mand for them is increasing. Many are able to read well. 
 Lately we increased the hymns to one hundred, and printed 
 two thousand copies, and also two thousand copies of the 
 large spelling-book, both of which were greatly wanted ; 
 very few copies remain of the Gospel of Luke. Some 
 people who live two hundred miles beyond us are learning 
 to read, and some can read tolerably well," 
 
 By 1840 Mr. Moffat had completed the translation of the 
 entire New Testament, and became anxious about the 
 printing of it. The press at his station was not equal to 
 the undertaking ; he therefore proposed at first having it 
 done at the Cape, and two hundred and fifty reams of paper 
 were voted by the Bible Society for the printing of four 
 thousand copies. When, however, he reached the Cape, it 
 was thought desirable that the work should be executed in 
 this country, and that he should come over here for the 
 purpose of superintending it. On his arrival he found 
 himself much assisted by the counsels and help of the 
 Society's valuable editorial superintendent, the Rev. Joseph 
 Jowett. An edition of the Psalms was added to that of 
 the New Testament. 
 
 Supplies of the Sechuana Testament and Psalms were 
 soon sent out to Africa, and when they reached their 
 destination spread joy among the sons of the desert. One 
 of the missionaries on the spot thus wrote on their arrival : 
 " It is with great pleasure I can now inform you that the 
 
TEANSLATIONS AND PRINTING. 139 
 
 five hundred copies of the Sechuana jS'evv Testament con- 
 signed to the Rev. D. Livingstone were brought to this 
 station by him in safety and good order. Immediately on 
 the boxes being taken down from the waggon a distribution 
 was made, by assigning fifty, sixty, or eighty copies to the 
 other stations where there are Bechuana readers. When 
 it became known that the 'books' had arrived, great 
 satisfaction was evinced by the natives, and applications for 
 copies were made with urgency, some offering payment, 
 others promising to do so when able at some future time. 
 Some who were not well able to read, and others resolving 
 to learn to read, applied also for copies." 
 
 Mr. Moftat quitted England in 1843 to resume his mis- 
 sionary labours among the Bechuana tribes, and took with 
 him two thousand Testaments and Psalms in the Sechuana 
 language. During his stay in this country six thousand copies 
 were printed in London under his superintendence. It is 
 an interesting circumstance that to convey this boon was the 
 first of an unparalleled series of benefits conferred upon the 
 continent of Africa by Moffat's son-in-law and the renowned 
 missionary traveller David Livingstone. On Moffat's 
 return to his station at Kuruman with Messrs. Livingstone, 
 Hoss, Inglis, and Ashton, to reinforce the mission, the work 
 was prosecuted with renewed vigour and marked success. 
 Urged by the younger men, Moffat applied himself to the 
 translation of the Old Testament. It was, as we shall see, 
 a labour of years ; but he continued steadily at it as he had 
 leisure, daily and nightly also, without intermission, until 
 it was completed. 
 
 "We can only note briefly the successive stages of the 
 work. In 1848 the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes 
 had been finished and Isaiah begun. In 1851 Mr. Hughes 
 of Griqua Town, writing to the Bible Society in London 
 concerning Mr. Moffat's several translations, says : " The 
 last work is one lately published, containing the books of 
 
140 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Isaiah, of w^iich about two 
 hundred copies may be in circulation at the present time. 
 The whole of the Old Testament, however, has been trans- 
 lated, and may be expected ere long to be printed in the 
 Sechuana language. Some thousands of Bechuanas' hearts 
 will leap with joy to see the happy day ; God speed it ! " 
 The rough draft of the whole Old Testament was completed, 
 but much revision was still needed. The work of trans- 
 lating, revising, and printing still went on. Joshua suc- 
 ceeded to the Pentateuch, and Samuel to Joshua; and in 
 
 1853 the Second Book of Kings was nearly ready for press. 
 From a communication of the translator's own pen in 
 
 1854 we learn that he was still engaged in making the 
 version as perfect as he could. " The longer I live," he 
 writes, "the more powerfully is my mind impressed with 
 the duty of every missionary making way for the Bible by 
 getting the people, such as are in this country, taught to 
 read. * Nothing like the Bible,' says the new convert, 
 burning with his first love, and ' Nothing but the Bible,' 
 responds the venerable Christian, bowing down like the full 
 grain ready to be gathered. It has been frequently 
 remarked that as the children of God advance in old asfe 
 they stick closer and closer to the Bible, and the Bible only ; 
 and who can wonder, who knows its value, or rather, that 
 it cannot be valued % The first volume of the Old Testa- 
 ment is nearly completed. Little more than half of the 
 Second Book of Kings remains to be printed ; and if the 
 covers arrive by the time the remaining sheets are being 
 printed oflf, all will be in season, and they will soon be in 
 the hands of the natives. Many are the inquiries made 
 as to when it will be finished, and many wonder why it 
 cannot be done with greater expedition. They know the 
 pen and the press can be made to go pretty fast, but it ^^ ill 
 be some time before they are convinced that too mucli time 
 and pains cannot be taken to ensure correctness in a book 
 
TRANSLATIONS AND PRINTING. HI 
 
 which is ill Sechuana phraseology, 'Molome oa Jehova/ — 
 the mouth of Jehovah." 
 
 Moffat was now approaching the completion of his trans- 
 lation labours. Jeremiah was in the press, Ezekiel far 
 advanced, Daniel and the remainder ready for the com- 
 positor^ and then the Old Testament would be finished. 
 "A couple of months," he wrote to a friend, "will finish 
 Ezekiel ; a load will then be removed from off my mind — a 
 load with respect to which I have often felt as if it would 
 crush me, yet have so often felt as though my very existence 
 depended upon the prosecution of this work. I have felt, 
 in short, as if I must die if I dropped it, or at least be 
 miserable to the end of my days did I not enlist all the 
 time, research, and perseverance at my command in its 
 accomplishment. In fine, I have found it to be an awful 
 work to translate the Book of God ; and perhaps this has 
 given to my heart the habit of sometimes beating like the 
 strokes of a hammer. After getting the brain refreshed, 
 I shall hasten to a revision of the New Testament — a 
 comparatively easy work." 
 
 At length the long labour of years came to an end, and 
 the last verse of the Old Testament was translated into the 
 Sechuana tongue, Moffat thus describes his emotions at 
 this time : — " I could hardly believe that I was in the world, 
 so difficult was it for me to realise the fact that my work of 
 so many years was completed. Whether it was from weak- 
 ness or overstrained mental exertion I cannot tell, but a 
 feeling came over me as if I should die, and I felt perfectly 
 resigned. To overcome this I went back again to my 
 manuscript still to be printed, read it over and re-examined 
 it, till at length I got back again to my right mind. This 
 was the most remarkable time of my life, a period I shall 
 never forget. My feelings found vent by my falling upon 
 my knees and thanking God for His grace and goodness in 
 giving me strength to accomplish my task." 
 
142 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 Before we pass away from this story of translation, wo 
 shall here give the views of an eminent authority on the 
 value of the work. In 1852, when Dr. Livingstone was on 
 his travels, he called at Kuruman, and found Moffat busy 
 at his loved employ. He says : " During the period of my 
 visit at Kuruman, Mr. Moffat, who has been a missionary 
 in Africa upwards of forty years, was engaged in carrying 
 the Bible in the language of the Bechuanas through the 
 press at his station. As he was the first to reduce their 
 speech, which is called Sechuana, to a written form, and has 
 had his attention directed to the study for thirty years, he 
 may be supposed to be better adapted for the task than 
 any other man living. The comprehensive meaning of the 
 terms in this tongue may be inferred from the fact that 
 there are fewer words in the Pentateuch in Mr. Moffat's 
 translation than in the Greek Septuagint, and far less than in 
 our English version. It is fortunate that the task has been 
 completed before the language became adulterated with half- 
 uttered foreign words, and while those who have heard the 
 eloquence of the native assemblies are still living. The 
 young who are brought up in our schools know less of the 
 tongue than the missionaries. The Sechuana vocabulary is 
 extraordinarily copious. Mr. Moffat never spends a week 
 at his work without discovering new words. It would be 
 no cause for congratulation if the Bechuana Bible was 
 likely to meet the fate of Elliot's Chocktaw version, in 
 which we have God's word in a language which no tongue 
 can articulate and no mortal can understand. A better 
 destiny seems in store for Mr. Moffat's labours, for the 
 Sechuana has been introduced into the new country beyond 
 Lake Ngami, where it is the court language, and will carry 
 a stranger through a district larger than France." 
 
 Upon Moffat God has conferred the unspeakable honour 
 of giving the Bible to South and Central Africa. He has 
 done for the tribes of this vast region of the earth what 
 
TRANSLATIONS AND PRINTING. 143 
 
 Morrison has done for the natives of China, Carey and 
 Marshman for the races of India, and other missionaries for 
 the peoples of other lands, — placed in their hand the word 
 of God in their own tongue. He did the work we may say 
 single-handed. It has been remarked by some one that 
 "no evidence can be produced that the whole of the 
 Scriptures was by any person rendered into Saxon. Even 
 Wickliffe had the help of many predecessors ; much more 
 Coverdale. Bede was translating the Gospel of John at the 
 time of his decease. But Robert Moffat, who began with 
 the Gospel of Luke, has lived to translate the whole Bible 
 into the barbarous dialect of South Africa." It is true 
 that his colleague Mr. Ashton rendered him invaluable help 
 for many years, still the work in a peculiar and emphatic 
 sense is iiis own. Carefully as it has been done, it may not 
 be free from minor mistakes. Even in this present century 
 we are revising the authorised version of the English Bible. 
 The infallible book is liable to the errors of fallible men. 
 Still competent authorities assure us of the excellency of 
 the Sechuana version, and among the peoples of South 
 Africa who read and value the Bible it is held in the 
 highest estimation. 
 
 In the execution of this work Moffat has bestowed on 
 Africa a priceless boon. It is the source of all other 
 benefits — the spring whence flow the precious streams of 
 liberty, knowledge, social and domestic blessedness, en- 
 lightened commerce, and all that contributes to personal 
 and national good. The natives themselves testify to the 
 value of the Bible and to the benefits it has conferred on 
 South Africa. Here is the evidence of a Christian Hotten- 
 tot at a public meeting of the London Missionary Society 
 convened in London : — " I wish to tell you," said he, " what 
 the Bible has done for Africa. What would have become 
 of the Hottentot nation and every black man in South 
 Africa had you kept the word of God to yourselves 1 When 
 
144 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 you received the word of God, you thought of other nations 
 who had not that word. When the Bible came amongst us 
 we were naked ; we lived in caves and on the tops of the 
 mountains ; we had no clothes, we painted our bodies with 
 red paint. At first we were surprised to hear the truths of 
 the Bible. The Bible charmed us out of the caves and 
 from the tops of the mountains. The Bible made us throw 
 away all our old customs and practices, and we lived among 
 civilized men. \Ye are tame men now. Now we know 
 there is a God ; now we know we are accountable creatures 
 before God. But what was our state before the Bible 
 came 1 We knew none of these things. We knew nothing 
 about heaven. We knew not who made heaven and earth. 
 The Bible is the only light for every man that dwells on 
 the face of the earth. I thank God in the name of every 
 Hottentot — of all the Hottentots in South Africa — that I 
 have seen the face of Englishmen. 
 
 " I have been looking whether a Hottentot found his way 
 to this meeting, but I have looked in vain ; I am the only 
 one. I have travelled with the missionaries in taking the 
 Bible to the Bushmen and other nations. Where the word 
 of God has been preached, the Bushman has thrown away 
 his bow and arrows. I have accompanied the Bible to the 
 Caflfre nation, and when the Bible spoke the Caffre threw 
 away his shield and all his vain customs. I went to Lat- 
 takoo, and they threw away all their evil works ; they 
 threw away their assagais, and became the children of God. 
 The only way to reconcile man to man is to instruct man 
 in the truths of the Bible. I say again the Bible is the 
 light; and where the Bible comes the minds of men are 
 enlightened. Where the Bible is not, there is nothing but 
 darkness ; it is dangerous in fact to travel through such a 
 nation. Where the Bible is not, man does not hesitate to 
 kill his fellow ; he never even repents afterwards of having 
 committed murder. I thank you to-day ; I do nothing but 
 
TRANSLATIONS AND PRINTING. 145 
 
 thank you to-day. Are there any of the old Englishmen 
 here who sent out the word of God "? I give them my 
 thanks ; if there are not I give it to their children." 
 
 On the occasion of his first visit to England, when as yet 
 the people had only the Gospel of Luke in their hands, 
 Moffat addressing a meeting in London said : " I have known 
 individuals to come hundreds of miles to obtain copies of 
 St. Luke. Yes, they have come, and driven sheep before 
 them to obtain these copies. They did not intend to beg 
 them, but to buy them. And could you have beheld with 
 what gratitude and feeling they received these portions of 
 God's word, you would be animated more and more to go 
 on in the blessed work of preparing the word of God for 
 these dark benighted nations. I have known families 
 travel fifty or sixty miles with their babes on their shoulders 
 to come and ask for the word of God. And why % Because 
 they had acquired, at a distance, the knowledge of reading, 
 and they had a feeling that they ought to buy this word, 
 not to beg it. And I have seen them receive portions of 
 St. Luke, and weep over them, and grasp them to their 
 bosoms, and shed tears o-f thankfulness, till I have said to 
 more than one, 'You will spoil your books with your 
 tears.' " 
 
 In the same speech he tells how a man seeing a number 
 of people reading the Gospel of Luke, said to them : " What 
 things are these that you are turning over and over? 
 What in the world is this that I see among the people 1 Is 
 it foodr' "No," they replied, "it is the word of God." 
 "Does it speak"?" he asked. "Yes," said they, "it speaks 
 to the heart." He asked a chief to unravel this mystery 
 to him ; when the chief told him that this was God's Book, 
 and that it turned people upside down and made them 
 new. " Do they eat the books 1 " said the astonished man. 
 " They eat them with the soul," said the chief, " not with 
 the mouth." 
 
 10 
 
146 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 "Once," he said, "an individual came to me to speak 
 about his soul. I asked him how he became acquainted with 
 the gospel. He said, ' I \vas on a journey and I sat 
 down to rest myself by the side of a shepherd, who was 
 talking to something I could not understand. I asked what 
 he was doing, and he said he was reading. I inquired what 
 the book was, and desired him to explain it to me. He said 
 it was the word of God, and was given to us to make our 
 dark hearts light, to turn our foolishness into wisdom, and 
 to tell us that after we have lived well here we shall go to 
 another world hereafter.' This man came to me to learn 
 to read, and returned home with the Gospel of Luke. In 
 one of my journeys in a village I met a young man and a 
 number of women ; he was exhorting them to be faithful and 
 zealous, and diligent in reading the Scriptures. He said to 
 me, 'I would like to ask you one question, and it is one that 
 has made us talk a great deal. But you have so much 
 wisdom that I am ashamed to ask you.' 'What is it,' said 
 I. At last he said, ' Did those holy men who wrote the 
 word of God know that there were Bechuanas in the world % ' 
 My reply was, that certainly the word of God was intended 
 for all men. ' But what is your opinion *? ' said T. He said, 
 ' I think they did, because the word of God describes every 
 sin the wicked Bechuanas have in their hearts. You know 
 that they are the most Avicked people in the world, and it is 
 all described in tliat book ; so that those who are unconverted 
 do not like to hear us read, because they say that we are 
 turning their hearts inside out.' " 
 
 Moffat finishes his marvellous record of missionary labour 
 in South Africa during the earlier years of his residence 
 there with the following striking illustration of the value of 
 the Bible, and with it we close this chapter : — " The vast 
 importance," he says, "of having the Scriptures in the 
 language of the natives will be seen when we look on the 
 scattered towns and hamlets which stud the interior, over 
 
TRANSLATIONS AND PRINTING. 147 
 
 which one language, with slight variations, is spoken as far as 
 the Equator. When taught to read they have in their hands 
 the means not only of recovering them from their natural 
 darkness, but of keeping the lamp of life burning even 
 amidst comparatively desert gloom. In one of my early 
 journeys with some of my companions we came to a heathen 
 village on the banks of the Orange Ptiver, between Namaqua 
 Land and the Griqua country.^ We had travelled far and 
 were hungry, thirsty, and fatigued. From the fear of being 
 exposed to lions we preferred remaining at the village to 
 proceeding during the night. The people at the village 
 rather roughly directed us to halt at a distance. We asked 
 water, but they would not supply it. I offered the three or 
 four buttons that still remained on my jacket for a little milk; 
 this also was refused. We had the prospect of another 
 hungry night at a distance from water, though within sight 
 of the river. We found it difficult to reconcile ourselves 
 to our lot, for in addition to repeated rebuffs, the manner of 
 the villagers excited suspicion. When twilight drew on, a 
 woman approached from the height beyond which the village 
 lay. She bore on her head a bundle of wood, and had a 
 vessel of milk in her hand. The latter, without opening her 
 lips, she handed to us, laid down the wood, and returned to 
 the village. A second time she approached with a cooking 
 ♦vessel on her head and a leg of mutton in one hand and 
 water in the other. She sat down without saying a word, 
 prepared the fire and put on the meat. We asked her again 
 and asain who she was. She remained silent till affection- 
 ately entreated to give us a reason for such unlooked for 
 kindness to strangers. The solitary tear stole down her sable 
 cheek, when she replied, ' I love Him whose servant you are, 
 and surely it is my duty to give you a cup of cold water in 
 His name. My heart is full, therefore I cannot speak the 
 joy I feel to see you in this out-of-the-world place.' On 
 learning a little of her history, and that she was a solitary 
 
148 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 light burning in a dark place, I asked her how she kept up 
 the life of God in her soul in the entire absence of the 
 communion of saints. She drew from her bosom a copy of 
 the Dutch New Testament, which she had received from Mr. 
 Helm when in his school some years previous, before she had 
 been compelled by her connections to retire to her present 
 seclusion. * This,' she said, ' is the fountain whence I drink; 
 this is the oil which makes my lamp burn.' I looked on the 
 precious relic, printed by the British and Foreign Bible 
 Society, and the reader may conceive how I felt, and my 
 believing companions with me, when we met with this 
 disciple, and mingled our sympathies and prayers together 
 at the throne of our heavenly Father." 
 
 
^^cic® 
 
 CHAPTER XTX. 
 
 VISIT TO ENGLAND AND RETURN TO AFRICA. 
 
 OR the long space of twenty-three years Moffat con- 
 tinued his arduous labours in South Africa without 
 once returning home to see his friends or recruit 
 his strength. At length an occasion arose which 
 made it desirable that he should come to this country and 
 make some little stay. He had completed his translation of 
 the New Testament and the Psalms into Sechuana, and was 
 anxious to have it printed and put into circulation as soon 
 as possible. After arrangements had been made for doing 
 ^he printing at the Cape, it was thought, on reflection, 
 better for him to bring the manuscript to this country and 
 have it printed in London, where he might have the aid of 
 the Rev. Joseph Jowett, the Bible Society's editorial super- 
 intendent, with other advantages not to be commanded at 
 Cape Town. Accordingly, in 1840, he and his excellent 
 and devoted wife left for a season their work in Africa, and 
 appeared in England among their Christian friends. 
 
 While part of his time w^as occupied in superintending 
 his translation in its progress through the press, he was 
 busy in preparing his useful and interesting volume, 
 "Missionary Labours and Scenes in South Africa," — a 
 
150 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 work wliich had a lar2;e circulation in its oriajinal form, 
 and the cheap edition of which has multiplied to thirty 
 thousand copies. No work on modern missions has been 
 read with greater eagerness and delight, or done more to 
 deepen and extend the interest of the Christian church in 
 missionary operations. 
 
 Moffat's services, too, were enlisted by the London 
 Missionary Society, the British and Foreign Bible Society, 
 and other institutions, to advocate their claims at public 
 meetings throughout the country. His speeches were full 
 of striking facts, narratives of personal adventure, earnest 
 and exciting appeals. His visits were welcomed every- 
 where, and produced the most favourable results. The 
 then Marquis of Bristol, after hearing his account at a 
 public meeting of the progress of the Gospel in South 
 Africa, turned to him and said, " 1 must see you again ; 
 this is grand." Speaking of his oratorical power, the late 
 Dr. John Campbell, who often heard him, and who was 
 a most competent judge, says : — " Mr. Moffat eminently 
 possesses the poet's eye ; he sees everything through the 
 medium of the imagination, and Genius stands by ready 
 to robe his perceptions in the most beautiful attire. The 
 sovereignty of his spirit is immediately confessed by his 
 hearers ; and in spite of a very defective manner, and a 
 most barbarous elocution, made up of the worst Scottish 
 dialect disguised in divers African intonations, he reigns 
 supreme in every audience, whether metropolitan or pro- 
 vincial." There are persons still living who can well 
 remember the fascination which his speeches and addresses 
 exercised upon all wlio heard them. The thrilling narra- 
 tives, the tender feeling, the poetic tone, always attracted 
 and deeply impressed the lovers of missions. 
 
 Missionary meetings were very different gatherings forty 
 years ago from what they are now. Now, as a rule, they are 
 very indifferently attended, and too often those who address 
 
VISIT TO ENGLAND. 151 
 
 them are anything but instructive or interesting. There is 
 as much sympathy as ever with missionary operations, but 
 it does not shew itself at missionary meetings. Forty years 
 ago they were the best attended, the most enthusiastic, and 
 the most profitable Christian seasons of the church. Many 
 a youth was constrained by what he heard on such occasions 
 to yield himself to Christ, and many a Christian youth was led 
 to engage in active service in the Lord's work either at home 
 or abroad. Mofiat's deputation addresses were eminently 
 blessed in producing these results. One of. his speeches in 
 Scotland was the means of inducing William Koss to enlist 
 for missionary services in Africa, where he proved himself 
 for upwards of twenty years a most earnest and useful 
 labourer. Mr. Koss as a youth followed the plough in the 
 Carse of Gowrie, and afterv/ards served an apprenticeship 
 as a house-carpenter. He went to St. Andrews' University 
 and passed a regular course there, went through his theo- 
 logical curriculum in Edinburgh, became a licentiate of 
 one of the Presbyterian Churches in Scotland, and then, 
 moved by the earnest and eloquent appeals of Moflat, went 
 out to Africa, and from 1842 to 1863, when he died, 
 laboured unweariedly among the Bechuanas. 
 
 Moffat possessed the rare faculty of speaking with effect 
 to children. Many persons who address children think that 
 to secure the attention of their audience it is necessary to 
 be childish. Others again shoot far above the heads of the 
 little ones ; not half they say is understood. There is no 
 subject about which men more miscalculate their gifts than 
 that of addressing children. Moffat could speak as effectivel}'' 
 to an audience of children as to an audience of adults. The 
 Rev. Samuel Goodall, late of Durham, says he heard him 
 on one occasion address a large congregation of Sunday 
 school children in the north for an hour and a half, and hold 
 them in fixed attention throughout the whole of the time. 
 This was the case all over the country. At juvenile mis- 
 
152 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 sionary meetings he was a king. The result was that 
 the Sunday schools and the youthful part of the Christian 
 congregations of that day were thoroughly impregnated with 
 a missionary spirit^ and a powerful impetus was given to 
 the missionary cause. 
 
 In the beginning of 1843 Mr, Moffat and his wife sailed 
 again for Africa. The home visit had been very refreshing 
 to his own heart, and had proved a rich blessing to the 
 British churches. The awakened interest in the condition 
 of the heathen abroad had not only given fresh life to foreign 
 missionary effort, it was attended by increased concern and 
 more earnest endeavour for the conversion of sinners at 
 home. The African missionary was now known by name 
 throughout Christendom, and henceforth the eyes of all the 
 churches were directed to his distant station. On his 
 return to Kuruman, accompanied by three or four new 
 helpers to reinforce the mission, the work was prosecuted 
 with renewed vigour and marked success. It was then, 
 •urged by Livingstone and his other coadjutors, he applied 
 himself to the translation of the Old Testament. It was a 
 labour of years, as Ave have seen, but he went on with it as 
 he had leisure daily and nightly without intermission. 
 
 The year 1846 was a year fraught with much encourage- 
 ment. Nearly fifty members were added to the church of 
 ■Nvhich Moffat was pastor, and at the out-stations the blessing 
 of God was vouchsafed to the simple efforts of the native 
 assistants. In all its departments the mission was advancing, 
 and, in the peaceful death of the chief Matebe, Moffat had 
 witnessed a conspicuous proof of the Gospel over barbarian 
 minds. The following year, on the contrary, was one of 
 peculiar trouble and anxiety. From long and severe drought 
 the crops had almost wholly failed, and distress and dismay 
 were general. While, however, this disaster hindered the 
 work of grace in the individual heart, the preparatory work 
 of instruction knew no intermission. " As some portions of 
 
VISIT TO ENGLAND. 153 
 
 the Sechuana Scriptures were passed through the mission 
 press, others were being rendered into that language by the 
 indefatigable leader of the missionary host. While the 
 father was producing ten thousand copies of the erudite 
 Assembly's Catechism in the rudest of tongues, and while 
 the Proverbs of Solomon, simultaneously with the Pilgrim 
 of Bunyan, were issuing in the speech of the Bechuanas 
 from the same press, the daughter in her infant school was 
 preparing the babes and sucklings of the tribe to appreciate 
 and enjoy them. From year to year the Avork of Christian 
 education proceeded, not indeed at those large and rapid 
 strides to which older races are accustomed, yet with a sure 
 though gradual advance. Few years passed without some 
 additions to the church. These it is evident might easily 
 have been more frequent and more numerous, but for the 
 conscientious care judiciously taken to guard against the 
 premature entrance of imperfectly converted or slenderly 
 informed candidates." 
 
 It was found necessary now and again to exercise extreme 
 discipline upon great or persisting offenders ; still, those 
 who were cut off from church communion were neither 
 forgotten nor neglected, and the missionary frequently had 
 the joy of readmitting the penitent to Christian fellowship. 
 The year 1851 was a year of excessive and protracted 
 drought. For nine months there was no moisture ; and, 
 except upon spots watered by artificial means, the country 
 was without harvest, without grass, and without milk. 
 Like Elijah of old, Moffat carried the matter to God in 
 persevering prayer, and at length there came an abundance 
 of rain. The year 1852 was one of mingled encourage- 
 ment and trial. Some of the church members brought 
 dishonour on their Christian profession, and grieved their 
 pastor's heart ; yet as many as seven native evangelists 
 had by this time gone forth from Kuruman, and were 
 labouring in different districts with encouraging success. 
 
154 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 By the death of Mr. Hamilton, Moffat lost a faithful 
 colleague, with whom he had been united in labour for 
 thirty -four years. In Mr. Ashton, however, the missionary 
 had received a most vigorous, active, and able helper. 
 While the country beyond was greatly disturbed by the 
 marauding attacks of the Boers, Kuruman was mercifully 
 exempt from their rude and robber-like incursions. "The 
 state of the mother and daughter churches grew more 
 encouraging, the minds of the people were better informed, 
 their grounds were being brought under more careful culti- 
 vation, and not a few made a livelihood out of the produce 
 of their gardens, besides the purchase of tools and clothes. 
 Beyond Kuruman, necessity, the mother of invention, had 
 stimulated the native mind ; and in imitation of their more 
 advanced countrymen the outlying people began to work 
 the fountains and lead out the waters. Indicative of a true 
 and therefore lasting civilization, the greater permanence of 
 the new state of things, and the more settled ways of the 
 people, were almost uniformly found in connection with the 
 power of reading with ease, and the capability of conducting 
 religious services." Moffat sighed for more conversions 
 among the people, but rejoiced in the fact that the nev/ 
 habits of life were taking firmer hold upon them, and that 
 the example set by their moral and intellectual leaders 
 were conducting them up the path of true progress. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 SECIIELE, CHIEF OF THE BAKWENA. 
 
 N 1840 David Livingstone landed at Cape Town, 
 having been sent out by the London Missionary 
 Society to join the missionary staff in South Africa. 
 In accordance with his instructions, after a brief 
 stay at the Cape he proceeded to Kuruman, with the view 
 of establishing a mission station still further to the north, 
 where ground had not yet been broken. At Kuruman he 
 found Moffat and his coadjutors hard at work, and remained 
 with them a few months familiarising himself with their 
 mode of operations, making himself acquainted with the 
 Bechuana people — Sechele, chief of the Bakwena, one of 
 their tribes, being favourable to his projects. 
 
 Sechele was a remarkable man, as had also been his 
 father and grandfather before him ; the latter was a great 
 traveller, and the first who had ever told his people of the 
 existence of a race of white men. During his father's life 
 the two distinguished travellers, Dr. Cowan and Captain 
 Donovan, lost their lives in his territory, and were supposed 
 to have been murdered by the Bakwena, until Livingstone 
 learned from Sechele that they had died from fever in 
 descending the river Limpopo, after they had been hospitably 
 
15G LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 entertained by his father and his people. The father of 
 Sechele was murdered when he was a boy. and a usurper 
 proclaimed himself the head of the tribe. The friends of 
 the children applied to Sebituane, chief of the Makololo, to 
 reinstate them, which he successfully accomplished, 
 
 Livingstone settled as a missionary among the Bakwena 
 at Kolobeng, and the first time he held a public religious 
 service with them Sechele listened with much attention. 
 Receiving permission to ask questions regarding what he 
 had heard, he inquired if the missionary's forefathers knew 
 of a future judgment, and on receiving an affirmative 
 answer, he said, " You startle me ; these words make all 
 my bones to shake ; I have no more strength in me. But 
 my forefathers were living at the same time yours were, 
 and how is it they did not send to tell them about these 
 things 1 They all passed away into darkness without 
 knowing whither they were going." 
 
 So eager was Sechele to learn to read that he learnt the 
 alphabet the first day of Livingstone's settlement with him. 
 After he was able to read, nothing gave him greater 
 pleasure than to read the Bible. Isaiah was his favourite 
 book, and he would frequently say, " He was a fine man, 
 that Isaiah; he knew how to speak," At his own request 
 Livingstone held family worship in his hut, in the hope 
 that it might induce his people to embrace Christianity. 
 Speaking of the influence of the example of a chief in all 
 other tilings, he said bitterly, " I love the Word of God, 
 and not one of my brethren will join me." He frequently 
 remarked, with reference to the difliculties in the way of an 
 open profession of Christianity, especially as regarded the 
 number of his wives, the putting away of all of whom, save 
 one, would get him into trouble with their relatives, " Oh, I 
 wish you had come to this country before I became entangled 
 in the meshes of our customs." When at length he deter- 
 mined on publicly uniting himself with the Christian church, 
 
SECHELE, CHIEF OF THE BAKWENA. 157 
 
 he sent all his superfluous wives to their parents, with all 
 the goods and chattels they had been in the habit of using, 
 intimating that he found no fault with them, but must 
 follow the will of God. Crowds attended to witness his 
 baptism, many of them shedding tears of sorrow over what 
 they termed the weakness of their chief in forsaking the 
 ways of his forefathers. 
 
 After remaining some years -at Kolobeng with Sechele 
 and his tribe, Livingstone began his great journeys of 
 discovery. When the chief found that the missionary was 
 resolved to leave him, he determined to send his five eldest 
 children to the Kuruman station, that Mr. and Mrs. Moffat 
 might educate them on Christian principles. The mothers 
 and other relations of the children strongly objected to this 
 course, and did what they could to prevent them from 
 going ; but sorry as their father himself was to part with 
 them, as he believed it was for their good, he sent them 
 away. Although no previous intimation had been given 
 of their coming, they found at the mission station a 
 hearty welcome. While the children were thus safe among 
 Christian friends, the father was in danger and trouble. 
 The Boers had already broken up and sacked several mission 
 stations, conquering the tribes which gave them shelter, and 
 carrying away men and women as slaves. But Livingstone 
 afiid the Bakwena escaped until he was absent on his first 
 journey to Lake Ngami, when four hundred armed Boers 
 attacked Sechele, slaughtered a considerable number of 
 adults, and carried away over two hundred children as 
 captives, among whom were two of Sechele's own little 
 ones. The Bakwena defended themselves bravely until 
 nightfall, killing eight of the Boers, when they retreated to 
 the mountains. Under the pretext that Livingstone had 
 taught them to defend themselves, and was consequently 
 responsible for the slaughter of their fellows, the Boers 
 plundered his house, destroyed his books and stock of 
 
158 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 medicines, and carried off his furniture and clothing, and 
 large quantities of stores left by English gentlemen, who 
 had gone northwards to hunt; and sold them to pay the 
 expenses of their lawless raid. 
 
 Sechele had now no home. He sent tidings of the attack 
 to Moffat at Kuruman by his wife Masabele. She had 
 been hidden in the cleft of a rock over which a number of 
 Boers were firing. Her infant (whom she now carried to 
 Kuruman) began to cry, and terrified lest this should attract 
 the attention of the men, the muzzles of whose guns appeared 
 at every discharge over her head, she took off her armlets 
 as playthings to quiet the child. The letter which her 
 husband sent by her to Moffat tells its own tale. The 
 following is as nearly as possible a literal translation : — 
 
 " Friend of my heart's love, and of all the confidence of 
 my heart, I am undone by the Boers, who attacked me, 
 though I had no guilt with them. They demanded that I 
 should be in their kingdom, and I refused ; they demanded 
 that I should prevent the English and Griquas from passing 
 (northwards). I replied : ' These are my friends, and I can 
 prevent no one (of them). They came on Saturday, and I 
 besought them not to fight on Sunday, and they assented. 
 They began on Monday morning at twilight, and fired with 
 all their might, and burned the town with fire and scattered 
 us. They killed sixty of my people, and captured women 
 and children and men, and the mother of Baleriling (a 
 former wife of Sechele) they also took prisoner. They took 
 all the cattle and all the goods of the Bakwena, and the 
 liouse of Livingstone they plundered, taking away all his 
 goods. The number of waggons they had was eighty-five, 
 and a cannon ; and when they had stolen my own waggon, 
 and that of Macabe, then the number of their waggons 
 (counting the cannon as one) was eighty-eight. All the 
 goods of the hunters (certain English gentlemen hunting 
 and exploring in the nortli) were burned in the town, and 
 
SECHELE, CHIEF OF THE BAKWENA. 159 
 
 of the Boers were killed twenty-eight. Yes, my beloved 
 friends, now my wife goes to see the children, and Kobus 
 Hae will carry her to you. — I am, Sechele, the son of 
 Mochoasele." 
 
 Having sent his wife with the above letter to Moffat, 
 Sechele set out for the Cape, purposing to visit England 
 and lay his case before the Queen. He resolved to tell her 
 of the unjust and cruel conduct of the Boers, and ask her to 
 make them give up the prisoners they had carried away ; 
 but when he reached Cape Town and saw the sea, and 
 learnt its extent and the cost of his intended voyage, he 
 was constrained to relinquish his purpose and return home. 
 His people recovered from their alarm and rebuilt their 
 ruined town, and Sechele became a more powerful chief 
 than before. 
 
 When Moffat some time after left Kuruman to take 
 letters and other things that Livingstone, who was then on 
 his travels, might need to Linyanti, he called at Kolobeng to 
 see Sechele. The chief was very pleased to see his old 
 friend. When he heard the waggons were approaching he 
 went out, accompanied by his wife and children, to receive 
 his visitors. Moffat and his friend accompanied him home. 
 There was a verandah outside the front of his house, and 
 behind were courts and sheds, in which corn, pumpkins, 
 dried water-melons, and other fruits of the earth were 
 stored. The house was large and convenient, and partitioned 
 so as to make a sitting-room on one side and a bed-room on 
 the other. The floor was hard and clean. Guns, bullet- 
 pouches, and powder-horns hung on the walls. In the 
 sitting-room were chairs and a table, and at a fire the maids 
 were cooking. Clean scoured bowls were placed on the 
 table, and the contents of the pot on the fire soon poured 
 into them. Clean spoons were handed to Moffat and his 
 two companions, Messrs. Edwards and Chapman, with the 
 help of which they quickly consumed their porridge. The 
 
160 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 chief and his wife and children were all neatly dressed, and 
 had a most respectable appearance. 
 
 As the sun sank in the west a bell was rung to call the 
 people to school. The missionary, anxious to see in what 
 condition the school was, how many availed themselves of 
 its advantages, and what they were learning, went with the 
 chief to the school-house. The appearance of the place was 
 not clean and orderly ; the attendance was scanty. A 
 hymn was sung, when the teacher read a chapter from the 
 New Testament, Moflfat's translation of course ; another 
 hymn was sung, and then began a reading lesson. There 
 appeared a general neglect of learning. 
 
 The next day Moffat had a long talk of the highest im- 
 portance with Sechele about his own spiritual state, the 
 moral condition of the family, and the aspect of the com- 
 munity generally. The elder children wished to return to 
 heathenism, although they had been under Christian 
 influences in the missionary's family at Kuruman, and had 
 seen its superiority over the religion of their ancestors. 
 This was a great grief to their father, who desired that 
 Moffat would point out to them their folly and wickedness, 
 and endeavour to lead them back into the ris^ht wav. 
 Having finished his visit to his friend, and encouraged hmi 
 to persevere in the faith and practice of the gospel, and 
 having done what he could to establish the wavering chil- 
 dren, and save them from relapsing into heathenism, Moffiit 
 with his party proceeded on their journey. 
 
 It is interesting? to see, in connection with the foreofoino: 
 record, Mr Mackenzie's account of Sechele when he visited 
 him at Liteyana in 1860 : — "Two days after our departure 
 from Kanye we reached Liteyana, which was then the 
 residence of the Bakwena tribe under the chief Sechele. 
 Our reception here was gratifying; the chief himself made 
 his appearance at the waggon, and politely greeting us in 
 English fashion, offered us also the African welcome of an 
 
SECHELE, CHIEF OF THE BAKWENA. 161 
 
 ox for slaughter, which was accordingly shot on the spot. 
 Secliele was the finest specimen of the Bechuanas which I 
 had yet seen, being tall and well made, with a good head, 
 an open countenance, and unusually large eyes. His dress 
 was somewhat singular. At one time he appeared in a suit 
 of tiger-skin clothes made in European fashion. On 
 another broiling day he was dressed in an immense Mack- 
 intosh overcoat, with huge water-boots. After a youth of 
 romantic adventure and great hardship, Sechele found 
 himself at the head of the Bakwena, then considerably 
 reduced owinsc to recent wars and dissensions. In 1842 
 he was first visited by Dr. Livingstone, who was to exer- 
 cise so much influence over his mind. The doctor after- 
 wards resided with the Bakwena, and Sechele gave himself 
 to instruction, and proved himself an apt scholar. I should 
 say there is no native in Bechuana land better acquainted 
 with the Bible than Sechele. I have heard Dutchmen 
 describe with amazement his readiness in finding texts in 
 both Old and New Testaments^ but especially the former. 
 
 " After some three years' probation Dr. Livingstone 
 admitted Sechele into the church by baptism. So long as 
 the encouraging and stimulating influence of his teacher 
 was near to him, this chief's conduct would seem to have 
 been all that could be desired ; but this consistency was not 
 kept up after the Dutchmen had attacked his town, and he 
 was left alone to pursue his own course amid the querulous 
 taunts of his own people. He was well-nigh alone in his 
 tribe in his professioii of Christianity ; and many of his 
 people refused to see more in it than a vain desire to make 
 himself a 'white man.' Then the rain-making and other 
 customs were still carried on in the town, and at the expense 
 of a younger brother of the chief called Khosilintsi. But if 
 this person paid for the rain, and otherwise performed the 
 ' orthodox ' customs every year, he would, in point of fact, 
 be the preserver of the town, and its virtual head in the 
 
 11 
 
162 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 public estimation. I believe Secliele's first compromise of 
 principle ^vas an interference to arrest what he supposed 
 would lead to the total subversion of his power. He resolved 
 himself to send for rain-makers, and pay them out of his 
 own cattle. At first this compromise was secret and un- 
 acknowledged, but it became gradually known in the country 
 that * Sechele was now making rain.' By and by the secrecy 
 was thrown aside, and he openly assisted in the performance 
 of heathen ceremonies. 
 
 "But it must be borne in mind that all this time this 
 singular man was most exact in the observance of private 
 and family prayers, and stood up regularly every Sunday to 
 preach to the Bakwena. His position seemed to be one 
 w^hich he has not been by any means the first to occupy — 
 that Christianity might be engrafted upon heathen customs, 
 and that the two would go together. For instance, he him- 
 self would go with the people in their rain-making ceremonies, 
 but he Avould not neglect at the same time to pray to God. 
 He would use charms and incantations, wasliings and purify- 
 ings according to the old rule, and yet profess faitli in Him 
 whose blood cleanseth f rom all sin. The Bible, in short, did 
 not require him to give up the customs of his ancestors 
 although it required him to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 He could be an orthodox Bechuana and a good Christian at 
 the same time. This was a position which he took up, and 
 the tenor of many of liis discourses. I have spent many of 
 the hours of night with tliis clever chief in the earnest 
 discussion of these points. When one after another his 
 arguments failed him, he has said to me, ' You have con- 
 quered : your idea of the Christian life is the right one, 
 but was I not alone 1 What is one man against all the 
 Bakwena 1 ' ' How hard it is for us all, Sechele, and for me 
 as well as for you, to believe that God with us is greater 
 than all who can be against us ! ' ' Munare ' (Sir), he 
 replied with feeling, ' not hard for you — you are a mis- 
 
SECHELE, CHIEF OF THE BAKWENA. 163 
 
 sionary ; your faith is great j but hard for me, who am chief 
 of a heathen town.'" 
 
