MISSIONARIES AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS 



year. Other men of the same type are the District Com- 

 missioners, Messrs. H. B. Partington of the Lumbwa 

 District, and C. ColHer of the Laikipia-Masai Reserve, 

 who are certainly two of the ablest men in British East 

 Africa. With these last-named three officials I have had 

 several long conversations about the work of mission- 

 aries, and they have all agreed in that regard that the 

 missionaries in their respective districts are doing a splen- 

 did work for the betterment and enlightening of the 

 people. 



Four years elapsed between my first and last visit to 

 Africa. I must say, for the sake of truth and for the en- 

 couragement of all well-wishers of missionary enterprise, 

 that I noticed a very marked improvement in the behavior 

 and appearance of the natives among whom faithful and 

 efficient missionaries have been laboring. It is often said 

 by the critics that native converts, generally called " mis- 

 sion boys," are inferior to those who still remain heathen, 

 as if to say that the influence of Christianity upon these 

 natives would have a bad effect. I want to say here in 

 explanation of this that a great many young heathen, who 

 have understood the advantage of the teachings of mission 

 schools, go to these schools for a few terms and study 

 enough to learn to read and write and to be trained a 

 little in domestic sciences. When this is accomplished 

 they leave the mission, in many cases without ever having 

 accepted Christianity. They are then generally called 

 " mission boys," and by many people supposed to be native 

 converts. 



In many instances some of these " mission boys " are 

 certainly greater rascals than the absolutely ignorant 



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