Atf u-t Honoured with a Special Blessing and Silver Medal from our late Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII. (Dec. 1 890) OCTOBER, 1906. AND ITAKE THE CHILD. 'thy name, went abroao to ihei ... orr: tec- xivii-17 dTHEE- ISLAND TeXrjsot top 1 amwTtiithe t I wIlluring thy TRo ri "re - X-AST aTn’d Will Father,thee 7ROMTheWEST. IWfLL SaYTO THeNoRjEH^VE ZS THUS SAITH THE LORD or H0ST3. " #1 IWill SAVE MY PEOPLE FROM THE LAND Of THE LAST [ETHIOPIA s An Illustrated Monthly Record in connection with the Society of the Propagation of the Faith PRICE 3d. THREE SHILLINGS YEARLY, POST FREE. PRICE 3d. CONTENTS OF OCTOBER NUMBER. I The Catholic Church in Tunis. ( Concluded.)—By Dom Maternus Spitz, 0.3. B. ... ... 81 The Missionary Spirit.— Be the Very Rey. Father Sykes, S J. ... ... ... ... ••• 85 An Appeai ... ... ... 89 Young Folks’ Corner .. ... ... ... ... 89 St. Mary’s Convent, Allahabad .j ... 90 Khargpur.— 1 > y Father Louwyck, S.J. ... ... 91 My Missionary Experiences in Basutoland.—By Father Deltour, O.M.I. ... ... .... ... ... 94 Missionary Notes and News. ... ... 95 Special Prayer Intention.—Spiritual Alms.—Donations. 96 ILLUSTRATIONS. Frontispiece, representing the type of all Apostolic men—also Missioners going forth from the Centre of Unity, under the blessing of the Holy Father, to carry the Faith throughout the World, according to prophecy and to Fact. Sou l'H Africa : Basutos at Home.—Basuto Woman Grinding Corn.—Kafir Women Hairdressing.—The “Bihan,” Waterfall in Basutoland.—Course OF THE MaLUTWENYANA RlVEU IN BASUTOLAND. Publisher : J. DONOVAN, 19, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON. LIBRARY "it OF THE FRANCISCO COLLEGE FOR WOMEN ADVERTISEMENTS. October. 1906. BROWN hmm COES FLOUR Is a World-Wide Necessary for Tie Nursery, the Siek Room, and the Family Table. EPPS’S COCOA! N E COCOA-NIB EXTRACTS (Tea Like). lie choicest roasted nibs (broken-up beans) of the natural Cocoa on being subjected to powerful hydraulic, pressure, give forth their excess of oil, leaving for use a finely-flavoured powder— '* Coco&ine,” a product whioh, when prepared »ith boiling water, has the consistence of tea, of which it is now, with many, beneficially taking the place. Its active principle being a gentle nerve stimulant, supplies the needed energy without unduly exciting the system. Sold only in tiiiB, labelled JAMBS EPPS and CO., Ltd. Homoeopathic Chemists, London. A. M. D. G. Mount St. Mary’s College, Founded I841 Seven Miles from Chkstkkfikld, Derbyshire. BOARDING SCHOOL, Conducted by Jesuit Fathers. 36-40 guineas per annum. Bracing air, large playing fields, liome farm. The course includes preparation for the Oxford Locals, senior and junior, Loudon Matri- culaiion, and the Science Examinations of South Kensington.—Shorthand is now taught.—Address The Rector, as above. OLD POSTAGE STAMPS Send your old Postage Stamps (English or Foreign) to the “Oeuvre do Marie Iromaculee ” Address Ml.LK. Leon, 60, 3it6 tfie gozietry of t6e propagation of fbe ^aitB. No. 246, OCTOBER, 1906 Vol. XXI SOUTH AFRICA : THE BASUTOS AT HOME. (S('£ /. 94 .) THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN TUNIS. By Dom Maternus Spitz, O.S.B. {Continuedfrom f. 66.) The Order of Our Lady of riercy. HE Religious of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy did not only content themselves with redeeming cap- tives, but engaged themselves to take the place of Christians who were in danger of denying their faith, or whose ransom they were unable to pay, and remained as hostages in the hands of the Mussulmans until the entire sum demanded had been liquidated. And how many of these Apostles sacrificed their own lives in order to save that of others, or were put to death by the fanatic followers of ihe “ Prophet,” God only knows. History has only preserved the names of a few. F. Peter was put to death in i 247 in the streets of Tunis because he was unable to pay the whole sum for the ransom of 208 Christians. F. Thibault was burnt to death in T 253 justwhen he wanted to leave the town with 1 29 captives, whose ransom he had paid ; and all the Christians were sold again. Among the martyrs of charity are further mentioned F. Peter du Chemin, 1284, FF. Otto, Adolph and James in 1315, Alexandra and Arthand with 30 other Religious in 1317. The Trinitarians and Ransomers or “ Fathers of the Redemption” were supported by the Franciscan Friars whom St. Francis himself had sent to Tunis to console and encourage the Christians in 1219 ; nay, Raymundus Lullus (died 13 15) began even to preach to the Mohammedans, in 1289, at the risk of his own life, and was three times im- prisoned. The Dominicans who at an early period were called upon to preach the Gospel in Tunis by Pope 82 ILLUSTRATED CATHOLIC MISSIONS. [October, Alexander IV, (in 1256), were successful in their work, not only among the Christian captives and renegades, but also among the Mohammedans, of whom they converted many thousands in Tunis. Among the “Apostles of Charity” in the 15th century, was St. Lawrence Compani, Superior ot the Order of Our Lady of Mercy, who together with F. Bozet remained for sixteen vaars in captivity. The gift of miracles, the preaching and saintly life of F. Compani so touched the king, that he, his wife and eight of his children became Christians. Twice he was sent as ambassador to Alphonsus V, king of Naples and Aragon, to conclude peace, and twice F. Compani re- turned to Tunis to resume his chains after the peace-negotia- tions were finished. Spain Interferes on Behalf of the Christians. The conversion of the king, however, seems to have exercised but little influence on the situation of the Christian slaves ; for when Charles V took possession of Tunis, in 1535, he found still 20,000 Christians in captivity. The state of confusion, and the civil wars under which Tunis suffered in the 16th century, gave Spain an opportunity to interfere on behalf of the Christian slaves. Cheireddin Barbarossa, a famous pirate of Algiers, had conquered Tunis, deposed Muley Hassan and incorporated his dominions to the Turkish Empire (1535). Hassan there- upon appealed to Charles V. The Emperor, supported by the Knights of Malta and 30,000 men, took Tunis, rein- stated Hassan, imposed upon him a concession of religious toleration to all Christian slaves without any distinction of origin, and freedom to establish themselves in any part of the kingdom, to build churches and monasteries and to practise their religion. The so-called “ Reformation ” in Germany, however, prevented Charles V from pursuing his victory, and Tunis fell back into the hands of the Turks. Don Juan d’Austria, Andrea Doria and Philip II fought valiantly against the Mohammedans without, however, ob- taining lasting results. The slave-trade with Christians began to flourish anew, and the different nations such as England, Austria in 1725, Sweden in 1736, were obliged to make special treaties with the Bey of Tunis in order to protect their subjects. France Puts an End to the Slave-trade. It was only in 1830 that France, by the conquest of Algiers, put an end to this traffic in human freight. White slave-trade in Tunis was abolished on August 8th 1830; that of the Negroes only sixteen years later by an edict of the Bey (1846.) By an edict of 1857, Bey Sidi Mahomet granted religious toleration, and, by that of i860, equal rights were given to Mohammedans and non- Mohamme- dans; so the Catholic Church could begin to breathe again. But all the time the Church and her Apostles had remained faithful to their duties. In the same year in which Savary de Breves, French ambassador at Constan- tinople, obtained from Sultan Achmed I the realease of a great number of French captives who had been retained in Tunis, we find St. Vincent de Paul among the victims of piracy. On his way from Marseilles to Toulon he had been made a prisoner and conducted to Tunis. Here he was sold first to a fisherman, then to a doctor and finally to a renegade. After having converted the last, he made good his escape to France together with his convert in 1607. The horrors and cruelties to which the Christians were