 At the time of Mr. Mackenzie's visit, Liteyana was 
 under the care of missionaries belonging to the Hanoverian 
 Society. These German missionaries w^ere active, devoted 
 men. " Besides attending to the acquisition of the language, 
 they had built a dwelling-house for themselves and another 
 for the chief. The latter was neatly finished, and Sechele, 
 who had been to Cape Town and had seen the interior of 
 many English homes, was very careful in keeping everything 
 in order. Masabele, his wife, w^as well dressed, and if not 
 quite abreast of her husband as to politeness, was very kind, 
 and interested herself much in making inquiries about our 
 relatives in England. We were introduced to Sechele's 
 family, some of whom had been to Kuruman, and had 
 resided for a time in Mr. Moffat's house. Like the chief 
 himself, these young people were kind, intelligent, and 
 pleasant, but entirely lacking in decided views or strong 
 preference as to religion. Compromise seemed the motto 
 of all" 
 
CHAPTER XXL 
 
 SECOND AND THIRD VISITS TO MOSELEKATSE. 
 
 jOFFAT'S close and continued application to his task 
 of translating the Scriptures into the Sechuana 
 tongue interfered so seriously with his health that 
 by the time he had completed the Second Book of 
 Kings he was almost incapacitated to proceed. He felt 
 himself that he needed some relaxation and change, and 
 the Directors of the London Missionary Society, afraid he 
 was killing himself with overwork, urged him either to 
 revisit England or take a holiday at some of the seaports of 
 the colony. With his characteristic devotion to duty he 
 declined these invitations to what he considered ease and 
 idleness, and determined to go and see his old acquaintance 
 Moselekatse, who was known to occupy the country to the 
 north of the River Limpopo, and try the effects of change 
 of air there. At the same time he resolved to convey letters 
 and supplies to Livingstone, who was now exploring un- 
 known regions, and engaged in his memorable journey 
 across the African continent. If he returned safely from 
 the West Coast, it was desirable that supplies should reach 
 him at Linyanti, and Moffat hoped to get Moselekats*^ t.o 
 aid him in forwarding them. 
 
VISITS TO MOSELEKATSE. 165 
 
 Two travellers — Mr. Chapman, whose name has been 
 mentioned before, and a Mr. Edwards — Avere proceeding 
 northwards, in May 1854, on a hunting and trading ex- 
 pedition, and Moffat joined them. Mr. Chapman thus 
 refers to the circumstance : " At Kuruman we found Mr. 
 Moffat in rather indifferent health, suffering from a peculiar 
 affection of the head, brought on by close application to his 
 laborious studies in translating the Bible. On learning 
 that Moselekatse's was our destination he determined to 
 accompany us. He had previously decided on accepting an 
 invitation which that chieftain had given him, but until our 
 arrival had given up the idea of going this year." They 
 left Kuruman on the 22nd of May, and travelling by easy 
 stages reached Sekome's Town on the 19th of June. Here 
 Messrs. Edwards and Chapman changed their original pur- 
 pose, and resolved to part company, one to go in a north- 
 west direction, the other to pursue a north-easterly course 
 to the country of Moselekatse. Having determined on this 
 plan, they drew lots for the choice, and it fell to Mr. 
 Edwards to visit theMatabele chief. On the 21st, Edwards 
 accompanied by Moffat started for their destination. 
 
 There was no road or track to guide them, and they had 
 to have recourse to their compass in threading their way 
 through the prairies of long grass, through dense forests, 
 and across rocky ravines and hills. At length they met 
 with some natives who were subject to the Matabele king, 
 and whom they sent forward as messengers to the nearest 
 , village to announce that Moffat (or Moshete, as they pro- 
 nounced it) of Kuruman w^as seeking Moselekatse. Although 
 those who heard the message had never seen Moffat before, 
 they were familiar with the name, and assured him that the 
 king had long been inquiring after him, and would receive 
 him with delight. A week afterwards they reached his royal 
 residence. Nearly twenty years had passed since the bar- 
 barian monarch and the missionary had before met. The 
 
166 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 travellers were not greeted with the martial display which 
 took place on the occasion of Moffat's first visit ; still the 
 welcome was hearty, and the scene impressive. 
 
 Moffat's narrative of the entire visit is most graphic and 
 interesting: — "When we at last reached Mattokottoko, we 
 found him sick, and with difficulty brought to the porch 
 leading to his residence. I saw his condition, and while 
 with one hand he eagerly grasped mine, he appeared deeply 
 affected, and drew his mantle over his face with the other, 
 unwilling, I suppose, that his vassals, who sat in silence at 
 a distance, should see the hero of a hundred battles weep, 
 even though it were for joy. After becoming composed, he 
 gave full expression to the joy he felt on seeing me once 
 more. Pointing to his feet, he said, ' I am very sick, but 
 your God has sent you to heal me.' Though we had passed 
 several of his towns, and had been two weeks conversant 
 with his people, no one dared to whisper, ' Moselekatse is 
 sick.' The fact was too sacred to be pronounced by vulgar 
 lips. Though he had not been out of his house for some 
 time before, he sat the livelong day (for it was yet early when 
 we arrived) looking at us getting everything ready for the 
 Sabbath. And a season of rest was indeed most acceptable, 
 after a most harassing month's journey from the Baman- 
 quato, during which we were very often obliged to use our 
 axes from the time of unyoking till halting for the night, 
 cutting our way through thickets. 
 
 "As Moselekatse very naturally felt anxious to be 
 restored to health, I engaged to prepare for him suitable 
 medicine, provided he would, like myself, drink no beer, and 
 eac only the kind of food I prescribed. To this he most 
 willingly assented. The means used were, by God's blessing, 
 successful, and in a couple of weeks he was on liis feet 
 again, to his great joy and that of his people. There I 
 remained for more than four weeks, having daily intercourse 
 with the groat chief, whose kindness was unbounded. But 
 
VISITS TO MOSELEKATSE. 167 
 
 he would not listen to my plan of going to Sekeletue's 
 country in search of Livingstone. He started objections, 
 and raised every bugbear he could think of. Though he had 
 been at war with Sebetoane, the father of Sekeletue, he had 
 no idea that they would do me harm, but the deadly miasma 
 of the country beyond he thought a sufficient reason for my 
 not attempting the journey. I assured him that nothing of 
 that kind should deter me from undertaking it. 
 
 " During the time already elapsed, although I was not idle, 
 I could not prevail on Moselekatse to allow me to proclaim 
 to him and his people the truths of the Gospel. As he 
 could refuse me nothing that I thought proper to ask, he 
 would give evasive answers, and endeavour to assure me 
 that he believed the word of God was good for him, but at 
 the same time hinting that his nobles and warriors might 
 not like it from the principles of peace it inculcated. But 
 I was aware that they were really desirous of hearing those 
 principles inculcated which they knew had had a salutary 
 influence on the mind of their master ever since my last 
 visit, more than twenty years before. Though at that time 
 I was barely able to reach his understanding, my strong 
 remonstrances with him to modify the severity of his 
 government had produced so thorough a change in his 
 views, that the cruel and revolting forms of execution were 
 nearly obsolete, while a sense of the value of human life 
 and the guilt of shedding human blood characterised his 
 measures to an extent his subjects had never before 
 witnessed. 
 
 "They knew nothing about the nature or requirements 
 of the Divine word ; for to harbour the idea that there was 
 a God greater than Moselekatse would be viewed as the 
 veriest madness, and expose any one to the danger of being 
 hanged. His people, though nearly all youths and children 
 when I last visited him, knew that their yoke had been 
 made lighter in consequehce of some influence or charm 
 
168 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D, 
 
 which I had infused into the heart of their monarch, and 
 hence the general joy my visit imparted to all ranks. It 
 ■was difficult to account for his reluctance to allow me to 
 preach to his people, except it was from the impression that 
 the exhibition of the character of the Divine Being — life, 
 death, and immortality — would repress the martial spirit of 
 his warriors, whose highest happiness was to fight for or 
 die for Moselekatse, the son of Machobane. His hand, like 
 that of Ishmael, was against every man, and every man's 
 hand against him, and to his soldiers (and every man of the 
 Matabele is a soldier ready to grasp the weapon at a 
 moment's notice) he looked for the defence and security of 
 his kingdom. It was natural for me to feel melancholy, 
 situated as I was, surrounded with multitudes of savages 
 who loved me, and yet I could not instruct them. I tried 
 at times to look morose, while he would try in vain to make 
 me smile. I used to say pleasantly that if he would not 
 hear of my Lord and Master he should not have me, neither 
 would I receive the shadow of a present from him, but that 
 I should one of these mornings shoulder my gun and march 
 off to Sekelete's country. I cannot now describe the pro- 
 cess by which I at last overcame his objections. The 
 incident was unexpected and interesting. He gave full 
 permission for me to preach to him and his warriors the 
 Gospel of salvation. 
 
 " Daily, at a minute's warning, they were assembled before 
 me, and nearer to him, who sat at my left hand, than they 
 dared to approach on any other occasion. Never in my 
 life did I witness such riveted attention whilst I, amid the 
 stillness of the grave, published to them the Word of God. 
 The people of Moselekatse exhibit characteristics of intelli- 
 gence far above the neighbouring tribes. Numbers were 
 arriving daily at headquarters, and returning to the difierent 
 towns of his vast dominions to l)ring news and convey 
 orders and instructions, so tliat what was preached in the 
 
VISITS TO MOSELEKATSE. 169 
 
 presence of Moselekatse was conveyed to the extreme ends of 
 his territories ; some who heard it at second-hand published 
 to others at a distance the strange news that had been 
 brought to the ears of the Matabele. I felt that my prayers 
 had been answered, and that I had obtained my heart's desire. 
 After concluding the first day's service I turned to Mosele- 
 katse, and laying my hand on his shoulder, said, ' You have 
 now made me happy ; I want nothing else that you can 
 give; I shall sigh no more.' 'How,' he asked, 'can you 
 sigh when I and my kingdom are at your disposal % You 
 must preach daily, and receive my presents also.' " 
 
 This visit had extended over a month, but as Moffat 
 wanted to forward Livingstone the letters and supplies, he 
 w^as now wishing to be gone. The king put every possible 
 obstacle in his way, but found him so resolved that the only 
 resource was to go with him, as he did not wish to be 
 separated from his friend " Moshete." Accordingly, on the 
 day that Moffat started Moselekatse appeared, and without 
 any ceremony or asking any permission, told his men to 
 help him into the missionary's waggon. The king's own 
 new waggon followed, but he preferred the missionary's, 
 and made himself quite at home, taking possession even of 
 the bed. Among his walking attendants were many of his 
 principal men, twenty women carrying large calabashes of 
 beer on their heads, and others carrying karosses and food. 
 The want of roads made the travelling very unpleasant to 
 the king ; he could walk but little, and as the waggon jolted 
 ^ and tilted over the uneven ground he was unmercifully 
 tumbled about and bruised. 
 
 At last the travelling was brought to a sudden stop. 
 Some men who had been sent forward to find water 
 returned with the intelligence that it would take the oxen 
 four days to reach the next supply of water, and that it was 
 in a part of the country infested with the tsetse. Moffat 
 told the kins that if he would allow him to take some of 
 
170 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 the Matabele to help to carry the things, he would walk to 
 Linyanti with them. "If you go," said Moselekatse, "I 
 will go too. I cannot walk ; more men must go, and they 
 shall carry me, that I may remain with you." "Well," 
 said Moffat, " if you will give me enough men to carry all 
 Livingstone's goods to Linyanti, I and my men will return 
 with you." 
 
 To the arrangement thus proposed the king at length 
 agreed. A selection of the men Lest acquainted with the 
 country was made, who were repeatedly instructed what 
 they would have to do. Placing the hags, parcels, and 
 boxes on their heads and shoulders, with shields and spears 
 in their hands, they marched off on their journey through, 
 perhaps, as wild and desolate a region as can well be found 
 — through forests, over mountains and morasses — to the 
 country of those who were their enemies. They performed 
 their duty faithfully, leaving the goods on an island near 
 the Zambesi Falls, where the Makololo took charge of them, 
 and where Livingstone found them nearly a year after- 
 wards. 
 
 While Moffat remained with the king waiting the return 
 of the messengers to Linyanti, he preached several times. 
 The king always listened, but nothing seemed to make much 
 impression on him. Towards the end of October, the men 
 having come back from Linyanti, the missionary took his 
 leave. The king pressed him to prolong his stay, pleading 
 that he had not seen enough of him, and that he had not yet 
 shewn him sufficient kindness. " Kindness !" replied Moffat, 
 "you have overwhelmed me with kindness, and I shall now 
 return with a heart overflowinsj with thanks." Leavingf 
 him a supply of suitable medicines to keep his system in 
 tolerable order, and admonishing him to give up beer- 
 drinking, and to receive any Christian teacher who might 
 come as he had received him, the missionary took his 
 departure. 
 
VISITS TO MOSELEKATSE. 171 
 
 Moselekatse himself went with the waggons for some 
 distance, and then with great reluctance said "Good-bye." 
 He took Mr. Moffat's hand at parting, and said with 
 emphasis, "May God take care of you on the road, and 
 bring you safe to Kuruman and Ma-Mary (Mrs. Moffat), 
 Tell her how glad I have been to see you." Just at the 
 last moment Moffat became very unwell. This caused the 
 king great distress. He ordered an escort of men to go 
 with him for the first hundred and fifty miles ; and six of 
 them had to go on until they could return and say that 
 *' Moshete " was quite well again. 
 
 We get one solitary peep of the missionary on his home- 
 ward journey in Mr. Chapman's "Travels." Giving an 
 account of his return from the north-west, he says : — " I 
 remained at Lupepe until the 12th of November, taking 
 very successful lessons from the Bushmen in honey-hunting 
 and stalking game. When nearly giving up all hope of 
 meeting my friends, Moffat and Edwards, I received a letter 
 from the latter informing me of their arrival at Sekome's 
 Town. Upon this I immediately saddled horses and rode 
 to meet them. On arriving at Sekome's I found Mr. 
 Moffat, with a patriarchal white beard, working hard at a 
 new axle for his waggon. On the 15th of November we 
 took rather a melancholy leave of Mr. Moffat, who imme- 
 diately trekked southward for Kuruman, while on the 
 following day we steered back into the wilds, not well 
 knowing our own destination." By this journey Moffat's 
 ♦ health was much improved, his intercourse and friendship 
 with the people of the interior were cemented and extended, 
 and he looked forward with hopeful assurance to the early 
 extension of Christianity to these distant regions. 
 
 The visit of Livingstone to England in 1856, after his 
 memorable walk from Loando to Quillemane — from the 
 shores of the Atlantic to those of the Indian Ocean — gave 
 a fresh impetus to the cause of Foreign Missions in this 
 
17-2 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 country. The great object he aimed to enforce upon the 
 public mind was the elevation of the natives of Africa ; to 
 him " the end of the geographical feat was the beginning of 
 the missionary enterprise." The London Missionary Society 
 redoubled their generous exertions, and resolved to extend 
 their labours by establishing missions among the Matabele 
 and the Makololo. Moffat, in his home at Kuruman, 
 received the news with great gladness. He was asked 
 whether he could go to Moselekatse with any missionaries 
 who might be sent out to settle in his country, and stay a 
 few months until they were fairly established. Moffat 
 replied that he was sure, if the king was still alive, he would 
 gladly welcome missionaries to live in his country ; and 
 altnough he was now advanced in years, he set out at once, 
 with all the ardour of youth, for the Matabele country, in 
 order to obtain Moselekatse's consent to the settlement of 
 the missionaries among his people. 
 
 Moffat felt the paramount necessity of giving to the pro- 
 posed mission the full weight of his influence and authority, 
 in order to secure for the new teachers the confidence both 
 of the king and of his people. At the same time he 
 endeavoured to make careful provision for the future aid and 
 comfort of those brethren who would thus constitute the 
 advanced outpost of Christianity beyond the limits of 
 civilised communication in that distant re2;ion. " There is 
 one thing," he writes to the directors, " which I think 
 ought not to be lost sight of ; that is, an intermediate 
 station as a connecting Inik between this and Moselekatse, 
 for seven hundred miles is a long stretch in an ox waggon. 
 This station ought also to be sufficiently strong to allow one 
 missionary to itinerate on a large scale ; that is, so as to 
 enable him to go and remain two months at one, and then 
 at another, or more interior station." 
 
 As Moffat again approached the INIatabele territory, he 
 was gratified to learn that both the king and the people 
 
VISITS TO MOSELEKATSE. 173 
 
 waited with joyful anticipation to see him. His previous 
 visits, especially the last, had been of great service to the 
 Matabele ; they had themselves heard what the missionary 
 had taught, and his teaching had made the king more lenient 
 and forgiving, and had influenced him to modify his severe 
 measures. The only wish now was that Moffat might not 
 relax in his counsels, and that the king might become a still 
 better ruler. 
 
 Moselekatse extended to his visitor a cordial and unre- 
 served welcome, and once more the voice of the Christian 
 teacher was heard pleading with the monarch on behalf of 
 the captive and the oppressed. ^ Owing to illness, the king 
 was unable to appear much in public, but in his own resi- 
 dence he held long and frequent converse with his old friend 
 and counsellor. At an early interview Moffat made known 
 the special object of his visit, and told the king that the 
 Christians in England, having heard of his willingness to be 
 instructed, had resolved to send him two teachers. The 
 king at once replied, "You must come too. How shall I 
 get on with people I do not know if you are not with me % " 
 Then, snapping his fingers, " By all means — by all means," 
 he said, " bring teachers ; you are wise — you are able to 
 judge what is good for me and my people better than I am. 
 The land is yours, you must do for it what you think is 
 good." He was told that nothing was required but a place 
 where there was a command of water, where the missionaries 
 could live and teach the people ; that they would not look 
 to him for food, but would plant, sow, and purchase what 
 they might require. To this the king assented ; and though 
 the subject was frequently referred to on stibsequent occa- 
 sions, he in no case deviated from his first assent. While 
 Moffat thus obtained the king's consent to receive the mis- 
 sionaries, he took care at the same time to make him fully 
 understand the nature of their duties — that he was not to 
 expect that they would ever become traders, but that he 
 
174 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 would have to look for foreign supplies to those other 
 persons who made it their business to traffic in the country. 
 
 A striking proof of Moffat's influence over the Matabele 
 king occurred at this time, in the deliverance, at his inter- 
 cession, of a princely captive then in his power. Macheng, 
 the captive, was a young man of about twenty -six years of 
 age, the son of the former king of the Bamanguatos, who 
 was killed in an engagement while Macheng was yet a child. 
 During his minority the boy was under the care of the chief 
 Sechele. While Sechele was absent on a foray some of the 
 Matabele fell upon his undefended town and carried away 
 many captives, among whom was the young prince, then 
 only ten years of age. He had continued a captive for six- 
 teen years, and but for Moffat's interference would in all 
 probability have remained so to the end of his days. When 
 entreated by the missionary for his release, the king said 
 that it was contrary to the custom of the Matabele to return 
 a royal prisoner to his people, but after a long conversa- 
 tion he finally placed the young man at Moflfat's disposal. 
 Straightway Macheng was called. The king, sitting in his 
 arm-chair, said : " Macheng, man of Moffat, go with your 
 father. We have arranged respecting you. Moflfat will 
 take you back to Sechele. That is my wish as well as his, 
 that you should be in the first instance restored to the chief 
 from whom you were taken in war. When captured you 
 were a child ; I have reared you to be a man." Tones so 
 sweet had never before fallen upon the captive's ear. The 
 attendants praised the greatness and goodness of their king ; 
 while, as Moffat left the royal presence to return to his 
 waggon, the shout was raised, " There goes Macheng ; 
 Moffat is taking Macheng to his people." 
 
 The impression which this liberation of Macheng pro- 
 duced on the surrounding tribes was marvellous. When 
 Mofiat arrived with his charge at Sechele's town, he with 
 the other chiefs of his tribe met them, and forming a pro- 
 
VISITS TO MOSELEKATSE. 175 
 
 cession marched before them to a sort of natural amphi- 
 theatre, which was ci-owded with at least ten thousand 
 people, all dressed out in their various equipments of war. 
 After Sechele had stood up and commanded silence, he 
 introduced the business of the meeting. 
 
 One speaker after another followed, expressing in the 
 most enthusiastic language their delight at the return of 
 Macheng from captivity. "Ye tribes, ye children of the 
 ancients," said one of them, "this day is a day of marvel. 
 That which awakes my heart to wonder is to see the Spirit's 
 work. My thoughts within me begin to move. Verily 
 the things I have seen and the^words I have heard assume 
 stability. When I first heard the word of God I began to 
 ask, Are these things true % Now the confusion of my 
 thoughts and of my soul is unravelled. Now I begin to 
 perceive that those who preach are verily true. If Moffat 
 were not of God he would not have espoused the cause of 
 Sechele in receiving his words and delivering Macheng 
 from the dwelling-place of the beasts of prey to which we 
 Bechuanas dared not approach. There are who contend that 
 there is nothing in religion. Let such to-day throw away 
 their unbelief. If Moffat were not such a man he would 
 not have done Avhat he has done, in bringing him who was 
 lost — him who was dead — from the strono- bondao-e of the 
 mighty. Moselekatse is a lion ; he conquered nations, he 
 robbed the strong ones, he bereaved mothers, he took away 
 the son of Khari. We talk of love. What is love % We 
 hear of the love of God. Is it not throuojh the love of God 
 that Macheng is among us to-day 1 A stranger, one of 
 a nation — who of you knows its distance from us? — he 
 makes himself one of us, enters the lion's abode, and brings 
 out to us our own blood." 
 
 One of the Matabele who accompanied Mofiat and the 
 prince, and in whose charge Macheng had been placed 
 during his captivity, then addressed the meeting in a most 
 
176 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 touching speech. At its close, looking around on the silent 
 multitude, he asked rather sternly, *'Ye tribes, why did ye 
 covet my child '? " and then turning to the missionary with 
 softened tone, " Why did you, Moffat, prevail with the son 
 of Machobane to make me childless ? I shall return to the 
 desert and weep. He is gone from me, but I shall never 
 forget that I am the father of the son of Khari, who is now 
 the son of Moffat." He concluded his pathetic address with 
 some remarks in praise of Moselekatse. The whole scene 
 produced a thrilling effect ; and the minds of the assembly 
 which had been taken by surprise by the presence of the 
 dreaded Matabele among them were in raptures at hearing 
 such expressions of kindly feeling from those who, though 
 distant, had been till then a terror by night and day. Such 
 a demonstration had never before been made in the country, 
 and could not readily be forgotten. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 MATABELE AND MAKOLOLO MISSIOIT. 
 
 ]Sr returning from his third visit to Moselekatse, MofTat 
 went to Cape Town, and met Livingstone (whom 
 he had not seen for six years), then on his way to 
 the Zambesi to prosecute his geographical search, 
 and to choose a site for the ill-fated University Mission in 
 the Shire Valley. A few months afterwards, in July 1858, he 
 had the pleasure of welcoming his own son, John Moffat, 
 who with Messrs. Price, Thomas, Sykes, and Mackenzie, 
 had arrived from England to labour among the Matabele 
 and Makololo Mr. Mackenzie thus refers to Moffat's wel- 
 come : — " Kind friends who were expecting us speedily 
 boarded our vessel, and gave us a very hearty welcome to 
 Africa. One of the first of these was the Rev. Robert 
 Moffat, and we were delighted to meet a missionary whose 
 writings and whose life had been familiar to us from child- 
 hood. Nor were we alone in these feelings. ' Please to 
 introduce me to Mr. Moffat,' said a fellow-passenger to me — 
 a young officer proceeding to join his regiment. 'My 
 mother would be so pleased to hear that I had met him I ' " 
 Here also Moffat received the hearty co-operation of Sir 
 George Grey, Her Majesty's High Commissioner, who 
 
 12 
 
178 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 warmly encouraged the proposed plans for extending 
 Christianity and commerce to the interior tribes, and who 
 arranged with him for establishing a postal communication 
 with the Zambesi vid Kuruman. Having completed all the 
 preparations which human foresight could devise for the 
 success of the enterprise, he started off with the mission 
 party for their destination. At Kuruman they divided — 
 one branch going to the Makololo, the other, under Moffat, 
 to the Matabele. 
 
 We give the account of the reception and first experiences 
 of the Matabele party supplied by Mr. Mackenzie : — " The 
 missionaries destined to preach the gospel among the Mata- 
 bele arrived at the headquarters of Moselekatse on the 28th 
 October 1859. As pneumonia, a deadly and infectious 
 disease, had broken out among their cattle, as soon as they 
 reached the borders of Moselekatse's country they sent 
 forward a messenger to beg the use of the chief's draught 
 oxen, in order that they might be able to keep their own 
 outside the country until the disease should disappear from 
 among them. They dreaded the consequence of associating 
 their arrival in the country with the coming of a disease 
 which had produced such ravages wherever it hitherto had 
 appeared. At first the chief invited them to come on, with 
 the assurance that no one would blame them even if the 
 disease did break out ; but afterwards, on a second messenger 
 being despatched to him, he took the warning, and expressed 
 his thanks to the missionaries for their interest in his pros- 
 perity, and promised to send them assistance. 
 
 ''Instead of oxen, however, to pull the waggons, he sent 
 men, avIio took to their tasks cheerfully, but after all were 
 not able to compensate for the absence of the steady and 
 patient oxen. The party certainly presented a novel ap- 
 pearance, with Matabele soldiers in the place of oxen, and 
 the sides of the waggon covered with shields and spears. 
 Having also the nightly noise of the men at their camp-firea 
 
MATABELE AND MAKOLOLO MISSION. 179 
 
 close to the waggons, and witnessing daily the slaughtering 
 and eating of the cattle with which the chief kept his 
 soldiers supplied, the young missionaries and their wives 
 became somewhat accustomed to the Matahele before they 
 reached their destination. At length the chief was pleased 
 to accede to the request of the missionaries, and sent his 
 draught oxen to relieve the soldiers and bring forward the 
 waggons to his encampment. 
 
 " Durino; the first two months after the arrival of the mis- 
 sion party in the Matabele country their position was a 
 yQYj unpleasant and trying one. After the first civilities 
 were over, the manner of both chief and people completely 
 changed. Confidence and regard gave place to distrust and 
 unconcealed aversion. One morning, about three weeks 
 after their arrival, the missionaries observed an unusual stir 
 about the chief's quarters. He was leaving for another 
 locality — the waggons were already moving ; and yet the 
 guests had received no intimation or explanation from 
 Moselekatse. Having no oxen in the country, they were of 
 course fixtures where they stood. Mr. Moffat resolved to 
 ascertain the meaning of this movement, and followed the 
 receding party for some distance for that purpose. But as 
 soon as he approached the chief's waggon, he was turned 
 back by the attendants of Moselekatse. The old attachment 
 'between the chief and his friend was for a time entirely 
 inoperative. 
 
 "As to the young missionaries, their first impressions of 
 Moselekatse were very unfavourable. They were disap- 
 pointed at the manner of their reception. Instead of 
 generosity, or even friendliness, they met v/ith excessive 
 selfishness, meanness, and duplicity. Instead of their ima- 
 ginary 'noble savage,' they found a greedy, unreasonable, 
 cunning old man. But they had to content themselves with 
 the exercise of patience, a virtue which is needed every- 
 where, but nowhere more than in the establishment of a 
 
180 LIFJ& OP ROBERT MOFPAT, D,D. 
 
 new mission in Soutliern Africa. Insulting messages were 
 now sent to them from the chief. They were told that they 
 were spies, and had come to find out the resources of the 
 Matabele country ; they must pay the chief for his assist- 
 ance in pulling their waggons during the latter part of their 
 journey ; one waggon-load of goods must be given to him 
 at once, etc. For about two months the mission party 
 were virtually prisoners ; they were forbidden to leave the 
 waggons or to kill game, and the Matabele were commanded 
 not to sell them food, or even milk for their coffee. They 
 asked permission to purchase cows ; the chief replied he had 
 ivory but no cows for sale, and he wished in return guns 
 and ammunition. Determined not to compromise their 
 character at the very outset, the missionaries refused to 
 purchase a single pound of ivory. They explained that 
 other men would come to trade with him ; they had come 
 to teach him and his people." 
 
 The chief reasons for this disaffection are easily given. 
 When Moselekatse engaged to receive the missionaries, he 
 took the precaution to send messengers to the chief of the 
 country in which the Kuruman station is situated to inquire 
 into the whole scope, bearing, and results of mission work. 
 He had heard Moffat's case ; he would now hear the chief's 
 view of the matter in whose country he had so long lived 
 and laboured. The report sent back by the messengers was 
 not favourable. The missionaries were blamed for the com- 
 plications of the natives with the Boers ; the missionaries, 
 it was said, had been the means of bringing the Boers into 
 the country. The opinion, therefore, was that if they were 
 allowed to settle and build among the Matabele, other white 
 men would come and in the end take the land. Hence the 
 opposition on the part of the people. The opinion does not 
 seem to have been shared by Moselekatse, but he had liis 
 own grievance. Moffat's visit had been so pleasant to him, 
 and so profitable also, that he thought the residence of 
 
MATABELE AND MAKOLOLO MISSIOX. 181 
 
 Moffat's son in the country could not fail to be of advantage. 
 He did not see that a mere visitor might render services 
 and bestow favours which could not be expected from a 
 person coming to reside in the country for the purpose of 
 carrying on regular missionary work. The king had one 
 view of the matter, the missionaries another. The kin<j de- 
 termined to employ the missionaries for his advantage. In 
 spite of all that was said to explain the object of the mission, 
 he insisted that they should begin a trade in ivory, and 
 offered to load up their Avaggon at once, so that one of 
 their number might go to the Colony and return with such 
 articles as the chief desired. The missionaries would not 
 comply. It was this battle that was fought out during the 
 period of suspense at the beginning of the Matabele mission. 
 Moselekatse's theory of a missionary must perish, and he 
 must receive him on the sole ground of a teacher of the 
 Word of God. In the end, and by a faithful resistance to 
 the king's proposals, the missionaries triumphed. 
 
 After the struggle had gone on for about two months, the 
 chief informed Moffat and his friends that if the situation 
 pleased them they could have the fountain and valley of 
 Inyate, to be occupied and cultivated according to their own 
 ideas. Thus they were happily extricated from their diffi- 
 culties, and their hearts were filled with gratitude to that 
 Grod who had so far changed the king's mind and given 
 them acceptance in his sight as teachers of His Word. Mr. 
 Moffat, upon whom, as the founder of the mission and the 
 leader of the expedition, a double responsibility and anxiety 
 rested, felt his mind relieved of a heavy burden. He re- 
 flected with joy on the fact that the Gospel was extending — 
 extending through his agency, and that the kind of life he 
 had been living for years at Kuruman was to be reproduced 
 among the Matabele by his son. 
 
 The missionaries now requested that interpreters might 
 be provided, from whom they might learn the language, and 
 
182 LIFE OF EGBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 through wliose help they might preach to the people. The 
 king promised to furnish them, but put off from time to 
 time the fulfilment of his j^romise. Some months passed 
 away before the interpreters were produced and the mis- 
 sionaries were able to commence preaching. At first the 
 king was always present at public worship, and shewed his 
 knowledge at once of Sechuana and the doctrines of the 
 Bible, as Moffat had previously taught him, by occasionally 
 interrupting the interpreter, and helping him to the right 
 word. He did not hesitate, if he disapproved of what was 
 said, to contradict the speaker openly, and was known even 
 to exclaim, " That's a lie ! " As he found, however, that his 
 disapprobation did not change the character of the preaching, 
 he at last gave up attending public worship, though his out- 
 ward friendliness to the missionaries continued the same as 
 ever. 
 
 After a year's residence in the country, permission was 
 obtained to preach in other towns and villages as well 
 as at Inyate, and they began to visit regularly the three 
 nearest. By this time Mr. Thomas, who had obtained this 
 liberty for himself and his colleagues, was able to address the 
 people in their own language. The missionaries continued 
 steadily and quietly to pursue their work. After some 
 years Mr. John Moffat was removed to Kuruman, to assist 
 and afterwards succeed his venerable father in the chars-e of 
 
 O 
 
 that station. The death of Moselekatse, which took place 
 in 1868, was felt to be a crisis in the history of the tribe 
 and the mission ; but in all the discussions and diflicultios 
 with reference to his successor, the influence and presence 
 of the missionaries were recognised by all parties. The 
 despotism of Matabele rule does not yet permit any one in 
 that country to own any other god than the chief. The 
 late war in the Transvaal entirely stopped for a time all 
 communication with the missionaries in the Matabele 
 country and their friends in this land, but a letter not 
 
MxiTABELE AND MAKOLOLO MISSION. 183 
 
 long ago received has been a ray of light shooting out of 
 thick darkness. There, whence Mr. Thomson wrote in 
 1874 that after fourteen years of lahour there did not seem 
 to be a single man or woman who could be called a Christian, 
 the Rev. W. Sykes, who was one of the party that estab- 
 lished the mission, finds unmistakable evidences of stirrings 
 of heart, and tells of several who have come under the 
 power of the Gospel, though they dare not openly confess 
 the chanf^e. 
 
 While Moffat had conducted his band of missionaries in 
 safety to their destination, a most terrible calamity had 
 overtaken the other missionary party, which, under the 
 guidance of Mr. Helmore, had proceeded to the Makololo, 
 north of the Zambesi river. It was in July 1859 that Mr. 
 and Mrs. Helmore, and Mr. and Mrs. Price, set out from 
 Kuruman for the country of the Makololo. Mr. Mackenzie 
 remained behind with his wife, who was ill, intending to 
 follow as soon as she was better. The melancholy fate of the 
 party will long be remembered as one of the most sad and 
 touching stories of missionary disaster. The difficulties and 
 dangers attendant on their journey to Linyanti were such 
 as nothing but the noblest Christian principle would have 
 induced them to encounter or enabled them to surmount. 
 
 During the months Mr. Mackenzie remained behind at 
 Kuruman ho devoted himself to the study of Sechuana, 
 giving his spare time to the study of medicine. In May 
 1860 he started in the wake of Messrs. Helmore and Price, 
 with supplies which a native had failed to take on, as he 
 had agreed to. When he reached Shoshong, which is one 
 of the largest Bechuana towns, and where afterwards he 
 resided and laboured for some years, he met Mr. Moffat, 
 who was on his way to Kuruman from Moselekatse's 
 country. From him Mr Mackenzie learnt that the mission 
 to the Matabele had been established at Inyate, and that 
 the missionaries were already preaching through an in- 
 
184 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 terpreter. Mr. Moffat was also the bearer of a message 
 from Moselekatse to Sekhome, chief of the Shoshong, which 
 he now delivered. It was to the effect that he might "sleep," 
 as Moselekatse had now no intention of going to war with 
 any one. He had promised Moffat, in 1854, that he would 
 avoid everything like aggressive war, and now announced 
 his intention to adhere to that promise. Subsequent events 
 abundantly proved that there was little truth or sincerity 
 in the message of the Zulu despot. During the stay at 
 Shoshong, Moffat discoursed to the people with great 
 solemnity on death, judgment, and the world to come— 
 themes seldom present to the heathen mind. 
 
 After parting with Moffat at Shoshong, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Mackenzie commenced the most difficult part of their 
 journey, and travelled through a country most monotonous 
 and uninteresting. The hollows which contain pools of 
 water were dried up, and along the river-bed there was not 
 a drop of water. No living creature was to be seen for 
 miles. It was a region of emptiness. When they had 
 gone forward through the desert, so as to get news of Mr. 
 Helmore's party, they found that they had suffered much 
 from want of water in passing through it. At Lotlakane 
 they came upon the first traces of their predecessors. The 
 Bushmen living there pointed out where the waggons had 
 stood, and described the sufferings the party had endured 
 fii'om thirst. In a letter from which the following extracts 
 are taken, Mrs. Helmore gives her own account of them :-- 
 " The last stage of our journey has been, without exception, 
 the most trying time of travelling I have experienced in 
 Africa. We are now within the tropics, and on a journey 
 we are more exposed than in a house ; the heat during the 
 day is intense, 102° in the shade, and often affects me with 
 faintness and giddiness ; but the early mornings are still 
 pleasantly cool. We may expect rain this month, and are 
 longing for it, ^g those onl^ can Iqng who have travelled 
 
MATABELE AND MAKOLOLO MISSION. 185 
 
 through a dry and parched wilderness where no water is. 
 Our poor oxen were at one time four, and another five, days 
 without drink. It was quite painful to see how tame they 
 were rendered by thirst ; they crowded round the waggons, 
 licking the water casks, and putting 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 economise the little we had in 
 our vessels, not knowing when we should get more. We 
 had guides, but they either could not or would not give us 
 any information. 
 
 " Tuesday, the 6th inst., was one of the most trying days I 
 ever passed. About sunrise the poor oxen which had been 
 painfully dragging the heavy waggons through the deep 
 sand during the night, stopping now and then to draw 
 breath, gave signs of giving up altogether. We had not 
 gone as many miles as we had travelled hours. My husband 
 now resolved to remain behind with one waggon and a 
 sinjrle 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 by night. We had had a very 
 scanty supply the day before ; the men had not tasted drink 
 since breakfast until late in the evening. We divided a 
 bottlef ul 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 sorrowful parting, for we were all faint 
 from thirst, and of course eating was out the question ; v/e 
 were afraid even to do anything lest exercise should aggra- 
 vate our thirst. After dragging slowly on for four hcuis, 
 the heat obliged us to stop. 
 
 "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 theTii* Poor SeUna ^nd IJenry cried bittprly, 
 
186 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 Willie bore up manfully, but his sunken eyes shewed how 
 much he suffered. Occasionally I observed a convulsive 
 twitching of his features, shewing what an effort he was 
 making to restrain his feelings. As for dear Lizzie, she did 
 not utter a word of complaint, nor even asked for water, 
 but lay all the day on the ground perfectly quiet, her lips 
 being parched and blackened. About sunset v/e 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 possibly get near enough to walk on to it. 
 They yielded, tied up the poor oxen to prevent their wander- 
 ing, 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. Once in the course of the afternoon 
 dear Willie, after a desperate effort not to cry, suddenly 
 asked me if he might go and drain the bottles. Of course I 
 consented, 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. Soon after he called out that he 
 had found another bottle of water. You can imaijine the 
 disappointment when I told him it was cocoa-nut oil melted 
 by the heat. But this is a digression ; I must go back to 
 our outspanning about nine p.m. The water was long since 
 gonc^ and as a last resource just before dark I divided 
 among the children half a teacupful of wine and water 
 wdiich 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 dozing feverishly. 
 
 "It was a beautiful moonlight night, but the air hot and 
 
MATABELE AND MAKOLOLO MISSION. 187 
 
 sultry. I sat in front of the \Yaggon 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 whom we had sent forward, and being themselves 
 not very far from the water, they had sent us all they had. 
 The sound of water soon roused the children, who had tried 
 in vain to sleep, and I shall not soon forget the rush they 
 made to get a drink. There was not much, but enough for 
 the present. I gave each of the children and men a cupful, 
 and then drank myself. It was the first liquid that had 
 entered 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 for 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 crowding 
 about the waggon, licking and snufBng and pushing their 
 noses towards me, as if begging for water. 
 
 " At two o'clock I roused the men, telling them that if we 
 Vera to make another attempt to reach 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 remon- 
 strated, but in vain ; they had lost all spirit, — ' Lipelu li 
 shule,' as the Bechuanas say. I was obliged to let them go, 
 but they assured me I should have water sent on as quickly 
 as possible, and the cattle should be brought back again 
 after they had drank. They knew no more than I did the 
 distance to the water. 
 
188 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 " When tliey left us I felt anxious at the thought of 
 perhaps spending another clay like the past, but they had 
 not been gone more than half-an-hour when I saw in the 
 bright moonlight a figure at a distance coming along the 
 road. At first I could not make it out, it looked so tall, 
 but on coming nearer who should it prove to be but my 
 servant-girl Kionecoe, eighteen years of age, carrying on her 
 head an immense calabash of water ! On hearini:^ of our 
 distress she volunteered to assist us- She had walked four 
 hours. Another servant had set out with her, but as he 
 had driven the sheep the day before a great distance with- 
 out either food or water, he became so exhausted that he 
 lay down under a bush to rest, and on the girl came alone, 
 in the dead of night, in a strange country infested with 
 lions, bearing her precious burden. Oh, how grateful I felt 
 to her ! Surely ivoman is the same all the world over ! 
 She had only lived with me since June, was but an in- 
 different servant, and had never shewn any particular 
 attachment to the children, but this kind act revealed her 
 heart, and seemed to draw us more closely together, for her 
 conduct since then has been excellent. I made a bed for 
 her beside me in the forepart of the waggon, and the 
 children having slaked their thirst with the deliciously cool 
 water, we all slept till six o'clock. I made coffee, and 
 offered some to Kionecoe and her companion, who had now 
 come up. At first they declined it, saying the water was 
 for me and the children. 
 
 " I had now the happiness of seeing the children enjoy a 
 meal of tea and biscuits ; and then once more filling up my 
 two bottles, I sent the calabash with the remainder of its 
 contents to my husband, who by this time stood greatly in 
 need of it. The distance was about twelve miles. I afterwards 
 found that we were about the same from the water. About 
 noon a horseman rode up, leading a second horse with two 
 water casksj and a tiu gjinteen ojj his bacl$. This was a supply 
 
MATADeLE and MAROlOLO mission. 189 
 
 for your brother, sent by our kind fellow-travellers, Captain 
 and Mrs. Thompson, who had heard of our distresses from 
 the Prices. While we were preparing the coffee, up came a 
 pack-ox sent by Mr. Price, with two water-casks for me, and 
 soon after some Bakalahari arrived with a calabash, so we 
 had now an abundant supply, and my heart overflowed with 
 gratitude to our Father in heaven, who had watched over 
 me and mine as over Hagar of. old, and sent us relief." 
 
 For more than a week every drop of water they used had 
 to be walked for about thirty-five miles. One afternoon, 
 when the thermometer was standing at 107° in the shade, 
 Mrs. Helmore was saving just one spoonful of water for each 
 of the dear children the next morning. Mr, Helmore was 
 away searching for water ; and when he returned next 
 morning with the precious fluid, it was found that he had 
 walked fully forty miles. 
 
 At length, after enduring innumerable difficulties and 
 privations for seven months, they reached Linyanti, the 
 residence of the Makololo chief, Sekeletu. Here Living- 
 stone was to have met them and introduce them to the 
 chief, but nothing had been seen or heard of him. The 
 place was unhealthy ; but Sekeletu refused to allow them 
 to remove elsewhere, or even to point out a healthy place 
 where they could settle down and wait Livingstone's 
 ^arrival, and proposed that they should live with him. Of 
 necessity they accepted the proposition, and forthwith 
 began to build temporary houses. Bitter sorrows now filled 
 their cup. There in Linyanti, among the dank weeds and 
 oozy mud of the river's banks, and the thick overgrown 
 swamps around, the enemy was lurking. The pestilence 
 that walketh in darkness was upon them before they knew 
 of its approach. They were overcome by it before they were 
 aware. Mr. and Mrs. Helmore, the four little children, 
 and all the servants, were in a few days lying on their beds 
 unable to rise, delirious and restless, or quite unconscious. 
 
