premises. He preaches in Persian every Sunday, and generally in English also; acts as pastor to the congregation, and superintends the work of the Bible colporteurs; besides carrying on his studies in the language. When we reflect that he is just now the only missionary in the southern half of Persia, we surely cannot but feel how serious it is to leave one man with such a I urden of work upon his shoulders.

I appeal to all who revere the memory of Henry Martyn to come to the help of the C.M.S., and enable them to establish a strong Mission in the land for which he gave his life-to give it life eternal. If Henry Martyn could be consulted, surely no other memorial would please him half so well. And I appeal still more confidently to all who love the Lord Jesus Christ to help Him to "set His throne in Elam."

THE STORY OF THE LIFE OF DR. KRAPF,
The Pioneer-Missionary of East Africa.
TOLD BY HIMSELF.

V.-WORK AT MOMBASA AND RABBAI.

N the 19th of August, 1844, I made an excursion to the village Rabbai Ku, Great Rabbai, or old Rabbai, partly to see whether the locality was suited for a missionary station. When we landed at four in the afternoon I was received by a crowd of heathen Wanika, who lifted me out of the boat and bore me on their shoulders to the land with singing, dancing, brandishing of arrows, and every other possible mode of rejoicing. The Wanika made a favourable impression on me; for they were both quick and well-behaved, but wore extremely little in the way of clothes, even the women not being sufficiently clad; yet on leaving Rabbai I was not quite convinced of its suitability for a missionary station.

On the 3rd of September I visited the village of Ribe. The chiefs and their retinue welcomed me, and conducted us through three entrances in the palisades into the village, amid cries of rejoicing, dancing, and brandishing of swords and bows. Whenever any one only stood and looked on, he was driven by the chiefs into the crowd, to dance and shriek with his neighbours. When I said I was not a soldier, nor a merchant who had come there to trade, but a Christian teacher who wished to instruct the Wanika and the Galla in the true knowledge of God, they looked at me with something of a stupefied expression, and coull not rightly understand, but assured me of their friendly disposition.

I arrived again at Mombaz, being on the whole well pleased with my journey. I was grieved, however, in witnessing the drunkenness and sensuality, the dulness and indifference, which I had observed among the Wanika. The chief of Kambe said openly, "There is no God, since he is not to be seen. The Wanika need trouble themselves about nothing except tembo (cocoa-wine), corn, rice, Indian corn (mahindi), and clothes; these are their heaven. The Watsumba" (Mohammedans), he added, were fools to pray and fast so much." Meanwhile, with the view of settling down among the Wanika I remained in Mombaz, prosecuting with great zeal the study of the Suahili language, into which by degrees I translated the whole of the New Testament, and composed a short grammar and a dictionary, continuing likewise my geographical and ethnographical studies in the certain conviction that the time would come when Eastern Africa, too, would be drawn into European intercourse, and these introductory studies would be made available, even if for the present no great missionary result were to be attained.

On the 25th of March, 1845, I made an excursion to Rabbai Mpia (New or Little Rabbai) a village consisting of some twenty to twentyfive huts. Eastward there was a magnificent view of the sea, of Mombaz, and the level country; and to the north and west stretched far away the plains of the Wanika and the Wakamba. I felt at once the impression that this would be just the place for a missionary station.

The elders were very friendly. I explained to them that the object of my visit was to teach them the words of the book (the Bible) which I held in my hand. One of the elders asked whether I was an enchanter, who could tell him out of the book how long he was to live; or whether I could heal the sick chief by a prayer from it. I answered that this

book could make them live in everlasting joy, if they accepted and believed what was read to them; that they would be cured of the worst of maladies, sin, if they believed in the Son of God. I then narrated to them some of the chief facts in the life of Christ, and pointed out in conclusion that God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. One of the elders said that it was really true that God loved men, for He gave the Wanika rain, tembo, and clothes. I rejoined that these were certainly great proofs of Divine love, but that, after all, they were only earthly gifts, and would not avail them, if God had not taken care for their souls, and had not sent his Son to free them from sin aud Satan. Another elder, who seemed to understand me better, repeated my whole address, and that with tolerable accuracy.

