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Copy— —1964 I 
 
 THE SEED 
 
 THE SHEAVES 
 

INTRODUCTION 
 
 The Zulu Mission is in Natal, a British colony, on 
 the southeast coast of Africa, about a thousand miles 
 northeast of the Cape of Good Hope, latitude 30" 
 south. 
 
 The first missionaries from the American Board 
 went out in December, 1834, arriving in 1835, but 
 owing to wars in the country between the natives 
 and the boers, or Dutch settlers, the missions were 
 broken up, and the missionaries subjected to great 
 trials and hardships. 
 
 The present stations have been established since 
 1844, and number eleven, beside " out- stations " oc- 
 cupied by native preachers. These are scattered 
 along the coast, most of them being about twenty 
 miles from each other, and five to fifteen miles from 
 the ocean. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd went out in 1862, arriving in 
 Natal in December, and spent a few months at 
 Amanzimtote. 
 
 The next summer they removed to Umvoti,. one 
 of the more northern stations, occupied by Mr. Grout, 
 one of the oldest missionaries in Natal. 
 
 Mr. Lloyd died at Umvoti in February, 1865. 
 
 As soon as she could speak the language, Mrs. 
 Lloyd took a class in the Sabbath-school, and gave 
 all the time she could spare to visiting among the 
 
 (iii) 
 
iv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 people and teaching them. Early in 1865 she com- 
 menced an evening-school for a class of young men, 
 wagon-drivers and others, who were at work during 
 the day, and had very little time to learn. As they 
 became interested, she also taught them in Bible- 
 classes on Sunday. The numbers increased, and in 
 a short time the more advanced, who had leanied to 
 read before she began to teach them, were able also 
 to take Bible-classes of the more ignorant. 
 
 The following letters and sketches by Mrs. Lloyd 
 have been circulated, to some extent, among her 
 friends, and are now printed for private distribu- 
 tion, to save the great labor of transcribing. Mrs, 
 Lloyd has expressly prohibited the publication of her let- 
 ters^ except in cases where she has sent them to newspapers^ 
 and it is hoped that all into ivhose hands these 2>ages may 
 fall will religiously respect her prohibition. 
 
 They are necessarily fragmentary, written in a 
 hurried manner, in the midst of most pressing work, 
 while the habitual use of the Zulu laneruasce leads to 
 a frequent disregard of English idioms. They give 
 a passing view of various impressions during five 
 years of missionary life. 
 
 Several heathen schools have been established in 
 the vicinity of Umvoti, taught by former pupils of 
 Mrs. Lloyd. 
 
 The latest estimate of numbers in preparation for 
 Christmas, 1867, was — 
 
 Heathen schools, 200; Station children, 150; 
 Young men, 120; Young women, 30 — Total, 500. 
 
mTRODUCTION. V 
 
 The great number of young men in proportion to 
 the women is owing to the fact that many have come 
 to the station to receive instruction, and can be, in a 
 degree, educated while supporting themselves by 
 their labor. 
 
 The natives have gardens, and also raise corn and 
 sugar-cane. There is a sugar-mill at Umvoti, so 
 that the cane is manufactured on the spot. 
 
 It is a proof of the zeal of these young men, that, 
 after working from six a.m. till six p.m. every day, 
 they go to school in the evening from seven till half- 
 past nine o'clock. 
 
 On Sundays they have most interesting Bible- 
 classes. Twelve of those who have been under in- 
 struction for the last three years are teaching or 
 preaching, either in the vicinity of Umvoti, or at 
 more distant points. 
 
 The aim is to raise up an efficient corps of native 
 teachers and preachers ; but more missionaries are 
 needed, educated men and women, to guide and 
 direct the whole movement. As yet there is no Zulu 
 literature, and the whole Bible is not translated. 
 But the work goes on. How it shall go on depends 
 upon the response to the appeals for help. 
 
 Those who wish further information are referred 
 to a " Historical Sketch of the Zulu Mission," a 
 small pamphlet published by the American Board 
 of Foreign Missions at Boston. 
 
CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 ZULUS AS HEATHE]?^ MD AS CHRISTIAll^S. 
 
 If you -were to come into our Sunday-school any 
 Sunday afternoon, you would see among the infant 
 scholars two little girls about six years of age, who 
 would attract your attention by their bright faces 
 and beautiful eyes. They are the children of one of 
 the best and richest men at the station, and his his- 
 tory is most wonderful and interesting. 
 
 During the reign of Dingaan, the great and cruel 
 chief of the Zulus, the natives were slaughtered, far 
 and wide, at his will. So cruel was he, that every 
 year having sent through the whole country and 
 collected all the young girls, he selected a certain 
 number of the prettiest for his wives. Having 
 brought them to his kraals, he gave orders to his 
 chief men, and they sent out and killed all those he 
 had chosen the year before. So yeijir by year great 
 numbers of young Zulu girls perished. 
 
 The father of Kalo, and grandfather of these two 
 little girls in our infant-school, was one of Dingaan's 
 head men. But one day suddenly he was charged 
 with witchcraft and dragged away to be killed. His 
 wife, fearing or rather knowing her fate would also 
 be death, fled in the night from her kraal, with her . 
 
 (7) 
 
8 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 baby-girl on her back and her little boy Kalo by 
 her side. She traveled far, across plains and rivers, 
 but haA^ing gone during two days without food, w^as 
 ready to lie down and die. Then she remembered 
 having heard there was a missionary, six miles off, 
 Avho was a " man of mercy." Leaving her little boy 
 in the bush, as he was too weak to travel further, 
 she crept slowly on and finally reached the station. 
 Going to Mr. G., she said, " I am starved and dying, 
 but I give myself and my children to you to do as 
 you please with us. They say you are merciful." 
 Having taken food, she hastened back to the bush 
 and found her boy. The three were then taken 
 under the care of the missionary and are now all 
 Christians. 
 
 The old mother totters to church on Sunday, 
 bringing with her the baby of her daughter, who is 
 married to a young man, and they live in a pretty 
 little house up on the hill. Kalo lives across the 
 river, and when I went over there the other day, I 
 was struck with the exceeding neatness of every- 
 thing and the air of prosperity on every side. He is 
 zealous in his work for others, and gives abundantly 
 of the money which he says God has given him. 
 And so to each of these clothed and Christianized 
 natives the missionary has proved '' a man of mercy," 
 and the Gospel of Jesus Christ a message of salva- 
 tion, temporal as well as eternal. 
 
 SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 Quite an important part of the Zulu community 
 is the body of witch-doctors and rain-doctors, who 
 
m ZULU LAND. 9 
 
 are generally men, though occasionally a woman is 
 considered " divinely called." They are very shrewd 
 and sharp, and wonderful are the stories told of 
 them, and of the ways in which they secure the faith 
 of this people. They discover those who are be- 
 witched, and the king causes them to be put to 
 death. They detect those who steal and those who 
 kill ; they also bring rain and cure diseases by their 
 medicines, their fires and incantations. At least all 
 these things they claim to do, and the means by 
 which one of them here recently detected a thief 
 shows no little shrewdness and ingenuity. The 
 '' doctor" collected all the tribe, and having emptied 
 a hut told the people it was a bewitched place, and 
 the chicken which he placed in it would be the spirit 
 of their fathers. Having taken a fowl he rubbed it 
 air over with grease and then smeared it with red 
 clay. One by one the men were ordered to go into 
 the hut and place their hands upon the fowl, when 
 it would speak and accuse the man who stole of 
 being the thief. Each went in, and being conscious 
 of his innocence did not fear to handle the chicken 
 with confidence. The real thief, however, fearing 
 to touch it, so superstitious was he, did not put his 
 hands on the fowl. When all had been into the 
 hut, the doctor pretended all were innocent, and 
 then suddenly called upon them to raise their hands 
 and cry to the spirits. Of course all their hands, 
 save those of the thief, had some remains of the red 
 clay from off the fowl ; and when the doctor spied 
 his clean hands he rushed upon him, and the poor, 
 frightened fellow confessed his guilt ; while all the 
 1^ 
 
10 CHBISTIAN WOPiK 
 
 people more than ever believed in the inspiration 
 of the wondrous doctor. 
 
 Though some few of them have become Christians, 
 these doctors, as a class, are hard and wicked, and 
 do more harm than can be imagined. One of them 
 not long since destroyed a great tribe of people. 
 The chief had a plan of attacking some kraals near 
 by, and his people not entering into it, he applied to 
 the doctor for the means to make them all unite 
 zealously in the w^ork of plunder and destruction. 
 The doctor told them, without revealing his object, 
 that the spirits ordered them to slay all their cattle 
 and plant no grain that year. He told them also 
 that the spirits said they would raise alL their cattle 
 to life again. The people doubted him somewhat, 
 so in order to assure their faith, he determined to 
 practise a deception upon them. His object in hav- 
 ing them destroy their cattle and their fields was to 
 make them hungry and desperate, and then they 
 would be ready to join the king in his attack and 
 work of devastation on the enemy. 
 
 On a certain day be called them all to assemble 
 at a large pond of water and reeds. Taking the 
 heads and horns of many cattle, he placed them on 
 men's shoulders among the reeds. He then found a 
 girl who w^as a ventriloquist, and having hidden 
 her, he muttered and burned incense, and then called 
 out for the spirits to speak. The girl called out, " I 
 am the mighty spirits of the dead, I rest not, and at 
 my bidding the cattle that are dead shall rise again." 
 Many more things she said while the doctor mut- 
 tered and moaned and performed rites too numerous 
 
m ZULU LAND. 11 
 
 to mention, and at last the voice of the spirits cried, 
 " Come forth," and out rose from the water and the 
 reeds the heads and horns of the cattle, and moved 
 in various directions. 
 
 The superstitious people were at once convinced ; 
 they slew their oxen and cows by thousands, and 
 when the time was past, they were without food. 
 The witch-doctor was among the first to perish, for 
 the people, instead of being desperate, were too 
 weak to move, and so they died miserably. A few 
 staggered off, hoping to reach a neighboring tribe 
 and obtain food, so the road was strewn with the 
 bodies of the dead as they fell by the way. A few, 
 the chief among them, reached a place and were 
 fed and cared for, but the whole tribe of the Am- 
 axosa perished from the face of the earth. 
 
 Some of the natives around, to whom the Gospel 
 had been preached, cry out that God sent this as a 
 judgment upon the tribe, because they had driven 
 out and even killed missionaries who had been sent 
 to them, and had clung to their wickedness and 
 heathenism with determination, until they perished 
 and fell by the way. Truly God " broke them in 
 pieces like a potter's vessel." 
 
 ZULUS AS CHRISTIANS, 
 
 CONTRASTS. 
 
 Formerly the Zulus wore no clothing ; now they 
 dress well, comfortably, even handsomely when 
 they can afford it. Formerly they lived in kraals^ 
 
12 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 or huts of wicker-work, like a large bee-hive, the 
 door so small they were obliged to creep in on their 
 hands and knees ; now they have villages and settle- 
 ments, comfortable houses, some woven and plas- 
 tered with clay, others of brick, with thatched roofs, 
 some of them containing several rooms, nicely fin- 
 ished and furnished. They have also built churches, 
 and one recently completed at tJmvoti is of brick, 
 with arched windows and an iron roof, for which the 
 natives have paid 81,750, and promised a sum which 
 will make their whole contribution for building it 
 $2,922. Formerly the men spent their time in hunt- 
 ing or fighting, engaging frequently in the most 
 bloody and destructive wars, while their women 
 were crushed to the earth with the burden of toil ; 
 now the men work, raising sugar-cane, corn, etc., 
 while they ask, " Are there no missionaries in Amer- 
 ica to tell them not to fight and kill each other ? 
 Since we became Christians, we have thought it 
 wrong to fight and to make war." 
 
 Churches are formed at the different stations, 
 numbering from ten to one hundred members. They 
 are examined for admission in the usual manner, and 
 then at the last church meeting before the commun- 
 ion Sabbath, the names are read, and those present 
 are asked if they know anything against them. 
 There is no hesitation, but if any one knows a fault, 
 be it ever so slight, it is brought out ; so that those 
 who are admitted to the church have need to be 
 blameless, if not perfect. 
 
 Statements as to one station will serve, with some 
 modification, for all. 
 
IN ZULU LAND, 13 
 
 SUNDAYS. 
 
 It is a most interesting sight to see the people 
 coming to church on Sunday morning, the women 
 and children so clean, and generally dressed in bright 
 colors ; the men in clean clothes, the best they can 
 procure. Beside the " station people," the heathen 
 come in their native undress, rings on their heads 
 and spears in hand. The people sing sweetly 
 many of our tunes to native words. They have a 
 prayer-meeting at sunrise, conducted entirely by 
 themselves, and a large Sunday-school. Some half- 
 dozen of the men go out to the kraals to preach 
 every Sunday. 
 
 MONTHLY CONCERT. 
 
 Last week was monthly concert for missions. They 
 sang " Greenland's Icy Mountains " in Zulu, prayed, 
 and at the end each one brought something as a 
 monthly offering. It was most touching to see many 
 women and children, and even babies, put their mites 
 down upon the pulpit. Sometimes a poor widow 
 would ask change, as she could not afford to give all 
 she brought, and out here it was impossible to get 
 change. Altogether they gave, last Sunday, six 
 dollars, and this is their average contribution. Be- 
 side this they contribute funds to support one oi 
 two native teachers, and pay a school-teacher twenty- 
 five dollars a month. 
 
14 CHBISTIAN WORK 
 
 WEEK OF PRAYEE. 
 
 Last week was the week of prayer, and beside the 
 sunrise prayer-meeting which they always have, 
 there was a daily prayer-meeting at 4 p.m., which 
 was full, two or three getting up to speak or to pray 
 at a time. I could not help thinking they put to 
 shame some Christians at home. Many of the na- 
 tives are splendid orators, their gestures are so strik- 
 ing, and their speeches are excellent. 
 
