@ Oy Barrer te Whe, Ya? ¥ af . ¢ y ~ ‘ 
 eee (079 
 : v SS en ae 
 
 THE { \ SA 
 nh as f Xt 
 < ie re co ‘ail ‘ 
 bi Wh A) 6 \ 
 TAVOY MISSION: 
 ete ( 
 : P i ( 
 : a I Io ( 
 Gag { + 4 Lf Sot 
 z { [3 f fs F ‘ l 
 Sey 
 Wis MeIR el f 
 ir pe.) F 
 NY Perea sh f 
 
 + 
 
 INCIDENTS OF Missionary’ Lire, 
 
 ee ey Oe 
 FROM MRS.’ MORROW’S LETTERS. 
 
 PREPARED BY 
 
 Pn os Ra Re 
 
 meen eae 
 
 FORMERLY MISSIONARY TO THE MAULMAIN KARENS. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 MISSIONARY Rooms, TREMONT TEMPLE. 
 1880. 
 
S EAA 
 WOW \ 
 all 
 
 Lot GA. 
 al 
 2 
 
 Damatha 
 
 TW ARE 
 CRS J 
 kA Three Pagodas 
 
 > 
 Us 
 
 Tavor 7. 
 
 TENASSERIM 
 PROVINCES. 
 
 Scale of Miles 
 a 
 20 40. 50 
 
 ( 
 ) 
 
 “ 
 
 ea 
 7 
 
 Noy 
 
 ({ 
 
 eae = eee ace 
 97 Lon. Kast from. Greenwich 
 
eA WO NEE oa GaN 
 
 ENT RODUCTION. : 
 
 THE first part of this paper is simply an epitome of the 
 fifty years’ history of the Baptist missions in Tavoy and 
 Mergui, now for several years merged in one, giving a bare 
 record of names and dates, and mentioning a few notable 
 incidents. The following books, with incomplete files of the 
 Missionary Magazine, have been consulted: Wayland’s ZLzfe 
 of Judson ; Gammell’s fzstory of American Baptist Missions ; 
 The Karen Apostle, or Life of Ko Thah Byu,; Life of Sarah 
 B. Judson, the Jubilee Volume; and Dr. Smith’s AZzsszonary 
 Sketches. 
 
 For the second part, thanks are due to Mrs. Charles H. 
 Richards, of Holyoke, Mass., an intimate friend of Mrs. 
 Morrow, who has carefully preserved and copied letters 
 received from her since she sailed to her mission station in 
 1876, and who kindly obtained and gave permission to make 
 extracts from them for publication. 
 
 That this paper may be blessed by the Great Head of 
 the Church, to the good of the cause.and the increase of 
 missionary intelligence and interest, is the sincere wish and 
 prayer of the compiler. 
 
 HOLYOKE, May, 1880. 
 
4 The Zavoy Mission. 
 
 Pe ak 
 
 IMAGINE yourselves aboard the little steamer ‘“Tavoy”’ as 
 it goes up the Tavoy River, threading its way among the 
 islands, till it reaches a city of the same name. You go 
 ashore in a small Burman canoe, and then start for the 
 mission house, which is two miles away on “Siam Hill.”, 
 Passing between rows of Burman houses, thatched with 
 leaves of dunnee, a species of dwarf palm, you leave the 
 government buildings behind, cross a low paddy plain by a 
 well-turnpiked road, and finally, with an abrupt turn to the 
 left through an opening in the bamboo hedge, you reach 
 your destination by passing through a long avenue of pe- 
 douk-trees. You are greeted at the mission house by Rev. 
 Horatio Morrow and his wife, and by Nau-Tee-Too, a bright 
 Karen girl from Maulmain, their assistant in beginning to 
 learn the language. /Vau is a Karen prefix, equivalent to 
 Miss. From the hill on which the mission house stands, the 
 missionary can easily show you the general extent of his 
 field. ‘To the north is a high mountain near Yeh, midway 
 between Maulmain and Tavoy. On the east, a long moun- 
 tain-range towers in places a mile in height; and beyond 
 this is the Tenasserim River, running in a southerly direction 
 till it reaches the lowest part of the range, where it trends 
 rapidly westward, and then towards the north till it flows 
 into the archipelago at Mergui. This city is nine hours by 
 steamer from Tavoy. ‘The field covers an area nearly equal 
 in extent to the Connecticut Valley. Among these moun- 
 tains, scattered about over these plains and islands, are the 
 thousands of Karens, Talaings, and Burmese, to whom this 
 one missionary and his wife are expected to carry the “ glad 
 tidings of salvation,” assisted only by the few natives who 
 have been qualified by Christian education. | 
 
Incidents of Mission Life. 5 
 
 You are on historic ground. It is now more than fifty 
 years since the beginning of the mission. In 1827, Moung 
 Ing, one of the Burman converts, made a trip to Mergui, 
 and on his return to Maulmain reported in favor of begin- 
 ning a mission in that region. Early in April, 1828, George 
 Dana Boardman and his wife removed from Maulmain to 
 Tavoy. At that time there were about nine thousand inhab- 
 itants in the city, two-thirds of whom were Burmese. Of the 
 thousands living in the jungles or open country, the Karens 
 especially were much interested, and came in groups and 
 from distant villages to visit the missionary. They were 
 attentive and eager to learn. Their traditions were such as 
 to prepare them in a certain sense for the reception of the 
 gospel message. 
 
 Ko Thah Byu, a Karen convert who accompanied the mis- 
 sionary from Maulmain, was baptized on the 16th of May, 
 1828. In September, an old Karen with several followers 
 brought to Mr. Boardman a book which had been regarded 
 as an object of veneration, and preserved with great care. 
 It was unwrapped with much ceremony in his presence, and 
 proved to be an English prayer-book, which had fallen into 
 their hands in some unaccountable way. They were told 
 that it was not the book, but the Being described in the 
 book, whom they ought to worship. 
 
 During this same year, Moung Bo,* a Burman, was con- 
 verted; and his baptism caused great excitement among the 
 Buddhist population. A boarding-school was opened ; and 
 the Karens, eager for knowledge, petitioned for more mis- 
 sionaries from America. 
 
 The year 1829 was an eventful one in the history of the 
 mission. In January, Mr. Boardman made his first tour in 
 the jungle. Soon afterward, he visited Mergui, with his wife, 
 that the sea-breeze might restore his wasted strength. In 
 June, little Sarah Boardman died. In August there was a 
 revolt of the Burmese, by which the missionaries lost many 
 
 * Moung, a Burman prefix for young and middle-aged men, equivalent to Mr. 
 
6 The Lavoy Mission. 
 
 of their personal effects, and were in jeopardy of their lives. 
 The thrilling story of their dangers and of the providential 
 deliverance is given’ in the very interesting Memoir of 
 Mrs. Boardman, afterwards Mrs. Sarah B. Judson. At the 
 close of 1830 there were thirty-three Karens reported in the 
 church. ‘That year witnessed the gradual failure of Mr. 
 Boardman’s health, impaired by anxiety and by exposure in 
 jungle travel; and on the 11th of February, 1831, his ‘“‘strong, 
 heroic”’ soul passed away. He was in the jungle, returning 
 from a village where he had seen thirty-four of the loved 
 converts baptized by Rev. Francis Mason, who had come on 
 a visit from Maulmain. Attended only by his loving wife, 
 the brother missionary, and a group of sorrowing natives, 
 he gave back his brave, self-sacrificing life to God. Mrs. 
 Boardman was now left for a short time to work alone. 
 
