H &Ti ye. con /evts 
 
 UMCITWA AND YONA, 
 
 Zcilu ?\.isstonaftes to tf)e ^Yatabele. 
 
 BY 
 
 Mrs. H. M. Bridgman. 
 
 Lofton : 
 
 Frank Wood, Printer, 352 Washington Street. 
 1892. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The story told in these pages needs no excuse for being 
 brought to the notice of believers in the Gospel of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 The faith, piety, and Christian heroism of Umcitwa, the 
 young Zulu missionary, are an inspiration. 
 
 Born a heathen, yet laying down his life 1,500 miles 
 away from home, whither he had gone to preach Jesus 
 Christ to a cruel heathen people, — surely he must have 
 been moved by the Holy Spirit. When told that his life 
 might be taken, he replied, " They may kill me. but I shall 
 not cease to preacn Jesus Christ." 
 
 The Livingstones and the Mackeys were great men, 
 and accomplished great things for Africa; but Umcitwa 
 had the same spirit, and did what he could, and before God 
 is equally acceptable. 
 
 And what shall be said of Yona, his wife, left sorrowing 
 over the graves of her dead husband and little child? 
 
 May the history of the lives of these two converted Zulus 
 convince many of the value of sending the gospel to the 
 heathen. 
 
 The story has been arranged by the missionaries who 
 were deeply concerned in the training of the subjects of 
 this sketch. 
 
I. OUT OF DARKNESS. 
 
 N the year 1872 a heathen woman ap- 
 peared before our door, saving she was 
 tired of heathenism, and wanted to be a 
 Christian. "But how about your hus- 
 band?" we asked. "Oh," she said, "he has 
 another wife, and he is cruel to me. I never 
 loved him, and I want to leave him and come 
 and learn the way of the Lord." She came, 
 and her husband followed ere many months, 
 having obtained a separation from his other 
 wife. Here they lived for many years, appar- 
 ently happy. 
 
 But this woman, Gugulana by name, had a 
 strange conflict between the powers of darkness 
 and of light; sometimes overcome by the one, 
 and again being drawn, and as we often hoped 
 overruled and controlled, by the other. We are 
 not without hope that, though among the 
 heathen at the time of her death, she was found 
 "accepted in the Beloved." 
 
 Away off among the distant hills in a heathen 
 kraal were Gugulana's children, two little girls, 
 eight and ten years old. Their father, her first 
 husband, being dead, they were claimed as 
 property by the son of another wife of their 
 father. Their mother had no right to them. 
 This became a great grief to her as she learned 
 of the Christian way, and saw other children in 
 school so happy with their teachers, their books, 
 and their songs. Her sobs and cries reached 
 
 i V 
 
our ears when, away by herself, she was revolv- 
 ing this sorrow in her mind. We could not 
 regard the case unmoved; and though we knew 
 both native and English law were against her, 
 we were constrained to state the case to the 
 English magistrate, while we looked to God 
 with earnest prayer to interpose in her behalf. 
 The parties were all summoned, and by stretch- 
 ing a point of law in the mother's favor, her 
 children were placed in her hands on condition 
 that their " owner" should have the cattle which 
 would be paid for them when they married. 
 
 The two little girls were taken into the Home 
 School, and there they remained, growing and 
 developing for ten or eleven years! Yona 
 showed an amiable and pleasant disposition, 
 and grew in favor with God and man. Here is 
 what she says about her early heathen life : — 
 
 "Beginning at the time when I was old 
 enough to see and to know things, as to what I 
 remember, my father had four wives. But he 
 never had more sons than one ; all others were 
 girls, fourteen girls in all. As the time went on 
 my father died, and because my mother was the 
 younger woman, having only two children, she 
 was obliged to marry another husband, and my 
 sister and I had to live with one of our step- 
 mothers. I might say that as there were no 
 boys to herd or to milk, some of us girls had to 
 do it, while another sister and myself looked 
 after the calves. In those days thunderstorms 
 and rains were regular; but even in such times 
 we had to go, naked and cold, to bring home the 
 
 <4 
 
wild and thoughtless little creatures. In the 
 front of the huts is a cattle kraal (a circular 
 enclosure), but calves and goats take their abode 
 with people in the house, and dogs, cats, and 
 fowls also occupy the same. There are beer pots, 
 calabashes, and clay pots for cooking, all around, 
 with mats, blankets, men, women, children, 
 ornaments, spears, knob-curries, wooden spoons, 
 sweet reed (sorghum) seeds, and corn ears, all 
 hanging about. The fireplace is just in the 
 middle, where all sit around to warm them- 
 selves. 
 
 . "Do I feel happy that I ever spent any of my 
 life in this way? Oh, no; but I th:inkGod, who, 
 by his grace and wisdom, has called me out of 
 this thick darkness into his everlasting light. I 
 remember sometimes, when it was cold in winter, 
 that I would go and sit down in a nice warm 
 place, and as the wind blew past I would look 
 up at the sky and see the clouds rushing along 
 rapidly, one after another, in such a way that I 
 would stop and think, how w-onderful and great 
 is the Being that made it all, whom I knew not. 
 For was there anyone among my friends who 
 knew about God? No, we were so dark; we 
 had never even seen a person in clothes; we 
 thought of white people as animals; we children 
 were quite afraid of them. The grown-up peo- 
 ple used to deceive us by saying, when we cried. 
 ' There is a white man coming to take you away.' 
 
 " I have said before, that my mother had to 
 marry another husband. Yet she used to come 
 and see us sometimes, with nice little presents 
 
 (S) 
 
for us ; sometimes it would be braided beads, or 
 nice little clay pots lor our food, and we used, to 
 enjoy them very much. But the last time she 
 came she looked very strange, and we did not 
 wish to think it was our mother; we did not 
 enjoy her as we used to, all because she had 
 clothes on. She had gone to the station to live 
 with her husband, and had come to see if she 
 could persuade our brother to let us go and stay 
 with her; but no, he would not. At last, after 
 a long talk, he gave her permission to take me; 
 but he told her that he would come very soon to 
 bring me back. Some of my friends gave me 
 much warning that I was not to eat any of the 
 bread that the white people gave me, because it 
 would make me a Christian. And I remember 
 that the first day I came here a white lady gave 
 me a piece of bread, which I refused to take, 
 because I had not forgotten the words of my 
 friends. Did not that lady look very strange to 
 me with spectacles on ! I would have rushed 
 out had not my mother kept telling me about 
 her before we arrived. She knew that I was to 
 be frightened, having never seen the like. I 
 noticed that there was, however, something of 
 acquaintance between that lady and my mother; 
 the}' seemed to know each other very well. 
 
 "It was just while I was getting accustomed 
 to the look of the people and their ways, that 
 my brother came to take me. Of course it was 
 not an easy thing for my mother to let me go. 
 She urged him to let me stay with her; but no, 
 he would not. lie rushed into the kitchen where 
 
 (6) 
 
I was with the spirit of a tiger, and pushed me out, 
 and said that he was to whip me if I don't walk 
 quickly. The two missionaries and their fami- 
 lies were at dinner when all this happened, hut 
 they saw him do it, and rushed out to help me. 
 One of the ladies took me up in her arms, and 
 went and hid me in her house. He never got 
 me that day. But a letter was sent to the magis- 
 trate, which was respectfully received, and 
 mother and we were sent for to settle the matter. 
 When our friends heard this they advised us, 
 saving: 'You must not consent to go to the 
 station. You must cry and make a great noise, 
 and the magistrate will let you come back.' But 
 he simply said we must go with our mother. So 
 hearing that, we began to cry as loud as we could, 
 our brother telling us at the same time to cry 
 more, yet nothing else was to be done. I cannot 
 express the bad feeling of my brother when 
 seeing his whole herd of cattle perishing away 
 like this; for all that he cared for was the cattle 
 that he was going to have for us, which he had 
 already begun to receive. 
 
 ''As we went along mother tried to comfort us, 
 and make us feel happy. Of course we did not 
 feel at home at all at first, but little by little we 
 got to see and to learn that we were not utterly 
 destroyed. Mother tried to amuse us in many 
 ways, sometimes by singing for us easy little 
 songs or hymns which she had already learned. 
 Sometimes she would teach us how to sew. 
 No doubt we were interested in such things, 
 having not heard or done them before. After 
 
 (7) 
 
awhile teachers planned that we should go to the 
 home school and learn. I did not enjoy being 
 there at first; very often I used to be homesick. 
 Among the girls I remember was one who used 
 to be telling us wonderful stories about what 
 they have learned. I began then to feel and to be- 
 lieve that there was a great God who made us 
 and all things." 
 
