going out as a missionary--

"If I lose my life in Africa, no one must think it has been wasted. The
lives that have been already given for the cause are not lost. They are
_filling up the trench so that others may the more easily pass over to
take the fort in the name of the Lord_!"

That is the spirit in which he went out and in turn laid down his
life--helping to fill the trench to such good purpose that his own son,
in after years, baptised the son of his murderer! Hannington's life in
Africa was a constant succession of dangers faced, difficulties
overcome, and hardships endured, all of which his intense faith, and his
gift of humour, enabled him to go through cheerfully.

He was a keen sportsman, ever eager to add to his collection of rare
creatures, and his letters home give vivid account of some of his
adventures. On one or two occasions he had narrow escapes from death--

"This part of the country abounds with game. On one occasion a herd of
antelopes crossed the path as tamely as if they had been sheep, and
tracks of giraffe and larger game were frequently seen. Guinea-fowl were
so plentiful that one of the white men at Mpwapwa told us that he did
not trouble to fire at them unless he could ensure killing two or three
at a shot.

"I had two narrow escapes in one of my walks with a gun in search of
game. I came to a belt of jungle so dense that the only way to get
through it was to creep on all fours along the tracks made by hyenas and
smaller game; and as I was crawling along I saw close in front of me a
deadly puff-adder; in another second I should have been on it.

"The same day, on my return, I espied in one of these same tracks a
peculiar arrangement of grass, which I at once recognised to be over a
pitfall; but though I had seen it I had already gone too far, and fell
with a tremendous crash, my double-barrel gun full-cocked in my hand. I
had the presence of mind to let myself go and look out only for my gun,
which fortunately did not explode. On arriving at the bottom I called
out to my terrified boy, 'Mikuke Hapana,' 'There are no spears,' a most
merciful providence; for they often stake these pitfalls in order to
ensure the death of animals that fall into them. The pitfall could not
have been less than ten feet deep, for when I proceeded to extricate
myself I found that I could not reach the top with my uplifted hands.

"Undaunted by my adventures, and urged on by the monotony of nothing but
t