Womans Endurance | Page 3

morning; twelve; rude coffins; rough and ready biers (six); young Hugo; "Gelijk een bloem des velds" ("As for man his days are as grass; as a flower of the field so he flourisheth")[11]
Visit Mrs. Liebenberg, whose girlie was buried; prostrate; never saw glimpse of Mr. Becker.
Great concern because of the difficulty of cleanliness amid such dire straits; point determined; to warn and exhort one and all to the strictest cleanliness[12]; for "cleanliness is next to godliness."
Saw long convoy travelling past.
Eighteen corpses in morgue tents.
* * * * *
Sunday, August 25.--Longish day.
235a; six orphans[13]; nice and clean; very satisfactory; boy bad.
383; still same; poor girl.
113; death; child; much misery; Olivier.
Church 1.30; open air; glorious weather; attentive congregation; singing impressive; majority stand; grand pulpit(!); regular rostrum.
Afternoon work begins 2 p.m., ends 7 p.m.; incessant, wearying.
Twenty-eight visits.
Our Camp one large hospital, with hundreds wrestling with measles, pneumonia, fever. The sorrow of it that I never can sit down and say, "Now I have visited all the sick." There are hundreds of whom I know nothing.
Horrible whistle that! It signals the morgue tent people to come and remove the dead. It is Death's shrill, harsh, jarring, triumphant shout! It shivers one through.
176; great misery.
235b; child died; food needed.
375; dead child.
175; a most harrowing spectacle; Badenhorst; old father; old mother; bedridden 15-year-old boy; water head; simple; old mother feeds it mouth to mouth[14]; "Die kind, leeraart, het ik nou al lang afgege aan de Heere Jesus!" (This child, Pastor, I have given to the Lord Jesus long ago.") She dotes on this imbecile, poor mother. Such a simple, homely, gladsome, believing old heart. "Ik ben velen een wonder geweest" ("I am a wonder unto many"); me certainly; daughter with sick girlie; "De Heere het haar ver ons terug gege" ("The Lord has given her back to us"); there was a fire in their tent, and this young mother was badly burnt to the bone (wrist).
169; Heever; four children; all sick.
450; great distress; Du Toit; child sick; no nourishment; young mother sick; only child dead.
526; De Wet; daughter delirious; dying; two others sick on the floor; pathetic.
372; Kotze; baby dying; two others sick; great friends Oom Jacob.
156; Joubert (or Ackerman); daughter; floor; dying; measles and pneumonia.
15; Barnard; two daughters; one dangerously sick; poor anxious mother! While hurrying to relieve with some beef tea and Benger's Food stopped on way by desperate mother.
471; Marais; eight children; all sick; no nourishment; two very bad. To think of it!
After tea called to 235; orphans; boy very bad; sisters' tears.
Also 211; Roux; daughter; pneumonia.
Again 383; much drawn to that child; large, soft, trustful brown eyes; asked yesterday that I pray she might get well; to-day otherwise; trusting.
Distributed beef tea and Benger's food to some very urgent cases; the thankfulness melts one's heart.
Funerals; fourteen.
Found on getting home plate food on box; enjoyed same at tea; great cheer to be with the Van As's.
Closed Sunday School; children sing "Dat's Heeren Zegen!" ("The blessing of the Lord descend on thee.")
* * * * *
Monday, August 26.--That imbecile boy died to-day; the old mother sent for me, but I found no time to go.
Don't think 526 will last long; gave candles, beef tea and Benger's Food this evening.
383 much better; smiled this morning when I entered.
339; great tribulation; six deaths in one week.
440; girlie; sweet face; wonder if she will die or live; very, very bad; Cloete.
288; Mrs. Venter; young wife; sick; five children sick; gave beef tea and Benger's Food.
352; the lost little lamb found; one of my first, whose number I had omitted to take; Weinanda; five years; pining away; large grey eyes; far-away look; poor little mite; Ken jij ver mij, me kind?" (Do you still remember me, child?") "Ja, Oom; Oom is de Predikant" ("Yes, Uncle; Uncle is the Minister"). "Is Weinanda blij dat Oom weer gekom het?" ("Is Weinanda glad that Uncle has come again?") "Ja, Oom; Oom is goed om te kom" ("Yes, Uncle; it was good of Uncle to come") Wonder if I really am rather soft; but when this little mite clasped her tiny hands together when Oom began to pray, I was bowled clean over.
35, 156, 15 rather better.
At 34 found old friends of Oom Jacob; Wernich; the old woman weak; very nice to meet so many great friends of Oom Jacob and of Papa from Colesberg; old Mr. Du Plessis can't get over it.
Wasted much time at weekly meeting of the Elders; impatient; each Elder has block of sixteen tents to care for; heard reports; nearly all report general sickness. The amount of sickness just now is terrible; a vast hospital; the bitter cold nights play havoc; most lie on the hard bare ground.
Fighting grimly with uncleanliness; the idea that it is dangerous to wash with measles; rot!
Another great point; must insist that friends