The Kafirs are very fond of attending their own schools and church services, of which there are several in the town; and I find one of my greatest difficulties in living out here consists in getting Kafirs to come out of town, for by doing so they miss their regular attendance at chapel and school.  A few Sundays ago I went to one of these Kafir schools, and was much struck by the intently-absorbed air of the pupils, almost all of whom were youths about twenty years of age.  They were learning to read the Bible in Kafir during my visit, sitting in couples, and helping each other on with immense diligence and earnestness.  No looking about, no wandering, inattentive glances, did I see.  I might as well have “had the receipt of fern-seed and walked invisible” for all the attention I excited.  Presently the pupil-teacher, a young black man, who had charge of this class, asked me if I would like to hear them sing a hymn, and on my assenting he read out a verse of “Hold the Fort,” and they all stood up and sang it, or rather its Kafir translation, lustily and with good courage, though without much tune.  The chorus was especially fine, the words “Inkanye kanye” ringing through the room with great fervor.  This is not a literal translation of the words “Hold the Fort,” but it is difficult, as the teacher explained to me, for the translator to avail himself of the usual word for “hold,” as it conveys more the idea of “take hold,” “seize,” and the young Kafir missionary thoroughly understood all the nicety of the idiom.  There was another class for women and children, but it was a small one.  Certainly, the young men seemed much in earnest, and the rapt expression of their faces was most striking, especially during the short prayer which followed the hymn and ended the school for the afternoon.

I have had constantly impressed upon my mind since my arrival the advice not to take Christian Kafirs into my service, but I am at a loss to know in what way the prejudice against them can have arisen.  “Take a Kafir green from his kraal if you wish to have a good servant,” is what every one tells me.  It so happens that we have two of each—­two Christians and two heathens—­about the place, and there is no doubt whatever which is the best.  Indeed, I have sometimes conversations with the one who speaks English, and I can assure you we might all learn from him with advantage.  His simple creed is just what came from the Saviour’s lips two thousand years ago, and comprises His teaching of the whole duty of man—­to love God, the great “En’ Kos,” and his neighbor as himself.  He speaks always with real delight of his privileges, and is very anxious to go to Cape Town to attend some school there of which he talks a great deal, and where he says he should learn to read the Bible in English.  At present he is spelling it out with great difficulty in Kafir.  This man often talks to me in the most respectful and civil manner imaginable about the customs