THE
|Eif(, pliauw, g^rilous i^ilitntuwis^
AND
DISOOTERIES
OF
Dr. Livingstone,
NEARLY THIRTY YEARS
A MISSIONARY EXPLORER
IN
THE WILDS OF AFRICA,
WITH A
THRILtiNG ACCOUNT OF
HIS RESURRECTION BY H. M. STANLEY.
TORONTO :
M ACL EAR & CO,
^873.
Ln4'±S
STACK
OCT 21 V:i48
TO
CLERGYMEN
LOVERS OF MISSIONARY ENTERPRIZE,
SUNDAY, AND DAY-SCHOOL TEACHERS,
PARENTS AND GUARDIANS OF YOUTH,
AS WELL AS
CHRISTL\NS GENERALLY.
As an acknowledgment of the eminent services which they
are rendering to the cause of
CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION,
THIS WORK IS
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.
PEEFACE,
The extraordinary interest which is felt by the reading
public of this country, as well as of the whole civilized
world, in the adventures and discoveries of Dr. Livingstone,
renders any apology for the appearance of the present vol-
ume altogether unnecessary. If needful to apologize at all,
it is for the appearance of anything like a full and satisfac-
tory account of his explorations in that part of Central
South Africa, which has hitherto been a iefra incognita in
geographical science, — a region about which the most
strange and contradictory reports have been published and
believed, and whose fertility and capabilities of improve-
ment, whether as regards climate, soil, or the people wlio
inhabit it, were altogether undreamt-of
What Dr. Livingstone saw in this great central net-work
of broad lakes and mighty rivers : the important discoveries
which he made, the difficulties which he overcame ; the toils
and sufferings he endured in his wanderings over many
thousand miles of strange ground, much of it never before
iv PREFACE.
trodden by the foot of the white man- it is the object ot
this book to relate, in as clear and graphic a manner as the
materials at the writer's disposal permitted. 'J'he publica-
tion of the work has been delayed longer than the many
thousands who are anxiously looking for such a narrative
might think necessary or desirable, in order that the letters
of Dr. Livingstone and Mr' Stanley, which come down to a
very recent date, might be included in it. These letters
will be read with the greatest interest, filling as they do the
long period in the eventful life and travels of the world-
renowned Livingstone.
While expressing a hope that it will prove satisfactory to
the admirers of Dr. Livingstone, and especially to those who
are warm advocates of Missionary operations, and friends
of the African race, we would also ask for a kindly and can-
did judgment of our difficult labours. In many instances,
it was not easy to realize the scenes and circumstances of
Dr. Livingstone's adventurous journeys, with the slight
assistance which was afibrded by the documents which had
been made public, or to which access could be had with
sufficient facility : and we have had, therefore, to draw
somewhat upon other and independent sources, to give the
narrative proper coherency, and to convey to the mind of
the reader a clear impression of our traveller's labours and
perils in the cause of Christian civilization, and present to
them a true picture of the wild regions he explored, and of
their savage, yet, in many instances, friendly, generous, and
hospitable people.
I'KKFACE. V
We have thought it would add completeness to our work
to give a sketch of the youth and early missionary labours of
Dr. T.ivingstone, botli in Africa and elsewhere ; to such
labours we would on all occasions direct the public interest
and attention. That he should have overcome the difhcul-
ties, and escaped the many perils wliich beset his way in
his extensive explorations, is a subject of great thankfulness
to all who look with admiration upon the noble disinter-
estedness of the man, and wlio estimate aright the devoted
•efforts of the Christian philanthropist.
THE WEAVER BOY
WHO BECAME A MISSIONARY
I.
EARLY DAYS.
Among the " factory hands " at the Bl an tyre Cotton
Works, situated on the beautiful river Clyde, a little
above Glasgow, was a lad who entered as a "piecer"
when about ten years old, and at the age of nineteen
was still there, having advanced through the intermedi-
ate stages to the full dignity of a cotton-spinner ! Davie,
as his companions called him, was silent and thoughtful
even when a boy, and as he grew up to manhood he be-
came more so, yet was he not sullen nor morose ; ever
ready to do a good turn for any one, civil and obliging,
he was generally liked, although he shared but little in
the sports and pastimes of the lads with whom he
worked at first, nor in the amusements of the weavers,
male and female, in whose societv ho afterwards had to
pass his hours of labor, which were from six in the morn-
ing till eight at -ight, with short intervals for breakfast
and dinner. This, with most young people, would have
given little time for mental improvement ; but the thirst
for knowledge was strong in Diivie, and ho managed to
lay in a good store of information by stealing hours from
the night, and letting no odd moments pass by unim-
proved. There is an immense deal to be done by hus-
banding these odd moments ; to many a poor lad they
10 THE WEAVER BOY.
have been as staves of the ladder by which he has r\^en to
fame and fortune, and in Scotland especially has this
been the case. Our young ''piecer" at the cotton
works understood their value. With his first week's
wages he purchased " Euddiman's Rudiments of Latin,"
which language he studied for several years at an even-
ing school which met between the hours of eight and
ten. The school-master was partly paid by the company
that owned the mill, so that he could give his instruction
at a very low rate to his pupils. This was a plan adopt-
ed with great advantage by many Scottish employers,
whose people are more ready to avail themselves of the
means of improvement offered than are those of the
southern manufacturing districts. Thus Davie was en-
abled to read many of the classical authors, and by the
time he was sixteen knew Virgil and Horace as well as
most youths educated in an English grammar school.
But he did not confine himself to these authors, nor to
the dead languages ; he read everything he could lay his
hands on, except novels, for which he had no inclina-
tion, even if they had not been forbidden by his parents,
who were strictly religious people, and looked upon all
fiction as trash, or something worse, as in that day
(about thirty years since) did most of the piously edu-
cated Scottish peasantry, and as many of them do still.
Scientific works and books of travel were Davie's especial
delight, and often at twelve o'clock at night had his
mother to snatch the book out of his hands, and send
him oiF to bed, from which he was to rise soon after five
and hurry to the mill ; and even there, amidst the cease-
less whirr of spindles, the thump, thump, thump, and
other noises of machinery, and the clack of busy tongues,
he was able sufl&ciently to abstract his mind to pursue
his studies. Placing his book en a portion of the " spin-
ning-jenny," and casting his eye on it as he passed to
and fro, he caught sentence after sentence, and linked
them together in his memory, so as to imprint them
there, and fix the lessons taught, or carry out the
train of reasoning they were meant to illustrate and
enforce.
EARLY DAYS. 11
Davie grew up to be a tall, slim young man. not over-
Bti'ong in appearance, but his face indicated great firm-
ness and decision of character. The labor of cotton-
spinning to which he was now promoted was excessively
severe ; but then the pay was good, therefore he bore it
gladly, for he was enabled by working through the sum-
mer, to support himself while attending medical, Greek,
and 'divinity classes at the Glasgow University in the
winter. He had, by this time, quite determined to de-
vote his life to the alleviation of human misery. Great
pains had been taken by his parents to instil the doc-
trines of Christianity into his mind at an early age;
and his religious convictions became stronger and deeper
as he grew older, till, in the glow ot love that Christi-
anity inspires, he had come to this resolution, and it was
to China that he turned as a field of missionary labor,
in which he would find ample scope for the exercise of
his energies and philanthropic desires. To minister to
the temporal and spiritual wants of the benighted mil-
lions in that far land; to heal the sick, as far as human
means could do so, and, at the same time, to direct them
to the Great Physician, who alone could cleanse them
from the leprosy of sin, — this was a work which he had
set before him, and to qualify him for which he was
now pursuing the study of medicine and divinity. With
a noble independence of spirit, he had resolved that he
would himself earn the means for the acquisition of this
knowledge; and he records afterwards that, '* Looking
back now on that period of toil, I cannot but feel thank*
ful that it formed such a material part of m.y early
education, and, were 1 to begin life over again,
I should like to pass through the same hardy training.'*
This was the kind of a man who was likely to accom-
plish great things ; of such stuff are true heroes made.
Wo hope that those who read this book will admire such
a character, and resolve to work, as he did, for some
good and noble object, not looking to others for help,
but, as far as God has given them strength and ability,
to help themselves; for, by so doing, they will be best
prejiaring to help their fellow-creatures.
12 THE WEAVER BOY.
Our hero, Davie, had never received a farthing from
any one but what he earned, and he would doubtless
have accomplished his project of going to China as a
medical missionary, by his own efforts, had not Provi-
dence ruled it otherwise. Some friends advised him to
offer his services to the London Missionary Society,
"which sends neither Episcopacy, nor Presbyterianism,
nor Independency, but the Gospel of Christ to the hea-
then," and which therefore exactly agreed with his ideas
of what a missionary society ought to do; but he hesitated
to make this offer, because, as he said, it was not agree-
able to one accustomed to work his own way, to be in a
manner dependent on others. This feeling, however,
was got over, and, in accordance with a summons to
that effect, he presented himself iu September, 1838,
before the directors of the society, to undergo the ne-
cessary examination, which, being satisfactory, he and
another candidate for admission into the noble army of
soldiers of the cross were sent to the Society's Training
College, at Chipping Ongar, in Essex. There, in com-
pany with Drummond, Hay, Taylor, and others, who
have since sounded the Gospel trumpet loudly in various
parts of the heathen world, he remained for two years,
completing the education for which he had laid so good
a foundation in the Scottish village. There dwelt his
poor, honest, God-fearing parents ; there he worked and
studied early and late, with that one great object before
him, and an earnest devotion that sanctified his every
act and deed, and made his life sublime. His ancestors
were small farmers in Ulva, one of the group of islands
called the Hebrides, and one of them on his death-bed
had called his children around him, and said: "I have
searched carefully through all the traditions of our fam-
ily, and I never could discover that there was a dishonest
man among our forefathers. If therefore any of you should
take to dishonest ways, it will not be because it was in
our blood. I leave this precept with you, — be honest."
This was something like an heirloom to value and
cherish, to hand down from father to son bright and un-
spotted, — an honest name. Bettor than costly jewels.
EARLY DAYS. 13
and massive plate, and great possessions, to be honest
in word and deed, truthful and independent ; honest in
the fulfilment of all high duties which devolve upon a
Christian ; serving God faithfully, and, like a true
brother, helping fellow-men lovingly, tenderly. When
the poet said, —
" An honest man's the noblest work of God."
he meant all this.
" A prince can make a belted knight.*'
but God only can make an honest man ; like him who,
clad in homely garb, worked for ten years and more in
the Blantyre Cotton Factory, and made an early dedi-
cation of his whole mind and strength to the service of
humanity; who lived frugally, indulged in no enervating
excesses, did thoroughly whatever he undertook to do,
and went straight on his way, led by the light of a high
resolve. Did this young student, when he sat up in the
still night hours, in his humble lodgings at Glasgow,
studying Greek or divinity, — when he climbed with will-
ing feet the academic stair of Anderson's College, or
mingled with his class-fellows, — ever think of the trials
and dangers that awaited him ; of the conquests he was
to achieve over difficulties almost insurmountable ; of
the wild, wide regions, peopled only by savage beasts
or by barbarous tribes as fierce and implacable, among
whom the foot of civilized man had never trodden, to
whom the glad tidings of salvation had never been pro-
claimed ? Doubtless he did, and his spirit rose to the
conflict with death and sin ; his bowels of compassion
yearned towards these poor benighted ones, and his mis-
sionar}' zeal was kindled to a brighter flame, as he mused
upon these things; therefore he wrought while young to
fit himself for the contest he was about to enter; and
there can be no doubt that but for the frugal and tem-
perate habits which he acquired, and the severe discip-
line to which he subjected both mind and body, he
never could have accomplished the terrible work which
14 THE WEAVER BOY.
he afterwards^ had to do, and from which he shrunk not. .
Who would compare with the heroism of this man that
of the warrior who, amid the heat and excitement of the
battle, loses all sense of danger, all care for personal
safety ? Well has Dr. Beattie said of missionaries, —
" Theirs are the triumphs war can never bring ;
Theirs are the paeans guardian angels sing ;
Their noblest banner is the Book of truth ;
Their trophies, — age, and infancy, and youth ;
'Tis theirs to free, exalt, and not debase
The painted brothers of our common race ;
Nor strife, nor tribute, nor oppressive sway
Degrade their labours, nor obstruct their way ;
Their watchword still, — let war and sorrow cease;
The noblest epithet, — the men ofpeaceP
Such then is the missionary devoted to the salvation
of men, and such was David Livingstone ; for it is he of
whom we have been writing, and whom we now find at
the training establishment in Essex, pursuing his studies.
He is described by his fellow-students as a pale, thin,
modest, retiring young man, with a broad Scotch accent.
If you broke through the crust of his natural reserve,
you found him open, frank, and most kind-hearted, ever
ready for any good and useful work, not even excepting
grinding the corn necessary to make the brown bread in
the establishment, chopping wood, and such like labo-
rious, though healthful, occupations.
He was fond of long vv^alks, and he and a friend used
to traverse the Essex flats together, sometimes extending
their peregrinations into the more romantic neighbor-
ing counties. Twelve or sixteen miles were often thus
traversed, and the friends, as they passed along, enjoying
the beauties of nature, indulged, we may be sure, in
profitable conversation, anticipating, no doubt, the
glories and triumphs of the spread of the Eedeemer's
kingdom, and strengthening and encouraging each
other to pursue the path of Christian duty with faith and
earnestness of purpose. Even during these long walks'
the friends pursued their studies, assisting each other to
acquire a more perfect knowledge of the Greek and
EARLY DAYS. 15
Latin tongues. Livingstone exhibited considerable
aptitude in the acquisition of languages; but his chief
characteristic then, as it proved to be all through his
career, was indomitable resolution and perseverance. An
incident which occurred at this period may serve to
illustrate this, and show what naight be expected of him,
when he had to contend with dangers and diflSculties.
On one of the coldest and most foggy mornings in
1838, he got up at three o'clock to walk to London, in
the western suburb of which he had some business to
transact for his father; as he was returning, his energy,
humanity, and the medical knowledge he had acquired
at Glasgow, were called in play. A lady was thrown
out of a gig, and Livingstone, without regard to the
etiquette of the thing, at once offered his services, and
instituted an examination, which resulted in the satisfac-
tory assurance that there were no bones broken. He
ought, of course, to have rendered what assistance he
could in stopping the horse, picked up the lady, con-
veyed her to a place of shelter, and so forth, leaving the
rest to *' the regular doctor." It was very improper to
go beyond this ; but still it was very comforting to the
poor lady, who warmly expressed her gratitude ; and it
was very like Livingstone.
Having performed this good office for a fellow-creature
in distress, our traveller trudged on his homeward way.
Long ere he reached Stamford, about two miles from
Ongar, it had become quite dark; he was sadly wearied,
and faint with hunger, having scarcely eaten any food
all day; but he determined to push on, and did so.
Presently, however, he found himself on strange ground,
having evidently taken a wrong turning somewhere.
Here was a new perplexity ; his knees trembled under
him, and he seemed almost constrained to lie down under
the hedge, and make his bed there. But, no; that would
not do for Livingstone, whose motto was " Never give
up 1 " So he braced up his energies for an effort, climbed
a guide-post, and, by the light of the stars, which were
now shining clearly above, made out his whereabouts,
and again pushed on for home, where he arrived, pale as
16 THE WEAVER BOY.
a ghost, and sank into a seat, so exhausted that for a
while he could not utter a word. After taking a little
food, moistened with milk-and-water, he went to bed,
and hlept soundly till the middle of the next day, when
he awoke perfectly refreshed, and ready for another
journey. He had walked upwards of fifty miles. Liv-
ingtetone was a strong advocate for teetotalism; when at
Ongar, he and some other of the students drew up a
pledge, which they severally signed. He did not, in his
student days, shine as a speaker ; his oral delivery was
slow and hesitating. It is recollected that once he
bestowed great pains on the composition of a sermon,
which he intended to deliver from memory ; but when
he mounted the pulpit and attempted to do so, the whole
had escaped him.
These reminiscences of the early life of a great man
are most interesting, especially now, when there is
reason to fear that his useful caceer is suddenly ended.
In the chapters which follow are related the most
remarkable of his adventures in South Africa, the scene
of his extraordinary missionary labors and discoveries.
II.
MAREIED, AND NEARLY KILLED.
About seven hundred miles from Cape Town, in the
country of the Bechuanas, is the missionary station
called Kuruman, or Latakoo, and it was here that
Livingstone commenced his missionary work. He left
England in 1840, landed at Cape Town, after a three
months's voyage, proceeded from thence to Algoa Bay,
and then passed inland to the station above named.
China, as we have already said, was the land towards
which his desires pointed; but the opium war had for a
while closed that vast empire to missionary enterprise,
MARRIED, AND NEARLY KILLED. 17
which had for a long time past been directed to South
Africa, where many good men of various creeds and
countries had devoted their lives to the service of Christ,
doing their best to civilize and enh'ghten the barbarous
tribes of that benighted quarter of the globe.
The station at Kuruman bad been founded about
thirty years, by Messrs. Hamilton and Moffat, when
Livingstone arrived there, and found in the shapely-
mission house, and church built of stone, the well irri-
gated gardens stocked with fruits and vegetables, and
the general air of order and comfort which prevailed,
a pleasing contrast to the wild and rugged scenes through
which he had lately passed, and which were totally differ-
ent from anything he had before been accustomed to. The
rocky ravine, with its dried-up water-course, the tangled
forest, and the desolate, arid waste, following shortly after
a long sea-voyage, could but have a depressing effect
upon the thoughtful and sensitive mind of the young
man, who, with a deep sense of the responsibility of his
holy calling, had left home and friends to go forth into
the desolate places of the earth, for the salvation of
souls. Moffat received with joy his more youthful coad-
jutor, and with him and his family he spent a short
time, preparing, in accordance with his instructions, to
proceed beyond this, which was then the farthest inland
station from the Cape. So. in company with another
missionary, he proceeded northward to the Bakuena, or
Backwains, a tribe or section of the great Bechuana
nation. These are, on the whole, a harmless, inoffen-
sive people, very different from the Zulu Kaffirs, and
some other of the South Africans. They are divided
into numerous tribes, such as the Bakatla, which means
" they of the monkey," Bakuena, " they of the alli-
gator," Batlapi, " they of the fi«h." This naming after
certain living creatures would seem to indicate that they
had been at one time animal-worshippers, like the
ancient Egyptians, although the only trace of such a
custom which is now to be found among them is a super-
stitious dread, entertained by each tribe, of the animal
after which they are named, which j)re vents their ever
18 THE WEAVER BOY.
eating it, and in reference to killing it they use the
term, " ila," hate or dread. It appears likely that
dancing was among their ancient religious rites, for if
it is desired to ascertain what particular tribe an indivi-
dual belongs to, the common question asked is, " What
do you dance ?"
At Kuruman, Livingstone found a printing-press,
worked by the original founders of the mission and those
who had since entered into their labors ; and through
means of it, and the eiforts of the teachers, the light of
Christianity was being gradually diffused around. And
here, too, he found that greatest of all earthly blessings, a
good wife, who shared his labors and anxieties, and
entered heart and soul into all his plans for the amelio-
ration of the condition of the natives. But it was not
immediately that he obtained this great treasure. Four
years of African life he passed as a bachelor, before
he ventured to put a very serious question to Moffat's
eldest daughter, Mary, beneath one of the fruit-trees in
the garden. In 1844, his marriage took place, and ever
after until she was smitten down by fever, and he buried
her beneath the baobab-tree, on the banks of the Zam-
bezi, at Shupanga, she was to him a true helpmeet.
Born in the country, and therefore to some extent accli-
matized, inured to the privations and dangers of a mis-
sionary lif*% acquainted with the peculiarities of the
people around, expert in household matters, she was, to
use his own expression, '' the best spoke in his wheel at
home, and a great comfort and assistance to him in his
travels abroad, when it was possible for her to bear him
company."
Livingstone's first visit to the Bakwains was not of
long duration ; he returned to Kuruman, where he
remained for three months, and then went to a spot
called Lepelole, from a cavern of that name : here he
secluded himself from ail European society, in order to
study the native tongue, and obtain an insight into the
habits, modes of thinking, and laws and manners of the
Bechuanas. This course of study he found of inesti-
mable advantage to him in his after intercourse with
MARRIED, AND NEARLY KILLED. 19
the wild tribes of South Africa, among all of whom there
prevails a certain similarity, in most respects, so that a
knowledge of the peculiarities of one people or tribe
aflfords a key for the comprehension of all.
While at this place, which is now called Lituruba, he
began to make preparations for a settlement, and when
the work was well advanced, he went northward to the
Cakaa mountains, the only European visitor to which,
who was a trader, had, with all his people died of fever.
Here dwelt the Bakaa, Bamangwato, and Makalaka
tribes. The greater part of this journey had to be per-
formed on foot, the draft oxen being sick, and the
natives laughed at the idea of his being able to accom-
plish it in chat way. " See," said some of them, who did
not know that he understood their language " he is not
strong, he is quite thin, and only appears stout because
he puts himself into those bags (meaning his trousers) ;
he will soon knock up." They, however, changed their
opinion when they found that he kept them at the top of
their speed for days together.
Returning from this expedition to Kuruman, the news
reached him that the friendly Bakwains, among whom
he intended to settle, had been driven from Lepelole by
the Barolongs, another tribe, who sought to deprive them
of their cattle, the great staple of wealth, and the con-
stant cause of wars between the South African tribes.
Setting out, then, in search of some other suitable spot
for a settlement, he beheld a blazing comet, which awoke
the superstitious fears of his followers and the people
on his route. The last appearance of such a portent, in
1816, had been followed by an irruption of the Mata-
bele, a tribe of Kaffirs, who had proved the most cruel
enemies the Bechuanas had ever known ; there was a
general dread that this, also, might be a messenger of
wrath. Having to restore some of the Bamang^vato
people to their chief, Sekomi, Livingstone again travelled
northward some hundred miles, this time on ox-back.
Returning toward Kuruman, he selected a beautiful val-
ley called Mabtoso as the site of a missionary station,
and thither he finally removed in 1843, the year before
20 THE WEAVER BOY.
he took to wife Maiy Moftat, and at this time and phice
it was that his earthly career was nearly terminated.
In no part of the world is that king of beasts, the
lion, so strong, and tierce, and daring, and plentiful, as
in South Africa. .In the thick jungle, or rocky glen,
he generally crouches during the day, but at night
comes forth in search of food, and then all the wild
creatures fly in terror at the sound of his roar, reverber-
ating like thunder over the wild karroo and the stony
desert. Then, too, is heard the shrill cry of the jackals,
that follow him to feast on the carcasses of the animals
he kills and only designs to take a portion of; the mock-
ing laugh of the hyena, and the bark of the dingoes, or
wild dogs, that pursue the zebras and antelopes across
the desert, and seldom fail to run them down. Though
safe in their airy homes amid the brenches, or far-up
clefts of the rocks, the large apes and smaller monkeys
chatter and scream with affright when that hungry roar
goes rolling over the waste, or swells up through the
gorges of the mountains. The camelopard stretches its
slender neck forward, and strides along in a swift though
awkward gallop; the quagga utters its shrill neigh,
snilYs the tainted air, and with flying mane and tail
bounds off with a speed only equalled by that of the
ostrich, that with short wings fluttering, and long legs
stretched out to their utmost extent, seems to outstrip
the wind. Even the rhinocerous, in its impervious hide
and armed with a horn that would rip up, in a moment,
any assailant, trembles to hear that roar; and the
mighty elephants, that have gone to slake their thirst at
the sedgy pool, although not fearing an attack, stand
aside to let their acknowledged monarch pass down, and
drink before them ; while the hippopotamus retires
farther into the reeds and river mud, and lies with only
his enormous snout projecting from the water. But the
cattle in the kraals, as the native villages are called, are
perhaps the most terrified of all at the approach of this
their deadly enemy. The Hottentot herdsman, awaken-
ed by their lowings of fear, feels his flesh creep, as he
thinks of friends and comrades borne off from beside the
MARRIED, AND NEARLY KILLED. . 21
very watch-fires, to be found in the morning a few crunched
bones and mangled remains in the blood-stained thicket.
The Dutch Boer, as well as the Kaffir chief, trembles for
his most valuable possessions, his cattle, when he knows
that a lion has approached the settlement, or station ;
there must be no peace, no rest, until the unwelcome
intruder bo either killed or driven away far into the
desert.
Livingstone's friends, the Bakatla, were troubled by
lions, which leaped into their cattle-pens by night, and
had grown so bold that they even sometimes attacked
the herds by day. In their superstitious ignorance,
they believed that a neighboring tribe had, by some
spell of witchcraft, given them into the power of these
fierce brutes; hence it was, perhaps, that their attacks
upon the animals were faint and half-hearted, and there-
fore unsuccessful. It was only necessary to kill one of
the troop that infested their village to induce the others
to quit that part of the country, in accordance with
the well-known habit of these creatures. But this they
had not been able to accomplish ; therefore it was that
Livingstone went out with them, in one of their hunts
to assist and give them couraga.
They discovered their game on a small tree-covered
hill. The circle of hunters at first loosely formed around
the spot, gradually closed up, and became compact as
they advanced towards it. Mebalwe, a native school-
master who was with Livingsione, seeing one of the lions
sitting on a piece of rock within the ring, fired but
missed him, the ball striking the rock by the feet of the
animal, which, biting first at the spot struck, bounded
away, broke through the circle, and escaped, the natives
not having courage enough to spear him in the attempt,
as they should have done. The circle re-formed, having
yet within it two other lions, at which the guns could not
be tired, lest some of the men on the opposite side should
be hit. Again there was a bound and a roar, and yet
again, the natives scattered and fled, while the liona
went forth free to continue their devastations. But they
did not seem to have retreated far ; for as the party was
22 THE WEAVER BOY.
going round the end of a hill, on their way home to the
village, there wa8 one of the lordly brutes, sitting upon
a piece of rock, as though he had purposely planted him-
self their to enjoy their defeat, and wish them '' good-
day." It was about thirty yards from Livingstone, who,
raising his gun, fired both barrels into the litilo hush,
behind which the creature stood. '' He is shot I He is
shot!" is the joyful cry, and the people are about to rush
in; but their friend warns them, for he sees the tail
raised in anger. He is just in the act of running down
his bullets for another fire, when he hears a shout of ter-
ror, and sees the lion in the act of springing on him. He
is conscious only of a blow that makes him reel and fall
to the ground ; of two glaring eyes, and hot breath upon
his face ; a momentary anguish, as he is siezed by the
shoulder, and shaken as a rat by a terrier, then comes a
stupor, which was afterwards described as a sort of
drowsiness, in which there was no sense of pain, nor
feeling of terror, although there was a perfect concious-
ness of all that was happening. This condition is com-
pared to that of patients under the influence of chloro-
form; they see the operation, but do not feel the knite;
and Livingstone thinks that this is probably the state of
all animals when being killed by the carnivora, which he
opines is a merciful provision of the Creator for lessening
the pain of death. We are glad to hope that it may bo
so; if not, we may bo sure that God does not inflict pain
upon any of his creatures without some wise and good
object.
Being thus conscious, as one in a trance might be,
Livingstone knew that the lion had one paw on the back
of his head, and, turning round to relieve himself of the
pressure, he saw the creature's eyes directed to Mebalwe,
who, at a distance of ten or fifteen ^ards, was aiming
his gun at him. It missed fire in both barrels, and
immediately the native teacher was attacked by the
brute, and bitten in the thigh ; another man, also,
who attempted to spear the lion, was seized by the sh(>ul-
der; but then the bullets which he had received took
effect, and, with a quiver through all his hugh frame,
AT CHONUANE AND KOLOBENQ. 23
the cattlo-lifter rolled over on Lis side, dead. All this
occurred in a few moments ; the death-blow had been in-
flicted by Livingstone before the lion sprang upon him,
in the blind fury of his dying efforts. No less than
eleven of his teeth had penetrated the flesh of his assail-
ant's arm, and crushed the bone ; it was long ere the
wound was healed, and all through life the intrepid
missionary bore the marks of this deadly encounter, and
felt its effects in the injured limb. The tartan jacket
which he had on wiped, as he believed, the virus from
the lion's teeth, and so preserved him from much after-
suffering, such as was experienced by the others who
were bitten, and had not this protectiou.
III.
AT CHONUANE AND KOLOBENG.
After his marriage, which took place, as we have said
in 1844, Livingstone was carrying on his missionary
operations at Chonuane, a station which he established
among the Bakuena, or Bakwains, to which tribe he had
especially attached himself, and whose chief, Sechele,
was a man of great intelligence. He embraced Christi-
anity, and expounded its doctrines to his people. He
. was very desirious of conforming to its practices, but
found it most difficult to do so, as they were so different
from those to which he and those around him had been
accustomed. " Would," he exclaimed to the missionary,
" you had come to our country before I was entangled in
the meshes of our customs I " Being extremely anxious
that his subjects should become converts, he proposed
calling his head men together, and making them, with
whips of rhinoceros hide, assist him to beat them into a
new state of belief; but of this plan the white teacher
did not approve. How could an African chief, a great
warrior, the owner of herds of cattle, and a number of
wives, for each of whom he had given so many horned
24 THE WEAVER BOT.
heads, condescend to argue with his people ? They
must be whipped, and made to believe these new truths
which he had embraced. More enlightened potentates
than he have made the mistake that religion might be
propagated by force, and tried the method ; but it has
always signally failed. However, Sechele, really set
his subjects a good example, and this was the best kind
of teaching. He put away his superfluous wives, al-
though he lost much worldly wealth, and made many
enemies by doing so. He learned to read, in order that
he might study the Scriptures, and did all he could to
help on the missionary work. Complaining of the
paucity of those who attended family worship, which he
established in his own house, he said : " In former times,
when a chief was fond of hunting, all his people got
dogs, and became fond of hunting too ; if he was fond of
dancing or music, all showed a liking for these amuse-,
ments too ; if the chief loved beer, they all rejoiced in
strong drink. But in this case it is different : I love the
word of God, but not one of my brethren will join me."
How many good men in enlightened Christian communi-
ties might say the same ! There are plenty ready to
follow a leader into the pleasant paths of self- indulgence,
but few into those of self-denial. When this chief was
baptized, with his children, a great number of his people
came to see the ceremony. They were astonished to
find that only water was used, having been told, by ene-
mies to Christianity, that the Converts would be made
to drink dead men's brains. Old men cried, to see their
father, as they called the chief, so far given up to the
power of the white man, who they considered had be-
witched, and so made a slave of him. All the friends of
the divorced wives became enemies to the new religion,
and very few beside the family of Sechele continued to
attend the mission church and school ; yet did they con-
tinue to treat the missionary with respectful kindness.
Whatever they might think of his religion, they could
not doubt that he was their friend, for he had shown
this in many ways. Over the people he never attempted
to exercise any control, but by argument and gentle per-
AT CHONUANE AND KOLOBENG. 25
suasion, to lead them in the right way. In several in-
starices, by his appeals to their reason, and that sense
of right and wrong wb^ch he had endeavored to awaken
in their benighted hearts, war was averted. By pur-
chasing of them the land required for a station, which
w^as a proceeding altogether new and strange to them,
and explaining that this was due as a payment for some-
thing taken which had been theirs, and to avoid future
disputes, he convinced them of his desire to deal justly by
them. Rude and uneducated as they were, deeply sunk
in superstition and moral debasement, so that they were
slow to comprehend and realize the great truths of
Christianity, yet were they shrewd in all matters affect-
ing their worldly interest and the wants of every-day
life. Well acquainted with the habits of the wild
creatures around ; expert hunters ; good judges of cattle
and other animals on which they depended for existence,
— of modes of culture, and of soil required for different
kinds of grain, and other vegetables ; with their bodily
powers well trained, and their senses exercised in that
peculiar keenness of observation which distinguishes the
savage ; they were by no means stupid, although their
generally apathetic and listless manner, and slowness of
comprehension of new facts and ideas presented to their
minds, would lead one to suppose they were. A living
faith in his divine mission they could not at once have ;
but they could see and acknowledge the beauty and
goodness of the doctrine taught and lived by the mission-
ary, even when, in practice, departing most widely from
it themselves. Hence it was that Livingstone could
command their love and respect, and, to a considerable
extent, their obedience. To his advice and exhortations
they would listen, well knowing that it was a faithful
friend who spoke to them, and who prayed to the Great
Spirit above on their behalf.
One of the most prevalent and deeply rooted supersti-
tions of all the South African tribes is the belief in the
power of " rainmaking," said to be possessed by certain
favored individuals. In the not unusual prevalence of
long droughts, when the land is parched and arid, and
THE WEAVER BOY.
the cattle and human beings suffer greatly, if they do not
perish, for want of waier ; when all vegetation becomes
shrivelled up and ceases to aflford nutriment, and the sun
glares down, like an avenging demon, out of a brazen
Bky, — then it is that the rain doctor, as he is called, be-
comes a person of greater importance than the most
powerful chief. By the exercise of certain incantations
and magic spells, he can call down from the skies the
longed-for shower, invigorate the fainting powers of man
and beast, and restore freshness and fertility to the land.
Such is the popular belief; and cunning pretenders lo
this divine power trade often upon the credulity of the
people tp their own great profit. By a long and careful
observance of the signs in the heavens, they can gener-
ally tell when rain is likely to come, and only consent to
call it down at propitious times, pretending, when solicit
ed to do so at others, that the anger of the Great Spirit
or some other obstacle, prevents their success. The chief,
Sechele, was himself a celebrated rain-doctor, and proba-
bly believed, as many did, that he had the power ascribed
to him. He confessed to Livingstone that the giving up
of this superstition was the most difficult of all the re-
quirements of the new faith into which he was baptized.
But he did give it up, and when his people were sufter-
ing from a severe drought of long continuance, and im-
portuned him, as their chief and father, to relieve their
distress by the exercise of his magic power, he refused.
Believing him to be under tlie influence of a spell laid on
him by the missionary,they sent to him a deputation of old
councillors, entreating that the chief might be permitted
to make only a few showers : and their prayer took a
form something like this: —
" VVe faint beneath tlie burning sky ;
We see uo signs of coming rain ;
• • ■ If jou refuse, the corn will die;
Let not our prayer be in vain. i
For water, bark, the cattle low ;
With udders shrunk and dry they staiid ;
The children wail ; our heads w^e bow
•■ Down to the hot and thirsty land. - .
AT CHONUANE AND K0L9BENG. 27
Only this once ! a little shower!
We know your heart is good and kind ;
Revive, refresh the withered flower ;
Oh, let our sorrows pity find !
Then shall we all — man, woman, child —
Come to the school, and sing and pray ;
Long since it is that we have smiled ;
Oh, turn our night of grief today I "
The rain-doctors will often enter into subtle arguments
to prove that they really have the powor of opening the
clouds; and if told that only God can do this, they will
probably reply : " Truly : but God who has been so boun-
tiful to the white man has given to us this little thing of
which you know nothing ; that is, the knowledge of cer-
tain medicines with which we can make rain ; and these
medicines we gather from every country,becau8e in every
country is rain wanted. The black men, whom God made
first, he did not love ; so he only gave to them the ass-
egai (spear), and the power of rain-making. You, he
made beautiful, and gave you clothing, and guns, and
gunpowder, and horses, and waggons, and many other
things about which we know nothing ; we have not hearts
like yours ; we never love each other. Other tribes
place medicines about our country to prevent the rain, so
that we may be dispersed, and go to them to increase
their power. By our medicines we must overcome their
charms. Of our knowledge you are ignorant ; do not,
therefore, despise it, for we do not despise the things
that you know, although we know them not."
This is their mode of reasoning, tind its plausibility
convinces the uninstructed minds of their countrymen
that it is correct. *' What is the use of your everlasting
preaching and praying," said the rain-makers to the mis-
sionary, " if it brings not rain ? Other tribes who do not
pray get rain in abundance, and it is plain that our
charms have more power than your prayers."
And very extraordinary are the medicines or charms
which they employ to obtain the so much desired bless-
ing, reminding one of the prescriptions of the herbalists,
quack doctors, and professors of witchcraft in our own
28 THE WEAVER BOY.
country some centuries ago. The following ingredients
might have added potency to the witch-broth thrown by
the hags |of Macbeth into their seething cauldron, — jack-
als' livers, baboons' and lions' hearts, hairy calculi from
the bowels of old cows, serpents' skins and vertebrae, and
every kind of tuber, root, and plant to be found,the more
poisonous the better. One particular bulb is dried and
powdered, and given to a sheep, which dies in convul-
sions ; a portion of it is burned, and converted into smoke,
which ascends into the sky; in a shorter or longer time
rain falls, and, of course, this has produced it, just as
much as the wonderful cures of the credulous and igno-
rant nearer home are effected by the quack nostrums
which have the credit of them.
It was during a season of great and long continued
drought that Livingstone pointed out to Sechele, that the
only way to guard against the misery and suffering of its
occurrence was to provide for the irrigation of the land
and gardens; to select as a dwelling-place the neighbor-
hood of some never-failing river, and dig canals for the
water to flow into, so that it might be easily conveyed
over the cultivated grounds. His advice was taken, and
the whole tribe moved to the Kolobeng, a stream about
forty miles off. Our missionary had learned to make
himself useful at most mechanical employments. In ad-
dition to being a physician and preacher, he could, when
required, be a smith, carpenter, gardener, — in short, a
Jack-of-all-trades out of doors, while his wife was maid-of-
all-work within. So, at this new station, called after the
river, Kolobeng, he set to work, and assisted the natives
to build a square house for Sechels, and they in turn
helped him to erect his own house, school, and other
buildings, dig canals, and mako a dam for irrigating pur-
poses.
Here, with his wife and children, he took up his abode,
and continued until 1849, doing what he could to civilize
and Christianize the friendly Bakwains, assisted only by
Mrs. Livingstone and two native teachers. From Kuru-
man they not unfrequently received kindly greetings, and
fruits, and other valuable additions to their necessaries
AT OHONUANE AND KOLOBENGTf 29
or comforts. Mary, the industrious wife, could make
candles, and soap, and clothes, and almost everything
else that was needed ; so they had become" tolerably inde-
pendent of the outer world. We have spoken of a square
house ; now this is what a native architect would never
dream of constructing. All the dwellings of the South
African, and, indeed, we believe of most savage tribes,
are round ; they work in circles. This is the form of the
single hut; and the collection of huts, forming a kraal or
village, is also placed in a ring, with a circular cattle-pen
in the centre, and outer boundary of tree-trunks planted
in the ground.
A missionary must not be very particular as to what
sort of labor he puts his hand to, and the more generally
useful he can make himself the greater will be his influ-
ence among the wild people with whom, for a time, he
casts in his lot. His great mission is, undoubtedly, to
teach the divine truths of Christianity ; but he must in a
manner prepare the soil for the reception of these by min-
istering to the bodily wants and necessities of his people,
— by teaching them better modes of doing things, and
by working himself to help them. He must civilize
while he attempts to Christianize. The best worker will
in this way be everthe most successful teacher; his know-
ledge and ability to do things which the blind and igno-
rant heathen can understand will lead them to believe
that he is right when he speaks of those which they can-
not. Livingstone understood this part of a missionary's
duty, and performed it thoroughly ; his early training
well fitted him for the performance of much manual
labor and endurance of fatigue, and ho had lost no oppor-
tunity of acquiringa knowledge of the useful arts. When
a house was wanted, brickmaking and laying, plank-
sawing, squaring, putting together, all must be done off-
hand and on the spot, and a thousand contrivances ex-
temporized to make the whole compact and comfortable.
So with the reclamation of landfrom the wilderness, and all
matters of domestic economy. The tailor, the butcher,
the grocer are not within reach, and most of the neces-
saries of life must be prepared, or obtained direct from
30 THE WEAVER BOY.
that part of tho great storehouse of nature which is close
at hand. The followinc: picture of one day of mission-
ary life lit Kolobcnjr will give some idea of the various
duticH and labors involved in it. We take the sketch
from Livingstone's own account of his " Travels and Re-
searches in South Africa;" to which, and his later work,
<'The Zambesi and its Tributaries," we are indebted for
most of the facts contained in this volume.
" We rose early, because, however hot the day, tho
cveninjL^ was dcliciously refreshing. You can sit out till
midnight, with no fear of coughs or rheumatism. After
family worship and breakfast, between six and seven, we
kept school — men, women, and children being all invited.
This lasted till eleven o'clock. The missionary's wife
then betook herself to her domestic affairs, and the mis-
sionary engaged in some manual labor, as that of a smith,
carpenter, or gardener. If he did jobs for the people,
they worked for him in turn, and exchanged their un-
skilled labor for his skilled. Dinner and an hour's rest,
succeeded, when the wife attended her infant schools
which the young liked amazingly. :ind generally mus-
tered a hundered strong ; or she varied it with sewing-
classes for the girls, which was equally well relished.
After sunset the husband went into the town to converse
either on general subjects or on religion. We had a
public service on three nights in the week, and on
another, instruction in secular subjects, aided by pictures
and specimens. In addition to these duties we pre-
scribed for the sick, and furnished food for the poor.
The smallest acts of friendship, even an obliging word
and civil look, are, as St. Xavier thought, no despicable
part of the missionary armor. Nor ought the good
opinion of the most abject to be neglected, when polite-
ness may secure it. Their good word, in the aggregate,
forms a reputation which procures favor for the Gospel.
Show kindness to the reckless opponents of Christianity
on the bed of sickness, and they never can become your
personal enemies. Here, if anywhere, '' love begets
love."
ACROSS THE KALAHARI DESERT. 31
HI.
ACROSS THE KALAHARI DESERT.
The Boera, as the Dutch settlers in Africa are called,
had for some time past looked with jealous eyes on the
spread of missions among the natives, foreseeing that
with knowledge and enlightment would come an end to
their exactions and arbitrary rule. Their possessions
extended inland from beyond the Cape Colony to the
north east, and they were gradually encroaching upon
the tribes in the interior of the continent, — keeping from
them as much as possible a knowledge of the mercantile
value of the ivory and other products of the country
which they obtained from them in exchange for articles
of trifling cost. They were especially desirous of keep-
ing closed to white missionaries and traders those
regions from which the chief supply could be obtained,
and were annoyed at Livingstone's elforts to enlighten
and civilize the Bochuanas, the more especially when
they found that he was making enquires as to the means
of crossing the great Kalahari desert, with the view of
determining the exact position of a lake, called Ngami,
which he had heard spoken of by the natives, although
it was not laid down on any map of the country; most
of the interior of South Africa, being, indeed, at that
time, a perfectly unexplored region, and thought to con-
sist of desert lands unlit for human sustenance or habita-
tion. Livingstone had formed other conclusions, which
he was desirous of verifying. English traders, who had
penetrated to the Bakwains, bad sold them arms and
ammunition, which, above all things, the Boers wished
to keep out of their hands, and they planned an expedi-
tion against Sechele, at Kolobeng, to seize these weapons,
but this, on the representation of Livingstone that the
Bakwains would fly to t'^e desert, where they would be
safe from the pursuit of white men, rather than give
them up, was deferred for several years, although no
winter passed without a foray of some sort by the whites
32 THE WEAVER BOY.
upon one or other of the Bechuana tribes, in which the
latter suffered great losses, in cattle or children, tho
burning of their kraals, and slaughter of themselves.
A cooking-pot lent by Livingstone to his friends, and
taken by them on an expedition against a refactory
under chief, which Sechele made, contrary to the mis-
sionary's advice, was magnified into a cannon; the five
guns which he possessed became five hundred, and the
Boers professed to be seriously alarmed. They wanted
Livingstone to act as a spy upon his friends; which ho
refused to do, explaining that it was contrary to his
{)rinciples, and, if it were not, this would be quite use-
ess, for the Bakwains would take their own course, as
they had with regard to the expedition above named.
His possession of a sextant, for taking observations, was
looked upon as a sure sign of his immediate connection
with the English government, from whom, it was con-
tended, this supply of five hundred muskets must have
come; and the setting up of Lord Ross's telescope at
the Cape, about which the Boers had heard exaggerated
reports, was somehow associated with these supposed
hostile proceedings. " The government had set up that
glass to see what they were about behind the Cash an
mountains," they said; and the consciousness of their
evil doings rendered them very jealous of being over-
looked. Notwithstanding the feeling of hostility which
existed on the part of the Boers, some of them were glad
to avail themselves of Livingstone's medical knowledge,
and came to Kolobeng for the purpose of doing so;
others, in defiance of their own laws, came to trade with
the natives in muskets and powder; and both these
parties were ready to act as spies, and to bear false wit-
ness, if it suited their purpose, about what they saw and
heard. The questions which they put to his people were
reported to Sechele, such a course being considered a
point of duty, — every man in a tribe feeling himself
bound to tell the chief all that comes to his knowledge.
Sechele consults his white friend as to how these queries
are to be answered. *'Tell the truth ! " is the emphatic
and natural reply. " We have no cannon, very few
ACROSS THE KALAHARI DESERT. 33
muskets, and but little ammunition for hunting pur-
poses." So used to dissimulation themselves, the Boers
expect it from others, and these truthful replies were
read the wrong way upwards. When Livingstone
attempted to benefit the Bechuanas, at a distance from
his station, by placing native teachers, who had been
instructed in religious truth among them, he was told
by the Dutch commandant that the bracks must be taught
their inferiority to the whites ; — ihe doctrine that all
men are equal in the sight of God would not do there.
Sechele had letters sent to him ordering him to surrender
to the Dutch, and acknowledge himself their vassal, and
also to .'•top English traders proceeding through the
country. One can but admire his reply: "I am an inde-
pendent chief, placed here by God, not by you. Other
tribes you have conquered, but not me. The English
are my friends. I get everything I wish from them.
I cannot hinder them from going where they like."
Among the conditions on which the independence of
the Dutch Boers was guaranteed by the colonial governor
was the abolition of slavery among them, and a free pas-
sage for the English through their dominions to the
countries beyond; but when the commissioner with
whom they treated was asked by them, " Whht about
the missionaries?" he is said to have replied, "You may
do as you please with them ; " an answer probably
uttered in joke. It was, however, taken seriously, and
the destruction of several stations speedily followed ;
that of Livingstone escaped lor a time, but afterwards,
when he was away on his journey across the desert, an
attack was made upon Sechele by four hundred Boers,
who slaughtered a considerable number of adults, and
carried off no less than two hundred of the children into
slavery. The Bakwains defended their homes until
nightfall, when they fled, under cover of the darkness,
into the mountains. They slew eight of their enemies;
and this was the first occasion on which the Bechuanas
had ever killed any of the settlers. Under the pretext
that Livingstone had taught them how to do this, his
house was plundered, his books, the solace of his solitude,
34 THE WEAVER BOY.
and his stock of medicines ruthlessly destroyed ; large
quantities of stores left in the keeping of the natives by
English gentlemen, who had passed on to hunt in the
country beyond, with his furniture and clothing,, were
carried off, and sold to defray the expenses of the foray.
These were the deeds of men calling themselves Chris-
tians ! What could the natives think ot a religion which
allowed them to act thus? These valiant Boers seldom
or never engaged in conflict with the warlike Caffres ;
they confined their operations to the more peaceable
Bechuanas. Their plan of attack was to place in front
some of the natives whom they had conquered and
enslaved, and under cover of them to fire away upon the
defenceless people.
Livingstone had spoken to Sechele about crossing the
desert which stretched out to the north of them, and
penetrating that unknown land beyond. IS^o white men
had ever attempted the journey, which to the natives
was one of great fear and peril. Now he had deter-
mined to make the attempt; and two African travellers,
to whom he communicated his intention, resolved to
accompany him. These were Colonel Steele and Mr.
Oswell, the latter of whom undertook to defray the
expense of the guides. To go straight across the desert
was out of the question; it must be skirted for a consid-
erable distance, and struck into at a narrow part. So, on
the 1st June, 1849, he and his company sot out, a train
consisting of some eighty oxen, twenty horses, and as
many men. The friendly chief, Sechele, could not go
with them ; but he gave Livingstone two of his best men
to be, as he said, "his arms to serve him."
A long and tiresome journey they had before them,
full of hardships and unknown dangers. Sekorai, chief
of the Bamangwato, through whose lands they had to
pass, and who had been propitiated with the present of
an ox, would not assist the party, because, he said, in
the direction of the lake lived the Makololo, mortal
enemies of the Bechuanas, who would kill the white
men, and so he would incur the blame of all his nation.
But the secret, however, was, that the lake-country
^ ACROSS THE KALAHARI DESERT. 35
abounded in ivory, a good deal of which passed through
Sekorai's hands, and he was desirous of keeping this
traffic to himself as much as possible. It was said that
he was acquainted with the best route to this region of
elephants ; but he kept it carefully concealed. With
him, as with the Dutch Boers, self-interest was the guid-
ing principle.
After travelling several days through a flat, sandy
country, interspersed with open forest, bush, and grass
lands, which did not put much stress upon their powers
of endurance, the party left the road and struck away
northward into the desert. They soon came to a soil of
soft white sand, into which the wheels sunk over the
felloes, so that the oxen had great difficulty in drawing
the wagons. On they go, laboring and panting, with
open mouths and lolling tongues, while the drivers
smack their long whips, and with loud shouts encourage
or threaten them ; at times lifting the clumsy wheels,
that have sunk deeper than usual, or making an united
eft'ort to push the heavy wagon on. Livingstone and his
friends, with the native guides, walk ahead, and send
eager glances on every side in search of water, which
has now become very scarce. The sun pours down its
hot rays, and the sand beneath burns the feet if they rest
on it too long in one place. Soon the wide, wild, path-
less desert extends on every side of them, bounded only
by the horizon, without a sign or sound of life, except
those of their own party. Man and beast alike are
possessed by a burning thirst, — an intense desire for
water, or any kind of fluid ; the feet sink into the soft,
yielding sand above the instep, and to lift them and drag
along the wearied frame is an exertion almost too much
for the fainting powers. No shade of green to relieve
the eye, no freshness in the air, no moisture anywhere.
Even the conversation has become irksome, and they
walk as men in a dream, or, unable to do this, sit on the
oxen, swaying to and fro, and scarcely knowing of, or
caring for, anything in life, except it be that which will
cool the parched tongue, and quench the burning thirst.
So on they go, wearily, drearily, until the day's journey
36 THE WEAVER BOY. *
is done, and the halt called, and the stored are brought
out for the repast. They have found some hollows, like
those made by the buffalo and the rhinoceros when they
roll themselves in the mud. In the corner of one of
these is a little water which would be lapped up in a min-
ute by the dogs had they been permitted to approach it.
Stay! softly! dig away the loose sand, and clear out the
holes to the depth of six feet, also taking care not to
break the hard substratum at the bottom, on reaching
which, the water flows into the line where the soft sand
comes in contact with it. And now there's enough for
all; they drink and are refreshed. Wonderfully changed
is the aspect of the whole party : eyes brighten, tongues
begin to wag; the step becomes firm and elastic again;
the dogs are frolicking round them, or ranging out far
in search of game ; the cattle, relieved of their burdens,
are eating the food provided for them, cropping the
scanty herbage which is to be found here and there
around, or crouching, with looks of perfect content,
beside the wagons, while the Bechuanas are laughing
and chatting away beside the watch-fire which has been
lighted, as happy as if they were in their native kraals.
Some of them are out ranging the desert with the dogs
in search of ostrich eggs. They may, perhaps, light
upon a patch of " leroshua," — a small plant with long,
narrow leaves, and a stock not thicker than a crow's
quill ; following this down into the soil, from twelve to
eighteen inches, they come upon a tuber as large as the
head of an infant; the rind of this is filled with a pulpy
mass of cellular tissue, containing a sweet fluid,
deliciously cool. If they are very fortunate, they may
find the "kengwe," or watermelon ; especially if it
should happen to have been a rainy season will they be
likely to do this. Then, in many parts of the desert,
whole tracts are literally covered with them, and
animals of every kind, as well as man, rejoice in the
fresh supply. The lordly elephant, and his foe the sharp-
horned rhinoceros, revel alike in their jucy richness.
Even the flesh-eating animals, such as lions, hyenas,
jackals, seem to take to these watermelons kindly, as a
ACROSS THE KALAHARI DESERT. 37
pleasant change of diet; and the many kinds of ante-
lopes, that in vast herds wander on the grassy plains,
and traverse the arid tracts in search of fresh pasturage,
or to escape from their enemies, feed on them with
avidity. See ! that Bechuana has found one of these
succulent gourds; he holds it up with a shrill cry of joy,
while his white teeth gleam out from between the
parted lips; he strikes it with his hatchet, and applies
his tongue to the gash. Bah! it is a bitter one; the
smile passes from his face, and we are reminded of the
apples of the Dead Sea, — fair to the eye, but bitter to the
taste. This, however, is not the case with all the water-
melons; most of them are deliciously sweet; and it is
curious that these all grow together, and aiford no out-
ward indications to distinguish one from the other. On
these melons, and the tubers above described, with some
bulbs, which are buried deep in the sand, not only the
creatures already named, and especially the antelopes,
which have pointed hoofs well adapted for digging, and
which are able to go without water for months, in a great
measure subsist, when they leave their pasturage
grounds, and retire into the more inaccessible wilder-
ness. There, too, one finds the little, fussy porcupine,
which is forever running to and fro, and setting its quills
on end, whether in play or anger one cannot tell. Ser-
pents abound in this inhospitable desert, many of them
very poisonous ; and venomous insects are more plen-
tiful than pleasant. Sometimes a hyena comes prowling
about the halting-place, which is always near to water,
and frightens the cattle ; sometimes an eland, the noblest
of African deer may be seen cropping the herbage that
grows in patches here and there ; and now and again the
beautiful zebras, and their near relatives the quaggas,
those wild asses of the desert, with flying manes and
tails, go bounding by ; the brindled gnu, with ox-like
head and deer-like legs and body, comes, with red eyes
fiercely glaring, to look upon the intruders on its deso-
late domain, but turns and flies before the presented gun
and the yelping dog.
Day after day, day after day, the wearied party toiled
38 THE WEAVER BOY.
on ! A month or more had passed, and still the wild
waste lay before and around them. Far down beneath
the arid soil were reservoirs of water and succulent
vegetables, which sufficed to quench their intolerable
thirst, when they could be discovered, which they could
only be by experienced guides, and not always even b}'
them. In some parts of the desert they found a profuse
growth of vegetation, — tall grasses rising in tufts, with
bare spaces between, or intervals covered with creeping-
plants, on whose roots the scorching sun had no effect,
so deeply buried were they in the soil ; and between
these stalked the ostriches, or awkwardly galloped, with
legs wide apart, the tall, ungainly giraifes. Ants here
have made their tortuous galleries in the sand, in which
also, the ant-lion has hollowed its circular pitfall, and
lies patiently at the bottom, until an incautious insect,
coming too near the edge, slips over and is instantly
devoured. There is also another curious insect, an inch
and a quarter long, and about as thick as a crow's quill,
covered with black hair, which puts its head into a hole
in the ground, and quivers its tail rapidly ; attracted by
the movement the ants approach to examine it, and the
moment they get within reach of the animated forceps,
arc snapped up. Nor is this desert altogether without
human inhabitants. The Bosjemon, or Bushmen, the
smallest in stature, and most degraded of all the African
tribes, have here their habitation, — if the mere hollows
in the sand, holes in the rocks, or rude structures formed
of such grasses and vegetable fibres as come to hand,
can be so called. Living upon the carcasses, often
putrid, of the animals which die, or are slain,— on
roots, or insects, or anything that can be eaten ; uttering
-uncouth sounds, which can scarcely be called a language ;
the teiLi human beings seem almost misapplied to these
straogo, wild people, who are found only in the most
desoiatd and inaccessible parts of the country. Some-
times hunting or war parties of the Bakalahari, as the
people who live on the confines of the great desert are
called, were met with. These were well acquainted
with the situation of all the spots where water might
ACROSS THE KALAHARI DESERT. 39
be obtained, and were enabled to give the travellers
valuable information ; but they were somewhat deterred
Irom doing this by Sekomi, who had sent on two of his
people to drive them and the Bushmen away, and
prevent their acting as guides to the party.
Another month had passed, and they were yet in the
trackless waste, although evidently approaching its
boundaries ; the face of the country assumed a different
appearance, the patches of verdure became more fre-
quent and extensive, and the scrub thicker ; the old
river courses which they crossed began to exhibit signs
of moisture, and at length they came to a pool of rain-
water, nearly full, into which the cattle rushed, lowing
with pleasure, until the delicious fluid was nearly on a
level with their throats, and drank till their sides were
; distended as if they would burst. Mingled with the
grass, they now came upon clumps of the *' wait-a-bit
thorn," so called, because its sharp, strong sj^ines pierce
the traveller's legs, and arrest his progress. Presently,
a group of graceful palmyra-trees rise upon the view,
and beneath their shade is a delightfully fresh spring;.
And now it seems that there lies spread before them,
beneath the beams of the setting sun, a broad sheet of
water, glistening and flashing. Is this the long looked-
for lake ? Na}^, it is only ihe deceitful mirage, caused
by the blue haze floating over extensive salt-pans. And
now they come to a large and beautiful river, running
to the north-east, and the people of the village on its
farther bank tell them that it is the Zouga, and that it
comes out of the great lake. Following its course, they
at length reach the object of their search, and on the
1st of August, exactly two months after they set out,
. they look with delight and thankfulness upon Lake
Ngami.
40 -HE WEAVER BOY.
4
V.
FROM LAKE NGAm TO THE GLOBE.
We can understand something of the feeling of delight
with which Livingstone, as he stood by Lake Ngami,
gazed on its broad expanse of unbroken water, to which
DO boundary could be seen. In all probability, no Euro-
pean had ever before beheld it; the natives had no
record of a white man having been seen in its neighbor-
hood, or beyond the great desert at all. He had come
upon it at the north-east end, and the people who lived
about the lake, and called themselves Bayeiye, that is,
men, told him that they could go round in three days,
which, at the common rate of travelling, would make it
about seventy-five miles in circumference. Several large
rivers had been observed flowing into it. From whence
did they come? was the natural question. *'0h," was
the reply, " from a country full of rivers ; so many, no
one can tell their number, and full of large trees."
Here was an explosion of the theory that the interior of
South Africa was a sandy plateau, and barren. It must
be, as Livingstone had concluded, a well-watered and
wooded, and most likely a populous region, which only
required opening to civilizing influences to make it rich
and productive, a glory and a blessing to mankind.
Here were souls to be saved, and bodies to be benefited,
nations unknown and peoples uncounted, to be lifted out
of the depths of superstition and ignorance ; here was a
virgin soil, of vast extent, in which to cast the seeds of
the Gospel. Compared with this discovery, that of Lake
Ngami sank into insignificance, and Livingstone felt
himself irresistibly impelled to press forward, and be-
come the pioneer of Christianity into this terra incognita.
The Bayeiye were a tribe of the great Bechuana
nation, by some branches of which they were looked
upon with scorn, and called Bakoba, or slaves, because
they would not fight. Their forefathers, they say, in
■■ L r first essays at war, made bows of the pal ma crista,
FROM LAKE NGAMI TO THE CHOBE. 41
that is, the kind of oil from which castor-oil is obtained,
which has brittle wood; these broke, so they gave up
fighting. They are the Quakers of Africa, refusing to
use arms, and submitting to the rule of every sable con-
queror who may choose to take possession of their terri-
tory. Yet we do not learn that they suffered more ia
their persons and possessions than the most warlike
tribes ; nay, it seems likely that they did so far less than
most. They took not the sword, and,'*as a rule, did not
perish by it. They lived very much on the lake, or the
rivers running in or out of it, rather sleeping in their
canoes, where they were safer from the attacks of wild
beasts, than on land.
Although Sekomi's messengers had circulated the report
that the object of the expedition was plunder and spolia-
tion, yet was the part}'' received kindly by these
"friends" indeed. The people, ordered by their chief to
assist them all they could, readily obeyed, and gave as
much information as they possessed of the regions
beyond the lake. There lived the Makololo, a nation
distinct from the Bechuanas, whose great chief, Sebi-
tuane, resided about two hundred miles farther on.
Livingstone wanted to push on, and visit hira at once.
Why make this weary and perilous journey back across
the desert, leaving unfulfilled one great desire of his
heart? The Bayeiye could not furnish guides, but there
was nearer the lake a half tribe of the Bamangwato,
called Batauana, who perhaps might. Their chief was
applied to; at first he objected, fearing'^that where Liv-
ingstone led, other white men might follow, and supply
the Makololo with fire-arms, and so frustrate his object of
obtaining a conquest over them, he being a young man,
ambitious of increasing his power. On being pressed,
however, he consented, or appeared to do so, but sent
men to the Bayeiye, ordering them to refuse a passage
over the river Zouga, which they must cross, before
commencing their journey. Determined to accomplish
his object, if possible, Livingstone attempted to make a
raft, working himself many hours in the water, in great
danger from the alligators which abounded there. But
3
42 THE WEAVER BOY.
the only dry-wood he could procure was so rotten and
worm-eaten as to be quite unfit for the purpose, so his
desij^n was frustrated.
The season being now far advanced, and Mr. Osweli
having volunteered to go to the Cape and bring up a boat
it was thought best for the party to turn their steps
norlhward, which they accordingly did, returning to
Kolobeng, where Livingstone remained until April, 1850,
when he again set out, this time with Mrs. Livingstone,
and his three children, hoping to be able to establish a
mission among the Makololo. Sechelo also accompanied
him, with the intention of visiting Lechulatebe, the
Bamangwato chief, by Lake Ngami, over whom he
claimed a kind of headship, he being the eldest of the
three chiefs who ruled over the three sections of the
Bakwains. Sekomi had ordered all the wells made by
the party on their first .passage to be filled; they there-
fore kept more to the eastward, and crossed the Zouga at
its lowest extremity, travelling up the northern bank.
After going some distance, however, they were obliged
to retrace their steps and recross the river. Many oxen
were lost by falling into pitfalls made to catch the wild
animals ; and then came information that, higher up, the
dreaded tsetse abounded. This is a poisonous fly which
Btings the cattle, so that they lose all power of exertion,
become emaciated, and soon die. It abounds chiefly on
the banks of rivers, and in most marshy places, through
which it often renders the advance of travellers impos-
sible, by destroying all their oxen. Although apparently
an insignificant insect, it is more dreaded than wild beasts
or unfriendly natives. Livingstone feared that it might
bring his wagons to a standstill in the wilderness,
where no supplies for his wife and children could be
obtained. Being now told by the Bayeiye that some
white men, who had come to the lake for ivory, had been
stricken with fever, he made a hasty journey of sixty
miles to succor them. One of the party, an artist, had
died; the rest, by the aid of medicines and such nursing
as Mrs. Livingstone could give them, recovered. And
now the same motherly care was called into requisition
FROM LAKE NGAMI TO THE CHOBE. 43
by her own children, two of whom were prostrated by
that scourge of hot and malarious districts, which also
seized upon the servants, so that the prosecution of the
journey that year had to be given up.
Back once more to the missionary station they went,
leaving Mr. Oswell on the Zouga to hunt elephants,
which abounded in the lake district, and were destroyed
by hunters chiefly on account of the value of their
tusks, a pair of those of an old male being worth as much
as twenty-five pounds. No wonder that the native chiefs
■were jealous of encroachments on their hunting-grounds,
and that the Dutch Boers endeavored to keep the traffic
in their own hands.
In no country are elephants so large and abundant as
in Africa, where the height of the full-grown male is
from ten to eleven feet and sometimes more. It is dis-
tinguished from the Asiatic variety by having large ears,
and a more convex forehead, and some other particulars
not so obvious. In Asia all the females and many males
are without tusks ; in Africa both sexes have them, and
in certain districts their numbers are prodigious. In
Nyanja, Mukulu, or elephant marsh, on the river Shire,
Livingstone has seen as many as eight hundred of these
enormous beasts. This is the game most eagerly sought
by Gordon Gumming and other Europeans who choose
Africa for their sporting ground. From his success in
killing elephants, the natives estimated Mr. Oswell's
prowess very highly. When they wished to compliment
Livingstone, they would say, " If you were not a mission-
ary, you could be like Oswell."
While Livingstone was at Kuruman — for thither did
he go to recruit the health of his children, and rest after
his fatigues— messengers came to Kolobeng, from Sebi-
tuane, chief of the Makololo, who had heard of tha
missionary's attempt to reach him, bringing thirteen
black cow^s for Sechele, with a request that he would do
ail lie could to facilitate the passage of the white men
through his country. He also sent the like number of
white cows to Sekomi, and of brown cows to Lechula-
tebe, with similar requests. These messengers were
44 THE WEAVER BOY.
allowed to return before Livingstone got back to Kolo-
beng; the monopolizing spirit being too strong in each
of those chiefs, to allow of their cordially carrying out
the object desired, although they took the presents. As
agents, in the exchange of Sebituane's ivory for the
goods he required, they obtained considerable profits,
which they were fearful of losing if white traders pene-
trated to his country. Had Livingstone seen the messen-
gers of the Makololo chief, he would have obtained
valuable information as to the best and safest route, if '
he did not secure their services as guides.
Encouraged by the desire of the chief to receive him,
und nothing daunted by his former failures, Livingstone
set out on his third journey, again taking his wife and
children. Sekomi, on this occasion was unusually gen-
erous ; he even furnished a guide for the party, who,
however, only knew the route up to a certain point, be-
yond which the greatest difficulties commenced, so that
one might well suspect his sincerity. Fortunately at
about this point, it happened that one who was well
acquainted with the Bushmen who peopled much of the
territory thereabout, and who were familiar with the in-
tricate ways which led into Sebituane's country, had
broken the mainspring of his gun, and Livingstone un-
dertook to mend it, on Rendition that the owner would
put him in direct communication with these children of
the desert.
So, after passing quickly over a hard, flat country,
covered with short, sweet grass, withmopane andboabab
trees scattered about, and extensive salt-pans, having a
gentle slope towards the Zouga, they reached a place called
Matlomagan-yana,'or *' The Links," where they fonnd
many families of JBushmen, one of whom, named Shobo,
consented to guide the party across the waste between
the springs, which were here very plentiful, to the
Makololo country. These Bushmen were different from
those of the Kalahari desert, being taller and of darker
complexion. *^ To produce complete blackness of skin
requires moisture as well as heat," says Livingstone.
" Here we have plenty of moisture ; in the desert, where
FROM LAKE NGAMI TO THE CHOBE. 45'
there is none in the air, the Bushmen havej'ellow skins.'*
The way now lay over a dreary tract of level sand, en-
livened only by a low growtii of scrub. No bird or other
living creature was to be seen ; although there were
traces of elephants, which had been there in the rainy
season, following which, the guide lost his way, and after
wandering to all parts of the country, and making fruit-
less efforts to find it again, he sat down in despair, say-
ing, "No water — all country only — Shobo sleeps — coun-
try only." Accordingly ho curled himself up, and went
to sleep, leaving the travellers to get on as best they
could. The fourth day had now arrived, and there were
yet no signs of getting out of this dreary wilderness.
Shobo had disappeared, after professing utter ignorance
of his whereabouts ; the supply of water was exhausted ;.
the children were crying with thirst, and the tearful
eyes of the mother told how she sympathized in their
sufferings, although she uttered no word of complaint.
Somewhere in the west of them must flow the river Ma-
babe ; here is the trail of a rhinoceros going in that di-
rection; some birds are also seen flying that way; some
of the cattle are unyoked, and rush off' in that directiott
too. And now, when near the end of the fourth day^
the men who had gone in search of water returned with
the longed-for fluid ; and now the river itself is reached,
and there, by its banks, stands Shobo, with a party of
Bayeiye, whom he had fallen in with, and whom he
wished to impress wnth a sense of his importance. He
therefore assumed an air of great consequence, and spoke
as if he had command of the party. Next day they
travel on, and rea'ih a village of the Banajoa, who live
on the borders of the marsh, in which the Mababe loses-
itself They live i i huts built on poles, and make a fire
in them at night to smoke away the mosquitoes, which
are more abundant on this river and the Tamunakle, out
of which it flows, than in any other part of the country.
They have lost their corn-crop, and are subsisting on a
root called '' tsitla," which contains a quantity of sweet
starch. The women of this tribe shave the hair off their
heads ; they are of darker complexion than the Bechu-
46 THE WEAVER BOY.
nas. Their head-man seemed a simpleton ; but a
younger relative, who acted for him, was intelligent
enough. Under his direction the travellers pursued their
journey, and, crossing the river, soon reached the banks
of the Chobe, in the country of the Makololo, some of
whom met them there, and expressed great delight at
seeing them ; but Sobituane was twenty miles ott; down
the river, and Livingstone and Oswell at once proceeded
in canoes to his temporary residence, to which he had
come from a distance of more than one hundred miles to
meet the white men, whom he understood wore in
search of him.
YI.
IN THE MAKOLOLO COUNTEY. ^
The redoubtable chief, Sebituane, was a tall, wiry
man, with an olive complexion, not over-clear, and a
head slightly bald ; his age was about forty -five ; his
manner cool and collected ; his answers to questions
frank and free ; very different in this respect from most
Other African chieftains, who seemed to think, with the
French philosopher, that "words were given them to hide
their thoughts. He was a great warrior, alwa3\s leading
bis rueu to battle himself, and so fleet a runner that no
skulking coward who fled from the fight could escape
him. Sometimes he would let such a fugitive go ; but,
on his return home, he was summoned into the chiefs
presence, and told that as he preferi*ed dying at home to
•aying in the field, he might do so ; and he was immedi-
ately executed. Like many other great conquerors, his
only right to the possessions he held was that of the
strong arm. He came from the North, and was now
eight or nine hundred miles from his birthplace. He
-was not even the son of a chief among his own people,
though nearly related to the reigning family. He com-
IN THE MAKALOLO COUNTRY. 47
menced his career with an insignificant party of men
and cattle, with whom he fled to the North, when driven
by the Griquas from Kuruman, in 1824. The Bakwains,
and other of the Bechuanas, collected and threatened to
''eat him up." Nothing daunted by their superior
numbers, he placed his men in front, his women behind
the cattle, attacked and defeated them, following up his
victory by taking possession of the town and goods of
Makabe, chief of the Bangwaketse. After experiencing
a variety of fortunes, — sometimes losing all his cattle,
and being put to great shifts, but always keeping his
men together, and taking more than he lost, — he crossed
the desert by nearly the same route as Livingstone ;
he fought his way into the densely populated Makololo
country, and eventually conquered all the black tribes,
which inhabited an immense region ; although often op-
posed, and sometimes defeated for a time by the Mata-
bele, a most warlike people of the Kaffir nation, under
Mosilikatse, almost as great a warrior as himself. To
recount all the deeds of daring, the shifts and strata-
gems of this sable Napoleon, who was as wiloy as he
was bravo, would fill a volume. In peace, he was bene-
volent, kind, and hospitable, so that he gained the afifec-
tions of his own j^eople, and the gratitude of strangers
whom he succored and entertained. Meal, and milk, and
honey were sot before those who came to his town,
whether for traflSc, or other purposes. Poor and r\ch,
he treated all alike, and, delighted with his affability, all
were ready to impart to him any information they pos-
sessed. In this wa}' he became acquainted with the
movements of his enemies and other matters which it
was important for him to know, and his praises wore
sounded far and wide in such terms as these : " He has
a heart ! He is wise 1" i ' . =
This chief had long wished to establish direct relations
with the white men ; hence his invitation to Livingstone,
with whose mark of confidence in bringing his wife and
children he was much pleased. He was found upon an
island, with all his principal men around him, engaged
in singing what was probably a song of welcome to th^
48 THE WEAVER BOY.
travellers, to whom he behaved most friendly He pro-
mised them cattle to replace those bitten by the tsetse,
which would surely die, and said he would take them to
see his country, that they might select a suitable place
whereon to settle. An ox, and a jar of honey, as food,
were at once handed over to Mahala, who had headed
the messengers whom he sent to Kolobeng, for their use,
and prepared ox-skins, as soft as cloth, for them to lie
upon. Next morning, before daybreak, he came and sat
by their fire to talk with them, and show how much he
valued their friendship.
But, alas ! the great monarch, the mighty warrior, the
astute statesman, must die, just as this desire of his heart,
that he might have the white men in his country to
teach and to civilize his people, and ♦-o make him yet
more wise f»nd powerful, was accomplished. Sebituane
fell sick with inflammation of the lungs, originating in
an old wound got in one of his many battles. This was the
second attack in two years, and it proved fatal. The na-
tive doctors were unable to save him, and Livingstone,
seeing that death was likely to ensue, was afraid to use
such remedial means as his skill suggested, lest the fatal
result should be attributed to him. " Come near," said
the dying chief to the missionary, *'and see if I am any
longer a man. I am done." Alas I he knew nothing of
a hope after death ; and of this Livingstone ventured to
speak. " Sebituane cannot die ; speak not of death to
him," said the doctors present, confident, or pretending
to be so, in the power of their enchantments. With a
silent commendation of that departing soul to God, the
pitying white man stood looking on. His little boy,
Bobert, was with him, and the chief, who had been
pleased with the child, fixed his eyes, over which the
film of death was spreading, upon him, and faintly said :
" Take Robert to Maunka (one of his wives), and tell
her to give him some milk." These were his last words.
" Never," sa3's Livingstone, " was I so much grieved by
the loss of a black man before ; and it was impossible
not to follow him in thought into the other world, and to
realize somewhat of the feelings of those who pray for
IN THE MAKALOLO COUNTRY. 49
the dead. The dark question of * What is to become of
such as he ?' must, however, be left where we find it.
* The Judge of all the earth will do risjht.' " They
buried him in the cattle-pen, according to custom, and
over and around the spot the cattle were driven for an
hour or two, that all marks of it might be obliterated.
Hereafter no one could tell where the great chief re-
posed. Why was this done? Perhaps that his remains
might not be subjected to indignities by enemies ; per-
haps as a rebuke to the pride of man, or the superstition
of thosfc who would worship the relics of departed great-
ness. And yet these poor benighted Africans had never
learned to realize the sublime truth embodisd in the
words which follow that mournful declaration of '' ashes
to ashes, dust to dust," — " I know that my Eedeemer
liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the
earth ; and although after my skin worms destroy this
body, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see
for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not an-
other."
Sebituane's chieftainship devolved on a daughter,
named Ma-mochisane. Yery rarely is this mode of suc-
cession permitted, as a female hand is not strong enough
to hold together a wild and unstable people, and keep in
subjection the often discordant elements of a scattered
and uncivilized community ; and wo shall presently see
that this chieftainess did not long remain in power. At
the time of her father's death she was twelve days'
jonrney to the north, at a place called Naliele. She gave
Livingstone and his companion perfect liberty to visit
any part of the country they chose, and they explored
it as far as Sesheke, which was about one hundred and
thirty miles to the north-cast. At the end of June, 1851,
they discovered that noble river, the Zambesi, in the very
centre of the continent. This must eventually become
the great highway of traffic into the interior of a land,
be3^ond most others rich, fertile, and populous. Although
known by name, it had been very erroneously placed,
in the Portuguese maps, far to the east of its real posi-
tion. It is a magnificent body of water, a main artery
50 THE WEAVER BOY.
of a great river sj'stem, a complete network of rivers,
many of them of great size and volume. In the dry
season, -when Livingstone first saw it, there was a breadth
of from three to sixhundred yards of deep flowing water.
It rises annually thirty feet of perpendicular height, and
floods fifteen or twenty miles of lands adjacent to its
banks. At such times the whole basin through which it
:flows has the appearance of a vast lake, the towns and
villages which are built on the spots which rise here and
there above the surrounding level standing out like
islands. On these little hills, and amid the swampy
tracts between them, live the Makololo, secured by the
nature of the ground from the attacks of enemies, against
whom, in the higher and more healthy districts, there
is no such defence. . ^ ■
So, here among the reedy rivers and swamps and
woods, wherein grow the naimosa and mobano trees, the
wild dates and feathery or fan like palms, and a profuse
under-vegetation, live the Makololo, rearing their cattle,
which often have to be sent to the higher grounds to
escape the dreaded tsetse; cultivating their plots of
maize and cotton, their yams and pumpldns, and other
esculent vegetables. There is little trouble in this, as
the heat and moisture so stimulate the growth of vege-
tation, that the husbandmen, or rather husbandwomen,
lir the females mostly do this, may leave the work pretty
much to nature; they have only to sow, and gather when
ripe. Their lords, wh< not engaged in war, hunt the
hippopotamus or elephant, fish, or shoot the birds with
which the woods and swamps abound. Sometimes they
paddle their long canoes up and down the great rivers,
or engage in combat with the scaly crocodile or the
deadly snake, and at night they gather round the fires,
whose smoke protects them from the mosquitoes and
other venomous insects, and engage in noisy chatter.
All the Africans are great talkers and boasters, and in
recounting their deeds of daring and adventure they do
not always keep strictly to the truth. They are great
eaters as well as talkers, and not over-nice in the kind of
food they take. There is an enormous frog, about five
IN THE MAKALOLO COUNTRY. 51
and a half inches long, called matlermetlo, which they
€steem a great delicacy, and several kinds of caterpillars,
which are eaten by them. The loud croaking of the for-
mer kind of game leads to its easy detection and capture.
T?he natives say that it falls from the clouds, because
after a heavy rainfall it becomes exceedingly plentiful,
although just previously none were to be found, and the
croaking chorus is heard where but a few minutes before
all was silence. Fever was very prevalent in these
marshy districts, where Livingstone could find no suit-'
able place for a settlement ; and on the hills it would be
altogether unsafe to dwell. He did not so much heed the
danger to himself, but he feared for his family, and, not
liking to relinquish this opening into what appeared a
good field of missionary operation, resolved to take Mrs.
Livingstone and the children to the Cape, from whence
they could embark ifor England, sxnd thei»i return and
fiilly explore the country, in search of a healthy district,
which might prove a centre of civilization. At Kolobeng
he felt that there was little chance of his affecting much
good, in consequence of the open and covert opposition
of the Boers; and here it seemed that Providence had
pointed out a way of largely benefiting his fellow-crea-
tures. The Makololo appeared to be a teachable people,
their country was wonderfuly fertile and productive, and
the countenance of its chief ruler would be of advantage.
The opportunities, too, of communication with people
farther north, as well as east and west to the coast, by
•means of the large rivers, were additional incentives to
-operations in this direction. So once again the mission-
ary and his family journeyed southward, and after a
short visit to Cape Town, — the first which he had paid
to any seat of civilization during some years, — he bade
adieu to those nearest and dearest to him, and turned his
face once more towards the wilderness, into which he
plunged, and was lost to the world as completely, for a
long time, as if he had been swallowed up by the waves,
or gone down quick into the grave.
Year after year passed by, and still no tidings of him
came to relieve the anxiety of his sorrowing friends.
52 THE WEAVER BOY.
From time to time vague rumors reached them of a white
man, who had been seen by one who drove his coffle of
slaves from the interior to the Portuguese settlements,
on the eastern or western coast ; or by an ivory trader,
or hunter, who had passed near to, or through, the
Makololo country; but no letters, no authentic information of
any kind was received, and it was feared that one more
earnest and devoted soldier of the cross had fallen a vic-
^tim to the pestilential climate, or the ravening beast, or
the sable savage whom he sought to bring to a kno-wledge
of Christ and his salvation.
AMID THE GREAT WATERS.
Pleasant is the town of Linyante, — Linyante, queen
of the swamps and mobane woods; whose reedy empire
stretches far away to the hills which encircle the fruitful
basin in which she sits, throned in state, crowned with
the feathery palmyra, gemmed and jewelled with the rich
blossoms and the bright plumage of her tropical plants
and birds and insects, that spring up luxuriantly, and
flutter and sing and hum and buzz around her. The
rainbow sheen of her magnificent waterfall, Mosioatun-
ya, ** smoke resounding," is ever around her, and its
thunder in her ears, coming from miles and miles away,
sounds like a song in praise of her greatness. Great is
Linyante ! the capital of the mighty Makololo people,
who have come in like a flood, and subdued the Basutos
and other tribes which formerly inhabited these rich and
fertile regions. The Zambese, with its vast volume of
waters, winds about and protects her, and sends its tribu-
tary, the Chobe, to lay its offerings at her feet. Rich in
ivory is Linyante; countless are its elephant-herds, and
its cattle who shall number ? The honey-bird calls from
every tree for the bee-hunter to come and take of the
sweet store. The eland, noblest of deer, and antelopes
AMID THE GREAT WATERS. 53
of many kinds and sizes, crowd the forests and iiumid
plains and hill-sides, and ask to be killed, that she may
have venison enough and to spare. Where is the croak
of the frogs so loud and musical as at Liny ante ? Where
is their flesh so delicate and savory? All around her
the slopes are golden with the ripening maize ; the little
fihe needs for clothing is furnished by the skins of the
wild animals and the pods of the cotton-plant; the
marupa pours out its sweet juices that she may drink
and be merry ; and the serpent casts its speckled skin,
beset with gems, for her adornment. Amongst her sub-
jects are monstrous crocodiles and mighty river-horses,
— behemoths of the flood ; and all kinds of fish abound in
her teeming waters, the roar of the lion is her nightly
music, as l^e goes^fprth. to hunt with hS train of scream-
ing jackals and laughing hyenas ; the zebra and the
quagga, twin brothers of the desert, are slain for her
pleasure by the Bushmen and the Bakalahari; their
skins are soft and glossy, and beautiful to look upon, and
their flesh is good for food ; and the straddling giraffe,
that lifts its long neck, and curls its lithe tongue around
the tender twigs of the date palm, yields up its life as a
tribute to Linyante ; and the eggs and beautiful plumes
of the ostrich are hers, to eat and to deck herself withal.
The fiery-eyed buffalo wallows in her marshes, where the
witch-lights dance in the sultry nights, and the mosqui-
toes come out in swarms, and over which hovers, night
and day, the dreaded tsetse, that kills the horse and the
ass and the dog, and all creatures that are under the pro-
tection of man, but spares the wild animals and man
himself. But not for these things alone is Linyante
great and glorious. She is the capital, the seat of em-
pire, of the Makalolo people. There dwelt the mighty
chief, Sebituane, who led his warriors across the desert,
and ate up his foes before him. At the sound of his war-
drums, even the warlike Matabele trembled; Mosilikatse,
their renowned chief, that lion that scattered other tribes
like frightened oxen, stood still and listened with anxious
face, then crept like a snake into the morass, and tried
to gain by stratagem the victory he could not win by
force.
il THE WEAVER BOY.
Far away from the south country, by the sources of thfr
Likwa and Namagari rivers, came Sebituane, with a.
handful of men and cattle. Lo ! now, all the Barotse, —
the black men, — the people of the water are his subjects*
Great was Sebituane, and great is Sekeletu, friend of the
white men ; and glorious is Linyante, his palace amid
the great rivers, that shall one day come to be the broad
highways of commerce. • • - '
Thus might the " senoga, " or native bard — one who
holds intercourse with the gods — have celebrated the
praises of the Makololo capital, and of its first and pre-
sent royal residents, the latter of whom was waiting in
a state of anxious expectancy the arrival of a guest,
whose coming had been announced by some of his people
in terms like these : —
" Up the Chobe comes the stranger,
Through tht' reeds he sails along ;
What cares he for toil and danger?
Give him welcome with a song.
Fiiend of the poor Makololo,
He has dropped down from the sky ;
Fill the bowl with sweet boyalo ;
Let the fatted oxen die. -
" With the stars he holds communion,
Talks with spirits just and good ;
He is king of all the waters ;
See ! he rides upon the flood !
All the river-horses fear liim.
Alligators from him fly ;
J Water-snakes will not come near him ;
Would you know the reason why ?
" He has medicines to charm them. — ''
Medicines of wondrous power, —
Not a living thing can harm him ;
Happy is the day and hour ,
That has brought him o'er the river,
' With the words of love and peace ;
May he dwell with us forever, —
■ ■ i: Make our wars and troubles cease."
It was the time of the annual overflow of the river,
AMID THE GREAT WATERS. 55
which had lasted longer, and been more extensive than
usual. The mid-channel of the Chobe could only be de-
tected by the open spaces left between the rushes and
tall papyrus plants, which were closely bound together
by creeping convolvuli. Between these, here and there,
were lanes and openings which led into what seemed a
broad lake, but which, in the dry season, was marshy
land. Finding it impossible to bring his waggons on
through this watery wilderness, Livingstone — many of
whose men had been struck down with fever, and his
ozen bitten by the tsetse, and whose Bushem guides had
left him for their drier and more congenial homes — em-
barked with one of the strongest of his weak companions,
with the hope of striking upon the main channel of the
river, and making his way to the residen<^e of the Mak-
ololo chief After surmounting great difficulties, and
escaping many dangers, being often up to the neck ia
water, having the body and limbs torn with brambles,
and the flesh lacerated, and clothing quite destroj^ed by
a serrated kind of grass whoso edges cut like a razor, he
came to the village of Moremi, where the traveller was
recognized by one of the natives, who had seen him on
his former visit. On learning who he was, the chief sent
some of his head-men with a party of Makololo to con-
duct him to Linyante. The wagons were taken to
pieces and lashed to canoes, and the oxen were made to
swim, the natives diving under and about them like so
many alligators.
Linyante has some six thousand or seven thousand in-
habitants, and the whole population turned out to witness
the arrival ; they had never seen wagons in motion be-
fore, and the phenomenon astonished them very much.
Sekeletu, who was the son of Sebituane, now reigned in
his father's place, his sister having declined the power
and station offered to her. This chief had the same olive,
or, as it is called, coffee-and-milk complexion as his
father, than whom he was a much less able man ; he was
about twenty-eight years of age, and had a rival candi-
date for the chieftainship in Mpepe, who favored tho
slave-traders, and was by them supported. Ho hoped by
Si THE WEAVER BOT.
means of their fire-arms to destroy or overcome Seke-
letu, and to become lord paramount over the Makololo.
A large party of the Mambari, who, in conjunction with
the half-caste Portugese, are the chief slave-dealers of
that part of Africa, had come into the neighborhood of
Linyante, while Livingstone was making his way there.
They were supplied with food, and made a compact with
Mpepe to kill Sekeletu the first opportunity. Luckily
for the chief, the attempt was made while he was in the
company of Livingstone, on a journey up the Zambesi, in
search of a healthy locality for a settlement, and frus-
trated by the interposition of the missionary. Mpepe
was killed, and his adherents fled, and the party returned
to Linyante, where the white teacher remained awhile,
and endeavored to instruct the natives ; but he made
little progress in this work. Sekeletu himself, although
he professed great regard for the missionary, and wished
him to stay in his country, declined to be taught to read
the Bible, lest it should change his heart, and make him
content with only one wife ; he must always have five at
least. Like all chieftains, he had a head wife, pr queen,
whose hut is called "the great house," and whose child-
ren inherit the chieftainship. If she dies, one of ttie
other wives is raised to this dignity. Our traveller
found that but few of the people among whom he now
sojourned were the true Makololo, who came from the North
with Sebituane — the wars and the fever had cut off
most of these ; but they were the dominant race,
to whom the conquered people had to render sub-
jection. These last were proud to be called by their
master's name, and often were so called ; but really they
were Makalaka, that is, servants. Their servitude, how-
ever, was not very galling ; they cultivated their own
land, and lived as nearly independent as might be.
Were they not well treated, it would be easy for them to
escape to other tribes, who would gladly receive them ;
so it was necessary for their masters to secure their
aflFections, or they would probably find themselves with-
out servants.
^ The^true Makololo ladies seldom labor, except on such
AMID THE GREAT WATERS. 57
home matters as the proper adornment and regulation of
their own huts. They are generally plump from drink-
ing large quantities of boyaloa, which is made from a
gum called holcus sorghum and is very nutritious. Their-
wooly hair is short and crisp, and their bodies, which
they anoint with butter, shine like polished ebony. They
wear a kilt of soft ox-hide, which reaches to the knees,
and when unemployed a skin mantle is thrown grace-
fully over the shoulders. They have brass anklets as
thick as the little finger, and ai'mlets of the same metal
or of ivory. So heavy are the former, that they some-
times blister the ankles ; and this is one of the penalties
paid to fashion by her votaries oven in savage Africa.
A trader might get almost anything for beads to hang
round the necks of these sable beauties, especially if they
are of the fashionable colors, — light-green and pink.
Traders make enormous profits out of these beads, for
which the}' get in exchange ivory and other valuable
products of the country.
Livingstone was allowed to hold his religious services
in the kotla, or hut of the chief, and the people were
summoned to attend them by a very important person-
age, the court-herald, who proclaims the sovereign's will
to his people, calls all assemblies for councils, feastinir, or
other purposes ; by him is the royal palace kept clean,
and the lire burning, and by him, when a public execu-
^ tion takes place, is the body dragged away, and put out
[ of sight. What would our royal heralds, or even our
town-criers think of some of these duties? Fancy this
remarkable functionary, who had, among other things,
to welcome distinguished visitors, rising up from his
crouching attitude before the kotia of his chief; leaping
and gesticulating, as if he were a lunatic, and shouting
at the top of his voice in a kind of measured chant, —
' "Don't I see the white man?
Don't I see the comrade of Sebituane?
Don't I see the father of Seketelu ?
We want sleep .
Give your son sleep, my lord."
.'gS THE WEAVER BOY.
Sebituano had heard that the white man had a pot,
that is, a cannon, which would destroy any party attack-
ifig it8 possessor, and being desirous of ending his days
in peace, which he thought this would enable him to do,
he greatly wished to obtain it. The herald, who was an
old man, and had filled the office when he died, was cog-
nizant of this wish, and embodied it in his song of wel*
come.
The congregations who attended at the summons of
the herald were sometimes very numerous, — from five
to seven hundred They were not kept long at their
devotions: there was just a reading of the Bible, fol-
lowed by a short explanatory address and a prayer, in
'kneeling down to which manj^ of the mothers who had
brought their children, bent over and hurt, or frightened
them, which caused a simultaneous squawl. This pro-
voked a suppressed titter from those wlio had not child-
ren, which burst into a hearty laugh, as soon as the
■*' Amen " was said; and in half an hour the whole party
*wouUl be dancing like mad, where so shortly before they
liad been devoutly kneeling. So that the associations of
the place where sadly against any religious impressions
•which the good missionary labored to make. Lest the
native doctors, a powerful class much given to enchant-
ments, should look upon him with suspicion and thwart
his ministrations, Livingstone, as a rule, declined to
attend the sick, unless at their request, or when the cases
were given over by them. In the severe forms of disease
they were glad to avail thomselves of his skill.
Feeling that the missionary ought to be above suspicion
of mercenary motives, he also declined to enter into any
trading transactions, or to receive valuable gifts of ivory
from the chiefs, to whom presents were invariably made.
He had too high a sense of his holy mission for that.
*'The religious instructor," he said, "degrades himself
by accepting gifts from those whose spiritual welfare he
professes to seek." Out of his modest salary of one
hundred pounds a year he contrived to support his wife
and family, before he sent them to England, and to pay
the extra expense of his long journeys, undertaken for
AMID THE GREAT WATERS. S9
the wider diffusion of the Gospel, including the presents
to chiefs. Of course the produce of the lands which ho
cultivated greatly assisted him. It was only by barter
that he could make his way at all among the natives, as
they were unacquainted with the use of coin. Put
down before a Makololo a sovereign and a bright button
for choice, ho would take the button, and give more in
meat or fowls or some other of his own produce for it,
because it had an eye.
But though the trader and the missionary should
never be united in the same person, yet legitimate com-
merce can greatly assist evangelizing efforts, as these at
least can aid in opening up new and rich fields for com-
mercial enterprise. No one had a stronger sense of this
than Livingstone, who, while doing all he could to dis-
courage the shamefully demoralizing slave-trade, which
he found prevalent on the east and west coasts and all
through Central South Africa; winked at, if not openly
encouraged, by the Portuguese government, endeavored
to establish commercial relations between diiferent tribes
and peoples wherever he went, and to open for them
fresh channels of communication. For this object it wag
that he permitted a trader to accompany him when he
went in search of Lake Ngami, which trader, by the
way, afterward claimed to have been the discover of the
lake.
From Sebituane, when he first visited the Makololo
country, he received several t'lsks; but this was for the
purchase of some useful articles, which, on his second
-^isit, he delivered to his son Sekeletu, who, when the
missionary expressed a desire to prosecute his journey
up the river, desired him to name anything he would
like to posse 5S. A canoe was the only requisition ; but
the chief wo \\d insist on his taking five elephants' tusks,
as the roost valuable articles he had to offer. Fearful of
offending him, Livingstone took them, but afterwards
gave them to some of his subjects to sell on their own
account. Thus with singleness of purpose, and a holy
aim, did he ])rosecute his researches, face dangers, and
60 THE WEAVER BOY.
endure hardships, such as few met have ever met and
overcoiue.
With singleness of purpose, and high aim,
That never earthly recompense would claim.
Till.
UP AND DOWN THE ZAMBESI.
After remaining awhile at Linyante, and recovering
from the fever, of which he had here his first experience,
our missionary took his departure for his exploratory
' journey up the great river, which has at ditferent parts of
its course various names, such as the Leeambye, Luam-
beji, Luambesi, Ojimbesi, Zambezi, according to the
ditferent dialects spoken; all the terms having the same
' meaning, namely, the large river — the river, in fact, —
'this magnificent stream being the main drain of the
country. Sekeletu and many of his underchiefs were of
"the party; they passed at first through a flat country,
' varied only by slight natural elevations, and artificial
mounds of enormous size, thrown up by the termites, or
* white ants ; these were mostl}' covered by the wild
date-trees^ which the Makololo cut down, as soon as the
fruit is ripe, rather than take the trouble of climbing for
it. Camel-thorns, mimosa, and baobab trees grew upon
the other elevated spots, with here and there a tall
palmyra, light and graceful ; coarse grass spread a thick
mat over the damp level grounds. On the right of the
path, which winds around the swamps and marshes and
gentle hills, is the river Chobe, with its broad fringe of
'rfe^ds, which frame the picture in that direction. Or
went the long cavalcade, slowly and painfully, on account
of the nature of the ground,— a varied and picturesque
group, winding in and out amid the rank vegetation and
green hillocks. Most of the chiefs bore small clubs of
UP AND DOWN THE ZAMBESI.
rhinoceros-horn, and with each was his shield-bearer,
with shield and bundle of assegais, or spears. Sekeletu,
riding on Livingstone's horse, was surrounded by his
well-armed body-guard of young men, the finest that
could be selected, of about his own age; these are called
"mopato." The attendants, many of whom act as
porters, and are heavily laden, are not much encumbered
with clothing; but some have caps made of lions' manes
on their heads, and some bunches of black ostrich
feathers, waving as they move. The eflfect is heightened
by the rod tunics, and gayly colored prints, which some
of them had been fortunate enough to obtain, and of
course wear on all great occasions.
The "machaka," or battle-axe men, carry their arms
only, and are ready to make or repel an attack, or to
run oif on an errand, — it may be a hundred miles away.
There is a great chatter and laughter all along the line;
for the irrepressible savage, especially the African, will
make a noise, and the chief is commonly ''Hail-fellow-
well-met" with his subjects.
Livingstone, and some of the party have guns for
shooting game ; but not many of the natives can be
trusted with these, as they blaze away at random, and
waste an immense deal of ammunition. Some of the
young men, seeing the chief mounted, get ujDon the
oxen ; but having neither saddle nor bridle, and being
unused to equitation, generally fall off, to the great
delight of their companions, who expedite their descent
by pelting the awkward riders, or goading the beasts to
the performance of certain angry and grotesque move-
ments.
The missionary, grave and thoughtful, walks along,
hearing and seeing much which he will note down and
put into his books for the information of his countrymen
at homo i;nd future travellers and explorei*s. He is
thinking how he can lift these poor savages into a higher
state of civilization, and prevent the slave-hunters and
those of their own color and country from preying on
and plundering them. His keen eye takes in every
object, and he hesitates not to ask for an explanation, of
62 THE WKAVEB BOY.
tbat which he understands not, of the humblest of that
motley train who may bo near him. Sometimes he
enters into animated conversation with Sekeletu, or one
of the minor chiefs, and always he has a smile and a
kind word for every one who does him a service, however
slight.
Heedlessly feed the leches or lechwis, those pretty and
graceful antelopes, with long, ribbed horns, something
like those of the ibex, over the grassy flats. When the
lowlands are flooded, they congregate on the mounds;
then the Makololo, in small, light canoes, cautiously
approach them, increasing their speed as they near the
islets ; but before they can reach them, they are off with
prodigious bounds, as it almost seems, over the surround-
ing shallow water, so swiftly do their feet strike the
bottom, and rise again. But the arm of the Makololo is
strong, his aim true, and his spear swift; many of them
fell, and there is a venison feast in the village. Closely
concealed amid the reeds and rushes lies the nakong, or
water-antelope; he has twisted horns, like those of the
koodoo, but they are smaller, and have a double ridge
curling round them. Disturb him in his oozy bed, and
he will probably make for the deeper part of the stream,
and, immersing his whole body, leave but the point of
his nose and ends of his horns visible; these he will
sometimes allow to be touched by the flames, when the
hunters set fire to the reeds around him, before he comes
forth to be killed. Pity, it seems, that the slaughter of
these beautiful and harmless creatures should be neces-
sary; but they are given to man as food, and if they
wore suffered to breed and multiply unchecked, would in
time make earth a grassless and herblcss wilderness.
Too often, alas! they are killed in mere wantonness and
amidst protracted agon3^ Africa, which teems with
animal life of all kinds, is in nothing perhaps so wonder-
fully productive as in the creation of the deer and ante-
lope species ; everywhere are vast herds of them seen,
of all sizes, in numbers defying computation, from the
stately eland to the nimble little springbok. Hence it
in the paradise of the carnivorous or flesh-eating animals,
UP AND DOWN THE ZAMBESI. 63r
whose moniirch, the lion, is here more numerous and
daring and powerful than in any other land. He would
not, however, venture to attack such a party as this, nor
even man at all, unless rendered desperate by hunger, or
the necessity for doing so in defence of his own life; or
unless he could take his foe at a disadvantage, and spring
upon him unawares, like a great cat, as he is, stealthily
and treacherous, cat-like in all his ways and motions.
Soon they pass, with great shouting and laughter at
times, and much harmless merriment; and by and by
they come to a village, the whole female population of
which turn out to *'lulliloo" their chief ; that is, greet
him with shrill cries, to which they impart a tremulous
sound by a quick motion of the tongue. " Great lion f
mighty chief! sleep, my lord!" are the words of weU
dome uttered by both men and women, and received by
Sekeletu with the most lordly indifference. Then comes
a confabulation; the news is told, and the head-man of
tiie village brings forth some large pots of beer, one of
which is given to each chief of the party, who distri-
butes it among the followers as he pleases; so many
black hands are thrust out to grasp the ca'abashes, that
there is great danger of their being broken and their
contents spilled. Bowls of thick milk, each holding six
or eight gallons, are produced, and into this the black
hands are thrust, and then conveyed to the mouth, the-
creamy fluid encaping between the fingers, and running
down the breasts and other parts of the eager drinkers.
Livingstone has presented to some of his friends irar>
spoons ; but it is long before he can teach them to use-
these articles properly; they will persist in putting tho^
milk into them with their hands first, and thonco trans-
ferring it to the mouth, instead of conveying it direct
there with the bowl of the spoon. Of course, all are
highly delighted with this refreshment, and laugh and
chatter louder than ever. Everywhere on the route is
this hospitality exhibited. In the present case, it was
an exhibition of loyalty to the chief; but all through
Livingstone's truveis, he found it customary for the hoiid-
man of the town or village at which travellers might
64 THE WEAVER BOY.
arrive, to offer refreshment in this manner, and before
the custom of payment had been introduced, they did
not look for presents in return, as they now generally do,
and look pretty sharply lo get what they consider to be
value for their outlay.
On a state of journey like this, the chief is expected
to feed all who accompany him, and he selects .xv or
this purpose from his cattle-stations, which are scat-
tered through the country, or calls upon the heads of the
villages to supply theui. When an ox has to be slaugh-
tered, a thrust of a javelin near the heart kills it very
quickly, without letting out the blood, which, with the
-entrails, etc., are claimed by the slaughterman ; when
the carcass is cut up, the joints are placed before the
chief, who apportions them among the party. The meat
is cut into long strips, and thrown upon fires, which they
almost cover and put out. When half broiled, and burn-
ing hot, they are snatched off and handed round, each
tearing off a mouthfull, and boulting it as quick as he
can, to be icady for another chance. Mastication is out
of the question ; so the man who swallows the quickest,
gets the most, and " the noble savage " dines like a
ravenous beast. It is not an edifying spectacle, neither
ai*e some of the feasts of more civilized communities,
where glutton}^ prevail. At night a level spot is selected,
:a8free from vegetation as can be found, or perhaps a
space has to be cleared of reeds and thorn-bushes ; the
£res are lighted, the tents, in which Sekeletu and some
of his chief men sleep, are pitched, and the missionary,
lifter commending his soul to God, finds repose, on his
■mat of rushes, as calm as if it had been the softest feather-
bed. Not at once, however, can he do this, for the noisy
Makololo, if they do not get up a dance, will sit around
the watch-fires far into the night, and tell stories of
wonderfuiP adventures, or sing songs with rousing cho-
ruses, and interspersed with screams and whistles, and
all sorts of discordant noises, in imitation of the wild
birds and animals, which frequently answer them from
swamp and brake, marsh and wood, to their great de-
light and amusement. Sometimes their mirth grows so
UP AND DOWN THE ZAMBESI. 65
obstreperous, that Sekeletu sends two or three of his
minor chiefs, with whips of rhinoceros hide, to beat
them into silence, just as an angry parent might have his
children whipped and put to bed. And did never angel-
faces come in the dreams of the good missionary, and
look upon him out of kind and compassionate eyes, as he
Jay there far from home and kindred? Did never well-
known voices whisper words of comfort and encourage-
ment in his ears, closed then to all earthly sounds ? Oh,
yes, be sure they did, and he arose refreshed and strength-
ened for the work that was yet before him, arduous and
painful as that work might be.
After several days' journeying in this way, the party
came to a place called Kotonga where there is the
village of a chief named Sekhosi, a tributary of Sekeletu,
who demanded canoes to ferry them across the river,
which is here six hundred yards wide. ''The elders of
a host always lead the attack," said some, who had been
comrades of Sebiluane, and precedence was given to
them in crossing. It took a long while to get the whole
part}^ to the other side, and then several days were spent
in collecting canoes from the villages about for the pro-
secution of the journey by water.
Here they found the country covered with groups of
beautiful trees, with open glades between, stretching
away in every direction. It was bounded by a ridge, be-
yond which the over-flow of the river, in the rainy sea-
son, did not reach ; but the rainfall gave sufficient mois-
ture for the cultivation of maize, ground-nuts, etc. In
these grassy meadows, and on the open plains beyond,
were found buffaloes, zebras, elands, and several other
kinds of deer, so that the party had plenty of food ; here,
too, they found great numbers of the small antelope,
named Tinanyane, unknown in the South. Its upper
parts are of a brownish-red color; its lower, white; it is
very timid and graceful in its movements, and has a cry
of alarm something like that of the domestic fowl ; by a
soft pat of its foot on the withers it puts its fawn to rest
in a safe place, and, with a plaintive bleat, alarms it
.should danger be nigh. . •,:• d
66 THE WEAVER BOY.
Everything being prepared, the travellers again start,
this time on the breast of the broad Leoambye, with a
fleet of thirty-three canoes, and about one hundred and
axtymen. Livingstone had choice of all the vessels,
and selected one which was thirty-four feet long, and
manned by sixpaddlei-s, who stood upright and kepi the
stroke with great precision, although they had to change
from side to side, according to the exigencies of the cur-
rent. The canoes were flat- bottomed, so that they could
go in shallow water; and when the paddles, which were
eight feet long, reached the bottom, they were used as
poles to push the boat along. Inferior to the Makololo
on land, on the water the Makalaka, or conquered race,
beat the others hollow. Bending their lithe forms to the
stroke, with every sinewy tense, and with looks of joyous
exultation, they dash along at the top of their speed, and
only slacken when some bend in the river, or obstacle
to their coui-se, renders it uecessary for them to do so.
They are good swimmers, which the Makololo are not,
and seem to enjoj- a capsize and plunge into what appears
almost like their native element. One of those large
waves which the east wind raises in the Leeambye filled
the canoe of an old doctor, who went down like a ston« ;
the men saved themselves b}" swimming, but he was
drowned. Had he been a man of much consequence,
they would certainly have been executed for this; as it
was, they escaped, somewhat to their own surprise, with
a reprimand. We may presume that the chief happened
to be in a gracious humor, or that the poor doctor had
no friends.
Up the Barotse valley goes the cavalcade, surrounded
by magnificent scenery that no European had ever looked
on before. Hi chl}'^- wooded islands, some of great extent,
studded the river, which was more than a mile in breadth;
like great masses of verdure, adorned with blossoms of the
most brilliant hues, they rested upon the flashing waters-.
The date-palms and lofty palmyras rose above the rest,
and painted their graceful outlines on a background, of
doudless sky. Down to the shores, on either side, came
creeping all the glorious forms of a tropical vegetation,.
UP AND DOWN THE ZAMBESI. 6T
and stooped over the banks to look in the clear mirror
below. Innumerable water-fowl swam and fluttered
along the shore and around those isles of light and
beaut3^ Some of the trees sent down their thirsty root*
into the water, where they appeared like winding water-
snakes. The ground was rocky, with a covering of rich,
fertile soil, of a reddish color, in which the Banyeti, a
poor and industrious people, raised large crops of maize.
They are expert hunters and fishers, and skilful in handi-
craft work, making many useful articles of wood and
iron. Their great enemy is the tsetse, which prevents
their rearing domestic animals. Of wild ones, they have
about them plenty of elephants, and other large game ;
but the leches and nakongs, and oiher small antelopes,
which are very plentiful farther to the south, appear to
shun this stony ground.
The Banyeti, or Manyeti, are a peaceful people, as are
most of the tribes in the centre of the continent where
the slave-trade has not reached. Their only quarrels are
about cattle, which some of them refuse to keep, because
it tempts others to come and steal, and so leads to war»
Higher up, the rocks become more obtrusive, pressing
upon the bed of the river, narrowing the channel, and
lorming a succession of rapids. At high-water the rocks
are covered, and the stream flows pretty smoothly, but
at low, the current is broken and accelerated, so as to be
dangerous to navigation. "Katima-molelo," ''quenched
fire," is the native name of this part of the river, allud-
ing, no doubt, to the igneous origin of the roolvs. At
one part it was necessary to run the canoes on shore, and
carry them more than a mile by land.
As they passed on up the river, the Banyeti turned
out from their villages to present Sekcletu with food and
skins as tribute. Even in the middle of the stream the
tsetse lighted on the travellers ; but they passed out of
its range when they got 16° 16' south latitude, where
the lofty rocks, crowned with trees, left the river, and
stretched away over ridges two or three hundred feet
high, until they get to be thirty miles apart, forming
the true Barotse valley, through which the Leeambye
THE WEAVER BOY.
flows. The people build their villages on mounds, to
escape the inundations which are the cause of the great
fertility of the land: Two crops of grain are frequently
produced in one year. There are grasses which some-
times reach the height of twelve feet, with a stem as
thick as a man's thumb.
Sekeletu had never before visited these parts since he
had succeeded to the chieftainship, and, as the people
about here had taken part with Mpepe, they were in
great terror, especially the father of this aspirant to
royalty, and another chief conspirator. These two mea
were seized and drowned in the river, notwithstanding
Livingstone's remonstrances. Naliele, the capital, like
most others of the Barotse towns, was built upon an arti-
ficial mound. When the lands are flooded, the water,
comes up to the wall of reeds which surrounds the huts.
Santuru, a former chief, had here his storehouse for
grain ; the rWer now flows where his ancient capital and
another Im; - rtant town once stood. He was a great
hunter, "svo' Santuru, fond of taming wild animals.
Amo'^g his pets were two hippopotami, which were
brought to him when young. After gambolling in the
river all day, they would go to him at night for their sup-
per of milk and meal. Most pets come to untimely ends ;
so did one of these ; although it was not eaten up by the
cat, it w^as speared by a stranger, under the idea that it
was wild. In the like happy state of ignorance did a
native once kill a cat, which Livingstone gave to Sekel-
etu. He brought the trophy to his chief, thinking to be
rewarded for destroying a new kind of animal. This
was one of a pair, and its death cut short the breed of
mice-destroyers, whose services were much wanted at '
Linyante.
In these northern districts, more regard is shown to
the female sex than in the south. Sebituane's daughter
as we have seen, was named to succeed him as chief, and
only at her own request was the authority transferred to
Sekeletu. When Mpepe was conspiring against him, an
effort was made to induce the chiefs wife, Ma-Mochisane,
to put him to death, and marry the conspirator, — a proof
UP AND DOWN THE ZAMBESI. 69
that female influence was considered important. And
even in the Barotse country, the town or mound of San-
turu's mother was shown to Livingstone ; this was pre-
served as a sort of monument to her memory, as in his
more recent capital, Lilonda, were the proves of trees
planted by the late chief, with the various instruments of
iron made by him, just as he left them. Some of these
were wrought in ornamental designs, and to them he
was accustomed to present offerings, when he desired to
prosper in war or agriculture, as the case might be.
Certain people, who had charge of these articles, were
supported by presents from the chief and others who fol-
lowed his example. This was the nearest approach to a
priesthood that had been met with. That these men be-
lieved in a future state of existence was shown by their
reply to the request made for some of these relics ; ^'Ob,
no, San turn refuses."
According to a native custom, which seems prevalent
all through South Africa, of giving to a woman the name
of her iirst-boru child, with the addition of Ma, Mother,
the Bechuanas used to call Livingstone's wife Ma-Ko-
bert. This name had gone with her to the Makololo
country, when she, with her husband and children,
visited it in 1851, and now the missionary found that it
had taken root there, and extended far up to the north,
having been given to several of the children. Little
black pickaninnies were shown to him as Ma-Roberts.
Some also bore the inappropriate names of Grun, Horse,^
Wagon, Jesus, etc. The date of this visit was known as
" the year when the white man came ; '' showing the im-
portance attached to this event, although ih^y could
little understand how important it was to them and
their children. No traces, traditional or otherwise, of an
earlier visit of Europeans to this country could be dis-
covered, although close inquiry was made.
