70 
Seven Years m Central Africa. [April, 
AN EFFORT AT SCHOOL-KEEPING. 
April Zth^ 1883. — My sickness is now over, and I am faring 
well, though food is very dear and scarce. I have had a school 
here for some little time. The boys learn pretty well, but it 
requires patience and perseverance to look after them. Hunting 
a young truant from house to house under a hot sun is not 
pleasant. The parents show little interest; in fact, they have 
little influence over their children. The leather thong rules 
the family above a certain age. A short time after I began 
teaching, the king cross-questioned me as to what I had come 
to teach. I spoke to him of sin, death, and judgment, and 
of God's love in the gift of His Son, and he listened attentively. 
"This," I said, "was my first and chief message, besides 
which I wanted to teach the children to read and write ; 
also all about the world they live in, and other things that the 
white men know, which are good for all people to know." The 
king then said, " Yes, yes, that is good, to read, write, and 
to know numbers. But don't, don't teach them the word of 
God; it's not nice. No, no, you must not teach that in 
this country." I kept silent till his excitement was over, and 
then said that we would talk again when he had thought more. 
The school went on for two months longer, when it had to 
be stopped because of an affection of my eyes. 
AGAIN BROUGHT LOW. 
For nearly six weeks I suffered severely from acute rheumatic 
iritis — a common sequel to malarial fever. During that time 
I had to bury myself in my hut ; but those grass-covered hovels 
are anything but dark, and, in spite of all the bandages and 
skins with which I covered my head as I lay on the ground, rays 
of light would come through, intensifying the pain in my eyes. 
On May loth we returned again to Lealui. 
A RULING PASSION. 
The Barotse are a very strange nation. Their country is 
bounded, as you know, on the south by the Zambesi and Chobe 
rivers, and this line of demarcation is strictly guarded against 
all comers. No white man is allowed on any condition to hunt 