 _ In April, Rev. Francis Mason and his wife removed from 
 Maulmain to Tavoy. He took up the work with vigor, 
 and spent much time in the jungle among the villages. At 
 the close of 1831 there were reported seven schools, one 
 hundred and seventy pupils, twelve boys and eleven girls 
 in the boarding-school, and one hundred and ten disciples. 
 In October, Mr. and Mrs. Wade, of Maulmain, went to 
 Mergui, and remained five months. 
 
 In 1834, the first missionary society was formed in Tavoy, 
 and two native preachers were supported by local contribu- 
 tions. Mr. Judson visited Tavoy in April, and was married 
 to Mrs. Boardman. 
 
 Rev. Jonathan Wade and his wife, with Miss Gardner, 
 joined the mission at Tavoy in January, 1835. Soon after, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wade, with Mr. Mason, went to visit the 
 Karen village of Mata; and Mrs. Wade spent some weeks 
 among the people, while the two missionaries went on a 
 preaching tour down the Tenasserim River and around by 
 Mergui again to Tavoy. There is a journal kept by Mrs. 
 Wade during the weeks she stayed alone in Mata, and pub- 
 lished in the A@issconary Magazine for February, 1836, and 
 
Incidents of Mission Life. a 
 
 in succeeding numbers. We have also a letter from her to 
 Mrs. Sarah B. Judson, bearing date April 12, 1835. <A few 
 lines quoted from the latter will show some of the difficul- 
 ties of the way between Tavoy and the Karen village, a dis- 
 tance of thirty-five miles. She says: “ After we had travelled 
 three or four miles, we entered a thick jungle, where there 
 was only a narrow foot-path ; and often we were obliged to 
 walk a long way in a stream of water, stepping from one 
 stone to another, so that my chair was of very little use.... 
 About two o’clock, we pitched our tent for dinner, and just 
 as we were ready to set out again a large party of Karen 
 Christians (men and women) came to meet and welcome us. 
 They had come from Mata, a village about twelve miles 
 distant. We now quickened our pace, so that we reached 
 the houses of a few Christians by daylight, and ‘there we 
 pitched our tent again. Here, though so much fatigued, 
 we had a delightful time with the dear Christians; and in 
 the morning, while it was cool, we went on to Mata. This 
 is Brother Mason’s Christian village; and the name, you see, 
 signifies love or affection. There were about thirty houses 
 in the village ; and, though a large number of young people 
 and children and a few older ones are not members of the 
 church, yet in every house prayer is daily offered, and all 
 acknowledge the Bible as the rule of their lives.” 
 
 Durings1545, chev jeer. Vinton and hist wife.cameé. to 
 Tavoy and spent the rainy season, giving valuable assist- 
 ance in the school ‘work. 
 
 In 1836, Rev. E. L. Abbott visited the station, and also 
 Rev. Howard Malcom, who made a tour of inspection to 
 nearly all the mission stations in Asia. 
 
 In March, 1837, Rev. Cephas Bennett and his wife ar- 
 rived at Tavoy, with a printing-press; and in December in 
 the same year Mr. R. B. Hancock, also a printer, reached 
 Mergui, together with Rev. Eugenio Kincaid. In October 
 of the next year, Rev. L. Ingalls commenced to work among 
 the Burmese, remaining till 1845, when he left on account 
 
8 The Tavoy Mission. 
 
 of his wife’s health. Rev. D. L. Brayton began his labors 
 among the Pwo Karens at this time, and has since been an 
 indefatigable worker and the firm friend of that race. 
 
 In September, 1841, the J/orning Star, a monthly paper 
 printed in Karen, was camiione ed and has been continued 
 to the present time. It is now printed in Rangoon. On the 
 1st of November, 1843, the New Testament was finished in 
 Karen; and, in this year, twelve preachers were studying 
 with Mr. Mason, forming the nucleus of what afterward 
 became the Karen Theological Seminary, located first at 
 Maulmain and then at Rangoon. 
 
 In 1844, a church of thirteen Salongs was organized in 
 the islands between T'avoy and Penang. ‘They were a very 
 low race of people, who, nevertheless, seemed susceptible to 
 religious impressions.’ Rev. E. A. Stevens, using the Pwo 
 Karen dialect as a basis, reduced their language to writ- 
 ing. In January of this year, Mr. Bennett visited Mata, and 
 baptized twenty-two converts. In the month of May, Mr. 
 Thomas 8S. Ranney, a printer, arrived with his wife to assist 
 in the work, accompanied by Miss Julia A. Lathrop. The 
 latter was able to stay only two years on account of her 
 failing health. At this time there was a great religious 
 awakening in one of the Karen villages ; and meetings were 
 conducted by Mr. Mason and Mr. Vinton. On the 25th of 
 March, 1845, Rev. E. B. Cross arrived to assist-in the Karen 
 work; and soon afterward Mr. Ranney left the station for 
 Maulmain. The succeeding year, 1846; was another event- 
 ful one. In October, Mrs. Mason died, after sixteen years 
 of faithful work. Sau Quala* was ordained, and was a 
 zealous preacher for many years. A school-building was 
 erected for Mr. Cross during this year. Mr. Wade, on 
 account of threatened blindness, sailed for America on the 
 22d of December, 1847, and reached Boston on the 31st of 
 July, 1848,— quite a contrast with the two months’ voyages 
 of our missionaries at the present day. 
 
 * Sau is a Karen prefix, equivalent to Mr. 
 
Incidents of Mission Life. 9 
 
 In 1848, Mr. Mason was transferred to the Karen Mission 
 at Maulmain, and a new chapel was built at Tavoy. Rev. 
 Judson Benjamin arrived in April, 1849, and worked among 
 the Salongs already mentioned. With the help of Mr. 
 Brayton, who with Mr. Stevens had previously done some- 
 thing for them, a vocabulary of twelve or fifteen hundred 
 Salong words was collected. 
 
 In March, 1851, Mr. Mason returned to Tavoy, and in 
 May Rev. B. C. Thomas and his wife arrived. In October, 
 to54) kev. Thomas Allen ‘arrived, to’ take” charge .of ‘the 
 Burmese department. Messrs. Mason, Bennett, Brayton, 
 and Thomas were transferred to other stations, and thus 
 the working force was greatly weakened. During this year, 
 the Sgau Karen Bible was finished, and the printing-office 
 removed to Maulmain. In 1854,* Sau Quala explored the 
 valley of the Sitang or Sitoung, and baptized a large number 
 Ofaconverts; = Mr. Cross returned to’ Tavoy in’ June, 18.55, 
 and found the mission in a low state. Still, more than a 
 thousand Christians were reported, and a thousand rupees 
 were raised by the Tavoy Missionary Society. In 1857, the 
 Karen churches resolved to be self-supporting. The next 
 year, Mr. Allen, after preaching in every part of the city and 
 visiting every village on the Tavoy River, was obliged to 
 return to the United States. In February, 1860, Mr. Cross 
 left the station and removed to Toungoo. 
 
