people among whom he dwells, and with whom he has the greatest sympathy. Umtata, however, must not be finally left without a word about the Anglican cathedral there. The Bishop had gone to an Episcopal Conference at Lambeth, but I saw much of his amiable and hard-working coadjutor, Mr. Cameron, who has mas tered the Kaffir language. Like all disinterested missionaries I have met in South Africa, he did not dare make any forecast of the future of missions in that country, and he sorrowfully acknowledged that the frequent relapses of converts into the condition of the "Red Kaffir" shows that the civilization of the "school Kaffir' is only skin-deep. The instance of Emma Sandilli is well known-the chief's daughter, who formerly used to be a guest at Government House, Cape Town, in Sir Bartle Frere's time, where she played the piano, and now has returned to the blanket and the ochre in a kraal, where she lives as one of a retinue of wives.

The native service in the iron cathedral is an interesting spectacle. The congregation is arranged in High Church fashion, men on one side and women on the other; and the walls are decorated with inscriptions in the Kaffir language. The black choir is surpliced and cassocked, and the clergyman, with his Pondomisi deacon, wore colored stoles, the latter en bandoulière. A baptism took place the morning I was there in three languages, Kaffir, Dutch, and English, as one of the infants was Kaffir, another Hottentot, and the third a colonist's child, so the god-parents would have some difficulty in deciding what was the vulgar tongue in which they vowed to instruct their charges. The singing was beautiful- -as soft as that of Italian women chanting the Litanies of the month of Mary. Lily Mtobobo lent me her hymn-book-her name, which must have been given to her in honor of her teeth, was written in it-" Lily Mtobobo, Emtata."

In my rash ignorance I suggested that Lily ought to know how to spell the name of her native town, but was crushed by the reply that the spelling showed, her knowledge of the refinements of Bantu etymology, Emtata being the locative case of Umtata. The Kaffir lan guage is trochaic, and it contains few rhymes, the chief being yam and bam, which give a comminatory sound to the pious canticles; but the collection of

hymns is said to have great literary merit, and is chiefly the work of Canon Woodroffe of Grahamstown, who has done more work for the native races in South Africa than many whose names figure ostentationsly in missionary reports.

From Umtata I set out again one sunny morning at five o'clock, accompanied only by a Fingo constable, who acted as my guide and carried my saddle-bags. Mounted on a wiry Kaffir horse, my way through Tembuland lay over a well-cultivated country of grass and mealies. On the first forenoon we came to the kraal of Makaula, a friendly chief. Timothy, my guide, rode on in advance to ask if a visit would be agreeable, and he came back with a message from the queen-mother to say that on no account must the stranger pass without seeing the chief, who was at a neighboring kraal and would be summoned. I rode up and off-saddled, and was received by Makaula's mother, a massive matron six feet high, and quite of the type of the British chaperon. She was soon rounded by her daughters-in-law, who came forth from the huts and sat in a circle.

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They all shook hands with me, and one of them, the great wife, brought out a Windsor chair for me. I peeped into ny lady's chamber, but she had denuded it of its only piece of furniture. The ladies produced their pipes, and helping themselves from my tobacco-pouch, they proceeded to smoke with all the grace of à Viennese beauty puffing her cigarette. The chief's unmarried sister now joined the group, and her bashful monosyllables in reply to some questions of mine called forth much well-bred hilarity from the chaperons. There were only two men with them, the tame-cats of the kraalone an elderly young gentleman, whose hair was arranged in finicking little spikes. The whole group, indeed, had much in common with what is met with in an English country-house when a caller has to be entertained for half an hour while the men are out shooting. The tame-cats were much interested with my field-glasses, through which they could see the messenger galloping on a cream-colored horse for the chief; and before he arrived the royal babies were exhibited, their respective mothers uttering sounds of delight when I prodded the black fatlings with my riding-whip.

Makaula at last rode up a magnificent

creature, taller than his mother, a white blanket thrown loosely round him, and a string of beads crowning his head. He held a long and dignified conversation with me about his grievances, but as Timothy's English was as peculiar as my Kaffir, we made little progress; however, he made it clear that he felt the cold (it was a hot, thundery day), and that some whiskey would be acceptable. I told him that I carried none with me, but that if he would ride on with me to the next store he should have some. He replied that unhappily the storekeeper had no license, so I consoled him with a present of cigars, which he proceeded to chop up for his pipe and his snuff-box.