exposed, induced St Vincent to form a project of relieving them. But 40 years elapsed before his generous design could be carried out. The Capuchin Friars of Sicily. In the meantime the Pope had not forgotten the land of St. Cyprian and St. Augustine. In 1624, Urban VIII entrusted the Tunisian missions to the care of the Capuchin Friars of Sicily, who under the name of “ slave procurators ” were to administer spiritual consolation to the Christians imprisoned in the bagnios, as well as to the Christian residents in the country. The Superior of this mission was F. Angelo di Coniglione who had spent 25 years of his life in the bagnios and was now obliged to live again the common life with the prisoners in order to be to them a spiritual father. The Trinitarians as well as the Ransomers continued their work among the 7,000 Christian slaves and 4,000 renegades who had forsaken their religion amidst the Mahometans. In 1636, the Capuchins of Sicily were replaced by those of the province of Genoa and fixed their residence on the little island of Tabarka, then a Genuese possession. Here they remained till 1652 when the revolu- tions and wars between Tunis, Algiers and Tripolis, and the hostile fanaticism of the Mohammedans forced them tc* leave their abode. St. Vincent de Paul’s Work. In this general distress St. Vincent de Paul was enabled to undertake the work which he had been preparing for 40 years, i.e., to provide for the corporal and spiritual necessities of the Christian captives, to alleviate their sufferings and privations by alms, to sustain their faith, to instruct them and to give them every possible religious help, as the number of apostasies, in consequence of the trials to which they were exposed, caused the loss of many souls. In 1645, St. Vincent sent one of his disciples, F. Louis Gu6rin, to Tunis, in the first instance as chaplain to the French Consul, M. Lange du Martin, and then as chap- lain to the Christian slaves. At first he was obliged to work secretly, but in a short time he was enabled to carry out his work openly and even with some solemnity. The bagnios were transformed into chapels in which the Christian slaves could freely assist at Holy Mass. Tlie little colony had soon its martyrs and confessors. F. Gu6rin, however, did not confine his zeal to Tunis, but went round its neighbourhood and even penetrated into the interior as far as Bizerta. Among his converts was Tcherubi, the son of Dey Hadsh-Mahomet. When F. Guerin asked him one day to allow him to get another assistant priest, Mahomet replied: “You may have two or three if you wish. I will protect them as I do you on every occasion, and I will refuse you nothing ; for I know that you do no harm to any one, but, on the contrary that you do good to everybody.” At the request of F. 1906.] ILLUSTRATED CATHOLIC MISSIONS. 83 Gu6rin, St. Vincent de Paul sent F. John Le Vacher, who arrived at Tunis on November 22nd, 1647. When in the following year both the French consul and F. Guerin died of the plague, F. Le Vacher was appointed to act as French consul in Tunis, and exercised this office from 1049-53, and again from 1556-66. About this time, F. Le Vacher was also appointed Vicar Apostolic of Tunis. As such he tried every possible means to stop the slave-trade and to release the unhappy victims detained in the bagnios. In 1652, he consecrated two public chapels, the first ones erected in Tunis since the conquest of Carthage by the Mohammedans in 698. For 13 years F. Le Vacher carried on his apostolate of charity both as Vicar Apostolic and French consul among the renegades and captives, when, in 1666, he was suddenly obliged to leave Tunis in con- sequence of some mean intrigues of the French merchants. He went to Algiers where he obtained the crown of martyrdom in 1683. With him closes the Lazarist mission in Tunis ; but the flock was not left without a shepherd. Before his departure, F. Le Vacher had ransomed two Italian Capuchins to whom he entrusted the care of his spiritual children. Thus the mission of Tunis came under the jurisdiction of The Italian Capuchins who governed it as a Prefecture Apostolic depending on the Vicariate of Algiers dll the year 1842. As there were only two chapels in the whole prefecture, the Capuchins endeavoured to increase the number of stations and churches; they founded stations at Capo Negro in 1685, which was soon followed by others at Capo Rosso, Bizerta and Porto Farina. In 1710, the Spanish Trinitarians obtained permission from Dey Hossein-ben- Ali to found a hospital for Christian slaves, where they worked till 1832. During the 18th century the missions of both Capuchins and Trinitarians were often visited by calamities, and had to suffer heavily by the anarchy and the religious fanaticj^m prevailing in the presidency. The Mohammedans, however, began by-and-by to realize the apostolate of charity. The slave-trade began to decrease, especially under the reign of Ali Bey, 1759-82 ; in 1816, Bey Mahomet prohibited the slavery of the Christians, which, however, was secretly continued till the year 1830, when the arms of France struck their fatal blow to piracy by attacking it in its chief resting-place. Its result was soon felt throughout the rest of Northern Africa. As early as the 8th of August, 1830, Hossein, the Bey of Tunis, hastened, in order to secure his position with the conquerors, to sign a treaty, in which he declared expressly that from henceforth piracy and slavery of Christians should be abolished in the regency of Tunis. With the publication of this decree A New Era began to dawn in the history of Christian Tunis. The harbours were thrown open to European merchants, and Spanish, Maltese, French and Italian Catholics began to settle there. Although the missionaries were not allowed to labour for the conversion of the infidels, yet they enjoyed full liberty in other respects in the exercise of their ministry. Bey Hossein granted to the French government a plot of ground among the ruins of Carthage to erect a monument in memory of St. Louis. King Louis Philippe erected at his own expense a memorial chapel which was dedicated to St. Louis in 1841 and consecrated in 1845. 1° 1 833, Bey Hossein also handed over to the Capuchins the old hospital of the Trinitarians, and allowed them to build a new large church which was solemnly consecrated in 1837. The old mission-stations of Goletta, Bizerta, Porto Farina were reopened and new ones founded at Suza ( 1 836), Sfax (1841), Djerba (1847), Mehdia (1848), Monastir (1862). As the mis- sion promised some brighter future, Pope Gregory XVI raised the Prefecture (1652-1843) to the rank of a Vicariate Apostolic, Masch 21st, 1843, and appointed F. Fidelis Sutter, O S.F.C., Provincial of the Capuchins of Bologna, Vicar Apostolic of Tunis. After having been consecrated titular Bishop of Rosalia by Cardinal Franzoni on September 29th, 1844, he set out for his diocese, where Christians, GreeksJews, Moors and Arabs, and foremost Ahmed Pasha, gave him a hearty welcome and testified their delight at the honour of having a dignitary of the Catholic Church among them. When in 1845, Bishop Sutter held a pastoral visitation of his Vicariate, the Bey placed at his disposal one of his four-horse carriages and gave him a suite of eight servants besides paying all the expenses of the visitation jourpey. Pope Pius IX, touched by the generous conduct of the Bey of Tunis, wrote him a letter of thanks on February 10th, 1847. The Bey received it with great delight and assured the Pontiff of his sincere desire to promote the interests of the Christians within his dominions (June 17th, 1847). The same sentiments displayed by Ahmed were also shown to the Catholic missionaries by Mahomet Bey 1855-59 a«d Mahomet Es Sedak who were struck by the self-sacrificing spirit with which the priests assisted the victims of the plague in 1850. Bishop Sutter continued his administration till 1881 amidst what difficul- ties, bitter thwartings and calumnies he himself best knew ; for, with characteristic reserve, patience and modesty he kept all his troubles to himself. More than once, feeling the