 YEARLY MEETING 1863. 
 
 The yearly meeting is just over. The Christian 
 natives own wagons and oxen, and many make their 
 money by carrying loads ; so they have the means 
 of coming quite in state. The evening before the 
 meeting there was great cracking of whips and loud 
 hallooing in every direction. They had meetings 
 with the missionaries and alone, crowds of them, 
 and such splendid-looking men. The chapel was 
 crowded with the good people, and they had up for 
 discussion various questions as to the laws by which 
 they are governed, the selling women for cattle, and 
 so on. They gave £72 for two home missionaries, 
 and chose the place to send them. 
 
 Then we went to the village and saw the people 
 with their visitors, rooms with white curtains trim- 
 med with red, matting on the floors, sometimes 
 sofas and rocking-chairs. At breakfast, coffee and 
 bread and meat. 
 
 Sunday was the great day; the crowd greater 
 
, m ZULU LAND. 15 
 
 than ever. They sang most sweetly, " Child of Sin 
 and Sorrow," " Greenland," and the " Year of 
 Jubilee," and had communion in the afternoon, two 
 hundred and fifty together. Some of them walked a 
 hundred miles to the meeting, enjoyed it vastly, and 
 returned home, and then we all subsided. 
 
 1864. 
 
 The village rang this morning with the noise of 
 the wagons, whips and voices, as the families went 
 away to the yearly meeting, men, women and chil- 
 dren. Some took their neighbors, who were too 
 poor to hire oxen and wagons, or whose wagons 
 were needed to carry sugar-cane to the mill. In the 
 afternoon, those men who go alone set out on horse- 
 back, all in high glee, and some went on foot. Those 
 who are detained at home by business or illness in 
 their families, meet daily, morning and evening for 
 prayer, to unite in spirit, at least, with those who 
 have gone. 
 
 THE meeti:n^g. 
 
 The mission-house is in the centre, with the native 
 houses on small hills around, some of them nearly 
 two miles off. They are upright houses, some of 
 brick, some of wattled sticks plastered Avith mud or 
 clay. They have just finished a chapel of the same 
 material, holding two hundred people, which is in- 
 tended for a school-house, as the coming year they 
 intend to build a good chapel of brick, to be boarded 
 and seated. Timber is scarce and dear. 
 
IG CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 There were six missionaries present. It was a 
 pretty sight to see the '^amakolwa" (believers) 
 arrive. From one direction were seen nine wagons 
 filled with people, and a dozen horsemen. At the 
 same time, on the opposite side, appeared four wag- 
 ons and some forty horsemen. The whooping cough 
 prevailed badly, and many women and children 
 w^ere kept at home. This accounts for the many 
 horsemen. 
 
 The exercises commenced on Wednesday evening 
 wdth a prayer meeting, and one was also held each 
 morning at sunrise. Thursday morning one of the 
 missionaries preached to a large congregation ; in 
 the afternoon and evening there were prayer-meet- 
 ings. Friday morning, the most able man among 
 them, Nimbula, j^reached to them, and in the after- 
 noon was held the examination of the two native 
 Christians who had been sent out to preach the past 
 year. Their names were Umbiyana and Benjamin. 
 They were closely questioned, and gave good evi- 
 dence that they had profited by their teaching in 
 doctrine, etc., and also that they had been taught 
 by the Spirit. They then received a license to 
 preach, signed by all the missionaries. It was 
 a most interesting service. "What hath God 
 wrought ?" 
 
 In the evening they met by themselves to talk 
 over raising the money to support these two men 
 the coming year, seventy-two pounds being needed 
 for both. Saturday morning we all met, and they 
 were to hand in their money; one after another 
 came forward, till, at the close of the meeting, sixty- 
 
m ZULU LAND. 17 
 
 eight pounds ten shillings had been put upon the 
 table in gold and silver. In addition to this, twenty- 
 one pounds were subscribed by those who had no 
 money wath them, making in all eighty-nine pounds 
 ten shillings (where £72 were needed). 
 
 Saturday afternoon one of the ladies held a meet- 
 ing with the women, and in the evening all the un- 
 converted were gathered together in one house, and 
 the love of Christ was set before them, while, at the 
 same time, all the " believers " were gathered in the 
 chapel praying for them. Sabbath morning a ser- 
 mon on the love of Christ w^as preached in Zulu, 
 and in the afternoon about two hundred sat down 
 at the Lord's Table. On Monday we separated. 
 
 LIFE AMOJiTG THE ZULUS. 
 
 RANDOM EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. 
 
 "I have just come in from the dining-room, where 
 was an old woman who was kissing the baby's hand. 
 She was in the Zulu country when old king Chaka's 
 mother died, and a number of people had to be killed 
 to satisfy the Amahlosi (spirits). She and her hus- 
 band and children were among the victims. She ran 
 away with her children just after her husband was 
 taken, but all three of them died of starvation. She 
 says she died too, but was brought to life again to 
 hear the Gospel. At any rate she survived the star- 
 vation, and was found and aided, and brought here. 
 She has a little hut near the Mission Station, and 
 here she has lived for many years. She is very old, 
 
18 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 no one knows how old, and is a most earnest Chris- 
 tian. 
 
 " She is very original and quaint in her ideas. The 
 other day we were asking her if the women who came 
 fi'om church told her about the sermon. ' Oh, no,' 
 she said, ' Satan threw his mantle over them, that 
 they might not listen to God's word.' " 
 
 Did you ever before think of sleep in church as 
 Satan's mantle thrown over the eyes ? 
 
 " Some of the people have become very intelligent, 
 and are employed as interpreters and translators. 
 One girl whom I have seen has just translated the 
 ' Dairyman's Daughter ;' and ' Pilgrim's Progress ' is 
 now partly finished. The natives are delighted with 
 the last, as they are fond of allegory, and use it much 
 in their own speeches and conversation." 
 
 The rain-doctors are all powerful, very bad men, 
 and their influence is one great drawback to success 
 in teaching here. They array themselves peculiarly 
 and wear their hair in hundreds of little ringlets, so 
 they are easily distinguished. They pretend to bring 
 rain, to cure sickness, to find stolen property. Their 
 failure to bring rain destroyed all their power at one 
 of the stations, and was a death-blow to their influ- 
 ence. After all their eflbrts had failed, the chief said 
 he had lost all faith in them, and he sent to the Mis- 
 sionary to ask him to pray for rain, and that very 
 day the rain came. So one of the doctors finding his 
 occupation gone, goes regularly now to the Mission 
 church, and seems to have given up his pretensions. 
 
 The people often come to the missionaries to pray 
 for rain, and because they wear black or dark clothes 
 
m ZULU LAND, 19 
 
 in cool, cloudy weather, and black coats on Sunday, 
 the poor, ignorant people fancy there is some connec- 
 tion between their prayers on Sunday and the wished- 
 for rain. 
 
 " Some of the men are very intelligent. I found 
 one studying Barnes's Notes on the Revelations, for 
 his Sunday-school class, and they read our papers, 
 the Observer and Lidependent^ and others, when they 
 can get them." 
 
 Not long since a boy came to Mr. , the mis- 
 sionary, and said he wanted to live with him, and 
 
 work for him. Mr. did not want him, but as 
 
 the boy was so importunate, he asked him why he 
 was so anxious to come. " Well," said the boy, 
 "my mother lived on the hills over there, in the 
 kraal, and she used to come to your church on Sun- 
 days. When she was sick in her kraal, she called 
 to me and said, ' Go, when I am dead, and live with 
 the missionary ; tell him to teach you to be a Chris- 
 tian. I know very little, but I have heard him tell 
 of Jesus, and I am going to heaven, because I love 
 Jesus Christ. Tell the missionary he sent me there 
 by his teachings.' So," said the boy, " I have come 
 to live with you and to be taught, as my mother 
 wished me to do." 
 
 There is much just now to encourage us, at several 
 of the stations more seriousness and earnest prayer. 
 At one place a chief and his tribe are begging to be 
 taught and are praying : and here a chief has sent 
 for teachers, and some of the Christian men are going 
 in answer to the call. Though we have no revival, 
 there are about twenty who are anxious to unite 
 
20 CHRISTIAIS' WORK 
 
 with the church, and this waking up at all the sta- 
 tions makes us both happy and anxious. 
 
 There have been some peculiar Providences. One 
 man who was holding out against his conscience lost 
 his child very suddenly, and another who was really an 
 enemy and open opposer was struck dead, though the 
 witch-doctor had told the lightning not to touch him. 
 
 Chiefest of all, Kalo is dead. I wrote you of a 
 woman who came here with her children for refuge, 
 when she escaped from her husband's murderers. 
 Kalo was that little boy whom she brought on her 
 back. He had become a very prosperous man, with 
 a good house, horses, cattle and twenty acres of sugar 
 cane. He was a prominent man, much beloved by 
 the people, and leaves a wife and three children. 
 
 Kalo was ill about a week, and suffered greatly, 
 but at the last he roused himself and said, " I so 
 greatly rejoice to go to Jesus in heaven. I feel I am 
 in the right way. Love Him, all of you. Wife, 
 cling to your faith ; teach the children. Keep them 
 as Christians should be. Let us all meet in heaven :" 
 and as one of them prayed, he died. 
 
 They dug his grave in the grave-yard, a pretty 
 hill-side, and about noon they came over the river. 
 One of the Amakolwa (chief men among the Chris- 
 tians) led the oxen and another drove ; an act mark- 
 ing great respect, as such work is always left to boys. 
 The fourteen oxen were all black, and in the wagon 
 were his wife, sister, children and mother, the poor 
 old woman who found a refuge here so many years 
 ago. The "amakolwa" and station people, a hun- 
 dred or more, followed, all the men with black upon 
 
IN ZULU LAND. 21 
 
 their hats. They went up to the grave and a more 
 impressive scene I never witnessed. In the absence 
 of the Missionary the services were conducted by 
 Untaba, the first convert at that station, and all said 
 as they looked at the cofiin, '' We cannot feel sad ; 
 we were so glad of his words, that he was glad to go 
 to heaven." All these things are having a great 
 influence. 
 
 According to Zulu law, which the English have 
 not changed, a man's property, including his wife 
 and children, must all go to his relatives, the mother 
 has no power over her own children. So Kalo's 
 family and property would go to heathen relatives 
 away off in the kraals, but I believe in some way this 
 is to be prevented. Such a law often falls with cruel 
 weight upon Christian converts. 
 
 One of our little scholars, eight years old, died a 
 few days ago, but I think she was ready to die. Often 
 you will see these little children praying in the bush 
 as you pass along. How different this from the 
 heathen. 
 
 THE FIRST CHRISTMAS. 
 
 LETTER TO THE ADVOCATE AND GUARDIAN. 
 
 Natal, South Af:§ica, March, 1864. 
 My Dear Mrs. Bexxett, — I have been this after- 
 noon reading the Advocate^ which is sent to me regu- 
 larly here, and I could not help thinking, in the midst 
 of your records in the city, you might be interested 
 also, to hear of Industrial Schools and visiting among 
 the neo-lected in this far-off land. 
 
22 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 At our Station here you would have seen, on Christ- 
 mas day, as interesting a sight as any room in New 
 York could have shown. 
 
 First, I must tell you that when the heathen peo- 
 ple leave their '' kraals," or huts, and their wild life, 
 they build nice houses and wear good clothes, as 
 their circumstances will allow. Some, by degrees, 
 become quite civilized and rich, others just live by 
 daily toil and care. 
 
 On Christmas day we determined to give to all the 
 children of the Christian natives who live at the sta- 
 tion, a tree and a festival. To be sure there were 
 many difficulties to contend with — one hundred and 
 thirty children — no nice shop to go to, where we 
 could buy toys, candies and cakes by the quantity. 
 The children and parents were greatly excited, know- 
 ing that something was in progress, but unable even 
 to guess what it might be. Then there was no suit- 
 able tree to be found here, till after long search a 
 bush was found that would answer the purpose, with 
 some trimming and tying of branches. Then came 
 the getting ready of little pin-cushions, and white 
 pieces of cloth worked to represent handkerchiefs ; 
 a few toys were given, and some caps made for boys. 
 Thus the one hundred and thirty articles were col- 
 lected, and each marked for the boy or girl who was 
 to have it. Then we prepared some paj^ers with a 
 little candy in them, faint imitations of the mottoes 
 in Broadway windows, and lastly, each child was to 
 have a ginger-snap, a small tray of which, with roses 
 in and around them, made quite a show. 
 
 So the tree was hung, with an American flag 
 
m ZULU LAND, 23 
 
 twined in at the top, the bell rung, and the children 
 and parents came to the chapel ; they were all clean 
 and nicely dressed ; the young people sat on the 
 front seats, and the parents behind. 
 
 When the tree appeared, you should have heard 
 their exclamations. I could not translate them, nor 
 give you an idea, for the Zulu has his own way of 
 expressing surprise, and so expressive is this, that 
 when we are astonished, it is easier to exclaim in 
 Zulu than in English. 
 
 In their school, of which I will tell you soon, they 
 had learned some of our songs, a translation of " If 
 you don't at first succeed, Try, try again." One also 
 of "Happy Land" — and in English, " Come, tell me 
 how the bread is made," and " We are all noddin', 
 nid, nid, noddin'," songs which I have often heard 
 from the children at the Home. 
 
 We had three or four of those toy snakes which so 
 delight boys at home, and we had expected the same 
 of the large boys here, whose names we had placed 
 upon them. But these children hate and fear snakes 
 above all things; they know how poisonous they 
 are, how they abound, and how many die from their 
 bites. Judge of our surprise when, as they espied 
 the toys coiled in the tree, they screamed, even the 
 babies, so that it was diflSicult to persuade them that 
 these were only imitations of their hated inyoka. 
 
