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 WORK FOR CHRIST BEGUN IN MOROCCO, ALGERIA, 
 TUNIS, AND TRI^nu. 
 
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 BV3510 .H35 1890 
 Haig, F.T. 
 Daybreak in North 
 Africa : an account of 
 work for Christ begun in 
 Morokko, Algeria, Tunis, and 
 Tripoli . 
 
Daybreak in North Africa. 
 
 Jln J\ccount of 
 
 WORK FOR CHRIST BEGUN IN MOROCCO, 
 
 ALGERIA, TUNIS, AND TRIPOLI. 
 
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 London : 
 S. W. PARTRIDGE & CO, 9, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.G. 
 
DAYBREAK IN NORTH AFRICA. 
 
Horlli Jlfric^ Hi55ion. 
 
 Council. 
 J. H. BRIDGFORD, Tunbrid^e Wells. 
 ALGERNON C. P. COOTE, Powis Square, W. 
 W. SOLTAU ECCLES, Upper Norwood, S.E. 
 EDWARD H. GLENNY. Barking. 
 General and Mrs. F. T. HAIG, Redhill. 
 R. C. MORGAN, 12, Paternoster Buildings, EC. 
 JAMES STEPHENS, Highgate Rise, N.W. 
 THEODORE WALKER, Leicester. 
 
 ®fG« of i}jt IDission. 
 19 AND 21, Linton Road, Barking. 
 
 Hon. Treasurer. 
 
 W. SOLTAU ECCLES, Lyndhurst, Church Road, 
 
 Upper Norwood, S.E. 
 
 Hon. Secretary. 
 EDWARD H. GLENNY, 21, Linton Road, Barking. 
 
 Assistant .Secretary. 
 WILLIAM T. FLOAT. 
 
 Hon. Auditors. 
 
 ARTHUR J. HILL, VELLACOTT & CO , 
 
 I, Finsbury Circus. 
 
 Bankers. 
 
 LONDON AND COUNTY BANKING CO., 
 
 21, Lombard Street, E.C. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Ho ! every one that thirsteth, come to this fountain side ! 
 
 Drink freely of its waters, drink and be satisfied! 
 
 Yet linger not, but hasten on, and bear to all around 
 
 Glad tidings of the love and peace and 7?tcrcy thou hast found. 
 
 Then, as of old, in vision seen before the prophet's eyes, 
 Broader and deeper on its course the strea7n of life shall rise; 
 A7td everywhere, as on it flows, shall carry light and love, 
 Peace and goodwill to man on earth, glory to God above ! 
 
 ^HE Field is the World." So said One whose every utterance 
 was far-reaching and full of meaning. Born a Jew, and 
 during His earthly life never passing beyond the narrow 
 limits of the land of His birth, His spiritual vision took in all 
 the kingdoms of the world, and His heart went out in yearning love 
 and pity to the despised Gentile races unknown to, and uncared for by 
 those around Him. His thoughts went forward to the time when His 
 other sheep, not of that fold, should be gathered in ; and they too were 
 included in the intercessions of that last wonderful prayer in which the 
 feelings of a lifetime were gathered up and poured out to His Father in 
 heaven : " Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe 
 on Me through their word." His parting instructions to His disciples show 
 plainly what His desires and intentions were with regard to all nations far 
 and near, " Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." 
 And again, " Ye shall be witnesses unto Me unto the uttermost parts of the 
 earth " (Acts i. 8). 
 
 This long-neglected and almost forgotten command is now being pressed 
 upon the attention of Christians by many voices and many pens, and not in 
 vain. Many are offering themselves to carry the sweet Gospel message 
 
 B 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 wherever their Lord would have them go, and many others are waking up to 
 perceive that the traditional guinea to this or that society is an absurdity 
 which they no longer dare ask the Lord, who watches the gifts put into His 
 treasury, to accept. 
 
 But is there not need for a further awakening ? Have we yet learned to 
 place ourselves by the side of our Blessed Master, and, looking out with Him 
 over " The Field of the World," to see things from His point of view, although 
 our eyes are so dim that they can at best take in but little of what He sees ? 
 Looking thus, should we not observe many things before unnoticed ? Empty 
 spaces where no labourer has gone would attract attention ; other places, 
 feebly attempted and ill supported, would arouse prayerful interest. 
 
 This thought is by way of apology to the reader for introducing a mission 
 comparatively lately begun, little known, and as yet very poorly supported. 
 
 It is remarkable that when the thought of carrying the Gospel to other 
 countries first suggested itself — rather, we should say, was borne in upon 
 Christian hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit — to go to idolaters, and to 
 Ihe farthest parts of the earth seems to have been the first idea with all. 
 India, the distant islands of the Pacific, South Africa, Madagascar, New 
 Zealand, were am.ong the first to attract labourers from our own country, 
 while the Moravians had been before us in going to the Indians of America 
 and the Greenlandcrs. The thought seems to have come only recently to 
 those who are "lifting up their eyes and looking on the fields," that on the 
 way to those far-off lands are others quite near and accessible, where the one 
 only Saviour is unknown, and where Mahomedanism shuts out the light as 
 effectually as the debasing idolatries of heathenism. It is, however, true that 
 only at a comparatively late date, barriers have been removed which formerly 
 made the northern shores of Africa inaccessible to Christian enterprise. It is 
 difficult to reahse that only sixty years ago Algiers was still a city of pirates, 
 that indeed all the principal towns along the coast line of Algeria and Morocco 
 were inhabited by fierce corsairs, whose business was to attack passing vessels, 
 plundering, killing, or carrying away into a miserable slavery all who fell into 
 their hands. 
 
 In A.D. 935 the city of Algiers was founded by an Arab prince, and from 
 that time forward Islam seems to have been firmly established in the land. 
 In A.D. 1492 the Moors, being driven from Spain, settled all along the north 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 coast of Africa, and soon became known as a nation of pirates. Many ex- 
 peditions were at different times fitted out against them, but all proved 
 singularly unsuccessful In 1541 the Emperor Charles V. landed in Algiers, 
 with an immense fleet and army, but a fearful storm, with earthquakes and 
 waterspouts, destroyed most of his ships and forced him to withdraw. Other 
 later attempts to humble these proud pirates were invariably baffled. 
 
 Several European nations — Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, etc.,- 
 were, compelled to buy protection for their vessels by payment of an annual 
 tribute. During the French Revolution there ^ was a lull. The presence of 
 large armed fleets in the Mediterranean hindered the pirates in their opera- 
 tions, but as soon as the war was over, they recommenced with fresh vigour. 
 The first check given them was from the Americans, who attacked the Algerine 
 fleet off Carthagena in the summer of 18 15, defeated it, and compelled the 
 Dey to respect the American flag. Soon after, Lord Exmouth demanded from 
 all the States of Barbary, the recognition or international law which would 
 insure some humanity towards prisoners. Algiers refused consent, and was 
 bombarded by the united English and Dutch fleets, its naval force, and maga- 
 zines being all destroyed. The Dey was at last forced to yield, being com- 
 pelled to do so by his own soldiers, and a treaty was concluded, by which 
 piracy and the slavery of Christians were renounced. The result was so far 
 good, that 1,211 Christian slaves were dehvered up to the British Admiral. 
 But piracy was soon resorted to again, and was^not fully put a stop to till the 
 final Conquest of Algeria by the French in 1830. 
 
 The establishment of French rule in Algeria was the dawn of a new era 
 for all Northern Africa; piracy has so completely died out along the whole of 
 the coast line, that it seems now a forgotten state of things. In Algeria itself 
 the conflict between the conquered and the conquerors raged long and fiercely. 
 For nearly twenty years the attempt to shake off the yoke of their new 
 masters was repeated continually; but since the complete crushing of the 
 effort for independence led by Abdel Kader, and his banishment from the 
 country, there has been no serious renewal of warfare. The people have 
 quieted down, their conquerors have adopted a conciliatory policy, and their 
 rule has been attended with many material benefits to the population. Roads 
 and railways have been constructed, and in 1856 the French Government 
 conferred a great boon upon the people by boring for water in several places. 
 
 B 2 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A bountiful supply v/as procured by means of Artesian wells, which seemed to 
 the simple people quite miraculous. They named the first well " Fountain of 
 Peace," the next they called " Fountain of Blessing," and the third " Fountain 
 of Gratitude." May these names be repeated in a deeper, fuller sense, as 
 wells of Living Water spring up among them. " Spring up, O well, sing ye 
 unto it" (Numbers xxi, 17); "I will open rivers in high places, and 
 fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of 
 water, and the dry land springs of water" (Is. xli. 18). 
 
ALGERIA. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Algeria. 
 
 Call them in, the poor, the wretched 
 Sin-stained wanderers from the fold: 
 Peace and pardon freely offer ; 
 Cati yon weigh their worth with gold ? 
 Call them in— the weak, the weary, 
 Laden with the doom, of sin : 
 Bid them come and rest in Jesus ; 
 He is waiti:ig — call the7/i in. 
 
 HUS, in the providence of God, the long-closed door of 
 Northern Africa was opened, by which His servants might 
 go in, carrying the everlasting Gospel. Not for long after 
 that, however, did it come into any one's heart to do so. 
 Algeria was soon resorted to by travellers for its picturesque beauty, and 
 by seekers after health, .because of its sunshine and its pleasant climate, 
 but few, if any, gave a thought to the souls around them on whom the 
 Light of Life had never shone. Perhaps some did feel for them, and 
 send up in secret a cry for help to our Father who seeth in secret, which 
 is now being answered. 
 
 Algeria has a history stretching far back into the past. Many races 
 meet and mingle there now. The traveller arriving at Algiers has hardly 
 time to admire the stately city, its white houses rising one above another on 
 the slopes of an extensive semicircle of hills, before the steamer is sur- 
 rounded by a flotilla of small boats, manned by a motley crew of Arabs, 
 Kabyles, Spaniards, and Maltese, waiting to convey him from the vessel to 
 the quay. Once landed, 
 
 " He is at first bewildered by the new persons, rather than by the new 
 things about him. He feels suddenly transported into a masquerade, and 
 can scarcely persuade himself that his surroundings are ' all real,' as Arab, 
 Kabyle, Moor, and Jew passes by him, each in his curious Eastern dress." 
 
.10 ALGERIA. 
 
 In addition to the Eastern element, there is the European : the French 
 colonists and officials, and a large number of Spanish settlers. Nor is the 
 distinctively African type wanting, as there are many negroes and negresses, 
 now released from slavery. There are also many Jews. 
 
 But of all these races the dwellers in the mountains in Eastern Algeria,, 
 called Kabyles, are perhaps the most ancient. They differ entirely from the 
 Arab descendants of those Mahomedan invaders who poured into the 
 country at different times when Islam was spreading itself in full strength 
 and vigour. Professor Sayce speaks of the Kabyles as descendants of the 
 ancient Libyans, and claims kindred for them with the Amorites of Canaan 
 in a remote past, and with the fair Celts of an Irish village in the present. 
 He says — 
 
 " The traveller who first meets with them in Algeria cannot fail to be 
 struck by their likeness to a certain part of the population of the British Isles. 
 Their clear, white, freckled skins, their blue eyes, their golden-red hair, and 
 tall stature, are in striking resemblance to the modern Celt, and when we 
 find that their skulls, which are of the ' long-headed ' type, are the same as the 
 skulls discovered in the prehistoric cromlechs of the country they still 
 inhabit, we may conclude that they represent the descendants of the white- 
 skinned Libyans of the Egyptian monuments." 
 
 Later traditions of this interesting people make it clear that at one time 
 many, if not all their tribes, embraced the Christian faith, which they were 
 forced again to renounce by their Mahomedan conquerors. The villages of the 
 Kabyles are scattered over the mountains of Algeria, but it is the same race 
 which, under the name of Riffs or Riffians, inhabit the wild country which is. 
 the borderland of Morocco, and, again, they are found in even greater 
 numbers in the south and west of Morocco, where both the people and their 
 language are called Shluh. All are included under the name of Berbers.. 
 Like other mountaineers, they are strong in their love of freedom, and long 
 resisted the establishment of the French Government over them. 
 
 The attention of Christians was first attracted to this interesting race in 
 1876, when Mr. and Mrs. George Pearse visited Algiers in prosecution of 
 their work among the French soldiers. During their stay there they had 
 their first glimpse of the Kabyles from the windows of their hotel, which 
 overlooked an open space where many of them used to congregate. The 
 sight of these fine-looking mountaineers awakened the sympathies of hearts 
 
ALGERIA. 
 
 II 
 
 accustomed to seek the salvation of souls, and suggested the thought that 
 something must be done to bring to them the light of life and sdvation. An 
 incident which occurred served to deepen this impression. There hid been a 
 
 A KABYLE. 
 
 time of famine, followed by a terrible epidemic. Looking out from the 
 window one bright moonlight night, Mrs. Pearse saw what at first she 
 thought was a bundle of rags on a pavement under a wall, but whidi, on 
 
14 ALGERIA. 
 
 looking more narrowly, she saw was a man. Another lay near him, his 
 ghastly face upturned to the moon. She could not go out to help them, it 
 was two o'clock in the morning, and the house was locked up ; she could only 
 pray that help might come to them. In the morning at six, when the Arab 
 water-carrier came, Mrs, Pearse asked him about those poor men. They 
 were dead, unpitied, uncared for. Seeing her emotion, the man said, " Their 
 fate affects me about as much as a dead dog would ; I am used to it ; hun- 
 dreds have gone in a short time," The pitiful sight was graven upon Mrs, 
 Pearse's mind, and the spiritual condition of these people presented itself 
 very vividly to her — so neglected, so forgotten. It stirred her to earnest 
 prayer, and she and her husband never rested till something was done to 
 carry the Gospel to them. 
 
 French ProtestantsJ^Jhad at that time done nothing for the natives of 
 Algeria, and Mr. and Mrs. Pearse naturally turned to English Christians. 
 Coming to England, Mr. Pearse applied to the Church Missionary Society 
 through the Rev. C. Fenn, to learn if it was possible for them to undertake 
 a mission to the Kabyles, but that great Society felt it impossible to take up 
 work so entirely new and distant from their existing missions. 
 
 Mr. Pearse, therefore, (sought to interest Christians in general by pub- 
 lishing a short account of the Kabyles and his first journeys among them, much 
 of which will still be read with interest. Touching on the past history of 
 those lands he thus wrote : — 
 
 " Northern Africa has played an important part in the past, and was, in 
 fact, the granary of the Roman Empire ; and for three centuries, from Tertullian 
 to Augustine, the Church of Christ there exercised a great influence in Europe 
 and in the East. It suddenly emerged from obscurity in a.d. 198, when the 
 apology for the Christian Faith was addressed by Tertullian to the Roman 
 governors. The Church went on increasing in numbers till it had 579 sees, 
 some of them, doubtless, being very small. It had, like other parts of the 
 Roman Empire, its persecutions. In a.d. 258, Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, 
 was martyred, and in the same persecution the young African lad}^, Perpetua, 
 was slain in the Colosseum, the remains of which now exist at Carthage. The 
 Kabyles have been successively subject to the Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, 
 Turks, and now the French are their masters. The Romans could not master 
 the rocks of Jur-jura, but they controlled the Kabyles by having military 
 stations commanded by praepositi along the banks of the rivers Sahell and 
 Sebaou. The Turks followed the same plan, and held possession of the 
 country through their forts on these same rivers. Amongst their troops they 
 
ALGERIA. 15 
 
 had some negro auxiliaries, who were rewarded by having lands allotted to 
 them. They settled down in separate villages, and were subsequently received 
 into the Kabyle Confederation, and now live harmoniously amongst them. 
 During the Roman dominion the people in the towns spoke Latin, but the 
 country people the Punic tongue, traces of which are found in the Kabyle of 
 the present day. There is no doubt that some Kabyle families are of Roman 
 origin ; for instance, the Abbekkar, a fraction of the village Iril G'Ifri, and 
 others. 
 
 " It was during the second Saracenic invasion under Akba-en-Nefa, with 
 his 1 0,000 horsemen, in the seventh century, that the Kabyles were made to sub- 
 mit to the Mussulman yoke and religion, and driven to their mountains ; but it 
 was about the time that the Turks arose in the thirteenth century that a desert 
 tribe, the Beni Zian from Arabia, swept over North Africa, obtained possession 
 of Central Moghreb, and again drove the aborigines into the mountains, or 
 into the Sahara; and from this time dates the complete subjection of the 
 people to the religion of their conquerors. Still, in some places their faith in 
 Islam is very slight, and their knowledge of what the Koran really teaches 
 still less." 
 
 After paying a visit to Algeria in 1879, Mr. H. Grattan Guinness was so 
 deeply impressed with the spiritual destitution of the Kabyles, as totall}^ 
 unevangelised, that he urged upon Mr. and Mrs. Pearse the importance of 
 undertaking a mission to them, and they soon after set out on a journey of 
 exploration among the Kabyle villages. They went first to Constantine, and 
 from thence to Setif, which is the centre of immense elevated plains, where 
 wheat and other grains are largely grown, their object being to attend the 
 weekly market at the latter places, where from 8,000 to 10,000 Arabs and 
 Kabyles congregate from all the country round. Describing the scene, Mrs. 
 Pearse wrote : — 
 
 " In they pour, on horses, mules, donkeys, and camels. What an imposing 
 sight ! The sunrise on the distant mountains imparting its glorious hues ; 
 the patient beasts of the desert with their stately tread, laden with corn, their 
 young following them ; Arabs on foot with their flocks. Here, in a vast square, 
 goats, sheep, and oxen are disposed of. We rose at sunrise, and went out 
 well stored with Arabic tracts and books, watching them gathering from every 
 quarter. We looked about and prayed, feeling our nothingness and impotence 
 amongst such a mass of untutored, wild, and illiterate men ; but their bearing 
 is dignified, and they are mostly fine men, and Mrs. Grimke's Arabic, illus- 
 trated cards made them smile and show their white teeth. But how sad they 
 look ! Although their Koran recognises the Seidna A'issa as the Eternal Word, 
 born of the Virgin, yet they do not know Him as a Saviour. 
 
 " The mounted Arab police, in their red cloaks, kept order. On one side 
 
ALGERIA. 17 
 
 there was a circle formed around an Arab reciting a long poem, the inner 
 circle seated on the ground in deep abstraction, and the outer standing around 
 them. The improvisatore, with an animated countenance and fiery eye, went 
 on with great rapidity, and every one apparently was fascinated by the 
 recitation. 
 
 " We thought it best to begin our distribution with the shepherds, who, 
 though they may not all read, can generally find some one who will. At first 
 they seemed rather suspicious of us, but when they found we were ' Inglese ' 
 they accosted us in an unintelligible language. Soon our tempting little 
 books (pink, blue, and green) were produced, and, like sheep, they followed 
 one after another, and began to be eager to get them, and we heard ' Donnez ' 
 on all sides, the gamins being very pertinacious, full of fun and frolic, as 
 everywhere. We noticed several fine, intelligent young men, who could 
 read well, and they asked us to give explanations about the books, of which 
 we gave them the best we had. One kissed the leaves with the sacred 
 characters. 
 
 "Then we got amongst the goats, and the owners had to beat off the 
 crowd which pressed around. Now we went amongst the horned cattle and 
 mules. Not a heel moved, nor a horn pushed us, and we felt that we could 
 have kept amongst them for hours, and that the Lord was with us. Great 
 was our joy in being able to look our swarthy brethren in the face, a long-felt 
 desire now granted, and it was very evident no such thing had ever been 
 done amongst them. Now we can understand, in the presence of such 
 masses of Christless souls, how our Lord had compassion on the multitudes 
 who were as sheep without a shepherd." 
 
 Leaving Setif, Mr. and Mrs. Pearse travelled on through a part of Eastern 
 Kabylia, through a grand country, where in places the road was cut out of the 
 sides of immense mountains, 5>000 ^nd 6,000 feet high. Again Mrs. Pearse 
 wrote : — • 
 
 " How my heart has bled in contemplating the position of the Kabyle 
 women ! Whenever we came to a village the women hid themselves ; the 
 young girls, some remarkably beautiful, fled like wild gazelles. A large part 
 of the work in the fields falls on the women. Passing along the side of a 
 mountain, we heard a murmur of voices from the valley below. It came from 
 a number of women and girls, employed in the various processes of making 
 oil, drying the olives, crushing, pressing, and washing at a spring issuing 
 from a rock. I saw one struggling along under a load of wood. A wife is 
 purchased at about the same price that would be given for a good mule, say 
 500 fr. Though a Kabyle has only one wife, she is no companion for her 
 husband. His place of resort is the Djemaa, a kind of public club-room at 
 the entrance of the village, fitted with stone seats all round it, where the men 
 meet to rest and to discuss the affairs of the village world. One reads the 
 thrilling narratives by Christian sisters in China and India of their work 
 
1 8 ALGERIA. 
 
 >^ amongst the women and girls. The poor neglected women amongst the 
 Kabyles need the sympathy and help of English women, and it does not 
 require a long voyage to reach them." 
 
 The Lord was drawing out the hearts of His servants to care for those 
 who were sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, and at first the most 
 hopeful and attractive field of labour appeared to be amongst this ancient 
 people, in the villages scattered over the mountains of Algeria, so that the 
 effort for their benefit, soon to be begun, was at first called " A Mission to 
 the Kabyles and other Berber races." Subsequent experience has shown that 
 it is impossible to separate one of the mixed races of North Africa from 
 another in carrying the Gospel to them, and the Kabyles have not proved as 
 accessible as some others. The present title of " North Africa Mission " is 
 therefore more exactly suitable to the work as it has developed. 
 
 After several journeys and sojourns among the Kabyle villages, to gain 
 information and to test the kind of reception likely to be accorded to mission- 
 workers sent among them, a beginning was made in i88i by a young 
 Swiss (M. Mayor) and a converted Druse (Selim Za^'toun) settling at 
 Djemaa Sahridj, and at the same time Mr. Edward Glenny was led to under- 
 take the supervision and development of the work while residing in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Mr. Pearse had greatly wished that an industrial, self-supporting 
 mission might be formed, and it was with this in view that Mr. Glenn}' was 
 first led to go to Algeria and make careful inquiries as to the possibilities of 
 such a scheme. He was led to decide against it, and seeing how God has 
 permitted the Mission, within these few years since its commencement, to 
 spread west and east, first into Morocco, and next into Tunis and Tripoli, we 
 cannot but see His guiding hand which thus prevented it from being localized, 
 and probably cramped in its operations. 
 
 About the same time the Bible Society's agent, Mr. Lowitz, opened a 
 depot for the sale of Scriptures in the town of Algiers, and shortly after, Mr. 
 Mackintosh, a missionary who had laboured in Syria until failure of health 
 compelled him to retire, but whose heart was still in the work, and who had 
 become interested in Morocco by meeting some of the natives of that country 
 on pilgrimage to Mecca, offered his services to the Bible Societ}^ for Morocco. 
 He was sent there at first to pioneer, but afterwards as a permanent agent. 
 
OLIVE GATHERIXC. 
 
20 ALGERIA. 
 
 He also had thus been led providentially, but quite independently, to care for 
 the needs of North Africa. 
 
 It is needless now to dwell upon the hopes and disappointments con- 
 nected with the first beginnings of the Mission. The latter were not 
 wanting ; but looking back over the eight years that have passed since the 
 commencement of the effort, we can but say, " What hath God wrought ! " 
 At the present time there are fifty-one missionaries occupying twelve different 
 stations in connection with the North Africa Mission, besides a number of 
 independent workers, several of whom began work with the help of the 
 Society, but afterwards preferred working on separate lines. Manifest tokens 
 of God's blessing have here and there been given, and souls have been 
 gathered into the heavenly garner, there to join the great company of the 
 redeemed, washed in the blood of the Lamb, who but for this Mission would 
 never have heard of the Saviour of sinners. It is true there are immense 
 difficulties to be encountered. 
 
 " The North Africa Mission," writes Mr. Glenny, " had no child's play 
 before it when it endeavoured to carry the Gospel to Mohammedans, and to 
 that part of the world where Mohammedanism had most completely triumphed 
 over Christianity, and had for more than a thousand years held undisputed 
 sway over Berbers and Arabs alike. The false teachings of Islam had, in 
 more than thirty generations^ permeated the social and political, as well as the 
 religious life of the people, and thus they had become much more difficult to 
 reach than the untutored savage, or even the dupes of Rome. Had not God 
 in His mercy already to a great extent dried up the political power of 
 Mohammedanism, it would have been impossible to re-evangelise North 
 Africa. The fact that it is possible has come as a revelation to almost every- 
 one. Even yet the Church is not awake to the fact, and is acting as though 
 Moslem political power was the same now as half a century ago, and the 
 evangelisation of its victims still impossible. Everywhere almost, Moham- 
 medan power is passing, and must pass away." 
 
