1831.]

CHARLOTTE.

The Sunday Afternoon Service at this Village is conducted as usual, by John Attarra.

Summary of Charlotte Station. Average attendance on Public Worship: Adults 80 Children. 30

Communicants. Candidates.

South Africa.

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LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

6

In the latter part of last year, the Rev. Robert Moffat, of New Lattakoo, visited Cape Town: while there he attended a Missionary Meeting, at which he gave the following view of the

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Mission.

The Bootsuannas are altogether ignorant of a future state: they have no idea of any existence beyond the present: they suppose that all the pleasures, enjoyments, and honours of this world terminate in annihilation. When the spirit leaves the body, they suppose that it has ceased to exist: if a plebeian's, the body is dragged away, and left a prey to beasts; and, if that of one more honourable, the body is committed to the grave, with many unmeaning ceremonies, while the females chaunt a dirge, deploring the eternal loss, and then return from the grave without one pleasing hope of immortality.

The consequence of such deplorable ignorance is, that they participate in every species of sin, and think as little of plunging their spear into their neighbour's bosom as of killing a dog. A traveller among them, like a bird of passage, may be led to form a favourable opinion of their humanity, their fidelity, and good sense; but far different will be the judgment of those who have half the acquaintance with the Native Tribes which the Missionaries possess. There you will see man tyrannizing over the females-the weaker vessels doomed to bear infirmities and afflictions of which their husbands are comparatively ignorant. There you will see the men reclining under the shade of a spreading tree, while the females are most of the year employed preparing the ground,

Away! Away!" and threatening to drive us back with the spear and with fire. One wave of affliction followed another: one cloud darker than another hung over our prospects, while we were exposed to the mockery and rage of a lawless people. Full oft have my brother Missionaries and myself prayed together for faith to maintain our posts, even though we appeared to labour in vain and spend our strength for nought: we felt determined never to leave our posts, even though our external resources should fail. In the mean time, the Language was acquired-portions of Scripture translated-Catechisms and Hymns composed; and while our eyes were weary of looking upward-while we were even yet praying the blessing descended: it ran from house to house, from heart to heart; and, in a short time, the whole Station seemed to be filled with prayer and praise. That season was one which I cannot easily forget. It was indeed a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. Many received the Truth, and a Church was formed.

The Natives have acquired a taste for reading and writing, and are taught in their own language. We trust we have also taught them to hold converse with Heaven, and to meet the King of Terrors with unshaken faith.

I wish I could place the Mission before you. You would see what would rouse you to increased exertions. How great the change! The untutored savage, instead of entering the church with a wild stare, now decently enters the Courts of Jehovah, and listens with attention to the Gospel of Peace. How great the change in those that believe! I have seen the contrast in death-bed scenes. I have attended the couch of some of the more respectable and best-informed of the Natives; but how gloomy and distracting! The untaught Bootsuanna, on the article of death maintains profound silence the subject is revolting to him. I have recently seen the same people, on the brink of the grave, rejoicing in hope of the glory of God; telling their weeping relations that they die not as the brutes, but die to live for ever.

They have been taught industrious habits, and to appreciate and be grateful for the boon which has been handed to them by British Christians. A temporary Place of Worship has been built, free of expense to the Society; but this being found insufficient, the foundation of a large building has been laid, to which many have subscribed of the little which they possess. A water-course, extending for miles in length, six feet wide and from two to ten feet deep, has been dug, and is kept in order by a public subscription made on the Station. The Station is increasing in size: its capabilities are great: its prospects are encouraging. The Natives have now acquired an unbounded confidence in us: indeed, they would trust their property and their lives in our hands. Wherever we travel we are viewed as friends; and even our names are sometimes used by the travellers into the interior, to ensure safety.

Our Station is very frequently visited by parties of Natives from the interior: what they see, and the treatment which they experience, inspire confidence in us, and are preparing the way for the advances of the Heralds of the Cross. We maintained our post when the Natives themselves were driven from their homes by hostile bands, and when we ourselves were surrounded by war, bloodshed, and rapine: from this circum

stance, they consider us even the lawful owners of the country.

