226 
THE CHILDREN’S FEAST. 
for liis love of mankind, and particularly of chil- 
dren. By them his name is at once reverenced 
and feared, for from their earliest years they are 
impressed with the idea that he is cognisant of 
their conduct, and will award them accordingly 
on his yearly visit. 
Some thirty yearn ago there was a disposition 
in Holland among certain parties, doubtless under 
ecclesiastical influence, to substitute Christmas- 
day as the children’s feast ; but the hulk of the 
population cling to the old tradition, and it is 
probable that for many years yet the kind saint 
will meet his little friends on the evening of 
6th December. 
On 13th December H. returned from Bourou, 
He had accomplished a journey into the interior, 
only three times attempted in two hundred years, 
with results which were satisfactory in many 
senses ; but he bad learnt unmistakably that 
further work in the Moluccas under the present 
Resident was vain. We bethought us of the 
invitation of the Governor of Portuguese Timor 
to visit the island under him, and decided to 
leave by the steamer in which H, had just come. 
Two busy days of packing, a sorrowful leave- 
taking from many friends, whom the strong 