 Not far from the time when Yona came to us, 
 her mother, returning from a visit on the hills, 
 brought to us a heathen boy, apparently ten or 
 eleven years old, — a quaint, comical-looking little 
 specimen even for a heathen child; the Afri- 
 can type a little exaggerated, with small eyes, 
 small forehead, but, with all that, there was 
 something taking in his frank, lively manner, 
 and we were only too glad, after thorough ablu- 
 tions, to cover his slim, nude figure with the in- 
 evitable shirt, and initiate him into the new and 
 strange modes of life to which he had come. 
 He seemed to take to them rather kindly, withal, 
 and soon made himself quite a useful member of 
 the household, acting as nurseboy to our 
 youngest one-year-old child. 
 
 Such was Umcitwa's introduction to us and to 
 civilization. He passed through many vicissi- 
 tudes, temptations, and dangers before he was 
 fitted to answer the call to Matabeleland, and to 
 there obtain the reward of the faithful unto 
 death. From the usual ordeal of town life for 
 native young men he was not exempt, nor yet 
 from its sins and vices. For years we knew little 
 of him that gave encouragement or hope ; and 
 
 (S) 
 
when, a little later, we learned that our Yona was 
 regarding him with favor as a suitor, we feared 
 that she was making a great mistake. Gladly 
 would we have diverted her mind from any such 
 prospects or hopes; but her destiny and his 
 were in better hands than ours. We were 
 pleased to find that in Durban he had come 
 under influences which had wrought a great 
 change in heart and life. 
 
 Jen cows was the market value for Yona, — the 
 price fixed by English law for all native girls of 
 this colony. But could it be that ten cows would 
 satisfy the greed of her poor heathen owner 
 when it was possible for him to extort other gifts 
 ad infinitum? 
 
 Day after day did Umcitwa's willing, weary 
 feet take him over the path to her owner's moun- 
 tain home; and then again in an opposite direc- 
 tion to procure the brilliant-colored blanket, or 
 the coat, or the pot, or whatever it might be to 
 meet the demands of this poor covetous heathen 
 ere he would come to any agreement in regard 
 to the purchase of the property in question. 
 
 Again an appeal to the magistrate was needful, 
 and more than one journey did Umcitwa make 
 in that direction, a distance of thirty miles, be- 
 fore the marriage license was obtained. But at 
 last, after delays and difficulties, hopes and fears 
 too numerous to mention, the marriage was con- 
 summated in April, 1SS5. At this time Yona 
 was teaching the station school, and took a va- 
 cation of only two days for the wedding festivi- 
 ties, if such they could be called. The teachers 
 
 (9) 
 
in the home kindly spread the marriage feast, to 
 which were invited Yona's Christian friends 
 from the station. The nuptial knot was tied in 
 the little native chapel, in the presence of as- 
 sembled friends ; both bride and groom simply 
 and neatly attired, standing with bare feet on the 
 earth floor, — a modest and fitting example to their 
 native friends, who are so fond of gorgeous and 
 extravagant apparel. We cannot marvel that a 
 people just emerging from heathen darkness 
 should love to blossom out in gaudy colors, and 
 should attach undue importance to the putting 
 on of apparel. But though we look upon it with 
 charity, the example of one bridal pair taking 
 civilized and sensible views of such things waF 
 most delightful and encouraging. 
 
 Yona had carefully expended her small earn- 
 ings as school-teacher in getting a little furniture 
 for her home ; not forgetting, however, her 
 weekly offering of sixpence into the Lord's 
 treasury, which she was always faithful to bring, 
 it being about a tenth of her wages. 
 
 It was arranged that they should occupy the 
 little house which Yona's mother had vacated; a 
 comfortable cottage of two rooms, with two win- 
 dows and three doors. Umcitwa was well-nigh 
 penniless, for ;> Scorching Sun," the owner of 
 Yona, had quite consumed his scanty resources. 
 He had neither time nor means for necessary 
 building, except to construct a small outside 
 kitchen, and to repair the dilapidated cottage. 
 The energy, diligence, and thrift which he dis- 
 played in these efforts were interesting and grati- 
 
 (10) 
 
tying to behold. He worked early and late, im- 
 proving every moment between his repeated and 
 numerous journeys. Many little wants arose 
 which he had not the money to supply ; now a 
 few nails, and, again, a bit of board or the use of 
 hammer or saw. Then, again, a little lime for 
 whitewash, and at the last a few newspapers to 
 cover the smoky beams above ; for to buy a little 
 white cotton cloth for inclosing the room over- 
 head was quite beyond his means. It was a 
 great trial to him when he had to come, from 
 time to time, to ask for such favors ; and the mod- 
 esty, and bashfulness, and yet the sly vein of 
 humor with which he sought them made it only 
 a pleasure to give him all that he needed. 
 These incidents, so trivial in themselves, we 
 now recall with tender interest as indicating the 
 sterling character which made him the bright 
 example he was in his long journey to the 
 Matabele, and during his short life among them. 
 
 By the combined efforts of this happy pair, 
 their home at Umzumbe became a bright, attract- 
 ive spot. It was white and clean within, and 
 supplied with the needed articles of furniture, 
 table, chairs, bed, etc., with a sprinkling of pretty 
 little ornaments, — the gifts of kind friends. The 
 yard, too, was like a flower garden, with its rose- 
 bushes and oleander trees bordering the path 
 leading to the gate its peach trees, its pineapple 
 plot, and its banana garden, all betokening dili- 
 gence and skill. It was chiefly, however, in 
 church and Christian work that we most prized 
 their help and influence. Yona's quiet, modest 
 
 (•0 ■ 
 
example was a spur and an inspiration to other 
 women and girls, while Umcitwa was always 
 ready for any good work. When anything was 
 needing to be done he would be on hand to do 
 it, taking hold at once, without waiting for some 
 one else; a trait so uncommon in Zulu character 
 that his presence was invaluable. They were 
 leaders in all our meetings, in our Endeavor 
 Society, which was then just starting, teachers 
 in the Sunday school, and foremost in the sing- 
 ing, with their strong, well-trained voices. 
 
 Perhaps we felt too rich, too strong in the 
 possession of such able helpers in the Lord's 
 work. We had been trying to teach our native 
 Christians the meaning of our Saviour's last 
 command. We had given them weekly lessons 
 for a long time on the entrance and progress of 
 the gospel in other lands, especially in the Pacific 
 islands and in their own dark continent. We 
 hoped and prayed that some among them would 
 hear and respond to the Saviour's call, and 
 become light bearers to the tribes sitting in dark- 
 ness, there being so many Zulu-speaking people 
 in deepest heathenism in various parts of South 
 Africa. But little did we know how soon the 
 Lord would test the sincerity of our desires and 
 our prayers by putting it into the hearts of our 
 choicest and best workers to go far away to one 
 of the remotest and darkest spots in all South 
 Africa. For two years and a half did they enjoy 
 their pleasant home life atUmzumbe, the second 
 year having an added charm by the presence of 
 their little Amy. 
 
II. TO MATABELELAND. 
 
 A great event was to honor this station in 
 1SS7. For the first time in its history the annual 
 fneeting of native Christians of the American 
 Zulu Mission was held here. Extensive prepa- 
 ration w-as of course necessary on the part of the 
 people, who were to entertain perhaps two hun- 
 dred guests. Houses of every shape and descrip- 
 tion were seen springing from the ground as if 
 by magic. Every man or boy who had any 
 intention of building on the station must needs 
 hasten and get his house ready to receive his 
 share of the visitors, while all the old-established 
 residences must lengthen their cords and 
 strengthen their stakes to their utmost extent. 
 
 Umcitwa, though at this time teaching a little 
 outstation school, requiring a daily walk of four 
 or five miles, was most enthusiastic in his prep- 
 arations for the meeting. He added a little 
 veranda room to their own house, and put up 
 another building with his own hands. Of course 
 it was not of the most finished style of architect- 
 ure, but it had a window of one pane of glass, 
 with a curious frame of his own construction ; 
 while within, he built up from the ground a 
 kind of side table of sticks and plaster. We 
 were much amused by his ingenuity, and many a 
 hearty laugh did we have together over his 
 devices when we were paving them our little 
 visits, which we always enjoyed so much. Um- 
 citwa was of a jovial, happy temperament, and 
 always ready to enjoy or to perpetrate a good 
 joke. 
 
