86 EFFECTS OF TEACHING. 



there is a wide belt of country which opposes an almost insur- 

 mountable barrier to the introduction of horses into the remoter 

 or central districts. 



Just before the party reached the Orange river, which crossed 

 their route some three hundred miles from Cape Town, the 

 monotony of the journey was relieved by a vast herd of spring- 

 bucks, which seemed to be moving away from the Kalahari 

 desert. These animals are said to feed sometimes in herds 

 which exceed forty thousand head. Spreading over vast ex- 

 panses, their quivering motion and tossing antlers present a 

 view of singular beauty. 



Across the Orange, they passed through the territory of the 

 Griquas — a mixed race, sprung of Dutch and Hottentot parents. 

 That famous chieftain who behaved so nobly toward the colony, 

 a Christian man of whom much is said in " Moffat's Scenes and 

 Labors in South Africa," ruled these people. Among these 

 Griquas there are many Bechuanas living, and both the races 

 have received much benefit from Christian teaching. Dr. 

 Livingstone was a little disappointed in their lives. It is diffi- 

 cult for even those who spend many years among the heathen 

 to judge them fairly. It is hardly to be expected that persons 

 brought out of such degradation to Christ should immediately 

 assume the proportions and symmetry which we expect of 

 Christian character in our land. Christianity has done much 

 for them. The Bechuana mission has thrown over the whole 

 section the air of civilization, and made Kuruman a retreat 

 from the heathenism beyond. It found the Griqua woman 

 clothed only with a bunch of leather strings hanging from her 

 waist, and the skin of an antelope thrown over her shoulders ; 

 the men were smeared over with a mixture of fat and ochre, 

 with only a few square inches of leather for an apron ; that was 

 their wardrobe. Christianity has clothed these people and 

 induced them to attend religious meetings regularly. It has 

 given a Sabbath to the people which they respect. Surely, 

 though we may not compare them with the societies at home, 

 we may not despise the results which missionary efforts have 

 accomplished. 



At Kuruman Dr. Livingstone spent some time with his 

 venerable father-in-law, who had been at that time thirty-five 