 After the singing, and a speech to them in Zulu, 
 each child's name was called, each received with real 
 joy the present, cake and candy, and each returned 
 to his place. I am sorry to say at all the festivals in 
 America, I always saw boys and girls who were dis- 
 
24 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 contented with their gifts, but with us, on Christmas 
 day, every little black face looked not only content- 
 ed, but delighted. Presently a little boy held out 
 his motto and said, " What are we to do with the 
 books?" When they found there was something 
 sweet inside, there was such a commotion and scram- 
 bling ! Some of the little ones tried to eat paper and 
 all, while others, having eaten the candy, tied the 
 papers up and returned them to us. 
 
 After singing again, home they went, their voices 
 and penny whistles sounding over the hills, and we 
 heard the latter for many weeks after. The parents 
 stopped to thank us, and to say it was the nicest and 
 happiest day they ever enjoyed, and that it was as 
 much a treat to them as to their children. Thus there 
 were some houses in Africa that had their " Merry 
 Christmas." I am glad Christmas was such a happy 
 day to all the schools in New York. 
 
 Now for some history of our schools here. The 
 children vary in number at the different Stations ; in 
 one of the schools there is a mixture of Kaffirs, Zulus, 
 Hottentots and Bushmen, with an occasional child 
 in whose veins runs some Dutch or English blood. 
 The school-hours are much the same as with you, the 
 children going home at noon to eat their corn-por- 
 ridge or mush. Of course, food is very abundant for 
 them here. As to clothing, the children in the kraals, 
 or native villages, go quite naked until they are about 
 ten years old, when they wear a simple band of skin 
 or beads about the waist. When they come into the 
 Stations the parents clothe them as well as their 
 means will allow, and in general, we manage to have 
 
m ZULU LAND. 25 
 
 tliem quite neatly dressed, by giving them a dress 
 or shirt, in exchange for chickens, corn, potatoes, 
 pumpkins, etc., of which they raise an abundance. 
 
 At nine the children come in as the bell calls them, 
 each makes a bow and says, " Saka bona," and takes 
 his seat. They then sing, for they know many songs 
 in both Zulu and English, then they repeat the Lord's 
 Prayer and their lessons begin. 
 
 I wish the good people in America, who think Afri- 
 cans below w^hite people in talent and quickness, 
 would just take a Zulu school. Of course there are 
 stupid ones, but in the experience I have had, as a 
 whole, they are much quicker in learning than most 
 white children. Those who have been regularly in 
 school, can all read Zulu, down to children five years 
 old ; and most of those over ten can read English 
 also. All can write, better or w^orse, some of them 
 very well. They can repeat the whole multiplication 
 table, and do a sum in fractions or reduction as fast 
 as their pencils can fly. They are taught marching, 
 clapping hands, etc., and the discipline, as far as 
 possible, is the same as in our public schools at 
 home ; they also study geography and Bible lessons. 
 There are many of them who will repeat a hymn or 
 psalm without a mistake, after hearing it once read, 
 and they will even learn in that way a song in Eng- 
 lish, although they do not understand the words. 
 The other day I saw a girl about ten years old, take 
 the book and learn the first seven Psalms in less 
 than half an hour, repeating the whole without any 
 prompting, as fast as she could speak. You can see 
 then, that the difficulty in our Industrial Schools 
 2 
 
26 CHBISTIAN WORK 
 
 does not consist in the children being '^ poor stupid 
 things," as many suppose. 
 
 They lead naturally such a wild life, that anything 
 like system is very hard to submit to. They do not 
 sing in their wild homes, and their first attempts at 
 singing make you ready to stop your ears and flee ; 
 but when they do learn, they sing well, and at all 
 hours of the day and night you hear their voices 
 ringing out, here and there, until even the babies 
 call out as you pass their houses, and by some imagi- 
 nation you can fancy they are trying to sing the 
 songs their older brothers and sisters have brought 
 from school. 
 
 When I taught them the first songs with motions 
 of the hands, songs which quiet many a restless little 
 class at home, they wei:e astonished beyond measure, 
 looked, rolled their eyes, and finally a little boy 
 turned to his next neighbor and exclaimed, " I won- 
 der if the teacher thinks that we are deers, that we 
 should do this !" 
 
 So you can look in and see us in imagination at 
 the daily school, Saturday singing-school, and Sun- 
 day-school, and feel glad that these teachingsTiave 
 gotten a foot-hold in Africa. As a rule, the girls 
 come to the school clean^ and the work is not assisted (!) 
 by finding the hands well covered with taffy or mo- 
 lasses candy, as I used to find in Xew York. I am 
 glad there are no candy stalls to take the Sunday 
 pennies, and produce the sick feelings and sticky 
 hands, with the temptation to deny the candy when 
 the unmistakable odor proclaims it. We all know 
 how that is. 
 
IN ZULU LAND. 27 
 
 TWO AFTERXOON WALKS IN ZULU LAND. 
 
 PROM THE MISSIONARY HERALD. 
 
 HEATHEN KRAALS. 
 
 I should like to tell you of two afternoon walks, 
 to show you a few of the effects of Christianity in 
 this land. Imagine a heathen kraal, composed of a 
 circular inclosure for the cattle, with twenty low 
 huts around it, having holes through which to crawl 
 into them on hands and knees. Here we made our 
 first afternoon's visit. This kraal is about half a 
 mile from the chapel and our house. As we came 
 near, w^e w^ere greeted by numerous Zulu curs, the 
 meanest of all mean animals. A small boy peered 
 out, and seeing the missionaries, out of respect to 
 us, he immediately began knocking the dogs with 
 sticks, thereby much increasing the noise, of course. 
 We made our way into the kraal. The father, an 
 old gray-headed man, with a shaven head, and the 
 usual black ring on the top of it, was squatted 
 against the hut, doing nothing. His old wives were 
 around a fire inside, on which was a pot, filling the 
 hut wdth an odor anything but pleasant. The con- 
 tents of this pot one of the wives was stirring with 
 a stick. When the food is sufliciently cooked, each 
 will seize a stick, thrust it into the pot, and then 
 lick off w^hat has adhered to it, until the pot is 
 empty. To the left, the men, from twenty to forty 
 years of age, w^ere sitting and standing. Some were 
 drinking beer, some smoking, and some whittling 
 pieces of wood. 
 
28 CHRISTIAN WOBK 
 
 As we entered the kraal, some twenty children of 
 various ages, small ones on the backs of the larger 
 ones, and all in want of clothing (in fact they have 
 nothing on), came forward staring and wondering. 
 Then up the hill came the women of the kraal, with 
 babies tied on their backs by goat-skins, and hoes 
 over their shoulders, talking as if they were trying 
 to see which could speak the loudest. Indeed, all 
 the inhabitants of the kraal were talking in their 
 usual loud pitch of voice, of which you can form no 
 idea. As soon as we could make ourselves heard, 
 we began talking to the men, inquiring about the 
 health of the people, their crops and cattle. Some 
 were too tipsy to reply, but some spoke very well, 
 and showed the respect which is universally felt for 
 the wives of missionaries, as well as for the mission- 
 aries themselves. 
 
 As I walked away, I said to the old man, " Do 
 any of the children read ?" " Oh, no !" was his 
 answer, "books are bewitched, and we Avant our 
 children to let them alone." '' But don't you see 
 how happy and comfortable the people and children 
 are who have books and read ?" " Yes, they are 
 well off, truly, but we want our children to let them 
 alone." 
 
 Just then came the cry, " A snake !" and a poison- 
 ous serpent glided into the kraal. We jumped aside 
 and cried, " Kill it !" " Oh, no !" said the old man, 
 " It is the spirit of my father, we can't kill it. The 
 spirit is angry, we must kill an ox for it." ''And 
 pray what do you do with the ox ?" " Oh, we put I 
 a part of it in a hut, and the spirit goes at night and i 
 
IN ZULU LAND. 29 
 
 eats all it wants and we eat the rest ;" which " rest " 
 is the whole animal, of course. We noticed among 
 the women a young, bright-looking girl, whose 
 freshly reddened top-hnot^ and bright brass buttons 
 on the goat-skin hanging down in front, which 
 forms the distinguishing part of a bride's dress, 
 showed her to be a bride. 
 
 The chief man, or father, invited us to enter a hut 
 and eat some sour curds, but as we looked in and 
 saw calves there, we told him we preferred to remain 
 outside. The hut was filled with smoke, as there 
 was no chimney, and the outer air was far more pleas- 
 ant. These kraals and huts are full of cockroaches, to 
 say nothing of many other disagreeable insects. The 
 sour-milk pot, when the people have eaten, is hung 
 on a peg in the hut, and in a few minutes myriads 
 of roaches are in it. If you should say to the 
 man, " Do look ! See these creatures !" his reply 
 would be, " The poor little things are hungry, let 
 them eat." When he next wishes for food, he will 
 take the pot, and without washing it, will shake the 
 creatures off, fill it and eat. This is a very little 
 thing, for the dirt and practices of these kraals may 
 not be told. If they might, there would be many 
 a word of astonishment from you all. Nothing is 
 too dirty for the people to handle, and if their hands 
 feel dirty, rubbing them together, or rubbing them 
 on their bodies or heads, is all-sufiicient to cleanse 
 them. And the filth of their conversation, of their 
 morals and souls, is worse than that of their bodies. 
 
 Tet, with all this, there is a shrewdness and 
 smartiuess very attractive — nothing slow or stupid. 
 
30 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 Their brown faces shine with smiles and intelligence, 
 and their mouths are full of words of wit, and, I 
 was about to say, of wisdom. It certainly is one 
 kind of wisdom. I suppose the friends will not feel 
 hurt if I say, that many a Zulu is the image of some 
 American friend, save his black skin. Many times a 
 month a stranger will appear, and one of us will cry 
 out, " Who is it he looks so much like ?" Then, 
 
 after a little thinking, " Oh, yes ! it is Mr. , of 
 
 Boston, or Mrs. , of New York." A learned man 
 
 has lately been here, making examinations of the 
 heads of Zulus and of Coolies from India. In each 
 case he found the Zulu skull contained the most brains, 
 
 HOMES OF CHRISTIANIZED ZULUS. 
 
 On the second afternoon we visited the homes of 
 the Christian Zulus, which lie in all directions about 
 us. The first thing we saw w^as a pretty, white 
 cottage. Orange trees were planted in rows be- 
 side it; and on the well-swept verandah stood the 
 owner, a fine, tall man, in straw hat, blue shirt and 
 black trow^sers, just returned from his fields. He 
 said, '' Good afternoon," inviting us in ; but as his 
 wife was aw^ay w^e did not enter. 
 
 To the right, among the trees stood another house. 
 On entering the dining-room, w^e found the mother 
 in a calico dress and red turban, sewing, with her 
 baby beside her. In the centre of the room w^as a 
 table, and by it sat a girl sewing and a boy study- 
 ing his book. Two little children were running 
 about the room. One of them came to my side and 
 
m ZULU LAjS'D. 31 
 
 repeated the lesson he had learned that day in 
 school, seeming very proud that he had remembered 
 it. The room contained chairs, book-shelves with 
 books, a sort of cupboard with cups and saucers, e.tc. 
 In the bed-room I saw a bedstead, the bed was 
 covered with a patch-work quilt, and had pillows 
 and blankets. All this, together with the well- 
 dressed children, gave the house an air of comfort. 
 The man and woman are both earnest and zealous 
 Christians. 
 
 A little beyond this we came to a brown cottage. 
 In front of it a girl, about eight years of age, was 
 teaching the baby to walk. In the parlor, on a sort 
 of sofa, sat a girl, of perhaps nineteen, cutting and 
 making a dress. The father was reading aloud, 
 while his wife, fresh and pretty, was sitting near at 
 work. The little children were playing with a rag 
 doll — a very good article, made by the mother. The 
 mother reported that " Jeremiah," a small boy of 
 three summers, was trying hard to sing the song he 
 heard me sing in school on Saturday. By the way, 
 this mother is a genius in cutting and fitting, and 
 making pretty things, and the young people resort 
 to her to be taught this art. 
 
 Beyond, we came to a red brick house, a flower 
 garden in front, curtained windows and matted floor. 
 In the parlor stood a table, with ink, pens, paper, 
 books, etc., on it, and a clock ticked away merrily 
 on the shelf. The table was set for tea in the back 
 room, wdth cloth, plates, cups and saucers, spoons 
 and forks, bread, butter and sugar, while hot coffee 
 was ready, of which the cup we drank was very 
 
32 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 acceptable. This mother is a most excellent and 
 well taught house-keeper, and the whole family are 
 always dressed neatly and prettily. I asked the 
 fiither what he did evenings. " Oh," he said, " we 
 light the candle, my wife sews, and I teach the chil- 
 dren their lessons for school the next day. When 
 that is done, we pray, sing a hymn, I read a chapter, 
 and we go to bed." This man's family includes, be- 
 sides his own children, some brothers, cousins and 
 friends, young men and girls, who have broken 
 away from heathenism and their kraals, clothed 
 themselves, and now are civilized, and many of them 
 Christians, members of the church here. The little 
 two-year-oldling held up her foot as we came out, 
 with the remark, so common in childhood at home, 
 " See, I've got new shoes." 
 
 Just as we passed out, two old women w^ent by, 
 with a greeting to us. They left heathenism when 
 already old. Though ignorant, they are sincere 
 followers of Christ. Many a poor old woman, cast 
 off by her heathen husband, first learns here the 
 sweet story of old, and "believes;" though, per- 
 haps with too little eyesight to learn to read for her- 
 self. Cut her grand-children will get the book of 
 God and read to her, while she listens and wonders. 
 
 As we came toward the next house, the other side 
 of the orange trees, w^e heard a scream, and suddenly 
 a dozen boys, of about ten years old, dashed out 
 from behind and ran towards the river. Their blue 
 and white shirts and caps showed plainly that they 
 were the children of civilized parents. The head 
 one struck up, " Pleasant is the Sabbath bell ;" to 
 
IN ZULU LAND. 83 
 
 which the others added, "In the light of God;" 
 showing that they were the children also of Christian 
 parents. 
 
