240 SEVERE GALES. CHAP. IX. 



appeared at the bathing-place, and from that time forth 

 we took our dip in the sea, away from the harbour, about 

 midday. This is said to be unwholesome, but we did not 

 find it so. It is certainly better not to bathe in the morn- 

 ings, when the air is colder than the water — for then, on 

 returning to the cooler air, one is apt to get a chill and 

 fever. In the mouth of the river, many saw-fish are 

 found. Eowe saw one while bathing — caught it by the 

 tail, and shoved it, " snout on," ashore. The saw is from 

 a foot to eighteen inches long. We never heard of any 

 one being wounded by this fish; nor, though it goes 

 hundreds of miles up the river in fresh water, could we 

 learn that it was eaten by the people. The hippopotami 

 delighted to spend the day among the breakers, and 

 seemed to enjoy the fun as much as we did. 



Severe gales occurred during our stay on the Coast, and 

 many small sea-birds (Prion Banksii, Smith) perished : the 

 beach was strewn with their dead bodies, and some were 

 found hundreds of yards inland; many were so emaci- 

 ated as to dry up without putrefying. ' We were plagued 

 with myriads of mosquitoes, and had some touches of 

 fever ; the men we brought from malarious regions of the 

 interior suffered almost as much from it here as we did 

 ourselves. This gives strength to the idea that the civil- 

 ized withstand the evil influences of strange climates 

 better than the uncivilized. When negroes return to 

 their own country from healthy lands, they suffer as 

 severely as foreigners ever do. 



On the 31st of January, 1861, our new ship, the 

 " Pioneer," arrived from England, and anchored outside 

 the bar; but the weather was stormy, and she did not 

 venture in till the 4th of February. 



Two of ELM. cruisers came at the same time, bringing 

 Bishop Mackenzie, and the Oxford and Cambridge Mission 

 to the tribes of the Shire and Lake Nyassa. The Mission 