 (13) 
 
Great was the demand for whitewash in those 
 memorable days, and pretty was the picture of 
 these numerous green hillsides and valleys, 
 dotted with white-walled cottages, as the ap- 
 pointed time for the meeting drew on apace. 
 One Wednesday afternoon early in August, the 
 road over the distant hills showed scattered 
 groups of wagons, horses, and foot-travelers, all 
 moving toward the station. At the evening 
 meeting the chapel was filled to overflowing, and 
 the next day and the next, three or four times 
 daily till Monday morning, when all dispersed. 
 
 At this meeting a letter was read from Rev. 
 W. Elliott, of the London Mission in Matabele- 
 land, earnestly calling for a Zulu Christian and 
 wife to come to their help in Christ's work among 
 that dark distant people, 1.500 miles away. More 
 than twenty-five years had those missionaries 
 spent there in apparently fruitless toil. They 
 felt that the example of a native Christian family 
 speaking the same language, would be an object 
 lesson and a power for good among the Mat- 
 abele. 
 
 The letter was read and prayerfully considered 
 in this meeting of native Christains. Eleven 
 volunteered for the service, and among them was 
 Umcitwa. He arose and said : "If the Lord 
 wants me I am willing to go. I have heard a 
 great deal in our Sunday afternoon meetings 
 about the Lord's work in heathen lands. I have 
 felt that if the Lord ever called me I would go to 
 give the gospel to the heathen. I have no edu- 
 cation, but if the missionaries think me fit, here 
 
 fi#1 
 
am I; send me." After much consultation, it 
 was decided that Umcitwa and Yona were the 
 ones to go to Metabeleland. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Elliott and his party were returning 
 from a visit in England. It was arranged that 
 Umcitwa and Yona should meet them at Cape 
 Town, and from thence journey with them to 
 their distant home and station. The Elliotts' 
 thoughts were to reach the cape in November, 
 and a message would be sent to Natal directly on 
 their arrival there. No time was to be lost. 
 Our native friends must be near Durban to await 
 the message, and to take the first steamer after 
 receiving the call. 
 
 Our duty was plain. We must apply ourselves 
 to the sad, yet grateful, task of helping them off. 
 Sewing must be done for Yona, and her child, 
 then sixteen months old; for which work her 
 native friends, the women and girls on the 
 station, gladly offered their aid. 
 
 A few busy, anxious days settled all; and the 
 morning soon came when we saw them, with 
 boxes and bundles, all mounted on an oxcart, 
 ready for a tour days' journey to Adams, our 
 nearest mission station to Durban. There was 
 our theological seminary; and if they had to 
 wait, they could spend their time in study and 
 gaining further preparation for the high service 
 before them. And a long waiting time they 
 had. The following lines from Yona express 
 her feelings in regard to it: — 
 
 December 2S1I1. — "Yes, we are still waiting 
 here; and it is something very hard for me to 
 
 05) 
 
stay here, not knowing which time to go, but 
 still it does not do me wrong; for I always feel 
 that it is God's will for us to stop here so long, 
 and that comforts me a great deal. I am sorry I 
 cannot attend all the meetings, because of Amy. 
 She never get away from me at all ; she won't go 
 to anybody else beside Mrs. Robbins, and almost 
 all white people. Last week Mrs. Robbins asked 
 me to lead women's meeting, but it was so hard 
 for me to take it ; but I left all to God to help me 
 to this great work, and when I had done with it 
 I felt quite sure that God did help me." 
 
 The sickness and death of a child had kept 
 Mr. Elliott in England; and when the -call came 
 at last in March, it found Yona with her second 
 little girl only a day or two old. But they were 
 still undaunted, and impatient to be off on their 
 long journey. Now, however, a heartrending 
 question arose : Would it be wise for them to 
 take both their little ones with them on a peril- 
 ous journey to a land of deepest darkness and 
 cruelty? Amy was now twenty months old, and 
 coitldhc lef'. Kind friends would take her, and 
 she would be surrounded by Christian oppor- 
 tunities and influences. No one proposed such 
 a thing to those parents, but they were being 
 divinely led. 
 
 It so happened that we were at Adams at this 
 time. One morning early we saw the two stand- 
 ing outside, near the door, sad and silent. We 
 went out to learn what was on their hearts. 
 They could not speak. They waited one for the 
 other. At last I Imcitwa says, " Yona, you must 
 
 06) 
 
tell." She says, ''No, I can't; why don't you 
 say it?" At last the courage comes, and he 
 says, "Will you take Amy, if we leave her?" 
 What could we say? It was plain "the cause 
 was from the Lord." No choice was left us. It 
 nearly broke poor Yona's heart; but love for her 
 child and for Christ constrained her, and she 
 heroically turned her back upon her little one, 
 knowing not that she should ever see the child 
 again ; certainly not till she had forgotten to call 
 her " mother." 
 
 Their kind and fatherly missionary was with 
 them in Durban, to see that everything possible 
 was done to secure for them a comfortable pas- 
 sage to Cape Town. Of their experience on 
 reaching there we shall let Umcitwa's letter 
 speak through the translation. 
 
 "Mr. Phillips has brought us to the house of 
 a poor widow. Though very poor in the things 
 of this world, she is rich toward God, and is 
 very faithful in teaching her children the way of 
 the Lord. She is very pleased to see us. I 
 speak of her because it is a great help to know a 
 person who, though so poor, is so happy in her 
 Christian faith. 
 
 "We send our love to Amy, and to all our 
 friends at Umzumbe, — that place of so dear 
 memories to us, and on account of which our 
 tears flow. We do not know that we shall ever 
 see you again in this world. God hides the 
 future from us, but for his sake we accept it all. 
 You who have the care of our child have a great 
 and precious charge. We weep as we think of 
 
 (•7) 
 
her; but he who forsaketh not all that he hath 
 for' Christ's sake, cannot be his disciple." 
 
 From Cape Town they went to Kimberly, by 
 train. — a ride of two or three days. From the 
 latter place Umcitwa writes, in April :• — 
 
 "To-day we are here. We are staying in the 
 house of a missionary to the Griquas. On the 
 day we arrived at this city we were much trou- 
 bled to find a place to sleep. We stayed at the 
 railway station till it was night, and the baby 
 was sick and crying. Then after a time, when 
 it was dark, Mr. Elliott came. He had been 
 seeking a place, though his head was aching, as 
 he told me on his return, and he was very much 
 troubled. Yona and the child were sick, too. 
 But these were troubles of the flesh only; the 
 heart was not troubled, because it was set on 
 reaching the Matabele. 
 
 "Indeed, that word is true from the book of 
 John, "God is love.' When we came away 
 from Amanzimtote (Adams) we had not a friend ; 
 but God, who is love, raised up friends for us, 
 till to-day we are here at this place. Why 
 should I speak of troubles? They cannot drive 
 us away from our Father, who has begotten us 
 through the precious blood of his Son." 
 
 Mr. Elliott also wrote, saving that on account 
 of the antipathy of the Matabele king (Loben- 
 gula) to having Christian teachers among his 
 people, he thought it wise to avoid suspicion by 
 taking these helpers into the country in the 
 character of servants. This was somewhat dis- 
 appointing to us; but we tried to believe it was 
 
 OS) 
 
for the best, and were gratified to know that, like 
 his Divine Master, Umcitwa was willing to take 
 upon himself the form of a servant. 
 
 In another letter Umcitwa says: "We have 
 met here some of Lobengula's people. Like the 
 spies from Canaan, they bring a discouraging 
 report. They say the people there cannot be- 
 lieve the things the missionaries teach, because 
 there are many other white men passing through 
 that country, and they know nothing about those 
 things. Still, we go forward, trusting in the 
 words of Jesus, ' Lo, I am with you alwav.' " 
 
 A little later he writes again from the same 
 place, as follows : — 
 
 "We have to-day finished setting up the 
 wagon, which came with Mr. Elliott from Eng- 
 land. It has taken many days to get it ready, 
 but to-day it has gone out of town. Yona and I 
 remain, because no wagon has yet been found to 
 take us and the rest of the goods, of which there 
 is a great quantity. Much money is needed to 
 buy a wagon at this place; indeed, everything 
 costs enormouslj here. We ask you, our friends, 
 to pray that we may quickly get a wagon to take 
 us out of this place, but we are trusting in the 
 Lord all the time. You must not be surprised if 
 you do not get letters from us, because we do not 
 know where we will get the stamps." 
 
