C.—MADAGASCAR
CHAPTER VITananarive—“A City Set on a Hill”
Earth has not anything to show more fair;Dull would he be of soul who could pass byA sight so touching in its majesty:This City now doth, like a garment, wearThe beauty of the morning.Wordsworth.
We travelled from Kawimbe in Northern Rhodesia to Madagascar by way of German East Africa and Zanzibar. Owing to unavoidable delays at the ports the journey occupied ten weeks. For the first three we travelled by chair and bicycle and on foot, northward to Tabora, along a road almost parallel with the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. On the first night we encamped at a village near the Kalambo river, the boundary between Northern Rhodesia and German East Africa, close to the wonderful Kalambo Falls. The river, which is deep and about thirty yards wide, plunges over a perpendicular wall of rock 900 feet high into an awful chasm in one sheer drop. The rocky walls on each side of the gorge are vertical. Looking westward one has a lovely view of Lake Tanganyika, vignettedbetween cloudless blue sky and the purple-breasted mountains in which the gorge terminates, lying calm and peaceful in the “splendour shadowless and broad.”
A week-end was spent at Kasanga, now known as Bismarckburg, the administrative centre of the southern part of German East Africa, where we met some educated and courteous German officials, who have always done what they could to facilitate the missionary work of the Society in the small section of their territory in which it is being carried on, and gave us some interesting information with regard to native customs and superstitions. We learnt that the natives offer sacrifices of goats, sheep and fowls at the Kalambo Falls to propitiate the gods who are supposed to dwell in the chasm, and to bring them luck. They have a superstition that the land at the bottom of the Falls would belong to the posterity of any person who threw himself over. A woman recently sacrificed herself in this way, and the Chief gave the land at the foot of the Falls to her family. When twins are born it is the custom to do away with one of them. Children who cut the upper teeth first are killed. Cannibalism amongst the natives is by no means extinct, and as late as six years ago a European was killed and eaten. There are well authenticated recent cases of the widow of a Chief being buried alive in the grave of her dead husband. This part of German East Africa is certainly a land that is dark.
But I must not linger over the journey. Towards the end of June we reached Tabora, a large native town of some 30,000 inhabitants, whence we took train toDar-es-Salaam on the east coast of the Continent—the capital of the German colony. This place is beautifully situated on the shores of a land-locked harbour, and the streets are bordered with stately cocoanut palms and shady acacias. It was formerly the centre of the Arab slave trade, but, to-day, except for the tropical vegetation, it reminds one of a modern European town. A few hours on a steamer brought us to Zanzibar, one of the most fascinating places we visited in our travels. After a stay of some days there we embarked on the Messageries Maritimes boat for Tamatave, on the east coast of Madagascar. On the boat we joined our colleague in the Deputation work in Madagascar,Mr.Talbot Wilson, and with him were the three members of the Deputation from the Friends’ Foreign Mission Association, and one of the Deputation from the Paris Missionary Society. A voyage of seven days, calling on the way at ports on the north-west and northern coast of Madagascar, brought us to the Port of Tamatave, some 1,500 miles south of Zanzibar. From Tamatave we travelled by the splendidly engineered new French railway to Tananarive, a distance of 239 miles, passing on the way great lagoons near the sea coast, crossing picturesque rivers, traversing belts of beautiful forest, and rising by circular curves on the railway up the mountain side to the Central Plateau of Madagascar, some 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. As the train neared the capital it was joined by various missionaries who had come part way to meet us. At the terminus—a great modern station lit with arc lamps—nearly allthe missionaries at work in the city and around it, and thousands of Malagasy Native Christians in their straw hats and white lambas, met us, and gave us a great welcome.
Map of Madagascar, showing L. M. S. Stations
Map of Madagascar, showing L. M. S. Stations.Madagascar is nearly 1,000 miles in length. Its area exceeds that of France, Belgium and Holland put together, but its population is less than one-fourteenth of that of these countries.