The Mambari, who are of the Ambonda race, which
inhabits the country south-east of Angola, having direct
communication with the Portugese, some of them indeed,
being half-caste, had penetrated here in their slave hun-
ting expeditions. They visited Santuru, who with his
70 THE WEAVEB BOY.
head-men i-efused them permission to buj^any of his peo-
ple. Some of the Makololo had given them children in
exchange for guns, cloth, or even beads. Sometimes a
tribe at war with another would sell them their captives.
With this end in view they promoted quarrels between the
different tribes. They encouraged drunkenness, knowing
that it led to strife and poverty, which would induce a man
to part with wife, children, everything he possessed, and
commit any crime which they or his evil passions might
suggest. Coming in the guise of peaceful traders in
ivory and other native products, they carried out their
nefarious plans secretly, or openly, as opportunity
served, and did the devil's work, to which they were
pledged, most thoroughly, — not unfrequently themselves
destroying villages, and killing many of their inhabi-
tants, and conveying the rest captive to the Portugese
settlements on the east or west coast, where they sold
them for shipment to the American or other markets for
slave labor. Livingstone had, on several occasions, frus-
trated the designs of these traffickers in human flesh and
blood, and they hated and feared him accordingl3\ They
saw that the introduction of Christian civilization among
the people on whom they preyed would be fatal to them;
therefore the missionary and the honest trader must be
kept out if possible. The profits of legitimate commerce
were not large enough to satisfy them. But the time is
fast approaching when they, and such as they, will be
driven farther back into the dark places of the earth.
The struggle between light and darkness in those
regions, which they have so long ruined and devastated,
commenced when Livingstone had overcome the difficul-
ties of his desert journey, and the eye of the white man
of God first gazed upon Lake Xgami ; and the issue can-
not long be doubtiul. The Gospel trumpet has sounded
through those thickly peopled valleys, and on the sur-
rounding hills the banner of the cross is now planted.
Livingstone on his way fully examined the Barotse
country, but he could find no eligible site for a mission-
ary station. He had left Sekeletu at Nalicle to ascend
the river farther. The chief had furnished him with men
UP AND DOWN THE ZAMBESI. 71
and a herald, that he might go in proper state. " Here
monies my lord, the great lion," shouted this functionary,
as soon as he approached a village; but he pronounced
the tau e tona, great lion, so much lilie sau e tona, great
sow, that it was thought best to dispense with his intro-
duction, and bid him be silent. Everywhere the party
received a hearty welcome as messengers of sleep, or
peace ; so that it might almost have been thought that
the people had in their minds the voice of inspiration,
" How beautiful upon the mountains, are the feet of him
that bringcth good tidings, that publisheth peace !"
A party of hippopotamus hunters from the Lobale
region are scared at the sight of the Makololo, and run
off, leaving their canoes, utensils, and clothing. On
these the attendants seize as fair game ; but, at the
bidding of the missionary, they lay down their plunder
upon a sandbank, and leave it for its rightful owners.
In Libonta, twenty miles farther, the woods come down
to the water's edge, and wherever this occurs the tsetse
abounds. Up, tstill up, to the confluence of the river of
Londaor Lunda, named Leeba, after which the Leeambye
is called the Kabompo.
Then comes the Loeti from the W. N. W. through a
level, grassy plain, named Mango, mingling its stream of
one hundred yards wide, and of a light color, with the
dark greenish waters of the greater river. Here the
larger game are in prodigious numbers, and remarkably
tame ; herds of stately elands stand by day, without fear,
at a distance of two hundred yards, and in the evening
the buffaloes go tramping within gunshot, as they sit by
the fire. Every night the thunder of the lion's roar
smote on the ear and seemed to shake the ground, close
to which, on the opposite side of the river, they could
see the named king of the forest stand, and place his
mouth close to the ground to make the sound rever-
berate.
Back, down the Marile, another branch of the
Leeambye, they come, and rejoin the chief, at a town
called Ma-Sekeletu, where they are feasted and well
entertained. It is a time of great rejoicing, for the peo-
72 THE WEAVER BOY.
pie have never before seen their chief, and there is more
ox-flesh, milk, and beer served out than his followers
can possibly consume; so they stuff to repletion, and
then, to assist digestion, get up a dance in this wise:
A circle is formed by the men, who are nearly naked,
and have clubs or battle-axes in their hands ; then all
commence roaring at the top of their voices, while they
simultaneously stamp heavily twice with one foot, then
once with the other ; and so they keep on, with their
arms and heads thrown about in every direction, until
the perspiration streams off their bodies. The air is
tilled with discordant noises, and they are enveloped in
a cloud of dust, out of which they emerge in every con-
ceivable posture, looking like excited and angry demons \
every now and then one advances into the middle of the
circle, which is, perhaps, composed of one hundred per-
sons, makes a few grotesque motions, and then retires to
be succeeded by another. Meanwhile, the women stand
by. clapping their hands, and occasionally adding their
shrill voices to the horrid din. " What do you think of
it?" says head-man Motibo to the missionary who wit-
nesses these strange antics. " It is very hard work, and
brings but small profit," is the grave reply. '' It is,"
rejoins Motibo ; "but it is very nice, and Sekeletu gives
an ox for dancing for him." This was all-sufficient; the
savages would do anything for an oz; eating and drink-
ing constitutes pretty nearly all they know of earthly
felicity.
Sixty geographical miles in one day is quick work in
canoes on an African river; and at that rate down stream
with the current they went, tirst to Sesheke, and then
back to Linyante.
AWAY TO LOANDA. 73
IX.
AWAY TO LOANDA.
Livingstone found much to excito his interest and
compassion in these poor, benighted Makololo folk. They
were decidedly the ino.st intelMirent of the African tribes
he had yet come in cor. tact with, and they seemed truly
desirous of having the white man to settle among them.
On all occasions they had treated him with the greatest
kindness and respect. lie was therefore most anxious to
establish a missionary station among them, and to afford
them the means of commercial intercourse with other
nations. The fever which prevailed, more or less, all
through the alluvial districts in which they dwelt, and
the presepce, in most parts, of the tsetse, rendered a
settlement there out of the question at present. On
some of the higii lands which surrounded the basin of the
Zambezi healthy spots might be found. At all events,
the country to the west might be explored for available
routes to the coast; and this he determined on attempt-
ing. He might have eifected his object by attaching
himself to one of the parties of Mambari, who passed to
and fro occasionally ; but he was anxious to discover
another line of march than that trodden by the slave-
traders.
The Portugese town of Loanda, on the western coast,
was the destined end of the journey, on which it was re-
solved to set out in November, when the rains, which
generally begin to fall then, had tempered the heat, and
rendered travelling less difficult. To accomplish an ob-
ject so much desired by chief and people alike, a band of
twenty uniiired natives were deputed to accompany the
missionary. Two only of these were true Makololo ; the
rest consisted of Barotse, Batoka, Bushubia, and others
of the conquered tribes, generally included under the
term Makalaka. A public assembly, termed a '' picho,"
was called to deliberate on this expedition, and, as is
customary, great liberty of speech was allowed, of which
74 THE WEAVER BOY.
one of the old diviners availed himself, saying, " Where
is he taking you to ? This white man is throwing you
away. Your garments smell of blood ! " His croakings,
however, were of no avail, and all was bustle and ac-
tivity, preparing for this adventure.
Ml At this time, fever, which had quite disabled the three
servants he brought with him from the south, had also
very much prostrated the strength of Livingstone ; if
he looked up, or even turned suddenly, he was seized
with a strange giddiness, which caused him to fall
heavily to the earth, if he did notcatch hold of something
for support. His friends were anxious about him, and
asked, " Suppose you should die on the road, how shall
we excuse ourselves for letting you go away into a
strange countr}^ of enemies? "
He assured them by promising to leave a book with
Sekeletu, which would explain all that had happened up
to the dale of his departure. This he did ; but the book
was afterwards lost. Finding that he did not return,
and fearing the worst, Sekeletu entrusted it to a trader,
from whose hands it was never recovered.
Weak as he was, and just about to set forth on a
journey beset with peril, Livingstone could not help
thinking at times how near he was to death ; but he
flinched not from his determination to open up this part
of Africa, or perish in the attempt. The prospect of
passing away from this fair and beautiful earth, and en-
tering on an untried state of existence, did not frighten
him ; his only solicitude was for the dear ones far away,
about whom he wrote to his brother, commending them
to his care. The Boers, by destroying his property at
Kolober g, had saved him the trouble of making a will,
and now he was prepared, as heretofore, to do God's ser-
vice in a manly way.
His wagon, and all that remained to him of wordly
goods, he committed to the care of the Makololo, and
then, encumbered with but little spare clothing, pro-
visions, ammunition, and a few beads, to propitiate such
savages as he might meet with, he and his party set
forth. A characteiistic ceremony took place before the
AWAY TO LOANDA. 75
start ; two sable warriors, by name Ponuane and Mahale,
brought forward each a fine heifer calf, and, after per-
forming a number of warlike evolutions, asked the chief
to witness the agreement between them, that whoever of
the two should first kill a Matabele, in defence of the
wagon, should, on his return, have both the calves. A
small gypsy tent, just large enough to sleep in, a horse-
rug for a bed, and a sheep-skin mantle for a blanket,
composed the missionary's whole sleeping outfit. He
had his sextant and other instruments for " talking with
the stars," — as the natives called taking observations, —
and a magic lantern, which he had found of great use to
frighten or propitiate foes, or amuse friendly heathens,
whose dancing, roaring, singing, and oft-times obscene
jesting filled him with disgust and abhorrence at
paganism even while ho entertained the greatest pity
for the pagans, and an earnest desire to rescue them from
their grovelling condition.
It was on the 11th of I^ovember, 1853, that the party
left the town of Linyante, amid general expressions of
good-will and regret from the whole of its inhabitants.
The friendly chief left Livingstone his own canoe ; and
accompanied him to ttie main stream of the Chobe, to
reach which several branches must be crossed. This
river is much infested with hippopotami, which are only
dangerous if attacked or approached too near. They
swim about lazily, with their enormous snouts just above
the water, or lie sunning themselves on the sandy flats,
or in the reed-beds by the shore. By day they are com-
monly found in the mid-stream, where they keep floating;
then, if a canoe passes amid the herd, it is very likely to
be struck by one or more of them in their efforts to escape,
and perhaps swamped. Tow^ards night this is the safest
place, for they are mostly roaming about on shore, or on
the islands, feeding upon the rank herbage and grasses.
At this time the gardens and corn-patches of the natives
are sometimes visited by them. Certain old males,
which hive been expelled by the community, swim or
wander about by themselves. It is dangerous to come
upon these, for they rush, open-mouthed, at everything
76 THE WEAVER BOY.
and body. They will, sometimes, with their enormous
jaws, rend a canoe completely to pieces, and send the
people in it swimming for their lives. On such occasions
it is best to dive at once to the bottom, as the enraged
animal always wreaks its vengeance on whatever may be
on the surface, and moves off if he finds nothing there.
Sometimes one of these surly "bachelors*' will dive
under a canoe, and then rise, so as to lift it clean out of
the water with his broad back ; then he goes to work
with savage fury: feet and tusks and jaws are used with
terrible ett'ect, and all is havoc and confusion. Hunting
hippopotami, however, is not such dangerous sport as
that of many other animals of the larger kind. They
can generally be speared, or shot from safe positions,
especially from trees that overhang the water. On land
they are awkward and ungainly, and are easily outrun
by the hunter, who can go round and round them, de-
livering his lire, or spear-thrusts. They always make
for the water if they can, and to intercept them is
dangerous, if only for the immense force which the im-
petus of running gives to such ponderous bodies. A
horse could rjOt stand against it, much less a man. If a
shot is tired into a sleeping herd of hippopotami, they all
start up and stare about them in a stupid manner, wait-
ing for a second shot, before they seem to understand
what it means; then they make off in all directions.
But the mother will not leave her young ; rather will
she die with it; althougli, if she has twins, she is said to
destroy one of them. xV while hippopotamus is some-
times seen in a herd, contrasting strongly with the dark
slaty hue of the rest. It is not, however, quite white,
but a dirt}' pink. Elephants of the same tint are about
as common, and these are also called white. If this
albino should be a male, some of his progeny will proba-
bly be marked with light patches, if the traveller ob-
serves an old surly male by himself in the water, biting
at it in a frantic manner, and shaking his large head
from side to side, and asks the natives what ho is doing.
"Oh" will bo the reply, " he is slamming the door; " the
meaning of which is not very clear, unless by the door is
AWAY TO LOANDA. 7*7
meant his mouth. Hippopotamus flesh, like that of nearly
all animals, is eaten by the Africans. Travellers say-
that it is coarse and hard, unless very young, when it is
not unlike pork. Being altogether a vegetable feeder,
this animal never attacks others, and is not often
attacked by them. They seem to respect its enormous
strength as they do that of the rhinoceros and elephant.
About nine or ten feet long, and four high, is the ordinary
size of this river-horse, which is supposed to be the
Behemoth of Scripture. Antelopes, wild hogs, zebras,
buffaloes, and elephants abound among the mas^nificent
trees and reeds and grasses which clothe the high banks
of the Chobo, which has a very torturous course, winding
and turning upon itself frequently to as to make rowing
upon it ver}' tedious. Among the trees which the travel-
ler observed on its banks were some species of the Indian
fig ; acacias, with their light-green foliage ; the lofty
motsintsela ; of whose wood good canoes are made, and
whose fruit is very nutritious ; the motsouri^ with its
beautiful pink plums chiefly used to form a pleasant acid
drink. At one part of the river, called Zabesa, or Zabea-
za, it spreads out into a small lake, surrounded on all
sides by dense ma^seS of tall reeds. The stream which
issues froyi this is one hundred and fifty yards wide. At
certain points f^long the hank villages of observation
have been placed, from which a lookout can be kept for
the Matebele, whose attacks might be expected from that
quarter. All through the route Livingstone found that
orders had been sent on, hy the chief, that the N'ake^
meaning the doctor, should not be suffered to become
hungry.
After passing out of the Chobe into the Zambesi, the
travellers came upon two largo islands on which a piece
of treachery had been enacted, which illustrates vividly
the savage and lawless state of these regions. A Maka-
laka chief had there lured a number of fugitive Bamang-
wato, after separating them from their wives, whom they
had appropriated, and left them to perish. The town of
Sesheke is next reached, with its white sandbanks,
which is the meaning of the term. Here dwelt Moriant-
IS THE WEAVER BOY.
Bane, brother-in-law to Sebituane, and here again another
characteristic incident occurs. A Makalaka having
Btabbed an ox, and being unable to extricate his spear,
was by its evidence convicted of the offence, bound hand
and foot, and placed in the burning sun until he should
pay a fine. He denied his guilt, and his mother believ-
ing him, comes with her hoe, and threatens to cut down
any one who interferes, loosens the cords, and takey. him
home. Thus set openly at defiance, the chief refers the
case to Sekeletu, who acts upon a suggestion made by
Livingstone, and condemns the offender to give the
amount of the fine in labor. According to the Makalaka
custom, the culprit ought to have been drowned in the
river. This would not restore the lost property ; but
here was a more excellent way, punishing and affording
compensation at the same time. Henceforward this was
the plan adopted.
The day after the new moon is observed as a partial
day of rest in this part of the country. It is the only
Sabbath of which any traces can be found. This lumi-
nary seems to be an object of worship with the people,
who watch eagerly for the appearance of the new moon,
and, as soon as the first faint outline shows above the
horizon, they utter a loud cry of kua, and shout prayers
to it. Those who accompanied Livingstone observed
this custom, saying to the object of their worship: "Let
our journey with the white man be prosperous ; let our
enemies perish, and the children of Nake become rich ;
may he have plenty of meat on his journey," etc., etc.
This is the Makalaka idea of true felicity, — plenty of
meat !
Under the spreading cariel-thorn that shaded the
kotla of Moriantsane, the missionary addressed five or
six hundred of the people, who were assembled to hear
him. They were all very attentive, except some young
men, who continued their work of preparing a skin, and
at whom, in the middle of the discourse, the chief hurled
Ms staff as a gentle reprimand. Different effects are
produced upon different hearers, just as of old the seed
scattered by the sower sprang up, or withered, or was
k.^. — .. t u
AWAY TO LOANDA. 79
choked, as the case might be. Some prayed to Jesus
without knowing what they were doing; some, after
hearing solemn truths, talked frirolous nonsense, as even
instructed Christians are apt to do; others had their rest
disturbed at night by thoughts of a future world, and re-
golved not to listen to such preaching again ; many were
determined not to believe, and these we may compare to
certain villagers of the South, who put all their cocks
to death, because they crowed, " Tlang lo rapeleng^^^
" Come along to prayers."
They now began to ascend towards the high lands, and
Livingstone partially recovered from his attack of fever.
The rainy season begins to set in, but it does not yet in-
crease the volume of the river, which is never less than
three hundred yards wide. Opposite the villages, they
wait for supplies of food, and the head-man of the Mak-
ololo takes care to exact the full quantity, in accordance
with his chiefs orders. Here, among the Banyeti,
they got a bright-red bean, which grows upon a large
tree called mosibe, with honey to make it palatable ; also
a fruit resembling a large orange, with a hard rind, the
pips and bark of which contain the deadly poison strych-
nia, while the juicy pulp, which is eaten, is wholesome
and pleasant to the taste. A sweet fruit, called mobola,
which has the flavor of strawberries ; and another fruit,
about the size of a walnut, and called mam-9s/io, " Mother
of morning," and most delicious of all, were likewise
presented to them. As they ascend into higher lati-
tudes, they come to other forms of vegetation. There
contrasting beautifully with the fresh leaves of light-
green, which many trees are putting forth, is the dark
motsourij or moyela, covered with .pink plums as large as
cherries.
The bed of the river now becomes rocky, and the
shallowing waters flow swiftly over the craggy bottom,
forming rapids, which it is dangerous to navigate. There
are islets, covered with trees and cataracts, and it re-
quires all the skill of the Makololo to prevent the flat-
bottomed canoes being swamped or overturned. The
cooing turtle-doves make their nests above the roaring
80 "HE WEAVER BOY.
torrent; the ibis perched on the end of a stump, utters
her loud, harsh scream ; a kind of plover flies before
them, with plaintive crie<, which sound like warnings of
danger; and the pipinir nt the fish-hawk is heard above
the mot.iliic ring ot tiio alarm-note '^ tinc-tinc-tinc '' of
another plover, called setula-tsipi, or " hammering-iron."
This is the bird fumed for its friendship with the croco-
dile, for which it is sent to perform the part of tooth-
picker. Here it is frequently seen, in company with
this animal, and, as some say, perched on its shoulder,
and chases the white-necked raven, a much larger bird,
amid the rocks, and makes it call out for fear. Here the
turtles ascend the steep banlcs to lay their eg^s, and
sometimes, toppling on their backs, fall a helpless prey
to man or beast.
Among the forest trees that fringe the rocky banks are
birds with pleasant songs ; one with dark-blue and cho-
colate-colored plumage, with two long features project-
ing from the tail ; another parti-colored, white an<l black,
a sociable bird, generally seen in companies of six or
eight. There, too, are jet-black weavers, in great force ;
tailor birds they are sometimes called, because they sew
up the leaves to make their neslo. Francolins and
guinea-fowl also abound, their curious cry echoing amid
the rocks. On every stump or stone that is in or over-
hangs the water, sits the web-footed darter, or snake-
biid, sunnino^ itself, or standing erect with out-stretched
wings, read}' for a plunge ; or sometimes it may be seen
in the water, swimming with its head and neck only
visible. The fish-hawk, with white head and neck, sits
on the tree above, or hovers over the stream poised upon
motionless wings; its keen eye sees the flashing of a fin,
and down with the speed of lightning it comes. This is
a somewhat dainty feeder, eating only a piece out of the
back of its prey, and leaving the rest for the natives,
who watch its descent with great interest, and run races
for its leavings. With legs deep in the water, stands an
awkward-looking pelican ; ho makes a dart, and gets a
fine lish safe in his pouch; down comes the hawk with a
rush, making as much noise as possible to attract the at-
AWAY TO LOANDA. 81
tention of the pelican, which opens its mouth wide to
utter a cry of terror. This is just what the hawk wants ;
he catches hold of the fish, and dexterously whisking it
out of the pouch, bears it off in triumph, while the bird
he has robbed quietly resumes his fishing. As the canoe
divides the yielding waters, numbo-s of small fish,
about the size of our minnow, skim along the surtice in
a succession of hops, like the oyster-shell, or other flat,
substance, which boys often amuse themselves by throw-
ing. In the overhanging branches, lizards, called mpula
or iguanos, are enjojHng the sunshine, — splashing into
the water as the boat approaches, and disappearing, if
they are not speared by the boatmen, who are eagerly
looking out for them, as they are considered a great deli-
cacy. As the\" round a bend of the river, -what at first
sight seems a large log in motion moves slowly down to
the water and yjlunges in ; it is a huge crocodile, after
which, it may be, a Barotse dives, and is lost to sight for
a minute or two. Presently there is great agitation of
the surface of the river, which becomes dyed witti blood.
Other natives, armed with knives, now take to the
water, and swim awa}^ vigorously to the scene of action,
where their dark bodies appear and disappear amid the
foaming and flashing waters, which are lashed b}^ the
tail, and churned by the legs of the dying animal, whose
snapping jaws open and close like steel traps, in furious
attempts at the destruction of its assailants; but not
for long, the death-wound has been giveii, and the great
lizard floats liteless, and is dragged to shore, amid cries
of triumph from the Barotse, who will eat its flesh, as
they do almost everything which is possible to eat. In
the reaches of still waters, between the rapids, herds of
hippopotami are seen swimming about, or resting in the
shallows. The females are distinguished by their liirhter
color. It is impossible to tell their number, as they are
constantly in motion, monstrous heads appearing and
disappearing as the creatures come up to breathe. In
all directions deep furrows in the banks show where they
ascend to graze during the night. They are guided
back to the river by scene alone, and sometimes, after a
82 THE WEAVER BOY.
heavy rainfall, on account of the prevalent moisture,
they cannot tell where to seek it, and are surprised and
shot by the hunters, while they have no possibility of
escape. Generally, when in the water, their snortings
may be heard a mile off; but when there is a necessity
for concealment, they will float with their snouts among
the water-plants, and breathe very gently.
It is now November 30, and they have reached the
Gonye Falls, where the river rushes and eddies with
great violence through a deep fissure in the sandstone
rocks, a hundred yards wide, and several miles in length;
but the country is parched, and the trees, though in full
leafage, are languid, like the travellers, for want of rain.
The canoes have to be carried some distance by land, to
avoid the fall*, on which no boat can live ; and this is
done by the people of Gonye — a merry, light-hearted
set — by swinging them on poles. Above the falls are
islands covered with beautiful foliage, and the view from
thence is magnificent.
On, till they reached Nameta, where, finding that
Mpololo, the head-man of the Barotce valley, had sup-
ported a Makololo chief, named Lerimo, in a foray
against Masiko, who had established himself on the
banks of the Leeba, and taken his subjects captives,
doubtless with the intention of selling them for slaves ;
Livingstone rescued some of these, and took them to bs
restored to Masiko.
At every village they met with kind treatment; the
men fed, and the women " lullilooed " them. A man
would come with an ox, and modestly say, " Here is a
bit of bread for you ;" unlike the Bechuanas, who, in
presenting a miserable goat, would pompously say,
" Here is an ox !"
At Naliele refreshing showers begin to fall ; but the
air is still hot and close ; and the missionary has another
attack of fever. Here Sekeletu's canoes were sent back,
with an abundance of good wishes, eight riding oxen,
and seven for slaughter, and others were borrowed from
Mpololo. Naliele is left behind, and the ascent of the
river continued j between low banks, steep and regular,
AWAY TO LOANDA. 83
like those of a canal, they paddle along, with immense
numbers of sand-martins and bee-eaters coming out of
their holes to look at them, and the lively little blue-
and-orange kingfisher, with its speckled namesake, flash-
ing hither and thither in the sunshine, like colored fire.
They reach Libonta on the 17th of December, and
here collect fat and butter, as presents for the Balonda,
among whom it would not do to go empty-handed.
More captives were given up by Mpololo, at this the last
town of the Makololo, where Livingstone's medical skill
was called into requisition by two of the people who had
been wounded by a lion ; as well as by others suffering
from fever and ophthalmia.
Libonta belongs to the two chief wives of Sebituane.
By them oxen and other food were furnished, and Liv-
ingstone's heart glowed with gratitude at the liberality
and kindness shown him by all parties here. They now
get quite beyond the inhabited part of the country, and
meet with animal life in great abundance. Upwards of
thirty species of fish are found in the river alone : avo-
cets and spoonbills, stately flamingoes, I^umidian and
other cranes, graceful demoiselles, gulls, black and other
geese, and ducks of several species. There is plenty of
game and fish ; vegetables and fruits in abundance ;
milk and butter. No wonder that when they leave this
fruitful land, the Makololo sigh for a return to the peace
and plenty which it afl'ords, falling away, and pining for
its enjoyments.
The company were now divided, part proceeding
along the banks with the oxen, and part on the water in
the canoes. Every now and then the land party had to
be carried across one of the numerous smaller streams
which run into the Zambesi, and which are swarming
with crocodiles, which are here bolder and more savage
than elsewhere. One of the men swimming across was
caught by the thigh, and carried under water ; but he
had the presence of mind to use his javelin with such
efl'ect that the brute let him go, with the marks of its
teeth upon his thigh. In some parts, if a man is bitten
by a crocodile, or only has a little water splashed over
84 THE WEAVER BOY.
him by one, he iw expelled the tribe ; but it is not so
here. Some imagine that the mere sight of this animal
gives inflammation of the eyes. A Bakwain will spit on
the ground when he sees one, to express his disgust, and
say, ^'Boleo hi bo,'' — " There is sin." These people have
many superstitions regarding animals ; for instance, if a
man be bitten by a zebra, he is obliged to go, with all
his family, away to the Kalahari desert, although all eat
the zebra's flesh very freely. When Livingstone first
put guns into the hands of his men to shoot game with,
they wanted gun medicine to make them shoot straight.
They strongly believe in charms, which they ( all modi-
cine. The chief, Sechele, once gave thirty pounds'
worth of ivory for a medicine to render him invulnera-
ble to shot. Livingstone advised him that he should try
it on a calf, to show him the folly of it. The animal was
tied to a tree, anointed with the charm, fired at, and of
course killed. The chief thought it was pleasanter to
be deceived tb'^ i undeceived. The party have now
reached the co.iiluence of the Zambesi and the Leeba,
and bid adieu to the former river, to make their way up
the latter; they have.lately had a pleasant time of it;
rain had fallen, and all nature has I'cvived ; the woods
are full of singing-birds, fresh foliage, .and beautiful
blossoms-; game is amazingly plentiful, and there is no
mortal so happy as a Makololo, with plenty to eat.
X.
UP THE LEEAMBYE.
At the point where its confluence with the Leeambye
takes place, the Zambesi, that noblest of African rivers,
turns off to the east to precipitate itself down t e Mosi-
oatun-ya Falls, which we shall, by and by, have an op-
portunity of visiting Our course now lies to the north-
west ; we are close at the end of the month of December,
in latitude 14° 10' 52'' S., longitude 23° 35' 40" E., and
UP THE LEEAMBTE. 85
not far from this point, lives Masiko, to whom we have
to restore some of the captives rescued from Mpololo.
It is credibly reported that this chief is in the habit of
seizing friendless orphans and others, and selling them
to the slave-dealers, and a message is sent to him to the
effect that Livingstone " is sorry to find that Santurii
(the name of the chiefs father) had not borne a wiser
son. Santuru loved to govern men, but Masiko wanted
to govern wild beasts, and such acts would lead to war :
he had better live in peace."
The color of the Leeba's waters are darker than those
of the Zambesi, and the}' wind slowly through delight-
ful meadows, receiving many tributaries in their course.
Groups of graceful trees stand here and there, and the
whole scenery is very park-like. These trees stand
mostly on verdant knolls, and it seems likely that the
whole country is annually inundated. All around are
the lovliest flowers, in great profusion, from which the
bees gather their sweet store. Among the flowers are
some which have the pleasant flagrance of the hawthorn,
inhaling which the traveller's thoughts fly homeward,
and he is a boy once more, wandering amid green lanes
and grassy pastures, where the white flocks feed, with-
out fear of the lion or other destroyer. VYonderfully
luxuriant is the growth of many kinds of plants; the
climbing ones especially, covering with their bright
blossoms the steins and branches of the trees, which
support and are adorned by them. Here they gather
the yellow, sweet-tasted fruit of the inaroro, or malolo, a
small bush ; it is full of seeds like the custard apple ; and
here, too, they find the breediiig-place of the crocodiles,
from which two broods have just emerged. The eggs
are about as large as those of the goose, and as many as
sixty have been taken out of the r.est ; they arc lined
v^ith a tough membrane, and the young require the as-
sistance of the dam to releaso them from their confine-
ment. So she covers them up with earth, and, at the
proper time, returns to perform this duty; after it is ac-
complished she leads them down to the water to fish for
themselves. The yolk of the crocodile's Girg is the only
86 THE WEAVER BOY.
part that coagulates, and that is eaten by the natives.
These animals feed mostly by night, and the loud champ-
ing noise made by their jaws, once heard, is not soon
forgotten. By day they lie motionless as logs, sunning
themselves on sand-banks, or in the water, through which
they rush with wonderful agility. Baldwin, in his
"African Hunting," related many curious stories of nar-
row escapes which he had from these voracious creatures.
On one occasion, when just recovered from fever, he
went sea-cow shooting, and, landing on a small island
covered with trees, feeling weak and tired, he sat down
with his feet dangling in the w^ater, and went fast
asleep, in which state his friends found him within a few
yards of several enormous crocodiles, which were making
towards his resting-place, and would, no doubt in a few
minutes have seized him.
They now arrived opposite the village of Manenko, a
female chief of the people called Balunda or Bolanda,
with whom our travellers were in bad repute, owing to a
report that one of their party had acted as guide to the
band of marauders, under Lerimo. who carried off some
of their children. Two of these, a boy and girl, were
now restored to them by Livingstone, — thus proving
that neither himself, nor Sekeletu, from whom he came,
were parties to the outrage. Manenko's suspicions had
induced her to remove, with most of her people, to a
place of concealment at some distance from the river ;
and, as it was desirable that she should be propitiated,
Livingstone resolved to wait until the Bolanda had re-
port ^. his message to her and returned. Two days he
wail '• and spent them in hunting for game in the lands
about, which were well covered with forests, having in
them open glades. Here he met with native hunters,
who assisted him to shoot zebras. A chief, named
Sekelenke, who was out elephant-hunting on the right
bank of the Leeba, sont the party large bundles of the
dried flesh of that animal, and from Manenko thev re-
ceived a basket of manioc roots, with orders that they
were to remain there until she visited them. Then
counter -orders came that they were to go to her j but, as
UP THE LBEAMBYE. 87
the negotiation was a very difficult one, and much time
had been lost, they passed on without seeing the lady.
And so, again, on and on, to where another large river
called the Makondo enters the Leeba from the east. It
is New Year's Day, 1854, and the rainy season has fairly
set in. The villagers on the banks of the river as they
pas3, bring baskets of a purple fruit, called maica, for
which they received pieces of meat in return. At the
spot where the two rivers meet, the man-stealing Mam-
bari cross, and hero they find apiece of steel watch-chain.
How suggestive was it to Livingstone's mind of the
works and ways of civilization, from which he was so far
removed I But no truly civilizing influences were borne,
by those who dropped it there, into the heart of that
dark region, into which he was so earnestly desirous of
introducing the Gospel of salvation. Honest traders do
these Mambari often seem, — honest, as they are undoubt-
edly enterprising. They come to a native town, they
build their huts, and lay out their goods, — wonderful
cotton prints, which the natives can scarcely believe to
be the work of mortal hands. ''English manufacturers,"
say the Mambari, -'come out of the sea, and gather beads
on its shores." And then they speak of the cotton-mills,
and the machinery by which the fabrics are made. " It
is all a dream," say the natives, "all a dream. Hovv can
iron spin and weave and print so beautifully ? " And
after endeavoring in vain to comprehend it all, they end
with the exclamation, "Truly, ye are gods!" Often
might they have said to the Mambari traders, "Truly,
ye are devils," when in the dead of the night wild cries
arose, and the death-shot rang through the village, and
the red flames devoured their huts, and their wives and
children were borne away captives.
Great dreamers are the people who accompany Liv-
ingstone, and they put much faith in dreams. One of
their number has had a very ominous one, and the whole
party are greatly depressed. There is nothing like
active exercise for vagaries of this sort ; so they are
ordered into the canoes, and set to work rowing, and are
soon ashamed to confess their fears. They stop their
88 THE WEAVER BOY.
paddles before the village of Sheakondo, and send a
message to the head-man, who soon appears, accompani-
ed by his two wives, bearing presents of manioc, or cas-
sava, which as well as dura, ground-nuts, beans, maize,
sweet potatoes and lekoto, or yams, the Balonda chiefly
cultivate. Stepping with the mincing gate of an African
beauty, the younger wife makes music as she goes, hav-
ing little pieces of sheet iron attached loosely to a pro-
fusion of rings of the same metal, round her ankle. She,
like the old wife, is anxious to anoint herself withal.
The man, who had probably never seen a European be-
fore, does not seem to have any fear, until some of God's
words are repeated to him. He speaks frankly, and
merely points to the sky, when he would make an as-
servation.
It is observed that some of Sheakondo's people add, as
they suppose, to their beauty, by tiling their teeth to a
point; they also tatoo their bodies in various parts,
especially on the abdomen, the skin being raised so as to
form a star or some other device. The skin shines with
its varnish of fat, or oil, compressed from the seeds of
the piihna christi, or castor-oil plant, and others of the
same nature.
Rain, rain, rain, for a fortnight, with clouds over the
face ot the sky, so that no observation could be taken,
and yet the Leeba did not rise greatly, nor become dis-
colored, as the Zambesi does. There are but few birds
here, and the crocodiles are scarce, having, it is said, a
wholesome dread of the poisoned arrows with which the
natives shoot them. There is a great cry, — a man is
bitten by a serpent: it is a non-venomous one, and of
course he gets no harm. "But why?" say his friends.
'-Because many of them were looking at it, and this was
a charm against the poison."
Shinte, the greatest Balonda chief in this part of the
country, has a sister, who is also a chief, named Nya-
moana, and the travellers are now opposite her village.
Her husband, Samoane, comes out in his state dress, a
kilt of green and red baize, armed with a spear, and
broadsword of anti(iue form. Ho and his rather aged
V
UP THE LEEAMBYE. 89
queen, who has a bad squint, are seated on skins in the
centre of an elevated circle, surrounded by a trench,
beyond which arc persons of both sexes, the males most-
ly well armed. There is a clapping of hands, the usual
salutation, and then a palaver, in which the objects of
the missionary are explained.
These people, who are real negroes, with woolly heads,
black skins, would not believe what Livingstone wore on
his head was hair at all. "It is the mane of the lion,"
said they. A superstitious people are these Balonda,
great believers in charms, of which they have filled two
pots, and placed them in two little sheds, erected for the
purpose. These are ttieir temples, and the charms their
holy relics. The men are dressed in prepared skins of
the jackals, the wild cat, and other small animals, and
the women anyhow, in whatever they can get hold of.
The first evidence of idolatry which the traveller had yet
seen came to light here ; it was a human head carved out
of a block of wood, and sprinkled over with red ochre.
There were several of these as idols. Sometimes a crooked
stick was the object of worship. Incisions were made in
the trees, and small pieces of manioc root and ears of
maize are hung upon the branches as propitiatory offer-
ings to the dreaded beings who are supposed to reside in
the depths of the gloomy forest ; and there are heaps of
sticks, met with here and there, raised by every passer-
by adding a bundle, as cairns are raised of stones hy
northern nations.
The travellers are desirous of proceeding further up
the Leeba with the canoes, but Nyamoane objects, as dees
also her daughter, Manenko, who ,now arrives upon the
scene. She is a tall, strapping young woman, and, like
most Balonda ladies, considers elegance in dress to con-
sist in wearing as little as may be, but a profusion of
ornaments, and medicines, or charms, and smearing the
body over with fat and red ochre.
She is a virago, and scolds away right and left, especi-
ally a party of under-chiefs, who had come on an embassy
from Masiko to Livingstone, bringing a present, with ex-
pressions of gratitude and good-will towards the Mako-
6
90 THE WEAVER BOY.
lodo. It appears that Masiko had once sent to Samoana
for a piece of cloth, such being the common way of keep-
ing up friendly intercourse ; but he returned it because
it looked as if it had witchcraft medicines on it. A very
grave offence this. Now the ambassadors from the
offending chief had slept in one of the huts of Manenko's
village, without asking leave, and the chance of retalia-
tion was too tempting to be rejected. So she gave them
an oration in the most approved African style, with
plenty of energetic motions and shrill interjections ; re-
proached them with everything bad they had ever done,
or been supposed to have done, since they were born,
and finished by saying she despaired of their ever being
better until they were all killed by alligators. This
torrent of abuse was received in silence, and the fire of
her anger, not being stirred or fanned into a fiercer
flame, soon died out, and Masiko's people departed with
an ox from the missionary for their chief, and good ad-
vice against kidnapping and other offences, which lead to
wars between those who are all children of one common
Father.
Manenko's husband, Sambanza, when he and his wife
and people had listened to Livingstone's proposal for an
alliance between them and the Makololo, made a great
oratorical display, varying his flow of words by signifi-
cant actions, such as stooping down, every now and then,
to pick up sand, which he rubbed into the upper part of
his arms and chest ; this being a mode of polite saluta-
tion in Londa. Another is, to louch tho ground with
one cheek after the other, and clap the hands, or drum
the ribs with the elbows ; but the very acme of politeness
is to bring a quantity of ashes, or pipe-elay, in a piece of
skin, and rub it on the chest and upper front part of each
arm. The ankles of this polished specimen of a Bolanda
chief were ornamented with copper rings, which were
not, however, so numerous and heavy as to impede his
walk ; but. as it is the height of fashion to be, or to seem,
encumbered and overloaded, he hobbled along with his
feet apart as if he were. The missionary smiled at this
exhibition of vanity, "Oh," said his attendants, observ-
UP THE LEEAMBYE. 91
ing it, "that this is the way they show high blood in
these parts." What a capital parody we have here upon
what is of constant occurrence in highly civilized com-
munities !
Manenko, the strong-minded, readily agrees with
Livingstone's proposal for an alliance with the Maka-
lolo, and proposes that Kolimbota, the head-man of his
party, shall take a wife from their tribe. She will send
on Livingstone's baggage to her uncle, the great chief,
Shinte. He would have proceeded farther up the Leeba,
and is moving off to the river ; but she lays her head on
his shoulders, and says, in a motherly sort of manner,
" Now my little man, just do as the rest have done,*'
that is, submit to her will ; and as she has taken posses-
sion of his goods, and the Makololo do not seem inclined to
resist her, there is no help for it, and the missionary
goes to hunt for meat, of which they are much in want,
until all can be prepared for the journey.
On the 11th of January they start for Shinte's town,
Manenko heading the party, and striding on at such a
rate as kept all the rest almost at double-quick. " Ah,
she is a soldier !" remarked the men. Her drummer
thumped away most vigorously as long as he could, but
soon was obliged to give over. The rain poured down
in torrents, notwithstanding the incantations of her hus-
band to drive it away. On she went, in the very highest
marching order, replying to Livingstone, who rode upon
an ox by her side, and who asked why she did not pro-
tect herself against the rain, " A chief must not appear
effeminate, but always seem young and robust, and bear
vicissitudes without wincing."
A Icng and weary journey this, sometimes through
forests so dense that a way has to be cut with axes. Ail
the party were wet, and looked miserable ; but they
kept up their courage, and went bravely on. Where a
woman could lead, men must follow. Food was short.
The people in the hamlets they passed by, or through,
were niggardly. They have gardens of maize and
manioc, and their guardian angel, which they call "a
lion," was a figure more resembling an alligator, formed
92 THE WEAVER BOY.
of grass, and plastered over with soft clay, with two
coarse shells for eyes, and the bristles from an elephant's
tail stuck about the neck. This elegant and artistic idol
stands in a shed, and before it the Balonda pray, and
beat drums all night, in cases of sickness. To such
hideous work of men's hands do the heathen in their
blindness bow down.
A sense of insecurity seems to prevail among these
niggardly Balonda, who are the suBjectsof Shinle. They
live in constant dread of enemies, spiritual and bodily.
The superstitious element is largely developed in their
charac^r, probably encouraged by the deep gloom of
the thick surrounding forests. Each house in a village
is surrounded by a palisade of thick stakes, one or two
of which are removed when the owner wishes to squeeze
himself through, and then replaced, so that no opening
is left visible. Wild beasts are not plentiful here, having
been much thinned by the bows and arrows of the na-
tives. The forest becomes more dense as the party get
further north ; climbing-plants, like huge snakes, en-
twine themselves about the lofty trees, and often kill
that which protects them, like some ungrateful people.
Here 2ire found many artificial bee-hives, made out of
the bark of a tree and coiled grass rope. They become
common from hence to Angola, and furnish all the wax
which is exported from the south-western ports. Round
the trunk of each tree on which one is placed, is tied a
piece of medicine to protect it against thieves, who be-
lieve that the charm can inflict disease and death.
Great quantities of mushrooms are found and eagerly
devoured by the natives, some of which, growing
out of ant-holes, have a diameter of six or eight inches.
The people of the villages now become more friendly
and liberal. If they are not, as is sometimes the case,
seized with a panic at the sound of the drum, which
Manenko has beaten to announce the approach of great
people, and run off, they receiva the travellers kindly.
They will even take the roofs off their huts, and lend
them for shelter during the night; a friendly act which
an English villager would find difficult of performance,
unless he lent the whole structure.
T7P THS LEEAMBYE. 93
When they got near to Shinte's town, Manenko sent
forward a messenger to announce her intended visit
with a white man, and waited for permission to advance,
Buch being the custom of the country. At the end of
two days, came the chiefs invitation, with presents of
manioc and dried fish. His men were dressed in black
monkey-skins, having a mane of pure white ; and Living-
stone was gladdened by the intelligence that he would
meet two other white men from the West at Shinte's
capital.
He was again prostrated with fever ; but the thought
of meeting with Europeans in such an out-of-the-way
region invigorated him wonderfully. But then a doubt
rose in his mind, and he asked, " Have they the same
hair ?" " Is this hair ?" said they ; " we thought it was
a wig; we never saw the like before ; you must be the
sort of white man that lives in the sea." '' Oh, yes," ex-
claimed the Makololo, " his hair is made quite straight
by the sea- water." It was useless for Livingstone to
explain to them that the phrase, coming up out
of the sea, only meant that his countrymen came, not
out of, but over the water. They persisted in believ-
ing and reporting that their leader was a kind of mer-
man. They now proceed through a lovely valley, watered
by a beautiful stream, to the town of Shinte, embosomed
in bananas and other tropical trees. They wait outside
until, in the opinion of Manenko, the sun is of the proper
altitude for a lucky entrance.
Throngs of negroes come out to gaze on them. The
travellers notice an alteration in the mode of building.
The huts are not circular, as among tribes more to the
south, but have square walls, and the streets are straight ;
with the Bechuanas they are always winding. The re-
forted Nhite men, are, as Livingstone suspected, native
'ortuguese traders, half-castes, with unmistakeably
woolly heads. A number of Mambari were with them,
and they had for sale some young female slaves, recently
purchased in Lobale. Some of the Makololo were very
indignant at seeing them in chains. *' They are not
men," said they, '' but beasts, to treat their children so."
94 THE WEAVER BOY.
Next day there was a grand reception, and Sambanza,
his wife being unwell, had the honor of presenting the
travellers to Shinte. He was gaily dressed, having a
profusion of beads, and a cloth of such a length that a
Doy carried it behind him as a train. On a throne cov-
ered with a leopard's skin, in the shade of a banana-
tree, within the enclosure of the place of audience, sat
the great chief, Shinte. His state dress consisted of a
check jacket, a kilt of scarlet baize edged with green;
around his neck were strings of large beads, and heavy
and large were the copper armlets and bracelets he wore;
his helmet was covered with beads, and had in its crest
a great bunch of goose feathers. Altogether glorious
was Shinte, — nc doubt awful and terrible in the eyes of
his subjects, although a sorry spectacle in those of Eu-
ropean civilization. He had his lictors, too, like the old
Eoman consuls and emperors. These were three lads
with large sheaves of arrows over their shoulders ; and
his chief wife was there, with a curious red. cap on her
head, no doubt thinking she looked very queenly. And
there, too, were about a hundred other women, glori-
ously apparelled, not in oil and red ochre, like the bar-
barous Balonda females of distinction but bright red
baize. Great was the rubbing in of ashes upon arms
and chests by Sambanza, and others who led the cere-
mony on this august occasion, and low and many the
obeisances made by the different members of the party
who were presented. Great the siiouting of the savage-
looking soldiery, as with frantic gesticulations they
rushed towards the tree beneath which stood the mis-
sionary and the chief men of his party, as if they in-
tended to eat them all up, and admirable the order in
which they wheeled around, as they got close to them,
having apparently altered their minds very suddenly ;
and then the capering, the running and leaping, when
the " picho " began. It was altogether a strangely
grotesque scene. Backwards and forwards before Shinte
stalked the spokesmen of Sambanza and Nyamoane, vo-
ciferating all they knew, and a good deal more, of
Livingstone's history, and his connection with the Mak-
UP THE LEBAMBTB. 95
alolo ; explaining the objects of his mission, and advising
Shin te to give the white man a good reception, and to
pass him safely on his way.
The king's musicians, with drums neatly carved from
the trunk of a tree, having the ends covered with an-
telope skin, and a kind of piano, named marimba^ and
consisting of wooden keys attached to calabashes, and
having a cross parallel bar of wood, discoursed sweet
music at intervals; and ever and anon, between the
pauses of the speaking, the ladies burst forth in a sort of
plaintive ditty which was by no means unpleasant to
the ears. With the soldiers, who numbered three hun-
dred, there could not have been less than twelve or thir-
teen hundred people present.
Livingstone was the first white man the chief had
ever seen, and though he retained his African dignity,
yet he kept his curious gaze on him all the time. With
exemplary patience he listened to no less than nine oiei-
tioDS, before he got up to leave ; afterwards he expressed
a desire that " the men who came from the gods should
approach and talk to him." He was very good-humored,
and ready to listen to the missionary's advice. He said
that his mouth was bitter for want of ox-flesh, and
Livingstone responded to this broad hint, and greatly de-
lighted him, by presenting to him an ox. But when his
strong-minded niece, Manenco, heard of this present, she
declared that the animal was hers. " Did not the white
man belong to her? Had she not brought him here?"
So she sent her own people to fetch the ox, had it
slaughtered, and gave a leg only to Shinte, who took it
all as if it were a good joke. No such thing could pos-
sibly have occurred in the South, where the women have
less influence. Several other interviews occurred be-
tween the missionary and the chief, who professed the
greatest interest in his proceedings. He had always
been a friend, he said, to Sebituane, and to his son,
Sekeletu. He was not merely a friend but a father,
and how could a father refuse a request made by a son ?
Sekeletu was now left far behind, and the missionary
must look to him, Shinte, for help, which would be al-
96 THE WEAVER BOY.
ways freely rendered ; and ho proved his sincerity by
his unvarying kindness and valuable presents. So,
after a pleasant sojourn of several days in his capital, the
party leave to pursue their journey, with a hearty salu-
tation from the friendly chief, and the wish, on their
part, that God might bless him.
XL
STILL WESTWARD HO !
Passing down the lovely valley in which the town of
Shinte stands, and then on through forest lands, the
party reach a Balonda village, and halt for the night,
t^ear them is a fine range of green hills, called Saloisho,
inhabited by the people who work the iron ore, which
abounds there. The soil of the country is dark, with a
reddish tinge, and is very fertile. Maize and manioc grow
freely, with but little cultivation, and are the stable food
of the people, who, hereabout, are hospitable, and most
polite in their manners. Orders are sent to all the
villages on the route that Shinte's friends must have
abundance of provisions ; and Intemese, the chief guide,
deputed by him to accompany them, sees that these in-
structions are carried out. Small presents of beads made
to the villagers are always thankfully received. The
travellers were struck with the punctilious manners of
the Balonda guides. They would not partake of the food
cooked by the other travellers, nor eat at all in their
presence. After meals they stood up, clapped their
hands, and praised Intemese. If the fire in the hut of
one of these men should go out, he would light it again
himself; and not, as is commonly done by the Makalolo,
take fire from the hut of another. It is probable that
superstitious fears are at the bottom of much of this
strict observance of etiquette.
In the capital it was observed that when inferiors
meet superiors in the street, the former at once drop on
STILL WESTWARD HO I 97
their knees, and rub dust on their arms and chest, and
continue their salutation of hand-clapping, until the great
ones are out of sight. In illustration of their super-
stition, we may note that, when the woman wlio holds the
office of water-carrier to Shinte passes along, she rings a
bell, to warn people that they must get out of her way,
as it would be a grave offence for any one to approach
the drink of the chief, lest an evil influence should be
exerted on it.
The slave-trade had had a very deleterious effect on
Shinte and his people. Offences of the slightest char-
acter were made the pretext for selling the offenders to
the Mambari traders, to whom friendless fugitives and
kidnapped children were often sold. Indeed, children
were looked upon as so much property, valuable only for
what it would fetch. Parents would often dispose of
their own. Shinte presented a little slave-girl to Living-
stone, and when he declined to accept it, offered him
another a head taller, thinking the first was not big
enough for him. The missionary spoke to him privately
on the subject, telling him how displeasing it must be to
God to see his children selling one another.
Crossing the river Lonaje, and passing the villages
embowered in banannas, shrubs, and manioc, our party
reach the Leeba, at a part much higher up than where
they had left it, and encamp on its banks. They notice
here a custom, which they had not observed elsewhere, of
plaiting the beard in a threefold cord.
Lying away to the N. E. of Shinte, the town of the
chief, Cazembe, was pointed out to them ; it is cele-
brated for its copper anklets, which people come from
far and near to purchase. Cazembe's subjects are Balon-
da, or Baloi, and his country is called Londa, Lunda, or
Lui, by the Portugese. Perereira and Lacerda are said
to have visited this country; and a very old native told
Livingstone that he had often heard of white men, but
had never before seen them, although one had been to
Cazembe when he was young. Livingstone's Makololo
attendants and Shinte's guides revelled in the abundance
of food furnished by the natives, in accordance with their
98 THE WEAVER BOY.
chiefs orders, and were not inclined to move on faster
than they were obliged. Intemese himself was some-
times laid up with pains in the stomach, under which
inCiction, however, he was quite cheerful and talkative ;
his favorite remedy was a fresh supply of beef. One of
his men stole a fowl which had been given to Living-
stone. No such instance of theft among the Makalolo
had ever occurred, and the Bakwains were strictly
honest. Everywhere, hitherto, had Livingstone's
property been considered sacred; perhaps, because he
was looked upon in the light of a public benefactor.
Among the Balonda he was not so well known, and he
subsequently found that the idolatrous people among
whom he travelled were less mindful of moral obligations
than the others, although they were scrupulous in their
observance of the punctilities of life. Having crossed
the Leeba, the party entered upon a plain, at least
twenty miles broad, and covered with water, which was
ankle-deep at the shallowest parts. Intemese, who had
lingered on the further side, where Shinte's dominions
ended, and his powers of commanding food from the peo-
ple consequently ceased, came on reluctantly, after con-
siderable delay, and left behind the pontoon of which he
bad taken charge, saying that it would be brought on by
the head-man of the village, which it never was; so a
most useful article was lost. To avoid the more deeply
flooded plains of Lobale, the travellers keep as close as
possible to the Piri hills on the right, or east. These
plains are among the greatest reservoirs of water in South
Africa, and the sources of supply to many important
rivers, such as the Chobe. They are perfectly level, so
that the water, which falls in prodigious quantities in
the rainy season, stands there until it soaks into the
boggy soil, from which it afterwards oozes and collects in
the river channels. The flooded plains look like great
prairies, being covered with thick grass, of a pale-yellow
color, interspersed with clumps of date and other bushes.
In some places the dreary flats were gay with lotus flow-
ers. Here, on the calm, still nights, the marsh-lights
dance over the quagmires, and the tortoises, crabs, and
STILL WESTWARD HO I 99
other fish-eating animals come up from the deep pools,
and pass from one feeding-place to another. Here, too,
the buffaloes wallow, and the hippopotami flounder
through the morasses, and the water snakes wriggle
along among the rank herbage, seeking for frogs and
other small reptiles, or the nest of some marsh-building
bird. Some antelopes, too, are found on these watery
plains, such as the water-reed and bush-bucks, the
lechwe, poku, and nakong, all of which naturally flee to
swamps for protection. In pursuit of these the leopard
will sometimes come prowling here by night ; and the
green monkeys, when driven out of their favorite shelter
among the mangroves by the river, will go chattering
and screeching from one to the other of the wooded
knolls, which stand out like islets, shaking their wet feet
and tails, and looking round frequently for the enemies
which they know are not far off.
On ! on ! no rest must be taken here, or the poisonous
miasma will pass into the lungs, and fever will seize upon
the frame, prostrating the energies and destroying the
vital powers. They are obliged to remain one night
upon an island, and are badly supplied with firewood.
The rain pours down in torrents, and they are wretched
and miserable.
Then on they march again, to a ridge of dry inhabited
land, where the people, according to custom, lend them
the roofs of their huts for shelter. But again the rain
comes down so copiously that their beds are flooded from
below. The men turn out to make furrows around their
sleeping-places and raise the centre. In the morning,
when they want to go on, Interaese says they must wait
until he has sent forward to apprise Katema — a chief,
whose residence he says is near at hand — of their com-
ing; whereas the place is two day's journey off, and he
lies to obtain more rest. So on, again, through a rich
and fertile country, crossing streams and halting at
villages and the towns of chiefs ; one of whom, Soana
Molopo, scolded because the Makololo, of whom he was
afraid, had been shown so much of the Balonda country.
" Shinte did well to aid the white men ; but these Mako-
100 THE WEAVER BOY.
lolo could not be trusted." He, however, gave them a
handsome present of food. Intemese was here left be-
hind, in a fit of the sulks, because Livingstone refused to
give him an ox. Stopped by the rain, they halt at the
home of Mozinka, an intelligent and friendly man, who,
with his wife and children, are the finest negro family
Livingstone had ever seen. The woman asks the mission-
ary to bring her a cloth from the white man's country,
which he promises to do ; but alas I on his return after-
wards, she is dead, the hut in ruins, and the beautiful
garden a wilderness, — it being the custom for a husband
to abandon the spot where his wife, or any near relations
had died.
They next visit Quendende, the father-in-law of
Katema, and find him so polite and intelligent that they
do not regret having to spend Sunday with him. He
had a great crop of wool on his head, the front being
parted in the middle, and plaited into two thick rolls,
which fell down behind the ears to the shoulder, the rest
being gathered into a large knot, >;hich lay on the nape
of the neck. The funeral of one of his people was
just over, and the drum was beating the Barimo, or spirits,
to sleep. One of the funeral drums is kept in every
village, and it is heard going; at all hours of the day, —
this being the mode of propitiating the souls of the de-
parted, who are looked upon as vindictive beings.
A custom here came to Livingstone's knowledge,
which seemed to be prevalent among the Makololo and
other tribes. Each man of a party of travellers who
might come to a village and receive food, without hav-
ing the means of paying for it, would adopt one of his
entertainers as a comrade, and be bound to treat him
with equal kindness, should occasion arise. Here is a
lesson for Christians. We may learn much even from
the heathen.
Messengers arrive at the village to announce the
death of a chief, named Matiamvo, who was insane, and
sometimes took a fancy to kill his people, because he
Baid they were too numerous, and wanted thinning.
When asked if human sacrifices were common with
STILL WESTWARD HO I lOi
them, as had been reported, they replied that th«y some-
times took place, when certain charms were needed by
the chief. They were astonished at the liberty allowed
to the Makololo, especially that they should have oxen of
their own ; only their chief kept cattle. They knew that
there was direot water communication between their
country and Sekelutu's, for one of them asked," if he
were to make a canoe and take it down, could he get a
cow for it ? The messengers told a good many queer
stories of the dead chief, who, if he took a fancy to any
particular article of great value, would order a whole vil-
lage to be brought up, and exchange them for it. He
would seize the entire stock of a slave-trader who visited
him, then send out a party to some considerable village
to kill the head-hand, and sell the rest of the inhabitants
to the trader for his goods. As with the Barotso, it is a
custom of this people, when a chief dies, to slaughter
a number of his servants to bear him company ; and yet,
though they thus acknowledge the continued existence
of the soul, they have no notion of another world, but
imagine th^t it always remained near the place of sepul-
ture ; hence their dread of burial places. When spoken
to of a judgment by God, who is no respecter of persons,
they replied : " We do not go up to God as you do ;
we are put into the ground."
Our travellers now cross the river Lotembwa, and come
to the chief town of Katema, who is a tall man about forty
years of age, in a snuff-colored coat, with a broad band
of tinsel down the arms; he has a helmet of brass and
feathers, and carries a large fan made of the tails of
gnus, — those curious animals with shaggy heads, almost
like bisons, and bodies which in some respects resemble
both the horse and the antelope, to which family, indeed,
they belong. Swift as the zebras and the wild asses,
they bcour the desert, and are very difficult to capture
or kill. So Katema, with his fan of gnus' tails, which
had charms attached to it, kept himself as cool as he
could, and talked to the white man, to whom and his
party he had generously given meat and fowls and eggs.
"I am the great Lord Katema, the fellow of Matiamvo ;
102 THE WEAVER BOY.
there is no one in this country equal to us two. I and
my forefathers have always lived here, and there is the
house in which my father lived. You found no human
skulls neftr the place in which you are encamped. I
never killed any of the traders ; they all come to me.
I am the great Moene (or Lord) Katema, of whom you
must have heard."
There was a tipsy kind of dignity about this exalted
personage, which was very amusing to see. He was not
a bad sort of a fellow though, for, besides feeding the
travellers well, he gave them good advice as to the route
they should pursue, which was more northerly than that
trodden by the slave-traders ; and, better still, he sent
guides to direct them on their way. He wanted a coat,
as his own was growing old, and Livingstone promised to
bring him one on his return from Loanda. He was a
laughing philosopher, extremely fond of giving and re-
ceiving compliments, and altogether a good specimen of
an African chief; but he would not listen to anything
serious. He had quite a number of beautiful cows, which
he had bred from a couple, brought when young, from
the Balobale; but he did not know how to milk them,
and they were so wild that when one was wanted to eat,
it had to be shot. He would not see Livingstone's magic
lantern exhibited, because he thought he might be
bewitched by it. His authority was not very absolute,
for some of his people, whom he offered to Livingstone
as carriers, refused to go. To be sure they were only
fugitives, who had come to him from other tribes, and, as
African chiefs always encourage this kind of immigra-
tion, as it gives them more men, he did not punish them
for their disobedience. The people here are fond of
singing-birds, and have canaries, wild and tame, about
them. They have also very beautiful domestic pigeons.
There was not much game here, nor many troublesome
flies nor mosquitoes ; but they had a charming collec-
tion of spiders, some of them an inch long, and venomous.
Here the leader and several of the party are down with
fever, and here they have that rarity in Africa, a cold
wind from the north. Usually from this quarter the
STILL WESTWARD HO I 103
winds are hottest, and cooler from the south ; but they
seldom blow directly from either of these points.
Notwithstanding the fever, they leave the friendly
chief, and get on their way, and reach a lake called
Dilolo, whioh is about three miles' across at its broadest
part and abounds in fish and hippopotami. Livingstone
was too ill to explore it, or determine its exact position by
astronomical observation ; so they push on, over a large
inundated flat, across which they have to feel their way,
as it were, wading where there is no footpath, or one to
be avoided rather, because it is trodden deeper than the
rest of the earth. Here they notice that the sagacious
ants build their houses of soft clay upon the stalks of
grass, at a point above high-water mark. This they
must do before the waters begin to rise, as they could not
get the material to the desired spots after they have
risen. Their habitations are ab^ut as large as a bean, or
a man's thumb.
After leaving this inundated plain, which appears to
be the water-shed between the southern and western
rivers, the travellers enter a district in which they have
to cross a succession of valleys, each with one or more
deep streams running through it, over which some rude
bridges have been thrown ; others have to be swam, or
forded. But even where there are bridges, they are often
submerged to such a depth that those who ride on ox-
back get wet to the middle. Now, too, an unpleasant
custom of demanding toll, at all difficult passages of
water courses or curves of roads, begins to prevail, and
endless are the disputes into which they are led; many
times they are denied the liberty or means of passing a
certain point until they have complied with some exor-
bitant demand upon their fast-decreasing property. It
is no uncommon thing for a chief to say that he must
have a man, a gun, or an ox as toll. The first is out
of the question; the second equally so, for it would be
arming enemies against themselves ; and for the third, it
is like parting with life, for meat has got extremely
scarce, and they arc much reduced from having to live
chiefly on manioc and other vegetable diet. They are
104 THE WEAVER BOY.
in a tract of country where there are no wild animals
to be seen, but where the people eagerly hunt for
mice and moles, and esteem such food a delicacy. They
breed no oxen here, and the Makololo are astonished
that the people make so little use of the fertility with
which God has abundantly blessed these rich slopes and
well-watered valleys. The curse of the slave-trade is
upon them. They are mercenary and extortionate,
lying and deceitful, demanding far more than they ought
to ask, and promising in return gifts which they have
no intention of giving. And so poor Livingstone,
smitten down by fever, weak and wasted to a mere skele-
ton, with scarce strength to sit upon the wet blanket,
and clinging to the bands which secures it on his ox,
— an ill-tempered creature, which ever}' now and then
makes an unexpected plunge into a water-course, or
darts into an opening of the forest, where the thick
creepers entwining the trees are pretty sure to catch and
bring him to the ground, — is obliged to argue and nego-
tiate, temporize and threaten, and yield up, one by one,
oxen and cotton and beads, — even his own scanty stock
of wearing apparel, and almost every article of value he
possesses, — to buy his way through the obstacles set up
by these inhospitable tribes, whose contact with Europeans
has taken away all their simplicity of character, and
rendered yet more repulsive and inhuman their native
savagery. If a river has to be crossed, so wide and deep
that it cannot be swam, or forded even, negotiations must
be entered into for the use of the canoes. *' A shirt, or a
blanket? bah I what are they? A strip of cotton? won't
do I we want a man to sell to the Mambari; we want
an ox to eat ; we want a gun to go slave-hunting with.
Give us one of these, or you can't pass." Yes, but if the
reward is given first, the service will not be rendered.
Or, at the further end of the bridge, deeply submerged,
perhaps, is a band of savages, ready to dispute the pas-
sage unless toll is paid. And the good missionary, weak
and ill as he is, almost sinking with exhaustion, rouses
himself to make the necessary effort ; talks to them,
reasons with them, gives them all he possibly can to
STILL WESTWARD HO ! 105
avoid bloodshed, which, on several occasions, seems
imminent. He has to pacify his own followers, too,
who, of course, are greatly enraged at this treatment,
so different from what they have experienced in their
own country, where hospitality to travellers is the rule,
and where little is asked or expected beyond, perhaps, a
few beads, a strip of cloth, or a bit of common metal, for
the most sumptuous feast which the head-man of the
village can produce.
Not unfrequentiy the valleys were so deeply flooded
that the men were up to their chins in crossing them,
and sometimes on the bridges the water was breast-high.
Holding on by the tails of the oxen, the travellers would
make their way across as best they could. On one occa-
sion, Livingstone lost hi^ hold of the belt by which his
blanket was fastened to the ox which he rode, and had
to strike out for the opposite bank. The Makololo, who
did not know he could swim, were greatly alarmed for
his safety, and about twenty of them dashed in to the
rescue, leaving their loose articles of apparel to float
down the stream. Their joy at his escape from this
danger was unmistakable, and the missionary was grati-
fied and cheered by this proof of their devotion. After
this, when the natives had tried to frighten them by
telling them of the depth of the rivers they had to cross,
they would laugh and say, "We can all swim: who car-
ried the white man across but himself?"
Day by day, week by week, month by month, the dis-
heartened party plod on, wearily, drearily, through the
morass and the river-bed and the tangled forest, often-
times with the tall grasses two feet above the heads of
those who ride the oxen, on whom the moisture with
which these grasses are laden falls as from a shower-bath.
Now hot and parched with the burning fever, with the
blood flowing like liquid fire through the veins ; now
faint and trembling, with the dreadful chill which pre-
cedes it; with the clammy perspiration breaking out all
oyer the frame, and a weight, as of tons, upon the throb-
bing brow and aching limbs And then there is gnawing
hunger to add to all these miseries, and the inhumanity
106 THE WEAVER BOY.
of fellow-men. No wonder, then, that the Makololo
grow mutinous, and declare they will go back. They
cannot face these dangers and dreadful privations, inured
as they are to the difficulties and hardships of life in a
wild country. The wonder is that the cry of this brave
man should- be ^ still, "Onward! onward to the sea,
althoufijh it be yet hundreds of miles off. We must open
a way for the missionary and the trader, to those fruitful
lands and those broad rivers, which will become the
highways of traffic; and above all, to those benighted
souls that wait for the glad tidings of salvation."
XII.
AT LOANDA.
On the 31st of May, 1854, Livingstone, with his faith-
ful followers, came in sight of the Portuguese settlement
called Loanda, or St. Paul de Loanda, the place taking
its name from the island on which the town is partly
built, and which, stretching out at some distance into
the Atlantic, forms a safe and commodious harbor. This
is the capital of the Portuguese settlement of Angola,
once a great African kingdom called Abonda, and was
a place of much importance in the early days of mari-
time adventure and discovery. Sailing up the river
Congo, or Zaire, the above-named people had, by treaty
or conquest obtained vast tracts of land, in which they
planted crops, and established trading stations, — the
chief commodities obtained beini> ivory and slaves.
Pleasant was it to the white man, as he came down the
declivity that led into the town, and saw the waters of
the great, wide sea sparkling in the sunshine before him,
and felt the fresh breezes play about his temples, to
think that he should once more enjoy communion with
educated Christian men, and the comforts of civilization.
Since he parted from his family at Cape Town, and
turned his face once more to the North, in June, 1852,
AT LOA^DA. lot
he had been a eojourner in the fotest and the wilderness,
either in solitude, or with strange facep around him, and
strange dialects in his ears. Hungry and weary and
sick, longing for rest and refreshment, he now came to
the sea once more, with a great purpose partly accom-
plished, and a strong, unquenchable desire to complete
t^e object of his journey, although with strength so
reduced by fever and dysentery that even thought was a
trouble to him, and motion inexpressibly painful. Since
he had left behind the Chiboque and the Bengala and
other savage tribes, who had threatened his life and
demanded his property, he had been treated at the out-
lying stations of the half-caste Portuguese ofl&cials and
traders with the greatest kindness and attention. By
the bishop of this province, who is also governor of
Loanda, he was now received in a most friendly and
generous manner. The services of the government
physician were placed at the disposal of the invalid, and
everything done that could be to exhibit the respect and
solicitude that was felt for him. Oh, the luxury of find-
ing himself once more upon a good English couch, after
sleeping so long on the ground, and of feeling secure
from the attacks of unseen enemies! Oh, the enjoyment
of fresh, clean clothing, and of good food, properly
cooked, and decently served; of intellectual converse,
and the habits and conveniences of civilized life ! In
the house of Mr. Gabriel, British Commissioner for the
suppression of the slave-trade, Livingstone rested, and
recruited his strength. On the 14th of June he was
able to pay a visit to the friendly bishop, and as this was
a state occasion, his Makololo attendants accompanied
him, arrayed in new dresses of striped cotton, with red
caps on their heads, of which they were as proud as pea-
cocks. Many questions did the great man ask them of
their native country, and he invited them to visit Loanda
as often as they pleased. "Loanda, that wonderful place
with stone houses, — not huts, but mountains, with many
caves in them," as they afterwards said, when describ-
ing these wonders; *' and ships as big as houses, nay,
towns, into which you must climb by a rope. These are
108 THE WEAVER BOY.
not canoes: bah! we thought ourselves sailors. Only
the white men are sailors, that come up out of the sea,
where there is no more earth; but earth says: "lam
clean gone, dead, swallowed up, and there's nothing but
water left." And the ships have masts like forest-trees,
and white sails like smoke, or the form of the great
Falls; and they carry big guns, full of thunder and light-
ning, to put down the slave trade with. Wonderful !
Wonderful ! ! " Everything they saw was wonderful to
these simple people. They were afraid at first to go on
board the British cruisers, lest they should be taken
away as slaves, or eaten, as they had been told on the
way they would be if they ventured into Loanda. But
Livingstone reassured them by telling them that the
sailors were his countrymen, So they went, and soon
were on very friendly terms with the Jack tars, who
slapped them on the back, patting their woolly locks,
called them "hearties;" gave them junk and biscuits,
tobacco and grog, and got up no end of fun for their amuse-
ment. So they called the deck the kotia, and made
themselves quite at home. During their stay at Loanda
they were not idle altogether ; they cut firewood in the
outskirts, and sold it in the town, and were engaged to
unship a cargo of coals. But after working at it for a
month they left off, declaring that there was no end to
the stones which burn contained in the ship. With the
result of their labors they were able to make consider-
able purchases of cloth, beads, and other articles, to take
back to their own country. The copper and iron rings,
and almost everything they possessed of ornament or
^ utility, had been parted with, to the exacting savages
who barred their way to the coast, and they were glad of
this opportunity of obtaining a fresh stock of valuables.
Livingstone was strongly pressed by the captain of a
British cruiser to recruit his health by a sea-voyage to
. St. Helena ; but although the offer tempted him strongly,
for home and all that was dear to him lay in that direc-
tion, y^t he refused. He could not leave his faithful
Makololo; he must take them safely back again, if God
' 80 willed, and he must prosecute his design of establish-
AT LOANDA. 109
ing missions, and opening ways for lawful commerce
into the interior ; yet greatly did he require a change
of climate, and a long period of repose. The strong
man of iron will and nerve was yet weak as a child. In
August he had a return of the fever, which had for some
time left him, and was again reduced to a mere skeleton,
but from this he soon recovered, and was glad to find
that the lassitude which had hitherto prostrated his
energies had left him. On looking about Loanda, he
found it to be nothing more or less than a great convict
establishment, that is, as far as the European inhabitants
are concerned ; most of them had been sent into exile
for some political or other offence against the laws; they
are, however, greatly outnumbered by the blacks and
half-castes; there are 9,000 of the former, of whom
5,000 are slaves.
But little religious instruction among the natives
seems to be attempted; the convents of the Jesuits, who
were formerly zealous teachers here, are now waste and
tenantless. Sugar and rice and cotton, and most other
tropical products might be cultivated with great success ;
but the curse of slavery seems to rest like a blight upon
every useful branch of commercial enterprise. The wild
excitement and horrible greed, fostered by this lawless
traffic in human beings, seems to possess every mind, so
that there are few who will engage in the calmcj* pur-
suits of agriculture, or manufacturing industry. Liv-
ingstone noted that the cotton-plant was growing wild
all about, and wasting its silky filaments; that indigo
and coffee, and other valuable products might be had
almost for the gathering; and that several sugar and
other manufactories which he visiced were not so suc-
cessful as they might be, if more spirit and capital wore
thrown into their management; and he sighed over the
folly and inhumanity of man, in neglecting the boun-
teous gifts of God, and exercising cruelty and oppression
on his fellow^s.
Gathering up his strength for another effort, he left
Loanda on the 20th of Septeiabcr, 1851, passing round
by sea to the mouth of the river Bengo, and so up that
110 THE WEAVER BOY.
river through a district well adapted for the growth of
the sugar-cane. Mosquitoes abound on the Bengo, or
Senza, as it is sometimes called, more than elsewhere, and
they are glad to get away from it. Advancing eastward,
they reach higher ground, and enter upon a fine level
road adorned with a plant named bolcamaria, which has
a beautiful red blossom. The markets or public sleep-
ing-places hero are well supjilied with provisions, and the
native women are mostly engaged in spinning with a
spindle and .l-sttuf precisely like those used by the
ancient Egyptians. In the market-place, good cotton is
sold at one penny per pound, and very good table-knives,
made of country iron, for twopence each. Labor is
cheap; handicraftsmen may be hired for fourpence a
day, and agriculturists lor twopence. What need then
of hIuvcs? Livingstone now turns aside through
CazcDzo, a district famous for the abundance and excel-
lence of its coffee, the produce of real Mocha seed, first
planted here by the Jesuits. Then, accompanied by the
Commandant <•! Cazenzo, he proceeds down the river
Lucalla to Massangano, situated on a very fertile tongue
of land, between the Lucaila and the Coanza, the latter
being a noble stream, about 150 yards wide. Here are
theruinsof a large iron foundry, established in 1768,
as a private enterprise, now partly worked by the gov-
ernment, whieh pays its native workmen, not in coin,
but a kind of tish called caciisu. Along the banks of the
Lucalla, maize, manioc, and tobacco are cultivated,, — the
la Iter sometimes growing to the height of eight feet,
and having thirty-six leaves on a single plant. Fires
are frequent here; if one should consume a whole town
no record of it would be left, there being not a single
inscribed stone in it, although it has two churches, and
the ruins of two convents, aud a hospital. On the north
side of the Coanza are lands belonging to a tribe called
Quisamas, or Misamas, which the Portuguese have never
been able to subdue, owing to the scarcity of water in
their country; the reservoirs of this are formed in the
trunks of the baobab-trees, and when the natives retreat
before an enemy the supply is let out. This country
AT LOANDA. Ill
produces much salt, which is a considerable article of
commerce with its people.
There is another independent tribe, living amid the
mountain ranges not far from Massangano, called LiboUo.
Fowls, with the feathers curled upward, were observed
here, this being a provision of nature to protect
them from the intense heat of the sun; the
natives call them kisafu; the Portuguese, arripiada, or
"shivering." Keturning to Golungo Alto, where ho had
left some of his men, Livingstone finds several of them
laid up with fever ; but they are cheerful and courageous
yet, or their words belie them, for they say, " It is well
you came with Makololo, for no tribe could have done
what we have, in coming to the white man's country ;
we are the true ancients, who can tell wonderful things."
There were three very obstinate cases, and one of these,
when delirious, said to his companions, "Farewell ! I am
called away by the gods." and he set off at the top of
his speed ; but he was caught before he had run a mile,
and gently bound, to confine him and prevent mischief.
Instances of this kind had been noticed by the mission-
ary before.
Waiting for his sick followers at Golungo Alto, Liv-
ingstone visits a deserted convent at Bango, a few miles
to the west of this place. He learns that the Jesuits,
and other Catholic missionaries, as the Capuchins, had,
while there, diligently attended to the instruction of the
people, but had produced no permanent effect, because
they had not given them the Scriptures. They had been
supplanted by other teachers, whose political opinions
were more in accordance with the Portuguese govern-
ment, and these had been allowed to die out, so that
there were now no Christian ministrations in the place.
The Sova, or chief Banga, received him in considerable
state, having his councillors, etc., although he is sub-
ordinate to the dominant European power. The people
are very much divided into classes, the highest being
the councillors of the chief, who levies fines, and inflicts
penalties, pretty much as he likes ; and the lowest class,
that is of the free men, for the slaves have no recognized
112 THE WEAVER BOY.
position. There are gentlemen, and little gentlemen in
this complex society, and the former, although black as
ebony, speak of themselves as white men, and the others,
who may not wear shoes, as ''blacks," and look upon
them with contempt, although they themselves, for this
privilege which they enjoy of wearing shoes, have to pay
a fine to the chief.
There is here a fraternity of Freemasons, into which
none are admitted who cannot shoot well ; their outward
distinction is a fillet of buffalo hide round the head.
Being trustworthy and active, they are much employed
as messengers, and are the most valuable soldiers in time
of war, when the militia are of little use. These last
are idle and intemperate ; they are chiefly supported by
their wives, and they spend much of their time in drink-
in ma?ot?a, a kind of palm- toddy. They act as police,
and guard the residences of commandants, stores, etc.
The chief recreations of these people of the Bango
country appear to be mamages and funerals, both of
which they celebrate with much pomp, noise, and de-
bauchery. To pay the expense of these celebrations
they frequently impoverish themselves for years. Ask
a man to sell you a pig, he will tell you he must keep it
in case any of his friends should die. Ask another why
he is drunk, he will perhaps give what would generally
be considered a valid reason, ''Why, my mother is
dead." Very litigous are these Bango folk ; if one can
but say of an enemy, "I took him before the court," he
is delighted. These and many other things did our
traveller observe during his enforced sojourn in the place,
which Livingstone was glad to leave on the 14th of
December, being anxious to take back his Makololo, and
to prosecute his researches. He had sold the ivory with
which Sekeletu entrusted him to great advantage, and the
produce of this, and the presents sent to the chief by the
governor and merchants of Loanda, such as a horse,
colonel's uniform, two donkeys, and specimens of articles
of trade, added greatly to the responsibility of his
charge ; so he pushed on as fast as he could, which was
not very fast, owing to the weakness of his invalids, on
AT LOANDA. 113
whom the sudden changes of temperature had produced
a bad effect.
Crossing two small rivers, the Caloi and the Quango,
they reach Ambaca. They then and there pass over the
Lucalla, and make i. detour to the south for the purpose
of visiting the famous rocks of Pungo Andongo ; they
rise in columnar masses to the height of 300 feet or
more, and in their midst stands the village, approached
only by narrow defiles, which a small body of troops
might defend against an army. This was the stronghold
of the Jinga tribe, who originally possessed the country.
The Portuguese consider it a very unhealthy spot, so
that banishment to its black rocks is a worse sentence
than transportation to any other country. It is, how-
ever, in reality, one of the most healthy parts of Angola;
it has pure water, a light soil, an open and undulating
country, generally sloping down towards the river
Coanza, which, thirty leagues below Pungo Andongo,
reaches Cambamhe.
There is a king of Congo, to whom the Jinga formerly
paid an annual tribute in cowries, and who, on their re-
fusing to continue this, gave over their island to the
Portuguese, who thus commenced their dominion in this
part of Africa. This prince, who is professedly a
Christian, still retains the nominal title of Lord of
Angola, the European governor of which province he
addresses as a vassal when writing to him. On the
death of one who holds this high office, the body is
kept wrapped up in cloth cerements until a priest can
come from Loanda to consecrate his successor. There
are twelve churches in the kingdom of Congo, the fruits
of a mission established long since at St. Salvador; they
are kept in jjartial repair by the people, but are not the
centres of christian civilization which they ought to be.
114 THE WEAVER BOY.
. • ' r " 'It
• ' ■ « . . .
XTII.
' BACK TO LINY ANTE.
On New Year's Day, 1855, the party is again in
motion ; leaving the black rocks behind, and shaping its
course to Cassange along the right bank of the Coanza,
through a rich pastoral country. At the confluence of
this river with the Lorn be they leave it, and proceed, in
the north country direction, to the village of Malange,
where the path of the former journey is struck, keeping
to which they come to Sanza and Tala Mungongo.
Here they meet long lines of carriers, bringing from the
interior beeswax and elephants' tusks for the merchants
of Angolo, and of the natives they purchase fowls at the
low price of a penny each.
On the 15th they descend from the heights of Tala
Mungongo to the valley of Cassange, whose rivulets are
now dry ; but there is plenty of brackish water in the
Lui and the Luare, and the fast-ripening fruit of the
palms and the wild dates and the guavas quench the
thirst with their acid juices. The edible muscle, whose
shells exist in all the alluvial beds of the old rivers, as
far as Kuruman, is here too ; and a black lark, with yel-
low shoulders and a long tail, whose feathers are eagerly
sought by the natives as plumes, floats over in the
grasses, with its tail in a perpendicular position ; while
the lehuttutu, a large bird resembling a turkey, utters
the curious cry from which its name is derived^ and goes
on with its work of insect-killing.
At Cassange, which is next reached, they find the
people a prey to the most degrading superstitions, not-
withstanding their partial intercourse with white men.
To cure a sick child a diviner is called in, who throws
his dice, and works himself into a state of ecstasy, in
which he pretends to communicate with the Barimo, or
Great Spirit, — a dim notion of a supreme being, which
all people, the most benighted, seem to have. His fee
for this divination is a slave, but he receives instead a
BACK TO LINYANTE. 115
brisk application of a couple of sticks to his back by the
father of the child, who has no faith in his incantations.
The mother rushes away, and commences the doleful
wail of one who sorrows without hope, while, as an ac-
companiment, her female companions elicit screeching
sounds from an instrument constructed of caoutchouc.
A woman is accused by her brother-in-law of being the
cause of his sickness, and, to prove her innocence, offers
to take the ordeal, that is, drink the infusion of a poi-
sonous tree. If the stomach refuses it, she is considered
innocent, if not, she dies, and that is proof of guilt. If
an accusation of witchcraft is made, this is the mode of
trial. Ilundreds thus perish yearly in this valley of
Cassange. The same superstitious ideas prevail all
through the tribes who live north of the Zambesi, and
seem to indicate a community of origin. That the souls
of the departed still miugle with the living, and partake
of their food; that these spirits desire to take the living
away from earth and all its enjoyments ; and that in
sickness it is necessary to appease them with sacrifices
of fowls and goats, and -even sometimes of human beings;
that in case of murder or manslaughter a sacrifice must
be made to quiet the spirit of the victim ; that charms
must be employed to avert the dangers which encom-
pass them, — these are common articles of belief, — sha-
dows, which nothing but the pure light of the gospel
will dissipate. How did the heart of the missionary
yearn towards these poor benighted heathens, whom he
would fain teach better things ! " How fearful," he
says, " is the contrast between this inward gloom, and
the brightness of the outer world, between the undefin-
ed terrors of the spirit, and the peace and beauty that
pervade the scenes around me ! I have often thought,
in travelling through this land, that it presents pictures
of beauty which angels might enjoy. How often have
I beheld, in still mornings, scenes the very essence of
beauty, and all bathed in an atmosphere of delicious
warmth, to which the soft breeze imparts a pleasing
sens'ition of coolness, as if from a fan I Green, grassy
meadows, the cattle feeding, the goats browsing, the
116 THE WEAVER BOY.
kids skipping, the groups of herdsboj's, with miniature
bows, arrows, and spears ; the women winding their
way to the river, with watering-pots poised jauntily on
their heads; men sewing under the shaddy bananas;
and the old, gray-headed fathers sitting on the ground,
with staif in hand, listening to the morning gossip, while
others carry branches to repair their hedges. Such
scenes, flooded with the bright African sun, and enliven-
ed by the songs, of the birds before the heat of the day
becomes intense, form pictures which can never be for-
gotten."
But no long pause must be made to indulge in humane
reflections, and to look upon pictures of peace and
quietude. On the 20th the party leave Cassange, with
a westerly wind blowing strongly, which observations
made by travellers show, in this district, to be the sure
forerunner of fever, with which several of their number
are prostrated, and a halt has to be made for a while.
Then they move on towards the Quango, meeting sev-
eral trading parties. Among the articles they bring
from the interior is a tusk weighing one hundred and
twenty-six pounds ; the fellow to it weighed one hun-
dred and thirty pounds; and these were borne by a
small elephant. It is here remarked that the ivory
which comes from the east and north-east of Cassange,
is larger than that from the south, a single tusk some-
times weighing as much as one hundred and fifty-eight
pounds. What must be the strength of the neck which
can carry such an enormous burden ? With every now
and again enforced halts on account of sickness, they
reach at length the Quango, near which is the village
of the chief, Cypriano, who has just lost his step-father,
and spent more than his patrimony in funeral orgies.
Thirty yards of calico are demanded by the ferryman,
who, however, takes six.
The Ambakistas, with whom the travellers came in
contact on the eastern side of the Quango, are sometimes
called the Jews of Angola, although they have nothing
of the Jew about them except his subtlety and intelli-
gence. They are shrewd men of business, and are much
BACK TO LINTANTE. 117
g
employed as clerks and writers, their penmanship bein
characterized by a feminine delicacy which is much
esteemed among the Portuguese. They are the
beauclerks of the African tribes, having generally a
pretty good knowledge of the history and laws of Portu-
gal, that being, however, the only European country of
which they do know anything.
The deleterious effect of the traffic in an inferior kind
of spirit was painfully manifest among the people who
had been brought most closely into contact with the
so-called civilized race. Casks of this liquor were con-
stantly passing to the independent chiefs beyond the
Quango, out of which the bearers helped themselves, by
means of straws, and made good the deficiency with
water. Sometimes it was conv^eyed in demijohns with
padlocks on the corks, and these were carried olf bodily,
which, apart from its being an act of robbery, was not a
circumstance to be regretted.
Now the rain comes down again; in truth, "it raineth
every day," and to meet the drenched travellers, out
from his village comes the chief, Sansawe. He asks if
they have seen the Moene Put, — "King of the white men,
or Portuguese," and graciously intimates that he will
come again in the evening to receive his dues, which he
does in great state, mounted on the shoulders of his
spokesman, which excites much laughter among the
Makololo. He presents a couple of cocks to Livingstone,
and expects a far more valuable present in return ; but
he gets only, as a token of friendship, a pannakin of
coarse powder, two iron spoons, and two yards of printed
calico, with a lecture on the impolicy of levying black
mail upon travellers through his dominions.
The Portuguese traders, who now accompanied Living-
stone, had to watch their native bearers rery closely, to
see that they did not make off with the goods. Salt
was one of the articles they carried, and this became
lighter as they went along, being, as they said, very
liable to melt, — a self-evident truth. Having to be so
much in the water, often, indeed, sleeping in it, brought
on Livingstone an attack of rheumatic fever, which forced
118 THE WEAVER BOY.
him to lie by for eigbt days, tossing on a sleepless bed,
made up like a grave in a country church-yard, with
grass on the top. Here, covered with his little tent,
with nothing but drip and drizzle around him, with
aching head, and racked limbs, he tossed and turned
about, scarcely conscious of what was going on, until, by
the gentle remedy of a dozen leeches to the nape of the
neck and loins, applied by a kindly Portuguese, he ob-
tained partial relief; but he was much too weak to move
on. and now arose another difficulty. The head-man of
the village near by had received a blow on the mouth
from one of the missionary's followers, and this insult
must be paid for. Five pieces of cloth and a gun were
gfven as an atonement; but this would not do. Help
from all the surrounding villages was called in to avenge
the affront, and the matter really began to look serious.
The more concessions the travellers made, the more the
natives clamored and demanded, until Livingstone re-
solved that he would yield no more, and, ill and weak as
he was, led his party forth, grim and ghastly, with hi&
six-barrelled revolver in his hand. His appearance
frightened his opponents, who had already made an
attack upon the party, and the chief exclaimed, *' Oh, I
have only come to speak to you, and wish peace !"
When told to go away to his village, he expressed a fear
of being shot in the back. So the doctor mounted his
ox, and lefl him to carry out his peaceable intentions
with his friends.
Their progress for a while was very slow, seven miles
being about the extent travelled on each day, when they
moved on, which was not above one-third of the time,
two-thirds being consumed in stoppages occasioned by
sickness or the necessity for seeking food.
The Portuguese, who bore the party company, were
the bearers of large presents for Matiamo, whom their
countrymen desired to propitiate, and one of them had
eight good-looking womeu chained together. When
Livingstone was talking to the chief, they appeared to
feel deeply their degraded position, and the missionary's
heart bled for them, but he could not interfere then.
BACK TO LINYANTE. 119
They crossed the Loange, and several other rivers,
which were observed to flow in deeper valleys than they
did at the parts crossed in the former passage. At
length the rain ceased, and there was a fall in the
temperature. The people amid whom they now were
had a more slender form, and were of a lighter olive
color, than those they had lately been accustomed to see.
They had singular modes of dressing the hair. Some
ladies had a hoop, which encircled the head, from which
the hair radiated like the rays of a star, or spokes of a
wheel, so as to form a kind of nimbus, or glory, such as
we see in old paintings of saints and the Yirgin Mary.
Others wear a kind of helmet of woven hair and hide,
with a long fringe of buffaloes' tails hanging down behind.
Others weave their own hair on pieces of hide, into the
form of a pair of buffalo- horns, which stick out on either
side of the head; while yet others have but a single
horn projecting in front ; all of them no doubt consider-
ing this to be in exquisite taste. But in the matter of
head-dresses, civilized Europe can hardly afford to laugh
at uncivilized Africa. The latter is yet innocent of the
monstrous chignon.
The travellers now made a detour to the southward, for
the same reasons which impel people with us to go to
Wales, or the Channel Islands, namely, to get cheaper
provisions ; they are now more out of the track of the
slave-traders, and they find the natives more timid and
civil. Some of the young men are great dandies here ;
they are covered vyith ornaments, and the oil with which
their hair is soaked drops upon their shoulders; some are
constantly strumming a musical instrument, and some
never go out without a gun, or bows and arrows. Tho
one wishes to appear musical, the other warlike, —
neither of which they really are. Well, we must not
blame them too harshly, as people nearer home do the
like. These warlike gentlemen wear a piece of hide for
every enemy they have killed, or say they have. And
they have bird-fanciers there, too, who carry canaries
about in pretty cages ; and ladies with lap-dogs, which
they will by-and-by eat. Our ladies do not exhibit their
120 THE WEAVER BOY.
affection for canine pets in that way, at all events ; nor
do they eat moles and mice, as, in the absence of other
animal food, these people do. The traps set for " such
small deer " may be seen everywhere in the woods, with
which the villages are generally surrounded. Up on the
roofs of the huis fly the cackling hens, to lay their eggs
in the baskets provided for them there, and when any
travellers arrive, there is much noisy offering of these
and other articles of food, and chattering and haggling by
men, women, and children, but all with the greatest
civility and good temper.
Now on through the zigzag forest paths, beset with
climbing-plants, through which a way has often to be
cut, and sometimes bitten, — for the carriers, after tug-
ging at the lithe, yet tough stems that bar their progress,
apply their teeth to them, and so break through the ob-
struction. Thus, slowly toiling on, they reach another
river, abounding in crocodiles and hyppopotami. Then
they get among bogs, surrounded by clumps of straight
evergreen trees, — bogs, on whose slimy surfaces the pris-
matic tints are exhibited, telling of their ferruginous
origin. The river glens are green and shady, a few
feathered songsters enliven the solitude, and there is a
chittering and humming all about, which tell of insect
life ; but the level plateaux between the rivers are bare
and dreary enough, presenting scarcely any signs of ani-
mated existence.
More streams, and yet more ; the Kanesi and the
Fombeji are crossed, and thej reach Cabango, on the
banks of the Chihombo. They are coming into a more
densely populated part of the country, where provisions
are cheap and plentiful ; four persons can be well fed
upon vegecable and animal food at the rate of about a
penny a day, paid in cloth or beads. Hear this, O miser-
able starvelings of St. Giles ! Hear this, famished opera-
tives, working half-time, or no time at all ; and Dorset-
shire laborers, who manage to feed and clothe and house
a wife and seven children upon ten or twelve shillings a
•^vreek ! .-.-^,.. ^., >,-.,.
Cabango is a considerable town, of some two hundred
BACK TO LINYAUTE. 121
native huts, and several real square houses, constructed
of poles, with grass woven between; in these dwell the
half-caste Portuguese, who act as agents for the Cassange
traders. One of Matiamvo's subordinate chiefs is ruler
here; he rejoices in the name of Muanzanza. No busi-
ness could be transacted in the village for four days,
because a person had died there, and the funeral obse-
quies would occupy that time. So Livingstone, who
is now much better, employs the time in writing up his
journal.
In Matiamvo's well-peopled country there is little or
trade ; what there is consists of an exchange of calico,
salt, gunpowder, coarse earthenware, and beads, for ivory
and slaves. There are no cattle, except a herd kept by
the chief, to supply him with meat; he is mild in his
government, and more just than African chiefs generally
are. We are now among the Balonda, who are better-
looking than the people nearer the coast; they are a
sprightly, vivacious people, spending their time chiefly
in gossip, and marriagtj^ and funeral ceremonies, at the
latter of which they are most merry and uproarious,
probably to conceal their grief, which they manage to do
most effectually. The women do not file or discolor their
teeth, and many of them would be really pretty, if they
did not greatly expand the nostrils by inserting pieces
of wood into the cartilages of the nose.
The ti*avellers wish to strike out to the south-east to
visit an old friend, Katema, and Muanzanza lets them
hire a guide, who insists upon receiving pay for himself
and his father, too, beforehaod ; he goes with thorn one
day's journey, and then coolly leaves them to get on as
they can, with his unearned wages on his back in the
shape of cotton ; they manage pretty well without bim,
meeting with much kindness from the southern Balonda
people, who are out of the track of the slavers, and con-
sequently less sophisticated and mercenary. At the
village of a chief named Bango they kill a cow, and offer
him a leg ; but bo informs them that neither he nor his
Eeople eat meat of that kind, for they look upon cattle as
uman, living as they do at home anu)ng them. Oatde,
8
122 THE WEAVER BOY.
too, they say, briog enemies and cause war; then why
have cattle ? The rivers here do not flow in deep
channels, as they do more to the north, and oftentimes
to the south, nor are the grasses so tall and luxuriant; .
the country is flat, suitable for cultivation, and game be-
gins again to be plentiful, so that to refuse ox-flesh is no
great privation, although Livingstone says there is no
flesh like it, either for flavor or nutriment. Bango, how-
ever, did not object to buff'alo flesh, when it was brought
to him, with other fruits of the chase, by tributary
chiefs.
Bango is now left behind, and the river Loembwe
reached and passed ; then came bogs and gloomy forests,
where the frequent idols, and little sheds with pots of
medicine in them, attest the superstition of the people,
who are generally mild and inolfensive, although Living-
stone here saw the only instance of unarmed men strik-
ing each other he had ever known. They will quarrel
and swear with frightful volubility, and, having in this
way let off the steam, will generally finish with a hearty
laugh, whether at themselves or their opponents cannot
be told. Clothing is here eagerly sought for by the
women, who are mostly naked. They are delighted to
get for a fowl and twenty pounds of meal a piece of cloth
about two feet long. " See," they say, holding up their
babies to excite compassion, 'Hhe fire is their only
clothing by night." But at first sight of the white man
they run away screaming with fear, or cautiously peer
at him from behind walls and round corners, snatch-
ing up their babes, and making off when he approaches,
as do the dogs, with their tails between their legs, as
though they had seen a lion. They make of him a
hobgoblin to frighten naughty children, just as ignorant
people among us would a black man, simply because he
is far removed from their standard of beauty.
It is now the second of June, and our party have
reached the village of Kawawa, consisting of about fifty
huts. A great hullabaloo was going on over the body of
a dead man. Drums were beating, and women were
making a clamorous wail at the door of the hut where
BACK TO LINY ANTE. 123-
the dead man lay, and addressing him as if he were alive.
Early in the morning a person fantastically dressed,
with a great number of feathers, had gone away into the
forest, and he, who represented one of the Barimo, or gods,
would return in the evening to take part in the jollifica-
tion. It was all very much like an Irish wake, only more
picturesque and less quarrelsome.
Strangely familiar to Livingstone must have looked a
jug of English ware, which the chief Kawawa showed
him as the greatest curiosity he could produce. It must
have carried his thoughts back to the old country, with
its myriad forms and forces of manufacturing industry,
exhibiting scenes so different from those he was now wit-
nessing. Thinking that the pictures of his magic-lantern
might amuse, if they did not instruct, the people in some
of the ways and works of civilization, he had an exhi-
bition, at which all were greatly delighted, except the
chief, who was frightened, and several times started up
to run away, but he being in the front rank could not
for the press behind him. Kawawa heard that to the
Chiboque had been given an ox, as the price of a passage
through their country ; so he thought he might as well
try his hand at a similar exaction. So when the party
were ready to start he demanded not only an ox, but a
gun with some powder, and a black robe that had taken
his fancy. If this were refused he must have a man and
a book which would tell him if his paramount lord^
Matiamvo, ever resolved to cut oif his head. He told
Livingstone very coolly that he had seen all his goods,
and if his demands were not complied with, he would
prevent the party from passing the Kasai river.
"Never," replied the missionary, ''will I have it said
that a white man paid tribute to a black; I will cross the
Kasai in spite of you." Kawawa had gathered his fol-
lowers all around, and matters looked very threatening;
but Livingstone presented a bold front, reassured his
panic stricken attendants, and with his goods moved on
to the river. But the ferrymen had been ordered to
refuse a passage, and took away their canoes, leaving
thera helpless on the banks. However, the quick eye of
124 THE WEAVER BOY.
a Makololo had noted where the canoes were hidden,
safe, as it was supposed, amid the reeds, and when it be-
came dark, he and some more of his countrymen, swam
to the spot, quietly abstracted the boats, and before dawn
the whole party were safely aci*08s, to the great astonish-
ment of Kawawa's j>eople who shouted out, " Ah, ye are
bad !" To which the Makololo replied, " Ah ye are
good ! and we thank you for the loan of your canoes 1"
We must not pass over the incidents of the rest of the
journey back to Linyante, where they arrived at the end
of the winter season, that is, in August, and were wel-
comed with every demonstration of joy. Livingstone
found that the goods which he had left at Sekeletu's were
perfectly safe, as were a quantity of things sent by
Moffat for his son-in-law. A party of Matabele had
brought the packages to the south bank of the river, and
as the Makololo would not touch them for fear they
might contain witchcraft medicine, they had left them
there; but after a while the Makololo had so far over-
come their superstitious terror as to convey them to an
island in the middle of the stream, and b\iild a but over to
protect them from the weather. And gladly, we may
be sure, did the good missionary peruse the letters and
papers they contained, although the dates were older
than they should have been, and the public news was,
somewhat stale. It was probably new to him, cut off fbr
so long a time from communication with Europe and
hmie.
.AT THE GREAT FALLS.
The next step to be taken was tlie subject of long and
anxious deliberations between Livingstone, Sekeletu, and
his people. It seemed likely that an availiable road
could be opened to the west coast, and the thoughts of
the traveller turned naturally to the east, — towards Tette^
AT THE GIt«AT f ALLS. 125
the iTiost inland station of the Portuguese ; or Zanzibar,
on the Mozambique channel. If the former course were
decided on, the river Zambesi miirht be rendered avail-
able for water carriage a great part of the way. A
"picho," or national council, was called, to discuj^s tho
advisabilitj^of a removal from Linyante to tho Barotse
valle}', 60 that they might be nearer to the market, now
rendered accessible to them, and which the presents
from Loanda, and goods procured by the sale of their
ivory, made them eager to have within reach. It is true
the hor.«e presented to the Makololo chief by the gov-
ernor of Loanda had died on the way, and a pair of 'don-
keys, int-ended also for him, had to be left in an exhausted
state at Naliele, where their music startled the inhabi-^
tants more than if they had been lions. But the colonel's
uniform came safely to hand, and excited the unbounded
admiration of the chief and his people; and many other
articles of use or ornament. There was a very animated-
discussion of this question of removal; some were very
unwilling to abandon the line of defence against tho
dreaded Matabele, formed by the rivers Chobe and Zam*
besi; then, in the Barotse valley there is much fever-
when the annual inundation subsides. It is a good
cattle station, for there is no tsetse there, where the
oxen breed faster than elsewhere. " But the jjrass is so
long, say the 3'oung men, " we cannot run fast, and it
never grows cool in that valley.'' Then the chief stood
up, and said, "I am quite satisfied that we ought to go
there to be nearer to Loanda. But with whom shall I
live? You," addressing Livingstooe, ''are going away
to the white man's country, to bring Ma-Eobert. Come
back with her, and wherever you wish to dwell, there
you will find me ; " and Sekeletu no doubt spoke from
his heart. Ho had a real liking for the good missionary,
and he saw the advantage of having him always at hand
as a friend and counsellor, and, if need be, a protector
against enemies. The wonderful stories which the
people related of what they had seen on the way, and
at Loanda; how, sick and weak as Livingstone was, he
had made friends, or frightened or outwitted enemies ;.
126 THE WEAVER BOY.
and how the white men, '* at the end of the world, where
there was no more land," respected and loved him, — all
these reports had greatly raised Livingstone in the
chiet's estimation, and especially his disposal of his ivory
at so much greater advantage than he expected. Then
he could teach him how to extract the sweet juices from
the sugar-cane, and make it an article of profit, and a
number of other things, calculated to make the Mako-
iolo rich and prosperous. His medical knowledge, too,
how useful that was, and all sorts of knowledge which
he possessed ! "Oh, he must go, but not yet; not until
the rainy season commence*=', and the air becomes cooler.
He must go, and come back again, with a sugar-mill, all
kinds of handsome clothing, especially a mohair coat, a
good rifle, beads, brass wire, and any other beautiful
things that he may find in his own country."
So said the chief, anxious for his departure, that he
might be the sooner back, yet not willing that he should
risk travelling in this terrible heat, with the temperature
up to 138° in the sun, and in the shade but thirteen
-degrees less. So he supplied all his wants abundantly,
^nd made much of him, and carefully selected two of
his best men for guides, when he should set forth, and
did everything in his power to make his stay pleasant,
and his journey safe and successful. Pleasant, however,
it could hardly be. Much as Livingstone pitied these
poor people, and desired to do them good, he could not
help feeling a sad sinking of heart, and an utter loathing
•of their heathenish ways and manners. At this season,
during the day, they kept very much in their huts,
which were cool compared witri the temperature without.
But towards evening, when the glare of the sun was not
so intolerable, they came forth, many of them half-mad-
•dened with the beer, or boyaloa, which they had been
-drinking, and then ensued such a cross-fire of banter and
raillery, with shouts of laughter and yells and shrieks
and antic-dancing, as made the scene a pandemonium,
and sleep out of the question. The women applauded
all this with clapping of hands, and the men, who were
too old to take an active p&rt in the mad revelry, pro-
nounced it "very fine."
AT THE GREAT FALLS. 127
Here, however, in this central region of South Africa,
Livingstone sees before him a promising field of mis-
sionar}'' operation. There are no actual impediments
OiTered to instruction, as there are among the tribes
nearer the coast, whom it is for the interest of the slave-
trader to keep in a state of ignorance, and to incite to
war among themselves or upon tribes farther in the
interior. The chiefs and head-men of these alluvial
plains and valleys are pleased to have an European visi-
tor, or better still, resident, in their territory. By them
his property is respected, and his life is an object of
great solicitude. Any missionary station planted among
them would be cared for, and protected to the extent of
their power; and they would listen to instructors who
could teach so many useful arts, while imparting religious
knowledge. No doubt the prevalence of fever, caused
by the malarious exhalations, drawn by the heat of the
sun from the decay of the exuberant growth of vegeta-
tion produced by the rich, moist soil, is a sad drawback;
but this may be avoided by choosing a site somewhat
elevated; and even in the low grounds there is a whole
or partial absence of other diseases, such as consumption,
scrofula, small-pox, measles, hydrocephalus, epilepsy,
cholera, or cancer, etc. These are counter-balancing
advantages, which should be taken into account, and
which were seen and acknowledged by Livingstone,
whose sufferings from fever are scarcely to be taken as
a fair criterion of what other Europeans might expect.
He was constantly travelling, most usually in the rainy
season, sleeping on the damp ground month after month,
exposed to drenching showers, and having his lower
extremities thoroughly wetted two or three times a day
in crossing rivers or wading through bogs ; often living
on manioc roots and meal only, and exposed to the direct
rays of the burning sun. The wonder is that he lived
through it ail, and made such journeys and discoveries.
And now he is about to set forth again, this time in an
easterly direction, to follow, as closely as he may, the
course of the Zambesi, and see what facilities that great
river aftbrds for opening up the heart of South Africa to
Christianity and commerce.
128 THE WEAVER BOY.
It is the 27tli of October, 1855, when the first contin-
uons rain of the season begins to fall; then he and his
Savty make ready for their departure, and on the 3rd of
fovember they set out, accompanied by Sekeletu and
two hundred of his Makololo. The mother of the chief
had prepared for Livingstone a bag of ground-nuts fried
in cream, with a little salt, which is considered a great
delicacy; and Mamire, her second husband, made a fare-
well speech, expressive of hope for his safety, and quick
return with his wife, Ma-Robert, whose coming to dwell
among them they all seemed greatly to desire. So the
cavalcade set out, as it had done before, with Livingstone
for a leader, and the friendly chief bearing him com-
pany on the way with a numerous escort. Towards
sight they have a tremendous storm of thunder and
lightning, and drenching rain, which wets the mission-
ary to the skin ; his clothes have gone forward, so he
cannot change them, and Sekeletu gives him his own
blanket to sleep on, going without himself, — an act of
kindness of which few savages would be capable. After-
wards he presents him with twelve oxen, and hoes and
beads, etc., sufficient to purchase a canoe when they
reach the Zambesi, beyond the celebrated Mosi-oa-lunya,
or "Smoke-resounding," Falls, which, after travelling
for about a fortnight, they were now approaching.
These falls, which are described as large and more mag-
nificent than Niagara, are caused by a deep fissure in the
hard, black basaltic rock, which forms the bed of the
river, into which the mighty volume of water suddenly
leaps, down a sheer descent of unknown depth, with tre-
meadous sound, and a shaking of the earth, which can
be heard and felt many miles away. The river is here
about 1,860 yards wide, flowing from north to south, and
the crack in its bed, caused by some great convulsion of
nature, lies right across it, being about as long as the
stream is wide. The width of the crack, at its narrowest
part, is about eighty yards. So into this tremendous
chasm, which has been plumbed to twice the depth of
the Niagara Falls, plunges that mile-wide sheet of
water,— a spectacle the most sublime, perhaps, that this
AT THE GREAT FALLS. 129
I
' earth affords. On the verge of this awful precipice, and
in the midst of the water, dividing it into two nearly
equal streams, stands Garden Island, a little spot of
ground which, by skilful paddling, may be approached
in a canoe, and, looking from thence down the sheer
descent of that crystal wall, one may see nearly half a
mile of water, collected Ir a channel from twenty to
thirty yards wide, flowing to the left, at exactly right
angles to its previous course, while the other portion of
the fall flows to the right. These two streams meet
midway in a boiling whirlpool, and dash off, foaming and
seething, through another rocky fissure, at right angles
to the crackdown which they first were precipitated, and
from the eastern end of which this outlet is about 1,170
yards, but not more than 600 from its western end.
Through this narrow escape channel, which does not
appear to be more than twenty or thirty yards wide, the
2iambesi rushes southward, for about the distance of 130
yards, when it enters a second chasm, somewhat deeper
and nearly parallel with the first. The eastern half of
this great chasm is left dry, and has large trees growing
in it, while the volume of water goes steadily off to the
west, forming a promontory which has at its point the
second escape channel, about 1,170 yards long, and 416
broad at the base; after reaching which, the river turns
abruptly round the head of another promontory, flowing
away to the east, through a third chasm; it then glides
round a third promontory, and away back to the west by
a fourth chasm; and in the distance it seems to round
yet another promontory, and bond once more back to the
east in a fifth chasm. There has been no wearing away
of the rocks by the long-continued action of waters
hero, as at the great American falls. They are right
throughout the course of this gigantic zigzag so sharply
cut and angular that it can at once be seen that the hard
basalt has been broken by a force acting from beneath
into their present form, how many ages since, no one
can tell ; but, as Livingstorvo conjectures, it was probably
done when the ancient inland seas were let off by similar
fiaaures nearer the ocean.
130 THE WEAVER BOY. ^
From the difierent proraontories views ma}^ be obtained
of the falls under varying aspects, all agreeing in the
one element of sublime grandeur; but perhaps there is
no finer than from Garden Island, where the whole body
of water runs clean over, quite unbroken, but after a
descent of ten or more feet the whole mass suddenly
assumes the appearance of a mighty snow-drift ; por-
tions of it, like comets with streaming tails, leaping off
in every direction, twisting and whirling in a mad dance
that dazzles the eye and makes the brain giddy to look
upon. Clouds of these aqueous comets invested in finer
spray, rush up in columns, as it were of steam, to the
height of 200 or 300 feet ; they may be seen at the
Batoka village, Moachemba, about twenty miles off, and
it is from these, and the sounds like thunder which may
be heard as far as they can be seen, that the name Mosi-
oa-tunya, or "smoke-resounding," has been applied to
the falls. This vapor, becoming condensed, falls in con-
stant showers upon the evergreen trees upon the island
and banks, from whose leaves the heavy drops roll like
globules of quicksilver, and form rivulets, which, running
down the face of the rock, are licked off their perpen-
dicular beds by the uprising column, and sent again into
the air, to be again returned in showers upon the trees,
and again thwarted in their efforts to find the level of the
main stream, that goes rushing and roaring in the nar-
row escape channels, or gliding, with a smoothness that
indicates the vast depths of the hollows w hich receive it
round the tree-covered promontories, on which one can
stand and view the amazing spectacle. When the morn-
ing sun gilds these smoke-like columns, double and
treble rainbows flash and corruscate about them. In
the evening there is a yellow sulphurous haze, as if from
the mouth of the bottomless pit. "Have you any smoke-
soundings in your country?" was one of the first ques-
tions put by Sebituane to the first whi e man he ever
saw; and he again asked, "What causes the smoke to
rise so far out of the water?" This was in 1851, when
Livingstone, with Oswell, approached the falls, within
two days' journey ; but it was not until now, in 1855,
AT THE GREAT FALLS. 131
that he beheld them, and he was obliged to confess, that
of all the wonders of the lands he had visited, he had
seen no such stupendous spectacle as this, and there is
no doubt that he was the first European who had e^er
gazed on it. He did not, on this occasion, make a length-
ened examination of the falls, for Sekeletu and his two
hundred followers were with him, and these could not be
detained the necessary time; besides, he wanted to
explore this eastern route as closely as possible. In
1860 he again visited the spot, and made a careful exam-
ination of the falls. This was at the end of a drought,
and the river was then at its lowest, but his brother,
Charles Livingstone, who was with him, and had seen
!Niagara, gave the palm to Mosi-oa-tunya. At flood, the
volume of waters here must greatly exceed that of the
American fall ; and the tortuous course of the channel,
the many deep chasms into which the current leaps, the
numerous points of view from which it may be seen,
and the effects produced, are so strange and startling,
that it must ever be an object of wonder and reverential
awe. One is not surprised to learn that the ancient
Batoka chieftains considered Garden Island and Boaruka,
anotlier small island farther west, and also on the verge
of the descent, as sacred spots for worshipping the
deity, of whose existence they had some misty and con-
fused consciousness. Under these cloudy columns,
lighted up with brilliant rainbows, upon ground that
seemed to rock and tremble, and with this ceaseless rush
and roar in their ears, they might surely here, if any-
where, realize the presence of an Omnipotent Being,
and tremble at his majesty and power.
