Next day we set ourselves to choose a spot for a house, and to begin operations. In choosing the site we had many conditions to fulfil. (1) There must be people about us. On seeing this spot from the top of the mountain, we were delighted with the cluster of little villages. Here we were on the borders between Chemlumbe and Malemya, having a ready access to both kingdoms, and the subjects of these hostile chiefs laid aside their petty jealousies and worked side by side with us. (2) There must be a supply of good water. On the banks of the Mlungusi we had as favourable a position in this respect as could be desired. (3) It must be a healthy spot. The elevation of the site at Zomba secured this, our station being on the southern side of the hill, about 400 feet higher than Blantyre, and quite accessible to every wind except the north, which would be a hot wind. Here, too, the mountain juts out, giving us even more than our fair share of fresh air. (4) It must be a secure spot. This site seemed specially suited for preserving us from such trouble from thieves as we had at Blantyre. The whole district round as far as Malemya’s is well watered and populous. The people, too, are quite as knowing as those at Blantyre, most of the men having been at Quilimane. They were able to give me much help with the language. At Blantyre I had been long searching for a Yao word equivalent to our “hundred” but without success. At Zomba I got it at once, but it is seldom used—the natives rarely counting so high. _Tuesday, August 5_, found us at our new settlement. After clearing a little spot we raised a grass hut. In this we had just room for our beds and a table. The bedsteads which we had brought with us were not strong and sometimes fell down and knocked our heads through our wall! A table was made by driving four posts into the floor, and fixing a bamboo boarding above them. For chairs, we had old boxes. Our cooking was done under a big tree. We had no windows, but the walls of our house were convenient, as we could at once make holes to look through when a disturbance arose. The native workers slept in similar grass tents around us. One night they accidentally set fire to a dwelling, the flames spread and destroyed several others, soon the whole bush was in a blaze; but our hut escaped. It did service for three weeks, until the larger house was finished, when Mr. Buchanan abandoned it in favour of some fowls that he had bought.