The Missionaries clearly saw what was needed, but their theories were somewhat bold, at least for a beginning. Probably if they had been as many weeks in the country as they had been days, the idea of binding natives to promises of this nature would have struck them as a doubtful method. As I read these conditions I think of the poor Interpreter that had to translate them: the English idioms employed are not such as would facilitate his task. The conditions, as we might infallibly anticipate, were all received, and the English undertook to help the Anyasa against the Yao. As we might as infallibly anticipate from a slight knowledge of the natives, those that appeared with guns on the eventful day had “no powder,” and expected English ammunition. August the 14th must have been felt to be the beginning of a new era. All were up by four o’clock. There were eight Englishmen, besides the great multitude of Anyasa. The party marched straight on Zomba, where a great body of Yao lay. A parley was tried but failed. Then the battle began, and when the Yao found that the English guns carried so far, they were soon in retreat; perhaps about five of them were killed. But the Yao tribe continued to give trouble. By 17th of October another march was made against them. Though the Anyasa guns took about an hour to load, the expedition was able to start at six in the morning. The majority of the mission staff were unwell, and in no fit state for such troubles. On the 18th the Mission force reached Lake Shirwa. They found, as the Bishop remarks, that they could rely on their Anyasa allies “only for cowardice and falsehood”. But the Wayao, instead of fighting, ran away after two shots were fired, and the party went on and burned their huts. During all this time, and in spite of difficulties and interruption, the missionaries were labouring hard among the natives. On the 4th of November the Bishop writes, “We have plenty of room here for setting down six or eight missions”. On the 2nd of December another interruption occurred. Messrs. Proctor and Scudamore, two clergymen, went to see whether the Ruo could be made available for the transport of goods. They were received and treated civilly by Mwanasomba, a chief near Mlanje, who offered them a hut to sleep in all night. His plan was to burn this hut at midnight, kill the missionaries, and then take possession of their goods. The treachery was fortunately discovered, but it was with difficulty that the party made their escape.