burden to be too hard, he implored the Holy See for permission to resign. Lender his wise administration the Catholic Church in Tunis made at any rate some progress. In 1840, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny went to Tunis to undertake the instructions of the girls, the schools and hospitals at Tunis, Goletta, Suza and Sfax ; in 1855 the Brothers of the Christian Doctrine followed to undertake the schools for boys. The Catholic population of the Regency, which in 1845 amounted to 3,000, had increased t0 1 5 i55 ° by the year 1866. The nine stations of Tunis, Goletta, Suza, Sfax, Djerba, Medhia, Bizerta, Porto Farina and Monastir with 9 churches and 4 chapels were served by 22 priests. After another attempt to retire from his difficult post in February 1881, Bishop Sutter after 40 years in the Apostolate and at the age of 84, obtained his long-cherished permission from Propaganda. With reference to the succession to his office he sent forward the ILLUSTRATED CATHOLIC MISSIONS [October, name of three Italian Capuchins. But when the usual inquiries had been made, the French troops took possession of the Regency of Tunis, and the French Government proclaimed it a French Protectorate on May 25th, 1881. The new Government intervened, representing to the Holy See that the new state of things required a new clergy, and asked for thenomination of a French Prelate instead of one of the Italian Capuchins whose names had been proposed. The Holy Father could not refuse such a request, but, with his usual prudence, declined to pledge himself all at once to a future which was still very uncertain.. By common consent, therefore, it was agreed to elect tectorate were provided for by the charity of Italian, Maltese, Spanish and French priests who placed themselves at the disposal of Cardinal Lavigerie. In the meantime the French and Tunis powers had come to an understanding. Tunis accepted unreservedly the practical consequences of the Protectorate and France firmly set foot in the country. When everything was settled, the Sovereign Pontiff thought well to crown the work he had begun. On the 10th of November, 1884, he published the memorable Bull and Encyclical letter by which the Vicariate of Tunis was abolished and The Archbishopric of Carthage Restored. (^’u/rcoLi^rvoj cuT/w SOUTH AFRICA : BASUTO WOMAN A Provisional Administration. Cardinal Lavigerie, since 1867 Archbishop of Algiers, was entrusted with the administration of the Vicariate of Tunis. This provisional arrangement of the Sovereign Pontiff, however, lasted only three years, 1881-1884. Cardinal Lavigerie’s programme from the very outset was : “ Instauranda Carthago.” His first care was to gei up a provisionary church for the Apostolic Administrator ; a temporary cathedral was commenced in 1881 and completed on Easter, 1882, at the cost of 80,000 francs; a house for the priests attached to the cathedral and for the Bishop was erected, and a Catholic cemetery established; the needs for the Catholics of various nationalties residing in the Pro- GRINDING CORN. (See p. 94.) Cardinal Lavigerie was appointed Metropolitan of Carthage and Primate of Africa besides his other office as Arch- bishop of Algiers. In order to alleviate his burden, he obtained from the Holy See a bishop-auxiliary in the person of Mgr Anthony Mary Buhagiar, titular bishop of Ruspe, 1884. As the Capuchins were able to supply a larger number of missionaries, owing to the closing of their noviciates in Italy, Cardinal Lavigerie thought of forming a local clergy ; for that purpose he founded a college and seminary at Carthage and entrusted them both to the care of the “ White Fathers” in 1884. On the 31st of March in the following year, the boundaries of the Metropolitan See of Carthage were circumscribed and the district divided 1906.] ILLUSTRATED CATHOLIC MISSIONS. 85 into three archdeaconaries, i.e., Carthage, Tunis and Sfax. In 1892, on February 24th, each of these arch-deacons received episcopal consecration ; Mgr. Tournier of Carthage became titular bishop of Hippo Zaritus (Bizerta), Mgr. Gazamiol of Tunis became titular bishop of Tuburbo (1896 Bishop of Con- stantine) and Mgr. Polomini of Sfax titular bishop of Ruspe. Card. I.avigerie extended the sphere of missionary enterprise by adding to the already existing stations those of Kef, Beja, Hamamet, Nebeul, Tabarka, Gabes and Enfida ; he also appealed to the various Religious Orders of France to send him auxiliaries for schools, hospitals, orphanages and asylums. The statistics of 1890 speak for them- selves and for the zeal and enter prise of Cardinal Lavigerie as well as for the reality of a living Church in Tunis. We find then : One Archbishop, one Auxiliary Bishop, 54 missionaries, i.e., 23 seculars and one native priest, 30 regular priests ( r 1 Capu- chins, 19 White Fathers', 18 School-brothers and circa 200 religious women af different orders : Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny, Carmelite Nuns, Dames de Sion, Algerian Sisters. Dames du Bon Secours, Missionary Sisters of Mary, Little Sisters of the Poor, Good Shepherd Nuns etc. ; a Cathedral at Carthage (consecrated in 1890), a Pro cathedral at Tunis, 22 churches, 26 chapels, one seminary at Carthage with 54 pupils, one college at Tunis with 250 pupils, 15 parochial schools under the management of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and the Brothers of the Society of Mary ; the Catholic population consisted of 35,000 souls. When Cardinal Lavigerie died on November 24th, 1S92, he left this legacy to Mgr. Clement Combes who was con- secrated on June 15th, 1893. Though Carthage has as yet no suffragan sees under its jurisdiction, yet the Metropolitan has the exceptional position of having titular suffragan sees such as Assura, C'urubi, Forni, Hippo Zaritus, Lari, Musti, Scillio, Sicca, Tacia, Tallora, Tuburbo, Utica and Utina. Under the auspices of Archbp. Combes, the Church of Tunis has further developed as the statistics for 1902 show: 50.000 Catholics, 54 parishes, 129 priests, 10 religious establishments for men and 22 for women, belonging to the different orders mentioned above. The motto of Cardinal Lavigerie “ Instauranda Car- KAFIR WOMEN HAIRDRESSING. {See J>. pJ+.) thago ” has so far been fulfilled ; would to God the anti* Christian spirit of the French Government would leave the things of God in peace, and allow her self-sacrificing sons and daughters to carry on the work Divine Providence has entrusted to them in the French Protectorate of Tunis. Dom Maternus Spitz, O.S.B. THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT. By Father Sykes,, S.J. Reprinted from The Zambesi Mission Record. I T is a fact worthy of consideration that our Blessed Lord, when He gave to His Apostles their great commission to preach His doctrine and to teach mankind, should have used an expression denoting that tney were to go abroad to their work. The Master’s words were : “As the Father hath sent Me ; I also send you.” “ Going , there- fore, teach ye all nations.” St. Paul, too, when speaking of the credentials of those who were empowered to preach the Gospel, asks : “ How shall they preach unless they he sent?" The Apostles, therefore, and their successors in the ministry, were to “ go forth ” ; they were to carry the SOUTH AFRICA 86 ILUSTRATED CATHOLIC MISSIONS. [October, Christian religion to the peoples of the earth ; they were not to wait for enquirers to come to them ; they were to be missionaries. There is no need to say here how all the twelve Apostles carried out to the letter this divine injunction, nor how the whole history of the Catholic and Apostolic Church from that day to this has been but a fulfilment of this great com- mission of our Blessed Lord. If Europe and, in a less degree, the other continents of the world have seen the Light, it is because it has been carried to the uttermost parts by those who have been commissioned, even as the . Apostles were to bear it to the nations “ that were sitting in darkness and in the .shadow of death.” Needless to say, as the Church has become established and consolidated in different