version is still, I trust, in progress. I have baptised ten adults since I arrived; and there are about sixty who attend my Wednesday meeting, and who may be regarded as candidates. Some of them gave proofs of repentance before the war four years ago. There are about thirty more at the different villages who receive instruction from native teachers, or old members of the church, appointed to fulfil that duty. The Fingoes begin to attend the word regularly, and for them and others who cannot obtain room in the present place of worship, a separate service is occasionally held on the Sunday. I intend, God willing, soon to baptise several Fingoes, among whom are a very old woman and her son. The other day, when the mother was weeping bitterly, I said to her, Why do you weep?" She said, "I long to be in heaven with my Father." "Whom do you call your Father in heaven?" I asked. "Jesus Christ," was the reply. "Why do you call him your Father?" "Because," she said, "he has taken me by the hand, led me far from the interior of the country through many dangers, and brought me to hear his word." "Do you love him, then," I said. " Oh yes," she answered, "he shed his blood for me." She then wept so bitterly, I could not converse any more with her. She is still in sheep-skins, but I trust her soul is clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Se

veral of the Fingo inquirers were once notorious sinners. One who was brought up at Zuurbraak, became a drunkard, was put in prison, and in prison God visited him, and we hope his heart has been changed: he is now like a lamb at the feet of Christ. Let all our friends pray earnestly for us, that the Lord may continue his goodness to us, and that his word may grow mightily, and prosper.

Macomo, Botman, and other Caffre chiefs, were greatly disappointed at not receiving Missionaries with us. I hope Mr. Calderwood, Mr. Birt, and others, are already on their way.†

Distribution of clothing, &c. among the children.

"I have had the greatest pleasure," observes Mr. Read, "in dealing out the boun ty of our friends in Yorkshire, and other parts of England, to the children. The delight evinced by the little creatures on receiving the articles provided for them is indescribable. Thousands of thanks to the ladies in England,' they said. But I am sorry to state that, although I had so many things to bestow, I had scarcely half enough, especially as the Fingo children are coming in great numbers: they come daily, but we can only show them the empty boxes. The boys suffered the greatest disappointment, as the clothes were chiefly for the girls."

SOUTH AFRICA-CAFFRE MISSION.

UNDER the favour and blessing of the Most High, the Mission to the Caffres, which had been for a time suspended in consequence of the occurrence of war, was recommenced in the course of the year 1836; and since that period the labours of our brethren, the Rev. Messrs. Brownlee and Kayser, have been pursued not without a measure of encouragement. Towards the close of last year, Mr. Brownlee, whose station is situated on the Buffalo River, had the happiness of forming a church, consisting of five Christian Caffres, whose faith, and piety, and love, were affording him great joy and satisfaction. The congregations at both the stations were gradually increasing, and the infant and day-schools, together with those for instruction on the Sabbath, were beginning to revive. On the subject of religion, a growing spirit of inquiry was observable among the people, and their state of mind generally appeared to indicate an unusual preparedness for the reception of the renovating principles of Divine revelation, and of the great and precious promises it unfolds. The brethren also experienced much encouragement in their itinerant labours at the period above mentioned, the fields in every place they visited appearing white unto the harvest.

Under date 7th of August last, a communication has been received from Mr. Kayser, of an equally gratifying character with those which conveyed the preceding intelligence. He reports that the number of inhabitants at the station and in its vicinity was gradually increasing, and exemplary industry was displayed by the people in the cultivation of their

Caledon Institution.

Messrs. Calderwood and Birt embarked for the Cape in July last. Knapp's Hope, on the river Kiaskamma.

gardens and other grounds. Our brother speaks of four individuals among the Caffres at his station, who had recently given evidence of being brought under the power of Divine grace; and he intimates the hope of soon receiving one of them into the church of Christ by baptism. At Buffalo River, the work was also pleasingly progressive. Referring to a visit he had lately paid to that station, Mr. Kayser observes:-"To my joy I was informed by brother Brownlee, that the seed long sown now begins to grow up, especially among the Caffre women. Those with whom I conversed seemed to be all in the good way, seeking salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. Among the converts there is also a chief who was once very proud and wild. On a former occasion I was called to dress a wound which he had received in his arm from an assegai, but at that time he would hear nothing of God and his word; but now, by the grace of our God, how meek and lamblike! The Lord's name be glorified, and to Him be given all honour, thanksgiving, and praise !