Tananarive is built upon a very narrow lofty ridge in the middle of far-spreading rice fields, bordered by ranges of hills and mountains. The ridge, which rises rapidly from the north, runs due south, and is crowned at its highest point by the Palace of the former kings and queens of the Island, which can be seen from a great distance around. The crest consists of a steeply-rising thoroughfare, from many points of which both horizons, east and west, can be seen. In the northern portion, known as Faravohitra, are several of the Society’s mission houses, and at the top is the Faravohitra Memorial Church. Continuing southward, and still rising for the greater part of the way, the British Consulate is passed on the right, and a short way beyond this on the left is the massive building, now known as the Palais de Justice, which was formerly the L. M. S. Theological College. After a slight depression the road winds steeply upwards, until, leaving the Palace of the Prime Minister on the left, and catching sight of the Memorial Church of Ampamarinana on the right, we arrive at the Queen’s Palace. The ridge then falls and rises again until its southern extremity is reached at Ambohipotsy, where stand another of the Memorial Churches and the present United Theological College of the L. M. S. and F. F. M. A., and some Mission houses. The view is one of great grandeur, especially looking to the west and to thesouth-west towards the rugged ridges of the Ankaratra mountains. Looking northwards one sees the wooded slopes of Ambohimanga, the ancient capital of Imerina, like a crouching lion dark against the distant hills. On the west, at the foot of the northern part of the ridge, is the great Analakely market, which on Fridays is visited by thousands of people, and adjoining the market is our handsome Analakely Church, while beyond are the Residency, the railway station and the shops and offices of the modern French town. A little above this the spire of the Ambatonakanga Memorial Church and the two large school buildings adjoining can be seen standing at the junction of two main roads, where the traffic is at its busiest. One of the features of the landscape in Tananarive is the large number of Church spires and towers which can be seen on the plains below. It is said that there are some 150 of them in sight, by far the greater number of them being now, or formerly, Churches connected with the London Missionary Society.
We had come to Madagascar from Central Africa, where missionary work was in its earliest stages. In the “great African Island” the contrast was very striking. There is only one brick Church in the Central Africa Mission, the rest being wattle-and-daub. In Madagascar there are many hundreds of spacious well-built brick Churches, and some handsome stone ones. In Central Africa the Church is in its infancy, and comprises less than 150 Church members. In Madagascar there are over 30,000 Church members, and nearly five times as many other native adherents. The magnificentresults which have followed the work of the Society’s missionaries, under the blessing of God, are everywhere apparent. Wherever we went great crowds of Christian people gathered together to meet us as the representatives of the L. M. S. The Churches were nearly always full and often crowded to overflowing.
The congregations find great enjoyment in the singing of hymns, and very large numbers read their Bibles, while Sunday School work is splendidly organized. A considerable proportion of the Church members take part in Christian work. There are more than seven times as many ordained native agents at work in connection with the Society in Madagascar as in all the other Mission fields of the Society combined, except Polynesia. In addition, there are over 2,500 preachers, a number largely in excess of the number of preachers in all the other fields of the Society put together. Moreover, the number of Church members and of other native adherents in Madagascar connected with the Society is far more than those in any other Mission field, and the same remark applies to the number of Sunday Schools and Sunday School scholars.
One cannot fail to be much impressed by the great capacity of the Native leaders of the Christian Church in Madagascar. It would be difficult to find a more capable set of men in any Mission field. They are doing splendid work, and if this “apostolic succession” can be maintained, the Malagasy Church of the coming days will not lack for competent native leadership.
Moreover, as the work of our Missionaries in Madagascaris examined, it becomes clear that the Mission is admirably organized. The men and women who have served the Society in Madagascar in the past have, under the guidance of God, laid the foundations of the work wisely and well. Their successors are worthy of their great heritage. It was a cause for rejoicing to find that the Native Church built upon those foundations is a strong and living Church—full of promise for the future. If the present Missionary work can be continued, and possibly slightly increased, for a few more years, there is every reason to hope that the Native Church will, in the not distant future, become a self-supporting, self-governing, as it is already, to a limited extent, a self-propagating Church, and strong enough to carry on its own work of evangelizing the whole island.
This growing Native Church is largely composed of Hovas, the most advanced tribe among the Malagasy, and is to a great extent concentrated in the Central Province of Imerina round Tananarive. This is not an accident. It is believed that the best way to bring about the coming of the Kingdom in the Island is to build up a strong Church in the centre. As that Church increases in numbers and in spiritual power it will be able to extend its own Missionary efforts, which are already not inconsiderable, and to dispense, as time goes on, with the help of the white Missionary to an ever-increasing degree, thus freeing him for any work that remains to be done in the outlying parts, and ultimately making it possible for him to withdrawaltogether—having finished his work. To weaken our efforts at the present time would be to delay and imperil this consummation. To maintain them will be the surest and most speedy way of hastening on the day when the Missionary force can be withdrawn and the Native Church left to bring each successive generation into the Kingdom.
