1 
 
CENTRAL AFRICA AS A MISSION FIELD. 
 
 EFFORTS AND AIMS OF THE AMERICAN BOARD. 
 
 The recent great increase of interest in Africa, and in efforts for its evan¬ 
 gelization, occasioned by the discoveries of Livingstone, Stanley, and other 
 travelers, and increased among Christians hy the missionary efforts already 
 commenced hy several British societies in the interior of the continent, will 
 render the publication of the subjoined papers, and of the outline map, 
 specially acceptable. 
 
 AN APPEAL. 
 
 On the 29th of January last, Major Malan, formerly an officer in the 
 English army, who has been acting, for some years past, with much success, 
 as an evangelist in Southern Africa, came before the Prudential Committee 
 of the American Board, and read the following carefully prepared statements, 
 urging the committee to take measures for establishing, at an early day, a 
 mission of the Board in the newly discovered regions of Central Africa. 
 Various points presented in the paper were illustrated and enforced by ad¬ 
 ditional extempore remarks as he read : — 
 
 Dear Sirs and Brethren: It is due to the respect which I have for 
 you, and for all the Christians in the United States who are interested in the 
 great work of foreign missions, that I should state the reasons which have 
 led me to journey from England to Boston expressly to plead the cause of 
 mission work in Central Africa, in connection with your mission among the 
 Zulu Kaffirs of Natal. 
 
 It was my privilege, while laboring in the mission field of Southern Africa, 
 to become acquainted with the missionaries of the American Board of For¬ 
 eign Missions and with their work there. In 1875 I visited all the mission¬ 
 aries who were then present at their stations. From what I saw and heard, 
 and from the opportunities afforded me of meeting with the members of their 
 native churches, the impression was fixed upon my mind, that in the Ameri¬ 
 can mission in Natal, God had prepared a powerful instrument for the great 
 work of preaching his word in the vast interior of Central Africa, which 
 was at that time opening to missionary enterprise. 
 
 This conviction was deepened as I studied the providential circumstances 
 under which the churches of America had been led to found that mission. 
 The great difficulties against which your missionary pioneers had to contend; 
 the remarkable way in which the mission was afterwards maintained ; these 
 things, and the geographical position of your field in view of a mission to the 
 interior of Africa, so strengthened the conclusion in my mind that the Lord 
 
I 
 
 2 Central Africa. 
 
 had thus prepared for his people in America the best base of operations for 
 his work in Central Africa, that after much consideration and prayer I wrote 
 to the missionaries in Natal in 1875-1876, and afterwards addressed you on 
 the same subject. 
 
 Encouraged by the letters from your missionaries, I felt it to be my duty 
 to God as well as to them, to come over and see you, and I thank you for 
 your kindness in allowing me 'to address you. 
 
 It cannot be disputed that the field occupied by your mission in Natal is 
 the best base of operations in Southern Africa for a mission to the interior. 
 The stations of the American Board have been planted on either side of 
 Durban, the port of Natal, which is the nearest port to the mouths of the 
 Zambesi or to Zanzibar. The missionary expeditions of the Free Church of 
 Scotland, and of the London Society, had to embark at Port Elizabeth, which 
 is a voyage of some days from Natal. In addition, the missionaries of the 
 London Society had to travel from the interior about one thousand miles, 
 and Scotch missionaries one hundred and fifty miles, before embarking. 
 Your stations of Inanda and Amanzimtote are not more than a day’s wagon 
 journey from the port of Durban. You could thus easjly embark your mis¬ 
 sion and the necessary reinforcements from the nearest port to the Zambesi 
 or Zanzibar. 
 
