_Neighbours._—I began to confine myself so closely to the acquisition of the language and work in the Mission School, that for a long time I knew nothing of the district round Blantyre. The first occasion on which I saw a little of the country was on a visit to Sochi in company with Dr. Macklin, who went to settle several quarrels with Kapeni, the chief of the country. In going along I was astonished to find so many villages. When the villagers saw us, they made a point of hasting up to say “Morning, morning!” (which is their usual salutation to Englishmen). The males seemed to have all their time at their disposal. With the exception of one who was sewing a piece of cloth, we saw nothing to show that the men did any work at all. But the women were pounding corn or working in the fields. On reaching the chief’s village we asked for him, but he could not be found. It was thought that he was afraid to show himself. One by one his villagers gathered round till they formed a great assemblage. Some had bows, others knives, and one had a gun, so that they had nothing to fear. We were without weapons of any kind, only an Englishman is always believed to carry a great supply of war medicine. After we had waited a long time, the old chief appeared with a large clear knife in his hand. He sat down at a great distance; when asked to come near he said “No”. Some time ago he had sent the Mission a present which had not been accepted, and he “was ashamed to have it returned”. Our interpreter went over and induced him, after much persuasion, to come beside us; then he sat down on a skin under a large tree. After being introduced, I went up to shake hands with him, and I am not sure whether the poor old man did not regard me with suspicion, for while he gave me his left hand, he held his knife very firmly with the right. Such was my first acquaintance with the king of the country. The sending back of the present was then discussed. The Mission had two complaints against Kapeni: (1) His men had carried off from Blantyre a slave woman that had come there for protection. (2) One of the Blantyre lads when hunting in the district of Sochi came to a village where the chief’s son and certain companions were drinking beer, and they took away his gun and gave him a beating. But the inhabitants of this village feared that the matter would not end well. They reasoned that the outrage had been done in _their_ town, and that the English would come with guns and inflict a severe punishment upon them. Accordingly they took back the gun and returned it to the Blantyre lad, whom they escorted home. The old chief of course denied any knowledge of these facts. He had just “heard about them”. After a little talking, matters were settled in a friendly way, and we ended by inviting the chief over to Blantyre. He said he wished to see the white lady, and to hear the harmonium which had just come, and he bargained to be gratified in these respects. He was much astonished when