to 



of iije 

tt af 



Professor T.F. Mcllwraith 



IT 






CHEIb .AN ADVENTURES IN SOUTH AFHICA. 




KKV. WILLIAM TAYLOIC. 



CHRISTIAN ADVENTURES 



SOUTH AFRICA. 



KEY. WILLIAM TAYLOR, 

OF THE INDIAN MISSION CONFERENCE. 



AUTHOR OF 

CALIFORNIA LIFE ILLUSTRATED," "ADDRESS TO YOUNG AMERICA 

" SEVEN YEARS STREET-PREACHING IN SAN FRANCISCO," 

" RECONCILIATION: OR, HOTV TO BE SAVED," 

"THE MODEL PREACHER," ETC. 



"St. Paul declared particularly what things God had wrought among th Gentila* 
by his ministry. And when they heard it they glorified the Lord." fc. LUK . 



ELEVENTH THOUSAND. 



NELSON & PHILLIPS, 805, BKOADWAY. 

1877. 




3555 




)877 




794686 



HazeD, Watson, ami Viney, Printers, London and Aylesbury. 



Ill 



PEEFACE. 



numerous facts and incidents contained in. 
this volume are illustrative, first, of the history, 
extent, resources, population, and varied life of South 
Africa ; and second, of Christian adventures in 
South Africa, in great variety, through a period of 
fifty years, but especially of the recent great work 
of God in Cape Colony, Kaffraria, and Natal. I had 
no " guide books " from which to copy, but derived 
my facts from their original sources. I am in 
debted for some historical matter to Wilmofs Essay 
on the " Rise, Progress, and Present Condition of 
Cape Colony/ and to Rev. Wm. Shaw s very inter- 



?1 PREFACB 

esting workj The Story of my Mission, and for statis 
tical matter to the Colonial Blue Books, but the 
mass of my facts and incidents are fresh from their 
original life sources, accompanied by the names of 
their living actors and observers. 

THE AUTHOR 

London, November 30M, 1867. 



INTRODUCTION. 



1. As this interesting and remarkable narrative 
will probably be read by many who are but partially 
informed respecting Christian Missions in South 
Africa, it appears desirable to state, that, within 
and beyond Cape Colony and Natal, four of the prin 
cipal English Missionary Societies, one American, 
two Scotch, and five Foreign Societies, occupy 
among them about two hundred and twenty-four 
principal Stations, and employ above two hundred 
and seventy European Missionaries, besides Nstire 



Viii UTTRODUCTION. 

Assistants. This appears to be a large supply of 
Ministerial Agency to meet the spiritual wants of a 
population not exceeding by the highest calculation 
much more than a million of souls ; and contrasts 
strangely with the disproportionate number of Mission 
aries labouring in India and China ; but, on the other 
hand, it must be kept in mind that this population 
is widely scattered over an area of more than a mil 
lion of square miles : rendering a larger amount ol 
agency necessary than where the population is more 
dense ; and, further, that many of the Missionaries, 
acting as Pastors of European and native congregations 
in the Cape and Natal Colonies, as well as in the two 
Dutch Republics, are, to a great extent, supported 
by local resources. The leading Societies have, of 
late years, been paying special attention to the train 
ing of a native ministry, and with some measure of 
success. Meanwhile, the languages of South Africa 
have been mastered : grammars and dictionaries com 
piled : and translations of the "Word of God and of 
other books have been executed with considerable 
ability. A small reading population has been called 
into existence, and the civilizing influences of Chris 
tianity have been widely spread. The Wesleyan 



INTRODUCTION. x 

Mission, with which Mr. Taylor came most in 
contact, occupies fifty-three Stations, employs 
sixty- one Missionaries, and reports ten thousand one 
hundred and eight church members. It is calculated 
that nearly sixty thousand persons, including members 
and scholars, are regular attendants on the public 
ministry of the Missionaries of this Society. Other 
Societies have equal reason, in the retrospect of their 
labours, to thank God fc^ the measure of success 
vouchsafed to them, and to take courage for the 
future. 

2. Compared with the accounts of the success of 
Homish Missionaries in pagan lands, the results of 
Protestant Missions appear to disadvantage. But 
Popery is satisfied with conformity to forms and 
ceremonies. The administration of baptism and a 
professed assent to the creeds of the Church, are its 
main conditions of membership ; while Protestant 
Missionaries are not satisfied without a reasonable 
proof of genuine sincerity, and of the beginnings at 
least of a spiritual work. It is possible that they err 
on the side of scrupulousness, by requiring a higher 
degree of knowledge and of moral progress before 
baptism than is absolutely necessary ; but this is an 



X INTRODUCTION 

error on the right side. The increase of the churches 
in heathendom must, under such circumstances, be 
very slow in the beginning ; but we must not judge 
of the success of such Missions by the paucity of 
genuine converts. This habit of "numbering the 
people," which was David s sin of vanity and self- 
confidence, when applied to modern Missions, is a 
temptation to certain minds to despair. We forget 
the " upper room " and that " the number of names 
together were about one hundred and twenty/ 
(Acts i. 13-15.) Spiritual influence cannot be repre 
sented in figures. It baffles our arithmetic. Half 
a century or more of preparation and labour may 
present few converts in response to our eager inquiry 
for results ; and then we are in danger of crying in 
unbelief, " Can these dry bones live ? " At such a 
crisis it frequently occurs, that some man of God is 
raised up " to prophesy upon the bones, and to cry 
unto them, 0, ye dry bones, hear the word of 
the Lord ; " and thus " a noise " and " a shaking/ 
followed by the breath of the Spirit infusing spiritual 
life into those who had been spiritually dead. 
(Ezek. xxxvii.) In this mode of procedure, God 
vindicates His sovereignty, teaching us the t " neither 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

is he that planteth anything, nor he that water eth : 
but God that giveth the increase." (1 Cor. i. 37.) 

3. It is no disparagement of Mr. Taylor s ser 
vices, to apply to him the words addressed by our 
blessed Saviour to the disciples " And herein is that 
saying true, One soweth and another reapeth. I 
sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no la 
bour : other men laboured ; and ye are entered into 
their labours. " (John iv. 37, 38.) The toilsome 
and perhaps thankless labours of more than one race 
of Missionaries had prepared the people to under 
stand and receive good from the ministry of this 
honoured servant of God, and to God alone be as 
cribed all the glory. It is pleasing to observe the 
cordial reception given by the Missionaries to this 
stranger from afar, and their no less hearty rejoicing 
over the results of his ministry. All human littlenesses 
disappeared in the presence of these spiritual mani 
festations, which solemnly testified that Jehovah - 
Christ was passing by ; " forgiving iniquity, trans 
gression, and sin." (Exodus xxxiv. 7.) Mr. Taylor s 
unassuming manners, together with his scrupulous 
delicacy in abstaining from interfering in matters 
properly the exclusive business of the pastors and 



Xll INTRODUCTION. 

church, officers, contributed, no doubt, materially to 
the ready acceptance and grateful acknowledgment 
of his services. Ministers in general, honoured the 
gift of God in him, manifesting, on this occasion, the 
enlarged sympathy of the great Jewish legislator, 
when he said : " Would God that all the Lord s 
people \vere prophets, and that the Lord would put 
His Spirit upon them." (Exodus xi. 29). 

4. No one can read the Notices of the Wesley an 
Methodist Missionary Society from October 1866, to 
November 1867, and the Annual Report for 1866, 
without being convinced, that, a great and glorious 
revival of religion has taken place in South Africa, 
among Europeans and natives, and not only among the 
Methodist Societies, but also among other religious 
bodies. The native work has partaken largely of 
this blessed outpouring of the Spirit. Whilst be 
lievers have been strengthened and confirmed, the 
careless have been quickened, sinners have been con 
vinced of sin, and have found peace with God. The 
extraordinary nature of the work, the power which 
attended the preaching, and its immediate results, 
seem to have affected even the heathen mind. It 
appeared as if God were speaking to them in the 



INTRODUCTION. Xlll 

words of the prophet : " Behold ye among the heathen, 
and regard and wonder marvellously : for I will 
work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, 
though it be told you." (Habakkuk i. 5.) Bevivals 
of religion were not unknown in South Africa, but 
hitherto they had been of a local character ; this was 
more general, and, is we trust but the beginning of 
a great spiritual work which shall go on until the 
most distant tribes and nations partake of the bless 
ing. South Africa is one of the most accessible 
gates of entrance into a large portion of the conti 
nent. The prospect of extensive usefulness in regions 
far beyond our present field, we regard as the justi- 
cation of our large outlay on the comparatively 
small population of the Colony and its adjacent 
territory. Such were the views and the hopes of the 
two great and good men who were the pioneers 
of Wesleyan Missions in South Africa. They knew 
that in their very nature they must be aggressive, 
and that the Colonial and Frontier Stations were to 
be regarded but as stepping-stones to the regions 
beyond. BARNABAS SHAW has gone to his reward. 
WILLIAM SHAW happily yet lives to rejoice in the 
" showers of blessing " which have been poured out 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PROVIDENTIAL MISSION TO SOUTH AFRICA. 

PW 

The author leaves California. Labours as an evangelist in 
most of the United States and Canadas. Visits England, 
Ireland, Asia Minor, Palestine, Egypt. Labours nearly 
three years in the Australias, New Zealand, and Tasma 
nia. Dr. James Brown. Dr. A. Moffatt. Author s trip 
to "Wallaroo. Rev Mr. Flockhart. Startling telegram. 
Glad tidings. Rev. Mr. Caldwell. Uis undying energy. 
His death. His widow. Rev. C. T. Newman. Evil 
tidings. Church opening at the " Moonta." Hasty re 
treat. Voyage to Sydney. Author meets his family. 
Touching scenes. Watches a sick son at the gates of 
death for many weary weeks. Returns to South Australia. 
Sails for the Cape of Good Hope. Rev. James Calvert. 
Safe arrival. Parkes Hotel. Rev. John Thomas. Rev. 
Samuel Hardey - .... l-ll 

CHAPTER IL 

GAPE COLONY. 

Synoptical History of the Colony. Population. The Dutch. 
The English. The Malays. The Hottentots and Bas- 
ards. The Kaffirs. The Fingoes. Government of the 
Colony 12-2* 



11 CONTENTS. 

Fage 

CHAPTER in. 

GAPE TOWN. 

Its topography, surrounding scenery. Population. Insti 
tutions. Churches. Sir George Grey. Rev. A. Murray, 
Junior. Historic reminiscences. Henry Reed, Esq. His 
Malay boatman. His detention in Cape Town. His ad 
ventures in Small-pox Hospital. Mrs. Gunn s boarding- 
house. Reed s interview with Rev. Mr. Hodgson. The 
native Christian hero and the lion. Author s first Sab 
bath in Cape Town. Sunday-school Anniversary. Mr. 
Filmer s speech. Special services in Cape Town, and re 
sults. Rev. "Wm. Impey. Voyage to Port Elizabeth - 26-37 

CHAPTER IV. 

PORT ELIZABETH. 

Rev. John Richards. Roman Catholic Church opening. 
Independent minister installed. Too late for posters. 
The chapel. Visit among the shops. Incredulous laugh 
of the Local Preacher. Mr. Sidney Hill. Series of ser 
vices, with facts and incidents. Preaching in Court 
house Square. Wayside illustrations. The old Califor- 
nian and his story. Joseph Tale, the tall Kaffir. Preach 
ing to the natives. Calls from the interior - - 38-47 

CHAPTER V. 

TIITENHAGE. 

Jones s carriage and pair. Travelling companions. The 
beard question. Captain George Appleby. Rev. Purdon 
Smailes. Wool- washing on the Zwart Kops River. 
Dutch Reformed Church. Rev. Mr. Steytler. A chapel 
ready for the " moles and bats." Services in the Dutch 
Church. Plan of conducting a prayer-meeting. The 
dash of the Dutchman. " Satan is getting more polite 
each day of our meeting." Preaching to the Kaffirs in a 
wood-shed. Post-cart travelling - 48-61 



CONTEXTS. 1U 

Pege 

CHAPTER VI. 

GRAHAM S TOWN. 

History, topography, churches, population, &c. "Com 
memoration Chapel." Mr. "W. A. Bichards. Hon. R. 
Godlonton. Eev. \V. J. Davis. Eev. G. H. Green. 
" Horse sickness." Opening of the campaign. Disap 
pointment of the friends. Removing hindrances. Venti 
lating the chapel. " Brother Atwill." " The Apollos of 
South Africa." "Caed mela faltha." Christian states 
men. The widow Ayliff and her tall sons. " Old Brother 
Sparks" 62-74 

CHAPTER VII. 
GRAHAM S TOWN (CONTINUED). 

Review of the series of three weeks. Fellowship -meeting. 
Rev. Mr. Holford. Illustrative facts and incidents. 
Celebration of the Queen s birthday. " Mr. Taylor, I 
have come to ask your pardon for what I have been 
thinking about you." " The right impulse at the right 
moment." Getting off the old Jewish track of "going 
about to establish their own righteousness " into the only 
way of salvation. The Sergeant s long struggle. Sudden 

conversions. Sir D and the barber. Preaching 

through an interpreter. Mr. D. Penn. Seventy miles 
journey - - - - - - - 75-87 

CHAPTER VIII. 

KING WILLIAM S TOWN. 

The old pioneer, Rev. John Brownlie. Wesleyan Chapel. 
Rev. J. Fish. A Colonial audience. " Bar of reserve 
and prejudice broken down." The missionary s account 
of the work. " A Kaffir came running with the message 
that four missionaries were in the path. " Rev. John 
Scott. Rev. Robert Lamplough, and his Kaffir preachers. 
Rev. Brother Sawtell and his Fin^oes. Charles Pamla. 



! V CONTENTS. 

Pag 

Better to Mr. Impey. Rev. J. W. Appkyard and his 
Kaffir Bible. George Impey, Esq., and Ms dying tri 
umphs. Rev. Mr. Hillier, his success, his sudden death. 
Mr. Joseph Walker. Kaffirs mounted on young bullocks. 
Journeying incidents .... - 88-107 

CHAPTER IX. 

ANNSHAW. 

Chief Kama and his Kaffirs. Mr. Shaw s mission among 
them. Rev. Wm. Sargent. Kama s refusal to take a 
second wife. His piety and courage. Kaffir huts. " Bro 
ther Lamplough gave me Charles to interpret for me." 
Private lecture on " naturalness." Lights and scenes of 
the first service. Grandeur of the night service. Hymn 
and tune put into Kaffir on the first hearing. " Don t 
send them off to the river to battle with Satan alone, 
and take a bad cold as well." Stirring scenes. Glorious 
results. Mr. Harper. Trip to Lovedale. Rev. J. Wil 
son. Fort Beaufort. Good tidings from Annshaw. 
Lamplough s reports. Illustrative incidents. The hea 
then lame man. The old heathen convert and his two 
wives. " Our last stroke is being levelled against Kaffir 
beer." Witnesses for Jesus. How the deaf and dumb 
testified. How the heathen try to explain it. Persecu 
tions ...--.- 108-135 

CHAPTER X. 

PORT BEAUFORT. 

Population and surroundings. Rev. John Wilson. Strong 
force from Graham s Town. Specimens of the work of 
the Spirit. " A sacrifice, indeed ? Why, it s a glorious 

riddance ! " Mrs. D changed her mind. Mr. James 

Roberts, a man of Providence for Kaffrarian adventures. 
" Wars in the path." Missionary s report of the work as 
" great and glorious." Work among the natives. " That 
shawl ! that shawl !" - - -136-148 



OOXTETJTS. T 

"age 

CHAPTER XL 

HEALD TOWN. 

" Industrial School." Governor Grey. Rev. Win. Sargent. 
Rev. John Ayliff. Theological Institution. Rev. Wm. 
Impey. Rev. R. Lamplough. Mission press. The mon 
keys by the way. Mr. T. Templer. Barnabas. Siko 
Radas. The marriage. The sermon. The missionary in 
his report of that day says, " What a day ! I know not 
how to record it ! " Second day greater than the first. 
" I realized by faith, on that occasion, what I never can 
explain." "If you know all this time that black follow 
going to hell, why you no tell black fellow till now ? " 
Caring for the lambs. "Satan is conquered," &c. "My 
Father has set me free," &c. Marvellous results. Con 
tinued progress. T. Templer s poem. Permanency of the 
work - - 149-177 

CHAPTER XII. 

SOMERSET EAST. 

Journey. Adelaide. Rev. P. Davidson. The Dutch " Xag- 
mal." Benjamin Trollip and his son. Bedford. Mr. 
Francis King. Rev. Mr. Solomon. King s adventures 
among the "Bushmen." "Dig away, you ll find plenty 
of honey in there ! " "I was awakened by something cold 
touching my toe." Rev. John Edwards. Rev. Wm. 
Shaw. R. Hart, Esq. " Government Farm." Large 
circuit. Mr. Nash. Mr. Burch. Work among the 
whites and natives. Remarkable narrative of missionary 
adventures, from Rev. J. Edwards. Daniel, the Fingo 
Prophet - - . 178-191 

CHAPTER XIII. 

GKADOCK. 

Mr. Sargent, senior. " Dagga Boer." The Trollip family. 
The rebel Hottentots. Prejudices against i&e native races. 



VI CONTENTS. 

Pag* 

Kaffir fidelity. Dr. Adam Clarke s prayer. Rev. W. 
Chapman. Cradock. Dutch farmers. Eev. John Taylor. 
Hon. Henry Tucker, M.L.C. Hon. Samuel Cawood, 
M.L.C. John and William Webb. Mr. H. Park. Jack, 
the Kaffir. The Gospel preached in three languages at 
once. Glorious results ----- 192-205 

CHAPTER XIV. 

QUEEN S TOWN. 

Journeying with Brother Tucker. Mr. Hines. " Tarkiss- 
taat." Queen s Town. Eev. H. II. Dugmore. Governor 
Cathcart s generosity. Messrs. Shaw, Barnes, Elliott, 
and Jakins. " Joyful tidings to write to my sister in 
Tasmania." The blind widow and her sons. Dugmore s 
preaching on "The American Preacher." Lesseyton. 
Eev. J. Bertram. Wm. Bambana, "the head man." 
" Dear me, this is horrible ! Here are hundreds of thirsty 
souls, and I can t tell them how to come to the river ! " 
James Eoberts. M. Stuart Taylor. Charles Pamla. 
Tidings from Annshaw. Fellowship-meeting. John 
Weekly. Wm. Trollip, twenty years a seeker, and 
thirty years a Christian. A soldier s courage tried - 206-223 

CHAPTEE XV 

KAMASTONE. 

Rev. Wm. Shepstone. Moonlight stroll with Stuart. Kaffir 
pony for Stuart. Description of the audience. Eemark- 
able scenes. " I never knew that I was such a sinner till 
the Holy Ghost shined into me." "0, I felt nasty." 
"Walked forty-six miles to get to this meeting." "She 
seems to be a near relation to the antediluvians." 
Perfect loyalty, faith, and love preached to Kaffirs. The 
"ivy" and "milkwood" illustration. Effect of Pamla s 
address on Mr. Shepstone. Eeport of the numbers 
saved. Great baptismal service for saved heathen. Mis 
sionary s report of progress. " mother, my dear 
mother, I have found Jesus !" ... - 224-241 



CONTENTS. Vll 

Pag* 

CHAPTER XVI. 

LESSEYTON. 

Interpreter lost in the scrub. First night s sendee, and 
lodgings with a native. Wonderful scenes of the next day. 
A heathen woman shouting the praises of God. The for 
given Kaffir who could not forgive himself. Bambana s 
two sons. " I went away and left the oxen, wagon, and 
precious cargo standing in the road." " We have heard 
of washing the disciples feet, and of kissing the Pope s 
toe ; but to kiss the sole of a Kaffir s boot is a new idea." 
" The milk is good, and you have given us a great feast." 
Starting for Kaffraria. Dugmore s letters reporting the 
advance of the armies of the Lord in Queen s Town, 
Lesseyton, &c. ... 242-250 

CHAPTER XVII. 

WARNERS. 

J. C. Warner, Esq. "British Resident for Kaffraria." 
Warner and Shepstone on the true principle on which to 
establish Mission Stations. (" Likaka laba Fasi.") Both 
sides of the question fairly stated. Long day s journey. 
Travelling in the dark. "A sudden jolt sent us both over 
the larboard, head foremost down the hilL" Rev. E. J. 
Barrett. Campaign of one day in the open air, and its 
results. Chief Matanzima among the seekers. Fellow 
ship meeting in a stable. The man who saw a great light, 
could not pass. " The devil ordered his Hottentot servant 
to make off with the goat to Krielie s country." Colonel 
Barker at the Tsomo. Captain Cobb. " The road rough 
and dangerous." - - - - . 251-268 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

FUTIERWORTH (lGEU T ,VA). 

Rev. W. Shaw. Rev. Mr. Shrewsbury. The great chief 
Hintza. " A cake of bread from the house of Kauta." 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

Pag* 

Conspiracy against Rev. John Ayliff. Revs. Davis and 
Palmer come to his rescue. The "great wife" Nomsa. 
"Sing again." "If he remains he might tramp on a 
snake in the grass." Destruction and re-establishment of 
the mission-station. Chief Krielie. Great drought. 
Protracted meeting of the rain-makers. " No rain while 
the missionaries were allowed to remain in the country." 
Davis took the bull "by the horns. " Stop all this non 
sense, come to chapel next Sabbath and we ll pray to 
God to give us rain, and we will see who is the true God, 
and who are His true servants." Station " destroyed the 
third time. Chief Krielie s " daring desperate plan for 
forcing his people into an exterminating war against the 
Colonists." Sir George Grey s great bread victory. 
Mission established the fourth time. Rev. John Longden. 
Description of the congregation by the river-side. * What 
has that old red blanket to say for himself?" "Loaves 
and fishes" needed for the hungry multitude. "Brother 
Longden told the father that if he meant to sell his 
daughter to the heathen, he must at once leave the sta 
tion." The great snake-killer. He " chose rather to re 
tain his skull for his own personal use." Umaduna. "A 
martyr-spirit under a sheepskin." - - 269-290 

CHAPTER XIX. 

CLARKEBURY (UMGWALl). 

W. Shaw s visit to the great chief Vossanie. Rev. Mr. 
jjaddy. Mr. Rawlins killed. Massacre of Rev. J. S. 
Thomas. Chief Vadana s expedition to seize Mr. Davis 
dinner-pot. " "Well, this is a strange thing. Here s a man 
who is not afraid to die ! " Rev. Peter Hargraves and his 
wife. Rev. Edwin Gedye in exile. Mr. Joseph Walker. 
Mr. Crouch. H. B. Warner. Great chief Ngangelizwe. 
" They are determined to have a heathen chief to rule over 
them, and I ll let them feel the power of a heathen chief." 
" He threw an assegai through the arm of one of them." 
" Go home, and sit down in peace, and take all your cattle, 
I don t want them." " The cavalry of the train consisting 



CONTENTS. IX 

Paga 

of about forty councillors, fell into line, single file, the 
chief being about the middle." Prince Usiqukati. 
Preaching to the great chief and his councillors. H. B. 
"Warner s appeal to them. Kaffir proposition to unite 
Church and State. King Thackenbau of Fiji, and King 
George of the Friendly Islands, illustrative examples. 
Rev. Peter Turner, the apostle. Pamla s grand talk to 
the chiefs. Ngangolizwe s child dying. " The chief must 
return to the Great Place at once." Striking testimonies 
in the fellowship-meeting. " Isikunisivutayo." "My 
heart was as tough as the hide of a rhinoceros." Mr. 
Wm. Davis. Rev. Wm. Hunter, D.D. "The Eden 
above." "IculaEliteta Ngelizwe eli Pezulu." - 291-321 

CHAPTER XX. 

MORLEY (INCANASEUE). 

Rev. Wm. Shepstone. The invasion of the bloody chief 
Qeta, a deserter from his more bloody master Chaka, the 
great Zulu. Shepstone s narrow escape. The Amapondo 
chief, Faku. Rev. Mr. Palmer. Mission re-established 
under Rev. "Wm. B. Rayner. "Smelling out." J. C. 
Warner, Esq. on " Kaffir laws and customs." Witchcraft 
and the witch-doctors. Different methods of torturing 
witches and wizards. Man roasted for thirty-six hours. 
The ant-eaten woman. " We can t kill such a witch ! She 
won t die ! " Out-door preaching scene. Chief Ndunyela, 
with his warriors and wives at preaching. How they de 
voured the bullock. Missionaries report of the work. 
Horrible case of " smelling out " and torture after the 
revival - ... 322-341 

CHAPTER XXI. 

BUNTINGVILLE ICUME. 

Rev. Wm. B. Boyce. " We eat the dogs to make us more 
fierce and powerful in battle." Boyce s Kaffir Grammar. 
"Euphonic concord." Theophilus Shepstone. Chief 



CONTENTS. 



Faku s plan for getting rain. Mr. Fainton. Eev. Mr. 
Satchell. Rev. James Cameron. Eev. Thomas Jenkins. 
New Buntingville. Eev. Wm. Hunter. Dahveed s "new 
road." Umtata Drift. " Pezulu ! pezulu! pezulu!" Chief 
Damasi and his division of the Pondos. Chief Vava and 
his marriage feast. The chief and his "warriors at preach 
ing. Visit to Damasi s "Great Place." The chief, his 
hut, his wives, his royal robes and tiger s tails, his cattle 
kraal, his bloody " cliff." How a neighbouring chief took 
down our " umfundisi." Damasi s war with Chief Um- 
hlonhlo allowed " to sit still a little while," during Um- 
hlonhlo s marriage. Damasi s hospitality. Lodgings in a 
Kaffir hut. Preaching at the " Great Place." Penitent 
meeting in the hut. Traders and Kaffirs sa^ed. - 342-360 



CHAPTEE XXII. 

SHAWBUKY ELUNCUTA. 

Beauty of scenery. Eev. Wm. H. Garner. Dreadful war 
complications involving the mission. Escape of the mis 
sionary and his family. Eev. Mr. Solomon. Demoraliza 
tion of the mission people. Kaffir beer-feasts. How we 
got through the lines of Umhlonhlo s warriors, and across 
the Tsitsa Drift in the dark. Eev. C. White. First 
great audience, and the preaching. Small audiences and 
hard work. Visit to the Tsitsa Falls. Kaffir-corn 
" holes." Serious case to be settled. Kaffir lawyers, 
Elijah and Job. The cause debated, bringing out start 
ling developments, and important issues. " Ah, if we had 
had that counsel on the first day of our series here, instead 
of the last, we would have had a glorious work of God ! " 
The great work of God which followed. - - 361-383 



CHAPTEE XXIII 

OSBORX TSHUMGWANA. 

Rev. Mr. Hulley. Eev. Charles White. Amabaca tribe. 
Pondo invasion under chief Umgikela. Chiefs Tiba, and 



CONTENTS XI 



Makaula. Dreadful slaughter of the Pondos near the 
mission. " These men have placed their lives in my hands, 
and if you want them you will have to pass over my dead 
body." " You are both liars ; neither of you killed me ! " 
" Do please let me lie still and die." Stuart s description 
of the route from Shawbury to Tshumgwana. " Bring 
out all your men, women, and children, and we will 
sing you a song about the country above." St. Paul s 
method of preaching to heathen. Bringing heathen 
Kaffirs to an acceptance of Christ under a single dis 
course. Specimen of the preaching God thus owned in 
saving raw heathens. A sermon. Its immediate results. 
Specimen extracts of another sermon, showing the ana 
logical points between Kaffirism and Judaism. Text the 
last day, " Choose ye this day whom ye will serve." 
Points of analogy between Kaffir superstitions and sacri 
fices, and the service of the true God. Testimony of 113 
witnesses. " I asked God for a great gift, and He showed 
me my sins." " I had an old shield full of holes." Great 
harvest of souls. ..... 384-430 



CHAPTER XXIY. 

EMFUNDISWENI. 

Stuart s description of the route from Tshumgwana. Rev. 
Thomas Jenkins and his wife. Rev. Daniel Eva. Adven 
tures of Mr. Jenkins in Pondo-land for thirty years. At 
a district meeting, 150 miles from home, he learns that 
the Zulu warriors have swept the country, and that his 
family was slain. Perilous adventures. " The Umf undisi 
is killed ! " "I will not fly ! I am in the Lord s hands ; 
if He delivers me to the Pondos, they shall kill me in my 
own house!" WITCHCRAFT as seen by Jenkins. "The 
exterminating decree was so terrible, that not even a dog 
was allowed to escape." A woman roasted. INFLUENCE 
OF THE GOSPEL ON WITCHCRAFT. Sanctuary for the vic 
tims of the witch-doctors. Faku s mother. Faku s great 
wife. "The witch-doctors make it out that he died through. 
the Word of God." " My TJmfundisi, you have saved 



Xll CONTENTS. 



Cingo ! He shall not be killed ! " DEBASING EFFECTS 
OF HEATHENISM ON THE MIND. " If there is a God why 
can t we see Him?" Favourable change within thirty 
years. POLYGAMY. "She bit the other woman s nose 
right off!" "I wish I had no wife at all !" Contrast 
between the state of the Pondo nation twenty-five years 
ago and its present state. " I am going to the King 
above!" "The assegai dropped from his hand, for th.e 
Holy Spirit s two-edged sword was piercing him." 
" When God gave me a new heart I vowed to Him that I 
never would kill another man." Special services. Mr. 
Alfred White. Visit to Palmerton or "Izala." Rev. 
John Allsop. Return to Emfundisweni. "I now saw 
that God would answer my prayer indirectly, by giving 
my mantle to my Elisha." " In spite of the devil and 
his heathen host a grand victory for God was achieved." 
Dismal journey to "Kok s Camp." "Roberts, we have 
got into Nomansland sure." " While we were trying to 
dry one side the other was getting wet with the fast fall 
ing rain." Preaching at " Kok s Camp." Trip across 
the " Zuurberg." "Alfredia." Ulbricht s." "Blom s." 
Preaching in Hulley s " Hut Chapel." Mr. Hancock and 
family. Adventures in crossing the Umkomas river in 
the night. " Our man of Providence." " Your horses 
have fallen into the ditch ! " " Indaleni." Rev. W. H. 
Milward. Pietcrmaritzburg, Natal. Pamla s arrival. 
Report of his labours at Indaleni. Review of the situa 
tion at Emfundisweni. "My children, you have done 
right ! Go and sit down in peace ! We want to remove 
to that part and be converted also as you have been ! " 
" When Jenkins gets to heaven he won t stay there with 
out me ! " "If my blessed Jesus is coming, I can t wait 
for anybody ! " " Some of the heathen chiefs have ex 
pressed a strong desire for Charles to come and visit 
them" ... . 431-464 

CHAPTER XXV. 

NATAL. 

Geographical position. Climate. Productions. Various 



CONTENTS. X1U 

Page 

industrial pursuits. Population. Eevenue and appropria 
tions of Government. Missions. Schools. Pietermaritz- 
burg the capital. Edendale and its beautiful surround 
ings. D TJrban and the " Berean Hill." Verulam. 
Ministerial helpers in Natal. " I commended my sable 
brother to the missionaries, and bespoke for him an open- 
field and a fair fight." Bishop Colenso. Grand rally of 
the hosts on both sides. The Lord s glorious victory. 
PPOMISCUOUS EXAMPLES OF NATAL ADVENTURES. Colenso s 
attempt to popularize the Gospel to the Kaffirs. Trying 
to astonish the natives. " Wondering all the time why 
the man did not put his shirt inside of his trousers ! " 
Charming a lion with music. Colenso s ark taken down 
by a Kaffir. Tom Palfreyman and the tiger. The Dutch 
man and his Holland Bible. Eev. Mr. Butler and the 
alligator. The lawyer and his advocate. Theory of the 
wiseacres. George C. Cato, Esq. Colenso s call at Mr. 
Grant s. Francis Harvey, Sen. "Open there, right and 
left, and let his Majesty s brave tars come near me." 
Bishop Colenso and the " Local Preacher in the "Wesleyan 
Establishment." " SAW YE HIM WHOM MY SOUL LOVETH ?" 
Harvey s contrasts between the effects of Colenso s 
preaching and the saving power of the Spirit at the 
special services. Incidents of the work in Verulam. 
Charles and the heathen man at Inanda. " Jim, believe 
sharp ! " Roman Catholic saved. F. B. Fynney s con 
version. J. W. Stranack s account of his scepticism, 
conversion, and call to the ministry - - 465-504 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE MISSION-WORK. IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

Voyage from Natal to Cape Town. Mr. James Roberts. 
Letter written on the voyage. Rev. Barnabas Shaw. 
Rev. William Shaw. Wesleyan Missions in South Africa. 
Base line and depot of supplies. Old plan of establishing 
Mission Stations. The new development. Kaffir popula 
tion. Providential indications in favour of the new plan 
proposed. Evangelical platform, Gospel facts, and our 



XIV CONTENTS. 

Page 

demonstration of them in South Africa. Apostolic 
plan. Ineffectiveness of modern methods. How to carry 
out Apostolic methods. Kaffir standard of ministerial 
education. Where is the money to come from ? " I ve a 
share in the concern." "Hard work, hard fare, and a 
martyr s crown if they can win it." Mr. George Cato s 
question. Heroic typo of Christianity. " They would 
die for Jesus as cheerfully as the martyrs of the Apostolic 
age." Ultimate effects .... 505-519 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

REVIEW OF THE WORK AND ITS PROGRESS TO THE PRESENT TIME, 

Rev. Thomas Guard s letter. Graham s Town, Queen s 
Town, Somerset, Cradock, Fort Beaufort. "Annshaw 
heads the list." Missionary s report of the number 
saved in Kama s tribe. Success of the Annshaw workers. 
Triumphal procession. Red heathen s conversion and 
testimony. Report from Chairman of Queen s Town 
District. "It was I who stole the thatch." "Take them 
off ! take them off ! " He would have no praying in his 
family." " The old grey-headed polygamist." Report of 
Rev. J. Cameron, Chairman of Natal District. Young 
evangelists. Rev. Ralph Stott s letter. Rev. R. Hayes s 
letter. Rev. H. S. Barton s report. Tabular view of 
Graham s Town and Queen s Town districts. Statistical 
grand total. Indications of progress in Kaffraria, given 
by Rev. P. Hargraves. H. B. Warner s success. New 
Mission at the Tsomo. Emfundisweni. Progress of the 
work in Natal. Thomas Garland. J. W Stranack. 
F. B. Fynney and his fellows among the Zulus. "I came 
and found, ah, alligators !" Snake transmigration. Fyn 
ney at the American Mission Station. Work at Umhlali. 
The old toper reformed. Rev. F. Kirkby. The dying 
Zulu maid. " The wagon is coming to fetch me." Re 
ports from Graham s Town District. W. A. Richards. 
Rev. W. J. Davis. Anniversary revival services. " Tis 
worth living for, this." Rev. R. Lamplough on his new 



CONTENTS. XV 

Page 

circuit. "Disappointing business to my dear Brother 
Lamplough." Charles Pamla. Chief Maxwayana and 
his two converted wives. Pamla s visit to Heald Town. 
His great success in Newtondale. Heathen objections 
against him. How he battled for the truth at the " Great 
Place" of Chief Fundakube. The Chief s decision. 
Pamla s triumph. "In the habitation of dragons were 
each by," there is "grass with reeds and rushes." The 
End 620-557 



CHRISTIAN ADVENTURES 

IN 

SOUTH AFBICA. 



CHAPTER I. 

PROVIDENTIAL MISSION TO SOUTH AFRICA. 

MY mission to South Africa was purely trie result, of 
a providential arrangement quite outside of my own 
previous plans. 

In the autumn of the year 1856, under a leave of 
absence from the California Conference, to which 
from its organization I belonged, and of which I am 
still a member, I commenced a tour of evangelistic 
labours in the Eastern, and then in the Western 
States of America, and then into the Canadas, which 
I continued for five years. In the winter of 1861, 
while labouring in Peterborough, Canada West, 
I met with Dr. James Brown, who had spent 
several years in Australia. Through Dr. Brown s 
persuasive agency, and subsequent indications, to 
my mind unmistakably Divine, I felt it my 
duty to visit the Australian Colonies, and assist- 

B 



2 PROVIDENTIAL MISSION TO SOUTH AFRICA. 

the churches in those antipodal regions in the 
prosecution of their great work. When I sailed 
for Australia, my family, from their own preference, 
returned to their home in California. I spent seven 
months in England and Ireland, made a tour round 
the coasts of Asia Minor and Syria, explored Pales 
tine, and passing on through Egypt took steam by 
the Peninsular and Oriental Company s line at Suez 
for Ceylon and Melbourne, so that nearly a whole 
year was spent en route from New York to Mel 
bourne. The first year of my labours in Australia 
was devoted to the Colonies of Victoria and Tasma 
nia ; the second year to New South Wales, Queens 
land, and New Zealand ; and six months of the third, 
to South Australia. 

During the term of my labours in New South 
Wales, my friend, Dr. A. Moffitt, of Sidney, often 
tried to persuade me to visit South Africa. He 
had spent six years on the east and west coast as 
surgeon in her Majesty s ship of war, Penguin. He 
had become well acquainted with missionary opera 
tions in those parts, and felt a great interest in 
their success, and believing that I could render them 
essential service, he was importunate in his entrea 
ties. I could only reply, that " however great my 
interest in African missionary movements, I cannot 
go ; there is no steam communication direct from 
Australia to Cape Town, and but few opportunities 
by sailing vessels ; moreover, I have to consider the 
claims of my Conference, and my family in Cali- 



PROVIDENTIAL LEADINGS. 3 

fornia, and my limited time for foreign evangelical 
work. These things together utterly preclude my 
going to Africa/ 

The Doctor, however, maintained that it was his 
firm belief that God would, in His providence, send 
me to Africa. 

" Very well/ I replied, " whenever I get an order 
from Him to go to Africa, I will be off by the first 
ship His providence may provide." 

I had not seen my dear wife and children for more 
than three years the time required for a cruise by 
the men who "go down into the deep" to catch 
whales such a separation from my family was a 
heavy uphill business all the time ; but since so 
many men endure similar privations in whale fishing, 
merchant marine, army, and naval service, I should have 
been ashamed to complain, even if I had felt a com 
plaining spirit ; but having the conviction that God 
had appointed me a messenger to the churches in 
the u Southern world," confirmed by the conversion 
of about six thousand souls to God during those two 
and a half years, I patiently waited the issues of 
Providence in regard to my family. At their request 
I had consented for them to come from California to 
Australia, and I would accompany them back, via 
India, Egypt, and England. But they afterwards 
hesitated and seemed rather to decline so serious an 
undertaking, and I was quite in doubt whether they 
would come or not. I therefore made plans for re 
turning home by that route, and staying v a few 



4 PROVIDENTIAL MISSION TO SOUTH AFRICA. 

months in India, whether my family joined me or 
not. 

In November, 1865, while labouring in a series 
of services near Adelaide, South Australia, I received 
a letter from Mrs. Taylor, stating that, having been 
disappointed in getting passage on the ship that 
brought the letter, she doubted whether it was the 
will of God that they should come. That was a 
bitter disappointment to me, for notwithstanding the 
uncertainty as to whether they would come or not, 
which occasioned me an uncomfortable measure of 
suspense for many months, I had acquired a hope 
that they certainly would come ; so that now I fully 
realised the truth that " hope deferred maketh the 
heart sick." 

The day after I received this sickening letter I 
travelled 120 miles, ninety by mail-coach, amidst 
clouds of dust, under a broiling sun 110 Fahrenheit, 
in the shade, to the mining town of Wallaroo, on 
York s Peninsula. The Rev. Mr. Caldwell, the supe 
rintendent of the Wallaroo circuit, had died but a few 
days before. It was at his pressing invitation some 
months previously that I arranged to assist him for 
a fortnight in his great work : but now, when the 
time arrived, he was gone. He left a wife and one 
child, and a large circle of friends, to mourn his loss, 
for he was a young man of extraordinary talents and 
usefulness, and assisted by his energetic colleague^ 
the Eev. C. T. Newman, he was rapidly developing 
an important circuit, embracing three mining towns 



SUDDEN SHIFTING OF THE SCENES. 

with a population of from four to six thousand each. 
The annual yield of copper, in solid bars, from the 
principal mine (the Moonta) amounts to forty-five 
hundred tons. 

Brother CaldwelFs work was very heavy, and his 
health had been failing for some months ; but his un 
dying energy had kept him up to the last, and then, 
instead of remaining quietly at home to die, he went to 
Adelaide, 100 miles distant; to attend the district meet 
ing. He put in one appearance at the district meeting, 
represented his work, returned to his lodgings, and 
died that night. The ministers of the district, thus 
assembled, buried their brother, and appointed, as a 
temporary supply to Wallaroo, Rev. Mr. Flockhart 
from the North Adelaide Circuit, who accompanied 
me to Wallaroo. We arrived at the mission house 
a little after dark, and were kindly entertained by 
our bereaved sister, the widow Caldwell. 

A telegram from Sydney arrived that night, 
sent by my friend Mr. Macafee, of the firm of Messrs. 
McArthur and Co., saying, " Mrs. Taylor and her 
children have just arrived. All well." 

I had just given up all hope of seeing them for 
many months to come, but now my dear wife, and 
Morgan Stuart, Eoss, and Edward, aged nineteen 
nine, and six years four, between the ages of nine 
teen and nine, having left us, and gone up to the 
" land of the living" had, indeed, arrived in Austra 
lia. I had travelled east, and they west, and having 
compassed the globe, we were now, by the mercy of 



6 PROVIDENTIAL MISSION TO SOUTH AFRICA. 

God, on the eve of a meeting in those ends of the 
earth. That was one of the few nights of my life 
that sleep departed from my eyes. Surprise, and 
joy, and gratitude to God, combined, so filled my 
heart, thaksleep was sought in vain. It being Saturday 
night, I could not respond till Monday morning. Seve 
ral telegrams were exchanged with my wife up to Wed 
nesday, when I received one saying that my son 
Morgan Stuart was thought to be dying, and I must 
haste to see him alive ; I was over one thousand miles 
away, and no steamer till the next week. My feelings 
I will not try to describe, but my heart was stayed 
on God, and I continued the services that week, and 
on the following Sabbath opened a new church at 
the "Moonta." It contained about 1,000 persons; I 
preached three sermons, made good collections for 
the " trust fund," and had a good work of salvation 
that night. 

By four a.m. Monday morning I was in the coach, 
bound for Adelaide, hoping it might be the will of 
God that I should return from Sydney, and resume 
my contemplated services among those miners. When 
I reached Adelaide I received another telegram saying 
that my son had a malignant fever. The Australian 
summer had fully set in, and I thought if it should 
please God to spare my son, the sooner I could get 
him away to sea the better; and hence, at once 
"packed up" for a final departure from South Aus 
tralia, where I had hoped to do two months more 
work for God. I could not get a passage till Thurs 
day p.m., which gave me time to speak to my family 



FAMILY MEETING. 7 

along the wires. Just as I was stepping aboard the 
steamer 1 received a despatch " in haste." I feared 
it might contain a thunderbolt that might go right 
through my heart. I anchored my soul down firmly 
" to the rock that is higher than I" and said, " God 
loves my dear son more than I possibly can, and His 
decisions, in regard to him, are exactly right. I 
quoted for myself, " He shall not be afraid of evil tid 
ings ; his heart is fixed,trustinginthe Lord." I then 
tremblingly opened the despatch, and read, " Morgan 
is somewhat better, but we greatly need you here. 
Signed, A. Moffitt." Then I thanked God, and breathed 
more freely. I reached Melbourne Saturday p.m., and 
had to wait till Tuesday for a steamer to Sydney. 
Preached in three different churches in Melbourne 
that Sabbath. Eeceived a telegram while there, 
stating that Morgan was " convalescing." Here 1 
made conditional arrangements for taking a Mel 
bourne ship direct for London, if I should find 
Morgan able to travel within a fortnight, and thus 
get him as soon as possible out of the intense heat. 
I reached Sydney at three a.m. on Friday. Dr. 
Moffitt, at whose house my family were staying, had 
been waiting at the wharf till a few minutes before, 
and had left his brother-in-law, Mr. James Greer, 
to watch for my coming. He ordered a cab, and 
drove me at once to Dr. Moffitt s. My poor wife had 
not retired to rest, and indeed had not been able to 
sleep a night for nearly a fortnight, and was nearly 
worn out with care and weary watching. I found 
my son was much worse than I feared. It was thought 



8 PllOVIDEXTIAL MISSION TO SOUTH AFRICA. 

best for me not to go into his room, to excite 
him, till morning, for though the nervous derange 
ment and delirium occasioned by high fever almost 
precluded sleep, still every measure of undue excite 
ment was to be avoided. 

At day dawn my little Ross was brought to me. 
He had grown out of my knowledge. I took him 
into my arms, and wept over him some minutes 
before I could speak to him. I then asked him if 
he knew me. 

"Yes, papa." 

" How do you know that I am your papa ? " 

" My mother told me so ? " 

He thus accepted me as his father on the faith of 
his mother s testimony. 

I then received my dear little Eddie who thought 
he remembered me very distinctly, though he was 
but two years old when I parted with him. His 
memory no doubt got its impression, which he found 
identical with the person of his pa, from a recent 
carte de visite." 

I then went into the room which I had occupied 
as my bedroom while labouring in Sydney, and em 
braced the bony wreck of my firstborn, and heard 
him faintly say, " my father ! " Then we sat 
down just outside the gates of death, and wept, and 
prayed, and watched our sick son for three months. 
My dear Dr. Moffitt, at whose residence we were en 
tertained, and his consulting physicians, gave it as 
their judgment that at least a year would probably be 



SAILED FOR AFRICA. 9 

required for his recovery. Our contemplated trip to 
India was out of the question. To remain through 
an Australian summer was hazardous in the extreme. 
To go to the northern hemisphere, just in time to 
encounter the summer heat there, was not the thing 
for an invalid of that description. 

Our physicians unanimously decided that our best 
possible plan was to take ship for the Cape of Good 
Hope. We would have a temperate climate at sea 
in going, and arrive about the first of April the 
commencement of the salubrious winter season of 
Cape Colony. 

Every other way was closed against us as certainly 
as was " Asia and Bithynia " against St. Paul and 
Co., and our call to Africa as distinct as was theirs 
to " Macedonia." I need not speak of the terribly 
severe and varied, but graciously sanctified disci 
pline of those intervening months, in Sydney, in 
Melbourne, in Adelaide, and at sea. However God 
was with us, and not a Sabbath passed that I did not 
preach from two to three sermons. On the 17th of 
February, 1866, we bade our dear friends in Adelaide 
farewell, and went aboard the fine clipper ship, " St. 
Vincent," Captain Loutett, and after a prosperous 
voyage of forty- one days, we cast anchor in Table 
Bay, Cape of Good Hope. 

Rev. James Calvert and wife, who had been suc 
cessfully labouring in the Wesleyan Missions in 
Figii for twenty-five years, sailed from Adelaide 
three days after our departure in the ship " Yatala," 



10 PROVIDENTIAL MISSION TO SOUTH AFRICA. 

a rival London ship of the " St. Vincent." Our 
captain and ship s company were rejoiced to find, 
as we cast anchor in Table" Bay, about sunset 
on Friday evening, March 30th, that the " Yatala " 
had not yet arrived. But the first thing we heard 
in the morning was " The Yatala s in. She cast 
anchor at four o clock this morning/ Early Satur 
day morning, I went ashore with Captain Loutett, 
and selected quarters at Parke s Hotel for self and 
family, at forty-eight shillings per day. Our pas 
sage from Adelaide had cost us altogether over 
200, but our son s health was greatly improved, and 
we thanked God, and felt sure that we were in 
the providential path, and that having committed 
"our way unto the Lord, and trusting also in Him, 
He certainly would bring it to pass " bring that 
to pass which was best for us, and the good of His 
cause. I left a note at the hotel for Rev. Samuel 
Hardey, Superintendent of the Wesleyan Circuit of 
Cape Town and Chairman of the Cape Town District, 
to whom I had letters from our mutual friend, Dr. 
Mofnt. I then returned to our ship for my family. 
When we landed, Eev. John Thomas, "Wesleyan 
Missionary to the Dutch-speaking Coloured "Wes- 
leyan Circuit of Cape Town, met us, and gave us a 
welcome greeting, and accompanied us to our quar 
ters. Brother Hardey had called at the hotel during 
my absence, but was then occupied with Rev. 
Brother Calvert, whom he took to his own house, 
He kindly offered to provide for me and mine among 



11 

the friends, which I respectfully declined. Brother 
Thomas has been in the mission work in Southern 
Africa for twenty- six years. He is an earnest good 
man. Rev. Brother Hardey was for twenty-five 
years a Wesleyan Missionary in India, his ex 
cellent wife is a native of India, "born of Missionary 
parents there, in connection with the Wesley an 
Missionary Society. Brother Hardey s health failing 
in India, he spent some time in Mauritius, and 
founded a Mission among the Indian coolies there, 
of whom there are about 200,000 on that island. 
This promising young mission, not having been 
founded under any regular missionary plan, and the 
Secretaries of the Wesley an Missionary Society not 
seeing their way clear to adopt it, and enter it on 
their very extensive list of Foreign Missions, it was 
turned over to the Protestant Episcopal Church, and 
is being carried on with success. 

Brother Hardey then spent seven years as a mis 
sionary in West Australia, and fully recovered his 
health. He has been but a few years in Cape Town, 
but has done,, and is doing, a good work there. He 
is one of the most affable, kind-spirited men, I 
believe, that this world can produce, and is, I am 
told, a good administrator of discipline, a good 
preacher as well. He gave me a cordial welcome to 
Cape Colony, and was ready at once heartily to co 
operate with me in special efforts to promote the 
work of God. 



CHAPTER IL 

CAPE COLONY. 

THE Cape of Good Hope was discovered by the Por 
tuguese i:i I486, and called the " Cape of Storms/ 
The King of Portugal subsequently changed the 
name to " Cape of Good Hope." In view of the 
terrible gales which occasionally occur, and the ex 
posure of Table Bay to their fury, it would seem that 
the first would still be a very appropriate name. 
Only eleven months before our arrival, a north-west 
gale swept the Bay with such violence that of twenty- 
seven vessels in the harbour only nine of them rode 
out the gale. The remaining eighteen were driven 
ashore, with great loss of property and life. As the 
Colonial Government and people are making docks, 
by an immense excavation in solid rock, and forming 
a breakwater with the [stone thus obtained, I think 
there is " good hope " that it will soon afford safe 
anchorage for the shipping. The breakwater has 
been carried out 1,701 feet. The rock, with a slight 
mixture of the soil taken from the site of the inner 
basin, amounts to 822,055 cubic yards. The whole 
cost of the work, so far as they have gone up to 



SETTLEMENT OF THE CAPE. 13 

December, 1866, amounted, according to their offi 
cial report, to the round sum of 391,135 14s. 

The first European settlement at the Cape was in 
1652, consisting of one hundred men, under the 
authority of the Dutch East India Company, not so 
much with a view to establish a colony, as the es 
tablishment of a place for supplies, and for recruiting 
the sick of the Company." It continued under the 
control of this East India company, by consent of 
the Home Government in Holland, with a short in 
termission that the English held it, for 150 years, 
slowly increasing its population, and extending its 
territorial lines. 

In 1806, the British troops took possession of the 
colony, and it is to be said to the honour of Lord 
Caledon, the first English governor, that he struck 
the first death-blow against slavery, which every 
where prevailed among the Dutch settlers. In 
1807 he proclaimed it to be " unlawful to retain 
Hottentot children as apprentices." 

It was in 1834 that slavery was abolished through 
out the colony under Sir B. D Urban. This occa 
sioned great dissatisfaction among many of the 
Dutch settlers, and large numbers of them left the 
colony, and went to seek a country in the interior 
wilds of Africa. A large number of them went to 
Natal, more than one thousand miles east of Cape 
Town. But in consequence of their bad treat 
ment of the natives in that country, they got into 
collision with the English colonial government. Mr. 



14 CAPE COLONY. 

George Cato, of Natal, then an English trader there, 
now a wealthy landowner, sugar planter, counsellor- 
general of the governor and government of Natal, 
Consul of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, and Con 
sular Agent for the United States of America, and 
altogether the most important individual in that 
colony, wrote a letter to a friend, who showed it to 
the governor, and British troops were sent to D Urban, 
the principal port of entry, called after the governor, 
to protect the natives and British residents in that 
quarter. After a great deal of skirmishing, and 
some hard fighting, the defeated Dutch trekked 
beyond the " Drakensberg," and formed settlements 
on the Orange Biver, which have developed into the 
"Free State/ and "Transvaal Republics." 

Meantime, the tide of English immigration continued 
to increase. " In the year 1820, the British Govern 
ment spent 50,000 sterling in sending British 
settlers to the Eastern province of Cape Colony, so 
that, by the gradual diminution of the Dutch ele 
ment, and the increase of the English, as early as 
1822, it was ordered, by proclamation, that the Eng 
lish language should be used in all judicial proceed 
ings." The Dutch population, however, in most 
places, especially in the Western province, is much 
greater than the English ; and, as it regards their 
wealth, and superiority of church edifices, the Dutch 
Reformed Church is, practically, the " State Church" 
of the country. Though it does not monopolise all 
the "State aid" of the colony, yet of the 16,000 



POPULATION OF CAPE COLO**. 13 

annually granted by the Colonial Government for the 
support of religion, the Dutch Reformed Church 
gets 9,000. The Parliament, during its recent 
session (1866), came within two votes of abolishing 
"State Aid" altogether. They will probably come 
to that before many years, for the most of this 
money goes, not to support weak churches in poor 
and sparsely settled portions, but mainly to the 
wealthy churches in Cape Town. 

The population of Cape Colony, according to the 
" Census of 1865," amounted to an aggregate of 
482,240, or, in round numbers, nearly half a million, 
of which 71,078 are whites, principally Dutch and 
English, including, of course, the usual proportion 
of Scotch and Irish. 

The native population is subdivided as follows : 

The ancient occupants of this country were " bush- 
men," a nation of beings of very low stature, low in 
intellect, and have the character of being a maraud 
ing, murderous people. They are now almost ex 
tinct. They were superseded by the Hottentots, a race 
peculiarly marked, with deep set eyes, and very high 
cheek bones ; their faces on a line across the nose and 
cheek bones are very broad, the forehead not so broad, 
and the lower part of the face and chin very narrow. 

It was this class of natives that the Dutch 
reduced to slavery, and hence such an amalgama 
tion with the Dutch that the name Hottentot, in 
many sections of the country, is synonymous with 
" Bastard." 



16 CAPE COLONY. 

The Hottentots, throughout the colony, pure and 
mixed, number 79,996. The " Bastards" hold them 
selves quite superior to the purely black races, and 
usually have separate sitting in chapel. Many of 
them are rising in the scale of education, civilisation, 
and religion. They are principally under the care 
of the missionaries of the " London Missionary 
Society." 

Many thousands of these " Bastards," not em 
braced however in the census of Cape Colony, under 
the .chieftainship of Captain Adam Kok, by the 
advice and encouragement of the Colonial Govern 
ment, removed, some four years ago, from " Griqua- 
land," near the Orange Eiver, in the " Free State," 
to a large district of country in Eastern Kaffraria, 
bordering on the colony of Natal, called " No-man s- 
land." Their missionary declined to accompany 
them to their mountain home ; but in building up a 
town of over 1,000 population, they have built in the 
midst of their barracks a chapel, which will seat 
about 600 ; and there, and in several smaller com 
munities, they have regular services every Sabbath. 
I preached for them on my journey through Kaf 
fraria, and though it was raining, and sleeting, and 
bitterly cold, their church was crowded with well- 
dressed and well-behaved worshippers. Their lan 
guage is the Dutch, though many of them are 
learning the English. But a large class of the 
Hottentots have learned so many of the vices of tho 



HOTTENTOTS AND KAFFIRS. 17 

white man, especially a love for brandy, that they 
are dying out very fast. 

Before the European occupancy of Cape Colony, 
the Kaffirs had pressed down from the east into the 
country of the Hottentots, and had taken a great 
deal of their land, which they had previously taken 
from the bushmen. 

The Kaffirs in Cape Colony number 95,577. They 
are naturally a powerful race of people. Those in 
the colony, and on the eastern border of it, are con 
sidered finer specimens of men, than the nations 
further eastward. Rev. Wm. Shaw says, "The 
Kaffirs are physically a fine race of people. The 
Amaxosa are, as a general rule, of greater stature 
than Englishmen, and in general well made 
and finely proportioned. Many have well-formed 
heads and pleasing features, such as would be 
deemed handsome in a European. They walk erect, 
and with a firm step, and when occasion presents, 
they show great agility and fleetness of foot." 
Mr. Godlonton, the originator and senior proprietor 
of the Graham s Town Journal, which claims the most 
extensive circulation of any paper in the colony, told 
me that before they had regular mail facilities in 
the colony, he had a Kaffir who, twice each week, 
carried a load of papers fresh from the press, after 
dark, forty-six miles to Fort Beaufort, and delivered 
them there at day dawn next morning. The over 
land mail from the Eastern Province of Cape Colony 
to Natal, is carried a distance of over 400 miles, by 

c 



18 CAFE COLONY. 

Kaffirs on foot. The traders and missionaries often 
send books and other articles in the mail bags, 
amounting sometimes to a load, as I have seen and 
handled them, more suitable for a horse than a man, 
and yet those uncomplaining fellows carry them 
through with great despatch. 

"Kaffir women," says Rev. Mr. Shaw, "when 
young, generally appear to be quite equal to their 
countrymen in physical development, only differing 
in size as in all other nations." " The prevailing 
colour of the Kaffirs on the border is nearly that of 
dark mahogany. There are, however, great varieties, 
from a tawny brown to a jet black. As a general 
rule, the Zulu Kaffirs are much darker than the 
Frontier tribes." I have seen a great many myself 
who are purely a red, glossy, copper colour. Many 
of them have nearly as good a Jewish physiognomy 
as any of the sons of Abraham. 

The chiefs all hold their rank by hereditary right, 
and Rev. Mr. Shepstone, and others, have been able 
to trace the regular succession of the principal ruling 
chiefs of the country back for fifteen hundred years. 
The people are divided into nations, tribes, clans, 
and families. 

The Kaffirs speak a most euphonious language, 
constructed with such precision, that old Kaffir 
scholars have told me that they never heard a Kaffir 
make a grammatical blunder in speaking his own 
language, and almost every Kaffir is a natural orator. 
The principal nations, beginning in the colony, and 




SPECIMENS OF THE KAFFIK FAIH SEX. 



THE KAFFIR TRIBES. 19 

going eastwardly, arc the Amaxosa, Abutembu 
(Tembookies), Arnbaca, Amapondo, Amaponduinsi, 
and Amazulu. 

Besides the 96,000 Kaffirs, in round numbers, in 
Cape Colony, there are supposed to be at least 
300,000 between Cape Colony and Natal, in a strip 
of country 150 miles wide and 400 miles coast-wise, 
known as Kaffraria. They have a fine country for 
live-stock, well watered ; and a good supply of cattle, 
sheep, and goats. Their principal grain is Kaffir corn, 
which has the general appearance, but with a grain 
double the size of broom- corn, and maize, or Indian 
corn. This is pounded in a mortar, and prepared 
very much like American hominy, and also ground 
into meal between two stones prepared for the par- 
pose, and worked by hand. As in olden time the 
women do the grinding. 

The name " KAFFIR," by which all these nations 
of natives, from Cape Colony to Delagoa Bay, three 
or four hundred miles east of Natal, and their 
language, are designated by Europeans, "is not a 
name used by the natives to designate either them 
selves or any other tribes in the country. " The 
word," says Rev. Mr. Shaw, " is derived from the 
Arabic, and signifies an infidel or unbeliever. It is, 
in fact, the epithet which most Mohamedan people 
in the East would apply to any European or Chris 
tian." It was therefore a term of reproach given by 
the followers of the false prophet, but has come into 
universal use as applied to this people, their language, 



20 CAPE COLONY. 

and the literature which has been given them, and 
indeed is so convenient for the mass of Europeans, 
who could not understand, or even pronounce the 
hard names by which many tribes are known among 
themselves, as to be indispensable. 

The remaining 131,992 mentioned in the census, 
filling up the aggregate of nearly half a million in 
the colony, are " Fin goes/- except some 15 or 
20,000 Malays, principally in Cape Town and Port 
Elizabeth, who were brought originally from the 
Dutch East Indian possessions. The most of these 
Malays are Mohamedans, and have their mosques, 
and peculiar forms of worship in the cities just named. 

The FINGOES, which constitute so large a propor 
tion of the native population of the colony, are 
refugees from the East. They were driven from their 
homes by Chaka, an Amazulu chief, who waged a 
most desolating war for eighteen years, from 1817 to 
1835, against all his neighbouring tribes. Mr. 
Shaw says : " The terror of Chaka s name, and the 
destructive mode of conducting war by the Amazulu, 
combined to deprive the surrounding tribes of all 
hope that they could offer any effectual resistance; 
and, in numerous cases, they fled from their country 
OH the approach of the smallest detachment of 
Chaka s fighting men. The victories of his warriors 
extended east, west, north, and south, over an area 
of more than one hundred thousand square miles. 
Some of the more powerful tribes, when driven out 
of their own districts, invaded the territory of their 



THE FINGOES. 21 

neighbours, until the whole region from Delagoa Bay 
to the Griqua country, near the Orange River, and 
from the Easuto country, in the north to that of the 
Amapondo in the south, was one scene of war and 
desolation. Men, women, and children were unspar 
ingly slain by their conquerors. It is believed that 
fully one half the population of that immense dis 
trict, just described, during those dreadful eighteen 
years of slaughter, perished." Many thousands of 
these refugees were received by the Amatembu, 
Amaxosa, and other Kaffir tribes, along the eastern 
border of Cape Colony, as " Amamfengu," or Fin goes, 
having a meaning corresponding with that of 
" serfs." They were not slaves to be bought and 
sold, and separated from their families, but were dis 
tributed by families, and clans, among the head men 
of different kraals ; seed and cattle were furnished 
them, and the free use of the public domain ; but 
their corn or cattle were at any time subject to sei 
zure at the will of the Kaffir chiefs. Thousands of 
them subsequently took refuge at the Wesleyan 
Mission stations in Kaffraria. The Kaffir chiefs 
meantime became very jealous of the Fingoes, and 
greatly oppressed them. When the Kaffir war against 
the Colonists in 1835 broke, out, many Fingoes rallied 
around our missionaries at "Butterworth, Clarkebury, 
and Morley Wesleyan Mission stations, and on the 
arrival of the British troops many more fled from 
their masters, and took refuge in the British 
camp. Governor D Urban, finding that the 



22 CAPE COLONY. 

Fin goes reposed great confidence in the mission 
aries, requested Rev. Mr. Ayliff to take the whole 
body of the Eingoes under their special care 
and lead them to the land of the free in the colony. 
The Governor in his official report says, " When it 
became necessary to make war upon Hintsa and his 
people, finding the people called Fingoes living 
among them in a state of most grievous bondage, 
and seeing them anxious to be delivered, I at once 
declared them to be a free people and subjects of the 
King of England ; and it is now my intention to 
place them in the country on the east bank of the 
Great Fish River, in order to protect the bush 
country from the entrance of the Kaffirs ; and also 
that by bringing a large population into the colony, 
the colonists may supply themselves with free 
labourers." 

In company with the British troops, on their re 
turn into the colony, Rev. John Ayliff, during one 
week, from the 9th to the 15th of May, 1835, led 
out of bondage into the colony 16,000 of these 
people, with all their cattle. The policy indicated 
in the Governor s proclamation has ever since been 
carried out, and the Fingoes, who now number over 
100,000 in the colony, have ever remained loyal to 
the Government, and they are still specially under 
the care of the Wesleyan Missionaries. The 
Government has done much for them in various 
ways. Governor Grey established " Industrial 
Schools for them at Fort Pcddie, TTeald Town, and 



FINGO THRIFT. 23 

Lesseyton, under the Wesleyans ; and at Lovedale/ 
under the missionaries of the Free Church of 
Scotland." 

The Kaffirs, never having been in bondage, are 
open, independent, and manly in their bearing, and 
seem never to feel that spirit of servility, common 
among the Fingoes, and for a long time the Kaffirs 
continued to despise the Fingoes ; but the superior 
political relations of the Fingoes as British subjects, 
and the fact thart many hundreds of them, by their 
industry, have become the owners of good farms, 
oxen, wagons, and herds ; and that thousands of the 
younger ones can read and write, and speak the 
English language, they now command the respect of 
even of their former masters. The following extract 
from the Grahams Town Journal may serve as a 
further illustration of this subject : 

" The circumstances of the colonial natives gene 
rally may seem, to persons fresh from Europe, su 
premely miserable ; but this is very far, indeed, from 
being the case. Hardy, with few wants, and having 
those wants easily supplied, the poorest of them are 
better off than the lower class of Europeans, while 
thrifty and industrious men often accumulate a great 
deal of property; 

We could point out at least half-a-dozen natives in 
a single district, whose properties, if realized, would 
produce from 3, 000 to 5,000 each ; and there are 
hundreds of Fingoes, whose position among natives 
is one of opulence. The fact is, that with ordinary 



24 CAPE COLONY. 

prudence, any native, not unduly encumbered with 
wives, may, after a few years of service, save enough 
in the shape of live-stock to give him a very credi 
table position among his compatriots. We may 
mention, for instance, that within the last five 
months, the following stock all the property of 
native immigrants passed through Queen s Town: 
Of sheep and goats, 7,548 ; of cattle, 627 head ; 
and of horses, 159." In the settlement of the last 
colonial war complications with the Kaffirs, the 
Government got from the celebrated warrior chief 
"Krilie," a large tract of country beyond the 
" Kai river," which has recently been given to the 
Jingoes. They have hence become the owners of the 
soil in which they dwelt as serfs. The immigrants 
above mentioned were journeying to this land of 
promise. About 40,000 Fingoes have already settled 
in their new home, which may appropriately be called 
"Fingoland." 

" This colony, like Australia and Canada, is ruled 
by a Governor (appointed by the Home Government), 
assisted by an executive Council, as well as by Upper 
and Lower Houses of Parliament, respectively named 
the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly. 
The Council contains fifteen members, eight of 
whom are elected by the votes in the western dis 
tricts, and seven by those in the eastern province, 
while the Assembly comprises forty- six members, 
elected by the various constituencies throughout the 
colony." " The judicial establishment comprises the 



THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT. 25 

Supreme Court, of four judges, who hold sessions in 
Cape Town, and Circuit Courts in the country dis 
tricts ; also an Eastern Province High Court of 
judicature." "The numerous Courts of resident 
magistrates, in all the larger villages, exercise limited 
jurisdiction in all civil and icriminal ases. ;< 



CHAPTER III. 

CAPE TOWN. 

CAPE TOWN, the capital of the colony, is located at 
the base of Table Mountain, which rises very precipi 
tously to an elevation of about four thousand feet, 
and is nearly as flat as a table on the top and often 
covered with a light fleecy mist, gently dropping 
over the edge like a tablecloth. The mountain 
constitutes a grand background for the city, and 
contrasts beautifully with the splendid flower-gardens 
and groves of oak, and Scotch firs, which abound at 
its base, in, and around, the city. Cape Town has 
a population of 28,547, of which 15,118 are whites, 
about 12,500 Malays, and about 1,000 Hottentots 
and Kaffirs. 

It is well supplied with banks and news 
papers, and all the variety of educational and bene 
volent institutions, common in large towns. In 
the midst of the city are beautiful Botanic Gardens, 
Museum, and Library. The Museum " comprises a fine 
series of mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, shells, insects, 
fossils, and minerals. It has also collections of coins, 
weapons of various races, and some specimens oi 



MY FIRST SABBATH IN CAPE TOWN. 27 

metal-work and plastic art/ The principal room 
containing these, " is eighty feet long, forty-two 
broad, and thirty-nine high," 

The Public Library, occupying part of the 
same building, is said to be superior to that of 
a y other colony. It "contains books in every 
b anch of science and literature, and has nearly 
40,000 volumes on its shelves. It is open to the 
public daily from 9 A.M. to 4.3(/ P.M. free of ex 
pense." 

In an adjoining room is what is known as " The 
Grey Library," containing 5,000 volumes, many of 
them very ancient and rare. It was presented to 
the colony by her late Governor, Sir George Grey, 
now Governor of New Zealand. 

There are three large Dutch Reformed Church 
edifices in Cape Town, containing an aggregate 
of 3,000 members. Rev. Andrew Murray, jun., 
a, pastor of one of them, a liberal, and thoroughly 
evangelical, man, was " Moderator of the Synod." 
His father, Rev. A. Murray, sen., an old pioneer 
minister in the Dutch Eeformed Church in Southern 
Africa, has given three highly-accomplished, and 
pious sons to her ministry. The father, full of 
years, and ripe for heaven, died a few months ago in 
" Graafreinet." 

There are three Protestant Episcopal churches in 
the city, one Presbyterian, one Independent, one 
Evangelical Lutheran, and two "VYesleyan, one for 
the English, and one for the coloured Dutch. 



28 CAPE TOWN. 

As I propose to illustrate a great variety of Chris 
tian adventures in South Africa, besides what I saw 
and did myself, I will insert a few specimens here, 
and one commendable act, worthy of a Christian, by 
one of those Malays a very different fellow, cer 
tainly, from the one who stole one of my boots while 
I was one morning swimming in Table Bay. He 
might just as easily have taken both boots as one, and 
I wondered why he did not, till a friend of mine 
traced it, and bought the boot from him. Having 
one boot, he counted his chances for a customer for it 
in the person of the owner. 

My friend, Henry Reed, Esq., of Dunorlan, Tun- 
bridge Wells, in one of his voyages to Australia, 
stopped, in the year 1840, in company with his 
family at Cape Town. When the ship came to 
anchor, a Malay boatman tipped his hat to Mr. Eeed, 

" A boat, sir ? " 

" What will you charge to take me and my family 
ashore ? " 

" Thirteen dollars, sir." 

" Thirteen dollars ! Why, that is too much." 

" No, sir, it is the regular price, and I can t do it 
for less ! 

" Very well," said Mr. Eeed, " we will go with 
you." 

When safely landed he paid the Malay thirteen 
dollars, about 2 14s. The next morning a mes 
senger called on Mr. Reed at his lodgings, and 
said, 



THE- MALAY BOATMAN. 29 

"The Malay boatman, who brought you ashore 
yesterday, is at the door, and wants to see you." 

" Dear me/ thought Eeed, as he was going to the 
door, "that fellow is not satisfied with his extor 
tionary gains of yesterday, and wants to make 
another draw on me to-day, the mean fellow." 

" What do you want, sir ? " demanded Heed. 

" You made a mistake yesterday in the money 
you paid me/ replied the boatman. 

" Not at all, sir ; no mistake about it. You asked 
me thirteen dollars for your work, and I paid you, 
and you ll not get any more," and added to the sen 
tence, in his own mind, " these yillanous boatmen 
are alike the world over." 

" No," said the Malay, " you are quite mistaken ; 
I charged thirteen dollars " 

"Yes," rejoined Mr. Eeed, "and I paid it, and 
you ought to be satisfied." 

st But," continued the son of Mohamed, " I meant 
Dutch rix-dollars, and you paid me three times as 
much as I asked, and I have brought vour money 
back," handing him the money. 

Thirteen rix-dollars are 19s. 6d., instead of 2 14s. 

Mr. Eeed was satisfied to receive back his money, 
but especially delighted to find such an example of 
honesty, where he least expected it. 

Owing to the illness of Mr. Eeed s little daughter 
Mary, whom he finally buried in Cape Town, he was 
detained there many weeks. It was a time of great 
distress to the Cape Town- people, and Mr. Eeed was 



30 CAPE TOWN. 

providentially detained to minister the Word of Life 
to perishing hundreds who were dying with the 
small-pox. The disease, which was of the most viru 
lent type, had been communicated to the town from 
a slaver, which had been captured, and brought into 
Table Bay, with its living freight of wretched cap 
tives. It spread rapidly over the town, causing a 
panic which nearly suspended all kinds of business/ 
except that of doctors, nurses, undertakers and 
grave-diggers. Money in payment of debts was re 
fused, until it had been dipped into vinegar, and 
laid out to dry. The hospitals were crowded, and 
then the municipal Government had a large build 
ing, two miles out of town, fitted up, and filled with 
decaying, dying sufferers. Mr. Reid and his family 
were boarding with Mrs. Gunn, who kept a first- 
class boarding-house, which was well-filled with 
Government officers and distinguished travellers. 

All who are acquainted with Mr. Reid s labours 
among all sorts of adventurers in Tasmania and 
Australia, know that he would not stop a day in any 
place without preaching Christ to the people, pub 
licly or privately ; so in Cape Town he at once went 
to work for his Master, but for a time, for prudential 
reasons, he avoided contact with the small-pox pa 
tients. Soon, however, he was waited on by two 
pious soldiers, Sergeant Runciman, and a fellow 
sergeant, who informed him that there were hun 
dreds of men and women dying in the new extem 
porized hospital beyond the town, and not a soul to 



SMALL-POX HAZARDS. 61 

speak a word of comfort to them, or tell them how 
to receive Jesus Christ as their Saviour. The sol 
diers begged Mr. Heed to become the volunteer 
chaplain to that hospital, who, upon a little reflec 
tion responded, " I will." When Mrs. Gunn s 
boarders heard of it, they had a meeting, and after 
discussing the subject, decided that Mr. Eeed should 
not go, lest he might bring the contagion into the 
house, and hazard the lives of the whole of them, 
and that if he should persist in carrying out his 
purpose he must remove from Mrs. Gunn s house. 

To all this Mr. Eeed replied, " It will be a very 
great inconvenience for my family, with a sick child, 
to leave, and go we know not whither, but I believe 
it is my duty to go, and do what I can for the sick 
and dying. I will commit the whole matter to 
God, do my duty, and leave all consequences with 
Him." 

So he went daily till the plague abated. He took 
them by tiers or sections, as they lay, and spoke to 
them personally and collectively, and told them how, 
by the power of the Holy Spirit, they should sur 
render their poor diseased bodies and souls to God, 
and receive the sympathizing Jesus, who was saying 
to them, " Come unto me all ye that labour, and are 
heavy laden, and I will give you rest." A speech 
less dying girl, with smiling face, drew a Bible from 
under her pillow and showed it to Mr. Eeed, indica 
ting by signs that her title was clear to a mansion in 
heaven. On one occasion, two persons, with whom 



32 CAPE TOWN. 

he conversed as he passed in, were dead before he 
got back. He had hope in the death of some, and 
the Judgment alone will reveal the number " who 
were snatched as brands from the burning " through 
his agency during those trying weeks. God took 
care of His servant, and he heard nothing more 
about his having to change his quarters, but re 
mained quietly at Mrs. Gunn s house, which was one 
of but very few houses in the city that entirely 
escaped the dreadful visitation. 

Rev. Mr. Hodgson, who had been labouring for 
some years as a Wesleyan missionary among the 
natives in the Orange River Country, was then 
superintendent of the Cape Town circuit, and greatly 
interested Mr. Reed with a narrative of his adven 
tures in the interior, and introduced to him a Chris 
tian native man who had just come with a wagon 
from Orange river to Cape Town. 

This native man was a Christian hero, as the 
following facts related by Mr. Hodgson to Mr. Reed 
will show. The lions in the Orange River country, 
when they get old and too stiff, or too lazy to follow 
their trade of catching bucks and other active 
animals, sometimes crouch about the kraals, and 
pounce upon a man ; and when they begin that kind 
of work they soon acquire such cannibal proclivities, 
as to become very troublesome customers. 

An old lion had been making some such unwelcome 
visits to the kraal to which this Christian native be 
longed, and one day he and two others took each a 



AFRICAN MARTYR. 33 

gun, and went out in search of him, hoping to make 
a final settlement with him. A few miles distant 
from the kraal, passing over the brow of a ridge into 
a little vale, they suddenly surprised a large lion, 
feeding on the remains of an animal carcass. The 
lion preferring fresh meat seemed glad to see them, 
and without ceremony advanced to give them a 
greeting. The men, in their sudden fright, declined 
the interview, and ran for life. The Christian man 
quite outran his two heathen compatriots ; but as he 
was making away with himself as fast as he could, 
the thought struck him, " One of those men will be 
killed ; neither is prepared to die ! I am prepared, 
thank God ! I had better die, and give them time 
for repentance ! " He instantly stopped, and faced 
about ; the two men passed him, and before he could 
transfer his thoughts from his heroic consent to die 
for his heathen neighbour, to a purpose of self-defence 
with his gun, the lion was upon him. With the 
force of a mighty bound, the lion struck him on the 
breast with his paw, and tore off the skin and flesh 
to the bone. Then with his fore-feet upon the body 
of his victim, he took one of his arms in his mouth, 
and craunched and mangled it. Then he got the 
stock of the gun between his teeth, and ground it to 
splinters. Meantime the other two men looked, 
back, and seeing their friend down, braced them 
selves up for the rescue. They returned near enougb 
for a sure shot, and both together took good aim, and 
the lion dropped dead beside his bleeding victim. 

D 



3 CAPE TOWN. 

Brother Eeed examined the deep scars left by the 
paw of the lion, which the noble fellow would carry 
to his grave. " Scarcely for a righteous man will 
one die, yet peradventure for a good man some 
would even dare to die ; but God commendeth his 
love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners 
Christ died for us." And here was one of Africa s 
sable sons so imbued with the self-sacrificing 
spirit of Jesus, that even for a bad man he was 
willing to die. 

On my first Sabbath in Cape Town April 1st 
I preached at half-past 10 A.M., in Burg Street 
"Wesleyan Church, which will accommodate about 500 
persons. On this occasion it was not filled by one- 
third ; but the Holy Spirit was manifested in mercy 
to many hearts. Rev. Brother Calvert, and wife, 
were present, and in the afternoon and evening 
Brother Calvert preached there, while I, at the 
same hours, preached at Rondebosch Wesleyan 
Chapel, four miles out. The limited capacity of 
the chapels, and the smallness of the congrega 
tions, contrasted unfavourably with the fine churches, 
and packed audiences, of Australia. During that 
week, after several days of inquiry, we secured, 
what we considered, under the circumstances, good 
boarding accommodation, at a more reasonable rate 
than we were paying at the hotel, and sought infor 
mation in regard to the field I might successfully 
cultivate during my sojourn of six months. I 
learned that the English work in the Western 



SMALL BEGINNINGS OF A GREAT WORK. 35 

Province was very limited, the mass of the people 
composing our societies being coloured, speaking 
Dutch, to whom I could not preach. I learned that 
we had a much better English cause in the Eastern 
Province, 500 miles distant, and in ]N~atal 1,000 miles 
distant, but that there were only two places in the 
Eastern Province, and two in Natal, where I could 
get a congregation of any size speaking English, so 
I began to conclude that my working- time in Africa 
would be reduced to three instead of six months. On 
the 7th of April I attended the anniversary meeting 
of the Wesley an Sunday-schools, and delivered an 
.address on the Gospel doctrine of having all the 
children converted, and trained for God. Kev. 
Andrew Murray followed with words of earnestness 
on the same subject. 

Brother Filmer, one of the superintendents, in his 
speech, said, " Seventeen years ago we had a revival 
in this town ; about fifty souls were soundly converted 
to God ; some of them have become missionaries, and 
others remain useful members of the Church. Then, 
five years ago, we Had another revival, principally 
among the Sunday-school children. About forty 
professed to find peace with God, Some of them 
have fallen away, but the most of them have re 
mained steadfast ; and I find some of them among our 
Sunday-school teachers now, and others are useful 
members of the Church. I am now feeling, hoping, 
and believing, that we are on the eve of another out 
pouring of the Holy Spirit/ I thought, "Well, 



36 CAPE TOWN 

such revivals during a period of seventeen years are 
much better than nothing, but fall very far short of 
God s purpose, and provisions in Christ, and the 
spiritual demands of nearly 30,000 sinners." 

On Sabbath, the 8th of April, I commenced a 
series of special services in Burg Street "Wesleyan 
Chapel, which was kept up for nine days, during 
which I preached thirteen sermons. A few seekers 
came forward the first night, ten, and upwards, 
each night of the series, till the last, when the 
altar was crowded with about thirty seekers ; but 
our congregations were not large, and the whole 
machinery of Church agency seemed very weak. 
The members of the church seemed very willing 
to do what they could, and I believe they were 
much strengthened ; and twenty- one souls were 
reported by Brother Hardey as giving satisfactory 
testimony to the fact of their conversion to God. 

On the Wednesday night, of our week of special 
services, we had with us Rev. Wm. Impey, Chairman 
of the Graham s Town district. He had been twenty- 
seven years a missionary in Africa, a good preacher, 
and a man of fine administrative ability. He is a son- 
in-law of Eev. Wm. Shaw, so well known as the apostle 
of Methodist Christianity in the Eastern Province and 
Kaffraria, and the President of the English Wesleyan 
Conference for the year 1866. Eev. Mr. Impey was 
on his way to England as a representative to the Con 
ference, and Mrs. Impey to see her father and friends. 
He had with him a most complimentary testimonial, 



WORKING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 87 

for Mr. Shaw, signed by 1,400 persons in the Eastern 
Province, to remind their old pioneer friend that 
they had not forgotten him. 

Brother Impey, on his own behalf, and on behalf 
of the ministers in his district, gave me a cordial 
welcome to South Africa, and a pressing invitation 
to visit Graham s Town. " I ll give you the keys," 
said he, " and you may go into my circuit and do as 
you please." 

" O, I thank you, Brother Impey," I replied, " for 
your expression of confidence, but I do not wish the 
keys of any man s circuit. When I accept the invi 
tation of a minister to work in his circuit or church, it 
is simply that, under the leading of the Holy Spirit, 
I may assist him and his people in their great work. 
It is my rule not to work in a church in the absence 
of the pastor ; but as you have left such a noble 
brother as Rev. Thomas Guard two of whose 
brothers, ministers in the Irish Conference, I know 
as your representative, I accept your kind invita 
tion." 

We had so many seekers the last night in Cape 
Town, that I felt rather sorry to leave ; but 
I had to go then, or wait probably a month for 
the next regular steamer. So, on Wednesday the 
18th of April, I took passage in the steamer " Natal," 
a clean, comfortable little boat of 400 tons, for PORT 
ELIZABETH. We expected to reach Algoa Bay on 
Friday ; but in consequence of head winds and rough 
weather, we did not arrive till Saturday afternoon. 



CHAPTER IV. 

PORT ELIZABETH. 

REV. JOHN RICHARDS., the superintendent of Port 
Elizabeth Circuit, met me at the wharf, and kindly 
conducted me to his house. Brother Hardey had 
written to him that I was coming, but he did not 
know definitely when, so there was no announce 
ment of our contemplated meetings. Brother 
Richards was very glad to have me hold a series of 
services, but thought it a most unfavourable time to 
commence, because of a number of counter attrac 
tions : 

" 1. The new Roman Catholic Church, in Port 
Elizabeth, is to be opened to-morrow, with imposing 
ceremonies, to be continued through most of the 
week, and a great deal of public interest and curiosity 
have been excited, and large expectations are enter 
tained/ 

" 2. The newly-arrived Independent minister is 
to be installed to-morrow, and to preach his first 
sermons, and receive his friends at a public tea- 
meeting on Wednesday evening. " 

These great coming events had been duly an- 



DULL PROSPECTS. 39 

nounced, and were the talk of the town ; but it was 
not known that I was even expected, for Brother E. 
himself had only notice of it a day or two before. 

I replied, " I have come, I believe, in the order 
of Providence, knowing nothing of these things. 
We are not responsible for any of these adverse 
influences, nor under any obligation to turn aside 
for them ; I have nothing to do, but go forward 
and do what God may open before me, as my duty. " 

As it was important that the public should have 
notice of our contemplated series of meetings, I 
modestly said to Brother li. 

" In Ireland, they would in such a case get a lot 
of little handbills printed for private circulation, and 
send them to all the families they might desire 
specially to invite to our meetings. In Melbourne 
they would have large posters put up all over 
the city straightway, and let everybody know what 
we proposed to do." 

He thought it rather late for anything of that 
sort. "But," said he, "I will go down town and 
tell some of our friends, and request them to inform 
others." 

I proposed to accompany him. We went about 
a quarter of a mile down the principal business 
street, and I was conducted into a substantial stone 
chapel, with end gallery, deep pews, and doors to 
guard the way into them ; an organ in the gallery, 
and at the opposite end, well up toward the ceiling, 
a small old-fashioned pulpit. That was the Wesley an 



40 POUT ELIZABETH. 

Chapel, large enough to seat about 400 persons. It 
had stood there twenty-five years, our principal place 
of worship in a town containing a population of 
11,633, of whom 7,120 are whites, and, for the 
most part, English. Port Elizabeth too, which was 
founded as early as 1820, is the principal " Port of 
entry," for the Eastern Province of Cape Colony, the 
"Free State," and "Transvaal Eepublics," in the in 
terior, and boasts a much larger export than Cape 
Town. The Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, Inde 
pendents, Presbyterians, and even the Mohammedans, 
have each a good church edifice. Brother Richards 
said : 

"We were the first in this field, and have lost a 
good congregation for want of suitable church ac 
commodation. I tried hard, three years ago, to per 
suade the trustees to build a good church, and the 
Wesleyans here were then well able to do it ; but 
divided councils prevailed, and the thing was post 
poned. Since then great financial reverses have 
fallen on the town, and now we are obliged to wait 
for better times." 

In came the chapel-keeper and Brother R. said 
to him, " Tell the people that a stranger will preach 
for us to-morrow." 

Then we went to several shops, and I waited out 
side, while Brother R. went in to tell them about 
the arrival of a stranger. But I thought my good 
brother was not " raising the breeze " fast enough, 
and that if we had to " blow our own trumpet," we 



" BLOWING OUR OWN TRUMPET." 4i 

had better do it effectively. So I then went in too. 
He introduced me as " Eev. Mr. Taylor, who has 
been preaching recently at the Cape." 

Thought I, " Dear me, if I have no greater prestige 
than what I gained at the Cape, it will not fill our 
little chapel to-morrow. " So when he told the shop 
keepers to tell their customers that " a stranger 
would preach at the "Wesleyan Chapel to-morrow/ 
I threw in a few qualifying terms, such " as Cali 
fornia," " Australia," " A work of God," f Bring 
your friends, and have them saved by the mighty 
Jesus ; God hath sent Him for that purpose, and 
they ought to receive Him gladly." In passing 
along I was introduced to a Local Preacher, and 
to help him gird on his armour, I gave him our 
plan of procedure, with a few illustrative facts. 
When I told him that we had very orderly meetings, 
and closed them as early as 10 P.M., he broke out in 
one of those incredulous laughs for which the Lord 
reproved Sarah. " I would be glad," said he, " to 
see such things in Port Elizabeth, but cannot see 
how they can be brought about ; why, our people 
here," he added, " can hardly wait till 8 o clock, 
much less 10." 

"0, well," I replied, "we will dismiss them each 
night as early as eight o clock, at the close of the 
sermon, and give all an opportunity to leave who 
wish to do so." 

He replied, " You don t know the Port Elizabeth 
people as I do, or you would not entertain such 



42 POUT ELIZABETH. 

hopes." After we had made our round among the 
shops, we spent the evening with Mr. Sydney 
Hill, of the mercantile firm of " Savage and 
Hill, 41, Bow Lane, Cheapside, London, and Port 
Elizabeth." Brother Hill is a very intelligent 
thorough business man, a zealous Wesleyan Chris 
tian, Superintendent of the Sunday-school, Class- 
Leader, and altogether one of those noble men whom 
the Lord distributes through the world where they 
are most needed. His lady too is a person of rare 
excellence. Brother Hill was full of hope, " and 
believed that the work of God in the awakening and 
conversion of sinners had already commenced, and 
we would see better days in Port Elizabeth." After 
spending a couple, of days very pleasantly with 
Brother and Sister Eichards, I then, according to 
previous arrangement, made my home at Brother 
HilFs. 

On Sabbath morning we had the chapel more than 
half full. Brother E. read Mr. Wesley s abridg 
ment of the " Morning Service," I preached, and 
the Holy Spirit wrought as in days of old. 

At 3 P.M. I preached to the children. The chapel 
was well filled, but not crowded ; but we had still 
more out in the evening. About 8 P.M., after the 
sermon, I dismissed the congregation ; but most of 
them kept their seats, preferring to remain for the 
prayer-meeting. 

After explaining our method of conducting a 
prayer-meeting, I said, "If there are any sinners 



Mil. SYDNEY HILL, "MINE HOST." 43 

here who feel the awakening power of the Holy 
Spirit, and, like the awakened souls on the day of 
Pentecost, wish to know what to do, they may come 
forward to this altar of prayer, and we will tell you 
what we did when we were in your sad state, and 
how we obtained salvation through Jesus Christ." 
Thirteen adults came forward as seekers, and about 
half of them professed to find peace with God. 
I found we had some good workers, who came up 
promptly, and wrought effectively. 

At a quarter past nine Brother R. said, " With 
Brother Taylor s consent we will close the meeting 
for this evening." I felt sorry to close so early, for 
a number were near the strait gate, and striving 
with many tears to enter in, whom I had not had 
time to speak to personally, but I deferred to my 
superintendent, as the best thing probably under the 
circumstances, and the meeting was promptly closed. 

When we got back to the Mission House, Brother 
E. said, " I feel rebuked, for I did not think that one 
person would come forward to the altar at this early 
stage of the meeting, and especially the persons who 
did come." Sister R. also upbraided herself for 
having her faith outdone. They were both, however, 
greatly delighted and encouraged. 

Brother Richards was one of Dr. Hannah s first 
graduates from "Didsbury." He is a thorough 
student now, and I believe a man of scholarly attain 
ments. I am told that he is a good preacher, a most 
industrious pastor, and an ardent friend. His wife, 



44 PORT ELIZABETH. 

though delicate in health, is a true missionary helper. 
He came first to the Colony in 1837. 

I spent two weeks in Port Elizabeth, preached 
sixteen sermons, and lectured one night on " Remi 
niscences of Palestine." We had from ten to twenty 
seekers forward every night, and conversions to God 
on each occasion, but how many were saved I know not, 
as the minister said he knew them, and did not, so far 
as I know, keep a record of their names. I had preach 
ing service on Saturday night for the natives Kaffirs 
and Fingoes. The chapel, which will seat 350 per 
sons, was filled. "William Barnabas, " a good man/ 
Local Preacher and native teacher, was my interpreter. 
I felt so awkward in preaching through an inter 
preter, and being very weary from excessive labours 
through the week, I did not enjoy the service, and saw 
but little indication of good from the effort. On the 
second Sabbath, besides the regular morning and even 
ing preaching for the whites, I preached in the after 
noon from the Court-house steps. A little shower of 
rain at the time of assembling kept many away, 
but we had out about 600 persons, and it was a 
profitable service ; I thus preached the Gospel 
to two or three hundred who would not otherwise 
have heard it from me. During preaching a funeral 
procession passed close by. The subject suiting the 
occasion, I illustrated it by the dead returning to 
dust. 

Then, a little later, the police came along with a 
bloody-faced prisoner, followed by a rabble, and I 



FIRST NATIVE SERVICE. 45 

said, "Look at him, The way of transgressors is 
hard/ " and got an illustration of my subject out of 
him. 

At the close, a man came and shook my hand, 
saying, "I have heard you preach to the gam 
blers in San Francisco, and to the sailors on Long 
"Wharf, and I heard you give a singular reproof to 
some sailors that I ll never forget. They were load 
ing a barge with coal, and one, with a profane oath, 
wished the coals in H . That is quite unneces 
sary, my friend, said you, for if you are so unhappy 
as to go down to that place, you will find it hot 
enough, and plenty of fuel/ 

When I went to the Eastern Province it was with 
the purpose of spending one month there, dividing 
the time between Port Elizabeth and Graham s 
Town, and another month in Natal. I had my 
return- ticket, for which I had paid 17, extending 
to three months, but I soon found that the Eng 
lish population cf the Eastern Province was much 
greater than my limited information had led me to 
suppose, and that my time should be extended to 
at least two months for the Eastern Province alone. 

On the evening of my arrival in Port Elizabeth, 
Brother Richards introduced me to the first Kaffir I 
had ever seen. He stood before me six feet four 
inches, with finely developed form, good head, very 
pleasant countenance, and a superior display of 
ivory. "This man," said Brother R., "is one of 
our Local Preachers, Joseph Tale, from the Annshaw 



48 PORT ELIZABETH. 

Circuit, about one hundred and fifty miles in the 
interior." Through Wm. Barnabas I asked him 
many questions about the work of God among his 
people. He gave a very encouraging account of the 
number and steadfastness of their people on the 
Annshaw Mission. I told him that when my boxes 
were opened I would give him some books. He said 
his children could read English, and they would read 
them to him. I felt great sympathy with the native 
work, and deep regret that I could not preach to 
them. I had no faith in successful preaching 
through an interpreter. I asked my new tall brother 
to attend our meetings next day, but he said his 
teams had gone out of town that day, that they had 
to go out some distance homeward to get grass for 
their oxen, but that he- and a party of wagoners 
would keep the Sabbath on the road, and that he had 
an appointment to preach to them there. A good 
example for their white brethren. 

Brother Richards made me a plan for a two 
months tour, embracing Graham s Town, King Wil 
liam s Town, Queen s Town, Cradock, and Somer 
set, each appointment about eighty miles apart, in 
travelling from one to the other. I would have 
two weeks for Graham s Town, and a week for each 
of the other places, and a week at Port Elizabeth, 
on my return, in waiting for a steamer to take me 
on to Natal. He accordingly informed the ministers 
of my arrival, and they all wrote me a cordial invi 
tation to visit them, and with them came pressing 



OPENING PROSPECTS. 47 

invitations from Salem, Bathurst, Fort Beaufort, and 
Uitenhage Circuits. The last two I added to my 
plan. I made no provision for preaching to the 
natives, for not knowing their language I did not 
hope to be able to work successfully among them, 
but prayed and hoped that indirectly they would 
derive much good from a revival of God s work 
among the English. 

My next move was to Uitenhage, which is an old 
Dutch town, twenty miles distant from Port Eliza 
beth. 



CHAPTER V. 

UITENHAGE. 

ON the 5th of May, I came from Port Elizabeth, 
to this heautiful town. At Port Elizabeth, I had 
been sojourning a few days at the house of Mr. 
TV. Jones, a somewhat eccentric but very clever 
genial Welshman, and a superior Local Preacher 
in the Wesleyan Church. His wife, a very good 
woman, is a class-leader ; his daughter Jessie, a fine 
young lady, and several sons were unconverted. 

Brother Jones gave me the use of his carriage and 
two horses, and his son Philip to drive me to Uiten- 
hage. We took with us, Mrs. John Eichards, and 
Miss Jessie Jones. Sister Eichards was in such a 
poor state of health when I arrived, that she feared 
she would not be able to attend many of my meet 
ings, but, as she entered into the work, her health 
improved, and after two weeks special services at 
home, was now going to help me a week among her 
friends in Uitenhage, among whom she was blessed 
in doing a work for God. During our journey that 
day, she took occasion to say, that she had been 
greatly edified by my Gospel ministrations, and 



TRIP TO UITENHAGE. 4-9 

was much pleased with, me in everything she had seen, 
except my beard, in regard to which she put me on 
my defence. I said, " Sister Richards, when I was in 
Belfast a few years ago, a Primitive minister waited 
on me to say, There are some very good people in 
this city who are greatly prejudiced against a beard, 
and I think you can be more useful among them if 
you will go to a barber and get shaved. In reply 
to that brother I said, I certainly would not do 
anything which would be damaging to any person 
following my example; for instance, I don t use 
tobacco in any form, I don t use wine or spirits, 
except sacramentally or medicinally. I have been 
a total abstainer from my youth, for the good of 
others, as well as for myself. As to the beard, while 
in the genial climate of California, with youthful 
vigour on my side, I did not feel the need of it, 
and wasted much precious time in cutting it off, 
but having returned from California to the Eastern 
States of America, my thin jaws were exposed to the 
north-west blasts of New York, Wisconsin, and Iowa, 
which gave me neuralgia, and I suffered what 
appeared to be almost the pains of death. So I found 
that I was obliged to seek protection for my face, 
and instead of bundling up in a sheep- skin, and 
an artificial respirator, the constant re-adjustment 
of which would consume time and give trouble, 
I just threw aside that barbarous instrument, the 
razor, to see what the God of Providence would 
do for me, and this flowing beard was the result, 



TJITEISHAGE. 

and it answered the purpose exactly. I soon got 
well of neuralgia, and have never had it since. 
I have found it a good comforter/ a good respirator, 
a good shield against the reflecting rays of the 
summer sun, which used always to blister my face, 
and crack my lips till I could neither laugh nor sing 
without the shedding of blood. Moreover, it was a 
protection against gnats and flies. By a deep inspi 
ration in preaching, which is essential, I used some 
times to take down one of those pestiferous little 
fellows into my throat, and then followed a sudden 
change in the exercises. I have suffered from none 
of these things since I submitted to the Lord s 
arrangement, planting the beard where it was needed. 
I have found it of great service to my vocal organs, 
and hence necessary to my work of preaching the 
Gospel, and to cut it ofF is to impair my work 
ing effectiveness, and so far a sin against God. With 
that, the Irish brother said, *I suppose it is not 
worth while to say anything more about it. * No, 
my dear brother, I cannot do a wrong thing on any 
account, and I also like to help break down an 
unreasonable prejudice in this matter, under the 
influence of which many a poor Irishman is daily 
shedding tears, under the operations of an old 
dull razor. The good people of Belfast soon got 
over their prejudice against my beard, and we had 
a blessed work of God during my stay among 
them.-" I repeated this Irish discussion to Sister 
Richards as we drove along, and she could not 






THE BEARD QUESTION. 51 

help joining Miss Jessie in a laugh at some parts of 
it, but still it did not convince her of the propriety of 
a beard on a minister s face.. I then said, " Surely 
Sister Richards, it cannot be a moral impropriety for 
a minister to wear a beard, since the Master Himself 
had a beard?" 