That afternoon, at the Moravian mission-station at Bazira, I found myself in the midst of a group in remarkable con trast to Makaula's people. This was the little family circle of Mr. Baudert, a Prussian missionary from Coblenz, consisting of his kindly wife and pretty child, a sweet little Gretchen. These simple minded folk welcomed me with the greatest heartiness, and were in despair when they heard it was my intention to complete a fifty-mile ride that day, predict ing thunder-storms and swollen rivers to prevail upon me to be their guest. The good missionary spoke in high praise of the industry of the Kaffirs so long as they remained in the location, but confessed that as soon as they went back to the huts they relapsed into barbarism.

So the day went on; rivers were forded and swum; mounted Kaffirs passed me, saluting with uplifted hand, the two forefingers spread out as in a bishop's benediction; the horses were off-saddled at intervals, till at last we espied our restingplace for the night, Engcobo, fifty-six miles from our starting-point, and only two hours ahead. Then my misfortunes began. As my horse struggled up a steep river-bank the girth snapped, so my guide went on to tell the magistrate of my coming, and I followed as quickly as the tired horse and the broken girth would allow. Then darkness fell with sudden swiftness as it does in Africa, and I was left alone on a moonless night, so black that my horse's head was invisible to me as I sat in the saddle, so my wisest plan seemed to be to halt. After hours of waiting, at about nine o'clock, just as I was preparing to tether the horse and go to bed sup.

perless on the veldt, I heard Timothy shouting. He came leisurely leading his horse. "I told you to gallop back to me." "But, bass, the saddle-bags were heavy." Why in the name of your grandfather's spirit didn't you leave them with the magistrate?" This was an excellent specimen of aboriginal sagacity. As guides, too, I found the natives, whether Fingo or Gcaika, who were lent to me at the different magistrates' stations, quite useless twenty miles away from their home, and I had to guide them with the aid of my map. At the conclusion of each day of iny ride in Tembuland I was benighted entirely by the fault of the native, and after riding forty or fifty miles it was hard lines, both for the horse and his rider, to be let in for two or three hours of wandering in the dark when tired and hungry. The powers of endurance of the native horses are beyond all praise. On this journey the little animal which brought me from Umtata carried me nearly 150 miles in fifty-three consecutive hours without turning a hair; and a similar experience with a Basuto pony in Zululand confirmed me in my admiration for the calibre of South African horseflesh. All that the steeds demand is an off-saddling and a short rest at the end of every two or three hours. If forage can be obtained at these stages, so much the better; but if not, they will contentedly feed on the sweet veldt, and then proceed again, always at the same easy canter, which makes riding in Africa in dry weather as easy as sitting in an American rocking-chair.

Even in a savage country, where there are no telegraphs and infrequent mails, it must be awkward sometimes for the most hospitably inclined people to receive unlooked for and belated travellers at the dead of night. Yet when I reached the little group of huts which form the residency of the magistrate, Mr. Arthur Stanford, I found awaiting me the most welcome comfort and the most comfortable welcome, as if my coming had been expected for a week. It is astonishing how soon one forgets one's weariness at the end of a long day's ride in Africa; and though five o'clock was my hour for starting again the next morning, my kind entertainers found me very willing to sit up talking with them till long past midnight. Just as I was setting out in the morning, the

magistrate's eldest little girl was going for her ride. One of the pleasantest memories of my expeditions in wild regions has been the pretty children I have found making bright most remote and desolate spots. Yet the presence of a fair-haired baby girl must often cause some anxiety to its parents in their isolation among savages. Here on this very spot, during the Tembu rebellion of 1881, the brother of my host was taken by surprise by the Kafirs, and with the greatest difficulty escaped with his wife and children through the woods to the next station, which they found burned down by the rebels.

I must pass over the remaining days of my ride, with all their infinite variety, in order to devote a short space to a subject which is from time to time brought prominently before the English public-the great missionary question. As the traveller rides or drives through Kaffraria, whenever he gains the top of an eminence there is sure to meet his view a neat homestead, the white walls of which shining in the sunlight are visible for miles. This is pointed out as the mission station, and as it is approached there are apparent signs that the tenant of the holding is the happy occupier of a prosperous-looking estate. The prosperity of the neighborhood does not, as a rule, extend beyond the boundaries of the location. The characteristics of the kraals within a mile of a mission station in no wise differ from those which are more remote, though there are few kraals in Kaffirland which are half a day's ride from some British or German evangelizing agency. Occasionally a Red Kaffir is seen stalking along with a tall hat surmounting his ochre stained blanket, or wearing a frock-coat below which his black legs are visible, and one is told he is a Moravian or a member of some British sect; and the conclusion that one comes to, after months of travel in Africa, from Tembuland to the Transvaal and from Zululand to Zanzibar, is that the only achievement of the later generations of missionaries has been to modify the pic turesqueness of the natives. In South Africa the Yorkshire blanket has taken the place of the kaross of skins, and the carved wooden pipkin has given way to the tin-pail of commerce.