 From this time there have been long intervals in which 
 there was no resident missionary. In October, 1860, how- 
 ever, Rev. C. Hibbard of the Maulmain Karen Mission 
 arrived, with the purpose of visiting the Karens. Accom- 
 panied by Rev. James R. Haswell of the Burman Mission, 
 who had previously come to Tavoy for a short visit, he went 
 to the village of Mata. He speaks of the path as the hardest 
 and worst he had ever travelled. In the gorge to be de- 
 scribed in the second part (page 26), they were one hour 
 
 *Sau Quala subsequently fell into disgrace, but afterward rerented and was restored 
 to the church, though not to the ministry. He has lately died. 
 
10 The Tavoy Mission. 
 
 and forty-five minutes in going two miles. On Sunday there 
 was preaching by the missionaries in Karen and Burmese. 
 At the morning service, one hundred and fifty-one were 
 present. Mr. Hibbard visited the station annually for two 
 or three years in succession, and in January, 1863, went 
 overland from Maulmain to attend the association at Mata. 
 He was nineteen days on the journey, and found the disci- 
 ples assembled and waiting for him, and the Karens glad to 
 welcome him as a leader, if it were only for an associational 
 meeting. ‘It was impossible for him, with a large mission 
 station already on his hands, to give them more than one 
 visit of a few weeks at the most each year. The mission- 
 aries who visited Tavoy saw its destitution and need, and 
 were urgent in their requests that the committee would once 
 more send some one to have the entire charge of the work. 
 
 In the course of a year or two, Rev. I. D. Colburn, who 
 had gone out to Burmah in 1863, was appointed to the 
 Karens of Tavoy, and went there in company with the vet- 
 erans, Dr. and Mrs. Wade, who had worked so earnestly in 
 this field in former years, and who were therefore acquainted 
 with many of the native Christians. They received a hearty 
 welcome ; and the work, which had languished for lack of 
 care, was taken up with vigor in both the Karen and Burman 
 departments. Sixty were baptized in one year, and a great 
 deal of interest was manifested in the school. 
 
 On the 5th of October, 1868, Mrs. Wade died, after a long 
 and useful missionary life, and was buried in this city, the 
 scene of many of her devoted labors. Dr. Wade soon after 
 left for Rangoon, where he remained till his death, in 1872. 
 Mr. Colburn also was obliged to leave for arduous work in 
 other departments, but always retained a strong affection for 
 the, (Lavoy-Karenss 
 
 The next missionary to occupy the field a short time was 
 Rey. J. F. Norris, who came from Maulmain with his family. 
 Having labored in both the Burmese and Karen depart- 
 ments, he had acquired a little of both languages, and took 
 
Lncdents of Mission Life. OE 
 
 up the work with such zeal that his health was soon im- 
 paired. Early in 1870, he succeeded in procuring the pres- 
 ent eligible compound for the use of the mission, which is 
 probably unsurpassed by any in Burmah for beauty, conven- 
 ience, and healthfulness of location. Mr. Norris made 
 several trips in the jungle; and on one occasion, while 
 on his way to Mergui with his family and several natives 
 in a sailing craft, the vessel suddenly sank, giving Mr. Nor- 
 ris barely time by the most violent exertions to save the lives 
 of all in a little boat which was providentially being towed 
 astern of the larger one. With great difficulty they reached 
 a point of land, from which they were rescued after suffer- 
 ing much misery from want of food and clothing. 
 
 In July, 1871, Mr. Norris, suffering from fever and over- 
 work, came with his family to Maulmain; and in a few 
 weeks, having intrusted the charge of the Tavoy Mission to 
 Reyes. B Rand; -hée\sailed for America: 
 
 In December, 1872, Mr. Rand visited Tavoy with Miss H. 
 Maria Norris of Nova Scotia, and soon after accompanied 
 her as far as Mata on her way to visit the Karens of Siam. 
 Mr. Rand could not be absent long from his work in Maul- 
 main, and soon returned. Miss Norris found it impracti- 
 cable to remain among the Karens of Siam, and so came 
 back to Tavoy, taking up with energy the school work, for 
 which she was well qualified by nature, experience, and a 
 good knowledge of the Karen language. Early in 1874, 
 Miss Norris was married to Rev. W. F. Armstrong; and 
 they vigorously prosecuted both school and jungle work, 
 with a few short intervals of absence, till they were called 
 by the Nova Scotia Board to work for the Teloogoos in 
 India. ‘Their departure was deeply regretted by the Ka- 
 rens, and by the missionaries of Burmah. 
 
 In January, 1875, Mr. and Mrs. Brayton arrived at Mergui 
 on a visit from Rangoon, and, after an absence of twenty 
 years, went to the scene of their early labors, attending the 
 meetings of the association on the Tenasserim River. In 
 
12 The Tavoy Mission. 
 
 November, Mr. Rand went to Tavoy to attend to the mis- 
 sion property, but could remain only a few days. He saw 
 teachers Moo Lah and Plau Pau, who felt much depressed 
 because there was no missionary to direct them. 
 
 Early in 1876, Mr. W. H. S. Hascall of the Maulmain 
 Burman Mission went down to Tavoy, attended the asso- 
 ciation, and spent some weeks in visiting the churches. 
 During all these years, the visiting missionaries saw and felt 
 the great necessity of permanent care for this much neg- 
 lected station ; and so, when it was known at the end of the 
 year that Rev. Horatio Morrow and his wife were on the 
 way thither, there was great joy among the Karens and 
 the missionaries. Mr. and Mrs. Morrow arrived early in 
 1877, and are now greatly beloved by the people, and con- 
 stantly growing in love for the work and affection for the 
 Karens. Miss L. E. Miller, previously connected with the 
 college in Rangoon, joined them early in 1880. Mrs. Mor- 
 row’s thorough medical education is an invaluable help in 
 all the work of the mission. 
 
 In November, 1879, the meetings of the Burmah Baptist 
 Convention were held at Tavoy; and the missionaries at 
 this isolated station were glad to welcome a number of 
 their co-workers from other places. At the close of the 
 meetings, several converts were baptized in a large tank 
 near the mission compound. Rev. J. B. Vinton; a son 
 of the missionary of the same name, previously mentioned, 
 went among the jungle churches for a short time, and 
 baptized several converts. Rev. C. H. Carpenter and his 
 wife, of the Bassein Mission, also visited the station during 
 the year, and, together with the missionaries in charge, 
 spent a short time at Monmagan, a delightful sanitarium 
 on the beach, about seven miles over the mountains west 
 of the Tavoy River. The Woman’s Baptist Missionary 
 Society has purchased a small cottage there ; and the cool 
 sea-breeze and the retired location make it an attractive 
 and useful retreat for the missionary during the hot month 
 
Lneidents of Mission Life. 13 
 
 of April, where he can retire to rest and read and study 
 the language. 
 
 We have done little more than name the workers in this 
 field. The story of some of their work may be found in 
 other books. The larger part of it, though unrecorded by 
 the human pen, is written in heaven, where many of these 
 laborers have gone. 
 
 Pee 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM MRS. MORROW'S LETTERS. 
 
 THE second part of this little book is made up of extracts 
 from letters written during the first years of missionary life, 
 when everything was fresh and new, and the time for letter- 
 writing more abundant than it will ever be again. These 
 letters were written for a circle of home friends, and were 
 never intended for publication. ‘The simple, unaffected 
 story of a missionary’s first impressions in a heathen land, 
 and the glimpse of every-day life in Burmah, which is given, 
 cannot fail to be interesting and instructive. 
 
