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Citation |
- Permanent Link:
- https://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00082649/00001
Material Information
- Title:
- God's earth, or, Well worth a missionary book for boys and girls
- Portion of title:
- Well worth
- Creator:
- Stock, Sarah Geraldina, 1839-1898
Jas. Truscott & Son ( Binder )
Church Missionary Society ( publisher )
- Place of Publication:
- London
- Publisher:
- Church Missionary Society
- Publication Date:
- 1894
- Language:
- English
- Physical Description:
- viii, 104 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.
Subjects
- Subjects / Keywords:
- Christian life -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh )
Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh ) Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh ) Missions -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh ) Missionaries -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh ) Voyages and travels -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh ) Glory of God -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh ) Animals -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh ) Natural history -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh ) Eskimos -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh ) Igloos -- Juvenile fiction ( lcsh ) Jas. Truscott & Son -- Binders' tickets (Binding) -- 1894 ( rbbin ) Bldn -- 1894
- Genre:
- Binders' tickets (Binding) ( rbbin )
novel ( marcgt )
- Spatial Coverage:
- England -- London
- Target Audience:
- juvenile ( marctarget )
Notes
- General Note:
- Bound by Jas. Truscott & Son.
- Statement of Responsibility:
- by Sarah Geraldina Stock.
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- University of Florida
- Holding Location:
- University of Florida
- Rights Management:
- This item is presumed to be in the public domain. The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries respect the intellectual property rights of others and do not claim any copyright interest in this item. Users of this work have responsibility for determining copyright status prior to reusing, publishing or reproducing this item for purposes other than what is allowed by fair use or other copyright exemptions. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions may require permission of the copyright holder. The Smathers Libraries would like to learn more about this item and invite individuals or organizations to contact The Department of Special and Area Studies Collections (special@uflib.ufl.edu) with any additional information they can provide.
- Resource Identifier:
- 026968369 ( ALEPH )
ALH8353 ( NOTIS ) 222019887 ( OCLC )
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Me ADE Sovoper
; yo
A GORGE IN THE YANG-TSE,
God’s Earth;
or,
Well Worth.
C
Rook for Bovs and Girls.
| 6
A sissionary
By SARAH GERALDINA STOCK,
Author of “ Lessons on Israel in Egypt and in the Wilderness,’ “ The Story
of Uganda,†&e., &e.
Sowsort :
CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY,
SALISBURY SauARE, E.C.
11sec.
Londen :
Printed by Jis. Truscorr & Son,
Suffolk Lane, E.C.
CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
INTRODUCTION ; : , ; . ; . . : ; . . vii
I. THE ARCHING Sky; or, LovE on HIGH ; . . . . : . oI
Il. Tue Bittows’ Play; or, THe Great HIGHWAY
III. Mountain HEIGHTS; or, GLORIOUS SIGHTS ; 16
IV. Rivers FLowinc; or, Our AND IN GornG . , 26
V. SPREADING PLAINS; OR, PRAYER AND PAINS . : ; : . . . 36
VI. Forest Ways; or, PAINS AND PRAISE. : : ; . : : 44
VIL. UpLanp VALES; OR, PLEASANT TALES. : : ; : : , » 55
VIII. Ice anp Snow; or, HE witt Go ; ; . ; : ; . , 62
IX. Great LAKES; OR, STRANGE MISTAKES . : : ' : ; A . 70
X. EARTHQUAKE, STORM, AND FLoop; or, ALL THINGS WoRK FoR Goop . 76
XI, Witp anp TAME; oR, IN His Name, Tc ; . , ; . 88
XII, Or Every TRIBE AND NATION; OR, A WONDERFUL SALVATION : : 96
EIST “OF. ILLUSTRATIONS:
PAGE
A Gorge in the Yang-tse Frontispiece
The Egyptian Sphinx. 3
Brahmin Worshipping the Sun 4
A Chagga Palm . 5
A Chagga Storehouse 5
An Ancient Ship 10
A Steamer going down the Riv er : II
On the Track of Out-going Missionaries—
Port Said 1212
On the Track of Outs -going Mision e
Suez Canal 13
Mrs. Hinderer 14
Near the Summit 16
‘Looking down on things below 17
In Sierra Leone : 19
At Rabai (Sketch by Bion Tucker) 20
Graves of Early Missionaries in East Africa 21
In the Hills of China 22
In the Himalayas. 23
A Toda 2 : : : 24
‘“ Gliding peeeaiily Peaweay ... Woods’? 26
Traders’ Boats on the Niger : 27
Niger Scenes 28, 2
Banks of the Nile at Ghiveh 30
On the Yang-tse River at Ichang 31
Boat ascending Rapids on Chinese River 32
On the Banks of the Yang-tse River 33
A Mission Station in Tinnevelly 37
Palmyra Palms and Palmyra Climber 38
‘“ They talked to all who would listen†39
The Rev. John Thomas 40
Nuddea District Associated Byngencts ; 41
“A Watery Journey without a Boat†43
West African Fan Palms 44
Oil Palms in West Africa 45
A Scene in West Africa . 47
Entrance to Palisaded Village 48
Scene in Taveta (Sketch by Bishop Tucker) 49
The Rev. Henry Baker, of Travancore 50
An Arrian Village 51
Crossing a River with evans 2
A Ceylon Village Scene 53
In the Valley of the Jordan 54
The Vale of Kashmir .
PAGE
A Town in the Vale of Kashmir 56
Kashmir Houses . 57
Temple at Bezwada 58
Prayer House - 59
Chinese Catechists . 60, 61
A Missionary in Travelling Dies 63
Bishop Horden, of Moosonee . 64
Moose Factory, Capital of the Dione of
Moosonee 65
Albany, Hudson’s Bay, Dice ae Moosonee 65
Eskimo and Igloes 68
Sunrise on the Victoria Nyaa (Sketch Le
Bishop Tucker) , Fi 27°70
Map of the Victoria Nyanza 2
Bishop Hannington 73
On Foot in Uganda 74
Mika, a Christian pee in Wena 75
tS Come over and help us’ “977
A Village in Japan near the Scene of the
Earthquake 79
After the Barhonake = Tannen ceepine
in the open air . ; 80
Some Effects of the Bewhauaken in een 81
Funeral of one of the Victims at Daybreak. 81
An Arab Dhow 83
Storm on the Victoria ganze (Sketch by
Bishop Tucker) 84
Zanzibar (Sketch by Bishop Tucker) 85
Hospital at Quetta (back view) 87
Just in Time! . : . 89
Sacred Bulls gl
An East African Lion 92
An African Camp by Night 93
A Snake Charmer : 04
An Arab Horseman 95
Druids’ Stones : 96
A Sikh of the Punjab . 98
A Native of Bengal . : 99
The Nations of the Earth 100, IOI
A Scene in Ceylon 102
An Eastern Idol . L038
The Lost Sheep 104,
Miscellaneous 1, 2, 8, Ss 15, 35, 36, 62, 78, 88,
99, 94, 95
God’s Qarth;
Cell Udorta.
“Stee *
SSO:
\
INTRODUCTION.
AVE you ever thought how it is that
without leaving your own country,
or even your own home, you can know some-
thing of what other countries are like, all over
the world? How is it that nice books have
been written to tell you these things? It is because men—and a few
women too—have taken the trouble to go and find out all about them. If
they had not taken long and toilsome journeys, and gone through many
dangers and hardships, we should have had no geography books, and no
nice stories of travellers. There are so many curious and beautiful things
in the world that they thought it well worth doing.
But there are many sad things to be seen, and many sad sounds are
going up to God from the earth that He once made “ very good.†For it
has been spoiled by sin. And yet God did not give it up. You know what
it cost Him to save sinners. He “spared not His only begotten Son, but
vill “ Well worth†doing.
delivered Him up for us all’? (Rom. viii. 32). He thought it we// worth the
cost because He “loved the world.â€
Millions of people all over the world have never heard this. Where
some have heard a little they want more teachers to help them to under-
stand it, and God has charged those who know the good news to carry it
to others.
Is this an easy matter? Not at all. It means leaving home, and
friends, and comforts. It means long journeys, learning difficult languages,
living among strange people, much danger, much fatigue. When a
missionary goes to visit people who have never yet had any one to teach
them, they cannot believe he has come to do them good. Sometimes they
think he is a wicked man who dares not stay in his own country! Some-
times they fancy he wants to take away their land, to get power over them
and injure them. When they begin to understand what he says, many are
angry with him. They are slow to learn, they are forgetful, they are
changeable. You know the great enemy, Satan, delights to have people
sitting in darkness, so he tries to keep them from letting in the light. The
missionary has many a hard struggle, and he is often weary. But he is
happy too, for he loves the work, and since God thought it wel/ worth
giving His Son for sinners, the missionary thinks it ze// worth spending his
life in making known the good news, for Christ’s sake.
I want to take you to some different parts of God’s earth, and show
you what His servants are doing there, and how He has blessed them,
And I am sure you will think it eed? worth doing what you can to help
them.
Gov’s ‘BarRTH.
CHAPTER I.
THE ARCHING SKY, OR, LOVE ON HIGH.
O you think it strange that our first chapter should be about the sky ?
That is not the earth, you may think. But what would our
earth be without the sky? If we were like moles, burrowing in the ground,
perhaps we could manage without it! But as we are human beings, living
on the outer surface of the globe, the sky is as necessary to us as the
ground under our feet. Besides, the sky which we see does belong to
the earth. For we see only part of the atmosphere which surrounds us,
the “firmament,†or expanse which God spread over the earth when He
created it, like a tent (Gen. i. 6—8; Isa. xl. 22), and it is through this
firmament that the wonderful “lights†which He made and appointed
to govern the day and the night shine down upon us.
You know that these lights are far, far away. Even the moon is
two hundred and forty thousand miles distant, while the sun is as far off as
B
2 What the Sunbeams do.
ninety-one million of miles, and the stars farther still !
And from that far distance the sunbeams, in al! their
» warmth and beauty and power, come to our little
world, so small in comparison with their wonderful
home. They paint our fields and our flowers, they
make the little buds open into blossoms, they lie lovingly
on the sea, and light up even the little pools. And they shine
through our windows, and their soft warm touch brings bright-
ness into our homes. I am sure you like a fine, sunshiny morning; a
holiday is twice as pleasant if the sun smiles upon you and the sky
is blue.
I knew a little girl who was feeling very happy one bright spring day ;
she looked up at the smiling sky overhead, and said in
her soft little prattle, “Jesus made that sky; Jesus is
God, but I like to call Him Jesus.†You see she looked
up beyond the sky to the Maker and Giver of all, and
His love made her heart glad.
Nearly three thousand years ago a shepherd boy
was watching over his father’s sheep by night. He, too, looked up at the
great arch of heaven spread out above him, and he thought how wonderful
it was that the God who had made that sky with all its glories cared for
men and women down here. Do you remember what David said about it ?
“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the
stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of
him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?†(Ps. viii. 3, 4). Yes,
just as the sky so far, far away over your head seems to reach down and
clasp the earth all round, so the love of God on high comes down and
embraces this world of ours—comes; down to you and to me that it may
make us holy and happy.
You all know this. You have heard that “the heavens declare the
glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handi-
workâ€; and “As the heavens are high above the
earth, so great is Ilis mercy toward them that fear
Him†(Ps. xix. 1, ciii. 11). But there are millions
who never heard it, and many of them have never
Sun, AToon, and Stars. 3
THE EGYPTIAN SPHINX. (See p. 4.)
understood the message given by God’s wondrous works, but have
worshipped ¢hem instead of Him.
The ancient Egyptians used to worship their bright clear sky asa
goddess, under the name of Neith. But this was only one of their deities.
They worshipped bulls, beetles, and crocodiles as well. The ancient Hindus,
when they saw the refreshing showers come down on their parched land,
thought Indra, the rain-god, had sent them. But Indra was only one among
many. A missionary tells us that the wild Masai tribes in East Africa have
one word for sky and rain, zgaé, and that this is their word for God. But
of Him who sends “rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts
with food and gladness†(Acts xiv. 17), they know nothing,
Most nations have worshipped the sun and the moon, and even the
stars. The Syrian idols of whom we read in the Old Testament, Baal and
Ashtoreth, represented the sun and the moon, and if you turn to 2 Chron.
Xxxili. 5, you will find that Manasseh, the wicked king of Judah, who
4 A horrible “ Dance.â€
succeeded the good Hezekiah, actually built altars in the court of the
temple of God for “all the host of heaven.â€
I daresay you know that our forefathers called the days of the week
after the idols they worshipped, and the first two were Sun-day and Moon-
day. Have you seen a picture of the Sphinx, that great colossal figure of
Egypt with the head of a man and the body of a lion? This figure is
believed to have been built to represent the sun-god, and there used to bea
shrine between the huge paws, where worship was paid toit. The heavenly
bodies were adored also in Arabia, until the false prophet Mohammed
arose.
Some of the North American Indians have a great reverence for the
sun, and keep a festival
once a year in its honour.
At this festival the young
men used to go through
a most frightful perform-
ance called the sun-dance.
It consisted in swinging
by ropes passed through
their flesh until they were
torn and bleeding and
exhausted. This was
thought a very fine thing
to do. But I am glad
to tell you that since the
news of a God on high,
who loves and who sent
His Son to die for sinners,
has been brought them,
this horrible “dance†has
stopped.
There is a place in
New Guinea called Motu-
Motu. Here the sun
used to be regularly wor-
LS
Le
La a
BRAHMIN WORSHIPPING THE SUN,
fi i “ Waiting for what ?â€
] pr
<7
WS
ur
Nis
Y
shipped at certain seasons. The people would put
on their best clothes, and sit up all night to watch
for sunrise. When at last the sun appeared they
would bow their heads and pray to it, until it got high
{inthe sky. How sad to have waited and watched,
YN and then to pray toa thing that cannot hear! How
much happier those who can say, like David: “ My
soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch
for the morning: I say, more than they that watch
for the morning†(Ps. cxxx. 6).
y ii Bishop Tucker, who reached East Africa the
Ze second time two years ago, sent home this telegram
to the Church Missionary Society :—
a “ Africa Waiting.â€
Waiting for what? Waiting for the Sun of
Righteousness to rise and shine and chase away
the darkness; waiting for the good news of God’s
love to sinners; waiting for men—and women too—to come out and tell
it! Yes! Africa is waiting, though the Africans do not know it.
And India is waiting too. If you were to go to India you might see
the Brahmins coming out at sunrise to perform their devo-
tions, and often standing still at them all day. And every day
they say this prayer to the sun out of their ancient books :—
“Let us meditate on that excellent glory of the divine
Vivifier [that is, Life-giver]. May he enlighten our under-
standing !â€
A CHAGGA PALM,
Is it not our business to help them to know
the true Life-giver ?
On the slopes of the great snow-crowned moun-
tain, Kilima-Njaro, in Kast Africa, is a country called
Chagga. The people of Chagga think all their bless-
ings come from the sun, which they call era, and erua
is their word for.God. A Chagga man told a mis-
sionary that the sun was the greatest of all things. 3
A CHAGGA STOREHOUSE, °
6 “ Bwana Isa’s Match.â€
“But,†said the missionary, “which is greater, the candle, or the man
who makes and lights it?â€
“The man who made it,†was the reply.
“Then,†said the missionary, “don’t you see that the sun is God’s
candle? He made it, and He lit it.â€
He went on to tell the man of the Lord, the Sun of Righteousness,
who makes dark hearts bright and bad people good.
“What is his name?†said the man.
“Bwana Isa†[Lord Jesus].
When they came to say good-bye the moon was shining brightly, and
the missionary remarked how beautiful it was. “That,†said the man, “is
Bwana Isa’s watch.†It was a pretty saying, but you know it is really just
the contrary. The moon does not light the sun, but God uses the sun to
light up the dark moon, and it is because the moon is turned to the sun and
reflects its light that we get the lovely silver moonlight. Every Christian
ought to be like the moon; his face turned towards JESUS, the Sun of
Righteousness, so that he may reflect His glory, and help to light up the
dark world. For where the earthly sun is brightest, the world is often
darkest! And the people who worship the sun know that it can give
them no help in the hour of trial and sorrow. It is grand and glorious,
and it warms them, and it ripens their fruits, but it cannot touch the
sorrowful heart.
A missionary was one day preaching in China, and telling the people
how ‘‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.â€
A Chinaman stood by, listening intently to all that was said. When the
missionary had finished this man spoke out with a loud voice and said,
“ Ever since I was a child my heart has been full of hunger. I used to look
up at midday to the bright sun and say, ‘O sun! take the hunger off my
heart!’ But the sun did not hear me. Then at night I would look up to
the moon and say, ‘O moon! take the hunger off my heart!’ But the moon
never helped me. All my life my heart has been hungry. But to-day I
have heard that God loves me, and that He sent His Son to die for me; and
the hunger is gone from my heart.â€
There is a country in East Africa called Giriama. It is full of hills and
“Tf we did our auty —.†7:
valleys and forests, and the peopl are a fine race. But what is their idea
of God? They call the sky AZuungu, and this is their word for the Creator
also. And what do you think the neighbours say when a little baby is born
in Giriama? Do they say, “God bless it� Ohno! They think if God
notices the child some harm will surely come to it. So they say, “May God
Sorget it!â€
The fact is, that the Heathen are nearly always afraid of the gods they
worship. They fancy many of them are envious and cruel, and think they
must be kept quiet by offerings. A lady travelling in North China passed
by a bridge over a river. The arches of the bridge rested on massive piers
sunk in the sand. She wrote, “There is probably the body of a child buried
beneath each of those piers, the girls on one side and the boys on the other.â€
It seems that the people thought the way to make some of their bridges safe
was to bury a little living child just where each pier was to be sunk, thinking
that would please their gods. The poor parents whose little ones were taken
away for this purpose had some money given them, and they never spoke of
the children again. Is it not true that “the dark places of the earth are full
of the habitations of cruelty� (Ps. xxiv. 20.)
Do you not long for more missionaries to go out and tell these poor
heathen of the love of God ?
“Did God love me like that,†said a poor Hindu who heard the Gospel
for the first time, “and no one ever told me before ?â€
A. poet once wrote that—
“ There are million hearts accurst where no fair sunbeams shine,
And there are million hearts athirst for Love’s immortal wine.â€
That is true; and it is the love of God they are thirsting for, whether
they know it or not. Nothing else can satisfy them; and he wrote another
true thing—
“ This world is full of beauty, as angel-worlds above ;
And if we did our duty, it might be full of love.â€
If all who knew the love of God had tried to let others hear of it too,
there would not be millions whom the news has never reached. Shall we,
each one, try to do our part now?
iyo SSS ee pz ag Ye
CHAPTER Iz.
THE BILLOWS’ PLAY, OR, THE GREAT
HIGHIWAY.
OWN on the beach, with the waves roll-
eee ing up, all sparkling in the sunshine
ALOE ca —is it not pleasant? Here are some children
building a castle of sand, with a moat round
it for the waves to fill) Others are throwing stones into the water, trying
how far they can send them. Some peopie have brought their books
and are busily reading, while others are watching the waves as they rise
and fall, and creep gradually a little higher and a little higher, on the shore.
Which shall we do? I want you to sit down with me and have a talix
about those waves. They are very pretty to look at, and the fresh breeze
that plays over them, and the salt spray, bring colour to many a pale
cheek, and make the tired ones feel ever so much stronger. But that is
not all. Look at the boat that has just pushed off from the beach. See
how lightly it rides on the billows, farther and farther, till it is a long
way off. Look at that ship in the distance, moving so gracefully along
the water. There is another, and another, going in different directions. A
girl who saw the sea for the first time, after she had watched the boats,
and the fishing smacks, and the steamers, said, “Why, there is a great
A Road which is free to all. 9
deal more going on at sea than there is on the land!†And she was not
wrong. For the sea is the Great Highway of the world, the road which
is free to all, and which will take you right round the earth.
Suppose you are staying in the country, and you see from the window
a hill, or a farm-house, or a railway-bridge, and you think you should like
to get there. You start off, down the garden, perhaps, and across a field,
because that looks the shortest way. But then you come to a high fence ;
the ground beyond it is private, and you are not allowed to pass. Or there
is a marsh in the way, where you would find no safe footing, or a wood, full
of thorns and briars, and no footpath. You find you must come back.
And next time you start on your expedition you take the high road.
It is very much like that in the great world. Suppose a man wanted
to travel from France to India. He might go by way of Germany, Austria,
and Russia. Then he would have to cross the mountains, and would get
into strange countries where the people might not allow him to pass. But
if, instead of doing this, he got into a steamer at Marseilles, he would be
carried along the water highway without any exertion until he reached the
shores of India. I doubt whether English people would ever have seen
South Africa if they had had to begin at the north and make their way
right through the Continent. There are deserts and rivers in the way, and
wild tribes who will not always let a stranger pass. But you can reach the
“Cape†quite easily by the Great Highway, which is free to all—and which
never wants mending, like some of the roads at home.
It took men some time to find this out. After they began to build
sailing ships they only ventured to sail along the coast, where they could
see the land. After a time they grew bolder, and steered their course by
the stars. And so in time men got from Egypt and from Syria to Greece,
and from Greece to Italy, while the ships of Tyre and Sidon sailed all along
the north coast gh
of Africa as far
as Spain, and per-
haps farther still.
But no one aos
ventured across ©
the great ocean.
Down at the Docks.
Now it is quite different. That
wide, wonderful highway of water is
constantly crossed and re-crossed by
ships passing to and fro. Some of
you can tell what has made the
difference. You know that wonderful
little needle called the magnet, which always points to the North Pole.
lerhaps you have a little compass of your own, and can tell, even when the
sun is hidden, where the north is and where the south. It was in the
fifteenth century that the compass was invented, and this made it first safe
to steer a vessel across the ocean far out of sight of land. Since then the
Great Highway, onc2 looked upon as a watery desert, has become well
known, and for thousands of miles the captain of a ship is as sure of his
way as the driver of an omnibus in London! And the waves, which look
as if they meant just to play and enjoy themselves, are really bearing
vessels full of goods and passengers to every quarter of the globe. Some
of these passengers go across the ocean for pleasure or for business. Some
go to earn their living or make their fortune abroad. Some go for their
health. And some go for the best purpose of all—to carry the glad news
of a Saviour to the dark parts of the earth.
I wish you could go down to the docks some morning in September
or October, when one of the great “P. and O.†(Peninsular and Oriental
Company's) steamships is about to start. How interested you would be to
see the huge vessels, the crowds of people going to and fro from quay to
deck, the Lascars from the East, in their white dresses and red scarves,
running up and down with luggage. You would like to walk round the
deck, and down below to see the beautiful saloons and the cosy cabins
where the travellers must stow away their things in a very small space, and
be careful not to tread on one another’s toes! But look at the little group
gathered together at one end of the deck. They all kneel down and pray
together. That is a band of missionaries, with friends who have come to
bid them farewell. There are a few tears shed, for many are parting from
fathers and mothers, and brothers and sisters. But presently a sweet hymn
of praise rises from the group :—
nae AE
= Pea
AN ANCIENT SHIP. (See f. ¢.)
‘All hail the power of Jesu’s Name!â€
Steaming Away. II
It is in the power of that Name they are going forth, and so their faces are
bright and their hearts are brave. “I felt,†said one young lady who was
leaving all her relatives behind, “that I was going somewhere with Fesus.â€
At length the last farewell is said, the friends have to leave the ship, which
presently begins to move slowly away, but they stand on the quay waving
their handkerchiefs till the travellers pass out of sight. Down the Thames
goes the huge steamer, and in a few hours she has reached the Great
Highway ; she is out on the ocean.
For the present, however, she keeps not far from land, rounding the
coast of Kent and passing through the Straits of Dover into the English
Channel. Though the Channel is pretty wide it is very full of vessels
passing and re-passing, and as much care has to be taken to steer the ship
safely as to drive a carriage in one of the much-crowded streets of London,
It is a very pleasant road in fine weather. But one vessel carrying a party
of lady missionaries to India was overtaken there by a violent storm. The
waves washed over the deck, and carried away some of the deck-chairs they
A STEAMER GOING DOWN THE RIVER.
12 Storms and Straits.
ON THE TRACK OF OUT-GOING MISSIONARIES—PORT SAID,
had brought to use on the voyage. Down below some of the passengers
were much alarmed, and some were ill. The young missionaries were not
afraid, for they knew that they were in their Father’s keeping, and that “the
sea is His, and He made it†(Ps. xcv. 5), and they did all they could to
help and cheer those around them.
By-and-by the vessel rounds Cape Ushant and soon enters the Bay of
Biscay, famous for gales and storms. There are not many who escape
being ill in this Bay! Then past the north-west corner of Spain, and along
the coast of Portugal, until at last the Straits of Gibraltar are reached—by
night, perhaps, when the tall Rock towers up grandly in the moonlight.
Through a Canal. 13
Now the party are in that part of the highway so well known to the ancient
Greeks and Romans, the Mediterranean Sea. Beautifully blue is this sea,
but often stormy; and as they pass Malta the travellers call to mind
that dangerous voyage made by St. Paul as a prisoner, when the ship was
wrecked off the island (Acts xxvii.) Farther and farther westward, until
they reach Port Said in Egypt. Years ago travellers had to disembark at
Alexandria, proceed overland to Suez, and there take another vessel—for the
Isthmus of Suez then united Asia and Africa. This was a great hindrance,
and was the most troublesome part of the journey, and every one was very
glad when the Frenchman, M. de Lesseps, succeeded in cutting a canal
right through the Isthmus, so that vessels can pass through into the Red
ON THE TRACK OF OUL-GOING MISSIONARIES—SUEZ CANAL.
C.M.S. Missionary in the Yoruba Country, 1852—1869.
Please think !
Sea. In the Red Sea it is very
hot, and all are thankful to get
to Aden, at the farther end of it.
From Aden some will go south-
ward along the east coast of Africa,
and some westward through the
Indian Ocean, to various ports of
India, Ceylon, China, or Japan.
But some missionaries go
quite another way. They take
ship at Liverpool or Southamp-
ton, where steamers are starting
for many different places. Some
are bound for West Africa. They,
too, will pass through the Bay of
Biscay, and go on southward, past
Madeira to Sierra Leone or Lagos,
or farther still, to the mouth of
the river Congo, or yet farther,
Died Fune 6th, 1870. to the Cape. Others will cross
the Atlantic Ocean, and land in
North America. Some of these are going to work among the Red Indians.
Others will travel by rail right across the American continent, and then.
cross the great Pacific Ocean to Japan.
Many of these—and others too—leave England in September or
October. There are generally several bands of missionaries going out
at this time. But some will start at other times of the year. You may be
sure there are always missionaries afloat cn the Great Highway, fresh ones
going to countries they have never yet seen, sick ones and tired ones coming
home to rest, many who have rested going back to their beloved work.
Will you think of them sometimes? God is thinking of them and
caring for them, and He likes His children to do the same. Often these
voyages to distant lands are pleasant, but now and then the missionary has
discomforts and trials. I knew a lady who was once in a terrible storm on
the Atlantic, when the ship was tossed up and down like a plaything among
MRS. HINDERER,
“ No more Sea. 15
the mighty waves. She thought of a friend to whom she had lately said
-good-bye in England, sitting on the beach listening to the gentle plash,
plash of the soft waves over the sand. When yow are listening to that “ plash,
plash,†think of those who are far from home, and it may be sick or in
danger. Mrs. Hinderer, who was seventeen years in the Yoruba country,
made several voyages, and used sometimes to suffer very much. She even
said she had felt as if she would be so thankful for some one to take her up
and throw her into the sea. But she went through it again and again, for
she loved to work for Christ among the black people.
But though there are perils on the sea we ought to be thankful to God
for giving us such a h'ghway. Have you read in the Book of Revelation
that in the “new earth†which God will make some day there shall be no more
sea—and have you ever wondered why?) Many have wondered why ; and
a poet wrote some lines saying how muchhe should miss it! Some people
say it is because the sea separates land from land, and men from men. But
I should not be surprised if there is another reason: there wll be no necd
then of the Great Highway. Yor there will be no strange countries and
strange peoples, and no need of missionaries to travel about with the
Gospel message. All nations will love one another then; and God has
said, “ They shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know Me, from the least of
men to the greatest†(Jer. xxxi. 34). We shall not miss the billows’ play
then, for we shall have something far more beautiful: “The earth shall
be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover
the sea†(Hab. it. 14).
a
fi
Uy)
Ly Mf
By i
f
CHAPTER IL VA Mp ey
Wi) ue 4
MOUNTAIN HEIGHTS ; "|| ue Mh
OR, Se
GLORIOUS SIGHTS. a zo. HT
(
y me e w ae
HICH of you likes a "7 “Ngan THE go ie
good climb uphill?
I think nearly every boy and girl will answer, “I! I!†For, when you are
young and strong, a climb zs delightful, almost better than the quick run
down hill again. I am quite sure when you see a nice hill you want to get
to the top of it. That is generally the case with travellers ; the mountains
they pass may be high and steep, and even crowne1 with snow, but the
young and active always want to get to the top of them. Why is it?
Partly, I expect, because we like to be above everything else, partly because
we like what is a little hard, and partly because of the fine views to be seen
from the mountain tops, looking down on valleys and towns, and woods,
and rivers, and lakes, and perhaps on the clouds below.
Looking Down. 17
If we cannot get up the mountains and look down on things below, we
can sometimes look up to them and see the sunshine lighting them up, and
the shadows playing on their slopes and the grey twilight gathering like a
soft veil about them. These are beautiful sights too.
But mountains, grand and beautiful as they are, seem sometimes very
much in the way. Do you remember how Xerxes, king of Persia, set out
to conquer Greece and found Mount Athos right in the road he wanted to
take? And so he actually sent orders to the mountain to get out of his
way. Of course it stood as still and firm and high as ever, and the foolish,
haughty king found he must either go round it or stay where he was. When
we speak of “mountains in the way,†we mean things that hinder, difficulties
“LOOKING DOWN ON THINGS BELOW,â€
18 Small Beginnings.
which look as though they could not be got over; but there is ove King at
Whose bidding these mountains will move. Find Zech. iv. 7, and see
what the Lord promised to Zerubbabel, the leader of the Jews, when there
were mountains of difficulty in the way of rebuilding the Temple at Jerusalem
—“Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become
a plainâ€â€”and remember how the Lord Jesus said that if His disciples had
faith in Him they might say to such a mountain, “Be thou removed, and
be thou cast into the sea.â€
In the story of Missions there are many mountains—mountains of
difficulty, and actual hills too. It would take a long while to-tell you about
them all, but we will look at a few. But first I want to ask you a question.
What is it that God sees most beautiful upon a mountain? J daresay
before you get to the end of this chapter you will think of the answer.
