At the opening of Macha Mission there was a station of Primitive Methodists northwest at a distance of at least sixty miles, and the one of the Seventh Day Adventist Mission at about the same distance northeast. With the exception of these two places one might go a hundred miles in any other direction and not find a mission station, so that we could certainly feel that we were not intruding into the territory of any other missionaries. The natives in this part of the country had heard absolutely nothing of Christ, and they knew not what missionaries were or how they differed from other people. Our little tent, 6 x 13 feet, was sufficiently commodious for eating and sleeping, but all the work had to be performed on the outside in the shade of a large tree, near which the tent had been placed. Beneath this tree also our supplies were piled off the ground and away from the destructive white ants, of which the ground was everywhere full. We had no cookstove then, and all our cooking was done over an open fire, while bread was baked in a large, flat-bottomed iron pot with long legs. This was placed over a bed of live coals, while coals were also placed on the iron cover. Some very good yeast bread came from that iron pot, novel perhaps to Americans, but familiar to Africanders. Many people traveling through the country made use of the ant hills as bake-ovens. The Christian boys who accompanied us, as well as some younger ones who came for work, camped at a short distance from the tent, and at night slept around the fire until huts could be built for them. Before the mission site had been agreed upon two young boys came and asked for work. We took them, and one of these has been one of our most faithful helpers. As grain was plentiful in the neighborhood there was no difficulty in securing food for the natives. Many of the older people, men and women, came to see and welcome us. Every effort was put forth toward erecting buildings before the rains came on, but as fires had swept over the country and destroyed most of the grass, it was evident that our chief difficulty would be in procuring thatching grass. This difficulty was obviated by a man at Mapanza, who was erecting a house for the commissioner, offering us for a small sum a lot of grass that he had on hand. Some time later our journal is as follows: