MATABELE LAND.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 18084, 20 November 1924, Page 7

MATABELE LAND.

ADDRESS BY REV. BOWEN REES

if fiie Congregational Church on TuesdaV evening, the annu'al deputation from the London Missionary Society , in the person of the Rev.-Bowen Rees, gave P a very interesting address oil Mission work in Matabele Land, South MHca The Rev. T. Wilson Potts preided ovet a “good attendance, and “uitablv introduced the speakei. _ Rev ‘ Bowen Rees retired from active work in the Mission field some yea.s ago, after 36 years, and thought lus work for the London Missionaiy Society was ended: the-directors however, asked him to represent them at the chinch in Australia and Kew Zealand this year He,, spoke - of. the. sacrifices made by nnssionai ms in 1 ing to part from their clnldieri, his own children were sent-Home .at about seven years. «* age- tor. schooling, and naturally grew up apart von , die parents. He was one of the Pioneer missionaries of Central Africa, and lias had many wonderflil experiences. Mi Rees has been. -through wars and rebellions, and has suffered malarial fdvei and other tropical diseases. 4; Mr Rees lias travelled thousands ot miles in the footsteps of Dr. Moffat and Dr Livingstone. He was sent out to the heart of Africa ten years atter the death of Dr. Livingstone, and met one of the natives who was with Dr. Livingstone on his last journey. JW- Rees, tokl of the love and loyalty of these natives, who, when Dr. Livingstone died, embalmed his body, and buried the heart under a tree : After embalming the bodv the natives,had to carry country peopled by savage tribes. The body was then .taken to England by a British boat 'and“intei l fed n "iiit Westminster Abbev. This was mentioned by Mr Rees to show in what honour the missionaries were held, and as a testimony to the iove aiid faithfulness, of these black men. Mr Rees went on to speak of some of the customs of the natives. The women and children. in heathen countries . were very crtuplly treated. In one small place visited lie found people horribly mutilated, and ascertained that .the witch doctors knocked out till the iippor .teeth, of children between the ages of nine and twelve. Every-boy aitd girl in the village had to stand against a'tree-and the witch doctor with an iron chisel in one hand Slid a large stotie in the other knocked out all the upper teeth. Mr Rees said lie had spokeii to the people about this custom and pleaded with them to do away with it. He was not able to visit that place again for some considerable tirife, blit When he did he was delighted to find that the custom was no longer iii force there. He told

also of the difficulties to be overcome in the schools. The cliiidreh were great fighters, and the missionaries spent a good deal of time in patching them up. The Matabeles were of Zulu origin, and the children were very clean at\d went to school shining like ebony. Other children in the school were* very dirty, and when asked why they did not wash, said it was against the custom of their tlibe to wash more than once a year.

Air Rees also spoke of the menial tasks doiic by missionaries. Manypeople thought thebe ivas nothing to be clone but preach .'to the natives aiul teach them to sing hymns; Wherever the Gets pel was preached the women were treated with respect. In Africa, before Christ tvas preached, the women Were looked down' upon as not much better than animals, and could .be bought and sold, or exchanged for

cattle. The idea whs that then werf born to fight and women were born to work, and all burden-bearing and drudgery were done by women. Mr Rees said that the spear had nbw been buried in Alatabele land. The missionaries were there for .‘l3 years without a convert, and he had the joy of receiving the first convert. There were liow thousands of Christians, and thousands of children attending Sunday School and day school. .The gifts of the Homo churches had been blessed and their prayers answered. On the motion of Air AV. H._ Tubb, a boartv vote of thanks was proposed to ATr Rees, for his interesting address. This was seconded by Air AI. Higgins, and carried by hearty acclamation.