A few days ago a man came to Blantyre with his wife who was suffering from a large tumor on her neck. The Doctor explained that the operation was a dangerous one; and so it proved, for the woman died soon after it was performed. Such a result is always awkward in a land like this. Notwithstanding that the man saw how attentive the Doctor was to the poor woman, he charged the English with murder, and made a great disturbance. He came back some time after with the intention as he said, of mourning for his wife. Although none of our pupils were quite at ease during his stay, it was not till his departure that we clearly understood the object of his visit. Taking advantage of the Mission hospitality to lay some plans for kidnapping, he was able by the night of his departure to carry off a number of children from a village beside us.[8] To-day I have been visited by the parents of these children, who have as tender hearts as Christian parents. _October 29._—A slave of Chikumbu’s had come and lurked about the Blantyre villages without permission. He was now sent back, but it was suspected that his conductors allowed him to run off on the way and seek an asylum elsewhere. _November 9._—Mrs. Macdonald taking the nurse and the children and also some native girls with her, went over to Zomba. The Doctor and I went too—all the workers much needed a change, and Mr. Buchanan had consented to take Blantyre for a while. _November 11._—We reached Zomba. A white lady had never been here before, and the inhabitants of the district were much excited over the matter. I addressed the natives each day as usual. When Anyasa people were present I used a native interpreter. I spoke in Yao, which the majority of the people understood, while my friend translated into the speech of the Anyasa. A speaker is safe in using an interpreter when he can understand what he says. Often I had to give my man the exact Chinyasa word. Sometimes he would make a careless inference, while at other times he evidently thought that I did not do justice to the subject! I mentioned one day that bad people would go away after death to “a bad place”. He enlarged considerably upon this item. One of my reasons for using an interpreter was to show the natives what interpretation really meant, for when an Englishman had to speak through an interpreter the majority of the natives did not realise that there was any connection between the speech of the white man and that of his interpreter. _Sunday 14._—After preaching at the station and one of the villages, we had a pleasant evening among the children. They overcame their shyness, and recited the parables to us. For the rest of the week we gave them a parable each day, and asked them to recite it to us in the evening.