190 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Price also were very ill and their infant 
 babe. 
 
 The first to die was little Henry Helmore ; two days 
 after the infant child of Mr. Price was laid by his side. 
 Four days from that Selina Helmore was cut off, and on 
 the following day Mrs. Helmore fell asleep in Jesus. 
 Within six weeks of his wife's death Mr. Helmore also 
 breathed his last, and the lonely mission was deprived of 
 its veteran leader. It was a forlorn little company that 
 Mr. Helmore left behind. There were his two orphan 
 children, Mrs, Price, who in consequence of her illness had 
 lost the use of her feet, and Mr Price, weak and ill and 
 overpowered with grief. Prom this scene of pestilence and 
 death the solitary missionary and his devoted wife prepared 
 to depart, as the only means of saving their own lives and 
 the lives of the little orphans entrusted to their care. 
 
 Up to that time the Makololo had not much interfered 
 with them, though they did not seem to care whether the 
 missionaries lived or died. But now they saw Mr. Price 
 preparing to depart, they began to steal their property ; 
 even the clothes Mr. Price had been wearing during the 
 day were stolen at night from the foot of the bed. When 
 he was on the point of starting, Sekeletu came, and without 
 any ceremony took possession of Mr. Helmore's new waggon, 
 and a quantity of other goods, with all the guns and ammu- 
 nition ; and finally a messenger came from the chief making 
 yet more extravagant demands before he would allow the 
 missionary to leave. Mr. Price told him that if he did not 
 let him go soon they would have to Iniry him beside the 
 others, to which they simply replied that he might as well 
 die there as anywhere else. 
 
 At length, after much entreaty, a few things were allowed 
 for the journey. " Already." writes Mr. Price, " they had 
 taken all my bed-clothing, with the exception of what was 
 just sufficient for one bed. But before my oxen could cross 
 
MATABELE AND MAKOLOLO MISSION. 191 
 
 the Chobe I had to deliver up one blanket. Every grain of 
 corn which I had for food for the men they had taken, and 
 I did not get even a goat for slaughter on the road. These 
 were my prospects for a journey of upwards of a thousand 
 miles to Kuruman." 
 
 The missionary's cup of affliction was not yet full. Just 
 as he and his wife were beoinninoj to breathe asjain after 
 their heavy trials, and to look forward to further service for 
 Christ, the message came to call the brave woman to her 
 rest and reward. "My dear wife," writes her sorrowing 
 husband, " had been for a long time utterly helpless, but we 
 all thought she was getting better. In the morning early I 
 found her breathing very hard. She went to sleep that 
 night, alas ! to wake no more. I spoke to her and tried to 
 wake her, but it was too late. I watched her all the 
 morning. She became worse and worse, and a little after 
 mid-day her spirit took its flight to God who gave it. I 
 buried her the same evening under a tree — the only tree on 
 the immense plain of the Mahabe. This is indeed a heavy 
 stroke, but God is my refuge and strength, a very present 
 help in trouble.' " 
 
 Mr. Mackenzie met Mr. Price as he was leaving Linyanti, 
 and having heard the sad story of all his sufferings and 
 trials, resolved to return with him. At Sboshong, which 
 they reached on the 1st of December 1860, and where they 
 remained two months, they were agreeably surprised to 
 meet their veteran friend Moffat, who was on his way to 
 search for them and bring them relief. The news of the 
 calamity at Linyanti had reached Kuruman through a native 
 hunter who had visited the Victoria Falls. Mr. Moffat 
 had communicated the sad intelligence to friends in Cape 
 Town, where a public subscription was set on foot to send 
 relief to the surviving members of a mission, all the mem- 
 bers of which had but a short time before left that town 
 in good health and spirits. Moffat, whose Kuruman home 
 
I9i2 LtP]^ OP ROBERT MOPFAf, D3. 
 
 since 1855 was, to use his own words, "more like the 
 lodge of a wayfaring man than a permanent abode," had 
 cheerfully volunteered to act as agent for those kind friends 
 at the Cape ; and he was, in a peculiar sense, now the 
 "messenger of the churches" to their sufferina: brethren. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Mackenzie and Mr. Price, with the two 
 orphan children of Mr. Helmore, reached Kuruman in 
 February. The calamity that overtook the mission at Lin- 
 yanti resulted from the fact that Mr. Helmore the leader and 
 the party entrusted to his care, instead of being allowed to 
 remove to a salubrious locality, were compelled to remain 
 amidst swamps teeming with pestilence and death. Soon 
 after this the Makololo tribe were utterly destroyed ; and in 
 Bechuana Land, and especially among the heathen com- 
 munity in the northern part, the feeling is very general 
 that their destruction so soon after their inhospitable and 
 perfidious conduct towards the missionaries is to be traced 
 to the justice and righteous judgment of God. Even some 
 of the Christians say when any one counsels injury to the 
 missionaries, — " Let the missionary alone ; the Makololo 
 iiijared the missionaries, and where are the Makololo?" 
 
CliAPTEH XXITI. 
 
 CHANGES AT KURUMAN. 
 
 OFF AT remained for some months with the missionary 
 party at Inyate ; indeed it was absolutely necessary 
 that he should. Had it not been for his influence 
 over Moselekatse and his wonderful tact and man- 
 agement, the probability is that the expedition would have 
 failed of its object and the mission not have been established 
 at all. He continued therefore for a time assisting in the 
 necessary negotiations with the king and preaching to the 
 people. The king wished him to remain altogether, but 
 that was out of the question : his family, his work, his 
 companions in labour, his converts — all were waiting and 
 longing for his return. When the king found he could not 
 prevail on his friend to stay with him, he begged him at 
 least to accept a handsome present of ivory ; this Moffat 
 resolutely refused, as he had on all former occasions. 
 
 Having returned in safety to Kuruman, the missionary 
 resumed his home work. Henceforth Kuruman was with 
 him chiefly a centre for many and varied journeys to points 
 of usefulness and interest. The station was kept in peace, 
 notwithstanding the disturbances produced in other places 
 
 by the threats and actual molestations of the Boers. In all 
 
 13 
 
194 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 his dealings with the Boers Moffat's conduct was marked by 
 the utmost prudence ; — he was conciliatory, yet firm. He 
 took care never to endanger the interests of the natives, and 
 yet he acted justly towards their enemies. There were 
 times when he felt called upon to maintain his freedom of 
 action and his just rights. In 1859 he received a letter, 
 signed by two officers of the Government of the Transvaal 
 Kepublic, warning him not to proceed to the establishment 
 of missions in the interior until he had received the sanction 
 of the President of the Republic. As both the Matabele 
 and the Makololo countries were far beyond the territories 
 of the Transvaal, and the road thither did not lead through 
 any part of the Republic, he regarded this as an unreasonable 
 demand with which he could not comjDly. 
 
 Mr. Moffat's station was not exempt from the visitations 
 of drought ; the consequence was that many of the people 
 had to go for a livelihood to the hunting-grounds, and others 
 had to betake themselves to the adjoining settlements in 
 search of remunerative employment. These were seasons 
 of anxiety both to missionary and people. There w'ere 
 times, however, when their hearts were made glad by wit- 
 nessing success in all departments of church life and work ; 
 especially was this the case when Moffat's own two daughters 
 gave themselves first of all to the Lord and then to His 
 people. The year 1862 was a year of severe and unusual 
 tpal, for in addition to drought and its dreadful effects 
 there Avas the prevalence of infectious disease. Measles 
 and smallpox broke out and spread among the people at 
 Kuruman and in the districts around, but they must all 
 have felt the value of medical resources, and of the benefit 
 of civilised habits, when they saw how much less severe and 
 less fatal these diseases were amono^ the converts at the 
 mission station than among their less favoured neighbours. 
 The next year the drought continued, and was aggravated 
 by an intense heat. There was a famine in the land. 
 
CHANGES AT KURUMAN, 195 
 
 Wholesome food became so scarce that the starving popula- 
 tion were compelled to wander through the wilderness in 
 quest of supplies, and were glad to devour whatever they 
 could find growing there ; as the result, many fell sick, and 
 some died. Just as this plague of famine was at its worst, 
 God graciously sent a plentiful and continuous rain, and 
 turned the distress of the people into general rejoicing. 
 
 The year 1863 saw great domestic sorrow in Moffat's 
 household. News came of the^ death of Mrs. Livingstone, 
 their eldest daughter. She had joined her husband, who was 
 at the time at Shupanga. During the unhealthy season 
 several of his party suffered from fever, and about the middle 
 of April 1862 Mrs. Livingstone was prostrated by that 
 disease, and notwithstanding that she received every atten- 
 tion which affection and skill could render, she died on the 
 27tli of that month, and was buried on the following day 
 under the shadow of a giant baobab-tree — the Rev. James 
 Stewart, who had shortly before come out to inquire into the 
 practicability of establishing a mission in connection with the 
 Free Church of Scotland, reading the burial service. Shortly 
 after Mr. and Mrs. Moffat were called to mourn the death 
 of Mr. Robert Moffat, junior, their eldest son, who left 
 behind him a widow and four children. About this time, too, 
 the venerable missionary sustained a serious loss in his work 
 by the removal of Mr. Ashton, his colleague, to Lekatlong. 
 *Mr. Ashton had been of great service to him for many years, 
 being a man able and willing to turn his hand to anything, 
 from binding a book to correcting the sheets of which it was 
 composed ; he had also rendered him invaluable help in the 
 important work of translating the Scriptures into the Sech- 
 uana language. To complete the list of trials, death removed 
 some of the most honourable converts ; the mitigation of this 
 trial being that those who died, died rejoicing in the Lord. 
 
 It was Moffat's happiness in 1866 to receive his son John 
 as a substitute in the place of Mr. Ashton. Mr. John Moffat, 
 
196 LIFE OF ROnEUT MOEFAT, D.D. 
 
 Lcsides helping his father in the printing-office, gave to a 
 class of young natives instruction in the English language. 
 He also took part in preaching, and he tells how his father, 
 though then seventy years of age, shared with him the labour 
 of riding to distant villages to preach and hold prayer-meet- 
 ings. On the whole, however, the year was one of discour- 
 agement. Bodily sickness was prevalent among the people, 
 with mental and spiritual deadness. The congregations at 
 public worship were as large as ever, but there were few 
 applications for church fellowship, readers were inattentive, 
 knowledge was in a backward state, and the servants of the 
 Lord felt constrained to ask, — "Who hath believed our 
 report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? " 
 Nevertheless, Moffat bore in mind the injunction to sow his 
 seed in the morning, and not to withhold his hand in the 
 evening, and wait for the harvest. 
 
 1\\ October 1868 Mr. John Moffat thus described to the 
 Directors of the London Missionary Society the regular 
 mission work at Kuruman, and the general condition of 
 things there : — " The public services are a prayer-meeting 
 at sunrise on Sunday ; preaching in Sechuana, morning, 
 afternoon, and evening; with the Sunday school twice, and 
 a juvenile afternoon service. The early prayer-meeting is 
 left entirely to the natives, the three preaching services to 
 the missionaries, and the Sunday school, with the juvenile 
 service, to my sister. There are also a Wednesday evening 
 service, a monthly missionary prayer-meeting, a church- 
 meeting, and a prayer-meeting on Thursday afternoon. 
 This last is in the hands of the natives. No native takes 
 any part in the preaching on the station, except in extreme 
 cases, when it is regarded as a make-shift. My father and 
 I share the preaching between us. Occasionally one of us 
 rides to two villages to the north-west, holding service at 
 each. My custom at home is to give New Testament 
 reading in the morning, a topical sermon in the afternoon, 
 
CHANGES AT KURUMAX. 197 
 
 and Old Testament exposition in the evening. On Monday 
 evening I have a young men's Bible-class, to me the most 
 interesting work, especially as I have much encouragement 
 in it. There is a marked advance on the part of my pupils. 
 For a people so stolid and undemonstrative as the Bechu- 
 anas, I have great encouragement, and hope my work will 
 not be in vain. On the Monday evening, also, my sister and 
 I hold a practising class to improve the singing. On 
 Tuesday evening 1 meet male inquirers ; on Wednesday, 
 before the service, I have a Bible-class for women ; on 
 Thursday we have our English prayer-meeting; and on 
 Friday evening I meet female inquirers. I need but 
 mention the school conducted by my sister with three native 
 assistants." 
 
 He then speaks of the out-stations, the printing-office, 
 and other work : — " There is a circuit of out-stations west- 
 ward. My father paid them a visit in December 1865, 
 again in February 1867, and I have just returned from 
 them. The printing-office has occupied a large part of my 
 time — three days in every week on an average. There is also 
 an incessant dispensing of medicines, to me most unwelcome, 
 for I have only learned to know how little value there is in 
 the medical practice of any but well qualified men. It is 
 forced upon me by usage, like many other things, and by the 
 persistent desire of human nature, black as well as white, 
 to be doing ' something ' for disease, even though it be a 
 mere leap in the dark. I have rarely been able to hold an 
 English service, though very desirous to do so. The 
 benighted Europeans are every year becoming more 
 numerous in this neighbourhood, and do not help on our 
 work, though they are not unwilling to attend an occasional 
 service, which I do not despair of setting on foot." 
 
 With regard to the number and social condition of the 
 people, he remarks : — " The population is small and scattered 
 fis compared vyith other parts of tlie Bechuana Held. On 
 
198 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D,D. 
 
 the spot there must be a good many people, and also at two 
 villages north-west ; otherwise the district contains only 
 villages of from twenty to a hundred huts. It extends fifty 
 miles west and north-west, and twenty-five in other 
 directions. A Christian village, one hundred and seventy 
 miles north-east, has placed itself under our charge. The 
 people are poor, and must remain so. The country is 
 essentially dry. Irrigation is necessary for successful 
 agriculture, and there are few spots where water flows. 
 There is no market for cattle, even if they throve, which 
 they do not. I despair of much advance in civilisation 
 where resources are so small, and where the European 
 trade is on the principle of enormous profits and losses. 
 Two hundred per cent, on Port Elizabeth prices is not 
 considered out of the way. I am obliged to send to 
 England or the coast for clothing ; what is obtained here is 
 worthless and dear. I have not yet seen any staple industry 
 for our Bechuanas. The ostrich feather trade, like all 
 hunting, retards civilisation. The political framework is 
 disintegrating. I am not disposed to take alarm at the 
 encroachments of the Dutch Republics — Transvaal and 
 Orange Free State. The country is too poor to be coveted 
 by Europeans_, and the Bechuanas may perhaps be allowed 
 to exist. This station is the one spot to tempt the Boers. 
 If anything could be done to secure it by convention with 
 the British Government the whole district would then bo 
 
 , left unmolested, for without the spring and the gardens 
 
 \ here there is nothing." 
 \ His observations on the religious condition of the natives 
 are such as to inspire confidence in his good sense and im- 
 partial judgment, and impress us with a full belief in the 
 trustworthiness of the testimony. " Heathenism," he says, 
 " is weak ; in many places nowhere. Christianity, too, meets 
 with little opposition. The people generally are prodigious 
 Bible-readers, church-goers, and psalm-singers — I fear to a 
 
CHANGES AT KURUMAF. 199 
 
 large extent without knowledge. Religion to them consists 
 in the above operations and in giving a sum to the auxiliary. 
 I speak of the generality. Many I cannot but feel to be 
 Christians but dimly. This can hardly be the result of low 
 mental power alone. The Bechuanas shew considerable 
 acuteness where circumstances call it out. The educational 
 department of the mission has been kept in the background. 
 On this station the youth on leading school have sunk back 
 for want of a continued course open to them. The village 
 schoolmasters, uneducated themselves and mostly unpaid, 
 make but a feeble impression. The wonder is they do so 
 much, and where the readers come from. It is hard to say 
 that the older missionaries could have done otherwise. 
 When manual labour and menial duties v^^^re accepted as a 
 share of a missionary's normal occupations, it is not wonder- 
 ful that he failed to advance his native pupils to a high 
 standard of attainments." 
 
 This subject of education was one that was forced upon 
 the attention of the missionaries and engaged their most 
 anxious thoughts. The want of native schoolmasters and 
 teachers was deeply felt, but the question was how they 
 were to be obtained. The directors at home shared with 
 their brethren abroad in these anxieties. The brother mis- 
 sionaries were about to meet in conference at the Kuruman 
 to discuss this matter and several other matters of import- 
 ance affecting the interests of the mission, and Moffat wrote 
 to the directors expressing his views on various new measures 
 for the better instruction of the people. "Apart," he says, 
 " from your valuable suggestions, it was resolved by my son 
 John and myself to bring the subject of a school for superior 
 training prominently before the brethren. The want is 
 increasingly felt. But there was no help for it, for here or 
 elsewhere suitable pupils, or pupils of any kind, were not to 
 be had. Public feeling is very difierent now. We have had 
 to jog on with the material available, and notwithstanding 
 
200 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 the lack of theological acquirements, have not been dis- 
 appointed ; but it is time a new order of things ^vere 
 introduced by having a place with means afforded, and a 
 period allowed for educating those now anxious to advance 
 in that kind of knowledge which will make them useful 
 members of society. The kind and reasonable proposals 
 made by the board to supply the wants felt, as well as a 
 medical missionary, if deemed necessary, will gratify the 
 brethren." The promised supplies had reference to the 
 support of European teachers. So successful was this effort 
 at one station that in little more than two years Moffat 
 received the sum of fifty pounds for books which had been 
 sold to the natives. 
 
 We get a glimpse at this time of the moral influence 
 which Moffat's name still exerted over the distant tribes. 
 Eight years had elapsed since he sought and secured for his 
 brethren an introduction to Moselekatse. Now this chief, 
 who had ruled the Matabele tribe as with a rod of iron, was 
 himself conquered by the King of Terrors. " He died," wrote 
 Mr. W. Sykes to the directors, "on Sabbath afternoon, the 
 6th of September last, at a village about fifty miles south 
 from Inyate, called Ingama. For months he had been in a 
 lingering state, yet sometimes it was hoped he would rally 
 for another season. My last visit to him was in June — a 
 sad and painful one. I shall never forget how he looked at 
 me, and how affectionately he said, with a feeble, stammering 
 voice, 'I am very ill,' I endeavoured to comfort him, but 
 the only words that seemed to create any interest in his 
 mind were those of a message from Moffat, saying that he 
 was still praying for him and his people. The moment I 
 uttered the name his countenance beamed, but he said 
 nothing. I told him intelligence had come that the son of 
 Moffat had been appointed to remain at Kuruman to com- 
 fort his father in his old age, and with a mien indicating 
 inward disappointment and yet approval he signified his 
 
CHANGES AT KURU2IAX. 201 
 
 assent by a gentle nod." When Mr. Sykes was leaving the 
 camp a voice was raised above the rest — "Remember me to 
 the son of Moffat ! " and, as if by an echo, the whole camp 
 repeated the request, while individual voices, still following 
 him, cried out — " All of us ! all of us ! " In this we have a 
 prediction of the way in which the names of Africa's two 
 great benefactors, Moffat and Livingstone, will be held on 
 that continent in everlasting remembrance. 
 
 Kuruman is now the seat of a Theological Institution for 
 the training of African young men for a native ministry, 
 and is under the care of the Revs. J. Mackenzie and 
 J. Brown. It has long been as a green oasis in the desert, 
 its fountain furnishing unfailing supplies for a large popu- 
 lation, and its missionary agencies making it a great centre 
 of life and light. With the large educational establishment 
 now provided there we may confidently hope that it will 
 exert a still greater power in the progress of the country as 
 years go on. Mr. Mackenzie recently writes from there 
 thus : — " I am very much gratified in being able to report 
 that an earnest and anxious spirit has lately prevailed 
 among the people here, and native teachers visiting Kuru- 
 man have lately brought inquirers with them, or announce 
 that they have such at their homes. Some time ago I had 
 the pleasure of receiving into church-fellowship a few of the 
 young people belonging to Kuruman and Macoping, and 
 last Sunday I received the wives of two of the students in 
 the Institution and one of the senior boys in Mr. Brown's 
 school, whose earnestness and consistency have been tested 
 for a long time. In my present class of inquirers there are 
 several boys from the boarding-school. Speaking of the 
 church members, I hope I am not mistaken when I report 
 that greater prayerfulness and spirituality of mind obtain 
 among them." He writes again : — "I am writing after the 
 breaking-up of our New Year's gathering for special prayer 
 —the largest I am told which has assembled at Kurumau 
 
202 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 for many years. People were present from more than one 
 village on the distant Molopo River, as well as from the 
 borders of the Kalahari Desert, Morokweng, Konke, etc. ; 
 and they not only came in large numbers, but few left until 
 the week's meetings were over and the services of the secon 
 Sunday had also been enjoyed. I believe the people were 
 cheered and strengthened by the succession of spiritual 
 engagements, and have gone to their various homes thank- 
 ing God for the past and resolving to trust to Him for the 
 future. For my own part, I have been much encouraged 
 by the spirit shewn by the people, as well as by the numbers 
 who felt called to join in these special services." 
 
 
CHAPTER XXiy. 
 
 RETIREMENT FROM THE MISSION FIELD. 
 
 HE period was now near at hand when it seemed 
 desirable that this distinguished servant of God 
 should retire from the scene of his long and arduous 
 labours, to enjoy for the remainder of his life on 
 earth needed and w^ell-earned repose. In a letter dated 
 Kuruman, 9th July 1869, he informs a friend in England 
 that it is more than probable he shall retire from the 
 mission-field, and return home the following year; and he 
 goes on to say : — " My age is over seventy -four years, fifty- 
 two of which have been spent in mission work. It is 
 natural that I should give place to youth and energy. I 
 feel most sensibly that I am getting old. My dear brother, 
 what an animated prospect we have in view ! Our Saviour 
 resigns ; the Lamb is in the midst of the throne. "What a 
 stimulus to zeal in all that has a reference to our Redeemer 
 in this world, that we may meet there not only those to 
 whom we have been indebted in this world, but those also to 
 whom God in His great mercy has made us the means of 
 their advancement to the many mansions." 
 
 With the beginning of the year 1870 Moffat closed his 
 life's labours on tlie African continent. The fact that his 
 
204 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 own health and that of his beloved wife was beginning to 
 fail, together with the affectionate solicitations of the direc- 
 tors of the society whose devoted agent he had been for 
 upwards of half a century, induced him to accept the invita- 
 tion pressed upon him to return to England. We can well 
 imagine the difficulties which attended his departure. It 
 must have cost him no common effort and pain to tear him- 
 self away from the scene of so many years of unwearied and 
 anxious toil, and the people who htid long since learned to 
 regard him with reverence and affection. He had, however, 
 the gratification of witnessing the fruits of his patient and 
 prayerful endeavours, and of seeing the fulfilment of that 
 faith and hope which had often cheered him in the early 
 days of his missionary career. The dark heathenism wliich 
 enveloped the country at the time when he first set foot on 
 its shores had broken and lifted before the light of the 
 glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. Kuruman, itself the crea- 
 tion of his own hands, had been for many years a stand- 
 ing testimony to the elevating and civilising power of the 
 Christian faith. The regions beyond, which before no 
 individual dare to traverse, were now passed without fear 
 of molestation. European manufactures, to the amount of 
 one hundred thousand pounds, were now annually inter- 
 changed with the natives, who previously knew not what 
 commerce was. Above all, among the various tribes of the 
 interior as far as the distant Matabele, a band of brave and 
 earnest missionaries, both men and women, were preaching 
 and living Christianity, setting an example of consistent 
 moral conduct to the savages around, treating them with 
 kindness, teaching them agriculture and useful handicrafts, 
 and imparting to them religious instruction. 
 
 The day of departure at length came. It was a day of 
 bitter parting and of affectionate regrets on all hands. On 
 leaving the Kuruman en route for England, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Moff£|,t came by a rough yet safe journey of about eight 
 
RETIREMENT PROM MISSION PlElD. 205 
 
 weeks' duration to Port Elizabeth. There, on the 20th of 
 May 1870, they received a hearty welcome from a large 
 number of missionaries and other friends who had come 
 together to meet them. During the overland journey they 
 had been exposed to cold weather and heavy rains, especially 
 in crossing the snow mountains. From Graaf Reinet to 
 Port Elizabeth the roads were fearfully bad. They passed 
 many waggons laden with wool brought to a stand up to 
 their axles in mud. Through the good providence of God, 
 however, they were able to accomplish their journey without 
 accident or loss. 
 
 In addressing the company who gathered round him at 
 Port Elizabeth, he thus referred to the accomplishment of 
 his great labours in translation : — " I had hoped that I 
 should be excused as to making a speech, as I am suffering 
 from a cold, but I find it quite impossible to remain silent. 
 I should be a mussel or a cockle, or something of that kind, 
 not to feel impressed with what has been said. I have 
 been reminded of past events, past hours, past days, past 
 years. I have been carried back to past scenes which I can 
 never forget. I still remember distinctlv when I first 
 became a missionary^-Uie great undertaking it seemed to be 
 to learn the language of the peopI<J among whom I was 
 placed. There were no int^T^reters to teach us a single 
 word, and great difficulties were thrown in the missionaries' 
 way. However, I laboured on, gathering a few words at 
 a time from one and another until I could string sentences 
 together, and make my wishes known to the natives. I could 
 make you laugh as I laughed when I discovered them, at 
 jokes perpetrated towards us by the natives, and amusing 
 things that occurred to us during our inquiries ; but I 
 laboured on. During all this time we had not a friend in 
 the whole nation, not an individual that loved or respected 
 us, or who wished us to remain among them ; and although 
 they tried to drive us out, we persevered, and by God's 
 
206 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 grace and assistance overcame every difficulty. My worthy 
 brother Hamilton was too old to acquire the language, but 
 I in time mastered it. How ardently I desired to see the 
 New Testament in Sechuana, that I might read it to 
 the natives, and that they might learn to read it for them- 
 selves. I managed after a time to translate small portions 
 and read them to the people in their own tongue. The 
 mission, I saw, could make no firm footing among them 
 unless the Scriptures were translated. The task of accom- 
 plishing this you can scarcely imagine. When I came first 
 out to Africa I had not the slisfhtest intention of ever 
 engaging in such a work. I never aimed at being more 
 than a preacher. I was urged, however, by Dr. Philip 
 (whose letters I have still by me), and by others, to perse- 
 vere in acquiring the language, and to undertake the trans- 
 lation of the Scriptures ; but I thought it altogether 
 beyond my powers. I wrote to the directors that I could not 
 do it, and begged them to send some one out who could. I 
 felt that I had not sat long enough at the feet of any Gamaliel 
 to qualify me. I then heard that my brother-in-law had 
 been ordained to the ministry, and was to join me, and as 
 he had received a liberal education, I prepared materials for 
 him to begin with immediately after his arrival, but his 
 destination was altered ; he was sent to the East Indies. I 
 wrote again to the directors, telling them that if they did 
 not send some one to translate the Scriptures I should 
 return home. By-and-by Mr. Robson came out, as I 
 thought, for the work, but he remained in the colony. 
 After this I also visited the colony, and met brother 
 Elliott, now gone to heaven. He, I hoped, might be 
 allowed us, but that was inconvenient. At last I brought 
 myself to the resolution that, if no one else would, I would 
 undertake it myself. I entered heartily upon the work. 
 For many years I had no leisure, every spare moment being 
 devoted to translating, and I became a stranger even in my 
 
RETIREMENT FROM MISSION FIELD. 207 
 
 own family. There was labour every day for back, for 
 liancls, for head. This was especially the case during the 
 time Mr. Edwards was there ; our condition was almost one 
 of slavery. Still the work advanced, and at length I had 
 the satisfaction of completing the New Testament. Of 
 this six thousand copies were printed by the home society. 
 The whole were soon distributed and found insufficient. 
 When Dr. Livingstone came he urged rae to begin at once 
 with the Old Testament. That was a most stupendous 
 work. Before taking it in hand I passed many sleepless 
 nights. Snice however it was the wish of all that I should 
 undertake it, I did so, and went on from time to time as I 
 had leisure, daily and nightly. I stuck to it as far as to the 
 end of Kings, when I became completely done up. The 
 directors were themselves afraid that I was killing myself 
 I was advised to go home, to leave the work, but I decided 
 otherwise. I determined, on the contrary, to look up Mo- 
 selekatse, and went off in company with a son of brother 
 Edwards. By the time I had found the chief I was all 
 right again. Coming back, I resumed my work, and have 
 continued it to completion ; and now I can look forward to 
 the "Word of God being read by thousands of Bechuanas in 
 their own mother tongue." 
 
 Having thus spoken of the chief work of his life, he went 
 on to describe the general progress made in the interior. 
 "Christianity," he said, "has already accomplished much. 
 When first I went to the Kuruman scarcely an individual 
 could go beyond. Now they travel in safety as far as the 
 Zambesi. Then we were strangers, and they could not 
 understand us. We were treated with indignity, as the 
 outcasts of society, who, driven from our own race, took 
 refuge with them. But bearing in remembrance what our 
 Saviour underwent, we persevered, and much success has 
 rewarded our efforts. Now it is safe to traverse any part 
 of the country, and traders travel far beyond Kuruman 
 
208 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, 1)3. 
 
 without fear of molestation. Formerly men of one native 
 tribe could not travel through another's territory, and wars 
 were frequent. Where one station was scarcely tolerated 
 there are several. The Moravians have their missionaries, 
 the Berlin Society theirs. Others, too, are occupied in the 
 good work, besides many native Gospel teachers." 
 
 With reference to the difficulties encountered at the out- 
 set, the speaker entered more fully into enumeration of the 
 gratifying proofs that many of them had been overcome. 
 " For many years," he added, " we saw not the conversion of 
 a single individual ; for years again we had only one ; but 
 by the blessing of God on great exertion, almost wherever 
 we go we now meet with companies of natives who 
 profess to be members of the Church of Christ. Not very 
 long since it was considered dangerous to travel into the 
 interior, in fact half-a-dozen miles from the station. Now I 
 am happy to say the natives can be depended upon, and it 
 is quite common for traders to travel through their midst 
 without the least fear of plunder or interruption. In former 
 times traders were often basely murdered, or at best not 
 permitted to return. Now all fears have been dispelled. 
 Once the natives would not buy anything, not even a pocket- 
 handkerchief. They might now and then be induced to buy 
 a few trinkets or some beads, but nothing of a substantial 
 or useful character. It is not so now. No less than sixty 
 thousand pounds' worth of British manufactures pass yearly 
 into the hands of the native tribes round about Kuruman. 
 During my early mission life I often heard of men of one 
 tribe going to trade with another and being murdered. I 
 was at a native place when a thing of that sort once occurred. 
 A party of men had come two hundred miles to dispose of 
 some articles. The resident natives, taking a dislike to 
 them, set upon them and killed two of the number. I asked 
 them why they had done this, and tried to shew them that 
 it was wrong. They seemed to know that, and from that 
 
RETIREMENT FROM MISSION FIELD. 209 
 
 time I have never heard of anything of the sort. They are 
 now always ready to meet any traders or other persons. 
 Companies of natives can be passed through without fear, 
 and they shew special respect to the missionaries. I assure 
 the gentlemen present that many natives at the Kuruman 
 are well able to discuss and argue upon the doctrines of 
 Christ. T do not mean that they can enter into any lengthy 
 or out-of-the-way points, but this I will say that they can 
 argue with sense upon any general question. They may not 
 always stick to a text, but they will rarely go outside of the 
 Bible. And these are a people who forty years ago were 
 nothing better than savages, but who. by the blessing of 
 God upon the labours of those who have devoted their 
 lives to their work, have been brought to be intelligent 
 disciples of the Gospel of Christ." 
 
 After a brief stay at Port Elizabeth Mr. and Mrs. Moffat 
 embarked in the mail steamer Roman^ and landed at Cape 
 Town on the 2nd of June. The following day they were 
 entertained by the whole Christian community at a public 
 breakfast, and after a few days rest proceeded towards Eng- 
 land in the Norsernan, arriving at Southampton on the 25tli 
 of July. On Monday, 1st August, at the board-room of the 
 London Mission House in Bloomfield Street, the veteran 
 missionary was received on his return by the directors of 
 the society. Mr. James Hawkins, late an English judge in 
 India, and chairman of the board, presided, and nearly a 
 hundred directors and friends were present. After devo- 
 tional exercises the E-ev. Dr. Mullens, secretary of the 
 society, performed the pleasing duty of introduction. Mr. 
 Moffat then rose amid enthusiastic applause. " Friends 
 and brethren," he said, " I have been listening with great 
 attention, and occasionally with very deep feeling, to the 
 words which have been spoken, and which have deeply 
 impressed me. I have felt their weight, but, alas ! it is not 
 for rne on the present occasion to meet the expectations of 
 
 U 
 
210 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 some with regard to saying a word or two for myself. I am 
 unpleasantly situated. The night before last I had scarcely 
 any sleep, and last night I had none ; and at the present 
 time I feel my head like an empty calabash, as we say in 
 Africa. It is not very seasonable to give anything like an 
 address, but a few words I will speak — I cannot help 
 speaking. It was not my expectation to be here ; it was 
 not my intention again to visit England. When I last left 
 the board of directors, it was, in thought, for ever. Never 
 did it enter my mind that I should set my feet on English 
 soil again ; but it has been ordered otherwise. Even on 
 the first occasion when I came home it was not a matter of 
 choice. When I went out I went out for life ; when I gave 
 myself to the missionary enterprise it was to live and die 
 in the service. I always anticipated I should leave my 
 dust to mingle with those whom I have been instrumental 
 in gathering from among the heathen, and who are now 
 participating in the glories of the heavenly world. When I 
 came to the Cape, previous to my first visit, I brought a 
 translation of the New Testament, which I had accomplished 
 under considerable difficulties, being engaged a portion of 
 the day in roofing an immense church, and the remainder 
 in exegetical examinations and consulting concordances. I 
 was anxious to get it printed, and I brought it down to the 
 Cape, but there 1 could find no printing-office that would 
 undertake it. The committee of the Bible Society very 
 kindly — as they have always been to me ; I say it with 
 pleasure — forwarded paper and ink to the Cape, expecting 
 I should get the work done there. As I said, there was 
 not a printing-office that would undertake it. Dining with 
 Sir George Napier, the Governor, I informed him of the 
 difficulty. lie said, 'Jump on board a ship with your 
 translation and get it printed in England, and you will 
 be back again while they are thinking about it here. 
 Print a New Testament among a set of Dutch printers ! 
 
RETIREMENT FROM MISSION FIELD. 211 
 
 — why, I can't even get my proclamations printed.' I 
 said, ' I have become too barbarous ; I have almost for- 
 gotten my own language ; I sliould be frightened to go 
 there.' 'Oh, stuff!' he said. Some time after he met 
 me in the street. 'Well, Moffat, what have you deter- 
 mined upon?' 'I am waiting the return of Dr. Philip.' 
 'Don't wait for anybody, just jump on board a ship. Think 
 of the importance of getting the New Testament put m 
 print in a new language ! ' He invited me to dinner again, 
 and said, ' Have you come to a conclusion ? I wish I could 
 give you mine. I feel some interest in the extension of the 
 knowledge of the Word of God. Take nobody's advice, but 
 jump on board a ship for England.' He spoke so seriously 
 that I began to feel serious myself. Dr. Philip came, and 
 when all the circumstances were explained, he said, ' Go, by 
 all means 1 ' I was nervous at the thought. I was not a 
 nervous man m Africa ; I could sleep and hear a lion roar. 
 There seemed so many great folks to meet with. I came to 
 England, and by-and-by I got over it. I am afraid I have 
 got too old to improve now. On this second occa,sioii there 
 was a necessity. I was a martyr to wakefulness , I was 
 dying by inches. Nothing could induce sleep, no matter 
 what kind of opiates I employed. A week would pass 
 without a moment's sleep ; a month, perhaps, with very short 
 intervals. I was a wonder not only to myself but to others. 
 Occasionally I got a little sleep, but that was only the pre- 
 lude to no sleep at all for a long period. I thought of 
 •taking a journey into the interior, but after further consulta- 
 tion 1 at last came to the conclusion to go home, and saw 
 my path in that direction clear. I w^as aware I should be 
 received, and verily I have been received, with kindness 
 passing description. I came to Port Elizabeth, and really 
 the people did not seem to know how they could do enough 
 to express their feeling. I thought I was a solitary mis- 
 sionary, and I should just pass by, but they took all out 
 
212 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 of me they could find in me, and I believe their kind recep- 
 tion had a very salutary influence upon me. I came to 
 Cape Town, and there they had everything prepared before 
 I arrived. I received a hearty welcome from all sections 
 of the church, every one congratulating mo and passing 
 encomiums. Some of the speeches were admirable. I 
 only wish they had been taken down. Since coming into 
 this room I could hardly allow myself to think of the last 
 assembly that I witnessed here. There sat Dr. Tidman, 
 and there the other secretary, Mr. Freeman. There, too, 
 were Mr. Coombs, Mr. Philip, Mr. Arundel, Dr. Waugh, 
 and last, not least, Dr. Henderson, to whose own transla- 
 tions I felt so much indebted. These are all gone ; it is 
 depressing to think of it ; we are following, and others will 
 follow. But, say they are gone. Oh ! brethren, the work for 
 which God became man — a man of sorrows and acquainted 
 with grief, the first missionary in the world — what a glorious 
 work in which to be found, whether in life or in death ! How 
 is it to go with me I know not. I shall do all that in me lies 
 for the advancement of the missionary cause. I shall not 
 fail, wherever I am, to use all the means within my power, 
 by presence or word, to advance that great cause to which I 
 have devoted my life. It would have been pleasant just to 
 remain with the people among whom I laboured so long, by 
 whom I am beloved, and whom I love. Oh, that parting 
 was a scene hard to witness without emotion ! Not only 
 from Christian converts, but from heathen chiefs did I receive 
 tokens of goodwill. Their amanuenses brought letters de- 
 ploring my departure, and presents to induce me not to quit 
 the country, but to remain, promising to give me so much more 
 if I would but remain. It was gratifying to see these tokens, 
 especially from the heathen and those able to appreciate 
 one's labour among them. One sent an ox, another a kaross, 
 and so on ; a lady of quality sent me four feathers. Some 
 of them asked how they were to live — how they were to exist 
 
HE TIRE ME KT FROM MISSION FIELD. 'lU 
 
 — if I went out of the country ; that is a form of expression 
 among them. It is consolatory to think that the influence 
 of the Gospel in that dark benighted country is spreading 
 and is going into the interior, covering hamlet after hamlet, 
 until its advance, let us be assured, will cover the whole land. 
 It is for us to pray and to labour, and we have the assurance 
 that Ethiopia shall yet stretch out her hands unto God. 
 I feel exceedingly grateful to my friends for the kind way 
 in which I have been received, and in my secret hours I 
 will return thanks to God for all these tokens of friendship 
 of which I have been the recipient this day." 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 FRUITFUL AND HONOURABLE AGE. 
 
 INCE his retirement from the mission-fielcl, Dr. Moftat 
 ^ lias continued to render important services from 
 
 r}./^^ time to time to the cause, and has been honoured 
 by all sections of the Church in many ways. Within 
 a few months after his return to England, he appeared on 
 the platforms of the London Missionary Society, and the 
 British and Foreign Bible Society, in Exeter Hall, speaking 
 at the anniversaries of both these societies in 1871. 
 
 His welcome at the annual meetino- of the London Mis- 
 sionary Society was most enthusiastic, the whole audience 
 standing up to greet him with repeated cheers when he rose 
 to speak. He spoke of the changes he had witnessed in 
 the character of the people among whom he had laboured, 
 and of the great moral and social elevation which had 
 followed the preaching of the Gospel in Southern Africa. 
 At the British and Foreign Bible Society's meeting he was 
 also most warmly received, and was listened to with tho 
 most earnest attention while speaking in tones of endear- 
 ment of the land which he had left, but wliere he would 
 fain be labouring still, and recounting his labours in tho 
 translation of the Scriptures into the Secliuana tongue, and 
 
FRUITFUL AND HONOURABLE AGE. 215 
 
 telling of the longing of tlie people to possess copies of the 
 Word of God. 
 
 The follov/ing year the veteran missionary again stood on 
 the platform of the London Missionary Society at its great 
 anniversary, and addressed the crowded audience. He was 
 greeted with the warmest demonstrations of respect, and 
 adverted to the success of the effort which had been made 
 by the juvenile friends of the society for the Moffat Institu- 
 tion, as it was proposed to call the seminary for training 
 native teachers in South Africa, and for which upwards of 
 five thousand pounds had been raised during the previous 
 twelve months. He thanked the little folk for their hand- 
 some subscription, with tender pathos expressed a longing 
 to clasp them all to his heart, and invoked the Divine bene- 
 diction on them and their efforts. He seemed, as he spoke, 
 to combine in himself both the patriarch and the apostle, 
 and neither the matter nor the manner of his address will 
 ever be forgotten by those who heard it. One of the subse- 
 quent speakers at that meeting was the Rev. J. Fleming, a 
 clergyman of the Established Church. In adverting to Dr. 
 Moffat, he called him "our Robert Moffat;" the remark 
 called forth thunders of applause. "Yes," repeated the 
 speaker, " our Robert Moffat, for I cannot allow that he is 
 only yours ; such a man as Robert Moffat belongs to all the 
 Church of God." 
 
 In May 1873 Dr. Mofiat received a very substantial 
 recognition of his long, faithful, and valuable services in 
 ' the mission cause. One mornnig about three hundred 
 ladies and gentlemen breakfasted together at Cannon Street 
 Hotel, London. The chair was taken by Mr. Samuel 
 Morley, M.R After breakfast the chairman read a brief 
 sketch of the distinguished South African missionary's 
 career. More than half a century ago, he said, when Dr. 
 Moffat crossed the Orange River into the Bechuana territory, 
 there was nothing but vice, misery, and degradation. Now 
 
SI 6 LIFJ^ OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 tlie Sabl)atli is a recognised institution, and the people are 
 making rapid progress in Christian civilisation. An address 
 to the reverend gentleman was read by the Rev. Dr. Binney, 
 in whicli a hope was expressed that the guest of the day 
 might be permitted to see and welcome to his native country 
 his distinguished son-in-law, Dr. Livingstone. The hope, 
 alas ! was not fulfilled. Instead of welcoming his living 
 son he was only permitted to receive his dead remains. 
 
