was far away,” but if I could show these natives that I did not support them in stealing, it would help a poor traveller, and do no one any harm! Perhaps the poor fellow thought that I must be some Englishman that had a grudge against the Portuguese. I soon condemned the theft, and succeeded in getting the bent knife returned to him. I think that his antagonists hinted that I was going to carry it off to use as a witness against him in Quilimane! In a short time his goods were also restored. Now he was delivered from anxiety, and I soon saw that he could expound native law to them. “You must pay me for this theft and annoyance.” They replied, “You must pay us for the boy”. His answer was that the boy was of the same fraternity, and had to expect what he got. We left them before they had finished, but from the bold manner of the traveller it is likely that he got damages. Only the matter was hardly worth insisting on unless he had frequent occasion to pass that way. After a short repose of three or four hours we made an easy start on Tuesday morning. Antani was my philosopher, and pointed out rivers that were said to be associated with the slave trade. He had expected me to be more in favour of the black man this morning, and therefore recounted the hardships of the poor slaves:— “They are taken down here in slave sticks. If a woman have a child on her back she is put in the slave stick too. One piece of cloth (16 yds., say 4s.) is the price of a man: two pieces is the price of a woman. A woman costs more because she will be the mother of other people. If she have a child in her arms she fetches half a piece more. If the master cannot sell his slave he takes him back again, and cheats him by saying I did not want to sell you. I only took you down to frighten you that you might respect me more.” He promised to tell me if he saw any with the Yao tatoo. He found none except those that had been bought by the Portuguese long ago: the new ones, he insisted, were kept in distant plantations. Though told several times this morning to fill every bottle with water, Antani was very remiss in doing so, as he could not see the reason. In the forenoon he sat in the bow of the boat looking at the river, which was gradually becoming broader. We asked him to taste the water now. The other natives, although not in the secret, understood the joke at once, and one handed him a dish. They waited to see if this lad, fresh from the mountains of the interior, could be so green after all! He dipped over the side of the boat, and proceeded to drink the water with as great confidence as he had done throughout our journey. “Ah! salt, salt,” he cried, and began to spit, while his companions enjoyed a boisterous laugh at his expense.