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diff --git a/13262-h/13262-h.htm b/13262-h/13262-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b19e502 --- /dev/null +++ b/13262-h/13262-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,18336 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content= +"HTML Tidy for Windows (vers 1st February 2004), see www.w3.org"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=UTF-8"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Personal Life of David +Livingstone, by W. Garden Blaikie.</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + blockquote {text-align: justify; + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%;} + IMG { + BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; + BORDER-TOP: 0px; + BORDER-LEFT: 0px; + BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px } + .loc { TEXT-ALIGN: right; + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%;} + .ctr { TEXT-ALIGN: center } + .rgt { float: right; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: -5%; + margin-right: 0%; + TEXT-ALIGN: center } + .lft { float: left; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: -6%; + margin-right: 0%; + TEXT-ALIGN: center } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + // --> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13262 ***</div> + +<h2>THE PERSONAL LIFE</h2> +<h4>OF</h4> +<h1>DAVID LIVINGSTONE</h1> +<center>LL.D., D.C.L.</center> +<h4>CHIEFLY FROM HIS UNPUBLISHED<br> +JOURNALS AND CORRESPONDENCE<br> +IN THE POSSESSION OF HIS FAMILY</h4> +<h4>BY</h4> +<h3>W. GARDEN BLAIKIE, D.D., LLD.</h3> +<center><i>Author of "Heroes of Israel," etc.</i></center> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> +<br> +<p>The purpose of this work is to make the world better acquainted +with the character of Livingstone. His discoveries and researches +have been given to the public in his own books, but his modesty led +him to say little in these of himself, and those who knew him best +feel that little is known of the strength of his affections, the +depth and purity of his devotion, or the intensity of his +aspirations as a Christian missionary. The growth of his character +and the providential shaping of his career are also matters of +remarkable interest, of which not much has yet been made known.</p> +<p>An attempt has been made in this volume, likewise, to present a +more complete history of his life than has yet appeared. Many +chapters of it are opened up of which the public have hitherto +known little or nothing. It has not been deemed necessary to dwell +on events recorded in his published Travels, except for the purpose +of connecting the narrative and making it complete. Even on these, +however, it has been found that not a little new light and color +may be thrown from his correspondence with his friends and his +unpublished Journals.</p> +<p>Much pains has been taken to show the unity and symmetry of his +character. As a man, a Christian, a missionary, a philanthropist, +and a scientist, Livingstone ranks with the greatest of our race, +and shows the minimum of infirmity in connection with the maximum +of goodness. Nothing can be more telling than his life as an +evidence of the truth and power of Christianity, as a plea for +Christian Missions and civilization, or as a demonstration of the +true connection between religion and science.</p> +<p>So many friends have helped in this book that it is impossible +to thank all in a preface. Most of them are named in the body of +the work. Special acknowledgments, however, are due to the more +immediate members of Dr. Livingstone's family, at whose request the +work was undertaken; also to his sisters, the Misses Livingstone, +of Hamilton, to Mr. Young, of Kelley, to the venerable Dr. Moffat, +and Mrs. Vavasseur, his daughter. The use of valuable collections +of letters has been given by the following (in addition to the +friends already named): The Directors of the London Missionary +Society; Dr. Risdon Bennett; Rev. G.D. Watt; Rev. Joseph Moore; +Rev. W. Thompson, Cape Town; J.B. Braithwaite, Esq.; +representatives of the late Sir R.I. Murchison, Bart., and of the +late Sir Thomas Maclear; Rev. Horace Waller, Mr. and Mrs. Webb, of +Newstead Abbey, Mr. P. Fitch, of London, Rev. Dr. Stewart, of +Lovedale, and Senhor Nunes, of Quilimane. Other friends have +forwarded letters of less importance. Some of the letters have +reached the hands of the writer after the completion of the book, +and have therefore been used but sparingly.</p> +<p>The recovery of an important private journal of Dr. Livingstone, +which had been lost at the time when the <i>Missionary Travels</i> +was published, has thrown much new light on the part of his life +immediately preceding his first great journey.</p> +<p>In the spelling of African proper names, Dr. Moffat has given +valuable help. Usually Livingstone's own spelling has been +followed.</p> +<p>A Map has been specially prepared, in which the geographical +references in the volume are shown, which will enable the reader to +follow Livingstone's movements from place to place.</p> +<p>With so much material, it would have been easier to write a life +in two volumes than in one; but for obvious reasons it has been +deemed desirable to restrict it to the present limits. The author +could wish for no higher honor than to have his name associated +with that of Livingstone, and can desire no greater pleasure than +that of conveying to other minds the impressions that have been +left on his own.</p> +<p>W.G. BLAIKIE.</p> +<p>EDINBUBGH, 9 PALMERSTON BOAD.</p> +<p>1880</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_I.">CHAPTER I.</a></h2> +<h3>EARLY YEARS.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1813-1836.</center> +<p>Ulva--The Livingstones--Traditions of Ulva life--The +"Baughting-time"--"Kirsty's Rock"--Removal of Livingstone's +grandfather to Blantyre--Highland blood--Neil Livingstone--His +marriage to Agnes Hunter--Her grandfather and father--Monument to +Neil and Agnes Livingstone in Hamilton Cemetery--David Livingstone +born 19th March, 1813--Boyhood--At home--In school--David goes into +Blantyre Mill--First earnings--Night-school--His habits of +reading--Natural-history expeditions--Great spiritual changes in +his twentieth year--Dick's <i>Philosophy of a Future State</i>--He +resolves to be a missionary--Influence of occupation of +Blantyre--Sympathy with People--Thomas Burke and David +Hogg--Practical character of his religion.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_II.">CHAPTER II.</a></h2> +<h3>MISSIONARY PREPARATION.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1836-1840.</center> +<p>His desire to be a missionary to China--Medical missions--He +studies at Glasgow--Classmates and teachers--He applies to London +Missionary Society--His ideas of mission-work--He is accepted +provisionally--He goes to London--to Ongar--Reminiscences by Rev. +Joseph Moore--by Mrs. Gilbert--by Rev. Isaac Taylor--Nearly +rejected by the Directors--Returns to Ongar--to London--Letter to +his sister--Reminiscences by Dr. Risdon Bennett--Promise to +Professor Owen--Impression of his character on his friends and +fellow-students--Rev R. Moffat in England--Livingstone +interested--Could not be sent to China--Is appointed to +Africa--Providential links in his history--Illness--Last visits to +his home--Receives Medical diploma--Parts from his family.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_III.">CHAPTER III.</a></h2> +<h3>FIRST TWO YEARS IN AFRICA.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1842-1843.</center> +<p>His ordination--Voyage out--At Rio de Janeiro--At the Cape--He +proceeds to Kuruman--Letters--Journey of 700 miles to Bechuana +country--Selection of site for new station--Second excursion to +Bechuana country--Letter to his sister--Influence with +chiefs--Bubi--Construction of a water-dam--Sekomi--Woman seized by +a lion--The Bakaa--Sebehwe--Letter to Dr. Risdon Bennett--Detention +at Kuruman--He visits Sebehwe's village--Bakhatlas--Sechéle, +chief of Bakwains--Livingstone translates hymns--Travels 400 miles +on oxback--Returns to Kuruman--Is authorized to form new +station--Receives contributions for native missionary--Letters to +Directors on their Mission policy--He goes to new +station--Fellow-travelers--Purchase of site--Letter to Dr. +Bennett--Desiccation of South Africa--Death of a servant, +Sehamy--Letter to his parents.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_IV.">CHAPTER IV.</a></h2> +<h3>FIRST TWO STATIONS--MABOTSA AND CHONUANE.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1843-1847.</center> +<p>Description of Mabotsa--A favorite hymn--General +reading--Mabotsa infested with lions--Livingstone's encounter--The +native deacon who saved him--His Sunday-school--Marriage to Mary +Moffat--Work at Mabotsa--Proposed institution for training native +agents--Letter to his mother--Trouble at Mabotsa--Noble sacrifice +of Livingstone--Goes to Sechéle and the Bakwains--New +station at Chonuane--Interest shown by Sechéle--Journeys +eastward--The Boers and the Transvaal--Their occupation of the +country, and treatment of the natives--Work among the +Bakwains--Livingstone's desire to move on--Theological conflict at +home--His view of it--His scientific labors and miscellaneous +employments.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_V.">CHAPTER V.</a></h2> +<h3>THIRD STATION--KOLOBENG.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1847-1852.</center> +<p>Want of rain at Chonuane--Removal to Kolobeng--House-building +and public works--Hopeful prospects--Letters to Mr. Watt, his +sister, and Dr. Bennett--The church at Kolobeng--Pure +communion--Conversion of Sechéle--Letter from his brother +Charles--His history--Livingstone's relations with the Boers--He +cannot get native teachers planted in the east--Resolves to explore +northward--Extracts from Journal--Scarcity of water--Wild animals, +and other risks--Custom-house robberies and annoyances--Visit from +Secretary of London Missionary Society--Manifold employments of +Livingstone--Studies in Sichuana--His reflection on this period of +his life while detained at Manyuema in 1870.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_VI.">CHAPTER VI.</a></h2> +<h3>KOLOBENG <i>continued</i>--LAKE 'NGAMI.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1849-1852.</center> +<p>Koboleng failing through drought--Sebituane's country and the +Lake 'Ngami--Livingstone sets out with Messrs. Oswell and +Murray--Rivers Zouga and Tamanak'le--Old ideas of the interior +revolutionized--Enthusiasm of Livingstone--Discovers Lake +'Ngami--Obliged to return--Prize from Royal Geographical +Society--Second expedition to the lake, with wife and +children--Children attacked by fever--Again obliged to +return--Conviction as to healthier spot beyond--Idea of finding +passage to sea either west or east--Birth and death of a +child--Family visits Kuruman--Third expedition, again with +family--He hopes to find a new locality--Perils of the journey--He +reaches Sebituane--The Chief's illness and death--Distress of +Livingstone--Mr. Oswell and he go on to Linyanti--Discovery of the +Upper Zambesi--No locality found for settlement--More extended +journey necessary--He returns--Birth of Oswell Livingstone--Crisis +in Livingstone's life--His guiding principles--New plans--The +Makololo begin to practice slave-trade--New thoughts about +commerce--Letters to Directors--The Bakwains--<i>Pros</i> and +<i>cons</i> of his new plan--His unabated missionary zeal--He goes +with his family to the Cape--His literary activity.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_VII.">CHAPTER VII.</a></h2> +<h3>FROM THE CAPE TO LINYANTI.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1852-1853.</center> +<p>Unfavorable feeling at Cape Town--Departure of Mrs. Livingstone +and children--Livingstone's detention and difficulties--Letter to +his wife--to Agnes--Occupations at Cape Town--The +Astronomer-Royal--Livingstone leaves the Cape and reaches +Kuruman--Destruction of Kolobeng by the Boers--Letters to his wife +and Rev. J. Moore--His resolution to open up Africa <i>or +perish</i>--Arrival at Linyanti--Unhealthiness of the +country--Thoughts on setting out for coast--Sekelétu's +kindness--Livingstone's missionary activity--Death of Mpepe, and of +his father--Meeting with Ma-mochisane--Barotse country--Determines +to go to Loanda--Heathenism unadulterated--Taste for the +beautiful--Letter to his children--to his father--Last Sunday at +Linyanti--Prospect of his failing.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII.">CHAPTER VIII.</a></h2> +<h3>FROM LINYANTI TO LOANDA.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1853-1854.</center> +<p>Difficulties and hardships of journey--His traveling kit--Four +books--His Journal--Mode of traveling--Beauty of +country--Repulsiveness of the people--Their religious belief--The +negro--Preaching--The magic-lantern--Loneliness of +feeling--Slave-trade--Management of the natives--Danger from +Chiboque--from another chief--Livingstone ill of fever--At the +Quango--Attachment of followers--"The good time coming"--Portuguese +settlements--Great kindness of the Portuguese--Arrives at +Loanda--Received by Mr. Gabriel--His great friendship--No +letters--News through Mr. Gabriel--Livingstone becomes acquainted +with naval officers--Resolves to go back to Linyanti and make for +East Coast--Letter to his wife--Correspondence with Mr. +Maclear--Accuracy of his observations--Sir John +Herschel--Geographical Society award their gold medal--Remarks of +Lord Ellesmere.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_IX.">CHAPTER IX.</a></h2> +<h3>FROM LOANDA TO QUILIMANE.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1854-1856.