 Mr. Morley stated that a number of Dr. MofTat's friends 
 had felt it laid upon their hearts to present him with some 
 testimonial whicli should be an expression of their Christian 
 love and thankfulness, and their high appreciation of his 
 life-long devotion to Jesus Christ and the souls of men, 
 and which at the same time should make some provision for 
 the comfort of his declining years. He stated that the total 
 amount received was £5812, 10s. 6d., that of this amount 
 £5250 had been invested in the names of trustees in East 
 India Guaranteed Railway Stock, yielding a minimum 
 income of <£234, 10s. per annum, and that the balance would 
 be paid to Dr. Moffat. The presentation of the trust-deed 
 having been made, it was acknowledged by Dr. Moflat, 
 who said that during the last fifty years he had ti-avelled 
 thousands of miles amonof savage beasts and still more 
 savage men, and sometimes had been delivered from danger 
 by the skin of his teeth. Though, on looking back upon a 
 long life of missionary labour, he felt that he ought to have 
 done more work, and to have done his work better, his 
 heart overflowed with gratitude to God for the blessings 
 which He had poured on missionary efforts in that part of 
 Africa with which he had been connected. He recalled the 
 days of early missionary labour, when the allowances were, 
 under Dr. Yanderkemp and the Dutch directors at the 
 Cape, eighteen pounds seven shillings for a single missionary, 
 five pounds five shillings for a wife, six pounds three 
 shillings for building a house, and eighteen pounds seven 
 
FRUITFUL AND HOmUMABLE AGE. 217 
 
 sliillings for the purchase of cattle or sheep. It was with 
 such resources that he commenced his career. 
 
 Dr. Moffat has not confined his advocacy of Christian 
 missions to the London Missionary Society. His breast is 
 filled with the expansive and all-embracing love which the 
 Gospel inspires; he looks with compassion on all mankind, 
 and with the affection of a Christian brother on all who 
 bear the Saviour's name and image, and he wishes the 
 most complete success to follow every effort for the con- 
 version of men to God. Hence, in 1875, we find him among 
 tiie speakers in Exeter Hall at the annual missionary 
 meeting of the United Methodist Free Churches. In the 
 course of a most able and attractive address on that 
 occasion, he said that it was now fifty-eight years since he 
 first laid himself on the missionary altar, and during all 
 that period his mind had been undivided in devotion to the 
 work. He had made it his one great business to try to 
 benefit the poor African both for the present life and that 
 which is to come. His motto was that of the Apostle 
 Paul— "This one thing I do." 
 
 Some years ago the Archbishops of Canterbury and 
 York, feeling the importance of promoting missionary work 
 throughout the world, and the need of God's blessing to 
 render it successful, instituted a day of intercession for 
 Christian missions, and issued a joint invitation to all to 
 engage in its general observance. The year 1876 was 
 memorable, because Dr. Moffat, at the invitation of Dean 
 Stanley, delivered a lecture on the day set apart for the 
 intercessory services in Westminster Abbey on the theme 
 so near his heart, and his devotion to which has been 
 demonstrated by the labours of a life. It w^as an impressive 
 manifestation of that Christian unity which ought to exist 
 among the disciples of our common Lord in the great work 
 of the evangelisation of the world, and the proclamation of his 
 grace and mercy in the Gospel. To behold the venerable 
 
218 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 Nonconformist missionary standing in one of the oldest 
 ecclesiastical structures devoted to the worship of the English 
 Church, surrounded with accessories so different from those I 
 to which he was accustomed when conducting missionary 
 services in Africa, was to every right-minded Christian 
 present in the large assembly a pleasant gratifying sight, 
 and one which will not soon or easily be forgotten. 
 
 The occasion suggested an article in the Times, in which 
 the writer remarked : — " For a man to have surrendered 
 himself so completely to the interests of the people whom he 
 desired to evangelise, that he has at length to apologise to an 
 assembly of his own countrymen, as Dr. Moffat did, for 
 ha^'ing ceased to think in his native tongue, is a rare exhibi- 
 tion of the true missionary spirit. It will certainly be one 
 of the most memorable incidents to be recounted by some 
 future Dean Stanley, when supplementing the already re- 
 corded history of Westminster Abbey, that Dr. MofTat, 
 speaking near the grave of Dr. Livingstone, should have 
 described within its walls the principles on which he and 
 his illustrious follower laid the first real foundation of 
 South African Christianity. Such an occasion was no 
 doubt one to fire with an unusual expansiveness the liberal 
 enthusiasm of the Dean of Westminster, and it would indeed 
 have been impossible for him to say too much on behalf o£ 
 the claims upon our honour and gratitude asserted by the 
 missionary energy of other Christian communities besides 
 the Church of England." 
 
 As one of the fruits of the religious awakening in our 
 land of late years, an unprecedented number of medical 
 students and otliers have been offering themselves as candi- 
 dates for medical missionary training. This gratifying fact, 
 along with the great and increasing demand for medical 
 missionaries, led the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society, 
 a few years ago, to erect a commodious Medical Mission 
 Dispensary and Training Institution. The establishment is 
 
FRUITFUL AND HONOURABLE AGE. 219 
 
 appropriately associated with the honoured name of David 
 Livingstone, who was himself a medical missionary and a 
 corresponding member of the society. On the 9th of June 
 1877 Dr. Molfat was honoured to lay the memorial stone of 
 the Livingstone Memorial Medical Institution in Cowgate, 
 Edinburgh, in the presence of a large assemblage of specta- 
 tors, including Sir John M'Neill, G.C.B., who presided, and 
 many of the leading citizens of Edinburgh. On the occasion 
 he advocated in an earnest and eloquent manner the claims 
 of the institution. Elsewhere he says of it : — "The Living- 
 stone Medical Missionary Memorial will be a living one, 
 diffusing influence and scattering blessings, not to Africa 
 only, but to every quarter of the globe where suffering 
 humanity is crying for the sympathy of human aid. Many 
 a time have I witnessed results of the most gratifying- 
 character from medical aid, and that not in reference to the 
 present life only, but what is infinite — eternity. The 
 reports of the labours and successes of medical missionaries 
 are calculated to arouse the deepest sympathy and love of 
 every Christian heart." By this and similar acts of service 
 Moffat has, even in what may be called his retirement, con- 
 tinued to give material assistance to the great cause of 
 Christian missions. His name possesses a charm — the 
 story of his life and labours is one which men never weary 
 in hearing — his appearance and age excite reverence — his 
 association with any good movement, and his advocacy of 
 its claims, must be a source of strength and prosperity. 
 
 ' In October 1878 a General Conference on Foreign 
 Missions was held at the Conference Hall, Mildmay Park, 
 London. A similar conference had been held at Liverpool 
 in 1860, which was pleasant and profitable at the time, and 
 had been productive of much subsequent good. It was 
 considered that the time had arrived when another gathering 
 of the friends of missions might be convened, in order that 
 those who were closely identified with the practical side of 
 
220 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D, 
 
 missionary life might again compare notes in regard to the 
 character and position of their work, and specially might 
 consult together as to whether they could combine their 
 forces and increase them, so as to secure a larger range of 
 Christian service among the heathen nations of the earth. 
 
 The conference lasted four days, and was largely attended. 
 The list of members shewed representatives of the Berlin, 
 the Rhenish, the Basle, and the Paris Missionary Societies ; 
 several American gentlemen testified to the work carried on 
 by the missionary agencies which flourish so greatly on the 
 other side of the Atlantic, while the English and Scotch 
 Societies were well represented. 
 
 At the first session the subject of mission work in Africa 
 came up for discussion, when Dr. Mofiat was one of the 
 chief speakers. After alluding to the hard climate of this 
 country, for which he had had to exchange the sunny skies 
 of interior Africa, he said : — "I came here with no intention 
 of making a speech ; I am quite unprepared to say anything. 
 But whenever Africa comes up, that is a text upon which I 
 can always speak. I am always willing to hear anything 
 about Africa, and am always willing to say something in 
 regard to it. Of course it might be expected that I can say 
 a great deal, for I have spent the most of my life in the 
 interior of that vast continent. From the day I went out 
 in 1816 to this day I have been advocating the claims of 
 Africa. One friend just remarked that if he were a young 
 man he would like to go there again. I would go out to- 
 morrow were it in my power, and I think I am not too old 
 yet. It was an over-taxed brain that brought me home, 
 and brought on wakefulness, which nothing can cure. 
 
 " My heart has been warmed by the grand things which I 
 heard this morning respecting Africa. Already great 
 triumphs have been accomplished. When I first landed 
 there, in the year 1816, there was only one missionary 
 beyond the boundaries of the Colony. It was not until our 
 
FRUITFUL AND HONOURABLE AGE. 221 
 
 society resolved to send missionaries beyond that the thino- 
 was attempted at all. The London Missionary Society has 
 been a pioneer society in this respect. It has been so to 
 the South Sea Islands ; it has been the pioneer to China, it 
 has been the pioneer to Madagascar, and it has been the pio- 
 neer to the tribes beyond the boundaries of the Cape Colony. 
 Until missionaries were sent to the Kaffirs and Zulus, 
 nothing was attempted. The noble Moravians had estab- 
 lished a mission station near the coast — and noble mission- 
 aries they are, and ever will be ; but they confine their 
 labours exclusively to the people. about the coast. 
 
 " When I landed on the shores of Africa Joseph Williams 
 had just died in Kaffirland ; he was followed by Brownlee. 
 Now what do we see 1 We see the Zulus from Port Natal 
 to Delagoa Bay, behind the range where the Kaffirs are, 
 and the Bechuanas extending to twenty degrees of south 
 latitude, and all the other tribes — tribes which are merely 
 names in your ears, but which are great tribes and important 
 fields when viewed from the closer eye of missionary labour — 
 we see them all open to the sound of the Gospel ; we see 
 the messengers of the church proclaiming that Gospel to 
 thousands and tens of thousands among them who not long 
 ago lived in gross darkness and ignorance. 
 
 " In Namaqua land I once laboured for a short time under 
 the noble Africaner — a land which has been occupied by 
 our noble German brethren, who have persevered and have 
 won its people. They have gone even beyond : they have 
 r^eached the Damara country, and have met the Portuguese 
 on the West Coast. Thus we have a bright prospect in 
 reference to the whole interior of Southern Africa. I ex- 
 pect by-and-by to hear that the bouTidaries of the colony 
 will be extended to the Kuruman, and ere long the young 
 people of to-day will see those boundaries extending to the 
 Zambesi. And so it will go on and on, until from South 
 Africa we meet those missionaries who are now enterino: the 
 
:22 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 East Coast, and are making their way to the shores of the 
 great lakes. 
 
 "We have good news to encourage us this day. Think 
 only of the translations of the Scriptures — think only of the 
 Press — by means of which they are now able to read the 
 Word of God in their own country and in their own tongue. 
 In the early years of my labour there was not one person who 
 could read ; yet now, as I say, a multitude of them can read 
 in their own language. For instance, there are the Bechuanas, 
 an extensive tribe. Thousands of men, women, and children 
 among them are now reading the Scriptures and books in their 
 own tongues. I know that for years no one among them could 
 be made to comprehend that a book or a paper could speak ! 
 The Gospel and Christian missions have done it all 
 
 " Look again at the advance that has been made in their 
 social position. I have seen men returned from the battle ; 
 men once glorying in the number they have slain — I have 
 such men now in my mind's eye — standing up, taking the 
 Word of God, giving out a text or reading a portion of 
 Scripture, and proclaiming to their fellow-men, ' Peace on 
 earth and goodwill to man.' I have known the wonderful 
 influence of the Gospel even upon heathen minds. 
 
 " Bad as the African mind is represented to be, it is strong 
 to see and apt to appreciate the principles of the Gospel, 
 and to love those principles of peace which are commended 
 in the Gospel. I remember an individual, the chief of a 
 tribe, who was invited to come to us, but he declined to 
 receive the Gospel. Tliat man lieard that others Avere con- 
 cocting war after years had rolled by, when the chiefs had 
 agreed to bury their spears, and that there should be no 
 more fighting. Well, this chief heard that some of the 
 other chiefs were concocting war in his neighbourhood, and 
 contemplating war upon another chief who thought Inmself 
 the greatest. Time rolled on ; the reports of impending war 
 increased ; the prospect seemed to grow darker. 
 
FRUITFUL AND HONOURABLE AGE. 223 
 
 " He called them to a feast ; and the Bechuanas are 
 always ready for a feast whatever else they dislike. He 
 called them to a parliament, or pitcho, to which they attach 
 great importance. They went to the assembly, which was 
 bristling with spears, for every one at least had a spear, or 
 axe, or shield. He stood in their midst ; he stretched out 
 his hand to them : ' Hear ! ye nobles of the people, ye 
 leaders of the nation, I address myself to you. Hearken, 
 for I have something to say — something that is good for you 
 as it is good for me.' They all listened. 'I hear you are 
 going to war.' Now the speaker was an unconverted man, 
 a pure heathen, but he had witnessed the influence of the 
 Gospel among the people, and admired what the Gospel had 
 done. He admired the principles of love that existed there 
 and that were promoted among his people. He said : ' You 
 are going to war; allow me to ask you, What is war"? I 
 am a man of war. I have shaken my spear in the face of 
 my enemies ; I have driven them away with the sound of 
 my shield. You have done it. But let me hear, AVhat is 
 warT All were silent. 'Allow me to tell you what war 
 cannot do.' 
 
 " ' In going to war we attempt to accomplish some end. 
 Now I will tell you what war cannot do, and what war has 
 done, and I will tell you what war will do. Hearken unto 
 me, O ye rulers of the people, ye wise ones that teach 
 knowledge ! War cultivates no fields ; it plants no gardens. 
 War raises no families and builds no houses. What is 
 war ■? Will you know what war has done % Go to the fields 
 where the strife of battle has raged, where some of you 
 have shed your blood, and caused the blood of others to be 
 shed. Go ; look at the people who have been enslaved, and 
 ask them, What are you doing here ? They will reply, 
 War sent us down here Go to the widows ; ask the 
 widow, Why do you yet mourn 1 The widow will answer, 
 War devoured my husband, and I am alone. Go to the 
 
224 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 fatherless, and they will tell you, I had a father, but war 
 ate him up. And to go into war — is this the result of all 
 the joy that we have felt during the peace that has been 
 wrought among us by men from far countries '? Has it 
 come to this, that we have danced, and our wives and our 
 daughters and our children have danced too — when we 
 fear no evil, and raise our head in the morning without 
 hearing the sound of war or the roar of battle on the plain — 
 is this the result, that now we are going to resume it ? Are 
 we going to unearth the spear ? ' One rose in the middle of 
 the company and said : ' No, no ; let spears be burned. Let 
 there be no more war. Let us return to our own homes, 
 and let us rejoice still in the peace that we had enjoyed 
 before.' Alas ! my dear friends, at the present moment a 
 dark cloud is passing over these very nations. The demon 
 of war has spread over Kaffirland and into the Bechuana 
 country ; the tribes are arrayed in opposition ; volunteers 
 have gone out, and they are joined by others ; and there is 
 war. The tribes are being scattered, and I mourn. 1 would 
 that I were there, for I know that there must be much 
 affliction, much sorrow. I do not blame the Government or 
 the nation. Both are to blame in concocting, at least in 
 increasing, the spirit of war. But still, let God be praised, 
 the work is going forward and increasing; this light afflic- 
 tion is for a short time. We shall see brightness in the 
 days to come." 
 
 Towards the close of the year 1878 the veteran mis- 
 sionary was presented with the freedom and livery of the 
 Turners' Company of London, at the Mansion House. In 
 acknowledging the compliment, he gave an interesting 
 sketch of his labours among the Bechuanas since 1816, 
 when he laid himself on the missionary altar. When he 
 first set foot in Africa, he said, they had no missionaries 
 beyond the boundaries of the towns, but since then they 
 had not only gone beyond the. colony, but were to be found 
 
FRUITFUL AND HONOURABLE AGE. 225 
 
 in the whole length and breadth of Africa. It was no longer 
 true that, as had been written by Swift — 
 
 ** Geographers in Afric's maps 
 Put savage beasts to fill up gaps, 
 And o'er inhabitable downs 
 Put elephants for want of towns." 
 
 Now their missionaries were pressing forward among the 
 Bechuanas, Zulus, and other tribes, and they had no fewer 
 than forty thousand members of Christian churches. Their 
 missionaries were now labouring seven hundred miles 
 beyond where the work first commenced among the 
 Bechuanas. 
 
 One of the latest public recognitions of the work of this 
 honoured servant of God was of an unusual kind. Civic 
 banquets are often given in honour of statesmen and 
 warriors, and merchant princes, and men of literature and 
 science, but it is not often that we hear of one being given 
 to a missionary of the Cross. All honour to the man who 
 had the Christian consistency and courage to make in this 
 matter a new departure. On Saturday, 7th May 1881, the 
 Lord Mayor of London, the Right Hon. William M'Arthur, 
 M.P., gave a banquet to the distinguished South African 
 missionary, and as might have been expected, a most 
 enthusiastic reception was accorded to him by the company, 
 which included the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Earl of 
 Shaftesbury, and the leading representatives of the Christian 
 churches of the country. 
 
 During the earlier years after his return home, Dr. Moffat 
 was a frequent attendant and speaker at public meetings, 
 but latterly his public appearances have been more seldom, 
 and even when present he often takes no part. His mere 
 presence, however, is always enough to awaken the enthu- 
 siasm of the audience. We must not forget to mention that 
 some years ago the University of Edinburgh conferred upon 
 him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. 
 
 15 
 
226 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D,D. 
 
 In addition to his advocacy of the mission cause in the 
 pulpit and on the platform, Dr. Moffat has written some 
 interesting papers on the subject for the periodical press. 
 Extracts from one or two of these will prove interesting to 
 our readers. In an article in Sundixy at Home, on his 
 African recollections, he thus writes of Bechuana hymns 
 and music : — " In the early years, when a few began to 
 appreciate instruction and attend Divine service, it was 
 some time before they, especially in the outlying villages, 
 could be taught to sing. It was known that we sang hymns 
 at the chief, and then the only, missionary station, and when 
 I have had occasion to visit these villages for the purpose of 
 introducing the knowledge of the Saviour, nothing would 
 satisfy them but that they too must sing. I shall never 
 forget the jumble of voices. It was in vain to tell them 
 that they must first be exercised before they could join in 
 music which spoke of the God that rules on high, and their 
 condition as sinners, and God's love to them. It required 
 line upon line to make them understand this, but they 
 could understand making a noise with the voice ; and they 
 thought, from what they had heard occasionally with their 
 own ears, that there really was something uncommonly 
 sweet in our music. There was no alternative but to 
 yield, and of course I would select the Old Hundredth or 
 some very plain tune — but oh ! the jargon of voices. When 
 I rose they sank, and when I was slow they were fast. 
 This would as^ain and a2;ain throw the leader off the rail. 
 
 " It was in vain to tell them that they could not be taught 
 to sing properly till they were first taught to know the 
 hymns. I have sometimes, after much toil, taught them the 
 verse of a hymn, and kept to one tune in order to prevent 
 perfect confusion, when all the notes of the gamut might be 
 heard at once. When I had a wish to introduce a new 
 tune at our new station, where the same tunes were commonly 
 sung, I found it necessary to drill a few till I got them so 
 
FRUITFUL AND HONOURABLE AGE. 227 
 
 far advanced that I could depend on them to aid me in 
 public when a new tune was introduced. I selected six 
 girls, and having tuned up an old violin, of which I knew 
 something, I played and sung, in which they followed till 
 they became familiar. The first tunes taught were 'Ye 
 Banks and Braes,' and * Auld Lang Syne, ' 
 
 " Singing is now become very general, so that there are few 
 at our principal mission stations and outlying villages who 
 cannot sing. The people in general began to give a decided 
 preference to sacred music over the hoarse war song, or 
 monotonous repetition of a few notes, accompanied with the 
 females clapping the hands, while the men kept time by 
 striking the ground with their feet, producing a hollow 
 sound like distant thunder. Accustomed to music so utterly 
 wanting in symphony, it required patience to get them 
 into the habit of modulating their voices to sacred song. 
 Now, however small the village may be where the Gospel is 
 preached, there is no difficulty in finding one to lead the 
 singing, and although in many instances it is not so euphonious 
 as it ought to be, it is an improvement on the past. 
 
 *' In the interior, where there are many scattered villages, 
 it is an important part of the missionary's work to itinerate, 
 paying occasional visits to the more distant portions of his 
 parish. On occasions like these it happens that there are 
 couples who are waiting to be joined in matrimony, and 
 whose names have been ' hung up,' as the natives express 
 the publishing of banns. No one in that country thinks of 
 remaining unmarried. The ceremony is generally performed 
 after a week-day's service, when, instead of the heathen 
 dress, with bodies lubricated with red ochre and grease, and 
 heads anointed with a mixture of a black shining substance 
 with butter, they dress after the European fashion, with 
 their very best, for the occasion ; and if they have not 
 enough suitable clothing they borrow from their neighbours. 
 The groomsman and bridesmaid are not wanting. 
 
228 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 " The ceremony is performed generally in the public fold 
 in the middle of the village, no house being large enough, 
 as many at that season come from a distance to see and to 
 come in for a share of the feast. The ceremony over, they 
 retire to eat a simple but abundant fare. There is no 
 dancing, whether members or no members, but the time is 
 passed in singing ; and they do sing, possessing a wonderful 
 facility in taking the different parts. Every hymn-book is 
 in requisition, and not a tune of which they know anything 
 is untried. Nearly the whole range of the hymn-book is 
 gone over, while favourites are sung over and over again. 
 The missionary's waggon, which is his castle and bed-room, 
 stands generally not far from the scene, and not unfre- 
 quently repose and sleep are needed after, it may be, miles 
 of walking, visiting the outlying abodes of those who may 
 be unable to attend the services of the day. While wishing 
 that sometimes their music were behind a hill, or at some 
 distance, he cannot find it in his heart to tell them to desist 
 when they seem so happy." 
 
 Writing of the beneficial efiects of hymns — the strength, 
 and comfort, and joy imparted by them — Moffat goes on to 
 say : — " In many more instances than I can at present call 
 to mind, I have witnessed the importance of hymnology 
 during the introduction of the Gospel among what may 
 justly be called savage races. This has been witnessed not 
 only in public worship, but in places all solitary, where the 
 dolorous bowlings of the hyena have mingled with the 
 sacred song of evening praise ; aye, and while the voice of 
 praise has been ascending to heav^en after the weary day's 
 travel, the lion's roar has been heard at no great distance. 
 Travellers on errands of friendship, or trade, or hunting, very 
 frequently spend their evenings, and often beyond the mid- 
 night hour, hymning the love of God to man. Many nights 
 have I passed among such companions far away in the desert, 
 listening to the theme which will be our song in heaven. 
 
FRUITFUL AND HONOURABLE AGE. 229 
 
 "In the evening sacrifice of praise around the family 
 altar sacred song frequently bears a most important part, 
 and I have listened with inexpressible delight to the sweet 
 melody of sacred music poured forth from an enlightened 
 family while worshipping God before retiring to rest. In 
 the solitary home where affliction has entered I have heard 
 the hymns of praise, resignation, and joy coming from the 
 dying lips of those who were wont to revel till past mid- 
 night in music all meaningless. Music such as I have heard 
 hundreds of times among the Southern tribes is monotonous 
 in the extreme, but they like it. For instance, on one of 
 my journeys into the interior I halted at a heathen village, 
 the chief of which was very ill. On going to see him^ I 
 found a number of young people dancing and singing before 
 the door of their dying chieftain, to whom I remarked that 
 I feared the noise they made would do him harm. ' He 
 likes it,' was the prompt reply. The prostrate dying heathen 
 liked the familiar sounds of his earliest years. 
 
 " How different the experience of such a one to that of a 
 sinner I knew of no ordinary character. Notable in her 
 heathenish state for determined hostility to the Gospel and 
 every kind of instruction, possessing an uncommon measure 
 of energy which she exercised as far as she dared in perse- 
 cuting those over whom she had any authority, in the 
 midst of her violent opposition she was arrested by the Word 
 of God. Her daughter was a believer, as a member of a 
 piiristian church is called among the Bechuanas, and not 
 unfrequently came in for a share of the old woman's wrath, 
 who would sometimes drive her out of the house when she 
 would read or pray. She kept a watchful eye over her 
 grand-daughter, whom she ardently loved; but resolved that 
 she should never enter into a school or place of worship. 
 On one Lord's-day morning, during the absence of the 
 grandmother, the mother naturally took the child with her 
 to church. Just after the introductory part of the service 
 
230 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 was over, and the preacher had selected his text, the furious 
 woman rushed in in search of the child. Observing where 
 she happened to be, near the door, she pounced upon the 
 girl, but while stooping to lay hold of her, the women near 
 seized her and held her down. 
 
 " After a short pause the preacher resumed. The woman 
 listened to two or three sentences of the discourse, and then 
 became quite calm. Those that held her loosed their hold, 
 when, escaping from the place of worship into which she 
 had rushed in a rage to drag away her grandchild, she 
 hastened to her home. In the course of an hour she was 
 found on her knees, and with tears streaming down her 
 wrinkled cheeks, imploring Jesus to have mercy on her. 
 She lived for years to testify to the power of the Gospel by 
 a consistent and holy life, ever zealous for all that had a 
 reference to the kingdom of Christ. On her deathbed her 
 attendants wondered over her eloquence, and when she 
 could no longer move her head or hands, she could move her 
 tongue in singing and solacing her dying hours with the 
 hymns she had committed to memory, and which had often 
 been her songs in the night. 
 
 " One incident more. There was a young man amongst 
 those engaged to accompany the missionaries from the 
 Kuruman to the Matabele, under the chief Moselekatse. 
 He had for some time been one of the inquirers, and would 
 soon have been received into church-fellowship. He was 
 clever and intelligent. After some months our camp was 
 visited by the well-known African fever. Everything ^^'as 
 done that our knowledge and experience could suggest. It 
 was not very long that through the means used most of them 
 were recovering. Marilole, the young man, had a second 
 relapse, arising entirely from want of attending to regimen 
 prescribed. Instead of taking spare and light diet, he 
 eagerly, unknown to me, satiated his growing appetite with 
 beef and boiled millet. Everything tried to reduce fever 
 
 ' 
 
FRUITFUL AND HONOURABLE AGE. 231 
 
 failed. He became insensible to all around him, and to 
 every entreaty to take something which might again do him 
 good. He lay for two days motionless in a comatose 
 condition, from which no effort could arouse him. On the 
 evening of the second day I was at work repairing my 
 waggon, about thirty yards from the house in which the sick 
 man lay. I heard some one singing with a strong, clear voice. 
 Inquiring who was singing to the sick man : ' It is himself,' 
 was the reply. I hastened to the spot, and found it even so. 
 He was lying as I had left him an hour before, but with a 
 firm voice he was still singing one of our hymns^ which em- 
 bodied some of the striking parts of the eighty-fourth Psalm. 
 When I entered and knelt down beside him he was singing 
 the last verse, to which I listened with inexpressible feelings 
 of gratitude, presuming that there was a change for the 
 best. I addressed him ; he was deaf. I tried to arouse 
 him ; it was in vain. I felt his pulse ; it was performing 
 its last beats ; — and while I was looking at his motionless 
 lips, his spirit departed to that heavenly Zion about which 
 he had just been singing. Thus died the young convert 
 Marilole." 
 
 In a very interesting paper contributed to the Sunday 
 Magazine, our missionary gives some valuable information 
 as to the civilising effects of his labours among the African 
 race. " Christianity,''* he says, " brought with it civilisation, 
 for those who embraced the new religion were at once seized 
 'with the desire to reform their personal habits and social 
 usages. Cleanliness began to be practised, and instead of 
 besmearing themselves with grease they washed themselves 
 with water. Ornaments which were formerly in high repute 
 as adorning, but more frequently disfiguring, their persons, 
 were now turned into bullion to purchase skins of animals, 
 which, being prepared almost as soft as cloth, were made 
 into jackets, trousers, and gowns. For a long period, when 
 a man was seen to make a pair of trousers for himself, or a 
 
232 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 woman a gown, it was a sure intimation that we might 
 expect additions to our inquirers. Abandoning the custom 
 of painting the body, and beginning to wash with water, 
 was with them what cutting off the hair was among the 
 South Sea Islanders — a public renunciation of heathenism. 
 
 " Thus, by the slow but certain progress of Gospel prin- 
 ciples, whole families became clothed and in their right 
 mind. In their eagerness for improvement the people some- 
 times arrayed themselves in grotesque garbs. One would 
 have on a coat of many colours ; another would wear a 
 jacket with only one sleeve, because the other was not 
 finished, or cloth was wanting to complete it. The people 
 were now anxious to learn how to use the needle, and to 
 make garments ; and at first it was no easy matter for them 
 to do this, as the hands of many were hard and horny from 
 field work, and the tiny needle was scarcely perceptible to 
 their touch. Our congregations became a variegated mass 
 of people of all descriptions, from the lubricated wild man 
 of the desert to the clean, comfortable, and well-dressed 
 believer. It was the work of the men to sew and prepare 
 garments. I never saw a woman with a needle, or rather 
 bodkin, with which the men sew with great neatness and 
 skill. 
 
 " Then came the desire for improvement in their house- 
 holds. Formerly they had been contented with sitting 
 on the floors of their huts, eating their food by the light of 
 flickering wood embers, and lying down to sleep wrapped in 
 their mantles which they had worn during the day ; but 
 now they Mdshed to have, like ourselves, chairs, tables, 
 chests, candles, and other articles contributing to the com- 
 fort of a house. These they came to make under our 
 direction, though of course very clumsily at first. It is 
 singular, hov/ever, what rapid progress in the arts of civilised 
 life a people will make when once the desire for reformation 
 has taken thorough possession of them. 
 
FRUITFUL AND HONOURABLE A.GE. 233 
 
 "The Bechuanas were like men waking up from a long 
 sleep and anxious to redeem the time they had lost. They 
 began to take great interest in field and garden labour. In 
 place of restricting themselves to their native grain and a 
 few vegetables, such as pumpkins, kidney-beans, and water- 
 melons, they thankfully accepted the seeds and plants of 
 grains and vegetables we had introduced — namely, of maize, 
 wheat, barley, peas, potatoes, carrots, and onions, and 
 planted fruit-trees wherever they could irrigate. There 
 was also a demand for ploughs, and spades for the proper 
 tilling of the soil, and also for bullock-waggons. The men 
 were no longer too proud to put their hands to the cultiva- 
 tion of the ground, but set to work with a will, and in a 
 few years the country all around was smiling with fertility. 
 
 *' A considerable trade has sprung up between these tribes 
 and Europeans from the Cape Colony, and foreign manufac- 
 tured goods of the value of two hundred and fifty thousand 
 pounds are annually imported into the country and exchanged 
 for native produce. There was no commerce or barter carried 
 on between Europeans and the Bechuana tribes at the com- 
 mencement of missions among them, nor could they be 
 induced to trade till, through the Divine blessing, converts 
 were made. These were the first to adopt a European 
 dress. During the previous years traders came as far as 
 the Kuruman mission station, bringing all kinds of tempting 
 articles, which they displayed before the natives, who could 
 •not be made to see either comfort or beauty in them. 
 These men, who had hoped to realise a profit by ostrich 
 feathers, ivory, cattle, and other things, could only dispose 
 of a few pounds of beads, and returned some hundreds of 
 miles sadly mortified. The example set by our first converts 
 approved itself to others, and it being entirely out of our 
 power to supply them with what was required, having but 
 a scanty supply for our own wants, they were instructed to 
 make dresses from skins prepared for the purpose, and in 
 
234 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 which they rnade a very respectable appearance. It was 
 soon found necessary to apply for a merchant to come and 
 settle on the station. 
 
 " Now that we can look to the number and extent of mis- 
 sionary stations, and missionaries of other societies as well 
 as of our own, which occupy a vast extent of country, and 
 the number which have been gathered into the fold of the 
 Redeemer, we may well say, What has God wrought % The 
 Scriptures are translated into several languages, and are 
 read by thousands, and institutions are raised for edu- 
 cating a native ministry, some of whom have gone forth and 
 are proclaiming the everlasting Gospel to their own country- 
 men. Little more than fifty years ago there were only a 
 small mission station in Namaqua land, and another at 
 Griqua Town. These were all beyond the Colony except the 
 Kuruman, still in an embryo state. Now, missionaries from 
 half-a-dozen societies occupy stations from beyond Natal 
 on the east to the Damaras on the west, and among their 
 churches forty thousand church members are the fruits of 
 missionary enterprise. If every one bearing the Christian 
 name, and hoping to be saved through Him who tasted 
 death for every man, were to do what he is expected to do 
 in reference to every creature to whom He commissioned 
 His disciples to go to tell of full and free redemption, we 
 might hope that two-thirds of the world would be reclaimed 
 in fifty years more." 
 
 So this noble man continues to labour still m the cause of 
 his Master, bringing forth fruit even in old age, proving 
 that the Lord is faithful. He has known weary wanderings 
 in the desert, when his tongue w^as so parched with thirst 
 as to be almost deprived of the power of speech ; he has 
 been in perils from savage men and ferocious beasts of the 
 wilderness; he has visited and conciliated barbaric kings, 
 whose rude halls were hung with the execrable trophies of 
 cruel and exterminating wars ; he has oonfronted and over- 
 
FRUITFUL AND HONOURABLE AGE. 235 
 
 come Herculean difficulties in the spirit of a Christian 
 heroism loftier than that which animated his ancestors on 
 the sanguinary field of Bannockburn ; and he has witnessed 
 transformations of character and social life more wonderful 
 than the most daring poetry has ever imagined. 
 
 Looking back from the height of his numerous years on 
 the scenes of protracted and agonising toil and sublime 
 achievement, still glowing with the missionary ardour 
 which, in the beginning of his course, impelled him to 
 dangers and hardships amid the sterilities of IsTamaqua 
 land, and having before his eyes visions of Africaner and a 
 crowd of glorified converts from Kuruman beckoning him 
 to eternal blessedness, he is worthy of the golden phrase 
 which, in happy parody of Milton, tlie E-ev. W. Arthur 
 applied to him on a great public occasion — "that old 
 man magnificent." 
 
 And what more needs to be said 1 Nothing ; save to 
 express the hope that to the aged servant of God there may 
 yet be allotted many years to see fruit growing up from the 
 seed which he himself in long past days cheerfully planted 
 in much faith and hope. Though now quietly closing his 
 days amid the beauties of his Kentish abode, yet he is the 
 centre of the missionary history of South Africa — the con- 
 necting link between its various apparently disconnected 
 parts ; and when science and trade shall have carried their 
 lamps through the length and breadth of the vast continent, 
 discovering all its hidden recesses and bringing to light its 
 buried treasures, they will yet be compelled to cast a 
 generous and grateful glance back at Robert Moffat as 
 having done more than any other man to make their many 
 triumphs possible. 
 
Msi.#Ml 
 
 Wm^^<wf- 
 
 
 CHAPTER XXYL 
 
 ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER. 
 
 IST reviewing the life we have sketched in this volume 
 we are struck with its noble character. In attempt- 
 ing to analyse it, its most important and peculiar 
 elements readily appear. It may be observed at 
 the outset that Moffat has been a man of grand physique, 
 noble presence, robust intellect, quick perception, sound 
 judgment, ready and eloquent utterance. His very appear- 
 ance commanded attention, and his whole bearing shewed 
 that he was a man born to rule men. 
 
 One of the most distinguishable features in Moffat's 
 character is philanthrojjy^ or the love of man as man, apart 
 from all distinctions of race and nationality. This quality, in 
 combination with the love of God, lies at the foundation of 
 all true and noble effort for the reareneration of the world. 
 Philanthropy in its truest and deepest sense came into the 
 Avorld with Christianity. It w^as unknown until Jesus of 
 Nazareth taught it as one of the prominent doctrines of His 
 ministry, and illustrated it by His death. The parable of 
 the Good Samaritan, as it was the first, will remain through 
 all time the most famous discourse on true philanthropy. 
 Patriotism was expounded and enforced by the sages of 
 
ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER. 23^ 
 
 ancient heathenism. Plato lays down the doctrine that we 
 are not born for ourselves alone, but that " our native 
 country, our friends and relations, have a just claim and 
 title to some part of us." Cicero, in one of the most im- 
 portant of all his works, admirably expounds this doctrine 
 of Plato and of the Stoics. He insists that " whatsoever is 
 created on earth was merely designed for the service of man, 
 and men themselves for the service, benefit, and assistance 
 of one another. In this we certainly ought to be followers 
 of Nature, and second her intentions ; and by doing all that 
 lies in our powder for the general interest, by mutual acts of 
 kindness, by our knowledge, industry, riches, or other means, 
 we should endeavour to keep up that benevolence and 
 friendship which ought to subsist among men. When we 
 have gone over all the relations in the world, and thoroughly 
 considered the nature of each, we shall find none more 
 binding, none more intimate or dear, than that which we 
 all bear to the commonw^ealth. We have a tender concern y 
 and regard for our parents, for our children, our kindred, 
 and acquaintance, but the love which we have for our native 
 country swallows up all other affections whatsoever ; for his 
 country no man of honour would refuse to die, if by his 
 death he could do it any needful service. Now, if there 
 should be any conflict or competition between these rela- 
 tions, which of them ought to preponderated Our first 
 regard is due to our country and our parents, to whom we 
 lie under the most endearing obligation ; the next to our 
 children and household, who look up to us alone, and have 
 nobody else they can depend upon ; next in order come our 
 kindred and relations, whose fortunes are generally connected 
 with our own." 
 
 This patriotism of the heathen is a poor, selfish, and 
 narrow affection as compared with the philanthropy of the 
 Gospel of Christ. Moffat's life has been dominated by that 
 philanthropy. His ruling passion is the love of man, in the 
 
238 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 largest acceptance of the term, without respect to colour, 
 clime, or language. It comprehends in its embrace all men, 
 with all their temporal and eternal interests. It has not 
 been a mere theory with him, but has received the amplest 
 and most varied illustration by a long life of self-sacrifice 
 and devotion. It was this love for men that moved him to 
 give himself to the mission work ; it was this that sustained 
 him for years at his post amid the most discouraging cir- 
 cumstances and conditions — his labours unsolicited, his 
 presence unwelcome, his endeavours to benefit the natives 
 thankless, daily liable to be expelled, and in constant peril 
 of his life. In this unwearied love of man Moffat has fur- 
 nished one of the best evidences of his love to God. Abou 
 Ben Adhem saw in a vision (so runs the Eastern legend) an 
 angel writing in a book, and asked — 
 
 " ' What writest thou ? ' The vision raised its head, 
 And, with a look made of all sweet accord, 
 Answered, ' The name of those who love the Lord. ' 
 ' And is mine one V said Abou. ' Nay, not so,' 
 Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, 
 But cheerily still, and said, ' I pray thee, then, 
 "Write me as one that loves his fellow-men. ' 
 The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night 
 It came again with a great wakening light, 
 And shewed the names whom love of God hath bless'd, 
 And, lo ! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest." 
 
 Courage is another quality of tliis man. Emerson 
 defines courage as " the perfect will, which no terrors can 
 shake, which is attracted by frowns or threats, or hostile 
 armies ; nay, needs these to awake and fan its reserved 
 energies into a pure flame, and is never quite itself until the 
 hazard is extreme ; then it is serene and fertile, and all its 
 powers play well." This definition is applicable to both 
 physical and moral courage. " Physical courage," he further 
 remarks, " which despises all danger, will make a man 
 brave in one way ; and moral courage, whicli despises all 
 
ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER, ■ 239 
 
 opinion, will make a man brave in another. The former 
 would seem most necessary for the camp, the latter for 
 council; but to constitute a great man both are necessary." 
 We see both combined in Joshua, who succeeded Moses as 
 the leader of the children of Israel. He shrank from no 
 command of God. "With a true heart he took the reins of 
 government. He led the tribes across Jordan, and went 
 before them to the conquest of Canaan. No rumour as to 
 the number or strength of his foes alarmed him. He 
 faithfully administered the laws. He was brave in counsel 
 and brave in fight, and thus he fulfilled the Divine com- 
 mand — * Be strong and of a good courage ; be not afraid, 
 neither be thou dismayed.' 
 
 In all his missionary career Moffat displayed this courage. 
 He was often placed in circumstances of great danger ; his 
 life was often in peril from wild beasts, and sometimes he 
 was threatened with destruction by savage men. In carrying 
 out his Christian commission he went into inhospitable 
 countries, and stood before cruel and despotic monarchs, 
 always fearless of evil, because his trust was in the Lord his 
 God. Fearing God, he felt that there was nothing else he need 
 fear. If he had to encounter a difficulty he never turned aside 
 from it, saying. There is a lion in the path. Having resolved 
 upon mastering it, he never ceased till it was overcome, and 
 every successive triumph inspired him with that confidence 
 in himself and that habit of victory which make all other 
 conquests easy. He was just the man to lead the enterprise 
 which reflects such glory on his career. 
 
 One illustration of his courage may be given in his own 
 words. It relates to his visit to Makaba, the chief of the 
 Bauangketsi : — " I resolved on a journey which I had been 
 contemplating for some months. This was to visit Makaba, 
 the chief of the Bauangketsi, a powerful tribe situated 
 upwards of two hundred miles north-east of Lithako. I 
 had various reasons for taking this step. The Batlapis and 
 
240 LIFE OF BO BERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 the neighbouring tribes were living in constant dread of an 
 attack from so powerful an enemy, of whom they could never 
 speak without stigmatising him with the most opprobrious 
 epithets. It was desirable to open up a friendly intercourse 
 to prevent hostilities, and it seemed advisable for me to 
 attend more exclusively to the acquirement of the language 
 by associating for a time with the natives, when at the same 
 time an opportunity was thus afforded for becoming better 
 acquainted with the localities of the tribes ; and in addition 
 to these objects was the ultimate design of introducing the 
 Gospel among that interesting people. 
 
