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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



Lala was just about her proper work. It is true 

 she is not a fighting-ship, intended to burn and sink 

 dhows, and frighten Arabs out of their skins and 

 color, but she is peacefully circumventing those 

 senseless chiefs who weaken themselves by sell- 

 ing their people ; and in many ways the steamer 

 has been a great element in our progress and in 

 the security of the position we have attained. 

 Both would have been different and very much 

 less without the steamer. Of course the slaving 

 chiefs cannot look with friendly eyes on these 

 doings, and two efforts have been made to get 

 back the refugees. We have seen no occasion, 

 except in one instance, to give them up, and the 

 applicants have generally departed crestfallen. 

 We tell them — if any man accused of a serious 

 crime comes, and they show that he is guilty, we 

 shall not receive him ; but any one running away 

 to escape being sold, will be protected. Out of 

 these cases some complications may yet arise of 

 an unlooked-for kind. In the mean time we can- 

 not do otherwise than as we are doing, even though 

 the increasing numbers lead us into a difficulty 

 about food till their crops are ready, and some 

 were rather late in sowing. We have to feed 

 about one hundred daily, and even though the ra- 

 tion is little over one and a half pound of maize, 

 we are sometimes in a strait ; a ton of maize or 

 Caffre corn does not last much more than a fort- 

 night or three weeks. But this giving out of food 

 is not gratuitous; all work at roads, fields, or 

 house-building, or whatever is on hand. We have 

 not an idler about the place, not one. The rule is 

 simple : He who will not work for his daily maize 

 stays not here. 



" The school goes on steadily ; and the daily 

 meeting with the people, now generally held 

 in the evening, is kept up regularly, and ap- 

 parently with interest. The meeting is fre- 

 quently closed by one of Moody and San- 

 key's hymns ; and when it is well sung in 

 parts, it produces a very marked effect, even 

 though they understand but generally what the 

 hymn is about from a few words of previous ex- 

 planation. I have great faith in the daily relig- 

 ious service. Some time soon it will bear fruit. 



" The first tusk of ivory was brought into the 

 settlement a fortnight ago, and bought by Mr. 

 Cotterill for £14. I shall not mention the weight 

 of it, but simply say I would not recommend any 

 one to come here to purchase ivory at present, 

 with the view of making a profitable business of 

 it. Mr. Cotterill apparently bought it simply to 

 commence operations and to encourage the 

 others. 



" Our first visitor from the outside world also 

 arrived at Livingstonia the other day. He comes 

 straight from the Punjaub, where he has been 

 working as an engineer for eight years on the Sir- 

 hind Canal, and having a furlough of two years, 

 and having also been in Europe lately, and wish- 

 ing to spend a part of his furlough in some use- 

 ful way, comes here and asks if he can help us, 

 and place himself as a volunteer on the Living- 

 stonia force for a year ; and all this from pure 

 interest in the enterprise and in the success of 

 missionary work. If he was not a relative of my 

 own, and also a James Stewart, I should be dis- 

 posed to say this example is worth following by 

 Christian men who have occasional periods of 

 leisure. He is a vigorous young fellow who does 

 not care for spending two years in lounging 

 about Continental picture-galleries or in the pleas- 

 ant work of the old country, but who believes he 

 can be of use elsewhere, and forthwith, after one 

 or two letters on the subject, starts off, and we 

 have him here among us. The idea is a new one : 

 and it suggests that many young men of dif- 

 ferent professions and occupations might aid the 

 mission cause temporarily and yet, permanently 

 benefit it by a similar course of action. His 

 coming has already benefited us, and cleared up 

 our misty news on various pieces of work going 

 on or to be attempted. The first important work, 

 however, that he will undertake will be a survey 

 of a road over the Murchison Cataracts. We 

 shall probably offer this survey, when completed, 

 to one of the branches of this great International 

 Society inaugurated by the King of the Belgians; 

 it will form an experimenlum cruris as to whether 

 actual work is intended by that Society. If they 

 do not aid in the making of the road, we shall 

 just have to make it in an inferior style our- 

 selves. 



"We also got here last week our first im- 

 portation of cattle, consisting of seven cows, 

 three calves, and a bull. They were brought 450 

 miles, partly by land and partly in the steamer, 

 and the business was well managed by Dr. Laws. 

 I fear, however, we have tsetse in this district, 

 and, if so, it is a heavy blow to us. A short 

 time will make the matter plain — a few months 

 at most. No worse blow to our peaceful progress 

 and prosperity could occur than this. 



" Since writing the above an accident to a 

 portion of the machinery of the steamer has 

 caused delay in sending this off. The mischief is 

 now quite repaired. 



" March is one of the most unhealthy months 

 here (April farther down), and both Dr. Laws 



