In Oodooville, Manepy, Navaly, and Panditeripu, we had altogether ten Christmastrees, and gave away to the Roll of Honour children 102 Tamil New Testaments. Will you not pray with us that God will bless His own Word to these young hearts and in so many homes? The well-filled home-boxes received from America just before Christmas lightened our labours greatly, and made the occasions very happy ones to hundreds of pleased recipients. Could the children at home who prepared the gifts have seen the joy of all the little ones here who received them, I think they would have felt repaid for their trouble. The more expensive picture-books, beautiful scrap-books, work bags, &c., which seemed too choice for the village children, proved just the thing for prizes for the girls of the boarding-school, who were glad to carry them home and show them with pride to their friends. The total attendance at all our Christmas-trees was over three thousand-men, women, and children.

On February 15 the Oodooville Girls' Boarding-school closed its school year, graduating a class of twenty-four girls, all professing Christians. The public exercises were attended by several missionaries and by a large number of native friends, including many of the leading educated men and women of Jaffna. One could not help noting how large a number of the women present were graduates of this institution. Their faces showed the pleasure they had in revisiting their Alma Mater, and listening to the recitations and songs of their children now in the school. All the graduating class took part in the exercises, eighteen giving short English recitations, and six reading Tamil essays on the following subjects: The Women of India, The Wonders of the Nineteenth Century, The Power of Christianity, Lord Shaftesbury, The Duty of the Women of Jaffna in Regard to Temperance, and The Class History and Valedictory. The exercises were varied by frequent songs—a Tamil lyric, a motion song, a children's English play-song, a tonic sol-fa round, a chant, two English part songs, and a good-bye lyric composed for the occasion and sung responsively by the graduating class and the school. Six girls also in turn played on the organ, accompanying the singing. the close, the chairman, the Rev. Dr. Hastings, made some appropriate remarks, in which he pictured the condition of things in Jaffna in 1816, when the missionaries first came. Then not a single woman or girl in the whole peninsula could read. Now there are nearly 5000 girls studying in mission schools, 400 of whom are studying in Mission Girls' Boarding-schools, and there are over 1000 Native Christian female communicants in the different mission churches, many of them actively engaged in work for Christ. We may well exclaim, "What hath God wrought!" He then presented to each of the class a diploma, a Tamil Reference Bible, and a lyric and hymn-book. Nineteen prizes were awarded for general scholarship, as well as for

needlework and deportment; eight for punctuality and attendance; three for instrumental music; four for neatness of person and dress; and two for cooking. The occasion seems to have been enjoyed by all. In the Government Grant Examination held a few days ago, the school passed eighty-four per cent., and earned 2450 rupees.*

The day after the graduating exercises of our boarding-school, I took a trip to islands lying south-west of Jaffna. These have a population of 28,000 people. I took with me our tent, folding organ, violin, cymbals, and five singing children, a native pastor, a catechist, a Bible-woman, and two young men, one a student in * This school receives no aid from any missionary society, excepting the superintendence of the missionaries. The expenses of the school are met by the Government grant, the fees of the pupils, and the interest of an endowment and scholarship fund. We have secured subscriptions toward this fund, mostly from native sources, of Rs. 15,000. Of this Rs. 7100 have been already paid, and the remainder is to be paid in monthly or quarterly instalments through a period of years. Friends of this school in America have most kindly sent to us or paid to our brother sums amounting to £160, which has been invested for the school.

the Theological class and one a teacher in the Tillipally Training School, also our magic-lantern and Bible pictures. We visited and held meetings at three of these islands, but spent most of our time on the island of Delft. This, on account of the meeting of different currents within a mile or so of the shore, is quite difficult of access, and although sometimes visited by missionary gentlemen, it has never before, within the knowledge of any one living there, so I was told, been visited by any white lady. The people seemed delighted to see us, and we had on the evening of our arrival a meeting of perhaps one hundred and fifty-men, women, and children. We showed our magic-lantern pictures; first, the birth of Christ, explaining about the coming of Christ and our need of a Saviour; then the beautiful pictures of Christ blessing little children, raising the dead, and giving sight to the blind, the Sermon on the Mount, the returning prodigal, &c. All listened with attention and great interest. After this we held meetings each morning and evening, and visited the people in their homes during the day, but not in the middle of the day, as the sun was too hot to permit our going out; but at that time the people, at our request, visited us. This island contains about 2000 people. The most of the lower castes have become Roman Catholics, but all the others are Sivites. There is a good school here, supported by the Native Missionary Society, with an attendance of about fifty children taught by a Christian teacher. There are as yet no converts on the island, except a young boy, Canapathy Pullay, belonging to one of the highest families. He was converted while studying under this teacher. He is now studying in our English school at Manepy, and we hope when he shall have finished his studies he will go back as a catechist to work on his native island. This young boy was at home while we were there, and was very diligent in helping to arrange for our meetings and in calling his friends to attend them. His grandfather is the most influential man on the island, and is now engaged in building an expensive heathen temple. I passed it in company with Canapathy Pullay as we were calling people to a meeting, and as we looked at it he brushed the tears from his eyes and said: "I wish my grandfather would become a Christian." It is said that, if this man should become a Christian, most likely many of the people of the island would give up heathenism. It has been a great joy to us to know the firmness with which this young boy, Canapathy Pullay, has adhered to Christianity, refusing in any way to participate in heathen rites or ceremonies. The grandfather said to me: "Take the boy; he belongs to you; he has given up his old religion." The boy's mother and her four sisters, all respectable married women and much adorned with jewellery, came to see me. They told me the boy had said I was