 " About this time, receiving an invitation from Makaba, 
 the path of duty was plain, but Mothibi, and indeed all the 
 people, were greatly opposed to my design. Everything 
 injurious to the character of the Bauangketsi was raked up 
 and placed before me. All the imaginary and real murders 
 Makaba had ever committed were set in array, and every one 
 swore by their king and their father that if I went my doom 
 was fixed, for I should never return, and therefore Ma-Mary 
 and the two children might leave and return to our friends 
 in England, for she would never see me again. When the 
 day arrived for my departure, Mothibi, finding he could not 
 prevail by arguments, positively forbade those under his 
 control to accompany me. Feeling no inclination to give 
 up my intention, I started with such men as I had. On 
 reaching Old Lithako, on the third day, I found the reports 
 about the Mantatees somewhat revived, and the natives 
 strongly advised me to proceed no farther than Nokaneng, 
 about twenty miles distant. The reports being such as we 
 had heard before, and knowing that they wished by every 
 means to intimidate me, I proceeded on the following day, 
 after having preached to a great number of the natives. On 
 arriving at Nokaneng I found that rumours had reached 
 that place that the Barolongs at Kunuana, about one 
 hundred miles oft', had been also attacked, and the towns 
 
ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER, 241 
 
 were in the hands of the marauders ; but as spies had been 
 sent out to ascertain the truth, I remained, employing 
 every opportunity afforded to impart instruction. The 
 spies returning without having heard anything of the 
 reported invaders, I proceeded with my small company 
 towards the Bauangketsi tribes." 
 
 It must also be said that to this courage we must add 
 a spirit of adventure. Moffat was not a man to go quietly 
 along in a dull beaten track. Some men seem to have no 
 disposition, no power, to forsake the old ruts, but his soul 
 was always reaching forward to the regions beyond. He 
 had no wish quietly to settle down in the midst of other 
 men's labours. This spirit of adventure and enterprise, 
 sanctified by the grace of God, led him to seek out new 
 fields of toil — to break up the fallow ground, and to plant 
 the Gospel where hitherto it had been totally unknown. 
 The same spirit moved him to adopt all kinds of methods 
 that were likely to be successful in the accomplishment of 
 his sublime purpose, and though sometimes great and trying 
 obstacles encompassed his path and obstructed his progress, 
 yet his undaunted soul bore him through a multitude of 
 difficulties which would have deterred most men. 
 
 Moffat's career also illustrates great readiness and power 
 of adaiJtation to circimistaiices. He was often placed in 
 strange and novel conditions of life. Unexpected demands 
 were frequently made upon his ingenuity and resources, but 
 he was always found sufficient for the occasion. He could 
 travel for weeks in an African waggon ; when he had not 
 the opportunity of riding on horseback he would ride on the 
 back of an ox ; he could sleep in a native hut or in the 
 open air ; he could subsist for months on flesh and milk — 
 sometimes he only had one, sometimes the other, sometimes 
 both. While he always maintained a proper self-respect as 
 a civilised man and a Christian, yet he could associate on 
 the most familiar terms with the rude savages around him, 
 
 16 
 
242 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 and make himself quite at home in their kraals and villages. 
 Like the great apostle of the Gentiles, whom in so many 
 Uiings he so closely resembled, he became all things to all 
 men, hoping thereby to save some. 
 
 He had a distinct and comprehensive view of his ivork. 
 lie knew that his great mission in going to Africa was to 
 save souls; yet in all his labours among the African race 
 Moffat cared for the temporal condition of the people — 
 sought to benefit their bodies as well as their souls. What 
 his illustrious son-in-law, Livingstone, says of his work, may 
 fitly describe that of Moffat himself: — "After family wor- 
 ship and breakfast, between six and seven, we kept school 
 — men, women, and children being all invited. This lasted 
 till eleven o'clock. The missionary's wife then betook her- 
 self to her domestic affairs, and the missionary engaged in 
 some manual labour, as that of a smith, carpenter, or 
 gardener. If he did jobs for the people, they worked for 
 him in turn, and exchanged their unskilled labour for his 
 skilled. Dinner and an hour's rest succeeded, v/hen the 
 wife attended her infant-school, which the young liked 
 amazingly, and generally mustered a hundred strong ; or 
 she varied it with sewing-classes for the girls, which was 
 equally well relished. After sunset the husband went into 
 the town to converse, either on general subjects or on 
 religion. We had a public service on three nights of the 
 week, and on another, instruction in secular subjects, aided 
 by pictures and specimens. In addition to these duties, we 
 prescribed for the sick and furnished food to the poor. The 
 smallest acts of friendship, even an obliging word and civil 
 look, are, as St. Xavier thought, no despicable part of the 
 missionary armour." 
 
 He never lost sight of the fact that everything he did 
 was to be made subservient to the great object of seeking to 
 save the souls for whom Christ had died. All other efforts 
 and aims were only valuable in his estimation as they 
 
ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER. 243 
 
 proved helpful to this. He saw the ruin and wretchedness 
 into which sin had plunged the people, and he desired to 
 lift them out of the horrible pit and the miry clay. They 
 were in the prison-house of an awful and degrading bondage, 
 and he would fain bring them out into the large liberty of 
 the sons of God. Hence he preached to them, in all its 
 fulness and power, the Gospel of salvation through Jesus 
 Christ — declared to them the glad tidings that "God so loved 
 the world as to give His only begotten Son, that whosoever 
 believeth on Him might not perish but have everlasting 
 life." 
 
 In making the preaching of the Gospel his chief business, 
 and the salvation of souls his chief end, he knew that he 
 was pursuing the best course for the attainment of all. In 
 this respect there was a most striking agreement between 
 his views and practice and the views and practice of that 
 other celebrated and successful missionary, John Williams 
 of Polynesia. Speaking of his labours in the South Sea 
 Islands, Mr. Williams says : — " While our best energies 
 have been devoted to the instruction of the people in the 
 truths of the Christian religion, and our chief solicitude has 
 been to make them wise unto salvation, we have at the same 
 time been anxious to impart a knowledge of all that was 
 calculated to increase their comforts and elevate their 
 character. And I am convinced that the first step towards 
 the promotion of a nation's temporal and social elevation 
 ig to plant amongst them the Tree of Life, when civilisation 
 and commerce will entwine their tendrils around its trunk, 
 and derive support from its strength. Until the people are 
 brought under the influence of religion they have no desire 
 for the arts and usages of civilised life, but that invnriably 
 creates it. 
 
 "The missionaries were at Tahiti many years, during 
 which they built and furnished a house in European style. 
 The natives saw this, but not an individual imitated their 
 
244 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 example. As soon, however, as they were brought under 
 the influence of Christianity, the chiefs, and even the 
 common people, began to build neat plastered cottages, and 
 to manufacture bedsteads, seats, and other articles of 
 furniture. The females had long observed the dress of the 
 missionaries' wives, but while heathen they greatly preferred 
 their own, and there was not a single attempt at imitation. 
 No sooner, however, were they brought under the influence 
 of religion, than all of them, even to the lowest, aspired to 
 the possession of a gown, a bonnet, and a shawl, that they 
 might appear like Christian women. I could proceed to 
 enumerate many other changes of the same kind, but these 
 will be sufficient to establish my assertion. While the 
 natives are under the influence of their superstitions, they 
 evince an inanity and torpor from which no stimulus has 
 proved powerful enough to arouse them but the new ideas 
 and the new principles imparted by Christianity. And if 
 it be not already proved, the experience of a few more years 
 Avill demonstrate the fact, that the missionary enterprise is 
 incomparably the most effective machinery that has ever 
 been brought to operate upon the social, the civil, and the 
 commercial, as well as the moral and spiritual, interests of 
 mankind." 
 
 Mechanical ingenuity has been a striking feature in 
 Moffat's character. Highly endowed with the faculty of 
 invention, he would have attained distinction had he devoted 
 himself to the improved application of mechanic powers. 
 The exercise of his genius in this direction was one of the 
 sources of his amazing success in the missionary field. His 
 exhibitions in this way spoke to the senses of the savages, 
 who stood in dumb amazement, and, when regaining speech, 
 confessed the white man's superiority. Of course in the 
 planting and training of trees and plants he was quite at 
 home. He could cultivate and irrigate the ground. But 
 he soon learnt to make waggons, and tables, and chairs ; to 
 
4 I 
 
 
 iU 
 
ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER. 245 
 
 forge and weld iron, and make implements of labour. The 
 account he gives of one of his attempts in this direction may 
 be quoted as an illustration. He sets about repairing a 
 waggon. "After ruminating," he says, "for a day or two 
 on what I had seen in the smith's shop in Cape Town, I 
 resolved on making a trial, and got a native bellows made 
 of goat's skin, to the neck of which was attached the horn 
 of an elk, and at the other end two parallel sticks were 
 fastened, which were opened by the hand in drawing it 
 back and closed when pressed forward, but making a 
 puffing like something broken-winded. The iron was only 
 red-hot after a good perspiration, when I found I must give 
 it up as a bad job, observing to the chief, if I must accom- 
 pany him it must be on the back of an ox. 
 
 " Reflecting again on the importance of having a waggon 
 for the purpose of carrying food, when game happened to be 
 killed (for our sole dependence was on the success of hunting), 
 and Africaner evidently not liking, on my account, to go 
 without a waggon, I set my brains again to work to try and 
 improve on the bellows, for it was wind I wanted. Though 
 I had never welded a bit of iron in my life, there was 
 nothing like trying. T engaged the chief to have two goats 
 killed, the largest on the station, and their skins prepared 
 entire, in the native way, till they were as soft as cloth. 
 These skins now resembled bags, the open ends of which I 
 nailed to the edge of a circular piece of board, in which was 
 3< valve. One end of the machine was connected with the 
 fire, and had a weight on it to force out the wind, when the 
 other end was drawn out to supply more air. This apparatus 
 was no sooner completed than it was put to the test, and 
 the result answered satisfactorily in a steady current of 
 air ; and soon I had all the people around me to witness 
 my operations with the newfangled bellows. Here I sat 
 receiving their praises, but heartily wishing their departure, 
 lest they should laugh at my burning the first bit of iron I 
 
246 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D, 
 
 took in my hands to weld, A blue granite-stone was my 
 anvil, a clumsy pair of tongs, indicative of Vulcan's first 
 efforts, and a hammer never intended for the work of a 
 forge. 
 
 " My first essay was with some trepidation, for I did not 
 like so many lookers-on. Success, however, crowned my 
 efibrts, to the no small delight of the spectators. Having 
 finished what was necessary for the waggon, I was encour- 
 aged to attempt the repair of some gun-locks. In doing 
 this I began with one which I thought I could not spoil 
 should I not succeed, and accomplishing that, I was able to 
 put the others in order; but in doing this I had, for the 
 want of steel, to sacrifice two of my files." And all this 
 was absolutely necessary to success in the circumstances in 
 which he found himself in South Africa. When St. Boni- 
 face landed in Britain, he carried with him a Gospel in one 
 hand and a carpenter's rule in the other. So Robert Mofiat 
 carried with him to Africa, as part of the religion he had to 
 teach, some knowledge of the useful arts and handicrafts of 
 life. 
 
 Marvellous as were the ease and skill with which he 
 executed the various, and some of them difficult and com- 
 plex, contrivances of art, the moral devices by which he 
 sought to interest and elevate the people around him ex- 
 hibit features scarcely less remarkable than those of the 
 mechanical. In both there was the same clear apprehension 
 of ends, the same ready suggestion and perfect adaptation 
 of means. Success, whetlier in framing a plan of Christian 
 beneficence or in constructing a useful machine, was never 
 a happy accident, but always an anticipated result. The 
 movements of his mind and of his hand were not made at 
 random, but were guided by wise forethought and founded 
 upon careful calculation. Hence their favourable termina- 
 tion and valuable fruits. 
 
 Perseverance was another element of our missionary's 
 
ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER. 247 
 
 success. Some persons are continually changing their pur- 
 suits and aims. They never accomplish any great results, 
 because they never persevere in the means necessary to 
 their accomplishment. Unstable as water, they never excel. 
 They only serve to illustrate the old proverb — "A rolling 
 stone gathers no moss." When Moffat undertook a Avork 
 he carried it out. He OAved as much to perseverance as to 
 power ; to unremitting diligence as to original and excellent 
 plans. Constituted by nature and prepared by grace for a 
 life of labour, he became, in every sense of the words, " a 
 workman that needed not to be ashamed." To each service 
 he undertook he gave himself wholly. Indolence, and pro- 
 crastination, and vacillation were as contrary to his pre- 
 dominant propensities as they were to his religious principles. 
 He deferred not until the morrow what the duty of every 
 day required. In his exertions there was nothing capricious 
 or fitful. He wrought by rule. As steady, moreover, in 
 the prosecution of a plan as he was careful in its conception, 
 he rarely left his work unfinished. His course was never 
 marked by hesitancy and change. Each day witnessed the 
 progress of what he had taken in hand, and if unavoidably 
 diverted from it for a season, his interest in the occupation 
 did not decline, but as soon as the interruption ceased he 
 returned to it with unrelaxed vigour. With application 
 and determination, such as he brought to bear upon every 
 important design, failure was scarcely possible. Such reso- 
 ♦lute purpose and unremitting labour could not fail to ensure 
 success. 
 
 The translation of the whole Bible into the Sechuana 
 tongue was a stupendous undertaking — one that required 
 the patient and persistent toil of years. Many and great 
 were the difiiculiies to be overcome. The monotonous 
 character of the work must have made it at times depressing 
 and irksome. But the man who had the boldness to under- 
 take it had the perseverance not to abandon it ; he never 
 
248 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 turned aside till the work was done. So with everything 
 else that he took in hand. He had two mottoes : Nil 
 desiJerandum — Perseverantia omnia vincit. Inspired by 
 these, he applied himself to all the details of his great 
 mission. Whatsoever his hands found to do he did it with 
 his might. He was steadfast, immovable, always abounding 
 in the work of the Lord, knowing that his labour would not 
 be in vain in the Lord. 
 
 Moffat gave the fullest proof of his love for the people 
 among whom he laboured. He identified himself with them ; 
 sought to guide and influence them by persuasion. He 
 therefore found his way to their hearts, and conquered their 
 prejudices and passions by the omnipotent force of love. 
 He has always been a firm believer in " the law of kind- 
 ness," and to his uniform observance of this law we must in 
 a great measure trace his success. Many examples of this 
 might be given ; one will suffice. 
 
 A chief of the Corannas called Paul, to whom Moflfat had 
 once preached, and who had then produced a somewhat 
 favourable impression on the missionary's mind, afterwards 
 became the head of a marauding commando, and pursued a 
 course of murder and rapine. He had robbed the people 
 among whom Moffat laboured of their cattle, and declared 
 his purpose to destroy the station, and the missionary de- 
 sired an interview with him. Paul had sworn that he would 
 not see Moffat, and for a time kept his oath. At length he 
 consented to an interview, and thus Moffat describes it : — 
 "I again met my half-way delegates, when, after a long con- 
 versation with Jantye and another message to Paul, he 
 made his appearance slowly and sadly, as if following a 
 friend to execution, or going himself to be slain. His face 
 appeared incapable of a smile. Taking his hand as that of 
 an old friend, I expressed my surprise that ho who knew 
 me, and who once listened to the message of salvation from 
 my lips, should come with such a force for the express pur- 
 
ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER. 249 
 
 pose of rooting out the mission. I referred him to the time 
 when more than once I had slept at the door of his hut and 
 partaken of his hospitality. He replied that his purposes 
 were unalterable, because more than a year ago a body of his 
 men, who had passed into the interior to take cattle from 
 the Barolongs, were attacked by Mothibi's people, and that 
 although Mothibi was fled, many of his subjects and the 
 Batlaros were on the station. His eyes glared with fury as 
 he said, ' I shall have their blood and their cattle too ! ' 
 
 *' People in this country can scarcely conceive how difficult, 
 not to say how impossible, it is to argue with such characters, 
 for some will not hear. But Paul could argue ; and having 
 once listened to my voice with pleasure, the long time which 
 had elapsed had not effaced the impressions made by the 
 visit and presence of a teacher. Although I was not preach- 
 ing, I spoke with great solemnity, asking him if the bleached 
 bones on the Barolong and Kalagari plains, the souls his 
 clubs and spears had hurried into eternity since he left home, 
 and the innocent blood with which he had stained the desert 
 but a few days ago, were not sufficient to glut his revenge, 
 or rather to make him tremble for the judgments which 
 such a career would certainly bring upon himself and his 
 people, and which had already begun to be poured out on the 
 blood-guilty tribes of the Orange River 1 
 
 " After having talked to him for some time in this strain, 
 I begged him to call to mind his first and only visit to me 
 while with Africaner, and his declaration, at a subsequent 
 period, that he and his people were leaving because it was 
 rumoured that Africaner was about to remove from the 
 country in which his presence had been the bond of union, 
 entreating him to compare his state of mind at that time 
 with what it was now. This had scarcely passed my lips 
 when he ordered his men to go and bring the cattle which 
 had been taken from our people, and added that he would 
 not go a step further, but return by the way he came. In 
 
250 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 the course of a subsequent conversation, I inquired why he 
 was so determined on not seeing me. ' I could not forget 
 your kindness to me in Namaqua land,' was the reply. In 
 this the reflecting reader will observe a fresh instance of the 
 omnipotence of love, even among the most barbarous of the 
 human race." 
 
 Then, covering all, there was his comiplete devotion to the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. He considered himself the servant of 
 Christ, — this above everything else. What he did he did 
 unto the Lord, who had ransomed him from sin and all its 
 consequences. He felt that He had redeemed him at the 
 cost of His own blood, and that such a Redeemer deserved 
 his heartiest and best service. The thought that in all things 
 he was serving Christ — living under law to Him, living as 
 in His eye and for His glory, elevated and enlarged his 
 conceptions of the most common work. Indeed no work 
 to him was common. He realised in himself the spirit of 
 George Herbert: — 
 
 "A servant with this clause 
 
 Makes drudgery divine ; 
 Who sweeps a room, as for Thy laws, 
 
 Makes that and th' action fine. 
 This is tlie famous stone 
 
 That turneth all to gold ; 
 For that which God doth touch and own, 
 
 Cannot for less be told." 
 
 He considered himself as Christ's, and Christ's alone, Tenny- 
 son makes Knig Arthur say — " My knights are sworn to 
 vows of utter hardihood, utter gentleness and loving, utter 
 faithfulness in love, and uttermost obedience to the king." 
 Such were the vows Moffat took upon himself when he went 
 forth to the missionary field. Henceforth he had a single 
 eye m all things to the pleasure and glory of his sovereign 
 Lord. Dr. Judson, the great Burman missionary, formed 
 among other resolutions for the regulation of his life this 
 
ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER. 251 
 
 one—" Resolved not to do anything which does not appear 
 at the time to be well-pleasing to Christ." The spirit of this 
 resolution was the inward principle of Mofifat's missionary 
 career. 
 
 Taking him altogether, we have in Robert Moffat one of 
 the noblest characters — one of the finest specimens of sancti- 
 fied humanity the world has ever seen. His name will be 
 remembered in Africa to latest ages with gratitude and 
 honour. When some future historian, rising up from among 
 the people themselves, shall write its history, Moffat and 
 his distinguished son-in-law, Livingstone, will be spoken of 
 as two of its greatest benefactors. Through all ages their 
 memory will ])e more precious than jewels — more fragrant 
 than the spices of Arabia or the breath of May. 
 
, ( 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 OTHER AFRICAN MISSIONS. 
 
 T may not be inappropriate to devote in closing the 
 last two chapters of this book, one to a brief sketch 
 of missionary work on the African continent, the 
 other to a general survey of missionary operations 
 throughout the world. As Dr. Moffat was an agent of the 
 London Missionary Society, our references have been chiefly 
 to labours in connection with that institution ; but several 
 other societies have laboured long, and are labouring still, 
 among the various peoples of the African race. In their 
 ultimate object, and the general means employed for its 
 attainment, these several societies, and all united, stand in 
 close relation to Moffat's life-work. 
 
 The Wesleyan Missionary Society began its share in the 
 evangelisation of Southern Africa in the year 1814, when 
 the Rev. J. M'Kenny was sent out as tlic first missionary. 
 He arrived in Cape Town in August of that year, but such 
 was the jealousy of the Government authorities that he was 
 not allowed to open his commission, or to preach in tlio 
 colony, although he produced credentials of the most satis- 
 factory character. He was therefore instructed by his com- 
 mittee to proceed to Ceylon, They were not disposed, 
 
OTHER AFRICAN MISSIONS. 253 
 
 however, to relinquish their efforts for the spiritual welfare 
 of the degraded tribes of Southern Africa in consequence of 
 the failure of their first experiment. In 1815 they appointed 
 the Rev, Barnabas Shaw to attempt the commencement of 
 a mission at the Cape. On his arrival he presented his 
 credentials to the Governor, but met with no better success 
 than his predecessor. His Excellency declined to give him 
 permission to preach in Cape Town, on the ground that 
 the English and the Dutch colonists were provided with 
 ministers, whilst the owners of slaves were unwilling to 
 have them religiously instructed. Mr. Shaw naively says : — 
 "Having been refused the sanction of the Governor, I was 
 resolved what to do, and commenced without it on the 
 following Sabbath. My congregations at first were chiefly 
 composed of pious soldiers, and it was in a room hired by 
 them that I first preached Christ and Him crucified in 
 South Africa." Although it would appear that the Govern- 
 ment authorities took no notice of this infringement of their 
 regulations, yet the spirit of prejudice against missionary 
 efforts prevailed to such an extent among the colonists that 
 Mr. Shaw was much discouraged, and saw little prospect of 
 good in Cape Town. Under these circumstances he longed 
 for an opening to preach the Gospel to the heathen in the 
 interior, where he would not be subject to the annoyances 
 and hindrances experienced in the colony. 
 
 At length an opportunity was afforded of engaging in this 
 enterprise. One of the agents of the London Missionary 
 Society came to Cape Town from Great Namaqua land on a 
 visit, and he made such representations of the openings for 
 missionary labour in that country, that on his kind invitation 
 Mr. Shaw and his wife resolved to accompany him back. 
 Leaving Cape Town, the missionary party had pursued 
 their toilsome journey for nearly a month, when, by a 
 remarkable providence, Mr. Shaw found an opening for 
 a suitable sphere of labour. He actually met with the 
 
254 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 chief of Little ISTamaqua land on his way to Cape Town to seek 
 for a Christian teacher. Having heard his affecting story, 
 and being deeply impressed with the fact that the finger of 
 God was pointing in the direction in which he ought to go, 
 the missionary agreed to accompany the chief to his moun- 
 tain home. On reaching the end of their journey, a council 
 was held by the chief and some of his head-men respecting 
 the arrival of the missionary, when they all entreated him 
 to remain with them, and promised to assist him in every 
 possible way. He therefore immediately opened his com- 
 mission by proclaiming the glad tidings of salvation, and by 
 teaching both old and young the elements of religion and 
 the use of letters. It was trying work, and required much 
 patience, but labour, prayer, faith, perseverance, were 
 eventually rewarded with success. A number of children 
 and young people learned to read with tolerable facility, 
 and a native church was formed of faithful members, 
 who were a credit to their religious profession. At the 
 same time, the civilising influences of Christianity were 
 brought to bear upon the people, and from year to year 
 their temporal condition was materially improved. 
 
 Whilst the missionary was thus endeavouring to instruct 
 the people, he had to labour hard at intervals to build a house 
 to live in, and a sanctuary for the worship of God. In the 
 accomplishment of these undertakings many difliculties had 
 to be overcome. The people, although willing to assist, had 
 never been accustomed to continuous labour, and ludicrous 
 scenes were witnessed in the progress of the work. When 
 the buildings were ready for the roofs, no trees fit for timber 
 could be found within a day's journey of the station, but 
 when they arrived at the place the missionary produced 
 for the first time his cross-cut saw, himself working at one 
 end and a Namaqua at the other. Great was the joy of the 
 people on beholding the result, and they could scarcely be 
 restrained from cutting more timber than was required, on 
 
OTHER AFRICAN MISSIONS. 255 
 
 account of their delight at witnessing the performance of 
 the instrument as one tree after another fell to the ground. 
 Nor were their delight and surprise the less on seeing 
 the first plough set to work, which the missionary had made 
 chiefly with his own hands. The old chief stood upon a 
 hill for some time in mute astonishment ; at length he 
 called to his counsellors at a short distance, saying, " Come 
 and see the strange thing. Look how it tears up the ground 
 with its iron mouth ! If it goes on so all the day it will do 
 more work than ten wives ! " Hitherto the work of tilling 
 the ground had been left to the women and slaves, but the 
 introduction of the Gospel into the country was destined to 
 mark a new era in agricultural pursuits as well as in the 
 moral condition of the people. Mr. Shaw had taken with 
 him to Africa a few garden seeds, the rapid growth of which 
 amused the natives greatly, but when they saw the use to 
 which the lettuce and other salads were appropriated, they 
 laughed heartily, saying, " If the missionary and his wife 
 can eat grass, they need never starve ! " 
 
 A brief account of a visit to this station in recent years 
 will give some idea of the progress that has been made. 
 Mr. Moister, speaking of what he saw in 1853, says: — 
 "After a toilsome journey through the wilderness we 
 atrived at Bethel, on Friday the 14 th of July, and were 
 glad to find that the resident missionary, the Rev. J. A. 
 Bailie, and the people of the station, had already removed 
 to the XJnderveldt for the winter months. Saturday was 
 spent in conversing with Mr. Bailie and a few of the head- 
 men on various matters pertaining to the religious and 
 temporal interests of the institution, the result of which 
 was very satisfactory. Towards evening a number of the 
 natives arrived at the station from distant places, some in 
 waggons and others on horseback, to be ready for the 
 services of the Sabbath. At an early hour on Sunday 
 morning we were awoke by the singing of the natives, who 
 
256 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 had already assembled in the adjoining chapel to hold their 
 usual prayer-meeting. We immediately arose and joined 
 them in their devotions. The prayers were offered partly 
 in Dutch and partly in Namaqua." The same gentleman 
 paid a second visit to this station two or three years after, 
 when he found there a beautiful new chapel, capable of 
 holding six hundred persons, built of stone at a cost of 
 about XI 000, erected by the united efforts and contribu- 
 tions of the people, without any foreign aid, except the gift 
 of the pulpit by a few friends in Cape Town. There were 
 abundant evidences also of material progress and improve- 
 ment in the temporal affairs of the people. About seven 
 hundred acres of land had been brought under cultivation, 
 and the natives belonging to the institution owned about 
 one hundred ploughs, thirty waggons, two thousand five 
 hundred horned cattle, four hundred horses, and seven 
 thousand sheep and goats. 
 
 The Rev. W, Threlfall, one of the earliest missionaries, 
 was brutally murdered in 1825. Accompanied by two 
 native teachers he set out for Great Namaqua land on a 
 journey of observation, with a view to the extension of the 
 work. They travelled without molestation till they had got 
 two or three days journey beyond the Orange River. At 
 this point they came in contact with troublesome wander- 
 ing tribes of Bushmen. Although they had with them a 
 few goods for barter, they suffered much for want of food, 
 the people being unfriendly and unwilling to supply them. 
 They obtained a guide at one of the villages, but he and 
 his companions formed a plot for the destruction of the whole 
 mission party, that they might take possession of their effects. 
 The following night, while Mr. Threlfall and his companions 
 were sleeping under a bush, without tlie slightest appre- 
 hension of danger, their foes came upon them and murdered 
 them in cold blood. Although this circumstance prevented 
 the establishment of a mission to the north of the Orange 
 
OTHER AFRICAN MISSIONS. 257 
 
 River at that time, jet in 1832 the work was begun there, 
 and has continued to the present time. In the Beclmana 
 country something has been done also by Wesleyan mis- 
 sionaries. Remnants of various scattered tribes have from 
 time to time gathered around them, and through their 
 influence have settled down and become a comparatively 
 prosperous and happy people. 
 
 The labours of the Wesleyan brethren cover other large 
 districts in Southern Africa. There are about seventy 
 missionaries preaching the Gospel in the vernacular tongues 
 of the people to whom they minister, eleven thousand five 
 hundred and twenty -four church members of different nations 
 and tribes of people, and twelve thousand three hundred 
 and forty-three scholars receiving instruction in the mission 
 schools. It is a noteworthy fact also, that the holy Scrip- 
 tures and other religious books have been translated into 
 five or six different languages by the missionaries for the 
 use of the natives. Some of these languages never had been 
 written when they undertook the task of reducing them to 
 a grammatical form. 
 
 In 1821 two missionaries, Messrs. Thomson and Bourne, 
 went out to South Africa from Glasgow, under the direction 
 of what was then called the Glasgow Missionary Society, 
 with the view of commencing a mission in Caffi-aria. They 
 were afterwards followed from time to time by other mis- 
 sionaries, and several stations were established. For some 
 years they had to encounter great difficulties, partly from 
 the indifferent and stupid character of the people, and partly 
 from the unhappy disturbances which prevailed between the 
 people and the British Government. The situation of the 
 missionaries was at once difficult and perilous. Flushed 
 with success, or whetted by revenge, the Caffres would not 
 Dear to be spoken to, and when the British troops began to 
 scour the country, and burn their kraals, and seize their 
 cattle, and make reprisals, they became excited almost to 
 
 ir 
 
258 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 fury, and charged the missionaries with being their enemies 
 because they did not prevent the devastation of the soldiers. 
 The missionaries stopped in the country as long as they 
 could, but they were at length obliged to escape for their 
 lives. Parties of soldiers were sent to protect them on their 
 way to the English camp, and they afterwards escorted 
 them to Graham's Town. In the latter part of 1835 peace 
 was restored to the country, and they returned to the 
 scenes of their work. 
 
 The missionaries after their return set themselves to 
 repair their houses, which had been destroyed by the natives. 
 They supplied the people with food, paid them for their 
 work with goats, spades, picks, seed-corn, and other useful 
 articles, deeming it their duty to make a vigorous efibrt to 
 convince them that by a little exertion they might save 
 themselves from famine without having recourse, and that 
 in vain, to a rain-maker. The missionaries also resumed 
 their accustomed labours amongst them, and everything by 
 degrees assumed much the same aspect as before the war* 
 Schools were established for general instruction to the youth 
 of both sexes, and also for teaching the girls sewing. Many 
 of the Caffres were baptised, but they had to bear much 
 from the opposition of their countrymen, and often from 
 their nearest relatives, and in their own dwellings. The 
 native teachers especially were frequently hooted and laughed 
 at when endeavouring to set before their countrymen the 
 truths of religion. The teacher of one school was debarred 
 from making his usual visits to the neighbouring kraals, 
 and the children were not allowed a footpath to the school 
 because a child belonging to the head-man of the district 
 had died, and it was said the teacher had killed it with 
 his prayers. Another of the teachers was prevented for a 
 time from visiting some kraals, because he dressed in 
 European clothing, thereby giving proof of his disposition 
 to bewitch the people, and especially the children. The 
 
OTHER AFRICAN MISSIONS. 259 
 
 mother of a family was charged with killing her children 
 since she began to pray and serve God. There prevailed 
 throughout Caffraria great dread and mistrust of mission- 
 aries. Their stations were regarded by many as branch 
 establishments of the Colonial Government for the wholesale 
 murder of the natives, and for despoiling them of their 
 country. 
 
 In 1846, and again in 1850, hostilities broke out between 
 the English and the Caffres, and were attended on each 
 occasion by the breaking up of the mission and the destruc- 
 tion of the stations, including a large amount of property. 
 Subsequently the work was resumed, and has been carried 
 on with comparative success to the present day. It is now 
 under the direction of the Free Church of Scotland. 
 
 The Lovedale Institution is an educational establishment 
 in connection with this mission of no mean order. Lovedale 
 lies about seven hundred miles north-east of Cape Town, 
 on a small river which once formed the boundary of Caffraria 
 proper. The aims of Lovedale are very varied, though it 
 has one to which all others are subordinate. It seeks to 
 train as preachers such young men as may be foand fit for the 
 work ; to train teachers for native schools ; to train a certain 
 number in various arts of civilised life, such as waggon- 
 making, blacksmithing, carpentering, printing, bookbinding, 
 telegraphy, and general agricultural work ; to give a 
 general education to those whose course in life is not yet 
 decided. There are two main departments in the institute — 
 the male and the female. The buildings are separated by a 
 short distance. In both the work carried on is educational 
 and industrial ; but while each department of work has its 
 own special aim, the institution as a whole is carried on with 
 one primary object — the essential purpose of Lovedale is to 
 Christianise. 
 
 The results of the work at Lovedale have been eminently 
 satisfactory. It has given birth to other institutions of a 
 
260 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.B. 
 
 similar character. Blythswood, in the Traiiskei, is a direct 
 offshoot from it, and was begun at the request of the 
 natives, who wished for an institution similar to Lovedalo. 
 Livingstonia, on Lake Nyassa, may be regarded as another 
 offshoot. From the theological class have proceeded native 
 pastors, well-educated and intelligent men ; there are also 
 many others in different positions for which they have been 
 qualified by the higher course of education. From tlie 
 trades departments there are many who went to Lovedale at 
 eight shillings a month now earning five to seven shillings 
 a day as waggon-makers, blacksmiths, and carpenters. Tlio 
 spiritual results have been most satisfactory. Sixty workers 
 are sent out every Sunday to hold evangelistic meetings in 
 the neighbouring kraals. There are three periodicals pub- 
 lished monthly — The Christian Express in English, TJte 
 Islqidimi in Caffre, and The Lovedale I\ews in English. 
 
 Among the favourable opinions which have been expressed 
 concerning the institution by public men, we may note the 
 following. Sir Bartle Frere says: " Nothing v/ould do more 
 to prevent future Caffre wars than a multiplication of such 
 institutions as Lovedale and Blythswood." Mr. Anthony 
 Trollope, in his "South Africa," says: "Lovedale has had, 
 and is having, very great success. It has been established 
 under Presbyterian auspices, but is altogether undenomina- 
 tional in its tuition." Dr. Dale, Superintendent-General of 
 ■Education in Cape Colony, recently in the Daily Keim 
 expressed his opinion thus : " Undoubtedly the Lovedale 
 Institution is one of the noblest and most successful mis- 
 sionary agencies founded and supported in the Cape Colony 
 by British philanthropy."' 
 
 The Paris Society for Evangelical Missions was estab- 
 lished in 1827. Among the measures which it early adopted 
 was the institution of a college for the education of young- 
 men as missionaries. Some of the first brethren sent out 
 from Europe settled in Wagenmaker Yalley, about thirty 
 
OTHER AFRICAN MISSIONS. 261 
 
 miles from Cape Town, among the descendants of the French 
 refugees and their slaves. Others went into the interior, 
 and settled at a place called Motito, in the Bechuana 
 country. In a few years fresh stations were established, 
 extending over a wide extent of country, and the success of 
 the mission was on the whole highly pleasing. The con- 
 gregations were considerable, and numbers of natives wer€ 
 baptised and admitted as communicants. Many gave abun- 
 dant evidence of piety, and were zealous to make known the 
 Gospel to their countrymen. Schools were established, and 
 were attended by considerable numbers, both old and young. 
 The wives of the missionaries rendered valuable service by 
 superintending the schools for females, by inculcating on 
 them habits of order, economy, and propriety, and by giving 
 them the first notions of the management and training of 
 children. 
 
 The missionaries translated into the Sechuana language 
 the Book of Psalms and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, 
 and John. They also printed school-books, a catechism, a 
 collection of hymns and prayers, and short tracts on the 
 chief doctrines and duties of religion. The people made 
 considerable advances in some of the more common and 
 necessary arts of civilised life. Many of them built them- 
 selves convenient houses instead of their old smoky and 
 unhealthy huts. In place of the skins of animals, which 
 they used to throw over their bodies, the men adopted 
 in part the European dress, while the women who had 
 learned to sew made decent clothes for themselves and 
 their daughters. They obtained ploughs and other agricul- 
 tural implements, and extended their husbandry ; and many 
 of them occupied themselves in the culture of corn, which 
 they sold to the Dutch farmers for cattle, clothing, salt, and 
 other useful articles. The missionary stations furnished a 
 striking example of the influence of Christian missions in 
 improving the condition of the most savage tribes ; some- 
 
262 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 times, however, they suffered, in common with other parts 
 of the country, from the depredations which the native 
 tribes carried on against each other, and the people had at 
 such seasons to remove their cattle to distant parts. Of 
 late years the missionaries have been able to pursue their 
 work with great encouragement. 
 
 This society has at present a flourishing Basuto mission. 
 At the Mildmay Park Conference in 1878, M. Appia, a 
 representative of the society, thus spoke of its position and 
 influence ', — " Our first missionaries, when they went out, 
 thought of the Korannas. Whilst they were ready to go to 
 them, they remained a whole night praying for guidance. 
 The next morning there came a white hunter, and he said, 
 
 * Are you not missionaries 1 ' They said they were ; where- 
 upon he replied, ' I am sent by a chief in the interior of 
 Africa to seek after teachers ; his name is Moshesh, of the 
 Basuto tribe.' And so three of our friends were led by the 
 hunter to that spot. Our mission has saved one part of the 
 Basuto country from drink — the great curse of your country. 
 Your Government sent representativ^es to Moshesh, holding 
 out to him the prospect of free trade. They came to us, and 
 we asked them, 'What have they sent"?' Tree trade!' 
 
 * Yes,' we said, ' it is a right principle ; ' and they said they 
 must be subject to the Queen. I said, 'That is right; but 
 you must not do one thing— you must not allow the selling 
 of strong drink.' Some Dutch and white merchants once 
 came with casks of brandy and whisky to sell, and the black 
 chief ordered his men to take out the bung, and while the 
 liquor rushed down the streets the white man was taking 
 his hat and catching as much as he could and putting it to 
 his lips, and the black man was standing wondering all the 
 time. Our French missionaries have built a wall against 
 strong drink around Basuto land, and neither whisky nor 
 brandy shall enter into that land. This, let me tell you, is 
 important. I think you can test by this means the influence 
 
OTHER AFRICAN MISSIONS. 263 
 
 our missionaries have had upon the country. Now for the 
 numbers. We have in our schools upwards of three thousand 
 scholars and about four thousand communicants. During 
 the last year three hundred and fifty-two children were 
 baptised, and three hundred and forty-eight adults. We 
 have fifteen missionaries, sixty-six out-stations, and ninety 
 evangelists." 
 
 The Rhenish Missionary Society was constituted in 1828, 
 by the union of three previous existing associations at 
 Elberfeld, Barmen, and Cologne, and they were soon after 
 joined by other associations in the Rhenish Provinces and 
 in Westphalia. The society derives its support chiefly from 
 the territory between the Rhine and the Maase. The first 
 missionaries sailed from London for the Cape in 1829, but 
 they were afterwards followed by others, and numerous 
 stations have since been formed both within and beyond the 
 colony. The work was carried on long without much fruit, 
 but in later years there have been many tokens of blessings. 
 
 In 1833 the Berlin Missionary Society was formed, and 
 commenced its foreign operations by sending four mission- 
 aries to South Africa. These were afterwards followed by 
 others, and a number of stations were formed in the Cape 
 Colony, Caffraria, the Bechuana country, and Natal Colony. 
 •In 1845 the Rev. Mr. Scholtz, who with four other 
 missionaries had lately arrived in South Africa, was 
 murdered by two Caffres when on the way to the scene of 
 their future labours. Addressing the Mildmay Park Con- 
 ference, to which we have adverted more than once. Dr. 
 Wangemann, the secretary of the Berlin Society, presented 
 the following view of its work: — "The Berlin Missionary 
 Society, which I have the honour to represent before this 
 conference, has, though limiting its labours to South Africa, 
 acquired a very large field for its operations. It has spread 
 out its net of forty-two stations over a country a thousand 
 miles in length, and five hundred in breadth, comprising 
 
264 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 within its limits seven different nations, among whom the 
 Gospel has to bo preached in seven different languages. 
 Besides its fifty-three ordained labourers, four colonist 
 missionaries give instructions to the natives in industrial 
 branches. About eight thousand baptised converts from 
 among the heathen come together in our churches, two thou- 
 sand children are in oui native schools, and there are more 
 than a thousand inquirers in the rooms of the catechists. Our 
 forty-two stations extend over the whole of South Africa. 
 Five of them are in the Old Cape Colony, five in Old Caffre 
 land, six in the Orange Free State, six in Natal, and twenty- 
 two are in the Transvaal. The whole are divided into six 
 superintendencies. I make bold to say that scarcely any 
 missionary work in South Africa exceeds ours in extent. 
 
 " One characteristic feature of our society is our poverty. 
 Having only ,£12,000 a-year to spend on this extensive 
 work, it is evident that our missionaries live according to 
 the apostolic rule ; having food and raiment they are there- 
 with content. Nevertheless, we in Berlin are very zealous 
 in promoting the education and instruction of our mis- 
 sionaries. For five years they receive daily instruction for 
 two hours in Bible knowledge, and for three or four more 
 in the ancient languages, systematic theology, and kindred 
 disciplines. Before being sent out they have to undergo a 
 somewhat hard examination under the presidency of a mem- 
 ber of the Ecclesiastical Consistory. A second characteristic 
 of our work is its caution and sobriety. We never baptise 
 anyljody in whom m'o have not before seen visible indications 
 of the working of the holy Spirit ; nor do we ever employ 
 worldly means to swell the number of our members. We 
 exercise strict church discipline. It is very seldom that oi^.e 
 of our converts will be found in prison ; and while there is 
 a general complaint against the Cliristian black servants in 
 Africa, our people are sought in general as good, useful, 
 trustworthy labourers and servants." 
 
OTHER AFRICAN MISSIONS. 265 
 
 The American Board for Foreign Missions sent out six 
 missionaries to the Cape in 1834, half of them to labour in 
 the interior and half on the coast, at Port Natal or its 
 vicinity. On their arrival, three proceeded by way of 
 Griqua Town and Kuruman to Mosika, where the French 
 missionaries had begun a station a few years before ; they 
 were soon, however, compelled to leave the country and join 
 their brethren at Natal. 
 