 A few short extracts from a letter written by Mrs. Morrow 
 in January, 1877, to friends in this country, will give an ex- 
 cellent idea of the mission house and the town of Tavoy:— 
 
 ‘““We have the prettiest compound I have seen.  Origi- 
 nally, it contained forty acres; but a lot has been sold off, 
 so that there is not much more than twenty acres in it now. 
 The two places are surrounded by a bamboo hedge ; and its 
 light, feathery foliage has a pleasing effect, especially where 
 it lies against the sky. ... The house stands nearly a quarter 
 of a mile from the street.... From the bedroom, we look 
 out on a smooth meadow, the grass now dry, with here and 
 there a tree.... Beyond all this is the feathery forest, com- 
 posed largely of cocoanut-trees. Though we do not see a 
 roof or a chimney-top, we know that in this forest live fifteen 
 
14 The LTavoy Mission. 
 
 thousand Burmans, the inhabitants of the town of Tavoy.... 
 On the east side of the house there is a large banyan-tree, 
 with other trees which make a goodly shade, while the south 
 and west sides are open to the sun. Our gentle breezes 
 are from the west, so it does not so much matter. .-. . There 
 are few Burman Christians in Tavoy, and the Karens are in 
 the mountains around.... The mayor of the town, Moung 
 Shway Hlaing, is a Burman, and a nominal Christian. He 
 has been to see us twice, and sent his carriage for me when 
 we came in on the steamer. His wife died a short time 
 since, and left money to build a chapel, which is now being 
 
 erected.”’ 
 
 A WALK DOWN TOWN. 
 “January 29, 1877. 
 
 “On our way, we passed the old mission compound, * 
 where Mr. and Mrs. Wade, Mr. and Mrs. Mason, and Mr. 
 and Mrs. Bennett have lived, and where some of them died. 
 Now it is partly built over with native houses, and the air 
 seemed close and filthy. Besides, we could not see the 
 mountains at all. We came back doubly thankful for our 
 pleasant home; for we are very comfortable here, and yet 
 are not so far removed from the city that we cannot see the 
 people. 
 
 VISITORS FROM THE JUNGLE. 
 “ Webe3,- 177. 
 
 “Our friends from the jungle begin to come in. A man 
 and his wife came two days’ journey yesterday, and brought 
 us ten eggs and a bag of rice. They are both Christians, 
 and can read, so we gave them some tracts, and talked to 
 them a bit through Nau-Tee-Too. To-day, the head man 
 from one of the villages, two days distant, came in. He 
 said repeatedly that he was very glad to see the teachers 
 here. ‘He pray much for them to come.’ He went into 
 town and drew his pay for the past month, and, when going 
 home, he stopped and left two rupees.... The Karens are 
 dirty, but very affectionate ; and I think we shall love them.” 
 
 * An enclosure with its buildings. 
 
Incidents of Mission Life. 15 
 
 THE NATIVE HOUSES. 
 ; ‘“Hebruary 133.1077 
 
 “The greater part of the houses are built of bamboo. As 
 there is but one small steam saw-mill in the place, sawn 
 timber is very expensive, while bamboo does not need to 
 be sawed,— indeed, it cannot be. For the walls, the split 
 bamboo is woven or plaited, like the bottom of old-fashioned 
 kitchen-chairs. Bamboo is very tall, straight, and slender. 
 It is also very supple; so that it looks very graceful in grow- 
 ing, particularly as its foliage is fine, and hence it makes a 
 beautiful contrast with the coarse palms, of which we have 
 so many. It is also hollow, so that it is readily split into 
 pieces suitable for plaiting. For the doors, they have 
 bamboo woven like basket-work and set in a frame made of 
 small bamboo poles. ‘The houses all stand up from two to 
 seven or eight feet from the ground. They are supported on 
 _ posts set in the ground about six feet apart. The floor is 
 often made of bamboo poles woven together and resting on 
 the posts underneath. ‘The whole structure is tied together 
 with rattan, as nails are of no use whatever in bamboo. The 
 roofs are made of bamboo poles about six inches apart, tied 
 with rattan to other poles running at right angles, and the 
 whole covered with thatch. Thatch is made from a leaf 
 which women and children sew together with rattan. It is 
 kept for sale in pieces about ten feet long and one foot wide. 
 These pieces: overlap eachrother’ likeishineles, a7", 
 
 FUNERAL OF A PONGYEE, OR BUDDHIST PRIEST. 
 “ March 16, 1877. 
 
 “This pongyee died a year ago ; and, as is the custom, he 
 was embalmed in honey and kept twelve months. We drove 
 out to a little village a mile and a half from town, and there 
 we found a large crowd of people,— several thousands, I 
 should think,— dressed in their gay clothes, collected to- 
 gether in knots under the shade of trees or under temporary 
 bamboo sheds covered with palm-leaves. The crowd was 
 
16 Lhe Tavoy Mission. 
 
 clustered around three sides of a gay structure, built, like the 
 pongyee kyoungs (dwellings of priests), with a series of 
 roofs one above another, each higher one smaller than the 
 one below. Sometimes there are as many as seven of these 
 roofs. We soon discovered that the dead body of the pon- 
 gyee lay in this kyoung, which has a framework of bamboo 
 ornamented with paper of brilliant colors. In the front part 
 of the kyoung, about fifteen feet from the ground, was some- 
 thing which we judged to be the casket, though it was much 
 larger than any we see at home. Beneath this floated a red 
 flag. When we arrived, the crowd appeared orderly; but 
 they were eating and chatting merrily. Now, how do you 
 think these people were going to show respect to their dead 
 pongyee? By firing rockets at his body, and finally consum- 
 ing it with its fragile kyoung: Rockets were fired about 
 once in five minutes, and the kyoung took fire several times 
 while we were there; but, not having had sufficient sport, 
 they ran with water and put it out. Thus the ceremony was 
 prolonged, till we were obliged to come home without seeing 
 the burning. How strange it seemed that they should thus 
 treat the body of one whom they so much venerated during 
 life! But this is a ‘Burmese custom,’ which seems to be 
 a sufficient reason for anything absurd to this unthinking 
 people.”’ 
 THE OPENING OF THE SCHOOL. 
 A prili2g, 2897; 
 
 ‘School will commence May 1, and twenty-three boys and 
 girls are here now. ‘The native pastors also hold a confer- 
 ence here now; and, as several have already arrived, they 
 have all assembled in the chapel for their first meeting. 
 Some of the boys and girls walked two and three days to 
 get here. A company of eight came together last night after 
 nine o’clock, having walked two days. ‘Two of these were 
 girls. One girl came with only one suit of clothes, and that 
 very dirty, and about two dollars; but she said she did not 
 care, if she only learned. However, she has some new 
 
Incidents of Mission Life. 17 
 
 clothes now, but no books. To-day, she has been sewing 
 all day for some of the boys who have bought their clothes 
 since they came to town. ‘They are shockingly dirty.... 
 ‘To-day, they have been cleaning the chapel, and to-night 
 it looks very nicely. Both the girls and the boys will have 
 very comfortable dormitories, if they only take proper care 
 of them. Nau-Tee-Too is just as neat as any American 
 girl, but it is very hard for her to tell the new-comers that 
 they must put themselves in soak immediately. [I am so 
 glad to see them come, and only wish my tongue was loose. 
 I am beginning to understand conversation a little, but ser- 
 mons and prayers are quite beyond me yet. You remember 
 Plau Pau is our native teacher. He lives in a little basket- 
 house on the compound. We like him very much indeed, 
 and every one says of him that he wears well.” 
 “ Monday. 
 