There were many indications that the Native Church is itself steadily keeping in view this ideal. I may quote a paragraph from the translation of an Address presented to us by the Pastors of the Commune of Tananarive the day after our arrival:
“We want you to know that we earnestly desire our Churches to become independent, i.e. self-supporting. It is natural for young people to want to set up housekeeping for themselves, and it is the same with the Church. The near approach of the hundredth anniversary of the arrival of Missionaries amongst us makes our hearts all aglow with the desire for the independence of our Churches. There is no day which we should more like to see than that on which we shall go with the last Missionary to the railway station. On that day we shall overflow with joy and sorrow, and our laughter will mingle with our tears.”
“We want you to know that we earnestly desire our Churches to become independent, i.e. self-supporting. It is natural for young people to want to set up housekeeping for themselves, and it is the same with the Church. The near approach of the hundredth anniversary of the arrival of Missionaries amongst us makes our hearts all aglow with the desire for the independence of our Churches. There is no day which we should more like to see than that on which we shall go with the last Missionary to the railway station. On that day we shall overflow with joy and sorrow, and our laughter will mingle with our tears.”
The inner circle of Churches in Imerina is associated with seven Churches in the capital known as “the Mother Churches.” Four of these are the Memorial Churches erected in the years following the re-openingof the Mission in 1862, after the twenty-five years of the great persecution. The oldest and most famous is the Church of Ambatonakanga, which was opened in 1867. It is the Mother Church of all Madagascar. On its site the Bible was first printed in Malagasy in the thirties of the nineteenth century, here the first converts made their public profession of Christianity, and here stood one of the two first places of Christian worship in the Island. The simple chapel erected in 1831 was afterwards turned into a gaol during the persecution, and here many Christians suffered imprisonment. Adjoining it is the grave-yard, where rest the remains of several British missionaries who have given their lives to the service of Christ in Madagascar. This Church, which has long been self-supporting, has associated with it twenty-seven country Churches, and for some years has been under the pastoral care of theRev.William Evans, one of the noble succession of Welshmen who have done so much to advance the coming of the Kingdom in the Island.
Mr.Evans has also charge of the Martyr Memorial Church of Ampamarinana—“the place of Hurling”—which is situated on the south-west of the ridge on which the city is built. To the west of the Church is the top of a rocky precipice, where in earlier years sorcerers were executed by being hurled down the cliff to the plain, 400 feet below. During the persecution, as Christians were supposed to possess some powerful charms enabling them to defy their persecutors, fourteen of the noble army of martyrs were in 1849 thus put to death. Thepresent Native pastor of the Church is Andriamifidy, who was at one time Foreign Secretary in the old Malagasy Government, and from this Church several of the present leading Native Pastors have come. Associated with it in the district to the west of the city are twenty-seven country Churches.
The third Martyr Memorial Church is that of Ambohipotsy, situated in a commanding position at the extreme south of the city ridge with a magnificent view on all sides. This beautiful stone building was erected to commemorate the first Christian martyrdom—that of the brave Christian woman Rasalama, who was speared to death near the spot in 1837, in a place where other Christians subsequently met their doom in like fashion. The work of this Church and district, comprising some forty-six country outstations to the south of the city, is now superintended by Mrs. Thorne, who is bravely and successfully carrying on the work of her late husband.
The fourth Memorial Church is that of Faravohitra, erected on the northern ridge of the capital by the contributions of the children of Great Britain to commemorate the burning alive of four martyrs in 1849. The work at Faravohitra and in its extensive district to the north, comprising fifty country Churches, is under the charge of theRev.Robert Griffith, another of the Welsh missionaries who have devoted themselves to the service of Christ in Madagascar.
Not far from Ambatonakanga, at the western foot of the ridge, is the spacious Church of Amparibe, built ofbrick and stone. This is the third Church on the same site. The work there and amongst the twenty-four country Churches lying to the north-west of the capital, has during the last two years been under the care of theRev.F. W. Dennis.
The sixth Mother Church is that of Analakely, a short distance to the north of Ambatonakanga, and adjoining the great market place. This Church also is the third building erected on the present site. It was opened in 1895, a few months before the French occupation, the ex-Queen Ranavalona III. and her Court being present on the occasion. For thirty years the veteran Missionary,Dr.Sibree, has been the missionary in charge, and has superintended the work there and at the fourteen country churches connected with it.
