evenings, Misses Rawson and Wright, of the Yorkshire concerts, and Messrs. Newsome, Stones, and Hague enter tained the visitors with part and other music. The sums realized were £160 on Tuesday, and nearly £100 on each of the other days, making together £350, and amounting, with the £500 previously raised, to £850. A large stock of articles remain to be disposed of as occasion may offer, and by the sale of them it is hoped that the £150 required to make up £1,000, will be raised at no distant time. The services of the singers were gratuitously rendered and gave great satisfaction.

in relation to Rev. E. Foster, their late
pastor:- That the best thanks of this
meeting be given to Mr. E. Foster for
his faithful services in connection with
this church, and, though for the future
our courses may be different, we beg
to assure him, that we shall while life
lasts retain a lively remembrance and
high appreciation of his endeavours to
advance our spiritual welfare; and
pray, that in bis future course, the
blessing of God may attend him.'
CASH RECEIVED for the COLLEGE.

Nottingham, Broad-street...
Stoney-street..
Barton, Barleston, &c.......
Packington........

Old Basford..........
W. D. Ditchett, Esq.,Louth
Rev. R. Kenney, Burton-on-
Trent.........

£ s. d. 20 8 2

7 15 0 18 9 4

4 60
2 15
2 2 0

1

1 0

Mr. Marshall will feel obliged if the friends of the College will kindly favour him with any cash in their hands before the 12th of June, as the accounts for the current year will be closed on that day.

MARRIAGES.

to

April 18th, at Arley chapel, Bristol, Samuel, eldest son of Mr. W. Penny, of Newport, Monmouthshire, Rebecca, eldest daughter of the late Rev. G. Redford, D.D., LL.D., of Worcester.

April 30th, at the Baptist chapel, Newbury, Rev. P. G. Scorey, of Wokingham, to Charlotte Denslow Stroud, daughter of the late Benjamin Rolls Stroud, Esq., of Calcutta.

May 16th, at Kingsgate chapel, Mr. J. Goosey, of Kettering, to Mary, fourth daughter of the late Joseph Wallis, Esq., of Barton Lodge, Northamptonshire.

DEATHS.

April 27th, at Dartmouth, South Devon, Rev. James Simmons, M.A., aged 70, He was many years pastor of the Baptist church, Olney.

APPEAL

FOR at least fifteen years the extreme desirableness of establishing a mission amongst the Khonds has been acknowledged by all the missionaries in Orissa.

For a series of years this important question has occupied the earnest attention of the missionaries at their annual conference, and times without number have appeals been made to the friends of missions at home to enable us to enter upon this inviting field of labour.

When the subject was first brought forward by the late Dr. Sutton, the government officers had just entered upon the noble work of suppressing the Meriah sacrifice. The whole country in consequence was in a most disturbed state, and any attempt to have established a mission then would have been attended with signal failure. Human sacrifices are, we believe, now unknown in Khondistan, and not a few of the Khonds with whom we have had personal intercourse seemed thoroughly ashamed of this barbarous practice.

The country is perfectly peaceful, and a missionary may now travel any where in the interior without the slightest cause for fear or alarm to his person, or without let or hindrance to his work.

I have now the pleasure to forward the following account of a journey I took into the country, in company with Balagi Juggernath and Mathew, a short time ago.

I left Russell Condah on Monday Light, the 28th of January, and as I bad previously sent on my horse and servants I went the two first stages by dawk. The journey was a most uncomfortable one, and twice or thrice the bearers missed their way and got completely wedged in the jungle. After several stoppages my palanquin was set down near a Khond village, close

to the Coormingia hills, and being excessively wearied I fell asleep; when I awoke and looked round upon the wild wild scene, I thought I had got into a queer world. Soon after sunrise we commenced our march to the Ghats. I should like to give you a picture of the Doorgaprasad pass, but it defies description. O! how grand were the mountains! and to their very summits they were covered with magnificent trees. Such an unbroken forest I had never seen, and it seemed as though the woodman's axe had never been heard in those regions. The jungle fowl and peacocks were so tame that they allowed us to approach them within a few yards. On either side of the pass were ferns growing in their wild luxuriance, and for some distance our way lay by a mountain stream: the water was beautifully clear, and its rippling or rather rolling over the bed of rocks was most grateful to our ears. After we had reached the summit of the third ghat the plateau of Kalingah burst upon our view. skirts of the forest we came upon a party of women and boys, and so startled were they at our appearance that in almost the twinkling of an eye they scampered into the wood and vanished out of sight.