" But you have no proof," she replied, " that He 
did wear a beard." 

" Well, Sister B/ichards," said I, " if I prove to you 
from the Bible, that the Great Teacher did have a 
beard, will you allow that to end the discussion in 
favour of the beard ? " 

" Yes, I ll rest the case on the Scripture proof, if 
you can produce it." 

" Lest there should be some ground of mistake in 
identifying the person of Christ, when He should 
come into the world, God, through His holy prophets, 
advertised to the world, hundreds of years in advance, 
all His leading characteristics, by the exact fulfil 
ment and counterpart of which, in the person of 
Christ, He should certainly be recognized as the 
Messiah ; Sister Richards, believest thou the pro 
phets?" 

" Certainly, I do." 

" Very well, in describing the prophetic scene of 
the humiliating, and excruciating abuses, to be 
endured by Christ, Isaiah, employing the lan 
guage of the Divine Messenger of the Covenant, says 
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to 
them that plucked off the hair/ To pluck the 



52 TJITENHAGE. 

hair off the head, or back part of the jaw, is 
nothing in comparison with the pain of plucking 
it off the cheeks/ The good sister then subsided. 
We were now nearing our journey s end, and after 
a little talk on personal holiness of heart, we drove 
into the village, and I was welcomed to the very 
pleasant home of Captain George Appleby, who had 
formerly been a shipmaster, but now for many years 
a resident in South Africa. He has a large wool- 
washing establishment, nearly a mile above the town, 
on the Zwart Hops river, employing a powerful steam- 
engine, and from seventy to one hundred working 
men and women, principally native Africans. 

Rev. Purdon Smailes, the superintendent of the 
-circuit, called in soon after my arrival, and expressed 
his pleasure in having me to help him in his impor 
tant work. He was formerly a school-teacher, but for 
many years a learned, zealous, and useful "\Yesleyan 
minister, in South Africa. Sister Appleby is one of 
the largest women I ever saw, but says she has not 
increased in weight since she was fourteen years 
old, so that having learned to carry such dimen 
sions in her youth, it seems no burden at all, for 
she seems as active as a lass of twenty years. She 
is very energetic, but very kind-hearted and hos 
pitable. 

UITEXHAGE is an old Dutch town, located on the 
slope of a beautiful valley, near the banks of Zwart 
Hops river, with fine vales and table lands in the 
background, bounded by a range of mountains east 






DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH. 53 

i 

and north. Across the river, at the rise of the hills, we 
see a heathen village; along the river we see some 
large buildings, and the smoke and steam of the 
engines. These are large wool-washing establish 
ments. Now we learn why we saw hundreds of teams 
loaded with wool passing out of Port Elizabeth, 
where it had been taken, and sold, the day before, 
and often the same day. It is brought out here 
twenty miles to be washed, because of the abun 
dant supply, and superior quality of the water of 
this river for the purpose. The town is supplied 
with water from a large spring rising out of the 
base of the mountain, which flows in, and is so 
distributed as to furnish several streets, with each 
a bold stream, almost sufficient to propel the works 
of an overshot-mill. 

The streets are lined on each side with rows, and, 
in some cases, double rows, of large oaks, and Tas- 
manian blue gums. The buildings are nearly all large 
one-story cottages, painted white, with long verandahs 
in front. Altogether the town, and surrounding 
scenery, are very beautiful. The population of 
Uitenhage district is 7,202, of whom 2,859 only are 
whites, mostly Dutch, the rest are natives. 

The Dutch Eeformed Church have a large com 
modious place of worship in Uitenhage, with a 
good evangelical minister, Rev. Mr. Steytler, and a 
large congregation. As the English population is 
small, and divided between the Presbyterians and 
Wesley ans, we cannot muster a very strong force 



64 UITENHAGE. 

tiiere. "We have, however, some very respectable 
ttnd influential Wesleyan families in the town, but 
the Wesleyan chapel is a very poor concern indeed. 
For many years it was the residence of some old 
denizen, but, in course of time, it fell into the hands 
of a little pioneer club of Wesleyans, who hadlearned 
not to " despise the day of small things," and they 
did it up, and dubbed it a Wesleyan chapel, but the 
ceiling is very low, and it is every way unsuitable. 
One would think, on seeing it, that it should have 
been delivered over to the " moles and bats, " long 
ago ; at any rate, the " bats " have so fkr asserted 
their claim as to take possession >> all ice upper part 
of it, from the ceiling to the roof. Whoever may dis 
pute their right of possession, none are able to dis 
lodge them, for tis said there are thousands of them, 
and they have lined their floor with ail excremental 
nuisance which will fairly drive the white folks away 
before long. It will seat about two hundred persons, 
but they cannot stay in it more than another summer. 
Sister Appleby was working hard to raise funds to 
build a decent chapel, and, I believe, she will succeed. 

On Sabbath morning, the 6th of May, we assem 
bled in the said Chapel to commence our series of 
special services. The place was filled with a very 
genteel-looking audience, and I felt encouraged to 
believe that we had some good stuff to work upon. 

Brother Smailes read the service, and commented 
sensibly on the lessons. The audience did not seem 
to take much interest in the prayers, as only one 



BREACHING TO THE DUTCH. 55 

man responded with audible distinctness, and he did 
not seem to be well up in the business, for he put in a 
response at the wrong place, producing a ludicrous 
surprise that somewhat excited the risibilities of some 
of the youngsters. The Holy Spirit graciously 
helped in the preaching of the Gospel that morning, 
and we had a solemn and profitable occasion. 

By the kindness of Mr. Stey tier, the Dutch Eeformed 
Church minister, whom I had met in Port Elizabeth, 
and his trustees, we had the use of their church at 
3 P.M., and in the evening. Our congregations 
there were large, and though most of them were 
Dutch, they knew the English well enough to under 
stand my preaching, and listened with serious at 
tention. We did not attempt to follow the preach 
ing in the evening with a prayer-meeting there, 
lest some of our kind friends would think we were 
making too free with the privileges they had granted 
us. I was glad to have the opportunity of preaching 
to them, and hoped they would carry the good seed 
into their closets at home, and have it watered with 
the dews of grace which descend there. 

On Monday, at 11 A.M., I preached again in the 
Wesleyan Chapel to a better audience than I supposed 
we could get in a week-day. 

After preaching on Monday night, I explained the 
order of our prayer-meetings, somewhat as follows : 
" A prayer-meeting should have more of the social 
element in it than a preaching service. "We have 
two varieties of worship in a praj^er-meeting : 



56 TJITENHAUE. 

public singing by the congregation, alternately with 
prayer, in which one person leads audibly, for general 
worship. Then, in an undertone, which need not in 
terfere with the solemnity and order of the general 
worship, we give the largest liberty for individual 
efforts to bring souls to Christ. Any brother who 
knows the Saviour, and has a friend here who knows 
Him not, pray for that friend, and if you feel that by 
the help of the good Spirit, you can, by telling him 
what Jesus hath done for you, or by any persuasive 
appeals to his conscience, induce him to turn to God, 
you are entirely at liberty, any, or all of you as the 
Spirit may lead you, thus to work for God during the 
prayer meeting. I make this explanation at this early 
stage of our series of services, lest some, seeing this 
variety of exercise, might think it a disorderly pro 
ceeding, when indeed it is in accordance with the 
order and design of the meeting ; the low- toned con 
versation to seekers who may be inquiring What 
must I do to be saved ? and the earnest ejacula- 
tory prayer of sympathizing hearts for such, do 
not indeed produce the least discord in the har 
mony of the general worship. 

" We have nothing new to introduce, but rather the 
old simple methods of the Gospel. In the great Pen 
tecostal awakening the poor sin-stricken souls cried 
out, Men and brethren, what shall we do ? Peter 
did not tell them to go home and meditate in the 
quiet solitude of their closets, and call at his house 
next day, and he would have a talk with them on the 



HOW TO LEAD SEEKERS TO CHRIST. 57 

subject. Nay, when the Spirit awakens a poor sin 
ner, He is then waiting to lead that soul directly to 
Jesus. But the poor stricken sinner does not know the 
Holy Spirit who hath smitten him in love, and does 
not know Jesus, nor where to find Him. How appro 
priate, then, that such should avowedly ask, Men 
and brethren, what shall we do? Should not the 
Men and brethren then, and there, tell such poor 
sinners what to do, and go to work every one of them 
and lead the poor seekers to Jesus ? That is just 
what they did in Jerusalem, and three thousand of 
them, not only heard from the lips of the Men and 
brethren, who were working together with God/ 
to save them, what to do, but at once, openly and 
honestly, yea, gladly received the Word, and were 
baptized/ that day. Now this is the kind of thing 
we want to have here in Uitenhage ; no new thing 
but the blessed old thing, which worked so well long 
before our new-formed methods of nice propriety 
were invented. "We are now ready to converse 
with any who feel the awakening of the Holy 
Spirit, help you to grapple with your difficulties, 
tell you how we went through the same ordeal 
f hardness, darkness, grief, guilt, despair, hope, 
esire, fear, and the terrible swaying between two 
mighty forces, the one attracting towards Christ, 
the other repelling by the force of a thousand bad 
associations, and a mighty power of satanic in 
fluence. Poor sinners, we know well from sad ex 
perience what you feel. We sympathize with you 



UITENIIAGE. 

profoundly! ami we are anxious to help you. We 
ran not save you, but God may use us as agents 
t<> l< a<l you to Jesus, according to his Gospel 
method. ]>ut unless you indicate your desire to 
(urn to God, as did the awakened souls in Jerusa 
lem, in some way or other, we know not to whom 
to speak, nor for whom personally to pray. We 
are willing t moo t vou [ n nny p art Q f t j ie ] louse> 

but we recommend as the most prompt and orderly 
means to the great end proposed, that all those 
who have counted the cost/ and who have in 
telligently, deliberately, detcrminately, resolved to 
seek the Lord now, < while lie may be found, to 
come forward to this altar of prayer. 

Come sinners to the Gospel feast, 

Let every soul be Jesu s guest ; 

Ye need not one be left behind, 

For God hath bidden all mankind. 

Come all ye souls by sin opprest, 

Ye restless wanderers after rest ; 

Ye poor, and maimed, and halt, and blind, 

In Christ a hearty welcome find. 

This is the time, no more delay, 

This is the acceptable day. 

Come in this moment, at His call, 

And live for Him who died for all." 

While singing this invitation hymn, about a dozen 
adult seekers came forward. Just at the close of 
the prayer that followed, as we rose to sing again, 
when everything was going on in an orderly way 
according to the method I had just defined, a tall 



OUTRAGEOUS PIIOCEEDIXGS. 59 

young Dutchman rushed up the crowded aisle to 
where I was conversing with the seekers, and ad 
dressed me in an angry shouting tone, " How dare 
you introduce such blasphemous proceedings in this 
town ? I demand your authority for such outrageous 
proceedings under a pretence of worshipping God/ 
repeating similar expressions several times. I took 
him by the arm, and kindly explained to him what 
from its novelty to him seemed so strange, and 
begged him to be seated near the front, and see and 
hear all that was done there, and satisfy his own 
mind that this was, indeed, the work of God ; but 
he turned and hastened away, like the young 
man who seemed suddenly to be waked out of 
sleep, and ran into the garden of Gethsemane, and 
laid hold on Jesus on the night of his betrayal. 
The young fellow was very respectably connected in 
family relations ; but as I learned, got no svmpathy, 
unless from one man, but a great deal of contempt 
for his rash interference with the peaceable worship 
of his neighbours. The meeting then went on 
quietly, and several persons obtained peace with 
God. But our working force was very small. The 
Class-Leader, a fine old man, was sick, so that we 
were deprived of his help. 

On Thursday morning we were reinforced by the 
arrival of Rev. Brother Eichards, and Sister Hill, 
my kind hostess from Port Elizabeth. At eleven 
A.M., I preached again to an audience of increased 
dimensions and interest. At the day services we 



00 UITENIliGE. 

get the wheat without the chaff, less bulk, but 
greater weight. Tuesday evening we had our little 
chapel packed, and at the prayer-meeting the altar 
was crowded with seekers. During the progress of 
the prayer-meeting, which was solemn, but very 
quiet, a Mr. B. sent me, by a boy, the following 
note : " The Rev. Mr. Taylor will oblige by not 
interfering with the devotions of this meeting by 
his audible conversation." I was simply conversing 
with a seeker in a low tone, according to our an 
nounced plan, but Mr. B., who, I was informed, is 
not friendly to the cause of God in any form, was 
not satisfied to allow us to proceed in our worship 
according to the dictates of our own conscience. I, 
of course, made no reply to his note, but said to 
some of my friends after the meeting, " Satan is 
getting more polite each day of our meeting. Last 
night he rushed in like a roaring lion to devour the 
prey ; but to-night he addressed me in a note as 
the Eev. Mr. Taylor ; by to-morrow night he will 
not dare even to mutter in the dark, unless it is 
round the corners out of sight, or in the canteen." 
"Wednesday, at eleven A.M., I preached, and at the 
prayer-meeting following we had some very interest 
ing conversions. On Wednesday night, after preach 
ing, we had thirty persons forward as seekers, a 
number of whom found peace ; and, as I anticipated, 
Satan could not command an agent that could " face 
the music." The silent solemnity of the occasion 
seemed to subdue opposing forces. I preached again 






PREACHING IN A WOOLSHED. 61 



on Thursday at eleven A.M., and several persons 
were saved. At three P.M. of that day, I preached 
in Brother Appleby s woolshed to the Kaffirs in his 
employ. We had an audience of about seventy, 
most of whom had often heard the Gospel, but a 
portion of them were raw heathens. I got an un 
converted, bare-footed, ragged Kaffir to interpret for 
me, and got on much better than I had done before 
with a professional interpreter, for he talked in a 
simple, natural way. On Thursday night I delivered 
a lecture in a public school on " Reminiscences of 
Palestine," and " St. Paul and his Times. 

The number of converts, during our brief series 
in Uitenhage, was not reported to me ; but there was 
manifestly a deep and general awakening in the 
town, and among the converts were some influential 
persons, who will make valuable members of the 
Church, I doubt not. 

On Friday we returned to Port Elizabeth, where I 
delivered a leture on St. Paul and his Times ; and at 
five A.M., Saturday, my kind host, Brother Sydney 
Hill, saw me safely into the " Post cart," a rough 
conveyance on two wheels, drawn by four horses, and 
that day, while I was resting, I was jolted over a 
rough road, ninety miles, to Graham s Town. 



CHAPTER VI. 



GRAHAM S TOWN was founded as a military post in 
1812, but received its life and proportions from the 
famous immigration of 1820. The Colonial Settle 
ment of that year in Albany, a few miles distant, 
having, by the appointment of the Home Govern 
ment, the Rev. William Shaw for their minister, con 
tained much sterling stuff for the foundations of 
empire in a new country. Those of them better 
adapted to mechanical, commercial, and literary pur 
suits than to farming, soon left their "wattle and 
daub " huts in the country, and have gradually built 
up this flourishing town. 

It is situated in a valley, bounded by high hills, 
near the sources of the " Kowie River." Its houses 
are principally of brick and stone, covered with 
slate and zinc. They are not generally over two 
stories high. It contains many fine gardens ; and 
the streets are ornamented, and shaded with rows of 
trees, principally English oak, eucalyptus (or Tas 
mania blue gum) and Kaffir boom. The last is in 
digenous, and grows a large beautiful scarlet-coloured 



FIIIST CHAPEL. 63 

flower. There is an extensive barracks for troops, 
both at the east and west ends of the city. And 
the continual presence of a regiment or two of Eng 
lish soldiers, with their daily drill, and martial- 
music, reminds the stranger that, though every thing 
he sees there, is so thoroughly English, and home 
like, he is nevertheless in a country where Europeans 
have to watch, as well as pray, and while they trust 
in a gracious Providence, to take Cromwell s advice, 
and " keep their powder dry." 

Graham s Town has, according to the census of 
1865, a white population of 5,2 6 3, all English, and 
a few thousand Hottentots, Kaffirs, and Fingoes. 
It has good churches ; three Episcopalian, three 
"Wesleyan, two Baptists, two Independent, and one 
Roman Catholic. It has a public library, museum, 
and botanical gardens : two banks, one high school 
Wesleyan, called, in honour of the old Methodist 
pioneer of that Province, "Shaw College," besides 
the full compliment of educational and charitable 
institutions common in such a city. 

The first Wesleyan Chapel there was dedicated in 
1822. It would seat 400 persons. It was followed 
by another in 1832, twice its size, which cost 3,000. 
The former house was given to the natives. The 
present principal Wesleyan Church of Graham s 
Town " Commemoration Chapel," is thus described 
by Mr. Shaw : " The building is in the pointed 
style (Gothic), well-sustained in all its parts. The 
front, from the level of the floor, is seventy feet 



64 GRAHAM S TOWN. 

high to the top of the centre pinnacle, and it is about 
sixty-three feet wide, including the buttresses. The 
interior dimensions are ninety feet long by fifty 
broad, and from the floor to the ceiling it is thirty- 
four feet in height. There are two side, and one 
end, galleries ; and the building is capable of accom 
modating, in great comfort, a congregation of about 
fourteen hundred persons." It cost over 9,000 
sterling, and is quite superior to any other church of 
any denomination in the city. 

The subscription for it was commenced on the an 
niversary day, celebrating the arrival of the te Albany 
Settlers" in Algoa Bay, on the 10th of April, 1820 ; 
and in memory of that event, it was called " Com 
memoration Chapel." 

Rev. Mr. Shaw remarks further, that owing to the 
embarrassments occasioned by the Kaffir War of 
1846, the debt on " Commemoration Chapel/ at the 
time of its dedication, was upwards of 5,000, and 
adds, " I had already appealed to the Legislative 
Council of the colony for assistance, seeing that we 
had never received a shilling from the Colonial Trea 
sury in aid of our religious institutions in Graham s 
Town, while nearly the entire cost of St. George s 
Church had been defrayed from that source, and the 
Episcopalians and Roman Catholics of the town were 
receiving about 1,000 per annum towards the sup 
port of their respective clergy." After some disap 
pointments and long delay, they succeeded in ob 
taining the grant of 1,000 in aid of the building 



CHURCH OUT OF DEBT. G5 

fund. Mr. Shaw says further by anticipation, " I 
trust that the few settlers, who may survive the fif 
tieth year, or jubilee of their arrival in the country, 
will take care that, if any debt unhappily still re 
mains on Commemoration Chapel, it shall, on that 
occasion, be entirely extinguished by their grateful 
and liberal thank-offerings." Well, when I reached 
Graham s Town, there was still a debt of 3,000 on it. 
But through a letter, recently received from Rev. 
T. Guard, I shall be happy to inform Brother Shaw 
that the friends there, recently had a meeting to 
take the subject under consideration, and paid the 
whole amount that day. 

After a rough ride in the post- cart, ninety miles 
from Port Elizabeth, I arrived in Graham s Town at 
six P.M. My home was with Mr. TV". A. Richards, 
one of the proprietors of the " Journal/ a large Tri 
weekly, having the largest circulation of any paper 
in the colony. He is stepson of the founder, and 
senior member of the firm the Hon. R. Godlonton, 
who is a " Colonist of forty-six years standing, and an 
old TVesleyan as well, and though for many years a 
member of the " Legislative Council," or Upper 
House of the Colonial Parliament, yet he is really a 
spiritually- minded useful member, and active worker 
in the Church. I had a delightful home in the spa 
cious house, and more spacious hearts of my dear 
friends, Brother and Sister Richards. During my 
first evening, Brother Atwell and several other lead 
ing laymen called in to bid me welcome, and also 

F 



66 GRAHAM S TOWN. 

Eevs. Davis, Green, and Holford. Brother Guard, 
acting superintendent during the absence of Brother 
Impey, had been away on a visitation of the churches 
for a short time, and had not returned. Brother Hol 
ford, an earnest young minister, was a junior col 
league in the circuit. He has been but five or six 
years in the colony. Brother John Scott was the 
single young preacher in the circuit. He is the son 
of my friend, Rev. George Scott, the old Swedish 
missionary of the British Conference. John was 
brought out into the work in Africa, and I believe 
will become a useful minister. 

Rev. W. J. Davis was sent out by the British Con 
ference, in 1831. He is a brave man ; has been most 
of his time in the purely mission work among the 
Kaffirs ; has encountered wars, and a very great 
variety of perils among them. He now has charge 
of a large native station in Graham s Town. He is, 
I believe, a thorough Kaffir scholar, and is the author 
of a grammar of the Kaffir language. I afterwards 
Droved him a valuable helper in our prayer-meetings 
in leading souls to God. 

He has a large, interesting family, and, I believe, 
all converted to God. Two of his daughters, who 
know the Kaffir language as well as the English, the 
wives of Rev. Brothers Hargraves and Sawtell, are 
in the missionary work, and his son William has 
recently commenced to preach in Kaffir. 

Rev. George H. Green, superintendent of Bathurst 



FIRST SERVICE. 67 

circuit, had come to Graham s Town on duty, and 
was detained by the sudden death of one of his horses, 
and was unable to leave till after the Sabbath, Many 
hundreds of horses had recently died in the province, 
from the "horse sickness," with which the country 
is sometimes visited. A hotel-keeper on the road, 
from Port Elizabeth, who keeps a relay of coach- 
horses, told me that day, that within a month he had 
lost eighty horses by this disease. 

Brother Green was sent out in 1837, and has, 
during the most of the time since, been devoted to 
the English and Dutch work. He is an open, 
laughing brother, but thoroughly devoted to God,, 
and His work, and has the reputation of being a 
superior preacher. I was highly entertained with the 
missionary narratives of these brethren till the hour for 
retiring. I will note some of them at a suitable time. 

On Sabbath, May 13th, we had " Commemoration 
Chapel " crowded three times with a superior-looking 
class of people, with a sprinkling of red-coats (English 
soldiers) among them. In the morning Brother 
Green read the service, and I preached from " the 
last words of Jesus/ " But ye shall receive power, 
after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you : and ye 
shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in 
all Judsea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost 
part of the earth." In commencing a series of special 
services, I always preach first to believers on a subject 
embracing the personality, immediate presence, and 



68 GRAHAM S TOWN. 

special mission of the Holy Ghost, and the adjust 
ment of human agents to His gracious arrangements, 
essential to success. 

At three P.M. I preached to the children, with as 
many adults as could crowd into the church. At 
night I preached specially to sinners. At the open 
ing of the prayer-meeting which followed, I invited 
seekers of pardon to present themselves at the altar 
of prayer, but not one came. I knew that the 
awakening Spirit had thrust His "piercing " sword 
into the hearts of many sinners, but did not press 
them to come forward. Many believers were greatly 
disappointed in not seeing some go forward, but 
thought it was the pleasure of the Holy Spirit, thus 
to set the church more fully back to their home 
work of self-examination, and more thorough pre 
paration for the coming struggle for the rescue of 

perishing souls. 

On Monday many leading brethren called to bid 

me welcome ; but all expressed their disappointment 
at the results of the labours of the previous day, and 
their great sorrow that the Church was in such a low 
spiritual state. They spoke gratefully of a work of 
God in 1822, at Salem, twenty miles distant ; a second 
revival in 1830, in Graham s Town, which extended 
to some of the country circuits. Their third, and 
great revival," was in 1837, when about 300 souls 
were saved. A fourth revival, less extensive, but 
really a very good work, especially among the young 
people, in 1857 ; Kut now they felt a painful sense of 



VENTILATION. 69 

coldness and ineffectiveness. I assured them that as 
soon as they were ready for an advance movement, 
the Holy Spirit would certainly lead them on to 
victory. I reminded them of the carnal obstructions 
to the work of God in the Church, which must be 
sought out and removed by individual repentance 
and reformation, through faith ; and that there was 
at least one serious physical difficulty in the way. 
" Your beautiful church is not sufficiently ventilated 
for a large audience, by one half. The immense 
amount of carbonic acid gas thrown out from the 
lungs of fourteen hundred persons, and the porous 
discharge of foetid matter from their bodies, must on 
each occasion poison the atmosphere in the church 
in a very short time. This poison being inhaled, 
corrupts the blood, blunts the nervous sensibilities of 
the people, and hence precludes vigorous mental 
action, produces headache, and drowsiness, and sadly 
injures their health ; and when it comes to that, the 
best thing is to quit, and go home as quickly as 
possible. We can t afford to spend our precious 
evenings there in poisoning each other, for that is 
the very kind of stuff that killed the British soldiers 
in the blackhole of Calcutta. It is out of the ques 
tion to have a great work of salvation without a good 
supply of oxygen."" 

They could not readily realize that their really 
splendid church could be so defective in anything ; 
but expressed a willingness to make such changes as 
might be found to be necessary. 



70 



They were decidedly of opinion that we would get 
on better to have the prayer-meetings, after preach 
ing, in the basement lecture-room, as the brethren 
felt more at home, and could work .more freely there. 

I replied, " Before this week is out, we will require 
all the room the body of the church can afford to 
accommodate the people who will remain for prayer- 
meeting ; and as your people will have to get used to 
working above, they may just as well break in first as 
last, and then we will lose no time in needless changes." 

We had to go thoroughly into the subject of 
ventilating the chapel. I begged them to employ a 
competent mechanic to put ventilating apertures in 
the windows, above and below. They had two such 
on each side of the chapel in the windows below, but 
none above. But to make any permanent change, a 
meeting of the trustees must be called, and perhaps 
much time consumed in the preliminaries before the 
work could be effected. So to close the debate, and 
secure the end by a short method, Brother Atwill, 
one of the trustees, who is allowed to do daring 
things, without being called to account, because all 
who know him feel sure, that under all circumstances, 
he will do what he conscientiously believes to be the 
right thing, went into the gallery, hammer in hand, 
and knocked a pane of glass out of each window on 
both sides, which afforded a good supply of fresh air, 
for our crowded audiences, and thus removed a phy 
sical barrier to our success, and gave us a wide awake 
people to preach to. 






PRAYER MEETINGS. 71 

On Monday night we had the church well filled 
ahove and below. Nearly enough remained for the 
prayer-meeting to fill the main audience-room of the 
church. Over thirty seekers came promptly forward 
to the altar of prayer, and about a dozen of them 
were "justified by faith," and obtained "peace with 
God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

On Tuesday morning Brother Green, who had 
meantime provided himself with another horse, was 
about to return home, taking with him his daughter 
" Libbie," who was not converted to God. The- 
young lady was in sad bereavement, and was disposed 
to complain of God s dealings with her. She was 
within a few days of being married, a year before, to 
the son of Hev. John Edwards, one of our old South 
African Missionaries, but the young man, in crossing 
Fish Eiver, on his way to the home of his bride, was 
drowned. I said to Brother Green, "Don t take 
your daughter away from our meetings. Just leave 
her here to be converted, and go ye and bring 
Sister Green and your daughter Hannah, and let 
them all share the blessings of God at our meetings. 
There are crowns to be distributed, and the gift of 
eternal life to be granted to all who will come to 
God, and I don t see why your family may not as 
well have their full share of blessing/ 

Brother Richards seconded my motion by a cordial 
invitation for Brother and Sister Green to sojourn 
with me in his house. Brother Green consented at 
once. The result was, we got two valuable helpers 



<^ GRAHAMS TOWN. 

in the persons of Brother and Sister Green ; and 
during the series of meetings, their daughters were 
both converted to God ; and, subsequently, their son 
Arthur, at our Somerset meetings, and their son John, 
at our Cradock series, were saved. They are very 
interesting girls, and their brothers give good pro 
mise of becoming useful men. 

On Tuesday, the 15th of May, Eev. Thomas Guard 
returned. As he had before given me a cordial invi 
tation, so now he gave me an Irish " Caed mela faith a" 
" 100,000 welcomes "to Graham s Town. He is 
the Apollos of Southern Africa. I believe it is con 
ceded by all parties who have heard him preach and 
lecture, that no man in Africa can approach to his 
standard of logical fascinating sublime eloquence. It 
was said, however, that he succeeded better in stirring 
the romantic and poetic elements of man s nature, and 
in feasting the intellect, than in arousing the con 
science, and leading sinners to repentance. But he 
threw all his energies into the work at our meetings, 
publicly, and in social circles, and was greatly owned 
of God as an agent in the work that was done, and 
himself received, as he testified to the praise of God, 
an extraordinary baptism of the Holy Spirit, under 
which he " had grown more than during a period of 
fifteen years before." His talents now, more than 
ever, are employed by the Spirit in the direct work of 
winning souls for Christ. 

He has been but a few years in Africa, but his 
name- is a tower of strength in both colonies. 



CHRISTIAN STATESMEN. 73 

He was induced to leave the Irish Conference, and 
take an appointment to Africa, because of the failing 
health of his highly-talented wife. Her health is 
greatly improved ; but it would be a calamity to 
the work in Southern Africa if they should return 
to their "Emerald Isle/- 

We have many wealthy influential "Wesleyans in 
Graham s Town, who, I believe, shared largely in the 
rich blessings of grace poured out from their Infi 
nite Source during our series. Seven members of 
Parliament from Graham s Town are Wesleyans. 
Hon. George Wood, senior ; Hon. Robert Godlonton, 
Hon. Samuel Cawood, Hon. J. C. Hoole, belong to 
the Upper House, or " Legislative Council," four out 
of the seven members to which the Eastern Province 
is entitled. Hon. John Wood, George Wood, junior r 
sons of George, senior, Jonathan and Reuben AylifF, 
and J. C. Clough, are members of the Legislative 
Assembly; William Ayliff also, from Eort Beaufort. 
These are all class-going Wesleyans, except Messrs. 
Hoole and Clough, who are, in other respects, identi 
fied with us. 

These are, for the most part I learn, wealthy 
men, and very influential for good. The Aylifis are 
sons of Rev. John, recently deceased, one of our 
most laborious and successful pioneer missionaries, 
who led the Fingoes out of their bondage, as before 
stated. His widow, daughter, and two of his sons 
live in Graham s Town. The widow still has the 
genuine missionary spirit, and is driven round daily 



74 GRAHAM S TOWN. 

in her carriage to all parts of the town, visiting the 
sick, and doing good to the souls and bodies of the 
needy. At her request I visited some of her patients ; 
among them was "old Brother Sparks," who had 
been bound, lo ! these thirty-six years, with rheu 
matism. Many of his joints have been drawn quite 
out of place ; but he said, " God has been very kind 
to me. He has, all through my long period of suf 
fering, so filled my heart with His precious love, 
that I never felt a spirit of impatience."" He seemed 
greatly to enjoy my singing. I thought his poor 
wife, who has daily attended him during his long ill 
ness, must have developed patience almost equal to 
that of Job. I have made the acquaintance of all 
four of Father Ayliff s sons. They are all over 
six feet in height, born in the mission- field among 
the Kaffirs, fluent in the Kaffir language, pious, 
" well-to-do" men, and leading men in the Govern 
ment. 

Volumes might be filled with the details of what 
was said and done in connection with our series of 
meetings in Graham s Town ; but I will simply give 
an outline and a few specimen illustrative facts of a 
work which, in extent, numerically, was limited com 
pared with the numbers saved during my series of 
the same length in any of the Australian cities. But 
the work in Graham s Town is of vast importance, 
not only in its local effect, but in its far-reaching in 
fluence on the extensive mission-field among the sur 
rounding African tribes. 



CHAPTER VII. 
GTIAHAM S TOWN (CONTINUED). 

DURING my first week in Graham s Town I preached 
eight sermons, each followed by a prayer-meeting, 
of about two hours in time. The second week the 
same as the first, with the addition of four mid- day 
prayer-meetings. 

During the third week preached four sermons ; 
delivered three lectures on " Reminiscences of Pales 
tine/ and " St. Paul and his Times." We had fine 
mid-day prayer-meetings that week, and occupied 
one evening by a fellowship meeting, at which I gave 
a lecture on Christian Fellowship, and over one hun 
dred and twenty persons, nearly all adults, came 
forward and gave their names as candidates for 
membership in the Wesleyan Church, and eighty- 
four persons stood up in their places promptly, one 
after another, and clearly gave their testimony to the 
saving work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. 

The number of persons professing to have found 
pardon and peace with God, meantime, whose names 
and address had, on a personal examination, been 
taken down by Brother Holford, one of the ministers 



78 GRAHAM S TOWN. 

of the circuit, amounted to over a hundred and 
seventy, which number swelled to over two hundred 
soon after I left. The daily prayer-meetings have 
been kept up ever since, and will, I trust, to the end 
of time. 

I found the people of Graham s Town a very at 
tentive, social, affectionate people. I formed among 
them many personal acquaintances, and strong bonds 
of Christian friendship, which will abide for ever. 

On Thursday, the 24th of May, out on the hills 
overlooking Graham s Town, in the Mimosa Scrub, 
we had a Wesleyan celebration of the " Queen s 
birthday." It was a delightful social entertainment, 
where I had an opportunity of speaking to many 
friends, and among them many of the young con 
verts. Mr. H., a tall man, with heavy beard, came 
to me as soon as I alighted from Brother Eichards 
carriage in the grove, and said, "Mr. Taylor, I 
have come to ask your pardon for what I have been 
thinking about you. I felt so badly under your 
preaching, that I went forward to the altar last 
Thursday night, but I felt worse and worse. Just 
beside me was a woman who was in such an agony 
of distress that I soon began to neglect my own 
case in my sympathy for her. I wondered that you 
did not come at once, and do something for her ; 
and while I was looking and hoping that you would 
come, I saw you walk past her. Now I am telling 
you this, that I may ask your pardon for what I had 
been thinking about you. When I saw that woman s 



A REMARKABLE CASE. 77 

flowing tears, and saw you pass without seeming to 
notice her, I got angry, and wanted to pull your 
beard. Knowing that such a procedure would not 
be suitable to the occasion, I got up and went away. 
But on last Sabbath, when you preached in Market 
Square, I stood so near to you, that I could see into 
your eyes, and saw there such a flood of sympathy 
for sinners, that I was fully convinced that I had 
done you great injustice in my mind, and felt ashamed 
that I had allowed such feelings so to influence my 
conduct. Then I began again in earnest to seek the 
Lord. Last night, during the prayer- meeting, I sur 
rendered my soul to God, and accepted Jesus Christ 
as my Saviour, and immediately I was filled with 
unspeakable joy/ Now I see that you were right 
all the time, and that you understood the woman s 
case, and that I did not ; that she had to feel her 
own utter helplessness and surrender herself to God/ 
(The fact is, as I then told him, I had explained the 
way of salvation to the woman before she got his 
attention.) " This is the man/ continued he, point 
ing to a small man by his side, " who spoke to me 
last night, when I was just poising in an even bal 
ance. I required but the weight of a feather, and 
he gave the right impulse at the right moment, and 
I yielded, believed, and was saved/ 

Several very respectable persons, who had been 
a long time acceptable members of the Church, found 
out that they were on the old Jewish track of " going 
about to establish their own righteousness," but had 



78 

never submitted themselves to the righteousness of 
God/ and were hence really destitute of salvation. 
Brother R. came to see me, and told how he had 
been trying for years to serve God, but could not 
tell whether or not he had even the witness of par 
don. I tried to help him ascertain his facts, and de 
fine his spiritual whereabouts, but in vain. Then I 
told him to drop the discussion, and come directly 
to God in a present unreserved surrender, and claim 
in Christ what was the privilege of every poor sinner 
in the world, who had any desire to come to God, a 
present salvation from sin. I then fully explained 
to him the simple way of salvation by faith, the 
only way to be saved. He at once ceased to debate 
the question of doubt, and very soon obtained sal 
vation by faith, and the clear witness of the spirit 
that he was then indeed a child of God. He after 
wards became a successful worker in leading souls to 
Jesus. 

On the second Sabbath night of our series, I saw 
an interesting-looking man at the altar of prayer, in 
an agony of soul on account of sin. Several good 
brethren stood near him, and said to me, as I was 
about to speak to the penitent, " This is one of our 
best members/ pointing to the man at the altar. 
" He is not simply a nominal member, but an active 
worker, reproving sin, and trying to do good daily, 
and also the superintendent of one of our Sabbath 
schools. He is subject to seasons of great darkness, 
and is now under a cloud ; but it is all the result of 



THE SERGEANT SEEKING. 79 

severe temptations." At the close of the following 
week the said seeker came to see me, and related his 
experience, in substance, as follows : He was first 
awakened when twelve years old; but having no 
one to instruct him, gradually lost his convictions 
of sin. Then, twenty years ago, he was greatly 
awakened, .and resolved to be a servant of God, and 
joined the Wesley an Church. " For several years I 
strove hard to live right, and attended all the means 
of grace within my reach. Then I became ac 
quainted with a very bad man, who was the means 
of leading me astray, and for a short time I was out 
of the Church, but I was very wretched, and made a 
sincere and humble confession, and was again ad 
mitted to the Wesleyan Church. I then doubled my 
diligence in trying to work out my salvation with 
fear and trembling. I often fasted from Wednesday 
till Friday. 

" Once during my fast I received an order to 
perform a hazardous duty, as a sergeant in the 
army. Some of my fellow- soldiers begged me to 
break my fast, or I could not accomplish my w T ork ; 
but I kept to my fast, and though in a very 
weak state, fulfilled my duty. I have spent many 
days in prayer, in the kloofs and caves of the 
mountains, and often wished that by laying down 
my life, I could get relief for my soul. I once re 
solved to die on my knees, or get relief. I got some 
relief, but did not get salvation. I have for some 
time been teaching school, and have been trying 



80 

to do good in the Sunday- school, but got no rest 
for my soul/ During the first week of your preach 
ing, I was thoroughly waked up, but I felt very 
bitter against you. By last Sabbath I felt so badly, 
so guilty before God, that I could not show my face ; 
but spent the day alone in the hills, trying to pray. 
But on Sabbath night, I went again to hear you 
preach, and when you appealed to murmurers against 
God, and asked them if they would be willing to 
have their miserable existence terminated by annihi 
lation ? I responded in my heart, Yes, I would 
hail such an opportunity with gladness. I then 
went forward to the altar of prayer, and cried for 
help, but found it not. 

" But the next night, in your sermon on believing, 
you unraveled every knot of unbelief, by which I 
have been held down all these years. Your account 
of that man in Mudgee, New South Wales, who said, 
* I can t believe, 0, I can t believe, suited my case 
exactly, and I said, I ll never use that fatal expres 
sion again. I do submit myself to God, living or 
dying, to do with me just as He likes. I do believe 
His record concerning His Son. I do have confidence 
in Jesus, as an all-sufficient Saviour of the very chief 
of sinners. I do accept Him as my Saviour now. I 
began then at once to get hold on Christ by faith ; 
and while they were singing, 0, the bleeding Lamb ! 
He was found worthy, I clearly realised, what I had 
always admitted in theory, that though I should 
give all my goods to feed the poor, and my body to 



THE SERGEANT SAVED. 81 

be burned, it would profit me nothing ; but the 
Lamb of God slain for sinners, was indeed a suffi 
cient sacrifice for my sins, and I do accept Him now 
as my Saviour. I returned home, quietly resting 
on Christ as my Saviour. About one o clock that 
night, while steadily clinging to Jesus, the Holy 
Spirit so manifested the pardoning love of God to 
my heart, that I could not restrain my joyous emo 
tions, but went and waked up Mr, G., and told him 
that I was saved, and we praised God together. If 
a legion of angels had told me that all my sins were 
forgiven, I could not have had a clearer evidence 
than I had within my heart, through God s witness 
ing Spirit. Before that I did not love you; but 
ever since, I have loved you so, that I could cheer 
fully lay down my life for you. I ask your pardon 
for the hard feelings I entertained against you, during 
your first week s services. I see now that I was 
under the influence of the carnal mind and Satan. 
The devil has often come since with his old sugges 
tions of unbelief; but, thank God, the snare is broken, 
and I am a free man in Jesus." I had a season of 
prayer with Him alone, and God manifested himself 
in great mercy to our hearts. 

In contrast with this, another class of converts^ 
after the style of the Philippian jailor, may be illus 
trated by the experience of Mr. J. W., of Graham s 
Town, who was saved through the preaching 
of Rev. Brother Guard, a few weeks after I left, 
Brother W. brought his brother, burdened with sic, 

G 



107 miles, to my meeting in Cradock, who returned 
full of joy unspeakable. During ourCradock series, 
at a fellowship-meeting, Brother "W. said, " Under 
the preaching of the Rev. Mr. Guard, I was awak 
ened by the Spirit of God, to a sense of my sad con 
dition as a sinner. I had not bowed my knee in 
prayer for fifteen years, but utterly without hope of 
improving my condition, by anything I could ever 
do, I knelt before God, and in the simplicity of a 
little child, told Him all about my sad state, and re 
minded Him of his abundant provision of mercy in 
Christ for just such poor sinners as I was, and that 
I then and there thankfully accepted Jesus on His 
own terms, as my Saviour, and before I arose from 
my knees I obtained the forgiveness of all my sins, 
through Jesus Christ, and now for twenty-three days 
I have walked in the light. I had every facility a 
man could ask for enjoying this world, and sought 
pleasure at every source that leisure and money could 
command ; but I have enjoyed more real happiness 
during the last twenty-three days, than in all the 
thirty-nine years of my life before." 

It must not be supposed that such a work can be 
wrought in any place, without strongly .exciting the 
antagonistic forces of carnal nature and Satanic 
power in the hearts of many worldly men and 
women, and not unfrequently we find some mis 
guided good people who will forbid any person " to 
cast out devils " who will not follow them. 

Many false things, and many hard things were 



MR. GREEN, THE BARBER. 83 

said in Graham s Town during the progress of our 
work, by the wicked; and much opposition was 
manifested in certain quarters, where we had a 
right to expect better things ; but as I seldom ever 
read, or listen to such things, I will not burden my 
pages with them. It is said that Sir P. D., com 
mandant of the British forces there, inquired of 
Mr. Green, the barber, " Who is this man Taylor, 
who is causing such a stir in the town ? " 

The barber replied, " Have you not read, Sir P., 
of certain men of whom it was said, These men who 
have turned the world upside down have come hither 
also? " 

" Yes," replied Sir P., " I have read something of 
that in the Acts of the Apostles." 

"Well sir," replied the barber, "Mr. Taylor, I 
believe, is a relation of those men." 

My three lectures, in Commemoration Chapel, were 
well attended, and for denning and defending the 
Gospel methods of evangelization, I think they were 
better adapted to general instruction and edification 
than the same number of sermons. 

An extract from a letter, written by " mine host," 
Mr. A. Kichards, a month after my departure, may 
serve to illustrate the continued progress of the work 
of God in Graham s Town. 

" Everything is going on very satisfactorily here. 
The work of God is widening, extending, deepening. 
Many are seeking the higher spiritual blessing of 
holiness of heart. Our house has reason to be thank- 



84 GRAHAM S 

ful, and to praise God. We have a prayer-meeting 
in our dining-room, every Monday evening. Last 
night seventy were present. At the midday prayer- 
meeting there were 100 to-day, and a gracious in 
fluence was at work." Then, after speaking of a 
number by name, who had recently been saved, he 
adds, " The number of seekers are daily increasing. 
I should think the devil must feel rather bad at 
seeing so many of his soldiers returning to God. 
He can t say they are rebels, for they all belong to 
God." " The work is going on here too among the 
natives. About 100 are converted ; twenty in each 
of the last three nights." 

That was the beginning of a work among the 
natives there, after I left ; I did not work among 
them, except to preach one sermon through an in 
terpreter, and found it a very slow business. How 
ever, I believe I did better than a good brother I 
heard of there, who undertook to give an address to 
an audience of Kaffirs. He was a brother accustomed 
to use long, hard words, which would sound well to 
English ears ; but rather too abstract and lengthy 
for a Kaffir interpreter. 

When he delivered his first sentence, the interpre 
ter said, in effect, " Friends, I don t understand what 
he says." 

Then came another sentence, 

" Friends, I have no doubt that it is very good, 
but I don t understand it." 

Then came another deliverance, long and loud. 



PARTING WITH FR1LXDS. 85 

" Friends, that is extraordinary, no doubt, but it 
is all dark to me." 

By that time the eyes of the whole audience 
glistened, and they began freely to show their ivory, 
and the speaker seemed to think he was doing it, 
for he could not understand a word that the inter 
preter said, and he waxed eloquent in the flow of 
his great words ; and the interpreter went on to the 
close replying to each sentence, closing with, 
" Friends, if you have understood any of that, you 
have done more than I have. It is a grand dis 
course, no doubt." The Kaffirs there are blessed 
with the ministry of my friend, Rev. W. J. Davis, 
who needs no interpreter, and now reports several 
hundreds of them saved since I was there. 

After my lecture, on Friday night the 1st of June, 
I gave my last words of counsel and exhortation to 
my dear brethren and sisters in Graham s Town. It 
was a solemn occasion, for though I never preach 
"farewell sermons," or encourage any ado on the 
occasion of my final departure from any place, still, 
I am always reminded that Christian love and sym 
pathy, so beautifully illustrated at Miletus, is the 
same in all ages, and among all people. 

God s messenger of mercy to their hearts " kneeled 
down, and prayed with them all. And they all wept 
sore, and fell on Paul s neck, and kissed him, sorrow 
ing most of all for the words which he spake, that 
they should see his face no more." Brother Davis, 
and two of his daughters, Brother and Sister Guard, 



86 GRAHAM S TOWN. 

Brother Holford, and a few others, accompanied us to 
:he house of my host ; and after a good supper, and 
good social cheer, we together sang, 

" And let our bodies part 

To different climes repair, 
Inseparably joined in heart 
The friends of Jesus are," etc. 

And upon our knees again commended each other, 
and our young converts, to the special care of our 
covenant-keeping God, and said farewell. It was 
then midnight, and I had a rough journey of seventy 
miles between me, and my work in King William s 
Town the following Sabbath. After a little sleep, at 
four A.M., of Saturday, June 2nd, Mr. D. Penn called 
with his cart and-two, and we commenced our long 
day s journey. Brother Penn had a pair of fine 
travellers, which took us thirty miles to breakfast. 
Then we got a pair of fresh horses, which he had 
sent on two days before, and they made the rest of 
the gourney just as the sun sank from view in the 
western horizon. Much of our route lay through a 
broken, rocky country, all the way hilly, with the 
usual variety of deep gorges, little creeks, precipices 
and cliffs, rich grassy ranges, and patches of African 
jungle, with their peculiar intermixture of aloes, 
and the euphorbia-tree. "We saw one deer on the 
route ; met many scores of wagons, drawn by the 
finest oxen I have ever seen ; we saw in the distance 
too, many Kaffir huts, and passed a very few houses 



MR. D. PENN. 87 

of colonial settlers. Brother Penn is an old colonist; 
has been in the Kaffir wars ; has had a great variety 
of experience, and entertained me all the way with 
marvellous narratives, illustrating colonial life; 
while I enjoyed them very much, I was too weary to 
note them. 

Brother Penn had been a servant of God for some 
years, but had lost ground in the Christian race; 
at our recent meetings he had received a rich baptism 
of the Holy Spirit, and was now very happy, and very 
active in the work of winning souls. 

Arriving at King William s Town, he found lodg 
ings with an old friend, and I was kindly entertained 
by the superintendent of the circuit, Rev. J. Fish, 
and his excellent young wife. 






CHAPTER YIIL 

KING WILLIAM S TOWN. 

WILLIAM S TOWN, located on the banks of the 
Buffalo Biver, in the midst of a fertile grassy coun 
try, was commenced by the establishment of a mili 
tary post there in 1835. It was subsequently aban 
doned by the authority of the Home Government, 
but re-established in 1848, and became the capi 
tal of British Kaffraria a large tract of country 
extending from the old eastern boundary of Cape 
Colony to the " Great Kie Biver." It was settled 
by an enterprising class of people, and became a 
flourishing province. The people prayed earnestly 
for a Colonial Government of their own ; that being 
denied them, British Kaffraria was in April, 1866, 
annexed to Cape Colony. As this annexation was 
subsequent to the taking of the Colonial census in 
1865, the population of British Kaffraria is not in 
cluded in that census, and must therefore, what 
ever it may be, which I know not, proportionately 
swell the real aggregate colonial population above 
the figures I have given from the census ; since the 
census was taken, however, about forty thousand 



REV. JOHN BROWNLIE. 89 

Fingoes, included in the census of Cape Colony, have 
removed to Fingo-land, so that the Colony has 
upon the whole no numerical gain in these changes, 
but a real gain of a fine tract of country, and a most 
enterprising Colonial population. 

King William s Town has a population of about 
6,000, probably one half of whom are Europeans, 
principally English. It is a strong military post, 
and a large force of soldiers are quartered there. 
There are in the town two weekly papers published, 
and the Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, Presbyte 
rians, and Wesleyans, have each one church edifice. 
Besides which, the Wesley an, London Missionary 
Society, and the Berlin Missionary Society, have 
each a chapel for the Kaffirs. Rev. John Brownlie, 
one of the oldest pioneer missionaries of Southern 
Africa, established a mission there among the Kaffirs, 
under the direction of the London Missionary Society, 
long before the town was laid out. 

The first Wesley an Chapel was built at a cost 
of 400, with sittings for 150 persons, in 1849. It 
is now used as a schoolhouse; next to it stands 
a substantial stone dwelling, which is the " Mission 
House," and next to that, separated by a few rods 
of ground for garden and shrubbery, in one of the 
best sites in the town, is the new Wesleyan stone 
chapel, built at a cost of 2,000, with sittings for 
500 persons. 

Rev. J. Fish, the Superintendent, is from the 
" .Richmond Institution," an energetic, talented 



90 KISG WILLIAM S TOWN. 

young minister, and though but a few years in 
Africa, honourably maintains the responsible posi 
tion of Superintendent of this very important cir 
cuit. On Sabbath morning, June 3rd, we had the 
chapel crowded with a well-dressed, very intelligent- 
looking congregation, for whatever may be said of 
the rustic lives and manners of pioneers, they have 
a bearing of self-possession, wide-awake spirit of dis 
crimination and thoughtfulness, which are very mani 
fest, even in the quiet of an assembled audience in 
the house of God. Having had much experience in 
pioneer life in California, I think I understand pretty 
well how to reach the hearts of such people ; yet 
though we had three very interesting preaching ser 
vices that day, and a gracious quickening in the 
Church, there were no conversions so far as we could 
learn. I preached each evening during the week ex 
cept Saturday evening, but having a heavy attack of 
influenza I was not in good working condition, still 
the interest increased in the Church, and on Wed 
nesday evening, as Mr. Fish states in his letter to 
the Missionary Society, " the bar of reserve and pre 
judice was broken down, and some twenty- eight 
young people gathered round the communion-rail ; 
many of whom, as the "first-fruits" of a gracious 
work, were enabled by faith in Jesus Christ to realize 
the forgiveness of their sins. " It was a moment of 
delicious joy," continues Brother Fish, " when I saw 
them come forth one by one as penitents, but the 
joy was more blessed as, one by one, a score of them 






FRUITS OF THE REVIVAL. 



stood up, and in a few broken sentences told how 
Jesus had pardoned their sins." We often, near 
the beginning of a series of services, invite those 
who have just "believed unto righteousness/ to 
make " confession unto " the " salvation" they have 
received, that the Church, and the unbelievers also, 
may get an appreciative idea of the character of 
the work from the testimony of a variety of wit 
nesses just saved, and have hence learned nothing 
to say but the simple, glorious, conscious facts of the 
"demonstration of the Spirit" in their hearts. 
"Why not have them confess publicly all through the 
services ? Because we get so many seekers requiring 
attention, that we cannot spare time to listen to the 
interesting words of the new-born souls, but arrange 
to have them tell their experience to their min- 
nister, who writes down the fact of their conversion, 
with their names and addresses, so as to put them 
at once under pastoral care, as lambs in the fold of 
Christ. Most of the persons professing to obtain 
pardon that week were young persons. Our special 
series of preaching services closed on Monday night 
of the week ensuing. Mr. Fish goes on to state in 
his letter, " On Sunday, the 10th of June, the Holy 
Ghost fell upon the people, and twenty-six adults 
came forward to declare themselves seekers of God s 
pardoning mercy ; eight or ten of whom were enabled 
to rise up and declare that God had, for Christ s 
sake, forgiven all their sins. On the following even 
ing twenty-eight adults came forward. No sooner 



92 KING WILLIAM S TOWN. 

was the invitation given, than, as if resolved to press 
into the kingdom, they walked from their pews to 
the communion-rail. It would be in vain to describe 
our feelings, as now and then the low sobbing cry 
for mercy was blended with words of praise, uttered 
by those who had found Christ. With the exception 
of eight seekers, all entered into the liberty where 
with Christ maketh His people free. 

" This was the last sermon of Mr. Taylor s series ; 
and thus God set His seal upon His servant s faith. 
A day or two afterwards he left us. His name is a 
* household word among us. We are thankful to him 
for his self-denying efforts,. but more thankful to the 
Master who sent him." 

Lectures on Tuesday and Wednesday nights 
closed my labours in King William s Town. The 
visible result is thus stated in Brother Fish s letter : 
" The work thus graciously commenced has gone 
on slowly and gradually. In order to conserve and 
extend it, we held daily prayer-meetings at one 
o clock, and continued special services every even 
ing ; as the result of which, about twenty more souls 
have been converted. The number of Europeans 
converted in this revival is, children included, about 
eighty. Some of these were members of society, 
who had not before enjoyed the evidence of their 
acceptance in the Beloved. The rest have been 
received on trial, either in this or other circuits." 

On Wednesday the 6th of June, in the midst of our 
series of services in King William s Town, a Kaffir 






MELTING OF MISSIONARIES. 03 

came running with the message that four mission 
aries were " in the path," and would arrive point 
ing where the sun would be a little after noon. 
In due time we saw in the distance four English 
men on foot coming into the town, accompanied 
by a few Kaffirs. Their appearance suggested the 
sacred historic scene of the Master and His rustic- 
looking fishermen, whom he was teaching to bo 
" fishers of men/ walking into the city of Capernaum. 
These brethren had walked from Annshaw Mission 
station, twenty-five miles distant. We watched them 
with peculiar interest as they approached. One of 
them I recognized at once as Rev. John Scott, from 
Graham s Town, and I was introduced to Revs. 
Lamplough, Hillier, and Sawtell. 

Rev. Robert Lamplough had for nearly six years 
been, and then was, the "Wesleyan missionary to 
Chief Kama s tribe of Kaffirs, the residence of the 
chief, and head of the mission circuit, bearing the 
name of Rev. Wm. Shaw s missionary wife " Ann 
shaw." I had heard much of Brother Lamplough s 
faithful ministrations in Graham s Town, where 
he had laboured before his appointment to the Kaffir 
work. I had learned also that though he was not 
much acquainted with the Kaffir language, he was 
preaching successfully through an interpreter, and 
was the best disciplinarian in South Africa. It was 
gratefully stated by his Graham s Town friends, that 
there were many noble ministers, and administrators 
among them ; yet, in the Kaffir work, where Lamp- 



01 KING WILLIAM S TOWN. 

lough s administrative talents had specially been 
called into requisition, he was, confessedly, in wise, 
firm, persistent and effective discipline, superior to 
any man in South Africa. I was, therefore, very glad 
to meet with Brother Lamplough ; but could not 
anticipate, the glorious results of our acquaintance 
with each other. He expressed his deep regret that 
I had arranged to spend but one night on his station. 
Having no hope of working successfully through an 
interpreter, my plan of appointments, extending 
then more than a month in advance, was confined 
to the English work, except this one night for 
Annshaw, which I had given more in deference 
to Brother Lamplough, of whom I had heard so 
much, than from any hope of doing much good to 
Lis people. 

Brother Sawtell was, by appointment, junior 
minister on Annshaw circuit, engaged specially in 
estabnshing a new mission among a tribe of about 
15,000 Fingoes in Amatola Basin, in the mountains, 
about fifteen miles distant from Annshaw. He is 
son-in-law of Bev. "VV. J. Davis, an industrious 
young minister, who will, I think, become very use- 
ful. I heard him preach a very good sermon, 
through a Kaffir interpreter, in King William s 
Town, the only English sermon I had heard for nine 
months, being all the time so occupied myself. I 
followed with an exhortation, and was encouraged to 
hope that I might do some good after all, by preach 
ing through an interpreter. 



NATIVE CANDIDATES FOR THE MINISTRY. 95 

Brother Hillier was junior minister on Fort Peddie 
circuit. We ll hear from him again. 

Brother Lamplough introduced to me his two 
native candidates for the ministry, whom he had 
been training for several years. One was Wm. 
Shaw, son of Chief Kama, the other was Charles 
Pamla, who belongs to a family of Amazulu chiefs. 
These, with two others, are the first South African 
natives proposed for the ministry among the Wesley- 
ans. The Free Church of Scotland have one edu 
cated Kaffir minister, Rev. Tio Soga. Wm. Shaw 
Kama had given up the prospect of becoming the 
successor of his father in the chieftainship of his 
tribe, that he might be a missionary to the heathen, 
and desired " to be sent far hence/ among those who 
had not the Gospel. 

Charles Pamla had sold his farm, and good house, 
that he might devote his undivided time and energies 
to the one work of saving sinners, by leading them 
to the only Saviour. He is about six feet high, 
muscular, well-proportioned, but lean ; quite black, 
with a fine display of ivory ; good craniological de 
velopment, regular features, very pleasant expression, 
logical cast of mind, sonorous powerful voice. He 
is the man whom God appointed, through the instru 
mentality of Brother Lamplough, to open for me an 
effectual door of utterance to the heathen. 

Charles Pamla s providential training for our great 
work was going on quite independent of me, yet 
simultaneously with the progress of my work in 



96 



another part of the colony. This is forcibly illus 
trated by a letter written by Charles, to Rev. Wm. 
Shaw, dated June 1st, which was the day I closed 
ray campaign in Graham s Town. The letter was 
published in the Weskyan Missionary Notices, for 
September, 1866. Any one reading it will require 
of me no apology for inserting the whole epistle. 

MY DEAR SIR, Since I came to Annshaw, by reading 
"Wesley s Sermons, I was convinced to seek after entire 
sanctification, and since last District-Meeting I have been 
praying for it, and trusting to obtain it. I had a sure trust, 
that through the blood of Christ I would obtain the blessing 
promised to those who come to Christ by faith. About a 
month ago, one morning very early, I went to pray for the 
same thing, entire sanctification ; and while I was praying 
and trusting in the blood of Christ, I felt a small voice 
speaking through my soul, saying, "It is done, receive the 
blessing." The first thing I felt was ease from the different 
kinds of thoughts, ease from the world, and from all the 
cares of the flesh. I felt the Spirit filling my soul, and 
immediately I was forced to say in my soul, " For me to 
live is Christ." And I gave up my body, soul, thoughts, 
words, time, property, children, and everything that belongs 
to me, to the Lord, to do as He pleases. One evening, 
while I was thinking about the promises, a young man came 
to me, and told me that he felt his sins. I told him to 
come in, and so he did ; and we began to pray to God. I 
took my book, and read one of Wesley s Sermons on Justi 
fication by Faith ; also showing that it is not through the 
works of a man that God justifies a sinner ; the sinner has 
only to repent and give up his sins, believe and trust to the 
aloning blood of Christ. At the same time there were two 



CHAIILES PAMLA S LETTER. 97 

others who had never found peace with God : one of them 
was a member; but the other two were unbelievers. I 
kept on praying and showing the way to their great Creator 
God, and they all three began to cry aloud with a broken 
and contrite heart. I went on praying. First one found 
peace, and then another, until they all found peace. And 
they almost showed in their appearance that they were new 
creatures in Christ Jesus. The following evening we had 
another meeting, and three found peace. 

I went to Keiskamma Hoek the next Sunday, and took 
the same subject, Justification by Faith; and I put a few 
strong words in to make it plainer to the hearers. It 
seemed as if God was there ; the congregation were shak 
ing ; it seemed as if every one of them were condemned by 
the power of the Holy Ghost, and Christ seemed to be there. 
They began to cry aloud through these words, beginning 
from the Leaders to the members, and also the heathen 
who were there. After that we had a Prayer-meeting, and 
again preaching about " the way to the kingdom repent, 
and believe the Gospel." (Matt. i. 15.) It was the same 
thing, several found peace during these two services, and 
many cried out for mercy ; and I proposed another service 
at the Tshoxa in the evening. Several came from different 
places, and we began our services, and God visited us that 
night with a great baptism of the Holy Ghost. Some 
were crying for mercy, some were rejoicing, those that had 
just found peace, saying, " We were in darkness, but now 
we are in light ; our eyes are open to-day ; we were dead, . 
but to-day we are alive." I was praying, and talking, and 
addressing them, quoting different passages for their benefit, 
and my heart rejoiced more and more in that great work of 
God. The next morning we had another meeting : it was, 
the same thing, some were crying, and some found peace, 
I examined them carefully through one of Wesley s Ser- 

H 



98 



mons on the " Witness of the Spirit." They answered 
satisfactorily. There were twenty-six members found peace 
that day and night ; also one backslider, one little girl about 
ten years of age, and nine people who were heathens. These 
thirty-seven all found peace with God, and are now willing 
to join class and serve God with all their heart, and mind, 
and soul, and strength, and give up Kaffir beer, and all 
other heathen customs, and every sin, and be fully on the 
Lord s side all the days of their life, by God s help. This 
is the salvation which is through faith, even in the present 
world. My dear Sir, we rejoice in this great work, seeing 
that God has not altogether given up His people the 
natives. 

Brothers Lamplough, Hillier and Sawtell gave 
us valuable assistance in our prayer-meetings in 
King William s Town, their Kaffir candidates for 
the ministry, and companions in the local ranks, 
looked on, listened, and learned what they afterwards 
turned to good account. I spent much time with, 
these missionaries and our kind host, in conversation 
on the best methods of missionary enterprise. While 
in King William s Town I became acquainted with 
Kev. J. W. Appleyard, a mild, sweet-spirited brother, 
superintendent of our Mount Coke Mission Station, 
ten miles distant, and manager of the Wesleyan 
Kaffir printing-establishment at Mount Coke. Brother 
Appleyard was appointed, by the Wesleyan Con 
ference, to South Africa in 1839, and has become a 
thorough master of the Kaffir language, and is the 
author of a grammar of that language of high repute 
among the missionaries. With the assistance of 



APPLEYARD S KAFFIR BIBLE. 99 

some fragmentary translations of the Bible, by 
Brothers Davis, Dugmore, and others, Brother Apple- 
yard has translated the whole book of the Old and 
New Testament Scriptures into the Kaffir language, 
which, under his immediate supervision, was pub 
lished in one neat volume in London, by the British 
and Foreign Bible Society. Some parties, not be 
lieved to be friendly to Wesleyan successes in South 
Africa, made a representation to the managers of the 
Bible Society, stating that Appleyard s translation 
was a miserable failure. This led to a critical ex 
amination of it by competent Kaffirs, well-read in 
the English, as well as their own language, who have 
pronounced it an excellent translation. 

Brother Appleyard believes that the Kaffir lan 
guage is spoken by one million souls in South Africa, 
and probably by some millions in Central Africa, 
whence these South African Kaffirs appear to have 
emigrated. In King William s Town I also met 
with Rev. John Longdon, Wesleyan missionary at 
Butterworth, in Fingo-land, who gave me a pres 
sing Macedonian call to help him ; not recognising it 
then as a call from the Lord, I did not promise to 
go, but afterwards went, nevertheless, by the will of 
God. 

I visited Mr. George Impey in his last illness, the 
father of Kev. William Impey. The dear old man 
had been confined to his room for four years, suffer 
ing from paralysis. He had been a resident of the 
colony for twenty-two years, and of King William s 



100 

Town for seven. He was for some years manager 
of the British Kaffrarian Bank, and was, as I 
learned from them, who knew him long and well, 
a consistent, cheerful Christian, and a Wesleyan 
Local Preacher of superior abilities. He was not 
able to converse much when I saw him, but was 
steadfast in faith, and his victory over sin and Satan 
complete. 

I sang to him the dying sentiments of Bishop 
McKendree : 

What s this that steals, that steals upon my frame ? 

Is it death ? Is it death ? 
That soon shall quench, shall quench this vital flame, 

Is it death ? Is it death ? 
If this be death, I soon shall he 
From every pain and sorrow free, 
I shall the King of Glory see ! 
All is well, all is well. 

Weep not my friends, my friends weep not for me ; 

All is well, all is well. 
My sins are pardoned, pardoned, I am free : 

All is well, all is well. 
There s not a cloud that doth arise, 
To hide my Saviour from my eyes, 
I soon shall mount the upper skies : 
All is well, all is well. 

Tune, tune your harps, your harps, ye saints, in glory, 

All is well, all is well. 
I will rehearse, rehearse the pleasing story, 

All is well, all is well. 
Bright angels are from glory come, 
They re round my hed, they re in my room, 
They wait to waft my Spirit home, 
All is well, all is well. 



MR. GEORGE TMPEY. 101 

Hark ! hark, my Lord, my Lord and Master calls me,, 

All is well, all is well. 
I soon shall see, shall see His face in glory, 

All is well, all is well. 
Adieu, adieu, my friends, adieu, 
I can no longer stay with you, 
My glittering crown appears in view, 
All is well, all is well. 

All through the singing of this hymn, which has 
given expression to the triumphant joy of multi 
tudes of dying Christians to whom I have sung it, 
the face of this dying patriarch was covered with 
smiles, and streams of tears ; and his hands were 
waving, as though, in the rapture of his soul, his 
dying body could not wait its appointed time, " to 
wit, the redemption of our bodies/ but would fain 
mount up and fly, and at once accompany its im 
mortal tenant to its " house not made with hands, 
eternal in the heavens." For a time he seemed 
hardly to know whether he was " in the body or out 
of the body ;" but his acute bodily sufferings soon 
reminded him that the mortal struggle was still 
pending. He then grasped my hand, and with tears, 
exclaimed; " Oh, my brother, my dear brother, it 
will not be long ! All is well." He lingered a few 
weeks, and sank to peaceful rest. 

Bev. Brother Hillier begged me to visit Fort 
Peddie, one of the largest mission stations in the 
country ; but I had passed that en route from Gra 
ham s Town, and my appointments had been an 
nounced in advance, for every day for weeks, taking 



102 KING WILLIAM S TOWN. 

me quite into another part of the country, so I had 
to say nay. He was a young man of great promise, 
recently united in marriage to a daughter of one of 
our old missionaries, Rev. J. Smith. -A few months 
after, in a letter from Brother Lamplough, I received 
the following sad intelligence : " You will remem 
ber our Brother Hillier, who accompanied Brother 
Sawtell and myself to King "William s Town. He 
died about a fortnight ago, after an illness of three 
days. The last sermon he heard of yours was that 
on going on to perfection/ Under that sermon he 
received a wonderful blessing ; indeed, he was not 
like the same man afterwards, either in his spirit, or 
in his preaching. After he returned to his circuit, 
he sought, and found a fresh baptism from on high, 
which led him to preach and pray for a revival of 
God s work, and it was not long before it came, and 
some hundreds of souls entered into liberty through 
Brother Hillier s instrumentality. I need not say 
that he died trusting in Christ, and in sure and cer 
tain hope of everlasting life." As I am usually but 
a week on a circuit, in its largest and most central 
place of worship, it is quite as much my business, 
under the leading of the Holy Spirit, to labour for 
the "perfecting of the saints," as in the "work of 
the ministry" of reconciliation to sinners, so as to 
assist the Church in the development., and increas 
ingly effective employment of her home resources 
and agencies, that she may go on, in humble reliance 



103 

on God, without foreign special agency, conquering 
and to conquer. 

A number of the leading business men, of King 
William s Town, are the sons of our old missionaries 
and members, such as E. Giddy, Esq., the son of 
Rev. Eichard Giddy, chairman of the Bechuana 
District, Messrs. Joseph and Eichard Walker, sons 
of Eev. Father Walker, of Graham s Town, one of 
our old pioneer missionary Catechists, and others 
which my space will not allow me to introduce. 
These men are an honour to their parents, and to the 
Church. Mr. Joseph Walker presented me with a 
fine walking-stick, turned out of the horn of a huge 
African rhinoceros. It came -just at the time I 
needed it, to support me in my subsequent out-door 
preaching to the Kaffirs, in the absence of pulpit, 
or even chairs, for we generally sat on the grass. 

After spending a few days at our series of services 
in King William s Town, on Saturday, the 9th of 
June, Charles Pamla, and Boyce Mama, a very elo 
quent and successful native Kaffir preacher, went to 
Mount Coke and preached, and conducted prayer- 
meetings through the Sabbath, and Brother Apple- 
yard told me that upwards of seventy souls professed 
to find peace under their labours that day. 

On Monday they returned and held a short, but 
very successful, series of services for the natives in 
King William s Town. Eev. Brother Fish, in his 
letter before-mentioned, says, " While Mr. Taylor 



104 

was preaching to our English congregation, Charles 
Pamla devoted two or three days to preaching at the 
native location of this town. 

" His word came not in word only, but in demon 
stration of the Spirit and with power/ It pierced 
the consciences of the people. The Holy Ghost fell 
upon them ; and during three services, nearly eighty 
persons, chiefly young men and women, were con 
verted. Since that time, to a great extent by the 
instrumentality of my native preachers and leaders, 
nearly forty more have been saved at the same place. 
The work is still going on. Every week, at my na 
tive Leaders Meeting, I receive the names of new 
converts." 

On Thursday morning, the 14th of June, Mr. 
Joseph Walker sent his carriage and pair to take 
me to Annshaw, and after the usual shaking of 
hands, and solemn pledges of fidelity to God, and a 
joyful meeting, but never a parting, beyond the river, 
we were soon on our way across the Buffalo, a beauti 
ful stream, and up a long range of hills to their sum 
mits. Then we have a beautiful view of the town 
we have left, and in every direction a measureless 
extent of grassy hills and valleys, interspersed with 
occasional groves of the Mimosa, and wild aloes, and 
patches of jungle, of a great variety of shrubbery and 
intertwining vines. The most striking feature of 
the African jungle is the euphorbia- tree, standing 
thickly and high above the rest. Its trunk resembles 
somewhat the New South "Wales " cabbage- tree," 



TRIP TO ANNSHAW. 105 

which is a very tall, beautiful variety of the palm. 
The euphorbia, however, does not usually grow to a 
height exceeding thirty feet ; its limbs and leaves are 
rather lobes, more like the cactus than anything I can 
think of, and is sometimes called the " cactus- tree." 
A few miles out we overtook an Englishwoman, well 
dressed, on foot. It looked strange to see such a 
respectable-looking person travelling alone, so we 
asked her to accept a seat in our carriage, which she 
did, without a second asking. She said her teams had 
gone on before, en route to the neighbourhood of Kas- 
kama Hoek, where she lived, twenty- five miles dis 
tant, and having stayed in town longer than she 
expected, she would have trouble to overtake them. 
We put her about five miles on her way, for which 
she was glad and grateful. We found her earnestly 
desiring to find her way to heaven, but knew not the 
way ; so I gave her definite instructions which, if 
followed, will sur&ly lead her to Him who is " the 
Truth, the Life, and the Way/ I was glad also to 
have the opportunity of indirectly preaching the 
Gospel to my Eoman Catholic driver, who went 
to my native service that night to hear me 
preach, and saw the marvellous effects of the 
Holy Spirit s work, such as but few persons ever 
see. I hope I may overtake both of my wayside 
hearers some day on the hills of glory, and hear the 
result. 

As we drove along I saw, for the first time, the 
Kaffirs in their nude state. 



106 KING WILLIAM S TOWN. 

Having travelled about fifteen miles we "out- 
spanned" at a public-house, and got our dinner, 
and food for our horses. I walked down into a field 
a few hundred yards from our hotel, where some 
men were thrashing barley with a machine propelled 
by four oxen. They said they used horses till they 
all died with the prevailing "horse sickness/ and 
then " inspanned " the horned cattle. While I was 
there one of their oxen seeming to get suddenly sick, 
fell down, and they could not get him up. 

Looking to the hills east of the valley in which 
we were stopping, lo, a novel sight, four naked Kaffir 
young men, each mounted on a young bullock, and 
dashing along like Jehu. They used a kind of bridle, 
by which they guided them at will. Sweeping across 
the valley at a great rate, they rode up to the public- 
house. Their animals were fat, and apparently 
almost as fleet as deer ; they came up panting like 
racers, as they were, and seemed quite impatient to 
stand. Two of the men dismounted, and beckoned 
to a couple of naked boys to hold , their animals, while 
they, in imitation of their white brethren, went 
into the bar-room. Whether they got anything to 
drink, I know not, as I do not patronize the bar ; 
but like prompt men of business, they were soon 
off, and we saw them cantering across the valley 
again to their native hills. About two P.M., we 
saw the silvery serpentine flow of the Keiskamma, 
and the mission- village of Annshaw on its banks. 






AKKIVAL AT ANNSHAW. 107 



The natives were assembling from all directions, and 
standing round in groups, waiting the arrival of the 
strange "umfundisi," and as we descended the 
hills, they came running to meet us, and bid us 
welcome. 



CHAPTER IX. 

ANNSHAW. 

THE first "Wesleyan Mission, established among the 
Kaffirs, was in the Amagonakwabi tribe, Amaxosa 
nation, under Chief Pato, and his brothers Kobi and 
Kama, in the year 1823, by Rev. W. Shaw, assisted 
by Rev. William Shepstone. 

Mr. Shepstone came out from " Bristol " in the 
great immigration of 1820. Though not a minister, 
he was an earnest young Wesleyan, and came to 
Africa specially to try to do good. In addition to 
his usefulness as a successful Local Preacher, he had 
other talents specially adapting him to missionary 
work in Kaffraria where ordinary mechanics were 
afraid to go, lest the Kaffirs should kill them in 
that his craft was not only to build tents, but to build 
houses. In due course of time he was received by 
the British Conference, and ordained a minister of 
the Gospel, and has been actively engaged in the 
South African missionary work ever since. He 
13 now superintendent of Kamastone Mission 



FIRST KAFFIR CONVERTS. 109 

Station, and chairman of the Queen s Town 
District. 

Nearly two years after this first mission station 
was commenced, Mr. Shaw makes the following 
record : 

" On the 22nd of March, 1825, I held the first 
Methodist Class-meeting in Kanraria, at which six 
of the natives were present. We were exceedingly 
gratified with the truly earnest manner in which 
they expressed their desire to save their souls." Of 
their next meeting the following week, he says, 
"It was a pleasing and profitable occasion. We 
had good reason to hope well of all who were pre 
sent ; but they are very weak in the faith, and very 
ignorant, and must be treated with much tenderness 
and forbearance. We shall consider them on trial 
for an indefinite period, and when it is deemed ex 
pedient they will be baptized." " In August, 1825, 
three natives were baptized, in the presence of a 
large assembly of people." The first-fruits of a 
glorious harvest. This first mission station grew 
into a native village, which Mr. Shaw named 
" Wesley ville." 

" Amongst the natives whom I baptized at Wesley- 
ville, says Mr. Shaw, " were the Chief Kama and 
his wife. The latter is a daughter of the great Chief 
Gaika, and sister of Makomo, the noted leader in the 
late Kaffir wars. 

" Kama and his wife, amidst many temptations, 



110 ANNSHAW. 

and serious difficulties, designedly put in their way 
by the heathen chiefs, to seduce them from their 
steadfastness, are still members of the Church, 
and are very regular in their attendance on its ordi 
nances." 

"VVesleyville was destroyed in the Kaffir war of 
1835 ; but afterwards rebuilt, and destroyed again 
in the war of 1848. The great chiefs Pato and Kobi, 
came to grief in those wars. One has spent years as 
a prisoner on " Kobin Island/ in Table Bay ; but 
their tribe, with Kama at their head, remained true 
to the British Government, and hence have found a 
peaceful home on the banks of the Keiskamma, in 
British Kaffraria. The fragments of Wesleyville 
Mission were formed into a mission in this new home 
of the tribe, with a change of the name to Ann- 
shaw. 

Chief Kama, who is now an old man, is about six 
feet in height, well-proportioned, and corpulent. 
He has a large head, a broad face, very benevolent 
expression, with the usual, not black, but dark copper- 
colour of the " royal line " of Kaffir Chiefs. He is 
altogether a noble-looking old man. The Colonial 
Government allows him a small pension. . About 
12,000 of his tribe are settled about him, and are 
under his rule, subordinate to the English Govern 
ment in the colony. It is a sad fact, but may be 
said to illustrate the uphill wo?k of the missionaries 
among such people, that Kama is the only " para- 



CHIEF KAMA. Ill 

mount chief" in Southern Africa who is connected 
with any Christian Church. Rev. "William Sargent, 
who established the Aimshaw Mission Station, and 
hence knows Kama well, told me he heard him, in a 
missionary address, tell his experience, in which he 
said, " When I became a Christian, my fellow-chiefs 
and many of my people laughed at me, said I was 
a fool, and that I never would become a ruling chief, 
that my people would throw me away that I 
would become a scabby goat, and a vagabond in the 
earth, without home or friends ; but just the reverse 
of all that has come to pass. I was then young, 
and had no people, my older brothers had a great 
people, but they rejected Christ, and lost their 
people, and everything they had, and I remain the 
only ruling chief of my tribe." Kama has ever re 
mained true to the Wesley an Church. It was said, 
with great regret, by some of the missionaries, that 
he had become cold in religion, and was too fond of 
strong drink ; but during the recent revival among 
his people, he has been fully reclaimed, and is happy 
in God. His only wife still lives, and is, I am told, 
a superior woman. 

The paramount chief of the Amatembu tribe, 
from which nearly all the ruling chiefs get their 
" great wives" (the mothers of the ruling line of 
paramount chiefs), sent, by a deputation of his 
counsellors, with all the ceremony due to such an 
occasion, a young woman to Kama, to become his 



112 ANNSHAW. 

" great wife. 1 " In the olden time a refusal, on Kama s 
part, would have furnished an occasion for war. 
When this party arrived near Kama s " great place/* 
they " sat down/ according to the ceremony to be ob 
served in approaching a chief, to wait his pleasure. 
Kama refused to see them, but sent them a bullock 
that they might slay, and eat, and then go about 
their business. They tarried but a night, and left 
unceremoniously in the morning. 

Kama has but three sons ; the first was a Wesleyan 
at one time, but was ensnared by the trap laid for 
his father, and took a second wife, became a heathen, 
and is such a wreck that it is not likely that the 
tribe or the Colonial Government will ever promote 
him to ruling power. His second son, William 
Shaw, is a man of great amiability, sound intelli 
gence, and sterling Christian integrity. He would, 
no doubt, succeed his father in the chieftainship, but 
has devoted himself to the ministry, and was with 
Charles Pamla and two others, " received on trial/ 
at the recent session of the British Conference 
(1866). His third son is a good young man, but is 
thought to be dying with consumption. 

Since writing the above, I have received, by a 
letter, the following corroborative and additional 
facts concerning the Chief Kama from Rev. Eobert 
Lamplough, who has been his missionary for the last 
six years : " The Chief Kama is a fine, tall, very 
dignified-looking man, nearly seventy years of age. 
He first became known to Eev. W. Shaw, when he 



MR. SHAW AND THE YOUNG CHIEF. 113 

and his tribe lived near the sea in the Peddie Dis 
trict. He was then a young man, and a red heathen ; 
and he and his tribe had no friendship with the 
white man. "When Mr. Shaw went among them 
about forty-three years ago, they showed him 
where to build his place remote from their kraals, 
for they said, " This word of God will bring sickness 
among us." Mr. Shaw, however, refused to go so far 
away from them, and they at last consented for him 
to live near their kraals. Mr. Shaw soon taught 
them about the Sabbath-day, and that on the Sabbath 
they were expected to attend the services, and hear 
the Word of God preached. On one occasion Mr. 
Shaw asked Kama to accompany him to Graham s 
Town, but his people were very much opposed to 
this, saying, that Kama would "be killed by the 
English." 

Mr. Shaw said, " I shall leave my wife with 
you, and if Kama is killed, you will kill her/ At 
this they knew not what to say, and, finally, they 
consented to Kama s going to Graham s Town. It 
was on this, and subsequent journeys, that Kama 
and Mr. Shaw became great friends. The people of 
Kama s tribe observed this, and were evidently afraid 
of the consequences ; they tried to prevent Kama 
from going so often to visit Mr. Shaw, and they told 
him that if he was so much with the minister he 
would be converted. Kama at this time was poor, 
and Mr. Shaw advised him to buy a wagon, telling 
him that it would help him very much. When. 



.114 ANXSIIAW. 

Kama told his people that he was going to buy a 
wagon, they were still more afraid, and they tried 
to hinder him in every possible way. But Kama 
Would not listen to them, and so he gave Mr. Shaw 
ten fat oxen that he might buy a wagon for him in 
Graham s Town. That wagon made Kama rich, so 
that in time he had three kraals full of cattle. 

One morning Kama went to visit Mr. Shaw; he 
found him writing. Mr. Shaw said to Kama, " Do 
you know my face and name ?" Kama replied, " Yes." 
Mr. Shaw said, "And I know your face and name/* 
and then went on to talk to him, telling him that in 
the next world they would know each other as they 
did in that room. This word came home to the 
Chiefs heart, and led eventually to his conversion ; 
there soon followed others, a brother of Kama s 
amongst the number. 

Some years after this, when Kama was living at 
!Newtondale, about ten miles from Peddie, and being 
now a member of the Wesleyan Church, another 
Kaffir chief sent his daughter to Kama that he 
might marry her for his second wife (his first being 
still alive), Kama sent word to the Chief that he 
could not take a second wife, for he was a Christian 
and feared God. This word of Kama s might have 
caused war between his people and the other chief 
and his tribe, and his brothers and people did their 
best to make him take this woman, saying that they 
were afraid they would be killed by the other chiet 



CHIEF KAMA S COURAGE. 115 

and his people. Kama nobly replied, " I am ready 
to die, rather than take two wives," and forthwith 
he sent away the Chiefs daughter without seeing 
her, with a present of four cattle. 

After this the small-pox broke out amongst the 
people, and many died of this fearful disease. The 
other chiefs were for killing all the people living at 
infected places. Kama said that he would not allow 
such a thing ; but notwithstanding all his efforts to 
prevent it, some were killed secretly. When Kama 
heard of it, he spoke much to his people about it, and 
told them that God would not approve of such things. 
The other chiefs said that they would prepare to 
make war upon Kama, and kill him, for preventing 
the killing of all who lived at the places where the 
small-pox was. To this Kama replied, that he would 
not consent, though they should fight with him. 

In consequence of this and other things, Kama 
determined to leave that part of the country ; but 
first he informed the English Government about it, 
who gave him full permission to go where he chose. 
Some of his people did not accompany him, but others 
would not forsake him, and they set forth, intending 
to go as far as Moshesh s country ; but finally they 
settled in what was then the Tambookie country. 
Whilst living here Kama preached to the people, for 
they had no minister ; but Kama got them together 
on Sundays, his eldest son Samuel used to read foi 
him out of God s Word, and Kama preached to the 



110 ANXSHAW. 

people regularly. None of his sons were converted 
at that time ; but after some time his two sons, 
Samuel and William Shaw (who was at the last 
session of the English Conference admitted to the 
ministry), together with several others, were brought 
to God, and the Rev. Wm. Shepstone afterwards came 
and baptized the young converts, and took charge of 
the people ; and thus were laid the foundations of 
the Mission Station, so wonderfully visited by the 
Holy Spirit of late, called after the Chief " Kama- 
stone." 

Chief Kama lives in a good substantial house of 
English style, about three hundred yards from the 
chapel. The mission-house is a large, one-story 
cottage, with verandah, extending all along the front. 
The chapel is a wood building, plain, but neat, and 
will seat about six hundred persons. These, with 
a few square native houses, stand out as the promi 
nent buildings of the place ; next to these, what is 
more interesting to a stranger, the humble dwellings 
of the natives. These are, for the most part, round 
huts, one class of which, shaped exactly like a 
haycock, consists simply of a framework of small 
poles and twigs, covered all over and down to the 
ground with long grass, beautifully thatched. A 
hole about two feet wide, and three feet high, is left 
on one side as the door. The fire is built in the 
centre, and the smoke slowly works its way up 
through the thatch, making it black inside and ouc. 
Europeans would not enjoy a residence in such an 



KAFFIR HUTS. 117 

establishment I m sure. Others are built up of 
" wattle and daub/ in a perpendicular wall, from 
four to five feet high, and covered with thatch, just 
like the former. A third class of huts are built just 
like the second, except that the round wall, rising 
from five to seven feet high, is made sometimes of 
sod, but more frequently of solid blocks of clay, 
somewhat like the Mexican " adobes," plastered over 
with mortar. These are very comfortable dwellings 
for the higher classes. 

At the time of my arrival at Annshaw, there were 
in the circuit a Wesleyan membership of six hundred, 
most of whom were Kama s Kaffirs, the rest were 
Pin goes. Charles Pamla, an Amazulu Eingoe, had been 
labouring, principally among Kama s Tribe, as an un 
paid evangelist, for several years. He is one of the 
evangelists mentioned in last year s (1865) official 
reports of the Annshaw circuit, an extract from 
which may serve to illustrate the breaking up of 
fallow ground in that important field. " This circuit 
has prospered spiritually during the year. Discipline 
has been beneficially exercised. Conversions have 
resulted in several instances. The officers of the 
church have been much quickened. Three evange 
lists have been diligently employed in preaching at 
the heathen Kraals, during the greater part of the 
year. There is reason to believe that, partly through 
their efforts, one or two conversions have taken place 
among the heathen, and in other respects their la 
bours have been attended with good." 



118 ANNSHAW. 

Brother Lamplougli gave me Charles Painla to 
interpret for me. 

Before the service, I took him alone, and preached 
my sermon to him, filling his head and heart full of 
it. After he had heard me preach in King William s 
Town, I asked him if he could put my sermon into 
Kaffir. 

" No, Mr. Taylor, I think I could not. I under 
stood the most of it, but I can only interpret low 
English, and you speak high English/ 

I at once determined to study "low English." 
And now when I was preaching to him alone, I told 
him to stop me at every word he could not fully 
understand. I was fully committed to make one 
more effort at the second-hand mode of preaching, 
through a spokesman. Having gone through with 
the discourse, I gave my man a talk on naturalness. 

" But," said he, " I must speak loudly sometimes." 

I then saw that by naturalness he thought I meant 
simply the conversational style. 

" 0, yes," I replied, " as loudly as you like at the 
right time. The scream of a mother, on seeing her 
child fall into a well, is as natural as her lullaby in 
the nursery. God hath given us every variety of vocal 
power and intonation adapted to express every 
variety of the soul s emotions, from the softest 
whispers, like the mellow murmurs of the rippling 
rill, up to the thundering, crashing voices of the 
cataract. I however, put it into " low English," so 
that he understood me perfectly. 






FIRST REVIVAL SERVICE. 119 



At four P.M. of Thursday, June 14th, we com 
menced our first service. Brother Lamplough 
opened with singing and prayer. I stood in the 
small pulpit, and Charles on the top step by my 
side. In front we see the crowded audience of natives, 
packed in to every square foot of space, including the 
aisles. The mission-station people men and women 
are all clothed in European dress, the head-dress of 
the women consisting of a handkerchief, usually 
red, turbaned round with some display of taste. 
The heathens are painted red with ochre, the men 
wrapped in a blanket, the women wearing a skirt 
of dressed leather, with head-dress, similar to the 
fashion of the station women. To our left, in the 
corner, are my Homanist driver, and Mr. Harper, 
who had come to drive me next day to Love- 
dale, also Sister Sawtell, Sister Lamplough, and her 
children ; in the altar below us were the two circuit 
ministers ; on our right, next the wall, were Chief 
Kama and the Fingoe Chief, Hlambisa, from Ama- 
tola Basin, fifteen miles distant, who rules a tribe of 
fifteen thousand Fingoes in the Amatola mountains. 
He is Brother Pamla s uncle, but a hardened old 
heathen, with about a dozen wives. We announced 
as the text the last words of Jesus, " Ye shall receive 
power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, 
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, 
and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the utter 
most parts of the earth." The sermon was entirely 
to believers. I believe Charles gave every idea and 



120 ANNSHAW. 

shade of thought as naturally and as definitely as if 
they had originated in his own brain. Indeed, black 
as he was, he seemed a transparent medium through 
which my Gospel thoughts, rendered luminous 
and mighty by the Holy Spirit s unction, shone 
brightly through the soul windows the eyes and 
ears of my sable hearers down into the depths of 
their hearts. All through the discourse of one hour 
and a quarter there was a profound silence through 
out the assembly, rendered awful in solemnity by 
the deep consciousness that every one seemed to feel 
of the presence of a power which, like a slumbering 
earthquake, would soon break forth in manifest gran 
deur. After a season of silent prayer, at the close 
of the discourse, silent for a time, but slightly inter 
rupted by the uncontrollable emotions of the people, 
we dismissed the assembly to give a little time for 
refreshment and reflection before the evening service. 
After a hasty tea I went alone with Charles, and 
gave him in detail the sermon for the evening, and 
we again stood before the people at 8 P.M., and 
preached to sinners from the text, " As I live, saith 
the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the 
wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way 
and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, 
for why will ye die ? " We had about the same 
congregation, in the same order, as in the afternoon. 
During the preaching of over an hour, the beaming 
faces of believers, the distorted features of sinners, 
the tearful eyes of both, all in solemn silence before 



121 



the Lord, and the voices of His prophets, presented 
altogether a scene which neither painter nor poet 
can describe ; and yet, to be felt and witnessed, was 
to receive an impression never to be effaced while 
memory endures. 

At the close of the discourse I said, " Charles, I will 
sing a hymn suitable to the subject, but I only know 
it by memory to the time of the tune, and can t line 
it for jouj but I will sing a line at a time, and you 
will put it into Kaffir." I then sang as follows, line 
by line, leaving time for the translation into another 
language, the hymn called 

WHY WILL YE DIE ? 

" SINNEKS, hastening down to ruin, 

Why will ye die ? 
Jesus is your souls pursuing, 

Why will ye die ? 

Though from Him you still are flying. 
All His power and love defying, 
Hark, how loudly He is crying ! 

Why will ye die ? 

Sinai asks in loudest thunder, 

Why will ye die ? 
Heaven and earth cry out with wondei, 

Why will ye die ? 
Sinners, sunk in degradation, 
While rejecting God s salvation, 
This is Heaven s expostulation, 

Why will ye die ? 

Jesu s groans, on Calvary s mountain- 
Why will ye die ? 

Speak with blood that fills the fountain? 
Why will ye die ? 



122 ANXSHAW. 

Blood that ransomed every nation, 
Fits for heaven s exalted station. 
Sinners, now accept salvation. 
Why will ye die ? 

Death and hell cry out, while hasting, 

Why will ye die ? 
And your feeble strength while wasting, 

Why will ye die ? 

When you cross cold Jordan s river, 
And your doom is fixed for ever, 
God will ask no more no, never, 

Why will ye die ? 

But through everlasting ages, 

Then you must die ! 
While hell s howling tempest rages, 

Then you must die \ 
Stripp d of every earthly pleasure ; 
Lost for ever, heavenly treasure ; 
Burning vengeance without measure ; 

But cannot die ! 

Charles not only put every line into Kaffir, but 
after the first verse, he gave them the tune as well, 
though he had never heard it before. When spoken 
to about it the next day, he said that he was not 
aware of the fact that he had sung it, as he only 
meant to give the words. 

The ministers present seemed to think it the 
result of an extraordinary inspiration of the Holy 
Spirit, which was true in a very glorious sense, but I 
believe the Spirit s work on the whole occasion was 
perfectly adjusted to the human conditions employed, 
and did not miraculously rise above, or suspend 
any physical law. The fact was, I had a very apt j 



CHARLES PAMLA S SINGING. 123 

scholar for my interpreter. He had so thoroughly 
digested my lecture on Naturalness, that, though he 
has a voice for variety, pathos and volume, so grandly 
superior that he could not be an ape, yet in his own 
natural voice he gave every intonation of mine, 
running through at least two octaves, during the dis 
course, so when he commenced to render the lines 
which I was singing, he seemed at first a little con 
fused, for he had lost the key-note of my intonations, 
but soon his voice mounted up into the regions of 
song, and echoed, perfectly as a keyed instrument, 
my singing tones, just as he had before echoed my 
speaking tones. Charles, however, was not simply 
a medium through which my thoughts were conveyed 
to the people. He had been under Brother Lamp- 
lough s training for several years, and was well read 
in Bible doctrines, and, better still, had a holy heart, 
and the prophetic unction of the Holy Spirit ; and, 
having the subject fully impressed on his retentive 
memory by my personal preaching to him alone, 
he uttered every sentence from his heart, just as I 
did myself, so that by the union of two heads and two 
hearts, under the Holy Spirit s power, we worked a 
double heart battery, which seemed to give the 
preaching through an interpreter much greater 
power than singly and directly, without an inter 
preter. 

Through all the preaching service addressed 
mainly to the intellect, conscience, and will, there 
was the keen piercing of the Spirit s sword, and deep 



124 ANNSHAW. 

awakening, but profound silence. Before the prayer- 
meeting commenced, I explained the simple plan of 
salvation by faith to the seekers collectively, just as 
I would to each one personally. Then we invited all 
who had intelligently and determinately decided to 
surrender themselves to God, and accept Christ as 
their Saviour, to come forward to the front forms. 
They at once came as fast as they could press their 
way. Beginning at the front forms, they filled form 
after form with seekers, till at least two hundred 
penitents were down on their knees. There was no 
loud screaming of any one above the rest, but their 
pent up emotions now found vent in audible prayers, 
sighs, groans, and floods of tears. When the prayer- 
meeting had thus progressed for about fifteen minutes, 
Brother L. said, " Had we not better dismiss them, 
and let them go off alone, and seek by the river ? 
The old missionaries have told me that it will not 
do to let them give way to their feelings, lest they 
run into wild extravagance. They will go off to the 
river and pray all night."" 

" Why, my dear brother," I replied, " this is not 
a rush of blind emotional excitement. The most of 
these people have been under your teaching for years, 
and we have just explained the way of salvation to 
them, so that under the enlightening power of the 
Spirit, every child here of ten years can understand 
it. They are now intelligently coming to Jesus. The 
Holy Spirit is leading them. Why interrupt them 
at this most important juncture, and sond them off 



A HARVEST OF SOULS. 125 

to the river to battle with Satan alone, and take a 
bad cold as well ? They are emotional beings, to be 
sure, and have not the same control of their feelings 
as the mass of Europeans ; but all the noise of this 
occasion is in beautiful harmony with all the facts in 
their case. This is unquestionably the work of God. 
We will just keep our hands off the Ark of God/ and 
let the Holy Ghost attend to His own business, in 
His own way." 

Upon reflection, Brother Lamplough heartily con 
curred with my views of the subject, and entered 
most earnestly into the work. It was not long till 
they began to enter into the liberty of the children 
of God. I soon saw that Charles Pamla, Wm. Kama, 
and others, were quite at home in the work. As fast 
as they found peace, the new converts were separated 
from the seekers, and seated apart on the other side 
of the chapel. They were then quiet as the Gadarene, 
"sitting at the feet of Jesus clothed, and in his 
right mind." All were personally examined as to 
their experience, and the names of those who gave a 
satisfactory testimony to their having obtained peace 
with God, through an acceptance of Jesus Christ, 
were written down, that the pastor might the more 
readily find them, and get them at once into the 
visible fold of the Church. At the close of the 
prayer-meeting, it was found that seventy souls had 
professed to find remission of their sins that night. 
To me it was the harmony of heaven. I felt an in 
describable joy, not simply on account of the great 



126 AN^SHAW. 

work of God in the salvation of the Kaffirs, which was 
an occasion of great joy to " the angels of God/ but 
especially because the spell that bound me within the 
lines of my native language was broken. I could 
now preach effectively through an interpreter, and 
the heathen world seemed suddenly opened to my 
personal enterprise, as an ambassador for Christ. 
The service was continued that night till midnight. 
No one then seemed willing to leave ; but knowing 
the danger of violating physical laws by excessive 
labour, and loss of sleep, and hence involving 
damaging penalties, we prevailed on them to retire 
and seek a little rest. The natives, however, were 
back to a sunrise prayer- meeting, and seemed fresh 
and earnest as before. 

