Chap. XI. OBSTACLES TO A MISSION. 293 



had befallen the Mission of the Universities, had a depress- 

 ing effect on the minds of many at home, and rendered a 

 new attempt unadvisable ; though, had the Scotch perse- 

 verance and energy been introduced, it is highly probable 

 that they would have reacted, most beneficially, on the 

 zeal of our English brethren, and desertion would never 

 have been heard of. After examining the country, Mr. 

 Stewart descended the Zambesi in the beginning of the 

 following year, and proceeded homewards with his report, 

 by Mosanibique and the Cape. 



On the 7th of April we had only one man fit for duty ; 

 all the rest were down with fever, or with the vile spirit 

 secretly sold to them by the Portuguese officer of customs, 

 in spite of our earnest request to him to refrain from the 

 pernicious traffic. 



We started on the 11th for Shupanga with another load 

 of the " Lady Nyassa." As we steamed up the delta, we 

 observed many of the natives wearing strips of palm-leaf, 

 the signs of sickness and mourning ; for they too suffer 

 from fever. This is the unhealthy season ; the rains are 

 over, and the hot sun draws up malaria from the decayed 

 vegetation ; disease seemed peculiarly severe this year. On 

 our way up we met Mr. Waller, who had come from 

 Magomero for provisions ; the missionaries were suffering 

 severely from want of food ; the liberated people were 

 starving, and dying of diarrhoea, and loathsome sores. 

 The Ajawa, stimulated in their slave raids by supplies of 

 ammunition and cloth from the Portuguese, had destroyed 

 the large crops of the past year ; a drought had followed, 

 and little or no food could be bought. With his usual 

 energy, Mr. Waller hired canoes, loaded them with stores, 

 and took them up the long weary way to Chibisa's. Be- 

 fore he arrived he was informed that the Mission of the 

 Universities, now deprived of its brave leader, had retired 

 from the highlands down to the Low Shire Valley. This 



