CHAPTER X. 
Mr. Fitch, the missionary—Our reception by Mandara—His habits and 
diplomacy—His allies and warriors. 
Before Mandara arrived, Mr. Fitch the missionary, a 
very agreeable man, paid us a visit. Having lived here 
for the last two years, he had just finished building 
himself a small house higher up, near the site of Mr. 
Johnston’s encampment when the latter spent some 
months exploiting the mountain, and close to where 
Mandara had set up his iron dwelling. The missionary 
seemed rather in awe of Mandara, and probably not 
without good reason, for he appeared to have bullied 
and worried him a good deal at times, and Mr. Fitch 
told us how, when Mandara was out of temper, he had 
cut off his supplies and regularly “ boycotted ” him by 
forbidding the people to sell him any food or to assist 
him in building his house. The worst moments of the 
chief occurred when the pombe ran short, and as the 
previous year had been a very bad one for bananas and 
mtana, out of which his favourite drink is manu¬ 
factured, he had in consequence proved particularly 
disagreeable. During the present year, however, there 
was plenty of pombe, and he had been in capital 
humour and much more friendly. Mr. Fitch declared 
it was not customary for Mandara to receive visitors 
