"Lessouto, June 28th, 1876.

"Gentlemen,

"I must give you details of the journey which I have just made with four
native evangelists; for no doubt you will wish to know why a missionary
expedition, begun under the happiest auspices, and with the good wishes
of so many Christians, has come to grief, on account of the ill-will of
certain men, and has been, from a human point of view, a humiliating
failure. Having placed myself at the head of the expedition, and being
the only white man in the missionary group, I must bear the whole
responsibility of our return, and if there is anyone to blame it is I.

"From our departure from Leriba, as far as the other side of Pretoria,
our voyage was most agreeable. We went on with energy, thinking only of
our destination, the Banyaïs country, making plans for our settling
amongst those people, and full of happiness at the thought of our new
enterprise. An excellent spirit prevailed in our little troop,--serious
and gay at the same time; no regrets, no murmurings; with a
presentiment, indeed, that the Transvaal Government might make some
objection to our advance, but with the certainty that God was with us,
and would over-rule all that man might try to do. We crossed the Orange
Free State without hindrance, we passed the Vaal, and continued our
route towards the capital of the Transvaal; we reached the first
village through which we must pass--Heidelberg--and encamped some
distance from there. There they told us that the Boers knew that we were
about to pass, and if they wished to stop us, it would be there they
would do it. Let us take courage, therefore, we said, and be ready for
everything. We unharnessed, and walked through the village in full