The year 1879 was most disastrous to all branches of the work, for the central provinces, and Vònizòngo in particular, were visited by another epidemic of malarial fever, which was much more severe than that of the previous year. The former had probably carried off 5,000 people, yet it was mild when compared with what we had in 1879. We ourselves also suffered much more severely than we had done in the previous year--partly because we were both very much exhausted by eight years’ very hard work in one of the worst fever districts of the island. For, notwithstanding all the precautions and care that we took, I was prostrated eleven times with fever, and my wife seven times, and some of our children about a dozen times, although during twelve months we had used nearly two ounces of quinine, to which, under God, I believe that we owed our lives. Towards the end of the previous year I had again brought under the notice of our churches the subject of teaching our adherents to read. The matter was taken up very heartily by our station church, and afterwards by the various churches in the district. They also entered into the plans with great heartiness, and the result was that in a short time a large number of the churches were at work. We arranged that the church members who could read should form evening classes in their own villages to teach the adherents who could not. They were very much assisted in many villages by the elder scholars from the village school, and in the course of a few weeks we had 2,000 adults gathered into evening classes learning to read! Alphabet sheets, to the value of £1, were given to them, and they themselves spent £7 on first lesson books! The news of what we were doing in Vònizòngo spread, and the subject of teaching the adult adherents to read, that they might be able to read the Bible for themselves, was brought before the church at the ‘union meetings.’ This stimulated our people again, and they worked eagerly until, first the epidemic, and then another conscription for the army, broke up nearly all the evening classes for a time; but the progress that was made in some congregations even during the very short time these classes were at work, was really astonishing. When we settled at Fìhaònana in 1871 there were probably not more than 150, old and young together, in the whole district able to read, and we left over 3,000; so that if the only result of our work was that 3,000 had been taught to read the Word of God, and had been put in possession of it, our ten years in Madagascar were well spent. That was, however, but a very small portion of the work done in connexion with fifty village churches and schools with 2,600 children in them.