AID a traveller to me a few months ago in the Transvaal: "Ten years ago I crossed this Veldt, and where Johannesburg now stands I saw about a dozen huts, and in them a few coloured people living in their blankets." Today Johannesburg is a town of at least 100,000 people-possibly more, for in the Times of December 19th last, the Johannesburg correspondent of that journal said that a careful computation having been made of the population of the Rand, the total number-Europeans and natives-may be set down at 136,000. The taxable valuation of the immovable property of Johannesburg is nearly 4,000,000l.

The growth of this city has been, and is, simply marvellous. In August I was told that new houses were being erected at the rate of thirty-five per week, and one sanguine burgher estimated that in ten years' time the population will reach half a million. One of the most interesting sights at Cape Town, from which city Johannesburg is 1014 miles distant, is to see the daily train leave for Johannesburg. Few English people realise how great is the distance which has to be traversed, that if you leave Cape Town in the through train, say on Monday evening, you cannot reach Johannesburg, though you travel without a break, until Thursday morning. In

one of the early days of last December, the Cape trains took nearly 900 passengers to Johannesburg, chiefly British people; while on another day one vessel from Australia landed 291 persons at Cape Town, all bound for the Transvaal!

It may be well to inquire into the circumstances which have helped to turn this hut-village into one of the greatest cities of the world, one of the wonders of the nineteenth century, for though Johannesburg may be called a city of mushroom growth it has "come to stay." Almost every civilised nation under the sun is represented there. Germans, Americans, Russians, Jews are to be found in large numbers, but it is the British element which predominates, for it is said there are more English-speaking people in Johannesburg than Boers in the whole of the Transvaal, who thus out-number the early owners of the soil and the present governing race.

The Boers are, as their name implies, peasant farmers. For nearly 250 years there have been Boers in South Africa, though it was not until sixty years or so ago that they left the Cape Colony for the Transvaal. Lovers of a free and open life they began to fret under the restrictions of British rule, more especially as they were imposed from London, the Colony having then

little or no voice in the management of its own affairs. Packing up their goods, and taking with them their flocks the Boers crossed the Orange River, some to enter Natal, making it their home, but a still larger number to cross the Vaal River and ultimately to form the South African Republic. In 1852 their independence was recognised by the British Government, a convention being signed which guaranteed to these farmers in the Transvaal "the right to manage their own affairs and to govern themselves according to their own laws without any interference on the part of the British Government." But in 1877, when the country was on the eve of bankruptcy, the district was again annexed to the British crown, promises then made were, however, unfulfilled, and at the end of 1880 came the rebellion, which was followed by a fresh acknowledgement of the independence of the Transvaal. This was further guaranteed by the Convention of London of 1884 in which the suzerainty of the Queen finds its sole expression in the control of the foreign relations of the State.

The Boers are Dutchmen of the Dutch, finding little in common with the Hollanders of to-day. To them the essentials of condition are in the free and open life of the wide-spreading veldt. They are a deeply religious people whose theology is not unlike that held by the Scottish Covenanters, and whose ecclesiastical views are of a Presbyterian nature as embodied in the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa. Some of the ablest preachers of that Church, at least in the Cape Colony, were trained in Scotland, and at the present time several of its students are finding their Alma Mater in Scottish Universities. Family prayer has not gone out in the Transvaal. The old Dutch Bible holds the place of honour in every Boer household. President Kruger, who often occupies a "Dopper" pulpit, is a recognised lay preacher, claiming for the Transvaal that it is "Christian" Republic.

a

It was in 1884 that the first discoveries were Imade of the mineral wealth to be found in the Transvaal. Mr. H. W. Struben and Mr. Walker were the first two dicoverers. The last named was a mason, working in the house of a farmer of the name of Oosthuizen. Going out for a walk on a Sunday morning, he made for the rise of a hill in the vicinity, where he observed a curious formation cropping out of the ground. He took a piece back with him to the farmhouse, where he borrowed an iron pan, crushed the stuff, and found it was gold-bearing. The Langlaagte Estate Gold Mining Company (the dividends of which have varied from 10 to 45 per cent.) has long taken the place of that farm. Its average monthly output of gold, is over 11,000 ozs.

