Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1858-12-25
THE BEwILDERED SAVAGE.
By l.. MARIA CHILD.

The origin of the CATERS is lost In the darkness
Of remote antiquity but their persons, manners,
and customs, indicate a higher source Of civiliza.
tion than the other tribes Of Africa. Before they
" ere harried and hunted by the white men that
infested their shores, they were a pastoral PEOPLE,
brave and manly, but rarely goaded to deeds Of vi
olence. Their features are European, their color,
a clear, dark-brown their forms athletic and
graceful, and their manners frank and cheerful.
Christianity has been a form of sectarianism, not
differing from it's minor subdivisions essentially in
spirit, though necessarily somewhat more enlarged
in it's boundaries. He'ce all nations who do not
know the Divine Principle Of the Universe by tho
name of God, have been branded as heathcns and
in6dels. Mahometans have manifested the same
spirit of limitation and because the tribes Of Eas
tern Africa worshiped the Creator under the name
Of Udali, instead of Allah, the Moors called them
kafrs, which is the Arabic word for infdels.-
Hence their country came to be known to the civ
ilized world by the name Of Cafferland, or Cafra'
ria. But doubtless the angels judge quito differ
emily of these matters. They are attracted toward
the religious sentiment, without caring for its
name. The sigh, and the tear, and the simple rev
erential thought, often rise up 10 them as prayer
iTULH lbo inUOu'IButeu ucoott, hiio ~ heh't Nv
m~osphere of earth presses down out Of their
hearing, pulpit %orations, and may an unwinged
response from gilded prayer.books. In every form
of society, Nature has her priests, her prophets,
and her poets too, though they pass away by thou
sands unrecorded. for want of ~utterance through
literature and the Arts.
Among the poetic tem%peraments of Cafferland,
was Maros !, a docile, contemp lative child, an ear
nest observer OF the earth and the heavens. Moth
er, who made the stars p was one of his earliest
questions and when told that Udali created them,
he imagined the winds we're his voice, and the sun
shine his clothing, The deep quiet, little soul was
overlooking with affection. 1t seemed an absolute
necessity 10 his existence, to be near something he
could love. lie must nestle with his pet antelope
under the shade of the rimosa tree, or fall asleep
with his little hand within that OF his MOTHER
lie was the youngest of her children, the mos
beautiful in form, the g%entlest in spirit aud some
thing of reverence mingled with her love for him.
while she listeded to his thoughtful questions.
When he was about eight years old q Moravian
missionary, who happened to be travelling that way,
visited their cabin, and talked to them of the
Christians God, under the name of Utiko, which
is an African word signifying The Beautiful. His
discourse, imperfectly expressed in CATER dialect,
was still more imperfectly understood by the un
tutored boy but still it made a deep impression
on him. The missionary told them that Utiko wa,
all Love that his love descended in dew to refresl
the flowers, and in sunshine to warm t e earth
and into the soul of man, filling it with peace ant
goodwill. Marossi never forgot this description
of the Christians God. In the radiant beauty o
sunset, in the mild glory of moonlight, in his moth
er's smile, in the lambert eyes Of his antelope. h
:. felt;the presence of Utiko. 1t seemed strange t
him that his father hated the Christians, and spok
scornfully Of their sacred book. When he told
Q whole tribes killed by them, or carried off into slt
! very, the boy asked his mother, with sad astonisl
i men, whether these people also believed in Utik'
who filed the souls of men with peace and goo(
i will ; and when she told him yes, his little brai
= was bewildered.
The secluded hamlet in which he was born va
in a deep valley, girdled round by almost impass'
BILE mountains, which the foot Of tue white ma
s had never trod, within his recollection. But a fe
j weeks after the visit Of the good missionary, ii
5 family wore wakened at midnight by fearfi
D shrieks and bowls. For an instant, they suppose
that lions or hyenas were among their hocks b.
o the crash Of fire arms soon announced q humn
d foe. In vain the poor CATERS strove to defeu
r their wives and children. Their humble cabir
g were all ablaze, their fields Of maize and mill
r trampled down, and all who were not slaughtere
IS were bound hand and foot and dragged off towal
e the sea-coast, Terrible was the impression tn
e scene made on the sensitive spirit of Marossi. ]
his dying hour, he could never forget those dusl
forms struggling and bleeding in the glare of II
freight. When they were hurried away, driv,
like a herd Of cattle across the country, he ask,
10 where was his father but his weeping moth
t. could not tell. Silently and sadly, he trudg
X along by her side, holding fast by her hand. B
e. the march was long and wearisome, and many
20 the paths were rough and stony. Their feet beg
~ to bleed, and they Jagged a little whereupon t
us Christian drivers cursed them, and cut them wi
ne their whips. They swore they would shoot all t
H. small brats, for they were not worth the time tn
re cost to keep up with the drove. The CATER CD
lis dren did not understand their brutal words. /
re they were frightened by their looks, and clu
D. closer to their suffering mothers. On their rou
W they passed the cabin of a Dutch boer, to VIII
TO- the slave,trders called aloud, and asked if the wa
at ed to buy a brat. After a brief parley, they &c
gu Marossi to him for an old jacket. Terrible VI
nd the shrieks of mother and child, when they W.
e' torn asunder. With frantic energy the poor W
at owed one tossed her arms in the air, and call
'r' her youngest and best beloved who vainly str,
- gled in the strong arms Of the boor, The desol,
NJ child heard the loud snap of the whip,as they Dire
ne her away, and the sound cut deep into his tortur
let soul. That night, as he lay weeping on the m
CHI floor of the Dutch cabin. be thought over the BET
ID tiful words of the M~oravian missionary. and
could not understand how it was that these m
lie believed in the same God.
- Two wretched years he lived in the Dutchma
is service, beaten by him, and kicked by his so
nd whenever they drank too much peach brandy,
met with any accident that rufled their tempe
Ell Every seventh day they RETAINED from work, a
re. sometimes a man came among them who read fir
lal a big book, and talked and prayed. But Marc
hcrded with the pigs and the dogs. and no not
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