are firmly barred at night, with the long poles you see lying by them, to keep out wild animals. The inner enclosure is for their cattle, which they always drive into it at sundown.

The number of huts in a kraal is not always the same. Sometimes there are twenty, but not generally more than eight or ten. They are made by cutting long sticks, bending them hemispherically with the ends fastened in the ground, and covering them with mud and long grass. When finished, their appearance is somewhat like small flat hay-stacks. They are designed to be so tight and hard, that the rain cannot penetrate them, and no wild beasts have been known to destroy them except elephants. They are six feet high, and the opening at the base, about two feet, is just large enough for them to crawl in on their hands and knees. The floors are of clay, pounded very hard. There is a small hollow place in the centre, in which they build their fire and cook their food, and around which they sit, huddled together, eating, drinking, smoking and chatting incessantly. Their beds consist of mats made of reeds, low wooden stools for pillows, and blankets or skins for cov

erings. Their household furniture is scanty. A few wooden spoons, an earthen pot for boiling corn, and calabashes for milk and water, constitute the whole.

And now, perhaps, you would like to hear about the people who live in these miserable dwellings. They are, as you will imagine, pitiable objects. The greater part of them go almost entirely destitute of clothing, and they are addicted to many vices which render them disgusting to every virtuous person. As in all heathen countries, so here, the females are much more degraded than the men, and are considered by them as little better than slaves. Poor Zulu women! it makes my heart ache to think of their miserable condition. They are compelled to perform all the hard work, such as digging, planting, harvesting, and carrying burdens. Almost every day, this season, I have seen numbers of the women on the hills, hard at work from morning till night, with their "picks" or heavy hoes, while the men are hunting, sleeping, or lounging.

I think if you could once see the children of a Zulu kraal, your hearts would be touched with pity. Scarcely any care is taken of them by their parents. When the mother goes to her work in the field, if disposed, she takes her infant on her back; but if not, as is generally the case, she leaves it suspended in a sack upon the back of a child, not more than seven or eight years old; and thus

it is carried about all day. Only yesterday you might have seen four girls, the youngest about five years old and the eldest seven, coming towards the missionary's house, each with an infant on her back. They said they would like to live with the missionary, but could not, because they had to take care of the younger children. This, my dear friends, is heathenism; but the gospel can effect a great change, and is doing it. I should love to tell you about the few who have listened to its teachings, and tried to obey them; about the pretty little houses some of them have built, and their desire to become civilized and live in a Christian manner; what sacrifices they are compelled to make; and many things which I have not time for now. And then I would ask you all to pray earnestly, that all these heathen children may become true Christians,-lambs of Christ's flock,—and encourage you to make every exertion in your power to send them the gospel, and missionaries to teach them the way of salvation.

Your true friend,

Port Natal, South Africa, Nov. 17, 1849.

J. T.

THE GODS OF INDIA.

A

The serpent, the cow, the kite, the monkey, all these and many, many others, are the gods of India. The earth itself is a goddess; and in the spring, Mr. Arthur, a missionary in that country, used to hear frightful noises about the fields at night, proceeding from the agricultural laborers who were offering sacrifices to her. In the Goomsoor country, it is usual to offer a human victim in sacrifice to the earth. wretched man is tied to a post, and, surrounded by a great many others, each armed with a knife, at a given signal, they all rush upon him; and without stunning him first, or killing him at once, each man cuts from his person, as large a piece as he can get in the struggle, and runs off to divide it among the people of his village, who hasten to bury it in their fields, while it is yet warm. Oh! how sad and fearful a thing it is to lose sight of God, and wander in the darkness of idolatry! "The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty."

Not the earth alone, the sun is a god; the moon is a god; the sea is a god; the winds, the clouds, the rainbow, these are all gods. The banyan tree, the margosa, and

other trees and herbs, are gods. The shalagrâma, a black schistous stone, is worshiped as a god. The Hindoos say, that one of the wives of their god Vishnu was metamorphosed into a plant, and that Vishnu, to show his affection, himself took the form of this black stone, in order to keep by her side. From that time they have worshiped the shalagrâma.

And these are the gods of Goobbee! Miserable things indeed! What could they teach us? How could they comfort us in the hour of death? My little readers, be thankful that you are pointed to another God-the God of the Bible. But is he your God? Do you serve him? Do you love him? If not, you are no better off than the Hindoos.-Miss. Rep.