The remaining Mother Church is that of Isotry, another large building in the populous western district of the capital. It is only recently that the Church at Isotry has been reckoned as one of the Mother Churches of the capital.Mr.Stowell Ashwell has had charge of the work there for some years.
The Institutional work of the Imerina Mission is centred in Tananarive. Of these Institutions the most important is the United Theological College, where pastors and evangelists for the work of the Mission receive their training. For upwards of forty years the L. M. S. Theological College in Tananarive has rendered great service by preparing hundreds of young men for their work as evangelists and pastors. After the French conquest the conspicuous College building on thenorthern part of the ridge was appropriated by the French Government and, as already mentioned, converted into Law Courts. The work of the College was removed to a smaller building a little further to the north, adjoining the Faravohitra Church. In 1910 a union in Theological training was entered into with the F. F. M. A., and the College was removed to a large house at Ambohipotsy and became a residential Institution. A notable feature of the present work is the training of the students’ wives.
A number of cottages, named after Missionary Tutors of past days, have been erected on land adjoining the College, and this department has been superintended with great energy and devotion by Mrs. Sharman, the wife of the present Principal, theRev.James Sharman. The College course extends over four years. Upon the staff are missionaries of both Societies and four competent Native teachers, Pastors Rabary, Rabetageka, Rakotovao, and Ravelo. The College at present contains thirty-two students, and is doing a great work in making more adequate provision for a well-trained and consecrated native ministry. In a very true sense the College is the key to the missionary situation in Imerina. If the Native Church is to maintain and extend its position, it is necessary that a constant succession of well-educated and devoted Christian men should go forth from the College to act as pastors of the Churches and to be the leaders of the people in all their Christian activities.
Reference has already been made to the two conspicuousbuildings in the centre of the city, adjoining the Ambatonakanga Memorial Church, in which are carried on the Boys’ High School and a Girls’ School. After the French occupation,Mr.Sharman started the Boys’ School in 1897. It grew rapidly, and the present building was erected and opened in 1901 by Governor-General Galieni, when there were 500 pupils on the books. This number increased to 720, but was subsequently reduced to 530 owing to Government regulations. It is at present conducted by our Missionary, M. Henri Noyer, with the help of a staff of Malagasy Assistant Masters. The average attendance at the School is 91 per cent. of the number upon the books. In addition to the ordinary curriculum of a school of this character, which directs great attention to the French language, there are industrial departments for carpentry, woodwork, and metal work in which a high standard of efficiency is reached.
Adjoining the Boys’ High School is the Girls’ School, founded byDr.T. T. Matthews, where for many years some of the brightest girls from the Churches of Imerina have received a good education. The Missionary in charge of it is Miss Ysabel Du Commun, who, however, at the time of our visit, was absent on furlough, Miss Craven taking her place as Superintendent. The Government regulations only allow 230 girls in the School, although there is ample accommodation for a much larger number, and there are many girls now waiting admission when there are vacancies. There are seven classes, with three men and four women teachers and two sewing mistresses. In addition to the ordinarycurriculum for such a School, training is given in hygiene, cookery, dressmaking and fancy work.
In another part of the town, at Andohalo, stands the Girls’ Central School, where for upwards of forty years a fine educational work has been carried on. There are now 400 girls on the books, and many more are waiting for admission. The average attendance is 380. Amongst the special subjects taught in the School are straw-plaiting, hatmaking, lacemaking, first-aid and ambulance work. The staff consists of Miss Elsie Sibree, the devoted head-mistress, two masters and eight women teachers. The French Government regulations do not at present admit of the employment of women teachers, except those who were appointed before the present rules came into force. The present buildings, which were erected twenty years ago, comprise a large and lofty central hall, with a spacious gallery and six class-rooms. The sight of the crowded school at morning prayers is a most impressive one. The girls, bare-footed, dressed in their white lambas, with “shining morning face,” and with that happy, placid expression, which is so characteristic of the Christian girls and women of Madagascar, file into the central hall and take their places with order and reverence and join with heartiness and devotion in the singing and in the prayers. It is a very rare thing for more than one or two to be late. The tone of the school is of the highest, and the head-mistress always strives, by prayer-meetings for the staff and in many other ways, to impress the teachers with the missionary character of their work.
Malagasy Girls at Miss Craven’s Girls’ Home
Malagasy Girls at Miss Craven’s Girls’ Home.
