The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1889, Page 10

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-has brought forth fruit to eternal life.

10 . The Lutheran Pioneer.

The Zulus.

In our picture you see a Zulu village. The
Zulus live in South Africa.’ -Their villages are
made up of a series of huts like huge bee-hives,
placed in circles, the cattle-pen being in the
center. The huts are about ten feet in diam-
eter and five feet high. The single hole through
which entrance must be made serves for door,
window, and chimney. Neither tables, nor
chairs, nor beds are to be seen, only a few mats,
and pots, and blankets. The men and women
sit and sleep on the ground. The usual cloth-
ing of the wild natives consists of a slight
covering made of skins worn about the loins.
They sometimes ornament themselves with
beads and skins and necklaces of lion’s teeth or
claws. The warriors es-
‘pecially ornament their
bodies in high style.

barren island, about eight miles in length and
six in breadth, lying between Africa and Brazil.
Until the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was
imprisoned on the Island of St. Helena, this
island was uninhabited. Then the English
government built a fort on it, and the soldiers
cultivated it. But the time to which our story
refers was before this. No one lived on the
island then, and ships never stopped there,
unless they wanted to get a supply of turtles,
as they were always to be found along the
shores in great number.

But the admiral was not in want of turtles
for his crew. Yet no sooner did the island, in
the far distance, appear in sight, than a strange
desire came over him to go out of his course,
and steer towards it.

Such work as digging,

All on board wondered what this meant, and
why the ship was changing her course to visit
an uninhabited island. As they drew near all
were on the lookout, and every eye was eagerly
turned towards the island. Soon those who'had
the best glasses were greatly excited about an
object on shore, which at first they could not
make out. ‘It’s something white,’’ said one.
“T's a flag; it’s a signal,” said another. It
was a signal of distress, and they soon saw men
upon the island.

When they came near, the ship ‘hove to,’’
and a boat was sent ashore. In a little while
the boat returned, bringing with her sixteen
men who had been cast ashore on that island
some days before. The want of food had caused
them extreme suffering; and knowing that the

. island was rarely visited
by passing vessels, they
had done all that could
be done in setting up

their signal on the high-

carrying burdens, and

est point of the coast,

cutting wood is done by

the women. The men
hunt, and fight, and
take care of their cattle.
The wealth of a heathen
‘Zulu consists of his cattle
and his wives. He ex-
changes from ten to
twenty cows for a wife
and sells his own daugh-
ters for cattle. His wives
are simply slaves. His
ideas of religion are ex-
tremely low and de-
based. His faith is in
witchcraft, in goblins to
be feared and appeased,
and in the spirits of the
dead to be worshiped.
He uses charms, and the
witch-doctor, who is supposed to drive away
evil spirits, has a terrible power over him. The
rain-doctor, who claims to bring showers, is
also a noted character among the Zulus.

» For many: years .Norwegian and German
Lutherans have been carrying on mission work
in Zulu land. They find it a hard field of Jabor,
but their labor has*not been in vain. They
have established-many missionary schools and
churches among the Zulus and the Gospel seed
May
God bless the labors of the missionaries to the
salvation of many souls in Zulu Jand.

——) <a o oe

An Answer to Prayer.

Jesus has a wonderful eye to see what His

"people need, and a wonderful hand to enable

Him to supply their need.
Many years ago, Admiral Williams was
crossing the Atlantic Ocean in command of a

“frigate belonging to the English navy. The
course he was sailing brought him within sight
“of the Island of Ascension. This is a small,

and praying earnestly

that God would send

ZULU VILLAGE.

He felt sure if he did so, that his officers and
crew would think it very strange, as he could
give no reason-for changing the ship’s course.
He tried to throw off his feeling, but could not
do it. The desire grew stronger and stronger,
and at last he made up his mind to follow this
strange impression, and see to what it would
lead.

Calling his lieutenant, he ordered him to get
ready to put the ship about, and steer for the
Island of Ascension. ‘The officer ventured
respectfully to suggest to the admiral how much
this would delay them, and to ask what would
be gained by this change of course. The ad-
miral said he could not tell, but that he felt a
strong desire to go.

*«Sir,”” said the lieutenant, ‘“‘the men are
just going to dinner; shall the order be delayed
till they get through?”’

Without further reply, the admiral himself
gave the order, which is never disobeyed on
ship-board: ‘‘Ready, about!”

At once the men sprang to their stations.
The vessel was put about; and directly was
making her way towards the distant island.

them relief. Solomon
tells us that ‘‘ the heart
of a king is in the hand
of the Lord, and He
turneth withersoever He
will, as the rivers of
water are turned.’’ And
we have a beautiful il-
lustration of this truth,
when we see how God's
hand turned the heart
of this sailor to do what
He wished to have done,
And it is because God
has power over the
hearts of all men, that
d He can use His won-
derful hand to guide His people in all their
ways.

The Mouse in the Pantry.

An old man used to gay to his granddaughter,
when she used to be out of temper or naughty
in any way, “Mary, Mary, take care; there’s
a mouse in the pantry.’’ She often used to
cease crying at this and stand wondering to
herself what he meant. She often ran to the
pantry to see if there really was a mouse in the
trap, but she never found one. One day she
said: ‘‘Grandfather, I don’t know what you
mean; I haven’t a pantry, and there are no
mice in*mother’s, because I have looked so
often.” He smiled and said: ‘‘Come, and I'll
tell you what I mean. Your heart, Mary, is the
pantry; the little sins are the mice that get in
and nibble away all the good, and that makes
you sometimes cross and peevish and fretful.
To keep them out you must set a trap of watch-

fulness.’?
———»> +. oo

True charity has no memory.