NAMAQTJALAND. 
151 
their work in this part of Africa. After many 
years of apparent trial and difficulty, they 
abandoned it, however ; and the Wesleyan Me- 
thodists have now, we believe, the sole super- 
intendance of this people 
Writing of Namaqualand, Mr. Moffat says; — 
u Great Namaqualand, as it is usually called, 
lies north of the Orange river, on the Western 
coast of Africa, between the 23° and 28° of 
South latitude ; bounded, on the North, by the 
Damaras, and, on the East, by an extensive sandy 
desert, called, by Mr. Campbell, the South Zara, 
or Zahara. As an inhabited country, it is 
scarcely possible to conceive one more destitute 
and miserable ; and it is impossible to traverse 
its extensive plains; its rugged undulating sur- 
face; and to descend to the beds of its waterless 
rivers, without viewing it as, emphatically, "a 
land of droughts bearing the heavy curse of 
"Man's first disobedience, and the fruit 
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste 
Brought death into the world, and all our woe." 
Meeting with an individual on my journey thi- 
ther, who had spent years in that country, I 
asked, What is its character and appearance ? 
"Sir," he replied, "you will find plenty of 
sand and stones, a thinly scattered population, 
always suffering from want of water, on plains 
and hills roasted like a burnt loaf under the 
