144

66

and being solicited by one who felt something of a father's love, to pity the old man, who had walked nearly two hundred miles, and brought his little all to purchase his own children, he replied, with a sneer, that one had died of cold the preceding winter, and what the father offered for the other was not worth looking at; adding, "I want oxen." I have not even a goat," replied the father. A sighit was a heavy sigh-burst from his bosom :-one dead, and not permitted even to see the other with his eyes. The chief walked off, while the man sat leaning his head on the palm of his right hand, and his eyes fixed on the ground, apparently lost to every thing but his now only son, now doubly dear from the loss of his brother, and he, alas! far beyond his power to rescue. On taking up his mantle to retire, he and his party being obliged to leave early to return to the place whence they came, he was told to be of good cheer, and an effort would be made to get his son. He startled at the sound, threw his mantle at my feet, and spreading out his hands to what he had offered, said, "Take these, my father, and pity me." "Retain them for yourself," was the reply. He kissed the hand of his pledged benefactor, and departed, saying, Ki tla na le boroko. "I shall have slumber," (peace of mind.)

In the course of the following day, a favourable moment was sought to bring the case before the king. He instantly ordered his brother, the individual who possessed the boy, to wait upon me, which he promptly did; and on receiving several pounds of a valuable kind of bead, he immediately despatched a messenger to bring the boy, who was at a distance, and who arrived the following day.

On my return to Mosega, and approaching the base of one of those hills amidst which the town lay embosomed, a human being was seen rushing down the steep towards the wagons, with a rapidity which led us to fear that she would fall headlong. Every eye was upon her, while some said, "It is the alarm of war.' The wagon-driver, who sat by me, most emphatically exclaimed, "It is a woman, either running from a lion, or to save a child." Yes, it was the mother. She had heard from some of the party who preceded the wagons that morning, that her son was there she had ascended the hill behind which the town lay, and gazed till the wagon emerged from a ravine. Frantic with joy, she ran breathless towards me. To prevent her coming in contact with the wagon wheels, I sprang to the ground, when she seized my hands, kissed and bathed them with her tears. She spoke not one word, but wept aloud for joy. Her son drew near, when she instantly rushed forward, and clasped him in her arms.

In the frequent intercourse I had with Moselekatse, he was very inquisitive. The missionary, as an instructor of the natives in divine truth, was to him a mysterious character. He asked me if I could make rain. I referred him to the Governor of the universe, who alone could give rain and fruitful seasons. 'Umbate was more than once called to bear his testimony as to our operations and manner of living at the Kuruman. Our leaving our own country for the sake of the natives, obedient to the will of the invisible Being whose character I had described, was to him a bewildering fact; for he did not appear to doubt my word; and how we could

act independently of our sovereign, or without being his emissaries, he could not understand: but his greatest puzzle was, that I had not seen my king, and could not describe his riches, by the numbers of his flocks and herds. I tried to explain to him the character of the British government, the extent of our commerce, and the good our nation was doing in sending the gospel of peace and salvation to the nations which know not God; and told him also, that our king too had his instructors to teach him to serve that God, who alone was "King of kings, and King of the heavens." "Is your king like me?" he asked. I was sorry I could not give him a satisfactory reply. When I described the blessed effects of peace, the populousness of my own country, the industry of the people, the number of sheep and cattle daily slaughtered in the great towns, the reigning passion again burst forth in the exclamation, "Your nation must be terrible in battle; you must tell your king I wish to live in peace."

66

66

The day after this conversation he came to me, attended by a party of his warriors, who remained at a short distance from us, dancing and singing. Their yells and shouts, their fantastic leaps, and distorted gestures, would have impressed a stranger with the idea that they were more like a company of fiends than men. Addressing me, he said, "I am a king, but you are Machobane, and I am come to sit at your feet for instruction." This was seasonable; for my mind had just been occupied in contemplating the miseries of the savage state. I spoke much on man's ruin, and man's redemption. Why," he asked, "are you so earnest that I abandon all war, and not kill men ?" "Look on the human bones which lie scattered over your dominions," was my reply. They speak in awful language, and to me they say, Whosoever sheddeth man's blood, by man also will his blood be shed."" This was fearful language in the ears of such a murderer. "You say," he added, "that the dead will rise again." My remarks on this subject were startling in the ears of a savage, and he interrupted by hastily assuring me that he would not go to war. While we were yet speaking, a body of Muchaha soldiers advanced, and bowed behind their shields at a distance, to wait his awful nod. The Entoto (married man) their leader, then addressed him in language and attitude the most suppliant. The burden of the petition was, "Permit us, O king of heavens, to obtain new shields:" in other words, "Allow us to go and attack some distant town, to acquire new spoils and fresh glory." This was an inauspicious moment for these ambitious men. Turning to me, the monarch said, " You see it is my people who wish to make war," and instantly dismissed them from his presence.

