["Volume 65.", "Library of\nAndover Theological Seminary.", "Number 4.", "THE\n\n# Missionary Herald.", "APRIL, 1869.", "CONTENTS.", "SIVAS, TURKEY. BY REV. ALBERT BRY-\nANT . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

114

*Arabic-Speaking Negro Mohammedans in Africa.*

[April,

books and preaching the gospel, for permanent out-stations, when the young men from this field, now in the theological school, are ready for work.

One year ago three missionaries had charge of the Sivas field; now Mr. Livingston is there alone. If he looks out towards the north, from his home on the northern verge of the city, a mountain barrier, two days' journey in extent, lies between him and the church and pastor at Tocat, who need his counsel. If he looks over the citadel in the centre of the city, and beyond the southern mountains, a weary journey of three days will hardly bring him to the walnut orchards of Gurun, where the large and growing congregation of brethren will pray that one of the frequent mountain storms may shut him in for the winter. Towards the northeast, his horse will ford the river Halys, and by avoiding the needy villages on the way, will in two days bring his rider past the grave of the buried preacher to the house of the living preacher at Zara, who, if work is Christ-like, is Christ-like indeed. Three days farther is the city of Karahissar, and the Greek villages left from colonies which existed before the time of Xenophon. Five large cities need the missionary's constant care, and scores of villages —fifty of which are found around Sivas alone, into many of which the Bible has been introduced, and all of which are open for work — call always for his attention.

The shepherd who was feeding his sheep on the south of Sivas when the picture was sketched, has long ago folded his flock; the threshers who were driving their cattle over the heaps of yellow grain have finished their harvest work; and the muffled women who were returning from the graves, have ceased to mourn for the dust which that day they buried; but in Sivas, and its sister-cities and villages, women always mourn; the harvests of the Lord are ungarnered, and his fold unhoused. Who is ready to cross the seas and climb the mountains to join the devoted missionary at Sivas, in his fruitful, pleading work?

(For other statements respecting the Sivas field, see Herald for February last, page 45.)

## ARABIC-SPEAKING NEGRO MOHAMMEDANS IN AFRICA.

BY PROFESSOR GEORGE E. POST, M. D., BEIRUT, SYRIA.

(SOME months since, an Arabic letter from West Africa, on its way to missionaries in Syria, reached the Missionary House, through President Roberts, of Liberia College, and Dr. Tracy, Secretary of the Massachusetts Colonization Society. Mr. Roberts wrote (May 21, 1868): "In the latter part of January last, we had a very interesting visit at the College from a learned, I am told, Mandingo priest, named Karfae, accompanied by ten of his pupils. . . . I gave them several Arabic books, with which they seemed greatly pleased. Professor Blyden had met Karfae a few days before at Vonsua, a native village about fourteen miles interior of Monrovia, and on that occasion obtained from him a plan, drawn from memory, of the temple at Mecca; and after his visit to the College he got another document, containing a description of the distances from Vonsua to Musudu, etc. This latter paper was written more particularly in reply to the circular of our friends in Syria, pasted in the Arabic books sent

1869.]

through you, some time since, to the College, for distribution. The manuscripts, Professor Blyden handed to me, for the purpose of their transmission to Syria."

These manuscripts were shown to Dr. Post, of the Syria Protestant College, then in this country, and after his return to Syria he sent the following article, respecting the Arabic-speaking Africans, of whom this "learned Mandingo priest" is one. Both Professor Blyden, of the Liberia College, and Dr. Post, made translations of the Arabic letter. In reply to the circular pasted in the books from Syria, the writer gives the names of several of their "learned men," — of "Vonsua," "Bokoma" (Boporah), "Bakladu," and other places; states: "We are of one religion, and that is the religion of Mohammed"; says, "Who-soever believes in our prophet shall enter heaven, but whosoever does not believe in our prophet shall dwell in hell fire"; but calls the persons addressed "people of the books," and invites them thus, — "Come to us with the books which are among you, and your paper, and we will write to you." ED.

In the year 1819, John Louis Taylor, of North Carolina, wrote to Francis S. Key, of Georgetown, D. C. (the author of the "Star Spangled Banner"):—

"Sir,—the inclosed letter, in the Arabic character, was written by an African slave, the property of a very respectable gentleman of this State. The man, whose adopted name is *Moreau*, is believed to have been powerfully connected in his own country, and to have received a very uncommon education, having been put under some Mohammedan priests for that purpose. He is said to have the manners and principles and feelings of a well-bred gentleman; and it is pleasant to add that his merits are appreciated by his worthy master, who treats him with unbounded confidence and indulgence.

"Moreau is strongly attached to his master by gratitude, as well for the kindness of his behavior to him, as for the deplorable state from which he relieved him when he first became his owner. On this account chiefly, but in some degree from the apprehension that his patrimonial and domestic rights may have been usurped in his absence, he is unwilling to return to his native country; but I, have some reason to think he might be prevailed on to accompany a colony, should his services be deemed useful to the Colonization Society.

"I should be much gratified if you could indicate to me in what manner I could procure an Arabic Bible for his use, as I think it probable that a person of his enlargement of mind could not well peruse it without perceiving its authenticity and divine origin. His greatest delight, at present, is in hearing the Koran read to him in English; but it is with much difficulty he is made to understand it, and the little he does gather he probably owes to his familiarity with the original. Many persons were desirous of procuring a translation of the inclosed letter, which I hope to obtain by your assistance. The gentleman to whom it was addressed is wholly ignorant of its contents; I have others in my possession, but the one selected is the best and neatest display of penmanship."