</center> +<p>Livingstone sets out from Loanda--Journey back--Effects of +slavery--Letter to his wife--Severe attack of fever--He reaches the +Barotse country--Day of thanksgiving--His efforts for the good of +his men--Anxieties of the Moffats--Mr. Moffat's journey to +Mosilikatse--Box at Linyanti--Letter from Mrs. Moffat--Letters to +Mrs. Livingstone, Mr. Moffat, and Mrs. Moffat--Kindness of +Sekelétu--New escort--He sets out for the East +Coast--Discovers the Victoria Falls--The healthy longitudinal +ridges--Pedestrianism--Great dangers--Narrow escapes--Triumph of +the spirit of trust in God--Favorite texts--Reference to Captain +McClure's experience--Chief subjects of thought--Structure of the +continent--Sir Roderick Murchison anticipates his +discovery--Letters to Geographical Society--First letter from Sir +Roderick Murchison--Missionary labor--Monasteries--Protestant +mission-stations wanting in self-support--Letter to +Directors--Fever not so serious an obstruction as it seemed--His +own hardships--Theories of mission-work--Expansion <i>v</i>. +Concentration--Views of a missionary statesman--He reaches +Tette--Letter to King of Portugal--to Sir Roderick +Murchison--Reaches Senna--Quilimane--Retrospect--Letter from +Directors--Goes to Mauritius--Voyage home--Narrow escape from +shipwreck in Bay of Tunis--He reaches England, Dec. 1856--News of +his father's death.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_X.">CHAPTER X.</a></h2> +<h3>FIRST VISIT HOME.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1856-1857.</center> +<p>Mrs. Livingstone--Her intense anxieties--Her poetical +welcome--Congratulatory letters from Mrs. and Dr. Moffat--Meeting +of welcome of Royal Geographical Society--of London Missionary +Society--Meeting in Mansion House--Enthusiastic public meeting at +Cape Town--Livingstone visits Hamilton--Returns to London to write +his book--Letter to Mr. Maclear--Dr. Risdon Bennett's reminiscences +of this period--Mr. Frederick Fitch's--Interview with Prince +Consort--Honors--Publication and great success of <i>Missionary +Travels</i>--Character and design of the book--Why it was not more +of a missionary record--Handsome conduct of publisher--Generous use +of the profits--Letter to a lady in Carlisle vindicating +the-character of his speeches.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_XI.">CHAPTER XI.</a></h2> +<h3>FIEST VISIT HOME--<i>continued</i>.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1857-1858.</center> +<p>Livingstone at Dublin, at British Association--Letter to his +wife--He meets the chamber of commerce at Manchester--At Glasgow, +receives honors from Corporation, University, Faculty of Physicians +and Surgeons, United Presbyterians, Cotton-spinners--His speeches +in reply--His brother Charles joins him--Interesting meeting and +speech at Hamilton--Reception from "Literary and Scientific +Institute of Blantyre"--Sympathy with operatives--Quick +apprehension of all public questions--His social views in advance +of the age--He plans a People's Café--Visit to +Edinburgh--More honors--Letter to Mr. Maclear--Interesting visit to +Cambridge--Lectures there--Professor Sedgwick's remarks on his +visit--Livingstone's great satisfaction--Relations to London +Missionary Society--He severs his connection--Proposal of +Government expedition--He accepts consulship and command of +Expedition--Kindness of Lords Palmerston and Clarendon--The +Portuguese Ambassador--Livingstone proposes to go to Portugal--Is +dissuaded--Lord Clarendon's letter to Sekelétu--Results of +Livingstone's visit to England--Farewell banquet, February, +1858--Interview with the Queen--Veledictory letters--Professor +Sedgwick and Sir Roderick Murchison--Arrangements for +Expedition--Dr., Mrs., and Oswald Livingstone set sail from +Liverpool--Letters to children.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_XII.">CHAPTER XII.</a></h2> +<h3>THE ZAMBESI, AND FIRST EXPLORATIONS OF THE SHIRÉ.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1858-1859.</center> +<p>Dr. and Mrs. Livingstone sail in the "Pearl"--Characteristic +instructions to members of Expedition--Dr. Livingstone conscious of +difficult position--Letter to Robert--Sierra Leone--Effects of +British Squadron and of Christian Missions--Dr. and Mrs. Moffat at +Cape Town--Splendid reception there--Illness of Mrs. +Livingstone--She remains behind--The five years of the +Expedition--Letter to Mr. James Young--to Dr. Moffat--Kongone +entrance to Zambesi--Collision with Naval Officer--Disturbed state +of the country--Trip to Kebrabasa Rapids--Dr. Livingstone applies +for new steamer--Willing to pay for one himself--Exploration of the +Shiré--Murchison Cataracts--Extracts from private +Journal--Discovery of Lake Shirwa--Correspondence--Letter to Agnes +Livingstone--Trip to Tette--Kroomen and two members of Expedition +dismissed--Livingstone's vindication--Discovery of Lake +Nyassa--Bright hopes for the future--Idea of a colony--Generosity +of Livingstone--Letters to Mr. Maclear, Mr. Young, and Sir Roderick +Murchison--His sympathy with the "honest poor"--He hears of the +birth of his youngest daughter.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII.">CHAPTER XIII.</a></h2> +<h3>GOING HOME WITH THE MAKOLOLO.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1860.</center> +<p>Down to Kongone--State of the ship--Further delay--Letter to +Secretary of Universities Mission--Letter to Mr. Braithwaite--At +Tette--Miss Whately's sugar-mill--With his brother and Kirk at +Kebrabasa--Mode of traveling--Reappearance of old friends--African +warfare and its effects--Desolation--A European colony +desirable--Escape from rhinoceros--Rumors of Moffat--The Portuguese +local Governors oppose Livingstone--He becomes unpopular with +them--Letter to Mr. Young--Wants of the country--The +Makololo--Approach home--Some are disappointed--News of the death +of the London missionaries, the Helmores and others--Letter to Dr. +Moffat--The Victoria Falls re-examined--Sekelétu ill of +leprosy--Treatment and recovery--His disappointment at not seeing +Mrs. Livingstone--Efforts for the spiritual good of the +Makololo--Careful observations in Natural History--The last of the +"Ma-Robert"--Cheering prospect of the Universities Mission--Letter +to Mr. Moore--to Mr. Young--He wishes another ship--Letter to Sir +Roderick Murchison on the rumored journey of Silva Porto.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV.">CHAPTER XIV.</a></h2> +<h3>ROVUMA AND NYASSA--UNIVERSITIES MISSION.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1861-1862.</center> +<p>Beginning of 1861--Arrival of the "Pioneer," and of the agents +of Universities Mission--Cordial welcome--Livingstone's catholic +feelings--Ordered to explore the Rovuma--Bishop Mackenzie goes with +him--Returns to the Shiré--Turning-point of prosperity +past--Difficult navigation--The slave-sticks--Bishop settles at +Magomero--Hostilities between Manganja and Ajawa--Attack of Mission +party by Ajawa--Livingstone's advice to Bishop regardin +them--Letter to his son Robert--Livingstone, Kirk, and Charles +start for Lake Nyassa--Party robbed at north of Lake--Dismal +activity of the slave-trade--Awful mortality in the +process--Livingstone's fondness for <i>Punch</i>--Letter to Mr. +Young--Joy at departure of new steamer "Lady Nyassa"--Colonization +project--Letter against it from Sir R. Murchison--Hears of Dr. +Stewart coming out from Free Church of Scotland--Visit at the ship +from Bishop Mackenzie--News of defeat of Ajawa by +missionaries--Anxiety of Livingstone--Arrangements for "Pioneer" to +go to Kongone for new steamer and friends from home, then go to Ruo +to meet Bishop--"Pioneer" detained--Dr. Livingstone's anxieties and +depression at New Year--"Pioneer" misses man-of-war "Gorgon"--At +length "Gorgon" appears with brig from England and "Lady +Nyassa"--Mrs. Livingstone and other ladies on board--Livingstone's +meeting with his wife, and with Dr. Stewart--Stewart's +recollections--Difficulties of navigation--Captain Wilson of +"Gorgon" goes up river and hears of death of Bishop Mackenzie and +Mr. Burrup--Great distress--Misrepresentations about Universities +Mission--Miss Mackenzie and Mrs. Burrup taken to "Gorgon"--Dr. and +Mrs. Livingstone return to Shupanga--Illness and death of Mrs. +Livingstone there--Extracts from Livingstone's Journal, and letters +to the Moffats, Agnes, and the Murchisons.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_XV.">CHAPTER XV.</a></h2> +<h3>LAST TWO YEARS OF THE EXPEDITION.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1862-1863.</center> +<p>Livingstone again buckles on his armor--Letter to Waller--Launch +of "Lady Nyassa"--Too late for season--He explores the +Rovuma--Fresh activity of the slave-trade--Letter to Governor of +Mozambique about his discoveries--Letter to Sir Thomas +Maclear--Generous offer of a party of Scotchmen--The Expedition +proceeds up Zambesi with "Lady Nyassa" in tow--Appalling +desolations of Marianno--Tidings of the Mission--Death of +Scudamore--of Dickenson--of Thorton--Illness of Livingstone--Dr. +Kirk and Charles Livingstone go home--He proceeds northward with +Mr. Rae and Mr. E. D. Young of the "Gorgon"--Attempt to carry a +boat over the rapids--Defeated--Recall of the +Expedition--Livingstone's views--Letter to Mr. James Young--to Mr. +Waller--Feeling of the Portuguese Government--Offer to the Rev. Dr. +Stewart--Great discouragements--Why did he not go home?--Proceeds +to explore Nyassa--Risks and sufferings--Occupation of his +mind--Natural History--Obliged to turn back--More +desolation--Report of his murder--Kindness of Chinsamba--Reaches +the ship--Letter from Bishop Tozer, abandoning the +Mission--Distress of Livingstone--Letter to Sir Thomas +Maclear--Progress of Dr. Stewart--Livingstonia--Livingstone takes +charge of the children of the Universities Mission--Letter to his +daughter--Retrospect--The work of the Expedition--Livingstone's +plans for the future.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI.">CHAPTER XVI.</a></h2> +<h3>QUILIMANE TO BOMBAY AND ENGLAND.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1864.</center> +<p>Livingstone returns the "Pioneer" to the Navy, and is to sail in +the "Nyassa" to Bombay--Terrific circular storm--Imminent peril of +the "Nyassa"--He reaches Mozambique--Letter to his +daughter--Proceeds to Zanzibar--His engineer leaves him--Scanty +crew of "Nyassa"--Livingstone captain and engineer--Peril of the +voyage of 2500 miles--Risk of the monsoons--The "Nyassa" +becalmed--Illness of the men--Remarks on African +travel--Flying-fish--Dolphins--Curiosities of his Journal--Idea of +a colony--Furious squall--Two sea-serpents seen--More squalls--The +"Nyassa" enters Bombay harbor--Is unnoticed--First visit from +officer with Custom-house schedules--How filled up--Attention of +Sir Bartle Frere and others--Livingstone goes with the Governor to +Dapuri--His feelings on landing in India--Letter to Sir Thomas +Maclear--He visits mission-schools, etc., at Poonah--Slaving in +Persian Gulf--Returns to Bombay--Leaves two boys with Dr. +Wilson--Borrows passage-money and sails for England--At Aden--At +Alexandria--Reaches Charing Cross--Encouragement derived from his +Bombay visit--Two projects contemplated on his way home.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII.">CHAPTER XVII.</a></h2> +<h3>SECOND VISIT HOME.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1864-1865.</center> +<p>Dr. Livingstone and Sir R. Murchison--At Lady Palmerston's +reception--at other places in London--Sad news of his son +Robert--His early death--Dr. Livingstone goes to Scotland--Pays +visits--Consultation with Professor Syme as to operation--Visit to +Duke Argyll--to Ulva--He meets Dr. Duff--At launch of a Turkish +frigate--At Hamilton--Goes to Bath to British Association--Delivers +an address--Dr. Colenso--At funeral of Captain Speke--Bath speech +offends the Portuguese--Charges of Lacerda--He visits Mr. and Mrs. +Webb at Newstead--Their great hospitality--Livingstone room--He +spends eight months there writing his book--He regains elasticity +and playfulness--His book--Charles Livingstone's share--He uses his +influence for Dr. Kirk--Delivers a lecture at Mansfield--Proposal +made to him by Sir R. Murchison to return to Africa--Letter from +Sir Roderick--His reply--He will not cease to be a +missionary--Letter to Mr. James Young--Overtures from Foreign +Office--Livingstone displeased--At dinner of Royal Academy--His +speech not reported--President Lincoln's assassination--Examination +by Committee of House of Commons--His opinion on the capacity of +the negro--He goes down to Scotland--<i>Tom Brown's School +Days</i>--His mother very ill--She rallies--He goes to +Oxford--Hears of his mother's death--Returns--He attends +examination of Oswell's school--His speech--Goes to London, +preparing to leave--Parts from Mr. and Mrs. Webb--Stays with Dr. +and Mrs. Hamilton--Last days in England.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII.">CHAPTER XVIII.</a></h2> +<h3>FROM ENGLAND TO BOMBAY AND ZANZIBAR.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1865-1866.</center> +<p>Object of new journey--Double scheme--He goes to Paris with +Agnes--Baron Hausmann--Anecdote at Marseilles--He reaches +Bombay--Letter to Agnes--Reminiscences of Dr. Livingstone at Bombay +by Rev. D.C. Boyd--by Alex. Brown, Esq.--Livingstone's dress--He +visits the caves of Kenhari--Rumors of murder of Baron van der +Decken--He delivers a lecture at Bombay--Great success--He sells +the "Lady Nyassa"--Letter to Mr. James Young--Letter to Anna +Mary--Hears that Dr. Kirk has got an appointment--Sets out for +Zanzibar in "Thule"--Letter to Mr. James Young--His experience at +sea--Letter to Agnes--He reaches Zanzibar--Calls on +Sultan--Presents the "Thule" to him from Bombay +Government--Monotony of Zanzibar life--Leaves in "Penguin" for the +continent.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX.">CHAPTER XIX.</a></h2> +<h3>FROM ZANZIBAR TO UJIJI.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1866-1869.</center> +<p>Dr. Livingstone goes to mouth of Rovuma--His prayer--His +company--His herd of animals--Loss of his buffaloes--Good spirits +when setting put--Difficulties at Rovuma--Bad conduct of Johanna +men--Dismissal of his Sepoys--Fresh horrors of +slave-trade--Uninhabited tract--He reaches Lake Nyassa--Letter to +his son Thomas--Disappointed hopes--His double aim, to teach +natives and rouse horror of slave-trade--Tenor of religious +addresses--Wikatami remains behind--Livingstone finds no altogether +satisfactory station for commerce and missions--Question of the +watershed--Was it worth the trouble?