THE LUTHERAN PIONEER It is a far-flung field that our missionaries among the deaf are taking care of. They travel great distances to reach their preaching-places. In same instances they travel as many as 1,500 miles a month. They are serving 165 stations with the Gospel and conduct almost 1,500 services a year. Eight of our deaf congregations at this time have their own chapels, and several have their own parsonages. Several of our dea-f-mute workers also labor among the blind. In fact, one man devotes all his time to the blind, also editing the Lutheran Messenger for the Blincl, which has subscribers in every State of the Union and in twenty foreign countries. The Deaf Lutheran is sent to all the deaf served by our missionaries. The editor of the D eaf L11,thera1i also edits periodicals for the blind in German, Spanish, and Moon Braille, which are read in nineteen countries. F. J. L.
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'cutting' palavers, the people having such confidence in her judgment and periect justice that they willingly submit their disputes to her, and when she 'cuts' t he rag held by the two contestants, the one having t he shorter piece goes away as ,vell pleased as the possessor of the longer piece - the sign that the palaver has been decided in his favor. "The .first palaver was at Angom in Congo Frangais, on Nkomo Iliver, in the Gaboon district. ".Angom was occupied as a mission-station in 1881. The missio11-property is on rising ground, some distance away from the river and back of the town of Fula. It is a veritable 'garden of the Lord' ior beauty and lu:xuriaDce. If there is any fruit,
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Two Palavers. In his interesting report on a visit to the West Africa Mission of the Northern Presbyterian Church the Re,•. A. W. Halsey, a secretary of his Church's Boa1·d of Foreign Missions, gives the following account of two so-called African "palavers" be attended on his tour: "One of the onerous duties of the missionary is listening to palavers. The visiting secretary was present at a number of palavers. Two occurred among the Fang people. They illustrate certain distinct characteristics of the native African. "The palaver is everything in Africa. No undertaking of any importance can be carried on without the palaver. Before a canoe is bought or a wife taken or a dispute settled, there must be a palaver. The meanest town in .the 'bush where a few straggling huts, a stray goat, a half dozen children, ·and twoscore men and women constitute the entire community, is not without its palaver house. At Duketown, in Old Calabar, the palaver house was an old tumble-down house, filled with rubbish and dirt, unfit to shelter pigs; yet when the drum was sounded, the people crowded into this building to hold a palaver. Time is no element in the make-up 9f the African, and these palavers often last a whole day or more. The matter in dispute may be the merest trifle, but the palaver must be held and the question settled in proper form. "Miss Isabella Nassau, so long the honored and devoted missionary worker in Batanga, .is famous at
An African Village.
flower, or vegetable growing on the ,vest coast of Africa that is not found on these goodly acres it has escaped my eye. The mission-houses are fairly sur1·ounded wi.t h trees laden with richest fruit, oranges, limes, coconuts, pineapples, breadfruit, papaws, avocado pears, .mangoes, coffee, cocoa, and much else. The blue myrtle was crushed under our feet as we walked, the 'pride of Barbados' delighted our · eyes as we looked about and tropical flowers of many varieties and richest hues were growing everywhere in great profusion. The Rev. A. W. Marling and wife labored here for many years, and much that we saw was the result of their painstaking efforts. Mr. Marling died in 1896. The station was closed in 1898. Every bit of the furniture left in the houses. remains untouched, a large. collection of planks, windows, boxes, and innumerable articles