As he was rather profuse in his honorary titles, especially in calling me a king, I requested him rather to call me teacher, or anything but a king.

Then," he said. "shall I call you my father?" "Yes," I rejoined," but only on condition that you be an obedient son." This drew from him and his nobles a hearty laugh. When I recommended a system which would secure not only safety, but plenty to his people, without the unnatural one of keeping up a force of many thousands of unmarried warriors; he tried to convince me that his people

were happy, and to a stranger they might appear so, for, alas, they dared not let any murmur reach his ear, but I knew more than he was aware of. I knew many a couch was steeped with silent tears, and many an acre stained with human blood. About ten minutes after the conversation, a lovely boy, the son of one of his many wives, sat smiling on my knee, caressing me as if I were his own father. As some of the king's harem were seated near, I asked the boy which was his mother. He shook his little head and sighed. I asked no more, but learned soon after that the mother, who was the daughter of a captive chief, was a superior woman, and took the liberty of remonstrating with her lord on the multitude of his concubines. One morning she was dragged out of her house, and her head severed from her body.

The happiness of the king and his subjects appeared to be entirely derived from their success in war, and the reward of wife was a stimulus to his men to multiply their victims. Days of feasting were held, when they glutted themselves with flesh. The bloody bowl was the portion of those who could count the tens they had slain in the day of battle. One evening two men bore towards me an enormous basket. It was the royal dish sent from the presence of his majesty. The contents smoking blood, apparently as liquid as if it had just come from the arteries of the ox, and mixed with sausages of suet. I acknowledged the honour he wished to confer, but begged to be excused partaking of so lordly a dish, as I never ate blood when I could get anything else. This refusal gave perfect satisfaction, when the whole breast of an ox, well stewed, was immediately sent in its place. As nothing can be returned, the bearers of the smoking present, and others who were standing round it, had scarcely heard that they might do what they pleased with it, when they rushed upon it, scooping it up with their hands, making a noise equal to a dozen hungry hogs around a well-filled trough.

On my journey to and from this polite, and, I might truly add, grateful barbarian, I received great attention, and was exposed to no annoyance. Having to pass through a country full of lions, a number of warriors constantly attended the wagons, whom I supplied with food out of the numberless presents of milk, grain, and slaughter oxen which I had received from their munificent master. On more than one occasion as many as fifty dishes were brought from a village, and placed before me; but the Matabele escort could not conceal their strong passion for meat; and when I gave them the leg or shoulder of an ox, they immediately kindled a fire, into the centre of which the whole leg would be thrown, and occasionally turned with a long pole. After being burned and roasted some inches deep, it was dragged forth, and as soon as it was sufficiently cool to allow of its being seized with their hands, they squatted on the ground around it, and raising it to a level with their mouths, each tore off a piece, and the mass might be seen moving to and fro, according to the success of the teeth in seizing a firm hold. When they had penetrated to what was too raw, it was thrown again into the fire for a second course. I never saw them eat raw flesh, as some have affirmed to be their practice.

To these facts, extracted from a voluminous

145

journal, my limits will only permit me to add one picture more of heathenism. calculated to awaken all the sympathies of an enlightened mind. I am persuaded no one of my readers would thank me for a minute description of manners and dress, which could only excite disgust, and details of revenge and the punishment of capital crimes, in which there is a combination of all that is ferocious, horrid, and cruel. The following description of their mode of warfare and treatment of captives, cannot but excite the deepest sympathy for the millions of our fellow men, who are perishing thus awfully for lack of knowledge in the dark regions of this benighted world. The Matabele were not satisfied with simply capturing cattle, nothing less than the entire subjugation, or destruction of the vanquished, could quench their insatiable thirst for power. Thus, when they conquered a town, the terrified inhabitants were driven in a mass to the outskirts, when the parents and all the married women were slaughtered on the spot. Such as have dared to be brave in the defence of their town, their wives, and their children, are reserved for a still more terrible death; dry grass, saturated with fat, is tied round their naked bodies and then set on fire. The youths and girls are loaded as beasts of burden with the spoils of the town, to be marched to the homes of their victors. If the town be in an isolated position, the helpless infants are left to perish either with hunger, or to be devoured by beasts of prey. On such an event, the lions scent the slain and leave their lair. The hyenas and jackals emerge from their lurking places in broad day, and revel in the carnage, while a cloud of vultures may be seen descending on the living and the dead, and holding a carnival on human flesh. Should a suspicion arise in the savage bosom that these helpless innocents may fall into the hands of friends, they will prevent this by collecting them into a fold, and after raising over them a pile of brushwood, apply the flaming torch to it, when the town but lately the scene of mirth, becomes a heap of ashes. Oh! Christians of England, can you, as subjects of divine love, as possessing the blessed gospel of the Son of God, and as holding his last commission from the mount of Olives to publish it to the ends of the earth,- -can you gaze on these fields of human blood, these regions of unutterable woe, without emotion? Ah! brethren, could you behold the scenes your missionaries witness, you would wake up with a power of pity which would impel you to deeds of Christian compassion, compared with which your past exertions would appear as nothing.

