Home life in darkest Africa

              Figure


Her Royal Majesty THE QUEEN

HOME LIFE IN DARKEST AFRICA:
EXPLORATIONS IN THE DARK CONTINENT: LECTURES BY ERWIN.H.RICHARDS

Instrumental Virtuoso



ERWIN. H. RICHARDS
Figure



Equatorian Graces


For Sixteen years IN EASTERN AFRICA.


Home Sweet Home.




ANNOUNCEMENT
Concerning the Rev. E. H. Richards, A.M., Superintendent of the East Central African Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church of America.

Mr. Richards has given sixteen years to missionary work among the Zulus, Tongas, and Batwas of East Africa.  He also has made extensive explorations into the interior.  He is a man of education and thoroughly imbued with the missionary spirit.  He is prepared, as are few men, to give lectures and addresses on the life and customs of native Africans.  He illustrates his lectures by the exhibition of a large number of exceedingly rare and valuable curios, collected by himself.  I have heard him speak, and have been very much edified and instructed.

I heartily concur in the published indorsements of others, and commend him to our pastors and people everywhere.  He is spending a few months representing East African work, and raising money for it.  We need ten thousand dollars at once.  Our pastors will confer a great favor upon their people by arranging to have him address them; and Sunday school superintendents and presidents of Epworth Leagues cannot do better service for the Master than to arrange to have him preach or lecture for them.

JOSEPH C. HARTZELL, Bishop of Africa.

New York, August 5, 1896.



CRITIQUES.
I have much pleasure in stating that I have heard the Rev. E. H. Richards speak on African Missions, and regard him as an entertaining and instructive missionary speaker.  He has had sixteen years' active experience in Africa, and can give much more trustworthy accounts of the people and the prospects of missionary work in that great field than are usually heard from missionary speakers.

J. M. THOBURN, Bishop of India.

I have examined Rev. E. H. Richards' credentials, which are of a high order, and heard him speak in a very interesting manner, and I commend him and his cause to those who are interested in the speedy evangelizing of the Dark Continent.

HENRY W. WARREN, Bishop M. E. Church.

I am glad that the Dark Continent has on the platform of this country so able a representative as Brother Richards.  If he could be heard in all the larger churches of this country it would give a great impetus to mission work in that hitherto neglected continent.

J. M. WALDEN, Bishop M. E. Church.

I listened with great interest to Stanley and was delighted with the great explorer.  I have also heard one of the lectures on African life and customs by Rev. E. H. Richards.  Richards' heroism has not been excelled by that of the noble Stanley.  His lecture was far more interesting and contained at least four or five times as much information in regard to African life and customs as did that of our popular American lecturer.

J. W. BASHFORD, President Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, O.

It gives me pleasure to testify to the rare qualities of the Rev. E. H. Richards as a lecturer on mission work in Africa.  He thoroughly understands his subject and his audience.  The interest never flags from beginning to end.  He communicates a vast amount of information about the social and moral condition of the country, without being statistical or dull.  He makes a vivid impression of the degradation of the heathen, and yet he can see the bright and even amusing side of things.  The young people will be glad to hear him.

W. G. BALLANTINE, President Oberlin College, Oberlin, O.

Rev. E. H. Richards, A.M., who has spent sixteen years in Africa, has given three lectures before the Missionary Conference of the Bay View Assembly, on 'Home Life and Missionary Work in Darkest Africa.'  His lectures have given great satisfaction, and were listened to by delighted and deeply interested audiences.  Mr. Richards takes high rank as a lecturer.  His method of presenting his subject is picturesque, instructive, and captivating.

THOMAS MARSHALL, D. D., Field Secretary, Board of Foreign Missions of Presbyterian Church, and President Missionary Conference at Bay View Chautauqua Assembly, Bay View, Mich.


More interesting than Stanley, not surpassed by Mark Twain.
CINCINNATI COMMERCIAL GAZETTE.

Rev. E. H. Richards of Africa has just addressed on successive evenings two of the largest audiences of the Beatrice Chautauqua.  I know of no speaker who in a given time can give a greater amount of such information as the public desires to have.  He is strong in all the elements requisite for a platform speaker.