It was in the year 1799 that a few servants of God met together and
founded the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East, The last
five words of the title are usually dropped now, for the Society started
Missions in the sovth, in New Zealand, and in the zes¢ too, in North
America. There were very few at first who cared to join the new Society,
and though by the close of the first year they had got together about 4911,
they could find no missionaries to send out! Three years later the first
two started for West Africa, but they were both Germans, and for some
time no Englishmen at all offered themselves. The Society has now about
six hundred missionaries in various parts of the world, and every year more
offers of service come in from both men and women. So you see ¢hzs
mountain of difficulty has become a plain.
Some of you have read in another Missionary book called IVhat’s o Clock ?
about Sierra Leone, the ‘ Lion†mountain on the west coast of Africa, with
its sharp peaks rising up into the sky, its green forests, and streams of water
fertilising the valleys where arrowroot, the cocoa plant, tobacco, and the
sugar-cane grow. This was almost the first country occupied by the Church
Missionary Society. Work had been started a little farther to the north,
but it was found best to centre the early efforts of the Society here. The
“Lion†mountain indeed proved a mountain of difficulties, but by God’s
grace the missionaries persevered, and one after another was overcome. I
should like to tell you of one of the smad/ difficulties, and how it was got
Run-away Scholars. 19
over. You have all heard of Adjai
the rescued slave-boy, who later on
became Samuel Crowther,
the first “Black Bishop.â€
When he was at school
at Freetown in Sierra
Leone he was anxious
ei
i yay ye
yu
= Cs,
/ to learn,
i Se : ) and took
i. ae pains to
WIR oN f
at ey rity Y ’ j gees Ay
ral My aap vagy |
5 : ui yen y : bis em ? lg % ||
? bs alu (len Lan my
zc ye, CG
ZA | YARKEG wy A YY
csr ° Fines af ry 1 bi),
Narerico “i rg Wy, wl
Sierra Leone / i ie i i
his schoolfellows were
just the contrary. They
thought lessons very tire-
some. At last they ran
away into the “bushâ€
or forest, and would not
come back. By-and-by
a new teacher came to
the school. This was a
lady who knew how to please chil-
dren. She brought nice pictures to
show them, and she taught them to
dance round in a ring and sing—
“This is the way we wash our hands
To go to school in the morning.â€
Little Adjai thought this delightful, and he went off to the bush to tell the
20 Two Men.
Inawk £ fesge es
Hake
AT RABAI. (Sketch by Bishop Tucker.)
boys who had run away what fine times they were having at school. The
runaways came to peep at what was going on, and they were soon at their
lessons again.
Now I must take you right across Africa to a range of hills on the
east coast, overlooking the ocean. They are not very high, but they are
picturesque, and the view you get from them is a lovely one.
Let us look at those hills nearly fifty-three years ago. There are villages
here and there, consisting of houses not unlike bee-hives. The people are
very ignorant and superstitious, and have never yet had a white man to live
among them. Here are two men toiling up a steep ascent to one of the
villages called Rabai. One of them is so ill that he is obliged to ride a
donkey, and he looks more fit to be in his bed than here. The other is
climbing on foot by his side. Their names are Ludwig Krapf and
John Rebmann, and they are the first missionaries to East Africa. They
Sorrow and Loss. 21
are going to found a little mission station at Rabai, for the “elders†of the
village have given them permission to live there. And then—what next?
Ah! There are grand thoughts in their minds. They are not going to be
content: with telling only the people of Rabai about the Saviour. They
look forward to other missionaries joining them, and to the Gospel being
carried to new and unknown nations whom no traveller has yet reached.
They are taking possession of East Africa in the name of the Lord Jesus,
these poor, sick, weary-looking men! Do you want to know how they got
on? They met with disappointment after disappointment. Other men
who were sent out to help them either fell sick, or went home again. One
of these helpers died, and Krapf lost his wife and child. They suffered
hardships of all kinds, and at last, after nine years, Krapf was too worn out
to remain in Africa any longer. He went home to Germany and busied
himself with preparing graminars and dictionaries of the strange African
languages for other missionaries who should follow. Rebmann stayed at
his post until he was old and blind. He had a few Christian converts
GRAVES OF EARLY MISSIONARIES IN EAST AFRICA,
22 The gain that came after.
around him, and that was all. What had become of the grand plans these
men had cherished for Africa ?
They have been wonderfully fulfilled! If you could stand on those
hills now you would see a Christian village, with a Christian church, and
you might hear hymns of praise going up to God. The people could tell
you of another Christian settlement down below the hills, on the beautiful
harbour, called Frere Town, where hundreds of people are living happily,
who were once poor slaves in chains and starving. They could tell you of
numbers of missionaries who have gone far into the country, north and
west, carrying the Gospel message, and of the Word of God known and read
and loved in Giriama, in Usagara, in Uganda, and a great deal more that I
\\ Ki
Z: \\
IN THE HILLS OF CHINA.
A lovely Land. 23
\\\
\\
IN THE HIMALAYAS, (See /. 25.)
cannot write of now. For we must say good-bye to Africa,and speed away
over the sea to China. :
China is a land full of grand hills and lovely valleys. Some of these
hills are very steep, and the missionary has a hard climb over them
as he travels from place to place. Sometimes the path is formed of
hundreds and hundreds of stone-steps. Now and then the traveller comes
toa deep ravine between the hills, and how do you think it is crossed? By
rude bridges formed of three or four planks laid side by side, which tremble
as you pass over them. One missionary, not liking to trust himself to such
a shaky bridge, went all the way down the hill to the stream below, made
his way over it, and then mounted the steep rocks on the other side, and '
so reached the path again. Sometimes the road winds up and up for many
miles and goes round very sharp corners. A lady missionary was being
carried over the hills in a chair (the usual way for women to travel in China),
24 Hanging over a Precipice.
and the narrow
path made such
a sudden bend
as the bearers
passed round
one of these cor-
ners that the
chair hung right
over a precipice!
They got round,
however, in
safety, but a few
moments later
the chair gave
way, and the
lady fell to the
ground, Had
this happened at
the corner she
must have been
dashed down the
precipice.
Many of the
hills are covered
with the tea-
plant, and some-
oe
Lh Pre ;
AE Ne yf weary climb the
traveller finds
himself ona level
plateau, where
there are vil-
lages, and fields
of rice and of
corn. Some of the high peaks are of curious shapes, and often the rocks
A
AN
\
\
{
The Messengers of Peace. 25
are of various colours, and silvery streams leap down into the rivers below.
But are there no other glorious sights to be seen? Yes, indeed. But
I cannot now stop to tell you of towns and villages where people have
learned to love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many hills of
difficulty in the way, but we know our King is able to overcome them all.
We must now turn to India, where are some of the loftiest mouritains
in the world, the snow-clad Himalayas, a fine sight from the plain below!
But I want to take you to some hills not quite so hard to climb as these.
There are many in various parts of India. Long, long ago, before
William the Conqueror came to England, there were several races of people
living in India. But others, stronger than they, came and drove them from
their homes and took possession of their lands. The Aborigines, as they
are called (or earliest inhabitants), fled to the mountains, and their descen-
dants live there to this day, and are quite different from the ordinary
Hindus. Some are very ignorant, and have strange ideas and customs of
their own. There are the Santhals and Paharis and Kéls in Bengal, the
Gonds in Central India, the Bheels in Western India, the Kois near the
river Godavery, and the Arrians in Travancore.
There is another strange tribe living among the Nilgherry Hills, the
Todas. They are tall and strong and very proud, but also very ignorant.
A missionary at Ootacamund has begun to visit them and tell them of
Christ, and I am sure that when God looks down on these hills He sees a
beautiful sight. Not churches, and chapels, and worshippers. These are
not come yet. Have you found out what the sight is? You will find it in
Isa. lit. 7: “ How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that
bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace !â€
But we must not say good-bye to the mountains and hills without a
peep at one more—that hill from which the Lord Jesus gazed down upon
Jerusalem, and from which He afterwards ascended to heaven. The feet
of the messengers of peace are on Mount Olivet too. One lady went out
with her missionary daughter, and lived on Olivet in an ‘‘upper room †in
the house of an Arab sheikh, that she might show “a light for Jesus†there.
She was the friend of all the Arab families round about, and they said of
her, “The Sitt (lady) seemed to care for nothing but Jesus.†After two
years God called her home, but her daughter remains there still.
CHAPTER IV.
RIVERS FLOWING; OR, OUT AND IN GOING.
WONDER what
rivers you have seen ?
Perhaps you are living in
London, and have gone
up and down the Thames
inasteamer. Or perhaps
you live near some
smaller stream, which
glides peacefully between
green fields and woods,
where the trees lean down
and dip their boughs in
the cool water. Or your
river may be a _ little
brook, over which you
can jump without danger.
But a brook is not a river,
you say. Well, if it is
-not a river it is hurrying
on to join some river, and
pour its waters into the
current that is going on
to the sea. That is where
all the brooks and streams
are bound for in the end.
The bright little waves
are all travellers, making
“GLIDING PEACEFULLY BETWEEN . . . WOODS,†haste to get out into the
Brooks of Living Water. 27
great ocean. But they
are travellers who do
good as they go along,
bringing coolness and
refreshment and making
pleasant music, and the
land would be dry, and
brown, and__ parched
without them. Don’t
you think they are
something like mission-
aries? But you know
all the children of God
ought to be like brooks
of living water, giving
out to others the life and the gladness which God has given them.
How can they do this? Do you know where the brooks get their
water? It comes welling up out of the earth. Yes, but first it has come
down from the clouds, and sunk right into the ground, and become a little
spring of water. If you look at Deut. viii. 7, xi. 11, you will see that
the land God gave to Israel was a land of fountains and depths, and a
land “that drinketh water of the rain of heaven.†Without the rain no
brooks, and without the grace of God coming down into the heart, no out-
flowing to do good to the world.
Now, though the brooks, and streams and rivers go ow! from the land
where they first rise, and never stop until they get to the sea, they are very
useful to help you to get ¢z to a country. I once paid a visit to Wiesbaden,
in Germany, a long way from the sea, and, excepting the last three or four
miles, I went the whole of the way by water. Crossing the North Sea in a
large steamer, a smaller one took me up the rivers Scheldt and Rhine
through Holland, and a third farther up the Rhine into Germany. It was
a very easy journey.
Journeys into heathen countries are not easy like this; but it is often
by means of the great rivers that missionaries are able to get into the
interior. The Niger, which falls into the Gulf of Guinea, has been for
TRADERS’ BUATS ON THE NIGER,
28 Slaves for Food.
some years a highway
for the Gospel. Many
trading steamers be-
longing to the Royal
Niger Company go up
and down it; and
Bishop Crowther and
his helpers used to
travel in them, and
founded several Mis-
sion stations on the
river. When Graham
Wilmot Brooke wanted
to get into the Sudan,
that vast - country
stretching right across Africa, to carry the good news to the thousands
there who had never heard of it, he found the river Niger was the best
road for getting in. Before he went up the Niger, he had tried the great
river Congo, which falls into the ocean farther to the south. He had gone
up one of its tributary streams called the Mobangi, hoping to reach the
Sudan that way, but after a time the barbarous tribes on the banks would
not let him go any farther, Very fearful sights he saw on that river.
Sometimes he would hear the monotonous singing of boatmen in the
A CHAPEL ON THE NIGER.
distance, and presently
\ : a == a - oe a boat full of poor
fle ee saeco 2 BS Pees ae slaves would pass by
= - Ale him on the way to one
of the great towns.
You would never guess
what those slaves were
wanted for: not to
work, but to be killed
and used as food! No
wonder the mission-
ary’s heart grew sick
G : YY 7 7 e
HANNS en Vy LS aR
nN ea ihe DEAT TAS at fr
. 4 > SS
i AE Se SS Pee ae i
qi _ Se !
TRADERS’ HOUSES ON THE NIGER,
Up a Great River.
at the sight, and he wondered
if Christians at home really
loved their Lord, while they
let these black people far
away go on in darkness and
wickedness. There are many
missionaries, as you know,
on the Congo now, and God
has greatly blessed their
work. So we hope that
by-and-by they will
make their way up
the Mobangi, and
that the heathen there
may be turned “ from
the power of Satan
unto God.â€
Up the great river
of Egypt, the Nile,
where many people
go for pleasure, for
health,. or to explore
the country, a lady
used to travel with
portions of Scripture
to give to the people
at the different places
on its banks. This
she did in her holiday
time, for she was
mostly hard at work
in the city of Cairo,
gathering in the poor
ragged children, and
teaching them the
NIGER SCENES: Word of God. But it
30 Seven hundred miles of Canal.
aN
5: —Bames
‘a Or THE JNfiue
Av @ mine
(See p. 29.)
is some years
since this lady,
|. Miss M. Whate-
ly, was called
home to the
Saviour’s _ pre-
sence. It was
at one time
hoped that mis-
sionaries would
be able to reach
the interior of
Africa by the
Nile, and some
did go a con-
siderable — dis-
tance by the
river, but the
difficulties were
too many _ to
render it a good
highway.
Passing by
India, without
time to see its
great rivers, not
even the sacred
Ganges, we must
take a glance at the rivers of China. Look them out on the map. The
Chinese found out long ago that a journey by water was the best means
of getting about their country, and they dug canals to join one river with
another, and make these water roads more perfect. One of these, the
Grand Canal, is nearly 700 miles long. There are boats continually
passing up and down the rivers, some with merchandise, and others
carrying passengers from place to place. They have regular hours for
An uncomfortable Fourney. 3I
stopping at the
crowded jetties where
the passengers are
waiting to be picked :
up, and for ten casf,
or one halfpenny, you
can travel thirty or ===
forty miles! But you ON THE YANG-TSE RIVER AT ICHANG, (See p. 33-)
must not expect to
be very comfortable for that price. You may find yourself in such a crowd of
Chinamen that you can hardly move, and if you are going against the wind
you may find the water rather closer than is pleasant, sometimes even coming
right into the boat. But if you like to pay extra they will give you a cabin
to yourself. You would enjoy the sight of the tall mountains towering up
into the sky, and the wonderful gorges, and the busy towns where the water
is covered with other boats. Some of these are steamers, some are junks
with one mast and a square sail, and some are boats rowed with oars.
BOAT ASCENDING RAPIDS ON CHINESE RIVER,
Five Tiny Rooms. 33
But these voyages are not without danger. Far away from the sea, up
among the mountains, there are rapids where the bed of the river suddenly
sinks several feet, and the water rushes swiftly down hill. There are no
locks, as in England, by which boats can be brought in safety through these
dangerous places. A number of men on the shore pull the boats up the
rapids by stout ropes. Now and then, however, it happens that the rope
breaks, the boat is dashed back by the current, and if unhurt, the work of
pulling it up has to be begun over again. In the worst places passengers
are not allowed to remain in the boat, but are put on shore, and have to
make their way to the next safe place for taking the boat again. Going
down the rapids requires great skill on the part of the boatmen, but accidents
do not often happen.
I hardly know what the missionaries would do without these ways of
getting into the country ; even by boat it takes two or three months to reach
the far interior. A party went out in 1891 who were bound for the inland
province of Sz-chuen. They landed at the port of Shanghai, and from
Shanghai you can go by steamer as far up the Yang-tse-kiang as the town
of Ichang. But as they were going a good way beyond Ichang they hired
two house-boats at Hankow, one for the men and one for the women. The
women’s boat was seventy feet long and twelve wide. The captain and
crew occupied both ends, and the travellers a sort of little house in the
middle, with five tiny rooms—not too much for eight women and two
children. They were very thankful that on this boat there were “no rats,
beetles, or insects,†and the water did not get in.
One day they ran into a mud bank, where a boat will sometimes stick
for weeks together. They turned at once to their Father in heaven: God
heard their prayer, and very soon they were afloat again. Another time
they had only just put into a little sheltering creek for the night when a
ON THE BANKS OF THE YANG-TSE RIVER. D
34 “ They could not stay.â€
storm of wind came rushing down the river, and the boats outside were
tossed about in all directions. Before leaving Ichang, where the boat was
prepared for going up the rapids, the boatman killed a fowl, and sprinkled
the blood over the boat in patches, sticking a few feathers in each patch.
Then they lighted candles and put them in the bows of the boat, together
with sticks of incense and bowls of vegetables. This was an offering to
their gods, by means of which they hoped to secure a prosperous voyage.
Sometimes the boat passed by villages on the river's bank, and the
people came out to stare at the foreigners. At one place where the
missionaries went on shore the poor women took hold of their hands, and
said: ‘Come and live with us, and then we can learn about your God.â€
But they could not stay, and no one has yet been to teach these poor
villagers. Sometimes, amongst the loveliest scenery on the river banks,
the hearts of the travellers were saddened by seeing idols carved in the rock
and painted with gay colours. Jam glad to tell you these dear missionarics
reached their destination in safety, and are doing all they can to make
known the good tidings of God’s love in these far-off cities of China.
Now we must bid farewell to China and take a leap right across the
Pacific Ocean to North-West America. What a contrast to the country we
have just left! No vast population, no great cities, no busy merchants, no
industrious labourers, no well-cultivated land with its corn and rice-fields.
One of the great Chinese cities contains more people than all North-West
America. The “Indians,†as the natives are called, are scattered over the
country, far apart from one another, and most of them live by hunting.
There are some fertile patches of land, but the greater part is forest or
prairie. But in one respect there is a likeness to China. The country
abounds in noble rivers, and you can travel over a great part of it almost
entirely by water—that is to say, when the rivers and lakes are not frozen,
as most of them are in winter! Not, however, by regular passage boats, as
in China, except here and there on the larger rivers, where there are now
steamers belonging to the Hudson’s Bay Company.
The Indian canoe is a light, frail boat, made of birch-wood. In many
of the rivers the current is very swift, and it is hard work going against the
stream. Descending the river is not without danger cither, as there are
rocks in the way, and now and then the banks get undermined by the
“Well Worth.†35
water, and a great piece gets loose and topples over into the river. Some-
times the scenery is very beautiful, as the river winds between stcep rocks
and wooded hills, and the trees, and ferns, and flowers come down to the
water’s edge. But there is no shelter for the traveller, as in the Chinese
boats. A missionary had to bring his sick wife for many miles in an open
boat that she might get the nursing and proper food she required.
At times the journey is very monotonous. There is nothing to be
seen but a few log huts on the bank, and hereand there a “ fort†belonging
to the Company. Yct this wide, lone land is a part of God's earth, and it
is well worth these long voyages to reach the precious souls there for
whom Christ died, though they may be few in number. A missionary on
the Peace River was telling one of the “ Beaver†Indians the Gospel story.
After speaking for some time he stopped, thinking the man would be tired.
But the Indian said, “ Why do you stop? Goon, goon. I am starving to
hear such words. I have never heard them before.â€
I wish I could tell you of the Red River, where the first Mission
stations were planted, of the Saskatchewan flowing right across the country
from the Rocky Mountains westward, and the great Mackenzie, with its
large tributaries, and the rivers on the Pacific Coast where Bishop Ridley
has done such stirring work, and many others. Don’t you think we ought
to thank God that he has made these roads of waters by which His Gospel
may be carried to the many thousands stili waiting for it? And will you
pray that many more missionaries may go up and down them with the
joyful news ?
CHAPTER V.
SPREADING PLAINS; OR, PRAYER AND PAINS.
LAINS! Wide stretches of land, flat as far as the eye can see; very
uninteresting and monotonous, you say. Yet there are plains that
are very interesting indeed to some people. I remember travelling through
a part of Belgium where the country was very flat. It was all cut up into
little fields full of different kinds of corn and vegetables. It certainly was
not pretty to look at, but I have no doubt it was very interesting to the
people who owned the fields, who ploughed the ground and sowed the seed,
and tended the plants, and watched for the harvest. You may be sure they
liked the flat ground better than hills and rocks. And I suspect that jou
like the little flat bit of garden which is your own, where you sow your own
seed and gather your own flowers, better than the bank where the wild
primroses grow. It is just the same in the Mission-field. Wherever ground
has been claimed for the Divine Master, and precious seed has been sown,
the place is full of interest to all who have had a share in the work.
Iam going to take you to some of the great plains of India. If you
look at the map you will see that India is something the shape of a V.
Just at the point of the V, but a little on your right hand, you will find a
country about the size of Yorkshire, called Tinnevelly.
It is not a pretty country generally. It is mostly a great plain stretch-
ing from the Ghats mountains on the west to the seashore on the east, with
a few bare rocks scattered here and there. In the larger part, which is
fertile, you would see broad fields of rice and cotton, and I daresay the
people are proud of their fields, But the southern part is miles and miles of
A useful Tree. 37
dry sand, except for a few oases, green patches, where the people are able to
sow alittle. This sand is dotted over with groves of tall, straight, stiff palmyra
trees, which strike their roots so deep into the soil that they are able to find
moisture. They grow to a height of sixty or eighty feet, and are bare
nearly all the way, with a beautiful crown of leaves at the top. The palmyra
is a most useful tree. The leaves serve to roof the houses, and they are also
used for writing-paper. They are cut into thin strips, and then the pretty
Tamil letters are written, or rather engraved, on them with an iron pen.
But the best part of the palmyra is its sap, which is made into sugar, and
forms the principal food of the people. The sap oozes out of the bark, and
is collected in small vessels, and the S/axars climb the tall trees for this
purpose two or three times a day.
But these industrious people have a very dreadful religion. The place
of worship in every heathen village is a fez kovil, or devil’s house, and the
worship consists of wild dances and singing and offerings to turn away the
anger of the evil spirits. In the great city of Tinnevelly isa temple to Siva,
the Destroyer, one of the chief Hindu deities, and his wife. There are a
thousand Brahmins to wait upon these images and take care of the treasures
A MISSION STATION IN TINNEVELLY.
“Much too holy.â€
Missionary Society
was founded there
were a few Chris-
tians here. The
Society has worked
here since 1820,
and the Society for
the Propagation of
the Gospel has also
done a great deal
PALMYRA PALMS. (Sce p. 37.) for the people. At
first it was only the
southern part of the district that heard the Gospel,
~ and the converts were mostly found among the poor,
despised Shanars. But in 1854 Mr. Ragland, Mr.
Fenn, and Mr. Meadows began to visit the northern
part, carrying their goods in carts drawn by bullocks,
and pitching their tents wherever they could find a
little shade—for the sun is very hot in Tinnevelly !
They talked to all who would listen, and gave away
portions of Scripture. At first it was hard to get a
hearing, and the people would throw dust at them
and order them away. One farmer who read the
Scripture portion given him said that the religion of
Jesus was good, but much too holy fora Hindu. He
did not believe a Hindu could really lead a Christian
life, and thought those who professed to do so did it
for the sake of pay! At last he went to stay with a
Christain native, to watch how he got on, and he
which are supposed to belong to them ;
there is a tank for them to bathe in, and
a platform where they sit in the cool!
Missionaries have been working in
the Tinnevelly country for more than a
hundred years. Even before the Church
A PALMYRA CLIMBER,
(See p. 37.)
Long Names. 39
soon saw that this man was living a new life! His heart was touched, he
asked that he too might be baptized, and he became a true follower of the
Lord Jesus.
Some of the Christians left their heathen homes and settled in a place
together, making a little Christian village. They would there build a little
church, with a roof of palmyra leaves, and get a Native minister for it.
hon} a
) y as SERS Se
So SATAN IA » = E ; =
SR Ae
. —
“THEY TALKED TO ALL WHO WOULD LISTEN,â€
The first of these Native pastors was the Rev. John Devasagayam, whose
portrait I remember being shown at a children’s missionary meeting when
I was a little girl. He was ordained in1830. The Christian villages often
have very pretty names. One is called Kadachapuram, or “Grace Village†;
another, Suviséshapuram, or “ Gospel Village.†I think you will like the
English names best. Another is the village of “True Wisdom,†or Meng-
ndnapuram. “Try to remember this name, for the village is the most
A green oasis.
remarkable one of all.
It was situated in
such a desert of sand
that the natives called
the place Saba Nil-
ano (“Soil under a
Curseâ€); but Mr.
Thomas, who went to
live there in 1837, dug
wells and improved
the place, and soon
the sandy desert was
changed into a green
oasis. Here the
precious seed of the
Gospel took root and
grew in ‘many hearts.
Mr. Thomas laboured
here for thirty-three
years, and had the
joy of seeing twelve
boys whom he had taught ordained as ministers to their own countrymen.
There are several mission stations now in North Tinnevelly, all under the
care of Native pastors.
In the town of Palamcotta, opposite the heathen city of Tinnevelly, on
the other side of the river, is a Christian college for boys, and there are
several schools. I daresay you have heard of the Sarah Tucker Institution,
where Hindu girls are educated and sent out as teachers to their own
countrywomen.
There are more Christians in the Tinnevelly district than in any other
part of India, and they have learned to love their fellow-Christians far
away. When the converts in Uganda were in great distress through
persecution, the Tinnevelly Christians of their own accord made a collection
and sent help to them, together with a letter full of affection and
sympathy. And they care also for the heathen, even those whom they
WN
AQ
LAW
WMV
THE REV. JOHN THOMAS.
Prayer and Pains. 4I
have never seen. A woman of the poorer class went from door to door,
often to people of higher rank than herself, and collected money to help
the Santhal Mission far away in Bengal. This woman prayed at every
door before going in. She prayed and she took pains also. It is prayer
and pains that have raised up from among the worshippers of the devil
these living witnesses for Christ. And they have made the flat, monotonous
plains of Tinnevelly full of interest and delight to all who truly love the
Lord.
Now we
must turn our
steps north-
ward. Start-
ing from
Calcutta, a
journey of
about forty
miles by rail
brings us into
the Nuddea
District. This
is not as large
as Tinnevelly,
not quite half
the size. But
besides towns
such as Nud-
dea, Krishna-
gar, Santi-
pore, Rana-
ghat, and
others, it has
three thousand
villages and
two million
inhabitants.
NUDDEA DISTRICT ASSOCIATED EVANGELISTS. (See p. 42.)
42 A busy Band.
The plain is dotted with groves of trees, and in each grove there is a village
almost hidden by the foliage. They are all built on ground which has
been slightly raised above the level of the surrounding country, so that
when the rainy season comes they may not be inundated. I do not think
you would like to visit many of these villages in the rainy season. You
might have to go by a cuécha road, or rough cart track, and you might soon
find yourself in a slough of mud, where the pony could hardly drag along
the gig, or ¢m-tum as it is called. But in the dry season you would be
smothered with dust! In some of the villages you would find a little
church, but there are a great many where the people have never heard the
Gospel.
In some parts of the Nuddea District the people are very ready to listen
to the story of God’s love. But, alas! there are so few to tell it. The
misssionary who superintends the work lives at a village called Chupra.
At Krishnagar there is a “ Normal School †for training schoolmasters, and
a Boarding School for girls. In the northern part of the district there is a
band of “ Associated Evangelists†at work. These are young lay mission-
aries, with a clergyman as their leader, who live together and itinerate in
the country round. Their headquarters are at Shikarpur, and thence they
travel about, living in tents, and preaching the Gospel to all who will listen.
Sometimes the preaching tour is made by boat up the river, and some-
times the missionaries have a watery journey without a boat, as you see in
the pictures !
The women have little share in all this. They are accustomed to run
away and hide themselves if they seea man coming. Soa lady missionary
determined to try and reach them. When the village women found that
a mem Sahib (lady) had come to see them they were very delighted.
One day when she had been out early and had closed her tent that she
might have her breakfast quietly, the women gathered outside and began to
talk. “Have you seen her?†said one. “No, she is not showing herself
to-day.â€
Then after a little while they cried out, “Mem Sahib, are you not
there? Will you not let us see your face? Are we to be so unfortunate
as to go away without seeing you?â€
At another place where she had been telling the poor women about the
Three Thousand Villages. 43
life of the Lord Jesus on earth, so different from the stories about Krishna,
whom they had been taught to worship, they said—* These are not words
to be heard only once; we ought to hear them again and again. We are
so ignorant, and worship our gods only because we don’t know better. If
we had such teaching as this often we should learn better.â€
Can you wonder the lady felt very sad when she had to say good-bye to
fi) h ,
yhi4 yy
LM
L“SPany watér betweenthis fhe village, Coy ?™
“Nowmaska, Sahib, Me, nene ot ae
Hi yt ne "1 eae *. },
ofS ns be lout’ Lae rs
: a a Sa ve i of -
2. Benga yet ants ab cfose quavlérs. 4, Sorng home almg the high Youd.
‘““\ WATERY JOURNEY WITHOUT A BOAT.â€
these women, not knowing when she should be able to come and see them
again? For she cannot spend all her time among the Heathen. The
women in the Christian villages want teaching and caring for. I am glad
to tell you another lady or two has gone to help her. But how can they
ever get round ¢hree thousand villages?
So don’t forget to pray for the women in the plains of Nuddea!
CHAPTER VI.
FOREST WAYS, OR, PAINS AND
PRAISE.
ON’T you love a ramble
through a wood, searching
for primroses or wood-anemones,
or blue-bells, or better, for wild
strawberries? There are no wild
animals to be afraid of (unless,
perhaps, a snake): they were all
got rid of hundreds of years ago.
You can go out and picnic under
the trees and enjoy yourself.
There are such charming paths to ex-
plore, and such pretty little nooks to
rest—or to hide in.
So I daresay you wonder I should
put the word “ains†so close to “forest.â€
You think it should rather have been
“treat†or “pleasure.†But wait a little
and you will see. 3
Missionaries in Africa have often to
travel by forest ways. If you have read
stories of West Africa you must have
come across the word “bush.†The
“bush†in Africa means land which has
never been cleared for cultivation, where
the trees and bushes have been allowed
WEST AFRICAN FAN PALMS.
A dangerous Fourney. 45
to grow on without any attempt to cut them down. And the “bush†is
mostly forest, though it includes open spaces between. Some of these forests
are very fine. The trees are tall and stately, and trailing plants climb all
over them, and there is such a mass of green overhead that you cannot see
the sky. There are parrots in the forest, and monkeys, and other animals
not so harmless, but these seldom come near travellers, and at night any
who may be passing through always light great fires to scare away
such intruders.
When Mrs. Hinderer (whose portrait we gave in Chapter II.) went
out to Ibadan, in West Africa, in 1853, she travelled through many miles
of forest, part of the way on horseback, and part of the way in a hammock
carried by men. She was full of joy at being allowed to go so far to tell
the poor Africans of the Saviour whom she loved. In the town of Ibadan
she lived and laboured for the Lord seventeen years altogether. She
had not only much work to do—work that she loved—but she had many
hardships to bear, especially when there was war raging in the country, and
she and her husband could get no supplies from England. That war
came to an end, but
another broke out, and
Mrs. Hinderer was no
longer so strong and
able to endure. And
at last good Governor
Glover, of Lagos, sent
messengers and horses
up through the forest
to Ibadan to bring her
away. She had only
a few hours to. prepare
for the journey, which
was a dangerous one,
and her husband could
not come with her
(he followed later on).