From Rabbai Mpia I went in a south-westerly direction towards the Wakamba land. On my way back I had the pleasure of seeing for the first time the mountain Kadiaro, which is distant about thirty-six leagues from Rabbai Mpia, and rises some 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. The sight of this mountain gave me great delight, and in imagination I already saw a missionary-station established in that cool climate for the spiritual subjection of the countries of the interior.

The ensuing twelvemonth was a period of varied experience and suffering. After the rainy season, in March, 1845, I left Mombaz on a trip to Takaungu, exploring the coast and its immediate interior. At the beginning of October I had a violent attack of fever, brought on by exposure to the sun. On December 1st, being a little recovered, and having formerly felt the good effects of the sea air, I took a trip to Zanzibar, where I received much kindness from the English consul, Major Hamerton. Three months later I took another sea trip, and explored among other places the ruined and deserted town of Malindi, which might again be a populous and flourishing port, serving as an important missionary centre.

At last, on the 10th of June, 1816, my dear and long-expected fellowlabourer, Rebmano, arrived. After a few days he was attacked by fever, but soon recovered sufficiently to accompany me to Rabbai Mpia, to receive the assent of the elders to the establishment of a missionary-station there. I introduced my beloved fellow-labourer to the chiefs, and asked for the same friendly reception for him which had been given to myself, which was promised with pleasure. I explained the object of the Mission, remarking that I had now visited the whole of the Wanika-land, and was convinced that we should be welcomed in every village. To this they assented. But, I continued, Rabbai Mpia seemed to me the place best suited for our object; and that as here I had met with more kindness than anywhere else I asked them whether they would consent to our establishing ourselves among them. Immediately and without any stipulation, even without asking after African fashion for a present, they responded, "Yes!" and truly with one heart and mouth. They gave us the strongest assurances of friendship; the whole country should be open to us; we might journey whithersoever we pleased; they would defend us to the uttermost; we should be the kings of the land, &c. When we then spoke of dwelling-places, they replied: "The birds have nests, and the Wasungu (Europeans) too must have houses." I mentioned to them two huts, which at that very time were uninhabited, and asked them to repair and improve them, until we were ready to remove from Mombaz to Rabbai, and this was assented to most willingly.

Scarcely had we returned to Mombaz, when we were both attacked by fever, and a whole month elapsed before Rebmann was convalescent. August 25th was fixed on as the day of our entry into Rabbai. On the morning of that day I had a severe attack of fever, but it did not keep me from journeying thither. Whether the result be life or death, I said to myself, the Mission must be begun; and with this resolve, and an inward prayer for succour, I tottered along by the side of Rebmaun, who was likewise very weak and could scarcely walk. We therefore determined to ride by turns on our single ass, but after some time I was quite unable to go on foot, and obliged to monopolise the beast. With much pain I ascended the steep hill, which even without a rider the ass could scarcely have mounted, and Rebmann also could only clamber up by the most painful exertion. Scarcely ever was a mission begun in such weakness; but so it was to be, that we might neither boast of our own strength, nor our successors forget that in working out His purposes, God sanctifies even our human infirmities to the fulfilment of his ends.

It was surprising how my physical strength increased the higher I ascended. The cool air was a genuine stimulant. Arrived at the summit, I felt myself, nevertheless, quite exhausted, and was obliged at once to lie down on a cow-hide in the house of the chief Jindoa, where I slept for several hours. The sleep was so refreshing, that I awoke with the consciousness and strength of convalescence.

The chiefs then came in a body to greet us and to fix the day for the commencement of the building. They wished themselves to build, and we were to give in return a present of fixed amount. On the 16th of September the new house was roofed in, and thus the work of the Wanika ended. We were now obliged to do the rest of it mostly with our own hands. If any one had seen us then and there in dirty and tattered clothes, bleeding from wounds caused by the thorns and stones, flinging mud on the walls in the native fashion, and plastering it with the palm of our hands, he would scarcely have looked upon us as clergymen. But a missionary must not let trifles put him out; he must learn to be high and to be lowly for the sake of his Master's work; and with all this toil our hearts were made glad, even more so than in quiet times, before and afterwards. During every interval of rest, I persevered with the translation which I had begun, though often during the renewed attacks of fever, the thought would arise that even before the commencement of my proper missionary labours, I might be summoned into eternity. I prayed fervently for the preservation of my life in Africa, at least until one soul should be saved; for I was certain that if once a single stone of the spiritual temple were laid in any country, the Lord would bless the work, and continue the structure, by the conversion of those who were now sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death.