Having resolved on returning, Moselekatse accompanied me in my wagon a long day's journey to one of his principal towns. He soon became accustomed to the jolting of an African wagon, and found it convenient to lay his well lubricated body down on my bed, to take a nap. On awaking he invited me to lie down beside him; but I begged to be excused, preferring to enjoy the scenery around me. Two more days we spent together, during which I renewed my entreaties that he would abstain from war, promising that one day he should be favoured with missionaries, which he professed to desire. Having obtained from me my telescope, for the purpose, he said, of seeing on

L

at Philippolis, we were not a little delighted to meet at the house of Mr. Melvill, Mr. and Mrs. Baillie, of our society, destined to the Bechuana mission,

147

and Messrs. Rolland and Lemue, from the Paris Protestant Missionary Society, also appointed to labour in the interior. To us, so long accustomed

to feel as if out of the world, and comparatively forgotten, the season was one of great refreshment to our souls. The accession of so many new labourers was an answer to many prayers, and while they proceeded to the Kuruman, we went on our way rejoicing in the assurance that as the work of conversion had commenced, a glorious day of grace was dawning on the Bechuana tribes.

After arriving at Graham's Town, where I left my family while I visited several of the missionary stations in Kafir-land, and then some of those within the colony, we reached Cape Town, in October 1830. From the infant state of typography in that place, I found it necessary to apply to Sir Lowry Cole, then governor, to allow the gospel of Luke to be printed at the government printingoffice. This request was cheerfully acceded to, but compositors were wanted. This circumstance, with the promise of an excellent printing-press, which Dr. Philip had in his possession for our mission, was a strong inducement for me to learn printing, and being joined by Mr. Edwards, who was originally destined to the Bechuana mission, and now appointed to go there, the work was completed under the kind superintendence of Mr. Van de Zandt. The paper was supplied by the British and Foreign Bible Society, by whom also other incidental expenses were defrayed, which was only a precursor of the boon since conferred by that noble institution on the Bechuana mission, the fruits of which will be reaped by generations yet unborn. A small hymn-book was also printed in the language. These labours were scarcely completed, when a severe attack of bilious fever, occasioned by over exertion in the hottest season of the year, brought me very low, but though I was so weak as to be conveyed on a mattress on board ship, my health was much improved by a fourteen days' rough passage to Algoa Bay. Sickness among our oxen, in addition to Mrs. M.'s confienment,

detained us some time at Bethelsdorp, from whence, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Edwards, we journeyed to the Kuruman, where we arrived in June, 1831.

Never since missionaries entered the country was such a treasure conveyed to the mission as on the present occasion, for we brought with us an edition of the gospel of Luke, and a hymn-book in the native language, a printing-press, type, paper, and ink, besides having obtained very liberal subscriptions from the friends in Cape Town, and other parts of the colony, towards the erection of a place of worship. In addition to this, Mr. Edwards' knowledge and experience in carpentering and building, rendered him not only a very efficient labourer, but a seasonable assistant in the existing state of the mission; and his superior skill was afterwards called into operation, in raising the roof of the largest mission chapel in South Africa, which, in that remote region, in the absence of cranes, required all the muscular force we could collect. This was a new era in the mission, and the press was soon called into operation, when lessons, spelling-books, and catechisms were prepared for the schools. Although many of the natives had been informed how books were printed, nothing could exceed their surprise when they saw a white sheet, after disappearing for a moment, emerge spangled with letters. After a few noisy exclamations, one obtained a sheet, with which he bounded into the village, showing it to every one he met, and asserting that Mr. Edwards and I had made it in a moment, with a round black hammer (a printer's ball) and a shake of the arm. The description of such a juggling process, soon brought a crowd to see the segatisho (press), which has since proved an auxiliary of vast importance to our cause.

Great was our joy to find, on our return after a year's absence, that Mr. Hamilton, our veteran

148

brother, was well, and that the station continued in a prosperous state. Our two French brethren had suffered severely from an attack of illness, but were recovering. Mr. Rolland had gone to look out for a station among the Bahurutsi, from whom he returned with a very flattering report; and immediately the necessary preparations were made for commencing operations at Mosega.