 2. The position of the stations of your mission, on the seaboard of Natal, 
 renders any effort for development inland unadvisable. All along the in¬ 
 terior, for many hundred miles, there are English, Scotch, French, German, 
 Dutch, and other missions scattered more or less closely. It would require 
 a wagon journey of six months to reach a spot where a centre of missionary 
 operations could be established without interfering with the probable devel¬ 
 opments of other missions; whereas, by sea, the communication with the 
 interior, by the Zambesi, is becoming more and more easy. Letters have 
 lately been sent from Livingstonia, on Lake Nyassa, to Lovedale —the Free 
 Church of Scotland College, near Port Elizabeth — in six tveeks. Dr. Mur¬ 
 ray Mitchell, Secretary of the Free Church of Scotland’s Mission Board, 
 writing to me, on the 18th January, states: “ We are to put a steamer on the 
 Zambesi at the point where goods arrive from Quilimane, say Masaro, and 
 that steamer will run up to the Murchison Falls on the Shire. A road has 
 just been made*from the lower to the upper Shire, which runs through Blan- 
 tyre, the station of the Established Church of Scotland. We expect that, 
 by and by, we shall reach Lake Nyassa from the coast in ten days. This 
 may surprise you, but the Portuguese promise to put a steamer on the Quili¬ 
 mane River, and to make a canal from the head of that river to the Zam¬ 
 besi. The canal may not be speedily constructed, but a steamer on the Qui¬ 
 limane river would be of great value.” Such are the prospects of the inland 
 journey by Lake Nyassa, and although it is at present somewhat arduous, and 
 everything has to be carried by bearers from the lower to the upper river 
 routes, it is preferable both because of the saving of time, increased facility 
 of communication, and more easy access to the real interior of Africa, to 
 long wagon journeys of many months. 
 
 The other routes by which a mission from Southern Africa would travel 
 into Central Africa would be by a road now being constructed from the coast, 
 
B 
 
 i 
 
 Central Africa. 
 
 near Ivilwa, to the head of Lake Nyassa, or by the route being opened up by 
 the London Society s Mission to Lake Tanganyika. This is a journey of 
 seven hundred miles. Their missionaries, Price and Thompson, with a band 
 of helpers, European and native, are now en route thither, and will doubtless 
 fully report whether that way to Tanganyika is easier than it might be up the 
 Zambesi to Livingstonia and across from the head of Lake Nyassa, which, to 
 Lake Tanganyika is said to be a distance of about two hundred miles. 
 
 8. What do your missionaries in South Africa say in regard to such an en¬ 
 terprise ? A letter “ in behalf of the Mission,” signed by Messrs. Ireland 
 and Tyler, dated June 9th last year, is thus expressed: “Dear Brother: 
 Your letter to our mission was read at our late meeting, held May 80th to 
 June 4th, and duly considered. It is our sincere hope and prayer that you 
 may be instrumental in awakening a deep and fruitful interest in African 
 
4 
 
 Central Africa. 
 
 missions. Individually, and as a mission, we wish you God speed in carrying 
 out the plan so dear to your heart and ours, in stirring up Christians in our 
 fatherland to send missionaries into the interior of this continent. We think, 
 with you, that Natal is a suitable base for a mission to the tribes beyond the 
 Zambesi, in the direction of Lakes Nyassa and Tanganyika. Probably, 
 starting from this point, fewer difficulties would have to be encountered, and 
 the risks to life and health would not be so great as from other points on the 
 African coast. We all feel an increasing interest in this matter of an interior 
 mission. But since you were with us we have been greatly crippled in our 
 working force. Mr. Stone has gone to his rest, and the last intelligence of 
 Mr. Wilder was that he was not expected to recover. The work on our 
 hands has grown rapidly the past year, and the age and infirmities of some 
 now in the field admonish us that our labors will soon be over. We are call¬ 
 ing on our Board for help, and expect a favorable reply provided the funds 
 in the treasury allow them to send out more men.” 
 
 In a private letter, one of the missionaries with whom I had fully consid¬ 
 ered the possibility of such a mission, thus writes : “ My views in regard to 
 the importance and feasibility of the enterprise have not changed since we 
 had that season of prayer and talk about Africa’s evangelization. Our Amer¬ 
 ican churches are, I believe, disposed to listen to calls from Africa, and to 
 act, especially since our Scotch friends have shown them at Livingstonia that 
 missions can be established in the interior of Africa. That you may be able 
 by divine help to stir up our brethren at home to go to work in earnest for 
 this continent is my prayer. Now is the time for the American churches to 
 wake up and unite the mission work in the interior with their Natal mission.” 
 
