won everybody, and her downright good sense was ever conspicuous. My wife says she has lost the only woman she could ever make an intimate friend of amongst the natives.
23rd.—To-day we buried the remains of Teenminne. All the blacks except one or two attended the funeral. It was a solemn season.
The church of Christ at Reid Town increases in numbers. We have much to encourage us. Those for whom at one time we scarcely dared to hope are becoming disciples of Jesus.
Thus Christianity has been winning its way gradually amongst the Narrinyeri, producing the peaceable fruits of righteousness and civilisation. Christian life has led to Christian marriage, Christian worship, Christian homes, and last, not least, Christian burial of the departed. Those who came to us as children have grown up to manhood and womanhood and become heads of families. Some have passed away to the rest of God who came to us painted heathen savages, but were led to sit at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in their right mind. Many other deathbed scenes could be described where natives died in sure and certain hope of a resurrection to everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
I do not think I could produce a better illustration of the power of Christianity than one which occurred some little time back. I have several times mentioned the name of Baalpulare in the course of this narrative. The people, bearing this name were a large and influential but extremely superstitious and heathen family of the Point Macleay tribe. The youngest of four brothers who bore this name we called Baalpulare; the next elder was Minora Baalpulare. Now this family was by native law ngia-ngiampe[1] to James Unaipon, consequently they were forbidden to have the slightest intercourse with him, or he with them. One day James came to me and brought a kalduke which he said had been sent to him by Minora Baalpulare upon the birth of his child to show that he wished the same custom to be kept up between their children. James felt that he could not
- ↑ See chapter iv., on the customs of the natives.
