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WHAT PAGANS WORSHIP.

of Jesus. Who knows but, at the great gathering of the judgment day, some immortal soul will be found to have been saved through this child's exertions, or in answer to his prayers? We have laid his beautiful clay by the side of the remains of Henry Martyn, there to await the glorious resurrection. Another Missionary has fallen, and who will fill his place? Tocat, November 27th, 1856.

H. J. Van Lennep.

WHAT PAGANS WORSHIP.

THE gods of the Heathen are very numerous. There is hardly anything in the air, or sea, or upon the earth, that they do not worship. The number of gods in India alone is said to be three hundred and thirty millions, or twice the number of inhabitants in that populous country. Not only the luminaries of heaven, the wind, fire, trees, rivers, and other natural objects, are worshipped; but also the spirits of dead men, and living men also, and beggars even, are worshipped. The Hindus adore the great river Ganges as a god, and also the crocodile, and other animals that live in it. In that country, and in various other parts of Asia, elephants, tigers, oxen, cows, hogs, dogs, cats, rats, serpents, monkeys, and bugs, are counted among their deities. Divine homage is paid, also, to the tools and instruments with which they labour. And, not satisfied with this, they manufacture images out of stone, wood, ivory, and various kinds of metal, of all shapes and sizes imaginable, from the size of your little finger to that of a house; and they suppose the god enters into these mages and lives, as our souls live in our bodies. These gods are sold in their shops, and found in all their dwellings. They build or them magnificent temples, and bring them offerings, and prostrate themselves before them in prayer.

In Africa, panthers, alligators, lizards, snakes, logs of wood cut into ugly shapes, posts set up in the ground to keep the devil away, rocks, and their own shadows even, besides an innumerable number of other things called fetishes, are worshipped by these ignorant idolaters. They collect horns, shells, bits of wood, rags, or bones, and tie them together, and wear them as charms or amulets, and worship them to keep off evil. These charms are called greegrees; and they think no evil can befall them while they are protected in this way. A traveller in Africa found a poor

native bowing down in worship to a cannon-ball, and the stopper to a glass-bottle! Poor ignorant creature! he thought they were gods.

The South Sea Islanders worship birds, fishes, serpents, insects, and vermin as their gods. They have also a great variety of idols, of every device imaginable, with open mouths and glaring eyes, having claws, and horns, and tails, and covered with paint, and grease, and feathers, and made to look as hideous as possible. Many of the Indian tribes of this country [America] have no idols of their own making; but they worship the Great Spirit in the sun and moon, and other inferior spirits, which they suppose have their abode in the bodies of different animals, such as buffaloes, bears, wolves, and rattle-snakes. Demons and evil spirits are worshipped in almost every part of the Heathen world. There are, probably, no savage tribes anywhere that do not recognise some superior beings, and pay them some sort of religious homage.

It is said, however, that some of the tribes of Africa, and of the southern part of this continent, are so brutish and stupid as to have hardly any religion whatever, and no other idea of God than some vague notions of invisible witches and demons, that make their abode in haunted places, or fly through the air, and delight themselves in tormenting them.

Youth's Dayspring.

KAFFIR CRUELTY.

CRUELTY is the chief vice of the Kaffir. It is shown in his treatment of his aged parents, and even of his sick children.

A little girl, sleeping in a hut, was once seized by four hyenas. The neighbours heard her screams, and ran after the creatures, and obliged them to leave go; but the child was dreadfully bitten. When her parents saw her terrible wounds, they feared that she would die, and as Kaffirs cannot bear anyone to die in their hut, they took her into the woods, and left her there all alone to perish. The little sufferer remembered having heard that Missionaries were kind. She knew where one lived, and she managed to craw to his hut. Nor was she cast out when she reached the door. The kind Missionary, Mr. Shepstone, dressed her wounds with tender care. The child recovered, and became a Christian.

Far Off.

EXPOSURE OF THE SICK ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER GANGES.