countries, bishops and priests have had to fix their Sees or their Churches, and have had to restrict their zeal to their respective dioceses or parishes ; but, wherever the Church exists and wherever the apostolic spirit breathes, there will be found the missionary temper ; there will live and flourish that supernatural ambition which sent forth the Apostles to distant lands and peoples. • This apostolic or missionary spirit is indeed a necessity for the Catholic Churoh. Unfortunately, vast areas of the earth’s surface, notably in Asia and Africa, are yet uncon- quered b}' the Cross ; their inhabitants are strangers, if not actual enemies, to this teaching ; as yet no native or indi- genous priesthood can be expected, or even exists to under- take this great apostolic conquest ; and so the work has to be left to those imported from Europe—in other words, to missionaries. This missionary spirit has never failed the Catholic Church. It is part of that divine rigour ancl energy implanted in the Church by her Founder ; and were it to be extinguished and to die it would prove that the vital spark had gone out, which can never be till the end of time, since Christ has promised that He will abide with the Church until the consummation of the world. Yet, though this is most true, there are still different degrees of energy and fervour in which the missionary spirit may exist in a particular or local Church or people. That spirit may only be latent or it may be active and energetic ; and it may be either in varying degrees. It is the object of this article, written as it is for a mission journal intended for English-speaking people, to try and do something, however humble the result may be, to increase in its readers the missionary spirit or temper about which I am speaking. To what extent, then, is the missionary spirit only latent, or, on the contrary, active and in evidence in the British Isles here at home. I am not going to belittle or decry the services which so many Catholics, Priests and Religious of both sexes, from England and Ireland, have rendered and are now rendering in behalf of the Foreign Missions in Australia, South Africa, in India and some parts of America. They are doing a noble work, establishing and extending the Church in all these countries and continents. The Bishops’ Sees and the Presbyteries are filled by zealous and devoted men, the Convents with self-sacrificing women, many of whom have come from the British Isles, and especially from the Patrimony of St. Patrick. Instead of finding fault I should wish rather to apportion praise. But, much as we are doing, I say that we in England might do still more to help the Foreign Missions, and I rejoice to be able to state that the great work is growing, that the interest of Catholics in its advancement is increasing. If only Catholics here at home could know how in all these countries—in India, in Australia, in the Philippines, in Africa, in many parts of America—the cry is for English-speaking missioners ! If Catholics knew how the Protestant denominations are pushing their propaganda ; what immense subsidies the different societies for the propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts receive every year ; how quickly they are filling up the available places and occupying the empty theatres of work ; how they are following the Flag in its march onwards—if, I say, Catholics realised all this, I am sure their ardour to support Catholic Foreign Missions would be increased, their interest would be stimulated and quickened, and their desire to lend a helping hand would grow and wax stronger. While I say this, I also repeat that I rejoice to be able to state that I believe this interest in our Foreign Missions is steadily, if slowly, growing in England. I do not make this assertion without proof. It must have warmed the hearts of many Foreign Missioners who read the English Catholic newspapers to find that at the Catholic Truth Society’s Annual Meeting, held in Blackburn last September, a notable new departure was made, and that Catholic Foreign Missions held an honoured place in the very fore front of the Society’s proceedings, and that two most interesting papers, which secured agood deal ofattention, were read by two distinguished foreign missionaries. Nor is it a fact without significance that one distinguished Catholic Bishop, who was himself formerly the editor of a missionary paper is most zealous in behalf of the Foreign Missions, and that in his Pastoral Letter he urged their claims upon the clergy and faithful committed to his charge. Another proof that considerable interest is taken by Catholics in these islands in our Foreign Missions is the number of very readable foreign missionary journals written for, and supported by, English-speaking Catholics. For example, besides the translations of the two publications of the great Associations for the propagation of the Faith— The Annals of the Propagation of the Faith , and The Annals of the Holy Childhood—we have the Zambesi Mission Record, The Illustrated Catholic Missions, St. Joseph's Advocate , The Salesian Bulletin , all of which deal in an interesting manner with the great subject of Foreign Missions. I do not know any better means of stimulating an interest in this great apostolic work than constant reading of the doings of our missionaries. Another and a more important proof of the increasing interest taken by British Catholics in their Foreign Missions, is the number of missionaries which their country is despatching to their labours in distant lands. Foremost amongst the missionary agencies in England for the training and 1906.] ILLUSTRATED CATHOLIC MISSIONS. 87 despatch of those destined to this field of labour is the Missionary College of Mill Hill—the creation of the apostolic-minded late Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vaughan. This institution has now been supplemented by the preparatory school, the “feeder” to Mill Hill, of St. Peter’s College, Freshfield. Mill Hill annually sends out its missioners to foreign parts, and is doing a great work of apostolate in India, Central Africa, Borneo, New Zealand and latterly in the Philippines. It is, however, a qualifica- tion of our satisfaction to know that this College has to draw largely upon the Continent for its vocations to the missionary life. Then there are other religious bodies whose subjects are drawn in whole or in part from England and Ireland, which are helping in the work. The Jesuit Fathers of the English Province have a large and flourishing Mission in the Zambesi, which now numbers over seventy Fathers and Brothers, and to which an increasing number of English- speaking subjects are being sent. It has also an important Mission in the West in British Guiana. The Irish province of the Society of Jesus is also doing a great work for education and in other departments of the apostolate in Australia. The Oblates of Mary Immaculate have large and flourishing Missions in South Africa and in Canada. The Benedictines and Dominicans have also their Foreign Missions in Madagascar and Trinidad respectively; and other religious bodies having fclieir chief centres on the Continent, but with branch-houses in Great Britain and Ireland, join hands in the work. All this is a testimony to the fact that the missionary spirit is more than merely latent at home—a fact which is still more strengthened by the large number of nuns and postulants for religious orders of women who are every year recruited at home for the missionary campaign in many foreign countries, where their noble services to the cause of the Catholic Faith are absolutely incalculable. It must be owned, however, that much more might be done, and that what is wanted is that a tradition should be established and that our duty to Foreign Missions should be more thoroughly realised. It is often advanced as an argument against too active a support of the Foreign Missions that England is yet only a missionary country : that she needs to conserve all her forces and strength for the work of the apostalate that is at her doors : that she cannot afford to send