That day, Friday, the 15th of June, at 10 A.M. 
we preached again to about the same crowd we had 
the preceding day, and continued the prayer-meeting 
service till two P.M. During the three services one 
hundred and fifteen persons, professing to obtain the 
pardon of their sins, were examined, and their 
names and addresses recorded. 

After a hasty dinner, Mr. Harper took me and 
Sister Sawtell into his cart and drove us over the 
hills, thirteen miles to his house in " Alice/ also 
called " Lovedale." One of the industrial schools, 
established under the patronage of Governor Grey 
is located in that lovely dale. It is under the direc 
tion of the Scotch Presbyterian Missions, and is 
being carried on, I was informed, with a good degree 



LOVEDALE. 127 

of success. Getting in late, and leaving next morn 
ing, I could not do myself the pleasure of visiting 
the institution. The "Wesleyans have a comfortable 
chapel there, small, but large enough for the demands 
of the village. It belongs to the Fort Beaufort 
Circuit, but the little society had dwindled down, 
I was informed, to such a dwarfish, sickly state, that 
they could not keep up a class or prayer-meeting. I 
preached there that night to a full chapel. Most of 
them were very serious and attentive, but one man, 
well-dressed and apparently influential, kept up a 
sort of incredulous scoffing, grinning all the time. 
In extraordinary contrast with the results of the 
preceding night, not one seeker responded to the 
call so far as to say, "What must I do to be saved ?" 
Many, I believe, however, were awaked, who followed 
us to Fort Beaufort, thirteen miles distant, and after 
wards there, and at Heald Town, embraced Christ, 
and a good work in "Alice " followed, and a healthy 
young society was organized there. The widow of 
one of our old missionaries, Rev. Mr. Garner, lives 
in that village ; but my weariness from excessive 
labours, and limited time, prevented me from calling 
to see her. Several of her family, however, were 
saved at my services in different places. On Satur 
day morning the 16th of June, Rev. John Wilson, 
Superintendent of Fort Beaufort Circuit, drove me, 
in a cart and pair, to his house at the Fort, where I 
spent six days. 

While at Fort Beaufort, twenty-five miles distant 



128 ANNSHAW. 

from Annshaw, I received a letter from Brother 
Lamplough, dated June 19th, an extract from which 
will illustrate the progress of the work in Kama s 
tribe. 

" My dear brother, 

" You will rejoice to hear that 165 profess to 
have found peace since you left, making altogether 
280 since your arrival at Annshaw on Thursday last. 
Besides these, from what I can learn, there are at 
least twenty more at the out- stations, who are not 
yet reported. More than two- thirds of this number 
were not members, some were heathens, others were 
notoriously hard and wicked characters, whilst a few 
had been professedly seeking salvation for ten or 
fifteen years, and could not find it, but have now 
entered into liberty. Never was such a work seen 
among the natives of Kama s tribe before, and I 
question whether there has ever been such a work 
for power and rapidity in this country before. To 
have about 300 souls brought to God in less than 
five days, is indeed a glorious thing, especially when 
we consider that not more than a thousand people 
have been brought within the sphere of the influence. 
I suppose the congregation at Annshaw was about 
600 souls, and I can scarcely find one who heard you 
preach who is not now converted. Indeed, so thorough 
has been the work, that to keep the supply of seekers, 
we have had to send out every day for fresh batches 
of heathens and formalists from the out-stations, 
who very soon enter into liberty. 



ALL THE PEOPLE SAVED. 129 

On Annshaw station I cannot call to mind a man 
or woman, and hardly a boy or girl, who is without 
a professed sense of pardon. The Church is wonder 
fully revived, and the Leaders and Local Preachers 
are stirred up to look for yet greater things. Charles 
Pamla and Win. Shaw Kama are especially useful. 
They returned on Sunday from their appointments, 
bringing a list of the spoils taken from the enemy, 
amounting to thirty-four. They are going out again 
to-day, and intend to remain all night. I doubt not 
the Lord will bless their labours abundantly. I hope 
soon to be able to go out to some of the heathen 
kraals, and try the plan suggested and adopted by 
yourself (that is St. Paul s plan of disputing with 
them daily/ till all Asia shall hear the word of the 
Lord). I wish I could get out at once, but so many 
things have to be attended to. These new converts 
have to be formed into classes, under the care of 
suitable leaders, and this is a work that cannot be 
neglected/ 

A few additional facts and incidents, illustrative 
of the work of God at Annshaw, I extract from 
Brother Lamplough s report, published in the Wes- 
leyan Missionary Notices, for October, 1866. 

" One very pleasing feature in this good work/* 
says Brother L., " is the clearness with which nearly 
all are enabled to testify, respecting their conversion 
to God. Almost all who have professed to find, 
peace, have been carefully examined, and closely- 
questioned, by Mr. Sawtell, or myself, Charles 

x 



130 ANNSHAW. 

Pamla, or William Shaw Kama, and the result has 
been most satisfactory; especially as regards the 
children, and those who, until recently, were living 
in heathenism. 

" The effect of Mr. Taylor s visit upon the Local 
Preachers is wonderful, and they are six times as effi 
cient as they were before. Charles Palma, Boyce 
Mama, and a few other natives have been used as the 
principal instruments in this work." 

ILLUSTRATIVE INCIDENTS. Brother Lamplough 
continues : " Generally speaking, penitents were 
enabled very speedily to lay hold of the Saviour, and 
rejoice in a sense of forgiveness ; and very wonderful 
was it to see the effect when some of these entered 
into liberty. For a few moments the face appeared 
transfigured with light ; and the smile of joy which 
shone forth from their eyes was such as I shall never 
forget. I cannot attempt to describe such cases; 
but I have several present to my mind whilst I write. 
One man, I noticed, came forward every morning 
and evening for some days. He was a heathen, and 
I noticed him because he was lame, and as he came 
forward he hopped on one leg. At the close of the 
meeting he generally had to be carried out by three 
men, being too much exhausted to move. The 
morning he found peace, he was led to the seat 
reserved for the new converts, where he sat for a little 
time, apparently in deep thought ; he then burst out 
into such a laugh of joy and surprise as I shall never 
forget; and he kept on in this way for some ten 



THE OLD MAN GIVING UP HIS YOUNG WIFE. 131 

minutes, as though perfectly unconscious of all out 
ward things, feasting his soul with the wonderful 
love of Christ, which filled him with surprise and 

joy." 

Charles Pamla gave me the following incident. An 
old heathen who lived eight miles from the station, 
was waked up by songs in the night, sung by some 
of his converted grandchildren, returning from the 
meeting where they had found Jesus. The old man, 
hearing the wonderful story these young witnesses 
had to tell, took up his sticks, and hobbled off straight- 
Way to Annshaw, arriving about the break of day. 
Hearing the voice of praise in the chapel at the morn 
ing prayer-meeting, he went in arid heard the prayers 
and prophesyings of God s people. " The secrets of 
his heart were made manifest, and, falling down on 
his face, he worshipped God/ and was enabled that 
morning " to report that God was in them of a 
truth," from a blessed experience of salvation in his 
own heart. "When he reported himself among the 
young converts of that meeting, he asked the minister 
what he should do about his two wives. 
" You will have to give one of them up. w 
"Well/ replied the old man, "one is a young 
woman, and I love her ; the other is an old woman, 
the first wife of my youth. She is old, and can t 
work much, but she is my true wife, and she has 
always been kind to me, and I will keep her, and give 
up my young wife. But I am not angry with her, 
and I don t know how to tell her to go away. I will 



132 ANNSHAW. 

bring them both here to-morrow, and let you explain 
it to them." 

"Very well/* replied the missionary, "that 

will do." 

So the next day, the old man was seen in the dis 
tance, hobbling along on his two sticks, close after 
him his old woman, and next, in single, file, his young 
woman and her three children. It was a painfully 
interesting, and yet pleasing sight. 

The old man brought his two wives into the 
chapel, and marched straight to the missionary. 
Brother Lamplough went into an explanation of the 
whole matter to the astonished women, who, it 
appears, did not know what was to be done. When 
the minister s decision was announced, the old woman 
cried out : 

" I am glad of that. I always loved my dear old 
man, and did not want him to give half of his heart 
away to another woman. Oh, I am so glad to get 
him back to me, and now he is all my own ! " 

The younger woman stood weeping, and all natu 
rally thought, that to be "thrown away/* as the 
Kaffirs would term it, in that style, was an occasion 
of great grief, which would lead to an unpleasant 
scene ; but when her turn came to speak, she said, 
" I thank God for this. I am not angry with the 
old man, but I have been living in sin, and now I 
want to find Jesus Christ, too/ and, as she wept and 
commenced tearing off and throwing away her 
heathen charms and trinkets, she said "What is to 



THE DUMB WITNESSING FOR JESUS. 133 

be done with, my children ? May I take them with 
me ? I will go home to my people, and serve Jesus 
Christ, but I want to take my children with me/ 

The old man, under Kaffir law, could have held the 
children, but he promptly said, "Yes, take the 
children, and teach them to love Jesus Christ." 

TOTAL ABSTINENCE. "Our last stroke is being 
levelled against Kaffir beer," says Brother Lamp- 
lough. " I do not know a single Leader or Local 
Preacher, who touches beer now in this circuit. 
This is a grand thing, and the result of five years 
hard fighting." 

WITNESSES FOR JESUS. " About twelve days after 
Mr. Taylor s visit," continues Lamplough s report, 
" we had a fellowship-meeting, in order to give the 
new converts an opportunity of testifying of the grace 
of God. The chapel was crowded ; more than half 
the congregation being composed of those who had 
just found peace. About fifty spoke, several of them 
were very old people, not a few were children ; many 
had just left heathenism, and two were deaf and 
dumb men, who could not speak, but pointed to the 
heavens and the earth, and laid their hands upon 
their breasts, to signify that the great God who made 
the heavens and the earth had come into their hearts, 
and then they smiled in a peculiar way, to intimate 
that their souls rejoiced. Who will say that these 
men were not taught of the Spirit, in a way which we 
cannot understand ? Only less wonderful than this 
was the testimony of children not more than ten 



134 ANXSHAW. 

or twelve years of age, many whom had heathen 
parents. The way in which these little ones (with 
only a sheep-skin on) testified to what they had 
experienced of the saving grace of God, was truly 
amazing/ 

HOW THE HEATHEN TRY TO EXPLAIN IT. " TllO 

visit of Mr. Taylor/ says Brother Lamplough, " was 
so short, and the effects so wonderful, that some of 
the heathen say he came down from heaven. Others 
say that he came to destroy the country, and that he 
brought a medicine with him, which he has left at 
my house, and which I give to the Local Preachers, 
and it makes them mad, so that they are able to work 
wonders among the people. They say that when the 
people come to Annshaw Chapel, they are invited to 
come forward, and that as soon as they touch the 
wood (communion-rail) they must be converted ; 
for I have some blood with which I sprinkle them, 
and some flour which I scatter upon their heads, and 
then we blow in their ears, and they are believers ! " 
We will see in due time how some of the white 
people in Natal try to explain away the work of God. 
PERSECUTIONS. "At many of the heathen villages/ 
reports Brother Lamplough, " the people will not go 
near the services, for fear they should be converted. 
When a woman wants to repent, the husband takes a 
stick and beats her ; and some of the children of the 
heathen are beaten, and not allowed to come to class. 
Indeed, there is much persecution going on in many 
parts of the circuit, and several are by compulsion 



CHAPTER X. 

FORT BEAUFORT. 

FORT BEAUFORT, " situated on the lower part of the 
Kat river, was first established as a military post 
soon after the Kaffir war of 1835," and has gra 
dually developed into a good average African 
town. It is in the midst of a good sheep- farming 
country, and some of the valleys produce good crops 
of maize and tolerably fair crops of wheat. The 
district, including the town, contains a population 
of 13,048, of whom 2,648 are whites. The Wes- 
leyan Church was organized there in 1837, and a 
chapel was built the same year, which was a few 
years later superseded by the present chapel, which 
has sittings for about 400 persons. 

My home was at the house of the Superintendent 
of the Circuit, Rev. John Wilson, a man of an 
excellent spirit, and an earnest minister, who, with 
his truly missionary wife, has been in the South 
African work for many years. Two of their daugh 
ters who had long been seeking, were saved during 
our series of services. I was agreeably surprised to 
meet a large force of my Graham s Town workers 



MEETING WITH GRAHAM^S TOWN FRIENDS. 137 

and friends who had come forty-seven miles to Port 
Beaufort to attend our services. The principal ones 
were my Graham s Town host, Mr. Wm. A. Richards, 
his good wife, and four children; Mr. J. B. Janion, 
an earnest worker for God, and, I was informed, 
a superior Local Preacher ; Mr. B. B. Atwell, " a 
chief man" in Commemoration Chapel, who extem 
porised the ventilators there by knocking out a pane 
of glass from each gallery- window, no one presuming 
to ask " What doest thou ? " Also Ben Atwell, son 
of the good brother last named. Brother Ben is 
the organist in Commemoration Chapel, and got 
his soul into harmony with God during our series 
there. Mr. D. Penn, who drove me seventy miles 
in one day with two pair of his own horses, to 
King William s Town; Dr. Exton, who joined the 
Wesleyan Church at our " fellowship-meeting " in 
Graham s Town, and will, I think, make a very 
influential and useful member ; Mrs. Rev. Thomas 
Guard too was among them ; she, with Sister Eich 
ards and their children, had come in an ox- wagon, 
making a journey of three days, and enjoyed the 
romance of the trip greatly. Besides those were Messrs. 
Wm. Roberts, C. H. Webb, R. Erumble, J. Green, 
the barber, W. Gates, C. Gowie, D. Gowie, W. 
Barnes, his wife, and Miss Cheney, all earnest seek 
ers after wandering souls. Last of all was, to me, 
a stranger of the Graham s Town party, a prodigal 
son of a truly Christian widowed mother, who after 
wards became my friend and travelling companion, 



138 FORT BEAUFORT. 

Mr. James Roberts. I was told that when this 
little army arrived, the Fort Beaufort people were 
greatly astonished, not knowing of anything like 
the "Derby races" to attract such a multitude, 
and some would hardly believe that they had 
left their business, and travelled so far, to be on 
expense at the hotels for days, purely for spiritual 
purposes, getting and doing good at our services. 
At one of the hotels our friends had prayers, morn 
ing and evening, in one of their private sitting-rooms, 
and were a little surprised when the hotel-keeper 
and his wife asked to be allowed to be with them in 
their worship, and still more surprised and delighted 
afterwards, to find them among the seekers of 
salvation. They did not get into liberty that week, 
but the landlord with a few brethren who were con 
verted that week, attended my meetings a few weeks 
afterwards in Queen s Town, distant about eighty 
miles, and there the hotel-keeper received Jesus. He 
gave up his "Canteen," took down his sign, and 
opened a temperance hotel, to furnish good accom 
modation, without the bad associations and bad effects 
of a "bar/ On Sabbath morning, the 17th of June, 
we commenced our services at Fort Beaufort. The 
place was too much crowded to be comfortable, but 
there was a gracious manifestation of the Spirit to 
the hearts of believers. As we were returning 
from chapel Dr. Exton said, "I went into chapel 
this morning a moderate drinker, but came out a 
teetotaller/ His decision on that subject was occa- 



THE WORKERS AND THE WORK. 

sioned by some illustrative narrative bearing on 
another subject, and but incidentally reflected on 
drinking customs. At three P.M. we had a good time 
in preaching to the children. In the evening after 
preaching, we invited persons awakened by the 
Holy Spirit, who wanted to know " What they must 
do to be saved/ to come forward that we might 
tell them. The altar-rails were soon crowded, and a 
good number were saved that night. I found there 
were a few good workers belonging to the Fort 
Beaufort society. We had a very good brother too 
from Eland s Post, a remote point on the circuit, 
and the Graham s Town friends were fully equipped 
for the war. 

On Monday, at eleven A.M., I preached to believers, 
and we had a gracious season. On Monday night 
the work went on gloriously. A number of leading 
citizens, under the smitings of the Spirit, were down 
among the seekers. On Tuesday, at eleven A.M., I 
preached at Ileald Town, seven miles distant. On 
Tuesday night I preached again at Fort Beaufort. 
Nearly all our early seekers were now rejoicing in 
the pardoning love of God; but the altar was as 
greatly crowded as ever with new seekers. On 
Wednesday, at eleven A.M., preached to the Church 
on Christian Perfection, with blessed spiritual re 
sults in the experience of believers, and on Wed 
nesday night closed our special series of preaching 
services at Fort Beaufort. After preaching we had 
a great breaking-dowu among the sinners, and some 



140 FORT BEAUFORT. 






very striking cases of conversion to God. During 
our brief service, sixty-five whites professed to find 
peace with God. Some of them give promise of great 
usefulness to the Church. 

Many interesting examples might be given ; but 
one or two illustrative cases may suffice. 

Mr. E , a very large man, who had been 

forward several times as a seeker, exclaimed, with 
tearful eyes, as he entered into liberty, " Talk 
about sacrificing all for Christ ! What had I to sacri 
fice but my sins, and all my wicked abominations. 
A sacrifice, indeed ? Why, it s a glorious riddance ! 
And in return I have received in Christ the priceless 
gift of eternal life. Glory to God !" 

Mrs. D had heard a great deal said against 

that " Foreign preacher," and she never would dis 
grace herself by going to hear such a man. 

A friend said in reply, " Well, now, Mrs. D., you 
see that the most respectable people do go to hear 
him, and would not miss a subsequent opportunity, 
on any account ; and for you to form such an un 
favourable, and unjust judgment of a servant of 
God, without even hearing him for yourself, is alike 
discreditable to your intelligence and your honesty. 
Now, Mrs. D., go and hear him to-night, and then 
we will talk about the preacher to-morrow/ She 
consented, and that night the " Spirit s two-edged 
sword " pierced her heart, and she wept aloud, and 
begged us to pray for her. She soon afterwards 



/AMES ROBERTS. 141 

found her Saviour, and became a happy intelligent 
witness for Christ. 

Mr. James Eoberts was absent from Graham s 
Town during my series of meetings there ; but on 
his return, found so many of his friends and kindred 
converted to God, that he at once felt a desire to 
learn something more definitely about "this way," 
and hence came with the Graham s Town company 
to attend my meeting at Fort Beaufort. After a day 
or two of deep awakening, without much emotion, 
on his return from the Tuesday meeting in Heald 
Town, he turned aside in the woods alone to meditate 
and pray. He had been secretly very sceptical, 
and though blest with one of the best mothers to be 
found in any land,, he was a great prodigal ; but he 
had read Mr. Hamilton s " Metaphyics," and by the 
study of the constitution of his own mind ; he was 
profoundly impressed with a kind of realizing .belief 
in the existence, and power, and all pervading pre 
sence of his Maker. From that step, he logically 
worked out the fact, as a matter of faith in his 
mind, that such a Creator would certainly reveal 
His will to His creatures, and he accepted the Holy 
Scriptures as the revelation, meeting the demands 
of the case. Its delineations of human guilt, 
pollution, bondage, and condemnation, he felt to be 
true in his own experience. The Almighty Saviour 
revealed, according to God s descriptions of Him, and 
God s promises through Him, was exactly suited to 



342 FORT BEAUFORT. 

the demands of his soul. When he fully realized 
these facts, as he was walking alone in the wild 
wood, he stopped, took off his hat, and said, " 0, 
thou God, who made me, and redeemed me with the 
blood of Christ, I surrender my wicked soul to Thee, 
and I now accept Jesus Christ as my Saviour. If 
there is any mistake about this thing, it must be in 
Thy revelation .concerning Him ; but Thy statements 
are very clear, they are Thine own words, and I can t 
doubt them, and I do accept Christ as my Saviour, 
and entrust my whole soul to Him. I don t believe 
there can be any mistake or failure in the matter/ 

Soon after Brother Janion met him, and said, 

"Well, Brother Roberts, have you accepted 
Christ?" 

" Yes, Mr. Janion, I have." 

" Have you found peace in Him ? " 

"No, I have experienced no change in my feel 
ings ; but I have taken Christ as my Saviour, and 
shall trust Him till I die to save me from all my sins." 

He maintained his position unwaveringly for three 
days, clinging to Jesus by simple faith, without 
much emotion, and without any relief, beyond the 
power to hold on, till the third night ; then, while I 
was delivering a lecture on St. Paul and Ms Times, the 
witnessing and renewing power of the Spirit came 
upon him like a flood * of light and glory, and his 
heart was filled with " unspeakable joy." 

He became a man of Providence in connection 
with my mission among the Kaffirs. While I was 



MR. ALFRED WHITE. 143 

working at Graham s Town, Mr. Alfred White, one 
of the oldest pioneers in the country, who lives on 
the " Umzimvubu River," in KafFraria, nearly four 
hundred miles east of Graham s Town, persuaded me 
to go overland, through Kaffraria to Natal, instead 
of by sea, as I had contemplated. I did not then 
hope to be able to do much good, but I wanted to see 
the practical working of the Mission Stations among 
the heathen in their own country, and learn what 
I could. 

I knew not how I should go, but Mr. White said 
he would meet me thirty miles west of the " Umzim 
vubu," and convey me hence across the river, and 
give me any assistance I might need, in getting on 
thence to Natal. He also made me a plan of travel, 
embracing the whole of the Wesleyan Missions in 
Kaffraria. A few days later we learned that Dumasi, 
Chief of the western tribe of the Amapondo, and 
Umhlonhlo, Chief of the Amapondumsi, were at war, 
and the Shawbury Station was j ust in the midst of 
it, and that the missionary and his family were in 
great jeopardy ; we learned further that the eastern 
half of the Amapondo nation, under Chief Faku, 
were at war with the Amabacas, and that " Osborn " 
Mission Station, under the superintendence of Rev. 
C. White, brother to my friend Alfred, was the 
scene of great slaughter. So Mr. White said I 
could not travel through that district, and planned 
for me a more southerly route, leaving out the two 
troubled stations.* I wrote to Cape Town to have my 



TOUT BEAUFORT. 



son, Stuart, who was recovering from his Australian 
illness, to join me, and bear me company, I then 
expected to have to buy horses, and go on the inde 
pendent line. 

My friend, Eev. John Eichards, of Port Eliza 
beth, was not very well pleased with the change in 
my plan, anid would fain have persuaded me to give 
it up. He exhibited an array of all the difficulties 
as follows : " We shall be intensely disappointed in 
your not returning here to preach our missionary 
sermons, and hold another series of services, which 
we believe God would own and bless ; but apart from 
this, I think you have not been wisely advised. 
Much precious time and labour will be comparatively 
wasted by a journey through Kaffirland to Natal. 
To me it appears that your calling is especially to 
the English-speaking portion of the population of 
this country ; the natives will be benefited indirectly. 
How are you going to travel through Kaffirland to 
Natal ? How long will it take you ? You cannot 
remain on each station for a series of services ; if so, 
poor Mrs. Taylor may hope to see you sometime, if 
the Lord will. Then how are you going to ford the 
rivers ? How is your baggage to be conveyed ? You 
will have difficulties before you, which will be new to 
you ; possibly, you may surmount them if time 
enough be allowed you. Think, my brother, think. 
I believe you would act most wisely in coming back 
here, after the tour I have marked out for you ; then, 
after helping us, go by sea to Natal." I felt a great 



FRUITS OF THE HE VIVA L. 14") 

desire to accommodate Brother Richards, for he had 
been very kind to me ; but I had not promised to 
return, and now firmly believed it would be more for 
the glory of God to go through Kafir-aria, and the 
difficulties were nothing to me, since others had so 
often overcome them, on errands of much less im 
portance. 

When I was at Annshaw, I made arrangements 
with Brother Lamplough, to have Charles Pamla go 
with me through Kaffirland as my interpreter. 
At Fort Beaufort, a week later, the Lord pro 
vided me a " dragoman," in the person of my friend 
Mr. James Roberts, who hearing of my contemplated 
trip, came the next day after his conversion to God, 
and asked me to allow him the pleasure of furnishing 
conveyance and horses, and of driving me to Natal. 
Under the circumstances I could not deny him 
" the pleasure," but thankfully accepted his kind 
offer. 

The Lord not only selected me a man from the 
fruits of the Fort Beaufort revival for my Kafirarian 
tour, but raised up others to remain in the " Fort " 
for home defence, and the aggressive work of the 
Church. One of the converts has become a useful 
Class-leader and Exhorter ; another, who is a Member 
of Parliament, has become a Local Preacher ; and 
the work has gone on, I learn from Brother Wilson, 
and from other sources, very prosperously in Fort 
Beaufort, Alice, and other parts of the circuit. 
But while many were saved, some, by resist- 

L 



146 FORT BEAUFORT. 

ance of the Spirit s call, we fear have perished. I 
remember well one man who became so interested in 
our meetings at Fort Beaufort, that he accompanied 
us to Heald Town, and witnessed one of the most 
extraordinary displays of the saving power of the 
Spirit I ever saw, and was greatly awakened, and 
almost persuaded to be a Christian, but, so far as 
we could learn/ refused to accept Christ. A short 
time afterwards he was found dead in his room. 
Of course no one knew the poor fellow s heart; 
but had he accepted Christ, as many of his 
neighbours did, and " witnessed a good confession," 
it would have been a sure thing for himself, and 
a great comfort to surviving friends. 

An extract from a letter written me by Rev. Bro 
ther Wilson, dated Nov. 14th, 1866, may serve to illus 
trate the further progress of the work of God in 
Fort Beaufort : " The work in this circuit has been 
great and glorious. At our last Quarterly Meeting 
we had a net increase of thirty-eight members and 
sixty on trial. Besides there has been a very 
delightful work among the natives here, and many 
of them have been enabled to rejoice in Christ their 
S viour. The testimony of some is exceedingly 
pleasing. A case or two was rather striking : Two 
n tive girls, who were servants in the same family, 
were convinced of sin ; one of them came to my 
house to receive instruction ; I talked to her and 
prayed with her, but she got no rest for her soul. I 
left her, and Mrs. Wilson went to her, and while 



THE NATIVE GIRL AND HER SHAWL. 147 

she was praying with her the poor girl found Jesus. 
Her joy was unspeakably great. She fell on her 
knees and kissed Mrs. Wilson s feet, and then 
crawled to the young woman who came with her 
and kissed her feet, and when I came she fell down 
and kissed mine, and so overwhelmed with rapturous 
joy and so humble, that she knew not how to express 
it. Her fellow native servant was in great distress, 
but did not get relief so quickly, I found her in an 
agony at the penitent-rail, and in her bitter con 
fession of sin, she said, That shawl I bought at 
Mullett s that shawl ! that shawl ! 

" What, about it ? I inquired. 

" * 0, Sir, part of the money for that shawl was 
stolen; I stole one and threepence of it from my 
mistress. I ll pay my mistress, I ll pay her all, I ll 
pay her double ! Her mistress was an uncon 
verted woman, would receive no money, but forgave 
her freely. Then the poor girl took the shawl, 
tore it to shreds and burnt it. She had a hard 
struggle, but at last the dark cloud of guilt and 
sin rolled away, and she was made happy in Jesus 
her Saviour. 

" We have formed two extra classes here among the 
English, and two for the natives. I have made 
Brother Shaw" (a merchant who was saved at our 
series) "an Exhorter and Leader, and he is a very 
active, zealous man, quite disposed for liberal things. 
His wife and mother are now members of our Church, 
Mr. Ayliff, who was saved just after you left, is now 



148 FCET BEAUFORT. 

on the Local Preacher s plan. Mr. Elliott is going 
on well, and prays in the prayer-meetings. His 
place is now a Temperance Hotel. We have a fresh 
class in Alice, and it is a very interesting one. 
Mr. Harper is the Leader. Truly we have great 
cause of thankfulness to God for the rich blessings 
He hath bestowed upon us here. A glorious visita 
tion has come to this land/ 



fjf. 




p ,. 



CHAPTER XI. 

HEALD TOWN. 

EEALDTOWN, called in honour of James Heald, Esq., 
Treasurer of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, is a 
large Fingoe settlement and Mission Station, six 
miles distant from Fort Beaufort. This is the site of 
the largest Industrial School established under the 
patronage of Sir George Grey. The accompanying 
cut, from a photograph taken on the spot, will 
represent, on a small scale, the School buildings and 
Mission Chapel. "The principal building is two 
hundred and twenty feet in length, and fifty in 
width ; there are also two wings extending to the 
rear, each ninety feefc in length. It is built of brick, 
on a stone foundation, the roof is of slate from 
Wales. The floor of the verandah, which extends 
along the whole front of the building, is several feet 
above the ground. The internal arrangements afford 
spacious apartments for the governor, chaplain, and 
their families, with large and airy dormitories, 
school, and work-rooms, refectory, kitchens, &c., for 
the accommodation of a large number of boys and 
girls who were boarded, clothed, educated, and 



150 HEALD TOWN. 

trained to various industrial pursuits/ The exact 
statistics of the cost of these buildings, the annual 
appropriations, and the number of pupils trained in 
this establishment, I have not been able to get ; but 
the following figures, furnished me by Rev. "William 
Sargent, Wesleyan Missionary, in charge of it when 
I was there, will furnish the facts with sufficient 
approximate correctness for our purpose. The cost 
of the buildings, paid by the Government, through 
Sir George Grey, was about 7,000. The Government 
appropriation, which was subsidized by the Wesleyan 
Society, was about 1,000 per annum for about nine 
years. While this appropriation was continued, 
the school, under the administration of the me 
morable missionary, Rev. John Ayliff, contained 
about eighty boarded scholars, and an addition 
of nearly two hundred day- scholars, making an 
aggregate of nearly three hundred, and was going 
on prosperously, but when Sir George Grey was 
removed to New Zealand, about three years ago, 
the Government appropriation was partially with 
drawn from that and kindred institutions, and 
between the removal of their liberal patron by the 
Government, and of their devoted missionary by 
death, the Heald Town institution came to grief. The 
boarding and industrial departments, from a want 
of funds were abandoned. 

A day-school has been kept up with success. It 
contained, at the time of my visit, two hundred day- 
scholars, conducted by Mr. T. Templer, head teacher, 



MUNIFICENCE OF JAMES HEALI), ESQ. 

a fine spirited brother, and I believe a successful 
educator, assisted by Siko Radas, a young native 
teacher. They have also three schools taught by 
native teachers at three different " out- stations " 
connected with this mission establishment. The 
whole cost of these schools at the present time is 
322 per annum, of which the Government pays 
252 ; and the Society 70. Some thousands of 
natives have here, from first to last, been taught, not 
only to read their own language, but the elements 
of an English education. 

Rev. "Wm. Impey, during his recent visit to Eng 
land, appealed strongly to the Missionary Committee, 
and not in vain, to authorize the establishment 
of a High School, and Theological Institution at 
Heald Town. James Heald, Esq., gave five hun 
dred pounds towards the enterprise, and Mr. 
Impey s success was such that the District Meet 
ing in Graham s L Town, last January, resolved 
to carry it into effect. The following is a statement 
of their action, furnished to me by Eev. Wm. Sar 
gent, in a recent letter, as follows : " Our District 
Meeting decided to form a training institution at 
Heald Town to include two or three classes of 
agents. 

" 1. Men for the full work of the ministry, and 
pastorate. 

" 2. Native evangelists, who shall have no fixed 
pastorate, but be employed in going from place to 
place preaching the Gospel. 



152 HEALD TOWN. 

" 3. Young men as schoolmasters for the native 
schools. 

" It was also agreed to move the press from Mount 
Coke to Heald Town. Mr. Appleyard goes to 
Heald Town in charge of the press. Mr. Lam- 
plough was appointed to superintend the institution, 
and take charge of the native agents ; a better supply 
could not been have got in the district. Bro. Lam- 
plough possesses peculiar abilities for such a work, 
his whole soul is in it." 

I firmly believe myself that Bro. Lamplough is 
the man for that responsible post, for he will teach 
them how to win souls to Christ, and administer 
good discipline in the Church of God. 

The Lord, in mercy, help him, and make of him an 
Elijah, and make his " school of the prophets" an 
hundred-fold more effective than that of Bethel or 
Mount Carmel ! 

The Wesleyan chapel at Heald Town, which will 
seat about eight hundred natives, is a cruciform in 
shape, the transverse portion of which, with a front 
vestibule, is seen in the accompanying engraving. 

Rev. TVm. Sargent, the missionary at the time of 
my visit, was brought up in the colony, and having 
been in the mission- work for many years, is quite at 
home in the native language, manners, and customs ; 
he is a true friend to the natives, and an earnest 
missionary. He removed his whole family to Fort 
Beaufort, so that they all might enjoy the benefit 
of our week of special services there. He had 



THE HEV. WILLIAM SARGENT. 153 

written me requesting a visit to his natives in Heald 
Town, but not having the natives in my plan of ap 
pointments, and having engaged to labour with the 
whites for weeks a-head, I could not promise, but at 
our first interview I arranged to give them a week-day 
service. So on Tuesday the 19th of June, Brother 
Sargent took me up with his cart and pair, and set off 
for Heald Town. As we pass the lines of Port Beaufort 
we at once see .the white mission buildings before de 
scribed, six miles distant. It is a beautiful sight 
through a narrow valley, bounded by high hills on 
each side, rising to the altitude of respectable moun 
tains, but the town itself, which, besides the school 
buildings and chapel, is composed almost entirely of 
native huts, is perched above the head of this 
beautiful vale on the plateau of a transverse range 
of little mountains. The scattering huts, seen in the 
cut, represent but a small part of the native town , 
the body of which is hid from view by an intei 
vening hill. In our little journey, we pass over a 
broad undulating valley, rich and grassy. To our 
left are several native "kraals," surrounded by 
fields of maize, pumpkins, and Kaffir- corn. As 
cending the narrow vale, we cross many times a bold 
mill-stream, the banks of which are lined with 
wild olives, willows, and a great variety of shrub 
bery and vines, forming in some places a dense 
jungle, which furnish a ^rand retreat for the 
monkeys. Half-a-dozen oi them made a stand in 
the road before us long enough to inquire " who 



154 HEALD TOWN. 

are* you, and where are you going ? " and then scam 
pered off into their native wilds. 

The mountains to our left are partly cultivated by 
the Pingoes, and we see some fine herds of their 
cattle. The mountains to our right are rugged, but 
beautified by a thick undergrowth of the wild African 
aloes just coming into bloom, with stately sentinels 
of the euphorbia-tree. We have a long, rocky steep 
ascent from this valley to the high land of the town ; 
the surrounding scenery, with the high cliffs at the 
head of the valley, just below the town, is not only 
beautiful, but grand. "When we arrived, a little 
before the hour appointed, the chapel, with sittings 
for about 800, was packed with about 1,000 natives 
and twenty whites. 

The head teacher, Mr. T. Templer met us, and said, 
" We have Barnabas here, from Graham s Town, he 
is a splendid interpreter, and we ll get him to inter 
pret. He says he would rather not, as he s here on 
business, in his working clothes ; but I m sure hell 
consent if we press it." 

" Give me anybody else," I replied. " I tried 
him in Graham s Town, and he got his voice up an 
octave too high at the start, and sang out the whole 
sermon in two or three monotonous tones that 
did not suit me at all. He is a good fellow, 
and we must not hurt his feelings, but if you 
are not committed to him, and can give me any 
other Kaffir who can talk English, don t engage 
Barnabas/ 






SIKO HAD AS. 155 

" We are not committed to him, but consider him 
the best we can get. We have a Kaffir boy, my as 
sistant teacher, who understands English, but he is 
not a professional interpreter/ 

" He s my boy ; send him to me quickly, as our 
time is nearly up, and the people are waiting." 

Brother Sargent immediately sent for him, and 
brought him into a private room in the " Institu 
tion," a real black boy, about twenty years old, five 
feet six inches in height, prominent forehead, good 
eye, pleasant countenance, a quiet, unobtrusive 
youth, a good singer, can write music, and play on 
the harmonium, but rather a feeble voice for address 
ing a large assembly Siko Radas. 

Brother Sargent said he had to celebrate a mar 
riage, either before or after preaching. We at once 
arranged that Brother Sargent should open the ser 
vice in the usual way, and attend to the marriage, 
and allow me that time for drilling my young inter 
preter. 

I preached my sermon to Siko, r and gave him a 
lecture on naturalness. "We entered the church 
before the marriage ceremony was over. The bridal 
party were all black, but well dressed, and presented 
a very genteel appearance, and signed their names to 
the marriage records with self-possession and neat 
ness of execution: The bride was covered from head 
to foot with a fine white veil. 

The bridal party sat in the front form, just before 
us. I did not occupy the little pulpit, but stood 



15G HEALD TOWN. 

beside my interpreter in the altar. Siko put my 
sentences into Kaffir very rapidly, but distinctly ; 
and, as I learned, correctly. There was evidently 
an extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit resting 
on the audience during the preaching, but silence 
reigned, except the slight murmur of suppressed 
sobbing and tears. At the close of the preaching 
we dismissed the assembly, giving all who wished an 
opportunity to retire. The bridal party and a few 
others left. 

Before we proceeded further with the prayer- 
meeting, I explained in Gospel simplicity, the way 
of salvation by faith, so that the seekers might in 
telligently come to Christ without further personal 
instruction. We then invited the seekers to come 
forward and occupy the forms from the front, as far 
back as might be necessary. They rushed forward 
with that violence which the kingdom of heaven 
suifereth, and many of " the violent took it by force " 
that day. At least three hundred seekers were 
down on their knees within a few minutes. They 
were all praying audibly, the floor was wet with 
tears, yet none seemed to be screaming louder 
than his neighbours. Brother Sargent seemed, for 
a few moments, fearful, thinking it might lead 
to confusion, but I reminded him of the unde 
niable evidences, that God the Holy Spirit was 
moving in the matter, and however much of 
human dross and infirmity might be mixed into such 
a mass of superstition and sin, the people had been 



THE WITNESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 157 

well instructed, and the Holy Spirit was fully com 
petent directly, and through the agencies available, 
to manage the business, and we will work with Him, 
but Let us not interfere with His work. Brother 
Sargent at once heartily acquiesced in my views, 
which were supported so thoroughly by Scripture 
teaching and precedent, and by the logic of facts 
before our eyes, that we could do but little else than 
" stand still and see the salvation of God/ We had 
Brothers Janion, Attwell, "Webb, Roberts, and other 
Graham s Town brethren present. They seemed a 
little confused at the first shock, for my meetings at 
Graham s Town, as in every other place among the 
whites, were conducted in quietness ; but in a few 
minutes they were re- assured by their faith in God, 
and the power of His Gospel, and entered into the 
work with their characteristic earnestness. In the 
recess there were fourteen whites down on thnir 
knees, as seekers, so that the brethren who could ?iot 
speak the Kaffir, found ample employment among 
them. 

As fast as the seekers entered into liberty, they 
were conducted to seats, first in the right wing of 
the chapel, and then in the left, and then in front, 
where they gave their testimony to their minister, 
Rev. Brother Sargent, who wrote down their names 
in his pastoral book. The services closed at 4 P.M., 
having extended through five hours. Some of us, 
however, went into Brother Templer s house about 
2 P.M., and took in haste an excellent lunch which 



158 HEALD TOWN. 

good Sister Templer had prepared for us, and imme 
diately returned to " the front/ Seven whites 
reported themselves among the converts, having, 
during the service, embraced Christ, and found sal 
vation in Him. Six of them were one whole family, 
a grandmother, her daughter, son-in-law, and three 
children. It was a touching scene to see the poor 
old woman in the centre, and her children and grand 
children embracing her, and with flowing tears 
praising God, and telling her how happy they were 
in the love of Jesus. 

Of the natives, Brother Sargent recorded the 
names of one hundred and thirty-nine, who professed 
to find peace with God during our service of five 
hours. "We then hastened back to Port Beaufort, 
where I preached, and had a glorious work among 
the whites that night. 

On Thursday morning, the 21st of June, Brother 
Sargent, in company with Mrs. Rev. T. Guard, drove 
me again to Heald Town, according to the an 
nouncement made the preceding Tuesday. When 
we arrived, Brother Barnabas came to me and said 
he was sorry he had declined to interpret on Tuesday, 
but if I would consent he do so on that occasion. He 
is a good man, and remembering that I had not 
learned to preach through an interpreter, when I 
tried to preach through him in Graham s Town, and 
that the fault might therefore be more in myself than 
in him, I replied, " I am well satisfied with Siko, 
and would not propose a change, but if Siko chooses 



BARNABAS, THE INTERPRETER. 159 

to have you take his place, I have no objection/" 
Siko readily deferred to his elder brother, and Bar 
nabas became my spokesman. While Brother Sar 
gent was opening the service, I was privately preach 
ing to Barnabas. He is a tall lean brother, not 
very black, well-acquainted with the English lan 
guage, a professional interpreter for years, and 
famous for his exact literal rendering of a discourse 
into Kaffir. He is now well-advanced in years. 
Notwithstanding his long experience as an inter 
preter, I took the liberty of giving him a good talk 
on naturalness, and in return learned from him what 
I could in so short a time about some of the customs 
and peculiar sins of the Kaffirs. 

"We went before our crowded audience fully 
equipped, trusting to the immediate presence and 
saving power of the Holy Spirit. Barnabas was 
ready, natural, and effective. The prayer-meeting 
was conducted as on the first day. Among the 
seekers were many aged persons. The awful pre 
sence and melting power of the Holy Spirit on this 
occasion surpassed anything I had ever witnessed 
before. I tried to find an illustration of what I saw 
and felt, by the historic fact, that in creation s morn, 
" The spirit moved upon the face of the waters," and 
brought order out of chaos : I thought of what 
Ezekiel saw, and thus described, after giving an 
account of his vision of the valley of dry bones, 
" Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones ; Behold, 
I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall 



1GO HEALD TOWX. 

live : and I will lay sinews upon you, and wiP 
bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, 
and put breath in you, and ye shall live ; and ye 
shall know that I am the Lord. So I prophesied 
as I was commanded : and as I prophesied, there 
was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones 
came together, bone to his bone. And when I 
beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon 
them, and the skin covered them above : but there 
was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, 
Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and 
say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God ; Come 
from the four winds, breath, and breathe upon 
these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as 
he commanded me, and the breath came into them, 
and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an ex 
ceeding great army." I thought of the waiting 
disciples in that upper room on Mount Zion, when 
" suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a 
rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house 
where they were sitting," and the glory that imme 
diately followed. " The wind bloweth where it 
listeth. and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst 
not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth." 

The atmosphere, the symbol of the Holy Ghost 
whom God hath sent to administer the bounteous 
provision of salvation to a perishing world. The air, 
everywhere present, enveloping the world, mysteri 
ous, invisible, yet always abiding with us, now at 
rest, then moving in the gentle zephyr, then in the 



"WHY YOU XO TELL BLACK FELLOW TILL NOW ?" 161 

breeze, then in the gale, then in the hurricane. 
This mighty Spirit of God abiding with us, and to 
"abide with us for ever/ and yet adjusting His 
mighty power to the laws of the human mind, and 
moral nature. 

I realized by faith on that occasion what I never 
can explain, even with the help of this Scripture 
teaching. If the dispensation of the Spirit is to 
extend to " that great and notable day of the Lord, 
when He shall judge the quick and the dead," and 
if the ever- abiding Spirit is as available now, and 
as willing to fulfil His mighty mission now, as He 
was on the day of Pentecost, why is the world not 
saved ? I wept over the defective faith, and ineffec 
tive methods, of the Church, and thought how the 
Holy Spirit is grieved in not having suitable agen 
cies for the successful prosecution, and consumma 
tion of His work, according to God s purpose, and 
most adequate provisions in Christ. As I saw dead 
souls by the score stand up by the power of the 
Spirit, till they became like an army around us, and 
heard them witnessing to the saving mercy of Jesus 
in their hearts, I felt the keen retort of the South 
Australian black fellow, " at Lake Alexandrina, on 
the Murray." A man whom this native had known 
for twenty years was warning him for the first time 
against the danger of losing his soul, and the sable 
son of nature said with great vehemence, " If you 
know all this time that black fellow going to hell, 
why you no tell black fellow till now ? " A majority 

M 



162 HEALD TOWN. 

of those before me, to bo sure, had been born ant 
brought up under Gospel teaching ; their old friend and 
minister, who led them out of Kaffir bondage, had lived 
and died among them at that very spot ; in the chapel 
before us, was a slab to his memory, on which it 
was stated that the last prayer he ever offered, just as 
he was stepping into Death s dark river, was that 
God would bless and save his "dear Fingoes;" his 
prayer was now being answered among the ones to 
whom he last preached, but I thought of the mil 
lions beyond, who have not to this day heard of 
Jesus. Oh, I felt that, dearly as I loved my country, 
my conference, my home, and, above all, my dear 
family, if it were the Lord s will to adjust my rela 
tions satisfactorily in regard to those sacred interests, 
and call me to this work, I would hail it as a privi 
lege, to lead a band of Black native evangelists 
through the African Continent, till "Ethiopia" 
would not only " stretch out her hands," but em 
brace Christ, through the power of the Holy Ghost, 
from the Cape of Good Hope to the Mediterra 
nean. 

At the close of this second service at Heald Town, 
Rev. Brother Sargent reported the names of 167 
native, and three European, converts, during the 
service of five hours, making an aggregate for the 
two services of 306 natives, and ten whites saved, " by 
the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the 
Holy Ghost, shed forth abundantly upon us, through 
Christ Jesus our Lord." These, added to the sixty- 



CARING FOR THE LAMBS. 163 

five Europeans at Fort Beaufort, will make a total of 
381 souls brought to God, and "justified freely by 
His grace " during the space of five days. The name 
of each one was written down by the ministers in 
charge, after a personal examination, and the testi 
mony of almost every one was clear and satisfactory. 
My instructions to the pastors were, that if they 
should find any with whose experience they were not 
satisfied, they should kindly send them back to the 
altar of prayer, and have them continue to seek the 
Lord till they should obtain pardon, and the satisfac 
tory " witness of the Spirit." . 

Of course we cannot see the hearts of any, but in 
connection with clear Gospel teaching, and all the 
outward signs of awakening, repentance, and faith 
in Christ, followed by the distinct testimony of each 
convert, we take their names that they may be 
gotten immediately into the classes, and receive the 
pastor s care. 

A shepherd, on the purchase of a large addition to 
his flock, would not be satisfied to allow them to 
wander off, without even identifying, and so marking 
them, as at least to know them himself. His care 
would extend to every little lamb, and the weak 
ones he would often bear in his bosom. At the close 
of our service at Heald Town, I gave the Local 
Preachers, Leaders, and members generally, an ad 
dress on the care necessary to the healthy growth 
of the young converts. 

If the stirring incidents and scenes of those two 
services could be recorded, they would fill a volume ; 



1(3-4 /IEALD TOWN. 

but they were really indescribable ; I will, however, 
for further illustration of that great work of God, 
insert the following letter, written by the Eev. 
Brother Sargent to the secretaries in London, which 
appears in the Missionary Notices, for October, 1866. 
" Tuesday, June 19th. What a day ! I know 
not how to record it. I never witnessed anything 
which so reminded me of what is recorded of the 
Day of Pentecost in the 2nd of Acts. At 9.30 A.M., 
I started with Mr. Taylor for Heald Town. The 
people had already collected in the chapel, and were 
engaged in an earnest prayer-meeting. Mr. Taylor 
addressed them, through an interpreter, from the 
words, "But ye shall receive power after that the 
Holy Ghost is come upon you." The effect was 
manifest. The truth told with wondrous power on 
the congregation. At the close, those who were 
desirous of seeking the Lord were exhorted to stand 
up, and then kneel round the communion-rails. 
About three hundred fell simultaneously upon their 
knees, among whom there was a considerable number 
of Europeans, many of whom had come from Beau 
fort, There was now a great weeping. At first all 
seemed chaos and confusion. Even the native Local 
Preachers and Class Leaders were confounded ; and 
it -was some time before I could get them into 
working order. The first paroxysm of excitement 
having subsided, the native agents distributed them 
selves all over the chapel, speaking to, and praying 
with, the penitents. The distress of some souls was 



DELIVERANCE TO THE CAPTIVES. 165 

extremely great, but after awhile one after another 
entered into the liberty of the children of God, 
passing from the excess of grief to the excess of joy, 
The scene was indescribable, as first one and then 
another rose to praise God, with eyes sparkling, aii(] 
countenance beaming with joy, and tears flowing in 
copious streams from their eyes. One exclaimed, 
Satan is conquered ! Satan is conquered ! Satan is 
conquered ! " Another, a very old woman, lifted her 
eyes and hands towards heaven, and exclaimed, for 
five or ten minutes, at the top of her voice, " He- is 
holy ! He is holy ! He is holy ! J A very old man, 
who had been in an agony of distress, when set at 
liberty, exclaimed, My Father has set me free ! 
My Father has set me free ! My Father has set me 
free ! These are merely specimens. We were five 
hours hard at work ; and, at the close, 140 persons 
professed to have a obtained a sense of the pardoning 
love of God. 

" Thursday, 21st. Eeturned to Heald Town in 
company with Mr. Taylor ; a great number of 
Europeans following us from Fort Beaufort. The 
chapel was crowded to excess. Mr. Taylor preached 
a very searching and powerful sermon on the Ten 
Commandments: After the sermon those seeking 
salvation were invited to the communion-rail. I 
suppose more than 200 fell upon their knees, crying 
aloud for mercy ; sobs, and sighs, and groans filled 
the chapel. After the first burst of powerful emotion, 
I got the Local Preachers and Class Leaders to dis- 



166 HEALD TOWN. 

tribute themselves among the penitents. After a 
while, the shouts of the pardoned strangely mingled 
with the cries of the penitents. We continued the 
meeting for five hours ; and at the close 160 pro 
fessed to have found peace and joy through be 
lieving/ making, in the two days, 300 who had 
professedly obtained peace/ (This report does not 
include the white converts.) 

"I am happy to say that the work is still pro 
gressing ; and we seldom hold a meeting for in 
quirers without a number coming forward, and 
several of them getting into liberty. These have not 
numerically increased our Church members, as much 
as some might suppose, as the majority of those 
who have found peace were already members of 
society, but had never obtained a clear sense of 
pardon ; or, having obtained it in years gone by, had 
lost it through unfaithfulness. Yet I may add, that 
a considerable number consists of young people who 
have been brought up in our Sabbath- and day- 
schools. These I am now forming into juvenile 
classes. There are still many seekers in the con 
gregation, especially among the young ; and at the 
close of every evening service the bushes and rocks 
about the station are for hours vocal with the prayers 
of those who are earnestly pleading for mercy. 
Since this work began the desire for learning among 
the young people of the station is something wonder 
ful. Children now came to the day-school who 



A HE WORK PROGRESSING. 167 

never came before; and the numbers have been 
almost doubled. The difficulty now is to find books 
and teachers for them. 

" The work has not been confined to the natives ; 
but the few European families living on the station 
have likewise been made partakers of the benefit/ 
Nearly all who were not members before have now 
joined the Society, and are rejoicing in a sense of the 
Divine favour. Several European children have 
been formed into an interesting class ; and not 
satisfied with this, they have, at their own instance, 
formed themselves into a juvenile prayer-meeting, 
which I allow them to conduct in their own way, 
without the presence or interference of any adult." 

An extract from a letter I received from Brother 
Sargent, dated July 17th, nearly a month after I left, 
may serve to illustrate the continued progress of this 
work in Heald Town : " I am thankful to say that 
the good work of the Lord is still progressing 
favourably at Heald Town. About sixty more have 
found peace since you left, and I have no doubt 
but that there would have been a much larger 
number, but for the fact, that I have had to be 
away so often, that the penitent meetings have not 
been held so frequently as I could wish. There is 
much earnestness manifested among the people, both 
old and young. You would be amazed and delighted 
to hear their cries of a night till after nine or ten 
o clock j and, in some cases, till daylight in the 



1C8 HEALD TOWN. 

morning, pleading for the pardon of their sins. The 
valleys and rocks below the mission -house are literally 
vocal with the cries of penitents, morning, noon, and 
night. You will he glad to he informed that last 
Saturday, in our Local Preacher s meeting, the local 
brethren, in receiving several new candidates on the^ 
Local Preacher s plan, passed a resolution, that no 
one using Kaffir beer, or any other strong drink, 
shall be allowed to exercise the office of Local Preacher 
among them. Next Saturday the Class-leaders in 
tend passing the resolution respecting themselves ; 
not allowing any to exercise the office of Class Lea 
der in Heald Town, who will not give up the drink 
ing of Kaffir beer, and all other intoxicating drinks. * 
The Kaffir beer is made of maize or Indian corn. 
It was considered by many good people a wholesome 
nourishing drink, and as the Kaffirs do not usually 
have tea or coffee, the Kaffir beer was tolerated on 
the mission- stations ; but its use wrought all manner 
of mischief, especially at the Kaffir beer- feasts, 
which are very common among the Heathen Kaffirs, 
resulting in drunkenness and all its consequent evils. 
The total abstinence reform movement commenced 
among the Kaffirs at Annshaw about five years ago. 
Charles Pamla was one of the leaders in the move 
ment, and endured a great deal of persecution from 
the old school beer-drinking members ; but he never 
struck his colours, and now all the leading men at 
Annshaw, Heald Town, and other stations are fully 
with him. I was very sorry that Brother Sargent s 



POETIC DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK. 169 

engagements called him away, so that the work in 
Heald Town was not pushed with the same vigour as 
at Annshaw. The next Sabbath, after I was there, 
he was, according to a previous engagement, preach 
ing at Adelaide, twenty miles distant, and soon 
after that he was called away to King William s 
Town, fifty miles distant, to take Mrs. Sargent to see 
her dying father, Mr. George Impey. Those poor 
penitents crying day and night in the woods, should 
have been brought at once to Jesus, the only Saviour 
of sinners. 

Recurring to that memorable Thursday once more, 
I may add that Mr. Templer, the native teacher, 
though not a poet, perpetrated a poetic effusion, 
which was published and pronounced good ; so much 
of it relates to myself, that it is hardly safe for me 
to insert it, yet, as its descriptive power may arrest 
the attention of some poetic reader and do good, I 
may be excused for copying thirteen of the twenty- 
three verses of the poem. Beholding the scene, 
with his eye alternately on the preacher and the 
audience, he says : 

Equipp d, with "the whole armour of his God;" 

Prepared to fight the battles of his Lord ; 
His willing " feet, with Gospeljpeace well shod," 

And holding in his hand, the " Spirit s sword." 

" The righteous breastplate, and faith s mighty shield," 
Adorn d his front, and turn d hell s dart aside ; 

The law of " truth," which God to man reveal d, 
" Begirt his loins," and was his strength and guide. 



170 HEALD TOWN. 

" Salvation s helmet," did his head secure ; 

His Captain s name, his " forehead" rendcr d bold; 
Eternal truth, his mind did richly store, 

And thence he drew his weapons " new and old." 

With simple, earnest, " supplicating prayer," 
And labour hard, he made his armour shine : 

Did all thy servants, Lord, such quipmcnt wear, 
The fallen race of man, would soon be Thine. 

He saw a motley throng before him rise, 

Whose blood neath skins of various hues did run ; 

Yet souls alike redeem d with highest price 
The precious blood of God s beloved Son. 

His voice, "like trumpet loud," God s law, declar di 
On Sina given, was " holy, just, and good :" 

With this, the lives of old and young compar d, 
And then their guilt in crimson colours stood. 

" Now think awhile," said he, " let conscience live j 
Yourselves your judges be ; then thus inquire 

Can God be just, and yet my sins forgive, 
Or must I dwell with the devouring fire ?" 

With speed more swift than lightning s swiftest dart, 
His soul flew up in silent, earnest prayer, 

To God the Holy Ghost, to break the heart- 
Convince, and start the penitential tear. 

He did his work conviction seiz d the soul, 

With godly grief; then prostrate on the ground 

They fell, and tears of penitence did roll 
One Pentecostal scene w r as spread around. 

The powers of darkness " raged ; " it was their hour . 

Souls, long in bondage held, and captive led, 
Were struggling to be freed, from Satan s power, 

Which held them bound, though Christ had bruis d his 
head. 



RETURNING FROM THE FIELD OF BATTLE. 171 

With tongue of seraphic fire, the herald cried, 
" Believe in Christ this is the record true 

To save a guilty world, the Saviour died 
He tasted death for all he died for YOU." 

A ray of light appear d ; then Satan, thron d, 
His greatest efforts made, to " keep in peace 

His house and goods " which he so long had own d : 
But Jesus came and gave the soul release. 

Then shouts of joy, and songs of highest praise, 

To God the Father, Son, and Spirit rose ; 
And others heard the vivifying lays, 

Were pierc d and felt the guilty sinner s throes. 

As we returned from Heald Town to Fort Beaufort, 
accompanied by a large number of Europeans on 
horseback, and many natives on foot, though, we 
drove rapidly to be in time for the evening appoint 
ment, some of the black fellows, happy in the Lord, 
and light on foot as Elijah before the chariot of 
Ahab, ran so fast, as to keep up with us most of the 
distance of six miles. 

Passing a jungle, we saw a mob of monkeys perched 
on the thickly-matted tops of the trees, clearly defined 
above the branches. They seemed surprised to see 
so many persons in their unfrequented woods, and 
stood erect looking at us till we passed out of sight. 

Mrs. Thomas Guard witnessed all the scenes of 
that day, and possessing a very refined taste, a nice 
sense of propriety, and not favourable to noisy re 
ligious exercises, I was a little surprised to find her 
inthusiastic in her expressions of admiration of all she 
aad seen and heard. I had observed that she looked 



172 HEALD TOWN. 

on and wept, and smiled alternately, during most oi 
the service, and as we drove along she said, " I have 
seen most of the crowned heads of Europe, was at the 
opening of the Great Exhibition in 1851, have wit 
nessed, and felt the thrilling effects of the most im 
posing pageants of royalty, but I never saw anything 
for sublimity and soul- stirring effect to compare with 
the scenes of this day. I would not have missed the 
meeting of to-day for anything that could be offered/ 

" But dear me," says one, " such sudden work as 
that must be very transient over three hundred 
persons professing conversion at two day s services, 
and working weekdays too, why it must have been 
a straw fire that will soon die out." 

Indeed, after so long a preparation, why should 
not " the Lord whom ye seek come suddenly in His 
temple?" Was not that the way the Holy Spirit 
did it when He first entered on His great work in 
Jerusalem ? If He hath changed His methods of 
working, it is a wonder He hath not informed us, so 
that we may adjust ourselves to them. That was a 
quick work by which three thousand souls were 
saved in one day, under the first Gospel sermon they 
ever heard in their lives, and yet thirty-three years 
afterwards St. Luke testified to their steadfastness, 
saying, " They continued steadfastly in the apostle s 
doctrine, and fellowship, and in breaking of bread 
and in prayers." 

To illustrate the genuine character and permanency 
of this work, of the same pentecostal Spirit, at Heald 






PERMANENT EFFECTS. I7o 



Town, so far as we can in the time which has since 
elapsed, I may be allowed to copy part of a letter 
written me by Eev. Wm. Sargent,, who has recently 
been sent to Graham s Town circuit, but who is best 
prepared to testify of this work, nearly ten months 
after my visit. His letter is dated Graham s Town, 
April the 4th, 1867, in which he says : 

I am thankful to be able to say, that up to the time of 
my leaving Heald Town, and since my departure, the work 
has been widening and deepening. At the time of our 
District Meeting in January, besides about two hundred 
old members, who had either obtained for the first time a 
sense of their acceptance with God, or had recovered what 
they had lost, and many who had been raised to a higher 
platform of Christian experience, there were three hundred 
and fifty-eight, principally young persons, who had been 
received on trial, most of whom had been made happy in 
God s pardoning love. With the experience of some of 
these young people I was truly astonished at the Quarterly 
Visitation, describing their conversion to God in a way that 
would have been impossible, had they not been taught of 
God. Out of about four hundred professing conversion to 
God, not above two or three persons had, up to the time of 
my leaving Heald Town, discontinued meeting in class. 
This, I may remark, has been a striking peculiarity in the 
recent revival during your visit in these parts. Immedi 
ately after every previous revival, there was always a con 
siderable falling away ; but the cases of defalcation, in this 
instance, have been exceedingly few compared with the 
numbers brought in. 

In reference to the effects of the recent work of God at 
Heald Town, I may remark, 



174 HEALF TOWN. 






1st. The members of the church have all been greatly 
quickened, and raised to a higher standard in the Divine 
life than they previously enjoyed. 

2nd. The Local Preachers and Class Leaders have been 
aroused to a sense of their duties and responsibilities, and 
have devoted themselves, with renewed energy, to the work 
of the Lord. Some of them, in addition to their ordinary 
work, have associated a number of the new converts with 
themselves, and have gone from hamlet to hamlet preach 
ing the Gospel, and conducting prayer -meetings. These 
meetings have often resulted in the conversion of individuals 
who seemed to be otherwise inaccessible. 

3rd. New Leaders and Local Preachers have come for 
ward in a way we never anticipated, and have helped to 
carry on tjie work of the Lord with efficiency and success. 

4th. Our native agents have shown a determination to 
battle with the remains of heathen customs, towards which 
they were formerly disposed to be lenient, such as polygamy, 
circumcision, the drinldng of Kaffir beer, etc. They seem 
determined to purge out of themselves, and out of the 
society the very last elements of " the old leaven, that they 
may be a new lump." In respect to the very injurious 
custom of Kaffir beer-drinking, the Local Preachers first, 
and then the Class Leaders afterwards, bound themselves by a 
solemn pledge that, for the influence of their example, they 
would not henceforth use this pernicious drink, and that they 
would do all they could to put it down, both in and out of 
the church. Had it been in their power, many of them 
would have gone so far as to make it a condition of mem 
bership, allowing no one to be a member of the church who 
would not consent to give it up, in every form and degree. 
But others felt that this could not be done without an en 
actment of Conference, which should render " total absti- 
nance " a sine qua non of membership throughout all our 



175 

societies. (Mr. Wesley s enactment in the " general rules 
of our societies," has been sufficient to make "total abstain 
ers " of all the Methodists of America, numbering in the 
aggregate two millions of members, and fourteen thousand 
travelling ministers. The poor Kaffir Christians feel some 
thing of the same apprehension of danger in tampering -with 
drinking customs which have killed their tens of thousands, 
to the tens of hundreds slaughtered by the sword that Mr. 
Ashbury s preachers felt in America nearly a hundred years 
ago, when they made Mr. Wesley s rule practical and 
effective, prohibiting the " buying or selling spirituous 
liquors ; or drinking them, unless in cases of extreme 
necessity" by "spirituous liquors" Americans under 
stand all intoxicating drinks, wine, Kaffir beer, and all the 
rest ; by the terms " extreme necessity," they understand 
the medical necessity of sick persons. 

5th. The Sabbath schools and day schools, in a short 
time, almost doubled their members, and the thirst for 
learning among the young people became most manifest 
in an unprecedented application for school-books, and that 
from children upon the adjacent hamlets, who previously 
cared for none of these things. 

Many of these young people formed themselves into 
prayer-meetings, which they hold in the fields alone. One 
Sabbath afternoon, not long before leaving Heald Town, I 
was walking a little below the institution towards the 

* kloof, (a deep gorge or ravine) when I saw some twenty 
or thirty native children making their way down into the 

* bush. I was suspicious that they were meeting for pur 
poses of play, and therefore watched them. I soon found, 
to my agreeable surprise, that they were a company of 
Sabbath-school children, met for a prayer-meeting, spend 
ing an hour after school in alternate prayer and singing. 
The six or eight European children at Heald Town, besides 



176 HEALD TOWN. 

attending class, formed themselves into a select prayer- 
meeting. 

My little girl of nine years, after having cried to be 
permitted to meet in class herself, went from house to house 
among the Europeans upon the station, and invited all their 
children about her own age to a little room, the use of 
which she had obtained for that purpose, and formed them 
into a prayer-meeting. 

One day she came to me saying, " Pa, what can I do for 
that poor sick man ? " 

She had heard me speak of a sick native man, whom I 
had been visiting. I said, 

" What do you mean, my dear ? " 

" Oh," she replied, " I would like to do something for 
him?" 

I told her that she might go and buy a few groceries at 
the shop, and take them to him. She did so ; but took her 
New Testament under her arm, and having given him the 
groceries, she read several portions of God s Word to him, 
and then asked him if he was happy. I knew nothing of 
it till the man told me himself, what a comfort it had been 
to him. This same man had been a vile backslider, but 
had been recovered during your visit to Heald Town. He 
now thought himself upon his deathbed, but was filled with 
the light of God s countenance, and anticipating a speedy 
admission into His presence, where " there is fulness of 
joy." He, however, subsequently recovered, and is 
" adorning the doctrine of Christ his Saviour." * * * 

Our last District Meeting was one of the most harmoni 
ous and profitable we have yet had. The reports of the 
different circuits were such as to warm and encourage every 
heart, and all the brethren seemed as if they were baptized 
afresh for their great work. A record was entered upon 
the Minutes of your visit among us, and it was resolved to 



" WILT THOU NOT REVIVE AGAIN ? " 177 

hold special meetings in all the circuits in May or June 
next, to seek for another revival and still greater extension 
of God s work among us. We are looking for great things. 
I know not why we should not have constantly repeated 
baptisms of the Spirit. Why not 7 



CHAPTER XII. 

SOMERSET EAST. 

ON Friday morning, the 22nd of June, Brother Sar 
gent, in company with his son and daughter, drove 
me twenty miles with his cart and pair, to the 
village of Adelaide, on my way to Somerset, which 
is about eighty miles distant from Fort Beaufort. 
At half-past two P.M., I preached at Adelaide in the 
Presbyterian Church, Rev. Peter Davidson, pastor, 
with whom I dined. I had dined with his brother, 
the Rev. "William Davidson, at his own house, 
in the town of " Clare, " South Australia, and 
had become acquainted with another brother, Eev. 
James Davidson, King William s Town, British 
Kaffraria, so instead of strangers, we seemed to 
meet as friends. The Wesleyans have no society 
at Adelaide, but we have a few good men there, 
who, in the absence of their own Church, have 
united with Mr. Davidson. Mr. Francis King 
sent his cart and pair, to convey me that afternoon 
to Bedford, twenty miles further on my way, 
Brothers Sargent and Davidson accompanying. I 
was weary and allowed them to do all the talking. 



THE "NAG MAL. " 179 

Lrother Davidson gave us an interesting history of 
himself, and brother ministers, and their widowed 
mother, and how they struggled up the hill of diffi 
culty, in acquiring an education, and preparing for 
the ministry. It was altogether a very interesting 
narrative. Brother Davidson is a very genial Scotch 
man, and I am told an earnest evangelical minister 
of the Gospel. The Dutch Reformed Church in 
Adelaide are building a church edifice there which 
will cost 25,000, and a minister s house to cost 
3,000, altogether the sum of 28,000. The village 
is very small, but it is the centre of a large Dutch 
farming community. The Dutch, being the first 
European settlers, in South Africa, own the ma 
jority of the best farms, and build very large 
churches in accessible centres, and put up small 
houses contiguous, for temporary home comfort 
during their sojourn at their " nag mals." The 
"nag mal," or "night meal," is the sacrament of 
the Lord s Supper, which is administered at their 
churches quarterly. The farmers, within a radius 
of twenty or thirty miles, attend on those occa 
sions, with their families, and spend several days 
in religious duties, embracing the sacraments of 
baptism, and the Lord s Supper, preaching the 
Gospel, and confirmation; and a social reunion 
with their friends. For a sparsely settled pastoral 
country, like Southern Africa, I think it a very 
good arrangement indeed, and might be made very 
useful among the the Wesleyans, as a kind of 



180 SOMERSET EAST. 

" camp -meeting/ to promote the spiritual life of the 
scattered country societies. The appointment for 
my preaching in Adelaide was circulated after our 
arrival, and a company of about sixty persons as 
sembled, to whom, for the first and last time, 
I presented the offer of Christ as their only 
Saviour. Five months afterwards, Rev. Brother 
Sargent, in a letter to me, makes the following allu 
sion to that occasion. " You will remember our 
visit to Adelaide, I feared it was rather dis 
couraging to your own mind, having but a small 
attendance at the chapel, but I have heard of at 
least one young man by the name of Trollip, whose 
friends you met in Queen s Town, who was that day 
savingly impressed, and has since died happy in the 
Lord/ In a letter dated April, 1857, Brother Sar 
gent makes another allusion to that occasion, as 
follows : " Mr. Benjamin Trollip, whose soul was 
greatly blessed under your ministry at Queen s 
Town is lying upon his death-bed in Graham s 
Town, unspeakably happy in God. He is the father 
of the young man who was converted under your 
sermon at Adelaide, and died happy in the Lord 
shortly after." 

BEDFORD is a small village with one little church, 
which is under the pastoral care of Kev. Mr. 
Solomon. Mr. Solomon was for many years a mis 
sionary to the Griquas, Adam Kok s Hottentots, and 
Dutch bastards, then near the Orange River, now in 
" Nomansland," Kaffraria. They are at present, 



THE MESSRS. SOLOMON. 1S1 

and ever since their removal to their new home, 
without a missionary. Yet under the effect of former 
missionary teaching they have their chapels, and 
regular services among themselves. The Wesleyan 
Missionaries occasionally visit them, and administer 
the sacraments to them. 

Mr. Solomon, after a separation of several years, 
had just returned from a visit to them, of several 
weeks. He is greatly interested in their welfare, 
and says, that but for his family relations he would 
go and live with them. Kev. Mr. Solomon is a 
brother of the celebrated Saul Solomon of Cape 
Town celebrated for his littleness of stature, about 
three and a-half feet high, and for his greatness 
as a politician, and member of the Colonial Parlia 
ment, for literary and commercial enterprise, con 
ducting a large paper in Cape Town, and a 
variety of business pursuits the greatest man of 
his size, I suppose in the world. I preached for 
Rev. Mr. Solomon that night. His church, being 
the only one in the place is made up of all denomi 
nations," among whom are some excellent "VVesleyans, 
especially Francis King, his brother, and their 
families. 

The Kings are of the Graham s Town stock of 
Wesleyans, where their good old father still lives. 

They are sheep and cattle farmers. Being native- 
born " Africandas," as the native Europeans are 
called, they have had many adventures, both in times 
of war and peace. Francis King said he and another 



182 SOMERSET EAST. 

young man were once travelling together to Nama- 
qualand, to explore the copper mines (350 miles west 
of Cape Town). They were on horseback, but were 
unarmed. Away in the wilds, two hundred miles west 
of Cape Town, they were suddenly surrounded by 
a dozen " Bushmen," who seized the bridles of their 
horses and stopped them. " I knew/ said King, 
" from their general character and their movements, 
that they designed to rob us, and perhaps kill us 
too, but fearing that we had concealed weapons 
they offered no violence except to hold us fast. My 
companion was greatly alarmed, and said, We re 
sure to be killed ; but I said, Jim, don t show the 
least fear, keep perfectly cool, and we may provi 
dentially find a way of escape. After we had waited 
some time, a square, burly-looking fellow came up, 
having six toes on each foot, and joined the rest in 
holding on to our bridles and stirrup-leathers. I 
soon found that this six-toed fellow could speak a 
little Dutch, so I said to him, Take us to the water, 
we want to drink. They immediately set off with us, 
holding our bridles on each side, and took us a mile 
or two to a spring. We dismounted, and holding 
our horses with one hand, managed to get a little 
water, for we were nearly famished. I talked to 
them familiarly all the time, as though I of course 
thought they were our friends. I told them I wanted 
to buy ostrich feathers, and I wanted them to go and 
get me some. Two of them ran away, and after an 
absence of nearly an hour came back with a few 



THE SIX-TOED BUSHMAN. 183 

feathers. I paid for them, and said, This is not 
half enough ; I want you all to go and bring me all 
the feathers you can get, and I ll pay you a good 
price for them/ so they all started off under the im 
pulse of the moment to get feathers. As soon as 
they got out of sight, we mounted, and rode off for 
life. That was in the after part of the day. We 
travelled all that night, and till late in the P.M. of 
the next day before we stopped long enough to make 
a cup of tea. That afternoon as we passed along. 
I discovered a bees nest in the rocks. Near sunset, 
over forty miles from where we left the Bushmen, 
we encamped for the night. We had just taken a 
cup of tea, and were talking of our narrow escape, 
when lo, the six-toed fellow and his party were upon 
us. They came and seated themselves in a circle 
around us, without saying a word. I talked Dutch 
to Six- toes, but he made no reply. I laughed and 
talked as though nothing had happened, or was 
likely to happen, while I was trying to invent a 
method of escape. I knew if we showed fear, or if 
they should find out that we were unarmed, it would 
be all up with us. All at once I thought of the 
bees nest, and said I to Six-toes, Wouldn t you 
like for me to show you a bees nest ? You all must 
be hungry after your journey, and I m sure a little 
honey will do you good/ Then he began to talk a 
little, but in a very surly spirit. I said, Come with 
me, and I ll show you a bees nest, and you can get 
a good feed of honey/ I got up and started, and 



184 SOMERSET EAST. 

tfiey followed Jim said, Frank, you are not going 
to trust yourself alone with, those savages, I hope/ 

" I replied, Get the horses ready, and take them 
to the other side of the ridge beyond the bees nest, 
and wait there till I come. I took the Bushmen to 
the nest, and they all at once began in great haste 
to work their way into the rocks, to get the honey; 
finally, one of them drew out a fine piece of comb, 
full of honey, and I ran up and snatched it, and 
began to eat. They looked at me, and began to 
mutter, but said I, Dig away, you ll find plenty of 
honey in there/ so they went to work with greater 
eagerness than ever, while I began to walk back 
wards and forwards, eating a little honey, and hum 
ming a tune, watching my opportunity. While their 
attention was taken in their scramble, each trying 
to get his full share of the honey, I got out of sight, 
and ran for life. The horses were ready, and we put 
them up to their best speed for about thirty miles. 
In almost utter exhaustion, we then off- saddled and 
knee -haltered our horses, and half-buried ourselves 
in the sand and soon fell asleep. 

" "We had not been long asleep, as I afterwards 
found, when I was awakened by something cold 
touching my toe. It was a bright moonlight night, 
and I instantly recognized the dog of those Bushmen 
smelling my feet, but was glad to see him trot away 
without barking at us. I shook Jim, and whispered 
to him to keep a sharp look out, but not to move a 
muscle unless attacked. In a few minutes I heard 



GOVERNMENT FARM. 185 

our pursuers run past, but a few rods distant from 
as. They lost their scent, we took another direc 
tion, and saw them no more." This is one of many 
tales I heard by the way, which I relate to illustrate 
the adventures of pioneer life in South Africa. 

Kev. John Edwards, Superintendent of Somerset 
Circuit, met me at Bedford, and drove me hence, 
nearly forty miles, in his " cart- and- four," to his 
own house in Somerset. Brother Edwards was sent 
as a missionary to Africa in 1831, and has had a 
great variety of missionary life in the English, 
Dutch, and Kaffir work on the frontier, and the 
Bechuana work in the interior. 

SOMERSET was visited by Hev. Wm. Shaw as 
early as 1822, on the invitation of E. Hart, Esq., 
who had been an officer of the Cape regiment, a 
good man, and though aged, still lives near Somerset, 
and takes a great interest in the work of God. At 
that early day Somerset was simply a Government 
farm, under the superintendency of Mr. Hart, to 
raise supplies for the frontier troops, but when the 
general farming interests of the colony were suffi 
ciently developed to supply this demand, the farm 
was converted into a township. The district of 
Somerset now has a population of 10,022, of which 
3,784 are Europeans. The village has probably one- 
third of the whole population of the district. The 
Wesleyan chapel, for the whites, had recently been 
enlarged to double its former size, by the addition of 
a transept as large as the old chapel ; altogether it 



1S6 SOMERSET EAST. 



now seat over three hundred and fifty. The 
native chapel is about the same size. Our cause 
among the whites there was considered very feeble. 
The circuit is geographically very extensive. Brother 
Edwards keeps four good horses to enable him to do 
the travelling work necessary, and our cause was said 
to be much stronger in the country than in the town. 
Indeed Brother Edwards told me at the start that he 
had but two white members in town, besides his wife, 
who could pray in public, so our prospect for a work 
was not very bright. On Sabbath I preached three 
sermons, and collected 23 towards the late enlarge 
ment of the chapel. We had two services for the 
whites on Monday. One day service for natives on 
Tuesday, preaching to whites at night. Preached 
twice to the whites on Wednesday. Preached for 
the natives on Thursday, lectured on Thursday night, 
and left early on Friday morning. 

A number of persons had come fifty, and others 
seventy, miles to attend the meetings. Among them 
was a Mr. Nash, from " Ebenezer," fifty miles dis 
tant. He was a good farmer, a kind-hearted man, 
with an interesting family, but I was told that he 
was given to drink, so that his life and all that he 
had were in jeopardy. He called to see me on 
Saturday evening soon after my arrival. Said he, " I 
never would have thought of coming to this meeting 
but for Hon. Mr. Burch, of Uitenhage. He used 
to be my neighbour before his removal to Uitenhage, 
and recently he was in our neighbourhood, and was 



INFLUENTIAL TESTIMONY OF MR. BUIICH-. 187 

telling myself and others about your preaching in 
Uitenhage, and what surprised us most was that he 
said that he had found the pardon of all his sins at 
your meeting. We thought it was a wonderful 
thing. We knew that Burch was not a man to be 
deceived in such a matter, and that he would not 
lie ; indeed, we could all see that there was a won 
derful change in him. He begged us to attend your 
meeting here, and we have come. I am a dreadful 
sinner, and I can see no hope for me, but still, when 
such a man as Burch finds peace with God, I don t 
see why anybody need despair." I was pleased with 
his honest simplicity and earnestness. 

He attended all the services, but did not yield till 
Wednesday, when he surrendered to God, accepted 
Christ, and was saved. Nearly all those who came 
so far, through the testimony of Mr c Burch, went 
home happy in God. 

At each native service the chapel was crowded 
I was greatly favoured in having Siko Radas, 
from Heald Town, to interpret for me. He was hav 
ing holiday during his vacation,, and spent it in 
riding nearly eighty miles on his own hired horse to 
help me at Somerset, and thence eighty miles to 
Cradock to help me there. We had not such a 
mass of people to preach to in those towns as at 
Heald Town, but, in proportion to the population, we 
had a blessed harvest of souls. At the two native 
services in Somerset, over fifty natives were examined 
by their minister, Brother Edwards, and reported 



188 SOMERSET EAST. 

converted to God. Over twenty-five whites were 
saved at our series for them. In a letter from Bro 
ther Edwards, written the following week, he says, 
4< On Sunday July 31st, both at the preaching and 
at the prayer-meeting in the evening, the power of 
God the Spirit was graciously manifested in a way 
I never felt before. A great concern is found among 
the English families; many have yielded, others are 
deeply awakened. Many natives belonging to other 
churches have found peace. They will be lost to us, 
but not to God. The young converts are happy, 
and are working well ; among others, none more so 
than my son Walter. To God be the praise. Fully 
one hundred have found peace." In another letter 
from Brother Edwards, four months later, he says, 
" Most glad to hear from you, and of the prosperity 
of God s work. God hath blessed us much here. 
Those brought in remain steadfast. Mr. Nash is a 
miracle of grace, he holds on his way, and is very 
happy." 

Among many missionary stories related to me by 
Brother Edwards, I will record one, as it will illus 
trate several facts in connection with missionary life 
and adventure in Africa. Many years ago the 
natives of three mission stations, with their mission 
aries, Mr. Edwards being one of them, went in search 
of a new home. They travelled about a thousand 
miles before they found a suitable place, and hence 
the establishment of our missions in the Free State 
in the " Bechuana District," which was first esta- 



ONE OP THE " LESSER PROPHETS. " 189 

Wished by Messrs. Jenkins, Edwards, and "others. 
The following narrative is from Brother Edwards s 
own pen, written at my request. " Previously to the 
year 1830, there was a great slaughter among the 
native tribes living in the north. Owing to their 
making war with one another, whole native towns 
were depopulated. Those who escaped fled for their 
lives, and wandered they knew not whither. Among 
them was a lad who found his way into Basuto 
country " (the Basutos are the people under Moshesh, 
whom the Dutch of the Free State have been fight 
ing for several years) . "After many days of lonely 
wandering, living on pumpkin-peelings, found in the 
deserted huts of the depopulated country through 
which he passed, he fell in with Sikonyele s tribe, called 
the Mantatees. They looked upon him as a poor 
little thing, and treated him roughly, as a refugee. 
After being there for some time, he told the chief 
men of the tribe that he had a vision to make known 
to them, which was, that a large army would come 
down upon them from the north, destroy many of 
them, and take their cattle. Most of them paid no 
attention to his revelation, but said, Who can con 
quer us ? It was a tribe at that time strong, war 
like, rich in cattle, and proud. Not long after, how 
ever, there came down from the north some hostile 
tribes, which robbed them of the most of their cattle, 
and destroyed many of their people. 

"Then many of them began to believe in their 
little refugee prophet. Some time after that, the 



100 SOMERSET EAST. 

boy said lie had another vision to make known to 
them Some were opposed to hearing him; how 
ever, he told them that another attack would be 
made upon them by another sort of people. A 
copper-coloured people, on horses, having guns to 
fight with, would come upon them, and would take 
away their goats and sheep, and many of their 
children, and would kill many people. Not long 
after a lot of " Corannas " (Hottentot bastards, who, 
being so long among the Dutch, had learned the use 
fire-arms, and were well-supplied with guns), "came 
and did just as the boy had described. These two 
attacks reduced the Mantatees much, and brought 
them into a state of great humiliation and fear. 
Again the prophet boy gave notice that he had re 
ceived another vision, and had something to tell 
them. They were now all anxious to hear what he 
had to say. Then he told them that c a large lot of 
people will come into the country to reside. They 
will not come to fight or destroy. They are men of 
peace, and will* bring good tidings. There will be 
among them men dressed in black clothes, but men 
of peace/ They all listened attentively, and asked 
him what more he had to tell them ? < No more/ 
said he, * but only to listen to what the men of peace 
will tell you/ Shortly after that," continues Mr. 
Edwards, " we arrived in that country with the people 
of three stations/ in all about twelve thousand souls, 
under the care of three missionaries. We were after 
wards told that if we had gone into that country, 



BAPTISM OF DANIEL, THE PROPHET. 191 

while the Mantatees were in their pride and pros 
perity, not one of us would have escaped death. 
Here we saw the hand of God. That prophet lad 
was one of our first converts to Christ, and I bap 
tized him, Daniel, not knowing then that he had been 
such a prophet aforetime. The boy remained stead 
fast in the faith. 

" The Mantatees had no correct idea of Gfod ; but 
believed that a great Being lived above, to them un 
seen, whom they called Morimo Mo him 
rimo above Him above." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

CRADOCK. 

ON Friday, the 29th of June, Mr. Sargent, brothei 
to Rev. W. Sargent, one of the principal Wesleyans 
in Somerset, drove me, in company with his wife, 
from Somerset, forty miles on my way towards Cra- 
dock to " Dagga Boer." We spent the night, and 
preached at the house of Mr. John Trollip. The 
Trollip family is a very old and numerous family, 
very well-to-do, respectable, and everywhere known 
as Wesleyans, though not all saved as yet. We 
were hospitably entertained at Mr. John Trollip s for 
the night, and took breakfast with his aged parents 
in a separate house on the same premises. They 
have had their share of the sweet and the bitter of 
old pioneers in a new country. In their family 
bury ing- ground, surrounded by a stone wall, I read 
on a tombstone the following : " Sacred to the me 
mory of Henry Trollip, aged twenty-eight years 
two months and ten days ; and his brother Edward, 
aged nineteen years and five days, sons of William 
Trollip, who, on returning home were waylaid and 
shot by a band of rebel Hottentots, on the 31st of 



REBEL HOTTENTOTS. 

December, 1851. < They were lovely and pleasant 
in their lives, and in their death they were not 
divided. 2 Samuel i. 23." 

These were John s brothers, and sons of the 
honourable aged pair, at whose board we were enter 
tained. Their bereavement but illustrates the be 
reavement of many in the colony, and explains, in 
part, the deep, but not very discriminating, pre 
judice of the white colonists against the natives. 
The murderers of those young men belonged to 
a colony of highly favoured Hottentots, settled 
on lands ceded to them by the Government^ 
near the " Kat Mountains." Unlike the Fingoes, 
who have always been true to the Government, in 
the Kaffir War of 1851, these Hottentots rebelled,, 
and did great damage to the colonial cause, and; 
greater damage still to their own. The repeated 
Kaffir wars have done much to deepen prejudice 
against the blacks, still it should be remembered that 
they claimed to be the original owners of the soil, 
and that they were heathens, and knew nothing of 
what Europeans consider the honourable modes of 
conducting wars, and killing people ; but whatever 
the conduct of those heathen warriors, it does not 
justify an indiscriminate bitter hatred of the race, 
which has operated seriously against the success of 
the Gospel among them, and the raising up of na 
tive missionaries. This prejudice, to be sure, is not 
universal, but very general, and very outspoken. 

It usually breaks out in declamation about the in- 

o 



JP4 CRADOCK. 

efficiency and dishonesty of native servants and then 
goes off into general charges, such as "they are a nation 
of thieves," " they won t work ? "you ll never make 
anything out of them/ and so on. I have often replied 
to such charges against the servants, by saying, 1st. 
" The better class of Fingoes and Kaffirs have their 
own cattle, and comfortable homes, and don t go into 
service. Those who know them well, say they are 
industrious, honest, and many of them as consistent 
Christians as can be found among the whites. 2nd. 
Good servants get a good situation and keep it. I 
have met many such in South Africa, whose 
masters say, they never have much trouble with 
them, and they can trust them with anything they 
have. It is a notorious fact, that if you entrust, 
even a Kaffir thief, with your property to the 
amount of even thousands of pounds, and let him 
see that you have faith in him, you may go away 
where you like, and take your pleasure or your rest, 
and be sure that your Kaffir servant will faithfully 
attend to your interests. 3rd. The coloured servants 
so often in the market, and changing continually, 
from whom you get your grounds of complaint against 
native servants in general, and against the mission- 
stations, because, as wandering refugees, they may 
have found quarters there for a time, are just like a 
thriftless class of servants to be found in all countries, 
and of all nationalities. Tis said that a gentleman once 
inquired of Dr. Adam Clarke if he could tell him 
where he could get a good English servant? 



PREJUDICE AGAINST THE NATIVES. 

" Why," replied the Doctor, "I have been praying 
to the Lord for three weeks to send me one, and I 
do believe if He had one out of a situation, He 
would have answered my prayers before this time." 

While proper vigilance should be maintained to 
prevent the organization of seditious bodies of natives, 
everything possible should be done to Christianize 
all classes of them, develop their manhood, and fully 
ally the best interests of both the Europeans and 
natives. The missionaries alone cannot do all that 
work, they need the intelligent, discriminating moral 
power of all good colonists to aid them. 

Kev. "W. Chapman, Superintendent of Cradock 
Circuit, met me at Mr. John Trollip s, and drove me 
in his cart and pair, through a gale of wind and 
blinding clouds of dust, a distance of about forty 
miles to Cradock. Brother Chapman spent a 
number of years in the mission-work, in that charnel- 
field of martyr missionaries the West Coast of 
Africa. When his health failed there, he was trans 
ferred to South Africa, where he recovered his health, 
and has for some years wrought succesfully as a 
missionary. 

CRADOCK is located near the Great Fish River, 
550 miles east of Cape Town, and 107 north-west of 
Graham s Town, in a fine sheep- growing country of ex 
tensive valleys and mountains. The mountains do not 
rise in regular ranges, but stand out in every direction, 
clearly defined in the peculiarly transparent atmosphere 
of that region, in isolated grandeur. Huge granite 



CRADOCK. 



mountains with many perpendicular lines, especially 
near their summits, shaped like the roof and gable- 
ends of a house, yet rising to an altitude of six or seven 
thousand feet. Cradock was originally established 
as the seat of a magistracy, and centre of a large 
district of wealthy Dutch farmers. Eev. John Taylor, 
the Dutch Eeformed Minister there, has the reputa 
tion of being a very liberal and useful man. The 
town has grown up to a place of considerable com 
mercial importance. The population of the district 
amounts to an aggregate of 12,136, of whom 5,845 
are whites ; a good sprinkling of these are English. 
" Rev. Thornly Smith was the first resident Wesleyan 
minister appointed to Cradock, which was in 1842. 
He was soon succeeded by Eev. John Edwards, who 
could preach in both Dutch and English. The first 
Wesleyan chapel there was built in 1842. That was 
subsequently given to the Kaffirs, and the present 
commodious chapel, with sittings for about 500, was 
built under the superintendency of Eev. Gr. H. 
Green." 

Our party, consisting of Brother Chapman and 
son, Brother and Sister Sargent, Siko Eadas and 
myself, arrived a little before sunset. Our first 
business was to dispose of our surplus " real estate/ 
in the form of a very uncomfortable accumulation of 
dust, completely covering our persons and baggage. 
I then paid my respects to a good ham of venison, 
well-prepared by good Sister Chapman, and was 
after dinner conducted to my Cradock home, in the 



HON. HENRY TUCKER. 197 

family of Hon. Henry Tucker, M.L.C. I found 
there most comfortable quarters, through the 
kindness of Brother and Sister Tucker. Though a 
merchant and a politician, I iound Brother Tucker 
to be a thorough and active teetotaller, the super 
intendent of our Sabbath- school, and an earnest 
Christian. The cause of total abstinence had a 
stronger hold in Cradock, than in any South African 
town I visited, and, as a consequence, we had no dis 
order in the streets, nor about the doors of our chapel, 
and a larger proportion of the people were prepared 
soberly to wait on God under our Gospel ministrations, 
and hence a proportionately large number of them 
were converted to God during our series. Being 
i " drunk with wine," instead of being filled with the 
Spirit/ is one of the greatest hindrances to the success 
j of the Gospel. Many of our ministers in South Africa 
have waked up to this fact, and for the sake of their 
influence upon society in this matter, have become 
total abstainers. Hon. Mr. Tucker gave me the 
following melancholy instance of the damaging effect 
of a tippling minister s example. "A hotel-keeper in 
Graham s Town, was greatly addicted to the use of 
spirits. I laboured with him, and had him on the 
eve of becoming a teetotaller. He had given up the 
use of it for weeks, and I finally believed that 1 
would succeed in saving him. He was a genial good- 
liearted fellow, I was boarding with him. during the 
session of Parliament its only session in Graham s 
Town and I felt a great interest in him, on his own 



198 CRADOCK. 

account, and on account of his family. But just at 
the time, when I thought my efforts were about to 
be permanently successful, a minister came in and 
dined with us, and at the dinner-table he held up a 
glass of spirits, and, in quite a little speech, expatiated 
on it, as one of the good gifts of God to be enjoyed 
by His creatures, and then drank it. The next 
morning I made some remark to my landlord about 
the danger of drink, and he replied abruptly: 
Mr. Tucker, I don t wish you to speak to me again 
on this subject, after the eloquent remarks of Eev. 

Mr. , yesterday. I see now clearly that it is all 

right to use it, as a good gift of God to be enjoyed/ 
In two weeks from that day he died in delirium 
tremens." 

I believe Brother Tucker has been the means of 
saving a number of men from a similar end, and in 
his position of life, his example and active labours 
tend greatly to promote the temperance movement in 
South Africa. I was pleased to meet some of my 
Graham s Town friends in Cradock, who had come to 
attend the meetings Hon. Samuel Cawood, M.L.C., 
who rendered us good service in our prayer- 
meetings, and Messrs. John and Wm. Webb, and 
others. 

I commenced my work in Cradock on Sabbath 
morning the 31st of June. My first service was to 
preach to the Kaffirs, through Siko Eadas, at seven, 
A.M. There was a gracious moving of the Holy 
Spirit, but we had no time for a prayer-meeting. 



PREACHING TO DUTCH NATIVES, 199 

I preached to the whites at eleven A.M., three P.M., 
aud half-past six in the evening. We had the altai 
crowded with seekers, and twelve persons professed 
to find peace with God at our first prayer-meeting. 
Had two successful services for the whites, Monday, 
at eleven A.M., and seven P.M. On Tuesday, at 
eleven A.M., 1 preached to the Dutch-speaking 
natives. About one-half the natives of Cradock 
speak Kaffir, and the other half Dutch, making it 
necessary to have two native chapels, and separate 
services in each language. 

Mr. H. Park, a discharged old soldier, and Dutch 
interpreter in the magistrates court there, was my 
interpreter. The language is not nearly so eupho 
nious as the Kaffir, but I was interested in marking 
its near relationship to the English. Our principal 
difficulty on that occasion was the want of room to 
accommodate the multitude who wished to hear. 
During our prayer-meeting, after the preaching, over 
thirty persons gave their names as new converts to 
Jesus. On Tuesday night, and Wednesday, at eleven 
A.M., and seven P.M., preached to the whites, fol 
lowed in each case by a prayer-meeting, and the 
salvation of souls. On Wednesday night, during 
the prayer-meeting, Mr. Wm. Webb, who had come 
from Graham s Town to attend our meeting, and 
who had been forward a number of times as a seeker, 
was suddenly delivered from the power of darkness, 
and translated into the kingdom of Jesus. He arose 
and addressed the audience, testifying very intelli- 



200 CRADOCK. 

gently and clearly that, after forty- six years of rebel- 
lion against God, he had now obtained reconciliation 
and unspeakable joy. 

When we had sufficient time at command, we 
often gave the young converts an opportunity to 
testify publicly, and rising one after another, they 
witnessed distinctly to the facts in their experience, 
demonstrating the truth of the Gospel, and the saving 
power of Jesus in their own hearts. Many doubting 
ones have thus been convinced, and led to decision 
for God. 

It was arranged that I should preach again to the 
natives on Thursday, but their new chapel, which 
will seat between four and five hundred, was not 
ready, and it was finally announced that I should 
preach to the natives and whites together in the 
court, back of the mission-house. 

At eleven A.M. the heterogeneous mass nearly filled 
the court. We take our stand on the back verandah 
of the mission-house. The court is bounded on our 
left by a wall, in front, by a carriage-house, and the 
garden fence, on the right, by the stables and a 
wall, altogether affording almost as good protection 
from outside intrusion, if the danger of such had 
existed, as the sacred precincts of a church. The 
central group of our audience is composed of Kaffirs 
and Hottentots of every colour, and of every 
variety of native costume. They have brought their 
sleeping-mats, each about three feet wide and six in 
length, and have spread them out to sit and kneel 



GOSPEL PREACHED IN THREE LANGUAGES AT ONCE. 201 

on. Many of them are seated on benches provided 
for them, but many more are down on their mats. 
Next, in a massed circle and in scattered groups, we 
see all classes of the whites. Brother Park stands 
ready to put my sermon into the Dutch language, 
but we see so many Kaffirs in the audience, who 
know neither English or Dutch, that we say "Poor 
souls, can t we have another interpreter? I wish 
we had Siko Kadas here, but he has gone back to his 
school." " There s a Kaffir here just up from Port 
Elizabeth, called Jack, who can speak English/ said 
Brother Chapman, "but I don t know whether he 
can interpret." " Jack, come here, my man/ said I, 
and up came a black Kaffir, about five feet eight, very 
plainly dressed, wearing an old straw-hat. " Brother 
Jack/ said I, "can you put my words into Kaffir?" 
"Yes, sir/ replied Jack. "Brother Park will put them 
into Dutch, and you will follow him, and put each 
sentence into Kaffir just as you would talk to them 
about shearing sheep. " I had no time, under this 
extemporized arrangement, to give Jack my sermon 
privately, as I was in the habit of doing for my 
interpreters, but proceeded at once to business. The 
three of us stood side by side, Park close to my 
right, and Jack next. I gave every sentence in a 
clear but condensed form, and for over an hour the 
piercing light and melting power of the Gospel 
flowed out through the medium of three languages at 
once, without the break of a single blunder or a 
moment s hesitation. Men, women, and children 



202 CRADOCK. 

weep, and I doubt not angels gaze and rejoice. 
At the close of the preaching we invited all who 
wish to surrender to God and accept Christ to " kneel 
before the Lord " at once. Scores of the Kaffirs kneel 
down on their mats, with cries and streaming tears. 
The whites, with no such provision, go down on their 
knees in the dust, bench after bench is crowded with 
them, and, ah ! what a scene ensued. 

