ANAGIHAMY OF DODANDUWA.

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than twelve or thirteen years of age, desiring to be a Christian, and to give herself to the service of the Lord that bought her, but held back by a heathen parent, and cruelly treated by him. The story is told us by the Rev. Richard Dowbiggin, our Missionary at Baddagama

Dodanduwa, our Mission station on the sea coast, is distant from Baddagama about six miles and a half. About six or seven years since the Mission was established, and that owing to the conversion of an influential man in the village, who importuned our Missionary brother, the late Rev. G. Parsons, to begin the work, and gave himself no rest until the field was taken up, and work for Christ commenced in it. Some six years previously the Missionary had written of this place, that it was apparently hopeless, and that he could not secure a house in which to preach for longer than a fortnight, at the end of which time he was turned out of it, and a devil ceremony performed in it. It is most undoubtedly a stronghold of Buddhism, and the bulk of the people are opposed to Christianity. The person I have mentioned has never ceased to take the deepest interest in the work, in which he has been well seconded by his equally devoted wife and eldest daughter. The latter, of her own accord, and without any salary, has a girls' school in her father's house, to which she devotes five or six hours daily. But it is with more special reference to a Missionary meeting just held, and to the confession of the faith of Jesus by one of the school girls, and her subsequent persecution, that I write. One of the speakers on this occasion was the first catechist placed in the village by Mr. Parsons; his reception at that time by people was any thing but flattering to his feelings, or agreeable to his person: they abused and even beat him, and went so far as to threaten his destruction, and turned him out of the house in which he had taken up his abode. He left the place after a time, but the work was taken up by another; and now, after a few years, the man who was reviled and beaten had the pleasure of addressing a meeting crowded to overflowing in that very village, and almost opposite to the house in which he had suffered for the sake of the Gospel.

The case of the girl mentioned above is deeply interesting. Her uncle is the Arachchy who was the means of opening the Mission; her grandmother, the person who actually beat the catechist; her father, a rigid Buddhist, in fact an Aposakarola-a man who promises to observe so many of the precepts of Gautama Buddha, and is supposed to be holier than other men (but, like the priests, so much the worse very often). Another of her uncles is the priest of Dodanduwa, and her whole family for generations have been notoriously attached to Buddhism. This girl, Anagihamy, when she first began to attend school, would not listen to the Bible lesson, nor kneel down with the other children for morning and evening prayers, and contended for the truth of Buddhism against the Christian family of her uncle, and in various ways manifested her opposition to Christianity. After some time she began to feel interested in what she had heard, and her parents, afraid of our influence, and that of her uncle's family, took her away from school. Time passed on again she was permitted to attend school; then after awhile she was

again withdrawn. Once more she was allowed to come, and now her interest was most apparent. She would come to school very early, so as to hear the exposition and family prayers of the catechist, and then sit and read the New Testament until the other children came, as she was not allowed to do so at her own home.

All this time her parents compelled her to attend the Buddhist temple, but gradually she left off taking flowers and offerings, and would not worship the priests, simply accompanying her family, but manifesting no interest in their devotions. About this time-the middle of November last -I visited Dodanduwa, and, along with another girl in the class, examined her as to her knowledge of the way of pardon and peace, and the leading facts of our religion. I need only say that I was astonished beyond measure at her understanding and answers. I could not help feeling that she must have been taught of God. It was not like a schoolgirl's acquisition of such things: she had an evident personal acquaintance with the truths she spoke about. She was present at the Missionary meeting, and her attention was most marked, and, as subsequent events turned out, every speaker seemed to address her particularly, though quite ignorant of her feeling in the matter. Two or three days after this meeting she went to the house of a Christian man in the village. and he and his wife began to talk to her about Christianity, when she at once confessed her faith in it. She filled them with great joy, and led them to speak at greater length; and the girl, entering fully into their feelings, surprised them, as she had astonished me, by her clear knowledge of the way of salvation. But an enemy to her peace was at hand. A Buddhist servant overheard all this conversation, and at once reported it to her father, who, wild with rage and vexation that a child of his should ever think of forsaking the religion to which he was devoted, took the girl, only twelve or thirteen years of age, and beat her, forbidding her ever to attend school again, and threatened to burn all her books, not suffering her to go to any of our Christian families, and keeping her under Buddhist influence and surveillance.

This was soon noised abroad, and caused us all much grief and sorrow, for every one seemed to love the gentle, thoughtful child. Special meetings for prayer to God for her were held, that God would enable her to confess the faith of His Son, and give her grace to glorify the name of His holy Child Jesus, and make her the instrument of bringing even her father and family to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. I have heard, whether true or not, that she was afraid, and wavered when questioned as to her faith in Jesus. But even if this were the case, it would not make me less hopeful of her. What the friend of God, and the man after God's own heart could do when moved with fear, a child of heathen parents, just awakening to the truth of the Gospel, may easily be supposed capable of doing; but while we deplore the weakness of this act of denial, if she did it, we cannot but feel deeply interested in her, and pray more earnestly that she may yet have grace to make “a good confession before many witnesses," to the glory and praise of His grace, who can make her "accepted in the beloved."