his mother, and that I was kind to him, and so they wanted to see me. I told them that if I was the boy's mother, then it must follow that they were my sisters.

They seized the idea with apparent delight, and, putting their arms around me, covered my hands with kisses in the native manner, that is, smelling them as if smelling a rose or something fragrant. I told them that if they were my sisters, they must become Christians. They have consented to let Canapathy Pullay's sister and cousin join our boarding-school next year. His sister is a beautiful girl, and has as sweet a smile as any perhaps I have ever seen on a child's face. We also took with us on our return to Jaffna a cousin of this Canapathy Pullay, to join the Tillipally Trainingschool.

I think our meetings were greatly blessed. Of those who attended, eleven expressed a wish to be baptized, and to be known thenceforth as Christians. We formed them into an inquirers' class, and asked them to go regularly every Sabbath morning to the teacher's house to be instructed. One of the inquirers, when asked why he believed in Christ, answered with emotion: "I have heard of our gods fighting great battles and doing many wonders, but I have never heard of their loving us and dying to save us." These high families seem to be all related, and I believe that when they begin to become Christians they will all come together. The people were very kind and hospitable to us. When we visited a house the first question usually asked was: "What can we give you?" and forthwith they would have a cow or a goat, or perhaps a buffalo, lassoed and brought to the door and milked, and would give us fresh milk to drink. They drew the milk into a hollow bamboo-stick and we drank it from a folded plantain-leaf.

We enjoyed our stay very much, and the people seemed sorry that we should leave. Some of the women clung to me and said: "You must stay with us." This I would dearly have liked to do but for my much-loved work in Jaffna. But I thought of my wealthy sisters in more favoured lands, some of whom could be spared from their homes. They are spending their time perhaps over music, painting, or such things, all well enough in a way, but I wished they could know something of the supreme joy of having a child or woman with a dark skin, but bright, intellectual face, look up into theirs with a grateful gaze and say: "You have made known to me my Heavenly Father." Could you bring from the piano a strain of music as sweet as that? Could you draw on a canvas a face that would shine like such a face? A painter once said to me: "My great grief is that my pictures cannot breathe or speak, that the heart cannot beat or feel." But you might draw pictures on faces that speak, and on hearts that feel. We bade the people farewell, promising to visit them soon again if possible.

Oodooville, April, 1886. F the 120 girls who are now studying in the boarding-school, fifty are Church members and seventy are not. Many of those who have entered the school this year were from heathen families, and some had never really heard of Christ before. A little girl from one of the islands, when we

told her of heaven, asked in great wonder if we had come from there.

To lead these girls to Christ, and to form in them a Christian character which will stand the test of the sore trials to which they will surely be exposed hereafter-"Who is sufficient for these things?" and the time so short. Every year girls drop out from the different classes, never to return to the school. Often our girls are taken out of the school to be married. Their heathen parents will try to marry them to heathen relatives. What we do must be done quickly and well. Will you not specially ask for us and ours God's blessing? We thank Him daily for giving us so large a number of dear ones to train for Him. It is a happy work. It is His work.

April 30th.-Jesus has called one of our dear girls home to Himself. She was a day-scholar of the boarding-school, and lived with her parents, who are Christians, only two or three compounds from us. She was sick but a few days and her death was quite unexpected, but the Master came and called for her. It is a joy to us all to feel sure that she was ready to go. Though only nine years old, she had learned to love her Saviour and to work for Him also. Her older brother joined the Church at the last communion, and this dear child Gnanamutthu begged hard to join, but her parents thought she was too young. Now they are very sorry. Gnanamutthu (Wisdom Pearl) was a member of the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour and one of the Look-out Committee," and a faithful little worker. The subject for our next meeting,

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