“Lessouto, June 28th, 1876.

“Gentlemen,

“I must give you details of the journey which I have just made with four native evangelists; for no doubt you will wish to know why a missionary expedition, begun under the happiest auspices, and with the good wishes of so many Christians, has come to grief, on account of the ill-will of certain men, and has been, from a human point of view, a humiliating failure.  Having placed myself at the head of the expedition, and being the only white man in the missionary group, I must bear the whole responsibility of our return, and if there is anyone to blame it is I.

“From our departure from Leriba, as far as the other side of Pretoria, our voyage was most agreeable.  We went on with energy, thinking only of our destination, the Banyais country, making plans for our settling amongst those people, and full of happiness at the thought of our new enterprise.  An excellent spirit prevailed in our little troop,—­serious and gay at the same time; no regrets, no murmurings; with a presentiment, indeed, that the Transvaal Government might make some objection to our advance, but with the certainty that God was with us, and would over-rule all that man might try to do.  We crossed the Orange Free State without hindrance, we passed the Vaal, and continued our route towards the capital of the Transvaal; we reached the first village through which we must pass—­Heidelberg—­and encamped some distance from there.  There they told us that the Boers knew that we were about to pass, and if they wished to stop us, it would be there they would do it.  Let us take courage, therefore, we said, and be ready for everything.  We unharnessed, and walked through the village in full daylight, posting our letters, etc.  No one stopped us or spoke to us, and we retired to our encampment, thanking God that He had kept us through this critical moment.  Some days later, we approached a charming spot, within three hours of Pretoria, near a clear stream, surrounded with lovely trees and flowers; we took the Communion together, strengthening each other for the future.  Monday, at nine o’clock, we reached Pretoria.  We were looked at with curiosity; they read our names on the sides of my waggon, they seemed surprised, and held discussions among themselves; the Field Cornet himself saw us pass, they told me sometime later.  But we passed through the town without opposition.

“We continued our way to the north-east full of thankfulness, saying to each other that after all the Government of the Transvaal was not so ill-disposed towards us.  Our oxen continued to walk with sturdy steps; we had not yet lost one, although the cattle plague was prevalent at the time.  Wednesday, at four o’clock in the evening, we left the house of an English merchant, with whom we had passed a little time, and who had placed at our disposal everything which we needed.  Towards eight o’clock, by a splendid moonlight, I was walking in front of