 “Our children continue to come in. Ten came in one day 
 last week, having walked four days. ‘Two were little girls, 
 twelve and thirteen years of age ; and one a Shan boy with- 
 out father or mother, clothes, money, or books. He has a 
 bright face, however. His first request was for eight annas 
 (about twenty-five cents) to buy a fah, a sort of basket, 
 which can be shut like a box, and takes the place of a small 
 trunk. When Nau-Tee-Too asked him what he would do 
 with a basket, he said, when he got a chance, he was going 
 to earn some money and buy some clothes to put in it. 
 We bought him a suit of clothes to-day for a dollar and a 
 quarter. As we somewhat expected to work for the Shans 
 at one time, we feel the more interest in him. ‘Their wants 
 are so easily supplied that one is tempted to envy them. 
 They lie down on a mat at night without a pillow, in the 
 same clothes they have worn through the day. A dish of 
 rice and curry twice a day is all they want to eat. We have 
 had half a dozen low tables made for them. Before this, 
 they have sat on the floor, and taken their rice in their laps. 
 They must still sit on the floor, but put their plates on the 
 tables.” 
 
18 The Tavoy Mission. 
 
 “Saturday morning, May 5. 
 
 “School opened on the 3d, with thirty-three pupils. Some 
 of the boys are quite intelligent; read well, have studied 
 arithmetic through division, and know something of geog- 
 raphy. Better than all, they are Christian boys. ‘Their 
 names are very funny. One means Green Hand, another 
 big boy is called Little Lamb; one, Money; and still an- 
 other, Honey-comb-flower. Then we have an Abraham, 
 Terah, Simon, Peter, and Paul. All the school recite Bible- 
 lessons for an hour in the morning after devotions. Plau 
 Pau has the older ones, and Nau-Tee-Too the younger 
 ones, whom she brings over to our veranda. I have prom- 
 ised to help her with her lessons, as she says she cannot tell 
 ‘what means.’ The second hour, the younger children read, 
 and the older study arithmetic. In the afternoon, we have 
 Burmese, English, geography, writing, ete. At seven, they 
 meet again for prayers, and afterward sing. We cannot 
 afford them suitable lamps for study in the evening, so we 
 are obliged to fill their time in some other way. They 
 cook their own rice, go to bazaar, wash dishes, besides 
 pounding and cleaning their own rice. We mean to have 
 them all work one hour a day.” 
 
 AN EARLY CONVERT. 
 “June:4, 1377. 
 
 ‘““A few days ago, we had a call from an old Christian 
 woman from the jungle, who went to a school kept by 
 Mrs. Sarah Boardman, while she was a widow living in 
 Tavoy. She had seen Mr. Boardman, but was not baptized 
 till after his death. She has a Bible and a Testament, but 
 is not able to read now, as her sight has failed. We are 
 astonished, when we remember the great change that has 
 taken place in the condition of the Karens during that 
 woman’s life. She must be one of the first-fruits of labor 
 among this people. It was not far from her village that 
 Mr. Boardman saw the first party of Karens baptized, and 
 
Incidents of Mission Life. 19 
 
 then quickly ‘fell on sleep,’ his eyes having seen the Lord’s 
 salvation. Then, they had not a book or a written lan- 
 guage, and very few of them could read any language. 
 Now, thousands of them can read, and the Christians are 
 more than twenty thousand. ‘Then, no schools or churches ; 
 now, the jungle in many parts is dotted with both, and all 
 within the memory of this poor old woman. We do not 
 forget the ‘regions beyond,’ where there is still no school, 
 no church, no Bible, no God and Saviour. Several native 
 teachers have gone from this district to those who have 
 never heard the gospel, and we want to send more. Moo 
 Lah is here with us now, pluming his wings for a journey 
 and sojourn among the heathen....He is the smartest 
 Karen I have seen yet, and is very useful, I judge. When 
 here, he preaches in both Karen and Burmese, and seems 
 always ready to do whatever his hands find to do. We 
 hope he will be able to do much good. His plan is to have 
 a school in some village, and then preach in surrounding 
 villages, as he can.” 
 
 THE RAINS. 
 ealyng,1O7 ye 
 
 “Every day, it rains, rains, rains; but we have not had 
 severe storms of wind lately. The books on our table be- 
 come covered with mildew, and everything smells musty. 
 ... I wonder the days do not seem unbearably dreary, but 
 they do not. Indeed, I enjoy the rain very much, and all 
 the fields are very fresh and green. Between our compound 
 and the town there are large paddy-fields (fields for raising 
 rice), a great part of which have been planted, and are now 
 of a bright green, like a field of wheat just out of the ground.” 
 
 A DAY’S WORK. 
 *Tuly: 16, 1377: 
 
 “The days go by so fast and are so full of little duties 
 that my letters are in danger of losing the character of a 
 journal. I should like to take you through a day with us. 
 
20 The Tavoy Mission. 
 
 ... The bell at half-past five wakes us. Five minutes later, 
 we hear the voices of the girls on the veranda ready for 
 their sewing. A few minutes later, we hear Nau-Tee-Too 
 opening the doors and taking out the sewing, giving each 
 one a piece.... By the time I come out, the sewing-circle 
 is running briskly. The children are all up early. The 
 Burmese, too, are early risers.... One of the girls sweeps 
 for me, while I put things in order, run around the sewing- 
 circle a few times, and get a cup of tea for the sick ones, 
 of whom we always have a few. The girls have awkward 
 ways of holding their work, which I try to correct. Then 
 they are trying to use thimbles, which they do not much 
 enjoy. The larger ones work button-holes now, though 
 they are rough. Their jackets, when finished, look very 
 nicely ; and they are certainly strong, for we fell all the 
 seams.) I have: them» ’do' this. partly foy the practices: At 
 twenty minutes past seven, they all go home (z.2., to the dor- 
 mitories), and at half-past seven they eat breakfast. Then 
 I look over my stores, and send Abi to the bazaar. After 
 their breakfast, the children drop in for paper and pencils, 
 oil, soap, or medicine, or anything else they can think of.... 
 These things, with httle attentions to the sick, fill up all my 
 time till Bible class, at nine o’clock. At ten, we have prayers, 
 then breakfast; and, after sending food to the sick ones 
 again, I study Karen, read medicine, sew, or write letters, 
 as the case may be. At a quarter before two, the arith- 
 metic class meets, when I mean to be with them, and at 
 half-past three we have our English classes. At four, dinner. 
 After dinner, I intend to walk. Now, I have two patients 
 in town, whom I visit two or three times a week, and call 
 at the hospital to see my Karen friends about as often. 
 At half-past seven, we recite Karen. Sometimes, after les- 
 son, Nau-Tee-Too and I study Bible-lesson for the next 
 day, and sometimes we leave it till after the sewing-circle 
 in the morning. After prayers, we are always tired enough 
 to go to bed.” 
 
