His conversation shewed that he was well informed regarding his country, and I soon had a very favourable impression of his abilities. The thing most on his mind was the danger of an attack from Chikumbu, but he was of opinion that our presence would be in his favour. He has one square hut which he put at our disposal. Next morning he was able to congratulate us that Chikumbu had not come. The time had been when Mkanda himself was expected in like manner to attack Blantyre! In a short time he gave us a guide to the top of Cherasulo, and directed the man to lead us by the easiest way. Mkanda’s own children and most of the boys in his village accompanied us. They could climb the rocky sides of the hill like monkeys. We soon discovered that there was no easy way to the top of the mountain, and the guide thought that, after we found out this, we should be glad to return. To add to our danger, several loose stones lay on the mountain side. While climbing we pulled ourselves up by anything we could lay hold of, and the stones that did not bear the strain became detached and endangered the lives of those that were following further down. The Doctor wanted to find the height of the mountain and brought a kettleful of water to ascertain the boiling point, but the boys drank the water on the way. Probably they left as much as would have been sufficient, but our own thirst was so terrible that the whole was drunk, and no more could be found on the mountain top. While we rested on the summit we had an opportunity of noting how many villages there were in such parts of the country as we had not yet visited. The young lads that went with us became very friendly and professed great interest in schools and “reading,” and after our return to the village we gave them an illustration of what reading meant. The Chief dictated words and names which I wrote down on a paper. Three or four Blantyre boys who were with me were conveyed far out of hearing, and carefully watched till the writing was finished. They were called back one by one. Then each looked at the paper and read. As soon as the words passed his lips there arose a great shout of wonder and applause from the chief’s people. The experiment was carried on for a long time because every old man that joined the crowd refused to believe that it could be done, until he saw it for himself. This simple test of reading I often employed afterwards in other places. Sometimes I varied the experiment by giving a boy my pencil, and then asking to be conducted to the back of a distant hut. The natives compared the “wisdom” to that of the witch detective, who is believed to possess miraculous means of gaining information.