130 THE BONDS OF AFRICA 



in the magisterial area in which the deed was 

 committed. 



If all were sent to Zomba, the natives in a 

 far-away district where a murder had been 

 committed would lose sight of the murderer, 

 but they might or might not realize what punish- 

 ment had been meted out to him, and the 

 execution would in all probability have no in- 

 fluence on the murderer's neighbours, and much 

 of the significance of British law and justice 

 would be lost on the native mind. But surely it 

 would not be difficult to obtain the services of 

 a professional hangman, who would visit the 

 different gaols of the country and perform his 

 duties, scarcely those of Native Commissioners. 



Lilongwe is a prettily situated little place 

 with the Lilongwe River, which rises in Portu- 

 guese territory and flows into Nyasa, running 

 through the station. After leaving Lilongwe 

 one gets some fine views of the mountains and 

 hills of the Angoni plateau. 



All the way from Lilongwe to Tetie the 

 country west of the main road is a game reserve, 

 and here very large numbers of elephant roam. 

 Occasionally permission is granted to shoot one 

 or two in the reserve, and I have been told that 

 some little while ago no less than six were 

 killed there in twenty minutes. 



Tetie is the headquarters of the W.N.L.A.* in 

 this part of Africa, and from here large numbers 

 of natives are recruited for work in the mines 

 of the Main Reef. Here one is no great distance 

 froin the Portuguese boundary, whilst the main 

 road from Dedza to Fort Melangeni either passes 

 through a portion of Portuguese East Africa or 

 runs right along the border. The Dedza Boma 

 * Witwatersrand Native Labour Association. 



