The tappal runners are exposed to many dangers. During the rainy seasons the travelling is heavy and dangerous. They have not only to encounter swollen streams, but venomous serpents and the ferocious wild beasts that inhabit the jungles. Armed with a long pole, at one end of which are suspended the sealed bags, while the other is encircled with a number of brass rings, which, tinkling together, serve to intimidate serpents and other unwelcome neighbours, these tappal runners, usually two or three in number, set out at all hours of the night, and face sometimes the most appalling hurricanes. This, in a dense jungle, is anything but an enviable position; for, although they are invariably accompanied by torch-bearers, one preceding and the other following them, and although the whole company assist in raising a continued string of most appalling and unearthly yells, which are intended to terrify the fierce denizens of the forest, it not unfrequently happens that some sudden winding among the mountain-gorges brings these poor tappal runners upon scenes quite sufficient to freeze the blood within their veins. Only fancy coming along the verge of a precipice, somewhere about two hours after midnight, not a star to be seen in the heavens, and a tempest sweeping with fury through the dense and gigantic trees of an impenetrable forest. Ever and anon there is a fearfully vivid flash of lightning, succeeded by deafening peals of thunder. Then come torrents of rain, sweeping everything before them, the torches, of course, meanwhile burning dimly; while, louder than the thunder itself, is echoed from hill to hill the funeral knell of some huge giant of the forest that has been prostrated by the gale ! To this succeeds the terrified roaring of frightened tigers, the trumpeting of elephants, the bellowing of half-rabid bisons, and, amid all, the dismal screaming of the peacock. While hurrying on as rapidly as our legs will carry us, the torch-bearer who is ahead of us is suddenly brought to a stand-still by the hideous appearance of a huge cobra de capello, that has raised its envenomed head right in the centre of the pathway, too fearful of the bright blaze of the torch to advance, and yet apparently unwilling to retreat. The In this state of affairs, the torchbearer, who closes in the rear, gives the alarm that there is a huge tiger crouching on the precipice above. But the torches are our safeguard. tappal runners are once more in motion, running all the faster in consequence of what they have just witnessed. The jungle is distanced, the moon bursts forth from behind a heavy bank of storm-clouds, and they have reached their destination just as the day is breaking in the east. Having delivered over the charge of the letter-bags to those appointed to receive them, they gladly turn in, weary and saturated, for a few hours' refreshing nap. Tomorrow night the letters going in an opposite direction will arrive, and then they will return home again, and have a week or eight days' repose from the fatigues and perils of tappal-carrying in the jungle.-Youth's Penny Gazette. WESTERN POLYNESIA, 51 WESTERN POLYNESIA. CHAPTER V.-FATÉ. Continued from page 44. WHEN, after an absence of two years, the missionary ship again visited Faté, several of the teachers were found to be in ill health, while others had been called away by the hand of death, to rest from their labours. One of them had been put to death because he had become delirious in his fever. It is the custom of the people to kill a person as soon as his mind begins to wander. When the report got abroad that the teacher was sick and delirious, a number of men surrounded his house with spears and clubs in their hands. The poor fellow knew what they wanted, and fastened the door with boxes and other things, but he was too weak to resist they forced their way in, and struck him dead to the ground! Shortly before the arrival of the ship, a most distressing circumstance had happened. A whaling ship was wrecked on the coast, and the captain and about twenty of his crew took refuge. The natives treated them kindly, but this was only in order to prevent them from suspecting their horrid intentions. At a given signal from a chief, the whole of the white men were killed, except one sailor, who was saved by one of the teachers named Mose. Ten of the bodies were cooked on the spot, and others were divided among other friendly tribes. The teacher himself was in great danger, for the natives were enraged at his interference. The sailor whose life he saved, afterwards got away from the island; he left behind him the following note: "This is to certify that Mose and his companion left Olatapu on the 10th of May; we had to run for our lives to get clear of them (the savages). J. Jones was the only one saved out of the crew; they killed them all. Mose and I were saved, and I beg you to give him something. He is a good man. He ventured more than any man would think, and after all he had to run. I hope the Lord will pay him for all his trouble with me. "JOHN JONES." The next time that the mission ship visited Faté, a strong heathen party among the natives planned an attack upon her. One of the tribes on the coast was at war with another tribe living farther inland, and they resolved that they would force the sailors of the John Williams to come to their help, and bring the guns to fight their battles for them. The plan was to bring off to the ship a large quantity of pigs, yams, and other things as a present to the captain; other canoes were to surround the ship with articles to exchange. If the captain refused to come to help them, a signal was to be