The Mission despatched by the Free Church of Scotland to
Lake Nyassa has arrived safely, and has fitted out its steamer on the lake, which is found to be much larger than Dr. Livingstone thought. It has a coast of 800 miles, and is usually over 100 fathoms deep. The agent, Lieutenant E. D. Young, found the Arabs extremely alarmed at the advent of a steamer, which they think could stop the slave-trade by sinking their dhows ; and he is so indignant at the scenes he has witnessed, that he avows his intention of speedily putting a stop to the traffic. He believes a dozen Englishmen could do it, and relates a most striking story of the estimation in which the English character is held. A gang of 500 slaves passed within fifty miles of the Mission, and one poor creature could travel no farther. Instead, however, of killing him, as is the regular practice, the slavers released him, telling him the English would be sure to take care of him. He reached the Mission, after great hardships, with a diseased spine. The motive of the slavers on the lake appears to be the want of any legitimate means of getting money, but there is an incidental and unpleasant reference to Portuguese slave-purchasers from Quillimane.
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