The foregoing particulars clearly indicate that the present period is one peculiarly favourable to the extension of Missionary labour in Caffraria. For a considerable time past the chiefs and people themselves have evinced an earnest desire, and made repeated applications, for Missionaries; and it will be seen from a statement in the preceding article, (p. 187,) that Macomo, Botman, Tyali, and other Caffre chiefs were greatly disappointed when they found that Mr. Read, whom they met on his way to the Kat River, returned unaccompanied by Missionaries to labour amongst their people. On this account, the Directors recur with additional satisfaction to the circumstance of the embarkation of the Rev. Messrs. Calderwood and Birt, in July last, for South Africa; these brethren having been appointed to the Caffre Mission, in connexion with which their instrumentality will be no less acceptable than, we trust, under God, it will prove valuable and effective. No tidings have been yet received concerning these brethren, but in all probability they have before the present time reached the Cape, and arrived thence at their stations in Caffreland,

Jan Tzatzoe proceeded with Mr. Read from Bethelsdorp, (p. 185,) for the purpose of returning into Caffraria, to resume his labours at the Buffalo River station as a regular agent of the Society. The presumption is, that, under Divine guidance and protection, he has arrived at his destination, and re-entered upon his work in conjunction with Mr. Brownlee; but no communication has been received from this part of Africa of a date subsequent to the period at which it is probable he reached his station.

MARQUESAS.

THE last account of the circumstances and progress of the Mission in these islands was communicated to the friends of the Society in the Missionary Magazine for April last. From the statements then presented, there appeared ground to hope that the Gospel of salvation was at length beginning to make some impression on the minds of the natives, whose exceeding depravity of character, obduracy of heart, and licentiousness of manners, have from the first been a source of deep trial and discouragement to the devoted Missionaries labouring amongst them. The brethren and sisters proceeding to the Navigators Islands, in 1836, landed at the Marquesas on their voyage to the important field of labour where they are now engaged, and the event having led to an uncommon spirit of inquiry among the natives, evidently contributed to produce the altered disposition in favour of Christianity above noticed. But soon after their departure, it is stated, that this hopeful appearance again grew faint and gradually died away, until the brethren had little remaining except their faith in God from which to derive support and consolation. But keeping in view the promise of revealed truth, that all the ends of the earth shall at length see the salvation of God, and sustained by the animating conviction that not a word of all that Inspiration has

uttered shall ultimately remain unfulfilled, the devoted Missionaries have not desponded, but have diligently pursued their arduous and sacred toils, scattering with liberal hand the incorruptible seed of the word over the face of the moral desert around them, and leaving the result to Him who alone can cause it to bear fruit unto eternal life. In a letter, addressed from Santa Christina, to the Foreign Secretary, under date October, 1837, after alluding to the deficiency of visible encouragement in connexion with the labours of the Mission, the brethren, Rev. Messrs. Rodgerson and Stallworthy, thus write :

Whilst we, therefore, are cast down on the one hand at witnessing the opposition of the human heart to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, and perceive almost every effort thwarted which is made with a view to emancipate those around us from the chains in which they have been long and cruelly held by Satan; we are persuaded, on the other, that perseverance in labour and prayer, by the blessing of God, cannot fail to enlighten and save the most hardened and abandoned. May those who labour among the Marquesans be eminently qualified for their work; be instant in season and out of season, and continue in prayer till God, in infinite love and mercy, shall send down a blessing.

We are unable generally to induce any to attend at the Tohua,* for the purpose of listening to the word of God; not unfrequently, however, we have found them collected for other purposes, when we have taken the opportunity of addressing them. Sometimes a little attention has been paid, but more frequently a spirit of indifference or opposition has been manifested. But, our general plan has been to walk round the valley, calling at the various houses, collecting a few together, where it was practicable, praying and conversing with them, and endeavouring to direct them to the consideration of those subjects which are connected with the immortal spirit and eternity;

telling them of the love of God in sending his only begotten Son to save a lost and guilty world; beseeching them to lay aside their sinful customs and practices, and put their trust in Jesus Christ, who alone can deliver them from everlasting perdition. Nor have our efforts been confined to the Sabbath; during the week we have pursued the same plan either in this valley, and Hanamiai, the adjoining one, or in some other at a greater distance.

Education.

On this subject the brethren write:

The same indifference manifested by parents respecting their own improvement and salvation is discovered in reference to their children, consequently we have been unsuccessful in our attempts to establish a school for the instruction of the young. A few, however, have attended though, irre gularly; sometimes six or eight meet Mr. S. in his residence whilst at Hanatetena for the purpose of learning the alphabet and catechism. At Vaitahu the number is reduced to one, son of a chief who is dead. This boy lives with Iotete, is called by his name, and considered in some measure as under his charge. He is very steady, and regular in his attendance, and will, it is hoped, at some future day become useful to the Mission.

