388 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Oct. 



their food behind them, and starvation of thousands ensued. The 

 Shire valley, where thousands lived, at our first visit was converted 

 literally into a valley of dry bones. One cannot now walk a mile 

 "without seeing a human skeleton ; open a hut in the now deserted 

 villages, and there lie the unburied skeletons. In some I opened, 

 there were two skeletons; and a little one, rolled up in a mat, 

 between them. I have always hated putting the blame of being 

 baffled upon any one else, from a conviction that a man ought to 

 succeed in all feasible projects, in spite of everybody; and, more- 

 over, I wish not to be understood as casting a slur upon the Por- 

 tuguese in Europe, for the Yiscount Lavaidio, the Viscount de la 

 Bandeira, and others, are as anxious to see the abolition of the 

 slave-trade as could be desired; but the evil is done by the asser- 

 tion in Europe of dominion in Africa, when it is quite well 

 knowi! that the ]^ortuguese in Africa were only a few half-castes, 

 the children of converts and black women, who have actually to 

 pay tribute to the pure natives. AYere they of the smallest benefit 

 to Portugal ? If any one ever made a fortune and went home to 

 spend it in Lisbon ; or if any pleasure whatever could be derived 

 by the Portuguese government from spending £5000 annually on 

 needy governors, who all connive at the slave-trade, the thing 

 could be understood. But Portugal gains nothing but a shocking 

 bad name, as the first that began the slave-trade, and the last to 

 end it. To us it is a serious matter to see Lord Palmerston's 

 policy, which has been so eminently successful on the west, so 

 largely neutralised on the east coast. A great nation like ours 

 cannot get rid of the oblii;ations to other members of the f>Teat 

 community of nations. The police of the sea must be maintained ; 

 and should we send no more cruisers to suppress the slave-trade, 

 ■we would soon be obliged to send them to suppress piracy, for no 

 traffic engenders lawlessness as does this odious trade. The plan 

 I propose required a steamer onLakeNyassa to take up the ivory- 

 trade, as it is by the aid of that trade that the traffic in slaves is 

 carried on. The Government sent out a steamer, which, though 

 an excellent one, was too deep for the Shire. Another steamer was 

 then built at my own expense ; this was all that could be desired, 

 made to unscrew into twenty-four pieces, and the Lady Nyassa, or 

 Lady of the Lake, was actually unscrewed and ready for conveyance 

 to the scene of the missionary work, but that must be done by 

 younger men, specially educated for it — men willing to rough it, 

 and yet hold quietly and patiently on. When I became Consul, it 