One of the African
OIL PALMS IN WEST AFRICA.
46 Babes i the Bush.
girls whom she had brought up, named Konigbagbe, insisted on coming
with her to see her safely to the coast. They had to go a round-about
way for fear of meeting the enemy, and in some places the forest was so
thick that they had to get off their horses and walk. Poor Konigbagbe
was not used to this, and her feet got dreadfully weary and sore before the
journey was over. They dared hardly stop to rest for fear the enemy
should find them out, and they did the whole of the journey, which usually
took five days, in three. Very thankful they felt when they arrived safely
at Lagos.
Now I will tell you what I once heard from an African missionary (a
black one!) about a forest journey. When the river Niger gets near the
sea it divides into a number of streams, and empties its waters into the
ocean by several mouths. I daresay you know that the land between the
different mouths of a river is called a Delta, because it is the shape of a
Greek “A,†a “delta.†There are several towns on the Niger Delta, and
there are fields and farms, but a great part is “bush.†One day this
missionary saw a woman go off into the bush carrying a basket. He
guessed what was in the basket, and what the woman was going todo. So
he got into a boat and went up the river after her, till at last she disappeared
from sight. Then he waited for a while, and when he thought she had gone
home again he got out of the boat and went in among the trees to look for
what she had left there. At length he came to a dark nook, and what do
you think he found? A little baby, left alone to die! Why was the
mother so cruel? It was not that she did not care for her baby, but she
did not dare to keep it. It was one of ¢zévs, and she had been taught that
the gods she worshipped would be very angry if it were allowed to live.
In some placesit is the custom to put do¢/ twins to death. The missionary
carried the poor child to a place of safety, and when it was older he told
the mother he had rescued it. She was very frightened at first, but when
he showed her that no harm had come of it she was very glad. I am happy
to say that this cruel custom has been given up in some places.
I don’t think you would like some of the East African forests at all.
You might be amused at first to follow the narrow, winding path, where
travellers walk in single file, one behind the other. But by-and-by you
might come to a place where the branches are so thick that they would
Spectacles in Danger ! 47
have to be cut away with a hatchet before you could pass. I have heard,
too, of a missionary getting his spectacles caught in the creepers that hung
from the trees, and nearly losing them! And you would not like the
thorns which actually drop down upon your head in some parts. Then
think of travelling through a forest, with the hot sun scorching you all the
time. How is this? Sometimes the trees, though standing thick together,
are not very tall, or have not sufficient leaves to give any real shade.
But there is one forest which travellers are delighted to reach. This
is partly because the way to it lies across a hot plain, where no water can
be found, and partly because it is really a beautiful place. The forest of
iw
>
Np
AW
a)
a aa†ss 7 ale
eSS OO SEE SS
= >- SS Sad. SESS = See
SES SS So ae
A SCENE IN WEST AFRICA.
Grand and Beautiful.
Taveta is about fifteen miles long and three miles
broad. The entrance is guarded by a fence, and
there is a gate through which you must crawl on
your hands and knees. At sunset it is closed, and
| if you arrive a few minutes late you have to stay
outside all night. For there are plenty of people
living in the forest, and they are rather particular
who comes into their domain. If they do not like
you they will shut the gate against you. Inside it
seems quite a fairy land to the weary traveller.
There are splendid trees, delicious shade, magnifi-
cent ferns, running brooks, and there are open
spaces with gardens of maize and Indian corn, and the little
huts in which the people live. But in the rainy season it is
said to be very damp, and very unhealthy for Europeans. It
is only a short time that missionaries have been working at Taveta, but
already the Gospels are being translated into the language of the feople,
and one boy has been baptized, and there are other candidates.
Then there is a splendid forest which Bishop Tucker passed through
last year (1892) on his way to Uganda. He travelled by what is called the
new route, north-west from Frere Town and Rabai, and before reaching
the Victoria Lake, he had to cross a steep, high ridge by a pass which
led him through part of the great Kamasia forest. Here he found
“trees towering up to the skies, creepers here, there, and everywhere, ferns,
grasses, and mosses,†altogether most grand and beautiful. Sometimes
“the path was in semi-darkness, and at others the sunlight glistening
through the boughs wrought a magical effect of light and shade.â€
In India it is very different. You will find no great forests in the
ordinary track of the missionary. You must go far from towns, and rail-
ways, and roads, and rice fields, up among the hills. But Travancore in the
south-west corner is a beautiful country of hills and forests. Only the
forest is mostly called “jungle.†Between forty and fifty years ago there
was a missionary working in Travancore called Henry Baker. One day
when he was sitting in his study his little daughter ran in, saying, “Oh!
papa,..such_strange-looking men are come to see you.†These were some
iy uz muy
‘aaa i
ie ps =
= palisadeg, uiLage
Un Vn ’
“Five Times we have been to call you.†49
of the Hill Arrians, one of the hill tribes I told you of in Chapter III.
They had come to ask that they might have a teacher to live among them.
Mr. Baker had no one to
send, and he could not
leave his own work. But
the Arrians came again
and again, and at last
they said, “ Five times
we have been to call
you. You must know
that we know nothing
right. Will you teach
us or not?) We die like
beasts and are buricd
like dogs. Ought you
to neglect us?â€
The villages from
which these men came
were forty-five miles off,
and the way to reach
them was through the
jungle, where there was
no road. However,
Mr. Baker promised to
travel thirty miles to
mect them if they would
euide him the rest of
the way. The following
week he set off with
his brother, and after a
long journey they came
by a narrow path to the
banks of a river, where
they expected to find
the men. But there was
SCENE IN TAVETA. (Sketch by Bishop Tucker.)
50 A night Conference.
no one there, and they had to camp out in the jungle alone. Next
morning they followed an elephant track along the river, and at length
they found their friends, who took them on to one of the villages, shouting
all around to let others know that the missionary had arrived. When
evening came, about 200 people had assembled, and a conference was held
by the light of the moon and blazing piles of wood. Mr. Baker read them
some passages from the Bible, telling of the need of a Saviour, and of the
love of God : in sending
His Son. They talked
on together till midnight,
and then Mr. Baker knelt
down and asked for
God’s help and _ blessing,
and repeated the Lord’s
Prayer. He had to return
but Native
sent to live
people. The
not quick to
there were
culties in the
work went
ward, and the
Christians
between two
thousand.
of a mission-
the Arrians
home again,
teachers were
among the
Arrians were
learn, and
several | diffi-
way. Stillthe
steadily for-
professing
now number
and three
The work
ary among
is a toilsome THE REV, HENRY BAKER, OF TRAVANCORE, one. He
must travel from village
to village on foot, up and down hill and over rough roads, as not even a
pony can pass through the jungle. There is much rain, and the country is
often flooded, so it not seldom happens that the poor missionary is wet
through on his journeys. Some villagers who were visited for the first
time by a white missionary said, “This sahib must love us, for he has
en
TT
CS ,
I Ks
WPI Y iS
py i)
Vy?
Micvn, as uyiyitenss |
Wrens rep an
Penn ee
iy
GOH
AN ARRIAN VILLAGE,
52 “This Sahib must love us.â€
taken all this trouble to come
and see us, not to get any-
thing from us, but to tell us
about his Ged.â€
Just one peep at a
YW pleasanter forest. Imagine
Dy - \ Ae a walk beneath magnificent
“ily ae trees of different kinds, as
i
(ew
ex,
Ny D
He Ee : sh, ie BF
Ais = Li us thickly placed together as in
ili Madey, = an African forest, but far
sa oP me = more beautiful, many of them
covered with blossoms
A
po Eales at f tl t brilliant
ip ee / /rl == 220 1¢@ mos rillian
AY r hi We fe 4 il colours. We are in
- =~ >__ Ceylon now. The nar-
eae, eh ete row path
a" leads to a
_x~_: 7 little school, where
ay _* “= bright-eyed Sin-
< ~ “~~ ghalese children are
- being taught by Chris-
ee tian ladies. There are
ft many such schools in the
SX beautiful island of Ceylon ;
but though the work now looks
so pleasant, there have been long
years full cf difficulty in the Ceylon
Mission. When the first English
c missionaries began to work here, the
CROSSING HAS EWE RAW ITH SARRISNS: people would go away and take a bath
after talking with them, thinking them-
selves defiled by the presence of the foreigner !
Of course there are vast pine forests in North America, and beautiful
ones in New Zealand too, but alas! we cannot talk about everything in one
small book, so we have to leave them out.
A song of joyful Praise. 53
Now, do you think I was right to put “pains†close to “forest� Men
and women who did not care to take pains, and were not willing to suffer
hardships, would never have attempted some of these forest journeys. But
you are right too. For such a lot of pleasure has come out of them—dark
heathen towns and villages reached, and precious souls won for Christ, and
the assurance that /Ye rejoices over them. So the pains and the pleasure
together all melt into a song of joyful praise.
Saas
Wa Phe
l ey Reo
AL
: NI No fi
ea i
y \ Wy
A CEYLON VILLAGE SCENE.
Uh
IN THE VALLEY OF THE JORDAN.
CHAPTER VII.
UPLAND VALES,; OR, PLEASANT TALES.
RE you surprised at the title of this chapter? It is
true we generally speak of going dowz into a valley,
not wp. But if we were to visit the principal valleys of the world
we should generally find that we have to go wp to them—at least
if we begin at the seashore and the plain beyond. There are
some really low valleys in the world. The valley of the Jordan is far
below the level of the sea, and so the river never gets out into the
ocean at all, but ends in the still, salt lake called the Dead Sea. But most
valleys are high. They are hollows between mountains. You seem low
down when you are in them, because of the great rocks and peaks towering
up around you. But you are much higher than the plain below. Do you
remember reading in Pilgrim's Progress of Christian getting into the
Valley of Humiliation? He goes down to it. Yes; but he has been
A beautiful Valley. 55
wp first, at the “House Beautiful,’ on the hill. It is after we have
got up beyond our own small and foolish selves, and had a sight of the
great and wonderful things of God, that we learn to be truly humble.
So, in this chapter we are not going to talk about low places, but
upland vales, or valleys, where we shall see some beautiful things.
Let us begin with a large valley up among the Himalaya mountains.
A poet once wrote of it—
“Oh! who has not heard of the Vale of Kashmir,
With its roses the brightest that earth ever gave ?â€â€™
and indeed the valley is celebrated for its beauty. There are fruit trees,
and flowers, and running streams, and forests covering the slopes of the
hills, and snow-crowned peaks rising up in the distance. But it is nota
THE VALE OF KASHMIR.
56 A tiny little Patient.
» happy valley. Famine
and disease have been
there, and the people
have suffered terribly.
It is more than thirty
years since missionaries
began to work in this
valley, and at first no one
cared to hear their mes-
sage. The sick people,
however, crowded round
aclever lady, Mrs. Clark,
who was able to help
many of them, and by-
and-by a regular Medi-
cal Mission was begun.
One day a doctor was
A TOWN IN THE VALE OF KASHMIR. in theout-patients’ room,
seeing a number of sick
people, when a tiny little patient marched in all by herself—a ragged,
untidy little girl, who looked as if no one cared for her. But that was not
all. Her poor little head was bent over on one side, so that the cheek
touched the shoulder, and she could not lift it up. There was a scar on the
cheek, as if it had been badly burned. Nobody knew where she came from,
and when she was asked, she only pointed towards the west. She said she
had slept the night before by the roadside. The kind doctor took her into
the hospital, and she was well nursed and cared for. An operation had to
be performed, and by-and-by she got much better, and was able to raise
her head, though it still remained a little on one side. But all that time no
one ever came to inquire for the poor little outcast. Don’t you think it
was God who directed those little feet to the hospital ?. When she was well
enough, she was sent to a Christian school, where she would be loved and
cared for, and taught about the Lord Jesus.
Now we will take a journey across India till we reach the Telugu
country which lies some way north of Tinnevelly. There are two fine
Seeking a “ Guru.†57
rivers flowing through it, the Godavery and the Kistna. As the Kistna
flows down to the sea it passes through a valley or gorge between the
mountains, and here stands the town of Bezwada. The Rev. T. Y. Darling
worked at Bezwada for several years without secing one convert.
One day there was a great heathen festival on the banks of the river.
There were crowds assembled, and Mr. Darling and his helpers went out
to talk to them about the only Saviour. No one seemed to give any hecd
to the message, and at length, in the heat of the day, the missionary went
back to his little bungalow sad at heart. There he knelt down to pray that
God would bless the words he had spoken. Some while after he felt that
he must go to the door and look out, he did not know why. It was the veice
of the Spirit of God in his heart. What do you think he saw? A little group
of men who were waiting and longing to speak with him. They had been
there some time, but Mr. Darling's heathen servant had told them that his
master was resting, and would be very angry if he were disturbed! One
of them was called Venkayya. He had walked twenty-cight miles to
Bezwada, not that he cared about the festival, but because he hoped he
might find a Christian gwrz (teacher) there. He had never seen a missionary
before, but he had heard
something of what mission-
aries taught. How glad Mr.
Darling was. He made the
men sit down in his verandah
and began to tell them of the
love of God, and how Jesus
died on the Cross for sinners,
and how precious He is to
those who believe in Him.
When he stopped, Venkayya
rose, and crossing his hands,
said, “ This is my God, this
is my Saviour; I have long
been seeking Him, and now
I have found Him, He is my
Saviour, I will serve Him.â€
KASHMIR HOUSES.
58 “Do not say that word.â€
Mr. Darling could
hardly contain him-
self for joy, and he
ran in and fetched his
wife to come and see
a man who believed
in Jesus! All the
other men except one
professed their belief
also. After they had
prayed together, and
talked for some hours,
Venkayya begged Mr.
Darling to come and
visit him at his own
‘village, Raghavapu-
ram, higher up the
course of the river.
The missionary an-
swered that it was
too hot for the jour-
ney at present (for
the heat is very trying to Europeans), but he would come by-and-by. But
TEMPLE AT BEZWADA. (See p. 57.)
Venkayya replied—
“O Guru! do not say that word; by-and-by will arrive, but you may
not be able to come then, and I may not be there to hear.†He went on:
“Do not be afraid of the sun, for the great God who made the sun can
take care of you!â€
So very shortly afterwards Mr. Darling set out for Raghavapuram,
travelling by night and resting in the heat of the day. His new friends
met him as he drew near, and received him with great delight. Under the
shade of a beautiful spreading tree covered with blossom he preached to a
number of the village people, and they all said the message was “very
good.†However, when the day approached for Venkayya, his wife and
children, and sixteen other men to be baptized, the Brahmins were very
“ He forgave those who injured him.†59
angry. Mr. Darling was told that if this were done the ropes of his tent
would be cut, and all inside suffocated. Of course the servants of the Lord
Jesus were not going to stop for that threat! They only went on their
knees and prayed God to keep them in safety. No harm happened to
them; but just as the missionary was going to name the last man, Tannah,
there was a cry outside that Tannah’s wife was going to the well to drown
herself. She was stopped, and though she was very angry at the time with
her husband for becoming a Christian, later on prayer was answered for her
too, and she was baptized by the name of Sarah.
This was the beginning of a mission station at Raghavapuram. A
little “prayer-house†was put up, and schools opened for boys and girls, and
by-and-by a proper church was built. Venkayya spent the rest of his life
in travelling about the neighbourhood, telling the good news of salvation
through Jesus Christ, and singing dhajans, or hymns. He was often ill-
treated, and once nearly killed by a heavy blow from an enemy. But he
forgave those who injured him. Tor he had been up high and seen the
great things of God, and the sight had made him meek and patient. He
went on working for his Master as long as his strength lasted, and when he
could no longer go about he would sit at his door and talk of Jesus to those
who passed by, until at length the Lord, whom he had faithfully served for
twenty-five years, called him up higher.
When Mr. Wigram, the Honorary Secretary of the Church Missionary
Society, visited India with his son in the
year 1886, he preached to a good con- a ~A
gregation at Raghavapuram, and
about a hundred of the worship-
pers stayed to partake of
the Lord’s Supper.
Now fora story from
a Chinese valley. Some
fifty miles from the great
city of Hang-Chow is the
town of Chu-ki, with lofty
hills rising up on. two
sides of it. In the valleys
Srayer drouse .
60 “What were you domg yesterday ?â€
among these hills are several villages, all reckoned
in the Chu-ki District. They are surrounded with
corn and rice fields, and groves of mulberry-trees,
which furnish food for the silkworms kept by the
villagers. You know lovely silk comes from China.
One of these villages is called “Great Valley,†and
here lived a man named Chow, who kept a little
school. One day he went a journey to Hang-
Chow, and on: the way he passed a little room by the
roadside, with these words over the door: “ Zhe Holy
Religion of $esus.’ He felt curious to know something
about this, but there was no one there, for the room was
only opened two or three times a week, when a native
evangelist came to talk to the people. But a woman told
Chow that if he went to see the missionary in the city he
would hear all about it. Chow was not long in finding the
et missionary, and was so pleased with what he heard that
he left his school in his brother's charge and stayed a
month at Hang-Chow, that he might learn more. Then he returned home,
feeling rather afraid to confess to his friends that he had become a
Christian. But it soon came out. On Sunday he shut himself up for
reading and prayer. Next day his friends said, “ What were you doing
yesterday? It was a fine day for working out of doors, yet you never
appeared.â€
Then Chow told them the reason. Instead of being angry with him
they said they should like to learn too; and by-and-by, when Mr. Arthur
Moule came to visit Great Valley, there were three of Chow’s brothers, three
of his cousins, his wife, his sister, and a few others, ready and waiting to be
baptized. How happy was Chow; or, as we must call him by his baptismal
name, Luke !
But trials came upon the Christians at Great Valley; their neighbours
began to ill-treat them, they spoiled their crops, cut down their trees, and
stole their goods. At length a magistrate came to inquire into the matter.
He asked who the Christians were. A young man named Andrew stood up
boldly and confessed that he was one. The magistrate then asked him a
a
Hidden by God. 61
number of questions about his religion, and finally said, ‘You have joined
the foreigners, let the foreigners take care of you.â€
The mob were delighted that they were left free to ill-treat the
Christians. They offered a reward for Luke’s head, but he was safe at
Hang-Chow. Then they made a rush after Andrew to kill him; Andrew
had gone home quite exhausted, and as soon as he got in he threw himself
down on a couch close to the door, pulled a coverlet over him, and went
to sleep. When his enemies arrived they went straight to the inner rooms
and searched them well, but never thought of looking close to the door,
where Andrew slept on peacefully, and they had to go away disappointed.
When the missionary heard later on of his escape, he asked Andrew how it
happened. ‘The Lord hid me,†said the brave young Christian.
You will be glad to hear that by-and-by the persecution
ceased, and the work of God has spread into the other villages |
round about. Andrew has been called home to the presence
of the Lord, but I
believe Luke is still
living, and doing what
he can to tell others
of Jesus.
Don’t you think
we have seen good
things by looking into
some of the valleys ?
I should like you also
to see the upland val-
leys where the San-
tals, and Gonds, and
Paharis, Indian _hill-
men, live, but we must
hasten on.
THREE CHINESE CATECHISTS,
CHAPTER VIII.
ICE AND SNOW, OR, HE WILL GO.
WONDER which you like best, winter orsummer? There are so many
pleasant things belonging to both. Long rambles in fields and woods
gathering wild flowers are very enjoyable; but so is a game of snowball,
or a slide on the ice, to say nothing of skating; and I daresay some
of you know the delights of toboganning on a bright winter’s day, when
the snow has freshly fallen; it looks so pure and lovely, and the air is so
brisk, and makes you feel so bright, that I expect you wish for nothing better.
That is, of course, if you have got a holiday and can go out and enjoy it.
But I am not sure whether you would like it as well, if there were no com-
fortable home with a blazing fire to come back to, where you can throw off
your wraps and forget that it is cold. In Japan and in China you would
get no cheerful fire, though you might sit with your feet on a charcoal
stove.
You know there are parts of the world where the snow lies on the
ground for eight months of the year, and where the rivers and lakes, and
even the bays, are frozen over, and where the temperature is as far below
sero as the freezing point in your thermometer is above it, and a'good deal
farther. You could not forget that it was cold ¢here. It seems wonderful that
men and women and children can live there. But they bear the cold better
than we do, and suffer very little from sickness.
I told you in Chapter IV. how very small and scattered is the population
“Until he find it.†63
of North-West America. The bands of Indians who live in the colder parts
are the smallest and most scattered of all. .You might go miles and miles
and not see a human being; then after a long, weary journey. you might
come to a few tents and find some Indians were hunting in the neighbour-
hood ; and again you might go miles and miles and see no one. The place
where you will find most Indians is where there is a station, or “fort†belong-
ing to the Hudson’s Bay Company, but it would be only at certain seasons,
when they come to trade, exchanging their furs for other goods. It
costs a great deal of time, and trouble and hardship, to reach a very few ;
and yet these poor Indians have hearts to believe the love of God, and souls
to be saved to His glory.
I have heard of a Devonshire farmer many
years ago, who went out one bitter winter’s
night to save some sheep which were in danger
of perishing in a snowstorm.: One by one he
fetched these sheep, carrying them through the
deep snow, sometimes hardly able to make his
way through ‘it, but persevering time
after time till every one was in safety.
Does not this remind of our Lord’s
words, “If a man have a hundred
sheep, and one of them be gone astray,
will he not. . . . go after that
which ts lost, until he find it?†And
you know that He, the Great Shep-
herd, did leave the shining fold above,
and came down and lived on_ this
earth of ours, so small compared with
the other vast worlds He has made,
and died to save us, the lost sheep. So
a true servant of this Good Shepherd
will not only care for great cities and
busy villages, but will gladly take long
journeys over snow and ice to pick
up a few stray sheep here and there.
A MISSIONARY IN TRAVELLING DRESS,
(See p. 64.)
64 Snow-shoes and Sledges.
Let us look at a
missionary _ starting
on such a journey.
lle is wrapped from
top to toe in thick
furs. On his feet he
wears large snow-
shoes, flat, and turned
up at one end, and
looks rather as if he
had a boat fastened
to each foot. These
are to prevent him
sinking in the snow.
When he puts down
his foot his weight
is distributed over a
large surface, so that
he can get along with-
out difficulty. His
luggage is wrapped
up in deerskin, and
he is putting it ona
sledge, just a plank
turned up at one end,
and fastening it well
with stout thongs of
deer or buffalo skin.
BISHOP HORDEN OF MOOSONEE, (See p. 66.) The sledge will upset
more than once, so
unless this is done he may lose his luggage. How is the sledge drawn?
Here are the dogs, trained to these journeys, not very tame, and rather
quarrelsome, but strong and ready for the work. At length they are
harnessed, and off they go, The missionary is driving, and perhaps one or
two Indians are walking in front. Now and then a missionary may travel in
a carriole, that is, a
little basket carri-
age like a cradle
fastened on to a
plank, but then he
must get more dogs
to draw it.
Arideinasledge
over smooth hard
snow may be very
pleasant at times,
but it is rarely a
missionary gets
that pleasure. For
onething he mostly
has to walk, and
MOOSE FACTORY, CAPITAL OF THE DIOCESE OF MOOSONEE. (See p. 66.)
r—
ALBANY, HUDSON'S BAY, DIOCESE OF MOOSONEE. (See p. 66.)
66 His Little Library.
for another thing the snow seldom is hard and smooth ; generally it forms
a very rough road, over which the dogs go stumbling and floundering,
while the driver tries to help by pushing with a long stick. When the air
is still the cold is not felt severely, but now and then, when they have to
face a cutting wind, the travellers suffer much.
Now look at them as night comes on. They have stopped under lee
of a rock, or a clump of trees, to get protection from the wind. They clear
away some of the snow and make a space to put up their tent. Then they
gather wood and build a large fire. The next thing is to make a cup of
tea, their only luxury! And when the evening meal is over, and they have
committed themselves to their heavenly Father's keeping, they wrap them-
selves in furs, and lie down by the fire to sleep. The Indians have been
known to put the missionary in the middle, and take their places on each
side of him to keep him warm! Don’t you think they must all be glad,
when after some days’ journey they see in the distance the “ Fort†of the
Company, and the little mission-house beside it? But I think the Indians
they have come to see are just as glad, for they have few opportunities of
learning the things of God. “Why, you cannot read !†said a missionary to
some Indians he met, who asked for baptism. ‘“ Yes, we can,†said one, and
he pulled out his little library—hymn-book, Prayer-book, and St. John’s
Gospel, wrapped in a piece of bark, and carried in his dress; ‘we teach one
another, and,†he added, “we may never sec a minister again.â€
There is no part of North-West America where the cold is more trying
than around the shores of Hudson’s Bay. The Wesleyans were the first to
begin work here at the southern end, but after a while they went elsewhere.
In the year 1851 the Church Missionary Society sent out a schoolmaster,
named John [Iforden, whose first station was at Moose Fort. Tor more
than forty years this good man laboured among the Indians. He translated
the Bible into the Cree language for them, and printed a good deal with
his own hands! He is best known as Bishop Horden of Moosonee, which
is the name given to his diocese. This diocese extends some six or seven
hundred miles on each side of the Bay northward. If you look in the map
you will find the station of Moose at the southern end, Albany, York, and
Churchill on the west shore, and Rupert House, Fort George, and. Great
and Little Whale Rivers on the east, all at the mouth of rivers flowing
A Run-away Church. 67
into the Bay. The Indians in these parts are now all of them professing
Christians. They come to church as far as twenty miles or more, through
the bitter cold and snow. They all loved Bishop Horden, and looked upon
him as their father, and sorrowed deeply when he was taken from them by
death in 1892.
Once when this good Bishop was in England he was asked to speak
to a large meeting of children. Some of them (the very little ones, I
suppose !) were inclined to be fidgety and noisy. So the Bishop said, “If
you don’t want to hear I will not tell you anything, but if you like to listen
I will tell you how my church once ran away on a Sunday morning,
and how we went after it, and brought it back, and beat it, and put it in
prison !†oo:
There was stillness enough after that, as all the children waited to hear
the strange story! I wonder if you can guess the meaning of it. Some-
times in the spring the ice breaks up very suddenly, and the mass of water
rising up sweeps over the shore and carries off anything in its way. So it
happened that one Sunday morning the little church was swept away, and
went floating down the stream. It was a difficult task to rescue it, but at
last they succeeded. Then the walls had to be well hammered and
bound firmly together, and I believe the church never ran away again !
Bishop Horden and his helpers now and then met some of the Eskimos
who live on the east shore of Hudson’s Bay. You have read of the zg/oes,
or houses built of blocks of ice, in which they spend the long winter, while
they get their living by hunting whales and seals. You would hardly think
these gentle-looking Eskimos think nothing of murder! There are said to
be very few men among them who have not murdered some one. They
listened willingly when the missionaries talked to them, and learned to
sing some verses of hymns in their own language. At length, in the year
1876, Mr. E. J. Peck was sent out to the Eskimos, and all these years he
has journeyed up and down the wild, lonely country around Great and-
Little Whale Rivers, visiting the people in their huts, and teaching them of
the Saviour. Can you fancy the missionary going down on hands and
knees in the snow, and crawling in at the low doors of the igloes, then sitting
down by lamp-light—not a lamp like ours, but just a little dish of moss and
grease! and teaching the people to read the Scriptures in their own tongue ?
68 “ Other sheep†for the Fold.
ESKIMO AND IGLOES. (See p. 67.)
They are mostly very glad to see him. Some have given their hearts to the
Lord Jesus, and a few are preparing to be teachers of their own countrymen.
But Mr. Peck has heard of more Eskimos a thousand miles further north,
and as soon as a man can start to take his place he wants to go after
these lost sheep, that he may lead them to the fold of the Good Shepherd.
North-West America is not the only country where the messengers of
the Gospel have to travel over the snow. In the last chapter I told you of
the beautiful Vale of Kashmir. Dr. Elmslie and his wife, who were almost
the first missionaries there, had to take a terrible journey over the
mountains, as winter was coming on, because the Rajah who then governed
Kashmir forbade them to stay there through the winter. They had not long
started before Dr. Elmslie became ill, and his wife gave up the chair in
which she was carried to her sick husband, and walked the whole of the
A Fourney’s End. 69
way, sometimes over high and steep mountain passes, where the snow lay
thick. Dr. Elmslie got worse and worse, but he made the men who carried
him go slowly, on account of his wife. They reached the other side of the
mountains in safety, and were well cared for by friends, but Dr. Elmslie
died soon after. A sad journey, did you say? Indeed it did seem so, for
it was full of sufferings. But if the journey was sad, its end was glorious
for the missionary, for it ended in heaven, and he went to be “with Christ,
which is far better†(Phil. i. 23).
Missionaries who go out to Persia have also to face the snow on the
mountain passes. The way now is to go to Constantinople, then by
steamer across the Black Sea, and by rail to a Russian port on the
Caspian. Then by another steamer to Resht, on the southern shore of the
Caspian, and then on horseback over the mountains. A lady who took
this journey described the bitter cold as they ascended the mountains,
meeting an icy wind, and hardly knowing how to keep up until they should
get down again into the sunny plains below.
But you must not suppose that those missionaries are best off who live
and work in warmer climates. There are in fact more who suffer from the
heat than from the cold. The true servant cf God will be glad to go and
work wherever the Master sends him. And I think all true missionaries
will agree with some words written by a poet many years ago—
«Serve God! and winter’s cold or summer’s heat,
The breezy mountain or the dusty street,
Scene, season, circumstance, alike shall be
His welcome ministers, of joy to Thee! â€â€™
SUNRISE ON THE VICTORIA NYANZA. (Sketch by Bishop Tucker.)
CHAPTER IX.
GREAT LAKES; OR, STRANGE MISTAKES.
DARESAY you know more about little lakes than great lakes. Perhaps
there is a little lake in your father’s grounds, or in those of some friend,
where you sometimes have a row in a boat, and if you are a London boy
or girl you know the lakes in the parks. And perhaps some of you have
gone farther and have seen the beautiful lakes of Cumberland and
Westmoreland, or the Scotch lakes, or the Lakes of Killarney, and you
have read of the Lake of Gennesaret. But even these are little lakes,
compared with the lakes of which I want to tell you. Some of the largest
‘ofall, such as those in North-West America, are found where the missionaries
are working, and others, such as those in Central Africa, have only been
discovered within the last thirty-five years.
