African Idylls by Donald Fraser

An account of the work of Donald Fraser, a notable missionary to Malawi. My thanks to the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide for making this public domain title available for digitisation.

Donald Fraser [1870-1933], African Idylls. Portraits & Impressions of Life on a Central African Mission Station, 3rd edn. London: Seeley, Service & Co., Ltd., 1923. Hbk. pp.229. [Click to visit the download page for this title]

Contents

1. Our African Home
2. A School in Central Africa
3. An African Beadle
4. A Holiday on the Hills
5. Lost in the Bush
6. “The Needy One”
7. The Motor Fiend
8. The Aftermath
9. A True Knight
10. A Wanderer Returned
11. Waterfinisher—A Carrier
12. The Beloved Madman
13. From Death to Life
14. Man’s Gratitude to Man
15. Magic
16. Central African Vignettes

Chapter 1: Our African Home

The station stands in a wide, open space surrounded on all sides by a broad belt of trees. The dense wood has been cut, and in its place a low, creeping dub grass has been planted, beloved of the herd of cattle that roams around in the months when the grass is green and succulent. Here and there are wide, spreading trees, and on both sides of the main roads avenues of oranges and mangoes, blue gums and cypresses, are gradually creeping up, promising to make a brave show in the future. Winds blow all day through the station during the dry season, bringing freshness and vigour that were strangers to the thick wood, and causing some irritation to the resident who loves a quiet peace, and not a little confusion to the modest native, whose dress is but a loose girdling of calico.

Pages 17-18.