--Overruled for good to +Africa--Opinion of Sir Bartle Frere--At Marenga's--The Johanna men +leave in a body--Circulate rumor of his murder--Sir Roderick +disbelieves it--Mr. E.D. Young sent out with Search +Expedition--Finds proof against rumor--Livingstone +half-starved--Loss of his goats--Review of 1866--Reflections on +Divine Providence--Letter to Thomas--His dog drowned--Loss of his +medicine-chest--He feels sentence of death passed on him--First +sight of Lake Tanganyika--Detained at Chitimba's--Discovery of Lake +Moero--Occupations during detention of 1867--Great privations and +difficulties--Illness--Rebellion among his men--Discovery of Lake +Bangweolo--Its oozy banks--Detention--Sufferings--He makes for +Ujiji--Very severe illness in beginning of 1869--Reaches +Ujiji--Finds his goods have been wasted and stolen--Most bitter +disappointment--His medicines, etc., at Unyanyembe--Letter to +Sultan of Zanzibar--Letters to Dr. Moffat and his daughter.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_XX.">CHAPTER XX.</a></h2> +<h3>MANYUEMA.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1869-1871.</center> +<p>He sets out to explore Manyuema and the river Lualaba--Loss of +forty-two letters--His feebleness through illness--He arrives at +Bambarré--Becomes acquainted with the soko or +gorilla--Reaches the Luama River--Magnificence of the +country--Repulsiveness of the people--Cannot get a canoe to explore +the Lualaba--Has to return to Bambarré--Letter to Thomas, +and retrospect of his life--Letter to Sir Thomas Maclear and Mr. +Mann--Miss Tinné--He is worse in health than ever, yet +resolves to add to his programme and go round Lake +Bangweolo--Letter to Agnes--Review of the past--He sets out anew in +a more northerly direction--Overpowered by constant wet--Reaches +Nyangwe, the farthest point northward in his last Expedition--Long +detention--Letter to his brother John--Sense of difficulties and +troubles--Nobility of his spirit--He sets off with only three +attendants for the Lualaba--Suspicions of the natives--Influence of +Arab traders--Frightful difficulties of the way--Lamed by +footsores--Has to return to Bambarré--Long and wearisome +detention--Occupations--Meditations and reveries--Death no +terror--Unparalleled position and trials--He reads his Bible from +beginning to end four times--Letter to Sir Thomas Maclear--To +Agnes--His delight at her sentiments about his coming home--Account +of the soko--Grief to heat of death of Lady Murchison--Wretched +character of men sent from Zanzibar--At last sets out with +Mohamad--Difficulties--Slave-trade most horrible--Cannot get canoes +for Lualaba--Long waiting--New plan--Frustrated by horrible +massacre on banks of Lualaba--Frightful scene--He must return to +Ujiji--New illness--Perils of journey to Ujiji--Life three times +endangered in one day--Reaches Ujiji--Shereef has sold off his +goods--He is almost in despair--Meets Henry M. Stanley and is +relieved--His contributions to Natural Science during last +journeys--Professor Owen in the <i>Quarterly Review</i>.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI.">CHAPTER XXI.</a></h2> +<h3>LIVINGSTONE AND STANLEY.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1871-1872.</center> +<p>Mr. Gordon Bennett sends Stanley in search of +Livingstone--Stanley at Zanzibar--Starts for Ujiji--Reaches +Unyanyembe--Dangerous illness--War between Arabs and +natives--Narrow escape of Stanley--Approach to Ujiji--Meeting with +Livingstone--Livingstone's story--Stanley's news--Livingstone's +goods and men at Bagamoio--Stanley's account of +Livingstone--Refutation of foolish and calumnious charges--They go +to the north of the lake--Livingstone resolves not to go home, but +to get fresh men and return to the sources--Letter to Agnes--to Sir +Thomas Maclear--The travelers go to Unyanyembe--More plundering of +stores--Stanley leaves for Zanzibar--Stanley's bitterness of heart +at parting--Livingstone's intense gratitude to Stanley--He intrusts +his Journal to him, and commissions him to send servants and stores +from Zanzibar--Stanley's journey to the coast--Finds Search +Expedition at Bagamoio--Proceeds to England--Stanley's +reception--Unpleasant feelings--Éclaircissement--England +grateful to Stanley.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII.">CHAPTER XXII.</a></h2> +<h3>FROM UNYANYEMBE TO BANGWEOLO.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1872-1873.</center> +<p>Livingstone's long wait at Unyanyembe--His plan of +operations--His fifty-ninth birthday--Renewal of +self-dedication--Letters to Agnes--to <i>New York +Herald</i>--Hardness of the African battle--Waverings of judgment, +whether Lualaba was the Nile or the Congo--Extracts from +Journal--Gleams of humor--Natural history--His distress on hearing +of the death of Sir Roderick Murchison--Thoughts on +mission-work--Arrival of his escort--His happiness in his new +men--He starts from Unyanyembe--Illness--Great amount of rain--Near +Bangweolo--Incessant moisture--Flowers of the forest--Taking of +observations regularly prosecuted--Dreadful state of the country +from rain--Hunger--Furious attack of ants--Greatness of +Livingstone's sufferings--Letters to Sir Thomas Maclear, Mr. Young, +his brother, and Agnes--His sixtieth birthday--Great weakness in +April--Sunday services and observations continued--Increasing +illness--The end approaching--Last written words--Last day of his +travels--He reaches Chitambo's village, in Ilala--Is found on his +knees dead, on morning of 1st May--Courage and affection of his +attendants--His body embalmed--Carried toward shore--Dangers and +sufferings during the march--The party meet Lieutenant Cameron at +Unyanyembe--Determine to go on--<i>Ruse</i> at +Kasekéra--Death of Dr. Dillon--The party reach Bagamoio, and +the remains are placed on board a cruiser--The Search Expeditions +from England--to East Coast under Cameron--to West Coast under +Grandy--Explanation of Expeditions by Sir Henry +Rawlinson--Livingstone's remains brought to England--Examined by +Sir W. Fergusson and others--Buried in Westminster +Abbey--Inscription on slab--Livingstone's wish for a forest +grave--Lines from <i>Punch</i>--Tributes to his memory--Sir Bartle +Frere--The <i>Lancet</i>--Lord Polwarth--Florence Nightingale.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII.">CHAPTER XXIII.</a></h2> +<h3>POSTHUMOUS INFLUENCE.</h3> +<p>History of his life not completed at his death--Thrilling effect +of the tragedy of Ilala--Livingstone's influence on the +slave-trade--His letters from Manyuema--Sir Bartle Frere's mission +to Zanzibar--Successful efforts of Dr. Kirk with Sultan of +Zanzibar--The land route--The sea route--Slave-trade declared +illegal--Egypt--The Soudan--Colonel Gordon--Conventions with +Turkey--King Mtesa of Uganda--Nyassa district--Introduction of +lawful commerce--Various commercial enterprises in +progress--Influence of Livingstone on exploration--Enterprise of +newspapers--Exploring undertakings of various +nations--Livingstone's personal service to science--His hard work +in science the cause of respect--His influence on missionary +enterprise--Livingstonia--Dr. Stewart--Mr. E.D. +Young--Blantyre--The Universities Mission under Bishop Steere--Its +return to the mainland and to Nyassa district--Church Missionary +Society at Nyanza--London Missionary Society at Tanganyika--French, +Inland, Baptist, and American missions--Medical missions--The Fisk +Livingstone hall--Livingstone's great legacy to Africa, a spotless +Christian name and character--Honors of the future.</p> +<br> +<h2><a href="#APPENDIX.">APPENDIX.</a></h2> +<center><a href="#No._I.">I. Extracts from paper on "Missionary +Sacrifices".</a><br> +<a href="#No._II.">II. Treatment of African Fever.</a><br> +<a href="#No._III.">III. Letter to Dr. Tidman, as to future +operations.</a><br> +<a href="#No._IV.">IV. Lord Clarendon's Letter to +Sekelétu.</a><br> +<a href="#No._V">V. Public Honors awarded to Dr. +Livingstone.</a></center> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>DAYID LIVINGSTONE.</h2> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> +<h3>EARLY YEARS.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1813-1836.</center> +<p>Ulva--The Livingstones--Traditions of Ulva life--The +"baughting-time"--"Kirsty's Rock"--Removal of Livingstone's +grandfather to Blantyre--Highland blood--Neil Livingstone--His +marriage to Agnes Hunter--Her grandfather and father--Monument to +Neil and Agnes Livingstone in Hamilton Cemetery--David Livingstone, +born 19th March, 1813--Boyhood--At home--In school--David goes into +Blantyre Mill--First Earnings--Night-school--His habits of +reading--Natural-history expeditions--Great spiritual change in his +twentieth year--Dick's <i>Philosophy of a Future State</i>--He +resolves to be a missionary--Influence of occupation at +Blantyre--Sympathy with the people--Thomas Burk and David +Hogg--Practical character of his religion.</p> +<br> +<p>The family of David Livingstone sprang, as he has himself +recorded, from the island of Ulva, on the west coast of Mull, in +Argyllshire. Ulva, "the island of wolves," is of the same group as +Staffa, and, like it, remarkable for its basaltic columns, which, +according to MacCulloch, are more deserving of admiration than +those of the Giant's Causeway, and have missed being famous only +from being eclipsed by the greater glory of Staffa. The island +belonged for many generations to the Macquaires, a name +distinguished in our home annals, as well as in those of Australia. +The Celtic name of the Livingstones was M'Leay, which, according to +Dr. Livingstone's own idea, means "son of the gray-headed," but +according to another derivation, "son of the physician." It has +been surmised that the name may have been given to some son of the +famous Beatoun, who held the post of physician to the Lord of the +Isles. Probably Dr. Livingstone never heard of this derivation; if +he had, he would have shown it some favor, for he had a singularly +high opinion of the physician's office.</p> +<p>The Saxon name of the family was originally spelt Livingstone, +but the Doctor's father had shortened it by the omission of the +final "e." David wrote it for many years in the abbreviated form, +but about 1857, at his father's request, he restored the original +spelling <a name="FNanchor1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1">[1]</a>. The +significance of the original form of the name was not without its +influence on him. He used to refer with great pleasure to a note +from an old friend and fellow-student, the late Professor George +Wilson, of Edinburgh, acknowledging a copy of his book in 1857: +"Meanwhile, may your name be propitious; in all your long and weary +journeys may the <i>Living</i> half of your title outweigh the +other; till after long and blessed labors, the white <i>stone</i> +is given you in the happy land."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor1">[1]</a> +See Journal of Geographical Society, 1857, p. clxviii.</blockquote> +<p>Livingstone has told us most that is known of his forefathers; +how his great-grandfather fell at Culloden, fighting for the old +line of kings; how his grandfather could go back for six +generations of his family before him, giving the particulars of +each; and how the only tradition he himself felt proud of was that +of the old man who had never heard of any person in the family +being guilty of dishonesty, and who charged his children never to +introduce the vice. He used also to tell his children, when +spurring them to diligence at school, that neither had he ever +heard of a Livingstone who was a donkey. He has also recorded a +tradition that the people of the island were converted from being +Roman Catholics "by the laird coming round with a man having a +yellow staff, which would seem to have attracted more attention +than his teaching, for the new religion went long +afterward--perhaps it does so still--by the name of the religion of +the yellow stick." The same story is told of perhaps a dozen other +places in the Highlands; the "yellow stick" seems to have done duty +on a considerable scale.</p> +<p>There were traditions of Ulva life that must have been very +congenial to the temperament of David Livingstone. In the +"Statistical Account" of the parish to which it belongs <a name= +"FNanchor2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2">[2]</a> we read of an old +custom among the inhabitants, to remove with their flocks in the +beginning of each summer to the upland pastures, and bivouac there +till they were obliged to descend in the month of August. The +open-air life, the free intercourse of families, the roaming +frolics of the young men, the songs and merriment of young and old, +seem to have made this a singularly happy time. The writer of the +account (Mr. Clark, of Ulva) says that he had frequently listened +with delight to the tales of pastoral life led by the people on +these occasions; it was indeed a relic of Arcadia. There were +tragic traditions, too, of Ulva; notably that of Kirsty's Rock, an +awful place where the islanders are said to have administered Lynch +law to a woman who had unwittingly killed a girl she meant only to +frighten, for the alleged crime--denied by the girl--of stealing a +cheese. The poor woman was broken-hearted when she saw what she had +done; but the neighbors, filled with horror, and deaf to her +remonstrances, placed her in a sack, which they laid upon a rock +covered by the sea at high water, where the rising tide slowly +terminated her existence. Livingstone quotes Macaulay's remark on +the extreme savagery of the Highlanders of those days, like the +Cape Caffres, as he says; and the tradition of Kirsty's Rock would +seem to confirm it. But the stories of the "baughting-time" +presented a fairer aspect of Ulva life, and no doubt left happier +impressions on his mind. His grandfather, as he tells us, had an +almost unlimited stock of such stories, which he was wont to +rehearse to his grandchildren and other rapt listeners.