LIVING STONIA — BLANTYRE — QUILL IMA NE. 419 
with the request that he would deliver it to my brother 
at Urongwe, when he and his men would be paid the 
remainder of the cloth that was due to them. 
“ The white man will have gone,” was the quick 
response. 
“ No,” said I, “ he wdll be there yet for one moon.” 
So as to avoid the chances of an out-and-out stampede 
taking place during the night, I decided to have the three 
Maravi—Mari and his two companions—under my per¬ 
sonal charge ; so after the conclusion of the various pala¬ 
vers, I shut them into the sombre-looking dwelling along 
with myself. I dared not sleep before my prisoners had 
dropped off, so I sat nodding over the fire, and cursing 
the vexations of the day. The shake of the previous 
night had left me in rather a weak condition ; but my 
anxiety in case the Maravi effected their escape kept 
me pretty wakeful. Hours thus passed, during which 
I continued to sit watching and wondering over the 
smouldering embers, every dying spark seeming to 
start a new train of thought in my perplexed mind, 
2 e 2 
