shrubs of every varied charm, while festooning flowers suggest the idea of elegant horticulture. The rippling waves, studded with numerous islands, add to the interest of the scene; and the waters teem with fish, as the banks and rocks abound with birds and animals, small and great.

All these beauties concentre especially around that portion of the lake on the north, where the waters seek an outlet by precipitating themselves in several falls into one channel, which, of course, assumes all the characters of a river, fed by this perennial source. As the North American lakes pour forth their mighty volume of waters, to rush over Niagara and form and feed the majestic St. Lawrence, so from these falls, named "Ripon," a mighty river flows. The Nile is, in fact, this stream, which, issuing from the Victoria Nyanza, over the Ripon falls, forms here the white branch-or, really, is the parent stream, to which all accessories are obviously mere tributaries. By various affluents this current enlarges, but everywhere asserts its original dignity, for two thousand three hundred miles. It flows northward to the Mediterranean, through the very cradle of the civilization and science of the old world. How many tribes and peoples have flourished and perished on the banks of Father Nile before they are adorned with Egyptian Pyramids and his waters fertilize the land of the Pharaohs, it is vain to conjecture; but while tracing out the national history on the Delta and the contiguous portion of the Nile below the first cataract, curiosity is stimulated to learn what, in the successive ages, has been witnessed in the remote regions of the river's birth. Has the same dark mystery ever hung around the descendants of Ham,

"Where every prospect pleases,
And only man is vile"?

Speculation results in nothing satisfactory. The heart sickens with every new view of our nature as African explorers open up some fresh tribes of human beings. Each is only a shade worse than the last; while all seem equally lost to all sense of honour, honesty, and goodness. As we trace the traveller's steps, it is only to witness the same falsehood, fraud, and cruelty in each petty dominion. It seems natural to regret that the wider rule of some one despot does not sweep away each little tyrant, whose restricted rule only enables him the more easily to glare upon and to grasp every individual subject, so that none can escape the ills which all endure. Among the sketches of African manners which Speke gives, he not only describes beings whose laziness is a reproach to humanity, and who live like monkeys and baboons, feeding on calabash fruit, but in one place drunkenness is universal; men, women, and children, indulging to the full extent of oppor tunity. From the most degraded drudge to the chief, all are equally watchful for plunder, and steal and lie in the most shameless manner. Their petty kings are incarnate fiends, and justify the opinion held by some, that the devil does really embody himself in some human beings as a frightful incarnation. It is not merely that these wretches become the husbands of many wives, who are all compelled to work laboriously for the brute who owns them, but of these unfortunate women they are the tyrants, oppressors, and murderers. Speke gives an account of four wives dragged from the residence of one chief to a slaughter-house within two months; on

another occasion a poor wretch, from being a favourite, was ordered off to death ten minutes after his visit; and another voluntarily followed the executioner to show her absolute devotedness to her lord and master. This demon of a chief sometimes himself slew sisters as well as wives, becoming with his own hand the butcher of his wretched victims. Such utter recklessness in the sacrifice of life was displayed, that on one occasion a youth was ordered to go out and shoot a man, merely to try a new gun! A word spoken unseasonably, or some trifling failure in African etiquette, was often punished with immediate death. It is not surprising to learn that the mother of such a king is so degraded as to feed like a swine, by thrusting her face into the trough of Pombi! To teach such savages how to distil spirits from this beer, was surely of most questionable propriety; indeed, it deserves the severest censure.

When the Cameroons Mission was established, and our meek and modest brother, Merrick, joined the devoted band of missionaries, it was a cherished project of his to proceed inland among the natives. This was a bold conception, which it was difficult to suppose so quiet and modest a man could have matured; but, had his life been spared, it is not improbable the attempt would have been made to plant stations at easy distances, in a continuous line. How far across the continent Merrick might have reached in his evangelizing labours can only be conjectured. The entire object was far too grand for one short life; but sooner or later these regions must be penetrated, and perhaps along the Equator, or near that latitude, which is the most fertile part of the country, the missionaries from the Cameroons River may one day reach the Nile, and encircle the Victoria Nyanza with schools and stations to make known the glad tidings of the Gospel!

