times hot stones are applied to the feet and other sensitive parts of the body, producing the most excruciating pain, and thousands have been put to death by burning at the stake, strangulation, and in various other ways, under this appalling system of superstition. So true is it that "the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty." Scores of well authenticated instances which have come under the personal notice of the Missionaries might be given in illustration of the degraded condition of the poor Kaffirs, but it is more pleasant to dwell upon the all-sufficient remedy provided in the glorious Gospel of the blessed God.

Every Mission station in Kaffirland is an asylum for the oppressed and afflicted, as well as a school of Christ, in which may be learned the lessons of His love; and every Missionary is a friend of the persecuted outcast. Often has the life of the poor doomed victim been spared at the intercession of the man of God; and many a time has the homeless fugitive found shelter in the "city of refuge." It is a pleasing fact that Christian schools for the instruction of the rising generation have been established in connection with each station, where many have been taught to read the Word of God for themselves. And it is still more pleasing to contemplate that a large number of precious immortal souls have been won to Christ by the faithful preaching of His Gospel. This has been the case more or less from the beginning, but in the year 1866 a religious revival occurred on a scale which had never before been witnessed, and which it is believed resulted in the salvation of thousands of poor heathens. This, we trust, is only the precursor of still greater good, as the machinery of our Mission work on every station is in active operation, and both Ministers and people appear to be labouring for and expecting spiritual prosperity. There are now in connection with the Queen's Town District twelve missionaries, two thousand seven hundred and sixty Church members, and one thousand nine hundred and sixty-eight scholars in the Mission schools.

BECHUANA DISTRICT.

Far away in the interior of Southern Africa, between Kaffraria and Namaqualand, is situated the BECHUANA COUNTRY, which is inhabited by an interesting people, for whom something has been done by the Wesleyan Missionary Society with a view to raise them from the state of moral degradation in which they were found when they first attracted the notice of Europeans.

It was in the year 1822 that the first attempt was made to plant the standard of the Cross in that distant region; and, although it partly failed in the commencement, in consequence of the sickness of the Missionaries and the unsettled state of the country, it was afterwards renewed with more favourable results.

As soon as the health of the Rev. S. Broadbent was, in a measure, re-established, he nobly offered to return to the scene of his former labours, and the Rev. T. L. Hodgson proceeded from Cape Town to accompany him. They were afterwards joined by the Rev. J. Archbell, and, for a time, by the Rev. E. Edwards also. These devoted servants of Christ explored the country in various directions, but especially to the eastward, with the hope of finding a suitable locality for a permanent station. At length Messrs. Hodgson and Broadbent, after having been repeatedly thwarted in their plans by the prevailing wars among the natives, were enabled to commence a promising station at a place called Makwasse, in the upper region of the Vaal River, with the Baralong tribe of Bechuanas. It was not long, however, before the Missionaries and their people were driven away and scattered in various directions by a powerful and hostile tribe called the Matabele, who made war upon the country from the north. But as soon as an opportunity was afforded they rallied again, and finally settled at a place called Thaba Unchu, to the north of the Orange River. Here the Baralongs, with a few remnants of other scattered tribes who joined them from time to time, have become a comparatively prosperous and happy people, through the instrumentality of the faithful Missionaries who have laboured among them for many years. In connection with this

station a large chapel has been erected, and a town has gradually grown up, which now contains a population of ten thousand,— probably the largest assemblage of natives in one spot in any part of Southern Africa, affording, together with Plaatberg and other stations in the neighbourhood, a fine field of Missionary labour.

In addition to the places already named, where a good work has been carried on for many years among the Korannas, Newlanders, Baralongs, and other tribes of Bechuanas, several other stations have been formed in this district for the religious instruction of mixed populations of different tribes and languages. One of these is Colesberg, a prosperous little town with a mixed population of English, Dutch, and coloured people, for whose benefit the Missionary preaches in two or three different languages. We have there a good English chapel, with a respectable congregation; but a new place of worship for the natives is much required. Meetings are held in several houses in the town, and earnest efforts are made to extend the blessings of the Gospel to the natives on the surrounding farms, of whom there are about one thousand within a moderate distance.