-^ Short as was his first visit to the place, Livingstone
endeavored to turn to account the moisture that fell from
the columns of watery vapor, by planting some fruit-
trees, which he hoped might here obtain nourishment
and thrive, and which he charged his Makololo friends
to hedge about, and protect from the hippopotami, which
it was plain sometimes came to the spot. On his second
visit he found that the trees had been destroyed, as he
feared they would be, by the great river-horses that ven-
132 THB WEAVER BOY.
ture so near the edge of the falls tliat the wonder is they
are not carried over, as it is likely they sometimes are,
although the current above is very calm and smooth,
giving no indication of the tremendous leap it is about
tdtake into the abyss that has so strangely opened across
its way, and on the other side of which there is the pro-
montory or tonscue of land, which forces it into a zigeag^
course, on the same level as the banks of the river, and
beyond that another, another, and yet another promon-
tory, all with herbage and trees, as if we had taken a
piece of forest land, and divided it into triangles, the
base of one corresponding with the apex of another, so
that there should be a continuous channel between,
through which the water poured into it from above
should flow, alternately from east to west, and from west
to east, until it finally escaped below. But what kind of
power was it that cut those channels, or rather, broke
them up from beneath in the hard basalt which formed
the bed of the river? The same power, no doubt, which
cleft the edges of that rocky basin, and let the waters
escape, which once made a vast inland sea of the whole
of central South Africa, compared with which Ngami,
Nyassa, Tanganyki, and the other lakes recently discov-
ered are but as the pools and puddles left when the
tide flows out and leaves the lately submerged marshy
lands firm and dry for a time; and like the little ditches
and water channels, which are then seen going in every
direction and often crossing each other and communicat-
ing with these pools, are the great rivers, which form a
network through the central basin, rich with alluvial
soil, rank with vegetation, thickly inhabited, and annually
overfixowed with an abundant rainfall; and this geogra-
phers once thought to be a howling waste of burning
sand, wherein no human being could long exist. This
i« en'^ of the geographical illusions that Livingstone has
dispellsd, and to him belongs the honor of a great dis-
cover}-, fraught with consequences of the utmost import-
ance to mankifld at large, and especially to the tribes
inhabiting those hitherto inaccessible regions. First
was he of all Europeans to cross the inhospitable Kala-
AT THE GREAT PALLS. 133
hari desert ; first to stand by Lake Ngami ; first to view
the bread expanse of Lake Nyassa; first to make his
"way through obstacles and difficulties which scarcely
another mao woald have braved, and could have over-
come, from the central country to the western coast, then
back again, a fever-etrickeo, fanaished man, yet with an
indomitable spirit, and with a firm dependence upon
^d's helping and sustaining hand, that nothing could
daunt or toTn from his course. He has explored rivew
of great length and volume, whose names even were
unfiiowo to geographers; made observations which will
be of the greatest use to travellers ; and opened to com-
merce and Christianity realms of exhaustless fertility,
ridi in animal, mineral, and vegetable productions, and
tribes of men, numerous beyond calculation, gentle and
teachable, who only need the quickening and enlighten-^
ing influence of the Gospel of Christ to lift them from
their state of degradation, and make them useful mem-
bers of the great family of man. He haa marked and
exposed the evils of that cruel system of slavery which
is eating its way like a cancer farther and farther into
ihe heart of South Africa, corroding and corrupting all
whom it touches, and now he stands by the wonderful
fells of that great river, Zambesi, whose course and cap-
abilities he was the first to determine, and of which he
hopes to make a broad highway for the merchant and
the teaoher. Now, bidding adieu to Sekeletu, who here
Itoves with him ooe hundred and fourteen men, he turns
his face northward, and 8et& forth again on his toilsome
tpfcvelft.
ii,
'•»
- • . ! It
:' V
134 THE WEAVEB BOY.
XV. ■ • '•"; -•■ 'H \:.
AWAY TO THE EAST COAST.
Leaving the valley in which the Lekone flows at the
village of Moyara, and directing their course more to
north-east, over a rough and rocky soil composed chiefly
of red sand, they pass through a tract of country which
was formerly thickly populated, but is now bare and des-
olate. The Batoka tribes, among whom they now travel,
have some peculiar customs, such as knocking out the
front teeth of both sexes when they arrive at the age of
puberty, causing the upper lip to fall in so that the
under one protrudes in a very unsightly way ; this gives
an old appearance to the face, and makes the smile hid-
eous. No Batoka belle would like to show herself abroad
with her upper incisors in. This, like the elongation of
the lip caused by wearing a metal ring in it, practised
by so many of the South African tribes, is one of their
peculiar notions of beauty, of which we can only say,
there is no accounting for tastes. The Batokas give as a
reason for this practice that they wish to appear like
oxen, and not like zebras, for which latter animals they
have an abhorence.
The great chief, Sebituane, strove to abolish this per-
nicious practice; he gave orders that none of the child-
ren living under him should be subjected to it; but still
it went on. The power of fashion was too strong for
him, as it has proved for most potentates who have set
themselves against it. Such a shaft of ridicule as
<' Look at his great teeth," aimed at one unfortunate
individual, was sufficient to make him ashamed of him-
self, and very soon his ofl'ence against propriety would
be expiated.
Yery dark in color are these Batoka of the Zambesi,
and very degraded in their appearance and manners;
much given to a kind of intoxication caused by smoking
the mutokwane, a kind of hemp, which causes a species
of frenzy. Its use is common to most of the interior
AWAY TO THE EAST COAST. 135
tribes. Its effect upon some is to magnify every object
they see, so that they lift their feet as high in passing
over a straw as if it were the trunk of a tree.
Livingstone's party consisted of nine of these Batoka,
with some of the Bushubia, and Barotse, the latter being
chiefly useful on account of their ability to swim, and
navigate canoes. They carry their paddles with them,
Sekeletu's tusks were borne by the Batoka; these were
to be sold, or exchanged for ot^er articles on the east
coast, towards which they began to descend after passing
the Unguesi, a tributary of the Zambesi, which falls into
it a little above the rapids.
They now meet with the baobab and other trees, simi-
lar to those which are found in the descent to the west
coast, notably one called moshuka^ yielding a fruit which
looks like an apple, and tastes like a pear^ of which there
were great quantities. It grows to the height of fifteen
or twenty feet, and has leaves as large as a man's hand,
hard and glossy. There was also the maneho, a hairy-
rinded fruit, about as large as a walnut, full of a sweet,
gummy water, and the beans called n/w, contained in a
large square pod; these are freely eaten by the men, and
the pulp from between the seeds of the nux vomicay
which yields the deadly poison called strychnine. That
magnificent evergreen tree, the motsihin^ bears up its
masses of dark foliage, contrasting with the light-leaved
acacias, which, like the mopanej fold their leaves to-
gether, presenting the least possible surface to the action
of the hot sun. There are palms in the surrounding
country, but they are not of the oil-bearing kind, and
through the parched soil many bulbous and other plants
are pushing up their emer£.ld spikes, and putting out
their leaves to clothe the ground with verdure and
beauty. Conspicuous among all stands the molay with
its spreading, oak-like form, covered with brownish-
green leaves, looking as if ihaj were bronzed.
It is now the 30th of November; another river, the
Kalome, about fifty yards broad, with a rapid current,
which falls into the Zambesi below the falls, is crossed,
and before them, to the eastward, is a treeless, undulat-
136 THE WEAVER BOY.
iDg plain, covered with short grass. They are on the
elevated ridge which encloses the great central basin on
the east and west, and on which the climate is by no
means unhealthy, so that missionary stations might be
established here, from whence operations might be car-
ried on among the natives on both sides of them. Here
they meet with that rare sight in Africa, a tuskless ele-
phant, and see herds of buffaloes feeding in all directions
dui'ing the day,^a sure sign that they have not been
much disturbed, as, where this is the case, they retire
into the densest forests, and only come out to feed by
night. Inexpressibly refreshing and invigorating it is
to look out upon a wide expanse of country, after having
travelled for a long time in thick forest lands, where the
air is hot and close, and danger may be lurking within a
foot or two. Here, upon this elevated ridge, there are
no obstructions to the view ; no pitfalls and morasses to
entrap the feet ; the step becomes more firm and elastic;
the lately sluggish pulsations more quick and distinctly
marked ; despondency is banished from the mind, and
hope and cheerfulness resume their sway. So the party
went on rejoicing in the altered circumstances of their
route. The peculiar whistle of the honey-guide was fre-
quent in their ears. " Come and see ! come and see !**
he said ; and the men answered him by a peculiar re-
sponse, in their own language, which might be inter-
preted, *' All right ! go ahead ! we'll follow !" and some
of them would go after the bird which flew off slowly, so
that they could keep it well in view, and it would not be
long before it settled upon some tree, in the hollow of
which the wild bees have stored up their honey, which
was borne off in the dripping combs by the natives, for
A feast, while the bird made a meal of the detatched
tortious which fell around. This probably is the in-
ucement for the invitation which it gives to all and
sundry to come and rifle tlie sweet treasure.
Over the Mozuma, or river of Dila, now they pass,
leaving the Taba Cheu, or "White Mountain," to the
fiOTjith-east. Between the banks of the river, in which
no water flows at present^ Livingstone observes, witk
AWAY TO THE EAST COAST. 137
much satisfaction, pieces of lignite, probably indicating
the existence of coal, everywhere a great adjunct to civ-
ilization. Here were ruins of large towns which had
been depopulated by war, most likely caused by the
atrocious slave-trade. Millstones, with the balls of
quartz with which the grinding was effected, were left
behind, showing that death had overtaken the inhabi-
tants, or that they had made a hurried retreat. Here it
was, that Sebituane had lived before he removed finally
into the conquered Makololo country. From thence he
mads his forays into the surrounding districts, and here
collected great herds of cattle, with which the country
was then exceedingly rich. The advantages of this
position for a missionary settlement was pointed out
by Sekwebu, who was the head-man of the party of
natives, he having received his chiefs orders to do so;
and to Livingstone the only want seemed that of popula-
tion, — the Batoka having fled into the hills. Being now
in the country of those who were considered rebels
against Sekeletn, some apprehensions were entertained
of their friendly reception, and some furious manifesta-
tions were made against them, which all ended in angry
words and gesticulations ; but when they got beyond
this fringe of malcontents, the found the Batoka or
Batonga people quite friendly. They hailed with great
joy the appearance of the first white man, and offered
presents of maize and masuka. They have a singular
mode of salutation, — throwing themselves on their backs,
rolling in the dust, and slapping their thighs, exclaiming
'' Una homhay As they advanced, the population became
more dense, villages crowded upon villages, and the
people came forth in multitudes with ground-nuts, and
maize and corn, for the good missionary, who spoke to
them of Him who had sent forth the proclamation,
"Peace on earth, good-will to men." And this scattered
and war-scourged people, who had been driven fronk
place to place, and never allowed to remain long in quiet
without understanding the full import of the message,,
gladly seized upon the central idea of peace. "Give us
peace," they said j "give us rest and sleep. We are
9
138 THE WEAVER BOY.
tired of flight and warfare. Oh, give us rest! " And
well might they say this ; well might they long for rest
and quietude, over whom the tide of conquest had so
often swept. First from the south-west, the country of
the Zulus, came a chief named Pingola, who devastated
their whole territory, sweeping away oxen, cows, and
calves, leaving them scarce a single head. They were
just beginning to recover from this blow, and get up
their stock again, when Sebituane came in upon them
like a flood, and carried off what was left of tneir cattle.
And after him the Matabele, under Mosilikatse, made
inroads into their territory, and stripped them, so that
they became a truly scattered and peeled nation.
Sunday, the 10th of December, was spent in the vil-
lage of Monze, who was the principal chief of the
Batoka. On the hill, called by the pleasant name of
JCisekise, lived Monze, and from thence the eye had a
Tange of thirty miles over Open, undulating country,
•covered with short grass, with but few trees. Formerly,
the people lived much in large towns, but since the
■devastating wars to which they had been subjected, they
had adopted a more wide-spread mode of habitation, the
better to see and give warning at the approach of an
•enemy. On Monday, comes Monze to roll in the dust
and scream ^-kina homha,'" while his wife, armed with a
small battle-axe, screamed in concert, but did not roll.
A few goats and fowls were all the live stock Monze
and his people now possessed, and he gave one of each to
the missionary, and was highly delighted to have in
exchange some printed cotton handkerchiefs, with one
of which he proposed to decorate his child, a!id then
send for all the people to dance round it. No white man
had ever visited Monze before, and the black traders who
came to him had from him ivory, not slaves. On the
whole, he seemed a very good sort of » fellow, as African
chiefs go.
But we must not tarry with him longer ; the east
coast is before us, and we must push on to reach it.
But first, who are these men, with tall extinguishers on
their heads ? These, like the Bashu Kulompo, have the
AWAY TO THE BAST COAST. 139
hair plaited into a cone. Sometimes they eke out their
own hair with that of animals, as ladies in civilized
Europe are said to do. Of course, we don't believe it.
The operation by which this is eflfected is a painful one,
but what is pain to fashion ? The scalp is drawn tightly
up, so that it is difficult to close the eyes. The cone is
often eight inches round, and from eight to ten high.
Sometimes it is bent forward, so that it resembles a hel-
met. The head-man of the party who visited Living-
stone, had in his a wand, which projected full a yard
from the head. Making a detour a little to the north
to visit an influential chief named Semalembue, they
slept at the village of Monze's sister, who conducted
them some distance on the road the next day, and sent
forward orders for their entertainment at the place where
they would again rest. At parting she said, "Hov7
pleasant it would be to sleep without dreaming of any
one pursuing with a spear! "
Crossing the rivulet Nakachinta, which flows eastward
into the Zambesi, with the range of tree-covered hills,
called Chamai, before them, they now proceed to a lower
level, where the ground is fertile, but the vegetation no-
where rank. The Masuka and other trees, with which
they had lately been familiar, had been left behind, and
the orchilla weed, with lichens on the trees, and mosses
on the ground, begin to appear. As they pass along,
the people supply them with food in abundance. They
had somehow found out that Livingstone had medicine,
and they brought their children and sick folk to be cured
by him, much to the disgust of his followers, who wished
to monopolize his skill and remedies. Here, for the first
time was heard the curious cry " Pula, pula,^ signify-
ing, " rain, rain," uttered by a bird, probably a kind of
cuckoo. The natives call it Mokwa reza^ — " Son-in-law
of God," and say that its cry predicts heavy falls of
rain. This is a bird of good repute; not so the crow,
whose nests are destroyed in times of drought, to break
the charm, which it is said seals up the windows of
heaven. More and more beautiful does the country now
become, being furrowed by deep valleys, which abound
140 THE WEAVER BOY.
in large game, such as buffaloes and elephants; three of
the latter are shot, and a plentiful supply of meat
obtained, in which the natives are glad to share. Leav-
ing the elephant valley they cross the rivulet, Losito, and
reach the residence of the chief, Semalembue, situated
at the bottom of the rocky ranges, through which the
Kafue finds a passage; this is on about the same level as
Linj^ante. The river is here about two hundred yards
wide, and abounds in Hippopotami. The chief was very
friendly, giving them large supplies of food, and mak-
ing at the same time, many apologies for being obliged
to keep them hungry, as a gentleman, in more civilized
countries, might apologize to his guests for setting before
them so poor a repast, which probably consists of all
the delicacies of the season. Semalembue was a consid-
erable merchant, receiving large quantities of ivory
from the surrounding tribes, and transmitting it to
other chiefs on the Zambesi, who sent in exchange Eng-
lish cotton goods, brought from Mozambique by Babisa
traders. His attendants were mostly large men, with
fine crops of wool on their heads, which were drawn up
together in a tapering bunch at the crown, or twisted in
little strings like a fringe on one side, and allowed to
hang down on the other, so that it looked like a little
cap cocked jauntily on one side. A present of a shirt
to the chief, who accompanied Livingstone partly on his
way, highly delighted him. The country about here is
well cultivated, the people industrious and keen traders;
maize, ground-nuts, and sweet potatoes, are the chief
produce; the sugar-cane is also cultivated to some
extent.
On they march like a triumphal procession, with
much clapping of hands by the men, and luUibalooing
by the women, out of the dominions of the friendly
chief, and across the hills towards the confluence of the
Zambesi with the Kafue. The precipitous nature of the
ground makes their progress slow here, so that they are
three days before they reach the top of the outer range
of hills, and look upon a glorious prospect. At a short
distance below was the Kafue, winding its way to its
AWAY TO THE EAST COAST. 141
confluence with the Zambesi, which was hastening over
a forest-elad plain to join it; a long range of dark hills
at its farther end, with a line of fleecy clouds at their
base, marking the course of the great river. The plain
below was crowded with large game. In the open
spaces grazed bufi'aloes and zebras; beneath the trees
fed majestic elephants, in numbers quite astonishing.
As they descended amongst them, they found these ani-
mals remarkably tame, not having been much disturbed
by the natives, who live chiefly on the hills and have
no guns. As they approached the Zambesi, the cover
became thicker, and they had frequently to shout to
elephants to make them get out of the way, and even to
shoot one of a herd of buffaloes which wanted to become
too friendly with the oxen. Water-fowls begin to
abound, as they get to the banks of the river, of which
the Barotse say that " its fish and fowls are always fat."
On an island in the Zambesi, about a mile and a half
long and a quarter broad, a herd of sixty buffaloes have
their feeding-ground, and are always ready to fight for
its possession.
In a valley between ranges of hills, through which
the Zambesi flows, they find on the north side the
Batonga, and on the south the Banyai. They have two
ways of killing the elephants ; one is to erect stages on
trees over the paths they frequent, ^nd, as an animal
passes beneath, it is struck in the back by a spear with
a blade twenty inches long oy two broad, and a handle
four or five feet long and as thick as a man's wrist. The
wounded elephant rushes off, and the handle of the
embedded weapon, striking against the trees, makes
frightful gashes, which cause death. The other plan is
to insert a spear in a heavy beam of wood, and suspend
it by a cord, that passes over the branch of a tree, and
is attached by its other extremity to a latch, placed in
the path ; this being struck by the animal's foot, flies
back, and releases the cord, so that the beam falls, and
the spear, which enters the back being poisoned, death
quickly iensues.
They have now rains and flooded lands again, and
142 THE WEAVER BOY.
have to make their way through damp and rank vegeta-
tation, by following the footpaths of wild animals. Dif-
ferent kinds of antelopes are abundant, as well as wild^
pigs; so there is no lack of food. The head-man of the
village furnished grain, and quickly conducted the party
on. All were friendly except Selole, who, having been
somewhile before, with other chiefs, attacked and robbed
by an Italian, named Simoens, who had married a chief's
daughter, and came up the river from Tette with some
armed slaves, suspected that Livingstone was another
Italian, or Simoens, who had been killed in the expedi-
tion, come to life again. But he was soon pacified by
an explanation, although he and others continued to
view the party with suspicion, and it required constant
care and watchfulness to keep them together, and safe
from an attack. An office something like that of the
priesthood exists among the chiefs of these parts, who
are supposed to have power to propitiate the Deity.
Supposing that he possessed this power, hunters of
elephants, hippopotami, and followers of other vocations
came to Livingstone to beg for medicines which would
give them success. The missionary pointed them to a
higher power for aid in all their good undertakings. A
strong, muscular race of people were those about this
part of the course .of the Zambesi, which was their great
highway. Both men and women cultivate the ground.
They have the lower lip deformed by artificial means,
which so disfigures most of the tribes. Their villages
are picturesquely situated among the hills, and their
valleys are occupied by gardens, where maize and native
corn grow luxuriantly. They cannot keep oxen, for the
tsetse, and look upon white men as marauders, having
been much robbed by the half-caste Portuguese, whom
they call Bazunga. " They have words of peace all very
fine," they say; "but lies only, as the Bazunga are great
liars." They knew not then that they might trust the
Makoa, the "English."
. ■. • , f
HOMEWARD BOUND. 143
XYI.
HOMEWARD BOUND.
REACumG, on the 14th, the confluence of the Loangwa
and the Zambesi, the party crossed the former river on
the 15th, in the presence of a large armed concourse of
natives, from whom they expected an attack. This how-
ever, did not take place, and they proceeded along the
bottom of the range, called Mazanzwe, where they found
remains of houses and a church, indicating the site of a
once flourishing commercial settlement of the Portuo-uese,
who were now at war with the native tribes around
which rendered the course of a white traveller amono-
them somewhat perilous. They pass several inhabited
islands in the Zambesi, which belong to independent chiefs
who do pretty much as they like. They are greatly de-
layed in their march by being obliged to stop at every
village, the people of which would consider it an insult
if the travellers had passed without doing so. Rain falls
daily, and everything is beautifully fresh and green.
Their oxen, however, are bitten by the tsetse, and cannot
march above two miles an hour ; and they are anxious,
too, on account of the uncertainty of their reception by
each chieftain, in whose territories they advance.
The people of Mpende surround their encampment at
night with strange, wild cries, and seem about to attack
them ; but are content with the performance of certain
incantations intended to render them powerless or at
least to frighten them. When Livingstone sends Arord
to the chief that he is an Englishman, his reply is, "We
don't know that tribe ; we suppose you are a Mazuno-a
(Portuguese), the tribe with which we have been fight-
ing." Assured that this was not the case, somethinj^ tikcj
the truth dawned upon the native mind, and the excla-
mation broke forth, " You must be one of that tribe that
loves the black man." What an honorable distinction is
this! It established friendly relations, and the chief did
all he could to aid their progress. The people of a large
144 THE WEAVER BOY.
island are ordered to ferry them across the river, here
1,200 vards wide, and 700 or 800 deep. They are now
among the Babisa. To the north lies Senga, which
abounds in iron ore. English cotton goods begin to be
abundant, and the name of an Englishman is a passport
to the favor of the natives. " He is a man," say they ;
"his countrymen are enemies to the slave trade." Aid
when the slaves themselves report Livingstone's approach
to Tette, then about ten days\|ourney olF, they say, " Oh,
this is our brother who is coming !" Still the enmity of
all the tribes on the north of the Zambesi to the Portu-
o-uese, and their practice of making night attacks, renders
travelling more dangerous the nearer they come to Tette,
which, however, they at length reach on the 3rd of
March, and are hospitably entertained by the command-
ant, who does all he can to recover Livingstone from his
emaciated conilition, and ivpke his followers content to
remain awhile. A house of his own is assigned them,
until they can build huts for themselves, in order that
they may escape the bite of a venomous insect, called the
tampan, or carapatos.
The town, or village, of Tette is built on a slope up
from the river, close by whose edge stands the fort,
which has been the salvation of the Portuguese power
in this quarter. Although it mounts but few guns, and
has only thatched apartments for the residence of the
troops, yet it is strong enough to resist the attacks of the
natives, and to keep them in some kind of awe. Latterly,
however, they have approached very near to it, burning^
and destroying the houses to its very walls. This wa»
•done while the commandant was absent on an expedition
against Nyande, a man of mixed Asiatic and Portuguese
breed, who had built a stockade at the confluence of the
Luenya and the Zambesi, and levied black-mail upon all
the traders who passed up or down. Learning that the
commandant was on the way to attack him, this worthy
despatched his son with a strong party up the left bank
of the river, who plundered and burnt the place, in which
there are about thirty houses for Europeans, l)uilt of
stone, cemented with mud instead of mortar, and thatched
HOMEWARD BOUND. 145
with reeds and grass, and 1,200 huts for natives. The
house of the commandant, with the church and fort, were
not destroyed by the rebels, who carried off all the cattle
they could find, and much other plunder. When news
c^' this counter-move reached the army before Nyande's
stockade, a panic seized the men ; they dispersed and fled
home, each by the way he thought best, and being thus
separated, many of them were captured by Katolosa, " a
half-caste," who had hitherto professed to be friendly
with the Portuguese, while another, name Kisaka, who
lived on the opposite bank of the Zambesi, also rebelled.
He imagined, or chose to say, that his father had been be-
witched by the Portuguese, and in revenge he plundered
all the plantations of the rich merchants who had their
villas on the north bank of the river. 1 hus were the
people of Tette impoverished, and the trade of the place
ruined. An etfort was afterwards made to punish the
chief rebels, who kept the Portuguese shut up in their
fort for two years, so that they could only get goods suffi-
cient to buy food, by sending them overland along the
north bank of the Zambesi to Quillimane. This man was
eventually pardoned by the home government, probably
because he was able to bribe largely. Major Sicard, the
Commandant of Tctte, when Livingstone reached the
place, had considerable influence with the natives, which
he had exerted to restore peace, which, however, had not
lasted long. He bad been told by some natives that " The
Son of God, who was able to take the sun down from
the heavens, and place it under Irs arm (this was in allu-
sion to the sextant and artificial horizon), had come," and
having previously heard that Livingstone was on his
way thither, felt sure that this was he, and prepared to
receive him.
There is much coal in the vicinity of Tette, and iron ;
and a gold field, which is only fitfully and partially
worked by the natives, lies at no great distance. Large
crops might be raised of maize, indigo, and cotton, with
other tropical produce ; and labor is cheap, or might be
did not the goose with the golden eggs get constantly
killed, by the deportation as slaves of the natives, who
146 THE WEAVER BOY.
would gladly work for low wages. As it is, a fine coun-
try is made comparatively unproductive, and what might
be a thriving and industrious population, thinned, and
converted into blood-thirsty ruffians, by the odious slave
traffic. ^ ^ ' '
There was formerly an establishment of Jesuits, called
Micombo, at a distance of about ten miles from Tette ;
but this has been suppressed, and the only religious teach-
ers now in this part of the country are two gentlemen of
color, natives of Goa, to whom the European residents
of the town send their children for education. There is
but one school in the place, where the native children are
taught to read and write.
Livingstone was anxious to stait for Quillimane early
ir^ April ; but suddenly ^her.e occurred n change o^ tem-
perature, and the commandant himself and many others
in the place were prostrated with an attack of fever.
The only medical man there was the apothecary with the
troops ; and the missionary was glad to exert his med-
ical skill in the service of those who had treated him so
kindly. His stock of quinine was exhausted ; but he
found that a plant, possessing strong febrifuge properties,
grew plentifully in the country ; and he used this with
much success. When the commandant was fairly re-
covered, and Livingstone sufficiently strong, he prepared
to descend the Zambesi. Selecting sixteen men who could
manage canoes to accompany him, he left the rest at
Tette, where Major Sicard gave them a portion of land,
in which to cultivate their own corn, supplying them
with sufficient for sustenance in the mean time. They
had also permission to hunt elephants and purchase goods
with the ivory and dried meat, that they might have
something to take home when they returned. Many
more would have accompanied Livingstone ; but he
heard that food was scarce at Quillimane, and therefore
took no more than he absolutely required.
Leaving Tette on the noon of the 2 2d, the party pro-
ceed on their canoe-voyage down the noble river, with
whose name that of Livingstone will be ever associated.
Past the stockade of the rebel Nyande they go, not ap-
HOMEWARD BOUND. 147
proaching it nearer than they are obliged ; it is composed
of living trees, and therefore cannot well be burnt. It
might soon be destroyed by the guns of a vessel, but
musketry would have little effect on it. On the 2Vth they
arrive at Senna, which stands on the right bank of the
Zambesi, with many reedy islands in front of it, and
much stagnant water about, which renders the place un-
healthy. Stagnation and rain seem to be its marked
characteristics. Like Tette, it has suffered greatly in
the wars between the natives and the Portuguese. An
old fort of sundried bricks, with the grass growing over
its walls, and mended at places with palings, offered but
a mockery of resistance to an invader. A tribe of the
warlike Zulus, called the Landeens, visit the village
periodically*, ^and levy fines upoh the inhabitants. In
league with them appear to be the half-castes, who convey
information to them when resistance is contemplated, or
any attempt made to coerce them, and who pay them tri-
bute when it is forbidden by the commandant, Senor
Isidore, a man of considerable energy, who was about to
surround the village with palisades, to protect it against
these enemies. Many of the natives here had been in-
structed in boatbuilding and carpentry, at the expense
of the commandant, and were now employed by him in
constnicting boats and launches of from £25 to £100
value, and in the wood-work of houses, — in both of
which branches of trade they evinced great skill and dex-
terity. All colonial Portuguese officials are so badly
paid, if they receive pay at all, that they are obliged to
engage in some kind of commerce by which to support
themselves, and it is happy if they do not take to slave-
dealing, as too many of them do ; hence the always
covert and often open encouragement given to it by those
in authority. Manica lies three days' journey to the
north-west of Gorongozo, which can be seen from Senna.
It is the best gold country known in Eastern Africa,
and is supposed by some to be identical with the ancient
Ophir of Scripture. The Portuguese say that there is a
small tribe of arabs there who have become completely
assimilated with the other natives. There are said to be
148 THE WEAVER BOY.
several caves in the country, with walls of hewn stone,
which the people say were the work of their ancestors.
Livingstone left Senna on the 1 1 th, and was accompanied
to his boats by the commandant and the principal inhabi-
tants, w^ho had furnished an abundant supply of provisions.
About thirty miles below Senna they pass the mouth of
the river Zangwe on the right, and five miles lower that
of the Shire on the left. It appeared to be about two
hundred yards wide, and brought down into the Zambesi
immense quantities of a cigantic duckweed, and another
aquatic plant, which barotse called njefu ; it bore in the
petiole of the leaf a pleasant-tasted nut, which was so
highly esteemed by Sebituane that h<i made it part of his
tribute from subjected tribes. These plants are found
growing on all the branches and lagoons on the Leeam-
bye, in the far north, and their existence here in such
abundance seems to prove that the Shire flows from the
ame large collections of still waters. It is said by some
about Tette to have its origin in the southern extremity
of a lake called Nyanja, situated about forty-five days
north-west of that place, and that the fiat, marshy region
through which it flows is numerously occupied by a brave
population. Leaving the mouth of the Shire a few miles
behind, they lose the hills entirely, and sail between ex-
tensive flats, well-wooded. All the country on the right
is subject to the Landeens, who generally levy a tribute
on passengers, and consider the whites a conquered tribe.
Livingstone was desirous of meeting with some of them,
to ascertain if they were really Zulu Cafires, or of the
Mashona family; but they did not make their appearance.
Here at Mazaro, the Zambesi is a magnificent river,
more than half a mile wide, and without islands to break
its expanse ; forests of fine timber cover its banks, but
here begins the delta, and all before is an immense flat,
covered with high and coarse grass and weeds, amid
which are a few mango and cocoa-nut trees. Turning
aside from the main stream, which had already been ex-
plored from the sea up to this point by Captain Parker,
Livingstone entered what in reality is one of its branche s,
although it bears a distinct name, which is Mutu, this
HOMEWARD BOUND. 149
being the direct route to Quillimane. They cannot, how-
ever, sail up this river, it being narrow, overhung by
trees, and obstructed by aquatic plants and reeds ; so
they had to leave their canoes behind them and carry
their luggage about fifteen miles, after which the channel
receives the tributary waters of several other rivers, and
becomes navigable. Taking the name of the town to
which it conducts, it is termed the river of Quillimane,
or as it is often spelled, Ivjlimane. This is a seaport in
Eastern Africa, which may be called the capital of the
Portuguese territory of Mozambique, although it is
scarcely more than a village, built upon a mud-bank, sur-
rounded by mango-bush and marsh ; it has a harbour, but
with no great depth of water, and with a most dangerous
bar at the entrance. Its population, including that of the
surrounding country, is said to be 15,000. The small
stream which connects the Zambesi with the river of
Quillimane is dry, or nearly so, for nine months of the year,
and all communication with the interior has to be accom-
plished by land-carriage. Anywhere, at a depth of two
feet, water may be reached at Quillimane ; and the soil is
so soft and spongy that houses built upon it are con-
tinually sinking. A more unhealthy spot can perhaps
scarcely be found, and no European remains longer there
than he is obliged ; he is sure to be smitten by fever,
and, if of plethoric habit, is generally carried off. This
place Livingstone reached on the 26th of May, 1856, just
about four years after he set out from the Cape. During
the whole of that time no news of him had reached
Europe, and the worst apprehensions were entertained of
his safety by his friends.
In this unhealthy spot he had to remain six weeks, at
the end of which tmae H. M. brig " Frolic ^' arrived off
the bar, which is above twelve miles from the town.
An offer of a passage to the Mauritius was made to the
missionary, and thankfully accepted, and he left Quilli-
mane on the 12th of July, accompanied by Sekwebu, and
one other native attendant only, who pleaded so very
hard to come on board ship with him, that he could not
refuse. "You will die, if yo^ ii go lo . .
150 THE WEAVER BOY.
mine," said Livingstone to him. "That is nothing," re-
plied the faithfnl creature ; "let me die at your feet." It
was so all through with ^ these Makololo, they proved
most devoted servants to the missionary, ever ready to
peril their lives for him. Eight of them had begged to
te allowed to come as far as Quillimane, and they would
have come farther, in order that they might obey
Sekelutu's injunction that they should not turn until they
brought Ma-Robert back with them. "Wherever you
lead, we must follow," said they, when the difficulty of
crossing the sea was explained to them. They were,
however, sent back to their companions at Tette, there
to await the return of the white teacher with his wife
from Europe. Some of Sekelutu's tusks are sold to pur-
chase them calico and brass wire for clothing and trading,
and the rest are consigned to the care of Colonel Munes,
with instructions, in the event of Livingstone's death, or
failure of return, to sell them, and give the produce to
Sekelutu's men. When this was explained to them, they
said, " No, father, you will not die ; you will return to
take us back to Sekelutu ; '' and he promised that nothing
but death should prevent his doing so; they, on their
part, engaging to wait until he came back. So he left
them to hunt, and till the ground, and cut up firewood
for sale, as they did at Loanda.
A sad accident had occurred to damp the joy felt by
Livingstone at the prospect of seeing his friends and the
old home once again. He had learned that, previous to
his arrival, Commander MacLune with Lieutenant Wood-
ruffe, and five men of H. M. brigantine, " The Dart," had
been lost on the bar, when coming in to see if they could
pick him up, and the gloom caused by this event was
deepened by the death of his faithful attendant, Sekwebu,
who embarked with him in " The Frolic." Everything
he saw was so new and strange, that the poor fellow got
quite bewildered and crazed ; and, leaping overboard in
a fit of insanity, although a good swimmer, he was
drowned, having actually pulled himself down by the
chain cable, hand under hand ; his body was never found.
At the Mauritius, Livingstone remained until the fine
BACK AGAIN TO ATRICA. 151
climate, and rest and proper treatment had nearly restored
him to health ; then in November, he came up the Red
Sea in the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Company's ship,
'•Canada," and on the 12th of December was once more
in dear old England. He records his thankfulness in these
words : " No one has cause for more abundant gratitude
to his fellow-man and to his Maker than I have; and
may God grant that the effect on my mind be such that
I may be more humbly devoted to the service of the
Author of all our mercies ! "
XVII.
BACK AGAIN TO AFRICA.
On the 10th of March, 1858, Livingstone again left
England in the " Pearl," H. M. colonial steamer, with the
object of exploring the great river Zambesi, and its
mouths and tributaries, with a view to their being used
as highways for commerce and Christianity to pag^ into
the interior of Africa. He had come among his friends
like a man from the dead, and related such particulars of
his wonderful travels and discoveries as he could within
the compass of public addresses, with the modest reticence
which characterized the man, and the hesitancy of speech
of one long unaccustomed to the use of his mother tongue.
Everywhere he was hailed and honored as a great dis-
coverer and philanthropist. The gold medal of the Royal
Geographical Societies of London and Paris were awarded
to him, and our national universities confen'ed on him
the honorary degrees of LL.D. and D. C. L. respectively.
Other distinctions were also conferred upon him. Where-
ever he went crowds assembled to listen to his descrip-
tions of regions hitherto unexplored, and savage tribes,
of whose existence the civilized world had, till then, been
unaware. Strange and startling as were the revelations
which he made, yet no one doubted their truth. Every
word that he uttered bore the stamp of veracity. This
152 THE WEAVER BOY.
was no idle boaster, no self-sufficient egotist, proclaiming^
his doings upon the housetops, and calling all men to
listen and applaud. He was compelled to speak and
describe what he had seen and heard, for only by so
doing could he adrance the great cause to which he had
devoted himself; else would he gladly have remained
silent. This was evident, and no less so was it that all
he had so nobly dared and done was for the glory of God
and the salvation of his fellow-men. A man of iron
frame and determined will, few could have borne, and
suffered, and accomplished, what he did; and yet how
gentle, and humble, and modest was he ! And such is
ever the truly great man. With strength impaired and
constitution enfeebled by sickness and privation, and ex-
posure to burning heat and pestilential miasma, and all
the ill effects of a tropical climate, he had come home to
rest and recruit himself, and enjoy the sweet converse of
those near and dear to him ; and one would not have
wondered if he had remained here much longer to enjoy
the repose he so greatly needed, and the delights of home
and familr But no ; he had taken up the yoke, and would
bearjjt while his strength lasted. The cry of those poor
benighted Africans was ever in his ears, and he must
return to save and succor them. Much sooner he would
have done this, but his book, which he hoped would call
the attention of Christendom to their wretched and de-
ficraded state, required time for its preparation and revision,
and no hand but his own could accomplish this. So he
kept his faithful Makololo waiting for him at Tette longer
than he had intended, and now, having obtained the help
of government for his enterprise, he was again on his way
to the Cape, accompanied by his brother Charles, Dr.
Kirk, and Mr. R. Thornton, the second named being the
natiiralist of the party. At Cape Town, Mr. F. Skead,
K. N., joined them as surveyor, and they proceeded round
to the east coast, which was reached in May. It was
found, on examination, that the Zambesi pours its waters
into the ocean by four mouths, namely, the Milambe,
which is the most westerly; the Kongone, the Luabo,
and the Timbwe, or Muselo. There is also a natural
BACK AGAIN TO ATRICA. 153
canal, when the river is in flood, which winds very much
among the swamps, and is used as a secret way for con-
veying slaves from Quillimane to the hays, from whence
they can he shipped, or to the Zambesi. The Kwakwa,
or river of Quillimane, which is far from the mouths of
the Zambesi, has long been represented as the principal
entrance to that river, in order to put the cruisers upon a
false scent. While they are watching this false mouth,
slaves can be quietly shipped from the true ones. A map,
recently issued by the colonial ministers of Portugal,
propagates this error ; can it be designedly ? The best
entrance was found to be the Kongone, and into this the
" Pearl " was taken, and also a small steam launch, named.
" Ma-Robert," which was brought out in three sections,
and screwed together when the spot was reached at which
her aid would be required in the work of exploration.
Navigation on the east coast is rendered especially dan-
gerous by the bars of sand, which are caused by the
action of the waves of the Indian Ocean rolling in upon
the land, brought down in immense quantities by the
rivers, and formed into banks, on which the sea breaks
with great fury. These bars cause the waters of the
delta, in most cases, to find their exit sideways. The
name Kongone, applied to the channel by which Living-
stone entered, is that of a fish. The banks were covered
with mangrove thickets, into which the natives escaped
from their canoes directly they saw the white men, taking
them probably for Portuguese slave-traders. In the grassy
glades, buffaloes, wart-hogs, and antelopes of several kinds
were feeding, so that animal food was easily procured.
The heron, the kingfisher, and many other birds are here,
and every now and then the loud " ha ! ha ! ha ! " of the
glossy ibis resounds through the glades, warning his fel-
lows that danger is nigh. j - .
Leaving behind the mangrove swamps, the river passes
over level plains of rich dark soil, covered with grasses
from five to ten feet high, amid which hunting is impos-
sible. Every year, in the month of July, when the her-
bage is driest, the natives apply fire to it, and a sea of
flame rolls across the plains, driving out the animala
10
154 THE WEAVIR BOY.
that seek covert there, and de8troying all but the most
hardy of the trees, such as the borassus palm, andligmim
vita\ On the right bank of the river, huts, raised by
poles a few feet above the low, damp ground, peep out
from the bananas and cocoa-palms. The soil hereabout
is wonde mlly rich, and the people appear to be indus-
tnous cultivators of rice, pumpkins, and other produce.
The sugar-cane is also grown here, and so wide is the
tield, that all Europe might be supplied with sugar from
this source alone. The people here are mostly Portu-
guese ''colonos," or serfs ; they are almost naked, but ap-
pear to be pretty well fed. As the steamers passed up
they stood on the banks, wondering at its size and mode
<»f propulsion; all were eager to sell fowls, basket ■» of
rice, and meal, and [)addled alter the ships, or ran along
the banks, sho\iting, '-''Malonda! MalondaP'' — "Things
for sale."
Very broad generally is the river Zambesi, but the
deep channel, or Quete^ as the canoeraen call it, is nar-
row% and winding between sand-banks which make the
navigation difficult. When the wind freshens and blows
up the river, which it usually does from May to Novem-
ber, the waves upon this channel are larger than elsewhere
and a line of small ])reakcrs marks the edsje of the shoal-
banks. The draft of the '' Pearl" was found to be too
great for the river, so the goods belonging to the expedi-
tion were taken out, and placed on an island, about forty
miles from the bar, and the vessel returned to the sea,
with ]\fr. Skead, the surveyor, so that the party were left
very much to tlieir own resources. Boats were employed
to carry the luggage \\\) to Shupanga and Senna, and this
was a source of some danger, as the country was still in
a state of war. Some of the party remained on Expedi-
tion Island, as they named it, from June 18 to August
1 3, and here liad their first experience of African life and
African fever. Their state of inactivity in the malaria
of the delta, rendered them very liable to this. Active
employment is the great safeguard, and those who were
working with the boats strained every nerve to complete
their task, so that their fellows miiJ^ht be removed from
BACK AGAIN TO AFRICA. 155
then* perilous position. The weather was fine, with ar.
occasional shower or fog. Those who remained on the
island employed their time in botanizing and taking
meteorological and magnetical observations. Daily, as
they looked abroad to different points of the horis^on,
they could see large columns of smoke arise, showing
where the natives were burning off the crops of tall
grass. Buffaloes, zebras, and other large game were
plentiful ; but no hunters were to be seen. The small
seed-eating birds were very numerous, and the orderly
evolutions of their flocks were most amusing. On
reaching Mazaro, from whence is a communication with;
the Quillemane river, they found that a half-caste, naine«i
Mariano, or Matakenya, which signifies trembling or quiv-
ering, like trees in a storm, had set the Portuguese at
defiance, built a stockade at the mouth of the Shire, and
claimed all the land from that point back to Mazaro.
This was the old iniquitous story of murder and rapine.
Mariano was a keen slave-trader, and he cared not where
he obtained his victims. He had a large number of well
armed men, and committed frightful atrocities in order
to carry on his inhuman traffic, and make his name
dreaded. After a war with the Portuguese, which lasted
six months, he was taken and sent to Muzambique for
trial, and soon after, his stockade, which was defended
by his brother Bonga, was destroyed, and the rebellion
crushed. Livin2:stone several times came in contact with
both parties, and was regarded as a man of peace, and a
friend to both. Mazaro means the mouth of the creek;
the country around is called Maruru, and the people
Mutu. The Portuguese say they are expert thieves, an<l
that the goods of the merchants, while in transit from
one river to another, suffer losses by their adroitness.
They generally man the canoes that ply from Senna to
Tette. Not being trusted themselves, they give notnist
to others, but insist upon payment beforehand, saying in
the words of a favorite canoe-song: Uachingere, Uach-
i?i(/f>re^ KaleP'' — "Thou art slippery, slippery, tnily ! "
Lords of the right bank of the Zambesi are the war-
like Landeen, and every year they come in force to Senna
156 . THE WEAVER BOY.
-and Shiipauga for the tribute which tlie Portuguese pay,
and the more land they find under cultivation the more
tribute ihey demand ; so that it is like a tax upon im-
provement, and operates to retard it. The merchants
of Senna, on whom the tax chiefly falls, complain of it
bitterly ; but a refusal to pay would involve a war with
these savage people, who, with much flourishing of
spears, and smiting of shields, and grotesque dancing
and ge.Nticulating, advance their claim, and back it with
iin imposing array of stalwart warriors. Like true lords
of the soil, they even levy contributions on those who use
the timber growing therein ; thus, for permission to cut
down timber of the Gunda trees, which makes good
boatmasts, and has medicinal properties, a Portuguese of
Quillimane pays them 300 dollars a year.
The Governor of the Province of Mozambique made
Shupanga his head-quarters during the Mariano war.
Ilis residence stands on a gentle slope whicli leads down
to the Zambesi, with a fine mango-orchard to the south,
while to the north stretch away cultivated fields and for-
ests of palms and other tropical trees, beyond which
towers the lofty mountain, Morambala, amidst the white
clouds, while yet more distant hills are seen faint and
far in the blue horizon. Beautiful are the green islands
in front, reposing on the sunny bosom of the tranquil
waters ; and pleasant the shade beneath the great baobab-
tree, where now, far from their native land, rest in peace
those w'ho were very dear to the leader of this expedition
— one, especially, whose grave is marked with a white
cross, of whom we shall by and by have more to say.
The Province of Mozambique costs the home govern-
ment between £5,000 and £0,000 annually, and yields
nothing in return, great as its capabilites are. The Portu-
guese officials generally were very friendly towards
Livingstone, notwithstanding his denunciations of the
slave-trade, from which most of them derive considerable
profits. Colonel Munes and Major Sicard were especially
kind, causing wood to be cut for the small steamer, Ma-
Robert, whicli had now been put together, and 8endinf<:
men to help in unloading her. Ebony and lignum vita<
ABOUT SENNA AND TETTE. 157
were the woods often burnt in her furnaces ; what should
we think of using them for such a purpose in England ?
On the lYth of August, 1858, the expedition started for
Tette. The Zambesi from Shupanga to Senna is wide
and full of islands, and the black pilot often took the
wrong channel, and ran the vessel aground, which
greatly incensed the Krooman sailors, who had the work
of getting her off; she was badly constructed, and con-
sumed an immense amount of wood ; it took a long while
to get «am, and when in motion her progress was so
glow, that ' - heavily laden country canoes nearly kept
up with her, and the lighter ones shot ahead, the pad-
dlers looking back at the toiling " asthmatic," as Living-
8tone called her. She does, however, at length reach
the shoal channel, on which Senna stands, and, as she
could not be taken up, is left at ISTyaruka, a small town
six miles below, and the party walk up in Indian file
through gardens and patches of wood, with singing birds
all around them ; but somehow it is not like the sweet
songsters of the woods and fields at home, it seems all in
a foreign tongue ; the natives, whom they meet going to
their work in the gardens, the men being armed, and the
women carrying hoes, greet them courteously, with bows
and coiirtesies, standing aside to let them pass.
XVIII.
'about senna and tette.
On a low plain, on the right bank of the Zambesi,
f^tands Senna, surrounded by a stockade of living trees,
to defend its inhabitants from the atta'^ks of enemies.
There arc a few large houses, some in ruins, a weather-
beaten cross, marking the site of a church, the remains
of an old monastery, and a dilapidated mud fort close by
the river. There is little or no trade in the village, and
the Senna merchants send parties oi slaves into the inte-
rior to hunt for and pureh^se ivory. Let no one iniafj-liK*
158 THE WEAVER BOY.
he is safe from fever at Senna, because he does not take
it on the first day ; it is sure to come on the second or
soon after. Its redeeming feature is Senor H. A. Ferrao,
a native of the place, ot \\hich his father was formerly
governor. The benevolence of this gentleman is un-
bounded ; no one is ever sent from his door hungry He
feeds the starving natives in times of scarcity, when
hundreds claim him as their master whom he never sees
at any otiier time. He received the travellers kindly, and
gave them a bountiful breakfast. "When it's to their
mterest, blacks work very hard," said some of the prin-
cipal men of the place, who came to confer with Living-
stone about cotton cultivation by free natives ; and this
seems to be the opinion of the most men who have had
an opportunity of observing the negro on his own soil,
or in any way working for himself The party w^ere also
entertained by another very honorable Portuguese of
Senna, Major Tito A. d'A. Sicard, w^ho told Livingstone
that his discovery of the Kongone entrance to the Zam-
besi had ruined Quillimane. He also said that when the
war was over, he would take Livingstone's goods uj) to
Tette in canoes ; and this promise he afterwards per-
formed.
They return to their little steamer, and receive a visit
from a head-man with a " seguati," or present, consisting
of a few ears of maize, for which he expected to receive
at least double value in return. This seems to be a very
common practice. Say to the shrewd African, when he
makes his offering, " We will buy it." " Oh, no sir ; it
is a seguati ; it is not for sale." It is something like the
reply given in our own country, when one asks the price
of a service performed. "I'll leave it to your generosity,
sir." And this castoraary, if crafty piece of politeness,
was generally submitted to, with the understanding that
the offer was a compliment and nothing more.
At a little island called Xyamotobsi, the travellers find
a party of hippopotamus hunters, who have been driven
by war from their own island. These hunters are a dis-
tinct people, seldom intermarrying with others. One
reason for this probably is, that many of the native tribe«*
ABOUT SENNA AND TETTE. 159
look with as much abhorrence <m the flesh of this animal
as the Jews and Mahomedans do on that of swine ; thej
would not use a pot in which the flesh had been cooked.
ITiese hunters are known by the names Akombwi, or
Mapodzo. They are a comely race, with smooth, black
skins, and are without the lip-rings, or any other so-called
ornaments which so frightfully disfigure most of the na-
tives. It is their custom to go out on long expeditions,
taking their wives and children, cooking-pots and other
utensils in their canoes. When Livingstone spoke to the
chief of this party about a common Father, he demurred,
saying, " How can vhat be ? We could not become white,
let us wash ever so much." Of the huge river-horse,
which it is the business of these people to destroy, we
have already spoken several times.
It is now the month of August, and the heat steadily
increases, yet foggy mornings are rare. A strong breeze
blows up stream every night, commencing early and gra-
dually getting later. For a short time it makes the frail
cabin-doors fly open, and sends anything that may be
loose flying before it ; then it drops suddenly, and a dead
calm succeeds. Game is here very abundant, herds of
zebras, pallahs, water-bucks, and wild hogs are seen
at the places where they stop for fuel, and the marks in
the river-bank show where elephants and buffaloes come
down at night to drink. At one of these places they find
a baobab-tree of immense size, which has bark within as
well as without, — a peculiarity of this kind of tree. Now
the river broadens out into an expanse of two or three
miles, with numerous islands, w^hich makes the navigation
difiicult, and now it is compressed into a deep, narrow
channel, called the Lupata Gorge, up whicli the heavily
laden native canoes are drawn in two days by means of
strong ropes ; but the little steamer stems the current
bravely, notwithstanding the whirlpools and eddies which
abound there. The superstitious natives place offering^i
of meal on the rocks, to propitiate the turbulent deitie*
who are supposed to preside over the most dangerous
spots ; and the Portuguese, almost as superstitious, take
off their hats to the river gods^ and pass them in solemn
160 THE WEAVER BOY.
silence, and when once beyond the promontories, fire off
their muskets for joy, and give the canoe-men grog.
Beyond Lupata the country becomes more hilly and
picturesque, and more thickly populated. Crowds of
people come out of the villages, and gaze in astonishment
on the steamer, imitating the motions of the paddles with
their arms.
On the 8th of September, 1858, the ship anchors off
Tette and Livingstone is once more among his faithful
Makalolo, who rush into tlie water to embrace him, but
are restrained by the fear ot spoiling his new clothes.
Thev hear of Sekwebu's death with sorrow ; but console
themselves with the philosophical reflection, " Men die in
any country." Thirty of their own number had died
of small-pox, and six young men who had got tired of
cutting firewood for a living, and had taken to dancing
instead, had been killed by the half-caste chief, Bonga,
of whom we have already heard — on the pretence
that they had brought witchcraft medicine to kill him.
According to the belief of the Makololo, the victims of
emall-pox had been bewitched by the people of Tette.
"We do not mourn for them," said the Furvivors ; ''but
our hearts are sore for the six youths who were murdered
bv Bonga." Regret, however, was useless, and justice
on the murderer out of the question. He still held his
ttockade, and the home government winked at his offences,
against its authority, hoping thus to coax him into a re-
eosrnition ot it.
The poor Makololo reccretted that thev had no oxen,
only pigs, to give their friend. " We shall sleep, now he
is come back," they said, and the minstrel of their party
extemporized a song, which he sung to the jingling of
his native bells, in praise o' the good ndssionary, to whom
Major Sicard had kindly granted the use of the govern-
ment house for a temporary residence It had been stated
that tiie Portuguese government would support the Ma-
kololo while Livingstone was away, and this promise had
much relieved his mind during the time he was at home,
preparins: his journal for the press ; but he found that no
such order had been issued to the authorities at Tette,
ABOUT SENNA AND TETTE. 161
whose pay indeed was several years in arrear, and who,
if it had been, must have supported them out of their
private means, if at all. So the poor fellows had to hunt,
and cut wood, and do what they could for a living ; some
of them, as we haye heard, took to dancing, and paid
dearly for it. Major Sicard very generously assisted
them at his own cost.
Tette stands on the right bank of the Zambesi, which
is here 1,000 yards wide; the houses are built on a suc-
cession of low sand-stone ridges, so that shallow ravines,
running parallel with the river, form the streets, about
which indigo, senna, stramonium, and capers orrow as
weeds, and are annually hoed off and burned. The place
has the usual church and fort, and is surrounded by a
wall of stone and mud, outside of which the native popu-
lation live in huts. The soldiers here are chiefly of the
convict and the incorrigible classes, living mostly on the
produce of the gardens of their black wives.
The people of Tette are superstitious above all others.
Droughts are frequent here, and these are ascribed to
the influence of evil spirits, or to witchcraft. They
worship the serpent, hang hideous little images about
the dead and dying, and propitiate the invisible spirits
of the earth and air by offerings of meat and drink.
Livingstone put up a rain gauge in his garden, and this
was looked upon with great dread and suspicion, as a
kind of machine for the performance of incantations ;
" it frightened away the clouds," said some of the know-
ing ones among them. *
These people of Tette believe that if a man plants a
mango-tree he will f^oon die, and nothing will induce one
of them to do this ; although the fruit of the tree, which
grows luxuriantly about the place, is a delicious and re-
freshing food during four moiiths of the year. The
Makololo had imbibed this superstition, and when ad-
vised to take some mango-trees, and plant them in their
own country, they ref'u.-ed, although very fond of the
fruit, because they did not wish to die too soon. It is
also believed that if a man plants coffee he will never be-
happy ; yet they drink cotTee, and enjoy it very much.
162 THE WEAVER BOY.
"Give us rain, give us rain," is the cry of the perish-
ing people to their unseen gods ; but, like Baal, they
are deaf to their entreaties ; so a native chief gets up a
grand performance, full of ceremonies and incantations,
to call down the desired boon; but it comes not. Then,
not to be outdone by the heathen, the Goanese padre of
Tette has a public procession, and prayers to St. Antonio,
who also is awhile deaf to the supplications of the faith-
ful. Relenting when again appealed to, after a new
moon had arisen, he sent so much rain that the roof of
the Residencia gave way, and the whole of the place
was flooded. Then was St. Antonio greatly honored,
and a golden coronal, worth £22, was placed on the
head of his image, to which many knees were devoutly
bent. How much alike in practice were the savage and
the pseudo-Christian !
There is much slavery in Tette ; but the Portuguese do
not makf^^ vad masters ; it is the halt-castes who commit
the gnr.t-'st enormities. Men cunning in the preparation
of charms abound there, — the elephant-docior, the cro-
codile-doctor, the gun-doctor, and a host of others, all
"medicine men," who, for a consideration, Avill furnish
charms, each one of which gives immunity from some
particular kind of danger, or ensures success in some
particular pursuit. The dice doctor is a diviner ; by cas-
ting his cubes, and reading the numbers, he can tell where
stolen property is hidden, and all that it is the business
of the detective to find out.
They now reach that* part of the Zambesi where its
coui-se is crossed by the range of hills called the Kebra-
basa, or Kaorabasa, meaning finish, or break of the ser-
vice, in reference to the change which here takes place
from water to land transit, as the canoes cannot pass up
the rapids, and luggage has to be conveyed overland to
Chicova. The river, which is hero half a mile w^ide, flows
through a groove in the rock of from forty to fifty yards
in width, the sides of which are polished and fluted by
the boiling action of the water, which, when at flood,
overflows this narrow channel, and confines it to the
breadth of the river below. T'le rapids of Kebrabasa
ABOUT 8^NNA AND TETTE. 163
are explored with the view of ascertaining if they are
navigable, and also the cataract of Moi-umbwa. Higher
up the travellers scramble over rocks so hot that they
blistered the soles of the feet. In the valleys below live
the Baderaa tribe, their state of insecurity being indicated
by their practice of hiding their provisions in holes and
crags in the wooded hill-sides, sewn up in cylindrical ves-
sels, made of the bitter bark of a tret to which mice and
monkeys have an antipathy. On the hills above and on
the banks are the Banyai, who, even at the shortest dis-
tance from Tette, are independent of the Portuguese
traders. They demand a tribute for passing through
their country. " Why don't you come on shore like other
people?" they say to the men on board the steamer.
" Don't you see we are held to the bottom w^ith iron ? "
is the ironical reply ; " we are not like you Bagunzo."
They wanted the travellers on shore tliat they might
extort something from them. Xot always, however, nor
often, do the party sleep on board. Generally they en-
camp for the night not far from the river, and usually
they find the natives friendly, and disposed to furnish
them with food on fair terms of exchange. Sometimes
musicians will come and play on the marimba^ which is
formed of bars of hard wood, of varying breadths and
thickness, laid upon different sized calabashes, and tuned,
the whole being placed in a frame. They are struck witH
rounded sticks with knobs, and give out a pleasing kind
of music. They have also the sansa^ a stringed instru-
ment ; and reeds fastened together, and blown into, like
what we call pan-pipes. After playing awhile, they re-
ceive a piece of cloth, and thankfully depart. Back again
to Tette, where they find that a Portuguese captain of
infantry has been sent prisoner to Mozambique for admin-
istering the muave, or poison ordeal, and killing the sus-
pected person on that evidence alone. While they were
away the river rose a foot, and became turbid, and a
complaint was made to the commandant that the English
were doin^ somethinnr to cause this.
Christmas is come ; but how can one recognize it in
such a summer dress ? The birds are singing, the corn is
164 THE WEAVER BOY.
fpringinor, and the hum of busy insect life is heard over
all the flowery plains ; brilliant butterflies flit from flower
to flower, vying in the brightness of their tints with the
•harming little sun-birds, which, hovering on tireless wing
here represent the humming-birds of the west and the
f un-birds of the east. The ant communities are all hard
at work, storng up food; overhead hovers the brown
kite, sending down his shrill call, like a boatswain's whis-
tle. " Pulu^ pulu^'' cries the spotted cuckoo, and the
high notes of the roller and hornbill grate upon the ear,
when heard through the volume of sweet sounds poured
forth by the sweet songsters, which make an African
Christmas seem like an English May. Although not con-
fined to villages, Livingstone notices that here, as else-
where, they usually congregate thereabout, as if their
song and beauty were designed especially to please the
ear and eye of man ; for, see, in those deserted villages
where the inhabitants have been swept off" by slavery,
although the corn is standing, there are few or no birds.
The yellow wagtails and blue drongo shrikes, which
are here winter birds of passage, are all gone ; the little
€ock whydahbird, with a pink bill, has assumed his sum-
mur garb of black and white, and has graceful plumes
attached to his new coat ; and the weavers have laid a-
•ide their garments of sober brown, and put on scarlet
and black in honor of the season of love and feasting ;
others of the same family have donned their doublets of
green, and appear in bright yellow, with patches like
black velvet. Black, with a red throat is one, which
«omes a little later, wearinor a Ion 2; train of maomificent
plumes, which greatly impede his motions; he is like
those who sacrifice ease to dignity, or follow fashion to
their great discomfort. Such, too, is the case with a
kind of goatsucker, or night-jar, which, with a body only
ten inches long, has a couple of feathers twenty-six inches
long in each wing ; generally the bird flies very quickly,
but when its flight is retarded by these appendages it can
be easily captured. Not only is there this difference in
the climate, but almost everything one meets with in
Africa is at variance with our preconceived notions " of
ABOUT SENNA AND STETTA. ISi
the eternal fitness of things ; " this was remarked long ago
by one who said tliat '' wool grows on the head of men
and hair on the backs of sheep." " And," says Livingstone,
*' in leeble imitation of this dogma, let ns add, that the
men often wear their hair long, the women scarcely ever.
Where there are cattle, the women till the land, plant
the corn, and build the huts; the men stay at home ' U>
BOW, spin, weave, and talk, and milk the cows. The men
seem to pay a dowry with their wives instead of getting
one with them. The mountaineers of Europe are reckoned
hospitable, generous, and brave ; those of this part of
Africa are feeble, spiritless, and cowardly, even when
contrasted with their own countrymen on the plains.
Some Europeans aver that Africans and themselves are
descended from monkeys; some Africans beliave that
souls at death pass into the bodies of apes; most writers
believe the blacks to be savages ; nearly all blacks be-
lieve the whites to be cannibals. The nursery hobgoblin
of the one is black, of the other white. Without going
further on with these unwise comparisons, we must smile
at the heaps of nonsense which have been written about
the negro intellect." After going on to remark on the
nonsense which is often addressed to aborigines by trav-
ellers, as if they were children, and the ludicrous mistakes
which are made through ignorance of their language, he
continues, " Quite as sensible, if not more pertinent, an-
swers will usually be given by Africans to those who
know their language, as are obtained from our uneducated
poor ; and could we but forget that a couple of centuries
back the ancestors of the common people in England,
probably our own great-great-grandfathers, were as unen-
lightened as the Africans are now, we might maunder
away about intellect, and fancy that the tacit influence
would be drawn that our own is arch-angelic. Tlie low
motives which often actuate the barbarians do, unfortu-
nately, bear abundant crops of mean actions among ser-
vants, and even in higher ranks of more civilized people ;
but we hope that these may decrease in the general im-
provement of our race by the diflusion of true religion."
166 THE WEAVER BOY.
XIX.
UP THE smUE.
Finding it impossible to ascend the Zambesi beyond
the rapids of Kebrabasa with a steamer like the " Ma-
Robert," of only ten-horse-power, E.ivingstone sent off
an application to government for a more suitable vessel,
and witli characteristic energy turned his attention at once
to the Shire, a northern tributary, which joins it about
one hundred miles from the sea. So covered Avas the
surface witli duckweed and other aquatic plants, and so
hostile the natives who lived on its banks, that, after two
or three attempts to explore it -by the Portuguese, the
task had been given up as hopeless. But, nothing <]aunted
Livingstone turned the bow' of his little steamer into
those waters, which no European had ever navigated far
up, bidding defiance alike to the poisoned arrows of the
blood-thirsty Manganga, and other perils of the way.
The first attempt was made in January, 1859, when
the river yas encumbered by the floating weeds, but
not sufficiently so to prevent a canoe or any other craft
getting up; and this nearly ceased after the first twenty-
five miles, at which point they reached a marsh from
which it appeared chiefly to come. A little beyond this
was a lofty hill, called Mount Morambala, and here they
first experienced the hostility of the natives, who had
sent their women out of the way, and were evidently
prepared lo resist their advance. A chief, named Tin-
gane, who was notorious for being adverse to all inter-
course between the Portuguese half-caste traders and the
natives further inland, collected his followers to the
number of five hundred, and commanded the party to
stop. The men behind trees were observed taking aim
at those on board the steamer, rnd a conflict seemed
inevitable. But Livingstone, without exhibiting any
sign of alarm, went on shore, into the midst of the
excited savages, and calmly explained to the chief that
he was English, and had come neither to take slaves nor
UP THE 8HIRB. 167
to fight, but to opoii a way for bis countrymen to come
and purchase cotton, or whatever they had to sell except
slaves. His fearlessness and candor had due effect, and
Tingane became at once quite friendly.
In all his communications with the natives, Living-
«tone always spoke openly and plainly of the English
detestation of slavery. The efforts made by his coun-
trymen to suppress the slave-trade were by this time
pretty well known to those who had engaged in the
traffic at all, and they could quite understand the motives
which induced him to come among them, and advise
them to plant and sell cotton and other products, instead
of capturing and selling their fellow-men. The belief,
too, in a Supreme Being, who is Maker and Ruler of all
things, and in the continued existence of departed spir-
its, being universal among them, they were quite pre-
pared to see and acknowledge the force of his arguments,
founded on the will of that great Father of all, as
revealed in his book. The idea that this great and good
Being is displeased with his children for killing and sell-
ing each other gains a ready assent, and they respect
the teacher of such doctrines, even when they, from
self interested motives, continue in their evil ways. It
is difficult to make them feel that they have any relation-
ship with the Son of God, who appeared among men,
and still speaks to them in his book, although the story
of his life and sufterings always awakens their interest
and admiration. Their moral perceptions are so blunted
that they cannot understand, and their eyes so darkened
that they can but see indistinctly the beauty of the pic-
ture presented to Ihem ; nor can they comprehend how
divine a thing it is to follow in the steps of such a
leader. Their moral elevation can be secured only by
the instruction and example of good Christian men
residing among them for a long period. So Livingstone
found ready credence for his words and approval of his
course of action, even from those who made no resolutions
of amendment themselves, but kept on in their evil
ways. ;
Their further progress up the river was not interrupted
168 THE WEAVER BOY.
until Ihcy came to the lowest of a series of cataracts,
to which they gave the name of the distingnished presi-
dent of the Geographical Societ}^, Sir Roderick Mur-
chison. Not deeming it prudent to risk a land journey
beyond the falls, among a strange and savage people,
who looked with suspicion upon their movements, they
resolved on returning to Tette. They were now about
one hundred miles up the Shire, as the crow flies, but
had probably gone double that distance in following the
windings of the river. Down stream their progress was
much faster than it had been up, being aided bj' the cur-
rent. The floating hippopotami got out of the steamer's
way ; but a huge crocodile would sometimes rush at it
with open jaws, thinking it some great beast, and go
suddenly down like a stone when a yard or two from it,
having doubtless discovered the mistake.
In the middle of March, 1859, Livingstone started for
a second trip up the Shire. From the natives, who were
now ver}'- friendly, he easily obtained rice, fowls, and
corn. About ten miles below the cataracts, he found
the chief, Chibisba, a remarkably shrewd and intelligent
man, with whom he entei'cd into amicable relations.
He had sent an invitation to the white man to come and
drink beer with him when he flrst visited the spot; but
his messengers were so terrified at the sight of the
steamer, that they jumped out of their canoe, which
they left to drift down stream, and swam away to the
shore as for dear life, first shouting out the invitation,
which nobody understood. A great deal of fighting had
fallen to the lot of Chibisba ; but then it was never his
fault, but always some one else who begun it. He was
a firm believer in the divine right of kings, and felt that
he could do no wrong, — for was he not a chief, clothed
with authority and possessed of wisdom ? His people
reverenced and feared him, and, it was thought, so did
the crocodiles, to protect his people from the bite of
which he placed a medicine in the river, so that they
could bathe cr swim without danger. • •• »
F'^m Chibisba's village, near which they left their
^: ^A, the parcy set out' in search of Lake Shirwa, of
UP THE SHIRE. KjO
which they had heard, and which, after many difficul-
ties and dangers, they reached on tjie 18th of April.
They found it to be a considerable body of brackish,
bitter water, with islands like hills arising out of it,
abounding in leeches, fisli, crocodiles, and hippopotami ;
the shores were covered with weeds and papyrus; the
length of the lake might probably be about sixty or
eighty miles, by twenty broad. But this, the}' were told
was nothing in extent when compared with another lake
to the north, from which it is separated only by a nar-
row tongue of land.
Finding the people to be still suspicious of their
movements, and even in some instances hostile, and
wishing to gain their confidence before proceeding fur-
ther, they resolved to return to the ship, which they did
by a new passage to the southward, close by Mount Chir-
adzuru, among the relatives of Chibisba, and thence, by
the pass Zedi, down to the Shire. They find their quar-
termaster, who was left in charge, stricken with fever,
and treat him with large doses of calomel, which were
very elfectual. On the 23d of June, "Ma- Robert" is
again anchored in front of Tette, where she undergoes
repairs, and is then dispatched down the Kongone to
receive supplies from one of H. M. cruisers. The
Kroomon, who had hitherto navigated the ship, were
here dismissed, and the crew^ made up of Makololo.
The newly invented steel-plates, of which "Ma-
Eobert'' was built, were but the sixteenth of an inch
thick, and they now^ began to show that they were not
adapted for this kind of service. Some chemical action
on the metal caused small holes in them, from which
minute cracks ramified in all directions, so that the bot-
tom soon became like a sieve; as soon as one hole was
stopped another was discovered. Add to this source of
discomfort, the frequent heavy showers which fell, flood-
ing the cabin-floor, and wetting the cushions on which
they slept, spoiling the botanical specimens laboriously
collected by Dr. Kirk, and doing other mischief. A
quantity of the stores with which they had been sup-
plied were spoiled. The assertion of the Portuguese,
1 1
170 THE WEAVER BOY.
that they had known the Kongone entrance to the Zam-
besi long before I^ivingstone went up it, was contradicted
by the testimony of one Paul, a relative of the rebel
Mariano, who had just been to Mozambique to " arrange"
with the authorities, and who now told Livingstone that
the governor-general knew nothing of the Kongone, but
thought that the Zambesi entered the sea at Quillimane.
About the middle of August the ship again left Tette,
and for the third time steamed up the Shire, between
the ranges of wooded hills which bound the valley
through which it flows. Past the hill, called Morambala
— ''the lofty watch-tower" — they go, from whoso preci-
pitous side next the river a village peeps out. Here the
people have a bracing atmosphere, and are above mos-
quito range. During the rainy season fleecy clouds rest
upon the top ; farther down, lemon and orange trees
grow wild, and pine-apples when planted. Amid the
great trees, at the base, are found antelopes, rhinoceri,
monkeys, and large birds. A hot spring bubbles up on
the plain, at the north end, which boils an egg in two or
three minutes. To the west is a rich plain, forming the
tongue of land between the Shire and Zambesi, with
clumps of palm and acacia trees. According to the re-
ports of the canoe-men, lions come here after the large
game. On, now, for many miles, winding through a
marsh, like a broad sea of fresh green grass, and then
before thepi stands the dome-shaped mountain Makanga,
or Chikanda, with other gigantic peaks, stretching away
to the north, and forming the eastern boundary of the
valley ; then past a broad belt of palms, where game is
abundant, ami elephants have been feeding on the sweet,
fruity nuts. Here the great serpents, called pythons,
twine among the branches, and the buffaloes charge furi-
ously upon the men who are cutting wood, so that they
can only escape by jumping into the river. These are
pleasant incidents to enliven the way. Then, in the
evening, the men go fishing, agitating the waters,
directly after throwing in the line, to attract the atten-
tion of the finny people, as the (^isciples of Isaac Walton
do at home. Maize, pumpkins, and tobacco fringe the
UP THE SHIRE. 171
marshy banks, belonging to the natives of the hills, who,
besides raising their crops, catch fish and dry it for
future consumption. A deep stream, about thirty yards
wide, now flows in from a body of open water, several
miles across. Natives are busy at different parts, fill-
ing their canoes with nyika, a kind of lotus root, which
is extensively use as food ; when boiled or roasted it re-
sembles chesnuts. This lagoon is called Nyanja ea Mot-
opCj — *' Lake of Mud," — and out of it the chief part of
the duckweed which covers the Shire flows. Another
name for it is JVz/an^a Pangono, *' Little Lake," while
Nyanja Mukulu, " (rreat Lake," is the name applied to
the Elephant Marsh farther up the river ; and these
Nyanjas appear to have been the boundaries of Portu-
guese geographical knowledge in this district. Of the
existence of the Shire cataract, only one hundred and
fifty miles from Senna, they do not seem to have been
aware.
Steaming on for another day, they come to the village
of Chikanda-Kadze, a female chief, and ask to purchase
rice for the men. Time seems to be of no account here ;
so they are coolly told if they wait until next day they
shall have some. Forty hungry men have to be fed,
however, and they go a few miles farther to another
village. All around them are rich lands, waiting only
for tillage to yield an abundant supply. " Plenty,"
thinks Livingstone, <' has the Almighty Father given.
Oh, that there should be so many perishing for lack of
food!" One of the men is here drowned by the cap-
sizing of a boat, which they are obliged to tow astern
to lighten the steamer, as she could not carry all the
hands they needed.
Next day they reach the village called Mboma, where
the people are eager to sell rice, and where in the even-
ing a native minstrel brings his one-stringed fiddle, and
serenades them with a number of wild but not unmusi-
cal songs. Heihas a quaint kind of instrument, which
looks like a small drum, made out of a carved calabash,
with a long handle, parallel with which, and on the top
of the drum, is stretched the single string, and screwed
172 THB WEAVER BOY.
tight with a peg, round which it is wound. The bow is
much curved, and clumsily made ; but our savage Paga-
nini managed to scrape hOme sweet sounds out of the
calabash with it. He talked of spending the night with
his " white comrades," in the big canoes ; but as this
would have been too much of a good thing, they bought
him off with a piece of cloth, and sent him away happy.
Next day, on goes the vessel, puffing along close to
bank. A huge hippopotamus is frightened from his
morning bath by this strange monster, and, in his hurry
to escape rushes directly under a trap. Down comes the
heavy beam, driving the poisoned hard-wood spike a
foot deep into his flesh. In agony he plunges back into
the river ; but he dies in a few hours, and his carcass
floats, to be drawn ashore by the natives, who cutout the
meat just around the wound, and feast on the rest, re-
joicing. More and more crazy and leaky does *• Ma-
Robert" become, and Livingstone has christened her
the " Asthmatic," she labors and breathes so heavily.
The cabin floor is always wet, and has become a favor-
ite breeding-place for mosquitoes, whose presence com-
monly indicates that the spot is malarious, and warns
man off to one more healthy.
Tingane, the beat of whose war-drums can speedily
muster hundreds of armed men, is again visited, and is
found very friendly, Soon they come in sight of the
majestic mountain, Pirone, to which they give the name
of Mount Clarendon. The river Ruo, which is said to
have its source in the Milanje mountains, flows into the
Shire a little above Tingane's, and a short way beyond
this lies the great Elephant Marsh, in which vast
herds of these animals find shelter and safety from the
attacks ol'the hunters, who cannot follow them into the
swamps. As many as eight hundred of these monstrous
and sagacious creatures were counted from the steamer's
deck : truly a magnificent spectacle !
Such herds as these are mostly found in remote and
secluded districts, and they generally select a level tract
of country, over-grown with rank and luxuriant vegeta-
tion, through or near which flow large streams or rivers,
UP THl 8HIR1. 173
in which they delight to bathe, walking deep into the
water, and throwing it up in streams with their trunks,
and letting it fall over them. A very noble object is th«
lordly elephant, tranquilly browsing amidst the wild
magnificence of an African forest, or taking his morn-
ing bath in the strong glare of the burning sun, which
seems in no way to ati'ect him. Terrible, too, is his
anger, as with trunk upreared, and shrill trumpeting, he
rushes after his assailant with a swiftness wonderful in
so ponderous an animal. The mounted hunter has to
put his horse to its utmost speed, and even then cannot
perhaps escape, except by turning tjuddenly round, and
letting his pursuer go crashing on like an avalanche
through every obstacle. Baldwin and other traveller!
relate some marvellous escapes which they had from in-
furiated elephants, which they had wounded but not
unto death. Wonderful is the quantity of lead they will
sometimes take before they succumb ; and it is only bj
poisoning their assegais that the natives can succeed in
killing them without fire-arms-
Great numbers of wild fowl congregate about these
marshes ; plotuses, and cormorants with snaky necks,
are there, and flocks of pretty ardettes, of a light-yellow
color when at rest, but seemingly of a pure white when
they stretch their wings and fly off over the green sur-
face of the swamp, to settle, it may be, on the backs of
buftaloes and elephants which are hidden in the rank
vegetation. Snowy pelicans glide over the water, fish-
ing, while melancholy herons stand motionless, and gaze
intently into the pools. Disturbed by the noise of the
steamer, the large black and white spur-winged goose
springs up, and circles round for a while, then settles
down again with a splash. From the clumps of reeds
rise on the wing hundreds of linon-golos, which build in
the low trees, from whose pith hats are made ; and
charming little red and yellow weavers fly in and out of
the tall grass, or hang to their pendant nests, chattering
to their mates within. Overhead are kites and vultures,
beating the ground in search of carrion, while the equally
foul-feeding marabout stalks solemn and stately on th«
174 THE WEAVER BOY.
•
same quest. Men and boys in groups are busily search-
ing for lotus and other roots, and some are standing up
in canoes, on the weedy ponds, spearing fish, or stooping
down to examine their sunken baskets. As evening ap-
proaches, hundreds of pretty hawks are wheeling and
circling above the reeds and grass, or darting in among
them to catch the locusts and dragon-flies on which they
feed. The scissor-bills, in flocks, are standing in the
water, ploughing it with their lower mandibles, which
are nearly an inch longer than the upper. Everywhere
is there this exuberance of life, turning the stagnant
marsh into a scene of beauty and enjoyment. At the
south-eastern end of the marsh is a forest of palm-trees,
whose gray trunks and green tops give a pleasing tint
to the color of the scene. This is the Borassus palm,
not an oil-bearing tree, but very useful ; the fibrous
pulp round the large nuts is eaten by men and ele-
phants ; the sap that flows freely out when the top of
the root-shoot is cut off makes palm wine, which is not
intoxicating when fresh, but highly so after standing a
while ; used as yeast, it makes bread very light. Dur-
ing summer, men and boys remain by the trees night
and day, living upon the nuts and wine, with fish from
the river. As they pass beyond the marsh into the
higher country, the population continues to increase.
At one place is a long line of temporary huts, where
crowds of men and women are hard at work makinc; salt,
with which the soil is here impregnated. In such soil
it is observed the cotton is of finer staple than elsewhere,
and both on the Shire and Zambesi there are large tracts
of this rich, brackish soil, admirably adapted for the
cultivation of this valuable plant. A number of low
fertile islands now stud the river, and the large village
of the chief, Mankokwe, who owns a number of them, is
passed on the right bank. And so on, till they reach, on
the 25th of August, Dakanamoio island, opposite the cliff
on which Chibisba's village stands. This chief is away
on the Zambesi, but his head-man is very civil, and pro-
mises guides and whatever else may be required. Clean-
ing, sorting, spinning, and weaving cottoM is here the
ON LAKE NTA6SA. ITS*
common employment. Each family has its cotton-patch,
just as in Scotland, each, in days gone by, used to have
its patch of flax, from which most of the homely gar-
ments of the family were made ; but here, not only is the
cotton useful as clothing, it stands in the place of money,
being the common medium of exchange.
XX.
ON LAKE jSTYASSA.
On the 28th of August, 1859, a party, numbering
forty -two in all, four being whites, thirty-six Makololo,
and two native guides, left the ship, bent on the discovery
of Lake Nyassa. Crossing the valley in a north-easterly
direction, they roach the foot of the Manganja hills, up
which they climb by a toilsome road. On reaching an
elevation of a thousand feet, and looking back, they be-
hold a lovely prospect, which we must not pause to
describe. Resuming their wear}- march, they at length
halt at Makolongwe, the village of Chitimba, which stands
in a woody hollow, on the first of the three terraces of
these hills. Like all Manganja villages, it is surrounded
by a hedge of poisonous euphubia, so thick as to be im-
penetrable ; no grass grows beneath this sombre tree by
which fire could be conveyed to the huts inside, and the
branches act as a fender to all flying sparks. After the
usual chaffering with the people of the village for the
needful provisions, the party sleep under the trees, the
air being cool and pleasant, and free from mosquitoes.
At early dawn the camp is again in motion, and the as-
cent is continued until the upper terrace is reached ;
there is three thousand feet above the sea-level.
The fertile plains, the wooded hills, the majestic
mountains, and other features of this splendid scenery,
now gazed on with delight for the first time by European
eyes, were seen to great advantage from this elevated
plateau. The air was fresh and bracing as that of the
176 THE WEAVER BOY.
♦Scottish mouotiiins, and here in some of the passes they
found bramble-berries, reminding them of homo and its
thousand endearing associations. They spent a; week
crossing the highlands in a northerly direction, then
descended into the upper Shire valley, which has an
elevation above the sea of 1,200 feet ; it is wonderfully
fertile, and supports a large population.
A pleasant and well-watered land in this Manganja
country ; rivers and streams abound in it ; its highlands
are well wooded, and along its water-courses grow trees
of great size and height ; it is a country good for cattle,
yet the people have only goats and sheep.
Every village has its chief, or head-fnan, and all those
of a certain district pay allegiance to a paramount
chief, called Rondo, or Rundo. Part of the upper Shire
valley has a lady-chief, named Nyango, in whose do-
minions women rank higher, and are treated more re-
spectfully, than their sisters on the hill. There, if a
chief calls his wife to his presence, she drops down on her
knees, clasps her hands in reverence, and receives his
orders in this position. All the women of the hill-
tribes knelt beside the path as the travellers passed ;
but there was a great difference when they got to
Nyango's country. The head-men of the villages here
consult their wives before concluding a bargain, and are
much influenced by their opinion.
The sites of the villages here are chosen with much
judgment and good taste; a flowing stream is always
near, and the ground is shaded by leafy trees. At the
end of the villages is the boalo^ or *' sproading-place,"
usually comprising an area of twenty or thirty yards,
made smooth, and close beside it the favorite baobab, or
banyan tree. During the day the men sit and work
here, and smoke tobacco and bang, and in the delicious
moon-light nights they sing their national songs, dance,
and drink beer.
The first place to which a party of travellers proceed
on entering a village is the boalo^ where mats made of
split reeds are usually spread for them to rest on. The
natives then gather about, and the guides tell them who
ON LAKE NYASSA. 177
their visitors are, whence they come, where they want
to go, when return, and what are their objects. Tho
chief is duly informed of all this, and will perhaps come
at once to greet the strangers. If, however, he is timid
and suspicious, he will stay until he has used divination,
or summoned his warriors from outlying hamlets. As
soon as he makes his appearance, all the people begin to
clap their hands in unison, and continue doing so until
he has sat down opposite his guests. Then his coun-
sellors take their places beside him ; he makes a remark
or two, and is silent for a few seconds. The guides,
who are the spokesmen for the party, then sit down in
front of the chief, lind they and he and his counsellors
lean forward, looking earnestly at each other, until the
chief says some such word as '' Ambuiatu" (our father,
or master), or "Moio " (life), and all clap their hands;
another word, two claps ; a third, yet more clapping.
Then each touches the ground with both hands placed
together. Then all rise, and lean forward, with measured
clap ; then sit down again, with clap, clap, clap, grow-
ing fainter until it dies away. It is ended by a smart
loud clap by the chief. In this kind of court etiquette,
perfect time is kept. The guides now tell the chief, in
blank verse often, all they have told his people, with
the addition perhaps of some suspicions of their own.
He asks some questions, and converses with the stran-
gers ; But always through the guides, for direct conver-
sation is not customary. All parties are wonderfully
polite and ceremonious until the usual presents are ex-
changed, when etiquette is thrown aside and eager bar-
gaining commences.
It would be interesting to multiply such pictures of
savage life and manners, and show how nearly some of
them approach to those of a higher state of civilization.
Interesting, too, would it be to dwell on the features of
the panorama which is unrolled before us, as we ascend
these African rivers and explore its vales and mountains,
where everything is so new and strange ; but we must
hasten on to tell how the intrepid pioneers of the Gospel
pushed their way on, on through numerous obstacles
178 THE WEAVER BOY.
and dangers, until they stood by Lake Nyassa, a little
before noon, on the 16th of September, 1859, undoubtedly
the first Europeans who had looked upon that inland
sea, notwitstanding all that Portuguese authorities may
say to the contrary, and the claims since set up by one
or two other travellers to its discovery. Dr. Roscher, an
enterprising German, was, it seems, the nearest to them
in point of time, he having reached the lake on the 19th
of November, so that he was only two months later than
Livingstone, who struck upon its northern end in 14^
25' S. lat., and 30° 30' E. long. The exact position of
Nusseewa, on the borders of the lake, where the G-er-
man staj^ed for some time, is not known ; he was mur-
dered by the natives, on his way back by the Arab road
to the usual crossing-place of the Rovunma. His mur-
derers were seized by one of the chiefs and sent to Zan-
zibar, where they were executed. The particulars here
stated lire derived from the statements made by Dr.
Roscher's servants after the}^ had reached the coast.
We shall have more to say about this lake presently;
now we must turn our attention to the groat curse
which rests upon its borders and desolates some of the
most fertile and beautiful places that a tropical sun ever
shone upon. Close to the confluence of the lake with
the river Shire is one of the great slave-paths from the
interior, and Livingstone was told by an old chief, who
hospitably entertained him, that a large slave-party, led
by Arabs, was encamped close by. They had been to
Cazembe's country, and were returning with plenty of
slaves, ivory, and malachite. Some of the leaders came
to see our travellers, and offered them young children
for sale, probably wishing to get rid of the incumbrance.
On learning, however, that these were English, they
hastened away and decamped in the night. Som'^. of
this party were afterwards taken near the coast, by H.
M. ship "Lynx," and the slaves released. They were a
villainous-looking set, armed with muskets, and ready to
commit any atrocity. Livingstone could probably have
set these captives free, but he knew not what to do with
them, and it left to themselves they would no doubt have
ON LAKE NYASSA. 179
been again taken and sold by any of the Manganja chiefs
who could lay hands on them ; for these will even sell
their own people to the Ajawa and slave-dealers, who
are enconraged to come among them for this kind of
traffic. " We do not sell many, and only those w^ho have
committed crimes," they say, when remonstrated with ;
but there is no doubt that others are sold, as well as
criminals. It is easy to get up an accusation of witch-
craft, or other assumed crime, against any person, and
the temptation is strong upon them : they have little
else to give for the brass rings, pottery, and cloth offered
by the traders, for up in the hills they have little or no
ivory. Hence it is that orphans and other friendless
people often disappear from their villages, and no ques-
tions are asked about them; and all down the mountain
slopes and through the Shire villages, coastward, goes
tbe daily-increasing cavalcade of human misery, the
wretched captives manacled and fastened to each other,
kept apart, so that they cannot give mutual assistance,
by the insertion of the necks of the stronger of them in
forked sticks, with pins through the extremity of the
forks, and guarded by brutes in human guise, who would
not hesitate to leave a sick and fainting fellow-creature
to perish by the way, or to cast to the crocodiles, dead
or alive, a child who might encumber the march.
Truly,—
'' Man's inhumanity to raau
JJoes make the angels mourn."
Constantly, in his explorations up the Shire and around
Lake Nyassa, did Livingstone come upon ruined villages,
and fugitives, hiding amoH^ the reeds and tall grasses,
perishing of hunger and exposure, while skeletons and
human forms in every stage of decomposition attested
the frightful character of the deeds \vhich are committed
in carrying out this horrible traffic, which has converted
a peaceful and industrious people into idle and dissolute
robbers and assassins, or miserable crouching creatures,
who scarcely dare to call their souls their own, — who
look upon every stranger as an enemy, and have no con-
180 THE WEAVER BOT.
tidence even in their own friends and relatives. Urged
by the greed of gain, one portion of a tribe will not un-
frequently set upon and overcome the other, that they
may sell the conquered ones, — some members of a family
will seize and sell the rest ; hence all social ties are
broken, and a state of demoralization ensues, compared
to which a simple btate of primitive savagery is inno-
■cence itself.
Livingstone found the Manganja tribes more suspicious
and less hospitable than those on the Zambesi, and no
wonder. Often a party has come to a peaceful village
on pretence of trading, got permission to remain for
-a while, and begun to cultivate plots of ground for their
maintenance, then suddenly in the night thrown oft' the
mask, attacked the village, slaughtered those who re-
sisted, and carried oft* the rest as slaves. This had been
repeated in so many instances that it seemed quite like-
ly that, when the rites of hospitality were extended to
strangers, the people might be entertaining not angels, but
devils, unawares. A small steamer, placed upon Lake
Nyassa, might do much to suppress this traffic, and re-
store confidence and peace to the natives, and Living-
stone strongly advocates this measure. The Englishman
is known everywhere as " the friend of the black man,"
and he is feared and respected by the slave traders; hi^
constant presence in those inland waters, around which
the detestable traffic is carried on, would assure the op-
pressed natives of succor and safety, and act as a check
upon the Mangf\ i chiefs and the half-caste traders, and
also upon the F^ i ■ iguese officials, who would be conscious
of an ever-watchful eye being kept upon their proceed-
ings, and feel compelled to 'observe treaty obligations
better than they now do. Legitimate trade, too, might
be amazingly developed by the constant presence of a
small body of active and energetic men, capable of in-
structing the natives in improved, modes of culture, and
pointing out the value of the products of their rich and
fertile soil, which are now growing to "waste. And all
this might be done without firing oft' a single gun in hos-
tility, or sacrificing a human life. Poor Bishop Macken-
ON LAKE NTASSA. 181
zie, when he attempted to form a settlement among the
hilk above the Shire, unhappily got embroiled in the
qnarrels of the natives, in which no missionary should
ever take part, and so his^efforts were rendered nugatory,
and his valuable life was sacrificed.
Livingstone compares the outline of Lake Nyassa lo
that of Italy, it being somewhat like a boot in shape,
that is, looking at it from the southern end. The nar-
rowest part, which is about the ankle, is eighteen or
twenty miles across. From this it widens to the north
until it becomes fifty or sixty miles over. The whole
length is about two hundred miles, in a direction nearly
due north and south. The western shore is a succession
of bays, the depth varying, at a mile out, from nine to
fifteen fathoms. In one rockj' bay where'soundings were
taken, it was one hundred fathoms. It seems likely
that no anchorage can be found ^far Jffrom the
shore. The lake appears to be surrounded by mount-
ains; thoj^e on the west side being only the edges of
high table-lands. Like all bodies of [water that are so
enclosed, it is subject to sudden and tremendous storms.
At one moment the surface may be perfectly calm, and
the next lashed into fury by a squall of wind, that rushes
down from a mountain gorge with the force of a perfect
hurricane. Livingstone's boat was caught in one of these
storms, when anchored a mile from the shore, in seven
fathoms of water. There was a furious surf on the beach,
and the big waves, driven by the wind, came rolling on
in threes, with their crests driven into spray streaming
behind them. If any one of these had struck the vessel
there wouK have been an end of her, and|probably all
on board ; but, happily, she escaped, after riding it out
for six hours. These storms usually occur^in September
and October, and during their prevalence the travellers
had to beach the boat every night to prevent her being
swamped at her moorings. The annual rise of the water in
the lake is about three feet. This does not take place
until January, although the rains begin in November.
On the low and fertile land, which borders the lake on
the west and south, the population is very dense. On the
182 THE WEAVER BOY.
beach of every little sand}- ba^^ dark crowds stand
gazing at the novel sight of a boat under sail. When the
travellers land they are immediately surrounded by
hundreds, who hasten to stare at the chirombo (wild
animals). If they sit down to take a meal, they are
hedged in by a thicket of dusky forms, who watch their
proceedings with great interest. They are quite civil,
and attempt no exactions in the shape of fines or dues.
They catch large quantities of fish, and cultivate the
soil. Near the north end of the lake the vessel sailed
through what seemed at first a dense fog, but proved to
be a crowd of Ynidges, or gnats, called b\^ the natives
" kungo " (a cloud or fog). They filled the air to an im-
mense height, and swarmed upon the waters in count-
less millions. The people gather these insects by night,
and, after boiling, press them into cakes, which they
eat as food. fe*^^
The men or the lake fish chiefly by night. They
have fine canoes, which they manage with great dex-
terity, standing erect while they paddle. They do not
mind a heavy sea ; but sufler much from fever. Al-
though there are manj^ crocodiles in the lake they
seldom attack human beings, having plenty of fish,
which they can easily see in the clear water. The
natives here are all tattooed from head to foot; and the
women make themselves hideous with the lip-ring and
other ornaments, as they consider them. Livingstone
says, ** Some ladies, not content with the upper pelele.
go to extremes, as ladies will, and insert another in the
under lip, through a hole opposite the lower gums. A
i'iiw peleles are made of a blood-red kind of pipe-clay,
much in iHshion, sweet things in the way of lip-rings, so
hideous to behold that no time nor usaiice could make our
eyes rest upon them without aversion." A northern
chief, who generously entertained the travellers, asked,
])ointing to his own bracelet, which was studded with
copper, and much prized, '* Do they wear such things in
your country ? On receiving a negative reply, ho took
his oft^and gave it to Livingstone; and his wife did the
same with hers. Another asks them to come and spend
TO MAKOLOLO COUNTRY AND BACK. 183
a whole day drinking his beer, which is quite ready.
The slave-trade was going on at a terrible rate on the
lake ; an Arab " dhow," crowded with wretched captives,
was running regularly across it. 19,000 slaves from this
Nyassa county alone, pass annually through the custom-
house at Zanzibar, and it has been estimated that not
above one in ten of those in the interior reach the coast.
XXI.
TO THE MAKOLOLO COUNTEY AND BACK.
All these facts, and many more, Livingstone obtained
. on his second visit to Lake Nyassa, when his explor-
ation of it extended from September 2nd to October 27th,
1861. In the interim between his first and second visits
many things had happened, of which but a very brief
summary can be given. Leaving Dr. Kirk and his as-
sociates to pass overland from the Shire to Tette, Living-
stone once more takes poor *' Ma-Robert" down to Kon-
gone, and has her beached for repairs. While there, H.
M. S. "Lynx" calls in for supplies. One of her boats is
capsized on the heavy breakers on the bar, and the mail-
bags, containing government despatches and private
letters for the travellers, are lost. The governor of
Quillimane comes down in a boat to find out the best
place for ships to anchor, and boats to land. He takes
the fever, and goes back without accomplishing his mis-
sion. A Portuguese naval officer is subsequently sent to
examine the difierent entrances. He goes and looks,
and publishes a report, using, without acknowledgment,
Livingstone's soundings. On the way back, opposite
Expedition Island, *' Ma-Robert's" furnace-bridge breaks
down : more waiting for repairs. At Shupanga they re-
mained eight days for cotton cloth from Quillimane ;
ihey can do nothing with the natives without this, any
more than they can do with the slave-traders, who give
four yards for a man, three for a woman, but who
184 THE WEAVER BOT.
letches more if she is young and handsome, and two for
a child, if it is not thrown in as a make-weight. As
many as two hundred pieces of this cotton cloth, besides
beads and brass wire, have been paid to different chiefs
by a t*^ader for leave to pass through their territory,
during a trip of six months, and this territory is mark-
ed in the Portuguese maps as belonging to them.
Twenty-four fowls are sold in the market of Senna for
two yards of calico. If you want to engage a native to
perform any kind of work, the stipulated price will bs
so much calico. It is a cumbersome kind of money, but
the only kind in general use at present. Learning that
it would be difficult for his party to obtain food beyond
Kebrabasa, before the new crop comes in, Livingstone
determines on delajnng his departure for the interior
until May, and runs down again to Kongone, hoping to
get letters and despatches from the man-of-war that was
to call in March. At Senna, he hears news of the lost
mail, which had been picked up on the beach, and for-
warded to Tette, passing him somewhere on the river.
Having now a prospect of obtaining a steamer proper
for the navigation of the lakes, which could be unscrew-
ed and taken up the rapids in pieces, the engineer, Mr.
Eice, was sent home to superintend her construction.
He took with him botanical specimens collected by Dr.
Kirk forKew Gardens.
Feeling bound by his promise to take the Makololo
back to their own country, Livingstone determined U)
discharge this obligation now. He therefore made pre-
parations for this long expedition, and set out on the
15th of May. The men did not leave so willingly as one
would have expected. Some of them had taken toth.em-
selves wives of the slave-women, and had children, who
were claimed by the women's masters, and therefore
could not be taken away. Some of these preferred to re-
main where they were. By a law of Portugal, all bap-
tized children of slave-women are free ; but this law
becomes void on the Zambesi ; "possibly," as the officials
ftay, laughing, When these Lisbon-made laws are referred
to, "by the heat of the climate they lose their force." So
TO MAKOLOLO COUNTRY AND BACK. 1S5
the Makololo rviiiiain with their wives and pickaninnies^
and the party set off without them, accompanied by three
men, sent by a merchant of Tette, with presents for Se-
kolotu, whom they reach on the IStli of August, at his
new town of Seshckc, still afflicted with leprosy, and
fretful and suspicious, issuing contradictory orders, and
evidently much worse in mind and body than when
Livingstone left him. He is, however, kind as ever to
bis white father, as he calls the missionary, and wel-
comes back his people with joy.
Strange and wonderful adventures have they goLc
through in the out and home journeys, and long tarriancc
lit Tette. They are men of consequence now, great travel-
lers, who have seen both ends of the world, and all that is
'n it; big ships with cannon and white men with mus-
kets, thousands upon thousands ; mountains higher than
iho moon, with white caps on their heads, and clouds
halfway down them ; and rivers that wind round and
round the earth, and come back again ; and lakes deeper
than ihe sea, with fish so thick in them that you might
walk on their backs; beautiful birds, with feathers like
the rainbows above the i^reat Smoke-Falls of the Zam-
bosi, and songs sweeter than anything thay had ever
heard ! Such riches ! Beads, and ivory, and brass wire,
mountains of them ; and cotton cloth enough to spread
all the way from Loanda on the west, to Quillimane on
the east coast ! But they were glad to be back again
with their father, Sekeletu, in that quiet valley. They
had suffered as well as seen much, and the cruelties ex-
ercised upon their dark-skinned brethren by the fierce
Ajawa and white traders had sorely iTightened and af-
flicted them. Yes, glad to be back again with something
to talk about, for the rest of their lives. And they were
never weary of praising the good missionary who had
brought them back, and shown such tender care and
iolicitude for them. " Why does not he bring Ma-Rob-
trt, and live among us ?" said they. " But she comes
not. Poor Sckhose went to fetch her, and was swallow-
ed up in the angry waters. Will she ever como ? We
hope so !" This was the burden of their story, and ad-
Biiring groups gathered around them to hear it.
12
186 THE WEAVER BOY.
Not long does Livingstone remain with Sekeletu. On
the 17th of September he sets out again, conveyed by
Pitsane and Leshore, two Makololo head-men, who go on
a diplomatic mission to the tributary chief, Sinamane,
who lives below the i'alls, and will be able to supply
canoes for the passage down the river. Leshore was
commissioned to commend the party to whatever help
the Batoka could render. This worthy had a Qurious
way of inspiring confidence in the people of the villages
by or through which they passed. His followers were
men of the subject tribes, and, according to his account,
great rascals. " Look out," he shouted, as soon as he
came within hearing, '4ook out for your property, and see
that my fellows don't steal it."
But we must not pause by the way, although there is
much to engage our attention. With the thunderous
sounds of the great Smoke Falls in our ears, and their
misty columns, glorified by rainbows, behind us, we pass
on to where the Zambesi runs broad and smooth again,
and where dwells Sinamane of 'Hhe long spears," the
most redoubtable of the Batoka chiefs, who, in his pos-
session of the river, held the key of the Makololo country
which could hardly be invaded by their old enemies, the
Matabele, while he remained in alliance with Sekeletu.
They spend a quiet Sunday with this chief in his islet
called Chilombe, and there part company with their
convoy.
In five canoes, furnished by Sinamane, and manned by
his people, they pass down the river, which is here 250
yards wide, and flows serenely on, between high banks,
towards the north-east. The Batoka are great tobacco
cultivators; they salute the travellers by hand-clapping,
in the usual way. At a large island, called Mosanga,
lives the chief Moemba, who, hearing that Livingstone
had called Sinamane's people together to talk to them
about the Saviour, wished his also to be " Sundayed."
The canoes of the other chief were here sent back, and
fresh ones obtained to take the party on ; and so the
whole passage was accomplished, with fresh relays at
each slopping place, as people here would post from inn
TO MAKOLOLO COUNTRY AND BAOK. 187
to inn ; and with them, as with us, the pay was always
ready in such coin as was well understooQ and valued.
On they go, down the rapids of Nakansalo, near Kari-
ba, without having a cunning man to pray to the gods
for their safety. Through herds of hippopotami, with
crocodiles tugging at one they killed, and had in tow ;
with excited natives rushing along the banks, and clam-
mering for the meat ; past rocks and tree-covered hills,
gardens and villages, — on they go, amid a people, friend-
ly aud industrious, who bring them food in abundance,
80 that they have a merry time of it. Past the beautiful"
island of Kalabi, and the village of Sequasha, the grea*
elephant-killer, who has travelled far, and can speak a
dozen different dialects ; he has brought home some Am-
erican clocks from Tette, which have got him into
trouble. He set them all going, in the presence of a
chief, who was frightened at the strange sounds they
made, and looked upon them as witchcraft agencies. So
a council was called, and it was decided that Sequasha
must be heavily fined for his exhibition of clock-work.
The fun of ^it was, nobody had the least idea of the use
of these time-measures.
Now the Zambesi is full of islands, to which buffaloes
are attracted by the fresh young grass ; now it is nar-
rowed again by the mountains of Mburuma, and there ie
another rapid, which the canoes enter without previous
survey, and the large waves of the mid-current begin to
fill them. Without a moment's hesitation, two of the
men jump overboard from Livingstone's canoe, and de-
sire a third to do so, although he cannot swim ; for, say
they, " The white man must be saved." Holding on to
the gunwale, amid the foaming waters, they guide the
canoe safely down, and nobly do their duty. A passing
call upon their old friend, Mpende, who had to pay a fine
for driving away the clouds, and causing a drought; and
then through thunderstorms and turbid waters they go,
amid the Banyai, and past the base of the Manyerere
mountain, where the coal seams crop out. Then on to
Kebrabasa rapids, where two of the canoes are swamped,
and much valuable property, including a chronometer,
18S THE WEAVER BOY.
barometer, notes of the journey, and botanical drawings,
is lo8t. Thus, amid storm and sunshine, joy and sorrow,
like tho journey of life, they go, and reach their destin-
ation, which is Tette, on the 28rd of November.
XXII.
MISSIONAKIES AND SLAVE-TRADERS.
The new ship, called the '^ Pioneer," reached the coast
©n the 31st of January, 1861, but the weather being
kiormy. she did not venture in until February 4th. At
vho same time two of H. M. cruisers, bringing the Ox-
lord and Cambridge Missions to the tribes of the Shire
and Lake Nyassa, consisting of Bishop Mackenzie, with
.six Englishmen, and five colored men from the Cape.
The " Pioneer" was under orders to explore the!Rovama,
and it was arranged that the bishop should proceed in
her with Livingstone, while the rest of the mission party
returned for the present to Johanna, with the British
Consul. On the 25th of February, the "Pioneer" an-
chored in the mouth of the Rovunia, and there waited for
Mackenzie, who did not come until the 4th of March,
when the ascent of the river was commenced ; but they
had only proceeded about thirt}^ miles up, when the
water suddenly fell, and as the March flood was the last
of the season, and there was danger of their vessel get-
ting stranded, they decided on putting her back to the
tea without delay, then return to the Shire, see the mis-
ision party safely settled, and afterwards to explore Lake
Nvassa, and the Rovuma downwards from the lake. So
they went over to Johanna for the missionaries, and from
thence to the Kongone mouth of tho Zambesi, up which
they passed into the Shire. The *' Pioneer " was an ex-
cellent vessel in every respect, except her draught of
water, which was too great for the upper part of the
river, where she frequently grounded, when much time
and labor were consumed in getting her afloat again.
MISSIONARIES AND SLAVE-TRADERS. 189
Up this river Charles Livingstone had given much atten-
tion to the subject of cotton growing, in which he had en-
deavored to induce the natives to engage, and with some
success. In this district a cotton field of great extent
was opened, and if the mission about to bo established
were only moderately successful, a new era of happinesj^
and prosperity might be looked for here. The confidenca
of the natives was gained, they had a great desire to
trade, and would gladly avail themselves of opportunitiei
which might be oHered them of doing so. It had been
settled to attempt to found a mission station on the high
ground which overlooked the Shire, belonging to the
friendly chief Chibisba, and now having reached thia
point, they learned that there was war in the Manganja
country, and the slave-trade was^going on briskh'.
Marauding partico of the Ajawa were desolating th«
land, and there seemed little chance that missionarv
work could be carried on successfully at present. Still
it was resolved to take the goods up the hills, and attempt
to establish the mission. Accordingly, on the 25th of
July, they started for the highlands, to show the bishop
his new scene of operation. Halting at a village tha
second day, they were t?ld that a slave-party, on its way
to Tette, w^ould presently pass* that road, and, in a few
minutes, a long train of maracied men, women and chil-
dren came along the road ; the black drivers armed with
muskets, and decked with finery, marched before, be-
hind, and at the middle of the line in a jaunty manner,
and ever and anon blew exultant notes out of long tin
horns. Seeing the white men. they darted off into tha
forest as fast as their legs would carry them. The chief
of the party alone remained, and could not well escape,
because he had his hand tightly clasped in that of the
leading slave. He was at once recognized by Living-
stone as a well-known slave of the late Commandant of
Tette. He said he had bought the captives ; but thej
asserted that they had been taken in war, and whilo
the inquiry was going on, he, too, darted off, and
escaped with the rest. Then all hands were busy,
cutting free the women and children, and releasing tha
190 THE WEAVER BOT.
necks of the men from the forked sticks into which they
were firmly penned. The poor people could hardly
believe their ears when told that they were free, and
might go where they liked, or remain under the protec-
tion of their liberators. This they at once decided on
doing, and set to work with alacrity, making a fire with
the slave sticks and bonds, wherewith to cook the meal
which they carried with them for breakfast. They told
Livingstone that two women had been shot the day be-
fore for attempting to untie the strings ; that one
mother had her infant's brains knocked out because she
could not carry her load and it ; and that a man who
had fallen from fatigue had been despatched with an
axe. Such are the tender mercies of the wicked, and
yet people talk of self-interest as a preventive of undue
cruelty of the master to his slaves ! Eighty-four persons,
chiefly women and children, were thus liberated, and
attached by the strongest ties of love and gratitude to
the missionary. Sixty-four more captives were freed
in the course of the journey to the highlands, where the
bishop wished to settle, although the actual spot was
not decided on, until he received a spontaneous invita-
tion from a chief named Chigunda to come and- live
with him at Magomero, where he said there was room
enough for both.
A resolution having been made to visit the Ajawa
chief, and endeavor to persuade him to give up his evil
ways, and direct the energies of his people to more
peaceful pursuits, and learning that he was burning a
village a few miles off, they leave their rescued captives,
and set off to seek the desired interview. Crowds of
Manganja, who are fleeing from the war in front, meet
them, leaving all they possessed, except the little food
which they can carry. They pass field after field of
Indian corn, or beans, standing ripe for harvest j but
none are there to cut it down. Soon the smoke of the
burning villages is seen, and triumphant shouts ax'e
heard mingled with the wailing of the Manganja women
over the slain. The bishop and his party kneel down
and pray. On rising they see a long lite of the Ajawa
MISSIONARIES AND SLAVE-TRADERS. 191
warriors, with their captives rounding the hill. Their
presence only makes the conquerors more furious. They
are surrounded and attacked, and in self-defence fire their
rifles and drive them off. This was a bad commence-
ment of a missionary enterprise, and it led to other
tronhleSj which eventually broke up the mission, and
caused the death of Bishop Mackenzie, who appears to
have been a very earnest, energetic, and estimable man.
He was placed in a very diflGicult position, and no doubt
made some grave mistakes, for some of which it has been
said Livingstone was to a certain extent answQ^rable.
But had his advice been followed, many of those disas-
ters which occurred would have, no doubt, been avoided.
The connection of the members of the Zambesi Expedi-
tion with the Bishop's Mission ceased immediately after
the above events took place, for the ship then returned
to prepare for the journey to Lake IN'yassa, the results of
which have already been given in Chapter XX. With
the after collisions that took place between Mackenzie
and the slavers, Livingstone not only had no part, but
the steps which led to them were taken contrary to his
advice. We may as well mention here that only once
more did our traveller see Bishop Mackenzie. He came
down from his station, after the return of the party >to
Lake Nyassa, with some of the "Pioneer's" men, who
bad been up on the hills for the benefit of their health.
He then was well, and in excellent spirits. The Ajawa,
having been defeated and driven off, had sent word that
they wished to live at peace with the English. Many
of the Manganja had settled round the station, to be
under the protection of the bishop ; and it was hoped
that the slave-trade would soon cease in the highlands
and the people be left in the secure enjo3inent of their
industry. Three other Europeans had joined the mis-
sion, one a surgeon ; another, Mr. Burrup, expected his
wife out, and two other ladies, the bishop's sisterS; who
were coming there to make up an agreeable and mutually
helpful party. But soon after all this is changed. The
Ajawa, incited by the half-caste rebel, Mariano, who, al-
though sentenced to a three 3^ears' imprisonment, had
192 THE WEAVER BOY.
effected his escape with plenty of iirma and ammunition,
were committini^ p;rcater depredations than ever. A
party, sent by the bishop to find a short route down the
Shire, were misled by their guides to an Anguro slave-
tniding village. lietreating, they were attacked, and
their goods and carriers captured, the others barely
escaping with their lives. The wives of the captured
carriers came to Mackenzie, imploring him to rescue
their husbands from slavery, and it seemed to him a
duty to endeavor to effect this object. He therefore
went with an armed party to the village, which was
burned and the prisoners liberated. This took place
during the rains there ; and the wet, hunger, and expo-
sure brought on an attack of diarrhoea. While they
were still suffering from this, the bishop and Mr. Burrup
set out on an expedition down to the Ruo, by the Shire.
