THE GOLD COAST, AFRICA.
By Editor
FROM a letter to the corresponding secretary of the International Sabbath School Association we obtain the following interesting items:— There has been for more than a century an establishment of English merchants in the country, which has been the means of disseminating some knowledge of the English language. In 1836 the Wesleyan Methodists entered the field and established schools along the coast line from Apollonia to Lagos, under the superintendence of European and native missionaries. At the present time, however, the majority of these are native ministers, and their operations have been extended to the interior, where they have built chapels and established schools. In Accra District the Basel Mission, established in 1843, is educating the people in the English language and in the Vernacular, also in the gospel of Christ. The headquarters of this mission is at Akropong, about thirty-five miles from the coast. Here is also a theological seminary, where they train young men for the ministry, besides an institution for the instruction of females in the ordinary industries. Another female institution is located at Abokobi, about eighteen miles from the coast. At Christiansborg, the seat of the Gold Coast Government, the Basel Mission has churches and schools under the superintendence of European ministers, with some native ministers, catechists, and teachers. Most of the students here are clerks in the employment of the government and mercantile houses and shops. There is also a workshop here, where young men are taught the various trades, and they find considerable employment on government buildings and public works of various kinds. In Accra, besides the Wesleyan school and chapel, there is a government school under the superintendence of a colonial chaplain (European), with native teachers. There is also a girls' school, under an efficient lady teacher. The Roman Catholics have also opened a school here, the present year, for training young men. Besides this they have schools at Cape Coast and Elimina. Kwitta, about ninety miles from Accra, is the headquarters of the Bremen Mission, where they teach both English and the Vernacular. They have also girls' schools all over the interior, where is given industrial training, as in the Basel Mission schools at Abokobi and Akropong. The writer of the letter from which the foregoing facts are gleaned solicits the extension of our mission work to the Gold Coast country, and expresses the decided opinion that it will receive a hearty welcome. We have no doubt that by some means the way will be opened erelong to respond to the call.