Have you ever heard of the Royal Geographical Society? One day in
the year 1856 the members of this Society had a very great surprise. At
one of their meetings a map was shown to them which represented a large
part of Africa. Africa was very little known in those days. The usual
maps showed a few places on the coast and a chain of mountains running
Great Inland Seas. 71
right across from east to west, while nearly all the rest was supposed to consist
of sandy deserts. This map represented the part now called “ Eastern
Equatorial Africa,†and in it was shown an enormous lake extending over
several hundred miles from north to south. The gentlemen were perfectly
amazed when they saw it. They had never imagined anything like that in
Africa. It upset all their ideas, and made all other maps wrong. If that
great sheet of water, or anything like it, were really there, then it was plain
that all other geographers had made a great mistake.
- You will want to know who had drawn the map. It was copied from
a small one drawn by one of those two men whom we saw in Chapter II.
climbing the steep hill up to Rabai. Rebmann had stayed on in Africa when
Krapf was obliged to go home, and he and his companion, Erhardt, had
heard the Arab traders who passed by Rabai talk of a great lake far away
in the interior of the country, where they had been to get ivory—and slaves
also. Krapf had first heard of this lake, but neither he nor Rebmann had
been able to travel so far as to reach it. Both Rebmann and Erhardt had
taken pains to find out all they could about it, and from what the traders
told them they had drawn the map.
But if you look on your present map of Africa you will not find this
huge lake. It is not there! Had the missionaries made a mistake ? Yes,
but not nearly such a‘strange one as the geographers before them. They
were quite right about water being there. Only instead of ove lake there
were ¢hrec, not of such an extraordinary size as was represented, but still
very large.
Two men were sent out by the Royal Geographical Society to find
out all about this wonderful sheet of water. These were Captain Speke
and Captain Burton. They first discovered a long narrow lake called
Tanganyika, and then Speke found a broad one called the Sea of Ukerewe.
The last they named “ Victoria Nyanza.†I want to tell you how to pro-
nounce this word Nyanza (which means lake or sea). Remember it is only
two syllables with an N before them. It is not Ny-an-za, but N’yan-za.
Later on the third lake, Nyassa (also meaning sea), farther to the south,
was visited by the great traveller, David Livingstone.
What do you say to a lake twice as large as the whole country of
Belgium? That is the size of the Victoria Nyanza. The southern end of
rie A Problem Solved.
it is marshy, but
in many places the
view of the shore
is very lovely,
where the hills rise
up in the distance.
At the north end
are the beautiful
Ripon Falls where
the river Nile issues
out of the Lake on
its long journey to
the Mediterranean.
Ior many, many
years geographers
had been wanting
to know the real
source of the Nile,
and travellers had
tried to find it
out. It was Cap-
tain Speke who
discovered it, and he sent home this message, “The Nile is settled.â€
Near this river, on the north-western shore of the Lake, he found a
remarkable kingdom, ruled by a young king named Mtesa, who had
an army and navy ready to do his bidding. The army was dressed in
skins, and the navy consisted of canoes hollowed out of the trunks
of trees, but most of the nations round about dreaded the power of
Uganda. Some years later another traveller, the famous Stanley,
crossed the Lake and visited Uganda, and talked to the king about the
good things Christianity brings to a country. Mtesa was interested, and
promised that if Christian teachers would come and instruct him and his
people he would give them land to build and settle on.
The first missionaries were sent out to the Lake by the Church
Missionary Society in 1876. I must tell you something about the leader
MAP OF THE VICTORIA NYANZA,
Noble Lives Laid Down. 73
of the first party. His father, Captain Smith, had. been a young midship-
man on board the vessel that rescued little Adjai (Samuel Crowther) from
the slave-dealers. George Shergold Smith entered the navy as his father
had done, but later on God gave him the desire to preach the Gospel, and
he begged to be sent out to Africa. He was ready to take the lowest place,
but the Committee of the Church Missionary Society thought he was the
very man to take the highest. He and his party took with them a boat,
which was carried up the country in pieces, and put together on the shores
of the Lake. It was called the Daisy. In the Dazsy Lieutenant Smith set
off with Mr. Wilson to cross the Lake. On their way they wanted to land
on an island to cook their dinner; but when they got near the shore
the natives threw stones and fired
poisoned arrows at them. A stone
struck Lieutenant Smith in the eye,
while an arrow entered Mr. Wilson’s
arm. Smith, though blinded and
covered with blood, began at once
to suck the poison out of Mr. Wil-
son’s arm, which, I am glad to tell
you, got quite well. But the sight
of Smith’s eye was gone, and as it
was the only one that served him
properly, the other having been
injured some years
before, he entered
Uganda almost in
darkness. The Mis-
sion was started there,
but Smith and another
companion, Mr.O’Neill,
were killed not long
after on another island,
Ukerewe. They were |
not the first who |
laid down their lives |
I
Merser ber
_ BISHOP HANNINGTON,
Consecrated Fune 24th, 1884; killed in Busoga, October 29th, 1885.
; (See p. 74.)
4
j
i
i
i
74 The Seed of the Church.
for this part of Africa. Two had already died, and there were many
more to follow.
The missionaries had many difficulties and trials to bear in Uganda.
Mtesa’s promises were ill kept, and he proved very changeable. He died
in 1884, and his son Mwanga became a terrible persecutor of the Christians.
The first who suffered for the name of Christ were three young boys.
- Their names were Seruwanga, Kakumba, and Lugalama. A number more,
old and young, died the martyr’s
death ; and Bishop Hannington, after
a long and toilsome journey, was
murdered when he had nearly reached
Uganda, by order of the king.
Did you ever hear the old say-
ing, “The blood of the martyrs is
the seed of the Church� It is won-
derfully true. The more Mwanga
ill-treated the Christians the more
came to learn and to be baptized,
and so the Church in Uganda grew
daily, and King
Mwanga found
it was a great -
mistake to fancy
he could get rid
tg of Christianity.
' The work of God
#f cannot be stop-
Il ped by man!
K} The only little
refreshment and
@ change the mis-
“ sionaries had
f during these try-
Ming years was
Ly ba VY)
WF, K Ye e WZ yp, when a voyage
AN Za
ON FOOT IN UGANDA,
had to be made across
the Lake to its southern
shore to get fresh stores.
The Daisy was worn
out, but another boat,
the LE/eanor, had been
brought up, and there
put together by Mr.
Mackay, and many a
voyage he made in her.
Some of the Christian
lads whom he had
taught went with him on
these voyages. Mika,
who has been in Eng-
land, and whom perhaps
some of you have seen,
was, sent with the boat
sometimes as the “king’s
messenger.â€
But after five years
the poor Eveanor came
to grief. She was struck
by a hippopotamus, and
a great hole made in
her, and though it was
cleverly patched by Mr.
Walker, she did not last
long after that, and the
man who had. put her
together and made so
many voyages in her did
not long survive her.
Missionary Voyages. 75
MIKA, A CHRISTIAN HELPER IN UGANDA,
After twelve years of work for Christ in Africa,
Alexander Mackay was called home to the presence of his Lord.
Bishop Tucker has
lately reached Uganda by a different road, which
76 The Shadow of Goa’s Wing,
goes round the north-east corner of the Lake, so that he had not to cross it
at all. He passed through a beautiful country called Kavirondo, where
the people are quite ready to receive missionaries, if only there were
men to go. In two other districts a beginning has already been made-
Then at Nassa, on the south-eastern shore there has been for some time a
Mission station, and one of the Christians of Uganda has been helping the
English missionary here.
I wish I could tell you all about the Missions on the other two lakes,
but it would take too long. Onthe shores of Lake Tanganyika the London
Missionary Society is working. With the first party who went out there
was an officer, Captain Hore, who took his wife and his little boy, Jack, with
him. Mrs. Hore travelled in a Bath chair, and Jack in a perambulator, but
the wheels of both of them had to be taken off, and they were carried by
men the whole way.
The Arab traders were not at all pleased at the missionaries coming.
They opposed and threatened them, and thought, no doubt, they should
succeed in driving them away again, but they were much mistaken. One
of the missionaries, Mr. Thompson, told them they might kill him if they
liked. “But,†he added, “ for every one of us whom you kill two more will
come.†One day the Arabs came to the mission-house, determined to make
an end of the white men. They filled the room, while outside stood two
hundred of their followers armed with muskets, which they pointed towards
the windows. These men called to the chief inside to give the word of
command. But he could not. He dared not lay a finger on the two
missionaries, who sat quietly waiting to hear what he had to say, while
their hearts went up to God in prayer. Suddenly the Arabs were seized
with fear, and rushed out of the house, almost tumbling one over the other in
their haste. What had frightened them? Do you remember why the waves
of the Red Sea rolled back before the Israelites, and the waters of the
Jordan fled as they drew near? The 114th Psalm tells us: “ Tremble, thou
earth, at the presence of the Lord.â€
On the shores of Lake Nyassa there are several Missions belonging to
the Free Church of Scotland and the Universities’ Mission, but you must
read about these some other time.
There are many lakes in Africa of which I cannot stop to tell you, and
The Mistake of Christian People. 77.
wherever there are lakes there are people—many thousands, who have never
seen a missionary and never heard the name of Jesus. And yet sometimes
you may hear it said that there is enough to do at home, and that we ought
to work among the people round about us, instead of trying to help those
who are so far away. 1 wonder what would have become of you and me if
the Lord Jesus had thought us too far away from heaven to be cared for.
You have read in this chapter about some mistakes—the geographers’ mistake
about Africa—the mistake of King Mwanga, and of the Arabs, in thinking
they could stop the work of God. But do you not think that this last
mistake of Christian people is the strangest of all? lor the Lord Jesus told
His servants to go into a// the world, and yet Aa/f the world has never heard
of Him, and whole nations have been for hundreds of years in darkness,
because those who had the light never passed it on to them !
MM |
Hh s =
yh, Mi) ve & =
TN TINS, \\!
Vi ws, ) ~
“ COME OVER AND HELP US,â€
CHAPTER X.
EARTHQUAKE, STORM, AND FLOOD; OR, ALL THINGS WORK
LOR GOOD. ;
< ARTHQUAKE, Storm, and Flood!†What dreadful things! Yes,
indeed, they are. They have sometimes spoiled some of the most
beautiful parts of God’s earth, and hindered many good things which were
going on. How and why do they come? Scientific men can tell us Zovw.
They have studied the wonderful forces there are in earth, and sky, and sea,
and they understand in some measure what causes these dreadful things,
But they cannot tell us wy. God does not let men, not even the cleverest,
look behind His wonderful doings, and find out His thoughts and His plans.
But He has told us one thing about them which the youngest can under-
stand, and which we will talk of presently.
Did you ever feel the shock of an earthquake ? It is very, very seldom
that any such thing is felt in England beyond a little motion, enough,
perhaps, to make the windows rattle or move the curtains. But in other
parts of Europe there have now and then been terrible earthquakes. Per-
haps you heard of the one which visited Nice and Mentone and the villages
round about them some years ago. More terrible things, however, have
happencd in the Eastern world, and especially among the islands.
In October, 1891, there was a dreadful earthquake in Japan. Houses
were thrown down, great openings appeared in the streets, many people
were killed and many more injured, and some thousands made homeless
for a time. People in England when they heard the news were very
A Terrible Expertence. 79
anxious for their friends who lived in those parts. But the protecting hand
of God was over the missionaries and their dwellings, and very few of them
suffered. Of course they did all they could to help the poor people who
were hurt or homeless. Miss Tristram, who is head of a Mission school
for girls at Osaka, went off to help nurse some of the injured ones. She
saw many sad sights by the way. At the first town she reached there was
no place for her and her companion to sleep, till a Japanese catechist lent
them his tent for the night. They went on to the next town, Imao, by a
little boat up the river, and in that boat they slept the next night, covered
with blankets and a little low roof put up over their heads. There was a
great deal of rain at the time, and they found the poor, homeless people
crouching beneath miserable leaking sheds, or in the open street under their
umbrellas. A little shed was put up for the missionary, and here many
OG \ N
eee r Ae \
Pig
"
AAS
A VILLAGE IN JAPAN NEAR THE SCENE OF THE EARTHQUAKE,
80 “How much have you understood 2â€
people came to see her who needed help. In the shed which served as a
hospital the injured people were lying on loose straw. Miss Tristram
managed to get some thick straw mats provided for them, and some /i/ons,
or thick wadded quilts, to cover them. She made nice, nourishing soup,
and cocoa, and cornflour for them. She dressed their wounds, and nursed
them, and talked to them of the Lord Jesus, and they seemed so glad to
listen! One old woman was asked if she understood what was said.
AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE—INHABITANTS SLEEPING IN THE OPEN AIR,
“No,†she said, “ only a very little ; I am too old.â€
“How much have you understood ?â€
Only that the true God loves me, and that His Son died to save me
because of my sins, but I can’t remember His name.â€
How happy was the missionary to think she understood that /
When Miss Tristram had to return to Osaka nearly a hundred people
FUNERAL OF ONE OF THE VICTIMS AT DAYBREAK,
82 Saying Good-bye.
came to take leave of her. The magistrate of Imao was there, and he made
a little speech of thanks. Then she talked to them once more of the Good
Physician who could save their souls. One woman said she had a relation
who was a Christian, and she would go and learn. more from him. It was
hardest saying good-bye at the hospital. A little boy whom she had
nursed with a broken leg began to cry, and then all the others joined in!
A month later she paida second visit to the place, and had several meetings
in Imao and the neighbouring villages. A woman whose house had been:
destroyed and who had herself been hurt, said, that the earthquake had been:
a terrible thing, but if it had not come the missionary would not have come
to Imao, and she would never have heard the most joyful thing in the
world—the news of the love of Christ !
Now do you understand why those words, “ All things work for good,â€
are put at the beginning of this chapter? And can you tell where they are
found, and what follows them, and what words I have left out? If you look
at Rom. viii. 28 you will find that “all things work together for good to
them that love God.†And of course “all things†include those things
which look dreadful and sad. Sometimes God uses these disasters to turn
the hearts of those who have never yet loved Him. These things are cad/s.
They interrupt the every-day business, and remind us that we are only in
this world for a time, that any moment we may have to leave it. He wants
us to remember this, and to give our hearts to Him.
Sometimes, as you know, there are terrible disasters on the Great
Highway—the sea (though not greater than those on land). Do you
remember the description of a storm at sea in the 107th Psalm? It tells
us that God “commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind which lifteth up the
waves thereof.†Winds and waves are all in His hand. And at the end,
“ He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.’ God
has used storm and tempest to work out some of His wonderful and
gracious purposcs.
In the year 1843 a missionary and his wife went on board a ship at
Aden, which is, as you know, at the mouth of the Red Sea. The ship was
bound for Zanzibar, on the East Coast of Africa, and was not a comfortable
steamer, but a rough Arab boat. A violent storm arose. The vessel .
sprang a leak, and the water rushed in, The crew set to work to bale it.
A Blessed Shipwreck. - 83.
out, and they tried hard to get back.to Aden. But before they could
reach the shore the wind changed and prevented their getting near, and
even their signals of distress could not be heard. They were in sore |
danger of drowning. Just in time another ship passed that way, and took |
passengers and crew off the leaking vessel. She immediately overturned,
_ and lay with her mast floating in the water. The ship which took them up
_ stopped at Takaungu, a port on the coast a good deal short of Zanzibar.
They then embarked in.a smaller boat, called a dhow, which brought them
to the island of Mombasa. Here Krapf, for it was he, began to think of |
starting the mission on the mainland opposite, of which I told you in
Chapter III. Ifit had not been for that storm he might never have gone |
to Rabai. That map of the great Lake, of which you read in the last :
chapter, might never have been drawn; we might have known nothing °
, about the Victoria Nyanza, and missionaries might never have been sent to
Uganda. Looking back, we can see how wonderfully God used that storm
for good,
There are not seldom storms on the Victoria Nyanza. The wind
, Sweeps furiously down the valleys between the hills which surround a great |
part of it, so that in a very short time the waters are seething and foaming.
I must tell you what happened to Bishop Tucker, and some other
missionaries when they
were crossing the Lake
to Uganda. Their boat
was one which had been
made out of a canoe. It
had a mast with a large ~
sail, and this the boat- -
men had made quite fast. â€
They had also put up an =~
awning to keep off the
rain. Suddenly a gust
of wind struck the boat. ,
“ Loose the sail!†cried
one of the missionaries.
Before it could be done,
AN ARAB DHOW,
Sage
Ae
STORM ON THE VICTORIA NYANZA, (Sketch by Bishop Tucker.) (See p. 83.)
“ China’s Sorrow.†85
the boat heeled over, and in another moment they must all have been
drowned. But the sail split right down, the boat righted herself, and they
were saved. I am sure they thought of that storm on the Lake of Galilee,
where—
‘* All but One were sore afraid
Of sinking in the deep.
‘Master, we perish ; Master, save !’
They cried. Their Master heard ;
He rose, rebuked the wind and wave,
And stilled them with a word.â€
Sometimes disasters come from the sky above us. The rain, which is
so refreshing and which makes our crops grow, sometimes swells the brooks
and the streams and the rivers, so that their banks can no longer hold
them. Then the water overflows, and causes a great deal of damage in the
country round. Perhaps you have seen harm done by floods in England,
but there are far worse ones abroad. The great River Hoang-ho
has been called “ China’s Sorrow,†because it has so often deso-
lated the country. There are two rivers in India which used to
be just as dangerous, the Kistna and the Godavery. But some
years ago the British Government had canals made to carry off
the water when it rose too high, and strong dams to protect the
banks, so all that is changed. Sometimes, however, it happens
ZANZIBAR. (Sketch by Bishop Tucker.) (See p. 82.)
86 Disastrous Floods.
that a river which is generally quite harmless gets overfilled, and much
mischief is done. I told you in Chapter VII. of the lovely valley of
Kashmir. A hospital which had been built for women in the chief city,
Srinagar, was washed away by such an unexpected flood, and the lady
doctors had to move with their work to another building.. Lately there
has been another terrible flood. Several of the bridges over the river
were swept away. Many houses fell, and the people had to take refuge
in boats. Some of these were upset and the people drowned. About
midnight the water came roaring into the missionaries’ garden. They
were not able to get a boat until three o’clock in the morning, and they
sat on the doorstep with the water close up to them waiting till it arrived.
This disastrous flood lasted for some days.
Another hospital at Quetta, on the north-west frontier of India, was
washed away by heavy rains. For eighty-three hours it rained hard
without stopping, and hour by hour Dr. Sutton watched the building
giving way. He had supports put up under the roof, and did all he could
to save it; but every one was busy trying to save some other building, so
‘he got but little help. At last a great part of the hospital fell. The wreck
was tremendous, and it was necessary to rebuild the whole. Dr. Sutton
did not lose heart, but at once set about collecting money from friends to do
this. God prospered his efforts ; the hospital was restored, and the good
work is still going on.
Some thirteen years ago the Christians at Ngawkakaraua (caz you
say it?) in New Zealand were visited by a disastrous flood. It came so
suddenly that they were quite unprepared for it. They had just gathered
in their harvest, and the whole of it was swept away. A few sheep and
pigs were saved in canoes, but most of the animals perished. For two or
three days the water stood ten feet deep. When at length it subsided, in-
stead of smiling fields there was a mass of sand and mud. And this was not
all. The people had not long built their church, which was neatly painted and
varnished, and would seat a hundred and fifty persons. The water filled
it as high up as the communion table, and all their books were spoiled.
Some of the New Zealanders had given up Christianity, and were enemies
to the missionaries and to the English generally. Among these Hau-haus,
as they were called, there was a man who pretended to be a prophet. He
“T do not know.†; 87
told the Christians that this misfortune had come upon them because they
would not follow his teaching, and that it was only the beginning of many
evils. But they did not listen to him. They said to the missionary
who came to visit them, “God knows best, He can bring good out of
this evil.†Their faith was not in vain. The Christians down at the
coast were sorry for them, and sent provisions and seed to sow their
desolate fields, and the next time the missionary visited them their crops
were coming up plentifully.
“But what good came out of the hospitals being washed away, and out of
the storm on the Victoria Nyanza ?†I expect you will say ; “you have not
told us that.†No, I have not, and J do not know. We cannot even see all
that God does—how much less all that He is going to do! The great
prophets of old to whom God showed so many things could not do that.
You have read some of the wonderful words the prophet Isaiah wrote ;
did you ever read these >—“ Thou art a God that hidest. Thyself, O God of
Israel, the Saviour.†“ Hidest thyselfâ€! Yes, that is true. But never be
troubled because you cannot see and cannot understand all He does.
Remember that He is the Sazzour, and that He will “make all things work
together for good†to those that love Him.
HOSPITAL AT QUETTA (BACK VIEW).
CHAPTER XI.
WILD AND TAME, OR, IN HIS NAME.
We must not leave the “beasts of the
field†out of our little book. The
earth which God made for us to dwell in
would be a very different place without the
animals which are at home there. You will
find a good deal in the Bible about animals, “2
both wild and tame, and you can read there
that God cares for both; and though the
wild animals are sometimes very inconvenient
and very dangerous to man, they as well as the tame are among the
“all things†that God makes to work together for good to them that
love Him.
We shall only have time to look at a few of the animals to be met with
in the Mission-field. First we will peep at India. The fiercest animal
there is the tiger. There are many Englishmen who delight in hunting
tigers. But I do not think the missionaries see much of these animals,
Why? Because they live in the jungles, far away from towns and villages,
so there is nothing to call the missionary there. A gentleman who did not
believe in Missions was once saying that he had been a long time in India,
and had never seen a missionary ; another gentleman who was present asked
if there were tigers there.
Sacred Animals, 89
“Certainly, I have shot many.â€
“Well,†was the reply, “I too have been in India many years, and I
never saw a tiger.â€
The fact was that one had gone out to look for tigers, the other had
gone about the work of God.
Missionaries in India see more of the tame animals than the wild.. A
devoted missionary who lived many years ago was once preaching ina town
in South India. Some of the people were very angry. One man mounted an
elephant and came right up to the bank where Samuel Hebich and his
companion stood, hoping they would either run away or the elephant would
crush them. They stood still and the elephant turned aside, like Balaam’s
ass before the angel of the Lord (Numb. xxii. 23). More elephants were
driven up, but the missionaries stood their ground and the elephants could
not turn them off, for they had come zz the name of the Lord; and so the
preaching went on unhindered.
Some animals are worshipped by
the Hindus. If you could take a
walk along one of the narrow streets
in the great city of Benares you might
suddenly see before you a great bull
lazily taking a walk as well as your-
self, and you would have to turn into
one of the shops to let him pass.
Those bulls are considered very sacred
animals. They are fed and cared for,
and allowed to go about where they
like, and nobody dare stop them or
turn them out of the way. In the
same city there is a temple to Hanu-
man, the monkey-god, which is full
of monkeys. These have several
priests to look after them and bring
them their food, and they are held
in great honour. Is it not sad that
men made “in the image of Godâ€
JUST IN TIME!
|
Full Text |
Me ADE Sovoper
; yo
A GORGE IN THE YANG-TSE,
God’s Earth;
or,
Well Worth.
C
Rook for Bovs and Girls.
| 6
A sissionary
By SARAH GERALDINA STOCK,
Author of “ Lessons on Israel in Egypt and in the Wilderness,’ “ The Story
of Uganda,†&e., &e.
Sowsort :
CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY,
SALISBURY SauARE, E.C.
11sec.
Londen :
Printed by Jis. Truscorr & Son,
Suffolk Lane, E.C.
CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
INTRODUCTION ; : , ; . ; . . : ; . . vii
I. THE ARCHING Sky; or, LovE on HIGH ; . . . . : . oI
Il. Tue Bittows’ Play; or, THe Great HIGHWAY
III. Mountain HEIGHTS; or, GLORIOUS SIGHTS ; 16
IV. Rivers FLowinc; or, Our AND IN GornG . , 26
V. SPREADING PLAINS; OR, PRAYER AND PAINS . : ; : . . . 36
VI. Forest Ways; or, PAINS AND PRAISE. : : ; . : : 44
VIL. UpLanp VALES; OR, PLEASANT TALES. : : ; : : , » 55
VIII. Ice anp Snow; or, HE witt Go ; ; . ; : ; . , 62
IX. Great LAKES; OR, STRANGE MISTAKES . : : ' : ; A . 70
X. EARTHQUAKE, STORM, AND FLoop; or, ALL THINGS WoRK FoR Goop . 76
XI, Witp anp TAME; oR, IN His Name, Tc ; . , ; . 88
XII, Or Every TRIBE AND NATION; OR, A WONDERFUL SALVATION : : 96
EIST “OF. ILLUSTRATIONS:
PAGE
A Gorge in the Yang-tse Frontispiece
The Egyptian Sphinx. 3
Brahmin Worshipping the Sun 4
A Chagga Palm . 5
A Chagga Storehouse 5
An Ancient Ship 10
A Steamer going down the Riv er : II
On the Track of Out-going Missionaries—
Port Said 1212
On the Track of Outs -going Mision e
Suez Canal 13
Mrs. Hinderer 14
Near the Summit 16
‘Looking down on things below 17
In Sierra Leone : 19
At Rabai (Sketch by Bion Tucker) 20
Graves of Early Missionaries in East Africa 21
In the Hills of China 22
In the Himalayas. 23
A Toda 2 : : : 24
‘“ Gliding peeeaiily Peaweay ... Woods’? 26
Traders’ Boats on the Niger : 27
Niger Scenes 28, 2
Banks of the Nile at Ghiveh 30
On the Yang-tse River at Ichang 31
Boat ascending Rapids on Chinese River 32
On the Banks of the Yang-tse River 33
A Mission Station in Tinnevelly 37
Palmyra Palms and Palmyra Climber 38
‘“ They talked to all who would listen†39
The Rev. John Thomas 40
Nuddea District Associated Byngencts ; 41
“A Watery Journey without a Boat†43
West African Fan Palms 44
Oil Palms in West Africa 45
A Scene in West Africa . 47
Entrance to Palisaded Village 48
Scene in Taveta (Sketch by Bishop Tucker) 49
The Rev. Henry Baker, of Travancore 50
An Arrian Village 51
Crossing a River with evans 2
A Ceylon Village Scene 53
In the Valley of the Jordan 54
The Vale of Kashmir .
PAGE
A Town in the Vale of Kashmir 56
Kashmir Houses . 57
Temple at Bezwada 58
Prayer House - 59
Chinese Catechists . 60, 61
A Missionary in Travelling Dies 63
Bishop Horden, of Moosonee . 64
Moose Factory, Capital of the Dione of
Moosonee 65
Albany, Hudson’s Bay, Dice ae Moosonee 65
Eskimo and Igloes 68
Sunrise on the Victoria Nyaa (Sketch Le
Bishop Tucker) , Fi 27°70
Map of the Victoria Nyanza 2
Bishop Hannington 73
On Foot in Uganda 74
Mika, a Christian pee in Wena 75
tS Come over and help us’ “977
A Village in Japan near the Scene of the
Earthquake 79
After the Barhonake = Tannen ceepine
in the open air . ; 80
Some Effects of the Bewhauaken in een 81
Funeral of one of the Victims at Daybreak. 81
An Arab Dhow 83
Storm on the Victoria ganze (Sketch by
Bishop Tucker) 84
Zanzibar (Sketch by Bishop Tucker) 85
Hospital at Quetta (back view) 87
Just in Time! . : . 89
Sacred Bulls gl
An East African Lion 92
An African Camp by Night 93
A Snake Charmer : 04
An Arab Horseman 95
Druids’ Stones : 96
A Sikh of the Punjab . 98
A Native of Bengal . : 99
The Nations of the Earth 100, IOI
A Scene in Ceylon 102
An Eastern Idol . L038
The Lost Sheep 104,
Miscellaneous 1, 2, 8, Ss 15, 35, 36, 62, 78, 88,
99, 94, 95
God’s Qarth;
Cell Udorta.
“Stee *
SSO:
\
INTRODUCTION.
AVE you ever thought how it is that
without leaving your own country,
or even your own home, you can know some-
thing of what other countries are like, all over
the world? How is it that nice books have
been written to tell you these things? It is because men—and a few
women too—have taken the trouble to go and find out all about them. If
they had not taken long and toilsome journeys, and gone through many
dangers and hardships, we should have had no geography books, and no
nice stories of travellers. There are so many curious and beautiful things
in the world that they thought it well worth doing.
But there are many sad things to be seen, and many sad sounds are
going up to God from the earth that He once made “ very good.†For it
has been spoiled by sin. And yet God did not give it up. You know what
it cost Him to save sinners. He “spared not His only begotten Son, but
vill “ Well worth†doing.
delivered Him up for us all’? (Rom. viii. 32). He thought it we// worth the
cost because He “loved the world.â€
Millions of people all over the world have never heard this. Where
some have heard a little they want more teachers to help them to under-
stand it, and God has charged those who know the good news to carry it
to others.
Is this an easy matter? Not at all. It means leaving home, and
friends, and comforts. It means long journeys, learning difficult languages,
living among strange people, much danger, much fatigue. When a
missionary goes to visit people who have never yet had any one to teach
them, they cannot believe he has come to do them good. Sometimes they
think he is a wicked man who dares not stay in his own country! Some-
times they fancy he wants to take away their land, to get power over them
and injure them. When they begin to understand what he says, many are
angry with him. They are slow to learn, they are forgetful, they are
changeable. You know the great enemy, Satan, delights to have people
sitting in darkness, so he tries to keep them from letting in the light. The
missionary has many a hard struggle, and he is often weary. But he is
happy too, for he loves the work, and since God thought it wel/ worth
giving His Son for sinners, the missionary thinks it ze// worth spending his
life in making known the good news, for Christ’s sake.
I want to take you to some different parts of God’s earth, and show
you what His servants are doing there, and how He has blessed them,
And I am sure you will think it eed? worth doing what you can to help
them.
Gov’s ‘BarRTH.
CHAPTER I.
THE ARCHING SKY, OR, LOVE ON HIGH.
O you think it strange that our first chapter should be about the sky ?
That is not the earth, you may think. But what would our
earth be without the sky? If we were like moles, burrowing in the ground,
perhaps we could manage without it! But as we are human beings, living
on the outer surface of the globe, the sky is as necessary to us as the
ground under our feet. Besides, the sky which we see does belong to
the earth. For we see only part of the atmosphere which surrounds us,
the “firmament,†or expanse which God spread over the earth when He
created it, like a tent (Gen. i. 6—8; Isa. xl. 22), and it is through this
firmament that the wonderful “lights†which He made and appointed
to govern the day and the night shine down upon us.
You know that these lights are far, far away. Even the moon is
two hundred and forty thousand miles distant, while the sun is as far off as
B
2 What the Sunbeams do.
ninety-one million of miles, and the stars farther still !
And from that far distance the sunbeams, in al! their
» warmth and beauty and power, come to our little
world, so small in comparison with their wonderful
home. They paint our fields and our flowers, they
make the little buds open into blossoms, they lie lovingly
on the sea, and light up even the little pools. And they shine
through our windows, and their soft warm touch brings bright-
ness into our homes. I am sure you like a fine, sunshiny morning; a
holiday is twice as pleasant if the sun smiles upon you and the sky
is blue.
