THE BARI OF THE WHITE NILE.

43 than 400 miles from that point in the Wakamba country, to the south of the Equator, where our Missionary, Dr. Krapf, has lately been. They are the most central people of Africa which have yet been visited by Europeans, and some account of them and their country we have thought might be profitable. It is our duty and privilege to bring unknown and neglected tribes of our fellow-men before the minds of Christians. Such notices-poor efforts as they are in themselves-may help to give them that place in the prayers and sympathies of God's people which is their due, and eventually conduce to the commencement amongst them of Missionary effort. We believe that the Lord has gracious purposes in store for Africa, and that Ethiopia shall at no distant period "stretch out her hands unto God."

The people of whom the above is a specimen are called Bari. They are an Ethiopian race, black, but without negro features. In stature they are tall, shooting up to a height of from six and a half to seven Parisian feet, and their limbs being large in proportion. The form of the face is oval, the forehead arched, the nose straight or curved, with rather wide nostrils, the mouth full, and the temples a little depressed; the hair generally long, and sometimes decorated with an elaborate coiffure of black ostrich feathers. They are in the habit of covering their naked bodies over with red ochre. They wear large ivory rings on the upper part of the arms, and numerous iron rings on the wrists and ankles. The men are all armed with spears, and bows and arrows. The spears are of much elegance in workmanship, and do not exceed in length the gigantic bodies of the men. They are generally javelins, seven feet long, with a shaft of the thickness of a thumb. The shaft is of bamboo, encircled with a narrow band of iron, or with skins of snakes or land crocodiles. At the lower end is an iron knob, in order to balance the spear aright when being thrown. The iron of the head is from one and a half to two feet long. The bows are of bamboo, from five and a half to six feet long, the strings being made of the inner bark of trees. The arrows, which are neatly wrought, have barbs, and are two and a half to three feet long. They have also harpoons, which they employ against crocodiles and hippopotami. The ivory rings which they wear on the upper part of the arm are two pounds and upwards in weight. They have iron in abundance brought from the mountains, which, beginning in their country, rise southward towards the interior. In the glens and clefts of these mountains iron is said to be found, like sand, in immense quantities, and is smelted by the men in earthern pots.

Their tokuls, or dwellings, are of the same form and construction which prevail among the various nations dwelling on the banks of this great river, the home of an abundant population. They are circular in form: the walls of reeds and poles, as thick as a man's arm, and plastered inside and out with a clay-like under-layer of Nile slime. In order to harden this circular wall, a fire is lighted within before the roof is put on, and thus the walls are rendered very solid. The roof is covered with meadow grass: it is some

44 NATIVE INSTITUTION AT WAIKATO HEADS, NEW ZEALAND.

times arched, but amongst the Bari rises into a high peak. The door is an oval hole, which one must stoop to enter. Villages of these tokuls stand thickly in the beautiful woody country of the Bari. Here and there are fields under cultivation. In some of them is the young tobacco-plant, protected from the sun by a roof of shrubs, and moistened with water; in others, small creeping beans of white and red colour, which appear to grow luxuriantly.

The Bari have large herds of cattle: they have also sheep, goats, and fowl in abundance. The climate is pleasant, the heat which might have been expected in equatorial Africa being tempered by the fresh breezes from the mountains. It is here that the Nile breaks forth from the rugged glens and mountainous ravines, through which its upward course had lain, to water the plain country below, and bring down yearly riches to the land of Egypt. When shall the Gospel break forth from the narrow limits within which it has been so long confined, and go forth to gladden and make fruitful the moral wildernesses of Africa?

NATIVE INSTITUTION AT WAIKATO HEADS, NEW ZEALAND. THE Gospel has accomplished much for New Zealand. It was once a land of cannibals, which the English sailor was unwilling to approach. It is now a land where the English settler dwells in peace. The natives have undergone a remarkable change. The glorious Gospel has won its way amongst them, and turned many to righteousness. The majority of the New Zealanders are professing Christians; and there are many amongst them who "love not in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." Cannibal practices have ceased, and the ferocity of the national character has been wonderfully subdued. Yet, while we are thankful for the improvement, we must remember that very much remains to be done. The Rev. R. Maunsell, our Missionary at Waikato Heads, on the western coast, writes-

To Christianize is one thing; to increase their habits of Christian graces is another, and perhaps the more difficult. To eradicate the old habits of deceit, dishonesty, and falsehood; to banish their idle, unprofitable, and time-wasting gossipings; to form correct views of Christian propriety; to establish a sense of responsibility; to create a genuine aversion to sin, based on proper motives; to induce habits of Christian liberality, and zeal for the cause of the Saviour; to excite the feelings, anxieties, and conduct manifested by the Christian in the various relations of life, particularly in that of parents; these are fruits which we ardently desire to see, and which can be reared only by the most anxious and close attention.

