THE following letter has been received by the Rev. Neil Cameron, Glasgow:—
C/o Native Commissioner, Bembesi, Matabeleland, South Africa, 31st January, 1910.
My Dear Mr. Cameron,-I was very glad to get your kind . . . . We were all very sorry indeed about the death of Chief Ngege, as he was very friendly to our Church. His death also caused a great commotion amongst his uncivilized people, who foolishly went to a witch-doctor to ascertain the cause of his death. The witch-doctor said that he had been bewitched, and the person who had bewitched him was Mleya and his wife. Mleya is Ngege’s brother, and the reason why he bewitched him, he said, was because he wanted to be Chief in Ngege’s place, and also to secure his inheritance. and his wife were therefore driven out of their kraal by the uncivilized natives, and had it not been for British rule they would have been killed on the spot, and, as Mleya and his wife were living in a European farm, the farmer brought an action against the witch-doctor and his assistant. The case went before the High Court of Bulawayo, and the judge sentenced the old witch-doctor to two-and-a-half years’ imprisonment with hard labour and his assistant to six months; and the judge also said that he wished all natives in Rhodesia to know that no witchcraft, whether the powers came from on high or otherwise, could be allowed, and that it would be suppressed with a firm hand.
I hope that this case will have a salutary effect on all witch-doctors. The uncivilized natives are steeped in superstition and believe very much in witchcraft. May the Lord in His mercy hasten the time when the kingdom of darkness will be destroyed and the kingdom of grace advanced, and that many may be brought to the knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus!
Your words are true that the Lord can bring order out of confusion in His own time and way, as there is nothing impossible for the Lord.
We were all very glad to have Mr. Mackay with us here. His visit has greatly strengthened the cause here, and I was myself encouraged and strengthened by it. Even the native Chiefs and people took a great interest in his visit here. One Chief came from over a hundred miles to see and hear Mr. Mackay preach, and I also noticed many new faces which had never been to the services before, living a long way from the Mission, who are now regular attendants in our Church. The women who were baptized by Mr. Mackay, and the man, are all very regular in their attendance at the services, although they have five miles to walk in order to come to the services. Two of the women who were baptized wished Mr. Mackay to give them names; they did not wish to be baptized by their native names; and he did so, and so they seemed pleased with their names.
It is the custom with some of the uncivilized natives to make great beer drinking parties, and kill a sheep, or a goat, and invite a large number of natives to come and assist them in weeding their lands. They do this by turns. I am sorry to say that even on the Sabbath day this weeding of lands is being done by the uncivilized natives. But the Lord has shown his displeasure at this Sabbath-breaking in a very remarkable way. An uncivilized native, named Xakana, living about a mile from our Mission here, invited a large number of natives, men and women, to come and assist him in weeding his lands on the Sabbath day. He had ordered to be made a barrel of Kaffir beer; this attracted a large number of uncivilized natives; and they all went with their hoes to the land. They were not long there, when the clouds began to gather, and it rained, and so they went home for a time. On their way home, the lightning uprooted a large tree just in front of them, and threw it at them. They all fell down stunned, but none of them were killed, and so some of the women returned home at once to their houses, but the rest went to Xakana’s house to wait there, until the storm had passed over, so that they might go again to weed his land. The storm passed in a short time, and so they set out again to go and weed his lands. As soon as they arrived in the land and before they started to work, the clouds gathered again and it began to rain, and the lightning uprooted another tree which was in the land they were about to weed. And they were so alarmed, that they all returned to their homes without going to drink the barrel of Kaffir beer that Xakana had made for them. His crops have now withered; and he will not be able to reap anything from that land, whereas the crops belonging to other natives are still in good condition. Some of the women who were there and who came to the services the following Sabbath, were saying that they will never again go and weed lands on the Sabbath day, and that what had happened that day had taught them a lesson which they will never forget. We see now they said, that (Mlimo) God does not wish people to weed their lands on the Sabbath day.
I have been to Bulawayo and made enquiries about the cotton suits and calico. Boys’ cotton suits begin from 5/- and upwards, and men’s suits from 10/- and upwards, and calico, 6d. per yard. The population is so scattered, that I am unable to tell the exact number who may be entirely destitute. And when I made enquiries from kraals, nearly everyone would say that they were in need of clothes. I think the best plan would be for you, to send me about ten suits of men’s clothes, sizes five and six, and ten boys’ suits, or you can send me some boys’ shirts, different sizes. Women’s ready-made dresses begin from 5/- and upwards, girls, 4/- and upwards, made of light material called print, ten of each. I shall see that these clothes are given to those who are entirely destitute; I am afraid I am unable to tell the height and girth of each. The light stuff called print is 6d. per yard, out of which dresses are made; calico is also 6d. per yard. If you think it best, you might send the material here for making the women’s dresses and the girls’, and the material for making boys’ shirts, and we could make them here. I think that these things will be got much cheaper in Glasgow than here.
I must now close with kindest regards to you all, Mrs. Radasi joining.—Yours sincerely, J. B. RADASI.