"While I was without, pointing these struggling 
souls to Jesus, Brother Chapman came to me, 
saying, " Brother Taylor, will you please come 
into the house and speak to a woman in despair ? 
She is a [very clever, influential woman, and will 
make a noble Christian if she is saved ; but she says 
her day of grace is gone, and that nothing remains 
for her but the blackness of darkness for ever." I 
go and find her in a sad state of mind, to be sure, 
but after some time we get her composed, so as to 
converse and reason on the subject, and convince her 
that this dreadful discovery of extreme heart wicked 
ness is the result of the Holy Spirit s awakening 
mercy. " Though you can see no way of escape, my 
dear sister, God sees the way of salvation open for 
you, and the proof of that is the fact that He has 
eent His Spirit to show you your bondage, and lead 
you to Jesus. Now if you consent to surrender your 
self to God, consent that He take your case in hand, 
and do with you as He wishes, take from you all 
your sins, impose on you whatever is right, you may 
at once accept Christ as your Saviour. God hath 



HOW A WOMAN WAS SAVED. 203 

sent Him into the world to save sinners even the 
chief of sinners. That was His business when mani 
fest in the flesh ; that is His business through His 
invisible Spirit now, as really as then. God offers 
Him to you in His Gospel as your Saviour, the Holy 
Spirit presents Him at the door of your heart as 
your Saviour. He is knocking at the door. Now 
you will accept Him, and be saved by Him, or reject 
Him and perish. Accept Him now by faith. It is 
not presumption, but confidence in God s most reliable 
record concerning His Son. If what God says about 
Him is true, then Christ is worthy of your confidence, 
and if so, why not receive Him now ? You cannot im 
prove your case by anything you ever can do, and 
you cannot add anything to God s ransom, and 
remedy; then, on the faith of God s testimony, receive 
Jesus now as your Saviour from sin. You must say, 
I accept Him. I accept Him on His own terms, I 
accept Him on God s recommendation, I accept Him 
now, I accept Him say it till your heart says it, 
and in that moment God will justify you freely by 
His grace, and His Holy Spirit will bear witness 
with your spirit to the fact, and fill your heart with 
His pardoning love." Finally she began to say, " I 
accept Christ, I accept Him," and in a few moments 
she received the witness of forgiveness, and was filled 
with " joy unspeakable/ and oh, how she wept and 
hiked of the amazing love of God. My Dutch in 
terpreter s wife and daughter were saved that day, 
and a large number of whites, Dutch, and Kaffirs. 



204 CRADOCK. 

I have given but an inadequate glance at the scenes 
of that day. 

To try to describe any of those occasions of the 
out -pourings of the Spirit at different places, of which 
I have been speaking, is like trying to describe the 
lightnings of Heaven. When we say we witnessed 
a grand thunderstorm, those who are familiar with 
such scenes know what we mean, but it cannot be put 
into words, nor spread upon the canvas, so when we 
speak of hundreds of souls bowed before God in peni 
tential grief, and of their accepting Christ, and then 
in rapturous joy telling of their deliverance, those who 
are familiar with such scenes know what is meant, 
"but the natural man receiveth not the things of the 
Spirit of God, neither can he know them, because 
they are spiritually discerned." A lecture on Thurs 
day-night closed my labours in Cradock. Rev. Mr. 
Chapman, reported over seventy whites, and over 
fifty natives converted to God, during our series of 
five days. By a letter from Brother Chapman,, dated 
November 9th, over four months after I left, I learn 
that the work of God in Cradock has gone steadily 
on, with increasing power. "After you left," he 
writes, "some of our oldest members came up as 
seekers. One man, near eighty years old, long a 
member, and others who had been fifteen or twenty 
years in the Church, and had never obtained peace 
before. I believe we have now but very few members 
without this blessing." He goes on to give me the 
names of many whole families who had been saved, 






GOOD REPORT OF THE WORK. 205 

and were walking happily in the light, and states 
that up to the time of writing, the number of converts 
among the whites had gone up to about "150, and 
about 160 coloured," making an aggregate of over 
300 souls justified, besides a number wholly sanctified 
to the Lord. 

My next field was Queen s Town* 



CHAPTER XIV. 

QUEEN S TOWN. 

AT early dawn on Friday morning, the 5th of 
July, I was seated beside Brother Tucker, my host, 
in his splendid carriage, behind his two fine grey 
Arab steeds, en route for Queen s Town, over eighty 
miles distant. Brother Tucker accompanied me 
thirty miles on my way, where we dined at the house 
of his brother, and I bade my dear friend adieu. Mr. 
Hmes was in waiting, and drove me that afternoon 
twenty miles in his cart and four, to his own house 
in the village of " Tarkisstaat." The "Wesley ans had 
a small chapel there, but no society. The Dutch 
Reformed Church being a little more central, and 
having been kindly offered for our use, I preached 
that night in the Dutch Reformed Church. We did 
not hold a prayer-meeting, but a respectable citizen 
of the town, Mr. J. R, called next morning to inform 
me that, after preaching the night before, he went 
home and wrestled in importunate prayer, till he was 
enabled to submit to God, and accept Christ, and was 
made happy in the assurance of pardon. 

On Saturday, Mr. Hines, accompanied by his 



REV. H. H. DUGMORE. 207 

daughter and son, drove me thirty-five miles to 
Queen s Town, where I put up at the house of the 
resident Wesleyan minister, Rev. H. H. Dugmore. 
Brother Dugmore is one of the old pioneer mission 
aries of Southern Africa, yet of colonial production. 
He is a minister of superior abilities in the pulpit, 
as a preacher, in his sanctum as a student and 
writer, in the social circle as a companion, and 
musician, playing a variety of musical intruments. 
He preaches in English, Dutch, and Kaffir. He is 
considered one of the best Kaffir scholars in the 
country ; has translated large portions of the Scrip 
tures into Kaffir, and is the author of the most and 
best hymns contained in our Kaffir Hymn Book, and 
sung by the Kaffirs. There is but one of our Wes 
leyan hymns in the Kaffir language, so says the Eev. 
W. Shepstone, and that is the 143rd, " Jesu, lover of 
my soul." Excellent as they are in English, they 
cannot be readily made to fit Kaffir ideas and 
idioms. 

QUEEN S TOWN is situated in the midst of a beauti 
ful and fertile district of country, composed of 
beautiful vales, extensive plains, and sublime moun 
tains. It was formerly occupied by bushmen and 
Tembookie Kaffirs, but after the war of 1850-2,. it 
fell into the hands of the Government, and was added 
to the colony. The Wesleyans for many years before 
had two mission-stations among the Tembookies in 
that district, and the natives of those stations proving 
true to the Government, as usual, the Governor, Sir 



208 QUEEN S TOWN. 

George Cathcart, allowed them to remain in the un 
disturbed possession of their lands, on which we now 
have the nourishing mission-station of Lesseyton, 
eight miles distant from Queen s Town, and Kama- 
stone, twenty miles distant. The Government gave a 
good lot in Queen s Town to the Wesleyans for 
church purposes. A church and " mission-house, " 
were soon after built, and a Wesleyan Society orga 
nized by the present incumbent, Rev. H. H. Dug- 
more. The first chapel, near the mission-house, has 
been given to the natives, and a spacious and beauti 
ful chapel, more centrally located in the town, has 
been erected for the whites. The population of the 
district amounts to an aggregate of 44,542, but 3,632 
of whom are Europeans. The white residents of 
Queen s Town, as in Graham s Town, are nearly all 
English. 

We had a number of visitors at our services from 
different parts of the colony ; Messrs. Shaw, Barnes, 
Elliott, and others recently converted to God at 
Fort Beaufort, were there, and rendered us good 
service. Mr. Shaw is a Fort Beaufort merchant, 
who has since become an Exhorter and Class-leader. 
Mr. Elliott was the said hotel-keeper who gave up 
his " canteen." We had a few from Graham s Town, 
and Mr. Jakins, from Salem Circuit, one hundred 
and twenty miles distant. 

Brother Jakins is an old pioneer Wesleyan, who 
has been very useful, I am told, as a Local Preacher 
for many years. He called on me soon after my 



THE JAKTX FAMILY. 209 

arrival in Graham s Town, and said, " About a year 
ago I received a letter from my sister in Launceston, 
Tasmania, stating that she and her two sons and two 
daughters had found peace with God, and had united 
with the Wesleyan Society, at a series of meetings 
recently held in their town, by the Rev. William 
Taylor, from America, and gave me a glowing 
account of a wonderful work of God which had 
spread throughout the colony of Tasmania. When 
I saw your name announced in the Cape Town papers, 
it struck me that you must be the same minister 
mentioned by my sister, and I have taken the 
liberty to call on you to ascertain whether indeed 
that is so." When he learned that he had thus 
strangely enough met with the man whom God had 
used in saving his dear kindred in a remote colony in 
the Indian Ocean, he wept in gratitude before God. 

At our Graham s Town series, two of Brother 
Jakins daughters and a son-in-law were saved, 
and now ho had come one hundred and twenty miles 
to attend my Queen s Town meeting, with the hope 
of seeing his two sons, who are farmers in that 
district, brought to God. He did us good service 
at our meetings, and had the happiness of seeing 
his sons happy in Jesus before he returned. "Now," 
said he, with tearful eyes, " I will have joyful tidings 
to write to my sister in Tasmania, that all my own 
family, too, have been converted to God at your 
meetings/ 

Some whole families were saved at our Queen s 



210 QUELN S TOWN. 

Town series, and many sweet surprises and affecting 
scenes were witnessed. A dear mother in Israel, 
named Turvey, had two grown-up sons, both uncon 
verted, but one was so wild in his career of sin that 
she almost despaired of ever having him brought back 
to God. The mother had brought up a large 
family of children, in affliction and darkness, for 
she was blind and had not seen the light of the sun 
for many years. She was a real daughter of sorrow, 
but a patient Christian. The great grief of her 
heart was her prodigal son. 

One night during our series, a brother went to her, 
and said, " Mrs. Turvey, your son is at the altar of 
prayer among the seekers, and wants you to come 
and talk to him." Her gushing tears were the index 
to the unutterable emotions of joy and grief which 
thrilled her heart as she exclaimed, 

" Oh, I thank God that my dear George is 
coming to Jesus, but my poor prodigal ! I m afraid 
he ll never be saved ! " She was then conducted to 
the place, and feeling her way down to her penitent 
Bon, she cried, " George, my dear son, I m glad to 
find you here ; but poor Edward ! Would to God, he 
was here too ! " 

" Mother/ exclaimed the young man, " you are 
quite mistaken, it is not George ; I am indeed 
your prodigal son, and I want you to forgive 
me, and to pray that God will forgive me." The 
prodigal returned that night, and was admitted into 
the royal " household of faith." George, who had 



SEKMON ON THE AMERICAN PREACHER. 211 

always been a comfort to his mother, was not saved 
till the following week, at Kamastone, when the 
mother got the joyful news, she rode twenty miles to 
Kamastone to greet her dear son, and rejoice with 
him in thanksgiving to the God of the orphan and 
the widow. 

Our services at Queen s Town extended through 
five days, from the 8th to the 12th of July. Three 
sermons on the Sabbath, and two each week-daj, 
except Tuesday, when I preached at Lesseyton. 
During this series of services, about one hundred 
Europeans were reported by the minister as new 
witnesses for Christ. 

My next field of labour was Kamastone. On the 
Sabbath I spent at Kamastone, Rev. H. H. Dugmore 
preached a sermon in his own pulpit, from the text, 
" Stand still, that I may reason with you before the 
Lord." The subject of his discourse, singularly 
enough, was the 

I. The American preacher. 

II. His preaching. 

III. Its effects. 

He was, no doubt, prompted to deliver such a 
discourse, by the active efforts of a clergyman of the 
town, in trying to prejudice the public mind against 
our meetings, and more especially to vindicate and 
extend the work of God. The sermon was published 
by Mr. David S. Barrable, of Queen s Town, and as 
I was leaving the colony, a few months afterwards, a 
few copies were sent me. In glancing over it, I think 



212 QUEEN S TOWN. 






a few extracts from the " third division " will serve 
to illustrate some important phases of the work of God 
in connection with our series of services there, and 
generally in other places. 

1. ITS EFFECTS. 

It was Awakening. Some thirty or forty persons caine 
forward on the first evening, to request the prayers of the 
ministers in their behalf. The numbers increased on 
succeeding evenings. Now, among these were persons of 
every age, from ten years to sixty. There were the married, 
as well as the unmarried, fathers and mothers of families ; 
persons constitutionally calm and impassive, as well as those 
of excitable temperament. There were persons who had a 
strong instinctive horror of making " fools of themselves," 
persons who had resisted most strenuously their own peni 
tential impulses persons who, in the first instance, had 
swelled the ranks of the revilers, persons who knew that 
the penalty of their procedure would be the ridicule and 
scorn of their former associates, persons of nearly every 
social grade that Queen s Town affords. They came not 
under the impulse of terror, for nothing had been said to 
excite it. They avowed themselves suddenly made sensible 
vividly and sorrowfully sensible of the sinfulness of their 
hearts, and the " evil of their ways." I ask, could the grief 
of such persons be unreal ? " But so much of the feeling 
was unnecessary." (It has been said). The feeling was 
awakened by a consciousness of having violated the most 
sacred of obligations those of duty to God. Will any one 
dare to say that such sorrow ought to be less poignant than 
that awakened by any human ills ? Is deep-impassioned 
grief allowable when earthly sources of sorrow are opened, 
and yet not to be warranted when the " exceeding sinfulness 
of sin " is felt ? " But its manifestation was violently un- 



EFFECTS OF THE REVIVAL. 213 

natural." Let us look at the facts. I stood iii the midst 
of forty or fifty persons, who were sorrowing unto repent 
ance. I did so from evening to evening ; and this is my 
testimony concerning them. The grief of two-thirds of the 
number was silent grief, or expressed in whispered earnest 
ness ; of the rest, one half wept audibly, and a few, chiefly 
youths from the country, were in a state of mental distress 
still more loudly manifested. Now was there anything un 
natural in this ? Various temperaments were variously 
affected. Had all been demonstrative alike, it would have 
supplied a plausible objection. 

2. THE COMFORTING EFFECTS. 

Most of the persons who had been brought into mental 
distress, obtained, after a shorter or longer period of peniten 
tial earnestness, not merely a sense of relief, but a gladdening 
consciousness of pardon, accompanied by a peace " which, 
to their own minds, passed understanding." They felt their 
souls brought out of a state of deep distressing " darkness " 
into one of " marvellous light " and joy. They experienced 
an inward assurance of personal adoption into the Divine 
favour which they believed to be the inward voice of " the 
Spirit itself, bearing witness with their spirit that they were 
now the children of God." This assurance produced at 
once a feeling of grateful love to God for His mercy. The 
manner in which this change of feeling was manifested, 
varied with the various temperaments of the persons who 
experienced it. Some sank into silent adoration, some 
looked around in wonder, as though they were then for the 
first time conscious of real existence ; some smiled with an 
expression of indescribable rapture ; some practically adopted 
the language of the Psalmist, " Then was our mouth filled 
with laughter, and our tongue with singing." Many began 
at once to speak to those who were kneeling in the distress 
from which they had themselves just escaped, to urge them 



214 QUEENS TOWN. 

to exercise the appropriating faith which they had found so 
efficacious in their own case. But amidst these diversities 
of outward expression, the language of all was virtually 
this : " Being justified by faith, we have peace with God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have 
access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice 
in hope of the glory of God." 

3. THE PRACTICAL EFFECTS. 

This religious excitement does not evaporate in mere 
feeling, but manifests its Divine life in the fruits of the 
Spirit in their Scriptural order. The "joy" that springs from 
the " love," is succeeded by the " peace," which becomes the 
settled habit of the soul, and, though less ecstatic than the 
first gush of rapture, rules in the heart and mind. And from 
the " love, joy, and peace," which thus lie at the root of 
the Christian life, spring the other graces, of the Christian 
character in due order "long-suffering, gentleness, good 
ness, fidelity, meekness, temperance." Now, in strict 
accordance with this newness of life, which thus affords a 
test of the reality of conversion, the change in feeling, in 
manners and in action, displayed by those whom God hath 
brought to himself by this man s instrumentality, has 
astonished and confounded their former associates. Leaders 
in vice have become champions in defence of the religion 
they had reviled. Men of profligate lives have, with bitter 
shame, made confession, and are endeavouring to repair the 
evil of their former courses, by zealous and courageous 
activity in a new one. Drunkards, who were the terror of 
their families, and the pest of their neighbourhood, have 
renounced the use of intoxicating liquors, and the very 
alteration in their outward appearance proclaims the change 
within. Profane swearers are shuddering at the recollec 
tion of their favourite oaths and blasphemies. Frauds and 
wrongs have been acknowledged, and restitution made. 



FIRST VISIT TO LESSEYTON. 

Men who had taken advantage of the detected villany of 
others to escape from their own responsibilities, have come 
forward and paid the demands which they had asserted were 
forgeries. Long-standing family discords have been healed, 
and quarrels that had lasted for years, ended in the over 
ture for reconciliation by the parties most aggrieved. These 
are specimens of the practical effects of this man s preach 
ing. They tell their own tale. 

On Tuesday, the 10th of July, pending my series 
in Queen s Town, I went, in company with Eev. 
Brother Dugmore, Eev. Brother Wakeford, and 
others, to preach at Lesseyton. Rev. J". Bertram, a 
successful missionary, who was converted to God 
during the "Graham s Town revival of 1837/ 
was the superintendent. He was, in 1847, the 
founder, and is the present superintendent of Lessey 
ton Station, which is the seat of one of the three 
industrial schools, established under the "Wesleyans, 
by Governor Grey. The school-buildings here are not 
so large as those inHeald Town, but very substantial, 
and large enough for all demands at present. The 
mission-house and chapel are good, and many of the 
natives live in substantial brick cottages. Altogether, 
the Lesseyton Station is said to be in advance of all 
others in the colony in education, and civilization, 
among the natives. Brother Bertram was absent on 
a necessary engagement that called him away for 
some weeks, He was at my services at Fort Beaufort 
and begged me to visit his people at Lesseyton, and 
also wrote to Brother Dugmore, asking him to 



216 QUEEN S TOWN. 



arrange for me, and accompany me to his stati 
It is a rule with me not to work in any charge in the 
absence of the pastor, but under all the circumstances 
in this case, I could not refuse. During the minis 
ter s absence, there was not a white man on the 
station, but all the services were kept up, and good 
order maintained in every department of society, 
under the able administration of their "headman," 
William Bambana. He is an Amatembu Kaffir, as 
are the mass of his people on the station. He is a 
tall, large, fine-looking old man, of commanding in 
fluence among all classes in Queen s Town district. 

When we arrived, at eleven o clock A.M., the chapel, 
which is a commodious stone building, to seat about 
600, was crowded. My interpreter was the son of Rev. 
Brother Wakeford, a fine young man, who had just 
been converted to God at my meetings in Queen s 
Town. The young man was born and brought up 
among the Kaffirs, and was said to be a fine Kaffir 
scholar, so I anticipated a glorious harvest of souls 
that day. The people had heard of the great work 
of God at Annshaw and Heald Town, and their eyes 
glistened with a spirit of expectation. 

Brother Dugmore, who conducted the preliminary 
part of the service, remained seated in the pulpit. 
As the small, old style of pulpits, which are found 
in all the chapels in South Africa, did not afford 
space for me and my interpreter, and as I wished 
always to stand beside my spokesman, and not 
behind and above him, as many do, I took my 



on. 
the 



A MORTIFYING FAILURE. 217 

stand in the altar, which has an elevation in this 
chapel of more than a foot above the level of the 
floor. Now we proceed : Brother Dugmore, in his 
perch in our rear, Brother Wakeford seated by the 
wall to our left, the anxious native crowd on all 
sides and front, back to the door, my young inter 
preter standing just to my left. 

Text : " The Spirit and the Bride say come," &c. 
I proceed to say, " The provision of salvation for 
all sinners is compared to a river." A pause 
" What do you mean by provision ? " says my inter 
preter. I explain, and he renders. 

Then follows a baulky baffling tug. Every few 
minutes when I discharge a Gospel shot, which I ex 
pect will bring down some Goliath in penitential 
humiliation, the whole charge comes rebounding with 
most humiliating effect upon the shooter. Now 
Brother Dugmore gives my man a helping-hand, 
which conveys the thought to the anxious crowd, but 
only increases the confusion of the young man. 
Now his father gives him a word, worse still for him. 
Now I leave him standing alone in not a very plea 
sant position, while I step back and give a whole 
illustration to Brother Dugmore to give to the people, 
and we both stand and wait till the old missionary is 
through, and then try again. The longer the worse, 
confusion becomes double confounded. 

Say I to myself, " Dear me, this is horrible ! 
Here are hundreds of thirsty souls, and I can t tell 
them how to come to the river, and I shall never have 



218 QUEEN S TOWN. 

another opportunity of speaking to them this side 
the Judgment. Oh, if I only had my Charles 
here ! I wipe off the perspiration and try again, 
hoping for a favourable turn in the tide, but all in 
vain. Not willing to endure the apparent defeat of 
stopping short in the middle of the discourse, abridg 
ing it as much as possible, we struggle through 
with it, and sit down in confusion and disappoint 
ment. My " fine Kaffir-scholar," alas, did not 
know English sufficiently, and was so confused, that 
what he did know was not available in our time of 
need. We did not attempt a prayer-meeting for 
seekers. Brother Dugmore covered our retreat by a 
few remarks, followed by singing and prayer, 
which closed the scene. I had found so many good 
interpreters on my round, after leaving Annshaw 
that I thought if anything should prevent Charles 
Pamla from accompanying me through KafFraria, 
as my interpreter, I could probably get on well 
nevertheless, but now I began to realize how help 
less I should be if he failed to come. I had not 
received any communication from Rev. Brother 
Lamplough, nor from Brother Pamla on the subjecl 
since our agreement at Annshaw, and began now t( 
feel very uneasy, lest something might interfere to 
prevent his coming. I, however, took comfort in the 
fact that I was going on the Lord s business, and 
that He would afford all necessary facilities and 
helpers. 

The next day, Wednesday, llth July, Mr. James 




,1AM KS KOHKKTS. 



MY KAFFRAKIAN PARTY. 219 

Roberts and my son, Morgan Stuart, arrived from 
Graham s Town, preparatory to our KafFrarian 
journey. Brother Roberts had a light, strong buggy, 
built for the purpose, at a cost of 54. He had 
purchased four horses, at a cost of 75. His outfit 
altogether cost him about 150. Being so amply 
provided for myself, I set the expenses of my son and 
my interpreter, on horseback, to my own account. 
We were now nearly ready, except that Charles 
Pamla had not arrived, and we had no tidings from 
him. But the next day Charles arrived all right, 
bringing good news concerning the progress of the 
work of God in the Graham s Town district, and a 
letter from Brother Lamplough, dated July the 9th, 
an extract from which will illustrate the progress of 
the work at Annshaw, and the man God had sent me 
in my need. 

My dear Brother, I just drop you a line by our Brother 
Charles Pamla, who leaves here to-day for Queen s Town. 
I have not time to enter into many particulars about the 
work since I last wrote to you at Beaufort ; but I may just 
say, that altogether since your coming to Annshaw, about 
six hundred profess to have found peace with God, and 
after careful examination into every case, I cannot doubt 
the reality of the work in any of those who profess to be 
justified. We have now about twelve hundred in this 
circuit, formed into about eighty classes. This is by far 
the largest number of any circuit in South Africa, and I 
rejoice to say the work is still going on. Last week was a 
glorious one, more than one hundred and ninety entered 
into liberty. God is greatly honouring our Brother Charles 
Pamla. He has been the means of the conversion of about 



220 QUEEN S TOWN. 

three hundred souls during the last six weeks. Others of 
our native brethren are also very useful in this good work, 
and it seems to me that God is plainly showing the Church 
that this is the instrumentality that He intends to employ 
in converting this continent. 

I rejoice in this with all my heart. As yet I 
have not been able to sro out among the Heathens, 
but as the tickets -vnu ue musned to-day, I hope 
soon to try a week at a Heathen village, though, in this 
work, I have lost my best man so long as Charles is away ; 
but I am willing to sacrifice a little far tb? benefit ^ f **>e 
work beyond the Kei. 

During our week of special services in Queen s 
Town, I had no opportunity of preaching to the 
Kaffirs there, but arranged to give them a service on 
Wednesday afternoon of the following week, on our 
return from Kamastone. The Kaffir chapel in 
Queen s Town is a good building, next door to the 
mission-house, fronting the principal street, and will 
seat about three hundred, but by the Kaffir art 
of packing, will hold about five hundred. Our ser 
vice commenced at four P.M. The venerable Dug- 
more, with a smooth and beautiful flow of the eupho 
nious language of the Kaffirs, opened the service by 
singing (all the congregation joining) as with one 
voice, thrilling the sympathetic chords of many 
souls. In a note appended to the said printed ser 
mon, Mr. Dugmore makes the following allusion to 
the sermon which followed : " Mr. Taylor preached 
to the natives in their own chapel here. He took 
for his text the ten commandments, explaining and 



LAST NIGHT. 221 

applying them, and dwelling specially on the evila 
to which the natives are specially addicted theft, 
falsehood, and licentiousness. Persons who listened 
to the discourse remarked, that had the preacher 
been twenty years among these people, he could not 
have preached a more suitable sermon. The usual 
effects followed." Over one hundred came forward 
as seekers, and a fair proportion of them received 
Christ, and were saved. I remained with them till 
dark, and left Brother Pamla to go on with the 
prayer- meeting till nine P.M., while I, meantime, 
should conduct a fellowship-meeting for the European 
friends in the other Chapel. It was a pleasing 
scene to witness a crowd of happy worshippers filling 
the chapel, kneeling before the Lord, and uniting 
with their venerable pastor in prayer, and thanks 
giving to God for His showers of blessing. 

I gave them an address on Christian- fellowship, 
adducing the Scriptural authority for it, and illus 
trating the best methods of promoting it. Then, in 
the space of one hour, fifty-three persons stood up in 
their places, and testified distinctly to the fact of a 
conscious knowledge of " peace with God, through 
our Lord Jesus Christ." Among these were a num 
ber of old Christians, but the greater part were per 
sons who were converted to God the preceding 
week. They gave brief details of their awakening, 
penitential struggle, and the time when they ob 
tained salvation some on Sabbath night, others on 
Monday night, and others on other different days 



222 QUEEN S TOWN. 

and nights all through the series of services. Most 
of them had found peace at the altar of prayer ; but 
some had found it at their homes. I will simply 
record a few illustrative specimen testimonies : 

Mr. John Weekly, a merchant in Queen s Town, 
said, " When I was a young man I thought that all 
I needed to make me happy was a good wife. God 
gave me a good wife ; but gave me to see that I 
I needed something more to make me happy. I was 
deeply convinced of sin by His awakening Spirit, 
sought and found peace with God, then I was happy, 
and have been preserved in the fear and love of God 
for twenty-four years." 

Mr. William Trollip said, " I found peace with 
God here three days ago. These have been the hap 
piest days of my life." 

A venerable-looking old man arose and said, " I 
wonder to see so many here at this fellowship-meet 
ing, and to hear so many tell of the saving power of 
God in their souls ; but my greatest wonder is to 
find myself here. I commenced to try to serve God 
fifty years ago. I was not instructed in the simple 
Gospel way of salvation by faith, and was, for twenty 
years, a seeker. I then obtained salvation by faith, 
and for thirty years have walked in the light. My 
race is nearly run ; my crown is in view. By the 
grace of God in Christ I shall soon join in the fel 
lowship-meeting of the Church triumphant in 
Heaven." 

A soldier said, " When I commenced to seek God 



A SOLDIER SUBDUED. 



223 



iy heart was so full of shame and* pride, that to face 
a line of bayonets in battle, would not be half so 
hard as to face the eyes of the people upon me as a 
?king sinner ; but last Monday night I bowed at 
that altar of prayer, humbled my proud heart before 
rod, surrendered my poor soul to Him, and by faith 
Jesus, obtained the pardon of all my sins. Glory 
be to God 1" 



CHAPTER XV. 

KAMASTONE. 

HAVING closed our week of services in Queen s 
Town, on Saturday the 14th of July, Mr. Wm. 
Trvllip, cousin to John Trollip, who with his wife 
found peace with God, a couple of days before, took 
me and my son Stuart up into his carriage and pair, 
with his good wife, and drove us twenty miles to 
Kamastone Mission Station. We were cordially re 
ceived and kindly entertained by the missionary, 
Rev. "Wm. Shepstone, who, as we have before seen, 
assisted Rev. Wm. Shaw in the establishment of 
the first Wesley an Mission Station among the 
Kaffirs, in Pato s (now Kama s) tribe. He has 
been actively engaged in the missionary work ever 
since, extending through a period of more than forty 
years. He is now, not only the missionary of this 
large station, but also the chairman of the Queen s 
Town District, which embraces all our Kaffrarian 
missions, west of the Umzimvubu river. The stations 
of Palmerton, and Emfundisweni, lying east of that 
river, belong to the Natal district. Brother Shep- 
sione is a very kind, cheerful, earnest brother, 



FATHER AND SON RENEWING AN ACQUAINTANCE. 225 

thoroughly imbued with, the missionary spirit of his 
Master. After a good tea, and a social hour with 
Brother and Sister Shepstone, I strolled through the 
mission- grounds by the light of the moon, with my 
son Stuart, a youth of nineteen years. 

Owing to his absence from me at school, a couple 
of years before I left America, and my absence abroad 
for several years, and his recent illness, so prostrating 
him as to preclude a searching conversation, though 
the son of my youth, my first-born, whom I had 
carried on my heart to the mercy- seat every day of 
his life, he was almost a stranger to me. I knew he 
had joined our Church when a child, and at the age 
of eleven years professed to receive the regenerating 
grace of God, and that his teachers and his mother, 
had always given a good report of him, yet the de 
tails of his inner life had been a sealed book to me ; 
but in our walk that night he unbosomed his heart 
and gave me the history of his life. It was an event 
in my own life never to be forgotten. He had suf 
fered great religious depression, had encountered 
great trials, but had held his ground all through 
from the time of his conversion. In the exhilaration 
of his returning health, he had said and done many 
boyish things, which led some to misjudge and mis 
represent him, and cause anxious solicitude on the- 
part of his parents; but his afflictions had been 
sanctified to his good, and he was now cleaving to/ 
the Lord, and happy in the love of Jesus. As I 
listened to the narration of his experience, I shed/ 

Q 



226 KAMASTONE. 

grateful tears, and praised God on his behalf. Dur 
ing my long Providential separation from my family, 
labouring for the salvation of strangers, and their 
children, I had maintained an unwavering faith that 
God certainly would not allow my children to perish, 
but would, through the agency of their dear mother, 
and other available instruments, fully supply the 
lack of service occasioned by my absence. Now 
I received a practical support to my faith, which 
greatly cheered me in my work. 

Kamastone mission was commenced by Mr. Shep- 
stone in 1847. The mission-house is plain, but 
spacious and commodious. Coming out on the front 
verandah, we see below us a large orchard of well- 
grown apple, pear, and other varieties of fruit-t] 
To the right, distant perhaps a hundred yards, is tl 
shop which furnishes supplies for the neighbour 
hood, kept by a good brother, who sold me a Kaffir 
pony, a superior " tripler," for 13, which carried my 
son Stuart seven hundred miles through Kaffraria 
and Natal. On each side, and in the rear of the 
mission-house, we see the huts and cabins of the 
natives, their gardens and cultivated fields, with 
their herds of horses, cattle, sheep, goats, dogs, and 
naked children. On the opposite side of the mission- 
house from the shop, and about the same distance 
from it, is the chapel, a cruciform, plain and 
substantial building, with sittings for about six 
hundred persons. 

On Sabbath, the 14th of July, at ten A.M., we com- 



PACKING A KAFFIR CIIAPLL. 227 

menced our work there. Every square foot of space 
in the chapel is crowded. The space right and left, 
from the pulpit and altar, back to the side walls, is 
filled with the white colonial farmers from a radius 
of twenty miles. Next to them, on the right, and 
front from the pulpit, are nearly one hundred 
bastard Hottentots. Opposite to them, on the left, 
and through the whole body of the chapel, back to 
the door, and round the doors and windows out 
side, were all the varieties of Fingoes and Kaffirs. 
Christians, in European dress, and heathens in their 
native costumes and trinkets, packed together almost 
as snugly as herrings in a barrel. The preliminary 
service is conducted by the venerable superintendent ; 
then he is seated in the altar, while I and Brother 
Pamla take the pulpit. While we explain to them 
God s provision of salvation, the personality and 
abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, and His methods 
of saving sinners through human agency, you 
feel and see the indications of a rising swelling 
tide of the Spirit s power, and you wonder that, 
under the pressure of such pent-up mental and 
emotional action, there is not a single audible re 
sponse. All faces upturned, smiles, tears, distorted 
features, trembling limbs, but not a murmur. Lo ! 
there s a man back near the door, who cannot longer 
restrain his feelings, but with one burst of half- 
smothered emotions, see him try to rush for the door, to 
take himself away, and not disturb the umfundisi or his 
hearers. In his attempt he falls down, but keeps 



228 KAMASTONE. 

moving on hands and knees through, the packed 
masses who are standing and sitting in the aisle, 
out at the door he rushes, and away where he can 
roar till his over-charged soul is relieved. All this 
we see from the pulpit ; but nobody is disturbed, 
all the rest remain quiet, and catch every sen 
tence of Gospel truth we utter, and drink in the 
Spirit s influence as the thirsty land drinks in the 
rain. "We close the service with singing and prayer, 
by Brother Pamla. 

At two P. M., we again stand before a packed 
audience in the same order as in the morning. In 
the morning the preaching was to the believers, now 
we open a Gospel battery upon the ungodly, and the 
shafts of truth directed by the Spirits unerring aim 
pierced the hearts of hundreds. At the close of the 
sermon we proceed with a prayer-meeting. We 
invite the white seekers to kneel at the altar-rail, and 
the Kaffirs to commence with the front forms, and 
kneel at every alternate form back to the door, thus 
leaving space for their instructors to pass through 
them, and get access to every seeker. Soon the altar 
is crowded with whites, and about two hundred 
natives are down as seekers of pardon. Now their 
pent-up feelings get vent, and mid floods of tears, 
sighs, and groans, they are all audibly pleading with 
God in the name of Jesus Christ, for the pardon of 
their sins. No one voice is raised much above the 
rest, so that it seems to create no confusion. 

Charles is a general in conducting a prayer- meet- 



A DAY NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN. 229 

ing, judiciously arranging every tiling, rightly 
employing every worker under his command, and 
setting all an example by working most effectively 
himself. A large number embrace Christ and find 
salvation at this service. Giving a little time for 
refreshment, we commenced another preaching 
service at seven, and continued the prayer-meet 
ing till eleven P.M. It was a day never to 
be forgotten by any who witnesssed its scenes, and 
felt the power of the Spirit as manifested at the 
three services. On Monday, at eleven A.M., the 
chapel was packed as tightly as on the Sabbath. 
Brother Shepstone, as usual, conducted the opening 
service. As I always preached my sermon to my 
interpreter alone, and, as most of our time was 
occupied in public, we often took the time of the 
opening service for our preparation for the pulpit. 
At the Monday prayer-meeting, the crowd of seekers 
seemed almost as great as it was the day before, 
though several scores had been saved. Many whom 
we saw yesterday in their penitential struggle, appa 
rently suffering the agony of death, weeping and 
piteously pleading for release from Satan, and the 
death-penalty of the law, are now with shining faces 
singing and witnessing for Jesus. 

My son Stuart was greatly blessed, and for hours 
we see him labouring with a party of young men, 
several of whom he won to Christ. 

See the altar crowded with whites, one after another 
they receive Christ, and are filled with unspeakable 



230 KAMASTOXE. 

joy! Fathers and mothers embrace their saved 
prodigal sons and daughters in their arms, kiss them, 
and weep tears of gratitude, and praise God. 

There s a heathen doctor among the seekers, deco 
rated with strings of beads, shells, and all sorts of 
trinkets and charms. He feels that these things are 
hindering his approach to Christ, and now he scatters 
them. Nothing has been said about these things in 
the preaching, or personally to the seekers, but they 
are not simply the ornaments of their half-naked 
bodies, which might justly claim a little covering, 
even of beads, in the absence of something better ; 
these were the badges of their heathenism, their 
gods and charms, in which they trusted for health, 
good crops, good luck in hunting, deliverance from 
their enemies, and all those demands of human nature 
which God only can supply. Hence, in accepting 
Christ, they violently tear these idols off, and cast 
them away. We see women tearing open the brass- 
bands on their arms, and throwing them down. They 
were great treasures before, but now they hate them. 
Many of those who, an hour ago, were roaring in the 
disquietude of their souls, are now sitting quietly at 
the feet of Jesus, with tearful eyes and smiling faces. 
Many, however, exercise |their first new life in wit 
nessing for Christ. 

See that Kaffir Boanerges, how he talks ! I wish 
we could understand his language. " Charles, what 
is that man saying ? " 

" 0, he says, I never knew that I was such 



TESTIMONY OF YOUNG CONVERTS. 231 

sinner, till the Holy Ghost shined into me, then I 
saw that I was one of the worst sinners in the world. 
0, I cried to God, gave my wicked heart to Him, and 
received Christ, Glory to Jesus ! He has pardoned 
all my sins! " 

We ll look after the white seekers. There s an 
old man who has had a hard struggle. He was at it 
all yesterday ; but now he has accepted Christ, and 
rejoices in the love of God. There is a little boy 
who was forward yesterday, but his countenance 
is bright ; we ll see what he has found. " My little 
brother, have you given your heart to God ?" " Yes, 
I have." "Have you received Jesus as your 
Saviour ? " " O, yes, and He has forgiven me all my 
sins." " How did you feel when you came forward ? " 
" 0, I felt nasty." " How do you feel now ? " " 0, 
I feel nice." 

A few feet from this boy we see a large, fine- 
looking Kaffir-woman, well-dressed in English cos 
tume, wearing a large scarlet shawl. We saw her 
bow down calmly as a seeker, with flowing tears 
and subdued utterances she gave herself to God, 
and received Christ, and obtained salvation in less 
than fifteen minutes. Now her countenance is beam 
ing with joy unspeakable. " Charles, ask that 
woman where she belongs ? " "With what marvellous 
grace and eloquence she talks. " What does she 
say, Charles ?" " She says she walked from Heald 
Town, forty- six miles, to get to this meeting. She 
could not get to your meetings in Heald Town, but 



232 KAMASTONE. 

heard of the great work of God there, and has 
come here to get you to tell her how to come to 
Jesus. She says she believed what her friends, at 
Heald Town, told her about the great salvation ; but 
now she has found it herself, and says the half had 
not been told her." 

There s a grand pantomime. "We don t know 
what that Kaffir man is saying, but really his action 
is most earnest and graceful. " Charles, what is he 
saying ? " He says, " I was going on in my sins, and 
did not know that I was in any danger till to-day. 
But to-day the Holy Ghost shined upon my path. I 
saw hell open just close before me, and I was rush 
ing into it ; but I turned to God, and laid hold on 
Christ, and He has saved my soul from hell. " 

See that old Kaffir- woman supporting her withered 
frame on sticks as she moves up and down the aisle 
in a regular Kaffir dance, and talking so earnestly. 
A more comical-looking old creature I never saw. 

" Brother Shepstone, what s the matter with that 
old woman ? " 

" I don t know, she looks like a crazy person, 
jfll go and hear what she s saying." Down the 
aisle, amid the struggling masses of the seekers and 
the saved, the old missionary goes to hear the talk of 
the old woman. Eeturning with a smile, he says, 
" She s not crazy at all, but has just come to her 
right mind. She has obtained salvation, and is ex 
horting the people to go on and tell everybody about 



THE OLD KAFFIR- WOMAN AND HER SON. 233 

Jesus. She is in a transport of joy. I know her now. 
I have seen her at a heathen kraal in the neigh 
bourhood ; but I never saw her in the chapel before." 
" Her age must date back a long way towards the 
flood. " " I don t know how old she is," replied the 
old missionary ; " but her son, whom I know, is 
seventy-five years old." I look again at the old 
creature, and laugh and w^eep. She seems to be a 
relation to the antediluvians ; whether this seventy- 
five year old lad was her oldest or youngest son, I did 
not learn, and yet as but to-day, "born again," andhas 
become a babe in Christ. These are mere bird s-eye 
glances into a scene that cannot be described. We 
had a grand service on Monday night. On Tuesday, 
at eleven A.M., we preached on " Christian Per 
fection," went into the philosophy of the subject, and 
of the Spirit s gracious adjustment to the instincts, 
appetites, and passions, and explained clearly, even 
to Kaffir minds, God s purpose as to their existence, 
proper discipline, and appropriate exercise. The 
whole thing was simplified, so that every believing 
Kaffir could see it. Brother Shepstone said he never 
supposed before that the Kaffir language could be 
used to convey so perfectly the whole Gospel, and 
had never conceived it possible for an interpreter to 
put such a variety of English words and ideas into 
Kaffir. He expressed his surprise repeatedly, that 
Charles not only put my ideas into Kaffir to their 
nicest shades of meaning, but did it with such 



234 KAMASTONE. 

masterly facility. The fact is, though I gave him every 
statement of truth and illustrative fact in a sermon, 
just as I would give them in preaching directly to an 
English audience, yet I had always gone through each 
subject of discourse beforehand with him alone. If 
there was a word he did not understand, I at once 
ignored it, and substituted one that was familiar to 
him ; but he was so thirsty for knowledge himself, 
that, if possible, he always preferred to learn the 
meaning of my words, and to select new Kaffir words 
to fit them, and the exact meaning of a foreign illus 
tration he would give through a corresponding 
figure familiar to the Kaffir mind. For example, 
" An ivy crawled out from between the roots of a 
beautiful sapling, and entwined itself around the 
trunk of the young tree. It gradually absorbed 
the strength of the soil and moisture that the 
tree needed for its life, and tightened its many- 
folded girth, till it obstructed the sap-vessels of the 
tree. The tree had grown tall and mighty, but 
the deceitful ivy did its deadly work. The noble 
tree declined, lingered long, but finally died. When 
I stood by the grand old tree it was dead, and all the 
dews of heaven, and the fruitful supplies of the 
earth, and all the skill of all the gardeners could 
not cause that tree to bud. It was dead. Appli 
cation the deceitful ivy of sin in the souls of all 
sinners." 

There is no ivy in South Africa, therefore the 
literal base of that figure would be utterly lost on a 



THE IVY ILLUSTRATION. 235 

Kaffir, but the milkwood of South Africa furnishes 
a figure quite as forcible. It entwines itself around 
a tree as gently as the ivy, its hundreds of 
delicate tendril feelers encircle the tree, mat to 
gether, and then unite in solid wood, until it com 
pletely envelopes the grand old tree. The foreign 
thing at first simply seemed to hang on as a loose, 
ornamental foliage, but in process of time the tree 
within its folds is choked to death, and its gradual 
decay supplies nourishing food for its destroyer for 
generations to come. 

I have often seen these noble trees of different 
kinds in all stages of this deadly process, and 
could not restrain a thrill of sympathetic horror of 
being thus hugged to death and devoured piece 
meal. 

When I first introduced my ivy illustration to 
Charles, he said, " The Kaffirs don t know what you 
mean by ivy." " Yery well," said I, " we ll not use 
it." "No," said he, " it is too good an illustration to 
lose ; since you have explained it to me I under 
stand it well, and if you will give it as the ivy, I 
will give it exactly by the milkwood, which every 
Kaffir knows." 

We closed our special series of services at Kama- 
stone at 3 P.M., on Tuesday, the 17th of July. Just 
before we closed Charles gave them an account of the 
great work of God at Annshaw, and told them how 
they had battled for years to put away all heathen 
customs from among them, especially the drinking 



236 KAMASTONE. 

of Kaffir beer, with all its attendant abominations, 
and that the work of God never prospered among 
them till they had put away all these things and 
come out fully on the Lord s side, and then the Holy 
Spirit came among them, and saved hundreds of 
their friends and of wild heathens. While 
Charles was speaking, Brother Shepstone became so 
interested in his narrative that, he got up from his 
seat and stood before the pulpit, looking up at my 
man, and finally, seeming to forget himself, he 
shouted out, "Hear ! hear ! hear ! " 

During our series of two days and a half, in 
which we preached six sermons and held five prayer- 
meetings, Brother Shepstone took the names of two 
hundred natives and twenty whites, who professed, 
at those services, to find the pardon of their sins 
through an acceptance of Christ. In a letter I 
received from Rev. Mr. Shepstone, dated November 
13th, four months after our departure, he says, 
<l Since your arrival on this station up to the present 
we have added about two hundred and fifty to our 
society at Kamastone. On the 28th ult. I baptized 
from among the heathen one hundred and sixty in 
dividuals. About twenty of these were infants, the 
others have embraced Christianity, and almost all of 
these profess to have found peace with God through 
our Lord Jesus Christ. When I met the society last 
quarter for the renewal of tickets, there was such a 
union of love and Christian feeling among the mem 
bers as gave me great pleasure. I was rejoiced to 



LARGE INGATHERING OF HEATHENS. 237 

find that they had risen up into a higher region of 
Christian experience." 

An eye witness to the baptismal service, admitting 
one hundred and forty adult heathens to the Church, 
as above stated, writing to a local journal in Queen s 
Town, and quoted by the Wesley an Missionary 
Notices, says, " Many of the candidates for baptism 
were grey-headed men and women. In one instance 
we saw an aged man and his wife, tottering on the 
verge of the grave, who, a few months ago, were 
walking in the paths of sin, but now clothed, and 
in their right mind. Women, who, a short time 
ago, were found at the dance, besmeared with red 
clay, and indulging all the licentiousness of those 
abominable scenes, now were clothed in decent Euro 
pean apparel, not only being baptized themselves, 
but bringing their infants also. The large church 
was crowded with attentive observers, and no one 
could view the scene unmoved or without feelings of 
deep gratitude to the Great Head of the Church. 
In several instances these converts have suffered 
considerable persecution from their heathen relations, 
some have been driven from their homes, some have 
been severely beaten, others have been tied fast to 
the pole of the house and watched, that they might 
not go out and pray to the Great Spirit. Yet in 
almost every case persecution has only produced the 
same effects it did in days of old, to make the 
objects of it more determined than ever to serve God 
rather than man."" 



233 KAMASTONE. 

The following extract from a letter from Brother 
Shepstone, published in the Wesley an Missionary 
Notices for December, will illustrate the further pro 
gress of this work of God, and " how the old mis 
sionary hero is renewing his youth : " 

In this district we have had a share, but the full results 
have not reached me yet. The Queen s Town Circuit will 
have had about one hundred Europeans added besides 
coloured men. Here at Kamastone we have added three 
hundred and forty, and, thank God, the work is still going 
on at both places. Besides this, it has spread to Hankey, 
a Station of the London Missionary Society, about twenty 
miles from this, where I am informed that one hundred and 
fifty have become earnest seekers for salvation; and to 
Kat Eiver, where three hundred are said to have been 
added. Some of these people from Hankey were at 
Kamastone, and found peace. I desired them to go back 
to their own minister, and tell him what God had done for 
them, and I hear that they have been in no way ashamed 
to do this. It does seem that the seed of former days is 
being harrowed in by our American brother; and that God s 
Spirit is working in such a way as none have previously 
seen. We are all bowed down by a sense of God s con 
descending mercy, while we are lifted up with a thankful 
ness we cannot express. Some of us would grow younger 
at once (but nature will not alter her laws), that we might 
enjoy the progress of the Gospel in this long-benighted 
continent for another generation. 

In St. Paul s great work of God in Antioch, in 
Pisidia, some of his hearers, to whom he made an 
offer of Christ as their Saviour, " opposed themselves, 
and blasphemed," and in Corinth they judged them- 



PERSECUTIONS. VO 

selves "unworthy of everlasting life/ so among 
these poor heathens many " opposed themselves/ 
and rejected Christ, as may be illustrated by the 
following facts given by Mr. Shepstone, in a letter. 

It has not been uncommon to see some rush out of the 
house of God during Divine Service, afterwards confessing 
that they felt if they remained longer they should have 
been obliged to give up their heathenism and their sins, 
which they were dstermined not to do. " Where are you 
going? " said a heathen woman lately to her husband, as he 
was putting on his European clothes. " To the service," 
was the reply (he was coming to chapel). 

" Put them off! put them off! Do you not know that 
all who go there are caught ? " He did put them off, and 
he is a heathen still, though I have some hopes he may yet 
be " caught," as hundreds have been caught, and we are still 
catching. 

This heathen woman, you see, used the very same terms, 
and applies the same meaning as our Lord used to Simon. 
" From henceforth thou shalt catch men." (Luke v. 10). 

Though our sojourn in Kamastone was so short, 
we were all so imbued with the unction of the Holy 
Spirit, and united together so closely in the bonds of 
Christian sympathy and love, that we found the part 
ing to be a solemn affair indeed. Having to preach 
that night at Lesseyton, twenty miles distant, we 
had to take a hasty dinner, and then we bade adieu 
to the old missionary patriarch and his wife, and 
a hundred Kaffirs, most of them new-born souls in 
Christ, who were waiting to say " farewell." 1 



240 KAMASTONE. 

gave them a talk for their instruction and edification, 
shook hands with each one and left, to see them 
no more till we meet before the judgment seat of 
Christ. 

The interest of our farewell exercise was increased 
by a touching episode. Sister Turvey, the blind 
lady, before mentioned in connection with the 
work in Queen s Town, hearing that her son George, 
who had followed us with a heart of grief and sin 
to Kamastone, had found salvation, had come 
twenty miles to rejoice with him. As soon as 
George saw his mother led into the mission-house, he 
ran into her arms, exclaiming, " O, mother, my dear 
mother, I have found Jesus ! " Though we were in 
haste to be off, we could but stop and wait, and 
wonder at and adore the mysterious providence and 
amazing mercy of God. 

Here s a daughter of sorrow, who has walked in 
darkness, and has literally had no light for many 
years. She has struggled through the dark vale of 
her affliction to rear and educate her children. 
George had been a great comfort to her, but none of 
her children had embraced Christ. The mother had 
long been praying for them, and hoping that they 
would be brought to God, and go with her to meet 
their father in heaven. Now her prayers were 
answered. After her joyous meeting with George, 
she pressed my hand, exclaiming, " Oh, Mr. Taylor, 
I thank God that He sent you to Africa. You have 
been the means of saving four of my children." The 



FAREWELL SCENES. 241 

tears streamed from her darkened eyeballs as slie 
held -my hand, and praised God for His abounding 
nfcercies to her own soul and to her children. Fare 
well Kamastone, we are off on our mission of peace, 
Brother and Sister Trollip and myself in the carriage, 
Charles and Stuart to follow on horseback, Away, 
out on a high-ridge, we take our last view of our 
recent battle-ground, and the beautiful surround 
ings of the Kamastone Mission Station, and then 
push on to Lesseyton, the scene of my former 
failure, which I feared I should not be able to visit 
again, but now glad of a chance to retrieve my lost 
victory there, and do successful battle for God. 



CHAPTER XVL 

LESSEYTON. 

CHARLES and Stuart were not quite ready when 
Brother Trollip and I left Kamastone, and our hope 
that they would soon overtake us was not realized. 

When the darkness of a moonless night settled 
down upon us, we had about six miles yet to drive 
to reach Lesseyton. In working our way through 
the Mimosa Scrub we could not from the carriage 
see the road, and had to get out and walk. When 
we arrived, the chapel was crowded, but Charles had 
not come, and there was not a man there who could 
interpret for me. I thought, dear me ! shall we suffer 
another defeat here ? I knew Charles would certainly 
come if he could find his way, but as he was a 
stranger in those parts, that seemed very improbable. 
We waited anxiously for him for about an hour, 
when I heard the rattle of horsehoofs in a neigh 
bouring scrub, and hailed, and got a response, from 
his familiar voice. Some one had recommended him 
to come by a more direct path, in taking which he 
lost his way. We commenced preaching about half- 






WM. BAMBANA, " MINE HOST." 243 

past eight, and continued the prayer-meeting till 
eleven p. M. 

The Spirit of the Lord was present, and wrought 
" wondrously." About 150 seekers of pardon came 
forward, and about twenty of them professed to 
obtain it that night, but the mass of them were slow 
to accept Christ. Brother Bambana, the Tembookie, 
head man of the station, at the close of the service, 
conducted us to his house. Brother Trollip, being 
a merchant, and having always been greatly preju 
diced against the blacks, would not have consented, 
a week before, on any account, to lodge at the house 
of a coloured man, but now he and his wife had the 
humility and simplicity of " little children." They 
had entered into the kingdom of heaven, and were 
" fellow-citizens with the saints and the household of 
God," to which fraternity, our sable host had 
belonged for many years, and it was their privilege 
to enjoy his simple genuine hospitality. He gave 
us good food, good beds, and good cheer. Mrs. 
Bambana would command respect among any class 
of sensible discriminating people, as a person of good 
common-sense, and great kindness of heart. She 
is a Class-leader, I was told, of rare excellence. 
They had two adult sons, who had received a fair 
education, and could speak English sufficiently to 
enable us to converse with them a little. They 
were both seekers of pardon that night. Brother 
Bambana was greatly interested in the account I 
gave him through my interpreter, of the 4,000,000 



244 LESSEYTON. 

of Africans whom God had delivered from slavery 
in America, and of the efforts being made by their 
friends for their education and salvation. 

The next day, Wednesday, the 18th of July, at 
ten A. M., we are again in the chapel, with a crowded 
audience. Besides Brother and Sister Trollip, and 
one white man, who followed us from Kamastone, 
there were no other whites present except a Dutch 
family, and they could not understand anything that 
was said, but the truth went home to the conscience 
of the Kaffirs, and nearly 200 of them came forward 
as seekers. 

There we see them down in every alternate seat 
back to the front door. The struggle is long and 
hard ; now they begin to get into " the liberty of the 
sons of God." How the new converts do talk and 
exhort. They are unusually demonstrative. See 
them with uplifted hands and streaming eyes, telling 
the wonders of the Holy Spirit s work in their hearts. 
There is a Kaffir- woman, with painted face, covered 
with heathen ornaments, but oh, how she talks. 
" Charles, what is that woman saying ? " 

" She says she has been a very great sinner, but 
has got all her sins forgiven ; she says Jesus has 
saved her soul, and she don t know what to tell Him, 
to let Him know how thankful she is for His kind 
ness. She wants all her friends to come to God. 
They are heathens, not one of them knows Jesus, and 
she never knew Him till now. She says she knows 
her friends will persecute her, and try to make her 






REMARKABLE SCENES. 245 






give up Jesus, but she is going to cleave to 
till she dies. She is begging all her Christian brothers 
and sisters to pray for her, that she may not only 
stand firmly, but lead all her kindred to Christ." 
Many of the converts, as soon as they get pardon, 
come up the aisle, talking as they pass along to the 
altar to tell me and Charles, what God has done for 
them. 

A young Kaffir-man who came up and told us that 
God had saved him, then fell down, and, swinging 
by the altar-rail, wept for an hour. " Charles, what s 
the matter with that poor fellow ? He don t look as 
though he was saved." Charles questions him, and 
replies, " He used to belong to the school here for 
two years, and was taught to read God s word ; but 
he says he was a scabby goat, and was turned out 
of the flock, and became a heathen. He says he has 
received pardon for all his sins, but has been so wicked 
and ungrateful, he cannot forgive himself." 

There are Bambana s two sons down, pleading for 
pardon. They were there last night. Now one of 
them enters into liberty, runs and kisses his mother, 
and the father and mother embrace him, and weep, 
and thank God. Now the other accepts Christ, and 
joins in the family-bundle of grateful embraces. 

A fine-looking Kaffir- woman walks up to the front, 
and, in a most emphatic, yet most graceful, manner, 
is telling Brother Pamla some marvellous story. 

"What is all that about, Charles?" 

" She says she once knew the Lord, and was a Class- 



246 LESSEYTON. 

leader, but had wickedly fallen away." Says she, 
" I was so foolish and false to God, that I went away 
and left the oxen, wagon, and precious cargo stand 
ing in the road ; but oh, how wonderful is the love of 
God, He has forgiven all my sins, and restored me 
to my place in His family." See an old man away 
at the lower end of the chapel. He has just found 
Jesus. He mounts a form and talks to the people. 
Now he comes up the aisle, weeping and talking. 
Brother Bambana has seated himself at the end of a 
form near the altar. The weeping old man suddenly 
seizes Bambana s foot, and, nearly jerking the old 
man off his seat, kisses the bottom of his boot. We 
have heard of washing the disciples feet, and of 
kissing the Pope s toe ; but to kiss the sole of a 
Kaffir s boot, is a new idea. On inquiry, we learn 
that this old man, just converted, is Bambana s 
shepherd, and because his master was so faithful and 
kind as often to talk to him about his soul, he was 
very angry with his master; but now that he has 
found salvation, he sees that his master was the best 
earthly friend he had, and he has taken that method 
of expressing his humiliation and gratitude. These 
are but glimpses of the indescribable scenes of that 
day. The trouble was, that having to preach at 
three P.M. to the natives in Queen s Town, eight miles 
distant, and conduct a fellowship-meeting for the 
whites at night, our time in Lesseyton was too short. 
During our two services there, however, the names 
of fifty-eight new converts had been recorded, and 



THE MILK-SACK. 247 

about one hundred seekers left. Many of the young 
converts were aged persons. 

At the close of our last service an old man stood 
up and made, what seemed a most earnest, yet very 
dispassionate speech, which was, in effect, as 
Charles interpreted, " I cannot let you go away, sir, 
without acknowledging the great obligation we are 
under to God, and to you, His servant, for these 
services. In these remarks I know I but express 
the heartfelt gratitude of all the people on the 
station/ He used many figures to illustrate his 
statements. One was that on my first visit, I had 
hung up the "milk-sack; but that the milk was 
sweet, and they got no nourishment, but now the 
milk is good, and you have given us a great feast." 
Milk hung up in a cowskin-sack till it becomes sour 
and thick is a staple article of food among the 
Kaffirs, and the milk-sack is such a sacred thing 
that no woman is allowed to touch it, and but one 
responsible man, for the household has charge of 
it; "but a Kaffir, who would drink sweet milk, would 
be considered not a man, but a babe. We bade 
adieu to our dear friends at Lesseyton, and hastened 
on to our appointment -in Queen s Town. 

That was my last night in Queen s Town. The 
next night I expected to preach at ""Warner s," 
fifty miles distant on our route through Kaffraria. 

We had completed our arrangements, and were 
ready for an early start next morning. Our party 
consisted of my friend, Mr. James Koberts, and my- 



248 LESSEYTON. 

self in the cart, Charles Pamla, on a little bay-pony, 
which had carried him over one hundred miles from 
Annshaw, and my son Stuart on a sorrel " trippling" 
Kaffir-pony I bought for him at Kamastone. 

It was hard to part with such dear friends as 
Brother and Sister Dugmore. Two of their daugh 
ters and a son had been saved at our series,, and three 
other sons were among the seekers. Up to that time 
twenty-three sons and daughters of our missionaries, 
in different parts of the colony, had found peace at our 
meetings. At our final farewell, Brother Dugmore, 
a man who gives to God all the glory for His work, 
but a dear lover of the brethren, hung round my 
neck and wept, and said, " God bless you, my dear 
brother, you have brought salvation to my house." 

This was Thursday, the 19th of July. The pro 
gress of the work in Queen s Town, and Lesseyton 
may be illustrated by a few extracts from letters I 
subsequently received from Brother Dugmore. 

By date of 31st of July, he writes, " Brother 
Bertram has got home. On Sunday he preached to 
the division of his people, speaking the Dutch lan 
guage, (you did not see that location). The work 
broke out gloriously among them. In the afternoon 
at the Kaffir service, such an outpouring of the 
Spirit took place, that they could not get away till 
eight o clock at night. Brother Bertram wishes me 
to tell you that he does not think there are any men 
left on the station who have not been brought into 
the fold of Christ. The Gospel has triumphed over 



GRAND TRIUMPHS. 210 

the greatest enemies it had amongst them. The 
most bitter opposer, on finding peace, exclaimed, 
Now, Sandili, may come, now Krilie may come (two- 
of the most notoriously wicked warrior- chiefs in all 
that region), since I, the greatest of enemies to 
Christ, have come to Him, nobody need stay away ! " 

By letter of the 19th of August, he writes, te I 
have been hoping to hear the result of your visit to 
our Kaffirland Stations. I have heard some tidings 
that have gladdened my heart, none more than the 
conversion of my dear Brother Warner s wandering 
son. 

The leaven leavens on amongst us. I hope to 
begin the next quarter with an increase of two hun 
dred members. Our services are seasons rich in 
blessing/ Our regular congregations steadily in 
crease. Our older members are thirsting for a full 
salvation. God has in mercy baptized my soul anew, 
and I am reaching forward. We trust to hear blessed 
news from Natal. Why should not Colenso himself 
be converted ? " 

By letter of October 27th, Brother Dugmore 
writes, " The results of the awakening which God 
vouchsafed to the three Circuits of Queen s Town 
division (Queen s Town, Kamastone, and Lesseyton), 
" while you were among us, we cannot even yet 
fully estimate, but I think that not less than six 
nundred have been received into the Societies. God 
nas enabled me to lay hold again of the blessing in 
which I rejoiced in years past. I walk in the light, 



250 LESSEYTON. 

I feel that my soul has returned to her rest, and that 
it is glorious to have an abiding sense of that pre 
sence which makes the Christian s paradise. Glory- 
be to God for " full salvation ! " 

Again, in my last letter from Brother Dugmore, 
before leaving Africa, he says, " I do most heartily 
adore the goodness of God in blessing your labours 
in Natal, as He has done. If the work after your 
departure follows the rule elsewhere, the numbers of 
conversions will go on increasing. In several places 
those numbers have doubled, or more than doubled, 
since you left/* 



CHAPTER XVJL 

WARNERS, 

THE residence of J. C. Warner, Esq., known by 
the name of " Woodhouse Forests," is the head of a 
new mission, embracing a portion of Tembookie 
territory, and a part of Fingo-land, under the super 
intendence of a very active, promising young mis 
sionary, Rev. E. J. Barrett. 

Brother and Sister Warner are earnest and useful 
missionaries ; in fact, as they once were in name 
and official relationship. He was a useful missionary 
among the Kaffirs for a number of years, but partly 
through failure of health for a time and other reasons, 
satisfactory, I believe, to all parties, he resigned his 
official relation, but has continued true to the Wes- 
leyan Church and her mission- work in a different 
relation. He is "British Resident for Kaffraria;" 
the representative of the English Government to 
all the tribes living between Cape Colony and Natal, 
and being a Wesleyan preacher he is in a position 
of great responsibility and usefulness. He has always 
been opposed to the establishment of mission stations 



252 WARNERS. 

on the principle of vesting in the missionary magis 
terial functions to be exercised over the people on 
the mission- station. 

The unmodified heathenism of Kaffraria at the 
time the mission- stations were established was 
considered so corrupt and so corrupting, and the civil 
administration of the chiefs so arbitrary, capri 
cious, and so antagonistic to Christianity, that it was 
felt to be necessary to organize the people of the 
stations into a separate civil community, acknow 
ledging the sovereignty of the chiefs, but protected 
and governed by the missionary under a kind of 
treaty stipulation with the chiefs. The Heathen 
chiefs are not supposed to be competent to govern a 
Christian community, and, I presume, in a majority 
of cases, prefer to be relieved from such a responsi 
bility, and hence, by mutual agreement, that, devolves 
on the missionary, extending not simply to his 
church-members, but to all the people resident on 
the mission-station. 

The mission- station, as per agreement, is a "city 
of refuge " to which persons suspected of witchcraft 
or other undefinable offences, endangering their 
lives, may flee and be safe, while they remain under 
the shield of the missionary. 

The missionary, therefore, occupies the position of 
a civil magistrate, having jurisdiction over the dis 
trict embraced in the lines of his grants for mission 
purposes. He must hear complaints, try cases, inflict 



THE MAGISTERIAL AND MINISTERIAL OFFICES. 253 

penalties in the form of fines, or expulsion from the 
station, subject to an appeal from his decisions to the 
paramount chief. On the other hand, he is answer 
able to his chief for the good conduct of his mission 
people. I don t give this as the theory, with which 
the men of God, who hazarded their lives among 
those heathen, in founding those focal centres of 
Gospel agency, set out at the commencement, but 
the theory defining the developed facts as we find 
them. 

An extract from a letter I received from Rev. Wm. 
Shepstone, dated November 13th, 1866, touching 
this subject, will show the legal status of the mis 
sionary in Kaffraria : 

A Kaffir chief has Amapakati in the different parts of 
his country. These preside over certain districts or rivers. 
In all cases of litigation the case should first come before 
the Amapakati to be settled, or adjudged, but either is at 
liberty to appeal against the judgment of the Amapakati to 
the chief. Now this is the power which legally belongs to 
a missionary in Kaffirland. He is no chieftain ; but is a 
subordinate magistrate under the chief magistrate, to whom 
an appeal can always be made against his decisions, if either 
party desires it. Whatever he gains beyond this must be 
moral power, even such a diabolical practice as the 
UmpouhlOj the missionary must oppose by moral suasion. 
When Mr. Shaw and I entered on the Kaffirland mission 
in 1823, now forty-three years ago this month, the practice 
of Umpouhlo was rampant, revolting to every sense of moral 
feeling, to a degree one does not like to look back at. We 
were without any authority, we were no chiefs ; but Mr. 



254 WARNERS. 

| 

Shaw succeeded in that tribe in getting it put down by 
authority, not his authority, but the chiefs. It was moral 
power. For this successful use of his influence, the women 
of the tribe gave him the cognomen of " Likaka laba Fasi " 
the shield of the women : nor did I ever hear of the 
practice being revived or attempted in that tribe afterwards, 
and I am inclined to think that from that time the practice 
declined among the other tribes on the frontier. 

That missionaries and ministers everywhere should 
prudently exert their influence for the removal of 
national sins, however disguised in legal livery, is a 
fact, that but few persons will deny ; but how far a 
minister of the Gospel should encumber himself with 
administrative responsibilities, is a question to be 
carefully considered, and yet one which must be de 
termined, in many cases, by the peculiar circum 
stances of any given case, which, should come under 
the head of exceptions, as the rule certainly is that 
he should be a man of one work. 

In regard to this mission- station question, a great 
deal may be said on both sides. 

1st. It is a good thing for the missionary, as far 
as possible, to be able to make and execute all his 
arrangements for the salvation, the education, and 
the civilization of the heathen, without authoritative 
heathenish interference. 

2nd. It is a good thing in those regions of heathen 
ish darkness, where there is so much " smelling cut," 
and murder, on a suspicion of witchcraft, to have a 
sanctuary to which the poor persecuted wretches 



BOTH SIDES OF THE QUESTION. 255 

may flee, and escape torture and death. Many lives 
have thus been saved at the mission-stations. 

3rd. It is thought to be a very good thing for the 
converts from heathenism, to have the opportunity 
of " coming out from among them," literally, to live 
on the mission-station, where they may escape the 
daily taunts of their wicked neighbours, and the 
danger of contact with their abominable practices. 
Hence the rule has been for the converts, with but 
very few exceptions, to move at once, and become 
citizens of the mission community. There are, to be 
sure, some " out-stations," but they are under the 
same administration as that of the head station. I 
met with some good missionaries in South Africa, who 
consider it next to an impossibility for a converted 
Kaffir to live among his heathen neighbours, and 
remain a Christian. 

But, on the other hand, it is said, 

1st. The missionary, having the responsibility of 
administrating this complex government of " Church 
and State," will so have his time and energies con 
sumed with perplexing cares, as greatly to interfere 
with his ministerial effectiveness on his station, and 
leave him but little time or strength for proclaiming 
the Gospel beyond. 

2nd. The station becoming the sanctuary and 
home for all sorts of refugees, attracts a great 
many worthless characters, who are often pointed 
at and quoted, by the colonists, as well as by the 
heathen, as fair specimens of the mission people, and 



256 WARNEllS. 

however unjust the charge, the stations thus suffer 
great disgrace. The fact too, that so many supposed 
witches find a refuge on the mission-stations, a large 
proportion of the Kaffirs regard them as the home 
and haunt of the wizards, and therefore places to be 
dreaded and shunned. 

3rd. That by collecting all the converts into one 
body together, the Gospel leaven is separated from 
the lump it should leaven, and a hot-bed, feeble type 
of Christian character is developed in the station, 
instead of a heroic martyr type, which alone can 
successfully grapple with heathenism defensively, 
and aggressively. Without going into the details of 
the subject here, I believe I have fairly stated the 
strong points on both sides, and I shall have occasion 
from personal observation, to furnish facts illustrating 
both sides of the question. It is by no means a mere 
abstract question, but a subject of vital practical 
importance to successful missionary enterprise in 
Africa, and in every other mission field in heathen 
ism. When I entered Kaffraria, I knew nothing 
about this subject; I had never heard it discussed, 
and hence went into the field of observation, an un 
prejudiced learner, and came out with my facts and 
conclusions, which shall be forthcoming in due time. 

That was a moonless night. From Queen s Town, 
we had travelled that day over a hilly rough road 
forty-six miles, and had yet four miles of our day s 
journey to make in the dark. 

Rev. E. J. Barrett came to meet us and to be our 



THE GREAT TUMBLE. 257 

guide. We had in a pair of horses, that had 
been sent on thirty miles the day before, and they 
\vere fresh and fiery, and not so manageable as they 
became a couple of hundred miles further along. 
Descending -what appeared to be a smooth bit of 
road, at the rate of about " eight knots/ a sudden 
jolt sent us both over the " larboard/ headforemost 
down the hill. "VVe thought the thing had upset, 
but, relieved of our weight, it righted up; and when 
v/e got our "bearings," we heard the rattle of the 
horses hoofs and the cart wheels away in the distance. 

Brother Barrett, who was a few roads ahead of us, 
came rushing back, crying out " Are ye killed ? " 

"Not dead yet, pursue the horses as fast as you can/* 

Away he galloped in pursuit. 

We gathered ourselves up, and found that, though 
our clothing was torn, and we were scratched and 
bruised considerably, there were no bones broken, 
so we picked up a load of rugs and coats cast out of 
the cart, and worked our way in the dark to Mr. 
Warner s. About an hour later, Mr. Barrett arrived, 
tolling how many miles he had travelled in different 
directions, but could get no tidings of the runaway 
horses and cart. A company of Kaffirs were then 
sent out in all directions. Different parties up to- 
midnight reported no success. We had comfortable 
lodgings in Mr. Barrett s Kaffir hut, built by him 
self. It is eighteen feet in diameter, seven feet walls* 
with an elevation at the apex of about fifteen feet. Th 
H British Besident," and family, live in a larger but 

s 



WARXEllS. 



more rustic Kaffir hut near by. He is "building a good 
dwelling, which was nearly ready for the roof when wo 
were there. At the dawn of next morning, Brothers 
Warner, Boberts, and Barrett, went to the place of 
disaster, and saw where the upper cart wheel had 
struck a large ant-hill causing our ejectment, hence 
tracing the " spore," they found that the horses 
had run down the hill, a distance of a quarter 
of a mile, and turned at a right angle away from 
the road. Further along, the cart "spore" wag 
within three inches of a precipice, over-hanging 
a little lake, deep enough to have drowned the 
horses, had the cart gone over and drawn them in. 
About a mile from the road in the "veldt/ they found 
the horses standing still, attached to the cart as when 
we were driving them, everything right, even tho 
whip stood erect in its place. I was thankful, though 
not surprised, for I had said the night before 
that, as we were doing work for God, and could not 
replace our conveyance nearer than Queen s Town, 
and as eta it?ngagements demanded haste, I did not 
doubt that He who takes care even of the sparrows 
cared much more for the souls we might be instru 
mental in saving in KaiFraria, and would see to it 
that our animals and conveyance would be preserved 
from harm, and that we should pursue our journey 
in safety. 

Rev. E. J. Barrett is a young man of great in 
tlustry and useful missionary talents. He has been 
"but three years in the work of the ministry, but has 



; 






OTJT-DCOK SERVICES. 259 

60 far learned the Kaffir language as to preach 
through it fluently without an interpreter. . He has 
no family, and while his head-quarters are at Brother 
Warner s, he is almost continually travelling and 
preaching among the Kaffirs, and lodging with them 
in their huts. His circuit, though on the borders of 
Fingo-land, lies mainly among the " Tamhookie " 
tribe of Kaffirs. 

He is preparing to build a chapel at " Woodhouse 
Forest/ and another near a beautiful grove of timber, 
five miles distant. 

On Friday morning, the 20th of July, I selected 
a suitable place for our preaching and prayer- 
meeting in a beautiful grassy vale, about fouf 
hundred yards from our hut. I took some healthy 
muscular exercise in rolling a large boulder to a 
suitable spot for a pulpit or platform from which to 
preach. 

The population of this region is rather sparse, and 
the notice of our coming was very short, so that we 
did not see the crowds we had been accustomed to 
see in older communities. At eleven A.M. our service 
commences. As I stand on my rock pulpit, with 
my tall interpreter on my left, there is spread out 
before us a scene of great beauty. Just back of 
us is a little brook and reed marsh, obliging all 
our hearers to remain in front of us. From this 
brook, in our rear, rises a high, rocky, grassy, 
wooded hill, an angular branch of the main 
mountain to our right which is adorned with 



2 CO TVAHNEHS. 

fine forest trees. In front of us rises a high, 
smooth ridge, covered with tall grass. To our left 
we see the huts of Brothers Warner and Barrett, 
the walls of the new residence of Mr. Warner, tho 
native village, and an extensive open undulating 
country, with its lovely grassy slopes, enlivened by 
the herds of the Kaffirs, and their mealy patches. 
Circling in front of us, seated on the grass, are first 
the women and children, and next the men ; on the 
outer edge of the circle, to our left, are a lot of 
painted heathens, with their red blankets thrown 
loosely round their naked bodies. The whole con 
gregation numbers about two hundred persons. 
Our first sermon is to the believers, unfolJing to 
them God s provisions and plans for the salvation of 
the world, administered by the personal Holy Ghost, 
who employs believers as His visible agents. We 
close by singing and prayer, and advise them to 
think much, and pray much alone, take some refresh 
ment, and come again at three P.M. At the close of the 
afternoon sermon we invite the seekers of pardon to 
kneel down on the grass. About one hundred and 
forty bow before the Lord, and enter into a peniten 
tial struggle, with a general wailing of lamentation 
and tears, which cease not for three hours, only as 
they enter into liberty. We see among them several 
of the red heathens. 

" Do you see that tall, well-dressed Kaffir down on 
his knees as a seeker ?" " Yes." " That is Matan- 



KAFFIR CHIEF ON HIS KNELS. 2GJ 

zlma, a Tambookie Chief, a brother of N gangelizwe, 
the paramount chief of the Tambookie nation." "We 
see Charles bending over the chief for half an hour, 
trying to lead him to Jesus. Poor fellow, he seems 
to be an earnest seeker. Near the close of the meet 
ing Charles brings the chief to me, and I explain 
to him the way of salvation by faith, and beg 
him to surrender himself to God, and accept Christ 
as his Saviour now. He seems very teachable and 
anxious to know God. Among a number of ques 
tions I put to him, that I may ascertain the ob 
structions in his way, and help him to consent to 
their removal, I said, " Matanzima, how many wives 
have you got ? " 

"Two/* said he. 

" How many children have you by them ?" 

"Two children by one wife, and one by the 
other." 

" The laws of Jesus Christ will allow you to nave 
but one wife. Are you willing to retain your 
first, as your lawful wife, and give the other one 
up?" 

" Yes/ he replied, promptly ; " but what shall I 
do with her ? " 

" You must explain to her that you do not put her 
away in anger, but because you have consented to 
obey the laws of Christ, which allow a man but one 
wife ; you must not send her away in poverty, but 
give her whatever she needs for herself and the sup- 



2G2 WARNERS. 

port of her child, and let her go home to her own 
people/ 

"Well," said he, "I ll bring her to Mr. Warner, 
and let him settle it/ 

"Yes," I answered, " that will be the best way. 
Now having settled that matter in your mind, and 
consenting to give up all your sins, you need not de 
lay your coming to Jesus Christ, but embrace Him 
as your Saviour now." But instead of a present 
surrender, and a present acceptance of Christ, I saw 
from his face that he was reconsidering the wife 
question, and wavering in his purpose to give up tho 
sin of polygamy, and soon began to put on his 
gloves, for he was a fine-looking, well-dressed man, 
and said, " Now, I must go home." He did not tell 
me that he could not consent to Gospel terms, yet I 
felt but little doubt that, like the rich young man 
who came to Jesus, and hearing what he should " do 
to inherit eternal life," he declined and " went away 
sorrowful " in his sins. I was very sorry to believe, 
and to say to the brethren, that the chief wavered, 
and would not remain a seeker long. 

I mention this case to illustrate one of the most 
serious difficulties to be encountered in bringing thff 
Kaffirs to God their ancient system of polygamy. 

Meantime, about sixty persons of all ages pro 
fessed to obtain the pardon of their sins. As fast 
as they got the witness of forgiveness they were con 
ducted to a place to our left hand to be examined by 
the missionary. 



EXAMINATION 01? THE YOUNG CONVERTS. 263 

t Now, Brother Barrett/ said I, "you will please tc 
Iiear the experience of these new converts, and get 
their names and addresses, so that you may know 
v. T hcre to find them, and get them into class, and under 
good pastoral training for God. If any are not clear 
in their testimony to the fact of conscious pardon 
through the Holy Spirit s witness with theirs, kindly 
advise them to go back among the seekers and seek 
till they get it." Brother Barrett is an earnest and 
most industrious missionary, but seemed a little em 
barrassed in the midst of such a sudden break-down 
of so many Kaffirs, and rather incredulous as to the 
conversion of so many in one day, but I begged him 
to examine them closely and satisfy his own mind 
fully, and send back all who were not clear. He spent 
so much time with each one that he did not have time 
to converse with more than half of them. It was toa 
)ld to preach out that night, so we had a fellowship- 
meeting in Brother Warner s stable specially for the 
young converts. Over thirty of them arose voluntarily 
and promptly, one after another, and in great sim 
plicity told what God had done for their souls. The 
experience of every one was clear except one man, 
who told about some great light that he had seen 
some months before and heard a voice telling him 
that he would be saved. Brother Barrett challenged 
his experience, and asked him several close questions. 
Charles also questioned him to draw out of him a 
testimony to a genuine experience of salvation, if" he 
was in possession of it ; but his tale was ignored, and 



204 WARNERS. 

tlie people warned against seeking to see sights anil 
to hear audible voices, " for the Spirit itself beareth 
witness with our spirits/ not to our eyes or ears 
but to our "spirits, that we are the children oi 
God." It was a very profitable service for mutual 
edification. We gave them suitable advice, and I 
was much pleased to find that Brother Barrett s faith 
in the genuineness of their conversion nad been fully 
confirmed. 

Brother Barrett, in a letter, dated July 24th, says, 

I thank God for your visit to this place. I see more 
reason to hope for the salvation of Africa than ever 1 did 
before. God evidently can and is willing to do a quick 
and true work among these people. Ut those who were 
here some were from other circuits. Ten from Mr. Wake- 
ford s circuit professed to find peace. Some of the Fin- 
goes were blessed. I conversed more or less with them 
before they left, but have not yet had time to follow them 
to Fingo-land. Among the Tambookies of my own cir 
cuit I have had a better opportunity of understanding the 
work. I think all our members who professed any spiritual 
life are quickened. One man, formerly a dead member, 
who had never known anything of spiritual life, is clearly 
brought to God. He is now earnest and happy. Several 
backsliders have returned, among them is Klass, the head 
man of the station. The devil tried hard to keep Klass 
away from Christ. He had left a goat in charge of a Hotten 
tot at the Tsoma river. The devil ordered his Hottentot 
servant to make off with the goat to Kriclie s country. 
Klass heard of it just in time to take him away from your 
morning service. The Hottentot, however, got drunk, and 
was prevented from starting till Klass arrived and got his 



THE CHIEF DRAWS BACK. 2G5 

goat. We thought Klass had run away for fear he should 
get converted, but finding his goat he returned in time fol 
the afternoon preaching, and the Lord brought him in. 

Most of the former seekers have found peace, and a few, 
who were not seekers, have been brought in. 

In a subsequent letter, Brother Barrett confirmed 
my fears in regard to the chief : 

I am sorry to say that Matanzima, the Tambookie chief 
of " the right hand house," has not retained the religious 
impressions produced on his mind by your preaching, and 
has not even permitted me to hold service at his 
place. (Herod heard John gladly, and " did many things, 71 
but did not give up his stolen wife, and soon after cut tho 
preacher s head off.) How can he be a Christian when his 
powerful counsellors are heathens. I think the chiefs will 
have to be moved by the nation and not the nation by the 
chiefs. A Kaffir chief possesses power only for evil, to 
fight, to "eat up," and destroy, but not to improve the 
condition of his people. 

I felt very sorry to leave " Woodhouse Forests " 
so soon. We had seen a good work indeed during 
our one day s services, but if we could have spent a 
week among them a great work might have been 
wrought,, but my limited time and pre-announced 
appointments beyond obliged us to proceed on our 
journey. Saturday morning, the 21st of July, we bade 
adieu to this new and interesting mission-station, 
and commenced a journey of fifty miles that day to 
Butter worth. It is marvellous to look back and 
remember that the thrilling scenes and grand 



2G5 WARXEES. 

victories at Kamastone, Lesseyton, tlie native 
work and fellowship-meeting in Queen s Town, 
for the whites, and the campaign of yesterday 
at Woodhouse Forests, have all transpired within 
the past week, from Sabbath the 15th to Friday the 
20th of July. Blessed God, the kingdom is Thine, 
the power is Thine, and hence the glory is Thine, all 
Thine, only Thine! 

Brother Warner furnished us a pair of horses to 
take our conveyance twenty miles, to the " Tsoma 
river," and accompanied us on horseback several 
miles. At the Tsoma we overtook our horsemen 
who had gone on early with the horses, so as to give 
them a little rest, while Brother Warner s pair were 
doing the work for us. There is an old military 
station at the Tsoma, and at that time a small 
detachment of British soldiers, under Col. Barker. 
All the soldiers have since been withdrawn, and the 
station given to the Wesleyans for mission pur 
poses, and the Fingoes left to themselves to keep the 
peace with their old Kaffir masters, or defend 
themselves till help can be afforded them from the 
colony. Col. Barker received us into his hut, with 
a cordial greeting, and entertained us with a good 
lunch, with genuine English hospitality. Eev. John 
Logden, the missionary at Butterworth, had been 
there a few days before, and prepared the way for 
us, and provided a relay of fresh horses at the Tsoma, 
which however we did not need, and respectfully de 
clined the use of them. 



CAPTAIN COBB. 2G7 

The Tsoma, which is a fine African river, is 
deep, rocky, and dangerous for travellers, but the 
water being low in the winter season, we crossed 
without difficulty. On we go, over high hills, and 
across deep valleys, through a country abounding 
with grass, from one to two feet high,, ripened and 
dried into a rich orange colour. This wavy ocean of 
grass, which stretches out in every direction into the 
immeasurable distance, is interspersed with occasional 
groves of timber, and island-looking rocky hill peaks 
and cliffs. About fifteen miles from the Tsoma, wo 
met a Kaffir boy, who said " Mr. Longden has sent a 
pair of horses to Capt. Cobb s for you," pointing across 
the hills towards the Captain s house, nearly a mile 
off the main road. So we " out-spanned " our horses, 
and walked over. The Captain, who is a dashing, 
but generous pioneer Englishman, gave us a cordial 
welcome. He is a magistrate, under Mr. AVarner, 
over a portion of Her Majesty s Fingo subjects. 
There we met the native teacher from Butterworth, 
who had come to act as our guide, and four or five 
English friends, who had been waiting at Butter- 
worth for us two days, having come sixty miles from 
near King William s Town, to attend our meeting, 
and seek the Lord. 

Captain Cobb gave us all a good dinner, and 
showed us his new house, orchard, and garden. It 
was really surprising to see such improvements, 
such beautiful beds of flowers, and flourishing fruit- 
trees, where, but eighteen months ago, the wild deer 



I oained without disturbance. The last eiglit miles 
of our long day s journey were made after the day 
had departed. The road was rough and dangerous, 
but our trusty guide rode before, and shouted, " To 
the right," and " To the left," alternately, turning 
us away from rocks and gullies which might have 
cost us an upset, at the peril of our necks. 

By the mercy of our Master, we safely reached 
Biitterworth about eight P.M., and were heartily 
welcomed and most kindly entertained by Rev. 
John Longden and liis excellent missionary wife, 



CHAPTER XVIIL 

EUTTERWOETH (iGEUWA). 

THIS mission-station was established under tli 
general superintendence of Eev. W. Shaw, by the 
Rev. Mr. Shrewsbury, assisted by Ilev. "W. Shep- 
stone, in 1827. The great Chief Hintza, of the 
Amagcaleka tribe, had not given his consent for the 
establishment of the mission in his country, but had 
not refused, so Mr. Shrewsbury proceeded in the 
work by faith. " But a few months after," says Mr. 
Shaw, " with great Kaffir ceremony, he sent to the 
station one of his brothers, and a company of his 
counsellors, mostly old men (counsellors of Kauta, 
his father) with the following remarkable message 
Hintza sends to you these men, that you may know 
them ; they are now your friends, for to-day Hintza 
adopts you into the same family, and makes the 
mission the head of that house. If any one does you 
wrong apply to them for redress. If in anything 
you need help, ask them for assistance ; and as a con 
firmation of the whole, pointing to a fat ox they had 
brought, There is a cake of bread from the house of 
Kauta. " 



270 BUTTI-:irYORTH. 

The mission, thus placed under the protection of law 
by the blessing of God, and the fostering care of several 
successive missionaries, grew and prospered for six 
years, when its harmonious relations were disturbed 
by the Kaffir war of 1833-4. Hintza joined in tho 
war against the colonists. " behaved treacherously 
toward certain European traders, who were at the 
time in his country, and it was believed also, that he 
contemplated the murder of his missionary," Rev. 
John AylifF, and the destruction of the station. 

Hev. W\ J. Davis gave me an account of how 
Brother Ayliff escaped, and, as it will illustrate a 
phase of missionary life in this place, now sacred in 
my own memory, I will give the substance of his 
narrative. " Hintza s purpose to kill Mr. AylifF was 
revealed to him by Hintza s great wife/ Nonisa. 
All the trails and roads were guarded by spies, so 
that there was no possibility of his escape, but he 
managed to get a letter conveyed about fifty miles, 
to Brother Davis at Clarkebury. Mr. Davis sent to 
Morley Mission Station, thirty-five miles distant, and 
got the missionary there, Eev. Mr. Palmer, to join 
him in a trip to Butterworth, to try and rescue their 
brother missionary from the murderous designs of 
Hintza. On their arrival at Butterworth, after con 
sultation with Brother AylifF, they resolved that they 
would go and see the chief himself, and thus take 
the bull by the horns at once. They immediately 
sent out runners, and collected a party of men as 



MR. AYLIFF RESCUED. 271 

guides and guards, and set cfF to Hintza s Great 
Place/ about sixty miles distant. They rode boldly 
into the chiefs kraal, and found him seated in coun 
cil, surrounded by his Amapakati. 

"Having gone through all the ceremony common in 
approaching such a dignitary, Brother Davis, addres 
sing the chief, said " Hintza, we have come to talk 
to you about your missionary. We have heard that 
you have given orders to kill Ayliff, and now he has 
come, and we have come with Kim to see what yoa 
have against him. We know that you are at war 
with the English, but we are missionaries, we have 
nothing to do with the war. If Ayliff has done any 
thing worthy of death, he don t refuse to die. You 
can try him and put him to death in an honourable 
way, but it don t become a great chief like you, to 
waylay him like an assassin and kill him behind a 
bush. lie is your missionary. He came into your 
country with your consent, and put himself under 
your protection, and you should deal honourably 
with him; If he has done wrong then tell him so 
to his face ; if guilty of anything worthy of death, 
convict him, and kill him. Or, if you want to get 
rid of him, give him a pass out of your country, and 
he will at once go away and leave you, but it would 
be a great injustice, and a disgrace to you as a 
great chief, to kill your missionary behind a bush/ 
Hintza seemed greatly agitated while Davis was talk 
ing, and was silent for some time. Then he ordered 



272 BUTTLE, WORTH (iGETJWA). 

food for the missionaries, and told them to sit down 
for the night, and he would meet them in council 
the next day. 

" That night, after the missionary party had sung 
and prayed in their hut, Nomsa, the chief s great 
wife/ came in and said, Sing again/ 

" Why should we sing again ? "Wo have just had 
singing and prayer/ 

" I have a word to say to you, and I don t want 
anybody but you to hear it. If you sing, they will 
think that after the singing you will be praying, 
and they won t come near/ so they sang again. 

" Then said she, You have done well to come to 
the chief. It will be all right to-morrow, AyliiF 
will bo allowed to remain, and get promise of protec 
tion. But if he remains he might tramp on a snake 
in the grass, and he had better not remain/ 

" The next day they met the chief in council, and 
Ilintza said, You have done well to come to me. 
Gome miscreant might have done Ayliff harm, but it 
will be all right now. Ayliff may go back to Butter- 
worth, and sit down in peace, and it will be all 
right/ 

" They returned, and soon ascertained that there 
were no more conspirators in the way, seeking 
AylifPs life, and as the way was now open, the mis 
sionaries unanimously agreed that it was better, in 
view of the war troubles, and all the circumstances 
in the case, that Brother Ayliff should take Nomsa s 
advice ; so he made arrangements as early as con- 



PROTRACTED MEETING OF THE " RAIN-MAKERS." 273 

venient, and, with his mission people, left Hintza s 
country. 

The chief complained afterwards of AyliiPs want 
of confidence in him, but his own subsequent record 
proved the wisdom of Ayliff s departure. Soon after 
the mission premises and village were plundered and 
destroyed, and, before the war was over, Hintza 
himself was killed. 

The mission was re-established after the war, but 
was destroyed again in the war of 1846-7. 

"Rili," or Krielie, as it is usually spelled to give the 
sound in English nearest to the Kaffir guttural R, the 
son and successor of Hintza, was anxious for the re 
building of the mission-house and chapel, and gave 
for the purpose as many cattle as when sold, were 
necessary to cover most of the expense of erecting 
the mission-buildings, and compensate for the per 
sonal losses of the missionary. 

At one time, when E-ev. W. J. Davis was stationed 
there, the country was dried up, the cattle were 
dying, and there was a general apprehension of 
famine. The Chief Rili assembled a large body of 
" rain makers " near to the mission premises, and 
with a great gathering of the people, they went on 
with their incantations and " vain repetitions " daily 
for a week. Brother Davis kept himself advised, 
through his agents, of all their proceedings. Finally, 
the rain-makers said they could not get any rain, and 
had found out the reason why, and the cause of the 
drought. When the attention of the people was 



274 BUTTERWORTH. 

fully arrested by such an announcement, they told 
their anxious auditors that the missionaries were the 
cause of the drought, and that there would be no 
rain while we were allowed to remain in the country. 
That brought matters to a very serious crisis, for the 
" rain-makers " are generally very influential, usually 
being doctors or priests as well. When the chief 
wants rain he sends some cattle to the rain- makers 
to offer in sacrifice to " Imishologu," the spirits of 
their dead, who are presumed to have great power 
with " Tixo " or God, who will send rain. If they 
do not succeed,, the rain-maker returns answer that 
the cattle were not of the right colour, that cattle 
of certain peculiar spots were necessary. The details 
of these spots and shades of colour are so numerous 
that the rain-maker can not only drive a good trade 
in the beef line, but stave off the issue till, in the 
natural order, a copious rain descends, for which he 
claims the credit, and it is known all over the country 
as such a " rain-maker s " rain. Thus they maintain 
their influence, and when a number of such men 
combine against a missionary, it becomes a very 
serious matter. So when Brother Davis heard of the 
grave charge brought against the missionaries, and 
specially against himself and family, as they were 
the only missionaries there, he saw that he must act 
in self-defence at once. So the next morning, which 
was Thursday, he rode into their camp, while they 
were in the midst of their ceremonies, and demanded 
a hearing. They stopped their noise and ccnfusion 



A MODERN ELIJAH OPENING THE HEAVENS. 

to hear what he had to say, and he proceeded as fol 
lows : " I shall give you a very short talk. Your 
rain-makers say that the missionaries are the cause 
of the drought. I say that the rain-makers and the 
sins of the people are the cause of the drought. The 
missionaries are as anxious for rain as you are, and 
our God would give us rain, but for your wickedness 
anA rebellion against Him. Now I propose that we 
test the matter between your rain-makers and the 
missionaries. They have been trying here for one 
whole week to bring rain, and have not brought one 
drop. Look at the heavens, there is not even the sign 
of a cloud. Now stop all this nonsense, and come to 
chapel next Sabbath, and we will pray to God, who 
made the heavens and the earth, to give us rain, and 
we will see who is the true God, and who are His 
true servants, and your best friends." Then Nomsa, 
the great wife of Hintza, who had interposed to save 
the life of Brother Ayliff a few years before, and the 
great chief Rili, her son, and their amapakati, held 
a consultation, and decided to dismiss the rain 
makers at once, and accept the issue proposed by 
Brother Davis. The next day was observed by this 
missionary Elijah, and his Christian natives, as a day 
of fasting and prayer. On Sabbath morning the 
sun, as for many months past, poured his burning 
rays upon the crisped Kaffrarian hills and valleys, 
with their famishing flocks, without the shadow of 
an intervening cloud. 

At the hour for service the usual congregation 



270 BUTTERWOKTH. 

assembled, and besides them the great chief and hia 
mother, and many of the heathen people from their 
" great-place." There was a motley crowd of half- clad 
mission natives, a lot of naked heathens, the great 
chief in his royal robe, consisting of a huge tiger- 
skin, his queen mother, with beaded skirt of dressed 
cow-skin, and ornamental brass wristlets, armlets, 
and head trinkets, and there, at their feet, the mis 
sionary and his family a grand representation of 
Church and State, all sweltering with heat, all uneasy, 
all anxious to see a little cloud arise, but not one, even 
of the size of a man s hand, appeared when the ser 
vice commenced. After some preliminaries, Brother 
Davis asked the people to kneel down, and unite 
with him in prayer to the Lord God of Elijah, to 
send them rain from heaven. The man of God 
pleaded his own cause, and that of the people at the 
mercy-seat, and importuned. No man was sent to 
look toward the sea ; but while they remained on 
their knees in solemn awe, in the presence of God, 
they heard the big rain drops begin to patter on the 
zinc roof of the chapel, and lo, a copious rain, which 
continued all that afternoon and all night. The 
whole region was so saturated with water that the 
river near by became so swollen that the chief and 
his mother could not cross it that night, and hence 
had to remain at the mission- station till the next 
day. That seemed to produce a great impression on 
the minds of the chief, his mother, and the heathen 
party in favour of God and His missionaries, and 
Brother Davis got the name of a great rain-maker; 



277 

but signs, wonders, and even miracles, will not 
change the hearts of sinners, for Komsa lived and 
died a heathen, and her royal son remains an in 
creasing dark and wicked heathen to this day. 

The Butterworth Mission Station was destroyed 
the third time during the Kaffir war of 1851-2, and 
lay waste about ten years. 

About the year 1855, Krielie resorted to a daring 
and desperate plan for forcing his people into an 
exterminating war against the colonists, which 
destroyed thousands of his people, and deprived him 
of about half of his country, including the site of 
Butterworth Station. His plan was to strip his 
people of all their wealth, which consisted of " the 
cattle upon a thousand hills," and thus combine with 
their patriotism, and love of booty, a dire necessity, 
which would precipitate his whole people into the 
colony, " drive the whites into the sea," and seize 
the spoils. 

So taking advantage of their superstitious gulli 
bility, a prophet of renown among them com 
manded that all their cattle should be killed, and 
when all were gone, there would be a resurrection 
of all their cattle, and the cattle of their ancestors, 
greatly improved in size and quality, and countless 
in numbers, and all who would believe the prophet, 
and kill their cattle, should feast on beef all the days 
of their lives, but the disobedient would be turned 
into moths. 

Tens of thousands of cattle were slain. Krielie s 
whole country was desolated and denuded of its 



278 BUTTEft WORTH, 

fine supply of food. The colonists were in great 
alarm, and Sir George Grey was sent as governor, 
specially to meet the pending war emergency. By 
the time he was ready for war, he found Krielie s 
Kaffirs starving by the thousand, and instead of 
pouring into the colony as fierce warriors they came 
as beggars. Sir George wisely sent them supplies, 
and was soon able to dictate terms of peace to the 
haughty warrior chief, without firing a shot. In 
that treaty he got from Krielie all that fine country, 
lying between the " great Kei river/ and the river 
u Gnabakka," which has since been given to the 
Jingoes, as a reward for their unwavering loyalty 
since their deliverance and adoption by the govern 
ment in 1835. It is now known as Fingo-land. 
Butterworth is near the eastern boundary of it, and but 
fifteen miles from Krielie s s great place." The old 
chief, I was told, pleaded hard to be allowed to retain 
his mission-station, but it was thought, as his motives 
in respect to the station were purely selfish, and as 
it might more readily lead to complications with 
the Government, it was best for the colony, and for 
the mission, to keep it out of Krielie s hands alto 
gether. Krielie s people do not now exceed thirty 
thousand. They have no missionary, and the old 
chief, owing to a petty difficulty which he last year 
fomented, at the Butterworth Station, about a pig, 
was forbidden by Captain Cobb to set his foot on the 
west side of the, Gnabakka. 