THE beautiful river Ganges waters the sultry plain of Bengal. God made this river to be a blessing; but man has turned it into a curse. The Hindoos say the river Ganges is the goddess Ganga; and they flock from all parts of India to worship her. When they reach the river they bathe in it, and fancy they have washed away all their sins. They carry away large bottles of the sacred water for their friends. But this is not all; very cruel

deeds are done by the side of this river. It is supposed that all who die there will go to the Hindoo heaven. It is, therefore, the custom to drag dying people out of their beds and lay them in the mud, exposed to the heat of the broiling sun, and then to pour pails of water over their heads.

When a person is on the point of death, his relations carry him

on his bed, or on a litter, to the Ganges. This litter consists of some bamboos fastened together, and slung on ropes. Some persons are carried many miles in the coldest and hottest weather to the river-side, where they lie, if a poor man, in open air, day and night till he expires.

One sick man, who was being carried to the water, covered up as if he were dead, suddenly threw off the covering, and called out, "I am not dead, I am only very ill." He knew that the cruel people who were carrying him were going to cast him inte the water while he was still alive: but nothing he could say could save him: the cruel creatures answered, "You may as well die now as at another time;" and so they drowned him, pretending all the while to be very kind.

It is thought a good thing to be thrown into the river after death. The Ganges is the great burying-place; and dead bodies may be seen floating on its waters, while crows and vultures are tearing the flesh from the bones. There would be many more of these horrible sights were it not that many bodies are burned, and their ashes only cast into the river.

Some foolish deceived creatures drown themselves in the Ganges, hoping to be very happy hereafter as a reward. The Brahmins are ready to accompany such people into the water. Some men were once seen going into the river with a large empty jar fastened to the back of each. The empty jar prevented them from sinking; but there was a cup in the hands of each of the poor men, and with these cups they filled the jars, and then they began to sink. One of them grew frightened, and tried to get to shore; but the wicked Brahmins in their boats hunted him, and tried to keep him in the water; however they could not catch him, and the miserable man escaped. There are villages near the river, whither such poor creatures flee, and where they end their days together; for their old friends would not speak to them if they were to return to their homes.

TRAVELLING IN HAYTI.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM MRS. TOASE.,

MRS. TOASE is a young lady who is gone to Hayti with her husband. Mr. Toase is to take charge of a very important boys school there, and Mrs. Toase means to do as much good as she

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can among the women and girls. After landing at Jacmal, they had to cross a high mountain before they reached the Mission station; and as I dare say you would like to know what sort of travelling it is in Hayti, I will give you a little account that Mrs. Toase has sent me of her journey.

WE left Jacmal before daylight, and by the time the tropical sun had reached its winter height we found it indispensably necessary to shelter ourselves from its ardent gaze. We therefore dismounted at the foot of one of the highest mountains in this part of the island. Our course hitherto lay entirely along the bed of an almost dried-up river or torrent, which we had to cross at least one hundred times. The road was a mass of huge pebbles, and in some places as wide as the Thames. What a fine sight this torrent must be in the rainy season! for in several places we noticed these pebbles driven a long way up the mountain sides; massive trunks of trees strewed in all directions over the bed; on each side of the ravine, mountains covered to their summits with splendid trees. The warbling of the numerous birds, the beauty of the flowers, and all the wonders of the tropics, formed a majestic panorama. The place where we rested was a valley of bamboos, surrounded on all sides by luxuriant mountains. The best similitude I can make of the bamboos is to call them green Prince of Wales's feathers on a scale of sixty feet high. We had no sooner encamped under their shade, eased our mountain ponies of burden, and refreshed ourselves with a light repast, than we were encircled by a nice little congregation of black faces, who were chatting and grinning most merrily, but still very respectful. We failed not to take advantage of the moment in speaking to them of things relating to their eternal happiness. We took advantage of the lovely scenery by which they were surrounded to remind them of a much more happy spot, to which they might all go if they would have believing and acting faith in the Lord Jesus. By their answers they showed us they were well acquainted with the name of Jesus and the way of salvation. We were surprised to find the Priests had taught them this. Thus we spent two hours most agreeably, amid scenes and people we shall never forget.

The other circumstance refers to where we passed the night. In mounting the Gros Morne, two of our horses fell.

One part

of the road was fairly up the mountain-side, not far from the