told that the lady, or “Donna,” never _went out_—he thought it strange that she should not be seen hoeing the fields and pounding corn. On our way home we passed the village where the gun had been taken, and the doctor invited the men that restored it to come and see how the English people valued their friends. On an appointed day they came and received a present of calico. The chief of Sochi also paid his visit and brought a present of fowls, receiving in return a blanket and a piece of calico. _Interpreters._—When we arrived there were two interpreters—Tom and Sam. They had been in a slave gang which was liberated by Bishop Mackenzie. Tom remembered his capture. He was playing beside a stream with his little sister when a man seized him. He knew the reason at once. “The man wanted to take me to the coast and sell me for calico.” “Why did you not scream?” “Can’t scream, they put flour on my mouth.” Thus the boy was separated from his parents and his home, and the little stream that he played beside, at once and for ever. He could never tell where was the home of his infancy; only he believed that it “was far away in the Yao country”. Sam’s story was much the same; and they both remember how glad they were when met by the white men who set them free. They had acquired a knowledge of the English language at Capetown, and had seen a great deal of civilised life there—perhaps a great deal too much. To these young men I had to look for instruction in the native tongue. I early recognised that I need not expect to do the people any good unless I could speak to them. During our voyage up the river I collected a few words and formed a scheme of the verb. But on attempting to make some use of this material I was told that the Blantyre people did not understand my Chinyasa because they spoke Yao. I felt as if the interpreter had been playing a practical joke upon me. Here I had a note-book filled with this Chinyasa, and I was now coolly told that it would be of no use! I began next to find that some Yao words were the same as their Chinyasa equivalents, and this made me reserve my manuscript with more hope. [Illustration: NATIVE FEMALE (TRIBAL MARKS, TATOOS AND LIP RING).]