 In 1838 James Backhouse and George W. Walker, two 
 members of the Society of Friends, visited South Africa, 
 and prosecuted their pious and benevolent labours among 
 all classes of the population. In the course of their exten- 
 sive journeyings they visited the stations of most of the 
 societies to which we have referred, although they were 
 scattered over a vast extent of country, and often at a great 
 distance from one another. By the missionaries of the 
 various denominations they were received in the most 
 friendly manner, and every facility was given them, and 
 assistance afforded, in addressing the people under their 
 care. Though their addresses were not free from the pecu- 
 liarities of Friends, yet their declarations concerning the 
 way of salvation through Jesus Christ were such as to shew 
 the substantial unity of all evangelical Christians. 
 
 The Moravian brethren still carry on their useful work in 
 South Africa ; but passing by them, and one or two efforts 
 on a smaller scale, we hasten to furnish this sketch with a 
 notice of the Oxford and Cambridge South Central African 
 Mission. The geographical discoveries of Dr. Livingstone, 
 Avhen told by himself on his visit to this country in 1856, 
 awakened a profound and widespread influence. The 
 unaffected and simple bearing of the great traveller, the 
 evident high principles of the man, the resolute will, and the 
 calm self-possessed power that had carried him through the 
 toils and perils of his sixteen years African research, opened 
 all hearts to his story. Livingstone knew how to tu-rn the 
 
266 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 position he had gained to the account of the cause for which 
 his geographical researches had been prosecuted. With a 
 mind thoroughly unsectarian he appealed to all sections of 
 the church, and alike to Episcopalians and Nonconformists, 
 His visit to Cambridge, about a year after his return, was 
 the most remarkable event of his home life. His reception 
 was an ovation. His lecture on the occasion closed with 
 words that could not be forgotten in an assembly composed 
 at once of the grave and reflective, and of the impressive, 
 ardent, and enterprising minds of the university. "I'll 
 go back," said he, " to Africa to try and make an open path 
 for commerce and Christianity. Do you carry out the 
 work which I have begun. I leave it with you." 
 
 The seed which Livingstone sowed in that lecture ripened 
 slowly. A dead lull succeeded the storm of enthusiasm, 
 and Livingstone and his Africans seemed forgotten. He 
 was not, however, to be altogether disappointed. There was 
 labouring among the CafFres at the time an earnest, devoted 
 man, Charles Frederick Mackenzie by name, who had taken 
 a high place in Cambridge University, and who had gone 
 out some time before to preach among the heathen the 
 unsearchable riches of Christ. The energy and zeal of 
 Mackenzie were apostolic. In his wilderness home at 
 Umhlali, in the Caffre school, or in the midst of the Caffre 
 village and the native infant churches, he found scope for 
 his simple, earnest. Christian faith and work. There, as he 
 rejoiced in the abundance of his congenial labour, and 
 thought of the brief twelve hours of the Sabbath day on 
 which it had mainly to be wrought, he wrote home : " My 
 only regret is that I cannot make more of my Sunday than 
 what I do. I wish T could say, like Joshua, * Sun, stand 
 thou still.' " 
 
 The missionary labours of Mackenzie were abruptly closed 
 by his coming to England in prosecution of arrangements 
 for the appointment of a missionary bishop to the Zulu 
 
OTHER AFRICAN MISSIONS. 267 
 
 country. The Oxford and Cambridge Mission received a 
 fresh impulse at the time of his return. The field chosen 
 was South Central Africa, and the object of the mission 
 announced to be the establishment of one or two more 
 stations as centres of Christianity and civilisation. With 
 the Christian instruction of the natives there was to be kept 
 specially in view the promotion of agriculture, lawful com- 
 merce, and ultimate extirpation of the slave trade. The 
 mission was cast after the conception of those early mission 
 monasteries to which England and Germany owed their 
 Christianity and first lessons in civilisation, only free from 
 their monastic restraints. It was to be a settlement prac- 
 tically to illustrate Christian life, and from whence, as a 
 centre, to spread Christian truth. The scheme was planned 
 on a scale worthy of the universities, and if the ultimate 
 choice of a location had corresponded with the sagacity of 
 the preliminary arrangements, its brief history would have 
 presented a less discouraging record of failure. 
 
 The most anxious of the preliminary steps was the selec- 
 tion of a leader for the enterprise. This difiiculty was being 
 keenly felt when Mackenzie, reappearing at Cambridge like 
 one, as it was said, who had dropped from the clouds, was 
 at once recognised as the man to head the mission. He 
 accepted the leadership, and sailed for Africa. At Cape 
 Town he was consecrated " Bishop of the Mission to the 
 tribes dwelling in the neighbourhood of the Lake Nyanza 
 and the River Shire." By arrangements with Dr. Living- 
 stone, the missionary party was conveyed up the Zambesi 
 and Shire in the small steamer which the Government had 
 placed at the command of the traveller. It was not allowed 
 to Bishop Mackenzie to mature the plan of his mission set- 
 tlement, or, in despair of success, to transfer its operations 
 to another field. His strength was soon prostrated by suc- 
 cessive attacks of fever. By an unfortunate accident his 
 canoe had been upset, and his store of quinine and packet 
 
268 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 of medicine for combating fever swept away. No substitutes 
 were at hand, and nothing could be procured to sustain the 
 strength which the fever was striking down. He conse- 
 quently fell a victim to its power, and died in the midst 
 of his work. The natural unhealthiness of tlie settlement 
 quickly drained the strength of the European members ; 
 even the natives sank under the fever-air of its low 
 position, fifty having died within the first twelve or eighteen 
 months. When it was at length determined to abandon the 
 station and settle at Chibisa, the heat of the new station 
 was found to be intolerable. The entire mission on the 
 Zambesi and Shire was ultimately broken up. 
 
 At present the Universities' Mission is under Bishop 
 Steere, and occupies the country lying between the Lake 
 Nyassa and the East Coast. Stations have been established 
 at Magila and Masasi, and the efforts to afford industrial 
 traininir to tlie released slaves and other natives, and to 
 promote education in the schools in Zanzibar, appear to 
 have been highly successful, as is proved by the fact that 
 no expedition to the interior is thoroughly complete without 
 {me or more of the lads trained in the schools. It was one 
 of these lads who, with the permission of Mr. Stanley, was 
 left with King Mtesa, and there translated and read the 
 Bible, following up the efforts of Mr. Stanley to unfold the 
 main truths of Christianity before that chief and his court. 
 Whatever the future of tlie Universities' Mission may be, if 
 it have no other story to tell than the life of its first bishop, 
 its work will not have been in vain. The record of his 
 self-dedication, noble unselfishness, heroism without display, 
 cheerfulness under all trials, and singular union of feminine 
 gentleness with calm energy of will and loving unfaltering 
 submission to duty, will yet summon many a soldier to the 
 mission ranks, prepared to follow in self-sacrificing love the 
 footprints of Charles Frederick Mackenzie. 
 
 There are other Christian Missions in Africa. Amonj^ 
 
OTHER AFRICAN MISSIONS. 269 
 
 those on the West Coast one of the most interesting is that 
 conducted "by the Baptist Missionary Society. Its origin 
 and history are alike remarkable. Soon after the emancipa- 
 tion of the slaves in the West Indies a hlack man of the 
 name of Keith sold all that he possessed, worked his passage 
 to Africa, and proclaimed on the very spot whence he had 
 been stolen the Gospel of salvation. Many others offered 
 their services. When it was hinted that they might be 
 made slaves again, they answered, "We have been made 
 slaves for men ; we can be made slaves for Christ." In 
 1840 the mission to Western Africa was commenced. The 
 llcv. John Clarke and Dr. Prince were sent to explore the 
 coast, especially on or near the banks of the Niger. Every- 
 where they met M'ith a cordial recej)tion from the natives, 
 but favourable circumstances led them to select, as the seat 
 of the mission, the island of Fernando Po, immediately 
 opposite the mouth of the Cameroons River. This island 
 presented an encouraging field for missionary enterprise 
 among the aborigines of the interior, as well as in the 
 colony of Clarence, then much frequented by traders on the 
 coast and by Her Majesty's cruisers employed in the sup- 
 })ression of the slave trade. The chiefs on the banks of 
 the Cameroons River also gave them a hearty welcome. 
 Stations were soon formed in Fernando Po and on the 
 coast. The languages of tlie people were diligently studied 
 and reduced to writing. Vocabularies and school-books in 
 various dialects were prepared, and portions of holy Scrip- 
 ture were translated and put to press. Then disease and 
 death began to invade the homes of the missionaries, and 
 the prospects of the mission became clouded with sorrow 
 and strife. 
 
 In 1843, in 1846, and again in 1856, the Government 
 of Spain, in pursuance of its claim to the sovereignty of 
 i''ernando Po, sent Jesuit priests to stay the progress of 
 heresy, and to present themselves as the only legitimate 
 
270 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 teachers of Christianity. In 1858 the Spanish authorities 
 proclaimed the religion of the colony to be that of the 
 Roman Catholic Church, although there was not a single 
 native adherent of that church on the island. All other 
 forms of Christianity were absolutely prohibited. Protests 
 were in vain. Led by the Rev. Alfred Saker, the bulk of 
 the people determined to seek freedom of conscience and 
 liberty of worship elsewhere, and they found a new home 
 on the wild forest-covered shores of Amboises Bay, at the 
 foot of the great mountain of Cameroons. Here the colony 
 of Victoria was established, and amid many privations and 
 hardships a new temple was raised for the worship of the 
 Lord of Hosts. 
 
 Since the exclusion of the missionaries from Fernando 
 Po by the Spanish Government the operations of the society 
 have been confined to the Continent. Durino- the time 
 when the slave trade was rife the population was greatly 
 diminished. Entire districts of the country were devas- 
 tated, and the towns and villages demolished, to supply the 
 accursed traffic. Since the abolition of the trade the tribes 
 have again increased in numbers, and villages have been 
 planted on the desolated spots. 
 
 About twenty miles from the mouth of the Cameroons 
 River we come to the mission settlements. " I cannot 
 describe," says Mr. Saker, " the condition in which I found 
 this whole people. A book they had not seen ; the com- 
 monest implements of husbandry and tools of all kinds 
 Avere unknown. I brought with me tools to make my own 
 dwelling. Those attracted immediate attention, and soon 
 several youths learned to use the saw, the plane, and the 
 adze. Implements of husbandry, the spade, and the hoe 
 were introduced. Then I taught them to cut the large 
 timber-trees, and supplied the cross-cut and tlie pit-saw, and 
 aided them in sawing till they could do it alone. I taught 
 them better modes of culture, and planted ground as an 
 
OTHER AFRICAN MISSIONS. 271 
 
 example. I introduced seeds from other parts of the coast 
 at a considerable charge, until the country was stocked with 
 the sweet potato, and I had the pleasure of seeing a 
 gradual extension of cultivation, with much less suflfering 
 from want." 
 
 The missionary's first home was a native hut, without 
 windows, built of split bamboo, and thatched with twisted 
 palm leaf. An improved dwelling was required, for health 
 as well as for the conduct of the work itself. Mr. Saker's 
 first attempt at building was a framed timber-house. By- 
 and-by it was found practicable to make bricks, and by slow 
 degrees he succeeded in building a brick dwelling, chapel, 
 and school-house. Strenuous efibrts were made to acquire 
 the language. Mr. Saker found no books existing to assist 
 him in the study. He had to acquire a knowledge of the 
 words and of the elementary forms of the native tongue from 
 the lips of the people. Step by step a vocabulary was 
 formed, then came a grammar, then easy school books, 
 and last of all the entire Bible in the Dualla tongue. In 
 the printing Mr. Saker had the assistance of his daughter, 
 and of natives to whom he had taught the art. As the 
 missionaries acquired fluency of speech they used their gift 
 to preach the Gospel, and the preaching was not without 
 fvuit — one after another came forward to confess the name 
 of Christ amid much persecution. 
 
 It must not be supposed that all this was done without 
 much suffering on the part of the missionaries. Their lives 
 were often threatened, attempts were made to poison them, 
 and the practices of witchcraft were indulged in to remove 
 them from the spot ; but God was their shield, and no harm 
 befell them. Then much suffering was endured from 
 insufficient food, from the plundering habits of the natives, 
 from the torrid heat of the climate, from weakening fevers ; 
 but through all the missionaries persevered, and it pleased 
 God to crown their labours with success. The effects of 
 
272 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 the Gospel are not limited to the churches that have heen 
 formed or to the education which many have received. 
 They are seen in other ways. Old sanguinary customs 
 have been abolished ; witchcraft hides itself in the recesses 
 of the forests which stretch inland ; the fetish superstition 
 of the people is losing its hold on them ; here and there 
 are springing up well-built brick or timber houses, chiefly 
 the work of men taught in the mission, the chiefs and 
 others of the people availing themselves of their skill ; 
 dress is become an article of necessity among the Christian 
 community ; and many are slowly gathering around them 
 the comforts of civilised life. 
 
 Another useful mission in West Africa is that carried 
 forwards on the Gold Coast and at Ashantee by the Basle 
 Evangelical Society. It has been in existence above half a 
 century, and prosecutes four diflferent branches of missionary 
 work. The Accra and Tshi languages have been reduced to 
 writing, and the whole Bible translated into both. The 
 Gospel is preached in nearly every town and village of the 
 eastern district on the Gold Coast. From the besinninor 
 education has been regarded as most important, and at all 
 the stations there are elementary schools for male and 
 female children. Industrial work is not neglected. A 
 number of lay missionaries have been sent out, who have 
 opened carpenters', joiners', black and locksmith, and shoe- 
 makers' shops. All Europeans w^ho have been on the Gold 
 Coast acknowledge that the industrial work of this mission 
 has been an eminent blessing to the country and a powerful 
 stimulus to the elevation of the people. 
 
 Tiie United Methodist Erce Church Mission in East 
 Africa has been in existence for about twenty years. The 
 base of its operations is Wanyikee, and was selected at the 
 suggestion of Dr. Krapf. Its earliest history was charac- 
 terised by a great deal of sorrow and suffering to the mis- 
 sionaries, of disease, and in some instances of death. One 
 
OTHER AFRICAN MISSIONS. 273 
 
 devoted man died soon after his arrival, and the nails he 
 had taken out with him for use in his station had to be 
 employed upon his coffin. Charles New, another agent of 
 this mission, was a traveller of some note, and was the first 
 and only man that ever climbed Kilimanjaro, bringing snow 
 from the top to the bottom to prove to the people that he 
 had been to the summit. Here again, in connection with 
 preaching and Christian instruction, industrial operations 
 are carried on. A mechanic has been sent out to teach the 
 natives carpentery and building, and a printer instructs 
 them in the art of printing. A plough is also being used 
 in the cultivation of the land, and some good specimens of 
 cotton have already been sent home as proofs of their success. 
 The work thus begun is being extended as rapidly as possible 
 in the direction of the Wapokomo, among the peoples of the 
 Galla country. 
 
 There are Christian missions in Egypt which possess an 
 interest peculiar to themselves, having for their object the 
 spiritual benefit of the natives of the country, and persons 
 from neighbouring countries who reside there. Dr. Watson, 
 who has been labouring there for upwards of twenty years, 
 thus speaks of the American mission with which he is 
 connected : — " The Arabic-speaking population of the coun- 
 ti'y consists of Mohammedans, numbering perhaps four and 
 a quarter millions, Copts about three hundred thousand, and 
 Syrians of various sects to the number of twenty-five thou- 
 sand, together with a respectable number of Jews in the 
 cities of Alexandria and Cairo. In our efforts to reach these 
 various classes we have acted on the principle to enter in at 
 whatever door the Lord in his providence should open to us, 
 rather than to be influenced by any preconceived opinion as 
 to the most hopeful class or the most interesting sect. It 
 has been all one to us whether we were directed to the door- 
 of a Mohammedan or a Copt, or a Roman or Greek Catholic, 
 or a Jew, believing that all souls are equally precious to Him. 
 
 18 
 
274 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, 
 that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have 
 everlasting life. 
 
 *'The methods used for reaching the people are — the public 
 preaching of the Word, evening meetings for its study, 
 visitation from house to house, keeping the doors of our own 
 dwellings open to inquiries after the truth, extensive yearly 
 tours by means of the Nile for book distribution and evange- 
 lical work, and instruction in schools of various kinds and 
 grades." 
 
 We cannot close this brief and imperfect sketch of Chris- 
 tian work in Africa without observing, that within the last 
 few years several schemes have been organised and initiated 
 to establish important centres in the very interior of the 
 continent. The valley of the Zambesi and the Shire, and 
 the country surrounding Lake Nyassa, have been specially 
 selected by the Free Church Missions, and in connection 
 with them the Established Church and the United Presby- 
 terians. Lake Tanganyika, and the tract of country sur- 
 rounding it, is designed to be the scene of the labours of the 
 London Missionary Society. If we consider the position of 
 the Victoria Nyanza, its distance from the coast, our ignor- 
 ance of many of the tribes that inhabit its banks, and the 
 fact that some of them already regard Europeans as their 
 deadliest enemies, the Church Missionary Society, in select- 
 ing this sphere of labour, has in some respects shewn itself 
 the most enterprising of all. The Baptist Missionary Society 
 has chosen the Congo as the route for its agents towards the 
 interior, and several brave and devoted men are already 
 engaged there in arduous work. All Christians of every 
 name and denomination must rejoice in these new schemes 
 for Africa. May the day soon come when the entire popula- 
 tion of that vast continent shall be won for Christ ! 
 
CHAPTEPw XXYIIL 
 
 GENERAL SURVEY OP CHRISTIAN MISSIONS THROUGHOUT 
 
 THE WORLD. 
 
 EFORE the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, He 
 commanded His apostles, and through them all His 
 followers in every age, to go into all the world and 
 preach the Gospel to every creature. The mission 
 of the church is to evangelise the world. This great work 
 committed by Christ to His disciples has been strangely 
 delayed. For the first three centuries it was prosecuted 
 with vigour ; the Gospel was carried into Armenia, Iberia, 
 Arabia, Persia, and even India, in the East ; into Ethiopia 
 and other parts of Africa; into Gaul and Britain in the West. 
 But this primitive zeal in propagating the Gospel declined 
 as Christianity became corrupted, and as the church was con- 
 verted into a vast hierarchical organisation, and eventually 
 allied itself with the civil power. Even after its action was 
 encumbered by this alliance, and its spirit vitiated, and its 
 life all but destroyed, its self-propagating power still shewed 
 itself, and from the midst even of the corrupted church 
 light was sent forth whenever a new region was discovered 
 that was without it. The numerical strength and the area 
 of Christendom continued to increase. 
 
276 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 The downfall of the Roman Empire brought Christianity 
 and civilisation into contact with the tribes of the ISTortli, 
 and several of the German nations became Christian. Even 
 during the dark ages nominal Christianity continued to 
 spread, chiefly in the North of Europe ; occasionally, as in 
 Russia in the eleventh century, it was inaugurated as the 
 religion of the State. Here and there the pure Gospel was 
 kept alive ; now and then a sincere and devoted missionary 
 would go forth and labour in the spirit of primitive times, 
 l)ut this long period witnessed mainly but the enlargement of 
 the nominal church and the extension of an ecclesiastical 
 corporation, by no means the thorough evangelisation of the 
 world, much less the conversion of mankind to the faith 
 and practice of the Gospel. 
 
 The sixteenth century was the age of reformation : its power- 
 ful agitations were confined within the pale of Christendom ; 
 its work was renovation, not aggression, although the Romish 
 Church, weakened in many parts of Europe, embarked in 
 various projects of hierarchical ambition in pagan lands. 
 Ignatius Loyala stands pre-eminent as a model of missionary 
 zeal. The seventeenth century witnessed occasional incipient 
 missionary movements among the Dutch, the Swiss, the 
 Swedes, the British, and the inhabitants of the North 
 American colonies. The last century gave birth to numerous 
 missionary associations, and reduced to system the work of 
 evangelising the world, then distinctly recognised as a 
 Christian duty. The present century has carried out that 
 system with increased zeal and energy, and on an enlarged 
 scale ; has multiplied benevolent associations and the means 
 of prosecuting the work of missions, and has established 
 that work in the hearts of Christians as the great enterprise 
 of the Church. Since apostolic times no age has been 
 so distinguished for evangelistic effort as that in which we 
 live. Not to speak of the home labours of the churches of 
 Christendom, there are now in existence in Great Britain, 
 
GENERAL SURVEY OF MISSIONS. 277 
 
 America, on the continent of Europe, and in other parts of 
 the world, upwards of seventy missionary societies, having 
 for their special object the conversion of the world to God. 
 These societies occupy upwards of twelve hundred stations, 
 employ about twelve thousand agents of all kinds, and are 
 supported by an income of above one million pounds 
 sterling. Through their instrumentality the Gospel is 
 preached all over the earth — in crowded cities, in the 
 wilderness and desolate places, where population is scant 
 and small, and in the islands far off on the sea. 
 
 India has six hundred missionaries, who, with their three 
 hundred native companions, are abundant in labours — 
 preaching in the vernacular, broad systems of education, 
 extensive literatures in many tongues, humane efforts in 
 famines, pestilences, and pain — all are employed, steadily 
 and in faith, to make known the good news of Christ's 
 saving love. Good churches, with no despicable number of 
 converts, have been gathered, are growing, and are proving 
 themselves worthy of all esteem. But the thorough leavening 
 of India with Gospel truth is the principal feature of the 
 great work carried on for the enlightenment of its people, 
 and the effect of it is wonderful and widespread. Special 
 advance has been made in recent years in female education 
 in India. The Ladies' Society for Female Education in the 
 East — the pioneer amongst women — after its long and use- 
 ful career, still occupies the foremost place in this important 
 branch of Christian work. But the Zenana missions of 
 many American and English societies, and lady missionaries 
 devoted to this service, have greatly multiplied in recent 
 years, while wide and effectual doors into the homes of 
 Hindu society are ever opening in larger numbers. 
 
 The growth of the various missions of the principal 
 societies is exceedingly interesting and encouraging. Begin- 
 ning with the Baptists, who were earliest in the field, we 
 find that from 1850 to the present time their converts in all 
 
278 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 the missions of the Baptist societies of England and America, 
 in India, Ceylon, and Burmah, have increased from about 
 thirty thousand to upwards of ninety thousand ; those of 
 the Basle missions of Germany have multiplied from a 
 thousand to upwards of six thousand ; those of the Wesleyan 
 Methodist missions of England and America from seven 
 thousand to upwards of twelve thousand ; those of the 
 American Board from three thousand to thirteen thousand ; 
 those of the Lutheran Church, belonging to five societies, 
 from four thousand to upwards of forty thousand ; those of 
 the Presbyterians of Scotland, England, Ireland, and 
 America, from nine hundred to ten thousand ; those of the 
 London Missionary Society from twenty thousand to forty- 
 eight thousand ; and those in connection with the Church of 
 England from sixty-one thousand to one hundred and sixty- 
 four thousand. 
 
 A steady growth is displayed in all directions. The in- 
 direct influence of Christianity in India is as remarkable as 
 the baptism of converts and the formation of Christian 
 communities. The great progress in the enlightenment of 
 the people ; the general awakening of thought throughout 
 the entire country ; the wonderful transformation native 
 society is undergoing ; the yearning after something better 
 than a religion with its myriads of gods can give ; the eager 
 desire for a holier and purer faith manifest in many direc- 
 tions — these changes cannot adequately be accounted for 
 except by the spread of Christian principles, which are 
 enlarging the minds, stimulating the conscience, and 
 quickening the religious sense of the people. These are 
 facts which admit of no question or doubt. The steady 
 increase on a high ratio of Christian converts is a matter 
 of statistics, of careful counting, from which there is no 
 appeal. The moral growth of the nation, and the radical 
 changes for the better which are taking place in native 
 society throughout the length and breadth of India, are, as 
 
GENERAL SURVEY OF MISSIONS. 279 
 
 evidences of improvement and progress, verities from which 
 again no appeal is possible. 
 
 Fifty years ago not a Protestant missionary was living 
 within the bounds of the Chinese Empire, though a few 
 were training themselves and gaining experience in its out- 
 lying colonies, waiting for the opportunity of entering it, 
 which they were convinced nrust come. Since then, by 
 various steps, nine provinces of the empire have been 
 occupied by settled missionary stations, and at most im- 
 portant points — the twelve treaty ports — some forty societies 
 have placed bands of missionaries, by whose constant efforts 
 their populations have been brought under careful instruc- 
 tion. As the Chinese themselves maintain schools and 
 desire the education of their children, the direct preaching 
 of the Gospel in the vernacular tongues is the most pro- 
 minent feature in these evangelistic labours. Under this 
 plan, systematically carried out in fixed places by many 
 workers, English and native, some seventy thousand sermons 
 are preached in China in the course of each single year. 
 
 The Scriptures, too, are supplied in ample numbers. No 
 country has so large and so good a supply of sound Christian 
 literature. Itinerancies are numerous, and in recent years 
 the other nine provinces of the empire have been traversed, 
 and in part occupied, by missionaries chiefly of the Inland 
 Mission. Widespread instruction — the leavening of the 
 mass — has been a needful and most important step in these 
 great missions. But God has blessed them also with true 
 converts. Thirteen thousand communicants, in a community 
 of some forty thousand Chinese Christians, are an earnest 
 of the future and a great present gain, and the formation of 
 strong, self-reliant churches, and the increase of native 
 ministers and missionaries, are guarantees that that future 
 will be of the noblest kind. The painful famine in China a 
 few years ago was not without its compensating blessings. 
 The kindness of foreigners produced a profound impression 
 
280 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 upon high and low, and thousands of Chinese have, aa 
 the result, coine nearer to Christ's people to ask about the 
 religion from whence such benevolence springs. 
 
 The Rev. W. F. Stevenson, who a year or two ago 
 visited China and closely examined the character of mission 
 work in that country, bears the following testimony to the 
 sincerity of the converts and the stability of the native 
 churches. After speaking of the wonderful results of 
 Christian labour in that land, he says : — '• It would be a 
 profound mistake to suppose that such results as I have 
 pointed out are transitory, that the impressions made are 
 shallow, or that those who join the Christian Church are of 
 so indifFerent a character that Christianity has been little 
 more to them than a bribe. In a country like China it 
 costs too much for a man to become a Christian to make 
 the advantage that the Protestant missionary can offer him 
 worth having, for that at the most is a salary so small that 
 he would be hard pressed indeed if he could not earn more 
 at his own calling, while it is burdened with a social ostra- 
 cism and contempt that are bitterly felt ; and as for the 
 great bulk of the Christians, they continue in their calling — 
 artizans, farmers, tradesmen, whatever it may be — and with 
 a difficulty in making their livelihood that they never had 
 before. 
 
 "The native Christians are often men that have not only 
 taken joyfully the spoiling of their goods, but hazarded their 
 lives for the Gospel. 'They could cut off our heads,' some 
 grave men said to me, 'but they cannot behead Christ.' I 
 found in Amoy an elder of a native church, diligent in 
 Christian work, and earning his living by carving olive 
 stones into the exquisite bracelets that ladies %vear ; that 
 man had been the best carver of idols in the city. I met 
 a theological tutor, a man of the highest education and 
 culture. He had gone into a barber's shop one day, and 
 this barber makes it a point to speak a word to his cus- 
 
GENERAL SURVEY OF MISSIONS. 281 
 
 tomers for Christ ; so he spoke to him of the Gospel, and 
 dwelt upon the judgment-day, and what he said became the 
 turning-point in that man's life. I have listened to many 
 native sermons, and though there was the serious disad- 
 vantage of hearing only through an interpreter, who would 
 kindly whisper sentence by sentence into my ear, yet I 
 have never heard more impressive sermons than some of 
 these were — full of admirable imagery, which was used to 
 illustrate evangelical doctrine ; and among the preachers 
 there are men of an originality and eloquence that enables 
 them to sway their audiences as famous preachers sway 
 them here. 
 
 "There are noble-minded and nobly-living women there 
 also in all the churches, and I cannot forbear mentioning 
 one whom I met. She came as a patient to a missionary 
 hospital, and as every helper about that hospital is a Chris- 
 tian, it was not long till she heard of Christ, and though 
 she could not bear at first to hear a name that she associated 
 with evil, yet, v/hen after a few months she could leave the 
 institution cured, she Avas also baptised. For some years 
 her husband closed his house against her, but her unwearied 
 patience and faith prevailed ; and first he, and then her son, 
 then other relatives were baptised, until she had led eleven 
 oi her kindred to Christ. I have found nowhere in Chris- 
 tian lands men and women of a higher type than I met in 
 China, of a finer spiritual experience, of a higher spiritual 
 tone, or a nobler spiritual life. Where missions shew such 
 fruit they are beyond the impeachment of producing 
 shallow and transitory impressions, and I came away with 
 the conviction that there are in the native churches in 
 China not only the elements of stability, but of that stead- 
 fast and irresistible revolution that will carry over the 
 whole empire to the new faith." 
 
 The first Protestant missionaries to Japan were com- 
 missioned by American societies, and reached the shores of 
 
282 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 that empire in 1859 and 1860. At that time there was not 
 one native of Japan residing in the country, so far as can be 
 ascertained, who knew or imagined that "being justified by 
 faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ " — not one who believed in Christ as his Saviour. 
 The missionaries found, however, a very different state of 
 society from that which they expected. They found the 
 people, women as well as men, generally able to read and 
 write. Everybody, girls and boys of all classes, had received 
 a fair education. The people were intellectually bright and 
 quick, eager to learn, inquisitive, and readily apprehending 
 new truths and novel facts. The mass of the people are 
 Buddhists. Among all classes there is a high regard for 
 the moral teachings of Confucius and Mencius. There are 
 about fifty missionaries in Japan, representing various 
 societies in this country and in America. Connected with 
 these missions there are about thirty Christian schools for 
 girls and boys, and these institutions are very popular. 
 The holy Scriptures have been translated into Japanese, 
 and thousands of copies distributed to a large extent by 
 sale. The Japanese Christians are very active and zealous, 
 and unusually independent and self-reliant. They accept 
 foreign aid reluctantly, and only because they must. They 
 do not spare themselves in endeavours to extend the know- 
 ledge of the truth. An unusually large proportion of the 
 male members of the churches engage in preaching the 
 truth as opportunities present themselves. The amount of 
 Christian literature is as yet limited. 
 
 Some tracts have been published, and a monthly news- 
 paper is in circulation. Defences of Christianity from the 
 pens of native Christians, and from men intellectually 
 favourable to Christianity but not connected with the 
 churches, have also been written. No one can tell the 
 future, but the indications at present are that the Church 
 of Christ will have a rapid and vigorous growth amongst 
 
GENERAL SURVEY OF MISSIONS. 283 
 
 the people of Japan. "VVe may reasonably expect that, if 
 the churches of Christian lands are faithful, the native 
 membership in a generation will embrace tens of thousands 
 of souls. 
 
 Christian missions in Burmah began with the late Dr. 
 Judson. He and those who joined him devoted all their 
 time and labour for many years to the evangelisation of the 
 Burmese. Their labours succeeded to a hopeful and en- 
 couraging degree, but the chief enlargement of their work 
 was to be in another direction. It was God's plan to call a 
 race who in times past were not a people. The Karens are 
 scattered over all parts of Burmah, and are also found in 
 Upper Siam and Western China. They are generally re- 
 garded as belonging to the Caucasian race, though nothing 
 is certainly known concerning their origin. Their name 
 simply signifies wild men. They are distinct from the Bur- 
 mans, and in physical and mental qualities they are inferior 
 to them. They are a subject people, and for generations 
 have been cruelly oppressed by the Burmans. Like other 
 wild men, they are wandering and migratory in their habits, 
 and they generally build their villages at points remote from 
 large Burman communities, that they may escape the cruel 
 exactions which would be otherwise made upon them. Even 
 when the Burmans do not enslave them, they compel them 
 to till their fields and to perform all kinds of menial service. 
 It may be partly from the desire to escape these oppressions 
 that they have fallen into the nomadic life which they 
 pursue. 
 
 It would not be correct to say that this interesting people 
 had no religion, but they presented the remarkable spectacle 
 of a people without a priesthood or any established forms of 
 worship. They possessed the knowledge of many revealed 
 truths, which it is supposed must have been derived from 
 the Hebrew Scriptures, or from the same Divine source. 
 They believed that there is one God ', that man was created 
 
284 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D, 
 
 in a state of innocence, and fell through transgression at the 
 instigation of a malignant spirit ; that the soul is immortal; 
 and that there is a state of future rewards and punishments. 
 Coupled with these fundamental beliefs, there were certain 
 singular national traditions which were carefully transmitted 
 from generation to generation. They were taught that their 
 fathers were the objects of the Divine favour, but that they 
 had forgotten God, and wandered from Him, that they had 
 thus lost the knowledge of His ways, and that all their woes 
 and oppressions were the consequences of the hidings of the 
 Divine face from them. They also had old prophecies of a 
 better day. White teachers were to appear in the fulness 
 of time, who would bring a book which would restore the 
 lost knowledge of God, and through the truth and guidance 
 thus obtained they would again be blessed with His presence 
 and favour. 
 
 It was amongst this people that the Gospel was to succeed 
 in a manner almost miraculous. Mr. Boardraan baptised 
 at Tavoy a servant of his whom he had redeemed from 
 slavery, and who had given hopeful signs of conversion. 
 He was a Karen, and his name was Ko-Thah-Byu. Though 
 he was not converted till past middle life, and was without 
 culture, he proved one of the most successful preachers of 
 modern times. He knew little more than that Christ Jesus 
 came into the world to save sinners, that He had saved him, 
 and that He will save all that believe in His name. He 
 was the first apostle among his people. He went from 
 village to village and from province to province preaching 
 the Word, the Lord working with him mightily. The people 
 were prepared by the presence of the Spirit as well as by 
 the tendencies of their traditions. Multitudes everywhere 
 turned to the Lord. The American missionaries in connec- 
 tion with the native preachers followed up the work. 
 
 The result of all this and of subsequent labours is that 
 hundreds of Christian churches have been formed, and are 
 
GENERAL SURVEY OF MISSIONS. 285 
 
 served by an efficient body of native pastors and teachers. 
 The number of Karen churches on 1st January 1877 was 
 four hundred and seven. Seventy-one of these churches 
 were served by ordained preachers, the others were under 
 the care of missionaries or of unordained preachers. Two- 
 thirds of these churches maintain Christian schools, in 
 which between four and five thousand children and youths 
 are under instruction. The Karen villages now dotting the 
 surface of British Burmah, whether Christian or heathen, 
 may be counted among the natural results of Karen evan- 
 gelisation ; for the security and prosperity of the Christian 
 settlements have not been without their influence on vast 
 numbers who have not yet received the Gospel. Multitudes 
 are sharers in the temporal benefits of Christianity who 
 have not entered into the blessings of the spiritual life. 
 
 The present condition of Christian missions in Polynesia 
 is such as to call forth the liveliest gratitude to God. In 
 that part of the world, including Hawaii, the seven great 
 groups of islands best known to Englishmen have become 
 nominally Christian. In these and their attached groups 
 some four hundred thousand converts, including ninety 
 thousand communicants, have been brought into the Church 
 of Christ. These are largely under the instruction of native 
 p'astors paid by themselves. Four aggressive missions are 
 now at work in Western Polynesia, one chief element of 
 which is the strong force which they contain of native 
 missionaries. In most of the older missions Christianity 
 has become a power for good over the people generally. 
 Public morality has become benefited by it. The political, 
 social, and domestic life of the people has to a greater or 
 less extent received a more healthy moral tone. It is 
 o-enerally considered to be respectable to conform, at least 
 outwardly, to the observances of religion. The Sabbath is 
 usually strictly observed. Nearly all the people make a 
 practice of attending public worship at least once on the 
 
286 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D,D. 
 
 Lord's day. Family worship is almost universally observed. 
 Nearly all the people are able to read, and indeed they 
 do read God's word, which they possess in their own 
 languages. 
 
 A most interesting mission field is Madagascar. The 
 Jesuits had a mission there in the seventeenth century, and 
 have had influence, more or less, over portions of the island 
 for nearly two hundred years past ; but their mission has 
 not produced any permanent effect on the country, and this 
 may be easily accounted for by the fact that they never 
 gave the people the Word of God. They gave them the 
 Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Ten Commandments — 
 with the second, of course, left out — and short portions of 
 the Bible, but they never gave them so much as a single 
 book either of the Old or New Testament. 
 
 Protestant missions date from 1820, and the work may 
 be divided into three periods — that of planting the Gospel, 
 that of persecution, and that of progress. The first of these 
 lasted sixteen years, the second twenty-five years, and the 
 last now twenty years. The men who began the work laid 
 the foundations upon which present labourers have been 
 building for several years past. They did a noble work : 
 they reduced the language to writing ; they gave the people 
 their own tongue in a written form ; they translated and 
 printed the whole Word of God ; they gave the people an 
 educational system, provided them with a considerable 
 literature, and taught thera many of the useful arts of 
 civilised life. Their labours laid that firm foundation which 
 resisted for twenty-five years all that a heathen queen 
 could do to root religion out of the land. The results are 
 patent to any intelligent and honest traveller who may 
 pass through the country. There are undeniable facts to 
 shew that Christianity is now exerting a real influence 
 upon the social life of the people. It is introducing civilisa- 
 tion and opening up commerce in a way unmistakable to 
 
GENERAL SURVEY OF MISSIONS. 287 
 
 those who know what the country was a few years ago, and 
 can contrast it with its position at the present time. In 
 1863 there was not a single European house of business in 
 the capital. Now there are a number of them, and trade is 
 extending largely along the eastern coast. With regard to 
 the clothing, dwellings, and other matters affecting social 
 life, there has been a wonderful advance during the last 
 twelve years. 
 
 The tone of morals, too, is greatly improved. The people 
 were very immoral, and are so still where the Gospel is not 
 known. Chastity and purity were almost unknown things; 
 but now, in the central province of Imerina, polygamy may 
 be said to have disappeared. The merciful influence of the 
 Gospel is seen in the abolition of cruel customs and laws. 
 By the old code of laws in force during the time of the 
 persecuting queen, a great number of ofiences were punished 
 by death, and the wife and family of a delinquent were re- 
 duced to slavery. That has all passed away. The law by 
 which soldiers were burned alive for running away in battle 
 is also now a thing of the past. Thus the loving and bene- 
 ficent influence of the Gospel is doing away with the old 
 cruel habits of the people. Christianity is spreading through 
 a great portion of the country, and it can only be a matter 
 of time for the whole island to be brought to the knowledge 
 of Jesus Christ 
 
 About a thousand miles north of New Zealand lie the 
 group of islands called the New Hebrides, extending about 
 three hundred miles from south-east to north-west. Here 
 there is an important mission supported by the Free Church 
 of Scotland and the Presbyterian Churches of Canada, New 
 Zealand, and Australia. It has been one of the most diflicult 
 mission fields in the South Seas. One great difficulty is 
 the low and degraded state of the natives, all the cruelties 
 and all the abominations of heathenism were found rampant 
 among them ; they were ignorant and superstitious in the 
 
288 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 extreme, with an unwavering faith in the power of witch- 
 craft. Another difficulty arises from the unhealthiness of 
 the climate. Fever and ague prevail on nearly all the 
 islands. White men and natives of other groups are alike 
 subject to it. In every swamp, in every valley, and in every 
 thicket lurks the invisible, mysterious malaria. A third 
 difficulty is the number of languages. There are not fewer 
 than twenty diffiirent languages spoken in the group, every 
 one as different from all the rest as English is from Gaelic, 
 or as Latin is from Greek. And a fourth difficulty is the 
 operation of an unsanctified commerce. The islands are now 
 in danger of being deluged with intoxicating drinks. 
 Referring to the way in which these difficulties liave been 
 met, one of the missionaries says : — " We have ascertained 
 to a great extent the laws of health, and can thus ward off 
 a great amount of preventible sickness. We have mastered 
 among us, somewhat fully, nine of the languages, and can 
 thus make known to the natives in their own tongues the 
 way of salvation. The sandal-wood trade is over, and the 
 liquor traffic, though not suppressed, is greatly modified ; 
 and to meet the evils of the foreign knaves, as the natives 
 call alcoholic drinks, all our twelve missionaries are total 
 abstainers." 
 
 The large island of New Guinea is now creating a con- 
 siderable amount of interest in the commercial and scientific 
 w^orlds ; and both from its size and from its proximity to 
 Australia — from which it is only separated by Torres Straits 
 — and from its probable mineral wealth, it must come to 
 occupy an important place in the consideration of all men. 
 To the Christian philanthropist, above all, it is a country of 
 great interest. The population of New Guinea is composed 
 of an immense number of races, among whom the London 
 Missionary Society have within the last ten years begun 
 evangelising labour. Mr. Lawes, one of the leaders in this 
 work, thus describes the field : — " Our mission extends from 
 
GENERAL SURVEY OF MISSIONS. 289 
 
 TJle Island to the eastern extremity of New Guinea ; and 
 even there we have an immense admixture of races, though 
 all of them I believe, from their appearance, from their 
 customs, and from their condition and languages, belong to 
 the Malayo Polynesian family. We have a great number 
 of sub-divisions among them. When I tell you that I 
 know of twenty-five different languages spoken on the three 
 hundred miles of coast with which I am acquainted, you 
 will form some idea of how New Guinea is split up and 
 divided. We find the people in a primitive state, which we 
 almost fancy in this nineteenth century had become totally 
 extinct. We find there the old lake villages, and there is 
 still the stone age in full operation. I know of no vessel, 
 implement, tool, or weapon made of metal which they 
 employ. It is the stone age yet, and everything else agrees 
 with this. 
 
 " Morally, we find what we should expect — viz., the people 
 low and degraded, but by no means so much so as those wo 
 have had to do with in some other parts of the world where 
 they are now Christians. Liars, thieves, and murderers 
 they are ; but it is not the existence of these things that 
 causes one so much surprise as the utter absence of any- 
 thing like what may be called a tone of public opinion by 
 which these vices could be at all stigmatised or the evil-doer 
 be disgraced. They would unblushingly bring back the 
 goods they have stolen from you, and offer them for sale, 
 without even an atom of shame. Religiously, the darkness 
 is darkness which can be felt but cannot be described." 
 
