GRAVE OF BISHOP MACKENZIE. 413 



the poor wretches had breathed their last. A whole heap had 

 been thrown down a slope behind a village, where the fugitives 

 often crossed the river from the east ; and in one hut of the 

 same village no fewer than twenty drums had been collected, 

 probably the ferryman's fees. Many had ended their misery 

 under shady trees, others under projecting crags in the hills, 

 while others lay in their huts, with closed doors, which, when 

 opened, disclosed the mouldering corpse with the poor rags 

 round the loins — the skull fallen off the pillow — the little skel- 

 eton of the child, that had perished first, rolled up in a mat 

 between two large skeletons. The sight of this desert, but 

 eighteen months ago a well-peopled valley, now literally strewn 

 with human bones, forced the conviction that the destruction of 

 human life in the middle passage, however great, constituted 

 but a small portion of the waste, and left no grounds for hope 

 that a lawful commerce might be established until the slave- 

 trade, which had so long brooded over Africa, should be put 

 down. 



In the midst of these shocking scenes the party visited the 

 grave of good Bishop Mackenzie. He had given his heart in 

 sincerity to Africa, and it was sorrowful indeed to know that all 

 the fond and noble hopes which had clustered round him as he 

 left the classic grounds of Cambridge were all buried in a place 

 so wild and so desolate. But on what nobler altar can a man 

 lay down his life ? Who shall talk of " waste of precious lives," 

 which are sacrificed in carrying the gospel of Christ to the 

 heathen, since " Christ has died ? " Who knows but those who 

 fall soonest, and in the severest trials, shall in the last day be 

 allowed to lead up the hosts of Christ's ransomed ones out of 

 the ends of the earth to the throne of the King ? 



There was now added, to the difficulties which had existed 

 before, the disadvantage of having to bring all supplies from the 

 Zambesi. It was impossible to purchase food. To accomplish 

 much under such circumstances was impossible ; and the only 

 plan which offered anything like success was to pass the rapids 

 and get among the tribes dwelling about the foot of the lake, 

 who had been exempt from the ravages which had made a 

 desert of the valley. 



In the midst of preparations for this journey a despatch was 