 Another writes : “We cordially recommend you and your wish to put the 
 cause of the interior of Africa before the Board. It will be very opportune 
 if your visit should rouse the churches to take part in the work in Central 
 Africa, and lead them to help us, not with cheers, and hats aloft, and prom¬ 
 ises, but with prayers and hard cash. We want the sinews of missions. To 
 be victorious we must be enterprising, and enterprising warfare upon Satan’s 
 kingdom needs money.” 
 
 Another writes : “ Your letters from the brethren will have one sentiment 
 in common, namely, that of regret that our American churches should not 
 see their way and find the means to enter Africa and establish a mission 
 among the interior tribes. The field is a large one, and Great Britain, 
 France, and America together could do but a little of the vast work now 
 opening to the Church of Christ.” Another thus expresses his feelings : 
 “ Our sympathy and prayers are with you as you go to America. If God 
 puts it into the hearts of our supporters in America to raise the extra funds 
 needful for an interior mission, and they say to our mission here in Natal, 
 Go ahead, and establish a new mission in the interior,’ I have no doubt we 
 shall find a way to carry out the order with reasonable despatch.” 
 
 Such are the thoughts of the missionaries laboring in Southern Africa. 
 
 4. The expense of such an expedition would depend entirely upon the way 
 in which it was fitted out, and the number of persons engaged. The English 
 and Scotch missions consist of a select number of Christian artisans as well 
 as ordained and medical missionaries. If possible, an experienced Christian 
 
5 
 
 Central Africa. 
 
 naval officer should conduct the enterprise, as has been done with marked suc¬ 
 cess by the English Church and the Free Church missions. Your mission in 
 Natal would need to be reinforced, to fill up vacancies, and to acclimatize and 
 prepare laborers for future service in the interior. The total opening ex¬ 
 penses of the London mission, including sypply of stores, etc., for two years, 
 was $22,000. It would be necessary to take a small steamer for Lake Ny- 
 assa or Lake Tanganyika, as the Scotch mission has done. A sum of not 
 less than $25,000 would therefore probably be required to fit out such a mis¬ 
 sion. 
 
 5. How is such a sum to be obtained ? God, who has all hearts at his dis¬ 
 posal, can put it into the heart of one or more of the wealthy members of 
 his church in America to give it. The $50,000 required to start the Liv- 
 ingstonia mission was given by several Scotch Christian merchants and other 
 friends of Africa. A similar sum, in two separate gifts of $25,000 each, was 
 given to the English Church, and to the London Missionary Society, by one 
 wealthy Christian, who signed himself “An unprofitable servant.” May 
 there not be some such servants in America who would help in this most 
 blessed enterprise for the enlightenment and regeneration of Africa? 
 
 6. It ought very specially to be considered, that a native church in South¬ 
 ern Africa is positively necessary as a base of operations for a mission to the 
 interior. The preaching of the gospel in Central Africa must be mainly 
 carried on by African evangelists ; men born and trained in Africa. For 
 this work the native preachers of the churches of Southern Africa are well 
 qualified. These churches, numbering now upwards of forty thousand mem¬ 
 bers, have among them elders, evangelists, and teachers, of tested faithful¬ 
 ness, zeal, and ability. Some of these churches have already sent out native 
 missionaries, whose faith and devotion have been honored of God. Several 
 small churches in Southern Africa have been founded by African evangelists. 
 The character and intelligence of these races, their courage and endurance, 
 fit them very specially, when strengthened by simple faith in the Lord and by 
 his spirit, to take part in the arduous enterprise of preaching the gospel in 
 Central Africa. The calls which have been made by the English, Scotch, 
 and French missions, for native helpers for their interior missions, have been 
 well responded to, and there can be no doubt that the Zulu Christians would 
 be equally ready to accompany American preachers wherever they might lead 
 them. These African evangelists, understanding thoroughly the habits and 
 modes of thought of their own people, accustomed to build their own houses, 
 and plough their own fields, can travel and exist with as much ease in one 
 part of Africa as another. They are independent of the necessaries and 
 luxuries of European civilization, and could adapt themselves to any exigency 
 in Central Africa. Four white missionaries, at two or more stations, could 
 easily superintend thirty or forty such native preachers, scattered over a very 
 large tract of country. It is on this principle, when the country is opened, 
 that missions in Central Africa should be conducted. The white missionaries 
 going thither should, if possible, be acclimatized and acquainted with African 
 life and character. For all these purposes there could be no better base of 
 operations than your mission in Natal. 
 