The principal station in Santa Christina is Vaitahu, where the brethren have resided since the commencement of their Mission. In the course of last year, with a view to enlarging their sphere of labour and bringing a greater number of people regularly under the sound of the Gospel, Mr. Stallworthy removed to Hanatetena, the central valley on the opposite side of the island. This arrange-, ment was, however, frustrated in consequence of a wicked attempt made soon after by a native of Dominica, to set on fire the Mission premises at Vaitahu.. The incendiary, whose object appears to have been to create an opportunity for plunder, was observed by an inmate in the act of applying a lighted cocoa-nut husk to the roof of the dwelling-house; and Mr. Rodgerson received information of the circumstance in sufficient time to employ means for extinguishing the flames before any serious damage was effected. The man who had endeavoured to put this nefarious design into execution was subsequently apprehended, and it is probable would have forfeited his life by order of Iotete and the other chiefs, had not Mr. Rodgerson interposed his influence with them to have him spared. The occurrence impressed the brethren with the necessity of taking measures for

• Place of assemblage.

their better protection in future; and Mr. Stallworthy consequently abandoned his intention of remaining at Hanatetena, and returned to Vaitahu.

Violent dissension among the Natives.

Tais

Scarcely had the distress produced in the minds of the brethren by the event last noticed abated, when a fierce and sanguinary contest, which they vaiuly employed the most earnest entreaties and expostulations to prevent, broke out between Iotete and the chiefs of the adjoining district of Hapatoni. was in the month of May. After a furious struggle, which lasted several days, the people of Hapatoni were defeated, their houses burnt, many of their number killed or reduced to a state of servitude, and the rest driven to the moutains. Speaking of the probable origin of this deplorable transaction, and of the manner in which the victorious chief and his adherents attempted, at a subse. quent period, to justify their conduct in connection with it, the Missionaries observe :

There is a degree of plausibility in what Iotete and his party state as being the cause of the war, viz.: that of the Hapatonians coming unawares and taking possession of their valley; but, after impartially and deliberately considering the affair, we are led, if not positively to assert, yet strongly to suspect, that Iotete wished to be possessed of Hapatoni in order to distribute the land among his friends, instead of allowing it to remain in the hands of those who had long been, and were likely to continue, his professed enemies. During the last twelve or eighteen months he has been most anxious to obtain muskets and ammunition from shipping touching for refreshments. The last captain who visited us received from him a whale boat nearly new, and worth from fifty to sixty dollars, in exchange for gunpowder, not exceeding in value ten or

twelve. He has always been afraid when a ship has come in sight, lest she should anchor at Hapatoni, and has prevented, as far as lay in his power, the people of that district from obtaining muskets or ammu

nition.

It is probable that some of the chiefs of Hapatoni might express themselves in terms of disapprobation that their trading should be interfered with by Iotete, and thus gave him an occasion, for which he had been waiting, of bringing an accusation against them, and of expelling them from their district.

As soon as we knew that hostilities would probably commence, we used all our influence with Iotete to induce him to desist, but he objected to every proposition, and seemed determined to be satisfied with nothing less than the expulsion of the Hapatonians. (To be continued.)

USEFUL ARTICLES FOR SALE IN INDIA. MRS. CAMPBELL of Calcutta, in a letter to a lady in England, referring to this subject, remarks: “I am sure you will forgive my presuming to advise you as to the kind of articles most valuable to us in this country. You have wisely judged that the most saleable are useful articles; such especially as can be worn by respectable ladies and their families; but such things as dolls, pincushions, chimney-ornaments, and the like, sell at a considerable loss.

Above all, we should prefer the value of the boxes to be expended in England in the purchase of canvas, worsted, rug-needles of different sizes, and patterns for rugs, for the use of my little pupils, who can now work very nicely. Their work sells very

well; and I can assure you it often gives me pain to see the dear children idle for want of materials. Good fine calico, or jean, for frocks, in the piece, would answer well for the girls to work up. I am thus explicit because we continually receive boxes which our friends state to be of a certain value, which we seldom realise, owing to the unsuitableness of their contents; and we are sure that you are as anxious as ourselves that your benevolence should flow in a useful channel. We have twenty poor orphans entirely dependent on us: if any of your circle would undertake the support of any of them we should be most happy to receive the funds for such a purpose.'

EMBARKATION OF REV. MESSRS. HOWE AND PRATT.

On the 8th of November, the Rev. William
Howe and Mrs. Howe, Rev. George Pratt

and Mrs. Pratt, appointed to the Navigators Islands; Mrs. Pitman, who returns to

ARRIVAL OF THE REV. J. HANDS AND FRIENDS AT MADRAS.

LETTERS RECEIVED FROM MISSIONARIES, &c.

SOUTH SEAS, 1838.-Rarotonga, Rev. C. Pitman, Feb. 28, and April 17.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.