an army abroad when the Church needs her soldiers for conquests at home. Tn answer to this somewhat specious objection, I have to say in the first place that if we were to act upon such a policy we should not only not be cultivating that missionary spirit, a temper which I have said is a characteristic of the Catholic Church, but that we should be breaking with the practice of the Church in England in the early days of her Christianity. We Catholics are proud of our identity with the Anglo-Saxon Church. The Catholic Church in England to-day is the lineal heir of the Anglo-Saxon Church. On the escutcheon of our descent from that Church there is no bar-sinister. And we are rightly proud of the loyalty to the Holy See of our Saxon Catholic forefathers of their genuine Catholicism. Why should not our admiration extend to their missionary spirit, their zeal for the conver- sion of the heathen in foreign lands 1 For Anglo-Saxon England was a great missionary country. It would take me too far afield to pursue this subject to any great length, but still I may say that one great glory of the Anglo-Saxon Church was its achievements in the field of missionary endeavour. Christianity had scarcely conquered England before English missionaries went forth like the Apostles to spread the good tidings of salvation to the heathen nations in Northern Europe. Amongst the great Anglo-Saxon mis- sionaries and saints who have illumined the early Church in England are such names as those of Boniface (the Saxon Winfred), Wilfrid, Willibrord, Swidbert, Adalbert, Werenfrid, Wulfram, Winibald, Willibald, Burchard, and others of obscurer name ; abbesses and nuns like Walburga, the companion of the labours of St. Boniface, Lioba and Thecla. These great missionary heroes and heroines won a large part of Germany, Holland, Friesland, Switzerland and Scandinavia to the faith of Christ. Across the intervening centuries we Catholics of to-day in England stretch out hands of spiritual kinship and heirship to their doctrine and their spirit. Our “ blood is got from fathers ” such as these ; and, as we think of their apostolic zeal, their labours amongst savage tribes in the missionary field, and their constancy, in man)' instances even to the shedding of their blood, we may surely ask for ourselves the privilege that we their children M should not degenerate from the high thoughts of the sons of God.” But I have another answer to make to those who object that English Catholics need not concern themselves with Foreign Missions ; that their true vocation is to labour at home. I say, on the contrary, that the best and most effective way to accomplish the work of conversion at home is to send our spiritual workmen to do that work abroad. This looks like a paradox, so T proceed to explain my meaning. I believe that in a work which, after all, depends upon supernatural means for its accomplishment—the conversion of the infidel—the principles which should guide us are supernatural principles. It is all very well from the human standpoint to say that a truly apostolic man or woman lost to England is a dead loss for which there is no compensation ; that* there is no interest to be derived from such capital lent or lost. That may be true of our dealings with men. That is a worldly and a perfectly natural view to take ; but here I 'take leave to say that we are dealing with God, and that His ways are not as ours. 1 hold firmly that for every vocation to the Foreign Missions He grants three for the home ministry and apostolate; that if, in this matter, we deal with Him in a niggardly and begrudging spirit His bounteous hand will be closed to us in return ; but that if we act generously He will not allow Himself to be outdone in generosity, but that He will bring to pass 88 ILLUSTRATED CATHOLIC MISSIONS [October, the fulfilment of His own promise : Give, and it shall be given to you again, full measure, and heaped up and over- flowing into your bosom.” Hence I am not surprised that a distinguished English Catholic Bishop should suggest that if our progress in the conversion of our countrymen at home is slower than we could wish, it may be due to defective interest in Foreign Missions. But, in continuation of my argument, I would further- more say that the foreign missionary spirit is necessary to the well-being and the progress of the Church at home. The two great requisites of the foreign missionary are zeal, enthusiasm , and the spirit of self-sacrifice. “ Not by bread alone doth man live ” : it is not self that will sustain the soul of the missionary. His constitution, if I may say so, is built up by by less gross sustenance. His zeal must be like that of his master, which “ ate him up ” and consumed him. The fervour and enthusiasm of soul for the conversion of his fellow-men must be the sustaining power which is to carry the missioner through all difficulties, hardships and disappointments. What he needs is the spirit of Elias : “ He shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias . . . to prepare unto the. Lord a perfect people." This is the divine spark and fire which is to sustain the missioner through all his weariness, through the long days of waiting, of barreness of results, of failure, and of perplexity. Another wing by which the Missioner in foreign lands is to be upborne is, as I have said, self-sacrifice. If there be a vocation which demands this great virtue in an eminent degree, surely it is the calling of the Catholic Foreign Missioner. He must leave home and its comforts, parents, relatives and friends, and go to distant lands, where probably hardships, isolation, trials of climate, obscurity, and many other trials await him ; though probably he is compensated by a sweetness of consolation which is the reward of his self-sacrifice. This true spirit of the mission- ary is the stuff of which martyrs are made, and which has produced so many heroes and saints in the Catholic Church. I say, then, that the foreign missionary spirit is made up of zeal and self-sacrifice. But, surely, these are the very qualities that are needed so much for apostolic work even at home ! They are the motive force which, displayed by priests and religious at home, must roll back the tide of error if anything can. Men are much more easily influenced by example than by precept. If, then, the great virtue and notes of the Cross of Christ—zeal or enthusiasm and self- sacrifice—influence the lives of those who preach and teach at home, it is the best antidote to that scarcely-veiled paganism which is settling down upon us in this country, and which is the result of that comfort and luxury which now practically constitutes the cult and the gospel of these days. But how can any better means be devised for developing this spirit of unselfishness and enthusiasm for the cause of Christ than by fostering the missionary temper which, as I have said, rests upon these two great virtues 1 Hence, as I say, the necessity of cultivating the missionary spirit amongst us. There is, indeed, an altogether urgent reason why we in England should do our utmost for the Foreign Missions and further their interest in every practicable way. No European country has under its flag such a vast infidel population. There is therefore all the greater reason why efforts should be made to send out missioners to convert this vast mass of heathenism. Non-Catholic Christian bodies are very active wherever the British Empire extends ; and in this, as in other matters, the race is to the swift. British statesmen often appeal to us to think imperially. Surely that appeal has more clamorous claims upon the Catholic’s conscience, whose Church is truly an empire that is world-wide ! If the imperialistic instinct is a natural and a reasonable one, surely it is most natural and reason- able in a Catholic when transferred to the higher plane of the great spiritual kingdom of which he is a member. This article ought not to close without suggesting some practical means whereby the true missionaiy spirit and temper may be created and increased. All effort must start with the clergy, if practical and tangible results