CHAPTER IX.
OUR JOURNEY TO MOJANGÁ.
Last Meetings in the Capital—Farewell interview with the Queen—Departure to Vonizongo—North Vonizongo—Angavo—The five Garrison Towns—Religious condition of their People—Crossing the Wilderness—No man’s land—The Cataracts of the Ikopa—Vast deposits of Drift—Town of Mevatanána—Voyage in Canoes—Junction of the Ikopa and Betsiboka Rivers—Amparihibe—Crocodiles in the River—The Level Plains—Town of Trabonjy, its Governor and People—Marovoay—Arrival at Mojangá: Its Churches and People—Religious condition of the District—Trade and History of Mojangá.
CHAPTER IX.
OUR JOURNEY TO MOJANGÁ.
Our work in Imerina was done: we had only a fortnight left to make our preparations for another voyage, to complete sundry matters of business, and say farewell to our friends. The day after our return we attended the opening services of Mr. Jukes’s church at Ankadibeváva on the east slope of the city-hill. The Directors of the Society had assisted the native congregation by a grant of £300: and for that sum and other contributions raised by the people, Mr. Pool had erected a substantial and handsome building, convenient for worship and an ornament to the city. The church, when the seats are finished, will hold eight hundred people. The congregations were large at the opening services, and as in other lands on similar occasions the ladies appeared in bright and even gorgeous dresses. Several new hymns and tunes, prepared for the occasion, were most effectively sung by choirs from various churches and the congregation at large. Amongst other addresses, a touching sermon was preached by an officer high in the Government and the community, from the text: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Among minor incidents of our life at this time, I may mention that, while spending a pleasant evening with Dr. Davidson, the house and city were well shaken by an earthquake, the second we have experienced during our year in the island. The shock was a moderate one, and its general direction was north and south.
On Thursday, July 16th, we were invited to a very pleasant entertainment, by the members of the Friends’ Mission, the Medical Mission and of our own Society, that they might express their kind feelings toward us in relation to our visit, and together wish us farewell. The members of the Friends’ Mission have all along been working in perfect harmony with our own: and it was a source of great satisfaction to my colleague and myself, that by making their acquaintance, looking into the form and character of their work, and settling one or two questions which had been pending, we had been able to draw the bonds between the two missions even closer than before. To the members of the Medical Mission the families of our mission are under great obligations for constant and unvarying kindness: while in their special work of giving effective help to the native families of the city, young and old, rich and poor, and in the medical education of young men, our brethren and ourselves can feel nothing but warm sympathy, and give them willing co-operation and aid. The stations of the Norwegian Mission we had seen in various parts of the southern country; and from all the missionary brethren, in country and in town, we had experienced great kindness. The members of all four missions are at the present time in complete accord; they have the same spiritual aims; they teach the same Evangelical doctrine: they are co-operating in many ways together in their plans: and week by week they meet together in each other’s homes to ask for the same Divine blessing on the missions to which they belong. That we had done anything to promote this loving union, was a source of much pleasure to us both. We were assured in various quarters that it was so. And at this social gathering Mr. Dahl spoke in affectionate and emphatic terms of the benefit which, in this direction of union, our visit had conferred upon them all.
The native pastors manifested the warmest affection toward us, as the time of our departure drew near: and on Saturday evening they paid us a formal visit. Fifteen were present. They said kind things of ourselves and our coming amongst them: gave each of us a beautiful silk lamba as a parting gift: sent the most affectionate messages to the Directors and the friends of the Society at home; and then requested Mr. Pillans as a pastor of long experience to give them some parting counsels in regard to their work. When he had finished the younger pastors, who had but just left the College and entered upon Church work, asked for a few special words for themselves. No young pastors in England could have made the request more naturally, have listened more intelligently, or have been more grateful for the weighty words which fell from my colleague’s lips, than these young men. And it gives us hope and confidence in regard to the future of our churches, that such are the simple, true-hearted, well-trained ministers of Christ, whom our Theological College has begun to send forth to be the guides and instructors of the Malagasy Church.
Our friends within the Palace also studiously manifested their regard for us. Three of the principal officers, from whom we have all along received much kindness, visited us, and presented us with dresses and other manufactures of the country; each giving us different specimens of native work. And one, not only sent messages to his young cousins, now being educated in Europe, but desired us to express his warmest thanks to the Directors and our Churches, for the service which they have long rendered to his countrymen in Madagascar by preaching among them the gospel of Christ. The Queen and Prime Minister added many expressions and proofs of their regard to those of their relatives and friends. And it was arranged that on the morning of Saturday, July 18th, the Queen should in the presence of the Court, grant us audience to say farewell, as she had given us a formal reception on our arrival; and that she should then place in our hands her reply to the Address of the Directors which we had brought with us.