 Had we been a little earlier, we should have met 
 these and many other boys and girls, with bags of 
 books on their shoulders, going home from school to 
 the white houses, dotted here and there, all over 
 the hills. These boys were going for their afternoon 
 bath — for they have to give an account in school 
 daily as to their washing. A dirty pair of hands is 
 a disgrace not to be thought of. 
 
 These mothers and fathers were once such as we 
 saw in the afternoon visit to the kraal. Various 
 influences, through God's ordering, brought them 
 to the missionary families, where they were trained 
 and taught. Their children and children's children 
 will tell of the wonders of God's dealings. We 
 should like to take with us, for one of these after- 
 noon walks, some of those who say, " What is the 
 use of missions ?" " What can be done for such 
 creatures as these black people ?" If they were not 
 convinced and their questions answered by what 
 they would see, we should have to conclude they 
 w^ere more deficient in mind than the black people 
 whom they profess to despise. 
 
 2* 
 
34 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 THE TWO DEATH -BEDS. 
 
 FROM THE CONGREGATIONALI3T. 
 
 Come with me near to that kraal. Within the hut 
 to the left, on the ground lies a woman. The face is 
 turned to the floor, and with a blanket about her she 
 lies in silence. About her are a crowd of nearly na- 
 ked women talking and laughing, and making noises 
 w^hicli would seem sufiicient to kill a well person. 
 If you approach the sick woman and speak to her, 
 she makes no reply. She knows she is going to die, 
 but all is dark, and the heathen custom is to turn the 
 face away and not speak a word, and so in silence 
 and horror to close the eyes in death. 
 
 Comforts there are none, food there is none. All 
 you see is the dark hut, the noisy w^omen, and the 
 speechless form of the dying woman. After your 
 vain attempts to speak with her, you sit down. She 
 dies. Then your ears are assailed with wails and 
 cries, for all those noisy women hasten w^ithout the 
 hut, and each seems to vie with the other in making 
 a howling noise which sounds far ofl* over the hills. 
 
 The body is left alone in the hut. The men, her 
 nearest relatives, dig a hole outside the kraal, hurry 
 in, seize the body, and, head first or feet first, thrust 
 it in. The hole is filled, the hut and clothes where 
 she died burned up, and the name and face of that 
 woman have passed from earth never to be mentioned 
 or thought of again. 
 
 Thus does the heathen die ; I have seen it ; and 
 oh ! the horror, the darkness, no words can tell. 
 
IN ZULU LAND. 35 
 
 Up in that white cottage on the hillside, where 
 that young man and his young wife live so happily, 
 death is coming, coming there ! 
 
 In the little room, on the bed, propped up with 
 pillows, lies that wife. Beside her are some of the 
 station women with sad hut quiet faces. One is 
 holding her hand and talking with her of Heaven 
 and her Saviour. Listen ! The sick woman opens 
 her eyes and speaks. 
 
 " I know I am dying, but why should I fear to go 
 home ? I love my Saviour, I love my God, I have 
 no fear, all is so bright." One of the women looking 
 so sad, yet so peaceful, comes to the bedside, and 
 kneeling there says, "Let us pray." As they all 
 kneel, she asks God's presence there, his light in the 
 dark valley, his heaven for the departing one ; and 
 as they rise, the dying Avoman murmurs, ''Jesus, my 
 Saviour," and she has gone from Africa's dark land 
 to the land where there is no darkness nor gloom. 
 They dress her in white^ and as she lies in her coffin 
 her face says, " Peace, peace." The coffin is carried, 
 followed by many to the grave-yard. 
 
 A hymn, a prayer, a few words, and her body too 
 is gone from sight ; but her name is on our lips, her 
 life and death are to be in our hearts and on our 
 tongues. Her husband is alone, but no superstition 
 and darkness are there ; he says God took her, and 
 he cannot mourn or complain. 
 
 " How could I mourn when she spoke such words ? 
 when 1 know she is with Christ ? Had she died in 
 darkness, I could weep and complain, but to die in 
 Christ, is to live." 
 
36 CIiniSTIAN WORK 
 
 I would that those in America who say a mission- 
 ary's life is vain, his work for naught, could witness 
 these two scenes on the hillside in this African land. 
 I would that the wide ocean did not prevent them 
 from such a view. Full well do I believe each un- 
 believing one, with U2)raised hands, would return to 
 his Christian land and home, and if others said the 
 work in Africa was vain, would cry out, " No, not in 
 vain, for I have seen, yes, I have seen !" 
 
 VISIT TO A KRAAL, 
 
 FROM THE BOSTON RECORDER. 
 
 Umvoti, South Africa, May 27, 1865. 
 
 Many a time, when I lived in my dear American 
 home, have I heard business men say, when talking 
 of their cares and daily life, " They separate us from 
 God ;" and many housekeepers and mothers said, " It 
 is hard for us to keep near God amidst our cares ;" 
 and invalids, with pain and suffering for their earthly 
 portion, said, " These draw us from God." We, too, 
 in our missionary life, find much to make us say, 
 " How can we keep very near our God ?" 
 
 Not many weeks ago a young man, lately from a 
 heathen kraal, came to see me, and expressed a very 
 strong desire to learn to read and write. His face 
 and manner were so interesting, that I inquired 
 where his home and parents were. lie said he lived 
 with some of the Christian Zulus on the station, but 
 his father, with his wives and cliildren, lived in a 
 kraal a mile or more distant. He spoke also of a 
 
m ZULU LAND. 37 
 
 brother, about his own age, who was ill and unable 
 to move. As I became more interested in the young 
 man, I wished much to see his brother who was ill, 
 thinking if nothing could be done for his health, per- 
 haps he might learn, and find pleasure in books. 
 The heathen natives are generally fearful that books 
 will bewitch them, and I knew he was but a heathen. 
 Putting a "Tract Primer" in my pocket one after- 
 ternoon, I got on my horse to go to Mali's home, for 
 such I learned was the invalid's name. The way was 
 long, and through high African grass, with no good 
 road, so I Avas glad of the horse's help in reaching 
 there. But at the kraal entrance the father, a tall, 
 fine-looking man, met me, and to my request that he 
 would hold the horse for a few moments, replied he 
 was afraid the horse would bite him ; and nothing 
 would induce him to touch it. These Zulu " kraals " 
 are composed of a circle of huts, looking like bee- 
 hives, with an entrance to each at the side about two 
 feet high. 
 
 Threading my way along, and leading the horse, I 
 entered the enclosure. On the ground outside, by 
 one of the huts, was seated the young man whom I 
 had come to seek. His face and expression told of 
 intelligence and a kind heart, but his words soon 
 made me know that his body below the waist was 
 useless, and he had no power to move, except his 
 hands, arms and head. He seemed, though a mere 
 heathen, to rejoice at the idea of learning to read, 
 and I determined to give him his first lesson then 
 and there. As there was no stick or stone on which 
 to sit, I was obliged to use the ground for a seat, 
 
38 CURISTIAN WORK 
 
 which was not very easy to do, and hold a restless 
 horse. But Mali began his lesson with such zeal, I 
 soon forgot all else in wondering at the rapid way 
 he learned the alphabet that short half-hour. On 
 leaving:, I o-ave him the book, and charo^ed him to 
 study well and much. 
 
 A few days after, I started on foot, and after rather 
 a hard walk through grass and over brooks, was 
 nearing the kraal, when in a narrow path I met two 
 men driving a cow. Cattle are above price to a 
 Zulu, and no sacrifice is too great to make for them. 
 These men, therefore, had given the path to the cow, 
 and were walking through the grass and bushes. I 
 kept in the path, however, until when close to the 
 cow's head one of the men drove it out of the way. 
 At the same time, looking at me very indignantly, he 
 remarked, " Don't you know enough yet to get out of 
 the way and leave the path to a cow ?" Certanly the 
 rules in America and Zulu-land are different as to the 
 politeness which is due to cattle from people ! 
 
 On reaching the kraal I found Mali all delight at 
 seeing me, and his father said he had been made 
 happy by the first visit. He had not only remem- 
 bered all the letters perfectly, but had spelled out 
 words and read in the book. And so it was that in 
 a short time, with no help but such as my occasional 
 visits afforded, he learned to read. His delight, as 
 one new idea after another opened on his mind, was 
 pleasant to see. He had heard but little of Christ, 
 and everything he could read of his love for man 
 seemed to touch him deeply. It was, then, hardly a 
 surprise, yet a joy, when he one day said to me, "I 
 
IJ^ ZULU LAND. 39 
 
 pray to my Father in heaven now very much. I love 
 my Saviour who died for me. I hope I am his child." 
 
 He told of the joy he found in loving Christ, of the 
 lonely and unhappy days he had formerly had in the 
 thoughts of his hopeless illness, and no bright spot to 
 cheer those days. He contrasted with this his pres- 
 ent delight in reading, the hours he spent in singing 
 hymns from the little hymn-book, and the ever-con- 
 tinuing joy of learning, and above all, spoke of the 
 constant nearness of Christ. 
 
 I looked around as he was speaking. There were 
 the enclosure, the bare ground, the four low huts, 
 with the holes to enter them,- and within only dark- 
 ness and cold, or a fire and smoke. The father and 
 his wives and children were unclothed. Fm-niture and 
 comforts of any kind were not to be seen. The day 
 long, dogs barked, children cried, men scolded and 
 quarreled, women talked at the highest pitch of their 
 voices. Of w^hat was good he heard nothing ; and 
 yet as he sat in such a place, unable to move, in 
 bodily pain and w^eakness, and his two books only 
 to cheer him on in what was good, he did not say, 
 " It is hard to keep near to God." And so the days 
 and weeks pass away, and many a lesson can he teach 
 of joy and peace in believing, even among the sur- 
 roundings which would seem to separate him from 
 his God. His brother is also a Christian now, and 
 when he meets the brother who is ill*, they pray to- 
 
 * This boy lias recovered. As tlie application of electricity 
 was impossible, tliey tried washing with, soap and water, with 
 dry rubbing and rough friction, and he regained the use of his 
 limbs. 
 
40 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 gether for their parents and friends who have none 
 of the joy and peace they have found. 
 
 Their father now mourns because his sons have left 
 their heathen home and ways ; yet he does not evince 
 the violent opposition which some parents show. In 
 a kraal near to us, one of the sons left his parents 
 and came on to the station. His friends caught him, 
 as he was passing their home one day, took off his 
 clothes and burned them, obliging the young man to 
 stay with them by force, and making him drink their 
 native beer to intoxication. He at length succeeded 
 in running from them and returning to the station. 
 They made one other attempt to take him, and then 
 decided to let him stay and be a Christian if he chose. 
 He very eagerly began to learn, and made great pro- 
 gress. At the time when some of his young friends 
 were professing their faith in Christ, he decided to 
 unite with them. And now he and many more such 
 young men, who left their kraals amid persecution 
 and unkind treatment, are joining together to pray 
 for their parents and brothers and sisters, and do all 
 in their power to lead them to Christ. The parents 
 often at last say, " It is good that our children be- 
 lieve ; but we are too old." Though we are saddened 
 by their refusal to hear with the heart, we rejoice to 
 see their sons and daughters, one after another, com- 
 ing, as they express it, "out of the darkness into the 
 shining light." 
 
 Nor do they think, among all their persecutions 
 and temptations, that it is liard in this heathen land 
 to keep near God. Perhaps they may teach us all a 
 lesson in this thinsj ! 
 
m ZULU LAND. 41 
 
 ZULU CHEISTIAXS. 
 
 PROM THE BOSTON RECORDER. 
 
 It seems as if most of our good friends in America 
 thought that a Zuhi might be on one day running 
 wild over the hills, heathen and heathenish, and the 
 next day become a Christian suddenly, and change 
 in every respect. I doubt, however, in all the his- 
 tory of this mission, if such a case were ever known. 
 It is slow and gradual, this change, and sometimes 
 it is long before the bright, yet ever-hoped-for end 
 appears. The stations are increased from year to 
 year by the coming of young people from the kraals. 
 Some come for a home among friends, some come 
 for work and pay, and many young girls run for pro- 
 tection against those whom they do not wish to 
 marry. I suppose a few come to the station to be- 
 come Christianized or civilized, but they do change 
 all^ as time rolls on, and seeing the " more excellent 
 way," choose it, and give us joy in our hearts. 
 These " young people " are, perhaps as an average, 
 about sixteen years of age. They come heathen 
 and unclothed, but by degrees the clothing and 
 teaching work in them changes in character and 
 habits, and when God's Spirit comes to them they 
 seem fitted to live as the disciples of Christ, and 
 glorify Him. 
 
 I have often looked at them, still young and strong 
 and full of life, and thought how each could tell a tale 
 of sorrow and suffering unlike those of us who grew 
 up with good parents in our good land of America. 
 
42 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 Go into one of their schools, where, evening after 
 evenings they write and read, and study many 
 things. Go back into the history of each one, and 
 your blood will almost run cold, and you will not 
 wonder that they say they are blessed in their pres- 
 ent life. Here is a young girl who had eight spears 
 thrust into her when she was escaping in war and 
 crossing a river. Here is another who was found a 
 child, fastened on the back of her mother, the mother 
 dead, floating on the waters. Here is a girl whose 
 friends sold her for cattle to an old polygamist, and 
 she, in her heart loving a young man, yet sent to 
 the old one because he could pay two more cows 
 for her than he whom she loved. She ran to the 
 station, and the father, partly from fear of the law, 
 and partly by persuasion, has allowed her to remain, 
 and thus will lose two cows. 
 