I knew a little girl who was feeling very happy one bright spring day ;
she looked up at the smiling sky overhead, and said in
her soft little prattle, “Jesus made that sky; Jesus is
God, but I like to call Him Jesus.†You see she looked
up beyond the sky to the Maker and Giver of all, and
His love made her heart glad.
Nearly three thousand years ago a shepherd boy
was watching over his father’s sheep by night. He, too, looked up at the
great arch of heaven spread out above him, and he thought how wonderful
it was that the God who had made that sky with all its glories cared for
men and women down here. Do you remember what David said about it ?
“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the
stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of
him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?†(Ps. viii. 3, 4). Yes,
just as the sky so far, far away over your head seems to reach down and
clasp the earth all round, so the love of God on high comes down and
embraces this world of ours—comes; down to you and to me that it may
make us holy and happy.
You all know this. You have heard that “the heavens declare the
glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handi-
workâ€; and “As the heavens are high above the
earth, so great is Ilis mercy toward them that fear
Him†(Ps. xix. 1, ciii. 11). But there are millions
who never heard it, and many of them have never
Sun, AToon, and Stars. 3
THE EGYPTIAN SPHINX. (See p. 4.)
understood the message given by God’s wondrous works, but have
worshipped ¢hem instead of Him.
The ancient Egyptians used to worship their bright clear sky asa
goddess, under the name of Neith. But this was only one of their deities.
They worshipped bulls, beetles, and crocodiles as well. The ancient Hindus,
when they saw the refreshing showers come down on their parched land,
thought Indra, the rain-god, had sent them. But Indra was only one among
many. A missionary tells us that the wild Masai tribes in East Africa have
one word for sky and rain, zgaé, and that this is their word for God. But
of Him who sends “rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts
with food and gladness†(Acts xiv. 17), they know nothing,
Most nations have worshipped the sun and the moon, and even the
stars. The Syrian idols of whom we read in the Old Testament, Baal and
Ashtoreth, represented the sun and the moon, and if you turn to 2 Chron.
Xxxili. 5, you will find that Manasseh, the wicked king of Judah, who
4 A horrible “ Dance.â€
succeeded the good Hezekiah, actually built altars in the court of the
temple of God for “all the host of heaven.â€
I daresay you know that our forefathers called the days of the week
after the idols they worshipped, and the first two were Sun-day and Moon-
day. Have you seen a picture of the Sphinx, that great colossal figure of
Egypt with the head of a man and the body of a lion? This figure is
believed to have been built to represent the sun-god, and there used to bea
shrine between the huge paws, where worship was paid toit. The heavenly
bodies were adored also in Arabia, until the false prophet Mohammed
arose.
Some of the North American Indians have a great reverence for the
sun, and keep a festival
once a year in its honour.
At this festival the young
men used to go through
a most frightful perform-
ance called the sun-dance.
It consisted in swinging
by ropes passed through
their flesh until they were
torn and bleeding and
exhausted. This was
thought a very fine thing
to do. But I am glad
to tell you that since the
news of a God on high,
who loves and who sent
His Son to die for sinners,
has been brought them,
this horrible “dance†has
stopped.
There is a place in
New Guinea called Motu-
Motu. Here the sun
used to be regularly wor-
LS
Le
La a
BRAHMIN WORSHIPPING THE SUN,
fi i “ Waiting for what ?â€
] pr
<7
WS
ur
Nis
Y
shipped at certain seasons. The people would put
on their best clothes, and sit up all night to watch
for sunrise. When at last the sun appeared they
would bow their heads and pray to it, until it got high
{inthe sky. How sad to have waited and watched,
YN and then to pray toa thing that cannot hear! How
much happier those who can say, like David: “ My
soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch
for the morning: I say, more than they that watch
for the morning†(Ps. cxxx. 6).
y ii Bishop Tucker, who reached East Africa the
Ze second time two years ago, sent home this telegram
to the Church Missionary Society :—
a “ Africa Waiting.â€
Waiting for what? Waiting for the Sun of
Righteousness to rise and shine and chase away
the darkness; waiting for the good news of God’s
love to sinners; waiting for men—and women too—to come out and tell
it! Yes! Africa is waiting, though the Africans do not know it.
And India is waiting too. If you were to go to India you might see
the Brahmins coming out at sunrise to perform their devo-
tions, and often standing still at them all day. And every day
they say this prayer to the sun out of their ancient books :—
“Let us meditate on that excellent glory of the divine
Vivifier [that is, Life-giver]. May he enlighten our under-
standing !â€
A CHAGGA PALM,
Is it not our business to help them to know
the true Life-giver ?
On the slopes of the great snow-crowned moun-
tain, Kilima-Njaro, in Kast Africa, is a country called
Chagga. The people of Chagga think all their bless-
ings come from the sun, which they call era, and erua
is their word for.God. A Chagga man told a mis-
sionary that the sun was the greatest of all things. 3
A CHAGGA STOREHOUSE, °
6 “ Bwana Isa’s Match.â€
“But,†said the missionary, “which is greater, the candle, or the man
who makes and lights it?â€
“The man who made it,†was the reply.
“Then,†said the missionary, “don’t you see that the sun is God’s
candle? He made it, and He lit it.â€
He went on to tell the man of the Lord, the Sun of Righteousness,
who makes dark hearts bright and bad people good.
“What is his name?†said the man.
“Bwana Isa†[Lord Jesus].
When they came to say good-bye the moon was shining brightly, and
the missionary remarked how beautiful it was. “That,†said the man, “is
Bwana Isa’s watch.†It was a pretty saying, but you know it is really just
the contrary. The moon does not light the sun, but God uses the sun to
light up the dark moon, and it is because the moon is turned to the sun and
reflects its light that we get the lovely silver moonlight. Every Christian
ought to be like the moon; his face turned towards JESUS, the Sun of
Righteousness, so that he may reflect His glory, and help to light up the
dark world. For where the earthly sun is brightest, the world is often
darkest! And the people who worship the sun know that it can give
them no help in the hour of trial and sorrow. It is grand and glorious,
and it warms them, and it ripens their fruits, but it cannot touch the
sorrowful heart.
A missionary was one day preaching in China, and telling the people
how ‘‘God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.â€
A Chinaman stood by, listening intently to all that was said. When the
missionary had finished this man spoke out with a loud voice and said,
“ Ever since I was a child my heart has been full of hunger. I used to look
up at midday to the bright sun and say, ‘O sun! take the hunger off my
heart!’ But the sun did not hear me. Then at night I would look up to
the moon and say, ‘O moon! take the hunger off my heart!’ But the moon
never helped me. All my life my heart has been hungry. But to-day I
have heard that God loves me, and that He sent His Son to die for me; and
the hunger is gone from my heart.â€
There is a country in East Africa called Giriama. It is full of hills and
“Tf we did our auty —.†7:
valleys and forests, and the peopl are a fine race. But what is their idea
of God? They call the sky AZuungu, and this is their word for the Creator
also. And what do you think the neighbours say when a little baby is born
in Giriama? Do they say, “God bless it� Ohno! They think if God
notices the child some harm will surely come to it. So they say, “May God
Sorget it!â€
The fact is, that the Heathen are nearly always afraid of the gods they
worship. They fancy many of them are envious and cruel, and think they
must be kept quiet by offerings. A lady travelling in North China passed
by a bridge over a river. The arches of the bridge rested on massive piers
sunk in the sand. She wrote, “There is probably the body of a child buried
beneath each of those piers, the girls on one side and the boys on the other.â€
It seems that the people thought the way to make some of their bridges safe
was to bury a little living child just where each pier was to be sunk, thinking
that would please their gods. The poor parents whose little ones were taken
away for this purpose had some money given them, and they never spoke of
the children again. Is it not true that “the dark places of the earth are full
of the habitations of cruelty� (Ps. xxiv. 20.)
Do you not long for more missionaries to go out and tell these poor
heathen of the love of God ?
“Did God love me like that,†said a poor Hindu who heard the Gospel
for the first time, “and no one ever told me before ?â€
A. poet once wrote that—
“ There are million hearts accurst where no fair sunbeams shine,
And there are million hearts athirst for Love’s immortal wine.â€
That is true; and it is the love of God they are thirsting for, whether
they know it or not. Nothing else can satisfy them; and he wrote another
true thing—
“ This world is full of beauty, as angel-worlds above ;
And if we did our duty, it might be full of love.â€
If all who knew the love of God had tried to let others hear of it too,
there would not be millions whom the news has never reached. Shall we,
each one, try to do our part now?
iyo SSS ee pz ag Ye
CHAPTER Iz.
THE BILLOWS’ PLAY, OR, THE GREAT
HIGHIWAY.
OWN on the beach, with the waves roll-
eee ing up, all sparkling in the sunshine
ALOE ca —is it not pleasant? Here are some children
building a castle of sand, with a moat round
it for the waves to fill) Others are throwing stones into the water, trying
how far they can send them. Some peopie have brought their books
and are busily reading, while others are watching the waves as they rise
and fall, and creep gradually a little higher and a little higher, on the shore.
Which shall we do? I want you to sit down with me and have a talix
about those waves. They are very pretty to look at, and the fresh breeze
that plays over them, and the salt spray, bring colour to many a pale
cheek, and make the tired ones feel ever so much stronger. But that is
not all. Look at the boat that has just pushed off from the beach. See
how lightly it rides on the billows, farther and farther, till it is a long
way off. Look at that ship in the distance, moving so gracefully along
the water. There is another, and another, going in different directions. A
girl who saw the sea for the first time, after she had watched the boats,
and the fishing smacks, and the steamers, said, “Why, there is a great
A Road which is free to all. 9
deal more going on at sea than there is on the land!†And she was not
wrong. For the sea is the Great Highway of the world, the road which
is free to all, and which will take you right round the earth.
Suppose you are staying in the country, and you see from the window
a hill, or a farm-house, or a railway-bridge, and you think you should like
to get there. You start off, down the garden, perhaps, and across a field,
because that looks the shortest way. But then you come to a high fence ;
the ground beyond it is private, and you are not allowed to pass. Or there
is a marsh in the way, where you would find no safe footing, or a wood, full
of thorns and briars, and no footpath. You find you must come back.
And next time you start on your expedition you take the high road.
It is very much like that in the great world. Suppose a man wanted
to travel from France to India. He might go by way of Germany, Austria,
and Russia. Then he would have to cross the mountains, and would get
into strange countries where the people might not allow him to pass. But
if, instead of doing this, he got into a steamer at Marseilles, he would be
carried along the water highway without any exertion until he reached the
shores of India. I doubt whether English people would ever have seen
South Africa if they had had to begin at the north and make their way
right through the Continent. There are deserts and rivers in the way, and
wild tribes who will not always let a stranger pass. But you can reach the
“Cape†quite easily by the Great Highway, which is free to all—and which
never wants mending, like some of the roads at home.
It took men some time to find this out. After they began to build
sailing ships they only ventured to sail along the coast, where they could
see the land. After a time they grew bolder, and steered their course by
the stars. And so in time men got from Egypt and from Syria to Greece,
and from Greece to Italy, while the ships of Tyre and Sidon sailed all along
the north coast gh
of Africa as far
as Spain, and per-
haps farther still.
But no one aos
ventured across ©
the great ocean.
Down at the Docks.
Now it is quite different. That
wide, wonderful highway of water is
constantly crossed and re-crossed by
ships passing to and fro. Some of
you can tell what has made the
difference. You know that wonderful
little needle called the magnet, which always points to the North Pole.
lerhaps you have a little compass of your own, and can tell, even when the
sun is hidden, where the north is and where the south. It was in the
fifteenth century that the compass was invented, and this made it first safe
to steer a vessel across the ocean far out of sight of land. Since then the
Great Highway, onc2 looked upon as a watery desert, has become well
known, and for thousands of miles the captain of a ship is as sure of his
way as the driver of an omnibus in London! And the waves, which look
as if they meant just to play and enjoy themselves, are really bearing
vessels full of goods and passengers to every quarter of the globe. Some
of these passengers go across the ocean for pleasure or for business. Some
go to earn their living or make their fortune abroad. Some go for their
health. And some go for the best purpose of all—to carry the glad news
of a Saviour to the dark parts of the earth.
I wish you could go down to the docks some morning in September
or October, when one of the great “P. and O.†(Peninsular and Oriental
Company's) steamships is about to start. How interested you would be to
see the huge vessels, the crowds of people going to and fro from quay to
deck, the Lascars from the East, in their white dresses and red scarves,
running up and down with luggage. You would like to walk round the
deck, and down below to see the beautiful saloons and the cosy cabins
where the travellers must stow away their things in a very small space, and
be careful not to tread on one another’s toes! But look at the little group
gathered together at one end of the deck. They all kneel down and pray
together. That is a band of missionaries, with friends who have come to
bid them farewell. There are a few tears shed, for many are parting from
fathers and mothers, and brothers and sisters. But presently a sweet hymn
of praise rises from the group :—
nae AE
= Pea
AN ANCIENT SHIP. (See f. ¢.)
‘All hail the power of Jesu’s Name!â€
Steaming Away. II
It is in the power of that Name they are going forth, and so their faces are
bright and their hearts are brave. “I felt,†said one young lady who was
leaving all her relatives behind, “that I was going somewhere with Fesus.â€
At length the last farewell is said, the friends have to leave the ship, which
presently begins to move slowly away, but they stand on the quay waving
their handkerchiefs till the travellers pass out of sight. Down the Thames
goes the huge steamer, and in a few hours she has reached the Great
Highway ; she is out on the ocean.
For the present, however, she keeps not far from land, rounding the
coast of Kent and passing through the Straits of Dover into the English
Channel. Though the Channel is pretty wide it is very full of vessels
passing and re-passing, and as much care has to be taken to steer the ship
safely as to drive a carriage in one of the much-crowded streets of London,
It is a very pleasant road in fine weather. But one vessel carrying a party
of lady missionaries to India was overtaken there by a violent storm. The
waves washed over the deck, and carried away some of the deck-chairs they
A STEAMER GOING DOWN THE RIVER.
12 Storms and Straits.
ON THE TRACK OF OUT-GOING MISSIONARIES—PORT SAID,
had brought to use on the voyage. Down below some of the passengers
were much alarmed, and some were ill. The young missionaries were not
afraid, for they knew that they were in their Father’s keeping, and that “the
sea is His, and He made it†(Ps. xcv. 5), and they did all they could to
help and cheer those around them.
By-and-by the vessel rounds Cape Ushant and soon enters the Bay of
Biscay, famous for gales and storms. There are not many who escape
being ill in this Bay! Then past the north-west corner of Spain, and along
the coast of Portugal, until at last the Straits of Gibraltar are reached—by
night, perhaps, when the tall Rock towers up grandly in the moonlight.
Through a Canal. 13
Now the party are in that part of the highway so well known to the ancient
Greeks and Romans, the Mediterranean Sea. Beautifully blue is this sea,
but often stormy; and as they pass Malta the travellers call to mind
that dangerous voyage made by St. Paul as a prisoner, when the ship was
wrecked off the island (Acts xxvii.) Farther and farther westward, until
they reach Port Said in Egypt. Years ago travellers had to disembark at
Alexandria, proceed overland to Suez, and there take another vessel—for the
Isthmus of Suez then united Asia and Africa. This was a great hindrance,
and was the most troublesome part of the journey, and every one was very
glad when the Frenchman, M. de Lesseps, succeeded in cutting a canal
right through the Isthmus, so that vessels can pass through into the Red
ON THE TRACK OF OUL-GOING MISSIONARIES—SUEZ CANAL.
C.M.S. Missionary in the Yoruba Country, 1852—1869.
Please think !
Sea. In the Red Sea it is very
hot, and all are thankful to get
to Aden, at the farther end of it.
From Aden some will go south-
ward along the east coast of Africa,
and some westward through the
Indian Ocean, to various ports of
India, Ceylon, China, or Japan.
But some missionaries go
quite another way. They take
ship at Liverpool or Southamp-
ton, where steamers are starting
for many different places. Some
are bound for West Africa. They,
too, will pass through the Bay of
Biscay, and go on southward, past
Madeira to Sierra Leone or Lagos,
or farther still, to the mouth of
the river Congo, or yet farther,
Died Fune 6th, 1870. to the Cape. Others will cross
the Atlantic Ocean, and land in
North America. Some of these are going to work among the Red Indians.
Others will travel by rail right across the American continent, and then.
cross the great Pacific Ocean to Japan.
Many of these—and others too—leave England in September or
October. There are generally several bands of missionaries going out
at this time. But some will start at other times of the year. You may be
sure there are always missionaries afloat cn the Great Highway, fresh ones
going to countries they have never yet seen, sick ones and tired ones coming
home to rest, many who have rested going back to their beloved work.
Will you think of them sometimes? God is thinking of them and
caring for them, and He likes His children to do the same. Often these
voyages to distant lands are pleasant, but now and then the missionary has
discomforts and trials. I knew a lady who was once in a terrible storm on
the Atlantic, when the ship was tossed up and down like a plaything among
MRS. HINDERER,
“ No more Sea. 15
the mighty waves. She thought of a friend to whom she had lately said
-good-bye in England, sitting on the beach listening to the gentle plash,
plash of the soft waves over the sand. When yow are listening to that “ plash,
plash,†think of those who are far from home, and it may be sick or in
danger. Mrs. Hinderer, who was seventeen years in the Yoruba country,
made several voyages, and used sometimes to suffer very much. She even
said she had felt as if she would be so thankful for some one to take her up
and throw her into the sea. But she went through it again and again, for
she loved to work for Christ among the black people.
But though there are perils on the sea we ought to be thankful to God
for giving us such a h'ghway. Have you read in the Book of Revelation
that in the “new earth†which God will make some day there shall be no more
sea—and have you ever wondered why?) Many have wondered why ; and
a poet wrote some lines saying how muchhe should miss it! Some people
say it is because the sea separates land from land, and men from men. But
I should not be surprised if there is another reason: there wll be no necd
then of the Great Highway. Yor there will be no strange countries and
strange peoples, and no need of missionaries to travel about with the
Gospel message. All nations will love one another then; and God has
said, “ They shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know Me, from the least of
men to the greatest†(Jer. xxxi. 34). We shall not miss the billows’ play
then, for we shall have something far more beautiful: “The earth shall
be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover
the sea†(Hab. it. 14).
a
fi
Uy)
Ly Mf
By i
f
CHAPTER IL VA Mp ey
Wi) ue 4
MOUNTAIN HEIGHTS ; "|| ue Mh
OR, Se
GLORIOUS SIGHTS. a zo. HT
(
y me e w ae
HICH of you likes a "7 “Ngan THE go ie
good climb uphill?
I think nearly every boy and girl will answer, “I! I!†For, when you are
young and strong, a climb zs delightful, almost better than the quick run
down hill again. I am quite sure when you see a nice hill you want to get
to the top of it. That is generally the case with travellers ; the mountains
they pass may be high and steep, and even crowne1 with snow, but the
young and active always want to get to the top of them. Why is it?
Partly, I expect, because we like to be above everything else, partly because
we like what is a little hard, and partly because of the fine views to be seen
from the mountain tops, looking down on valleys and towns, and woods,
and rivers, and lakes, and perhaps on the clouds below.
Looking Down. 17
If we cannot get up the mountains and look down on things below, we
can sometimes look up to them and see the sunshine lighting them up, and
the shadows playing on their slopes and the grey twilight gathering like a
soft veil about them. These are beautiful sights too.
But mountains, grand and beautiful as they are, seem sometimes very
much in the way. Do you remember how Xerxes, king of Persia, set out
to conquer Greece and found Mount Athos right in the road he wanted to
take? And so he actually sent orders to the mountain to get out of his
way. Of course it stood as still and firm and high as ever, and the foolish,
haughty king found he must either go round it or stay where he was. When
we speak of “mountains in the way,†we mean things that hinder, difficulties
“LOOKING DOWN ON THINGS BELOW,â€
18 Small Beginnings.
which look as though they could not be got over; but there is ove King at
Whose bidding these mountains will move. Find Zech. iv. 7, and see
what the Lord promised to Zerubbabel, the leader of the Jews, when there
were mountains of difficulty in the way of rebuilding the Temple at Jerusalem
—“Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become
a plainâ€â€”and remember how the Lord Jesus said that if His disciples had
faith in Him they might say to such a mountain, “Be thou removed, and
be thou cast into the sea.â€
In the story of Missions there are many mountains—mountains of
difficulty, and actual hills too. It would take a long while to-tell you about
them all, but we will look at a few. But first I want to ask you a question.
What is it that God sees most beautiful upon a mountain? J daresay
before you get to the end of this chapter you will think of the answer.
It was in the year 1799 that a few servants of God met together and
founded the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East, The last
five words of the title are usually dropped now, for the Society started
Missions in the sovth, in New Zealand, and in the zes¢ too, in North
America. There were very few at first who cared to join the new Society,
and though by the close of the first year they had got together about 4911,
they could find no missionaries to send out! Three years later the first
two started for West Africa, but they were both Germans, and for some
time no Englishmen at all offered themselves. The Society has now about
six hundred missionaries in various parts of the world, and every year more
offers of service come in from both men and women. So you see ¢hzs
mountain of difficulty has become a plain.
Some of you have read in another Missionary book called IVhat’s o Clock ?
about Sierra Leone, the ‘ Lion†mountain on the west coast of Africa, with
its sharp peaks rising up into the sky, its green forests, and streams of water
fertilising the valleys where arrowroot, the cocoa plant, tobacco, and the
sugar-cane grow. This was almost the first country occupied by the Church
Missionary Society. Work had been started a little farther to the north,
but it was found best to centre the early efforts of the Society here. The
“Lion†mountain indeed proved a mountain of difficulties, but by God’s
grace the missionaries persevered, and one after another was overcome. I
should like to tell you of one of the smad/ difficulties, and how it was got
Run-away Scholars. 19
over. You have all heard of Adjai
the rescued slave-boy, who later on
became Samuel Crowther,
the first “Black Bishop.â€
When he was at school
at Freetown in Sierra
Leone he was anxious
ei
i yay ye
yu
= Cs,
/ to learn,
i Se : ) and took
i. ae pains to
WIR oN f
at ey rity Y ’ j gees Ay
ral My aap vagy |
5 : ui yen y : bis em ? lg % ||
? bs alu (len Lan my
zc ye, CG
ZA | YARKEG wy A YY
csr ° Fines af ry 1 bi),
Narerico “i rg Wy, wl
Sierra Leone / i ie i i
his schoolfellows were
just the contrary. They
thought lessons very tire-
some. At last they ran
away into the “bushâ€
or forest, and would not
come back. By-and-by
a new teacher came to
the school. This was a
lady who knew how to please chil-
dren. She brought nice pictures to
show them, and she taught them to
dance round in a ring and sing—
“This is the way we wash our hands
To go to school in the morning.â€
Little Adjai thought this delightful, and he went off to the bush to tell the
20 Two Men.
Inawk £ fesge es
Hake
AT RABAI. (Sketch by Bishop Tucker.)
boys who had run away what fine times they were having at school. The
runaways came to peep at what was going on, and they were soon at their
lessons again.
Now I must take you right across Africa to a range of hills on the
east coast, overlooking the ocean. They are not very high, but they are
picturesque, and the view you get from them is a lovely one.
Let us look at those hills nearly fifty-three years ago. There are villages
here and there, consisting of houses not unlike bee-hives. The people are
very ignorant and superstitious, and have never yet had a white man to live
among them. Here are two men toiling up a steep ascent to one of the
villages called Rabai. One of them is so ill that he is obliged to ride a
donkey, and he looks more fit to be in his bed than here. The other is
climbing on foot by his side. Their names are Ludwig Krapf and
John Rebmann, and they are the first missionaries to East Africa. They
Sorrow and Loss. 21
are going to found a little mission station at Rabai, for the “elders†of the
village have given them permission to live there. And then—what next?
Ah! There are grand thoughts in their minds. They are not going to be
content: with telling only the people of Rabai about the Saviour. They
look forward to other missionaries joining them, and to the Gospel being
carried to new and unknown nations whom no traveller has yet reached.
They are taking possession of East Africa in the name of the Lord Jesus,
these poor, sick, weary-looking men! Do you want to know how they got
on? They met with disappointment after disappointment. Other men
who were sent out to help them either fell sick, or went home again. One
of these helpers died, and Krapf lost his wife and child. They suffered
hardships of all kinds, and at last, after nine years, Krapf was too worn out
to remain in Africa any longer. He went home to Germany and busied
himself with preparing graminars and dictionaries of the strange African
languages for other missionaries who should follow. Rebmann stayed at
his post until he was old and blind. He had a few Christian converts
GRAVES OF EARLY MISSIONARIES IN EAST AFRICA,
22 The gain that came after.
around him, and that was all. What had become of the grand plans these
men had cherished for Africa ?
They have been wonderfully fulfilled! If you could stand on those
hills now you would see a Christian village, with a Christian church, and
you might hear hymns of praise going up to God. The people could tell
you of another Christian settlement down below the hills, on the beautiful
harbour, called Frere Town, where hundreds of people are living happily,
who were once poor slaves in chains and starving. They could tell you of
numbers of missionaries who have gone far into the country, north and
west, carrying the Gospel message, and of the Word of God known and read
and loved in Giriama, in Usagara, in Uganda, and a great deal more that I
\\ Ki
Z: \\
IN THE HILLS OF CHINA.
A lovely Land. 23
\\\
\\
IN THE HIMALAYAS, (See /. 25.)
cannot write of now. For we must say good-bye to Africa,and speed away
over the sea to China. :
China is a land full of grand hills and lovely valleys. Some of these
hills are very steep, and the missionary has a hard climb over them
as he travels from place to place. Sometimes the path is formed of
hundreds and hundreds of stone-steps. Now and then the traveller comes
toa deep ravine between the hills, and how do you think it is crossed? By
rude bridges formed of three or four planks laid side by side, which tremble
as you pass over them. One missionary, not liking to trust himself to such
a shaky bridge, went all the way down the hill to the stream below, made
his way over it, and then mounted the steep rocks on the other side, and '
so reached the path again. Sometimes the road winds up and up for many
miles and goes round very sharp corners. A lady missionary was being
carried over the hills in a chair (the usual way for women to travel in China),
24 Hanging over a Precipice.
and the narrow
path made such
a sudden bend
as the bearers
passed round
one of these cor-
ners that the
chair hung right
over a precipice!
They got round,
however, in
safety, but a few
moments later
the chair gave
way, and the
lady fell to the
ground, Had
this happened at
the corner she
must have been
dashed down the
precipice.
Many of the
hills are covered
with the tea-
plant, and some-
oe
Lh Pre ;
AE Ne yf weary climb the
traveller finds
himself ona level
plateau, where
there are vil-
lages, and fields
of rice and of
corn. Some of the high peaks are of curious shapes, and often the rocks
A
AN
\
\
{
The Messengers of Peace. 25
are of various colours, and silvery streams leap down into the rivers below.
But are there no other glorious sights to be seen? Yes, indeed. But
I cannot now stop to tell you of towns and villages where people have
learned to love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many hills of
difficulty in the way, but we know our King is able to overcome them all.
We must now turn to India, where are some of the loftiest mouritains
in the world, the snow-clad Himalayas, a fine sight from the plain below!
But I want to take you to some hills not quite so hard to climb as these.
There are many in various parts of India. Long, long ago, before
William the Conqueror came to England, there were several races of people
living in India. But others, stronger than they, came and drove them from
their homes and took possession of their lands. The Aborigines, as they
are called (or earliest inhabitants), fled to the mountains, and their descen-
dants live there to this day, and are quite different from the ordinary
Hindus. Some are very ignorant, and have strange ideas and customs of
their own. There are the Santhals and Paharis and Kéls in Bengal, the
Gonds in Central India, the Bheels in Western India, the Kois near the
river Godavery, and the Arrians in Travancore.
There is another strange tribe living among the Nilgherry Hills, the
Todas. They are tall and strong and very proud, but also very ignorant.
A missionary at Ootacamund has begun to visit them and tell them of
Christ, and I am sure that when God looks down on these hills He sees a
beautiful sight. Not churches, and chapels, and worshippers. These are
not come yet. Have you found out what the sight is? You will find it in
Isa. lit. 7: “ How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that
bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace !â€
But we must not say good-bye to the mountains and hills without a
peep at one more—that hill from which the Lord Jesus gazed down upon
Jerusalem, and from which He afterwards ascended to heaven. The feet
of the messengers of peace are on Mount Olivet too. One lady went out
with her missionary daughter, and lived on Olivet in an ‘‘upper room †in
the house of an Arab sheikh, that she might show “a light for Jesus†there.
She was the friend of all the Arab families round about, and they said of
her, “The Sitt (lady) seemed to care for nothing but Jesus.†After two
years God called her home, but her daughter remains there still.
CHAPTER IV.
RIVERS FLOWING; OR, OUT AND IN GOING.
WONDER what
rivers you have seen ?
Perhaps you are living in
London, and have gone
up and down the Thames
inasteamer. Or perhaps
you live near some
smaller stream, which
glides peacefully between
green fields and woods,
where the trees lean down
and dip their boughs in
the cool water. Or your
river may be a _ little
brook, over which you
can jump without danger.
But a brook is not a river,
you say. Well, if it is
-not a river it is hurrying
on to join some river, and
pour its waters into the
current that is going on
to the sea. That is where
all the brooks and streams
are bound for in the end.
The bright little waves
are all travellers, making
“GLIDING PEACEFULLY BETWEEN . . . WOODS,†haste to get out into the
Brooks of Living Water. 27
great ocean. But they
are travellers who do
good as they go along,
bringing coolness and
refreshment and making
pleasant music, and the
land would be dry, and
brown, and__ parched
without them. Don’t
you think they are
something like mission-
aries? But you know
all the children of God
ought to be like brooks
of living water, giving
out to others the life and the gladness which God has given them.
How can they do this? Do you know where the brooks get their
water? It comes welling up out of the earth. Yes, but first it has come
down from the clouds, and sunk right into the ground, and become a little
spring of water. If you look at Deut. viii. 7, xi. 11, you will see that
the land God gave to Israel was a land of fountains and depths, and a
land “that drinketh water of the rain of heaven.†Without the rain no
brooks, and without the grace of God coming down into the heart, no out-
flowing to do good to the world.
Now, though the brooks, and streams and rivers go ow! from the land
where they first rise, and never stop until they get to the sea, they are very
useful to help you to get ¢z to a country. I once paid a visit to Wiesbaden,
in Germany, a long way from the sea, and, excepting the last three or four
miles, I went the whole of the way by water. Crossing the North Sea in a
large steamer, a smaller one took me up the rivers Scheldt and Rhine
through Holland, and a third farther up the Rhine into Germany. It was
a very easy journey.
