Chap. IX. bishop Mackenzie. 241 



consisted of six Englishmen, and five coloured men from 

 the Cape. It was a puzzle to know what to do with so 

 many men. The estimable Bishop, anxious to commence 

 his work without delay, wished the " Pioneer " to carry 

 the Mission up the Shire, as far as Chibisa's, and there 

 leave them. But there were grave objections to this. 

 The " Pioneer " was under orders to explore the Eovuma, 

 as the Portuguese Government had refused to open the 

 Zambesi to the ships of other nations, and their officials 

 were very effectually pursuing a system, which, by ab- 

 stracting the labour, was rendering the country of no value 

 either to foreigners or to themselves. She was already two 

 months behind her time, and the rainy season was half 

 over. Then, if the party were taken to Chibisa's, the 

 Mission would be left without a medical attendant, in an 

 unhealthy region, at the beginning of the most sickly 

 season of the year, and without means of reaching the 

 healthy highlands, or of returning to the sea. We dreaded 

 that, in the absence of medical aid and all knowledge of 

 the treatment of fever, there might be a repetition of the 

 sorrowful fate which befell the similar non-medical Mission 

 at Linyanti. 



On the 25th of February the " Pioneer " anchored in the 

 mouth of the Eovuma, which, unlike most African rivers, 

 has a magnificent bay and no bar. We wooded, and then 

 waited for the Bishop till the 9th of March, when he 

 came in the "Lyra." On the 11th we proceeded up the 

 river, and saw that it had fallen four or five feet during 

 our detention. The scenery on the lower part of the 

 Eovuma is superior to that on the Zambesi, for we can 

 see the highlands from the sea. Eight miles from the 

 mouth the mangroves are left behind, and a beautiful 

 range of well- wooded hills on each bank begins. On these 

 ridges the tree resembling African blackwood, of finer 

 grain than ebony, grows abundantly, and attains a large 