 A residence of some years in Asia and Africa has enabled me to under- 
 
6 
 
 Central Africa. 
 
 stand the vast obstacles which the heathenism of those lands present to the 
 preachers of the gospel. The blessed results which have followed the labors 
 of the missionaries in those lands have assured me that the Lord Jesus 
 Christ has all power on earth, according to his word, and that the Holy Spirit 
 is with the faithful witnesses to the living and loving Saviour. The Church 
 of Christ has only to go forward in the name of the Lord, with prayer, and it 
 must conquer and bless. 
 
 The above considerations have emboldened me thus to address you. In 
 so doing I have refrained from making any suggestion as to the precise field 
 your mission should occupy. This you would determine when you are ena¬ 
 bled to undertake the enterprise. Each month supplies us with fuller in¬ 
 formation concerning the routes to the great lakes of Africa and the country 
 beyond, and therefore, after communication with the British Societies, who 
 would welcome your cooperation and gladly assist you in every way, you 
 would be able, without difficulty, to decide as to the best spot, and the best 
 route. 
 
 The reports sent by the missionaries who have gone into the interior, as to 
 their reception by the chiefs and people, have been very encouraging. The 
 character of the English races is known and respected. The effect of these 
 Christian expeditions upon the slave trade has already been felt. One party, 
 of over twenty, left to perish on an island, was rescued by the Free Church 
 mission. They now form part of the Colony of Livingstonia and are re¬ 
 ceiving Christian instruction. It is hoped that, before long, legitimate trade 
 with Central Africa will entirely replace that abominable traffic. 
 
 If permitted to press one point upon the sympathies of American Chris¬ 
 tians in regard to this great enterprise, apart from duty to the Lord, who gave 
 himself for us, and mercy to the millions in Central Africa who have never 
 heard of the priceless gift of eternal life, it is the support, the encourage¬ 
 ment, and the help they would afford to their British brethren who are en¬ 
 deavoring to spread the light of the gospel in the interior of that dark land. 
 In the letter above quoted, Dr. Murray Mitchell thus writes: “It would 
 very greatly cheer us if America would help us British Christians to evangel¬ 
 ize those regions in interior Africa which have been so wonderfully opened 
 up of late, and in so remarkable a degree by Stanley, an American.” From 
 personal conversation with the Rev. Dr. Mullens, Secretary of the London 
 Missionary Society, I can state that that society would also welcome an 
 American mission, and rejoice in such brotherly cooperation in the preaching 
 of the gospel to Central Africa. 
 
 May God, the Father, the Saviour, the Spirit of power, of love, and of a 
 sound mind, guide his servants in America as to this most important enter¬ 
 prise. Permit me, in this behalf, to request much earnest prayer. Let us 
 believe that he who has commanded us to pray that laborers may be sent 
 forth into the harvest, will, if it be his will, provide the means for carrying 
 out and supporting a mission from the American churches in Central Africa. 
 God has said, concerning his Christ, “ I will make him higher than 
 the kings of the earth;” and he will yet fulfill his word among the tribes 
 in the interior of Africa, as he has among those in the south of that vast 
 continent. 
 
Central Africa. 7 
 
 This paper, after an interchange of views, was referred to a sub-committee, 
 who, at the next regular meeting of the Prudential Committee, February 
 5th, presented a report containing a review of what has been done by the 
 Board in Africa. This report is printed here, with a few slight modifications, 
 for the information of friends of the Board, in regard to its 
 
 PAST EFFORTS AND AIMS IN AFRICA. 
 
 The sub-committee on the Zulu mission, to whom was referred the state¬ 
 ment of Major Malan at the last meeting, present their report. 
 
