1884.] 
From the Zambesi to Benguella. 
Ill 
or intention to punish B , but to see justice done to my 
friends, and that Chikulo must gather the missionaries' goods 
together and keep them in safety until their return. 
DESPOTIC POWER OF CHIEFS. 
The despotic power of the chiefs makes all mission-work very 
uncertain in Africa at present, except where law and order are 
estabHshed and upheld, and therefore prayer for those "in 
authority " in Africa is especially needed. Any whim or sudden 
enmity of the chief, any fetish divination, or, as in this case, the 
evil counsel of an interested trader, may lead to the overthrow of 
years of work, and it may take a long time before it can be 
resumed. On this occasion it was my most unexpected arrival 
from the interior that led to an unusually speedy turn of the tide 
in favour of the missionaries. Though Bailundu and Bihe are 
within the province of Benguella, Portuguese authority has not 
yet very much influence there. In the far interior the perils 
of missionaries are of course greater, but in the western half of 
Africa things are in this respect much better than in the eastern 
part. It may be well to give extracts from letters written to a 
friend in England by Mr. Sanders, one of the missionaries expelled 
at this time from Bailundu. 
The first of these tells of the danger that began to threaten 
the American mission before I left the Barotse valley. 
EXPULSION THREATENED. 
"•Bihe, April Zth, 1884. 
" B , the man who is reported to have tried to injure us from 
the beginning has come here on business. It is reported that his real 
object is our expulsion. But I can still say, 'By this I know that 
Thou favourest me, because mine enemy has not triumphed over me.' 
One of his charges against us before the Ovimbundu chiefs was, that 
we had come through without passports from the Portuguese Govern- 
ment. Hence the chief of Bihe construed our neglect as an insult to 
him, and demanded twenty pieces of calico. Yesterday I went up to 
him to explain that the government at Benguella had retained our 
passports, but that I would send for them and let him see them if he 
desired. As to giving him the calico, we simply refused. Meanwhile 
he took occasion to declare that all our talk about having the word of 
God, etc., was nonsense. Even this decided expression of his views 
was a refreshing change, as so many of these people simply listened 
to us, neither affirming nor denying. W. H. Sanders." 