Another branch of the work amongst girls is the Girls’ Home, successfully carried on by Miss Craven for twenty years. Here is a home provided for the daughters of evangelists and pastors and other Christian workers who come to Tananarive for their education. The girls attend the Central School and live in Miss Craven’s house, where they are taught domestic duties, lacemaking, embroidery, and other needlework at very small expense to the Society. Thirty girls are in residence, and there are always more waiting for admission. Miss Craven describes the work being carried on as follows:
“Now for a picture of the Home itself. There are one sitting and two bed rooms, all large and airy; the former has tables and benches, but, except for meals and preparation, the matted floor is just as much used. Books and small possessions are kept in covered baskets, one to each girl, and their clothes are in a cupboard or tin boxes. The girls sleep on mattresses laid on the floor, besides which there is no other furniture in the dormitories. They bring their own clothes, plates, spoons, mattresses and coverings, but as there is more ventilation than in their rooms at home, I keep a supply of blankets to lend to them when the nights are cold; an outside building provides kitchen, rice-house, bath-house, etc.“The days’ occupations vary little; the girls are up at daylight, say 5.30 in the summer and 6.0 in winter, and, after a wash in the bath-house, come back to their household duties, sweepingand dusting their own rooms and some of ours, and preparing their breakfast of rice and milk, which is ready before seven o’clock. After that all the household assembles for morning prayers, and then there is the bustle of final preparation for school before they form in line and march off, two by two, looking a clean, tidy, and intelligent family, of which we may well feel proud. They all go to the Girls’ Central School, under the care of Miss Sibree, school hours being from 8 a.m. to 12.45 p.m. One hour every afternoon is given to school preparation, the remainder of the time being filled up with different kinds of needlework, while the little ones divide their time between work and play. One afternoon most of them are away at the C. E. weekly meeting at Analakely. The evening meal is ready at 6.30, we have prayers at 7 o’clock, and then they say ‘good-night,’ and troop off to bed, a few of the elder ones staying a little longer to do more lessons, or finish some piece of needlework. Saturday brings a change of work, for most of the girls go to do their weekly washing, not getting home until about 3 p.m. After dinner they are busy until bedtime ironing their clothes and getting ready for Sunday.“At different times they have attended Faravohitra, Ampamarinana, Ambohipotsy, and Analakely Churches, and the Sunday Schools connected with them. Sunday evening is spent with me singing hymns, discussing Sunday School lessons and sermons,and other matters of interest. It is a happy time, and one to which we all look forward. The Sunday School has a great attraction for them, especially the yearly examination, for which they prepare several weeks beforehand, and from which they carry off some of the best prizes.“Quarrels and troubles have not been frequent, and during the last two or three years have been increasingly rare. Severe discipline has been needed in very few cases, one being that of a girl who was sent away for continuing a clandestine correspondence; she has been carefully watched at home, and is turning out well. About three years ago we were very grieved when one, who had been with us for many years, took the law into her own hands and ran away to be married. We do not, however, give up hope that she will become a Christian woman and train her children well. The health of the girls has always been a great responsibility, and malarial fever has been very much more frequent during the latter half of the decade. We have not lost any by death, except one who died at home during holidays. We generally find that the girls improve in health while under our care, and we do not often need to call for the help of a doctor. Occasionally we have to regret that girls are removed by their parents while still young, but as a rule they remain with us until about to be married, or get married soon after leaving.“As to the spiritual results, we may speak withsome confidence. Three have joined the Church, and one has been baptised on profession of faith while still in the Home, and others have become Church members soon after marriage. The Spirit of Christ is clearly working in the hearts and lives of many who are still with us. Of one dear girl, who died very happily after the birth of her first child, her husband said to me: ‘I rejoice over the months we have lived together; she has done me good.’”
“Now for a picture of the Home itself. There are one sitting and two bed rooms, all large and airy; the former has tables and benches, but, except for meals and preparation, the matted floor is just as much used. Books and small possessions are kept in covered baskets, one to each girl, and their clothes are in a cupboard or tin boxes. The girls sleep on mattresses laid on the floor, besides which there is no other furniture in the dormitories. They bring their own clothes, plates, spoons, mattresses and coverings, but as there is more ventilation than in their rooms at home, I keep a supply of blankets to lend to them when the nights are cold; an outside building provides kitchen, rice-house, bath-house, etc.