 In common with all present at the session of the 29th ult., we were much 
 gratified while listening to the communication of one who has become per¬ 
 sonally acquainted with existing missionary operations in Southern Africa, as 
 well as with more recent movements for carrying the gospel into the interior 
 of that continent. We had previously esteemed it a noteworthy fact, that an 
 officer in the British army should resign his position with a view to devoting 
 himself to the interests of evangelism ; but it impresses us as yet more deserv¬ 
 ing of notice and of thanksgiving, that a friend of missions should feel impelled 
 to cross the ocean, not at the instance of any society, convention, or commit¬ 
 tee, but in obedience to what he deems a direct providential call to himself 
 individually, that he may present the claims of unevangelized tribes in Cen¬ 
 tral Africa. While the throng of mere tourists, of commercial agents, of 
 men devoted to the different departments of science, literature, and art, is 
 annually upon the increase, it is worthy of more than a passing mention that 
 this Christian brother so feels the pressure of spiritual want among a bar¬ 
 barous colored race that, at his own charges, and with no private end in view, 
 on the ground of personal responsibility to the God of missions, he under¬ 
 takes a distant visit and presentation of this kind. We hail such an event, 
 in the hope that it may presage an approaching period, when purely religious 
 objects shall more generally inspire Christian travelers, when the grandest 
 cause conceivable — the evangelizing of the nations — shall send many a 
 man north, south, east, and west, from one continent and one island to an¬ 
 other, though not technically a missionary nor in the official service of any 
 Board. Men in high military and civil positions may find something yet 
 higher — the privilege of visiting and cheering soldiers at the outposts of our 
 sacramental host. “Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be in¬ 
 creased.” 
 
 It is due to the Prudential Committee, and to the American Board whose 
 agents we are, that a glapce be now taken at the past of our aims and efforts 
 in behalf of Africa — both its marginal and its interior regions. More than 
 fifty years ago, the Board, at the annual meeting in Northampton (1825), 
 indicated its hope and purpose regarding that continent by the following 
 vote : — 
 
 “ Resolved , That the Prudential Committee be authorized, in case they think 
 proper, to admit the descendants of Africa into the foreign Mission School, 
 with a view to their preparation for missionary labors on the coast of Africa. 
 That school, it will be recollected, was then in successful operation at Corn¬ 
 wall, Connecticut. 
 
 Four years later (1829) one of our missionaries, the Rev. Isaac Bird, vis- 
 
r 
 
 ! 
 
 8 Central Africa. 
 
 itecl two or three of the cities on the northern coast of Africa — Tunis and 
 Tripoli — with reference to possible occupation as posts of labor. From that 
 early period now referred to, the Prudential Committee were attentively ob¬ 
 serving the providence of God with reference to the entire maritime border 
 of that continent. On the east no known opening presented itself anywhere 
 between Port Natal and the Red Sea; but on the west an opportunity did 
 offer. The Colony of Liberia had attracted the eye to that region, and it was 
 decided to commence a mission at Cape Palmas, the Gaboon River being of 
 later selection. The first man from the United States to enter upon evan¬ 
 gelistic work — in which he continued twenty years — on the western coast, 
 was the Rev. John Leighton Wilson, D. D., now the able senior Secretary of 
 the Southern Presbyterian Board. The day after the annual meeting of our 
 Board in Philadelphia, September .22, 1833, he received his public instruc¬ 
 tions. One or two extracts from those instructions, delivered by Dr. Ander¬ 
 son, then Foreign Secretary, will show the scope of anticipations at that time: 
 
