1863.] YOUNG PARSEE AT BOMBAY, 43 to leave those whom I loved so dearly. I could foresee how this step on my part would turn my home into a house of mourning ; what grief it would entail upon my family. Yet, thought I, the Lord must be obeyed. There was no salvation without a sacrifice. Such thoughts now occurred to my mind. The Lord came to my help. I was reminded of his words, 'He who loveth father and mother more than me is not worthy of me.' This precept of Holy Scripture, as well as the thought that the step which I was about to take, was in obedience to the word of the Almighty, and that He would make all things work together for good, if I only discharged my duty towards Him, strengthened me. Confirmed in my resolution, I was prepared to go, with a few clothes, a bundle of biscuits, a bed (all provided by my friend). I left home for the steamer' Higginson,' which was to leave that evening, without exciting the slightest suspicion. On the Bunder I saw several Parsees of my acquaintance; but, strange to say, they allowed me to pass without inquiry. My friend, who had accompanied me, hired a boat, and we prepared to go on board. The boat became unmanageable, and more than once struck some of the larger craft in the harbour. These were my first discouragements, and I have mentioned such little things, because I now regard them as so many trials of faith. At length we reached the steamer in safety about one o'clock, though not without difficulty. In order to escape observation, I next concealed myself for four hours in the engine-room, where I suffered greatly from the heat. Trust in God was my only support. I knew the cause was good, and hoped for assistance from above. At length the steamer started, and I came on deck. For two successive days I suffered severely from sea-sickness, so much so that I could hardly keep myself erect. There were some Parsees of my acquaintance on board, who, seeing my distress, took great care of me. "On landing, I drove to Girgaum, where I asked and received protection from the Rev. James Wilson. My heart was filled with joy at having thus attained the end of my journey. And now, as I reflected upon the wonderful step I had taken, the difficulties I had passed through, solemn thoughts came across my mind, and my soul rose in fervent gratitude to the Giver of all things. Mr. Wilson, who did all he could to encourage me, advised me to persevere in prayer, asking of Him who had brought me so far to give me strength to stand unto the end. And it was now that I understood the importance of prayer. My late experience had taught me how incapable I was of doing any thing good, and I now rejoiced in making known my wants to Him who is both able and willing to give all things needful. I now felt a longing desire of being admitted into the church of Christ by baptism, and shortly after I attained that desire. On the 16th of May 1862, I was baptized in the cathedral at Bombay, by the Rev. J. Wilson. Some time after my baptism my father and father-in-law arrived in Bombay, with the express purpose of reclaiming me. Their visit to me proved to be sudden, and I, for the first time, lost all self-possession, but soon after recovered it. Knowing the efficacy of earnest prayer, I prayed inwardly, and felt wonderfully strengthened. My father, after having recounted all the misfortunes and disgrace I had brought upon him, entreated me to accompany him back to Kurrachee; a request which I neither thought wise nor safe to grant. 44 CONVERSION AND BAPTISM OF A YOUNG PARSEE, &c. [APRIL, Yet his touching appeals made me irresolute. God sustained me in this and many other trying moments that followed, and I was, by his guidance and grace, carried safely through all. My father and father-in-law repeated their visits and entreaties for nearly twenty-two days; but finding that I was firm, they were compelled to return to Kurrachee without me. During my stay in Bombay for the next three months, I applied myself to the study of the Scriptures and the doctrines of religion, and as I advanced in my Christian course, I felt more and more confirmed in the heavenly faith to which the Lord had brought me. After the above period had expired, I left Bombay for Kurrachee in the same steamer which brought me thence. During the voyage, which, in consequence of an accident, was prolonged to nine days, I had to suffer the greatest hardships. My fellow-passengers having come to know that I was a convert to Christianity, treated me with great contempt, and spoke very scornfully of the religion I had adopted. But even here God had reserved a few friends for me, who, though differing from me in caste and creed, behaved very kindly and respectfully towards me. On my arrival at Kurrachee I