 Look at the young men, and it is the same story, 
 not of marriage, for in this they can do as they wish, 
 but of persecution or danger. Among my scholars 
 was a young man with such a fine face, so full of 
 intelligence and strength. I noticed that part of 
 the little finger of his left hand was gone, and one 
 day I asked him how it was. " Oh," he replied, 
 " that is my tribe. I am an Ixosa, my tribe live 
 many hundred miles from here. In our tribe, when 
 the children are a few weeks old, the little finger is 
 cut oiF to mark the tribe, and we none of us have 
 little fiuGfcrs to our left hands. Our tribe was <rreat 
 and powerful, but the witch-doctors destroyed it. 
 They killed cattle and put their heads on men's 
 shoulders in a pool of water, and then after incanta- 
 
IN ZULU LAND, 43 
 
 tions, etc., they made the animals call out and tell 
 the people to slay all their cattle. The people sup- 
 posing the cattle spoke by divine authority, did as 
 they were told. Their food thus was gone, and as 
 the people went to neighboring tribes for food, hun- 
 dreds fell down and died of starvation. I had left 
 my friends and wandered far. Sinking on the 
 ground exhausted, to die, one of the Christians from 
 the Zulu stations found me. He brought me here 
 with him. I am clothed and taught, and now I hope 
 I love the Saviour, whom I should never have known 
 but for God's care of me when near death." His 
 friends are dead, or, if some are living, they are 
 separated by a hostile tribe from here, and he could 
 not go to see them if he would. 
 
 This young Ixosa is black, but at his side sits a 
 young man, light in complexion, and smiling and 
 happy looking. Who was his father? A young 
 man from one of Holland's first families, a poor lost 
 son. And this father came to a place where no 
 law could control his sins. Wild, he wandered 
 among the Zulus; like them, yet more low and de- 
 graded. His two little children, with their Zulu 
 mother, Were tossed about here and there. The 
 father perished in a Zulu war, and the children, more 
 needy than any Zulu, were without a place to call 
 home. The mother afterward married a polygamist 
 chief, and these two little children were made as 
 servants to the Zulus, who, low as they were, could 
 not but despise their white father in his greater de- 
 gradation. Thus they grew up, yet going down, 
 down, and now the poor sister, after a life of evil, 
 
44 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 is God knows where. The son " Charlie," as we 
 call him, came to work for a Zulu at a station. This 
 seemed the turning 23oint in his life. Though grown, 
 he eagerly sought an education, and the influence of 
 all around him has raised him up and up. At our 
 last communion he joined himself with the Church 
 of Christ. 
 
 There, by the riv^er, is a girl neat and bright look- 
 ing, with a pail of water on her head. We do not 
 need to ask her history. Her kraal is ten miles in- 
 land. She was soon to be sold to an evil old man, 
 and one night she ran away. Her father and broth- 
 ers followed her, and tried to take her back. She 
 refused to go ; and more and more delighted with 
 civilization and instruction, she told us she could not 
 go back to her kraal. The father and brothers be- 
 came determined, and armed with spears, their 
 friends came to help them carry this poor girl off by 
 force. They came nearer and she heard, and trem- 
 blingly w^aited wuthin a mile of our chapel. As the 
 father walked, an adder bit his foot, and in a few 
 short moments the wretched man was dead. The 
 brothers and friends affrighted, declared this was 
 sent by their sister's God, and home they went, nor 
 will they dare again come to touch their sister. 
 
 And thus if you go into our chapel on Sunday ; 
 the pews are full quite back to the door. At the 
 end of the pew sits the mother, her little ones by 
 her side, and their father at the door of the pew. 
 They all look happy, and not only clean but pretty. 
 Quiet and devout, attentive and interested, they 
 listen and right well do they sing those hymns and 
 
JiY ZULU LAND. 45 
 
 tunes which in America you use each week. Ask 
 them their early history. They were the " young 
 people " of years ago, and they can tell their tale of 
 suffering and escape, as those who are young now. 
 But they thank their God, with earnest prayers, 
 that theii' children were born in the light of 
 God's truth, and their greatest desire is that their 
 children be wise and good. You would not see a 
 more quiet, well-behaved congregation anywhere. 
 But I have heard these men, who now are so respect- 
 able and worthy of respect, I have heard them tell 
 of the time when they were little boys. The mis- 
 sionaries had just come, and their jDarents from 
 curiosity went to see and hear, taking them as chil- 
 dren with them. They sat under a tree, the people 
 " squatting " on the ground around them. Women 
 with babies on their backs, men with dogs by their 
 side, " young men and maidens." Order there was 
 none. In the midst of a prayer two men would 
 begin to take snuff and sneeze, or a boy would 
 pinch a child and make it cry, women would tickle 
 each other and laugh, and all would beat or pinch 
 the dogs, causing them to howl out loudly. This 
 was the ''order" of those days, such noises as you 
 seldom hear in America. These were the heathen 
 congregations of years ago, and there are such now, 
 differing perhaps a very little, from the fact that 
 the people all know now they are expected to be 
 quiet and decent when with a missionary. And 
 we have to feel that our hope of usefulness is in 
 the young. The old men and women say they are 
 too old to pray, too old to learn to love God, and 
 
46 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 with very few exceptions they die as they have 
 lived. But their children do learn to pray, and see 
 that the young people on the stations are happier 
 and better off than they. 
 
 There are some families where every child has left 
 his father and come to the stations, and there are 
 some fathers who are glad that their children can be 
 taught and enlightened. There is an old witch- 
 doctor near us, who spends his time deceiving peo23le, 
 boiling roots and old rubbish, and with all kinds of 
 arts pretending to cure or to discover witches or 
 thieves, etc. Yet this man, shrewd and smart, has 
 seen the blessing of light and knowledge. 
 
 At his desire therefore, all his children are sent to 
 the station, are taught and clothed, and he hopes 
 they will be Christians. Yet he knows his feet are 
 going down to death, his soul doubly darkened with 
 the sin of knowing he deceived the people. 
 
 We have heard of deaths in the kraals, where the 
 dying seemed, though in heathenism, to be the fol- 
 lowers of Christ. And thus we hope and pray that 
 far from our stations light may penetrate, and many 
 enter heaven whom we know nothing of in this 
 world. We cannot tell of these, but they belong to 
 Him. " I am the good Shepherd and know my sheep," 
 these are a Saviour's words. 
 
IN ZULU LAND, 47 
 
 A STRANGE THING. 
 
 FROM THE CONGREGATIONALIST. 
 
 Of course the people in America ought to be wiser 
 than we, who are so much cut off from society and 
 influences to make ns wise ; but I want to speak of 
 a strange thing which perhaps even their wisdom 
 has not told them. 
 
 When I first came to Africa, of course I did not 
 understand the language ; and I often wondered, as 
 the natives were speaking and praying, what their 
 words meant. Well do I remember one Sunday! 
 It was " Monthly Concert," which, as I was always 
 told in America, is the time set apart to pray for the 
 whole world, that God's "kingdom may come." So 
 do our people regard it, and I suppose that at all the 
 missions they have taught their people the same. 
 
 On that Sunday which I remember, at the monthly 
 concert one of the men made a prayer. He spoke so 
 distinctly, that with my increasing knowledge of the 
 language, I could understand nearly every word. 
 First, he prayed a few words for themselves, but the 
 prayer was chiefly for others. Yes, he remembered 
 for what the meeting was intended. He remembered 
 that all the rest of the month they could pray for 
 themselves, and the monthly concert he put to its 
 real use, and prayed for the Avorld. He was black, 
 and a short time since, a few years at most, was a 
 savage, wild among the hills. Yet he prayed for the 
 white people over the sea, who were not Christians. 
 He prayed for the Jews, the Mohammedans, the black 
 
48 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 people in Africa, the Chinese, and those who live on 
 the isles of the ocean. Fervently he remembered 
 them all, and for Christ's sake he asked blessings on 
 them all, and that they might be taught and Chris- 
 tianized. 
 
 It seemed as if a new feeling rushed over me that 
 day. I was brought up to attend the monthly con- 
 certs since I was a child, and I have attended them in 
 America, in cities, towns and villages; but because 
 this man's prayer seemed strange, I began to think. 
 I thought he certainly made a good prayer, I thought 
 it was exactly suited to the occasion, and then it 
 dawned on my mind why it seemed a strange prayer. 
 It was because the man was not selfish ; he had a 
 large heart, and once a month he was willing to forget 
 himself and his friends a little, and to remember the 
 world. 
 
 Perhaps America is not now as it was. Let me re- 
 member ! Brother A — used to jjray ; he prayed long 
 and loud for us^ that ive might be this, and we might 
 be that, and then all in a hurry at the end, he would 
 pray, " Thy kingdom come," and say " Amen," and 
 sit down. Brother B — did the same ; and Mr. C — 
 and Mr. D — and all of them. So it was because I 
 was brought up on such prayer at monthly concerts 
 that when I heard a prayer for the world, I had a 
 strange feeling of wonder and began to think. 
 
 Good friends in America, don't you envy us our 
 monthly concerts? Listen, if you have never no- 
 ticed it before, and see if there is not a sad selfishness 
 in these meetings. How often do you hear the na- 
 tions prayed for by name ? Count the times, and 
 
m ZULU LAND. 49 
 
 count the number of times you hear the word " us." 
 See which has the largest share of prayers and most 
 blessings called down, you or the world, 
 
 I don't undervalue you^ I know you need to be 
 prayed for, but this meeting is once a month, I un- 
 derstand all these African prayers now ; and oh, it 
 seems to me hard, very hard, that they should all 
 pray for you so much and so earnestly, while you 
 pray for yourselves alone, perhaps giving them half 
 a thought, or including them hastily in the words, 
 " Thy kingdom come. 
 
 YISIT TO UMBITA]SA'S STATION. 
 
 Umvoti, November, 1866. 
 
 I send this account by itself, because I would like 
 it circulated, as far as may be possible, without its 
 being published, feeling sure it will interest all, and 
 especially those who helped in the box of clothing 
 sent last March. 
 
 Wednesday was the day appointed for the Com- 
 munion Service at Umbiyana's."^ This man is a Zulu 
 who as a boy lived w^ith Mr. Marsh. He became 
 a Christian there, and was left at the time of Mr. 
 Marsh's death, together with William, the man who 
 led Bishop Colenso to change his views. William 
 and Umbiyana were of the same age. The former 
 went to Colenso's station, the latter to a Norwegian 
 station. 
 
 Three years ago Umbiyana applied to the Ameri- 
 
 * 06in-be-ali-nah. 
 
60 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 can missionaries for a place where he could work for 
 bis countrymen. He is a small man, but with a pleas- 
 ant expression and very neat-looking. He was given 
 a place in the interior about half way between Mr. 
 Abraham's and Mr. Tyler's. It is an out-of-the-way 
 place, in among the mountains, so difficult of access 
 that a wagon has to cross and recross a river seven 
 times in order to reach it. On horseback it can be 
 reached by three or four different roads, all of which 
 illustrate Mr. Lindley's remark, that he had " always 
 noticed it was about as long a way over an orange 
 as around the side." Thus in these roads, you can 
 either go down a high hill and up again, or up a high 
 hill and down again. 
 
 Mr. Tyler came to Mr. Abraham's, and we set out 
 in the morning about eight o'clock. The clay there 
 is so slippery, our horses had great difficulty to keep 
 on their feet, and when we began to go down the 
 hills we had to dismount and go down with a pole 
 to keep from slipping and falling. There were sev- 
 eral Christian natives with us from other stations 
 who were going there to join in the services. You 
 can hardly imagine the roads, so steep and on the 
 edge of high cliffs, over the trunks of trees and over 
 stones, as we went scrambling, slipping and walking. 
 We sometimes mounted and rode for a little, and 
 then were obliged to dismount again. We crossed 
 two rivers a good deal swollen by the rain, still not 
 dangerous. The scenery was very beautiful as we 
 vStood on the tops of high mountains and looked far 
 into the distance, or again as we stood in the valleys 
 and looked upon the heights above us. 
 
IN ZULU LAND, 51 
 
 Turning around a mountain, after crossing the last 
 river, suddenly brought us in sight of the station, and 
 it sent a thrill through me, so far away from houses 
 and civilization. The largest house, Umbiyana's, is 
 on a hill, and below this hill lies the kraal of the chief, 
 and a number of other kraals are around. There is 
 a large plain here plowed and full of grain just com- 
 ing up. To the left is a high mountain, round and 
 running up almost to the clouds, perpendicular and 
 inaccessible. To the right is the valley through which 
 the river runs, and over in another direction are high 
 rolling hills and valleys. The house is of brick and 
 quite large, and the people are in houses near. The 
 whole place has been cleared and cleaned and plant- 
 ed, and bricks are being made for the new chapel, 
 built principally with part of the money sent by Mr. 
 's church in New York. 
 
 As we rode up to the house, ITmbiyana came out 
 to meet us, looking very happy, as he had good rea- 
 son to be. His people came around, and the first 
 thing I saw was that some of the men were wearing 
 coats that came in that box from New York ; the 
 women and children also in clothing which that same 
 box brought over the water. 
 
 You must not think I talk too much of dress, for 
 I tell particulars so that you can imagine it all. The 
 men spoke to us first, and then Umbiyana's wife came 
 out, a pretty, bright little thing, and asked me to 
 "walk in." She has two pretty little children, and 
 is herself intelligent, and manages beside her own 
 family to teach the women and girls to sew, to cut, 
 to cook and keep things in order. They call her 
 
52 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 " princess," the title of a chief's wife. The children 
 had print dresses and white aprons and sun-bonnets, 
 and showed in their very faces that they were 
 civilized. She wore a white collar, etc., and was 
 dressed better than the people, as was her husband. 
 I should think her to be twenty-one years old. She 
 took me into her room and told me all her cares and 
 duties. Soon the door opened and the women came 
 in ; there were two pretty young women with their 
 babies, some girls, some old women nearly worn out, 
 and several middle aged women. I looked at them, 
 and there seemed a light about them, as I thought 
 how out in these wild hills they had learned to love 
 God from one of their own race, himself just out of 
 darkness ; and they seemed so full of respect for their 
 missionary's wife, while she put the last touch to 
 make their dresses straight and told me their history 
 as she did so. 
 
