EFFECTS OF THE GOSPEL. 43 by the Glasgow missionaries, and last, though not least, the Wesleyan missionaries entered the field; and now they present a band of labourers whose endeavours, if they continue to receive the Divine blessing, bid fair to subdue that people to the sceptre of Jesus, prevent the rapine and bloodshed which characterised by-gone years, and in the late destructive war, and save a nation from ruin. Already the warrior has exchanged the hoarse war song for the anthems of peace and love, while the printing press is called into operation to transfer into their own language the oracles of God. Let us hail the triumph of the cross, by whomsoever it may be borne, as all have one undivided object, the glory of God in the salvation of man. "Yes, for a season Satan may prevail, And hold as if secure, his dark domain; The prayers of righteous men may seem to fail, The long-parched land shall laugh, with harvests crown'd, CHAPTER IV. It is of vast importance to notice the first, though appa rently obscure indications of the will of Him who, while he "Rides upon the stormy sky, And manages the seas," witness the increase of missionary labours in Kafir-land, where he toiled hard, and suffered much, long before any others were permitted to enter that country at all. One of our Wesleyan brethren, fully competent to judge, now in this country, remarks, that "his labours have been indefatigable, though unostentatious; and to place this worthy man in his proper position, it is not indeed necessary to imitate the unhallowed prac tice of some, who to accomplish a purpose, or to gratify party spirit, invidiously and fulsomely cry up one missionary at the expense of his brethren, whose labours, though noiseless, have been far more abundant." The London Missionary Society has now five stations in Kafir-land, including one for the Bushmen in the Tambookie country; the two Glasgow Societies, six; and the Wesleyan Society, twelve. condescends to stoop from his throne amidst unapproachable glory, to render means the most feeble and unthought of, the guide and pole-star of his servants, whom he has commissioned to preach the Gospel to every creature. While Dr. Vanderkemp and Edmonds proceeded to Kafirland, Messrs. Kicherer, Kramer, and Edwards bent their course to the Zak River, between 400 and 500 miles northeast of Cape Town. Who would have supposed for a moment that Kicherer's course, which was originally towards Kafir-land, would have been diverted by Bushmen-ambassadors, the feeblest, poorest, most degraded and despised of all the sable sons of Ham? It appears that some time previous, while the church at home was engaged in prayer, that the great Head of the church would open a door for his servants, whom they were sending forth, a treaty had been made between the Bushmen and Florus Fischer, with other farmers, who had suffered terribly in their flocks and herds, from these depredators of the desert. The Bushmen seeing Florus Fischer, who was a good man, solemnly appeal to Almighty God to witness the transaction, and observing that he was in the habit of assembling his family for worship, morning and evening, were led to inquire into the Divine character, and to solicit a Christian teacher. Mr. Fischer cheerfully afforded encouragement; and, though it appeared something like hoping against hope, he, at their request, took some of the principal of them to Cape Town for this purpose. They arrived there just before our brethren, a circumstance which left the latter no reason to doubt of being called of God to labour in that quarter. The brethren received unbounded kindness and attention from the government, and assistance from the farmers, who loaded them with things requisite to commence the station; while some accompanied them to the spot they first selected, which they named "Happy Prospect." Here Messrs. Kicherer and Kramer laboured with primitive zeal and simplicity, to raise the most abject of our species; and had not their faith been strong in the promises of God, they must have sunk under the very thought of making an attempt. At the present period of advanced knowledge in missionary enterprise, however, it is easy to see that according to the common course of events, the circumstances under which that mission was commenced, were ominous of its short duration. God, in his infinite wisdom had other, and far more DIFFICULTIES AND SUCCESSES. 45 extensive ends to accomplish, than simply a mission to the Bushmen. Zak River became the finger-post to the Namaquas. Carannas, Griquas, and Bechuanas; for it was by means of that mission that these tribes, and their condition, became known to the Christian world. Kircherer had great comfort in his intercourse with many good farmers, who exerted themselves with commendable liberality in favour of the object he had in view. He was soon encouraged by the accession of many Hottentots and Bastards to the station, without whose assistance it would not have been possible for him to have lived, as he afterwards found. The Bushmen, with few exceptions, could never appreciate his object; but, as a people, continued to harass and impoverish those who remained attached to the objects of the missionary. Mr. K.'s life was more than once threatened, but his unremitting labours, and those of Mr. Kramer, were signally blessed in the conversion of a number of Hottentots and Bastards; and in the details of the mission, the names of individuals are mentioned, who afterwards became the pillars of the Griqua mission; and from whose lips the writer has frequently heard with delight, the records of by-gone years, when they listened to the voice of Kicherer, Anderson, and Kramer, at the Zak and Orange Rivers. Unhappily the company and countenance of the Bushmen could not be commanded without a daily portion of victuals and tobacco, of which Mr. Kicherer had received an ample supply from the farmers. This practice, however kindly intended, doubtless contributed to the early failure of the mission. The country in which the mission was fixed, was sterile in the extreme, and rain so seldom fell, that they were obliged to depend on foreign supplies. Mr. Kicherer having visited Europe, on his return. found the mission in a suffering state. Having little hope of recruiting it, he entered the Dutch church, and was appointed minister at Graaff Reinet. He left the station in charge of Mr. and Mrs. A. Voss; and a Mr. Botma, a farmer, who had sold all he had to aid the mission, and supply the absence of Mr. K. These men not having equal resources with the founders of the mission, though distinguished by exemplary patience, great privations, and hardships, from drought, and the plundering Bushmen, were compelled to abandon the station. This event took place in 1806, and Mr. A. Voss makes the following pathetic remark on that mission's requiem: "This day we leave Zak River, the place which has cost us so many sighs, tears, and drops of sweat! 