JOHN E. EARP, President Beatrice Chautauqua, Beatrice, Neb.

 Lake



CRITIQUES.
Rev. Erwin H. Richards delivered a very entertaining lecture in our Members' Course.  For over two hours he had the closest attention of the audience, and after the lecture was over, though it was then very late, the people crowded round him for over half an hour to ask him questions and examine the curios which he had brought from the Dark Continent.

GEORGE COXHEAD, General Secretary Y. M. C. A., St. Louis, Mo.

Rev. E. H. Richards lectured before our Y. M. C. A. of the College of Emporia.  It was the most interesting lecture to which I ever listened.  The vividness with which he described African life cannot be surpassed.  A vein of humor ran through it all which prevented weariness.  His whole lecture was simply grand.  Nothing has done our Y. M. C. A. half the good he has done us.  Missions now seem a reality to us.  Some of our young men are now missionary enthusiasts who paid but little attention to the subject before.

T. F. BARRIER, President Y. M. C. A., College of Emporia, Kan.

I esteem Rev. E. H. Richards one of the most entertaining lecturers I have ever heard.  The subject is exceedingly fresh and novel, and he handles it in a way that is captivating and entertaining to the last degree.  Nobody goes to sleep, and they laugh for an hour afterward.  'Home Life in Darkest Africa' is rich in instruction and in humor.

A. A. WILLITS, D.D. (The Famous Lecturer on Sunshine), Dayton, O.

Rev. E. H. Richards impressed himself upon our people as a brilliant Explorer and Lecturer, as well as a faithful and effective Missionary.  Between repeated bursts of laughter and tears, that followed Mr. Richards' racy narrative, our people grew to feel the needs and true condition of native Africans.  I am sure that none will forget the vivid impressions gained, and many heretofore uninterested among us will become missionary helpers.

S. P. DUNLAP, Pastor First Congregational Church, Springfield, O.

Resolved by the Chicago Preachers' Meeting, that we have listened to our brother, E. H. Richards, on his personal experiences in Africa, as a Missionary of our beloved Zion, with delight.  Brother Richards has a wonderfully versatile genius as a lecturer, and is thoroughly capable of interesting and instructing an audience.  We shall hail with delight the time when he can come again among us and present his good cause.

J. A. MATLACK, Secretary Methodist Preachers' Meeting, Chicago, Ill

I have known Mr. Richards for many years, and I have a high opinion of his general capacity and of his fitness for the foreign work.  He speaks with unusual power, presenting with a vividness almost photographic the conditions of life in the Dark Continent.  An address delivered here during the present winter was one of the most remarkable to which I ever listened.

N. L. ANDREWS, Dean of Faculty Colgate University, Hamilton, N. Y.

Spring Fountain Park Assembly audiences have been completely captured this season by Dr. Richards.  He talked rapidly in his earnest, magnetic manner.  When, after the end of a lecture of two hours and a half, he proposed to conclude, the audience would have more, and offered to stay two hours longer if he would continue.  It would be simply impossible to describe the lectures of this truly remarkable man; they abound in shining, sparkling wit, brilliant imagination, delightful simplicity, and earnest consecration.

D. C. WOOLPERT, President and Superintendent, Warsaw, Ind.

Upon invitation of the Y. M. C. A., Rev. E. H. Richards delivered his famous lecture, 'Home Life in Darkest Africa,' last evening, to an audience of more than 800, and it is estimated that over 300 were turned away, who could not gain even an admittance.  The aisles, halls, windows, and pulpit were crowded, and fully 200 men and many women stood for two hours and a half without a single interruption.  The lecture is considered one of the finest ever given in the city.  I am glad to recommend him to all Christian organizations as a success in every way.

J. C. GEACH, General Secretary Y. M. C. A., Fort Scott, Kan.

A vivid portrayal of actual life.  Mr. Richards certainly possesses remarkable ability to interest a popular audience.

H. F. TYLER, St. Joseph, Mich.

The lecture was one of the most humorous, interesting, and instructive I have ever heard.

DR. N. C. STEELE, Chattanooga, Tenn.