 It must, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, and even now places 
 which used to be closed, as it were, with gates of bi"ass and bars of iron to 
 any breath of Christian truth, are thrown open, that the feet of them that bring 
 good tidings, and that publish peace, may enter in. Yet still sufferings, and 
 even death, await the convert who believes in his heart, and desires to confess 
 with his mouth the Lord Jesus. The cruel beatings which some converts 
 have had to endure, and the shrinking back of others even after baptism because 
 
ALGERIA, 21 
 
 unable to face the persecution which they saw lay before them, show plainly 
 the need, the pressing need there is that we at home should help by faith and 
 prayer our brethren and sisters who are carrying on the warfare. When 
 Moses' hand was let down, Amalek prevailed, and only while it was held up 
 Israel prevailed. Do we realise how much depends on us ? how the con- 
 flict with the powers of evil which is going on down in the valley has its 
 victories or threatened defeats influenced by our faithfulness or slackness in 
 prayer, as we look on from the quiet mountain side, out of reach of the toil 
 and the danger of the battle ? A missionary in Korea lately wrote : " Just 
 now the obstacles do seem somewhat formidable ; I want you to pray the 
 obstacles down, or pray us above them." Faith, which includes prayer, 
 subdues kingdoms and removes mountains. 
 
21 ALGERIA. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 MISSION STATIONS IN ALGP:RIA. 
 
 Dying ? \cSf dying tn thousands^ 
 
 A hopeless, despairing death; 
 Can we not hear them calling, 
 
 Pleading with bated breath : 
 " Will no one covic oi'cr and bri7ig us light? 
 Must we perish in darkness darker than 7itght?" 
 
 Dying ! In loveless silence ; 
 
 For there is none to tell 
 The only message that comforts — 
 
 The message we know so well — 
 That the God of love who gave His Son, 
 Hath given Hi7n freely for eveiy one. 
 
 Dying / while we are dreaming 
 
 In selfish idleness ; 
 Unconscious that those darkened lives 
 
 Arc so full of bitterness. 
 Oh, brothers and sisters for whom Christ died, 
 Let us sp}'ead His message far and wide. 
 
 DjEMAA SaHRIDJ. 
 
 HE first Mission station was opened at Djemaa Sahridj, which 
 occupies a 'charming situation at the foot of the first spurs of 
 the Jur-jura, and has been called the Damascus of Kabylia, 
 the " country of springs," as its name signifies. It has 
 consequently a perennial freshness amongst its many gardens. It has 
 a mosque of Saracenic construction, and in the market-place is a well-built 
 stone basin, receiving the waters of a magnificent spring. A large 
 market is held on Fridays, and the people are of a busy and active disposition. 
 The village, consisting of 3,000 persons, is made up of rather heterogeneous 
 
ALGERIA. 23 
 
 elements, and there are a considerable number of Marabout families— the 
 Marabouts being hereditary Mahomedan teachers. Here, on a prominent 
 hill, 1,165 feet above the river Sebaou, stands now a little whitewashed 
 Mission-house. It is just outside the village, and overlooks a wide extent 
 of country, the windings of the river Sebaou, and a range of mountains 
 stretching to the left and right. Here during the year 1882, or a part of it, 
 resided Mons. Mayor, with his Syrian helper, Selim Zaytoun. But the 
 difficulties which met them at the outset were great. The French authorities, 
 suspecting some political aim, forbade their teaching a number of Kabyle 
 young men who had gathered around them ; and also forbade their helping 
 the sick with medicines as they were not "diplomes." Under thepressure of 
 trials and difficulties, Zaytoun left the country, and M. Mayor also left for a 
 time, but has since returned, and is now working independently in a Kabyle 
 village. The work, however, was not abandoned. In October, 1883, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Lamb, with their three little children, landed in Algiers, and at 
 once proceeded to Djemaa Sahridj, where they laboured until 1889, when 
 they moved on to another station. 
 
 Before the arrival of Mr. Lamb and his family, two ladies. Miss Gillard 
 and a friend, had gone there for a time, and afterwards moved to a village 
 higher up the mountains. There they have built a small cottage of two 
 rooms, having first of all tried living in a Kabyle house, but that they found 
 too contrary to all ideas of health or comfort. Miss Gillard has lived there 
 now for seven years, working quietly and persistently, teaching the children, 
 nursing the sick, and thus trying to win a way for the words of eternal 
 life. 
 
 After a time Mr. Lamb was joined by M. Cuendet, a Swiss, who, a year 
 later, brought a young Swiss bride to add to the Mission party. Later on, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lamb went to open a new Mission station at Akbou, while 
 the older station was reinforced by two ladies. Miss Smith and Miss Cox. 
 
 In every country where a new and difficult language has to be acquired, 
 the early years of a Mission must needs be a time of patient preparation ; even 
 sowing the seed of the Word cannot be done to any extent until the language 
 has been mastered, and in the case of an un-written language hke the Kabyle, 
 there are special difficulties in the way of acquiring it. The great want of 
 the Scriptures translated ready to hand also makes itself felt. It is both a 
 
 c 2 
 
24 ALGERIA. 
 
 hindrance and a help that French is so much spoken in all the mere accessible 
 parts of Algeria, Kabyle villages included, that a good conversational knowledge 
 of French has been found a primary necessity to all missionaries going there, 
 thus making an additional tax upon their time. It has this advantage, that 
 by means of French, they can speedily get into communication with a portion 
 of the inhabitants ; but this hardly makes up for having to acquire two foreign 
 languages at once. A Gospel of John in the Kabyle language, and printed in 
 Roman characters, they found ready to hand, it having been translated by a 
 German, Dr. Sauerwein. M. Cuendet has spent much labour on a trans- 
 lation of the Gospel of Luke. He and Mr. Lamb have also prepared 
 translations of several passages of Scripture, which they are able to read 
 to those with whom they come in contact ; also about twenty hymns, the 
 singing of which is always an attraction. Without having studied medicine, 
 Mr. Lamb finds himself often able to relieve suffering by means of simple 
 remedies, and the help thus given obtains for him many an invitation and 
 hearty welcome into Kabyle houses. The following are a few of his 
 •experiences : — ■ 
 
 " I have been to the village of Aigoussi Bonafir. In a public place, 
 commanding a charming view, I sat, surrounded by a company of men, chief 
 am,ong whom was the Sheikh and leading Marabout of the mosque. As soon 
 as I made known that I had medicine, one after another came seeking relief, 
 sotne bringing their little children. Several gladly accepted Gospels in Arabic, 
 among them the Sheikh, who seemed much pleased with it, and sat for some 
 time reading it, and assenting to what I said regarding Christ as the Saviour 
 of the world and Son of God. After more than an hour spent here, I was 
 invited to visit several persons in their homes. One of them kindly prepared 
 cous-cous* for me, and we ate together. 
 
 "On Sunday afternoon I visited the village of Meslouh, about three-quarters 
 of an hour's distance from Djemaa Sahridj. When there, several women and 
 children came round me, to whom I gave medicine. I endeavoured to make 
 known the Gospel, both by reading portions of Scripture in Kabyle and 
 speaking of God's love. Between Djemaa and Meslouh there are some 
 detached Kabyle houses. From one of these an old man came, asking me to 
 go and see a sick child. While on my way there I met a woman with a 
 pitcher of water on her head, who said the child was hers, and, accordingly, 
 led me to her house. I was quite taken with the little baby boy of five 
 months, and was struck with the pleasure the old man had in the child as it 
 
 * Cous-cous is the national dish both of Algeria and Morocco ; it is made of wheat 
 flour, granulated in some way, and afterwards steamed along with meat and vegetables. 
 
ALGERIA. 25 
 
 turned its little face to him, and he, calling it by name, kissed it. These poor 
 but grateful people gave me a few large pomegranates. The old man, and 
 several who had gathered about the door, listened intently as I spoke of the 
 Lord Jesus. An expression, employed by the Kabyles in wishing one another 
 recovery from some bodily ailment, I have adopted, with an addition which 
 generally calls forth surprise. They say, ' Adirk Rebbi Thabbourth,' t.e.y 
 * God give you the door (healing),' to which I add, ' R'efoud 'em Sidna Aissa,' 
 which means, ' in the face of the Lord Jesus,' or for Jesus' sake. Their 
 expression, * in the face of,' recalls Psalm Ixxxix. 9, ' Look upon the face of 
 Thine anointed.' " 
 
 The work at this station is still carried on very quietly, in spite of many 
 hindrances. A class for Kabyle boys, who are learning in the French school, 
 was attempted, in order to teach them from the Scriptures, on Sundays 
 and Thursdays, and their bright intelligent faces were cheering to the 
 teachers' hearts ; but just as they began to learn a Httle, it was forbidden by 
 the French authorities. A few little Kabyle girls were gathered to learn tO' 
 sew and sing hymns ; that also was put a stop to. And so was a meeting for 
 men, held by M. Cuendet in the Djemaa, or place of public resort. M.. 
 Cuendet still visits the villages round, and has opportunities there and in 
 Djemaa Sahridj itself of speaking and reading to individuals and small groups,, 
 and thus the knowledge of God's great salvation through Jesus Christ is being 
 spread, slowly but surely. 
 
 Miss Smith and Miss Cox having been two and a half years in the work,, 
 are now able to converse pretty easily in Kabyle, and they are heartily wel- 
 comed by the women in their own houses. 
 
 " Everywhere the dear women and children welcome us, and there" 
 amongst these hidden ones, we find ample work. Lideed there is far more 
 work in Djemaa Sahridj than we can ever do. The village contains nearly 
 3,000 inhabitants, besides which we are surrounded by other Kabyle villages, 
 easy of access, where we are alwa3^s welcomed. The girls of the lower class 
 are from their earliest years despised and outcast, with the hardest work, and 
 no instruction whatever. These poor children live a loveless life indeed, 
 until sometimes at the early age of ten (often younger), the father or brother 
 of the poor little one decides to sell her to a strange man, old enough often to 
 be her father or grandfather. After this the girl is little better than a slave 
 in the house of her husband. When he rides, she walks, while he is resting 
 she is doing the most menial work of all kinds. Not only this, but if she fails 
 to please her lord, she can be sold again, and even separated from her 
 children. The Kabyle woman of the higher class is gentle and timid, and 
 very sweet-looking, but her fate is hardly less hard than that of her poorer 
 
26 
 
 ALGERIA. 
 
 sisters. Certainly her work is less hard — making cous-cous and burnouses 
 being considered Kabyle accomplishments ; but then she is a prisoner for life. 
 If her husband possesses no garden in connection with his house, this poor 
 
 A KABYLE GIRL. 
 
 young creature is enclosed within its dreary four walls, or if by any chance 
 she does go out, it is mounted on a mule, her face entirely covered with a 
 black veil. 
 
 "In one quarter a most interesting work seems commencing; a number 
 
ALGERIA. 27 
 
 of these dear women and children really desiring to learn the hymns, singing 
 with us, and repeating the Bible words after us. 
 
 " On Sunday we visit the surrounding villages, M. Cuendet preaching, 
 we assisting with the hymns. 
 
 " Madame Cuendet is always ready to give us a helping hand, but 
 naturally her work is chiefly with her three little children, the eldest being 
 not much more than three years old. We have been forced for some time to 
 give up our work in the houses of the people, as small-pox has been and still 
 is raging in the village. In nearly all Kabyle houses there is but one room. 
 There on the floor lie the sick and dying, all huddled together ; they take 
 simply no precautions, all washing their clothes at the same fountain, and 
 carrying the children about all covered with this terrible disease, 
 
 " We have recommenced our work in the French village of Mekla, have 
 a class for children first and then for adults ; but the opposition is great. If 
 we depended in the very least on any efforts of our own, we should say the 
 work is impossible ; but happily it is all His work, we are but instruments. 
 Oh, that friends at home would pray even more earnestly that we may be in- 
 struments He can abundantly bless, sanctified and meet for the Master's use ! " 
 
 Let us also pray that God will grant to our friends " favour and good 
 understanding " with the French authorities. In Paris the benefit resulting 
 from Mr. McAll's efforts to bring the Gospel to the French " ouvriers " is sa 
 fully recognised that he was a few years ago presented with a medal by the 
 ■"Societe Nationale d'Encouragement au Bien," and again by a National 
 Education Society, in token of their appreciation of the good done ; and police 
 authorities have cordially testified to the increased order and quiet in the 
 neighbourhood of the Salles de Conference. In Algeria also the officials need 
 only to be convinced that our missionaries truly desire to do good, and have 
 no political aims, and we believe that they would give to their work the same 
 encouragement that is accorded to it in other parts of France. For every 
 hindrance that arises we have the resource of prayer, and we Iknow that as 
 the mountains flow down at the presence of our God, so will mountains of 
 difficulty melt away when He clears the way for us. May He increase our 
 faith, and awaken all His children to a sense of their responsibility as helpers 
 to the brethren and sisters who are in the midst of the battle. 
 
 Tlemcen. 
 
 Two years after a commencement had been made in Djemaa Sahridj, a 
 young Frenchman, M. Bureau, who had been converted in one of Mr. McAll's 
 
i«tl(Ml-JM&s!k:EAf\-^-^-''5:~ ^- 
 
 A SEA\ 
 
ALPHA, 
 
so ALGERIA. 
 
 Salles de Conference in Paris, was sent to Tlemcen with the view of making 
 that a permanent station if it should be found practicable. Tlemcen is 400 
 miles distant from Djemaa Sahridj on the western side of Algeria, and is 
 strongly occupied by a French garrison, being their frontier position towards 
 Morocco. The mountains which divide the two countries, and which are 
 inhabited by Riffs, another branch of the Berber race, are only about ten 
 miles distant, the town itself being built on the side of a mountain about two 
 thousand six hundred feet above the sea. Being so high, the climate is very 
 cold in winter, though hot in summer — as cold as England during December, 
 January, and February, but without its comforts, while during spring and 
 summer a blast of sirocco from the Sahara often brings excessive heat. The 
 town is picturesque, surrounded by groves of olives, and with many outlying 
 villages. The townspeople are chiefly Arabs, though some of them are of 
 Berber origin, with a few Turks. The Arabs of Tlemcen are of a very 
 superior and refined type, which character, with the touch of French civilisa- 
 tion that the men have received, makes them very friendly towards the 
 missionaries. The French element in the population is considerable, and 
 there are enough of Protestants for them to have a church with a resident 
 pastor, an advantage not often enjoyed by them in Algeria. M. Bureau was 
 removed when he had acquired a fair knowledge of Arabic to begin work in 
 Funis, and Tlemcen was successively occupied by several new missionaries, 
 so that only very recently has actual work been begun in it. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Marshall are now stationed there, with three ladies. Miss Read and Miss 
 Day, who have been there longest, have access to moi'e houses than they can 
 find time to visit. They began by giving medical help to a few, which greatly 
 opened the hearts of the Arabs to them. After about six months this was 
 prohibited by the authorities on the ground of Miss Read not having a French 
 diploma, but the entrance gained was never lost again, those with whom they 
 have made friends introducing them to others. 
 
 " At present," says Miss Read, " we could visit two hundred houses if we 
 only had the time. I will not say that in all these our teaching is acceptable. 
 While they think we read and sing the Gospel to them for our own pleasure, 
 all is well, but when we apply it to i/icin many close the ear. Then there are 
 some who would be willing to listen, but their husbands, knowing we want 
 to convert them, forbid our reading in their houses, at the same time welcoming 
 us. Altogether, visiting the women in their homes is hopeful, especially as they 
 
ALGERIA. 31 
 
 are so secluded. About two years ago we started a Sunday morning meeting 
 for the poorer class of Arab men and women, Miss Day and I taking them 
 in separate rooms. Six months after, finding this succeed, we invited these 
 people to come on Friday afternoons also to a Gospel meeting. We get on 
 an average from twenty to twenty-five men and women. They listen with 
 perfect attention to the address, join in the hymns, which by frequent at- 
 tendance they learn by heart, but though we kneel in prayer they remain 
 seated. Among the children we are able to do something. We have had for 
 two years a boys' Bible-class on Thursday afternoon. The boys are from 
 four to thirteen years old, and the average attendance is twenty-four, though 
 there are many more names on the books. The hour they spend with us we 
 give to singing hymns, learning a text, and we tell them a short Bible story. 
 We know that they repeat in their homes what they learn. On Tuesday 
 afternoon we have a needlework class, teaching girls to make their own native 
 garments. One hour we spend at needlework ; then, work put away, we have 
 half-an-hour singing Gospel hymns. This class has increased to our utmost 
 limits, notwithstanding the teaching of hymns. For the sake of the needle- 
 work the parents like the children to come, and at present we have as many 
 as we can possibly teach, and we take no new comers. The girls learn our 
 hymns, and we cannot tell where their influence will end. ' Cast thy bread 
 upon the waters, and thou shalt find it after many days,' is a precious promise 
 to us, and the word of our God is ever sure. We have not accomplished 
 anything of ourselves, it is the Lord's working. We do praise Him specially 
 for persevering grace — grace to persevere in the work, and to persevere in 
 prayer for it. Often we have been very downcast at the failure of our efforts 
 to get the people to come to us. Some suspected us of evil motives in 
 gathering the children to our house, others knew the true motive, and that 
 was the stumblingblock, but now we have by the Lord's help a steady work 
 in their midst, and having sown the seed, we look to the Lord to give the 
 increase. The soil is hard, but praise the Lord that it is not harder." 
 
 The following account of an Arab family in Tlemcen is by Miss Vining, 
 who spent some time there before taking up work in Oran : — 
 
 "Visited in the afternoon. While withZorah she told me that her hus- 
 band had been ill three days, and they had no money ; but she said, ' Yes- 
 terday I prayed to Sidna Aisa, and said, " My husband is ill and cannot work, 
 send us some money, or some food to eat," ' and she added, ' soon after my 
 husband got up and said he would go and see if he could find a job, and in 
 half an hour he brought fourpence. I was so glad, and so was he.' She gave 
 me a large pomegranate, saying he had bought four for a sou (halfpenny), and 
 after giving one to her, and one to Fatima, and putting one aside for himself, 
 he gave her the fourth and best to give to me when I came. Their simple 
 love and generosity in their deep poverty are very touching, and very precious 
 to me. it is so true. 
 
0-i 
 
 ALGERIA. 
 
 " Visited Zorah in the afternoon, and had a nice long talk with her. She 
 is growing in grace, and beginning not only to pray, but to look for the 
 answers. I said something about the sinfulness around us in the world, and 
 she replied, ' Yes, there is sin, much sin, but Jesus can cleanse it away. I 
 
 INTKKIOR OF KABYLE HOUSE. 
 
 pray to Him always, morning and evenirg, and I know He hears.' What joy 
 such words must give to Him ! 
 
 " Poor blind Fatima has wounded one of her feet lately, treading on a 
 piece of glass in the street, and I promised her a pair of shoes with the next 
 money ' Sidna Aisa ' sent me. When I went to take the money the child was 
 
ALGERIA. 33 
 
 sitting on the steps, so I passed into the room, and after talking a little with 
 her mother, I said, ' Fatima, the money has come for your shoes.' She sprang 
 up, and with a perfectly radiant face threw both arms round my neck and 
 kissed me. This is the greatest expression of joy and gratitude. Both 
 she and her mother said, 'Jesus is good. He sent the money.' Now Zorah 
 says she cannot keep Fatima in the house, she is always wanting to go out 
 to wear her shoes. It is a simple thing, but as much joy and pleasure to this 
 poor blind Arab girl of twelve 3'ears as a watch and chain would be to one of 
 her age in England." 
 
 One more little incident of the work among the children, given by Miss 
 Read, must be told before passing on : — 
 
 " We are having colder weather just now, and were hoping the small- 
 pox would have abated, but it is as bad as ever, and we find it so difficult to 
 assure the people that we sympathise with them, because we feel it right to 
 refuse to go in when we know that the disease is in the house. One little 
 girl of three years old, who had been coming with her parents to the meeting 
 ever since she could speak, fell ill with this terrible scourge. One day her 
 mother came to say she was crying for me, would I just go and look at her. 
 I was not afraid for myself, but for others ; but making up my mind to have 
 a long walk afterwards, I w^ent. Directly I entered the room she lifted her 
 head from the mat where she was lying and said, ' She's come, she's come ! ' 
 and then to me, 'Take me in your arms and sing " Jesus loves me."' I 
 could not resist the little one's pleading, so took her up in the coverlet 
 and sang to her, and she nestled in my arms and went to sleep — the first 
 time for a week, her mother said. The next day I had a cold and headache, 
 and other symptoms of small-pox ; but, praise the Lord, these passed awa}', 
 and we are all keeping well." 
 
 There are babes among the little Arab children whom the Lord Jesus 
 would love to take in His arms and lay His hands on them and bless them, 
 but, dear Christian women of England, they need you to bring them to 
 Him. 
 
 COXSTANTINE. 
 
 The City of Constantine is the capital of the province of the same name. 
 It is connected by railway with the port of Pliilippeville, which is about fifty 
 miles distant. It has been for many centuries an important fortress, and one 
 of the natural strongholds of a country frequently disturbed by wars and 
 revolutions. Its ancient name was Cirta, the city of the Massisylan kings 
 two or three hundred years before Christ. Narva, whose wife was a sister 
 
34 ALGERIA. 
 
 of Hannibal, was king b.c. 230. It is celebrated also in ecclesiastical history 
 as a place to which Cyprian was banished a.d. 257. In a.d. 412 Sylvian, 
 Primate of Africa, held a Council here, at which the celebrated Augustine 
 assisted. 
 
 The situation of the city is very remarkable ; it occupies the summit of a 
 plateau of rock, whose surface slopes towards the south. On the north-west 
 side the rocks rise perpendicularly nearly a thousand feet from the bed of the 
 river Roummel. It is separated on the east from the surrounding country 
 by a deep ravine, across which the French have thrown a handsome bridge, 
 which now affords the only way of access to the city. 
 
 The population is between 30,000 and 40,000, and as it is the residence 
 of the General, Prefect, and other high functionaries, it has a considerable 
 French as well as native population. There is a French pastor here to care 
 for the French Protestants, and the British and Foreign Bible Society have a 
 colporteur in the province, who makes this his headquarters. In 1886, Mr. 
 Pos, a Dutch gentleman, with his wife, was sent by the N.A. Society to take 
 up work in the City of Constantine, but their health failing them, they were 
 obliged to leave, and it has since been occupied by two ladies, Miss Colville 
 and Miss Granger. Their work is carried on in much the same way as that 
 of the sisters in Tlemcen — visiting the women in their homes and receiving; 
 all who will come to their house. Not long after they were able to converse 
 a little in Arabic they were visited frequently by a Moslem, who became 
 deeply interested in the Scriptures. For some months he regularly attended 
 their meetings for reading and prayer, and seemed to drink in the truth, his 
 growth in grace being evident to those who watched and prayed over him. 
 Early in 1888 Miss Colville proposed to him to go to Tunis, that the brethren] 
 there might have an opportunity of judging as to the reality of his profession. 
 This he did, delighting them all by his simple faith, his intelligent grasp of 
 the Scriptures, and his earnest spirit, the result being that ere he left Tunis 
 he was baptised by M. Bureau. This man was a native of Tagaste, the. 
 birthplace of Augustine. 
 
 The following extracts are from Miss Colville's journals : — 
 
 " Went to take dinner with a French lady and her Arab husband ; they 
 were both exceedingly kind. He is such a nice Arab ; his native town is Fez, 
 which he left when he was quite young. We had a nice talk with them both. 
 
ALGERIA. , 35 
 
 and were surprised to find that she is even more ignorant than her husband 
 of spiritual things. They were so interested when we spoke to them, and 
 seemed anxious to hear. Called on another French lady, whose husband is 
 an Arab. 
 
