ศ. "There was another decision made respecting the removal of the guanas: lest any should hereafter say he had not had some share in the extinction of the sacred reptile, it was decided that some of the blood should be sprinkled into all the wells in Bonny town, to indicate that they all had concurred, not only in its destruction, but in its use as food. Many soon after began to feed upon the flesh, roasted with fire. This reminds me of the passage, ' And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.' (Exodus xxxii. 20). It cannot be expected that all the people had the resolution of the king and his chiefs to act fearlessly: superstitious fear does not soon vanish away from the minds long held by it; consequently the wells of water were shunned from superstitious fear rather than from disgust. The water girls were instructed to direct their way to the Mission premises for a supply out of our well for their use. The girls poured suddenly upon us in great numbers, with their pitchers on their shoulders, many of them in a state of nakedness. Here was an opportunity for me to correct the evil of such habits, which I could not do in the town. Now I have made it a strong rule that no one should be allowed to enter the Mission premises to draw water unless clothed; they have cloths at home to use, but the habit of going without from childhood has made them careless and indifferent. The poor girls were in a dilemma; the blood of the guana drove them from the wells in the town, and here they were driven back for want of clothing. The rule had the desired effect; the consequence was, a hasty sharing of hand kerchiefs or wrappers with those who could spare some from their persons. From that time it was rumoured all about the town that no one could be allowed to get water from the Mission premises unless clothed. Since the last three days there was scarcely a case to be corrected; all came with their wrappers on; and now the word of the Lord is heard and obeyed." The darkness has passed; the true light shines. PRAISE YE THE LORD! HOW BOYS CAN BE USEFUL. "You can all be useful if you will, boys," said a teacher in his class one Sabbath. "If you cannot do a great deed, you can a little one. The boys said nothing, but the teacher saw by their looks that they thought he was mistaken. Clearly, they did not believe they could be of any use; so he added: "Well, only try." "How shall we try?" asked one of the boys, timidly. "Keep your eyes open and your hands ready all this week, and tell me next Sunday if you have not managed to be useful in mother trouble and time. She thanked me so much and was so greatly pleased that I mean to keep on doing it for her." "And I," said another boy, "thought of a poor old woman whose eyes were too dim to read. I went to her home every day and read a chapter to her from the Bible. It seemed to give the old lady a good deal of comfort. I can't tell you how much she thanked me.' A third boy said, "I went walking along the street wondering what I could do. A gentleman called to me and asked me to hold his horse. I did. He gave me threepence. I have brought it with me to put into the box." "I was walking with my eyes open and my hands ready, as you told us," said a fourth boy, "when I saw a little boy crying because he had lost some pennies in the gutter. I told him not to cry, for I would help him find his money. I did find it, and the little chap dried up his tears and ran off feeling very happy." A fifth boy said, "I saw my mother was very tired one day. The baby was cross, and mother looked sick and sad. I asked mother to put the baby into my little waggon. She did, and I gave him a grand ride round the garden. If you had heard him crow, and seen him clap his hands, teacher, it would have done you good; and oh, how much brighter my mother looked when I took baby in doors again!" Thus, by trying, all the boys had found some way of being useful during the week. YOUTHFUL ENJOYMENTS.-A SOUTH SEA SWING. HE Rev. S. M. Creagh, of the island of Maré, having Treceived a box of toys, through the kindness of the Rev. W. Tyler, has found them a perfect storehouse of pleasure for his young people, and gives the following interesting account of the use made of the various articles sent, and of the gleesome way in which they managed to celebrate the annual festival by their help : THE ISLAND SCHOOL-GATHERING. "On New Year's Day we held, in the island of Maré, what your young people would call 'A Tea Meeting;' but there was no tea drank. Instead of this, the children had their sparkling Island Champagne, the milk of the cocoa nut ; not, however, such as you get in England, for no one here would ever think of drinking such miserable stuff as that. The water inside a young cocoa nut is a most delicious drink. After the feast we had a Christmas Tree, decorated with a great many toys and other things, such as sheets of writing paper, steel pen-holders, black-lead pencils, pannikins, and flat irons. The natives, adults as well as children, were greatly delighted. The teachers, as well as the scholars, had tickets; and it greatly added to the fun to find that a young man had to come up with his ticket for a doll. After giving out the things we had a number of games, such as 'drop the handkerchief,' but without the kissing-for it would be very shocking, in the estimation of the natives, for a young lad to be seen publicly kissing a young lass. We had also see saw,' 'bat and ball,'' walking on stilts,' and 'running for prizes.' "They seemed to regret that I had not some fire-works, as on former occasions, as a conclusion. Such things take wonderfully with the natives. I have, at different times, sent up a balloon, and to them this is the most wonderful |