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor2">[2]</a> +Kilninian and Kilmore. See <i>New Statistical Account of +Scotland</i>, Argyllshire, p. 345</blockquote> +<p>When, for the first and last time in his life, David Livingstone +visited Ulva, in 1864, in a friend's yacht, he could hear little or +nothing of his relatives. In 1792, his grandfather, as he tells us, +left it for Blantyre, in Lanarkshire, about seven miles from +Glasgow, on the banks of the Clyde, where he found employment in a +cotton factory. The dying charge of the unnamed ancestor must have +sunk into the heart of his descendant, for, being a God-fearing man +and of sterling honesty, he was employed in the conveyance of large +sums of money from Glasgow to the works, and in his old age was +pensioned off, so as to spend his declining years in ease and +comfort. There is a tradition in the family, showing his sense of +the value of education, that he was complimented by the Blantyre +school-master for never grudging the price of a school-book for any +of his children--a compliment, we fear, not often won at the +present day. The other near relations of Livingstone seem to have +left the island at the same time, and settled in Canada, Prince +Edward's Isle, and the United States.</p> +<p>The influence of his Highland blood was apparent in many ways in +David Livingstone's character. It modified the democratic +influences of his earlier years, when he lived among the cotton +spinners of Lanarkshire. It enabled him to enter more readily into +the relation of the African tribes to their chiefs, which, unlike +some other missionaries, he sought to conserve, while purifying it +by Christian influence. It showed itself in the dash and daring +which were so remarkbly combined in him with Saxon forethought and +perseverance. We are not sure but it gave a tinge to his +affections, intensifying his likes, and some of his dislikes too. +His attachment to Sir Roderick Murchison was quite that of a +Highlander, and hardly less so was his feeling toward the Duke of +Argyll,--a man whom he had no doubt many grounds for esteeming +highly, but of whom, after visiting him at Inveraray, he spoke with +all the enthusiasm of a Highlander for his chief.</p> +<p>The Ulva emigrant had several sons, all of whom but one +eventually entered the King's service during the French war, either +as soldiers or sailors. The old man was somewhat disheartened by +this circumstance, and especially by the fate of Charles, +head-clerk in the office of Mr. Henry Monteith, in Glasgow, who was +pressed on board a man-of-war, and died soon after in the +Mediterranean. Only one son remained at home, Neil, the father of +David, who eventually became a tea-dealer, and spent his life at +Blantyre and Hamilton. David Livingstone has told us that his +father was of the high type of character portrayed in the +<i>Cottar's Saturday Night</i>. There are friends still alive who +remember him well, and on whom he made a deep impression. He was a +great reader from his youth upward, especially of religious works. +His reading and his religion refined his character, and made him a +most pleasant and instructive companion. His conversational powers +were remarkable, and he could pour out in a most interesting way +the stores of his reading and observation.</p> +<p>Neil Livingstone was a man of great spiritual earnestness, and +his whole life was consecrated to duty and the fear of God, In many +ways he was remarkable, being in some things before his time. In +his boyhood he had seen the evil effects of convivial habits in his +immediate circle, and in order to fortify others by his example he +became a strict teetotaler, suffering not a little ridicule and +opposition from the firmness with which he carried out his +resolution. He was a Sunday-school teacher, an ardent member of a +missionary society, and a promoter of meetings for prayer and +fellowship, before such things had ceased to be regarded as badges +of fanaticism. While traveling through the neighboring parishes in +his vocation of tea-merchant, he acted also as colporteur, +distributing tracts and encouraging the reading of useful books. He +took suitable opportunities when they came to him of speaking to +young men and others on the most important of all subjects, and not +without effect. He learned Gaelic that he might be able to read the +Bible to his mother, who knew that language best. He had indeed the +very soul of a missionary. Withal he was kindly and affable, though +very particular in enforcing what he believed to be right. He was +quick of temper, but of tender heart and gentle ways; anything that +had the look of sternness was the result not of harshness but of +high principle. By this means he commanded the affection as well as +the respect of his family. It was a great blow to his distinguished +son, to whom in his character and ways he bore a great resemblance, +to get news of his death, on his way home after his great journey, +dissipating the cherished pleasure of sitting at the fireside and +telling him all his adventures in Africa.</p> +<p>The wife of Neil Livingstone was Agnes Hunter, a member of a +family of the same humble rank and the same estimable character as +his own. Her grandfather, Gavin Hunter, of the parish of Shotts, +was a doughty Covenanter, who might have sat for the portrait of +David Deans. His son David (after whom the traveler was named) was +a man of the same type, who got his first religious impressions in +his eighteenth year, at an open-air service conducted by one of the +Secession Erskines. Snow was falling at the time, and before the +end of the sermon the people were standing in snow up to the +ankles; but David Hunter used to say he had no feeling of cold that +day. He married Janet Moffat, and lived at first in comfortable +circumstances at Airdrie, where he owned a cottage and a croft. +Mrs. Hunter died, when her daughter Agnes, afterward Mrs. Neil +Livingstone, was but fifteen. Agnes was her mother's only nurse +during a long illness, and attended so carefully to her wants that +the minister of the family laid his hand on her head, and said, "A +blessing will follow you, my lassie, for your duty to your mother." +Soon after Mrs. Hunter's death a reverse of fortune overtook her +husband, who had been too good-natured in accommodating his +neighbors. He removed to Blantyre, where he worked as a tailor. +Neil Livingstone was apprenticed to him by his father, much against +his will; but it was by this means that he became acquainted with +Agnes Hunter, his future wife. David Hunter, whose devout and +intelligent character procured for him great respect, died at +Blantyre in 1834, at the age of eighty-seven. He was a great +favorite with his grandchildren, to whom he was always kind, and +whom he allowed to rummage freely among his books, of which he had +a considerable collection, chiefly theological.</p> +<p>Neil Livingstone and Agnes Hunter were married in 1810, and took +up house at first in Glasgow. The furnishing of their house +indicated the frugal character and self-respect of the occupants; +it included a handsome chest of drawers, and other traditional +marks of respectability. Not liking Glasgow, they returned to +Blantyre. In a humble home there, five sons and two daughters were +born. Two of the sons died in infancy, to the great sorrow of the +parents. Mrs. Livingstone's family spoke and speak of her as a very +loving mother, one who contributed to their home a remarkable +element of brightness and serenity. Active, orderly, and of +thorough cleanliness, she trained her family in the same virtues, +exemplifying their value in their own home. She was a delicate +little woman, with a wonderful flow of good spirits, and remarkable +for the beauty of her eyes, to which those of her son David bore a +strong resemblance. She was most careful of household duties, and +attentive to her children. Her love had no crust to penetrate, but +came beaming out freely like the light of the sun. Her son loved +her, and in many ways followed her. It was the genial, gentle +influences that had moved him under his mother's training that +enabled him to move the savages of Africa.</p> +<p>She, too, had a great store of family traditions, and, like the +mother of Sir Walter Scott, she retained the power of telling them +with the utmost accuracy to a very old age. In one of Livingstone's +private journals, written in 1864, during his second visit home, he +gives at full length one of his mother's stories, which some future +Macaulay may find useful as an illustration of the social condition +of Scotland in the early part of the eighteenth century:</p> +<p>"Mother told me stories of her youth: they seem to come back to +her in her eighty-second year very vividly. Her grandfather, Gavin +Hunter, could write, while most common people were ignorant of the +art. A poor woman got him to write a petition to the minister of +Shotts parish to augment her monthly allowance of sixpence, as she +could not live on it. He was taken to Hamilton jail for this, and +having a wife and three children at home, who without him would +certainly starve, he thought of David's feigning madness before the +Philistines, and beslabbered his beard with saliva. All who were +found guilty were sent to the army in America, or the plantations. +A sergeant had compassion on him, and said, 'Tell me, gudeman, if +you are really out of your mind. I'll befriend you.' He confessed +that he only feigned insanity, because he had a wife and three +bairns at home who would starve if he were sent to the army. 'Dinna +say onything mair to ony body,' said the kind-hearted sergeant. He +then said to the commanding officer, 'They have given us a man +clean out of his mind: I can do nothing with the like o' him,' The +officer went to him and gave him three shillings, saying, 'Tak' +that, gudeman, and gang awa' hame to your wife and weans, 'Ay,' +said mother, 'mony a prayer went up for that sergeant, for my +grandfather was an unco godly man. He had never had so much money +in his life before, for his wages were only threepence a day."</p> +<p>Mrs. Livingstone, to whom David had always been a most dutiful +son, died on the 18th June, 1865, after a lingering illness which +had confined her to bed for several years. A telegram received by +him at Oxford announced her death; that telegram had been stowed +away in one of his traveling cases, for a year after (19th June, +1866), in his <i>Last Journals</i>, he wrote this entry: "I lighted +on a telegram to-day:</p> +<blockquote>'Your mother died at noon on the 18th +June.</blockquote> +<p>This was in 1865; it affected me not a little <a name= +"FNanchor3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3">[3]</a>."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor3">[3]</a> +<i>Last Journals</i> vol. i. p. 55</blockquote> +<p>The home in which David Livingstone grew up was bright and +happy, and presented a remarkable example of all the domestic +virtues. It was ruled by an industry that never lost an hour of the +six days, and that welcomed and honored the day of rest; a thrift +that made the most of everything, though it never got far beyond +the bare necessaries of life; a self-restraint that admitted no +stimulant within the door, and that faced bravely and steadily all +the burdens of life; a love of books that showed the presence of a +cultivated taste, with a fear of God that dignified the life which +it moulded and controlled. To the last David Livingstone was proud +of the class from which he sprang. When the highest in the land +were showering compliments on him, he was writing to his old +friends of "my own order, the honest poor," and trying, by schemes +of colonization and otherwise, to promote their benefit. He never +had the least hankering for any title or distinction that would +have seemed to lift him out of his own class; and it was with +perfect sincerity that on the tombstone which he placed over the +resting-place of his parents in the cemetery of Hamilton, he +expressed his feelings in these words, deliberately refusing to +change the "and" of the last line into "but":</p> +<blockquote>TO SHOW THE RESTING-PLACE OF<br> +<br> +NEIL LIVINGSTONE,<br> +AND AGNES HUNTER, HIS WIFE,<br> +<br> +AND TO EXPEESS THE THANKFULNESS TO GOD<br> +OF THEIR CHILDREN,<br> +<br> +JOHN, DAVID, JANET, CHARLES, AND AGNES,<br> +<br> +FOR POOR AND PIOUS PARENTS.</blockquote> +<p>David Livingstone's birthday was the 19th March, 1813. Of his +early boyhood there is little to say, except that he was a favorite +at home. The children's games were merrier when he was among them, +and the fireside brighter. He contributed constantly to the +happiness of the family. Anything of interest that happened to him +he was always ready to tell them. The habit was kept up in +after-years. When he went to study in Glasgow, returning on the +Saturday evenings, he would take his place by the fireside and tell +them all that had occurred during the week, thus sharing his life +with them. His sisters still remember how they longed for these +Saturday evenings. At the village school he received his early +education. He seems from his earliest childhood to have been of a +calm, self-reliant nature. It was his father's habit to lock the +door at dusk, by which time all the children were expected to be in +the house. One evening David had infringed this rule, and when he +reached the door it was barred. He made no cry nor disturbance, but +having procured a piece of bread, sat down contentedly to pass the +night on the doorstep. There, on looking out, his mother found him. +It was an early application of the rule which did him such service +in later days, to make the best of the least pleasant situations. +But no one could yet have thought how the rule was to be afterward +applied. Looking back to this period, Livingstone might have said, +in the words of the old Scotch ballad:</p> +<blockquote>"O little knew my mother,<br> + The day she cradled me,<br> +The lands that I should wander o'er,<br> + The death that I should dee."</blockquote> +<p>At the age of nine he got a New Testament from his Sunday-school +teacher for repeating the 119th Psalm on two successive evenings +with only five errors, a proof that perseverance was bred in his +very bone.