The Texas Republican. [volume] (Marshall, Tex.) 1849-1869, 1867-04-06
Africa.
sf0RY % AN AFRICAN MissIoN-sAp
PATE OF rHR MISSIONARIES,

sfoRY % AN AFRICAN MissIoN-sAD
PATE OF rHR MISSIONARIES.
From The Pail Mall Gasst,s, Dse. %
II is now rather more than q quar-.
ter Of a century since an expedition
vas dispatched by the British gov
eminent, at the instigstion Of Lord
John Russell and Sir Folwell Bux-
ton, to pitch the Eglinton Tourns-
ment tent in Central Africa, at the
confluence of the Niger and the
Tchadda, with the object of there
founding a depot of religious and
agricultural knowledge, whence the
evangeization and civilization Of
that benighted quarter of the globe
might rsdiste far and wide under the
banner of the Bible and the pillow.
tn expedition was launched on
magnificent scale Her Ns,cstys
ships Albert and Loudan conveyed
1t to Its destination, and on the llth
Of September, lstl, the adventures
reached the spot" healthy for Az
RIGA selected by THAR patrons as
tho point from whence they we're ito
promote cultivation, advance ciyilira-
ton, difIuse morality, and induce at.
tentIon to pure system Of religion
throughout the land"
A very few weeks, however, Of
African climate, served to convince
the enthusiasts en,rspped into the
hopeless undertaking that it was in.
deed hopeless one. Out of one
hundred and fifty picked and healthy
men who assembled the Niger, one
hundred and forty nine sickened,
and nearly one hundred died aud,
had !, not been for the intelligence
aud fidelity of the kroomen shipped
by the expedition at Sierra Leone,
and the accidental presence on the
coast Of small Liverpool trading
steamer, which came opportuncly to
their rescue, Her Majcstys ships,
flying disabled from the river fever,
would never have returned to Egg.
land to tell the tale of the utter fail
ure Of the African model farm of
1871.
That experience seldom survives
the test of time has been proved by
the fact that in 1861 anoth.. .Ap pc
dition with precisely the same objects
as that of lS4l, but fortunately on q
smaller scale, was dispatched up the
River Zambcsi, in Eastern Africa,
to share similar fate with its more
pretentious predecessor on the Niger.
When, in 1857, DIR. Livingstone re.
turned to England from Africa ia
nous, he made an appeal 70 our
Universities to dispatch a mission to
spot -" healthy for Africa
which he supposed he had discovered
in the highlands of the River Shire,
tributary of the Zambesi. So ia
yorable in every respect was the &C
count given of the locality in ques-
ton, and so fair the prospects held
out by the great discovcrer, that
select band Of devoted clergymen
and laymsn, headed BY Bishop Mac
kenzie, At once stood forth and vol
untcered for the adventure. Funds
were readily obtained to dctray their
expenses, and DR.. Livingstone him
self undertook to escort them 70 Ia
scene Of their future labors.
Drawer, worthier, or more intelli-
gent men than Mackenzie and his
clerical staff never struggled and
died in the attempt to effect mpo~i-
bilitics. Long before they reached
the highlands Of the Shire, they dis
covered that they had been misled
by tho enthusiastic Livingstone, aud
when they had been settled there
aud left BY him to their fate, they
soon found that they we're incapable
Of achieving tho duty they had un-
dertaken. Tho only other white
men in Eastern Africa beside thsm-
selves we're Portuguese slave traders;
they were ignorant Of the language,
habits and politics Of the savage
tribes By whom they were surround
ed. The unforeseen difficulties Of
the way had compelled them to
abandon on the coast tho greater
portion ofthc stores they had brought
out from England, and they had no,
even medical man among them.
Nevertheless, they determined to
make the best Of had job, and il
they we're to die, to die At their duty.
Converts to Christianity they could
not attempt TO make, for they had
means Of intercharging ideas with
tho heather around them all that
they could do was to impress upon
their black neighbors that n race Of
white men existed wis had other
aud higher objects ia view than the
purchase Of ivory and slaves. SO
they built themselves huts and \
chapel, and cultivated. gardens, and
fed the hungry aud attended the
sick, and helped the weak against
tAs strons, not always wisely, bal -
well as their small meaas Tc.lA ~
lov; and thus they labored and SAT
fsrcd with no thought Of abandosisg
tho hopeless undertaking to With
they had committed themselves, until
one by one, worn out by hard vork,
bad food, and fever, they sicksusd
aud died at their posts. The mission
entered the Zambesi on February 7,
1861, aud on the 3ist Of January,
1862, Bishop Mackenzie di I'd, and
was buried ia the Great Elephant
Swamp" and the Rev. Mr.. BurFur,
whose robust frame aad igh spirits
At frat seemed to sst even African
hArdships and climate II defiance,
followed him on the 22d. February,
1862. Thea q long Drought, follow
ed by = grisvous famine, snots the
land, The surviving missionaries
did what they could with the small
means At their disposal to mitigate
It's severity among thdr immediate
dependents, but at last il ovcrpevsr-
ed them, aud the Rev. Mr.. SCUBA
more persisted Of starvation o. Jas.
l, 1883. Mr. Disksnsov,, . surgeon
who had joined the mission sone
months after il had established itself
on tho highlauds Of the shir., sx-
PRED from the same c,,uso On March
II, 1868, ~ dia NJ. y .iehssd Thorn
ton, = surveyor, from fever and ia
.igue, on April 20, 1868. There
then remained alivs b at two Of the
original stag Of elsrg y who had &c.
! .:.J a.. n:~kn~ 81 fktca and