breath and
said, "Were you born in the great sea water?"

Robert Moffat reached Africaner's kraal on the 26th of January, 1818,
and was kindly received by Mr. Ebner. The chief soon made his
appearance, and inquired if the new missionary had been appointed by the
Directors in London. Receiving an affirmative reply, he ordered a number
of women to come. Then pointing to a spot of ground he said to the
women, "There you must build a house for the missionary." In half an
hour the structure was completed, in appearance something like a
bee-hive. In this frail house, of sticks and native mats, Moffat lived
for nearly six months, being scorched by the sun, drenched by the rain,
exposed to the wind, and obliged often to decamp through the clouds of
dust; in addition to which, any dog wishing for a night's lodging could
force its way through the wall, sometimes to the loss of the
missionary's dinner next day. A serpent was occasionally found coiled in
a corner, or the indweller of the habitation had to spring up, in the
middle of the night, to save himself and his house from being crushed to
pieces during the nocturnal affrays of the cattle which roamed at large.
He lived principally upon milk and dried meat, until, after a time, he
was able to raise a little grain and garden stuff.

A few days after Moffat's arrival, Mr. Ebner departed, so that the young
missionary was left entirely alone in a trying and most difficult
position, a stranger in the midst of a strange people. "Here I was,"
said he, "left alone with a people suspicious in the extreme; jealous of
their rights which they had obtained at the point of the sword; and the
best of whom Mr. Ebner described as a sharp thorn. I had no friend and
brother with whom I could participate in the communion of saints, none
to whom I could look for counsel or advice. A barren and miserable
country; a small salary, about twenty-five pounds per annum. No grain,
and consequently no bread, and no prospect of getting any, from the want
of water to cultivate the ground, and destitute of the means of sending
to the Colony. These circumstances led to great searchings of heart, to
see if I had hitherto aimed at doing and suffering the will of Him in
whose service I had embarked. Satisfied that I had not run unsent, and
having in the intricate, and sometimes obscure course I had come, heard
the still small voice saying, 'This is the way, walk ye in it,' I was
wont to pour out my soul among th