LOVE OF THE BIBLE.

The Rev. T. Humberstone was naturally of a generous disposition; but when he was about six years old, a fit of selfishness seemed to seize him, so that he saved up every penny of his pocket-money like a little miser. At length, having got a certain sum, he told his friends that now he had enough to buy his great wish, and at once he set off, as they supposed, to buy some new toy. But in a little while he returned, his countenance bright with joy, and, unpacking a parcel which he had brought under his arm, he cried, to their great surprise, as he took off the covering, "Now I have it; my own too! Oh how I have longed for one of my own!" It was a new Bible.-Juv. Miss. Mag.

THE LIBERAL GIFT.

In a church in the country of the Chiroquois, in North America, the missionary made a collection amongst the members of his flock, who were all poor, which was to be devoted to the work of missions. A young man, poor in this world's riches, for he did not even possess a change of clothes, but rich in piety and zeal, put down his name on the list as a subscriber of twenty-five pence. When the time came for him to pay, he was quite destitute of money; he being without work, and for some time had only just been

able to provide himself with food. What should he do? A good excuse for not fulfilling his engagement was not wanting. But no; he learns that at another settlement, about forty-five miles off, there was work to be had, and that the work-people were paid in money. He immediately set off on foot, swam across two rivers, offered his services to the people, worked hard till he gained the small sum he was in need of, and returned in the same manner, happy and contented, to give it into the missionary's hands. Here was, indeed, an offering of some value; it was outwardly small, but it was nevertheless not overlooked by Him who preferred the widow's mite to the rich gifts of the great one of the earth. Do you give for missionary purposes, dear read ers, as much in proportion as this young Indian ?-Children's Miss. Mag.

BLACK EYES AND BLUE EYES.

At Ningpo, in China, where Miss Aldersey keeps a school for little Chinese girls, mothers are afraid to send their children to her; and what do you think is the reason? Why, they say that Miss Aldersey wants the children to take out their eyes, which are very black, and send them as presents to her friends in England, to whom they are very valuable; as they say the English have all blue eyes, with which, of course, it is impossible to see!-Wes. Juv. Offering.

THE BLIND NEGRESS.

A blind negro woman of the west coast of Africa, was asked whether she knew Jesus, when she made the following reply:" If I were to say I know him, I fear I should speak an untruth; for I do not know him as I ought to know him. But, if I were to say I know him not, this would also be wrong, for I feel his presence in my heart."

She was then asked, whether it was not a great grief to her that she could not read the Bible, when she answered: "I can read it through the eyes of others; my sister reads to me portions of God's word, and I feel my heart strengthened, and light comes into my mind, as the sun rises or bursts through a cloud. It looks like a stranger coming and knocking at my door in a dark night, and I arise and let him

in, but find he is no stranger, for he speaks the words, and brings the comfort I have had before." Again she said, “I think I only know in part, but I shall know Jesus altogether when I die and go to his house above.”—Juv. Miss. Mag.

A HINDOO'S CURIOSITY.

A missionary in India gives the following pleasing account of the curiosity of some Hindoos who came to see him:

Every thing in the house was a curiosity. A Hindoo thinks his house very comfortably furnished, when his four walls have a roof to them, and a floor, and contain a few water-pots, and cooking-pots, a pestle and mortar to pound rice with, a hand-mill, and a mat for a bed. The table, in the house of the foreigners, was the first thing that attracted the notice of the Hindoos. What could it be for? Why could not they place their food on their knees, as the Hindoos did? Amongst the chief wonders was a watch. Some of them had heard of such a thing before, and craved a sight of it. They eyed it at a distance, bent down their ear to listen to its ticking, just as a little child would do, then ventured to take it in their hand, and turned it over and over, and looked at it before and behind, uttering many exclamations of surprise. "How does it know the time?" they asked. "How long will it live?" They were very much astonished, when they were told that it was not alive. "Look at it," they cried; "it moves; listen to it, it speaks; how can any thing move and speak, if it is not alive?"Miss. Repos.

"SAID" AND "DONE."

Once upon a time, on a Sunday afternoon, a lad was so lazy in his motions that he did not get to the church-door till the congregation were coming out, and he said to the first man he met,

"What! is it all done?"

"No," said the man, "it's all said, but I'm thinking it will be a long time before it will be all done."