Among the treasures brought with us from the colony, was a box of materials for clothing, for the encouragement of such as were making efforts to clothe themselves. This was the first supply of the kind, and nothing could be more seasonable to a people just beginning to emerge from barbarism, the impoverished remains of scattered tribes, but the first-fruits of the gospel among the Bechuanas. The needy were supplied, and many a heart was made glad. It is impossible for the author to revert to that interesting season, without recalling with gratitude the memory of one who took the liveliest interest in the Bechuanas. To the late Miss Lees, the constant and beloved friend of Mrs. M., we were indebted for active exertions amongst the friends in the congregation of Grosvenor Street Chapel, Manchester, not only in procuring this token of kindness for the poor natives, but subsequent supplies; she also collected a sufficient sum to supply us with a small fount of type; services recorded in the annals of the heavenly world, whither she is gone.

Having thus obtained materials to work upon, and Mrs. M. now having the effective co-operation of Mrs. Edwards and Mrs. Baillie, a sewing school, on a much larger scale than before, was carried on, to the great comfort and improvement of the natives. The increase of our congregation obliged us to build an additional wing to the chapel, and several members were received into the church. This season of pleasure was not without some alloy, for the small-pox entered the country, and the epidemic, with which old men only were previously acquainted, swept away many of the inhabitants; and among those who died on our station was one of my own children. This was a fearful visitation, and appeared to have been first brought by the wreck of a commando, which returned from an attack on Moselekatse.

Berend Berend, labouring under an unaccountable delusion that he was destined to sweep Moselekatse, and his gang of blood-guilty warriors, from the fine pastures and glens of the Bakone country, and thus emancipate the aborigines from their thraldom, collected a heterogeneous multitude of Griquas from every party, except that of Waterboer, Corannas, and other tribes, with sentiments as varied as the costume they wore, but unanimous in their enmity to the Matabele king, and sallied forth on what he considered a noble but daring enterprise, which he might well expect would immortalize his name as a benefactor of mankind. He had not, however, counted the cost, nor thought of the danger of joining hands with the wicked; and unfortunately his valued missionary, the Rev. T. L. Hodgson, of the Wesleyan Society, whose well-known superior judgment, and principles of love and mercy, would have prevented the catastrophe, was absent from the station. The cavalcade of wagons and horsemen, with their magazines of

destruction, moved towards the dominions of the haughty tyrant, while the company received fresh accessions from the Barolongs and others, who expected to come in for a share of the spoil. Success attended their arms, while the lovely landscape seemed to invite them to become lords of the wide domain, which had groaned under a tyrant's rod. Moselekatse and his nobles were taken by surprise, and the "mighty Elephant" was ready to take refuge in his native jungle. The men who defended his outposts teeming with cattle, either fell or fled in consternation, till the mass of captured cattle became too unwieldy to be guarded even by such a force. The sight of fat oxen, and the lowing of kine, captivated their souls; many an evil eye was fixed on the spoil, and anxiety to obtain the largest share began to rankle in the breasts of the victors. They had slaughtered and eaten to the full. The female prisoners had warned them of their danger. "Shall a Kafir dare to fight with a Griqua?" was the evening's watchword; but amidst the reckless band there were quaking hearts, and consciences gnawing like the worm that dieth not. Without a picket, a sentinel, or a watch, all self-secure, they fell asleep. Before the morning dawned, just as the waning moon dipped behind the mountain peak, a chosen band of veteran Matabele rolled over the slumbering host, scattering confusion, terror, and death. While many never awoke, some fled in wild dismay; and when the curtain of night was withdrawn, a scene was exhibited-I leave the imagination of the reader to depict.

In a few days Berend, of whose sincerity no one could doubt, and who had remained by the wagons some days' journey distant from the catastrophe, heard the tale of horror; and, now half-convinced that he was not the man to give redemption to the Bakone, returned, to be greeted by the widow's wail. It may not be improper to state here, that while the southern portion of the Matabele country was thus made the theatre of bloodshed, a large party of our people were on a hunting expedition in the very centre of Moselekatse's domains, and would have been massacred, by a company with which they came in contact, but for the circumstance of their being from the Kuruman.

But

It was about six months after these events, that our French brethren set off to Mosega, and having led out the water, they built a house, and formed gardens, hard by thousands of the Bahurutsi, with the cheering prospect of successfully planting the standard of the gospel amidst that people. the rapid extension of Moselekatse's dominionthe cupidity and overbearing conduct of his ambassadors to Mokatla, chief of the Bahurutsi-and the duplicity and cunning of the latter, who, it must be admitted, had but too good reason to dread so formidable a neighbour-soon compelled the missionaries to retire. The Bahurutsi afterwards fled from their country, which was taken by the Matabele, and the brethren went to Motito, of which a sketch is given on the opposite page. As this place was within the range of our labours, the brethren felt some delicacy in acceding to our proposal that they

This spot, nearly forty miles N.N.E. of the Kuruman, was at that time only a fountain, and is now a lovely village, containing a very considerable population.