 " In the afternoon, when a little cool, visited the house we were in last 
 week. There are four families ; one of the men is a Haj, also his wife — that 
 is, they have made the pilgrimage to Mecca. We sat in one room, and three 
 women and two girls came while we talked to them and read some hymns^ 
 which they liked ; and on finishing * Rock of Ages ' one of the women took 
 the book and ran down to the Haj with it. We afterwards went down to the 
 courtyard, when the Haj came and asked us to sit with him and his wife, 
 which we did. He and the man to whom we had given John's Gospel had 
 been up one night reading it, and had now got to the eleventh chapter, so we 
 thought we were going to have a discussion, as he held our hymn-book in his. 
 hand ; instead of which he seemed very interested, and said the hymns were 
 good, but that Jesus did not die, as another had taken his place. I told him 
 it was necessary one should die for all, and Jesus had completed our salvation 
 on the Cross, and asked him to accept a Gospel, which he gladly did. He 
 and the other man looked through it, and made remarks to each other, and 
 several times asked us questions. They are two intelligent men, and we felt 
 a little nervous to encounter them, but the Lord put the words in our mouths, 
 and was our strength in weakness. 
 
 " The Arab woman we have to wash our floors told us a young girl was 
 dead near us. We had heard the tum-tum going, and knew some one was 
 dead. She said she would like to go and visit them, so we told her to go. 
 She soon returned, telling us she had entered and told them she would like to 
 bring us, so we went, and found the house full of women, as the family is 
 rich. The body had just been carried out, dressed in silk brocaded with gold. 
 She was seventeen years of age, and had died of consumption — a common 
 disease here. She was to have been married very soon, and her grandmother 
 had made all her clothes, and bought quantities of jewellery for her, as her 
 father and mother are both dead. We looked into one room, and saw about 
 forty women round the room, dancing and smiting their breasts and foreheads^ 
 tearing their cheeks, and shouting in a wild manner, ' O sidi ! O sidi ! ' The 
 tum-tum was in the centre of the room. The grandmother and three negroes 
 and the little sister were sitting close to it repeating the same words. It was 
 a heathenish sight ; the perspiration and blood streamed down their faces and 
 arms, and they had kept this up since daybreak yesterday — nearly two days. 
 Our hearts went out in pity for these poor creatures, and wondered why we 
 have been so highly favoured. What can we render to the Lord for all His 
 benefits ? We wish some in dear old England could be transported into 
 these houses, and see these dear women, so precious to the Lord Jesus ; I 
 feel sure they would not desire to return, but would feel constrained to stay 
 and dwell among them." 
 
z^ 
 
 ALGERIA. 
 
 Mascara and Mosta- 
 
 GANEM. 
 
 At Mascara Mr. and 
 Mrs. Cheeseman were 
 stationed for a time, but 
 feeling the want of a 
 more thorough knowledge 
 of Arabic, Mr. Cheese- 
 man went to reside in 
 Oran, that he might study- 
 in the Government Col- 
 lege there. He has now 
 returned to Mascara, 
 which is in the centre of 
 a great plain, where 
 many wandering tribes 
 pitch their tents. Mr. 
 Cheeseman has, after 
 much difficulty, obtained 
 a license as a colporteur, 
 and his desire is to itine- 
 rate much among the 
 villages and encamp- 
 AKAB SHOEBLACK. mcuts, both scUlng the 
 
 Scriptures and telling the Gospel message to all who will hear it. 
 
 At Mostaganem Mr. and Mrs. Lile}^ have resided about two years. They 
 have had. many trials through ill-health and other discouragements, and need our 
 prayers, as their post is a lonely one. Mr. Liley has a class of Arab shoe- 
 black boys, and these are often a cheer to him. He writes : — 
 
 "Had the pleasure of meeting my class of shoeblacks, who now number 
 thirty-two. I read to them the story of the Crucifixion, and explained why it 
 •was necessary that Christ should die for us. The interest they showed was 
 quite encouraging. 
 
 " The first thing this morning an Arab came, to whom I had promised a 
 Bible. His is a very hopeful case, and 1 believe the Lord is going to save 
 
ALGERIA. 37 
 
 his soul. Every evening he reads in a native cafe to a number of Arabs, \vho 
 gather to Hsten. For nearly two hours I was in conversation with him about 
 his soul, and he seemed very anxious to know the truth. The ' weeds and 
 ivy vine ' of old customs, however, cling tightly to him. As he left the house 
 with the Bible, he said, ' I shall take this Bible home and read it carefully. 
 As I read I shall ask God to show me the truth." 
 
 Later on, Mr. Liley took a short journey through the Dahra, a large 
 district to the east of Mostagancm. 
 
 " Leaving Mostaganem early Friday morning, it was my intention to 
 visit two large douars (encampments) near Pont de Chelifif, then continue my 
 iourney on foot to Bosquet. It was a disappointment to me to have to pass 
 them in the diligence, which now meets the trains at Ain Tideles, and instead 
 of passing these douars at 9 a.m. as formerly, it now passes them about 
 midday. The heat was intense, 97° in the shade. It would have been folly 
 for me to have visited the douars at this hour and in such heat. Arriving at 
 Ain Ouillis, I visited the Protestants there ; they are very poor, but sincere 
 Christians. While in the house of one, an Arab entered, who was afterwards 
 found to be the chief of a douar. As I spoke to him of Jesus Christ he looked 
 at me in astonishment, repeating often, ' These words are good.' As he 
 could read, a New Testament was given him. He would have me write my 
 name in Arabic, so that he could remember me better. He said, ' Come and 
 see me at my douar. I will have a lot of men ready to hear you.' 
 
 " Continuing my journey on foot, I arrived at Bosquet about 4.30 p.m. I 
 was constrained to visit a Frenchman who had on my first visit looked upon 
 me as a spy. To-day he seemed very pleased to see me. Taking me into 
 his house he gave me grapes and biscuits to eat; he also invited me to dine 
 with him. 
 
 " Saturday evening, I arrived at Cassaigne ; here another man gave me 
 refreshments who had sought to do me harm, sajang that I was a spy, but is 
 now very friendly. In the evening, had a meeting with the Protestants, after 
 which I left for Bosquet, arriving there at 1 1 p.m., so as to avoid Sunday 
 travelling. At Ouillis the Protestants showed me no little kindness. The 
 meeting at this place is generally held in the schoolroom. The school-mistress 
 was absent to-day, and had the key with her ; however we descended into the 
 ravine, and in the shade of fig and pomegranate trees had a very happy time 
 over the Word, in prayer, and with hymns. 
 
 " Time did not allow me to visit the Arabs on Sunday. Early on Monday 
 morning I was taken on horseback by the son of one of the Protestants to 
 several douars. The first was that of the chief seen on Friday, Unfortu- 
 nately most of the men were away at Bosquet to bury a marabout who had 
 died on Saturday. However, those present brought out mats, and invited us 
 to sit down. For a long time the men and a few women listened with great 
 attention as I read from the New Testament, and spoke to them of our need 
 
38 ALGERIA. 
 
 of a new birth. ' Come again, and you will have all our people to hear these 
 good words/ said the Arabs, as we rode away, 
 
 " Riding in another direction, we visited another douar. At first it 
 seemed as though all the men were absent, threshing their wheat ; however, 
 a shepherd lad gave a shout, and soon we had a nice congregation. One 
 man, whom I had noticed listening in great astonishment, said v/hen I had 
 done speaking, ' Never have I heard such things as these which you have 
 been telling us.' Two Gospels were left with a very old ' taleb,' and a young 
 marabout took me in his arms and embraced me when I promised to send him 
 a Bible. Altogether I had a most encouraging time in the Dahra. I cannot 
 go further into details, but this visit to the douars has increased my desire to 
 be set more free from town work." 
 
 Six stations have thus been occupied within the limits of the French 
 territory. The work has been slower of development than in Morocco, and 
 in some respects the hindrances to the reception of the Gospel are greater ; 
 yet the establishment of settled law and order, and the liberty of conscience 
 allowed by the Government, must prove immense advantages in the long run. 
 In Morocco, if the hearts of the people are more ready to receive God's 
 message of love and grace, there are terrible barriers in the way of confessing 
 it openly. To become a Christian there is to run the risk of imprisonment, 
 ^ torture, and death. We must therefore rejoice that under God's overruling 
 providence, Algeria has been brought under the influences of a civilised 
 government. 
 
 Before passing on, mention must be made of a work begun about two years 
 ago in the town of Algiers by Miss Trotter and two other ladies, though it is 
 unconnected with the North Africa Mission. Hitherto these ladies have 
 worked among the French inhabitants, trying also to reach the French- 
 speaking Arabs, but they hope as they learn Arabic to get fuller access to the 
 natives. The meetings held by them almost nightly have been much blessed, 
 and although at first there was much opposition and disturbance, these are 
 giving place to quiet attention, as their object is becoming better understood. 
 
MOROCCO. 39 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Morocco. 
 
 So T retnrned and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sunj and 
 ibehold the tears of such as were oppressed, ani they had no comforter; and on the side 
 ^f their oppressors there was pow. rj but they had no comforter. — Ecclesiastes iv. i. 
 
 HE narrowness of the strip of water which separates the empirci 
 of Morocco from Europe makes the contrast between the two 
 countries more striking, and the fact that the starting-point for 
 Tangier is usually Gibraltar, where English order and cleanli- 
 ness prevail, enhances the effect. Scarcely three hours of crossing, and the 
 'Coast line, which has been in view all the time, is reached, and the traveller 
 sets foot in what might be a new world, so different do things appear. 
 
 The town, which is not large, is built upon sloping ground, rising up the 
 hillside from the water, and is surrounded by a wall. The flat-roofed houses 
 are pressed close together, intersected by labyrinths of narrow, winding streets. 
 [During the reign of our Charles L Tangier was held by the English, and was 
 strongly fortified, probably with the object of keeping in check the pirates 
 who preyed upon all European vessels. In the time of Charles II. it was 
 abandoned by England, and the fortifications destroyed. Tangier is but 
 seldom visited by the Sultan, perhaps because it is more frequented by Euro- 
 peans than any other spot in his dominions. In 1889, however, the present 
 Sultan, Muley Hassan, honoured the town by a visit, an occasion of intense 
 fcxcitement and rejoicing. 1l he city of Morocco — or, more properly, Maraksh 
 — is the Sultan's usual abode, but he appears to move about a good deal in 
 ithe interior of .his dominions. The government of which he is the head and 
 'Centre is described toortrilly as an organised system of brigandage. To squeeze 
 imoney out of the unfortunate people, and bring it into the imperial coffers is 
 ithe one. aim. and object. To be industrious and thrifty, to live in comfort, 
 
 y 
 
MOROCCO. 41 
 
 marks a man out as a suitable victim, and sooner or later some false accu- 
 sation is brought against him, and he is throvv'n into prison, and kept 
 there till all his possessions have been given up as bribes to buy back his 
 liberty. The mode of collecting ordinary taxes is thus described by an old 
 traveller, and the description may still serve ibr the present time, except that 
 the word "Kaid" must be substituted for the old English term "bashaw." 
 
 "The mode practised by the Emperor for extracting money from his 
 subjects is very simple and expeditious. He sends orders to the bashaw, or 
 governor of the province, to pay him the sum he wants within a limited time. 
 The bashaw inmiediately collects it, and sometimes double the sum, as a 
 reward to his own industry-, from the Kaids of the towns and Sheikhs of the 
 encampments in the province which he commands. The example of the 
 bashaw is not lost upon these officers, who take care to compensate their own 
 trouble with equal liberality from the pockets of the subjects, so that by means 
 of this chain of despotism, which descends from the Emperor to the meanest 
 officer, the wretched people generally pay about four times the taxes which 
 the Emperor receives."* 
 
 The consequence of these oppressive taxes, and still more oppressive acts 
 of spoliation, is that the rich and fertile country is but poorly cultivated, and 
 yields no more than will keep its population above starvation. Large tracts 
 are covered with the palmetto, a dwarf palm resembling a fern, the fibre of 
 which is used to weave a coarse material for the tents of the wandering Arabs. 
 In other places the rich soil is carpeted with a profusion of wild flowers. 
 Acres of bright yellow marigolds contrast with acres of scarlet poppies ; but 
 more commonly they are intermingled and sprinkled with the added hues of 
 white, pink, and blue of many lovely flowers. Near the towns and villages 
 there are, indeed, gardens where fruit and vegetables grow luxuriantly ; but 
 these serve to show what might be made of a country so rich in natural 
 resources if it were justly governed. 
 
 The Moorish prisons are awful proofs of what the Government is, the 
 poor creatures who are consigned to them being frequently innocent of the 
 •crimes they are accused of; yet they are left to languish there, innocent and 
 guilty alike, their case being hopeless if they have no money wherewith to buy 
 themselves off. The following sketch by the Rev. Newm.an Hall of what 
 he saw of the prison in Tangier in 1883 will bear repetition, especially as 
 
 * Lempriere. 1813. 
 
42 MOROCCO. 
 
 it is to be feared that no improvement in the state of things has taken"' 
 place since then, except a little at Tangier, where European influence is- 
 felt. 
 
 " I had heard," he says, " that a small piece of black bread, insufficient tc 
 maintain life, is alone allowed, and no ivatcr ; that charges are trumped up for 
 the sake of extracting money ; that those who can pay are released, and the 
 penniless and friendless die, and that the Governor reckons the prisons as a 
 source of revenue, and not of expense. I resolved to see for myself, and went 
 in the afternoon with my Moor and a man bearing as many loaves as he- 
 could carry. There was no difficulty m getting access to the entrance-hall,, 
 where the gaoler abides. In the wall is a round hole, about a foot in diameter^ 
 through which I looked into a sort of den, with two grated openings in the 
 roof Here about thirty men were confined. Through a similar opening I 
 looked into what may have been the ground-floor of a house, with a small 
 court in the centre with recesses. Here were about sixty men promiscuously 
 herded together. Some were lying or sitting on the stone floor, the ankles of 
 several being chained together. The odour through the opening rendered it 
 difficult to look long enough for the eye to get accustomed to the darkness so 
 as to see distinctly. 
 
 " But enough, and more than enough was witnessed ! I shall not sooi:} 
 forget the haggard hungry looks of those near the opening, nor the eager 
 clutching hands that grasped the bread. True enough they have no water. 
 The prisoners may buy it through the gaoler, or receive it from their friends, 
 while those who have neither money nor friends depend on the few drops, 
 others may spare them ; and it may happen sometimes that none at all reaches, 
 them. There was no well or cistern in the upper part of the town where the 
 gaol is, so we descended to the market-place, but trade was over for the day,, 
 and the water-skin carriers had gone. An hour elapsed before we found 
 three men with water-barrels, who for a few pence climbed the steep path to 
 the gaol. The gaoler unlocked a small door by which the barrels were passed 
 in. The gurgling of the water as it was emptied, mingled with the grateful 
 murmur of the prisoners and the dismal clanking of their chains. 
 
 " Next morning another supply of bread was taken, and eight men carrying- 
 skins of water. These eight men were satisfied with a fraction more than one 
 penny each ; yet to save so small a cost so great a cruelty is inflicted ! It 
 was delightful to see some of the men availing themselves of this supply to 
 indulge in the rare luxury of a wash. The gratitude of the poor creatures for 
 so small a gift was distressing. One said to my guide, ' People bring us food, 
 but they seldom think of the water.' My guide told me that there are some- 
 times twice as many prisoners, and that in summer the stench is intolerable. 
 If any of them are sick, no doctor visits them, and no extra food or medicine 
 is given. No wonder deaths are frequent !" 
 
 If such a state of things is carried on with the knowledge, and almost 
 
MOROCCO. 
 
 43 
 
 under the eyes of the ambassadors of Christian nations in Tangier, we may 
 well believe that in the remote towns they are no better. 
 
 Even now the inner parts of Morocco are but little known to the civilised 
 
 CALL TO PRAYER. 
 
 world, and the dislike of the Government to letting in any light upon its dark- 
 ness combines with the prejudices and fanaticism of the people to keep out 
 all strangers. Quite recently Mr. Joseph Thomson, with a fellow traveller, 
 forced his way, at frequent risk of being killed, through a part of the Atlas 
 Mountains, and, though we cannot hope for any good result to the country 
 
44 MOROCCO. 
 
 visited by such attempts, however courageous, yet we do expect that the 
 patient, loving attempts made by our missionary brethren and sisters to carry 
 the heahng balm of the Gospel of Jesus Christ wherever it is possible for 
 them to go, will gradually open a way for them, even to parts that are now 
 altogether closed. The mountain tribes of Riffs, Shluhs, and, further south, of 
 Sus, are always spoken of by the Moors of the coast towns as wild brigands 
 and robbers, and it is true that they are little controlled by the Sultan, and do 
 what is right in their own eyes ; but they too are, among those for whom Christ 
 died, and in them also the great Creator has implanted hearts capable of being 
 reached by love and kindness. In many respects, so far as Mr. Thomson's 
 observation reached, these mountaineers in their remote villages are much less 
 debased than the strict Moslems of the plains. The picture he gives of 
 Mahomedanism, as seen in Morocco, is a terrible one. 
 
 " It was difficult to grasp the fact which had been gradually boring its 
 way into our minds with growing knowledge of Moorish life, that absolutely 
 the most religious nation on the face of the earth was also the most grossly 
 immoral. In no sect is faith so absolutely paramount, so unweakened by any 
 strain of scepticism, as among the Mahomedans of Morocco. Among no 
 people are prayers so commonly heard, or religious duties more rigidly 
 .attended to. Yet side by side with it all, rapine and murder, mendacity of the 
 most advanced type, and brutish and nameless vices exist to an extraordinary 
 ■degree. From the Sultan down to the loathsome, half-starved beggar, from 
 the most learned to the most illiterate, from the man who enjoys the reputa- 
 tion of utmost sanctity to his openly infamous opposite, all are alike morally 
 rotten. Everywhere Moorish misgovernment is casting its blighting influence 
 ■on the brave, industrious villagers of the Atlas Mountains. Up every glen 
 this huge, blood-sucking octopus is pushing its horrible feelers, instinct with 
 the lust of power, dragging village after village to feed with its life-blood the 
 rapacious appetite of this bloated monster. In some places the old indepen- 
 dence is maintained, and there, though almost starved into submission, the 
 Shluh fight desperately for home and freedom." 
 
 Soon may the freedom which the Son of God alone can give be brought 
 to them. 
 
MOROCCO. 45 
 
 CHAPTER V, 
 
 Morocco — -Work in Tangier. 
 
 Allah akbar .' — God is great! 
 
 — Old ]\Ioorish battle-cry; 
 
 The Lord of Hosts is with its. 
 
 ■ — Psalm xlvi. 
 
 HE mission in Algeria had not long been started, before a call 
 came to extend its operations to Morocco. As has been men- 
 tioned already, Mr. Mackintosh had become interested some 
 years before in Moors whom he had met, away from their own 
 country. Though himself taking up the work of the Bible Society, he was 
 anxious that other forms of missionar}' effort should also be attempted. *At 
 the same time it was brought to the notice of Mr. Glenny that a large house 
 built by an English gentleman for his own use just outside of Tangier was 
 for sale below cost price, and in many respects it seemed very suitable as a 
 centre where missionaries might reside for a time while studying Arabic, 
 before going forth to different spheres of labour. Through the kind help of a 
 few Christian friends, the house was bought, and named Hope House, and 
 from it for the last six years have been going forth continual loving efforts to 
 enlighten and to win all within reach. Moors, Jews, Riffs, Spaniards, all 
 find a welcome at Hope House, and, so far as human efforts can bring it to 
 them, healing both for body and soul. 
 
 The first to take possession of Hope House was Mr. Baldwin, an 
 American pastor, with his wife and family. Mrs. Baldwin soon found her 
 hands full of work in dispensing medicine to the man}^ patients who came to 
 
 * The Christian lady, Mrs. Johnson, with whom the thought of occupying Hope House 
 as a missionary centre originated, and who gave largely towards the purchase-monej', died 
 almost immediately after it was occupied. 
 
46 MOROCCO. 
 
 her for help. With her young children to care for, the work was beyond her 
 strength, and she gladly handed it over to an English medical man, Dr. 
 Churcher, who joined the Mission party a year or two later. The medical 
 mission has since greatly developed. Some out-buildiugs attached to 
 the house have been altered so as to make a comfortable little hospital, with 
 room for twenty or thirty patients, enabling the doctor to take in serious cases 
 requiring good nursing. A trained nurse, and two ladies who have acquired 
 the needful knowledge through much practice in Tangier, find abundance of 
 work in helping the doctor with the out-patients, and in caring for those whom 
 they take in. To the dispensary at Hope House has been added one in the 
 town itself, where medical help is dealt out once or twice a week. This de- 
 partment of Christian effort gives great opportunities for preaching the 
 Gospel. That is done systematically to all who come for treatment, but 
 besides the addresses given to all when assembled, the ladies of the Mission 
 find time for quiet talks and readings with those who come, which are most 
 helpful in breaking down prejudice and winning a hearing for the Gospel. 
 
 But from the commencement of the mission in Morocco, the freedom of 
 access to the people, and their readiness to hear has been so great that our 
 friends have felt limited only by their own want of language, and as that 
 was gradually acquired, by lack of time and strength to do all that might be 
 done. Near to Hope House is an open space, called the Marshan, and here 
 are frequently encamped Moorish soldiers, embassies, bearers of petitions 
 from distant parts of the country, etc., thus bringing many from distant places 
 almost up to the doors of the Mission House. In April, 1885, Mr. Baldwin 
 thus describes such an encampment : — - 
 
 " As I write, a Moor from Fez is looking on. He is one of the officers 
 of a large party sent from the Sultan to escort a French ambassador to Fez, 
 and carry to the Sultan a present from the French Government. They are 
 encamped on the Marshan, fifteen tents, and about one hundred and fifty 
 horses and mules. I have just called on the Kaid in charge — a man of rank 
 among those about the Sultan. I gave him my card, with my name and 
 vocation written thereon in Arabic. He received me pleasantly. The day 
 following he returned my visit, accompanied by two of his officers and a 
 servant. I gave each of them a Gospel, to the Kaid I had sent a New Testament 
 as a gift. The Moorish doctor of the expedition has since come to ask for a 
 Gospel. The Kaid and his attendants were here nearly an hour. I spoke to 
 him a little of the Lord Jesus, having the gardener as an interpreter. 
 
MOROCCO. 47 
 
 " Oh ! that we might tell them as we desire ot the great salvation. We 
 are daily filled with thanksgiving at the most evident and multiplying openings 
 for toil for Jesus right at our doors. The next day (Sunday) twelve chief 
 men from the Marshan encampment came to our house, and we held a service 
 for them under our front porch. I spoke, and Miss Herdman interpreted for 
 me. My subject was Jesus' words to Nicodemus. They are fine intelligent 
 men, and there was great and quiet attention to the Word. Afterwards I 
 showed them the grounds, and gave them tea and biscuits. 
 
 " April 20th. — I was called from writing to see two of the Raid's officers, 
 who had again called at our house. They have given me their names and 
 addresses, and assure me they will do all in their power for us, if we will any 
 of us go to their country. They live at Mequinez, a little west of Fez. They 
 say it is a beautiful and healthy city in the mountains, built with more space 
 about the houses than at Tangier, and four times as large. Thus in God's 
 providence we are forming valuable acquaintances in the interior, which may 
 be of great use some day. 
 
 ^' April 2T)rd. — We are having natives about us continually, and it is hardly 
 necessary to go outside our gate to get hold of them for conversation. Many 
 were here yesterday, a continuous stream from morning till night. There 
 were Riffians, Moors from this neighbourhood and the interior, with three or 
 four Jews as well. Many of them came for and received medical treatment 
 and medicine." 
 
 In the beginning of 1885 the mission was strengthened by the addition of 
 two ladies. Miss Tulloch and Miss Herdman. Miss TuUoch went with the 
 object of helping in the education of Mr. Baldwin's children, but her heart 
 was drawn out to the people around her, and her spare time was all devoted to- 
 learning Arabic, in which she made unusually rapid progress. She little knew 
 how short a working day in Africa was before her, but the Lord knew, and 
 doubtless helped His servant quickly into work, and let fall some handfuls of 
 purpose, that she might glean them. Before many months had passed, her 
 journals show that she was able to take her share in telling out the Gospel in 
 Arabic, though doubtless it was with stammering lips and many longings for 
 a fuller use of language. The following extract from Miss Tulloch's journal^ 
 written August, 1885, gives a glimpse of the village work round Tangier,, 
 which is often a pleasant refreshment to weary workers : — 
 
 "Aug. 1st. — We left early this morning for the village of Beni Makadda. 
 An hour and a half's ride brought us there. It is a large one, and built — as 
 many of these villages are — on the crest of a hill. Being directed to a certain 
 house, we were most kindly welcomed, for no sooner did they see us coming 
 than they brought out nice mats and spread them under some fig trees, 
 
48 
 
 MOROCCO. 
 
 which gave us dehghtful shade. We were soon surrounded by men and 
 children. 
 
