A Thousand Miles in a Machilla 



beasts to devour ; the wild and drunken dances 

 have ceased. The above appHes to this one tribe 

 alone. 



The Mission extends its influence along the 

 west side of Lake Nyasa to the north end, reaches 

 Lake Tanganyika, takes in a large portion of both 

 North- East and North- West Rhodesia, and touches 

 Lake Bangwelo. The work is evangelical, edu- 

 cational, industrial, and medical. There are ten 

 large stations and four hundred and ninety-three 

 out-stations ; there are eleven ordained ministers 

 and nine medical missionaries on the staff, besides 

 lay helpers. Natives contributed no less than ;^400 

 in 1908 for the upkeep of churches and mission. 

 All this has not been carried out without sacrifice 

 of health and even life by many of the workers. 

 The story of this Mission is a story of self-sacrifice. 



In this connection we must mention the 

 Stevenson Road. Being much impressed by 

 Livingstone's report that the Zambesi and Shire 

 rivers, and Lake Nyasa, formed a natural waterway 

 leading to Tanganyika and into the heart of Africa, 

 the late Dr. Stevenson, of Larg, urged the making 

 of a road between the two great lakes, and for this 

 purpose gave ^4000. In 1879 Mr. James Stewart, 

 C.E., attached to the Mission, after surveying about 

 eight hundred miles of the coast on the west side 

 of Lake Nyasa, explored the vicinity, and made a 

 remarkable journey to Lake Tanganyika, roughly 

 surveying the great plateau on the way. 



He returned home and reported favourably on 

 the scheme, estimating the distance as about two 



296 