are to follow. Sermons from the pulpits by our own priests on the subjects of the propagation of the Faith, and the duties and privileges of Catholics towards the Foreign Missions ; special appeals from time to time from Foreign Missioners themselves ; the making accessible of missionary publications; above all, the interesting of our Catholic youth in our Colleges, and of our children in our schools, would do a great deal. The young have usually generous hearts ; and they are won by the account of the doings of Catholic Missionaries, which are often an inspiration to their generous instincts. The seeds of many a vocation may be sown by these means. What is chiefly needed is a thorough and system- atic propaganda, which shall be sustained. Spasmodic and merely periodic activity will never achieve lasting results. So many Catholics who think seriously on this matter and have at heart the spread of their religion in foreign parts are astonished at and lament the fewness of vocations in England to the Foreign Missions ! And this, though they admit that there is some improvement manifest. This reproach might be in part at least removed if the young knew more about Foreign Missions. In spite of the luxury and dislike to face hardship which characterise our days, the young themselves are not so much influenced by such considerations. Their natural instincts are, as I have said, generous ; and, when grace is at hand to help, possibilities undreamed of by mere human judgment are turned into the easily practicable. I wish I could think that what I have written could have some tangible effect. Many of the signs are distinctly encouraging, and I take the liberty of repeating with added emphasis that, far from vocations given to Foreign Missions being a loss to us at home, they are a distinct gain. I hold it to be true that the generous support of our Foreign Missions is a way to help ourselves, and that the spirit which will be created by a crusade in behalf of the Aposto- late to the heathen is the very spirit which is needed to bring back “our separated brethren ” at home into the fold of the Catholic Church. 1906.] ILLUSTRATED CATHOLIC MISSIONS. 89 3llU5trated Gatholie jYtissionS’ OCTOBER, 1906. -of saMfffllQF tommx^ young folks’ Corner. AN APPEAL. I T is with sincere regret that we again feel ourselves obliged to draw the attention of our readers to the steady decrease in the number of subscribers to our missionary magazine, and to appeal to them for increased efforts in procuring it a wider circulation. We think this all the more necessary, as many of our readers, owing to the constant growth of our monthly fist of donations, might hold a different opinion. We know not the reason why Catholics should show themselves so apathetic to our magazine. Its reading- matter is, or ought to be, of the greatest interest to every good Catholic, as it tells him of the glorious work the Church is carrying on in heathen lands. Its yearly subscription is so small that only the poorest cannot afford to pay it. We are well aware of its many defects ; but in a missionary magazine like ours some of them are inevitable and we can only crave the indulgence of our readers for any such. My Dear Young Friends, Since last month I have not received very many letters. My corres- pondents this month are Annie Walsh , Ivy Critchell , Jane Cabral, Gladys Cabral and Grace Marlin, of St Joseph’s Convent, Karachi ; Marion Roselto, Dorothy Waller and Madge Kingcome, of St. Helen’s Kurseong, and Zoe Shariing, Jessie Ferguson , Sybil Miller, Emmie Ross, Laurel Frankum , and last, but not least Violet Rees, of St. Theresa’s Convent, Kidderpore. I thank them all very heartily for their entertaining letters. I was looking over them the other day when I came across one from Kathleen Casey, of Kurseong, which is particularly interesting. As I think that not only my young friends but also many of the adult readers of I.C.M. will find it well worth reading, I will include a pretty long extract from the letter. It reads : — “ I am now going to tell you all about the natives who surround ns, as to their manners, customs, dress, religion and caste. “We live in the district of Ganjam in the north of the Madras Presidency. The natives are mostly Driyas and Telegas, as well as a few Mahometans. The Uriyas speak the Uriya language, which is very much like Hindustani. The Telegu langu ige however is quite different. The Uriyas are divided into about twelve different castes. The highest are the Brahmins, next the Calingis, the Ridicers and several others. The four lowest castes are the Ivhiots or fishermen, the Bowrics, the Dundaties or watchmen, and last of all the Undies or sweeper caste. The Brahmins are generally very rich and jnvn any amount of paddy fields. The Brahmins consider themselves higher than all around them, and oblige the poor and lower castes to bring them, every week almost, baskets full of cocoa nuts, plantains and sweets. These they pretend to give to the gods, but instead they feast on them themselves. Some of our friends are endeavouring to make I.C.M. more widely known than it is at present, and we owe them special thanks for their charitable work. But we are sure many more could help, were they inclined to do so. Surely, there are readers in many centres of Catholic population, who might undertake to act as agents for our magazine, who could order it for others, collect their suberiptions, and forward them to the publishers. Thus they would perform an apostolic work, for every new subscriber won, is a fresh helper won for the Foreign Missions. It would be a thousand pities if, after its many years of existence, years of work and trouble, the publication of I.C.M. should have to be abandoned. Such a heavy- blow to the Foreign Missions can only be averted bv increased support. “It is said that when the first railway train passed through Berham- pore, the natives fell down and adored the engine and ottered it cocoa nuts, plantains and Howers. When I was at home last year for my holidays, there was a rumour afloat, which said that in a certain village not far off there was a little native boy about three years old, who could cure any disease. They said that the blind could see again if he touched them. Many of the natives went there to he cured, hut I wonder if any came back whole. “Now I will tell you how these people dress. The workingmen coolies wear a dhooti (a piece of calico about three yards in length which takes the lilac* of trousers), and a little striped sweater or another piece of material for a coat. Those who work at the houses of the Europeans dress better. They wear a dhooti as usual with a decent coat and a long piece of cloth wound round and round the head, called a pugree. The men have their hair cut short, leaving a tuft of hair in the centre, hut^ome prefer to have it long and matted. The men wear many gold and silver rings and small heavy gold car- rings. The women wear as a dress a long piece of cloth, called cari, wound round the waist twice, then thrown across the shoulders and over the head. Their hair is well oiled, parted in the centre, and made in a coil on the left side of the head. This coil, instead of 90 ILLUSTRATED CATHOLIC MISSIONS. [October, remaining outside is pushed right under the other hair, thus making a smooth surface. The women wear about ten or twelve rows of red, yellow, green and other bright-coloured beads round their neck. These are fastened tightly round the neck, leaving a little tail of beads about three inches long. They also have brass, copper, or lead rings on their fingers or toes. The ear-rings are similar to those of the men, except that the men wear only one on each ear, whilst the women have at least four in each. Before their marriage they wear huge brass bangles about half way from the wrist to the elbow. These bangles are beautifully chased with different designs. After their marriage, however, these bangles are taken off and heavier ones are put on instead, which reach from the wrist right up to the elbow. These are so heavy that the poor things can scarcely lift their arms. The husband