Journal, 1880-1881, of James Sutherland, missionary in Livingstonia, Malawi.

James Sutherland was recruited as an agriculturalist for the Free Church of Scotland mission in Nyasaland, now Malawi, during its early years. His journal describes his journey up the Zambesi and the Shire, and includes comment on the landscape and its suitability for cultivation. Sutherland arrives at the Church of Scotland mission at Blantyre in February 1881, where he stays for a few weeks before continuing on to Livingstonia. He describes the work undertaken to cultivate crops at the station, and the difficulties encountered in doing so. At this time, a new station at Bandawe is in the process of being established, and Sutherland oversees construction of the road there. The journal highlights some of the difficulties faced by the early Scottish missionaries in this area, and offers an insight into relations with the local population, including descriptions of his meetings with Arab slave traders and some of the slaves, and the first baptism at Livingstonia. Sutherland died in Malawi in 1885.