THE PIONEER. 
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CHAPTER XXXVII. 
A TRIP IN THE NEW BOAT, “THE PIONEER.” 
Tns Zambesi being very low, the party remained at Tette 
until it rose a little, and on the 3rd of December left for 
the Kongone, which was reached on the 4th of January, 1861. 
On the 3 1st the new boat “ The Pioneer” arrived from 
England, but the weather prevented her venturing into the 
harbor until the 4th of February. In other vessels there 
arrived Bishop Mackenzie, and six English missionaries 
for the tribes of the Shire and Lake Nyassa, with five 
colored men from the Cape. The bishop and missionaries 
went in the Lyra man-of-war to Johanna, to leave the mis- 
sionaries there, and returning go with the party to Rovuma. 
On the 25th of February the Pioneer anchored in the 
mouth of the Rovuma, and on the 9th the Bishop having 
arrived, on the 11th the party proceeded on their way. The 
scenery on the Rovuma, in its lowest part, is finer than that 
on the Zambesi; the current was as strong as that of the 
Zambesi, but the volume of the water was less. Finding 
too little water when only thirty miles up the stream, it 
was decided to return to the Shire, and afterwards explore 
the Rovuma and Lake Nyassa from the lake downwards. 
Touching at Mohilla, one of the Comoro Islands, there 
was found a mixed race of Arabs, Africans and their con- 
querors, the natives of Madagascar. Then to Johanna, 
whence with the missionaries, the party sailed for the Kon- 
gone mouth of the Zambesi ; reached the coast in seven 
days, and passed up the Zambesi to the Shire. 
The Pioneer was found to be admirably adapted for the 
purpose she was built for, except that her draft was too 
deep, being five feet. She had been designed to draw only 
three feet, but the weight added to give her sufficient 
strength, had sunk her two feet more. In consequence she 
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