seen. There are lots of suggestions in it. My chief task, aside from preaching to the heathen, will be to instruct the congregations. I want to have a plan by which the life of Christ shall be studied in course by all the congregations simultaneously. I mean to assign Bible lessons to the catechists, which I shall go over at the monthly meetings with them. Then they teach the same to their people. So when I visit them I shall know the lesson for the day and be ready with a talk. Systematic, progressive instruction, line upon line, precept upon precept, is what they need most emphatically. Can't you suggest some method of studying the Bible? Pray for me, that above all things the eternal welfare of the thousands under my care may lie close upon my heart, daily, hourly.

CHAPTER XIII.

HOME AT PERIAKULAM.

[FEBRUARY-APRIL, 1862.]

[PERIAKULAM is in the Madura District, and distant from the city of Madura about fifty miles, being a little north of west. It is in the valley of the Vaikai River, which rises in Kambam, about forty miles south of Periakulam, flows in a northerly direction between two ranges of mountains for thirty miles, when it bends toward the east, and flowing northeast as far as Battalagundu changes its course and flows southeast by the city of Madura into the Gulf of Mannar. The valley of the Vaikai is about twenty miles wide at Periakulam. The missionary district under this name had been recently set off from a larger one, and was about twelve miles in diameter. The letters and journal will sufficiently indicate the nature of the country and character of the people. The reader has seen how eagerly David anticipated his work here, an eagerness which was increased by the preliminary visit which he made in January with Mr Noyes, when he made a short tour through the field. His memorandum journal bears record of his earnest spirit in these words written on the day of arrival: "Here I am at my own station, and in my own house-home. Am pleased with the looks of things, especially these everlasting hills. May the blessing of Almighty God, Father, Son, and Spirit, be with us. How long shall I be here?" In a little less

than ten months that question was answered. His first impressions, derived from his visit, are shown at length in the following extracts.]

[JOURNAL LETTER.]

PERIAKULAM, Jan. 23, 1862.

Note this, my first letter from my own station, my house, and to be my home. I have come here to look around and see what needs to be done before moving here. Oh! it is a grand, grand spot. Right in front, as you look off from the veranda, are these towering Pulneys gazing down upon you in solemn front from a height of over eight thousand feet. If I had a gifted pen, I could furnish you with any amount of fine writing on the subject, but must content myself with a bare description. The house faces the north. The spur of hills on which is the Sanitarium runs east and west, and you seem to see each end as you look upon them here. The eastern end terminates in a singularly shaped mountain. It tapers up quite to a point, and from its apex to the base a sharp ridge runs very straight and very sharp. Toward the west, some ten miles away, the range takes a turn, and two enormous hills face you, each having a capacious lap. On all other sides are mountains also, but at various distances from you, some in the distant horizon, some little hills near by. The Pulneys, immediately in front, are only four miles distant, and you may fancy how imposing is their appearance with such a uniform elevation extending for miles and miles in unbroken line. It is a grand site for a house, and these lasting hills will be lasting friends to us. Their convenience, in case of sickness, the summit being only five or six hours dis

tant, will at once be apparent. A large valley is all about us, and the scenery of the valley will compare well with that of New England. I long to bring H. here to enjoy it.

. . The church and congregation called on me, "the new man." They came, headed by the pastor, and bearing a basket of plantains, with a paper of sugar, as a token of greeting. The whole congregation could not come, many being away; about twenty presented themselves and sat down before us on the veranda. I must say that their first appearance was not altogether favorable. Half-clad, dirty, and unintellectual, I asked myself could I find sympathy as a Christian here? But as one countenance after another lighted up in the course of the conversation, I felt relieved, and could see in them not a little to please and encourage me. But it is a poor congregation; every member is a Pariah, the lowest caste, and only one or two can read. Deacon Moses cannot read. Moreover this church has for many years been in a most lamentable condition. Two members, and deacons, I think, had a quarrel and drew the whole church after them. The ground of the dispute has only lately been removed, and as the pastor said to me, "the hate still remains."

ANDIPATTI, Jan. 26. This is one of the villages in my field. As I write, I sit in a comfortable touring-chair, in a thatched-roof church, though rather a modest edifice to be so called. .... We left Periakulam, eleven miles distant, this morning at five o'clock, while the moon was shining.

I walked a good share of the way. The road is the most like a New England road of any I have seen

this long while, up hill and down, while most roads. here are on a dead level. I wandered along ahead of the carts, kicking over ant-hills, from common-sized ones to mounds three feet high, looking at the beautiful turtle-doves, and listening to the notes of some unknown songster, picking up a monstrous millipede, and pocketing it for S., though dropping it as it seemed inclined to crawl upward, mounting big boulders and surveying the country, my field, all in high spirits. . . As I walked along I planned all sorts of tours or systems of touring, so as to reach all the villages. In this station of only about twelve miles diameter there are many villages that never saw a missionary. I hope it will not be so very long. It is an advantage which a small station has over a large one, that it can be more thoroughly canvassed, and labor be spent more economically. It will be years before I can effectually preach throughout; but I have good catechists, and I hope through them to organize a more thorough system than has been possible hitherto.

. . . We dined at Andipatti at three o'clock, and immediately after got into our bandy and started for a village seven miles distant. I got from the head of police a list of all the villages in this police station. You will get some idea of the country when you hear that within a radius of eight miles there are sixty-eight villages, small and large, varying from five to one hundred houses. A populous country for work, is it not? We reached the village about dusk and went to the house of a rich native who belongs to the congregation. He is a higher caste man than we usually meet with, and his influence is worth preserving, but he is not a very stable believer. He had a long story of grievances