 " We rejoiced in going forth this morning, as we had leaflets to give 
 away, a portion of God's Word in Moorish Arabic. Those who could read 
 were delighted with them. They listened attentively while Miss Herdman 
 explained them to them, and told them of the need of a Saviour. When they 
 saw us prepare for lunch, they all very politely left us, and a woman brought 
 
 us milk, water, and 
 eggs. After lunch the 
 men came back, and 
 many passages from 
 the Old and New 
 Testaments were read 
 to them and explained. 
 The women were after- 
 wards visited. One 
 woman, whom I had 
 met going to fetch 
 water, and had per- 
 suaded to join the 
 group, sat and listened 
 with rapt attention to 
 the story of the 
 Saviour's love, and 
 when Miss Herdman 
 stopped she begged 
 her to go on. It was 
 with difficulty we got 
 away from her. 
 
 " Aug. A,th. — Read 
 the leaflet to some 
 men, also John iii. 
 They gladly took the 
 leaflet away with them. 
 One case was most 
 interesting, that of a 
 taleb, or schoolmaster, 
 who had come simply to pay a visit. I gave him a leaflet, which he 
 read. When he came to where it speaks of the Son of man being lifted 
 up, he asked, like the eunuch of old, ' Of whom is this spoken ? ' I told 
 him it was of the Lord Jesus, and as best I could explained to him the 
 need of His death. Then he said, ' I will read it over again,' which he did, 
 and pondered over each sentence to take it in. I then brought him an Arabic 
 Bible, and opened Genesis for him, the Moslems being always ready to read 
 that book ; but with wistful eyes he said, ' Show me the Gospel ; I want to 
 
 MISS TULLOCH. 
 
MOROCCO. 49 
 
 read about the Lord Jesus.' I turned up John iii. quickly, but when he saw 
 it he said, sorrowfully, ' I cannot read that ! I am only a poor taleb ; you 
 know more than I do.' I got John iii., which we have now written out in 
 Moorish Arabic, and he read the whole chapter. When he left he said he 
 would soon come again. 
 
 "Aug. 24th. — In going among the patients to-day, a woman, for the first 
 time, asked me to read to her the leaflet ; I had given her one. I did so, and 
 tried to speak to her and those beside her of the Lord Jesus. Two listened 
 attentively. The woman who asked me to read begged for another leaflet, 
 that she might give it to her son. 
 
 " Went in the morning to the Sok (market). The gathering was 
 immense ; I had never seen it so full. There were thousands present ; it 
 seemed as if there was not even standing room. Some men asked me for 
 something to read. I did not stay long, but went to ask after a sick woman, 
 and was glad to find her better. Had a long talk with a young wife in the 
 same house about the Lord Jesus, and heard from her of the death of a girl 
 who had been their servant, and had but lately left them. Being a country 
 girl (or from the mountains, as they say), she did not know how to sew as the 
 town girls do. She was pleased to learn, and I used to teach her, and while 
 she sewed I talked to her of the Lord Jesus. The last time I called to see 
 her, I found her mother had come to take her home. I was sorry I had lost 
 my pupil Fatima. To-day I was told she was killed on the way home — shot 
 by her brother. ' That is the way the Moslems do,' added the young woman 
 who told me. Poor Fatima ! How we must use each opportunity we have of 
 speaking, as if it were to be the last and only one." 
 
 Rather less than two years was the time granted to Miss Tulloch thus 
 to use the opportunities given her. She went to Tangier the beginning 
 of 1885, and in December, 1886, an attack of typhoid fever laid her low. It 
 was the messenger sent to take her home, for in spite of the most careful and 
 loving nursing she did not rally. But before her short working day came to 
 a close she was permitted to rejoice over two souls from among the Moslems, 
 whom she believed to be born again of the Spirit. One was a poor old man 
 from Fez, who came seeking medical help for a bad sore on his chest. Having 
 made the pilgrimage to Mecca, he went by the name of El Haj, the pilgrim. 
 His coming to Tangier was before the days of the present convenient little 
 hospital, but he settled himself down in a corner of the stable, and was 
 allowed to remain, and accepted as the first " in-patient." Many prayers went 
 up for him from loving hearts that, as God had sent him, he might receive 
 healing of both body and soul. Both prayers were, so far as human insight 
 could go, graciously answered. His bodily health was quite restored, and 
 
so MOROCCO. 
 
 during the weeks spent at the Mission-house he drank in the Gospel message 
 brought to him chiefly by Miss Tulloch. He used to go about singing to 
 himself, "Jesus loves me, this I know," in Arabic, and he was not afraid to 
 speak boldly before the others of the Lord Jesus being his Saviour. When 
 his cure was complete he went back to his own place, but Miss Tulloch fully 
 expected to meet him again in heaven. 
 
 The other case was that of a young man of good birth and education, 
 who came to visit the missionaries, and was so attracted by what he saw and 
 heard that he stayed on for some time. Miss Tulloch set him to translate the 
 Psalms into Moorish Arabic, which Mohamedans like, although they know 
 little of them ; then she would read what he had written as her lesson. Thus 
 they went right through the Psalms together, which filled him with a great 
 desire to pray, and he learnt many short pra3'ers. He also read Matthew with 
 a class of the whole mission-party, and Miss Tulloch and he began to translate 
 the Epistles into Moorish Arabic. They had many interesting conversations 
 as they read together daily, and the truth took hold of him. One day he read 
 the Epistle of John by himself 
 
 Miss Tulloch says :— 
 
 " I had shown him the first chapter, seventh verse, and then I believe he 
 gave himself to Jesus. That night he wept in his bed, and he felt as if the 
 Lord Jesus came to him, and he said, ' O Lord, here is my heart — take it ! ' He 
 was so bright the next morning, and so happy. He wrote to h's parents that 
 he was going to follow the Lord Jesus, for His religion w^as better than theirs. 
 They replied that he was no son of theirs, and that they would put him in 
 prison if he came home." 
 
 This young man was enticed home on a false pretext of his mother's ill- 
 ness. He was kept a prisoner, and greatly persecuted for several weeks, but 
 has since returned to the Mission and been baptised. His return was not 
 till after Miss Tulloch's death. When he was going away he said to her, 
 ''You may know that, if I die, I die in the religion of Sidna Aissa," and 
 she wrote, " I cannot tell you how glad I am about his being a Christian. 
 It is so encouraging to go on working." 
 
 Now the sickle is laid down, but the fruits remain. 
 
 Almost at the same time with Miss Tulloch, in the early part of 1885, 
 Miss Herdman joined the party at Hope House. She had the great advantage 
 of some previous knowledge of Arabic, as well as Spanish, and both languages 
 
MOROCCO. 51 
 
 were speedily brought into active use. A busy year was spent in interpreting 
 for the doctor as he treated his patients, as well as for the other missionaries, 
 in visiting the houses of both Moors and Jews, and, among other varied 
 pieces of work, putting some of the familiar Sankey's hymns into Moorish 
 Arabic, which last has been an invaluable help in teaching the Gospel. Then 
 there came a call for an onward step, the history of which will be given in 
 the next chapter. 
 
52 
 
 ARZILA AND LARACHE. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Arzila and Larache. 
 
 The fields are all ripening^ and far and wide, 
 The world now is waiting the harvest-tide ; 
 But ixapers are few, and the work is great, 
 And much will be lost should the harvest wait. 
 
 Arzila. 
 
 N the spring of 1886, several Christian visitors were attracted 
 to Hope House ; among others, Mr. Hind Smith, the well- 
 known secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association, and 
 
 his son. In order to see as much of the country as possible, 
 
 these two gentlemen made a journey of a few days into the interior, in company 
 with Mr. Baldwin, returning by the western coast. Their way led them by 
 Arzila, an ancient walled city, washed by the Atlantic, about thirty miles S.W. 
 of Tangier, and containing 2,000 inhabitants. Mr. Baldwin wrote : — 
 
 ** I shall never forget standing, with Mr. Hind Smith, on the crumbling 
 walls of Arzila, at its south-west corner. The sun was just sinking into the 
 sea, amid a blaze of glory cast on cloud and wave. About us was a group of 
 lads who followed us everywhere, and with whom we had been speaking. 
 The lads of this quiet, ancient town are unusually intelligent and interesting, 
 most of them being able to read Arabic. Standing there we prayed for the 
 lost ones about us." 
 
 Mr. Hind Smith was so interested and stirred by the sight, that he 
 offered to pay the rent of a house in the town for a year, if it could be occupied 
 by some of the mission workers. On their return to Tangier, it was at once 
 arranged that Miss Herdman should go there, taking as her companion Miss 
 Constance Caley, who had then not been long in the country, and knew but 
 little of the language, but who rapidly acquired it. Like Miss Tulloch, she 
 
ARZILA AND LARACHE. 53 
 
 was to have but a few brief years filled with earnest work for th^ Master, 
 before she also was taken home to rest. 
 
 Thirty miles is the distance between Arzila and Tangier, and thirty miles 
 does not seem much on paper, and with English notions of travel, but to them 
 it meant a long day's journey on mules through a roadless country, with two 
 rivers to ford and rocky hills to climb. 
 
 In a small Moorish house of two rooms, with no glass windows, and 
 furniture of the scantiest, consisting chiefly of boxes turned upside down to 
 form seats and tables, these two dear sisters made themselves at home. They 
 were the only European inhabitants of the place, surrounded by Jews and 
 Moslems. A Jew acted as a kind of Consul for all nations, England included, 
 but he could not speak English. He was, however, kind and friendly, as were 
 all their neighbours. 
 
 There was no need to go in search of work. A constant stream of visitors 
 came to them, so that often it was difficult to secure time for meals and needful 
 quiet. The more educated men, both Moors and Jews, delighted in coming 
 to read and converse. Miss Herdman had to try to keep them to separate 
 hours, as they required different instruction, and different lines of truth to 
 be brought before them. Many of the Jews spoke Spanish, the Moslems 
 Arabic. The women came in groups, and listened gladly to the Gospel story, 
 Miss Herdman turning it into Moorish Arabic as she read. The boys had 
 their special hour, generally forming a sort of bod^'-guard to the ladies, and 
 accompanying them in their evening stroll on the sands, or round the once 
 strong, but now decaying walls. At the end of a month Miss Herdman 
 wrote : 
 
 " A month of unspeakable mercy ends. Miss Caley and I both feel that 
 we have indeed been privileged to have been sent here. These people are 
 willing to hear, and one brings another and says to us, ' I told him (or her) 
 you would tell them about God out of your books,' and in several instances in 
 visiting women who have not been to our house they sa}^, ' Now read to us, 
 or, ' Now tell us about Jesus,' of their own accord." 
 
 Miss Caley's slight knowledge of medicine soon developed into greater 
 skill by abundant practice, as there were constant calls for help to the sick, 
 and even for the treatment of gunshot wounds, but so great was the readiness 
 to hear in Arzila among all classes that the medical work was hardly needed 
 
 E 
 
54 ARZILA AND LARACHE. 
 
 as a means for removing prejudices and making people willing to listen as in 
 other places. 
 
 " Quite early went to see a young woman, who we feared was dying, but 
 had the joy of seeing her greatly relieved by our treatment, in answer to 
 prayer, and heartfelt hallelujahs rose to God. Several came afterwards for 
 medicine ; among them one who, a month ago, was a poor, miserable, dirty, 
 sick woman ; she came many days to have a bad sore dressed, and to-day 
 we hardly knew her, she looked so clean and tidy ; she is now well and has 
 a much brighter expression. We trust she has learnt that there is One in 
 Heaven who loves her, and some on earth who care for her. 
 
 " Then a man came to ask if we would go to a collection of huts a little 
 wa3' out of the town, to see a man who had been stabbed four nights ago, and 
 was in great pain. We sent for donkeys at once, but there is always much 
 delay in this country ; however, after sending again and again they came in 
 about two hours, and then one of them had not a vestige of a bridle ! We 
 could not find our ' big man,' who always accompanies us, so started with the 
 man who came to tell us, and the son of our servant. It has been a lovely 
 day, and we much enjoyed our ride. It was a great pleasure to get outside 
 the walls into the fresh country air. In about an hour we reached the hut to 
 which we were bound, and found the poor man lying on a piece of matting, 
 groaning and looking very miserable. The stab, made either with a sword or 
 a large knife, was in the thigh, near the hip-joint, but, as far as I could tell, 
 had only injured the flesh. I soon strapped it up, gave him medicine, and 
 trust that in five or six days he will be all right. The people from the other 
 huts gathered, and soon thirteen were listening while we sang and talked to 
 him of sin and the Saviour. Not one in the hamlet could read, so it was of no 
 use leaving our Scripture leaflets. When we left, we were presented with a 
 chicken and two large melons, and the patient said that when he is well, he 
 will come and see us, * en shah Allah ' (if God will). 
 
 " Just before reaching the huts, our ' big man ' came up with us. On 
 our homeward journey, he told us that the man who had been our companion 
 and guide going, was the would-be murderer. He had come for us because 
 he had feared the man would die, and then he would have been imprisoned ; 
 if the injured man lives, no notice will be taken of his dreadful deed. We 
 thought he was rather a surly man, but spoke and sang to him as we rode 
 along, so he has heard the Gospel message. We passed near the place where 
 an attempt was made on some men's lives last July, but God has delivered us 
 from fear, for 'greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world,' and 'if 
 God be for us, who can be against us ? ' 
 
 " Visited a very nice Sherifa, quite a dignified lady, widow of a Kaid. She 
 and the friends with her were all very attentive to the Word of God, and our 
 singing and expounding. These Sherifas, who are descendants of Mohammed, 
 never even visit one another, but, having large gardens, go out with a friend 
 or two and spend a few hours in them often now in summer, hurrying out 
 
ARZILA AND LARACHE. 55 
 
 of the city gate closely covered. They are always glad to see us, as their life 
 is monotonous. 
 
 " The Sherifas we visited yesterday sent to beg us to come again, and 
 made us breakfast with them. Again read, sung, and spoke of Jesus, as we 
 do in every house, at every visit. 
 
 "Visited Moorish and Jewish houses, one of the Moorish being our 
 neighbour's, the head Sherif of Arzila and Alcazar. 
 
 " The Sherifa had her afternoon tea-party, for Friday is the visiting day 
 of the Moorish ladies, and we joined the circle. Slaves were sitting behind 
 spinning wool with a distaff. Each house makes its own clothing, or rather 
 they prepare the wool for it. Too much conversation to read, but sang and 
 explained the words. 
 
 " Saturday. — Spent a happy day. At half-past eight the Jewesses began 
 to come. We had Jews in to-day from the Riff country, Alcazar and Larache, 
 as well as those of Arzila. We devote Saturday to them. About five, after 
 receiving Jews all day, we went for a walk on the hard sands, the tide being 
 out, begging the boys not to follow us, as our voices were tired. However, 
 on our return, we had our usual congregation of Moors and Jews on the 
 sands, and afterwards as we were going home, two Moors following us at a 
 respectful distance, we could not find it in our hearts not to ask them in. 
 One, a scribe, begged for an Arabic Testament to copy. They had tea with 
 us, and were much interested." 
 
 As time went on. Miss Herdman and Miss Caley began to see increased 
 understanding of their message, and receptiveness on the part of many. In some 
 they had reason to think that the Spirit of God was really working, and 
 especially this was the case with two men and a woman, whom they attended 
 in sickness, and who passed away trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 "A Mooress came for medicine for her dying husband to ease his agony. 
 Seeing us busy, she said, ' My husband wants you so much to come and speak 
 to him of the Lord Jesus, but perhaps you cannot come to-day.' The house 
 being cleared, I went out in the rain, the streets being only passable at each 
 side, where they slope for a few inches. The man professes faith in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. I always pray with the household, and, to-day, I felt that he 
 was praying too in the Holy Ghost. He told me three or four days ago, and 
 has since, that his sins were gone, washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. He held my hand and said, ' Don't go ; stay all night,' for it was then 
 dark. So I promised (God willing) to come early to-morrow. I could not 
 make out all he said, so he said to his wife, ' Tell her to talk to me, I like to 
 hear, and I understand it all, but am too weak to answer.' " 
 
 The dying man held in his hand the Wordless Book, which had been 
 used on former visits to explain to him the way of salvation. Miss Herdman 
 seeing it in his hand, turned over to the last page, where the gilded leaf tries 
 
 E 2 
 
56 ARZILA AND LA R ACHE. 
 
 to suggest the thought of the coming glory which she saw he was nearing^ 
 but he turned it back to the red, saying, " This is what I am clinging to — 
 the blood of Jesus." 
 
 " The Moor died an hour after I left on Thursday. We are comforted 
 to know that he is for ever with the Lord. I have made inquiries concerning 
 him, and am told he was honest, truthful, humble-minded, and devout 
 — one whose heart was prepared for the good seed, so that it fell on good 
 ground. 
 
 "We paid a very satisfactory visit yesterday to a house, where one 
 whom we have often visited is, we believe, saved. Her eyes brighten at the 
 name of Jesus, and, weak and ill as she was yesterday, she sang, not the 
 chorus only, but every word she could follow in the hymns. This woman 
 teaches her little boy our hymns, and they both sing ere they sleep at night 
 (in Arabic, of course) ' Jesus loves me, this I know,' 
 
 " To-day an elderly woman who knew the Lord Jesus Christ was 
 gathered home. Her sister told me every one observed what a sweet smile 
 she had on her face after death. This is the third of the Lord's people here 
 who has gone home. Another, we fear, will die. I felt much rejoiced to-day 
 while reading God's Word with him. He grows in grace daily. He 
 fasted yesterday, to spend the day in seeking for more of the Lord Jesus, and 
 in praying for Jews and Moors. He teaches his wife every evening, and he 
 says he believes the truth is entering her heart. 
 
 " We visited a house where we got a hearty welcome, and a request to 
 sing, 'for,' said the mistress of the house, 'my boy knows all your hymns 
 and sings them to us, and your religion is beautiful.' After singing and read- 
 ing passages of Scripture, and some conversation, we invited them to our 
 house, ' Yes,' said the mother, ' we will come, for what you say enters my 
 heart, and I want to come and get it cleansed.' " 
 
 The work was increasing in interest, and many heart-ties had beei^ 
 formed between our sisters and the people of Arzila, but during the second 
 year of their stay there Miss^-Herdman s health frequently failed. Several 
 times she was obliged to leave for a few weeks to seek restoration, but always,, 
 on going back, the symptoms returned. It seemed clear that she could not 
 remain there, at any rate during the summer, and Larache was fixed on as a 
 place easy of access, and w.hich might perhaps prove more healthy. From 
 thence, also, they hoped to be able to pay occasional visits to Arzila, as the 
 distance was only twenty-two miles, and the road for most of the way easy, 
 along the sea-beach. Miss Caley, after a visit to Arzila, brought back 
 cheering news, 
 
 "The fokee who died since wc left Arzila rested his dying head on the 
 
ARZILA AND LARACHE. 57 
 
 large New Testament and Psalms 1 had given him, and refused to let it be 
 touched, saying to those around him, 'I die, trusting in Jesus Christ and His 
 precious word.' 
 
 " Another Arzila man, very talented, although not a fluent reader (being 
 a merchant, not a fokee), went to Tangier to look for us, and gave clear testi- 
 niony at Hope House of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, before other Arzila 
 men. He has been quietly teaching the Gospel for months since he learned 
 it from us. We are greatly encouraged by this. Our Hope House friends 
 asked, Did he keep the Mohammedan fast of Ramadan ? and he replied that 
 had he not done so he would have been cruelly beaten, as a sick boy in Arzila 
 was treated, but that when there were more converts they would dare to come 
 out boldly. 
 
 " I went to see some of our special friends. One was very ill, and as I 
 ■said, ' Perhaps you will not get better,' she answered at once, ' Then I'll go to 
 be with the Lord Jesus, the beloved One, the Saviour, because of His precious 
 blood,' and she and her sister both repeated some of the texts we had taught 
 them before we left, now nearly four months ago." 
 
 At Larache Miss Herdman and Miss Caley found abundance of open doors 
 and work to be done of the same kind as at Arzila, although they did not form 
 so many close friendships. In addition to the work among Moors and Jews, 
 their house was open to the Spanish and Portuguese sailors who frequently 
 came there. The poit of Larache is rendered dangerous by a sand bar, which 
 has accumulated across the mouth of the river, but it is still frequented by 
 small steamers and other vessels, which come for oranges in the season, and 
 for cargoes of canary seed and other produce. The sailors were usually 
 delighted with the hymn-singing in their own tongue — Miss Herdman having 
 procured hymn-bDoks from Lisbon, and j Madrid in'^both languages — and with 
 the simple Gospel told to them, and tracts and Gospels given to them to take 
 away. 
 
 In June, 1887, some of the mission party from Hope House visited 
 Larache, and it was arranged that Miss Herdman and Miss Caley should 
 accompany Mr. and Miss Baldwin on a short tour southwards. The following 
 are some notes of the journey : — 
 
 " Mazagan. — While marketing this morning. Miss Baldwin and I had 
 again large audiences. One fokee sent for us, and after seating us, asked us 
 to speak about the books I had with me. We have met with great politeness 
 from the people here, and many of them have at least heard, and intelligently 
 understood, the way of salvation. The population is somewhere between 
 45,000 and 20,000. 
 
 " Yesterday Miss Baldwin and I visited a Sheikh's family. Passing 
 
58 
 
 ARZILA AND LARACHE. 
 
 through three courts open to the pubhc we then entered a private and very 
 large one, with three rooms and a kitchen taking up three sides of it. We 
 were shown into the longest room I have seen in this country. A few women 
 were reclining, hungry and thirsty, and pale, poor things, from the severe fast 
 of Ramadan, bad at all times, but especially trying in June, when the day 
 during which they must neither eat nor drink is both long and hot. We 
 rather sigh for cold water sometimes, but feel ashamed of ourselves, seeing 
 them so patiently bear (hirst. We hardly ever dare take water, it being often 
 very dirty, drinking tea and coffee instead. A large proportion of the wells 
 
 are brackish too, and spoil 
 the tea, and do not quench 
 thirst. We are only sepa- 
 rated by sand banks and 
 dunes on all this coast road 
 from the ocean. 
 
 "A number of women and 
 children, both white and 
 slaves, soon joined us. They 
 asked us a few questions, 
 and we read, and sang, and 
 .; spoke to them of Jesus. We 
 found that the families of 
 three brothers, fokees, oc- 
 cupied different rooms in the 
 same house. I gave medicine 
 for malarial fever to a very 
 young wife, and a penny 
 looking-glass to another, and 
 on returning to our tent a 
 present of a fowl and eggs 
 was sent to us. They made 
 us Moorish tea with plenty 
 of mint in it. Some of the 
 women would not allow that 
 any one but Mohammed could 
 save, some were indifferent ; 
 one asked many intelligent questions, and made the children keep quiet, that 
 she might hear. 
 
 " On Monday evening we stopped on the slope of a hill close to a douar,, 
 or village of tents. We conversed with the villagers, especially speaking to^ 
 them of their sin. When all had left us at dusk, not one able to read, a taleb 
 from another village came up and listened, and begged for a book. I gave 
 him a New Testament. He said, ' These words of the Lord Jesus enter mto- 
 the heart.' 
 
 " It is very dangerous for Moors to be out after dark in these parts, but 
 as death is the punishment for killin;^ a Christian we are in less danger^ 
 
 MISS CALEY. 
 
ARZILA AND LARACHE. 59 
 
 When a Moorish traveller is missing, a few of the inhabitants of the douars 
 through which he passed are thrown into prison, but on their paying an 
 indemnity to the Government they are all released, and but rarely the man 
 who committed the deed is kept long in prison, unless he has no friends ; then 
 he dies of starvation. So murder is common, not being more severely 
 punished than theft. Our hearts are saddened by such people as these 
 saying, ' We murder, we are robbers, we steal, our lives are evil ; but no 
 matter, we shall all go to heaven ; our Lord Mohammed will intercede for us 
 after death with God.' I believe God is blessing us on this trip to teach some 
 that they must be born again. In heathen lands we expect such open sin, but 
 certainly we are surprised to find Mohammedans as degraded as savages, and 
 far more bloodthirsty than some savage tribes. 
 