 There are now twenty-nine dressed persons living 
 with Umbiyana, over twenty of whom are Christians, 
 and eighteen form his church ; the others waiting to 
 be received at the next time. He himself is not or- 
 dained, and therefore is not able to hold these serv- 
 ices without a minister's being present. As his chapel 
 is not finished, our service was to be under a thatch- 
 ed roof supported by poles, a wagon-house I believe 
 it is. There were a table and a few benches around, 
 and the children sat on mats on the floor. He calls 
 the people by blowing an ox horn, which rings over 
 those hills. (A bell has since been sent him for his 
 church). We sat down, and the eight who were to 
 join his church were there. The first was a man who 
 
IN ZULU LAND. 53 
 
 had had four wives, three he had put away, one he 
 keeps, and she joined the church Avith him. One wife 
 is old and remains with her grown children on the 
 station. It is a great thing for a man like that to cut 
 off his head ring and come out as a Christian, far 
 harder than for a young man to do so. But he spoke 
 decidedly : " I was in my kraal, and I seemed to hear 
 a voice and I could not refuse." His wife told how 
 her friends tried to get her away from her husband 
 when he became a Christian, and she ran from them 
 and said, " Would you have him in light and me in 
 darkness ?" 
 
 There was also another man with his wife. The 
 wife said she came to hear Umbiyana preach, and 
 " the preaching ate her ! It seemed as if she was the 
 only sinner in the world, and every word was meant 
 for her, and she could not rest in her heart." 
 
 There was a young man, a fine noble fellow, who 
 had been persecuted by his friends, but he stood de- 
 cided and will make a remarkable man. There were 
 two little boys fourteen years old, who had also been 
 ^' jDcrsecuted for righteousness' sake," but their words 
 were clear and decided ; and by them was an old 
 woman on the very grave's brink, yet she knew what, 
 she believed, and her face did not change even when 
 the heathen laughed at the idea of baptizing '^ such 
 an old thing, fit only to die and be cast out." 
 
 These are the eight ; and of the ten others, two 
 were old women, two young men, and the rest hus- 
 bands with their wives. After their examination, 
 Mr. Tyler preached a sermon to the heathen, who 
 were in a crowd around. They were dressed in 
 
54 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 beads and every sort of thing, and had their spears 
 and shields, but were very orderly, for they dearly 
 love Umbiyana, and doubtless from them many will 
 come out to him, as has been the case in the years 
 gone by. 
 
 Can you see it ? Under that wagon-house roof, a 
 little band baptized one by one; no silver^ only a 
 common blue china bowl for water; no organ, or 
 handsome church, or great congregation; only the 
 blue sky, wild mountain peaks and the birds and 
 trees, with the ground around covered with gaily- 
 dressed, feathered, painted, and armed men and wo- 
 men. But it was the same in God's sight. And I 
 looked around thinking / had never witnessed such 
 a scene, wishing you all could see it. Our singing 
 rolled out sweetly among the hills, for there are some 
 fine singers there, and we sang " The Shining Shore " 
 and "Nearer, my God, to Thee" and " Coronation" 
 among those hills without organ or choir. 
 
 After they were baptized we went away, and re- 
 turned in a few minutes to have the Communion 
 Service. There were some from other stations, mak- 
 ing in all quite a little band, and there was a solem- 
 nity which I never felt even in our great churches at 
 home, where all is so imposing. The people felt^ and 
 the want of a Communion Service, church, or other 
 things was little to them. One old woman said to 
 me, " I have been sick for several weeks, but I could 
 not stay away to-day. We are old and are women 
 despised elsewhere, but in Jesus' eyes we are the 
 same as the greatest in the world. My son cast me 
 out, and then when I became a Christian he denied 
 
IN ZULU LAND. 55 
 
 me food, but I am happy for the few months left 
 me." 
 
 These poor old women make mats and sell them to 
 the missionaries, and thus by hard work earn suffi- 
 cient to keep themselves clothed. There were one 
 or two children baptized, and to one of these an old 
 heathen woman, naked, except her cow-skin dress, 
 said, " N ow you must be good always, for you are a 
 child of the King in heaven now." 
 
 After the service I went and sat in the verandah. 
 The people gathered about, and I talked with one 
 and another. There were two or three children 
 whom their parents had given to Umbiyana to train 
 as Christians. One or two of the young men told 
 me how their fathers had disinherited them and cast 
 them off; and one girl said her friends came raging 
 after her, and she walked up and said, " Here is a 
 spear, kill me ! but you can never take me back 
 again to heathenism." 
 
 It was wonderful through all, to see the love and 
 respect they have for their missionary. His word is 
 law ; and yet he is so kind and humble they come to 
 him for everything. He builds their houses, teaches 
 them to read, to write, to plow, and for everything 
 they wish to know they go to him. He has large 
 congregations of heathen and large schools. He told 
 me he needed writing books, which have been sent 
 to him, and when the next box comes, some of the 
 clothing will be sent there, for I am sure it is well 
 used. If the friends could see, they would be thankful 
 to be allowed to work or give, to help that man in 
 his great work for his people. 
 
56 CHBISTIAN WORK 
 
 I sat with them there till the sun bescan to otq 
 down, and was sorry to say " good-bye " to one and 
 all. If I live I intend to go and spend some days 
 there again, for what is a bad road with such scenes 
 at the end ? 
 
 UMBIYAIN^A'S KEPORT. 
 
 Juis-E, 1867. 
 
 Here are the words I have to speak. 
 
 The members of my church, male and female, 
 including my wife and myself, are eighteen. Those 
 w^ho are Christians, yet not members, number four. 
 
 The people come to church sometimes in large num- 
 bers, sometimes fewer come. The children of the 
 kraals wish to learn, but some of them are hindered 
 by their parents. There is school at the station 
 every day. On Sunday I try to teach all the kraal 
 people to read in books. They love me, and I love 
 them, and we do not complain of each other. 
 
 I go to the kraals every Friday and preach. The 
 people listen ; they say it is true and good. They 
 say I must come always. 
 
 Thus I walk in my work — the work of the Lord. 
 I love it. There is no other such great work, such 
 lovely work. No ; I rejDcat it, there is no other such 
 work so noble in the world. I lono* for more strenirth 
 from God than I now have ; for to-day my strength 
 is small, I need help from above. 
 
 I am made sad by the people. When I talk with 
 them they say it is true, but they do not believe. 
 
IJSr ZULU LAND. 57 
 
 nevertheless. They do not deny it is true. I long 
 for the Holy Spirit in this delightful work. 
 
 Our children, and their nurses and the working 
 people, number fourteen. Altogether, dressed people, 
 we are thirty-six at our station. 
 
 I need a chapel, and have tried to make one. My 
 oxen died of lung-sickness, so for a short time I was 
 stopped. I have made a school-house. The length 
 is thirty-seven feet, the width fourteen. It is of 
 brick. 
 
 Those joining the church this year are eight in 
 number. XJmbiyana. 
 
 Later, Umbiyana reports forty-two converts 
 three years at his station. 
 
 m 
 
 yiSIT TO 3IUSI. 
 
 Umvoti, November, 1866. 
 
 I have been trying to find time to tell you of my 
 visit to Musi, the chief of the Amqwabe, and a 
 famous man in these parts. Mr. Abraham went 
 with me, as he himself wished to visit Musi's"^ kraal 
 and home. I cannot say precisely how far it is from 
 Mapumulof or Umvoti,J for the road is over the 
 steepest hills and deepest valleys, and can hardly 
 be measured by miles. Very soon after leaving 
 Mr. Abraham's, we began to go down and up in 
 such places, and at such angles, as I have only seen 
 in the White Mountains. Even the horses were 
 
 * Moo-see. f Mah-poo-moo-lo. % Oom-v6-ty. 
 3* 
 
58 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 frightened at the road, and sometimes stood still 
 afraid to go forward. 
 
 In the midst of this really dangerous road, I could 
 not help admiring the scenery, distant views in all 
 directions, rivers rushing through the valleys, smooth 
 green hills rolling regularly along, thick wooded 
 land and innumerable flowers of every color. The 
 only signs of human life were in the kraals scattered 
 here and there, and the cattle upon these thousand 
 hills. We did not pass many kraals, although 
 many were visible, which seemed small enough as 
 we looked down upon them from the heights. 
 
 As we approached Musi's territory the number of 
 kraals increased, and they appeared on every side. 
 His abode is called " The Evening Star," and sud- 
 denly it came in view, perched on a hill by itself. 
 After various turnino;s and twistino^s w^e ascended 
 that hill and came suddenly to the entrance of the 
 fence, what in America would be called a gate^ only 
 there is no gate there. Leaving the horses outside, 
 we were saluted by " How are you ?" from a number 
 of men seated inside, near the place w^here the cows 
 were being milked. We walked around this circular 
 place, and at the back found a hut enclosed by a 
 private fence, which, except for the enclosure, was 
 externally just like all the other huts. Presently 
 there appeared a tall, fine-looking man, with a very 
 pleasant face, and an air about him which showed 
 him to be a chief. He was very cordial in his greet- 
 ings, and invited us to " walk in." 
 
 Mr. A. went to look after the horses, and Musi 
 called for a mat to be placed at the entrance, on 
 
m ZULU LAND. 69 
 
 which he crawled in. The doors are always small 
 and low. Then he told me to follow him, and im- 
 mediately had the mat removed to prevent " common 
 people " from entering upon it. He sat on one side 
 of the door on a number of mats ; I was quite near 
 him, and two of his wives were there. 
 
 Almost his first words were, "Well, when am I 
 going to have some one to teach me and my people ?" 
 I told him I did not know ; our missionaries were 
 talking about it, but I did not know what they had 
 decided to do. I began to talk of something else, 
 but he sat quiet and then said : 
 
 " When I saw you I hoped you had come to teach 
 us. Why is it that other places are taught and we 
 cannot learn ? I will build a house, I have chosen 
 a place, and will do everything I can to help a mis- 
 sionary. Do you not see I am a chief? I have 
 many people under my authority, and I want the 
 whole tribe to learn. DonU you think the people in 
 America could send me somebody ? I think I should 
 soon be a Christian. I used to hear from Dr. Adams 
 long ago, and I remember the Lord's Prayer and 
 some hymns now. Do you not know I am not like 
 other chiefs ? I like the light and learning, and I 
 want to be taught." 
 
 I asked him how he would like one of his own 
 race. " Oh," said he, " somebody I must have ; and 
 if I cannot have some one from over the ocean, I 
 must take a black person. I do not wish time 
 thrown away. I want the children to learn while 
 they are young. If I cannot possibly have a white 
 person, then I will be glad of a black person." 
 
60 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 I had a long talk with him, too long to repeat, in 
 which I tried to find his reasons for wishing a mis- 
 sionary so much, for it is perhaps an unprecedented 
 case in this land. The chiefs are generally so bigoted, 
 and it is, with them here as in the days of Christ, the 
 common people who hear gladly. From what I 
 could judge in talking, it would seem that Musi's 
 boyhood was spent near or at one of the stations. 
 It is years since he left, yet there and then he learned 
 to believe that there is a God, and to believe in 
 Christ. He also saw then that learning did no 
 harm, which removed his superstition in that respect, 
 and it is as he himself said — " The chief near me 
 grew up in heathenism, so he is afraid of everything 
 and does not wish any light. As for myself I grew 
 up at a station, and I saw that the light was good, 
 though I did not then receive it." 
 
 This then, is one reason ; he has not such a wall of 
 superstition about him. Another is, that he is a very 
 ambitious man ; he wishes to be above other people 
 and better than they. Therefore, seeing that the 
 Christians are every way elevated far above the 
 heathen, he wishes to build his own glory, not only 
 on his rank and power, but on his wisdom. I can- 
 not say his motives are the highest or the most pure, 
 nevertheless, it is a great and wide-open door in a 
 place Avhere every one is counted, and causes grati- 
 tude. To teach a whole kraal is a great thing. Here 
 is a tribe. I think the truth is in Musi's heart, covered 
 it is true, by many things, but still a spark which 
 may fan into a flame now if efforts are made. I was 
 greatly interested in his son, a boy fourteen years 
 
nsr ZULU land. ei 
 
 old, who will succeed his father as chief. The boy 
 fairly shines with smartness, and I believe could 
 learn to read in a few weeks. He seemed quite 
 unwilling to listen to a word of having to wait for 
 a teacher w^hile other boys were wise, and he, the 
 chief's son, below them in learning. The children 
 all seemed pretty and bright, and Musi said the 
 kraals far and wide swarmed with children, and he 
 had only to say "come," and they would all come. 
 You cannot appreciate all this, but it makes my 
 heart bound to think of it, for we have to pick up 
 one here and one there, and many are bound and 
 kept from learning, and others are persecuted; and 
 it is like finding a fountain of water in a desert, for 
 our liearts thirst for such things, and we find but 
 the drop here and there to cheer and refresh us, 
 while here is a fountain. 
 
 I wish some one might be sent from home. In 
 many places a native does well, but here, I should 
 say, find the right man from America and these hills 
 would soon ring with other words than those now 
 spoken there. 
 
 But to return to the visit. I have said Musi's 
 wives were some of them in the hut, and soon there 
 came a young bride, as her costume showed, to whom 
 the chief showed attention and partiality enough to 
 have caused the others to poison or shoot themselves 
 with envy had they been white. His breakfast was 
 about to be served, at the amount of which I was 
 filled with astonishment, until I learned that he had 
 not eaten since the day before. One wife bowing 
 before him on the ground, poured water on his 
 
62 CHBISTIAN WORK 
 
 hands, and by the way, he had soap and towels — 
 wonder of wonders ! in heathenism. Then a covered 
 dish of meat was brought in, he eating with a knife 
 and four-tined fork. His covered china dishes, etc., 
 he had bought from white people, and he remarked 
 he thought he knew how to use them about as well 
 as a white man, a fact I did not dispute. 
 