The Butterwcx "h Mission has been established the 



PREACHING BY A RIVER-SIDE." 279 

fourth time, and now promises to be more flourishing 
than ever before, under Hev. John Longden, who 
commenced operations there about four years ago. 

We were comfortably quartered in the mission- 
house, and Brother and Sister Longden, with good 
fare and good cheer, rendered our sojourn with them 
very pleasant. On Sabbath morning, the 22nd of 
July, I walked round about their little Zion to find 
the most suitable place for open-air preaching, as we 
anticipated that the chapel accommodation for about 
four hundred would be inadequate. We selected a 
beautiful spot, a quarter of a mile distant, on the 
bank of the river, richly carpeted with grass. 

At ten A.M., Charles and I stand before a motley 
crowd of about five hundred natives and a dozen 
whites. To our left is the river, in the rear a 
little cliff or point of rocks, jutting down to the 
water s edge ; to our right a high rocky hill, at our 
feet the tongue or wedge-point of a valley, which 
rapidly widens, and opens the prospect to the mis 
sion-buildings on a high hill beyond; just in the 
rear of us are our European friends, who had come 
over forty miles for this occasion, and the mission- 
family ; just in front are the native women and chil 
dren, next to them, in a circling mass, the native 
men ; to our right and front, perched on the side of 
the hill, are about one hundred wild heathens, painted 
with red ochre, and greased till they glisten in the 
sunlight. Their clothing consists simply of a blan 
ket painted red with the same native dye which 



280 BUTTERWORTH. 

covers their bodies. I greatly feel the embarrassment 
of the situation. I must preach to these believers 
to adjust them to the Holy Spirit s methods, so as 
to " work together with God " effectively in the sal 
vation of sinners, and yet I must arrest the attention 
of the heathen and interest them in our work, or 
they will go away and we shall not get another shot at 
them, and there is scarcely time in one service to 
secure well these two ends, but we go on and com 
bine the two objects as well as we can. All quiet 
and attentive, and a great interest manifestly 
awakened among the mission people. 

" Now we invite all who fully understand the sub 
ject, who feel the burden of their sins, and have 
made up their minds to give themselves to God, and 
receive Jesus as their Saviour, to stand up. Let each 
one think well and act for him or herself. Let no 
one stand simply because another does. Let no one 
be afraid to stand up because of the presence of 
another. As we shall answer to God for ourselves, 
so let us say, Let others do as they will, but as for 
me, I will serve God. 7 " In about a minute we see 
about one hundred on their feet, including half a 
dozen whites. We now invite them to kneel, sur 
render to God, and receive Jesus Christ, whom He. 
hath sent into the world to save sinners. An earnest 
struggle ensues, and a few enter into liberty, and 
witness to the fact in the story of their salvation to 
the missionary, who examines each one personally. 
A.fter a service of three hours we dismiss them, and 



LEARNING WISDOM FROM A ZULU. 281 

invite them to meet us there again at three P.M. 
" Charles/ say I by the way, " the campaign of 
last week at Kamastone, Lesseyton, Queen s Town, 
and Warners, has nearly used us up. We are not 
up to our mark to-day. I don t feel the Spirit s 
unction as I usually do in going into the battle. ?> 
" "No," replies Charles, " your Father sees that your 
body can t bear it. He means to give you an oppor 
tunity to get back your usual strength of body. He 
does not want to work you to death." 

I said in my heart, " Good for my Zulu, many a 
European or American enthusiast might learn lessons 
of wisdom from you/ 

At three P.M. we had about the same audience as 
in the morning. The preaching goes home to their 
hearts with increasing power. Many of the people 
are immigrant Fingoes, from Cape Colony, where they 
have been accustomed to hear the Gospel for years, 
and the station people have long been under the 
instruction of Brother Longden. These heathen 
know nothing about it, or, what is worse, they have 
heard more against the Gospel by the carnal oppo 
sition its glimmer of light upon their minds has 
provoked than they have learned of its power. 
After the sermon we call for seekers, and over a 
hundred go down on their knees, and an earnest 
struggle against the powers of darkness ensues. 
The heathen look very serious, but the most of them 
refuse to yield, a few of them are down among the 
seekers. A much larger number are saved at this 



282 BUTTERWORTH. 

service than at the first. Among the converts who 
report themselves, we see two old heathen men. 
" Charles, what has that old red blanket to say for 
himself?" 

"He says he has been a very great sinner, but 
that he has found Jesus, and Jesus has saved him." 

" What has that other heathen to say about it ? " 

" I have been the greatest scoundrel in the world, 
but the umfundisi says that Jesus came to save the 
very worst sinners, and I have taken Him, and He 
has pardoned my sins, and I feel Him now in my 
heart. " 

Many of our hearers had come twenty miles to 
attend our services. They are not a people to carry 
food with them on so short a journey. They had 
now been with us all day, and were hungry, so we 
began to inquire if there were any " loaves and fishes " 
that we could set before them ? After consultation, 
we announced to the congregation that all who had 
come from a distance, and were hungry, then, or at 
any time during our series of services, should go to 
the missionary, who would give each one a quart of 
"mealies/ Indian corn, daily. Brother Roberts and 
I proposed to bear two-thirds of the expense amount 
ing to a few pounds each, for the mealies thus con 
sumed ; but at the close, when we came to settle, 
Brother Longden would not allow us the privilege 
of helping him. 

My labours with the heathen that day caused me 
to feel keenly my inability to penetrate their hea- 



LEARNING TO MASTER THE KAFFIR MIND. 283 

thenish darkness, and grapple successfully with their 
prejudices and superstitions, from my want of an 
acquaintance with Kaffir life and customs, so I de 
termined, by the help of the Lord, with the best 
sources available, though I should not have time 
during my brief sojourn to master the Kaffir lan 
guage, I would master the Kaffir mind. I at once 
enlisted Charles in the work of studying native 
Kaffirism. At suitable times he got the oldest men 
together and questioned them about the customs and 
faith of their heathen fathers, and wrote down their 
statements ; by this means, and by what we could 
learn from the missionaries and from Kaffir Laws 
and Customs, a book, compiled from the experience 
and testimony of several of the oldest missionaries, 
specially for the benefit of the government, we made 
progress in the acquisition of useful knowledge, 
which could not be obtained in any college in 
Europe, and knowledge that we both turned to good 
account by the help of the Holy Spirit. 

"We had preaching that night in the chapel, and 
a glorious harvest of souls. On Monday, Tues 
day, and Wednesday, we preached in the forenoon 
by the river, and at night in the chapel. On 1 hurs- 
day and Thursday night there was a great marriage 
feast in the neighbourhood, which had been post 
poned several days on account of our meetings, so 
we took that day and night as a season of greatly 
needed rest:. We resumed again on Friday, and 
closed our special series Friday night, and Saturday, 



284 BUTTER WORTH. 

the 28th, travelled nearly fifty miles to Clarkebury 
Mission Station. During our series at Butterworth, 
the missionary examined and recorded the names of 
one hundred and forty-seven converts. 

While at Butterworth a fact transpired illustrating 
the magisterial authority of the missionary, and 
also the apparent necessity for such authority. A 
man on the station had a daughter, who had 
been in the mission- school, for years. It ap 
peared that the father had a tempting offer of 
cattle for his daughter by some heathen man a few 
miles distant, who wanted to buy her, according to 
heathen Kaffir custom, for his wife and slave, 
whether first or fifth wife, we did not learn. The 
father knowing that the laws of the mission-station 
did not allow him to sell his daughter, nor give her 
in marriage, to a polygamist heathen, gave consent 
to the parties that his daughter might go to them to 
plough, and assist in putting in the crop of mealies, 
and several red fellows came accordingly for the 
girl. Brother Longden, however, having learned 
that such a negotiation was pending, promptly met 
the men, and told them to go away and attend to 
their own business, for he would not, on any account, 
lot them have the girl. The fellows were greatly 
disappointed, and hung round some time before they 
would leave. Brother Longden told the father that 
if he meant to sell his daughter to the heathen, he 
must at once leave the station, for he would not 
allow such a man to live on the premises. 



THE GREAT SNAKE-KILLER. 285 

"We shook hands with a distinguished old heathen 
at Butterworth. His fame was based on two adven 
tures of his life. One was, according to the account 
in Kaffraria, that on one occasion when Rev. Wm. 
Shaw was trying to cross a swollen river, the current 
was too strong, and carried him down the stream, 
greatly imperiling his life. This heathen man 
plunged in, and assisted the " umfundisi " in getting 
safely to land. The other was, that in his early life 
he killed a "boa constrictor." That will give un 
dying fame to any heathen Kaffir, as one of the 
greatest men in the nation, indeed, so great that his 
skull is, above all others, selected as the medicine-pot 
of the great chief. If such a distinguished individual, 
however, is allowed to die a natural death, the charm 
is lost, and his skull unfitted for such distinguished 
royal purposes. But the great snake killer, on the 
other hand, must not be surprised and murdered. 
He must yield himself a willing sacrifice, and abide 
in quietness for ten preparatory days, and then be 
murdered decently, according to royal decree. 
Many, I was told, had thus given themselves up to 
die, and be canonized among the most honourable 
" Imishologu/ This old fellow, however, was not as 
yet sufficiently patriotic, nor ambitious of glory for 
that, but chose rather to retain his skull for his own 
personal use, and let old Krielie, his master, get on 
in his medical arrangements as best he could, and 
hence takes good care to keep himself beyond 
Krielie s dominions. 



286 BUTTEll WORTH. 

We were introduced to a much more remarkable 
character, at Butterworth, than the killer of the 
" boa constrictor." 

Brother Longden gave us in substance the follow 
ing history of " Umaduna." He said that some 
months before in visiting some heathen " kraals/ he 
inquired at each one if there were any Christians 
among them. Coming to a kraal containing about 
three hundred souls, he put his question to many in 
different parts of the kraal, and received from all 
the reply, " Yes, there is one Christian in this 
kraal. He s a little one, but he is a wonderful 
man. He has been persecuted, many times beaten, 
and threatened with death, if he did not quit pray 
ing to Christ ; but he prays and sings all the 
more/ 

Mr. Longden was greatly surprised, and pleased 
to learn that such a martyr spirit was shining so 
brightly in a region so dark, and sought diligently 
till he found the wonderful man of whom he had 
heard such things, and to his astonishment, the great 
man turned out to be a naked boy, about twelve 
years old. Upon an acquaintance with him, and 
the further testimony of his heathen neighbours, he 
found that all he had heard about him, and much 
more, was true. Hearing these things, we sought 
an interview with " Umaduna/ for that is his name. 
He had attended our meetings from the first, and I 
had often seen him among the naked Kaffir children 
in my audiences but did not know that I was preach- 



A MARTYR SPIRIT UNDER A SHEEP- SKIN. 287 

ing to such a heroic soldier of Jesus, till the last day 
of our series. That day we sent for the lad to come 
into the mission-house, that we might see and 
learn of him how to suffer for Christ. He hesi 
tated, but after some persuasion consented, and 
came. He was small for a boy of twelve years, and 
had no clothing, except an old sheep- skin over his 
shoulders. Quite black, a serious, but pleasant face ; 
very unassuming, not disposed to talk, but he gave, 
in modest, but firm tones of voice,, prompt, intelligent 
answers to all our questions. The following is the 
substance of what we elicited from him, simply cor 
roborating the facts narrated before by the mis 
sionary : 

I said to him, through my interpreter, 

"Umaduna, how long have you been acquainted 
with Jesus ?" 

" About three years." 

" How did jou learn about Him, and know how to 
come to Him?" 

" I went to preaching at Heald Town, and learned 
about Jesus, and that he wanted the little children 
to come to Him. Then I took Jesus for my Saviour, 
and got all my sins forgiven, and my heart filled 
with the love of God." 

He was not long at Heald Town, but returned to 
his people, and had since emigrated with them to 
Fingo-land. 

" Was your father willing that you should be a 
servant of Jesus Christ ?" 



288 BUTTERWORTH. 

" Nay, he told me that I should not pray to God 
any more, and that I must give Jesus up, or he 
would beat me." 

" What did you say to your father about it ? " 

" I didn t say much, I wouldn t give up Jesus. I 
kept praying to God more and more." 

"What did your father do then?" 

" He beat me a great many times." 

"Well, when he found he could not beat Jesus 
out of you, what did he do next ? " 

" He got a great many boys to come and dance 
round me, and laugh at me, and try to get me to 
dance." 

" And wouldn t you dance ? " 

" No, I just sat down, and would not say anything." 

" What did your father do then ? " 

" He fastened me up in the hut, and said I must 
give up Jesus or he would kill me. He left me in 
the hut all day." 

" And what did you do in there ? " 

" I kept praying, and sticking to Jesus." 

" Did you think your father would kill you ? " 

" Yes, if God would let him. He fastened me in 
the hut many times, and said he would kill me." 

" Umaduna, are you sure you would be willing to 
die for Jesus ? " 

" Oh, yes, if He wants me to." 

" Are you not afraid to die ? " 

" No, I would be glad to die for Jesus, if He wants 
me to." 



A MISSIONARY S ACCOUNT OP THE WORK. 289 



Brother Roberts gave him a copy of the 
Testament in Kaffir, for his use after he shall have 
learned to read, and said he had intended to speak 
some words of encouragement to the boy, but on 
hearing him talk, he found the rustic little Christian 
so far in advance of himself, who had been but a few 
months in the way, that he could not say anything 
to him. 

The subsequent progress of the work in Butter- 
worth is indicated by an extract from a letter from 
the missionary, dated August 2nd. 

I start this letter on your track, as I know it will 
interest you to hear that the revival of God s work, so 
delightfully begun on the occasion of your recent visit to 
Butterworth, is still going on. The evening of the day you 
left we had nearly twenty penitents ; about the same num 
ber at mid-day prayer-meeting on Sunday, and twenty at 
the prayer-meeting following the afternoon preaching. We 
have had the same number, or more, at every public service 
since. Conversions have taken place, more or less, at every 
service. 

The larger children of our schools, who remained appa 
rently indifferent for awhile, have at last begun to seek the 
Lord, and literally roar in the disquietude of their souls. 
Those backsliders of whom I spoke to you, who seemed 
determined not to yield, have at last given way ; and last 
night made the chapel ring with the backsliders cry for 
mercy. 

Six or eight fresh ones set out from the City of Destruc 
tion last evening, and so on, we trust, the good work will! 
spread, until 

All shall catch the flame, 
All partake the glorious bliss. 

U 



290 BUTTERWORTII. IGETJWA 

Most of the new members have been got into classes, 
both here, and in what I may call the country societies. 

On looking over my list, I find that a large number of 
our members have been converted, or re-converted, and the 
whole society has been much stirred up. We rejoiced 
greatly on hearing of your success at Clarkebury, and 
thought it would be so. 

On Saturday the 28th of July we travelled nearly 
fifty miles from Butter worth to Clarkebury, our next 
field of labour. 






CHAPTER XIX, i 

CLARKEBURY (UMGWALl). 

" THE fifth mission-station established by our society 
in Kaffraria," says the old pioneer, Kev. "W. Shaw, 
" was in the country of the Abatembu, under the 
great chief Vossanie. 

" My first visit to this chief was during the 
journey of observation, which I performed in 
April, 1825. 

" We reached the chief s kraal on the 9th of that 
month, and on the next day we had an interview 
with him, when, after we had submitted to the usual 
cross-examination, and afforded a full explanation of 
the objects contemplated in the establishment of a 
mission, Vossanie, in the presence of his counsellors 
and chieftains, promised that if a missionary came 
to them, they would receive him kindly, and give 
him land on which he might form a station. It was 
not till April, 1830, that we were enabled to com 
mence this mission. 

" The chief faithfully kept his word, and received 
Rev. Mr. Haddy," our first missionary there, " with 
evident satisfaction, giving him leave to search the 



292 CLARKEBTJRY. TJMGWALI. 

country to find a suitable site for the proposed 
station." This mission -station was called Clarkebury, 
in honour of Dr. Adam Clarke. 

The only Europeans killed by natives in connec 
tion with our KafFrarian missions lost their lives in 
connection with this station. The first was Mr. 
Eawlins, an assistant, who was killed by a horde of 
marauders, not far from the station. The other was 
the Rev. J. S. Thomas, a thorough Kaffir scholar, 
an energetic brave missionary. In 1856, he had 
just removed from Clarkebury to a more suitable 
place, where he designed to establish the head 
quarters of that mission. Their cattle kraal was 
attacked at night by a band of marauders, which 
brought on a general conflict between them and the 
mission people. The missionary sprang out of his 
bed, and rushing into the midst of the fight to try 
to command order, was pierced with an " assagay," 
from the hands of one of the attacking party. On 
the death of this noble missionary, the removal of 
the mission site was abandoned. It should be said 
to the credit of the Abatembu nation, that they, as a 
people, had nothing to do with the assassination of 
those good men, but deeply regretted their fall, 
which was by the murderous hands of a band of 
robbers. The missionaries, however, have suffered 
endless petty annoyances from the heathen chiefs 
and people. The following story told me by Kev. 
W. J. Davis may serve as an illustration of this : 

"When I was stationed at Clarkebury, in 1832, 



" DAVIS, WE HAVE COME FOR THAT POT. 293 

the Tambookie* Chief, Yadana/ coveted a pot we 
daily used in our cooking. He came and begged nie 
every day for that pot for a long time. I gave him 
many presents, but could not spare the pot, and 
positively refused to give it up. 

" Finally, the chief said, < Davis, I ll have that 
pot! The next day Yadana came with thirty of 
his warriors, all armed with assagays a kind of jave 
lin, their principal war weapon. 

" They stood in defiant array before me, and the 
chief said, Davis, we have come for that pot/ 

" We need the pot/ I replied, for cooking our 
food, and as I told you before, I won t give it to you/ 

" You must give it to us, or well take it/ 

" With thirty armed warriors, against one un 
armed missionary, you have the power .to take it, but 
if that is the way you are going to treat your mis 
sionary, just give me a safe passage out of your 
country, and I ll leave you/ 

" Davis, are you not afraid of us ? demanded the 
chief, sharply. 

" No, Fm not afraid of you. I know you can kill 
me, but if I had been afraid to die I never would 
have come among such a set of savages as you 
are/ 

" Davis/ repeated the chief sternly, are you not 
afraid to die? 

" No ! If you kill me I have a home in heaven, 

* Rev. Wm. Shaw calls this tribe Amatembu, or Tembookies 
but they are now generally called " Tambookies." 



294 CLARKET5UHY. UMGWALI. 

where the wicked cease from troubling, and the 
weary are at rest. 

" Then, turning to his men, the chief said, Well, 
this is a strange thing. Here s a man who is not 
afraid to die, and we will have to let him keep his 
pot. 

" When the chief was turning to go away, he said, 
Davis, I love you less now than I did before, but 
I fear you more." 

The chief never gave his missionary any further 
trouble about his pot, but showed greater respoct to 
him than ever before. 

On our journey from Butterworth to Clarkebury, 
one of our cart-horses got sick, and was scarcely able 
to travel, causing us much delay, so that we did not 
arrive at Clarkebury till nine o clock at night, and 
having no moon we had to travel a couple of hours 
more by faith than by sight. 

Eev. Edwin Gedye met us a little way from the 
station, and piloted us through the dark to the 
mission-house, where we were welcomed and kindly 
entertained by the missionary Eev. Peter Har graves, 
and his truly missionary wife, who is a native of 
Kaffraria, daughter of a pioneer missionary, Eev. 
W. J. Davis. Eev. Brother Gedye was the mission 
ary from Shawbury mission station, but had with 
his family recently fled to Clarkebury on account of 
fearfully complicated war-troubles at Shawbury. 

They have capacious and comfortable mission build 
ings, and a beautiful garden containing fine oranges, 



THE GHEAT CHIEF NGANGELIZWE. 295 

and other varieties of fruit-trees, at Clarkebury, and 
a chapel to seat about five hundred persons. 

My purpose was to remain there only till Wednes 
day morning, but Brother Hargraves said, that he 
had sent a messenger to Ngangelizwe, the great 
chief of the Tambookie nation, inviting him and his 
counsellors to attend our services, and that the 
chief had returned answer that they could not 
be with us at the commencement, but would come 
on Wednesday. So we consented to stay at any-rate 
till after Wednesday. On Sabbath morning, the 29th 
of July, we had the chapel crowded, Brother Har 
graves read Mr. Wesley s abridgment of the Episcopal 
service, and his Kaffir audience repeated their parts 
of the service very distinctly. 

We preached to the believers in the morning, 
and, without a prayer-meeting, requested them to 
retire, and spend as much time as possible in self- 
examination and prayer, and come together again at 
three P.M. A prayer-meeting followed the afternoon 
preaching, and also the preaching in the evening, 
and on each occasion, beside a gracious work amongst 
believers, we had probably one hundred and fifty 
penitents. 

On Monday we had preaching and prayer-meeting 
both mid- day and evening. The same on Tuesday, 
and many souls were saved at each service. Among 
the converts were seven Europeans Mr. Crouch, an 
old colonist who had come into Kaffraria with my 
friend Mr. Joseph Walker, a merchant of Xing 



296 CLAKKEBURY. UMGWALI. 



, 



William s Town, on commercial business, Mr. Hen 
B. Warner, his wife, and four others. Henry B. 
is the son of the British resident for Kaffraria, 
J. C. Warner, Esq. Clarkebury was the place of 
Henry s birth, while his father was stationed there 
as a missionary, and having been brought up in the 
Kaffir mission-field, he is as perfectly familiar with 
the Kaffir language as a native Kaffir. Pie holds the 
office of magistrate in Fingo-land, and is the acting 
chief of a thousand natives. JSTow at the place of 
his birth he was " born again," and at once entered 
actively into the work, labouring personally, and ex 
horting publicly in the Kaffir language. He has 
gone rapidly forward in a career of increasing use 
fulness ever since, and is now preaching the Gospel. 
In a letter from Rev. E. J. Barrett, dated October 
16th, he says, " Mr. H. B. Warner, a week or two 
ago, preached at Woodhouse Forest, and the Lord 
was working in the hearts of the people. If any 
one can move the Kaffir mind, I think he will." 

Brother Hargraves, getting a hint that the great 
chief did not wish to come to our meetings at all, 
felt very anxious about it, and sent a messenger invit 
ing him again, and proposing that if he preferred it, 
we would go to his " Great Place " and preach there. 
That led to a great council of the chief and his ama- 
pakati, who debated the question two days, and finally 
returned answer that the chief and his counsellors 
would go to Clarkebury on Thursday. The chief s 



POLITICAL LEAGUE AGAINST CHRIST. 297 

position is peculiarly unfavourable to the success of 
the Gospel with him, or any of his councillors and 
chiefs. He had been to school a year and a-half at 
the mission- station, under Brother Hargraves, and 
became greatly concerned about his soul, and was 
" almost persuaded to be a Christian ;" but when the 
time came for him to take the supreme chieftainship 
of his nation, the counsellors and chiefs, who had 
exhibited great jealousy and fear all the time he lived 
at the station lest the young chief should embrace 
Christ, demanded his formal renunciation of Chris 
tianity, or they would repudiate him, and support his 
younger brother. If he had been a Christian, he 
would have stated, and maintained his position on the 
Lord s side, and accepted the ultimate decisions of 
Providence, but he was not fully decided for God. He 
hesitated some time before he gave his final answer. 
I was told by Mr. J. C. Warner, and by the mis 
sionary, that the young chief went alone and wept, 
and it was hoped he would apply to God and get 
strength to stand up for Christ at all hazards ; but, 
in a fit of weeping disappointment, he angrily 
clenched his fists, and said, " They are determined to 
have a heathen chief to rule over them, and Til let 
them feel the power of a heathen chief/ It is 
believed that he will, if he lives long, take vengeance 
on the leading conspirators against Christ, who 
forced such terms upon him. He threw an assagay 
through the arm of one of them just before our visit. 



298 CLAHKEBU11Y. UMGWALI. 

Another case had just occurred still more peculiar 
and remarkable, illustrating the spirit of this 
chief : 

Some of his leading counsellors brought a man 
who owned a vast herd of cattle before the chief, 
under a charge of trying to take the chiefs life by 
witchcraft. The man had been duly " smelled out/ 
and convicted by the priest or doctor. According to 
all precedent of Kaffir law and usage, the accused 
would have been tortured and killed, and all his 
cattle confiscated and driven into the chiei s kraal. 
But in the face of hoary -headed usage, and the 
superstitious fear and cupidity which are so potent 
in such cases, Ngangelizwe turned to the accused, 
who stood in expectation of a horrible death, and 
said to him, " Go home, and sit down in peace, and 
take all your cattle, I don t want them." Then 
turning to his counsellor-plaintiffs in the case, he 
said, sharply, " Go home, and attend to your own 
business." 

There is, therefore, a possibility that the coun 
sellors and chiefs may be so filled wit! their ways, 
" sowing to the wind, and reaping the whirlwind," 
that the sad results of their wickedness may operate 
as a warning, and be employed by an overruling 
Providence to lead the nation nearer to God ; but be 
that as it may, the present attitude of the chief, and 
the counsellors and chiefs who are engaged with him 
in this combination, is a serious bar to the progress of 
the Gospel among them, for every party requiring 



WAITING FOB, THE GEE AT CHIEFS. 209 

the chief to renounce Christ, he thus committed him 
self in a political compact against Christ. We had 
ample proofs of that fact, as my narrative will show. 

On Thursday morning, the day appointed for the 
chief to come with his counsellors to our services, a 
messenger arrived, according to Kaffir custom, to 
announce the important fact that, " I^gangelizwe is 
in the path." 

He had but fifteen miles to travel from the " Great 
Place " to Clarkebury, and we thought he might 
arrive by mid^day, but the three missionaries, Revs. 
Hargraves, Gedye, and Raynor, from Morley, 
thought, according to the ordinary ceremony and 
delay by the way, they might require the whole day 
for the journey. 

About three p. M. his vanguard appeared on the 
high hill, half-a-mile east of the station, and took 
their stand. Half-an-hour later, another party came 
in sight and halted in like manner. It was then 
nearly an hour more before the great chief, with the 
main body of the royal cortege, appeared. The 
cavalry of the train, consisting of about forty coun 
sellors, fell into line, single file, the chief being about 
the middle ; and all came down the hill at a full 
gallop. Arriving, they at once dismounted, but all 
remained outside the mission-yard with the horses, 
except the chief and his brother Usiqukati, who came 
directly in. Brother Hargraves met, and shook 
hands with them at the gate, and introduced them 
to me and my party. All the ceremony required oil 



300 CLARKEBURY. UMGWALI. 

our part, I learned, was simply to pronounce the 
name of the chief, and shake hands, and so with his 
brother. Having previously trained our tongues 
to a little familiarity with their names, we had no 
difficulty in meeting the requirements of the occasion. 
A sufficient number of huts had been vacated for 
the accommodation of the chief and his party, as long 
as they might desire to stay. 

The chiefs minor name was " Qeya," but accordin 
to custom, graduating to manhood and to his chieftain 
ship, he got a new characteristic name, and being 
considered, even by disinterested parties, one of 
the greatest chiefs in Kaffraria, and by themselves 
the greatest among men, they gave him the name 
of " Ngangelizwe/ 1 * which means, " Big as the 
world." 

His brother s name is " Usiqukati," which means 
<c strength/ Though not so tall as the paramount 
chief, he has a breadth and depth of chest and develop 
ment of muscle, indicating great strength of body, 
and a physiognomy bespeaking a strength of charac 
ter and will greatly superior to that of his " big " 
brother. I said to the missionaries, that I believed as 
a Christian " Usiqukati " would be firm to martyr 
dom, but as a heathen chief he was capable of becom 
ing as Hazael of Syria, or as Chaka, the Zulu. They 
replied that I had just expressed their own previous 
opinion in regard to him. 

Ngangelizwe has a very extensive, rich, grassy, 
well-watered, undulating, beautiful country, His 



PREACHING TO THE CHIEF AND HIS COUNSELLORS. 301 

tribe numbers about one hundred thousand souls, of 
whom fifteen or twenty thousand are warriors. The 
chief is nearly six feet in height, straight, well- 
proportioned, of the copper Kaffir complexion, in 
stead of black, a smooth, pleasant countenance, a 
sweet, charming voice, which I at once remembered 
was exactly like that of his brother " Matanzima," 
before mentioned, as being almost persuaded to be a 
Christian at " Woodhouse Forest." The two chiefs 
took tea with us in the mission-house, while the 
" Amapakati " and their attendants went to the huts 
provided for them. 

The chiefs were well-dressed in English costume, 
but their men had each simply a "kaross" of dressed 
skin or a red blanket. 

Soon we are all in the chapel for the evening ser 
vice, Charles and I stand side by side in the altar; to our 
ight and left sit the missionaries, Hargraves, Gedye, 
and Baynor; in the front seats before the altar- 
railings sit the great chief and his brother, and on 
the same seats in front about a dozen Europeans, 
including several British soldiers from Fingo-land. 
Then we see next the body of the chapel half way 
down, filled with these heathen counsellors and 
attendants, and a lot of red heathen from Fingo- 
land, making, perhaps, one hundred and fifty of this 
class ; then, in the rear, and at all the doors and 
windows outside, are the regular worshippers to 
whom we have been preaching twice per day for 
four days. 



CLAIIKEBUUY. UMGWALT. 

Text : the third and fourth verses of the eighth 
chapter of Romans. We have learned to apply the 
moral law to Kaffir lives and Kaffir hearts, and 
to proclaim to heathen minds the Gospel tidings, 
proffering in Christ a perfect, present, available 
supply for every demand of their souls, and the 
personal Holy Spirit ever waiting to make the saving 
application to the hearts of all who will consent 
" to walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh." 
\Ye observe profound attention and great apparent 
concern among our heathen hearers. They have 
been debating the cause for several days whether 
or not they would give us a hearing, have refused 
to allow us to go to "the Great Place" to preach, 
and have come here with the avowed determination 
not to submit to Gospel requirements, but the Holy 
Spirit is evidently laying the law to their hearts, 
and revealing to their dark minds the light that 
leads to life, if they will but " walk in the light 
while they have it." A mighty contest between the 
powers of heaven and hell is pending. This heathen 
king, his counsellors, and men, every one of them, 
consent to the laws of God that they are good, and 
that God s Gospel terms are reasonable and right, 
but there is that other " law in their members," the 
gravitating law of their carnal nature with its deep 
downward channels of sinful habit, and its accursed 
ramifications of heathenish superstitions and customs, 
all combining to strengthen their avowed political 
league against Christ, and all these complications of 



WAKXER S APPEAL. 303 

iniquity employed as leverage against their perish 
ing souls worked by the " principalities and powers" 
of hell. Is it possible to storm these strongholds cf 
Satan and rescue these heathen captives at a single 
service ? Will they even tarry for the prayer- 
meeting ? 

"VVe close the preaching service and dismiss the 
congregation, to give an opportunity for all to leave 
who do not prefer to remain for the after- service. 
Not one stirs to get out. We call for the seekers to 
kneel before God, surrender to Him, and accept 
Christ. Many of our former hearers " fall down on 
their faces and worship God," and soon " report " 
from a blessed experience of pardon that " God is in 
them of a truth." 

The chief and his people sit, and gaze, and won 
der. During the prayer-meeting Brother Henry B. 
Warner stands up near the window to my right, and 
by his commanding appearance, good voice, and elo 
quent euphonious ring of the Kaffir language, at 
once arrests the attention of the whole assembly, 
and, addressing the chief and his counsellors, tells 
them the story of his own conversion to God they 
all knew him well from of old, and knew what a 
sinner he had been, and now learned the details of 
God s saving mercy to him, demonstrating the truth 
of the Gospel news they had heard that night fol 
lowed by an earnest exhortation to them to seek 
God without a moment s delay. Then we all kneel 
down in solemn silent prayer. Nothing is heard 



304 CLARKEBURY. UMGWALI. 

now but the suppressed sighs and sobs of wounded 
souls in the different parts of the house, pierced with 
the Spirit s "two-edged sword." 

The presence of God the Holy Spirit, moving per 
ceptively among the prostrate mass of men before 
us, becomes awfully sublime beyond description. The 
salvation of these heathens now hangs in the scales 
of a poised beam; many of us feel that the Spirit 
hath clearly offered to them the gift of eternal 
life in Christ. They are almost persuaded. They 
have reached a crisis. Let any one of these old 
counsellors avowedly take a decided stand for God, 
and the whole of them will follow his example. 
Unable to get beyond that point, we close the service 
at eleven P.M., and all silently retire from the field to 
come up to the work again in the morning. 

Early the next day Brother Warner had a long 
talk with Ngangelizwe s counsellors. They admitted 
to him that what they had heard at the service the 
night before was true, and that they were conscious 
of an extraordinary influence on their minds, and 
that they believed their chief wanted to accept 
Christ ; but said they, " Ngangelizwe cannot act 
alone, for he is bound by solemn promise not to be a 
Christian, and none of us can act alone, because we 
exacted that promise from him, and we are bound in 
honour to stand to our own position. AVe cannot go 
and do ourselves what we have bound the chief not 
to do." One of them proposed, and nearly all the 
rest concurred, that they should call a great council 



PROPOSITION TO UNITE CHURCH AND STATE. o(Ji> 

,of all the chiefs and leading men of the nation, and 
debate the cause, and see if they will consent to 
abandon their old customs, and adopt the religion of 
Christ as the religion of their nation. Brother "Warner 
came at once to me with their proposition to inquire 
whether I thought we had better entertain it. 

I replied, " It may be a trick of Satan to keep 
some of them from a personal acceptance of Christ 
to-day ; if not a device of the evil one, but, as I hope, 
a sincere expression of new desire kindled in their 
hearts by the awakening Spirit, it is a proposition 
that we cannot turn to account, as we will be leaving 
to-morrow, and, unless a much larger number of the 
counsellors and chiefs of the nation were brought under 
the awakening power of the Spirit than we have here, 
it would be hazardous to submit such a question to a 
national council, as they would be sure, by majority, 
to decide against Christianity, and thus lengthen and 
strengthen the wicked alliance already formed against 
it. Such a proposition, however, originating with 
the Amapakati should be kindly entertained, and 
the spirit prompting it encouraged, but action in 
that direction now would be premature. We must 
urge them to accept Christ to-day, each one for him 
self, and take the consequences." That day we had 
the chiefs and councillors in chapel in the same 
order as the night before. We preached from St. 
Luke s abstract of St. Paul s preaching to a heathen 
audience on " Mar s Hill," on the " Unknown God/ 
We traced the parallel between the moral condition 



306 CLA.RKEBURY UMGWALT. 

and superstitious worship of the literary heathen of- 
Athens, and the illiterate heathen Tambookies. We 
have clear indications in Kaffir traditions, sacrifices, 
and devotions, of the struggle of their moral nature to 
feel after the " Unknown God," and to find a supply 
for the conscious woes and wants of their souls. 
Having dug down effectually into the regions of their 
beliefs and conscious experiences, and having brought 
out their admitted facts demonstrating the truth of 
Eible delineations of human corruption, guilt, and 
bondage, and their vain efforts, by their sacrifices 
and sufferings, to atone for their sins, or give "rest 
for their souls/ 7 we declared to them the " Unknown 
God," and His glorious provision of mercy for them 
in Christ. "We then pressed home the fact, that God 
" now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." 
Illustrating the work of repentance, wrought by the 
Holy Spirit in the hearts of sinners, resulting in 
their acceptance of Christ, I gave, among other ex 
amples, the cases of Thackenbau, King of Fiji, 
and of George the Third, King of the Friendly 
Islands. I showed that their complications in the 
sin of polygamy, and all forms of heathenism, were 
quite as bad as anything in Kaffirland, but that 
yielding to the Spirit they had triumphed, and had 
become Christians. I gave them the sto^ about 
King George, as given me by the Apostle Peter 
that old apostle to the Friendly and Navigators 
Islands, Rev. Peter Turner. When their first chapel 
Was opened, and the king came in and saw the 



KING GEOIIGE AND HIS PULPIT. 07 

preacher in the pulpit a man higher up than him 
self he was displeased. But instead of making any 
trouble about it, he had a pulpit built for himself the 
next week in the opposite end of the chapel, a few 
inches higher than the minister s pulpit. When the 
king saw the missionary ascend to his pulpit, he 
quietly went up, and seated himself in his pulpit. 

After awhile the missionary and his leading men 
united together daily to read God s book of instruc 
tions to see how they were to proceed in their work, 
and prayed daily for the Holy Ghost to come down 
and " abide with them/ and through their agency 
do His mighty work of saving the king and his 
people. After continuing thus to wait "with one 
accord }} for many days, the Holy Ghost came in 
mighty power. 

The news ran all over the island, that the Holy 
Ghost had come, and was waiting to lead them to 
Jesus, and save their souls. The people flocked 
together from every direction, and while they listened 
to the words of God from His Book, " they were 
pricked in their hearts/ and many cried out in 
the agony of their souls, and were so affected by 
the awakening power of the Spirit, that to the 
number of from two to three hundred at one time 
they lay apparently dead for hours, but always came 
up rejoicing, and praising God for His great salvation. 

The king himself was awakened, and came down 
from his high pulpit, and sat in the dust. His 
proud heart yielded to the Spirit s power. Still it 



308 CLARKEBURY UMGWALT. 

did not give way all at once. He told the missionary 
lie wanted to give up his sins, and seek God, but did 
not want to bow down with his common people, and 
asked the missionary to allow him to pray behind 
the altar-screen, which was a net-work of young 
bamboo rods, and would conceal him from the eyes 
of his people. 

Brother Turner said, " Yes, King George, you may 
kneel down wherever you like, and give your heart 
to God/ The .king went behind the screen and 
fell down on his face and cried to God to have mercy 
on his poor soul. He is a man six feet four inches 
high, and rolling in an agony of soul he kicked 
down the screen and lay full length before his 
people, and cared for nothing but how he might save 
his soul. 

His pride was broken, and he fully felt the burden 
of his sins, but got no relief till after he went home 
that night. About midnight, he gave his wicked 
heart to God, and received Jesus, and got all his 
sins forgiven, and received a new heart. He wrote 
a letter to Brother Turner that night, telling him 
that he had found Jesus, and that his soul was happy. 
Some days after, he had a great many of his people 
together, and told them that he had embraced Christ, 
and was happy, and said to them, " Do you see that 
post ? " pointing to a post of the chapel building, 
" now, just as certain as you know that you see that 
post, just so certainly I know that God, for Christ s 
sake, has pardoned my sins, and made me his child/ 






AN ILLUSTRATION APPLIED. 309 

" Many wicked people said," I continued, " as 
such will say about Ngangelizwe, that if King 
George embraced Christ, he would lose his king 
dom, just as though the great God of heaven and 
earth, to whom all power belongs, could not, or 
would not, maintain the rightful authority of a ruler, 
because such ruler became loyal to God, his Divine 
Sovereign. Did King George lose his kingdom 
by becoming a Christian ? Nay, many who were 
not his people have come under his authority 
because he was a Christian, and he became a 
greater king than ever before; he also became 
a preacher, and is employed every Sabbath in 
preaching Jesus to his people. A man forfeits no 
rights by accepting Christ as his Saviour, but he 
cannot accept Christ until he consents to give up 
all his sins, and submit that Christ shall take from 
him, or return to him, anything and everything he 
holds dear. A man who would not, if necessary, 
give up a kingdom to receive Christ, will, for the 
sake of a little bit of authority, which he can hold 
but a few years at most, reject Christ, and perish ! " 

We explain, in simplicity, the duty of repent 
ance, and an intelligent acceptance of Christ by 
faith in God s own record concerning Him, and th& 
Spirit s witness and renewing work, demonstrat 
ing the truth of the Gospel, and the saving power of 
Jesus. At the c,cse of the sermon, we proceed as 
usual with the prayer-meeting. A large number of 
seekers come forward, and a similar struggle to that 



310 CLARKEBURY UMGWALI. 

of last niglit, between the powers of light and dark 
ness, ensues. Ngangelizwe shows great concern ; his 
brother is evidently in an agony of awakening ; some 
counsellors seem in great distress ; others of them, by 
their looks, and a scoffing display of their great teeth, 
are using their influence against the work. One 
fellow, with a large cow-skin "kaross" over his 
shoulders, is " a child of the devil/ an " enemy of 
all righteousness," as full of all subtilty and mis 
chief as Elymas the sorcerer. 

In the midst of the prayer-meeting, Charles rises 
from his knees, and stands within arm s length of 
the chief and his brother, and exhorts them person 
ally for half an hour. You see at once that my 
Zulu is master of the difficult situation. The natural 
gracefulness and perfection . of his action, and the 
power of his logic, told manifestly on the trembling 
Felix before him. The missionaries, and others who 
understood the Kaffir, said afterwards that they 
never heard such a display of Kaffir oratory in all 
their lives. He explained to jSTgangelizwe that " the 
powers that be are of God/ and hence it was for 
God, and not a lot of wicked counsellors, to put down 
one ruler and set up another, and that a man who 
will reject the counsel of God and follow the counsel 
of wicked men, shall as certainly come to grief as 
that the righteous God rules in the heavens. 

" Kobi and Pato," continued Charles, " were great 
thiefs. Kama, their brother, was a boy, and had no 



PAMLA S LAST APPEAL TO THE CHIEFS. 311 

people. These three chiefs had the offer of Christ, 
Kama was the only one that accepted Him ; Kobi 
and Pato rejected Christ, and called Kama a fool, and 
said he would be a scabby goat, and never have any 
people. Their wicked counsellors told them, if they 
received Christ they would lose all their people, all 
their cattle, and have nothing, like poor Kama ; but 
what was the result ? God gave them up to follow 
their wicked counsellors, who advised them to go to 
war with the English. Kobi died a miserable refu 
gee, and got the burial of a dog. Pato has spent 
many miserable years a prisoner on Kobin Island. 
Kama remained true to God, and kept out of the war 
against the English, and now all the people of the 
Amaxosa nation, once ruled by Kobi, anu Pato belong 
to Kama, who is going down to his grave in honour 
able old age, in the midst of peace and plenty, full 
of a glorious hope of a blessed home in heaven. More 
than one thousand of his people have accepted Christ, 
and all of them abide in the peaceable possession of 
their homes, under the protection of the British 
Government." This but indicates the range of 
Charles s inimitable discourse to Ngangelizwe, and 
he appealed most solemnly to Usiqukati to submit to 
God and receive Christ, whatever the chief and his 
counsellors might do. 

The ground of Charles special appeal to Ngange- 
lizwe s brother was that, next to Ngangelizwe, he 
was the royal heir to the supreme chieftainship of 






312 CLARKEBURY UAIGYVALI. 

the nation, and the rival that the people intended to 
promote, instead of his older brother, if ^Ngangelizwe 
had refused to remain a heathen. The illustrative 
points of his speech to Usiqukati were as follows, 
having previously expended on him the power of the 
highest moral motives, he now mixed them with 
political arguments with two edges, to cut both 
chiefs at the same time : 

" Now Usiqukati," said Charles, "if Ngangelizwe rejects 
Christ, and remains in his sins, you take my advice, just 
surrender yourself to God, as you know His Holy Spirit is 
now telling you to do in your heart, and receive Jesus 
Christ as your Saviour, and you will not only be saved from 
your sins, but you will take away the crown from Ngan 
gelizwe while he is asleep. If you become a child of God, 
you are sure to become the greater chief. God is supreme, 
above all kings, and if you become a child of God, and 
Ngangelizwe remains a child of the devil, God will be sure 
to give you his state, as the great chief of the Tambookies. 

" Be wise now, like old Kama, who first took the word 
of the great God, and after that became the chief of 
the Amaxosa nation, while his ruling brothers were cast 
down to destruction. Be wise, like King David, who took 
the Word of God first, when Saul, his father-in-law, was 
the great king of Israel ; but Saul, like Ngangelizwe, re 
fused God, while David remained true to God, and became 
the great chief of that mighty nation, and Saul came to a 
miserable end. Be wise, young man, like King Solomon, 
who was the wisest man in the world, and who took the 
Lord God of his father David for his God, and became the 
greatest king of Israel after his father s death. Be wise, 
Usiqukati, like the white men, who love God, and who, in 



THE CHIEF S SUDDEN DEPARTURE. 813 

spite of the bad men among them, have become the greatest 
people in the world, and the head of us all." Then turning 
to Ngangelizwe, he said, "I see that your younger brother 
is ready to take your State if you refuse ; if you accept 
Christ, you will retain it; but if you reject, and he accepts 
Christ, he will be sure of your crown." 

Our time for such, a work was too short. I felt 
sure that they could not stand many such, shocks of 
awakening truth, applied by the Spirit s power, as 
it was on the two occasions we had them before 
us. Ngangelizwe afterwards shook hands with 
Charles, and they had a friendly private interview. 
The political league seemed to be the principal 
barrier. 

Ngangelizwe said he would stay and hear us again 
that evening ; but about sunset a man came dashing 
down the hill at full speed, his horse in a foam 
of perspiration and panting for breath, and an 
nounced that one of ISTgangelizwe s children was 
dying, and that the chief must return to the " Great 
Place " at once. 

The chief said he was very sorry to leave, but 
that he was obliged to go. We had a private talk 
to him on his peculiar embarrassments and duties, 
and on our plan of enlarging the range of mission- 
work in his nation, having the station simply as the 
head, but regular preaching in all the principal 
centres of population, and to have his people who 
accept Christ not to leave their former homes and 
come to the mission- station to live, but to remain 



CLARKEBUKY UMGWALI. 

and let their light shine in the kraals to which they 
belong. I learned, some weeks afterwards, that 
Ngangelizwe invited one of the Local Preachers to 
preach at his Great Place, and after he had preached, 
told him to come every Sunday and preach to him, 
for he wanted " to have preaching at his place what 
ever the Amapakati might say." The missionaries 
believed that all that ado about the dying child was 
got up by some of those wicked counsellors to 
hurry ISTgangelizwe away for fear he would that night 
become a Christian. The extraordinary unction of 
the Holy Spirit attending His truth on those two 
occasions leads me to believe that much greater 
results than were manifested at the time will "be seen 
after many days/ Having thus lost the heathen 
portion of our audience, instead of preaching that 
night as we intended, we had a fellowship-meeting. 
Up to that period of our series of services, 185 
persons, on a personal examination, had professed 
to have obtained the pardon of their sins. About 
seventy, principally the young converts, spoke at 
our fellowship-meeting that night. I sat beside 
Brother William Davis, who interpreted their talk 
to me. It was marvellously interesting; I can give 
but a few specimens, and they are as weak as water 
compared with their native Kaffir originals, accom 
panied by graceful action, and tears, and the peculiar 
idiomatic force of their language. A woman said, 
" I have for a long time been a member of the 
Church according to the flesh, but now I am a 



A MEMBEU OF THE CHURCH ACCORDING TO THE FLESH. 315 

member of the Church according to the Spirit. Last 
Sunday in this chapel the light of God shone into 
my heart, and showed me my sins. I was stricken 
down by the power of His Spirit, but I cried to God, 
and received Jesus Christ, and He lifted me up, 
and made me His child." Another said, " My father 
was a doctor, and while he lived I thought there 
was no danger of my dying, so I gave no attention 
to my soul. But my father died, and then I felt 
that death was very near to me, and that I was not 
ready to die, so I tried to get ready to die, but I never 
saw what a wretched sinner I was till last Sunday ; 
then I cried to God, and took Jesus as my Saviour ! My 
soul is happy, and I am not afraid to die now ! My 
poor father is dead, but Jesus is my doctor now, and 
He will never die ! " Another said, " My father 
was a good man, and died happy in the Lord. When 
he was dying he called his children round him, and 
said, I have done all I could, my children, to take 
care of you, and bring you up to walk in the right way. 
Now I am going to leave you, and your mother has 
gone before me. Now, my dear children, my last 
words to you are, that you give your hearts to God, 
and take Him as your Father, for He will never die. 
We all told our father that we would, and ever since 
that I have been praying to God, but never found 
Jesus as my Saviour, till last Monday night, in this 
chapel. Now I know that Jesus is my Saviour, and 
that God, who will never die, is my Father." A man 
stood up and said, " I always hated the mission- 



316 CLARXEBURY UMGWALI. 

stations, and I hated all the people who went to 
them. Often when I have seen them going to 
chapel, I got so angry, I wanted to kill them. But 
I heard that Isikunisivutayo was coming and I came 
to see what was to be done. I stood outside the 
chapel last Sunday, and laughed and mocked. On 
Monday night I came in, and Isikunisivutayo set me 
on fire, and I felt that I was sinking into hell, I 
left as quick as I could, and started home, but my 
sins were such a load on me I could not run, but 
fell down, and thought I was going to die. The 
next morning I felt very glad that I was not in hell. 
I came to the meeting that day and received Jesus, 
and now my soul is full of glory." 

" Isikunisivutayo means a burning fire-stick or 
torch, used by the Kaffirs for burning the dry grass. 
In the fall, the whole country is covered with a thick 
growth of brown grass, from one to two feet in 
height. As spring approaches, to get the full benefit 
of the new crop for their cattle, they take their 
burning fire- sticks and soon set a thousand hills in 
a blaze, spreading and sweeping in every direction to 
prepare the way for the new harvest of grass. It is 
common with the Kaffirs to give every distinguished 
stranger some characteristic name, by which, instead 
of his real name, he is known among them. 

I was told beforehand that I would get a new 
name, and there were not a few European conjec 
tures as to what it should be. Some thought it 
would be " Longbeard," which bears no comparison 



317 

to the appreciative, poetic, descriptive name which 
the Kaffirs gave me, " The Burning Fire-Stick/ 
which the Lord was using to set the whole country 
in a blaze, burn up all their old dead works, and 
prepare the way for spiritual life, verdure, and 
plenty. Among the converted heathen at that fel 
lowship-meeting, one old man arose, threw his kaross 
gracefully across his breast, and over his left 
shoulder, and told a marvellous story about his 
heathenish prejudices against the mission-stations 
and the missionaries. " My heart," said he, " was 
as tough as the hide of a rhinoceros, but last night 
the Spirit s sword cut right through it, and let in the 
light of God. I received Jesus Christ, and He gave 
me a tender heart filled with His love/ 

These are mere specimen illustrations of the expe 
rience of over sixty persons who spoke, and nearly all 
they said was repeated to me in English, sentence 
by sentence, by Brother William Davis ; but the ex 
amples given may suffice. Brother Davis is a native 
of Kaffraria, and a fine Kaffir scholar. He is the 
translator of the " Pilgrim s Progress" into Kaffir. 
He is engaged in commercial pursuits, but received a 
fresh baptism of the Spirit during our series, and has 
since commenced preaching to the Kaffirs as a Local 
Preacher, and I should not be surprised if the Lord 
of the harvest should call him to devote his whole 
time to the work of gathering in precious souls. I 
got him to translate " The Eden Above" into Kaffir. 
It was composed by Rev. "Win. Hunter, D.D., Pro- 



218 CLARKEBURY UMGWALI. 

fessor of Hebrew in Alleghany College, Pa._, U.S. I 
introduced it into Australia, Tasmania, and New Zea 
land. Rev. W. Moor took it from Sydney to Fiji, 
and Rev. Brother Calvert inserted it into the new 
Fijian Hymn-book, so that it is being sung all 
through those portions of the southern world, and 
now the mountains and vales of Kaffraria echo its 
measures, as sung by the pilgrim bands of the sable 
hosts as they march along to the Eden above. I will 
first insert the hymn as we have it from the author, 
and then in the Kaffir, accompanied by a literal ren 
dering of the Kaffir into English, which will illus 
trate the idiomatic difficulty of translating an English 
hymn into Kaffir. As I before stated, while we have 
many good Kaffir hymns, mostly composed by Rev. 
Brother Dugmore, we have but one of Wesley s in 
comparable hymns in the Kaffir. Yet it will be seen 
that Brother Davis not only put the poetic thought 
of "The Eden Above" in the Kaffir, but in some cases 
strengthened it, especially to a Kaffir mind. 

THE EDEN ABOVE." 

We re bound for the land of the pure and the holy, 

The home of the happy, the kingdom of love, 
Ye wanderers from God in the broad road of folly, 
Oh say, will you go to the Eden above ? 
Will you go ? will you go ? will you go ? will you go ? 
O say, will you go to the Eden above ? 

In that blessed land neither sighing nor anguish, 

Can breathe in the fields where the glorified rove, 
Ye heart-burdened ones who in misery languish, 
O say, will you go to the Eden above ? 
Will you go ? &c. 






"THE EDEN ABOVE. 319 

No poverty there no ! the saints are all wealthy, 
The heirs of His glory, whose nature is love, 

No sickness can reach them, that country is healthy, 
O say, will you go to the Eden above ? 
Will you go ? &c. 

March on, happy pilgrims, that land is hefore you, 
And soon its ten thousand delights we shall prove, 

Yes, soon we shall walk o er the hills of bright glory, 
And drink the pure joys of the Eden above. 
Will you go ? &c. 

And yet, guilty sinner, we do not forsake thee, 
We halt yet a moment while onward we move, 

0, come to thy Lord, in His arms He will take thee, 
And bear thee along to the Eden above. 
Will you go ? &c. 

Methinks thou art now in thy wretchedness saying, 
O, who can this guilt from my conscience remove ? 
No other but Jesus ! then come to Him praying, 
Prepare me, O Lord, for the Eden above. 
I will go ! I will go ! I will go ! I will go ! 
O, yes, I will go to the Eden above. 



ICULA ELITETA NGELIZWE ELI PEZULU. 

A HYMN WHICH TELLS ABOUT THE LAND WHICH 
IS ABOVE. 

Sikuyo indhlela yelizwe lobomi, v 
We are in the path to the land of life, 
Ikaya labantu bahleli ngenyweba. 
The home of the people trho dwell in happiness. 
Bahlukani no Tixo, endhleleni yokona, 
Rebels from God, in the way of wrong-doing. 
Nitinina ? Noyana, noyana, pezulu ? 
What do you say ? Will you go, will you go above t 
Noyana, noyana, noyana, noyana, 
Nitinina ? Noyana, noyana, pezulu ? 



320 CLAllKEBURY TJMGWAL1. 

Usizi, usizi alunakubaku, 

Sorrow or anguish cannot exist there, 

Kwelozwe kuhamb" abangcwele. 

In that country travel the holy. 

Bankliziyo zinzima, nigqitj^va bububi, 

The ones heart burdened, ye who languish in misery. 

Nitinina ? &c. 

What do you say, &c. 

Kwelozwe akuko buhlwempu, nakanyej 

In that country there is no poverty, not a bit of it ; 
Zindyebo ngendyebo, izinto izikoyo; 
It is riches upon riches, the things that are\there; 
Isifb asiko, asingebiko. 
Sickness is not thjre, it cannot be there. 

Nitinina, &c. 

Hambani bakonzi, elozwe, leletu. 

Go on, pilgrims, that country, it is ours. 
Sonqina, sinqina inyameko zalo ; 
We will prove, and prove again, the delights all; 

Eweke, sohamba ngapezu kwentaba 

Yes, we will travel upon the hills 
Sisele amanzi ovuyo pezulu. 
And drink the water of joy above. 

Noyana, noyana, noyana, noyana, 
Nitinina ? Noyana, noyana, pezulu ? 

Kanti ke, moni, asikulahlile, 

Yet therefore, sinner, we do not throw thee away, 
Simil umzuzwana, simele kwa wena) 
We stand a little time, standing for even you ; 
Yizake ku Tixo, akusingate, 
Come then to God, He will take you in His arww, 
Akuse kwangoku, ekusa pezuhi. 
And take you even now, taking you abovt. 

Noyana ? &c. 



"THE EDEN ABOVE." 321 

Ndicinga ngokuti, usabunzimeni, 

I think this wise, thou art in heaviness, 

Usiti, ngobani ongalisusayo 

You saying, who can take away 

Ityala lingaka lisenkliziy weni ? 

Guilt so great which is in the heart f 

Ngu Ycsu kupela ; Tandazake. Uye, 

2t is Jesus alone; Pray therefore. Going, 

Ndoliamba, ndohamba, ndohamba, ndohamba, 

/ will go, I will go, I will go, I will go t 

Ewekc, ndohamba, ndisiya pezula. 

lea* / will go, I going 






CHAPTER XX. 

MORLEY IXCANASEZJE. 

MORLEY mission-station was established by Ttev. 
William Shepstone in 1829, and named in honour of 
"Rev. George Morley, then one of the missionary 
secretaries in London. 

Those were the days of wars and rumours of wars, 
under the reign of the Zulu chief Chaka. Qeta, 
one of Chaka s chiefs, taking the cue of his bloody 
master, revolted, and carried a desolating war into 
Pondo-land on his own account. His legions swept 
through a great part of the Amapondo nation like a 
tornado, leaving nothing but smouldering villages 
and the carcases of their victims behind them. 
Brother Shepstone and his family were right in their 
path. The missionary heard the crash of the com 
ing storm, biafc remained at his post till he saw a 
neighbouring kraal in flames and the guerilla band 
advancing toward the mission premises. There 
seemed then no way of escape, but providentially, 
while the mission family was preparing for a hasty 
flight, they knew not whither, a dense fog from the 
?iver settled down upon all the adjacent vales and 



AN INVADER CRUSHED. 323 

hills, under cover of which the mission family and 
their people escaped. " The pillar of cloud stood 
behind them;" "it was a cloud and darkness to them 
(their pursuers), "but it gave light " to the heaven- 
guarded strangers in the wilderness. I received the 
narrative of this marvellous escape from the lips of 
Brother Shepstone himself. 

The invaders were soon after that overpowered by 
Faku, the great chief of the Amapondo, assisted by 
the Amabaca, and the Amapondumsi Damasi, chief 
of the Western Division of the Pondo nation, is said 
to have been a leading warrior chief in the final 
engagement, which utterly crushed the Zulu invader 
and closed the war. 

The next year Mr. Shepstone rebuilt the Morley 
Station on a new site, some miles distant from the 
former site, in a more healthy location. After a 
few years of hard labour and fair success, the pioneer 
was removed to another new field, and was succeeded 
by Rev. Mr. Palmer. After Mr. Palmer s death in 
1847, the mission declined, and lay waste for several 
years. The labour of those men of God, to be sure, 
was not lost, but their flock being left without a 
shepherd wandered off into other folds, and a few 
remained and preserved a name, which was revived 
by the appointment of the Rev. William B. Eayner 
as their missionary four years ago. Brother Rayner 
is a man of very small stature. On his arrival some 
of Ngangelizwe s counsellors scanned him closely 
without saying a word, till one of them, with an in- 



324 MORLEY. INCASASEUE. 

terrogative exclamation, said, "Have all the English 
men run out ? " Eut Mr. Rayner has, by his extra 
ordinary zeal and effectiveness in his work, demon 
strated the truth of Dr. Watts saying, " the mind 
is the measure of the man." Brother Eayner has 
rebuilt Morley Station fourteen miles west of its 
former site, in the midst of a rich and beautiful 
country of hills, and valleys, and rivers of water at 
all seasons, belonging to the " Big " Chief, Ngange- 
lizwe, who, though politically sworn to reject Christ, 
has three "Wesleyan mission-stations and one Angli 
can within the lines of his domains. 

Brother Eayner, with, his own hands, assisted by 
his natives, has built a large comfortable mission- 
house and a pretty chapel which will seat about four 
hundred persons, and has built also a small chapel 
in a village, five miles west of Morley. That part of 
Kaffraria is a famous place for " smelling out " and 
the conviction of men by their witch-doctors, for the 
crime of having cattle enough to excite the covetous- 
ness of a chief, or political influence enough to 
render him an object of fear, or from any cause 
laying him under suspicion. 

Their mode of trial and conviction is thus described 
by J. C. "Warner, Esq., in "Kaffir Laws and Customs." 

" Kaffirs are firm believers in sorcery, or witch 
craft, and they consider that all the sickness and 
other afflictions of life are occasioned thereby, and 
that were it not for the evil influence of the amag- 
gwira/ none would die but in good old age. 






825 

" This universal belief in witchcraft has led to tho 
almost entire neglect of the art of healing by medi 
cines, and to cause them to trust wholly to the power 
of charms, incantations, amadini/ or sacrifices, &c. 

" Hence their priests have little or no knowledge of 
the virtues of medicinal plants, and they trust en 
tirely to such remedies as may be revealed by the 
Imishologu (the spirits of their ancestors), and 
if, as is sometimes the case, they do make use of 
herbs, &c., they are always used in conjunction with 
charms and sacrifices, to the efficacy of which theii 
virtues are attributed. 

" They have, however, a few very valuable medical 
plants among them ; but the knowledge of these is 
as frequently found among other classes as among 
the priests. When all ordinary charms and other 
means have failed to remedy sickness, &c., an appli 
cation is made to the chief for permission to try the 
Umhlahlo (smelling out for witchcraft), for no 
person can have the Umhlahlo performed without 
the express sanction of the chief. When this has 
been obtained, the people of the kraal in question, 
together with their neighbours of the surrounding 
kraals, proceed in a body to the kraal of the priest 
whom they intend to employ. 

" The people belonging to the priest s kraal, with 
those of the surrounding kraals, then assemble. Two 
semi- circles are formed ; one of the party of the 
kraal seeking assistance, and the other, of the 
adherents of the priest. 



326 MORLEY. INCANASETJE. 

" These semi-circles are so ranged as nearly to meet 
at their points, thus forming an almost perfect circle, 
leaving only just sufficient space between them to 
admit the priest and his assistants. 

" The ceremony of Ukwombela (the first process 
for detecting the witch) is now commenced, the hide 
drums are violently beaten,, the bundles of assegais 
are struck together, accompanied by the well known 
humming and clapping of hands by the women. By- 
and-by, the priest rushes out of his hut, springs 
into the midst of the circle of human beings assem 
bled, and commences jumping about in the most 
frantic manner, and performing all sorts of 
extraordinary gesticulations. This is called ukux- 
entsa/ 

" The men now beat their drums, and strike their 
bundles of assegais together more violently than ever, 
and the women hum their exciting tunes, and clap 
their hands, in an increasingly agitated manner; 
vociferating all the while for help, and demanding 
who has bewitched them ? 

" This is continued until the priest is wrought up 
to the proper pitch of inspiration ; when he suddenly 
ceases, and retires to that part of the circle formed 
by his own adherents. He then names the persons 
who have bewitched the afflicted party or parties. 

" On their names being pronounced, that part of 
the circle where they are sitting rises simultaneously, 
falls back, and leaves the devoted victims sitting 
alone. 



VAUIOUS METHODS OF TORTURE. 327 

" Tliis is the exciting moment, and all eyes are 
fixed upon them, while the priest describes their 
sorceries,, and the enchantments used by them for 
their diabolical purposes. 

" A rush is then made upon them, and every 
article their kaross, ornaments, &c. is torn off their 

bodies. 

" They are then given in charge to certain parties 

appointed for that purpose, and led away to their 
respective kraals, there to be tortured in the most 
barbarous manner, in order to make them mbulula/ 
or reveal the materials by which they performed 
their enchantments. 

"In the bush country, where the tree-ants are 
plentiful, their nests are sought for ; the poor wretch 
is laid down, water thrown over his body, and the 
nests beaten to pieces on him. 

" This irritates the ants, and causes them to bite 
furiously ; they also creep into the nostrils, ears, 
eyes, mouth, &c., producing the most excruciating 
pain by their bites. 

" Sometimes a large fire is made, and the poor 
wretch is tied up to a pole, so close to it, as literally 
to roast him alive. 

" Large flat stones are also heated red hot, and 
placed on the groins, and applied to the soles of the 
feet, and other parts of the body. Another mode of 
torture resorted to is the binding of a string so tight 
around the thumbs as to cause the most acute agon}% 
and unless the poor creature does confess something, 






328 MORLEY. INCANASEUE. 

and produce some kind of ubuti, or bewitching 
matter, lie must eventually sink under the torture. 

"When the person altogether refuses to confess, 
which is sometimes the case, if the people are anxious 
to save his life, the priest is sent for, who produces 
the ubuti for him, or assists him to find it, by 
refreshing his memory, as to its whereabouts ; other 
wise he is generally dispatched without ceremony for 
his obstinacy. But when an unfortunate victim has 
sufficiently satisfied his tormentors by his confessions, 
he is generally set at liberty. 

"At this stage of the proceedings, the chiefs 
imisila/ or sheriffs, make their appearance and 
demand the isizi/ or fine, and which is the same 
number of cattle as for any other kind of homicide. 

" The isizi is always paid by the person charged 
with witchcraft, even should the person supposed to 
have been bewitched recover. 

"Yery frequently, however, the chief acts in a 
despotic manner, and seizes the whole of his cattle 
(this is always the case when he is a political victim), 
but this is not according to law ; but a mere arbitrary 
act of power. 

" If the person charged with witchcraft dies under 
the torture, or is wilfully killed, without the sanction 
of the chief, the isizi must be paid for his life 
also ; at least, according to law, the chief has the 
power te demand it, though he often foregoes his 
claim." 

" Persons charged with witchcraft are often put to 



WITCH-DOCTORS AND CHIEFS. 329 

death by the express command of the chief; in 
which case he takes possession of the whole of hie 
property, and frequently eats up the whole kraal 
to which he belongs. This is always the case when 
the umhlahlo is made use of as a political engine, 
to get rid of some influential but troublesome indi 
vidual; for when once a person has been legally 
charged with this crime, it matters not how popular 
or respected he may have been before, he is at once 
avoided as the most noxious of human beings. 

" The chiefs, therefore, find this a very convenient 
and powerful state engine to support their power, 
and enable them to remove individuals whom they 
would otherwise find great difficulty in getting 
rid of. 

" After a person charged with witchcraft has satis 
fied all legal demands, and is set at liberty, he has 
the right of applying to a priest, who offers a sacrifice 
for him, and performs some other rites ; after which 
he is pronounced clean, and again becomes as honour 
able a member of society as though he had never 
been punished for witchcraft. There is not the 
slightest doubt that the Kaffirs do frequently 
attempt to bewitch each other, and for which pur 
pose they practice a great number of villanous 
tricks. 

" They have also the knowledge of several vegetable 
poisons, and of which they make a very free use in 
getting rid of those they dislike ; and, as poisoning 
is included by them under the head of witchcraft, 



830 MORLEY. 1XCANASEUE, 

tliere is no wonder at their superstitious fe^rs having 
invented some kind of scheme to detect and punish 
individuals whom they believe to be guilty of these 
crimes." 

As many as eight cases of smelling out and mur 
der had occurred during the space of a year just 
preceding the time of our visit, the details of which, 
too numerous for my space, were given me by the 
missionary. A horrible case occurred near the sta 
tion in 18G4. The " lung-sickness" happened among 
the cattle of a native near Morley, who immediately 
employed a doctor to t smell out " the man who had 
bewitched them. The usual ceremony of " smelling 
out" resulted in the conviction of the man s own. 
nephew. He was at once seized and tied to a post 
near his own hut, when a large fire was made in 
front of him, by which he was slowly roasted. After 
enduring those excruciating tortures for twenty-four 
hours, he was induced to confess his guilt. He told 
them if they would take him to the brook he would 
show them the poison by which he had bewitched 
the cattle. The poor fellow was made to go to the 
water. When dragged to the place he pointed out 
the " ubuti," a little root in the edge of the water, 
which caused the death of the cattle. Then the 
doctor jumped round and shouted glory to himself. 
The power to "smell out the witches," and the 
righteousness of his decision, were demonstrated 
before all the people. Then his poor victim was 
dragged back and tied to the same post, and the 



EOASTED FOR THIRTY-SIX HOURS. 331 

fires were rekindled, and while he for twelve hours 
more yelled in agony, his friends and relations were 
smoking their pipes, and taking their pleasure. The 
tortures of that poor fellow commenced at noon, and 
terminated in death at the middle of the second night. 
Xo doubt the relations of such victims manifest their 
indifference, and often their zeal in the execution, to 
avoid suspicion of complicity with the witch. The 
father of the poor man fled to the mission-station for 
refuge, and Brother Rayner asked him if he really 
believed that his son had bewitched his brother s 
cattle? "0, yes," he replied, "I believe he was 
guilty, because the doctor said so." 

A heathen man s wife, near the station,, was sus 
pected of witchcraft. After being duly "smelled 
out," the penalty doomed her to be eaten alive by 
the ants. Her own brothers took her out, according 
to the judgment of the doctor, and driving down four 
stakes, stretched her out by an ant-hill, and lashed 
her wrists and ankles to the stakes to be devoured by 
the voracious insects. 

The ants preyed upon the poor woman all that 
day, but her " sucking child," cried so for its mother 
that, I suppose as a matter of economy, they went 
cut and untied the mother, who came home and 
took care of her child for the night. In the morning 
she was staked down among the ants as before, and 
at night was released again. 

Such torture will ordinarily terminate life in a 
couple of days, but the respite of each alternate night 



332 MORLEY. IXCANASEUE. 

prolonged this woman s agony, and after enduring 
this for six days, her tormentors said, " We can t 
kill such a witch. She won t die," so they loosed her, 
and "threw her away," which, with the Kaffirs, 
means such an " anathema maranatha" that their faces 
must never be seen by any of their people again. In 
that dreadful condition she came to the "station." 
Brother Eayner told us that such a sight he never 
saw before. The surface of her whole body was 
lacerated and swollen ; but her wrists and ankles 
were eaten down between the tendons, in some places 
to the bone. Her struggles caused the straps, by 
which she was bound, to chafe her wrists and ankles, 
and render them specially attractive to the little 
tormentors that were feasting on her. By very 
special care, Brother Eayner and his kind-hearted 
wife succeeded, by the mercy of God, in restoring her. 

That very woman was converted to God during 
our series of services at Morley, and still lives at the 
station, a free woman in Christ. 

Brother Eayner was at Clarkebury from. Monday 
to Friday of our services there, and did us good ser 
vice. On Saturday he conducted us to his house at 
Morley. Eev. Brother Hargraves and Brother 
William Davis accompanied us a few miles, and 
saw us safely over a dangerous "drift" of the 
Bashee, and bade farewell. After a rough journey of 
thirty- six miles, we reached the station a little after 
dark. We " out- spanned " by the way at a trader s 
station, and were kindly provided with refreshment 



INCIDENTS OF FIRST SPECIAL SERVICE. 333 

b^ 7 a widow, whose husband had died but a few 
weeks before. Brother Rayner visited him a short 
time before his death, and learned from him that he 
attended my series of services at King William s 
Town, and was greatly awakened by the Spirit ; and 
though he did not go forward avowedly as a seeker, 
he did seek the Lord, and Brother Rayner had hope 
in his death. The widow was settling up his business, 
and preparing to leave such horrible associations. 

On Sabbath morning, the 5th of August, I took 
a survey of the land to find a suitable place 
for out- door preaching. To the west of the 
house we found a beautiful grassy spot, but it was 
not sufficiently protected from an easterly breeze, 
which was prevailing, and, moreover, it was on 
the edge of a precipice which overhung the river, 
which curved round its base nearly 200 feet be 
low, and we feared thac, in a great crowd, some care 
less one might tumble over before they were ready. 
We finally selected a small level plot of ground, by 
a little stream, at the foot of the high hill east of 
the chapel. In turning up a large flat stone for my 
pulpit, I tore my coat. I got a few heathen Kaffirs 
then to help me, and prepared a good stone pulpit 
each for Charles and myself. I then slipped down 
the deep ravine, and prepared for the public service 
by doing a small job of tailoring, which closed the 
rent in my coat, which I thought might be damaging 
to my usefulness, and hence made a necessity of it. 
When I got my coat mended I buckled on the 



334 MOIILEY. INCANASEUE. 

" armour of God," and returned to the field of action. 
Brother Boberts, Stuart, and Brother and Sister 
Rayner, were the only white hearers we had. There 
were probably three hundred persons of all ages in 
some way connected with the station there, and the 
village out-station, five miles distant, whose people, 
with their faithful head man, and Local Preacher, 
came in force ; besides these we had nearly one hun 
dred wild heathens. We stood on the precipitous 
bank of the stream, and cried " The Spirit and the 
bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, 
Come. And let him that is athirst come. And who 
soever will, let him take the water of life freely." 
We stated the first principles of the doctrine of Christ, 
and illustrated them by the realities of Kaffir life, in a 
thorough, but simple way, adapted to the capacity of 
heathen minds. The preaching occupied about an 
hour and a-half. There was marked attention, and 
evidently a mighty moving of the Spirit of awaken 
ing during the preaching ; but, as usual, all were 
quiet. Having shown them that they were famish 
ing in the dry desert of heathenism, and that God s 
provision of salvation for them was like a river flow 
ing freely for all, we invited them to " come and 
take freely " by accepting Christ. About one hun 
dred and fifty stood up to indicate their determina 
tion to " come" at once. They then " fell down on 
their faces, and worshipped God," and many of them 
that day drank freely, and were saved. That night 
we preached in the chapel, and had a glorious 



THE CHIEF NDUNYETA. 335 

of the Spirit. On Monday Charles preached in the 
chapel. He preached once at Butterworth, and once 
at Clarkebury, to the great astonishment of the mis 
sionaries. 

On Monday night we preached again, and a great 
work was done. On Tuesday we preached again by 
the brook. On that occasion we had the chief of 
that part of Ngangelizwe s dominions, Ndunyela, 
twenty- four wives and women of his court, and about 
one hundred and twenty of his warriors. In each 
place we had visited comparatively few heathen 
came to our services, and the few who came did not 
put in an appearance as in the case of Ngangelizwe s 
party till near the time of our departure, when our 
limited time did not allow us to pursue and take them 
in the name of the Lord, so this influential band of 
heathen did not come, though specially invited by 
the missionary, till the last day. Ndunyela is a 
broad, thick-set man, of about forty years, fine open 
face, not black, but a reddish bronze. Some of his 
copper- coloured ladies had a fine Jewish physiog 
nomy, and all were well attired in native costume. 
His warriors were naked, except a blanket or kaross 
thrown loosely round their shoulders. Brother 
Rayner made them a present of " a cake of bread/ 
viz., a bullock, which they slaughtered and devoured 
in the afternoon. They are very expert in butchering 
a beef with their assegais, and in cutting out all the 
fleshy parts into strips, these they broil on the fire 
iil! about half done, and the smoking strips of rare 



336 MORLEY. INCANASEUE. 

roast are passed among the long circle. One fellow 
seizes it, and clenches one end of it with his teeth, 
and with his assegai cuts it off an inch or two from 
his mouth, just as much as he can get between his 
teeth, and passes it to the next, who follows his 
example. So on it goes round, strip after strip, a 
mouthful at a time, till nothing is left but the skin 
and bones of the beast. Every man has a right to 
a seat at such a feast. Whenever any Kaffir kills a 
beef, all the men within several miles round will 
assemble as promptly as birds of prey, and any one 
of them will eat as .much as the owner. If a man 
should refuse to make it a free thing, he would be 
branded as a man too stingy and mean to live among 
them, and would be in danger of being " smelled 
out " as a witch. It is not easy for such people to 
appreciate English economy. To see a missionary 
kill a beef, and carefully cut it up and carry it into 
his house, and keep it to be eaten by himself and his 
own family, along at different times as may suit his 
convenience, why, to a lot of hungry Kaffirs it is 
the most shocking piece of business imaginable ! 
Hence, if they want to berate a mean fellow, after 
exhausting their old stock of opprobrious epithets, 
they cap the whole by adding, " Why you are as 
stingy as a missionary." Brother Eayner gave the 
chief ISTdunyela his choice, to take his people home 
in the afternoon, after they had eaten their " cake 
of bread," or to stay for the evening service. We 
were anxious for them to stay, but wished them fa 



NGANGELIZWE S LEAGUE AGAIN. 337 

act with entire freedom of will. He sent his women 
home, but he and all his men remained. They occu 
pied the front seats in the chapel, we gave them the 
Gospel message in all plainness, and they seemed 
deeply impressed but did not yield. 

During the prayer-meeting .Charles had a close 
talk with the chief. He admitted that what he had 
heard during that day and evening had convinced 
him that he was a poor sinner, that Jesus Christ 
was the only Saviour of sinners, and that he and his 
people ought to " receive " Him, and when Charles 
urged him to surrender to God and accept Christ, he 
replied, "I made Ngungelizwe promise that he would 
not be a Christian, and I am in honour bound to 
stand by our old customs, having compelled him to 
do so." After the prayer-meeting we had a fellow 
ship-meeting, and those heathen heard the distinct 
testimony of more than thirty witnesses to the sav 
ing power of Jesus in their own hearts. On Wed 
nesday morning we set out for Buntingville. The 
following extract from a letter written by Rev. Mr. 
Bayner, and published in the December number of 
the Wesley an Missionary Notices, will furnish illus 
trative facts of the work of God in Morley. 

That Sabbath was a lovely day ; the sun shone with thb 
genial warmth of approaching spring ; and the chapel being 
too small to hold the congregation, we found a sheltered 
place by the river- side, and assembled the people there 
for the morning s service. I had long been conscious of a 
deepening work of God in the hearts of the people, and felt 



338 

fully certain that Mr. Taylor would find them prepared to 
receive the word in all sincerity. Towards the end of the 
service the Holy Ghost descended with overwhelming power 
upon the congregation ; and when the preacher called upon 
all those to stand up who were willing to come to Christ, 
nearly the whole congregation rose in a mass, and then with 
a "great cry" prostrated themselves before the Lord. It 
was a scene for angels to rejoice over. My feeling was one 
of inexpressible thankfulness ; for I saw the fruits of nearly 
four years sowing gathered at a stroke. Mr. Taylor stayed 
three days, and then passed on to Buntingville. 

Soon after his departure I called a meeting of all the 
believers in the Circuit to form them into Classes, etc. ; and 
upon counting them I found to my great surprise, that we 
had no less than two hundred and fifty present ; and as the 
number of members before was a little below one hundred, 
there must have been, during those three days, one hundred 
and fifty conversions. There and then these were formed 
into sixteen classes When this was done, which was 
rather a tedious performance, I told each leader to meet 
his Class, as they sat in the different parts of the chapel, 
and inquire particularly into the state of each soul. They 
all commenced immediately, and after the hum of voices 
had died away, the leaders simultaneously rose, and an 
nounced the glorious fact, that with only two exceptions, the 
whole of the two hundred and fifty had a sense of sins for 
given, and enjoyed the witness of the Spirit that they weve 
the children of God. You can understand the joy with 
which that announcement was received. 

Six weeks have passed since then, and all these are 
walking consistently, and most of them are growing in 
grace. 

We now present the unwonted spectacle of two native 
villages in the very heart of heathendom, where more than 



A WOMAN EATEN BY ANTS. 339 

half of the entire population I speak this advisedly are 
converted to God, and living holy lives. Perhaps you would 
scarcely find a parallel even in England. 

Of course all our efforts for the evangelization of the 
heathen will be prosecuted with renewed vigour. And, no 
doubt, amongst the young converts will appear some upon 
whom the Lord has laid His hand, for the future conversion 
of those who are still sitting in darkness. 

We feel the increased responsibility laid upon us ; but 
we are " workers together with God," and are resolved by 
His gracious aid to endeavour to lead these people on to 
holiness of heart and life, to build them up in the most holy 
faith until we can present every man perfect in Christ 
Jesus. 

But while we had a good report of the great 
work of God, the work of Satan among tlie heathen 
continued as before, for owing to the wicked league 
of the nation and chief against Christ, but very few 
of the Tambookie heathen have been saved. 

A horrible case of "smelling out" occurred at 
Moiiey, a short time after we left, which is described 
by Rev. Brother Rayner, in a letter, as follows : 

A few days after your departure, a man came running to 
me, saying that a woman had just fallen over the cliffs, and 
was lying at the bottom beside the river, dead. Thinking 
that perhaps she was only dead in a Kaffir sense, I gathered 
some men together and went down, hoping to be able 
to save her life. On arriving under the rocks by the 
river, I found that three heathen women from one of those 
kraals, which you saw on the other side, had gone clown 
to gather firewood, one of them was standing between 



340 MORLEY. 

two large stones chopping a small tree, when the vibra 
tions of the ground caused the upper stone, several tons in 
weight, to lose its balance and topple over. This caught 
the poor woman against the rock in front, and literally cut 
her in two, just across the loins. It was a horrible sight. 
The men of the kraal said she had buried herself, and had 
just sent the other women to pile a few stones over the 
body as it lay. The people said to me, " You will see that 
this is a case for the witch doctors." About a month 
after, a man came and told me that a woman was being 
tortured for this down by the river. I immediately sent 
down some Leaders to see what they were doing. They 
found that the doctor had said, " a certain woman of the 
same kraal of the deceased woman had brought a star from 
heaven, which caused the great rock to roll over and kill 
the woman. They had taken this woman, after she had been 
" smelled out " by the doctor, and, after a variety of tortures, 
they had driven four stakes into the ground, and throwing 
the poor victim on her back, had drawn her arms and legs 
to their utmost tension, and tied them to the stakes. One 
man stood by with a great nest of black ants, and another 
with a bucket of water. Occasionally one would throw 
some water on her bodj to cause the ants to take hold 
readily, and the other would shake on a lot of ants. The 
woman was wailing in agony, and the men were dancing 
round her. My men tried every means to set her at liberty 
until they were driven away at the point of their assegais. 
On retiring that night I looked out at the bed-room 
windows and saw a great fire on that kraal, and the next 
morning we were told that it was the burning of the poor 
woman s hut, and that the woman had been sent home to 
her friends, but I think it more likely that she and her 
house perished together. This horrible deed appeared all 
the blacker from the flood of light which had just been 






iS OF REFUSING TO WALK IN RELIGION. 341 

poured into the minds of the people. We had often 
preached the Gospel to these very people, and most likely 
some of those very men who did that horrid deed heard 
you preach that morning when we gathered the outside 
people to hear yoa. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

BUNTINGVILLE ICUME. 

THIS mission, named in honour of that renowned 
patron of missions, Rev. Dr. Bunting, was established 
in the year 1830., by Eev. Win. B. Boyce, so well 
known as a missionary in Africa, general superinten 
dent in Australia, and now as secretary of the 
Wesleyan Missionary Society in London. 

The Buntingville Mission was the first introduction 
of the Gospel to the Amapondo nation. The time to 
commence such a work was providentially opportune, 
for the whole nation were sitting in the ashes of their 
former wealth, greatly humbled. The Amazulu had 
just swept over their country, burnt their villages, 
destroyed their cattle, and had even eaten up nearly 
all their dogs. It is not likely that the invading 
savages preferred dog-meat to good beef, but the 
priest who, according to their custom, prepared th^m 
for war,, no doubt commanded them to eat the dogs 
of the Pondos, and hence, when asked why they did 
so, replied, " We eat the dogs to make us more fierce 
and powerful in battle." 



REV. WM. B. BOYCE. 343 

It was here that Rev. Mr. Boyce devoted himself 
so assiduously and so successfully to the philosophy 
of the Kaffir language, and discovered an essential 
key to it, which he called the " euphonic concord " 
of the language. He had the assistance of Theo- 
philus, son of the old missionary, Rev. Wm. Shep- 
stone, in this important work which furnished the 
basis of the subsequent grammars of the Kaffir 
language which have been produced. 

The first site of this station was so dry and un 
suitable for the cultivation of gardens, that after a 
few years it was removed to a more eligible spot. 
Faku, the great chief of the Arnapondo nation, 
afterwards admitted that he selected the first site on 
very dry ground, so that the missionary would be 
obliged to pray for rain for his own garden, and 
thus the whole district would be watered. 

It has been recently removed to a site twelve 
miles westward, on the banks of the Umtata River, 
and belongs to Damasi s division of the Amapondo 
nation, comprising about one- third of the whole 
population; the other two-thirds are under the rule 
of old Faku, his father. 

This mission has been under the fostering care, 
first of Rev. Wm. B. Boyce, Mr. Fainton, a cate- 
chist, Rev. Mr. Satchell, Rev. James Cameron, now 
chairman of Natal District, then Mr. Boyce again, 
followed by Rev. Thomas Jenkins, who became the 
permanent missionary of that nation. 



BUXTKS GVILLE ICUME. 

The Buntingville Station, though the mother of 
several other important stations, has been suffering 
a decline, so that it is now the feeblest mission in 
Kafir-aria. It is now, however, under the care of 
Eev. Wm. Hunter, giving indications of new life and 
promise of great effectiveness in the future. 

On Wednesday morning, the 8th of August, we 
left Morley for Buntingville Station, distant thirty- 
six miles. Eev. Wm. Hunter had been assisting us 
at Morley a couple of days, and was now ready 
to pilot us to his station. The bridle-path was five 
or six miles shorter than the wagon-road, and there 
was nothing to prevent us from driving our cart the 
short route, but an impassable drift at the Umtata 
River. However, a native man of some importance 
in that country, living near the said drift, who 
professed to have received good at our services, 
informed us that he had made a road out from the 
drift, and had also opened a road across the near 
way for wagons, so we were induced to take 
Dahveed s " new road," and accept his kind offer to 
pilot us through. Brother Hunter, Charles, and 
Stuart, took a still more direct path, and Brother 
Roberts, myself, and our guide, took the " new road," 
which we found was no road at all, and it was a 
marvellous thing that we got through. When we 
were descending the last mountain towards the 
Umtata drift, brother Roberts was almost out of 
patience, affirming that we had been humbugged, at 
the peril of limb and life, in taking that route, in- 



DAIIVEED S " NEW HOAD." 345 

stead of the main road ; but our guide was so kind 
and hopeful, that I begged Roberts not to hint his 
disappointment to Dahveed, but let him enjoy the 
satisfaction of doing us a great favour, as he evi 
dently designed. As we were getting over the most 
dangerous part, near the river, Dahveed said, with 
an indescribable air of self-satisfaction, " This is my 
road." A field-officer, after a great victory, could 
not have manifested greater self- congratulation 
than did this native in getting us over his own 
road. Every reference to that trip afterwards threw 
Roberts into a spell of laughing, with a repetition of 
Dahveed s saying, "This is my road." When we 
drove into the " drift/ one of the horses, in drinking, 
drew a buckle of the check-rain through a ring on 
the harness saddle, which we did not observe at the 
moment, but when Brother Roberts attempted to 
drive on, one line being fast, the other drew in the 
right wheel-horse, and the left being unrestrained, 
ran round the other, which turned their heads directly 
down the stream. Just before them was a ledge of 
rocks and deep water. Dahveed had dismounted to 
get a drink, and not knowing that we had no com 
mand of the team, was shouting at the top of his 
voice, "Pezulu! pezulu ! pezulu!" He did not 
think of rushing to the rescue, but simply of giving 
the word of command to go above, so I stepped down 
into the river and released the lines, and we got? 
through all right, and without much difficulty got 
up the steep bank, on Dahveed s new-cut road. He 






346 BUNTINGVILLE ICUME. 

had done some digging there, let it be said to his 
credit, which rendered the ascent from the river 
possible. We reached B anting ville a little after 
dark, and found comfortable quarters in the new 
mission-house, but recently built by Brother Hunter, 
who, with his young and interesting wife, did every 
thing necessary to make our brief sojourn agreeable. 
This new site for Buntingville Station is well selected 
on an elevation near the beautiful TJmtata. 

This mission, as has been intimated, belongs to 
Damasi, son of the great Chief Faku, who, though 
legally the king of the whole Amapondo nation, has 
for many years allowed Damasi the sovereign rule 
of all the Pondos west of the Umzimvubu river, and 
the two Governments are so distinct, that each can 
make war or peace with other tribes without in 
volving each other. For example, when we were 
there, Damasi was at war with Urnhlonhlo, chief of 
the Amapondumsi, but Faku s people were not ; at 
the same time Faku was at war with the Amabaca 
tribe, but Damasi was not ; so that Damasi, though 
not strictly in law, is in fact, a great paramount 
chief. It is difficult to get anything like a reliable 
census in KafFraria. We were told, on what seemed 
good authority, that Damasi had 50,000 warriors 
under his command ; but we learned from Hev. Mr. 
Jenkins, who has been among the Amapondo for over 
thirty y ears, that the entire population under Damasi 
is about 50,000, and that under Faku about 100,000. 
Damasi has furnished most of the funds, by the sale 







AMArONDO. 



CHIEF VAVA AND HIS WARRIORS. 347 

of cattle, for tlie erection of the new mission-house 
at Buntingville, and will pay a large proportion of 
the funds necessary for the erection of the new 
chapel they are preparing to build. There are but 
few families of natives resident on this new station 
as yet. There is still a society at old Buntingville, 
but at this new field they had only about twenty 
members, and Brother Hunter thought the most of 
them lacked the converting grace of God. He, how 
ever, had two or three really spiritual, and working 
members. Brother Hunter had hoped that we would 
spend a week with him, commencing our series on 
the Sabbath. I felt great sympathy with him in his 
isolated, difficult work, and great sorrow that my time 
was so limited, that we could remain there but two 
days. He sent out word among the heathen that 
Isikunisivutayo had come, and invited them to attend 
our services; but unfortunately "Vava," the nephew 
of Damasi, and chief of that district, had made a great 
marriage- feast for one of his relatives to come off on 
Thursday, the first day of our series, and therefore 
" they could not come," and prayed to be " excused." 
However, we got together a congregation of about 
one hundred, to whom we preached twice in the open- 
air, and nine of them professed to find peace with God. 
On Friday the Chief Yava, his son, and about 
sixty of his counsellors and warriors, many of 
them with shields and assegais in hand, came, 
which added bulk and interest to our audience. 
Just from a marriage-feast, at which they had de- 



S48 BUXTINGVILLE ICUME. 

voured a bullock or two, and swallowed streams of 
Kaffir beer, and now suffering a recovery, they were 
not in the best state of mind to receive the Gospel, 
but we remembered the saying of God, " Is not my 
word like as a fire ; and like a hammer that breaketh 
the rock in pieces ?" 

By earnest, united prayer, we kept the Divine fire 
burning, and dealt heavy strokes with the hammer 
of truth upon the flint rock of their heathenish 
hearts. At first every stroke seemed to rebound 
without effect, except on our hearers of the previous 
day ; but during the second service, by the action of 
the fire under the awakening Spirit, and the sledge 
hammer of the Gospel, we made a break among the 
heathen ; the chief, Yava, his son, and seven of his 
counsellors and warriors, went down on their knees 
as seekers, and most of them professed to have ac 
cepted Christ, and received the pardon of their sins. 
Vava seemed thoroughly in earnest, but though he 
professed to have found the Lord, we did not number 
him among the converts, till we should see the proof 
of it in putting away his plurality of wives. I am 
sorry not to be able to give definite information as 
to his subsequent life. Brother Hunter gave Yava 
a cake of bread (a bullock), according to custom, for 
their evening repast, and while the chief was in a 
hut, talking about the great salvation, his warriors 
devoured the beef, and poor Yava did not get enough 
to stay his royal appetite. 

Yava asked Stuart if we were not going to the 



CHIEF DAMASI. 349 

" Great Place " to see Damasi ? When lie learned that 
we designed to go next day to Shawbmy to spend 
the Sabbath, he said Damasi would be very angry if 
we did not go to see him ; so he made an earnest 
appeal to us to go next day to Damasi s Great Place, 
distant nearly thirty miles, Brother Hunter sup 
ported it, and thought we might have a thousand 
heathen there to preach to. In consideration of 
this, together with the fact that Shawbury, the 
next station on our plan, belonged to Umhlonhlo, 
with whom Damasi was then at war, and the fear 
that if we should appear to slight Damasi, and give 
attention to his enemy, we might increase the already 
very terrible war- complications of the Shawbury 
Station, which we wished not to injure, but to benefit, 
we changed our plan, and consented to spend the 
Sabbath, August 12th, at Damasks Great Place. On 
Saturday morning we bade adieu to Buntingville. 
Brother Hunter, Charles, Stuart, and Dahveed, went 
a nearer way on horseback ; Vava, and a few of his 
men went on foot, while Brother Roberts and I, 
guided by a Mr. Morrison, a trader on the Umtata, 
who with his wife professed to find peace with God 
at our meeting the day before, took what was called 
"the road." 

Much of the country through which we passed was 
very beautiful, with tall grass, and dense groves of 
timber on the eastern lee of the mountains and in deep 
gorges, where they were protected from the west 
erly winds. "We saw a number of fine herds of rhei- 



350 BUNTINGVILLE ICUME. 

bucks that day, and where we " out- spanned/ while 
Mr. Morrison was preparing our lunch, I tried in vain 
to get near enough to some of them for a successful 
shot. They are hunted a great deal by the natives 
with their dogs, and are hence very wild. 

We reached the Great Place about four P.M. 
Our horsemen had been there sometime before us, 
and had a hut arranged for our accommodation. 
Brother Hunter introduced me to Damasi, as 
Isikunisivutayo, a new Umfandisi from the other 
side of the great waters. The chief is over six feet 
in height, large, and corpulent, of a copper com 
plexion, a generous open countenance, and altogether 
a fine specimen of a heathen chief. He took us into 
his palace, which is a round hut about thirty feet 
in diameter, the wall about six feet high made of 
clay, with a round roof of thatch, about twelve feet 
high at the apex. He introduced us to his " great 
wife/ and some of his daughters, and showed his 
fine store of firewood, neatly piled up to the left as 
we enter, and his great earthen jars, cooking utensils, 
milk-sack, his royal robes, or tiger-skins, and his 
tiger-tails. If any Kaffir kills a tiger, he must at 
once inform the chief, to whom all the tigers are 
supposed to belong, who has the skin taken off with 
great ceremony, and dressed for himself. None but 
a royal Kaffir is allowed to own or wear a tiger s- 
skin. A tiger s-tail stretched over the top of a stick, 
about five feet in length, is a formidable sight before 
the hut of any Kaffir. When the chief wishes to 



DAMASi a "GREAT PLACE." 351 

call a man to answer for any offence, especially when 
a fine is to be imposed, or his property confiscated, 
he sends one of his " Imisila," or sheriffs, to set up a 
tiger s-tail in front of the offender s hut. When the 
poor fellow comes out in the morning, and sees the 
dreadful summons, for it is usually served when the 
man is asleep, he is filled with consternation, and 
must go at once and reckon with his master, who has 
the power to take his property or his life. 

All the documentary details and process neces 
sary to arrest and arraign a civilized man, are here 
accomplished at once by the magic spell of the tiger s- 
tail. 

The chief pointed to a high perpendicular cliff, 
half-a-mile from his hut, and informed us that he 
threw his bad fellows over that precipice and dashed 
them to pieces. Many a poor wretch, no doubt, 
has found a quick passage out of the world from 
that cliff, and yet Damasi s appearance is not that 
of a tyrant, but of a kind-hearted generous man, and 
he is free from that mean spirit which most chiefs 
evince, of begging a blanket of every stranger who 
may visit them. When we subsequently sent word 
to the Great Chief Faku that we expected to visit 
him he replied to the messenger, " Is Isikunisivu- 
tayo travelling with blankets?" His more noble 
son Damasi supplied us with new clean blankets for 
our use, and everything we needed for our comfort 
during our sojourn with him, and scorned even a 
hint at pay in return. I was told of a clergy- 



53 BUNTINGVILLE TCUME. 

inan who visited a neighbouring chief, who at once 
asked the " Umfundisi " if he had brought him any 
blankets ? 

" No/ said he, " but I have brought you some 
thing better. I have come to tell you the good 
news about the Great God, who made the heavens 
above us, and who made the earth, who made 
us, who gave you all your lands, your mealies, 
Kaffir- corn, and pumpkins ; and who gave you your 
cattle, goats, and sheep. He is our Father, and " 

The chief interrupting him, said, " Is He your 
Father ? " 

" Yes/ replied the missionary ; " he is my Father, 
and has sent me to tell you good news." 

"Well," said the chief, with a grin, "if your 
Father is so kind as to give us all these good things 
for nothing, and if you are a true son of His, can t 
you give me one blanket ? " 

After Damasi had shown us the things in his 
house, his bloody cliff, and his great cattle kraal, 
said to be a thousand yards in circumference, and 
the largest one in Kaffraria, he said, " I am glad to 
see you, but the most of my people are gone. I will 
call all who are near to come to-morrow, but we are 
only a few now," and then went on to tell us, that, 
owing to the drought the preceding year, their 
stores of food were nearly used up, and that a large 
number of his people had gone to the " Umzim- 
vubu," to get supplies of food; and that last 
night/ Umhlonhlo s" people had attacked his son s 



CHIEF FAKIRS TEIHUTOIIIAL CLAIMS. 353 

kraal and driven away a large number of cattle and 
horses, and that the war- cry had called a large 
number of his warriors away in pursuit. 

The fact is, Damasi s policy is not to have a 
great number of his people settled near him, but 
to have them well distributed on the frontiers o 
his large and beautiful country, extending from the 
" Umtata " on the west, to the " Umzimvubu," on 
the east, and from the " Tsitsa," on the north down 
to the ocean. 

