A Thousand Miles in a Machilla 



time, not only did the river abound with hippopo- 

 tamus and crocodiles, but on the banks roamed 

 lions, leopards, and other wild beasts. In addition 

 to this, the great heat, mosquitoes, and the malarious 

 atmosphere made the voyage almost unbearable. 

 They continued, however, until they reached a point 

 three hundred miles from the coast. Here the 

 steamer had to be taken to pieces and carried 

 sixty miles to the head of the cataract ; but thanks 

 to Livingstone's good name, the natives proved 

 friendly, and the Arab slavers did not dare molest 

 them. At Matopo the steamer was reconstructed 

 and the final voyage up the Shire recommenced. 

 After steaming between ninety and a hundred 

 miles they reached the lake, i2th October 1875. 



As has been already mentioned, the slave trade 

 was at this time rampant. The Arab slave raiders, 

 to obtain two thousand three hundred slaves, had 

 slaughtered two thousand five hundred natives, 

 while one thousand three hundred human beings 

 had perished on the way. It was estimated that 

 twenty thousand slaves passed Lake Nyasa annually 

 on their route to the coast. 



Cape Maclear, about thirty miles from the south 

 end of Lake Nyasa, was the place chosen for the 

 first settlement The local chief, Mpondo, proved 

 friendly to the missionaries, and that station became 

 a refuge for the starving, wretched creatures who 

 had escaped the clutches of the slave dealers. 



Cape Maclear, however, turned out unhealthy, 

 and so many Europeans died there that the settle- 

 ment was moved, after two years, to Bandawe. 



294 