On the out

The fine cold bracing wind gave us unmistakeable intimation that we must be at the least 2,000 feet above the level of the sea. So invigorating was this north-easterly wind, that I could have imagined for the moment that I had been on the hills of Charnwood, instead of the hills of Khondistan. Shortly after our arrival at Kalingah the Mullicks, or head men of the village, came to see us. They made the most profound salutations, and assured us that they were ready for any service or work to which we might appoint them, but when requested to procure

the needful supplies for ourselves, preachers, and servants, they gave a most ludicrous description of the poverty of the land to which we had come. I said, if you are so willing to serve us, haste away and bring us a kid or goat. "A kid or goat indeed!" said they, we should like to know where you would find either?" though there was quite a number grazing within a few yards from the place where we stood. Well! if you cannot bring kid or goat, bring us a fowl. "Bring you a fowl! where do you think fowls can be procured in this jungle country!" To deny the existence of fowls was impossible, for our ears were deafened by the crowing of cocks and the cackling of hens, so they confessed that there might be one or two fowls, but as they were kept for sacrifice, they could neither be given nor sold. Well, then, you must bring some eggs. "An egg," said they, cannot be found, for the children eat them as fast as they are laid." As all entreaty and promise too of remuneration had failed, I began to be rather imperious in my demands. I said, I will not hear any more of your excuses, you have cows in all your villages, go instantly and bring me two or three measures of milk. Why, a cow here does not give as much milk as you could hold between your thumb and finger." To sum up all, the Mullicks said we could get nothing but "wood and straw." Our servants, especially would have been in great difficulty but for the unexpected arrival of a government native official.

tree of each not being more than seven feet in height, every house is thatched, and the walls almost without exception are made of strong planks. As the Khonds have not yet learned the art of sawing, I was rather curious to know how these planks were obtained. Upon inquiry, I learned that they were chopped with the axe, out of solid logs of wood, each log is first cut down the centre, and then the two sides are backed into shape. These buts are not, I should think, very dissimiliar from the log huts in Ireland. All the live stock sleep in the same room with the inmates, in one corner you find goats, in another pigs, in another fowls, and in another cows, bullocks, and buffaloes.

Social life amongst the Khonds is very different from that of the people of the plains. The women wear only a small shread of cloth round their loins, the upper part of the person is entirely exposed. All the women wear a profuse number of brass and bead necklaces, their ears are covered with rings, not less than nine in each ear, and the armlets which are made of solid brass, frequently weigh from twelve to fourteen pounds. Some of the women are not prepossessing in their appearance; I saw, however, not a few that I thought very fair looking indeed.

The men are well built, and are capable of enduring a much greater amount of fatigue than the people in the low country. All the Khonds obtain their livelihood by agricultural pursuits, and as a good portion of the land is in a high state of cultivation, and as the government hitherto have exempted them from all taxation, there is certainly no appearance of wretchedness or poverty.

I thought they ought to find a place in the British Museum. In the Khond country there is scarcely any monetary

235

The marriage contracts are of a novel and costly character. The Hindoos betroth their children so early in life, that choice with the parties affianced is altogether out of the question, not so the Khonds, when a girl is sought she must first express her entire approval before any agreement can be made, when this is done, certain suitable presents are made by the suitor; the father then states what sum the young man must pay in future to redeem his daughter; in some cases he demands "twenty knots," and seldom less than twelve. The first knot may perhaps be a brass vessel, the second a valuable cloth, the third a cow, the fourth a buffalo, &c., &c. Occasional feasts on a large scale take place on the presentation of them, and when the whole ransom is paid the father takes bis daughter and all her worldly goods some distance from the village, and without any marriage ceremony being performed the young man takes his bride to his home.

Polygamy is not allowed, and licentiousness is not so common as amongst the Hindoos. The sin of drunkenness is, I regret to say, very common; all over the country we find Oriya distillers, and as there is no tax upon liquors, a man can get dead drunk for about three farthings. The liquor generally used is made from the flower of the moula, or honey tree, and is far more deadly in its effects than whisky. The Khonds have no temples, they however worship the mountains, and occasionally the spirits of deceased ancestors, and in times of sickness, buffaloes and fowls are freely offered in sacrifice.

