26 NOTIONS OF A FUTURE STATE. 



native appellation of " Omkangeza," or l( rays of 

 light,' ' strikingly descriptive and characteristic of 

 this delightful spot. It was, as I have just ohserved, 

 the Sabbath morn ; and, although no pleasing sound 

 of village bells was heard — although no distinct indi- 

 cations proclaimed the hallowed day of rest, — a gene- 

 ral repose of nature pervaded the whole landscape, 

 and seemed to inspire devotion in language more 

 powerfully impressive than any human influence I 

 had ever felt. Loitering along the mountain, I met 

 accidentally two Caifers armed as usual with their 

 assagais, and questioned them, through Mr. Kay's 

 interpreter, respecting their ideas of a future state # . 

 Their attention became arrested ; and one of them, 

 an old man, throwing down his assagai, and seating 

 himself on the ground, (a method commonly adopted 

 to show a desire for conversation) exclaimed abruptly, 

 " That is what I want to hear about ;" his counte- 

 nance at the same time brightening up with a degree 

 of interest and animation that I have seldom wit- 

 nessed among these people. " Where shall I go," 

 said he, " when I die ? " The Caffer is very poor 



* All the natives who were ever questioned upon the subject, ex" 

 pressed a belief that man's chance of eternity was no greater than 

 that of a dog ; and that after death the only prospect was utter anni- 

 hilation. Not one of them could conceive the most distant idea of a 

 God, the maker of all things and Father of all men. Such a being 

 was so far beyond the comprehension of these people, that they could 

 not imagine any power able to make black and white men the chil- 

 dren of one parent.— Owen's Narrative of Voyages on the Eastern 

 Coast of Africa. 