</p> +<p>His parents were poor, and at the age of ten he was put to work +in the factory as a piecer, that his earnings might aid his mother +in the struggle with the wolf which had followed the family from +the island that bore its name. After serving a number of years as a +piecer, he was promoted to be a spinner. Greatly to his mother's +delight, the first half crown he ever earned was laid by him in her +lap. Livingstone has told us that with a part of his first week's +wages he purchased Ruddiman's Rudiments of Latin, and pursued the +study of that language with unabated ardor for many years afterward +at an evening class which had been opened between the hours of +eight and ten. "The dictionary part of my labors was followed up +till twelve o'clock, or later, if my mother did not interfere by +jumping up and snatching the books out of my hands. I had to be +back in the factory by six in the morning, and continue my work, +with intervals for breakfast and dinner, till eight o'clock at +night. I read in this way many of the classical authors, and knew +Virgil and Horace better at sixteen than I do now <a name= +"FNanchor4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4">[4]</a>."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor4">[4]</a> +<i>Missionary Travels</i>, p. 8.</blockquote> +<p>In his reading, he tells us that he devoured all the books that +came into his hands but novels, and that his plan was to place the +book on a portion of the spinning-jenny, so that he could catch +sentence after sentence as he passed at his work. The labor of +attending to the wheels was great, for the improvements in spinning +machinery that have made it self-acting had not then been +introduced. The utmost interval that Livingstone could have for +reading at one time was less than a minute.</p> +<p>The thirst for reading so early shown was greatly stimulated by +his father's example. Neil Livingstone, while fond of the old +Scottish theology, was deeply interested in the enterprise of the +nineteenth century, or, as he called it, "the progress of the +world," and endeavored to interest his family in it too. Any books +of travel, and especially of missionary enterprise, that he could +lay his hands on, he eagerly read. Some publications of the Tract +Society, called the <i>Weekly Visitor</i>, the <i>Child's Companion +and Teacher's Offering,</i> were taken in, and were much enjoyed by +his son David, especially the papers of "Old Humphrey." Novels were +not admitted into the house, in accordance with the feeling +prevalent in religious circles. Neil Livingstone had also a fear of +books of science, deeming them unfriendly to Christianity; his son +instinctively repudiated that feeling, though it was some time +before the works of Thomas Dick, of Broughty-Ferry, enabled him to +see clearly, what to him was of vital significance, that religion +and science were not necessarily hostile, but rather friendly to +each other.</p> +<p>The many-sidedness of his character showed itself early; for not +content with reading, he used to scour the country, accompanied by +his brothers, in search of botanical, geological, and zoological +specimens. Culpepper's <i>Herbal</i> was a favorite book, and it +set him to look in every direction for as many of the plants +described in it as the countryside could supply. A story has been +circulated that on these occasions he did not always confine his +researches in zoology to fossil animals. That Livingstone was a +poacher in the grosser sense of the term seems hardly credible, +though with the Radical opinions which he held at the time it may +readily be believed that he had no respect for the sanctity of +game. If a salmon came in his way while he was fishing for trout, +he made no scruple of bagging it. The bag on such occasions was not +always made for the purpose, for there is a story that once when he +had captured a fish in the "salmon pool," and was not prepared to +transport such a prize, he deposited it in the leg of his brother +Charles's trousers, creating no little sympathy for the boy as he +passed through the village with his sadly swollen leg!</p> +<p>It was about his twentieth year that the great spiritual change +took place which determined the course of Livingstone's future +life. But before this time he had earnest thoughts on religion. +"Great pains," he says in his first book, "had been taken by my +parents to instill the doctrines of Christianity into my mind, and +I had no difficulty in understanding the theory of a free salvation +by the atonement of our Saviour; but it was only about this time +that I began to feel the necessity and value of a personal +application of the provisions of that atonement to my own case +<a name="FNanchor5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5">[5]</a>." Some light +is thrown on this brief account in a paper submitted by him to the +Directors of the London Missionary Society in 1838, in answer to a +schedule of queries sent down by them when he offered himself as a +missionary for their service. He says that about his twelfth year +he began to reflect on his state as a sinner, and became anxious to +realize the state of mind that flows from the reception of the +truth into the heart. He was deterred, however, from embracing the +free offer of mercy in the gospel, by a sense of unworthiness to +receive so great a blessing, till a supernatural change should be +effected in him by the Holy Spirit. Conceiving it to be his duty to +wait for this, he continued expecting a ground of hope within, +rejecting meanwhile the only true hope of the sinner, the finished +work of Christ, till at length his convictions were effaced, and +his feelings blunted. Still his heart was not at rest; an +unappeased hunger remained, which no other pursuit could +satisfy.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor5">[5]</a> +<i>Missionary Travels</i>, p.4</blockquote> +<p>In these circumstances he fell in with Dick's <i>Philosophy of a +Future State</i>. The book corrected his error, and showed him the +truth. "I saw the duty and inestimable privilege <i>immediately</i> +to accept salvation by Christ. Humbly believing that through +sovereign mercy and grace I have been enabled so to do, and having +felt in some measure its effects on my still depraved and deceitful +heart, it is my desire to show my attachment to the cause of Him +who died for me by devoting my life to his service."</p> +<p>There can be no doubt that David Livingstone's heart was very +thoroughly penetrated by the new life that now flowed into it. He +did not merely apprehend the truth--the truth laid hold of him. The +divine blessing flowed into him as it flowed into the heart of St. +Paul, St. Augustine, and others of that type, subduing all earthly +desires and wishes. What he says in his book about the freeness of +God's grace drawing forth feelings of affectionate love to Him who +bought him with his blood, and the sense of deep obligation to Him +for his mercy, that had influenced, in some small measure, his +conduct ever since, is from him most significant. Accustomed to +suppress all spiritual emotion in his public writings, he would not +have used these words if they had not been very real. They give us +the secret of his life. Acts of self-denial that are very hard to +do under the iron law of conscience, become a willing service under +the glow of divine love. It was the glow of divine love as well as +the power of conscience that moved Livingstone. Though he seldom +revealed his inner feelings, and hardly ever in the language of +ecstasy, it is plain that he was moved by a calm but mighty inward +power to the very end of his life. The love that began to stir his +heart in his father's house continued to move him all through his +dreary African journeys, and was still in full play on that lonely +midnight when he knelt at his bedside in the hut in Ilala, and his +spirit returned to his God and Saviour.</p> +<p>At first he had no thought of being himself a missionary. +Feeling "that the salvation of men ought to be the chief desire and +aim of every Christian," he had made a resolution "that he would +give to the cause of missions all that he might earn beyond what +was required for his subsistence <a name="FNanchor6"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_6">[6]</a>." The resolution to give himself came from +his reading an Appeal by Mr. Gutzlaff to the Churches of Britain +and America on behalf of China. It was "the claims of so many +millions of his fellow-creatures, and the complaints of the +scarcity, of the want of qualified missionaries," that led him to +aspire to the office. From that time--apparently his twenty-first +year--his "efforts were constantly directed toward that object +without any fluctuation."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor6">[6]</a> +Statement to Directors of London Missionary Society.</blockquote> +<p>The years of monotonous toil spent in the factory were never +regretted by Livingstone. On the contrary, he regarded his +experience there as an important part of his education, and had it +been possible, he would have liked "to begin life over again in the +same lowly style, and to pass through the same hardy training +<a name="FNanchor7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7">[7]</a>." The +fellow-feeling he acquired for the children of labor was invaluable +for enabling him to gain influence with the same class, whether in +Scotland or in Africa. As we have already seen, he was essentially +a man of the people. Not that he looked unkindly on the richer +classes,--he used to say in his later years, that he liked to see +people in comfort and at leisure, enjoying the good things of +life,--but he felt that the burden-bearing multitude claimed his +sympathy most. How quick the people are, whether in England or in +Africa, to find out this sympathetic spirit, and how powerful is +the hold of their hearts which those who have it gain! In poetic +feeling, or at least in the power of expressing it, as in many +other things, David Livingstone and Robert Burns were a great +contrast; but in sympathy with the people they were alike, and in +both cases the people felt it. Away and alone, in the heart of +Africa, when mourning "the pride and avarice that make man a wolf +to man," Livingstone would welcome the "good time coming," humming +the words of Burns:</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor7">[7]</a> +<i>Missionary Travels</i>, p. 6.</blockquote> +<br> +<blockquote>"When man to man, the world o'er,<br> +Shall brothers be for a' that."</blockquote> +<p>In all the toils and trials of his life, he found the good of +that early Blantyre discipline, which had forced him to bear +irksome toil with patience, until the toil ceased to be irksome, +and even became a pleasure.</p> +<p>Livingstone has told us that the village of Blantyre, with its +population of two thousand souls, contained some characters of +sterling worth and ability, who exerted a most beneficial influence +on the children and youth of the place by imparting gratuitous +religious instruction. The names of two of the worthiest of these +are given, probably because they stood highest in his esteem, and +he owed most to them, Thomas Burke and David Hogg. Essentially +alike, they seem to have been outwardly very different. Thomas +Burke, a somewhat wild youth, had enlisted early in the army. His +adventures and hairbreadth escapes in the Forty-second, during the +Peninsular and other wars, were marvelous, and used to be told in +after-years to crowds of wondering listeners. But most marvelous +was the change of heart that brought him back an intense Christian +evangelist, who, in season, and out of season, never ceased to +beseech the people of Blantyre to yield themselves to God. Early on +Sunday mornings he would go through the village ringing a bell to +rouse the people that they might attend an early prayer-meeting +which he had established. His temperament was far too high for most +even of the well-disposed people of Blantyre, but Neil Livingstone +appreciated his genuine worth, and so did his son. David says of +him that "for about forty years he had been incessant and never +weary in good works, and that such men were an honor to their +country and their profession." Yet it was not after the model of +Thomas Burke that Livingstone's own religious life was fashioned. +It had a greater resemblance to that of David Hogg, the other of +the two Blantyre patriarchs of whom he makes special mention, under +whose instructions he had sat in the Sunday-school, and whose +spirit may be gathered from his death-bed advice to him: "Now, lad, +make religion the every-day business of your life, and not a thing +of fits and starts; for if you do, temptation and other things will +get the better of you." It would hardly be possible to give a +better account of Livingstone's religion than that he did make it +quietly, but very really, the every-day business of his life. From +the first he disliked men of much profession and little +performance; the aversion grew as he advanced in years; and by the +end of his life, in judging of men, he had come to make somewhat +light both of profession and of formal creed, retaining and +cherishing more and more firmly the one great test of the +Saviour--"By their fruits ye shall know them."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> +<h3>MISSIONARY PREPARATION.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1836--1840.</center> +<p>His desire to be a missionary to China--Medical missions--He +studies at Glasgow--Classmates and teachers--He applies to London +Missionary Society--His ideas of mission work--He is accepted +provisionally--He goes to London--to Ongar--Reminiscences by Rev. +Joseph Moore--by Mrs. Gilbert--by Rev. Isaac Taylor--Nearly +rejected by the Directors--Returns to Ongar--to London--Letter to +his sister--Reminiscences by Dr. Risdon Bennett--Promise to +Professor Owen--Impression of his character on his friends and +fellow-students--Rev. R. Moffat in England--Livingstone +interested--Could not be sent to China--Is appointed to +Africa--Providential links in his history--Illness--Last visits to +his home--Receives Medical diploma--Parts from his family.