The Arabic letter, and the original of Mr. Taylor's, have been preserved in the Library of Andover Theological Seminary, where the writer of this article saw them during the summer of 1867. The Arabic letter is a bombastic collection of sentences from the Koran, and at the end of it is a drawing, rudely executed, possibly an attempt at the plan of some building which Moreau had seen

116 Arabic-Speaking Negro Mohammedans in Africa.

[April,

in his own country, followed by some cabalistic sentences, not clearly intelligible to me during the cursory examination which I then made of them. There occurs, however, in that letter, one sentence in Arabic, from which it would appear that this slave was taken from a town called Kaba, in a province called Bewir, in Africa.

The subsequent history of this man is very interesting, as also some details of his previous history, which I obtained from Mr. Hathaway, of Brooklyn, late of North Carolina. It appears that Moreau was first sold in Charleston, South Carolina, to a master who ill-used him, so that he made his escape into North Carolina, where he was apprehended and confined in the county jail, from which he was sold into the possession of General Owen, a humane man, who treated him as mentioned in Mr. Taylor's letter. The desired Bible in Arabic was furnished through Mr. Key, and Moreau proceeded to study it with care. In time it produced its full effect on his mind, so that he was led to profess his faith in Christ. One peculiarity, however, marked him from the time of his acquaintance with Scripture. It was his dislike to be questioned as to his early history. Mr. Hathaway frequently asked him to give him some account of this matter, whereat he was accustomed at once to take his hat and wish him good morning.

Toward the time of his death, which took place two or three years since, his mistress gave him a blank book, requesting him to write an account of his life. He kept it for some time, and at length returned it to her, filled with Arabic writing. After his death it was sent to an Arabic scholar, who sent it back, saying that it was a collection of passages of Scripture, put together with no definite link of connection. This book was shown to me in the autumn of 1868, by Dr. Budington, of Brooklyn. I found it to contain the pith of the scheme of redemption, in a series of Scripture passages from the Old and New Testaments, and on the last two pages, the following appeal to his kindred, whom he names. The names are all pure Arabic, differing from those which occur in the letter referred to at the head of this article.

"Salaams to all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I have given my soul to Jesus the Son of God. O, my countrymen Bundah, and Photootor, and Photodalik, give salaams to Mohammed Said, and Makr Said,¹ and all the rest. Come, come, come, come to Jesus the Son of God, and ye shall find rest to your souls in the day of judgment. Come, come, come, come, come, come to Jesus, the Son of the living God. He shall enter Paradise forever. Amen."

This remarkable personage, and his story, were known to many individuals, but have not been published in full detail, so far as I know. In 1863, however, Mr. Dwight, Secretary of the Ethnological Society of New York, informed Rev. Daniel Bliss, D. D., President of the Syrian Protestant College, that there was a slave in North Carolina who was familiar with the Arabic language. He told him some of the above particulars, and showed him some Arabic manuscripts from the pen of the slave. The existence of one such man had led Mr. Dwight to suspect the fact of a prevalence of the Moslem faith, and Arabic language and culture, in the region from which he came. As a result of this conversation, Dr. Bliss offered to send Arabic Bibles to Liberia, to be circulated in the interior, and wrote to Beirût, where the principal press for printing Arabic books is in operation, and requested the missionaries of the American Board to send

¹ Several names are omitted here.

1869.]

on a case of books, including Bibles, in the Arabic tongue, for the purpose indicated. He further requested that a slip of paper be pasted in the fly-leaf of each of these books, containing a request to all who read or spoke the Arabic tongue, and under whose notice these books might fall, to give their own names, and those of their villages and tribes, and the learned men in them, and their works, and any other particulars they might please; also an intimation of their desire, if they had any, to receive books and instruction. These books were sent and distributed among the Arabic-speaking tribes who frequent the borders of Liberia. The letter referred to at the head of this article is one of the replies which came to this document.

In the spring of 1866, Professor Blyden, of the Liberia College, being deeply interested in the fact of the existence of this element in the population of Western Africa, visited Syria, and spent the summer in the study of Arabic, and in observing the facilities which might be afforded to students from Liberia in acquiring this difficult tongue, and preparing for missionary effort in Africa. While in Abeih he showed the writer of this article several Arabic manuscripts, the work of natives of the interior of Africa, some of them creditable in style and penmanship, indicating a considerable amount of familiarity with that classic and beautiful tongue. Since his return to Liberia he has been laboring among these Moslems, and has sent for a fresh supply of Bibles, and educational books, to use among the Mandingoes of the interior.

The sum of our present knowledge is briefly this. There exist near the borders of Liberia, and thence an indefinite distance inland, villages and tribes of negroes, who speak, read, and write Arabic. Dr. Livingstone speaks of being among friendly Arabs near the Zambesi. He travels with Arabic interpreters all through central and southern Africa. These tribes would appear to be superior in culture and civilization to surrounding peoples. They profess the religion of Mohammed, shorn of much of its bigotry and intolerance. They are spreading this religion, by preaching and conquest, through an unknown but vast region of the interior of that mysterious continent. The way is open for evangelizing them through the Arabic language, by means of men who should be trained for the purpose in an Arabic department of the Liberia College. Such a department does not exist, but should be created by the enlightened liberality of friends of the negro and his evangelization.

It may be that a process is going on in Central Africa similar to that by which the many languages and races of the Græco-Roman empire were all merged into one, and made susceptible of evangelization through the Greek tongue. If indeed it be the plan of Providence that these many barbarous nations of Africa are to be consolidated under one aggressive empire of ideas and faith, erroneous and imperfect though they be, we shall recognize the wisdom and foresight which thus prepare the way for evangelization through the medium of one copious, cultivated, expressive tongue, in the place of leaving to the Church the difficult task of translating and preaching in *many barbarous languages*, incapable of expressing the finer forms of thought, and denoting the separation of the people into many hostile tribes, quite forbidding the freedom of travel and commercial intercourse, and the progress of Christian missions.