It was not, however, until 1886 that the Government proclaimed the district. On the 20th of September of that year, it was decided to mark off a township, and to advertise a plan calling the place Johannesburg. At the Government sale of building stands, each of which measured 50 feet square, the average price was 2001. Some of these stands have recently been sold for 15,0007. From that day to this the history of Johannesburg has been one of continued growth. It is the

Or, taking the three years ending June last, you have a yield of no less than 5,264,346 ounces of gold worth 18,277,9711. It is only to be expected that such a field would attract various types of men from all parts of the world. Until 1890, Johannesburg was not much better than a vast camp. The early settlers were too busily engaged in the goldfields to pay much attention either to the abodes in which they dwelt or to sanitary arrangements. The latter remain sadly neglected to this day, and the health officer's report for November last predicts an epidemic, unless important changes are made. Of the 100,000 persons in Johannesburg, 60,000 may be said to be Europeans; of the latter in November, no fewer than 141 deaths were reported. As to the houses, a wonderful change has indeed been wrought; many of the early settlers found a home for weeks, some for months in the waggons which had so faithfully harboured them during their long journey to this new El Dorado. Those were days, we are told, of "feverish excitement, wildest hopes, and continued turmoil." But since then houses of business equal to those in our best English cities, and places of residences of every kind, some almost palaces, have been erected. Tramcars run in every direction. The city is lighted by electricity, and all the advantages of modern civilisation are to be enjoyed. The cost of living, at one time monstrous, has now greatly decreased, and the necessaries of life can be obtained at rates not much in advance of those current in Cape Town.

It can hardly be a matter of surprise if the religious life of Johannesburg does not reach a high level. There are in that city as good and true Christians as are to be found in any city under the sun, but the average religious life is not high. In this respect, Johannesburg resembles other places of rapid growth. Yet one cannot but feel that if British Christians had only realised their responsibilities, the position of affairs would be far different.

I was in Johannesburg a few days before it was visited by "General" Booth. In anticipation of his coming, a local paper drew the following picture :

"South Africa has but little temper for the verities, or the things behind the veil. It is a busy land, where one and all are at it morning and night. It is a stirring struggle, gross, perhaps, but withal interesting, and it is hardly to be wondered at that in a new land of kaleidoscopic conditions little thought is given to the things outside the everydayism of existence. The true friend

of South Africa is he who discerns its faults, and endeavours to combat them. Several scores of men and ministers are endeavouring to stem the tide of materialism, and sordid, money-grabbing selfishness, week in and week out, and with ability; but it is not clear that the measure of their success is commensurate with the nature and extent of their effort. They plod on in their familiar paths performing good works, and but little heed is given to them, but little gratitude is shown. The share market rules the world, and for the things that are above and beyond it there is very little heart. The fact that a share has risen or fallen is a thousand times more momentous than that other fact that we career through space, and hasten either upward or downward to an eternal goal."

There

A friend who has spent some years in the Transvaal assures me that this picture, drawn by a Johannesburg pen, is no exaggeration, that it is a true representation of society in the golden city. My own experience and observation amply confirm it. Yet I am assured that the Christian leaven is, even if slowly, yet surely, permeating the life of the city, and that temptations to fast life are far less strong to-day than a few years ago. Young men ought especially to be thankful for the Young Men's Christian Association. are, by the way, only six in the whole of South Africa, namely, Cape Town and Kimberley, in Cape Colony; Durban, Pietermaritzburg, and Ladysmith in Natal, and Johannesburg in the Transvaal. The latter is beginning to be a feltpower. It has just been strengthened by the holding in its midst of the first united conference of these Associations, and an earnest desire has been manifested to extend their number in South Africa. In view of the thousands of young men who are leaving Christian homes in England for the Transvaal, the word of caution as to the need of securing healthful religious surroundings needs to be often reiterated. Scores have gone straight to ruin who might have been saved if only they had been introduced on their arrival in Johannesburg to a circle of Christian friends. The Rev. Charles Phillips, the well-known missionary, who, drawn by the love of souls, has just left GraaffReinet for Johannesburg to undertake an important work among the natives employed in the mines, told me that, when last in Johannesburg, he visited the cemetery where nearly 4000 Europeans had been buried. He carefully noticed the inscriptions on the gravestones, and from facts he ascertained found that by far the majority of those buried there are young men who left their homes to find "life" but found death instead. I reported these figures to the Rev. T. J. Lloyd, the well-known Presbyterian minister of Johannesburg. He told me that they were more than true, and added his own experience. He resided at Kimberley during the diamond boom, and in three years buried two hundred young Englishmen killed by the fast life of that place. It is all important that young men who go out to South Africa, and especially to the Transvaal, should not only take with them such letters as will secure them a welcome from Christian friends, but that the fact of their intended arrival should also

be communicated in advance. If that cannot be done let them make at once for the Young Men's Christian Association, and make it their headquarters.

Of the religious needs of Johannesburg much might be written, for I am told that for the 60,000 Europeans in that city there is only church accommodation for about 5000 persons. Where all denominations are doing their best amid many difficulties, the gravity of which is scarcely recognised at home, it would not be wise to refer to any particular efforts, yet it is specially due to the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion to say that its ministers are in the front of the fight, and that, proportionately, their churches stand first in the accommodation provided. As I write these lines I have been informed that they are about to put forth a new effort to keep pace with the spiritual needs of this rapidly growing population. The projects they have in hand include several new churches or schools in various parts of the reef at an expenditure of not less than 50,000l. It may be well to add that a very large number of Cornish miners have made for Johannesburg, though a considerable body have since returned. On board the Arundel Castle, which took us in June last from Southampton to Cape Town, there were quite a number of these men bound for the gold mines. They nightly sang the songs of Zion in a strange company, if not in a strange land, and it was very beautiful to witness their fidelity to the God of their fathers, when many by whom they were surrounded were of a godless type.