We have an extensive field of Missionary Labour. We have hundreds on the Mission Premises, and thousands in the neighbourhood. It must be recollected that the Bootsuannas congregate in towns which contain from one hundred to twelve thousand persons. They call for your sympathy, your assistance, and your prayers. Considerable portions of the Scriptures have been translated into their language, and are ready for the Press. By the favour of the Colonial Government we have been permitted to print at the Government Press the Gospel by Luke, which is nearly completed. We are taking a printing-press with us to Lattakoo; and trust soon to put most of the Scriptures into the hands of the Natives. They are anxious for books: a pastoral people particularly need books.

They come from a great distance to hear the Gospel. Some time before leaving Lattakoo, I was in the habit every Sabbath Morning of leaving the Station at day-light, on horseback, and visiting two and sometimes three villages at eight miles' distance. On these visits I have continually met parties-occasionally a mother, her children, and servants-even before sunrise, coming to enjoy the Sabbath Services on the Station.

The Bootsuanna Language is extensively spoken. It is not confined to one tribe, or to twenty tribes. I have met with many persons from many different tribes living at a remote distance, and conversed with them in that tongue. I have seen individuals from within the tropics, and found no difficulty in holding converse with them; and have good authority for believing that the Damaras on the western coast, the Mosambiques, the inhabitants of Delogoa Bay and of Cen tral Africa, speak different dialects only of the same language.

The effects of Missionary Labours are far more extensive than people are generally aware. To see the results, we must look beyond the precincts of a Missionary Station. We must look to di stant tribes, and listen to their cry, Come, and help us! The light is reflected from the mountains and plains of the interior. The Barolongs are soliciting Missionaries. The King of the Wanketsens, that popu lous and powerful nation, has repeatedly applied for Missionaries. Nor is that the extent of Missionary Influence. A

tribe, nearly four hundred miles to the east, heard of the Lattakoo Mission; and, as if a star had been seen, Moselekatse, the King of that nation, sent two of his powerful men, with their attendants, to see what kind of beings we were they saw our manners, regularly attended Divine Service, and experienced our kindness: a report having been circulated that some of the tribes, through which they had to pass on their return, intended to murder them, they earnestly solicited me to accompany them back to their own country*: Iconsented; and that journey was to me one of the most interesting which I ever took. We had no sooner entered the territories of Moselekatse than I was treated with the greatest kindness and respect: at every place where I slept, I was presented with an ox for slaughter; and, as I approached the residence of the King, I received numerous testimonies of the pleasure which he enjoyed in the prospect of seeing me. On the day of our arrival at the metropolis, we saddled our horses and preceded the waggons. We entered a large fold capable of holding 6000 head of cattle: a semicircle of 400 warriors, four deep, stood in the centre-all silent. When we alighted, about 300 men, who were lying in ambush at the entrance, rushed in, according to direction, and joined the main body. Some war-songs were sung; and, after three shouts, all paused; when Moselekatse came walking up to us, and shook hands with us in the most affectionate manner-welcomed us to his town-and presented us with refreshments. During the time I stopped there I had frequent opportunities of conversing with him, and experiencing the greatest kindness. He told me that he was at a loss how to express the gratitude which he felt for the attention shewn to his people who had visited our Station. On one of these occasions he addressed me as follows :-" My friend ! my heart loves you. You, although a stranger, have loved me. You have fed me-shielded me from danger-carried me on your arms-and blessed me." I replied that I was not sensible of having done him any service of the kind. He rejoined, pointing to the two chief men whom he had sent to our Station, "These are principal men among my Chiefs;

"A remarkable fact, that the name of Missionaries not only protects the European Traveller, but they are looked up to for protection by the Natives themselves in passing from one nation to another."Editor of the "Commercial Advertiser," at the Cape. July, 1831.

They are

therefore I sent them to you. my eyes, my ears, my mouth; and therefore, what you did to them, you did it to me.' Laying his hand on his breast, he added, with all the ardour of his soul, "My heart to-day is whiter than milk"

signifying great joy. He accompanied me a day's journey from his town-sent me away with blessings-and the last thing which he said was, " Visit me soon again, and bring Missionaries. I wish to have things here as they are at the Lattakoo Mission."