Going on by night, the canoe was upset by one of the
strong eddies of the river. Clothing, medicines, tea.
coffee, — all were lost. Fever seized on the bishop ; be
was at once prostrated ; and on an island, called Malo,
in the mouth of the Ruo, he died in a native hut, the
wretched shelter of which was grudged by the owner.
His grave was dug on the edge of a dark forest, and in
the dusk of the evening his body was convej-ed there by
his faithful attendants, who had watched over him to
the last. Mr. Burrup, himself far gone with dysentery,
staggered out, and repeated from memory, *' Earth to
earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in sure and certain
hope of the resurrection of the dead, through our Lord
Jesus Christ." Not long did Mr. Burrup survive him.
He was taken back to the mission station, and expired
soon after he reached it. Deprived of its leader, the
mission fled from the highlands down into the lower
Shire valley, where it lost more of its chief members by
fever, always prevalent there. Oh, this fever ! what a
terrible scourge it is in all tropical lands ! How it
prostrates the strength of the strongest, and hurries off
the weak to a premature death ! Many times was Liv-
ingstone stricken down by it ; but his iron constitution
and temperate habits enabled him to fight the pest, and
MISSIONARIES AND SLAVE-TRADERS. 19/5
rise triumphantly from the bed of sickness on which it
so often Uiid him. A sad record would that be whicli
.should give the muster-roll of its victims. Good Bishop
Mackenzie and his fellow-worker, with two others of th«
mission who died in the Shire valley, are the , latest wo
have to notice. Hitherto, it had spared the members of
the Zambesi Expedition, but now it seized upon a line,
healthy young man, the carpenter's mate, who had come
out in the " Pioneer," and he died suddenly, to the great
regret of Livingstone. This was in November, IB 61,
about two years and a half from the commencement ot'
the expedition that had enjoyed a long immunity, that
is, from death, for the leader and several of the ])arty
had suffered from the attacks more or less violent, but
not terminatiog fatally ; but now, as if to make up for
lost time, the pest followed them very closely. They
were on the Shire, detained by a shoal tive weary weeks,
waiting for the permanent rise of the river, with marshes
all around them, when the young man died. Released
at length from this place of peril, they got down to th«
Zambesi on the 10th of January, and then steamed down
to the coast. On the 30th arrived H. M. ship •* Gorgon,"
with Mrs. Livingstone and the ladies who were to join
the Universities' Mission, which had been t;o disastrously
broken up. The sections of a new iron steamer, intend-
ed for the navigation of Lake Nyassa, also arrived, and
were brought in with the help of the officers and men oi"
the " Gorgon." But they were detained six months iu
the delta, the "Pioneer'' not being equal to the work
assigned her, of carrying the portions of the new vessel
up to Shupanga, where she was to be put together. The
captain of the " Gorgon" took the mission ladies out of
the marlarious influence of this part, conveying them in
his gig to the mouth of the Ruo, where it was expected
the bishop would be waiting for them ; but, not finding
him there, he proceeded on to the station, and there
learned the melancholy news which we have already re-
lated ; so they brought the bereaved and sorrow-stricken
ladies back to the *' Pioneer." And soon a greater grief
than any he had yet known fell upon Livingstone.
194 THE WEAVER BOT.
Captain Wilson and Dr. Kirk, who had accompanied
him, became dangerously ill of fever ; and for a time
only one of his men wa3 fit for duty, all the rest being
tick with the malaria, or the vile spirit sold to them by
the Portuguese officials ; and, saddest of all, that dear wife
from whom he had been so long parted, also took the
infection. About the middle of April she sickened, and
speedily sank. Obstinate vomiting came on, which noth-
ing could allay ; all medical aid was useless, and her eyes
were closed in the sleep of death as the sun set on the eve
of the Christian Sabbath, April 27th, 1862. What a sad
Sabbath was that for the bereaved missionary, so far away
from the comforting and sustaining influences of home !
It required fortitude and faith to enable him to bear up
against this blow, and say to his heavenly Father, ^' Thy
will be done ! " No Ma-Eobert now for the expectant
Makololo; no helpmate now for the lonely man who
had suffered and done so much in the cause of Christ.
Calmly she sleeps under the shade of the baobab-tree at
Shupanga. The white cross planted on her g^^ave shines
out of the gloom on that green slope that margins the
Zambesi river. Many who pass that way will see it,
and ask about her and her brave husband, who has writ-
ten her epitaph in these words : '^ Those who are not
aware how this brave, good English wife made a de-
lightful home at Kolobeng, a thousand miles iuland from
the Cape, and, as the daughter of Moffat, and a Christian
lady, exercised a most beneficial influence over the rude
tribes of the interior, may wonder that she should have
braved the dangers and toils of this down-trodden land.
She knew them all ; and, in the disinterested and dutiful
attempt to renew her labors, was called to her rest
instead. " Fiat Domlne voluntas tua /' "
The next victim to fever is Mr. Thornton, who,
prompted by his generous nature, had volunteered to
fetch from Tette a supply of goats and sheep for the
survivors of Bishop Mackenzie's mission, who were suf-
fering for want of fresh meat in the Shire valley. He
accomplished his task, and also took bearings by the
way; but the journey was too much for his strength.
MISSIONARIES AND SLAVE-TRADERS. 195
He returned in a greatly exhausted condition ; dysentery
and fever set in, and he died on the 21st of April, 1863.
Soon after this, nearly the whole of the expedition
were attacked by dysentery. Dr. Kirk and Charles Liv-
ingstone suffered so severely that it was thought advis-
able to send them home ; so that their council and assist-
ance was lost to the part;)", which they left on the 19th of
August. After it had been decided that these two
officers, and all the whites that could be . spared, should
be sent down to the coast, to wait for a passage to Eng-
land, Livingstone himself fell ill with dysentery, which
reduced him almost to a shadow. Dr. Kirk remained
with him until the worst had passed, before leaving for
home.
Previous to these events, the "Lady Nyassa," as the
new steamer was called, was put together, launched, and
on the 10th of Januarv, 1863, she entered the Shire,
towed by the *'Pioneer;" she was taken to pieces
below the first cataract and carried up piecemeal over
about 40 miles of land portage, trees having to be cut
down and stones removed to clear a way. No fresh pro-
visions could be obtained except what was shot, and the
food for the native crew had to be brought 150 miles
from the Zambesi. Little help could be got from the
natives, as the slave-traders had depopulated the district;
but, before they could effect their object, a despatch was
received from the home government, ordering the recall
of the expedition. The devastation caused by slave-
hunting and famine was on every side of them. From
the great Shire valley labor had been as completely
swept away as it had been from the Zambesi, wherever
Portuguese power or influence extended. So the " Lady
Nyassa" is screwed together again, and it is resolved to
take her along the northern end, and collect data, and
then sail down the river, while the ''Pioneer" has to
wait for the December floods before she can return. In
the interim Livingstone visits much of the country
adjacent to the lake, and is everywhere horrified by the
sights and sounds of woe which attest the suffering and
wide-spread devastation of the slavo-traffic. While this
196 THE WEAVER BOY.
is connived at b}* the Portuguese government, it seenii
utterly impossible that much good can be effected by
missionary or any other effort, and he is sorrowfully
compelled to acquiesce in the wisdom of the orders
which he has received from England. On the west
coast, w^here the slave-trade does not exert such a baneful
influence, Livingstone found, when he was there in 1861,
that there were 110 principal mission stations, 13,000
children in the schools, and 19,000 members of tho
churches. Bishop Tozer, who was Mackenzie's succes-
sor as the head of the Universities' Mission, thought so
badly of his prospects of success here, that, after makin;;-
a faint effort to form a settlement at a place about as
high as Ben-Nevis, on the humid tops of misty Moram-
bala, were few were likely to join it, retired from the
scene, and went home to recommend the abandonment
of the enterprise altogether. Livingstone by no means
gave up heart or hope. To Christianize South Africa,
— this was now the cherished object of his life, and
when, in obedience to orders, he turned his back upon
this great mission-field, now so familiar and so dear to
him, — doubly dear as the last resting-place of her whom
he first loved and married there, and steamed out of
Zanzibar in the little '' Lady IS'yassa," bound on ti voj^age
of 2,500 miles to Bombay, he resolved to return as soon
as opportunity served, and renew his efforts for the con-
version and civilization of the black people, who were
indeed to him "men and brethren."
The *'Lady Nyassa" was a capital sea-boat; she left
Zanzibar on the 30th of April, 1864, and reached Bom-
bay in the beginning of June, having encountered very
stormy weather. Her crew consisted of thirteen souls
in all, seven native Zambesians, two boys, and four
Europeans ; namely, one stoker, one carpenter, one
sailor, and Livingstone himself, who directed the navi-
gation. The Africans proved excellent sailors, although
not one of them, before they volunteered for the service,
had ever seen the sea; they were selected from hun-
dreds who were willing to go with the good missionary
wheresoever he might take them; and it is curioui to
MISSIONARIES AND SLAVE-TRADERS. 197
remark that during the whole voyage only one of them
was laid down with sea-sickness, although the white
giiilor and carpenter, who were most anxious to do their
duty, were each of them rendered incapable of it for a
week or more. Often, when the little vessel was pitch-
ing bows under in a heavy sea, one of these ebony Jack
tars, lithe of limb, and nimble as monkeys, would climb
out along a boom, reeve a rope through a block, and
come back with the end of it in his teeth, although at
every lurch of the vessel he was submerged in the
foaming brine. At first Livingstone had to take the
wheel every alternate four hours ; but, as this was very
wearisome, he initiated his Africans into the mysteries
of steering, which some of them were soon able to man-
age very well. Their wages were ten shillings per
month, and this no doubt was their great temptation for
entering on so untried a career, although attachment to,
and confidence in, the missionary, had much to do with
it.
So on went the little '-Lady Nyassa," dancing grace-
fully, as only a lady can. up the east coast with the cur-
rent, at the rate of 100 miles a day, to within ten
degrees of the equator ; then out into the wide and
trackless ocean, with the dolphins and flying-fish and
sharks all around her. Amid storms and calms she went,
until the sea-weeds and serpents floating past her told
that land w^as not far off, and soon they sight it,
although nearly hidden in a heavy mist; and now the
daring voyagers with their bark, so small as to|be unob-
peryed, are amid the forest of masts in Bombay^Harbor.
198 THE WEAVER BOY.
XXIII.
HOPES AND FEAES.
Our concluding chapter must be one over which rests
the shadow of a terrible suspense. While we write, it
is yet uncertain whether the devoted friend of Africa, the
intrepid explorer and great discoverer, whose career we
have endeavored to trace, has sealed his devotion with
his life, and thus added another name to the noble army
of martyrs ; or whether he is yet pressing on into unex-
plored regions, and making fresh discoveries that will
astonish the world, and open to Christianity and com-
merce lands and peoples that have as yet had no place
in geography or history.
From various and scattered sources we gather the few
facts respecting Livingstone's last expedition which we
are enabled to set before our readers. It was organized
in Bombay, and consisted of eleven Christianized
Africans, from a Church Mission there, two of them
being young Ajawa, whom Livingstone had brought with
him to India ; eleven Sepoys of the Bombay Native In-
fantry ; and some Johanna men, the chief of whom,
named Ali Moosa, had been with the doctor during the
two years of his last exploration of the Zambesi and
Lake Nvassa.
As a British consul, Livingstone was now invested
with a certain amount of governmental authority, and
might command such services as he required in carry-
ing out the objects of his expedition. From the Foreign
Office Despatches, which were read at a meeting of the
Eoyal Geographical Society, held in March, 1867, we
learn that the last letter received from him was dated
May 18th, 1866. He was then at the confluence of the
Niende and the Rovuraa, in the same route as that pur-
sued by the German explorer. Dr. Koscher, who was
murdered in 1860, after having struck upon Lake Nyassa,
at a date about two months later than that of its discov-
ery by Livingstone, who now, at a place called Ngomano,
HOPES AND PEARS. 199
crossed the Rovuma, and remained some time with a
friendly chief. Beyond this point it seemed no white
man had ever penetrated, and travelling was now especi-
ally dangerous, as all the country around was devasted
by the Mafite, a marauding tribe of Zulus, who had
settled on the west of Nyassa, and caused great terror by
their depredations. There was also a greiit drought,
which added to the difficulties of the way. Food was
scarce, and the means of transport greatly diminished by
the death of all the camels and many of the oxen with
which the party had been provided, they having been
bitten by the tsetse. Still Livingstone resolved to push
on, as his practice ever had been, in spite of difficulties.
He took* a westerlj^ direction, and, after a day's march,
parted with the Rovuma, whose course they had follow-
ed for some time. Then they passed over several plains
and tracts of forest land, but thinly peopled, the hill
blopes clothed with bamboo jungle, which led into a
mountainous region inhabited by Waino and Makua
tribes, who were very friendly. Here was a cool climate
and much cattle, and chiefs of considerable power ruled
over the scattered villages. The party, however, had
been much weakened by desertions ; all the Sepoys had
left and returned towards the coast, except the havildar,
or leader, who had promised at the outset to stand by
Livingstone, and did so until he died, as we shall hear
presently. Some of the educated Africans had also ab-
sconded, reducing the whole number of followers to
about twenty. Livingstone knew that his only chance
of preventing further desertions was to keep them
marching on, so as to increase the distance from home,
and so lessea the chance of a successful flight. On,
therefore, he went, and, after eight days' march, reach-
ed Makata, near the northern end of Lake Nyassa,
which was crossed in canoes lent by the inhabitants of a
small fishing-village, at a part where it was but six miles
wide, and landed at Kampunda, from thence to Marenga
and Maksura, lying to the north-west, and then, after
two days' march over a marshy tract of mud, ''into a
land full of fear and dread." The sick havildar, who had
200 THE WEAVER BOT.
faithfully kept with Livingstone while ho was able, worn
down by dysentery and fatigue, had to be left behind at
Kampunda, where he breathed his last soon after. On,
then, into the country of the dreaded Mafite, whose chief
may peihaps be reached and propitiated, or whose mar-
auding parties may not be fallen in with, for the country
is wide and desolate ; thej' are few in number, and their
parties must be far between. So on : since Marenga
and the mud-marsh are left behind, a day and a half has
passed, and the travellers are not molested, the yet un-
discovered Lake Tanganyika lies somewhere in this dir-
ection, the last, and perhaps the greatest of the chain of
lakes which furnish the head-waters of that ancient and
mysterious river Nile. This is ''the missing link" of a
great geographical puzzle, and Livingstone is anxious to
grasp it, to finish the solution of the dark problem which
has puzzled geographers in all ages of the world's
history.
But the dream of success is rudely dissipated. It is
about 9 A. »i., and he is marching on at the head of his
Y>arty, over level ground, covered with grass three feet
high, and scattered jungle and forest bush, when he and
his negroes, the Johanna men being some distance be-
hind, are suddenly attacked by a party of the* Mafite,
who come on with a rush uttering their war-cry, and
Ktricking their shields with their broad-bladed speai*s
and axes. A musket-shot from Livingstone binngs
down one or two of the attacking party, and checks their
advance for a moment only. The negroes present their
pieces; but owing to trepidation their fire is harmless,
and the yelling savages are upon them, just as the doctor
is in the act of reloading. One swift stroke at the back
of the neck with an axe nearly severs his head from his
body, and he falls dead. The Johanna men, who arc
coming on with iheir burdens, stop aghast, throw them
down, and hide themselves in the interposing thickets.
Only Moosa, who is somewhat in advance, and gets be-
hind a tree for shelter, sees all that passes, — notes the
partial stripping of the dead body of his leader, and waits
until the foe have retired, then, collecting his scared
HOPES AND FEARS. 201
countrymen, cautiously approaches the spot. A shallow
^rave in the sand is scraped with some sticks, and the^ood
missionarj^ with that horrible gash in the neck, which
must have caused instant death, is placed therein. And
then, leavini^ the bodies of three or four negroes, and
several of the Mafite who have fallen in the conflict, to
be devoured by the vultures and wild beasts, the party
make a quick and stealthy retreat, without troubling
themselves about the goods they were carrying, but glad
enough to escape with their lives. Thus lies hidden
from the sunlight and the starlight, alike from foes and
friends, '' the stricken temple of a grand spirit, the body
of an apostle of freedom, whose martyrdom should make
sacred the shores of that sea which his labors made
known to us, and which, now baptized with his life's
blood, men should henceforth know as Lake Living-
stone."
Bat what if all this should not be true ? By some com-
petent judges of its credibility, the story is not believed.
The Johanna men are known to be great liars, and
Moosa, from whom the particulars are derived, has given
two or more different and irreconcilable versions of it.
Making their way, as he states, with all possible speed
to Kampunda, they there witness the death of the havil-
dar of the Sepoys, are deprived of their weapons by the
chief of that place, join an Arab slave caravan, recross
Nyassa, and make for Keetwa, a great slave outlet on
the Zanibar coast. But when within eight days' journey
of this place, they again encounter the Mafite, who scatter
the caravan, seize the slaves and ivory, and send the Arab
traders fleeing for their lives. Eventually they reach
Keetwa, in a most destitute condition, and from thence,
by the kindness of the people, they are sent on to Zanzi-
bar, where they arrive on the 6th of December, and tell
their sad story of disaster. They can give no Jdea of the
date of Livingstone's death. Supposing that it really
took place as they state, we may conjecture that it was
some time in September. The exact spot must also be an
uncertainty at present. We can but hope thut the whole
is a fictitious narrative, made up by Moosa to excuse his
13
202 THE WEAVER BOT.
too probable desertion of Livingstone in a time of great
difficulty and peril.
This report of the murder of Dr. Livingstone v7as first
made known here in a letter from Dr. Kirk, at Zanzibar,
dated 26th December, and addressed to Mr. Bates, Assist-
tan Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, whose
President, Sir R. Murchison, published it on the 7th of
March. Dr. Kirk believed in its authenticity ; but there
were others who entertained grave doubts on the subject.
Circumstantial accounts of the untimely death of the in-
trepid explorer had before reached England, and his
friends cherished the hope that he might still be aliv .,
and pushing on his researches. Afterwards came de-
spatches from Dr. Seward, Acting Political Agent and
British Consul at Zanzibar, where the vessels of all na-
tions which was then at the port had exhibited their
flacTS half-mast hicrh on the arrival of the sad intellii>ence
above related. They stated that himself and Dr. Kiik
were about to sail for Quiloa, a port more to the south,
to make inquiries of the Arabs there, and gain what in-
telligence they could. Then came other desjiatches relat-
ing briefly the result of these inquiries. Nothing was
learned which contradicted the evidence of the Johanna
men, nor which directly confirmed their story; but all
that they related was consistent with Dr. Kirk's know-
ledge of the country said to have been traversed. So
from that time to this the minds of Livingstone's friends,
and of those especially interested in the profc^ecution of
geographical discoveries and the spread of Christianity,
have been agitated by alternate hopes and fears, and the
latter seem to have greatly ])redominated at the meet-
ings of the Geographical Society, when this subject has
been discussed. Sir R. Murchison, the distinguished
president, and others who have spoken, have for the
most part been forced to confess their belief that science
and religion have indeed lost a most devoted and useful
servant. That distinguished explorer. Sir Samuel Baker,
at a meeting of the British Association held as recent as
September 9, 1867, said : —
**With regard to the fate of Livingstone I regret to be
HOPES AND FEARS. 203
forced to the conclusion that the great traveller is dead.
The hopes of those who believe to the contrary rest on
the well-founded belief that the Johanna men who had
escaped the slau<^hter, and brought home the news, had
trumped up the story to excuse their return. It was the
very fact of their power of consummate lying that con-
vinced him of the truth of their statement. Natives are
scientific liars. Thc}^ do not lie absurdly, like Europe-
ans ; but they concoct their falsehoods with such fore-
sight that the lie itself is an example of profound skill.
No native would commit himself to so inartistic a lie as
to declare a man dead who is still alive, and might be-
come a witness at a future time against him. The hardi-
hood of the Johanna men in committing themselves by
the confession of their cowardice, is a surprising instance
of veracity that could only have boen prompted by the
urgency of the calamity. The death of Livingstone is a
fearful drag on the wheel of African exploration. We
know but a portion of those immense lake reservoirs in
Central Africa; and geographers will not remain con-
tent with the bare fact that the Nile issues from these
lakes. England, that has untied the knot, must gather
in the extremity of the line."
On the other hand, we have, more recently still, a
letter from Mr. J. S. Moffat, Livingstone's brother-in-law,
andhimself an African missionary. Writing to the edi-
tor of the "Cape Argus," under date September IT, he
says : —
'•People are incessantlj'- asking me whether I have
not given up all hope respecting Dr. Livingstone. There
appears to me no necessity for us to make up our minds
on the subject at present. I put off writing to you until
we should hear once more from England, and, as no
further inteiliirence about Dr. Livini^stone has been re-
ceived, I shall say once for all what appears to me to be
the state of the case.
"All the evidence to the effect that Dr. Livingstone
was mnrdcred by the Matite, comes through one channel,
namely, the Johanna men, with Moosa at their head
204 THE WEAVER BOT.
Two or three different accounts have been given by these
men, and no one account is reconcible with the others.
I will not occupy space or time b}^ goi"g into details, but
anyone may satisfy himself on this point.
" Reports have been received through other channels,
not corroborating, but absolutely contradicting, the ac-
count given by the Johanna men. Arab traders have
come from the immediate vicinity of the spot where the
murder is alleged to have occurred, and 3'et have not
heard of an event which could not have failed to cause a
good deal of excitement through an extended region.
A message has been sent to thoSultan of Zanzibar, by a
chief inland, that Livingstone had passed his territories
alive and well, at a point boyond the scene of the sup-
posed niurder.
" What has become of the Africans who were with
Livingstone ? He started from the coast with three sorts
of people. The Sepoys soon came back, unable to bear
the hardships of the climate and journey. The Johanna
men came back with the story which has made so much
noise in the world. But where arc the negroes, of whom
there were nine or ten, who had been sent with Living-
stone and the Sepoj^s from Bombay ? It is not said that
they were killed. What has become of them?
"Great stress is laid on Dr. Kirk's opinion. Granted.
No man is better qualified to judge, but has he made
up his mind? He wrote at the first blush of the affair,
and said he feared it was true. A month later he wrote
and said it was not well to go spreading reports, and put-
ting things in the papers. We had better wait for more
evidence. I am not aware that he has expressed himself
very decidedly since then.
"The continued silence of Dr. Livingstone is said to
look bad. How Ions: has he been silent ? Not much
more than twelve months. He w'as silent longer than
that when he crossed the continent further south, at a
narrower place. I myself have been twelve months
without communication with the civilized world, though
I have never been in such secluded regions as those to
which Livingstone was directing his course when the
HOPES AND FEARS. 205
Johanna men say he was killed. If Livingstone is oif
the caravan routes which lead to the coast near Zanzibar,
he is not likely to find any one to carry his letters; If,
as I think quite possible, the negr-^es are still with him,
having got so far, he would not be likely to return, but
would continue his journey, and I should not be in the
least surprised if he turned up in some most unexpected
quarter.
''Probably the Johanna men, like their neighbors on
the continent, can tell most circumstantial lies. My
father has been killed and buried too, before now, with
all the necessary formalities ; and so have I, oa a smaller
scale.
"My own belief is that when the Johanna men found
that Livingstone was going into a region too remote for
their taste, they did what many servants, black and
white, have done before them, — took to their heels some
fine night when the explorer was asleep, and made the
best of their way to Zanzibar.
1 am, etc.,
**JoHN Smith Moffat."
On this letter the editor of the ^'Dail}^ Telegraph," in
a similar spirit of hopefulness to that which dictated it,
remarks : —
" Is Livingstone at this moment pursuing his dauntless
way through strange regions in the heart of Africa, with
tribes and towns around him of whose name civilization
has never heard ; or is he Ivintj — all of him that can die
— in the tropical thicket, dismembered, perhaps, by wild
beasts, and his bones bleached with alterate dews and
fierce sunshine? Were those Johanna men not arrant
liars, who brought news that they saw him murdered,
and had buried him ; or, while we write, is he sitting in
some equatorial village, wondering what false story his
runaway scoundrels have told at the coast to save them-
^06 THE WEAVER BOY.
selves from the calaboose, and to get their pay and pas-
sage homo ? We are at the mercy of ' tidings,' and can-
not know at any moment, as Hood wrote, whether it is
only Space that stretches its barrier between us, or
Death. For our own pan, we have never despaired of
the brave traveller. We have alvvavs been of Sir Roder-
iclv Murchison's opinion, that the evidence of the travel-
ler's death was utterly inconclusive, and that, while any-
thing could be done to discover his fate, it was a national
duty to do it. In the same hopeful spirit, the brother-
in-law of Livingstone, Mr. J. S. Moffat, himself a distin-
guished explorer in Africa, has written to the ' Cape
Argus.' It may be objected that the tendency to san-
guine views would naturally be stronj^est in the doctor's
kindred ; but if that is to weaken arguments for hope, it
will silence us all, since all Englishmen are ' brothers' to
the gallant pioneer. Nor has Mr. Moffat's analysis of
the case to be read as if it were a plea for doing some-
thing: It must be understood that we have done some-
thing already, and by this time the steel boat and its
crew, which we sent out to ascertain Livingstone's fate,
are high up the Shire river; so that the letter has all the
interest of the calm, fair, and thoughtful statement.
The writer points out, as we have done, that the sinister
view of the doctor's case rests solely upon the accounts
of the Johanna porters. Now, first of all, lying is as
natural as eating and drinking to those gentry, and the
Johanna men have given, at least, two or three irrecon-
cilable versions of their narrative. Against them is the
negative evidence of Arab traders who have since passed
through the Mafite villages where the murder is reported
to have been perpetrated, and though they heard of the
white man, they heard nothing r bout his death. Mr.
Moffat adds that, in a message to the Sultan of Zanzibar,
a chief of the interior has mentioned that Livingstone
pavssed his territories alive and well, and those territories
lie beyond the Mafite. Again, what has become of the
negroes who accompanied the doctor ? He had three
sorts of attendants at starting, and first his Sepoys gave
it up and came back ; then his Johanua people fied to
HOPES AND FEARS. 207
the coast, bringing the story of his death ; but where
are the ten African servants ? The path was open to
them ; their homes lay beyond the Mafite ; they are not
said to have been killed; what has become of (hem?
As to the silence of Livingstone, Mr. Moitat points out
that it has lasted only twelve months, which is not so
long as the time that the doctor spent in crossing the
continent further south at a narrower part ; nor is it
nearl}'' so long as the interval during which we had no
news of Grant and Speke. Once ott'the caravan routes
to the sea, the explorer would find no means of communi-
cation, and he is too real a traveller to hang back be-
cause no royal mail is handy. Mr. Moffat remarks that
he has himself been wholly cut off in the African wilder-
ness from his friends and the civilized world for a year ;
nay, that both he and his father have been circumstanti-
ally killed and buried in the same way as Dr. Living-
stone. His conclusion is that the Johanna men found
their master going too far to suit their travelling stom-
achs, and that they bolted when he was asleep, hatching
their tale up, with many anxious rehearsals, on the jour-
ney down to Zanzibar. This conclusion seems quite
reasonable, and not even the weighty authority of Sir
Samuel Baker forces us to despair of good news from the
expedition of inquiry. It may yet be that we shall see
Livingstone again, with a budget of discoveries that will
make his name even more illustrious than it is now
among the pioneers of civilization."
It cannot, however, be long before the public suspense
is relieved by some authentic intelligence ; a searching
expedition, commanded by Mr. E. D. Young, an old com-
panion of Livingstone in his Shire and Nyassa expedi-
tions, and under the auspices of the government, hav-
ing left this country early in June. An enterprising
volunteer, Mr. H. Faulkner, is with Mr. Young, and two
other Englishmen. They took out with them a boat
thirty feet long, by eight broad, and three and a quarter
deep, built in Chatham dock-yard, of steel plates but
little thicker than a penny piece, in sections, so that it
can easily be taken to pieces, and carried past the rapids
208 THE WEAVER BOT.
and other obstructions to navigation. Accounts have
been received from the Cape that H. H. ship "Petrel"
had taken on board the party wiih their portable vessel,
on July 15th, and was to sail immediately for the mouth
of the Zambesi, where the boat was to be put toi^ether,
some natives aided to the party, Moosa himself being
probably one of them, and the ascent made to Lake
Nyassa, wliere they can get within fifty miles of the
reported murder. In all probability the little company
is, while we write, at, or very near to this spot, and has
obtained information of the truth of Moosa's story, or
proof of its falsehood. Let us hope that it may be the
latter, and that Dr. Livingstone is still, as Bishop Mac-
kenzie has described, "mai'ching on with a Arm, steady,
and determined tread, that kept mo in mind he had
walked across Africa." If not, let us mourn his loss, and
say with a writer in the *'Korth British Review" : —
" It is a proud thing to be a great public link in the
chain of human progress. That honor belongs to Dr.
Livingstone, as certainly as it did to Columbus before
him. The brazen gates, which hitherto preserved the
interior of a vast region from the white man's approach,
have at length been compelled to turn on their liinges.
Through the opening thus made, the arts and intelli-
gence of the more scholarly continents may flow.
Through that the streams of commerce may sweep, and
w^ater a territory which for mercantile purposes has
long been regarded as an irreclaimable waste. Through
that too, the holier current of Christianity may glide,
and spread gladness and moral vendure over a heathen
wilderness, where no blade of pure spirituality was lately
to he seen. And the children shall ask their fathers,
*' By whom was this done? Who had power to open
the gates, and let in light on a sealed and darkened land ?'
And the fathers will reply, ' It was David Livingstone,
once a poor factory lad, then a simple missionary, after-
wards a patient explorer, and finally a man who left his
impress upon the fortunes of millions of his fellow-crea-
tures ; for, like all true heroes, instead of toiling for him-
self, he gave hi< services to God and mankind."
HOPES AND FEARS. 209
Pages on pages of similar testimony to the greatness
of Livingstone's work ; and tlio nobility of his charac-
ter, might we quota ; but enough has been sead to show
how high he stands in the estimation of the thoughtful
and religious world. One more extract we may give
from an appreciative article from the {Ten of that large-
hearted philanthropist and true Christian man, Elihu
Burritt, in whose ** Bond of Brotherhood," for April,
1807, the article appeared, with what we should take to
be an excellent likeness of the great explorer : —
" Who that saw and heard Livingstone at the British
Association at Bath, three ycai's ago, will ever forget
that face, or the accents of that voice, when he stood up
before the great assembly and apologized for the obso-
leteness of his mother tongue to his lips ? His very face
showed the burning of twenty years of torrid suns, lie
had come out of the blistering heats of the fever-breath-
ing miasmas of Central x\frica, to tell, in his quiet way
and half-stammering speech, wliat he had seen, suftereJ,
and done in the wilds of that savage land, to add to the
common stock of human knowledge. , So long had ho
trained his lips to the uncouth languages of those
heathen tribes, that his own seemed like a strange one to
his tongue. How many who listened to that stor}', and
looked upon that furrowed, sun-smitten iace, said to them-
selves, 'Enough ! well done ! no man could do more for
science ; now settle down to quiet rest in your native
land.' ' Not so,' said he, or thought in his heart. The
furrows of threescore vcars and more lidiced his countcn-
ance, though he had seen butfift3\ All the red blood of
middle manhood seemed exuded from his system, or
))oisoned in it, by the malarious breath of African
morasses. But his work was not done. Once more to
the breach 1 once moro ! Once more to make and mark
footprints in the central sands of that unexplored conti-
nent that others should follow and name. Once more
into the darkness of that hot-sinned land. Once more
with the lantern and mining I'od of science, to penetrate
the hidden mysteries with i^lcams oi light."
210 THE WEAVER BOY.
SAFETY OF DE. LIVINGSTONE.
The following letter from the Doctor to Sir Roderick
Murchison, was read at the meeting of the Geographical
Society in London, on the 27th of April : —
"Bbmba, Jc&. 2, 1867.
" My dear Sm Roderick, — This is the first opportunity I have
had of sending a letter to the coast, and it is by a party of black
Arab slave-traders from Bagamoyo, near Zanzibar. They had
penetrated here for the first time, and came by a shorter way than
we did. In my despatch to Lord Clarendon I gave but a meagre
geographical report, because the traders would not stay more than
half a day ; but, having written that through the niirht, I persuaded
them to give me an hour or two this morning, and if yours is fuller
than his lordship's you will know how to manage. I mentioned
to him that I could not go round the northern end of the Lake
Nyassa, because the Johanna men would have fled at first sight of
danger ; and they did actually flee, on the mere report of the acts
of the terrible Mazitu, at its southern extremity. Had I got them
fairly beyond the lake, they would have stuck to me ; but so long
as we itad Arab slave-parties passing us they were not to be depended
on, and they were such inveterate thieves, it was quite a relief to
get rid of them, though my following was reduced thereby to nine
African boys, freed ones, from a school at Nassic, Bombay. I in-
tended to cross at the middle of the lake, but all the Arabs (at the
crossing station) fled as soon as they heard that the English were
coming, and the owners of two dhows now in the lake kept them
out of sight lest I shou'd burn them as slavers. I remained at the
town of Mataka, which is on the water-shed between the seacoast
and the lake ; and about fifty miles from the latter. There are at
least a thousand houses (in the town), and Mataka is the most
powerful chief in the country. I was in his district, which extends
to the lake, from the middle of July to the end of September. He
was anxious that some of the liberated boys should remain with
liiuj, and 1 tiied my best to induce them ; but in vain. He wished
to be shown how to make use of his cattle in agriculture. I
promised to try and get some other boys, acquainted with Indian
Jigriculture, for him. 'J'hat is the best point I have seen for an in-
riueutial station ; and Mataka showed some sense of right when
his people went, without his knowledge, to plunder at a part of
the lake, — he ordered the captives and cattle to be sent back.
This was his own spontanea >us act, and it took place before our
ai rival ; but I accidentally saw the strangers. They consisted of
fiity-four women and children, about a dozen boys, and thirty head
SAFETY OP DE. LIVINGSTONE. 211
of cattle and calves. I gave him a trinket in memory of his good
conduct, at which he was delighted, for it had not been without
opposition that he carried out his orders, and he showed the token
of my approbation in triumph. Leaving the shores of the lake,
we endeavored to ascend Kirk's range, but the people below were
afraid of those above, and it was only after an old friend, Katosa
or Kiemasura, had turned out with his wives to carry our extra
loads that we got up. It is only the edge of a plateau, peopled by
various tribes of Manganja, who had never been engaged in slaving ;
in fact they had driven away a lot of Arab slave-traf'ers a short
time before. We used to think them all Maravi ; but Katosa is
the only Maravi chief we know. The Kauthunda, or climbers, live
on the mountains that rise out of the plateau. The Chipeta live
more on the plains there ; the Echewa still fuither north. We went
west among a very hospitable people till we thought we were past
the longitude of the Mazitu ; we then turned north, and all but
walked into the hands of a marauding party of that people. After
a rather zigzag course, we took up the point we had left in 1863,
or say 20 min. west of Chimanga's, crossed the Longwa in 12 deg.
45 min. S., as it flows in the bed of an ancient lake, and after
emerging out of this great hollow we ascended the plateau of
Lobisa at the southern limit of II deg. S. The hills on one part
of it rise up to six thousand six hundred feet above the sea. While
we were in the lowlands I could easily supply our party with meat,
large game being abundant; but upon these highlands of the
Babisa no game was to be found. The country, having become
depopulated by the slaving in which the people engaged, is now a
vast forest, with here and there, at wide intervals a miserable
hamlet. The grain is sown in little patches in the forest and the
people had nothing to sell. We had now a good deal of actual
gnawing hunger, as day after day we trod the sloppy, dripping
forests, which yield some wretched wild fruits, and lots of mush-
rooms. A woman can collect a load of half a hundred weight;
after cooking, they pound them into what they call porridge ; but
woe is me ! they are good only for producing dreams of roast beef
of by-gone days. They collect six kinds, and reject about ten,
some as large as the crown of one's hat. When we got to the
Chambeze, which was true to the character of the Zambezi, in
havmg abundant animal life in its waters, we soon got an antelope
on its banks. We crossed it in 10 deg. 34 min. It was flooded
with clear water, but the lines of bushy tree-, which showed its
actual banks, were not more than forty yards apart. We arrived
here (at Bemba) on the last day of January ; it is a stockaded
village, with three lines of defence, the inner one having a deep,
dry ditch around it. I think, if I am not mistaken, that we are
on the water-shed we seek between the Chambeze and Loapula. I
have not had time to take observations, as it is the rainy season, and
almost always cloudy ; but we sUall rest a little here and get
212 THE WEAVER BOY.
some flesh on our bones. "VVe are about 10 deg. 10 min. S. 31 deg.
50 min. E. Altitude about four thousand five hundred feet above
the sea. The Loapula, or Luapula, is said to be a very large river ;
but I hope to send fuller information from Tanganyika. I have
done all the hunting niyself, have enjoyed good health, and no
touch of fever ; but we lost all our medicine, — the sorest loss of
goods I ever sustained ; so I am hoping, if fever comes, to fend it
off by native remedies, and trust in the watchful care of a Higher
Power. The chief hero seems a jolly, frauk person, but unless
the country is insecure I don't see the use of his lines of circum-
vallation. He presented a cow on our arrival, and a huge
elephant's tusk because I had sat on it. I have had no news
whatever from the coast since we left it, but hope for letters and
our second stock of goods (a small one) at Ujiji. I have been
unable to send anything cither. Some letters 1 had written in
hopes of meeting an Arab slave-trader; but they all ' ske laddled'
as soon as they heard that the English were coming. I could not get
any information as to the route followed by the Portuguese in
going to Cazembe, till we were on the Babisa plateau. It was
then pointed out that they had gone to the westward of that which
from the Loangwa valley seems a range of mountains. The makers
of maps have placed it (the Portuguese route), much too far east.
The repetition of names of rivers, which is common in this country,
probably misled them. There are four Loangwas flowing into Lake
Nyassa. Would you kindly say to Capt. Kichards that I had to
draw some rifles and ammunition from her Majesty's ship ' Wasp,'
and I shall feel obliged if he makes that right? With kindest
regards to Lady Murchison, I am ever, affectionately yours,
"David Livingstone."
Extract from a letter from Dr. Livingstone to Mr.
Young, of Kelly : —
February 1.
" I am in Bemba, or Lobemba, and at the chief man's place
which has three stockades around it, and a deep, dry ditch around
the inner one. He seems a fine fellow, and gave us a cow to
slaughter on our arrival yesterday. We are going to hold a Christ-
mas feast off it to-morrow, as I promised the boys a blow-out when
we came to a place of plenty. We have had precious hard times ;
and I would not complain if it had not been gnawing hunger for
many a day, and our bones sticking through as if they would burst
the skin. When we were in a part where game abounded, I filled
the pot with a first-rate rifle given me by Captain Eraser ; but else-
where we had but very short rations of a species of millet called
' macre," which passes the stomach almost unchanged. The sorest
grief of all was the loss of the medicine-box which your friend at
SAFETY OF DR. LIVINGSTONE. 218
Apothecaries' Hall so kindly fitted up. All other things I divided
among the bundles, so that if one or two were lost we should not
be rendered destitute of such articles ; but this I gave to a steady
boy and trusted him. He exchanged for a march with two volun-
teers, who behaved remarkably well, till at last hungry marches
through dripping forests, cold, hungry nights, and fatiguing days,
overcame their virtue, and they made off with * Steady's' load, all
his clothes, our plates, dishes, much of uor powder, and two guns,
and it was impossible to trace them after the first drenching shower,
which fell immediately after they left us. The forests are so dense
and kafy one cannot see fifty yards on any side. This loss, with
all ou medicine, fell on my heart like a sentence of death by fever,
as was the case with poor Bishop Mackenzie ; but I shall try native
remedies, and trust in Him who has led me hitherto, to help me
still."
APPENDIX.
FliNDING OF DR. LIVINGSTONE
B7
MR. H. M. STANLEY,
Correspondent of the New York Herald.
\
IlfTEODUOTION".
THE PRESENT AND PROSPECTIVE FRUITS OF
LIVINGSTONE'S TRIUMPH.
It is the misfortune of almost ever)'- generation to dote
over the deeds of remote and bygone ages and to depreci-
ate its own. The exploits which most affect the world's
destiny do not, it is true, betray their significance by a flash
and need to be scanned and interpreted in the calm light of
human history. The great man whose name heads this
chapter may notlive to discover the true import of his own
achievements, and certainly, in the course of nature, cannot
hope to reap the harvest which he has sown.
The great impediment to the realization of the toils of
such a man as Livingstone lies in the incredulity of the
human mind. The world is not deficient in the supply of
a numerous class who resemble the pertinacious King of
Anam, who refused to believe that water sometimes froze
in Europe, because it had never been known to freeze in
Anara. When Sir John Ross in 1818 penetrated far with-
in the Artie circle he found a fine tribe of savages inhabit-
ing a region of icy grandeur between the prongs of the
Gretfiland glacier, but shut out from civilization and the sun
by the great ice wall ; and when the gallant explorer told them
his ship had come from the south they tenaciously insisted,
(316)
INTRODUCTION. 2 I 7
" It Is not true ; there is nothing but ice there I" So in-
tense and blind is the resistance which many otberwise
sagacious and reasoning minds offer to the story and con-
clusions of great pioneers of science and research that
when Sir Ibaac Newton, on the strictest mathematical
principles, arrived at and announced the deduction that
the earth was a spheroid, many of the philosophers of the
world of the highest repute, among them the great Ber-
noulli, entered the list against him and declared it an ob-
long figure with a greater polar than equatorial extent.
The great hero of explorations in Equatorial Africa has
met with a similar fate among the geographical doctors and
speculative scientists of his ov/n country, but he will sur-
vive their criticisms, and already we may begin to forecast
the fame that awaits him and the advantages which the
whole human family will ultimately reap from his self-sacri-
ficing and herculean labors. The esteem in which geogra-
phical discovery has ever been held may furnish some clue
to the real value of Livingstone's researches. The first
circumnavigator of the globe, the indeflitigable Magellan,
was almost immortalized by posterity. Sir Francis Drake,
who followed his illustrious example, was knighted, his voy-
age in the Golden Hind celebrated in song and the famous
bark thronged by thousands of his admiring countrymen.
Even in our later period, when the world is more phlegma-
tic and utilitarian, the very bones of a loet explorer (Sir John
Franklin) were so anxiously and energetically sought for,
that in 1866 Sir Leopold McClintock estimated the foot ex-
plorations accomplished in the search, amid mountains of
ice, at forty thousand miles. History fidly attests how all
geographical discovery, by its influence both directly and
reflexively, not only seryes to quicken and fecundate all the
sciences, but to rouse the human mind itself from its
2 1 8 INTRODUCTION.
lethargy, and introduce it to neiv worlds of thought. But
no portion of the earth yields such abundant treasures to
the explorer as the torrid zone, in which lies the scene o^
Livingstone's exploits. The tropics, as Humboldt has
suggested, not only give rise to the most powerful impres-
sions by their organic richness and fertility, but they reveal
to man, by the uniformity of atmospheric variation and the
development of vital forces in their fauna and flora, and by
the contrasts of climate and vegetation at different levels,
the invariability of planetary lands, mirrored, as it were, in
terrestrial phenomena. Africa is emphatically the land of
greatest natural productions, of which we have heretofore
known less than we do of the surface of the moon, and not
much more than the spectroscope has taught us of the
photosphere of the sun. Into the most hidden wilds of
this vast land mass — nearly four times as large as Europe
— the penetratmg genius of Livingstone has pushed geo-
graphic research and planted the germs of future civiliza-
tion and empire. In solving, as we may now justly assume
he has done, the ancient problem of the Nile, the old ex-
plorer has produced the key with which all the secrets of
the great Southern Continent may be unlocked and its
splendid plateaux, its opulent river valleys and its chains
of enormous navigable lakes, seated and embowered high
above the sea, may be thrown open to the enterprise of all
coming generations. In large sections of this newly-found
world — although, like Andean South America, lying almost
under the Equator — nature has piled up upon a series of
gigantic parterres and terraces every variety ot climate and
soil, and compensated by cool and lofty elevations for the
severity of a vertical sun. If to the nations of extra-tropi-
cal countries and high latitudes it seems improbable that a
great civilization can be erected in the new world brought
INTRODUCTION. 219
to light by Livingstone, we have only to recall the historic
development of the Equatorial South American States and
of the famous Carthagenian, Persian and Egyptian civiliza-
tions of old, flourishing under climatic and physical condi-
tions no better than those of the Upper Nilatic basin.
But, to be more specific, it is easy to see that the day is
not distant when European commerce and culture, crossing
the Suez Isthmus by its great canal and descending the
Nile valley, must prove an entering wedge to the newly-
explored country. The present traffic of Equatorial Africa
does not at present extend south of Gondokoro, on the
White Nile. But once connect this point with known
routes of travel and communication, piercing the western
drainage of Lakes Tanganyika, Moero, Lincoln, Bangweolo
and the valleys of the Lualaba and the Chambezi, and we
shall soon have not a lonely and forlorn explorer fighting
his way into the darkness and slavery of these regions, but
richly freighted caravans of trade, conveying the treasures
of knowledge, the blessings of emancipation and peace and
the truths of Christianity to these very strongholds of bar-
barism and benighted heathendom.
When Magellan first circumnavigated the earth, his re-
nowned historian tells us, it was gravely asserted over
Europe that no one else would ever dare so foolhardy an
undertaking again, so little did men dream that the ocean,
which had opened a way for his keel, would soon be fur-
rowed by the countless fleets and argosies of commerce.
We doubt not, in like manner, the successful experiment
of the African explorer will be followed by the world's
pioneers of adventure, traffic and emigration.
But, apart from all the promises of material advantage
fiom Dr. Livingstone's work, there remains the moral bene-
fit to be derived. One germ of true civilzation, planted in
2 20 INTRODUCTION.
tlie wilds of Africn, brings them into sympatliy and unison
with the rest of manliind.
Cue touch of nature makes the whole world kin.
The undying seed of true Christianity once sown will
prove fruitful beyond man's most sanguine expectations,
and may be expected to outlive the most adverse influences
and noxious miasma of heathenism.
The future historian, in summing up the results which
attended the marvellous labors and Atlantean undertakings
of Livingstone, will accord him the honor of settling and
solving '* the problem of the ages," of satisfying the de-
mands of scientific and cosmographical research in the
great tropical Continent, beside that of opening a new
world to commerce and civilization, and of planting the
standard of civil liberty in the midst of it. The explorer
himself will ever stand forth in history a colossal spectacle
of moral heroism, which needs no monument nor memorial
to perpetuate its influence.
PUBLISHERS' PREFACE.
Much of what follows, having originally appeared in the
form of letters chieily from Dr. Livingstone and Mr. Stan-
ley — doubtless not intended for publication in book form —
written, too, at long intervals, and under a very great
variety of circumstances ; no intelligent ?eader will expect
to find an unbroken narrative throughout.
The intense eagerness of the public for reliable informa-
tion from the old hero is such, that all idea of literary
finish will be lost in the contemplation of the man and his
herculean achievements.
The very thought that while we read this — far away,
in the very heart of South Africa — alone, among savages,
under a vertical sun, a voluntary exile from every thing we
count dear and precious, the venerable pioneer pursues
his giant aim — the opening up of that boundless continent
to civilization, religion and commerce should absorb every
thought and fill the soul of every reader with sympathy.
And if there lives a man or woman disposed to enquire
qui honoy we ask such an one to go back some four hun-
dred years to Portugal and Spain, where a devoted en-
thusiast was seen travelling from court to court, and from
thence to the palaces of the nobles and others, yet
spurned from them all as a mouomaniac, till, as a beggar
for bread at a convent gate, he finds a sympathizer in -the
superior, whose influence obtains for him, (but not till seven
(221)
2 22 publishers' preface.
years have run their — to him — weary course,) — his long
sought for commission, and in due time he is afloat in com-
mand of three mere wherries and 120 men, with which to
cross the stormy Atlantic, and discover an unknown con-
tinent, a task however difficult which he accomplished, de-
spite mutiny, etc. Yet the man who opened up this great
continent, now the home of countless millions, received for
his reward a convoy home to Spain as prisoner in chains,
and Christopher Columbus died a pauper. The king of
Spain honoring the body he had allowed to starve with a
pompous funeral.
But, says the objector, my question is not answered.
Well, the answer is, look at America, which by the way
should have been named Columbia in 1485, and 1872.
Well, apart from the slave question, and the religious
aspect of the great African continent — and these outweigh
all others — the latent wealth which there awaits develop-
ment defies the powers of mind to comprehend.
Let us hope that a much more fitting reward awaits our
own veteran explorer of the 19th century than was accorded
to the no less deserving veteran of the 15 th. Of this, how-
ever, we may be certain, if our own people fail in their duty
to Dr. Livingstone, our neighbors and kindred, who have
lately furnished a man to find him, will put us to shame by
doing what we may fail to do.
The duty of the British nation is plain, and let us hope
it will be nobly fulfilled. But little the old Christian
hero recks. The man who has braved and endured what he
has for thirty years — thinks not of the things that perish
in the using, beyond their daily use to him ; Livingstone's
reward is on high, where "they that turn many to righteous-
ness shall shine as the stars for ever and even"
"M
THE FINDING
OF *
DR. LIVINGSTONE
BY H. M. STANLEY.
The object of this department of the work is to bring
together the scattered information which has reached this
country and the United States respecting Mr. Stanley's won-
derful discovery of J Jr. Livmgstone. It was thought that
the various accounts, gathered together would be a conveni-
ence to the reading public as a carefully prepared account
of his extraordinary journey.
The pages in this book which v^^ill possess the greatest
interest to the reader are those giving Mr. Stanley's de-
spatches to the Ne7v York Herald^ now for the 'first time
published in this country entire and without abridejement.
On the 3rd July, 1872, a summary of these despatches was
published in the London papers, but, like most summaries,
it omitted details of considerable interest.
It is to be regretted that doubts have been expressed in
certain quarters as to the reliability of the information and
despatches brought by the energetic young American, but
any one who has followed the public journals during the
past months will have found but little diliiculty in arriving
at the true meaning of much of the correspondence that
has appeared. The fact that Dr. Livingstone chose to write
to a N^w York journal, in a manner somewhat different
from that in which he would have written to an English
(223)
224 THE FINDING OF
paper, Is no reason why doubt should be cast upon the
story of his brave discoverer.
It was open to any inquirer to apply at our Foreign
Office, where the answer would have been given — as it was
given to the writer many days since — that despatches
had been received from Dr. Livingstone through the
agency of Mr. Stanley, and that the authorities there were
perfectly satisfied that they were in the Doctor's own hand-
writing. The many /r;'^^//<7/ allusions to Dr. Livingstone
in Mr. Stanley's despatches alone offer a sufficient test
of the genuine character of the letters and news he has
brought us.
"Were it worth while, many parallels might be adduced,
but we will just take one — trivial enough in itself, but suffi-
cient to show our meaning. Mr. Stanley states that at
that memorable meeting — now a matter of history — the
great traveller wore a naval officer's cap with a faded gilt
band. Now, amongst the Doctor's intimate friends it is
known that a cap of this kind is a favorite with him, and
when he was preparing his well-known book on the Zam-
besi, and resided for six mondis at Xewstead Abbey, as the
guest of Mr. Webb, its generous proprietor, he invariably
wore such a cap, nor could he be prevailed upon to part
w^ith it for a covering such as clergymen usually wear.
The fact is trivial enough, but it is just such trivialities as
this which go to make the true portrait. ' -
Literary composition is not a favorite occupation with
Dr. Livingstone. He prefers to state facts, leaving to others
the task of putting them on paper, and it is not altogether
improbable that Mr. Stanley may have suggested those allu-
sions to General Grant, Hawthorne, and various American
matters, in the second letter to Mr. Gordon IJennet, which
have so surprised some of the Doctors English friends.
Indeed, this second letter may have been written by Mr.
Stanley, principally from Livingstone's dictation. It was
an American who brought the great traveller relief, and
what more natural tlian that his letters of thanks should be
addressed to the American rather than to the English peo-
ple ? A quotation from Nathaniel Hawthorne, suggested
by Mr. Stanley, would be just as appropriate as one from
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 225
Oliver Goldsmith ; and an allusion to President Grant
might be supposed to possess as much interest to the Ameri-
can people as a reference to our Mr. Gladstone.
But all this is idle talk in the face of Lord Granville's note
to Mr, Stanley. His lordship's letter, dated from the
Foreign Ofllce, reads : —
August 2nd, 1872.
Sir, — I was not av/are until you mentioned it that there
was any doubt as to the authenticity of Dr. Livingstone's de-
spatches, which you delivered to Lord Lyons on the 31st
of July. But in consequence of what you said, I have in-
quired into the matter, and I find that Mr. Hammond, the
Under Secretary of the Foreign Office, and Mr. Wylde, the
head of the Consular and Slave Trade Department, have
not the slightest doubt as to the genuineness of the papers
which have been received from Lord Lyons, and which are
being printed.
I cannot omit this opportunity of expressing to you my
admiration of the qualities which have enabled you to
achieve the object of your mission, and to attain a result
which has been hailed with so much enthusiasm both in
the United States and in this country. — I am, Sir, your
obedient
Granville.
Henry Stanley, Esq.
Some of our journals have endeavored to throw cold water
upon Mr. Stanley's marvellous and intrepid feat, but to the
honor of the London Daily Telegraphy it has not only main-
tained one consistent opinion throughout, but has been at
special pains to inform the public in advance of all the other
London journals.
226 THE FINDING OF
DR. LIVINGSTONE.
In June, 1849, Dr. Livingstone made his first exploring
journey, travelled circuitously northwards for a month, and,
at a distance of three hundred miles from his starting point,
came upon the beautiful Zanga river. Along the banks of
this river he proceeded for another month, and then discov-
ered Lake Ngami, with the native settlement of Bakalahars
upon its borders. This was at least three hundred miles, in
a straight line, from any missionary station. Upon the re-
port of his discovery reaching England, Livingstone became
at once famous. The Geographical Society bestowed upon
him its royal award, which was conferred, at that time, upon
no other person, except the great American explorer, Fre-
mont, the then recent unsuccessful candidate for the presi-
dency of the United States. It was immediately felt that
the existence of an extensive inland lake in Southern Africa,
fed entirely by rivers from the north, seemed to point the
way to vast and unknown countries in the remote interior,
well watered, fertile, wealthy, and populous. In 1850,
Livingstone resumed his researches in the same direction,
his wife accompanying him as far as Lake Ngami. Thence
he pushed on still northwards for two hundred miles, and
discovered another large lake. Here he heard that the
slave traders had only preceded him by one year.
So important were these results, that, in 1852, the Lon-
don Missionary Society voted him two years' leave of ab-
sence, to explore the central regions of Africa, Mrs. Living-
stone and her family returning to England in the mean-
time. A hundred and sixty men accompanied him, with a
flotilla of thirty canoes. Thus prepared he rushed up the
great northern river, sometimes traveling at the rate of fifty
miles a day ; but by the time he had reached Loanda, on
the coast, he had been plundered to his last blanket and
coat For twelve months he wandered about through un-
known regions. From Loanda he went to Angola, and
thence crossed the whole continent to the channel of the
Mozambique. There he took ship for England, and arrived
early in December. The chief records of his journey were
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 22^
unfortunately lost in the river, but he retained sufficient to
add enornaously to our knowledge of African ethnology,
natural history, languages, geography, and geology.
His great achievements may be described in a few words.
He explored the immense region of Southern Africa, from
the eastern to the western coast, hundreds of miles from
the limits of all former research ; discovered new climates,
cities, nations, rivers, lakes, ranges of mountains, and curi-
ous systems of manners, laws, and religious beliefs. First,
he travelled from the Cape of Good Hope, northwards, to
Lake Ngami, and thence to Linganti, a locality more than
twenty-four degrees of latitude from the head of the Cape.
He was now within ten degrees of that mystic line, the
equator, which has been supposed, in Central Africa, to run
through uninhabitable deserts, " whose soil is fire, and wind
a flame ;" but he found the region abounding in streams,
bright with vegetation, and alive with all forms of the ani-
mal creation. Striking off westwards, he reached the settle-
ments on the coast, and returning thence to the central
point of his explorations, travelled eastwards to the coast on
the other side of the continent. This was what no traveller
had ever done before.
From the Cape almost to the equator, from west to east,
from ocean to ocean ! Mark these routes upon the map
with a red line, and the track of Livingstone's adventures
will be found to cross vast spaces hitherto unmarked by a
single geographical sign. In future, across those blank
spaces will be indicated the course of the Coanga, Kasye,
Leambye, and Gambia rivers.
From this sketch it will be perceived that Dr. Living-
stone's discoveries have not only been vast in their extent,
but they are in their nature of the highest importance.
Scotland may well be proud of having given birth to such
a man !
In March, 1867, a report reached England to the effect
that Livingstone had been foully murdered by the natives
near Lake Nyassa ; but the accuracy of the rumour was
doubted, although Dr. Kirk, Her Majesty's Consul at Zan-
zibar, and formerly the companion of Livingstone in his
travels, sent this letter to the acting secretary of the Royal
Geographical Society : —
228 THE FINDING OF
ZanziUir,
December 26^A, 1866.
My dear Bates,
I have written fully to Sir Roderick three weeks
ago, 7'ia the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena, again via
Mauritius and Suez, with all information we yet have got
regarding poor Livingstone. • > '
As I am going to Kilwa and Mikadany for a few days, to
see if anything is there known of the sad story, and to seek
for any letters which may have been sent by Dr. Living-
stone before crossing Lake Nyassa, I write a note to you
that you may get by 'any ship passing here during my
absence.
On the 5th of December nine Johanna men of the party
which accompanied Dr. Livingstone came to Zanzibar, re-
porting that ou the west of Nyassa, some lime between the
end of July and September, they were suddenly attacked
by a band of Mazite, and that Dr. Livingstone, with half
his party, were murdered. Those who returned escaped,
as they say, through being behind and unseen, and they all
depose to having helped to bury the dead body of their
leader the same evening. Although in the details, and in
other things, the accounts of the various men differ, they all
agree that they saw the body, and that it had one wound —
that of an axe — on the back of the neck. One man saw
the fatal blow given.
The attack was sudden, and Dr. Livingstone had time
to overpower those that faced him, and was struggling to
reload when cut down from behind. I fear the story is
true, and that we shall never know more of its details.
Full statements have gone home, but this may reach Aden
by an American vessel during my absence.
You will see, if this arrives first, that we have sad news
from the Society on the way.
' - V I remain, yours,
• J. Kirk.
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 229
After the receipt of this and similar letters from Dr. Kirk,
an expedition to search after the distinguished traveller was
organized by those who doubted the story of his death.
The expedition was placed under the command of Captain
R. D. Young, and left England June 9, 1867. About the
middle of the following month the party reached Simon's
Town, and proceeded at once in search of the great tra-
veller.
In Dr. Kirk's account of the circumstances connected
with the reported death of Dr. Livingstone it was said that
the latter, having crossed the north end of Lake Nyassa,
passed through villages named Makarta, and subsequently
Matarka, Maponda, Marenga, and Maksowa. The search-
ing party having reached Lake Nyassa, were driven by a
gale into a small bay, where they found a native who re-
ported to them that a white man had been there eight or
ten months previously.
Captain Young and the rest of the expedition feared at
first that the news was too good to be true, and it was re-
solved to endeavor to reach a point higher up, at w'hich
there was an Arab crossing-place, near Mont Mombo, a
point about twenty miles from the spot at which the boat
was anchored. In carrying this intention into effect, they
fell in with a large party of native fishermen, and on com-
municating with them received a similar account to that
which had been previously given them. These people de-
scribed the dress and appearance of the " white man,"
which tallied pretty closely with those of Dr. Livingstone.
The men having been shown some surveying instruments,
appeared to recognize and to understand the use of t-liem.
One of them produced a spoon, and a second a knife, which
they had received as presents from Dr. Livingstone. As a
further test, Captain Faulkner exhibited a case of photo-
graphs, and without any hesitation that of Dr. Livingstone
was recognized as the picture of the white man. This gave
the searching party increased confidence, and they proceed-
ed to the crossing-place. On arriving there the same story
was repeated, with the addition that the white man had en-
deavored to cross the lake, but finding all the boats were on
the opposite side, he went towards the south, and passed
230 THE FINDING OF
through the villages already named. The searching party-
then sailed across the lake, but, obtaining nOj|j||fe||j^7ation,
made for the south. ^^^^
They shortly afterwards came across a lar^BH|Ju^e, and
here the same story was repeated. ^
It is known that Marenga, the chief of tl'.e village of that
name, was extremely civil to Livingstone, and so he was
found to be by those in search of him. It appears that he
had ferried Dr. Livingstone across a lake forming an inden-
tation in the banks of Nyassa, which he might have circled
on foot at the cost of a detour. Marenga gave the search-
ing party every information in his possession, and presented
them with a very acceptable supply of fresh provisions.
It will be remembered that it was at this point that the
Johanna men abandoned Livingstone.
While Livingstone went across the marsh, the natives
skirted the margin, and on returning to the village, reported
they were being led into a hostile country, and at once
made their way for the seaboard.
The last place named by Dr. Kirk, Maksowa, was two
days' journey from Marenga. The chief of this village had
been driven away, but a number of his men were collected
who had been employed to convey the baggage of Dr.
Livingstone twenty miles further in a north-westerly
direction.
Captain Young regarded the information as conclusive ;
bi't, with a view of discovering the position of Maponda's
settlement, proceeded on a little farther.
The village was found about a mile from the mouth of
the Shire. Maponda was away from the village on a trading
expedition, but his mother, who was at home, informed the
party that Dr. Livingstone had passed through there, and
that some of his party subsequently returned. The mother
of the chief further produced a Prayer Book, containing
the name of one of the Doctor's followers, who had been
left beTiind on account of lameness. , .
The Johanna men represented this boy, who was named
Waikatanoe, as having deserted. It appears that at this
time the boy was absent with the chief, so that the exploring
party had no opportunity of a personal interview with him.
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 23 1
The evidence which had been obtained from so many-
different points, and from such a number of witnesses,
satisfied Captain Young that the object they had in view
had been obtained, and acting upon the instruction issued
to them, he resolved to return. There appeared not the
slightest reason to doubt the substantial correctness of the
information obtained, that Livingstone had passed through
the most dangerous portion of his journev, and had made
good his advance into the interior with the apparent inten-
tion of descending the Nile into Egypt.
The conclusions arrived at by Captain Young's party
were found to be v/ell founded, for on the 8th of April,
1867, letters were received in London from the great travel-
ler himself, dated from a district far beyond the place where
he was said to have been murdered, and announcing that
he was in good health. In July, 1868, he was near Lake
Bangweolo, in South Central Africa, whence he wrote to say
he believed he might safely assert that the chief sources of
the Nile arise between 10° and 12° south latitude, or nearly
in the position assigned to them by Ptolemy, whose River
Rhapta is probably the Rovuma.
Another communication was received from Dr. Living-
stone dated Ujiji, May 13, 1869 ; and on January 24, 187 1,
news arrived in this country that he had made an extensive
journey to the west of Lake Tanganyika.
We have alluded to Livingstone's exploration of the
country around the Zambesi. The object of that expedition
is admirably told in his own words in a speech which he
made shortly before starting on his journey : —
I will explain to you how I mean to endeavour to follow
up the discoveries which have been made. The central
part of the African continent was supposed for a long time
to be a great sandy plain. Certain rivers were known to
be flowing in towards the centre, but they were not known
farther, and they were supposed in consequence to become
lost. But instead of that, the grand view burst gradually on
my mind of a very fine, well-watered country ; and not only
that, but of certain well-watered healthy localities on both
sides of the country which were suitable for a European
232 THE FINDING OF
residence. Efforts have been made for centuries to get
into the interior of Africa, but, unfortunately, it has always
been attempted through the unhealthy parts near the coast.
On the southern part of the country we had the Kalihari
desert, and the expedition which was sent out from Cape
Town under Dr. Smith was prevented from penetrating the
interior by this same Kalihari desert. The unhealthy coasts
presented a barrier on both sides, and this desert jiresented
an obstacle on the south ; but when Messrs. Oswald, Mur-
ray, and myself succeeded in passing round that desert, then
we came into a new and well-watered country beyond.
When I passed into that country, I had not the smallest
idea that there was such a want of cotton as I found to be
the case when I went home to England. But there I saw
the cotton growing wild and almost everywhere, and that
suf^ar was collected all over the country (although the peo-
ple did not know that it could be produced from the sugar-
cane) ; and I found, further, that this was a great market
for labour. When I lived at Kolenbeng, men left that
tribe, and I found some of them within 200 miles of Cape
Town, seeking to obtain work. Now here we have the
produce and here we have the labour, and I hope we may
secure a healthy standing point, from which Europeans may
push their commercial and their missionary enterprise to
the unhealthy regions beyond.
We proceed first of all up the River Zambesi, and have
the full authority of the Portuguese for so doing. This
river is very large ; it is difficult to convey to the people of
such a dry country as this an idea of its size, but the nar-
rowest part that I saw seemed almost to be equal to the
Thames at London Bridge. It was not known to be a large
river, on account of its being separated into five or six
branches at its mouth, before it reaches the sea. But,
when we get inland, we have a noble stream, and we have
at least 250 miles of the stream without a single obstruction.
Then we come into a large coal field, and this seems to
contain the elements of future civilization. Then I may
state that, as we have to examine the river, our expedition
will be a practical one. It is not like those that have been
sent to the North Pole. We hope to have something to
show when we come back. "
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 233
Our l)otnnist is an cconcmic bolnnist, and the geologist
is a prac tical mining geologist ; and the navai officer, Capt.
r>eddingfjcld, has had a great deal of experience in African
rivers, and lias not been deterred by the fear of suffering
from African fever, any more than myself, from volunteer-
ing to go on this expedition. He goes to examine the river
system, and give us correct information about the river sys-
tem and its navigability. And then we have an artist and
a photographer, to give an idea of what is to be seen in the
country.
But I think this expedition is placed in a somewhat
peculiar position. I never heard of another expedition
being similarly situated.
My companions are all put on their mettle. They are
aware that it is ver)' well known that when alone I did some-
thing ; and if we don't do well now in this expedition, peo-
ple will say, " Why, those fellows have prevented him from
doing what he might." So they are all put on their mettle,
and I have the greatest confidence in their desire to accom-
plish the great objects of our expedition.
We find that in the middle of the country there are a
great many of the Zambesi. Several of them I have ex-
amined myself, and found they went out a few miles — some
ten or twelve miles — and then came in again to the main
stream. Now, the natives pointed out a number more, and
they say these other streams come out of the main branch,
and enter it again, after passing some hundreds of miles.
This is a most interesting point, because if the departing and
returning branches are really seen, then we may go up them
in a small steam launch, and have a navigable pathway into
an immense extent of the country beyond. We will not be
then obliged to pass the great fall of Victoria, which cannot
be passed in any vessel. If we have a navigable pathway
in the country beyond, then there is a prodigious extent of
country, all well adapted for the cultivation of those products
which we now get through slave labour.
And what I hope to effect is this : I don't hope to send
down cargoes of cotton and sugar ; perhaps that result will
not be in my lifetime. But I hope we shall make a begin-
ning, and get in the thin edge of the wedge, and that we
14
234 THE FINDING OF
shall open up a pathway intq the interior of the country,
and by getting right into the centre, have a speedy passage
by an open pathway, working from the centre out towards
the sides.
When going into the country, we don't mean to leave our
Christianity behind us. I think we made somewhat of a
mistake — indeed, a very great mistake — in India ; but
where we are going, we shall have no need to be ashamed
of our Christianity. We go as Christians ; we go to speak
to the people about our Christianity, and to try and recom-
mend our religion to those with whom we come in contact.
I have received the greatest kindness from all classes of
people in the interior. I have found that in proportion as
we approach the confines of civilization, do the people be-
come worse. Such is the fact — the nearer we come to
civiHzation, we find the people very much worse than those
who never have had any contact with the white man.
Here we are compelled to take a rather long and very
reluctant farewell of the brave explorer, who, intent on the
all-absorbing object of his life, and, as described by his dis-
coverer, " an utter stranger to fear," has once more plunged
into savage equatorial Africa, resolved to complete his self-
imposed task, or like his intrepid countryman, Mungo Park,
leave his bones to cry to heaven against that " sum of all
villanies," the slave trade. But thanks to the indomitable
enterprise of Mr. J. G. Bennett, who originated the idea and
furnished with no niggard hand the means, a man is found
— hardly less brave than Livingstone himself — who freely
takes his own life in his hand, and in due time the aston-
ished world is electrified with the announcement that Dr.
Livingstone is found and relieved by Mr. H. M. Stanley,
whose Letters follow and speak for themselves.
- .J r
A>'
■''.'■■*.
■: '>'■
LETTERS OF MR. H. M. STANLEY,
THE LAND OF THE MOON.
A Graphic Pm Picture of Unyamhezi — Scenic Characteris-
tics^ Inhabitants and Cultivation of Central Africa —
Life in the Herald Camp at Kwihara — Curiosities of
African Cuisine and Social Amenities — Arraignment of
Dr. Kirk — Outbreak of the Mirambo War — Attack by
the Arabs and the Herald Force on his Village — Slaugh-
ter and Rout of the Arabs — Desertion of the Herald Men
— Plunder and Burning of Tabora — Heroic Death of
Khamis Bin Abdallah — Disgusting Savage Rites with
the Dead — On to Ujiji.
J,
Kwihara, Unyanyembe, Sept. 21, 1871.
How can I describe my feelings to you, that you may
comprehend exactly the condition that I am in, the condi-
tion that I have been in, and the extremely wretched con-
dition that the Arabs and slave trading people of the Mrima
— the hill land or the coast — would fain keep me in ? For
the last two months I have been debating in my own mind
as to my best course. Resolves have not been wanting,
but up to to-day they have failed. I am no nearer the ob-
ject of my search apparently than I was two years ago,
when you gave me the instructions at the hotel in Paris
called the "Grand Hotel." This object of my search you
know is Livingstone — Dr. David Livingstone — F. R. G. S.,
LL. D., &c. Is this Dr. David Livingstone a myth ? Is
there any such person living ? If so, where is he ? I ask
everybody — Omani, Arab-half-caste, Wamruia-pagazis — but
(237)
238 THE FINDING OP
no man knows. I lift up my head, shake off day dreams
and ask the silent plains around and the still dome of azure
upheaving to infinity above, where can he be ? No answer.
The altitude of my people, the asinine obstinacy of Bom-
bay, the evidently determined opposition of the principal
Arabs to my departure from here, the war with Mirambo,
the other unknown road to Central Lake, the impossibility
of obtaining pagazis, all combine, or seem to, to say : —
**Thou shalt never find him. Thou shalt neither hear of
him. Thou shalt die here."
Sheikh, the son of Nasib, one of the ruling powers here,
declares it an impossibility to reach Ujiji. Daily he vexes
me with "There is no road ; all roads are closed ; the Wak-
onongo, the Wagara and the Wawendi are coming from the
south to help Mirambo ; if you go to the north, Usukuma
is the country of Mirambo's mother; if you take the Wild-
jankuru road, that is Mirambo's own country. You see,
then, sir, the impossibility of reaching the Tanganyika. My
advice is that you wait until Mirambo is killed, then, inihal-
lah (please God) the road will be open, or go back." And
often times I explode, and cry out : — *'What ! wait here
until Mirambo is killed ? You were five years fighting
Manura Sera ! Go back ! after spending $20,000 ! O
Sheikh, the son of Nasib, no Arab can fathom the soul of a
muzungu (white man) ! I go on and will not wait till you
kill Mirambo; I go on, and will not go back until I shall
have seen the Tanganyika, and the day after to-morrow I
start."
"Well, master," he replied, "be it as you say; but put
down the words of Sheikh, the son of Nasib, for they are
worthy to be remembered."
He has only just parted from me, and to comfort myself
after the ominous words I write to you. I wish I could
write as fast as the thoughts crowd my mind. Then what
a wild, chaotic and incoherent letter you would have !
But my pen is stiff, the paper is abominable, and before a
sentence is framed the troubled mind gets somewhat calmer.
I am spiteful, I candidly confess, just now ; I am cynical —
I do not care who knows it. Fever has made me so. My
whining white servant contributes toward it. The stubborn-
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 239
ness of Bombay — "incarnation of honesty," Burtorn calls
him — is enough to make one cynical. The false tongues of
these false-hearted Arabs drive me on to spitefulness ; the
cowardice of my soldiers is a proverb with me. The rock
daily, hourly growing larger and more formidable against
which the ship of the expedition must split — so says e\^ry-
body, and what everybody says must be true — makes me
fierce and savage-hearted. Yet I say that the day after
to-morrow every man Jack of us who can walk shall march.
But before the expedition tries the hard road again — be-
fore it commences the weary, weary march once more — can
I not gain some information about Livingstone from the
scraps of newspapers I have been industriously clipping
for some time back ! May they not with the more mature
knowledge I have obtained of the interior since I went on
this venture give me a hint which I might advantageously
adopt ? Here, they are, a dozen of them, fifteen, twenty,
over thirty bits of paper. Here is one. Ah, dolor of heart,
where art thou ? This mirtlVprovoking bit of 'newspaper is
almost a physician to me. I read :— • ' •• •
, . .- '1 . ,
' Zanzibar, Feb. 6, 1870* '
I am also told by Ludha Damjee that a large caravan,
laden with ivory, and coming from Nayamweze, has com-
pletely perished from this disease in Ujiji.
To you who stay at home in America may be accorded
forgiveness if you do not quite understand where " Nayam-
weze" or "Ujiji" is; but to the British politico and Her
Britannic Majesty's Consulf Dr. John Kirk, a former com-
panion of Livingstone, a man of science, a member of the
Royal Geographical Society, and one who is said to be in
constant communication with Livingstone, forgiveness for
such gross ignorance is impossible. A parallel case of
ignorance would be in a New York editor writing, "I am
also told by Mr. So and So that a large wagon train, bring-
ing silver bricks from Montana, has perished in Alaska."
Ujiji, you must remember, is about a month's march west-
ward of Unyamwezi — not "Nayamweze" — and to me it is
240 THE FINDING OF
inconceivable how a person in the habit of writing weekly
to his government about Livingstone should have conceived
Ujiji to be somewhere between the coast and "Nayam-
weze," as he calls it. But then I am spiteful this morning
of September 21, and there is nothing lovable under the sun
at this present time except the memory of my poor little
dog " Omar/' who fell a victim to the Makata Swamp.
Poor Omar! ^ - -v ♦
Amid these many scraps of clippings all about Living-
stone there are many more which contain as ludicrous mis-
takes, mostly all of them having emanated from the same
scientific pen as the above. I find one wherein Sir R.
Murchison, President of the Royal Geographical Society,
stoutly maintains that Livingstone's tenacity of purpose, un-
dying resolution and herculean frame will overcome every
obstacle. Through several scraps runs a vein of doubt and
unbelief in the exist^ence of the explorer. irh& writers seem
to incline that he has at last succumbed. But to the very
latest date Sir Roderick rides triumphant ever all doubts
and fears. At the very nick of time he has always a letter
from Livingstone himseK, or a despatch from Livingstone
to Lord Clarendon, or a private note from Dr. Livingstone
to his friend Kirk at Zanzibar. Happy Sir Roderick !
Good, Sir Roderick ! a healthy, soul-inspiring faith is thine.
Well, I am glad to tell you the outspoken truth, tor-
mented by the same doubts and fears that people in Amer-
ica and England are — to-day uncommonly so. I blame
the fever. Yet, though I have heard nothing that would
lead me to believe Livingstone is alive, I derive much com-
fort in reading Sir Roderick's speech to the society of which
he is President. # -' '" - -' ■
But though he has tenacity of purpose and is most reso-
lute of travellers, he is but a man, who, if alive, is old in
years. I have but to send for Said bin Habib, who claims
to be the Doctor's best friend, and who lives but a rifle shot
from the camp of the Herald and Livingstone expeditions,
and he will tell me how he found him so sick with fever
that it seemed as if the tired spirit was about to take its
eternal rest I have but to ask Suliman Dowa, or Thomas,
how he found "old Daoud Fellasteen" — David Livingstone
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 24 1
— and he will tell me he saw a very old man, with very
gray beard and moustache, who ought to be home now in-
stead of wandering among those wild cannibals of Manyema.
What made me to-day give way to fears for Livingstone's
life was that a letter had reached Unyanyembe, from a man
called Sherif, who is in charge of Livingstone's goods at
Ujiji, wherein he asked permission from Said bin Salim, the
Governor here, to sell Livingstone's goods for ivory, where-
in he states further that Sherif had sent his slaves to Man-
yema to look tor the white man, and that these slaves had
returned without hearing any news of him. He (Sherif)
was therefore tired of waiting, and it would be much better
if he were to receive orders to dispose of the white man's
cloth and beads for ivory.
. It is strange that these goods, which were s'^nt to Ujiji
over a year ago, h'ave noi J'et been touched, and the fact
that Livingstone has not been in Ujiji to receive his last
year's supplies puzzles also Said bin Salim, Governor of
Unyanyembe, or, rather, of Tabora and Kwihara, as well
as it puzzles Sheikh, the son of Nasib, accredited Consul of
Syed Burghash, Sultan of Zanzibar and Pemba at the Courts
of Rumanika and Mtesa, Kings respectively of Karagwah
and Uganda.
In the storeroom where the cumbersome moneys of the
Neiv York Herald Expedition lie piled up bale upon bale,
sack after sack, coil after coil, and the two boats, are this
year's supplies sent by Dr. Kirk to Dr. Livingstone — seven-
teen bales of cloth, twelve boxes of wine, provisions, and
little luxuries such as tea and coffee. When I came up
with my last caravan to Unyanyembe I found Livingstone's
had arrived but four weeks before, or about May 23id last,
and had put itself under the charge of a half-caste called
Thani Kati-Kati, or Thani, "in the middle,'* or "between."
Before he could get carriers he died of dysentery. He
was succeeded in charge by a man from Johanna, who, in
something like a week, died of small-pox ; then Mirambo's
war broke out, and here we all are, September 21, both ex-
peditions halted. But not for long let us hope, for the
third time I will make a start the day after to-morrow.
To the statement that the man Sherif makes, that he ha?
342 THE FINDING OF
sent slaves to Manyema to search for Dr. Livingstone, I
pay not the slightest attention. Sherif. I am told, is a half-
caste. Half Arab, half negro. Happy amalgamation ! All
Arabs and all half castes, especially when it is in their
interest to lie, lie without stint. What and who is this man
5herif, that he should, unasked, send his slaves twenty days
•off to search for a white man ? It was not for his interest
to send out men, but it was policy to say that he had done
:so, and that his slaves had returned without hearing ot him.
He is, therefore, in a hurry to sell off and make money at
the expense of Livingstone. This man has treated the old
traveller shamefully — like some other men I know of, who,
if I live, will be exposed through your columns. But why
should I ^iot do so now ? What better time is there than
the present ? Well, here it is — coolly, calmly and deliber-
ately. I have studied the whole thing since I came here,
and cannot do better than give you the result of the search-
ing inquiries instituted.
It is the case of the British Public vs. Dr. John Kirk,
Acting Political Agent and Her Britannic Majesty's Consul
at Zanzibar, as I understand it. The case is briefly this : —
Some time in October, 1870, Henry Adrian Churchill, Esq.,
was Political Agent and Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at
Zanzibar. He fitted out during that month a small expedi-
tion to carry supplies to Dr. Livingstone, under the escort
of seven or eight men, who were to act as armed soldiers,
porters or servants. They arrived at Bagomoyo, on the
mainland, during the latter part of October. About the
latter part of October or the early part of November Mr.
Churchill left Zanzibar for England, and Dr. John Kirk,
the present occupant of the consular chair, succeeded him
as "acting" in the capacity Mr. Churchill heretofore had
done. A letter bag, containing letters to Dr. Livingstone,
was sealed up by Dr. John Kirk, at Zanzibar, on which
was written "November i, 1870 — Registered letters for
Dr. David Livingstone, Ujiji," from which it appears that
the letter bag was closed on the ist November, 1870. On
the 6th January, 1871, your correspondent in charge of the
Neio York Herald Expedition arrived at Zanzibar, and then
and there heard of a caravan being at Bagomoyo, bound
DR. LIVINGSTONE. * 243
for the interior with supplies for Dr. Livingstone. On the
4th of February, 1871, your correspondent in charge of the
Herald Expedition arrived at Bagomoyo and found this
caravan of Dr. Livingstone's still at Bagomoyo. On or
about the i8th February, 187 1, appeared off Bagomoyo
Her Britannic Majesty's gunboat Columbine, Captain
Tucker, having on board Dr. John Kirk, acting Her Majes-
ty's Consul. Three days before Dr. John Kirk arrived at
Bagomoyo Livingstone's caravan started for the interior,
hurried, no doubt, by the report that the English Consul
was coming. That evening about the hour of seven p. m.
your correspondent dined at the French mission in com-
pany with the peres^ Dr. Kirk and Captain Tucker of the
Columbine. The next morning Dr. Kirk and Captain
Tucker and another gentleman from the Columbine, and
Pere Homer, Superior of the French mission, left for
Kikoko, first camp on the Unyanyembe road beyond the
Knigani River ; or, in other words, the second camp for
the up caravans from Bagomoyo. Pere Homor returned to
Bagomoyo the evening of the same day ; but Messrs. Kirk
and Tucker, the French Consul M. Diviane, and, I believe,
the surgeon of the Columbine, remained behind that they
might enjoy the sport which the left bank of the Knigami
offered them.
A good deal of ammunition was wasted, I heard, by the
naval officers, because, "you know, they have only pea
rifles," so said Dr. Kirk to me. But Dr. Kirk, the com-
panion of Livingstone and something of a sportsman, I am
told bagged one hartbeest and one giraffe only i.i the four
or five days the party was out. M. Diviane, or Divien,
hurried back to Bagomoyo and Zanzibar with a piece of
the aforesaid hartbeest, that the white people on that
island might enjoy the sight and hear how the wondrous
animal fell before the unerring rifle of that learned showman
of wild beasts. Dr. John Kirk. Showman of wild beasts
did I say ? Yes. Well I adhere to it and repeat it. But
to proceed. At the end of a week or thereabouts the party
were said to have arrived at the French mission again. I
rode up from the camp of the Herald Expedition to see
them. They were sitting down to dinner, and we all heard
244 THE FINDING OF
the graphic yam about the death of the hartbeest. It was
a fine animal they all agreed.
"But, Doctor, did you not have something else?" (Ques-
tion by leader of Herald Expedition.)
"No! we saw lots of game, you know — giraffe, zebra,
wild boar, &c. — but they were made so wild, you know, by
the firing of pea rifles by the officers, that immediately one
began to stalk them off they went. I would not have got
the hartbeest if I had not gone alone."
Well, next morning Dr. Kirk and a reverend /^^r^ came
to visit the caipp of the ^<?/'^/^ P^xpedition, partook of a
cup oTtea in. my tent, then went, to . see Moussoud about
Dr. Livingstone's things. They were told that the caravan
had gone several days before. Satisfied that nothing more
could be done, after a dejeuner at the French mission. Dr.
Kirk about eleven a. m. went on board the Columbine.
About half-past three p. m. the Columbine steamed for
Zanzibar. ....
On the 15 th of March your correspondent returned to
Zanzibar to settle up the last accounts connected with the
expedition. While at Zanzibar your correspondent heard
that the report had industriously been spread among those
interested in Livingstone, the traveller, that Dr. Kirk had
hurried off the Livingstone caravan at once, and that he
had accompanied the said caravan beyond the Knigani,
and that your correspondent could not possibly get any
pagazis whatever, as he (Dr. Kirk) had secured them all.
I wondered, but said nothing. Really the whole were
marvellous, were it not opposed to fact. Livingstone's
caravan needed thirty-three men ; the Hci'ald Expedition
required 140 men, all told. Before the Livingstone caravan
had started the first caravan of the Herald Expedition had
preceded them by four days. By the 15th of March in
men were secured for the Herald Expedition, and for the
remainder donkeys were substituted. - '^'■'■
June 28 saw us at Unyanyembe, and there I heard the
reports of the chiefs of the several caravans of the Herald
Expedition. Livingstone's caravan was also there, and
the men in charge were interrogated by me with the follow-
ing questions: ,.- .5 •..: : V. ' . . . .,;i
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 245
Q. When did you see Dr. Kirk last ?
A. I St of November, 1870.
Q. Where?
A. At Zanzibar.
Q. Did you not see him at Bagomoyo ?
A. No j but we heard that he had been at Bagomoyo.
Q. Is this true ; quite, quite true ?
A. Quite true, Wallah (By God).
The story is told. This is the case — a case, as I under-
stand it to be, of the British Public vs. John Kirk. Does
it not appear to you strange that Dr. John Kirk never had
a word to say, or a word to write to his old friend Dr. Liv-
ingstone all the time from ist November, 1870, to about
the 15th February, 187 1 ; that during all this period of
three and a half months Dr. John Kirk showed great un-
kindness, unfriendliness towards the old traveller, his former
companion, in not pushing the caravan carrying supplies to
the man with whom all who have read sympathize so much ?
Does it not seem to you, as it does to me, that had Dr.
John Kirk bestirred himself in his grand character of Eng-
lish "Balyuz" — a noble name and great title out here in
these lands — that that small caravan of thirty-three men
might have been despatched within a week or so after their
arrival at Bagomoyo, by which it would have arrived here
in Unyanyembe long before Mirambo's war broke out?
This war broke out June 15, 1871. • •
Well, I leave the case in your hands, assured that your
intelligence, your natural power of discrimination, your fine
sense of justice, will enable you to decide whether this man
Dr. John Kirk, professed friend of Livingstone, has shown
his friendship for Livingstone in leaving his caravan three
and a half months at Bagomoyo ; whether, when he went
over to Bagomoyo in the character of showman of wild
beasts to gratify the sporting instincts of the officers of Her
Britannic Majesty's ship Columbine, did he show any very
kindly feeling to the hero traveller when he left the duty of
looking up that caravan of the Doctor's till the last thing on
the programme.
246 THE FINDING OF
Unyamwezi is a romantic name. It is *'Land of the
Moon" rendered into English — as romantic and sweet in
Kinyamwezi as any that Stamboul or Ispahan can boast is
to a Turk or a Persian. The attraction, however, to a
European lies only in the name. There is nothing of the
mystic, nothing of the poetical, nothing of the romantic, in
the country of Unyamwezi. I shudder at the sound of the
name. It is pregnant in its every syllable to' me. When-
ever I think of the word immediately come thoughts of
colycinth, rhubarb, calomel, tartar emetic, ipecacaunha and
quinine into my head, and I feel qualmish about the gastric
regions and I wish I were a thousand miles away from it.
If I look r.broad over the country I see the most inane and
the most prosaic country one could ever imagine. It is
the most unlikely country to a European for settlement ;
it is so repulsive owing to the notoriety it has gained for its
fevers. A white missionary would shrink back with horror
at the thought of settling in it. An agriculturist might be
tempted ; but then there are so many better countries
where he could do so much better he would be a madman
if he ignored those to settle in this. And, supposing it
were necessary to send an expedition such as that which
boldly entered Abyssinia to Unyamwezi, the results would
be worse than the retreat of Napoleon from Moscow, No,
an ordinary English soldier could never live here. Yet you
must not think of Unyamwezi as you would of an American
swamp j you must not imagine Unyamwezi to have deep
morasses, slushy beds of mud, infested with all abominable
reptiles, or a jungle where the lion and the leopard have
their dens. Nothing of the kind. Unyamwezi is a differ-
ent kind of a country altogether from that. To know the
general outline and physical features of Unyamwezi you
must take a look around from one of the noble coigns of
vantage offered by any of those hills of syenite, in the de-
batable ground of Mgunda Makail, in Uyanzi.
From the summit of one of those natural fortresses, if
you look west, you will see Unyamwezi recede into the far,
blue, mysterious distance in a succession of blue waves of
noble forest, rising and subsiding like the blue waters of an
ocean. Such a view of Unyamwezi is inspiring ; and, were
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 247
it possible for you to wing yourself westward on to another
vantage coign, again and again the land undulates after the
same fashion, and still afar off is the same azure, mystic
horizon. As you approach Unyanyembe the scene is slight-
ly changed. Hills of syenite are seen dotting the vast
prospect, like islands in a sea, presenting in their external
appearance, to an imaginative eye, rude imitations of cas-
tellated fortresses and embattled towers. A nearer view of
these hills discloses the denuded rock, disintegrated masses
standing on end, boulder resting upon boulder, or an im-
mense towering rock, tinted with the sombre color age
paints in these lands. Around these rocky hills stretch the
cultivated fields of the Wanyamwezi — fields of tall maize, of
holcus sorghum, of millet, of vetches, &c, — among which
you may discern the patches devoted to the cultivation of
sweet potatoes and manioc, and pasture lands where browse
the hump-shouldered cattle of Africa, flocks of goats and
sheep. This is the scene which attracts the eye, and is
accepted as promising relief after the wearisome marching
through the thorny jungle p4ains of Ugogo, the primeval
forests of Uyanzi, the dim plains of Tura and Rubuga, and
when we have emerged from the twilight shades of Kigwa.
No caravan or expedition views it unwelcomed by song and
tumultuous chorus, for rest is at hand.
It is only aft^r a long halt that one begins to weary of
Unyanyembe, the principal district of Unyamwezi. It is
only when one has been stricken down almost to the grave
by the fatal chilly winds which blow from the heights of
the mountains of Usagara, that one begins to criticize the
beauty which at first captivated. It is found, then, that
though the land is fair to look upon ; that though we re-
joiced at the sight of its grand plains, at its fertile and glow-
ing fields, at sight of the roving herds, which promised us
abundance of milk and creani — that is one of the most
deadly countries in Africa ; that its fevers, remittent and
intermittent, are unequalled in their severity.
Unyamwezi, or the Land of the Moon — from U (country)
nya (of the) mwezi (moon) — extends over three degrees of
latitude in length and about two and a half degrees of longi-
tude in breadth. Its principal districts are Unyanyenlbe,
248 THE FINDING OF
Ugunda, Ugara, Tura, Rubuga, Kigwa, Usagozi and
Uyoweh. Each district has its own chief prince, king, or
Ditemi, as he is called in Kinyamwezi. Unyanyembe, how-
ever, is the principal district, and its king, Mkasiwa, is gen-
erally considered to be the most important person in Unya-
mwezi. The other kings often go to war against him, and
Mksasiwa often gets the v "^rst of it ; as, for instance, in the
present war between the l^mg of Uyoweh (Mirambo) and
Mkasiwa.
All this vast country is drained by two rivers — the
Northern and Southern Gombe, which empty into the Mal-
agarazi River, and thence into Lake Tanganyika. On the
east Unyamwezi is bounded by the wilderness of Mgunda
Makali and Ukmibu, on the south by Urori and Ukonongo,
on the west by Ukawendi and Uvniza, on the north by
several small countries and the Ukereweh Lake. Were one
to ascend by a balloon and scan the whole of Unyamwezi
he would have a view of one great forest, broken here and
there by the little clearings around the villages, especially
in and around Unyanyembe.
The forests of Southern Unyamwezi contain a large
variety of game and wild beasts. In these, may be found
herds of elephants, buffaloes, giraffes zebras, elands, hart-
beests, zebras, springboks, pallahs, black bucks and a score
of other kinds. In the neighborhood of the Gombe
(Southern) may be seen any number of wild boars and hogs,
lions and leopards. The Gombe itself is remarkable for
the number of hippopotami and crocodiles to be found
in it.
I have been in Unyanyembe close on to three months
now. By and by I shall tell you why ; but first I should
like to give you a glimpse of our life here. The Herald Ex-
pedition has its quarters in a large, strong house, built of
mud, with walls three feet thick. It is of one story, with a
broad mud veranda in front and a broad flat roof The
great door is situated directly in the centre of the front, and
is the only one possible means of ingress and egress. En-
tering in at this door we find a roomy hallway ; on our
right is the strong storeroom, where the goods of the Herald
Expedition and Livingstone's caravan are kept well padlock-
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 249
ed up to guard against burglars. Soldiers at night occupy
this hallway with loaded guns, and during the day there are
always two men on guard, besides Burton's bull-headed
Mabrouki, who acts as my porter or policeman. On our
left is a room open to the hallway, on the floor of which are
spread straw mats and two or three Persian carpets, where
the Arab sheikhs squat when they come to visit me. Pass-
ing through the hallway we come to the court-yard, a large
quadrangle, fenced in and built around with houses. There
are about a dozen pomegranate trees planted in the
yard, more for their shade than for their fruit. The houses
around consist, first, of the granary, where we keep the rice,
the matama, the Indian corn, the sweet potatoes, &c. ; next
comes the very much besmoked kitchen, a primitive affair,
merely a few stones on which the pots are placed. The
cook and his youthful subs are protected from the influences
of the weather by a shed. Next to the kitchen in the stable,
where the few remaining animals of the expedition are
housed at night. These are two donkeys, one milch cow
and six milch goats. The cow and the goats furnish me
with milk for my gruel, my puddings, my sauces and my tea.
(I was obliged to attend to my comfort and make use of the
best African offers. ) Next to the stable is another large
shed, which serves as barracks for the soldiers. Here they
st .v themselves and their wives, their pots and beds, and
find it pretty comfortable. Next to this is the house of the
white man, my nautical help, where he can be just as ex-
clusive as he likes, has his own bedroom, veranda, bath-
room, &c. ; his tent serves him for a curtain, and, in English
phrase, he has often declared it to be "jolly and no mis-
take." Occupying the half of one side of the house are my
quarters, said quarters consisting of two well-plastered and
neat rooms. My table is an oxhide stretched over a wooden
frame. Two portmanteaus, one on top of the other, serve
for a chair. My bedstead is only a duplicate of my table,
over which I spread my bearskin and Persian carpet.
When the very greatest and most important of the Arab
sheikhs visit me, Selim, my invaluable adjunct, is always told
to fetch the bearskin and Persian carpet from the bed.
Recesses in the solid wall answer for shelves and cupboards,
250 THE FINDING OF
where I deposit my cream pots and butter and cheese
(which I make myself) and my one bottle of Worcestershire
sauce and my tin candlestick. Behind this room, which is
the bed, reception, sitting, drawing room, office, pantry, &c.,
is my bathroom, where are my saddle, my guns and am-
munition always ready, my tools and the one hundred little
things which an expedition into the country must have.
Adjoining my quarters is the jail of the fortlet, called
**tembe" here — a small room, eight or six feet, lit up by a
small air hole just large enough to put a rifle through —
where my incorrigibles are kept for forty hours, without food,
in solitary confinement. This solitary confinement answers
admirably, about as well as being chained w^hen on the road,
and much better than brutal flogging.
In the early morning, generally about half-past five or six
o'clock, I began to stir the soldiers up, sometimes with a
long bamboo, for you know they are such hard sleepers they
require a good deal of poking. Bombay has his orders
given him, and Feragji, the cook, who, long ago warned by
the noise I make when I rouse up, is told in unmistakable
tones to bring "chai'' (tea), for I am like an old woman, I
love tea very much, and can take a quart and a half without
any inconvenience. Kalulu, a boy of seven, all the way
from Cazembe's country, is my waiter and chief butler.
He understands my ways and mode of life exactly. Some
weeks ago he ousted Selim from the post of chief butler by
sheer diligence and smartness. Selim, the Arab boy, can-
not wait at table. Kalulu — young antelope — is frisky. I
have but to express a wish and it is gratified. He is a per-
fect Mercury, though a marvellously black one. Tea over,
Kalulu clears the dishes and retires under the kitchen shed,
where if I have a curiosity to know^ what he is doing, he
may be seen with his tongue in the tea cup licking up the
sugar that was left in it and looking very much as if he
would like to eat the cup for the sake of the divine element
it has so often contained.
If I have any calls to make this is generally the hour ; if
there are none to< make I go on the piazza and subside
quietly on my bearskin to dream, may be, of that far off"
Jand I call my own or to gaze towards Tabora, the kaze of
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 25 1
Burton and Speke, though why they should have called it
Kake as yet I have not been able to find out (I have never
seen the Arab or Msawabili who had ever heard of Kaze.
Said bin Salim, who has been travelling in this country with
Burton, Speke and Grant; declares he never heard of it) ;
or to look towards lofty Zimbill and wonder why the Arabs,
at such a crisis as the present, do not remove their goods
and chattels to the summit of that natural fortress. But
dreaming and wondering and thinking and marvelling are
too hard for me ; this constitution of mine is not able to
stand it ; so I make some ethnological notes and polish up
a little my geographical knowledge of Central Africa.
I have to greet about 499 people of all sorts with the
salutation " Yambo.'' This "Yambo" is a great word. It
may mean " How do you do?" "How are you?" "Thy
health ?" The answer to it is " Yambo !" or " Yambo Sana !"
(How are you ; quite well ?) The Kinyamwezi — the lan-
guage of the Wanyamwezi — of it is "Moholo,"and the
answer is " Moholo." The Arabs, when they call, if they
do not give the Arabic "Spal-kher," give you the greeting
" Yambo ;" and I have to say "Yambo." And, in order to
show my gratitude to them, I emphasize it with "Yambo
Sana ! Sana ! Sana V (Are you well ? Quite well, quite,
well ?) And if they repeat the words I am more than doubly
grateful, and invite them to a seat on the bearskin. This
bearskin of mine is the evidence of my respectability, and if
we are short of common-place topics we invariably refer to
the bearskin, where there is room for much discussion. If
I go to visit the Arabs, as I sometimes do, I find their best
Persian carpets, their silk counterpanes and kitandas gor-
geously decorated in my honor. One of the principal Arabs
here is famous for this kind of honor-doing. No sooner did
I show my face than I heard the order given to a slave to
produce the Kitanda, that the Muzunga — white man —
might lie thereon, and that the populous village of Maroro
might behold. The silk counterpane was spread over a
cotton-stuffed bed ; the enormously fat pillows, covered
with a vari-colored stuft", invited the weary head ; the rich
carpet of Ajim spread alongside of the Kitanda was a great
temptation, but I was not to be tempted j I could not afford
252 THE FINDING OF
to be SO effeminate as lie down while four hundred or five
hundred looked on to see how I went through the operation.
Having disposed of my usual number of "Yambos" for
the morning I begin to feel "peckish," as the sea skipper
says, and Feragji, the cook, and youthful Kalulu, the chief
butler, are again called and told to bring **'chukula" — food.
This is the breakfast put down on the table at the hour of
ten punctually every morning : — Tea (ugali, a native por-
ridge made out of the flour of dourra, holcus sorghum, or
matama, as it is called ; here a dish of rice and curry, Uny-
anyembe is famous for its rice, fried goat's meat, stewed
goat's meat, roast goat's meat, a dish of sweet potatoes, a
few "slapjacks" or specimens of the abortive efforts of
Feragji to make dampers or pancakes, to be eaten with
honey. But neither Feragji's culinary skill nor Kalulu's
readiness to wait on me can tempt me to eat. I have long
ago eschewed food, and only drink tea, milk and yaourt —
Turkish word for "slabber" or clotted milk. Plenty of time
to eat goat meat when we shall be on the march ; but just
now — no, thank you.
After breakfast the soldiers are called, and together we
begin to pack the bales of cloth, string beads and apportion
the several loads which the escort must carry to Ujiji some
way or another. Carriers come to test the weight of the
loads and to inquire about the inducements offered by the
"Muzungu." The inducements are in the shape of so
many pieces of cloth, four yards long, and I offer double
what any Arab ever offered. Some are engaged at once,
others say they will call again, but they never do, and it is
of no use to expect them when there is war, for they are the
cowardilest people under the sun.
Since we are going to make forced marches I must not
overload my armed escort, or we shall be in a pretty mess,
two or three days after we start ; so T am obliged to reduce
all loads by twenty pounds, to examine my kit and personal
baggage carefully, and put aside anything that is not actually
and pressingly needed. As I examine my fine lot of
cooking utensils, and consider the fearfully long distance to
Ujiji, 1 began to see that most of them are superfluous, and
I vow that one saucepan and kettle for tea shall suffice. I
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 253
must leave half my bed and half my clothes behind ; all my
personal baggage is not to weigh over sixty-four pounds.
Then there are the ammunition boxes to be looked to. Ah,
me ! When I started from the coast I remember how ar-
dently I pursued the game ; how I dived into the tall, wet
grass ; how I lost myself in the jungles ; how I trudged over
the open plains in search of vert and venison. And what
did it all amount to ? Killing a few inoffensive animals
the meat of which was not worth the trouble. And shall I
waste my strength and energies in chasing game ? No, and
the man who would do so at such a crisis as the present is
a . But I have my private opinion of him, and I know
whereof I speak. Very well ; all the ammnnition is to be
left behind except loo rounds to each man. No one must
fire a shot without permission, nor waste his ammunition in
any way, under penalty of a heavy fine for every charge of
powder wasted. These things require time and thought,
for the ^^/'^/<f/ Expedition has a long and fair journey to
make. It intends to take a new road — a road with which
few Arabs are acquainted — despite all that Skeikh, the son
of Nasib, can say against the project.
It is now the dinner hour, seven p. m. Ferrajji has
spread himself out, as they say. He has all sorts of little
fixings ready, such as indigestible dampers, the everlasting
nagali, or porridge, the sweet potatoes, chicken and roast
quarter of a goat ; and lastly, a custard, or something just as
good, made out of plantains.
At eight P. M. the table is cleared, the candles are lit,
pipes are brought out, and Shaw, my white man, is invited
to talk. But poor Shaw is sick and has not a grain of
spirit or energy left in him. All I can do or say does not
cheer him up in the least. He hangs down his head, and
with many a sigh declares his inability to proceed with me to
Ujiji.
"Not if you have a donkey to ride ?" I ask.
" Perhaps in that way I may be able," says Shaw in a most
melancholy tone.
" Well, my dear Shaw," I begin, ''you shall have a donkey
to ride and you shall have all the attendance you require.
I believe you are sick, but what is this sickness of yours I
254 THE FINDING OF
cannot make out. It is not fever, for I could have cured
you by this, as I have cured myself and as I have cured
Salem ; besides, this fever is a contemptible disease, though
dangerous sometimes. I think if you were to exert your
will — and say you will go, say you will live — there would be
less chance of your being unable to reach the coast again.
To be left behind, ignorant of how much medicine to take
or when to take it, is to die. Remember my words — if you
stop behind in Unyanyembe I fear for you. Why, how can
you pass the many months that must elapse before I can re-
turn to Unyanyembe ? No man knows where Livingstone
is. He may be at Ujiji, he may be in Manyema, he may
be going down the Congo River for the West Coast, and if
I go down the Congo River after him I cannot return to
Unyanyembe, and in that event where would you be ?"
" It is very true, Mr. Stanley. I shall go with you, but I
feel very bad here (and he put his hand over his liver) ;
but, as you say, it is a great deal better to go on than stop
behind."
But the truth is that like many others starting from the
coast with superabundant health, Shaw, soon after realizing
what travel in Africa was, lost courage and heart. The
ever-present danger from the natives and the monotony of
the country, the fatigue one endures from the constant
marches which every day take you further into the uninter-
esting country, all these combined had their effect on him,
and when he arrived in Unyanyembe he was laid up. Then
his intercourse with the females of Unyanyembe put the last
finishing touch to his enfeebled frame, and I fear if the
medicines I have sent for do not arrive in time that he will
die. It is a sad fate. Yet I feel sure that if anodier ex-
pedition fitted out with all the care that the Herald Expedi-
tion was, regardless of expense, if the members composing
it are actuated by no higher motives than to get shooting or
to indulge their lust, it would meet with the same fate
which has overtaken my white man Farquhar, and which
seems likely will overtake Shaw. If on the day I depart
from here this man is unwilling or unable to accompany me
I shall leave him here under charge of two of my soldiers,
with everything that can tend to promote his comfort
. I
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 255
It was on the 23rd day of June that the expedition ar-
rived here, and after resting ten days or thereabouts I in-
tended to have continued the journey to Ujiji. But a higher
power ordained that we should not leave without serious
trouble first. On the 6th of July we heard in Unyanyembe
that Mirambo, a chief of Unyamwezi, had, after taking very
heavy tribute from a caravan bound to Ujiji, turned it back,
declaring that no Arab caravan should pass through his
country while he was alive. The cause of it was this : — •
Mirambo, chief of Uyoweh, and Wilyankurn had a long
grudge against Mkasiwa, King of Unyanyembe, with whom
the Arabs lived on extremely friendly terms. Mirambo pro-
posed to the Arabs that they should side with him against
Mkasiwa. The Arabs replied that they could not possibly
do so, as Mkasiwa was their friend, with whom they lived
on peaceable terms. Mirambo then sent to them to say : —
" For many years I have fought against the Washeuse (the
natives), but this year is a great year with me. I intend to
fight all the Arabs, as well as Mkasiwa, King of Unyan-
yembe."
On the 15th July war was declared between Mirambo
and the Arabs. Such being the case, my position was as
follows : — Mirambo occupies the country which lies between
the object of my search and Unyanyembe. I cannot possi-
ble reach Livingstone unless this man is out of the way — or
peace is declared — nor can Livingstone reach Unyanyembe
unless Mirambo is killed. The Arabs have plenty of guns
if they will only fight, and as their success will help me for-
ward on my journey, I will go and help them.
On the 20th July a force of 2,000 men, the slaves and
soldiers of the Arabs, marched from Unyanyembe to fight
Mirambo. The soldiers of the Herald Expedition to the
number of forty, under my leadership, accompanied them.
Of the Arabs' mode of fighting I was totally ignorant, but I
intended to be governed by circumstances. We made a
most imposing show, as you may imagine. Every slave
and soldier was decorated with a crown of feathers, and
had a lengthy crimson cloak flowing from his shoulders
and trailing on the ground. Each was armed with either
a flint-lock or percussion gun — the Balocches with match-
256 THE FINDING OF
locks, profusely decorated with silver bands. Our progress
was noisy in the extreme — as if noise would avail much in
the expected battle. While traversing the Unyanyembe
plains the column was very irregular, owing to the extrava-
gant show of wild fight which they indulged in as we ad-
vanced. On the second day we arrived at Mfuto, where
we all feasted on meat freely slaughtered for the braves.
Here I was attacked with a severe fever, but as the army
was for advancing I had myself carried in my hammock, al-
most delirious. On the fourth day we arrived at the vil-
lage of Zimbizo, which was taken without much trouble.
We had arrived in the enemy's country. I was still suffer-
ing from fever, and while conscious had given strict orders
that unless all the Arabs went together that none of my
men should go to fight with any small detachment.
On the morning of the fifth day a small detachment went
out to reconnoitre, and while out captured a spy, who was
thrown on the ground aur had his head cut off immediately.
Growing valiant over ths little feat a body of Arabs under
Soud, son of Said bin Ivldjid, volunteered to go and capture
Wilyankuru, where Mirambo was just then with several of
his principal chiefs. They were 500 in number and very
ardent for the fight. I had suggested to the Governor,
Said bin Salim, that Soud bin Said, the leader of the 500
volunteers, should deploy his men and fire the long dry
grass before they went, that they might rout all the forest
thieves out and have a clean field for action. But an Arab
will never take advice, and they marched out of Zimbizo
without having taken this precaution. They arrived before
Wilyankuru, and, after firing a few volleys into the village,
rushed in at the gate and entered the village.
While they entered by one gate Mirambo took 400 of his
men out by another gate and instructed them to He down
close to the road that led from W^ilyankuru to Zimbizo, and
when the Arabs would return to get up at a given signal,
and each to stab his man. The Arabs found a good deal of
ivory and captured a large number of slaves, and, having
loaded themselves with everything they thought valuable,
prepared to return by the same road they had gone. When
they had arrived opposite to where the ambush party was
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 257
lying on each side the road Mirambo gave the signal, and
the forest thieves rose as one man. Each taking hold of
his man, speared him and cut off his head.
Not an Arab escaped, but some of their slaves managed
to escape and bring the news to us at Zimbizo. There was
great consternation at Zimbizo when the news was brought,
and some of the principal Arabs were loud for a retreat, but
Khamis bin Abdullah and myself did our utmost to prevent
a disgraceful retreat. Next morning, however, when again
incapacitated by fever from moving about, the Governor
came and told me the Arabs were going to leave for Un-
yanyembe. I advised him not to think of such a thing, as
Mirambo would then follow them to Unyanyembe and fight
them at their own doors. As he retired I could hear a
great noise outside. The Arabs and Wanyamwezi auxili-
aries were already running away, and the Governor, without
saying another word, mounted his donkey and put himself
at their head and was the first to reach the strong village of
Mfuto, having accomplished a nine hours' march in four
hours, which shows how fast a man can travel when in a
hurry.
One of my men came to tell me there was not one soldier
left ; they had all run away. With difficulty I got up and I
then saw the dangerous position I had placed myself in
through my faith in Arab chivalry and bravery. I was des-
erted except by one Khamis bin Abdullah, and he was going.
I saw one of my soldiers leaving without taking my tent.
The white man, Shaw, as well as Bombay, had lost their
heads. Shaw had saddled his donkey with my saddle and
was about leaving his chief to the tender mercies of Miram-
bo, when Selim, the Arab boy, sprung on him, and, pushing
him aside, took the saddle off, and told Bombay to saddle
my donkey. Bombay I believe would have stood by me, as
well as three or four others, but he was incapable of collect-
ing his senses. He was seen viewing the flight of the Arabs
with an angelic smile and with an insouciance of manner
which can only be accounted for by the charitable supposi-
tion that his senses had entirely gone. With bitter feelings
toward the Arabs for having deserted me I gave the order
to march, and in company with Selim, the brave Arab boy ;
258 THE FINDING OF
Shaw, who was now penitent ; Bombay, who had now
regained his wits ; Inabraki Speke Chanda, Sarmeen and
Uredi Manu-a-Sera arrived at Mfuto at midnight. Four of
my men had been slain by Mirambo's men.
The next day was but a continuation of the retreat to
Unyanyembe with the Arabs ; but I ordered a halt, and on
the third day went on leisurely. The Arabs had become
demoralized ; in their hurry they had left their tents -and
ammunition for Mirambo.