 " Encamped on a lovely spot on the sands. There is what is rare on this 
 coast, a little hzy, but so full of rocks it would not do even for a fishing 
 harbour. Last night we spent outside one of the Government fundaks, 
 although, as usual, urgently entreated to enter, being told that close to where 
 we put our tents murdered persons were interred under the heaps of stones, 
 as well as in a little river we had just crossed. We sent in the mules to be 
 safe from robbers, and stayed outside enjoying a cool sea-breeze, while with:"n 
 was the customary dunghill. The place has a very ill name, but we let our 
 men sleep, and had neither soldier nor guard, trusting in the Lord. We had 
 conversation with groups last night and this morning, and feel the sin of this 
 land more and more laid upon our hearts as a burden, until the Lord works 
 mightily, giving repentance unto life. 
 
 ''Sunday. — Encamped outside another fundak with the usual warnings. 
 The people are kind, and brought us provisions last night, and have been with 
 us off and on all day. A taleb — one of the two who can read — from the tents 
 near, is now sitting with me. He says he teaches the people to pra)^, and 
 fast, and give alms, but they all lie and steal. I said, ' Of course, because you 
 do,' and he answered, ' Our religion is broad, yours is narrow. Those who 
 keep your faith like you, do not lie, or steal, or live bad lives, but in our 
 religion we may do all that, and go to heaven, if only we believe in God and 
 Mohammed.' I 
 
 " Have been meditating on the work there is to do among the wild Arabs, 
 independently from that among the civilised dwellers in towns. The dwellers 
 in towns are few ; the mass of the people are wild and wicked, with just enough 
 of Mohammedanism to lead them straight to hell. Yesterday in the village as 
 we spoke to a large tentful, and in the field, or near our tents, as we talked 
 they said, ' It is true ; you keep your religion and do not lie or steal or lead 
 bad lives, yet for all that we who do these things are sure of heaven through 
 the intercession of Mohammed. You should by rights have your throats cut 
 by us, and you will all go to hell' And yet we felt that they were learning, and 
 that God did not send us in vain. The moral condition of these hamlets of 
 tents is little, if any, above that of the heathen. We have felt privileged to 
 go among them, and long, as the Lord opens the way, to get more and more 
 into the interior, to make known the way of truth and holiness, without which 
 
INTERIOR OF MOSQUE OF BOU-MEDIM:. 
 
' ARZILA AND LARACHE, 6i 
 
 no man shall see the Lord. Our hearts bleed to see a nation going down to 
 hell, for they are without repentance. We give ourselves unto prayer. 
 
 "Spent the afternoon evangelizing in Salee, the pirate city. We gathered 
 groups of men and boys in various places, and walked the length and breadth 
 of the city. Arrived back quite tired, after walking in Rabat and Salee nearly 
 all day in the heat. We had audiences in Rabat in the morning, when we 
 spoke of righteousness and judgment to come, as well as of Jesus and His 
 precious blood. 
 
 " Salee contains from 15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants. Nearly all its streets 
 have side paths, and are laid out regularly, those on either side of the main 
 thoroughfare being streets of private houses. There are fine old gates in 
 partial ruins, and walls well preserved round the city, and again round the 
 suburbs, which are full of gardens, well-watered, and abounding in a great 
 variety of fruits. Mulberries, pears, plums and early figs are in season now. 
 Outside the walls there are gardens with thousands of orange and lemon trees, 
 and vineyards extend for a mile or so in every direction. On one side is the 
 sea, on the other the sands leading down to the river. On the highest point 
 of the city is a fine old mosque, so that Salee is beautiful for situation." 
 
 But we must not continue the journal, though it is full of interest. Salee 
 is memorable as being a nest of pirates, the famous " Salee Rovers," in the old 
 days of Moslem power. It is built on one side of the mouth of a river where 
 it enters the Atlantic, Rabat being built on the opposite side. 
 
 Dr. Kerr, a medical missionary sent by the English Presbyterians, with 
 his wife, were stationed at Rabat at the time of our friends' visit, and with 
 them they had much happy intercourse, and ^ received from Dr. and Mrs. Kerr 
 much kindness. 
 
 Miss Herdman and Miss Caley returned to Larache, and worked on there 
 with occasional visits to Arzila, until the spring of 1888. 
 
 Miss Herdman's interest had long been attracted to Fez. Mi. Baldwin 
 had visited it in 1886, and his visit had not been without blessing, but his 
 knowledge of Arabic was then small, and he had |not been able to stay long. 
 Miss Kerdman longed to go and see for herself what openings for work were 
 there. The people from Fez, whom she had met, had seemed to her parti- 
 cularly intelligent and friendly, and, from all she could hear, that city appeared 
 to her more worthy of being the capital of the country than Morocco itself 
 It is the largest city of the Empire of Morocco, and as situated in the heart of 
 the country to the west of the Atlas Mountains, which are not so high there as 
 further south. Its distance from Tangier in a straight line is not more than 
 115 miles, and only 100 miles from the Atlantic coast, -but the journey there 
 
62 ARZILA AND LARACHE, 
 
 on mules occupies five or six days. In April, 1888, Miss Herdman started 
 from Larache, accompanied by Miss Caley and two other ladies, probably the 
 first ladies who had ever attempted to visit the old Moorish city. 
 
 '^ April igl/i. — We are encamped on a breezy hill with an extensive view 
 of wild country, on which are a few villages of huts like the one near which 
 our tent is pitched. In the back ground, to the east, towards Alcazar and 
 Wazan, and to the north-east towards Tetuan, are high mountains. Praise 
 the Lord, we have had a pleasant journey since we left Larache this morning, 
 not however without incidents. Several persons are with us, travelling at 
 their own expense for our protection. One of our muleteers being a soldier, 
 we are able without extra expense to conform to the Government regulation 
 which requires us to take one. 
 
 "We are now going to rest in this large village, after having preached 
 the Gospel to friendly and attentive groups of men and women, and Miss 
 Caley has given medicine to thirteen persons by moonlight. She seeks to 
 administer medicine to body and soul to each individual. 
 
 " 20f/i. — Rising a little after 4 a.m. we were ready to receive the villagers 
 at 6.30. Thirty-five patients were attended to by Miss Caley, while I spoke 
 of a Saviour for them all, to the sick, and the other villagers who came around 
 our tent. We were well received, and so was our message. One woman who 
 was especially interested, expressed a wish to belong to the Lord Jesus. She 
 had heard of Him through a family we had taught at Larache, and thus we 
 get constant encouragement to persevere in making known the glad tidings of 
 salvation. The people brought us eggs, milk and butter as a thank-offering 
 for the medicines, so we had only to pay for the barley for our animals. At 
 nine we started, and rode for three hours over moorlands bright with lavender, 
 and for the rest of the day through a pretty pasture country covered with wild 
 flowers, of which I counted yesterday and to-day ninety-four varieties. 
 Occasionally, we had to cross lowlands where the soil — heavy clay, still wet — 
 was most toilsome to ourselves and our laden animals, and we were very 
 thankful to find a resting-place before sunset in the courtyard of a sheikh, in 
 the village of Karia. We were a little startled after tea by the sudden 
 entrance of a well-dressed Moor into our tent, who peremptorily ordered us to 
 show our books, and then said, ' Confess your faith in Mohammed at once, or 
 you are not welcome here.' Our men were very much distressed, but afraid 
 to put him out, as he was the son of our host excited with drink, which Moham- 
 medans ■ are not supposed to indulge in. However, the Shereef, who is 
 travellmg with us at his own expense, turned out a true friend, for his position 
 entitled him to take hold of the man by the shoulders and drag him out of the 
 tent. One of our men said, ' I dared not have done it ; he would certainly 
 have killed me with his loaded gun.' The Lord has graciously delivered us 
 from all nervousness, and we were not made the least uneasy by the incident. 
 
 " Early this morning we went to the house of the Sheikh ; it was full of 
 women : wives, sons' wives, slaves, etc. The Sheikh's principal wife asked 
 
ARZILA AND LARACHE. 63 
 
 us in to read, and then asked for a Gospel for her husband — willingly given. 
 Another, I think a son's wife, offered me a peseta (ninepence-halfpenny) for 
 one for her husband ; she had also one given her. This was after she had 
 heard our hymns, and some earnest words from Miss Caley, and asked, would 
 she find the words in the book ? She seemed to feel her need of a Saviour, 
 and to understand what we taught her. We then went out into the open 
 market, and had audiences of soldiers and villagers until we started. Two 
 Gospels and a small New Testament were received by good readers who asked 
 for books, and we set out on our journey praising the Lord for seed sown in 
 that village. During the day we had difficulties again with rivers, ditches, 
 and, worst of all, mud ; but although our men had a few falls, there was 
 nothing serious, and we stopped at noon to rest and eat at the best-known 
 country market of this province. They are all called by the name of the day 
 on which they are held ; this was the * Wednesday.' The village, nestled in 
 prickly-pear hedges, and surrounded by a deep ditch to protect the cattle from 
 thieves at night, is hidden from view. We visited the people in their tents, 
 and again had good audiences and willing listeners. Just at the end, a man 
 ordered his wife, seated on the ground outside the tent, who was asking me 
 serious questions about sin and salvation, to jump up and leave people who 
 did not believe in Mohammed ; but public opinion was against him, and he 
 left, and his wife said, * Go on, tell me another little word,' an Arabic idiom 
 for. Continue the subject. 
 
 " At last by about five we reached El Habassu, which is to be our resting 
 place for the Sunday —quite an attractive little village, with its open roadway, 
 round which the houses are built. We waited quietly till our men had asked 
 permission of the Kaid to pitch our tent, and then made our way to a wild 
 semi-orchard, semi-garden place, where were other travellers camping out and 
 many horses. We soon pitched our tent and prepared our evening meal, and 
 early retired to rest in preparation for a busy happy day on the morrow. The 
 Kaid sent us a present of two fine fowls — an acceptable gift, as we had had no 
 meat since leaving Larache. 
 
 " Sunday. — Several men came at 8 o'clock for medicine, and so when we 
 had finished prayers and tidied our tent, we rolled up our mattress, and spread 
 our cushion pillows for seats ; then we opened one end of the tent, and 
 invited our guests to sit down on the matting with us. Miss Herdman had 
 a good talk with them about the things of God, while Miss Caley administered 
 medicine. More and more gathered, till we had three rows of brown faces 
 encircled by the white woollen hoods of their jalabs, or cloaks, the boys and 
 young men sitting in the front row, others kneeling and standing behind. 
 Miss Caley spoke to them so earnestly, and we sang to them some of our 
 simple Gospel hymns in Arabic. 
 
 " In the afternoon I [Miss Jennings] rested and guarded the tent, while 
 the other ladies went to the Kaid's house, for he had sent repeated invitations 
 to us to come in the morning. They were kindly received by the ladies of 
 his household, who gave them tea and Moorish cakes, and then they went 
 through a court into another establishment of ladies, who also listened atten- 
 
64 
 
 ARZIL/i AND LARACHE. 
 
 lively, and then to other smaller houses, and to the prison, where are 500 
 prisoners. 
 
 "In the evening a great number of people came for medicine, to whom 
 
 MJSOUE IN ^;OROCCO. 
 
 the Gospel was preached before their bodily wants were attended to. Miss 
 Caley treated thirty-five patients in all to-day. Our rule is not to give 
 medicine on Sunday, but we have made what we think a lawful exception 
 
ARZILA AND LARACHE 65 
 
 to this rule to-da}', for hoping to leave early to-morrow, we feel there would 
 be no other opportunity. 
 
 " Monday. — Our way led through a wild marshy land, and there were 
 streams to cross. At a quarter to ten we came to the river Sebou, and then 
 began a curious scene. All the animals were first taken into the large flat 
 boat, while we waited on the bank, and Miss Caley embraced the opportunity 
 of telling about Jesus to a poor countrywoman. At length, when all the 
 baggage was packed up on one side, and the unladen animals fixed in the 
 body of the boat, we were each one carried separately, sedan-chair fashion, 
 by two of the men across the mud into the boat, and, sitting on our luggage, 
 we — animals and all— were safely rowed to the other side, and, climbing the 
 steep bank, took the opportunity of taking a little more breakfast and resting 
 a few minutes while the mules were re-packed. 
 
 " A group of Moors afforded Miss Herdman the opportunity of a very 
 earnest talk about the way to heaven, and Christ's sacrifice for sins. They at 
 once put up the cards with which they were playing, and listened most atten- 
 tively, and three of them gladly received portions of God's Word. Miss 
 Caley meantime talked to a few poor women. 
 
 " Then we remounted, and rode on through uncounted miles of high 
 table marsh-land, for the most part dr}^, and just luxuriant with wildflowers. 
 We rested early in the afternoon among the daisies, but had only shut our 
 eyes for ten minutes when our men called us to remount, they so wanted to 
 press forward and get to a certain safe village, where we should have the 
 Pasha's protection for the night, as we were then passing through the wildest 
 wickedest tribes of this country — the Beni Hassan. About four, our horses 
 and mules were so done up with the long day's journey and want of water 
 that we determined to encamp at one of these Arab villages, but as we neared 
 it we thought it so wild and unsafe-looking — they are murderers as well as 
 robbers, we heard — that we encouraged each other and our tired steeds to go 
 on. At 5.30 we felt we ought not to proceed further into this almost trackless 
 tableland, where we could not see in the distance any sign of a respectable 
 village, and so left the road and made our way across the pasture and wheat- 
 fields to a village of huts, taking our men's advice not to go to the people and 
 offer them medicine, or our tent-doors would be besieged, and we knew not if 
 they might be tempted to rob us in the night. So we, quietly riding up, to 
 the villagers' astonishment and dislike, chose a free grassy spot inside their 
 village, and quickly erected our tent and got all our possessions inside, and 
 securely fastened our door, the men pitching their tent close beside ours, and 
 soon we lighted a fire for tea, we were so hungry and thirsty. Our trust is 
 in God, and we know He will protect us from the poor wild robbers and fierce 
 dogs, which latter, as I write this, are barking furiously outside our canvas 
 walls. Our men have asked the people for milk and eggs, which usually they 
 are glad to sell us, and which make our staple food, but nothing will they let 
 us have ; however, our hunger has been satisfied with what we had with us, 
 and we are going to bed with grateful, restful hearts." 
 
66 ARZILA AND LARACHE. 
 
 After about two and a half days' more travelling, Fez was reached, and 
 our sisters settled themselves into a house which was provided for them by 
 the Governor of the city, to whom they had a letter from the Moorish Minister 
 of Foreign Affairs, who resides at Tangier. The heat was trying in the 
 month of May, chiefly because they were confined almost entirely to the very 
 close atmosphere of the small Moorish house in which they lived, the rooms 
 •of which were lighted and ventilated only by apertures high up in the walls, 
 and by the door, which opened into a small court. The Governor thought 
 himself responsible for their safety, and gave them very strict injunctions 
 about not going out, nor even being seen upon their house-top, where they 
 would gladly have gone for a breath of fresh air after the heat of the day. 
 They did, however, pay a few visits, muffled up in Moorish garments. But 
 their time was fully occupied by the crowds of patients who came to them, 
 and kept them busy talking, singing, and giving medicines. They stayed 
 about three weeks, during which time 690 patients were treated, all of whom, 
 and many more, heard the Gospel story. 
 
 The return journey, which was to Tangier instead of to Larache, was a 
 trying one. At Mequinez, where they stopped for a few days. Miss Herdman 
 was attacked with serious illness, so that her companions despaired of her life, 
 but the Lord graciously restored her, and she was no sooner able to stand 
 than she set out again, anxious that the whole party, with mules and men, 
 should not be longer detained. Before starting, she obtained from the men a 
 promise that they would halt whenever she asked them to do so, as she feared 
 being pushed on beyond her strength, but the promise on which she relied 
 was of little avail. The first day, after riding several hours, she begged 
 them to stop at a village they had come to, but no ! the men said they would 
 all be murdered if they did so, as the villagers had their guns loaded, so the 
 weary traveller had to ride on almost fainting. During the six da3's which 
 the journey occupied. Miss Herdman was able to take nothing but milk, and 
 •often that could not be got in sufficient quantities ; nevertheless, the air revived 
 her, and she gained strength day by day till Hope House was reached, where 
 a warm\velcome and kind care awaited her and the others of the party. 
 
 Miss Herdman went to England for a few months to recruit, and then 
 returned to take up more permanent work in Fez. 
 
 Miss Caley worked on for a short time longer in Tangier, and then, being 
 
:iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii''iitiin ipifii mmmm 
 W WIf i 
 
 li 
 
68 ARZILA AND LARACHE. 
 
 engaged to be married to Dr. Churcher, she came to England in August, il 
 on a visit to her family. 
 
 She expected quickly to return to the work she so loved, but her brief 
 working day was over. Almost immediately after reaching her home she was 
 taken ill, and after one week of fever she entered into rest. In the midst of 
 the happy, busy days in Arzila and Larache, and with the prospect of added 
 earthly happiness on her marriage, there are many little sentences in her 
 journals which show that her treasure was in heaven, and her heart there 
 also. She had greatly won the affections of the people in Arzila, and had 
 been the means, she believed, of leading several to a saving faith in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Who can measure the joy which must be hers as she meets 
 with one and another in the Heavenly country to whom she was privileged 
 to point out the way which has led them to it. To have brought some first- 
 fruits from dark Morocco unto Christ was, indeed, worth living for, and 
 worth dying for. 
 
MOROCCO. 69 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Morocco. 
 
 Far, far azuay, in deepest darkness dwelling, 
 
 Millions of souls for ever may be lost. 
 Who, who will go, Salvation's story telling., 
 
 Looking to Jesus, counting not the cost? 
 
 AVING followed Miss Herdman's and Miss Caley's special work 
 so far, we must now look back at the workers connected with 
 Hope House. 
 
 During the two years spent by the ladies in Arzila and 
 Larache, several had joined the Mission party, while others, in various ways, 
 were withdrawn from it. At the close of 1886, there was a time of severe 
 trial from illness. Mr. Pryor, a young schoolmaster who had gone, hoping to 
 find work in that capacity among Moslem boys, was laid down with a prolonged 
 attack of typhoid fever, and though, by God's blessing, upon careful nursing, 
 he at length recovered, yet it soon became evident that he would never be 
 able for work in Tangier, and he had, reluctantly, to return to England. Miss 
 Tulloch's illness followed, which ended in her death, and Dr. Churcher was 
 attacked by the same disease, but crossed at once to Gibraltar, to be treated 
 in the hospital there, and he recovered quickly. Soon after, Mr. Baldwin left 
 with his family, to take up work in Mogador, independently of the North Africa 
 Mission. 
 
 During the year 1887 the medical work in Tangier was largely deve- 
 loped. The small hospital for in-patients, combined with convenient rooms 
 for seeing and treating out-patients, was built ; or rather, what had been 
 stables and outhouses were adapted and enlarged to meet these requirements. 
 It was named the " Tulloch Memorial Hospital," in memory of the beloved 
 
 F 
 
MOROCCO. yi 
 
 sister who did so much for the sick during the early days of the Mission, and 
 who was the first of the Mission band to hear the Master's call : '* Enter into 
 the joy of thy Lord." 
 
 Even before the money for the hospital had been obtained, Dr. 
 Churcher wrote : 
 
 "During the year 1886, it has been the writer's privilege to be 
 engaged in what he ventures to think is one of the wisest methods of 
 Christian work, viz., a medical mission, healing for soul and body, calcu- 
 lated pre-eminently to remove prejudice and opposition, and prepare good 
 ground for the sowing of the Gospel seed. Over a thousand cases have been 
 treated during the year, medicines and advice being given free, linked 
 together with the Bread of life — the Gospel in all simplicity, and therefore in 
 power. 
 
 " The number of patients has not been limited for want of applicants, 
 but in order not to crowd out spiritual work among those who are seen, the 
 study of the language, etc., many have been sent away. Did but time, cir- 
 cumstances, and funds permit we could soon be engaged, we feel sure, all 
 day long, attending to the sick, and speaking to them of the Lord Jesus. 
 This branch of work has procured us friends in many parts of Morocco ; our 
 patients sometimes come from long distances, perhaps five or six days' journey ; 
 neither are they unmindful of the favours received. One of them said .the 
 other day to a lady missionary, who was giving her some medicine, ' Your 
 religion must be good, because you are so good.' Besides their profuse 
 thanks, they often bring us presents and insist on our accepting them : they 
 are usually of small value, a few eggs, a jar of honey, or some fruit, but they 
 indicate kindness and goodwill, which are most valuable. We cannot refuse 
 their gifts if we would, they are so heartily given. A missionary had ren- 
 dered some Moors a kindness ; they brought soon after a full bag of corn as a 
 present. In vain he remonstrated. ' It was not for a present,' said he, 
 'that I rendered you that service, but from love to you.' 'Yes,' they replied 
 at once, 'and it is from love to you we bring you this.' 
 
 " It is that this twice blessed work may be developed, and that many 
 Moors may receive healing for their sicknesses, but, most of all, and beyond 
 and before everything else, may be born again into the Kingdom of Heaven, 
 — it is for this reason that co-operating with the Lord's stewards at home, and 
 following the example of the Lord Jesus, who Himself was a medical mis- 
 sionary, we desire to go forward, see the work extended, and His name 
 glorified." 
 
 Some account of a journey taken by Miss Jay, from Tangier to Tetuan, 
 in company with Mr. and Mrs. Mackintosh, of the Bible Society, will help 
 to show the value of the medical work in opening doors even in distant 
 places. 
 
72 MOROCCO. 
 
 ''May i6th, 1887. — We started from Tangier about 4 p.m., having only 
 a ride of about two hours to our first camping place, — Mr. and Mrs. Mackin- 
 tosh, their colporteur and I, with a soldier and four men in charge of the pack 
 animals. We had a lovely ride among the hills till we reached Beni Wassine, 
 the village where we were to spend the night. Several of the villagers 
 gathered round to watch the erection of the tents, and soon recognised me as 
 the Tabeeba (lady doctor) from the Marshan. We have had many patients 
 from here, and I hope to see some old friends in the morning. 
 
 " In the morning Mrs. M. and I visited many of the huts, among them 
 that of Haji Ali, a man whom we all like and trust, and who is acting as 
 our guide on this journey. He has often asked me to come and stay a few 
 days with his wife and daughters. We know him so well, I had almost 
 promised to do so, but was not prepared to find it such a wretched dirty 
 place, for he is quite a fine fellow. In all the huts we were saddened by the 
 utter darkness and ignorance of the poor women. They seem to know nothing 
 of higher things, and to have very little wish to know ; but they all listen 
 quietly to what is said. Some, however, were brighter, and seemed 
 interested in the Scripture pictures which Mrs. M. showed and explained to 
 them. It is a most lovely country, the ground a carpet of flowers, and 
 large flocks of sheep and goats on the hills around, everything bathed in light 
 and sunshine. Oh for the time when the true light shall shine in the hearts 
 of the people ! 
 
 "In the cool of the day I got a number of boys together, and Isa, the col- 
 porteur, taught them texts. To every one who learnt one I promised an 
 Arabic text-card, and several of them gained the prize. All the evening 
 afterwards the duller boys who had not been able to learn in class kept 
 coming to repeat theirs, which the others had been teaching them, and get a 
 card. 
 
 " 1 8//?. — Lovely day; all up early, packing and moving forward on the 
 Tetuan road. I am riding a pack-horse, and get a fine view of the country. 
 We cannot go quickly, because of the packs. About four we reached the 
 Fundek, Waddiars, and encamped there. Mr. Macintosh and Isa were soon 
 busy speaking to the m.en passing on the road, and also in the Fundek, which 
 is very full. The animals all sleep in the centre, travellers and their goods in 
 little open rooms all round. The whole is most disgustingly dirty ; we were 
 very thankful we were able to sleep outside. 
 
 " igth. — We are to remain here to-day, as there is a village near which 
 Mr. and Mrs. M. wish to visit. I am not going with them, as my vaccinated 
 arm is very painful. Had a quiet time resting and reading and speaking to 
 some who passed : first, to two Jews — one could read well — then to a poor 
 old woman walking alone all the way from Tangier to Tetuan. She would 
 not come near, but stood a long way off, and whenever I mentioned the 
 name of God, kissed her hand and bowed almost to the ground. Several 
 times I had chats with boys, and gave text-cards to those who could read, 
 but they need to be regularly instructed. Their ignorance strikes me more 
 
74 MOROCCO. 
 
 and mere. Not only have they never heard the name of Jesus, but they do 
 not seem to know they have souls, nor to be interested, except in what con- 
 cerns the present everyday life. Late in the afternoon a group of youths 
 arrived from the village, saying that Mr. and Mrs. M. were returning, and 
 they had come for medicine for a sick woman. I had a nice talk with them. 
 They were much interested in my pencil, notebook, and other little things,, 
 asking me again and again to write before them. Afterwards Mrs. M. and I 
 went into the Fundek to talk to the poor women. They were very tired with 
 their journey, almost too tired to talk or listen. 
 
