80

POETRY- -"IF ANY MAN SERVE ME," ETC.

little bits of wood fell much oftener
on the rounder and heavier side than
on the other, and gave the poor hea-
thens a world of anxiety and trouble.
"Other devotees were busily en-
gaged in shaking a hollow bamboo
tube which contained a number of
small sticks each having a Chinese
character upon it. An adept in
shaking can easily detach one of these
sticks from the others; and when it
falls upon the floor it is picked up and
taken to a priest, who reads the char-
acter, and refers to his book for the
interpretation thereof. A small slip
of
paper is now given to the devotee,
which he carries home with him and

places in his house or in his fields, in order to bring him good luck. I observed that not unfrequently it was very difficult to satisfy those persons with the papers given to them by the priest, and that they often referred to those who were standing around and asked their opinions on the matter."

Even a child can see the folly of all this. Prayer is turned into a game of chance; and poor, silly creatures who suffer themselves to be imposed upon by such tricks must have laid aside their reason and been given up to a strong delusion that they should believe a lie.

Poetry.

"IF ANY MAN SERVE ME, LET HIM FOLLOW ME; AND WHERE I AM, THERE SHALL ALSO MY SERVANT BE."-John xii. 26.

How blessed, from the bonds of sin

And earthly fetters free,

In singleness of heart and aim,
Thy servant, Lord, to be!
The hardest toil to undertake,
With joy, at Thy command;
The meanest office to receive

With meekness at Thy hand!

With willing heart and longing eyes,
To watch before Thy gate;
Ready to run the weary race,
To bear the heavy weight.
No voice of thunder to expect,
But follow calm and still;
For love can easily perceive
The One Beloved's will.

Thus may I serve Thee, gracious Lord

Thus ever Thine alone;

My soul and body given to Thee,
The purchase Thou hast won.
Through evil or through good report,
Still keeping by Thy side;
By life or death, in this poor flesh,
Let Christ be magnified!

How happily the working days
In this dear service fly;
How rapidly the closing hour,
The time of rest draws nigh.

When all the faithful gather home,

A joyful company;

And ever where the Master is,
Shall His blest servants be.

Juv. Instructor.

Price 6d. per doz. or 3s. 6d. per 100; 20 copies sent free by post for 10d., paid in advance. Published by GALL & INGLIS, 6 George Street, Edinburgh. HOULSTON & WRIGHT, London.

82

DR LIVINGSTONE'S MISSION IN CENTRAL AFRICA.

thus carried until they are six or
seven months old, when they are
transferred to the mother's loose robe
or blanket at her back.
On resting,

the mother relieves herself of her
burden, and the little cradle, with its
occupier, is placed against the side of
a wigwam, or bank, or else suspended
from the branch of a tree. Should
the infant die, its cradle is filled with
black quills and feathers, as if in
mourning, and the poor mother
carries about the cradle, to which
she constantly applies the most affec-

tionate terms, as though her little offspring were yet inhabiting it.

The Christian Indian mothers have a singular practice of hanging their "papooses," in their cradles, against the fence of the churchyard, whilst they are attending Divine service. Sometimes a large number of these babes may be seen thus hung up in a row, waiting there, with more or less of patience, until the service is ended in the church: then, with no little pleasure, they doubtless welcome the return of their mothers to them.

DR LIVINGSTONE'S MISSION IN CENTRAL AFRICA. IT is a long time since our readers heard anything of Dr Livingstone, or the missionaries who are on their way to join him in the very heart of Africa. Dr Livingstone himself is sailing up the great river Zambezi, while two missionaries, Rev. Messrs Helmore and Price, are travelling by land from Cape Town. A long dreary journey it is through the desert. Some idea of its difficulties will be formed from the following letter, written by Mrs Helmore to a sister of her husband:

"I write this in a pretty little hut, 14 feet by 12, built by your brother. The walls are of Palmyra wood, and it is thatched with Palmyra leaves, so

it answers literally to the name we
have given it-Palmyra Lodge, and
though rough-looking on the outside,
it forms a delightful shelter from the
scorching rays of the sun. It has
a window at each end, with thin calico
instead of glass. I only wish I were
in a hut of similar description, but
of larger dimensions, north of the
Zambesi, instead of being still 200
miles south of it, and the prospect
of another six weeks' journey; but
I must be patient, and leave fearing
for the future to record the mercies
of the past.

A DRY AND THIRSTY LAND WHERE NO
WATER IS.

"The last stage of our journey has

་

DR LIVINGSTONE'S MISSION IN CENTRAL AFRICA.

been without exception the most try- altogether. We had not gone as many miles as we had travelled hours.

84
DR LIVINGSTONE'S MISSION IN CENTRAL AFRICA.
suffered. Occasionally I observed a
convulsive twitching of his features,
showing what an effort he was making
to restrain his feelings. As for dear
Lizzie, she did not utter a word of
complaint, nor even ask for water,
but lay on the ground all the day per-
fectly quiet, her lips quite parched
and blackened. About sunset we
made another attempt, and got on
about five miles. The people then
proposed going on with the oxen in
search of water, promising to return
with a supply to the waggon, but I
urged their resting a little and then
making another attempt, that we
might possibly get near enough to
walk on to it. They yielded, tied up
the poor oxen to prevent their wan-
dering, and lay down to sleep, having
tasted neither food nor drink all day.
None of us could eat. I gave the
children a little dried fruit, slightly
acid, in the middle of the day, but
thirst took away all desire to eat.
Once in the course of the afternoon
dear Willie, after a desperate effort
not to cry, suddenly asked me if he
might go and drain the bottles. Of
course I consented, and presently he
called out to me with much eagerness
that he had found some.' Poor
little fellow it must have been little
indeed, for his sister Selina had
drained them already. Soon after he
called out that he had found another

bottle of water:-you can imagine
the disappointment when I told him
it was cocoa-nut oil melted by the
heat. But this is a digression-I
must go back to our outspanning
about 9 P.M. The water was long
since gone, and as a last resource, just
before dark I divided among the chil-
dren half a teacupful of wine and
water, which I had been reserving in
case I should feel faint. They were
revived by it, and said 'how nice it
was,' though it scarcely allayed their
thirst. Henry at lengh cried himself
to sleep, and the rest were dozing
feverishly. It was a beautiful moon-
light night, but the air hot and sul-
try.
I sat in front of the waggon,
unable to sleep, hoping that water
might arrive before the children
woke on another day. About half-
past 10 I saw some persons approach-
ing; they proved to be two Bakalari,
bringing a tin canteen half full of
water, and a note from Mrs Price,
saying, that having heard from the
man we had sent forward of the
trouble we were in, and being them-
selves not very far from the water,
they had sent us all they had. The
sound of water soon roused the chil-
dren, who had tried in vain to sleep,
and I shall not soon forget the rush
they made to get a drink.
was not much, but enough for the
present. I gave each of the children

There