Ten days after this, and what I had forewarned the Arabs
of, came to pass, Mirambo, with 1,000 gims, and 1,500
Watuda's, his aHies, invaded Unyanyembe, and pitched
their camp insolently within view of the Arab capital of Ta-
bora. , Tabora is a large collection of Arab setdements, or
tembes, as they are called here. Each Arab house is iso-
lated by the fence which surrounds it. Not one is more
than two hundred yards off from the other, and each has its
own name, kno\vn, however, to but a few outsiders. Thus
the house of Amram bin Mousoud is called by him the "Two
Seas," yet to outsiders it is only known as the "tembe of
Amrem bin Mousoud," in Tabora, and the name of Kaze,
by which Burton and Speke have designated Tabora, may
have sprung from the name of the enclosed grounds and
settlement wherein they were quartered. South by west
from Tabora, at the distance of a mile and a half, and in
view of Tabora is Kwihara, where the Herald expedition
has its quarters. . Kwihara is a Kinyamwezi word, meaning
the middle of the cultivation. There is quite a large settle-
ment of Arabs here — second only to Tabora.
But it was Tabora and not Kwihara that Mirambo, his
forest thieves and the Watula came to attack. Khamis bin
Abdallah, the bravest Trojan of them all — of all the Arabs
• — went out to meet Mirambo with eighty armed slaves and
five Arabs, one of whom was his little son, Khamis. As
Khamis bin Abdallah's party came in sight of Mirambo's
people Khamis' slaves deserted him and Mirambo then gave
the order to surround the Arabs and press on them. This
litde group in this manner became the targets for about one
thousand guns, and of course in a second or so were all dead
• — not, however, without having exhibited remarkable traits
of character.
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 259
They had barely died before the medicine men came up,
and with their scalpels had skinned their faces and their
abdominal portions, and had extracted what they call
"mafuta," or fat, and their genital organs. With this matter
which they had extracted from the dead bodies the native
doctors or wagagga made a powerful medicine, by boiling it
in large earthen pots for many hours, with many incanta-
tions and shakings of the wonderful gourd that was only
filled with pebbles. This medicine was drunk that evening
with great ceremony, with dances, drum beating and gen-
eral fervor of heart.
Khamis bin Abdallah dead, Mirambo gave his orders to
plunder, kill, burn and destroy, and they went at it with a
will. When I saw the fugitives from Tabora coming by
the hundred to our quiet valley of Kwihara, I began to
think the matter serious and began my operations for de-
fence.
First of all, however, a lofty bamboo pole was procured
and planted on the top of the roof of our fortlet, and the
American flag was run up, where it waved joyously and
grandly, an omen to all fugitives and their hunters.
Then began the work of ditch making and rifle pits all
around the court of enclosure. The strong clay walls were
pierced in two rows for the muskets. The great door was
kept open, with material close at hand to barricade it when
the enemy came in sight, watchmen were posted on top of
the house, every pot in the house was filled with water, pro-
visions were collected, enough to stand a seige of a month's
duration, the ammunition boxes were unscrewed, and when I
saw the 3,000 bright metallic catridges for the American
carbines I laughed within myself at the idea that, after all,
Mirambo might be settled with American lead, and all this
furor of war be ended without much trouble. Before six
p. m. I had 125 muskets and stout fellows who had enlisted
from the fugitives, and the house, which only looked like a
fortlet at first, became a fortlet in reality — impregnable and
untakable.
All night we stood guard ; the suburbs of Tabora were
in flames ; all the Wanyamwezi and Wanguana houses
were destroyed, and the fine house of Abid bin Sulemian
'26o THE FINDING OF
had been ransacked and then committed to the flames, and
Mirambo boasted that *' to-morrow" Kwihara should share
the fete of Tabora, and there was a rumor that that night
the Arabs were going to start for the coast.
But the morning came, and Mirambo departed, with the
ivory and cattle he had captured, and the people of Kwihara
and Tabora breathed freer.
And now I am going to say farewell to Unyanyembe for
a while. I shall never help an Arab again. He is no
fighting man, or, I should say, does not know how to fight,
but knows, personally, how to die. They will not conquer
Mirambo within a year, and I cannot stop to see that play
out. There is a good old man waiting for me somewhere,
and that impels me on. There is a journal afar off which
expects me to do my duty, and I must do it. Goodby ; I
am off the day after to-morrow for Ujiji ; then, perhaps,
the Congo River.
THE ROAD TO UJIJI.
Starting from Kwihara — A plunge into the Wilderness —
Stampede of the Herald Expedition — Recovering the
Runaways — Chastisements of Incorrigibles — The Strong
Fortress of Agunda — Quelling the Guides' Revolt amofig
the 7nen — Bombay Thrashed — Scenic Beauties of South-
ern Ukawendi — Mount Magdala — Crossing a river over
a natural bridge of water plants — Crossing the Malaga-
razi — The Donkey's fate — A night flight from the
Wahha — First glimpse of Lake Tanganyika — A tri-
umphal procession into Bunder Ufiji — The meeting with
Dr. David Livingstone.
Bunder, Ujiji, on Lake Tanganyika, )
Central Africa, November 23, 187 1. J
Only two months gone, and what a change in my feeUngs !
But two months ago, what a peevish, fretful soul was mine !
What a hopeless prospect presented itself before your corres-
pondent ! Arabs vowing that I would never behold the
Tanganyika ; Sheikh, the son of Nasib, declaring me a mad-
man to his fellows because I would not heed his words.
My men deserting, my servants whining day by day, and
my white man endeavoring to impress me with the belief
that we were all doomed men ! And the only answer to it
all is, Livingstone, the hero traveller, is alongside of me,
writing as hard as he can to his friends in England, India
and America, and I am quite safe and sound in health and
limb. Wonderful, is it not, that such a thing should be,
when the seers had foretold that it would be otherwise —
that all my schemes, that all my determination would avail
me nothing ? But probably you are in as much of a hurry
to know how it all took place as I am to relate. So, to the
recital.
(261)
262 THE FINDING OF
September 23 I left Unyanyembe, driving before me fifty
well-armed black men, loaded with the goods of the expe-
dition, and dragging after me one white man. Several
Arabs stood by my late residence to see the last of me and
mine, as they felt assured there was not the least hope of
their ever seeing me again. Shaw, the white man, was pale
as death, and would willingly have received the order to
stop behind in Unyanyembe, only he had not quite the
courage to ask permission, from the fact that only the night
before he had expressed a hope that I would not leave him
behind, and I had promised to give him a good riding don-
key and to walk after him until he recovered perfect health.
However, as I gave the order to march, some of the men,
in a hurry to obey the order, managed to push by him sud-
denly, and down he went like a dead man. The Arabs,
thinking, doubtless, that I would not go now because my
white subordinate seemed so ill, hurried in a body to the
fallen man, loudly crying at what they were pleased to term
my cruelty and obstinacy ; but, pushing them back, I
mounted Shaw on his donkey, and told them that I must
see the Tanganyika first, as I had sworn to go on. Putting
two soldiers, one on each side of him, I ordered Shaw to
move on and not to play the fool before the Arabs, lest
they should triumph over us. Three or four black laggards
loth to go (Bombay was one of them) received my dOg
whip across their shoulders as a gentle intimation that I was
not to be baulked after having fed them so long and paid
them so much. And it was thus we left Unyanyembe. ISi ot
- in the best humor, was it ? However, where there is will
there is a way.
Once away from the hateful valley of Kwthara, once out
of sight of the obnoxious fields my enthusiasm for my work
rose as newborn as when I left the coast. But my enthusi-
asm was shortlived for before reaching camp I was almost
delirious with fever. Long before I reached the camp I
saw from a ridge overlooking a fair valley, dotted with vil-
lages and green with groves of plantains and fields of young
rice, my tent and from its tall pole the American flag
* waving gaily before the strong breeze which blew from the
eastward. When I had arrived at the camp, burning with
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 263
fever, my pulse bounding many degrees too fast and my
temper made more acrimonious by my sufferings, I found
the camp almost deserted.
Tlie men as soon as they had arrived at Mkwenke, the
village agreed upon, had hurried back to Kwihara.
Livingstone's letter carrier had not made his appearance —
it was an abandoned camp. I instantly despatched six of
the best of those who had refused to return to ask Sheikh,
the son of Nasib, to lend or sell me the longest slave chain
he had, then to hunt up the runaways and bring them back
to camp bound, and promised them that for every head
captured they should have a bran new cloth. I also did
not forget to teH my trusty men to tell Livingstone's mes-
senger that if he did not come to camp before night I would
return to Unyanyembe — catch him and put him in chains
and never release him until his master saw him. Mv men
went off in high glee, and I went off to bed passing long
hours groaning and tossing about for the deadly sickness
that had overtaken me.
Next morning fourteen out of twenty of those who had
deserted back to their wives and huts (as is generally the
custom) had reappeared, and, as the fever had left me, I
only lectured them, and they gave me their promise not to
desert me again under any circumstances. Livingstone's
messenger had passed the night in bonds, because he had
resolutely refused to come. I unloosed him Jand gave him
a paternal lecture, painting in glowing colors the benefits he
wouldreceive if he came along quietly,[and the horrible pun-
ishment of being chained up until I reached Ujiji if he was
resolved not to come. " Kaif Halleck " (Arabic for " How
do you do ? ") melted, and readily gave me his promise to
come and obey me as he would his own master — Living-
stone — until we should see him, " which inshallah we shall !
Please God, please God, we shall," I replied, " and you will
be no loser."
During the day my soldiers had captured the others, and as
they all promised obedience and fidelity in future they
escaped punishment. But I was well aware that so long as
I remained in such close proximity the temptation to revisit
the fat pasture grounds of Unyanyembe, where they had
264 THE FINDING OF
luxuriated so long, would be too strong, and to enable them
to resist I ordered a march towards evening, and two hours
after dark we arrived at the village of Kasegera.
It is possible for any of your readers so disposed to con-
struct a map of the road on which the Herald expedition
was now journeying, if they draw a line 150 miles long
south by west from Unyanyembe, then 150 miles west north-
west, then ninety miles north, half east, then seventy miles
west by north, and that will take them to Ujiji.
Before taking up the narrative of the march I must tell
you that during the night after reaching Kasegera, two de-
serted, and on calling the men to fall in for the road I de-
tected two more trying to steal away behind some of the
huts of the village wherein we were encamped. An order
quietly given to Chowpereh and Bombay soon brought them
back, and without hesitation I had them tied up and flogged,
and then adorned their stubborn necks with the chain
kindly lent by Sheikh bin Nasib. I had good cause to
chuckle complacently for the bright idea that suggested the
chain as a means to check the tendency of the bounty
jumpers to desert ; for these men were as much bounty
jumpers as our refractory roughs during the war, who pock-
eted their thousands and then coolly deserted. These men
imitating their white prototypes, had received double pay of
cloth and double rations, and, imagining they could do with
me as they could with the other good white men, whom
tradition kept faithfully in memory, who had preceded your
correspondent in this country, waited for opportunities to
decamp ; but I was determined to try a new method, not
having the fear of Exeter Hall before my eyes, and I am
happy to say to-day, for the benefit of all future travellers,
that it is the best method yet adopted, and that I will never
travel in Africa again without a good long chain. Chow-
pereh and Bombay returned to Unyanyembe and the
" Herald Expedition" kept on its way south, for I desired
to put as many miles as possible bet^^ een that district and
ourselves for I perceived that few were inclined for the road,
my white man, I am sorry to say, least of all. The village
of Kigandu was reached after four hours' march Trom
Kasegera.
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 265
As we entered the camp Shaw, the Englishman fell from
his donkey, and, despite all endeavors to raise him up, re-
fused to stand. When his tent was pitched I had him
carried in from the sun, and after tea was made I persuaded
him to swallow a cup, which seemed to revive him. He
then said to me " Mr. Stanley, I don't jDelieve I can go
further with you. I feel very much worse, and I beg of you
to let me go back." This was just what I expected. I
knew perfectly well what was coming while he was drinking
his tea, and, with the illustrious example of Livingstone
travelling by himself before me, I was asking myself. Would
it not be just as well for me to try to do the same thing, in-
stead of dragging an unwilling man with me who would, if
I refused to send him back, be only a hindrance ? So I
told him, " Well, my dear Shaw, I have come to the con-
clusion that it is best you should return, and I will hire
some carriers to take you back in a cot which I will have
made immediately to carry you in. In the meanwhile, for
your own sake, I would advise you to keep yourself as busy
as possible, and follow the instructions as to diet and medi-
cine which I will write out for you. You shall have
the key to the storeroom, and you can help yourself
to anything you may fancy." These were the words with
which I parted from him — as next morning I only bade him
good-bye, besides enjoining on him to be of good hope, as
if I was successful, not more than five months would elapse
before I would return to Unyanyembe. Chowpereh and
Bombay returned before I started from Kigandu, with the
runaways, and after administering to them a sound flogging
I chained them, and the expedition was once more on its
way.
We were about entering the immense forest that separ-
ates Unyanyembe from the district of Ugunda. In lengthy
undulating waves the land stretches before us — the new
land which no European knew, the unknown, mystic land.
The view which the eyes hurry to embrace as we ascend
some ridge higher than another is one of the most disheart-
ening^ that can be conceived. Away, one beyond another,
wa.e the lengthy rectilinear ridges, clad in the same garb of
color. Woods, woods, woods, forests, leafy branches, green
IS
2 66 THE FINDING OF
and sere, yellow and dark, red and purple, then an indefin-
able ocean, bluer than the bluest sky. The horizon all around
shows the same scene — a sky dropping into the depths of
the endless forest, with but two or three tall giants of the
forest higher than their neighbors, which are conspicuous in
their outlines, to break the monotony of the scene. On
no one point do our eyes rest with pleasure ; they have
viewed the same outlines, the same forest and the same
horizon day after day, week after week ; and again, like
Noah's dove from wandering over a world without a halt-
ing-place, return wearied with the search.
Mukungura, or fever, is very plentiful in these forests,
owing to their density preventing free circulation of air, 'as
well as want of drainage. As we proceed on our journey,
in the dry season as it is with us now, we see nothing very
offensive to the sight. If the trees are dense, impeding
fresh air, we are shaded from the sun, and may often walk
long stretches with the hat off. Numbers of trees lie about
in the last stages of decay, and working with might and
main are numberless ants of various species to clear the en-
cumbered ground, and thus they do such a country as this
great service. Impalpably, however, the poison of the
dead and corrupting vegetation is inhaled into the system
with often as fatal result as that which is said to arise from
the vicinity of the upas tree. The first evil results experi-
enced from the presence of malaria are confined bowels,
an oppressive langour, excessive drowsiness, and a constant
disposition to yawn. The tongue has a sickly yellow hue,
or is colored almost to blackness ; even the teeth assume a
yellow color and become coated with au offensive matter.
The eyes sparkle with a lustre which is an unmistakcable
symptom of the fever in its incipient state, which presently
will rage through the system and lay the sufferer prostrate,
quivering with agony. This fever is sometimes preceded
by a violent shaking fit, during which period blankets may
be heaped upon the sufferer with but little amelioration of
his state. It is then succeeded by an unusually severe head-
ache, with excessive pains aboutthe loins and spinal column,
spreading gradually over the shoulder blades, and which,
running up the nape of the neck, finally find a lodgment in
- ' DR. LIVINGSTONE. 267
the posterior and front parts of the head. This kind is
generally of the intermittent type, and is not considered
dangerous. The remittent form — the most dangerous — is
not preceded by a shaking fit, but the patient is at once
seized with excessive heat, throbbing temples, loin and
spinal aches ; a raging thirst takes possession of him, and
the brain becomes crowded with strange fancies, which
sometimes assume most hideous shapes. Before the dark-
ened vision float, in a seething atmosphere, figures of created
and uncreated, possible and impossible figures, which are
metamorphosed every instant into stranger shapes and de-
signs, growing every instant more confused, more compli-
cated, hideous and terrible until the sufferer, unable to bear
longer the distracting scene, with an effort opens his eyes
and dissolves it, only to glide again unconsciously into
another dreamland, where a similar unreal inferno is dio-
ramically revealed.
It takes seven hours to traverse the forest between Kig-
andu and Ugunda, when we come to the capital of the new
district, wherein one may laugh at Mirambo and his forest
thieves. At least the Sultan, or Lord of Ugunda, feels in a
laughing mood while in his strong stockade, should one but
hint to him that Mirambo might come to settle up the long
debt that chieftain owes him, for defeating him the last
time — a year ago — he attempted to storm his place. And
well may the Sultan laugh at him, and all others which the
hospitable chief may permit to reside within, for it is the
strongest place — except Simba-Moeni and Kwikuru, in
Unyanyembe — I have as yet seen in Africa. The defences
of the capital consist of a strong stockade surrounding it, or
tall thick poles planted deep in the earth, and so close to
each other in some places that a spear head could not be
driven between. At intervals also rise wooden towers
above the palisade, where the best marksmen, known for
their skill with the musket, are posted to pick out the fore-
most or most prominent of the assailants. Against such
forces as the African chiefs could bring against such pali-
saded villages, Ugunda may be considered impregnable,
though a few white men with a two-pounder might soon
eftect an entrance. Having arrived safely at Ugunda we
268 THE FINDING OF
may now proceed on our journey fearless of Mirambo,
though he has attacked places four days south of this ; but
as he has already at a former time felt the power of the
Wanyamwezi of Ugunda he will not venture again in a
hurry. On the sixth day of our departure from Unyanyembe
we continued our journey south.
Three long marches, under a hot sun, through jungly
plains, heat-cracked expanses of prairie land, through young
forests, haunted by the tsetse and sword flies, considered
fatal to cattle, brought us to the gates of a village named
Manyara, whose chief was determined not to let us in nor
sell us a grain of corn, because he had never seen a white
man before, and he must know all about this wonderful
specimen of humanity before he would allow us to pass
through his country. My men were immediately dismayed
at this, and the guide, whom I had already marked as a
coward, and one I mistrusted, quaked as if he had the ague.
The chief, however, expressed his belief that we should find
a suitable camping place near some pools of water distant
half a mile to the right of his village.
Having arrived at the khambi, or camp, I despatched
Bombay with a propitiating gift of cloth to the chief — a gift
at once so handsome and so munificent, consisting of no
less than two royal cloths and three common dotis, that the
chief surrendered at once, declaring that the white man was
a superior being to any he had ever seen. " Surely," said
he, " he must a be friend ; othenvise how came he to
send me such fine cloths? Tell the white man that I shall
come and see him." Permission was at once given to his
people to sell us as much corn as we needed. We had
barely finished distributing five days' rations to each man
when the chief was announced.
Gunbearers, twenty in number, preceded him, and thirty
spearmen followed him, and behind these came eight or
ten men loaded with gifts of honey, native beer, hoicus sorg-
hum, beans and maize. I at once advanced and invited
the chief to my tent, which had undergone some alterations,
that I might honor him as much as lay in my power. Ma-
manyara was a tall, stalwart man, with a very pleasing face.
He carried in his hand a couple of spears, and, with the ex-
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 269
ception of a well-worn barsati around his loins, he was naked.
Three of his principal men and himself were invited to seat
themselves on my Persian carpet. They began to admire it
excessively, and asked if it came from my country ? Where
was my country ? AVas it large? How many days to it?
Was I a king ? Had I many soldiers ? were questions
quickly asked, and as quickly answered, and the ice being
broken, the chief being equally candid as I was myself, he
grasped my fore and middle fingers and vowed we were
friends. The revolvers and Winchester's repeating rifles
were things so wonderful that to attempt to give you any
idea of how awe-struck he and his men were would task my
powers.
The chief roared with laughter ; he tickled his men in
the ribs with his forefinger, he clasped their fore and middle
fingers, vowed that the Muzungu was a wonder, a marvel,
and no mistake. Did they ever see anything like it ? " No,"
his men solemnly said. Did they ever hear anything like
it before ? "No," as solemnly as before. "Is he not a
wonder? Quite a wonder — positively a wonder !"
My medicine chest was opened next, and I uncorked a
small phial of medicinal brandy and gave each a teaspoon-
ful. The men all gazed at their chief and he gazed at
them ; they were questioning each other with their eyes.
What was it ? Pombe was my reply. Pombe kisungu.
(The white man's pombe.) *' Surely this is also wonderful,
as all things belonging to him are," said the chief. *' Won-
derful," they echoed ; and then all burst into another
series of cachinations, ear-splitting almost. Smelling at
the ammonia bottle was a thing all must have ; but some
were fearful, owing to the effects produced on each man's
eyes and the facial contortions which followed the olfactory
effort. The chief smelt three or four times, after which he
declared his headache vanished and that I must be a great
and good white man. Suffice it that I made myself so
popular with Ma-manyara and his people that they will not
forget me in a hurry.
Leaving kind and hospitable Ma-manyara, after a four
hours' march we came to the banks of the Gonibe Nullah,
not the one which Burton, Speke and Grant have described,
270 THE FINDING OF
for the Gombe which I mean is about one hundred and
twenty-five miles south of the Northern Gombe. The
glorious park land spreading out north and south of the
Southern Gombe is a hunter's paradise. It is full of game
of all kinds — herds of buffalo, giraffe, zebra, pallah, water
buck, springbok, gemsbok, blackbuck and kudu, besides
several eland, warthog, or wild boar, and hundreds of the
smaller antelope. We saw all these in one day, and at
night heard the lions roar and the low ot the hippopotamus.
I halted here three days to shoot, and there is no occasion
to boast of what I shot, considering the myriads of game I
saw at every step I took. Not half the animals shot here
by myself and men were made use of. Two buffaloes and
one kulu were brought to camp the first day, besides a wild
boar, which my mess finished up in one night. My boy
gun-bearers sat up the whole night eating boar meat, and
until I went to sleep I could hear the buffalo meat fizzing
over the fires as the Islamized soldiers prepared it for the
road.
From Maiyara to Marefu, in Ukonongo, are five days'
marches. It is an uninhabited forest now and is about
eighty miles in length. Clumps of forest and dense i:lets
of jungle dot plains which separate the forests proper. It
is monotonous owing to the sameness of the scenes. And
throughout this length of eighty miles there is nothing to
catch a man's eye in search of the picturesque or novel
save the Gombe's pools, with their amphibious inhabitants,
and the variety of noble game which inhabit the forests and
plains. A travelling band of Wakonongo, bound to Ukon-
ongo from Manyara, prayed to have our escort, which was
readily granted. They were famous foresters, who knew
the various fruits fit to eat ; who knew the cry of the honey
bird, and could follow it to the treasure of honey which it
wished to show its human friends. It is a pretty bird, not
much larger than a wren, and, **tweet-bird," it immediately
cries when it sees a human being. It becomes very busy
all at once, hops and skips, and Hies from branch to branch
with marvellous celerity. The traveller lifts up his
eyes, beholds the tiny little bird, hopping about, and hears
its sweet call — ''tweet-tweet tweet." If he is a Makonongo
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 27 1
he follows it. Away flies the bird, on to another tree,
springs to another branch nearer to the lagging man as if
to say, ''Shall I, must I come and fetch you ?"but assured
by his advance, away again to another tree, coquets about,
and tweets his call rapidly ; sometimes more earnest and
loud, as if chiding him for being so slow ; then off again,
until at last the treasure is found and secured. And as he
is a very busy little bird, while the man secures his treasure
of honey, he plumes himself, ready for another flight and
to discover another treasure. Every evening the Makon-
ongo brought us stores of beautiful red and white honey,
which is only to be secured in the dry season. Over pan-
cakes and fritters the honey is very excellent ; but it is apt
to disturb the stomach, I seldom rejoiced in its sweetness
without suffering some indisposition afterwards.
As we were leaving the banks of the Gombe at one time,
near a desolate looking place, fit scene for a tragedy, oc-
curred an incident which I shall not readily forget. I had
given three days' rest to the soldiers, and their clothloads
were furnished with bountiful supplies of meat, which told
how well they had enjoyed themselves during the halt ; but
the guide, a stubborn fellow, one inclined to be impertinent
whenever he had the chance, wished for another day's
hunting. He selected Bombay as his mouthpiece, and I
scolded Bombay for being the bearer of such an unreason-
able demand, when he knew very well I could not allow it
after halting already three days. Bombay became sulky,
said it was not his fault, and that he could do nothing more
than come and tell me, which I denied in toto, and said to
him that he could have done much, very much more, and
better, by telling the guide that another day's halt was
impossible ; that we had not come to hunt, but to march
and find the white man, Livingstone ; that if he had spoken
to the guide against it, as it was his duty, he being captain,
instead of accepting the task of conveying unpleasant news
to me, it would have been much better. I ordered the
horn to sound, and the expedition had gone but three miles
when I found they had come to a dead stand. As I was
walking up to see what was the matter I saw the guide and
his brother sitting on an ant hill, apart from the other peo-
^72 THE FINDING OF
pie, fingering their guns in what appeared to me a most
suspicious manner. CalHng Salim, I took the double-bar-
relled smooth-bore and slipped in two charges of buck-shot,
and then walked on to my people, keeping an eye, however,
upon the guide and his brother. I asked Bombay to give
me an explanation of the stoppage. He would not answer,
though he mumbled something sullenly, which was unintel-
ligible to me. I looked to the other people, and perceived
that they acted in an irresolute manner, as if they feared to
take my part or were of the same mind as the party on the
ant-hill. I was but thirty paces from the guide, and throw-
ing the barrel of the gun into the hollow of my left hand, I
presented it, cocked, at the guide and called out to him if
he did not come to me at once I would shoot him, giving
him and his companion to understand that I had twenty-
four small bullets in the gun and that I could blow them to
pieces.
In a very reluctant manner they advanced towards me.
When they were sufficiently near I ordered them to halt ;
but the guide, as he did so, brought his gun to the present,
with his finger on the trigger, and, with a treacherous and
cunning smile, which I perfectly understood, he asked what
I wanted of him. His companion, while he was speaking,
was sidling to my rear and was imprudently engaged in filling
the pan of his musket with powder ; but a threat to finish
him if he did not go back to his companion and there stand
until I gave him permission to move, compelled this villan-
o:is Thersite to execute the "right about'' with a prompti-
tude which earned commendation from me. Then, facing
my Ajax of a. guide with my gun, I next requested him to
lower his gun if he did not wish to receive the contents of
mine in his head ; and I do not know but what the terrible
catastrophe, warranted by stern necessity, had occurred then
and there if Mabouki ("bull-headed" Mabouki, but my
faithful porter and faithful soldier) had not dashed the man's
gun aside, asking him how he dared level his gun at his
master, and then throwing himself at my feet, praying me
to forgive him. Mabouki's action and subsequent conduct
somewhat disconcerted myself as well as the murderous-
looking guide, but I felt thankful that I had been spared
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 273
shedding blood, though there was great piovocation. Few
cases of homicide could have been more justified than this,
and I felt certain that this man had been seducing my sol-
diers from their duties to me, and was the cause principally
of Bombay remaining in the back-ground during this
interesting episode of a march through the wilderness,
instead of acting the part which Mabouki so readily under-
took to do. When Mabouki's prayer for forgiveness was
seconded by that of the principal culprit, that I would over-
look what was his act, enabled me to act as became a prudent
commander, though I felt some remorse that I had not availed
myself of the opportunity to punish the guide and his com-
panion as they eminently deserved. But perhaps had I pro-
ceeded to extremities, my people — fickle enough at all times
— would have taken the act as justifying them for deserting
in a body, and the search after Livingstone had ended there
and then, which would have been as unwelcome to the
Herald as unhappy to myself.
However, as Bombay could not bend himself to ask for-
giveness, I came to the conclusion that it were best he
should be made feel the penalty for stirring dissensions in
the expedition, and be brought to look with a more amiable
face upon the scheme of proceeding to Ujiji through Ukon-
ongo and Ukawendi, and I at once proceeded about it with
such vigor that Bombay's back will for as long a time bear
traces of the punishment which I administered to him, as
his front teeth do of that which Speke rightfully bestowed
on him some eleven years ago. And here I may as well
interpolate, by way of parenthesis, that I am not at all obliged
to Captain Burton for a recommendation of a man who so ill
deserved it as Bombay.
Arriving at Marefu, we overtook an embassy from the
Arabs at Unyanyembe to the chief of the ferocious Watuta,
who lives a month's march southwest of this frontier village
of Ukonongo. Old Hassan, the Mesguhha, was the per-
son who held the honorable post of chief of the embassy,
who had volunteered to conduct the negotiations which
were to secure the Watuta's services against Mirambo, the
dreaded chief of Uyoweh. Assured by the Arabs that
there was no danger, and having, received the sum of $40
2 74 THE FINDING OF
for his services, he had j^one on sanguine of success, and
had arrived at Marefu, vrhere we overtook him. But old
Hassan was not the man for the position, as I perceived
when, after visiting me in my tent, he began to unfold the
woes which had already befallen him, which were as
nothing, however, to those sure to happen to him if he went
on much further. There were only two roads by which he
might hope to reach the Watuta, and these ran through
countries where the people of Mbogo or Ukonongo were at
war with Niongo, the brother of Manua Sera (the chief
who disturbed Unyanyembe during Speke's residence there),
and the Wasavira, contended against Simba, son of King
Mkasiva. He was eloquent in endeavoring to dissuade me
from the attempt to pass through the country of the Wasa-
vira, and advised me as an old man who knew well whereof
he was speaking not to proceed farther, but wait at Marefu
until better times ; and, sure enough, on my return from
Ujiji with Livingstone, I heard that old Hassan was still
encamped at Marefu, waiting patiently for the better times
he hoped to see.
We left old Hassan — after earnestly commending him to
the care of " Allah" — the next day, for the prosecution of
the work of the expedition, feeling much happier than we
had felt for many a day. Desertions had now ceased, and
there remained in chains but one incorrigible, whom I had
apprehended twice after twice deserting. Bombay and his
sympathizers were row beginning to perceive that after all
there was not muc j < 'anger — at least not as much as the
Arabs desired us to o-lieve — and he was heard expressing
his belief in his broken English that I would " catch the
Tanganyika after all," and the standing joke was now that
we could smell the fish of the Tanganyika Lake, and that
we could not be far from it. New scenes also met the eye.
Here and there were upheaved above the tree tops sugar-
loaf hills, and, darkly Ijlue west of us loomed up a noble
ridge of hills which formed the boundry between Kimiram-
bo's territory and that of Utende. Elephant tracks became
numerous, and buffalo met the delighted eyes everywhere.
Crossing the mountainous ridge of Mwaru, with its lengthy
slope slowly descending westward, the vegetation becomes
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 275
more varied and the outlines of the land before us became
more picturesque. We became sated with the varieties of
novel fruit which we saw hanging thickly on trees. There
was the mbembu, with the taste of an overripe peach ; the
tamarind pod and beans, with their grateful acidity, resembl-
ing somewhat the lemon in its flavor. The matonga, or
mix vomica^ was welcome, and the luscious singwe, the plum
of Africa, was the most delicious of all. There were wild
plums like our own, and grapes unpicked long past their
season, and beyond eating. Guinea fowls, the moorhen,
ptramigans and ducks supplied our table ; and often a
lump of buffalo or an extravagant piece of venison filled
our camp kettles. My health was firmly established. The
faster we prosecuted our journey the better I felt. I had
long bidden adieu to the nauseous calomel and rhubarb
compounds, and had become quite a stranger to quinine.
There was only one drawback to all, and that was the
feeble health of the Arab boy, Selim, who was suffering
from an attack of acute dysentery, caused by inordinate
drinking of the bad water of the pools at which we had
camped between Manyara and Mrera. But judicious at-
tendance and Dover's powders brought the boy around
again.
^ Mrera in Ukonongo, nine days southwest of the Gombe
Mellah, brought to our minds the jungle habitats of the
Wowkwere on the coast, and an omnious sight to travellers
were the bleached skulls of men which adorned the tops of
tall poles before the gates of the village. The Sultan of
Mrera and myself had become fast friends after he had
tasted of n.y liberality.
After a halt of three days at this village for the benefit of
the Arab boy, we proceeded westerly with the understand-
ing that we should behold the waters of the Tanganyika
within ten days. Traversing the dense forest of young trees
we came to a plain dotted with scores of ant-hiils. Their
uniform height (about seven feet high al)ove the plain) leads
me to believe that they were constructed during an unusu-
ally wet season, and when the country was inundated for a
long time in consequence. The surface of the plain also
bore the appearance of being subject to such inundations.
276 THE FINDING OF
Beyond this plain about four miles we came to a running
stream of purest water — a most welcome sight after so many
months spent by brackish pools and nauseous swamps.
Crossing the stream, which ran northwest, we immediately
ascended a steep and lofty ridge, whence we obtained a
view of grand and imposing mountains, of isolated hills,
rising sheer to great heights from a plain stretching far into
the heart of Ufipa, cut up by numerous streams flowing
into the Rungwa River, which during the rainy season over-
flows this plain and forms the lagoon set down by Speke as
the Rikwa. The sight was encouraging in the extreme, for
it was not to be doubted now that we were near the Tan-
ganyika. We continued still westward, crossing many a
broad stretch of marsh and oozy bed of mellahs, whence
rose the streams that formed the Rungwa some forty miles
south.
At a camping place beyond Mrera we heard enough
from some natives who visited us to assure us that we were
rushing to our destruction if we still kept westward. After
receiving hints of how to evade the war-stricken country in
our front, we took a road leading north-northwest. While
continuing in this course we crossed streams running to the
Rungwa south and otliers running directly north to the
^lalagarazi, from either side of a lengthy ridge which served
to separate the country of Unyamwezi from Ukawendi. We
were also attracted for the first time by the lofty and taper-
moule tree, used on the Tanganyika Lake for the canoes of
the natives, who dwell on its shores. The banks of the
numerous streams were lined with dense growths of these
shapely trees, as well as of sycamore, and gigantic tamarinds,
which rivalled the largest sycamore in their breath of shade.
The undergrowth of bushes, tall grass dense and impene-
trable, likely resorts of leopard and lion and wild boar, were
enough to appal the stoutest heart. One of my donkeys
while being driven to water along a narrow path, hedged by
the awsome brake on either side, was attacked by a leopard,
and fastened its fangs in the poor animals neck, and it would
have made short work of it had not its companion set up
such a braying chorus as miglit well have terrified a score of
leopards. And that same night, while encamped contigu-
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DR. LIVINGSTONE. 277
ous to that limpid stream of Mtambu, with that lofty line of
enormous trees rising dark and awful above us, the lions
issued from the brakes beneath and prowled about the well-
set bush defence of our camp, venting their fearful clamor
without intermission until morning. Towards daylight they
retreated to their leafy caverns, for
" There the lion dwells, the monarch,
Mightiest among the brutes.
There his right to reign supremest
Never one his claim disputes.
There he layeth down to slumber,
Having slain and ta'en his fill,
There he roameth, there he croucheth.
As it suits his lordly will."
And few, I believe, would venture therein to dispute it ; not
I, "i'faith" when searching after Livingstone.
Our camps by these thick belts of timber, peopled as
they were with wild beasts my men never fancied. But
Southern Ukawendi, with its fair, lovely valleys and pelhi-
cid streams nourishing vegetation to extravagant growth,
density and height, is infested with troubles of this kind.
And it is probable, from the spread of this report among
the natives, that this is the cause of the scant population of
one of the loveliest countries Africa can boast. The fairest
of California scenery cannot excel, though it may equal,
such scenes as Ukawendi can boast of, and yet a land as
large as the State of New York is almost uninhabited.
Days and days one may travel through primeval forests,
now ascending ridges overlooking broad, well-watered val-
leys, with belts of valuable timber crowning the banks of
the rivers, and behold exquisite bits of scenery — wild, fan-
tastic, picturesque and pretty — all within the scope of
vision whichever way one may turn. And to crown the
glories of this lovely portion of earth, underneath the sur-
face but a few feet is one mass of iron ore, extending across
three degrees of longitude and nearly four of latitude, crop-
ping out at intervals, so that the traveller cannot remain
ignorant of the wealth lying beneath.
After the warning so kindly given by the natives soon
after leaving Mrera, in Ukonongo, five days marches
278 THE FINDING OF
brought US to Mrera, in the district of Rusawa, in Ukawendi.
Arriving here we questioned the natives as to the best course
to pursue — should we make direct for the Tanganyika or
go north to the Malagarazi River ? They advised us to the
latter course, though no Arab had ever taken it. Two days
through the forest, they said, would enable us to reach the
Malagarazi. The guide, who had by this forgotten our dis-
agreement, endorsed this opinion, as beyond the Malagarazi
he was sufficiently qualified to show the way. We laid in a
stock of four days' provisions against contingencies, and
bidding farewell to the hospitable people of Rasawa, con-
tinued our journey northward. After finding a pass to the
w^ooded plateau above Mrera, through the arc of mountains
which environed it on the north and west, the soldiers
improved another occasion to make themselves dissa-
greeable.
One of their number had shot a bufialo tow^ards night,
and the approaching darkness had prevented him from fol-
lowing it up to a clump of jungle, whither it had gone to die,
and the black soldiers, ever on the lookout for meat, came
to me in a body requesting a day's halt to eat meat, and
make themselves strong for the forest road, to which I gave
a point-blank refusal, as I vowed I would not halt agcin
until I did it on the banks of the Malagarazi, where I would
give them as much meat as their hearts could desire. There
v/as an evident disposition to resist, but I held up a warniig
finger as an indication that I would not suffer any grumbl-
ing, and told them I had business at Ujiji which the
Wasungu expected I would attend to, and that if I failed to
perform it they would take no excuse, but condemn m.e at
once. I saw that they were in an excellent mood to rebel,
and the guide, w^ho seemed to be ever on the lookout to
revenge his humiliation on the Gombe, was a fit man to lead
them ; but they knew I had more than a dozen men upon
whom I could rely at a crisis, and besides as no harsh word
or offensive epithet challenged them to commence an out-
break, the order to march, though received with much
peevishness, was obeyed. This peevishness may always be
expected when on a long march. It is much the result of
fatigue and monotony, every day bcini; but a repetition of
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 279
previous days, and a prudent man will not pay much atten-
tion to mere growling and surliness of temper, but keep
himself prepared for an emergency which might possibly
arise. By the time we had arrived at camp we were all in
excellent humor with one another and confidently laughed
and shouted until the deep woods rang again.
The scenery was getting more sublime every day as we
advanced northward, even approaching the terrible. We
seemed to have left the monotony of a desert for the wild,
picturesque scenery of Abyssinia and the terrible mountains
of the Sierra Nevadas. I named one tabular mountain,
which recalled memories of the Abyssinian campaign,
Magdala, and as I gave it a place on my chart it became of
great use to me, as it rose so prominently into view that I
was enabled to lay down our route pretty accurately. The
four days' provisions we had taken with us were soon con-
sumed, and still we were far from the Malagarazi River.
Though we eked out my own stores with great care, as ship-
wrecked men at sea, these also gave out on the sixth day,
and still the Malagarazi was not in sight. The country was
getting more difficult for travel, owing to the numerous
ascents and descents we had to make in the course of a
day's march. Bleached and bare, it was cut up by a thou-
sand deep ravines and intersected by a thousand dry water
courses whose beds were filled with immense sandstone
rocks and boulders washed away from [the great heights
which rose above us on every side. We were not protected
now by the shades of the forest, and the heat became exces-
sive and water became scarce. But we still held on our
way, as a halt would be death to us, hoping that each da/s
march would bring us in sight of the long-looked for and
much-desired Malagarazi. Fortunately we had filled our
bags and baskets with the forest peaches with which the
forests of Rusawa had supplied us, and these sustained us
in this extremity. •*
On the seventh day, after a six hours* march, during
which we had descended more than a thousand feet, through
rocky ravines, and over miles of rocky plateaus, above
which protruded masses of hematite of iron, we arrived at a
happy camping place, situated in a valley which was ce-
28o THE FINDING OF
ductively pretty and a hidden garden. Deserted bomas
told us that it had once been occupied, and that at a recent
date, which we took to be a sign that we were not far from
habited districts. Before retiring to sleep the soldiers in-
dulged themselves in prayer to Allah for relief. Indeed,
our position was most desperate and unenviable ; yet since
leaving the coast when had it been enviable, and when had
travelling in Africa ever been enviable ?
Proceeding on our road on the eighth day everything we
saw tended to confirm us in the belief that food was at
hand. Rhinoceros tracks abounded, and the bois de vache^
or buffalo droppings, were frequent, and the presence of a
river or a body of water was known in the humidity of the
atmosphere. After travelling two hours, still descending
rapidly towards a deep basin which we saw, the foremost of
the expedition halted, attracted by the sight of a village
Situated on a table-topped mountain on our right. The
guide told us it must be that of the Son of Nzogera, of
Uvinza, We followed on the road leading to the foot of
the mountain, and camped on the edge of an extensive
morass.
Though we fired guns to announce our arrival, it was un-
necessary, for the people were already hurrying to our camps
to inquire about our intentions. The explanation was satis-
factory, but they said that they had taken us to be enemies,
few friends having ever come along our road. In a few
minutes there was an abundance of meat and grain in the
camp, and the men's jaws were busy in the process of
mastication.
During the whole of the afternoon we were engaged upon
the terms Nzogera's son exacted for the privilege of passing
through his country. We found him to be the first of a tri-
bute-taking tribe which subsequently made much havoc in
the bales of the expedition. Seven and a half doti of
cloth were what we were compelled to pay, whether we re-
turned or proceeded on our way. After a day's halt we pro-
ceeded under the guidance of two men granted to me as
qualified to show the way to the Malagarazi River. We had
to go east-northeast for a considerable time in order to avoid
the morass that lay directly across the CQuntry that inter-
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 28 1
vened between the triangular mountain on whose top Nzo-
gera's son dwelt. This marsh drains three extensive ranges
of mountains which, starting from the westward, separated
only by two deep chasms from each other, frun at wide
angles — one southeast, one northeast and the other north-
west. From a distance this marsh looks fair enough ;
stately trees at intervals rise seemingly from its bosom, and
between them one catches glimpses of a lovely champaign,
bounded by perpendicular mountains, in the far distance.
After a wide detour we struck strait for this marsh, which
presented to us another novelty in the watershed of the
Tanganyika.
Fancy a river broad as the Hudson at Albany, though
not near so deep or swift, covered over by water plants and
grasses, which had become so interwoven and netted to-
^gether as to form a bridge covering its entire length and
' breadth, under which the river flowed calm and deep below.
It was over this natural bridge we were expected to cross.
. Adding to the tremour which one naturally felt at having to
cross this frail bridge was the tradition that only a few yards
higher up an Arab and his donkey, thirty-five slaves and six-
teen tusks of ivory had suddenly sunk forever out of sight.
As one-half of our little column had already arrived at the
centre we on the shore could see the network of grass wav-
ing on either side and between each man, in one place like
to the swell of a sea after a storm and in another like a
small lake violently ruffled by a squall. Hundreds of yards
away from them it ruffled and undulated one wave after
another. As we all got on it we perceived it to sink about
a foot, forcing the water on which it rested into the grassy
channel formed by our footsteps. One of my donkeys
broke through and it required the united strength of ten men
to extricate him. The aggregate weight of the donkey and
men caused that portion of the bridge on which they stood
to sink about two feet and a circular pool of water was
formed, and I expected every minute to see them suddenly
sink out of sight. Fortunately we managed to cross the
treacherous bridge without accident. , • . :
Arriving on the other side, we struck north, passing
through a, delightful country, in ^very way suitable for agri-
282 THE FINDING OF
cultural settlements or happy mission stations. The primi-
tive rock began to show itself anew in eccentric clusters, as
a flat-topped rock, on which the villages of the Wavinza
were seen and vhere the natives prided themselves on their
security and conducted themselves accordingly, ever inso-
lent and forward, though I believe that. with forty good rifles
I could have made the vain fellows desert their country en
masse. But a white traveller's motto in their lands is, " Do,
dare and endure," and those who come out of Africa alive
have generally to thank themselves for their prudence rather
than their temerity. We were halted every two or three
miles by the demand for tribute, which we did not, because
we could not, pay, as they did not press it overmuch, though
we had black looks enough.
On the second day after leaving Nzagera's son we* com-
menced a series of descents, the deep valleys on each side
of us astonished us by their profundity, and the dark gloom
prevailing below, amid their wonderful dense forests of tall
trees, and glimpses of plains beyond, invited sincere ad-
miration. In about a couple of hours we discovered the
river we were looking for below, at the distance of a mile,
running like a silver vein through a broad valley. Halting
at Kiaia's, eldest son of Nzagera, the principal Sultan of
Uvinza, we waited an hour to see on what terms he would ferry
us over the Malagarazi. As we could not come to a defi-
nite conclusion respecting them we were obliged to camp in
his village. Late \ i the afternoon Kiala sent his chiefs to
our camp with a bundle of short sticks, fifty-six in number.
Each stick, we were soon informed, represented a doti, or
four yards of cloth, which were to consist of the best, good,
bad and indifferent. Only one bale of cloth was the
amount of the tribute to be exacted of us ! Bombay and
the guide were told by me to inform Kiaia's ambassadors
that I would pay ten doti. The gentleman delegated by
Kaila to receive the tribute soon made us aware what
thoughts they entertained of us by stating that if we ran
away from Mirambo we could not run away from them. In-
deed, such was the general opinion of the natives of Uvinza,
for they live directly west of Uyowen, Mirambo's country,
and news travels fast enough in these regions, though there
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 283
are no established post offices or telegraph stations. In two
hours, however, we reduced the demand of fifty-six doti lo
twenty-three, and the latter number was sent and received,
not for crossing the Malagarazi, but for the privilege of pass-
ing through Okidia's country in peace. Of these twenty-
three cloths thirteen were sent to Nzagera, the Sultan, while
his affectionate son retained ten for himself. Towards mid-
night, about retiring for the night after such an eventful day,
while congratulating ourselves that Nzagera and Kiala were
both rather moderate in their demands, considering the cir-
cumstances, came another demand for four more cloths, with
a promise that we might depart in the morning, or when we
pleased ; but as poor Bombay said, from sheer weariness,
that if we had to talk longer he would be driven mad, I told
him he might pay them, after a little haggling, least they,
imagining that they had asked too little, would make another
demand in the morning.
Until three o'clock p. m. the following day continued the
negotiations for ferrying us across the Malagarazi, consisting
of arguments, threats, quarreling, loud shouting and stormy
debate on both sides. Finall}^ six doti, and ten fundo of
sami-sami beads were agreed upon. After which we marched
to the forry, distant half a mile from the scene of so
much contention. The river at this place was not more
than thirty yards broad, sluggish and deep ; yet I would pre-
fer attempting to cross the Mississippi by swimming rather
than the Malagarazi. Such another river for the crocodiles,
cmel as death, I cannot conceive. Their long, tapering
heads dotted the river everywhere, and though I amuied
myself, pelting them with two-ounce balls, I made no effect
on their numbers. Two canoes had discharged their live
cargoe on the other side of the river when the story of Cap-
tain Burton's passage across the Malagarazi higher up was
brought vividly to my mind by the extortions which the
Mutware now commenced. About twenty or so of his men
had collected and backed by these, he became insolent. If
it were worth while to commence a struggle for two or three
more doti of cloth the mere firing of one revolver at such
close quarters would have settled the day, but I could not
induce myself to bcii:ve that it was tiie best way of pro-
•#
284 THE FINDING OF
ceeding, taking in view the object of our expedition, and
accordingly this extra demand was settled at once with as
much amiability as I could muster, but I warned him not
to repeat it, and to prevent him from doing so ordered a
man to each canoe, and to be seated there with a loaded
gun in each man's hands. After this little episode we got
on very well until all the men excepting two besides Bom-
bay and myself were safe on the other side.
We then drove a donkey into the river, having first tied
a strong halter to his neck ; but he had barely reached the
middle of the river when a crocodile, darting beneath,
seized him by the neck and dragged him under, after several
frantic but ineffectual endeavors to draw him ashore. A
sadness stole over all after witnessing this scene, and as the
shades of night had now drawn around us, and had tinged
the river to a black, dismal color, it was with a feeling of
relief that the fatal river was crossed, that we all set foot
ashore. In the morning the other donkey swam the river
safe enough, the natives firmly declaring that they had so
covered him with medicine that though the crocodiles
swarmed around him they did not dare attack the animal,
so potent was the medicine — for which I had to give a pre-
sent, such as beca.me a kindness. I rather incline to the
belief, however, that the remaining donkey owed his safety
to the desertion of the river for the banks, where they love
to bask in the sun undisturbed, and as the neighbor-
hood of the ferry was constantly disturbed they could not
possible be in the neighborhood, and the donkey conse-
quently escaped the jaws of the crocodiles.
We set out from the banks of the river with two new
guides, furnished us by the old man (Usenge is his name)
of the ferry. Arriving at Isinga after traversing a saline plain,
which, as we advanced into the interior, grew wonderfully
fertile, we were told by the native Kirangozi that to-mor-
row's march would have to be made with great caution, for
Makumbi, a great warrior chief of Nzogera, was returning
triumphantly from war, and it was his custom to leave noth-
ing behind him at such times. Intoxicated with victory he
attacked villages and caravans, and of whatever live stock,
slaves or bales he met, he took what he liked. The result
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 285
of a month's campaign against Lokandamira were two
vilages captured, several men and a son of Nzogera's enemy
being killed, while Makumbi only lost three men in battle
and two from bowel explosion from drinking too much
water. So the Kirangozi says.
The notes in my journal of what occurred on the follow-
ing day read as follows : — November 3, Friday, 187 1.
" Near Isinga met a caravan of eighty Waguhha direct
from Ujiji, bearing oil, and bound for Unyanyembe. They
report that a white man was left by them five days ago at
Ujiji. He had the same color as I have, wears the same
shoes, the same clothes, and has hair on his face like I
have, only his is white. This is Livingstone. Hurrah for
Ujiji ! My men share my joy, for We shall be coming back
now directly ; and, being so happy at the prospect, I buy
three goats and five g.. lions of native beer, which will be
eaten and drank directly."
Two marches from Malagarazi brought us to Uhha.
Kawanga was the first place in Uhha where we halted. It
is the village where resides the first mutware, or chief, to
whom caravans have to pay tribute. To this man we paid
twelve and a half doti, upon the understanding that we
would have to pay no more between here and Ujiji. Next
morning, buoyed up by the hope that we should soon come
to our journey's end, we had arranged to make a long march
of it that day. We left Kawanga cheerfully enough. The
country undulated gently before us like the prairie of Ne-
braska, as devoid of trees almost as our own plains. The
top of every wave of land enabled us to see the scores of
villages which dotted its surface, though it required keen
eyes to detect at a distance the beehive and straw-thatched
huts from the bleached grass of the plain. We had marched
an hour, probably, and were passing a large village, with
populous suburbs about it, when we saw a large party pur-
suing us, who, when they come up to us, asked us how we
dared pass by without paying the tribute to the King of
Uhha.
" We have paid it !" we said, quite astonished.
" To whom ?"
*' To the Chief of Kawangi."
f86 THE FINDING OF
^ " How much ?" •
" Twelve and a half doti."
" Oh, but that is only for himself. However, you had bet-
ter stop and rest at our village until we find out all about it."
But we halted in the middle of the road until the messen-
gers they sent came back. Seeing our reluctance to halt
at their village, they sent men also to Mionvu, living an
arrow's flight from where we were halted, to warn him of our
contumacy. Mionvu came to us, robed most royally, after
the fashion of Central Africa, in a crimson cloth, arranged
toga-like over his shoulder and depending to his ankles, and
a bran new piece of Massachusetts sheeting folded around
his head. He greeted us graciously— he was the prince of
politeness — shook hands first with myself, then with my
head men, and cast a keen glance around, in order, as I
thought, to measure our strength. Then seating himself,
he spoke with deliberation something in this style : —
Why does the white man stand in the road ? The sun is
hot ; let him seek the shelter of my village, where we can
arrange this little matter between us. Does he not know
that there is a king in Uhha^ and that I, Mionvu, am his
servant ? It is a custom with us to make friends with ereat
men, such as the white man. All Arabs andWanguana stop
here and give us cloth. Docs the white man mean to go
on without paying ? Why should he desire war ? I know
he is stronger than we are heie, his men have guns, and we
have but spears and arrows ; but Uhha is large, and has
plenty of people. The children of the king are many. If
he comes to be a friend to us he will come to our village,
give us something, and then go on his way. '
The armed warriors around applauded the very com-
monplace speech of Mionvu because it spoke the feelings
with which they viewed our bales. Certain am I, though,
that one portion of his speech — that which related to our
being stronger than the Wahha — was an untruth, and that
he knew it, and that he only wished us to start hostilities in
order that he might have good reason for seizing the whole.
But it is not new to you, of course, if you have read this
letter through, that the representative of the Herald was
held of small account here, and never one did I see who
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 287
would care a bead for anything that you would ever publish
against him. So the next time you wish me enter Africa I
only hope you will think it worth while to send with me 100
good men from the Herald office to punish this audacious
Mionvu, who fears neither the Ne7u York Herald nor the
" Star Spangled Banner," be the latter ever so much spangled
with stars.
I submitted to Mionvu's proposition, and went with him
to his village, where he fleeced me to his heart's content.
His demand, which he adhered to like a man who knew
what he was about, was sixty doti for the King, twelve doti
for himself, three for his wife, three each to three makko, or
sub-chiefs, one to Mibruri's little boy : total, eighty-five doti,
or one good bale of cloth. Not one doti did he abate,
tiiough I talked until six p. m. from ten a. m. I went to
bed that night like a man on the verge of ruin. However,
Mionvu said that we would have to pay no more in Uhha.
Pursuing our way next day, after a four hours' march, we
came to Kahirgi, and quartered ourselves in a large village,
governed over by Mionvu's brother, who had already been
advised by Mionvu of the windfall in store for him. This
man, as soon as we had set the tent, put in a claim for
thirty doti, which I was able to reduce after much eloquence,
lasting over five hours, to twenty-six doti. I am short
enough in relating it because I am tired of the theme ; but
there lives not a man in the whole United States with whom
I would not gladly have exchanged positions had it been
possible. I saw my fine array of bales being gradually re-
duced fast. Four more such demands as Minovu's would
leave me, in unclassic phrase " cleaned out."
After paying this last tribute, as it was night, I closed my
tent, and lighting my pipe, began to think seriously upon
my position and how to reach Ujiji without paying more
tribute. It was high time to resort either to battle or to a
strategy of some kind, possibly to striking into the jungle ;
but there was no jungle in Uhha, and a man might be seen
miles off on its naked plains. At least this last was the
plan most likely to succeed without endangering the pros-
pects almost within reach of the expedition. Calling the
^ide, I (juestioned him as to its feasibility, first; §cplding
288 THE FINDING OF
him for leading me to such a strait. He said there was a
Mguana, a slave of Thani bin Abdullah, in the Coma, with
whom I might consult. Sending for him, he presently came,
and I began to ask him for how much he would guide us
out of Uhha without being compelled to pay any more Mu-
hongo. He replied that it was a hard thing to do, unless I
had complete control over my men and they could be got
to do exactly as I told them. When satisfied on this point
he entered into an agreement to show me a road — or rather
to lead me to it — that might be clear of all habitations as
far as Ujiji for twelve doti, paid beforehand. The cloth
was paid to him at once.
At half-past two a. m. the men were ready, and, stealing
silently past the huts, the guide opened the gates, and we
filed out one by one as quickly as possible. The moon was
bright, and by it we were stricking across a burned plain in
a southerly direction, and then turned westward, parallel
with the high road, at the distance of four miles, sometimes
lessening or increasing that distance as circumstances com-
pelled us. At dawn we crossed the swift Rusizi, which
flowed southward into the Malagarizi, after which we took
a northwesterly direction through a thick jungle of bamboo.
There was no road, and behind us we left but little trail on
the hard, dry ground. At eight a. m. we halted for break-
fast, having marched nearly six hours, within the jungle
which stretched for miles around us.
We were only once on the point of being discovered
through the mad freak of a weak-brained woman, who was
the wife of one of the black soldiers. W^e were crosing the
knee-deep Rusizi, when this woman, suddenly and without
cause, took it into her head to shriek and shout as if a cro-
codile had bitten her. The guide implored me to stop her
shrieking, or she would alarm the whole country, and we
would have hundreds of angry Wahha about us. The men
were already preparing to bolt — several being on the run
with their loads. At my order to stop her noise, she
lauched into another fit of hysterical shrieking, and I was
compelled to stop her cries with three or four smart cuts
across her shoulders, though I felt rather ashamed of my-
self; but our lives and the success of the expedition was
DR. LIVINGSTONE. . 289
worth more, in my opinion, than a hundred of such women.
As a further precaution she was gagged and her arms tied
behind her, and a cord led from her waist to that of her
liege lords, who gladly took upon himself the task of look-
ing after her, and who threatened to cut her head off if she
attempted to make another outcry.
At 10. A. M. we resumed our journey, and after three
hours camped at Lake Musuma, a body of water which
during the rainy season has a length of three miles, and a
breadth of two miles. It is one of a group oi" lakes which
fill deep hollows in the plain of Uhha. The)" swarm with
hippopotami, and their shores are favorite reforts of large
herds of buffalo and game. The eland and buffalo especially,
are in large numbers here, and the elephant ard rhinoceros
are exceedingly numerous. We saw several of these, but
did not dare to fire.
On the second morning after crossing the Smuzzi and
Rugufu Rivers, we had just started from our camp, and as
there was no moonlight the head of the colunm came to a
village, whose inhabitants, as we heard a few voices, were
about starting. We were all struck with consternation, but,
consulting with the guide, we despatched c»ur goats and
chickens, and leaving them in the road faced about, re-
traced our steps, and after a quarter of an hour struck up a
ravine, and descending several precipitous places, about
half past six o'clock found ourselves in Ukaranga — safe and
free from all tribute-taking Wahha.
Exultant shouts were given — equivalent to the Anglo-
Saxon hurrah — upon our success. Addressing the men, I
asked them, *' Why should we halt when but a few hours
from Ujiji ? Let us march a few hours more and to-morrow
we shall see the white man at Ujiji, and who knows but this
may be the man we are seeking ? Let us go on, and after
to-morrow we shall have fish for dinner and many days' rest
afterwards, every day eating the fish of the Tanganyika.
Stop ; I think I smell the Tanganyika fish even now."
This speech was hailed with what the newspapers call
" loud applause ; great cheering," and " Ngema — very well,
master ; " " Hyah Barak-Allah — Onward, and the blessing
of God be on you."
290 THE FINDING OF
We strode from the frontier at the rate of four miles an
hour, and after six hours' march, the tired caravan entered
the woods which separated the residence of the chief of
Ukaranga from the villages on the Mkuti River. As we
drew near the village we went slower, unfurled the Ameri-
can and Zanibar flags, presenting quite an imposing array.
When we came in sight of Nyamtaga, the name of the Sul-
tan's residence, and our flags and numerous guns were seen,
the Wakaranga and their Sultan deserted their village en
masse, and rushed into the woods, believing that we were
Mirambo's robbers, who, after destroying Unyanyembe,
were come to destroy the Arabs and bunder of Ujiji ; but
he and his people were soon reassured, and came forward
to welcome us with presents of goats and beer, all of which
were very welcome after the exceedingly lengthy marches
we had recently undertaken.
Rising at early dawn our new clothes were brought forth
again that we might present as decent an appearance as pos-
sible before the Arabs of Ujiji, and my helmet was well
chalked and a new puggeree folded around it, my boots
were well oiled and my white flannells put on, and alto-
gether, without joking, I might have paraded the streets of
Bombay without attracting any very great attention.
A couple of hours brought us to the base of a hill, from
the top of which the Kirangozi said we could obtain a view
of the great Tanganyika Lake. Heedless of the rough path
or of the toilsome steep, spurred onward by the cheery pro-
mise, the ascent was performed in a short time. On arriv-
ing at the top we beheld it at last from the spot whence,
probably, Burton and Speke looked at it — " the one in a
half paralyzed state, the other almost blind." Indeed, I was
pleased at the sight ; and, as we descended, it opened more
and more into view until it was revealed at last into a grand in-
land sea, bounded westward by an appalling and black-blue
range of mountains, and stretching north and south without
bounds, a gray expanse of water.
From the western base of the hill was a three hours'
march, though no march ever passed off" so quickly. The
hours seemed to have been quarters, we had seen so much
that was novel and rare to us who had been travelling so
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 29 1
long on the highlands. The mountains bounding the lake
on the eastward receded and the lake advanced. We had
crossed the Ruche, or Linche, and its thick, belt of tall
matete grass. We had plunged into a perfect forest of them,
and had entered into the cultivated fields which supply the
port of Ujiji with vegetables, &c., and we stood at last on
the summit of the last hill of the myriads we had crossed,
and the port of Ujiji, embowered in palms, with the tiny
waves of the silver waters of the Tanganyika rolling at its
feet was directly below us.
We are now about descending — in a few minutes we shall
have reached the spot where we imagine the object of our
search is — our fate will soon be decided. No one in that
town knows we are coming ; least of all do they know we
are so close to them. If any of them ever heard of the
white man at Unyanyembe they must believe we are there
yet. We shall take them all by surprise, for no other but a
white man would dare leave Unyanyembe for Ujiji with the
country in such a distracted state — no other but a crazy
white man, whom Sheik, the son of Nasib, is going to re-
port to Syed or Prince Burghash for not taking his advice.
Well we are but a mile from Ujiji now, and it is high time
we should let them know a caravan is coming ; so " Com-
mence firing " is the word passed along the length of the
column, and gladly do they begin. They have loaded their
muskets half full, and they roar like the broadside of a line-
of-battle ship. Down go the ramrods, sending huge charges
home to the breech, and volley after volley is fired. The
flags are fluttered ; the banner of America is in front waving
joyfully ; the guide is in the zenith of his glory. The for-
mer residents of Zanzita will know it directly, and will won-
der — as well they may — as to what it means. Never were
the Stars and Stripes so beautiful to my mind — the breeze of
the Tanganyika has such an effect on theni. The guide
blows his horn, and the shrill, wild clamour of it is far and
near ; and still the cannon muskets tell the noisy seconds.
By this time the Arabs are fully alarmed ; the natives of
Ujiji, Waguhha, Warundi, Wanguana, and I know not whom,
hurry up by the hundreds to ask what it all means — this
fusilading, shouting and blowing of horns and flag-flying.
292 THE FINDING OF
There are Yambos shouted out to me by the dozen, ancf de-
lighted Arabs have run up breathlessly to shake my hands
and ask anxipusly where I came from. But I have no patience
with them. The expedition goes far too slow. I should
like to settle the vexed question by one personal view.
Where is he ? Has he fled ?
Suddenly a man — a black man — at my elbow shouts in
English, *' How do you do sir?"
" Hello 1 who the deuce are you ? "
" I am the servant of Dr. Livingstone," he says ; but be-
fore I can ask any more questions he is running like a mad-
man towards the town.
We have at last entered the town. There are hundreds
of people around me — I might say thousands without exag-
geration, it seems to me. It is a grand triumphal procession.
As we move they move. All eyes are drawn towards us.
The expedition at last comes to a halt ; the journey is ended
for a time ; but I alone have a few more steps to make.
There is a group of the most respectable Arabs, and as I
come nearer I see the white face of an old man among them.
He has a cap with a gold band around it, his dress is a
short jacket of red blanket cloth, and his pants — well, I
didn't observe. I am shaking hands with him. We raise
our hats, and I say : —
" Dr. Livingstone, I presume ? " -
And he says, " Yes."
^
LIVINGSTONE'S NILE.
Graphic Description of the Great Explorer Sketched at Ujiji
— The Outer and the Inner Man — His Vigor, Plucky
Memory, Perseverance, Patience a?id Gentleness — The
World of Solitary Thought he lived in for six years —
The Story of his Explorations — Travellifig up the
Rovuma — Sending hack the Sepoys — Desertion of the
^oha7i7ia Men — The Watershed of the Nile — Five Great
Lakes a?id Pour Great Rivers Forming a Continuous
Watercourse — Does it join the Bahrel Gazahl and
White Nile — Lake Lincoln and its Outlet to the Lua-
laba — The Sources of the Congo — Speculations on the
Altitude of the Central-African Water Systems — The
Unexplored Region — The outfio^v of the Nameless Lake
— A Weary Tramp to Ujiji — Manyema's Introduction
to Civilization at the Gufi's Muzzle — Auri Sacra Fames
— How Arab Cupidity Defeats Itself— Once the Natives
are Armed with Muskets the Slave Trade Ceases — Re-
solve to Visit the Head of Tanganyika.
Bunder Ujiji, on Lake Tanganyika, )
December 26, 187 1. J
The goal was won. Finis coronal opus. I might here
stop very well — for Livingstone was found — only the
Herald I know will not be satisfied with one story, so I
will sit down to another ; a story so interesting, because he,
the great traveller, the hero Livingstone, tells most of it
himself
We were met at last. The Herald's special correspon-
dent had seen Dr. Livingstone, whom more than three-
fourths of all who had ever heard of him believed to be
dead. Yet at noon on the loth of November of this year
I first shook hands with him, and said to him, '' Doctor, I
(293)
294 THE FINDING OF
thank God I have been permitted to shake hands with you."
I said it all very soberly and with due dignity, because
there were so many Arabs about us, and the circumstances
under which I appeared did not warrant me to do anything
else. I was as much a stranger to Livingstone as I was to
any Arab there. And, if Arabs do not like to see any ir-
regularity, indeed I think that Englishmen must be placed
in the same category.
But what does all this preface and what may this prolixity
mean? Well, it means this, that I looked upon Living-
stone as an Englishman, and I feared that if I showed any
unusual joy at meeting with him he might conduct himself
very much like another Englishman did once whom I met
in the interior of another foreign and strange land wherein
we two were the only English-speaking people to be found
within the area of two hundred miles square, and who, upon
my greeting him with a cordial " Good morning," would not
answer me, but screwed on a large eye-glass in a manner
which must have been as painful to him as it was to me, and
then deliberately viewed my horse and myself for the space
of about thirty seconds, and passed on his way with as much
insouciance as if he had seen me a thousand times and there
was nothing at all in the meeting to justify him coming out
of that shell of imperturbability with which he had covered
himself.
Besides, I had heard all sorts of things from a quondam
companion of his about him. He was eccentric, I was
told ; nay, almost a misanthrope, who hated the sight of
Europeans ; who if Burton, Speke, Grant or anybody of
that kind were coming to see him, would make haste to put
as many miles as possible between himself and such a per-
son. He was a man also whom no one could get along
with — it was almost impossible to please him ; he was a man
who kept no journal, whose discoveries would certainly
perish with him unless he himself came back. This was
the man I was shaking hands with whom I had done my ut-
most to surprise, lest he should run away. Consequently
you may know why I did not dare manifest any extraordi-
nary joy upon my success. But, really, had there been no
one present — none of those cynical-minded Arabs I mean —
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 29^
I think I should have betrayed the emotions which ^^os-
sessed me, instead of which I only said, " Doctor, I thank
God I have been permitted to shake hands with you."
Which he returned with a grateful and welcome smile.
Together we turned our faces towards his tembe. He
pointed to the veranda of his house, which was an unrailed
platform, built of mud, covered by wide overhanging eaves.
He pointed to his own particular seat, on a carpet of goat-
skins *spreacf* over a thick mat of palm* leaf I protested
against taking this seat, but he insisted, and I yielded. We
were seated, the Doctor and I, with our backs to the wall,
the Arabs to our right and left and in front, the natives
forming a dark perspective beyond. Then began con-
versation ; I forget what about ; possibly about the road I
took from Unyanyembe, but I am not sure. I know the
Doctor was talking, and I was answering mechanically. I
was conning the indomitable, energetic, patient and perse-
vering traveller, at whose side I now sat in central Africa.
Every hair of his head and beard, every line and wrinkle of
his face, the wan face, the fatigued form, were all imparting
the intelligence to me which so many men so much desired.
It was deeply interesting intelligence and unvarnished truths
these mute but certain witnesses gave. They told me of
the real nature of the work in which he was engaged. Then
his lips began to give me the details — lips that cannot lie.
I could not repeat what he said. He had so much to say
that he began at the end, seemingly oblivious of the fact
that nearly six years had to be accounted for. But the
story came out bit by bit, unreservedly — as unreservedly as
if he was conversing with Sir R. Murchison, his true friend
and best on earth. The man's heart was gushing out, not
in hurried sentences, in rapid utterance, in quick relation —
but in still and deep words.
His quondam companion must have been a sad student
of human nature or a most malicious person — a man whose
judgment was distorted by an oblique glance at his own
inner image, and was thus rendered incapable of knowing
the great heart of Livingstone — for after several weeks' life
with him in the same tent and in the same hut I am utterly
unable to perceive what angle of Livingstone's nature that
296 THE FINDING OF
gentleman took to base a judgment upon. A happier com-
panion, a truer friend than the traveller thus slandered I
could not wish for. He was always polite — with a polite-
ness of the genuine kind — and this politeness never forsook
him for an instant, even in the midst of the most rugged
scenes and greatest difficulties.
Upon my first introduction to him Livingstone was to me
like a huge tome, with a most unpretending binding.
Within the book might contain much valuable lore and wis-
dom, but its exterior gave no promise of what was within.
Thus outside Livingstone gave no token — except of being
mdely dealt with by the wilderness — of what element of
power or talent lay within. He is a man of unpretending
appearance enough, has quiet, composed features, from
which the freshness of youth has quite departed, but which
retains the nobility of prime age just enough to show that
there yet lives much endurance and vigor within his frame.
The eyes, which are hazel are remarkable bright, not dim-
med in the least, though the whiskers and mustache are
very gray. The hair, originally brown, is streaked here and
there with gray over the temples, otherwise it might have
belonged to a man of thirty. The teeth above show indi-
cations of being worn out. The hard fare of Londa and
Manyema have made havoc in their ranks. His form is
stoutish, a little over the ordinary in height, with slightly
bowed shoulders. When walking he has the heavy step of
an overworked and fatigued man. On his head he wears
the naval cap, with a round vizor with which he has been
identified throughout Africa. His dress shows that at times
he has had to resort to the needle to repair and replace
what travel has woni. Such is Livingstone externally.
Of the inner man much more may be said than of the
outer. As he reveals himself, bit by bit, to the stranger, a
great many favorable points present themselves, any of
which taken singly might well dispose you toward him. I
had brought him a packet of letters, and though I urged
him again and again to defer conversation with me until he
had read the news from home and children, he said he
would defer reading until night ; for the time he would en-
joy being astonished by the European and any general
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 297
world news I could communicate. He had acquired the
art of being patient long ago, he said, and he had waited
so long for letters that he could well afford to wait a few
hours more. So we sat and talked on that humble' veranda
of one of the poorest houses in Ujiji. Talked quite ob-
livious of the large concourse of -Arabs, Wanguana and
Wajiji, who had crowded around to see the new comer.
There was much to talk about on both sides. On his
side he had to tell me what had happened to him, of where
he had been, and of what he , had seen during the five
years the world believed him to be dead. On my side I
had to tell him very old, old news, of the Suez Canal and
the royal extravagance of Ismail Pacha ; of the tennination
of the Cretan insurrection ; of the Spanish revolution ; of
the flight of Isabella ; of the new King, Amadeus, and of
the assassination of Prim ; of the completion of the Pacific
Railroad across the American Continent ; of the election
of General Grant as President ; of the French and Prussian
war ; of the capture of Napoleon, the flight of Eugenie and
of the complete humiliation of France. Scores of eminent
persons — some personal friends of his — had died. So that
the news had a deep interest to him, and I had a most at-
tentive auditor.
By and by the Arabs retired, understanding well the po-
sition, though they were also anxious to hear from me about
Mirambo, but I sent my head men with them to give them
such news as they wanted.
M^The hours of that afternoon passed most pleasantly — few
afternoons of my life more so. It seemed to me as if I had
met an old, old friend. There was a friendly or good-
natured abandon about Livingstone which was not lost on
me. As host, welcoming one who spoke his language, he
did his duties >vith a spirit and style I have never seen else-
where. He had not much to oft'er, to be sure, but what he
had was mine and his. The wan features which I had
thought shocked me at first meeting, the heavy step which
told of age and hard travel, the gray beard and stooping
shoulders belied the man. Underneath that aged and well
spent exterior lay an endless fund of high spirits, which now
and then broke out in peals of hearty laughter — the rugged
16
298 THE FINDING OF
frame enclosed a very young and exuberant soul. The
meal — I am not sure but we ate three meals that after-
noon — was seasoned with innumerable jokes and pleasant
anecdotes, interesting hunting stories, of which his friends
Webb,i,Oswell, Vardon and Gumming (Gordon Gumming)
were always the chief actors.
You have brought me new life, he said several times, so
that I was not sure but that there was some little hysteria
in this joviality and abundant animal spirits, but as I found
it continued during several weeks I am now disposed to
think it natural.
Another thing which specially attracted my attention was
his wonderfully retentive memory. When we remember the
thirty^years and more that he has spent in Africa, deprived
of books, we may well think it an uncommon memory that
can recite whole poems of Burns, Byron, Tennyson and
Longfellow. Even the poets Whittier and Lowell were far
better known to him than to me. He knew an endless num-
ber of facts and names of persons connected with America
much better than I, though it was my peculiar province as a
journalist to have known them. One reason,|perhaps, for
this fact may be that the Doctor never smokes, so that his
brain is never befogged, even temporarily, by the fumes of
the insidious weed. Besides, he has lived all his life almost,
we may say,|iwithin himself — in a world of thought which re-
volved inwardly, seldom awaking out of it except to attend
to the immediate practical necessities of himself and his ex-
pedition. The immediate necessities disposed of, he must
have relapsed into his own inner world, into which he must
have cunjured memories of his home, relations, friends,
acquaintances, familiar readings, ideas and associations, so
that wherever he might be, or by whatsoever^ he was sur-
rounded, his own world had attractions far superior to
that which the external world by which he was surrounded
had.
Dr. Livingstone^is a truly pious man — a man deeply im-
bued with real religious instincts. The study of the man
would not be complete if we did not take the religious side
of his character into consideration. His religion, any more
thanhis business, is not of the theoretical kind — simply
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 299
contenting itself with avowing its peculiar creed and ignor-
ing all other religions as wrong and weak. It is of the true,
practical kind, never losing a chance* to manifest itself in a
quiet, practical way — never demonstrative or loud. It is
always at work, if not in deed, by shining example. It is not
aggressive, which sometimes is troublesome and often im-
pertinent. In him religion exhibits its loveliest features.
It governs his conduct towards his servants, towards the
natives and towards the bigoted Musselman — even all who
come in contact with him. Without religion Livingstone,
with his ardent temperament, his enthusiastic nature, his
high spirit and courage, might have been an uncompanion-
able man and a hard master. Religion has tamed all these
characteristics ; nay if he was ever possessed of them, they
have been thoroughly eradicated. Whatever was crude or
wilful religion has refined, and made him, to speak the ear-
nest, sober truth, the most agreeable of companions and in-
dulgent of masters.
I have been frequently ashamed of my impatience while
listening to his mild rebuke to a dishonest or lazy servant,
whereas had he been one of mine his dishonesty or laziness
had surely been visited with prompt punishment. I have
often heard our servants discuss our respective merits.
" Your master," says my servants to those of Livingstone,
" is a good man — a very good man. He does not beat you,
for he has a kind heart ; but ours — oh ! he is sharp, hot as
fire — mka/i sana-kana mo^o."
From being hated and thwarted in every possible way by
the Arabs and half castes on his first arrival at Ujiji,
through his uniform kindness and mild pleasant temper he
has now won all hearts. I perceived that universal respect
was paid to him by all.
Every Sunday morning he gathers his little flock around
him and has prayers read, not in stereotyped tone which
always sounds in my ears insincerely, but in the tone re-
commended by Archbishop Whatley — viz., natural, unaf-
fected and sincere. Following them he delivers a short
address in the Kisawahiti language about what he has been
reading from the Bible to them, which is listened to with
great attention.
300 THE FINDING OF
There is another point in Livingstone's character about
which we, as readers of his books and students of his tra-
vels, would naturally wish to know something — viz., his
ability to withstand the rigors of an African climate, and
the consistent energy with which he follows the exploration
of Central Africa. Those who may have read Burton's
" Lake Region's of Central Africa" cannot have failed to
perceive that Captain Burton, the author, was very well tired
of Africa long before he reached Ujiji, and that when he
reached Ujiji he was too much worn out to be able to go
any further, or do anything but proceed by boat to Uvira,
near the northern head oi the Tanganyika — a task he per-
formed, we must admit, in no enviable humor. We also
know how Speke looked and felt when Baker met him at
Gondakoro ; how, after merely glancing at the outflow of
Lake Victoria into the Victoria Nile, he was unable or in-
disposed to go a little further west to discover the lake
which has made Baker famous and given him a knighthood.
Also, do we not all know the amount of Baker's discovery
of that lake, and what resolutions he made after his return
to civilization from his visit to the Albert Lake ?
When I first met the Doctor I asked him if he did not
feel a desire to visit his country and take a little rest. He
had then been absent about six years, and the answer he
gave me freely shows what kind of man he is, and how dif-
ferently constituted he is from Burton, Speke, or Baker.
Said he : —
" I would like very much to go home and see my chil-
dren once again, but I cannot bring my heart to abandon
the task I have undertaken when it is so nearly completed.
It only requires six or seven months more to trace the true
source that I have discovered with Petherick's branch of the
White Nile, or with the Albert Nyanza of Sir Samuel Baker.
Why should I go before my task is ended, to have to come
back again to do what I can very well do now ?"
" And why," I asked, " did you come so far back without
finishing the short task which you say you have yet to do ?"
'* Simply because I was forced; my men which would not
budge a step forward. They mutinied and formed a secret
resolution that if I still insisted on going on to raise a dis-
• DR. LIVINGSTONE. 301
turbance in the country, and after they had effected it to
abandon me, in which case I should be killed. It was
dangerous to go any farther. I had explored six hundred
miles of the watershed, had traced all the principal streams
which discharged their waters into the central line of drain-
age, and when about starting to explore the last one hun-
dred miles the hearts of my people failed, and they set about
frustrating me in every possible way. Now, having returned
seven hundred miles to get a new supply of stores and
another escort, I felt myself destitute of even the means to
live but for a few weeks, and sick in mind and body."
Let any reader study the spirit of the above remark, and
compare it with those which animated a Burton, a Speke or
a Baker. How would those gentlemen have comported
themselves in such a crisis, unprepared, as we all know they
were, for the terrible fevers of Central Africa ?
Again, about a week after I had arrived in Ujiji, I asked
Livingstone if he had examined the northern head of the
Tanganyika. He answered immediately he had not, and
then asked if people expected he had. I then informed him
that great curiosity was felt about the connection that was
supposed to exist between Tanganyika and Lake Albert.
One party said that a river flowed out of the Tanganyika
into the Albert ; another party held that it was impossible,
since the Tanganyika was, to according Burton and Speke,
much lower than the Albert. Others were inclined to let
the subject alone until they should hear from him, the only
one capable at the present time to set the matter at rest for-
ever.
The Doctor replied to these remarks that he was not
aware so much importance was attached to the Tanganyika,
as his friends at home, instead of writing to him, contented
themselves with speculating as to where he should come out
•of Africa, and thus he had been kept ignorant of many
things of which those who took any interest in him should
have informed him.
" I did try before setting out for Manyema to engage
-canoes and proceed northward, but I soon saw that the peo-
ple were all confederating to fleece me as they had Burton,
^nd had I gone under such circumstances I should not have
302 THE FINDING OF
been able to proceed to Manyema to explore the central
line of drainage, and of course the most important line — far
more important than the line of the Tanganyika; for whatever
connection there may be between the Tanganyika and the
Albert the true sources of the Nile are those emptying into
the central line of drainage. In my own mind I have not
the least doubt that the Rusizi River flows from this lake
into the Albert. For three months steadily I observed a
current setting northward. I verified it by means of water
plants.
'* When Speke gives the altitude of the Tanganyika at only
1, 880 feet above the sea I imagine he must have fallen into
the error by frequently writing the Anno Domini, and thus
made a slip of the pen ; for the altitude is over two thousand
eight hundred feet by boiling point, though I make it a
little over three thousand feet by barometers. Thus you
see that there are no very great natural difficulties on the
score of altitude, and nothing to prevent the reasonable
supposition that there may be a water connection by means,
of the Rusizi or some other river between the two lakes.
Besides, the Arabs here are divided in their statements.
Some swear that the river goes out of the Tanganyika,
others that it flows into the Tanganyika."
" Well Doctor," said I, *' if I were you, before leaving
this part of the country of Unyanyembe, perhaps never to
return here — for one knows not what may occur in the
meantime — I would go up and see, and if you like I will
accompany you. You say you have no cUth and only five
men. I have enough cloth and men for all your purposes.
Suppose you go up and settle his vexed question, for so far
as I see by the newspapers everybody expects it of you."
Many a traveller, as I have shown, would have pleaded
fatigue and utter weariness of mind and body, but Living-
stone did not. That very instant the resolve was made ;
that very instant he started to execute it. He sent a man
to Said Ben Majid to request the loan of his canoe, and his
baggage was got ready for the voyage. Not yet recovered
from the sore effects of his return from his unsuccessful and
lengthy journey to accompHsh the object that lay so near
his heart ; yet suffering from an attack of diarrhoea and
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 303
the consequent weakness it induced, the brave spirit was up
again eager as a high-spij:ited boy, for the path otduty
pointed out.
The above is but a sketch of the main points in the great ,
traveller's character, whose personal story I am about to
relate. It was necessary that the reader should know what
sort of man this Doctor Livingstone was, after I whom the
New York Herald thought proper to despatch a special
conespondent, with an expedition, at no matter what cost.
After this study of him, I cannot better sum up his charac-
ter than by using the words of one of my own men : — " He
is a good man, an extremely good and kind man." It is not
true, then, that his quondam companion did not know the
nature of the man with whom he lived and travelled, who
said that Livingstone would run away from any other white
man who would come after him ; and, is it likely that the
intellect of the facetious gentleman who stated his belief
that " Livingstone had married an African princess, and had
settled down for good," could fathom the single-minded -
traveller and upright man David Livingstone ?
Dr. David Livingstone left the Island of Zanzibar in
March, 1866. On the 7th of the following month he de-
parted from Mikindini Bay for the interior, with an expedi-
tion consisting of twelve Sepoys from Bombay, nine men
from Johanna, of the Comoro Isles, seven liberated slaves,
and two Zambezi men (taking them as an experiment), six
camels, three buffaloes, two mules and three donkeys. He
thus had thirty men, twelve of whom — viz., the Sepoys —
were to act as guards for the expedition. They were mostly
armed with the Enfield rifles presented to the Doctor by the
Bombay Government. The baggage of the expeditions-con-
sisted of ten bales of cloth and two bags of beads, which
were to serve as currency by which they would be enabled
to purchase the necessaries of life in the countries the Doc-
tor intended to visit. Besides the cumbrous moneys they
carried several boxes of instruments, such as chronometers,
air thermometers, sextant and artificial horizon, boxes con-
taining clothes, medicines and personal necessaries.
From the southern extremity of the Tanganyika he crossed
Marangu and came in sight of Lake Moero. Tracing this
304 THE FINDING OF
lake, which is about sixty miles in length, to its southern
head, he found a river called the Luapula entering it from
that direction. Following the Luapula south he found it
issue from the large lake of Bangweolo, which is as large in
superficial area as the Tanganyika. In exploring for the
waters which emptied into the lake he found by far the most
important of these feeders was the Chambezi. So that he
had thus traced the Chambezi from its course to Lake
BangAveolo, and issue from its northern head under the
name of Luapula, and found it enter Lake Moero. Again
he returned to Cazembis, well satisfied that the river running
north through three degrees of latitude could not be the
river running south under the name of the Zambezi, though
there might be a remarkable resemblance in their names.
At Cazembis he found an old white-bearded half-caste
named Mohammed ben Salib, who was kept ^s a kind of
prisoner at large by the King because of certain suspicious
circumstances attending his advent and stay in his country.
Through Livingstone's influence Mohammed ben Salib ob-
tained his release. On the road to Ujiji he had bitter
cause to regret having exerted himself in the half-caste's
behalf He turned out to be a most ungrateful wretch, who
poisoned the minds of the Doctor's few followers and in-
gratiated himself in their favor by selling the favors of his
concubines to them, thus reducing them to a kind of bond-
age under him. From the day he had the vile old man in
his company manifold and bitter misfortunes followed the
Doctor up to his arrival in Ujiji, in March, 1869.
From the date of his arrival until the end June, (1869),
he remained in Ujiji. whence he dated those letters which,
though the outside world still doubted his being alive, satis-
fied the minds of the Royal Geographical people and his inti-
mate friends that he was alive, and Musa's tale an ingenious
but false fabrication of a cowardly deserter. It was during
this time that the thought occurred to him of sailing around
the Lake Tanganyika, but the Arabs and natives were so
bent upon fleecing him that, had he undertaken it the
remainder of his goods would not have enabled him to ex-
plore the central line of drainage, the initial point of which
he found far south of Cazembis, in about latitude eleven
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 305
degrees, in the river Chambezi. In the days when tired
Captain Burton was resting in Ujiji, after his march from
the coast near Zanzibar, the land to which Livingstone, on
his departure from Ujiji, bent his steps, was unknown to the
Arabs save by vague report. Messrs. Burton and Speke
never heard of it, it seems. Speke, who was the geographer
of Burton's expedition, heard of a place called Uruwa, which
he placed on his map according to the general direction in-
dicated by the Arabs; but the most enterprising of the
Arabs, in their search after ivory, only touched the frontiers
of Rua, as the natives and Livingstone call it ; for Rua is an
immense country, with a length of six degrees of latitude
and as yet an undefined breadth from east to west.
At the end of June, 1869, Livingstone took dhow at Ujiji
and crossed over to Uguhha, on the western shore, for his
last and greatest series of explorations, the results of which
was the discovery of a series of lakes of great magnitude
connected together by a large river called by different
names as it left one lake to flow to another. From the port
of Uguhha he set off in company with a body of traders, in
an almost direct westerly course, through the lake country
of Uguhha. Fifteen days march brought them to Bambarre,
the first important ivory depot in Manyema, or, as the natives
pronounce it, Manuyema.
For nearly six months he was detained at Bambarre from
ulcers in the feet, with copious discharges of bloody ichor
oozing from the sores as soon as he set his feet on the
ground. When well, he set ofi" in a northerly direction, and
after several days, came to a broad, lacustrine river, called
the Lualaba, flowing northward and westward, and, in some
places southward, in a most confusing way. The river was
from one to three miles broad. By exceeding pertinacity
he contrived to follow its erratic course until he saw the
Lualaba enter the narrow but lengthy Lake of Kamolondo,
in about latitude 6 deg. 30 min. south. Retracing it south
he came to the point where he had seen the Luapula enter
Lake Moero. - ^
". One feels quite enthusiastic when listening to Living-
stone's description of the beauties of Moero scenery. Pent
in on all sides by high mountains clothed to their tips with
306 THE FINDING OF^
the richest vegetation of the tropics, Moero discharges^ its
superfluous waters through a deep rent in the bosom of the
mountains. The impetuous and grand river roars through
the chasm with the thunder of a cataract ; but soon after
leaving its confined and deep bed it expands into the calm
and broad Luaiaba, expanding over miles of ground, making
great bends west and south-west, then, curving northward,
enters Kamalordo. By the natives it is called the Luaiaba,
but the Doctor, in order to distinguish it from the other
rivers of the same name, has given it the name of Webb's
River, after Mr. Webb, the wealthy proprietor of Newstead
Abbey, who the Doctor distinguishes as one of his oldest
and most consistent friends. Away to the south-west from
Kamolondo is another large lake, which discharges its
waters by the important river Locki, or Lomami, into the
great Luaiaba. To this lake, known as Chebungo by the
natives. Dr. I^ivingstone has given the name of Lincoln, to
be hereafter distinguished on maps and in books as Lake
Lincoln, in memory of Abraham Lincoln, our murdered
President. This was done from the vivid impression pro-
duced on his mind by hearing a portion of his inauguration
speech read from an English pulpit, which related to the
causes that induced him to issue his emancipation piocla-
mation, by which memorable deed 4,000,000 of slaves were
forever freed. To the memory of a man whose labors in
behalf of the negro race deserves the commendation of all
good men Livingstone has contributed a monument more
durable than brass or stone.
Entering Webb's River from south-southwest, a little north
of Kamolondo, is a large river called Lufira, but the streams
which discharge themselves from the watershed into the
Luaiaba are so numerous that the Doctor's map would not
contain them, so he has left all out except the most impor-
tant. Continuing his way north, tracing the Luaiaba through
its manifold and crooked curves as far as latitude 4 degrees
south, he came to another large lake called the Unknown
Lake ; but here you may come to a dead halt, and readf it
thus : — ****** Here was the furthermost
point. From here he was compelled to return on the weary
road to Ujiji, a distance of 600 miles.
. ' :: DR. LIVINGSTONE. 307
In this brief sketch of Doctor Livingstone's wonderful
travels it is to be hoped that the most superficial reader, as
well as the student of geography, comprehends this grand sys-
tem of lakes connected together by Webb's River. To assist
him, let him procure a map of Africa, by Keith Johnston,
embracing the latest discoveries. Two degrees south of the
Tanganyika, and two degrees west, let him draw the outlines
of a lake, its greatest length from east to west, and let him
call it Bangweolo. One degree or thereabout to the north-
west let him sketch the outlines of another but smaller lake
and call it Moero ; a degree again north of Moero another
lake of similar size, and call it Kamolondo, and still a
degree north of Kamolondo another lake, large and as yet of
undefined limits, which, in the absence of any specific term,
we will call it the Nameless Lake. Then let him connect
these several lakes by a river called after different names.
Thus, the main feeder of Bangweolo, the Chambezi ; the
river which issues out of Bangweolo and runs into Moero,
the Luapula ; the river connecting Moero with Kamolondo,
Webb's River ; that which runs from Kamolondo into the
Nameless Lake northward, Lulaba; and let him write in
bold letters over the rivers Chambezi, Luapula, Webb's
River and the Lualaba the " Nile," for these are all one and
the same river. Again, west of Moero Lake, about one
degree or thereabouts, another large lake may be placed on
his map, with a river running diagonally across to meet the
Lualaba north of Lake Kamolondo. This new lake is Lake
Linclon, and the river is the Lomami River, the confluence
of which with the Lualaba is between Kamolondo and the
Nameless Lake. Taken altogether, the reader may be said
to have a very fair idea of what Doctor Livingstone has
been doing these long years, and what additions he has
made to the study of African geography. That this river,
distinguished under several titles, flowing from one lake into
another in a northerly direction, with all its crooked bends
and sinuosities, is the Nile, the true Nile, the Doctor has
not the least doubt. For a long time he did doubt, because
of its deep bends and curves — west, and south-west even —
but having traced it from its headwaters, the Chambezi,
through seven degrees of latitude — that is, from latitude
308 THE FINDING OF
eleven degrees south to a little north of latitude of four
degrees south — he has been compelled to come to the con-
clusion that it can be no other river than the Nile. He had
thought it was the Congo, but he has discovered the sources
of the Congo to be the Kasai and the Quango, two rivers
which rise on the western side of the Nile water-shed in
about the latitude of Bangweolo ; and he was told of another
river called the Lubilash, which rose from the north and ran
west. But the Lualaba the Doctor thinks cannot be the
Congo, from its great size and body and from its steady and
continual flow northward through a broad and extensive
valley, bounded by enormous mountains, westerly and
easterly. The altitude of the most northerly point to which
the Doctor traced the wonderful river was a little over two
thousand feet, so that though Baker makes out his lake to
be 2,700 feet above the sea, yet the Bhar Ghazal, through
which Petherick's branch of the White Nile issues into the
Nile, is only a little over tw^o thousand feet, in which case
there is a possibility that the Lualaba may be none other
than Petherick's branch. It is well known that trading sta-
tions for ivory have been established for about five hundred
miles up Petherick's branch. We must remember this fact
when told that Gondokoro, in latitude four degrees north, is
2,000 feet above the sea, and latitude four degrees south,
where the Doctor has halted, is only a little over 2,000 feet
above the sea. That two rivers, said to be 2,000 feet above
the sea, separated from each other by eight degrees of lati-
tude, are the same stream may, among some men, be
regarded as a startling statement. But we must restrain
mere expressions of surprise and take into consideration
that this mighty and broad Lualaba is a lacustrine river —
broader than the Mississippi — and think of our own rivers,
which though shallow, are exceedingly broad — instance our
Platte River flowing across the prairies of Colorado and Ne-
braska into the Missouri. We must wait also until the alti-
tude of the two rivers — the Lualaba, where the Doctor
halted, and the southern poin^ on the Bhar Ghazal, where
Petherick has been — are known with perfect accuracy.
The expedition travelled up the left bank of the Revuma
River, a route as full of difficulties as any that could be
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 309
chosen. For miles Livingstone and his party had to cut
their way with their axes through the dense and almost im-
penetrable jungles which lined the river's banks. The road
was a mere footpath, leading, in the most erratic fashion, in
and through the dense vegetation, seeking the easiest outlet
from it without any regard to the course it ran. The pagezis
were able to proceed easily enough, but the camels, on
account of their enormous height, could not advance a step
without the axes of the party first clearing the way. These
tools of foresters were almost always required, but the ad-
vance of the expedition was often retarded by the unwilling-
ness of the Sepoys and Johanna men to work. Soon after
the departure of the expedition from the coast the murmur-
ings and complaints of these men began, and upon every oc-
casion and at every opportunity they evinced a decided hos-
tility to an advance.
In order to prevent the progress of the Doctor, in hopes
that it would compel him to return to the coast, these men
so cruelly treated the animals that before long there was not
one left alive. Failing in this they set about instigating the
natives against the white man, whom they accused most
wantonly of strange practises. As this plan was most likely
to succeed, and has it was dangerous to have such men
with him, the Doctor arrived at the conclusion that it was
best to discharge them and accordingly sent the Sepoys
back to the coast, but not without having first furnished
them with the means of subsistence on their journey to the
coast. These men were such a disreputable set that the
natives talked of them as the Doctor's slaves. One of their
worst sins was their custom to give their guns and ammu-
nition to carry to the first woman or boy they met, whom
they impressed for that purpose by either threats or promises
which they were totally unable to perform and unwarrant-
able in making. An hours' march was sufficient to fatigue
them, after which they lay down on the road to bewail their
hard fate and concoct new schemes to frustrate their leader's
purposes. Towards night they generally made their appear-
ance at the camping ground with the looks of half dead men.
Such men naturally made but a poor escort, for had the
party been attacked by a wandering tribe of natives of any
3IO THE FINDING OF
Strength the Doctor could have made no defence, and no
other alternative would be left to him but to surrender
and be ruined. The Doctor and his little party arrived on
the i8th July, 1866, at a village belonging to a chief of the
Mahiyaw, situated eight days' march south of the Rovuma
and overlooking the watershed of the I^ke Nyassa. The
territory lying between the Rovuma River and this Mahiyaw
chieftain was an uninhabited wilderness, during the transit
of which Livingstone and the expedition suffered consider-
ably from hunger and desertion of men.
Early in August, 1866, the Doctor came to Mponda's
country, a chief who dwelt near the Lake Nyassa. On the
road thither two of the liberated slaves deserted him. Here,
also, Wakotani (not Wikotani) 2, protege of the Doctor, insis-
ted upon his discharge, alleging as an excuse, which the
Doctor subsequently found to be untrue, that he had found
his brother. He further stated that his famly lived on
the east side of the Nyassa Lake. He further said that
Mponda's favorite wife was his sister. Perceiving that
Wakotani was unwilling to go with him further the Doctor
took him to Mponda, who now saw and heard of him for
the first time, and, having furnished the ungrateful boy with
enough cloth and beads to keep him until his ** big brother"
should call for him, left him with the chief, after first assur-
ing himself that he would have honorable treatment from that
chief The Doctor also gave Wakotani writing paper (as he
could read and write, being some of the accompUshments
acquired at Bombay, where he had been put to school) that
should he at any time feel so disposed he might write to Mr.
Horace Waller or to himself The Doctor further enjoined
on him not to join any slave raid usually made by his
countrymen, the men of Nyassa, on their neighbors. Upon
finding that his application for a discharge was successful,
Wakotani endeavored to induce Chumah, another /r^/^^g of
the Doctor's, and a companion or chum of Wakotani, to
leave the Doctor's service and proceed with them, promising
as a bribe a wife and plenty of pombe from his " big
brother." Chumah, on referring the matter to the Doctor,
was advised not to go, as he (the Doctor) strongly suspected
that Wakotani wanted only to make him his slave. Chu-
mah wisely withdrew from his tempter.
DR. LIVINGSTONE. - 311
From Mponda's country he proceeded to the heel of the
Nyassa, to the village of a Babisa chief, who required medi-
cine for a skin disease. With his usual kindness he stayed
at this chiefs village to treat his malady. While here a
half-caste Arab arrived from the western shore of the lake,
who reported that he had been plundered by a band of Ma-
Zitu at a place the Doctor and Musa, chief of the Johanna
men, were very well aware was at least a hundred and fifty
miles north north-west of where they were then:' stopping.
Musa, however, for his own reasons — which will appear
presently — eagerly listened to the Arab's tale, and gave
full credence to it. Having well digested its horrifying
contents, he came to the Doctor to give him the full
benefit of what he had heard with such willing ears.
The traveller patiently listened to the narrative —
which lost none of its portentous significance through
his relation, such as he believed it bore for himself and
master — and then asked Musa if he believed it. '* Yes,"
answered Musa, readily ; " he tell me true, true. I ask him
good, and he tell me true, true.''
The Doctor, however, said he did not believe it, for the
Ma-Zitu would not have been satisfied with simply plunder-
ing a man ; they would have murdered him ; but suggested,
in order to allay the fears of his Moslem subordinate, that
they should both proceed to the chief with whom they were
staying, who, being a sensible man, would be able to advise
them as to the probability or improbability of the tale being
correct. Together they proceeded to the Babisa chief, who,
when he had heard the Arab's story, unhesitatingly de-
nounced the Arab as a liar and his story without the least
foundation in fact, giving as a reason that if the Ma-Zitu had
been lately in that vicinity he would have heard of it soon
enough. But Musa broke out with " No, no. Doctor ; no,
no, no. I no want to go to Ma-Zitu. |[ I no want Ma-Zitu
to kill me. I want see my father, my mother, my child, in
Johanna, I no want Ma-Zitu kill me." Ipsissima verba.
These are Musa's words.
To which the Doctor replied, " I don't want Ma-Zitu to
kill me either ; but, as you are afraid of them, I promise to
go straight! west until we get far past the beat of the
Ma-Zitu."
312 - THE FINDING OF
^
Musa was not satisfied, but kept moaning and sorrowing,
saying, *' If we had 200 guns with us I would go, but our
small party they will attack by night and kill all."
The Doctor repeated his promise, " But I will not go
near them ; I will go west."
As soon as he turned his face westward Musa and the
Johanna men ran away in a body. The Doctor says in
commenting upon Musa's conduct, that he felt strongly tempt-
ed to shoot Musa and another ringleader, but was never-
theless glad that he did not soil his hands with their vile
blood.
A day or two afterwards another of his men — Simon
Price by name — came to the Doctor with the same'tale
about the Ma-Zitu, but, compelled by the scant number of
his people to repress all such tendencies to desertion and
faint-he artedness, the Doctor " shut him up " at once and
forbade him to utter the name of the Ma-Zitu any more.
Had the natives not assisted him he must have despaired of
ever being able to penetrate the wild and unexplored in-
terior which he was now about to tread.
" Fortunately," as the Doctor says with unction, ^' I was
in a country now, after leaving the shores of the Nyassa,
where the feet of the slave-trader had not trodden. It was
a new and virgin land, and^of course, as I have always
found it in such cases, the^natives were .really good and
hospitable, and for very small portions of cloth my baggage
was conveyed from village to village by them." In many
other ways the traveller in his extremity was kindly treated
by the undefiled and unspoiled natives.
On leaving this hospitable region in the early part of De-
cember, 1866, the Doctor entered a country where the Ma-
Zitu had exercised their customary spoilating propensities.
The land was swept clean of all provisions and cattle, and
the people had emigrated to other countries beyond the
bounds of these ferocious plunderers. Again the expedition
was besieged by famine and was reduced to great extremity.
To satisfy the pinching hunger it suffered it had recourse to
the wild fruits which some parts of the country furnished.
At intervals the condition of the hard-pressed band was
made worse by the heartless desertion of some of its mem-
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 3l3
bers, who more than once departed with the Doctor's per-
sonal kit — changes of clothes, and linen, &c With more
or less misfortunes constantly dogging his footsteps, he tra-
versed in safety the countries of the Babisa, Bobema, Bar-
unga, Baulungu and Londa.
In the country of Londa lives the -famous Cazembe —
made known to Europeans first by Dr. Lacerda, the Portu-
guese traveller. Cazembe is a most intelligent prince ; is a
tall, stalwart man, who wears a peculiar kind of dress, made
of crimson print, in the form of a prodigious kilt. The
mode of arranging it is most ludicrous. All the folds of this
enormous kilt are massed in front, which causes him to look
as if the peculiarities of the human body were reversed in
his case. The abdominal parts are thus covered with a
balloon-like expansion of cloth, while the lumbar region,
which is by us jealously clothed, with him is only hj^lf
draped by a narrow curtain which by no means suffices to
obscure its naturally fine proportions. In this State dress
King Cazembe received Dr. Livingstone, surrounded by his
chiefs and body guards. A chief, who had been deputed
by the King and elders to find out all about the white man,
then stood up before the assembly and in a loud voice gave
the result of the inquiry he had instituted. He had heard
the white man had come to look for waiters, for rivers and
seas. Though he did not understand what the white man
could want with such things he had no doubt that the object
was good. Then Cazembe asked what the Doctor pro-
posed doing and where he thought of going. The Doctor
replied that he had thought of going south, as he had heard
of lakes and rivers being in that direction. Cazembe
asked : —
" What can you want to go there for ? The water is close
here. There is plenty of large water in this neighborhood."
Before breaking up the assembly Cazembe gave orders to
let the white man go where he would through his country
undisturbed and unmolested. He was the first Englishman
he had seen, he said, and he liked him.
Shortly after his introduction to the King the Queen en-
tered the large house surrounded by a body guard of
Amazons armed with spears. She was a fine, tall, hand-
X7
314 THE FINDING OF
some young woman, and evidently thought she was about
to make a great impression upon the rustic white man, for
she had clothed herself after a most royal fashion, and was
armed with a ponderous spear. But her appearance, so
different from what the Doctor had imagined, caused him to
laugh, which entirely spoiled the effect intended, for the laugh
of the Doctor was so contagious that she herself was the
first who imitated, and the Amazons, courtier-like, followed
suit. Much disconcerted by this, the Queen ran back, fol-
lowed by her obedient damsels — a retreat most undignified
and unqueenlike compared to her majestic advent into the
Doctor's presence. But Livingstone will have much to say
about his reception at this Court and about this King and
Queen ; and who can so well relate the scenes he witnessed,
and which belong exclusively to him, as he himself
^ Soon after his arrival in the country of Londa, or Lunda,
and before he had entered the district of Cazembe, he had
crossed a river called the Chambezi, which was quite an im-
portant stream. The similarity of the name with that large
and noble river south, which will be forever connected with
his name, misled Livingstone at that time, and he accord-
ingly did not pay it the attention it deserved, believing that
the Chambezi was but the head-waters of the Zambezi; and
consequently had no bearing or connection with the sources
of the river of Egypt, of which he was in search. His fault
was in relying too implicity upon the correctness of Portu-
guese information. This error cost him many months of
tedious labor and travel. From the beginning of 1867 —
the time of his arrival at Cazembe — to the middle of March,
1869 — the time of his arrival in Ujiji — he was mostly en-
gaged in correcting the errors and corruptions of the Portu-
guese travellers. The Portuguese, in speaking of the River
Chambezi, invariably spoke of it as *' our own Zambezi "
— that is, the Zambezi which flows through the Portuguese
possessions of the Mozambique. " In going to Cazempis
from Nyassa," said they, '' you will cross our own Zam-
bezi." Such positive and reiterated information like this
not only orally, but in their books and maps was naturally
confusing. When the Doctor perceived that what he saw
and what they described was at variance, out of a sincere
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 315
wish to be correct, and lest he might have been mistaken
himseK he started to retravel the ground he had travelled
before , ^ver and over again he traversed the several
countries vatered by the several rivers of the complicated
water system like an uneasy spirit ; over and over again he
asked the same questions from the different peoples he met
until he was obliged to desist, lest they might say, " The
man is mad ; he has got water on the brain."
But these travels and tedious labors of his in Londa and
the adjacent countries have established beyond doubt first,
that the Chambezi is a totally distinct river from the Zam-
bezi of the Portuguese, and secondly, that the Chambezi,
starting from about latitude eleven degrees south, is none
other than the most southerly feeder of the great Nile, thus
giving this famous river a length of over two thousand six
hundred miles of direct latitude, making it second to the
Mississippi, the longest river in the world. The real and
true name of the Zambezi is Dombazi. When Lacuda
and his Portuguese successors came to Cazembe, crossed
the Chambezie and heard its name, they very naturally set
it down as " our own Zambezi," and without further in-
quiry sketched it as running in that direction.
During his researches in that region, so pregnant in dis-
coveries, Livingstone came to a lake lying northeast of
Cazembe, which the natives called Liemba, from the coun-
try of that name, which bordered it on the east and south.
In tracing the lake north he found it to be none other than
the Tanganyika, or the south-eastern extremity of it, which
looks on the Doctor's map very much like an outline of
Italy. The latitude of the southern end of this great body
of water is about nine degrees south, which gives it thus a
length, from north to south, of 560 geographical miles.
Webb's River, or the Lualaba, from Bangweolo is a
lacustrine river, expanding from one to three miles in
breadth. At intervals it forms extensive lakes, then con-
tracting into a broad river it again forms a lake, and so on
to latitude four degrees north, and beyond this point the
Doctor heard of a large lake again north. Now, for the
sake of argument, suppose we give this nameless lake a
length of four degrees of latitude, as it may be the one dis-
.316 THE FINDING OF
t:overed by Piaggia, the Italian traveller, from which Pet-
herick's branch of the White Nile issues out through reeds,
marshes and the Bahr Ghazal into the White Nile south of
Gondokoro. By this method we can suppose the rivers one
— for the lakes extending over so many degrees of latitude
would obviate the necessity of explaining the differences of
altitude apart. Also, that Livingstone's instalments for
observation and taking altitude may have been in error,
•and this is very likely to have been the case, subjected as
they have been to rough-handling during nearly six years of
travel.
Despite the apparent difficulty about the altitude there is
another strong reason for believing Webb's River, or the
Lualaba, to be the Nile. The water-shod of this river, 600
miles of which Livingstone has travelled, is drained by a
valley which lies north and south between the eastern and
western ranges of the watershed. This valley or line of
drainage, while it does not receive the Kasal and the
Quango, receives rivers flowing from a great distance west
— for instance, the important tributaries Luflra and Lomami,
and large rivers from the east, such as the Lindi and
Luamo ; and while the most intelligent Portuguese travel-
lers and traders state that the Kasai, the Quango and
Lubilash are the head waters of the Congo river, no one as
yet has started the supposition that the grand river flowing
north, and known to the natives as the Lualaba, was the
Congo. If this river is not the Nile, where, then, are the
head waters of the Nile ? The small river running out of
the Victoria Nyanza and the river flowing out of the little
Lake Albert have not sufficient water to form the great river
of Egypt. As you glide down the Nile and note the
Asna, the Giraffe, the Sobat, the Blue Nile and Atbara,
and follow the river down to Egypt, it cannot fail to impress
you that it requires many more streams, or one large river,
larger than all yet discovered, to influence its inundations
and replace the waste of its flow through a thousand miles
of desert. Perhaps a more critical survey of the Bahr
Ghazal would prove that the Nile is influenced by the
waters that pour through '* the small piece of water resem-
bling a duck pond buried in the sea of rushes," as Speke
DR. LIVINGSTONE. II7
describes the Bahr Ghazal. Livingstone's discovery an-
swers the question and satisfies the intelligent hundreds,who,
though Bruce and Speke and Baker, each in his turn had
declared he had found the Nile sources, yet doubted and
hesitated to accept the enthusiastic assertions as a final
solution of the Nile problem. Even yet, according to
Livingstone, the Nile sources have not been found ; though
he has traced the Lualaba through seven degrees of latitude
flowing north, and though neither he nor I have a particle
of doubt of its being the Nile, not yet can the Nile question
be said to be solved and ended, for three reasons —
First — He has heard of the existence of four fountains,
two of which give birth to a river flowing north — Webb's
River, or the Lualaba ; two to a river flowing south, which
is the Zambezi. He has heard of these fountains repeatedly
from the natives. Several times he has been within one
hundred and two hundred miles from them, but something
always interposed to prevent him going to see them. Ac-
cording to those who have seen them, they rise on either
side of a mound or hill which contains no stones. Some
have even called it an ant hill. One of these fountains
is said to be so large that a man standing on one side can-
not be seen from the other. These fountains must be dis-
covered, and their position taken. The Doctor does not
suppose them to lie south of the feeders of Lake Bangweolo.
Second — Webb's River must be traced to its connection
with some portion of the Old N ile.
Third — The connection between the Tanganyika and the
Albert Nyanza must be ascertained.
When these three things have been accomplished, then,
and not till then, can the mystery of the Nile be explained.
The two countries through which this marvellous lacustrine
river — the Lualaba — flows with its manifold lakes and broad
expanses of water, are Rua — the Umwa of Speke — and
Mayema. For the first time Europe is made aware that
between the Tanganyika and the known soures of the Congo
there exist teeming millions of the negro race who never
saw or heard of the white peoples who make such noisy and
busy stir outside of Africa. Upon the minds of those who
had the good fortune to see the first specimen of these
31 8 THE findi>;g of
remarkable wliite races Livingstone seems to have made a
favorable impression, though, through misunderstanding his
object and coupling him with the Arabs who made horrible
work there, his life has been sought after more than once.
