There is attached to the town a large native location, for the heavy part of the work as well as the housework is about all done by native boys. They are all called "boys." In the eyes of their white employers the native seldom becomes a man. He may be an old boy or a young boy, a little boy or a big boy, but he is always a boy. On the other hand, in the eyes of many Europeans it is almost an insult to speak of their children as boys. In the early days one of the missionaries, in speaking to an old European lady, said something about her boy. She straightened herself proudly and with emphasis said, "My son." At the mission one day a native woman was begging very hard for a piece of cloth, and to strengthen her request she said, "I am your boy," evidently meaning that she belonged to me.
Mtshabezi Church and School.
Mtshabezi Mission in 1910.
Although Bulawayo is the largest town in Southern Rhodesia, there are others, such as Salisbury, Gwelo, Victoria, and Gwanda, which deserve mention. Farmers are scattered throughout the country, especially along the high, rolling plain between Bulawayo and Salisbury. There are many valuable gold mines and many old gold workings to be found in various places. The most noted is Great Zimbabwe, near Victoria. It is said: "The ruins cover a large area, and on an eminence are the remains of a fortress, the walls of which are thirty feet high and ten feet thick, and built of cut stones put together without mortar, so closely-fitting that a knife can hardly be inserted between them. Smelting crucibles, with gold in them, ingot moulds, and spears have been found." Some think that the Sabeans from Arabia worked these about 3,000 years ago. This is thought by some to be the "gold of Ophir." Ruins on a smaller scale are to be found in various places. Not far from Mapani Mission we saw a circular wall made of wedge-shaped stones, nicely fitted together. The country is also rich in iron ore, and at Wankie is the great coal-mining district. All these places furnish abundant work for all the natives of Rhodesia, and are also centers for mission work.
January 1, I was again taken to Motopo Mission, not with the slow, patient donkeys of fifteen years ago, but with the swifter mules. Many changes have taken place among the natives surrounding the mission since 1898. On our first entering this valley the natives had just fled and hid themselves away in these rocks at the close of the Rebellion. They were then very poor, without flocks and herds, and had few gardens, and very little of the land had ever been brought under cultivation. Since then the natives have gradually come out of their hiding-places and settled down to their work. Under the influence of peace and better teaching their surroundings have greatly changed. There are more natives near the mission than at first, and they have sheep, goats, and cattle, and some of them have plows and oxen to draw them, so that they can plow their large gardens. Every available place near the mission has been brought under cultivation, but not in the old, laborious way with human oxen, so that the wives are not the slaves they once were. Of course, in the absence of the men at work the women often hold the plow, but they have more time to keep house. One of the officials affirms that the best way of doing away with polygamy is by introducing civilized ways of farming.
The people began by bringing their oxen to Brother Steigerwald to be trained, and then he helped them to procure plows, and they still come to him for help in trouble. The 3,000-acre farm is far too small for all who desire to live near the mission. If he had twice the amount of land it would soon become filled with natives, who would thus be near the mission and under the influence of the Gospel.
Let us visit some of the houses and see what changes have taken place. Here first is the home of Matshuba. As he was first in the fold, he is worthy of first notice. He lives in a small, neatly-built brick house, with a well-swept yard inclosed by a fence. Inside the house are homemade bedsteads, chairs and tables, and here is Matshuba the same as of yore. He is older and has fought many battles since that first day when, as a little boy, he came and watched the newcomers. He has found the conflict severe and almost overpowering at times. It has left some scars, but, praise God! he has come off victorious at last, and in a more humble spirit he is following the meek and lowly Savior. He is Elder Steigerwald's right-hand man and is capable of turning his hand to almost any kind of work. He can take the blacksmith tools and mend the large three-disc plow; he can make use of the small engine and grind the meal for the native food, or do any other kind of work about the place. Best of all, he can go out and tell the people about Jesus. He had hoped that the elder's many-sided ability might be his, and he seems to have had his wish. He could secure much larger pay as an engineer in the mines, but he feels that his place is in the Lord's work. May he have our prayers that he may always find God's grace sufficient.