</p> +<br> +<p>It was the appeal of Gutzlaff for China, as we have seen, that +inspired Livingstone with the desire to be a missionary; and China +was the country to which his heart turned. The noble faith and +dauntless enterprise of Gutzlaff, pressing into China over +obstacles apparently insurmountable, aided by his medical skill and +other unusual qualifications, must have served to shape +Livingstone's ideal of a missionary, as well as to attract him to +the country where Gutzlaff labored. It was so ordered, however, +that in consequence of the opium war shutting China, as it seemed, +to the English, his lot was not cast there; but throughout his +whole life he had a peculiarly lively interest in the country that +had been the object of his first love. Afterward, when his brother +Charles, then in America, wrote to him that he, too, felt called to +the missionary office, China was the sphere which David pointed out +to him, in the hope that the door which had been closed to the one +brother might be opened to the other.</p> +<p>When he determined to be a missionary, the only persons to whom +he communicated his purpose were his minister and his parents, from +all of whom he received great encouragement <a name= +"FNanchor8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8">[8]</a>. He hoped that he +would be able to go through the necessary preparation without help +from any quarter. This was the more commendable, because in +addition to the theological qualifications of a missionary, he +determined to aquire those of a medical practitioner. The idea of +medical missions was at that time comparatively new. It had been +started in connection with missions to China, and it was in the +prospect of going to that country that Livingstone resolved to +obtain a medical education. It would have been comparatively easy +for him, in a financial sense, to get the theological training, but +the medical education was a costly affair. To a man of ordinary +ideas, it would have seemed impossible to make the wages earned +during the six months of summer avail not merely for his support +then, but for winter too, and for lodgings, fees, and books +besides. Scotch students have often done wonders in this way, +notably the late Dr. John Henderson, a medical missionary to China, +who actually lived on half-a-crown a week, while attending medical +classes in Edinburgh. Livingstone followed the same self-denying +course. If we had a note of his house-keeping in his Glasgow +lodging, we should wonder less at his ability to live on the fare +to which he was often reduced in Africa. But the importance of the +medical qualification had taken a firm hold of his mind, and he +persevered in spite of difficulties. Though it was never his lot to +exercise the healing art in China, his medical training was of the +highest use in Africa, and it developed wonderfully his strong +scientific turn.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor8">[8]</a> +Livingstone's minister at this time was the Rev. John Moir, of the +Congregational church, Hamilton, who afterward joined the Free +Church of Scotland, and is now Presbyterian minister in Wellington, +New Zealand. Mr. Moir has furnished us with some recollections of +Livingstone, which reached us after the completion of this +narrative. He particularly notes that when Livingstone expressed +his desire to be a missionary, it was a missionary out and out, a +missionary to the heathen, not the minister of a congregation. Mr. +Moir kindly lent him some books when he went to London, all of +which were conscientiously returned before he left the country. A +Greek Lexicon, with only cloth boards when lent, was returned in +substantial calf. He was ever careful, conscientious, and honorable +in all his dealings, as his father had been before +him.</blockquote> +<p>It was in the winter of 1836-37 that he spent his first session +in Glasgow. Furnished by a friend with a list of lodgings, +Livingstone and his father set out from Blantyre one wintry day, +while the snow was on the ground, and walked to Glasgow. The +lodgings were all too expensive. All day they searched for a +cheaper apartment, and at last in Rotten Row they found a room at +two shillings a week. Next evening David wrote to his friends that +he had entered in the various classes, and spent twelve pounds in +fees; that he felt very lonely after his father left, but would put +"a stout heart to a stey brae," and "either mak' a spune or spoil a +horn." At Rotten Row he found that his landlady held rather +communistic views in regard to his tea and sugar; so another search +had to be made, and this time he found a room in the High street, +where he was very comfortable, at half-a-crown a week.</p> +<p>At the close of the session in April he returned to Blantyre and +resumed work at the mill. He was unable to save quite enough for +his second session, and found it necessary to borrow a little from +his elder brother <a name="FNanchor9"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_9">[9]</a>. The classes he attended during these two +sessions were the Greek class in Anderson's College, the +theological classes of Rev. Dr. Wardlaw, who trained students for +the Independent Churches, and the medical classes in Anderson's. In +the Greek class he seems to have been entered as a private student +exciting little notice <a name="FNanchor10"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_10">[10]</a>. In the same capacity he attended the +lectures of Dr. Wardlaw. He had a great admiration for that divine, +and accepted generally his theological views. But Livingstone was +not much of a scientific theologian.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor9">[9]</a> +The readiness of elder brothers to advance part of their hard-won +earnings, or otherwise encourage a younger brother to attend +college, is a pleasant feature of family life in the humbler +classes of Scotland. The case of James Beattie, the poet, assisted +by his brother David, and that of Sir James Simpson, who owed so +much to his brother Alexander, will be remembered in this +connection.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_10"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor10">[10]</a> A very sensational and foolish reminiscence +was once published of a raw country youth coming into the class +with his clothes stained with grease and whitened by cotton-wool. +This was Livingstone. The fact is, nothing could possibly have been +more unlike him. At this time Livingstone was not working at the +mill; and, in regard to dress, however plainly he might be clad, he +was never careless, far less offensive.</blockquote> +<p>His chief work in Glasgow was the prosecution of medical study. +Of his teachers, two attracted him beyond the rest--the late Dr. +Thomas Graham, the very distinguished Professor of Chemistry, and +Dr. Andrew Buchanan, Professor of the Institutes of Medicine, his +life-long and much-attached friend. While attending Dr. Graham's +class he was brought into frequent contact with the assistant to +the Professor, Mr. James Young. Originally bred to a mechanical +employment, this young man had attended the evening course of Dr. +Graham, and having attracted his attention, and done various pieces +of work for him, he became his assistant. The students used to +gather round him, and several met in his room, where there was a +bench, a turning-lathe, and other conveniences for mechanical work. +Livingstone took an interest in the turning-lathe, and increased +his knowledge of tools--a knowledge which proved of the highest +service to him when--as he used to say all missionaries should be +ready to do--he had to become a Jack-of-all-trades in Africa.</p> +<p>Livingstone was not the only man of mark who frequented that +room, and got lessons from Mr. Young "how to use his hands." The +Right Hon. Lyon Playfair, who has had so distinguished a scientific +career, was another of its habitués. A galvanic battery +constructed by two young men on a new principle, under Mr. Young's +instructions, became an object of great attraction, and among those +who came to see it and its effects were two sons of the Professor +of Mathematics in the University. Although but boys, both were +fired at this interview with enthusiasm for electric science. Both +have been for many years Professors in the University of Glasgow. +The elder, Professor James Thomson, is well known for his useful +inventions and ingenious papers on many branches of science. The +younger, Sir William Thomson, ranks over the world as prince of +electricians, and second to no living man in scientific +reputation.</p> +<p>Dr. Graham's assistant devoted himself to practical chemistry, +and made for himself a brilliant name by the purification of +petroleum, adapting it for use in private houses, and by the +manufacture of paraffin and paraffin-oil. Few men have made the art +to which they devoted themselves more subservient to the use of man +than he whom Livingstone first knew as Graham's assistant, and +afterward used to call playfully "Sir Paraffin." "I have been +obliged to knight him," he used to say, "to distinguish him from +the other Young." The "other" Young was Mr. E. D. Young, of the +Search Expedition, and subsequently the very successful leader of +the Scotch Mission at Lake Nyassa. The assistant to Dr. Graham +still survives, and is well known as Mr. Young, of Kelly, LL.D. and +F.R.S.</p> +<p>When Livingstone returned from his first journey his +acquaintance with Mr. Young was resumed, and their friendship +continued through life. It is no slight testimony from one who knew +him so long and so intimately, that, in his judgment, Livingstone +was the best man he ever knew, had more than any other man of true +filial trust in God, more of the spirit of Christ, more of +integrity, purity, and simplicity of character, and of self-denying +love for his fellow-men. Livingstone named after him a river which +he supposed might be one of the sources of the Nile, and used ever +to speak with great respect of the chief achievement of Mr. Young's +life,--filling houses with a clear white light at a fraction of the +cost of the smoky article which it displaced.</p> +<p>Beyond their own department, men of science are often as lax and +illogical as any; but when scientific training is duly applied, it +genders a habit of thorough accuracy, inasmuch as in scientific +inquiry the slightest deviation from truth breeds endless mischief. +Other influences had already disposed Livingstone to great +exactness of statement, but along with these his scientific +training may be held to have contributed to that dread of +exaggeration and of all inaccuracy which was so marked a feature of +his character through life.</p> +<p>It happened that Livingstone did not part company with Professor +Graham and Mr. Young when he left Glasgow. The same year, Dr. +Graham went to London as Professor in University College, and +Livingstone, who also went to London, had the opportunity of paying +occasional visits to his class. In this way, too, he became +acquainted with the late Dr. George Wilson, afterward Professor of +Technology in the University of Edinburgh, who was then acting as +unsalaried assistant in Dr. Graham's laboratory. Frank, genial, and +chivalrous, Wilson and Livingstone had much in common, and more in +after-years, when Wilson, too, became an earnest Christian. In the +simplicity and purity of their character, and in their devotion to +science, not only for its own sake, but as a department of the +kingdom of God, they were brothers indeed. Livingstone showed his +friendship in after-years by collecting and transmitting to Wilson +whatever he could find in Africa worthy of a place in the Edinburgh +Museum of Science and Art, of which his friend was the first +Director.</p> +<p>In the course of his second session in Glasgow (1837-38) +Livingstone applied to the London Missionary Society, offering his +services to them as a missionary. He had learned that that Society +had for its sole object to send the gospel to the heathen; that it +accepted missionaries from different Churches, and that it did not +set up any particular form of Church, but left it to the converts +to choose the form they considered most in accordance with the Word +of God. This agreed with Livingstone's own notion of what a +Missionary Society should do. He had already connected himself with +the Independent communion, but this preference for it was founded +chiefly on his greater regard for the <i>personnel</i> of the body, +and for the spirit in which it was administered, as compared with +the Presbyterian Churches of Scotland. He had very strong views of +the spirituality of the Church of Christ, and the need of a +profound spiritual change as the only true basis of Christian life +and character. He thought that the Presbyterian Churches were too +lax in their communion, and particularly the Established Church. He +was at this time a decided Voluntary, chiefly on the ground +maintained by such men as Vinet, that the connection of Church and +State was hurtful to the spirituality of the Church; and he had a +particular abhorrence of what he called "geographical +Christianity,"--which gave every man within a certain area a right +to the sacraments. We shall see that in his later years Dr. +Livingstone saw reason to modify some of these opinions; surveying +the Evangelical Churches from the heart of Africa, he came to think +that, established or non-established, they did not differ so very +much from each other, and that there was much good and considerable +evil in them all.</p> +<p>In his application to the London Missionary Society, Livingstone +stated his ideas of missionary work in comprehensive terms: "The +missionary's object is to endeavor by every means in his power to +make known the gospel by preaching, exhortation, conversation, +instruction of the young; improving, so far as in his power, the +temporal condition of those among whom he labors, by introducing +the arts and sciences of civilization, and doing everything to +commend Christianity to their hearts and consciences. He will be +exposed to great trials of his faith and patience from the +indifference, distrust, and even direct opposition and scorn of +those for whose good he is laboring; he may be tempted to +despondency from the little apparent fruit of his exertions, and +exposed to all the contaminating influence of heathenism." He was +not about to undertake this work without counting the cost. "The +hardships and dangers of missionary life, so far as I have had the +means of ascertaining their nature and extent, have been the +subject of serious reflection, and in dependence on the promised +assistance of the Holy Spirit, I have no hesitation in saying that +I would willingly submit to them, considering my constitution +capable of enduring any ordinary share of hardship or fatigue." On +one point he was able to give the Directors very explicit +information: he was not married, nor under any engagement of +marriage, nor had he ever made proposals of marriage, nor indeed +been in love! He would prefer to go out unmarried, that he might, +like the great apostle, be without family cares, and give himself +entirely to the work.