These two extensive countries, Rua and Manyema, are
populated by true heathens — governed not as the sovereign-
ties of Karagwah Wumdi and Uganda, by despotic kings,
but each village by its own sultan or lord. Thirty miles out-
side of their own immediate settlements the most intelligent
of those small chiefs seem to know nothing. Thirty miles
from the Luaiaba there were but few people who had ever
heard of the great river. Such ignorance among the natives
of their own countries, of course, increased the labors of
Livingstone. Compared with these all tribes and nations
in Africa with whom Livingstone came in contact may be
deemed civilized. Yet in the rrts of home manufacture
these wild people of Manyema are far superior to any he
had seen. When other tribes and nations contented them-
selves with hides and skins of animals thrown negligently
over their shoulders, the people of Manyema manufactured a
cloth from fine grass which may favorably compare with the
finest grass cloth of India. They also know the art of dye-
ing them in various colors — black, yellow and purple. The
Wanguana or freed men of Zanzibar, struck with the beauty
of this fine grass fabric, eagerly exchange their cotton cloths
for fine grass cloth, and on almost every black man returned
from Manyema I have seen this native cloth converted into
elegantly made dafnirs (Arabic) — short jackets.
These countries are also very rich in ivory. The fever
for going to Manyema to exchange their tawdry beads for
the precious tusks of Manyema is of the same kind as that
which impelled men to the gulches and placers of California.
Colorada, Montana and Idaho ; after nuggets to Australia,
and diamonds to Cape Colony. Manyema is at present the
El Dorado of the Arabs and the Wamrima tribes. It is only
about four years since the first Arab returned from Manyema
with such wealth of ivory and reports about the fabulous
quantities found there that ever since the old beaten tracks
of Karagwah, Uganda, Ufipa and Marunga have been com-
paratively deserted. The people of Manyema, ignorant of
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 319
the value of the precious article reared their huts upon ivory
stanchions. Ivory pillars and doors were common sights in
Manyema, and hearing of these one can no longer wonder
at the ivory palace of Solomon. For generations they had
used ivory tusks as doorposts and eave stanchions, until
they had become perfectly rotten and worthless. But the
advent of the Arabs soon taught them the value of the
article. It h^ now risen considerably in price, though yet
fabulously cheap. At Zanzibar the value of ivory per
frarsilah of thirty-five pounds weight is from fifty dollars to
sixty dollars, according to its quality. In Unyanyembe it
is about one dollar and ten cents per pound ; but in Man-
yema it may be purchased for from half a cent to one and
a quarter cent's worth of copper per pound of ivory.
The Arabs, however, have the knack of spoiling markets
by their rapacity and wanton cruelty. With muskets a
small party of Arabs are invincible against such people as
those of Manyema, who until lately never heard the sound
of a gun. The report of a musket inspires mortal terror in
them, and it is almost impossible to induce them to face the
muzzle of a gun. They believe that the Arabs have stolen
the lightning, and that against such people the bow and
arrow can have but little eft'ect. They are by no means
devoid of courage, and they have often declared that were
it not for the guns not one Arab would leave the country
alive, which tends to prove that they would willingly en-
gage in fight with the strangers, who have made themselves
so detestable,|were it not that the startling explosion of gun-
powder inspires them with such terror.
Into whichever country the Arabs enter they contrive to
render their name and race abominated. But the main-
spring of it all is not the Arab's nature, color or name, but
simply the slave trade. So long as the slave trade is per-
mitted to be kept up at Zanzibar so long will these other-
wise enterprising people, the Arabs, kindle against them
throughout Africa the hatred of the natives. On the main
lines of travel, from Zanzibar into the interior of Africa, none
of these acts of cruelty are seen, for the very good reason
that they have armed the natives with guns and taught them
how to use weapons, which they are by no means loath to
320 THE FINDING OF
do whenever an 6pportunity presents itself. When too late,
when they have perceived their folly in selling guns to the
natives, the Arabs repent and begin to vow signal vengeance
on the person who will in future sell a gun to a native. But
they are all guilty of the same folly, and it is strange they
did not perceive that it was folly when they were doing so.
In former days the Arab, protected by his slave escort
armed with guns, could travel through Usegubha, Urori-
Ukonongo, Uflipa, Karagwah, Unyoro andaJganda, with
only a stick in his hand ; now, however, it is impossible for
him or any one else to do so. Every step he takes, armed
or unarmed, is fraught with danger. The Waseguhha near
the coast halt him, and demand the tribute or give him the
option of war ; entering Ugogo he is subjected every day
to the same oppressive demand, or to the other fearful alter-
native. The Wanyamwezi also show their readiness to take
the same advantage ; the road to Karagwah is besieged
with difficulties ; the terrible Mirambo stands in the way,
defeats their combined forces with ease and makes raids
even to the doors of their houses in Unyanyembe, and,
should they succeed in passing Mirambo, a chief stands be-
fore them who demands tribute by the bale, against whom it
is useless to contend. These remarks have reference to the
slave trade inaugurated in Manyema by the Arabs. Har-
assed on the road between Zanzibar and Unyanyembe,
minatory natives with bloody hands on all sides ready to
revenge the slightest affi*ont, the Arabs have refrained from
kidnapping between the Tanganyika and the sea ; but in
Manyema, where the natives are timid, irresolute and
divided into small, weak tribes, the Arabs recover their
audacity and exercise their kidnapping propensities un-
checked. The accounts which the Doctor brings from that
new region are most deplorable.
He was an unwilling spectator of a horrible deed — a mas-
sacre committed on the inhabitants of a populous district —
who had assembled in the market place, on the banks of
the Lualaba, as they had been accustomed to for ages. It
seems the Wa-Manyema are very fond of marketing, believ-
ing it to be the summum bonum of human enjoyment. They
find unceasing pleasure in chaffering with might and main
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 32 1
for the least mite of their currency — the last bead — and
when they gain the point to which their peculiar talents are
devoted they feel intensely happy. The women are exces-
sively fond of their marketing, and as they are very beauti-
ful, the market place must possess considerable attractions
for the male sex. It was on such a day, with just such a
scene, that Tagomoyo, a half-caste Arab, with his armed
slave escort, commenced an indiscriminate massacre by
firing volley after volley into the dense mass of human beings.
It is supposed that there were about two thousand present,
and at the first sound of the firing these poor people all
made a rush for their canoes. In the fearful hurry to avoid
being shot the canoes were paddled away by the first for-
tunate few who got possession of them. Those that were
not so fortunate sprang into the deep waters of the Lualaba,
and, though many of them became an easy prey to the
voracious crocodiles that swarmed to the scene, the majority
received their deaths from the bullets of the merciless
Tagomoyo and his villanous band. The Doctor believes ^)
as do the Arabs themselves, that about four hundred people
mostly women and children lost their lives, while many more
were made slaves. This scene is only one of many such
which he has unwillingly witnessed, and he is utterly unable
to describe the loathing he feels for the inhuman per-
petrators.
Slaves from Manyema command a higher price than those
of any other country, because of their fine forms and general
docility. The women, the Doctor says repeatedly, are re-
markably pretty creatures, and have nothing except their hair
in common with the negroids of the West Coast. They are
of a very light color, have fine noses, well-cut and not over
full-lips, and a prognathous jaw is uncommon. These women
are eagerly sought after for wives by the half-castes of the
East Coast, and even the pure Amani Arabs do not disdain
connection with them. To the north of Manyema Living-
stone came to a light-complexioned race of the color of
Portuguese, or our own Louisiana quadroons, who are very
fine people, and singularly remarkable for commercial cute-
ness and sagacity. The women are expert divers for oysters,
which are found in ijreat abundance in the Lualaba.
322 THE FINDING OF
Rua, at a place called Katanga, is rich in copper. The
copper mines of this place have been worked for ages. In
the bed of a stream gold has been found washed down in
pencil-shaped lumps, or particles as large as split peas.
Two Arabs have gone thither to prospect for this metal, but
as they are ignorant of the art of gulch mining it is scarcely
possible that they will succeed.
From these highly important and interesting discoveries
Doctor Livingstone was turned back when almost on the
threshold of success by the positive refusal of his men to
accompany him further. They were afraid to go unless
accompanied by a large force of men, and as these were not
procurable in Manycma the Doctor reluctantly turned his
face towards Ujiji.
It was a long and weary road back. The journey had
now no interest for him. He had travelled it before when
going westward, full of high hopes and aspirations, impatient
to reach the gaol which promised him rest from his labors ;
now returning unsuccessful, baffled and thwarted when
almost in sight of the end, and having to travel the same
road back on foot, with disappointed expectations and
defeated hopes preying on his mind, no wonder that the
brave old spirit almost succumbed and the strong constitution
was almost wrecked. He arrived at Ujiji, Oct. 26th, almost
at death's door. On the way he had been trying to cheer
himself up, since he had found it impossible to contend
against the obstinancy of his men, with *' it won't take long,
five or six months more ; it matters not, since it can't be
helped. I have got my goods in Ujiji, and can hire other
people and make a new start." These are the words and
hopes with which he tried to delude himself into the idea
that all would be right yet ; but imagine, if you can, the
shock he must have suffered when he found that the man
to whom was entrusted his goods for safe keeping had sold
every bale for ivory.
The evening of the day Livingstone had returned to Ujiji,
Susi and Chuma, two of his most faithful men, were seen
crying bitterly. The Doctor asked them what ailed them,
and was then informed for the first time of the evil tidings
that awaited him. Said they : " All our things are sold, sir.
Shereef has sold everything for ivory."
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 323
Later in the evening Shereef came to see him and shame-
lessly offered his hand, with a salutatory " Yambo." Living-
stone refused his hand, saying he could not shake hands
with a thief. As an excuse Shereef said he had divined on
the Koran and that told him the Hakim (Arabic for
Doctor) was dead. Livingstone was now destitute. He
had just enough to keep himself and his men alive for about
a month, after which he would be forced to beg from the
Arabs. He had arrived in Ujiji, October 26. The Herald
Expedition arrived November jo, from the coast — only six-
teen days difference. Had I not been delayed at Unyan-
yembe by the war with Mirambo I should have gone on to
Manyema, and very likely have been travelling by one road,
' while he would have been coming by another to Ujiji.
Had I gone on two years ago, when I first received instruc-
tions, I should have lost him without doubt. But I am
detained by a series of circumstances, which chafed and
fretted me considerably at the time, only to permit him to
reach Ujiji sixteen days before I appeared. It was as if we
were marching to meet together at an appointed rendezvous
— the one from the west, the other from the east.
The Doctor had heard of a white man being at Unyan-
yembe, who was said to have boats with him, and he had
thought he was another traveller sent by the French govern-
ment to replace Lieutenant Le Sainte, who died from fever
a few miles above Gondokoro. I had not written to him
because I believed him to be dead, and of course my sud-
den entrance into Ujiji was a great surprise to him as it was
to the Arabs. But the sight of the American flag, which he
saw waving in the van of the expedition, indicated that one
was coming who could speak his own language, and you
know already how the leader was received.
CONJOINT EXPLORATIONS.
,$..;l ■'
Ujiji, Lake Tanganyika, )
Dec. 23rd, 187 1. j
A few days after the arrival of the Herald Expedition at
Ujiji, I asked the Doctor if he had explored the head of the
Tanganyika.
He said he had not, " he had not thought it of so much
importance as the central line of drainage ; besides, when
he had proposed to do it, before leaving for Manyema, the
Wajiji had shown such a disposition to fleece him that he
he had desisted from the attempt."
Your correspondent then explained to him what great
importance was attached to the lake by geographers, as
stated in the newspapers, and suggested to him that it were
better, seeing that he was about to leave for Unyanyembe,
and that something might occur in the mean while to hinder
him from ever visiting it, to take advantage of the offer I
made of putting myself, men, and effects of the expedition
at his service for the purpose of exploring the northern head
of the Tanganyika. . . .
He at once accepted the offer, and, like a hero, lost no
time in starting.
On the 20th of November, Dr. Livingstone and your
correspondent, with twenty picked men of the Herald
Expedition Corps, started. Despite the assertion of Arabs
that the Warundi were dangerous, and would not let us pass,
we hugged their coast closely, and when fatigued, boldly
encamped in their country. Only once were we obliged to
fly — and this was at dead of night — from a large party
which we knew to be surrounding us from the land side.
We got to the boat safely, and we might have punished
them severely if the Doctor had been so disposed. Once
also we were stoned, but we paid no heed to them, and kept
(224)
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 325
on our way along their coast until we arrived at Mokam-
ba's, one of the chiefs of Usige.
Mokamba was at war with a neighbouring chief, who
lived on the left bank of the Rusizi. That did not deter us,
and we crossed the head of the Tanganyika to Mugihewah,
governed by Ruhinga, brother of Mokamba.
Mugihewah is a tract of country on the right bank of the
Rusizi, extending to the lake. With Mokamba and Ruhinga
we became most intimate ; they proved to be sociable, good-
natured chiefs, and gave most valuable information con-
cerning the countries lying to the north of Usige ; and if
their information is correct. Sir Samuel Baker will be obliged
to curtail the ambitious dimensions of his lake by one degree,
if not more.
A Mgwana living at Mokamba's on the eastern shore of
the lake, had informed us that the River Rusizi certainly
flowed out of the lake, and after joining the Kitangule,
emptied into the Lake N'yanza (Victoria).
When we entered Ruhinga's territory of Mugihewah, we
found ourselves but 300 yards from the river about which a
great deal has been said and written.
At Unyanyembe I was told that the Rusizi was an
affluent. • ^ '
At Ujiji all Arabs but one united in saying the same thing,
and within ten miles of the Rusizi a freedman of Zanzibar
swore it was an affluent.
On the morning of the eleventh day of our departure
from Ujiji, we were rowed towards the river. We came
to a long narrow bay, fringed on all sides with tall, dense
reeds, and swarming with crocodiles, and soon came to the
mouth of the Rusizi.
As soon as we had entered the river, all doubt vanished
before the strong, turbid flood against which we had to
contend in the ascent. After about ten minutes we entered
what seemed a lagoon, but which was the result of a late
inundation. About an hour higher up, the river began to
be confined to its proper banks, and is about thirty yards
broad, but very shallow.
Two days higher up, Ruhinga told us the Rusizi was
joined by the Loanda, coming from the north-west.
^26 THE FINDING OF
There could be no mistake then. Dr. Livingstone and
myself had ascended it, had felt the force of the strong
inflowing current — the Rusizi was an influent, as much so as
the Malagarazi, the Linche, and Rugufu, but with its banks
lull it can only be considered as ranking third among the
rivers flowing into the Tanganyika. Though rapid, it is
extremely shallow ; it has three mouths, up which an ordi-
nary ship's boat, loaded, might in vain attempt to ascend.
Burton and Speke, though they ascended to within six
hours' journey by canoe from the Rusizi, were compelled to
turn back by the cowardice of the boatmen. Had they
ascended to Meuta's capital, they could easily have seen the
head of the lake. Usige is but a district of Wumdi, governed
by several small chiefs, who owe obedience to Mwezi, the
great King of Wumdi.
We spent nine days at the head of the Tanganyika,
exploring the islands and many bays that indent its shores.
In returning to Ujiji we coasted along the west side of the
Tanganyika, as far as the country of the Wasansi, whom we
had to leave on no amicable terms, owing to their hostility
to Arabs, and arrived at Ujiji on the i8th of December,
having been absent twenty-eight days.
Though the Rusizi river can no longer be a subject of
curiosity to geographers — and we are certain that there is no
connection between the Tanganyika and Baker's Lake, or
the Albert N'yanza, — it is not yet certain that there is no
oonnection between the Tanganyika and the Nile river.
The western coast has not all been explored ; and there is
reason to suppose that a river runs out of the Tanganyika
through the deep caverns of Kabogo Mountain, far under-
ground and out on the western side of Kabogo into the
Lualaba, or the Nile. Livingstone has seen the river about
forty miles or so west of Kabogo (about forty yards broad
at that place), but he does not know that it runs out of the
mountain. . .
This is one of the many things which he has yet to
examine. '
DEPARTURE FROM UJIJI.
KwiHARA, Unyanyembe, Feb. 21st, 1872.
After spending Christmas at Ujiji, Doctor Livingstone,
escorted by the Herald Expedition, composed of forty Wan-
guana soldiers, well armed, left for Unyanyembe on the 26th
of December, 187 1.
In order to arrive safely, untroubled by wars and avari-
cious tribes, we sketched out a, road to Unyanyembe,
thus : —
Seven days by water south to Urimba.
Ten days across the uninhabited forests of Kawendi.
Twenty days through Unkonongo, direct east.
Twelve days north through Unkoriongo.
Thence five days into Unyanyembe, where we arrived
without adventure of any kind, except killing zebras, buf-
faloes, and giraffes, after fifty-four days' travel.
The expedition suffered considerably from famine, and
your correspondent from fever, but these are incidental to
the march in this country.
The Doctor tramped it on foot like a man of iron. On
arrival at Unyanyembe, I found that the Englishman, Shaw,
whom I had turned back as useless, had about a month
after his return succumbed to the climate of the inteiior and
liad died, as well as two Wauguana of the expedition who
had been left behind sick. Thus, during less than twelve
months, William Lawrence Farquhar, of Leith, Scotland,
and John William Shaw, of London, England, the two
white men I had engaged to assist me, had died ; also eight
baggage-carriers and eight soldiers of the expedition had
died.
I was bold enough to advise the Doctor to permit the
expedition to escort him to Unyanyembe, through the
country it was made acquainted with while going to Ujiji, for
(327)
328 THE FINDING OF
the reason that were he to sit down at Ujiji until Mirambo
was disposed of, he might remain a year there, a prey to
high expectations, ending always in bitter disappointments.
I told him, as the Arabs of Unyanyembe were not equal to
the task of conquering Mirambo, that it were better he
should accompany the Herald Expedition to Unyanyembe,
and there take possession of the last lot of goods brought
to him by a caravan which left the sea-coast simultaneously
with our expedition.
The Doctor consented, and thus it was that he came so
far back as Unyanyembe.
It ?s erroneously supposed by his friends that Dr. Living-
stone ib most industriously attended to, that he receives an-
nually, if not semi-annually, large supplies of cloth, beads,
and necessaries. Your correspondent begs to inform his
friends that the flerald expedition found him turned back
from his explorations when on the eve of being terminated
thoroughly, by the very man sent to him by the British
Consulate ; that the expedition found him sitting down at
Ujiji utterly destitute, robbed by the very men sent by the
British Consul at Zanzibar with his caravan ; that the Herald
Expedition escorted him to Unyanyembe only in time to
save his last stock of goods, for they were rapidly being made
away with by the very men entrusted by the British Consu-
late with the last lot of goods ; that it was only by an acci-
dent that your correspondent saw a packet of letters ad-
dressed to Livingstone, and so forcibly took one of Living-
stone's men to carry the letters to his employer.
When we arrived at Unyanyembe, two bales of cloth, two
bags of beads, and one case of brandy had already disap-
peared out of the last lot.
Neither are the supplies or letters hurried up to him. He
might have waited long at Ujiji waiting for goods and letters
that never would come, if the Herald Expedition had not
informed him.
Though the distance from Zanzibar to Unyanyembe is
but three months for a loaded caravan, yet the Consulate's
trusty men stopped on the sea-coast, within a stone's throw
(figuratively speaking) of the Consulate, over three and a
half months, and Livingstone got his goods thirteen a half
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 329
months after they left the sea-coast, and only at three months
from the coast Livingstone had to come for them himself
a distance of 350 miles.
Within the time that the British Consul's men took to
convey Livingstone's goods and letters a distance of only
525 miles, the Herald Expedition was formed, and marched
2,059 English statute miles, and before the fourteenth month
of its departure from the sea-coast, the Herald Expedition
will have arrived at the sea-coast, be paid off, and disbanded^
In the matter of supplies, then, being sent to Livingstone
semi-annually or annually, there is no truth whatever. The
cause is extreme apathy at Zanzibar, and the reckless
character of the men sent. Where English gentlemen are
so liberal, and money so plentiful, it should be otherwise.
When preparing to return to the coast, your correspon-
dent, in command ,of your expedition, turned over to Dr.
Livingstone nine bales of mixed cloths, 980 pounds of as-
sorted beads, well adapted to Rua and Manyema, and 350
pounds of brass wire, besides one portable boat to cross
rivers, a supply of carpenters' tools, revolvers, carbines, and
several hundred pounds of ammunition.
KwiHARA, Unyanyembe, March 12th, 1872.
The day after to-morrow the Herald Expedition will leave
the Land of the Moon — Unyamwezi — for the sea-coast.
Your correspondent has been commissioned by Doctor
Livingstone, if there is time before the first ship leaves Zan-
zibar, to send him fifty well-armed men from Zanzibar, to
act as soldiers and servants for a new expedition which he
is about to organize for rapid exploration of a few doubtful
points, before returning home to declare to those concerned
that he has finished his work.
He will leave Unyanyembe for Ufipa, thence to Liemba
and Marumgu, and crossing the Luapula river at Chicumbi's,
will make his way to the copper mines of Katanga, in Rua ;
then eight days south, to discover the fountains of Herodo-
18
S3^ THE FINDING OF
tus ; then return by Katanga to the underground houses of
Rua, ten days north-east of Katanga ; thence to Lake Ka-
molondo, and by River Lafira to Lake Lincoln ; thence
back to Lualaba, to explore the lake north of Kamolondo ;
thence return by Uguhha to Ujiji, or by Marumgu, through
Urori, to the coast, and England.
This is his present programme, which he thinks will only
take him eighteen months ; but, as I have told him, I think
it will take two years.
Though he is now going on for sixty years of age, he
looks but forty-five or fifty — quite hale and hearty. He has
an enormous appetite, which has abated nothing of its
powers since I have known him. He is in need of no
rest : he needed supplies ; he has got them now, and every-
thing he needs. Thourh sick and thin when I sa^^' him at
Ujiji, he is now fleshy and ' stoutish, and must weigh about
1 80 pounds. Though I have hung my balance scales
temptingly before his eyes, I have never been able to
get him to weigh himself I have not the slightest fears
about his health, or of any danger coming to him from the
natives.
Before the full text of the preceding letters of Mr. Stanley
had reached England, the following intelligence had been
transmitted from Bombay : —
" Messrs. Stanley, Henn, New, and Morgaro sailed from
Zanzibar for Seychelles on the 29th en r$ute for Europe
in the screw steamer Star^ Messrs. W. Oswald and Co.
Mr. Stanley, with his usual activity, chartered the steamer.
Two days before leaving, Mr. Stanley despached men and
supplies to Dr. Livingstone, who awaits them at Unyau-
yembe.
*' Mr. Stanley was very anxious to go to Bagamoyo to
start the party, and accompany them for one day's march,
when they would be sure to go on*; but he was unable to
do so without being detained for one month longer in Zanzi-
bar or Seychelles. The head native employe in the American
Consulate went to Bagamoyo for this purpose, and, in the
DR. LIVINGSTONE.
33^
event of difficulty occurring, arrangements were made for
insuring the forwarding of the reHef expedition with all des-
patch. Heavy rains still continue, and the country to the
west of Bagamoyo may be impassable.
" Mr. Stanley has sent the suppHes in charge of an Arab,
along with 5 7 men, well armed, and in light marching order.
These men \vall be at the disposal of the Doctor, being
under engagement to that effect."
. i
■{f(f ,?-t I
•., -J
':"•>■•-'; -M' :;
■»i-
STANLEY AT BRIGHTON.
HIS STATEMENT BEFORE THE BRITISH
ASSOCIATION.
Mr. Stanley's first appearance in public in England|has
more than equalled the general expectation, high as |this
ran here. Soon after nine the great concert hall in Middle
street began to fill, and ft-om this time till eleven, when the
proceedings commenced, people poured in by the hundred,
until every available seat was occupied, except a row of
velvet chairs in front of and facing the platform, reserved
for the Emperor and Empress of the French, the Prince
Imperial and suite. Mr. John Locke, M. P., Sir Thomas
Fowell Buxton, Professor Fawcett, M. P., Mr. Edwin
Chadwick, Dr. Carpenter, Lady Burdett Coutts, Sir John
Bowring, Dr. Price, and Admiral Richards, the Hydro-
grapher of the Navy, were among the first arrivals. The
imperial party came in a few minutes before eleven ; then
the leading members of the geographical section took their
seats upon the platform, Mr. Francis Galton in the chair,
with Sir Henry Rawlinson, Dr. Beke and Consul Petherick
on his left ; and Mr. Stanley, Admiral Richards and others
on his right. There was just the kind of enthusiasm which
might have been looked for, both when Mr. Stanley ap-
peared and when his name was mentioned by the President.
Again and again did the audience, which numbered frova
a thousand to fifteen hundred people, express their voci-
ferous welcome ; the Emperor and Empress applauded as
heartily as the rest, and Mr. Stanley having to rise more
than once to bow his acknowledgments. Determination
and pluck are written upon the young traveller^* face in
characters which are unmistakeable, and if ever a man
(332)
DR. LIVINGSTONE 333
" looked the part " he has been called upon to play, it is
the intrepid discoverer of Livingstone. Further, Mr.
Stanley developed this morning qualities which prove him
to be pre-eminently qualified for a branch of public life
which would enable him to confer great pleasure upon an
indefinite number of people ; and if it has not already oc-
curred to him to deliver a course of lectures in London
and our leading provincial towns, I beg to present him with
the suggestion, and to predict for him in that capacity
enormous success. Gifted with great powers of expression,
a sonorous voice, no little humor, abundant capacity for re-
tort and for holding his own pleasantly and firmly, Mr.
Stanley's triumphant debut this morning before many of
the leading geographers of the world furnished a remark-
able example of the power of mother wit and practical ex-
perience.
Altogether the impression left by Mr. Stanley upon his
hearers was in the highest degree favorable, and, while it is
possible that some of his opinions may be modified by the
light scientific geographers may supply, it is certain that he
carried his audience with him in debate. But Mr. Stanley
is essentially the man for a platform and a popular assem-
bly, and if he could be induced to deliver a lecture and
illustrate it with drawings, diagrams and maps he would
furnish the public with an extremely attractive and instruc-
tive entertainment. Meanwhile, people are asking what
public honor is to be paid him and when it will be an-
nounced. His achievement is not one which England can
pass by, and some mark of recognition by the government
would never seem more grateful than now.
PRESIDENT GALTON^S OPENING ADDRESS.
The President, in introducing Mr. Stanley, said : — The
proceedings to-day will be opened by an account by Mr. H.
W. Stanley of the parts of Africa visited by him — that is,
the northern part of Tanganyika and the Rusizi, and the
new route from Unyanyembe ; and it will be followed by
the reading of extracts from the despatches of Dr. Living-
stone — extracts bearing solely on the geographical aspect of
334 THE FINDING OF
the question. These extracts will be illustrated by a large
map drawn in the map room of the Royal Geographical
Society, whose President sits at my left (Sir H. Rawlinson).
Afterwards Mr. Stanley will relate his wanderings, and point
out what he considers to be the corrections which ought to
be made, 'speaking from his recollection, of the route map
made by Dr. Livingstone himself, which he has seen, and a
copy of which to my knowledge exists in this kingdom.
Then a short paper will be read which has been sent to us
by Colonel Grant (Speke and Grant), who, I regret, is not
present, and the discussion will follow. I will now detain
you one moment longer, to explain how the circumstances
stood previous to Mr. Stanley's expedition ; and it is ne-
cessary I should do so, for much misconception prevails on
the subject. It is about six years ago that a rumor
reached England of Dr. Livingstone's death — a rumor which
you recollect was doubted by our own President (Sir Rod-
erick Murchison), and which was afterwards wholly dis-
proved by the expedition sent out specially from England,
under Captain Young, for the purpose of ascertaining the
truth of it ; and, again, by letters received from Dr. Living-
stone himself, dated in 1869, only three years ago. We
had previously received from letters him — viz., in 186 7 and
1868. They requested that supplies should be sent, and
await him at Ujiji. The route from the coast was first
opened up by Captain Burton and Captain Speke, and they
found it was a perfectly open caravan road, along which
there was no difficulty whatever other than is common in
caravan roads in uncivilized countries — no difficulty what-
ever in transmitting provisions and supplies. Supplies were
actually sent by that route. I have a list of four parties
which went with supplies — viz., in 1867, 1868, 1869 and
1870, and the supplies sent from the coast in 1869 actually
reached Livingstone, not only at Unyanyembe, but in Ujiji.
But in that year a difficult state of circumstances arose.
Cholera broke out, and it was impossible for caravans to
pass through. Most of the men died, and supplies were
stopped at Unyanyembe. Afterwards war broke out, and
the route which could be travelled in ordinary times be-
came closed, or almost closed. It was then a matter of
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 335
great consideration with the Royal Geographical Society
what steps they should take ; but at that time we heard
that Mr. Stanley, actuated by honorable motives and de-
spatched by the New York Herald, had actually started {in
search of Dr. Livingstone. Supplies and letters were there-
fore placed in his hands to be delivered to Dr. Livingstone.
The Royal Geographical Society, not wishing in any way to
compete vnth an existing expedition, took no other steps.
Afterwards a nnnor reached England, happily unfounded,
that Mr. Stanley had got to Unyanyembe and that his ex-
pedition had been broken up ; that in consequence of the
wars of the Arabs it had succumbed, and that he was him-
self ill of fever and incapable of pushing on in his mission.
Although we knew little reliance was to be placed in such
rumors we resolved to send out that expedition, of which
you have heard so much and which you know has returned.
It happened that before we sent out the expedition Mr.
Stanley had actually shaken hands with Dr. Livingstone at
Ujiji. (Loud cheers.) When the expedition reached the
coast of Africa and was ready to start, they met Mr. Stanley's
advance return party and in a few days afterwards Mr.
Stanley himself (Cheers.) Now I have explained to the
best of my ability the simple facts of the case, and I
now call upon Mr. Stanley to give us his account of his
most adventurous expedition.
STANLFA''S NARRATIVE.
Mr. Stanley then stepped forward on the platform and
was again loudly cheered. He said : — Ladies and gentle-
men, I consider myself in the light of a troubadour, to
relate to you the tale of an old man who is tramping on-
ward to discover the source of the Nile — to tell you that I
found that old man at Ujiji, and to tell you of his woes and
sufferings and how he bore his misfortunes with the Chris-
tian patience and endurance of a hero. Before I started
for central Africa I knew nothing of that great broad tract
in the centre of the African Continent. My duty led me
to fields of journalism — my duty carried me far away from
Central Africa.' If I had ever dreamed that I should visit
the heart of Africa I should have smiled at myself.
236 THE FINDING OF
Now, while I was following my duties at Madrid, I re-
ceived a telegram to come to Paris on important business.
I went and found Mr. James Gordon Bennett, the younger,
of the New York Herald — (cheers) — I found him in bed ;
I knocked at his door. He said, ** Come in," and then
demanded my name.
• ** My nan-^e is Stanley."
" Oh, you are the man I want. Do you knovr where
Livingstone is ?"
" I declare to you I do not." (Laughter.)
" Do you suppose he is alive ?"
" I really don't know."
" What do you think of it ?"
I replied, ** It passes all my comprehension." (Laughter.)
'* Well, I think he is alive, and I want you to find him."
(Laughter.)
I thought it was a most gigantic task, but I dared not say
" no " to Mr Bennett, I answered, " If you send me to
Central Africa I shall go there." (Loud cheers.)
He said, " Well, go, I believe he is alive, and you can
find him."
I said, " Mr. Bennett, have you the least idea how much
that little journey will cost? (Laughter.) The Burton
and Speke expedition cost between ^2,000 and ;^4,ooo.
Are you ready to incur that expense ?"
Mr. Bennett responded, " Draw ;^i,ooo, and when that
is finished draw another ;^i,ooo, and when that is done
draw another ;^ 1,000, and when you have got rid of that
draw another and another." (Cheers.)
When I was in such a position what was I to do ? I
saw he was determined I should go and find Dr. Living-
stone^ and I went. He would take no apologies or ex-
cuses, so I said, " What it is open to poor human nature
to do, I will do — I bid you good night" (Laughter and
cheers.) ... .,
Now, ladies and gentlemen, I had never read any book
on Central Africa, and, indeed, I thought Dr. Livingstone
a myth. I knew books and newspapers had said much
about him, and that all people gloried in him, yet I had a
doubt about his being alive. Before I started on my mis-
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 337
sion I had to give a description of the opening of the Suez
Canal, and then I had to visit the vast temple of Solomon
under ground. (Mr. Stanley then mentioned other duties
he had to discharge, which included journeys to the Dead
Sea, Caucasus, Persia, Bagdad, the Euphrates Valley Rail-
way, and other places.)
When I reached Zanzibar I began to study books on
Central Africa, and to draw up an estimate of the cost of
my expedition in search of Dr. Livingstone. I first put it
down at $3,000, but I had to increase it several times until
it reached $20,000. Mr. Stanley then related the difficulty
he had in learning the names of the currency among the
natives in trading, and how he asked every Arab he met
whether a white man had been seen in the country, and the
conflicting information he received on the subject. One
said he saw one at Ujiji, and he was very fat and fond of
rice. (Laughter.) Another said a white man had been
wounded when he was engaged in hunting. When I got
to Unyanyembe, the great central depots of the Arabs, I
asked the Governor where the fat man was. He said he
lived at Ujiji somewhere, and was a great eater of butter.
(Laughter.) I thought that was good news. I said, " Do
you think he is alive?'" *' Ah ! great master, I don't say he
is alive, because there has been war there." He said he
had divined on the Koran, and found Livingstone was
dead. Now my next point was Ujiji, from Unyanyembe.
I had never been in Africa before. There were no rail-
roads, no telegraphs, no balloons, and there was a war
raging in the country. First I must cut my way through
this war country. We went on for two days, but on the
third we made a most disgraceful retreat. (Laughter.) All
my men deserted me. I made my way to the camp of the
Arabs, and I said there is a war going on, and it is between
the Arabs and the natives. I will find my own way to
Livingstone. One of them said, " Oh, great master, you
must not do that. I must write to the Sultan and say you
are obstinate, that you are going to get killed." " All
right," said I ; " there are jungles. If one way is closed we
can try another. If that is closed we can try another, and
so on. I want to go to Ujiji."
^^8 THE FINDING OF
So on the 23rd September last year I started, and went
directly south until I came to the frontier of the adjoining
country, and when I came to the corner of it I found there
was another war there. In fact I was going straight into
it. I had to go up north now, and came to the salt pans
of which Br *<:on speaks. In crossing the river I had such
little incide s as a crocodile eating one of my donkeys.
(Laughter.) I came next to a land notorious for its robbers.
I did not know this, and one night I called a council of
my principal men. I told them I could not stand this
tribute taking. They asked, " What will you do, master?"
I said, " The thing is to go into the jungle and make direct
west." At the dead of the night we went into the bamboo
jungle, and on the fourth day we stood on the last hill. We
had crossed the last stream ; we had traversed the last
plain, we had climbed the last mountain, and Ujiji lay em-
bowered in the palms beneath us. (Cheers.) Now, it is
customary in Africa to make your presence known by
shouting and shooting guns. We fired our guns as only
exuberant heroes can do. I said, ** I suppose I shall not
find the white man here. We must go on to the Congo
and away to the Atlantic Ocean, but we must find this
white man." So we were firing away, shouting, blowing
horns, beating drums. All the people came out, and the
great Arabs from Muscat came out.
Hearing we were from Zanzibar, and were friendly and
brought news of their relatives, they welcomed us. And
while we were travelling down that steep hill, down to this
little town, I heard a voice saying, " Good morning, sir."
(Loud cheers and laughter.) I turned and said sharply,
" Who the mischief are you ?" " I am the servant of Dr.
Livingstone, sir." I said, "What ! Is Dr. Livingstone
here?" "Yes, he is here. I saw him just now." I said,
Do you mean to say Dr. Livingstone is here ?" " Sure.''
" Go and tell him I am coming." (Laughter and cheers.)
Do you think it possible for me to describe my emotions as
I walked down those few hundred yards ?
This man, David Livingstone, that I beHevcd to be a
myth, was in front of me a few yards. I confess to you
that were it not for certain feelings of pride, I should have
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 339
turned over a somersault. (Laughter.) But I was ineifably
happy. I had found Livingstone ; my work is ended . It
is only a march home quick ; carry the news to the first
telegraph station, and so give the word to the world.
(Cheers.) A great many people gathered around us. My
attention was directed to where a group of Arabs was
standing, and in the centre of this group a pale, careworn,
grey-bearded old man, dressed in a red shirt, with a crimson
3 oho, with a gold band round his cap, an old tweed pair of
pants, his shoes looking the worse for wear. Who is this
old man ? I ask myself. Is it Livingstone ? Yes, it is.
No, it is not. Yes, it is. " Dr. Livingstone, I presume ?"
"Yes." (Loud cheers.) Now it would never have done
in the presence of the grave Arabs, who stood there stroking
their beards, for two white men to kick up their heels.
No ; the Arabs must be attended to. They would carry
the story that we were children — fools. So we walked side
by side into the verandah. There we sat — the man, the
myth, and I. This was the man; and what a woeful tale of
calamities that wrinkled face, those grey hairs in his beard,
those silver Hnes in his head — what a woeful tale they told !
Now we begin to talk. I don't know about what. I know
we talk, and by-and-by come plenty of presents from the
Arabs. We eat and talk, and whether Livingstone eats
most or I eat most I cannot tell. I tell him many things.
He asks, " Do you know such and such a one ?" " Yes."
'* How is he ?" *' Dead.^' " Oh, oh l" " And such a one ?"
" Alive and well." " Thanks be to God." "And what are
they all doing in Europe now?" "Well, the French are
kicking up a fuss ; and the Prussians are around Paris, and
the world is turned topsy-turvy." It is all a matter of won-
der for Livingstone. He soon turned in to read his letters.
And who shall stand between this man and the outer world?
I should like to say a great deal more to you, but I want
you to find out one thing, and that is — I want you to find
out what this man Livingstone was — what was his character
—that this man can stand the fatigues, brave the dangers
and sufferings of Central Africa. What is there in him
which makes him go on while others turn back ? What is
It in him who has discovered so many lakes and rivers and
340
THE FINDING OF
Streams, passed over so many virgin countries and through
so many forests, that makes him say, " It is not enough ?"
This is what I want to know. I asked him if he had been
up to the Lake Tanganyika yet. There is a great deal
said about that. He said the central line of drainage ab-
sorbed all his means. I proposed to him we should go
there with my men and material, and make a pleasure party
of it He said, •' I am your man." I said, " Thej think
we should go there." " Very well ; it shall be done to-
morrow." And to-morrow we went. Now, it is about
what Livingstone and myself discovered at the northern end
of Lake Tanganyika that the Royal Geographical Society
has requested me to read you a formal paper on the subject.
(Cheers.)
Mr. Stanley then read his paper descriptive of Lake Tan-
ganyika, at the conclusion of which the following conversa-
tion ensued : —
The President — You have amply testified by your ap-
plause your appreciation of the touching and interesting
narrative you have just heard. One almost regrets — if one
might be allowed to parody a remark of Sydney Smith's —
that more eminent African discoverers were not lost in
and that more able correspondents like Mr. Stanley have
not gone there in search of them. (Cheers.) I will say no
more now, because we have much to do. I will simply ask
Mr. Stanley how much furthur Lake Tanganyika extends to
the northward than the farthest point reached by Captains
Burton and Speke ?
Mr. Stanley — Captains Burton and Speke halted on a
sandy patch thirteen miles from the extremest end of Tan-
ganyika. Had they gone half way up the mountain re-
ferred to in my address, where resided the king of the
TJrundi, they must have seen the northern end of Tangan-
yika plainly ; but resting where they did, they simply reached
the point where the eastern and western ranges meet, and
where the eastern overlaps the western. At the extremest
end Tanganyika is fifteen or sixteen miles broad.
The President — I should like to ask another question,
and that regards the sweetness or the brackishness of the
DR. LIVINGSTONE. . 341
water of Lake Tanganyika. This is important, because the
question of whether the Rusizi is an effluent or influent de-
pends upon the character of the water. , .
Mr. Stanley — I could not wish a nicer or sweeter water
to make a cup of tea or coffee than the water of Lake Tan-
ganyika. (Laughter and cheers.)
Mr. Clements R. Markham then read extracts from
Dr. Livingstone's Foreign Office despatches, which are
published in full, in this volume.
Mr. Stanley, in reply to a further question put by the
President, explained that many of the places marked on the
existing maps did not correspond with the places where
they were put on the maps of Dr. Livingstone. —
Mr. C. R. Markham next read the following paper from
Colonel Grant, a portion of which had only arrived by post
that morning : — " The two letters from Dr. Livingstone to
Mr. Gorden Bennett, of the New York Herald, inform
us that he had traced the southern wrters from ii to 5
south latitude, and he supposed that they must flow on to
the Nile by the Bahr-Gazal, at 9 degrees north latitude.
I must say that this is an extravagant idea which cannot be
for a moment entertained, for there are many circumstances
precluding such a thing. The distance still unexplored by
Dr. Livingstone may be roughly stated as 1,000 miles be-
tween his most advanced position and the mouth of the
Gazal. In this distance we have Speke's Mountains of the
Moon and the great bend to the west of the Nile, at 7
degrees 8 minutes north latitude, as the principal obstruc-
tions to Dr. Livingstone's theory. We have also 300 miles
of longitude between the two positions ; but the curious ob-
jection to Dr. Livingstone's reaching the Nile is the fact
that we already know — that the source of Gazal was visited
and determined a few years ago by the eminent botanist,
Schweinfurth, who fully satisfied all geographers that the
source of the Gazal is north of the equator, not, as Dr.
Livingstone supposes, 1 1 degrees south of it. My observa-
tions of the Gazal were in March, 1863, when descending
the Nile from Gondokoro with my late companion, and
show that it is insignificant when compared with the Nile.
342 THE FINDING OF
It seems to be a swamp with little current, for the Nile
branch along which we were sailing was not increased in
width by the water of the Gazal. The Nile maintained its
width of IOC yards till after the Giraffe and Sooba joined it,
and then the stream was increased to a width of 500 yards.
The Gazal had no perceptible stream ; at the junction its
waters were still and looked like a backwater half a mile
across, and surrounded by rushes. Mr. Oatman and others
told us that no boats were able to ascend it that year, 1865,
as its channel was choked with reeds. There is therefore
no regular traffic on it by boats. Some years it is com-
pletely blocked — a contrast to the Nile, which is navigable
to large boats all the year round between Gondokoro and
Khartoom. If anything were wanting to prove that the
Gazal has no connection with the southern waters of Living-
stone, reference might be made to several men who have
been into the Gazal country, but Dr. Schweinfurth, who is
now in Europe, would be most able to give definite infor-
mation. The narrative of Dr. Livingstone contains some
curious incidents which are quite novel to me, for on our
journey from Zanzibar to Egypt, when travelling on the
watershed of the Nile, we never saw any trace of cannibals,
any signs of gorillas, neither did we find that any race of
natives kept pigs in the domesticated state. They eat one
species of wild pig, but no race of natives in this valley of
the Nile was ever seen to keep pigs tame. Oysters must be
a misprint. Taking into consideration these remarkable
differences from the country we traversed, I cannot but
think that Dr. Livingstone, having no chronometer to fix
the longitude, got further to the west than he supposes, and
that he has been among races similar in most respects to
those on the west coast of Africa, visited by Mons du
Chaiilu. In conclusion, this fresh discovery of lakes and
rivers by Livingstone defines a distinct new basis, and
leaves clearer than ever the position given by Speke to the
Nile in 1863." ...
• • Consul Petherick said he was the first Englishman who
ever navigated the Bahr-il-Gazal. He navigated it in 1853,
and since then he had navigated it annually up to 1858.
He had no astronomical instruments, and his account was
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 343
kept by dead reckoning. He reached the head waters
going southward ; it was then a large lake. He navigated
it in several directions to find an outlet. He navigated it
afterwards in 1862 or 1863. It was then a swamp reduced
to the breadth of his boat and it was with the greatest diffi-
culty that he navigated it at all. When he first navigated it
it was very much swollen, and was then in the same condi-
tion which he believed the Victoria Nyanza was in when
Captain Speke was there. The lake was then inundated,
and appeared much larger than it was found to be in subse-
quent years. He fully believed he had a proof of that in
ascending to Gondokoro where he found what Captain
Speke found. He found its banks were overrun with water,
and he had to go over ninety miles of water before he could
reach land. It was said that the Bahr-il-Gazal was overrun
with weeds, and he sent a man to try to get into it. The
boat was driven back. In 1853 he took a more numerous
expedition and succeeded. The water was much reduced,
which was to be accounted for by the greater or less
quantity of rain falling in Central Africa. On returning he
measured the volume of water, and above the Bahr-il-Gazal
it was 18,000 feet a second. The Bahr-il-Gazal it was im-
possible to measure, and he was obliged to go down, and he
found the water going into the Bahr-il-Gazal to be a little
more than one-third the volume of that going down the
Nile. He believed he had fully satisfied himself that the
waters flowed to the southward. There must be a water-
shed separate from that of Bahr-il-Gazal, and the watershed
must be from east to west. It was certain that Dr. Living-
stone must have made a mistake in believing that the East-
ern Nile waters flowed through the Bahr-il-Gazal. Dr.
Livingstone had given him an honor that did not belong to
him. He did not claim to be the discoverer of the sources
of the Nile, but merely to be the discoverer of some of the
tributaries. The water that Dr. Livingstone was pursuing
northwards must find some other outlet — where he did not
profess to say.
^ The President said, leaving the question of the Bahr-il-
Gazal, he wished to ask whether the water it contributed to
the Nile was or was not equivalent to the Luatala of Dr.
Livingstone ?
344 THE FINDING OF
Mr. Petherick said, judging from the despatches sent
home by Dr. Livingstone, he should say it contained a great
deal more water. A native told him that the Luatala was
but a short distance off; but all who had travelled in Africa
knew that no reliance was to be placed on the statements of
natives in these matters, as very few, if any of them, ever
went beyond the frontiers of the district inhabited by their
own tribe.
The President then called on Mr. Oswell, through whose
assistance it was, he said, that Livingstone first penetrated
into Central Africa.
Mr. OswELL, who spoke from the body of the room, said
he would not go into the geograghical question, but he
availed himself of the opportunity of expressing his gratitude
to Dr. Livingstone. Dr. Livingstone had sustained a great
loss in the death of Mrs. Livingstone, who was tiie best
helpmate the traveller ever had. During all his experience
of Mrs. Livingstone there was only one instance in which
he knew of her breaking down, and then it was not through
fear for herself, but through fear for her husband. (Cheers.)
He trusted to have an opportunity before leaving the room
of shaking hands with Mr. Stanley, and telling him how
much he thanked him for what he had done. It was usually
said that Livingstone — their dear old Livingstone — was the
real true African lion ; the young gentleman on the platform
might be considered the real true young African Hon.
(Laughter and cheers.)
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 345
SIR HENRY RAWLINSON ON LIVINGSTONE AND STANLEY'S
WORK.
Sir Henry Rawlinson was very glad of this opportunity,
as the President of the Royal Geographical Society, to
bear testimony to the great value which they attached to
Mr. Stanley's services in searching for Dr. Livingstone —
(cheers.) That he should have succeeded in forcing his
way from the sea to Tanganyika through a country desolated
by sickness and war, and that he should have successfully
overcome all the difficulties and dangers in his way in or-
der to succor Dr. Livingstone reflected the greatest credit
on himself, and also upon the country with which he was
connected. As there had been some misconception on the
subject, he took this opportunity of disclaiming, on the part
of the Royal Geographical Society, the slightest feeling of
jealousy. (Cheers.) He was especially glad to be able to
refer to the address which he had delivered to the Royal
Geographical Society at the commencement of the last ses-
sion, when he announced Mr. Stanley's journey, wished him
every possible success, and stated that if he succeeded he
would be received in this country v.'ith the same cordial
spirit and the same honor as any Englishman would.
(Cheers.) He would now, with their permission, make a
few remarks on the geographical question — upon the work
on which Dr. Livingstone and Mr. Stanley had been en-
gaged — he meant the exploration of inner Africa. Dr.
Livingstone's great discovery was this great system of river
drainage in inner Africa ; but he had strong misgivings as to
whether he was upon the Nile basin. He might have been
upon the Congo. Dr. Livingstone's doubts were raised, no
doubt, by the levels and the tale told by his o^vn instru-
ments. He followed up this great river system from the
watershed, 7,000 feet high, to a point four deg. south latitude,
where according to the aneroid barometers, he had reached
a level of about two thousand feet. What became of this
great river system it was impossible for them authoritatively
to determine. All that they knew was that an extensive
river system had been found in the middle of Africa ; but
^he ascertaining of the points to which these rivers flow must
19
34^ THE FINDING OF
await further discovery, which he trusted would be made by
Dr. Livingstone himself, for he (Sir H. Rawlinson) should
be sorry if he did not carry out the ^eat work on which he
had been so long engaged to a successful issue. In a matter
of this kind they must at present be satisfied with conjec-
ture ; but putting all the arguments side by side and com-
paring the results one with another, his leaning was to the
supposition that this great river system formed a large cen-
tral inland lake. He should doubt if it ever reached the
Tchad. There is a great space in the interior of the Con-
tinent which might well be occupied by such a lake, which
would drain all the surrounding mountains and the western
slope of the hills which bound Albert Nyanza and the Bahr-
il-Gazal, as well as absorb all the drainage from the south.
The discovery of that lake would, he trusted, crown the
African labors of Dr. Livingstone. At the present moment
he was on his way to the sources of these rivers, and then,
having satisfir.:* limself on that point, he would turn north-
wards, with t'.? supplies which he had been furnished in a
great ni'^asure through Mr. Stanley, and follow down the
stream beyond the point where he was previously arrested.
His great difficulty on former occasions was through the in-
capacity or hostility of his attendants. It was gratifying to
know that he had now at his command a body of efficient
and faithful followers. He was thus in a position to follow
out his discoveries to their legitimate issue, and he (Sir H.
Rawlinson) only trusted that he would soon ascertain where
the river system debouched, which would be the crowning
result of his African travels. (Cheers.)
MR. Stanley's defence of Livingstone's work.
Mr. Stanley expressed his thanks to Sir H. Rawlinson
and Mr. Oswell for their complimentary references to him-
self, and then proceeded to say : — Captain Grant states that
there is a discrepancy between Dr. Livingstone's and Capt.
5peke's statement. I don't see that there is any at all. The
Nyanza has nothing to do with the Lualabu. That is
proved ; for between them exists the great Lake Tanganyika.
It was objected that there were no gorillas in the country
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 347
near this lake, but that is no reason why they should not
exist in Central Africa. Captain Grant says that Dr. Living-
stone has made a mistake about the river Lualabu ; but what
I want to know is, how a geographer resident in England
can say there is no such river when Dr. Livingstone has seen
it? (Laughter.) Dr. Beke says that Dr. Livingstone has
not discovered the sources of the Nile. Dr. Livingstone
himself says that he thinks he has discovered them ; but
there is this difference between them — that Dr. Livingstone
is encamped by the shores of Lualabu, and thinks that he
has discovered the sources of the Nile and gives reasons for
his belief. He says that he has traced this chain of lakes
and rivers from 1 1 south to 4 south ; and Dr. Beke, who
has never been within 2,000 miles of the Lualabu, says that
he has not discovered the sources of the Nile. (Cheers.)
This was not a question of theory, but of fact. Theory
won't settle it ; it must be settled by men who, like Dr.
Livingstone, have fought and labored for thirty-five years at
the task. I think that Dr. Livingstone has discovered the
sources of the Nile, and that he has good ground for his be-
lief ; and I am quite sure that when he returns two years
hence and says, **I have discovered the sources of the
Nile," there will not be one recalcitrant voice saying, ''You
have not." (Cheers.) Dr. Beke further says — The moun-
tains close up, and a river interposes, which prevents the
Lualabu from entering the Bahr il Gazal. Now, in my be-
lief, there is nothing whatever impossible in the Lualabu
flowing into the Bahr il Gazal, seeing the great bends which
the latter river makes. It runs west a distance of four de-
grees. It then nms southwest, next north and then east.
As it proceeds it receives several rivers flowing from east to
west and from the west to the east. If the Nile has not
been discovered, what, let me ask, has been discovered ?
(Laughter and cheers.) What is that great and mighty river
the Lualabu ? Where does it go to ? Does it go into a
lake, as Sir Henry Rawlinson supposes ? What ! the Lua-
labu flow into a lake I — into a marsh ! — into a swamp !
(Laughter.) Why, you might just as well say that the Mis-
sissippi flows into a swamp ! (Laughter and cheers.) All
the rivers flowing into the Tanganyika are nothing whatever
348 THE FINDING OF
compared with the Lualabu, which at some places is from
three to five miles broad. If the Lualabu enters a swamp,
where does all the water go ? (Cheers.) No native ever
told Livingstone that the Lualabu went west. On the con-
trary, they all said that it ran north, and yet a German geo-
grapher comes forward and says he saw a little river. He
may have done so, but that does not prevent the Lualabu
from being a big river. (Laughter.) I never heard of an
Englishman who had discovered anything, but a Herr of
some sort came forward and said he had been there before.
(Loud laughter.) Do you mean to tell me that Dr. Living-
stone has spent six years searching for the sources of the
Congo ? Not a bit of it. What he wants is to find out the
sources of the Nile. The sources of the Congo may go
where they like so far as he is concerned. I have not the
slightest doubt that he will yet come home with the true
story of the sources of the Nile. (Loud cheers.) These
gentlemen have not asked a single question which I have
not asked of Dr. Livingstone. I asked him, if he had dis-
covered the source of the Nile at 2,000 feet above the sea,
how he could account for the discrepancy as to the degrees
of latitude which have been mentioned ? "Well," he said,
"that is what baulks me." (Laughter.) But still he adher-
ed to his opinion, and you must recollect that he has ar-
rived at it with hesitation and humility, after six years' travel
and hard work ; also that his thermometers, barometers, and
other instruments, which were new when he started, may
now be in error. Discrepancies that may now seem to
exist may hereafter be cleared up. Theory and practice
must fight ; which will win, do you think ? I think fact — I
think practice. I think, if a man goes there and says, " I
have seen the source of river," the man sitting in his easy
chair or lying in bed cannot dispute the fact on any ground
of theory. (Hear, hear.) The best way is to go there and
disprove Dr. Livingstone may be right. We cannot now
solve the problem. You must go there and disprove what
Dr. Livingstone has said for yourself, or else listen to and
believe those who have been there. (Cheers.)
LAKE TANGANYIKA.
PAPER READ BY MR. STANLEY BEFORE THE BRITISH
ASSOCIATION.
The following paper was read before the geographical
section of the British Association for the Advancement of
Science, at the meeting at Brighton, August 1 5, by Henry
M. Stanley, correspondent of the New York Herald :
Gentlemen of the Royal Geographical Society — I
have been invited to deliver an address here before you, or
rather to read a paper on the Tanganyika. Responding to
that invitation I came here ; but before entering upon that
subject, which, seems to interest this scientific assemblage,
permit me to say something of your " distinguished medal-
ist " and associate. Dr. David Livingstone. I found him in
the manner already described, the story of which, in brief,
is familiar to everybody. He was but little improved in
health, and but a little better ihan the " ruckle of bones" he
came to Ujiji. With the story of his sufferings, his perils,
and many narrow escapes, related, as they were, by himself,
the man who had endured all these and still lived, I sympa-
thized. What he suffered far eclipses that which Ulysses
suffered, and Livingstone needs but a narrator like Homer
to make his name as immortal as the Greek hero's ; and, to
make another comparison, I can liken his detractors in
England and Germany only to the suitors who took advan-
tage of Ulysses' absence to slander him and torment his poor
wife. The man lives not who is more single-minded than
Livingstone — who has worked harder, been more persevering
in so good a cause as Livingstone — and the man lives not
who deserves a higher reward. Before going to Central
Africa in search of Livingstone I believed almost everything
I heard or read about him. Never was a man more gullible
(349)
350 ^ THE FINDING OF
than I. I believed it possible that the facetious gentleman's
story, who said that Livingstone had married an African
princess, might be correct. I believed, or was nearly
believing, the gentleman who told me personally that Liv-
ingstone was a narrow-minded, crabbed soul, with whom no
man could travel in peace ; that Livingstone kept no jour-
nals nor notes, and that if he died his discoveries would surely
be a loss to the world. I believed then with the gentleman
that Livingstone ought to come home and let a younger
man — that same gentleman, for instance — go and finish the
work that Livingstone had begun. Also, inconsistent as it
may seem — but I warn you again that I was exceedingly
gullible — I believed that this man Livingstone was aided in
a most energetic manner ; that he had his letters from his
children and friends sent to him regularly, and that stores
were sent to him monthly and quarterly — in fact, that he
was quite comfortably established and settled at Ujiji. I
believed also that every man, woman and child in England
admired and loved this man exceedingly. I was deeply im-
pressed with these views of things when James Gordon
Bennett, Jr., of the New York Herald^ told me in a few
words to go after Livingstone, to find him and bring what
news I could of him. I simply replied with a few mono-
syllables in the affirmative, though I thought it might prove
a very hard task. What if Livingstone refused to see me
or hear me ? " No matter," said I to myself, in my inno-
cence, " I shall be successful if I only see him." You your-
selves, gentlemen, know how I would stand to-day if I had
come back from the Tanganyika without a word from him,
since but few believed me when Livingstone's own letters
appeared. But how fallacious were all my beliefs ! Now
that I know the uprightness and virtue of the man, I wonder
how it was possible that I could believe that Dr. David Liv-
ingstone was married to an African princess and had settled
down. Now, that I know the strict morality of his nature,
the God-fearing heart of the man, I feel ashamed that I
entertained such thoughts of him. Now that I know
Livingstone's excessive amiability, his mild temper, the love
he entertains for his fellow-men, white or black, his pure
Christian character, I wonder now why this man was
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 35 1
maligned. I wonder now whetlier Livingstone is the same
man whom a former fellow traveller of his called a tyrant
and an unbearable companion. I wonder now whether this
is the traveller whom I believed to be decrepid and too old
to follow up his discoveries, whom a young man ought to
displace, now that I have become acquainted with his en-
thusiasm, his iron constitution, his sturdy frame, his courage
and endurance. I have been made aware, through a news-
paper published in London, called the Stcwdard, that there
are hopes that some ^'confusion will be cleared up when the
British Association meets and Mr. Stanley's story is subject
to the sifting and cross-examination of the experts in African
discovery." What confusion people may have fallen into
through some story I have told I cannot at present imagine,
but probably after the reading of this paper the "experts"
will rise and cross-question. If it lies in my power to ex-
plain away this "confusion" I shall be most happy to do so.
There are also some such questions as the following pro-
pounded : — Why did not Dr. Livingstone return with Mi.
Stanley ? Why was the great traveller so uncommunicative
to all but the New York Herald ? Why did not the relief
expedition go on and relieve him ? What has Dr. Kirk
been doing all this time at Zanzibar ?
To the first I would answer, because he did not want to
come with Mr. Stanley ; and, may L ask, was Mr. Stanley
Dr. Livingstone's keeper, that as soon as he had found him
he should box him up with the superscription, " This side
up with care ?"' To the second I would answer that Dr.
Livingstone was not aware that there was another corres-
pondent present at the interview when he imparted his in-
formation to the correspondent of the New York Herald.
To the third question, " W^hy did not the relief expedition
go on and relieve him ?" I would answer that Livingstone
was already relieved, and needed no stores. To the fourth
question, "What has Dr. Kirk been doing all this time at
Zanzibar?" I would reply that Dr. Kirk's relations in Eng-
land may probably know what he has been doing better
than I do. Also, in answer to that article in the Siandardy
and to similar articles in other newspapers, I must confess
that I cannot see wherein those letters of Dr. Livingstone
352 THE FINDING OF
to James Gordon Bennett are disturbing, grotesque or unex-
pected, unless the editors believed that Dr. Livingstone was
dead and that his ghost now haunts them and disturbs their
dreams. We are also told that " Dr. Livingstone's reports
are strangely incohtrent ;" that Sir Henry Rawlinson's letter
is " most discouraging ;" that the only theory to be gleaned
from Dr. Livingstone's letters is " simply impossible ;" that
the Standard^ echoing the opinion of geographers, is "more
in the dark than ever." Here is a field ot explanation, had
one only time or space in such a paper as this to explain.
Let us hope that geographers who are in the dark will come
forward to demand to be admitted into the light. But,
leaving these tremendous questions to a subsequent mo-
ment, let us now turn our attention to that large body of
water called the Tanganyika.
England is the first and foremost country in African dis-
coveries. Her sons are known to have plunged through
jungles, travelled over plains, mountains and valleys, to
have marched through the most awful wildernesses to
resolve the many problems which have arisen from time to
time concerning Central Africa. The noblest heroes of
geography have been of that land. She reckons Bruce,
Clapperton, Lander, Ritchie, Mungo Park, Laing, Baikie,
Spekc, Burton, Grant, Baker and Livingstone as her sons.
Many of these have fallen stricken to death by the poison-
ous malaria of the lands through which they travelled. Who
has recorded their last words, their last sighs ? Who has
related the agonies they must have suffered — their sufferings
while they lived ? What monuments mark their lonely
resting places ? Where is he that can point the exact
localities where they died ? Look at that skeleton of a
continent ! We can only say they died in that unknown
centre of Africa — the great broad blank between the eastern
and western coasts. Before I brought with me any pro-
ducible proofs in the shape of letters, his journal, his broken
chronometers, his useless watches, his box of curiosities, it
was believed by all, with the exception of a itWj that the
most glorious name among the geographical heores — the
most g- 3US nan i among fearless missionaries — had been
addeu .<j th^ martyrology list; it was believed that the
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 353
illustrious Livingstone had at last succumbed to the many
fatal influences that are ever at work in that awful
heart of Africa. It was in my search for this illustrious
explorer, which now has ended so happily — that I came to
the shores of this great lake, the Tanganyika. At a little
port, or bunder, called Ujiji, in the district of Ujiji, my
efforts were crowned with success. If you will glance at
the south-eastern shore of the Tanganyika you will find it a
blank ; but I must now be permitted to fill it with rivers
and streams and marshes and mountain ranges. I must
people it with powerful tribes, with Wafipa, Wakawendi,
Wakonongo and AVanyamwezi ; more to the south with
ferocious Watula and predatory Warori, and to the north
with Mana Msengi, Wangondo and Waluriba. Before
coming to the Malagarazi I had to pass through Southern
Wavinza. Crossing that river, and after a day's march
north, I entered Ubha, a broad plain country, extending
from Uvinza north to Urundi and the lands inhabited by
the ]N'orthern AVatuta. Three long marches through Ubha
brought me to the beautiful country of Ukaranga, and a
steady tramp of twenty miles further westward brought me
to the divisional line between Ukaranga and Ujiji, the
Liuche Valley, or Ruche, as Burton has it. Five miles
further westward brought us to the summit of a smooth hilly
ridge, and the town of Ujiji embowered in the palms lay at
our feet, and beyond was the silver lake, the Tanganyika,
and beyond the broad belt of water towered the darkly
purple mountains of Ugoma and Ukaramba. To very
many here, perhaps, African names have no interest, but to
those who have travelled in Africa each name brings a
recollection — each word has a distinct meaning ; sometimes
the recollections are pleasing, sometimes bitter.
If I mention Ujiji, that little port on the Tanganyika al-
most hidden by palm groves, with the restless, plangent surf
rolling over the sandy beach, is recalled as vividly to my
mind as if I stood on that hilltop looking adown upon it,
and where a few minutes later I met the illustrious Living-
stone, if I think of Unyanyembe, instantly I recollect the
fretful, peevish and impatient life I led there until I sum-
moned courage, collected my men and marched to the
354 I'KE FINDING OF
south to see Livingstone or to die. If I think of Ukonongo,
recollections of our rapid marches, of famine, of hot suns,
of surprises from enemies, of mutiny among my men, of
feeding upon wild fruit, of a desperate rush into the jungle.
If I think of Ukawendi, I see a glorious land of lovely
valleys and green mountains and forests of tall trees, the
march under their twilight shades, and the exuberant chant
of my people as we gayly tramped towards the north. If I
think of Southern Uvinza, I see mountains of hematite of
iron — I see enormous masses of disintegrated rock, great
chasms, deep ravines, a bleakness and desolation as of
death. If I think of the Malagarazi, I can see the river,
with its fatal reptiles and snorting hippopotami ; I can see
the salt plains stretching on either side. And if I think of
Ubha, recollections of the many trials we underwent ; of
the turbulent, contumacious crowds, the stealthy march at
midnight through their villages ; the preparations for battle,
the alarm and happy escape, culminating in the happy
meeting of Livingstone.
There, in that open square, surrounded by hundreds of
curious natives, stands the worn-out, pa.le-faced, gray-
bearded and bent form of my great companion. Tiiere
stand the sullen -eyed Arabs, in their snowy dresses, girdled,
stroking their long beards, wondering why I came. There
stand the Wajiji, children of the Tanganyika, side by side
with the Wanyamwezi, with the fierce and turbulent Wa-
rundi, with Livingstone and myself in the centre. Yes, I
note it all, with the sunlight falling softly over the pictur-
esque scene. I hear the low murmur of the surf, the
rustling of the palm branches. I note the hush that has
crept over the multitudes as we two clasp hands. To me
at least, these strange names have an enduring significance
and a romance blended with the sounds. The connection
between the Tanganyika and the Albert Nyanza was a sub-
ject of interest to all geographers before I went to Central
Africa. I recollect the ver)' many hypotheses raised upon
this subject. Livingstone even was almost sure that the
Albert Nyanza was no more than a lower Tanganyika, and
indeed he had a very good reason for believing so. He
had perceived a constant flow northward. All the natives
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 355
and Arabs persisted in declaring that the Rusizi ran out of
the Lake Tanganyika. Considering also that there was a
tradition that Armanika, grandfather of Rumanika, present
King of Karagwe, had thought of deepening the Kita.ngule
flowing from the west to the Victoria Nyanza, in order to
permit his canoes to proceed to Ujiji for trading purposes,
I cannot see why he was not justified in thinking that there
vras some connection between the Tanganyika and the Al-
bert Lake or between the Tanganyika and the Victoria.
Before I arrived at Ujiji he had never been to the north
end of the Tanganyika ; but as soon as I mentioned the
interest and importance attached to it, and offered to es-
cort him thither, he lost no time in preparing for the jour-
ney. Said he, in excuse for not having visited the northern
head pre\iously, " I never regarded it as of any importance.
The central line of drainage absorbed all my atttention and
means."
Our journey to the head of the lake it is unnecessary tode-
scril^e here ] it befits more the pages of a book. Living-
stone used to call it a pic-nic, and I believe he writes of
it in that sense to Lord Granville. I heartily concur with
him, though the pic-nic had its drawbacks. As we hugged
the coast of Ujiji and Urundi, looking sharply to every little
inlet and creek for the outlet that was said to be somewhere
in a day's pulling, we would pass by from fifteen to twenty miles
of country. As we left our camp at dawn, after despatching
our breakfast of Mocha coffee and dourra pancakes, with
the men gayly shouting and chanting their lively chorus,
echoing among the great mountains that rose up sometimes
2,000 and 3,000 feet above our heads, we did not know
that our next camping place might be in an enemy's
country. Who could guarantee our lives while camping in
the country of Urundi ? Several times we were in danger.
Twice we were obliged to fly — twice our men kept watch
all night lest we might be surprised while asleep. Twice
during the noon-day heats we drank the exhilarating bohea
with our eyes and ears painfully on the alert, for the enemy
we knew to be on the search for us. These were some of
the drawbacks to the pleasure of the pic-nic. It took us
ten days' hard pulling to reach the head of the lake, a dis-
356 THE FINDING OF
tance of nearly one hundred geographical miles from Ujiji.
Two days sufficed for the coast of Ujiji, the remaining
^ight we were coasting along the bold shores of Urundi,
which gradually inclined to the eastward, the western
ranges, ever bold and high, looking like a huge blue-black
barrier some thirty miles west of us, to all appearances im-
penetrable and impassable. If the waters of the Tangan-
yika could be drained out, and we were to stand upon the
summit of those great peaks, which rise abruptly out of the
lake, a most wonderful scene would be presented to us.
We should see an extraordinary deep chasm from five
thousand to seven thousand feet deep, with the large island
of Ubwari rising like another Magdala from the awful
depths around it ; for I think that the greatest depth of
that lake is near three thousand feet deep.
Only two miles from shore I sounded, and though I let
down 620 feet of line I found no bottom. Livingstone
sounded when crossing the Tanganyika from the westward,
and found no bottom with 1,800 feet of line. The moun-
tains around the northern half of the Tanganyika fold around
so close, with no avenue whatever for the escape of water.>
save the narrow valleys and ravines which admit rivers and
streams into the lake, that were it possible to force the water
into a higher altitude of 500 feet above its present level its
dimensions would not be increased very considerably. The
valley of the Malagarazi would then be a narrow deep arm
of the lake, and the Rusizi would be a northern arm, crooked
and tortuous, of sixty or seventy miles in length. The
evening before we saw the Rusizi a freedman of Zanzibar
was asked which way the riv^r ran — out of the lake or into
it ? The man swore that he had been on the river but the
day before, and that it ran out of the lake. Here was an
announcement calculated to shake the most sceptical. I
thought the news too good to be true. I should certainly
have preferred that the river ran out of the lake into either
the Victoria or the Albert. The night we heard this
announcement, made so earnestly, Livingstone and myself sat
up very late, speculating as to where it went. We resolved,
if it flowed into the Victoria Nyanza. to proceed with it to
that lake, and then strike south to Unyanyembe, and, if it
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 357
fiowed into the Albert Lake, to proceed into the Albert and
cruise all around it, in the hope of meeting Baker. As there
was war between the rival tribes inhabiting the banks of the
Rusizi, the King Mokamba advised us to proceed to his
brother's village in Mugehawa by night, which was situated
about eight hundred yards from the river, on the right bank.
Just after dark we started, and in the morning we
arrived at Mugehawa. After a cup of coffee w^e manned our
canoe, and having prepared our guns we started for the
mouth of the river. In about fifteen minutes we were
entering a little bay about a mile wide, and saw before us
to the north a dense brake of pap)Tus and matete cane.
Until we came close to this brake we could not detect the
slightest opening for a river such as we imagined the Rusizi
to be. We followed some canoes which were disappearing
mysteriously and suspiciously through some gaps in the
dense brake. Pulling boldily up, we found ourselves in
what afterwards proved to be the central mouth of the river.
All doubt as to what the Rusizi was vanished at once and
forever before that strong brown flood which tasked our
exertions to the utmost as we pulled up. I once doubted,
as I seized an oar, that we should be able to ascend ; but
after a hard quarter of an hour's pulling the river broadened,
and a little higher it widened into lagoons on either side.
The alluvial plain through which the river makes its exit
into the lake is about twelve miles wide, and narrows into a
point after a length of fifteen miles, or a narrow valley fold-
ed in by the western ranges, which here meet at a distance of
a couple of miles. The western range, which inclines to the
eastward, halts abmptly, and a portion of it runs sharply
northwestward, while the eastern range inclines westward,
and after overlapping the w^estern range, shoots off north-
v>-estward, where it is lost amid a perfect jumble of moun-
tains. The chief Rubinga, living at Mugihewa, is the
principal chief in Usige. He is a great traveller. Born in
Urimdi, he has been to Karagwa and Ruanda, and came to
Usige when quite a young man. Though a pleasant cynic
in his way, he shared in our enthusiasm as if he had been an
Associate of the Royal Geographical Society, and entered
veiy readily into a discussion about the mooted points which
still remained unsolved.
358 THE FINDING OF
Briefly, he said that the Rusizi rose from the Lake Kivo,
a lake fifteen miles in length and about eight in breath.
Kwansibura was the chief of the district in northeastern
Unmdi, which gives its name to the lake. Througii a gap
in a mountain the river Rusizi escaped out of Lake Kivo.
On leaving Kivo Lake it is called Kwangeregere. It then
runs through the district of Unyambungu, and becomes
known as the Rusizi or Lusizi. A day's march from Mugi-
hewa, or say twenty miles north of the mouth, it is joined by
the Luanda or Ruanda, flowing from a northwesterly direc-
tion, from which I gather that the river Luanda is called
after the name of the country — Ruanda, said to be famous
for its copper mines. Besides the Luanda there are seven-
teen other streams which contribute to Rusizi ; these are
the Mpanda, Karindwa, Wa Kanigi, Kaginissi, Kaburan,
Mohira, Niamagana. Nya Kagunda, Ruviro, Rofuba,
Kavimvira, Mujove, Ruhuhha, Mukindu, Sange, Ruburizi,
Kiriba. Usige, a district of Urundi occupying the head of
the lake, extends two marches to the north, or 30 miles ;
after which comes what is called Urundi Proper for
another two days' march ; and directly north of that
is Ruanda, a very large country, almost equal in size to
Urundi. Rubinga had been six days to the nortlrward.
There were some in his tribe who had gone further, but
from no one could we obtain any intelligence of a lake or
of a large body of water, such as the Albert Nyanza, being
to the north. Sir Samuel Baker has sketched the lake as
being within one degree north of the Tanganyika ; but it is
obvious that its length is not so great as it is represented,
though it might extend thirty or forty miles south of Vacobia.
Ruanda, as represented to us by Rubinga, Mokamba, chiefs
of Usige, and their elders, is an exceedingly mountainous
country', with extensive copper mines. It occupies that
whole district north of Urundi Proper, between Mutumbi en
the west and Urudi on the east and Itara on the north-east.
Of the countries lying north of Ruanda we could obtain no
information. West of Urundi is the extreme frontier of
Manyema, which even here has been heard of. In return-
ing to Ujiji after the satisfactory solution of the River Rus-
izi, we coasted down the western shore of the Tanganyika,
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 359
and came to Uvira at noon on the following day. We were
shown the sandy beach on which the canoes of Burton and
Speke had rested. Above, a little south of this, rises the
lofty peak of Samburizi, fully 4,500 feet above the level of
the lake. Mruti, the chief of Uvira, still lives in the village
he occupied when Burton and Speke visited his dominions.
A day's march, or fifteen miles south of this, Uvira narrows
down to the alluvial plains formed by the numerous
streams which dash down the slopes of the western range,
while the mountainous country is known as Ubembe, the
land of the cannibals, who seldom visit the canoes of the
traders. South of Uvira is Usansi, peopled by a race ex-
tremely cannibalistic in its taste, as the Doctor and myself
had very good reason to know. I think if Wxi had a few
sick or old men among our party we could have disposed of
them to advantage, or we might have exchanged them for
vegetables, which would have been most welcome to us.
From Usansi we struck off across the lake, and, rowing all
night, at dawn we arrived at a port in Southern Urundi.
Three days afterwards we were welcomed by the Arab
traders of Ujiji, as we once more set foot on the beach near
that bunder. We have thus coasted around the northern
half of the Tanganyika, and I might inform you of other
tribes who dwell on its shores ; but the principal subject of
my paper was to show you how we settled that vexed
question : " Was the Rusiza an effluent or an influent ? "
There is, then, nothing more to be said on that point.
But, gentlemen, I must ask your permission to deliver a
message from your great associate Livingstone, who long be-
fore this has left Unyanyembe, and is proceeding to the
scene of his late discoveries. He told me to tell you that
he wants no companion now ; that he requires no more
stores ; that w^hen he has satisfied himself of the sources of
the Nile he wnll come home and give you such reports as
will satisfy you. With plenty of stores and over seventy
good men, well armed and equipped, he is now en route to
Ufipa, healthy and strong and as enthusiastic as ever.
Having delivered my message, I conclude with thanking
you for the attention with which you have listened to me.
LETTERS OF DR. DAVID LIVINGSTONE
Livingstone^ s Letters — The Correspondence of the Great Tra''
eller Received at the British Foreign Office — The Lualaba
Country — Travel Through the Pritnei^al Forests of Inte-
rior Africa — Terrible Scenes in a Slavs Ca?np — The
Man-Eaters — The Watershed of the Nile — Tin Mistakes
of Others who have Bravely Striven to Solve the Ancient
Problem — In the Country of the Cannibals— The Drunke?i
Moslem Tailor who Robbed the Doctor — Terrible Massa-
cre at Nyangwe — The Slavers' Descent on the Market
Place and Five Hundred People Murdered — Livingstone's
Letter to Dr. Kirk — The Doctor's Description of the
Coming of Stanley, the Herald Explorer — Nearly Desti-
tute whe?i Relirued — Bania?i Influence in Slaving and
Trading at Zanzibar — Livingstone's Commission to
Stanley.
London, August 6, 1872.
The following are Dr. Livingstone's letters to Lord
Stanley, Earl Clarendon, Earl Granville and Dr. Kirk,
which were forwarded by Mr. Stanley, the Herald com-
missioner, to the British Foreign office, and received August
I, 1872. Through the courtesy of Earl Granville the letters
were given to the press for publication : —
LETTER NO. L
Dr. Livingstone to Lord Stanley.
Bambarre, Manyuema Country, Nov. 15, 1870.
My Lord — As soon as I recovered sufficiently to be able
to march from Ujiji, I went up Tanganyika about sixty
miles, and thence struck away north-west into the country
20 (361)
362 THE FINDING OF
of the Manyuema or Manyema, the reputed cannibals. My
object was to follow down the central line of drainage of the
Great Nile Valley, which I had seen passing through the
great Lake Bangweolo, and changing its name from Cham-
beze to Luapula ; then, again, on passing through Lake
Moero, assuming the name Lualaba, and after forming a
third lake (Kamolondo) becoming itself a great riverian
lake, with many islands in it. I soon found myself in the
large bend which this great lacustrine river makes by flow-
ing west about one hundred and eighty miles, then sweep-
ing round to the north. Two hours were the utmost I
could accomplish in a day ; but by persevering I gained
strength, and in July came up to the trading party of
Muhamad Bogharib, who, by native medicines and carriage,
saved my life in my late severe illness in Marungu. Two
days before we reached Bambarre, the residence of the most
sensible of the Manyema chiefs, called Moenekuss, we met
a band of Ujijian traders, carrying 18,000 pounds weight of
ivory, bought in this new field for a mere trifle in thick
copper bracelets and beads. The traders had been obliged
to employ their slaves to collect the ivory, and slaves with
guns in their hands are often no better than demons. We
heard but one side of the story — the slave version, and such
as would have appeared in the newspaper if they had one —
" The Manyema were very bad, were always in the wrong;"
wanted, in fact, to eat the slaves, and always gave them just
reason to capture women and children, goats, sheep, fowls
and grain. The masters did not quite approve of this, but
the deeds had been done, and then masters and men joined
in one harmonious chorus — " The Manyema are bad, bad,
bad, awfully bad, and cannibals !"
In going west of Bambarre, in order to embark on th i
Lualaba, I went down the Luamo, a river of from one hun-
dred to two hundred yards broad, which rises in the
mountains opposite Ujiji, and flows across the great bend
of the Lualaba. AVhen near its confluence I found myself
among people who had lately been maltieated by the slaves,
and they naturally looked on me as of the same tribe as
their persecutors. Africans are not generally unreasonable,
though smarting under wrongs, if you can fairly make them
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 363
understand your claim to innocence, and do not appear as
having your '* back up." The women here were particu-
larly outspoken in asserting our identity with the cruel
strangers. On calling to one vociferous lady, who gave me
the head trader's name, to look at my color, and see if it
were the same as his, she replied, with a bitter little laugh,
" Then you must be his father." The worst the men did
was to turn out in force, armed with their large spears and
wooden shields, and show us out of their districts. Glad
that no collision took place, we returned to Bambarre, and
then, with our friend Muhamad, struck away due north ; he
to buy ivory, and I to reach another part of Lualaba and
buy a canoe.
The country is extremely beautiful, but difficult to travel
over. The mountains of light gray granite stand like
islands in new red sandstone, and mountain and valley are
all clad in a mantle of different shades of green. The
vegetation is indescribably rank. Through the grass — if
grass it can be called, which is over half an inch in diame-
ter in the stalk and from ten to twelve feet high — nothing
but elephants can walk. The leaves of this megatherium
grass are armed with minute spikes, which, as we worm our
way along elephant walks, rub disagreeably on the side of
the face where the gun is held, and the hand is made sore
by fending it off the other side for hours. The rains were
fairly set in by November ; and in the mornings, or after a
shower, these leaves were loaded with moisture which v/et
us to the bone. The valleys are deeply undulating, and in
each innumerable dells have to be crossed. There may be
only a thread of water at the bottom, but the mud, mire or
(scottice) "glaur" is grievous ; thirty or forty yards of the
path on each side of the stream are worked by the feet of
passengers into an adhesive compound. By placing a foot
on each side of the narrow way one may waddle a little
distance along, but the rank crop of grasses, gingers and
bushes cannot spare the few inches of soil required for the
side of the foot, and down he comes into the slough. The
path often runs along the bed of the rivulet for sixty or mor
yards, as if he who first cuv it out went that distance seeking
for a part of the forest less dense for his axe. In o^hg
364 THE FINDING OF
cases the miiale palm, from which here, as in Madagascar,
grass-clolh is woven and called by the same name, "lamba,"
has taken possession of the valley. The leaf stalks, as thick
as a strong man's arm, fall off and block up all passage save
by a path made and mixed up by the feet of elephants and
buffaloes ; the slough therein is groan-compelling and deep.
P2very now and then the traders, with rueful faces, stand
panting ; the sweat trickles down my face, and I suppose
that I look as grim as they, though 1 try to cheer them with
the hope that good prices will reward them at the coast for
ivory obtained with so much toil. In some cases the sub-
soil has given way beneath the elephant's enormous weight ;
the deep hole is filled with mud, and one, taking it all to be
about calf deep, steps in to the top of the thigh, and flaps
on to a seat soft enough, but not luxurious ; a merry laugh
relaxes the facial muscles, though I have no other reason for
it than that it is better to laugh than to cry.
Some of the numerous rivers which in this region flow
into Lualaba are covered with living vegetable bridges — a
species of dark glossy-leaved grass, with its roots and leaves,
felts itself into a mat that covers the whole stream. When
stepped upon it yields twelve or fifteen inches, and that
amount of water rises up on the leg. At every step the foot
has to be raised high enough to place it on the unbent mass
in front. This high stepping fatigues like walking on deep
snow. Here and there holes appear which we could not
^ound with a stick six feet long ; they gave the impression
hat anywhere one might plump through and finish the
chapter. Where the water is shallow the lotus, or sacr*^d
lily, sends its roots to the bottom and spreads its broad
leaves over the floating bridge so as to make believe that the
mat is its'own, but the grass referred to is the real felting
and supporting agent, for it often performs duty as bridge
where[^ no lilies grow. The bridge is called by Manyema
**kintefwetefwe," as if he who first coined it was gasping for
breath after plunging over a mile of it.
Between each district of Manyema large belts of the
primeval forest still stand. Into these the sun, though
vertical, cannot penetrate, except by sending down at mid-
day thin pencils of rays into the gloom. The rain water
TDR. LIVINGSTONE. 365
Stands for months in stagnant pools made by the feet of
elephants ; and the dead leaves decay on the damp soil, and
make the water of the numerous rivulets of the color of
strong tea. The climbing plants, from the size of whipcord
to that of a man-of-war's hawser, are so numerous the ancient
path is the only passage. When one of the giant trees falls
across the road it forms a wall breast high to be climbed
over, and the mass of tangled ropes brought down makes
cutting a path round it a work of time which travellers never
undertake.
The shelter of the forest from the sun makes it pleasant,
but the roots of trees high out of the soil across the path
keep the eyes, oxlike, on the ground. The trees are so high
that a good shot-gun does no harm to parrots or guinea
fowls on their tops, and they are often so closely planted
that I have heard gorillas, here called "sokos," growling
about fifty yards off without getting a glimpse of them. His
nest is a poor contrivance ; it exhibits no more architectural
skill than the nest of our Cushat-dove. Here the " soko "
sits in pelting rain, with his hands over his head. The
natives give him a good character, and from what I have
seen he deserves it, but they call his nest his house, and
laugh at him for being such a fool as to build a house and
not go beneath it for shelter.
Bad water and frequent wettings told on us all, by
choleraic symptoms and less of flesh. Meanwhile the news
of cheap ivory caused a sort of California gold fever at Ujiji,
and we were soon overtaken by a horde numbering 600
muskets, all eager for the precious tusks. These had been
left by the Manyema in the interminable forests where the
animals had been slain. The natives knew where they lay,
and if treated civilly readily brought them, many half rotten,
or gnawed by a certain rodent to sharpen his teeth, as Lon-
don rats do on leaden pipes. I had already in this journey
two severe lessons that travelling in an unhealthy climate in
the rainy season is killing work. By getting drenched to
the skin once too often in Marungu I had pneumonia, the
illness to which I have referred, and that was worse than ten
fevers — that is, fevers treated by our medicine and not by
the dirt supplied to Bishop Mackenzie at the Cape as the
366 THE FINDING OF
same. Besides being unwilling to bear the new comers
company, I feared that by further exposure in the rains the
weakness might result in something worse.
I went seven days southwest, or a little backwards, to a
camp formed by the head men of the ivory horde, and on
the 7th February went into winter quarters. I found these
men as civil and kind as 1 could wish.
A letter from the Sultan of Zanzibar, which I owe to the
kind offices of Sir Bartle Frerc, has been of immense service
to me with most of his subjects. I had no medicine; but
rest, shelter, boiling all the water I used, and a new potato,
found among the natives, as restoratives, soon put me all
The rains continued into July, and fifty-eight inches fell.
The mud from the clayey soil was awful, and it laid up
some of the strongest men, in spite of their intense eagerness
for ivory.
I lost no time after it was feasible to travel in preparing
to follow the river, but my attendants were fed and lodged
by the slave women, whose husbands were away from the
camp on trade, and pretended to fear going into a canoe.
I consented to icfrain from buying one. They then pre-
tended to fear the people, though the inhabitants all along
the Fualaba were reported by the slaves to be remarkably
friendly. I have heard both slaves and freemen say, " No
one will ever attack people so good" as they found them.
Elsewhere I could employ the country people as carriers,
and was comparatively independent, though deserted by
some four times over. But in Manyema no one can be
induced to go into the next district, for fear, they say, of
being killed and eaten.
I was at the mercy of those who had been Moslem slaves,
and knew that in thwarting me they had the sympathy of all
that class in the country ; and, as many others would have
done, took advantage of the situation.
I went on with only three attendants, and this time north-
west, in! ignorance that the great river flows west and by
south ; bui no one could tell me anything about it.
A broad belt of buga, or prairie, lies along the right bank.
Inland from this it is all primeval forest, with villages from
DR. LIVINGSTONE. ^ 367
eight to ten miles apart. One sees the sun only in the
cleared spaces around human dwellings. From the facilities
for escaping to the forest, people are wilder and more danger-
ous than those on the buda lands.
Muhamad's people went further on in the forest than I
could, and came to the mountainous country of the Balegga,
who collected in large numbers, and demanded of the
strangers why they came. " We came to buy ivory," was
the reply ; " and if you have none no harm is done ; we
shall return." " Nay, " they shouted, " you came to die,
and this day is your last ; you came to die — you came to
die." When forced to fire on the Balegga their terror was
like their insolence — extreme. And next day, when sent
for to take away the women and children who were captured,
no one appeared.
Having travelled with my informants, I knew their ac-
counts to be trustworthy. The rivers crossed by them are
numerous and large. One was so tortuous that they were
five hours in water waist, and often neck deep, with a man
in a small canoe, sounding for places which they could pass.
In another case, they were two hours in the water, and they
could see nothing in the forest, and nothing in the Balegga
country, but one mountain, packed closely to the back of
another, without end, and a very hot fountain in one of the
valleys.
I found continued wading in mud grievous ; for the first
time in my life my feet failed. When torn by hard travel,
instead of healing kindly, as heretofore, irritable eating ulcers
fastened on each foot. The people were invariably civil,
and even kind ; for, curiously enough, the Zanzibar slaves
propagated everywhere glowing accounts of my goodness,
and of the English generally because they never made slaves.
A trading party passed us, and one of theii number was
pinned to the ground by a spear at dead of night, while I
was sleeping with my three attendants at a village close by.
Nine villages had bcxi burned, and, as the author of the
outrage told me, at least forty men killed, because a Many-
ema man tried to steal a string of beads. The midnight as-
sassination was revenge for the loss of friends there. It was
evident that reaction against the bloody slaving had set in.
563 THE FINDING OF
The accounts, evidently trutliful, given by Muhamad's
people showed that nothing would be gained by going fur-
ther in our present course, and, being now very lame, I
limoed back to Bambarre, and here I was laid up by the
eating ulcers for many months. They are common in the
Manyema countr}^, and kill many slaves. If the foot is
placed on the ground blood flows, and every night a dis-
charge of bloody ichor takes place, with pain that prevents
sleep. The wailing of the poor slaves with ulcers that eat
through everything, even bone, is one of the night sounds of
a slave camp. They are probably allied to fever.
I have been minute, even to triviality, that your Lordship
may have a clear idea of the difficulties of exploration in
this region. Satisfactory progress could only be made in
canoes, with men accustomed to work. I tried hard to get
other men at Ujiji, but all the traders were eager to secure
the carriers for themselves, and circulated the report that I
would go from Manyema to my owti country and leave my
people to shift for themselves, like Speke; they knew per-
fectly that Speke's men left him first. It was like the case
of certain Makololo who left me on the Shire and refused to
carry back the medicine to their chief, for which they had
come. I was aftenvards accused by men similar to the
Ujijians of having abandoned them, though I gave them
cattle even after they deserted me — these being the wealth
that they value most highly.
Failing to obtain other men at Ujiji, I might have waited
in comfort there till those for whom I had written should
come from the coast, and my great weakness demanded that
I should do so ; but I had then, as now, an intense desire
to finish the work and retire. But on learning some parts of
the history of Lewale, or Arab Governor, of Unyanyembe, I
had grave suspicions that my letters would be destroyed.
He conducted the first English expedition from Zanzibar to
Ujiji and Uvira, and back again to the coast, and was left
unpaid till the Indian government took the matter up and
sent him $i,ooo. Ke seems to be naturally an ill-con-
ditioned mortal — a hater of the English. When I sent a
stock of goods to be placed in depot at Ujiji to await my
arrival, the Banyamwezi porters, as usual, brought them
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 369
honestly to Unyanyembe ; the Governor then gave them in
charge to his slave Saloom, who stopped the can van ten
days in the way here, while he plundered it and went off to
buy ivory for his master in Karague. It was evident that
he would do what he could to prevent evidence of the plun-
dering from going to the coast ; and his agent at Ujiji, who
knew all this, though I did not, after I had paid him in full
all he asked to send the packet with about forty letters, re-
turned it back to me with the message *' that he did not "
know what words these letters contained. Two of my
friends protested strongly, and he took the packet When
I learned the character of the Governor I lost hope of any
letters going to the coast, and took back my deserters,
making allowance for their early education and for the fact
that they did well after Musa fled, up to the time a black
Arab, who had long been a prisoner with Cazembe, joined
us. He encouraged them to desert and harbored them, and
wlien they relented on seeing me go oif to Bangweolo with
only four followers, and proposed to follow me, he dissuaded
them by the gratuitous assertion that there was war in the
country to which I was going ; and he did many other things
which we think discreditable, though he got his liberty solely
by the influence I brought to Cazembe. Yet, judged by
iiast African Moslem standard, as he ought to be, and not
by ours, he is a very good man, and as 1 have learned to
keep my own counsel among them, I never deemed it pru-
dent to com.e to a rupture with the old "ne'er-do-well."
Compelled to inactivity here for many months, I offered
$i,ooo to some of the traders for the loan of ten of their
people. This is more than that number of men ever ob-
tain, but their imaginations were inflamed, and each expect-
ed to make a fortune by the ivory now lying rotting in the
forests, and none would consent to my proposition till his
goods should be all expended and no hope of more ivory
remained.
I lived in what may be called the Tipperary of Manyema,
and they are certainly a bloody people among themselves.
But they are very far from being in appearance like the ugly
negroes on the West Coast. Finely formed heads are com-
mon, and generally men and women are vastly superior to
370 THE FINDING OF
the slaves of Zanzibar and elsewhere. We must go deeper
than phrenology to account for their low moral tone. If
they are cannibals they are not ostentatiously so. The neigh-
boring tribes all assert that they are men-eaters, and they
themselves laughingly admit the charge. But they like to
impose on the credulous, and they showed the skull of a re-
cent victim to horrify one of my people. I found it to be
the skull of a gorilla, or soko — the first I knew of its ex-
istence here — and this they do eat.
If I had believed a tenth of what I heard from traders, I
might never had entered the country. Their people told
tales with shocking circumstantiality, as if of eye witnesses,
that could not be committed to paper, or even spoken about
beneath the breath. Indeed, one wishes them to vanish
from memory. But fortunately I was never frightened in in-
fancy with " bogie," and am not liable to attacks of what
may alm.ost be called " bogie-phobia ; " for the patient,
in a paroxysm, believes everything horrible, if only it
be ascribed to the possessor of a black skin.
I have not yet been able to make up my mind whether
the Manyema are cannibals or not, 1 have offered goods
of sufficient value to tempt any of then to call me to see a
cannibal feast in the dark forests where these orgies are said
to be held, but hitherto in vain. All the real evidence yet
obtained would elicit from a Scotch jury the verdict only of
*' not proven."
Although I have not done half I hoped to accomplish, I
trust to your Lordship's kind consideration to award me your
approbation, and ara &c.,
DAVID IJVINGSTOI^E.
Her Majesty's Consul, Inner Africa.
• LETTER No. II.
Doctor Livingstone to Lord Clarendon.
Ujiji, Nov. ist, 1S71.
My Lord — I became aware of Mr. Young's search expe'
dition only in February last, and that by a private letter
from Sir Roderick Murchison. Though late in expressing
my thankfulness, I am not the least sincere in now saying
that I feel extremely obliged to Her Majesty's government,
to the Admiralty, to Captain Richards, to Sir Roderick
Murchison, to Mr. Young, and all concerned in promoting
the kind and rigorous inquiry after my fate. Had the low
tone of morality among the East African Mahommedans
been known, Musa's tale would have received but little at-
tention. Musa is perhaps a little better than the average
low class ^loslem, but all are notorious for falsehood and
heartlessness.
When on the Shire we were in the habit of swinging the
vessel out into midstream every evening, in order that the
air set in motion by the current of the river might pass
through her entire length the whole night long. One morn-
ing Musa's brother-in-law stepped into the water in order to
swim off for a boat to bring his companions on board, and
was seized by a crocodile ; the poor fellovy held up his hand,
as if imploring assistance, in vain. On denouncing Musa's
heartlessness he replied " Well, no one tell him go in there."
At another time, when we were at Senona, a slave woman
was seized by a crocodile ; four Makololo men rushed in
unbidden and rescued her, though they knew nothing about
her. Long experience leads me to look on these incidents
as typical of the two races. The race of mixed blood pos-
sesses the vices of both parents and the virtues of neither.
I have had more service out of low-class Moslems than any
(371^
372 THE FINDING OF
one else. The Baron Van der Decken was plundered of all
his goods by this class in an attempt to go to Nyassa. As
it was evidently done with the connivance of his Arabgiiide,
Syed Majid ordered him to refund the whole. It was
the same class that by means of a few Somali ultimately
compassed the Baron's destruction. In Burton's expedition
to Ujiji and Evira he was obliged to dismiss all his follow-
ers of this class at Ujiji for dishonesty. Most ofSpeke's
followers deserted on the first appearance of danger, and
Musa and companions tied on hearing a false report from
a half-caste Moslem like themselves that he had been plun-
dered by Mazitu at a spot which, from having accompanied
me thither and beyond it, they knew to be one hundred and
fifty miles, or say twenty days distant, and I promised to go
due west and not turn northward till far past the beat of the
Maziiu. But in former journeys we came through Portu-
guese, who would promptly have seized deserters ; while
here, at the lower end of Nyassa, we were on the Kilwa
slave route, where all their countrymen would fawn on and
flatter them for baffling the Nazarenes, as they call us
Christians.
As soon as I turned my face west they all ran away, and
they had no other complaint but " the Mazitu." All my
diiucultics in this journey have arisen from having low-class
Moslems or those who had been so before they were cap-
tured. Even of the better class few can be trusted. The
Sultan places all his income and pecuniary affairs in the
hands of Banians from India. When the gentlemen of
Zanzibar are asked why their Sultan entrusts his money to
aliens alone, they readily answer it is owing to their own pre-
vailng faithlessness. Some, indeed, assert with a laugh that
if their sovereign allowed any of them to farm his revenue
he would receive nothing but a crop of lies. In their case
religion and moraUty are completely disjoined. It is, there-
fore, not surprising that, in all their long intercourse with
the tribes on the mainland, not one attempt has ever been
made to propagate the Mahoramedan faith. I am very far
from being unwilHng to acknowledge and even admire the
zeal of other religionists than the Christian ; but repeated in-
quiries among all classes have only left the conclusion that
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 373
they have propagated syphilis and the domestic bug alone.
Any one familiar with the secondary symptoms will see at a
glance on the mainland the skin diseases and bleared eyes,
which say that unlimited polygamy has been no barrier to
the spread of this foul disease. Compared with them the
English lower classes are gentlemen.
I am unfeignedly thankful for the kindness that prompted
and carried out the Search Expedition, and am, &c.,
DAVID LIVINGSTONE,
Her Majesty's Consul, Inner Africa.
P.S., Nov. 15th. — I have just learned that Musa and
companions, after breaking their engagement to serve for
twenty months, which was formally entered into before Mr.
Stanley, went to that gentleman, and after solemnly assuring
him that I had been murdered, demanded pay for all the
time they had been absent, and received it. They received
from me advance of pay and clothing, amounting to £40
sterling. I now transmit the particulars to Dr. Kirk, the
political agent, and demand that the advances and also the
pay should be refunded ; for if they are allowed to keep both
as the reward of falsehood, the punishment enjoined to be
inflicted by Lord Stanley will only be laughed at.
' D. L.
LETTER No. III.
Dr. Livingstone to Lord Clarendon.
Ujiji, Nov. I, 1871.
My Lord, — I wrote a very hurried letter on the 28th ult,
and sent it by a few men who had resolved to run ihe risk
of passing through contending parties of Banyam^A ezi and
mainland Arabs at Unyanyembe, which is some twenty days
east of this. I had just come off a tramp of more tiian four
hundred miles, beneath a vertical torrid sun, and vv-as so
jaded in body and mind by being forced back by faithless,
cowardly attendants, that I could have written little more
though the messengers had not been in such a hurry to de-
part as they were. I have now the prospect of sending this
safely to the coast by a friend ; but so many of my letters
have disappeared at Unyamyembe when entrusted to the
care of the Lewale, or Governor, who is merely [the trade
agent of certain Banians, that I shall consider that of the
28th as one of the unfortunates and give in this as much as
I can recall.
I have ascertained that the watershed of the Nile is a
broad upland between ten degrees and twelve degrees south
latitude, and from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the level of the
sea. Mountains stand on it at various points, which, though
not apparently very high, are between 6,000 and 7,000 feet
of actual altitude. The watershed is over 700 miles in
length, from west to east. The springs that rise on it are
almost innumerable — that is, it v/ould take a large part of a
man's life to count them. A bird's-eye view of some parts
of the watershed would resemble the frost vegetation on the
window panes. They all begin in an ooze at the head of a
slightly depressed valley. A few hundred yards down the
quantity of water from oozing earthen sponge forms a brisk
(374)
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 375
perennial burn or brook a few feet broad, and deep enough .
to require a bridge. These are the ultimate or primary
sources of the great rivers that flow to the north in the great
Nile valley. The primaries unite and form streams in
general larger than the Isis at Oxford or Avon at Hamilton,
and may be called secondary sources. They never dry, but
unite again in four large lines of drainage, the head waters
or mains of the river of Egypt. These four are each called
by the natives Lualaba, which, if not too pedantic, may be
spoken of as lacustrine rivers, extant specimens of those
which, in pre-historic times, abounded in Africa, and which
in the south are still called by Bechuanas " Melapo," in the
north, by Arabs, " Wadys ;" both words meaning the same
thing — river bed in v/hich no water ever now flows. Two
of the four great rivers mentioned fall into the central Lua-
laba, or Webb's Lake River, and then we have but two
main lines of drainage as depicted nearly by Ptolemy.
The prevailing winds on the watershed are from the
south-east. This is easily observed by the direction of the
branches, and the humidity of the climate is apparent in the
numbers of linchens which make the upland forest look like
the mangrove swamps on the coast.
In passing over sixty miles of latitude I waded thirty-two
primary sources from the calf to waist deep, and requiring
from twenty minutes to an hour and a quarter to cross stream
and sponge. This would give about one source to every
two miles.
A Suaheli friend in passing along part of the Lake Bang-
weolo, during six days counted twenty-two from thigh to
waist deep. This lake is on the watershed, for the village
at which I observed on its north-west shore was a few
seconds into eleven degrees south, and its southern shores
and springs and rivulets are certainly in twelve degrees
south. I tried to cross it in order to measure the breadth
accurately. The first stage to an inhabited island was about
twenty-four miles. From the highest point here, the tops of
the trees, evidently lifted by the mirage, could be seen on
the second stage and the third stage ; the mainland was said
to be as far as this beyond it. But my canoe men had
stolen the canoe and got a hint that the real owners were in
376 THE FINDING OF
^pursuit, and got into a flurry to return heme. " They v/ould
come back in a few days truly," but I had only my coverlet
left to hire another craft if they should leave me in this
wide expanse of water, and being 4,000 feet above the sea
it was very cold : so I returned.
The length of this lake is, at a very moderate estimate,
150 miles. It gives forth a large body of water in the Lua-
pula ; yet lakes are in no sense sources, for no large river
begins in a lake ; but this and others serve an important
purpose in the phenomena of the Nile. It is one large lake,
and, unlike the Okara, which, according to Suaheli, who
travelled long in our company, is three or four lakes run
into one huge Victoria Nyanza, gives out a large river
which, on departing out of Moero, is still larger. These
men had spent many years east of Okara, and could
scarcely be mistaken in saying that, of three or four lakes,
there only one (the Okara) gives off its waters to the
north.
The " White Nile " of Speke, less by a full half than the
Shire out of Nyassa (for it is only eighty or ninety yards
broad), can scarcely be named in comparision with the
central!^ or Webb's jLualaba, of from two thousand to six
thousand yards, in relation to the phenomena of the Nile.
The structure and economy of the watershed answer very
much the same endSas the great lacustrine rivers, but I can;-
.ot at present copy | a lost despatch which explained that.
The mountains on the watershed are probably what Ptolemy,
for reasons now unknown, called the Mountains of the
Moon. From their bases I found that the springs of the
Nile dojunquestionably arise. This is just what Ptolemy
put down, and is true geography. We must accept the
fountains, and nobody but Philistines will reject the
mountains, though we cannot conjecture the reason for the
name. f
Mounts Kenia and Kilimanjaro are said to be 'snow-
capped, but they are so far from the sources, and send no
water to any part of the Nile, they could never have been
meantfby the correct ancient explorers, from whom Ptolemy
and his predecessors gleaned their true geography, so diffe-
rent from the trash that passes current in modem times.
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 377
Before leaving the subject of the watershed, I may add
that I know about six hundred miles of it, but am not yet
satisfied, for unfortunately the seventh hundred is the most
interesting of the whole. I have a very strong impression
that, in the last hundred miles, the fountains of the Nile men-
tioned to Herodotus by the Secretary of Minerva in the
city of Sais do arise, not like all the rest, from oozing
earthen sponges, but from an earthen mound, and half the
water flows northward to Egypt, the other half south to
Inner Ethiopia. These fountains, at no great distance off,
become large rivers, though at the mound they are not more
than ten miles apart. That is, one fountain rises on the
north-east of the mound becomes Bartle Frere's Lualaba,
and it flows into one of the lakes proper, Kamolondo, of the
central line of drainage ; Webb's Lualaba, the second foun-
tain rising on the north-west, becomes (Sir Paraffin) Young's
Lualaba, which passing through Lake Lincoln and becoming
Loeki or Lomame, and joining the central line too, goes
north to Egypt. The third fountain on the southwest, Pal-
merston's, becomes the Liambia or Upper Zambesi ] while
the fourth, Oswell's fountain, becomes the Kafue and falls
into Sambesi in Inner Ethiopia.
More time has been spent in the exploration than I ever
anticipated. My bare expenses were paid for two years, but
had I left when the money was expended, I could have
given little more information about the country than the
Portuguese, who, in their three slave trading expeditions to
Cazembe, asked for slaves and ivory alone, and heard of
nothing else. From one of the subordinates of their last
so-called expedition, I learnt that it was believed that the
Luapula went to Angola ! I asked about the waters till I
was ashamed, and almost afraid of being set down as
afflicted with hydrocephalus. I had to feel my way, and
every step of the way, and was generally groping in the
dark ; for who cared where the rivers ran ? Many a weary
foot I trod ere I got a clear idea of the drainage of the great
Nile valley. The most intelligent natives and traders
thought that all the rivers of the upper part of that valley
flowed into Tanganyika. But the barometers told me that
to do so the water must flow up hill. The great rivers and
21
378 THE FINDING OF
the great lakes all make their waters converge into the deep
trough of the valley, which is a full inch of the barometer
lower than the Upper Tanganyika. It is only a sense of
duty, which I trust your lordship will approve, that makes
me remain, and, if possible, finish the geographical question
of my mission. After being thwarted, baffled, robbed, wor-
ried almost to death in following the central line of drainage
down I have a sore longing for home ; have had a perfect
surfeit of seeing strange, new lands and people, grand
mountains, lovely valleys, the glorious vegetation of primeval
forests, wild beasts and an endless succession of beautiful
man ; besides great rivers and vast lakes — the last most
interesting from their huge outflowings, which explain some
of the phenomena of the grand old Nile.
Let me explain, but in no boastful style, the mistakes of
others who have bravely striven to solve the ancient pro-
blem, and it will be seen that I have cogent reasons for fol-
lowing the painful, plodding investigation to its conclusion.
Poor Speke's mistake was of a foregone conclusion. When
he discovered the Victoria Nyanza he at once jumped to
the conclusion that therein lay the sources of the river of
Egypt, *' 20,000 square miles of water," confused by sheer
immensity.
Ptolemy's small lake, " Coloc," is a more correct repre-
sentation of the actual size of that one of three or four
lakes which alone sends its outflow to the north. Its name
is Okara. Lake Kavirondo is three days distant from it, but
connected by a narrow arm. Lake Naibash, or Neibash,
is four days from Kavirondo. Baringo is ten days distant,
and discharges by a river, the Nagardabash, to the north-
east.
These three or four lakes, which have been described by
several intelligent Suaheli, who have lived for many years
on their shores, were run into one huge Victoria Nyanza.
But no sooner did Speke and Grant turn their faces to this
lake, to prove that it contained the Nile fountains, than they
turned their backs to the springs of the river of Egypt,
which are between four hundred and five hundred miles
south of the most southerly portion of the Victoria Lake.
Every step of their heroic and really splendid achievement
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 379
of following the river down took them further and further
from the sources they sought. But for the de/otion to the
foregone conclusion the sigh'c of the little " White Nile," as,
unable to account for the great river, they must have turned
off to the west down into the deep trough of the great
valley, and there found lacustrine rivers amply sufficient to
account for the Nile and all its phenomena.
The next explorer, Baker, believed, as honestly as Speke
and Grant, that in the Lake River Albert he had a second
source of the Nile to that of Speke. He came further up
the Nile than any other in modem times, but turned when
between six hundred and seven hundred miles short of the
caput Nili. He is now employed in a more noble work
than the discovery of Nile sources ; and if, as all must
earnestly wish, he succeeds in suppressing the Nile slave
trad », the boon he will bestow on humanity will be of far
higher value than all my sources together.
When intelligent men like these and Bruce have been
mistaken, I have naturally felt anxious that no one should
come after me and find sources south of mine, which I now
think can only be possible by water running up the southern
slope of the watershed. ^^^
But all that can in modern times and in common modesty
be fairly claimed is the rediscovery of what had sunk into
oblivion, like the circumnavigation of Africa by the Phoeni-
cian admirals of one of the Pharaohs about B. C. 600. He
was not believed because he reported that in passing round
Libya he had the sun on his right hand. This, to us who
have gone round the Cape from east to west, stamps his
tale as genuine.
The predecessors of Ptolemy probably gained their in-
formation from men who visited this very region, for in the
second century of this era he gave in substance what we
now find to be genuine geography.
The springs of the Nile, rising in ten degress to twelve
degrees south latitude, and their water collecting into two
large lacustrine rivers, and other facts, could have been
learned only from primitive travellers or traders — the true dis-
coverers of what emperors, kings, philosophers, all the
great minds of antiquity, longed to know, and longed in
vain.
380 THE FINDING OF
In a letter of November, 1870, now enclosed, I have
tried to give an idea of the difficulties encountered in fol-
lowing the central line of drainage through the country of
the cannibals, called Manyuema or Manyema. I found it
a year afterwards, where it was left. Other letters had
made no further progress to the coast ; in fact, Manyema
country is an entirely new field, and nothing like postage
exists ; nor can letters be sent to Ujiji except by large
trading parties who have spent two or three years in Man-
yema.
The geographical results of four arduous trips in different
directions in the Manyema country are briefly as follows : —
The great river, Webb's Lualaba, in the centre of the Nile
valley, makes a great bend to the west, soon after leaving
Lake Moero, of at least 180 miles ; then, turning to the
north for some distance, it makes another large sweep west
of about one hundred and twenty miles, in the course of
which about thirty miles of southing are made ; it then
draws round to northeast, receives the Lomani, or Loeki, a
large river which flows through Lake Lincoln. After the
union a large lake is formed, with many inhabited islands
in it ; but this has still to be explored. It is the fourth
large lake In the central line of drainage, and cannot be
Lake Albert ; for, assuming Speke's longtitude of Ujiji to
be pretty correct, and my reckoning not enormously wrong,
the great central lacustrine river is about five degrees west
of Upper and Lower Tanganyika.
