s his washerman?'"

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

WESLEYAN MISSION COMMENCED AT GOOBBE.

In April, 1837, Mr and Mrs Hodson went to live at Goobbe. At first
they dwelt in tents, and then they built a little cottage, of which the
accompanying sketch gives a fair representation. The walls, about six
feet high, were made of mud, the roof was thatch, and the rooms were
small and few. But the Missionary and his wife found it very
comfortable when the weather was fine, though when it rained they were
subject to many little inconveniences. This mission cottage, situated
on the brow of a rising ground, commanded a pleasant and extensive
prospect. In the front there was a view over hill and dale, wood and
water, for fifty or sixty miles. On one side the low flat lands, well
watered from a large tank, were covered with rich crops of rice. On
other sides there were patches of varied cultivation, interspersed with
clumps of trees, as well as large tracts of uncultivated land, used as
common pasturage for all the cattle of the town. To these unenclosed
grounds cows, sheep, etcetera, were driven out every morning, and after
grazing all day, were brought back into the town of Goobbe every
evening. Occasionally, a shepherd's boy, reclining on the ground near
his sheep, played sweetly on an instrument, newly made by himself out of
some hollow vegetable stalk, but which in an hour or two, on its
becoming dry or injured, he would break and throw away as a useless
`bruised reed.' The Missionary has often sat at his cottage door
admiring these beauties of nature, when unexpectedly a few graceful
timid antelopes have run across the garden in front of him, adding life
as well as beauty to the scene. On a Sunday morning he often fancied
every thing appeared clearer, brighter and more beautiful than on other
days. There was, however, one dark cloud hanging over all this
loveliness, in the fact that the town of Goobbe, just at the foot of the
hill was wholly given to idolatry:

"Every prospect pleases,
Only man is vile."

The Missionary and his assistant went forth daily from their poor abodes
carrying the riches of the Gospel either into one of the streets of
Goobbe, or to some of the numerous villages within seven or eight miles
of the mission cottage, and preached in the open air to as many people
as they could collect; and when a congregation could not be obtained,
they went from house to house, and thus made known the plan of