 Their story is best told in their own words, 
 and we will allow them to speak for themselves. 
 Their first stopping place after leaving Kimberly 
 was at Barklv, a station of the London Mission- 
 ary Society, from which Yona wrote : — 
 
 (19) 
 
"Barkly, April 18, 1888. 
 
 " My dear Mrs. : I always feel unhappy 
 
 if I did not write to you. I hope that I will 
 write few words if baby does not trouble me ; 
 she is sleeping on my lap now as I am writing. 
 
 ,; We came out from Kimberly yesterday to 
 Barkly. I could hardly move my feet to-day I 
 am so tired, because I walked a long distance on 
 foot; the wagon was too full, and there was no 
 place for me to sit with baby. I was afraid lest 
 I should fall down. We went all night long, 
 and it was nearly morning when we came. Now 
 I hope that we shall be together with the Elliotts 
 all the way long to Matabele. 
 
 •' I do hope that little Amy is well and happy. 
 It comforts me to know that she is with you, and 
 I know your love to her. Please tell her that 
 her mamma thinks of her very often, and wishes 
 her to be a good little girl, and obey Mrs. Bridg- 
 man. I wonder if she will understand it or not. 
 Give my best love to the dear teachers and to all 
 the people." 
 
 From Barkly the party next journeyed to Kuru- 
 man, the station established in 1818 by the re- 
 nowned and devoted missionary Moffat. From 
 that place Mr. Elliott writes, May 14, 1888 : — 
 
 •• My dear Mr. B : I can only send you a 
 
 line in place of a letter. We leave here to-day, 
 most earnestly hoping that our journey hence- 
 forth may be more favorable than it has been in 
 the past. I have never had such a three weeks. 
 We only arrived here on Tuesday last, — three 
 weeks all but a dav after leaving Barklv. It is a 
 
 (20) 
 
six days' journey ; but we stuck fifteen or sixteen 
 times, broke four dislebooms (wagon poles) oft", 
 loaded some six or seven times, and generally 
 had a most miserable time of it. Umcitwa and 
 Yona have had a sickening of the wagon, I 
 fear. He has been very poorly, I am sorry to 
 say — very poorly, and has given me great anx- 
 iety; but in spite of this he has worked splen- 
 didly. He is the sort of man we want. Yona 
 has been too miserable, I fear, to be herself. 
 We have had a week's rest here, and are now oft* 
 again, hoping for better things. It is the mud 
 that has bothered us; now we encounter sand. 
 We hope to reach home in about two or three 
 months, going via Mafeking. Kanga, Malepolole, 
 Shoshong, or Mangwato and Tati. 
 
 With united kindest regards, etc., 
 
 W. A. ELLIOTT." 
 
 From Kuruman, Yona also writes as follows : — 
 
 " So very dear Mrs. : O, how glad I was 
 
 to get a letter from you ! We were very glad to 
 hear all you told us about some of the people at 
 Umzumbe, especially what you said about your- 
 self and our little dear girl Amy. I tell you that 
 it is just like a little song in my heart; I do like 
 to think of it so. And so we have a great hope 
 that you and Amy will get on nicely together. 
 Your words rejoice me very much, and I am so 
 thankful for what you are doing for her. I ask 
 the Lord most earnestly that she may grow up 
 to be a modest, humble girl, obedient to God 
 and to those who have the care of her. I thank 
 God that he has given you a heart to take her, 
 
 (ai) 
 
"Yes; we are here in Kuruman; but we are 
 not all well. Umcitwa is very sick with bad 
 fever, which began a long time ago, before we 
 left Kimberly. He has great pain in his chest 
 when he coughs. I think he might get well if 
 he did not have such heavy work to do, for he 
 works all the time, even when he is sick. The 
 wagons have been getting stuck fast all the way, 
 and the heavy loads had to be taken off and put 
 on again ever since we left Barkly.. It was a 
 very hard journey. 
 
 " The little one, Elia, is very well and fat. She 
 troubled by crying when the wagon stopped. 
 She wanted to be going all the time; then she 
 would sleep. My great trouble is Umcitwa's 
 sickness, and because he has to work driving the 
 oxen in the night when we travel. I tried to 
 persuade him to ride in the wagon with the 
 child, and let me drive them; but he said no; 
 he is afraid I would get sick too. So he is very 
 thin indeed 
 
 '•I wanted to tell you about Kuruman, but 
 have not time, for we are going to-day. Please 
 tell the women that I do remember them, and 
 think about each of them. Give my love to 
 every body at Umzumbe. 
 
 Your loving daughter, 
 
 YONA." 
 
 It will be seen that the " little pain " of which 
 Umcitwa. spoke at Kimberly, was the beginning 
 of the end with him. That letter was one of his 
 last. A strong, healthy, energetic fellow when 
 he went out from us, full of life and vigor, we 
 
 (22) 
 
had great hope of his usefulness in that distant 
 field. ' We hoped a long life for that needy 
 people was before him. But God's ways are not 
 our ways. The party went on and on, toiling 
 along by slow stages, the dull, patient, plodding 
 oxen drawing those heavy, loaded wagons 
 through the deep sand. Stopping at mission 
 stations about one hundred miles apart, they at 
 last reached the town of the famous old Sechele, 
 the early and devoted friend of Dr. Livingstone. 
 He was baptized by him about 1S45, and was still 
 livipg when our partv visited his town on their 
 way to Matabele, but has since passed away. 
 Like too many native African Christians, his 
 light was not altogether unobscured by the 
 clouds and darkness of heathenism; but what- 
 ever he may have been at heart, he was always 
 an avowed friend of the missionaries, and a sup- 
 porter of Christian institutions among the 
 Bechuanas. The name of that mission station 
 is Malopolole, from which place Yona wrote as 
 follows, June 24th, partly in Zulu and partly in 
 English : — 
 
 "Very dear Mrs. : Surely lam very 
 
 sony that I did not get time to write to you be- 
 fore we got here to Sechele's place. And what I 
 am going to tell to-day is about our traveling 
 this long journey. We have traveled in great 
 trouble all this way. Umcuwa is very sick in- 
 deed ; his strength is gone ; he is too weak to 
 walk. The medicines of the missionary do not 
 help him. lie is just a skeleton, and coughs 
 fearfully; he is cold, but sweats very much. I 
 
 (23) 
 
know not what the end will be, but the Lord will 
 do what is right in his sight. It has been pro- 
 posed that we stop here till he gets well, but it 
 is not decided. Our long journey needs great 
 patience, chiefly because we are troubled by not 
 having much room to lie down, as the wagon is 
 so very full. But O, the thankfulness that is in 
 our hearts because Amy remained, and is not 
 here with us! I feel that it was God*s great 
 mercy that arranged this for us. We remember 
 her very much, but are very glad she is not here. 
 I, too, have been sick with cold and fever, but 
 am better now. We are longing very much for 
 letters from you. 
 
 "And now I have to write for you Umcitwa's 
 words. Here they are : ' If the Lord takis me 
 away by this sickness, there is my child Amy; I 
 leave her with you, to train her for my sake, but 
 especially to train her for the Lord. Such are 
 my words. I have no strength to talk.' Our 
 great love and remembrance to you. 
 
 UMCITWA AND YOXA." 
 
 But no; he would not halt on the way to Ma- 
 tabele. His heart was fixed on reaching that 
 people, and if he was to die, he would make his 
 grave among them. 
 
 Shoshong, the town of the renowned Chris- 
 tian chief Khama, was their next stopping 
 place. The Umzumbe church and people had 
 been greatly helped and strengthened by the il- 
 lustrious example of Khama in his heroic and 
 successful expulsion of native beer and the 
 
liquor of white traders from his country, as also 
 by his reputation as a Christian, his hospitality 
 and helpfulness toward missionaries, and the 
 missionary activity of his church and people in 
 send ; ng out and supporting teachers among the 
 desert tribes of the far interior. 
 
 It was therefore a matter of great interest to 
 the Christians of Umzumbe that two of their 
 own number were to see that famous town and 
 its noble chief. A letter was accordingly written 
 and sent by Umcitwa to Khama, commending 
 their friends to his kind attentions, and express- 
 ing their gratitude for the help and inspiration 
 which had come to them from his noble example. 
 We were surprised to learn that Umcitwa, in spite 
 of his extreme weakness, took that letter, and 
 through an interpreter read it to the people as- 
 sembled in the Shoshong church ; an example of 
 his faithfulness in smallest duties even to the 
 last. 
 