The mean of many barometric and boiling-point obser-
vations made Upper Tanganyika 2,880 feet high. Respect
for Speke's memory made me hazard the conjecture that
he found it to be nearly the same, but from the habit of
writing the Annum Domini, a mere slip of the pen made
him say 1,844 feet ; but I have more confidence in the
barometers than in the boiling points, and they made Tan-
ganyika over 3,000 feet, and the lower part of Central
Lualaba one inch lower, or about the altitude ascribed to
Gondokoro.
Beyond the fourth lake the water passes, it is said, into
large reedy lakes, and is in all probabiHty Petherick's branch
— the main stream of the Nile — in distinction from the
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DR. LIVINGSTONE. 38 1
small eastern arm which Speke, Grant and Baker took to be
the river of Egypt.
The Manyema could give no information about their
country, because they never travel. Bloody fueds often pre-
vent them from visiting villages three or four miles off, and
many at a distance of about thirty miles did not know the
great river, though named to them. No trader had gone
so far as I had, and their people cared only for ivory.
In my attempts to penetrate further and further I had
but little hope of ultimate success, for the great amount of
westing led to a continued effort to suspend the judgment,
lest, after all, I might be exploring the Congo instead of the
Nile, and it was only after the two great western drains fell
into the central main, and left but the two great lacustrine
rivers of Ptolemy, that I felt pretty sure of being on the
right track.
The great bends west probably form one side of the great
rivers above that geographical loop, the other side being
Upper Tanganyika and the Lake River Albert. A water-
fall is reported to exist between Tanganyika and Albert
Nyanza, but I could not go to it ; nor have I seen the con-
necting Hnk between the two — the upper side of the loop —
though I believe it exists.
The Manyema are certainly cannibals, but it was long
ere I could get evidence more positive than would have
led a wScotch jury to give a verdict of "Not proven." They
eat only enemies killed in war ; they seem as if instigated
by revenge in their man-eating orgies, and on these oc-
casions they do not like a stranger to see them. I offered
a large reward in vain to any one who v/ould call me to witness
a cannibal feast. Some intelligent men have told me that
the meat is not nice, and made them dream of the dead.
The women never partake, and I am glad of it, for many of
them far down Lualaba are very pretty ; they bathe three
or four times a day, and are expert divers for oysters.
Markets are held at stated times, and the women attend
them in large numbers, dressed in their best. They are
light colored, have straight noses, finely formed heads, small
hands and feet and perfect forms ; they are keen traders,
and look on the market as a great institution ; to haggle
382 THE FINDING OF
and joke and laugh and cheat seem the enjoyments of Hfe.
The population, especially west of the river, is prodigiously
large.
Near Lomani, the Bakuss or Bakoons cultivate coffee,
and drink it highly scented with vanilla. Food of all kinds
is extremely abundant and cheap. The men smelt iron from
the black oxide ore, and are very good smiths ; they also
smelt copper from the ore and make large ornaments very
cheaply. They are generally fine, tall, strapping fellowh,
far superior to the Zanzibar slaves, and nothing of the
West Coast negro, from whom our ide^s of Africans are
chiefly derived, appears among them ; no prognathous
jaws, barndoor mouth, nor lark-heels are seen. Their de-
fects arise from absolute ignorance of all the world ; be-
sides, strangers never appeared among them before. The
terror that guns inspire generally among the Manyema
seems to arise among the Bakuss from an idea that they
are supernatural. The effect of gun-shot on a goat was
shown in order to convince them that the traders had
power, and that the instruments they carried were not, as
they imagined, the mere insignia of chieftainship ; they
looked up to the skies and offered to bring ivory to pur-
chase the charm by which lightning was drawn down; and
afterwards, when the traders tried to force a passage which
was refused, they darted aside on seeing Banyamwezi's fol-
lowers place the arrows in the bow-strings, but stood in
mute amazement while the guns mowed them down in
great numbers. They use long spears in the thick vegeta-
tion of their country with great dexterity, and they have
told me frankly, what was self-evident, that but for the fire-
arms not one of the Zanzibar slaves or half-castes would
ever leave their country.
There is not a single great chief in all Manyema. No
matter what names the different divisions of people bear —
Manyema, Balegga, Babire, Bazire, Bakoos — there is no
political cohesion ; not one king or kingdom. Each head
man is independent of every other. The people are in-
dustrious, and most of them cultivate the soil largely.^ We
found them everywhere very honest. When detained at
Bambarre we had to send our goats and fowls to the Man-
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 383
yema villages, to prevent them being all stolen by the Zan-
zibar slaves. The slave owners had to do the same.
Manyema land is the only country in central Africa I
have seen where cotton is not cultivated, spun and woven.
The clothing is that known in Madagascar as " lambas "
or grass cloth, made from the leaves of the " Muale " palm.
They call the good spirit above ** Ngulu," or the Great
One, and the spirit of evil, who resides in the deep, " Mu-
lambu." A hot fountain near Bambarre is supposed to be-
long to this being, the author of death by drowning and
other misfortunes. Yours, &c.,
DR. LIVINGSTONE,
Her Majesty's Consul, Inner Africa.
LETTER No. IV.
Doctor Livingstone to Earl Granville.
Ujiji, Nov. 14, 187 1.
My Lord — In my letter dated Bambarre, November,
1870, now enclosed (No. i), I stated my grave suspicions
that a packet of about forty letters — despatches, copies of
all the astronomical observations from the coast onwards,
and sketch maps on tracing paper, intended to convey a
clear idea of all the discoveries up to the time of arrival at
Ujiji — would be destroyed. It was delivered to the agent
here of the Governor of Unyanyembe, and I paid him in
full all he demanded to transmit it to Syde bin Salem
Buraschid, the so-called Governor, who is merely a trade
agent of certain Banians of Zanzibar, and a person who is
reputed dishonest by all. As an agent he pilfers from his
employers, be they Banians or Arabs ; as a Governor, ex-
pected to exercise the office of a magistrate, he dispenses
justice to him who pays most ; and as the subject of a Sul-
tan, who entrusted him because he had no power on the
mainland to supersede him, he robs his superior shame-
lessly. No Arab or native ever utters a good word for him,
but all detest him for his injustice.^
The following narrative requires it to be known that his
brother, Ali bin Salem Buraschid, is equally notorious for
unblushing dishonesty. All Arabs and Europeans who
have had dealings with either speak in unmeasured terms
of their fraud and duplicity. The brothers are employed
in trade, chiefly by Ludha Damji, the richest Banian in
Zanzibar.
It is well known that the slave trade in this country is
carried on almost entirely with his money and that of other
(384)
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 385
Banian British subjects. The Banians advance the goods
required, and the Arabs proceed inland as their agents, per-
form the trading, or rather murdering, and when slaves and
ivory are brought to the coast the Arabs sell the slaves.
The Banians pocket the price, and adroitly let the odium
rest on their agents. As a rule no travelling Arab has money
sufficient to undertake an inland journey. Those who have
become rich imitate the Banians and send their indigent
countrymen and slaves to trade for them. The Banians
could scarcely carry on their system of trade were they not
in possession of the Custom House, and had power to seize
all the goods that pass through it to pay themselves for debts.
The so-called Governors are appointed on their recommend-
ation, and become mere trade agents. When the Arabs in
the interior are assaulted by the natives they never unite
under a Governor as a leader, for they know that defending
them or concerting means for their safety is no part of his
duty. The Arabs are nearly all in debt to the Banians, and
the Banian slaves are employed in ferreting out every trade
transaction of the debtors, and when watched by Governors'
slaves and Custom House officers it is scarcely possible for
even this cunning, deceitful race to escape being fleeced.
To avoid this, many surrender all their ivory to their Banian
creditors, and are allowed to keep or sell the slaves as their
share of the profits. It will readily be perceived that the
prospect of in any way coming under the power of Banian
British subjects at Zanzibar is very far from reassuring.
The packet above referred to was never more heard of,
but a man called Musa Kamaah had been employed to drive
some buffaloes for me from the coast, and on leaving Ujiji
the same day the packet was delivered for transmission I
gave him a short letter, dated May, 1869, which he conceal-
ed on his person, knowing that on its production his wages
depended. He had been a spectator of the plundering of
my goods by the Governor's slave Saloom, and received a
share to hold his peace. He was detained for months at
Unyanyembe by the Governor, and even sent back to Ujiji
on his private business, he being ignorant all the while that
Kamaah possessed the secreted letter. It was the only
document of more than forty that reached Zanzibar. It
386 THE FINDING OF
made known in some measure my wants, but my cheques on
Bombay for money were in the lost pocket, and Ludha, the
rich Banian, was employed to furnish on credit all the goods
and advances of pay for the men required in the expedition.
Ludha is, perhaps, the best of all the Banians of Zanzibar,
but he applied to Ali bin Salem, the brother of his agent
the Governor, to furnish two head men to conduct the goods
and men to Ujiji and beyond it, wherever I might be there
reported to be. He recommended Shereef Bosher and
Awathe as first and second conductors of the caravan.
Shereef, the Governor, and the Governor's brother being
** birds of one feather," the consequences might have been
foretold. No sooner did Shereef obtain command than he
went to one Muhamad Nassur, a Zanzibar-born Banian or
Hindoo, and he advanced twenty-five boxes of soap and
eight cases of brandy for trade. He then went to Bago-
moyo, on the mainland, and received from two Banians
there, whose names were to be unknown, quantities of
opium and gunpowder, which, with the soap and brandy,
were to be retailed by Shereef on the journey. In the
Bagomoyo Banian's house Shereef broke the soap boxes
and stowed the contents and the opium in my bales of
calico, in order that the pagazi or carriers paid by me should
carry them. Other pagazi were employed to carry the cases
of brandy and kegs of gunpowder, and paid with my cloth.
Henceforth all the expenses of the journey were defrayed
out of my property, and while retailing the barter goods of
his Banian accomplices he was in no hurry to relieve my
wants, but spent fourteen months between the coast and
Ujiji, a distance which could easily have been accomplish-
ed in three. Making every allowance for detention by sick-
ness in the party, and by sending back for men to replace
the first' pagazi, who perished by cholera, the delays were
quite shameless. Two months at one spot, two months at
another place, and two months at a third, without reason,
except desire to retail his brandy, &c., which some simple
people think Moslems never drink, but he was able to send
back from Unyanyembe over ;^6o worth of ivory — the
pagazi again paid from my stores. He then ran riot with
the supplies, all the way purchasing the most expensive food
DR. LIVINGSTONF. 3S7
for himself, his slaves and his women, the country afforded.
When he reached Ujiji his retail trade for the Banians and
himself was finished, and in defiance of his engagement to
follow wherever I led, and men from a camp eight days be-
yond Bambarre went to Ujiji and reported to him that I was
near and waiting for hirh, he refused their invitation to
return with them.
The Banians, who advanced their goods for retail by
Shereef, had, in fact, taken advantage of the notorious East
African Moslem duplicity to interpose their own trade specu-
lation between two government officers, and, almost within
the shadow of the Consulate, supplant Dr. Kirk's attempt to
aid me by a fraudulent conversion of the help expedition to
the gratification of their own greed. Shereef was their
ready tool, and having at Ujiji finished the Banian trade he
acted as if he had forgotten having ever been employed by
any one else. Here the drunken half-caste Moslem tailor
lay intoxicated at times for a whole month ; the drink — palm
toddy and tombe — all bought with my beads, of course.
Awathe, the other head man, was a spectator of all the
robbery from the coast onwards, and never opened his
mouth in remonstrance or in sending notice to the Consul.
He had carefully concealed an infirmity when engaged,
which rendered him quite incapable of performing a single
duty for me, and he now asserts, like the Jokanna deserters,
that he ought to be paid all his wages in full. I shall nar-
rate below how seven of the Banian slaves bought by Shereef
and Awathe imitated their leaders and refused to go forward,
and ultimately, by falsehood and cowardice, forced me to
return between four hundred and five hundred miles. But
here I may mention how Shereef finished up his services.
He wrote to his friend, the Go\ernor of Unyanyembe, for
permission to sell the debris of my goods, "because," said
he, " I sent slaves to Manyema to search for the Doctor,,
but they returned and said he was dead." He also divined
on the Koran, and it told the same tale.
It is scarcely necessary to add that he never sent slaves
in search of me, and from the people above mentioned, who
returned from a camp in front of Bambarre, he learned that
I was alive and well. So, on his own authority and that
388 THE FINDING OF
of the Koran, he sold off the remaining goods at merely
nominal prices to his friends for ivory and slaves for himself,
and I lately returned to find myself destitute of everything
except a very few articles of barter which I took the precau-
tion to leave here in case of extreme need.
I have stated the case to Dr. Kirk, acting political agent
and Consul at Zanzibar, and claim as simple justice, that
the Banians, who are rich English subjects, should, for
stepping in between me and the suppHes sent, be compelled
to refund the entire expenses of the frustrated expedition,
and all the high interest — twenty or twenty-five per cent
thereon — set down against me in Ludha's books ; if not
also the wages of my people and personal expenses for two
years, the time during which, by their surreptitious agent
Shereef, my servants and self were prevented from executing
our regular duty.
The late Sultan Seyed Majid compelled the Arab who
connived at the plunder of all the Baron Van der Decken'tj
goods in a vain attempt to reach Lake Nyassa to refund the
whole. It is inconceivable that the dragoman and other
paid servants of the consulate were ignorant of the fraud
practised by the Banians on Dr. Kirk and myself.
All the Banians and Banian slaves were perfectly well
aware of Muhamad Nassur's complicity. The villany of
saddling on m% all the expenses of their retail venture of
soap, brandy, opium and gunpowder, was perpetrated in
open day, and could not escape the notice of the paid agents
of the Consul ; but how this matter was concealed from
him, and also the dishonest characters of Syed bin Ali
Buraschid and Shereef, it is difficult to conceive. The oft-
repeated asseveration of Shereef that he acted throughout
on the advice of Ludha may have a ray of truth in it. But
a little gentle pressure on Syed Burghash, the present Sul-
tan, will probably ensure the punishment of Shereef, though
it is also highly probable that he will take refuge near the
Governor of Unyanyembe till the affair blows over. If the
rich Banian English subjects be compelled to refund, this
alone will deter them from again plundering the servants of
a government which goes to great expense for their protec-
tion.
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 389
I i;\ill now proceed to narrate in as few words as possible
how I have been baffled by the Banian slaves sent by Ludha,
instead of men. They agreed to go to Ujiji, and, having
there ascertained where I was to be found, were to follow
me as boatmen, carriers, woodmen or in every capacity re-
quired without reference to the customs of other expeditions.
Each on being engaged received an advance of $30 and a
promise of $5 a month afterwards. This was double to
Zanzibar freemen's pay. They had much sickness near the
coast, and five died of cholera. While under Shereef and
Awathe they cannot be blamed for following their worthless
leaders ; these leaders remained at Ujiji, and Shereefs three
slaves and his woman did the same. After two months'
delay these seven Banian slaves came along with the men
returning past Bambarre as mentioned above. They came
on the 4th February, 1871, having left Zanzibar in October,
1869. I had been laid up at Bambarre by irritable eating
ulcers on both feet, which .prevented me from setting a foot
on the ground from August, 1870, to the end of the year ; a
piece of malachite, rubbed down with water on a stone, was
the only remedy that had any effect ; I had no medicine ;
some in a box had been unaccountably detained by the
Governor of Unyanyembe since 1868, though I sent for it
twice, and delivered calico to repay the carriers. I have
been uncharitable enough to suspect that tke worchy man
wishes to fall heir to my two guns in the same box. Shereef
sent by the slaves a few coarse beads, evidently exchanged
for my beautiful and dear beads, a little calico, and, in great
mercy, some of my coffee and sugar. The slaves came
without loads, except my tent, which Shereef and they "had
used tin it was quite rotten and so full of holes it looked as
if riddled with small shot. I never used it once. They
had been sixteen months on the way from Zanzibar
instead of three, and now, like their head men, refused to go
any further. They swore so positively that the Consul had
told them to force me back, and on no account to go for-
ward, that I actually looked again at their engagement to be
sure my eyes had not deceived me. Fear alone made them
consent to go, but had I not been aided by Muhamad
Bogharib, they would have gained their point by sheer
390 THE FINDING OF
brazen-faced falsehood. I might then have gone back and
deposed Shereef and Awathe, but this would have required
five or six months, and in that time, or perhaps less time, at
least, I had good reason to hope that the exploration would
be finished and my return would be up Albert Lake and
Tanganyika, instead of the dreary part of Manyema and
Guba I already knew perfectly. The desire to finish the
geographical part of my work was, and is, most intense
every time my family comes into my mind. I also hoped
that, as usual, ere long I should gain influence over my at-
tendants, but I never had experience with Banian Moslem
slaves before, who had imbibed little of the Mohammedan
religion but its fulsome pride, and whose previous employ-
ment had been browbeating Arab debtors somewhat like
the lowest class of our sheriff officers.
As we went across the second great bend of the Lualaba
they showed themselves to be all accomplished cowards, in
constant dread of being killed and eaten by Manyema.
Failing to induce me to spend all the goods and return, they
refused to go beyond a point far down the Lualaba, where I
was almost in sight of the end towards which I strained.
They now tried to stop further progress by falsehood, and
they found at a camp of Ujijian and mainland Arabs a
number of ^villing helpers to propagate the slander "that I
wanted neither ivory nor slaves, but a canoe to kill Man-
yema." Can it be wondered at that people who had never
even heard of white men, believed them ? By this slander,
and the ceremony of mixing blood with the head men, the
mainland and Ujijian Arabs secured nine canoes, while I
could not purchase one. But four days below this part
narrows occur, in which the mighty river is compressed by
rocks, which jut in, not opposite to each other, but alter-
nately ; and the water, rushing round the promontories,
forms terrible whirlpools, which overturned one of the canoes
and so terrified the whole party that by deceit preceded me,
that they returned without ever thinking of dragging the
canoes past the difficulty. This I should have done to gain
the confluence of the Lomame, some fifty miles below, and
thence ascend through Lake Lincoln to the ancient fountains
beyond the copper mines of Katanga, and this would nearly
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 39 1
finish my geographical work. But it was so probable that
the dyke which forms the narrows would be prolonged
across country into Lomame that I resolved to turn towards
this great river considerably above the narrows, and where
the distance between Lualaba and Lomame is about eighty
miles.
A friend, named Dugumbe, was reported to be coming
from Ujiji with a caravan of 200 guns and nine undertraders
with their people. The Banian slaves refused duty three
times, and the sole reason they alleged for their mutiny was
•fear of going where " there were no Molems." The loss of
all their wages was a matter of no importance to any one
except their masters at Zanzibar. As an Englishman they
knew I would not beat or chain them, and two of them
frankly avowed that all they needed for obedience was a
free man to thrash them. The slave traders all sympathized
with them, for they hated my being present to witness . leir
atrocities. The sources of the !Nile they knew to be a sham j
to reveal their slaving was my true object, and all dread
being " written against." I therefore waited three months
for Dugumbe, who appeared to be a gentleman, and offered
4,000 rupees, or ;£4oo, for ten men and a canoe on Loma-
me, and, afterwards, all the goods I believed I had at Ujiji,
to enable me to finish what I had to do without the Banian
slaves. His first words to me were, " Why, your own slaves
are your greatest enemies. I hear everywhere how they
have baffled you." He agreed to my proposition, but re-
quired a few days to consult his associates.
Two days afterwards, or on the 13th of June, a massacre
was perpetrated which filled me with such intolerable loath-
ing that I resolved to yield to the Banian slaves, return to
Ujiji, get men from the coast, and try to finish the rest of
my work by going outside the area of ¥jijian bloodshed in-
stead of vainly trying from its interior ^twards.
Dugumbe's people built their huts on the right bank of
the Lualaba, at a market place called Nyanwe. On hear-
ing that the head slave of a trader at Ujiji had, in order to
get canoes cheap, mixed blood with the head men of the
Bagenya on the left bank, they were disgusted with his
assurance, and resolved to punish him and make an im-
392 THE FINDING OF
pression in the country in favor of their own greatness by
an assault on the market people and on all the Bagenya who
had dared to make friendship with any but themselves.
Tagamalo, the principal undertaker of Dugumbe's party,
was the perpetrator. The market was attended every fourth
day by between 2,000 and 3,000 people. It was held on a
large slope of land which, down at the river, ended in a
creek capable of containing between fifty and sixty large
canoes. The majority of the market people were women,
many of them very pretty. The people west of the river
brought fish, salt, pepper, oil, grass-cloth, iron, fowls, goats,
sheep, pigs, in great nunbers to exchange with tjjose east of
the river for cassava, grain, potatoes and other farinaceous
products. They have a strong sense of natural justice, and
all unite in forcing each other to fair dealing. At first my
presence made them all afraid, but wishing to gain their
confidence, which my enemies tried to undermine or pre-
vent, I went among them frequently, and seeing no harm in me
became very gracious ; the bargaining was the finest acting
I ever saw. I understood but few of the words that flew off
the glib tongues of the women, but their gestures spoke
plainly. I took sketches of the fifteen varieties of fish
brought in to compare them with those of the Nile farther
down, and all were eager to tell their names. But on the
date referred to I had left the market only a minute or two
when threemen whomi hadseen vAth guns, and felt inclined to
reprove them for bringing them into the market place, but
had refrained by attributing it to ignorance in new comers
began to fire into the dense crowd around them. Another
party, down at the canoes, rained their balls on the panic-
struck multitude that nished into these vessels. All threw
away their goods, the men forgot their paddles, the canoes
were jammed in the creek and could not be got out quick
enough, so many men and women sprung into the water.
The women of the left bank are expert divers for oysters,
and a long line of heads showed a crowd striking out for
an island half a mile off; to gain it they had to turn the left
shoulder against a current of between a mile and a half to
two miles an hour. Had they gone diagonally with the
current though that would have been a distance of three
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 393
miles, many of them would have gained the shore. It
was horrible to see one head after another disappear, some
calmly, others throwing their arms high up towards the
Great Father of all, and going down. Some of the men
who got canoes out of the crowd paddled quick with hands
and arms, to help their friends ; three took people in till they
all sank together. One man had clearly lost his head, for
he paddled a canoe which would have held fifty people
straight up stream nowhere. The Arabs estimated the loss
at between four and five hundred souls. Dugumbe sent
out some of his men in one of the thirty canoes which the
owners in their fright could not extricate, to save the sinking.
One lady refused to be taken on board because she thought
that she was to be made a slave ; but he rescued tvventy-one,
and of his own accord sent them the next day home. Many
escaped and came to me, and were restored to their friends.
When the firing began on the terror-stricken crowd at the
canoes, Tagamoio's band began their assault on the people
on the west of the river and continued the fire all day. I
counted seventeen villages in flames and next day six.
Dugumbe's power over the underlings is limited, but
he ordered them to cease shooting. Those in the market
were so reckless they shot two of their own number. Taga-
moio's crew came back next day, in canoes, shouting and
firing off their guns as if believing that they were worthy of
renown.
Next day about twenty head men fled from the west bank
and came to my house. There was no occasion now to
tell them that the English had no desire for human blood.
They begged hard that I should go over with them and
settle with them, and arrange where the new dwellings of
each should be. I was so ashamed of the bloody Moslem
company in which I found myself that I was unable to look
at the Manyema. I confessed my grief and shame, and was
entreated, if I must go, not to leave them now. Dugumbe
spoke kindly to them and would protect them as well as
he could against his own people ; but when I went to
Tagamoio to ask back the wives and daughters of some of
the head men, he always ran off and hid himself.
This massacre was the most ttrrible scene I ever saw.
22
394 THE FINDING OF
I cannot describe my feelings, and am thankful that I did
not give way to them, but by Dugumbe's advice avoided a
bloody feud with men who, for the time, seemed turned
into demons. The whole transaction was the more deplor-
able, inasmuch as we have always heard from the Manyema
that though the men of the districts may be engaged in
actual hostilities, the women pass from one market-place to
another with their wares and were never known to be mo-
lested. The change has come only with these alien blood-
hounds, and all the bloodshed has taken place in order
that captives might be seized where it could be done with-
out danger, and in order that the slaving privileges of a
petty sultan should produce abundant fruit.
Heartsore and greatly depressed in spirits by the many
instances of " man's inhumanity toman" I had unwillingly
seen, I commenced the long, weary tramp to Ujiji, with' the
blazing sun right overhead. The mind acted on the body,
and it is no over-statement to say that almost every step
of between four hundred and five hundred miles was in pain.
I felt as if dying on my feet, and I came very near to death
in a more summary way. It is within the area of blood-
shed that danger alone occurs. I could not induce my
Moslem slaves to venture outside that area or sphere.
They knew better than I did. "Was Muhamad not the
greatest of all, and their prophet ?"
About midway back to Bambarre we came to villages
where I had formerly seen the young men compelled to carry a
trader's ivory. When I came on the scene the young men
had laid down the tusks and said " Now we have helped you
so far without pay, let the men of other villages do as much."
*' No, no, take up the ivory ; " and take it up they did, only
to go a little way and cast it into the dense vegetation on
each side of the path we afterwards knew so well. When
the trader reached his next stage he sent back his men to
demand the " stolen " ivory, and when the elders denied
the theft they were fired upon and five were killed, eleven
women and children captured, and also twenty-five goats.
The remaining elders then talked the matter over, and the
young men pointed out the ivory and carried it twenty-two
miles after the trader. He chose to say that three of the
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 395
tusks were missing, and carried away all the souls and goats
he had captured. They now turned to the only resource
they knew, and when Dugumbe passed, waylaid and killed
one of his people. In our return we passed another camp
of Ujijian traders, and they begged me to allow their men
to join my party. These included seventeen men of Man-
yema who had volunteered to carry ivory to Ujiji and goods
back again. These were the very first of the Manyema who
had in modern times gor^e fifty miles from their birth-places.
As all the Arabs had been enjoined by Sayed Majid, the
late Sultan, to show me all the kindness in their power, 1
could not decline their request. My party was increased
to eighty, and a long line of men bearing elephants' tusks
gave us all the appearance of traders. The only cloth I had
left some months before consisted of two red blankets,
which were converted into a glaring dress; unbecoming
enough, but there were no Europeans to see it. The mal-
treated men, now burning for revenge, remembered the
dress, and very naturally tried to kill the man who had
murdered their relations. They would hold no parley. We
had to pass through five hours of forest, with vegetation so
dense, that by stooping down and peerini^ towards the sun
we could at times only see a shadow moving, and a slight
rustle in the vegetation which was caused by a spear thrown
from an infuriated man. Our people in front peered
into every little opening in the dense thicket before they
would venture past it ; this detained tlie rear, and two
persons near to me were slain. A large spear lunged
past close behind ; another missed me by about a foot
in front. CcmJng to a part of the forest of about a
hundred yards cleared for cultivation, I observed that
fire had been applied to one of the gigantic trees, made
still higher by growing on an anthill twenty or more feet
high. Hearing the crack that told the fire had eaten
through, I felt that there was no danger, it looked so far
away, till it appeared coming right down toward me. I ran
a few paces back, and it came to the ground only one yard
off, broke in several lengths, and covered me with a cloud
of dust. My attendants ran • back, exclaiming " Peace,
peace ! you will finish your work in spite of all these people, .
396 THE riNDIKG OF
and in spite of everything." I, too, took it as an omen of
good that I had three narrow escapes from death in one
day.
The Manyema are expert in throwing the spear, and as 1
had a glance of him whose spear missed by less than an inch
behind, and he was not ten yards off, I was saved clearly
by the good hand of the Almighty Preserver of men. I can
say this devoutly now, but in running the terrible gauntlet
for five weary hours among furies all eager to signalize them-
selves by slaying one they sincerely believed to have
been guilty of a horrid outrage, no elevated sentiments en-
tered the mind. The excitement gave way to overpowering
weariness, and I felt as I suppose soldiers do on the field of
battle — not courageous, but perfectly indifferent whether I
were killed or not.
On coming to the cleared plantations belonging to the
next group of villages, all lay down to rest, and I soon saw
their head man walking unarmed in a stately manner towards
us. He had heard the vain firing of our men into the dense
vegetation and came to inquire the cause. When he had
consulted his elders he sent an offer to me in the evening
to collect all his people, and if I lent him my people who
had guns he would bring me ten goats instead of three milch
ones I had lost. I again explained the mistake under which
his next neighbors labored, and as he understood the whole
case he was ready to' admit that my joining in his ancient
feud would only make matters worse. Indeed, my old
highland blood had been roused by the wrongs which his
foes had suffered, and all through I could not help sympa-
thizing with them, though I was the especial object of their
revenge.
I have, &c.,
DAVID LIVINGSTONE,
Her Majesty's Consul, Inner Africa.
LETTER No. V.
Dr. Livingstone to Dr. Kirk.
Ujiji, October 30tli, 187 1.
Sir — I wrote on the 25th and 28th current two very
hurried letters, one for you and the other for Lord Claren-
don, which were forwarded to Unanyembe. I had just
reached this place thoroughly jaded in body and mind, and
found that your agent, Shereef Bosher, had sofd off all the
goods you sent, for slaves and ivory for himself. He had
divined on the Koran and found that I was dead. He also
wrote to the Governor of Unanyembe that he had sent
slaves to Manyema, who returned and reported my decease,
and he wished the permission of the Governor to sell the
goods. He, hovrever, knew from men who came from me
in Manyema that I was near Ujiji at Bambarre, and waiting
for him and supplies ; but when my friends here protested
against the sale of my goods he invariably answered, " You
know nothing about the matter. I alone know that the
Consul ordered me to remain one month at Ujiji, and then
sell off and return." When I came he said that Ludha had
so ordered him.
From the Banian slaves you sent I learn that Ludha
went to Ali bin Salem Buraschid, a person notoriously dis-
honest, and he recommended Shereef Bosher as leader of
the caravan. No sooner did he obtain command than he
went to Muhamad Nassur, who furnished twenty-five boxes
of soap and eight cases of brandy, to be retailed in the
course of the journey inland. At Bagomoyo Shereef got a
quantity of opium and gunpowder from two Banians there,
whose names are unknown to me. In their house Shereef
broke the soap boxes and stowed the contents in my bales;
(397)
39^ THE FINDING OF
the brandy cases were kept entire, and pagazi employed to
carry them and the opium and gunpowder, and paid out of
my bales. The Banians and Shereef had interposed their
own trade speculation between the two government officers,
and thenceforward all the expenses of the journey were
defrayed out of my supplies, and Shereef was able to send
back to his accomplices five frasilahs of ivory from Unyan-
yembe, value some sixty pounds ; the pagazi again paid by
me. He was in no hurry to aid me, but spent fourteen
months traversing a distance that could have been easily
accomplished in three. If we deduct two months for deten-
tion by sickness, we have still twelve months, of which nine
were devoted to private interests of the Banians and Shereef
He ran riot with my goods, buying the best provisions and
drink the country afforded ; lived in my tent till it was so
rotten and full of holes I never could use it once ; remained
two months at three several places retailing brandy, opium,
gunpowder and soap ; and these being finished, on reaching
Ujiji, he would go no further. Here it was commonly
reported he lay drunk for a month at a time ; the duro
pombe and palm toddy all bought with my samsam beads.
He issued twenty- four yards of calico per month for himself,
eight yards for each of his slaves, eight yards for his woman,
and eight yards for Awathe, the other head man ; and when
he sent seven of the Banian slaves employed by Ludha to
me at Bambarre, he would not allow me more than two fra-
silhos of the very coarsest beads, evidently exchanged for
my fine samsams, a few pieces of calico, and in great mercy
half the coffee and sugar. The slaves came without loads.
Shereef finished up, as above stated, by selling all except
the other half of the coffee and sugar and one bundle of un-
saleable beads. He left four pieces of calico and went off
from this ; but, hearing of disturbances at Unyanyembe,
deposited his ivory in a village near, and coming back took
the four pieces of calico, and I received of all the fine
calico and dear beads you sent not a single yard or string of
beads.
Awathe, the other head man employed, was a spectator of
all the plunder by Shereef from the coast onwards, and never
opened his voice in remonstrance or in sending back a
DHL. LIVINGSTONE. 399
report to his employer. He carefully concealed an infirmity
from you which prevented him from performing a single
duty for me. He had his ** sheepa " long before he was
engaged, and he stated to me that the large fleshy growth
came up at once on reaching Ujiji. It is not hydrocele but
sarcocele, and his own statement proved that the pain he
feigned had entirely ceased when Dugumbe, a friend of
mine, offered to convey him by short, easy stages to me.
He refused, from believing that the Banians have so much
power that he will be paid in full for all the time he has
been dishonestly devouring my goods, though quite unable
to do any duty. Dugumbe also offered to convey a packet
of letters that was delivered to Shereef here as my agent,
but when he told him that he was about to start it was not
forthcoming. It ^s probably destroyed to prevent my
seeing the list of goods you sent by one Hassani to Unyan-
yembe.
With due deference to your judgment, I claim all the
expenses incurred as set down against me in Ludha's book
from the Banians who, by fraud, converted a caravan to
help me into the gratification of their own greed. Muha-
mad Nassur can reveal the names of the other Banian ac-
complices of Shereef who connived in supplanting help for
me into a trade speculation. They ought also to pay the
slaves sent by Ludha, and let them (the Banians) recover
from Shereef. I report this case to Her Majesty's govern-
ment as well as to you, and believe that your hands will
thereby be strengthened to see that justice is done and that
due punishment be inflicted on the Banians, on Shereef
and Awathe, and on the Banian slaves who baffled and
thwarted me, instead of fulfilling the engagement entered
into in your presence. A note is enclosed to His Highness
Seyed Burghash, which you will please present.
In entnisting the matter of supplies and men for me to
the Banian Ludha, you seem to have been unaware that our
government forbids its servants to employ slaves. The Com-
missioner and Consul at Loanda, on the West Coast, sent
all the way to St. Helena for somewhat stupid servants
rather than incur the displeasure of the Foreign Office by
using very clever Portuguese slaves within call.
400 THE FINDING OF
In the very trying circumstances you mention during the
visitation of cholera, and in the absence of instructions I
had enclosed to employ freemen and not slaves, as also in
the non-appearance of the cheques for money enclosed in
the same lost packet, the call on Ludha was, perhaps, the
easiest course, and I tmst that you will not consider me un-
grateful if I point out that it involved a grave mistake.
Ludha is polite enough, but the slave trade, and, indeed,
most other trade, is carried on chiefly by the money of
Banians, British subjects, who receive most of the profits and
adroitly let the odium of slaving rest on the Arabs. They
hate us English, and rejoice more over our failures than
successes. Ludha sent his own and other Banian slaves at
$60 a year, while the usual pay of freemen at Zanzibar is
only from twenty-five to thirty dollars a year. He will
charge enormous interest on the money advanced, from
twenty to twenty-five per cent. ; and even supposing She-
reefs statement that Ludha told him not to go beyond
Ujiji, but after one month sell off all and return, to be quite
untrue, it is passing strange that every one of the Banian
slaves employed stoutly asserted that they were not to
follow, but to force me back. I had no hold on people who
knevr that they would not be allowed to keep their wages.
It is also very remarkable that the objects of your caravan
should be so completely frustrated by Banians conniving
with Shereef almost within shadow of the consulate, and
neither dragoman nor other paid officials under your orders
gave any information. The characters of Ali-bin-Salem
Buraschid and his "chum" Shereef could scarcely have been
hid from them. Why employ them without characters ?
Yours, &c.,
DAVID LIVINGSTONE,
Her Majesty's Consul, Inner Africa.
P. S. — November 16, 1871. — I regret the necessity of
twinging the foregoing very unpleasant subject before you,
but I have just received letters and information which make
the matter doubly serious. Mr. Churchill informed me by
a letter of September 19, 1870, that Her Majest/s govern-
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 401
ment had most kindly sent ;£'t,ooo for supplies, to be for-
warded to me. Some difficulties had occurred to prevent
;£'5oo worth from starting, but in the beginning of Novem-
ber all were removed. But it appears that you had recourse
to slaves again, and one of these slaves informs me that
goods and slaves all remained at Bagomoyo four months, or
till near the end of February, 187 1. No one looked near
them during that time, but a rumor reached them that the
Consul was coming, and off they started, two days before
your arrival, not on their business, but on some private trip
of your own. These slaves came to Unyanyembe in May
last, and there they lay till war broke out and gave them, in
July, a good excuse to lie there still.
A whole year has thus been spent in feasting slaves on
;^5oo sent by government to me. Like the man who was
tempted to despair when he broke the photograph of his
wife, I feel inclined to relinquish hope of ever getting help
from Zanzibar to finish the little work I have still to do. I
wanted men, not slaves, and free men are abundant at Zan-
zibar ; but if the matter is committed to Ludha instead of
an energetic Arab, with some little superintendence by your
dragoman or others, I may wait twenty years and your slaves
feast and fail.
D. L.
I will just add that the second batch of slaves had, like
the first two, two freemen as the leaders, and one died of
small-pox. The freemen in the first party of slaves were
Shereef and Awathe. I enclose also a shameless overcharge
ki Ludha's bill, $364.06)^.
D. L.
LETTER No. VI.
Dr. Livingstone to Earl Granville,
Ujiji, Dec. 1 8, 187 1.
My Lord — The despatch of Lord Clarendon, dated 31st
May, 1870, came to this place on the 13th ult., and its very
kindly tone and sympathy afforded me a world of encour-
agement. Your Lordship will excuse me in saying that with
my gratitude there mingled sincere sorrow that the personal
friend who signed it was no more.
In the kind wish expressed for my return home I can
join most cordially ; indeed, I am seized with a sore long-
ing every time my family, now growing up, comes into my
mind ; but if I explain you will not deem me unreasonable
in making one more effort to make a feasible finish up of
my work. I know about six hundred miles of the long
watershed of South Central Africa pretty fairly. From this
the majority of the vast number of the springs of the Nile
do unquestionably arise and form great mains of drainage
in the Great Nile Valley, which begins in latitude ten to
twelve degrees south. But in the seventh hundred miles
four fountains are reported, which are different from all I
have seen, in rising from the base of an earthen mound as
full-grown gushing springs, each of which at no great dis-
tance off becomes a large river. I have heard of this re-
markable mound 200 miles distant on the southwest. Again,
300 miles distant on the south Mr. Oswell and I heard that
Upper Zambesi or I^mbai rose at (this) one point. Then
intelligent natives mentioned it 180 miles off on the east,
and again 150 from it on the northeast, and also in the
Manyema country 100 miles north-northeast. Intelligent
Arabs who had visited the mound and fountains, spoke of
(402)
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 403
them as a subject of wonder and confirmed all my previous
information. I cannot doubt of their existence, and I have
even given names by anticipation to the fountains whose
rivers I know.
But on the next point, which, if correct, gives these foun-
tains a historic interest, I speak with great confidence, and
would fain apologize for mentioning, on the dim recollections
of boyhood, and without a single book of reference, to
hazard the conjecture that these fountains rising together,
and flowing two north into the Nile and two south to Inner
Ethiopia, are probably the sources of the Nile mentioned to
Herodotus by the Secretary of Minerv^a in the city of Sais in
Egypt. The idea imparted by the words of the ancient his-
torian was that the waters of the sources welled up in unfath-
omable fountains and then parted, half to Egypt and the
other half to Inner Ethiopia.
The ancient traveller or trader who first brought the report
down to Egypt would :;carcely be so precise as to explain of
waters that seem to issue from nearly one spot, flowed on to
opposite slopes of the watershed (sic.) The northeast foun-
tain, Bartle Frere's, flows as the large river Lufira into
Kamolondo, one of four large lakes in Webb^s Lualaba.
The centre line of drainage then, that on the northwest of
of the mound, Young's* (Sir Paraffin) fountain flows through
Lake Lincoln, and as the River Lomame joins Webb's
Lualaba before the fourth large lake is formed, of which the
outflow is said to be into Petherick's branch, two certainlv
flow south; for Palmerston's fountain on the southwest is the
source of the Lambai or Upper Zambesi, and Oswell's foun-
tain on the southeast, is the Kafue, which far down joins the
same river in " Inner Ethiopia." I advance the conjecture
merely for what it is worth, and not dogmatically. The gen-
tlemen who stay at home at ease may smile at my assur-
ance in recalling the memories of boyhood in Central
Africa ; but let these be the sources of the ancients or not,
it seems desirable to rediscover them, so that no one may
come afterwards and cut me out by a fresh batch of sources.
I am very unwilling to attach blame to any one, and 1
can only ascribe it to ignorance at Zanzibar of our govern-
ment being stringently opposed to its officers employing
404 THE FINDING OF
slave labor, that some five or six hundred pounds' worth of
ray goods were entrusted to Ludha, a concealed slave dea-
ler, who again placed the supplies in the hands of slaves
under two dishonest freeman, who, as I have described in
my letter of the 14th ult., caused me a great loss of time and
ultimately of all the goods.
Again, ^^500 of goods — this being half of ;£" 1,000 kindly
sent by Her Majesty's government to my aid — was, by some
strange hallucination, handed over to Ludha again, and he
again committed them to slaves and two freemen. All lay
feasting on my stores at Bagomoyo, on the mainland op-
posite Zanzibar, from the latter part of October, 1870, to
the latter part of February, 187 1, and no one looked near
them. They came on to Unyanyembe, a point from twenty
days to a month east of this, and lay there till a war, which
broke out in July, gave them a good excuse to continue
there still. Ludha is a very polite and rich Banian, but in
this second bill he makes a shameless overcharge of $364. All
the Banians and Arabs hate to see me in the slave mart and
dread exposure. Here and in Manyema I have got into
the good graces of all the Arabs of position. But the Bani-
an hatred of our interference in the slave trade manifests
itself in the low cunning of imbuing the minds of the slaves
sent, with the idea that they are not to follow me, but, in ac-
cordance with some fabulous letter, force me back, This
they have propagated all through the country, and really
seem to believe it. My letters to the coast having been so
often destroyed, I had relinquished hope of ever obtain-
ing help from Zanzibar, and proposed when I became
stronger to work my way down to Mteza or Baker for help
and men.
A vague rumor reached Ujiji in the beginning of last
month that an Englishman had come to Unyanyembe with
boats, horses, men and goods in abundance. It was in vain
to conjecture who this could be ; and my eager inquiries
were met by answers so contradictory that I began to doubt
if any stranger had come at all. But one day, I cannot say
which, for I was three weeks too fast in my reckoning, my
man Susi came dashing up in great excitement, and gasped
out, " An Englishman coming ; see him !" and off he ran
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 405
to meet him. The American flag at the head of the cara-
van told me the nationality of the stranger. It was Henry
M. Stanley, the travelling correspondent of the New York
Herald^ sent by the son of the editor, James Gordon Ben-
nett, Jr., at an expense of ^5,000, to obtain correct infor-
mation about me if living, and if dead to bring home my
bones. The kindness was extreme, and made my whole
frame thrill with excitement and gratitude.
I have been left nearly destitute by the moral idiot She-
reef seUing off my goods for slaves and ivory for himself.
My condition was sufficiently forlorn, for I had but a very
few articles of barter left of what I had taken the precaution
to leave here, in case of extreme need. The strange news
Mr. Stanley had to tell to one, for years out of communica-
tion with the world, was quite reviving. Appetite returned,
and in a week I began to feel strong. Having men and
goods, and information that search for an outlet of the Tan-
ganyika was desired by Sir Roderick Murchison, we went
for a month's cruise down to its northern end.
This was a pleasure trip compared to the weary tramping
of all the rest of my work ; but an outflow we did not
fmd.
On returning, on the 13th current, Mr. Stanley received a
letter from the American consul at Zanzibar of nth June
last, and Aden telegrams of European news up to the 29th
April. My mail was dated November, 1870, and would not
have left the slaves had not Mr. Stanley accidentally seen
it and seized it for me. What was done by the American
consul could have been done by the English consul, but for
the unaccountable propensity to employ slave trade and
slaves.
Seeing no hope of even the third ;£^5oo, or last half of
the government ;^i,ooo, being placed in any other hands
but those of the polite Ludha, I have taken the liberty of
resolving to return a full month eastward to secure the dregs
of my goods from the slaves there and accept those that
Air. Stanley offers, hire freemen at Unyanyembe with them
and then return back to the watershed to finish the little I
have to do.
In going and returning from Unyanyembe I shall lose
4o6 THE FINDING OF
three or four months. The ancient fountains will require
eight months more ; but in one year from this time, with
ordinary health, the geographical work will be done.
I am presuming that your Lordship will say, " If worth
doing at all, it is worth doing well/' All my friends will
wish me to make a complete work of the sources of the
ancient river. In that wish, in spite of the strong desire to
go home, I join, believing that it is better to do so now than
afterwards in vain.
Trusting that Your Lordship will kindly make allowan-
ces for what, to some who do not know how hard I have
toiled to accomplish six-sevenths of the work, may appear
obstinacy, I have, &c.,
DAVID LIVINGSTONE,
Her Majesty's Consul, Inner Africa.
P. S. — The mortality by small-pox in this region is so
enormous, that I venture to apply to government for a supply
of vaccine virus to meet me on my return — by one portion
being sent in the Governor's mail bag to the Cape and
another portion by way of Bombay — all convenient haste
being enjoined. Many intelligent Arabs have expressed to
me their willingness to use it. If I remember rightly. Lady
Mary W. Montagu brought the knowledge of inoculation
from Turkey. This race, though bigoted, perhaps more
than the Turks, may receive the superior remedy ; and, if
they do, a great boon will be conferred, for very many
thousands perish annually and know no preventive. The
reason for my troubling you is, I do not know any of the
conductors of vaccination in London, and Professor
Phristison, of Edinburgh, who formerly put the virus up in
capillary tubes, may not now be alive. The capillary tubes
are the only means of preserving the substance fresh in this
climate I have seen, and if your Lordship will kindly submit
ray request to vaccinators to send these tubes charged with
matter, I shall be able at least to make an effort to benefit
this great population.
D. L.
LETTER NO. VII.
Dr, Livingstone to Earl Granville.
Unyanyembe, near the Kazeh of Speke, )
Feb. 20, 1872. j
My Lord — My letters to and from the coast have been
so frequently destroyed by those whose interest and cupidity
lead them to hate correspondence as likely to expose their
slaving, that I had nearly lost all heart to \vrite, but being
assured that this packet will be taken safe home by Mr.
Stanley, I add a fifth letter to four already penned, the pleas-
ure of believing that this will really come into your Lordship's
hands, overpowering the consciousness of having been much
too prohx.
The subject to which I beg to draw your attention is the
part which the Banians of Zanzibar, who are protected
British subjects, play in carrying on the slave trade in Cen-
tral Africa, especially in Manyema, the country west of
Ujiji ; together with a proposition which I have very much
at heart — the possibility of encouraging the native Christians
of English settlements on the West Coast of Africa to remove,
by voluntary emigration, to a healthy spot on this side the
Continent.
The Banian British subjects have long been and are now
the chief propagators of the Zanzibar slave trade ; their
money, and often their muskets, gunpowder, balls, flints,
beads, brass wire and calico, are annually advanced to the
Arabs at enormous interest, for the murderous work of
slaving, of the nature of which every Banian is fully aware.
Having mixed much with the Arabs in the interior, I soon
learned the whole system that is called ** butchee " or Banian
trading is simply marauding and murdering by the Arabs, at
the instigation and by the aid of our Indian fellow subjects.
(407)
4o8 THE FINDING OF
The cunning Indians secure nearly all the profits of the
caravans they send inland, and very adroitly let the odium
of slaving rest on their Arab agents. As a rule, very few
Arabs could proceed on a trading expedition unless supplied
by the Banians with arms, ammunition and goods. Slaves
are not bought in the countries to which the Banian agents
proceed — indeed it is a mistake to call the system of Ujiji
slave "trade" at all; the captives are not traded for, but
murdered for, and the gangs that are dragged coastwards
to enrich the Banians are usually not slaves, but captive free
people. A Sultan anxious to do justly rather than pocket
head-money, would proclaim them all free as soon as they
reached his territory.
Let me give an instance or two to illustrate the trade of
our Indian fellow subjects. My friend Muhamad Bogharib
sent a large party of his people far down the great river
Lualaba to trade for ivory about the middle of 187 1. He is
one of the best of the traders, a native of Zanzibar, and not
one of the mainlanders, who are lower types of man. The
best men have, however, often the worst attendants. This
party was headed by one Hassani, and he, with two other
head men, advanced to the people of Nyangwe twenty-five
copper bracelets to be paid for in ivory on their return.
The rings were worth about five shillings at Ujiji, and it
being well known that the Nyangwe people had no ivory, the
advance was a mere trap ; for, on returning and demanding
payment in ivory in vain, they began an assault which con-
tinued for three days. All the villages of a large district were
robbed, some burned, many men killed and about one hun-
dred and fifty captives secured.
On going subsequently into Southern Manyuema I met the
poorest of the above-mentioned head men, who had only
been able to advance five of the twenty-five bracelets, and
he told me that he had bought ten tusks with part of the
captives ; and having received information at the village
where I found him about two more tusks, he was waiting for
eight other captives from Muhamad's camp to purchase
them. I had now got into terms of friendship with all the
respectable traders of that quarter, and they gave informa-
tion with unrestrained freedom ; and all I state may be relied
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 409
on. On asking Muhamad himself afterwards, near Ujiji, the
proper name of Muhamad Nassur, the Indian who conspired
with Shereef to interpose hie own trade speculation between
Dr. Kirk and me, and defray all his expenses out of my
goods, he promptly replied, " This Muhamad Nassur is the
man from whom I borrowed all the money and goods for
this journey."
I will not refer to the horrid and senseless massacre which
I unwillingly witnessed at Nyangwe, in which the Arabs
themselves computed the loss of life at between three hun-
dred and four hundred souls. (See No. 4.) It pained me
sorely to let the mind dwell long enough on it to pen the
short account I gave, but 1 mention it again to point out
that the chief perpetrator, Tagamolo, received all his guns
and gunpowder from Ludha, Damji, the richest Banian and
chief slave-trader of Zanzibar. He has had the cunning to
conceal his actual participation in slaving, but there is not
an Arab in the country wh6 would hesitate a moment to
point out that, but for the money of Ludha Damji and other
Banians who borrow from him, slaving, especially in these
more distant countries, would instantly cease. It is not to
be overlooked that most other trades as well as slaving is
carried on by Banians ; the custom-house and revenue are
entirely in their hands ; the so-called governors are their
trade agents ; Syde bin Salem Buraschid, the thievish
Governor here, is merely a trade agent of Ludha, and
honesty having been no part of his qualifications for the
office, the most shameless ^transactions of other Banian
agents are all smoothed over by him. A common way he
has of concealing crimes is to place delinquents in villages
adjacent to this, and when they are inquired for by the
Sultan he reports that they are sick. It was no secret that
all the Banians looked with disfavor on my explorations and
disclosures as likely to injure one great source of their
wealth. Knowing this, it almost took away my breath when
I heard that the great but covert slave-trader Ludha Damji
had been requested to forward supplies and men to me.
This and similar applications must have appeared to Ludha
so ludicrous that he probably answered with his tongue in
his cheek. His help was all faithfully directed towards
23
410 THE FINDING OF
securing my failure. I am extremely unwilling to appear as
if making a wail on my own account, or as if trying to excite
commiseration. I am greatly more elated by the unexpected
kindness of unknown friends and the liberality and sympathy
of her Majesty's government, than cast down by losses and
obstacles. But I have a purpose in view in mentioning
ttiishaps.
Before leaving Zanzibar in 1866, I paid for and dispatched
•a, stock of goods to be placed in depot at Ujiji ; the
Banyamwezi porters, or pagazi, as usual, brought them
>honestly to this Governor or Banian agent, the same who
plundered Burton and Speke pretty freely ; and he placed
my goods in charge of his own slave Musa bin Saloom, who,
about midway between this and Ujiji, stopped the caravan
ten days while he plundered as much as he chose, and went
off to buy ivory for his owner, Karague. Saloom has been
kept out of the way ever since ; the dregs of the stores left '
by this slave are the only supplies I have received since
1866. Another stock of goods was despatched from Zanzi-
bar in 1868, but the whole was devoured at this place and
the letters destroyed, so that [ should know nothing about
them. Another large supply, sent through Ludha and his
slaves in 1869-70, came to Ujiji, and, except a few pounds
of worthless beads out of 700 pounds of fine dear beads, all
were sold off for slaves and ivory by the persons selected by
Ludha Damji. I refer to these wholesale losses because,
though well known to Ludha and all the Banians, the state-
ment was made in the House of Lords (I suppose on the
strength of Ludha's plausible fables) that all my wants had
been supplied.
By coming back in a roundabout route of 300 miles from
Ujiji, I did find two days ago a good quantity of supplies,
the remains of what had been sent from Zanzibar, sixteen ,
months ago. Ludha had again been employed, and the slaves
he selected began by loitering at Bagomoyo, opposite Zanzi-
bar, for nearly four months. A war here, which is still going
on, gave them a good excuse for going no further. The head
men were thieves, and had I not returned and seized what '
remained, I should again have lost all. All the Banian slaves
who have been sent by Ludha and other Banians were full
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 4I I
of the idea that they were not to follow but force me back.
I cannot say that I am altogether free from chagrin in
view of the worry, thwarting, baffling which the Banians and
their slaves have inflicted. Common traders procure sup-
plies of merchandise from the coast, and send loads of ivory
down by the same pagazi or carriers we employ, without any
loss. But the Banians and their agents are not their enemies.
I have lost more than two years in time, have been burdened
with 1,800 miles of tramping, and how much waste of money
I cannot say, through my affairs having been committed to
Banians and slaves who are not men. I have adhered, in
spite of losses, with a sort of John Bullish tenacity to my
task, and while bearing misfortune in as manly a way as
possible, it strikes me that it is well that I have been
brought face to face with the Banian system that inflicts
enormous evils on Central Africa. Gentlemen in India who
see only the wealth brought to Bombay and Cutch, and
know that the religion of the Banians does not allow them
to harm a fly, very naturally conclude that all Cutchees may
■safely be entrusted with the possession of slaves. But I
have been forced to see that those who shrink from killing
a flea or mosquito are virtually the worst cannibals in all
Africa. The Manyema cannibals, among whom I spent
nearly two years, are innocents compared with our protected
Banian fellow subjects. By their Arab agents they compass
the destruction of more human lives in one year than the
Manyema do for their fleshpots in ten ; and could the
Indian gentlemen, who oppose the anti-slave-trade policy of
the Foreign Office, but witness the horrid deeds done by the
Banian agents, they would be foremost in decreeing that
every Cutchee found guilty of direct or indirect slaving
should forthwith be shipped back to India, if not to the
Andaman Islands.
The Banians, having complete possession of the Custom
House and revenue of Zanzibar, enjoy ample opportunity
to aid and conceal the slave trade and all fraudulent trans-
actions committed by their agents. It would be good
policy to recommend the Sultan, as he cannot trust his
Moslem subjects, to place his income from all sources in
the hands of an English or American merchant of known
412 THE FINDING OF
uprightness. He would be a check on the slave trade, a
benefit to the Sultan and an aid to lawful commerce.
But by far the most beneficial measure that could be in-
troduced into Eastern Aft"ica would be the moral element,
which has worked so beneficially in suppressing the slave
trade around all the English settlements of the West Coast.
The Banians seem to have no religion worthy of the name,
and among Mahommedans religion and morality are com-
pletely disjoined. Different opinions have been expressed
as to the success of Christian missionaries, and gentlemen
who judge by the riff-raff that follow Indian camps speak
very unfavorably, from an impression that the drunkards
who profess to be of "master's caste and drink brandy"
are average specimens of Christian converts. But the com-
prehensive report of Colonel Ord presented to Parliament
(1865) contains no such mistake. He states that while
the presence of the squadron has had some share in sup-
pressing the slave trade, the result is mainly due to the ex-
istence of the settlements. This is supported by the fact
that, even in those least visited by men-of-war, it has been
as effectually suppressed as in those which have been their
most constant resort. The moral element which has proved
beneficial to all round the settlements is mainly due to the
teaching of missionaries. I would carefully avoid anything
like boasting over the benevolent eftbrts of our countrymen,
but here their good influences are totaly unknown. No
attempt has ever been made by the Mahommedans in East
Africa to propagate their faith, and their trade intercourse
has only made the natives more avaricious than themselves.
The fines levied on all traders are nearly prohibitive, and
nothing is given in return. Mr. Stanley was mulcted of
1,600 yards of superior calico between the sea and Ujiji,
and we made a detour of 300 miles to avoid similar spolia-
tion among people accustomed to Arabs. It has been said
that Moslems would be better missionaries than Christians,
because they would allow polygamy ; but nowhere have the
Christians been loaded with the contempt the Arabs have
to endure in addition to being plundered. To"honga"
origmally meant to make friends. It does so now in all
the more central countries, and presents are exchanged at
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 413
the ceremony, the natives usually giving the largest amount ;
but on routes much frequented by Arabs it has come to
mean not " black-mail," but forced contributions impudently
demanded, and neither service nor food returned.
If the native Christians of one or more of the English
settlements on the West Coast, which have fully accom-
plished the objects of their establishment in suppressing
the slave trade, could be induced by voluntary emigration
to remove to some healthy spot on the East Coast, they
would in time frown down the duplicity which prevails so
much in all classes that no slave treaty can bind them.
Slaves purchase their freedom in Cuba and return to un-
healthy Eagos to settle as petty traders. Men of the same
enterprising class who have been imbued with the moral at-
mosphere of our settlements, would be of incalculable value
in developing lawful commerce. Mombas is ours already ;
we left it, but never ceded it. The mainland opposite Zan-
zibar is much more healthy than the island, and the Sultan
gives as much land as can be cultivated to any one who
asks. No native right is interfered with by the gift. All
that would be required would be an able, influential man to
begin and lead the movement ; the officials already in office
could have passages in men-of-war. The only additional
cost to what is at present incurred would be a part of the
passage money on loan and small rations and house rent,
both of which are very cheap, for half a year. It would be
well to prevent Europeans, even as missionaries, from en-
tering the settlement till it was well established.
Many English in new climates reveal themselves to be
born fools, and then blame some one for having advised
them, or lay their own excesses to the door of African fever.
That disease is in all conscience bad enough, but medical
men are fully aware that frequently it is not fever, but folly
that kills. Brandy, black women and lazy inactivity are
worse than the climate. A settlement, once fairly estab-
lished and reputed safe, will not long lack religious teachers,
and it will then escape the heavy burden of being a scene
for martyrdom.
If the Sultan of Zanzibar were relieved from the heavy
subsidy to the ruler of Muscat, he would, for the relief granted,
414 THE FINDING OF
readily concede all that one or two transferred English set-
tlements would require. The English name, now respected
in all the interior, would be a sort of safeguard to petty-
traders, while gradually supplanting the unscrupulous Ban-
ians who abuse it. And lawful trade would, by the aid of
English and American merchants, be exalted to a position
it has never held since Banians and Moslems emigrated to
Africa It is true that Lord Canning did ordain that the
annual subsidy should be paid by Zanzibar to Muscat. But
a statesman of his eminence never could have contemplated
it as an indefinite aid to eager slave traders, while non-pay-
ment might be used to root out the wretched traffic. If in
addition to the relief suggested the Sultan of Zanzibar were
guaranteed protection from his relations and others in Mus-
cat, he would feel it to be his interest to observe a treaty to
suppress slaving all along his coast.
I am thankful in now reporting myself well supplied with
stores, ample enough to make a feasible finish-up of the geo-
graphical portion of my mission. This is due partly to the
goods I seized two days ago from the slaves, who have
been feasting on them for the last sixteen months, but chief-
ly to a large assortment of the best barter articles presented
by Henry M. Stanley, who, as I have already informed Your
Lordship, was kindly sent by James Gordon Bennett, Jr.,
of New York, and who bravely persisted, in the teeth of the
most serious obstacles, till he found me at Ujiji, shortly, or
one month, after my return from Manyema, ill and desti-
tute. It will readily be believed that I feel deeply grateful
for this disinterested and unlooked-for kindness. The sup-
plies I seized two days ago, after a return march of 300
miles, laid on me by the slaves in charge refusing to accom-
pany Mr. Stanley to Ujiji, were part of those sent off in the
end of October, 1870, at the instance of Her Majesty's gov-
ernment, and are virtually the only stores worthy of the
name that came to hand, besides those despatched by Dr.
Seward and myself in 1866. And all in consequence of
Ludha and Banian slaves having unwittingly been employed
to forward an expedition opposed to their slaving interests.
It was no doubt amiable in Dr. Kirk to believe the polite
Banians in asserting that they would send stores oflf at once>
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 4 1 5
and again that my wants had all been supplied ; but it would
have been better to have dropped the money into Zanzibar
harbor than trust it in their hands, because the whole popu-
lation has witnessed the open plunder of English property,
and the delinquents are screened from justice by Banian
agents. The slaves need no more than a hint to plunder
and baffle. Shereef and all the Banian slaves who acted in
accordance with the view^s of their masters are now at Ujiji
and Unyanyembe by the connivance of the Governor, or
rather, Banian trade agent, Syde bin Salem Buraschid, v/ho^
when the wholesale plunder by Shereef became known^
wrote to me that he (the Governor) had no hand in it I
never said he had.
However, though sorely knocked up, ill and dejected, on
arriving at Ujiji, I am now completely recovered in health
and spirits. I need no more goods, but I draw on Her
Majesty's government, in order that Mr. Stanley may
employ and send off fifty free men, but no slaves, from Zan-
zibar. I need none but them, and have asked Seyed Burg-
hash to give me a good, honest head man, with a character
that may be inquired into. I expect them about the end of
June, and after all the delay I have endured feel quite exhil-
arated at the prospect of doing my work.
Geographers will be interested to know the plan I propose
to follow. I shall at present avoid Ujiji, and go about south-
west from this to Fipa, which is east of and near the south
end of Tanganyika ; then round the same south end, only
touching it again at Pambette ; thence resuming the south-
west course, to cross the Chambeze and proceed along the
the southern shores of Lake Bangweolo, which being in
latitude 1 2 degrees south, the course will be due west to the
ancient fountains of Herodotus. From them it is about ten
days north to Katanga, the copper mines of which have been
worked for ages. The Malachite ore is described as so
abundant that it can only be mentioned by the coal-
heavers' phrase, " practically inexhaustible."
About ten days north east of Katanga very extensive under-
ground rock excavations deser\'e attention as very
ancient, the native ascribing their formation to the Deity
alone. They are remarkable for all having water laid on in
4l6 THE FINDING OF
running streams, and the inhabitants of large districts can all
take refuge in them in case of invasion. Returning from them
to Katanga, twelve days north-northwest, take to the southern
end of Lake Lincoln. I wish to go down through it to
the Lomani,* and into Webb's Lualaba and home. I was
mistaken in the information that a waterfall existed between
Tanganyika and Albert Nyanza. Tanganyika is of no in-
terest except in a very remote degree in connection with
the sources of the Nile. But what if I am mistaken, too,
about the ancient fountain ? Then we shall see. I know
the rivers they are said to form — two north and two south ;
and in batding down the central line of drainage the enor-
mous amount of westing caused me to feel at times as if running
my head against a stone wall. It might, after all, be the Congo;
and who would care to run the risk of being put into
a cannibal pot and converted into a black man for anything
less than the grand old Nile ? But when I found that
Lualaba forsook its westing and received through Kamo-
londo Bartle Frere's great river, and that afterwards, further
down, it takes in Young's great stream through Lake Lin-
coln, I ventured to think I was on the right track.
Two great rivers arise somewhere on the western end of
the watershed and flow north — to Egypt .{?). Two other
large rivers rise in the same quarter and flow south, as the
Zambesi or Lambai, and the Kafue into Inner Ethiopia.
Yet I speak with diffidence, for I have no affinity with an
untravelled would-be geographer, who used to swear to the
fancies he collected from slaves till he became blue in the
face.
I know about six hundred miles of the watershed pretty
fairly. I turn to the seventh hundred miles, with pleasure
and hope. I want no companion now, though discovery
means hard work. Some can make what they call theore-
tical discoveries by dreaming. I should like to otfer a prize
for an explanation of the correlation of the structure and
economy of the watershed with the structure and economy
of the great lacustrine rivers in the production of the pheno-
nema of the Nile. The prize cannot be undervalued by
competitors even who may only have dreamed of what has
given me very great trouble, though they may have hit on
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 417
the division of labor in dreaming, and each discovered one
or two hundred miles. In the actual discovery so far I
went two years and six months without once tasting tea,
coffee or sugar ; and except at Ujiji, have fed on buffaloes,
rhinoceros, elephants, hippopotami, and cattle of that sort,
and have come to believe that EngHsh roast beef and plum
pudding must be the real genuine theobroma, the food of
the gods, and I offer to all successful competitors a glorious
feast of beefsteak and stout. No competition will be allow-
ed after I have published my own explanation, on pain of
immediate execution, without benefit of clergy !
I send home my journal by Mr. Stanley, sealed, to my
daughter Agnes. It is one of Lett's large folio diaries, and
is full except a few (five) pages reserved for altitudes which
I cannot at present copy. It contains a few private memo-
randa for my family alone, and I adopt this course in. order
to secure it from risk in my concluding trip.
Trusting that your Lordship will award me your approba-
tion and sanction to a little longer delay, I have, &c.,
DAVID LIVINGSTONE,
Her Majesty's Consul, Inner Africa.
LETTER VIII.
Letter to Earl Granville.
The following interesting letter received by Earl Gran-
ville from Dr. Livingstone, is published in the London
papers of October 22 nd : —
Unyanyembe, July ist, 1872.
t Mv Lo«s.D — It is necessary to recall to memory that I wasi
subjected to very great inconvenience by the employment
of slaves instead of freemen. It caused me the loss of
quite two years of time, inflicted 1,800 or 2,000] miles of
useless marching, imminent risk of violent death four several
times, and how much money I cannot tell. Certain Banians,
Indian British subjects, headed by one Ludha Damji,
seemed to have palmed off their slaves on us at more than ,
double freemen's pay, and all the slaves were imbued
with the idea that they were not to follow but to force me
back. By the money and goods of these Banians nearly all
the slave trade of this region is carried on. They employed
dishonest agents to conduct the caravans, and this has led
to my being plundered four several times. No trader is
thus robbed. I sent a complaint of this to Dr. Kirk, and
in my letter of the 14th of November last I enclosed a copy
in the hope that, if necessary, his hands might be strength-
ened by the Foreign Office in administering justice; and I
was in hopes that he would take action in the matter
promptly, because the Banians and their dishonest agent
Shereef, placed a private trade speculation between Dr.
Kirk and me, and we were unwittingly led into employing
slaves, though we all objected to Captain Eraser doing the
same on his sugar estate. I regret very much to hear inci-
(418)
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 419
dentally that Dr. Kirk viewed my formal complaint against
the Banians as a covert attack upon himself. If I had fore-
seen this I should certainly have borne all my losses in
silence. I never had any difference with him, though we
were together for years, and I had no intention to give
offence now, but the public interest taken in this expedition
enforces publicity as to the obstacles that prevented its work
being accomplished years ago. I represented the Banians
and their agents as the cause of all my losses, and that the
Governor here is their chief trade agent. This receives con-
firmation from the fact that Sheeref and all the first gang of
slaves are living comfortably with him at a village about
twelve miles distant from the spot at which I write.
Having, as I mentioned in my above letter, abundant sup-
plies to enable me in a short time to make a feasible finish
up of my work, and the first and second gangs of slaves
having proved so very, unsatisfactory. I felt extremely
anxious that no more should come, and requested Mr.
Stanley to hire fifty freemen at Zanzibar, and, should he
meet the party of slaves coming, by all means to send them
back. No matter what expense had been incurred, I would
cheerfully pay it all. I had no idea that this would lead to
the stoppage of an English expedition sent in the utmost
kindness to my aid. I am really and truly profoundly
grateful for the generous effort of my noble countrymen, and
deeply regret that my precaution against another expedition
of slaves should have damped the self-denying zeal of gentle-
men who have not a particle of the slave spirit in them.
As I shall now explain, but little good could have been done
in the direction in which I propose to go ; but had we a
telegraph, or even a penny post, I should have advised Dr.
Kirk in another direction that would have pleased the
Council. A war has being going on here for the last twelve
months. It resembles one of our own Caffre wars in min-
iature, but it enriches no one. All trade is stopped, and
there ir, a general lawlessness all over the country. I pro-
pose to avoid this confusion by going southwards to Fipa,
then round the south end of Tanganyika, and, crossing the
Chambeze, proceed west along the shore of the Lake Bang-
weolo, being then in latitude 12 degrees south. I wish to
420 THE FINDING OF
go Straight west to the ancient fountains reported at the end
of the watershed, then turn north to the copper mines of
Katanga, which are only about ten days south-west of the
underground excavations. Returning thence to Katanga,
twelve days south-west leads to the head of Lake Lincoln.
Arrived there I shall devoutly thank Providence, and retire
along Lake Kamolondo towards Ujiji and home. By this
trip I hope to make up for the loss of ground caused by the
slaves.
If I retired now, as I wish with all my heart I could do
with honor, I should be conscious of having left the dis-
covery of the sources unfinished, and that soon some one
€lse would come and show the hollowness of my claim ; and
worse by far than that, the Banians and their agents, who I
beHeve conspired to baffle me, would virtually have success
in their' design. I already know many of the people among
whom I go as quite friendly, because I travelled extensively
in that quarter in eliminating "the error into which I was led
by the Chambeze being called by the Portuguese and others
the Zambesi. I should very much like to visit the Basango,
who are near my route, but I restrict myself to six or eight
months more sustained exertions.
Five generations ago a white man came to the Highlands
of Basango, which are in a line east of the watershed. He
had six attendants, who all died, and eventually their head
man, Charura, was elected chief by the Basango. In the
third generation he had sixty able-bodied spearmen as lineal
descendents. This implies an equal number of the other
sex. They are very light in color, and easily known, as no
one is allowed to wear coral beads such as Charura brought
except the royal family. A book he brought was lost only
lately. The interest of the case lies in its connection with
Mr. Darwin's celebrated theory on the "Origin of Species,"
for it shows that an improved variety, as we whites modestly
call ourselves, is not so liable to be swamped by numbers as
some have thought.
Two Magitu chiefs live near the route. I would fain call
and obtain immunity for Englishmen such as has been
awarded to the Arabs of Seyed Majid, but I am at present
much to rich to go among thieves. At other times when I
, DR. LIVINGSTONE. » 42 1
have called I have gone safely, because, to use a Scotch
proverb, "No one can take the breeks off a Highlander."
With ordinary success I hope to be back at Ujiji eight
months hence. If any one doubts the wisdom of my de-
cision, or suspects me of want of love to my family in
making this final trip, I can confidently appeal for appro-
bation to the Council of the Royal Geographical Society as
thoroughly understanding the subject.
Had it been possible for me to know of the coming of
the late Search Expedition, I should certainly have tnade
use of it as a branch expedition to explore Lake Victoria,
for which the naval officers selected were, no doubt, per-
fectly adapted. The skeleton of a boat left here by Mr.
Stanley would have served their purpose, and they would
have had all the merit of independent exploration and
success. « » * -
I travelled for a considerable time in company with three
intelligent Suabelli, who had lived three, six, and nine years
respectively in the country east of the Victoria Lake, there
called Okara, but on this side Urkara. They described
three or four lakes only, one of which sends its waters to
the north. Okara seems to be Lake Victoria proper.
About its middle it gives off an arm eastward, called Kidette,
in which many weirs are set and many fish caught. It
is three days in length by canoe, and joins Lake Kavirondo,
which may not deserve to be called a lake, but only an
arm of Okara. Very dark people live on it and have
cattle. The Masiri are further east. To the south-east of
Kavirondo stands Lake Neibash, or Neybash. They
travelled along its southern bank for three days, and thence
saw Mount Kimanjaro, also in the south-east. It had no
oudet away far to the north of Kavirondo. They described
Lake Baringo (not Bahrugo). A river, or rivulet, called
Ngare-na-Rogwa, flows into it from the south or south-east.
Its name signifies that it is brackish. Baringo gives forth a
river to the north-east, called Ngardabash. The land east
and west of Baringo is called Burnkinegge, and Gallahs,
with camels and horses, are reported, but my informants did
not see them. I give their information only for what it may
be worth. Their object was plunder, and they could
422 THE FINDING OF
scarcely be mistaken as to the number of lakes, where
we suppose there is only one. The Okara, or Lake Vic-
toria proper, is the largest, and has many very large islands
in it. I have not the faintest wish to go near it, either now
or at any future time. In performing my one work I desire
to do it well, and I think that I may lay claim to some per-
severance. Yet, if ordered to go anywhere else, I should
certainly plead " severe indisposition " or " urgent private
affairs." I have been reported as living among the Arabs
as one of themselves, that only means that I am on good
terms with them all. They often call me the " Christian,"
and I never swerved from that character in any one respect
An original plan of getting the longitude, which I sub-
mitted to Sir Thomas Maclear, of the Royal Observatory at
the Cape, igives 27 degrees east as the longitude of the great
river Lualaba, in latitude 4 degs. 9 south. It runs between
26 degs. to 27 degs. east, and is therefore not so far west as
my reckoning, carried^ on [without watch, through dense
forests and gigantic grasses, made it. It is thus less likely
to be the Congo, and I ought'to meet Baker on it. In re-
ference' to the ancient* fountains, I already know the four
rivers that unquestionably do' arise near or j on the western
end of the watershed. Mr. Oswell and I were told about
185 1 that the Kafue and Liambai (Upper Zambesi) arose
at one spot, though we were then some 300 miles distant.
The two rivers Lomame and Lufira come from the same
quarter. The only point that remains doubtful is the dis-
tancejof their fountain-heads, and this I am very anxious to
ascertain. I send astronomical observations and a sketch
map to Sir Thomas Maclear by a native. The map is very
imperfect from want of convenience for^tracing, and no po-
sition is to be considered settled or published until it is
circulated at the observatory. There is a good deal of risk
in so doing, but not so much danger as if I entrusted it to
my friend, the governor. A former sketch map, a multitude
of astronomical observations, and nearly all my letters, always
disappeared here ; but it is better that they run^the risk in^he
hand of a native than go with one over waters innumerable.
The fear of losing my journal altogether led me to entrust it
o Mr. Stanley to be kept by my daughter till I return, and I
DR. LIVINGSTONE.
423
hope it has arrived safely. I am waiting here only till my
fifty men arrive.
In conclusion, let me beg your Lordship to offer my very
warmest thanks to the Council and Fellows of the Royal
Geographical Society, and to^all who kindly contributed in
any way towards securing my safety. I really feel that no
one in this world ought to be more deeply grateful than
your obedient servant,
DAVID LIVINGSTONE.
DR. LIVINGSTONE.
The following letter has been received by Sir Bartle Frere
from the adventurous Doctor : — •
" Unyanyembe, July ist, 1872.
" My dear Sir Bartle, — I embrace the opportunity of
a native going to the coast to send a sketch-map and a
number of astronomical observations towards the Cape
Observatory; copies of the same were sent long ago (1869),
but disappeared at this place of the * longnebbed ' name, and
almost everything else sent subsequently vanished in the
same way. I am now between two fires or dangers ; for if
I take up my journal, map, and observations \vith me in my
concluding trip I am afraid that in crossing rivers and lakes
they would be injured or lost. There is a danger, too, of
losing them between this and the coast ; but the last is the
homeward route. I entrusted my journal to Mr. Stanley
for like reasons ; and now I have but a short trip in pros-
pect to make a feasible finish up of my work. It is to go
round south, about all the sources, while actually shaping my
course towards the ancient fountains. I perpetrate a heavy
joke a.t the geographers by offering a prize for the best
explanation of the structure and economy of the watershed,
in correlation with the great lakes and lacustrine rivers, in
producing the phenomena of the Nile ; and now they will
turn the laugh against me if I have to put in fountains
which have no existence. The rivers that rise near the west
end of the watershed I know, and they give me good hopes
that the reports I have heard so often are true. I have a
copy of Ptolemy's map with me, copied by a young lady at
Bombay. It does not contain the fountains referred to, but
(424)
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 435
it contains the Monies Lunce, and as I found the springs of
the Nile rising at the base of certain hills on the watershed
in Ptolemy's latitude, I am bracing myself up to call every
one who won't believe in his Lunce Monies a Philistine.
After Katanga copper mines, which are eight days north of
the fountains, I go ten days north-east to extensive under-
ground excavations, used as places of retreat and safety.
One I came near, but was refused an entrance. It was
sufficient to receive the inhabitants of a large district with
all their gear. A burrowing race seems to have inhabited
Africa at a very remote period. Big feet are the only sculp-
ture I have seen, and they are like the footprints of Adam
on the mountain in Ceylon. Returning to Katanga, I pro-
pose to go twelve days north-north-west to the head of
Lake Lincoln, and then turn back along Lake Kamalondo
homeward. The Banians and their agents have hindered
us greatly by palming off their slaves on Dr. Kirk and me
as free men. If I can but make this short trip successfully
I shall frustrate their design of baffling all my progress. I
complained to Kirk against them, and he, unfortunately,
took it as a covert attack on himself, which was never my
intention, and makes me sorry. I think that the delinquents
should be punished In fear of a third batch of slaves
being imposed on us, I desired Stanley, if he met any such,
to turn them back, no matter how much he had expended
on them. This led to the resignation of the naval officers
in charge. I had not the remotest suspicion that a Search
Expedition was coming, and am very much grieved to think
that I may appear ungrateful. On the contrary, I feel ex-
tremely thankful, and from the bottom of my heart thank
you and all concerned for your very great kindness and
generosity. I wish they had thought of Lake Victoria when
not needed here.
" By an original and perhaps absurd plan, I tried to get a
longitude for the great central line of drainage out of a dead
chronometer. I have submitted it to Sir Thomas Maclear.
He is used to strange things. Ladies have come asking to
have their futures told them by the stars. My horoscope
tells me that in latitude 49 deg. south the Lualaba runs
between 26 and 27 deg. east. Never mind about the truth
24
426 THE FINDING OF
of it ; it makes this great river less likely to be the Congo.
Surely I may joke about it when others get angry when they
talk about Inner Africa, which they never saw. In a speech
of yours reported in an Overiand Mail that came to hand
yesterday, you say, if I read it right, that the government
has given ^300 to my daughters. I read it over and over
again to be sure, for it seemed too good news to be true.
If there is no mistake, my blessing upon them. I have
only been trying to do my duty like a Briton, and I take it
as extremely kind that me and mine have been remembered
by Her Majesty's Ministers.
" I am distressed at hearing no tidings of Sir Roderick,
except that he had been ill. It awakens fears for the dearest
friend in life.
" With kind salutations to Lady, and Miss Frere, I am^
affectionately yours,
"DAVID LIVINGSTONE."
EXTRACT FROM LIVINGSTONE'S LETTER OF
THANKS TO MR. BENNETT.
Ujiji OR Tanganyika, East Africa,
November, 187 1.
}
yarms Gordon Bennett^ Esq., yunior :
My Dear Sir — It is in general somewhat difficult to write
to one we have never seen. It feels so much like address-
ing an abstract idea, but the presence of your representative
Mr. H. M. Stanley in this distant region takes away the
strangeness I should otherwise have felt, and in wri*;ing to
thank you for the extreme kindness that prompted you to
send him I feel quite at home. If I explain the forlorn con-
dition in which he found me, you will easily percieve that I
have good reason to use \ery strong expressions of grati-
tude. I came to Ujiji after a tramp of between 400 and 500
miles beneath a blazing vertical sun, having been baffled,
worried, defeated and forced to return, when almost in sight
of the end of the geographical part of my mission, by a
number of half-caste Moslem slaves sent to me from Zanzi-
bar instead of men. The sore heart made still sorer, by the
truly woeful sights I had seen of "man's inhumanity to man,"
'reacted on the bodily frame, and depressed it beyond mea-
sure — I thought that I was dying on my feet. It is not too
much to say that almost every step of the weary sultry way
was in pain, and I reached Ujiji a mere ruckle of bones.
Here I found that some ;^5oo worth of goods I had or-
dered from Zanzibar had unaccountably been entrusted to a
drunken half-caste Moslem tailor, who after squandering
them for sixteen months in the way to Ujiji, finished up by
(427)
428 ' THE FINDING OF
selling off all that remained for slaves and ivory for himself.
He had divined on the Koran and was informed that I was
dead. *****
I conclude by again thanking you most cordially for your
generosity and am gratefully yours,
DAVID LIVINGSTONE.
DR. LIVINGSTONE'S SECOND LETTER TO THE
NEW YORK HERALD.
SOUTH-E ASTERN CENTRAL AfRICA, )
Feburary, 1872. j
My dear Sir, — I wish to say a little about the slave
trade in Eastern Africa. It is not a very inviting subject,
and to some I may appear as supposing your readers to be
very much akin to the old lady who relished her paper for
neither births, deaths, nor marriages, but for good racy
bloody murders. I am, however, far from fond of the hor-
rible — often wish I could forget the scenes I have seen, and
certainly never try to inflict on others the sorrow which, being
a witness of " man's inhumanity to man," has often entailed
on myself.
Some of your readers know that about five years ago I
undertook, at the instigation of my very dear old friend. Sir
Roderick Murchison, Bart., the task of examining the water-
shed of South Central Africa. The work had a charm for
my mind, because the dividing line between North and South
was unknown, and a fit object for exploration. Having a
work in hand, I at first recommended another for the task ;
but, on his declining to go without a handsome salary and
something to fall back on afterwards, I agreed to go myself,
and was encouraged by Sir Roderick saying, in his warm,
jovial manner, "You will be the real discoverer of the
sources of the Nile." I thought that two years would be
sufficient to go from the coast inland across the head of
Lake Nyassa to the watershed, wherever that might be, and,
after examination, try to begin a benevolent mission with
some tribe on the slopes reaching towards the coast. Had
I known all the time, toil, hunger, hardships, and worry
involved in that precious water-parting, I might have pre-
(429)
43°
THE FINDING OF
ferred having my head shaved, and a blister put on it, to
grappling with my good old friend's task. But, having taken
up the burden, I could not bear to be beaten by it. I shall
tell you a little about the progress made by-and-bye. At
present, let me give you a glimpse of the slave trade with
which the search and discovery of most of the Nile fountains
has brought me face to face. The whole traffic, whether on
land or ocean, is a gross outrage of the common law of
mankind. It is carried on from age to age, and, in addition
to the untold evils it inflicts, it presents almost insurmount-
able obstacles to intercourse between the different portions
of the human family. This open sore in the world is partly
owing to human cupidity, and partly to ignorance among the
more civihzed of mankind of the blight which lights chiefly
on the more degraded. Piracy on the high seas was once
as common as slave-trading is now. But as it became
thoroughly known, the whole civilized w^orld rose against it.
In now trying to make the Eastern African slave trade
better known to Americans, I indjilge the hope that I am
aiding on, though in a small degree, the good time coming
yet, when slavery as well as piracy shall be chased from the
world.
Many have but a faint idea of the evils that trading in
slaves inflicts on the victims and on the authors of the atroci-
ties. Most people imagine that negroes, after being brutal-
ized by a long course of servitude, with but few of the
ameliorating influences that elevate more favoured races, are
fair average specimens of the African man.
Our ideas are derived from the slaves of the West Coast,
who have for ages been subjected to domestic bondage and
all the depressing agencies of a most unhealthy climate.
These have told most injuriously on their physical frames,
while fraud and trade rum have ruined their mortal
natures.
Not to discriminate, the difference is monstrous injustice
to the main body of the population, living free in the interior
under their own chiefs and laws, cultivating their own farms,
catching the fish of their own rivers, or fighting bravely with
the grand old denizens of the forests, which in more recent
continents can only be reached in rocky strata or under
perennial ice.
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 43 1
Winwoode Rccade hit the truth when he said the ancient
Egyptian, with his large round black eyes, full luscious lips,
and somewhat depressed nose, is far nearer the typical negro
than the West Coast African, who has been debased by the
unhealthy land he lives in.
Slaves generally — and especially those on the West Coast,
at Zanzibar and elsewhere — are extremely ugly. I have no
prejudice against their colour ; indeed, any one who lives
long among them forgets that they are black, and feels that
they are just fellow-men. But the low retreating foreheads,
prognathous jaws, lark heels, and other physical peculiarities
common among slaves and West Coast negroes, always
awaken the same feelings of aversion as those with which we
view specimens of the " Bill Sykes " and " bruiser " class in
England.
I would not utter a syllable calculated to press down
either class more deeply in the mire in which they are
already sunk. But I wish to point out that these are not
typical Africans any more than typical Englishmen, and that
the natives of nearly all the high, lands of the interior of
the Continent are, as a rule, fair average specimens of
humanity.
I happened to be present when all the head men of the
great chief Insama, who lives west of the south end of Tan-
ganyika, had come together to make peace with certain
Arabs who had burned their chief town, and I am certain
one could not see more finely-formed intellectual heads in
any assembly in London or Paris, and the faces and forms
corresponded witli the finely-shaped heads.
Insama himself had been a sort of Napoleon for fighting
and conquering in his younger days, was exactly like the
ancient Assyrians sculptured on the Nineveh marbles, as
Nimrod and others ; he showed himself to be one of our-
selves by habitually indulging in copious potations of beer,
C2i\\QA pombe, and had become what Nathaniel Hawthorne
called " bulbous " below the ribs.
I don't know where the phrase '* bloated aristocracy"
arose. It must be American, for I have had glimpses of a
good many English noblemen, and Insama was the only
specimei^ of a bloated aristocrat on whom I ever set my
eyes.
432 THE FINDING OF
Many of the women were very pretty, and, like all ladiesy
would have been much prettier if they had only let them-
selves alone. Fortunately, the dears could not change their
charming black eyes, beautiful foreheads, nicely rounded
limbs, well-shaped forms, and small hands and feet. But
they must adorn themselves ; and this they do — oh, the
hussies 1 — by filing their splendid teeth to points like cat's
teeth. It was distressing, for it made their smile, which has
generally so much power over us great he-donkeys, rather
crocodile-like. Oranments are scarce. What would our
ladies do, if they had none, but pout and lecture us on
" women's rights ?" But these specimens of the fair sex
make shift by adorning their fine warm brown skins, tattoo-
ing them with various pretty devices without colours, that,
besides purposes of beauty, serve the heraldic uses of our
Highland tartans. They are not black, but of a light warm
brown colour, and so very sistgrish — if I may use the new
coinage — it feels an injury done to one's self to see a bit of
grass stuck through the cartilage of the nose, so as to bulge out
the alcB nasi (wings of the nose of anatomists). Cazambe's
Queen — a Ngombe, Moari by name — would be esteemed a
real beauty either in London, Paris, or New York, and yet
she had a small hole through the cartilage near the tip of
her fine slightly aquiline nose. But she had only filed one
side of the two fronts of her superb snow-white teeth ; and
then what a laugh she had ! Let those who wish to know
go and see her carried to her farm in her pony phaeton,
which is a sort of throne fastened on two very long poles,
and carried by twelve stalwart citizens. If they take Punch's
motto for Cazembe, " Niggers don't require to be shot here,"
as their own, they may show themselves to be men ; but,
whether they do or not, Cazembe will show himself a man
of sterling good sense.
Now these people, so Hke ourselves externally, have
genuine human souls. Rua, a very large section of country
north and west of Cazembe's, but still in the same inland
region, is peopled by men very like those of Insama and
Cazembe.
An Arab, Said Bin Habib, went to trade in Rua two years
ago, and, as the Arabs usually do where the natives have no
DR. LITINGSTONE. 433
guns, Said Bin Habib's elder brother carried matters with a
high hand. The Rua men observed that the elder brother
slept in a white tent, and, pitching their spears into it by-
night, killed him. As Moslems never forgive bloodshed, the
younger brother forthwith ran a muck at all indiscriminately
in a large district.
Let it not be supposed that any of these people are like
the American Indians — insatiable, bloodthirsty savages, who
will not be reclaimed or enter into terms of lasting friend-
ship with fair-dealing strangers.
Had the actual murderers been demanded, and a little
time been granted, I feel morally certain, from many other
instances among tribes who, like the Ba Rue, have not been
spoiled by Arab traders, they would have all been given up.
The chiefs of the country would, first of all, have specified
the crime of which the elder brother was guilty, and who
had been led to avenge it. It is very likely that they would
stipulate that no other should be punished but the actual
perpetrator. Domestic slaves, acting under his orders, would
be considered free from blame. I know of nothing that
distinguishes the uncontaminated Africans from other de-
graded peoples more than their entire reasonableness and
good sense. It is different after they have had wives,
children, and relatives kidnapped ; but that is more than
human nature, civilized or savage, can bear. In the case in
question, indiscriminate slaughter, capture, and plunder
took place. A very large number of very fine young men
were captured and secured in chains and wooden yokes. 1
came near the party of Said Bin Habib close to a point
where a huge rent in the mountains of Rua allows the escape
•f the great River Lualaba out of Lake Moero. And here
I had for the first time an opportunity of observing the dif-
ference between slaves and freemen made captives. When
fairly across Lualaba, Said thought his captives safe, and got
rid of the trouble of attending to and watching the chained
gangs by taking off both chains and yokes. All declared
their joy and perfect willingness to follow Said to the end of
the world or elsewhere, but next morning twenty-two made ,
clear off to the mountains. Many more, on seeing the broad
Lualaba roll between them and the homes of their infancy,
434 THE FINDING OF
lost all heart, and in three days eight of them died. They
had no complaint but pain in the heart, and they pointed
out its seat correctly, though many believe that the heart is
situated underneath the top of the sternum or breast-bone.
This to me was the most startling death I ever saw. They
evidently died of broken-heartedness, and the Arabs won-
dered, " seeing they had plenty to eat." I saw others
perish, particularly a very fine boy of ten or twelve years of
age. When asked where he felt ill, he put his hand correctly
and exactly over the heart. He was kindly carried, and as
he breathed out his soul was laid gently on the side of the
path. The captors were not unusually cruel. They were
callous — slaving had hardened their hearts.
When Said, who was an old friend of mine, crossed the
Lualaba, he heard that I was in a village where a company
of slave traders had been furiously assaulted for three days
by justly incensed Mabemba. I would not fight, nor allow
my people to fire if I saw them, because the Mabemba had
been especially kind to me. Said sent a party of his own
people to invite me to leave the village by night, and come
to him. He showed himself the opposite of hard-hearted ;
but slaving '' hardens all within, and petrifies the feelings."
It is bad for the victinis, and ill for the victimizers.
I once saw a party of twelve who had been slaves in their
own country — Lunda or Londa, of which Cazembe is chief
or general. They were loaded with , large, heavy wooden
yokes, which are forked trees about three inches in diameter
and seven or eight feet long. The neck is inserted in the
fork, and an iron bar driven in across from one end of the
fork to the other, and riveted ; the other end is tied at night
to a tree or to the ceiling of a hut, and the neck being firm
in the fork, the slave is held off from unloosing it. It is
excessively troublesome to the wearer ; and when marching,
two yokes are tied together by their free ends, and loads
put on the slaves' heads besides. Women, having in addi-
tion to the yoke and load a child on the back, have said to
me on passing, ** They are killing me ; if they would take
off the yoke I could manage the load and child, but I shall
die with three loads." One who spoke thus did die, and
the poor little girl, her child, perished of starvation. I
DR. LITINGSTONE. 435
interceded for some ; but, \fhen unyoked, off they bounded
into the long grass, and I was gently blamed for not caring
to preserve the owner's property. After a day's march under
a broiling vertical sun, with yokes and heavy loads,'the
strongest are exhausted. The party of twelve above men-
tioned were sitting singing and laughing. " Hallo !" said I,
" these fellows take to it kindly ; this must be the class for
whom philosophers say slavery is the natural state ; " and 1
went and asked the cause of their mirth. I had to ask the
aid of their owner as to the meaning of the word rukhay
which usually means to fly or to leap. They were using it
to express the idea of haunting, as a ghost, and inflicting
disease and death ; and the song was, " Yes, we are going
away to Manga (abroad, or white man's land) with yokes on
our necks ; but we shall have no yokes in death, and we
shall return to haunt and kill you." The chorus then struck
in with the name of the man who had sold each of them,
and then followed the general laugh, in which at first I saw
no bitterness. Perembe, an old man at least 104 years,
had been one of the sellers. In accordance with African
belief, they have no doubt of being soon able, by ghost
power, to kill even him. Their refrain might be rendered,
Oh, oh, oh !
Bird of freedom, oh !
You sold me, oh, oh, oh !
I shall haunt you, oh, oh, oh I
The laughter told not of mirth, but of the tears of such as
were oppressed, and they had no comforter. ^ " He that is
higher than the highest regardeth."
About north-east of Rua we have a very large country
called Manyuema, but by the Arabs it is shortened into
Manyema. It is but recently known. The reputation
which the Manyuema enjoyed of being cannibals, pre-
vented the half-caste Arab traders from venturing among
them.
The circumstantial details of the practices of the men-
eaters given by neighbouring tribes were confirmed by two
Arabs, who two years ago went as far as Bambarre, and
secured the protection and friendship of Moenekuss — lord
43^ THE FINDING OF
of the light-grey parrot with scarlet tail — who was a very
superior man.
The minute details of cannibal orgies given by the Arabs'
attendants erred through sheer excess of the shocking.
Had I believed a tenth part of what I was told I might
never have ventured into Manyuema ; but, fortunately, my
mother never frightened me with " Bogie*' and stuff of that
sort, and I am not liable to fits of bogiephobia, in which
disease the poor patient believes everything awful if only it
is attributed to the owner of a black skin. I have heard
that the complaint was epidemic lately in Jamaica, and the
planters' mothers have much to answer for. I hope that
the disease may never spread in the United States.
The people there are believed to be inoculated with com-
mon sense.
But why go among the cannibals at all ? Was it not like
joining the Alpine Club in order to be lauded if you don't
break your neck where your neck ought to be broken ?
This n; .'vcsme turn back to the watershed, as I promised.
It :s a broad belt of tree-covered upland, some 700 miles
in length from west to east. The general altitude is be-
tween 4,000 and 5,000 feet above the sea, and mountains
stand on it at various points which are between 6,000 and
7,000 feet above the ocean level. On this watershed
springs arise v.'hich are well-nigh innumerable — that is, it
would take half a man's lifetime to count them. These
springs join each other and form brooks, which again con-
verge and become rivers, or say streams, of twenty, forty,
or eighty yards, that never dry. All flow towards the
centre of an immense valley, which I believe to be the Val-
ley of the Nile.
In this trough we have at first three large rivers. Then
all unite into one enormous lacustrine river, the central line
of drainage, which I name Webb's Lualaba. In this great
Talley there are five great lakes. One near the upper end
is called Lake Bemba, or, more properly, Bangweolo, but
it is not a source of the Nile, for no large river begins in a
lake. It is supplied by a river called Chambezi and several
others, which may be considered sources ; and out of it
flows the large river Luapula, which enters Lake Moero and
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 457
comes out as the great lake river Lualaba to form Lake
Kamolondo. West of Kamolondo, but still in the great
valley, lies Lake Lincoln, which I named as my little tribute
of love to the great and good man America enjoyed for
some time and lost.
One of the three great rivers I mentioned — Bartlc
Frere's, or Lufira — falls into Kamolondo, and Lake Lin-
coln becomes a lacustrine river, and it, too, joins the cen-
tral line of drainage, but lower down, and all three united
form the fifth lake, which the slaves sent to me instead of
men, forced me, to my great grief, to leave as the " un-
known lake." By my reckoning — the chronometers being
all dead — it is five degrees of lontitude west of Speke's po-
sition of Ujiji ; this makes it probable that the great lacus-
trine river in the valley is the western branch — or Pethe-
rick's Nile — the Bahar Ghazal, and not the eastern branch,
which Speke, Grant, and Baker believed to be the river of
Egypt. If correct, this would make it the Nile only after
all the Bahar Ghazal enters the eastern arm.
But though I found the watershed between 10 deg. and
12 deg. south — that is, a long way further up the valley
than any one had dreamed — and saw the streams of some
600 miles of it converging into the centre of the great
valley, no one knew where it went after that departure out
of Lake Moero. Some conjectured that it v/ent into Tan-
ganyika, but I saw that to do so it must run up hill. Others
imagined that it migkt flow into the Atlantic. It was to
find out where it actually did go that took me into Man-
yuema. I could get no information from traders outside,
and no light could be obtained from the Manyuema within
— they never travel, and it was so of old. They consist of
petty hcadmanships, and each brings his grievance from
some old feud, which is worse than our old Highland an-
cestors. Every head man of a hamlet would like to see
every other ruling blockhead slain. But all were kind
to strangers ; and, though terrible fellows among themselves,
with their large spears and huge wooden shields, they were
never known to injure foreigners, till slavers tried the
effects of gunshot upon them and captured their women and
children.
43^ THE FINDING •F
As I could get no geographical information from them,
I had to feel my way, and grope in the interminable forests
and prairies, and three times took the wrong direction,
going northerly, not knowing that the great river makes im-
mense sweeps to the west and south-west. It seemed as if
I were running my head against a stone wall. It might
after all turn out to be the Congo ; and who would risk
being eaten and converted into black man for it ? I had
serious doubts, but stuck to it like a Briton ; and at last
found that the mighty river left its westing and flowed right
away to the north. The two great western drains, the
Lufira and Lomame, running north-east before joining the
central or main stream — Webb's Lualaba — told t'nat the
western side of the great valley was high, like the eastern ;
and as this main is reported to go into large reedy lakes, it
it can scarcely be aught else but the western arm of the
Nile. But, besides all this — in which it is quite possible I
may be mistaken — we have two fountains on probably the
seventh hundred mile of the watershed, giving rise to two
rivers — the Liambai, or Upper Zambezi, and the Kafue,
which flow into Inner Ethopia ; and two fountains are re-
ported to rise in the same quarter, forming Lufira and Lo-
mame, which flow, as we have seen to the north. These
four full-grown gushing fountains, rising so near each
other, and giving origin to four large rivers, answer, in a
certain degree, to the description given of the unfathom-
able fountains of the Nile, by the secretary of Minerva, in
the city of Sias in Egypt, to the father of all travellers,
Herodotus.* But I have to confess that it is a little
• The following is the passage in Herodotus alluded to by Dr.
LivingRtone : —
"With regard to the sources of the Nile, uot one of the Egypti-
ans, or Libyans, or Greeks, profoHsed to know anything, excepting
the guardian, " grammatistes," of the precions things consecrated to
Minerva in Sais, a city of Egypt. But this individual, in my
opinion at least, did but joke when he asseited he was perfectly
acquainted with them. He gave the following account: — ' That
there are two peaked mountaips situate between Syene and Ele-
phantis, the names of which mountains afe Krophis and Memphis,
and that accordingly the sources of the Nile, which are bottomless,
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 43^
presumptuous in me to put this forward in Central Africa,
and without a single book of reference, on the dim recol-
lection of reading the ancient historian in boyhood. The
waters are said to well up from an unfathomable depth, and
then part, half north to Egypt and half south to Inner
Ethopia. Now I have heard of the fountains afore-men-
tioned so often I cannot doubt their existence, and I wish to
clear up the point in my concluding trip. I am not to be
considered as speaking without hesitation, but prepared, if
I see reason, to confess myself wrong. No one would like
to be considered a disciple of the testy old would-be geo-
grapher, who wrote " Inner Africa Laid Open," and swore
to his fancies till he became blue in the face.
The work would all have been finished long ago had the
matter of supplies of men and goods not been entrusted by
mistake to Banians and their slaves, whose efforts were alt
faithfully directed towards my failure.
These Banians are protected English subjects, and by
their money, their muskets, their ammunition, the East Af-
com« from between these two mountains; that one half of the
water flows into Egypt and towards the north, while the other half
flows into Ethopia. That the sources are bottomless, Bammetticus,
King of Egypt,' he said, ' iroved, for having caused a cable to be
twistt-d many thousand ogyx in length, he cast it in, but could not
reach the bottom.'"
The Hector of Stone thus compares the old with the modern ver-
sion. He says : —
" Herodotus speaks of two peaked mountains, between which lie
the sources of the river ; Livingstone, of an earthen mound and
four fountains as the source of the river. Herodotus writes that
one half of the water flows north into Egypt ; Livingstone, two of
these run north to Egypt — Lufira and Lomarae. Herodotus again,
the other half flows into Ethopia ; Livingstone, and two run south
into Inner Ethopia, as the Liambai, or Upper Zambesi, and the
Kafue. Again, the father of history is confirmed by modern re-
seareh, and the information which the great Dr. has obtained al-
most in the immediate neighbourhood of the i)bject of his am-
bition shows how carefully the curious old traveller of 2,300 years
ago must have pur ued his inquiries and recorded the results, al-
though he puts it upon record that he thought the man of letters
or notary was joking with him."
440 7H> FINDING OF
rican Moslem slave trade is mainly carried on. The cun-
ning East Indians secure most of the profits of the slave
trade, and adroitly let the odium rest on their Arab agents.
The Banians will not harm a flea or a mosquito, but my
progress in geography has led me to the discovery that they
are by far the worst cannibals in all Africa. They compass,
by means of Arab agents, the destruction of more human
lives tor gain in one year than the Manyuema do for their
flesh-pots in ten.
The matter of supplies and men was unwittingly com-
mitted to these, our Indian fellow subjects, who hate to see
me in their slave market, and dread my disclosures on the
infamous part they play. The slaves were all imbued with
the idea that they were not to follow but force me back ;
and after rioting on my goods for sixteen months on the
way, instead of three, the whole remaining stock was sold
off" for slaves and ivory.
Some of the slaves who came to Manyuema so bafiled
and worried me, that I had to return between 500 and 600
miles.
The only help I have received, except half a supply
which I despatched from Zanzibar in 1866, has been from
Mr. Stanley, your travelling correspondent, and certain re-
mains of stores which I seized from the slaves sent from
Zanzibar seventeen months ago, and I had to come back
300 miles to effect the seizure.
I wait here — Unyanyembe — only till Mr. Stanley can send
me fifty free men from the coast, and then I proceed to
finish up the geographical part of my mission.
I come back to the slavery question, and if I am per-
mitted in any way to promote its suppression, I shall not
grudge the toil and time I have spent. It would be better
to lessen human woe than discover the sources of the Nile.
When parties leave Ujiji to go westwards into Manyuema,
the question asked is not what goods they have, but how
many guns and kegs of gunpowder. If they have 200 or
300 muskets, and ammunition in proportion, they think suc-
cess is certain.
No traders having ever before entered Manyuema, the
value of ivory was quite unknown. Indeed, the tusks were
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 44 I
left in the forests, with the other bones, where the animals
had been slain ; many were rotten, others were gnawed by
a rodent animal to sharpen his teeth, as London rats do on
leaden pipes.
If civilly treated, the people went into the forests to spots
where they knew elephants had been killed either by traps or
spears, and brought the tusks for a few copper bracelets. I have
seen parties return with so much ivory that they carried it
by three relays of hundreds of slaves. But even this did
not satisfy human greed.
The Manyuema were found to be terrified by the report
of guns; some, I know, believed them to be supernatural,
for when the effect of a musket ball was shown on a goat,
they looked up to the clouds, and offered to bring ivory to
buy the charm by which lightning was drawn down. When
a village was assaulted, the men fled in terror, and women
and children were captu»*ed.
Many of the Manyuema women, especially far down the
Lualaba, are very light colored and lovely. It was common
to hear the Zanzibar slaves — whose faces resemble the fea-
tures of London door-knockers, which some atrocious iron-
founder thought were like those of lions — say to each other,
*' Oh, if we had Manyuema wives, what pretty children we
should get !"
Manyuema men and women were all vastly superior to
the slaves, who evidently felt the inferiority they had ac-
quired by wallowing in the mire of bondage. Many of
the men were tall, strapping fellows, with but little of what
we think distinctive of the negro about them. If one relied
on the teachings of phrenology, the Manyuema men would
take a high place in the human family. They felt their
superiority, and often said truly, " Were it not for firearms,
not one of the strangers would ever leave our country."
If a comparison were instituted, and Manyuema, taken at
random, placed opposite, say, the members of the Anthropo-
logical Society of London, clad like them in kilts of grass
cloth, I should like to take my place alonside the Manyue-
ma, on the principle of preferring the company of my betters ;
the philosophers would look woefully scraggy. But though
the " inferior race," as we compassionately call them, have
25
442 ^ THE FINDING OF
finely-formed heads, and often handsome features, they are
undoubtedly cannibals. It was more difficult to ascertain
this than may be imagined. Some think that they can de-
tect the gnawings of our cannibal ancestry on fossil bones,
though the canine teeth of dogs are pretty much like the
human.
For many a month all the evidence I could collect
amounted only to what would lead a Scotch jury to give a
verdict of " not proven." This arose partly from the fellows
being fond of a joke, and they like to horrify any one who
seemed credulous. They led one of my people, who be-
lieved all they said, to see the skull of a recent human vic-
tim, and he invited me in triumph. I found it to be the
skull of a gorilla — here called Soko — and for the first time I
became aware of the existence of the animal there.
The country abounds in food of all kind, and the rich soil
raises everything planted in great luxuriance. A friend of
mine tried rice, and in between three and four months it
yielded one hundred and twenty fold ; three measures of seed
yielded three hundred and sixty measures. Maize is so
abundant that I have seen torty-hve loads, each about
6olbs., given for a single goat. The " maize-dura" — or hol-
cus sorghum Tennisetum cassava — sweet potatoes, and yams,
furnished in no stinted measure the farinaceous ingredients
of diet; the palm oil, the groundnuts, and a foiest tree
afford the fatty materials of food ; bananas and plantains, in
great profusion, and the sugar-cane yield saccharine ; the
palm toddy, beer of bananas, tobacco and bange, canaHs
sativay form the luxuries of life ; and the villages swarm with
goats, sheep, dogs, pigs, and fowls ; while the elephants,
buffaloes, zebras, and sokos, or gorillas, yield to the expert
hunter plenty of nitrogenous ingredients of human food.
It was puzzling to see why they should be cannibals.
New Zealanders, we were told, were cannibals because
they had killed all their gigantic birds (moa, &c.), and they
were converted from the man-eating persuasion by the in-
troduction of pigs. But the Manyuema have plenty of pigs
and other domestic animals, and yet they are cannibals.
Into the reasons for their cannibalism I do not enter. They
s? .hat hur^an flesh is not equal to that of goats or pigs ; it
DR. LIVINGSTOKE. 44^
)S saltish, and makes them dream of the dead. Why fine-
looking men like them should be so low in the moral scale,
can only be attributed to the non-introduction of that re-
ligion which makes those distinctions among men which
phrenology and other ologies cannot explain.
The religion of Christ is unquestionably the best for man.
1 refer to it not as the Protestant, the Catholic, the Creek,
or any order, but to the comprehensive faith which has
spread more widely over the world than most people im-
agine, and whose votaries, of whatever name, are better men
than any outside the pale. We have, no doubt, greivous
faults, but these, as in Paris, are owing to the want of re-
ligion.
Christians generally are better than the heathens, but
often don't know it, and they are all immeasurably better
than they believe each other to be.
The Manyuema women, especially far down the Lualaba,
are very pretty and very industrious. The market is, with
them, a great institution, and they work hard and carry far,,
in order to have something to sell.
Markets are established about ten or fifteen miles aparL
There thoie who raise cassava, maize, grain, and stVeet
potatoes, (exchange them for oil, salt, pepper, fish, and other
relishes ; fowls, also pigs, goats, grass cloth, mats, and olher
articles change hands.
All are dressed in their best — gaudy-colored, many-foldt d
kilts, that reach from the waist to the knee. When 2.0C0
or 3,000 are together they enforce justice, though chiefly
women, and they are so eager traders, they set off in com-
panies by night, and begin to run as soon as they come
within the hum arising from hundreds of voices. To haggle,
and joke, and laugh, and cheat, seems to be the dearest en-
joyment of their life. They confer great benefits upon each
other.
The Bayenza women are expert divers for oysters, and
they barter them and fish for farinaceous food with the
women on the east of the Lualaba, who prefer cultivating
the soil to fishing. The Manyuema have always told us
that women going to market were never molested. When
the Men of two districts were engaged in actual hostilities.
444 THE FINDING OF
the women passed through from one market to another un-
harmed ; to take their goods, even in war, was a thing not
to be done. But at these market-women the half-castes
directed their guns. Two cases that came under my own
observation were so sickening, I cannot allow the mind to
dwell upon or write about them. Many of both sexes were
killed, but the women and children chiefly were made cap-
tives. No matter how much ivory they obtained, these
*' Nigger Moslems " must have slaves, and they assaulted
the markets and villages, and made captives chiefly, as it
appeared to me, because, as the men run off at the report of
guns, they could do it without danger. I had no idea be-
fore how blood-thirsty men can be v/hen they can pour out
the blood of fellow-men in safety. And all this carnage is
going on in Manyuema at the very time I write. It is the
Banians, our protected Indian fellow-subjects, that indirect-
ly do it all. We have conceded to the Sultan of Zanzibar
the right, which it was not ours to give, of a certain amount
of slave trading, and that amount has been from 12,000 to
20,000 a year. As we have seen, these are not traded for
but murdered for. They are not slaves, but free people
made captive. A Sultan with a sense of justice would, in-
stead of taking-head money, declare that all were free as
soon as they reached his territory. But the Banians have
the custom-house and all the Sultan's revenue entirely in
their hands. He cannot trust his Mahometan subjects,
even of the better class, to farm his income, because, as
they themselves say, he would get nothing in return but a
crop of lies. The Banians naturally work the custom-house
so as to screen their own slaving agents ; and so long as
they have the power to promote it, their atrocious system of
slaving will never cease. For the sake of lawful commerce,
it would be politic to insist that the Sultan's revenue by the
custom-house should be placed in the hands of an P^nglish
or American merchant of know^n reputation and uprightness.
By this arrangement the Sultan would be largely benefited,
legal commerce would be exalted to a position it has never
held since Banians and Moslems emigrated into Eastern
Africa, and Christianity, to which the slave trade is an insur-
mountable barrier, would find an open door.
DAVID LIVINGSTONE.
James Gordon Bennett, Esq.
DR. LIVINGSTONE.
445
In answer to the various statements that have recently-
been made concerning Dr. Kirk and Dr. Livingstone, the
son of the latter, Mr. Osvvell Livingstone, has felt it his duty
to publish the following letter. It will be remembered that
this gentleman accompanied the Search Expedition organized
by the Royal Geographical Society.