These facts call for our gratitude, and encourage us to hope that the time to favour Africa is come. Whether we look to the interior or to Caffreland, the prospect brightens, and inspires hope. The boundaries of God's Kingdom are daily extending, and Ethiopia is stretching out her hands unto God. In my late visit to Caffreland, I stood on an eminence and cast my eyes on the spot where Van der Kemp first pitched his tent. How changed the scene! Compared with that period, the desert now rejoices. His faith descried at a distance what we now realize. At the grave of our Missionary, Williams, I stood with indescribable emotions; and gazed with transport on the host of Missionaries of different Societies, who hastened into his labours, and who are extending their exertions over the hills and dales of Amakosa.

WESLEYAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

THE acceptance of Mr. Richard Haddy as a Missionary by the Tambookie Chief Vossanie, and the subsequent death of that Chief, were briefly noticed at p. 14. Mr. Kay, of Butterworth, accompanied Mr. Haddy: from their communications we shall extract an account of the

Formation of the Tambookie Mission. Mr. Kay writes on the 2d of June of last year

As Vossanie had only been a few weeks on the spot where we found him, the whole of his establishment consisted but of four or five small grass huts, and a cattlefold; on the lower side of which were a number of the Chief's Councillors, squatted on the ground in the form of a circle, and apparently engaged in conference. Some of them had their heads and faces daubed with fat and red ochre. The Chief's seat was distinguished by a

2 S

goat's-skin, which was spread on the ground: he was absent at the moment of our arrival; but soon made his appearance, and received us with apparent satisfaction: his disposition being somewhat taciturn, he said but little to us. On informing him, however, that Br. Haddy had now come, according to his promise, to reside among his people, as their Teacher, he laconically signified his approbation, and ordered a basket of curdled milk to be set before us. This, like the "leben" of the Arabs, constitutes the Caffres' common dish; and, before the stranger partakes of it, the servant usually takes a draught himself, in order to shew that it possesses no deleterious quality. Want of confidence, and tormenting fears, form no small part of the train of woe inseparably connected with Heathenism, in every quarter of the globe.

After spending several days in search of a proper site for the Mission, Mr. Kay writes on the 5th :

Having happily succeeded in determining on a site, we mounted our weary horses again this morning, and proceeded to apprise the Chief. He fully approved our selection; nor was there a dissentient voice raised by any individual in his retinue. Consequently, the thing was immediately ratified-the waggons prepared -the oxen put to the yoke-and the King and his Council, together with a host of other Natives, escorted us to the very spot; and thus publicly recognised and established our right of settlement in the eyes of all his people.

Of the proceedings on the next day, Sunday, the 6th of June, he thus speaks:

We this morning arose on ground where the Sabbath was never before kept, and among a people to whom this Divine Institution has hitherto been altogether unknown: from their infancy, therefore, to the present day, they have invariably spent it even as other days, as did their ancestors before them. At an early hour, many of them visited us with articles of various kinds for sale; supposing, doubtless, that traffic and gain formed at least one part of our object: one brought a fat beast; another, a hide; and several females came laden with baskets of milk: all stood astonished, on being told that it was the Day of the Lord; and that the Word of God enjoins upon us to do no manner of work

therein, but to rest and keep it holy.

A messenger was sent to the Chief, for the purpose of informing him and his Amapakati, as also the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages, that we were about to join in the service of the Most High God, and to proclaim to the congregation the glad tidings of the Gospel. Vossanie, however, had made a feast for his courtiers: hence, neither he nor they came near us. But, about half-past eleven o'clock in the forenoon, between 50 and 60 Natives, of both sexes, arrived; to whom I preached from a part of the Third Chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel. All our Hymns were in the Native Tongue; which circumstance seemed forcibly to arrest the attention of our sable visitors. I felt my own mind deeply impressed, while commencing the Service with the Ten Commandments: and, while those around me were endeavouring to join in the solemn responses, saying, "O Inkosi enkulu! Sinike ufefe lwako pezukwetu, &c."-" Lord have mercy upon us, &c.". the affecting thought, that this was the first time that ever Heaven in their own language, seemed those poor creatures heard the Law of completely to overpower my spirits. When I had concluded, the Interpreter addressed the strangers at some length, respecting the happy privileges which lasting benefits which Christianity would were now brought to their doors-the

confer on them and their children-the

good which it had already effected among the other tribes-and the blessings which accompany it to all who heartily embrace requested that he would apprise them it. They then rose from their seats; and previously to the Afternoon Service, as they should not otherwise know at what hour they ought to attend: this was done; and Br. Haddy preached to them a very impressive and appropriate Sermon. In the evening, Divine Service was held in English, for the benefit of the Mission Families one of Mr. Wesley's Sermons was read; and the Throne of Grace earnestly supplicated in behalf of the perishing Caffres.

