286 RESIDENCE AT LATTAKOO. [1813. 
nations, wherefore I had undertaken a journey to 
his country to ask his permission to send them, and 
his protection for them when with him. He objected 
to their coming, by saying his people had no time to 
attend to their instructions, because they had to attend 
to their cattle, to sowing, reaping, and many other 
things ; besides," said he, " the things which these 
people teach are contrary to all our customs, which 
the people will not give up. It would not do for them 
to live at Lattakoo, but should they be willing to live 
at a distance, I should have no objection to send 
some of the children to them to learn the Dutch 
language." 
I stated to him that the teachers we should send, 
would convey information of the true God who made 
the heavens, the earth, and all creatures and things in 
them — of his love to the world — of the laws he has given 
respecting good and evil, and pointing to a bible which 
lay on the table, I assured him that that book con- 
tained every thing missionaries had to make known to 
him and his people, and that when missionaries should 
learn his language, they would change all its contents 
into his language. He seemed, by a significant shake 
of his head, to intimate that he considered what I said, 
an impossibility. To convince him that things could 
be written in his language, we read to him the names 
of his predecessors and all his family. For the first 
time he smiled, on hearing their names read over, and 
seemed full of astonishment and pleasure. We then 
assured him, that instruction would not interfere with 