TO THE EDITOR OF " THE DAILY TELEGRAPH."
Sir, — May I ask for a few remarks of my own concern-
ing Dr. Kirk and my father the same prominent publicity
which is afforded to your correspondent's details, as your
readers have them in your publication of to-day ?
I will preface what I have to say by stating that the ex-
treme happiness which was borne to me whilst at Zanzibar,
upon the news of my father's safety, was sadly marred by
the impression which had evidently entered his mind con-
cerning his old and true friend. Dr. Kirk, at some time pre
vious to his parting with Mr. Stanley.
Before leaving the coast I used all my own exertions in
letters to Dr. Livingstone to remove this misconception,
and I ardently hope that I have done so with success before
now. But in the mean time Dr. Kirk had received some
astonishing and strongly expressed surmises in letters from
my father, concerning the results he had experienced from
the .sending off of various expeditions for his relief, both by
Dr. Kirk and such other officials as had preceded him in
office. Dr. Kirk had also been made aware of that which
Mr. Stanley had forcibly and publicly retailed as coming
from my father, so that he felt the claims of friendship
(which had been ignored on Dr. Livingstone's part) must be
laid aside, in all further intercourse, for the stiff routine of
consular action, to which my father had alone appealed in
his letters.
It would seem from what I read to-day, that Dr. Kirk did
not conceal this when speaking to the American Consul and
a gentleman with him at the time. Mr. Stanley has so far
omitted to furnish your correspondent with this very neces-
sary context — namely, that the speech was made after the
whole order of things had been so disastrously interfered
446 THE FINDING OF
with — and your readers are left to infer that Dr. Kirk's
apathy is exposed, and that the conduct attributed to him is
really foumded on fact.
Let me state at once that Dr. Kirk is totally unworthy of
the accusations which are daily reaching the public, and
which can have but one source. I may add, that nothing
could exceed the kindness that we, the members of the
Search Expedition, experienced from him and Mrs. Kirk
during the whole time we were at Zanzibar and guests in
their house.
Both to Mr. Keene and to myself Dr. Kirk plainly stated
that henceforth it only was left for him to deal with Dr.
Livingstone in a purely official capacity, and that the old
friendship between them had been laid aside. I repeat
that I trust it is only for a time that this determination must,
perforce, be adhered to, and that I live in hope that the
earnest representations of myself and others who know my
father, and also know Dr. Kirk, and the exertions he has
really made may speedily restore a balance which nothing
should have overset.
I am, Sir, yours faithfully,
W. OSWELL LIVINGSTONE,
Of the Livingstone Search Expeditio*.
The Royal Geographical Society, I, Savile-Row, •
July 27.
DR. LIVINGSTONE'S LETTERS TO HIS
FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
TO HIS BROTHER IN CANADA.
Steamship Thule, at Sea, January 12, 1866.
My Dear Brother — The last letter I got from you,
with the enclosure of money, I forwarded at once to Janet,
with a request that she would send a kind answer to you in
return. I was unable to write myself at the time, and,
though I have been three months at Bombay, I had the
same excuse ; and only now, when on my way to Zanzibar,
have I leisure to give you a " screed," and I fear it may be
the last for a good while to come. The vessel in which I
sail was one of Sherrard Osborne's late Chinese fleet, and it
is now going as a present from the Bombay government to
the Sultan of Zanzibar. I am to have the honor of making
the formal presentation, and I value it, because it will give
me a little lift up in the eyes of the Sultan's people, and
probably prevent them from any open opposition to my
progress. She is very gorgeously got up. The fleet, by
the way (with this exception), still lies rotting at Bombay.
Our government let themselves in for a very large amount
by placing an embargo on the sale of vessels which might
possibly have gone to the Confederates as "Alabamas."
For this an offer of ;£'9,ooo was made ; now it went for
^3,000, and all the difference comes out of John Bull's
pocket. Here where they could not act fairly to the United
States they did it even at a great sacrifice.
The Sultan of Zanzibar visited the Governor of Bombay
while I was there. He was very gracious and gave me a
(447)
44^ THE FINDING OF
firman to all his people and an order to one of his captains
to carry some tame buffaloes across. These are to be used
as an experiment with the tsetze, and if they withstand the
poison of that pest we shall have done something to open
Africa. At present they have no beast of burden in the
country, and this is so like the wild ones which live in
the very habitat of the tsetze that I have good hopes of
success.
My party consists of thirteen Sepoys of the old East
India Company's Marine Battalion. They have been ac-
customed to rough it on board ship. (This one is kicking
about nowina way thatmight make "agrumphy grew.") They
are likely enough fellows. I have also nine boys, who were
recaptured, and have been taught trades and other things
at a Government school near Bombay. They know a little
of their native tongues still. These, with two mules and a
little dog named Titani, constitute the party. I had many
offers of service from Europeans, but have invariably de-
clined them. Unless a man has been tried, he may become
a nuisance and entail the burden on the leader of being " a
servant of servants " to his brethren. I proposed to go
due west from the river Rovuma or Eivuma, then turn
north after reaching the middle of th^ Continent. The ob-
jects are partly geographical and partly to open the country
to better influences than have prevailed for ages. I an-
ticipate great good from the abolition of slavery in the
States. The Spaniards and Portuguese are quaking in their
shoes, in expectation that the new-born zeal of the Ameri-
cans will be hot. My book will not tend to allay the per-
turbation of the Portuguese. It has been favorably reviewed
in the Athencrmn and Saturday Reineiv, so I can go away
with a light heart.
A nasty spirit is abroad in England which may, if un-
checked, lead to a war of races. We were very much
bamboozled by the Southerners and our own newspapers.
"They were the true gentlemen"; the benevolent harpies
who prevented the negro race from utter annihilation ; and
the contempt they laboured to diffuse has received a great
accession in strength by the late Jamaica outburst. That
fellow Hobbs must have been steeped full of that nasty
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 449
race prejudice, and nothing could be more disgusting than
his mad ferocity when overcharged with a frenzied " funk."
I don't suppose we have another case in history in which a
man was hung for giving a fiendish look at the forty-seventh
lash. I would have given one at the first. I think it will
be found a wise dispensation of Providence that has allotted
the elevation of so many freedmen to the Americans. They
go at these things with wonderful ardor. The United
States Christian Commission and Freedmen's Bureau seem
to be admirable institutions, showing true Christian zeal and
wisdom, while, unfortunately, the countrymen of Clarkson
and Wilberforce are becoming imbued with prejudices and
hatred, which found no place in their noble breasts.
A Baron Van der Decken went up the river Tuba, which
is just on the Equator, a few months ago, in two steamers,
built at his own expense. When about three hundred miles
from the sea he knocked two holes in the bottom of one —
the other he had already lost. Then went ashore with his
doctor. The vessel was forthwith attacked by a large body
of natives and several of the Baron's people killed. His
lieutenant, an officer of the Prussian navy, left at night in a
boat with some of the survivors and escaped to Zanzibar.
From the way the letter was worded the lieutenant
seems to have " skedaddled," but this is probably owing
to his imperfect English. Nothing is known of the Baron
and doctor, but it looks ill at present, for the natives would
scarcely allow him to pass in safety while going to attack
the vessel.
My love to Sarah and all the children. Agnes is in
Paris and doing well ; Tom at Glasgow College and Oswell
at school ; Anna Mary with her aunts at Hamilton.
Affectionate^ yours
DAVID LIVINGSTONE.
P. S.-The Baron and his doctor were killed by Somaulies, who
are bigoted Mahommedans. The servants who were Ma-
hommedans were allowed to escape and came to Zanzibar,
where I now am (29th January.) The officer who escaped
seems to have acted wisely, and no blame can be fairly
attributed. I). E
DR. LIVINGSTONE'S SECOND LETTER TO HIS
BROTHER.
Toronto, Canada, August 19, 1872.
The following is Dr. Livingstone's letter to his brother,
John Livingstone, residing at Listowell, Ontario, Canada.
It bore on the envelope, '* This leaves Unyanyembe, March
14, 1872 " :—
Ujiji, Nov. 16, 1 871.
My Dear Brother — I received your welcome letter in
February last, written when the cable news made you put
off your suits of mourning. This was the first intimation
I had that a cable had been successfully laid in the deep
Atlantic.
Very few letters have reached me for years, in conse-
quence of my friends speculating where I should come out
— on the West Coast, down the Nile, or elsewhere.
The watershed is a broad upland between 4,000 and 5,-
000 feet above the sea and some seventy miles long. The
springs of the Nile that rise thereon are almost innumer-
able. It would take the best part of a man's lifetime to
count them. One part — sixty-four miles of latitude — gave
thirty-two springs from calf to waist deep, or one spring for
every two miles. A birdseye view of them would be like
the vegetation of frost upon the window panes. To ascer-
tain that all of these fountains united with four great rivers
in the upper part of the Nile valley was r, work of time and
much travel.
Many a weary foot I trod ere light dawned on the ancient
problem. If I had left at the end of two years, for which
my bare expenses was paid, I could have thrown very little
more light on the country than the Portuguese, who, in
U5o)
DR. LIVINGSTONE.
451
tlicir three slavery visits to Cazembe, asked for ivory and
slaves and heard of nothing else. I asked about the
waters ; questioned and cross-questioned till I was really-
ashamed, and almost afraid of being set down as afflicted
with hydrocephalus.
1 went forward, backwards and sideways, feeling my way,
and every step of the way I was generally groping in the
dark, for who cared where the rivers ran ?
Of these four rivers into which the springs of the Nile
converge, the central one, called Lualaba, is the largest. It
begii>s as the River Chambeze, which flows into the great
Lake Bangweolo. On leaving it its name is changed from
Chambeze to Luapula, and that enters Lake Moero. Com-
ing out of it the name Lualaba is assumed, and it flows
into a third lake, Kamolondo, which receives one of the
four large drains mentioned above. It then flows on and
makes two enormous bends to the west, , which made me
often fear that I was following the Congo instead of the
Nile. It is from one to three miles broad, and can never
be waded at any part or at any time of the year. Far
down the valley it receives another of the four large rivers
above mentioned, the Lockie or Lomani, which flows
through what I have named Lake Lincoln, and then joins
the central Lualaba.
We have, then, only two lines of drainage in the lower
part of the great valley — that is, Tanganyika and Albert
Lake, which are but one lake-river, or say, if you want to
be pedantic, lacustrine river. These two form the eastern
line. The Lualaba, which I call Webb's Lualaba, is then
the western line, nearly as depicted by Ptolemy in the
second century of our era. After the Lomani enters the
Lualaba the fourth great lake in the central line of drainage
is found ; but this I have not yet seen, nor yet the link be-
tween the eastern and western mains.
At the top of Ptolemy's Loop the great central line goes
down into large, reedy lakes, possibly those reported to
Nero's centurion, and these form the western or Petherick's
arm, which Speke and Grant and Baker believed to be
the river of Egypt. Neither can they be called the Nile
until they unite. The lakes mentioned in the central line
452 THE FINDING OF
of drainage are by no means small. Lake Bangweolo, at
the lowest estimate, is 150 miles long, and I tried to cross
it and measure its breadth exactly. The first stage was to
an inhabited island, twenty-four miles ; the second stage
could be seen from its highest point, or rather the tops of
the trees upon it, evidently lifted up by mirage ; the
third stage, the main land, was said to be as far beyond ;
but my canoe men had stolen the canoe, and they got a
hint that the real owners were in pursuit and got in a flurry
to return home. Oh, that they would ! but I had only my
coverlet left to hire another craft, and the lake being four
hundred feet above the sea, it was very cold. So I gave
in and went back, but I believe the breadth to be between
sixty and seventy miles. Bangweolo, Moero and Kamo-
londo are looked on as one great riverine lake, and is one
of Ptolemy's.
The other is the Tanganyika, which I found steadily
flowing to the north. This geographer's predecessors must
have gleaned their geography from men who visited the
very region. The reason why the genuine geography was
rejected was the extreme modesty of modern map makers.
One idle person in London published a pamphlet which,
with killing modesty, he entitled, " Inner Africa laid open,"
and in the newspapers, even in the Tivies^ rails at any one
who travels and dares to find the country different from
that drawn in his twaddle. I am a great sinner in the poor
fellow's opinion, and the Titnes published his ravings even
when I was most unwisely believed to be dead. Nobody
but Lord Brougham and I know what people will say after
we are gone. The work of trying to follow the central
line of drainage down has taken me away from mails or
postage.
The Manyemaare undoubtedly cannibals, but it wac long
before I could get conclusive evidence thereon. I was
sorely let and hindered by having half caste Moslem at-
tendants, unmitigated cowards and false as their Prophet,
of whose religion they have only imbibed the fulsome pride.
They forced me back when almost within sight of the end
of my exploration, a distance of between four and five hun-
dred miles, under a blazing vertical sun.
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 453
I came here a mere ruckle of bones, terribly jaded in
body and mind. The head man of my worthless Moslems
remained here, and, as he had done from the coast, ran
riot with the goods sent to me, drunk for a month at a time.
He then divined on the Koran and found that I was dead,
sold off all the goods that remained for slaves and ivory for
himself, and I arrived to find myself destitute of everything
except a few goods I left in case of need. Goods are the
currency here, and I have to wait now till other goods and
other men come from Zanzibar. When placed in charge
of my supply of soap, brandy, opium and gunpowder from
certain Banians (British subjects) he was fourteen months
returning, all expenses being paid out of my stocks ; three
months was ample, and he then remained here and sold off
all. You call this smart, do you ? some do, if you dont.
I think it moral idiocy.
Yours affectionately,
DAVID ILIVINGSTONE.
THE SLAVE TRADERS DESTROY HIS LETTERS
TO THE COAST.
The subjoined letter, with an enclosure from Dr. David
Livingstone to W. F. Stearns, Esq., dated Unyanyembe,
March 13, 1872, was among the number brought to the
coast by Mr. Stanley, the Herald correspondent. The
package was forwarded, as directed, to Bombay, to the firm
of Stearns, Hobart & Co., in which Mr. Stearns was a
partner at the date of Dr. Livingstone's departure for the
coast of Africa in 1866. Mr. Stearns, who is an American,
and son of President Stearns, of Amherst College, is now
engaged in business here, hence the letter and enclosure had
to be le-directed to this city, where they arrived yesterday
from Bombay.
The enclosure referred to in the letter is dated November,
1870, from Manyema, Central Africa. In it a special and
friendly reference is made by Dr. Livingstone to the Ameri-
can Geographical Society, with a request that Mr. Stearns
would communicate such extracts to that scientific body as
he saw fit. Mr. Stearns therefore withholds the enclosure
from publication in order that he may first carry out the
great traveller's commission to the American Society. Dr.
Livingstone has been for many years a corresponding mem-
ber of the American Geographical Society. He was about
to be made an honorary member of the body six years ago;
but, owing to the doubts of his being alive, this has not been
carried into effect. The Society at their earliest meeting
now propose to carry this project out, owing to the know-
ledge of the Doctor's safety, as brought by the Herald
expedition. Judge Daly stated to a Herald reporter yester-
day that it was the intention of the Society to give a recep-
tion to Mr. Stanley on his arrival in this country. They
admired the generosity which conceived the expedition and
the courage and devotion which carried it out. It was, he
said, something for all Americans to be proud of.
(454)
DR. LIVINGSTONE'S LETTER TO MR. STEARNS
Unyanyembe, /. <?., Sixty Days' Smart |
Marching from the East Coast, J>
Africa, March 13, 1872. j
My Dear Stearns, — I have written to you before, but
my letters were destroyed, because I have been considered
a spy on the slave traders. The enclosure was penned long
ago, among the cannibals, when I had no paper. I gave
you an idea of matters then, but my own knowledge has
been increasing, and perhaps the enclosed statements do not
tally exactly with what I have to say now, and much of
which will be published in my despatches. I have to thank
you very heartily for all your kindness to me in Bombay
and afterwards. ^ 'A^ ^
This goes to the coast by Henry M. Stanley, travelling
correspondent of the New York Herald, sent by James Gor-
don Bennett, Jr., to aid your servant, and he has done it
right nobly.
Our Consul believed the Banians, who are the chief slave
traders, by means of Arab agents, when they said they would
forward supplies of goods and men to me. They sent slaves
instead of men, and all the efforts of slaves and masters were
faithfully directed to securing my failure. I was plundered
shamelessly and forced back about five hundred miles from
discovering the fifth great lake below the sources. But Mr.
Stanley has supplied every want, and I now only need
to rediscover the ancient fountains of Herodotus and
retire.
The Agra and Masterman's bank broke. The receipt
for ^1,000 is in Mr. T 's strong box, and he can draw
out the deposit. All scientific expeditions are universally
exempted from loss, even in time of war. Please tell them
that I cannot enter into any creditor's arraogement ; they
(455)
456 THE FINDING OF
must return the whole deposit and interest according to the
rules agreed upon by all civilized people, and I hope they
will act in accordance with what is manifestly right
The buffaloes were killed for me ; but the driver had a
letter on his person, knowing that on its production his
wages depended. This was the only one of forty sent. The
Governor here, who is merely a low Banian trade agent,
called by simple people the Great Sheikh Syde ben Salem,
destroyed them and others to prevent evidence of plundering
my goods going to the coast.
I have been among the Philistines, my dear fellow, but
am now strong and well, and, thanks to the Americans,
completely equipped for my concluding trip. ^ ^^ ^^
And believe me, ever truly yours,
DAVID LIVINGSTONE.
DR. LIVINGSTONE.
ANOTHER LETTER FROM THE GREAT AFRICAN EXPLORER
TO A FRIEND.
The unabated interest which still prevails in relation to
Dr. Livingstone induces me, in deference to the suggestion
of several friends, to offer the following extracts from his
letters recently received. The earlier letter is almost a
literary curiosity. It is very closely written upon leaves cut
out of his Bombay cheque book, and boih of them carry
with them indubitable evidence of their genuineness. I re-
joice to observe that Sir Bartle Frere has added the
weight of his influence to the earnest recommendation of
Dr. Livingstone, contained in the postscript written in the
present year, in favor of encouraging settlement! of native
Christians on the East Coast of Africa, to which Dr. Living-
stone evidently attaches so much importance.
J. B. BRAITHWAITE.
Lincoln's Inn, August 12.
Manyema Country, say 180 miles west of |
Ujiji, Nov., 1870. J
My Dear Friend — Want of paper leads me to cut a leaf
out of my Bombay cheque book in order to give you and our
friends some information. If you have received previous
letters you will readily take this as the thread of my story
that I am trying to follow. Down the central line of drain-
age of the great Nile Valley a great lacustrine river, which
I name Webb's LuJaba — an extant specimen of those
which in prehistoric times abounded in Africa, and whose
beds are still known in the south as '• Melapo," in the north
as " Wadys " — both words meaning the same thing — river
26 (457)
45 8 THE FINDTNG OF
channels in which no water ever now flows. The third line-
of drainage lies west of this, and is formed by two large
rivers, each -paving the same native name of Lualaba. An
English epithet seemed necessary, so I have named them
by anticipation after Sir Bartle Frere and Mr. T. Young.
These two Lualabas unite and form a large lake, which I
am fain to call Lake Lincoln. I>ooking back southwards
from Lake Lincoln to the watershed, we have a remarkable
mound from which four gushing fountains rise, each the
source of a large river, though not more than ten miles
apart. Two on the northern side become Bartle Frere's
and Young's great rivers. Two on the south side from the
Laiamb, or Upper Zambezi — the larger one, at which a
man cannot be seen across, I name after Lord Palmerston :
the lesser, which, lower down, becomes the Kafue, I call
after my old friend and fellow traveller Oswell. You know
that Sir Bartle Frere abolished slavery in Upper India,
Scinde, or Scindiah. Lord Palmerston worked for many a
long year unweariedly to stop the slave trade, and Mr. Lin-
coln by passing the amendment of the United States consti-
tution gave freedom to 4,000,000 slaves. We live too near
events in which these three good men acted to appreciate
the greatness of their work. Palmerston and Lincoln arc
no longer among us ; but in giving all the honor in my
power, I desire to place, as it were, my poor little garland of
love on their tomb.s. It is almost premature to make use of
their names before I have reached the mound, but I have
heard of it when 200 miles distant on the southwest ; again
when 180 miles from it on the southeast and cast; again
when 150 miles distant on the northeast ; and now on the
north-northeast, many intelligent Arabs, who have visited
the spot and had their wonder excited as much as the
natives, give substantially the same information. It is pro-
bably the locality of the fountains mentioned to Herodotus
by the secretary of Minerva in the city of Sais, Egypt —
"fountains which it was impossible to fathom, and from,
which half the water flowed north to Egypt, the other half
south to Inner F^thiopia." ^ ^ ^- i have been sorely
hindered by the worst set of attendants I ever travelled with.
Here, in the cannibal country, no one will go into the next
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 459
district for fear, they say, of being killed and eaten. Else-
where I could get the country people to carry from village
to village, and was comparatively independent after the
flight of my Johanna men from terror of the marauding
Mazitu or Batuta left me with a few petted, coddled and
spoilt liberated slaves. Here I was at their mercy, and they
took full advantage of the situation, and even became eager
slavehunters of their countrymen. I have to wait for other
men from the coast. If they arrive, four or five months will
fmish all I have to do to make a complete work of the ex-
ploration. Had I known all the hunger, hardship, toil and
time required I might have preferred a straight waistcoat to
undertaking the task ; but, having taken it in hand, I could
not bear to be beaten by difficulties. I had to feel my way,
and every step of my way, and was generally groping in the
dark, for who cared where the rivers ran ? My plan was to
come across the head of Lake Nyassa, examine the water-
shed, and in two years begin a benevolent mission on the
slope back again to the sea. Had I left at the end of two
years I could have given little more light than the Portu-
guese, who, in three slaving visits to Cazembe, inquired for
slaves and heard of nothing else. I asked about the waters
till almost afraid of being set down as afflicted with hydroce-
phalus, and many a weary foot I trod ere I gained a clear
idea of the ancient problem of the drainage. The watershed
is in latitude lo 12 degrees south. Thence the springs of
the Nile do unquestionably arise. The length of the water-
shed from west to east is between seven hundred and eighi
hundred miles. This is where Ptolemy put it, and the
mountains on it — only al)ou» seven thousand feet ^bove the
sea — are his Mountains of the vnoon. I feel a Uttle thank-
ful to Old Nile for so hiding his big head as to leave all so-
called theoretical discoverers out in the cold. * * The
little river that comes out of the Victoria Nyanza, less by a
full half than the Shire out of Nyassa, would not account for
the Nile. Webb's Lualaba. from four to eight thousand
yards wide, and always deep ; and again, Young's Lualaba,
of equally large proportions, would give an abundant supply
of water for inundations, and for the enormous evstporation
of a river almost without affluents, for a distance in latitude
460 THE FINDING OF
and longitude of about three thousand miles. * * Mine
is a rediscovery of what sunk into oblivion about two thou-
sand years ago. This is all I can, in common modesty,fairly
claim. One line of drainage was unknown even to Ptolemy
— that is mine, until it be found that the ancient explorers
from whom Ptolemy collected his geography knew it before
I did. A map of the Ethiopian gold mines is the oldest in
the world, and of the time of Sethos II. It may have it. I
am thankful to a kind Providence for enabling me to do
what may reflect honor on my children, if not on my coun-
try. It is not without anxious Vare that I ha.ve stuck to my
work with John Bullish tenacity. The only thing I could
feel sure of, in the absence of ail letters, save a few three-
year-okls in 1869, was this — that you and all my friends
would approve my doing well whatever I did. The discov-
ery is somewhat akin to that of the Northwest Passage ; but
in this we have wliat emperors, kings, philosophers, all the
great minds of antiquity longed to know, and longed in vain.
In addition to the almost innumerable fountain > whence
flows the famous river ^ * if I should find anything
to confirm the precious old documents, the Scriptures of
truth, I would feel my toil well rewarded. These are my
day dreams ; the reality reveals sore perplexity. * *
Postscri})t to a letter written long ago in Manyema, the
country of the cannibals, the 8th of January, 1S72 :
In the enclosure you will find a full account of my afiTairs.
^ "^ I am now anxious on another matter — the plan
which I am about to advance of removing one of the English
settlements of the West Coast, by voluntary emigration of
the native Christians, to a healthy spot on this side of the
Continent. When I say English settlement I don't mean a
settlement of English people, but one of those establish-
ments in the west which have fulfilled their end. The settle-
ments referred to have fully accomplished the ends of their
establishment in the total suppression of the slave trade
wherever their influence extended. Colonel Ord's valuable
report fully confirms this, and he said that this was proved
by the suppression being as complete where they were,
though unvisited by men-of-war, as in parts to which these
ships habitually resorted. Now, the slave trade is as rife on
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 46 1
the East Coast as ever it was on the West, and we have none
of the moral influence which Christian estabhshments carry-
along with them. * * Where they to come direct
from our own settlements to Mombas, which is ours already,
they would bring the moral element, which in the Molsem
inhabitants is dormant, and ultimately frown down the mean
duplicity which now enables our Banian British subjects to
carry on by their money all the slave trade that is carried on.
The only additional expense to what is now incurred would
be the passages of the officials in men-of-war. The success
of missions in the West is unquestionable, and the cessation
of the slave trade all around the settlements is worth all the
expense which has been borne by government and mission-
ary societies. Let us have these instruments here. Wher-
ever English missionaries are established traders are wel-
comed and protected. * * We need native Christians to
diffuse morality. * * I have still a little work before me to
make a complete finish up of the sources of the Nile. I
have lost a great deal of time and money by a Banian called
Ludha. * * It has entailed a tramping of 1,800 miles on
me ; but all will come right at last, I hope.
Yours, &c.
DAVID LIVINGSTONE.
THE LIVINCiSTONE EXPEDITION AND THE
AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE.
From the New York " Herald."
Tin: TESTIMONY OF DR. LIVINGSTONES BROTHER.
We publish in the Herald to-day a letter from Hon.
Charles Hale, Assistant and Acting Secretary of State, en-
closing a communication from Mr. John Livingstone, of
Listowell, Canada, the brother of Dr. David Livingstone,
for\s'arded to the department through Mr. Freeman N.
Blake the United States Consul at Hamilton. Mr. John
Livingstone, while conveying to the Herald dind to the leader
of the Search Expedition, through that official source, his
congratulations on the successful issue of the enterprise,
takes occasion to express " the most implicit confidence in
tke statements" of both, and adds •— -" I can assure you
that Dr. Livingstone holds the American Government and
people in the highest estimation, principally on account of
the late abolition of slavery in the United States ; and I trust
that his persistent efforts to check the nefarious traffic in
slaves in Africa will be crow^ned with success." We pre-
sume that Mr. John Livingstone adopted this formal mode
of forwarding his communication in view of the apparently
stubborn unbelief of a small portion of the American press
in the relief expedition and all relating to it, down to the
point of increduhty in the existence of such a person as Mr.
John Livingstone, of Listowell, Ontario, in the new Domin-
ion We a°e correspondingly grateful to that gentleman
for the precaution he has taken to forestall the efforts of the
enterprising journalists who have imposed upon themselves
the duty of testing the genuineness of all the ///rrrtr/r/ corres-
pondence on the subject, and who would doubtless have
been speedily on his track to ascertain the authenticity of
his letter had it reached us in the ordinary manner. As it
(462)
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 463
►comes back by the endorsement of the efficient Consul at
Hamilton and the accomplished Assistant Secretary of
State at Washington we presume- it will be accepted, as a
sufficient proof that the brother of Dr. Livingstone in
Canada unites with the son of the cxplorerer in England, the
British Foreign Office, the Royal Geographical Society and
Queen Victoria herself in differing with the profound autho-
rities who pronounce the Livingstone letters forgeries, and
deny that the Doctor was ever discovered by Stanley at all.
When the Herald fitted out its Livingstone Search Expe-
dition it had two objects in view : — First, to carry relief to
the renowned explorer, in the confidence that the rumours
of his death were unfounded, in the fear that he must be
undergoing privations and perhaps ill treatment in his un-
protected condition, and in the conviction that it needed
only energy and courage to follow the track he had pursued
to find him, if living, or, in the sadder event, to obtain cer-
tain proof of his death ; and second, to secure the credit
and advantage that would assuredly follow success in such
an enterprise. Any person who may be so disposed, is at
liberty to reverse the order of these motives and to make
the more selfish one predominate. We shall not quarrel
with such critics, but shall be content to regard their judg-
ment as the natural product oi their minds. It is enough
for us that in both instances our most sanguine anticipations
have been realized. The assistance that was fortunate
enough to reach Dr. Livingstone in the wilds of Africa ar-
rived none too soon. It found him baffled, worried, de-
Tfeated, a " mere ruckle of bones ; " feeling as if he was
dying on his feet, and with destitution in that inhospitable
wilderness staring him in the face. It supplied his imme-
diate necessities, enabled him to resume the work to which
he has unselfishly devoted his life, left him in comparative
ease and comfort, and secured the forwarding of supplies
and help sufficient to insure him in the future against the
disappointments and sufferings he had undergone in the
past. We leave others to estimate the credit due to the
Herald for its share in the enterprise, so well carried to a
successful issue by its faithful and daring leader. I^he honor
we covet fnds happy expression in Consul Blake's letter to
464 THE FINDING OF
Acting Secretary Hale — the honor that can be justly claimed
for " the expedition instituted by American enterprise."
The discovery of Dr. Livingstone not only shows what indi-
vidual American spirit can accomplish, but proves the real
power of the American press. Independent American
journalism will hereafter occupy a higher position in the
estimation of foreign nations, and its usefulness, value and
intelligence will no longer be measured by the standard of
partisan organs. Indications have already been given that
the lesson will have its effect upon our own journalists, in
the avowal of an independent position by some of our
leading political journals. Ihe unfortunate bitterness of
the Presidental campaign, it is true, temporarily checked
this commendable spirit ; but now that the election is
over there is a fair prospect that many of our best-conducted
newspapers will recognize the fact that the American press
has a higher and more patriotic mission to perform than
that of persuading foreigners that all our political parties are
corrupt and all our public men debased and dishonest. We
regard the triumph of the Livingstone Expedition not as
the triumph of the Herald alone, but of the whole American
press, and not the least gratifying of its effects is the impulse
it has given to the promised improvement in the character of
American journalism.
There is one point however, recalled to notice by Mr.
John Livingstone, which, while it did not enter into any
calculation of the probable issues of the Herald Search
Expedition when the enterprise was set afoot, may prove
one of its most important results. In all his letters — in
those to the Herald^ to the Royal Geographical Society, to
the Foreign Office and to members of his family — Doctor
Livingstone is earnest in his exhortations to the civilized
world to stretch forth its strong arm over the suffering
Africans and snatch them from the horrors of slavery in the
most hideous and revolting forms. '' I trust," says his
brother, " that his persistent efforts to check the nefarious
traffic in slaves in Africa will be crowned with success.'*'
This Christian object is no doubt uppermost in the mind of
the missionary and explorer, who, in his sorrowing over
" man's inhumanitv to man," awards a crown of honor ta
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 465
the American people for their abolition of slavery in the
United States, without pausing to inquire how far the blacks
owe their liberty to the uncertain chances of politics and
war. The seed he planted in the letters sent home by the
leader of the Herald Search Expedition has already borne
some fruit, in moving the British government to the more
energetic action on the African coast recently announced in
the Queen's speech to Parliament. But the subject will not
be suffered to rest there. We have confidence that philan-
tliropic men in all nations will soon take it up and make an
effort to accomplish some practical work towards the up-
rooting of the inhuman system in the interior of Africa, as
well as for its check on the coast. There are indirect
means, however, as well as direct means, by which slavery
can be driven from the stronghold. The e.xtention of trade
int® the regions travelled by Livingstone would do more
than armies to remove the evil, and in this respect the Stan-
ley expedition may have worked a good not anticipated for
it. The success of one resolute, practical man, and the
plain statement of his experience, will tempt adventure more
than all the essays that could be written in a dozen years.
Despite his energy and perseverance, Dr. Livingstone has
been looked upon as a scientific explorer, and ordinary
men, who would hesitate before they followed on the track
he might indicate in search of profitable ventures, would
strike out boldly in the path pointed out by such a traveller
as Stanley. If Livingstone had remained in Africa two
years longer unaided and unheard of, even if he had lived
to return home, the good work now hoped for would at best
have been so long delayed. But we even question whether
the story he would then have had to tell would have worked
any practical good in this important direction. The scien-
tific features of his labors would have engrossed public
attention and the everyday facts would have been over-
looked in admiration of the genius and devotion of the ex-
plorer. Stanley's successful expedition is of an entirely
different character. He brings back information of the
existence of a horrible traffic, which is going on every day
and which can be stopped with comparative ease. He tells
of riches in store for adventurers as tempting as the golden
466 THE FINDING OF
promises of the mines. He offers in his own pei"son
the proof that the land can be travelled in safety and that
the natives are harmless and tractable. We shall be mis-
taken if his experience and his story do not induce many of
those bold spirits who are always ready to strike for fortune
through difficult paths to seek the wilds of Afiica for their
easily gathered treasures. Who shall say how soon com-
merce and civilization will stretch from the coast into the
interior of the land in which Livingstone is to-day again
shut out from the world, driving slavery before them more
effectually than it could be scattered by armies ? And who
will deny that the " expedition instituted by American en-
terprise" has happily tended to promote this practical
result ?
JOHN LIVINGSTONE'S TESTIMONY.
HIS WARMEST CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HERALD.
The following letter and enclosures, from Acting Sec-
retary of State Hale, have been received at the office of the
New York Herald. It will be recalled that Mr. John
Livingstone stated to the Herald correspondent, who had
called on him at his house in Canada, that he had taken
the course indicated in the Acting Secretary of State's letter
before he had any idea that a Herald attached would visit
him : —
ACTING secretary OF STATE HALE TO JAMES CrORDON"
BENNETT.
Department of State, \
Washington, Sept. 7, i872. J
James Gordon Bennett, Esq., New York : —
Sir — I enclose for your information copies of a despatch
thiis day received from Mr. Freeman N. Blake, Consul of
the United States at Hamilton, Canada, and of a letter ad-
dressed to him by Mr. John Livingstone, which accompanies
the despatch.
An original letter (David Livingstone to John Living-
stone) also accompanies the despatch, and is held by the
Department subject to Mr. John Livingstone's expressed in-
tention to ask its return. I am, sir, your obedient servant,
CHARLES HALE, Acting Secretary'.
Enclosures.— First, Mr. Blake to Mr. Hale, No. iii,
September 3rd, 1872 (copy). Second, Mr. Livingstone to
Mr. Blake, August 24th, 1872 (copy).
(467)
468 THE FINDING OF
MR. JOHN LIVINGSTONE TO UNITED STATES CONSUL BLAKE.
LiSTOWELL, August 24th, 1 87 2.
F. N. Blake, Esq., United States Consul, Hamilton, On"
tario : —
Dear Sir — Would you kindly oblige me by conveying in
your official capacity to Mr. Bennett, proprietor of the New
York Herald, and also to Mr. Stanley, the leader of the
" Herald's Livingstone Search Expedition," my warmest
congratulations on the successful issue of that expedition.
Having noticed a number of articles in the public press
reflecting doubts on the veracity of Mr. Stanley and the
Herald, I am glad to be able to say that I place the most
implicit confidence in the statements of Mr. Stanley and the
Herald.
I can also assure you that Dr. Livingstone holds the
American government and people in the highest estimation,
principally on account of the late abolition of slavery in the
United States, and I trust that his persistent efforts to check
the nefarious traffic in slaves in Africa will be crowned
with success. I am, yours respectfully,
JOHN LIVINGSTONE.
CONSUL BLAKE TO THE ACTING SECRETARY OF STATE.
[No. III.]
United States Consulate, )
Hamilton, Sept. 3rd, 1872. J
Hon. Charles Hale, Assistant Secretary of State : —
Sir — I have the honor to enclose herewith a letter
officially addressed to me by Mr. John Livingstone, of Lis-
towell, Ontario, attesting his confidence in the statements
recently published regarding his brother. Dr. David Living-
stone, and conveying expressions of gratitude that the expe-
dition instituted by American enterprise and private liber-
ality succeeded in the discoveiy of his brother, and in fur-
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 469
nishing aid to enable him to prosecute his work, when all
other efforts for this object frJled.
The pubHc interest felt for the safety of this eminent ex-
plorer, and the success of his researches, prompt me
most cheerfully to comply with the request in the only way
I can properly do so — by transmitting this communication
to the Department.
In the personal interview I had with Mr. John Living-
stone he seemed desirous to authenticate the genuineness of
Dr. Livingstone's despatches, by offering for examination
the original letter enclosed herewith, which in proper time,
he would only claim again. I am, sir, your obedient
servant,
FREExMAN N. BLAKE,
United States Consul.
Enclosures. — First — Letter from John Livingstone, of
Listowell, Ontario. Second — Original letter of Dr. David
Livingstone to same.
LIVINGSTONE'S DISCOVERIES.
CONCLUSION.
Whatever may be the ultimate result of Dr. Livingstoue's
researches, it is not to be doubted that his name will be
forever associated with the history of the Nile. He is by-
far the greatest of all modern explorers. He has ventured
more, seen more, and thrown a clearer light on the hydro-
graphy of Central Africa, than all his predecessors ]>ut to-
gether. Still, a cloud hangs suspended over the exit of the
waters, among whose innumerable springs he has so long
wandered ; and it is to clear up, once for all the mystery of
their course, that he voluntarily condemns himself to remain
an anchorite in unknown wilds and forest, for we know not
how many years. He hopes, indeed, to complete his work
in two years ; but considering how much his previous stay
has been protracted, we may fairly conclude that his return
within that period is doubtful. Meanwhile, we observe
with regret several marks of a disposition to disparage his
labors, by attempting to prove that there exists no connec-
tion between the streams he has discovered and the river
of Egypt. It would be unjust to say that Captains Speke
and Grant discovered nothing, because they made us ac-
quainted with the course and character of the Kitangule,
which is certainly one of the feeders of the Nile ; but their
notion, that the Victoria N'yanza is the source of that river,
is as irreconcilable with their own narrative as it is with the
science of geography. They saw part of a lake, and heard
a great deal about the rest of it ; but they neither discovered
its dimensions, nor how it is fed, nor how many streams fall
into it, nor with what system of lakes it is connected at its
southern extremity. AH these points are still unknown,
and so also is the source of the Kitangule. Nothing, there-
fore, could be more unfounded than their pretension to •
(470)
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 47 1
have discovered the source of the Nile. It is highly pro-
bable that the stream which runs out of the Victoria
N'yanza is one branch, and perhaps a principal branch of
the Nile ; but as they did not follow its course from the
lake to its junction with the Blue River, this probability
does not amount to certainty. They have given, we admit,
satisfactory reason.? why they did not follow the great sweep
which the river makes toward the west, and the extent of
which is still unknown ; and though, proceeding north-
ward, they came to a river, which they assumed to be the
same as that they had left, they may have been mistaken,
for, after parting company with it for a hundred miles, they
could not be more sure that they were dealing with the
same stream, than Dr. Livingstone in his assumed identifi-
cation of the Lualaba with the Bahr-el-Gazal.
We arc far from deciding dogmatically that the ridge of
uplands, and the peaks that tower from their summit, are
the Mountains of the Moon ; they are situated about eleven
degrees south of what Captain Speke assumes to be the
Lunar Mountains of Ptolemy ; but instead of contenting
himself with transient glimpses of these terrene elevations,
Dr. Livingstone patiently plodded along six hundred miles
of the watershed, examining and describing in noble lan-
guage his impressions of what he saw by the way. He has
not beheld the whole, and does not say he has ; on the
contrary, he tells us that there remains yet a hundred miles
of the watershed, .ind the most important hundred n lies,
which he has not visited. The reader who remembers the
gorgeous picture which Buffon has drawn of the primitive
earth, may imagine himself among its v/astes and wilds, as
he peruses Dr. Livingstone's descriptions of the spongy
fountains, the morasses, the shallow lakes, hundreds of
miles in length, the impenetrable forests which the traveller
skirted, the wild buffalo and elephant tracks, in which the
unwary wanderer often sinks to the thigh, where the foot of
the huge beast has been, the reedy pools, many miles in
length, resembling the mangrove swamps on the coast, the
tor-like peaks, impending far up among the hills over gun-
nels and fountains yet unvisited. As we have already said,
it is not our intention to be positive where the great
472 THE FINDING OF
traveller himself is not : after all his researches, he observes
very modestly that he may be mistaken, and in that case
expresses his readiness to confess his error ; but if his own
observations, and the testimony of natives whom he knows
and trusts, can be relied upon, all the wealth of waters de-
scending from the Lunar Mountains do certainly flow in
a northerly direction, whether they ultimately unite with the
Egyptian flood or not. The reason he gives for his own
belief that it is the great valley in which the united waters
flow, sometimes spreading into large lakes, sometimes form-
ing hu^e lacustrine rivers, is, that the depression is hemmed
in by high lands on the west as well as on the east, so that,
up to the fourth degree of south latitude at least, he could
perceive nothing to lessen his belief in the junction of the
Lualaba with the great western arm of the Nile. Still,
when his researches northward were interrupted at the
fourth degree of south latitude, he had reached an immense
sheet of water, which he calls the unknown lake, terminat-
ing, as he was assured by the natives, in extensive
reedy swamps, which he persuaded himself must in the end
join the Bahr-el-Gazal.
Both Captain Grant and Dr. Beke have written letters to
the TifHcs^ in which they maintain that Dr. Livingstone's
theory is impossible. An eminent German botanist. Dr.
Schweinfurth, has discovered, they say, the source of that
river in five degrees north latitude. But are they or the
German botanist quite sure that the Bahr-el-Gazal has but
one source ? May it not, like the Bahr-el-Abiad, have many
springs ? so that, without disparaging the botanist's testi-
mony, we may believe in the practicability of conducting
the waters of the Lualaba into the Bahr-el-Gazal. But here
Dr. Beke interposes another obstacle, which he considers
insurmountable : the river Uelle traverses, he aflirms, the
Ime of march which the Lualaba must follow in its attempt
to unite its forces with those of the western branch of the
Nile. But with all due respect for the science of travellers
whether at home or abroad, we have less faith than Dr.
Beke in the astronomical observations by which the lati-
tude and longtitude of new places and heads of rivers are
often determined. The Uelle may follow its accidental
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 473
track in peace, and yet leave room for the north-eastern
course of the Lualaba. However, as, from all these con-
flicting ideas, it is obvious that certainty has not yet been
attained, we persuade ourselves that the public will be con-
tent to await the result of Dr. Livingstone's final researches,
which, whether they establish his previous theory or not,
he will surely divulge to the world in their utmost com-
pleteness. For some time, it is well known, the chief of
African travellers was supposed to be dead, his journals
lost, his discoveries handed over to oblivion. Several lan-
guid endeavours were made by the scientific gentlemen of
this country to discover his fate, or afford him succour if
still alive. But causes on which we decline to dwell frus-
trated their attempts, and it was left for tlie correspondent
of the New York Herald to explore the explorer, and shew
to England her bold son displaying the hereditary virtues
of his race in the untrodden wilds of Central Africa. The
name of Mr. Stanley, who carried the design of the New
York Herald into execution, is now almost as well known
as that of Livingstone himself, and respected wherever it is
known. The meeting of the explorer and his deliverer near
the banks of the Tanganyika Lake is characteristic of
British . oolness and daring. Informed by a servant of the
approach of a white man, Livingstone advanced to meet
him, and, at the head of a small caravan, beheld the stars
and stripes flaunting in the African breeze. He was there-
fore not left to conjecture from what quarter his deliverance
was approaching. He was not one of those who care on
which side of the Atlantic an Englishman is born, or whether
he happens to be called an American or a Scotchman ; it is
enough that he is one of the leading race among mankind,
which he feels himself also to be.
The communications of Livingstone himself to the Foreign
Oftice, his letters to the New York Herald^ and those of
Mr. Stanley, giving an account of his proceedings in Africa,
have made the public familiar with the leading facts of the
case ; it is not with these, therefore, that we have to deal,
but with sone important questions, geographical and physi-
ological, arising out of them. Dr. Livingstone is a man of
warm and grateful feelings — emotional, though not demon-
27
474 THE FINDING OF
strative ; and as he has received numerous benefits from the
Africans of the interior, he is naturally disposed to think
kindly and judge favourably of them. But kindness i.^ one
thing, and science another. Men and v/omen with whom
he has for years maintained friendly relations, can hardly
appear to him in the same light in v.liich they would be
viewed by a new and impartial observer. He tells us him-
self, that after living awhile among black people, you cease
to be conscious that they are black : as by the same meta-
morphosis of feeling, you cease to be conscious that ugly
people are ugly. Alen who marry plain women, if they
hap})en to be gifted with a loving dispo.sition, soon forget
the want of symmetry in their features, or of proportion in
their figure, and, misled by the force of expression, abso-
lutely regard them as beautiful. It seems to us that, under
some such influence as this. Dr. Livingstone has been be-
trayed into the entertaining of a far more fi\orable opinion
of the structure and appearance of the Manyema, for ex-
ample, whom he himself describes as ruthless cannibals,
than a physiognomist would consider defensible. Some
travellers have said that the negroes pity us because v>e
are white, and possibly also because our heads are not
woolly. There is no accounthig for tastes ; but among the
multitudes of black people whom we have seen and known,
no example has occurred of an individual who preferred
the negro countenance to that of the F.uropean. We are
consequently disposed to demur to 13r. Livingstone's theory
of the physiijue of Central Africans, whom he looks upon
as superior in many respects to our own countrymen,
especially such as have apj)lied themselves to physiological
studies.
Six years of familiarity with ' thick lucious lips,' and locks
which a poodle might envy, have sometimes led him to
view us, descendants of the Vikings and Gauls, from a comic
point of view. For instance, in the following passage : ' If
a comparison were instituted, and Manyema taken at ran-
dom, placed opposite, say, the memi)ers of the Anthropolo-
gical Society of London, clad like them in kifts of grass -
cloth, I should like to take my place alongside the Man-
yema, on the principle of preferring the company of my
DR. LIVINGSTONE. 475
belters — the philosophers would look wofuUy scraggy/
But though the ' infenor race,' as we compassionately call
them, have finely formed heads and often handsome fea-
tures, they are undoubtedly cannibals. Elsewliere, reason-
ing in the same vein, he snys : ' I happened to be present
when all the head men of the great chief, Insama, who lives
west of the south end of the Tanganyika, had come
together to make peace with certain Arabs who had burned
their chief town, and I am certain one could not see more
fmely formed intellectual heads in any assembly in London
or Paris, and the faces and forms corresponded with the
finely shaped heads.' Tiie men being fashioned after this
tyi)e, we naturally inquire v.hat sort of persons are their
helpmates ? Are they also finely formed, with intellectual
heads and elegantly proportioned bodies ? Dr. Livingstone
re[)lies : * ^Nlany of the women were very pretty, and, like
all ladies, would have been much prettier if they had only
let themselves alone. Fortunately, the dears could not
change their ch.:,rming black eyes, beautiful foreheads,
nicely rounded limbs, well shaped forms, and small hands
and feet.' Further on, he adds : ' Cazembe's queen would
l)e esteemed a real beauty, either in London, Paris, or New
York.' In a village of U])per Egypt, we saw one black
l)eauty with features as regular as those of a (Irecian statue,
and hair long and flexible as that of a Greek or English-
woman. Inquiring whence she came, it appeared that no
one could tell — somewhere from the interior, was the reply,
but from what part of the interior, it was impossible to learn.
She had come huddled among a miUltitude of captive ne-
gresses, whom she regarded with as much scorn as if she
had been an lapetian of xhc purest blood. Could she have
been brought from INLanyc ma ? The complexion decided
in the negative. They, as Livingstone assures us, are of a
rich warm brown colour—she was as black as ebony.
T^eaving this question unsolved, we follow Dr. Livingstone
in his speculations on the original type of the negro, which,
with Winwood Reade, he is inclined to discover in the an-
cient Egyptian. Here dogmatism would be peculiarly out
of place, since investigation has not yet revealed to us who
tb.e ancient Egyptians were. The geographers and phil-
47^ THE FINDING OK
osophers of antiquity were of opinion that Africa com-
menced west of the Nile, at the line which separates the
cultivated country from the Desert. The Egyptians, there-
fore, in their view, were Asiatics, probably of Semitic origin,
and closely allied to the Phoenicians and Carthaginians.
To study their monuments carefully, and to behold in them,
indications of a physiological affinity with the African races,
we hold to be impossible. Instead of round, they have
almond-shaped eyes, with lips rather thin than thick, slender
figures, and long, flexible hair. The nose is not depressed,
as Winwood Reade supposes, but straight, like that of the
Arabs. Occasionally, mummies have been found with red
.hair ; and from among such individuals, victims were oc-
casionally selected, and sacrificed to Typhon. Their
opinions, their rites, their ceremonies, their philosophy,
their religion, were almost identical with those of the Phoe-
nicians, and never suggest to a philosophical student the
slightest trace of African origin. One of the least expli-
cable problems in the science of ethnology is that repug-
nance to civilization, or absolute incapacity to profit by its
teaching, which, from the beginning of time, has character-
ized the black races. As far as we can discover, they have
always been cannibals ; while the masses of the population
have as invariably been slaves, whether at home or abroad.
An old Greek poet divided mankind into three classes — one
consisting of men who could discover truth for themselves ;
a second, of men who could not discover it for themselves,
but could accept it when it had been discovered by others ;
and a third, who could neither do the one nor the other —
whom, in his rough way of speaking, he called * wretches,
without use or value.' We would not apply this language
to the black races, nor perhaps would the old poet, if he
were required to deliver his opinion in prose ; but the fact
is certain, that while the nations of Semitic and lapetian
origin have invented a civilization for themselves, the Afri-
cans have remained from time immemorial unimproved, and
apparently unimprovable, at least beyond a certain point.
When Dr. Livingstone returns to this country, and places
his matured views before the world, we are persuaded he
will introduce many great modifications into his ethnolo-
DR. LIVINGSTON K. 477
gical theor>\ No one knows better tlian he that numerous
efforts have been vainly made to ditVuse the hght of know-
ledge among the African populations by the Egyptians,
Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and
Arabs. But the head of the African has proved impene-
trable to the darts of enlightenment, whether social, moral,
or religious. Nothing can be more completely removed
from the ethical system of civilized mankind than the prac-
tice of cannibalism, which, nevertheless, appears to be not
naturally repugnant to the interior African. The Manyema
women. Dr. Livingstone says, keep aloof from the hideous
banquets of the men ; but in the AVest India Islands, more
especially in Hayti, it is the women who take the lead in
the practice of cannibalism, which they carr\- to its most
shocking excess, by devouring their own children. How
barbarous nations are to be civilized, seems not yet to have
been discovered in modern times. Dr. Livingstone de-
scribes the result of his own researches as the rediscovery of
facts well known to antiquity ; and it would be well for us
if we could rediscover the methods by which the Greeks
and Romans civilized the races among whom they planted
colonies. When modern Europeans settle in the midst of
savages, they immediately commence the process of exter-
mination, which they generally complete in a period more
or less protracted ; and when they fail, it '\% only when the
multitudes with whom they have to deal are vastly too
numerous to be cut off. The Red Indians of North Ame-
rica have dwindled from fifteen or sixteen millions to about
a million and a half, and will soon disappear altogether.
The natives of Newfoundland have long ago retreated to
the * happy hunting-grounds,'
Where slaves once more their native land behold,
No fiends torment, no Christians thirst for gold.
So, again, in Tasmania, not a trace remains of its once vigor-
ous and numerous population ; the black race is fast dying
out in Australia, the cannibal in New Zealand, and if we
do not extirpate the Hindus and Mohammedans of India,
it is because the effort exceeds our strength. Were it not
478 THE UN DING OK
for this phenomenon, we should exceedingly regret that con-
quest and annexation were not the result of the Abyssinian
war. Once firmly planted ir those highlands, and opening
commercial relations with the Africans of the interior, the
probability is that w^e should have exerted as beneficial an
influence on their minds and manners as they are capable of
receiving. When Cazembe — the beauty of whose Queen
has been above spoken of — had conversed with Dr. Living-
stone, he said that from the first specimen of the English he
had seen, he liked them, and evinced his liking by treating
the traveller with much consideration. He might not have
liked them so well, had his country become a province of
our colonial empire. Commerce, hov/ever, quietly insinu-
ates into barbarous populations the good which con(]uest
endeavours to force upon tliem. The merchant, with a
string of blue beads in his hand, is often more potent than
a dragoon with his sword. The women befriend the
bringer of beads, and the persons whom they befriend are
generally able to effect much among savages. Had Ab-
yssinia become the rece[)tacle of all such articles of European
manufacture as would be adapted to the tastes of the ha.-
tives, many of which they have never yet beheld, a peaceable
passage would be readily granted through their country' to
every Englishman. The only races who would have had
cause to regret our close vicinity would have been those of
the elephant and lion, whom we should certainly have de-
stroyed in a comparatively short space of time. The ex-
istence of the lion in any country is an indubitable proof of
a low state of civilization ; he had already disappeared fijom
Greece in mythical times ; in Persia and in the Nedjed,
as w^ell as in India, he maintained his ground to our ovrn
day ; but he has now become extinct in Asia as well as in
Europe ; and had we planted ourselves firmly in Central
Africa, as we have long done in the south, lions
skins would have become a scarce article in the markets of
the v/orld.
The necessitv of our advent amons: the cannibals of Man-
yema is clearly shown by many passages in Dr. Eivingstone's
letters. The natives are not without industry ; they culti-
vate the soil largely, and have carried the useful arts so flir
DR. LIVINGSTON K.
479
as to be able to smelt iron and copper ; yet they have made
but small progress in the affairs of social life. * There is
not a single great chief in all Manyema — no matter what
name th^ different divisions of peoole bear- -Manyema,
Balegga, Babire, Bazire, Bakoos — there is no political co-
hesion, not one king or kingdom. Each head man is inde-
pendent of every other.' The women play a distinguished
part in the business of these countries : they dive for oys-
ters, and are expert in many other kinds of industry. The
principal part of the trade is in their hands. ' Markets are
held at stated times, and the women attend them in large
numbers, dressed in their best. They are light-coloured,
have straight noses, and are fmcly formed. They are keen
traders, and look on the market as a great institution : to
haggle and joke, and laugh and cheat, seem the enjoy-
ments of life. TIk' population, especially west of the river,
is prodigiously large. * Near Lomame, the Bakuss or Ba-
koons cultivate coffee, and drink it highly scented with
vanilla. Food of all kinds is extremely cheap and abun-
dant. Hcrtafter, when Dr. Livingstone comes to arrange
his materials, draw inferences from his own statements, and
estimate the value of different facts, he will doubtless be
able to paint a consistent picture of the Central Africans,
who contrast favourably, as far at least as morals are con-
cerned, with the hnlf-caste Arabs— I mean in Dr. Diving-
stone's opinion. In everything which distinguishes man
from man they are as inferior to the real Arab as the
Chinese is to the Knglishman. Their superstitions are the
lowest and most grovelling prevalent among the human
race. The least benighted among them are Manichx'ans of
the rudest stamp, that is, have conceived some idea of a
good spirit and a bad one, and point out a hot spring in one
of their valleys as coming up directly from the quarters of
the latter. Contrast with these notions the grand simple
creed of the Muslims — La illah il Ullah — 'There is noC-od
but God,' the words in which ihey exjjress their belief in the
unity of the Divine essence. A few years ago, there sprang
up a sort of revival among the Arabs of Arabia Proper,
who burst into Africa with a comparatively small number
of conquering bands, and swept everything before them
480 THE FINDIN'G OF
almost as far south as our settlements : upon which the
English bishop of the Cape observed, that he thought it
matter of congratulation that the truths of El Islam were
thus substituted for the grovelling fetishism of the blacks.
But this movement from the East soon slackened, and has
left no other trace than increased appetite for marauding
and kidnapping among the inferior races, for Dr. Living-
stone must admit that the people which invariably suc-
cumbs to another people are certainly their inferiors.
\
"TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION."
<•■•»
CA«aomN uov nun mmz
BY
IN THE OREAT AMERICAN DESERT.
Born, bred, and educated ai Orillia. Married and settled
in Kansas ; moves with her hnsband and child towards
IMontana ; their train attacked bv Indians ; most of the
men murdered ; tiie authoress and heroine, her child and
another ladj
CARRIED FAR INTO THE WILDERNESS;
Revolting Scenes ; Horrid Barbarities ; Degrading Slavery ;
Cold and Starvation ; Escape and Keca])ture ; Hope still
Cherished ; Hope deferred ; Treachery of Pretended Friends
(Indian) ;
MURDER OF HER DARLING CHILD,
Untiring efforts of her husband for her deliverance. Har-
rowing Tales of LaV)or, Threatened Death, Providential
Deliverances, Ultimate Ransom and Restoration, Affecting
S'cenes and Thvilling details of Indian Life, &c.
BY MRS. FANNY KELLY.
One Volume l^mo., with Illmtratwns of JFild Life and Scenes
in tite Far JFest.
I=»3?IICE, l.OO.
Toronto: Maclear & Co., Publishers.
1872.
N^^JRH-A^TIVE
or
MY CAPTIVITY
AMONG THB
SIOUX INDIANS.
BY
FANNY KELLY.
WITH A BBIKP ACCOUNT OF GBNERAL SULLY's INDIAN EXPEDITION IN 1864,
BEARING UPON BTENT8 OCCUBEING IN MY CAPTIVITY.
TORONTO :
PUBLISHED BY MACLEAR & CO.,
1872.
CERTIFICATE OF INDIAN CHIEFS.
Personally appeared before me, a Notary Pnblic for tiie
District of Columbia, Mrs. Fanny Kelly, who is at this time
a citizen of the State of Kansas, and being duly sworn,
deposes and says :
That in the year 1864, she started from Geneva, Allen
County, Kansas, for the purpose of settling with her hus-
band and family in Montana, and for this purpose she with
her husband took all the goods and chattels they had, which
are enumerated below, with amount and value.
She further says she is now a v/idow and has a family to
support.
But she was for many months a prisoner, and taken cap-
tive by a band of the Sioux Indians, at the time at war with
the white people, and with the United States, as follows : —
On the 12th day of July, 1804, while on the usually travel-
led road across the plains, and west of Fort Laramie, she,
with her husband and family, with several other persons,
were attacked hy these Indians, and five of the party were
killed, while she was taken captive. That the Indians
took or destroyed all they had. She was a captive for five
months, suffered hardships and taunts, and was finally de-
livered to the military authorities of the United States in
Dakota, at Fort Sully.
That the following is a statement of their goods and
effects, including stock, as near as she can remember. The
whole account was made out and placed, as she is informed,
in the hands of Dr. Burleigh, late delegate from Dakota, but
whicli she can not find at this time. The amount and the
leading items she knows to be as follows :
^u %^ ^u «^ ^^ »x^
^% ^^ ^* ^^ ^^ ^^
Fanny Kelly.
Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 24th day of
February, A.D. 1870.
Jas. H. McKenney, Notary Public,
Washington County, D. C.
City of Washington, \
District of Columbia.
June 9th, 1870. )
Wo, the undersigned, chiefs and head men of the Dakota
or Sioux Indians, do hereby acknowledge and certify to the
tacts set forth in the foregoing affidavit of Mrs. Fanny Kelly,
as to her captivity and to the destruction of her property by
members of our nation. We acknowledge the justness of
her claim against us for the loss of her goods, and desire
that the same may be paid her out of any moneys now due
our nation, or that may become due us by annuity or by any
appropriation made by Congress ; and we would respectfully
request that the amount as set forth in the foregoing bill be
])aid to ^Irs. Fanny Kelly by the Department, out of any
funds that may now or hereafter belong to us.
Spotted x Tail,
Chief of Brule Sioux.
Swift x Bear,
Chief of Brule Sioux.
Fast x Bear,
AVarrior, Brule Sioux.
Yellow x Hair,
Warrior, Brule Sioux.
'-L.-'ty/
NARRATIVE OF CAPTIVITY
AMONG THE SIOUX INDIANS.
NAllRATIVE OF CAPTIVITY
!»
H
>
<
o
Q
3
H
33
o
aa
AMONG TUE SIoUX INDIANS.
>
o
NARRATIVE OF CAPTIVITY
O
2
<
a
'<&
ao
AMOXG THE SIOUX INDIAN'S.
.it"
^
XAItllATIVi: OF CAPTIVITY
AMONG THE SIOUX INDIANS.
JUMPING BF.'R PROMISINO BV TTIE MOOX TO CARRY MY LETTER TO THE WHITE
CHIKK AT FORT SULLY.
NARRATIVE OF CAPTIVITY
FIVE THOUSAND A YEAR;
AND
HOW I MADE IT
IN
FIVE YEARS' TIME, STARTING WITHOULCAPITAL.
BY
EDWARD MITCHELL.
PRICE, 25Cts.-P0ST FREE ON RECEIPT OF PRICE
TORONTO:
ESTABLISHED IN CANADA IN 1843.
MACLEAR & CO:,
XORONXO,
PUBLISHERS
— OF—
SOLD CHIEFLY BY AGENTS
OR ANY ONE,
WILL FIND IT TO THEIR ADVANTAGE TO APPLY TO US
FOR TERMS BEFORE GOING ELSEWHERE.
We pay Liberal Premiums to any one sending us bona fide
Working Agents.
THE TRA«NSMISSION OF LIFE.
COUNSELS ON THE
Nature and Hf jiene of the Masculine Foiction.
BY
DR. GEORGE H. NAPHEYS,
Author of" The Physical Life of Wbman,^^ " Co?npendium of
Modern Therapeutics,^^ " Letters from Europe,^ ^ etc.
One Volume Crown Octavo,
Best Englisli Cloth, Oilt Bade ana
Sicle stamps.
TESTIMONIALS.
The publishers take pleasure in presenting the following
testimonials to the practical value and the moral tone of this
work :
REV. JOHN TODD, D.D.,
Author of " The Stu/lenfs 3Ianual/^ " Lidex Eerum,'''' etc.
" Dr. Kapheys : I am surprised at the extent and accuracy
of your reading; the judiciousness of your positions and re-
sults ; the clear, unequivocal, and yet deHcate and ajipropri-
ate language used ; and the amount of valuable information
conveyed. It is comparatively a new, but very important
field, and you have done well. The book cannot fail, 1 think,
to do good — great good — if rightly lieeded."
BISHOP LEVI SCOTT, D.D.,
Methodist Episcopal Church.
" I partake largely of th-3 favourable opinion of Dr. Todd,
and wish your work great success."'
1
TRAvsmssiON or Lin.
REV. H. CLAY TEUMBULL,
Missionary Secretary for New England of the American S.S. Union.
"Your new work^ on " The Transmission of Life," is one that
erery boy, and every man, every bachelor, parent, or teacher,
should have and read and be grateful for. I have given suffi-
cient study to the ways and needs of boys and yowng men, to
appreciate perhaps more fully than most, the importance of
your theme. I have been much instructed by your writings,
and I desire others to be benefitted thereby."
Rt. rev. THOMAS MARCH CLARK, D.D., LL.D,
Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Rhode Island.
" I do not hesitate to say that I regard it as a most timely
and valuable treatise on an important and delicate subject. 1
do not see a line to which the most fastidious could object, and
I believe that its general circulation among the young would
avert a vast amount of misery and sin."
BISHOP T. A MORRIS, D.D.,
Methodist Episcopal Church.
"The subject of this work is one of intense interest, and
the manner of treating it is very proper. Both will command
public attention and approval. May the book find a hearty
welcome among all the wise and good."
REV. LEONARD BACON, D.D.,
New Haven, Connecticut.
I think you have treated very judiciously a difficult subject.
My belief that some such work may be useful is derived from
the fact that the newspapers in all parts of the country over-
flow with advertisements addressed to the ignorance, the fears,
and the guilt of transgressors. If your book can diminish
the sale of the nostrums offered in those advertisements —
still more, if it can put any on their guard against the vices
which make such advertisements worth paying for, you will
have done a good work."
REV. J. AVERY SHEPHERD, D.D.,
Head Master of St. Clemenfs Hall, EUicott City, Md.
The subjects treated of are not merely of great interest,
hey are of vital importance. My decided impression is that
this work will do good.
TRANSMISSION OF LIFE.
REV. CYRUS NUTT, D.D.,
President of Indiana State University.
1 know of no work recently issued from the press, calculated
to do so much good as "The Transmission of Life." It con-
tains information of the utmost importance to the individual
and the race, and should have a wide circulation.
PROF. J. ORDRONAUX, LL.D., M.D.,
Prof, of Physiology, Pathology, and Medical Jurisprudence,
Columbian College, Washington, L. C.
It was due to the cause of science, no less than morality,
that some competent and honourable physician should reclaim
this subject from the slough of pollution in which it has been
dragged. Your work bears the impress of religious and
scientific truth.
PHILADELPHIA MEDICAL AND SURGICAL REPORTER.
This book is intended to meet a want which, during the
last year, has been urgently expressed by several medical and
literary journals in this country and England, namely, to place
before the public, in popular yet irreproachable language,
what infonnacion regarding the hygiene, nature, uses, and
abuses of the procreative function in the male is necessary to
protect the inuividual from the evil consequences ot his own
folly or ignorance. It will readily be conceived that to discuss
such topics clearly, positively, and with benefit to the lay
reader, requires no ordinary tact : and we must say that the
author has succeeded beyond all our expectations. The work
is characterised throughout by sound scientific views, and in-
dicates extensive and careful reading.
AMERICAN LITERARY GAZETTE.
Philadelphia, March 15, 1871.
Those who are acquainted with the author's " Physical Life
or Woman" will find this new book fully equal to that very
popular and extraordinarily successful work, to which it may
be said to form a sequel, being addressed to the other sex.
NEW YORK INDEPENDENT.
March 30, 1871.
The book treats of an important and difficult subject with
perfect delicacy of thoug.it and expression, and its counsels
are eminently sound and judicious. It is, we believe, calcula-
•d to do great good.
TRANSMISSION OF LIFE.
ANDREW D. WHITE, LL.D.,
Pt^esident of Oornell University.
Your thoughtful and delicate presentation of the subject
seems to me to merit great praise. That your discussion will
do much good I firmly believe.
REV. W. T. STOTT,
Acting President of Franklin College, Indiana.
I know no author who has succeeded so well in combining
information with safe advice.
PROF. JOHN S. HART, LL.D.,
Trenton, N.J.
I have been impressed with the care and discretion shown in
the treatment of a very difficult subject.
PROF. HARVEY L. BYRD, M.D.,
Prof, of Obsterics in the Medical Department of Washington
University^ Baltimore, Md.
You have done your work well. I am one of those who
believe the lay members of every intelligent community
should be educated in a general knowledge of the laws of life
Hence I endorse your efforts in this direction.
JOHN H. GRISCOM, M.D.,
New York City.
The numerous and important subjects have been nowhere
to my knowledge, as intelligently and effectively treated. The
sanitary advice, so well inculcated, should be learned by every
individual, especially by parents for the safety of their
children.
THE COLLEGE COURANT.
New Haven, Ct., April 8, 187L
This work ought to be in every one's library, in every family
throughout the country. No young man should be without a
copy of it. It has no equal.
THE CHRISTIAN SECRETARY.
Hartford, March 15, I87I.
Dr. Napheys has treated this delicate topic with excellent
discretion, and his book comes highly recommended by some
of the best and wisest men among us. Its perusal may save
thousands of persons from untold evils.
TRANSMISSION OP LIFE.
THE AGE.
Philadelphia, April 24, 1871.
Parents will find in this book wise cautions 5 and men
young and old, may acquire from it precise knowledge of tlie
most important natural functions. In language, moral tone'
and purpose the book is unexceptionable.
THE LUTHEKAN OBSERVER.
Philadelphia, May 5, 1871.
This work is both scientific and practical. Its style is clear
and plain, but does not offend the most refined taste. The
fearful and increasing prevalence of certain vices among the
young, to which all physicians bear vvitness, requires that
parents and teachers should possess the knowledge which Dr.
Napheys' book imparts, and should conscientiously consider
their duties in view of the perils which are therein revealed.
THE CHRISTIAN RADICAL.
The hygienic advice imparted in the pages of this work, if
put into practical use, will be of the greatest benefit to the
race. It is a book that should be read. Every man, and
woman too, will be the better for it.
THE PROVIDENCE EVENING PRESS.
Providence, R. I., May 30, 1871.
The subject treated by Dr. Napheys is a delicate and im-
portant one, yet he has treated it with peculiar delicacy and
care. The Rev. Dr. Todd and a host of other learned men
have commended it in the highest terms. It is pronounced
scientific by competent authority, and is full of valuable
information. It treats of crime against the body, and uses
the strongest terms of condemnation, showing the revenge
which nature invariably takes upon the violate r of her laws.
The moral as well as the physical standpoint is taken by the
learned author, and if the book will produce the good effect
designed, it will prove invaluable to society.
THE METHODIST.
New York, May 27, 1871.
"The Transmission of Life," by Dr. George H. Napheys, is a
thorough treatise on the most important physical function.
It furnishes information on a subject on which correct informa-
tion is much needed, which deeply concerns all men and
women and their children.
THANSMISSION OF LIFB.
KEV. HORACE BUSHNELL, D.D.,
Uarifordj Connecti'^t.
<' I see it to be a work immensely wanted, and think it will
do much good. The subject, as related to family life, and the
condition of posterity, is a really awful one, and ought to b
just as much more awful to young men, as it more deeply
concerns their welfare. Give it as great a circulation as you
can."'
REV. C. P. SHELDON, D.D.,
Pt-esidetU of the N. T. Baptist Convention, Pastor of the Fifth
Baptist Church, Troy, N. Y.
"The subjects of which it treats are of great importance; and
I am much pleased with the careful, candid, and able manner
in which Dr. Napheys discusses them. The public need just
such information, and in this work it is so imparted, that it
cannot but be healthful and salutary. In moral and religious
tone it is unexceptionalile. I earnestly recommdnd its publi-
cation and circulation."
PROF. NOAH PORTER, D.D.,
Yale College.
Dk. Geo. H. Naphets —
Dear Sir : I thank you for a copy of your work on " The
Transmission of Life. ^' There is in it much valuable informa-
tion, carefully considered and industriously collected. The
topics — of greatest delicacy — are treated with all possible re-
finement, while the much needed warnings concerning tlie
ofiences against nature, which are practised in ignorance by
many, and with shamelessness by others, are faithfully ad-
ministered."
DR. S. AUSTIN ALLIBONE,
Author of " The Dictionary of Authors,^ ^
'' The subjects discussed are of great importance ; the liter -
ary style is excellent — terse, vigorous, and perspicuous ; tlie
philanthropic zeal evinced is highly creditable to your heart ;
and the moral and religious spirit of the work is such as to give
me a profound respect for the writer. The tendency of tlie
book is good, and good only. It makes vice abhorrent and
virtue cheaply purchased by all the wholesome restraints
w^ich it imposes."
TRAN84I8910N OF LIFE.
HON. T. W. BICKNELL
Vice-President Rhode Island Institute of Instruction.
I have read "The Transmission of Life," by Dr. Napheys,
and find the volume hlled with truths which every man should
know, understand, and daily practise. The author exhibits
knowledge, wide reading, candour, and good sense. I can but
wish for this work an immediate and wide circulation among
the young men of our State, for by its teachings the causes of
education, religion, and the pui'est morality will be advanced.
A few friends who have read the book concur heartily with
this opinion.
THUS. W. PEKRY, M.D.,
^ PROVIL»ENCfl, R. I.
I have read with great pleasure ''The Transmission of Life."
The subjects are well arranged and handled with great delicacy
and truthfulness. The book is worthy the perusal of all men,
both professional and un^jrofessional.
FROM TIJE PACIFIC CHURCHMAN.
San Fkancisco, May, 18, 1871.
This is a book for honest, Godfearing men and women. Its
subject is one of Jie most important and sacred in the world,
and is treated with the highest scientific and professional
ability ; and, what is mort^ important, is written from a Chris-
tian standpoint. It is one' of the good signs of the times that
such matters are wi'itten upon by honest, able hands, and the
field not abandoned to quacks. Every young married couple
should possess and read it.
FROM THE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE.
Nashville, June 3, 1871 .
The delicate and difficult subject is handled with great skill,
prudence, and fidelity. The apalling prevalence of licentious-
ness in all its forms in our country shows that the question
must no longer be allowed to rest. The reticence and fas
tidiousness which have cliaracterised the pulpit, the press,
the lecture-room, etc., must give way to earnest, well-directed
efforts to stop the plague, which is sapping the foundations
of society.
We call earnestly upon parents, pastors, and teachers to
watch over the youth committed to their care with the utmost
vigilance, so as to save them from the first transgression — and
in order to this, you would do well to procure this volume
and give it a serious and careful perusal.
TRANSMISSION OF LlFl.
REV. HENRY A. NELSON, D.D.,
Irofessor of Systematic and Pastoral Theology j Lane Seminary ^
Cincinnati^ Ohio.
" You have treated an important subject with great wisdom
and fidelity. I could wish every young person to receive
tarly the valuable — shall I not say necess-ary ? — instruction
which it contains."
REV. ABNER JACKSON, D.D., LL.D.
President of Trinity College.
"I have found your volume both interesting and instructive,
[t contains a large amount of useful information and suggestion
in regard to human welfare and duty. Matters of great deli-
cacy, but of great 'importance in their bearings on health and
happiness, are here treated of in a manner to instruct and
guide, without shocking, or giving offence. The wide circula-
tion of this work cannot fail to do good.
REV. WM. A. STEARNS, D.D., LL.D.
President of Amherst College.
It is a difficult subject, which you have treated with pro-
priety and success. The information which you give is of the
greatest importance to the community, and especially to young
men ; and it is a thousand times better that they receive it
from a work like yours, than be left to obtain it from sources
of doubtful influence, or from bitter experience."
REV. SA^ISON TALBOT, D.D.,
President of Denison University , Ohio.
I have read carefully the advance sheets of "The Transmis-
sion of Life," and most heartily join in recommending its
publication. The candour and learning of the autlior are
very manifest; the information imparted is just that which
the pul^lic most needs, and the moral tone of the work is
altogether pure and elevating.
REV. GEORGE W. SAMSON, D.D.,
President of Columbian College.
I have read '' The Transmission of Life " with care, so has my
£on, who is a practising physician. I regard it as scholarly in
its discussion, chaste in its exin-ession, and unobjectionable in
every respect. I cannot but commend this worthy effort in a
field where fiaithful instruction is so much needed.
TRANSMISSION OF LIFK.
TIJE M(JRAVIAN.
It is not often that one .sees a really commendable book on
so delicate, and yet so extremely important, a subject as that
which is treated in Dr. George H. Naphey's " Transmiteion oi
Life.'' The author speaks candidly and plainly, using no
technical terms, and yet without otiending the purest taste or
feeling. The moral tone of the work is altogether unexcep-
tionable. It meets a great popular want, imparting informa-
tion lor the want of which many a young man is ruined, body
and soul. Its common sense and earnest tone commend its
counsels to all.
TPIE CONGREGATIONALIST.
"The Transmission ot Life," by Dr. Napheys, is an elaborate
and carefully-prepared treatise which has been highly com-
mended by competent judges. It treats of subjects of great
importance to human health and happiness, and does this with
equal plainness and delicacy.
PROF. CHARLES A. LEE, M.D.,
Emeritias Professor of Hygiene in the University of Buffalo,
N. Y.j &c. d:c.
From a careful perusal ot your work, " The Transmission of
Life," I find you have been remarkably successful in treating
a delicate but most important subject so as not to offend the
most fastidious taste, while you have given all the information
and facts needed for the instruction of the young in this
branch of physiology. Your work, moreover, has a high moral
and religious tone, which must particularly recommend it to
the better classes of society and those engaged in the office
of instruction. I trust it may be the means of effecting a
vast amount of good, and to this end I wish it may have a
wide circulation.
REV. EDWARD COKE, D.D.,
Principal Wesleyaii Academy, Wilhraham, Mass.
My experience as an educator of young men has taught me
the dangers of ignorance on the subjects therein treated. It
seems to me Dr. Naj^heys has furnished just the information
needed. The work must, if freely circulated, be of great
benefit to health and morals.
AGENTS WANTED EVERYWHERE.
THE
PHYSICAL LIFE OF WOMAN:
§,trfai« to t^t
MAIDEN, WIFE, AND MOTHER.
— BY —
GEO. H. NAPHEYS, A.M., M.D.
Member of Phlladdithxa County Medical Society ;
Corr^i</><.'ndiu(j Member of the G yna>.colo<iical Society of Boston ;
Author of *^Competuliujn of Modern Therapeutictf "<lrc., dec.
"Je Teux qu'une femme ait dec dartre de tout."
MOLIERI.
PRICE $1.50.— POST FREE ON RECEIPT OP PRICE.
Agejwts Wanted Everywhere for this and other Books.
iK^Should these pages come into the hands of any one who may take no interest ii»
the books described, the Publishers will esteem it a faror to have them handed to somb
ooe who may desire them.
TORONTO:
1872.
PKEFACE.
It seems well to ofter, at the outset, a few words explanatory
of the nature and object of this book. The author feels that
its aim is novel, is daring, and will perhaps subject Lim to
criticism. He therefore makes his plea, pro domo sud, in ad-
vance.
The researches of scientific men within the last few years
have brought to light very many facts relating to the physiol-
ogy of woman, the diseases to which she is subject, and the
proper means to prevent those diseases. Such information, if
universally possessed, cannot but result in great benefit to thfe
individual and the commonwealth. The difficulty is to express
one's self clearly and popularly on topics never referred to in
ordinary social intercourse. But as the physician is obliged
daily to speak in plain yet decorous language of such matters,
the author felt that the difficulty was not insurmountable.
He is aware that a respectable though diminishing class in
the community maintain that nothing which relates exclusively
to either sex should become the subject of popular medical
instruction. With every inclination to do this class justice, he
feels sure that such an opinion is radically erroneous. Igno"
ranee 16 no more the mother of purity than she is of religion.
Th« men and women who study and practise medicine are not
PREFACE.
the worse but the better, for their knowledge of such matters.
So it would be with the community. Had every person a sound
understanding of the relations of the sexes, one of the most
fertile sources of crime would be removed.
A brief appendix has been added, directed more especially
to the professional reader, who may desire to consult some of
the original authorities upon whom the author has drawn.
And here he would ask from his fellow-members of the medical
profession their countenance and assistance in his attempt to
distribute sound information of this character among the people.
None but physicians can know what sad consequences are con-
stantly occurring from the want of it.
This book but follows the precedent set by Dr. Bockh,
Professor of Pathology in Leipsic ; Ernest Legouv^, of the
French Academy; Dr. Edward John Tilt, M.R.C.P., Lond. ;
Dr. Henry Pye Chavasse, F.R.C.S., Eng. ; and others who
stand in the front rank of the profession abroad.
In concluding, the author desires to express his thanks and
acknowledge his obligations to a medical friend, whose name is
well known in the literature of the profession as that of one
alike distinguished for his general culture and scientific attain-
ments. It is to his very material assistance in the preparation
of the manuscript, and in the passage of the book through the
press, that any merit which this work may possess is in a great
measure owing.
Philadelahia, 1869.
PREFACE
TO
THE SECOND CANADIAN EDITION
In bringing out a new Canadian Edition of Dr. Naphey's invalua-
ble Work, little need be said by way of Preface. No one can
read the book without profiting by it; and no one need expect
to find in its pages a single word to offend any mind rightly
constituted. In the words of the New York Evangelist,
"the most delicate subjects are treated in language so chaste as
not to offend any pure mind; and the highest authority we
acknowledge declares, that "to the pure all things are pure."
The work covers the whole grouud embraced in the Table
of Contents: And on the great engrossing subject which lately
called forth such emphatic deliverances by the Kight Rev.
Bishop Coxe, Right Rev. Primate Spaulding, the old and
new school Presbyterian General Assemblies, &c., &c., it
utters no uncertain sound.
The facts, references, <fec., are mainly applied to the United
States, where the book was first published, but they all tell
with equal force in our own country.
That the Work is highly appreciated where it is best known,
a sale of over one hundred thousand copies in a few months
amply prove"
CONTENTS.
PAGE
IWTRODUCTORT.
Knowledge is safety — The distinction of the sexes— ^Persons of
both sexea and of neither sex — The sphere of woman.
The Maidsn. Pubebtt.
What is the age of puberty? — What hastens and what retards
puberty ?— The changes it works— The dangers of puberty — Green
sickness — Hysterics— Secret bad habits — The hj-^giene of puberty
— The age of nubility.
LovB.
Its power on humanity — What is love ? — Love a necessity —Love
is eternal — What of flirtation? — Second Marriages — Of divorce —
Of a phu'ality of wives or husbands — Courtship — Love at first
■ight — How to choose a husband— Shall cousins marry? — The
mixture of racei — Shall Americans marry foreigners ? — The age of
a husband — His temperament — His character — The symbolism o
the human body— The engagement — Concerning long engagements
— The right time of the year sand m«nth to marry — The wedding
tour.
The Wifb.
The wedding night — shall husband and wife occupy the same room
and bed?— What kind of a bed is most healthful? — The dignity
and propriety of the sexual instinct — The indulgence and the
restraint of sexual desire — Times when marital relations should
be suspended or are painful — Sterility — Advice to wives who de-
sire to have children — On the limitation of oflFspring — The crime
of abortion — Nature of conception— The signs of fruitful conjunc-
tion—How to retain the affections of a husband — Inheritance —
How to have beautiful children — Inheritance of talent and genius
Transmission of disease— Why are womem redundant ?— How t»
bav« boys or girls— Twin-bearing — More than two at a birth.
CONTENTS.
PRIOKANCT.
PA<
Signs of pregnancy — Miscarriage— Motheri' marks— Education
of the child in the womb — Double pregnancies — Is it a son or
daughter?— How to foretell twins — Tiength of Pregnancy — How
to calculate the time of the confinement — Care of health during
pregnancy— Food — Clothing — Exercise — Bathing — Ventilation-
Sleep — Belation of husband and wife during pregnancy — Diseases
of pregnancy.
Confinement.
• •• <
Preparations for confinement — Signs of appr :)aching labor —Symp-
toms of labor— The confinement — Hints to attendants— Attention
to the mother — Attention to the child — To have labor without
pain — Mortality of child-bed— Weight and length of new-born
children — Duration of labor— Still-births — Imprudence after child-
birth — How to preserve the form after child birth.
?HE Mother
Nursing — When the mother should not nurse — Rules for nursing
— Influence of diet on the milk — Of pregnancy on the milk— Of
the mother's mind on the child— Quantity of milk required by the
infant — Over-abundance of milk — Scantiness of milk -Wet-nurs-
ing by virgins, aged women, and men— (^are of health while
nursing— Relations of husband and wife during nursing— Signs
of over-nursing— Directions for mothers who cannot nurse their
own children — How to select a wet-nurse— Bringing up by hand
— Weaning — The care of infancy — la the race degenerating? —
The perils of maternity.
The Single Life
The Change of Life
Its dangers, diseases, and hygiene.
Notes
Iodex ,
THE
Mil Of W^
ADVICE TO THE
MAIDEN, WIFE, AND MOTHER.
—BY—
GEO. H. NAPHEYS, A.M., M.D.
Member of Philadelphia County Medical Society ;
Corresponding Member of the Gynsecological Society of Boston;
Author of ^^ Compendium of Modern Theraputics^^ ^t., <Jc
" Je veux qu'une temme ait des claries de tout."
MOLIERE.
SYNOPSIS OF THE BOOK.
It treats in detail the three peculiar phases of woman's life,
viz., maidenhood, matrimony and maternity. Under the first
head, the subject of puberty, its dangers and hygiene, and of
love, are discussed from a medical stand-point. Valuable ad-
vice is given on the marriage of cousins, on the effects of mar-
riage on woman and man, on " choosing a husband," on
*' the engagement,"' on the right time of the year to marry,
on the wedding tour, and on many kindred topics. The phys-
iology of the marriage relation is then considered. In the
second part of the book, "the wife." It commences with
some salutary hints on the "wedding night." Such inquiries
of universal hygienic interest as, Shall husband and wife oc-
cupy the same room and bed ? What kind of bed is most
healthful ? the dignity and propriety of the sexual instinct-
its indulgence, restraint, and physiological laws, &c., are de-
corousl / but plainly treated. Well considered "" ews are ad-
vanced in regard to over-production and the limitation of off-
spring. The author also gives much useful advice to sterile
PHYSICAL LIFE OF WOMAN.
wives who desire to have children, and he answers the ques
non, Can the sexes be produced at will? in the light ot" tho
most recent scientific research. Many pages are devoted to
the discussion of inheritance, how to have beautiful children,
twin bearing, &c. The information in regard to the signs ot
pregnancy and the avoidance of its diseases and discomforts,
the prevention of •' mothers' marks " and of miscarriage, is of
incalculable value to every woman. Minute, practical and
careful directions are laid down as to the proper preparations
ibr confinement, how to preserve the form after childbirth,
etc. Under the head of '• the mother" the rules for nursing,
weaning and bringing up by hand, are copious, and would
benefit every mother to know. The volume closes with a
consideration of '-The Perils of Maternity," and of the dangers
and hygiene of ^'The change of life."
TESTIMONIALS.
The following, among others, have been received indicating
the scientific value and moral worth of this book : —
SIR WM. STERLING MAXWELL.
^ Recently elected Lo^d Rector, of Edinburgh TJnwersity^
gave the usual address on being installed in that office. Among
other things he referred to the medical education of women,
and said he was in favour of teaching women everything that
they desired to learn, and for opening to them the doors of the
highest oml instruction as wide as the doors of book learning.
So long, he said, as women would administer to their sick
children and husbands, he must hear some argument more
convincing than he had yet heard why they Vere to be de-
barred from learning the scientific grounds of the art of which
they were so often the empirical practitioners or the docile
and intelligent instruments.
FROM PROFESSOR JOHN S. HART, LL.D.
State Normal School, Trenton, N.J.
Geo. H. Naphbys, M.D., —
Dear Sir : I have read with attention the advance sheets of
your book, "The Physical Life of Woman :" and take pleasure
in saying that you have handled a most difficult and important
fiul)ject with equal delicacy an<l ability.
Yours truly,
JOHN. S. HART.
PHYSICAL LIFK OF "^OMAN.
Laic burgeon- General of U. S. Army : Professor of Diseases of Ike
Mind ami Nervous S>/stem, and of Clinical Medici
FR().M WM. A, HAMMOND, M.D.
ine in the Belle-
vuc Hospital^ MedicalCollcr/e, Kew York.
Ne^ York, Aug. 1869.
Dr. Napheys, —
Bear Sir : I have read with much interest and satisfaction
your very admirable hook on "The Physical Life of Woman."
I am glad thi.t tlie subject has been taken np by one who shows
himself so thoroughly qualified for the task, and I trust the
instruction and advice contained in the volume will reach
everv woman in the land.
Yours, sincerely,
WILLIAM A. HAMMOND.
FROM REV. HENRY WARD BEECHER.
Brooklyn, N.Y., Sept. 1869.
Dr. Geo. H. Napheys, —
Dear Sir: i have examined vour voTrme, "The Phvsical
Life of Wonirin,' r and desire to thank yiu for performing a
work so long needed, so difficult to perform, and now, at
length, so well done by you. Every mother should have this
book, nor should she suffer a child to be married without tiie
knowledge which this work contains. Thousands have dragged
through miserable lives, and many have perished for want of
such knowledge. It is to be hoped, too, now that these deli-
cate topics have been so modestly and plainly treated, tliat
your work will supersede the scores of ill-considered iind often
mischievous treatises addressed " to the married," which too
often serve tiie lusts of men under the pretence of virtue.
HENRY WARD BEECHER.
EXTRACT FROM LETTER RECEIVED FROM JOHN H.
GRIMSON, M.D.
New York, Sept. 1869.
Dr. Napheys, —
Ml/ Dear Sir: "The Physical Life of Woman " is a very
scientific and in' "Mectually written w^ork, and contains almost
all the physiological and sanitary facts and directions no-^ 'ed
for the preservation of the health and longevity of the m;i.Jen,
wife and mother. It must prove attractive a,iiJ useful lor any
lady who reads it.
Your sincere friend,
JOHN H. GRIMSON.
PHYSICAL LIFE OF WO-\fA.V.
FROM KEV. IIUKACE BI'SHNELL, D.D.
Hartford, Conn., Sept., 1869.
Gf-o. II. Nafheys, M.D., —
Dear Sir: I have read a large part cf your book with interest.
I shrink irom expressing any estimate of it as respects its
physiological merit, but it seems to be a book well studied,
and it is written with much delicacy and a careful respect, at
all points, to the great interests of morality. It will certainly
be a great help to intelligence on the subject, and ought,
therefore, to be correspondently useful.
Very respectfully yours,
HOEACE BUSHNELL.
FROM HARVEY L. BYRD, M.D.,
Professor of Obsteirics in the Medical Deparimeut of Washington
University of Baltimore., Maryland.
Baltimore, Sept. 1869.
Ifiit Geo. H. Nafheys. PlAladelphia,— .-
Dear Sir : I have examined with much pleasure and satis-
faction your work on " The Physical Life of Woman,'' and do
iiot hesitate to commend it most warmly to our countrywomen,
lor whose benefit it is intended. I congratulate you on the
lelicitous manner in which you have treated so difficult a
subject, and would recommend it to the public as supplying
a want tliat has long been felt in this country.
Omne vcrinu titUe dictu,Sind what can be more proper, or more
ii<crul, than that woman should be made acquainted with the
great laws of her being, and the duties for which she was
created ?
Very respectfully, your obed't servant,
HARVEY L. BYRD.
OPINION OF S. W. BUTLER, M.D.,
Kdi/or of the Phil adelphi a '^ Medical atid Surgical Reporter.^''
I have carefully examined "The Physical Life of Woman,"
and find it a work at once thoroughly representing modern
science, and eminently adapted for family instruction. It i?
well suited to female readers, to whom it is especially addressed
both in the matter it contains and in the delicacy with which
points relating to their physiological life are mentioned.
.^. W. BUTLER.
PHYSICAL LIFE O' WOMAN.
OPINION OF MARK HOPKINS, D.D., LL.D.,
Fresident of Willicmis Colhuje.
" Your book is conscientiously written, and will be likely to
do good."
FROM THE N.Y. EVANGELIST, NOV. 18, 1869.
Thi<< is a plain and practical treatise prepared by a physician
of skill and experience, in which he aims to furnish informa-
tion to women, in their peculiar conditions and relations, mar-
ried and single, so as to enable them to preserve their own
health, and perform their duties to themselves and their chil-
dren. 'Ae most delicate subjects are treated in language so
chaste as not to offend any pure mind.
EDITORIAL FROM PHILADELPHIA MEDICAL AND SURGI-
CAL REPORTER.
It is a singular fact, that in this country most of the
works on medical hygienic matters have been written by ir
regular practitioners in order to help on its legs some ism or
pathy of their own. The public is really desirous of informa-
tion about the great questions of life and health. It buys
whatever is oifered it, and cannot tell of course the tares from
the wheat. In fact, as we have said, there has been very little
wheat otfered it. Scientific physicians do not seem to have
taken the pains in this cowntry, as in Germany, to spread
sound medical information among the people.
We therefore welcome all the more warmly a work which,
under any circumstances, would command our praise, advance
sheets of which are now before us. The author is Dr. George
H. Napheys, of this city, well known to all the readers of the
" Reporter " as a constant contributor to its pages for a number
of years, a close student of therapeutics, and a pleasing writer.
The title of the book is " The Physical Life of Woman ; advice
to the Maiden, Wife, and Mother." It is a complete manual
of information for women, in their peculiar conditions and
relations, married and single.
The style is simple, agreeable, and eminently proper and
delicate, conspicuously so when treating of such difficult
topics to handle in a popular book, yet so necessary to be
handled, as the marital relations of husband and wife, the con-
summation of marriage, etc.
We do not doubt that this work will find as large a sale both
in and out of the profession in this country, as the works of
Bockh and Klencke in Germany, and of Tilt and Chavasse in
England.
PHTSrOAL LIFE OF WOlfAW.
BXTRACTS FROM LETTER RECEIVED FROM EDWARD M.
SNOW, M.D., OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.
PRoviDB>fcs, Sept., 1869.
Dr. Napheys, —
Dear Sir .- I have examined with much interest the advance
sheets of your book, "The Physical Life of Woman;" I am
highly pleased with it. The advice given seems to me to be
generally correct and judiciously expressed ; and in my opin-
ion the wide circulation of the book would be a benefit to the
community.
Trulv yours,
EDWIN. M. SNOW.
FROM REV. GEORGE ALEX. CROOKE, D.D., D.C.L.
PfflLADBLPmA, Sept., 1869.
Dr. Geo. H. Napheys, —
Dear Sir : I have carefully read your work entitled " The
Physical Life of Woman," and as the result, I must candidly
say that I believe the information it contains is well calculated
to lessen suffering and greatly benefit the human race. I
know there are some falsely fastidious persons who would ob-
ject to any work of the kind, but " to the pure all things are
pure." You have done your part fearlessly and well, and in
a popular manner, and I trust that your work may be produc-
tive of all the good you design by its publication.
Very faithfully,
GEO. ALEX. CROOKE.
OPINION OF LLOYD P. SMITH.
Librarian Philadelphia Library.
Library Co. of Philadelphia, Fifth St. Bel. Csesnut,
PfflLADELPmA, Sept., 1869.
It is an open question whether books de secretis mulierum
should be written for the general public, but there is no
doubt that when they are written, it should be done by the
regular medical icaculty and not by ignorant quacks. Dr.
Napheys' "Physical Life of Woman" shows not only the
scientific attainments of the author, but also a wide range of
miscellaneous reading. The delicate subjects treated of are
handled with a seriousness and earnestness becoming their
importance, and the author's views are expressed in excellent
English.
LLOYD P. SMITH.
PHYSICAL LIFE OF WOMAN.
LETTER RECEIVED FROM REV. GEO. BRINGHURST,
Rector of t/ie P. E. Church of the Messiah, Philada.
Philadelphia, Sept., 1869.
Dr. Geo H. Napheys, —
My Dear Sir : I have perused with considerable care and
pleasure the work on the '• Physical Life of Woman/' and feel
no hesitation in pronouncing it admirably composed, honest,
succinct, refined and worthy the companionship of every lady
of this age. I hail its appearance with gratitude, and look upon
it as a valuable contribution to those etibrts which are making
in various directions to elevate the tone of morals of the
nineteenth century, and to enable mothers to discharge faith-
fully the duties they owe their children.
Sincerely yours,
GEORGE BRINGHURST.
FROM THE MEDICAL RECORD, NEW YORK, JAN. 15, 1870.
Doctor Napheys, in his work on "The Physical Life of
Woman," has acquitted himself with infinite credit. The sub-
ject, which for a work of its size takes a very wide range, is
treated in choice, nay elegant language, and we have not noticed
a single expression upon the most delicate matter, that could
offend the most refined taste. There are, too, a great many
interesting historical facts connected witn the general topic,
both in an ethical and physiological point of view, which show
much discrimination in their production, and a good amount of
sterling scholarship. To the medical reader there are many
points in the book that are worthy of attention, prominent
among which are remarks bearing upon the right of limitation
of offspring. We sincerely hope that for the real benefit
of women, it may meet with a hearty reception, and
be productive of great good, in preventing many of these
disorders now so rife in the community, which are solely the
result of ignorance of the ordinary laws of female hygiene.
No one, however scrupulous, need fear to admit the work
within the pale of his family circle, and place it with confi-
dence, in the hands of his daughters.
FROM THE NEW YORK MEDICAL GAZETTE,
Jan. 8, 1870.
Though professedly written for popular instruction, this
book will not fail to instruct, as well the professional
reader. We cordially recommend the perusal of Dr. Napheys'
book to every woman seeking a fuller acquaintance with her
physical organism.
PHYSICAL LIFE OP WOMAN.
FKOMTHE PRESBYTERIAN OF PHILADELPHIA,
DEC. 4, 18G9.
A book wliicli treats wisely and delicately of very important
subjects, and subjects which ought to be treated by competent
nands, instead of being left to quacks and the venders of nos-
trums. Dr. Xapheys is evidently a conscientious and intelli-
gent physician, and his counsels are such as may be put in the
hands of all persons needing such counsels. We commend it
iui- its judicious exposition of the laws of nature.
FROM REV. HENRY CLAY TRUMBULL,
Secret a)-]/ of New England Department of Missions of the American
Sunday-school Union.
Hartford, Ct., Oct., 1869.
Geo. H. Napheys, M.D. —
My Dear Sir: Understanding from my long acquaintance
"r^ith you, your thoroughness of mental culture, your delicacy
of sentiment, and your sound good sense, I was prepared to
approve heartily the tone and style of your new work — " The
Physical Life of Woman ■' — when its advance sheets were tirst
placed in my hands.
A close examination of it convinces me that it is a book
which can be read by every woman to her instruction and
advantage. Its manner is unexceptionable. Its style is
remarkably simple. Its substance evidences your professional
knowledge and your extensive study. I believ^e it needs only
to be brought to notice to commend itself widely. I think
you have done an excellent work in its preparation.
Sincerely your friend,
H. CLAY TRUMBULL.
FROM THE NEW Y^ORK CHRISTIAN UNION,
JAN. 8, 1870.
Society owes a debt of gratitude to this brave and scientific
physician for the unexceptional way in which he has performed
a work that has, up to the publication of this book, been a
paramount need, not to be satisfied anywhere in the English
language. If the volume contained only the chapter on the in-
fluence of the mother's mind upon her unborn child, we would
recommend its purchase by every family in the land.
PHTSICAL LIFE OP WOMAN.
FROM H. N. EASTMAN, M.D.,
Pi-qfeimor of Practical Medicine in Geneva Medical College.
Genbva, Sept., 1869.
Geo. H. Naphkys', M.D., —
Dear Sir : I have just completed a careful reading of your
advance sheets of" The Physical Life of Woman," and 1 un-
h(*sitafin*Tlv pronounce it an admirable work, and one especially
needed at this time.
Tiio book is written in a chaste, elevate 1, and vigorous style,
is replete with instructions indispensable to the welfare and
liappiness of women, and should bo placed in the hands of every
mature maiden and matron in our land.
H. N. EASTMAN.
FROM THE NASHVILLE JOURNAL OF MEDICINE AND
SURGERY FOR NOVEMBER, 1869.
The outsifle of this book is more stylish and artistic than
any the market has owed to the press this season. The type
and paper of tiie inside are in keeping with the elegant exterior.
The work contains much valuable matter, in a style peculiarly
attractive. It is intended to treat woman as a rational being,
to let her know much about herself as a woman, that from
this knowledge she ma}*- prevent and therefore escape
much of the suffering encliired by her sex.
And who can do this but a physician? This may be regarded
as the first attempt of the kind in this country.
FROM THE CHICAGO MEDICAL EXAMINER OF NOVEMBER
19, 1869.
This work is written in a plain and pleasing style well cal-
culated both to please and instruct. There is nothing of the
seni^atioiial or imaginative character in it. On the contrary, its
teachings are in strict accordance with scientific facts and good
sense. Though designed specially for females, yet a careful
perusal would be productive of much benefit to both sexes.
FROM THE BOSTON MEDICAL AND SURGICAL JOURNAL,
NOV. 25, 1869.
Most valuable for the perusal of mothers, and of those
fathers who may be equal to the task of advising sons liable to
commit matrimony. The style — of the text — is unexception
able. Words are not wasted, and those used are to the point.
The volume isnot a. mere i^esume oi' others' opinions ; but the
author has made the topics of which he treats his own.
PKTSICAL Liri OF WOMAIf
PROM THE NATIONAL BAPTIST, PHILADELPHIA,
Dec. 30, 1869.
We join in the cordial welcome which this book has received.
There is no other work which tells so well just what every
woman, — and every considerate man also,— ought to know.
Maternity is the one great function of woman, according to
God's ordinance, and for this marvellous and holy mission,
her physical, intellectual, and moral constitution has been
designed. Dr. Napheys, in his wise " advice to maiden, wife,
and mother," passes in review the cardinal facts respecting
woman's physical life. The book is written in a very clear
and simple style, so that no one can misunderstand it, while
there is nothing to disturb or offend the most sensitive. A
judicious mother would do her maturing daughters great
service by first carefully reading this volume herself, and then
have them read it under her guidance.
OPINION OF MRS. R. B. GLEASON, M.D.
Elmira, N.Y., Sept. 1869.
The advanced sheets of "The Physical Life of Woman"
have been read with much interest. In this book Dr. Napheys
has well met a real need of the age. There are many things
incident to woman's physical organization which she needs to
know, and concerning which she still does not want to ask a
physician, and may not have one at hand when she most desires
the information. This book can be easily read and perfectly
understood by those not familiar with medical terms. All
matters of delicacy are treated with freedom, and still with a
purity of thought and expression which is above criticism.
For many years we have been often asked for just such a
book, and shall gladly commend it to the many wives and
mothers who want for themselves and grown-up daughters
such a book of helps and hints for home life.
MRS. R. B. GLEASON.
OPINION OF DR. R. SHELTON MACKENZIE.
Philadelphia, Oct., 1869.
Believing that such a work as Dr. Napheys' '^ Physical Life Oi
Woman," giving a great deal of valuable information, explicitly
and delicately, is likely to be of very essential importance to
the fair sex, 1 cannot hesitate to express my favourable opinion
of its object and execution.
PITi'SICAL LIFE OF WOMAN.
FEOM THE METHODIST HOME JOUKNAL,
DEC. 4, 1869.
Hitherto, the subjects so honestly and so skillfully treated
in this volume, have, to a very great extent, been ruled out oi
the realm of popular knowledge, and information of this class
sought only in a clandestine manner. The people have suf-
fered by deplorable ignorance on those topics, which should be
as familiar to us as the alpnabet. Dr. Napheys, by his scientific
handling of the physiological points which relate to health,
trair-ing, and development, has rendered a great service to
the orld. This, the press and public men have not been slow
to acknowledge. This book has gained unquallified praise,
and well deserves it.
FROM THE INDEPENDENT, NEW YUKK,
NOV. 11, 1869.
It required a brave but sensitively pure man to provide
for the want which existed for some reliable medical instruc-
tions upon points which every woman and every married man
ought to know, and few do. Dr. Napheys we do not know
personally. But his book is at once brave and pure. It is
written in such a spirit that she who really desires to learn the
truths of which she cannot with justice to herself or others be
ignorant, may do so without being shocked ; while he who
hopes to stimulate a vicious imagination by its perusal will turn
from its pages disappointed away.
FROM THE PHILADELPHIA EVENING TELEGRAPH,
OCT. 6, 1869.
This is a work by a physician of reputation on the hygiene
of woman, designed for popular use. and introducing a variety
of topics not generally discussed outside of regular scientific
medical works. Dr. Napheys writes with dignity and earnest-
ness, and there is not a chapter in his book that may not be
read by persons of both sexes. Of course, such a work as this
is intended for men and women of mature years, and it is not
suitable to be left lying about for the gratification of ide curi-
osity. The author has been careful to write nothing that can
possibly give offence, and he conveys much sound instruction
that, if heeded by those to whom it is particularly addressed,
will save much suffering.
B
ROUGHING IT IN THE BUSH ;
OB,
FOREST LIFE IN CANADA
A. NEW AND REVISED EDITION, WITH AN INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER,
IN WHICH CANADA OF THE PRESENT IS CONTRASTED
WITH CANADA OF FORTY YEARS AGO,
BY
SUSANNA MOODIE.
"The poor exiles of wealthy and over-populous nations have generally
oeen the fii-st founders of mighty empires. Necessity and industry produc-
ing greater results than rank and affluence, in the civilization of barbarous
countries. " — Blackwood,
CANADIAN EDITION.
MAOLEAR & CO., PUBLISHERS,
1872.
"R0UGHIN6 IT IN THE BUSH."
is/LiR^. isd:oor>T-s-
" Faithful are tiM wounds oi a friend, but the kiases of au enemj are deoeitfnL**
In bringing out the first Canadian e<iition of "Roughing it in the Bush,"
the Publishers need say but little. The work aas had an immense sale, both
in England and the United States ; yet, until now, our own country, of all
others the moat interested, has been denied the honour of its publication.
In her characteristically graphic introduction to this edition the venerable
authoress paints a glowing picture of "Canada, past and present." Imagine
another Rip Van Winkle waking up from a forty years' nap — after reading
"Roughing it in the Bush" — carried mid-air from the storm-lashed Atlantic
to the golden shores of the Pacific, say in a baloon, reading the Census of
1871, and beholding our young giant empire, like Sampson of old, rending
the swaddling bands, the wyths and cords of adolescence • extending with
one hand the olive-branch and with the other the comucoijia to a united
people, the freest, happiest, best governed, and most virtuous community,
owning the largest domain on this continent ; a people who act out in fact,
what elsewhere has been treated as a fiction by its authors, that all men " are
fr»e and equal ;" would not the ideal Dutchman of Irving, exclaim, " verily.
Truth i« stranger than Fiction."
In presenting for the first time Mrs. Hoodie's greatest work in its own
native dress, the Publishers hope they know better than, at this late day, to
attempt to praise the productions of a Strickland or a Moodii, their record
in Literature, Civilization, Peace and War, is known and read of all ; but
the fact that a great, good man, bearing one of the above names has passed
to his reward, may justify in this connection the assertion that a better type
of the high-minded, kind and generous hearted, thorough-bred Christian
fentleman never trod Canadian soil, than the late lamented Colonel J. W.
)unbar Moodie.
This Canadian edition of " Roughing it in the Bush," is complete in one
thick volume, over 500 pages. Printed on fin* English paper, and embel-
lished with appropriate illustrations.
Bound in the best English cloth, price $1.75. Le»ther; $2.25.
Sold by subscription only.
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ȣilEGE OFlERRY
AND
DEFENCE OF EITITISKILLEir ;
A Narrative of the Great and Leading Events which trans-
pired in Ireland during that Momentous Period
in ouj" National History,
BY
THE REV. JOHN GRAHAM.
RECTOS of MEGILLIGAIf, DKXrESE of DERBY [formerly CURATE of LIFFOBD]
First Published in Londonderry in 1823. To which is added a
most Eloquent Account of the
BATTLES OF THE BOYNE, AUGHRIM,
'^kt ^u^t and (fDapituMon 0! pm^irkt
BY LOBD MAOAULAY.
WITH A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
By the Rev. W. M. PUNSHON, M.A.
One Volume, octavo, Z12 pages, strong cloth boards^Jine thick paper,
and new type.
Price $1.50~!I?ost Free od Receipt of 7rice.
M,A CLEAR & CO, Publishers,
TORONTO.
Agents wanted T itry^where for this and oihet
THE events so eloquently portrayed in this work by the
great and gifted men whose names it bears, are second in
importance to no others in British History.
Here we have in minute detail, found rioivhere else, the long
list of heroes who nobly stood up, at the expense of life, home,
comfort, and everything but honour and conscience, to secure
for us and the whole Empire, at home and ab:oad, the blessings
of Civil and Religious Liberty — blessings only faintly appreciated
by too many in our days.
But for the self-sacrificing and noble deeds performed on
Irish soil during that eventful period, we might now be grovel-
ling under the hated rule of a Stuart, or mayhap a bloated
Bourbon, and as much degraded as Italy, Spain, or Portugal,
instead of each and all of every creed and colour dwelling in
peace, prosperity and happiness, under the protection of one of
the best monarchs that ever swayed an earthly sceptre.
It is surely time to look to our bearings, when the principles
for which our fathers freely shed their life-blood are repudiated
by many openly, and others covertly.
When men bearing the once-revered name of Protestant, aye,
Protestant Clergy, have set up the Confessional, the Rags and
Mummeries of Rome — keep out from their churches the pure
light of heaven, and substitute for it a few twinkling candles,
" To mock the Saviour of mankind,
As if the God of Heaven were blind.'
The eloquent Macaulay says, — '* It is impossible not to re-
spect the sentiment which indicates itself by the veneration of
the people of Londonderry, and the North generally, for the
dear old city and its associations." "It is a sentiment," he
says, * ' which belongs to the higher and purer part of human
nature, and which adds not a little to the strength of States. A
people which takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote
ancestors, will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered
with pride by remote descendants."
" Within the city," says the same author, '* there were seven
thousand men capable of bearing arms, and the whole world
could not have furnished seven thousand men better qualified
to meet a terrible emergency."
The Reign of Terror under which every Protestant in Ire-
land groaned at the time of the Revolution, will be seen in
the history of the events contained in this book, showing
clearly that there was no other course open to them but resist-
ance to the Stuart dynasty, which, had it been perpetuated'
must have sunk the whole British Empire to the level of Spain,
Portugal, or Italy. And if on this Continent a British Settle-
ment existed at all, we may judge of its extent and character
by what Mexico and Lower Canada now are.
Extract from the Speech of LORD LISGAR, Governor-General of the
Do/ninion, delivered at Toronto, 5th October, 1869; —
His Lordship spoke of the heroes of the Irish struggle in
1688-90 as "those who successfully conducted the toilsome
retreat from Cavan— who turned to bay and held their ground
at Enniskillen, through many a month of doubt and peril.
Of whom another band sustained the LONGEST SIEGE which
ever took place in the British Islands, and watched from the
walls, which their valour made impregnable, the slow ap-
proach of the sails from Lough Eoyle, which were bringing
them relief to close the conflict in their triumph— a triumph
not more glorious to the defenders than it proved advanta-
geous to them and their assailants, and to the cause of Civil
and Religious Liberty, then and for all time to come."
:SIA.CLE^R & CO.,
THE LIFE, EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES,
UNTIRING PERSEVERANCE, AND INVALUABLE
DISCOVERIES
OK
Dr. David Livingstone,
DURU«Q ABOUT
%Ws,'% %m-^ %mxt\ m %iiim.
BEIMQ A CONMRCTKD NARRATIVE OF Till!
Gf^eat Explorei\;s Life from his Birth,
DOWN TO
HIS RECENT DISCOVERY AJSD RELIEF
BY H. M. STANLY.
ONE VOLUME, CROWN 8V0., ILLUSTRATED,
Price Two Dollars.
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