 " 215/. — We had a long ride yesterday ; were all up at five taking down the 
 tents, and starting off again on the Tetuan road. After some distance we 
 branched off across the hills to reach a village which has not been often 
 visited. It was a long, hot, but very lovely ride ; the mountainous scenery 
 grows finer the further we go. The people seem proud of their beautiful 
 country, and pleased when they see how much we admire it. We encamped 
 on the most breezy spot we could find, close to the village of Midhan. After 
 dining and resting I sat for some time listening to Mrs. M. reading and 
 speaking to a number of men who had come to see what we wanted. We 
 then went to visit the villagers. In every place we find the same ignorance 
 and darkness and dirt ; but as yet we have also always found a kind welcom.e,, 
 all the hospitality they have it in their power to offer, and quiet attention to 
 what we have to say. At first they are shy, having rarely seen foreigners,, 
 and sometimes their curiosity overcomes their politeness, and they over- 
 whelm us with amusing questions just when we hope they are interested in 
 higher things. We could not stay long, but they begged us to return, so this 
 morning I set off early for the village, and had a happy time there, for quite 
 a nice group of women collected as soon as I arrived. They kindly drove 
 off the dogs for me. At every village there are a number of hungr}^, savage- 
 looking creatures, and it is hardly safe to enter till some of the people send 
 them off. The women took me into a large hut. As usual it was without 
 windows, and almost pitch dark, the little low door being crowded up by 
 women. I could hardly see anything at first, but as my eyes grew accus- 
 tomed to the place I discovered that, besides the women and children, there 
 were two cows, three dogs, and several chickens in the hut. I sat down rather 
 unwillingly, the place was so indescribably dirty, but they would not let me 
 stand. As usual, they commenced asking me questions, feeling my clothes, tak- 
 ing off my gloves, etc. At last we got to higher things. I found one boy could 
 read well, and gave him a text-card. This started a conversation, and I tried to 
 explain the Gospel to them with the help of the Wordless Book. One woman 
 strongly objected to being told that her heart was black. 'No,' she said, 'it is 
 clean ; not quite clean like that page ; there is a little black, for I have done some 
 wrong things, but not much.' Before leaving I sang them seme hymns, the 
 children joining in one of the choruses. They seemed to enjoy singing it 
 over several times. Returning, went to read and rest under the olive trees. 
 There are several truly lovely groups of them about here, and their shade is 
 most refreshing. The people in these poor villages have very little money^ 
 
MOROCCO, 75 
 
 and the colporteur has been exchanging books for milk, vegetables, eggs, and 
 even snufF. 
 
 " In the afternoon we all rode across the river to a village called Mikam. 
 We found the people really afraid of us ; they all ran away at first, and even 
 afterwards, when they allowed us to come and talk with them, they none of 
 them wanted us in their houses. Mr. M. found the men bigoted and unwill- 
 ing to be spoken to. Before we left they grew a little more friendly. These 
 places need to be visited often that they may learn to trust us and feel we are 
 their friends, otherwise they do not listen to our message. In Tangier and 
 the neighbourhood, or in any place from which we have had patients, we 
 never have this difficulty ; they know we wish to help them and do them good. 
 
 " Sunday. — Such a happy day. We feel we have so much for which to 
 thank the dear Lord, for all has gone well since we started. He has filled 
 our hands with work, for everywhere we find open doors, and we are all 
 keeping well ; indeed, already we all feel much better and stronger for being 
 so much in the fresh, beautiful air. 
 
 " Mr. M. had a service in Arabic at ten a.m. — all the servants and several 
 men from the village. It was nice to watch their faces : they really listened 
 eagerly. Even though they do not approve of what is said, many of the men 
 seem to enjoy hearing Arabic well read and spoken. They did not weary at 
 all, though the service lasted an hour and a half. Afterwards we went and 
 sat under the olives, Mr. and Mrs. M. speaking to quite a large number of 
 men and boys there. 
 
 " In the afternoon we visited the further part of the village, where we 
 had not been before. When we turned home, we left Mr. M. and the colpor- 
 teur still talking to a large group of men outside the village. In the day 
 several came for books. We pray and believe some of this precious seed 
 will fall into good ground. The people wish us to stay and live amongst 
 them. 
 
 " 2$th. — Ramadan began, which we fear we shall find a hindrance to our 
 work in every way. We started early, and rode over the hills to visit the 
 little village of Ansak ; we were much disappointed to find it almost deserted, 
 all the people being out in the fields harvesting. It is the most beautiful spot 
 we have yet seen, a little paradise of trees, rocks, waterfalls, gorgeous flowers, 
 and lovely maidenhair and other ferns ; the little huts dotted about amongst 
 them in the most picturesque fashion, and all on the side of a steep hill com- 
 manding glorious views. They tell us the people here are always well ; how- 
 ever, we found one man very ill with fever, with whom and his wife we had 
 some conversation. We promised him medicine if he could send for it to 
 Tetuan. He seemed almost too ill to take any interest in what we said 
 to him about Christ. A few men went to speak with Mr. M. outside the 
 village. 
 
 " Notwithstanding the wmd, we found our tents almost unbearably 
 hot on our return. I went to see a poor widow with a number of 
 children, in whom we had been interested yesterday. I had promised to 
 return to-day, and they were expecting me. The poor children had each 
 
MOROCCO. 77 
 
 gathered me a bunch of flowers, and were distressed at my coming so late, 
 as the flowers had faded. Quite a group of women and children gathered 
 round. I tried to speak to them of Christ, but found it hard to get their 
 attention, they wanted to ask so many questions about my country, etc. 
 
 *' 28///. — To-day we visited a large Sok among the hills, the first I have 
 ever been to, and 1 shall never forget the impression it made on me. Riding 
 there, the heat was intense, but the country so lovely it made one forget it. 
 A great part of the way we rode by the side of a river, the banks thick with 
 oleander and wild roses, the ground covered with cistus, everlastings, and a 
 hundred other flowers. 
 
 " Sok el Khamis is held on the top of a small hill, and to it, from all the 
 villages far and near, come the people bringing animals and goods for sale. 
 It is a grand holiday for them all ; they are all in their best clothes, and it is 
 evidently the event of the week to them. They erect little booths, with 
 boughs of trees, and under them spread out their goods for sale. The women 
 mostly sit under the trees, and sell chickens, eggs, and all kinds of native 
 garments. They sling their babies in towels to the trees, giving them a shake 
 now and tlien to keep them rocking. 
 
 "It was interesting to watch the long lines of people winding down from 
 the mountain villages. Mr. M. said it reminded him of the great communion 
 meetings in country places in Scotland. How it made us long for the time 
 when the people of this land shall come trooping in from all parts to hear of 
 Christ, and celebrate His loye to them. 
 
 " While we were resting before going to the Sok, an old man, a former 
 patient, found me out, and gave me a warm welcome. He seemed surprised 
 to find me so far from Tangier, said he was quite well, and thanked me many 
 times for what we had done for him. It was such a pleasure so soon to find 
 a friend among these thousands of people. He gave proof of his gratitude 
 in a very acceptable way. We were all dreadfully hot and thirsty, and had 
 sent into the Sok for some oranges, but there was not one to be had. He 
 must have seen we were disappointed, for after a time he returned and gave 
 us five. He must have got them from friends, for there were none for sale. 
 When Mrs. M. and I went into the Sok to buy a few things, a great crowd 
 gathered round us. We had two of our men with us. We did not dare stop 
 long in one place, it seemed as if the whole market collected about us. They 
 were all perfectly kind and polite, only so intensely interested in the English 
 ladies. Finding we could understand them, they poured out a torrent of 
 Arabic, and kept calling to me to take off my veil. The crowd was so large, 
 we could hardly breathe, and had to tell the men at last to make a way for us 
 to escape. Seeing these crowds of people all in darkness, hardly any of them 
 knowing the name of Christ, made us long for the voice of an angel to shout 
 to them, above all the din and confusion, the glad tidings of a Saviour's love. 
 There was so little one could do in the midst of that surging crowd, only tell 
 them that we belonged to the Lord Jesus, that we loved them and their 
 country, and had left ours because we wanted to speak to them about the 
 Messiah whom we knew and loved. Later on, the Lord gave us an oppor- 
 
78 MOROCCO, 
 
 tunity of speaking of Him ; for while we were resting, to my delight another 
 old patient came up, a woman of some influence. She nearly smothered me 
 with caresses, said she had heard I was coming to the Sok, and brought a 
 sick child for me to see — would we come to her under the trees a little way 
 off? We went, and found a large crowd of women seated, and they made a 
 place for us in the centre. Directly the people found we were there, they 
 all began again to collect round us. Again it seemed as if all the market were 
 flocking to us, the women first, and the men in a great ring outside, but we 
 did not mind, the circle of women sitting prevented our being crowded, and 
 secured us enough air. There we stayed a long time, speaking of Chiist and 
 the forgiveness of sins v/hich He alone can give, to all whom our voices could 
 reach. They listened, and were quieter than we expected. My friend had 
 introduced me as the Tabeeba of Sidna Aisa, and said we both loved God 
 very much. It all was so new to them, yet they listened earnestly, often 
 saying, ' Good, good ! ' These people are so kind, so loving ; they grow 
 dearer to me every day, and it was a real delight to me to be thus surrounded 
 by them. I saw the sick child. She is very ill, and I told the woman 
 to take her to the doctor as quickly as possible. 
 
 " In the afternoon we all rode to the village of Kallallu, a long lovely 
 ride up the steep mountain opposite, through narrow lanes, so thick sometimes 
 with creepers we could hardly push through. The village was very scattered, 
 and most of the people were away in the fields ; but Mrs. M. and I found a 
 most interesting family living in quite a good house — they were taking charge 
 of it for a rich Moor. 
 
 " They were a large merry party, several girls and children, three married 
 daughters, and the mother. They gave us a warm welcome, were delighted 
 to have such unusual visitors, and much interested in everything about us. 
 Though very talkative, they grew quiet when Mrs. M. spoke to them of Christ, 
 and two of the elder women seemed really interested, asking several questions. 
 It was difficult at first to make them understand what sin is. They were most 
 unwilling to let us go, and begged us to bring the tents and come and stay 
 beside them. They brought us eggs and apricots, and gave us more than we 
 liked to take." 
 
 The journal goes on to tell of some most interesting visits paid to wealthy 
 families in Tetuan, but the details may not be published. 
 
 "June is/. — Had a most interesting morning in the town. On our 
 return to the tents, found three out of the four had been blown down, and it 
 soon began to pour with rain. Everything got soaked, and we were obliged 
 hastily to move into a little house which fortunately had been found in the 
 town. We are so thankful to have this place of shelter, but sorry, on account 
 of the storm, to be obliged to give up going again to the great market to- 
 morrow — we had intended starting for it this afternoon. 
 
 " We all rode across the river this afternoon to the village of Kittom, on 
 the mountain opposite. The road was very bad, like a narrow water-course. 
 
MOROCCO. 79 
 
 with much mud ; but on arrival we had a most friendly reception. The miller 
 bought a Testament, and a very large number of men gathered round Mr. M. 
 The women carried off Mrs. M. and me in different directions to see their 
 gardens and houses. They have oranges, figs, and pomegranates in abun- 
 dance, and lots of lovely flowers. They begged us to stay and live with them, 
 and some seemed really interested in the ' Old, old story,' which was so new 
 to them. They gave us milk to drink, and filled my basket with eggs. They 
 were so affectionate we felt very sorry to have to leave them so soon. They 
 told us of a village far away, almost on the peak of the mountain, where no 
 strangers can go, and made us laugh by telling us that the women there when 
 they let their children out to play, tether them by a cord to the trees lest they 
 should fall over the side of the mountain. We hope to reach them another 
 time." 
 
 These fragmentary extracts from journals can convey but a very slight 
 idea of the steady work which is carried on day by day, both in Tangier 
 itself, and branching out from it in various directions ; but it is work which 
 we know must tell, for it is sowing the seed of the Word, that incorruptible 
 seed, which God has promised to use in the conversion and salvation of souls. 
 
 In Tangier, within the last year, a work has begun among the Spaniards 
 settled there, which has been a great joy to the missionaries. Quite a number, 
 about twenty, have openly confessed Christ in baptism. The little room in 
 which they used to meet in the town became so much too small that a larger 
 meeting-place had to be sought ; and what used to be a very low theatre 
 has been rented, and changed into a place where God is worshipped, 
 instead of dishonoured. One of the missionaries, Mr. Patrick, has devoted 
 himself to this branch of the work. 
 
 Three young men, Messrs. Summers, Mensink, and Edwards, have been 
 trying to win their way in Tetuan, but their difficulties, so far, have been 
 great. The customs of the country prevent men from gettmg access to 
 Moorish houses, and the people do not accord to them the same welcome 
 that they give to ladies. 
 
 Mr. Summers lately made a journey into the mountains, to a town called 
 Sheshewan, but his life was in very great danger, the people being opposed 
 to any Christian intruding into what, for some reason, they consider a holy 
 place. Mr. Summers was kept virtually a prisoner in one of the filthy cells of 
 the fundak, both in size and odour something worse than an English pig- 
 sty. The Kaid forbade his going out into the town at all, and from the 
 temper of the people it is probable that his life would have been taken 
 
8o MOROCCO. 
 
 had he done so. Unwilling to leave without telling his message, and 
 hoping for a more favourable turn of affairs, Mr. Summers stayed on for a 
 week. He was visited by numbers of men, who came to denounce him 
 and threaten to kill him if he did not acknowledge Mohammed as the 
 prophet of God ; and to all who came, as far as they gave him opportunity, 
 he preached the Gospel. Even in that fanatical crowd two who came 
 heard the word with interest, and gladly received copies of the New Testa- 
 ment. At the end of a week it seemed plain that nothing more could be 
 done, and Mr. Summers, with the Raid's consent, set out on his return 
 journey. The women in the villages he passed through screamed and 
 called upon the men to shoot the Nazarene who was defiling their country, 
 and it was not till he had forded a river and got well out of this inhos- 
 pitable region that he could breathe freely, and give vent to his feelings 
 in thanksgiving to Him who had kept him hidden under the shadow of 
 His wings. These poor people do not yet know their true friends ; but 
 we cannot doubt that prayer and patient work will open a way for the 
 Gospel even there. 
 
FEZ. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Fez. 
 
 William Carey's Motto : 
 
 Expect great things from God. 
 Attempt great things for God. 
 
 HE short visit paid to Fez in the spring of 1888 only increased 
 Miss Herdman's desire to make it a centre for Mission work, 
 and at the close of a few months spent in England to 
 recruit her health, she went back, determined, if possible, to 
 remain there. The country was at that time in a very disturbed state ; the 
 Sultan was at the head of his army engaged in putting down attempts at 
 insurrection among various Hill tribes, and friends in England feared that the 
 usual dangers of travelling would be multiplied. Miss Herdman promised to 
 consult the British representative in Morocco, Sir Kirby Green, before taking 
 any step, but as his opinion was that she could go with safety where others 
 could not, the journey was at once arranged for. Accompanied by Miss 
 Copping, a trained nurse from Westminster Hospital, and Miss Reed^ who 
 had but lately arrived, and was only beginning to learn Arabic, she set out 
 once more on the trying and tedious journey in October, 1888. It was 
 accomplished without difficulty, the weather being fine, but as they did not 
 take the most direct route it occupied ten days. As usual, they were obliged to 
 have and to pay for a soldier as a guard, though his guardianship could have 
 been merely nominal, as the one appointed for them was so old and infirm that 
 he could not get off or on his mule without assistance. Arrived at Fez, their 
 first necessity was to find a house, and this by God's goodness, through the 
 help of kind friends, was soon arranged. Like all Moorish houses the rooms 
 are without windows, light and air being admitted not very freely by the doors 
 
^2 FEZ. 
 
 which open into a small court. The court itself is roofed over, but has a large 
 aperture at the top closed only with iron bars across it. Besides the rooms on 
 the ground floor, which are used for receiving patients, there are two upper 
 ones opening on a balcony, and a small chamber on the flat roof. All the 
 floors are of pretty bright-coloured tiles, and after walls and ceilings had been 
 scrubbed and whitewashed, and packing cases transformed by womanly 
 ingenuity into something like furniture, our friends addressed themselves to 
 the work for which they had come. Two days a week were appointed for 
 men and bo3^s to come for medical treatment, and two other days for women. 
 
 A few extracts from Miss Herdman's most interesting journals must 
 suffice to give an idea of the work. 
 
 " On Thursda}^, besides those who came for medicine, we had a party of 
 young Shereefs in, who asked a great many questions about our religion. 
 They only came to pass the time, but we have Thursday as one of the men's 
 days, because it is a school holiday, and the teachers and scholars, who are the 
 good readers, can come in. These young men sat a long time listening to the 
 Scriptures read and hj^mns sung, and they say they will come again. The 
 men and boys having minds trained to a certain degree by business or 
 reading, are no trouble to us, and never interrupt us rudely, although we 
 sometimes have animated discussions with them. Our point with them is that 
 they are under a delusion in waiting until after death to be cleansed from sin, 
 and that our Lord Jesus Christ is a present Saviour. 
 
 " Quite a number of people have heard the Gospel since our arrival. 
 Some are reading in their own houses Bibles and portions of Scripture lent to 
 them. 
 
 "The harm,onium is already a great attraction. Not only do the patients 
 hear the hymns, but the little boys of the neighbourhood beg to come in to 
 hear them. The men like the Eastern Arabic hymns out of the Beyrout 
 hymn-book, and will often look over the book and try to join, but the women 
 do not understand them, and we sing them easy doggerel in their own dialect. 
 Those men who read understand the Syrian Arabic as it is like the Koran, but 
 the poor and ignorant like the easy hymns the same as the women. 
 
 "Among the patients to-day was an old man who evidently expected a 
 pair of new young eyes. He brought a saucepan for his eye-wash, and a 
 basket of walnuts to the Tabeeba. Another patient brought a handsome piece 
 of his own embroidery as a thank-offering, because he could now hear his 
 watch tick, having been very deaf when he first came. Most of the people 
 seem to be grateful, especially when their sick children are relieved. A good 
 many female slaves come for medicine. 
 
 " Yesterday, among others, a woman came in bringing a little black slave, 
 ten years old, diseased from head to foot. She said her sister had bought her 
 fourteen months ago for £22, and she was then pretty and well, but two 
 
FEZ. 
 
 83 
 
 months after she was seized with this complaint. She evidently feared that 
 she had made a bad bargain. I asked the child her story, cind when 
 encouraged to answer me by the woman who brought her, she said, ' I am 
 from the Sous. I was stolen with a number of little girls from my village 
 last year, and brought to Mogador, then here.' * Did you ride or walk ? ' 
 'We rode on mules, several in each shwaree (panier) and one on the 
 top. I was in a panier with another girl, five on the mule, but some mules 
 carried more.' I remembered hearing last summer, how, after the Sultan had 
 reduced the rebellious Sous to 
 subjection, numbers of children 
 were carried off, and that some 
 were sold in Morocco city, but 
 numbers had died on the 
 journey, but when the Sultan 
 heard of it, he put a stop to 
 this disgraceful conduct on the 
 part of his followers. 
 
 " The great Moorish festival 
 of the birth of Mohammed ter- 
 minated yesterday, its seventh 
 day. We kept to the house 
 while it lasted, as the streets 
 were occupied from time to time 
 by the Aissawa — wild, yelling 
 fanatics, who are said to catch 
 any unlucky Jews or Christians 
 met with on their way, to toss 
 them up in the air, and tear 
 them to pieces on the way down 
 —anyway, Jews and Christians 
 avoid their path. We watched 
 them from our apology for a 
 window, singing and dancing 
 with long dishevelled hair. Only 
 separated from us by one house 
 is the largest mosque in all 
 North Africa, called * The 
 Cherubim.' We live on the 
 borders of another great sanctuary. When we go out on foot, which is but 
 seldom, we meet crowds of worshippers from both, and as some are very 
 fanatical, we hurry through the streets. 
 
 ^^ January y'd, 1889. — A lovely bright day. Praise the Lord, the clirhate 
 here agrees with us, and we are in good health and spirits. There has been 
 very heavy, seasonable rain ; the higher Atlas mountains are deep in snow, the 
 nearer spurs, of which we have a view from our roof, get covered with snow in 
 showery weather, but a sunny day or two melts it. To-day we had about fifty 
 
 GALLERY OF MOORISH HOUSE. 
 
84 FEZ. 
 
 men and boys, principally patients. One came both morning and afternoon to 
 read the Bible with us. Several returned portions of Scriptures, and had 
 others to take away. Five of the patients were from a partj^ of Berbers, who 
 came lately from Morocco city to bring a present to the Sultan. They spoke 
 the Shluh language, but two of their number also understood Arabic well. 
 One had a gunshot wound, and also asked for medicine for one of their saints 
 with a similar wound. Our man had no patience with them, seeing they 
 begged for medicine not only for themselves, but for their friends in Morocco. 
 ' They are all highway robbers and murderers,' he said. But remembering 
 that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, Miss Copping sent them 
 away with all their numerous v*'ants supplied, and I tried to impress upon 
 them the need of true repentance and of a Saviour. To-day a good many 
 female slaves were treated, some old friends, some new cases. One young 
 woman, who has often come, said to me to-day, ' I do so like coming here. 
 I had a feverish attack and was prevented from coming last week, and missed 
 you all. My master has been in Egypt and likes Christians, and he said to 
 me to-day, " Go and hear about Jesus Christ." ' * Then you have a kind master.' 
 'Yes, but some are very cruel ; Mohammedans say it is no sin to beat or 
 strangle a black.' Three of the Sultan's slaves came to-day, of the families of 
 his muleteers. These poor women belong to the outer courts of the Palace ; 
 they listened very intelligently to the Gospel. 
 
 " We have had a very busy day ; seventy-eight women have been treated. 
 We have endeavoured to teach each group, but sometimes the number of women 
 talking together has been rather overpowering. The harmonium is in great re- 
 quest. A poor slave girl, who had to wait a long time for her turn, came in from 
 the court again and again and joined her sweet voice in the easy hymns. She 
 said she had been asking every day since the last time she had come for 
 medicine, for a clean heart. Some of the women are beginning to sigh over 
 their sins, especially the one that most easily besets them — hatred. When 
 I asked one woman the cause of the illness from which she had recovered 
 through treatment here, she said, ' I am one of four wives ; I do not know what . 
 the others may have given me.' They are very cruel in this countr}-, and 
 often give a person enough poison to injure them for life without absolutely 
 killing them. 
 
 " Among those who came to-day was a man who turned out to be the 
 nephew of a Kaid who had showed us kindness last summer while we were 
 encamped at a large village. This man told us he had heard the Gospel from 
 one of the muleteers from his neighbourhood, who had brought us to Fez the 
 first time, and had last month in his company been to the Arabic meeting at 
 Hope House. He told me he loved the Lord Jesus Christ, and asked for a 
 Bible. He spent the day with us, and on leaving gave my hand a warm 
 shake, and said, 'I hope to come and see you again ; I love the Lord Jesus 
 like you.' Gladly I gave him a small Bible. Miss Caley and I had earnestly 
 prayed many times for that village ; here is the answer. 
 
 " We have news from Tangier that S. H., who heard of Christ from us in 
 Larache and took care of us in Fez in the summer, has confessed Christ in 
 

 
 / 
 
86 FEZ. 
 
 baptism. Yesterday was an especially interesting men's day. Among those 
 who came for medicine were a good many who were seriously disposed and 
 inclined to read the Gospel. But best of all were two men from Tarradunt, a 
 town in South Morocco, who came in and asked for the New Testament. One 
 said that Jesus was the only Saviour, and that He died and rose again ; the 
 other looked very bright, and assented to all I said without speaking. They 
 both went out suddenly, and I had no opportunity of seeing them alone, or 
 inviting them to come on Sunday, but we hope they may turn up on Monday, 
 as they know the house is open to men on that day. I think they must have 
 learned from some of the scattered persecuted Christians of Mogadon 
 
 " To-day I had an hour's conversation, mostly on spiritual things, with a 
 Moor who has shown us real disinterested kindness. He embraces such 
 opportunities of hearing, but is, like many others afraid to show his interest in 
 the Gospel before his very fanatical fellow-citizens. He said, ' If my best friends 
 heard me say what I have said to you now, they would kill me.' How real 
 the exhortation of Christ, ' Fear not them that kill the body.' No one wants 
 to kill us in England, and we read such passages and think nothing of them. 
 Here we pray to be delivered from the fear of man, and the Lord has granted 
 the desire of our hearts. 
 
