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A ROCK OF REFUGE.

away my flocks, and what have I more?" Deprive an African nation of their cattle, and they must rob others, or perish. All the grain they raise would be consumed in a month: on the milk of their cows is their chief dependence: some wild roots might prolong their miserable lives for a few days.

A nation far remote from Lattakoo had been robbed of their cattle by a people who lived beyond them. In desperation they marched south, attacking nation after nation to obtain their cattle; thereby spreading misery over a vast extent of country. To a people dwelling in tents, the judgment would deprive them of a home and all means of support.

A ROCK OF REFUGE.

The Lord is my defence, and my God is the rock of my refuge.-PSALM XCIV. 22.

Table-Mountain, which stands immediately behind Capetown, seems to be composed of one solid mass of rock, 4000 feet high, and 12 miles in circumference at the base, and a perpendicular cliff, hundreds of feet high, all round, which is only accessible at two or three points. To this mountain or rock, many slaves, tired of bondage, and from a natural love of liberty, have fled for refuge from their taskmasters, though it be in sight of their master's dwelling, nay, almost hangs over it. There they dwell in perfect safety, baffling all attempts to recapture them. They frequently descend from it in the night-time to

SETTING HIS NEST ON HIGH.

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pilfer what they can for their support, or to receive supplies from their black brethren.

Such a state must be very distressing, truly uncomfortable; so that when the intelligence reached the Cape, that slavery had been abolished by British philanthropy, the inhabitants of that rock had good reason to sing, yea to shout from the top of that mountain.

SETTING HIS NEST ON HIGH.

Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil.-HAB. ii. 9.

Instinct teaches birds to place their nests, where their eggs, and afterwards their young, shall be most beyond the reach of depredators. Thus the eagles build on the uppermost branches of the loftiest trees, or on projections from inaccessible cliffs, others suspend their nests by a cord fastened to the extreme end of the most projecting branches of trees, to be safe from the inroads of serpents,-others unite as a colony to form a huge nest, about the size of a nine gallon cask, of such thickness and strength as to be impregnable to their common enemies; and the gates or holes leading to their different apartments, for security they place in the bottom of the nest, to render it inaccessible to serpents, and more difficult to birds of prey.

Many, like the king of Babylon, by nefarious practices, by the accumulation of wealth, and the forming powerful family connections, might be

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A TREE LIES WHERE IT FALLS.

aiming at securing themselves in the unlimited enjoyment of their earthly comforts, viewing their wealth as their strong city.-Prov. x. 15. Providence can easily bring them down, as he says to the king of Edom, by Obadiah (verse 4): "Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord."*

WHERE THE TREE FALLETH, THERE IT LIES.

If the tree falleth to the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth there it shall be. --ECCLES. xi. 3.

Passing across a wood or forest in Africa, I passed some of the loftiest trees I had before seen, and all composed of the hardest timber, indeed many of them were the iron tree. Their circumference was very great. Several near me had been broken by the stump, and fallen to the ground, as I conjectured, two or three centuries ago. There they continued to lie, and will lie, till they gradually crumble into dust, which, from their solid consistence, may be several more centuries to come. On viewing them, I could not but recollect the above text, which reminds me of a late noble and pious lady, who, in her younger years, was walking alone in her own domains during a gale of wind, when she observed a large tree so shaken that her attention was attracted to it; and, while looking, down it came with a crash

See this admirably illustrated under the article Idumea, in Keith's Evidence from Prophecy.-ED.

RIVERS MADE A WILDERNESS,

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to the ground. While there it lay, perfectly still, the above passage was impressively brought to her recollection; and this circumstance, she afterwards acknowledged, was the first thing that led her to seek an interest in the salvation of God while time continued; for if she died, she thought, uninterested therein, she should remain, like the tree, in the same state through eternity.

RIVERS MADE A WILDERNESS.

Behold, at my rebuke, I make the rivers a wilderness; their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.-ISAIAH 1. 2.

The Krooman (or Koorooman) river, in Africa, which is a considerable stream, used to run in an oblique direction across the great southern Zahara desert, till it emptied itself into the Great Orange River. Now it sinks out of sight into the sand almost immediately on entering the desert, only a few miles after the junction of the Macklareen river with its waters. As a proof that it had once run in the desert, I travelled ten or fifteen miles on its hard dry channel, along which it had run after entering the desert, having a steep bank on both sides, beyond which there was nothing but deep sand. The aged natives told me that in their young days there was a considerable river in that channel, and sometimes rose so high that it could not be crossed for a long time. They first blamed the Matslaroo people for drying it up by means of witchcraft, but afterwards acknowledged it must have been done by the hand of God.

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THE MOUNTAINS ON FIRE.

On its ceasing to run, all the fish it contained must have died for thirst, or want of water, as stated in the text; and the bed and banks have become a wilderness, as I found them on our way to Turreehey. Thus rivers run while God permits them, but they will dry up at his rebuke, when it pleaseth him.

FIRE BURNETH THE WOOD, AND SETTETH MOUNTAINS ON FIRE.

As the fire burneth the wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire.—Psalm lxxxiii. 14.

Trees in very dry and sultry weather have been set on fire by friction, or two trees shaken by the wind, rubbing against each other, have taken fire, which has consumed whole forests. The flame of a candle or taper put to the grass or bushes on a mountain, in the winter season, when all in Africa is dry, will soon make the mountain appear to be on fire; and, to a stranger to such sights, has, in the night-time, a magnificent appearance. In the day-time it appears like a smoking volcano.

HABITS OF FEROCIOUS ANIMALS.

Thou makest darkness, and it is night; wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. The yourg lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.--PSALM civ. 20-22.

This contains a true and brief history of the