Journeys into heathen countries are not easy like this; but it is often
by means of the great rivers that missionaries are able to get into the
interior. The Niger, which falls into the Gulf of Guinea, has been for
TRADERS’ BUATS ON THE NIGER,
28 Slaves for Food.
some years a highway
for the Gospel. Many
trading steamers be-
longing to the Royal
Niger Company go up
and down it; and
Bishop Crowther and
his helpers used to
travel in them, and
founded several Mis-
sion stations on the
river. When Graham
Wilmot Brooke wanted
to get into the Sudan,
that vast - country
stretching right across Africa, to carry the good news to the thousands
there who had never heard of it, he found the river Niger was the best
road for getting in. Before he went up the Niger, he had tried the great
river Congo, which falls into the ocean farther to the south. He had gone
up one of its tributary streams called the Mobangi, hoping to reach the
Sudan that way, but after a time the barbarous tribes on the banks would
not let him go any farther, Very fearful sights he saw on that river.
Sometimes he would hear the monotonous singing of boatmen in the
A CHAPEL ON THE NIGER.
distance, and presently
\ : a == a - oe a boat full of poor
fle ee saeco 2 BS Pees ae slaves would pass by
= - Ale him on the way to one
of the great towns.
You would never guess
what those slaves were
wanted for: not to
work, but to be killed
and used as food! No
wonder the mission-
ary’s heart grew sick
G : YY 7 7 e
HANNS en Vy LS aR
nN ea ihe DEAT TAS at fr
. 4 > SS
i AE Se SS Pee ae i
qi _ Se !
TRADERS’ HOUSES ON THE NIGER,
Up a Great River.
at the sight, and he wondered
if Christians at home really
loved their Lord, while they
let these black people far
away go on in darkness and
wickedness. There are many
missionaries, as you know,
on the Congo now, and God
has greatly blessed their
work. So we hope that
by-and-by they will
make their way up
the Mobangi, and
that the heathen there
may be turned “ from
the power of Satan
unto God.â€
Up the great river
of Egypt, the Nile,
where many people
go for pleasure, for
health,. or to explore
the country, a lady
used to travel with
portions of Scripture
to give to the people
at the different places
on its banks. This
she did in her holiday
time, for she was
mostly hard at work
in the city of Cairo,
gathering in the poor
ragged children, and
teaching them the
NIGER SCENES: Word of God. But it
30 Seven hundred miles of Canal.
aN
5: —Bames
‘a Or THE JNfiue
Av @ mine
(See p. 29.)
is some years
since this lady,
|. Miss M. Whate-
ly, was called
home to the
Saviour’s _ pre-
sence. It was
at one time
hoped that mis-
sionaries would
be able to reach
the interior of
Africa by the
Nile, and some
did go a con-
siderable — dis-
tance by the
river, but the
difficulties were
too many _ to
render it a good
highway.
Passing by
India, without
time to see its
great rivers, not
even the sacred
Ganges, we must
take a glance at the rivers of China. Look them out on the map. The
Chinese found out long ago that a journey by water was the best means
of getting about their country, and they dug canals to join one river with
another, and make these water roads more perfect. One of these, the
Grand Canal, is nearly 700 miles long. There are boats continually
passing up and down the rivers, some with merchandise, and others
carrying passengers from place to place. They have regular hours for
An uncomfortable Fourney. 3I
stopping at the
crowded jetties where
the passengers are
waiting to be picked :
up, and for ten casf,
or one halfpenny, you
can travel thirty or ===
forty miles! But you ON THE YANG-TSE RIVER AT ICHANG, (See p. 33-)
must not expect to
be very comfortable for that price. You may find yourself in such a crowd of
Chinamen that you can hardly move, and if you are going against the wind
you may find the water rather closer than is pleasant, sometimes even coming
right into the boat. But if you like to pay extra they will give you a cabin
to yourself. You would enjoy the sight of the tall mountains towering up
into the sky, and the wonderful gorges, and the busy towns where the water
is covered with other boats. Some of these are steamers, some are junks
with one mast and a square sail, and some are boats rowed with oars.
BOAT ASCENDING RAPIDS ON CHINESE RIVER,
Five Tiny Rooms. 33
But these voyages are not without danger. Far away from the sea, up
among the mountains, there are rapids where the bed of the river suddenly
sinks several feet, and the water rushes swiftly down hill. There are no
locks, as in England, by which boats can be brought in safety through these
dangerous places. A number of men on the shore pull the boats up the
rapids by stout ropes. Now and then, however, it happens that the rope
breaks, the boat is dashed back by the current, and if unhurt, the work of
pulling it up has to be begun over again. In the worst places passengers
are not allowed to remain in the boat, but are put on shore, and have to
make their way to the next safe place for taking the boat again. Going
down the rapids requires great skill on the part of the boatmen, but accidents
do not often happen.
I hardly know what the missionaries would do without these ways of
getting into the country ; even by boat it takes two or three months to reach
the far interior. A party went out in 1891 who were bound for the inland
province of Sz-chuen. They landed at the port of Shanghai, and from
Shanghai you can go by steamer as far up the Yang-tse-kiang as the town
of Ichang. But as they were going a good way beyond Ichang they hired
two house-boats at Hankow, one for the men and one for the women. The
women’s boat was seventy feet long and twelve wide. The captain and
crew occupied both ends, and the travellers a sort of little house in the
middle, with five tiny rooms—not too much for eight women and two
children. They were very thankful that on this boat there were “no rats,
beetles, or insects,†and the water did not get in.
One day they ran into a mud bank, where a boat will sometimes stick
for weeks together. They turned at once to their Father in heaven: God
heard their prayer, and very soon they were afloat again. Another time
they had only just put into a little sheltering creek for the night when a
ON THE BANKS OF THE YANG-TSE RIVER. D
34 “ They could not stay.â€
storm of wind came rushing down the river, and the boats outside were
tossed about in all directions. Before leaving Ichang, where the boat was
prepared for going up the rapids, the boatman killed a fowl, and sprinkled
the blood over the boat in patches, sticking a few feathers in each patch.
Then they lighted candles and put them in the bows of the boat, together
with sticks of incense and bowls of vegetables. This was an offering to
their gods, by means of which they hoped to secure a prosperous voyage.
Sometimes the boat passed by villages on the river's bank, and the
people came out to stare at the foreigners. At one place where the
missionaries went on shore the poor women took hold of their hands, and
said: ‘Come and live with us, and then we can learn about your God.â€
But they could not stay, and no one has yet been to teach these poor
villagers. Sometimes, amongst the loveliest scenery on the river banks,
the hearts of the travellers were saddened by seeing idols carved in the rock
and painted with gay colours. Jam glad to tell you these dear missionarics
reached their destination in safety, and are doing all they can to make
known the good tidings of God’s love in these far-off cities of China.
Now we must bid farewell to China and take a leap right across the
Pacific Ocean to North-West America. What a contrast to the country we
have just left! No vast population, no great cities, no busy merchants, no
industrious labourers, no well-cultivated land with its corn and rice-fields.
One of the great Chinese cities contains more people than all North-West
America. The “Indians,†as the natives are called, are scattered over the
country, far apart from one another, and most of them live by hunting.
There are some fertile patches of land, but the greater part is forest or
prairie. But in one respect there is a likeness to China. The country
abounds in noble rivers, and you can travel over a great part of it almost
entirely by water—that is to say, when the rivers and lakes are not frozen,
as most of them are in winter! Not, however, by regular passage boats, as
in China, except here and there on the larger rivers, where there are now
steamers belonging to the Hudson’s Bay Company.
The Indian canoe is a light, frail boat, made of birch-wood. In many
of the rivers the current is very swift, and it is hard work going against the
stream. Descending the river is not without danger cither, as there are
rocks in the way, and now and then the banks get undermined by the
“Well Worth.†35
water, and a great piece gets loose and topples over into the river. Some-
times the scenery is very beautiful, as the river winds between stcep rocks
and wooded hills, and the trees, and ferns, and flowers come down to the
water’s edge. But there is no shelter for the traveller, as in the Chinese
boats. A missionary had to bring his sick wife for many miles in an open
boat that she might get the nursing and proper food she required.
At times the journey is very monotonous. There is nothing to be
seen but a few log huts on the bank, and hereand there a “ fort†belonging
to the Company. Yct this wide, lone land is a part of God's earth, and it
is well worth these long voyages to reach the precious souls there for
whom Christ died, though they may be few in number. A missionary on
the Peace River was telling one of the “ Beaver†Indians the Gospel story.
After speaking for some time he stopped, thinking the man would be tired.
But the Indian said, “ Why do you stop? Goon, goon. I am starving to
hear such words. I have never heard them before.â€
I wish I could tell you of the Red River, where the first Mission
stations were planted, of the Saskatchewan flowing right across the country
from the Rocky Mountains westward, and the great Mackenzie, with its
large tributaries, and the rivers on the Pacific Coast where Bishop Ridley
has done such stirring work, and many others. Don’t you think we ought
to thank God that he has made these roads of waters by which His Gospel
may be carried to the many thousands stili waiting for it? And will you
pray that many more missionaries may go up and down them with the
joyful news ?
CHAPTER V.
SPREADING PLAINS; OR, PRAYER AND PAINS.
LAINS! Wide stretches of land, flat as far as the eye can see; very
uninteresting and monotonous, you say. Yet there are plains that
are very interesting indeed to some people. I remember travelling through
a part of Belgium where the country was very flat. It was all cut up into
little fields full of different kinds of corn and vegetables. It certainly was
not pretty to look at, but I have no doubt it was very interesting to the
people who owned the fields, who ploughed the ground and sowed the seed,
and tended the plants, and watched for the harvest. You may be sure they
liked the flat ground better than hills and rocks. And I suspect that jou
like the little flat bit of garden which is your own, where you sow your own
seed and gather your own flowers, better than the bank where the wild
primroses grow. It is just the same in the Mission-field. Wherever ground
has been claimed for the Divine Master, and precious seed has been sown,
the place is full of interest to all who have had a share in the work.
Iam going to take you to some of the great plains of India. If you
look at the map you will see that India is something the shape of a V.
Just at the point of the V, but a little on your right hand, you will find a
country about the size of Yorkshire, called Tinnevelly.
It is not a pretty country generally. It is mostly a great plain stretch-
ing from the Ghats mountains on the west to the seashore on the east, with
a few bare rocks scattered here and there. In the larger part, which is
fertile, you would see broad fields of rice and cotton, and I daresay the
people are proud of their fields, But the southern part is miles and miles of
A useful Tree. 37
dry sand, except for a few oases, green patches, where the people are able to
sow alittle. This sand is dotted over with groves of tall, straight, stiff palmyra
trees, which strike their roots so deep into the soil that they are able to find
moisture. They grow to a height of sixty or eighty feet, and are bare
nearly all the way, with a beautiful crown of leaves at the top. The palmyra
is a most useful tree. The leaves serve to roof the houses, and they are also
used for writing-paper. They are cut into thin strips, and then the pretty
Tamil letters are written, or rather engraved, on them with an iron pen.
But the best part of the palmyra is its sap, which is made into sugar, and
forms the principal food of the people. The sap oozes out of the bark, and
is collected in small vessels, and the S/axars climb the tall trees for this
purpose two or three times a day.
But these industrious people have a very dreadful religion. The place
of worship in every heathen village is a fez kovil, or devil’s house, and the
worship consists of wild dances and singing and offerings to turn away the
anger of the evil spirits. In the great city of Tinnevelly isa temple to Siva,
the Destroyer, one of the chief Hindu deities, and his wife. There are a
thousand Brahmins to wait upon these images and take care of the treasures
A MISSION STATION IN TINNEVELLY.
“Much too holy.â€
Missionary Society
was founded there
were a few Chris-
tians here. The
Society has worked
here since 1820,
and the Society for
the Propagation of
the Gospel has also
done a great deal
PALMYRA PALMS. (Sce p. 37.) for the people. At
first it was only the
southern part of the district that heard the Gospel,
~ and the converts were mostly found among the poor,
despised Shanars. But in 1854 Mr. Ragland, Mr.
Fenn, and Mr. Meadows began to visit the northern
part, carrying their goods in carts drawn by bullocks,
and pitching their tents wherever they could find a
little shade—for the sun is very hot in Tinnevelly !
They talked to all who would listen, and gave away
portions of Scripture. At first it was hard to get a
hearing, and the people would throw dust at them
and order them away. One farmer who read the
Scripture portion given him said that the religion of
Jesus was good, but much too holy fora Hindu. He
did not believe a Hindu could really lead a Christian
life, and thought those who professed to do so did it
for the sake of pay! At last he went to stay with a
Christain native, to watch how he got on, and he
which are supposed to belong to them ;
there is a tank for them to bathe in, and
a platform where they sit in the cool!
Missionaries have been working in
the Tinnevelly country for more than a
hundred years. Even before the Church
A PALMYRA CLIMBER,
(See p. 37.)
Long Names. 39
soon saw that this man was living a new life! His heart was touched, he
asked that he too might be baptized, and he became a true follower of the
Lord Jesus.
Some of the Christians left their heathen homes and settled in a place
together, making a little Christian village. They would there build a little
church, with a roof of palmyra leaves, and get a Native minister for it.
hon} a
) y as SERS Se
So SATAN IA » = E ; =
SR Ae
. —
“THEY TALKED TO ALL WHO WOULD LISTEN,â€
The first of these Native pastors was the Rev. John Devasagayam, whose
portrait I remember being shown at a children’s missionary meeting when
I was a little girl. He was ordained in1830. The Christian villages often
have very pretty names. One is called Kadachapuram, or “Grace Village†;
another, Suviséshapuram, or “ Gospel Village.†I think you will like the
English names best. Another is the village of “True Wisdom,†or Meng-
ndnapuram. “Try to remember this name, for the village is the most
A green oasis.
remarkable one of all.
It was situated in
such a desert of sand
that the natives called
the place Saba Nil-
ano (“Soil under a
Curseâ€); but Mr.
Thomas, who went to
live there in 1837, dug
wells and improved
the place, and soon
the sandy desert was
changed into a green
oasis. Here the
precious seed of the
Gospel took root and
grew in ‘many hearts.
Mr. Thomas laboured
here for thirty-three
years, and had the
joy of seeing twelve
boys whom he had taught ordained as ministers to their own countrymen.
There are several mission stations now in North Tinnevelly, all under the
care of Native pastors.
In the town of Palamcotta, opposite the heathen city of Tinnevelly, on
the other side of the river, is a Christian college for boys, and there are
several schools. I daresay you have heard of the Sarah Tucker Institution,
where Hindu girls are educated and sent out as teachers to their own
countrywomen.
There are more Christians in the Tinnevelly district than in any other
part of India, and they have learned to love their fellow-Christians far
away. When the converts in Uganda were in great distress through
persecution, the Tinnevelly Christians of their own accord made a collection
and sent help to them, together with a letter full of affection and
sympathy. And they care also for the heathen, even those whom they
WN
AQ
LAW
WMV
THE REV. JOHN THOMAS.
Prayer and Pains. 4I
have never seen. A woman of the poorer class went from door to door,
often to people of higher rank than herself, and collected money to help
the Santhal Mission far away in Bengal. This woman prayed at every
door before going in. She prayed and she took pains also. It is prayer
and pains that have raised up from among the worshippers of the devil
these living witnesses for Christ. And they have made the flat, monotonous
plains of Tinnevelly full of interest and delight to all who truly love the
Lord.
Now we
must turn our
steps north-
ward. Start-
ing from
Calcutta, a
journey of
about forty
miles by rail
brings us into
the Nuddea
District. This
is not as large
as Tinnevelly,
not quite half
the size. But
besides towns
such as Nud-
dea, Krishna-
gar, Santi-
pore, Rana-
ghat, and
others, it has
three thousand
villages and
two million
inhabitants.
NUDDEA DISTRICT ASSOCIATED EVANGELISTS. (See p. 42.)
42 A busy Band.
The plain is dotted with groves of trees, and in each grove there is a village
almost hidden by the foliage. They are all built on ground which has
been slightly raised above the level of the surrounding country, so that
when the rainy season comes they may not be inundated. I do not think
you would like to visit many of these villages in the rainy season. You
might have to go by a cuécha road, or rough cart track, and you might soon
find yourself in a slough of mud, where the pony could hardly drag along
the gig, or ¢m-tum as it is called. But in the dry season you would be
smothered with dust! In some of the villages you would find a little
church, but there are a great many where the people have never heard the
Gospel.
In some parts of the Nuddea District the people are very ready to listen
to the story of God’s love. But, alas! there are so few to tell it. The
misssionary who superintends the work lives at a village called Chupra.
At Krishnagar there is a “ Normal School †for training schoolmasters, and
a Boarding School for girls. In the northern part of the district there is a
band of “ Associated Evangelists†at work. These are young lay mission-
aries, with a clergyman as their leader, who live together and itinerate in
the country round. Their headquarters are at Shikarpur, and thence they
travel about, living in tents, and preaching the Gospel to all who will listen.
Sometimes the preaching tour is made by boat up the river, and some-
times the missionaries have a watery journey without a boat, as you see in
the pictures !
The women have little share in all this. They are accustomed to run
away and hide themselves if they seea man coming. Soa lady missionary
determined to try and reach them. When the village women found that
a mem Sahib (lady) had come to see them they were very delighted.
One day when she had been out early and had closed her tent that she
might have her breakfast quietly, the women gathered outside and began to
talk. “Have you seen her?†said one. “No, she is not showing herself
to-day.â€
Then after a little while they cried out, “Mem Sahib, are you not
there? Will you not let us see your face? Are we to be so unfortunate
as to go away without seeing you?â€
At another place where she had been telling the poor women about the
Three Thousand Villages. 43
life of the Lord Jesus on earth, so different from the stories about Krishna,
whom they had been taught to worship, they said—* These are not words
to be heard only once; we ought to hear them again and again. We are
so ignorant, and worship our gods only because we don’t know better. If
we had such teaching as this often we should learn better.â€
Can you wonder the lady felt very sad when she had to say good-bye to
fi) h ,
yhi4 yy
LM
L“SPany watér betweenthis fhe village, Coy ?™
“Nowmaska, Sahib, Me, nene ot ae
Hi yt ne "1 eae *. },
ofS ns be lout’ Lae rs
: a a Sa ve i of -
2. Benga yet ants ab cfose quavlérs. 4, Sorng home almg the high Youd.
‘““\ WATERY JOURNEY WITHOUT A BOAT.â€
these women, not knowing when she should be able to come and see them
again? For she cannot spend all her time among the Heathen. The
women in the Christian villages want teaching and caring for. I am glad
to tell you another lady or two has gone to help her. But how can they
ever get round ¢hree thousand villages?
So don’t forget to pray for the women in the plains of Nuddea!
CHAPTER VI.
FOREST WAYS, OR, PAINS AND
PRAISE.
ON’T you love a ramble
through a wood, searching
for primroses or wood-anemones,
or blue-bells, or better, for wild
strawberries? There are no wild
animals to be afraid of (unless,
perhaps, a snake): they were all
got rid of hundreds of years ago.
You can go out and picnic under
the trees and enjoy yourself.
There are such charming paths to ex-
plore, and such pretty little nooks to
rest—or to hide in.
So I daresay you wonder I should
put the word “ains†so close to “forest.â€
You think it should rather have been
“treat†or “pleasure.†But wait a little
and you will see. 3
Missionaries in Africa have often to
travel by forest ways. If you have read
stories of West Africa you must have
come across the word “bush.†The
“bush†in Africa means land which has
never been cleared for cultivation, where
the trees and bushes have been allowed
WEST AFRICAN FAN PALMS.
A dangerous Fourney. 45
to grow on without any attempt to cut them down. And the “bush†is
mostly forest, though it includes open spaces between. Some of these forests
are very fine. The trees are tall and stately, and trailing plants climb all
over them, and there is such a mass of green overhead that you cannot see
the sky. There are parrots in the forest, and monkeys, and other animals
not so harmless, but these seldom come near travellers, and at night any
who may be passing through always light great fires to scare away
such intruders.
When Mrs. Hinderer (whose portrait we gave in Chapter II.) went
out to Ibadan, in West Africa, in 1853, she travelled through many miles
of forest, part of the way on horseback, and part of the way in a hammock
carried by men. She was full of joy at being allowed to go so far to tell
the poor Africans of the Saviour whom she loved. In the town of Ibadan
she lived and laboured for the Lord seventeen years altogether. She
had not only much work to do—work that she loved—but she had many
hardships to bear, especially when there was war raging in the country, and
she and her husband could get no supplies from England. That war
came to an end, but
another broke out, and
Mrs. Hinderer was no
longer so strong and
able to endure. And
at last good Governor
Glover, of Lagos, sent
messengers and horses
up through the forest
to Ibadan to bring her
away. She had only
a few hours to. prepare
for the journey, which
was a dangerous one,
and her husband could
not come with her
(he followed later on).
One of the African
OIL PALMS IN WEST AFRICA.
46 Babes i the Bush.
girls whom she had brought up, named Konigbagbe, insisted on coming
with her to see her safely to the coast. They had to go a round-about
way for fear of meeting the enemy, and in some places the forest was so
thick that they had to get off their horses and walk. Poor Konigbagbe
was not used to this, and her feet got dreadfully weary and sore before the
journey was over. They dared hardly stop to rest for fear the enemy
should find them out, and they did the whole of the journey, which usually
took five days, in three. Very thankful they felt when they arrived safely
at Lagos.
Now I will tell you what I once heard from an African missionary (a
black one!) about a forest journey. When the river Niger gets near the
sea it divides into a number of streams, and empties its waters into the
ocean by several mouths. I daresay you know that the land between the
different mouths of a river is called a Delta, because it is the shape of a
Greek “A,†a “delta.†There are several towns on the Niger Delta, and
there are fields and farms, but a great part is “bush.†One day this
missionary saw a woman go off into the bush carrying a basket. He
guessed what was in the basket, and what the woman was going todo. So
he got into a boat and went up the river after her, till at last she disappeared
from sight. Then he waited for a while, and when he thought she had gone
home again he got out of the boat and went in among the trees to look for
what she had left there. At length he came to a dark nook, and what do
you think he found? A little baby, left alone to die! Why was the
mother so cruel? It was not that she did not care for her baby, but she
did not dare to keep it. It was one of ¢zévs, and she had been taught that
the gods she worshipped would be very angry if it were allowed to live.
In some placesit is the custom to put do¢/ twins to death. The missionary
carried the poor child to a place of safety, and when it was older he told
the mother he had rescued it. She was very frightened at first, but when
he showed her that no harm had come of it she was very glad. I am happy
to say that this cruel custom has been given up in some places.
I don’t think you would like some of the East African forests at all.
You might be amused at first to follow the narrow, winding path, where
travellers walk in single file, one behind the other. But by-and-by you
might come to a place where the branches are so thick that they would
Spectacles in Danger ! 47
have to be cut away with a hatchet before you could pass. I have heard,
too, of a missionary getting his spectacles caught in the creepers that hung
from the trees, and nearly losing them! And you would not like the
thorns which actually drop down upon your head in some parts. Then
think of travelling through a forest, with the hot sun scorching you all the
time. How is this? Sometimes the trees, though standing thick together,
are not very tall, or have not sufficient leaves to give any real shade.
But there is one forest which travellers are delighted to reach. This
is partly because the way to it lies across a hot plain, where no water can
be found, and partly because it is really a beautiful place. The forest of
iw
>
Np
AW
a)
a aa†ss 7 ale
eSS OO SEE SS
= >- SS Sad. SESS = See
SES SS So ae
A SCENE IN WEST AFRICA.
Grand and Beautiful.
Taveta is about fifteen miles long and three miles
broad. The entrance is guarded by a fence, and
there is a gate through which you must crawl on
your hands and knees. At sunset it is closed, and
| if you arrive a few minutes late you have to stay
outside all night. For there are plenty of people
living in the forest, and they are rather particular
who comes into their domain. If they do not like
you they will shut the gate against you. Inside it
seems quite a fairy land to the weary traveller.
There are splendid trees, delicious shade, magnifi-
cent ferns, running brooks, and there are open
spaces with gardens of maize and Indian corn, and the little
huts in which the people live. But in the rainy season it is
said to be very damp, and very unhealthy for Europeans. It
is only a short time that missionaries have been working at Taveta, but
already the Gospels are being translated into the language of the feople,
and one boy has been baptized, and there are other candidates.
Then there is a splendid forest which Bishop Tucker passed through
last year (1892) on his way to Uganda. He travelled by what is called the
new route, north-west from Frere Town and Rabai, and before reaching
the Victoria Lake, he had to cross a steep, high ridge by a pass which
led him through part of the great Kamasia forest. Here he found
“trees towering up to the skies, creepers here, there, and everywhere, ferns,
grasses, and mosses,†altogether most grand and beautiful. Sometimes
“the path was in semi-darkness, and at others the sunlight glistening
through the boughs wrought a magical effect of light and shade.â€
In India it is very different. You will find no great forests in the
ordinary track of the missionary. You must go far from towns, and rail-
ways, and roads, and rice fields, up among the hills. But Travancore in the
south-west corner is a beautiful country of hills and forests. Only the
forest is mostly called “jungle.†Between forty and fifty years ago there
was a missionary working in Travancore called Henry Baker. One day
when he was sitting in his study his little daughter ran in, saying, “Oh!
papa,..such_strange-looking men are come to see you.†These were some
iy uz muy
‘aaa i
ie ps =
= palisadeg, uiLage
Un Vn ’
“Five Times we have been to call you.†49
of the Hill Arrians, one of the hill tribes I told you of in Chapter III.
They had come to ask that they might have a teacher to live among them.
Mr. Baker had no one to
send, and he could not
leave his own work. But
the Arrians came again
and again, and at last
they said, “ Five times
we have been to call
you. You must know
that we know nothing
right. Will you teach
us or not?) We die like
beasts and are buricd
like dogs. Ought you
to neglect us?â€
The villages from
which these men came
were forty-five miles off,
and the way to reach
them was through the
jungle, where there was
no road. However,
Mr. Baker promised to
travel thirty miles to
mect them if they would
euide him the rest of
the way. The following
week he set off with
his brother, and after a
long journey they came
by a narrow path to the
banks of a river, where
they expected to find
the men. But there was
SCENE IN TAVETA. (Sketch by Bishop Tucker.)
50 A night Conference.
no one there, and they had to camp out in the jungle alone. Next
morning they followed an elephant track along the river, and at length
they found their friends, who took them on to one of the villages, shouting
all around to let others know that the missionary had arrived. When
evening came, about 200 people had assembled, and a conference was held
by the light of the moon and blazing piles of wood. Mr. Baker read them
some passages from the Bible, telling of the need of a Saviour, and of the
love of God : in sending
His Son. They talked
on together till midnight,
and then Mr. Baker knelt
down and asked for
God’s help and _ blessing,
and repeated the Lord’s
Prayer. He had to return
but Native
sent to live
people. The
not quick to
there were
culties in the
work went
ward, and the
Christians
between two
thousand.
of a mission-
the Arrians
home again,
teachers were
among the
Arrians were
learn, and
several | diffi-
way. Stillthe
steadily for-
professing
now number
and three
The work
ary among
is a toilsome THE REV, HENRY BAKER, OF TRAVANCORE, one. He
must travel from village
to village on foot, up and down hill and over rough roads, as not even a
pony can pass through the jungle. There is much rain, and the country is
often flooded, so it not seldom happens that the poor missionary is wet
through on his journeys. Some villagers who were visited for the first
time by a white missionary said, “This sahib must love us, for he has
en
TT
CS ,
I Ks
WPI Y iS
py i)
Vy?
Micvn, as uyiyitenss |
Wrens rep an
Penn ee
iy
GOH
AN ARRIAN VILLAGE,
52 “This Sahib must love us.â€
taken all this trouble to come
and see us, not to get any-
thing from us, but to tell us
about his Ged.â€
Just one peep at a
YW pleasanter forest. Imagine
Dy - \ Ae a walk beneath magnificent
“ily ae trees of different kinds, as
i
(ew
ex,
Ny D
He Ee : sh, ie BF
Ais = Li us thickly placed together as in
ili Madey, = an African forest, but far
sa oP me = more beautiful, many of them
covered with blossoms
A
po Eales at f tl t brilliant
ip ee / /rl == 220 1¢@ mos rillian
AY r hi We fe 4 il colours. We are in
- =~ >__ Ceylon now. The nar-
eae, eh ete row path
a" leads to a
_x~_: 7 little school, where
ay _* “= bright-eyed Sin-
< ~ “~~ ghalese children are
- being taught by Chris-
ee tian ladies. There are
ft many such schools in the
SX beautiful island of Ceylon ;
but though the work now looks
so pleasant, there have been long
years full cf difficulty in the Ceylon
Mission. When the first English
c missionaries began to work here, the
CROSSING HAS EWE RAW ITH SARRISNS: people would go away and take a bath
after talking with them, thinking them-
selves defiled by the presence of the foreigner !
Of course there are vast pine forests in North America, and beautiful
ones in New Zealand too, but alas! we cannot talk about everything in one
small book, so we have to leave them out.
A song of joyful Praise. 53
Now, do you think I was right to put “pains†close to “forest� Men
and women who did not care to take pains, and were not willing to suffer
hardships, would never have attempted some of these forest journeys. But
you are right too. For such a lot of pleasure has come out of them—dark
heathen towns and villages reached, and precious souls won for Christ, and
the assurance that /Ye rejoices over them. So the pains and the pleasure
together all melt into a song of joyful praise.
Saas
Wa Phe
l ey Reo
AL
: NI No fi
ea i
y \ Wy
A CEYLON VILLAGE SCENE.
Uh
IN THE VALLEY OF THE JORDAN.
CHAPTER VII.
UPLAND VALES,; OR, PLEASANT TALES.
RE you surprised at the title of this chapter? It is
true we generally speak of going dowz into a valley,
not wp. But if we were to visit the principal valleys of the world
we should generally find that we have to go wp to them—at least
if we begin at the seashore and the plain beyond. There are
some really low valleys in the world. The valley of the Jordan is far
below the level of the sea, and so the river never gets out into the
ocean at all, but ends in the still, salt lake called the Dead Sea. But most
valleys are high. They are hollows between mountains. You seem low
down when you are in them, because of the great rocks and peaks towering
up around you. But you are much higher than the plain below. Do you
remember reading in Pilgrim's Progress of Christian getting into the
Valley of Humiliation? He goes down to it. Yes; but he has been
A beautiful Valley. 55
wp first, at the “House Beautiful,’ on the hill. It is after we have
got up beyond our own small and foolish selves, and had a sight of the
great and wonderful things of God, that we learn to be truly humble.
So, in this chapter we are not going to talk about low places, but
upland vales, or valleys, where we shall see some beautiful things.