 " The Spring rains have set in, and the streets of Fez are rivers of 
 black, foetid mud. Outside the town the grain is very thick, and is coming on 
 rapidly. 
 
 " We go out clothed in a white woollen burnoos, the hood fastened round 
 the head with a white silk cord. Mouth and nose are covered with one piece 
 of white muslin and the forehead with another, both tied round the head 
 under the burnoos, the eyes alone are visible. I am known by my spectacles, 
 otherwise the disguise is perfect. The people of Fez not having mixed with 
 Europeans, do not think any woman unveiled respectable. They will learn in 
 time. The want of roads between Fez and the coast has isolated them, so that 
 they have scarcely changed in the thousand years since the city was founded, 
 while the rest of the world has advanced in education and civilization. 
 
 " We observe that the women are much more attentive to the Gospel than 
 they were formerly. A slave, who was here to-day, with her child, who is 
 under treatment, understands the Gospel very well, and loves to hear of Jesus. 
 I take especial pleasure in teaching the slaves. Many of them have forgotten 
 their parents in the Sahara and the Soudan, and listen with great pleasure to 
 hymns and words about a Father in Heaven and a Saviour who cares for 
 them. Others are fanatical, and say they have God and the prophet and want 
 nothing more. 
 
 " The men's days are very interesting. We had some good scholars in 
 to-day, who read the Gospel with me ; also some from wild tribes near Fez. 
 These were Arabs ; often we have Riffs and Shluhs, each with their own 
 language, but making themselves understood in Arabic. All these wild tribes 
 rob and murder as opportunity offers. It seemed to be quite a new idea to 
 one of the men to-day to hear that if he killed travellers, or stole, and did 
 not repent, he would go to hell. 
 
FEZ. 
 
 87 
 
 " I try to teach these country people especially that as they expect their 
 children to please them, and are glad when they help them, so God loves 
 them, and wishes them to do His will. Although utterly uneducated, except 
 in vice, they understand similes very well, and one understands why our 
 Lord taught in parables. Four times a week, besides the townspeople, 
 who tell lies, hate one another, and are covetous and cruel, we have people 
 to teach who habitually steal and murder. It is a great privilege to be the 
 first to speak to them of 
 repentance unto life, and 
 of a Saviour from Satan, 
 whom they recognise as 
 the tempter who over- 
 comes them. Now that 
 the roads are drying and 
 the snow melting, men 
 and women come two and 
 three days' journey for 
 medicines from parts 
 never visited by Euro- 
 peans, and where few 
 native travellers pass, and 
 they at the risk of their 
 lives. The poorest man, 
 if clothed in a coarse 
 white jelab not in rags, 
 is likely to be murdered 
 for the sake of it. People 
 are often murdered almost 
 under the shadow of the 
 walls of Fez, for all the 
 tribes around are wild. 
 
 " We have had several 
 persons from a small town 
 called Sifroo, about twelve 
 miles distant, and we pro- 
 pose visiting it, if the 
 Lord open the way. We 
 have invitations from 
 
 families whose members are sick, and we desire to take the Gospel of the 
 grace of God to a city still in total darkness. There are a good many Jews 
 there, but the main population is Mohammedan." 
 
 The visit to Sifroo was carried out during the hottest weeks of summer, 
 when Miss Herdman and her companions were glad to escape from the stifling 
 atmosphere of the city. They found a lodging at Sifroo after some difficulty, 
 
 G 2 
 
 MOORISH GIRL. 
 
88 ■ FEZ. 
 
 in a native hotel. The heat of the sun was great, but the abundant shade of 
 the irrigated gardens and orchards round the town was pleasant, and there 
 they spent much of their time, reading and conversing with the owners. 
 The following account of the visit to Sifroo is from Miss Copping : — 
 
 " We spent nearly two months in this little town on the side of a 
 mountain, exploring the neighbourhood, making friends with the people, 
 doctoring the sick, and preaching the Gospel to rich and poor. 
 
 "As we went there from Fez the whole country seemed one mass of 
 luxuriant green, mingled with brilhant flowers of every hue, and as we neared 
 Sifroo, although tired and hot with our long ride and the midday sun, we 
 could not help admiring the exquisitely-tinted fruit blossoms and the sparkling 
 streams flowing through the gardens. On our return journey, two months 
 later, what a change had come over everything ! The green hills were 
 brown and bare, the valley and plains a dusty, stony waste, the poor sheep 
 and goats trying in vain to find grass sufficient for their need. 
 
 " We found almost as many Jews as Moors in Sifroo, but we were wel- 
 comed by all, rich and poor alike. The Moslems there are not as religious, 
 and therefore not as bigoted as those of Fez. We visited numbers of the 
 houses. At one house to which Miss Reed and I went, the lady took us in 
 with great delight to see some wonders from our own country. We found 
 her walls plastered over with advertisements of candles, chocolate, etc. The 
 house was beautifully clean, and the lady let in a few of her neighbours, who 
 listened attentively to what we told them of the Saviour ; but she herself was 
 so fussy, asking again and again what she should give us to eat, fanning away 
 flies and sweeping up some fancied dust, while the neighbours, especially one 
 young woman, were anxious to hear our message. It was truly wonderful 
 the kindness we strangers received from these people. 
 
 "A poor little orphan boy, sadly diseased, who had been under our care 
 many months in Fez, called upon us in Sifroo soon after the great feast. I 
 enquired how he had fared during the holiday. He said, ' It was this way, 
 Tabeeba, I was there ; and if they asked me to eat I did, and said, " May the 
 Lord bless and reward you ; " and if they did not ask me to eat I did not, 
 and said, " May the Lord have mercy on your soul." ' He stayed with us 
 several days, but we had to present him with everything he used or touched, 
 as he is a leper. We are very sorry for him. 
 
 "One acquaintance we made was a bright, kind young man from Tedla. 
 He belongs to a very warlike tribe, and even he, loving as he is, has a little 
 of the savage left in him. He came to teach us Shluh, and did his very 
 best to teach us the most useful words in a short time. He is much loved by 
 the Sifroo children, as well- as by the grown people. He tries all he can to 
 help the people from the mountains when they come in to market, and they 
 often need a helper from the oppressions of the Kaid. He was very much 
 taken by what he heard of our Lord, and would listen intelligently, asking 
 
FEZ. 89 
 
 many questions. He said he knew that Si Moses belonged to the Jews, and 
 Si Aisa to the Christians, but who did Si David belong to ? He thanked God 
 when he heard that Moses and David, as well as our Lord Jesus belonged to 
 the sons of Adam, to him as well as to us, that God so loved the world that 
 He sent Jesus Christ into the world to seek and to save the sons of Adam. 
 He, seems almost a Christian, and we pray for him every day. He is so 
 fearless that he would be a bright light. 
 
 " A baby boy was brought to me by his mother from a mountain tribe ; 
 the little one was suffering from ophthalmia. When he saw me he exclaimed, 
 ' Ya roumee ' (O stranger), ' go to your own country at once.' When he saw 
 that I did not obey him, he raised his tiny hand to strike me. This is the 
 way the children are trained. He is the son of a chief, and feels it his duty 
 to keep strangers from his country. A large party of women came from the 
 same tribe, with their faces bleeding and sore as if they had been fighting 
 with wild beasts. They told me that 'there had died to them a man.* I 
 asked if he was husband, brother, or son to any one of them ? They said 
 he was not, but he was one of their tribe, and they had cried for fourteen 
 days and torn their own faces, and they must not wash or change their clothes 
 for three months. No wonder they were sick and feverish. There is so 
 much that is intensely sad in this beautiful country. 
 
 " We were many times invited to a town named Ballin, where the people 
 live in caves instead of houses, but we could not go without permission from 
 the Kaid. After our return to Fez a chief called upon us with the desired 
 permission. He said if we would go he would take great care of us and bring 
 us back safely. We must share his cave ; he would give us all we wished 
 for, and protect us from robbers. The robbers are a very real evil. The 
 young man who taught us Shluh often warned us, ' It is not your goods they 
 will steal ; it is you.' 
 
 " It would take too long to tell of all our pleasant rides, walks, visits, 
 medical mission days, etc. We treated more than 130 patients every week, 
 many of them from the mountains round, so that God's Word has gone far 
 and wide. May the Lord Himself water it with His Holy Spirit." 
 
 The next extract is from Miss Herdman, written while still at Sifroo : — 
 
 " Everything about this place is novel and interesting. Having to do 
 with three races essentially different one from the other, Arabs, Berbers, and 
 Jews, makes our work and our recreation alike varied. 
 
 " The town is surrounded by gardens, extending (roughly speaking) a 
 mile in every direction ; the outer fringe of all is like a park, planted with very 
 large and fruitful olive trees. We walked out to one extremity of the plan- 
 tations this morning, and then returned and sat in a garden. As we sit in 
 their gardens we open a portion of God's Word and read to the learned, and 
 speak and sing to the ignorant. 
 
 " Every inch of ground is irrigated ; the water is turned on and off at 
 
90 FEZ. 
 
 stated times to each of the gardens. The mountain stream we skirted this 
 morning, with its sparkling water and cascades, its fringe of maidenhair ferns 
 and tangle of blackberries and honeysuckle, was indescribably refreshing. 
 Sifroo is a natural paradise, and its poor but industrious inhabitants make 
 the best of its resources. Spiritually it is dark indeed, but we are privileged 
 day by day to be its light-bearers. Jews and Moors look over our Bibles and 
 Testaments, and we feel sure that our few weeks' holiday here has not been 
 lost time. We visit the homes of rich and poor, we climb the mountains and 
 frighten the authorities, who fear a murderous attack upon us. The other 
 day when they could not frighten us with Berbers they spoke of snakes. We 
 have heard since that one very interesting mountain we have climbed twice 
 has very large dangerous snakes hid in its caves, which are large and inviting, 
 and in one of which we proposed spending the day. 
 
 " We have at present as a guest a Berber woman from the mountains, 
 from a village with only one path to it up the rock. The inhabitants turn on 
 a mountain stream at will, and laugh at an enemy below. She has taken 
 refuge with us from the oppression of a Kaid, who had taken her mule. 
 We have been trying to get justice for her for two days, and to-morrow we 
 are promised success, and we hope to send her and it home safely. 
 
 " We had Moors reading the Bible with us until dusk to-day, and then 
 spoke to Jews and Moors in the Fundak court. A Fundak such as we are 
 lodging in is a place with great opportunities of making known the Gospel. 
 The Moorish Passover feast has just ended, work has begun again, and the 
 Fundak is full of travellers to-night, with their beasts of burden. A large 
 quantity of wool and of cedar beams have arrived from the mountains, and 
 will go to Fez early to-morrow morning. 
 
 " Among other readers to-day we had one who has not been here before, 
 and who is in a Government post, in which taking bribes is usual. We read 
 the 15th Psalm, and New Testament passages. He was much impressed, 
 and we spoke together of the possibility of being honest, and yet not 
 miserably poor. ' Without lies one cannot live,' is a common saying here. 
 How often I think of David preaching righteousness in the great congregation. 
 He heard with much pleasure about a Saviour from sin," 
 
 At the beginning of September a little rain fell, which made the earthen 
 floors of the Fundak damp, and caused the bad smells to rise, so Miss 
 Herdman and her companion had to return to Fez, though the heat there was 
 still great. 
 
 There we leave these three brave women, alone in the midst of an alien 
 ■people, yet not alone, for He who said " Lo am I with you alwa}^, even to 
 the end of the world," is with them. The love of Christ constraineth them, 
 and it is by the power of that Divine love breathed into their souls, and 
 shining in their lives, that they, and all the rest of the noble band of true 
 
FEZ. 91 
 
 missionaries throughout the world, must win and conquer. There are many- 
 different opinions about the best ways of carrying on missionary work, but one 
 thmg seems clear, that sooner or later there will be success wherever love 
 abounds — love which suffereth long and is kind, love which vaunteth not 
 itself and is not puffed up ; love which beareth all things, believeth all 
 things, hopeth all things, endureth all things ; love which never faileth. 
 Such love, which can take to its heart the oalhsome and the sinful, is 
 indeed, a part of the Divine nature of which God's children are called to be 
 partakers. Many waters cannot quench it, neither can the floods drown it, 
 and wherever it is fully in exercise, it must prevail. 
 
9-2 
 
 TUNIS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Tunis. 
 
 Toi do/if I'dmc est toiirmsntee 
 
 Aux nfi^rjches de la tnort, 
 Toi dont la ncf ballotee 
 
 Ne sail on trouver le port, 
 Regarde, a travers tcs larines 
 
 Ce pharc qui, taiit dc fois 
 A brlllc dans nies alarines, 
 
 C'cst la croix, c'est la croix ! 
 
 HE country of Tunis is that corner of the North African coaLt 
 where the Mediterranean makes a sudden bend southwards, 
 just opposite Sicily, and washes a coast-line of about 350 
 miles facing east, before it again resumes its usual direction. 
 The town of the same name is situated at the head of a ba}^ 
 before the angle is reached, therefore facing northwards. What was once a 
 splendid harbour, communicating with a land-locked lagoon, is now so silted 
 up that ordinary steamers cannot approach nearer to the town than about 
 four miles, which makes landing there inconvenient. 
 
 With an area of about 60,000 square miles, and a coast-line of 
 550 miles, the country does not contain more than two millions of inhabi- 
 tants, the small population being probably attributable to Turkish misrule. 
 Until the sixteenth century Tunis was one of the independent Barbary 
 States, but since that time it has been subject to Turkey, governed by a Be}', 
 owing allegiance to the Sultan. In 1 881, however, the French forcibly took 
 it under their protection, so that everything now is very much under their 
 influence. After assuming the Protectorate, a French army marched to 
 Kairwan, a curious ancient city situated inland. Until the French invasion 
 it had been as carefully secluded and guarded from the intrusion ' of 
 
A STREET IN TUNIS. 
 
94 TUNIS. 
 
 any Christian as Mecca itself, and was considered nearly as sacred; 
 being the place of burial -of " My Lord the Companion," an intimate friend 
 of Mohammed, who, during his lifetime, and afterwards in death, wore 
 always on his breast a portion of the prophet's beard, in token of his devotion 
 to him. For a thousand years, so far as can be ascertained, no Christian 
 foot ever trod the streets of Kairwan, or Christian eye looked upon its sacred 
 places. Before its surrender to the French, however, this strictness had 
 somewhat relaxed. A few privileged English travellers were permitted by 
 the Bey to enter, though, once within the walls, care was taken to let them 
 see as little as possible. Now the splendid mosques are open to public gaze, 
 and even the sacred spot where " My Ford the Companion " lies entombed in 
 marble, surrounded with a gilded lattice, has been looked upon by the hated, 
 feared, and despised Nazarene, a striking proof of the decay of Moslem 
 power. 
 
 The range of Atlas Mountains which extends from Morocco eastwards, 
 ends in Tunis. The Berbers of the mountain villages are still called Kabyles, 
 as in Algeria ; many of them are to be found in the town itself, where they 
 work as gardeners and labourers. As in Algeria, the population is made up 
 of a mixture of Moors, Arabs, Kabyles, Turks, and Jews, with many Euro- 
 peans in the towns. The Moors descended from those who were driven from 
 Spain in the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, form an almost separate and 
 very aristocratic class b}' themselves. They are said to preserve carefully 
 the rusty keys of their forefathers' houses in Andalusia, and to hand them 
 down from father to son in the hope of one day regaining their possessions. 
 
 Into this mixture of races, all alike needing the blessed healing, enlight- 
 ening, purifying influences of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, has gone a little 
 band of workers, few and feeble, and utterly unable of themselves to cope 
 with the forces of evil, yet having their hands made strong by the hands of 
 the Mighty One. 
 
 Two French brethren, M. Bureau and M. Mercadier, with their wives, 
 were the first to occupy the place. They have succeeded in opening a small 
 book-shop, v/here also they receive any who are willing to converse and read 
 the Scriptures with them. They have also held evening meetings in French, 
 resembhng Mr. McAll's "Conferences" in Paris. 
 
 Only a year ago the mission was reinforced by three English ladies, and 
 
TUNIS. 95 
 
 though, of course, their Arabic is still very defective, it is wonderful how 
 quickly doors are opened to them which are closed against men, and how 
 soon they have been able to come into real heart-contact with the people. 
 They have been guided to find a suitable house, a genuine Moorish one, and 
 quite in the Arab part of the town. While busy in acquiring the language, 
 they are at the same time making friends with many families, either through 
 helping them in time of sickness, or being brought into contact with them in 
 other ways. Already they have sufficient Arabic to be able to use these 
 opportunities for reading the Scriptures and speaking of the Saviour they 
 love. Some extracts from journals will best describe the work begun in 
 Tunis, although not greatly differing from that carried on in other parts of 
 North Africa. The first extracts are from a letter by Miss Grissell : — 
 
 " Now to tell you something of our Arab friends, and how we are 
 trying to help them. We have as many homes open to us as we know how 
 to visit — indeed, more than we can visit constantly. Miss Harding has been 
 able to help so many with her knowledge of medicine that we are hailed at 
 the doors as we pass, to go in and see the sick. I must tell you of the 
 difficulties in helping the sick here, for they are not small, as the men even 
 are like children over a glass of medicine, and many times we have been quite 
 unable to persuade a man to take a second dose. There was a poor fellow 
 almost dying from fever, and yet he would not touch quinine a second 
 time. 
 
 "A fortnight ago we spent two days at the seaside house of a Moor, in 
 whose family we have visited a great deal here. Their manner of life was 
 very strange to us, and apparently we were equally strange to them, for they 
 seemed always watching to see what we were going to do next. Their home 
 is situated in a little village on a high rock, a picturesque little place, very 
 Arabic. I wish I could paint the little market-place as we saw it from one 
 of the windows, with the pretty fruit shop in front, and so alive with busi- 
 ness in the early morning. Some of the women are here allowed a little 
 more liberty, and are permitted to go down the rocks and find a quiet corner 
 to bathe, but our friends were never allowed outside the door, nor even at 
 the window to look out ; and, happily, seem to have lost all desire from its very 
 hopelessness. You may fancy how glad the three dear women were to see 
 us, and how they assured us we were no trouble to them if we would only stay 
 with them longer, but we could not then. At meal-times we had to manage 
 without plates or knives, but we were given spoons and forks, and everybody 
 put their spoon into whichever of the oily dishes they liked best. The old 
 father and mother had their meals together; we dined with the two sons, and 
 we could never persuade their wives to come and eat with us. It was very 
 amusing to see one of the gentlemen piling his own fork with two or three 
 nice bits, and then stretching over and placing them on the edge of a dish near 
 
96 TUNIS. 
 
 us. At night we slept on the three divans in the sitting-room, and our manner 
 of retiring to rest was such a cause of curiosity to all the women of the 
 household, that they all assembled in the room to watch our proceedings. 
 
 "This visit was a'grand opportunity for leaving the message behind us 
 that our lips are so longing to deliver on all sides, and we each did our best 
 with our different abilities. 
 
 " Miss Harding got the dear old father interested more than she ever had 
 before. He seemed to enjoy having her sitting beside him with a Testament, 
 and he with another, reading and asking her questions. It would indeed be 
 grand if his heart were yielded to the Lord, for he has such power and in- 
 fluence in his family. The two sons came and read together with us each 
 day once or twice, and the busy women we had to catch as best we 
 could. 
 
 "There is another family in which we are much interested, and this, too, 
 is one of good position and plenty of means. Their little invalid girl was the 
 call into that house. Little Zabaida is an interesting child, aged eleven, who 
 from a fall has severe curvature of the spine, and has lost all power in her 
 legs. Miss Harding found her sitting up on her bed in a corner of a com- 
 fortable room, and there she had lived for eleven months, or more, bearing 
 with the weakness and the suffering day by day as best she could, her 
 mother and elder sister doing their best to soothe her, but their best was very 
 little, for they had not even thought of carrying her out into the court for air. 
 Miss Harding was able to obtain the loan of an electric battery for a month, 
 and tried that constantly, but with almost no result. Her general health is 
 somewhat improved. Some friend sent me out a very nicely dressed little 
 doll, and I have often wished that she could have seen the pleasure it gave 
 Zabaida. It is really a friend to her, always beside her. 
 
 " It is a large household of all ages, from an old negress, who is dying 
 now, but was nurse to one of the parents, and is supposed to be close on a 
 hundred years old, to the little boy of six years. Sometimes it is very diffi- 
 cult to get a quiet hearing ; at present there seems so little real desire to hear 
 the Gospel, the things of this life seem of so much greater interest. There is 
 a young lad who reads Arabic well, and he is always a ready listener, and 
 will try to silence the children and get a little quiet attention. 
 
 "I cannot tell you how painful it is to stand by a dying bed when the 
 poor soul is passing into eternity, without having heard of the precious blood, 
 of Jesus and of the gift of eternal life, and it is too late then, for the ear had 
 lost its hearing. A page of the Koran was being monotonously read beside 
 the dying negress, but what comfort could it convey even had she understood 
 it ! It made Miss Harding and me, as we stood there, wish we had come out 
 sooner. Miss Harding spoke to those around of the solemnity of death, and 
 its warning to all, but her words were only received with smiles. I do feel 
 more and more out here how little is being done by Christians, who, having 
 received such inestimable blessings themselves, are to a large extent leaving 
 thousands to starve for the Bread of Life." 
 
TUNIS. 97 
 
 In the next extract, Miss Harding describes another visit a short way 
 from Tunis : — - 
 
 " Last Friday, I came to the httle seaside village (Hammam el Enf), 
 where the Mercadiers are staying. It is a primitive Arab village, about half 
 an hour's distance by rail from Tunis. We live in three tiny cabins, in a 
 long row of shanties, a little distance from the village, and close to the Medi- 
 terranean, only a narrow strip of sand and low parapet wall between us and 
 it. Looking across the Bay of Tunis, in the distance Carthage can be dimly 
 seen. We live out of doors, so have full benefit of sea-breezes, so invigorating 
 after city fife. 
 
 "Last evening I visited our landlord's wife, who is a Jewess; her sister 
 and husband's partner came in as I was reading to her, and all listened so 
 readily as I spoke to them of the Father's gift of His Son to be the Saviour 
 of the world, and of the precious blood which alone can cleanse from all sin. 
 As I read to them the words of the Lord to Nicodemus, * Except a man be born 
 again he cannot see the Kingdom of God,' they, like Nicodemus, marvelled, 
 and as I went on to tell them how they could receive eternal life through 
 Jesus, who is the Life, and that now they were in darkness, in death, the 
 women said, ' This is all new to us, no one ever told us before.' As this cry, 
 this time from Jewish women's lips, came home again to me, * No one 
 ever told me before,' I felt, ' Oh, that I had come sooner to tell you and others 
 of the Saviour's love — you who have never heard of it.' It fired me with a 
 deeper longing to seek to make known to the many thousands in Tunis 
 and aroun^, whose life is quickly passing away, and without having ever 
 heard of Him, and for whom there is no hope beyond the grave. Oh, 
 Christian sisters at home, who enjoy the privileges of Gospel light and 
 liberty, who know the reality and joy of possessing the Lord Jesus as 
 your life, and are seeking to follow Him closely, does not this cry which 
 I pass on to you, as it now echoes in my own heart, awaken a response 
 in yours ? Here, as in India, are thousands of Mohammedan women 
 (after twelve years of age, and earlier), prisoners in their own homes all 
 their lifetime, to whom we alone can carry the message of life and peace. 
 Until the husbands and brothers are brought to know Christ our lips alone 
 can speak of Him to them ; and how can we reach these thousands when 
 every home must be visited separately, unless more labourers are sent 
 forth ? And for all these souls in each harem, each Arab court, Christ 
 died — each soul is a blood-bought one. Think you it is nothing to Him that 
 so many of these remain unsought, uncared for ? Ah, no ; His heart is 
 yearning over each one, however degraded. If you could see as we daily 
 see, the multitudes without any hope, who are living in such terrible dark- 
 ness and sin, and feel the helplessness we feel in being able to reach so 
 few amongst them, you would have the great need press on you, as it 
 does on us. Die time is so quickly passing ; the night cometh when no 
 man can work. 
 