The climate of Khondistan has ever been considered most fatal to the health of Europeans, and also to the people of the plains. In those parts I visited, my conviction is that a missionary might enjoy robust health for at least six months in the year. At Tentallee Garda, and Pooroona Garda, about

During our wanderings we visited two large Oriya villages, and we found the people literally "sitting in darkness, and the shadow of death," no messenger of the cross had ever visited them, and no tract or gospel had ever been seen in those regions; we felt it not only an honour, but a privilege to proclaim to these dwellers on the mountains the glad tidings of redeeming love. In both these villages the government have schools, which are conducted with a good degree of efficiency, and in each we found a liberal supply of secular works that had been issued from our press at Cuttack. We distributed a goodly number of poetical tracts amongst the scholars, and we were delighted with the ease and avidity with which they read them, one little fellow, who lived close to our encampment, we heard singing away at the "Jewel Mine," long before day dawn, and by sunrise he must have gone through the whole of the tract.

In conclusion allow me most earnestly to urge our Committee to commence at once, and without delay, a mission to the Khonds, let me remind them what wondrous results have been accomplished by the successors of Judson, amongst the mountain tribes of Burmah, and by the German missionaries, amongst the Coles at Chota Nagpore! Missionaries may now be found amongst nearly all the bill tribes from Cabul to Cape Comorin, but for the Khonds, so accessible to Orissa, beyond writing and talking, even to this hour, what have we done? Are these poor creatures for ever to be neglected? Are they doomed to live and die in darkness? Have you not one in our fatherland ready to consecrate his life and all to this noble cause? Let me entreat you not to conjure up in your imaginations this and that hindrance; the way is perfectly clear in this country, and no difficulty exists that cannot be removed by perseverance and prayer.

The late Captain Frye reduced the

language to writing, and night and day did he labour in the preparation of elementary and historical books, but for years these books have lain useless upon our shelves!

The Papists have built a large cathedral at Sooradab, on the borders of the country, and they number their adherents by hundreds, and if we remain inactive much longer, it seems more than probable, that all the accessible points will be taken up by these emissaries of Satan.

Do not let a barren treasury deter you in carrying out this noble project; let but the work be begun, and my firm conviction is that a larger amount of sympathy will be created towards us, in the other sections of the church of Christ, than we have ever yet experienced in the history of the mission. I commend this subject brethren to your prayerful deliberation. The whole land is before you, and I would say in the language of Caleb, "let us go up at once and possess it."

VISIT TO RUSSELL CONDAH. AT our last annual Conference the brethren very unanimously decided to appoint a Native Preacher and Colporteur to Russell Condah, and I have now the pleasure to urge the claims of this important field upon the attention of our friends at home.

Through the kindness of a gentleman in the civil service, who placed his house and furniture at my disposal, I was enabled to spend a month there, and from personal observation, I can state deliberately, that a more inviting sphere for missionary operation cannot be found in this part of India.

You will probably recollect that Goomsoor, of which Russell Condah is the capital, was one of the divisions mapped out by the late Dr. Sutton, and that he strongly urged its occupancy in | consequence of its proximity to the Khond country. For several years the town has been garrisoned by Madras troops, but it is now occupied by a corps of hill soldiers, and as these are nearly all Oriyas, a Missionary would find an abundance of work amongst them. There is a magistrate's court, a police court, and a small debtor's court, and

here also is the head quarters of the Khond agency, and these bring in daily a considerable influx of people from all the surrounding country.

Within a comparatively short distance from the town there cannot be less than forty villages, and any or all of them may be visited at any season of the year. At Bella Mootab, six miles distant, an immense fair is held once a week, and the facilities for preaching and tract distribution among the thousands assembled here cannot be over-rated.

During our brief sojourn at this station we had many opportunities for ascertaining the character, temper, and disposition of the people in the town and neighbourhood. Wherever we went we were treated in the most respectful manner, and only in one or two instances did we meet with anything that could be called insolence or abuse. Our congregations were frequently large, and always attentive. Whenever we visited the bazaar, the people instantly came round us and inquired whether we were not going to preach? and the same persons were seen again and again anxiously listening to the word of life. The eagerness for books was remarkable, and in numberless instances the applicants mentioned particularly the tracts and gospels which they wished to obtain.

I was more than once struck in our visits to the villages, with the almost entire absence of heathen temples, in fact, so indifferent are the people to idol worship that no one scarcely ever attempted to defend idolatry.

With the paucity of labourers we have at our disposal, it is extremely desirable, in commencing a missionary station, to fix upon the most central positions, and in this respect Russell Condah possesses peculiar advantages. To the east is the district of Jaganath Prasad and the state of Nuagarda, and in a few months a road will be opened to the latter frontier. Nuagarda alone is sufficiently large for a missionary to spend the whole of his time in the year allotted to itinerancy. To the west is Soorada; to the south lies the fertile and densely populated state of Goom. soor; and to the north is Khondistan, Boad Johnpore, and Sumbulpore.