At first one could never be sure of the native servants, except when standing over them. Their views had to pass through many phases: one day they would wash knives in mass by putting a whole collection in a tub and stirring them round, without thinking of dealing with each separately; next day they would take silver plated articles and rub them one by one in the sand! The first dishes brought out for the Mission, were fortunately of enamelled tin, which did not break. But in that region amid fever and discomfort, the appetite becomes fastidious. Those accustomed to civilised plates said that their food did not taste the same when placed on the iron dishes. Accordingly, other plates were tried, but they were short lived. ‘Accidents will happen’, and at first they were frequent. When at length glass tumblers ventured to take the place of the iron jug that held our water, the natives felt that they had to deal with a serious innovation. Some who had seen glass at Quilimane, informed the others of its strange qualities. A dark deputation visited the white people, and represented that these dishes were “all the same as eggs,” and that the waiters would have serious difficulty in keeping a tumbler together. Feeling the force of these representations, the Europeans took the tumblers under special protection for a time. But as in all such cases, a day of reckoning was sure to come. The natives carry plates, tumblers, and everything of this kind on the head. To them this habit is so much a second nature that if asked to fetch a kettle of boiling water, their first impulse I fancy would be to set it on the head! Still they thus carry things with a steadiness most surprising. I was once much struck with the expertness of a little girl who was sent to a brook for water. She picked up a very narrow bottle about 18 inches long; although her hands were both empty she set it on her head, walked off to fill it, and returned carrying it the same way. Such is the usual custom; and hence though the native can make baskets of every variety he never puts a handle on one of them. In carrying soup, they balance the plate on the palm of their hand, which they throw back above the shoulder. Their method is better suited for jars than for plates. [Illustration: METHOD OF CARRYING IN THE HAND.]