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Page 21
Skirting the edge of the Kalahari desert for some time they afterwards
deviated from their course through want of water, and visited Pitsana,
where a great concourse of natives had gathered, consisting of the
different sections of the Barolong tribe, who had been driven from their
country the previous year during the invasion of the Mantatees. Thence
they proceeded onward till they reached Kwakwe, the residence of Makaba
and his people, and the metropolis of the Bangwaketsi. Here the
missionary was most favourably received by the king, who remarked, with
a laugh, "That he wondered they should trust themselves, unarmed, in the
town of such a _villain_ as he was reported to be."
He entertained Moffat and his party royally, declaring, "My friends, I
am perfectly happy; my heart is whiter than milk, because you have
visited me. To-day I am a great man. You are wise and bold to come and
see with your own eyes, and laugh at the testimony of my enemies."
Moffat tried on several occasions to converse with the chief and his
people on Divine things, but apparently with little success. At length
on the Sabbath he resolved to pay Makaba a formal visit, so as to obtain
a hearing for the subject. He found the monarch seated among a large
number of his principal men, all engaged either preparing skins, cutting
them, sewing mantles, or telling news.
[Illustration: NATIVES SEWING.]
Sitting down beside him, and amidst his nobles and counsellors, Moffat
stated that his object was to tell him news. The missionary spoke of
God, of the Saviour, but his words fell upon deaf ears. One of the men
sitting near, however, seemed struck with the character of the Redeemer,
and especially with His miracles. On hearing that He had raised the
dead, the man said, "What an excellent doctor He must have been to raise
the dead." This led to a description of His power, and how that power
would be exercised at the last day in the Resurrection. The ear of the
monarch caught the sound of a resurrection from the dead, "What," he
exclaimed in astonishment, "What are these words about? the dead, the
dead arise!"
"Yes, all the dead shall arise."
"Will my father arise?"
"Yes, your father will arise."
"Will all the slain in battle arise?"
"Yes."
"And will all that have been killed and devoured by lions, tigers,
hyenas, and crocodiles again revive?"
"Yes; and come to judgment."
"And will those whose bodies have been left to waste and to wither on
the desert plains and scattered to the winds again arise?" asked the
king, with a kind of triumph, as though this time he had fixed the
missionary.
"Yes!" answered he, with emphasis; "not one will be left behind."
After looking at his visitor for a few moments, Makaba turned to his
people, saying in a stentorian voice: "Hark, ye wise men, whoever is
among you, the wisest of past generations, did ever your ears hear such
strange and unheard-of news?"
Receiving an answer in the negative, he laid his hand upon Moffat's
breast and said, "Father, I love you much. Your visit and your presence
have made my heart as white as milk. The words of your mouth are sweet
as honey, but the words of a resurrection are too great to be heard. I
do not wish to hear again about the dead rising! The dead cannot arise!
The dead must not arise!"
"Why," inquired the missionary, "can so great a man refuse knowledge and
turn away from wisdom? Tell me, my friend, why I must not add to words
and speak of a resurrection?"
Raising and uncovering his arm which had been strong in battle, and
shaking his hand as if quivering a spear, he replied, "I have slain my
thousands, and shall they arise!"
"Never before," adds Mr. Moffat in his _Missionary Labours_, "had the
light of Divine revelation dawned upon his savage mind, and of course
his conscience had never accused him, no, not for one of the thousands
of deeds of rapine and murder which had marked his course through a long
career."
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