 “An object of primary importance in respect to the inland parts of West¬ 
 ern Africa, and the central portions of the continent eastward of the Nigei', 
 is the exploration of the country with a view to missionary operations.” “ In¬ 
 deed, it is true that almost the whole of Africa is yet to be explored by the 
 Christian missionary, before missions can be prosecuted on that benighted 
 continent with intelligence and efficiency. Having made a successful begin¬ 
 ning among the tribes of the coast, around the colonies, we shall, as our la¬ 
 borers increase and the roads are opened, advance into the interior with our 
 permanent establishments. The native races promise the speediest results, 
 and the progress of the Mohammedans must be checked.” “Meanwhile, the 
 mission which we hope soon to commence on the southeastern coast, may be 
 expected to extend its outposts more and more, and ascend the coast, and 
 advance upon the central highlands. Our European brethren, also, of differ¬ 
 ent denominations, whose line of march already extends across the continent 
 on the south, will advance from that quarter; the English Episcopal mis¬ 
 sions will advance from the Mountains of Abyssinia, and our brethren of the 
 same denomination at Sierra Leone, and those of various names at Liberia, 
 will move with us from the west; and our children may hear of the meeting 
 of these upon some central mountain, to celebrate in lofty praise Africa’s re¬ 
 demption. O, what a meeting, what a day ! And it will surely come; and 
 Africa, all Africa, shall rejoice in the liberty wherewith Christ maketh his 
 people free.” 
 
 Five years later, and then again twenty-five years later, the Board’s Annual 
 Reports (1839 and 1858) contain these statements, showing that the original 
 thought was still entertained: “ Of late years it has seemed to the Commit¬ 
 tee that the field which specially invites our attention is remote from the 
 colonies, perhaps among the Ashantees, and especially up the Niger; while 
 at the same time, it will be desirable for us to have a mission of moderate 
 size at Cape Palmas.” “ With the Prudential Committee, it has ever been 
 a leading idea, in the Gaboon mission, to reach the interior, at some point 
 above the peculiar fever influence, and beyond the tangled forests of the 
 coast regions.” “ When, under the guidance of God’s good providence, the 
 mission shall reach such a point, where it can make a home and a centre, 
 
Central Africa. 9 
 
 and there gather converts, and educate native preachers to go forth with the 
 word of life in all directions; then will its grand idea be realized, and it 
 will become one of the more promising and interesting missions under the 
 care of the Board.” Further citation, to show what ulterior hopes were en¬ 
 tertained regarding our own operations in Western Africa, need not be made. 
 The whole number of laborers sent from this country to that mission prior 
 to 1870 — the date of its transfer to the Presbyterian Board — was thirty- 
 nine, and at an expense of $105,116. 
 
 It was December 3, 1834, that six missionaries and their wives sailed from 
 the port of Boston for Cape Town. They were directed to establish two 
 missions in Zulu Land. Three of the families, being from our Southern 
 States, were destined to the interior, and the other three families, from our 
 Northern States, were assigned to the coastwise district. The former, un¬ 
 dertaking a journey of twelve hundred miles in ox-wagons, reached their 
 destination about the middle of 1836. The latter, owing to the Kaffir war, 
 were not able to begin operations on their appointed field before the middle 
 of 1837. Within less than a twelvemonth the disturbed state of the coun¬ 
 try compelled the mission in the interior to retire to the sea-board, and unite 
 with the one established there. 
 
 From that commencement to the present time fifty-four laborers have gone 
 out from this country to the mission among the Zulus, and an outlay of 
 $617,103 has been made. 
 
 As regards the eastern coast of Africa, in distinction from the southeast¬ 
 ern, it should be stated that the Prudential Committee continued to hold 
 themselves in readiness to avail of any providential opportunity for obtaining 
 a foothold upon the margin of the continent, and that, too, as a base for de¬ 
 sired operations in the interior. Correspondence had been opened with the 
 American consul at Zanzibar, a coral island off the coast, in the same lati¬ 
 tude with Lake Tanganyika; and when, in 1839, a reinforcement was sent to 
 the Mahratta country, they received instructions — as their ship was to touch 
 at Zanzibar — to make inquiries relating to the prospects of missionary work 
 in that region. Information obtained led the Prudential Committee to re¬ 
 solve upon sending out a missionary as soon as the right man could be found. 
 Such a man, however, did not offer himself. 
 
 It was not unnatural that the question should arise, long since, whether a 
 detachment of our Zulu mission might not move inland toward the interior 
 of the continent; and a movement of this kind has been the subject of much 
 correspondence, especially since the year 1872. Several years ago the Com¬ 
 mittee requested that a band of native helpers might be organized with refer¬ 
 ence to such an enterprise, and the missionaries have not been unmindful of 
 that request. Every mission of any considerable standing needs an outward 
 demonstration of this sort, in order to the most efficient and healthful de¬ 
 velopment on its own original field. 
 