The lecturer sways his audience at will, calling forth the tear of sympathy by his pathetic touches of description, and again provoking bursts of merriment by flashes of genuine wit.

MISS CECILE GOHL, Lecturer on Home Life in Sweden, Boston, Mass.


He tells as much in one lecture as four men usually do.  If his lecture had been reported verbatim, it would occupy four pages of the Express, and every sentence was full of entertaining instruction.
DAILY EXPRESS, Beatrice, Neb.


He is a vivacious speaker.  He talks as rapidly as Buckley, more eloquently than Stanley, and as wittily as Bill Nye.
WESTERN CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE.

Rev. E. H. Richards' lectures at Bay View this year were a great success.  He can pack in a single hour more information about Africa than anyone else I have ever heard.  No field of study to-day is more fascinating than Africa, and no lecturer can tell the story better than can he.

JOHN M. HALL, Supt. Bay View Assembly and Summer University.

I have heard Mr. Stanley.  Mr. Richards is Mr. Stanley's superior as a lecturer.  It may be said of Mr. Richards' oratory as it was once said of Mr. Lincoln's: 'It is romance, pathos, fun, and logic welded together.'

C. L. WORK, Pastor Fourth Presbyterian Church, Dayton, O.

Having heard two of Rev. E. H. Richard's lectures on Africa, it gives me great pleasure to testify to their great merit.  Mr. Richards' long experience in Africa as a Missionary explorer gives him abundance of original material, and his marked ability as a public speaker makes his lectures intensely interesting.

C. E. MANDEVILLE, D.D., First M. E. Church, 64th and Stewart Ave., Chicago, Ill.

Rev. E. H. Richards lectured to the people in our large tent, on his work in Africa.  Our people were instructed, delighted, edified.  He caused all to deeply sympathize with the heathen in Africa, and to desire to aid in their salvation.  Mr. Richards and his lectures on Africa are all right and should have a hearing everywhere.

JAMES HAIG, Union Missions, Columbus, O.





CRITIQUES.
Dr. Richards, of Africa, gave an address in our church in the morning of the 28th, and the house was full.  In the evening every available foot of space was occupied an hour before the time for evening service.  Many stood till after ten o'clock, and scores were turned away for want of standing room.  If Dr. Richards ever returns he will receive a hearty welcome from the people of Corry.

J. A. PARSONS, Pastor First M. E. Church, Corry, Pa.

The lecture by Rev. E. H. Richards is one of the most entertaining and instructive on the platform.  At times he is pathetic, at other times dramatic, while running through it all is enough humor to make the most dignified hold his sides with laughter.

HARLEY J. STEWARD, Pastor Westminster Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati, O.

He is a perfect cyclopedia of information as to 'Home Life, Customs, and Manners of Darkest Africa,' and has the faculty of telling what one wishes most to hear.  All were captivated and enthusiastic before he had spoken a quarter of an hour.

E. C. SIMPSON, Pastor U. P. Church, Hamilton, O.

Our audiences here are very hard to please, but Dr. Richards held the closest attention for over two hours.

I. A. THAYER, Pastor First Christian Church, New Castle, Pa.

Mr. Richards spoke to a crowded house.  His lecture is a graphic picture of the African as he is.  It is a Star-Course lecture, Chalk-Talk, Magic Lantern show, and sermon all in one.

SIDNEY STRONG, Pastor First Congregational Church, Mt. Vernon, O.


His indorsements—ministers, educators, and lecturers—are equal to the best.  His lecture last evening was the clearest, wittiest, and meatiest description of African life we have ever heard.
NORWALK (O.) CHRONICLE.

His lecture was enlivened with many an anecdote by way of illustration, and as a story-teller Mr. Richards is inimitable.  No mission field is now so full of interest to the public as is Africa, and no missionary has ever presented more vividly or more earnestly or in a more interesting manner the condition and the character of the people to whom his life has been given, than did the speaker of last evening.

WALTER MILLER, Professor of Greek, University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.


Mr. Richards is a pleasing talker, and understands his subject thoroughly.
THE WHEELING (W. Va.) INTELLIGENCER.