Now, it is impossible for a single Missionary, alone in an extensive district, where the natives are much scattered, and travelling, from the broken character of the country, is difficult and laborious, to give to the various individuals of his flock that close attention which is requisite. Hence the need in New Zealand, as in Tinne

NATIVE INSTITUTION AT WAIKATO HEADS, NEW ZEALAND. 45

velly and West Africa, and wherever Christian flocks have been gathered together, of a well-qualified native agency: nor can we venture to hope that our New-Zealand Christians will be found to make any decided advance on their present attainments, until we have been enabled to place among them a superior class of native teachers, who will urge them by example as well as by word. It is with a view to this that Mr. Maunsell some years past commenced a Native Institution at his Station on the western coast, in which industrial employment is combined with Christian training and intellectual improvement. The adults who are received into the Institution are required to teach in the School and work on the Mission farm, receiving no remuneration except very plain food and a duck shirt and jacket; yet young Chiefs have contentedly submitted to these rules-so much have they valued the opportunities of instruction. The progress of this Institution has been very encouraging. In the first year the number of the pupil-boarders was 15; in the second year, 30; in the third, 47; and the number in June last was nearly 80. Mr. Maunsell says

My scholars are obedient, docile, and industrious; and we ourselves, though completely occupied from peep of day till late at night, enjoy a very large measure of health and strength. I have now labouring in my district three valuable young men, whom I have trained here. I have also a staff of four native teachers on the Station, whom I send to visit the neighbouring settlements on the Saturday.

Mr. Maunsell commenced with a rush house which cost 6l. The Government of New Zealand assisted him with a grant of 2501. for building expenses; and the progress made in this respect is thus summed up by him

Our Settlement now comprises eleven dwelling-houses, besides my own. We have timber cut, and are only waiting for a carpenter to put up another school-house and other buildings. We hope soon to have other native buildings erected, and thus to carry on my original intention of forming a Christian village. Agriculture is the employment I prefer beyond all others for my school. We are busily engaged in putting up our fences; and hope, with God's blessing, before many years are past, to see the surrounding desert waving with wheat ready for the harvest. Many of my scholars can now plough, drive the cart, grind with our horse-power mill, put up post and rail fencing, build chimneys, milk the cows, make butter, besides many other duties which are inseparable from farm operations. Our Girls'-school, besides washing, sewing, and domestic duties, sift and clean our wheat, sift flour, and make bread for the Institution to the extent of 400lbs. in the week. If I can procure the proper materials, I intend introducing the spinning-wheel, and thus work up our wool, which last year amounted to 500lbs. These articles are, however, very difficult to get good in this part of the world; and unless good they will be of no use to us, who have no carpenter to repair them when out of order.

All our time, however, is not spent in industrial employments. Every morning, at day-break, there is an examination of the whole school in

46 NATIVE INSTITUTION AT WAIKATO HEADS, NEW ZEALAND.

Scripture, besides morning and evening school. This regular alternation of work and school accounts in a considerable degree for the contentment and obedience that reign amongst us, and the attachment which the pupils entertain towards us after they have been any time here.

