James Chapman and Samuel Edwards—Moffat crossed the edge of the Kalahari desert, found Sechele and his people among the precipices of Lethubaruba, passed over 120 miles of desert to Shoshong, the residence of Sekhomi, chief of the Bamangwato tribe, then by compass over an unknown and uninhabited country in a north-easterly direction for eighteen days, until he reached Mosilikatse and the Matabele. The chief was almost helpless with dropsy, but accompanied Moffat in a further journey to the outposts of the tribe, in the hope of hearing news of Livingstone. The obstacles at last proved insuperable, and Moffat had to content himself with an undertaking from the chief, which he kept, that he would take charge of the supplies for Livingstone, and deliver them to the Makololo. Moffat made his return journey of seven hundred miles to Kuruman without incident.
In 1857 the translation of the Old Testament was finished, and the whole bible in the Sechwana language was printed and distributed. In the same year, by order of the home authorities of the mission, Moffat returned to the Matabeles and obtained the chief's consent to establish a station among them. There followed a meeting with Livingstone at the Cape to define their spheres of labour, and after some delay at Kuruman, owing to quarrels between the Boers and the natives, during which Moffat printed a new hymn-book, he, with three companions, including his younger son, reached the headquarters of the Matabele chief Mosilikatse at the end of October 1859. The chief was at first far from cordial, having heard of the doings of the Transvaal Boers, who so often followed in the wake of the missionaries. Eventually, however, in December a station was formed at Inyati, and Moffat worked hard at the forge and the bench to help forward the necessary buildings, until in June the mission was sufficiently established for him to leave it to itself.
Failing health and domestic troubles led Moffat to finally leave Africa for England on 10 June 1870. He was most warmly received. His wife died at Brixton in January 1871, and Moffat subsequently until his death travelled about the United Kingdom preaching and advocating the cause of missions. He also revised the Sechwana translation of the Old Testament. In 1872 he was made a D.D. of Edinburgh. In 1873 he settled in Knowle Road, Brixton, South London, and was presented with upwards of 5,000l. by his friends. In 1874 he went to Southampton to meet and identify the remains of Livingstone, and was present at the funeral in Westminster Abbey. In August 1876 he was present at the unveiling of the statue of Livingstone in Edinburgh, when the queen, who was at Holyrood, sent for him and gave him a short interview. In April 1877, at the invitation of the French Missionary Society, he visited Paris, and through Theodore Monod addressed four thousand French children. In November 1879 he removed to Leigh, near Tunbridge. He was deeply interested in the Transvaal war, and, believing in the advantages of British rule for the natives, he was greatly shocked at the triumph of the Boers and the acquiescence of the English government in defeat. On 7 May 1881 he was entertained at the Mansion House, London, at a dinner given by the lord mayor in his honour, which the Archbishop of Canterbury, representatives of both houses of parliament, and all the leading men of the religious and philanthropic world attended. In 1882 he visited the Zulu chief Ketchwayo, then in England, and was able to converse with one of his attendants in the Sechwana language. Moffat died peacefully at Leigh on 8 Aug. 1883, and was buried at Norwood cemetery beside the remains of his wife. A monument was erected to his memory at Ormiston, his birthplace in East Lothian.
Moffat's eldest son Robert, and his daughter, Mrs. Livingstone, both died in 1862. Another daughter Bessie married in October 1861 the African missionary, Roger Price. His second daughter married Jean Frédoux, a French missionary, who was killed in 1866, leaving his widow and seven children unprovided for.
Tall and manly, with shaggy hair and beard, clear cut features and piercing eyes, Moffat's exterior was one to impress native races, while his childlike spirit and modest and unselfish nature insured a commanding influence. He was the father and pioneer of South African mission work, and will be remembered as a staunch friend of the natives, an industrious translator, a persevering teacher, and a skilful organiser.
Moffat was the author of: 1. 'Translation of the Gospel of St. Luke into Sechwana,' 12mo, 1830. 2. 'Translation into Sechwana of parts of the Old Testament,' 8vo, 1831. 3. 'A Book of Hymns in Sechwana, Schlapi dialect, 80 pages,' Mission Press, Kuruman, 2nd edition, 1838. 4. 'Africa, or Gospel Light shining in the midst of Heathen Darkness, a Sermon on Isaiah ix. 2, preached before the Directors of the London Missionary Society, &c., with Notes,' 8vo, London, 1840. 5. 'Missionary Labours and Scenes in Southern Africa,' 4th edition, London, 8vo,
