At the opening of 1913 we were permitted to make another visit to the missions in this vicinity. This vacation was to be only a month, and as I had in the meantime been cut off from association with white people, except those at the mission, I concluded to spend the first few days in Bulawayo. The place had grown since we reached it, nearly fifteen years before, and although the growth had not been so rapid it was of an enduring, steady kind. The place is laid out on broad lines, with broad streets and roomy dwellings--no need for skyscrapers here. There are many fine, substantial-looking business blocks, and as one goes into the suburbs he sees many elegant, well-built dwelling-houses. There are fine churches, a good hospital, museum, and library, and two large government school buildings, each with a good dormitory attached. One of these is for boys and the other, which is on the opposite side of the town, is for girls. Here, as in all parts of South Africa, there is some industrial work in connection with the schools. Bulawayo has also many excellent stores and shops, so that one may purchase almost anything required, not only in the line of provisions, household goods, and clothing, but all lines of farming implements and many kinds of machinery. The heavy wagons, drawn by great rows of oxen, donkeys, and mules, are still to be seen, but there are also many dainty one-horse traps, as well as two-horse conveyances, and a large number of automobiles and motorcycles. There is attached to the town a large native location, for the heavy part of the work as well as the housework is about all done by native boys. They are all called "boys." In the eyes of their white employers the native seldom becomes a man. He may be an old boy or a young boy, a little boy or a big boy, but he is always a boy. On the other hand, in the eyes of many Europeans it is almost an insult to speak of their children as boys. In the early days one of the missionaries, in speaking to an old European lady, said something about her boy. She straightened herself proudly and with emphasis said, "My son." At the mission one day a native woman was begging very hard for a piece of cloth, and to strengthen her request she said, "I am your boy," evidently meaning that she belonged to me. [Illustration: Mtshabezi Church and School.] [Illustration: Mtshabezi Mission in 1910.]