THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
1S34, with the Rev. John (afterward Bishop) Payne as one of the first missionaries. This mission is still carried on with considerable success, about twenty of the mission clergy being from the Grebo tribe of natives. The American Board established a mission at Cape Palmas in 1834, the Rev. J. L. Wilson being one of the earliest missionaries. On account of the unhealthfulness of the region the missionaries and a number of their adherents removed in 1S42 to the Gabun district in what is now the French Kongo colony, transferring their buildings and other immovables in Liberia to the Protestant Episcopal Mission. The National Baptist Convention established a mission in Liberia in 1S53, and the Evangelical Lutheran General Synod of North America also eotablished a mission in 1860 which is doing good industrial work. These societies together report 92 missionaries and 182 native workers operating at 168 stations, with schools, hospitals, printing-presses, and industrial institutions. Parts of the New Testament have been translated into Grebo (1838). See Liberia.
Morocco: An independent Mohammedan empire in Northwest Africa having a coast-line on the Mediterranean and on the Atlantic Ocean. The country is gradually falling under the direction of France. Area 219,000 sq. miles (the southern frontier, however, is not definitely fixed); population (estimated) 5,000,000, being composed of Berbers, Tuaregs, and Arabs. In name, at least, the greater part of the population is reckoned as Mohammedan. There are about 150,000 Jews and about 6,000 Christians of the Roman Catholic and Eastern churches, with a few Protestants. An apostolic prefecture of the Roman Catholics was established at Tangier in 1859, and under it are about forty priests in different cities of Morocco. Protestant missions are carried on by the North Africa Mission (1881), the Gospel Mission Union (U. S. A., 1894), and the Southern Morocco Mission (1888); besides some workers among the Jews in Tangier. There is little religious liberty in Morocco, and there seems to be but little growth of the Protestant community.
Natal : A British colony in South Africa lying on the eastern coast between Cape Colony and Portuguese East Africa. It is bounded inland by the Transvaal, the Orange River Colony, and Basutoland. Area 35,306 sq. miles; population (1903) 1,039,787. Of these, 877,388 are Zulu-Kafirs; 97,857, Asiatics; and 82,542, Europeans. About 850,000 of the population are pagans, 30,000 are Hindus, 14,000 are Mohammedans, 15,000 are Buddhists or Confucians, 22,000 are Roman Catholics, and 73,000 are Protestants. The countrytakes its name from the whim of Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese navigator, who happened to arrive at the coast on Christmas day. Roman Catholic missions are under the care of the Oblates of Mary the Immaculate ; they report 50 missionaries and 7 native clergy, with 55 schools and several orphanages and hospitals. Their ecclesiastical center is at Pietermaritzburg, the seat of a vicar apostolic. The local Anglican, Wesleyan, and Dutch Reformed congregations all carry on missionary work; and, besides these, the following
eleven missionary societies are at work in Natal: the American Board (1835), whose early missionaries were, Daniel Lindley, Robert Adams, Aldin and Lewis Grout, and Josiah Tyler; the United Free Church of Scotland; the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, both of which entered Natal as an extension of work in Kaff raria; the Berlin Missionary Society; the Hermannsburg Missionary Society; the Norwegian Missionary Society; the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant; the Free Methodists of North America; the South Africa General Mission; the National Baptist Convention; and the Plymouth Brethren. All these societies together report 192 stations and outstations, 106 missionaries (men and women), 612 native workers, 161 schools with 7,016 pupils, 2 hospitals, and one printing-house. Many of the native churches formerly connected with the older missions are now independent and self-supporting, and do not appear on the mission statistics because reckoned as churches of the country. Many of the tribal chiefs, who are pagans and polygamists of a rank order, but who nevertheless treat missionaries as benefactors, oppose the Christian Church with all their might as tending to make their " subjects " think for themselves and question the commands of hereditary despots. The British authorities are inclined to hamper the freedom of the missions on account of their suspicion of " Ethiopianism." At present a native preacher may not officiate in a church unless under the immediate supervision of a responsible white clergyman.
The Bible has been translated into Zulu (1851- 83). This is one of the most important of the African versions published by the American Bible Society. It has a range of circulation extending to Lake Nyassa and into Bechuanaland.
Nigeria: A British territory and sphere of influence in West Africa lying on the coast between Lagos and Kamerun, and extending inland between the German and the French possessions as far as Lake Chad. It is divided into Northern and Southern Nigeria. Lagos with its protectorate is naturally a part of the region, but at present is separately administered. Area: Northern Nigeria, 315,000 sq. miles; Southern Nigeria, 49,700 sq. miles; population (estimated for the whole great region) 23,000,000. It is estimated that the Mohammedan part of the population numbers about 10,000,000, and the pagan part about 13,- 000,000. This is mere guesswork, since the country is not even explored. In all the coast regions the pagans, of the most degraded class of fetish-worshipers, predominate. In Northern Nigeria the Mohammedan element is the ruling one (under British restraint), but there are large sections occupied by pagan tribes. Christians are for the most part in Southern Nigeria, and their numbers are given as: Roman Catholics, 18,000; Protestants, 6,000. The seat of government in Northern Nigeria is Zungeru on the Kaduna River; that of Southern Nigeria is Old Calabar. Steamers ply on the Niger about 400 miles from its mouth. A railway is being constructed in Northern Nigeria from Zungeru toward Kano, a great trading center south of Lake Chad.