 Of the methods the missionaries employ to alter this state 
 of things, Mr. Lawes thus speaks : — " I have had personally 
 sufficient experience during eleven years' residence on 
 Savage Island, in the South Pacific, to know where we 
 ought to begin. Men who never tried the experiment may 
 believe in civilising agencies. But we who have tried them 
 may be pardoned if we decline to try the experiment over 
 
 19 
 
290 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 again. The very agencies that are depended upon we find 
 to be fruitless. Clothe the natives, and they do not know- 
 how to use clothes. I have given them a good Birmingham 
 hatchet, and had it returned rather than they would give 
 up their stone ones. If there is no hope for them without 
 civilisation and civilising agencies, then the salvation of 
 New Guinea I believe to be hopeless. But my experience 
 amongst tribes and races such as these warrants me in 
 believing strongly that with them also the Gospel is the 
 power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. In 
 the early days of a mission like that of New Guinea, very 
 little dependence can be placed on oral teaching. I believe 
 strongly, more strongly now than ever, in the power of a 
 consistent Christian life." 
 
 Let us pass from New Guinea to the West Indies. The 
 population of the twelve following islands and their depen- 
 dencies — viz., Jamaica, the Bahamas, the Virgin Isles, 
 Antigua, Montserrat, Barbadoes, St. Vincent's, Grenada, 
 Tobago, Trinidad, and Dominica, amounts to something 
 above one million. The first settlers in the chief of these 
 islands were members of the Church of England, and that 
 form of the Christian faith was established in them. Its 
 spiritual labours were, however, mainly confined to the 
 Europeans or planters, and only in rare cases was any 
 attempt made to instruct the slave either in secular know- 
 ledge or in Christianity. The Moravians were the first 
 religious body to visit the West Indies in 1734, and in the 
 island of St. Thomas they commenced their self-denying 
 efforts to give the oppressed negro the comfort of the words 
 of eternal life. In 1778 the Wesley ans opened their very 
 successful labours in the West Indies in Antigua, and in 
 1814 the Baptist Missionary Society sent its first missionary 
 to Jamaica. If much had not been done by the Church of 
 England towards the evangelising of the slaves, it must be 
 remembered that the malign genius of the system of slavery 
 
GENERAL SURVEY OF MISSIONS. 291 
 
 ■vras adverse to the attempt. In fact, whatever Christian 
 agencies existed, they were of the most meagre sort. Only 
 here and there did a planter or a converted free negro 
 put forth any efforts to bring the slaves under Christian 
 instruction. 
 
 Utterly neglected, without the opportunity or the means 
 of learning, the negroes for the most part practised the 
 fetishism of their native land, and were sunk in the most 
 degrading lusts and superstitions. Marriage was scarcely 
 known amongst them The constant sales of the slave- 
 stock of the estates broke up every family tie that had been 
 formed. Concubinage with all its evils became the normal 
 practice of the people, and its mischief invaded the home of 
 their better-instructed masters. Then came the struggle 
 for freedom. It was long and severe, but ended at length 
 in emancipation. The munificent gift of twenty millions 
 sterling by the British Parliament set every slave free. 
 With freedom came the fullest opportunity for the play of 
 moral and Christian agencies, devoted to the social and 
 religious elevation of the emancipated people. 
 
 Since emancipation, the West Indian Colonies have expe- 
 rienced great fluctuations ; nevertheless there has been great 
 progress. Education has been largely promoted, especially so 
 in Jamaica. This is greatly owing to the hearty co-operation 
 of the missionaries. On this point we may take the remarks 
 of the inspector of schools in Jamaica as generally applicable 
 throughout the British West Indies. He says the Govern- 
 ment system "has enlisted the sympathy and hearty co- 
 operation of the most influential men of the community — 
 viz., the ministers of all the religious societies in the island. 
 To their valuable assistance as school-managers must be 
 attributed in a great measure the success that has attended 
 the carrying out of the system." Since emancipation, too, 
 the means of public worship have very largely increased. 
 From reliable sources, it appears that fully one quarter of the 
 
292 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 population may be regarded as regular frequenters of the 
 means of grace supplied by the various denominations. It 
 is not possible to estimate with accuracy how many of the 
 hearers of the Gospel are actually in full communion with 
 the churches. It may, however, be safely affirmed that at 
 least eighty-five thousand individuals observe the great 
 eucharistic ordinance of the Christian Church. 
 
 We must not omit from this sketch the efforts of American 
 Christians in the Ottoman Empire. When the attention 
 of American Christians was first turned to the Ottoman 
 Empire as a field for missionary efibrt, it included, with its 
 tributary provinces, portions of three continents. It com- 
 bined the greatest variety of soil and climate ; it stretched 
 across the highways of the world's commerce, and embraced 
 in its wide domain the earliest seats of civilisation and the 
 scenes of greatest interest recorded in secular and sacred 
 history. It presented to the world a most remarkable 
 •conglomerate of races, languages, and religions, without 
 ^sympathy one with another, all subject to an unenlightened 
 and often barbarous despotism. It had a population in 
 all estimated at thirty-five millions, of whom about twelve 
 millions were known as Christian descendants for the most 
 part of those who, in the early days of the Church, had 
 accepted the Gospel. Degenerated, degraded, sunk in ignor- 
 ance and superstition, they were yet holding fast to the 
 Christian name, to which, though with little sense of its 
 spiritual import, they had clung through centuries of 
 oppression. It was to this empire, the head and front of 
 the Mahommedan world, long the deadly and unrelenting 
 foe of the Gospel of Christ, that the American Board sent 
 their first missionaries nearly sixty years ago. 
 
 Ever since its first establishment this mission has con- 
 tinued to grow and prosper. It is now represented by one 
 hundred and thirty-two devoted men and women from the 
 churches and best institutions of learning in America ; by 
 
GENERAL SURVEY OF MISSIONS. 293 
 
 over five hundred native preachers and teachers in active 
 service ; by ninety-two churches, with a membership of over 
 five thousand ; by twenty higher institutions of learning — 
 colleges, seminaries, and boarding-schools — with an attend- 
 ance of over eight hundred youth of both sexes ; by three 
 hundred common schools, with an attendance of over eleven 
 thousand ; by two hundred and eighty-five places of worship 
 scattered as so many light-centres through the land, from 
 the Balkans to the Bosphorus, and from the Bosphorus to 
 the Tigris, where Sabbath after Sabbath over twenty-five 
 thousand men and women are gathered to listen to the 
 Gospel message ; by the Scriptures, in the various languages 
 of the people, now distributed by tens of thousands of 
 copies ; and a Christian literature, from Sabbath-school 
 lesson papers up to elaborate volumes on the evidences of 
 religion and the history of the Church — all now confirmed 
 by the living examples of the power of the Gospel. These 
 are the moral forces now brought into the field, the heritage 
 of the patient labours and prayers of American Christians 
 of the past sixty years. 
 
 Then there is the Indian Archipelago. There are at 
 present about fifty Dutch missionaries at work belonging to 
 eight diflferent societies, and scattered almost over the whole 
 archipelago — on Sumatra, Java, Bali, Celebes, Almaheira, 
 and some smaller islands. In the Minnahassa, forming a 
 part of the Island of Celebes, of a population of about one 
 hundred and fourteen thousand, upwards of eighty thousand 
 are converts to the Christian faith, or form, as children, parts 
 of Christian families. Heathenism has in consequence lost 
 there its signification and its influence. No less than two 
 hundred congregations are under the care of the mission- 
 aries and of twenty-two native evangelists ; and there are a 
 hundred and twenty-five schools, the teachers of which are 
 at the same time catechists. In consequence, civilisation 
 has reached a comparatively high degree. The schools and 
 
294 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 churches are regularly visited by children and adults 
 decently dressed ; and it is a delight to see how order and 
 prosperity reign everywhere. From an ignorant, super- 
 stitious, abject population, divided by hostilities and feuds, 
 they have grown into a nation, feeling that they have the 
 same interest, that they are sons and daughters of the same 
 country, many of them sons and daughters of the Most 
 High God. Family life has a new aspect; husband and 
 wife no longer leaving each other for the slightest reason, 
 live together in harmony and care for their children. 
 Whereas formerly numerous families lived together in large 
 barracks built upon high poles, difficult of access for fear of 
 the attacks of neighbouring tribes, now every family lives 
 in its own cottage, neatly built, open to any visitor, where 
 the missionary is received with decency and delight. 
 
 There are many other smaller fields of missionary labour, 
 every one presenting its own peculiar features of interest 
 and importance. Among the Indian tribes of North 
 America, once thought so dull and hopeless, whether on the 
 North- West Coast, scattered over the broad plains of 
 Manitoba, or settled on the Keserves of the United States, 
 many thousands of converts have been gathered, and in 
 some of these tribes there are no heathen left. There are 
 missionaries among the Afghans, in Ceylon, in Greenland, 
 in Patagonia — almost every country of the habitable globe. 
 They are wonderfully and wisely located ; they are settled 
 at the most important points in the wider realms open to 
 their efibrts. They are exerting a moral influence — are 
 making spiritual impressions, and are breaking down the 
 ancient heathen religions with a power infinitely greater 
 than the churches which maintain them are at all aware. 
 One fact of supreme moment must be stated here, and 
 should be borne in mind, that in connection with all this 
 Christian effort the holy Scriptures are at the present 
 time printed and read in two hundred and twenty-six 
 
GENERAL SURVEY OF MISSIONS. 295 
 
 modern languages, and that from the importance of many of 
 those tongues, such as English and German, French and 
 Russ, Bengali and Chinese, those Scriptures have now 
 became available to three-fourths of the population of the 
 globe. 
 
 We see from the foregoing sketch of Christian missions 
 throughout the world that there has been progress — rapid, 
 great, encouraging progress. And yet the evangelising of 
 the world, rightly viewed, is to be looked upon rather as 
 a work which has been and yet is retarded, than as a work 
 progressing rapidly toward completion — as a work which 
 ought long since to have been done, but which has been 
 and yet is unworthily delayed. How strange that after 
 eighteen hundred years, with the known will of Christ that 
 His Gospel should be everywhere proclaimed, and with the 
 facilities afforded in every age for doing that work, it should 
 still be true, that the world — the great preponderating mass 
 of mankind — still lieth in wickedness. To use the words 
 of John Foster : " Christianity, after labouring for eighteen 
 centuries, is at the present hour known, and even nominally 
 acknowledged, by very greatly the minority of the race, the 
 mighty mass remaining prostrate under the infernal dominion 
 of which countless generations of their ancestors have been 
 ihe slaves and victims — a deplorable majority of the people 
 in the Christian nations strangers to the vital power of 
 Christianity, and a large proportion directly hostile to it, 
 while its progress in the work of conversion, in even the 
 most favoured part of the world, is distanced by the pro- 
 gressive increase of the population." 
 
 When we consider the earnestness of Clirist's command, 
 the largeness of His promise, the wisdom and munificence of 
 His arrangements, and the intensity of His desires in respect 
 to the conversion of the world, we can find a solution of the 
 painful mystery of its delay only in some hindrance on the 
 part of those who are commissioned to fulfil the mighty plan. 
 
296 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D,D. 
 
 The kingdom of Christ has been retarded in various ways 
 by the social and political condition of the world. And yet 
 Christianity would have proved itself ere this to be the great 
 reforming power in the political and the social institutions 
 of men, had not its influence been crippled and arrested by 
 some other cause than those institutions themselves. The 
 full power of Christianity in opposition to all false systems 
 of religion, of government, and of social organisation, has 
 not yet been proved ; for the condition of the exercise of that 
 power — namely, a lively Christian faith, imparting vitality 
 and efficiency to the appointed instrument of the work, has 
 not been fulfilled on the part of the Church. 
 
 There are several fundamental facts involved in the mis- 
 sionary enterprise in respect to which there is a large amount 
 of scepticism in the Church. There is scepticism with respect 
 to the actual condition of the heathen world. That the hea- 
 then are for the most part in a state of deep moral and social 
 degradation is beginning to be generally understood. Their 
 true condition was long hidden from Christian people. Mere 
 secular travellers gave us entertaining accounts of the man- 
 ners and customs of different nations, with occasional outlines 
 of their philosophical tenets or their religious belief, and 
 sketches of their sacred places and institutions and modes of 
 worship ; but they seldom described the general state of 
 morals, or held up to reprobation their prevailing vices and 
 crimes. Commercial residents in heathen lands generally 
 visit them for a single object — the purpose of gain; they 
 seldom contemplate a permanent residence ; they commonly 
 acquire but a superficial knowledge of the language, the 
 literature, the religion and the morals of the country. It 
 was not till Christian missionaries went among the heathen 
 that the moral state of the world became truly known. That 
 state is one not merely of degradation, but also of guilt. 
 Only in proportion as we believe this shall we earnestly 
 seek to save the heathen. There is scepticism in some minds 
 
GENERAL SURVEY OF MISSIONS, 297 
 
 as to God's purpose to have the world evangelised and con- 
 verted to Himself. Admitting that the heathen are in a 
 state of guilt and condemnation, and on that account are 
 proper objects for Christian sympathy and effort, it is still 
 questioned by some whether the plan of redemption in its 
 final results comprehends the conversion of the world at 
 large. Scepticism in respect to missionary work is further de- 
 veloped in doubts and queries as to the proper time for attempt- 
 ing to evangelise the world. Some contend that the world 
 must be civilised before we attempt to spread the Gospel, 
 and others that Christ's second advent must precede such an 
 event. Then there is another topic in connection with the 
 missionary enterprise, respecting which there is not a little 
 scepticism in the Church, that is the practicability of evan- 
 gelising the world at all by any known instrumentalities. 
 
 Such scepticism paralyses the arm of the church. If one 
 is in doubt whether the heathen would really be benefited by 
 the Gospel — if he does not feel that they are in perishing 
 need of it — of course he will do little or nothing to send it to 
 them. If one is in doubt whether God really intends to 
 accomplish the conversion of the world to Himself, whether 
 it is His will that the Gospel should be everywhere pro- 
 pagated, of course he will scarcely make an attempt to 
 evangelise the world. If one is in doubt whether this is the 
 time for engaging in this work, he will not engage in it 
 heartily, if at all. If one has little confidence in the present 
 means, he will act with little energy or keep aloof from such 
 impracticable schemes. Thus the work is crippled on every 
 hand by unbelief. Unbelief, besides restraining the energies 
 of the Church, incapacitates those who indulge it for appre- 
 ciating the work of the Lord, and for rendering Him the 
 glory which is His due. Viewed as a check upon Christian 
 activity, unbelief is without doubt one of the great hin- 
 drances to the missionary work. 
 
 Such unbelief is unreasonable and wicked. Look at the 
 
298 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 course of providence in relation to the missionary enter- 
 prise, especially of recent years. In no period of the history 
 of Christianity has the providence of God been more marked 
 than of late years in its bearing on the extension of the 
 Redeemer's kingdom. What facilities we have for com- 
 munication with all parts of the world, and with what 
 security missionaries can now labour in almost any part of 
 the globe ! How has the British Empire, like the Roman 
 Empire of old, made a highway among the nations and 
 across the seas for the advance of Christianity ! How large 
 a portion of the globe appears to be placed by Providence 
 at the disposal of Christendom ! God is indicating to His 
 people their duty, and also His readiness to do mighty 
 works by their instrumentality. What is needed and what 
 is warranted, so that the Gospel may be preached " in the 
 regions beyond," is an increase of faith. And this increase 
 of faith all Christians should seek to obtain. 
 
 One wise and important method for strengthening faith 
 in missionary operations is to make ourselves familiar witli 
 them. Read the letters and statements of missionaries ; the 
 Reports of missionary societies ; the lives of such men as 
 John Williams, Adonirara Judson, William Burns, Robert 
 Moffat ; or if there be an objection to missionary literature 
 as one-sided and partial, then we might take the testimony 
 of competent independent witnesses — such as that given 
 by Commander Hood in his "Cruise of H.M.S. Faivn." 
 Speaking of what he saw in the Samoan group of islands, 
 he says that the " rigid observance of Sunday presents a 
 rather humiliating contrast with its profanation in more 
 favoured regions. Our amusements were suddenly sus- 
 pended by hearing the master of the house commence 
 singing the evening hymn, in which most of the assembly, 
 taking their books out of their waistcloths, joined ; and we 
 removing our hats also, added our voices to the best of our 
 ability, hymn-books being handed to us. The psalm finished. 
 
GENERAL SURVEY OF MISSIONS. 299 
 
 our host made a long extempore prayer, the Lord's prayer 
 concluding the service. It certainly was a striking scene — 
 half-a-dozen unarmed Englishmen sitting here in the midst 
 of a crowd of half-naked islanders, and receiving a lesson 
 of this kind from people so lately designated ' ferocious 
 savages.'" 
 
 Take again the testimony of "Mr. Thompson, who, during 
 his eight years' residence at the Cape of Good Hope, 
 travelled much in the interior, and who was neither a 
 missionary nor connected with any missionary society. He 
 says : — " Having now visited the whole of the missionary 
 stations in Southern Africa, it may not be improper to ex- 
 press in a few words the opinion I have formed regarding 
 them. I may safely affirm that, at every missionary station 
 I have visited, instruction in the arts of civilised life, and 
 in the knowledge of pure and practical religion, go hand-in- 
 hand. It is true that among the more savage tribes of 
 Bushmen, Korannas, and Bechuanas the progress of the 
 missions has hitherto been exceedingly slow and circum- 
 scribed. But persons who have visited these tribes, and 
 are best qualified to appreciate the difficulties to be sur- 
 mounted in instructing and civilising them, will, if they are 
 not led away by prejudice, be far more disposed to admire 
 the exemplary fortitude, patience, and perseverance of the 
 missionaries than to speak of them with contempt and 
 contumely. 
 
 " These devoted men are found in the remotest deserts, 
 accompanying the wild and wandering savages from place 
 to place, destitute of almost every comfort, and at times 
 without even the necessaries of life. Some of them have, 
 without murmuring, spent their whole lives in such service. 
 Let those who consider missions as idle or unavailing visit 
 Gnadenthal, Bethelsdorp, Theopolis, the Caffire Stations, 
 Griqua Town, Kamiesberg, etc. ; let them view what has 
 been effected at these institutions for tribes of the nations, 
 
300 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 oppressed, neglected, or despised by every other class of 
 men of Christian name ; and if they do not find all accom- 
 plished which the world had perhaps too sanguinely antici- 
 pated, let them fairly weigh the obstacles that have been 
 encountered before they venture to pronounce an unfavour- 
 able decision. 
 
 *' For my own part, utterly unconnected as I am with 
 missionaries or missionary societies of any description, I 
 cannot in candour and justice withhold from them my 
 humble meed of applause for their labours in Southern 
 Africa. They have without question been in this country 
 not only the devoted teachers of our holy religion to the 
 heathen tribes, but also the indefatigable pioneers of dis- 
 covery and civilisation. Nor is their character unappreciated 
 by the natives. Averse as they still are in many places to 
 receive a religion, the doctrines of which are too pure and 
 benevolent to be congenial to hearts depraved by selfish 
 and vindictive passions, they are yet everywhere friendly 
 to the missionaries, eagerly invite them to reside in their 
 territories, and consult them in all their emergencies. Such 
 is the impression which the disinterestedness, patience, and 
 kindness of the missionaries have, after long years of 
 labour and difficulty, decidedly made even upon the wildest 
 and fiercest of the South African tribes with whom they 
 have come in contact ; and this favourable impression, 
 where more has not been achieved, is of itself a most im- 
 portant step towards full and ultimate success." 
 
 Take the testimony of four Governors of India. Lord 
 Napier says : — " The progress of Christianity is slow, but it 
 is undeniable. Every year sees the area and the number 
 slightly increase. The advance of Christianity has at all 
 times been marked by occasional fitful and spasmodic 
 movements in India. The present period is one of moderate 
 progression, but it does not include the expectation of rapid 
 and contagious expansions such as were witnessed in the 
 
GENERAL SURVEY OF MISSIONS. 301 
 
 sixteenth century in Malabar and Madina, in the last 
 century in Tanjore, and more recently among the Shanars 
 of the South. In conclusion, I must express my deep sense 
 of the importance of missions as a general civilising agency 
 in the south of India. Imagine all these establishments 
 suddenly removed, how great would be the vacancy ! 
 Would not the Government lose valuable auxiliaries 1 The 
 weakness of European agency in this country is a frequent 
 matter of wonder and complaint ; but how much weaker 
 would this element of good appear if the mission was oblit- 
 erated from the scene." " In many places," says Sir Donald 
 Macleod, "an impression prevails that the missions have 
 not produced results adequate to the efforts which have 
 been made ; but there is no real foundation for this im- 
 pression, and those who hold such opinions know but little 
 of the reality." This is the testimony of Sir Bartle 
 Frere : — "I speak simply as to matters of experience and 
 observation, and not of opinion — just as a Roman prefect 
 might have reported to Trajan or the Antonines ; and I 
 assure you that, whatever you may be told to the contrary, 
 the teaching of Christianity among one hundred and sixty 
 millions of civilised, industrious Hindoos and Mahommedans 
 in India is effecting changes, moral, social, and political, 
 which for extent and rapidity of effect are far more extra- 
 ordinary than anything you or your fathers have witnessed 
 in modern Europe." Lastly, there is the testimony of Lord 
 Lawrence, Yiceroy and Governor-General : — " I believe," 
 he says, " notwithstanding all that the English people have 
 done to benefit India, the missionaries have done more than 
 all agencies combined." 
 
 Christian people should make themselves familiar with 
 testimonies such as these, and then when men whose worldly 
 interests, or whose habits of life, cause them to look with an 
 unfriendly eye on the missions of the Church, or men who 
 have never troubled to inform themselves concerning them. 
 
302 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 seek to shake their faith in their usefulness, or to restrain 
 their efforts in their promotion, that faith will be found firm 
 as an immovable rock. 
 
 Faith in Christian missions may be strengthened by con- 
 sidering the universal adaptation of Christianity to the 
 state and needs of mankind. It is suited to man as man in 
 all parts of the world. There is nothing local in its nature 
 or requirements. It is not circumscribed by any geogra- 
 phical limits. Its ideas may be expressed in all languages. 
 It can exist under all forms of government. It will accord 
 with all systems of sound philosophy. Its converts exist 
 in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. In its entire har- 
 mony with the condition, needs, character, instincts, aspira- 
 tions, and capabilities of our common humanity, who can 
 fail to see that it is God's provision for the world ^ 
 
 Faith in Christian missions is, moreover, to be strengthened 
 by considering the commission of Christ to His church — 
 " Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every 
 creature." This commission remains imperative in all its 
 original force. Whatever may be the result of the proclama- 
 tion of the Gospel, though not one to whom it is preached 
 should accept it, the command of Christ Jesus binds His 
 followers to make it known. Duty calls, and it is at our 
 peril we neglect the call. He who speaks to us speaks with 
 authority. He has a right to order us to any service He 
 may require, and by our profession of discipleship we are 
 held to implicit obedience. Obedience to Christ's command 
 is rendered dear to us by gratitude. He who speaks is our 
 Redeemer. We are not our own, for He has bought us 
 with a price — even the price of His own blood. Standing 
 by our Lord's side on Olivet as He issues His great com- 
 mission, we remember Bethlehem and Nazareth — we have 
 GethSemane and Calvary before our eyes ; and while His 
 words come to us as a royal edict, they also come as the last 
 request of our dearest friend. Obedience to Christ's com- 
 
GENERAL SURVEY OF MISSIONS. 303 
 
 mand is in a special manner devolved upon British Christians. 
 Our physical and mental qualities, our national training for 
 centuries past, the immense and ever increasing wealth in 
 our possession, the character of our political and religious 
 institutions, the vast territories we own and the many 
 millions of people over whom we exercise rule, our com- 
 mercial relationships with all th€ nations of the earth, and 
 our missionary history and experience for the last hundred 
 years — all are designed by God to fit us to carry out the 
 purposes of His mercy to a perishing world. 
 
 Christians should strengthen their faith in missionary 
 work by the recollection of the declared purpose and pro- 
 mise of God, It is His purpose that the Gospel should 
 be preached to all nations. He indicates this purpose by 
 prophecy — by such predictions as declare that the earth 
 shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters 
 cover the sea ; that it shall come to pass in the last days 
 that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established 
 in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the 
 hills, and all nations shall flow into it ; that the kingdoms 
 of this world are to become the kingdoms of our Lord and 
 of His Christ. 
 
 An increase of faith in missionary operations will ensure 
 their more rapid growth and success. It will do this in 
 several ways. There will be deeper compassion for the 
 heathen — a truer sympathy with them in their wretched 
 condition. Spiritual wretchedness — the loss and misery of 
 the soul without God and goodness, under the power and 
 exposed to the penalty of sin, is worse than anything else 
 a man can endure. And if we look at this miserable state 
 of man without Christ — having no hope and without God 
 in the world — if we look at it till the sight becomes clear to 
 us in all its truth and reality, then the salvation of these 
 lost ones will become our heart's great desire. 
 
 With an increase of faith there will be a rising up of 
 
304 LIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, D.D. 
 
 men to preach the Gospel to the heathen, sufficient supply 
 of funds to send them forth, and an increase of earnest 
 prayer for the blessing of God to give success to the work. 
 With all this there will be the seeking out of new fields for 
 efibrt. Many parts of the world, as we have already seen, 
 are occupied. In India, in China, in Japan, on the coasts 
 of Africa, and in the interior, in various parts of America, 
 in Australasia, in the islands of the sea, east and west, 
 north and south, the missionaries of the cross are to be 
 found. But large tracts of the earth remain unvisifced. 
 With an increase of faith these will be occupied too. The 
 various sections of the Church will search them out, and 
 divide them among themselves, as waste places of the earth 
 to be reclaimed and cultivated, till they blossom and bear 
 fruits of righteousness like the garden of the Lord ; and 
 this will go on till there shall not be a tribe of mankind to 
 whom the Gospel shall be an unknown sound. Then shall 
 God's way be known upon earth, His saving health among 
 all nations. 
 
3sr O T E s 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SITUATION, FORM, AND EXTENT OF AFRICA- 
 PHYSICAL FEATURES — CLIMATE— PRODUC- 
 TIONS— ANIMALS— POPULATION— RELIGIONS- 
 FORMS OF GOVERNMENT— COMMERCE, &c. 
 
 I^FRICA is situated in the eastern hemisphere, to the 
 south of Europe and the south-west of Asia, and 
 lies between lat. 37° 20' N. and 33° 50' S., and 
 long. 17° 30^ W. and 51° 30' E. In form it is an 
 irregular triangle, of which the southern extremity forms 
 the blunt apex ; having the Mediterranean Sea on the 
 north, the Isthmus of Suez, the Red Sea, and the Indian 
 Ocean on the east, and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. 
 From the Mediterranean, where its breadth is already 
 considerable, it becomes gradually broader, until within 
 a few degrees of the Equator ; it then contracts suddenly, 
 and passing southwards, narrows until it terminates at the 
 Cape of Good Hope. It is almost insular ; the connecting 
 isthmus being seventy-two miles across, of no great elevation 
 above the sea-level, and in part occupied by salt lakes and 
 marshes. Practically, now, Africa is an island, inasmuch 
 as the canal opened through the Isthmus of Suez a few 
 years ago has separated it from Asia, and connected the 
 Red Sea with the Mediterranean. 
 
 20 
 
306 NOTES ON AFEICA. 
 
 The coast-line is markedlDyfew indentations or projections; 
 the most important gulf being that of Guinea on the west ; 
 and the extreme points to the north, west, south, and east 
 being respectively Cape Bon, Cape Yerde, the Cape of Good 
 Hope, and Cape Guardafui. The breadth of Africa, at the 
 Equator, is about two thousand four hundred miles, but its 
 greatest breadth, from Cape Guardafui to Cape Verde, is 
 upwards of four thousand six hundred miles. Its greatest 
 length, from Cape Blanco, in the Mediterranean, to Cape 
 das Agulhas, is about five thousand miles ; and its entire 
 area, including the adjacent islands, nearly twelve million 
 square miles. 
 
 Africa is the most compact of all the great divisions of 
 the globe. To use the expression of Ritter, it is "like a 
 trunk without limbs." The other continents have their 
 coasts lengthened by being deeply indented with bays, capes, 
 and long necks of land. This is not the case with Africa. 
 There are only a few islands near the shores, and with the 
 exception perhaps of Madagascar, none of them seem to be 
 connected in physical structure with the adjacent continent. 
 The Equator cuts Africa into two masses of unequal magni- 
 tude. The northern portion has twice the superficial area 
 of the southern, and may be considered as about equal in 
 extent to South America, while the southern portion is 
 about the size of New Holland. Its general configuration 
 may be briefly sketched under the following heads : — The 
 triangular region south of Cape Guardafui and the Gulf of 
 Guinea is mostly a high table-land, having fringes of 
 mountains crowning its edges. Between the coast and the 
 beginning of the elevation runs a belt of lowlands varying 
 from fifty to three hundred miles in breadth. The Lupata 
 range, seen running parallel with the coast, forms the eastern 
 crest of the table-land, and reaches in the snow-clad Kili- 
 mandjaro and Kenia the height of twenty thousand feet. 
 These are believed to be the real Mountains of the Moon. 
 
NOTES ON AFRICA. 307 
 
 The mountainous country of Abyssinia is the eastern pro- 
 longation of the plateau, and its elevated crest, which rises at 
 the northern extremity, in the summit of Abba Yared, to 
 fifteen thousand feet. At the south the hills rise from 
 Table Mount to the summits of Nieuweld and Sneuwberg, in 
 the north of the Cape Colony ; these latter mountains being 
 variously estimated at from seven to ten thousand feet in 
 height. Towards the north-west the border of the table- 
 land rises, in the Cameroons, to the height of thirteen 
 thousand feet. Within this region are the Orange River, 
 the Zambesi, and the source of the ISTile, which, flowing from 
 Lake Victoria Nyanza through Nubia and Egypt, empties 
 itself into the Mediterranean. Here, too, in addition to 
 Victoria Nyanza, are the Lakes Albert Nyanza, Tanganyika, 
 N'gami, and Nyassa. , 
 
 North of the great triangular table-land lies Sudan, or 
 Central Nigritia, under which name may be comprehended 
 the countries watered by the Senegal, the Gambia, and the 
 Niger, along with the coast of Lower Guinea, and Lake 
 Tchad. In the west of this section is a mountainous table- 
 land, in which the above-named rivers take their rise. 
 Eastward of the Niger the country is hilly, alternating with 
 rich, often swampy plains. In the basin of Lake Tchad is 
 a vast alluvial plain, one of the largest on the globe, and of 
 great fertility. 
 
 Between Sudan and the cultivated tract which borders 
 the Mediterranean stretches the Sahara or Great Desert. 
 Its average breadth from north to south is about a thou- 
 sand miles, and its length, from the Atlantic to the western 
 edge of the valley of the Nile, two thousand. Over a great 
 part of this region rain never falls, and everywhere it is 
 rare. Here and there are tracts of fine shifting sand, 
 while the greater part of the surface consists of naked but 
 firm soil, composed of indurated sand, sandstone, granite, 
 and quartz rocks. This general desolation is, however. 
 
308 NOTES ON AFRICA, 
 
 interrupted at intervals by districts covered with bushes and 
 coarse grass, and often marked by great fertility and beauty. 
 
 The Atlas region comprehends the mountainous countries 
 of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunis. The northern slope 
 towards the Mediterranean is similar in aspect, climate^ 
 and productions to the opposite coast of Europe ; the 
 southern side merges gradually into the Sahara. Some 
 parts of this mountain chain are considerably above the 
 snow-line, and the highest summit is reckoned at fifteen 
 thousand feet. The remaining region is that bordering on 
 the Red Sea, and which consists of Abyssinia, Nubia, and 
 Egypt. Abyssinia, as we have seen, is the mountainous 
 termination of the great southern plateau. Between this 
 and the Mediterranean extends the low valley of the Nile, 
 separated from the Red Sea on the east by a lofty rugged 
 district, and from the Libyan Desert on the west by a low 
 ridge of limestone and sandstone. 
 
 The climate of Africa is distinguished by its general want 
 of humidity and its warmth ; of this fact the immense 
 extent of arid and burning deserts affords incontrovertible 
 proof. The most northern and the most southern districts 
 are equally without what can be called a winter. In some 
 districts the heat is frequently insupportable. Thus at 
 Ombos and Syene, in Egypt, the sand under a noon-day sun 
 absolutely scorches the feet of the traveller, and eggs may 
 be cooked by burying them in it. There are three great 
 varieties of climate corresponding to the physical structure 
 of the continent. First, that of the plateaus ; second, that 
 of the terraces which lead to them ; and third, that of the 
 coasts. In the vast desert of the Sahara, extending over 
 an area equal to that of the Mediterranean Sea, the heat of 
 the day is uniformly contrasted with the coldness of the 
 night ; while on the terrace-land of Limba, situated behind 
 the Sierra Leone region, we find a temperate and whole- 
 some climate ; and the natives of Congo call their terrace- 
 
NOTES ON AFRICA. 309 
 
 lands, which are well cultivated and thickly peopled, " the 
 Paradise of the World." But the flat coasts, which are 
 often over-flooded in the rainy season, have a very oppres- 
 sive atmosphere ; and from the morasses at the mouths of 
 the rivers a malaria arises which is pestilential to Europeans. 
 The region of pestilential air has been calculated to extend 
 about one hundred miles inland, but only forty miles out to 
 sea, and to rise to a height of four hundred feet above the 
 sea-level. 
 
 The climate of Africa is less modified by the ocean than 
 that of any other portion of tlie globe, not even excepting 
 Central Asia. It is true that a cold current from the 
 Antarctic seas sweeps along the Cape of Good Hope and the 
 Agulhas bank, and immense Antarctic glaciers float on- 
 wards nearer the Equator than they do in the northern 
 hemisphere ; yet from the figure of the African continent, 
 these ocean currents only influence the temperature of the 
 coast to a small extent, while the rest of the continent is 
 surrounded by oceans of elevated temperature. It seems 
 requisite that there should be a high central table-land, with 
 numerous snow-capped mountains extending across the 
 greater part of the African tropics, to modify the solar 
 influence, which, were it exerted on such an immense extent 
 of level and low-lying surface, would become excessive. 
 Such an excessive elevation of temperature does, in fact, 
 partially exist in the Great Sahara, forming the north-west 
 corner of the continent. From the greater breadth of 
 Africa to the north, and its vicinity to the neighbouring 
 continents, the temperature of the northern portion is con- 
 siderably above that of the southern. Egypt and the Cape 
 Colony are in the same parallels of north and south latitude, 
 but the southern colony has a much milder climate than 
 that of Lower Egypt. The rivers of both regions are 
 subject to periodical overflowings, but the flooding of the 
 Nile prevails from June to September, while that of t'.ie 
 
310 NOTES ON AFRICA. 
 
 Orange River flowing through the Nam aqua country, and 
 the Fish River, and others which flow into the Indian 
 Ocean, have their risings and floods in November and 
 December, both being respectively influenced by the summer 
 solstices of the northern and southern hemispheres. 
 
 During eight months of the year constant fine weather 
 is prevalent throughout a great part of Africa. The sun 
 rises every morning in a clear atmosphere, and spreads a 
 clear glaring light over the whole country, too brilliant 
 almost for the eye to sustain ; no cloud casts a passing 
 shadow over the landscape ; and in the evening the orb of 
 day sinks magnificently to rest. But the excessive heat 
 diminishes the pleasure that otherwise would be felt in 
 contemplating the glorious sky, and the first clouds which 
 foretell the approach of rain are hailed with delight by the 
 European resident overwhelmed by the oppressive heat. 
 
 African vegetation is less varied than that of Europe or 
 Asia. Along the Mediterranean sea-board it greatly re- 
 sembles that of Southern Europe. Thus the olive, orange, 
 and citron of Tripoli and Algiers rival in luxuriance the 
 similar productions of Andalusia and Valencia. The date- 
 tree in Tripoli attains the height of one hundred feet, and 
 bears clusters weighing from twenty to thirty pounds. The 
 vegetation of Egypt is highly characterised, and presents 
 many indigenous plants, which, even under the most im- 
 perfect developments, readily indicate the country to which 
 they belong. The celebrated and classic lotus grows so 
 abundantly in this country that some of its ancient in- 
 habitants are represented to have made its fruit their 
 principal article of subsistence ; and thus they come to be 
 distinguished by the Greeks as Lotophagi^ or Lotus-eaters. 
 The Nile produces many aquatic plants, which spread their 
 large leaves over its surface, and gracefully rear their flowers 
 above its waters. 
 
 The vegetation of Abyssinia appears to difier considerably 
 
NOTES ON AFRICA. 311 
 
 from that of the tropics, but it bears some affinity to that of 
 the Mozambique coast, and of the Cape of Good Hope. 
 Coffee grows indigenously on the African coast of the Red 
 Sea, near Babelmandib, and in the interior to the south of 
 Abyssinia. Certain palms are characteristic, of different 
 parts of Africa, and are of the greatest importance to the 
 inhabitants. Such are the date-palm and the doom-palm 
 which grow in the arid, sandy regions of the north, and tlie 
 cocoa-palm and the oil-palm which flourish amid the tropical 
 luxuriance of the west. A large quantity of oil is produced 
 also from a plant of a very different description — the ground- 
 nut, a leguminous, herbaceous plant, which has the remark- 
 able peculiarity of thrusting its pod into the ground to ripen 
 there, and which is now so extensively cultivated that ten 
 millions of bushels of ground-nuts are annually exported 
 from the Gambia. In the hot and humid districts of Sene- 
 gambia, besides the productions common to the similar 
 climates of Upper Egypt and Arabia, there are plants 
 which have been considered peculiar to the Indian Archi- 
 pelago, to Madagascar, and South America. 
 
 The tropical regions are not so rich in species of plants as 
 those of South America, but still they exhibit many 
 peculiar genera. South Africa presents one of those centres 
 of vegetation which are, in some respects, distinct from 
 other regions of the earth. Leguminous and euphorbiaceous 
 plants abound. Every one is familiar with the splendid 
 Cape heaths, which flourish more particularly in the coast 
 districts, and become rarer in the interior. Numerous 
 species of the cacti suit the aridity of the soil ; and here the 
 aloe plant flourishes. As we leave the coasts, and ascend 
 .the terraces towards the interior, we pass gradually from 
 tropical productions to those of the temperate zones, which 
 all flourish well in several parts of Africa. Though the 
 forests cannot rival those of Brazil, yet they are rich in 
 valuable woods, especially the harder kinds — some of them 
 
312 NOTES ON AFRICA. 
 
 excellent for shipbuilding. Ebony, certain kinds of rose- 
 wood, and the timber called African teak, are among the 
 productions of these forests. The butter- tree is one of the 
 most remarkable productions of the central regions. Ex- 
 tensive level tracts are covered with the gay and graceful 
 acacia, distilling those rich gums which constitute so import- 
 ant an item in African commerce. Here also flourishes the 
 baobab in all its gigantic magnitude. 
 
 Gordon Gumming says of this tree : — " It is chiefly 
 remarkable on account of its extraordinary size, resembling 
 a castle or tower more than a forest tree. Throughout the 
 country of Bamadgwato (lat. 22° S.) the average circum- 
 ference of these trees was from thirty -five to forty feet ; but 
 on extending my researches in a north-easterly direction 
 throughout the more fertile forests which clothe the many 
 boundless tracts through which the river Limpopo winds, 
 I daily met with specimens of this extraordinary tree, 
 averaging from sixty to a hundred feet in circumference, and 
 maintaining this thickness to a height from twenty to thirty 
 feet, when they diverge into numerous goodly branches, 
 whose general character is abrupt and horizontal, and which 
 seem to terminate with a peculiar suddenness. The wood is 
 soft and useless ; the leaf similar to the sycamore : the fruit 
 is a nut the size of a swan's egg. A remarkable fact in con- 
 nection with these trees is the manner in which they are 
 disposed throughout the forest. They are found standing 
 singly or in rows, invariably at considerable distances from 
 one another, as if planted by the hand of man ; and from 
 their wondrous size and unusual height (for they always 
 tower high above their surrounding compeers), they convey 
 the idea of being strangers or interlopers on the ground they 
 occupy." 
 
 On the borders of Lake N'gami Livingstone found the wide- 
 spreading baobab-tree, with trunks from seventy to seventy- 
 six feet in circumference, Palmyra palms, the banyan-tree, 
 
NOTES OiV AFRICA. 313 
 
 and fruit trees, with fruit resembling the orange and plum. 
 In the dry plains of the interior a succulent root is found 
 which is of the utmost importance to the thirsty native. 
 The stem appears above ground from three to four inches 
 high, with small narrow leaves, and is in appearance some- 
 what like the dandelion. The bulbous root is about the 
 size of a child's head, and is porous throughout, and full of 
 pure limpid water. The bulb grows from eight to nine 
 inches from the surface, and is eagerly searched out and dug 
 up by the natives when, in their hunting expeditions, they 
 are overcome by thirst. Several other succulent plants, with 
 thick juicy leaves, are also found springing up from the 
 dry-baked soil of the desert and a species of water-melon 
 abounds in the Kalahari desert which also affords a cooling 
 food for the natives. Most of these plants and roots form, 
 too, the food of the numerous herds of antelopes ; and even 
 the elephant digs them up with his tusks and pliant trunk, 
 and finds in them pleasant sustenance. 
 
 The fertile valleys of Africa, both in the tropical and 
 temperate parts, are favourable to the productions of other 
 countries. Maize is now extensively cultivated, as well as 
 rice, wheat, and millet. Coffee grows luxuriantly, and of 
 good quality. Indigo and tobacco are easily cultivated. 
 Cotton has succeeded well where it has been introduced, as 
 in Egypt, where, however, it requires artificial and laborious 
 irrigation ; while in the fertile and well-watered soil of 
 Sennaar it flourishes even with a most careless style of 
 ' cultivation, and might without doubt be produced in 
 enormous quantity. Other regions, as Natal, are also likely 
 to produce it abundantly. The vine is cultivated with 
 success at the Cape of Good Hope, and the sugar-cane in 
 different parts of the continent. 
 