98 
 
 TUNIS. 
 
 " Our first year in North Africa is just drawing to a close. Now we 
 can testify to our Father's abiding faithfulness, and in the coming year 
 would trust Him more fully yet. Jesus is enough for every need, and He 
 becomes m.ore and more real to each of us. May He make Himself known 
 to the multitudes around us, to the glory of His name." 
 
 In addition to the work among Moors and Arabs, our friends have 
 opened a room where addresses are given and hymns sung in French. They 
 realise that the Gospel is to be preached to every creature, and that they, as 
 
 CAFE IN TUNIS. 
 
 bearers of the message, must leave out none to whom they have the oppor- 
 tunity of delivering it. The need for it among all classes and nationalities is 
 plain. A Frenchman said to them that he had never come across a Christian ; 
 all who called themselves such that he had seen were people more to be 
 avoided than sought. What need, then, that those who have the true light 
 should let it shine out ! 
 
 God has shown in Tunis that now, as ot old, His Gospel is the power or 
 God unto salvation to every one who believes. There have been some very 
 
TUNIS. 99 
 
 encouraging cases, not only of reception of the Divine Word into the heart, but 
 of open confession of the name of Christ ; but as yet these cases are too new to 
 be published. Only we would again beg Christians in England to whom the 
 confession of their faith in the Lord Jesus is comparatively such an easy thing, 
 not to forget those to whom it means so much more ; involving certainly 
 rejection by friends and nearest relatives, and loss of the means of livelihood 
 possibly imprisonment and torture. 
 
 As yet the work is confined to the town of Tunis. Other cities await 
 the feet of God's messengers. On the coast there is Bizerta, with 5,000 
 inhabitants, Susa 8,000, and Sfaks 15,000. Inland lie other towns and 
 villages, with the Kabyle villages scattered over the mountains, as in Algeria. 
 Soon may the words of Isaiah, as repeated by Matthew, be fulfilled to them : 
 "The people which sat in darkness saw great light, and to them which sat in 
 the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up." 
 
100 
 
 TRIPOLI. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Tripoli. 
 
 Tidings sent to every creature, 
 
 Millions yet have never heard ; 
 Can they hear without a preacher ? 
 
 Lord Almighty, give the word. 
 Give the word ; in every nation 
 
 Let the Gospel tnwipet sonnd, 
 JVitnessing a world's salvation 
 
 To the earth's remotest bomid. 
 
 N February, 1889, two young missionaries were sent to try 
 what openings there might be in Tripoh. Mr. Michell, one 
 of the two, had been in Tunis for about a year, chiefly 
 occupied in learning Arabic. He is a born linguist, so it was 
 hoped that he already knew enough of the language to serve 
 for both, Mr. Harding having only just arrived from England. The latter 
 has the advantage of some medical knowledge, although not a qualified prac- 
 titioner, so the different gifts of the two have worked in well together. Con- 
 siderable doubts were felt as to the possibility'of carrying on any work for 
 the Lord in a country still completely under Turkish rule, but there, as else- 
 where, doors have been opened quite beyond our expectations, and the seed 
 of the Word is being sown. That is all that man can do, but we look up in 
 confidence to Him who alone can give the increase. 
 
 The coast of Tripoli is lower, and the country altogether less moun- 
 tainous than further west, the Atlas Mountains shading off here into lower 
 ranges of hills. The country around the town ot Tripoli is thoroughly 
 Oriental. Palm trees and cactus hedges,'^great wells, and fields with little 
 canals for irrigation, combine, with droves of camels and picturesque but 
 
TRIPOLI. lot 
 
 dirty Arabs, to remind the visitor that he is well to the East, and close to 
 the Great Desert. 
 
 The missionaries began by visiting one or two of the purely Arab 
 cafes for an hour in the evening, and while sipping their coffee, opportu- 
 nities arose for conversation with those frequenting them. In this way, they 
 soon made acquaintances which led on to further intercourse. Mr. Harding 
 wished at first to keep his time free for study, but some inadvertent remark 
 having led to the belief that he was a "tabib," or doctor, patients soon 
 began to come to him. 
 
 *^ March, 1889. — We are looked upon as regular habitue's of our cafe 
 now, and the Lord has evidently made good our footing there. One gentle- 
 man had a good long read out of the New Testament to-night. The pro- 
 prietor is a very bigoted Mohammedan, but of course so long as our sous 
 are forthcoming he is not the man to make a fuss. Ahmed, a young man 
 with whom we have made acquaintance, came in this evening to say he 
 is going three days' journey into the interior with the Fezzan caravan. 
 Mr. Michell gave him some Bibles, which he promised to give away. We 
 asked if it would be possible for us to go. He said, Yes, but we should be 
 killed before we got twenty miles from the city. He said, however, that if I 
 would give the people medicine, I might go to Fezzan quite safely, they would 
 take care of me. 
 
 ^' May 1st. — This month is the great fast of the Moslems, Ramadan; we 
 find it out to our cost at night, for a man comes round twice in the night 
 with a drum, with which he makes a most horrible noise. He has to wake 
 up the faithful for their meals, and he takes good care to wake up every- 
 body else too. The men are very quarrelsome this month, I suppose 
 anybody would be who had nothing to eat from about 3 a.m. to 6 p.m. 
 I saw a Httle boy to-night who had just been stabbed in the stomach by 
 another boy. They say such things are very common during Ramadan. At 
 the cafe to-night the proprietor told us his child had a fever of some sort, 
 which had been going on for the last six weeks. He asked for some medi- 
 cine for it, but I suggested that I had better see the child. 
 
 " This morning the cafe keeper came to take us to see his child. It was 
 very ill, but I was glad to get a case which was not yet chronic or incurable, 
 for hitherto they seem to have been hunting up all the ancient cripples of the 
 city for me to cure. 
 
 "We gave the child some medicine, and to-night the cafe keeper said it 
 was much better. He seemed very grateful to us, but I told him it was for 
 the sake of the Lord Jesus, and then Mr. Michell told the story of the Good 
 Samaritan, to which he listened very intently, and seemed to approve of it. 
 He said he was sure that such doctrine was good, and went so far as to 
 express his opinion that those who believe and act up to such teaching will 
 
102 TRIPOLI. 
 
 not be condemned. He also quite appreciated the parables of the Lost Sheep 
 and Lost Piece of Money. He utterly refused payment for our coffee. We 
 went again to see the cafe keeper's child, and found her quite free from fever, 
 and evidently on the high road to recovery. His wife was so delighted, that 
 she came out herself to tell us how much better the child was, and he was so 
 pleased he didn't seem to mind it. 
 
 ^^ June 1st. — I was taken to see a girl who has been ill for the last six 
 months. I suppose we may take it as a mark of confidence that we are 
 brought into a house to see a Moslem woman. Her husband was very 
 grateful. He wanted to give Mr. Michell 2 frs., but of course he would not 
 take it. They seem to think there is something in tfie Christian religion, and 
 told us they would pray for us. 
 
 " The husband of the young woman we are attending sent us a present 
 of apricots, and he and his nephew came for medicine for themselves. We 
 have given them a Gospel, which they say is very good. 
 
 " This morning, when I went to see the sick girl, they said she was worse ; 
 however, examination proved the contrary. All the urgent symptoms were 
 gone, but she was evidently suffering for want of proper food and attention. 
 I gave directions to her mother-in-law, and went home and made her a milk- 
 pudding. Later in the day they sent to say she had eaten the pudding and 
 liked it, and was much better, and would take as much of that kind of medi- 
 cine as I liked to send her. One sees on every hand what need there is for 
 work which ladies can do better than we can. More is to be done for most 
 of these cases by proper nursing than by medicine, and while our medical 
 work is only a means to an end, I feel sure there is a great opening for the 
 attainment of that end by this means. 
 
 " Two days ago the husband of the girl I mentioned came to us in great 
 trouble. He said she would not take her medicine, and wanted to go back to 
 Arab treatment. He, poor fellow, was quite put out about it, for he was very 
 grateful for what we had done, but he said she was very obstinate, and he 
 thought he must let her have her own way. I had not seen her then for two 
 days, so do not know how she was, but to-day I hear she is dead. From what 
 I can gather, I expect they adopted some barbarous hot-iron treatment, which 
 brought about collapse. 
 
 " This afternoon we went with one of our former patients to see his 
 gardens out in the country. It was very pleasant, but it was very difficult to 
 satisfy him in the way of eating fruit. We had to cat the whole time we 
 were there, fill our pockets, and then he wanted to give us more. 
 
 " Thus ends another month, which has been one of progress, of getting 
 deeper into the hearts of the people, getting more opportunities of proclaiming 
 the Gospel and, above all, getting personally nearer to the Lord, getting more 
 of His Spirit, without which all is worse than nothing.. We feel that now 
 Tripoli is certainly an established station, and that the work now begun in 
 faith must be carried on till the Lord Himself shall come. May He grant to 
 us, our helpers and successors, that measure of faith and love which we need 
 in this great work for His glory." 
 
TRIPOLI. 103 
 
 The following extracts are from Mr. Michell's journal : — 
 
 " March, 1889. — We are getting better known. As we walk through the 
 streets we are often saluted in the friendhest way by men we have met in 
 cafes. Some even whom we do not recognise, especially negroes, wish us 
 good-day with the broadest of smiles. 
 
 ^^ June \th. — Looking back over the last two or three months, I find that 
 we have most distinct cause for great thankfulness to our Father in heaven, 
 and much praise to His Name, for obstacles overcome, doors opened, and, on 
 the whole, decided progress in the confidence of the people and their willing- 
 ness to hear. From the bottom of our hearts we praise and thank Him, and 
 give to Him all the glory for the marked improvement of our relations with 
 the people, and the very encouraging prospects of the work. 
 
 " Last night, at the cafe we go to regularly, I had a long talk on the best 
 of terms with a very pleasant old gentleman, who came to ask for some physic 
 for his wife. He told me the Mohammedan belief about the Lord Jesus, and 
 their account of the substitution of another Jew for Him at the crucifixion, 
 and of their expectation of His return. ' But,' said he, * when He does 
 return He will declare Himself a true Moslem, and will expect His followers 
 to repeat the formula, " There is no God but God, and Mohammed is the 
 prophet of God ! " and as for those that refuse ! ' and he made a signifi- 
 cant gesture with his stick. 
 
 ** Well, one can only lay before them the truth — the Lord Jesus Christ 
 as the only Saviour from sin and from death, the death of the soul, and 
 righteousness in Him alone. It is of no use arguing about these beliefs of 
 theirs. When the Holy Ghost has made them see their need of a Saviour, 
 and convinced them of their lost condition, they will know that the one whom 
 they need is the risen Son of God, and not a dead, helpless man, with a 
 doubtful tale of his own inspiration, such as Mohammed. 
 
 " We have had occasion to go to the custom-house pretty frequently 
 since coming here, and as it is always a long tedious business, we are well 
 known to all the officials ; indeed, with two or three we are quite on a familiar 
 footing. I received a parcel the other day in which were several Arabic 
 Gospels. They were examining these, and I took the opportunity to offer 
 one to one of the chiefs. (They are all Turks, but many understand Arabic.) 
 He took it, and asked me all about it, whereupon I explained the Gospel it 
 contained. Others came and listened, and soon I had quite a crowd of 
 Arabs, Turks, and Jews round his office, all listening with much apparent 
 interest. The Effendi asked me to get him a Turkish Testament, which I 
 promised to do. He came in and had dinner with us at the Arab res- 
 taurant we get our meals at yesterday. 
 
 " An Englishman who came to tea with us last week assured us that 
 our lives are not safe without a revolver. He says that the many years he 
 has been here and in the other towns of Tripoli convince him that the 
 natives would gladly murder any ' unbeliever,' but they fear the Turks. But 
 our God is a sure protection, and where traders and others go in fear of 
 
104 
 
 TRIPOLI. 
 
 their lives after dark we are known as men of God, who sincerely seek their 
 good. Such a thing as a man being asked into a Moslem's house for any 
 reason whatever is, of course, unheard of, and yet the Lord takes His ser- 
 vants where He will, and that to bless both them and the natives. We 
 hesitated at first to contract for a house for a whole year, but now we look 
 
 CAMEL AND DRIVER. 
 
 forward to a long and blessed time among these people. But we need the 
 prayers of the Lord's people unceasingly, and with great faith, both for our- 
 selves, that we may be kept very near to the Lord in this place where 
 we have no spiritual fellowship with any of the Lord's servants, and also for 
 our work among these fanatical people. For, after all, they certainly are 
 fanatical, and our position here is, humanly speaking, rather precarious. And 
 
TRIPOLI. 105 
 
 though I scarcely think we need fear reh'gious persecution, yet outside the 
 town robbers and highwaymen are numerous and dangerous. 
 
 " Last night we had one of the most remarlvable experiences that per- 
 haps ever fell to the lot of missionaries to Moslems. Till three o'clock in the 
 morning we were preaching and discussing the Gospel with a whole society 
 of ' howling dervishes.' We sat in the midst of them in their own meeting- 
 house, telling the plan of salvation to their Sheikh, surrounded by his 
 dervishes, after their exercises were over, and then most of them walked a 
 part of the way home with us. But I will begin at the beginning, which is 
 sad enough. In the afternoon a man came to the door and told me in 
 English that he would like to have a talk with me. I asked him did he speak 
 English, as he had a slightly foreign accent. * I am an Englishman by birth,' 
 he said, and when I asked him up into my room he said he had been con- 
 verted to Mohammedanism nine years ago at Constantinople, and now he 
 had dropped his English name, and was only known by a Turkish one. He 
 said his object in coming was to speak to me about Islam, as he had heard 
 that I was inquiring about it, and might be a likely convert. I said I should 
 be delighted to have a talk with him ; that was just what I was here for. He 
 seemed sincere enough, and was all primed with the stock arguments of 
 Mohammedanism. His great plea was works, holding that man was so weak 
 and depraved that one good work that he did succeed in doing amply made 
 up for the other lapses of his feeble human nature. I spoke to him long and 
 seriously about his awful danger, trusting to good works without faith in 
 Christ. I showed him that all our righteousness is but a soiled garment in 
 the sight of God, and that by his deliberate rejection of the only Mediator he 
 put himself outside of all hope of eternal life. I asked him did he really 
 mean to say he had found peace in Islam ? He said he had not at first, but 
 now that he has joined a fraternity of dervishes, whose Sheikh is a truly 
 pious, holy man, he has found perfect peace. I read to him several passages 
 of the Bible, but he declined to read it for himself, or any other book I 
 offered to lend him, saying, * Why should I unsettle my mind again, now 1 
 have burned my bridges ? ' When I asked him to let me pray with him he 
 refused, and said he would pray for me, but not with me. He was dis- 
 appointed at my apparent unlikelihood of becoming a Moslem, but asked me 
 to come to a religious meeting of the dervishes in the evening. I asked him 
 if we should be allowed in ? He said he had obtained special permission for 
 us, as this was not like a mosque. I hesitated a moment, but he said we 
 should be quite welcome ; so I agreed to meet him at a cafe outside the city 
 gate at one o'clock Turkish time (eight p.m.) When we arrived he met us 
 in his dervish costume, a long white burnous, with a tall white fez cap, bound 
 round with a white turban. He had with him a young Turkish officer who 
 spoke French, and who looked on with us and explained the proceedings. 
 On arriving at the place, a house some distance outside the town, we 
 left our shoes at the door, and were shown into a room with divans 
 round the walls opening out of the courtyard where the exercises 
 are carried on. In this room was seated the Sheikh, a man of about forty-five, 
 
io6 TRIPOLI. 
 
 with a long black beard, and a kind, mild look, that was very taking. He was 
 small and extremely thin, dressed in a long white * jebba ' and the white 
 burnous, and a very big white turban of the Egyptian form, with a broad black 
 band part of the way round it. Several dervishes stood about in the room, 
 and as fresh ones came in, they came and made a low obeisance to the Sheikh, 
 and kissed his hand, and then placed it on their forehead, repeating it three 
 times. He motioned to us to sit down, and to some of the others too. All 
 these dervishes are Turks, but their religious exercises are carried on in Arabic, 
 though very few understand that language. They are all very nice, well-bred 
 fellows. Among them I recognised two or three young men from the custom- 
 house, who came forward and spoke to us, seeming very glad to see us there, 
 one offering us snuflf, and another bringing us coffee. They brought one of 
 the dervishes, a naval officer, who spoke a little English, to interpret for us to 
 the Sheikh, and make our salutations, but his English was so weak that we 
 tried Arabic, though with some difficulty. When about twenty-five or thirty 
 dervishes had assembled, they went out into the courtyard to prayers, led by 
 the Sheikh, all dressed in the white jebba, turban, and burnous (most, however, 
 discarding the latter in the course of the proceedings), except one or two 
 soldiers and a young negro. On the opposite roof of the courtyard we could 
 see a party of veiled women watching it too. They first went through the 
 regular prayers, repeating the Koran, and making the various prostrations 
 simultaneously. Then they all sat round in a circle on the ground, with two 
 of their number, little boys of twelve or fourteen in the middle, and the Sheikh 
 in the corner. Then they began to repeat ' La Ilaha ilia Allah ' (There is no 
 God but God), at first slowly ; and then beginning to sway their bodies from 
 side to side, they spoke quicker and louder every minute, until it became a 
 hoarse roar of inarticulate sounds, their bodies thrown frantically from side 
 to side and backwards and forwards, till one would think their backs would 
 be dislocated. Sometimes they sat, sometimes knelt, and at other times stood, 
 and so kept it up for some time. AH this time one was chanting a kind of 
 song, and I recognised the singer as A. E. of the custom-house. Then 
 suddenly all was still, and the Sheikh commenced, in a low, musical voice, to 
 sing some long extracts from the Koran. Then the collective repetition began 
 again, this time only the word ' AUahu, Allahu,' until it became a hoarse roar, 
 with the same frantic jerking of the body and head. Then the Sheikh came 
 into the middle, and joined hands with the two little boys, and one after 
 another joining the inner circle, they commenced to go round with a dancing 
 step, they and the outer circle still keeping up the roar of ' Allahu, Allahu.' 
 This went on for about an hour, A. E. still keeping up his song, sometimes 
 accompanied, sometimes relieved by another. Then it all stopped, and the 
 Sheikh led them again with the ordinary prayers and prostrations, then followed 
 special prayers for all the saints of Islam,for the Sultan, and the Sheikh el Islam, 
 ending up with the usual formula, ' There is no God but God,' etc. The 
 performance was over about midnight, after two hours or more of the most 
 frantic exertions. Then all came in again to the sitting-room, where the Sheikh 
 took his seat, and gave us seats, while the others stood around. Two of our 
 
TRIPOLI. 107 
 
 custom-house friends, who speak Arabic, then came and took it in turns to 
 interpret for me into Turkish to the Sheikh, and we engaged in an exhaustive 
 discussion of the truth of Islam, and I took the opportunity of telling the 
 Sheikh the glad news of salvation. There was no excitement or heat of 
 argument, but the quietest, most friendly discussion. At one point I took 
 the opportunity to say, ' I have myself brought a message from God to you ; 
 He offers eternal life to whoever will accept it in His Son.' Turning to the 
 whole company I said, ' If any man of you will come to God as dead in 
 trespasses and sins, and condemned in His sight, will plead the death of 
 Christ, His Son, in your stead. He will give you eternal life, the resur- 
 rection life of Christ.' The young man who interpreted for me faithfully 
 translated what I said into Turkish, and they looked at one another, and 
 then all at the Sheikh, who asked me what did I mean by * plead his 
 death ' ? I said, ' He died for my death, and He lives for my life.' My 
 interpreter smilingly asked me would I die for them ? I said to him, earnestly, 
 ' I would, indeed, but I am but a sinful man, who cannot make satisfaction 
 even for himself; but Christ, the only sinless One, died for the sins of the 
 whole world ; He could because He was the Son of God.' * No,' said the 
 Sheikh, ' he was born of Mary, by inspiration of the Angel Gabriel.' Here 
 followed a discussion on the passage in the Koran, which they twisted to 
 bear this meaning ; as a matter of fact, the words are, ' We breathed into 
 her of our spirit.' They asked me ' Was not the Koran the first revela- 
 tion of God as the Merciful, the Compassionate, the only God ? ' I said, 
 ' By no means ; ' the Gospel says, * God so loved the world,' etc. ; and then 
 they all laughed at my interpreter's look of perplexity, at translating 
 such a daring proposition to the Sheikh. They asked other questions, 
 which gave me the opportunity of explaining fully what Christianity 
 is. So it went on till nearly three o'clock ; then I begged their pardon for 
 having kept them so late, but I was so glad to get a chance of thus 
 declaring the truth that I could not leave it imperfect. They said they were 
 dehghted ; we must come again ; they would be glad to see us every night ! 
 The Sheikh told me to come again and speak with him about these matters, 
 and so we left, most of them accompanying us home. I told A. E. I would learn 
 Turkish on purpose to facilitate my intercourse with them, and he said the 
 Sheikh would like to see me alone if I could understand Turkish, as he speaks 
 little or no Arabic, and he did not like to produce some arguments in the 
 presence of the younger dervishes who might misunderstand him. The whole 
 conversation had been in Arabic, the Lord opening my mouth wonderfully, 
 quite to my own astonishment, but to His praise and glory." 
 
 We thank God for this opportunity ; while at the same time it seems 
 likely that the hope of converting our young friends to Islam is one reason for 
 the great friendliness and forbearance shewn to them. The following extract 
 from a recent letter shows touchingly how some of their Moslem friends desire 
 to bring them to what they believe to be truth : — 
 
io8 TRIPOLI. 
 
 " We have two young fellows who come here very often to discuss with 
 me. We call them the Scribe and the Pharisee. We call them so because 
 the former, whose name is M., is a great controversialist, and is always dis- 
 cussing the Law and the Prophets, and going into the philosophy of their 
 religion, while the latter, S., is great at prayers, and all kinds of religious 
 observances. Sometimes he stops M., and asks him what is the good of dis- 
 cussing all that, seeing we are blind because we won'i see. Then he turns to 
 me and says, * Oh ! Michell, what a fearful thing it will be for you when you 
 will be in the fire, and you will remember your friend S., and wish you had 
 listened to his words and believed in the Prophet,' etc. Then he urges me 
 when it comes to my last moment just to say, 'There is no God but God, 
 Mohammed is the Prophet of God,' etc., and if it is with my last breath the 
 Prophet will accept it. He then tells me if I will not accept it myself, at least 
 to tell the Tabib Effendi (Mr. Harding) what he says, so as to give him 
 a chance. It is indeed quite a lesson to myself to see how earnestly and faith- 
 fully they preach their own religion, though unhappily it is such a false one."- 
 
 In closing this short sketch of what has been done to take the Gospel 
 to North Africa, let us again remember that the work is only commencing. A 
 few lights have been placed here and there amid the thick darkness. Can the 
 light penetrate ? Will the darkness be dispelled ? We look at the little band of 
 light-bearers, and at the extent of the work to be done, and we say. Impossible ! 
 We look at the powers of evil arrayed against the truth : at the strength of 
 human prejudices and long-cherished beliefs, earthly rulers hostile and ready 
 to crush the unwelcome and intrusive novelty ; we remember the unseen 
 rulers of the darkness of this world putting forth all their power to hinder the 
 entrance of the light, and again it seems impossible. But there comes to us 
 the calm and reassuring voice of Him unto whom is given all power in heaven 
 and on earth, and He says, "With men this is impossible, but with God all 
 things are possible." If God be for us, who can be against us? Before Him 
 the powers of darkness must fall ; His own voice has called the weary and the 
 heavy-laden to come to Him, and those that come He will in nowise cast out. 
 " For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven 
 did the Lord behold the earth ; to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to loose 
 those that are appointed to death." His hand has wonderfully opened doors 
 before His servants so far, and we believe that it is His gracious purpose to 
 call many from those dark lands to join the great multitude who have washed 
 their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. " Pray ye 
 therefore the Lord of the harvest that He would send forth labourers into 
 His harvest." 
 
DATE DUE 
 
BW9215.H14 . , 
 
 Daybreak in North Africa ; an account ot 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 
 
 1 1012 00040 0558 
 
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