from whose lips they are willing to listen to the Gospel of Christ. A school with 62 boys has been established by Mr. Williams at Tank at the cost of Rs. 25 per mensem, of which the C.M.S. gives Rs. 15. Mr. Williams now requires a good Christian assistant, both in Hospital and other work. May the good Master soon send a suitable man. Many Christian friends, and especially Major Gray, have interested themselves greatly in our brother's work, and sure we are that the Church of Christ in India, and the Church Missionary Society at home, will never suffer a work like this to languish for want of funds. CHAPTER XIII. THE BELUCH MISSION. THE Mission to the Beluchis was established in consequence of a special appeal which was made by the Revd. G. M. Gordon, who himself gave the sum of Rs. 10,000 to it. The Revd. A. Lewis and Dr. Jukes were appointed to take charge of it in 1879. Mr. Gordon was in Candahar when the welcome intelligence of their arrival reached him. After a five weeks' sojourn in Candahar he rapildy retraced his steps, on his return journey of 400 miles, to join his colleagues: Afghanistan (he writes), by universal consent, is not a goodly land, nor is Candahar a goodly city. As is usual with Eastern cities, it looks best at a distance." He observed there" three distinct types of feature, the rugged and often sinister looking hill-men, the thick-lipped almondeyed Mongolian native of Hazara, and the hooked-nosed Jewish featured handsome Pathan." He visited the tomb of Ahmed Shah, the founder of the city and of the Dourani dynasty; under the dome of which lies the body of the Shah and those of his three wives. He engaged in conversation with the people in the bazaar, and offered them books, in the place where Lieutenant Willis, R. A., had been killed by a blow from a fanatic a few days before. He writes: "I little thought a year ago that I should be discussing with the Moulvies of Candahar, at their own invitation, the teaching of Christ and the Messianic prophecies. Nor did I anticipate on arrival here, that the Word of God had already preceded us, and had been read and committed to memory. May God grant that the Word of God may soon be acknowledged in the city of Candahar, where (on his second visit) our brother Gordon died; and may the honor of giving to that people the word of Life be that of our own Frontier Missionaries, the successors of Mr. Gordon, if it be God's will. On his return to the Beluchis, Mr. Gordon writes:Hitherto our relations with the Beluchis have been of a very peaceful character. We have had no such rough experience as Saint Augustine had in England, of whom it is related, that travelling on foot through a region now called Dorsetshire, he preached among a sea-faring population; and "these heathen savages drove him. away, and fastened tails of fish to the robes of his monks." We do not forget that we have to do at present with tribes partially civilized by British Rule; but we hope to carry the Gospel, as opportunity shall offer, into the regions beyond. Our life during the past year has been for the most part in tents, watching for openings, and ready to follow them up. Our stay at Dera Ghazi Khan from April to June brought us much in contact with Hindus or Mahomedans of the city type, but little with Beluchis, who are more given to pastoral life on the hills and plains. Our hope that some Beluch Chief would invite us to settle with him has now been realized A hospital and dispensary at Choti, and another at Fort Munro, will greatly facilitate Dr. Jukes' practice, which has already been blessed to the relief of many sufferers. Frequent observation proves that these people are not insensible to kindness, although sometimes slow to express their gratitude. In this they remind us of an experience in the Bolan Pass. We camped at a place called Abigoom (lit., "lost water"), where the Botan river disappears in its own bed, and after running under ground for some miles, issues again in pools and pursues its course down the defile. Thus the current of native feeling often eludes our observation, and then again finds expression in unexpected and gratifying ways. At Dera Ghazi Khan, on May 11th, 1879, Mr. Gordon writes: At the invitation of a native gentleman who is an old friend, I attended a religious meeting, which is held every Sunday evening at his house in the city. My friend is one who has a very great regard for the Christian religion, and formerly desired to embrace it; but his mind was troubled with metaphysical speculations, and he could not grasp the doctrine of an Atonement through Christ alone. He is in sympathy on certain points with men of all religions, and prefers the position of an eclectic to that of an adherent to one form of doctrine in particular. Being by birth a Hindu, he adopts the reformed Hindu or Brahmo Somaj tenets, although he does not call himself a Brahmo. On Saturday evening he invites to his house the leading members of various Hindu creeds for prayers and discussion, conducting the service himself. I was shown up to the top of his house, where carpets were spread and ligh to placed in the middle. We all sat in order, forming four sides of a square, and the greatest decorum was observed. The meeting commenced with a short exposition by an old Pundit, who read and translated from one of the Hindu Shastras, called the Bhagavat Gita, Then followed the singing of bhajans, or native hymns, to native musical instruments. After this our friend conducted extempore prayer in his own language, commencing with a meditation: "What are we here met together for! Not worldly gratification, not vain discourse. We are come to seek thee, O God!" He proceeded in a very solemn manner with confession of sin, ascription of praise, and invocation. After prayer he introduced discussion with a few remarks on the subject of seeking after God, and alluded to the Hindu doctrine of three conditions of mind; namely, 1, the "wakeful," 2, the "dreaming," 3, the "heavy slumberous" condition. Enlarging on the 2nd condition, the dreamy, contemplative habit of mind, as fitted for revelation of God, he thus illustrated his remarks: "There is a dark house and a bird sits in it. A hawk sits outside and waits for the bird, but will not enter the darkness. The bird flies out, and is instantly pursued by the hawk until it again seeks refuge in the house. So with the human spirit, it finds no rest in the world; care pursues it till it returns to its ark, and finds rest in the solitude of contemplation." These remarks were met by a warm rejoinder from an old Hindu lawyer, who argued that "we cannot find God by merely shutting our eyes and meditating. There must be successive steps from the lower to the higher; and these steps are all indicated in the written word, the Shastras." He declined all merely speculative discussion. The other replied, "You refer only to the Vedant Shastras, you know nothing of the Bhakti Shastras." This introduced the old battle ground of "faith" and "works." The old simile of the " straight new road" and the "old tortuous road' was given, and (as usual) turned both ways. Neither party would yield the point. : On the 26th November, 1879, Mr. Gordon wrote thus:Rowed down the Indus in a boat with the Bishop, Jukes, and Lewis on a visit to the Chief of the Majaris, a tribe of Beluchis. Not 40 years ago these men were all at war with us. They are now as peaceful as any of the Queen-Empress' Indian lieges. They still cling to the ornamental appendages of sword and shield, but only as emblems, not as instruments of strife. We disembarked on a bank made sandy and barren by the caprice of the shifting restless tide. This was the nearest point to R. where the Chief or Nawab resides. On hearing of our arrival, he sent camels for our baggage; and his son came to escort us across the pathless jungle. As we neared his village the Nawab came out to meet us. He is a man of shorter stature than the ordinary, but his fine intelligent face shows a capacity for receiving and imparting enlightened views. There was nothing in his dress to indicate the position he holds, or to distinguish him from his followers. He is true to the tradition of his ancestors for simplicity aud hospitality. The Beluchis all dress in plain white, and the only outward distinction of a Chief is the superiority of his horse. In this respect they indulge in a little display. They are justly proud of the breed of their horses; otherwise rich and poor are alike. "I dwell among my own people" was the almost literal response of their Chief to a remark upon his position with regard to his retainers. |