given, at which every person in the canoes should rush to an attack, and murder | things in Faté. In one district, called all on board. Unfortunately for their wicked scheme, the teachers got news of it, and immediately sent word to the missionaries. When morning dawned, the John Williams had put out to sea, and was out of the reach of her enemies. She sailed to the other side of the island, where teachers were also residing. You will wonder that the native teachers did not ask to be taken away in the mission ship from these cruel savages; but they do not seem to have thought of such a thing. They had a strong faith in God, and believed that He did often interpose for their safety. On one occasion, "thirty fighting men" came to the place where the teachers lived, determined to kill them and put an end to the new religion; but, strange to say, they returned without hurting them. They seemed to be held back by an unseen hand. Some time after, a larger party from another district set out on the same errand. There were sixty of them in canoes, armed with spears and other weapons. They declared they would not be beaten by the mild looks of the teachers as the others had been. But a violent storm came on, their frail canoes were dashed in pieces, and they were glad to return home with their lives saved. "He blew with His winds, and they were scattered." The God of the Christians fought for them. But, with all these troubles, there were some tokens of a better state of Sema, the people had been very attentive to the instruction of the teachers, and made a proposal which showed their confidence in them and the missionaries. They had heard about Samoa having become a Christian land, and how things were changed there, and they asked the missionaries to take one of their number to Samoa, and bring back word if these things were so. Accordingly, the young chief Tongalula and his brother went in the John Williams to Samoa, where they were taught to read the Word of God, and saw for themselves what were the effects of the "religion of Jehovah.' They were so long away that their relations mourned for them as dead. The ship had to return to England. and she was detained for repairs. Of course, the teachers could not explain the delay; the "windmakers” and priests were quite sure the "religion ship of the foreigners" would never return, for more than "thirty moons" had passed since she sailed from Faté. But the vessel did return, and brought back Tongalulu, who was received with the wildest joy, as if he had been restored from the dead. The missionaries were pleased to find that things were looking more promising on Faté than before. At several of the stations the people were constant in their attendance on religious instruction every Sabbath-day. They left the island, hoping that the "thick darkness" was beginning to pass awav, and that even on savage, cann bal Faté the morning was dawni g. DR LIVINGSTONE'S STORIES, DR LIVINGSTONE'S STORIES. CHAPTER IV.-FROM LINYANTI TO THE EAST COAST. AND NOW we will accompany our missionary traveller on his last journey, which was the most interesting of all, because he found what he was in search of a good way of getting into the centre of Africa. You recolleet that we left him at Linyanti, which you know is about in the middle of that great continent, He only waited there two months to rest and get strong again; and then he set out, mounted on the back of an ox. This time he had a hundred and fourteen companions, all picked men. He might have had as many more if he had wished, for the Barotse were eager to follow him, that they might see wonders as well as their countrymen who had been with him to the west coast. Their course for a good while lay along the north bank of the noble river Zambeze; and as you know oxen do not walk very fast, you may suppose they got on but slowly. And another thing which took up a good deal of time was, that wherever Dr Livingstone travelled, he always made it a rule to find out the latitude and longitude of the different places, and mark them down on a map, in order that those travellers who came after him might profit from his discoveries. He used different instruments for this purpose. One of them is called a sextant. If you were to look through a sextant at welve o'clock in the day, the sun ap 53 pears in the horizon just touching the earth, as it does when it is setting. The doctor must have allowed some of his men to peep through this instrument, for the news went before him, and spread among the natives, that "a white man was coming who brought down the sun and the moon, and carried them under his arm." The people among whom he travelled are called the Balonda. They treated Dr Livingstone with the greatest kindness. When he came near a village, a messenger generally met him with a polite. invitation to come and choose a tree under which to rest. Then the people took off the roofs of their own dwellings, and arranged them under the broad shadow of the tree until there was shelter enough for the whole party. Nor was this all. Dr Livingstone says, "My party were well fed all the way down, until we came near to Teté. And they always gave gracefully; often with an apology, that want of time prevented them making more food ready; and believed our statement of having nothing to offer in return." But, alas! though these people were so kind to the missionary, they are ignorant idolaters. They not only worship the spirits of their dead friends, but they make horrid-looking idols, such as, a block of wood with a rough human head carved upon it, or a lion made of clay, with two shells for eyes. Before these the people |