I found that these two individuals had plunged the whole settlement into a dreadful state of excitement. Both of them had been captured by the Blantyre villagers. The man, it was said, had taken part in the recent slave raid, while the little girl was the daughter of a small chief who was our most deadly enemy, and had planned the whole attack. I had some difficulty before I could persuade the villagers to release the unfortunate captives. I insisted that the little girl at least was quite innocent, and I was very glad to find that she was unharmed; but the man’s head, unfortunately, required sticking plaster. As the party had come to the Station under my escort, they naturally appealed to me for protection, while I was fairly responsible to the Mission people for bringing in such friends! The Blantyre natives were always enthusiastic in the defence of the settlement. On one occasion a great number of them, on hearing that a woman had been kidnapped, ran a distance of ten miles in order to intercept the kidnappers. At this period the whole country was greatly unsettled for a long time, as the following extracts from my journal will show. _13th Nov._—“Chologwe came to seek protection from Chiputula. He is one of the men that left their home to accompany Dr. Livingstone in his researches here. The majority of these adventurers have established themselves in the country as chiefs. But Chologwe lived with his ‘brother’ Chiputula, who now threatens to kill him. Chiputula sometimes gets brandy, and on these occasions this usually fierce man becomes a perfect tiger. In the beginning of the week we had six other citizens of Chiputula asking an asylum; but knowing the danger of meddling with the Magololo chiefs, we advised them to go home. As poor Chologwe had come so far from his native land, and that in company with a white man, we thought he might stay till Chiputula enquired about him. Refugees from the Yao come to avoid being sold; refugees from the Magololo to avoid being killed. “_16th._—A letter came from Zomba showing that everything was peaceful there. So far as we can keep Blantyre and Zomba distinct, they will be valuable experiments of two widely different methods of mission work. Blantyre has received refugees, Zomba admits none. “_19th._—A man came in from Mkanda’s neighbourhood with his wife and two daughters. He stated that his headman had threatened to kill him because he would not let his daughters be sold. The man had originally belonged to the foot of Sochi, and many of our people came to confirm his story. Being a freeman, he was allowed to stay. “_20th._—The Livingstonia Mission has had great difficulty in bringing up a boiler for the steamer. Dr. Laws has sent down many men to accomplish the work.