Damasi, also, claims Umhlonhlo s country, lying 
north of the " Tsitsa River." When KafFraria was 
being desolated by " Qeta," the revolted chief of 
Chaka, the Amabaca tribe to which the "Osborn" 
jWesleyan mission-station belongs, and the Amapon- 
dumsi, of whom Umhlonhlo is chief, to which Shaw- 
bury mission- station belongs, made common cause with 
the Amapondo, under Faku, who, with his allies, 
crushed the invader. These two tribes, however, were 
comparatively small, and were greatly scattered 
during the war. Soon after this, the representatives 
of the Colonial Government, wishing to have some 
powerful ally among the Kaffrarian tribes, with whom 
they could treat for the purchase of land, or for mutual 
defence, selected Faku .as the most powerful chief, 
and asked old Faku to define his boundaries ; and the 
old squatter laid down his lines from the Umtata. 
From the Umtata river to Natal, and from the great 
Drakensberg range to the ocean, comprising a block 
of land about 150 miles square. This grand survey, 



354- BUNTTXGVILLE -ICTJME. 






took in the countries of the two named tribes, and 
" Nomansland/ which the colonial agents, I after 
wards learnt, bought from Faku, and gave to Adam 
Kok s Hottentots. They have bought Alfredia also, 
which has been annexed to the colony of Natal. 

The motives of these colonial agents were, no doubt, 
all right, but accepting Faku s geographical bound 
aries as valid, and forming a treaty with him on 
that broad basis of his pretended claims, Faku seems 
to take it for granted that his treaty with the English 
confirms his title to all these vast possessions, and 
hence he has for years been at war with the Amabaca 
to drive them off the land which they inherited from 
their fathers; and Damasi his son is on the same 
grounds fighting the Amapondumsi. These facts, 
which I received from Rev. Mr. White, and others 
on the spot, explain the ostensible ground of those 
marauding wars,, so damaging to the Amapondo 
mission- stations, but more especially to "Shawbury " 
and " Osborn." I say " ostensible grounds," for their 
real motive is a love of plunder, which would be the 
same if the English had never seen their country. 
Rev. Mr. Gedye and his family had fled from Shaw- 
bury under Damasi s invasions but a few weeks 
before, and were then at Clarkebury; Rev. Brother 
White, at Osborn, remained at the peril of his life, 
under Faku s invasion of the Amabaca country. 

The wars described by Rev. W. B. Rayner, in a 
letter published in the Missionary Notices for October 
last, occurred but a few weeks before our tour over 



\VAH SUSPENDED FOR A CHIEF S MAUKTAGE. 355 

their battle-fields, to proclaim the Gospel of peace. 
Mr. Rayner s letter, dated July the 20th, the week 
we were labouring at Butterworth, fifteen days 
before we visited him at Morley, describes the kind 
of field on which we had entered when at Damasi s 
Great Place, as follows : 

The present state of this country is not very favourable 
for missionary success. Hostilities have been going on 
between the Amapondumsi and the Amapondo for some 
time, and as the Tsitsa, on which Shawbury station is built, 
happens to be the boundary river between the two contend 
ing tribes, the marauding parties of either side must pass 
somewhere near the station ; and thus either false or real 
alarms of war keep the station in a constant fever of excite 
ment, until Mr. Gedye has at length been obliged to remove 
to Clarkebury. 

A grimly amusing episode has just happened. Um- 
hlonhlo, the Chief of the Amapondumsi, sent to Pamasi, 
Chief of the Amapondo, saying that he was preparing to 
marry his great wife, and therefore he wanted the war to 
" sit still a little while." Damasi actually agreed, with th<? 
understanding that Umhlonhlo should let him know when 
he was ready to fight again ! 

It was during this lull in the storm, for Um- 
hlonhlo s marriage to his seventh wife, that we came 
into Damasi s country, but now hostilities had been 
renewed, and the whole region was in a war-panic. 
Rev. Mr. Hunter had told us, that at Damasi s Great 
Place, I should have a congregation of at least one 
thousand heathens, and we had made up our minds 
to tarry there some days, if the Lord should open for 



356 BUNTING V1LLE IfJUME. 

us a door of access to them. This sudden turn of 
events was saddening to our hopes, but we arranged 
to spend the Sabbath, and do the best we could under 
the circumstances. 

While we stood talking to Damasi, we saw a lot 
of young Kaffirs in pursuit of a bullock. Down the 
hill they came at full speed, and fetched up in front 
of us. 

" There/ said the chief, pointing to the panting 
bullock, " is a cake of bread for you." It was driven 
to the back of our hut, "assegaied," skinned and 
quartered with great despatch. The whole of the 
beef was hung up by quarters in our hut, and the 
skin laid in a roll underneath. According to custom, 
the whole belonged to the strange Umfundisi, who is 
expected to make a present of the hide to the chief, 
and also to send a fore-quarter to the chiefs " great 
wife," and take the chief as his guest during his 
sojourn, all of which we performed with due cere 
mony. "We had brought with us a supply of bread, 
coffee, and sugar, so with the beef broiled on the end 
of a stick, w r e entertained his royal highness in good 
etyle. We sent rations also to our friend Yava and 
his party, Mr. Morrison, Mr. Straghan, son, and son- 
in-law three English traders who came to attend 
our meeting, feasted at our common board. Charles, 
myself, Stuart, and our white visitors slept on the 
ground-floor of the hut, having each a Kaffir mat 
about three by six feet made of reeds and our rugs 
and coats, with a couple pair of extra blankets sent 



PREACHING AT THE 

us by the chief, our saddles and other traps answered 
for pillows. On Sabbath morning, the 12th of 
August, our congregation assembled behind a hut 
near the chief s mansion, consisting of Damasi, his 
eight wives, and thirty or forty children (Damasi said 
he did not know how many children he had), and 
about one hundred warriors, armed with their asse 
gais and shields, ready for war emergencies. Damasi 
came out in state. Instead of the red blanket he had 
worn the day before, he had a large tiger-skin over his 
shoulders, which constituted his entire dress, except 
a pair of rustic slippers on his feet. They all listened 
with great attention, but no decisive result was 
reached. In preaching to heathen on various occa 
sions, beginning with first principles, and leading 
them on to a living Saviour in a single discourse, it 
required at least an hour and a half to deliver such a 
sermon through an interpreter, but we seldom failed 
to secure the end, the salvation of souls, on every 
such occasion. However, some of our friends thought 
we preached too long, so on this occasion we agreed 
to try a new plan, which was to preach half-an-hour, 
and then have a little talk with them personally, 
and draw them out, and after a brief recess resume 
the thread of discourse, and go on for another half- 
hour, and so on. 

We got into the subject very satisfactorily. They 
appeared to understand it, and nearly all seemed to 
agree that our words were true, but we had not 
reached the vital point of convincing them of their 



358 BUNTING VILLE ICUME. 

lost condition, and of offering a present Saviour, 
when the time came for recess. We then asked 
them to talk, and ask any questions they wished on 
the subject of discourse. Some questions were asked 
ind answered, when one of the counsellors said he 
li did not believe in a future state, or in Imishologu ; 
that we all die like a pig, and there is no more of 
us."" The chief replied to him, saying, " The man 
certainly could not be- such a fool as that, for all our 
fathers believed in Imishologu, and so do we, and our 
people/ The Kaffir infidel then got up and went 
away, and seeing that they all were getting restless, 
we thought it best to dismiss them, and have them 
assemble for another service in the afternoon. We 
felt that service to be very unsatisfactory. Charles 
seemed really discouraged, the first and only time I 
found him so. I assured him that " the result was 
what we might have expected, having opened our 
Gospel battery against such a stronghold of wild 
heathenism, we should have fired away, till they 
should at least feel the weight of our heaviest metal, 
but, instead of that, we called a parley just as we were 
getting well into range ; we have not preached 
Christ yet at all, and we can t complain that they did 
not accept Him." 

Charles cheered up, and we agreed that in preach 
ing to the heathen, no matter what others thought 
or said, we would, regardless of the time required, 
never stop short of giving them the whole plan of 
salvation necessary to an intelligible offer of Christ. 






A HARD OLD CHRISTIAN. 359 

In the interval, Damasi s counsellors gathered round 
him in a circle, and discussed the exciting topics of the 
day, especially the war with Umhlonhlo, and when 
we assembled for a second service, a number of the 
warriors who were with us in the morning found it 
convenient to be absent. The chief said their duties 
called them home. We did the best we could to 
make up for our failure in the forenoon, and at night 
we had a prayer-meeting in our hut. We had as 
seekers that night, the three white traders, Mr. 
Straghan, son, and son-in-law, two Kaffir men, one 
of Damasi s eight wives, and two of his daughters. 
Mr. Straghan, his son-in-law, and a Kaffir man pro 
fessed to obtain peace with God. Next morning, 
before breakfast, we had a fellowship-meeting, during 
which Damasi came into the hut, Chief Yava, and 
two or three of his party, and the white men gave 
their testimony to the saving grace of God. Then 
old Damasi said, " I and my people are all Chris 
tians. We have all been Christians ever since Mr. 
Wakeford came among us." A hard old Christian, 
we thought, with eight wives, but he had received 
the missionaries, had helped liberally to build a 
mission-house, and was engaged in building a chapel, 
and when Brother Hunter s congregations fall off, 
he has only to inform his great chief to get a large 
audience of heathen, and why should he not have 
as much right to claim to be a Christian, as the mass 
of formalists, in Christian .countries, who have supe 
rior advantages, and do less for the cause of Christ ? 



360 BTJNTINGVILLE ICUME. 

We felt very grateful for the old chief s kindness, 
and very sorry that he did not so feel his need of 
Christ as to accept of Him as a Saviour from his 
sins. On Monday, about ten, A.M., we bade adieu 
to Brother Hunter and his party, and to Damasi, and 
received his " kuhle hamba, and under the conduct 
of our former guide, Brother Morrison, pushed on in 
our journey toward Shawbury, distant about thirty- 
six miles. 

The following extract of a letter from Brother 
Hunter, published in the Missionary Notices, will con 
vey an idea of his estimate of the work of God, and 
its embarrassments in this field of labour. 

It is with pleasure I write you a few lines to-day. My 
joy would know no bounds, and my whole nature would 
praise God if I could say that all the hindrances to our 
work here have been removed. This I cannot say, for 
alas ! it is far from being true. Nevertheless I rejoice, 
because the Lord in mercy has visited and blessed us. 
Some of the worst of the station- people have been aroused 
to seek God, and some of them profess to have found the 
peace which passeth all understanding, and are joyful in 
the God of their salvation. All the old members 
been quickened, and some twenty- three new ones have been 
received, so that we have now just doubled the number of 
members immediately resident on this station, which we had 
a little while ago. This work is of God, and our hope is 
that it will spread, and the world s Redeemer be glorified 
in the salvation of many of the perishing ones, by whom we 
are surrounded in this dark land. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

SHAWBURY ELUNCUTA. 

SHAWBURY was named in honour of the old pioneer- 
general, who planned, and superintended the found 
ing of the whole line of old Kaffrarian Missions, 
the Rev. Y/m. Shaw. For picturesque scenery 
hills, dales, mimosa groves, cataracts, deep gorges, 
and precipitous cliffs, overhanging the Tsitsa river, 
a bold and beautiful stream the site of Shawbury 
surpasses all the rest. It was established amid great 
hazards and difficulties by Rev. Wm. H. Garner, 
who was sent out by the Wesleyan Missionary Society 
in 1837 ; his widow now lives at Alice, near Fort 
Beaufort. 

This became the most populous, and was hence 
thought to be the most promising of any of the 
Kaffrarian Stations ; but while it reached a popula 
tion of three thousand souls, its actual membership 
of professing Christians never much exceeded one 
hundred. At the time of our visit, the number was 
about ninety-five, and the whole station involved 
in war complications jeopardizing its existence. 



OU^ SIIAW13UHY ELUSCUTA. 

It is located within the lines of the Amapondumsi 
Tribe, but the Tsitsa near by is the boundary be 
tween that tribe and Damasi s Pondos, with whom 
they are at war ; yet the most of the mission-station 
people are Fin goes, and don t really belong to either 
of those tribes, and should not have been involved in 
the war at all, and would not, if they had improved 
their opportunities and become Christians. As 
they did not belong really to either party, they 
were under no legal obligation to fight, for both 
belligerent parties were bound by promise to the 
missionaries not to interfere with them; but those 
three thousand natives had their beautiful lines of 
huts on the mission-station, their fields of corn, and 
cattle, enjoying the ministerial and magisterial care 
of the missionary, released from the iron rule of 
Kaffir law, and the terror of the witch-doctor, and 
yet the mass of them refusing to submit to Christ, 
they waxed fat and kicked, and God gave them a 
little leeway to themselves, and they soon got them 
selves into an awful complication of war troubles. 
It was while I was labouring in Graham s Town, 
that I first heard of their sad state, by a letter from 
their missionary, Hev. Mr. Gedye, to Rev. "VV. J. 
Davis, in which Brother Gedye stated that he had 
received notice from Damasi to leave the station, as 
he would not be responsible for his life, or that of his 
family, for he meant to destroy Umhlonhlo, and take 
his country, and the mission-station was right in his 
war-path. But Umhlonhlo, on the other hand, had 






A MISSIONARY IX WAR TROUBLES. 3G3 

forbidden him to leave the place, so lie and his family 
were in jeopardy of life. Our sympathy was greatly 
enlisted for him and his family, and also for his 
native teacher, whom he was protecting in a locked 
room in the mission-house against the threatened 
vengeance of Umhlonhlo, and earnest mention was 
made of them in our private and public prayers. 

Borne time after that, Rev, Mr. Solomon, on his 
way to Nomansland, spent a night near Shawbury, 
and hearing of the position of Mr. Gedye, sent for 
Umhlonhlo to visit his camp next day, and thus 
obtaining an interview with the chief, persuaded him 
to release his missionary and let him go away. Soon 
after Mr. Gedye took his family and went to Clarke- 
bury, where I met him, his native teacher escaped 
also and went to Natal. Brother Hargraves from 
Clarkebury, and Brother Rayner from Morley, had 
gone to Shawbury, and had a council with Umhlonhlo 
and his leading men, to try to settle the difficulties 
between the chief and his missionary, and prevent 
the total wreck of the station, which was hard 
aground in a place where two seas met; but I 
believe they considered their mission a failure, and 
brought away the impression that the mission-people 
were so demoralized, that there was but little hope 
for them politically or spiritually, for after their 
missionary left they had a Kaffir beer-feast, got into 
a great fight among themselves, battering and cutting 
each other, and had actually killed one man. This 
briefly, leaving out many details, was the state of the 



364 SHAWBURY ELUNCUTA. 

case, so far as we had learned it before our visit to 
Shawbury ; but we learned much more before we got 
through, as my narrative will show. As we have 
seen, the armistice secured for Umhlonhlo s marriage 
and honeymoon with his seventh wife, was now 
at an end, and hostilities had been resumed. On 
the last Friday preceding our visit, Umhlonhlo s 
marauders had invaded Damasi s country, and 
driven off a lot of horses and cattle, and on the 
Saturday night preceding, the Shawbury Mission- 
people had rescued a lot of cattle, which a band of 
Damasi s warriors were driving away from Umhlon 
hlo s dominions, so they were now in the midst of 
wars, and rumours of wars, almost daily. There was 
but little danger to white travellers in the day-time, 
but at night it was not expected that warriors should 
readily distinguish the colour of a man s skin, and 
Umhlonhlo had issued an order that no one should 
travel within his lines after dark. 

We left Damasi s Great Place on Monday, the 
13th of August, and it being but thirty-six miles to 
Shawbury, we hoped to reach before night, not only 
on account of the chief s orders, and the danger 
of travelling after dark, but also because of the very 
rough travelling near Shawbury, and the dangerous 
drift at the Tsitsa ; but, unhappily, we got a late start, 
and were unnecessarily detained at the " ISTokloka 
drift," where we " out-spanned," so that five miles of 
fearfully steep, rough roads, and the rocky diagonal 
ford of the river of about a hundred and fifty yards. 



DAltK AND DANGEROUS TRAVELLING. 865 

had to be made in the darkness of a moonless night, 
through the lines of Umhlonhlo s armed sentinels. 
We worked our way slowly along, and told all the 
warriors we met about the great preaching services 
to commence next day at the station, and to be sure 
to come and bring their friends. When we got to 
the drift, it was so dark, we could not see the line of 
the ford, or where we should land on the other side ; 
but we got a native guide, who piloted us through, 
and on to the station. Our guide had not to take 
off his clothes to wade across the river, for he had 
none on him,, and had probably never been burdened 
with an article of clothing in his life. Neither he 
nor any of his compatriots have any laundry bills to 
pay. To our agreeable surprise we found Eev. 
Charles White, the missionary from Osborn Station, 
thirty-five miles beyond, had come to meet us, and 
was waiting to receive us at the mission-house. There 
was a white trader still remaining on the station, a 
good man, with a pious wife, who did what they 
could to supply all that we needed for ourselves and 
our horses. A kind native Christian woman did the 
honours of the kitchen for us, and with Brother 
White for our priest, we were all right, unless we 
should be surprised by a night attack from the 
Pondos, which we felt assured would not be ordered 
by our friend Damasi while we were there. 

On Tuesday, at eleven A.M., we had the chapel 
crowded with five or six hundred hearers. From 
our stand-point we preached to them plainly, but 



SG6 SHAWBUllY ELUNCUTA. 

kindly, illustrating from Jewish, history the parallels 
of their own, and showed them that- when the Jews 
were true to God, they enjoyed the peace of God 
in their hearts, and His protection against their 
enemies; but when they despised and abused their 
mercies, they brought guilt and remorse upon their 
own souls, and God, in such cases, after bearing long 
with them, and doing everything possible to bring 
them to repentance, delivered them over to their 
enemies, and all the horrors of the most desolating 
wars, and their only remedy was a return to God. 
They sat "in darkness and in the shadow of death, 
bound in affliction and iron " chained in dungeons, 
approaching death casting its dark shadow upon 
them, and why ? " Because they rebelled against 
the words of God, and contemned the council of the 
Most High : therefore, He brought down their heart 
with labour ; they fell* down, and there was none to 
help/ Poor sinners, what did they do ? " Then 
they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He 
saved them out of their distresses. He brought 
them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and 
broke their bands in sunder. Oh, that men would 
praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His won 
derful works to the children of men/ There was 
deliverance, and a shout of victory and praise to God 
for " His wonderful works." 

"Now, see how this fits the facts at Shawbury. 
Here you have had the Gospel preached for thirty 
years. You have come to this beautiful spot from 



CAUSE AKD EFFECTS OF HIE WAR. 667 

all parts, and have been living under the shade of 
God s missionaries. Besides a preached Gospel 
every week, you have had schools for the education 
of your children, and many of you have been taught 
to read God s Book ; the blessing of God has been 
upon your fields, your cattle, your children, your 
homes, even your dogs have been exempt from the 
curse of the witch-doctors of the heathen ! What 
have you done in return for all these mercies of God ? 
Of three thousand souls on this station, not quite one 
hundred of you are connected with the society at all 
one hundred and six a year ago, and now about 
ninety-five members on this whole station, and but a 
small proportion of them true disciples of Jesus and 
" because ye have rebelled against the words of God, 
and contemned the council of the Most High/ there 
fore, He is bringing down your hearts with labour, 
you are falling down, and there is no man to help you. 
We are not here to upbraid you, nor mock you in 
your misery, but to pity you, and beg you to consider 
your ways, and turn away from your sins, and cry 
unto the Lord in your trouble, who may save you 
out of your distresses." This is a mere illustration 
of the general drift of a discourse of an hour and 
half, which Charles sent home with the unmistakable 
ring of Kaffir periods which seldom missed their 
aim. We then called for penitents, and about fifty 
at once came out avowedly as seekers, and a small 
number were saved. We did not consider it safe to 
hold meetings at night as they had to stand by their 



SHAWBURY ELUNCUTA. 

assegais to guard their homes ; but we announced for 
preaching again in the afternoon. 

To our surprise at the next service our congrega 
tion did not exceed 150 persons, and they seemed 
more dead than alive. We had about thirty seekers., 
and they were in a gloomy unbelieving state, and 
but few of them accepted Christ. On Wednesday, 
we preached twice, but we only had out about 150, 
and it was a hard drag. An invitation had been sent 
to Umhlonhlo to attend the services, and on Wed 
nesday he came to the trader s shop, but did not put 
in an appearance at the chapel, giving as a reason 
that Adam Kok with eight wagons, and many of his 
men, were passing through his country, and he had 
to go and meet them; so he went to meet Cap 
tain Kok, and took with him the head man of the 
station, whom we hoped to lead in a different direc 
tion. 

On Thursday we left Charles to do the forenoon 
preaching, and Brother Eoberts, Stuart, and I, set 
out for a visit to the Tsitsa Falls, five miles distant. 
As we were passing the line of Luts eastward from 
the mission-house, we had an opportunity of seeing 
the Kaffir mode of storing away their corn. 
"Gideon" of old, "threshed wheat by the wine 
press to hide it from the Mideonites," so for a similar 
reason the Kaffirs hide all their corn. They dig 
holes in their cattle kraals, from eight to ten feet 
deep, and from six to eight feet wide, lined with 
waterproof cement. The shape is that of the old 



HIDING THE CORX. 369 

Hebrew cisterns in Palestine,, drawn in at the mouth 
to the diameter of about a foot, leaving space for a 
small Kaffir to descend to get out their hid stores 
as they are needed. Their women carry the corn in 
large baskets on their heads. Kaffir-corn grows like 
brown-corn, with a seed of double the size, and 
" mealies," a staple with them, is simply maize, or 
Indian-corn. 

We saw them, on this occasion, pouring in, turn 
after turn, till the hole was nearly full of clean corn, 
in good order. Those holes are thus filled and 
covered with a broad flat stone, and then with the 
debris of the cattle kraal, and no stranger can tell 
from any outward indications whether there are any 
such deposits, or where hidden. During the wars, the 
colonial soldiers used to thump over the cattle kraals 
with their ram-rods, sounding for corn. If such a 
hole was partly empty it returned a hollow sound, 
but if full they were hard to find. 

Stuart, in his journal, thus describes our trip to 
the Falls: 

We left our horses near the Falls in care of a Kaffir, 
while we took another Kaffir as a guide, and descended to 
the river below the cataract. The walk around was very 
long, and the descent very steep, but we were well repaid 
for our toil by the beautiful view we had below. Having 
gazed with admiration for some time from a good stand 
point on the westerly side, we took off our boots and waded 
across the stream, in some of the deepest parts jumping 
from rock to rock, and then we clambered over a series ot 

BB 



370 sir.v,vuui:Y. ELUXCUTA. 

rugged ledges near the base of the mountain, and great 
boulders near the edge of the river, till we got up as close 
as the spray would allow us, to the falling water ; and 
there we witnessed a phenomenon, to us new, and intensely 
beautiful. It was a rainbow formed by the reflection and 
refraction of the sun s rays upon the spray, so as to make 
a complete, though somewhat oval-shaped, circle. We stood 
in the lower rim of the great rainbow circle, and felt that 
for once we had indeed caught up with the rainbow, and 
stood in the midst of its glory more glittering than gold, 
yet " the bag of gold we found not." The Tsitsa Falls are 
375 feet high, 200 feet higher than Niagara, and must be 
grand in summer when the river is in flood, but now the 
river is low, and is divided here into three principal streams 
which are about seventy feet apart, where they bound over 
the precipice to the depths below. Having made our obser 
vations, we proposed to ascend the cliffs from where we 
were the opposite side of the river from our route of 
descent. Our guide who lives near the head of the Falls, 
said that no white man had ever gone up there. We deter 
mined, however, to go up as far as we could, and after 
hard climbing, and no small risk of falling and breaking 
our necks, we succeeded in reaching the heights, and having 
collected some pretty specimens of agates, rolled a few 
stones over the falls to measure the depth by the sound, 
had a good swimming bathe in the river, we saddled 
our horses, and turned their heads for the station. Passing 
the kraal, where we got our herdsman and guide, we stopped 
and sang in Kaffir, for the poor heathen men, women, and 
children, the hymn called The Eden above, to which they 
listened attentively, and seemed very much pleased. 

On our return, we said, "Charles, how did you 
.get on in the chapel to-day ? " 






LABOURING UNDER DISADVANTAGES. 371 



" "We had out about the same number as yesterday, 
and I preached to them as well as I could/ 

" Did you have a prayer-meeting ? " 

" No, I thought we had better wait till you should 
get back." 

Charles did not ordinarily wait for anybody where 
the Spirit led the way, but he felt the terrible repul 
sion which we all felt, but which as yet we could 
not understand. That afternoon we preached again, 
and had a few conversions, and among them Mr. 
White s servant-man, from Osborn. We had a fel 
lowship-meeting, and he spoke like the Lord s free 
man, as he was. About a dozen others spoke, pro 
fessing to have obtained peace, but it was with trem- 
)ling, and several who had professed did not speak 
it all, so that in everything there seemed to be the 
>resence of some diabolical spell. That day I wrote 

the Rev. William Shepstone, the chairman, ex- 
gaining matters as I saw them, and begged him to 
what he could to afford relief by his influence 
dth the chiefs, which is great, and by sending some 
me to try to look after the scattered sheep. Brother 

lye is a fine Kaffir scholar, and a brother of 
seal, but having had trouble there with Umhlonhlo, 
it was better to have a change. Next morning, 
rhen we were preparing to leave with Brother 
r hite for his station, we learned that the official 
lembers of the society wanted to meet us in council, 

which we readily consented, without having the 
least hint of what was to be the subject of debate. 



3 72 811 AWBURY. ELUNCUTA. 

They soon gathered round us in the dining-room, 
squatting down on all sides and in every corner, a 
sombre-looking set of natives as I had seen at any time. 
I saw by their long pause that something solemn 
was pending, and soon perceived, by the direction of 
their eyes, who had been appointed to open the case, 
and who was to plead their cause. After a little 
time an old man, whom they called Elijah, arose, 
and with the gravity of a Roman senator, said, " We 
want to know why the district-meeting have thrown 
us away? What great crime have we been guilty 
of that we should be driven off like scabby goats, to 
be devoured by the wild beasts ? It is not common 
to punish men till they have been tried and found 
guilty ; even among the heathen a man is smelled 
out before he is eaten up/ but here, in the midst 
of our dreadful punishment, we have come to ask 
you what is our crime ?" I at once woke up to the 
subject, for I found that we were put upon our trial 
under a very grave charge, involving the issues of 
life and death. A lawyer, by the name of Job, was 
sitting beside Elijah, biding his time, and from his 
flashing eyes and swelling jugulars, I knew it was 
no qhild s play that we had to do. So by a few 
questions in an undertone to Brother White, I got 
an outline of the facts, and by this time Elijah was 
seated and Job was on his feet, and passing his 
blanket round his otherwise naked body, and throw 
ing it gracefully over his left shoulder, proceeded in 
a subdued but masterly style of eloqueoco to say in 






A GRAVE CHARGE TO BE MET. 373 



effect : " What my brother has just said is true. 
The district-meeting have thrown us away, and we 
are being destroyed. We have always had confidence 
in our missionaries and in the district-meeting, but 
our confidence has been betrayed and forfeited, and 
now we are ruined. The most of these people on 
the station are Fingoes. They have been brought 
up under the rule of the missionaries, and they came 
here into Umhlonhlo s country not to serve Umhlon- 
hlo, but to live under the missionary. The missionary 
was our father, and we looked to him for a father s 
care. These people have no right to fight for 
Umhlonhlo any more than for Damasi, nor to be eaten 
up by him. I am not a Fingoe, I belong to Umh 
lonhlo, but the most of these people do not, yet the 
district-meeting has thrown them away, delivered 
them to Umhlonhlo, who says they must all fight for 
him against Damasi. Umhlonhlo himself has eaten 
many of them up, and they are all in jeopardy of 
their lives every day, and he is forcing old heathen 
customs upon them that they never were subject to 
in their lives." At the " Tina;" an out-station, about 
twelve miles distant, " he has revived the horrible 
old custom of upuiidhlo, requiring even Christian 
men to send their daughters to lodge for the night 
in the huts of the chief and his amapakati, and we 
know not what day the same brutal custom may 
be imposed on the people of this station. All this 
has come upon the people here because the district- 
meeting abandoned us to the rule of a heathen 



37t SHAWBURY. ELUXCUTA. 

chief. "We would gladly leave everything and go 
away, but the chief won t allow us to leave, so 
here we are, and we want to know our crime, and 
whv the district- meeting has dealt with us so 
cruelly ? " 

Then it came to my turn to answer, and I arose 
and said, " Your case is very deplorable, and we are 
sorry for you indeed, but now we must find out the 
real facts in the case. 

" Let us then look first at the action of the district- 
meeting, which you say is the cause of all your 
calamities. Whatever they did was done in the fear 
of God, as your friends and pastors, and they did not 
anticipate any of the evils which have befallen you, 
and but few of the things you are suffering have 
come from their action, as I will show you presently. 
It is not according to the Word of God that ministers 
of His Gospel should be ruling magistrates over a 
great community,, of all sorts of sinners, such as are in 
this station. In establishing the Gospel first among 
the heathen in Kaffraria, the good men of God, in 
mercy to the people on their stations, whom they 
gathered in from among the heathen to live with 
the missionary, because they were Christian people, or 
earnestly seeking after God, and wanted for themselves 
and their children a Christian education, exercised 
all the authority, which they considered consistent 
with their own spiritual mission and the supreme 
authority of their paramount chiefs, for the protection 
and proper training of their people in everything 






ST. PAUL ON MISSION-STATIONS. u/5 

necessary to qualify them to be good Christians, 
industrious workers, and good subjects of their chiefs, 
and also to furnish to the chiefs themselves a model 
of Christian government. Their one great work 
was to preach the Gospel and bring souls to Christ, 
and the magisterial office they consented to bear for 
a time, was an incidental thing, to be given up in 
due time entirely to civil rulers, whom God hath 
ordained separately for that work, just as ministers 
are called separately for their work. If the rulers 
are unwise or wicked because of the general wicked 
ness of their subjects, then if God s people cannot 
correct the bad government, nor readily escape from 
the injustice they suffer, they must commit themselves 
to God, and endure patiently what God may permit 
for the trial of their faith, who will, if they endure 
hardness as good soldiers, make all things work to 
gether for their good. St. Paul did not gather a lot 
of his converts, and form a station like this, and rule 
over 2,900 rebels against God, for every 100 believers 
in his fold. ]N"o such thing. He preached the glad 
tidings to poor sinners, and when he got them to 
accept Christ, they would have been glad enough to 
have gone and lived with their Umfundisi, but what 
did Paul say to them ? Let every man abide in the 
same calling wherein he was called. Art thou called, 
being a servant ? care not for it ; but if thou mayest 
be free, use it rather. Brethren, let every man 
wherein he is called, therein abide with God/ God 
will be with His people wherever they are, and if 



376 SIIAWBURY. ELUNCUTA. 

God be with them, and they remain true to Him, 
He will either deliver them from their tribulations, 
or sustain them under them. That is God s way 
of spreading the Gospel in heathen countries, and 
in that way we will not grow sicklj-, dwarfish 
Christians, that can t stand a blast of wind, but 
healthy, strong men, ready always to do or to die 
for God. In that way we will not carry all the 
leaven and put it into a pot by itself, but will 
have it distributed through the lump till the 
great mass of heathenism is leavened. This you 
see is God s way. The most of the missionaries 
who have established the mission- stations and 
nourished the people at them so long, are now 
anxious fully to adopt God s way. Here, at Shaw- 
bury, the missionary being responsible to his chief 
for the conduct of 3,000 people, and having to 
settle all your disputes, what time had he left to 
give to his one great work of leading the people to 
Christ? 

" He felt it, and the district-meeting felt it, and 
they in love to your souls thought it best to release 
him from that work, that he might devote his whole 
time to the work of teaching you and your children 
the way to heaven. 

"There was no war then, and they could not antici 
pate any of the horrible things which have since 
come upon you. 

"Now let us, in the second place, look at the real 
cause of your troubles. In the first place, the mosi 



WAR COMPLICATIONS. 377 

of your people, under the name of being Christians, 
and enjoying all the privileges of a mission-station, 
are notorious rebels against God, and have no right 
to expect special favours from God or His people. 
In the second place you have not kept your treaty 
engagements with Damasi. At the beginning of 
this war, Damasi, by a special messenger, asked you 
three questions 1st. Are you Umhlonhlo^s people, 
or are you not ? 2nd. Do you intend to join Umh- 
lonhlo in fighting against me or not ? 3rd. If you 
do not intend to fight me, give me a description of 
your boundaries, so that I may not pass over them 
with my armies. "Was not that so ? " " Yes," re 
plied the learned counsel on the other side, " that 
is true." " "Well now, in reply, you said, 1st. We 
are not Umhlonhlo s people. We are mission-people, 
but we live in Umhlonhlo s country, and are bound 
not to break his laws. 2nd. We will not fight 
against you, unless you cross our mission-station 
lines. 3rd. Our lines are so and so/ and you gave 
him your boundaries." " Is not that true ?" " That 
is all true," said Job. So far the thing was all 
honourable and fair on both sides. Now, if you had 
dealt honourably with Damasi, he never would have 
interfered with one of you, and your missionary would 
not have been disturbed, and you would have had his 
influence all this time to shield you from the wicked 
excesses of your chief. But what did you do ? You 
got up a great sham fight for a lark, and though 
your missionary begged you not to go over the hill 



378 SHAWBTJRY. FLONCUTA. 

toward the river, in sight of Damasi s soldiers, you 
went in spite of him, and Damasi s soldiers of course 
thought you were going out to fight them, and put 
themselves in battle array. Then Umhlonhlo to 
help the devil to ensnare you, came along and 
ordered you to charge on Damasi s men, and when 
you refused, you got his ill-will, and then he ad 
vanced and shot some of Damasi s men himself, and 
you got the credit of all that on Damasi s books. 
Though you did not design it, you thus did so break 
faith with Damasi as to put it beyond explanation to 
him, and then having gotten yourselves into that 
mess, you gave up to Umhlonhlo, and have since 
been regularly joined to him in array against Da 
masi, and have not only thus brought all this evil 
upon yourselves, but jeopardized the lives of your 
missionary, and his wife and little children, and im 
posed upon him the greatest grief of his life, the 
necessity of leaving his work, and fleeing away to 
a place of safety." 

Then Elijah arose and said, " The words of the 
Umfundisi are true words ; but if the district-meet 
ing felt it their duty to make a change of such im 
portance, why did they not consult us first ? "We 
are oificial members of the Church, and we are a 
party directly interested in such a change. More 
over, as the most of us have been all our lives on the 
mission stations, and never felt the rule of a heathen 
chief, we should have been notified in time to pre- 



JOB, THE KAFFIR LAWYER. 379 

pare our minds for such a great change, so as to be 
able to bear it as good Christians. 1 " 

Then Brother "White replied, saying, " On my way 
home from the district-meeting, sometime before the 
matter was brought before Umhlonhlo, I told a num 
ber of your leading men what the district-meeting 
had done, so that you might prepare your minds for 
it." Meantime, I saw, from the flash of Job s eyes, 
that he considered us his game after all. Up he 
sprang, excited, almost beyond self-control ; but he 
poised himself very quickly, and with true Kaffir 
self-possession and dignity, yet with great spirit, re 
torted, " Yes, you told us what you had done at the 
district-meeting as you went home. It was too late 
then for us to have any say in the matter. Why did 
you not tell us on your way to the meeting, so that we 
might decide what was best for us to do. If we had 
known that you were going to give us away to a 
heathen chief, we might have decided that it was 
better for us to pick up our assegais and blankets 
and go away to some other part ; but after we have 
been sold for nothing, we are coolly told that the deed 
is done, and that we belong to a heathen master/ 

It then came to my turn to deliver the closing 
speech, and I said : 

"I see now how the case stands. We, the district- 
meeting, confess that we have made a great mistake in not 
giving you due notice of our intention, and in not consulting 
you, and fully preparing your minds for such a change, and 



380 SHAWBURY. ELUNCUTA. 

I think I speak the sincere feelings of very member of that 
meeting, when I say, we are very sorry, and all we have to 
plead is, what I have pleaded, our best intentions in doing 
a necessary thing to be done, but we should have given you 
notice of our good intentions. The reason, I believe, you 
were not notified and consulted is, that it was not till after 
the meeting had assembled, and the state of the work here 
made known, that it was felt necessary at that time to take 
such action. It was believed that the missionary was so 
burdened with magisterial duties in managing such a hard 
lot that the thing could not, in justice to your souls, be 
delayed, and there was then no opportunity of consulting 
any of you ; but now we see that we made a great mistake 
in not waiting, to give ample time for consultation. But, 
while we confess to one great mistake, you will have to con 
fess to two great sins, and then we must all humble ourselves 
before God, confess and forsake our sins, accept Christ as 
our Saviour, and ask God s gracious direction out of these 
dreadful tribulations. Your first great sin was to go, in 
spite of the wise counsel of your missionary, and break your 
solemn treaty with Damasi. Your second great sin is, that 
after bringing so many evils on yourselves, as we have 
shown, you have not only justified yourselves, and blamed 
it all on the district-meeting, but have gone on in greater 
excesses of sin, profaning this holy place with Kaffir-beer 
feasts, quarrelling, fighting among yourselves, and have even 
murdered a man, and have not confessed your sins, nor re 
pented. Even while we have been here, who had nothing 
to do with any of your matters, but came purely to help 
you in your distress by leading you to Jesus, you have kept 
up a quarrel in your hearts against us, and have thus pre 
vented a great work of God, which with your agency He 
would have done for you, by ws His servants, just as He 
has done at other stations we have visited. Now you must 



PLEADINGS CLOSED. 381 

have done with Kaffir-beer feasts, and with beer-drinking 
at home, surrender to God, accept Christ, and get right in 
your hearts and lives, and then we may hope that God, in 
some way, will give you relief, and spare your lives, that 
you may honour Him in the sight of the heathen. Mean 
time, I have written to Mr. Shepstone, the chairman, and 
hope that he may be able to do something for you ; but 
his success depends on the mercy of God, and that depends 
on the course you take in regard to your sins." 

Elijah said " These words are true," and pledged 
himself to do the best he could to promote a real 
reformation. Job said the same, and the rest as 
sented. Then we knelt down and submitted the whole 
matter to God, and the Comforter was graciously 
present to quicken and to heal. Our horses were 
then waiting at the door, and we rose from our 
knees and bade our penitent friends adieu. 

I said to Brother White, as we passed out, "Ah, if 
we had had that counsel on the first day of our series 
here, instead of the last, we would have had a glorious 
work of God." This was the terrible incubus which 
had strangled all our efforts, and added to it was a 
great disappointment growing out of a mistaken 
apprehension that I was coming as their missionary 
to live among them, and finding that I was only to 
be with them three days, many left in disgust ; but 
if we had had the leading men with us, we should 
have overcome that, and had a grand victory. We 
had with us at our services at Shawbury, a native 
Local Preacher from Natal, who had come more than 



382 SHAWBURY. ELUNCUTA. 

200 miles to visit his brother there, and when we 
left off, he took up the work, and we learned that the 
following Sabbath he had the chapel crowded, and 
the Spirit of God was with him in power. Soon 
after, two of our missionaries went and gave them 
a helping hand, which Eev. "Win. Shepstone, the 
Chairman of the District, in a letter to me, describes 
as follows : 

My nephew found Shawbury so impressed on his mind, 
that he could not rest, so like the honest quakers of old, he 
yielded, and taking Hunter s station in his route, Hunter 
readily accompanied him. They spent four days at Shaw- 
bury, holding services, two or three times a day, and to use 
Rayner s words, " The Spirit of God came down upon the 
people," and they left about 100 souls who had, during their 
services, found peace with God, and joined the Classes. 
These, I believe, were all converts from amongst the hea 
then. Last week I received a letter from Brother Gedye, 
who had returned thither, and is labouring with all his 
might, and he tells me that since his return, about forty 
more have been brought in, and that " David Cobus," the 
man who was the devil s own agent, and the principal cause 
of all the Shawbury troubles, is now, like Saul of earlier 
days, preaching the faith which once he destroyed, or tried 
to. Gedye says he is helping mightily in the work of the 
Lord. That station is now in peace and quiet. The belli 
gerents fight around it, but the people are not disturbed, 
and not a soul moves from the station towards the battle 
ground. I had written a letter to Damasi, on the subject 
of the neutrality of mission-stations in war before your letter 
reached me, and obtained from him a promise that the 
missionary and all mission property should be respected. 



SUDDEN TURN OF EVENTS. 383 

Though Shawbury has been left without a missionary at a 
time it most needed one, God hath shown that, neverthe 
less, He can carry on his work in his own way. Umhlonhlo 
has not been to Shawbury since Gedye s return, but has 
sent a message that they must pray, but does not say for 
what. Gedye thinks he means for rain, which is the most 
likely thing he would wish to see. 

A short extract from a letter from Brother Gedye, 
published in the Missionary Notices, dated November 
30th, 1866, a few days after I sailed from Cape Town 
for London, may further illustrate the progress of this 
work. " On my return to the station, a fortnight 
after," the departure of Brothers Rayner and 
Hunter noticed above" we entered upon a course of 
special services, which resulted in about fifty con 
versions during the week ; and since then not a week 
has passed in which conversions have not taken place ; 
so that we are enabled to report an addition of above 
two hundred persons meeting in Class. I have just 
returned from the Tina, where the Lord has given 
us twenty souls during the past ten days, and many 
others are under deep conviction," 



CHAPTER XXIIL 

OSBORN (TSHUMGWANA). 

THIS mission-station, an offshoot from Shawbury, 
was established by Mr. Hulley, a Local Preacher 
devoted to the work of God, and for many years 
employed by the Missionary Society, under the title 
of a " Catechist." He is not in the employ of the 
Society now, but is nevertheless engaged in the mis 
sion work. He has settled his family on a farm near 
the west bank of the Umzimvubu River. His wife is 
a sister of Rev. H. H. Dugmore, and they have an 
interesting family of children. He has built a sub 
stantial hut-chapel, round, like a Kaffir-hut, about 
thirty feet indiameter, which will accommodate about 
150 natives. He has organized there a society of 
natives, and preaches to a large number of heathen 
besides, and God is owning his labours. The Tshum- 
gwana Station, established and sustained for a number 
of years under his administration, was called Osborn, 
in honour of Dr. Osborn, so long and so favourably 
known as one of the Secretaries of the Wesleyan 
Missionary Society. 



TERRIBLE BATTLE. 385 

Kev. Charles White, the present missionary at 
Osborn, brother to Mrs. Eev. Thomas Jenkins, and 
to Mr. Alfred White, who was the Lord s leading 
agent to induce me to go into those Kaffrarian adven 
tures, is with Brothers Shepstone, Dugmore, Sargent, 
Bertram, and others, a Colonial-made minister, and 
none the worse for that, as the record of each one will 
show. The Osborn Station belongs to the Amabaca 
tribe, but like Shawbury, is situated near the borders 
of the great Amapondo nation, who are at war with 
the Amabaca, and it is therefore greatly exposed to the 
ravages of war. But a few weeks before our arrival, 
a large army of Faku s warriors came, variously 
estimated from 5,000 to 8,000 men, under the com 
mand of Faku s son, Umgikela. As this army pene 
trated the heart of the country, the Bacas fled before 
them, and the warriors were busily employed in 
gathering up all the live stock within their reach, 
till they got near to the Great Place of the ruling 
chief, Makaula. Tiba is nominally the paramount 
chief of the tribe, but his residence is in " Noman s- 
land," which was given, as before shown, to Adam 
Kok, the Griqua, who has laid Tiba under tribute, 
the mass of his tribe living beyond Kok s lines are 
free, and hence Tiba, though not deposed, has lost 
prestige, and Makaula is in fact the ruling chief, 
and being a young, brave spirited man, he succeeded 
in rallying his surprised and scattered people, and. 
in person led them to the charge against the in 
vaders, and after a severe hand-to-hand fight with 

cc 



o86 OSBORN. TSHUMGWANA. 

their assegais, the Pondos began to give way, and 
soon in utter confusion and panic they retreated. 
They had to run ten miles to get to the Umzimvubu 
River, the boundary of their own country. The 
Bacas, flushed with victory, pursued, and strewed 
the route for ten miles with the dead bodies of their 
foes. The mission-station was in their path, and on 
the approach of the retreating army, the mission- 
people in the excitement fearing an attack on the 
station, turned out in a body, in spite of the remon 
strance of their missionary, and poured a deadly 
volley in the front of the fleeing foe, which brought 
them for a little time to a stand, and the slaughter 
was fearful. A Brother Lee had a trading-station 
near, and the entrance to his house was blocked up 
with the bodies of the slain. One poor Pondo dashed 
himself through a window of the room, occupied by 
Mrs. Lee, with such violence as to cut an artery of 
his arm on the glass, and down he dropped beside the 
frightened lady, and without saying a word bled to 
death. A room of the mission-house, with an outer 
entrance, which happened to be open, was packed with 
Pondos, and Brother White stood at the door to shield 
them from the assegais of the Bacas. The pursuers 
came on in the rage of their human slaughter, and 
demanded access to the refugees in the room, but Mr. 
White said to them, " These men have placed their 
lives in my hands, and if you want them you will 
have to pass over my dead body." The Bacas seemed 
to think it hard that their own missionary should 
thus protect their enemies, but he taught them an ex- 



387 

ample of forbearance and of justice to a fallen foe. 
That act, too, helped to mitigate the violation of the 
neutrality laws of the mission-stations, of which his 
people were guilty. He gave sanctuary to his pri 
soners that night, and sent them home in peace the 
next morning. The army of the Pondos were pur 
sued to the Umzimvubu, and many were slain in the 
river, but the Bacas did not pass over into Pondo-land. 

The Pondo army, to assist their flight, threw away 
nearly everything they had. Among the spoils were 
numerous shields and assegais, and seven hundred 
guns, of which it appears they had made but little 
use. Between four and five hundred Pondos were 
killed. Though they fled for life, when caught they 
died like stoics. For example, an old Pondo lay 
apparently dead, and a Baca exclaimed, " I killed 
him ! " " No," said another Baca, " I killed him/ 
With that the old Pondo opened his eyes, and said, 
" You are both liars ; neither of you killed me ! " 
Then the two merciless wretches took up stones and 
battered out his brains. Brother Lee, to clear his 
premises of dead Pondos, looped a " reim/ a raw 
hide- rope round their necks, and dragged them 
away, and as he was about to put the reim round the 
neck of one of the dead men, the corpse, as he sup 
posed, opened his eyes and said, " Do please let me 
lie still and die." 

The Kaffirs never bury their dead who are slain 
in battle ; the dogs, pigs, wild beasts, and birds of 
prey did what they could to prevent effluvia and 
pestilence, by devouring their flesh, and the bones 



388 OSBORN. TSIIUMGWAXA. 

of their carcasses lay bleaching in the sun when we 
were there, a heart- sickening sight indeed. "We 
had come as warriors too, had come to conquer, not 
to spoil and destroy, but to proclaim a life-giving 
Deliverer to the dead souls of the savage warriors 
still alive. 

"We left Shawbury on Friday the 17th of August. 
We out-spanned at Tina, the out-station at which 
Umhlonhlo committed the outrage before mentioned. 
We inquired of " Nicodemus," the head man, who 
had been a Class-leader there, but whose society had 
been broken up during the recent troubles, if the 
charge made against Umhlonhlo was so, and he 
affirmed that it was all true that we had heard. 

Stuart thus briefly describes the rest of our 
journey that day : 

Soon after we crossed the Tina river, we came to a very 
steep and stony hill, where one of the horses became 
baulky, and seemed determined not to pull up the hill, and 
could not be persuaded, neither by coaxing nor the free use 
of the whip. After many unsuccessful attempts to get the 
beast up the hill at the great risk of breaking the cart, we 
put in another horse, which, going to the opposite extreme, 
dashed off, ran the upper wheel over a great stone, and 
upset the whole concern. By carrying our baggage up on 
our shoulders, we at length, after the delay of an hour, 
reached the summit ; and passing through a beautiful, 
fertile, well watered country, reached the Osborn station 
just as the sun was setting. 

Eev. Mr. White, the missionary, and his good wife 
kindly entertained us. They have no family, but have 
adopted a little prince, the son of Makaula. The little boy 



SINGING OUT THE NATIVES. 3S9 

was very ill, the heathen doctors could do him no good, 
and when the chief thought he was dying, he brought him 
to the missionary and said, " Take my dying child. If he 
dies, bury him ; if he lives, take care of him and teach 
him." He is now a fat little fellow over two years old. 
He is very fond of shaking hands, and is delighted with the 
ticking of a watch, and seems to understand such English as 
is addressed to him, for when we tell him to shut his eyes, and 
then to open them, or to laugh, he does so, and altogether 
he is a very comical little specimen of Kaffir humanity. 

One embarrassment under which we had laboured 
in each place, in regard to the heathen, was that 
they seldom came to our services till near the close 
of the series, and we did not then have sufficient 
time to do a great work among them. 

At Osborn we determined to try a new plan for 
getting them out to the preaching. So on Saturday 
morning, the 18th of August, Charles Roberts, Stuart, 
and myself, with " Petros," Brother White s school 
teacher, as a guide, set out on horseback, and visited 
all the heathen kraals within a few miles of the station. 

We rode up to a kraal, and called to them, say 
ing, "Bring out all your men, women, and children, 
and we will sing you a song about the country 
above/ We then dismounted, and standing in a 
line, holding the reins of our horses behind us, we 
sang in Kaffir, " The Eden Above." 

Then without adding a word we mounted and 
rode off, leaving Charles to tell them that a new 
Umfundisi from over the sea had just arrived, and 



390 OSBORN. TSHUMGWANA. 

had just been to pay them a visit, and sing to them, 
and would preach at the station that day at noon, 
and " he wants all of you to come and hear the good 
news he has to tell you." Then riding on to another 
kraal, the same was repeated, and so on till all with 
in our reach were visited. In some places some of 
the men followed us to their neighbouring kraal, so 
that I could see at once that we were getting a hold 
on them. Sure enough, at noon we had the heathen 
to our meeting in force. The chapel would not hold 
the half of them ; so we assembled them in the stable- 
yard, which, with various buildings of four sides, 
was a large open court. The first sermon, there 
fore, instead of being to the Church as usual, was to 
the heathen, from St. Paul s text about the " Un 
known God." Having given a very brief history of 
St. Paul s work among the people in the great city 
of Athens, we came directly to our work. 

"We did not simply proclaim the truths of the 
Gospel to them, for the work of an ambassador for 
Christ embraces much more than that, but followed 
St. Paul s method. He never " begged the question." 
In preaching to the Jews, he based his arguments on 
the clearly defined prophetic Scriptures, which his 
hearers admitted. In preaching to heathens he went 
directly down into the regions of their own experi 
ence, and brought to light, from their admitted facts, 
a conscious demand in their souls which they were 
vainly trying to meet,, but which the Gospel only 
could supply. If I could reproduce our discourses to 



SERMON TO THE HEATHEN. 391 

the heathen there during our series of three days, 
ray space would not admit them ; but the substance 
of the first, and a specimen point or two of the 
others may serve to illustrate the method of preach 
ing, which the Spirit of God was pleased to render 
very effective in the salvation of a large number of 
our heathen hearers. 

At that first service, having introduced the subject 
of the " Unknown God," the following is an example 
of our method of preaching, which God used in bring 
ing raw heathens to a saving acceptance of Christ, 
under a single discourse. 

SERMON TO KAFFIR HEATHENS. 

There is one Great God who made the world, the sun, 
moon, and stars, and every living thing ; and who made 
man. That is a fact you all admit. Your old fathers who 
are dead believed that, and you believe it too. Your 
fathers called him " Dala," the Creator, or " the Great 
Hole," out of which all living things came ; and they called 
him Tixo, God, the preserver of all things ; and " Inkosi," 
the Lord, the Great Chief who rules all things. They did 
not know God, but they called Him by these names, and 
offered sacrifices of worship to him, and on many a hill in 
Africa, your " Isivivana " bear witness that they called upon 
Bis name (we saw by the path in a number of places on 
the hills a great pile of hand stones, about eight by sixteen 
feet, and six feet high. For generations, every heathen 
passing will add a stone, as an expression of thanks to 
" Inkosi " for helping him up the hill). 

You then believe with us that there is one God, and that 
we are " His offspring." Come then and let us reason together 
about this Great God. If He made the sea, the earth, and 



392 OSBORN. TSHUMGWVNA. 

the heavens above us, He must be a God of wonderful power. 
When His lightnings flash and He speaks to you from His 
" Great Place " above tjie heavens in tones of thunder, how 
you do tremble. Now, if we are the offspring of this Great 
God, which you all admit, let us examine His work, and 
see if He is not a God of love, as well as a God of power. 
Examine your heads, your eyes, your noses, your ears, your 
tongues, your teeth, your arms, hands, body, legs, and feet 
what a wonderful piece of work ! Everything about us 
witnesses, not only to the power and wisdom of God, but to 
His great love for us. If he had hated us, and had wanted 
to make us miserable, how easily he could have done it. 
Suppose he had made your ears of bone, they would have 
been knocked off long ago. Suppose he had put your eyes 
on the top of your heads, then you could not see the path ; 
if He had put them on your forehead, long ago they would 
have been rubbed off, and you would be blind ; but God, in 
love, has put them in the best place for seeing, arched them 
over with eyebrows to keep the sweat out of them, given 
us eye-lids to keep them moist, and guard them against 
dust, and walled them round with bones, so that a stroke on 
your face will not easily reach the eye" ; so with every other 
part of your bodies, everything is made just right, and all 
bear witness that the God who made us is a God of love. 
Well now, my dear friends, this wonderful body God has 
given us is simply the " hut " for the living Spirit which 
He has put into it. If the tent is such a wonderful thing, 
what must the tenant be ? When you look upon a dead man, 
you see the whole body as complete as when he was alive ; but 
it has no power to see, to eat, to smell, to think or to move. 
The fact is, the real man has gone away, it is his old " hut," 
that you are looking at, and soon it will crumble into dust. 
You all know that you have a spirit, a mind, a living 
soul within your body, just as certainly as you know that 



SERMON TO THE HEATHEN. 393 

you have a body. It is the spirit that thinks, reasons, 
plans, and executes our plans. You can at this moment, 
in your minds, see your kraals, all your huts, your corn 
fields, your cattle, your children and dogs. What is it 
that sees all these things ? You don t see them with your 
eyes, for you are looking at me, and your kraals are away 
over the hills, quite out of your sight, but you have the 
picture of all these things in your minds. If you want to 
build a hut, the plan of the hut, its size and everything 
about it, is first the work of your spirit. If an Englishman 
wants to build a great ship, he first works out the whole 
plan of it in his mind, then marks it all down on paper. 
The ship-builders look at it, and go to work and make the 
ship, just as the man saw it all in his mind. 

Now, my dear friends, the God who made us is the 
Great Spirit without a body, or hut, like ours, to live in, 
for all the heavens will not contain Him ; but He has made 
us little spirits in His " own image," after His " own like 
ness," and has given us these huts of clay to live in till He 
calls our spirits to return to Him, and then they leave their 
huts, which are the dead men which you have seen, and go 
away into another world. Our spirits are suited to this 
world through the body ; they employ themselves in plan 
ning and working for the body, and take pleasure in what 
ever is pleasing to the body ; but our spirits don t belong 
to this world, and hence have wants that this world can t 
supply. You see a fish, it has fins, but no legs, and no 
wings, and you know at once that it don t belong to the 
earth, nor to the air, but its home is in the waters. There 
is a horse. You see that he has no fins, and no wings, 
but he has legs and feet, and you know at once that he 
don t belong to the air, nor to the sea, but to the earth. 
There flies a bird. You see it has no fins, but it has wings 
and legs, and you know without anybody telling you, that 



304 OSBOllN. TSHUMGWANA. 

it belongs to the earth, and to the air above us. You see 
a man s body, it has legs and feet, and, therefore, belongs 
to the earth ; but his spirit has no fins, no legs, no wings, 
and, therefore, don t belong to the waters, nor to the earth, 
nor to the air above us, but belongs to another world 
altogether. You know at once that this is all true, and 
hence when you bury a man, after you set him down in his 
grave, you say to his " umshologu " his spirit " don t 
say anything against us, but remember us kindly in that 
world you are going to." (The eyes of our heathen auditors 
sparkle under the light of a new association of admitted 
facts, and they look at each other, and nod assent, for 
like the Athenians they are always ready " to hear or tell 
some new thing.") Well, now, my friends, you see that 
our spirits belong to another world, and have wants thai 
this world cannot supply. "When we have taken all the 
pleasure we can get in this life, our spirits are still hungry, 
very hungry. They are always wanting to go somewhere, 
or to do something else to satisfy their great hunger and 
thirst, and to make themselves happy. 

All animals have some kind of a spirit, but it is a low, 
earthy spirit, which seeks nothing more than to supply the 
wants of their bodies, and then their happiness is complete ; 
but our spirits, as we have shown, belong to another world, 
and have powers suited to the world to which they belong, 
which we know, just as we know that the wings of a bird 
suit it for flying in the air. That pig has some sort of a 
low spirit, but you can t teach him your laws and customs. 
He has not the power to learn to read, or write, or to talk. 
Our spirits have the power to receive and to give instruc 
tion, to learn good laws, and to obey them, or to break 
them, and hence, also, we have a power in our own spirits 
which tells us that some things are right, and that we 
ought to do them, and that some things are wrong, and 



SERMON TO THE HEATHEN. 395 

that we ought not to do them. If we do what we believe 
is right, that power in our spirits says to us, " You have 
done right," and we feel happy ; but when we do wrong, it 
says to us, " You are wicked, you have broken the law ; " 
then we feel guilty and miserable, an awful fear comes into 
our spirits that something dreadful will come upon us for 
our sins. So you see plain enough, my friends, that our 
spirits belong to another world ; that they were made to be 
happy, and though they have some happiness in the plea 
sures of the body, they cannot find their real rest and full 
enjoyment in anything in this world. God alone has the 
real rest for our souls, and He alone can satisfy the hunger 
and thirst of oiy spirits. God is holy, and He made our 
spirits holy, so that they might live with God, and find 
their rest, and complete happiness in Him. Hence our 
spirits are adapted to receive and obey God s laws, which 
show us the right way to walk in, so that we may be ready 
to live with God when He calls our spirits away from our 
bodies. But you see, we may abuse this power of our 
spirits, and neglect, and break good laws, bring guilt and 
misery into our spirits, and thus get them so polluted with 
sin, that they are not fit to live with God at all. What, 
then, can God do with such wicked, polluted spirits ? He 
has to " throw them away" (the Kaffirs strongest term for 
hopeless abandonment), and they are dragged down into 
the dark hole where "Icanti" lives (an infernal um- 
shologu, which assumes the shape of a huge snake ; they 
often try to appease it by offering the sacrifice of beasts, 
throwing their offerings into deep holes in the rivers a 
traditional idea of the devil, no doubt), the wicked 
spirit, the old serpent, called the devil and Satan was once 
a happy spirit, and might have dwelt in happiness with 
God for ever ; but he broke good laws, polluted himself by 
Bin, and was driven away from God s fold like a "scabby 



396 OSBOKN. TSHUMGWANA. 

goat " never to return. So all spirits, made to be holy, 
and to live in happiness with God, who follow Satan, break 
good laws, and pollute themselves with sin, are driven 
away also from God s fold to " the place prepared for the 
devil and his angels." 

Well now, my friends, we have been looking at God s 
great work in our bodies and spirits. Let us next look 
into His great stores, and see what His wisdom and love 
have provided to make us happy. We will begin with the 
wants of the body. Our bodies can t live without water. 
See God s rills, and rivulets, and creeks, and rivers. See 
His clouds and dews, and showers of rain. How kind 
He is I 

Our bodies need food. Hath God not given you a thou 
sand grassy hills and valleys, and strong arms to cultivate 
them, and horses and oxen to help you ? Hath He not 
given you Kaffir-corn, mealies, yams, pumpkins, and all 
manner of fruits ? Hath He not given you cattle, sheep, 
goats, pigs, ducks, chickens, and geese? Where did you 
get all these things if God did not give them to you ? All 
the men in the world could not even make one goose. 

We need light for our eyes, and hath not God made the 
sun to give us light by day, and the moon and stars to give 
us light by night ? 

We need air for our lungs and blood, and hath not God 
supplied it abundantly ? He hath poured it all round the 
world about fifty miles deep. Now if God provides such 
great treasures for our bodies in this life, which must return 
to dust, would He not provide as well for our spirits, which 
never die, but return to God who gave them ? Would He 
not give us His good laws to mark out the path of holiness, 
that we may walk in obedience to Him, and thus be 
prepared to dwell with Him in happiness? Would He 
not? (Their eyes glance at each other, and they nod 



SERMON TO THE HEATHEN. 397 

assent.) "Well, now, God hath made us all of one blood. 
We have bodies just alike in all their parts, and our spirits 
are all of the same nature. God made one man, and called 
his name Adam, and then made one woman, and called her 
name Eve. lie made their bodies of the dust of the 
ground, but their spirits He breathed into from Him 
self. Eve was the first mother of all the people in the 
world. God made Adam and Eve holy, and gave them a 
"great place" in the most beautiful garden that ever was 
made, called the Garden of Eden. It had in it every good 
thing that grows in the world, and God gave every 
thing in it to the happy people He had made, except one 
fruit-tree He kept for Himself, and told them not to touch 
the fruit of His tree ; and He gave them good laws for 
them, and all their children to keep, so as to get in this 
beautiful world the right kind of schooling to prepare them 
to dwell in happiness with God for ever. 

His laws were all for their good, and allowed them every 
thing they needed for their bodies, and for their spirits to 
make them happy in this life, and then, when they should 
be trained and prepared for a better home, to take them up 
to that glorious world where God abides. Was it not a 
fine arrangement for Adam and Eve, and for all their 
descendants ? Oh, if they had walked in the path of God s 
laws, there never would have been any sickness in this world, 
nor pain, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor death. Then when 
ever they should have become holy enough to dwell with God, 
their bodies, instead of dying and returning to dust, would 
have been changed into such a glorious body, that instead 
of walking and running on the ground, they would have 
mounted up faster than the flight of an eagle to the bright 
world above. God was well known to our first parents, 
and came down and talked with them in their beautiful 
garden every day. Satan never was a human spirit, but a 



OSBORN. TSHUMGWANA. 

glorious angel spirit, but he became a rebel from God, and 
was " thrown away," a long time before Adam and Eve 
were made, and he was jealous of the happiness of our first 
parents, so he crawled into their beautiful garden, and had 
a talk with our mother, and persuaded her to disobey God, 
and she plucked off some of the fruit from God s tree, which 
He told her she must not eat, and she ate some, and gave 
some to Adam, and he did eat. By listening to the dirty old 
" Icanti," they broke God s good laws, stole fruit from His 
tree, and thus sin entered into the world, and death by sin. 
Sin is such a dreadful thing, that through their disobedi 
ence all their children were made sinners, that is, sin so 
corrupted their spirits and their bodies, that all who were 
born of them were corrupt. 

Then God drove them out of the garden, and they had to 
go and make a " kraal" among the briers and thorns. 
Still God was very sorry for them, and showed them great 
kindness in giving to them and their children all the good 
things in this world we have to enjoy, and He promised 
some day to raise up a great man from one of the daugh 
ters of Eve, who would crush the head of the old serpent, 
and deliver us from our sins. The children of Adam and 
Eve multiplied in the earth greatly, but broke God s laws 
more and more, and got so wicked that they did not like 
to retain God in their knowledge, and at last the old fathers 
who knew God died, and the foolish hearts of their children 
were so darkened by sin that they did not know God at all, 
but still they had the gnawing hunger and thirst in their 
spirits which God only can satisfy. They retained their 
powers of mind to receive instruction, to learn God s laws, 
and also a dreadful sense of guilt for sin : so when any 
great sickness came upon them, and their doctors could do 
them no good, they wanted to go to God for help, but they 
did not know Him. Then they built great houses, and 






SERMON TO THE HEATHEN. 399 

altars of stone, where they offered bullocks in sacrifice to 
" Imishologu." In Athens they had one old Umshologu 
they called " Jupiter," and another they called " Minerva," 
and many others. When nothing ailed them they seemed 
to get on well enough with their Imishologu, but a dreadful 
sickness came upon all the people in their great #ity : then 
they offered bullocks to all their " Imishologu," but none 
was found to hear or save them. The cries of the orphan 
children, the shrieks of the desolate widows, the groans 
of dying men were heard in every street, and they found 
Imishologu had no power to help them, and then they built 
an altar for the " Unknown God," and offered bullocks 
upon it, and as soon as the smoke of that altar began to 
rise, the great God looked down upon them in pity, His 
heart of love yearned over them, and His hand, unseen, 
cured all their sickness, and health and prosperity returned 
to that city like the breaking of the morning. Then for 
six hundred years, though they kept up the worship of 
Imishologu, they also worshipped the " Unknown God." 

Sin is the cause of this dreadful pollution of our spirits, 
and guilt, and fear, and sorrow, which the people of 
Athens felt, and which all of us have felt. That man who 
has sinned, even against his chief, how badly he feels. 
Before he did it he thought nobody would find it out, but 
now he thinks that everybody will know it, and every time 
he goes into a dark hollow, or passes a bush, he fears the 
chief s " Imisila" (sheriffs) will come upon him. Day and 
night he is in dread, and if he should wake up to-morrow 
morning, and find the tiger s-tail of his chief before his 
door, dear me, would he not be terrified ? Perhaps his chief 
might not find him out, but you may be sure God will find 
out every sinner, for He is always looking at us. The 
pollution of our spirits, sin, guilt, and punishment, natu 
rally follow each other. When the lightning strikes a 



400 OSBORN. TSHUMGWANA. 

kraal, and kills a beast or a man, you feel awful guilt and 
fear in your spirits, and know that ll Inkosi" is angry with 
you for your sins, then you offer sacrifice to Him, but 
still you don t know " Inkosi." When you have great 
sickness among you, then you feel dreadful guilt and fear, 
and offer sacrifices to " Imishologu." You know that 
" Imishologu " can t save you, but you want them to plead 
with Tixo for you. You don t know Tixo, but as He took 
away the sickness in Athens, so He often takes away your 
sickness because He pities you, but still you know Him 
not, and you give all the praise due to Him for His great 
mercies to you to Imishologu, and to your priests. That 
is just the way they did in Athens, till Paul, God s great 
Umfundisi, went there, and made known to them the true 
God, whom they had ignorantly worshipped, and taught 
them how to worship Him aright. So you have been trying 
for more than six hundred years to worship the " Unknown 
God " here in Africa, and now God hath sent us to make 
Him known to you, and how you may come to Him. 

We have told you how the early generations from Adam 
and Eve lost the knowledge of God, and His good laws ; 
but in all ages there were a few men who would not follow 
Satan, but who earnestly sought after God ; not in sickness 
only like you, and those miserable old sinners in Athens, 
but in youth and health, and God made Himself known to 
them, and told them His good laws for them to walk by, 
and to teach to the polluted families of men. One of those 
good men was called Abraham. He knew God very well, 
and God made His people a great nation. They lived in a 
country called Egypt, in the upper part of Africa, your own 
Africa ; but the king of Egypt, who was called Pharaoh, 
subdued them, and made slaves of them for a great many 
years. There were many good men among them for a long 
time, and a certain boy was born whom they called Moses. 



6ERMO.N TO THE HEATHEN. 401 

He grew up to t>e a very wise and good man, and got well 
acquainted with God ; and God often talked to him, and 
told him a great many things to tell his people, and made 
Moses a great chief over all the nation that descended from 
Abraham. Moses was a holy chief ; he had but one wife ; 
he kept God s laws, and did justly to all men. When God 
had fully taught Moses to trust in Him, He told him to be 
up with all his people, and all their cattle, and everything 
they had, and He would lead them to a good country which 
He would give them for their own. So Moses and all the 
people went, and the wicked king who had oppressed them 
raised a very great army and pursued, and overtook them 
at a great river, or an arm of the sea. Moses and his 
people were dreadfully scared, and thought they would all 
be killed ; but God commanded them to go right into that 
great river, and just as they began to wade in, God divided 
the waters and made a dry road for them, and they went 
clear across the great arm of the sea, without even getting 
their feet wet. When the wicked king saw that, he rushed 
right in with his great army, and chariots, and horses, and God 
brought the divided waters together and drowned the whole 
of them because they were so wicked. You see all that was 
easy enough for God, who made the sea and the dry land, to do. 
Then his people travelled a long way through a desert, 
where there was no food for them or their cattle ; but God 
sent them food daily direct from heaven, and that was just 
as easy for Him as to cause the food to grow out of the 
ground for us, but He thus taught His people His power 
and His loving care for them. One day God came down 
in a " thick cloud " to the top of a high mountain, mid 
" thunders and lightnings, and the voice of a trumpet ex 
ceeding loud, so that all the people that were in the camp 
trembled," and God called the man Moses to come up to 
Him, and there He told the great chief many things ; but 

DD 



402 OSBORN. TSHUMGWANA. 

He wrote down His principal laws on two smooth flat stones, 
which a man could carry. On one of the stones He wrote 
four commandments, to teach us our duty to God. On the 
other He wrote six commands, to teach us our duty to man. 
God gave these laws to Moses for his people, the English, 
the Kaffirs, and everybody. They were written from the 
stones into books, and have been sent out among all nations, 
and we have them here in this book to read to yon to-day. 
Now let us examine them, and see what good laws they are. 
" God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy 
God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, 
out of the house of bondage." God said to Moses, and He 
says to me, to you, to every man, woman, and child, " I 
am the Lord thy God." We see at once that the powers 
of our spirits, which came from God, made in the likeness 
of God, are so great, that God alone is worthy of our 
supreme confidence, loyalty, and love, and we see His great 
love to us in that He is not ashamed to say to every soul 
of man, so that all the world may hear it, "I am the Lord 
thy God." No living thing has dared to proclaim to any 
man, " I am the Lord thy God." Is it not a great shame 
that men should insult and reject this great and loving 
God, and put their trust in the ghosts of dead men, in their 
priests, and the poor trash they hang about their necks ? 
Now hear what He says in the next command, " Thou shalt 
have no other gods before me." There is but one true- 
God, but the thing to which we give the confidence, loyalty, 
and love of our spirits, which belong to God alone, what 
ever it may be, that takes the place of God, and such things 
are called gods, though they be such a bunch of bones, and 
beads, and birds-claws, as you have round your necks. 
God explains this, saying, " Thou shalt not make unto thee 
any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in 
heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or that is in the 



TO THE HEATHEN. 40 o 

water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself 
to them, nor serve them : for I the Lord thy God am a 
jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the 
children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that 
hate me ; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that 
love me, and keep my commandments." God is very kind, 
yet He is just. He could not consent to let us set Him 
aside, and put an idol in His place, no matter what it is, in 
heaven, or in earth, or in the sea. We see what a dreadful 
thing it is to reject God, and follow Satan and trust in men, 
and the things of this world. Such lose the knowledge of 
God, and their children for generations grope in darknws, 
and trust to charms, and to their priests or doctors, and to 
Imishologu. God does not want to visit the iniquity of the 
fathers upon the children, but the dreadful rebellion of the 
parents against God puts their children so far away from 
Him that they lose the knowledge of God, and go on in 
the wicked ways of their parents. But if the parents are 
true to God, and train their children to be true to God, then 
for thousands of generations they may walk in the ways of 
God, and enjoy His love for ever. 

Now listen to God s third command : " Thou shalt not 
take the name of the Lord thy God in vain ; for the Lord 
will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain." 
Surely God could not allow us to mock, and insult Him, 
and scandalize His name. 

Now for the fourth command, " Remember the Sabbatli 
day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do 
all thy work : but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the 
Lord thy God : in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor 
thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid 
servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy 
gates. . . ." Now, see the kindness of God in all this 
arrangement. God knew that we needed food and clothing, 



404 OSBORX. TSHUMGWANA. 

and many things for ourselves and for our families, and He 
has given us the right to get and to hold property, lands, 
houses, cattle, money, and everything we need for our com 
fort, and He has given us the right to use six days out of 
every seven, and commands us during those six days to 
work and attend to all our business, and thus get property 
honestly, and have lack of nothing. But then the bodies 
of men, and women, and of beasts that labour for us, would 
break down if they did not get some rest-days, and God, 
who made us, knew just exactly how many were needed 
for man and beast, and set apart every seventh day for that 
purpose, and that while we were resting we might spend 
the seventh day specially with Him as a holy day, when all 
His people might meet together as children come to their 
father, and ask and receive his blessing. This is a law of 
God to man, and hence, if any man or beast is suffering in 
any way, and we can relieve them by work on the Sabbath, 
then the loving design of the law allows us to do such 
work, and it is pleasing to God. These four commands 
God wrote on one stone. They show us God s great kind 
ness and justice. He is very anxious to have us keep His 
laws and be happy with Him for ever, but if we will not, 
then we bring pollution and death upon ourselves. The 
next stone had six commands written on it ; the first is to 
our children. God loves our children, and says to each 
one, " Honour thy father and thy mother : that thy days 
may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth 
thee." Our land is needed for our children s bodies when 
we are dead, and God is needed for their spirits. If they 
are not true to their parents they get into all sorts of 
trouble at home, and thus into wars, and finally lose their 
land and all their property ; if they are not true to God 
they lose their portion in Him and go down to hell. 

In the next command God speaks to every human being, 



SERMON TO THE HEATHEN. 405 

" Thou shalt not kill." God has given us life, and kindly 
guards it by a command from that thundering mountain, 
" Thou shalt not kill." When a man breaks this cofti- 
mand, and murders another, by God s laws his life is for 
feited, and the judges may try him, and put him to death, 
for God says, " Whoso sheddeth man s blood by man shall 
his blood be shed." No man has a right to put even the 
murderer to death unless, after a fair trial, the Court has 
found him truly guilty, and commands him to be put to 
death. There are cases also in war, when men come into 
your country with the intention of murdering you and your 
families, and taking all your cattle, when the lives of many 
such persons are forfeited like that of the murderer. God 
gives you the right to defend yourselves, and your families, 
and homes, and He delivers over to your assegais such as 
He knows have forfeited their lives. We see, then, while 
God so kindly guards our rights to life, His justice sen 
tences the wretch, who dares to commit murder, and break 
this law, to death. It is not because God has any pleasure 
in seeing the blood of the murderer shed, but He wants 
to make the law strong to guard our lives. Even in His 
justice He is very merciful to mankind. Now do you 
want to hear God s seventh command ? Then listen, " Thou 
shalt not commit adultery. 

In the beginning God made one man, and he was alone, 
and God said, " It is not good for man to be alone," and 
then he made one woman, and gave her to the man to be 
his wife. If God had designed man to have more than 
one wife, then He would have given the first man as many 
wives as He knew He ought to have, for Adam was not a 
poor man, for God had given hiri all the world and every 
thing in it, and yet He gave him but one wife, for He knew 
that one wife was enough for any man. God thus gave to 
man the right and the command to form families, and the 



406 OSBORN. TSHUMGWANA. 

command, " be fruitful and multiply in the earth," and He 
thus showed clearly His law for forming families by the 
marriage union of one man to one woman. That was God s 
pattern for all people to follow, and He based a law upon it 
in these words, " In the beginning God created them male and 
female," and said, " for this cause shall a man leave father 
and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain 
shall be one flesh. Wherefore they are no more twain but 
one flesh. What, therefore, God hath joined together let 
not man put asunder." 

Thus you see God s pattern and God s words together 
show His law for forming families as plain as daylight. 
Thus you see, if God had allowed a man to have more than 
one wife He would have given Adam just as many as He 
would allow any great chief to have, for Adam was the 
greatest chief and the richest man that ever was made, and 
then God s law from that pattern would have been " For 
this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and 
take as many wives as he can buy or support," but you see 
that is not God s arrangement at all. You see, too, that 
God s law forbids multiplying in the earth except under 
His family arrangement, and also any waste or abuse of 
our powers for multiplying, which would in any way inter 
fere with God s family law. The seventh command God 
wrote on the stone is to guard His arrangement for forming 
families and He says to every man and woman in the world, 
" Thou shalt not commit adultery." Are not all God s family 
arrangements wise, and kind, and good ? The man or 
woman who breaks any part of God s good family plans 
and laws wickedly insults God, and sets Him at defiance. 

Kbw let us examine the eighth command, and see what 
ft good one it is. God has not only given every man the 
right to have one wife, and every woman one husband, to 
live together in union, and have children, and " Train them 



8E11MOX TO THE HEATHEN. 407 

up in the way they should go," but He has given us the 
right to get and to own property for the comfortable sup 
port of ourselves and our families, and has given us the 
right to use six days in each week to work, and do busi 
ness, and thus get property honestly, and He guards our 
rights to our property by a command to each man, woman, 
and child in the world, " Thou shalt not steal." How kind 
and thoughtful God has been for us, has He not ? Now 
have you got any other thing dear to you that God could 
guard by His authority as our Great King in a command 
from the thundering mountain ? What is the dearest 
thing a man or woman has that can be injured by another ? 
It is your reputation, your good name. If a man tells lies 
of you, and gets your neighbours, the doctors, and the 
chiefs to believe that you are a witch or a thief, and 
gets them down on you, don t you see that you are ruined ? 
God has given us a right to get and to have a good name, 
and guards that right by the command to every human 
soul who has a tongue : " Thou shalt not bear false wit 
ness against thy neighbour." Now there is nothing left 
that is dear to us that God could guard by another com 
mand, and yet there is another. What can it be for? 
Take it into your minds, and examine it well, and see what 
it is for. " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour s house, 
thou shall not covet they neighbour s wife, nor his man 
servant, nor his maid- servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor 
any thing that is thy neighbour s." A desire in the heart 
for any of these things so strong as to lead us to be willing 
to break any of God s laws to get them, is to covet them. 

A desire to get property is right, and, as you have seen, 
God provides for that fully, but if we allow that desire to 
get so strong that we are willing to get it by any dishonest 
means, that is coveting it, which is a dreadful heart-sin 
against God and man. A desire to leave father and mother 






408 OSBORN. TSHUMGWANA. 

and get married to one wife and have a family is right, and 
we have seen God s good pattern and law for all that, but 
to allow your desire to get too strong, and be your master, 
and lead you to be willing to use in any wrong way the 
powers God has given you to be used only in His wise 
family arrangement, that is covetousness, which is a great 
sin against God, because to gratify your wicked desire you 
will insult God and defy His authority. It is this dread 
ful heart-desire which wicked people indulge and allow to 
grow in their spirits till it masters them, and leads them 
to tell lies against their neighbours, steal their property, 
commit murders, and break all God s good laws. So you 
see, my dear friends, the first five commands of the second 
stone, each names the greatest outward sin against the 
best things God has given us to enjoy, but this last 
command strikes at the dreadful inward heart-sin of un 
lawful desire, which is the fountain from which all the 
rest flows. So you see all these commands of God reach 
from the highest outward sin to the lowest wrong desire of 
the heart. So the man who is guilty of murder in the 
sight of God is not only the man who assegais another to 
death from behind a bush, but the man also who allows the 
feeling of hate and murder to have any place in his heart. 
God says, " He that hateth his brother is a murderer." 
So also a man is not to commit adultery, nor is he allowed 
to look upon a woman for the purpose of indulging even a 
wrong heart-desire for her. What holy, just, and good 
laws these are ! You see at once who made them, for no 
man could make laws so wise, so good, so broad, and so 
deep. If every one was obedient to these laws, then all the 
people in the world would love each other like brothers and 
sisters, then we would have no more wars, no killing, no 
stealing, no cheating, no telling lies, and injuring the good 
name of another ; no more adulteries, nor any of the 



SERMON TO THE HEATHEN. 409 

polluting wickedness of " nbnkweta " or " intonjane. * 
Then love to God, " peace on earth, goodwill to man," would 
fill the world with happiness and God would be well 
pleased. 

Well now, my dear friends, don t you all say that God s 
laws are right and good, and that everybody ought to obey 
them ? We all agree in that I see. Well, then, have you 
obeyed them? Why, says one, " How could we obey them, 
when we never knew them before?" Very well, you know 
them now. Are you willing to obey them ? Are yon wil 
ling to accept the Lord God as your God, the supreme 
Object of your trust, and heart-obedience, and love ? Are 
you willing to give up all these wretched things you have 
been trusting in, instead of God ? Are you willing never 
to speak His name but in reverence and love ? Are you 
willing to work and attend to all your own business six 
days in the week, and remember the Sabbath, to use it 
only as God has appointed, as a day of rest, and the wor 
ship of God, our Great King ? Now, to come to the laws 
of the second stone : Do these children consent to love and 
obey their parents, and so live at home, and away from 
home, as to bring honour to them ? And do you, parents, 
consent so to teach your children, and to give them such a 
holy example of right-doing that they may, by obedience, 
bring honour upon you ? When, in words or acts, you teach 
them wrong things, they will disgrace themselves, and dis 
honour you, even by obedience to you. Do you consent 
never to kill anybody, nor indulge angry desires in your 
hearts ? Do you consent never to commit adultery, nor any 
uncleanness by the abuse of any of your powers which 
belong only to the family institution of God, and to sub 
mit to God s plan and law, of having but one wife ? Do 
you consent never to steal, nor so desire the property of 
another as to get it by any unfair means ? Do you consent 



410 OSBORX. TSHUMGWANA. 

never to tell any more lies, nor in any way injure the good 
name of your neighbour? I see some of you stick at one 
thing, and some at another, and at heart you are rebels 
against God. Though you have not known God, your 
ancient fathers knew Him, and these good laws of God ;. 
but they did not obey them, and their foolish hearts were 
darkened. Thus you have lost entirely the four laws of 
the first stone ; but you have retained portions of five of 
the laws of the second stone. You have laws against dis 
obedience to parents, against murder, against adultery, 
against stealing, and against lying ; and you have fines and 
punishments for all these sins ; but you have so corrupted 
and altered these laws of God that you confine them to a 
few outward things, and leave yourselves plenty of room 
for breaking the laws of God ; and your laws don t go down 
into the heart like God s laws. So you sec, my friends, 
you have closed your eyes against the light God has given 
you, and have refused to walk in the path of obedience to 
Him. Even now, when you see the plain, good path 
marked out for us all by His laws, you refuse to walk in it. 
Now, friends, let me tell you a great secret. You have 
seen that all the outward sins flow from a corrupt covetous 
source of sins in the heart, so all right obedience to God s 
laws must flow from holiness and love in the heart. You 
can t get salt water and fresh water out of the same 
spring. !N"ow, if we have not that holiness in our hearts, 
shoving all the corrupt covetousness clear outside, then we 
cannot love God, nor keep His commandments. Alas ! 
that is just the thing Adam and Eve lost when they first 
rebelled against God, and every child born since has come 
into the world in the sinful " likeness " and " image " of 
fallen Adam and Eve, with their corrupted nature in our 
spirits, and the love of God, and holiness to obey His laws 
are not there at all ; and because our spirits are corrupt, 



SERMON TO THE HEATHEN. 411 

we begin to go wrong when little children, and go on worse 
and worse. Now, that is the state of every one of you. 
Your spirits are corrupt as you feel and know. You refuse 
to keep God s laws, and can t keep them while your hearts 
are wicked. You are guilty, because you are sinners. 
You are under the sentence of death, because you have 
broken God s laws, for He says, " The soul that sinneth, it 
shall die." You are slaves of Satan, for having yielded 
yourselves servants to sin, and become rebels against God, 
He has delivered you over to Satan. What a dreadful 
state you are all in to be sure. Now, you know this is all 
true, and all your sacrifices to " Icanti" to " Inkosi " and 
" Imishologu," prove that you feel this dreadful guilt, and 
want to atone for it in that way. Now, what is to be 
done ? Every common crime against a chief must be 
atoned for by paying cattle ; but some sins, such as mur 
der and witchcraft, cannot be atoned for by the payment of 
cattle at all, the guilty man must die. 

Now, sins of any kind against the Great God cannot be 
atoned for by cattle or anything in this world. All the 
gold and silver, and all the cattle in this world would not 
atone for the sins of one sinner. Now, as the whole world 
was guilty before God, and as there was no ransom for 
any of them, they were all going down into the infernal 
hole of Satan together, for they were so polluted and so 
guilty, they were not fit to live with God, and there was no 
other place for them. But though we were all such rebels 
against God, He loved us so much, and He was so sorry 
for us, He could not bear to see us all dragged by Satan 
down to hell, so He made a plan to give an atonement from 
heaven for the sins of all the sinners in the world, and send 
down a great Saviour to save all who would consent to 
obey God s laws, and receive the Saviour. There was " no 
man in heaven or on earth " who could find out how man 



OSBORN. TSHUMGWAXA. 

could be redeemed from the death-sentence of these laws, 
or how our spirits could be washed from the pollution of 
sin, and made holy and fit to live with God, but God found 
out this great mystery, and made the whole plan Himself. 

Now, my dear friends, we want to explain to you some 
thing about this great God. There is but one God, He 
hath told us that Himself, and He cannot lie, and we see 
the proofs of it in the plan of all His works, but in this one 
God there are three distinct personal spirits, exactly of the 
same nature, and the same power and love, which together 
constitute one God. They are called God the Father, the 
Son of God, and the Holy Ghost, " and these Three are 
One." This is a great mystery ; you cannot understand it, 
and yet you know it is true. There is a mystery about 
everything you see that you can t understand, but when we 
have the proof that anything is true, we believe it, and don t 
trouble ourselves about the mystery at all. How do we 
know that in God there are three Persons ? Because He 
hath told us so in His book, and in proof of it many holy 
men have got acquainted with God the Father, and with 
God the Son, and with God the Holy Ghost. 

Well, the great plan that these Three in One agreed 
upon was, that God the Father should give His Son to 
come down into this wicked world, and be offered as a sacri 
fice for the sins of all the people, and the Son of God loved 
us so that He was glad to do that. But as He was all 
spirit, and had no body to offer as a sacrifice, it was agreed 
that He should lay aside all His glory, and all His great 
things in the glorious " Great Place " of His Father, and 
come down, and take a human body and a human spirit, be 
born a little child, and grow up to be a man, that He might 
be our Teacher, and die for the sins of the world. 

This was the great Saviour God told Adam and Eve 
that He would send, who should be born of a woman, 



SERMON TO THE HEATHEN. 413 

and bruise Satan s head; and God after that told 
many good men about Him, but He showed His great 
" purpose " more fully to Moses, for he was such a good 
man that he could understand it better. In the nation of 
Israel, of which Moses was a great chief, as we told you 
before, there arose many holy men who knew God, and 
God told them all about His " purpose " to save the world. 
He told them when His Son would come, and that He 
should be born of a virgin who had never known any man, 
and He should be born in a place called Bethlehem, and 
that though the second Spirit of God, called the Son of 
God, would be in Him, He would look just like any other 
man ; that He would teach holy men all God s laws 
for mankind, which they had forgotten, and leveal to them 
the " unknown God ; " that He would heal the sick, give 
sight to the blind, teach the poor people, and raise many 
dead men to life ; that II e would go about continually doing 
good. But God told them distinctly that because His Son 
was so good, and the world so bad, they would tell lies of 
Him, and beat Him, and scold Him, and that when He 
was ready to offer Himself up as a sacrifice for sins, He 
would just deliver Himself up to the wicked people and 
their rulers, who would nail Him to a tree, and put Him 
to death, and that God would accept His sacrifice for the 
sins of the whole world, and raise Him up from the dead the 
third day after, to be for ever our Great Priest and Saviour, 
that by Him all might have the power to come to God, 
and get forgiveness of all sins, and get their dirty spirits 
washed and made fit to dwell with God in eternal happi 
ness. Well, all these words of God about His Son were 
written down in a book hundreds of years before the time 
set for Him to come, so that there should be no mistake 
in knowing Him when He should come. God s plan, too, 
was that through the promise of the Son of God to do all 



414 OSBORN. TSHUMGVVANA. 

these things, all who would believe God s words about Him, 
and accept God s coming Son as their Saviour, should 
be saved, as certainly before as after His coming, and for 
fear that His words might not go deep enough into the 
minds of men, and that they might not trust in His only 
sacrifice for sins, to help their faith in His words, he told 
them to offer sacrifices of beasts to show their faith, not in 
the beast, but in the one great sacrifice of His Son. Many 
hundreds of years passed away, and many thousands of 
sinners believed God s words about His Son, and while 
they offered bullocks on God s altars, as pictures or pat 
terns of the sacrifice God had promised, they accepted 
the Son of God as their Saviour, and they were saved, 
made holy, and went up to the holy place of God to be 
happy for ever. All who carefully read God s holy books 
about His Son knew when the time would come for His 
appearing among men, and they waited patiently, and at 
the time sure enough He came, and all the things that 
God had said, which had been written down by the holy men 
of God, were done. Everything about His birth, His life, His 
teachings, His mighty works, the persecutions He endured, 
His death and resurrection, everything came to pass just 
exactly as God said it would come to pass. The Son of 
God was called Jesus, which means Saviour, for He came 
to save the people from their sins. He was also called 
Christ, which means anointed, for God the Father set 
Him apart, and anointed Him to be the Saviour of the 
world. 

Well, all these things that Jesus Christ did, and all that 
the people did to Him, which God had said would be done, 
were also written down in a book, so that all the world 
might read them, and learn about Him, believe God s 
words, and receive Jesus Christ as their Saviour. 

He was " crucified, dead, and buried, but the third day 



SERMON TO THE HEATHEN. 415 

after He arose from the dead; " and then, in the same human 
body which had been put to death, He taught His learners 
and good men for forty days ; and then from a mountain, 
called the Mount of Olives, they saw Him ascend up to 
heaven, out of their sight. I have seen all those places ; 
where He was born, and lived, and taught, and died and rose 
again, and ascended to heaven. Now we have not time to 
day to read to you all these words of God about Him. 
We have them all here in this book, but you know we 
would not tell you a lie about them. Here is the missionary, 
and plenty of these Kaffir people in the station, who have 
read them, and they will tell you the same things, and in 
proof of their truth, according to these words of God, we 
have received Jesus Christ as our Saviour, and He has saved 
us from our sins; and "we know God and Jesus Christ 
whom He hath sent," for He went back to His Father, not 
to leave us in our sins to perish, but to be our Great High 
Priest at the throne of the Great King of heaven, and He is 
as really the Saviour of sinners now as when He dwelt 
among men. It is from God s " Great Place," quite out of 
our sight, that he sends us rain, and supplies all the wants 
of our bodies, so from the same Great Place, Jesus Christ 
sends us salvation from sin and Satan, and makes us holy, 
so that we may keep God s commands. " But," says one, 
" Oh, He is a great way off; how shall I find Him?" "Well 
now, we ll tell you another great secret. Before Jesus Christ 
left the world, He said to all His holy men, and they wrote 
it down, " If I go not away, the Comforter will not come 
unto you ; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you." And 
again, " I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another 
Comforter." Jesus was then their Comforter, but was going 
away, but promised to send another to take His place, and 
abide with us ; how long ? " that He may abide with you 
for ever." Who is this Comforter ? " Even the Spirit of 



416 OSBOEN. TSHUMGWAXA. 

truth ; whom the world cannot receive, because it seetli Him 
not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him; for He 
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." " These things 
have I spoken unto you," said Jesus, " being yet present 
with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, 
whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you 
all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, 
whatsoever I have said unto you." 

The Comforter he promised to send to live with us in 
this world for ever is the Holy Ghost, who is the third 
Great Spirit of the one Great God. He is an " Unknown 
God" to the poor slaves ot Satan, because they don t see Him, 
but all the saved ones know Him, for He dwells with them, 
and teaches them, and comforts them every day ; yet still 
they don t see Him, but they feel His power in their hearts. 
You can t see my spirit, yet it is my spirit that has been 
teaching you for an hour. You can t see Imishologu ; yet 
you believe they live, and you have offered hundreds of 
sacrifices to them. You can t see the air you breathe, yet 
you could not live ten minutes without it. The air is the 
symbol God uses in His book to illustrate the presence and 
power of the Holy Ghost. The air is everywhere, so the 
Holy Ghost is in every part of this world. His first busi 
ness is to shine into our dark spirits, and show us our 
pollution of spirit by sin, our deep guilt for breaking God s 
good laws, our exposure to the death-penalty of the law, 
our bondage to Satan, and to show us that we have no 
power to save ourselves. This light of the Holy Spirit 
shining into us stirs up all the bad in our hearts, wakes up 
the wicked- spirits of Satan s fallen host, and then there is 
a great war in our hearts. The wickedness of our polluted 
spirits, called the " carnal mind," and Satan raises a -great 
war against the Holy Ghost, to keep us from following the 
Holy Ghost, and accepting Jesus Christ as our Saviour. 



SERMON TO THE HEATHEN. 417 

But if we set our whole hearts to resist sin and Satan, and 
let God s Spirit lead us, He will make God s words about 
Jesus plain to our minds, and then if we consent to allow 
Him to take away all our sins, and cleanse our spirits 
through the blood of Christ s atonement, and receive Jesus 
Christ as our Saviour, God will at once give us the power 
to be His children. Do you hear these words ? Are they 
not glad tidings to your ears ? Yet you will not know 
God by hearing and believing that it is the truth that we 
are telling you, unless you submit to God s laws, and 
according to God s words receive Jesus Christ as your 
Saviour. Now remember, many of us have proved the 
truth of all this. We have both proved it (the two speakers) 
the missionary here has proved it, and many of his people- 
here have proved it. "We were poor sinners as dark as any 
of you. We remember well when the Holy Ghost shined 
into us and showed us our sins ; we felt the burden of guilt 
heavy on our souls ; we felt the mighty opposing power of 
Satan ; we felt that there was no help in us ; then we cried 
to God for help ; We confessed our sins to Him, and sub 
mitted our wretched souls and bodies to His will, to do 
with us just as He pleased, but we believed His words about 
Jesus Christ, and received Him as our Saviour from sin, 
and the very moment we accepted God s Son as our Saviour, 
God pardoned all our sins. The Holy Ghost bore witness 
with our spirits that we were the children of God, a^d washed 
our spirits through the blood of Jesus, and filled taem with 
His love. He did not bear witness to cur eyes, or ears, 
but to our spirits ; and we know that God s words are true 
for we have proved them, and we know that Jesus Christ 
is the Son of God and the Saviour of sinners, for He hath, 
saved us ; and we know that we are the children of God by 
His Spirit, which He hath given us, and by His purifying; 
power in our hearts, and the love we feel for God and man. 

EE 



413 OSBORN. TSHUMGWANA. 

Now we accept the Great King as " the Lord our God," 
and gladly keep His commandments, for the fountain of 
our hearts has been purified, the bitter waters of covetous- 
ness have been cleared out, and the sweet waters of God s 
renewing love now flow out in willing obedience to all 
God s laws. 

Now my dear friends, a great many of the things we 
have told you to-day you know to be true, from what you 
have felt and from what you now feel, and the rest we 
know to be true, for we have proved them, and we come to 
you as witnesses to the truth of God s words about Jesus. 
You know we would not tell you lies ; even if the truth was 
not in us, we have nothing to gain by telling you lies. We 
are witnesses for Jesus that He came to save sinners, that 
He hath saved us, and that He is very desirous to save you 
to-day. "Will you consent to let Him save you now ? The 
Holy Spirit is now shining into the minds of many of you; 
you now begin to feel His mighty power, arid the opposing 
power of sin and of Satan in your hearts. 

You know the rising desire you feel in your heart to give 
up sin, and yield yourselves to God, is not from Satan, nor 
from your own bad hearts, and it is not from me, it is the 
awakening work of the Holy Ghost in your hearts. 0, He 
wants to lead you to Jesus. He won t force you ; but if 
you consent to be saved from all your sins, and walk after 
Him, He will lead you to Jesus. The Son of God don t 
wait for you to go up to heaven, to His Great Place, but 
whenever you are so sick of your sins as to give yourselves 
wholly to Him to save you, and receive Him by faith in 
God s words about Him, He comes down quick as thought, 
and delivers your soul from Satan, and washes it from its 
sins. Jesus loves you every one, and wants to save you 
now, and that is the reason He has sent His Spirit into 
your hearts to give you the desire you feel to come to Him. 