On the first Sunday after the erection of the hut for public worship, some twelve to fifteen Wanika assembled in it, and I explained to them the purpose for which it had been built, and invited them to come again every Sunday, and listen to God's Holy Word. When I had finished my address a Mnika asked what we would give the Wanika to eat, if they were to come here every Siku ku (great day, Sunday). If the Wanika received rice and a cow, they would always come; but if not, they would stay away; for no Mnika went to a maneno (palaver) without eating and drinking. This was rather a humbling experience for the day of our little church's consecration; but we consoled ourselves with the thought that the Jews preferred to look upon our Divine Master rather as upon an earthly king, than as upon the King eternal, the only wise God. I therefore found it necessary to make house-to-house visits to prepare the Wanika for public worship, and to announce to them the day on which Christians keep their Sabbath. Every Sunday morning, I gave a signal by firing off a gun once or twice, and afterwards by ringing a small bell which had been sent us from London to Rabbai Mpia. Besides this, we tried to familiarise the people with the Christian Sunday by buying nothing on that day; by not allowing our servants to do any work on it; and by wearing holiday clothes on it, to enhance the significance of the day. In this way the Wanika attained by degrees a notion of Sunday,

and an insight into the fact that Christians do not pass their holy day in eating and drinking like Mohammedans and heathens, but with prayer and meditation on the Word of God in peaceful quiet and simplicity.

After the work of building was over I began to visit the neighbouring hamlets and plantations of the Wanika, to speak to them about the salvation of their souls, and to open up to them the kingdom of Heaven. In the course of time it became ever more evident to us, impressing itself upon us with all the force of a positive command, that it was our duty not to limit our missionary labours to the coast tribes of the Suahili and Wauika, but to keep in mind as well the spiritual darkness of the tribes and nations of Inner Africa. This consideration induced us to take important journeys into the interior.

In March we visited Zanzibar, and waited upon the Sultan, who, as usual, was very friendly. He said that the Wanika were bad people, and that we ought, therefore, to reside in Mombaz rather than in the Wanikaland. I remarked that the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands had been

still worse than the Wanika, who were not cannibals, like them. European

teachers had gone to these cannibals, had taught them out of the Word of God, and they were now quite different men. The Sultan rejoined: "If that be so, it is all right; you may stay among the Wanika as long as you choose, and do whatever you please."

'WHAT IS THY REQUEST?"
Esther v. 3.

O scimitar to slay, no sword avenging,
Flashes above the suppliant at the gate;
A golden sceptre Royal grace extendeth,
Fear not within the inner court to wait.

O bride espoused, put on thy fair apparel!
Draw nigh, and touch the sceptre of His grace.
What wilt thou? Come and plead His ancient promise,
Make thy petition deep before His face.

And doth He promise half His kingdom to thee?
Nay, better speech rings through those Royal halls :
"My Father's pleasure giveth you the kingdom;
All things are yours!" thus, thus, the promise falls.
Now plead, O suppliant, for those who perish,
Thy people and thy scattered tribes afar;
Plead in the fulness of the Royal favour,

For those who yet in death and darkness are.
Yet, if thou hold thy peace, their soul's deliv'rance
May come through other lips, through other cry;
God lacks not intercessors in His kingdom,
Yet for this pleading hath He brought thee nigh.
Ask for His messengers of light and gladness;
Shall the dark messengers of death prevail?
Let every people hear the Royal message!

Let every mourner hear the wond'rous tale!
Then shall the heralds go from palace portals,
Hastened and pressed on by the King's decree,
Bearing all joy and honour, light and gladness,
From realm to realm, from rolling sea to sea.
CLARA THWAITES.