Incidents of Mission Life. ya 
 
 STORMS. 
 “ August 2, 1877. 
 
 “The nights have been fearful. We would wake to hear 
 a sound as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it would fill the 
 house. I expected our roof would go, but we escaped un- 
 harmed, save a little sprinkling now and then ; for, in these 
 open houses, the wind comes in laden with spray. Soon the 
 rain comes in torrents. Seemingly, the clouds have burst, 
 and whole sheets of water are pouring down. For several 
 days and nights, the rains have hardly ceased. ‘The paddy- 
 fields are converted into lakes; and, as it is new moon, the 
 tide sets in from the overflowing river, and the streets in town 
 have been submerged.” 
 
 HEATHEN SUPERSTITION. 
 peep 20, hour. 
 
 “A few fatal cases of cholera have occurred in town. 
 Last evening, as Nau-Tee-[oo and I were walking down 
 town, we saw a pongyee, or Burman priest, in his yellow 
 robe, sitting on a kind of lounge with a mat thrown over it, 
 and some offerings of fruit, leaves, flowers, etc., each side of 
 him ; while on the ground in front of him were forty or fifty 
 persons, all kneeling, and holding in their hands a flower or 
 some fancy paper,.all notched so as to appear ornamental. 
 The priest held a large fan before his face, for he must not 
 see any person when he mumbles over his prayers. ‘They 
 were beseeching Gaudama that they might be saved from 
 cholera. <A little farther down the street, we passed a house 
 in which was suspended a beautiful little boat, about six 
 feet in length, all decorated and apparently gayly painted. 
 Upon inquiry, we found it was made of paper, and that the 
 priest had told them to make it, and then to come to the 
 spot where we had seen the worshipping crowd, and there 
 pray that all the cholera might go into this boat. After 
 praying another day (to-day), they will launch the boat in the 
 river, when they are told that all the ‘sickness will go away 
 with it. Poor creatures, are they not to be pitied?”’ 
 
22 The Zavoy Mission. 
 
 VISITORS AND THEIR WAYS. 
 “Oct. 30/1877. 
 
 “You would be amused to see some of the jungle people, 
 when they come here. They come up on the veranda, hot 
 and dirty, and squat down on the floor. Then they get up 
 and come a little nearer the sitting-room door, and squat 
 down again and look about the house, and for the first time 
 in their lives see the inside of a respectable home. The 
 women will sometimes venture further, and look into the 
 other rooms ; but they seldom offer to go beyond the sitting- 
 room.. An old priest came here the other day, and he said: 
 ‘God once came to the earth; and he wanted to cross a 
 great river, so he asked a Burman to take him over, but the 
 Burman had no boats that would stem the river. Then he 
 asked a Karen, and the Karen had no boat. Then he asked 
 the English, and the Englishman took him in a fine steamer 
 and brought him across the river. On this account, he gives 
 all the English best things to eat, best houses to live in, best 
 sit down places, best sleep places.’ ”’ 
 
 CLOSE OF LENT. 
 
 ““Since my last letter, Burmese Lent has closed with im- 
 posing ceremonies. For two days, the town was given up to 
 revelry. Both evenings, the streets were beautifully illumi- 
 nated for several miles. ‘They made a slight bamboo fence, 
 with a pole split in two and placed on the top of the fence, 
 with the concave side up. In this bamboo pole, they placed 
 small lamps of earthen-ware, distant from each other only 
 about a foot and a half. The roads leading to the idol- 
 houses and pongyee-kyoungs were all illuminated, the lights 
 leading directly up to the idols. Then the idol-houses were 
 adorned with Chinese lanterns. The house containing the 
 large idol from Mandelay we can see distinctly from our 
 house. The sight from our house was very pretty. 
 
 “One year ago to-day, November 1, we were steaming up 
 the Clyde and landing at Glasgow. What a charming day it 
 
Lncdents of Mission Life. Ze 
 
 was, and how delightful it looks in the retrospect! I can 
 see those beautiful green hills with their cosey residences yet. 
 How squalid Burman houses look in contrast! Yet we trust 
 Burmah will yet rejoice in its Christian homes ; for nothing 
 but Christianity can create a civilization that makes and pre- 
 serves a home.” 
 
 VEST ee Om MUA a AT 
 
 A description of the journey to Mata has already been 
 given in a preceding page, taken from a letter of Mrs. 
 Wade, written forty-five years ago. In January, 1878, the 
 Karen association was held at that village, so familiar in 
 the history of the Tavoy Mission. Mr. and Mrs. Morrow 
 attended with the usual company of native Christians, and 
 a description of the visit is well worth repeating. 
 
 “ January 17, 1878. 
 
 “‘One week ago... we were located in the little chapel 
 at Mata, with one corner partitioned off with curtains for 
 a sleeping-room. All the meetings were held in a kind of 
 temporary building very near the chapel. I was interrupted 
 in my writing by a woman bringing to me a sick child, 
 almost blue with death. It died the same day at four 
 o’clock, and was buried at moonlight. The mother was a 
 sister of one of our girls, and belongs to a good Chris- 
 tian family. The little one was her only son, though she 
 has three girls. We were interested in the funeral and 
 burial of this little one so far away in the jungle. We 
 gathered a few friends at about seven o’clock, and seated 
 ourselves upon the floor around the room, when the Karen 
 teacher read a chapter from the Bible, a prayer was offered, 
 a hymn sung, and then the father wrapped the child in a 
 nice blanket and covered it with a silk turban, then wrapped 
 a large mat about it, tying it with a splint of bamboo. He 
 then carried it to the grave in his arms, accompanied by 
 some teachers and friends, though no women went. Mr. 
 Morrow said they went to the woods, dug a little grave 
 
24 The Tavoy Mission. 
 
 about two and a half feet deep, put in the body and cov- 
 eredait. 
 
 That going to Mata was a novel experience, but very 
 pleasant for many reasons. One could well afford to take 
 such a trip for the ride and the trees and ferns and brooks, 
 to say nothing of seeing the people and their homes, and 
 the advantage of knowing more about the work and the 
 wants of the different villages. We left home January 15, 
 at three o’clock P.M., and walked three miles to the resting- 
 place of the elephants. There we found five elephants 
 awaiting us. Our party consisted of Mr. Morrow and 
 myself, Nau-Tee-Too, Moo Lah and his wife, and a Bur- 
 mese Christian girl and four school-boys (who had remained 
 behind, when the rest of the school left here on Monday), 
 and, besides, about thirty Karens, men, women, and _ chil- 
 dren from different villages. The elephants were provided 
 with howdahs, about four feet long and a foot and a half 
 wide, and, at the sides, two feet deep. The howdah is 
 arranged with bags and baggage under the seat and at the 
 sides. Then Mr. Morrow mounts the first elephant. A 
 few bags are put in the second, some bedding tied on 
 behind, the creature made to bow down, when Nau-Tee-Too 
 and I mount, and the old fellow gets up, and we find 
 ourselves about twelve feet above ground. Moo Lah’s wife 
 and the Burman girl mount a third, some boxes containing 
 provisions, cooking utensils, canvas-beds, folding-chairs, etc., 
 are packed. on the fourth and fifth, when the procession 
 moves away. With every step, we pitch forward and 
 then make a sudden jerk backward. Backward and for- 
 ward, backward and forward, on we go, the road gradually 
 narrowing to a foot-path, now through the woods, and again 
 across a paddy-field for an hour or two; but very soon all 
 paddy-fields disappear, and we see only woods and trees 
 of a low growth, which have sprung up on fields once culti- 
 vated. We draw nearer and nearer the hills, which we have 
 so often seen at the east of Tavoy. It was six o’clock when 
 
