South and South Central Africa: A record of fifteen years' missionary labors among primitive peoplesDavidson, Hannah Frances
History
South and South Central Africa: A record of fifteen years' missionary labors among primitive peoples
Davidson, Hannah Frances
Brethren in Christ Church -- Missions; Missions -- Rhodesia; Ndebele (African people); Tsonga (African people)
Although Bulawayo is the largest town in Southern Rhodesia, there are
others, such as Salisbury, Gwelo, Victoria, and Gwanda, which deserve
mention. Farmers are scattered throughout the country, especially along
the high, rolling plain between Bulawayo and Salisbury. There are many
valuable gold mines and many old gold workings to be found in various
places. The most noted is Great Zimbabwe, near Victoria. It is said:
"The ruins cover a large area, and on an eminence are the remains of a
fortress, the walls of which are thirty feet high and ten feet thick,
and built of cut stones put together without mortar, so closely-fitting
that a knife can hardly be inserted between them. Smelting crucibles,
with gold in them, ingot moulds, and spears have been found." Some think
that the Sabeans from Arabia worked these about 3,000 years ago. This is
thought by some to be the "gold of Ophir." Ruins on a smaller scale are
to be found in various places. Not far from Mapani Mission we saw a
circular wall made of wedge-shaped stones, nicely fitted together. The
country is also rich in iron ore, and at Wankie is the great coal-mining
district. All these places furnish abundant work for all the natives of
Rhodesia, and are also centers for mission work.
January 1, I was again taken to Motopo Mission, not with the slow,
patient donkeys of fifteen years ago, but with the swifter mules. Many
changes have taken place among the natives surrounding the mission since
1898. On our first entering this valley the natives had just fled and
hid themselves away in these rocks at the close of the Rebellion. They
were then very poor, without flocks and herds, and had few gardens, and
very little of the land had ever been brought under cultivation. Since
then the natives have gradually come out of their hiding-places and
settled down to their work. Under the influence of peace and better
teaching their surroundings have greatly changed. There are more natives
near the mission than at first, and they have sheep, goats, and cattle,
and some of them have plows and oxen to draw them, so that they can plow
their large gardens. Every available place near the mission has been
brought under cultivation, but not in the old, laborious way with human
oxen, so that the wives are not the slaves they once were. Of course,
in the absence of the men at work the women often hold the plow, but
they have more time to keep house. One of the officials affirms that the
best way of doing away with polygamy is by introducing civilized ways of
farming.
The people began by bringing their oxen to Brother Steigerwald to be
trained, and then he helped them to procure plows, and they still come
to him for help in trouble. The 3,000-acre farm is far too small for all
who desire to live near the mission. If he had twice the amount of land
it would soon become filled with natives, who would thus be near the
mission and under the influence of the Gospel.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account