Had I nothing but my unsupported observations to rely upon, I might have thought that by some curious chance the

zigzag course of my journeyings had passed through the more unfavorable localities of missionary propaganda; but the result of my inquiries of every class of person, from the missionaries themselves to the magistrates, confirmed me in the impression that little or no progress is being made in civilizing the native races. More valuable, however, than a volume of traveller's talk is the Blue-book on native affairs, which is annually presented to the Cape Parliament, containing the reports of the magistrates and civil commissioners in native territory. Now it may be objected that in certain quarters of the globe the civil officials are prejudiced witnesses against missionary propaganda. This is not the case in South Africa, for this reason. The Dutch Boers and the missionaries have a mutual hatred and distrust of one another which is traditional. The magistracy, as far as that impartial body of men can be said to take sides, are opposed to Boer principles; they are, with few exceptions, of English origin, and without exception, I think I may say, are the protectors of the interests of the native races as against "Boer oppression.' It is therefore to be presumed that their testimony is as favorable on the missionaties' behalf as is consistent with the truth.

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I quote the reports of several district magistrates at random. The first in the Blue-book before me is that of the administrator of the district of Iduty wa in the Transkei, where the population is under 20,000. "There are three mission societies laboring in the district-the Church of England, Free Church of Scotland, and the Wesleyan Society. . The Free Church has five schools; the Wesleyan Society has three schools. cannot mention any actual progress which has been noticeable among the people since I wrote my last report. In the district of Kentani, where the population is 16,000, the magistrate says: "There are two mission societies laboring in the district-the United Presbyterian Church and . . . the Wesleyan Society. There is no perceptible improvement in the district in regard to civilization." The magistrate at Engcobo writes that in his district the Church of England has two head stations, the Wesleyans two, and the Free Church of Scotland two. "Each of these denominations has, in addition, numerous out-stations. Nothing has

occurred during the year to denote any special progress either among Christian or heathen natives." The magistrate at Umtata makes a careful analysis which is too lengthy to transcribe. Ile describes the Anglican, Wesleyan, and Moravian propaganda, and sums up: "The mission work does not, therefore, appear to show a very striking result, as little more than 300 scholars out of a population of 18,000 souls, or something less than two per cent, receive instruction, and of this instruction the greater portion is barren of results." Half a dozen similar quotations might be made, and I can only find one district magistrate who reports favorably, the Commissioner of Tsolo, who adds, however, that he has arrived so recently that he has had no opportunity of visiting the district.

During my travels in Africa I re-read the "Personal Life of Dr. Livingstone," and it is necessary to travel in Africa to under

My quotations are from the Blue-book of the year of my travels in this region. Sir Charles Mills, the agent-general for Cape Colony (to whom I was indebted for many pleasant incidents of my South African tour), has supplied me with the latest report received from his Government. In it the seven magistrates of Tembuland independently and unanimously testify that the natives have made no progress whatever in civilization during the previous twelve months. In the adjacent territory of the Transkei, I am bound to say that one or two of the officials report a certain amount of progress. The most favorable account is that from Kentani, a settlement mentioned above, of which the magistrate says: "The population is, approximately, European, 150; Bantu, 26 000; Hottentot, 50. There has been perceptible progress in Church and school work during the year.

Three out

station churches have been cleared of debt, and three new ones will be opened very shortly. This, together with the fact that eight raw heathen are now seeking to become Church members, is a very pleasing indication that the steady and untiring labors of the missionary are being rewarded." I have no reason to believe that the excellent functionary who makes this report is a master of sarcasm; though it

is evident from his account that the missionary propaganda in this district are, in the prodigious proportions of converts to population, rivalling the achievements of the Society for the Conversion of the Jews. The increase of the black population (which cannot be entire ly accounted for by tribal migration) in two years at the rate of more than 60 per cent, is very significant for those who contemplate the future of South Africa, now that British rule has put an end to internecine wars which formerly kept down the numbers.

stand the force of much that he says on the Mission question. As long ago as 1843 he wrote, from South Africa, to the Directors of the London Missionary Society," The conviction to which I refer is that a much larger share of the benevolence of the Church and of missionary exertion is directed into this country than the amount of population and the success attending these efforts seems to call for. I confess I feel grieved to hear of the arrival of new missionaries. There is not a country better supplied with missionaries in the world; and in proportion to the number of agents compared to the population, the success may be inferior to most other countries where efforts have been made. What would the great missionary say to the magistrate's report for the district of Kokstad, where there is a population of 5800 (including 600 Europeans) for whose benefit" work is carried on by the Church of England, Roman Catholic Church, Wesleyan Society, and Congregationalists? School work by all the above is being carried on, the number of schools being

