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)
As Sister Engle and I entered our compartment on the train and began to
move northward, many conflicting emotions stirred within us, and it was
with much trembling and looking to the Lord that we went forward. We
knew not what opposition confronted us; for we had been informed by
those who knew something of the country that the officials might not
allow us to proceed farther than the Zambezi River. Only the
consciousness that we were under Divine orders gave courage to proceed.
We had the promise, "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him and
He shall bring it to pass," and we were resting in it.
The journey of 280 miles to Victoria Falls is through new territory.
There were no towns--nothing but small station houses--and the country
is wild and in some places quite jungly-looking and infested by numerous
wild animals. At Wankie we passed through the region of the coal-mining
district, where there is a large vein of coal which is a most valuable
adjunct of the railroad. Victoria Falls was at that time the terminus of
the government-owned railroads, and the limit to which regular trains
ran; and we could not avoid wondering what was awaiting us beyond that.
As we stepped off the train at Victoria Falls a gentleman approached us,
and introducing himself as a forwarding agent, inquired if he could be
of any assistance to us. He inquired if we were not from Matopo Mission,
and at the same time stated that he had met Mr. Steigerwald in Bulawayo.
What a surprise and relief it was to us, for he seemed to be God's
especial messenger, sent to help us on the way. When he learned of the
situation he at once set our minds at rest by the assurance that he
would attend to everything and see that the goods and wagon, as well as
ourselves, were safely taken across the Zambezi River to the town of
Livingstone, seven miles on the other side. The railroad at this time
was completed to Broken Hill, 374 miles farther north, but trains were
run only occasionally. We were obliged to wait at this place two days
before an engine could be procured to take us over to Livingstone.
[Illustration: Main View of Victoria Falls, 1-1/4 Miles wide.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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