292 
MISSIONARY LIFE 
All was going well at Shengay. Our corn was* 
planted, and some of it is up. I left them plant- 
ing arrowroot. Mr. Wilberforce was busy with 
the school. The chief was at Thumbah, trying 
to find out who poisoned Chief Cockle. 
Last evening we went over to a small village 
near here, and as I looked at the poverty and 
wretchedness of the people I thanked God that I 
was born in a Christian land. The rickety and 
• tumble-down condition of their mud-huts, the 
great scarcity of clothing among them, — the 
children having no clothing, — the devil -houses 
and the train-houses, together with the gregrees^ 
charms, and sabbas worn by the people and hung 
over their doors, prove that Satan does not waste 
his time in idleness, but that he has a strong hold 
upon these people. Some Mohammedans were 
sitting about on their mats, with their beads, 
ready to say their prayers just as the sun would 
drop out of sight in the West. They all sit 
with their faces to the East, toward Mecca, and- 
bend forward until their foreheads strike the 
ground. Some have done this so much that there 
is quite an abrasion on their forehead. They sit 
on their mats in front of their huts, or in the- 
barra, and pray, looking all about them mean- 
while. 
We are much encouraged in our work here*. 
