Such is the complaint of one of the carriers as he sweats at the machila pole. He imitates, with wonderful skill, the deep growl of the lion, and fondly compares himself for strength to the king of beasts. The other boys with lusty chorus give him every support in his contention, and even we agree, judging from his deep growls, that he must really be what he says he is, and soon the chorus ends. “But here we are at Chentambo’s village. Our machila men promptly retire under the shade of the nearest tree and stretch themselves out to rest. “The service has already begun, and, if we want to be in time next Sunday, we must leave very early. Che Bernard is giving an address, the gist of which is the contrast between the old heathen life of superstition and darkness and the new way of the cross, of truth and light and life eternal, of the love of God for fallen mankind, and the great sacrifice of Christ Jesus, our Saviour. “It is skilfully placed before the audience, much better than could be done by a white man. The people are interested; they understand, and they KNOW that Bernard’s way is the right one. You can read it on their faces. Old customs and superstitions, however, die hard, and to-morrow, perhaps, even to-day many of those eager listeners will be the same careless indifferent lot they were yesterday. But the seed is not falling only in stony places; customs and superstitions cannot always choke it. By and by will come the harvest and the triumph of the Word. “While Bernard is speaking let us look around. That we are in the school is evident, for there is the blackboard and there the easel. Over on the other side hangs a syllable card. But on Sunday, it is the ‘Nyumba ya Mulungu’ (House of God), and here we are surrounded by such a crowd as never enters school. “Men, women, and children of all ages are sitting upon the poles which do duty for seats. But when we run our eyes over the crowd we find that the majority are women and children. Of grown men there are few. Where may they be? They may, perhaps, be out of the district, on plantations, at the railway, or down to the river for loads, but they may also be somewhere not so far away, beer-drinking. There is, however, quite a goodly number of youths among our hearers. “The audience is happy, noisily so. There is no such quiet here as is given to a home preacher. The little fat, brown, shining babies will not be still; they insist upon making themselves heard all through the address, and it is only when one has become most outrageous in his conduct, that his mother thinks it necessary to let him see the trees outside.