20 
Seven Years in Central Africa. 
[May, 
Up here the price of labour and goods is fabulous; scarcely 
any thing can be bought from the natives for less than a shilling, 
and one could purchase as much with a penny at home. 
Some of these native Christians put me to shame by their 
heartiness and zeal. The Lord has chosen in me a feeble and 
worthless servant ; but if my feebleness and worthlessness do but 
serve to exalt His might and worth I shall not have come here in 
vain. I am living alone some little distance out of the town in a 
house lent me by the chief, and have many opportunities of speak- 
ing and reading with the people, who come to me for medicine. 
May 2,rd. — Mr. Hepburn left last week for England. He and 
Mrs. Hepburn could not have treated me with greater kindness. 
My days are fully occupied in acquiring the Sechuana language, 
teaching some white children, and doctoring a few sick people. 
I do not know when my next step may be taken. I can assure 
you honestly that since coming to this country I have set myself 
in many ways to find out and prove whether the Lord would not 
have me to work elsewhere rather than to go into the far interior 
alone. Now I feel more persuaded than ever to go on, and 
many of the mountains of difiiculty have turned out to be only 
ground fogs. 
May i6th. — I have now a servant called Setobi who is willing 
to go anywhere with me ; and if he proves to be a Christian, as I 
hope he is, there will thus be a second witness. "In the mouth 
of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.^' 
Have just been reading Psalm Ixxxix. 8, " O Lord God of hosts, 
who is a strong Lord like unto Thee? or to Thy faithfulness round 
about Thee ? " His faithfulness is as strong as Himself, so that 
He cannot fail in the complete fulfilment of His promises. Oh 
for that precious faith (precious because God-honouring) that can 
lie down and rest, as the Lord Jesus did, in the midst of the 
blackest storm, knowing this only, that He is near and that He 
knows ! How often we reverse God's plan, and instead of resting 
our souls on the Mighty One, when the devil is roaring round, we 
are filled with dismay. If in time of temptation we fail to "watch 
and pray," and are found sleeping, we easily fall into his snare. 
The love of Christ was not only a love unto death, but it 
is still a living, active love. A moment of heroic love for a 
fellow-creature might constrain a man to risk his life to drag 