Let us begin with a large valley up among the Himalaya mountains.
A poet once wrote of it—
“Oh! who has not heard of the Vale of Kashmir,
With its roses the brightest that earth ever gave ?â€â€™
and indeed the valley is celebrated for its beauty. There are fruit trees,
and flowers, and running streams, and forests covering the slopes of the
hills, and snow-crowned peaks rising up in the distance. But it is nota
THE VALE OF KASHMIR.
56 A tiny little Patient.
» happy valley. Famine
and disease have been
there, and the people
have suffered terribly.
It is more than thirty
years since missionaries
began to work in this
valley, and at first no one
cared to hear their mes-
sage. The sick people,
however, crowded round
aclever lady, Mrs. Clark,
who was able to help
many of them, and by-
and-by a regular Medi-
cal Mission was begun.
One day a doctor was
A TOWN IN THE VALE OF KASHMIR. in theout-patients’ room,
seeing a number of sick
people, when a tiny little patient marched in all by herself—a ragged,
untidy little girl, who looked as if no one cared for her. But that was not
all. Her poor little head was bent over on one side, so that the cheek
touched the shoulder, and she could not lift it up. There was a scar on the
cheek, as if it had been badly burned. Nobody knew where she came from,
and when she was asked, she only pointed towards the west. She said she
had slept the night before by the roadside. The kind doctor took her into
the hospital, and she was well nursed and cared for. An operation had to
be performed, and by-and-by she got much better, and was able to raise
her head, though it still remained a little on one side. But all that time no
one ever came to inquire for the poor little outcast. Don’t you think it
was God who directed those little feet to the hospital ?. When she was well
enough, she was sent to a Christian school, where she would be loved and
cared for, and taught about the Lord Jesus.
Now we will take a journey across India till we reach the Telugu
country which lies some way north of Tinnevelly. There are two fine
Seeking a “ Guru.†57
rivers flowing through it, the Godavery and the Kistna. As the Kistna
flows down to the sea it passes through a valley or gorge between the
mountains, and here stands the town of Bezwada. The Rev. T. Y. Darling
worked at Bezwada for several years without secing one convert.
One day there was a great heathen festival on the banks of the river.
There were crowds assembled, and Mr. Darling and his helpers went out
to talk to them about the only Saviour. No one seemed to give any hecd
to the message, and at length, in the heat of the day, the missionary went
back to his little bungalow sad at heart. There he knelt down to pray that
God would bless the words he had spoken. Some while after he felt that
he must go to the door and look out, he did not know why. It was the veice
of the Spirit of God in his heart. What do you think he saw? A little group
of men who were waiting and longing to speak with him. They had been
there some time, but Mr. Darling's heathen servant had told them that his
master was resting, and would be very angry if he were disturbed! One
of them was called Venkayya. He had walked twenty-cight miles to
Bezwada, not that he cared about the festival, but because he hoped he
might find a Christian gwrz (teacher) there. He had never seen a missionary
before, but he had heard
something of what mission-
aries taught. How glad Mr.
Darling was. He made the
men sit down in his verandah
and began to tell them of the
love of God, and how Jesus
died on the Cross for sinners,
and how precious He is to
those who believe in Him.
When he stopped, Venkayya
rose, and crossing his hands,
said, “ This is my God, this
is my Saviour; I have long
been seeking Him, and now
I have found Him, He is my
Saviour, I will serve Him.â€
KASHMIR HOUSES.
58 “Do not say that word.â€
Mr. Darling could
hardly contain him-
self for joy, and he
ran in and fetched his
wife to come and see
a man who believed
in Jesus! All the
other men except one
professed their belief
also. After they had
prayed together, and
talked for some hours,
Venkayya begged Mr.
Darling to come and
visit him at his own
‘village, Raghavapu-
ram, higher up the
course of the river.
The missionary an-
swered that it was
too hot for the jour-
ney at present (for
the heat is very trying to Europeans), but he would come by-and-by. But
TEMPLE AT BEZWADA. (See p. 57.)
Venkayya replied—
“O Guru! do not say that word; by-and-by will arrive, but you may
not be able to come then, and I may not be there to hear.†He went on:
“Do not be afraid of the sun, for the great God who made the sun can
take care of you!â€
So very shortly afterwards Mr. Darling set out for Raghavapuram,
travelling by night and resting in the heat of the day. His new friends
met him as he drew near, and received him with great delight. Under the
shade of a beautiful spreading tree covered with blossom he preached to a
number of the village people, and they all said the message was “very
good.†However, when the day approached for Venkayya, his wife and
children, and sixteen other men to be baptized, the Brahmins were very
“ He forgave those who injured him.†59
angry. Mr. Darling was told that if this were done the ropes of his tent
would be cut, and all inside suffocated. Of course the servants of the Lord
Jesus were not going to stop for that threat! They only went on their
knees and prayed God to keep them in safety. No harm happened to
them; but just as the missionary was going to name the last man, Tannah,
there was a cry outside that Tannah’s wife was going to the well to drown
herself. She was stopped, and though she was very angry at the time with
her husband for becoming a Christian, later on prayer was answered for her
too, and she was baptized by the name of Sarah.
This was the beginning of a mission station at Raghavapuram. A
little “prayer-house†was put up, and schools opened for boys and girls, and
by-and-by a proper church was built. Venkayya spent the rest of his life
in travelling about the neighbourhood, telling the good news of salvation
through Jesus Christ, and singing dhajans, or hymns. He was often ill-
treated, and once nearly killed by a heavy blow from an enemy. But he
forgave those who injured him. Tor he had been up high and seen the
great things of God, and the sight had made him meek and patient. He
went on working for his Master as long as his strength lasted, and when he
could no longer go about he would sit at his door and talk of Jesus to those
who passed by, until at length the Lord, whom he had faithfully served for
twenty-five years, called him up higher.
When Mr. Wigram, the Honorary Secretary of the Church Missionary
Society, visited India with his son in the
year 1886, he preached to a good con- a ~A
gregation at Raghavapuram, and
about a hundred of the worship-
pers stayed to partake of
the Lord’s Supper.
Now fora story from
a Chinese valley. Some
fifty miles from the great
city of Hang-Chow is the
town of Chu-ki, with lofty
hills rising up on. two
sides of it. In the valleys
Srayer drouse .
60 “What were you domg yesterday ?â€
among these hills are several villages, all reckoned
in the Chu-ki District. They are surrounded with
corn and rice fields, and groves of mulberry-trees,
which furnish food for the silkworms kept by the
villagers. You know lovely silk comes from China.
One of these villages is called “Great Valley,†and
here lived a man named Chow, who kept a little
school. One day he went a journey to Hang-
Chow, and on: the way he passed a little room by the
roadside, with these words over the door: “ Zhe Holy
Religion of $esus.’ He felt curious to know something
about this, but there was no one there, for the room was
only opened two or three times a week, when a native
evangelist came to talk to the people. But a woman told
Chow that if he went to see the missionary in the city he
would hear all about it. Chow was not long in finding the
et missionary, and was so pleased with what he heard that
he left his school in his brother's charge and stayed a
month at Hang-Chow, that he might learn more. Then he returned home,
feeling rather afraid to confess to his friends that he had become a
Christian. But it soon came out. On Sunday he shut himself up for
reading and prayer. Next day his friends said, “ What were you doing
yesterday? It was a fine day for working out of doors, yet you never
appeared.â€
Then Chow told them the reason. Instead of being angry with him
they said they should like to learn too; and by-and-by, when Mr. Arthur
Moule came to visit Great Valley, there were three of Chow’s brothers, three
of his cousins, his wife, his sister, and a few others, ready and waiting to be
baptized. How happy was Chow; or, as we must call him by his baptismal
name, Luke !
But trials came upon the Christians at Great Valley; their neighbours
began to ill-treat them, they spoiled their crops, cut down their trees, and
stole their goods. At length a magistrate came to inquire into the matter.
He asked who the Christians were. A young man named Andrew stood up
boldly and confessed that he was one. The magistrate then asked him a
a
Hidden by God. 61
number of questions about his religion, and finally said, ‘You have joined
the foreigners, let the foreigners take care of you.â€
The mob were delighted that they were left free to ill-treat the
Christians. They offered a reward for Luke’s head, but he was safe at
Hang-Chow. Then they made a rush after Andrew to kill him; Andrew
had gone home quite exhausted, and as soon as he got in he threw himself
down on a couch close to the door, pulled a coverlet over him, and went
to sleep. When his enemies arrived they went straight to the inner rooms
and searched them well, but never thought of looking close to the door,
where Andrew slept on peacefully, and they had to go away disappointed.
When the missionary heard later on of his escape, he asked Andrew how it
happened. ‘The Lord hid me,†said the brave young Christian.
You will be glad to hear that by-and-by the persecution
ceased, and the work of God has spread into the other villages |
round about. Andrew has been called home to the presence
of the Lord, but I
believe Luke is still
living, and doing what
he can to tell others
of Jesus.
Don’t you think
we have seen good
things by looking into
some of the valleys ?
I should like you also
to see the upland val-
leys where the San-
tals, and Gonds, and
Paharis, Indian _hill-
men, live, but we must
hasten on.
THREE CHINESE CATECHISTS,
CHAPTER VIII.
ICE AND SNOW, OR, HE WILL GO.
WONDER which you like best, winter orsummer? There are so many
pleasant things belonging to both. Long rambles in fields and woods
gathering wild flowers are very enjoyable; but so is a game of snowball,
or a slide on the ice, to say nothing of skating; and I daresay some
of you know the delights of toboganning on a bright winter’s day, when
the snow has freshly fallen; it looks so pure and lovely, and the air is so
brisk, and makes you feel so bright, that I expect you wish for nothing better.
That is, of course, if you have got a holiday and can go out and enjoy it.
But I am not sure whether you would like it as well, if there were no com-
fortable home with a blazing fire to come back to, where you can throw off
your wraps and forget that it is cold. In Japan and in China you would
get no cheerful fire, though you might sit with your feet on a charcoal
stove.
You know there are parts of the world where the snow lies on the
ground for eight months of the year, and where the rivers and lakes, and
even the bays, are frozen over, and where the temperature is as far below
sero as the freezing point in your thermometer is above it, and a'good deal
farther. You could not forget that it was cold ¢here. It seems wonderful that
men and women and children can live there. But they bear the cold better
than we do, and suffer very little from sickness.
I told you in Chapter IV. how very small and scattered is the population
“Until he find it.†63
of North-West America. The bands of Indians who live in the colder parts
are the smallest and most scattered of all. .You might go miles and miles
and not see a human being; then after a long, weary journey. you might
come to a few tents and find some Indians were hunting in the neighbour-
hood ; and again you might go miles and miles and see no one. The place
where you will find most Indians is where there is a station, or “fort†belong-
ing to the Hudson’s Bay Company, but it would be only at certain seasons,
when they come to trade, exchanging their furs for other goods. It
costs a great deal of time, and trouble and hardship, to reach a very few ;
and yet these poor Indians have hearts to believe the love of God, and souls
to be saved to His glory.
I have heard of a Devonshire farmer many
years ago, who went out one bitter winter’s
night to save some sheep which were in danger
of perishing in a snowstorm.: One by one he
fetched these sheep, carrying them through the
deep snow, sometimes hardly able to make his
way through ‘it, but persevering time
after time till every one was in safety.
Does not this remind of our Lord’s
words, “If a man have a hundred
sheep, and one of them be gone astray,
will he not. . . . go after that
which ts lost, until he find it?†And
you know that He, the Great Shep-
herd, did leave the shining fold above,
and came down and lived on_ this
earth of ours, so small compared with
the other vast worlds He has made,
and died to save us, the lost sheep. So
a true servant of this Good Shepherd
will not only care for great cities and
busy villages, but will gladly take long
journeys over snow and ice to pick
up a few stray sheep here and there.
A MISSIONARY IN TRAVELLING DRESS,
(See p. 64.)
64 Snow-shoes and Sledges.
Let us look at a
missionary _ starting
on such a journey.
lle is wrapped from
top to toe in thick
furs. On his feet he
wears large snow-
shoes, flat, and turned
up at one end, and
looks rather as if he
had a boat fastened
to each foot. These
are to prevent him
sinking in the snow.
When he puts down
his foot his weight
is distributed over a
large surface, so that
he can get along with-
out difficulty. His
luggage is wrapped
up in deerskin, and
he is putting it ona
sledge, just a plank
turned up at one end,
and fastening it well
with stout thongs of
deer or buffalo skin.
BISHOP HORDEN OF MOOSONEE, (See p. 66.) The sledge will upset
more than once, so
unless this is done he may lose his luggage. How is the sledge drawn?
Here are the dogs, trained to these journeys, not very tame, and rather
quarrelsome, but strong and ready for the work. At length they are
harnessed, and off they go, The missionary is driving, and perhaps one or
two Indians are walking in front. Now and then a missionary may travel in
a carriole, that is, a
little basket carri-
age like a cradle
fastened on to a
plank, but then he
must get more dogs
to draw it.
Arideinasledge
over smooth hard
snow may be very
pleasant at times,
but it is rarely a
missionary gets
that pleasure. For
onething he mostly
has to walk, and
MOOSE FACTORY, CAPITAL OF THE DIOCESE OF MOOSONEE. (See p. 66.)
r—
ALBANY, HUDSON'S BAY, DIOCESE OF MOOSONEE. (See p. 66.)
66 His Little Library.
for another thing the snow seldom is hard and smooth ; generally it forms
a very rough road, over which the dogs go stumbling and floundering,
while the driver tries to help by pushing with a long stick. When the air
is still the cold is not felt severely, but now and then, when they have to
face a cutting wind, the travellers suffer much.
Now look at them as night comes on. They have stopped under lee
of a rock, or a clump of trees, to get protection from the wind. They clear
away some of the snow and make a space to put up their tent. Then they
gather wood and build a large fire. The next thing is to make a cup of
tea, their only luxury! And when the evening meal is over, and they have
committed themselves to their heavenly Father's keeping, they wrap them-
selves in furs, and lie down by the fire to sleep. The Indians have been
known to put the missionary in the middle, and take their places on each
side of him to keep him warm! Don’t you think they must all be glad,
when after some days’ journey they see in the distance the “ Fort†of the
Company, and the little mission-house beside it? But I think the Indians
they have come to see are just as glad, for they have few opportunities of
learning the things of God. “Why, you cannot read !†said a missionary to
some Indians he met, who asked for baptism. ‘“ Yes, we can,†said one, and
he pulled out his little library—hymn-book, Prayer-book, and St. John’s
Gospel, wrapped in a piece of bark, and carried in his dress; ‘we teach one
another, and,†he added, “we may never sec a minister again.â€
There is no part of North-West America where the cold is more trying
than around the shores of Hudson’s Bay. The Wesleyans were the first to
begin work here at the southern end, but after a while they went elsewhere.
In the year 1851 the Church Missionary Society sent out a schoolmaster,
named John [Iforden, whose first station was at Moose Fort. Tor more
than forty years this good man laboured among the Indians. He translated
the Bible into the Cree language for them, and printed a good deal with
his own hands! He is best known as Bishop Horden of Moosonee, which
is the name given to his diocese. This diocese extends some six or seven
hundred miles on each side of the Bay northward. If you look in the map
you will find the station of Moose at the southern end, Albany, York, and
Churchill on the west shore, and Rupert House, Fort George, and. Great
and Little Whale Rivers on the east, all at the mouth of rivers flowing
A Run-away Church. 67
into the Bay. The Indians in these parts are now all of them professing
Christians. They come to church as far as twenty miles or more, through
the bitter cold and snow. They all loved Bishop Horden, and looked upon
him as their father, and sorrowed deeply when he was taken from them by
death in 1892.
Once when this good Bishop was in England he was asked to speak
to a large meeting of children. Some of them (the very little ones, I
suppose !) were inclined to be fidgety and noisy. So the Bishop said, “If
you don’t want to hear I will not tell you anything, but if you like to listen
I will tell you how my church once ran away on a Sunday morning,
and how we went after it, and brought it back, and beat it, and put it in
prison !†oo:
There was stillness enough after that, as all the children waited to hear
the strange story! I wonder if you can guess the meaning of it. Some-
times in the spring the ice breaks up very suddenly, and the mass of water
rising up sweeps over the shore and carries off anything in its way. So it
happened that one Sunday morning the little church was swept away, and
went floating down the stream. It was a difficult task to rescue it, but at
last they succeeded. Then the walls had to be well hammered and
bound firmly together, and I believe the church never ran away again !
Bishop Horden and his helpers now and then met some of the Eskimos
who live on the east shore of Hudson’s Bay. You have read of the zg/oes,
or houses built of blocks of ice, in which they spend the long winter, while
they get their living by hunting whales and seals. You would hardly think
these gentle-looking Eskimos think nothing of murder! There are said to
be very few men among them who have not murdered some one. They
listened willingly when the missionaries talked to them, and learned to
sing some verses of hymns in their own language. At length, in the year
1876, Mr. E. J. Peck was sent out to the Eskimos, and all these years he
has journeyed up and down the wild, lonely country around Great and-
Little Whale Rivers, visiting the people in their huts, and teaching them of
the Saviour. Can you fancy the missionary going down on hands and
knees in the snow, and crawling in at the low doors of the igloes, then sitting
down by lamp-light—not a lamp like ours, but just a little dish of moss and
grease! and teaching the people to read the Scriptures in their own tongue ?
68 “ Other sheep†for the Fold.
ESKIMO AND IGLOES. (See p. 67.)
They are mostly very glad to see him. Some have given their hearts to the
Lord Jesus, and a few are preparing to be teachers of their own countrymen.
But Mr. Peck has heard of more Eskimos a thousand miles further north,
and as soon as a man can start to take his place he wants to go after
these lost sheep, that he may lead them to the fold of the Good Shepherd.
North-West America is not the only country where the messengers of
the Gospel have to travel over the snow. In the last chapter I told you of
the beautiful Vale of Kashmir. Dr. Elmslie and his wife, who were almost
the first missionaries there, had to take a terrible journey over the
mountains, as winter was coming on, because the Rajah who then governed
Kashmir forbade them to stay there through the winter. They had not long
started before Dr. Elmslie became ill, and his wife gave up the chair in
which she was carried to her sick husband, and walked the whole of the
A Fourney’s End. 69
way, sometimes over high and steep mountain passes, where the snow lay
thick. Dr. Elmslie got worse and worse, but he made the men who carried
him go slowly, on account of his wife. They reached the other side of the
mountains in safety, and were well cared for by friends, but Dr. Elmslie
died soon after. A sad journey, did you say? Indeed it did seem so, for
it was full of sufferings. But if the journey was sad, its end was glorious
for the missionary, for it ended in heaven, and he went to be “with Christ,
which is far better†(Phil. i. 23).
Missionaries who go out to Persia have also to face the snow on the
mountain passes. The way now is to go to Constantinople, then by
steamer across the Black Sea, and by rail to a Russian port on the
Caspian. Then by another steamer to Resht, on the southern shore of the
Caspian, and then on horseback over the mountains. A lady who took
this journey described the bitter cold as they ascended the mountains,
meeting an icy wind, and hardly knowing how to keep up until they should
get down again into the sunny plains below.
But you must not suppose that those missionaries are best off who live
and work in warmer climates. There are in fact more who suffer from the
heat than from the cold. The true servant cf God will be glad to go and
work wherever the Master sends him. And I think all true missionaries
will agree with some words written by a poet many years ago—
«Serve God! and winter’s cold or summer’s heat,
The breezy mountain or the dusty street,
Scene, season, circumstance, alike shall be
His welcome ministers, of joy to Thee! â€â€™
SUNRISE ON THE VICTORIA NYANZA. (Sketch by Bishop Tucker.)
CHAPTER IX.
GREAT LAKES; OR, STRANGE MISTAKES.
DARESAY you know more about little lakes than great lakes. Perhaps
there is a little lake in your father’s grounds, or in those of some friend,
where you sometimes have a row in a boat, and if you are a London boy
or girl you know the lakes in the parks. And perhaps some of you have
gone farther and have seen the beautiful lakes of Cumberland and
Westmoreland, or the Scotch lakes, or the Lakes of Killarney, and you
have read of the Lake of Gennesaret. But even these are little lakes,
compared with the lakes of which I want to tell you. Some of the largest
‘ofall, such as those in North-West America, are found where the missionaries
are working, and others, such as those in Central Africa, have only been
discovered within the last thirty-five years.
Have you ever heard of the Royal Geographical Society? One day in
the year 1856 the members of this Society had a very great surprise. At
one of their meetings a map was shown to them which represented a large
part of Africa. Africa was very little known in those days. The usual
maps showed a few places on the coast and a chain of mountains running
Great Inland Seas. 71
right across from east to west, while nearly all the rest was supposed to consist
of sandy deserts. This map represented the part now called “ Eastern
Equatorial Africa,†and in it was shown an enormous lake extending over
several hundred miles from north to south. The gentlemen were perfectly
amazed when they saw it. They had never imagined anything like that in
Africa. It upset all their ideas, and made all other maps wrong. If that
great sheet of water, or anything like it, were really there, then it was plain
that all other geographers had made a great mistake.
- You will want to know who had drawn the map. It was copied from
a small one drawn by one of those two men whom we saw in Chapter II.
climbing the steep hill up to Rabai. Rebmann had stayed on in Africa when
Krapf was obliged to go home, and he and his companion, Erhardt, had
heard the Arab traders who passed by Rabai talk of a great lake far away
in the interior of the country, where they had been to get ivory—and slaves
also. Krapf had first heard of this lake, but neither he nor Rebmann had
been able to travel so far as to reach it. Both Rebmann and Erhardt had
taken pains to find out all they could about it, and from what the traders
told them they had drawn the map.
But if you look on your present map of Africa you will not find this
huge lake. It is not there! Had the missionaries made a mistake ? Yes,
but not nearly such a‘strange one as the geographers before them. They
were quite right about water being there. Only instead of ove lake there
were ¢hrec, not of such an extraordinary size as was represented, but still
very large.
Two men were sent out by the Royal Geographical Society to find
out all about this wonderful sheet of water. These were Captain Speke
and Captain Burton. They first discovered a long narrow lake called
Tanganyika, and then Speke found a broad one called the Sea of Ukerewe.
The last they named “ Victoria Nyanza.†I want to tell you how to pro-
nounce this word Nyanza (which means lake or sea). Remember it is only
two syllables with an N before them. It is not Ny-an-za, but N’yan-za.
Later on the third lake, Nyassa (also meaning sea), farther to the south,
was visited by the great traveller, David Livingstone.
What do you say to a lake twice as large as the whole country of
Belgium? That is the size of the Victoria Nyanza. The southern end of
rie A Problem Solved.
it is marshy, but
in many places the
view of the shore
is very lovely,
where the hills rise
up in the distance.
At the north end
are the beautiful
Ripon Falls where
the river Nile issues
out of the Lake on
its long journey to
the Mediterranean.
Ior many, many
years geographers
had been wanting
to know the real
source of the Nile,
and travellers had
tried to find it
out. It was Cap-
tain Speke who
discovered it, and he sent home this message, “The Nile is settled.â€
Near this river, on the north-western shore of the Lake, he found a
remarkable kingdom, ruled by a young king named Mtesa, who had
an army and navy ready to do his bidding. The army was dressed in
skins, and the navy consisted of canoes hollowed out of the trunks
of trees, but most of the nations round about dreaded the power of
Uganda. Some years later another traveller, the famous Stanley,
crossed the Lake and visited Uganda, and talked to the king about the
good things Christianity brings to a country. Mtesa was interested, and
promised that if Christian teachers would come and instruct him and his
people he would give them land to build and settle on.
The first missionaries were sent out to the Lake by the Church
Missionary Society in 1876. I must tell you something about the leader
MAP OF THE VICTORIA NYANZA,
Noble Lives Laid Down. 73
of the first party. His father, Captain Smith, had. been a young midship-
man on board the vessel that rescued little Adjai (Samuel Crowther) from
the slave-dealers. George Shergold Smith entered the navy as his father
had done, but later on God gave him the desire to preach the Gospel, and
he begged to be sent out to Africa. He was ready to take the lowest place,
but the Committee of the Church Missionary Society thought he was the
very man to take the highest. He and his party took with them a boat,
which was carried up the country in pieces, and put together on the shores
of the Lake. It was called the Daisy. In the Dazsy Lieutenant Smith set
off with Mr. Wilson to cross the Lake. On their way they wanted to land
on an island to cook their dinner; but when they got near the shore
the natives threw stones and fired
poisoned arrows at them. A stone
struck Lieutenant Smith in the eye,
while an arrow entered Mr. Wilson’s
arm. Smith, though blinded and
covered with blood, began at once
to suck the poison out of Mr. Wil-
son’s arm, which, I am glad to tell
you, got quite well. But the sight
of Smith’s eye was gone, and as it
was the only one that served him
properly, the other having been
injured some years
before, he entered
Uganda almost in
darkness. The Mis-
sion was started there,
but Smith and another
companion, Mr.O’Neill,
were killed not long
after on another island,
Ukerewe. They were |
not the first who |
laid down their lives |
I
Merser ber
_ BISHOP HANNINGTON,
Consecrated Fune 24th, 1884; killed in Busoga, October 29th, 1885.
; (See p. 74.)
4
j
i
i
i
74 The Seed of the Church.
for this part of Africa. Two had already died, and there were many
more to follow.
The missionaries had many difficulties and trials to bear in Uganda.
Mtesa’s promises were ill kept, and he proved very changeable. He died
in 1884, and his son Mwanga became a terrible persecutor of the Christians.
The first who suffered for the name of Christ were three young boys.
- Their names were Seruwanga, Kakumba, and Lugalama. A number more,
old and young, died the martyr’s
death ; and Bishop Hannington, after
a long and toilsome journey, was
murdered when he had nearly reached
Uganda, by order of the king.
Did you ever hear the old say-
ing, “The blood of the martyrs is
the seed of the Church� It is won-
derfully true. The more Mwanga
ill-treated the Christians the more
came to learn and to be baptized,
and so the Church in Uganda grew
daily, and King
Mwanga found
it was a great -
mistake to fancy
he could get rid
tg of Christianity.
' The work of God
#f cannot be stop-
Il ped by man!
K} The only little
refreshment and
@ change the mis-
“ sionaries had
f during these try-
Ming years was
Ly ba VY)
WF, K Ye e WZ yp, when a voyage
AN Za
ON FOOT IN UGANDA,
had to be made across
the Lake to its southern
shore to get fresh stores.
The Daisy was worn
out, but another boat,
the LE/eanor, had been
brought up, and there
put together by Mr.
Mackay, and many a
voyage he made in her.
Some of the Christian
lads whom he had
taught went with him on
these voyages. Mika,
who has been in Eng-
land, and whom perhaps
some of you have seen,
was, sent with the boat
sometimes as the “king’s
messenger.â€
But after five years
the poor Eveanor came
to grief. She was struck
by a hippopotamus, and
a great hole made in
her, and though it was
cleverly patched by Mr.
Walker, she did not last
long after that, and the
man who had. put her
together and made so
many voyages in her did
not long survive her.
Missionary Voyages. 75
MIKA, A CHRISTIAN HELPER IN UGANDA,
After twelve years of work for Christ in Africa,
Alexander Mackay was called home to the presence of his Lord.
Bishop Tucker has
lately reached Uganda by a different road, which
76 The Shadow of Goa’s Wing,
goes round the north-east corner of the Lake, so that he had not to cross it
at all. He passed through a beautiful country called Kavirondo, where
the people are quite ready to receive missionaries, if only there were
men to go. In two other districts a beginning has already been made-
Then at Nassa, on the south-eastern shore there has been for some time a
Mission station, and one of the Christians of Uganda has been helping the
English missionary here.
I wish I could tell you all about the Missions on the other two lakes,
but it would take too long. Onthe shores of Lake Tanganyika the London
Missionary Society is working. With the first party who went out there
was an officer, Captain Hore, who took his wife and his little boy, Jack, with
him. Mrs. Hore travelled in a Bath chair, and Jack in a perambulator, but
the wheels of both of them had to be taken off, and they were carried by
men the whole way.
The Arab traders were not at all pleased at the missionaries coming.
They opposed and threatened them, and thought, no doubt, they should
succeed in driving them away again, but they were much mistaken. One
of the missionaries, Mr. Thompson, told them they might kill him if they
liked. “But,†he added, “ for every one of us whom you kill two more will
come.†One day the Arabs came to the mission-house, determined to make
an end of the white men. They filled the room, while outside stood two
hundred of their followers armed with muskets, which they pointed towards
the windows. These men called to the chief inside to give the word of
command. But he could not. He dared not lay a finger on the two
missionaries, who sat quietly waiting to hear what he had to say, while
their hearts went up to God in prayer. Suddenly the Arabs were seized
with fear, and rushed out of the house, almost tumbling one over the other in
their haste. What had frightened them? Do you remember why the waves
of the Red Sea rolled back before the Israelites, and the waters of the
Jordan fled as they drew near? The 114th Psalm tells us: “ Tremble, thou
earth, at the presence of the Lord.â€
On the shores of Lake Nyassa there are several Missions belonging to
the Free Church of Scotland and the Universities’ Mission, but you must
read about these some other time.
There are many lakes in Africa of which I cannot stop to tell you, and
The Mistake of Christian People. 77.
wherever there are lakes there are people—many thousands, who have never
seen a missionary and never heard the name of Jesus. And yet sometimes
you may hear it said that there is enough to do at home, and that we ought
to work among the people round about us, instead of trying to help those
who are so far away. 1 wonder what would have become of you and me if
the Lord Jesus had thought us too far away from heaven to be cared for.
You have read in this chapter about some mistakes—the geographers’ mistake
about Africa—the mistake of King Mwanga, and of the Arabs, in thinking
they could stop the work of God. But do you not think that this last
mistake of Christian people is the strangest of all? lor the Lord Jesus told
His servants to go into a// the world, and yet Aa/f the world has never heard
of Him, and whole nations have been for hundreds of years in darkness,
because those who had the light never passed it on to them !
MM |
Hh s =
yh, Mi) ve & =
TN TINS, \\!
Vi ws, ) ~
“ COME OVER AND HELP US,â€
CHAPTER X.
EARTHQUAKE, STORM, AND FLOOD; OR, ALL THINGS WORK
LOR GOOD. ;
< ARTHQUAKE, Storm, and Flood!†What dreadful things! Yes,
indeed, they are. They have sometimes spoiled some of the most
beautiful parts of God’s earth, and hindered many good things which were
going on. How and why do they come? Scientific men can tell us Zovw.
They have studied the wonderful forces there are in earth, and sky, and sea,
and they understand in some measure what causes these dreadful things,
But they cannot tell us wy. God does not let men, not even the cleverest,
look behind His wonderful doings, and find out His thoughts and His plans.