Of this attachment Mr. Maunsell gives us the following interesting proof

An incident occurred this morning which caused me unfeigned pleasure. About three years ago, five boys from Mr. Morgan's Station came here to school. Four of them soon became discontented, and returned. The fifth, the son of a Chief of the highest rank, from Rangitoto, about twenty-eight miles south of Otawhao, and a hundred miles from hence, remained. He was a Romanist, baptized by the name of Titu, the rendering of the word Titus, which the priests prefer to our Taituha. As his whole party were Romanists, I felt unwilling to let him return, and contrived, by various expedients, to detain him. Lately, however, he seemed quite determined to leave, with the intention, however, of only seeing his friends, and returning to school. I succeeded in preventing him; and as he wished to go to Auckland to buy some clothes, I gave him leave. On reaching Auckland he fell in with his friends, who carried him to the priests, and detained him, with the intention of taking him home. I was much surprised and pleased to see him at our service this morning-June 12, 1851. It appears that he proceeded with his friends a certain distance, when, meeting a canoe that was coming here, he gave his friends the slip, and hastened on board. They, with the Romish priest of that district, gave chase, seized his arms, and tried to drag him back; but he was not to be persuaded, and returned in the canoe. This little circumstance has been most gratifying to me, not only as placing for a longer period under instruction an intelligent young Chief, who may, with God's blessing, be the means of benefiting his deluded fellow-countrymen, but also as evincing, in the eyes of the people, the attachment of our scholars to the Institution. These young Chiefs, when at home, are required to do no kind of work, but merely to enjoy themselves with their fisheries and their horses. In the Institution not the smallest difference is recognised: with the scholars of the lowest rank they engage in every kind of employment. If our natives wished to work at the township, they could get from 1s. 6d. to 28. a-day. Here they barely get a sufficiency of clothing, and nothing else besides food; and yet they remain with pleasure, and, in some cases, have made earnest applications for admission.

Mr. Maunsell then adds a paragraph, to which we would solicit special attention.

Some kind friends at home have sent us very acceptable donations for our schools-male and female. From one we have received a cask of very useful ironmongery. These acts of Christian liberality very much encourage and assist us. I have thought that it would be well if our friends were informed of the kind of things that would be most useful. I therefore beg leave to furnish a few particulars respecting our wants. First, clothes of any description for young men, boys, women, and girls, particularly warm clothing-no matter how coarse. Cast-off clothes for our Native Teachers would be most thankfully received. Secondly, school apparatus, maps, pictures, comparative sizes of animals; any

LADIES' WORKING PARTIES.

47 thing that will enlarge the mind of an English child of ten years of age; steel pens, paper, pencils, rulers, ink-bottles, large and small hand copyslips, and terrestrial globes. Thirdly, agricultural implements, axes, hatchets, forks, rakes, harness, spades. A donation of spades would be particularly useful, the spades we get in Auckland being so bad, and our young people so rough in using them. They should be small, but as strong as possible. Fourthly, a donation of blankets would be much valued. In many cases, one blanket is all that the boys have to cover them. Of kitchen utensils we have received a liberal supply; but too many iron plates and dishes, and tin pots and jugs, cannot be sent.

We trust that the Lord will put it into the hearts of many to help in this most important and interesting feature in our New-Zealand Mission-the Native Institution at Waikato Heads.

www

LADIES' WORKING PARTIES.

THE following letter from our Missionary the Rev. A. Cowley, of Fairford, North-West America, to a lady who had forwarded to him a parcel of clothing, contributed by a working party of ladies, who have united together to aid in this way the Missionary cause, may serve as an encouragement to friends similarly occupied throughout the country, and serve to show that, as such efforts of love are not unnoticed by Him in whose name they are attempted, so neither are they without benefit to those distant Mission fields where faithful men are labouring to communicate the knowledge and the love of Jesus to poor heathen man.

Mrs. Cowley begs me to offer a reply to your favour of May last. I do so gladly, and will begin by offering her apology for not doing so herself a babe of five months with a cold; an increase of domestic duties at this season; laying up a store of provisions for five months of winter; many letters to write; besides other minor matters, which you will more readily and better imagine than I can express. Now I must thank you, and, if you please, through you, all and severally the good Christian people who so Dorcas-like have wrought with you to enrich our charity treasure-house for the destitute of my people, and particularly the school-children. May God reward you all a thousand-fold here, and in the world to come crown you with everlasting life!

The articles are most appropriate. In your future labours and selection-many thanks for your good intentions-you may be safely guided by observing what conduces most, or is most indispensable, to the comfort of the poor in the winter, not forgetting the difference of climate. Here, at times, the cold is so intense, that any part of one's body exposed to it, even for a few minutes, becomes frozen. I feel sure that no one who has never felt it can have any notion of the state of the atmosphere, when the thermometer is at 40° or 50° below zero, or even at 30° with a wind. Now it is to such weather that the dear children in this country are often exposed in out-door exercise. The school is the most hopeful part of my charge, though, I can assure you, a very troublesome one in many respects. There are, thank God! some exceptions. The old people are generally so sunk in barbarism, that I fear little if any good will ever accrue to many of them from our Mission. This being the case, we naturally turn to the young, who, if trained in the way they