46 THE CONDITION OF BUSHMEN. that place in which we have laboured so many days and nights, for the salvation of immortal souls: the place which, probably before long, will become a heap of ruins." Thus terminated the mission to Zak River, on which the directors at home could not help looking with the deepest sympathy, as the people were some of the first-fruits of their labours; but they were consoled by the reflection, that those who followed their teachers to the vicinity of Graaff Reinet, continued to receive instruction, and that the missionaries entered into other fields of successful labour. When the character and condition of the Bushmen are taken into consideration, it is not to be wondered at, that the Missionaries found it up-hill work to obtain a settlement among them. With the exception of the Troglodytes, a people said by Pliny to exist in the interior of Northern Africa, no tribe or people are surely more brutish, ignorant, and miserable, than the Bushmen of the interior of Southern Africa. They have neither house nor shed, neither flocks nor herds. Their most delightful home is "afar in the desert," the unfrequented mountain pass, or the secluded ecesses of a cave or ravine. They remove from place to place, as convenience or necessity requires. The man takes his spear, and suspends his bow and quiver on his shoulder; while the woman frequently, in addition to the burden of a helpless infant, carries a mat, an earthen pot, a number of ostrich egg-shells, and a few ragged skins, bundled on her head or shoulder; and these Saabs, as they have been designated, bearing in their character a striking resemblance to the Sauneys, or Balala, (poor,) among the Bechuanas, have, with few exceptions, as already shown, been from time immemorial the sons of the field. Accus tomed to a migratory life, and entirely dependent on the chase for a precarious subsistence, they have contracted habits which could scarcely be credited of human beings. These habits have by no means been improved by incessant conflict with their superior neighbours, who, regarding might as identical with right, kill their game, plunder their honey nests, seize upon their fountains, and deprive them of their country. Anomalous as it may appear, this has been the custom of all the more civilized tribes, the colonists not excepted. Dr. Lichtenstein asks, "What had a people like the Bushmen to lose-they who are every where at home, who know not the value of any land?" To this I would reply, He loses the means of subsistence; and what more can the richest monarch lose? I recollect having felt grate 3 1 BUSHMEN RESOURCES AND HABITS. 47 ful to a poor Bushwoman for a meal of the larvæ of ants; and had that otherwise intelligent traveller been similarly circumstanced, he, perhaps, would have been tempted to "Behold, I am at the point to die, and what profit say, shall this birthright do to me?" Under such circumstances, the gems of Golconda would not have satisfied the cravings of hunger. Poor Bushman! thy hand has been against every one, and every one's hand against thee. For generations past they have been hunted like partridges in the mountains. Deprived of what nature had made their own, they became desperate, wild, fierce, and indomitable in their habits. Hunger compels them to feed on every thing edible. Ixias, wild garlic, mysembryanthemums, the core of aloes, of acacias, and several other plants and berries, some gum of which are extremely unwholesome, constitute their fruits of the field; while almost every kind of living creature is eagerly devoured, lizards, locusts, and grasshoppers not excepted. The poisonous, as well as innoxious serpents, they roast and eat. They cut off the head of the former, which they dissect, and carefully extract the bags, or reservoirs of poison, which communicate with the fangs of the upper jaw. They mingle it with the milky juice of the euphorbia, or with that of a poisonous bulb. After simmering for some time on a slow fire, it acquires the consistency of wax, with which they cover the points of their arrows. Though the natives of South Africa have an aversion to fish, the Bushmen in the neighbourhood of rivers make very ingenious baskets, which they place between stones, in the centre of a current, and thus they sometimes procure a fry of fish, which in their frequent necessity must be acceptable. They ascend the mountain's brow or peak, and, with an acuteness of sight perhaps superior to our common telescopes, survey the plains beneath, either to discover game or cattle, or to watch the movements of those whose herds they may have stolen. If danger approaches, they ascend almost inaccessible cliffs, from which nothing but the rifle ball could dislodge them. When closely pursued, they will take refuge in dens and caves, in which their enemies have ; sometimes smothered scores to death, blocking up the entrances with brushwood, and setting it on fire. One characteristic in their predatory expeditions is exceedingly provoking. When they have taken a troop of cattle, their first object is to escape to a rendezvous, a cave or an overhanging precipice, or some sequestered spot difficult of access to strangers for want of water. As soon |