This evening a great wind rose, and our tiny boat had to put back into a sheltered corner. We expected the breeze would allow us to sleep; but it was soon calm and hot. The mosquitoes did not give much trouble, but the sand flies came through our curtains and rendered our position wretched in the extreme. Seldom have we passed a more miserable night. Yet we could not fail to appreciate one beautiful episode. A canoe passed us playing a sansa (I. 272), while certain voices attempted to sing with the instrument. Every note was distinctly heard in the midnight stillness, and the canoe-men made the grand old woods resound with the melody. We listened with great fondness till the strains of their rude music died away in the distance. About twelve o’clock at night we asked the boys whether they could not push off the boat, but after a fruitless endeavour to move it along the sand, we had to make up our minds to endure the situation longer. It was about two A.M. before the tide reached us, and then they promptly released us from our sufferings. As soon as the tide turned the boys all went to sleep again, and we glided smoothly along. But before reaching Quilimane we had to face big waves. We arrived at mid-day. It was fifteen days since we had left Blantyre. We enjoyed the welcome and cordial hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Nunes. They had nearly been killed by the same journey, and could sympathise with us. Our oldest boy’s face was one large blister owing to mosquito bites, and he and Mrs. Macdonald suffered much from fever. We had to wait a few days for the steamer. Antani often walked with me, and made his own observations on men and manners. We would meet a Portuguese boy going to school with a negro behind him carrying his books and cigars! Antani said that the Portuguese “drove the native children out of school lest they should by and by know as much as white men”. One day a man passed wearing a tall silk hat. When at Blantyre, we had great difficulty in explaining the pictures in the _Graphic_ and _London News_ on account of the _dreadful head-dress_ of the European. Here we were fortunate in finding an actual specimen. Antani gazed with wonder, and promised to report, on his return to the interior that these strange hats were a reality after all!