</p> +<p>His application to the London Missionary Society was +provisionally accepted, and in September, 1838, he was summoned to +London to meet the Directors. A young Englishman came to London on +the same errand at the same time, and a friendship naturally arose +between the two. Livingstone's young friend was the Rev. Joseph +Moore, afterwards missionary at Tahiti; now of Congleton, in +Cheshire. Nine years later, Livingstone, writing to Mr. Moore from +Africa, said: "Of all those I have met since we parted, I have seen +no one I can compare to you for sincere, hearty friendship." +Livingstone's family used to speak of them as Jonathan and David. +Mr. Moore has kindly furnished us with his recollections of +Livingstone at this time:--</p> +<p>"I met with Livingstone first in September, 1838, at 57 +Aldersgate street, London. On the same day we had received a letter +from the Secretary informing us severally that our applications had +been received, and that we must appear in London to be examined by +the Mission Board there. On the same day, he from Scotland, and I +from the south of England, arrived in town. On that night we simply +accosted each other, as those who meet at a lodging house might do. +After breakfast on the following day we fell into conversation, and +finding that the same object had brought us to the metropolis, and +that the same trial awaited us, naturally enough we were drawn to +each other. Every day, as we had not been in town before, we +visited places of renown in the great city, and had many a chat +about our prospects.</p> +<p>"On Sunday, in the morning, we heard Dr. Leifchild, who was then +in his prime, and in the evening Mr. Sherman, who preached with all +his accustomed persuasiveness and mellifluousness. In the afternoon +we worshiped at St. Paul's, and heard Prebendary Dale.</p> +<p>"On Monday we passed our first examination. On Tuesday we went +to Westminster Abbey. Who that had seen those two young men passing +from monument to monument could have divined that one of them would +one day be buried with a nation's--rather with the civilized +world's--lament, in that sacred shrine? The wildest fancy could not +have pictured that such an honor awaited David Livingstone. I grew +daily more attached to him. If I were asked why, I should be rather +at a loss to reply. There was truly an indescribable charm about +him, which, with all his rather ungainly ways, and by no means +winning face, attracted almost every one, and which helped him so +much in his after-wanderings in Africa.</p> +<p>"He won those who came near him by a kind of spell. There +happened to be in the boarding-house at that time a young M.D., a +saddler from Hants, and a bookseller from Scotland. To this hour +they all speak of him in rapturous terms.</p> +<p>"After passing two examinations, we were both so far accepted by +the Society that we were sent to the Rev. Richard Cecil, who +resided at Chipping Ongar, in Essex. Most missionary students were +sent to him for three months' probation, and if a favorable opinion +was sent to the Board of Directors, they went to one of the +Independent colleges. The students did not for the most part live +with Mr. Cecil, but took lodgings in the town, and went to his +house for meals and instruction in classics and theology. +Livingstone and I lodged together. We read Latin and Greek, and +began Hebrew together. Every day we took walks, and visited all the +spots of interest in the neighborhood, among them the country +churchyard which was the burial-place of John Locke. In a place so +quiet, and a life so ordinary as that of a student, there did not +occur many events worthy of recital. I will, however, mention one +or two things, because they give an insight--a kind of prophetic +glance--into Livingstone's after-career.</p> +<p>"One foggy November morning, at three o'clock, he set out from +Ongar to walk to London to see a relative of his father's <a name= +"FNanchor11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11">[11]</a>. It was about +twenty-seven miles to the house he sought. After spending a few +hours with his relation, he set out to return on foot to Ongar. +Just out of London, near Edmonton, a lady had been thrown out of a +gig. She lay stunned on the road. Livingston immediately went to +her, helped to carry her into a house close by, and having examined +her and found no bones broken, and recommending a doctor to be +called, he resumed his weary tramp. Weary and footsore, when he +reached Stanford Rivers he missed his way, and finding after some +time that he was wrong, he felt so dead-beat that he was inclined +to lie down and sleep; but finding a directing-post he climbed it, +and by the light of the stars deciphered enough to know his +whereabouts. About twelve that Saturday night he reached Ongar, +white as a sheet, and so tired he could hardly utter a word. I gave +him a basin of bread and milk, and I am not exaggerating when I say +I put him to bed. He fell at once asleep, and did not awake till +noonday had passed on Sunday.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_11"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor11">[11]</a> We learn from the family that the precise +object of the visit was to transact some business for his eldest +brother, who had begun to deal in lace. In the darkness of the +morning Livingstone fell into a ditch, smearing his clothes, and +not improving his appearance for smart business purposes. The day +was spent in going about in London from shop to shop, greatly +increasing Livingstone's fatigue.</blockquote> +<p>"Total abstinence at that time began to be spoken of, and +Livingstone and I, and a Mr. Taylor, who went to India, took a +pledge together to abstain <a name="FNanchor12"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_12">[12]</a>. Of that trio, two, I am sorry to say +<i>(heu me miserum!),</i> enfeebled health, after many years, +compelled to take a little wine for our stomachs' sake. Livingstone +was one of the two.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_12"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor12">[12]</a> Livingstone had always practiced total +abstinence, according to the invariable custom of his father's +house. The third of the trio was the Rev. Joseph V.S. Taylor, now +of the Irish Presbyterian Mission, Gujerat, Bombay.</blockquote> +<p>"One part of our duties was to prepare sermons, which were +submitted to Mr. Cecil, and, when corrected, were committed to +memory, and then repeated to our village congregations. Livingstone +prepared one, and one Sunday the minister of Stamford Rivers; where +the celebrated Isaac Taylor resided, having fallen sick after the +morning service, Livingstone was sent for to preach in the evening. +He took his text, read it out very deliberately, and +then--then--his sermon had fled! Midnight darkness came upon him, +and he abruptly said: 'Friends, I have forgotten all I had to say,' +and hurrying out of the pulpit, he left the chapel.</p> +<p>"He never became a preacher" [we shall see that this does not +apply to his preaching in the Sichuana language], "and in the first +letter I received from him from Elizabeth Town, in Africa, he says: +'I am a very poor preacher, having a bad delivery, and some of them +said if they knew I was to preach again they would not enter the +chapel. Whether this was all on account of my manner I don't know; +but the truth which I uttered seemed to plague very much the person +who supplies the missionaries with wagons and oxen. (They were bad +ones.) My subject was the necessity of adopting the benevolent +spirit of the Son of God, and abandoning the selfishness of the +world.' Each student at Ongar had also to conduct family worship in +rotation. I was much impressed by the fact that Livingstone never +prayed without the petition that we might imitate Christ in all his +imitable perfections <a name="FNanchor13"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_13">[13]</a>."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_13"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor13">[13]</a> In connection with this prayer, it is +interesting to note the impression made by Livingstone nearly +twenty years afterward on one who saw him but twice--once at a +public breakfast in Edinburgh, and again at the British Association +in Dublin in 1857. We refer to Mrs. Sime, sister of Livingstone's +early friend, Professor George Wilson, of Edinburgh. Mrs. Sime +writes; "I never knew any one who gave me more the idea of power +over other men, such power as our Saviour showed while on earth, +the power of love and purity combined."</blockquote> +<p>In the Autobiography of Mrs. Gilbert, an eminent member of the +family of the Taylors of Ongar, there occur some reminiscenses of +Livingstone, corresponding to those here given by Mr. Moore +<a name="FNanchor14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14">[14]</a>.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_14"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor14">[14]</a> Page 886, third edition.</blockquote> +<p>The Rev. Isaac Taylor, LL.D., now rector of Settringham, York, +son of the celebrated author of <i>The Natural History of +Enthusiasm</i>, and himself author of <i>Words and Places, Etruscan +Researches</i>, etc., has kindly furnished us with the following +recollection: "I well remember as a boy taking country rambles with +Livingstone when he was studying at Ongar. Mr. Cecil had several +missionary students, but Livingstone was the only one whose +personality made any impression on my boyish imagination. I might +sum up my impression of him in two words--simplicity and +resolution. Now, after nearly forty years, I remember his step, the +characteristic forward tread, firm, simple, resolute, neither fast +nor slow, no hurry and no dawdle, but which evidently +meant--getting there <a name="FNanchor15"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_15">[15]</a>."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_15"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor15">[15]</a> On one occasion, in conversation with his +former pastor, the Rev. John Moir, Livingstone spoke of Mr. Isaac +Taylor, who had shown him much kindness, and often invited him to +dine in his house. He said that though Mr. Taylor was connected +with the Independents, he was attached to the principles of the +Church of England. Mr. Taylor used to lay very great stress on +acquaintance with the writings of the Fathers as necessary for +meeting the claims of the Tractarians, and did not think that that +study was sufficiently encouraged by the Nonconformists. Any one +who has been in Mr. Taylor's study at Stanford Rivers, and who +remembers the top-heavy row of patristic folios that crowned his +collection of books, and the glance of pride he cast on them as he +asked his visitor whether many men in his Church were well read in +the Fathers, will be at no loss to verify this reminiscence. +Certainly Livingstone had no such qualification, and undoubtedly he +never missed it.</blockquote> +<p>We resume Mr. Moore's reminiscences:</p> +<p>"When three months had elapsed, Mr. Cecil sent in his report to +the Board. Judging from Livingstone's hesitating manner in +conducting family worship, and while praying on the week-days in +the chapel, and also from his failure so complete in preaching, an +unfavorable report was given in.... Happily, when it was read, and +a decision was about to be given against him, some one pleaded hard +that his probation should be extended, and so he had several +months' additional trial granted. I sailed in the same boat, and +was also sent back to Ongar as a naughty boy.... At last we had so +improved that both were fully accepted. Livingstone went to London +to pursue his medical studies, and I went to Cheshunt College, A +day or two after reaching college, I sent to Livingstone, asking +him to purchase a second-hand carpet for my room. He was quite +scandalized at such an exhibition of effeminacy, and positively +refused to gratify my wish.... In the spring of 1840 I met +Livingstone at London in Exeter Hall, when Prince Albert delivered +his maiden speech in England. I remember how nearly he was brought +to silence when the speech, which he had lodged on the brim of his +hat, fell into it, as deafening cheers made it vibrate. A day or +two after, we heard Binney deliver his masterly missionary sermon, +'Christ seeing of the travail of his soul and being +satisfied.'"</p> +<p>The meeting at Exeter Hall was held to inaugurate the Niger +Expedition. It was on this occasion that Samuel Wilberforce became +known as a great platform orator <a name="FNanchor16"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_16">[16]</a>. It must have been pleasant to Livingstone +in after-years to recall the circumstance when he became a friend +and correspondent of the Bishop of Oxford.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_16"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor16">[16]</a> <i>Life of Bishop Wilberforce</i>, vol. i, +p. 160.