_ Lheidents of Mission Life. 25 
 
 we started on the elephants, so we are soon having a ride 
 by moonlight up the mountain. Just on the summit, we pass 
 a pagoda, which we afterwards learn stands very near the 
 place where Mr. Boardman breathed his last. You remem- 
 ber he made a trip to the jungle to see the first company 
 of Karens baptized, and died on his way home. We shall 
 sleep to-night near the stream where the baptism - took 
 place, and not far from the very spot. This pagoda is the 
 last one we see. The Karens do not build pagodas, though 
 they sometimes worship them. We do not stop till twenty 
 minutes past ten P.M., having been more than four hours 
 in the howdah. We were very tired indeed, but hardly 
 felt like mentioning it in the face of the great company of 
 foot-passengers, some of whom had carried children of a 
 year old all that time and distance. Abi, the Kolah cook, 
 gets us a cup of tea and some bread and butter ; and we put 
 up our beds in a frame of a little house without walls or 
 covering for the roof. The night is quite cold, so we are 
 glad to sleep under a comforter and a pair of woollen 
 blankets. : 
 
 In the morning at five o’clock, we are stirring again, 
 but do not leave till seven. Now, we:come to the wildest 
 part of the journey. After crossing and recrossing a small 
 river, we finally follow its bed, which brings us into a 
 narrow defile where the banks of the river are very steep 
 hills, and we can only travel in the very bed of the river, 
 which is as full of rocks and boulders as any stream I ever 
 saw. Very carefully, the elephants pick their way, now on 
 this bank for a little way, and now on that, and again in 
 the river itself, sometimes climbing up rocks as steep as 
 any flight of stairs.... For a while, we felt very uneasy, 
 but before we reached home we were quite at ease mentally, 
 though jaded almost to death physically. At ten o’clock, 
 we stopped again for an hour, and took a little refreshment. 
 Then we changed our course, and followed a mountain brook, 
 keeping all the time in the bed of the stream. Thus, we 
 
26 The Tavoy Mission. 
 
 reached the top of one of the spurs of the hills, when we 
 followed another stream down the more precipitous eastern 
 slope. Though it was the middle of the day in this tropical 
 country, yet the air was deliciously cool in that deep moun- 
 tain gorge. ‘There was very little water in the brook ; but, 
 oh, such a collection of ferns as grew along its banks!... 
 We passed one tree-fern with a main trunk twenty or thirty 
 feet in height. ... Fairly down the hill, we had three hours’ 
 ride through a bamboo grove, when, at a little past four, we 
 found ourselves dismounting at the little chapel in Mata. 
 For centuries, this people have passed over that rough, rough 
 road. Apparently, not the least attempt is made to keep it 
 in order. I think for fifty times, perhaps for twice that 
 number, we went round some tree that had fallen across 
 the way. If the tree lay flat on the ground, the elephant 
 must step over it; but if, as often happened, it lay one or 
 two feet above the ground, the elephant must often climb a 
 steep, rocky bank, up above the roots of the tree, and down 
 again. Sometimes, he must step over a tree and turn a sharp 
 corner, when going down a steep precipice. If he stepped at 
 all roughly, the driver would chide him sharply. We found 
 the weather much colder than at Tavoy,— indeed, it did not 
 seem hot any of the time. The people brought us rice, 
 chickens, eggs, and plantains in abundance. Im fact, we 
 hardly knew what to do with all: our stores; but Nau-Tee- 
 Too told us we must take all, for the donors would be very 
 much ashamed to carry their gifts home again. Meetings 
 were held three times every day during the four days we 
 were there,—a prayer-meeting every morning at dawn, and 
 preaching services and business meetings later. f 
 
 .“ The church at Mata numbers one hundred and 
 twenty-nine members; and, in some respects, it has been 
 favored above all other churches of this district. Dr. 
 Wade lived there two rainy seasons, and taught school 
 while preparing some of his numerous works for the press ; 
 but they drink a great deal now. Several church meetings 
 
Lncidents of Mission Life. lg 
 
 were held; and some of the older teachers stayed a few 
 days to do something in the way of discipline. They 
 have a pastor with them, but do not work very harmoni- 
 ously. We hope, however, they are going to do better 
 hereafter. 
 
 “T feel as though there was something abnormal about 
 a Christian who cannot read. How shall they spend their 
 Sabbaths? How very small are their opportunities of 
 knowing the revealed will of God! We surely should not 
 have had the Bible, if it had not been intended that religion 
 and education should go hand in hand. 
 
 ‘All the meetings were well attended. Probably, some 
 two hundred and fifty or three hundred strangers were 
 present. Some of these were heathen, but most of them 
 were Christians. We started home Monday morning, 
 stopped at the same places as when we went out, and 
 reached home at ten o’clock, Tuesday. We were at least 
 three hours longer on the road than in going out. We 
 slept from eight to twelve o’clock, Monday night, and 
 started on by moonlight, hoping to reach home before the 
 sun was very high. Yet it was ten o’clock when we came 
 along the paddy-fields, and we were a little afraid of* sun- 
 stroke ; but all ended well. About seventy came back the 
 same day and stopped here. How busy we were! A little 
 medicine, soap, books, almanacs, communion wine, or ad- 
 vice of some kind, was wanted by each before he went back 
 to the jungle. All the teachers were supplied with school- 
 books. 
 
 “The Karen houses in Mata are not unlike the houses in 
 town, though the basket-work is coarser, the bamboo of 
 which it is woven being from three to eight inches wide. 
 But the village is very strange. There are no streets at all. 
 No cart could pass through the town. There are only paths 
 three or four feet wide, leading in all directions through the 
 forest. A few steps from the houses there is a tangled 
 juneles Of course, thismis very cool’;) but I think it isa 
 cause of the great frequency of ague.” 
 
28 The Tavoy Mission, 
 
 JUNGLE SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS. 
 “March 13, 1878. 
 
 ‘““We hear very good reports from the pupil teachers in 
 the jungle. The largest school of which we have heard has 
 twenty pupils. Most of them have seven, eight, nine, twelve, 
 etc. From two of the boys who. went to heathen villages, 
 we hear that they try to preach, and that some have become 
 Christians. One says he has great difficulty in keeping the | 
 people from talking during service. Still another writes that 
 his pupils are so smart that he shall not be able to teach 
 them much longer. 
 
 KAREN TRADITIONS, 
 “ December 2.1870: 
 
 “T learned a little.of heathen Karen traditions and cus- 
 toms the other day that interested me, and perhaps it will 
 you. From the likeness of some of their customs to those of 
 the Jews, some have thought that these people were the lost 
 tribes of Israel. One of their heathen customs is to kill a 
 chicken at certain seasons and put the blood on the door- 
 posts. ‘They believe they are at some time to have a king 
 who is to rule the whole world. They also know the name 
 of God, but do not think they should speak his name, but 
 call him ‘ grandfather’ ordinarily. This unspeakable name 
 is not very unlike the unspeakable Yah of the Jews, and is 
 the name now commonly used among Christians.” 
 