 We have thus taken a bird’s-eye view of the aims and efforts of the Pru¬ 
 dential Committee hitherto, with respect to Africa; and it appears that for 
 more than half a century there has been a steady desire to effect an entrance 
 into the heart of that great continent; but we have been “let hitherto.” 
 
10 
 
 Central Africa. 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS. 
 
 Your Committee are of opinion that the line of policy with respect to the 
 Zulu mission, never lost sight of, should be still entertained—the plan to 
 overstep, in some direction, old territorial limits. Those limits are too re¬ 
 stricted. The majority of our stations are in a line about fifteen miles from 
 the sea-board. Mr. Pinkerton has, indeed, as we are glad to know, recently 
 opened a new station, Indunduma, near the Polela River, one hundred and 
 twenty-five or more miles west from Durban, far outside the confines of the 
 field previously occupied. It should be borne in mind that the territory 
 considered as belonging more properly to our mission is environed by the 
 stations of five or six other Protestant societies, and that by the necessities 
 of our situation we are precluded from any great expansion in the immediate 
 neighborhood. 
 
 As regards the establishment of a new mission somewhere in the neigh- 
 
 o o 
 
 borhood of Lake Nyassa or Lake Tanganyika, your Committee do not at 
 present feel prepared to make any definite recommendation beyond these 
 three points:— 
 
 1. That further information be sought relating to the native languages of 
 that region and the region westward of the same, especial reference being 
 had to any relationship with the Zulu language. 
 
 2. That pains be taken to learn more definitely the best way of approach, 
 the climatic and other conditions of that region ; as also the feelings and 
 judgment of the English and Scottish societies which are now making the 
 experiment of an advance in the line of recent geographical exploration. 
 
 3. That the written communication of Major Malan, laid before the Pru¬ 
 dential Committee, be printed, for use at the discretion of the Secretaries, 
 together with such accompanying statements as they may deem desirable. 
 
 Beyond that it seems to us we must await further indications of divine 
 providence. The undertaking is one that would involve great hardship and 
 great pecuniary cost. With our present average annual income, we should 
 not feel authorized to enter upon such an expensive and untried field. But 
 we dare not assume the responsibility of saying that no Christian brother or 
 sister within our denomination, or in some other branch of Christ’s Church 
 this side the Atlantic, will be moved to make a specific offer to the American 
 Board of the sum requisite for founding a mission in the newly opened re¬ 
 gion which has just been mentioned. Unsolicited and unexpectedly, Robert 
 Arthington, Esq., of Leeds, England, tendered to the Church Missionary 
 Society twenty-five thousand dollars ; and then, going nobly outside his own 
 ecclesiastical connection, made an offer of the same amount to the London 
 Missionary Society, for the object now in mind. More recently Mr. Arthing¬ 
 ton has offered five thousand dollars to the English Baptist Missionary So¬ 
 ciety for opening a work in Western Africa, on the Congo ; nor has he omit¬ 
 ted to send a subsidy to this country. May not such princely benevolence 
 prove contagious ? Has the grace of God yet reached its utmost limits in 
 our country ? Shall American energy display itself conspicuously in explora¬ 
 tion, and come short in evangelization ? More, however, than the largest 
 donations do we need that faith which removes mountains. We would make 
 no appeal, but we would have a statement made; and then continue to hold 
 
' 
 
 Central Africa . 11 
 
 ourselves in readiness for an advance toward the great Central Interior of 
 the Continent, should the “Pillar of Cloud” plainly lead in that direction. 
 Your Committee have no question that, sooner or later, the holy war in which 
 we are engaged will be carried into Africa, from the existing coast lines to 
 the more distant and least accessible parts; nor have we any doubt that the 
 American Board should be found among the standard-bearers. 
 
 ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS BY MAJOR MALAN. 
 