was received by Mr. Sheldon into his dwelling, and treated with the greatest kindness. The news of my return having spread, my father and brother soon after came to the Mission house, and requested me to go with them and pay my family a short visit. They promised to send me back whenever I liked. Relying on their faithfulness, I went. At home I was received with mingled feelings of joy and sorrow. The pathetic remonstrances of my mother induced me to stay that day (Friday) at home, on their promising that I should be allowed to return on the following Monday. My parents had given out (indicating, as it were, the triumph of Parseeism over Christianity) that I had been reclaimed from the errors I had run into on account of my feeble understanding being perverted by the persuasions of an enemy. Accordingly, numbers of Parsees came in to congratulate them on their good fortune. Daily appeals, with tears, were made to me by my mother to induce me to leave the Missionary's protection altogether, and to live, as before, under my parents' roof. Not suspecting their design, I acceded to their request, thinking that, so long as they did not interfere with religion, I was bound to obey them. It was not long, however, before I perceived my mistake. "On the evening before the ensuing Sabbath, I had declared my intention of going to church the following morning. This made them very uneasy, and they tried their utmost to put obstacles in my way. For a time they besought me with tears to change my mind. Here the Lord, by his mighty arm, upheld me. I positively refused to listen to their request; and when they saw that all means of checking my intention had failed, they endeavoured to shut me up in my room. Observing, however, that I was determined at all hazards to go, they opened the door, and I walked out to church. During these trying moments, prayer was the only effectual weapon I could wield. My late experience had taught me that I was extremely weak of myself, and that if I expected to maintain my ground it would be only in the strength of the Lord. My parents still continued to dissuade me from venturing out another Sabbath. This state of things continuing for a weck more, 1863.] POETRY. 45 I felt myself under the painful necessity of again leaving them. Accordingly, I went over to the Mission house without their permission, and once more claimed Mr. Sheldon's protection, who was delighted to see me once again. Here I have been for nearly four months, helping Mr. Sheldon in the school work, and thanking and praising the Lord (blessed be his name!) for all his past mercies. "I have tried my best to bring about a reconciliation between myself and parents, and have of late begun paying them occcasional visits. God grant that I may be made the instrument of bringing some of my family to a knowledge of Jesus!" ( 46 ) CEYLON, SOUTH OF JAFFNA. [APRIL, THE following are notes of an American Missionary of a three weeks' tour in that part of Ceylon which lies south of the peninsula of Jaffna. As we have Missionaries among the Tamils in the north of the island, as well as among the Singalese and Kandians further south, they may be, to us, useful and interesting The region over which we travelled belongs to the northern province of Ceylon. There are 3758 square miles in this province, south of Jaffna; and scattered over this surface are 115,711 inhabitants. It is generally considered to be a vast jungle, inhabited mostly by wild beasts, and covered with wood. There are, however, more than a thousand villages of various sizes, and in them are found a most degraded people. All our travelling in bandies was upon roads made and kept in repair by Government. The great central road, from Jaffna to Kandy, leads through a dense jungle so far as we travelled it. Once in four, six. eight, or ten miles, there are small openings with houses, and a few acres of cultivated land. All the rest is thick jungle, into which the traveller can see only a rod or two as he passes along. The jungle swarms with animals of various kinds. The largest—elephants are numerous. There is a set of men whose business is the catching and subduing of wild elephants. Besides the elephant, the jungle is full of chetahs, black bears, wild hogs, deer, elk, monkeys, hedge-hogs, rabbits, &c. The bear is the most ferocious. The chetah will sometimes attack a man-the bear delights in it. There are also many buffaloes, but those we saw had been tamed. In the pleasant morning the woods resounded with the songs of birds. Some of them were rare, and we knew the names of but few. We frequently saw peacocks, very wild, and jungle-fowls were crossing the road at all times of the day. When going from Anuradjapuram to Manaar, we were on the line