Life and light for woman . gladly received by the missionaries. She wasnamed Betsey Pomeroy — was the first convert in the school, andbecame a Christian wife and mother. Similar beginnings were made in other stations; and in 1824 itwas thought best to collect all the girls who were under the care ofthe missionaries in different villages in one Central Boarding-School, at Oodooville. A boarding-school for boys had also beenestablished at Batticotta, and the pupils in both schools were givenout for support in this country, the donors being allowed to givetheir beneficiaries any name they pleased
Life and light for woman . gladly received by the missionaries. She wasnamed Betsey Pomeroy — was the first convert in the school, andbecame a Christian wife and mother. Similar beginnings were made in other stations; and in 1824 itwas thought best to collect all the girls who were under the care ofthe missionaries in different villages in one Central Boarding-School, at Oodooville. A boarding-school for boys had also beenestablished at Batticotta, and the pupils in both schools were givenout for support in this country, the donors being allowed to givetheir beneficiaries any name they pleased. Accordingly, there were THE OODOOVILLE BOARDING-SCHOOL. 427 soon found in the school such notable personages as Eichard Bax-ter, Maxtm Luther, Henry Martyn, Harriet Newell and others. Itmay be best to state that it was found impossible to continue thissystem of naming, and it was abandoned. The girls school opened with twenty-nine pupils, in a bungalow— a mere shelter, consisting of a thatched roof, supported on six. or eight posts, having a hard floor of earth, on which the childrensat cross-legged, writing in the sand, or using palm-leaves forslates and stiles for pencils. The number of pupils gradually in-creased to fifty and seventy-five, till, in 1838, there were a hundredin the school. The bungalow was soon outgrown, and a brickschool-room, with a wide veranda, was erected, with a separatebuilding for dormitories. In the latter building there were little 428 LIFE AND LIGHT. rooms for private devotions, called prayer-rooms, which havealways been sacred places in the school, and a source of greatspiritual power. The arrangements for the school at that time were very simple,,as it was thought best to follow the usages of native society as faras possible. Their dress was of white cotton cloth, wrapped abouttheir bodies according to the custom of the dountry; and they tooktheir food sitting on the floor, each with a brass plate or dish, toreceive her portion of rice, cur
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectcongregationalchurch
