In May there was a scare. The Mangoni were believed to be coming, and some of our villagers ran to the top of a hill. The Magololo carried their ivory and other valuables to islands in the river. The mention of the word Mangoni seems sufficient to clear out a whole village. One day two boys began to fight in the jungle near Blantyre. In a little while, the women of a neighbouring village were seen hurrying into the Station with their children on their backs. They had taken the screams of the combatants for the war-cry of the Mangoni. At Blantyre we had many visitors, and they were received outside and squatted on a mat in the verandah. When Kapeni or any of the greater chiefs came, a chair was brought. All these native potentates were fond of sweets. At first they had viewed them with the greatest suspicion. I saw a headman once wait till all his companions had eaten, and when he found that they were delighted with the strange eatable (yakulya), he summoned courage and began to eat, saying, “Well, if I die, you will all die too!” Kapeni would never taste jam because it was “like blood,” but on one occasion we called his own children who did not hesitate long. Indeed they were so fond of jam that they always pressed round Mrs. Macdonald when she was making it, and if any was spilt, they would insist on licking it off the floor. Although the visits of native chiefs and headmen called me from my work in translating the Bible, yet I ever found that such visits contributed to my knowledge of the language, and I carefully noted down new words or phrases that they might use. We were inclined to think that one reason why the Magololo sent their children was that they thus found an excuse for visiting the Mission and obtaining presents. All African chiefs are strong on “presents,” and the custom was both expensive to the Mission and demoralising to the chiefs; but it was very difficult to make a change. Incidentally, however, we fell on a plan that modified matters. When a chief came up and obtained his present, we bought some goats from him and paid the price there and then. When he went back to his home, he did not send up the goats, and as he wanted us to forget all about the bargain, he did not visit the Mission to ask presents for a long time! The habit of giving presents to the Magololo headmen provoked the jealousy of those beside us. Kumlomba and the other Blantyre headmen would say, “Why do the English not give us ‘big presents’ too?”