of the telegraph. We were also meeting the tide of cooly emigration to the coffee-estates in the central parts of the island. The coffee-planters are mostly Englishmen, and they require labourers. As there was not a supply of coolies in Ceylon, they sought them from the poorer classes on the continent of India. They all come from Southern India, and arrive in great numbers at this season of the year. One day, from sunrise to sunset, we met five hundred, in little companies of twenty, forty, seventy, and one hundred each. Agents are sent to India by the planters, to induce them to come, and a certain per-centage is allowed for each person delivered on the estate as a cooly. They are poor and ignorant, but they go with high hopes, cheerful countenances, and expectations of wealth. From January 1st, 1843, to the end of 1860, 950,867 such coolies came to Ceylon from India, and 471,982 returned to their homes. This is the Government account. We saw Sivites, Buddhists, Mohammedans, Romanists, and a few Protestant Christians. For ninety miles, almost all were Sivites, and then, to the 126th mile, there were Buddhists in abundance, and many Mohammedans. On the western coast, and near Manaar, Romanism prevailed. A few Christians are scattered here and there, but they are renerally connected with Government service. The Sivites were such as 1863.] ABBEOKUTA BAPTIST STATION. 47 we have to deal with every day, except that they were more ignorant and degraded ; the Buddhists-even their priests were inclined to converse, but they were probably more free with us because we were strangers; and the Mohammedans were quite inclined to talk, and many wished to get our books and tracts. I was surprised to find them so liberal, and I believe that they might be greatly benefited if labour could be bestowed upon them. They can almost all speak Tamil and Singhalese also. The Romanists profess to be followers of the Christian Bible: many of them were anxious to purchase portions of Scripture; but when they discovered that we were Protestants, they were inclined to dispute, and exhibited great ignorance and bigotry. The priest visits them about once a year. Of course their religious privileges are very limited, and their spiritual state is deplorable. Drunkenness and immorality prevail to a very great extent among them, yet they claim to be Christians, but look upon Protestants as their bitterest enemies. They worship pictures, &c., so that in spirit their idolatry is about the same as that of the heathen. Romanism in this country is frequently called "heathenism baptized." Add drunkenness, and you have a description of the Romish church in the East. ABBEOKUTA BAPTIST STATION. THE following letter from the Baptist Mission in Abbeokuta, printed in the "Iwe Irohin," will be found to contain interesting particulars of the progress of Christianity in Abbeokuta— In giving you an account of the progress of the Gospel here, I shall go back to the time of first coming to this place from Ijaye. In August 1859 I came to this place with eleven children, all of heathen parents. From then, until March 1860, we had collected together about seventy children, some of them of rather mature ages. But those of most mature ages were decidedly vicious heathen, so much so, that we almost despaired of their being reclaimed to Christianity. However, we at once began school, and a regular course of Christian instruction; and in less than twelve months serious impressions were being made upon the young, and also many adults were anxiously inquiring what they should do to be saved. Sometimes twenty or more were anxiously inquiring what they should do to be saved. Old men and women came regularly to hear the word preached on Sabbath. So great was the anxiety manifested (having no chapel), we were obliged to make seats, spread down mats, &c., in the piazzas, for their accommodation. Men and women even, amongst the heathen, who had formerly cared nothing about the Gospel, or books, or any kind of instruction whatever, came almost daily for private religious instruction. They also bought books, and began very diligently to learn to read their own language. We had not to go and seek them, but were sought by them: some that we supposed were too old to learn to read, did really learn to read God's word in their own language. The result was, twenty adults were baptized upon a profession of faith in Christ. Some, indeed, of the elder children, were also admitted to the same rite upon an intelligent profession of faith. Were I to give you instances of individual conversion, I am sure your readers could not fail to be interested, especially those who love the Lord Jesus Christ, and know the worth of their own souls. One was a girl, about |