324 Wanderings in Eastern Africa. 
and that the Wazungu were great men ; of course 
they wanted their people to become numerous and 
great, and were therefore disposed to receive strangers 
among them ; why should they refuse to receive so 
great a man as myself? However, they declared that 
they did not know me. 
How sad I felt I cannot say ; yet how can we expect 
it to be otherwise ? What do these people know about 
us and our work ? How should they know anything 
about either ? I am the third white man they have 
seen. Twenty-three years ago Mr. Rebmann paid 
them a transient visit. Ten years later the Baron von 
der Decken called at Kisigau in passing. For some 
reason or other the Baron, when here, let off one or 
two rockets, which greatly frightened the people. 
They said he was a Mtai (sorcerer), and were glad to 
get rid of him. They no doubt thought me something 
of the same kind. Everything about us is wonderful 
to them, and is naturally attributed to sorcery. Many 
visits and much intercourse are necessary if we would 
have them understand and appreciate us. 
A very civil old man paid me a visit in the 
afternoon. He was willing to talk about anything 
except the Gospel. He pointed out to me the in- 
habited portion of this side of the rock, but the S.W. 
wing seems to be the part chiefly occupied. He 
showed me a tremendous precipice on this side, saying, 
"That is where we execute our criminals. A Mtai, 
for instance, is taken to the brow there, pushed over, 
and there is an end of him." The old man said this 
as a warning to me, and with a very careless air. 
I learned that the direct route to the lake Jipe, via 
Kinjaro, was not practicable, the water of that place, 