is supposed to pay for the brass plates, bangles, mugs, chatties (large vessels for holding water), clothes, etc., which his wife has to get before her marriage. However, in many cases the husbands force the poor old mother of the girl to pay for them. Once we heard a story which will show how very heavy the bangles are that they wear. A woman was sleeping the night of her wedding beside her husband. In her sleep she happened to turn and hit her husband’s head with the bangles she had on. The next morning the poor fellow was found stone dead, killed by the blow which he got from the bangles. The women cook their husband’s food, carry the water from the tanks and wash the plates, while the men are working in the fields or at the houses of Europeans. “ Some of the bulls in lierhampore have very large humps, and are called Bralmiani bulls. These are very ferocious, and will charge at anybody. If you happen to be biking along the road, suddenly you see one of them chasing you. No one is allowed to kill them as they are held sacred by the villagers, and if you do kill one there is a court- case over it. The natives allow them to roam in their fields and destroy a\V they can without heeding them. If one of these bulls die, it is carried in a grand procession to be buried. “ The Uriyas have only one feast in the whole year. When this grand day comes round, they go from house to house with drums and dancing-girls and hoys. They also have a kind of cloth mask in the shape of a horse. Two men get into it, one as the head, shoulders and two front legs, and one as the hind portion and hind legs. On the principal Telegu festival, at about midnight, every Telegu m in has to go to some house and steal something. These stolen goods are offered to their gods afterwards. “There are many native Christians of the Roman Catholic, Protest- ant and Baptist churches. There is one Protestant, one Baptist and one Catholic church. The Catholic church is very large, but now no One is allowed to enter it, as it is very old and not at all firm. They are waiting till it falls down (or more likely, until sufficient alms are forthcoming to build it up again). We have Mass in the priest’s house instead. We are the only European Catholics in Berhampore, but there are many native Catholics. On Christmas Day there was no room for the crib, so it had to be placed in the verandah. Some benches were also put there, as Father intended making some of the natives sit there because there was such a crush inside, but somehow they managed to squeeze in, for they said it was too cold sitting outside. “ We went to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. It is about two miles to the church, and we have to cross the *ailway-lines. When we were returning from Mass, at about one o’clock, the gates on either side of the lines were locked, because there was a goods-train coming in. This train shunted up and down till about two o’clock, and we reached home very sleepy indeed. “Now I will end my letter, as I do hope what I have told you about the natives in our place will be of interest to you.” It is very good of Kathleen to provide us with so much information concerning the natives of the place in which she lives, and I thank her very much. There is still urgent need of fervent prayers for the Catholic Schools, and I hope you will continue to storm Heaven with your petitions for their safety. Many of my friends tell me of their holidays, and also of their return to school. I hope that they have by this time settled down to work, and are diligently applying themselves to their studies. With kindest regards and best wishes to all my nieces and nephews, I remain, Yours very affectionately, Uncle Wilfrid. • ST. MARY’S CONVENT, ALLAHABAD. To generous hearts, whom God has blessed with temporal means, this short appeal, I am sure, is not addressed in vain We beg of them to give a trifle of what they possess, to God’s little and poor ones. We have hundreds of orphan and poor children in our five Missionary houses, whom we have to feed and clothe and teach and for whom we have had to erect several buildings during the last few years ; some of them — a new Orphanage and two school builings—are still under con- struction. On account of this we are greatly in debt. Besides this we have to defray the cost of the training of our teachers for these poor children. All this far exceeds our means, of which we have none, except the scanty school-fees of very few of our pupils—the greater part being free scholars—a trifling Government Grant-in-aid, and a Mission-allowance of about ^33 yearly. That this is not sufficient for the support of our poor and the maintenance of our schools, is easily conceivable ; and it happens often, that our sisters have to sacrifice their well deserved night’s rest after a day of hard and fatiguing labour, only to earn, by the work of their needle, a few rupees with which to buy the most necessary things for their orphans. The smallest sum is a welcome help to us. For this purpose we are sending out this appeal, in order to raise up benefactors. Our Lord Bishop, who knows our need, but who himself cannot give much—he and his diocese and his mission being equally poor—approves and recommends this 1 -1 step as may be seen from the letter subjoined. I now appeal to the generosity of my readers. Many of them would scarcely feel giving away what would be to us a comparatively large sum. And our children promise to pray daily for their benefactors in return for what they give them. Whatever creed any one may follow, the prayer of the children, no well-thinking heart will despise. The prayer of the poor and the little ones penetrates Heaven and draws blessings upon the earth The good God will not be out-done in generosity by his creatures, and for a little given to His poor, He gives graces and blessings far exceeding the perishable goods ot this earth. 1906 .] ILLUSTRATED CATHOLIC MISSIONS. 91 Do not therefore let this opportunity pass away unnoticed; but send what you can afford—be it a trifling sum only — to : — THE PROVINCIAL SUPERIORESS. St. Mary’s Convent, Allahabad, (East India.) It is not for herself or for her Sisters in religion—they prefer and are happy to be poor for God’s sake—but for their little ones to maintain and educate whom they are dependent on the charity of their wealthier brethren. Those who cannot give will do much for us, if they encour- age others to give, by making known this little appeal. Invoking the Almighty to bestow on all who read this His peace and blessing, I recommend ourselves and our little ones to their prayers. M. PATRICIA, i. b. m. v. Provincial Superioress. Allahabad , July 1906. Copy of His Lordship 7 s letter : — Dear Mother Provincial, I fully approve of your proposal to apply to your people at home for help to enable you to continue under the present difficulties the good work you have come out here to do for God’s sake. I strongly recommend it to their well-known generosity, and I am sure, you will meet with encouraging success. I bless the benefactors who will help you. Yours sincerely in Xt., 4*Fr. PETRONIUS GRAMIGNA, o.c. Bishop of Allahabad. July 2nd, 1906. KHARGPUR. By Father R. Louwyck, S.J. I F gratitude is a virtue which all true Christians should diligently practise, it is one Missionaries have special reasons ever to be mindful of. Their loud and persistent cries for help are, as a rule, generously responded to ; if their works prosper, it is greatly due to the alms they receive from beyond the seas. The fact that their bene- factors are often utter strangers to them, adds weight to their obligation of being thankful ; for, whereas from relatives and friends they have a certain right to ask, in the case of strangers they are solely indebted to their genuine and wholly disinterested kindness. The June issue of the I.C.M. informs me that several generous contributions have been made towards the building fund of our new church, in response to my appeal in the May number. I come to tender my sincerest thanks to these benefactors. I shall not fail to recommend them to the prayers of my Khargpur