Next morning the mystery was solved—the woman was found lying dead in the stream without any clothing, and brutally mutilated (36). The Doctors were soon informed, who examined the body, and told the people to bury it. After the funeral was over, Kumlomba and other natives, as also all the Europeans, met to discuss what ought to be the method of procedure on this sad occurrence. The natives were only too familiar with such cases, and some of the Europeans had been three years in the country, and were well acquainted with native law. They agreed that a message must be sent to Kapeni asking him to give up the guilty party. On being thus appealed to, Kapeni convened an enormous meeting of his people at Sochi. He there stated that he had not yet discovered who the assassin was, but he assured us that as the Yao people always “talked,” everyone would know in a few days. But according to native law, Kapeni must either deliver up the assassin or forfeit the friendship of the Mission people. Being anxious to find a third alternative, he asked, what would happen if he could not find the man, but native law appeared to recognise no such neutral ground. In the end two sticks were brought, and the question was asked, “Which of these does Kapeni choose?” Finally, he agreed to give up the assassin. But he was in no haste to do so; nor was this wonderful, since the Ndilande people threatened to kill him if he attempted to fulfil his promise. After a long delay, Kumlomba became impatient, and went over himself unaccompanied by any European. Kapeni asked him whether he had not heard all about it: for by this time the truth was generally known, but Kumlomba stood on his dignity and kept to the previous question, “Give up the man”. One thing was remarkable about this visit. The Englishmen always admitted, at least for the sake of argument, that Kapeni might not know the man, but Kumlomba refused to entertain the supposition, and in fact Kapeni did not dare to urge this plea upon him. Kumlomba said among other things, “Don’t take _me_ for a white man. I am a Yao like yourself, and I know all the customs of my country.” The natives about us were strangely unanimous in asserting that Kapeni knew who was guilty. They led us to understand that he had received a present from the murderer, and had granted him absolution. Of course few of us were then old enough to know even that the natives shaved their heads in a case of ordinary death, much less that they observed a complicated ritualism for murder. Kumlomba did not ask Kapeni to punish the criminal. Such a demand would have been abhorrent to native custom. The chief is the father of his people, and native law is too polite to ask a man to execute justice on his own son. The native custom, moreover, is in accordance with native religion. A man’s deceased relatives become his gods. While Kumlomba persisted in demanding his rights at this meeting, one of Kapeni’s counsellors said to him:—