CHOLO.—The estate upon which our work has been started was formerly the property of Seventh-day Baptists, whose headquarters are, we believe, at Plainfield, N. J., hence the name Plainfield Mission, better known here as Plainfield estate. It is situated on the Cholo Hills, three thousand feet above the level of the sea, and is therefore more free from malaria than the lowlands along the Zambesi River, which serves as a highway for the travel and transportation of the country, as there are no railways or other facilities for traveling overland. A railway is now in course of construction, which we understand will run between the British boundary and Lake Nyassa. From the outside world the river is reached by East Coast steamers calling at Chinde, a port in Portuguese territory in which is a British concession. Several small steamers ply between Chinde and ports along the river. The landing place on the river which is nearest to our mission is Maguires (a native name, pronounced Maqueerays), about twelve miles distant; but this landing has been temporarily abandoned, as the water is so low on account of the shortage in the rainfall that steamers can not come up the river farther than a point about one hundred and fifty miles from the sea. At this point passengers and baggage are transferred to house-boats and barges, the former being simply a barge with improvised accommodation for from two to five passengers, and propelled by twenty natives with long poles.
After being two days on these house-boats, the writer and his family reached Chiromo, forty miles distant from the mission. We were fortunate in being fellow travelers from Durban with a party of missionaries of the Dutch Reformed Church, some of whom were returning to their Angoniland Mission after a furlough of a year, and others going for the first time; also a party of three Baptist missionaries returning to Blantyre, who disembarked at the same time and place that we did. These missionaries made many very timely suggestions, and freely gave us much valuable information which would have cost us much time and effort to procure from other sources.
We arrived at Chiromo at sunset, Sabbath, June 20. As our friends had their native carriers awaiting their arrival, they made preparations for starting on their journey the same evening, and at their invitation we decided to accompany them. But we soon found that it is not always possible to remain in the company of friends on such an expedition. Thirty-six native carriers with three machillas, one for each passenger, were furnished us by the transportation company. A machilla (pronounced maheela) may be described as a hammock suspended from a pole carried on the shoulders of two natives. As we were unable to converse with our men, none of whom could speak or understand English, it was impossible for us to hold them till our friends were ready; so just as daylight was disappearing, they started off at a very lively pace with much singing, yelling, and whooping. We have since learned that this is customary at the starting and finishing of a journey. Soon it was so dark that it was impossible for the occupant of a machilla to see the other members of the party. Even our little boy proceeded without knowing our whereabouts.
Our first “round-up” was when we reached a stream, which had to be forded in the darkness. There was a scene of much discussion and wrangling among the men, but they finally succeeded in getting us safely over. By watching the southern cross, we could see that we were traveling in a northwesterly direction.
Our next stop was at 11:30 P. M., when we suddenly came to a standstill at a sort of camp where several fires were burning. One end of the pole of our machilla was thrust against a tree, and the other end placed on the ground, and without further ado our natives proceeded to make camp-fires and roast their maize. After eating, they turned their feet to the fire, and went to sleep. We learned that a short time previously two natives, who, with others, had gone to sleep at this place and let their fires go out, were carried off by lions. As a precaution, as well as for comfort and pastime, we, too, made a fire, but not all of us went to sleep. Occasionally one of the men would get up, replenish his fire, and lie down again.
At five o’clock all our men aroused themselves, and we readily agreed to their proposition, indicated by gestures, to proceed, hoping that we might soon have daylight, which began to dawn about six o’clock. It will be remembered that this is winter here, and the days are the shortest of the year. At seven o’clock we reached the foot of Cholo Mountain. It took us two hours to climb this mountain. After reaching the top, no more stops were made till we reached the mission about one o’clock in the afternoon. The last four or five miles was over a narrow path with grass seven or eight feet high on both sides. Not knowing how far we had to travel, we began to feel that we21were getting pretty well into the heart of Africa, of which we had read and heard so much. We tried to interrogate our carriers as to whether they knew where they were going, but their answers did not enlighten us. It seems quite different to us now as we look back. Much of the narrow path is through the land of the mission estate, yet it is one of the leading roads, or trails, between Chiromo and Blantyre, the latter a town, or settlement, of some note, and the oldest center for missionary operations in this country.
It was several days after our arrival before we saw the face of a white man. The first one we saw was the postmaster, whose place is about seven miles from the mission.
We are glad that there are many among our people who are much interested in the work that should be done for the people of Africa. We hope to have the privilege of giving from time to time some items of information with reference to our mission work, and what we are trying to do. J. H. WATSON.