congregation. The prayers of the poor, and, perhaps more so of the poor in a mission land will draw God’s blessing on the kind perso»s who take such practical interest in them. I need not say that the priests themselves stationed at Khargpur will remember in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass those who assist them in their work. M.R.H., Two Franciscans, C. N. Curtis and Monica, as also any others who might in future afford them help, will stand in a special manner on the list of their mementoes. It is a great encouragement for us to see that the English Catholics are ready to lend a helping hand to those who work in the Mission fields of the British Empire. To show their gratitude, Missionaries can do nothing better than to keep the benefactors acquainted with the state and progress of the work towards which they contri- bute, or at least to write them something that may interest them about the lands afar off. To-day I shall speak once more of our church. Ever since my first contribution to I.C.M., the white ants have done remarkably steady work in perforating in all directions the walls of our poor temporary church. T hese are rapidly becoming. regular honey-combs, without the honey, however. The dreadful sappers have also succeeded in constructing galleries through the walls up to the roof where by millions they are busy destroying the woodwork. White ants are extremely fond of dead or seasoned wood. They will work perseveringly and with astounding rapidity to get at it wherever it may be. And their instinct or sense is wonder- ful in this respect. It is still a thing which leaves scope for scientists to investigate, whether the white ants have not got eyes provided with X or N or some other rays by which they are enabled to see wood through other substances. In our sacristy we had placed an old filter to serve as lavabo for the priests to wash their hands before and after Mass. This lavabo was raised about one yard and half from the ground in a corner made by two inner walls. We had covered it with a circular cover of white deal wood, saved for the purpose from some packing case, very soft wood, therefore, and apparently well to the taste of the ants. This cover only just touched each of the walls at one point. One morning, as I was about to say Mass, I noticed that there was some mud on the cover ; I lifted it, and there saw that it was literally lined with white ants, and that a great many of them lay struggling in the water. Then I looked at the walls : they were perforated exactly at the spots, where the cover came in contact with them. How did these little creatures know that there was wood there, and that they could reach it by two points ? They had not climbed up the walls from the outside, but had bored their way through them from the foundations, and had pierced them just at the wood, over which they had subsequently spread very rapidly and had eaten off about one third. There is a kind of wood extremely hard, called “sal,” very common in these parts, which has the reputation of not being attacked by the white ants by reason of the closeness of its grain. So, as I had a plank of it lying in our compound, I sawed off a new cover. For safety’s sake, I rubbed some soap-water into and about the holes the ants had been making into the walls ; for again they say the ants are enemies to soap. I went to bed that night proud of the precautions I had taken, and slept all the better in 92 ILLUSTRATED CATHOLIC MISSIONS. [October SOUTH AFRICA : THE “ BIK.AN,” WATERFALL IN BASUT the serene consciousness of the good trick I had been playing the ants. They, on their side, must have guessed I did so, and there and then have sworn to take a signal revenge ; for to my utter discomfiture, the next morning I saw as many ants on the new cover as I had seen the day before on the old one. They had spurned my liniment of soap and had actually been gnawing vigorously at the sal plank. However, as you know, there is no end to man’s ingenuity, as is daily proved by the numerous inventions made in all departments of science and of practical life. I was determined to have the better of the ants. * So, I too set myself a-thinking bent upon an invention in the hitherto little explored department oj lavabo lids, under the peculiar conditions obtaining in countries infested by white ants. Very probably the old specimen of old English pottery work, the filter, had in former days had an earthen lid to fit it ; but this cover had long since met the fate to which most earthenware articles sooner or later are doomed : no vestige was left of it any: where, not even the broken fragments. Therefore I had to devise other means. There is a little outhouse atiached to our kitchen, and thither it was I directed my steps, all ab- sorbed in thought, as to what I should cover the lavabo with. I had a faint hope of finding in this old curiosity-shop what I was looking for Most objects that at first met my eye in this place were in wood : two or three packing cases, some pieces of a broken altar, * some remnantsof adilapidated bedstead ; but these seemed all to mock me and to taunt and defy my inventive powers to find among them a scrap that the white ants would not devour. After rummaging for some time, however, among the odds and ends of the god- own, I was fortunate enough to find a piece of sheet iron. The invention was effected : soon the rectangular iron was cut into shape and took its place on the lavabo, where it still defies the teeth of the white ants. I did not take a patent for this new model of covers, as I wish to leave all oland. (See men perfectly free to adopt the same means as myself in similar difficulties. It is strange, but I cannot help from time to time looking at the holes made by our mischievous little sappers, the ants, to see if they do not peep out again to inquire whether I might perchance not have changed my mind, and put again a wooden cover on ; but they are mistaken if they think I should ever feel inclined to do so. I mentioned that I first noticed the presence of the ants by a little mud on the cover You must know that the white ants have the peculiarity of working under cover. As they proceed, say along a wall which they cifhnot pierce, towards some beam or plank in the roof, they construct a gallery of mud a quarter of an inch high, and usually about the same breadth, under which they move along; you will never see them 1906.] ILLUSTRATED CATHOLIC MISSIONS 93 going on in the open, as the other ants do. They remind me sometimes of the old Romans of whom our friend Julius C Catechism of Christian Doctrine—No with Appendix, etc., etc., in cloth Explanatory Catechism of Christian Doctrine No. 2, in paper, with Appendix, etc., etc. Do. do. do. in cloth The Catholic Hymn Book (very popular), paper Do. do. Cloth limp ... Do. do. Cloth boards cloth, id. ad. id. ad. 3d. rOTIfllflTCG a iveu for Printing Hymns, Guild Rules and Contribution bullllltllLU Pamphlets, Programmes, Posters, Bazaar Work, ' Raffle Tickets, Memoriam Cards, etc., on application to W. WATSON & Co., Publishers, Scholastic and General- Printers, CORPORATION STREET, PRESTON. Exchanges and other Periodicals Received. Lea Mission* Catholiques (Lyons). Ceylon Catholic Messenger. Die Katholischen Missionen (Freiburg). Jaffna Catholic Guardian (Ooylon). Missions en Chine et au Congo. South. African Catholic Magazine Annalen van het Missiehuis (Rozendaal) Indian Advocate (U S.A.) St. Josefs Missionsbote (Brixen). The Coloured Harvest (Baltimore) Annettes de la Soc. des Miss. Kt. (Paris). Salssian Bullet. n. Catholic Herald of India Missions Bel,r/ea( Brussels). (Calcutta). - Tht Harvest (Manchester). The Examiner (Bombay). St. Joseph’s foreign Missionary Advocate, Tht Rosary Magatint, (Ohio). (Mill Hill). The Damien Institute Monthly Magasint, The Zambesi Mission Record. (Eccleshall). Missions des Peris Blancs, (Anvera). Annalen dtr Missionarisstn van Sparrtn-De KatholUhe hfissien, (a Hertogenhosob daal, (Vucht N.B.) Steyltr Missionsbote. Catholic Standard of British Guiana. DU Stadt Qottes, (Steyl). Tht Rosary (Hinckley.) Mungret Annual. SAfi foAi