“The days’ occupations vary little; the girls are up at daylight, say 5.30 in the summer and 6.0 in winter, and, after a wash in the bath-house, come back to their household duties, sweepingand dusting their own rooms and some of ours, and preparing their breakfast of rice and milk, which is ready before seven o’clock. After that all the household assembles for morning prayers, and then there is the bustle of final preparation for school before they form in line and march off, two by two, looking a clean, tidy, and intelligent family, of which we may well feel proud. They all go to the Girls’ Central School, under the care of Miss Sibree, school hours being from 8 a.m. to 12.45 p.m. One hour every afternoon is given to school preparation, the remainder of the time being filled up with different kinds of needlework, while the little ones divide their time between work and play. One afternoon most of them are away at the C. E. weekly meeting at Analakely. The evening meal is ready at 6.30, we have prayers at 7 o’clock, and then they say ‘good-night,’ and troop off to bed, a few of the elder ones staying a little longer to do more lessons, or finish some piece of needlework. Saturday brings a change of work, for most of the girls go to do their weekly washing, not getting home until about 3 p.m. After dinner they are busy until bedtime ironing their clothes and getting ready for Sunday.
“At different times they have attended Faravohitra, Ampamarinana, Ambohipotsy, and Analakely Churches, and the Sunday Schools connected with them. Sunday evening is spent with me singing hymns, discussing Sunday School lessons and sermons,and other matters of interest. It is a happy time, and one to which we all look forward. The Sunday School has a great attraction for them, especially the yearly examination, for which they prepare several weeks beforehand, and from which they carry off some of the best prizes.
“Quarrels and troubles have not been frequent, and during the last two or three years have been increasingly rare. Severe discipline has been needed in very few cases, one being that of a girl who was sent away for continuing a clandestine correspondence; she has been carefully watched at home, and is turning out well. About three years ago we were very grieved when one, who had been with us for many years, took the law into her own hands and ran away to be married. We do not, however, give up hope that she will become a Christian woman and train her children well. The health of the girls has always been a great responsibility, and malarial fever has been very much more frequent during the latter half of the decade. We have not lost any by death, except one who died at home during holidays. We generally find that the girls improve in health while under our care, and we do not often need to call for the help of a doctor. Occasionally we have to regret that girls are removed by their parents while still young, but as a rule they remain with us until about to be married, or get married soon after leaving.
“As to the spiritual results, we may speak withsome confidence. Three have joined the Church, and one has been baptised on profession of faith while still in the Home, and others have become Church members soon after marriage. The Spirit of Christ is clearly working in the hearts and lives of many who are still with us. Of one dear girl, who died very happily after the birth of her first child, her husband said to me: ‘I rejoice over the months we have lived together; she has done me good.’”
Another department of Institutional work is the L. M. S. Printing Press in Tananarive, which stands for much more than its name implies. It is true that a prosperous business in printing and book-binding is carried on, seventy men being constantly employed. But the Printing Press is a kind of “Universal Provider,” and anything, from a harmonium to a needle, can be purchased there. Under the able superintendence ofMr.Ashwell, a considerable annual profit is made. The magnitude of its operations is surprising. In the ten years ending in 1910, 1,833,243 books and pamphlets were issued from the office, including over 40,000 Bibles, 60,000 New Testaments (printed in England), nearly 350,000 lesson books, over 131,000 hymn books, and a large number of commentaries and other religious works.
No sketch of the Institutional work in Tananarive would be complete without a reference to the Medical Mission, which for many years has been carried on jointly by the F. F. M. A. and the L. M. S., the doctor being a missionary of the former Society. For the last sixteenyearsDr.Moss has been the medical missionary in charge, and in his own person illustrates the close union between the two Societies in this work. He has been a missionary of the F. F. M. A., and is the son of an L. M. S. missionary, and his wife, a trained nurse, is the daughter of an L. M. S. missionary, the saintly Joseph Pearse. No department of missionary work in the capital suffered more from the advent of the French than the Medical Mission. A fine commodious hospital, opened in 1891 by the ex-Queen, was appropriated by the French Government in 1896, and since then the hospital work has been on a much smaller scale, and in fact there was no hospital at all between 1897 and 1903, although a large out-patient work was carried on. In the latter year a small Cottage Hospital was erected, round which the work has since centred under the devoted superintendence ofDr.and Mrs. Moss.
In barest outline some account has been given of the Institutional work of the Imerina Mission, which is centred in Tananarive. In this work the European missionary and the Native agent, working together side by side and in closest co-operation, are contributing to the building up of a strong Native Church, which in the future is to be God’s instrument in spreading the light into the dark places of the Island. This Church is as “a city set on a hill that cannot be hid.”