SERMON TO THE HEATHEN. 419 

He is the only Friend you have, who loves you enough 
to die for yon. He " hath tasted death for every man ; " 
He hath poured out His heart s blood for you, each one, as 
the only sacrifice for sins. His love for poor sinners is the 
same to-day as the day He died for us, for He is not like 
a man to change ; He is the Son of God, and hence the 
same in all the past time, the present, and for ever. He 
has a word for each one of you, " Come unto me, all ye 
that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 
You are heavy laden with sins, and sorrows, and guilt; 
you are weary with travelling in the dark way that leads 
to hell you are the very persons whom Jesus invites, and 
He says, " Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I 
am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest for your 
souls." Will you take His yoke, consent to be "in-spanned" 
and bear His yoke, and walk in obedience to all His laws ; 
He won t lay too heavy a yoke upon you, for He says, to 
encourage you, " I am meek and lowly of heart," the most 
sympathizing, loving Friend in the world. If you take His 
yoke, submit to flis will, and receive Him as your only 
Saviour, then ye " shall find rest for your souls." He will 
not deliver your bodies from the death penalty of the law. 
They will still suffer, and finally go down into the grave ; 
but Jesus has promised to raise your bodies from the grave 
in the end, just as His human body was raised, and then 
our bodies will be so glorious and holy, as to be suitable 
for our pure spirits to live in at the " Great Place" of our 
King. Will you accept Jesus as your King, your Priest, 
and your Saviour, or not ? Let every one think well, and 
decide for himself and herself to be the Lord s, and receive 
Jesus Christ, or not. Let no one try to come to Jesus, 
eimply because another does. Let no one be ashamed to 
come to Jesus through fear of anybody. " God commands " 
each one of you to repent, and believe the Gospel, to sur- 



420 OSBOKK. TSHUMGWAXA. 

render to God, and on God s own offer, and invitation, and 
promises, to receive Jesus Christ. When He came to His 
people in olden time, many of them received Him not, and 
they perished in their sins ; " but as many as received Him, 
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to 
as many as believed on His name." It is so now. Within 
the last two months we have seen about two thousand 
Kaffirs surrender to God, and receive Jesus Christ, and by 
the Holy Spirit every one of them received the power, re 
newing their hearts, and making them u the sons of God." 
If you fail to accept Christ, you will fail to receive this great 
salvation, and will die in your sins. Now God s great plan 
of salvation is before you, and you not only know that these 
things are true by what we have told you, but by the Spirit s 
light in your minds. Life and death are now before you; 
walk after the Spirit, receive Christ, and ye shall live ; or, 
walk after your bad nature and Satan, and you will die in 
your sins. 

Now all who have looked straight at God s words to-day, 
and who feel the Holy Spirit s light and power in their 
hearts, and who have decided to give up all their sins, and 
obey God ; all who now consent to receive Jesus Christ, to 
be His, living or dying, to be true to Him, and have con 
fidence in Him, and cleave to Him as your Saviour, as long 
as you live, let them stand up. Let none stand up but 
poor sinners, who now consent to be the Lord s, and receive 
Jesus Christ, but all such may stand up now. 

About one hundred awakened persons stood up. 
A majority of them were persons on the mission, who 
had been long under Gospel teaching ; but among 
them was a large number of raw heathen. Then 
we all kneeled down and prayed, and the power of 
the Holy Ghost seemed to shake the whole mass of 



ANOTHER TURN AT THE HEATHEN. 421 

believers and sinners in a remarkable manner, and 
many were saved at that service. 

After the close of the day service the heathen re 
turned to their kraals, not considering it safe, on 
account of their war troubles with the Pondos, to 
be away from their homes after dark. That night 
we preached in the chapel to the people living on 
the mission premises, amounting to about 400, in* 
eluding children. The next day, which was Sabbath, 
the 19th of August, we had the heathen out in still 
greater numbers than we had the day before, and 
after preaching to them in the same open court, from 
the third and fourth verses of the eighth chapter of 
Komans, we had a prayer-meeting, at which many 
were saved. At night we preached again in the 
chapel. On Monday we preached out-doors to the 
heathen again, from the Saviour s narrative of the 
prodigal son. After a suitable explanation of the 
subject, we used the prodigal s career to illustrate 
the spiritual condition of the apostate nations of 
Africa. I will merely state some of the leading 
points of the analogy, which we worked out in detail 
on that occasion. 

1st. Every red Kaffir among you has been circumcised. 
Where did you get this ceremony of circumcision ? Ahout 
4,000 years ago God made a covenant with Abraham, that 
great old chief we told you about the other day. The 
covenant bound him and all his seed to be true to God, 
and keep all His laws, and thus they would secure God s 
special blessings through all generations. And God said 



422 OSBORN. TSHUMGWANA. 

to Abraham, " This is my covenant which ye shall keep, 
between me and yon, and thy seed after thee. Every man 
child among you shall be circumcised and it shall be a 
token of the covenant betwixt me and you." The seed of 
Abraham from that time continued to circumcise their sons 
for about 2,000 years, till Jesus Christ came. Then God 
set the outward token of circumcision aside, and received 
all poor sinners of every nation alike into His church, who 
would repent of their sins, and accept Jesus Christ as their 
Saviour. Instead of circumcision He gave them all one 
outward sign for males and females alike baptism by 
water, and the inward "washing of regeneration, and re 
newing of the Holy Ghost." You see that some of your 
ancient fathers knew God, and His covenant with men; 
but though you have kept to circumcision to this day, you 
have gone so far from home, that you have lost the know 
ledge of God and His covenant, and have therefore failed 
to learn His new Gospel covenant for all nations. Cir 
cumcision, till Christ came, was the ceremony of initia 
tion into the Church of God, and the token of His Cove 
nant ; but you have made it the ceremony of initiation to 
the standing and privileges of manhood and citizenship, and 
the token for a system of corruption, most dishonouring to 
God and degrading to yourselves. 

2nd. Where did you learn to offer sacrifices of bullocks 
as an atonement for sin ? God appointed the offering of 
sacrifices thousands of years ago, as teaching types of the 
one great sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

When you kill a bullock as a sacrifice for a sick man, 
you split the beast in two, from the nose to the tail, right 
through the middle of the backbone. That is just the way 
Abraham did thousands of years ago. He " divided them 
in the midst, and laid each piece one against another." 

When you prepare a bullock for sacrifice, you separate 



KAFFIRISM AND JUDAISM. 4,23 

all the fat, and offer that by itself. God said to Moses, 
thousands of years ago, the priest " shall take off from it 
all the fat of the bullock for the sin-offering, the fat that 
covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the in 
wards, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them ; 
and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt- 
offering." 

When you kill a bullock for a sick man, you catch the 
" blood in basins," and your priest sprinkles some of the blood 
upon the sick man, and on his bed, and the things in his hut. 
Then he digs a hole in the cattle kraal (the most sacred place 
known to a heathen Kaffir, so much so, that women are pre 
cluded as from the inner court of the Jewish temple and 
pours the remainder of the blood into the hole. God said to 
Moses, " The priest that is anointed shall take the bullock s 
blood, and bring it to the tabernacle, and shall dip his finger 
in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before 
the Lord. He shall put some of the blood upon the horns 
of the altar, and pour all the rest of the blood of the bullock 
at the bottom of the altar of the burnt -offering." 

When you offer a sacrifice, you carry the bones of the 
bullock outside of the kraal, and burn them. God said to 
Moses, " The skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his 
head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung, 
even the whole bullock, shall be carried forth without the 
camp into a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, 
and burn him on the wood with fire." 

You see, my dear friends, from the many things you have, 
which are so much like the things that God commanded 
Abraham and Moses to do, that some of your old fathers 
knew God and his teachings to Moses ; but one generation 
after another wandered away, like lost sheep, till you dcr/t 
know the way to get back. You have kept one truth, that 
" without the shedding of blood there Is no remission of 



424 OSI30RX. TSHTJMGWANA. 

sins ; " but you have lost the knowledge of the only Sacrifice 
which can take away sins, the body of Jesus Christ. You 
have held on to the type or picture, but lost sight of the 
real substance. 

That, my friends, is not the worst of it. You offer your 
sacrifices not to God, but to " Icanti," a great snake 
and to Imishologu, who could not help you while they lived, 
and how can they help you now that they are gone ? 

When Abraham offered a sacrifice to God, he confessed 
his sins, and that for sins he deserved to be put to death, 
but his bullock was accepted, and slain instead of himself ; 
but while he looked at his bleeding victim, he saw in it but 
a picture of the bleeding Jesus, whom God had promised 
to send into the world, as the only sacrifice which could 
take away sins. 

"When we come to God in praying, confessing our sins, 
and our exposure to the death-penalty of the law of God, 
we don t bring a bullock, for when the real sacrifice for the 
sins of the world came, then it was no longer necessary to 
use the picture or type oi it, but to look directly to Christ. 
We have the plain words of God s Book to tell us the way, 
and we have the Holy Spirit of God to lead us to the living 
Jesus, and by His own precious blood He saves us from 
our sins. 

The foregoing are some of the points brought out 
and illustrated on that occasion. Many prodigals 
came home to God that day and obtained a free 
pardon by accepting Christ. We preached ag* 
in the chapel that night, and God was with us. 

On Tuesday we had a larger number of heathen 
than at any previous service, among whom was Mak- 
aula the Amabaca Chief. That day we preached fr 



" CHOOSE YE THIS DAY WHOM YE WILL SERVE." 425 

" Choose ye this day whom ye will serve," and tried 
to influence them to a right decision by contrasting 
their system of heathenish superstition with the 
Gospel of Christ. The principal points were, First, 
Their dark traditions and God s plain Gospel teach 
ing. Second: Their sacrifices to "Icanti" and to 
the ghosts of their old dead fathers, and the "body " 
God prepared and accepted as the only sacrifice 
which can atone for sins. Third : Their vain hope 
that Imishologu will be their mediator with Tixo (or 
God), and the certain fact that we have a Divine 
Advocate with the Father, and the only Mediator 
between God and man. Fourth : The broken reeds 
on which they lean, their priests, poor ignorant men 
like themselves, the charms which their priests bind 
about their necks, with the everlasting doubt which 
haunts them, and the utter failure of all these things 
to bring rest to their souls,, and on our side the per 
sonal knowledge of God and Jesus Christ whom He 
hath sent, attained by all true believers, the security 
of dwelling " under the shadow of the Almighty," 
the sweet rest of soul which Jesus gives to all who 
come to Him, and the abiding presence of the Holy 
Comforter God hath sent to conduct us in peace to 
our home in heaven. 

In showing them the folly of putting their trust 
in the charms or amulets they wear round their 
necks, instead of submitting themselves to Christ 
and putting their trust in the living God, I said, 
" Your country was invaded a few weeks ago by a 



426 OSBOllX. TSIIUMGWANA. 

large army of the Amapondo. They came to kill 
and destroy you and to take your cattle. Did not 
every one of those Pondo warriors go to a priest and 
get a protection which he thought would be proof 
against your assegais ? Did not the priest hang a 
lot of roots, birds -claws, tufts of hair, hoofs of 
beasts, and little horns, containing charmed stuff, 
round the neck of each one of them to make them 
courageous and strong, and to preserve them from 
death ? Now, tell me, what good did all these things 
do them ? " 

I then drew out of my coat-pocket a double hand 
ful of charms, and holding them up to the astonished 
gaze of the sable audience (for if one of them should 
touch anything from the body of a man slain in 
battle they would be sure of being poisoned or 
bewitched by the touch) I said, " Look here ! what 
a god in time of trouble ? A poor Pondo got this lot 
of trash from a priest, and thought these would save 
him from death in the day of battle. "What good 
did they do him ? You slew him with all his 
charms on him, and this morning my boy here cut 
them off the neck of his carcase, and will you still 
reject the only true God, and put your trust in 
such filthy trash as this ? The Pondos were in 
vaders of your country to rob and to kill you, and 
God delivered the Pondos over to your assegais, 
because you were defending your homes, your cattle, 
your families, your own lives ; and then, instead of 
giving God credit for His mercy to your nation, you 






WEEPING TIME AMONG THE HEATHENS. 427 

had a great ceremony of thanks to Imishologu, and 
said that your priests and your charms made you 
strong and gave you the victory." The foregoing is 
a mere specimen illustration of many on that occa 
sion adjusted to the capacity of their heathen minds. 
The Holy Spirit s application of truth and the effect 
upon the audience was quite indescribable. Many, 
with heads down, shed almost streams of tears, but 
I observed one old heathen woman who kept her 
wrinkled face up, in her hand she had a little 
instrument made of bone, in very general use 
among them. It is about six inches long, with a 
fork at one end, some with two, others with three, 
prongs about three inches long, which are used for 
picking their teeth, scratching their heads, and to 
stick into their hair as an ornament, the other end 
is cut into the shape of a salt-spoon, but not quite so 
large, which is used for dipping snuff, a favourite 
entertainment among the heathen as well as among 
the civilized people of Christian countries, but the 
old woman, having no handkerchief to wipe away 
her tears, used the little spoon for scraping them up, 
and tossing them away as they settled down in the 
furrows of her face. 

That night, being our last, we had a fellowship- 
meeting. The chapel was packed somewhat after 
the style of packing herrings in a barrel. At the 
opening we told the old members that having so 
many new disciples present who had received Christ 
in their hearts, and were ready to make confession 



428 OSBORN, TSHUMGWANA. 

with their mouths, we specially desired the old ones 
to tell us a very short story. 

Then an old man got up and said, that many years 
ago, as he was travelling from Shawbury to Tshum- 
gwana, a lion jumped on him and broke his back 
and left him lying there, nearly dead. Several per 
sons came along and looked at him, and passed by on 
the other side. Finally, a man took him to his hut, 
and after a long illness he got well, and God had 
been very kind to him, but he did not tell us whether 
or not he had been delivered from Satan, "who goeth 
about as a roaring lion, seekingwhomhe may devour." 
I then said, " Lion-stories are very interesting when 
we have time to listen to them, but we have no time 
now to hear anything but whether or not you have 
received Jesus Christ and got your sins forgiven ? " 

Then another old fellow got up and told a dream 
he had some years before in which a black man 
appeared to him. He thought it was the devil, and 
woke up in such a fright that he could not stay 
there any longer, and then he came to live at the 
mission-station, and had been trying ever since to 
serve God. 

Then another arose, and said that many years ago 
he was baptized at Shawbury, by Mr. Garner, and 
drew out, what the sailors would call, " a long yarn/* 
but with really nothing in it to the point. Then 
followed another, who, while living at Shawbury, 
was sick a long time, feared he should die, and was 
not prepared. In his distress he tried to pray, and 
one evening he looked toward the east, and saw Jesus 



GLORIOUS FELLOWSHIP MEETING. 429 

sitting on a cloud, and heard a voice saying unto 
him, " Thou art a child of God." Said I, " Charles, 
this won t do. It gets worse and worse, not only 
unedifying, but misleading, for these young converts 
have not 1 seen any sights, nor heard any supernatural 
sounds/ and we had taught them not to expect 
such things, having a more sure word of prophecy 
through God s Word and the inward demonstration 
of the Holy Spirit, so I said, " Now we will all 
stand up and sing The Eden Above." After a 
grand concert of melody of thrilling effect to men, 
and probably to angels, I said, " Now we will give 
all the rest of the time of this meeting to the young 
converts." Then within the next fifty minutes one 
hundred and ten new witnesses came on with their 
simple, pointed, stirring facts. The whole time of 
the speaking was eighty minutes, but the old 
"fogies" at the beginning occupied about thirty. 

The testimony of the new hands was clear, short, 
and to the point, with a great variety of expression 
and illustration, nothing commonplace or formal. 
Two or three illustrative specimens may suffice here : 
A woman said, " When I came to these meetings 
I asked God for a great gift, and He showed me my 
sins ! I then crit-,d to Him to save me, and He gave 
me Jesus Christ, who saved me from all my sins, and 
filled my heart with His love." 

A man said, " I was asleep. God opened my eyes 
to-day, and pardoned my sins for Christ s sake, and 
now I have light." 

Another man said, "I have been trying to serve 



4oO OSBORN. TSHUMGWAXA. 

God for seven years, but I had an old shield full of 
holes, it would not turn away the fiery darts of 
Satan, but last Sunday I saw that I was one of the 
very worst of sinners. I cried to- God, and received 
Jesus Christ as my Saviour. Now I have peace, and 
God has given me a new shield." 

That night, in spite of the perils of war, a large 
number of heathen came crowding round the chapel, 
unable to get in, so in pity to them we cut the fellow 
ship-meeting short in the midst of a continuous press 
of witnesses for Jesus, and got all who were in the 
chapel to go out and let the outsiders come in. 
After an interval of about a quarter of an hour, we 
commenced a prayer-meeting for seekers, thirteen of 
whom entered into liberty. During the series of 
four days at Tshumgwana, Rev. Brother White ex 
amined and took the names of 167 persons, a good 
proportion of whom had come to the series as poor 
heathens, who gave to him satisfactory evidence of 
having been "justified by faith," a small number 
compared with that of some other places, but large 
in proportion to the population, and the limited time 
employed in the series. 



CHAPTER XXIV, 

EMFUNDTSWENI. 

OUR trip from Tshumgwana to Emfundisweni may 
be sufficiently illustrated by the following extract 
from Stuart s journal. 

On Wednesday, the 22nd of August, 1866, at half past 
seven, A.M., we bade adieu to the battlefields of Tshum- 
gwana. The Umzimvubu drift, a few miles distant, is 
very slippery, and hence considered very dangerous. We 
met a lot of Hottentots near the river, and Mr. Roberts 
got some of them to outspan and lead his horses over, and 
others to pull the cart. My father drew his boots and 
waded, but my surefooted " tripler" carried me over safely. 

From the river we had to ascend a very steep hill, 
where we again had difficulty with the baulky horse, but 
finally mastered him. On a number of hills adjacent we 
saw lines of native hunters stationed. They stood about 
half-a-mile apart, with assegais in hand, and dogs by their 
side, to intercept the herds of deer as they fled towards 
the river from the driving hunters sent to the interior. 
We saw some bucks )n their flight, but had not time to 
wait to see them surprised and taken. The distance from 
Tshumgwana to Emfundisweni is about sixty miles. The 
country is mountainous, and the way so rough that w, 



432 EMFUNDISWENI. 

only travelled about forty miles that day. Having the 
light of a full moon, we did not "out-span " for the night till 
about an hour after dark, then coming to a rill and a 
grove of mimosa-trees, we encamped in the veldt. After 
a good tea by a cheerful log-fire, we had our evening 
prayers, and threw ourselves upon cur beds of grass, and 
soon fell into the sweet embrace of Morpheus, and there, 
upon us all, tired nature s sweet restorer, balmy sleep, 
shed repose until the morning bade us rise to the duties of 
another day. (Our camp was in sight of the copper lodes 
which are now attracting thousands of colonists into Kaf- 
fraria.) We had some difficulty in finding the horses, and 
feared some savage marauders had stolen them during the 
night, but finally found them, and resumed our journey mid 
wild mountain scenery and grassy valleys, with occasional 
herds of deer, and a few native kraals. We reached Em- 
fundisweni about two P.M., and were most kindly received 
by a veteran old missionary and his heroine wife, Eev. Mr. 
and Mrs, Jenkins. 



This is a new mission- station ; the minister s 
house is a one-story cottage, substantially built of 
brick, nearly one hundred feet in length, with ve 
randahs front and rear, and contains nine rooms. 
The second preacher s house occupies a pretty site 
across a hollow on a parallel ridge,, occupied by the 
Rev. Daniel Eva, a zealous young missionary sent 
out recently from England. The out-buildings, 
beautiful garden, and orchard, are enclosed in a good 
palisade fence, all of which, with the ornamental 
avenue trees, the abundant supply of water conveyed 
from the base of a neighbouring mountain, and the 



ADVENTURES OF Mil. JENKINS. 433 

pretty gothic chapel with a bell, display the energy 
and taste of the master-mind of the old missionary. 

The present chapel, to seat about three hundred, 
is to be the school-house, when the large substantial 
church contemplated, shall have been built. Faku, 
the old Amapondo chief, who lives in a small, filthy 
hut, has contributed largely toward these fine mis 
sion improvements. This is the third mission-station 
established in Pondo-land, preceded by Buntingville 
and Palmerton. 

The best illustration I can give of Christian ad 
ventures, patient toils, sufferings, and successes in 
Pondo-land, may be gathered from the following 
facts, which were told, and afterwards penned in a 
letter to me by the heroic old missionary himself. I 
give it verbatim, except to put in his name, instead 
of the pronoun representing it, and a very slight re 
construction of a few sentences : 

The Rev. Thomas Jenkins was appointed to labour in 
Amapondo-land, in the year 1838. He had been for 
some years in the Bechuana country, had seen much of 
what sin and the Prince of Darkness can do in debasing 
man, the noblest work of God, while labouring among 
Griquas, Bechuanas, Corannos, and Basutos ; but had really 
seen nothing compared with the low, dark, brutish hea 
thenism of the Ponclos. In a perfect state of nudity, their 
very appearance was most revolting. When a few of them 
first came round the missionary s wagon, Mrs. Jenkins 
almost fainted away. Wars and blood- shedding for gene 
rations had completely brutalized them. Wars were raging 
at that time, both among themselves and their neighbours, 



434f EMFUNDISWENI. 

and the missionary and bis wife had many a narrow escape 
with their lives. But a few weeks after their arrival in 
" leume" (Buntingville), Mr. Jenkins went away one hun 
dred and fifty miles distant to a district-meeting, and while 
there the report reached him that the " Ficani," the Zulu 
marauders, had devastated all the intermediate countries of 
the Tambookies lying between him and his family, from the 
Umtata to the Bashe rivers, and had burnt Morley Station, 
destroyed Icume, and that his catechist and family, and also 
Mrs. Jenkins were dead. The sun had set when these evil 
tidings reached him. In company with his native interpre 
ter, he at once set out to know the worst. After riding 
fifty miles, he found sure enough that the " Ficani " had 
laid waste all the Tambookie country. The ashes of their 
villages were still smoking. During that night of terrors, 
as he was travelling along near the Bashe river, his life 
was in great jeopardy. A body of Tambookie warriors lay 
in ambush watching for the return of some of the invading 
hordes, and hearing the approach of Brother Jenkins and 
his interpreter, took it for granted that they were some ot 
the straggling Zulus. They concealed themselves behind 
the bushes near the path, and suddenly rushed out upon 
the missionary with drawn assegais. Just in the act ot 
their deadly aim they perceived that he was a white man, 
and a friend, and their assegais fell from their hands. 
About ten o clock the next night they again rode into the 
jaws of death. They came suddenly upon a band of Pondo 
warriors, who, mistaking them for the enemy, rushed to 
their arms, and being close upon them, in another moment 
the missionary and his companion would have been killed, 
but for the instinctive sudden "face about" and flight 
of their horses, stimulated by the rush of the pursuing 
warriors. On and on they went for miles out of their 
course, and thus lost their bearings. The darkness and 



PERILOUS ADVENTURES. 435 

manifest dangers of the night were rendered more gloomy 
by torrents of rain. They came to a river flooded by tho 
recent rains, till, to all human appearance, it was quite im 
passable." 

There they were as desolate as old David on the 
hill Mizar on Mount Hermon, when he exclaimed, 
" Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy "water 
spouts ; all Thy waves and Thy billows have gone 
over me." Behind the missionary and his faithful 
Kaffir was a band of infuriated warriors, in front of 
the raging river. " We plunged in/ says Jenkins ; 
" but how we got out, the Lord alone knoweth ; but 
by His merciful Providence, we did get out on the 
opposite side. Then, after a long search, we found 
the footpath, thanked God, and took courage. "VVe 
were nearly exhausted, but nearing our journey, the 
stimulus of hope and fear of the joyous or mournful 
scene in prospect, kept us up and on our weary way. 
At the dawn of the morning, we came in sight of 
our humble homo in tho wilderness, and to our inex 
pressible joy, embraced our dear ones in life and 
health. They had suffered great fear from the 
rumours of war around them, but had been preserved 
in safety/ 

Their daily hazards of life, however, from enemies 
at home, were almost as great as those occasioned by 
the invasion of foreign foes ; as may be illustrated 
by the following incident which, occurred but a few 
months after those terrible wars. Mr. Jenkins 
says : 



436 EMFUNDISWENI. 

1" was out some distance from the mission-station, where 
a number of my people were at work, when a party of 
marauding Pondos, who were returning from a nightly 
incursion upon some of their neighbours, passed by us. I 
spoke to them, and remonstrated against their thievish, 
murderous business. One of the party took offence, and 
said I had no right to interfere with their calling, and 
suddenly he got into such a rage, that he drew his assegai 
and made a drive at me, and would have thrust me through 
in an instant, but as he drew back to throw the fatal dart, 
a man behind seized his arm, and I was saved. One of 
our station men became so alarmed, that, without waiting 
to see the result, he ran home shouting, " The Umfundisi is 
killed ! The Umfundisi is stabbed to death with an assegai ! " 

The men of the station, though few in number, seized 
their assegais, and rushed forth to avenge the death of 
their missionary ; the women and children fled into the 
forests to hide themselves. Mrs. Jenkins in the general 
fright, took up her niece, a child of six years, and started 
off with the rest, but in a few moments recovered her equa 
nimity, and exclaimed "I will not fly! I am in the 
Lord s hands, if He delivers me over to the Pondos they 
shall kill me in my own house ! " She at once returned to 
the house, but the native women ran on into the wild woods. 
During the first few years of missionary life among the 
Pondos, but few months passed without alarms, to the 
effect that the mission was to be burned and all the mission 
people killed. They could indeed say with the Psalmist, 
* c the wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon 
liim with his teeth. The wicked have drawn out the sword 
and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, 
and to slay such as be of upright conversation." Yet, 
" the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He 
delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be 



WITCH-DOCTORS AND WIZARDS. 437 

ntterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with His 
hand." 

WITCHCRAFT. 

In addition to the facts recorded in previous 
chapters, illustrating the horrors of witchcraft, or 
rather of the witch-doctors, I will give a few facts 
from the pen of Brother Jenkins, as follows : 

Under the pretext of witchcraft, it was common almost 
every week to see houses, and sometimes whole villages 
burnt ; and the most horrible tortures inflicted upontheir 
owners, often resulting in their death. 

In no part of South Africa was this horrible thing carried 
on to the same extent as in Pondo-land. These things I 
have seen, when on my tours, preaching for weeks together 
from kraal to kraal. On one of those tours I came to a 
small valley, where five kraals had just been burnt to the 
ground, by order of Faku s brother, Umcwenge. The witch 
doctor, or priest, had sentenced the whole population of 
those kraals to death, by the most excruciating tortures 
that men and devils could invent. The exterminating 
decree was so terrible, that not even a dog should be 
allowed to escape ; and thus every dog, man, woman, and 
child in that valley perished. 

A case which occurred near Palmerton mission- 
station, not far from Brother Jenkins house, may 
suffice to illustrate one of many methods employed 
by those diabolical doctors, and the slaves of their 
superstition, to render even the terrors of death a 
thousand-fold more terrible. 

A poor woman was accused of bewitching some 
body, and the doctor ordered that she should be 



438 EMFUNDISWENI. 

tied to a post in front of her own hut, and by 
slow tortures roasted to death. A glance at the 
accompanying cut will give an idea of the tragic 
scene. It is too horrible to gaze upon ! But if to 
look at a mere picture is so horrible, what must be 
the effect on the heart of the missionary living in 
the midst of such realities, what the horrible 
degradation of those who inflict such tortures, what 
the pains of the poor wretches who endure them ? 
A sublime charity is the missionary enterprise, 
and what a work of mercy is the missionary s self- 
sacrificing life ! " The dark places of the earth are 
full of the habitations of cruelty." After all the talk 
we are accustomed to hear about the virtues of the 
heathen, and the inherent goodness of human nature, 
the awful fact still stands out, that all is dense dark 
ness where the Gospel is not preached ; and although 
many who hear it do not accept Jesus Christ, still 
they are indebted to its elevating influence for all 
the blessings they enjoy above the common lot of the 
heathen. The day the poor woman was roasted to 
death, a young man came to Brother Jenkins so 
severely burnt, as scarcely to be recognized as a 
human being. It was a son of the woman who was 
being burned at the stake, as the best blood even of 
Christian England used to be treated in Srnithfield. 
The young fellow yielded to his filial instincts, and 
tried to intercede for his dying mother. Her tor 
mentors rushed at him, seized him, and threw him 
headlong into the flames, from which with great 



WITCHCRAFT AND THE GOSPEL. 439 

difficulty he managed to extricate himself, and fled 
to the missionary, under whose kind treatment he 
recovered, and is now living in JN"atal. 

INFLUENCE OF THE GOSPEL ON WITCHCRAFT. 

"It would occupy too much space," says Mr. 
Jenkins, " to tell of all the lives saved through the 
agency of the missionary. His very home is a 
sanctuary to which the suffering refugee may flee 
and be safe." 

Just before my visit to Palmerton, a man who had 
escaped the death-sentence for a suspicion of being 
a wizard, by fleeing to the station, after remaining 
there in safety for some months, became emboldened, 
and though warned of danger, had crossed the sta 
tion lines, and was at once arrested and tortured to 
death. 

Every accident to a chief, or sickness of any kind, 
has always been attributed to witchcraft, and they 
believe that there can be no recovery till the wizard 
is"smelled out" and banished. Christianity is slowly 
sapping the foundations of this murderous old system, 
as may be illustrated by the following facts from Mr. 
Jenkins. 

"Faku s mother, I think, was a true Christian. 
She died about twelve years ago, and left strict 
orders that there should be no smelling out on her 
account, which orders were obeyed. 

" Faku s great wife, we have cause to believe, died 
in the Lord, and she would allow no one to be put to 



440 EMFUNDISWENI. 

death on her account. One of Faku s sons died a 
Christian. His good conduct so endeared him to the 
whole tribe, that his death was an occasion of mourn 
ing throughout the nation. The witch-doctors made 
it out that he died through the Word of God, and 
hence no one was put to death for him." 

The son of this good young chief was converted 
to God during our series of services at Emfundisweni, 
and Brother Jenkins tells me by letter that he is 
growing in grace and usefulness. 

The old chief Faku was very ill a few years ago, 
and the doctors would not allow any person to see 
him. As the case was of such vast moment, involv 
ing the life of the great chief, there must be a grand 
" smelling out/ and a victim worthy of such an 
occasion. A chief, Faku s own brother, Cingo, was 
declared by the doctors to be the leading wizard who 
had bewitched the great chief, and he was accordingly 
sentenced to torture and death. Tidings of these 
proceedings reached the mission-station, and Brother 
Jenkins considered it unsafe to interfere, but Mrs. 
Jenkins, with tears and entreaties, persuaded him at 
the hazard of his life, to go and try to dissuade Faku 
from having his brother put to death. "I went/ 
says Jenkins, " with fear and trembling. It was 
a long time before the doctors would allow Faku to 
be told I had come. "When he heard of my arrival, 
and expressed a wish to see me, the doctors would 
not allow me to seo him in his royal hut in which he 
lay, so by his order he was carried into another hut, 



where I was allowed to see him. His condemned 
brother was present, and from his dejected appear 
ance it was evident that he apprehended a speedy 
execution. After some preliminary remarks Faku 
said, Teacher, do you see how some of my own 
people hate me, in sending the wild cats to kill 
me ? His meaning was that they had bewitched 
him. 

" I replied, Faku, to my certain knowledge there 
is not a man in the tribe who would do such a thing 
against his chief and father. They love you too well 
to think of doing such a thing. 

" Do you think so? he inquired, with evident 
surprise. 

" I am sure of it. This led the way to a free 
range of conversation," says Jenkins, "by which 
I fairly won his confidence. I then said to him, 
Faku, Mrs. Jenkins, whom you know is your best 
friend, entreated me with cries and tears, and would 
give me no rest till I consented to come to you, and 
try to save your brother Cingo from death ! There 
sat the condemned Cingo, under the dark shadow of 
death, listening to all that was said on both sides. 
Faku, I pkad for the life of your brother Cingo, 
because I know he is not guilty, and I know you are 
not the man to stain your hands with the innocent- 
blood of your own brother ! Faku hesitated a few 
moments in deep thought, for it is a very serious 
business even for a great chief to ignore the judg 
ment of the witch-doctors, then lifting up his eyes, 



442 EMFUNDISWENI. 

he said emphatically, My Umfundisi, you have 
saved Cingo ! He shall not be killed ! Oh, to 
have seen," exclaims Jenkins, " the effect of that 
announcement on Cingo ! It was quite "beyond any 
power of description, his eyes flashed with rap 
turous joy, and he hardly knew how to contain him 
self. He was saved that day from death, and is 
still alive, and very anxious to have religious ser 
vices at his village as often as possible. One of his 
sons comes every fortnight, sixteen miles,, to attend 
our Sabbath services, and is a promising young 
chief. 

" Witchcraft is now altogether on the wane in 
Pondo-land, and I hope," says the good old veteran, 
" that it will soon be no more/ 

DEBASING EFFECTS OF HEATHENISM ON THE MIND. 

The details of their legalized systematic customs 
of adultery and fornication are too polluting for the 
public eye, even in print. They had not only reached 
the lowest ebb in morals, but even the minds of 
the people seemed to be thoroughly darkened and 
debased, so that it was very difficult to get them to 
grasp any abstract truth. " Hence," says Jenkins, 
" a thousand questions from them such as these, 
If there is a God why can t we see Him ? 

" Why don t He show Himself that we may know 
Him ? * Where does He live ? How many wives 
has He got ? If we have souls,, what are they like? " 
How is it that we can t see them ? And, finally, 



"l WAXT TO FIND GOD AND SEE HIM." 443 

If sinners are to be punished in another world, 
tben, when we come to die, we will put our hands 
upon our mouths and stifle our souls, that they may 
perish with our bodies. 5 " 

" I remember being at a hut one night," continued 
Jenkins, " and after closing a service by prayer, 
the hostess lighted a rush-candle, and diligently 
searched every nook and corner, and even the inside 
of her pots, and when asked \Vhat are you looking 
for ? she replied, < I want to find God and see Him. 
The teacher has been t elling us that He is here, 
but I can t see Him anywhere. " 

These are but specimen facts illustrating the state 
of those heathens thirty years ago. The great masses 
of the tribe are still heathens, but there has been a 
gradual improvement in their minds and morals. 
" Theft and robbery among each other in this tribe/ 
says Jenkins, " seldom ever occurs, and though they 
keep up predatory wars with neighbouring tribes, 
neither the Government of Cape Colony nor of Natal 
has ever had a single case of complaint against 
Faku and his people. It was the only tribe that was 
not more or less led away by the mad infatuation, 
originating with an influential prophet in Krilie s 
tribe a few years ago, under which the people de 
stroyed their cattle. The oracle announced that 
there would soon be a resurrection of their fathers, 
and of all their cattle, and all who believed it and 
would destroy their cattle should be sharers in this 
unending supply of new cattle, but the people who 



444 EMFUNDISWENI. 

would not yield obedience and destroy their cattle, 
should not only forfeit the blessedness of this new 
creation, but should become moths. Express mes 
sengers were sent to Faku from this prophet, and 
the chiefs, who were in league with him, demanding 
that the Pondos should destroy all their cattle or 
become a nation of moths. Faku listened to their 
statements, and replied, In all great matters of this 
kind I have been accustomed to listen to my mis 
sionary. I will send for him and hear what he has 
to say, and be guided by his counsel/ The messengers 
tried to dissuade him from this, but seeing that he 
would not move in the matter without his missionary, 
they took their sudden departure out of his country." 

POLYGAMY. 

The practical workings of this ancient institution 
of iniquity are illustrated by the following facts from 
Mr. Jenkins : " Polygamy is the most fruitful source 
of nearly every evil in this country. Unnumbered 
women as well as men used to be smelled out and 
put to death in consequence of the jealousies and 
quarrels growing out of this system. 

" I knew a case sometime ago of a man who had 
two wives. They were constantly quarrelling, and 
one day one of the women bit a piece out of the 
other s cheek, and in return, at another time, she 
bit the other woman s nose right off ! 

" To the people who have lived any length of time 
on the mission-station, polygamy becomes intolerable. 



445 

A man who lived for a time at our station and was 
married according to the Christian form, afterwards 
left, and weixt to live among the heathen. In course of 
time he took a second wife in spite of the earnest 
remonstrances of his first. Such quarrels ensued 
between the two women, that the man could have no 
peace. He then took a third wife, with the hope 
that as there would be two against one, he would 
surely get out of the scrape ; but alas ! he soon 
found that his case was more complicated and des 
perate than ever before. I met him sometime after 
wards, and said he to me, my life is a dogging out 
of perfect misery ! I wish I had no wife at all ! 

" The result was, that his first wife left him and her 
children also, and went off 300 miles to Graham s 
Town. You may readily conceive, when the sons 
of these women grow up, the hatred to each other 
which will grow up with them, and give employ 
ment and emolument to the witch-doctors. 

"To know the degradation, sin, and misery of 
heathenism a man must live among them. The half 
has never been told, and cannot be, and but for our 
faith in the Gospel of the Son of God and its adap 
tation to raise and transform every grade of human 
kind, we should utterly despair of its efficacy in this 
land, but we must obey the Gospel mandate, Go 
ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to 
every creature, and leave the result with Him who 
gave the command. The direct and indirect results 
of the Gospel among the Pondos may be summed up 



446 EMFUNDISWEM. 

as follows : We found them a blood-thirsty, war 
like race. They are now comparatively a peace- 
loving people. 

" They were so destitute of clothing that, in travel 
ling among them for weeks, and sleeping in their 
kraals, I have not seen a particle of clothing, except 
occasionally a piece of a goat or sheep-skin a foot 
square, or a few rushes sown together ; but now 
woollen or cotton blankets are to be found in every 
hut. 

" Twenty-five years ago not a cow or even a goat 
could be purchased at any price in all Pondo-land. 
I knew a trader who came with a wagon-load of 
goods for trade, and after spending five or six 
months, he bought an inferior lot of calves to the 
value of 7 10s., which the missionary had previously 
secured for his own family use. Now thousands of 
cattle are bought and sent out of the country an 
nually, and there are many successful traders esta 
blished in the country. 

" The wooden spade was formerly the only instru 
ment used in tilling the ground ; but now, within a 
very recent period, a single house in Natal sold 
20,000 hoes and picks to the Pondos, besides many 
ploughs, and a few wagons. These facts are but 
an index to the general progress in every department 
of industry, and of household economy and com 
forts. 

" As for direct spiritual results," continues the old 
missionary, " the light of eternity will reveal the ex 



447 

tent of the Holy Spirit s saving work among the 
Pondos, yet we have seen many who testified in life 
and in death, that the Gospel to them was the power 
of God unto salvation ; some of them were very 
triumphant in the hour of death, knowing that they 
were going to the better land. I have known and 
heard of not a few among them who heard the Gos 
pel, embraced Christ, and died in the Lord. A 
young heathen man, a few years ago, attended our 
services regularly, in spite of the opposition of his 
friends, who accused him of wishing to become an 
Englishman, till he suddenly disappeared. I have 
every reason to believe that he was put to death, and 
preferred to die as a martyr than to give up Christ. 

" An old heathen was brought to God years ago at 
Palmerton. When I left that station to remove to 
this, I advised him to remain, but he said, * ]N"o, you 
brought me to God, and nothing but death shall 
separate us/ Soon after his arrival here he took 
ill and died. The evening before his death he said, 
* The King has sent to call me ! What am I that 
I should refuse to go ? In his last moments he 
said, I am going to the King above ! A moment 
after he was gone. 

" A few years ago an old Pondo drank so deeply of 
the wormwood and the gall, that he had often to be 
carried home from the chapel. He found peace, and 
was made very happy in the love of God. He had 
a brother who tried by every means to get him back 
to heathenism. When his arguments failed, he re- 



448 EMFUNDISWENI. 

solved to murder him, and knowing where he went 
daily to pray alone in the bush, he took his assegai 
and followed him with the intention of stabbing him 
to death. The murderer came stealthily up to the 
sacred precincts of the good man s bower of prayer, 
where the prostrate Kaffir was doubtless defended by 
a body-guard of angels from heaven. He quite suc 
ceeded in his purpose of coming up close enough to 
drive his assegai through his brother s back with 
out being discovered by him, but there he stood and 
looked at a man in audience with God, and heard 
him tell his great " Inkosi " all his griefs, and plead 
for his wicked brother. The assegai dropped from 
his hand, for the Holy Spirit s two-edged sword was 
piercing him, and he fell to the earth and cried for 
mercy. He soon after found peace with God, and 
became an Israelite indeed. Some time after the 
conversion of this persecutor, he, with others was 
called upon by the Governor of Cape Colony during 
the war of 1852, to go and fight the belligerent 
Kaffirs, Faku and his people being allies of the Co 
lony. 

When this converted heathen received the order 
to report himself for service in the colonial allied 
troops, he went to Mr. Jenkins and said, " Umfundisi, 
do you see this arm ? stretching out his right hand. 
With this arm I have killed many a man in war ; 
but when God gave me a new heart, I vowed to Him 
that I never would kill another, not even to save 
my own life, and I cannot go ! " To relieve his case, 



PALMERTON. 449 

Mr. Jenkins gave him letters to carry to Natal, and 
thus going on postal duty for the missionary, he was 
not pressed into military service. " He lived from 
the day of his conversion," says his missionary, " a 
faithful servant of God, and died in the triumphs ot 
faith." The foregoing are but specimen examples 
of a great many cases, illustrating the saving work 
of God in those dark regions. 

Our little party arrived at Emfundisweni Thursday 
afternoon, the 23rd of August, and preached that 
night, also on Friday mid-day and evening. At the 
three services Brother Jenkins reported over sixty 
souls saved. On Saturday, my friend, Mr. Alfred 
White, who first suggested my trip through Kaffra- 
ria, a brother of Mrs. Jenkins, drove me thirty miles 
westward to PALMERTON. Its native name is Izala. 
"We left Charles Pamla to push on the work with 
Brother Jenkins ; Brother Eoberts and Stuart ac 
companied us on horseback, and went, on the follow 
ing week, forty miles further, to the Umzimvubu 
mouth, and ascended the " eastern gate/ an almost 
perpendicular height of 1,200 feet. My limited 
space precludes the details of their romantic adven 
tures down this Hippopotami Kiver, and of my 
labours at Palmerton. I may simply remark, we 
reached Palmerton in the rain which continued for 
four days, so that we did not get the heathen beyond 
the station lines to hear us. My interpreter there 
was the teacher of the native school, a fine young 
fellow from Yerulam, Natal ; but his knowledge of 

GG 



450 EMFUNDISWENI. 

English was too limited for very effective preach 
ing, and hence, though most kindly entertained by 
the missionary, Rev. John Allsop, and his good wife, 
it was a time of great trial to me. It is a beautiful 
station, but in a low spiritual state, and greatly 
needing help, and not to be able to lead them on to 
certain victory, because I could not talk to them, 
was too bad ; but there was no help for it, and I 
patiently submitted. About thirty persons, however, 
were added to the church at Palmerton, during our 
crippled series. 

"We returned to Emfundisweni on Friday the 31st, 
and were greatly cheered by the accounts of the hard 
fighting and glorious victories, achieved under the 
leadership of Brother Jenkins and Charles. The 
heavy rains we encountered thirty miles nearer the 
sea had not extended to them in sufficient quantity 
to interfere with their services. I then saw clearly 
that God had hid me away at Palmerton that He 
might show to the old missionary and the Pondo 
nation, in the person of Charles Pamla, what kind of 
agents He designs to employ in the evangelization 
of the tribes of Africa, a thing that none of them 
believed before, or could doubt afterwards. I was 
glad to step aside, and yield the palm to my sable 
brother. 

I had taken great pleasure in teaching Charles 
leading principles in psychology, logic, and the 
mysteries of salvation simplified, so as to make him 
" a workman that needeth not to be ashamed." 



GRAND FIGHT WITH THE HEATHEN. 451 

He has a philosophic cast of mind, can grasp the 
most abstruse principles readily, forgets nothing 
worth remembering, and after interpreting my ser 
mons twice per day for nearly two months, it became 
a work of supererogation for me to preach through 
him, for he could do it as well, or better, without me. 
I had prayed that God would allow me to remain, at 
least a few years, to lead a victorious host of native 
evangelists into the interior of Africa; but I now 
saw that God would answer my prayer indirectly, 
by giving my mantle to my Elisha, and take me 
away, if not to heaven, to some other part of His 
vast dominions, where He may have greater use for 
me. 

Brother Jenkins and Charles had carried on the 
services in the chapel, over the Sabbath and Monday 
night. 

On Tuesday, they removed their "base " to a chiefs 
kraal, some fifteen miles distant, and opened a direct 
fire upon the heathen, and stirring times they had 
indeed. Each service was commenced with direct 
familiar conversation with the heathen, by which 
their superstitions were brought to light, and 
defended by their own champions, and refuted by my 
Zulu, backed by the heroic old missionary, to whom. 
Charles often appealed to clinch the nails he had 
driven in sure places. They thus not only swept 
away the rubbish, but cleared a basis of admitted 
truth in the minds of all who wished to come to the 
light, on which to build a Gospel structure of 



452 EMFUNDISWENI. 

saving doctrines. The scoffers became very bitter in 
their opposition, and daily tried to divert the atten 
tion of the people from the preaching, by shouts and 
taunts, and by setting the grass on fire, and raising 
an alarm, obliging the people on two occasions to 
disperse in haste to save their huts from the flames. 
One of the worst opposers, and the man charged 
with firing the grass each day, was an ingrate by 
the name of Banbana, whom Mrs. Jenkins had a few 
years before saved from torture and death. He was 
under sentence for witchcraft, and with a rein round 
his neck was kept in a hut awaiting his execution. 
He asked to be allowed to go outside of the hut in 
the dark, to which his keepers consented, but they 
would hold on by the end of the reim (a raw hide 
rope) so that he should not escape. The wizard thus 
getting out managed to slip the reim from his neck, 
and tied it to a bush. The jailor inside feeling the 
steady pulling at the rope, had no doubt that his 
convict was fast at the other end, but at length 
became suspicious, and going out found a bush tied. 
Banbana fled to the river, and, through some friend, 
Mrs. Jenkins found him next morning hid at the 
water s edge among the reeds and bushes, and gave 
him a sanctuary at the mission-house, and finally 
succeeded in restoring him to the good- will of his 
people. Now she was almost ready to think that 
she had made a mistake in her merciful interference 
with the due course of Kaffir law, to save such a 
wretch. 



453 

But, in spite of the devil and his heathen host, a 
grand victory for God was achieved. Among the 
saved ones were some such as " Dionysius, Damaris, 
and others with them." 

The whole number of the converts at that time, 
including those who were saved before I left for 
Palmerton, amounted to above 163 persons, among 
whom were a doctor and five young chiefs. 

On our return from Palmerton, we arranged that 
while Roberts, Stuart, and myself, would go on and 
spend the Sabbath with Captain Kok s Griquas, at 
their request, and on Monday proceed on our way 
toward Natal, Charles should spend the Sabbath with 
Brother Jenkins, and help on the glorious work 
among the Pondos, and on Monday night meet us 
at " Ulbrichts." 

That arrangement gave us over forty miles of 
travel on Saturday, out of our course, for Natal ; and 
about thirty-five miles on our course for Monday, 
and gave Charles a journey on Monday of about fifty 
miles, to meet us at " Ulbrichts," where we might 
together enjoy the hospitality of a generous Christian 
Griqua family. So on Saturday, September 1st, we 
bade adieu to Emfundisweni, and set out for Kok s 
camp. That was a day to be remembered, for by 
the time we got off the main beaten Natal track into 
the dreary hills and mountains of " Nomansland," a 
cold drizzling rain set in, with a dense fog, which 
limited our field of vision to a radius of about fifty 
yards. Several times through the day we lost the 



454 EMFUNDISWENI. 

trail, and much time was consumed in finding the 
" spoor." 

About four P.M., we heard the barking of dogs, the 
squealing of pigs, the bleating of sheep, and the 
lowing of cattle, and hoped we were nearing the 
" Camp." Coming to a pioneer s hut and stock-yard, 
Mr. Roberts fought his way up through a pack of 
fierce dogs to the door, to inquire where we were. 
He found nothing there but dogs and a few children 
whose parents were out ; Stuart and his father, and 
our weary horses, stood shivering in the storm till 
Roberts came and told us that the Dutch-speaking 
children said that it was fifteen miles to Kok s camp, 
and that we had a high mountain to cross. 

On and on we struggled over the mountain, and 
down to a little river. It was now getting dark, and 
we knew not which way to go. We hoped we were, 
near the Griqua camp, but we could see no lights, 
and hear nothing but the hollow moaning of the 
wind in the mountains, and the pattering rain upon 
us. When we got into places of great danger, 
Brother Roberts, finding that I was a good driver, 
and not wishing to be responsible for my life, found 
it convenient to get out and walk. So when we 
crossed the river, he gave me the reins, and went 
circling round to try to find the path. I drove up 
a hollow, and away on to high ground, hoping to see 
Kok s city set on a hill, called the "Bergliftig," but 
not a beacon glimmer shone out to cheer us. It was 
a moonless night, and with the clouds above us, the 



A NIGHT LONG TO BE REMEMBERED. 455 

fog all round us, that was a darkness which we all 
felt. I waked the echoes of the mountains by shouts 
which I hoped might arouse the natives, but got no 
response. 

I said, " Eoberts, we have got into Nomansland, 
surb. I have not seen a tree for many miles back, 
but I saw a few bushes on the cliffs near the river. 
If we can back there over these dangerous gullies, 
perhaps we can get wood enough to make a fire, 
otherwise the severity of the cold and our wet clothes 
will finish the business for us ! " Back we went to 
the river and " out-spanned." I felt my way among 
the cliffs to a bush about four inches through, which 
I cut down. It was green and wet, but by cutting 
kindling wood off the seat of our carriage, we at 
last succeeded in getting a fire. Thankful for a good 
cup of coffee and a supper savoury enough for princes, 
we endeavoured to devise some plan for the preser 
vation of life through the night. We spent hours 
trying to dry our clothes, but while we were drying 
one side the other was getting wet with the fast fall 
ing rain. Stuart and I at last took a seat in the cart, 
which had a " bonnet," which gave us some protec 
tion from the rain, and wrapping up as well as we 
could in our wet rugs, we dozed, and dreamed, and 
shivered till morning. Eoberts, meantime, dug a 
hole in the ground to get a dry place, and there, 
half buried, wrapped up in his tiger-skin rug, he 
"waited for the morning/ The Lord graciously 
preserved us even from taking a cold, and in the 



456 EMFUXDISWENI. 

morning, while Stuart was hunting the horses, and 
while Eoberts was exploring the country to find some 
body to tell us which way to go, I kindled a fire and 
prepared a good breakfast. Eoberts found an English 
citizen of Captain Kok s kingdom, living not a mile 
distant from our camp, from whom we learned that 
we were quite out of our way, and that it was twelve 
miles distant to Kok s camp. He sent a young Hot 
tentot to guide us. Mid rain, sleet, and snow we 
reached the town, where I had hoped to spend a 
quiet and profitable Sabbath, about noon. Captain 
Kok, who passed us in Umhlonhlo s country on his 
way to Cape Town, had not returned. His town has 
a population of about 1,000, built up of huts, with 
some pretty fair log and brick houses, and a fort 
with mud walls, about eight feet high, with piles of 
cannon-balls and a few big guns, with which to frighten 
the Kaffirs. In the midst of the fort is a good 
pioneer chapel, which will seat about 400 persons. 
A plain house was given us in which to sojourn. 
"We met a young English trader, the son of Rev. 
Mr. Scott, of Natal, who, as a Christian, is trying 
to do good to the rising community. He and another 
young English trader furnished us grain for our 
horses, and other needful attentions ; a kind Griqua 
family cooked for us, and we got on well considering 
the state of the camp and the weather. At three 
P.M. we had the chapel crowded, and I preached the 
Gospel to them through a Dutch interpreter, a pioua 



HULLEY S HUT CHAPEL. 437 

intelligent man, the school-master for the town, and 
yet totally blind. 

At night I preached in English to about thirty 
persons in a private house. "We had reason to hope 
that good was done, and yet no decisive results were 
manifest. On Monday the sun shone out, and though 
the roads were thought to be so slippery that we 
should not be able to cross the "Zuurberg" the sour 
mountain we could not afford to lose time, and 
so pushed on our journey. "We passed a number of 
new, fertile, well- watered farms of the Griquas, and 
after crossing the Zuurberg came through a Griqua 
village, where they also have a chapel, and regular 
worship among themselves. This village is near the 
lines of " Alfredia," the newly annexed territory of 
Natal. Just across the line a mean white man has 
opened a shop for enticing the poor Griquas to 
destruction by the sale of brandy. Our route of 
travel left Alfredia to our right, and continued in 
Captain Kok s country some forty miles further to the 
"Umzimvubu" river, which is the old west boundary 
of Natal. 

We reached TJlbrichts before night, took tea, and 
drove on three miles further to Mr. " Bloms," where 
we spent the night. We waited on Tuesday for 
Charles till eleven A.M., and went on without him. 
In the afternoon of that day we reached Mr. Hulley s 
place, and preached in his large Kaffir-hut chapel, 
which will seat 150. Brother Hulley supports him- 



458 EMFUNDISWEXI. 

self and his large family on a new farm in KeVs 
territory, on the west bank of the Umzimvubu, but 
is nevertheless a successful preacher among the 
Kaffirs, and has formed a society, and preaches to 
the heathen regularly in his own round native 
chapel. I was very sorry we could not command 
time to stay with him long enough for a grand 
advance among his people. We were very kindly 
entertained for the night, and next morning forded 
the river, which can be crossed only in a ferry-boat, 
except in winter; and spent an hour with Mr. 
Hancock and family, who are Graham s Town 
Wesleyans, and very enterprising, useful people. 
That day we travelled over forty miles through a 
picturesque country of hill, dale, and mountain, but 
few settlers, and much wild game. "We saw more 
deer in greater variety that day, than any other day 
of the whole journey, though we saw many beautiful 
herds of " rhei bucks " in Pondo-land. We hoped to 
cross the Umkomas Kiver before dark ; but, though 
we sighted it from the mountain an hour before 
sunset, it was quite dark before we reached the ford, 
which we were told was deep, rough, and dangerous, 
yet our only stopping-place was a public-house on 
the other side. Near the river we met a native man, 
whom we found was from. Indaleni, a mission- station 
about twenty miles beyond. He had been out among 
the Kaffirs with two wagons, selling Indian corn, 
and buying cattle in exchange. He was just the 
man of all others we most needed, to tell us about 




AMAZULU, 



"YOUR HORSES HAVE FALLEN INTO THE DITCH." 459 

the ford, to supply us with corn, and to help us over 
a high mountain, next day, tying our cart to one of 
his wagons, and driving our horses along with his 
stock cattle. As it was so dark and dangerous, 
Brother Eoberts allowed me to drive across the river 
alone. He thought he could wade it, but failing in 
that, we sent a Kaffir with a horse to fetch him. 
We all got safely to the public-house. The pro 
prietor was absent, but had left his Kaffir servant to 
attend to the wants of the travelling public. His 
beds were passable, but he had nothing to eat, except 
a few small potatoes and some bacon, but as we still 
had a supply of coffee, sugar, dried peaches, and 
bread, we fared well ; and our " man of providence " 
brought us a bag of corn for our horses. 

As we were getting ready to go to bed, our 
Kaffir landlord came running in to tell us " your 
horses have fallen into the ditch." Stuart describes 
the situation as follows : 

I knee-haltered my pony, so that when he was done with 
his corn he might go and graze, but three of the cart 
horses were tied together. Near by was a trench, five feet 
deep, enclosing a paddock. The three horses, closely tied to 
each other, going too near to the trench, one tumbled in and 
rolled over, and drew the second on to him. The back of 
the first horse was wedged into the bottom of the trench, 
with his feet sticking up ; the second lay on his side directly 
on the first ; the third was standing with his fore legs set 
forward, to avoid being dragged in, and pulling back with 
all his might, was nearly strangled by the tightening of the 
reim round his neck. We soon released two of them, but 



460 EMFUNDISWENI. 

the bottom one was wedged in so tightly, and was so 
exhausted with his struggles, that he seemed to have 
resigned himself to die. 

We, however, went to work with pick and shovel and 
dug down the sides of the trench, till we got room enough 
to allow him to get his feet to the ground, then my father 
and the Kaffir seized him by the tail, while Mr. Roberts 
and I took hold of the mm, which was round his neck, and 
we pulled away. For a time the case looked very doubtful, 
and I felt some concern for the safety of his "fly-brush," but 
a final pull altogether brought him to his feet, and we were 
glad to find that none of them had received any permanent 
injury. 

The next day we travelled to ladaleni, and were 
kindly entertained by the missionary, Rev. W. H. 
Milward, and his good lady. I arranged with him 
to have Charles spend the Sabbath with him, if he 
should come on all right. We had not heard from 
him since we left him at Emfundisweni. On the 
next day, Friday the 7th of September, we journeyed 
on twenty- five miles to Pietermaritzburg, the capital 
of Natal. From the time we left Queen s Town, I 
had travelled 613 miles, while Roberts and Stuart 
had travelled 700 miles. Stuart s Kaffir " tripler " 
carried him through without "giving in/ 

When Charles reported in Maritzburg the follow 
ing Monday, we found that he was only about half 
a day behind us all the way from Ulbrichts to 
Indaleni. He left Emfundisweni on Monday accord 
ing to agreement, but the roads were bad and the 
journey was too long. Finding that he could 



THE WORK AT INDALENI. 4G1 

not reach Ulbrichts that day, he put up at a heathen 
kraal, near a chief s place. He got all the people 
together and preached to them that night, and again 
the next morning, and seventeen of them professed 
to renounce heathenism, and accept Jesus Christ. 
He wrote back to Brother Jenkins, giving him their 
names and whereabouts. He also preached to the 
natives at Mr. Hancock s place, but had not time to 
follow up the effort. 

He preached Friday night, Saturday, and Sabbath, 
at Indaleni. An extract from a letter to me from 
Eev. W. H. Milwood will tell the story of that 
adventure : 

" Under Charles Panda s preaching here, Friday, 
Saturday, and yesterday, many have been aroused 
to a sense of their danger through sin, and led to 
seek forgiveness and holiness through the blood of 
Jesus. About seventy, young and old, profess to 
have gained the pearl of great price, and a few others 
are yet earnestly seeking. 

" This is a matter of great joy to me, and will be 
to you, I am sure." 

From this stand-point we will look back and see 
how the work of God goes on at Emfundisweni. 
Many more were saved during the last Sabbath 
Charles was there, and in a letter from Brother 
Jenkins, dated September 18th, a few weeks later, he 
says : 

I am thankful to tell you that everything here is going 
on as steadily as could be expected. "We have no great 



4C2 EMFUSDISWENI. 

excitement ; but we perceive a deep seriousness and devo 
tion on every countenance, and as yet no falling off. For 
the present I meet all the new converts, both old and 
young, myself, to ground them well in Christian doctrine 
and experience. I look upon the young with special in 
terest. We are endeavouring to take care of the young 
chiefs who were brought to God. 

You will remember the young chief Umhlangazi. He, 
with a few others, went last week to see Chief Faku, his 
grandfather, and said, " We have come to lay before you 
a matter of very great importance. My mother, my two 
sisters, myself, and these, my friends, and many others of 
our kraals, have become Christians, and have fully made up 
our minds to follow the word of God, and cannot, therefore, 
any longer follow the customs of heathenism, and we 
thought it our duty, to our chief and father, to let you 
know the great change which we have experienced, and our 
purpose to cleave to Jesus Christ who has saved us from 
our sins." 

Faku listened to all that was said, and remained silent 
for some time. He then expressed great surprise ! After 
another pause he said, " My children, yc*i have done right ! 
Go and sit down in peace ! We want to remove to that 
part and be converted also as you have been ! " For this 
I am humbly thankful to God. The young converts, of 
course, have much to bear from the jeers and taunts of the 
heathen, but they stand firmly. 



I hope the old chief may be awakened to the ne 
cessity of a personal preparation for heaven. A 
man one day asked Faku if he had any hope of get 
ting to heaven, and the old chief inquired, 

" Is Jenkins going to heaven ?" 



"OH, MR. COOK, WAIT FOR ME ! " 4G3 

" Undoubtedly, lie is," replied the other. 

" I ll go wherever Jenkins goes," said the old 
eathen, emphatically. " When Jenkins gets to 
heaven he won t stay there without me ! I m sure 
he ll come out and take me in with him !" 

I said to Brother Jenkins, when this story was re 
lated at his own table, " I think when the Master 
calls you from labour to reward you, you ll treat poor 
old Taku somewhat as Kev. Valentine Cook did his 
wife. Cook was a celebrated pioneer preacher in the 
Western States of America. In 1832, when a 
shower of meteors came down all over the country, 
flying through the heavens almost as thickly as snow- 
flakes in a storm, there was great alarm throughout 
he land. The midnight cry was raised, and borne 
along through many a hamlet and city. The 
world is at an end ! the stars are falling ! the Judge 
will soon appear ! Cook was suddenly aroused out 
of sleep by the cry and general wailing in the 
streets, and seeing through his window the flashing 
meteors, he took it for granted that it was all true, 
and as he made a dash for the door, his wife cried 
after him, 

" Oh, Mr. Cook, wait for me ! Do wait for me ! 

" No, my dear wife/ answered Cook, as he sud 
denly passed out of sight, if my blessed Jesus is 
coming, I can t wait for anybody ! " 

Mr. Jenkins made an earnest request by letter to 
have us send Charles home through Pondo-land, that 
he might lead another campaign against the heathen, 



464 EMFUNDISWENl. 

and, in the hope that he would come, sent an order 
on Mr. Cameron, the chairman, for the funds to bear 
his expenses back, and to strengthen his appeal, he 
adds, " Strange to say, some of the heathen chiefs 
have expressed a strong desire for Charles to visit 
them. This I take as from the Lord;" 



CHAPTER XXV. 

NATAL. 

IT was my purpose, out of a copious supply of mate 
rials, to fill four chapters with facts and incidents 
illustrative of this very interesting young colony, 
and the progress of the Gospel among its aboriginal 
and colonial populations, but my printer informs me 
that I have already greatly exceeded the limits of 
my book, so I must confine myself to a brief exhibit 
of leading facts and life scenes. 

The colony of Natal lies principally between the 
parallels of 29 and 30 south, and longitude 29 to 
31 west. 

The climate is genial and healthy, the mean 
temperature for eight years past was 64 Fahren 
heit, the highest, 97, the lowest, 33. The jungle 
and forest scenery, especially seaward, have quite 
a tropical appearance. The soil and climate are 
pretty well adapted to cereal grains and grass, but 
specially to the production of arrowroot, sugar-cane, 
and coffee, it is said also that cotton does well. 
There are many fine coffee plantations, and of the 

HH 



466 NATAL. 

108 mills in the Colony, worked principally by steam 
power, nearly 100 of them are sugar-mills. There 
are 4,667 farmers of different kinds in the Colony, 
194 manufactories, and 57 commercial establish 
ments. 

The population, according to the census of 1865, 
was as follows : 

White males .... 79,990 
"White females . . . 78,590 

Total . . 158,580 

Native males .... 67,667 
Native females . . . 70,069 

Total . . 137,736 

Indian coolies, 7000 ; more than four-fifths of 
whom are males, who are employed principally in 
the sugar plantations. The aggregate of those 
several classes swells the total population to over 
300,000 souls. There are about 7000 native Zulu 
Kaffirs employed in service by the Colonists. They 
are much more robust, and said to be much more 
trustworthy than the Coolies, but being more free 
and independent than the poor Indians, they walk 
away if not suited, and hence are not so available. 

The total revenue of the Government for 1865 was 
176,295 Is. 9cL 

Total expenditure, 179,883 7s., besides a public 




YOUNG GENTLEMEN OF THE AMAZULU. 



BLUE-BOOK STATISTICS. 407 

debt for unfinished harbour improvements at D Ur- 
ban, amounting to 110,000. 

The Government appropriation for ecclesiastical 
purposes during the year 1865, principally for the 
support of Anglican and Dutch Reformed Ministers, 
was 1,150. For police and jails, 3,212, for the 
Judicial Department, 12,505. 

Besides the vaik/uB religious establishments com 
mon in English colonies, there are in Natal thirteen 
mission-stations among the Zulus, under the American 
Board of Foreign Missions. The Government has 
made to each a liberal grant of land, and fully 
appreciating the faithful labours of the American 
missionaries, and the influence of their practical 
American ideas on education, and all manner of 
handicraft for the natives, grants a subsidy for their 
schools, and 24 a-year towards the support of a 
periodical they publish for the Zulus, called the 
Ikwezi, so the Kaffirs have one newspaper, while the 
whites have four. 

The Government appropriation in 1865, for all the 
industrial schools, three of the largest of which are 
under the Wesley ans, was 1000 ; For common 
schools, 909. In these several schools 1744 Kaffirs 
Deceived instruction during the year. In the Indus 
trial Schools 120 boys were at work, learning a 
variety of useful trades, and 372 Kaffir women were 
taught to sew. I am indebted to the Colonial " Blue 
Book " for my statistics. 

Pietermaritzburg, the capital, with a population of 



463 NATAL. 



about 8000, is well located for drainage, health, and 
beauty, on a high ridge rising up from the banks of 
a small river, a branch of the great " Umgani." In 
every direction grassy hills stand out to view, with 
high mountains to the north and west. 

The whole breadth of country, about 200 miles 
in width, from the " Drakensberg " range to the 
ocean, embracing the eastern province of Cape 
Colony, Kaffraria, and Natal, a distance of more than 
1000 miles, is all of the same general appearance, 
just like the waves of the ocean, a vast sea of irregu 
lar grassy hills and mountains, with island groves of 
timber, the Kaffrarian waves being much more 
abrupt and high than those within British lines. 

Up the river, seven miles from the capital, is the 
native village and Wesley an mission- station called 
Edendale. It was founded by Bev. Mr. Allison, then 
a Wesleyan missionary, now a devoted and useful 
minister to the natives in Pietermaritzburg, not 
directly with us, but in good repute with all classes, 
and in good fellowship with his "VYesleyan brethren. 
In founding Edendale, he bought a large tract of 
land, of superior quality, for the natives, and secured 
to them freehold titles. Their beautiful dale near 
the river, with a grand \vaterfall in sight above, a 
good mill for grinding the millions, of bushels of 
maize they grow on their little farms, their neat 
village of 1000 population, with nearly all the space 
along the sides of the streets and front and rear of their 
little houses, covered with fruit-trees, principally the 






CO-OPERATION OF VARIOUS ORDERS OF MINISTERS. 469 

peach ; and two new chapels of brick and stone, in 
fine style, to seat about 500 each, all built by native 
mechanics is not without reason called" Edendale." 
They have a fine young missionary, Eev. C. Roberts. 

Distant from the capital fifty-three miles, is Port 
Natal, and the commercial town of D TJrban, with a 
population of nearly 10,000. It is located near the 
bay, on a vast plain of sand, which once belonged to 
the domain of the ocean, but the high " Berean hills," 
to which the town extends, covered with forests and 
tropical jungle, furnish fine background to the 
scene, and splendid sites for suburban residences. 

Easterly from D Urban, across the Umgani, twenty 
miles distant, in a country abounding with coffee 
plantations, is the rural village of Verulam. The 
daily labours of our brief sojourn of five weeks, 
were devoted principally to Indaleni, Pietermaritz- 
burg, Edendale, D Urban, and Yerulam. 

The services were held in the Wesleyan chapels, 
which are neat, substantial, and spacious, but we 
had the hearty co-operation of nearly all classes 
of Christian ministers and people. The effects of 
the searing blight of semi- infidelity, so famous in 
Natal, were so felt by the infant churches of the 
Colony, that all lovers of the Bible and its Author 
were ready to join hands with any agency whom God 
might send to help them in their need. In Maritz- 
burg, besides Brothers Mason, Hays, and Cameron, 
Wesleyan ministers, we had Eev. Mr. Allison, before 
mentioned, Eevds. "W. Campbell and Smith, Scotch 



470 NATAL. 

Presbyterians, Rev. P. Huet, Dutch Reformed, and 
two zealous French missionaries, unjustly exiled by 
the Dutch Boers from the Free State, where they 
with their fellow- missionaries, thirteen in number, 
had laboured successfully for many years among the 
" Basutus." In D Urban, besides the "Wesleyan, 
Rev. J. Cameron, the veteran chairman of the dis 
trict, his colleague, C. Harman, J. Langley, mis 
sionaries to the natives, Rev. Ralph Stott, a wise 
and indefatigable old Indian missionary, labouring 
among the Natal coolies, we had Rev. Mr. Buchanan, 
and Rev. Mr. Patton, his colleague, Presbyterian, 
Rev. Mr. Mann, Independent, and a number of the 
American missionaries, among whom we had special 
helpers in the persons of Revs. D. Rood, M. A., H. B. 
Wilder, M.A., "VY. Mellon, and that grand old pio 
neer missionary, D. Lindley, D.D. Rev. Mr. Mann 
brought his people in force, and nearly half the new 
converts belonged to his congregation, whom he 
organized into classes, after the model of Methodism, 
and, with such a body of new recruits, is going on 
with increasing success. 

As I was straitened for time, and as the Natalians 
seemed to have but little appreciation of native stuff 
for the ministry, nay, strong prejudice against even 
the hope of raising up native ministers, and as my 
Zulu had become a workman that needed not to be 
ashamed, I thought it best to appoint him the 
general of the black legion, while I should bring up 
the smaller wing of the whites, and thus storm the 



BISHOP COLENSO S PREACHING. 471 

citadel of infidelity and sin from two sides at the 
same time. So I commended my sable brother to 
the missionaries, and bespoke for him " an open field 
and a fair fight." 

Bishop Colenso had just been booming away at 
an impregnable fortress of truth, the supreme Divi 
nity of Jesus Christ, and issued his orders forbidding 
any to ask directly any favours from Christ, and 
ignored the very songs of Zion which contained 
prayers to the Son of God. The Colonial papers 
had given the Bishop all the "aid and comfort" 
they could, for his sensationalism is very edifying 
to the press, financially ; but at the time of our arri 
val that novelty had lost its power of charming, 
and some new strategic dash was needed to revive 
the flagging spirits of the Bishop s troops ; so on the 
first Sabbath night we spent in Maritzburg, the 
Bishop preached on " The Idolatry of the Bible," 
by which it appeared from his discourse, as reported 
to us by some who heard it, he meant an idolatrous 
reverence for the Bible. One of his illustrations 
was in substance as follows: A young man, a 
printer employed in setting the type of one of his 
(Colenso s) first books on the Pentateuch, became so 
affected by the doubts thus excited in his mind 
about the truth of the Bible, that he went mad 
and committed suicide. The bereaved father of 
the poor printer wrote to Colenso, giving the facts 
about the dreadful end of his son, and charged 
the Bishop with his death, to which the Bishop re 



472 NATAL. 

plied that the father himself was the cause of the 
tragedy, by teaching his son such an idolatrous love 
for the Bible that he could not bear to see the 
truth of its stories called in question, and hence his 
madness and self-destruction. 

The two Sabbaths we were in the capital, Dr. 
Colenso and his " thorn in the flesh/ Dean Green, 
were booming away, just across the street in a dia 
gonal line from our chapel. 

"While in Maritzburg, I delivered a lecture on 
" Reminiscences of Palestine/ and as I had occasion 
to join issue with one of Colenso s arguments, in 
which he tries to prove the physical impossibility 
of executing the command of Moses, as recorded in 
the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth chapters of 
Deuteronomy, to proclaim the curses and blessings of 
the law from the two opposite mountains, Gerizim 
and Ebal, to the assembled hosts of Israel between, 
having myself personally, by measurement and vocal 
power, demonstrated the entire feasibility of the 
whole thing in the very place where Joshua, in the 
eighth chapter of his book, informs us that all that 
Moses commanded was done, I requested my com 
mittee to present the Bishop with my compliments, 
and send him a ticket to the lecture ; but he did not 
put in an appearance. I afterwards learned that the 
Bishop had left for D Urban about the time the lec 
ture was to come off, on a tour of episcopal visitation 
in that part of his diocese. 

So when I went to D Urban the Bishop was at his 



COLENSO S ADHERENTS. 473 

post there. As I entered the town I saw the bills 
up, announcing that the learned Bishop was to preach 
next day morning and evening in the Anglican 
Church. 

At Verulam he preceded us a week. Rev. Mr. 
Elder there tried to blockade his pulpit against the 
Bishop, and hence one of those scenes so common 
in his diocese, a violent removal of barriers, and 
" running the blockade." 

The Sabbath I was in Verulam, Colenso was back 
in D Urban. The papers puffed him, and eulogised 
his preaching, and a merchant of Maritzburg came 
to tea at the house of my host, Mr. J. H. Grant, in 
D Urban, so drunk, he could not walk erect, and 
spent an hour in berating Christians and Christian 
ministers, and was sure that the eloquent Bishop, tho 
mo,st learned and reliable preacher in the world, 
would yet convert the whole of us. I happened to 
say, "Dr. Colenso," and he took offence, that I 
should be so irreverent. " Bishop Colenso ! Bishop 
Colenso !" he shouted, "the most learned and pious 
man in the world \" 

There are some very respectable families, in a 
worldly sense, and of good outward moral deport 
ment, who are identified with the Bishop ; but the 
majority of his followers are affirmed to be, by those 
who know them well, such persons as have good 
reason to dread the threatened judgments of the 
Bible, and therefore hope the book is not from God. 
Colenso, too, gains influence with many by his genial 



474 NATAL. 

gentlemanly manners, and Low Church liberality, in 
contrast with the stiff, Puseyitical, Ritualistic cha 
racter of the Bishop of. Cape Town. Old Rev. Mr. 
Lloyd, Episcopal minister in D Urban, in a friendly 
visit to my room, after talking to me sometime 
about the Bishops of Jerusalem, and Sydney, whom 
I had the pleasure of meeting, spoke of Colenso, who 
had been in his pulpit the preceding Sabbath, and 
said, " Poor Colenso, I believe he is a well-meaning 
man, but has got wrong in his mind. I believe he 
will be in a lunatic asylum before many years." 
Mr, Lloyd is a most kind-hearted old man, and 
would be glad to draw that veil of charity over the 
learned prelate s theological and moral idiosyncrasies. 
One of the D Urban papers stated, as a proof that all 
the people had not lost confidence in the Bishop, that 
in his recent episcopal tour, he had " baptized two 
children.-" 

During those eventful five weeks, in which the 
Bishop made his episcopal tour, and caused such a 
lively stir among the newspaper reporters, corre 
spondents, and sensationalists of the church breaking 
order, and doing wonders in his way, and baptized 
two babies, my Zulu and his black legion, and I, with 
my pale faces, had marched steadily on against the 
armies of the aliens. The souls awakened by the 
Spirit, who surrendered to God, accepted Christ, and 
personally tested the truth of the Bible, and who got 
the demonstration of the supreme Divinity of Jesus, 
by the " washing of regeneration, and renewing of the 






OVER ONE THOUSAND WITNESSES. 475 

Holy Ghost/ publicly confessed that they had re 
ceived " redemption through His blood, even the 
forgiveness of their sins/ They were also personally 
examined by their ministers, who being satisfied 
with their testimony, wrote down their names and 
addresses, so as to get them under pastoral training. 
These new witnesses, whom God thus raised up in 
refutation of the scepticism and infidelity of the 
times, numbered over 320 whites, and over 700 
natives, of all ages and stations in life, making an 
aggregate of more than 1,000 persons. I only 
preached five sermons to Kaffirs during those five 
weeks, so that most of the success of that division of 
the army was under the leadership of my Zulu. I 
was glad of that, for it did more than volumes of 
argument could have done, to break down a foolish 
" caste " and "colour" prejudice, and thus open the 
way for the employment of native agency, which God 
will mainly employ for the evangelization of Africa. 

When Brother Pamla first went to D Urban, 
Mr. Henry Cowey, a merchant, an excellent worker, 
and Local Preacher, said to me, " There is a great 
deal of prejudice here against allowing a coloured 
man to come into the house of a colonist, but I have 
consented to take Charles to stop with me." 

" You may think yourself very highly honoured, 
Brother Cowey, to have the privilege of entertaining 
Buch a messenger of God." 

Brother Cowey afterwards reminded me of my re 
mark, and said it was true, for he and his family had 



476 NATAL. 

been entertained and benefited by Charles sojourn 
with them. 

PROMISCUOUS EXAMPLES OF NATAL ADVENTURES. 

Dr. Colenso s attempt to popularise the Gospel to 
the Kaffirs, by his apology for polygamy, did not 
take with the Kaffir polygamists at all, for they were 
sharp enough to see that if Christianity differed so 
little from Kaffir heathenism as that, it was quite 
unnecessary to be at the trouble of a conversion from 
one to the other. 

TRYING TO ASTONISH THE NATIVES. 

When the first Anglican Church dean went to 
Natal, he visited the Wesleyan Mission at Pieter- 
maritzburg, and Rev. W. J. Davis, the missionary, 
invited him to preach to his Kaffirs. The Dean 
accepted the invitation, and came before the audi 
ence in his white " surplice," a style of dress the 
natives had never seen before. After the service Mr. 
Davis asked some of the men what they thought of 
the new umfundisi s preaching? "Well/ replied 
one, " it was very good, just the same things we had 
heard before ; but we were wondering all the time 
why the man did not put his shirt inside of his 
trousers ?" 

CHARMING A LION WITH MUSIC. 

When Eev. W. J. Davis was living in Pieter- 
maritzburg, his little son John, a lad of four years, 
went too near to a chained lion in a neighbour s yard. 




JOHNNY DAVIS AND THE LION. 



CHAEMING A LION WITH MUSIC. 477 

It was called a pet lion, but was indeed so wild and 
vicious, that no living thing was safe within the 
radius of his beat. The unsuspecting child stumbled 
within his reach, and the lion instantly felled him 
to the ground, and set his great paw on poor little 
Johnny s head. There was great consternation 
among the bystanders, but none were able to deliver 
the child. Miss Moreland, a young lady, with cha 
racteristic colonial presence of mind, seeing the peril 
of the child, ran up-stairs, and with her accordion in 
hand, came to a window looking out upon the tragic 
scene, and with a shout, to arrest attention, played a 
tune for the entertainment of the so-called " king of 
the woods," and he was so delighted with her kind 
attentions and musical talents, that he released his 
prey, and went the length of his chain toward his 
fair charmer, and stood in rapt attention. Johnny 
meantime got up, and carried his precious little self 
off to his mother. He never thought of crying till he 
entered the house, and saw how they were all excited 
about him, and then quite out of danger, he had a 
good cry on his own account. John has grown up 
the stature of a tall man, and has been delivered 
from him " who goeth about as a roaring lion, seek 
ing whom he may devour." 

COLENSO S ARK TAKEN DOWN BY A KAFFIR. 

On our way to Pietermaritzburg, having crossed 
into the lines of Natal, Mr. H., a very intelligent, 
and influential man, gave Charles Pamla a solemn 



478 NATAL. 

warning against coming into contact with Bishop 
Colenso, which led in substance to the following 
conversation : 

" He is a learned, shrewd, dangerous man," said 
Mr. H., " and might shake your faith." 

" Shake my faith in what ? " inquired Charles. 

" He might shake your faith in the truth of the 
Bible, and in the Divinity of Jesus Christ." 

" I can t see how he could that," replied 
Charles. " I proved the truth of the Bible and the 
Divinity of Jesus Christ in my heart thirteen years 
ago. I was convinced of sin by the Holy Ghost 
according to the teachings of the Bible; I then 
walked after the Spirit according to the instruc 
tions of the Word of God, and He led me to 
Jesus Christ. I gave my guilty soul to Him and 
received Him as my Saviour, and got the forgiveness 
of all my sins through Him. None but God can 
forgive sins. It was on the truth of God s Word 
that I accepted Him as my Saviour, and then, accord 
ing to the true promises of God, He saved me from 
my sins, a thing I know He never could do if He is 
not God. He not only saved me thirteen years ago, 
but He has saved me every day since, and saves me 
now. These are the facts that I know, and I can t 
see how any man s infidel speculations can shake 
God s facts revealed in my heart, which prove to 
me the truth of His book." 

" Ah ! but the faith of many strong men has been 
shaken by Colenso," rejoined Mr. H., "and you 



CHARLES PAMLA S REPLY TO COLENSO. 479 

should be careful not to put yourself in his way, he 
might do you serious injury." 

"Well, now, Mr. II.," said Charles, "will you 
please to give nie the strongest argument Colenso 
ever raised against the truth of the Bible ? " 

" No, I should be afraid, it might do you damage." 
But Charles insisted on knowing the strongest thing 
Mr. H. could recall from Colenso s writings against 
God s book, and finally Mr. H. said, " Dr. Colenso 
shows, by an arithmetical calculation, that the Bible 
story about the ark breaks down ; that it was im 
possible, according to the measurements given for 
the ark, to contain a pair of all the animals and 
seven of the clean animals, as stated in the story." 

"Indeed/ said Charles, "and that s it! Is that 
the strongest point the great man can make against 
the Word of God?" 

" He makes a strong case out of that, and I can t 
remember a stronger in his writings," replied Mr. 
H., and Charles showed his splendid rows of ivory 
in a broad spontaneous laugh, peculiar to himself, 
and then said, " Well, now, seriously, Mr. H., what 
ever may be our ignorance of ancient measurements, 
the fact is, if God should command me o build an 
ark, give me the pattern and dimensions, furnish 
plenty of timber of the right sort for such a ship, 
and plenty of ship-builders, and 120 years to 
fulfil my contract, I ll warrant you I would make it 
big enough, and I have no doubt that old Noah was 
as sharp as any Kaffir in Africa." 



480 NATAL. 

The fact is, taking the " cubit " at twenty-one 
inches, the measurements given in the narrative are 
adequate ; but my Zulu took the Bishop on his own 
ground. The Jews had a measure called a " cubit/ 
the Chaldeans had a very different measure called 
a "cubit," just as we have different measurements 
bearing the same name now ; for example, a mile 
in Ireland is about one- third longer than a mile 
in England, and an acre in England, Ireland, and 
Scotland represents in each country quite a different 
measurement of land, so Charles at a glance grasped 
the fundamental points in the story, and furnishing 
the clearest presumption of its truthfulness. 

THOMAS PALFREYMAN AND THE TIGER. 

The South African Tiger is of the bright-spotted 
leopard species, not quite so large as the Asiatic tiger, 
I believe, but very fierce and formidable. When we 
were at Maritzburg a young man, near York, twenty 
miles distant from us, discovered a tiger near his 
residence, and phot at the beast two or three times, 
but without much effect, except to enrage the animal, 
which joined issue with him, teeth and claws against 
his powder and bullets, and the young fellow cried 
for quarter. His shouts brought his father to the 
spot. The young man escaped with his life, but his 
father was killed by the tiger almost instantaneously. 

Thomas Palfreyman, a young Englishman, was 
away back of Pietermaritzburg, toward the great 
Drakensberg, when some frightened Kaffirs came 



TOM PALFREYMAN AND THE TIGER. 481 

running to him, crying, " a tiger ! a tiger ! " point 
ing to the woods and cliffs near by. Palfreyman 
ran with his gun into the " bush " and came in sight 
of the beast very soon. 

The tiger stood his ground, the young man 
advanced close to him, took deliberate aim at his 
head, and fired, but produced no effect beyond the 
flash and report of the gun, and the slow retreat of 
the tiger. The young fellow then, upon reflec 
tion, was convinced that in his haste he had for 
gotten to put in a ball, and had, therefore, merely 
burnt a charge of powder in his first attempt 
to kill a tiger. He had only been a little over a 
year away from England and was not well up in 
that kind of Colonial work. He then put in a good 
charge of powder and ball and pursued. The Kaffirs 
kept out of the bush in the open ground where they 
would have plenty of lee- way all clear, so that if 
they should deem it expedient to do any running, 
they might do it to the best advantage for themselves, 
for the Kaffirs, brought up from childhood in terror 
of the tiger, their great "Inkosi" of the forest, 
have a mortal fear of them. Palfreyman was feeling 
his way along a narrow path on the side of a 
clift, eight or ten feet above its base, looking ahead 
for another sight of the tiger. The great beast mean- 
time, with sharper sight, was looking for him, and: 
was now crouched on a ledge of the cliff just above 
him, ready to pounce down on his hunter as he was, 
passing below. The young hunter was quite out- 

II 



482 NATAL. 

generalled by the strategic movements of the enemy, 
and when he came within range, the tiger with one 
long leap came down upon him. 

Hearing the spring of the tiger, he suddenly drew 
up his gun in the direction of the bounding beast 
and fired, but without effect, except, perhaps, to give 
him a wholesome admonition with the smell of burnt 
powder. 

As the tiger struck him he set the nails of one of 
his paws deeply into one of Tom s shoulders and his 
teeth into the back of his head, and knocked him 
heels over head down the cliff, eight or ten feet 
into the jungle below. In their sudden tumble 
over the ledge of rocks the tiger lost his hold, and 
retreated into a jungle a little further on. Tom 
gathered himself up, and finding he had the use of 
his limbs, though badly wounded and bleeding pro 
fusely, he put into his gun a heavy charge of 
powder, and rolled in a handful of naked bullets, 
and was ready to renew the attack. His English pluck 
was up by this time, and he rushed into the bushy 
retreat of his foe, and there he was waiting for 
him, calculating, no doubt, and on very plausible 
grounds too, that the victory and the spoils would 
be his. The young Englishman advanced upon 
him till he could see the flashing glare of his eyes, 
and with good aim drove his full charge of bullets 
into his head, and dropped him dead in his tracks. 
Tom showed me the skin of the tiger, which measured 
nine feet from the nose to the end of the tail. He 




TOM PALFHHYMAN AND TIIK TKiKK. 



THE DUTCHMAN AND HIS HOLLAND BIBLE. 483 

was preserving the skin, waiting an opportunity to 
send it to bis parents in England. 

Thomas drove me from his uncle Thomas Pal- 
freyman s, house, eighteen miles, to my appointment 
at Richmond, where I preached two sermons and 
got my tiger-killp.r ronverted to God. 



THE DUTCHMAN AND HIS HOLLAND BIBLE. 

Two Kaffrarian missionaries, Rev. W. J. Davis,, 
and Rev. John Ayliff, in one of their journeys, put 
up at the house of a Dutch farmer. 

During their evening conversation, Mr. Ayliff in 
troduced the subject of vital, personal godliness, and 
was urging upon his host the necessity of being 
" born again," as a mere form of religion would not 
s-ecure him a passport to heaven, nor a fitness for it. 
The Dutchman listened so attentively for some time, 
that the missionary was quite encouraged with the 
hope of winning his man to Christ ; but at last the 
Dutchman interrupted him, by saying, " Mr. Ayliff, 
what did Cain kill his brother with ?" 

Mr. Ayliff replied, " The Bible does not inform 
us what kind of instrument he used, and hence, we 
do not know." 

The Dutchman went and got his large Holland 
Dutch Bible, and laid it down on the table, and with 
his hand upon it, said, " See here, Mr. Ayliff, this is 
my religion. This is a duly authorized Holland 
Bible, that cost me one hundred dollars (Rix dollars 



484 NATAL. 

7 10s.). A Holland Bible, Mr. Ayliff, in black 
letters, duly authorised ! That is my faith." 

He then opened it, and turned over many pages 
with large illustrated black letters and pictures, till 
he came to the story of the first murder, and there 
was a picture representing the murderer with a great 
club in his hands, and, pointing and looking with an 
air of triumph, he said, " There Mr. Ayliff, do you 
see that ? Don t you see it plain enough that Cain 
killed his brother with a club ?" 

" Ah, but my dear sir/* replied Ayliff, " that pic 
ture was not a part of the inspired narrative. The 
artist might have put a sword into his hands instead 
of a stick, except that at that period they had clubs, 
but not swords. The murderous weapon was most 
likely a club or a stone, but the sacred writer has not 
told us which/ 

The Dutchman retorted in a spirit of indignation, 
" Now when a man, professing to be a teacher of 
religion, comes and tells me that my duly authorised 
Holland Bible, which cost me one hundred dollars, 
does not tell the truth about Cain, I want to have 
nothing more to do with him." 

REV. MR. BUTLER AND THE ALLIGATOR. 

Some of the rivers of Natal abound with alligators, 
and many a poor fellow has been dragged down and 
devoured by them. Rev. Mr. Butler, an American 
missionary, was crossing the TJmkumas Kiver on 
horseback, when a huge alligator seized his leg. 



THE LAWYER AND HIS ADVOCATE. 485 

He held on for life to his horse, and dragged the 
savage beast ashore, and happily for him a number 
of Kaffir women were near, who ran to his rescue 
and beat the horrible creature off him. The wound, 
after a long time, was healed, but the minister never 
fully recovered. He has since returned to America. 

THE LAWYER AND HIS ADVOCATE. 

Mr. Pincent, of D Urban, in Mr. George Cato s 
judgment, though not an eloquent pleader, is the best 
law counsellor in South Africa. After he had been 
forward with our seekers several times feeling after 
God, his case, to his own mind, became desperate, 
and after giving me a relation of his rebellion against 
God, he inquired, " Now, do you think there is any 
chance for such a vile creature as I am to be saved ? " 
(He was regarded as a moral, right-minded man, but 
now the Holy Spirit had revealed to him, what every 
sinner must see before he will consent to God s terms 
of salvation, " the exceeding sinfulness of sin.") 

I assured him " that it is a faithful saying, and 
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came 
into the world to save sinners " even the very chief 
of sinners and that if he would but surrender to God 
.and accept Christ, he would prove the truth of that 
glorious announcement straightway. We then went 
into the details of the struggle, and he was so sick 
of sin, that I had but little difficulty in getting him 
to consent to a divorce from all sin, and to accept 
God s will as the rule of his heart and life, but he 



486 NATAL. 

stuck sometime at the believing point. He wanted 
to pray on till God, for Christ s sake, would give 
him peace, and then he could believe. When I got 
him to see clearly that he must have confidence in 
a physician, and accept him before he could hope to 
be cured by him, he next stuck at the mystery in 
volved in such a work. Realizing his antagonism to 
God s immutable laws, and that a judgment had been 
given and recorded against him in heaven s court, 
under the clearly revealed law, " the soul that sinneth, 
it shall die, " "He that believeth not is condemned 
already," he could not see how it was possible for 
his legal relations to God s government to be adjusted 
so that he should be fully reconciled to God. 

After fully explaining the Gospel plan of salvation 
by faith, I finally got him down to the saving act of 
faith, by the following illustration. Jesus Christ is 
our " Advocate with the Father." 

" Now it is fair to presume that He understands 
His professional intricacies and difficulties. If He 
had not been perfectly qualified for that responsible 
position, He would not have been admitted to the bar 
of heaven s court at all. Now suppose, Mr. Pincent, 
that one of your clients should elbow you round the 
corners of the streets, and keep insinuating, I can t 
see how you are to conduct my suit to a successful 
issue. I can t understand the complications of the 
the case, it seems all dark to me, and I m afraid 
you ll not succeed/ Then when the case comes on 
for trial in court, and your client insists on standing 



THE LAWYER GAINED HIS SUIT. 487 

by you to tell you how to conduct the suit, and every 
few minutes gives you the benefit of his counsel, and 
dictates to you how you should attend to your 
own business. What would you do, sir ? You would 
return him his brief straightway ! Now that illus 
trates your treatment of our Advocate with the 
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. If a client un 
derstood the business, he would not employ an advo 
cate, and when he employs one he thus admits that 
he does not understand it, but that his advocate does, 
and having faith in his advocate, allows him to con 
duct the suit in his own way, and is not concerned 
to know the intricacies involved, but the successful 
issue." This being the last point in the penitential 
struggle of my lawyer, he thus saw it clearly, and 
at once gave his case fully and unreservedly into the 
hands of his heavenly Advocate, and that very day 
he got his discharge from the death-sentence of the 
law, in the court Divine, certified in his heart by 
the Holy Spirit. The very moment God saw that, 
under the leading of the awakening Spirit, he fully 
surrendered himself to God, and accepted Christ, at 
the instance of his "Advocate/ the Father "justi 
fied him freely " changed his relation from a con 
demned criminal to an adopted child, and then being 
a son, " He sent forth the Spirit of His Son into his 
heart, crying Abba Father." 

From that Brother Pincent became decidedly active 
as a witness and worker for God, and very useful in 
leading poor sinners to Christ. 



4:88 NATAL. 

But says a hypercritical soul, " Why make such a 
free use of a gentleman s name?" Suppose I ask 
why St. Luke gave the name of Sergius Paulus, the 
governor of Cyprus, who believed under Paul s 
preaching, and why tell us, that under his sermon 
on Mars. Hill one of the judges of that august court, 
JDionysius, was one among others who believed? Such 
facts judiciously stated block the game of a class of de- 
preciative croakers, common in all countries, who are 
always ready to insinuate that the believers in Christ 
are a sorry set of weak-minded souls, composed largely 
of superannuated old women and little children ; 
and then, when such are forestalled by such examples 
as Governor Paulus and Judge Dionysius, they are 
greatly shocked that the names of such should come 
to light. I made an allusion to Mr. Pincent s con 
version in Cape Town, and one of those hypercritics 
made a blow in the papers about it, no doubt expect 
ing to turn even my lawyer against me for using his 
name ; but I had the pleasure of stating at my next 
service, that it was by Mr. Pincent s own authority 
that I made use of his name, having said to me, " So 
much of my life has been wasted, that for the rest of 
it I wish my time, talents, and testimony, all used 
in any way that will promote the glory of God and 
the salvation of sinners, and you are entirely at 
liberty to make any use of my name you like for 
such purposes." In the colony of New South Wales, 
eight lawyers received Christ at our meetings, and 
one of them, a barrister and crown prosecutor, has 



TRYING TO ACCOUNT FOR IT. 489 

been used by the Holy Spirit in the salvation of a 
number of prominent men in the colony. 

THEORY OF THE "WISEACRES." 

We have seen the theory of the heathen Kaffirs 
at c Annshaw " for solving the mysterious phenome 
non of God s work there, on seeing hundreds of their 
fellow heathen subjugated to Christ, but now the 
enlightened sages of Natal try their hand. Seeing 
bankers, merchants, mechanics, and all classes from 
the highest to the lowest yielding to the invisible 
mysterious power of the Holy Spirit of God, they 
could not deny the presence and moving power of 
some wonderful agent, so their magical brains went 
into labour, and brought forth the much desired 
solution for it was a very serious time with them, 
we had carried the strongholds of infidelity by storm, 
and the kingdom of their father in that colony was 
shaken to its centre. Well what was their grand 
solution ? Electro-biology and mesmerism. 

Their darling, however, had but a puny existence 
for a few days, and suddenly died. My friend, Mr. 
George Cato, drove me twenty miles to "Aman- 
zimtote," one of the American mission- stations, for 
a couple of preaching services, through a pioneer 
interpreter, Mr. Joseph Kirkman, who was the 
speaking medium for Rev. Dr. Adams and Hev. A. 
Grant, American missionaries there from the year 
1838, long before Natal became a colony, and the 
night I was absent the work in D Urban was rather 



490 NATAL. 

more successful than usual, and many souls were 
saved. The " mesmerizer " was gone, and yet the 
power remained, so that their confusion was doubly 
confounded. 

GEORGE C. CATO, ESQ., 

Consul of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, Consular 
Agent for the United States of America for Natal, mer 
chant, sugar planter, free counsellor on all colonial 
matters, agent for the American missionaries, and 
liberal patron of good things, is an institution of the 
country worthy of a much larger space than my 
limits will allow, but the following extract of a letter 
from him will furnish illustrative glimpses into the 
character of the man, colonial pioneer life, and the 
recent work of God. 

Natal, 13th January, 1867. 
My dear and beloved Friend, 

It was with unspeakable pleasure that I read your two 
notes you very kindly wrote me, the last one written near 
St. Helena. We prized the likeness of yourself and yonr 
good wife that you sent, and shall respect the giver while 
life shall last. It is not very likely we shall forget you. 
Some of us in this country reckon things and times by 
epochs, such as when the Zulus came down on the natives 
here, but finding them cooking human flesh so disgusted 
them, that they would not soil their assegais by killing the 
cannibals, and hence left the country ; then the arrival of 
the Dutch Boers ; then the Zulu war, which a good and 
wise Providence allowed to sweep off all the old English 
residents, who were living with and like the natives, and who, 
if they had remained alive, would have been the cause of 



LETTER OF GEORGE C. CATO, ESQ. 491 

rrrach cold-blooded murder. Then the first occupation by 
British troops; then their leaving, and giving up the 
country to the Dutch ; then their coming back again, and 
our fight, and my being made prisoner, and put in irons 
by day and stocks by night ; then the first and second flood 
of the Umgeni River, and our starting at midnight with 
a boat to see if any of the residents of the lowlands were in 
danger, and saving the Smith family, who had got to a 
small hill, and was then standing in water breast high. 
Then the arrival of Bishop Colenso, one of the most extra 
ordinary men I ever knew, and beyond my poor compre 
hension. Then the arrival and final departure of our good 
Governor, one of my best friends, Mr. Scott, with a few 
smaller advents, until the coming and going of not the 
least of my remarkable days when you came and went. 
I don t wish you any harm, but I wish the chapter of acci 
dents would just land you here again. I have come to the 
conclusion in my own mind, that human nature is human 
nature under all circumstances, and a predominant feature 
thereof is an insatiable greed, never satisfied some crave 
one thing, and some another, consequently if you think 
there are not souls enough to be saved here to satisfy 
your craving, then we will annex the Zulu country, and 
the Dutch, inland. I think you would find enough here to 
make stars for your crown, and we should welcome you in 
all love and respect. I cannot conceive that you will find 
a country where your good would be more enduring than 
it appears to be here. As a matter of course, I know the 
fountain from which this good comes, and that strengthens 
my argument, you had the approval of your Master. 
Since you left I saw a letter from one of my friends to 
another, saying that he was at church the other night, and 
if I had been there I should have been delighted, as the 
Bishop said during his sermon that some men were spe- 



492 NATAL. 

dally gifted by God with powers to awaken their fellow- 
men ; that these powers did not depend upon great learn 
ing, but were a special gift to convey His messages to 
mankind : %hat we may not scrutinize the messenger too 
narrowly, but must obey his message ; among such men 
he named a "Wesley, a Whitefield, a Spurgeon, and 
a, Taylor. Now after that I think you had better come 
back. 

