the town. Nothing can be done by him without cash. For marriages, preparing members for death and for burying the dead, etc., cash is always required, and masses for the repose of souls cost according to "size and quality." That is to say, a mass with tolling of the church bell costs so much, without the tolling of the bells so much less. The people have but little confidence in the padre's power to forgive sins, or else they are not anxious to have their sins forgiven, as, according to common report, but few present themselves at the confessional. Very few of those who pay for masses for their dead relatives can tell in what way the masses are supposed to benefit the departed, and indeed it is enough to puzzle any one to know what benefits are thus conferred. When one who has been a common prostitute, or one who has lived a most licentious life, dies without sign of repentance or any true knowledge of God, it is not easy to see wherein their souls would be benefited by the mumbling over by an immoral priest of a few Latin prayers.

The town is a perfect sink of moral corruption. I have often thought it would baffle Abraham, were he back on earth, to find five righteous people in that modern Sodom. Many times. have I been around the town calling the people to repentance, many times wept and prayed over them, but as yet I have not seen even two of the inhabitants thereof whom I thought were ready to meet God. However, God must and will answer prayer, and I believe the day is coming when many, even there, will find Christ to the joy and satisfaction of their souls.

The population of the Inhambane district is difficult to estimate. "A Portuguese tax collector is authority for the statement that, between the Limpopo river on the south and the Sabi on the north, there are between 800,000 and 900,oco huts. Reckoning on the basis of the lower number, with an average of a native, his wife and one child to each hut," says Mr. Agnew, "the population of this district is considerably over 2,000,000. There is probably no more thickly populated part of South Africa than this same district of Inhambane."

There are three different native tribes in the region about the bay or port of Inhambane-the Batongas, the Botswas and the Bachopis. The Batongas live mostly around the bay, the Bachopis north, and the Botswas north and west. These natives live chiefly by agriculture, each head of a family having a garden in which he cultivates corn, peanuts, cassava, pumpkins, sweet potatoes and so forth. Some also have plantations of cocoanut trees which bring them in a little revenue, although the products are sold so cheaply as to yield but little profit. Around the bay the men devote themselves to some extent to catching fish, while the women gather up crabs and shellfish; so that, taking all things into consideration, there are no natives in South Africa who live better than those of Inhambane.

For a considerable time these people were subject to frequent raids from Gungunyana's soldiers, who made sad havoc among them. Describing these merciless raids Mr. Agnew says:

Every once in a while the soldiers would make a raid into Portuguese territory, stealing the young women, girls and boys and putting all others to death. Not long ago the Portuguese sent an army to Gungunyana, captured him and sent him to Cape Verde, on the west coast, where he will probably end his days. Two or three wives and his son accompanied him, so that his exile will not be so lonely as it would be otherwise. Since then the country has been somewhat quieter. One of Gungunyana's indunas, named Magigwan, rebelled against the Portuguese after his king's departure, but another force was sent against him and he was captured and put to death and his head and hands were cut off by the Portuguese, probably for the purpose of putting them in some museum. In the fu ure it is to be hoped that the natives at Inhambane will be allowed to dwell in peace.

One of the terrible curses of this region, as well as of civilized countries, is the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. In Natal and the Transvaal laws have been enacted prohibiting the sale of liquor to natives, but the Portuguese are behind in this respect, as in nearly everything else in the way of social and moral improvements; and, as a consequence, "in the cashew season thousands of the natives are drunk, and much fighting and killing goes on." It is certainly to be hoped that the Portuguese government will some day awake to the necessity of such legislation and of such enforcement of law and order as will transform these conditions into conditions less horrible and revolting. The government is bankrupt, however, and so in need of money that it is the more ready on this account to tolerate and even sanction anything that will replenish its exchequer.

This country [Portugal], which his holiness, the Pope, has blessed over and over again, says Mr. Agnew, is, in spite of all, on its last legs; while other countries which this infallible [?] spiritual ruler has cursed with bell and book and candle, are becoming stronger and stronger. This of itself is sufficient proof that God ratifies neither the blessings nor the curses of the Roman pontiff.

While many things might be truthfully written regarding the deplorable social and moral conditions under Portuguese government, especially in the province of Mozambique, there are also commendable things about many of the Portuguese people in the Inhambane district which ought to be mentioned, and concerning which Mr. Agnew has paid tribute in the following terms:

Whatever may be said about their government, the Portuguese people are generally very hospitable. The missionaries

at Inhambane have received nothing but courteous treatment from them. Many acts of kindness were shown me while I lived there, and I pray God to bless the Portuguese with his salvation.

I will give a little incident which illustrates the good spirit shown by a governor at Inhambane to one who had offended the community. While they were having a procession at one time in the streets a missionary went to see it. There was a wax figure of the Virgin Mary in the procession, and every one was supposed to take off his hat to it. As the missionary felt that this was nothing more or less than bowing to an idol, he refused to take off his hat. An official passing by in the procession ordered a policeman to arrest him, whereupon the governor said, "Let him alone." Shortly after this it was neeessary to get a passport for two Zulus who were going to Natal. The steamer was going early in the morning, the offices were all closed, as it was dark at night, and the only one who could give the passport was the governor. Filled with misgivings, the missionary who had raised a bad feeling in the community by refusing to doff his hat, went to the governor, stated the case, and asked for the passport. The governor treated him very kindly, said nothing about the procession affair, called a corporal of the guard and had him go and tell the secretary what was needed. The passport was procured and the missionary went away happy.

If the case had been vice versa, and the missionary had been a Portuguese and the governor an Englishman, it is very safe to say those two Zulus would have had to remain in the district until the next down steamer. When a young man, a missionary at Inhambane, died of fever, this same governor kindly gave the stone necessary to build a low wall around the grave, and also offered me as much lime as was needed for the purpose. It is very easy for people to denounce the Portuguese in a wholesale way, but it should ever be remembered that there are good as well as bad people among them, the same as among other nationalities.

CHAPTER VIII.

EXPLORING FOR AND OPENING UP A STATION.

Now the sowing and the reaping,
Working hard and waiting long:
Afterward the golden reaping,

Harvest home and grateful song.
Now, the training, hard and lowly,
Weary feet and aching brow:
Afterward the service holy,

And the Master's "Enter thou."

-Miss Havergal.

The first thing to be done after arrival at Inhambane was that of looking up a good location for a mission station. Accordingly this task was undertaken by Messrs. Kelley and Agnew, Mrs. Kelley in the mean time remaining with Mr. and Mrs. Richards. Before these two gentlemen started on their tour of exploration, however, Mr. Agnew went, on invitation of Mr. Wilcox, for a visit to the latter's mission station at Mackodweni, about twenty miles from Mongwe. Referring to this visit, and by way of describing the situation at Mackodweni, he has left the following account:

I enjoyed my visit very much. There was an army of 3,000 natives there, in charge of a Mohammedan, waiting to drive back a force of King Gungunyana's men which was expected. The Mohammedan officer treated us to a kind of pudding made of honey and corn meal, besides giving us bananas and tea. Brother Wilcox preached to the natives composing the army. Gungunyana's forces did not come at this time, but came sometime afterwards, and our Moham