Thus was spent and closed the first Sabbath on our Station in Tambooland; which, by hymns of praise and many a fervent prayer, was sacredly consecrated to the service of our God. In His Name alone we set up our banners.

Mr. Kay gives the following
Description of the Tambookie Station.
A more healthy situation than the one

on which the Mission Village will stand is rarely to be met with in Southern Africa. It is backed by a ridge of mountains, sloping gradually off from the summit to the base, and everywhere clothed with abundance of grass. On each side, hills project from the main chain; like

arms thrown out, to embrace the sacred spot: these, however, from their quickly falling off into the plains below and terminating at almost equal distances, constitute little or no obstruction to the prospect on either hand. In front, which looks south-west, there is an extensive view, stretching over hill and dale, for many miles to the eastward, it is bounded in the distance by the mountains, among which, the Bashee has formed its sinuous course, and which appear as if rolled, like heaps upon heaps, in all that majestic grandeur which characterizes nature in Africa: turning to the opposite quarter, the eye rests upon another prodigious chain, whose lofty peaks are at present covered with snow. No less than six distinct native hamlets may be seen from the door of Br. Haddy's tent: the most distant of them is not more than a mile, or a mile and a quarter, from the same point; while still more than that number are equally near, although concealed by the little hills or in the surrounding glens: some of them are but a few hundred paces from where the Mission Houses will be built; so that there is already a good Congregation on the spot. On each side of the Mission Grounds, there is a fountain, issuing from the rocks above; and in the foreground, at the distance of about threequarters of a mile, the Umguwala rolls its fine stream along, furnishing a considerable population, settled upon its banks, with more than an abundant supply of excellent water. There is also plenty of good arable land round about, as is evident from the numerous gardens made by the Natives, who have but just gathered in their crops. The comparative scarcity, however, of building-timber in the immediate vicinity will occasion difficulty. On the right, resides one of Vossanie's chief Councillors, within about twenty minutes' walk; and, on the left, is the residence of the Chief himself, at the distance of little more than a mile from the Station. These circumstances, coupled with the very favourable disposition of the people, cannot be otherwise regarded than as a most auspicious combination; and one which promises

greatly to facilitate the future operations of the Mission.

Death and Burial of Vossanie. comed the Missionaries, lived but a The Chief, who had thus welshort time afterward. Mr. Haddy writes on the 18th of August

Vossanie is no more! He this night slept the sleep of death. About the first cock-crowing, my Interpreter heard a bitter lamentation in the direction of his kraal, and soon after went to see what was the cause of it. He found Vossanie's wives outside the house, weeping; and on asking some men, who were sitting near, what was the matter, they said, "Do not you see? all is over." noises, the voice of mourning, we heard from the neighbouring kraals. Not knowing the Gospel, they sorrow as men without hope.

Loud

About noon, Mr. Staples the Assistant, and I, with the Interpreter, rode to the kraal. We saw the Chief interred. Four or five men were selected to bear him to the grave; which was a small hole about three feet deep, and sufficiently large to contain the body in the position in which the Caffres sit on their heels, dug very near the hedge or fence of the cattle kraal, on the outside. These men have also to take care of the grave; which they will have to do, unless driven away by the enemy, for some years: they will not be allowed to go off the place, not even to go to their wives and families; and whatever they may be guilty of, none dare punish them. The grave will be enclosed by a sort of fence, forming a kraal; into which will be put, every night, a certain number of cattle selected for the purpose, which will never be slaughtered.

The manners of the Amatembu (Tambookie) Nation differ, in some respects, from those of the Amaxosa (Caffre) Nation, relative to the death, interment, &c., of Chiefs. The Amatembu do not immediately, on the death of a Chief, flee to the woods to mourn, as is the case with the Amaxosa: indeed the differences were so great, that my Interpreter appeared nearly as ignorant of the manner as we were ourselves.

As soon as we arrived at the kraal, we desired permission to go and see the body; but they objected, saying, when it was brought out we should see it in common with themselves. Instead of bringing the body out of the hut by the