Each of the larger farms in the town possessed a plough, and waggons could be seen in considerable numbers, standing amidst the cone-shaped huts. Following Mr. Jensen’s advice, the people have turned the Matebe springs to good account; not only have they conducted the water into the town so as to ensure a good supply for domestic purposes, but they have cut trenches through their fields and orchards, thereby securing a thorough irrigation. The adult male population, besides paying a poll-tax of ten shillings to the Transvaal, pledged themselves to provide a certain number of beasts of burden in times of war. Mr. Jensen was entrusted with the collection of the tax, but, although he handed over as much as 400l. annually to the Government, he received no remuneration whatever for his trouble.
In the fields round the mission-building maize and wheat were growing, and in the gardens adjacent to the dwelling peaches, apricots, pears, figs, oranges, and citrons were thriving admirably, and, together with the vegetables, contributed a welcome addition towards the support of the modest establishment. The little flower-garden revived pleasant recollections by the abundance of old favourites it contained; there were roses, both as standards and climbers, irises, lilacs with their graceful bloom, and carnations with their pleasant fragrance; tulips and hyacinths had been in bloom, but had now gone off.
The family life of the missionary beneath the blue-gum trees on the Matebe was quite idyllic in its peacefulness; nothing could surpass the ex-