It may be worthy of remark, that near the close 
of our campaign, Bishop Colenso called at the 
house of my host, Mr. J. H. Grant, in "D Urban, to 
see me, saying, " I wanted to see you and shake 
hands with you before you leave. God has given 
you your work to do, and you are doing it, and He 
has called me to another work and I am doing my 
work. You don t suppose that all those who have 
been brought in at your meetings will stand, do 
you ? " I replied, " I certainly do suppose that the 
most of them will stand to the death, but a few of 
them, owing to their very bad habits, bad associa 
tions, and the influence of bad examples, may relapse 
into sin/ Our interview being short, but little 
passed between us beyond the facts given. I could 
readily see how by his kind gentlemanly manner he 
won the friendship of many persons, who say they 
receive him as a gentleman without any reference to 
his ecclesiastical character and relations. 

FRANCIS HARVEY, SEN., OF VERULAM, 
Is one of the natural curiosities of the Colony. The 



FRANCIS HARVEY, SEN. 493 

following scrap from his journal may suffice to intro 
duce him : 

" This happy morning, at five o clock, the exact 
anniversary of my birth, seventy-four years since, I 
find myself by the special favour and goodness of 
Almighty God, in superior health and energy of 
body, and rich in the full enjoyment of every 
faculty and power of mind, intellectual, emotional, 
and spiritual, as much so as at any former anniver 
sary of my entrance on life s pathway ; and in all 
and everything of blissful possession and sublime 
hope, I cannot believe there exists in Africa, or in 
the wide world, one more blest, or more conscious 
of entire unworthiness of the least of all God s mer 
cies." 

Francis Harvey is a real progressive, a teetotal lec 
turer and Local Preacher, of more than ordinary 
cleverness, but luxuriates on his bright memories of 
the past. Among many other interesting things, I 
heard him relate the story about Mr. Charles Wesley 
and the king s "men-of-war s men " with so much 
graphic power, that I requested him to write me the 
story, and he gave me the following. 

A century since, on a Sabbath afternoon, the Rev. Chas. 
Wesley was preaching at Portsmouth in the open air ; a 
godless naval officer, heated by the demon spirit of wine, 
and heading a party of blustering, swearing men-of-war s 
men, came furiously towards tne assembled hearers, pur 
posely to disturb and drive them off. Mr. Wesley wisely 
called out to the people, " Open there, right and left, and 



491 NATAL. 

let His Majesty s brave tars come near me." The effect 
was electric, they who were ready for any work of wicked 
violence became in a moment disabled and dismantled to 
the very clew-lines of their hearts ; their leader, the half- 
drunk lieutenant, paralysed and truly taken aback, confused 
and utterly confounded, dared not look a man in the face ; 
honest, weeping, broken-down veterans for the Devil, were 
helpless as maimed infants, and the old lion of hell himself 
had to skulk away, tail between his legs, as best he could. 
The sailors had come up singing a roystering bullying song, 
and when all was still and lulled to a peaceful calm, Mr. 
Wesley, who was pleased with the lively air, and smiling 
all over his radiant face, offered to give them a song of his 
own, to their tune ; and he did so, and they sung heartily 
and lustily, as Jack in a storm can sing : 

Listed into the cause of sin, 

Why should a good be evil ? 
Music, alas ! too long has been 

Pressed to obey the devil 
Drunken, and light, and lewd the lay 

Flowed to the soul s undoing, 
Widen d and strewed with flowers the way 

Down to eternal ruin. 

Who, on the part of God will rise, 

Innocent sound recover, 
Fly on the foe and seize the prize, 

Plunder the carnal lover, 
Rob him of every moving strain, 

Every melting measure, 
Music in virtue s cause retain, 

Rescue the holy pleasure. 

Who hath a right like us to sing ? 

Us whom the Spirit teaches ? 
Merry our hearts, for Christ is 

Cheerful are all our faces. 



HARVEY AND COLElsSO. 495 

Heaven already is be^un, 

Open d in each believer ; 
Only believe, and still sing on, 

Heaven is ours for ever ! 

Written purposely for the Rev. Mr. Taylor, this happy 
Hth of October, 1866, by his loving friend, Francis Har 
vey, Verulam, Natal, in his seventy-fourth year, and without 
glasses. 



At the first service held in D TJrban by Bishop 
Colenso, on his arrival in the colony, Father Harvey 
was present, and tells the following : 

" The Bishop entered the plain church, as it was 
then, walked to the pulpit, sat down, and made a 
scrutinizing survey of the rustic audience. I being 
the oldest man in the house, with a white beard, he 
no doubt thought I was a vestryman, and came 
down the aisle to me, and said, Are you an officer 
in the church, sir ? 

" Yes, sir, I am the superintendent of a Sabbath- 
school, and a Local Preacher in the Wesleyan 
Establishment. 

" Ah, ah, indeed ! replied the bishop with an 
air of disappointment, and walked back to the pulpit. 

" After a little he came to me again, and said, 
Have you been long in this country ? 

" Yes, sir, about ten years/ 

" What induced you, at your time of life, to come 
so far ? 

* " I had some promising sons for whom I thought 
I could do bettpr in a new countrv. 



496 NATAL. 

" From what part of England did you come ? 

11 Cornwall, sir ; where your father used to live 
before he removed to Devonshire. I used to go to 
school to your uncle, William, in Cornwall. 

" By this time all who were sitting near, hearing 
the conversation, became quite interested. 

" My uncle, William ? inquired the Bishop. 

" Yes, sir, your uncle, William Colenso, I went to 
school to him many a long day. He was a Wesleyan 
Local Preacher like myself/ 

" Sensation among the listeners." 

The bishop took it very kindly, and soon returned 
to the pulpit. He left the old officer in the Wes 
leyan Establishment. 

Father. Harvey presented me with a little poem 
he composed for the daughter of a minister, a mem 
ber of his class, who was then seeking the Lord, and 
afterwards became a very exemplary Christian : 

" Saw ye him whom my soul loveth f " Canticles, iii. 3. 

Where the friends of Jesus meet,-^ 
Where they hold communion sweet, 
Where the Lord himself is seen, 
Where His presence oft has been, 
Where the Holy Spirit rests, 
Where He visits Sion s guests, 
Where the Father s love is kno\yn, 
Where He dwells amongst His own,- 
Where His children still are fed, 
Where He breaks the living bread, 
Where the Shepherd s Tents are seen, 
Where the pasturage is green, 



REVIVAL INCIDENT AT VERULAM. 497 

Where the living waters flow, 
Where the trees of healing grow, 
Where the vale-birth d lily grows, 
Where blooms Sharon s fragrant rose, 
Where the Flocks in peace lie down, 
Where the Shepherd guards his own, 
There, thou wilt thy Saviour meet, 
Haste thee, worship at His feet. 

F. H., sen. 

One of Colenso s friends in Yerulam was telling 
Father Harvey about the Bishop s eloquent sermon 
there the Sabbath preceding my visit, and said that 
nothing could come up to it. Harvey did not join 
issue with him on the literary merits of the sermon, 
but said, "As for the demonstration of the Holy 
Spirit applying the truth, and the saving power of 
God, I ll explain to you the difference between 
Colenso s operations last Sabbath and the work now 
progressing in the Wesleyan chapel. 

" See a silversmith, with a beautiful tiny hammer, 
hammering the link of a delicate gold chain, and 
then look at one of Nasmyth s mighty hammers, 
twenty-five tons in weight, stroke after stroke, crash 
ing down on red-hot iron. Imagine a moonbeam 
reposing on the crest of an iceberg, in contrast with 
Nebuchadnezzar s furnace heated seven times hotter 
than it was wont to be heated. 

REVIVAL INCIDENTS AT VERULAM. 

STIRRING incidents they were too, and enough to fill 
a volume, but my space will admit but a meagre 

&K 



498 NATAL. 

skeleton of a few. I will insert one from Pamla s 
division, as given by Charles. 

A heathen man at the Inanda, near Verulam, came to 
one of my meetings when I was there. After preaching, 
when I called for penitents, the heathen man came forward. 
I asked him, " Do you give up your sins ?" 

" What sins ? " he asked. 

I replied, " Man, don t you know what sins are V 

" I never did commit any sins." 

" Man, did you never quarrel or fight with the people ? " 
And then he got up immediately and looked in my face 
and was very angry. He said : 

" What sort of a preacher are you ? Do you think you 
are a better preacher than our preachers here ? You are 
not. It is not a sin to hit another man. Why did David 
kill Goliath ? Now if David was a good man and could do 
that, it is not a sin. I may fight too. Do you think 
that I would let another man come and kill me ? No." 

I told him that David was allowed by God to kill Goliath 
because Goliath was a great enemy. You are allowed 
to defend your country and to kill people in battle yourself, 
but not at home ; God says, " Thou shalt not kill nor hate 
thy brother." The next time he came to my meeting he 
was sorrowful, and told me that he was a great sinner and 
kneeled down, gave up his sins, received Christ, and found 
peace. 

The engravings of the " Zulu young gentlemen/ 
and " Captain Ngoya," are specimens of the naked 
neathen daily seen in the streets of the towns, as 
well as throughout the country ; but the saved 
heathen are "clothed and in their right minds," 
like the Gradarene. 




CAl T. NGOYA IX NATIVE HEATHEN DRESS. 



" BELIEVE, JIM ! ACCEPT CIIHIST KOW." 400 

At my last service in Ycrulum, forty-two souls 
entered into liberty. A man said " Mr. Garland, go 
and talk to that poor fellow " (pointing to a man down 
on his knees among the penitents), "he is a Roman 
Catholic, and needs help." Garland went to him 
and said, " Are you willing to give up all your sins 
and surrender your soul to God ? " 

" I have done that, sir," replied the Catholic. 
"Are you willing on the faith of God s record, con 
cerning His Son, to accept Christ now as your Saviour?" 
" I have accepted Him, sir." 
" When did you accept Him ? " 
" To night, sir, since I knelt down here." 
" Does He save you from your sins ? " 
" Yes, sir, He has saved me. I feel it ! I know it, 
He s my blessed Jesus ! " 

A young colonist among the seekers, who re 
ceived Christ and obtained the renewing of His 
Holy Spirit, at once went to work in his blunt 
simplicity to help his struggling friends to come to 
Jesus, and was made a blessing to some ; he said to 
a young friend who was weeping and praying, 
" Believe, Jim ! accept Christ now ! Do it sharp as 
I did ! He ll save you this moment if you ll only 
accept Him ! " His friend came to the point, 
believed " sharp," and was saved. Miss Cubit, who 
was saved at D Urban and was made very useful at 
our Yerulam Meeting, said to me in the last hour of 
our last service, " Do come and speak again to Mr. 
Eynney, he seems to be sinking into utter despair/ 



50 NATAL. 

As I approached him, he exclaimed, " 0, Mr. Taylor 
I am lost ! I feel the dreadful ivy of sin around my 
soul, and I can t break it. I feel that there are at 
least 1,000 devils in me, they are all alive in me, 
and I can t get them out ! Do you think there is 
any chance for me ? " 

" Your case is bad enough you see, and all the 
good men, and good angels in the Universe com 
bined, could not eject a single devil from your heart, 
but Jesus Christ can save you this moment. He 
cast a legion of devils out of the Gadarene by a word, 
and He will save you if you will surrender yourself 
to God, and believing His testimony, receive Christ as 
your Saviour. You are under the sentence of death, 
your life is forfeited, and you can t do better than 
throw your whole being on the mercy of God, in 
unreserved submission to His will, to do with you 
as He likes. Do you surrender to Him ? " 

" yes, I do by His help give myself to God to 
do with me as He wishes."" 

"Have you sufficient confidence in Jesus, from 
what you have read and heard about Him, to accept 
Him as your Saviour ? " 

" O yes, I am willing to accept Him, I have no 
hope in any other." 

" Thank God for the willingness, that is the fruit 
of His awakening Spirit, but it must be developed 
into the fact of an actual acceptance of Him. Do you 
accept Him now ? " 

"01 can get no light ! " 






"Oil! I FEEL SO UTTERLY WRETCHED." 501 

" No, and you never will get the light till you 
receive Christ." 

" 0, but I can t feel His love ! " 

" No, and you never will feel His love, till you be 
lieve on Him and take Him as your Saviour. You 
want to feel His pardoning love acd then believe. 
That is expecting the cure before you accept the 
physician, which is quite out of the question." 

"01 feel so utterly wretched ! Is there no hope 
forme?" 

" None whatever, while you look to yourself. The 
sailor said to his fellow, You may just as well look 
into the hold of the ship to find the north star, as to 
look to your self for salvation/ You must accept 
the Great Physician by faith, faith in His Gospel 
credentials, give your case into His hands, consent to 
His treatment, and leave Him to exercise His own 
wisdom and skill to cure you in His own way." 

" But what if I get no relief ? I can t feel any wit 
ness of the Spirit." 

"You still want to get relief, and feel the 
Spirit s witness before you are pardoned, which 
is utterly impossible. The witness and renewing work 
of the Holy Spirit are as much a matter of provision 
as the atonement itself and as immutably reliable. 
That is not your part of the business. Your business is 
to " repent and believe the Gospel " surrender to 
God, and accept Christ, and you may be sure the Holy 
Spirit will not fail to fulfil His engagement in the 
matter. Do you, my dear brother, now accept Christ? " 



502 NATAL. 

"I don t feel that I do." 

"It is not by feeling, but by believing, not pre 
sumption, but the most intelligent faith in God s 
most intelligible testimony. If you believe what 
God says about Christ, is Christ not worthy of your 
confidence, and if so, why not entrust your case in 
His hands, and take Him now as your Saviour ? 
If you have any mental reservations you are not ac 
cepting Him, but dictating terms to Him which He 
will spurn. You can accept Him only on His own 
terms as a Saviour/row sin, with your hearts consent." 

" I do give up everything ! I ll die if I don t 
get relief ! " 

" Yes, and you will perish eternally if you do not 
receive the only Saviour of sinners. Now in full 
confidence in the blood shedding of Jesus for the 
sins of the whole world, His prayers, as your Great 
High Priest, His power to save the very chief of sin 
ners, His invitations and promises, confidence in His 
willingness to save to the uttermost all that come 
unto God by Him/ accept Him as your Saviour. He 
is meek and lowly of heart/ your most sympathising 
Friend, the only friend you have who loves you 
enough to die for you, and His heart of love is just 
the same now as when He poured out His heart s blood 
on the cross, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, 
and for ever, and you have not to ascend or descend 
to bring Him; He is nigh thee. Do you accept Him? 

" Yes, I do accept Him ! I do accept Him ! I 
do accept Him Glory be to God, He saves me ! He 



CONVERSION OF A SCEPTIC. 503 

has pardoned all my sins and delivered "my soul! 
Glory to God and the Lamb, I m saved ! " His 
mother, a good woman who had been telling me 
that day with tears that poor Fred was possessed, and 
she feared would never be saved, embraced her re 
turned prodigal and shed floods of grateful tears, and 
could truthfully exclaim, " This my son was dead, 
but is alive again, he was lost but is found." The next 
morning, Frederic B. Fynney, for that is his name, 
said to me, " I know four African languages. I know 
the Kaffir better than I know the English, and I owe 
such a debt of gratitude to God for saving my soul, 
and I feel such sympathy and love for the Kaffirs, 
that I believe God has called me to devote my life in 
leading them to Jesus." He commenced preaching 
straightway ; we ll hear of him again. 

J. W. Stranack, a clever young man, who was 
said to have been the special correspondent who did 
the puffing of Colenso s recent sermons in Yerulam. 
for a D Urban paper, surrendered himself to God and 
accepted Christ on the faith of God s record, on 
that memorable "last night" in Yerulam. 

The following extract of a letter to me from him 
will tell its own story : 

Veruiam, Natal, May IQth, 1867. 

My dear father in Christ, for such I must ever regard 
yon, I have purposed ever since my uncle, Garland, heard 
from you, to write you some account of my own progress, 
and that of your Verulam converts, and also to tell you of 
the work we are each endeavouring 1 to do for Christ. A 



504 NATAL. 

sceptical view with which I had become accustomed to 
regard every thing connected with personal religion and a 
contempt for professors of religion, who were, as I con 
sidered, credulous enough to accept the dogmas of Chris 
tianity merely because they were told they were so, had 
become so settled, that I regarded my own conversion as 
certainly the most unlikely thing under the sun. You 
came ; I attended the "Wesleyan chapel as usual, new feel 
ings, new desires were awakened. I saw truth as I never 
saw it before. The sermon on Wednesday morning, Octo 
ber 10th, on Christian perfection, fairly brought me to the 
point. I saw Christianity to be something worth having, 
grand, noble, and I resolved that I would count all things 
loss if I might gain Christ. I went to the altar of prayer 
the same evening, was enabled to " surrender and to accept 
Christ." The following Tuesday evening, at the prayer- 
meeting, I felt the witness of the Spirit clear, unmistakable, 
that I was accepted of God, and a settled peace filled my 
soul. Since that time I have had seasons of temptation, 
severe indeed, but am still able to maintain my facts, and 
am resolved, in every purpose and power of my being, to 
be fully the Lord s. I felt at once the necessity of doing 
something for God, both for the sake of my own maintenance 
of spiritual strength, and in order to save souls, and pro 
mote the cause of our common Saviour. A month after 
my conversion one of our Local Preachers took me with 
him to preach at one of the two services he had to conduct. 
I went out, also, during the four or five months following 
with three other of our local brethren, and on two occasions 
went alone as a supply. The brethren considered me 
qualified for the work, and have placed me on trial as a 
Local Preacher. I preached on Sabbath evening in D Urban 
and had the glorious privilege of seeing one make a 
stand for God, and find peace through Christ. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

THE MISSION WORK IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

THE letter embodied in this chapter, published in 
the Graham s Town Journal, and republished in the 
Watchman, and in the Wcslcyan Missionary Notices, in 
London, contains a brief outline of the Gospel theory 
for evangelizing the world, illustrated by numerous 
facts in these pages, and also practical suggestions 
bearing specially on the mission work in Africa, 
entitled, it would seem, to a permanent record in a 
bound book, and hence its insertion entire just as it 
was first written. I thought of putting it in as an 
appendix, but I don t fancy postscripts and ap 
pendices, and have decided to give it the place to 
which in the order of events it belongs the close 
of our campaign in Natal. I was not able to gratify 
Rev. T. Jenkins by sending Charles back through 
Pondo-land, having already detained him a month 
longer than the time agreed upon with his superin 
tendent, so I sent him by steam- ship to Port Elizabeth, 
nearly a week before I and the other two members 
of my party sailed. James Roberts fulfilled his part 
nobly, not only in bringing " me on my way," but 



506 THE MISSION WOIIK IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

in pointing penitent souls the way to Jesus. He was 
thoroughly enlightened by the Spirit, and not one 
believer in a thousand could explain the simple way 
of salvation by faith so clearly as could Brother 
Roberts. He accompanied me to Cape Town, and 
helped me in my meetings in different places in 
those memorable places, where Eev. Barnabas Shaw, 
the first Wesleyan Missionary to Africa, planted 
the Gospel standard over fifty years ago. Mr. 
Roberts provided an excellent nurse for Africanus, 
our seventh son, then but two months old, to serve 
us during our voyage to London. The blessing of 
our covenant-keeping God rest upon my dear brother 
James Eoberts. 

The following letter was written on our voyage 
of 1,000 miles from Natal to Cape Town. 

As I am now returning to Capetown from my tour of spe 
cial services in the Eastern Province, Kaffraria and Natal, 
and expect to proceed to England by the November mail, I 
wish, through your popular Journal, respectfully to submit 
a few thoughts on what I regard the best methods of 
evangelisation. The mission work, commenced through 
the ministry of the Eev. Barnabas Shaw in Cape Town about 
fifty years ago, and by the Eev. Wm. Shaw in the Eastern 
Province about forty-six years ago, has, through the pray 
ers and liberality of good people in England, and the perse 
vering efforts of faithful missionaries and their friends here, 
under the fostering care of the Great Shepherd, gone 
forward and prospered. 

The Wesleyan Missions in Southern Africa, embracing 
white colonists, according to the returns of last year (1865) 



BASE LINE AND DEPOT OF SUPPLIES. 507 

report -.138 chapels, 3 59 preaching places, 63 missionaries 
and assistants, 389 local preachers, 8,331 church members, 
1,235 on trial, 54? 79 attending public worship, 1 28 Sunday- 
schools, 10,163 Sunday-school scholars, 103 day-school 
teachers, 11,457 day-scholars. When we weigh these 
figures, and take into the account the widely extending in 
fluence of such a wotfk beyond ; not to speak of the great 
work wrought here by other branches of the Christian 
Church, which my limited space will not allow, we may well 
exclaim, " What hath God wrought ! " 

But glorious as is the work accomplished, I believe the 
mission-stations of Southern Africa, extending coastwise 
for nearly 1,500 miles, with a similar line on the West 
coast, constitute but a base line and depot of supplies ne 
cessary to a more direct decisive movement into the in 
terior of the continent. 

The establishment of a mission-station in a purely heathen 
country appears to require something like the foundations 
of a " new state," civil and religious. A large grant of 
land is secured from the chief, with treaty stipulations that 
while the mission-station is his, the missionary being 
answerable to him for the good conduct of the people in 
this new community, the chief is not to interfere with the 
internal government of the mission people. It is, indeed, 
designed to be a model of Christian government, embody 
ing Gospel teaching, schools for education, mechanical in 
dustries, in short, a miniature Christian nation, for the 
government of which a heathen chief has no qualifications. 
The mission station, too, is by consent of parties, a sanc 
tuary to which all persecuted people under suspicion of 
witchcraft, or other undefinable offences, may flee and be 
safe, while they remain there. The missionary practically 
becomes the chief of this mission tribe. He is the minister, 
the magistrate, the superintendent of the- schools, and often 



503 THE MISSION WORK IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

the teacher as well, the master mechanic, the patron in 
general of all the arts of civilization which the heathen 
should learn, arid he soon gets work enough on his hands 
fully to employ, and often utterly consume, his energies and 
his life. The uninitiated, especially now that heathenism 
in these parts is awed by the presence of English Colonial 
Governments, can form no adequate idea of the complicated 
difficulties our missionary fathers had to encounter in plant 
ing the Gospel standard in this empire of darkness ; and far 
be it from me to indulge a thought, or drop an insinuation 
reflecting on their wisdom or fidelity in establishing the 
missions just as they did. They have done their work 
nobly, and many of them have already received of the 
Master the " Well done, good and faithful servant, enter 
thou into the joy of thy Lord." While they enjoy the glory 
of God in heaven, let them be honoured by men on earth. 
But now that they have established a base of operations, 
the time will come, and I believe has come, when we should, 
from this base, develop a more simple, direct, economical, 
and a more thoroughly effective system of evangelization 
for the conquest of the entire continent. The necessity 
for such a movement may be seen from the following 
facts : According to published statistics, there are in 
the Cape Colony and Natal nearly half-a-million of 
African natives. It is believed by old Missionaries and 
others who have the best means of forming an approxi 
mately correct idea, in the absense of a census, that the 
different tribes of Kaffraria amount in the aggregate to at 
least 250,000 souls. (Rev. E. Solomon says 300,000.) 
Add to these the tens of thousands embraced in the lines of 
the Bechuana district, and in the Free State, and we shall 
have nearly a million natives within the bounds of our 
South African Missions. Among all this mass of heathen 
population, accessible to the Gospel, according to last 
year s report (1866), we have 8,247 Church members. 



MISSION STATIONS. 50G- 

We have up to this day but one Christian ruling Kaffir 
chief, and his is the only Kaffir tribe that has to any great 
extent received Christ; the great majority of our stations 
being composed of Fingoes. This vast field, white for the 
harvest, to say nothing of the millions of souls in the inte 
rior, calls loudly for additional labourers, while the Mission 
ary Society is calling out for retrenchment. Now what is to 
be done ? I would not give up to the authority of heathen 
chiefs the mission-stations which have grown up under the 
civil administration of the missionary, as in the case of 
Shawbury. Let them remain as seats of education, and 
" cities of refuge," as long as such a protective arrangement 
may be necessary. 

"But unless a very clear Providential necessity should 
arise, let no more mission-stations be established on that 
plan. Education and all other appliances of civilization 
will follow in the wake of Gospel triumphs, and should be 
amply provided for, but if all these must precede the Gospel, 
or go abreast with it, as part of the missionary s work, they 
will so circumscribe and trammel his movements that he 
will have but little time and strength left, for carrying " the 
war into Africa," beyond the lines of the station. 

I do not propose any fundamental changes in our itinerant 
system, but having our mission stations with all their re 
sources, with the Bible in Kaffir, Zulu, and other African 
languages, I would respectfully submit what I believe to be 
the best method of greatly increasing the working effect- 
iveness of our missions, without greatly increasing the cost 
to the Missionary Society of carrying them on. I don t 
propose any new plan, but the old plan so successfully 
worked by St. Paul and his fellow-missionaries. I will give 
an outline of what I regard the purely 

EVANGELICAL PLATFORM. 

The Gospel is adapted to humanity in all its forms, from 



510 THE MISSION WORK IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

the most learned philosopher to the most degraded heathen. 
All the knowledge essential to the salvation of a poor hea 
then may be acquired in a very short time his pollution 
of soul by sin, his guilt, his condemnation and exposure to 
penalty, his bondage to Satan, and that God hath provided 
and now offers to him, in Christ, a ransom, a cleansing 
fountain, an Almighty deliverer. Through the quickening 
power of the Holy Spirit he may learn all this under the 
preaching of a single Gospel sermon, or even under the 
prophetic witnessing of a few laymen. " If all prophesy, 
and there come in one that believeth not," a poor sceptic, 
who had heard, but did not believe these Gospel tidings 
" or one unlearned," a poor heathen who knew nothing 
about them " he is convinced of all, he is judged of all; 
and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest, and so, 
falling down on his face, will worship God," and finding salva 
tion in Christ, will be able, as a witness for Jesus, to " report 
that God is in you of a truth." The Gospel plan not only 
embraces " pastors and teachers " for the watch, care, and 
edification of the Church, but also " apostles, prophets, and 
evangelists," for the development and effective employment 
of the combined forces of the Church in bold aggressions 
into the kingdon of darkness. "The Acts of the Apostles" 
extending through a period of over thirty years, though full 
of thrilling history, was not written merely as history, but 
the Holy Spirit evidently designed thus to illustrate the 
practical application and effects of Gospel principles, doc 
trines, and methods necessary to the salvation of the world. 
Every fact, therefore, is an authoritative teaching fact, 
and every character portrayed, a representative character. 
Nearly the whole record of facts from the travels and labours 
of Barnabas and Paul and their coadjutors, authoritatively 
teach and illustrate God s own methods of spreading the 
Gospel. Whether in Jerusalem, at the great Pentecost, 



GOSPEL METHODS OF AGGRESSION. 511 

or subsequently in Antioch, Athens, Corinth, or Ephesus, 
and all other illustrative examples given us by St. Luke, 
the plan was to consecrate their most effective forces 
" daily," and thus they added daily to the Church such as 
were saved. 

This is not at all in conflict with the ordinary methods 
of " exhortation, edification, and comfort," of believers, and 
individual efforts to win souls to Christ. The aggressive 
methods should not be allowed, in any degree, to supersede 
the ordinary means. Like the various departments of 
military warfare, they are so many essential parts of one 
great plan. The recruiting, daily drill, reconnoitering, and 
skirmishing are not to supersede the forward march of the 
grand army ; nor are the victorious charges of the grand 
army to do away with these preliminary departments of the 
service. Special revival efforts to be sure, involve hazards, 
as all great movements do. When the " Church makcth 
increase of herself" by ordinary means only, the increase is 
principally of those who have been under training in her 
Sunday Schools and stated ministry, persons whose 
general moral character and associations would be a 
guarantee for their good behaviour as church members, 
whether they were truly converted to God or not. Whereas 
a special revival effort is like dragging the " great net," 
bringing up all sorts of fish, rendering it necessary to select 
" the good and throw the bad away," as the Saviour illus 
trates. On the other hand, I believe that nearly one-third 
of the converts in a great revival, were nominal members of 
the church at the time of their conversion. After many 
years of patient drilling and preparation in Southern Africa, 
we have recently tried this Gospel method of a daily " con 
centration of effort " for a few days together in different 
places. In every place there has been a hearty co-operation 
of ministers and people. God hath in every instance owned 



512 THE MISSION WORK IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

their labours, and crowned them with success, so that in 
Cape Colony, Kaffraria, and Natal, during the space of 
five months and twenty days, the ministers, on a personal 
examination of each case, with record of name and address, 
reported over 4,000 souls converted to God. (That turned 
out to be but the first gathering of the harvest as we went 
along, but the full returns a few weeks later, swelled the 
aggregate to about double that number). Over one 
thousand of these are whites, a large majority of natives 
under training on the mission-stations, with a good 
sprinkling of heathen. Probably one-fourth, or more, of the 
whole were nominal members of the church. On at least 
two of our large mission-stations, the missionaries say all 
their people are now converted, and hence such another 
harvest on the same field cannot soon be gathered ; but 
with good drilling, these communities can make new 
aggressions into the regions beyond. The unsaved millions 
of this continent belong to the heritage of Jesus, and 
should be brought home to His fold. Plenty of work for 
everybody. Let every believer be always trying to save 
somebody. How shall we best conserve and extend this 
great work of God? I can only plead for a fair trial 
of the 

APOSTOLIC PLAN 

What is the ordinary mode of aggression beyond our base 
the mission- stations ? I believe it is to send out local 
preachers as pioneers among the heathen kraals every 
Sunday, with an occasional tour and periodical ser 
vices by the missionary, when his unceasing pressing 
duties on the station allow it. After the labour of 
years, a little society is formed, composed, it may be, of 
a few superannuated old heathen women, and an old 
pauper man or two. This society, under the title of an 
" out-station," is to the surrounding heathen an exponent 
of Christianity, a representation to their minds of the work 



APOSTOLIC PLAN OF EVANGELIZATION. 513 

of the great God we tell them about, and but excites their 
scorn and contempt. We, however, pity their ignorance, 
and go on fostering this little society, till in the progress 
of years it grows to a respectable church, and a really good 
work is wrought and many souls saved, but the mass of its 
contemporaneous heathen have meantime gone down to 
perdition. 

Now, instead of this plan, or rather in addition to it, in 
humble reliance on the broad charter of the Gospel and 
the power of the Holy Ghost, I would select a few of the 
best native preachers in the country. 

We would go then into the principal centres of population, 
and pitch our tents, and by all legitimate means arrest the 
attention of the people, and " dispute with them daily," till 
the God of battles would give us 1,000 or 3,000 souls 
according to the extent of the available population. We 
would immediately organize a church, and establish good 
discipline, under an effective pastorate. From such a 
centre, under the influence of such an exhibition of the 
saving power of Jesus, we would send forth into the neigh 
bouring kraals, Local preachers, and all sorts of lay agency, 
and give them healthy exercise and good vantage ground 
for winning souls. So soon as we should thus get the 
work in a new field thoroughly organized, we would strike 
our tents, and be off to another great centre of population, 
and so " speak that a great multitude would believe." By- 
and-by, Barnabas and Mark could go to Cyprus, while 
Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke should press their way 
into new and more extensive fields. 

In praying the God of the harvest to send forth labour 
ers into our new fields, whether as evangelists, pastors or 
teachers, we would expect that most of them would be 
Native Africans, who would gladly submit to the general 
superintendency of the white missionaries so long as the 
Providential necessity for such agency might exist. 

LL 



514 THE MISSION AVORK IN SOUTH AFRICA. 
This will lead us to consider the 

KAFFIR STANDARD OF MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

Nearly every Kaffir you meet is an orator. Their power 
as law pleaders is proverbial, and every Kaffir child speaks 
its language correctly. Eev. Mr. Appleyard, who has 
given to the Kaffirs the whole Bible in their own language, 
told me that he never heard a Kaffir make a grammatical 
blunder in speaking the Kaffir language. To teach a Kaffir 
Latin and Greek, to prepare him to preach to Kaffirs, in a 
language without a literature, is not only a waste of time, 
but is likely to remove him, in his feelings, modes of 
thought, and habits of life, so far above his people, as 
greatly to weaken their mutual sympathy, and in many 
ways increase the difficulty of his access to them. Of course 
we would not object to the multiplication of such men as Rev. 
Tyo Soga, but shall the car of salvation stand still and 
millions of heathen perish while we are waiting for the 
schools to turn out such agents as he ? 

When the tribes of Africa become Christianized and 
civilized they may require a high literary standard of min 
isterial education, and would also have the facilities and the 
men to use them. For the present, our Kaffir ministers 
should be able to read and write well in their own language; 
nnd, as far as practicable, to read and .write the English. 
They should be holy men of God, called by the Holy Ghost 
to pjreach the Gospel, men thoroughly instructed in our 
doctrines and discipline ; men who, individually feel that 
- Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel," and who have 
"gifts, grace, and fruit " ; men who will cheerfully consent 
to go anywhere, this side the gates of perdition, to save 
sinners ever ready to preach or to die for Jesus. 

WHERE ARE WE TO GET THE MONEY FOR SUCH A WORK ? 

Whenever we shall succeed by the renewing power of 



"I VE A SHAKE IN THE COXCEHN." 515 

the Holy Spirit, in getting u a great multitude " converted 
to God, we should say to them, " God designs you to be 
men, and not a set of children to be hanging on the coat- 
tail of some foreign umfundisi. We will together thank 
God for sending missionaries over the sea to give you the 
Gospel, and we will always reverence and love them ; but 
now that you have embraced the Gospel, God requires you 
to support and extend it. He hath given you land, 
grain, and cattle in abundance ; He hath given you heads, 
and hearts, and hands ; and now, through faith in Jesus, 
you have received the * gift of eternal life. Now you need 
a chapel, a preacher s house, and school-house, and God 
expects every one of you to help in this great work." We 
would at once show them the plans, and systematically or 
ganize them for the work. A little sweep was seen in a snow 
storm running down a street in New York city. " Hallo, 
Jack ! which way are you going ? " " I m going to the 
missionary meeting ; I ve a share in the concern ; I gave a 
shilling to it last Sunday." Thus we would give every 
saved heathen " a share in the concern." Drawing them 
out of the channels of their heathenish habits, we would 
give them plenty of new and useful employment, and allow 
them no time for backsliding. We would thus make our 
infant churches self-sustaining from the start. St. Paul s 
new churches, among the heathen, were not only self-sup 
porting, but gave liberally for the support of their poor 
widows, and for the poor Jews in Judea besides. In some 
cases, to be sure, St. Paul refused to receive a support for 
himself, but it was no doubt because he was establishing 
for the church God s own system of finance, and he would 
not leave a peg on which his slanderers might hang a sus 
picion that his grand financial scheme was for his own 
personal advantage. According to this system every one 
of them was expected to lay by in store the first day of 



516 THE MISSION WORK IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

every week, according as the Lord had prospered them, 
at least a tenth of their net income, with " free-will offer 
ings " besides, according to God s ancient law for mankind, 
and to which the Jews of those days yielded ready obedience. 

While we " have the poor with us," and while the Gos 
pel is preached by men, this law will be necessary, and hence 
obligatory. 

Our native ministers would not require more than one- 
fourth of what is necessary to support a foreign missionary. 
It would not be best to raise them above the people too 
fast, but to advance as fast as they could raise their people with 
dtiem. We would promise our men plenty of hard work, hard 
fare, and a martyr s crown if they could fairly win it ; and 
they would have an opportunity, no doubt. This brings to 
view a glimpse of the MORAL EFFECT of such a movement upon 
the church. Mr. Geo. Cato said to me the other day, " Why 
is it that the Gospel has so little effect upon the Moham 
medans ? " " Mohammedanism," I replied, "is so bitter in 
its opposition to Christianity, and has such a tenacious hold 
upon its devotees, that the mild conservative type of modern 
Christianity is not adequate to grapple successfully with 
guch an organization of superstition and sin ; nor indeed to 
gain very fast on heathenism, or successfully to resist the 
inroads of infidelity, and worldliness, even in Christian 
countries." I felt it to be a humiliating confession to have 
to make, but does not the logic of facts prove its truth. 
But let us have a healthy development of the essential 
aggressive spirit of the Gospel, carrying the " glad tidings " 
from city to city, and from country to country, accord 
ing to the Gospel precedents adduced now a chief or king 
converted to God, now an evangelist martyred, now a city 
conquered, the sympathy, prayers, and co-operation of 
every Christian in the world would be freely invested in 
such an enterprise. Everybody would be inquiring daily 



HEROIC TYPE OF CHRISTIANITY. 517 

I about the progress of the great work of God in its grand 
march to the conquest of the world. We would have a 

, living thing worthy of God and humanity, and adequate to 
its ends. Such a work would wake the heroic elements of 
man s nature. How they are brought out by the tocsin of 
war ! Within the last five years, nearly a million of men 
have laid down their lives on the altar of patriotism. A 
low type of Christianity that does not enlist and employ 
the whole man, sinks down to a formal secondary thing 
with him, and the active elements of his nature are carried 
off into other channels of enterprise. The heroic power of 
man s nature, enlisted and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, is 
essentially the old martyr spirit, which kept the Gospel 
chariot moving in the olden time. What had Garibaldi ever to 
offer to his soldiers ? But did he ever call in vain for an 
army of heroes ready to " do or die ? " He knows how to 
arouse the heroic element of men s hearts. 

Every passion and power of the human mind and heart 
should be sanctified by the Holy Spirit to the purposes 
for which they were designed. There is no field of enter 
prise to which the heroic element of our nature is better 
adapted, or more needed, than the great battlefield for 
souls, enlisting all the powers of hell on the one side, and 
all the powers of heaven on the other. What an heroic 
record the Gospels give of the labours, sufferings, death, 
and resurrection of the " Captain of our Salvation," and 
the noble army of martyrs trained under his personal ministry. 
Give these Gospel methods of aggression a fair trial in 
Southern Africa. Hundreds of natives who have recently 
been converted to God can read and write, and we also have 
many native whites who are as well acquainted with the 
Kaffir language as with the English. With such resources, 
under continued and improved facilities of education, and 
the fostering care of our faithful missionaries, now in the 



518 THE MISSION WOEK IN SOUTH AFRICA. 

field, the God of the harvest would doubtless raise up all 
the labourers the increasing demands of the work might 
require. The native agency already employed by our 
missionaries at Fort Peddie, Annshaw, Morley, and else 
where, has been worked very satisfactorily, and the four 
native brethren just admitted as candidates for the 
ministry, promise great usefulness to the church. 

Such a movement as we have described would, under the 
leading of the Holy Spirit, bring out hundreds of Africa s 
sons who would gladly share the greatest hazards of mis 
sionary life. They would not unnecessarily provoke perse 
cution ; would patiently endure it, or " flee from one city 
to another," if necessary, but if such should be manifestly 
the will of God, they would die for Jesus as cheerfully as 
the martyrs of the Apostolic age. 

My convictions of the importance of this movement, and 
my desire to help my dear brethren in the full development 
of this plan in practical effect in Southern Africa, have so 
occupied my mind and heart, that for months past I have 
been praying to God, that if it were his will to adjust my 
family and Conference relations to this work, and call me to 
it, I would gladly spend and be spent in this great battle 
for African souls. I have, however, finally come to the 
conclusion that God designs the glorious work here to be 
carried on by others, and will employ me in the same work 
in some other part of the world. 

If my fellow-labourer, Brother Charles Pamla, and a few 
others were set apart as were " Barnabas and Saul " for 
this work, and properly sustained in it, I believe the Holy 
Ghost would do a work through them that He could not so 
readily do through me. 

Let this aggressive method, so fully illustrated in the 
Acts of the Apostles, be adopted and wisely worked through 
out the world, and we would, under the Holy Ghost, develop 



" WAICHMAX, WHAT OF THE NIGHT ?" 519 

a healthy heroic spirit of Christianity, which would throw 
off the incubus of unbelief and spiritual death against 
which it is struggling, and would enable her successfully to 
grapple with the insidious forms of worldliness and sin 
in Christian countries, with Mohammedanism and all forms 
of heathenism. Then the darkness would soon be past. 
The dismal cry, " Watchman, what of the night ? " would 
be heard no more. Then we should see the mellow light of 
millennial glory reposing on the tops of the mountains. 
" The glory of the Lord would be revealed, and all flesh 
would see it together." The jubilant shout of the final 
victory of our all-conquering King would pass along the 
lines of the sacramental hosts, and be echoed back from 
every island, mountain, and continent, " Hallelujah ! tho 
Lord God omnipotent reigneth." 

WM. TAYLOR. 

Steam-ship Mauritius.) off Cape of Good Hope, 
October 18th, 186&, 



CHAPTER XXVIL 

KEVIEW OP THE WORK AND ITS PROGRESS TO THE 
PRESENT TIME. 

" PAUL said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit 
our brethren in every city where we have preached 
the word of the Lord, and see how they do." "Would 
that I could do the same in Africa ! I will, however, 
take my dear reader to those places where I have 
" preached the word of the Lord," and we will learn 
from the brethren " how they do." From the most 
reliable sources I will respectfully submit statistics 
and facts, which will at least furnish an index to the 
manifest extent of the work of God in those fields 
during my sojourn in Africa, and up to the time 
of my departure; and although my limited space 
will not allow a review in consecutive order, I will 
select from a large amount of interesting matter in 
hand, a few miscellaneous facts, illustrative of the 
progress of the work to the present time. 

Rev. Thomas Guard, in a letter dated November 
14th, 1866, says : 

I haye been to Somerset, to Queen s Town, and to Forfe 



521 



Beaufort since your visit to those towns, so that I am able 
to give you the latest information respecting the progress 
of the work. 

Last Tuesday was a thanksgiving day of our Church in 
this city (Graham s Town). Thanks for rain ; thanks for 
payment of debt on our Chapel 3,000 ; thanks for the 
grace of God in connection with your, ever to be remem 
bered, visit showers of rain, of gold, of grace, but the 
greatest of these is grace ; and I am glad to assure you the 
grace abides. Classes, prayer-meetings, Sunday and week 
day preaching services, all continue to evince the power and 
mercy of the God of Hosts. In Queen s Town nothing 
could be more delightful than the state of our Society, " in 
fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers." I could see 
the change more clearly than you, as I had been there but 
a short time before your visit. Dugmore is in a most 
heavenly state of mind, and preaches with unwonted might 
and unction. In Beaufort Brother Wilson rejoices over the 
most prosperous and growing state of spiritual life. In 
Somerset, especially in the country, whither many who 
were converted in town carried back the flame, the good 
work triumphs, and finds in Brother Edwards an indefati 
gable overseer. 

Cradock is remarkably advancing, every service adds 
souls to Christ ; the town is all a-fire with zeal and love. 
Those brought to God in this city, with very few exceptions, 
stand fast in the faith. One or two young people, of whom 
we had some doubts, have gone aside ; but we trust to seo 
them reclaimed, or really converted. * * * 

Annshaw heads the list as to the numbers saved 
during the season of refreshing. 

"Rev. Brother Lamplough, by letter, November 7th, 
1866, says : 



522 PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 

Charles arrived at home all right, and very glad I was 
to see him again, though I am thankful to say I have got 
a first-rate interpreter, indeed, I think he surpasses Charles 
in that line, and is also a very powerful preacher, though 
in the latter work we have no one here to come up to 
Charles. I am very pleased that Charles went with you to 
Natal, and that you had such a glorious journey. It is truly 
wonderful to hear of all the wonders wrought by the Lord 
among the heathen in so short a time. * * You will 
be pleased to hear that the work still continues to progress 
in this circuit. I have lost count almost of numbers ; but 
at least 1,200 profess to have found peace with God on 
this circuit, and there seems every reason to believe that 
we shall have a fresh ingathering on a large scale, soon. 
The best of it is, our men are beginning to work so beauti 
fully, and if they only keep up to the mark, as they are at 
present, I see no reason why the work should not continue 
to go on. The clear experience of those who, until just 
lately, were heathen, and the wonderful way in which the 
little children speak about the things of God is most 
astonishing. The last quarterly visitation for tickets, was 
one of the most delightful seasons I have ever experienced. 

For purposes of mutual edification and Christian 
fellowship, all the members of the Wesley an socie 
ties are divided into classes, to be met weekly by a 
leader, who is a sub-pastor, and quarterly by the 
minister. 

Brother Lamplough, in a more recent letter, 
speaking of the effect of the revival on the " Native 
Helpers," says : 

A young Kaffir, a candidate for the ministry, has been 
greatly owned of God in the conversion of about 300 souls 



SUCCESS OF THE ANNSHAW WORKERS. 523 

the past year. Another, an elderly man, who can do but 
little more than read a hymn, has also been very useful 
among the red heathen. His method is as follows : Having 
selected a particular village, he spends about a week in 
earnest importunate prayer for that village, sometimes 
rising in the middle of the night, and going into the chapel 
to wrestle for the souls of the heathen, until he has con 
fidence that souls will be given him. He then sets forth, 
taking with him a few earnest men to help him to sing, 
pray, and exhort ; and after continuing thus to labour for 
some days, employing the time between the services in 
visiting the heathen in their huts, he calls for those who 
are awakened by the Spirit, under the preaching, to come 
and bow down in prayer as seekers, and very soon he is 
surrounded by weeping penitents, who are soon changed 
into happy believers. The believers and penitents are then 
brought to the station, where special prayer-meetings are 
held until all are enabled to rejoice in God. One day I 
heard the sound of joyful singing, and looking up I saw a 
sort of triumphal procession coming over the hill. In front 
was one of our leaders, carrying on a long stick a number 
of heathen ornaments; behind him were about a dozen 
heathen who had torn off their ornaments, some were 
weeping bitterly, and others manifesting joy and gladness ; 
behind them were other leaders and members, to the 
number of about twenty, who, as they came to the station, 
were singing a hymn of triumph. It seemed like a minia 
ture representation of the last time, when " the mountain of 
the Lord s house shall be established in the tops of tne 
mountains, and all nations shall flow into it." I must not 
dwell on this subject. I may just say that the greatest 
blessing in connection with your visit amongst us, was the 
wonderful effect it had on our Native Helpers. They be 
came new men, and not only displayed remarkable zeal in 



524 PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 

working for souls, but much wisdom in winning them to 
Christ. Your coming seemed to be like a new life opening 
before our native labourers ; they became, not only more 
willing to go forth to work for Christ, but were taught how 
to do it successfully. Even the new converts at once go to 
work for God, with success. A heathen man, in the midst 
of a large village of red people (wild heathen, painted with 
red ochre), after his conversion, stood up and declared that 
God s word was true, and told the people what he felt. He 
then proceeded to address them in a most wonderful way, 
and the power of the Holy Ghost was so remarkably mani 
fested, that it seemed that the whole village was moved. 
I might tell you of many heathen men, who have given up 
their plurality of wives, and retained only their first ; but 
these things we expect, and therefore they have not pro 
duced much impression on our minds." 

The old veteran missionary, Rev. Mr. Shepstone, 
chairman of the Queen s Town district, writes under 
date, May 1st, 1867, saying : 

" You will be glad to learn that the work of God which 
you saw begun here on this station, as well as on the others, 
where we had the satisfaction of seeing such blessed results 
of your labours, did not die with your departure, nor di 
minish in your absence we added more in number on this 
station after you left, than we had done while you were 
with us some, after public service came forward and 
voluntarily confessed their sins before all. One woman 
after confessing various sins, said, it was I who stole the 
thatch that was to have thatched the school-house. This 
woman was a thorough heathen, living about seven miles 
from the station. A man near the same place, was putting 
on his European clothes, when his wife, a heathen 3 saw him, 



PERSECUTIONS FEOM THE HEATHEN. 525 

and asked c Where are you going ? To the chapel service, 
was the reply. Take them off ! talce them off! don t you 
know they catch everybody ? You will be caught. Take 
them off ! And he did, and he has not been caught yet ! 
But many more have many have been known to run out of 
the service, simply because, as they confessed, that had 
they remained, they must have yielded to the convictions 
that came upon them. 

Some have been beaten, some have been tied fast to the 
posts of their houses by persecuting heathen husbands 
that they might not attend the means of grace, and in one 
instance, the poor woman has yielded for the present. 
Others have persecuted their children and succeeded in 
keeping them back ; whilst others have been bold as cham 
pions for the truth, and though young, their Christian 
courage is delightful. 

At one place, about seven miies from us, there were two 
young girls, of about the age of sixteen years, two cousins, 
daughters of a head man and his brother. These were con 
verted while you were here, but having been found praying 
in the mountain together by the father s younger brother, 
the father told them he would have no praying in his family, 
none had ever prayed, and he would not allow it. If they 
would persist, they should leave the place, which they did 
and came to me. I sent for the head man to know the 
truth. He denied any knowledge of the girls having been 
driven from their homes, and promised to allow his daughter 
full liberty of action. He was as good as his word she 
returned home with her father, and a few days afterwards, 
the old chief bought her proper clothing to attend God s 
house. The other being the daughter of the most insolent 
opposer. refused to return with her uncle until he had come 
down jiii l seen me I sent for him to ask him how it was 
his daughter was a wanderer. He of course denied the 



526 PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 

persecution. I had a fine opportunity of giving him a 
personal sermon, and inviting him to the mercy of God. 

The old grey-headed polygamist, promised the same 
liberty, and both have ever since I believe been growing in. 
grace besides that they have been instruments in 
bringing nearly twenty other young people at the same 
river, to embrace the Gospel of salvation. But the old 
heathen parents, have by one stratagem or another, suc 
ceeded in keeping back the greater part, or sending them 
away to heathen friends at a distance. Still the word of 
God is not bound." 

Another venerable old missionary, Eev. J. Cameron, 
Chairman of Natal district, writes as follows : 

The Lord made you an instrument of much good to many 
souls in this country, and the memory of your visit, will be 
cherished with delight. 

The work which began in D Urban when you were here 
is still going on, though with less outward demonstration, 
than under your personal ministrations. The new converts, 
I am thankful to say, with but few exceptions, are progres 
sing in divine life. All the means of grace are well attended, 
and characterized by much of the unction from the Holy 
One. The noon-day prayer-meeting, in the Chapel, is still 
kept up, though the attendance is not so large as formerly. 
Those who do attend, can generally say, " Master, it is good 
for us to be here." We have a fortnightly public band- 
meeting, which has proved a great blessing, especially to our 
young people, many of whom bear delightful testimony to 
the fact of their continued interest in Jesus. Some of the 
young men who speak the Kaffir language, manifest great 
zeal for the salvation of the Kaffirs. We have put some 
half-dozen on the plan, as Kaffir exhorters, and they 



" FORWARD MARCH " OF NATAL SOLDIERS. 527 

are going on with their work. Bro. Langley has engaged 
to meet them once a week for the purpose of giving 
them special instruction as to the best modes of getting 
and communicating knowledge. Still, with all our precious 
means and appliances, we need much larger baptisms of the 
Holy Ghost, which we hope will be vouchsafed to us. 
Instead of twos and threes occasionally crying for salvation, 
we want to hear crowds doing so every time we meet. We 
have much agonising prayer for this, and much faith too, 
which I am persuaded cannot be in vain. In Kaffir land we 
mean to adopt more strenuous measures for the conversion 
of the heathen, and are only waiting for the sanction of our 
Home Missionary Committee to a plan for this purpose 
submitted for their consideration. The plan agrees with your 
views, so far as the agency we can command will allow, and 
if carried out successfully, will encourage us to do some 
thing on a larger scale, by-and-by. 

Rev. Ralph Stott, the indefatigable old Indian 
missionary, who is now in charge of the 7,000 Coolies 
in Natal, says of the work in D Urban, by letter 
in Wesley an Missionary Notices, for February, 1867, 

I have been in several revivals within the last 45 years, 
in connection with David Stoner, Thomas Walker, Joseph 
Wood, Messrs. Palmer, and in Batticaloa, and have often 
seen glorious results, but was never in a revival which pleased 
me so well. *.-.# 

Numbers who liave been converted in this revival are 
now, under the influence of the love of God shed abroad in 
their hearts, working for God both amongst the English 
and Kaffirs, and thus new centres of light and influence, and 
power, are established in the land, which will in time tell 
on thousands beyond. Many young Englishmen have 



528 PROGRESS OF THE WORK 

Kaffir tongues, and renewed hearts, and they are using both 
for God. I wish some of them had Tamil and Hindustani 
tongues. 

Rev. Richard Hayes, Jun. minister in Pietermaritz- 
berg, writing for the Missionary Notices for January, 
1867, says of the work there : 

At Pietermaritzberg the members of society have been 
strengthened and established in the faith, and not a few 
have been added unto the Lord. The good work has gra 
dually advanced : none have fallen away, and a good many 
have been added since Mr. Taylor left us. The simple but 
clear and scriptural narrations of conversion, to which we 
have listened, and the evidences of fruit in the life, have 
produced the conviction that the work among those newly 
converted has been genuine. 

Rev. H. S. Barton, superintendent of Verulam 
Circuit, writes for the March number of Missionary 
Notices, saying : 

As before, so since Mr. Taylor left, the work has been 
going on, so that at our last Quarterly Meeting, we were 
enabled to report a hundred and six English, and a hundred 
and ninety-five natives, on trial, being almost as many as 
our present members. We have taken one new English 
preaching-place on the plan, and five native places, with 
three English young men on trial as Local Preachers ; and 
nine young men, English and native, to engage in native 
work. My heart does indeed rejoice in the Lord s work ; 
and I feel I can heartily bless God for bringing men so de 
voted to His work for a time into our neighbourhood. 
The success is more marvellous when the spareness of the 
population is considered. 



MISSIONARY REPORTS. 529 

As the greater part of my work in Africa was 
in the Eastern Province of Cape Colony and Kaf- 
fraria, principally in the Graham s Town and Queen s 
Town Mission Districts, I will extract from the 
annual Report of the "Wesleyan Missionary Society 
a tabular view of those two districts, which will 
furnish a statistical index to the late work of God, 
and also furnish an illustrative specimen of the work 
ing appliances of Wesleyan Missions. 



MM 



Suipnpui dii 
-J0.\v JMtqiM u 



qjoq jo SJ 



ooo 
o o o 

UT CCG 



> O O O O O < 

) O O -.O O - ? < 

) CO CS Jo CC^ 

i-T cf i-T 



O * O W 1 O O 1 I ICO I-HO50O 
rjHOOOiO ICOOO 1 I |t^- O O5 > I 



OS U5COO 



-qijg jo jaquin>j 



CO i ( C4 C<I CO ^O 






SIOOIPS I iocqcqoiO"*rHr-iCO<MO COTt<CO 

!g jo aaqmntf -i r-t 



C5CO CO 

oo co co 
CO rH I-H t- 



T-* CO O -M ^H 00 C5 00 10 (M t W3 oq O 
O O ( CO O < O> lO CO CD O T^I r-l 
TJ< (M CO i 1 C<1 CO (N COCOU3 COi-HOO 



0?H 

^1 



| 

-, q 






111 



I ! IS 



si 



OUTP junsissv 
pue sai.reuoisstj<i 



i 1 iH i 1 iH T 1 1 1 i 1 OT r-l iH 



3 s g 

H j pa 

iS 



C 



2 r 

O I 







f^PoccfS i^<< 




r-H <N CO Tj? VO O t-^ CC O5 O rH C<f Co rj5 



pin; sioq 
Smpnpui 




. 
ejucpudjiv JO -ojt 



ooooo 

O OO O O 



i-r- <M 



Hioq jo sitJioips 
-S.UCL jo aoquirif{ 



aoqumjj 



Q r* ,H ,-H <M r-| r-l i-l CO 



83X35! TJJOq 

ioiios-muq 
-qug jo Jaqum 



2 8 

CM i 1 r-t 



srtootps 
g jo jaquin 



CO CO OO r 1 JO "*" O CO OO O 



O CO OO 
C<J tH( 



! - 
-ioco 

<N(M 



of 
ate Pflf 
nts 



cr 
at 



N 
bo 



1 1 



puu 



C<I r 1 r-l i 1 rH fH iH iH r-t 



jo 



ro 

g 

P5 H CQ 
O -flj H 

3 S 

J C 

g 2 

H R 63 

o g 3 

M 

P4 









Or-KM 



532 PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 

An egotistic display of numbers, even of a work of 
God, is abhorrent to any person of common sense, 
but an occasional judicious representation of facts is 
due to the credit of God s work, and a means of 
stimulating the faith of His workers. We c6uld have 
formed no appreciative idea of the Holy Spirit s great 
Pentecostal work in Jerusalem if St. Luke had not 
said, " Then they that gladly received his word were 
baptized : and the same day there were added unto 
them about three thousand souls." In regard to the 
further statistical exhibit I propose to make for the 
glory of God, I may remark, I never number the con 
verts myself, but note the numbers if furnished to me 
by the ministers, who personally examine them and 
record their names and addresses ; their examination 
by the pastors is to assure themselves that the persons 
professing to find peace with God can give satisfac 
tory testimony to a real change of heart from the 
witness and renewing work of the Holy Spirit. If 
their testimony is clear, their names and addresses 
are recorded for the purpose, not of numbering 
simply, but of putting them definitely under pastoral 
care and training. 

The six thousand and upwards, before mentioned, 
as having been examined and reported saved at 
my services in Australia, New Zealand and Tas 
mania, embraced simply those professing to find 
peace with God at my immediate services, but this 
African exhibit will embrace not only those saved 
immediately at my meetings, but those also saved in 
the districts in which I laboured simultaneously 



STATISTICS OF THE WORK OF GOD. 533 

with my services during the period of seven months. 
The annual returns in "Wesleyan Missions there are 
made in the month of September, so the returns would 
embrace the first fruits of our series, who, having 
fulfilled a three months probation (six months with 
American Methodists), are returned as members un 
der the head of " increase/ but the majority were 
" on trial," not having had time to fulfil their periocv 
of probation; and the fruits ofD Urban and Yerulam 
in Natal, and four weeks subsequent labour in Cape 
Town District were after September, and, hence 
do not appear in the " annual report." It will be 
seen from the foregoing tables that the net increase in 
those two districts was 1,888 members, 3,556 remain 
ing on trial, making an aggregate of 5,444. In Natal 
there were of natives who professed to obtain peace 
with God 735, whites, 320; of natives atEmfundisweni, 
over 150, making an aggregate of 1,205 ; to these may 
be added over 200 in Cape Town District, making a 
total of 6,849 souls duly examined and reported from 
without. Then in the societies, besides the great 
quickening of believers in many places fully one 
quarter of the regular seekers and converts were at 
the same time Church members. About 250 such 
were among the Annshaw converts, and about 200 
Brother Sargent reported at Heald Town, and a simi 
lar proportion, so far as we could learn, in all other 
places ; but if we put the proportionate number of 
converts among the previously enrolled members in 
the Graham s Town and Queen s Town districts at 
one-fifth instead of one-fourth, it will add 1,088 



PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 

to the list of converts in those two districts. 
Besides these, Brother Edwards at Somerset says, 
many of our converts belonged to other organiza 
tions there, " and were lost to us, but not to God." 
Brother Shepstone writes that the fire spread into 
other denominations, and at Hat River, 300 were 
added to the Church ; at Hankey, 150 ; and so in many 
other places the work spread out from the centres in 
which our meetings were held; but not counting any 
of these not being personally examined and re 
ported by our regular missionaries, though all 
saved we hope by adding the 1,088 aforesaid, we 
have a grand total brought to God within the space 
of seven months of 7,937 souls. Of these, about 
1,200 were Colonists, and the remainder Kaffirs. 
Glory be to God ! Amen ! 

Now for a few facts illustrating the genuineness 
and continued progress of the work, and the multi 
plication and increased effectiveness of the workers. 

INDICATIONS OF PROGRESS IN KAFFRARIA. 

KEV. Peter Hargraves writes concerning this work 
in Clarkebury under date of May 1867, ten months 
after my departure, as follows : 

Here we have abundant cause to remember your visit 
and to feel grateful for the " showers of blessings " which 
accompanied and followed your faithful and zealous labours 
amongst us. We are not the same people, the Mission Station 
is not the same. Grace has wrought a great and blessed 
change in the moral and mental habits of the people 
around us. 



535 

The blessed revival of religion did not cease when you 
left us. It continued, and continues even to this day. 
When it commenced there were scarcely one hundred per 
sons meeting in class, and but few of these could give a 
satisfactory testimony of their conversion to God. Most of 
them were formalists, and believed the class to be the means 
and end of salvation. Now, blessed be the name of God, 
there are more than four hundred and sixty persons in 
society with us. 

Testimonies to the change wrought in the moral habits 
of the people have come from all quarters. Some time back 
a counsellor of Ngangelizwe was on the station for two or 
three days, and on leaving he told one of the traders that 
Clarkebury used to be like a large canteen, but during this 
visit he had not been able to get any beer or find any beer 
drinkers. The Chief visited and remained with us two 
days. When leaving, he took my hand and said, " I be 
lieve in this people now, they serve God in truth." Testi 
monies like the above might be multiplied to any number. 

This blessed work has not been circumscribed by the 
boundaries of the station, but has affected and influenced 
many heathen families residing miles beyond the station. 
At one kraal, under a head man named " Pelshana," we 
have had between twenty and thirty conversions. At ano 
ther kraal in the " Bololwa " we have been able to form a 
class of ten members. At the Cwecweni the number in 
society has risen from eight to twenty-eight. At Kubi s 
kraal we have a society of nearly forty members. At the 
present time we have societies in the different places be 
yond the limits of the station, composed of more than one 
hundred and twenty members. 

" I enclose you a late plan of our preaching appoint 
ments, and though it does not show all our labours it will 
prove that we are beginning to do something in the way of 



53G PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 

carrying the Gospel of Christ to the heathen around ns. 
Our present plan has on it the names of twenty-seven Local 
Preachers, and twenty-one places where services are held 
every Sabbath, and occasionally on the week days. 

I meet the Leaders and Local Preachers every Friday, 
when we read over the appointments for the coming Sab 
bath, and then each leader reports the state of his class. 

I must say but little of our chief. "We have services at 
his place every Sabbath. The attendance is good, but we 
see little or no effect. The chief himself has given us great 
trouble during the last few months. We have had great 
contentions. It is only within the last few days that the 
chiefs of the tribe have refused his unjust decisions and 
done us all the justice we claimed. 

H. B. Warner, who was saved at our Clarkebury 
series of meetings, has gone forth, and continues 
preaching to the Kaffirs with great success. The 
Clarkebury Mission is now spread out among the 
heathen, embracing eighteen different preaching- 
places, filled by twenty- eight different preachers, be 
longing to the circuit. Rev. P. Hargraves, the mis 
sionary, at the head ; W. S. Davis, who translated 
"The Eden above," second; H. B. Warner third; 
and then the native force of Local Preachers. 

Brother Warner has recently written me a brief 
history of his rebellious life against God, his con 
version, and subsequent experiences, which I would 
gladly insert if my space would permit. The first 
leading instrument of Satan, by which he was led 
into wicked association with the heathen, was the 
"pipe," and it was the last thing he surrendered in 



LETTERS FROM KAFFRAIITA. 537 



his penitential struggle before accepting Christ. He 
says it is a sign and leading means, to the most 
sinful vices of heathen Kaffirs, and while he would 
not judge any Christians uncharitably for using it, 
nevertheless, if Christian laymen and ministers in 
Africa could appreciate what he knows of the signifi 
cance and diabolic use of the pipe among the heathen, 
they would abandon it at once and for ever. Kev. 
W. B. Rayner writes me that 100 heathens, under 
H. B. Warner, have been converted to God. 

Rayner has been removed from Morley to the 
Tsomo, and lives at the old military station, where 
we dined with Colonel Barker. There was no society 
there then ; but now Brother Rayner writes me he 
lias a large circuit there, with 170 church members, 
and daily increasing. 

Rev. T. Jenkins writes from Emfundisweni, in 
April, 1867, nine months after our departure, say 
ing : 

We rejoice over the souls brought to G-od when you 
were here, as those who have found great spoil. Heathen 
ism then received a great shock, and a few more would* 
make the powers of darkness tremble to their foundation. 
A few days ago some of the converted women, residing 
about ten miles off, were here, and in conversation with 
Mrs. Jenkins, said, " Before the word of God came to our 
hearts we lived like beasts, we scarcely knew that we be 
longed to human kind ; but now we know that we are the 
children of God." Nothing but the grace of God would 
induce such people, who never attended the house of wor 
ship, to come as they do now, ten, fifteen, and twenty miles 



538 PROGRESS OF THE WORK 

to our Sabbath services. " It is the Lord s doing, and 
marvellous in our sight." 

The work in Natal is progressing quietly, but 
steadily, aggressively, successfully, especially among 
the natives. The new workers, who know the Kaffir 
language, are owned of God in their work. 

When I was in Palmerton, Eev. Mr. Allsopp, the 
missionary who came from Yerulam, Natal, the pre 
ceding year, received a letter from a young native 
interpreter at Verulam, saying that the Quarterly 
Meeting proposed to employ him for twenty years 
as interpreter for the missionaries, and hesitating to 
make so long an engagement, he wanted to consult 
his old pastor. I said to Allsopp, " You will see that 
God will raise up so many native preachers, that long 
before twenty years shall pass, you will scarcely hear 
of such a thing as an interpreter in the country. 1 " 

An extract from a letter, written by my host, Mr. 
Thomas Garland of Verulam, will illustrate the ex 
pansion of the work in that direction. 

My nephew, John William Stranack, is one of the most 
complete conversions I ever witnessed, or anybody else here 
ever knew ; he has been working in the Sabbath-school, 
going out to country places to hold prayer-meetings, and 
is on our plan on trial as a Local Preacher. Every 
where, so far, the people are more than pleased with his 
sermons ; their literary worth is much beyond the ordinary 
productions of young men. You may look for his name 
amongst the itinerant lists in a year or two, so I believe, for 



YOUNG CONVERT S MISSION AMONG THE ZULUS. 539 

he has talents, and they are all now dedicated to God and 
His cause on earth. 

F. B. Fynney continues faithful, and has laid himself 
out to work for God, and is anxious to be a missionary. 
I am sure this young man is called to preach. The success 
that marks his labours everywhere are in proof of that, 
and to this I attribute the terrible mauling the devil some 
times gives him. He is naturally impetuous, and this with 
other difficulties has given him trouble, but he is braving 
the storm manfully. 

Fynney, young Campbell, and Blainey, started off on a 
tour to Zulu country, intending to visit Ketchwayo, the 
ruling Prince of that land, and they got nearly to the place 
of his residence, but he had gone away to be absent for some 
weeks ; but they held services every day with the Kaffirs, 
and everywhere good was done. They met with one young 
man, a Kaffir, who had left our station here and forsaken 
God. Fynney asked him how it was he left following Jesus. 
" Well," said he, " I was on your side of the river long 
while, and was very happy ; but looking over to the side I am 
now on, I saw lots of shining white stones, and I wanted to 
be rich ; so I said, that s the place, I leave this side and go 
there. I came and found ah, alligators, and I am now 
being devoured. What a fool I was." " But," said Fynney, 
"why not go back?" " Well, but* I cannot." "Why 
not ? " " The river is deep, and when I get over who will 
care for me." "Why, don t you see Jesus standing there 
waiting for you?" " Oh, no, He won t love me again." 
" But look, there He stands." " Well, I can t see Him, 
and I cannot get over the river ; to make the attempt is to 
be lost ; I must die where I am." " Well, if you had a boat, 
would you go ? " " Well, yes ; oh, yes." " Then see, here 
is a boat ; " a promise of God s word was given. " Well, I 
cannot row, I want oars." Some more truth was furnished 



540 PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 

from God s record, " No," said the man, " I don t believe 
it s any use ; I don t believe Jesus is there ; I must give 
it up." Fynney prayed with him that night, and they had 
a prayer-meeting. Next morning it was very cloudy and 
wet. About eleven o clock Fynney met this same man. 
" Good-morning, Jonas," " Sacaboni umgane." "Well, 
where is the sun, Jonas ? " " Oh, there, overhead." " Oh 
no, Jonas, sun is not up yet." " Not up ? " said Jonas. 
Yes it is. I tell you tis up there." " Well, Jonas, you 
must be cheating me. I cannot see the sun, and yet you 
say it s there ; must I believe- it, Jonas?" " To be sure 
you must," said Jonas, " if you are not a fool you will." 
" Well, I do, Jonas, believe it. Jonas, can you believe 
Jesus waits on the other side to receive you ? " Jonas hung 
down his head, covered his face with his hand a moment, 
then said, "I see it; I see it; I will pull, Twill cross. 
I believe everything ; I ll go to Jesus, He will save me." 
And he did it, and was saved, and was " shouting happy." 

At the same place Fynney was preaching, discussing 
the theory of snake transmigration, in which they believe. 
When he suggested that it would be well for all who really 
believed they should become snakes hereafter, just to prac 
tice it a little, and get ready to move amongst the snake 
fraternity, and asked all such believers just to have a trial 
of moving on their bellies, down this grassy hill near by ; 
and this simple touch of the ludicrous did more than an 
hour s argument ; they gave a unanimous vote that day, that 
they did not and would not believe in snakes. 

At several places the natives crowded round this band, 
and implored them to stay and preach again, and repeated 
this request till Fynney was left alone, not getting home 
till eight or nine days after the others, and everywhere 
many of those poor dark, uneducated men received the 
Gospel, and were made happy. At the American Mission 



THE " KAFFIR BAND." 541 

Station, under the Rev. A. Grout, the people sent a request 
to their minister, that Mr. Fynney should preach to them 
as he passed, and though it was the middle of a working 
day, all left their work, and the chapel, holding 500 people, 
was comfortably filled; and then, outside for two hours, 
Fynney discussed the way of salvation, the people weeping, 
and begging him to stay longer. Mr. Grout thanked him 
heartily, and invited him to come at any time to preach. 
Fynney has spent much of his time at Verulam with Mr. 
Kirkby, and a great many of the natives have been brought 
in. We have now, in addition to those above named, Mr. 
Hill, Foss, and Daddy, living in Verulam, all, especially 
Hill, who has traded in Zulu-land for years, are well ac 
quainted with the Zulu language. Hill is a reclaimed back 
slider; a very determined character, of good practical sense. 
These have engaged to preach to Kaffirs, and on our 
plan is a list of places to which they go regularly every 
Sabbath ; so that we have, what we now call, our Kaffir 
band,, numbering nine, in all, in our circuit, and it is to 
the Kaffir kraals they go ; an agency is thus commenced 
for carrying salvation to this people, such as we have never 
seen before. Other young men are studying the native 
tongue, anxious to be of this band of evangelists. I have 
realized, in a degree I never did before, the purpose of God 
in bringing us to this land. Since these young men have 
set to work thus to spread the Gospel, I feel it is enough to 
compensate for being here, if nothing more was accom 
plished, thus to see the beginning of God s purpose de 
veloped in this manner. 

At Umhlali we had three members when you came to 
Verulam. Eight or ten persons from there, came and 
heard you, were saved, went back and told what God 
had done for them, and the work of the Lord began to 
spread. "We had the new chapel opened there just four 



542 PROGRESS OF THE WOUK. 

weeks after you left, and a large party of us went; we 
had public meetings, anthems, and speeches. I was called 
to take the chair. Mr. Barton and Kirkby were there. I 
wanted it to be a salvation meeting, and spoke accordingly. 
Messrs. Barton, Kirby, and Tyler (American missionary), 
all threw their prepared speeches to the wind, and spoke 
to the point, the power of the Lord came down. An altar 
of prayer was formed, eight or ten persons came forward ; 
amongst them, Mr. Tyler s son, a young man of seventeen 
years old. The whole community seemed moved with deep 
concern about their souls. Mr. Kirkby remained, and held 
a series of services every night, and now we have two 
classes, numbering altogether thirty-six members, and a 
chapel filled every Sabbath, large Sabbath-school, and week 
day services, just the same as in Verulam. 

One man there, an old Local Preacher from Bristol, was 
nearly ready to drop into hell through strong drink. I have 
often warned him, and the Holy Spirit has striven with him 
again and again; but he seemed bent on his own de 
struction for time and eternity. I wrote and urged him 
to come and hear you in Verulam, but he did not; but 
some of my words in that letter troubled him, and he 
was among those brought in with his wife and two sons at 
Umhlali a clever man but sin has nearly unfitted him 
for service in God s cause. He has, of course, also taken 
the pledge of teetotalism, and so the work goes on, and 
many are added to the church, such as are saved by faith 
in Jesus. 

Rev. Charles Harmon, junior minister at D Urban, 
Natal, -writes for the Missionary Notices for October, 
1867, saying : 

I rejoice to be able to inform you that the work of God 



THE DYING ZULU MATD. OlJ 

is still progressing in our midst. Those -who prophesied 
speedy reaction, and foretold disgraceful declension of pro 
fessed converts, have been disappointed. With very few 
exceptions, those who professed to find salvation are giving 
the best proof of its possession, a consistent godly life. 
The Kaffir-speaking young me:> who were brought to God 
at the revival of last year, and who at once went to work 
among the heathen, are still gladly and diligently doing 
the work of evangelists. 

Kev. Thomas Kirkby, junior missionary in Yeru- 
lam, writing for the Missionary Notices, for June, 
1867, says : " In the native work generally, we are 
progressing. In the English Circuits the Lord has 
triumphed gloriously, and is still showing that He is 
above men, devils, and sin. He is converting men 
who have been down to the gates of hell." 

Some of the converts have died in the Lord. Rev. 
T. Kirkby, in a letter published in the Missionary 
Notices, for September, 1867, gives the following 
interesting account of the death scene of a Christian 
Zulu girl, who was brought from heathendom to the 
mission- station to die : 

When she arrived on the station, there was only a faint 
hope held out to her of the possibility of her recovery, and 
when told about a week after this that she must die, " 0," 
she said, " I am not afraid. I have been ready many days." 
It was about ten days afterwards that she departed. About 
midnight, when all but the sick girl were fast asleep, a sound 
stole across to the ears of the sleepers who were near her, 
a sound which came from the dying girl, as she talked with 



544 PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 

the Invisible. She was praying the last prayer, and these 
were some of the words that the waking listeners heard : 
" Lord, come and meet me ! " One of the women asked 
her if she needed anything. She told her to call her father, 
and then told him to pray for her ; and when he had given 
expression to his desires for his child s safety, he asked her 
how she felt in prospect of death. " 0," she said, "it is 
all right now ! God is with me ! I am safe ! " and then 
came the last struggle. Lying on a mat in the low room, 
open to the roof, with her head upon her mother s breast, 
and her feet almost touching the blazing fire that was on 
the floor in the middle of the room, she said, " Put my feet 
nearer to the fire, I am so cold." Ah ! poor child, the fire 
could not give her poor body warmth ; already she was in 
the cold river of death, and the water was deep, but He was 
there. Feeling anxious to leave a clear testimony, as well 
as to do what good she could, she said, " Give me a little 
water, that I may speak a little more. God may help me 
to say that which may do good." The father then called 
to a neighbour, and said, " Come, and hear my child; she 
is going to God. He has come to meet her." The end 
was near ; and so to her was the heaven side of Jordan. 
Fixing her eye on something she appeared to see approach 
ing, she slowly breathed out, " The wagon is coming to to 
fetch me ; " and with a last effort she said, " It is here ! " 
These were her last words. 



In the Queen s Town District we have very en 
couraging reports of progress. Brother Dugmore, 
however, says a few about Queen s Town have fallen 
away, but the mass of the converts stand firmly. 

A few incidents and facts may suffice to illustrate 
the onward movement in Graham s Town District, 



ANNIVERSARY REVIVAL SERVICES. 545 

and finish my task. W. A. Richards writes from 
Graham s Town in April 1867, ten months after my 
departure, "We are not having many conversions 
in our church just now, but the members are earnest 
in seeking higher spiritual blessing, some have 
grown colder, and one or two have backslidden. 
But why should we not make inroads on Satan s 
kingdom, now as well as when you were here ? We 
have the ever-present Lord Jesus with us, and He it is 
who works. The fault must be in us, " Oh that the 
church would purge herself from dead works." 
Rev. W. J. Davis writing me from Graham s 

Town, under date June 13th, 1867, a year after my 


services there, says : 

You will rejoice to hear of the prosperity of our work here. 
The Lord is still working among us, and many souls are 
being saved. We have had this month a series of special 
services in all the circuits in the district, -which we intend to 
hold each succeeding year in commemoration of your visit 
here last year. It was so much blessed to us all as ministers, 
and resulted in so much good to our people. In the ser 
vices just held, many hundreds have been converted, and our 
societies have been greatly blessed and revived. I have a 
letter from Brother Charles Pamla, who is in the Peddie 
Circuit, in which he tells me of more than two hundred 
being added to the church there during the special services. 
I have faith to believe that the whole of Kaffirland shall 
soon stretch out her hands unto God. It is the greatest 
happiness of my life to have been spared to see this work 
of God. Thirty-five years ago I began to "go forth 
weeping," bearing indeed " precious seed," but almost 



546 PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 

despairing of ever seeing that seed produce so glorioua 
a harvest ; but now I return rejoicing, bringing my 
sheaves with me. Tis worth living for this." 

Rev. Robert Lamplough, who has been for six 
years at Annshaw, and who now is labouring at 
Heald Town writes under date July 10th, 1867, 
saying ; " The work here is not very satisfactory 
at present ; we have some conversions but we want 
the power of the Holy Ghost. Nearly 300 profess 
to have found peace since we came here, but the 
work is not what I should like to see it. I very much 
miss my efficient Native helpers at Annshaw. The 
people here have not been trained to work, though I 
hope they are getting into the way. Siko Radas went 
to Somerset the other week and had thirty- three 
souls brought to God, under his preaching." Siko has 
commenced preaching since he went with me as inter 
preter at Somerset and Cradock, and is preparing 
for the regular ministry. The Lord bless him, and 
give him wisdom to win souls to Christ. Brother 
Lamplough had only been in Heald Town five 
months, and had about 300 souls saved in that time, 
but was not satisfied. In his official report from 
Annshaw, for 1865, he says : " This Circuit has 
prospered spiritually during the year. Discipline 
has been beneficially exercised. Conversions have 
resulted in several instances. The officers of the 
Church have been much quickened. The three 
Evangelists referred to last year (1864) have been 



CHIEF MAXWAYANA AND HIS WIVES. 04? 

diligently employed in preaching at the heathen 
kraals during the greater part of the year. There 
is reason to believe that, partly through their efforts, 
one or two conversions have taken place amongst the 
heathen, and in other respects their labours have 
been attended with much good/ 

Last year he had 1,200 conversions in Annshaw 
Circuit, and now looking at the resources of the 
Gospel, available for the salvation of all Africa and 
the world, with his heart of love for precious souls 
attuned to the loving heart of Jesus, to spend five 
months in getting 300 souls saved is a disappointing 
business to my dear Brother Lamplough. 

Charles Pamla was appointed Junior Minister at 
Fort Peddie Circuit, and lives at Newtondale. At 
his first service he had the two wives of a leading 
chief, converted to God, with a number of others. 
The following extract of a letter I recently received 
from him, gives a very brief notice of what an affair 
it lead to with the chief : 

I have no time to tell you all the facts, but must tell you 
about the conversion of the Chief Maxwayana. His two 
wives came to the meeting the first Sunday I preached at 
Newtondale, and were both converted, to the astonishment 
of both heathen and Christians. But God showed that His 
Gospel has all the power to save the worst of sinners. 
Some heathen thought they were mad. Their husband 
was not at home. When he came home he wanted to 
bring a case against me about his second wife, because now 
she was converted, she refused to live with him. But his 



518 PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 

elder wife and two friends persuaded him to come to the 
service himself, and he was converted, with many other 
heathen. Such is the power of the Word of God here at 
present. 

Some of my friends think I shall spoil Charles 
Pamla, by telling the whole truth about him, but I 
know my man, and he is blessed with a sick wife, 
and plenty of jealous friends, and bitter enemies, 
all of whom the Holy Spirit will turn to good 
account, for the development of his patience, meek 
ness, and humility. 

Brother Lamplough, writes me again as late as 
August 7th, 1867, as follows : 

Heald Town, 
7th August, 1867. 

My dear Brother, 

I enclose a letter from Charles Pamla, who has been 
spending some eight or nine days with us at Heald Town, 
conducting special services. We have had some very good 
seasons, and about sixty souls have professed to enter into 
the enjoyment of salvation. The results would have been 
much greater, had not the revival services been interfered 
with by missionary anniversaries here and at Fort Beau 
fort, which took up half the time of Charles s visit. 

I was very much pleased with Charles ; he is still as 
earnest and devoted as ever, and is, doubtless, a chosen 
instrument for accomplishing great good in South Africa. 
I believe some six or seven hundred have- been brought to 
God since he went to Peddie last March, and the work is 
still going on. 

The Church here has been much quickened and blessed 
through Brother Pamla s visit, and if we can only get our 



HEATHEN OBJECTIONS AGAINST 1 AMLA. 49 

leaders and members into a better state, I have no doubt 
we shall soon see a glorious work at Heald Town. Kaffir 
beer is all but done away with, as well as other heathen 
customs, which is no little thing. 

As a closing illustration of the progress of the work 
of God, and of His workers in South Africa, I will in 
sert a letter from my Brother, Charles Pamla : 

Newtondale, July 18th, 1867. 

* * * I will tell you the great objections the heathen 
have been making against the work of God and against me. 

First objection : This man is trying to get all our 
people converted so as to get lots of tickets and class- 
money, and also to increase his salary from the white men, 
and become the richest native in Africa. We will not go 
near him to be converted by him and increase his salary. 

Second objection : This man, Pamla, got some poison 
from that white who took him to Port Natal. He carries 
it in a black bag. He calls the foolish people to come to 
him and kneel down, so as to get at them and poison them, 
and then they become more foolish, and believe that they 
have been converted, when they are not. Tis not the work 
of God, for we never saw such a work before. If it is the 
work of God why did not the other ministers, who have 
been labouring amongst us before, do such things 1 We 
never saw so many people converted amongst us heathen 
before. 

Third objection, based on a false report : A stranger, 
from Annshaw Circuit, who is a heathen, told the heathen 
round here, " This is the very man who was removed from 
Annshaw by our white men because he was doing the same 
work there. The white men will soon find out that he is 
here cheating the people in this way, causing the people 



550 PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 

to give up their second wives and pleasures, and keeping 
services even during the week-days. He deceives you be 
cause you are black, but the white men will soon find him 
out and drive him away." 

Fourth objection, also based on a false report which 
went round as an alarm : " Tell all the heathen people 
not to come near that man, for a person has just brought 
the news that the people who were converted by this, man, 
in all places before he came here, are all dead, and it will 
be the same thing here soon." When the new converts 
here heard this, they said, " If that be true, we will go to 
heaven at once ! " Their reply was a great disappointment 
to the enemies. 

Fifth objection, based on a reform from the drinking of 
Kaffir beer ; Many of our mission-people have given up 
the custom of drinking Kaffir beer, and have openly broken 
their beer-pots. The enemies became very angry indeed, 
and said, " What ! what, breaking pots ! breaking pots ! 
We never heard of such foolishness before. Shortly some 
thing will happen." They were specially shocked that 
their Chief, Matomela, broke his beer-pots and gave up the 
beer-drinking, and the enemies said, " What a pity we are 
under the British Government, we would kill Charles Pamla, 
because he is a false prophet, and because he has persuaded 
our chief to give up our grandfather s best food, which is 
beer, and if we had the power we would put Matomela out 
of his state, as chief, for giving up the beer, and put another 
in his place who would drink beer." 

But notwithstanding all this opposition, the work is grow 
ing stronger and stronger. We get fresh converts from 
the heathen every week men, women and children. Some 
of their chiefs and two of the richest heathen men in the 
country Gib a and Cwati have been converted to God. 
Besides the converted chiefs I have named before, I will 



.51 



add the name of Chief Mbilase. I will be able next time 
to tell you the number of converts gathered in since I was 
appointed to this circuit." 

Brother Lamplough, at a later date, says that 
between 600 and 700 have been converted to God, 
tinder Pamla s ministry, during his five months 
labour in his new circuit. Pamla continues : 

I have been preaching almost every day, except a few 
Fridays and Saturdays, once a fortnight. 

Now I will tell you how I have answered some of those 
objections of the heathen. I went to the Great Place of 
Chief Fundakube, and laid these things before the chief. 
I then asked him to gather together his counsellors and 
best men, and lay the subject before them, and select a 
heathen, whom you all can trust, who can read the Kaffir 
Bible, and I ll debate my cause with them. The chief 
and his people were very glad, and so a day was appointed 
for the public discussion of all these points. The day ap 
pointed was a Monday. Due notice was given, and at the 
time set there was a great gathering of our mission people 
and the heathen at the Great Place of Fundakube, but we 
found the chief and his party tipsy with Kaffir beer, so 
we appointed to come again on Thursday. When we came 
on Thursday we found them all right. They had selected 
a heathen man, by the name of Mawomba, who was a great 
enemy to religion, well respected by the heathen, one whom 
they could trust, and who could read the Kaffir Bible well. 
So we opened our service and took up the objections in 
their order. In regard to the first, I said, "I do not get 
any money from the white men for the new converts. If 
you like, I will give you an order to go and draw in my 



552 PROGllESS OF TEE \VQEK. 

name all the money which you say I get for the new con- 
verts from the white men. As for the ticket and class- 
money, which amounts to a few shillings weekly, that goe? 
to support the Gospel, and is almost nothing compared 
with what you pay the Kaffir doctors, in oxen, goats, 
money, and Kaffir beer, while we furnish medicine to our 
members free." 

They answered " Yes." 

In regard to the second objection, I said, " I have no 
poison from Mr. Taylor. This converting power was an 
old work before Mr. Taylor was born. I have the Bible 
to prove that this work did not begin with me here nor 
with Mr. Taylor. Now we will take up that part of your 
objection about calling sinners to come to Christ, and about 
them kneeling before the Lord their maker to pray to Him. * 
Then I called upon Mawomba to read from the Gospel by St. 
Matthew, xi chapter, 28 verse, " Come unto me all ye that 
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 

Also Revelations, xxii. chapter, 1 7 verse, " The Spirit 
and the bride say, Come, and let him that heareth say, Come, 
and let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let 
him take of the water of life* freely." 

Mawomba read them distinctly, and I said, " These pas 
sages refer to the calling of sinners to come to Christ, now 
having been sent both by God and by His ministers, have I 
not a right to call sinners to repentance 1 In regard to 
penitents kneeling, I will ask Mawomba to read the 6th 
verse of the xcv. Psalm. Mawomba read, " Oh come, let 
us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our 
Maker." Then I said, " Are you satisfied 1 " 

They answered, " Fes." 

" In regard to your objection about so many heathen con 
verted in BO short a time, and why the other ministers did 
not do the same work in the same manner, I answer, 



FAMLA S DEFENCE OF THE THUTH. 553 

first in regard to the work done by the ministers who have 
been labouring amongst you. They did a great work. 
They did the same work for our fathers who received the 
Gospel preached to them by those men of God. They 
bowed down on their knees also, and were not too proud to 
worship their great God and Creator as you are now. But 
while many of our fathers were converted, you were against 
the ministers who laboured amongst you. I know what 
sort of feelings you had against the Word of God and 
against those ministers. You were not their friends at 
all. 

"When you went to. hear them preach you at once began 
to talk to each other, and said, What has he been 
saying ? 

"Another answered, He was talking about some wind 
in the air which he called God. Another says, * He was 
talking about death and dead people. Another replies, 
* What have we to do with dead people, we are not dead ? 
Another adds, He says after we are all dead, then we will 
all go to hell. Then they all laugh and say, We be all 
dead, who will go to hell ? " This is but an example of the 
had feeling and prejudice of nearly all the heathen people 
against the word of God, then and now, and that is 
the reason why the gospel has not been more successful 
among them. I then told them how ungrateful it was for 
them to say anything against the old ministers, for it was 
through them, and especially Mr. Ayliff, that their fathers 
were led out of Kaffir bondage (for they were Fingo 
heathen) and that thousands of them had since been con 
verted to God. 

At this point they replied, " Our complaint is not that 
the people are being converted, but that so many are 
converted in so short a time." 

I then asked Mawomba to read the 41st verse of the 



054 PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 

2nd chapter of the Acts, and he read: " Then they that 
gladly received his word were baptized : and the same 
day there were added unto them about 3,000 souls." Also 
the 3rd and 4th verses of the 4th chapter, " And they laid 
hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day ; 
for it was now eventide. Howbeit many of them which 
heard the word believed ; and the number of the men was 
about 5,000." Then I said, "What have you to say to 
that ? about 3,000 souls converted in one day, and about 
5,000 converted on another day." I then told them about 
the great work of God with Mr. Taylor among the English 
at Algoa Bay, Graham s Town, King William s Town, 
and the same work among the natives at Annshaw and 
all round, right up to Port Natal, where there was also a 
great work among the English. Then I said, " Now I 
will tell you what those people get who come and kneel down 
as penitents, whom you say I poison," and I called on 
Mawomba to read to them from Eomans 5th chapter, 
1-3 verses, " Therefore, being justified by faith, we have 
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ : By whom 
also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we 
stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not 
only so, but we glory in tribulations also." I then ex 
plained to them the new birth which these new converts had 
experienced, and got Mawomba to read to them a part of the 
third chapter of John, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, except 
a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God," 
I told them, when the penitents are thus born of God, the 
new law of God is written by the Holy Ghost in their 
hearts, and I got Mawomba to read the 37th verse of the 
22nd chapter of Matthew, " Jesus said unto them, Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with 
all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thou shalt love 
thy neighbour as thyself." I explained it to them 



CHIEF FUNDAKUBE S DECISION. 555 

and shewed the proofs of it in the lives of the converts. 
After all this talk Mawomba stood up and read the 4th 
verse of the 150th Psalm, to try to support their Kaffir- 
beer dancing feasts, " Praise Him with the timbrel and 
dance: praise Him with the stringed instruments and 
organs." 

In my reply I said, " How do you explain that passage? 
Did David mean that dancing which the heathens and 
drunkards do in worshiping the devil ? I ask you, father, 
did David mean that the people should worship the 
devil instead of the true God ? " 

Mawomba said, " I can t explain it. You will please 
explain it to me." 

I said, " David feared God, and would not do anything 
which would displease God. He had a harp that he played 
in worshiping God, just as the English have an organ in 
their churches to assist them in singing praise to God. 
Again David praised God with all his things, all he had 
was devoted to God, even his pleasures were done unto 
God." I saw that the man s pride was gone and that his 
power failed him, and he stood up and said, " I never un 
derstood these things so clearly as I do to-day, both in 
regard to the work of revival, and my own questions." 
(A Kaffir is a noble antagonist, when fairly beaten in 
argument he will promptly and honestly own it.) 

Then the great chief Fundakube said, " No man after these 
things which have been done to-day should ever complain 
against the great work of God. We are all satisfied. 
Our own man has read these things out of the Book of 
God." 

Then I said, " Who can prevent me from calling sin 
ners to-day to come and kneel down before God ? " 

The Chief replied, "No one can prevent you. Your 
way is clear, but we will go home to-day, and we will 



556 PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 

think over these things. We are all well pleased, and will 
hear you again." Our meeting then adjourned. 

In the next service I held at the Great Place of Funda- 
kube I called for penitents. The Chief came and talked to 
me privately, and said, " I will kneel down before God, 
but not before you." 

I said, " Kneel down where you are, well and good. I 
don t want any sinner to kneel to me, and it don t matter 
about the place if there is a broken and a contrite heart 
submitted to God." 

Four of them, the Chief s mother, and two of her chil 
dren, and his brother s wife, found peace with God that day, 
and the Chief seems to try very hard to seek God. I will 
let you know next time how he gets on. I have not time 
to tell you more to-day. I may say, however, while there 
are many enemies, thank God there are many kind friends 
also, who love Jesus, and love me at the same time. I 
find Mr. Holford to be a kind friend and Superintendent. 
I have a native friend who goes with me to help me in 
the work, and he is very pious, and a great assistance to 
me." 

In this work, in those barren wastes of Africa, we 
see the fulfilment of God s own words, " For as the 
rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and 
returneth not thither, but watereth the earth and 
maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed 
to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall My 
Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth ; it shall 
not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that 
which I please, and prosper in the thing whereto I 
sent it." " In the wilderness shall waters break out 
and streams in the desert. And the parched ground 



THE HIGHWAY OP HOLINESS. 557 

shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of 
water : in the habitations of dragons where each lay, 
shall be grass, with reeds and rushes. And a high 
way shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called 
the way of holiness ; the unclean shall not pass over 
it, but it shall be for those who are cleansed through 
the blood of Jesus ;" " the wayfaring men " who, like 
those saved sons of Africa, obey God, and walk after 
His Spirit in this holy way, "though fools, shall 
not err therein." 



WOEKS 

BY THE REV. W. TAYLOR. 



SEVEN YEAES STEEET PEEACHING 
IN SAN FEANCISCO. 

"It is a very entertaining volume, full of adventure, 
grave and gay, in the streets of a new city, and among a 
peculiar people." New York Observer. 

"And the book itself so thoroughly good, so deeply 
interesting, and so replete with wise counsels, and ex 
amples of what street preaching ought to be, that we 
cannot but wish for it a wide circulation. The writer 
tells his story with the simplicity and directness of a 
child, and the incidents related are of a most unusual and 
romantic kind. Too much cannot be said in praise of the 
nervous, plain, vigorous style of the author s preaching. 
For clearness, directness, and force, the specimens given 
in this book have never been surpassed." London Quar 
terly Review. 

This book had numerous commendations from the press, 
but the best proof of its worth is the fact that over 
32,000 copies have been sold. 



Works ly the Rev. W. Taylor. 



THE MODEL PEEACHEE. 

"It is a book calculated to stir the soul to manly and 
bold achievements in the service of Christ, in the great 
work of preaching His gospel." Methodist Recorder. 

"The Saviour is Taylor s Model Preacher. I wish 
to say, moreover, that although the book is addressed to a 
preacher, and on the subject of preaching, yet its treat 
ment is such that almost any religious person will be 
deeply interested in perusing it. There is a charm about 
it, like the author s preaching, a freshness, a raciness, an 
abundance of apt illustration, that captivates the ordinary 
reader, and leads him from chapter to chapter, to the end 
of the book." Professor Wm. Hunter, D.D. 

Over 20,000 copies have been sold. 



CALIFOENIA LIFE ILLUSTRATED. 

" Full of interesting and instructive information, 
abounding in striking incident, this is a book that every 
body will be interested in reading." New York Observer. 

" Scenes of thrilling excitement, of touching tender 
ness, of noble heroism, and of dark crime not concocted 
in the brain of the novelist, but enacted in real life are 
here depicted." Ladies Repository. 

"It is replete with such pictures as the British eye 
never sees. It is better worth hundreds of thousands of 
editions than the most brilliant novel that has yet seen 
the light." British Standard. 

This book has reached a circulation of 30,000. 



<>-(,* 

Works ~by the Rev. W. Taylor. 

EECONCILIATION ; OE, HOW TO BE 
SAVED. 

" The volume before us contains, in six chapters, the 
author s mode of teaching the great Christian doctrines of 
salvation, repentance, and faith, and some striking illus 
trations and anecdotes enrich its pages. We wonder not 
that a teacher so fearless and outspoken should have been 
honoured by God in the conversion of many from a life of 
indifference and vice, to one of faith and godliness." 
Christian Times. 

The third edition of this book has been issued within a 
few months. 



INFANCY AND MANHOOD OF 
CHRISTIAN LIFE. 

" What a glorious event in the history of any soul, to 
be born again, to become a babe in Christ, an event that 
we will celebrate in eternity ; but to remain a babe is to 
become a dwarf, and fail to attain the end for which we 
were born." Extract from Book. 

" Mr. Taylor s style is direct, vigorous, and sometimes 
colloquial. Clear statement and forcible reasoning are 
relieved and made more effective by apt illustration. 
Christians of other denominations may here learn, without 
any undue mental exertion, the views held by Wesleyans 
on the doctrine discussed by our author, and, even when 
unconvinced, they can hardly fail to be interested and 
profited." Christian World, May 3rd, 1867. 

The volume is pervaded throughout with an earnest 
purpose, and the writer, in many a powerful passage, 
speaks straight to the conscience and to the heart." 
Methodist Recorder, June 28. 



BINPINGSECT. APR 3 



PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE 
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET 

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY 






BV Taylor, William, Bp. 

3555 Christian adventures in 

T3*T South Africa