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"THE DARK PLACES."

"THE dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty." Such is the declaration of Scripture, and men are ready to admit that a great deal of cruelty exists in heathen lands. But they have never

very closely considered the subject, and are not the least aware how intense is the misery which prevails. Surely if they had any just idea of the misery of the heathen, they never would rest contented until more had been done for their relief.

May we then venture to bring before our readers some of these dread realities?

When a stranger lands on the shores of a dark African land, the first object which arrests his attention, is the number of fetishes. They are to be seen everywhere and in every direction. They are suspended along every path he treads, at every cross-road, at the crossing-place of every stream, at the base of every large rock, or the foot of every large foresttree, at the gate of every village, over the door of every house, and around the neck of every human being. "They are set up on the farms, tied around the fruit-trees, and fastened to the necks of sheep and goats."

These fetishes consist sometimes of " a piece of wood, the horn of a goat, the hoof of an antelope, a piece of metal or ivory." The priest consecrates it and makes it a fetish.

What are they for? The fetish is a charm made use of to avert some evil or to obtain some good.

The fact is, these heathen are always in dread. They believe themselves to be in the midst of evil spirits, who are ever on the watch to injure them, but whose malign influence may be neutralized by the interposition of fetishes, provided they be of the right kind. Always in fear, ignorant of God, of His mercy and power to protect those who trust in Him, the native is ever planning and striving to protect himself against these unseen foes. Offerings are presented to them to pacify: nor if thesepersuasions be not effectual, do the natives hesitate to resort to more decided measures. "On the Gold Coast there are stated occasions when the people turn out en masse (generally at night), with clubs and torches, to drive the evil spirits from their towns. At a given signal the wholecommunity start up, commence a most hideous howling, beat about in every nook and corner of their dwellings, then rush into the streets and beat the air, until some one announces the spirits to have gone."

To appease these spirits human sacrifices are offered, especially in the kingdoms of Ashantee and Dahomey, and on the Bonny river. Nor is the number of the slaughtered lessened by the popular idea, that when a great man dies he will require companions and attendants in the new world to which he has gone; and hence, when a king dies, many of his. wives and favourite slaves are put to death at the funeral.

Our engraving represents a horrid scene of this kind, which occurred: amongst the Kaffirs. The king's mother had died. She had been a turbulent woman, and not only was it surmised that the king was glad of her death, but that he had helped it on. To screen himself from this, the king decided that at her funeral there should be a profusion of human sacrifices. Great crowds of people had assembled, some say 60,000. In the midst stood the king in his war attire, surrounded by his chiefs. Suddenly, at a given signal, several men were seized and executed, and, once commenced, the massacre was not staid until 7000 victims had fallen.

EXAMINATION OF THE BONNY SCHOOLCHILDREN.

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The body was then put in a large grave, "and ten of the best-looking girls in the kraal were enclosed alive in the same grave. Twelve thousand men, fully armed, attended this dread ceremony, and were stationed as a guard over the grave for a whole year."

The well-known Bonny river, in the Bight of Biafra, is another of those dark places where human sacrifices abound. Here reigned the yellow-black chief known as Pepper, Pimento, or Pepple. Deposed by his chiefs for his ill-conduct, he was trans-shipped to Ascension, from whence he made his way to England. After a time, returning to the African coast, he regained his lost authority, and encouraged Bishop Crowther to commence a Mission station among his wild subjects. There our Missionaries, not Europeans, but Africans, are at work, amidst horrid sights and scenes of bloodshed. We recommend to our readers the perusal of the "Church Missionary Record" for this month (March), if they wish to know what Missionary work is among the wilds of Africa. At Bonny may be seen the Juju house, a ghastly-looking edifice, having nailed under its roof rows of human skulls. This house well illustrates the character of the people, a race which takes pleasure in inflicting pain and shedding blood. In the midst of the square before the Juju house, a group of negroes assembles. At the word of command they squat on the ground in a circle round two men standing upright in the midst. These are the executioner and his victim. latter moves not a muscle. He knows his doom, and meets it immoveably. One swoop of the sword falls upon the man's neck: it is followed by a second, and the deed is done. The head is placed in a calabash by the executioner; the body is left to the people, who fly upon it, cutting and chopping it, and carrying away pieces of the reeking flesh.

The

There is much more to be said of Bonny. In another paper we shall follow up the subject.

"

EXAMINATION OF THE BONNY SCHOOLCHILDREN. ¡

THE previous paper was a sad one indeed.

The one which we now introduce will lighten the gloom, and show that a light has been kindled in a dark place, and that good is being done even at Bonny.

When King Pepple and his chiefs applied to Bishop Crowther to commence a Mission station on the Bonny river, his answer was that he would do so, but as they carried on a prosperous trade with Europeans, he expected they would contribute to the expenses which would be incurred. They guaranteed accordingly 150l a year, and a native teacher was placed amongst them. Some children were collected and a school commenced, and about four years ago the foundation was laid of a mud-wall school-chapel, King Pepple himself putting down the first ball of mud into the hole prepared for it.

This method of mud-wall building was something quite new the Bonny chiefs. The Esquimaux had been ingenious enough to