 The above papers on the subject of an American Mission to Central Africa 
 were published in the April number of the Missionary Herald, 1878, and are 
 reissued in pamphlet form for the information of friends of the missionary 
 enterprise. 
 
 As stated in this report, the Prudential Committee of the American Board 
 do not feel that they can undertake the heavy expense of a mission to the 
 interior of Africa with their present annual income. May they entertain the 
 hope that the necessary funds for such an enterprise will be supplied at no 
 distant hour, and that thus American Christians will take their share in the 
 privilege and labor of evangelizing Central Africa ? 
 
 The accompanying map points out the field embraced in present and 
 hoped for missionary operations there. It has been carefully prepared, and 
 shows the discoveries made by Livingstone, Cameron, and more recently by 
 Stanley. 
 
 Mombas, on the east coast, Mpapwa, on the road to Lake Tanganyika, and 
 Ukerewe and King Mtesa’s capital, on Lake Victoria Nyanza, are stations of 
 the English Church Missionary Society. Ujiji, on Lake Tanganyika, is the 
 proposed centre of the London Missionary Society’s mission. Ribe, on the 
 east coast, four degrees below the equator, is the station of the English Meth¬ 
 odist mission. Livingstonia, on Lake Nyassa, and Blantyre, on the highlands 
 of the Shire River, are the commencement of Scotland’s memorial to her 
 great missionary. The former is the mission of the Free Church, the latter 
 that of the Established Church of Scotland. Beyond Livingstonia, across 
 the Mushinga Mountains toward Lake Bangvveolo, lies the country traversed 
 by Livingstone from Lake Nyassa. He thought it as perfect a natural para¬ 
 dise “as Xenephon would have desired.” It is densely populated by the 
 Urungu and Itawa tribes, fine, well developed races, having European phy¬ 
 sique, industrious, clothed in skins. Beyond them are many other nations 
 who have never heard of the love of God. May not America help to send 
 the Gospel to these peoples ? 
 
 At Zanzibar there is a mission of the Universities of Oxford and Cam¬ 
 bridge. From Quiloa, or Ivilvva, a road is being constructed by some British 
 Christian merchants, to the head of Lake Nyassa, for the purpose of opening 
 Africa to Christian enterprise and legitimate commerce. 
 
 On the west coast, the Cameroon Mountains mark the location of the Brit¬ 
 ish Baptist mission. The river Gaboon forms the centre of the mission 
 commenced by the American Board, and now being carried on with so much 
 devotion by the Presbyterian Board. From the mouth of the Congo, an in¬ 
 land mission to the interior highlands has been recently sent by the British 
 Baptist Society, as another result of Mr. Stanley’s last travels in Africa. His 
 letters from Lake Victoria Nyanza led to the mission there. 
 
12 
 
 Central Africa. 
 
 Below the Portuguese settlement of Benguela, the Rhenish Missionary 
 Society occupies Ovampo, Damara, and Great Nam aqua Land ; while from 
 the Zambesi to Cape Town the missionary operations of various nations have 
 been so blessed of God, during the past forty years, that it may be hoped the 
 light of the Gospel of Christ will soon shed its rays throughout the length 
 and breadth of that vast region. 
 
 Natal is the field now occupied by the A. B. C. F. M. 
 
 Near the Cape of Good Hope, the towns of Wellington, Stellenbosch, 
 Worcester, and Graf Reinet, mark spots where seminaries for the higher 
 education of daughters of European colonists are now being carried on by 
 American ladies, most of whom graduated at Mount Holyoke Seminary. 
 These institutions are conducted on the same principle as that founded by 
 Mary Lyon. The Dutch Reformed Church inaugurated this system of 
 higher education for young women in Southern Africa; and the success has 
 been so great that similar seminaries are to be commenced at Pretoria, the 
 capitol of the Transvaal, and other cities. 
 
 The prospect of African missions is most encouraging. The toils and 
 trials of the pioneer missionaries and their successors have borne abundant 
 fruit. It cannot therefore be wondered at that an American missionary, writ¬ 
 ing from that land and urging the commencement of an interior mission, 
 should conclude his letter with these words : “ Speak unto the Children of 
 the Pilgrims that they go forward with their African missions.”