DIVINE WORSHIP IN SOSHONG. 423 



attend worship; and what gives such relief to the weary in 

 heart, the worn-out in body, the depressed in spirits ? 



I leave the wagon, and in front of the house find four 

 or five stalwart bronzed men assembled ; some are seated 

 on the terrace, others lounge upon the steps that lead 

 up to it. I join the group. Few words are spoken; 

 possibly nothing more than a bluff salute. Soon after 

 the worthy minister comes forth and summons us to 

 worship . With heavy tread and serious thoughts we enter 

 the room where it is intended we should listen to Divine 

 truths. Close to the table on which is laid the Word 

 of God sits Mrs. Mackenzie ; by her*side are her children, 

 bright, happy, and bonnie specimens of what we all were 

 in the days of childhood. How much those innocents 

 do to recall our purer and better days cannot be over- 

 estimated ! 



At length a psalm is sung, the gruff voice of the 

 wanderer mingles with the gentler cadence of the bonnie 

 bairns. The room receives the melody and hands it to 

 the kloof, and the wild inanimate rocks of Bechuana Land 

 echo in chorus the song addressed to the Christians' 

 Grod. Ay, far as we are from home, from the land of 

 our fathers, the country of our progenitors, still the 

 religion they believed, they taught, they fought for, is 

 echoing in a kloof in the South African desert. 



Our pastor rises ; no flowery language is in his mouth, 

 but earnest truths that strike home to the heart, that 

 destroy the thought of argument, for all that hear believe 

 that they are incontrovertible. 



Look, reader, into that little room, made neat and 

 attractive by a lady's skill, and see the one broad- 

 shouldered, stalwart adviser, his helpmate and pretty 

 children, joined by several browned and bronzed mature 