 In his admirable survey of the geographical distribution of 
 the mammalia, Wagner, dividing the globe into certain 
 zoological provinces, takes the northern frontier of the 
 
314 NOTES ON AFRICA. 
 
 Sahara as a line between two distinct African provinces. 
 This line coincides nearly with the parallel of 30° N. lat. ; 
 all Africa south of it he makes the zoological province of 
 Africa ; but those provinces situated on the north of it, and 
 comprising Barbary and the other coast countries bordering 
 on the Mediterranean, he includes witibin his European 
 province, on the ground that, although African types still 
 appear there, those of Europe are predominant. In this 
 respect the Mediterranean separates North Africa from 
 South Europe less than does the Sahara from the main part 
 of Africa. Indeed, the entire basin of the Mediterranean, 
 including the European, Asiatic, and African shores, is 
 peculiar in itself, both as to animal and to vegetable life. 
 
 The configuration and character of the surface of Africa 
 explains the peculiar fauna of quadrupeds of this country, 
 which on the whole resembles that of the Turanian steppes. 
 The forest-inhabiting deer are completely wanting, except in 
 the transition province of Barbary, and they are replaced by 
 the antelopes, which are more numerous here than anywhere 
 else. Among the many and important varieties of the 
 animal kingdom furnished by Africa the first place must be 
 given to the lion. Then come the leopard, the hyena, the 
 jackal ; a species of elephant, different in some respects 
 from the Asiatic ; several species of the rhinoceros, the 
 hippopotamus, the wart-hog, many kinds of monkeys, par- 
 ticularly within the tropics ; the giraffe, the zebra, and the 
 quagga, and numerous species of the antelope, which, as we 
 have intimated, occupy in African zoology the place of deer 
 in other parts of the world. The gnu is one of the most 
 remarkable of the antelope genus; some of the species 
 occasionally appear in prodigious numbers, devastating the 
 fields of the colonists. The extraordinary swiftness of many 
 of these animals, which enables them to seek their food at 
 great distances, is peculiarly adapted to the immense plains 
 of the country. The comparative scarcity of forests corre- 
 
NOTES ON AFRICA. 315 
 
 spends with that of the squirrel tribe, those that are found 
 being mostly ground-squirrels. Mice are numerous, as are 
 also hares, which latter prefers steppe-like country to wood- 
 land. Camels are said to have been introduced by the 
 Arabs, and are plentiful in the northern regions. Among 
 birds the ostrich is found in almost all parts of Africa; parrots 
 also, flamingoes, guinea-fowls, and other representatives of 
 the feather tribe are numerous. Crocodiles are found in the 
 rivers ; and many kinds of lizards and serpents occur, not 
 a few of the latter being poisonous. There are also tortoises 
 and turtles of different species. ^ 
 
 Africa is the principal home of the lion, who here reigns 
 undisturbed as king over the animal creation, while in Asia 
 his power is divided with the tiger. He inhabits all parts of 
 this continent, except the north-east portions, the Sahara, 
 and those districts where European civilisation has won its 
 ground. Over the more secluded parts of South Africa he 
 is very generally diffused. He is, however, nowhere met 
 with in great abundance, it being very rare to meet more than 
 three, or even two, families of lions frequenting the same 
 district and drinking at the same fountain, except in times 
 of great drought. It is a common thing to find a full-grown 
 lion and lioness associating with two or three young ones 
 nearly full-grown ; at other times full-grown males, to the 
 number of three or four, may be found associating and 
 hunting together in amicable alliance. There is something 
 so noble and imposing in the presence of the lion when seen 
 ■(talking with dignified self-possession, free and undaunted, 
 on his native soil, that no description can convey an 
 adequate idea of his striking appearance. The male lion is 
 adorned with a long, thick, shaggy mane, which in some 
 instances almost sweeps the ground. The colour of these 
 manes varies — some being very dark, and others of a golden 
 yellow ; the colour being generally influenced by age. He 
 attains his mane in his third year ; at first it is yellowish, in 
 
316 NOTES ON AFRICA. 
 
 the prime of life it is blackish, and when he has numbered 
 many years, but still is in the full enjoyment of his power, 
 it assumes a yellowish-grey pepper-and-salt sort of colour. 
 When old, lions are cunning and dangerous, and most to be 
 dreaded. The females are entirely destitute of a mane, 
 being covered with a short, thick, glossy coat of tawny hair. 
 The manes and coats of lions frequenting open-lying districts 
 entirely free from trees, such as the borders of the great 
 Kalahari Desert, are more rank and beautiful than those 
 inhabiting forest districts. No one who has once heard the 
 deep-toned thunder of the lion's roar can ever mistake it ; it 
 is extremely grand and peculiarly striking. It consists at 
 times of a low deep moaning, often repeated, ending in 
 faintly audible sighs ; at other times he strikes the forest 
 with loud deep-toned solemn roars, repeated five or six 
 times in quick succession, each increasing in loudness to the 
 third or fourth, when his voice dies away in low muffled 
 sounds, very much resembling distant thunder. At times, 
 and not unfrequently, a troop may be heard roaring in con- 
 cert, one assuming the lead, and two or more regularly 
 taking up their parts, like persons singing a catch. They 
 roar loudest in cold frosty nights ; but on no occasion are 
 their voices to be heard in such perfection as when two or 
 three strange parties approach a fountain to drink at the 
 same time. As a general rule lions roar during the night, 
 commencing in the evening, and continuing at intervals 
 until the morning. In hazy and rainy weather they are to 
 be heard at every hour in the day, but their roar is subdued. 
 It often happens that when two strange lions meet at a 
 fountain a terrible combat ensues, which sometimes ends 
 in the death of one of them. The habits of the lion are 
 strictly nocturnal; during the day he lies concealed beneath 
 the shade of a low bushy tree or wide-spreading bush, 
 either in the level forest or mountain side. He is also 
 partial to lofty reeds, or fields of long rank yellow grass, 
 
NOTES ON AFRICA. 317 
 
 such as occur in low-lying valleys. From these haunts he 
 sallies forth when the sun goes down and commences his 
 nightly prowl. When he is successful in his beat, and has 
 secured his prey, he does not roar much that night, only 
 uttering occasionally a few low moans. Unlike other 
 quadrupeds, he seems unwilling to visit the fountains 
 during moonlight ; so that when the moon rises early he 
 defers his watering till the morning, and when the moon 
 rises late he drinks at an early hour in the night. Though 
 considerably under four feet in height, he has little difficulty 
 in dashing to the ground and -overcoming the lofty and 
 apparently powerful giraffe. The lion is the constant at- 
 tendant of vast herds of buflfaloes ; and a full-grown lion, 
 so long as his teeth remain unbroken, generally proves a 
 match for an old bull buffalo, which in size and strength 
 greatly surpasses the most powerful breed of our English 
 cattle. The lion also preys on all the larger varieties of the 
 antelope, and on both varieties of the gnu. The zebra also 
 is a favourite object of his pursuit. The female is more 
 fierce and active than the male ; and lionesses which have 
 never had young are much more dangerous than those that 
 have. At no time is the lion so much to be dreaded as 
 when his partner has got small young ones. At that season 
 he knows no fear, and in the coolest and most intrepid 
 manner will face a thousand men. 
 
 The African elephant differs from the Asiatic in his 
 rounder head and more convex forehead, his larger ears, 
 and the lozenge-marked surface of his grinders ; the tusks 
 are also longer ; while the female elephant of Africa is 
 furnished with tusks as well as the male, though smaller. 
 The elephant is widely distributed over the forests of South 
 Africa, but does not attain so large a size there as in the 
 more tropical parts of that continent. The male is much 
 larger than the female, and is furnished with tapering and 
 beautifully-arched tusks from six to eight feet long. Old 
 
318 NOTES ON AFRICA. 
 
 bull elephants are found singly or in pairs, or sometimes in 
 herds of six to twenty. The younger bulls remain for many 
 years in company with their mothers, and then form large 
 herds of twenty to a hundred. The elephant feeds on the 
 branches, leaves, and roots of trees, and also on various 
 bulbous roots, which he finds out by his exquisite smell 
 and digs up with his tusks. Whole acres of ground may 
 be seen thus ploughed up. He passes the greater part of 
 the day and night in feeding, and consumes an immense 
 quantity of food ; roaming over a vast extent of surface, 
 and making choice of the greenest spots of the forest. 
 When a district becomes parched and barren he will for- 
 sake it for years, and wander to great distances in search 
 of food and water. In his wild state he entertains a great 
 horror of man, and a single human being, even a child, l^y 
 passing between them and the wind, w^ill put a hundred to 
 flight. When a single troop has been attacked by the 
 hunter, all the other elephants of the district become aware 
 of the circumstance in a few days, and a general migration 
 takes place to more frequented grounds. They keep them- 
 selves more secluded than any other wild quadrupeds, with 
 the exception of some rare species of antelope, choosing the 
 most remote and lonely depths of the forest, generally at a 
 great distance from the rivers and fountains to which they 
 resort at night to drink. In dry, warm weather they make 
 nightly visits to the drinking fountains ; in cool and moist 
 weather they drink only once every third or fourth day. 
 They commence their march at sunset, and travel from 
 twelve to twenty miles ; they generally reach the water 
 between the hours of nine and midnight, when, having 
 satisfied their thirst, and cooled their bodies by spouting 
 large quantities of water over their backs with their trunks, 
 they resume their way back into the depths of the forest. 
 When in places of perfect security, the old bulls lie down to 
 ^leep for a few hours on their sides, generally leaning against 
 
NOTES ON AFRICA. 319 
 
 the large hill of the white ant. The females rarely lie down, 
 and both males and females, when liable to disturbance, 
 always keep standing beneath some shady tree. Having 
 rested themselves they then proceed to feed. Spreading 
 out from one another in a zigzag course, they smash and 
 destroy all the forest trees which happen to be in their way ; 
 and the devastation which a herd of bull elephants will 
 produce in this manner is almost incredible. They are ex- 
 tremely capricious, breaking down whole groups of trees, 
 and perhaps tasting only one or two small branches, leaving 
 the trunks lying prostrate in^all directions. During the 
 night they will feed in open plains and thinly- wooded dis- 
 tricts ; but as day dawns they return to the dense coverts, 
 and here they remain, drawn up in a compact herd, while 
 the heat of the day lasts. The pace of the elephant, when 
 undisturbed, is a bold, free, sweeping step ; and from the 
 peculiar spongy formation of his foot, his tread is extremely 
 light and inaudible, and all his movements are attended with 
 a peculiar gentleness and grace. This, however, only applies 
 to the elephant when roaming undisturbed in his jungle, 
 for when roused by the hunter he proves the most dangerous 
 enemy, and far more difficult to conquer than any other 
 beast of chase. The tusk of an elephant weighs from a 
 hundred to a hundred and fifty or seventy pounds ; and the 
 price of the ivory in the English market is from .£28 to 
 c£32 per hundredweight. The native Bechuanas devour 
 the flesh of the elephant with great avidity, regarding the 
 ' legs, when cooked after a peculiar fashion, a special delicacy ; 
 they also make water-bags of its inner skin. 
 
 The largest and best known species of the hippopotamus 
 is found in almost all parts of Africa, to which quarter of 
 the globe it is entirely confined. A smaller species has 
 recently been described as an inhabitant of the rivers of 
 Western Africa within the tropics, and is said to diflTer 
 remarkably from the common species in having only two 
 
320 NOTES ON AFRICA. 
 
 incisors, instead of four, in the lower jaw. The common 
 hippopotamus is one of the largest of existing quadrupeds, 
 the bulk of its body being little inferior to that of the 
 elephant ; although its legs are so short that its belly almost 
 touches the ground, and its height is not much above five 
 feet, it is extremely aquatic in its habits, living mostly in 
 lakes or rivers, often in tidal estuaries, where the saltness 
 of the water compels it to resort to springs for the purpose 
 of drinking, and sometimes even in the sea, although it 
 never proceeds to any considerable distance from the shore. 
 Its skin is very thick — on the back and sides more than 
 two inches ; it is dark-brown, destitute of hair, and exudes 
 in great abundance from its numerous pores a thickish oily 
 fluid, by which it is kept constantly lubricated. The neck 
 is short and thick ; the head very large, with small ears and 
 small eyes placed high, so that they are easily raised above 
 water without much of the animal being exposed to view. 
 The respiration of the hippopotamus is slow, and thus it is 
 enabled to spend much of its time under water, only coming 
 to the surface at intervals to breathe. It swims and dives 
 with great ease, and often walks along the bottom com- 
 pletely under water. Its food consists chiefly of the plants 
 which grow in shallow waters and about the margins of 
 lakes and rivers. It often, however, leaves the water to 
 feed on the banks, and makes inroads on cultivated fields, 
 cutting grass or corn as if it were done with a scythe, and 
 devouring and trampling the crops. The flesh is highly 
 esteemed ; the fat, of which there is a thick layer imme- 
 diately under the skin, is a favourite African delicacy, and 
 when salted is known at the Cape of Good Hope as Zee- 
 koe-sjyeck — that is. Lake-cow-bacon. The tongue and the 
 jelly made from the feet are also much prized. The hide is 
 used for a variety of purposes ; and the great canine teeth 
 are particularly valuable as ivory, and form a very con- 
 siderable article of African commerce. 
 
NOTES ON AFRICA. 321 
 
 There are four varieties of the rhinoceros in South Africa, 
 distinguished by the Bechuanas by the names of horele or 
 black rhinoceros, the keitloa or two-horned black rhinoceros, 
 the Ttiiichoclw or common white rhinoceros, and the kohaoha 
 or long-horned white rhinoceros. The latter is in all proba- 
 bility the " reem" or unicorn of Scripture, the forehead being 
 furnished with a long curved horn, which projects in front, 
 with a small rudimentary horn behind. Both varieties of 
 the black rhinoceros are extremely tierce and dangerous, and 
 rush headlong and unprovoked at any object which attracts 
 their attention. They never^grow fat, and their flesh is 
 tough and not much esteemed. They feed almost entirely 
 on the thorny branches of an acacia. Their horns are short, 
 seldom exceeding eighteen inches in length ; while those of 
 kohaoha, or white rhinoceros, often exceed four feet. The 
 horns are merely connected to the skin, not to the bane of 
 the head ; they are solid, hard, and capable of receiving a 
 fine polish. During the heat of the day the rhinoceros will 
 be found asleep, or standing indolently in some retired part 
 of the forest ; in the evening he commences his nightly 
 rambles, and visits the fountains and waterpools. The black 
 rhinoceros is subject to paroxysms of unprovoked fury, often 
 ploughing up the ground for several yards with his horns 
 and assaulting large bushes in the most violent manner. 
 Both kinds of the white rhinoceros are considerably larger 
 than the black, nearly equalling in size the elephant ; they 
 feed solely on grass, and carry much fat ; they are less swift, 
 but more gentle in their dispositions than the others, and 
 have longer heads, which they carry low when running. 
 The rhinoceros, as well as the hippopotamus, has a singular 
 parasite, the rhinoceros-bird, of a greyish colour and nearly 
 the size of a thrush, which perches on the backs of these 
 huge animals, and feeds on the ticks or insects attached to 
 the skin. When an enemy approaches, these watchful birds 
 give the alarm by ascending about six feet into the air, and 
 
 21 
 
322 NOTES ON AFRICA. 
 
 uttering a loud scream, wakening the leviathan from his 
 soundest nap. Day and night these birds adhere to the 
 back of their patron, and even when pursued and scrambling 
 through brushwood, if a branch of a tree happen to jerk 
 them off, they assiduously fly forwards and regain their 
 position. 
 
 If the lion claims the title of the king, the giraffe may 
 well be called the queen of African quadrupeds. Though 
 gigantic in size, its exquisite beauty, and softness and 
 gentleness of manners, may well entitle it to this feminine 
 pre-eminence. In the forests not molested by man they are 
 found in herds of from twelve to sixteen, sometimes even 
 thirty and forty, but sixteen is the average number. These 
 herds are composed of individuals of various sizes, from 
 the young of twelve feet in height to the dark chestnut 
 coloured old bull, whose majestic head towers to the height 
 of twenty feet. The females are of low stature, and more 
 delicately formed than the males, and average from sixteen 
 to seventeen feet. Some writers have discovered ugliness 
 and a want of grace in the giraffe ; but Mr. Gumming says 
 that it is one of the most strikingly beautiful animals in 
 creation; and that when a herd of them is seen scattered 
 through a grove of the picturesque parasol-topped acacias 
 which adorn the native plains, and on whose uppermost 
 shoots they are enabled to browse by the colossal height 
 with which nature has so admirably endowed them, he must 
 indeed be slow of conception who fails to discover both grace 
 and dignity in their movements. As is the case with many 
 other defenceless animals, their colour, too, seems to be 
 admirably in unison with the grounds over which they 
 roam ; for even the sharp-sighted natives often at some 
 distance fail to discover their spotted chestnut forms amid 
 the decayed trunks of trees and brown herbage. 
 
 Africa is the country of antelopes, unquestionably the 
 most lively, graceful, and beautifully-proportioned of the 
 
NOTES ON AFRICA. 323 
 
 brute creation. Wherever they are known, they have 
 attracted the attention and admiration of mankind from 
 the earliest ages ; and the beauty of their dark and lustrous 
 eyes affords a frequent theme to the poetical imaginings of 
 the eastern poets. Their names are of frequent occurrence 
 in the most ancient of the Oriental mythologies, and their 
 figures occur amongst the oldest of the astronomical symbols. 
 One of the largest of the African antelopes is the bubale, 
 equal in size to a stag. It congregates in troops, among 
 which frequent and sometimes fatal combats take place. 
 This species was well known to the ancients, and it is 
 represented among the hieroglyphical figures of the temples 
 of Upper Egypt. It inhabits Barbary and the Great Desert 
 of Northern Africa. The blue antelope formerly met with 
 in the Cape Colony is now so rare in Southern Africa that 
 no specimen has been killed there since the year 1799. Its 
 history and manners are little known. Some travellers are 
 disposed to regard it as merely a variety of the roan 
 antelope, which is a very large animal, measuring nearly 
 eight feet in length, and which was found by Mr. Burchell 
 among the mountainous plains in the vicinity of Lattakoo. 
 The Caffrarian oryx or gemsbok is about the most beautiful 
 and remarkable of the antelope tribe. It inhabits elevated 
 forests and the rocky regions of the south, and is exceed- 
 ingly fierce during the rutting-season, especially when 
 wounded. A friend of Major Smith having fired at one of 
 these animals, it immediately turned upon his dogs and 
 transfixed one of them upon the spot. The oryx afibrds the 
 best venison, next to that of the eland, found in that part 
 of Africa. It possesses the erect mane, long sweeping black 
 tail, and general appearence of the horse, with the head and 
 hoofs of the antelope, and long projecting horns. Its height 
 is about that of the ass, and colour nearly the same. The 
 beautiful black bands which adorn its head, giving it the 
 appearance of wearing a stall-collar, together with the 
 
324 AZOTES ON AFRICA. 
 
 manner in which the rump and thighs are painted impart 
 to it a character peculiar to itself. It thrives in the most 
 barren regions, and is perfectly independent of water, which, 
 according to Gumming, it never by any chance tastes. The 
 eland is the largest and finest species of antelope, being 
 equal in size to a large ox, and its flesh is tender and 
 highly palatable. It lives for a long time without water, 
 and frequents the borders of the Kalahari Desert in herds 
 varying from ten to a hundred. The springbok inhabits the 
 plains of Southern and Central Africa, and assembles in 
 vast flocks during its migratory movements. These migra- 
 tions, which are said to take place in their most numerous 
 form only at the intervals of several years, appear to come 
 from the north-east, and in masses of many thousands, 
 devouring like locusts every green herb. The lion has been 
 seen to migrate, and walk in the midst of the compressed 
 phalanx, with only as much space between him and his 
 victims as the fears of those immediately around could 
 procure by pressing outwards. The foremost of these vast 
 columns are fat, and the rear exceedingly lean, while the 
 direction continues one way ; but with the change of the 
 monsoon, when they return towards the north, the rear 
 become the leaders, fattening in their turn, and leaving the 
 others to starve, and to be devoured by the numerous enemies 
 who follow their march. At all times, when impelled by 
 fear either of the hunter or the beast of prey darting among 
 the flock, but principally when the herds are assembled 
 in countless multitudes, so that an alarm cannot spread 
 rapidly and open the means of flight, they are pressed 
 against each other, and their anxiety to escape impels them 
 to bound up in the air, shewing at the same time the white 
 spot on the croup dilated by the effort, and closing again in 
 their descent, and producing that beautiful effect from which 
 they have obtained the name of springbok and showybok. 
 Gumming says : " That the extraordinary manner in which 
 
NOTES ON AFRICA. 325 
 
 springboks are capable of springing is best seen when they 
 are chased by a dog. On these occasions away start the 
 herd with a succession of strange perpendicular bounds, 
 rising with curved loins high into the air, and at the same 
 time elevating the showy folds of long white hair on their 
 haunches and along their back, which imparts to them a 
 peculiar fairy-like appearance different from any other 
 animal ; they bound to the height of ten or twelve feet with 
 the elasticity of an india-rubber ball, clearing at each spring 
 from twelve to fifteen feet of ground without apparently 
 the slightest exertion. In performing the spring, they 
 appear for an instant as if suspended in the air, when down 
 come all four feet together, and striking the plain, away 
 they soar again as if about to take flight. The herd only 
 adopt this motion for a few hundred yards, when they 
 subside into a light elastic trot, arching their graceful necks 
 and lowering their noses to the ground, as if in sportive 
 mood. Presently pulling up, they face about and reconnoitre 
 the object of their alarm. In passing any plain or waggon- 
 road on which men have lately trod, the springbok inva- 
 riably clears it by a single surprising bound ; and when a 
 herd of perhaps many thousands have to cross a track of 
 the sort it is extremely beautiful to see how each antelope 
 performs this feat — so suspicious are they of the ground on 
 which their enemy, man, has trodden." 
 
 The only species of the butFalo peculiar to Africa is the 
 Bos caffer^ or Cape buffalo, the qiCaraho of the Hottentots, 
 a fierce and vindictive animal, of great strength. This 
 species is characterised by the dark rufous colour of his 
 horns, which spread horizontally over the summit of his 
 head, with their beams bent laterally and their points 
 turned up. They are from eight to ten inches broad at the 
 base, and divided only by a slight groove, are extremely 
 ponderous, cellular near the root, and five feet long, measured 
 from tip to tip along the curves. The hide is black and 
 
326 NOTES ON AFRICA. 
 
 almost naked, especially in old animals. This buffalo lives 
 in herds or small families in the brushwood or open forests. 
 According to Sparrman, he is not content with simply 
 killing the person whom he attacks, but he stands over him 
 for some time in order to trample him with his hoofs and 
 heels, crushing him also with his knees, and tearing to 
 pieces and mangling his whole body, and finally stripping 
 off the skin with his tongue. The surest way to escape is, 
 if possible, to ride up a hill, as the great bulk of the buffalo's 
 body, like that of the elephant, is a weight suflScient to 
 prevent his vieing with the slender and fine-limbed horse in 
 swiftness. It is said, however, that in descending this for- 
 midable animal gets on much faster than the horse. 
 
 The zebra is one of the most fancifully adorned of all 
 known quadrupeds ; but the beauty of its external appear- 
 ance is its chief merit, as its disposition is wayward and 
 capricious in the extreme. The mountain-zebra is scarcely 
 ever seen in the low countries. The zebra of the plains is a 
 better known and more abundant species than the other. 
 It is chiefly distinguished by the want of rings upon the 
 legs. The quagga is more nearly allied to the zebra of the 
 plains than to that of the mountains. It lives in troops in 
 the neighbourhood of the Cape, and in common with the 
 zebra is frequently found in company with ostriches. The 
 wary disposition of these birds, and their great quickness of 
 sight, are supposed to be serviceable to the congregated 
 group in warning them of the approach of their enemies. 
 
 The camel, or "ship of the desert," as it is beautifully 
 called in the figurative language of the Arabs, has spread 
 from Arabia all over the northern parts of Africa, and has 
 long been essential to the commerce of those dry and desert 
 regions. It has been well said : " That to the wild Arab of 
 the desert the camel is all that his necessities require. He 
 feeds on the flesh, drinks the milk, makes clothes and tents 
 of the hair ; belts, sandals, saddles, and buckets of the hide ; 
 
KOTES ON AFRICA. 327 
 
 he conveys himself and family on his back, makes his 
 pillow on his side, and his shelter of him against the whirl- 
 wind of sand. Crouched in a circle around him his camels 
 form a fence, and in battle an entrenchment, behind which 
 his family and property are obstinately, and often success- 
 fully, defended." The ancient authors do not seem to take 
 notice of the camel as an inhabitant of Northern Africa. 
 It is however mentioned in Genesis as among the gifts 
 bestowed by Pharaoh on Abram, and must therefore have 
 been well known over the banks of the Nile at an early 
 period. 
 
 Vague accounts of apes of great size, and of which very 
 wonderful stories were told, were from time to time brought 
 from Western Africa, but it was not till 1849 that the 
 gorilla became really known to naturalists, when a skull 
 was sent to Dr. Savage of Boston by Dr. Wilson, an 
 American missionary on the Gaboon River. Since that 
 time not only have skeletons and skulls been obtained in 
 sufficient number for scientific examination, but information 
 has also been secured concerning the habits of the animal 
 in its native haunts. The accounts of the gorilla given in 
 Du Chaillu's " Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial 
 Africa," are regarded by the highest scientific authorities, 
 and particularly by Owen, as in the main trustworthy, and 
 there is little doubt that they are in accordance with all 
 that we have learned from other sources. The height of an 
 adult male is commonly about five feet six inches, or five 
 ♦ feet eight inches, although there is reason to think that it 
 sometimes exceeds six feet. It has a black skin, covered 
 with short, dark-grey hair, reddish-brown on the head ; the 
 hair on the arms longer, that on the arm from the shoulder 
 to the elbow pointing downwards, and that on the fore-arm 
 pointing upwards to the elbow, where a tuft is formed. 
 The face is covered with hair, but the chest is bare. There 
 is scarcely any appearance of neck. The eyes are deeply 
 
328 NOTES ON AFRICA. 
 
 sunk beneath the projecting ridge of the skull, giving to the 
 countenance a savage scowl, the aspect of ferocity being 
 aggravated by the frequent exhibition of the teeth. The 
 belly is large and prominent ; in accordance with which 
 character the gorilla is represented as a most voracious 
 feeder, its food being exclusively vegetable — partly obtained 
 by climbing trees and partly on the ground. It is very 
 fond of fruits and of some leaves, as the fleshy parts of the 
 leaves of the pineapple ; and employs its great strength of 
 jaws and teeth in tearing vegetable substances, and cracking 
 nuts which would require a heavy blow of a hammer. It is 
 not gregarious in its habits. It spends most of its time on 
 the ground, although often climbing trees. It is capable of 
 defending itself against almost any beast of prey, and is 
 much dreaded by the people of the countries in which it is 
 found, although by some of the tribes its flesh is sought 
 after for food. It has a kind of barking voice, varying 
 when it is enraged to a terrific roar. It is only found in 
 regions where fresh water is abundant^ and inhabits exclu- 
 sively the densest parts of the forests. 
 
 To these brief descriptions of the history and habits of 
 some of the more remarkable quadrupeds of Africa others 
 might have been added, but our space forbids their introduc- 
 tion. The great preponderance of the antelope tribe, the 
 existence of the giraffe, and the hippopotamus, and the 
 gorilla, and the numerous troops of equine animals, such as 
 the zebra and the quagga, may be stated as forming the 
 principal zoological characters of this extensive continent, so 
 far as concerns the mammiferous tribes. 
 
 The arid and wide-spread plains which compose so large a 
 portion of the continent of Africa are unfavourable to the 
 existence and multiplication of the feathered race. Yet the 
 more umbrageous banks of the rivers, the extensive forests 
 which here and there impede the drifting of the desert-sand, 
 and those green and grateful oases which towards evening 
 
NOTES ON AFRICA. 329 
 
 cast their far-stretching shadows across a waterless land, 
 harbour in their cool recesses many a gorgeous form of the 
 winged creation ; nor are the mountain summits, and those 
 sierras which occasionally interrupt the horizontal view of 
 the bleached wilderness, uninhabited by birds of prey, eagle- 
 eyed and swift of wdng, there perched securely amid their 
 rocky fortresses, but ever ready to descend with voracious 
 cry when the blast of the simoon overwhelms the exhausted 
 caravan. 
 
 The first place must be given to a species which not only 
 forms the most remarkable character in the ornithology of 
 Africa, to which country it is probably peculiar, but pre- 
 sents in itself the most singular example of the feathered 
 race. This extraordinary creature is the ostrich, the tallest 
 of its class, and probably the swiftest of all running animals. 
 It is distinguished from all other birds by having only two 
 toes on each foot, though the bones or rudiments of a third 
 toe are said to have been perceived beneath the skin. It 
 inhabits the open and sandy plain of a great extent of 
 Africa, from Barbary to the Cape of Good Hope, and being 
 consequently a native of one of the most anciently-peopled 
 countries of the earth, it has excited the attention of man- 
 kind from the remotest periods of antiquity. It is fre- 
 quently mentioned in the Book of Job, and in other 
 portions of the Old Testament. Herodotus, among the 
 early Greek writers, was acquainted with its history and 
 appearance, and in later times it was frequently exhibited 
 by the Romans in their games. Adanson narrates an 
 occurrence as having taken place at Podor, a French factory 
 on the southern bank of the river Niger, which exemplifies 
 the great strength and swiftness of this bird. "Two 
 ostriches," he says, " which had been about two years in the 
 factory, and although young, were nearly of their full size, 
 were so tame that two little blacks mounted, both together, 
 on the back of the largest ; no sooner did he feel their 
 
330 NOTES ON AFRICA. 
 
 weight than he began to run as fast as possible, and carried 
 them several times around the village, as it was impossible 
 to stop him otherwise than by obstructing the passage. 
 This sight pleased me so much that I ordered it to be 
 repeated ; and to try their strength, directed a full-grown 
 negro to mount the smallest, and two others the largest. 
 This burden did not seem at all disproportioned to their 
 strength. At first they went at a tolerably sharp trot, but 
 when they became heated a little, they expanded their 
 wings as thousfh to catch the wind, and moved with such 
 fleetness that they scarcely seemed to touch the ground. 
 Most people have, one time or another, seen a partridge run, 
 and consequently must know that there is no man whatever 
 able to keep up with it, and it is easy to imagine that if 
 this bird had a longer step its speed would be considerably 
 augmented. The ostrich moves like the partridge, with this 
 advantage ; and I am satisfied that those I am speaking of 
 would have distanced the fleetest racehorses that were ever 
 bred in England. It is true they would not hold out so long 
 as a horse, but they would undoubtedly be able to go over 
 the space in less time. I have frequently beheld this sight, 
 which is capable of giving one an idea of the prodigious 
 strength of the ostrich, of shewing what use it might be of 
 had we but the method of breaking and managing it as we 
 do the horse." In spite of its speed, it is successfully 
 hunted by men on horseback, who take advantage of its 
 habit of running in a curve instead of a straight line, so 
 that the hunters know how to proceed in order to meet it 
 and get within shot. It is often killed in South Africa by 
 men who envelop themselves in ostrich skins, and admir- 
 ably imitating the manners of the ostrich, approach it near 
 enough for their purpose without exciting its alarm, and 
 sometimes kill one after another with their poisoned arrows. 
 The ostrich feeds exclusively on vegetable substances ; its 
 food consists in great part of grasses and their seeds, so 
 
NOTES ON AFRICA. 331 
 
 that its visits are much dreaded by the cultivators of the 
 soil in the vicinity of its haunts. It swallows large stones, 
 as small birds swallow grains of sand, to aid the gizzard in 
 the trituration of its food. It is patient of thirst, and is 
 capable of subsisting for a long time without water. The 
 eggs of the ostrich are much esteemed as an article of food 
 by the natives of Africa, and are acceptable even to 
 European travellers and colonists. Each egg weighs about 
 three pounds, and is thus equal to about two dozen 
 ordinary hen's eggs. The egg is usually dressed by being 
 set upright on a fire, and stirred about with a forked stick 
 inserted through a hole in the upper end. The long plumes 
 of the ostrich have been highly valued for ornamental pur- 
 poses from very early times, and continue to be a considerable 
 article of commerce, for the sake of which the bird is pur- 
 sued in its native wilds. 
 
 The gigantic stork is sometimes seen in Africa upwards 
 of six feet in height. It is very common in many of the 
 interior parts of the continent, and . is called inaraboii in 
 Senegal. According to Major Denham, it is protected by 
 the inhabitants on account of its services as a scavenger : 
 its appetite being most voracious, and nothing coming amiss 
 to its omnivorous propensities. 
 
 Of the numerous hawks, a smaller species of the falcon 
 tribe which inhabit this continent, we shall allude only to 
 the chanting-falcon. It must not be supposed, from the 
 name of this bird, that its notes in any way resemble the 
 * harmonious notes of the nightingale, or even those of our 
 less celebrated songsters. Its voice is merely a little clearer 
 than usual, although it seems impressed with a high idea of 
 its own powers. It will sit for half-a-day perched upon the 
 summit of a high tree uttering incessant cries, which the 
 darkness of night is sometimes insufficient to terminate. It 
 builds in the forests of the interior, and commits great 
 havoc among quails and partridges. 
 
332 NOTES ON AFRICA. 
 
 Considerable discrepancies have occurred among many na- 
 turalists regarding the habits of another African bird — the 
 indicator, moroc, or honey-bird, a species allied to the 
 cuckoo. Sparrman asserts that he frequently watched the 
 habits of the bird, which, with a particular cry, attracts the 
 attention of man and guides him to the nests of bees. La 
 Vaillant doubts this altogether, while Barrow again, an 
 accurate observer, confirms the statement of Sparrman. 
 Gumming says of this bird : "I saw to-day, for the first 
 time, the honey-bird. This extraordinary little bird, which 
 is about the size of a chaffinch, and of a light-grey colour, 
 will invariably lead a person following it to a wild bee's 
 nest. Chattering and twittering in a state of great excite- 
 ment, it perches on a branch beside the traveller, endeavour- 
 ing by various wiles to attract his attention ; and having 
 succeeded in doing so, it flies lightly forward, in a wavy 
 course, in the direction of the bee's nest, alighting every now 
 and then and looking back to ascertain if the traveller is 
 following it, all the time keeping up an incessant twitter. 
 When at length it arrives at the hollow tree, or deserted 
 white-ants' hill, which contains the honey, it for a moment 
 hovers over the nest, pointing to it with its bill, and then 
 takes up its position on a neighbouring branch anxiously 
 waiting its share of the spoil. When the honey is taken, 
 which is accomplished by first stupefying the bees by burn- 
 ing grass at the entrance of their domicile, the honey-bird 
 will often lead to a second and even a third nest. The 
 person thus following it ought to whistle. The savages in 
 the interior, whilst in pursuit, have several charmed sen- 
 tences which they use on the occasion." 
 
 Bunbury describes another bird called the Cape honey- 
 sucker, not much bigger than a wren, of a brownish colour, 
 with a tail of many fine, long, soft, wavy feathers, three or 
 four times as long as the body, the beak slender and arched. 
 "Many of these birds," he says, "were feeding on the 
 
NOTES ON AFRICA. 333 
 
 blossoms of an American aloe by the road-side, thrusting 
 their bills into the flowers and sucking the honey. They 
 do not, however, feed on the wing like humming-birds, but 
 while perching ; their flight is short, jerking, and unsteady, 
 as if they were embarrassed by the length of their trains." 
 
 Of the other birds of Africa — the secretary-bird and the 
 beautiful jacana, with its long claws, darting nimbly over 
 the broad leaves of aquatic plants as if it walked on the 
 water ; the weaver-bird, sewing the long leaves together 
 with the threads of the spider's web to form its nest ; the 
 several varieties of cranes, herons, spoonbills, fish-hawks, 
 kingfishers, pigeons, turtle-doves, canaries, martins, &c., we 
 can in these notes only mention them, as their variety and 
 species are so numerous. 
 
 A brief account must sufiice here of a very limited number 
 of African reptiles. The common crocodile, celebrated in 
 the ancient history of Egypt, is spread over a considerable 
 extent of this continent. The Nile, however, is the best 
 known haunt of this terrible creature. The crocodile feeds 
 on fish, floating carrion, and dogs, or other animals, which 
 it is enabled to surprise as they come to drink at the water's 
 edge ; but man frequently falls a victim to its voracity. In 
 revenge for this treatment all nations persecuted with this 
 pest have devised various methods of killing it. The negroes 
 of some parts of Africa are sufficiently bold and skilful to 
 attack the crocodile in its own element. They fearlessly 
 plunge into the water, and diving beneath the crocodile, 
 ♦ plunge the dagger with which they are armed into the 
 creature's belly, which is not protected by the coat of mail 
 that guards the other parts of its body. The usual plan is 
 to lie in wait near the spot where the crocodile is accus- 
 tomed to repose. This is usually a sandy bank, and the 
 hunter digs a hole in the sand, and armed with a sharp 
 harpoon, patiently awaits the coming of his expected prey. 
 The crocodile comes to its accustomed spot and is soon 
 
334 NOTES OF AFRICA. 
 
 asleep, when it is suddenly aroused by the harpoon, whiclf 
 penetrates completely through the scaly covering. The 
 hunter immediately retreats to a canoe, and hauls at the 
 line attached to the harpoon until he drags the crocodile to 
 the surface, when he darts a second harpoon. The strug- 
 gling animal is soon wearied out, dragged to shore, and des- 
 patched by dividing the spinal cord. In order to prevent 
 the infuriated reptile from biting the cord asunder, it is 
 composed of about thirty small lines, not twisted, but only 
 bound together at intervals of two feet. When on land it 
 is not difficult to escape the crocodile, as certain projections 
 on the vertebrae of the neck prevent it from turning its 
 head to any great extent. The eggs of this creature are 
 very small, hardly exceeding those of a goose ; numbers 
 are annually destroyed by birds of prey and quadrupeds, 
 especially the ichneumon. 
 
 The common chameleon is plentifully found in Northern 
 Africa. It lives in trees, but exhibits none of the activity 
 usually found in arboreal reptiles ; on the contrary, its move- 
 ments are absurdly grave and solemn. The whole activity 
 of the animal seems to be centered in its tongue, by means 
 of which organ it secures flies and other insects with such 
 marvellous rapidity that the ancients may be well pardoned 
 for their assertion that the air formed the only food of 
 the chameleon. Highly exaggerated descriptions have been 
 given of the changes of colour in this animal. The changes 
 are by no means so complete, nor are the colours so bright, 
 as generally supposed. The power of the chameleon to 
 move its eyes in different directions at the same time gives 
 it a most singular aspect. Its enormously long tongue can 
 be withdrawn into the mouth when not in use; but when 
 the creature sees a fly within reach, the tongue is instantly 
 darted forth, and l)y means of a gummy secretion at the tip 
 secures the fly. The whole movement is so quick as almost 
 to elude the eye. 
 
NOTES ON AFRICA. 335 
 
 The puff-adder is an inhabitant of Southern Africa. It is 
 a short, thick, flattish snake, of a most sinister and malignant 
 aspect. The following alarming adventure occurred to Mr. 
 Cole, a resident at the Cape : — " I was going," he says, 
 " quickly to bed one evening, wearied by a long day's hunt- 
 ing, when close to my feet and by my bed-side some glitter- 
 ing substance caught my eye. I stooped to pick it up ; but 
 ere my hand quite reached it the truth flashed across me — 
 it was a snake ! Had I followed my first natural impulse I 
 should have sprung away, but not being able clearly to see 
 in what position the reptile- was lying, or which way his 
 head was pointed, I controlled myself, and remained rooted 
 breathless to the spot. Straining my eyes, but moving not 
 an inch, I at length clearly distinguished a huge pufF-adder 
 — the most deadly snake in the colony, whose bite would 
 have sent me to the other world in an hour or two. I 
 watched him in silent horror ; his head w^as from me ; so 
 much the worse — for this snake, unlike any other, always 
 rises and strikes back. He did not move — he was asleep. 
 Not daring to shuffle my feet lest he should awake and 
 spring upon me, I took a jump backwards that would have 
 done honour to a gymnastic master, and thus darted outside 
 the door of the room ; with a thick stick I returned and 
 settled his worship." 
 
 The first, and by far the most considerable object of 
 African export in modern times, is the human species, and 
 to their etarnal disgrace, Europeans have been the principal 
 abettors in this most atrocious traffic. In some years as 
 many as upwards of a hundred and twenty thousand slaves 
 have been transported from the shores of Africa across the 
 Atlantic. The victims of the foreign slave trade have been 
 drawn chiefly from the tribes inhabiting the heights of 
 Central Africa, while the slave-marts of the Barbary States, 
 Egypt, and Arabia, have been kept plentifully supplied from 
 Nubia, Abyssinia, and the unexplored districts to the south 
 
33G NOTES ON AFRICA. 
 
 of these countries. Among the causes which have retarded 
 the progress of the commerce and civilisation in Africa, no 
 doubt slavery has been one of the chief, if not the chiefest 
 of all. 
 
 Grievous as are the physical evils endured by Africa, 
 there is yet a more lamentable feature in her condition. 
 Bound in the chains of the grossest ignorance, she is the prey 
 to the most savage superstitions. Christianity has made but 
 feeble inroads on this kingdom of darkness ; nor can she 
 exercise much sway so long as the traffic in man pre-occupies 
 the ground. Were this obstacle removed, Africa would 
 present one of the finest fields for the labour of Christian 
 missionaries which the world has yet opened to them. To 
 this noble end Livingstone devoted his heroic life ; and this 
 is the object still in view by the best friends of Africa. To 
 raise that great continent from the dust is an object worthy 
 of the efforts of the highest order of ambition. The most 
 patriotic and loyal British subject cannot cherish a loftier 
 wish for our country and our beloved Queen than that her 
 reign, which in its dawn witnessed the deliverance of our 
 colonies from slavery, may be prolonged till, through British 
 agency, Africa shall also be released from a still greater 
 curse. 
 
 rN 
 
 Printed, hy Walter Scott, ''The Kenilworth Press," Felling, Xeivcasfh