myself from intercourse with country and kindred. Last of
all I thought of the tranquil days in the African highland
home, and I blessed Blantyre, and passed with a grateful
heart from the honoured tomb of its founder.
But I am anticipating. We are yet far up the Shiré river,
in the midst of difficulties of which many will have to be
overcome ere we again feel the pulse of civilisation.
A glance at the long and narrow canoe floating close
under the bank of the river, and almost covered with the
bending reeds, was sufficient to show that her carrying capacity
was very inadequate. Six men, at least, would be
required to propel her, and the narrowness of the craft gave
her á very cranky appearance. She was far from being a
Clasper. M. Giraud’s fancy evidently lay in the direction
of a bigger but somewhat old and waterlogged boat which
was moored close by.
Inquiring of Mr. Morrison, the engineer in charge of the
repairs on the steamer Lady Nyassa, regarding the men who
had been promised, he gave us the information that there
was some doubt whether the chief Malalima would allow the
canoe to start. The said chief had now made an imperative
demand for a suit of black overalls; being iu all likelihood
under the impression that black clothes had something
to do with missionary medicinó. Surely a suit of
this description was bound to become a fetish of marvellous
efficacy when it graced the body of an expert!
Where could we get a black suit ? The arrangement
made by Mr. Moir with the chief was that each man was
to receive eight fathoms of calico, but by some oversight
only eight yards per head had been sent. Black men are
in no way different from white men in the counting of payment
or of change; which as a matter of course, in this
instance, fell short of the mark. Malalima at once protested
that the white man wanted to cheat and not to pay what had
been promised. Mishaps of this description are always very
unfortunate with Kaffirs, who in the circumstances cannot
think of anything short of premeditated imposition.
Now we swore at the delay; not at the Kaffir. Negotiations
had to be begun anew. The messages from the chief
became more and more unsatisfactory, the latest being that
unless all the calico he demanded, over and above that
which he had already received, was handed over along
with a suit of black clothes, he would immediately send
back the canoe!
Not another canoe could be h a d ; so we were forced to
accede to every request. Bargaining and bartering about
men took up a long time; but at length the canoe, with a
crew of six of the Manganja tribe, was ready for the voyage.
On loading up we found that our doubts as to the smallness
of the craft were well founded. At the same time we were
perfectly confident that any further delay might give a
chance for the suspicious chief to harden his heart again, so
there was nothing for it but to bail out the old waterlogged
boat, and man her with Giraud’s Wangwana boys. I
did not like the look of the old coffin, but we had, resolved
upon making a start against all hazards.
At this point the incorrigible Fred must be introduced to
my friends. Joseph would have been a more appropriate
christening for him, if such matters went by appearance, for
truly his robe was one of many colours. A small straw hat
covered his head, the woolly hair being decorated by the
insertion of a small comb jewelled with beads. Reserved
.and silent in disposition, Fred was nevertheless sharp, shrewd,
and intelligent. A thoroughbred Ajawa, he had been under
Christian instruction since he was, so to speak, a green sapling,
his yearnings all lay towards the fetish of his fathers, and