242 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
“ Not if 1 send a messenger back to Mtesa with this 
information ? ” I asked. 
“Ah, yes, perhaps to-morrow morning.” 
“ Only a few hours longer, M. Linant ; so it does not 
matter much. Meantime we will take possession of our 
old quarters at Usavara, and pass the evening in a 
ramble along the shores of the bay, ora sail in the boat.” 
To which suggestion M. Linant assented. 
There Was matter sufficient to engage us in conversa- 
tion. The rich region we trod, landscapes steeped in 
most vivid green, the splendour of the forest foliage, 
the magnificent lake of Equatorial Africa, studded with 
a thousand isles, the broad and now placid arm known 
as Murchison Bay, the diversity of scenery, the nature 
of the rocks, the variety of the plants, ourselves met 
upon this far strand of the inland sea, to part perhaps 
for ever — a continuous chain of topics which, with an 
intelligent and sympathetic companion like M. Linant, 
might have served to make our rambles and our evenings 
in the hut enjoyable for weeks. 
In the evening I concluded my letters dated 14th of 
April, 1875, which were sent to the Daily Telegraph 
and the New York Herald, the English and American 
journals I represented here, appealing for a Christian 
mission to be sent to Mtesa. 
The appeal written hurriedly, and included in the 
letter left at Usavara, was as follows : — 
“ I have, indeed, undermined Islamism so much here 
that Mtesa has determined henceforth, until he is better 
informed, to observe the Christian Sabbath as well as 
the Muslim Sabbath, and the great captains have 
unanimously consented to this. He has further caused 
the Ten Commandments of Moses to be written on a 
board for his daily perusal — for Mtesa can read Arabic 
— as well as the Lord’s Prayer and the golden com- 
mandment of our Saviour, ‘ Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
bour as thyself.’ This is great progress for the few days 
that I have remained with him, and, though I am no 
missionary, I shall begin to think that I might become 
one if such success is feasible. But oh ! that some pious, 