 When the meat was eaten, another wife mixed ^ 
 some corn and sour milk, and crouching before him, 
 presented it. He ate a dish of that, and when he had 
 finished it, the last spoonful Avas poured into the 
 hands of the wife, as her reward for her services. 
 Meantime the other wife, for the bride did not work 
 or serve, mixed some beer in a pitcher, and fanned 
 the flies from his face while he drank. 1 handed 
 him a piece of bread we had brought for lunch, and 
 he seemed greatly to enjoy it, saying he wished his 
 wives knew how to cook such things, they were so 
 sweet and good. 
 
 Then suddenly he told a daughter outside to go 
 and tell his wife who was cooking, to roast him an 
 ox's heart. While this was being prepared, some 
 old women came to the door, and after a long intro- 
 duction in the style of the address in Daniel, " O 
 king, live forever," etc., and having chanted a song 
 in his praise, they informed him that they were 
 dying with hunger, which was of course, an exag- 
 geration, common enough here however. He replied 
 they could eat in the afternoon when the sun was 
 there, pointing to about three o'clock. Here the old 
 women chanted again their thanks and withdrew. 
 
 It is not easy to understand the women's language. 
 
m ZULU LAND, 63 
 
 There are so many words which they are not allowed 
 to speak, that everything has a different name, and 
 it sounds almost like another lano-ua^-e. 
 
 . By this time the ''heart" was cooked and was 
 brought in by a boy ; but Musi ordered it to be re- 
 turned and brought as he had directed, by a girl, 
 his daughter. The people seemed frightened at 
 their mistake, and the girl hastened to appear. He 
 gave pieces to his wives and the people around, eat- 
 ing the choice bits himself. While eating, he talked 
 about many things, and every sentence was responded 
 to by his wives, '' Yes, my lord ;" as for example, 
 they were crouching around, and he would say: 
 
 "Now, I think" "Yes, my lord," "that 
 
 this meat," " Yes, my lord," " is very nice." 
 
 " Yes, my lord," till I was quite tired of hear- 
 ing it, and wondered he was not. 
 
 He was continually returning to the subject of find- 
 ing a teacher, and said he should go to the mission- 
 aries in person and apply, which he has since done. 
 He has quite a number of nice things, clothing, 
 chairs, dishes, oxen, carts, plows, etc., and said he 
 was intending to build himself a house like the mis- 
 sionaries. I really believe he thoroughly likes civil- 
 ization, while I confess in those mountains his people 
 are all heathenish to a greater extent than I have 
 seen elsewhere. He himself is putting one foot out 
 of the mire, and if a helping hand is reached out to 
 him, he will put out both feet and drag those who 
 are with him that they follow him. 
 
 Thus we came away from that " Evening Star," 
 and I felt half sad, half glad, as I looked back and 
 
64 CnmSTIAN WORK 
 
 thought how that hill may be made really to shine 
 as a star, and give brightness far around it, if the 
 Gospel is quickly sent; and most fervently do I pray 
 God that it may be so. 
 
 As no white man could be found, the missionary 
 sent was John Illonono, a preacher and elder in the 
 church at Umvoti. 
 
 REPORT FROM MUSFS STATION. 
 
 Umvoti, July, 1867. 
 
 I think you cannot but be interested in my repeat- 
 ing a conversation I had the other day with Illonono. 
 You know he is at Musi's, and his heart and soul 
 seem full of his missionary work. He came here one 
 day, and I met him on the road as he was returning. 
 I said to him I supposed there was not much to tell 
 yet from his part of the world, as he had been there 
 so short a time. 
 
 He said : " There is more to tell than you would 
 well believe. I never saw people so anxious to learn. 
 While I am trying to build my house, with the two 
 young men from the station who help me, we can 
 hardly work, because of the people coming to learn ; 
 and when evening comes we light a great fire (one 
 of the young men said he thought it must be as large 
 as the one Shadrach and his friends were \}\\t into), 
 and by its light we teach until midnight. 
 
 " On Sunday we worship under a great tree, and 
 often a hundred or more are present. After our serv- 
 ice, all learn to read ; and we should be glad of thirty 
 
Z.Y ZULU LAND. 65 
 
 teachers instead of three, so anxious and eager are 
 they. 
 
 ^' List Sunday a man who has a hxrge kraal said 
 lie did not wish his daughters taught, lest they run 
 away and be Christians, and he get few cattle for 
 them at their marriage. Therefore we did not teach 
 the girls. Monday morning a man who lives near, 
 and has as many as fifty children, came to me and 
 wanted to know what all this meant ; his girls learned 
 nothing yesterday. I said I had been requested not 
 to teach the gh-ls. 'Well,' he replied, 'my girls 
 are mine, and / want them taught, and if they be- 
 come Christians, so much the better, and I shall be 
 very angry if my children are not all taught.' So 
 we teach his girls. 
 
 " The people of course cannot sing hymns, but we 
 sing and they make a noise which sounds much like 
 the buzzing of wasps or bees, and they think they 
 sing. They are very anxious to sing hymns and tell 
 their children to listen hard^ so as to learn to sing 
 well. 
 
 " A few weeks ago a boy came from a kraal far off 
 and learned the first ten letters of the alphabet. He 
 went home and the next week brought some of his 
 brothers and sisters, and lo ! they also knew the first 
 ten letters. They said he had taught them, and they 
 learned the rest of the letters, one telling the other, 
 until w^e wonder very much to see how fast some of 
 them learn to read. We are astonished also to see 
 how they understand the words preached to them. 
 Some of them can repeat most of a sermon and seem 
 to understand well. 
 
GO CnRISTIAN WORK 
 
 " It makes me wonder very much that people should 
 be so quick to hear of God and Christ. I really feel 
 as if there never were people so ready for the Gospel 
 and interested in it as these people. Such a short 
 time ago they were afraid of the sight of a book, and 
 not one w^ould have listened to a word about God, 
 or of being Christians, and now they are more than 
 willing. It seems indeed the work of God himself." 
 
 Hlonono seems well fitted for the work which 
 he has undertaken, and to which he has given his 
 heart. He is not more than thirty years old, but 
 reads and writes Zulu and English, and is well ad- 
 vanced in Arithmetic. His sermons are very good. 
 
 You see we black people send our best offerings to 
 teach ; we don't say, " anybody is good enough for 
 a missionary ;" so our best preacher, a man whom 
 all respect, our best singer except one, and our main 
 reliance, was sent away to this wild place. 
 
 He left his business and work when he was grow- 
 ing rich and went for a small salary to live among 
 the heathen, and as he and his wife were brought up 
 on a station (her father was a Christian), it is a real 
 sacrifice going away from their home and all their 
 comforts and privileges. He will miss his music and 
 many things which he enjoys here. I mention this, 
 because I dare say many will think it is nothing for 
 a Zulu to be a missionary to his own people. 
 
 They say at first they are so lonely, away from all 
 Christian intercourse and companionship, until their 
 people begin to be Christians ; and they don't like 
 heathen life and ways any better than we do. But 
 they go cheerfully and heartily to their work. 
 
IJSr ZULU LAND. 67 
 
 APPEAL TO THE CHURCH. 
 
 Umyoti, January 3, 1867. 
 
 My Dear Friexds, — The sun has been shining 
 with its summer heat these last few weeks, and Ave 
 have not felt the strength which we really need to 
 do all the teaching and work here around us. 
 
 There is a great deal of cant in the world, and in 
 books and newspapers and preaching, and we often 
 hear of missionaries as " bearing the burden and heat 
 of the day;" but I am not going to write cant, nor 
 yet to talk as if writing ; I only want to speak as if 
 we were talking, and tell you what is in my heart. 
 
 Well, the weather has been hot, and it is hard to 
 be cheerful and hopeful, and to work with energy at 
 such times. Then I was thinking by way of cheer- 
 ing myself, that the next day (it was Thursday) 
 would bring home letters and papers, "good news 
 from home." Expecting this seemed to make my 
 heart lighter, and my feet too. Thursday came, and 
 opening the Observer I saw an account of the meeting 
 of the American Board at Pittsfield. That seemed 
 to make another bright side to my heart as I began 
 to read it, and I thought we should hear of plenty of 
 money, and still better, plenty of men to help in these 
 days, when every field is so much under-supplied 
 with men. We need men here ; could find work for 
 many more ; and if other places are supplied as we 
 are, I am sorry for the heathen and the missionaries. 
 
 I read hopefully on until it comes to the record of 
 a sad part of the meeting : there were no men ofier- 
 
68 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 ing themselves to go abroad. There I stopped. I 
 looked to see if the words were really there ; I looked 
 at the hills around me where the heathen dwelt ; I 
 looked at the sun and sky and thought how tired we 
 all were, and for one little moment I thought if this 
 be true in America, where they are so surrounded 
 by comforts to soul and body, it would be well 
 for us if we could just go to sleep and w^ake up in 
 heaven. 
 
 Just a moment this feeling lasted, and then I was 
 grieved at the selfishness of such a thought. But I 
 put down the Observer^ and went into my room, and 
 there was a long and bitter struggle, which God only 
 knows, before I could say, " If God permits this, it 
 must be well." 
 
 It was easy to see His hand in the disappoint- 
 ments of our life here ; it was easy to see it and say, 
 " It is w^ell," when He called to his holy heaven those 
 whom we loved. It was easy to feel it was well 
 even when the heart was crying out in loneliness for 
 them, for their journey w^as heavenward ; but do 
 you wonder if my heart long refused to say, " it is 
 well," as I saw the road not heavenward, in which 
 were walking those whom I loved, and who were 
 calling for some one to show them the road to heav- 
 en ; it was hard to say, " it is well," when I saw there 
 was no reason why there were not scores ready to 
 show these that heavenly road, no reason w^hich Jesus 
 Christ w^ould call a reason. 
 
 But I was able after that great struggle, to see 
 God's great love to those poor people, and to ask 
 him to forgive those who thought they had a reason 
 
IJ^ ZULU LAND. 69 
 
 to give their Saviour. But I did not want to read 
 the papers, and when in my letters I read the same 
 words, I did not want to finish them, lest those weary, 
 bitter thous^hts should return a2:ain. 
 
 I do not want to talk strongly, nor must you say 
 I am romantic or fanatical. Both these traits soon 
 pass away amid the reality of such a life as ours. 
 Romance may last a month, fanaticism a week, but 
 no longer. But there grows in one's heart a feeling 
 stronger than either, like that which made Paul say, 
 " Neither count I my life dear unto me." 
 
 But I do not write a sermon or a lecture, I only 
 want to tell you and to ask you. You say, " ask 
 what ?" 
 
 That evening I went into the school-room where 
 some young men were taking out their books. As I 
 spoke to them, they said, " Did you hear from Amer- 
 ica, to day ? — did you have good news ? Are there 
 missionaries coming here and going to other poor 
 people in darkness ?" Then my heart cried out 
 again, and seemed to say, " Why do they ask that 
 question to-day, of all days ?" But I did not speak 
 this, I only said " no." They asked me why, but I 
 passed on as if I did not hear, for what coiddl answer ? 
 
 Tell me this, and ask your friends what to say to 
 plead their reason to this people. 
 
 I passed them and began setting copies in some 
 writing books. Two or three seemed so astonished 
 they dropped into silence and looked at each other ; 
 but two, one a young man just from heathenism, and 
 the other, one who for some time had been a Chris- 
 tian, did not rest thus. One spoke to the other, but 
 
70 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 the words went into my heart and into my head, and 
 as if printed on paper they are not to be forgotten. 
 
 '' I sometimes think," said he, " when I look around, 
 that God must have made heaven for white people, 
 or perhaps I cannot say that, for he is our Father I 
 know, but if he made heaven for all, the white peo- 
 ple wish themselves only to go there, and if I were 
 learned and wise, and not a poor ignorant black per- 
 son, it would seem to me that our forefathers in 
 God's mercy would be saved. The ones whom God 
 would punish would be those who had light but 
 never gave it. My father died ; he did not know 
 God ; how loas he to know ? how could he believe if no 
 one was sent ? and yet over the ocean, they say for 
 hundreds of years they have known of God, and have 
 been at their death going to him in heaven. If they 
 knew these things, why were our forefathers left to 
 die in darkness ? Oh no, no, I do not say it with a 
 wicked heart, but it surely is not they who are to be 
 cast aside for what they did not know, while others 
 who knew, and kept the light from them are to enjoy 
 heaven eternally." 
 
 The other answered, " These thoughts, such as you 
 speak, come into my heart very often. I do see that 
 if we hear and do not love God, it is just and well 
 that we be punished. But all in the lands over the 
 ocean know of God, and perhaps all may be saved at 
 their death, if they repent. Those in this land who 
 have not heard, how can they repent unless they 
 hear? and how can they hear unless more are sent 
 to tell them ? I hear America is full of Christians, 
 and I wonder often why they do not come here, and 
 
IN ZULU LAND. 71 
 
 I cannot find any reason in my heart, unless it be 
 that they choose to keep heaven for themselves and 
 do not wish us to go there. It must be so. 
 
 " They say they pray for us. So I could pray for 
 my father, but if I did not go to him and tell him, 
 I should be like a man with a wagon full of food, 
 saying to a hungry man, ' I hope you will find food 
 somewhere,' and refusing to give him a morsel. No, 
 no, it must be they do not want us to go to heaven, 
 for if they wanted us to go, they would surely come 
 and tell us. The white man's heart is a strange 
 heart, and if they are Christians, I wonder what they 
 say to themselves to quiet their consciences, when 
 they know how our people are dying in darkness." 
 