 ANOTHER AGED CHRISTIAN. 
 “December 28, 1878. 
 ‘“We have found here a Chinaman who was converted at 
 Mr. Boardman’s school, and baptized about forty-eight years 
 ago. He was with Mr. Boardman when he died, and helped 
 to bring the body in. He used to take care of the little 
 Georgie, now Dr. Boardman, of Philadelphia.” 
 
Incidents of Mission Life. 29 
 
 THE TOWN SCHOOL. 
 : “June 4, 1879. 
 “Till the first of this month, we had only one teacher,— 
 Plau Pau,— beside a Burmese teacher. We opened school 
 with about thirty pupils, but almost daily arrivals have in- 
 creased our number to ninety. A young man from Mr. Car- 
 penter’s school has now joined us, so the school does not 
 suffer, though we do more work than we have ever done 
 
 before. ... Our school is more advanced than ever before ; 
 and our first class is larger. Mr. Norris, formerly missionary 
 to Tavoy, has been with us. ... He is astonished at the cost 
 
 of living; and the Deputy Commissioner says it is three times 
 as great as it was ten years ago.” 
 
 REMOVAL OF PLAU PAU. 
 | “July 7, 1879. 
 
 ““Mr. Carpenter is sending us a new man to take charge of 
 our school in place of Plau Pau. Do you remember an or- 
 dained teacher, Tau Moo, who died in Mata a short time 
 since? They want Plau Pau to come there very much ; and 
 they really need a good man, for the church is in a run- 
 down state in the midst of a large heathen population. Plau 
 Pau has always been in such perfect sympathy with us in all 
 we do, or try to do, that we shall part with him with some 
 fear lest the new man may not be so hearty.... He is a 
 remarkably genial man, and a real father to the school, from 
 whom he receives the truest respect and most childlike con- 
 fidence. A younger man will in some respects be better 
 suited to our wants.” 
 
 Sully 2851370. 
 
 ... “Plau Pau left us on Tuesday for Mata. It was really 
 a great trial to have him go; and, if we had money and 
 teachers in abundance, we should have kept him as pastor. 
 We have been afraid the school would really feel lonely 
 without him; but, as Mr. Morrow says, they must learn to 
 part with friends. ‘The evening after he left, one of the boys 
 
30 Lhe Tavoy Mission. 
 
 broke his collar bone while at play. I bandaged him up; 
 and he has kept pretty quiet, so we have not had as much 
 trouble with him as we did with the boy who was afflicted in 
 the same way two years ago. We have had more sickness 
 during the last week than in all the year before,— nothing 
 
 serious, however.” 
 “September 11, 1879. 
 
 ...“* You can hardly realize what a home feeling we are 
 getting among this people, and we are ourselves astonished 
 at the real love we have for these young people. It would 
 be hard indeed to leave them.... The pupils are all well 
 now, though the little boy, of whom I wrote in my last, died 
 the next morning,—after the letter was sent,—and was 
 buried in the evening. His poor father and mother came 
 while the school were at the grave. This was an only son. 
 the family having lost one while he was studying for the 
 ministry at Rangoon ; and the mother hoped this one would 
 be;avpreacher.”. 
 
 HEAVY RAIN. 
 “ November 26, 1879. 
 
 “During the Convention, we had very heavy rain; and we 
 have just had letters from a Karen village near Mergul, 
 saying that on November 11 there was an earthquake there, 
 which caused the rocks and mountains to fall. The rain 
 also was very severe, so that five houses were swept away 
 and five persons were lost, one of whom was a sister of one 
 of our boys, and daughter of the late teacher. Their chapel 
 and teacuer’s house were swept away, and a great deal of 
 paddy destroyed.” ... 
 
 MORE PASTORS NEEDED. 
 “ December 6, 1879. 
 
 ...‘*We are plodding on as usual in our school work. 
 We expect to close in about three weeks now, and allow the 
 children to go home before association. Last week, another 
 of our jungle teachers passed away. We do not know how 
 to spare him, for we have no one to fill his place; and he 
 
Incidents of Mission Life. aI 
 
 leaves a flock of fifty pastorless. The Karens do not like 
 boys for pastors. In the old times, they were governed 
 by elders; and now, though under the English government, 
 the old men of the village have a great deal of authority. 
 The heathen sometimes ask us to send them a permanent 
 teacher, but tell us, at the same time, they do not want a 
 boy. Our boys can do something now in the way of teach- 
 ing and preaching among the heathen, but it will be several 
 years yet before they can fill these vacancies. In the mean 
 time, we can only pray to the Lord of the harvest. As this 
 is the poorest of all the Karen districts, preachers do not 
 care to leave their own fields of work, where they have 
 enough to do, and more of this world’s goods than they can 
 get here. They are not very unlike many of the pastors at 
 home in this respect. Still, we hope some one may be found 
 to help us. The little church which has been thus afflicted 
 is now putting up a new chapel. We fear they may be dis- 
 couraged, but trust not.” 
 
 g STATE OF THE WORK. 
 
 A short extract from one of Mr. Morrow’s letters, dated 
 December 16, 1878, gives a missionary’s estimate of the 
 work, after nearly two years’ experience. In the reference to 
 the Burmese, it should be remembered that he is speaking of 
 Tavoy district and the past few years : — 
 
 “Another mistake made at home is to think the work 
 here is nearly completed, or at least far advanced. Possibly, 
 this idea may cause the indifference which prevails among 
 many of the home Christians. On the contrary, it is only 
 begun. Of course, much has been done for the Karens, and 
 yet only a fraction of what is necessary ; but for the Burmese 
 there has been little or nothing. In our district there is one 
 Christian to every forty thousand, Vhis may give you an 
 idea of the work. I hope you will not think from what I 
 say that we have not many noble Christians here. We have, 
 indeed. Their liberality is beyond praise. During the past 
 
22 Lhe Tavoy Mission. 
 
 . ‘a ° 
 year, some of our native churches have averaged thirteen 
 rupees a member for benevolent work outside their own 
 villages. ” . 
 
 These letters bring the history of the mission up to the year 
 1880. After reporting recent jungle tours, Mr. Morrow wrote 
 under date of June 30: ‘Our school began the 5th of May, 
 and has gone steadily on. We never had a more promising 
 school than at present. We have a larger number from 
 distant heathen villages than ever before, most of them 
 brought here by our pupils who spent the vacation in these 
 localities. This we regard as gaining ground; for these 
 young people will return, we trust, to instruct their friends 
 in the new way. Several of our pupils are now waiting bap- 
 tism. We have at present eighty-five in attendance.... We 
 have sent six of our best young men to Rangoon to the The- 
 ological Seminary. We long for the time when they shall 
 return to labor for Christ in these jungles. If we only had 
 a sufficient number of qualified native laborers, we feel that 
 this district would soon be won to Christ.” 2 
 
 For more than fifty years, the Tavoy Mission has been one 
 of the beacon-lights for the truth in the dark land of Burmah. 
 At times, the fire has burned low, but it has never gone 
 entirely out. With the coming of the new missionaries, it 
 was kindled anew. May it continue to burn brighter and 
 brighter in the years to come}