SUGGESTIONS TO MISSIONARIES. 717 



supply is to follow the Arab advice as to the proper season for 

 sowing. Pomegranates, guavas, lemons and oranges are abun- 

 dant in Unyanyembe ; mangoes flourish, and grape-vines are be- 

 ginning to be cultivated ; papaws grow . everywhere. Onions, 

 radishes, pumpkins and watermelons prosper, and so would 

 most European vegetables, if the proper seasons were selected 

 for planting, and the most important point attended to in bring- 

 ing the seeds. These must never be soldered in tins or put in 

 close boxes ; a process of sweating takes place when they are 

 confined, as in a box or hold of the ship, and the power of vege- 

 tating is destroyed ; but garden seeds put up in common brown 

 paper, and hung in the cabin on the voyage, and not exposed to 

 the direct rays of the sun afterwards, I have found to be as 

 good as in England. 



" True," he continues, " it would be a sort of Robinson Crusoe 

 life, but with abundant materials for surrounding one's self with 

 comforts, and improving the improvable among the natives. 

 Clothing would require but small expense; four suits of tweed 

 served me comfortably for five years (!) Woollen clothing is 

 best; if all wool it wears long and prevents chills. The tem- 

 perature here in the beginning of winter ranges from 62° to 75° 

 Fahr. In summer it seldom goes above 80°, as the country 

 generally is from three to four thousand feet above the sea." 



As for the people inhabiting this central region, although he 

 saw them under the vitiating influence of the slave-trade, he has 

 recorded his conviction that there is nothing in their customs or 

 characters which ought to discourage missionary effort. 



It has been supposed on the testimony of other travellers that 

 these tribes are greatly wanting in natural affection, and that 

 even mothers are accustomed to sell their children. The doctor 

 refers to this statement as follows : 



" Speke at Kasenge islet inadvertently made a general state- 

 ment thus : 'The mothers of these savage people have infinitely 

 less affection than many savage beasts of my acquaintance. I 

 have seen a mother bear, galled by frequent shots, obstinately 

 meet her death by repeatedly returning under fire whilst en- 

 deavoring to rescue her young from the grasp of intruding men. 

 But here, for a simple loin-cloth or two, human mothers eagerly 

 exchanged their little offspring, delivering them into perpetual 