 Said Khama, in his letter to Sir Sidney Ship- 
 pard, grimly: "It were better for me that I 
 should lose my country than that it should be 
 flooded with drink. I fear Lobengule less than 
 I fear brandy. I fought with Lobengule when 
 he had his father's great warriors from Natal, 
 and drove him back, and he never came again; 
 and God, who helped me then, would help me 
 now again. Lobengule never gives me a sleep- 
 less night. But to fight against drink is to fight 
 against demons, and not against men. I dread 
 the white man's drink more than all the assegais 
 of the Matabele, which kill men's bodies, and is 
 
 . (20 
 
quickly over; but drink puts devils into men, 
 and destroys both their souls and their bodies 
 forever. Its wounds never heal."' 
 
 After a delay of four or five days in this center 
 of light and civilization, having received much 
 kindness from Christians and missionaries, the 
 party was again moving northward. It was on 
 Saturday, August 25th, that they at last reached 
 their destination at Inyati, Matabele land. 
 
 Yona wrote as follows, September 13th : — 
 
 '•Beloved Friends : We want to inform you 
 of our arrival here. Though we have had sick- 
 ness, the Lord our God has been^good to us,. and 
 has preserved us to the end of our journey. 
 Truly, we wonder at his gracious care when we 
 think of the long, long journey which we have 
 come, and of the daily dangers and perils we 
 had to meet; the sickness beyond hope of re- 
 covery, the fatigue and weariness and homesick- 
 ness, remembering the friends left behind as 
 those who were having no trouble (though it 
 seems they had). For two or three days we 
 journeyed without seeing any water. Our whole 
 journey was five and one-half months long. The 
 sticking fast of the wagon and the thinness of 
 the cattle were our chief hindrances. The peo- 
 ple here were very glad to see us, and were 
 greatly surprised to see people of their own 
 native Zulu tribe. In their customs and in 
 their religion they are very much like the natives 
 of Natal. Native beer is fearful in quantity. 
 Beer and meat are the food of the people almost 
 
 (26) 
 
entirely. They are astonished that we can live 
 without beer, and often ask if they shall not 
 bring us some. They are bringing it all the 
 •time for sale. 
 
 " When we were on the road we were overtaken 
 by Mr. Moffat, who was on his way to the king's 
 kraal. A man brought a great dish of beer, 
 which was drunk by his people. There were six 
 wagons in a line as we were on our way here, for 
 it is a great highway, and people are coming and 
 going all the time, on account of the gold. Many 
 whom we met on the road are going to Kim- 
 berly, to work in the Diamond Fields. It takes 
 two months for them to reach there. We have 
 a post here every two weeks. We did not see 
 the king, but Mr. Elliott went to him and talked 
 about us. He said it was all right, and 'we came 
 on here to Inyati, Mr. Elliott's place. He lives 
 among people who are the slaves of the Mata- 
 bele. The old people and the sick are killed, and 
 the young are made slaves to do their work. I 
 saw a woman in great distress ; she was following 
 a man who had captured her, and was carrying 
 her away to be his wife. It was a distressing 
 sight to me. Hoping to write again soon, 
 
 Yours, etc., 
 
 YON A." 
 
 III. IN MATABELELAND. 
 
 Six months of toilsome journeying, with pain 
 and hardships innumerable, and six months of 
 weary struggling with disease among the dark 
 people to whom our evangelists so much desired 
 
 (27) 
 
to give the Light of Life, — this is the epitome ot 
 our story. Of these last sad months there is 
 little to be told that is not contained in the 
 letters which brought tidings of Umcitwa's death. 
 These we give in full. The first from Rev. Mr. 
 Rees, who with Mr. Elliott occupies the station 
 of Inyati, is as follows : — 
 
 " Inyati, Matabeleland, March 13, 1889. 
 
 " My dear Mr. B : I feel that it is my duty 
 
 to write to you a few lines about Umcitwa, the 
 native teacher you sent up here. I am sorry that 
 I have to tell you that he is no longer here 
 among us. He entered upon his eternal reward 
 the second of this month. He was very poorlv 
 indeed when he arrived here. I examined him in 
 a few weeks after they arrived, and I told some of 
 the friends that I believed he was destined to a 
 better place than this. So far as I could make 
 out he had chronic bronchitis, and death was 
 hastened by a chill or an attack of fever he got a 
 few days before he died. He worked hard during 
 his short stay here among us. Of course he 
 could not possibly do much preaching and teach- 
 ing, because it affected his breathing so much. 
 But, strange to say, he preached the last two 
 Sundays he lived. The last Sunday was more of 
 a general talk about religion than a sermon. 
 
 "Perhaps I ought to inform ycu that I ne" er 
 once heard him murmur, in his sickness; he 
 suffered patiently and quietly as a faithful fol- 
 lower of Christ. He worked hard at his little 
 house, which is between Mr. Elliott's and mine, 
 
 (28) 
 
and just when he had things looking neat and 
 nice was taken away. 
 
 "Believe me, Mr. Elliott and myself did every 
 thing we could for him. We buried him in our 
 own graveyard. I preached the funeral sermon 
 from 2 Cor. v. i. The white people here came 
 to pay their last respects to him. Yona and the 
 child have not been very well of late, but they 
 are getting better. 
 
 "Now I must conclude by wishing you and 
 Mrs. B. long life to turn out such noble men as 
 our departed brother Umcitwa. 
 
 Believe me, yours sincerely, 
 
 BO WEN REES." 
 
 From Mr. Elliott : — 
 
 " Matabelelaxd, March 12th. 
 
 "My dear Mr. B : I was able last post 
 
 to send you good news of Umcitwa, though I 
 had feared it would have been otherwise. My 
 letter left here on Friday, very early. On the 
 previous Tuesday morning we arrive from the 
 king's, and found the poor fellow in bed, and very 
 weak. He was burning in fever. Wednesday 
 he was so much worse that Mr. Rees and I sat 
 up with him. Yona was far from well, and Elia 
 (the baby) very poorly. Thursday found him 
 very much better, quite himself, and apparently 
 free from fever. I had a long chat with him, 
 telling him about our trip and our visit to the 
 chief. He seemed anxious (with Yona) about 
 the state of the country, but I was able to allay 
 their fears very much. He was so much better 
 
 (29) 
 
that we unanimously agreed there was no need 
 to sit up with him Thursday night. Friday 
 morning dawned, and he was again worse. He 
 could not speak, and it was with difficulty he 
 received any food or medicine. Again we 
 watched out the Weary Friday night. 
 
 "Saturday morning saw him in much the 
 same condition, but the afternoon plainly told 
 us that he had sighted home. It was about 
 7 i\ M. that he very quietly, as with. a weary sigh 
 of relief, breathed his last. He had not spoken 
 since Thursday afternoon; then none of us had 
 any idea of the near approach of death. He 
 was perhaps too weak, for ever since the fever 
 left him he was in a constant bath of perspira- 
 tion. His eyes remained fixed on one spot. He 
 appears to have been to some extent conscious; 
 but no sign could we get that he heard anything 
 addressed to him, — no certainty. We buried 
 the poor remains on Sunday afternoon, all the 
 white people on the place attending. Mr. Mar- 
 tin, the one trader here, very kindly helped 
 make a coffin, and was very kind throughout the 
 last days of the poor fellow's life. 
 
 •' So ends our first attempt of getting a Zulu 
 evangelist among these people. It has been an 
 attempt full of anxiety and trouble, but certainly 
 I will not be the one to say that it has been fruit- 
 less. Time and the last day will show the influ- 
 ence Umcitwa has had on the people. I told 
 you, I think, in my last letter that on the previ- 
 ous Sunday to our return he spoke for about an 
 hour to the congregation. Then he lay down, 
 
 (30) 
 
and never rose again from that bed. He was 
 truly devoted to his work, and under very trying 
 circumstances consistently followed the Master 
 in giving himself for the people. He once made 
 the gift down there in Natal, and never once, in 
 word or deed, showed any desire to draw back. 
 Though sharing the infirmities of our poor im- 
 perfect nature, yet he won our respect and that 
 of all who knew him. The natives, heathen 
 though they are, have come to tell us of their 
 sympathy. How they have spoken to Yona, she 
 best will tell you by and by. She has recovered 
 very well and quickly. For some time we were 
 very anxious about her health, but that is now 
 past; and I hope that when this very trying 
 winter is over she will recover her old health. 
 We are still very anxious for baby. Poor little 
 lassie! this fever of a low type seems to hold 
 her fast. May God preserve her to her poor 
 mother ! 
 