N the afternoon of our return to Calcutta, Keshub Chunder Sen gave his annual address to the Brahmo Somaj in the Town Hall. The huge hall was crammed. I should say 3,500 men and some six ladies-almost all Hindus-thoughtful, earnestlooking men. He spoke for an hour and forty minutes--a torrent of eloquence. He has reached Deism, but denies the Godhead of Christ, though, with this grave and grievous lack, which overshadowed all, nothing in parts could be more impassioned than his language of devotion to Christ. He thinks himself the prophet of A NEW DISPENSATION, as he calls it, which is to affirm the Unity of the Godhead and the unity of all earnest creeds-Hindu, Moslem, and Christian-who worship God. Of course it is a great advance on the multiform idolatry of this land. BOMBAY, Jan. 28, 1881.

We have had five days of unbroken mercy since I wrote the above. On Sunday evening Mr. Deedes preached a most beautiful sermon in the Cathedral at Calcutta. On Monday morning, at 6 A.M., I started with Mr. Parker to see the C.M.S. Orphanage It is some ten miles from Calcutta. The walk, two miles from at Agarpara, where our Christ Church orphan is being reared. the railway station, was lovely, and the situation on the banks of the Hooghly just perfect. Then we returned and saw the C.M.S. Divinity School, under the Rev. W. R. Blackett; the Normal Girls' School, a noble institution; and the Leper's Hospital, where dear Mr. Vaughan did so good a work.

At 6 P.M. we left our truly kind Bishop and his sister and niece, and travelled all night and next day to Allahabad, had the kindest welcome from our friends there, were delighted with

*See Mr. Blackett's letter in the GLEANER of May.

board, found ourselves in a most comfortable ship, were slowly unmoored at 9, cleared the dock gates at 11, and the harbour lighthouse at 12.15, and so found ourselves once more on the way to dear, dear home.

OUR WORK IN
CALCUTTA.

S Mr. Bickersteth, in
the interesting let-

ters printed in last month's and this month's GLEANER, refers to his visit to Calcutta, we present on these middle pages two views of that great city; and with them we must just mention the work carried on there by the Society. The Calcutta Mission might be reckoned one of the "Missions seldom heard of," so far as the GLEANER is concerned; for scarcely any notice of it has ever appeared in our pages. And now there is only space for just naming the various agencies.

First, then, Calcutta is the head-quarters of the Society's North India Missions. At the C.M.S. office there meets the Corresponding Committee, which administers those Missions. On that Committee are the Bishop and the Archdeacon, and several officers and civilians in the Government service. One of them, Mr. Rivers Thompson, is now Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal. These English gentlemen of high official rank have been the best friends and most liberal supporters of missionary work in India. They know the need of it; they know what is being done; and they delight to help it forward. Officers who come home and say there is little or nothing doing simply don't know; they care nothing about it, and take no pains to inquire. Of this Corresponding Committee the Rev. H. P. Parker is Secretary.

Then there is a church for English people to which

the Society appoints a minister. This is the "Old Church," the oldest in the city, built by Kiernander, a missionary of the Christian Knowledge Society, in 1771. It has been the centre of evangelical life and influence in Calcutta. The Rev. C. S. Harington is the present minister.

Bishop Daniel Wilson, before he died, made over to the C.M.S. a fund he had raised for a "Cathedral Mission." This fund supports some part of the Society's work in Calcutta, and among others the college for training Native clergy and catechists, which is therefore called the Cathedral Mission Divinity College. Of this an interesting account was given in our pages two months ago by the Principal, the Rev. W. R. Blackett.

Within the city the C.M.S. has two mission churches, Trinity and Christ Church. Trinity Church is in one of the Native quarters called Mirzapore, and is surrounded by parsonage, schools, &c., and by houses for Native Christians, all built on a piece of ground purchased in 1820 by Archdeacon Corrie, the friend of Henry Martyn, who was a great supporter of the C.M.S. This was the sphere of labour for many years of the late much lamented Rev. J. Vaughan. There is now a Native pastor, the Rev. Piari Mohun Rudra. At Christ Church the Rev. A. Clifford has been labouring, but he has now gone out into the country to superintend the important work in the Krishnagar district, and is succeeded by the Rev. Raj Kristo Bose.