But He has told us one thing about them which the youngest can under-
stand, and which we will talk of presently.
Did you ever feel the shock of an earthquake ? It is very, very seldom
that any such thing is felt in England beyond a little motion, enough,
perhaps, to make the windows rattle or move the curtains. But in other
parts of Europe there have now and then been terrible earthquakes. Per-
haps you heard of the one which visited Nice and Mentone and the villages
round about them some years ago. More terrible things, however, have
happencd in the Eastern world, and especially among the islands.
In October, 1891, there was a dreadful earthquake in Japan. Houses
were thrown down, great openings appeared in the streets, many people
were killed and many more injured, and some thousands made homeless
for a time. People in England when they heard the news were very
A Terrible Expertence. 79
anxious for their friends who lived in those parts. But the protecting hand
of God was over the missionaries and their dwellings, and very few of them
suffered. Of course they did all they could to help the poor people who
were hurt or homeless. Miss Tristram, who is head of a Mission school
for girls at Osaka, went off to help nurse some of the injured ones. She
saw many sad sights by the way. At the first town she reached there was
no place for her and her companion to sleep, till a Japanese catechist lent
them his tent for the night. They went on to the next town, Imao, by a
little boat up the river, and in that boat they slept the next night, covered
with blankets and a little low roof put up over their heads. There was a
great deal of rain at the time, and they found the poor, homeless people
crouching beneath miserable leaking sheds, or in the open street under their
umbrellas. A little shed was put up for the missionary, and here many
OG \ N
eee r Ae \
Pig
"
AAS
A VILLAGE IN JAPAN NEAR THE SCENE OF THE EARTHQUAKE,
80 “How much have you understood 2â€
people came to see her who needed help. In the shed which served as a
hospital the injured people were lying on loose straw. Miss Tristram
managed to get some thick straw mats provided for them, and some /i/ons,
or thick wadded quilts, to cover them. She made nice, nourishing soup,
and cocoa, and cornflour for them. She dressed their wounds, and nursed
them, and talked to them of the Lord Jesus, and they seemed so glad to
listen! One old woman was asked if she understood what was said.
AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE—INHABITANTS SLEEPING IN THE OPEN AIR,
“No,†she said, “ only a very little ; I am too old.â€
“How much have you understood ?â€
Only that the true God loves me, and that His Son died to save me
because of my sins, but I can’t remember His name.â€
How happy was the missionary to think she understood that /
When Miss Tristram had to return to Osaka nearly a hundred people
FUNERAL OF ONE OF THE VICTIMS AT DAYBREAK,
82 Saying Good-bye.
came to take leave of her. The magistrate of Imao was there, and he made
a little speech of thanks. Then she talked to them once more of the Good
Physician who could save their souls. One woman said she had a relation
who was a Christian, and she would go and learn. more from him. It was
hardest saying good-bye at the hospital. A little boy whom she had
nursed with a broken leg began to cry, and then all the others joined in!
A month later she paida second visit to the place, and had several meetings
in Imao and the neighbouring villages. A woman whose house had been:
destroyed and who had herself been hurt, said, that the earthquake had been:
a terrible thing, but if it had not come the missionary would not have come
to Imao, and she would never have heard the most joyful thing in the
world—the news of the love of Christ !
Now do you understand why those words, “ All things work for good,â€
are put at the beginning of this chapter? And can you tell where they are
found, and what follows them, and what words I have left out? If you look
at Rom. viii. 28 you will find that “all things work together for good to
them that love God.†And of course “all things†include those things
which look dreadful and sad. Sometimes God uses these disasters to turn
the hearts of those who have never yet loved Him. These things are cad/s.
They interrupt the every-day business, and remind us that we are only in
this world for a time, that any moment we may have to leave it. He wants
us to remember this, and to give our hearts to Him.
Sometimes, as you know, there are terrible disasters on the Great
Highway—the sea (though not greater than those on land). Do you
remember the description of a storm at sea in the 107th Psalm? It tells
us that God “commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind which lifteth up the
waves thereof.†Winds and waves are all in His hand. And at the end,
“ He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.’ God
has used storm and tempest to work out some of His wonderful and
gracious purposcs.
In the year 1843 a missionary and his wife went on board a ship at
Aden, which is, as you know, at the mouth of the Red Sea. The ship was
bound for Zanzibar, on the East Coast of Africa, and was not a comfortable
steamer, but a rough Arab boat. A violent storm arose. The vessel .
sprang a leak, and the water rushed in, The crew set to work to bale it.
A Blessed Shipwreck. - 83.
out, and they tried hard to get back.to Aden. But before they could
reach the shore the wind changed and prevented their getting near, and
even their signals of distress could not be heard. They were in sore |
danger of drowning. Just in time another ship passed that way, and took |
passengers and crew off the leaking vessel. She immediately overturned,
_ and lay with her mast floating in the water. The ship which took them up
_ stopped at Takaungu, a port on the coast a good deal short of Zanzibar.
They then embarked in.a smaller boat, called a dhow, which brought them
to the island of Mombasa. Here Krapf, for it was he, began to think of |
starting the mission on the mainland opposite, of which I told you in
Chapter III. Ifit had not been for that storm he might never have gone |
to Rabai. That map of the great Lake, of which you read in the last :
chapter, might never have been drawn; we might have known nothing °
, about the Victoria Nyanza, and missionaries might never have been sent to
Uganda. Looking back, we can see how wonderfully God used that storm
for good,
There are not seldom storms on the Victoria Nyanza. The wind
, Sweeps furiously down the valleys between the hills which surround a great |
part of it, so that in a very short time the waters are seething and foaming.
I must tell you what happened to Bishop Tucker, and some other
missionaries when they
were crossing the Lake
to Uganda. Their boat
was one which had been
made out of a canoe. It
had a mast with a large ~
sail, and this the boat- -
men had made quite fast. â€
They had also put up an =~
awning to keep off the
rain. Suddenly a gust
of wind struck the boat. ,
“ Loose the sail!†cried
one of the missionaries.
Before it could be done,
AN ARAB DHOW,
Sage
Ae
STORM ON THE VICTORIA NYANZA, (Sketch by Bishop Tucker.) (See p. 83.)
“ China’s Sorrow.†85
the boat heeled over, and in another moment they must all have been
drowned. But the sail split right down, the boat righted herself, and they
were saved. I am sure they thought of that storm on the Lake of Galilee,
where—
‘* All but One were sore afraid
Of sinking in the deep.
‘Master, we perish ; Master, save !’
They cried. Their Master heard ;
He rose, rebuked the wind and wave,
And stilled them with a word.â€
Sometimes disasters come from the sky above us. The rain, which is
so refreshing and which makes our crops grow, sometimes swells the brooks
and the streams and the rivers, so that their banks can no longer hold
them. Then the water overflows, and causes a great deal of damage in the
country round. Perhaps you have seen harm done by floods in England,
but there are far worse ones abroad. The great River Hoang-ho
has been called “ China’s Sorrow,†because it has so often deso-
lated the country. There are two rivers in India which used to
be just as dangerous, the Kistna and the Godavery. But some
years ago the British Government had canals made to carry off
the water when it rose too high, and strong dams to protect the
banks, so all that is changed. Sometimes, however, it happens
ZANZIBAR. (Sketch by Bishop Tucker.) (See p. 82.)
86 Disastrous Floods.
that a river which is generally quite harmless gets overfilled, and much
mischief is done. I told you in Chapter VII. of the lovely valley of
Kashmir. A hospital which had been built for women in the chief city,
Srinagar, was washed away by such an unexpected flood, and the lady
doctors had to move with their work to another building.. Lately there
has been another terrible flood. Several of the bridges over the river
were swept away. Many houses fell, and the people had to take refuge
in boats. Some of these were upset and the people drowned. About
midnight the water came roaring into the missionaries’ garden. They
were not able to get a boat until three o’clock in the morning, and they
sat on the doorstep with the water close up to them waiting till it arrived.
This disastrous flood lasted for some days.
Another hospital at Quetta, on the north-west frontier of India, was
washed away by heavy rains. For eighty-three hours it rained hard
without stopping, and hour by hour Dr. Sutton watched the building
giving way. He had supports put up under the roof, and did all he could
to save it; but every one was busy trying to save some other building, so
‘he got but little help. At last a great part of the hospital fell. The wreck
was tremendous, and it was necessary to rebuild the whole. Dr. Sutton
did not lose heart, but at once set about collecting money from friends to do
this. God prospered his efforts ; the hospital was restored, and the good
work is still going on.
Some thirteen years ago the Christians at Ngawkakaraua (caz you
say it?) in New Zealand were visited by a disastrous flood. It came so
suddenly that they were quite unprepared for it. They had just gathered
in their harvest, and the whole of it was swept away. A few sheep and
pigs were saved in canoes, but most of the animals perished. For two or
three days the water stood ten feet deep. When at length it subsided, in-
stead of smiling fields there was a mass of sand and mud. And this was not
all. The people had not long built their church, which was neatly painted and
varnished, and would seat a hundred and fifty persons. The water filled
it as high up as the communion table, and all their books were spoiled.
Some of the New Zealanders had given up Christianity, and were enemies
to the missionaries and to the English generally. Among these Hau-haus,
as they were called, there was a man who pretended to be a prophet. He
“T do not know.†; 87
told the Christians that this misfortune had come upon them because they
would not follow his teaching, and that it was only the beginning of many
evils. But they did not listen to him. They said to the missionary
who came to visit them, “God knows best, He can bring good out of
this evil.†Their faith was not in vain. The Christians down at the
coast were sorry for them, and sent provisions and seed to sow their
desolate fields, and the next time the missionary visited them their crops
were coming up plentifully.
“But what good came out of the hospitals being washed away, and out of
the storm on the Victoria Nyanza ?†I expect you will say ; “you have not
told us that.†No, I have not, and J do not know. We cannot even see all
that God does—how much less all that He is going to do! The great
prophets of old to whom God showed so many things could not do that.
You have read some of the wonderful words the prophet Isaiah wrote ;
did you ever read these >—“ Thou art a God that hidest. Thyself, O God of
Israel, the Saviour.†“ Hidest thyselfâ€! Yes, that is true. But never be
troubled because you cannot see and cannot understand all He does.
Remember that He is the Sazzour, and that He will “make all things work
together for good†to those that love Him.
HOSPITAL AT QUETTA (BACK VIEW).
CHAPTER XI.
WILD AND TAME, OR, IN HIS NAME.
We must not leave the “beasts of the
field†out of our little book. The
earth which God made for us to dwell in
would be a very different place without the
animals which are at home there. You will
find a good deal in the Bible about animals, “2
both wild and tame, and you can read there
that God cares for both; and though the
wild animals are sometimes very inconvenient
and very dangerous to man, they as well as the tame are among the
“all things†that God makes to work together for good to them that
love Him.
We shall only have time to look at a few of the animals to be met with
in the Mission-field. First we will peep at India. The fiercest animal
there is the tiger. There are many Englishmen who delight in hunting
tigers. But I do not think the missionaries see much of these animals,
Why? Because they live in the jungles, far away from towns and villages,
so there is nothing to call the missionary there. A gentleman who did not
believe in Missions was once saying that he had been a long time in India,
and had never seen a missionary ; another gentleman who was present asked
if there were tigers there.
Sacred Animals, 89
“Certainly, I have shot many.â€
“Well,†was the reply, “I too have been in India many years, and I
never saw a tiger.â€
The fact was that one had gone out to look for tigers, the other had
gone about the work of God.
Missionaries in India see more of the tame animals than the wild.. A
devoted missionary who lived many years ago was once preaching ina town
in South India. Some of the people were very angry. One man mounted an
elephant and came right up to the bank where Samuel Hebich and his
companion stood, hoping they would either run away or the elephant would
crush them. They stood still and the elephant turned aside, like Balaam’s
ass before the angel of the Lord (Numb. xxii. 23). More elephants were
driven up, but the missionaries stood their ground and the elephants could
not turn them off, for they had come zz the name of the Lord; and so the
preaching went on unhindered.
Some animals are worshipped by
the Hindus. If you could take a
walk along one of the narrow streets
in the great city of Benares you might
suddenly see before you a great bull
lazily taking a walk as well as your-
self, and you would have to turn into
one of the shops to let him pass.
Those bulls are considered very sacred
animals. They are fed and cared for,
and allowed to go about where they
like, and nobody dare stop them or
turn them out of the way. In the
same city there is a temple to Hanu-
man, the monkey-god, which is full
of monkeys. These have several
priests to look after them and bring
them their food, and they are held
in great honour. Is it not sad that
men made “in the image of Godâ€
JUST IN TIME!
The Rain Dragon.
should worship these animals? Do you not
think it is easy to show them how foolish they
are? No, for the enemy, Satan, blinds their
eyes, as he did to those Israelites who worshipped
the golden calf. And if the missionaries did not
go forth in the Name of the Lord, knowing that He must conquer, their
hearts would often be downcast and sad.
Now turn to China. Are the people wiser there? I will tell you what I
read the other day. In the city of Ningpo and the country round there was a
terrible drought. The people watched and watched for rain, but it did not
come. Their fields were getting parched and dry, and they feared a famine
would follow. One day an excited crowd came rushing into Ningpo. They
brought with them the “Rain Dragon,†and they wanted everybody to
worship it, so that it might give them rain. And what do you think the
Rain Dragon was? A poor toad they had picked up out of a pond or ditch.
They carried it in triumph through the streets and called on the great
mandarins, or magistrates, to come and bow down to it. One mandarin was
ill, but they made him leave his bed and come out to worship the toad.
Another sent a man in his place, but the people beat the man and insisted
on the magistrate coming himself, and he had to kneel down in the dirty
street to do honour to the “ Rain Dragon.â€
We do not often read of wild animals in China. There are bears there,
and wolves, and leopards, and even tigers; but they live up in the high
mountains away from human habitations, and do not often show themselves
Among tame animals the Chinese favourite is the pig. Not that they love
it as we love our pet dog or cat. They are fond of it because they like
pork. In many of the farms and the poorer houses you will find the pigs
in the parlour, and when you sit down to dinner you may have them under
the table.
If we cross the water from China over to the islands of Japan, and
visit the northern island, Yezo, we shall find another animal worshipped—
the bear. It is not the Japanese who worship the bear, but the Ainu.
The Ainu inhabited the island before the Japanese came. They are a
hairy people and short of stature. Once a year they kill a young bear of
two years old, which they have carefully brought up for the purpose. The
Buffaloes ana Beavers. QL
head is then placed on a pole opposite the hut of the chief, and the dead
bear is supposed to have become a god. But the number of Ainu is
growing fewer and fewer, and the race is supposed to be dying out. I am
glad to tell you that some of them have been led to give up their strange
worship and to believe on the Lord Jesus.
Now let us cross the Pacific Ocean again and take another peep at
North-West America. We have been there before to look at the missionaries
travelling up and down the rivers and over the snow in order to reach the
scattered Indians and tell them the story of God’s love. The buffalo and
the moose-deer range over those wild plains, the beaver builds by the
river banks, and other fur animals live in the forests and among the
mountains. There are bears too, but they go to sleep all the winter, and
only wake up again in the spring. The brown bears are not dangerous,
eo NETREOT
“ora
SACRED BULLS, (See £. 80.)
92 At Home in the Forests.
AN EAST AFRICAN
LION,
but the grizzly bears are not very pleasant to meet. They do not, however,
often show themselves except to the hunter who is in search of them. The
fiercest of all are the Polar bears, who live on the ice, and feed upon fish.
A missionary, Archdeacon Winter, had once a narrow escape from a Polar
bear, which chased him and his Indian companions round their fire, until
at last one of them shot the huge creature. But it is very seldom that these
things happen. Bishop Bompas, who has lived for many years in the
wildest parts of North-West America, says there are few countries where
you may travel as safely, as far as wild beasts are concerned.
There is, however, a country where wild beasts have never been found,
New Zealand. But in the old days, when the first missionaries went there,
they found something worse—wild and cruel mez, for the New Zealanders,
though a fine race, were cannibals in those days. It was the same in some
of the South Sea Islands.
But we must hasten on to Africa. That is the country for men who
want to hunt wild animals! The missionaries, however, go for a very
different purpose. They are not generally clever at shooting, and they are
not anxious to meet with lions and tigers. But they are not afraid, for
they go in the name of the Lord, and that is the best preparation for
danger !
In the African forests, which every missionary has to pass through,
you would hear at night the distant howling of beasts of prey, and you
would have to light a large fire to prevent them from coming near you.
The lion, the leopard, the jackal, and the hyena are at home in these
forests. They do not come into the villages unless they are very hungry,
“ God’s Slave†and the Lion. 93
but they carry off the cattle by night. Sometimes the people of a village
have had to move right away for fear of losing all their cattle.
One day a stranger came to a village in East Africa. The people
were greatly astonished at the sight of the missionary, for they had never
seen a white man before. They asked him if he were God /
“Oh! no,†he said.
“Then what are you? God’s Son?â€
“ No, I am God's slave.â€
They thought it a great thing to have such a man among them, and it
struck them he might be able to help them out of their trouble. Morning
after morning they found some of their cattle gone—carried off bya lion.
“ Could God's slave,†they asked, “ kill the lion for them ? †Now Dr. Baxter
was not a sportsman, though he had a gun, and he had never seen a lion
except at the Zoological Gardens. But as God's servant, come among
these people in His name, he felt he was bound to help them. He told
them to kill a cow, cut it up and bring the meat to his tent, to tempt the
lion to come there. He put the meat near the door, and left the door open.
Then when night came he lay down in the tent behind a travelling trunk,
with only one boy who was faithful and brave enough to stay with him.
And committing himself to God, he went to sleep. Suddenly he was woke
by a noise of scratching. It was the lion trying to get in at the back of
the tent. Up jumped Dr. Baxter, took his gun and went to the open door.
AN AFRICAN CAMP BY NIGHT.
O4
The lion had now ~
but all that the
in the darkness
eyes! He fired, and heard the
lion trot away. It y was too dark to
follow, so he waited till morning. Then he found the great beast dead
on the ground a little distance from the tent.
In South Africa a missionary was on a journey, with a number of
porters—black men and. boys who carried his luggage. As they made
their way along the narrow path through the high grass, the cry was raised
that a lion was there! In another moment the creature made a spring at
onc of the boys. But Mr. Arnot ran in between, and the lion came to the
ground directly in front of him. The porters had thrown down their loads
and fled, leaving the missionary alone. The lion stood there raging
furiously, and looking as if he wanted to spring, but dare not. Mr. Arnot
kept his eyes fixed on him while he slowly raised his gun. Presently the
lion turned and made off, and the missionary saw him no more. But he
had some trouble in finding the porters again! Of course they talked
about what had happened, so it became known in the neighbourhood.
There was a man, the nephew of a chief, who belonged to the same
place as the rescued boys. He had once tried to hinder Mr. Arnot
from getting men to carry his
goods, telling them if they
went with the white man they
would be made slaves, and
thus giving him a great deal
of trouble. Mow he declared
he would go anywhere with
such a white man who would
put his own body between a
lion and a_ poor black boy :
whom nobody cared for!
You will say I have hardly
mentioned what are called the
domestic animals. The fact is,
A cot round to it,
doctor could see
was two glaring
A SNAKE CHARMER,
there is very little to
say about them. In
Africa you will find
people keeping cows,
and goats, and fowls,
for these are useful
for food. But there
are no pet dogs or
cats. I have heard
of chiefs in Uganda
keeping dogs for
hunting, but in most
AN ARAB HORSEMAN,
places these animals are wild, neglected, savage, and hated. I think it
is rare to find any love for animals among the heathen ; but the Moham-
medan Arabs are very fond of their beautiful
horses.
I have no space left to tell you about the
leopards, which some say are more dangerous
than the lions; nor about the elephants, which
are not pleasant to meet in a forest path, where
they come trampling down everything before
them; nor of the white ants, which eat up books
and clothes and everything; nor of the snakes,
whose poison is sometimes so deadly ; nor of the alligators and croco-
diles which make the rivers so dangerous. But one thing I must tell
you: I have hardly
missionary being
creatures. Do you
Daniel was in the
St. Paul was unhurt
xxviii. 3-5; Mark
God is the same.
the same. Happy
“This God is our
14). Can you?
ever heard of a
injured by these
remember how safe
lions’ den, and how
by the viper (Acts
xvi. 18)? Daniel’s
St. Paul’s God is
those who can say,
God†(Ps. xlviii.
D&LIDS’ STONES,
CHAPTER XII.
OF EVERY TRIBE AND NATION; OR, A WONDERFUL SALVAT./ON.
SIIOULD like to show you a field in the lake district, near Keswick,
which is remarkable for its “Druids’ Stones.†Of course you know what
these are! You know that in the days before the Saxons and Angles
conquered Britain, and before the Gospel of Christ was preached in our
country, the Druids were the priests, and they are supposed to have held
their worship in circles or ovals formed of great stones. The Druids’ Stones,
near Keswick, are the remains of such an oval. Some of the stones are large
and tall, and some are quite small. The gwzde-book says you cannot count
them. So of course when I went to see them I wanted to do so! I began,
and tried, and so did the friends who were with me, but we gave it up in
despair. The stones were of such different sizes, and so irregular, that we
were continually overlooking one or the other, and then we were not sure of
The same Message for all Peoples. 97
some, whether they ought to be reckoned in or not. So I cannot tell you
the number of the “ Druids’ Stones.â€
It is something like that with the nations of the earth. There are so
many, and they are so various, some large, and some very small, you can-
not. count them. I daresay you may have learned in your school-books
the principal races into which mankind has been divided. And perhaps you
think you know the nations also. But many of these are again divided into
various tribes, and some are mixed up together, and you can hardly tell where
the nations end and the tribes begin.
The people of East Africa callan Englishman Mezungu. But they call
a German the same, and they call a Frenchman the same. It is only lately
that they have begun to find out that there is a difference between one
sungu and another, and that they do not all belong to one nation. In
the same way we are apt to speak of “ Africans,†“West Africans,†“East
Africans,†as if they were all one; and yet there is as great a difference
between two nations of East Africa as between English and French.
In India there are many nations and tribes. Though in some things
they may be alike there are many differences between a Tamil of South
India and a native of Bengal, or between a native of Central India and a
Sikh of the Punjab. And there are fifty Indian languages into which the
whole or part of the Bible has been translated.
In China proper, though there are many dialects spoken there is but
one nation, but the Chinese Empire includes several other nations.
I daresay you have heard the names of some of the nations and tribes
of North-West America. There are the Chipewyans, the Crees, the Ojibways
and others, but some of these names seem to represent nations, and some
merely the tribal divisions of a nation.
Then besides all these there are nations and tribes which I have not
mentioned at all in this little book—for instance, the Mongols of Central Asia,
and the many tribes of Oceania. When I think of these I seem to see that
bewildering circle of Druids’ Stones, which it was impossible to count.
To all these people, with their different characters, and tastes, and ideas,
and habits, the same message is sent, the news of salvation through the
Lord Jesus Christ, with the command to repent and believe. The same
thing is to be told to the simple African and the clever Hindu, to the wild
H
98 ON (What will cover my heart?â€
North American Indian, the busy China-
man, and the polite and artistic Japanese.
It is to be told in the ice-house and the
grass-hut, the tent and the shop, the desert
and the street. It is meant for all; and
whatever are the differences
between the different nations,
this message suits them all.
Long ago St. Paul wrote to
Titus, “The grace of God
that bringeth salvation hath
appeared to all men†(Titus
it. IL).
And it is just what all
men need.
I want in these last few
pages to tell you what the
grace of God has done for
some of different nations.
In North-West America,
===] on the shores of the Pacific
Ocean, is a place called Kitlan.
The people who live there are called Kitkahtlas, and they have a chief
called Sheuksh. For many years this chief would have nothing to do
with the missionaries. He could not help some of his people becoming
Christians, but he did everything he could to stop them. At last one day
at the beginning of winter, when all his people had come home from their
summer fishing, he called a large assembly together. They met in his great
hall built of pine and cedar wood, and lighted by a huge fire. Sheuksh was
dressed as an Indian chief in a fine embroidered robe of scarlet, and round
about him sat the chiefs who had helped him to oppose the missionaries.
What was the astonishment of all the assembly when he rose and said he
had done with his old religion! ‘Where do dead things go?†said he, fling-
ing off his scarlet robe, “this goes with them.†Then he said, “I can clothe my
body with the white man’s clothes ; but what will cover my heart? I can
A SIKH OF THE PUNJAB, (See p. 97.)
“ Broken up small.†99
wrap nothing round it. God sees it, and He knows all the past and present.
What shall Ido? I am like a child, knowing little, but wanting to learn.
Will Jesus Christ have me? Will He help me? I give myself to God..
Now pray for me, pray, pray!â€
One of the Christians present began to pray. Another followed with
ahymn, and then texts were repeated and explained—“ broken up small
(as they said) for Sheuksh to eat.†For seven hours anda half they went on,
praying, repeating texts, and singing. One of them went out and told the
women what had happened, and they gathered their children and began to
pray too.
So the persecutor had become “as a little child,†and you know that is
the way to enter the kingdom of heaven (St. Matt. xviii. 3). Sheuksh is now
doing all he can to learn and to teach others of Christ.
Look now at a scene in the lovely island of
Ceylon. In one of the villages there is a crowd of ,
people waiting to see the magistrate. Among them &
stands a missionary and with him a native called 4
Abraham, and these two are taking the opportunity
of preaching the Gospel to the people. Abraham
was once a heathen, a Buddhist. Eighteen times he
had walked a hundred miles on purpose to worship
a sacred tree. Now he is telling the people of Jesus
Christ, the only Saviour. While he is speaking a
half-drunken Buddhist comes up and gives him a
fearful blow on the eye, nearly destroying the sight.
Some of the people are sorry and tell Abraham to
complain to the magistrate. But he answers—
“When I first heard one say that Buddhism was
false, I myself stood ready to strike him. I can bear
much more than this for my Lord.â€
In the same island a poor woman is mourning
the loss of her child. She is told of the love of the
Lord Jesus, and she gives her heart to Him. Then her
husband comes in astonishment to the missionary—
“What medicine have you given to my wife?â€
A NATIVE OF BENGAL,
(See p. 97.)
100
‘No medicine ;
we give none.â€
“Oh yes, you
have given her good
medicine. She used
to be so cross, and
now isso kind. She
used to be lazy, and
now is so willing.
She used to speak
bad words, and now
is so gentle.â€
The truth is the
Lord Jesus had
saved her, and she
was ‘“‘a new crea-
ture†in Him.
Now for a scene
in Trichur, South
India. Itis evening,
and a WVair family
are seated together.
The Nairs are the
“gentry†of the
province of Tra-
vancore. There are
two boys who have
come home from
the Mission school
which they attend
every day. How
are they using their
holiday hour? They
are carefully teach-
ing their mother
es
t,
IH)
mn
(See p. 97.)
NATIONS OF THE EARTH,
THE
IOI
and the rest of the
family what they
have been learning
out of the Bible.
By-and-by, when
the lady mission-
ary and the Bible-
woman go to visit
the « family, they
are quite surprised
to find how much
these women know!
I suspect some of us
in England would
know a great deal
more about our
Bibles if we studied
them every even-
ing! Yousee these
schoolboys are do-
ing real missionary
work,
Come with me
now to the moun-
tain land of Man-
churia, on the north-
east of China. Up
and down the steep
hills and across the
muddy swamps,
from village to vil-
lage full of heathen
people, goes a poor
blind man, telling
every one he meets
102 Happier than their Master.
about Jesus the Saviour.
In the evenings he gets
quite a crowd of people
under the willow trees
to hear his message, and
some bring him into
their houses that he
may repeat it. Ch’ang
was once a zealous wor-
shipper of idols, but
he was struck with
blindness while ador-
ing his favourite idol.
He then heard of a
foreign hospital at the
city of Moukden, and he journeyed there to see if they could do anything
for him. It was a Mission hospital of the “‘ United Presbyterians.†They
could not help him to get his sight back, but they told him of Jesus, the
true Light for the soul, and Ch’ang went back to his mountain home with
his heart full of light and gladness. The missionary had promised to visit
him some day, but it was six months before he was able to keep his
promise! “Qh, pastor,†said Ch’ang, with tears of joy, “I always said you
would come!†Though the blind man knew but little, God had so blessed
his efforts that there were nine converts ready to confess Christ by baptism.
This dear man was sent to Peking to be taught by Mr. Murray, who has
done so much for the blind in China. In three months he was able to read
and write perfectly, and went back to Manchuria to read the Word of God
to his countrymen.
The grace of God has enabled many in China, both men and women,
to endure persecution and suffering for Christ’s sake. But we must pass
over that country, and others, and pay one parting visit to the great
continent of Africa, where numbers of martyrs have borne witness to the
power of Christ and the greatness of His salvation.
Some years ago there were, in the town of Bonny on the Niger, two
slaves belonging to one of the great chiefs, They were happier than their
A SCENE IN CEYLON. (See p. 99.)
Fesus has padlocked my heart.†103
master, for they had accepted the Lord Jesus as their Saviour. But the
chief was very angry with them for becoming Christians, and when they
stood firm he ordered them to be taken out of the town and chained up in
the bush. This was done, and for many long months Isaiah and Jonathan
were prisoners out in the forest, exposed to rain and sun and unable to help
themselves. Some of their fellow-Christians used to visit them by night
and bring them food and water, or they must have perished. At length
the chief sent a messenger and offered to set
them free and make them great men if they
would return to their idol worship. But one
of them said—
“T am willing, if it be God’s will, to stay
here until the judgment day.â€
And the other said—
“Jesus has padlocked my heart, and
the key is with Him.â€
So the messenger could do nothing
with them.
In the end some English traders
joined with the missionaries in inter-
ceding for Isaiah and Jonathan, and
they were sect free. I do not know if
they are still living.
Now before we part, shall we take
a look into the future, which may be
very, very near?
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AN EASTERN IDOL.
104 The Golden. City.
would make you shudder, women who were thought to have no souls
and to be little better than the beasts, children born and brought up
in the darkness of heathendom. They are come from the mountains,
and plains, and valleys, and forests, and river-banks, and lake-shores,
all over the world to dwell in the city of God, the golden city whose
light is God’s glory (Rev. xxi. 11, 23). There they stand in the
presence of the Holy One, clothed in white, pure and spotless; they see
His face, and bear His name in their foreheads (Rev. xxii. 4). And
there are men, and women, and children from England too, who were
once worldly and careless, and selfish, but whom the grace of God saved,
and who tried to do their part in letting others know of that wonderful
salvation. And this is the song they sing—
“ Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the
Lamb.â€
“Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us unto God out of every
kindred (or tribe), and tongue, and nation, and people†(Rev. vii. 9; v. 9).
Shall you be one of then?
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