 "Yona, of course, is with us again. She will 
 return to you when opportunity offers, which is 
 likely to be a long time coming. I have told her 
 that now she is living as one of us, and that I 
 hope she will take all opportunities of teaching. 
 Qf course, likewise, we shall expect her to take 
 her share in the work of the house, though there 
 is not very much she can do. 
 
 •'The great opportunities that exist for all of 
 us doing Christ's work here, lie mainly in daily 
 personal intercourse with them. When twenty 
 or thirty people come every day, either for medi- 
 cine, barter, or to sit and talk and watch, much 
 
 (30 
 
may be done; while in the more formal way of 
 teaching they cannot be reached. They do not 
 want to learn to read; but by God's grace we 
 may be able to set Christ before them, and so 
 stir their dark minds to desire him. 
 
 "With kindest regards and sympathy in this 
 our common sorrow, Yours, 
 
 W. A. ELLIOTT." 
 
 Surely only an indomitable will and uncon- 
 querable energy could have accomplished the 
 task of housebuilding in such a state of bodily 
 weakness and suffering, when the earthly taber- 
 nacle was being dissolved day by day. Yona 
 says it was a very comfortable house", with two 
 rooms, two windows, etc., — very much like the 
 home she left here at L'mzumbe. The timbers 
 were cut and brought for him, and little by little 
 he managed to complete the building. It was 
 his great desire to have a home among the 
 Matabele, and if he was to die, he wanted to die 
 in his own house. To his friends it is a comfort 
 to know that this desire was granted him. 
 
 And now, under the burden of this sore be- 
 reavement, we will hear the cry of poor Yona's 
 crushed and bleeding heart, entering, as it 
 proved, the shadow of another approaching 
 sorrow. A few words only could she write by 
 the first mail after the sad event. 
 
 " March 13, 1889. 
 
 " My very dear : I could hardly write on 
 
 this paper to-day, because of the great affliction 
 which has fallen upon me, — the death of I'm- 
 
 (3=0 
 
citvva, my loved husband. He has been so sick 
 since we came to this country, but still we have 
 been hoping that he would get his health again. 
 But I should let you know that I am half sorry 
 and half glad for him, because he is taken away 
 from such suffering, and is now happy. Just 
 think how I am left alone here all by myself, 
 with no one to tell my troubles to except the 
 missionaries! I wish very much to go back to 
 my own friends, but Mr. Elliott sees no chance 
 for me to go this time. Baby and I are not well 
 at all. Baby is very ill of teething. 
 
 Your friend, yona." 
 
 Only two or three days after these lines were 
 written came the second heavy blow, in the 
 death of her dear little one. Teething and fever 
 did the work, leaving poor Yona lonely and for- 
 saken thousands of miles away from home and 
 friends. Though for a time cast down she was 
 not destroyed. The God of all comfort was near, 
 and her Saviour's promises doubly precious. 
 
 The first letter we have from her after this 
 second bereavement is dated at Hope Fountain, 
 a station of the L. M. S. south of Inyati, where 
 she had gone for a change for her health. 
 
 " Hope Fountain, May 20, 18S9. 
 
 "My very dear Mrs. : I received your 
 
 loving letters Sunday night, and thank you very 
 much for your kind words of sympathy with me. 
 I knew how much sad you would be about 
 Umcitwa's death, — a man who was so faithful and 
 so patient in his work and also so truthful among 
 
 (33) 
 
these people. I am always glad to think about 
 this. Though he had left me without a penny, 
 yet I would be glad to have this witness about 
 him, that he was faithful unto death. 
 
 "I remember once when he first came here, 
 the people were gathered together to see us. He 
 said, as he was telling them about their Maker, 
 'Though I maybe killed, I shall never stop to 
 tell you this truth.' This gives me great delight, 
 better than all the treasures of the world. 
 
 "When these, my loved ones, were taken 
 away from me, I felt as if I would sing praises 
 like David, Ps. xcviii. i, 'O sing unto the Lord a 
 new song, for he hath done marvellous things ; 
 his right hand and his holy arm hath gotten 
 him the victory;' also Heb. xii. 5— II. 
 
 "I do pray for 3011 to be made well and happy 
 till the time comes, if God would spare me, to see 
 you again and all the Umzumbe people. Won't 
 that be nice for me ! Perhaps you don't know 
 that I am here at Hope Fountain for a change. 
 
 "I am so glad things are getting on nicely at 
 Umzumbe, and that there are so many girls in 
 the school. I am very thankful that Amy is so 
 well and happy. We are preparing for our 
 journey, so I must say good-bye. 
 
 Your loving friend, 
 
 YONA. 
 
 To a former teacher : — 
 
 '• Hope Fountain, June 7, 1SS9. 
 
 " My dear, dear Miss : Oh, who could 
 
 tell the joy that came to me the moment I saw 
 your handwriting outside the envelope ! But 
 
 (34) 
 
this I could tell, that it was a letter full of words 
 comforting my weary heart, words full of love 
 and sympathy. Yes, though these words brought 
 me back to the sad and sorrowful days, yet they 
 made me feel that I have friends still around me 
 to feel and to sympathize with me in all my 
 troubles. You do not know how much I have 
 wished you to write to me, but I know how 
 much suffering you use to have from your eyes 
 and headache, and I am sorry indeed to hear that 
 you still suffer from it. 
 
 ' "Yes, I have felt these burdens in my heart, 
 — loneliness, weariness, separation and heavy- 
 laden. And these words of the dear Saviour 
 have come to me so sweet and so restful when 
 He said, 1 Come unto me, all ye that are weary 
 and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' Since 
 I have come to him with my burden of sorrows, 
 I have found comfort and rest. He says, 'Fear 
 not, I am with thee.' ' Be strong and of a good 
 courage, and he will comfort thine heart.' Oh, 
 reading God's promises makes me feel happy all 
 day long, and I forget all my troubles." 
 
 "I am so glad to hear about Amy from you, — 
 that she is such a good little girl and tries to 
 learn; but, better than all, that she loves to repeat 
 verses from the Scripture. Oh. I do pray that 
 God would make the little girl to remember her 
 Creator in the days of her youth ! For her sake 
 I have asked God to preserve my life, if it is his 
 will, that I may see her once more to this 
 world." 
 
 Fortunate indeed was Yona in having such 
 
 (35) 
 
a noble friend and protector as the Rev. John 
 Moffat, "Assistant Commissioner in British 
 Bechuanaland". Though burdened as he was 
 with the welfare of the Matabele nation, and of 
 the European "Chartered Company"; standing, 
 as it were, in the breach between two nations, 
 even at the risk of his own life, — yet he could 
 give time and thought to consider the interests 
 and well-being of a poor, lone native woman, 
 and the way by which she could most comfortably 
 and safely be conveyed back to home and friends. 
 Many were the letters he wrote to us on this sub- 
 ject; showing how wisely and carefully he was 
 planning this matter for her and for us. A few 
 extracts from these letters will be read with in- 
 terest. 
 
 " Matabelelaxd, Sept. 2, 1889. 
 
 "My dear Mr. : Your letter of July 27 
 
 reached me two days ago. I had already ar- 
 ranged with Yona to take her as far as Mafe- 
 king with my own wagon, and to arrange for her 
 onward journey to Natal. All this must, of 
 course, depend upon my own movements. I 
 should be glad to get away soon, but it is quite 
 uncertain when I shall be at liberty to go south- 
 wards. Such opportunities as occur occasion- 
 ally would be quite unsuitable. It would not be 
 fair to a poor, lonely woman, to send her with 
 any but trustworthy people. When once I can 
 make a move, it will be simple enough as far as 
 Mafeking. My wagon boys are of our old Kuru^ 
 man stock, who would behave well to Yona. 
 
 (36) 
 
The driver is a church member. The difficulty 
 would commence at Mafeking. There is the jour- 
 ney from that place to Kimberly, two hundred 
 •and forty miles, which would have to be done by 
 post cart or by wagon, then the railway journey 
 of thirty-six hours to Port Elizabeth, then the 
 voyage. Natives are not well treated always. 
 If I were going down myself, it would be sim- 
 pler; but I am not sure of anything, being a 
 man in harness and under orders. 
 
