MISSIONARIES AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS 



eaten by lions, leopards, and hyenas. I know of one in- 

 stance where an old woman was thus thrown out by her 

 own son. The poor old soul had strength enough to free 

 herself and crawl out of the bush, from whence she dragged 

 herself to a neighboring village, where a second son of hers 

 lived. As soon as this young brute saw the condition of 

 his mother he, instead of trying to care for her, took a 

 couple of other young men with him and dragged the 

 unfortunate old woman out into the bush outside their 

 village, where they mercilessly left her to the wild beasts. 

 Again liberating herself, and exerting her utmost efforts, 

 she succeeded in crawling to a nearby mission station, 

 where she was most kindly received and where the mis- 

 sionaries built a special little hut for her near their own 

 house. Imagine their joy and surprise when the old 

 woman a few days later had recovered sufficiently to be 

 able to be around ! She subsequently became a Christian, 

 and was still alive when I left Africa in February, 1910. 



The position of woman in Africa is, as in almost all 

 heathen countries, most deplorable. She has no rights 

 whatsoever. She does not inherit with her brothers, and 

 when a man dies who has a great deal of property and, 

 therefore, a good many wives, these are inherited, with 

 the rest of his belongings, by his sons if he has any, or 

 else by the nearest male relative. A great deal of sickness 

 and many curable diseases play great havoc among the 

 tribes, where a little bit of care and instruction in the 

 very rudiments of hygiene would improve their conditions 

 greatly. Therefore, the whole of East Africa is in great 

 need of missionary work, which should not only be evan- 

 gelistic but also medical and industrial. 



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