To assist our geographical acquaintance with Africa the whole continent has been compared to an inverted dish, in which case the seaboard is represented as almost invariably flat and low for five or fifteen miles and more; swampy and unwholesome, where fogs and miasma produce fevers and agues innumerable; then the interior rather suddenly and precipitously rises to the vast tableland of the continent, with its mountain ranges and desert regions, as well as thick forests and fertile plains.

Experience more and more confirms the conviction that Christ's servants, as such, are shut up to the main instrumentality of preaching the Gospel, teaching the ignorant, and distributing the Holy Scriptures and religious tracts. But the co-operation of enlightened mercantile enterprise, and the opening up of every variety of traffic and barter to counteract the universal prevalence of slavery and the slave trade, cannot be too highly appreciated. Suggestions as to change of method and missionary operations have often been made, and indeed carried into experiment, at great cost and suffering; it may, therefore, be allowed to throw out an idea that more use might possibly be made of the great river-roads of these regions of darkness, degra dation, and cruelty. How far Mr. Merrick's idea of settling two or more missionaries at distances of from thirty to fifty miles apart might be carried out on the banks of the rivers, it is impossible to say; but if anywhere, perhaps on the Nile, some such effort may be worthy of consideration. In India much has been effected by the boating excursions of missionary agents.

Between the Delta of Egypt and the Victoria Nyanza it is possible many stations might be safely established; and who can tell what may sooner or later be the influence upon interior Africa, of the tide of traffic between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea ?

The curse of Noah has long enough crushed the descendants of his guilty son. As Ham is thought to have appropriated this portion of the earth, so on the vast continent from the Cape of Good Hope to the Straits of Gibraltar, and from Cape Verde to the Straits of Babelmandeb, all along the interminable coast, and throughout the dark interior, always and everywhere slavery has, till very recently, prevailed. Yet it is proverbial that Africa is rich in raw material-animal, vegetable, and mineral. Her countless millions need our commonest useful manufactures; she implores products most profitable to provide in exchange for that raw and rich material most essential for the employment of labour guided by science and skill. It is some satisfaction to know that exploring travellers penetrate through constantly multiplying avenues; and it is credibly reported that, for the purpose of reaching Mecca, the votaries of Mahomet often cross the entire continent. May we not hope, and ought we not to pray, that many Africans, or men of African descent, like Merrick, will cherish the idea and attempt the sublime enterprise of bearing the cross of Christ right through the very heart of this vast region of darkness and sin? So shall Ethiopia soon "stretch out her hands unto God!"

"I DARE SAY GOD DID SO BECAUSE I ASKED HIM."

THESE were the words of a little fairhaired girl, who had not as yet completed her seventh year.

The church of which her parents and brothers were members was in want of a pastor. The pulpit had been supplied by a person for several Sabbaths with a view to the pastorate; and the time was now come for deciding either to invite him, or to ask some one else to supply. There had for some time been two parties in the church who could scarcely agree on any question, and thus there was not any likelihood of their agreeing on this one. It was an anxious time, for affairs looked very dark, and the friends of the cause feared there would be a total failure. Meetings for prayer were held; and if two or three friends happened casually to meet in any place, they were sure after a few words to turn to the agitated question, and would then unite to pray about it. Even the children

seemed to take an interest in the matter and so some of them not only thought, but prayed about it too. The day for the church meeting arrived; it was wet and stormy throughout, and the evening closed in dark and piercing cold, for it was winter time. Faces seldom seen at church meetings were there that night; aged people had trudged for miles through the dark, dirty, country roads, battling with the wind and rain, which paid no respect to their years; others were there who had braved difficulties of various kinds in order to be present The votes were recorded in silence; and notwithstanding that some persons had come intending to oppose, they remained neutral instead, and thus it was decided that an invitation should be given. Some thought they saw the hand of God in this, and so thought our little maiden, for no sooner did she hear of the result, than she at once exclaimed, "I dare say

Tales and Sketches.