Burgher's Dorp in many respects resembles Colesberg. The English congregation has not yet got a chapel, however, and the Missionary is obliged to preach to them in the public school-room. The services are generally well attended, and there is a prospect of still greater good. By the help of several native preachers who have been raised up in this neighbourhood, as the fruit of Missionary labour, eight services are conducted every Sabbath in the town and at the neighbouring farms and villages. Wittebergen, or the "White Mountains," is a purely native station, having a dense population of Fingoes settled on a tract of land reserved for their use by the colonial government. To these and to a number of Basutus located in the same neighbourhood, the Missionary and his assistants faithfully preach the Gospel in their own tongues respectively, itinerating among the surrounding kraals with the most pleasing results. Bensonville, so called in memory of a celebrated Methodist commentator and divine, differs little in its general

features from the station last named. In addition to the principal chapel there are six other preaching places, where services are held in the Dutch, Sisutu, and Kaffir languages; and it is hoped that the result of these zealous efforts, in connection with the instruction given in the Mission schools, will be to raise the people to a higher state of civilisation, as well as to secure the salvation of many souls, a considerable number of native converts having already been brought into the fold of Christ.

We have also an interesting station at Bloemfontein, the capital of the Dutch republic known as the Orange Free State. This is a town of considerable importance, with a mixed population of Dutch, English, and natives. To meet the wants of these a Missionary was appointed to labour there a few years ago, and a promising commencement has been made. In 1867 a commodious new chapel was erected, to seat two hundred persons, at a cost of £1,200, nearly the whole of which was raised on the spot. The native chapel is said to be well attended, and the work is progressing in a satisfactory manner. Fauresmith is another similar town in the Free State. Encouraged by the Government authorities, who have rendered substantial assistance, a Wesleyan Missionary has been stationed there also; and although the number of church members is at present small, three English and ten native services are held weekly, which cannot fail to be productive of much spiritual good to the people. For some time past the work has been retarded by the unsettled state of the country, consequent upon the war which has existed between the Free State and the Basutos; but, as peace is once more restored to the land, it is hoped that the work of evangelisation will proceed without interruption among all classes of people.

We have now in connection with the Bechuana [District eight Missionaries, one thousand and thirty-one Church members, and one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six scholars in the Mission schools.

NATAL DISTRICT.

The next step in advance in the establishment of Wesleyan Missions in Southern Africa was to the territory of NATAL, on the eastern coast of the peninsula, and the most distant of the British possessions in that direction, now organised into a regular colony. Successful Missions having been established with the Amampondos in Kaffirland, on the south, and with the Bechuanas and Korannas, in Basutoland, on the West, it is not surprising that the Missionaries should have felt a strong desire to extend the blessings of the Gospel to the numerous and powerful tribe called the Amazulu, inhabiting the Natal territory and the country northward.

Difficulties connected with the state of the society's funds, and the prevalence of war in the interior, for sometime retarded the commencement of the work, however, and it was not until the year 1841 that a beginning was made. By this time, a party of English traders had settled at Port Natal, and were proceeding, in their way, to inaugurate a system of colonisation. Almost simultaneously with this movement, a powerful body of Dutch emigrants entered the upper part of the country from the westward, and laid claim to the whole land, by right of conquest. The English, the Dutch, and the native populations were consequently thrown into a state of great excitement, and a serious collision appeared inevitable, when the Governor of the Cape Colony sent a detachment of British troops to preserve order in the country. The military expedition marched overland through Kaffiraria to Natal, and were accompanied by the Rev. J. Archbell as a messenger of peace, and the first Christian Missionary to that distant region.

It would be foreign to our purpose to enter into a narrative of the exciting incidents which occurred before the country was permanently settled by the English, and a regular form of colonial government established. It may be sufficient to say that the Missionary found ample employment in preaching to the English, Dutch, and native inhabitants, the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, and was regarded by the people as the "friend of all, and