If missionaries accepted the good things the gods provide for them in the same spirit in which in the old days the old school of parsons accepted fat livings, they would be less open to criticism; but when one reads, in a Review which is supposed to represent the prosaic fag-end of a practical century, about these individuals

flinging to the winds all considerations of wealth, and ease, and social position, and worldly honor, having left behind them friends and country, everything which is ordinarily supposed to make life worth having"-one turns for refreshment to the journals of Livingstone. That greatest of travellers, who had some little knowledge of what hardship and isolation are, repudiated with supreme scorn the idea of self-denial. One of the chief stumbling-blocks to the success of missionary work, he said, was cant of this sort, and he asked if British officers ordered out to India ever boasted of their self-denial. The sight of the trim farm-houses standing in their cultivated lands in the loveliest climate in the world made me wonder if many a parish priest, working in the sunless dens of the great cities of Europe would not sometimes like to give up the advantages of civilization to practice the

life of self-denial vaunted at May meetings. No wonder Livingstone wrote, "I never felt a single pang at having left the Missionary Society. A missionary society is no place for a great missionary. In 1857 he again wrote, "My views of what is missionary duty are not so contracted as those whose ideal is a dumpy sort of man with a Bible under his arm. The dumpy sort of man is still often to be seen in South Africa, but as often wielding the scales behind the store counter as carrying the volume of the sacred Law.

My strictures are not aimed against all missionary propaganda. The Apostolic labors of the missionaries of Rome have pioneered the way for civilization in many dark places of the earth, and there are self-denying men of Protestant persuasion who are enduring dangers not less than those which Williams and Patterson in the Pacific Islands endured to the death. I am writing only of South Africa; and even there, there are men of single purpose and of indefatigable energy who are working hard in the interests of Christian civilization. The existence of the Lovedale Institute, which belongs to the Free Church of Scotland, with its admirable system of technical education for natives, is a standing proof of what can be done if the right method be adopted. But Lovedale is an oasis in the African desert. The fact remains that the costly missionary organizations which have representatives in South Africa far out of proportion to the native population, are doing practically nothing in the interests of civilization; and it cannot be said that they have the obstacles to contend with which used to beset the old pioneer missionaries. The climate of South Africa is superb; the people are orderly, and in case of any outbreak armed forces are at hand to repress it. The land is fertile, and I am absolutely certain that there are at this moment hundreds of unemployed Oxford and Cambridge men who, if they could be located in a comfortable Kaffrarian mission-house, would undertake not to boast of the" social position and worldly honor" they have given up, as is the custom of some of those evangelists who have previously failed in the minor walks of commerce.

A curious feature of South African religious life is this. A large number of the Dutch pastors are annually imported

from the Scottish universities, as the doctrines of the Reformed Church and of the Presbyterian Church are almost identical. It therefore follows that two young graduates of Aberdeen may have been college friends, and have come out to the Cape together--one of them to minister to an opulent congregation of Boers, the other to engage in the missionary propaganda ; and although their belief is presumably the same, it will be the mission of the one to preach down the mission of the other, as the Africander Dutch sternly discountenance missionaries. Perhaps the Boers may be right in this respect. Our methods with the native races have not been so successful that we can sit in judgment on the Cape Dutch, who were in the country before us. And, moreover, what is the civilization that we are bringing into Africa? Let any one read the searching and interesting evidence taken before the South African Commission on the Native Laws and Customs, and then let him read the Report of and Evidence before the Royal Commission on the Housing of the Working Classes, of which I have some knowledge, and he will fail to find any description of life so degraded and barbarous in the African narrative as of what is going on at our own doors. It is often said in answer to those who criticise the slowness of the results of missionary work, that one forgets that it has taken nearly nineteen centuries to perfect modern civilization. For my own part, I do not think that we need take this practically despairing view, for I believe that in less than a fifth of the time which has elapsed since the landing of Augustine in Kent, our successors may see South Africa, under European rule, reduced to the civilization now to be found in Southwark and in Clerkenwell.

I should have liked, had space permitted, to have referred at some length to the question of the Mohammedan propaganda in Africa. Mr. Bosworth Smith, who is perhaps the greatest English authority on Islamism, in his essay on "Mohammedanism in Africa" gives a valuable account of the West Coast religions, but he has impaired its worth by generalizations. The title he has chosen is far embracing, and the recurrence of expressions like " pagan Africa" would seem to include the whole continent from Tripoli to Pondoland, while distinct refer