 This is the conversation, and when it ended they 
 came and asked me why people in America were un- 
 willing to have the heathen go to heaven. I said, 
 " They are not unwilling." " Why, then," they 
 asked, " did our fathers die in darkness ? Why are 
 so many dying now in darkness ? What are their 
 prayers and money ? Why don't they come them- 
 selves? If our black people saw a man who was 
 going to be drowned in a river, we would go our- 
 selves and tell him his danger. We would not kneel 
 down and pray for him, we would not pull out pay 
 and say, ' if somebody can be found to go, we will 
 give him this.' What kind of hearts have they, those 
 Christians in America ?" 
 
 I told them I could not answer them, for I was 
 unable to do so, but I write now to you, and as you 
 see others, please ask them to tell me what to say the 
 next time I am asked such questions. I am not writ- 
 
72 CHRISTIAN WORK 
 
 ing a newspaper article, I am in earnest, and I want 
 some one to answer the many such questions, for as 
 God is my witness, I do not know what to answer. 
 I am speechless." •. 
 
 APPEAL TO STUDENTS. 
 
 June, 1867. 
 
 My dear Fkiend, — Far off in this out-of-the-way 
 part of the world I have been reading in a paper 
 from home the appeal for more missionaries, and if 
 I could be two persons instead of one, I should send 
 one-half, or, perhaps, I should say, go one-half^ with 
 the greatest possible speed to America. I believe if 
 I could see some of those young people who are so 
 in need of rousing up, and so little inclined to be 
 roused, I could speak words to them which would 
 move them. As it is, I cannot go, for even the half 
 of me would count now, our number is so small. 
 
 Therefore I take a pen ; poor, miserable substitute, 
 especially w^hen it is used to write words which come 
 from a head and body quite tired out. The heart, I 
 am happy to say, is warm; but alas, for us poor 
 mortals ! The body affects the head or mind, and I 
 cannot find a time when I am really rested so as to 
 write with the might and earnestness I desire. 
 
 But what I can say I will say to you, and through 
 you to the others. I can just see them now ! 
 
 My dear friends, I know how your time is all filled 
 up ; that you have your studies, your Sabbath-schools, 
 your prayer meetings and missionary meetings. And 
 when the subject of missions is spoken of, every one, 
 
AY ZULU LAND. 73 
 
 perhaps, or it may be only a part of you, look into 
 your hearts, and either you see a particular reason 
 why you cannot go, or else you are waiting for an 
 *' inw\ard call." 
 
 I can give you an outward call, and I would to 
 God I had the power to give you an inward call as 
 well. I do not believe in the word ; I believe it is 
 made to be a sort of excuse by those who can find 
 no other. If people have fathers or mothers, farms 
 or merchandise to plead as a reason, it answers their 
 purpose, and those who have not these have found 
 an expression, now become a common phrase, " an 
 inward call." 
 
 No, we do not wait for an inward call for any- 
 thing we like to do ! I need say no more of this ; 
 but I fear me much it will be a poor excuse in the 
 presence of God at last. 
 
 I wish we had a new w^ord for " missionaries " and 
 "missions," something that would attract people's 
 attention, something w^hich they had not talked of 
 and harped upon in a humdrum way for years. 
 
 Missionary does not mean sickness nor death, as 
 some suppose, nor does it mean starvation and 
 bodily suffering, as others think. It does not mean 
 angels, for they are just mortal beings, very mortal 
 some of them, although I believe some people in 
 America think missionaries must be angels ! It does 
 not mean, to grown people, give every penny you 
 can spare ; and to children, go without your cake 
 and your new hat and give your money. People 
 mix in all these with the word missionary^ and there- 
 fore I w^ant a new word. 
 4 
 
74 CHlilSTIAN WORK 
 
 If I say we want a missionary, I do not mean a 
 person to die or to fall ill, or to suffer from hunger 
 or heat or cold. I do not mean we w^ant an angel 
 or a perfect man, nor Avould we rob any of the 
 things they do not want to give up. We w^ant some 
 men ; true, living men ; good, pleasant, cheerful men ; 
 full of fun, if you please, it will help them, this same 
 fun ! We want men ; if they know a good deal, so 
 far well ; if they can sing, so much the better ; if 
 they are refined, well educated, yes, learned, it will 
 all come in use and be so much the better. 
 
 There, I have told you what we want ; now as to 
 the reason w^hy. 
 
 Not a Aveek passes but I see people, or hear of 
 them, asking, calling, begging for some one to teach 
 them. It is very easy to moralize on the other 
 side of the ocean and consider pros and cons; but 
 it is hard, fearfully hard, to see a man begging for 
 teaching which may save his soul, begging for it for 
 himself and his people ; it is hard to say, No ; as it 
 were to say, " Go and die all of you, there is no 
 mansion in heaven for you, or, at least, no one who 
 is willing to tell you the way there." They think 
 white people are selfish, and I think it is true ! We 
 must be a selfish race or surely so many thousands 
 would not call and be refused. 
 
 Last week J heard of two African chiefs — this 
 very moment I know of six African chiefs, some im- 
 portant chiefs, some less so, who wish their people 
 to be taught and cannot find any one willing to teach 
 them. 
 
 I do not stop to argue the question of " enough 
 
IJSr ZULU LAND. 75 
 
 to do at home." To be sure there is, who ever dis- 
 puted that ? But there are enough for home and 
 also for us. Besides, you know how may congrega- 
 tions are composed of a few people who have heard 
 of Christ from their infancy ; do they call you more 
 loudly than the thousands around these chiefs who 
 know no way to heaven, no Saviour ? 
 
 I am not a person of " one idea ;" missionaries are 
 supposed to be so, but many are not, and I am not 
 for one. I know all about America, from its 
 wealthiest churches in cities down to the city's 
 lowest dens of misery. I know the pretty country 
 \dllages and their Sabbaths. I have seen the West- 
 ern country and its needs, and the slaves and 
 heathenism of the South. I knew all these well*^ I 
 pray for them when I pray. You cannot say I am 
 a person of one idea. I have taught in all these 
 places, and have, with the help of the Father who is 
 over all, left in them those whom I led to a Saviour; 
 but I never for a moment regretted leaving them, 
 never. 
 
 My letter is growing too long, but I want to tell 
 you a story and then I will stop. When I was 
 traveling a short time ago, I met a native man, and 
 seeing he was a Christian, I inquired his history. 
 It seemed he was a great man, and had in his home 
 great riches and much power. He heard the preach- 
 ing of some one, I have forgotten whom, and became 
 a Christian. After he learned to read his Bible he 
 said he saw the words, " Son of man I have set thee 
 a watchman. If I say unto the wicked. Thou shalt 
 surely die, and thou givest him not warning, nor 
 
7G CHRISTIAN WORK, 
 
 speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way 
 to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in 
 his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy 
 hand." 
 
 This made him see that he could not settle down 
 quietly and leave his people untaught. His friends 
 surrounded him, urged, begged and even tried to 
 force him to remain at home. lie said '• No " to all, 
 and went his way. He forfeited his power, his 
 wealth, his joys and home, and taking his Bible be 
 went forth. When asked if he carried no gun, he 
 said " Yes, and it has two barrels. My gun is my 
 Bible, with the Old and New Testaments." 
 
 You may smile at his sacrifice and say it is nothing 
 compared to what one gives up who leaves America. 
 Say so, if you choose. In my mind he gave up 
 more than any of us did or could. He went far and 
 wide, and hundreds believed through his teachings ; 
 and he is traveling still and teaching still, eating 
 such food as is given him, and forgetting all things 
 in his love for God and his fellow-men. 
 
 Are you and your friends behind this poor, igno- 
 rant African ? Cannot the text that gave him such 
 zeal stir you up ? or must it be that he and such as 
 he are to shine in the kingdom of heaven, while 
 Christians from the land of light, America, if they 
 enter heaven at all, will be saved so as by fire, and 
 be tried by the God who has said, " If ye speak 
 
 NOT TO WARX THE WICKED, AND HE DIE IN HIS 
 SINS, HIS BLOOD WILL I REQUIRE AT YOUR HAND." 
 
so MUCH TO DO AT HOME. 
 
The writer of these lines lays no claim to poetic talent. 
 They are but the strong cry of one who writes from a full 
 heart. 
 
so MUCH TO DO AT HOME. 
 
 In the burning heat of an African sun, 
 
 One sultry summer day, 
 I wearily walked at the hour of noon, 
 Almost wishing my work were done. 
 Till I thought of the love of God's owm Son 
 
 When He left His Heavenly Home. 
 
 The sun was hot — but what mattered that ? 
 
 There was work w^hich must be done ; 
 There were dying men to be visited. 
 And those who were mourning their baricd dead, 
 Others Avhose hearts I could make glad 
 
 If I told of a Heavenly Home. 
 
 The sun was hot — but what mattered that ? 
 
 Souls w^ere waiting for words of life. 
 Those who were longing to learn of Heaven, 
 Those for w^hom Jesus His life had given. 
 I forgot all else. I had not even 
 
 The time to think of Home. 
 
 Time — when in the early morning light 
 
 The entreaty rang, " O come, 
 Teach us of Christ," — and late at night 
 The old, the young, were in my sight. 
 Multitudes asking for Gospel light ; 
 
 Was there time to think of Home ? 
 
 (3) 
 
That clay passed by like every day, 
 
 With its heat and weariness. 
 Oh, we know how to ask for strength by the way ! 
 Strength from the Lord but for one day — 
 " Give us strength, O Lord we pray, 
 
 Until Thou slialt take us Home." 
 
 On that day, from a region wild and lone, 
 
 An African chief had come ; 
 There the word of life had never gone, 
 And he prayed that we would send him one 
 To tell them of Christ, but there was none 
 
 To go to that heathen home. 
 
 My frame was weary, and deep my sleep 
 
 When the hour of rest came on ; 
 I slept, but I only slept to weej), 
 To suffer anguish great and deep. 
 Like those who their w^atch with the dying keep ; 
 
 And, sleeping, I dreamed of Home. 
 
 I dreamed that I stood on a distant hill. 
 
 And hundreds were thronging around, 
 Calling for teachers, calling until 
 They besought with tears, and urging still, 
 Both chiefs and people. They said, " You will 
 Go for us to your distant Home. 
 
 " In your happy country joy and light 
 
 To all the people come : 
 They know no darkness of heathen night; 
 
Many might come to bring us light, 
 Many to teach us of good and right." 
 And, dreaming, I hastened Home. 
 
 The pain and weariness passed away, 
 
 When I reached a Christian land ; 
 I could not rest, I could not stay, 
 I cared not how far my journey lay ; 
 I must find help, and, without delay 
 
 Go back to my African home. 
 
 I stood in a temple large and wide, 
 
 Filled with the wise and good ; 
 I told of our country beyond the tide, 
 Told of the heathen on every side. 
 How they gathered to us from far and wide ; 
 
 I told of this at Home — • 
 
 In that Christian land, and to Christian men 
 
 Who professed to love the Lord 
 Who died for them ! — even God's dear Son — 
 Yet not only for them, but for heathem men ; 
 Their answer was, "It is true, but then 
 
 There's enough to do at Home !" 
 
 Next I stood, where assembled only were 
 
 God's ministers, great and wise ; 
 I told of these voices that called from afar. 
 Of our strength worn out in our daily care. 
 And entreated, "Oh, come to our help — come 
 
 there !" 
 But they answered calmly, without a tear, 
 
 *' There's enough to do at Home." 
 
6 
 
 Sharp agony tlien convulsed my frame 
 
 As I thought of going alone 
 To tell the heathen, for whom I came, 
 They must die, not knowing of Jesus' name, 
 For Christians could not see ^heir claim. 
 
 With " so much to do at Home !" 
 
 Then I passed through that country near and far, 
 
 Its cities, and villages green ; 
 I appealed to strong men, to maidens fair, 
 To the young, to the old with whitened hair — 
 " O send !" " O comeT' But all said, " Not there ; 
 
 There's enough to do at Home." 
 
 " We give our money, and some there are 
 
 Who perchance might go away ; 
 But what are you doing ? How came you here ? 
 There is work in our land both far and near; 
 'Tis not that Ave care not, not that we fear, 
 
 But — there's so much to do at Home." 
 
 Deep sorrow then my soul o'erthrew 
 
 As I waked from that awful dream — 
 Waked, O so sadly — for well I knew 
 That though but a dream, alas ! 'tis true, 
 That none will come ; all say, not the few, 
 " There's enough to do at Home." 
 
 O say, can you wonder, in that far land, 
 
 At the Avords of those heathen men 
 With Avhich my heart is daily pained ? 
 
At the stigma with which your names are stained ? 
 They say your arc " selfish," and can they be 
 blamed, 
 Though '' there's much to do at Home ?'* 
 
 They say, " In the home beyond the sea 
 
 The hearts must be hard and cold. 
 For they give us no light ; how else can it be ? 
 They enter Heaven — but, oh ! not we 
 Who are here ! We never that land shall see ; 
 
 Only Ihei/ have a Heavenly Home." 
 
 Thus they long for the truth and beg for light 
 
 In that heathen land who roam ; 
 They have heard, mayhap, of a Heaven bright, 
 But say you have closed the door so tight 
 You have doomed them to darkness and endless 
 night. 
 
 Because of the luorJc at Home, 
 
 And, oh ! when they in God's presence stand 
 
 With you, at that great day, 
 When every nation of every land 
 
 To judgment is called aw^ay. 
 Say, say, can you stand in God's presence then, 
 
 And remember that cry, " O come. 
 We are dying — we know no Saviour's name !" 
 Can you plead the excuse, will it not be vain ? 
 Will it weigh with God, though it did with men? 
 
 " There'* s enough to do at HomeP 
 
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 Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process 
 Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
 Treatment Date: Oct.^2005 
 
 PreservationTechnologies 
 
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 Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
 
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