Baobab tree, Livingstonia, Malawi, ca.1920

"Baobab tree: patriarch of the African plain." Exterior view showing a large tree dominating the sky line. The Baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) is a large slow growing indigenous tree that resembles a root system and is sometimes known as the upside-down tree. Many parts of the tree are utilised; the bark is used for matting and nets, the leaves for fodder and the tree itself can be used as a reservoir. ❧ The Livingstonia mission station was established in 1891 by Dr Robert Laws (1851-1934) when he travelled north from Bandawe to set up a Training Institution and Industrial Mission. It was situated four miles from Lake Nyasa at Khondowe on a high plateau behind Mount Waller. As well as the school, hospital and accommodation, there were workshops for carpentry, printing and engineering, and mills, brickworks and a pottery. The Overtoun Institution was named after John Campbell White, Baron of Overtoun (1843-1908) who was a Convener of the Livingstonia Mission and a major financial contributor. The instruction that went on in Livingstonia was to provide Christian leaders for the expanding mission and to develop commercial activities and encourage trade.