Only by the few is the Sabbath observed in Johannesburg. The stockbroker plies his craft; the theatres and pleasure gardens are open as on weekdays-in fact some of them seemed to reserve their most attractive programmes for the Lord's Day. In the Saturday newspaper, side by side with the intimations of the services for the Sunday, are similar announcements for the places of amusement. Take the Johannesburg Star for August 17, which announced that, in view of the demand to attend the farewell performances of a wellknown company of English actors, two theatres would be devoted to their performances: a time bill being given to indicate the hours at which particular performances might be seen at either of these theatres. There was the added announcement that the public should not lose this, the last, opportunity of seeing these performers for they were to leave Johannesburg by the mail train on the Sunday night, as soon as their performances

were over.

If such influences tell upon the Europeans how much more do they tell upon the coloured people working in the mines? "They come to us," said a mine agent, "as niggers, they leave us as devils," and my enquiries went to show that the man was not far from the mark. The missionaries labouring under the Board of the American Missions in Natal feel this so strongly that they have sent one of their ablest men to Johannesburg to look after their Zulu converts so that they may not fall away from their faith in Christ. I heard of

large meetings for prayer being held by natives, at which parents united in pleading with God that their sons might be kept true while labouring in the Johannesburg mines. The fact is the heathenism of South Africa is being focussed on the Rand. If the natives who come from heathen districts can be secured for Christ they will go back to their kraals as evangelists; on the other hand if those who have been evangelised go back to the mission stations demoralised they will work untold havoc. A terrible confession fell from the lips of an English missionary, "We sent," he said, "so many native Christians to Johannesburg, they have come back drunkards," thus undoing the results of years of patient and heroic toil.

The native problem is not well understood in this country. Often in fact the population of Johannesburg is given as if there were no natives in it. So far as I could learn, and as I have since learnt from information collected for me with great care, there is a mass of heathen natives from forty to fifty thousand, gathered together in well-defined circles on the Rand, and varying from 800 to nearly 3000. Generally, the men at a given mine, speak a common language, so that it is easy to see that a Christian sentiment bred in them would have a most beneficial influence throughout, not only South Africa, but the whole of that vast continent in which there are millions who have yet to be reached. The proportion of

there ought not to be anything like overlapping. At present about half the mines are untouched, and I am informed that only in one is there a resident evangelist. It need hardly be said that the delimitation of the Rand for purposes of Christian occupation is altogether different from marking it off for gold mining, and ought to provoke no friction or foolish competition.

It must not be forgotten that coloured men are under restrictions in the Transvaal, some of which they keenly feel. For instance, a native is not allowed to walk on the pavement in Johannesburg, even though he may be a Christian teacher. There is, however, growth, and growth in the right direction. I was present at native services on the Rand of a most enjoyable character-services largely attended by young men, who have resisted temptation and are faithfully serving Christ. The men of to-day are better than their fathers, and I shall be surprised if their children are not better still. Hardly a century has gone since our British missionaries first told the degraded Hottentots the story of God's love. As Dr. Livingstone once said, the natives of South Africa compare favourably with the early history of civilised nations, and are capable of a high degree of culture. Of that Lovedale furnishes us with remarkable evidence. In view of its success we must learn not only to labour, but also, if needs be, to wait.

missionaries in Africa is smaller than in any other part of the world except China. Work in the mines must be carried out by native evangelists under the superintendence of European ministers. The Rev. D. W. Drew suggests that there should be an evangelist in each compound, who would thus get to know the men individually, and gather them into congregations. The natives love singing, and their fondness for musical instruments should be largely made use of, especially as counter attractions must be provided if the men are to be won from the canteens and led to listen to the gospel. There are two sources of encouragement the known readiness of the managers of the mines to facilitate religious efforts, if only in their own interests, and the absence of religious competition. Of the latter there should be none. The field is so wide, the labourers are so few that

Thus, while there is much in Johannesburg to discourage, there is still more to stimulate the Christian worker. For the men and women of Africa-whether European or native-the gospel is still the power of God unto salvation; and for them, as much as for those to whom the words were first written, it is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. What is needed is consecrated men and women, as well as consecrated money. Never, probably, has so wide a scope been presented for men and women of culture and intelligence, yet full of the Holy Ghost. For all such there is a field in Johannesburg sufficient to satisfy the most ambitious, and giving wide opportunities for service the like of which can hardly be found in any other city of the world.

D. BURFORD HOOKE.