TO 
MY DEAR CHILDREN, 
CHARLOTTE LOUISA, 
PETER, ANNA AGNES, JOHN ANTES, CHARLES JOSEPH, 
BENJAMIN FREDERIC. 
My dear Children, 
IT was at your particular request, that I ivr ofe the foUoivbig 
circumstantial account ef my visit to South Afi^ica. Knowing, how 
deeply interested you felt in every thing relating to your Father, and that 
the summary account of my proceedings, contained in letters, would not satisfy 
you, I was encouraged, under all circumstances, to persevere. 
I did not then expect to he called upon to publish this Journal, which, 
though now given to the Public, I yet consider as dedicated to you. If its 
publication requires any apology, I am sure, that you will admit any that I 
can make, either for its style, its details, want of arrangement, occasional 
repetitions, or the freedom with which I have stated to you my sentiments 
and opinions on various subjects. 
My ojfficial report was immediately sent to those to ivhom it belonged; 
but as you all delight in the success of the service in which I ivas engaged^ 
I have introduced a pretty full account both of the external construction, and 
internal state, of a Mission of the United Brethren among the Heathen. 
Receive it, therefore, as a mark of my paternal affection, and as a tes- 
timony of my gratitude to God, for having blessed me ivith children, ichose 
filial duty, love and confidence, I have hitherto uninterruptedly enjoyed, and 
of whom I may cherish that jirm trust, that they are not only my children, 
hut " THE children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus." 
C. L LATROBE. 