In several suburbs and outlying villages, the C.M.S. has churches and schools, and little bands of Native Christians. There is Kidderpore, where a venerable clergyman, the Rev. Modhu Sudan Seal, resides; and Thakurpukur, formerly associated with the name of the Rev. James Long, but now having its Native pastor, the Rev. Molam Biswas; and Kristopore, near the Salt Lakes, where there is a little congregation of Christian fishermen; and Agarpara, with its interesting Orphanage, where the Rev. F. Gmelin is now stationed, and of which a picture and an account are awaiting their turn for space in the GLEANER.

There are several schools connected with the Society: particularly a Boarding School for Christian Boys, lately opened; a large Anglo-Vernacular School (i.e., where the education is both English and Bengali)-what we should call a middle-class or grammar-school; and several Vernacular Schools for the poor. Then there is the evangelistic work, the superintendent of which is the Rev. Dr. C. Baumann. Under him work Native teachers and evangelists, who carry the Gospel message to all classes and grades of the people. They go to the coolies and scavengers in the streets; to the lepers in the Leper Hospital; to the boatmen on the River Hooghly; to the crowds of Hindus who go down to the sacred river to bathe. Dr. Baumann also tries to reach the educated Hindus who speak English and study at the Calcutta University, and hold offices under Government, and of whom there are some thousands in Calcutta. A good many of these attend an English service he holds in Trinity Church on Sunday evenings. There is a fair number of Christians of this class; and in Mr. Piari Mohan Rudra's Sunday-school all the teachers but one are undergraduates of the University.

All this is good work, earnestly and prayerfully carried on; and we should thank God that so much has been done. But it is not half what ought to be done in a great city like the capital of India. Fortunately there are several other missionary societies at work also. We do not know how many Native Christians there are altogether in Calcutta and its suburbs. Those connected with the C.M.S. number 1,310. Is this a small body? Yes, it is; and who is responsible for it? Not the missionaries: they are toiling on in unfaltering faith and patience. Not the Great Master: He waits to pour out a blessing. But ourselves, in making such feeble efforts, and in thinking that our proper subscription to a vast work like that of the C.M S. is the same that we give to an individual church or school or orphanage or hospital in our own favoured land.

AN UNFURNISHED HOUSE.

O you live in an unfurnished house?

You will think this a strange question, but I will explain my meaning. I have heard that at a missionary meeting a gentleman once said he considered a house in which there was no missionary box unfurnished, and he advised those present to complete the furnishing of their houses, if they had not already done so, by taking a box. This was excellent advice, and I would commend it to you. It is to be feared that not very many think of this little article of furniture (or useful ornament I would rather call it) when making a list of "things wanted." Is your house furnished in this respect? Very possibly you have never thought seriously about it; it is now, at all events, brought under your notice. One often sees unlovely vases and worse pictures adorning a room; but the neat little missionary box is only too frequently conspicuous by its absence. Some people do not take a collecting box because the amount it would yield at the year's end would be so small. If you do the best you can, the amount is nothing, whether it be small or great. Let there be first a willing mind, then a man's gifts are accepted according to that he hath, and not according to that he hath not. We all know how a poor widow's gift was accepted by our Lord.

The box becomes a little altar in the household where there may be brought to God our "sacrifices of thanksgiving." I know a lady, who, when she feels sensible of any mercy God has granted her, drops a coin into her box. It is surprising how heavy it soon becomes with these have a box in the "spare" bedroom, that visitors may show their thanklittle offerings to Him whose mercy endureth yet daily. Some always fulness for travelling mercies; to which, by the way, we are often insensible, except when we have had some narrow escape. It is profitable to oneself to thus emphasise one's thankfulness by a gift, however small. Then again, it teaches members of a family a truth very much forgotten by us all, that "it is more blessed to give than to receive." It cultivates the healthy and blessed practice of giving. I know a household where the collecting box is placed upon the breakfast table every Sunday morning and each member of the family puts something into it. The box thrives so by this plan that it is necessary two or three times a year to open it and exchange the "coppers" for silver.

Another advantage is, it enables us to carry out our Lord's precept, "When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." As we place a gift in the box with a silent prayer that God may