Date: 28 June, 1833

Three missionaries of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society, Thomas Arbousset, Eugene Casalis and Constant Gosselin, obtained permission from Chief Moshoeshoe (Moshesh) to found a mission station in Basutoland (now Lesotho). At the time, the only Whites whom the Chief had seen were four hunters and a traveller who had stayed very briefly. The three missionaries did not choose a site at Thaba Bosigo, but a place they later named Morija, since it was better suited for cultivation than the former. They encountered difficulty in communicating with the locals and had to bring along Hottentot (Khoi-Khoi) interpreters. The mission received the whole-hearted support of Moshoeshoe, who was especially insistent that the children of his people should be able to read, so that they in their turn could instruct their parents in the Christian faith. In spite of every effort to make the subjects of his mountain kingdom acquainted with religious matters, he himself was never to become a convert.

Sources:

1. Wallis, F. (2000 ). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau;
2. Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU , v. 8