 'Tf Yona could get across overland, it might be 
 better. ... I will do all I can, and write you 
 as soon as I know of my own movements. 
 
 "I felt very much for Yona and her late hus- 
 band. He has gone to his reward; but she has 
 the heavier trial, — left without husband and child 
 in a land of strangers. 
 
 '•The missionaries have a difficult life in that 
 country. I know nothing parallel to it in the 
 annals of missions. Thirty years and no results ; 
 at least no such results as can be made tangible. 
 I do not think there will be results till God's 
 ploughshare has turned over and broken up the 
 whole Matabele system of cruel despotism, which 
 is simply a repetition on a meaner scale of what 
 you had in your neighborhood in Zululand. 
 
 • Now that they have waited so long, they may 
 as well wait for the events of the next twelve 
 months, for great movements are impending. 
 
 "In the Providence of God I have been taken, 
 out of direct missionary work; but I don't think 
 I could have sat here all these years and waited, 
 I should have felt called to go to other tribes 
 
more ready to receive the gospel. But I must 
 not judge others. 
 
 "My best wishes are with you in your work. 
 
 "Yours sincerely, j s. moffat." 
 
 IV. HOMEWARD. 
 
 The next is from Mr. Elliott : — 
 
 "Inyati, March 4, 1S90. 
 
 "At last Yona has started. It is nearly three 
 weeks since I took her over to Hope Fountain, 
 there to await Mr. Moffat's departure. I hear 
 that the final start was made on Thursday last; 
 but no doubt you will hear from Yona. both as 
 to this and as to her progress on her journey. 
 We hope and pray that she will reach you in 
 safety. Mr. Moffat will do the best for her, so 
 that we with you may all rest satisfied- — tree from 
 anxiety. We commend her earnestly to our 
 Father and Protector. . . . 
 
 "And now we will follow Yona as she joyfully 
 pursues her homeward way. The same way over 
 which she passed two years before; but the cir- 
 cumstances, — oh, how changed ! Iler dearest and 
 best had been taken to the better world, and yet 
 she was not friendless. Like as a father did her 
 noble friend Mr. Moffat provide and care for her. 
 She can find no words to express her apprecia- 
 tion of such kindness, or her admiration of one 
 who so magnanimously befriended her in time of 
 need." 
 
 Of her arrival there she thus writes, March 5, 
 1890 : — 
 
 (3S) 
 
"I am glad to write and tell you that we :ire 
 here at New Mangwato. So you see that Mr. 
 Moffat has made a start at last. We left Hope 
 F. on the 20th of February, and came to Tati 
 on the 25th, and from there to Mangwato (Pa- 
 lapye) took us about four or five days (on Sunday 
 we stop travelling). I cannot tell you the joy I 
 have, to think I am travelling towards home. I 
 am just feeling the hand of the Lord upon me all 
 the way long. His goodness has been shown to 
 us every moment by road since we came out of 
 Matabele country. We have had no rains nor 
 stickings to hinder us. We are travelling on 
 very fast. 
 
 "I hope Mr. Elliott has written to you, as he 
 said he was going to. So I think you know that 
 I am coming before I told you. I hope to be 
 brought among you before long. I shall not 
 write much this time ; to know that I am coming 
 is quite enough for you, is it not? I do hope 
 that you are all well, and the little girl Amy. 
 May it please the Lord to keep you and me safe 
 from all sickness and danger till we shall see 
 each other again, is the prayer of your absent 
 friend, yoxa." 
 
 The next letter which came to us from Vona 
 was sent from Kimberly, April 27, 1S90: — 
 
 "My dear Mrs. : Yes, it seems that I am 
 
 getting nearer and nearer to the dear old place 
 that I have loved so well. I hope it will not be 
 long before I reach it. I think it was five o'clock 
 this morning when I woke up, ar>^. I could n.ot 
 
 (39) 
 
fall asleep any more because I was thinking so 
 much about the day when I shall see you all 
 again at Umzumbe. It has been mingled joy 
 and sorrow, as I was thinking also about some 
 of tbe things that have grieved me so much since 
 my great luss, so nothing would you expect but 
 streams of tears rolling down my cheeks." 
 
 The good hand of God was upon her all the 
 way through the long, lonely ride of two days 
 and a night by train and the three days and 
 nights by sea, protecting her against bad white 
 men, against whom her purity proved invul- 
 nerable. 
 
 She reached Port Elizabeth just in time, for the 
 steamer as it called on its way from the Cape to 
 Port Natal, Saturday, May 4th, and landed in 
 Durban the following Tuesday. 
 
 She was now one week distant from her child 
 and from Umzumbe. She would call at Adams 
 Mission Station on the way, have a few days' 
 rest with teachers and friends there, and then 
 press on. Ten miles by train and then ten more 
 afoot, accompanied by friends who had come 
 from Adams to meet her, brought her to that 
 place, — two years and two months from the time 
 when with husband and a two weeks' old child 
 she had started on her long journey to Matabele- 
 land. Two eventful years indeed in poor Yona's 
 life ! Years in which she had lost much of 
 earth, and gained much of heaven; years of 
 golden experience in the life of faith and of 
 growth in Christian character and love. 
 
 But the Umzumbe home-coming! To what 
 (40) 
 
shall we compare it? Was it something like the 
 return of Naomi from the hind of her exile and 
 of her widowhood ? But Yona came alone; no 
 Ruth, no friend attended her. A cart had been 
 provided to bring her from Adams, and there 
 were the driver and leader boy. So she was 
 mostly left to her own sad, sweet meditations, on 
 that three days' ride. 
 
 We had no certain knowledge of her coming on 
 that day, but when by chance we heard that she 
 was approaching over the distant hills, forthwith 
 a happy company, with Amy in the midst, started 
 out to meet her. We had never allowed the 
 child to forget her mother's name. " Dear 
 Mamma Yona, away oft' in Matabeleland," 
 where she had gone to teach the people about 
 Jesus, was the daily topic of our conversations 
 with the little girl. But the period from twenty 
 jnonths to three years and a half in the age of a 
 child works wondrous changes, and little Amy 
 had reached high attainments for one of her 
 small age. She had not felt the need of a 
 mother's love and care, and now perhaps did not 
 altogether like the suggestion of calling a native 
 woman mother. Possibly she had begun to in- 
 dulge a slight feeling of superiority over the 
 other children, in noticing the contrast of her 
 home life with theirs. On this account the 
 coming of her own mother to bring her more to 
 a level with her own associates was a blessing 
 which she failed to understand. She could not 
 enter into the demonstrations of joy at her 
 mother's arrival which she saw all around her. 
 
 (40 
 
She even ventured the ungrateful remark that 
 "My mamma Yona must stay in the cart !" For- 
 tunately, however, Yona did not hear this. 
 
 But Am}' was only too delighted to join the 
 partv starting out to meet some one whom she 
 had learned to call mother. That meeting is a 
 seen for the imagination rather than the pen. 
 To suppose that it was without demonstration of 
 feeling on Yona's part would be unnatural. She 
 had dismounted from her perch in the cart and 
 approached us walking. Laughing and crying 
 by turns, she embraced her littje one, and with 
 exclamations of joy and surprise threw herself 
 on the grass by the roadside, caressing her child 
 to her heart's content. Little Amy, quite .unap- 
 preciative of the occasion for any excitement, 
 stood in blank amazement and passive recep- 
 tivity. Truly it was an occasion of deepest joy 
 and rejoicing to us all. Praise and thanksgiving 
 filled all our hearts. Yona had returned safe and 
 sound, after all her tribulations and bereave- 
 ments, and after all her perils and dangers by 
 sea and land. 
 
 And it came to pass that when she was come 
 to Umzumbe all the city was moved, and said, 
 Is this Yona? For she went out full, and the 
 Lord has brought her home again emptv 
 
 We took her right into our own house for a 
 time, and after a few weeks she found a home in 
 a little cottage close by. Among the many 
 places where her services were needed it was not 
 easy to decide which work she should take up. 
 The Station School was in want of a teacher, 
 
 (42) 
 
and at last it was arranged that she should fill 
 that vacancy, at the same time having a few 
 boys under her care as boarders in their little 
 home. 
 
 In June was held at Umzumbe the Annual 
 Meeting of American Missionaries, at which 
 about forty white people attended for five days. 
 Yona willingly took her place as one of the 
 cooks on this occasion, and was a real help. In 
 August she took up her school duties, having 
 about forty children under her charge. Fora few 
 weeks all went well, and we hoped our plan 
 would prove successful. We were feeling much 
 satisfaction in the assurance that the children 
 had a teacher who was interested in their souls' 
 welfare and in their moral deportment and 
 character 
 
 But after two or three weeks Yona showed 
 signs of languor. She thought it was her old 
 up-country fever coming to pay her a visit, and 
 with quinine and other weapons strove to with- 
 stand his entrance. But such gentle measures 
 were powerless, and to our dismay we soon 
 found that she was laboring under typhoid fever. 
 
 Delirium gave the first serious alarm. — a de- 
 lirium which seemed to take her from the scenes 
 of earth and made her eloquent on heavenly 
 themes. For more than forty-eight hours she 
 gave us one almost incessant discourse on the 
 things of Christ and the church triumphant. 
 She seemed to have forsaken the earthly, and to 
 be dwelling with things unseen in the very 
 presence of the King. She was enraptured with 
 
 (43) 
 
the thought that "Christ, the Lion of the tribe 
 of Judah, is coming to prevail, and to purify his 
 church." Again: "The Bridegroom was com- 
 ing! Oh, don't you see him! he is coming, 
 dressed in beautiful robes. He is coming I Why 
 don 7 you shout ? Why don't you sing f I can't, 
 thy throat is so dry." Again : "The bells of 
 heaven are ringing; Jesus is there, and Urn- 
 citwa. Oh, so beautiful, and the bells are so 
 sweet! Oh, you must hear them ; all the world 
 must hear! . . . Through the weak things of the 
 world He has shown his glory, His Son's glory. 
 Are the lamps burning, full of oil?" At another 
 time it was John, with the long white beard, 
 from the isle of Patmos : "He has his hands on 
 the rope: now one stroke, one more stroke, 
 John! I want my ears opened; I can hear it! 
 Oh, how sw r eet!" She was gazing intently, — 
 eye and ear alert for every sight and sound. 
 Presently the bell for chapel rang. She started. 
 "Oh. what is that? Is that the bell of the church 
 on earth ? It is not so sweet as the bells of 
 heaven." Again her talk was of the Matabele 
 missionaries and Mr. Moffat, — her good, kind 
 Mr. Moffat, that great man, — all must put on 
 their best clothes and get ready for him; noth- 
 ing could be too good, too nice for him." 
 
 She had much to say of what "Jesus says." 
 To her this was an end of all controversy. 
 When she demurred at taking her medicine, and 
 we told her we thought Jesus would like her to 
 take it, there was no further resistance. One 
 time she said. "Jesus tells me I shall not die, 
 
 '44) 
 
but will get well to help these poor women." A 
 welcome assurance was that, for we had many 
 fears that this sickness might be fatal to her and 
 to all our hopes for the good work she would do 
 among the people so much needing her influ- 
 ence. 
 
 It was a pleasure to care for a patient so ap- 
 preciative and uncomplaining. Her sister, too, 
 was her constant attendant, and very helpful. 
 Thus the Lord carried us all through this*long, 
 anxious season. His mercies, "new every morn- 
 ing and fresh every evening," gave needed and 
 increasing strength ; and by October, Yona 
 seemed quite her former self, and ready to ask 
 what the Lord would have her do. 
 
 Gardening time was then upon us, and it was 
 a pleasure to her to dig, and plant, and weed, as 
 all native women love to do, — while abundant 
 rains gave promise of large returns. By this 
 kind of exercise she was helped to regain her 
 former tone and vigor. Schools opened with the 
 new year, and in school work Yona was again 
 needed. 
 
 Classes in the Home in the morning, giving 
 lessons in Zulu in the afternoon, aiding in boys' 
 evening school, were some of her duties; which, 
 together with work in the Christian Endeavor 
 Society, where she was secretary and treasurer, 
 a large and important class in Sunday school, 
 the care of her home, her little girl and one boy, 
 kept her at least from idleness. — while her ex- 
 ample and general influence everywhere were 
 invaluable. 
 
 (4S) 
 
In some respects her life at Umzumbe might 
 not meet her full ideal. She missed her husband 
 everywhere. She needed the stimulus of his 
 prompt, energetic spirit, and the support of his 
 strong, helpful nature. The people, her Chris- 
 tian friends among the natives, were kind and 
 sympathizing in their way; but the refining 
 process Yona had gone through had raised her 
 so far above their level, that really congenial 
 spirits are very few. Of her sharpest trial, con- 
 nected with near family friends, we cannot here 
 speak. 
 
 Let Christians pray that the life so well begun, 
 so severely tried, may be kept safely on the path 
 of Christian endeavor and usefulness. 
 
 Should this brief story of Umcitwa and Yona, 
 the first Zulu missionaries to the Matabele, serve 
 to awaken in any hearts a deeper interest for 
 Christ's work in Africa, and bring into clearer 
 light the grand truth that color is no hindrance 
 to God's grace, that work in his name for the 
 most ignorant of every clime is as bread cast upon 
 the waters, found after many days, then will the 
 purpose of this writing have been secured. 
 
 Since the writing of this story the sad news 
 of Yona's death has been received. A few ex- 
 tracts from Mrs. Bridgman's letters will best 
 describe the closing scenes :- — 
 
 "Thursday, p. m., December 10. 
 
 "The conflict is over at last. The poor, weak 
 body has yielded up the spirit, and our Yona is 
 in the blessed mansions with her Saviour. — a ran- 
 
 (46) ' . 
 
somed soul, to be forever with the Lord. Oh, 
 what a triumph is this! Satan and death are 
 vanquished. She is beyond their reach, and be- 
 yond suffering, and pain, and sorrow forever and 
 forever! She passed away at half-past five this 
 morning. . . . But oh ! if I could only give you 
 a picture of her as she lies there (in her coffin). 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ransom have done so much to 
 give beauty and attractiveness to the dear, life- 
 less form, beautiful in itself indeed. The same 
 lovely, peaceful look on her face that we always 
 enjoyed so much, — her head turned ju«>t a little 
 one side, giving the appearance of quiet repo.-e ; 
 a pretty white muslin scarf folded across her 
 breast with a rose set in it, and beautiful roses 
 all around her head; flowers white and blue at 
 the end of the table, while upon the cover of the 
 coffin are a crown of white flowers, two palm 
 leaves crossed, and three blue water lilies. I 
 think many of the people to-day will learn a 
 lesson they have never learned before. . . . 
 Nearly all the Station people were in the chapel ; 
 'Zulu kaya lami'( Heaven is my home) was sung, 
 also 'The Great Physician now is near', as that 
 was a hymn Yona enjoyed in her sickness. . . . 
 We had a bundle of palm leaves ready to lay 
 above the coffin after it was lowered into its 
 place; then while the earth was being filled in, 
 'Rock of Ages,' 'Jesus, Lover of My Soul,' etc., 
 were sung, while our thoughts were with the 
 bright and happy spirit who had just winged her 
 flight to the presence of Redeeming Love, and we 
 tried to imagine something of the transporting, 
 
 (47) 
 
perfect bliss which she now enjoys. . . . During 
 her sickness it was very hard for her to speak, 
 and much that she tried to say Ave could not un- 
 derstand. . . . Most patiently and uncomplain- 
 ingly did she bear her sickness. Sometimes her 
 mind was clouded, and she would say that God 
 had forsaken her. 'I am such a sinner. Satan's 
 power is so strong. Talk to me of Jesus. I need 
 your help,' etc. She enjoyed nothing so much 
 as texts about Jesus, and the songs of praise and 
 salvation which were sung to her. . . . One day 
 Amy came into the room ; Yona was pleased at 
 first, then burst into tears, saying, 'I am too 
 weak to pray for Amy now.' . . . Amy, of 
 course, does not realize her loss at all. We have 
 explained it to her as best we can. We shall, of 
 course, keep her in the Home at present. I don't 
 know of any better place than Umzumbe for 
 her. . . . Such a character as Yona's is rare in 
 any land, and brightly does it shine amid the 
 dense darkness of a heathen people, or in a com- 
 munity semi-heathen, as upon our stations. . . . 
 O what a loss to us and the work here ! She 
 was like a daughter or a sister in so many ways, 
 and we hoped so much for the help she would be 
 to the new teachers. We cannot see or under- 
 stand. It is all dark to earthly view; but we do 
 know God reigns. He loves his own cause, and 
 cannot err. So here we will try to rest, — hum- 
 bly and earnestly hoping and praying that a 
 blessing may follow."