Rev. E. H. Richards gave his fascinating lecture entitled 'Private Life in Eastern Equatoria' yesterday morning in the St. Paul's Church. It was crowded with information concerning the interesting people among whom he has labored as missionary for ten years.  My people listened with interest most profound.  The announcement of another address by Mr. Richards would be hailed with delight by my people.  I wish he might address all the churches and Sunday schools.

GEO. K. MORRIS, Pastor St. Paul's M. E. Church, Cincinnati, O.

Rev. E. H. Richards instructed, delighted, and completely captivated his audience.  His own intelligence, wit, and spiritual grace blended with the attractiveness of his theme to completely command the attention of all.  We wish to hear him again.

C. W. MILLARD, Pastor Washington Square M. E. Church, New York.

Rev. E. H. Richards has addressed our audience twice, and greatly to their profit and delight.  He is marvelously entertaining and always instructive.

W. A. PHILLIPS, Pastor Western Ave. M. E. Church, Chicago, Ill.

The best missionary address we have ever heard.  We heard him twice, and regret the brevity of his stay would not permit us to hear him again.

W. C. ALGER, Pastor Trinity M. E. Church, Cottage City, Mass.

The address of Rev. E. H. Richards last night was intensely interesting and full of instruction.  He gave a rapid review of the conditions and needs of Africa that enchained the attention of a large audience to the end.

G. H. COREY, Pastor Metropolitan M. E. Church, Washington, D. C.

No man in America can give more information concerning Africa, or in any better form, than Rev. E. H. Richards, who recently addressed the members of Trinity Church.

ROBERT McINTYRE, Denver, Colo.

Rev. E. H. Richards addressed our young people yesterday, giving a short lecture illustrated with curios.  He was entertaining to the children, captivated the adults, and was most gratefully received by all.

HOWARD HENDERSON, Pastor Trinity M. E. Church, Cincinnati, O.

An overflowing house, a vivid and thrilling description of African savagism.

DR. PEARNE, Xenia, O.



HOME LIFE IN DARKEST AFRICA.
SYNOPSIS:

Brief description of voyage, touches at Madeira, Teneriffe, Cape Town, Coast Ports.  Debarkation under native auspices.  Introduction to Zambezi officials and Portuguese Africa.  Introduction to native chief and native Africa.  Brief glimpses of the country, its present and future possibilities financially.  The purchase of lands, the beginning of mission home life.  Native government, politics, election of officers, taxes, private rights, and citizenship.  Superstitions, variety of evil spirits, illustrated by incident.  A native Kraal, its construction and environments.  Marriage in detail, buying wives, and selling daughters.  Polygamy and general domestic relations; culinary department, choice dishes, and rich viands.  Industries, rum manufactory and rum drinking, dancing, vocal and instrumental music, methods of hunting and fishing, games, etc.  The medical profession; the M.D. remedies and methods; the sick man, death, distribution of property, burial and mourning ceremony.  Present attitude of natives toward evangelization and civilization.  Present and future prospects for the Dark Continent.



EXPLORATIONS IN THE DARK CONTINENT.
SYNOPSIS:

The country, the object of exploration; the political situation.  Outfit, making up a caravan; preliminary difficulties.  One day's march in detail; the early start, animal and vegetable life, plains, tambooti grass, bush, forest, entrance to native Kraal, usual formalities, exchange of Mouths, native curiosity, and feminine genius; the Queen's business tact, a dish of Wuxa, dining, and retiring under embarrassing circumstances.  March resumed, fording the Crocodile, congenial extraction from an alarming situation.  Early experience with African fever; arrival at King's Kraal.  Interview with H. R. H. Umzila; business discussed, object of expedition attained.  Return march begun; meeting a White Man; arrival at Coast; the country opened.



CURIOS.
For either lecture a cabinet of Curios containing six complete suits of native clothing, native ornaments, beads, rings for lip, arm, and leg, native weaving, blanket, comb, greaser, etc., from a woman's tooth to the hide of a Hippo, and two hundred photos of the native as he was seen.

Address all correspondence to

REV. E. H. RICHARDS, Norwalk, O.