</blockquote> +<p>Notwithstanding the dear postage of the time, Livingstone wrote +regularly to his friends, but few of his letters have survived. One +of the few, dated 5th May, 1839, is addressed to his sister, and in +it he says that there had been some intention of sending him abroad +at once, but that he was very desirous of getting more education. +The letter contains very little news, but is full of the most +devout aspirations for himself and exhortations to his sister. +Alluding to the remark of a friend that they should seek to be +"uncommon Christians, that is, eminently holy and devoted servants +of the Most High," he urges:</p> +<blockquote>"Let us seek--and with the conviction that we cannot do +without it--that all selfishness be extirpated, pride banished, +unbelief driven from the mind, every idol dethroned, and everything +hostile to holiness and opposed to the divine will crucified; that +'holiness to the Lord' may be engraven on the heart, and evermore +characterize our whole conduct. This is what we ought to strive +after; this is the way to be happy; this is what our Saviour +loves--entire surrender of the heart. May He enable us by his +Spirit to persevere till we attain it! All comes from Him, the +disposition to ask as well as the blessing itself.<br> +<br> +<p>"I hope you improve the talents committed to you whenever there +is an opportunity. You have a class with whom you have some +influence. It requires prudence in the way of managing it; seek +wisdom from above to direct you; <i>persevere</i>--don't be content +with once or twice recommending the Saviour to them--again and +again, in as kind a manner as possible, familiarly, individually, +and privately, exhibit to them the fountain of happiness and joy, +never forgetting to implore divine energy to accompany your +endeavors, and you need not fear that your labor will be +unfruitful. If you have the willing mind, that is accepted; nothing +is accepted if that be wanting. God desires that. He can do all the +rest. After all, He is the sole agent, for the 'willing mind' comes +alone from Him. This is comforting, for when we think of the +feebleness and littleness of all we do, we might despair of having +our services accepted, were we not assured that it is not these God +looks to, except in so far as they are indications of the state of +the heart."</p> +</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Dr. Livingstone's sisters have a distinct recollection that the +field to which the Directors intended to send him was the West +Indies, and that he remonstrated on the ground that he had spent +two years in medical study, but in the West Indies, where there +were regular practitioners, his medical knowledge would be of +little or no avail. He pleaded with the Directors, therefore, that +he might be allowed to complete his medical studies, and it was +then that Africa was provisionally fixed on as his destination. It +appears, however, that he had not quite abandoned the thought of +China. Mr. Moir, his former pastor, writes that being in London in +May, 1839, he called at the Mission House to make inquiries about +him. He asked whether the Directors did not intend to send him to +the East Indies, where the field was so large and the demand so +urgent, but he was told that though they esteemed him highly, they +did not think that his gifts fitted him for India, and that Africa +would be a more suitable field.</p> +<p>On returning to London, Livingstone devoted himself with special +ardor to medical and scientific study. The church with which he was +connected was that of the late Rev. Dr. Bennett, in Falcon Square. +This led to his becoming intimate with Dr. Bennett's son, now the +well-known J. Risdon Bennett, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S., and President of +the Royal College of Physicians, London. The friendship continued +during the whole of Dr. Livingstone's life. From some recollections +with which Dr. Bennett has kindly furnished us we take the +following:</p> +<blockquote>"My acquaintance with David Livingstone was through the +London Missionary Society, when, having offered himself to that +Society, he came to London to carry on those medical and other +studies which he had commenced in Glasgow. From the first, I became +deeply interested in his character, and ever after maintained a +close friendship with him. I entertained toward him a sincere +affection, and had the highest admiration of his endowments, both +of mind and heart, and of his pure and noble devotion of all his +powers to the highest purposes of life. One could not fail to be +impressed with his simple, loving, Christian spirit, and the +combined modest, unassuming, and self-reliant character of the +man.<br> +<br> +<p>"He placed himself under my guidance in reference to his medical +studies, and I was struck with the amount of knowledge that he had +already acquired of those subjects which constitute the foundation +of medical science. He had, however, little or no acquaintance with +the practical departments of medicine, and had had no opportunities +of studying the nature and aspects of disease. Of these +deficiencies he was quite aware, and felt the importance of +acquiring as much practical knowledge as possible during his stay +in London. I was at that time physician to the Aldersgate Street +Dispensary, and was lecturing at the Charing Cross Hospital on the +practice of medicine, and thus was able to obtain for him free +admission to hospital practice as well as attendance on my lectures +and my practice at the dispensary. I think that I also obtained for +him admission to the opthalmic hospital in Moorfields. With these +sources of information open to him, he obtained a considerable +acquaintance with the more ordinary forms of disease, both surgical +and medical, and an amount of scientific and practical knowledge +that could not fail to be of the greatest advantage to him in the +distant regions to which he was going, away from all the resources +of civilization. His letters to me, and indeed all the records of +his eventful life, demonstrate how great to him was the value of +the medical knowledge with which he entered on missionary life. +There is abundant evidence that on various occasions his own life +was preserved through his courageous and sagacious application of +his scientific knowledge to his own needs; and the benefits which +he conferred on the natives to whose welfare he devoted himself, +and the wonderful influence which he exercised over them, were in +no small degree due to the humane and skilled assistance which he +was able to render as a healer of bodily disease. The account which +he gave me of his perilous encounter with the lion, and the means +he adopted for the repair of the serious injuries which he +received, excited the astonishment and admiration of all the +medical friends to whom I related it, as evincing an amount of +courage, sagacity, skill, and endurance that have scarcely been +surpassed in the annals of heroism."</p> +</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Another distinguished man of science with whom Livingstone +became acquainted in London, and on whom he made an impression +similar to that made on Dr. Bennett, was Professor Owen. Part of +the little time at his disposal was devoted to studying the series +of comparative anatomy in the Hunterian Museum, under Professor +Owen's charge. Mr. Owen was interested to find that the Lanarkshire +student was born in the same neighborhood as Hunter <a name= +"FNanchor17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17">[17]</a>, but still more +interested in the youth himself and his great love of natural +history. On taking leave, Livingstone promised to bear his +instructor in mind if any curiosity fell in his way. Years passed, +and as no communication reached him, Mr. Owen was disposed to class +the promise with too many others made in the like circumstances. +But on his first return to this country Livingstone presented +himself, bearing the tusk of an elephant with a spiral curve. He +had found it in the heart of Africa, and it was not easy of +transport. "You may recall," said Professor Owen, at the Farewell +Festival in 1858, "the difficulties of the progress of the weary +sick traveler on the bullock's back. Every pound weight was of +moment; but Livingstone said, 'Owen shall have this tusk,' and he +placed it in my hands in London." Professor Owen recorded this as a +proof of Livingstone's inflexible adherence to his word. With equal +justice we may quote it as a proof of his undying gratitude to any +one that had shown him kindness.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_17"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor17">[17]</a> Not in the same <i>parish</i>, as stated +afterward by Professor Owen. Hunter was born in East Kilbride, and +Livingstone in Blantyre. The error is repeated in notices of +Livingstone in some other quarters.</blockquote> +<p>On all his fellow-students and acquaintances the simplicity, +frankness, and kindliness of Livingstone's character made a deep +impression. Mr. J.S. Cook, now of London, who spent three months +with him at Ongar, writes: "He was so kind and gentle in word and +deed to all about him that all loved him. He had always words of +sympathy at command, and was ready to perform acts of sympathy for +those who were suffering." The Rev. G.D. Watt, a brother Scotchman, +who went as a missionary to India, has a vivid remembrance of +Livingstone's mode of discussion; he showed great simplicity of +view, along with a certain roughness or bluntness of manner; great +kindliness, and yet great persistence in holding to his own ideas. +But none of his friends seem to have had any foresight of the +eminence he was destined to attain. The Directors of the Society +did not even rank him among their ablest men. It is interesting to +contrast the opinion entertained of him then with that expressed by +Sir Bartle Frere, after much personal intercourse, many years +afterward. "Of his intellectual force and energy," wrote Sir +Bartle, "he has given such proof as few men could afford. Any five +years of his life might in any other occupation have established a +character and raised for him a fortune such as none but the most +energetic of our race can realize <a name="FNanchor18"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_18">[18]</a>."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_18"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor18">[18]</a> <i>Good Words</i>, 1874, p. +285.</blockquote> +<p>But his early friends were not so much at fault. Livingstone was +somewhat slow of maturing. If we may say so, his intellect hung +fire up to this very time, and it was only during his last year in +England that he came to his intellectual manhood, and showed his +real power. His very handwriting shows the change; from being +cramped and feeble it suddenly becomes clear, firm, and upright, +very neat, but quite the hand of a vigorous, independent man.</p> +<p>Livingstone's prospects of getting to China had been damaged by +the Opium War; while it continued, no new appointments could be +made, even had the Directors wished to send him there. It was in +these circumstances that he came into contact with his countryman, +Mr. (now Dr.) Moffat, who was then in England, creating much +interest in his South African mission. The idea of his going to +Africa became a settled thing, and was soon carried into +effect.</p> +<blockquote>"I had occasion" (Dr. Moffat has informed us) "to call +for some one at Mrs. Sewell's, a boarding-house for young +missionaries in Aldersgate street, where Livingstone lived. I +observed soon that this young man was interested in my story, that +he would sometimes come quietly and ask me a question or two, and +that he was always desirous to know where I was to speak in public, +and attended on these occasions. By and by he asked me whether I +thought he would do for Africa. I said I believed he would, if he +would not go to an old station, but would advance to unoccupied +ground, specifying the vast plain to the north, where I had +sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand +villages, where no missionary had ever been. At last Livingstone +said: 'What is the use of my waiting for the end of this abominable +opium war? I will go at once to Africa.' The Directors concurred, +and Africa became his sphere."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>It is no wonder that all his life Livingstone had a very strong +faith in Providence, for at every turn of his career up to this +point, some unlooked-for circumstance had come in to give a new +direction to his history. First, his reading Dick's <i>Philosophy +of a Future State</i>, which led him to Christ, but did not lead +him away from science; then his falling in with Gutzlaff's +<i>Appeal</i>, which induced him to become a medical missionary; +the Opium War, which closed China against him; the friendly word of +the Director who procured for him another trial; Mr. Moffat's +visit, which deepened his interest in Africa; and finally, the +issue of a dangerous illness that attacked him in London--all +indicated the unseen hand that was preparing him for his great +work.</p> +<p>The meeting of Livingstone with Moffat is far too important an +event to be passed over without remark. Both directly and +indirectly Mr. Moffat's influence on his young brother, afterward +to become his son-in-law, was remarkable. In after-life they had a +thorough appreciation of each other. No family on the face of the +globe could have been so helpful to Livingstone in connection with +the great work to which he gave himself. If the old Roman fashion +of surnames still prevailed, there is no household of which all the +members would have been better entitled to put AFRICANUS after +their name. The interests of the great continent were dear to them +all. In 1872, when one of the Search Expeditions for Livingstone +was fitted out, a grandson of Dr. Moffat, another Robert Moffat, +was among those who set out in the hope of relieving him; cut off +at the very beginning, in the flower of his youth, he left his +bones to moulder in African soil.</p> +<p>The illness to which we have alluded was an attack of congestion +of the liver, with an affection of the lungs. It seemed likely to +prove fatal, and the only chance of recovery appeared to be a visit +to his home, and return to his native air. In accompanying him to +the steamer, Mr. Moore found him so weak that he could scarcely +walk on board. He parted from him in tears, fearing that he had but +a few days to live. But the voyage and the visit had a wonderful +effect, and very soon Livingstone was in his usual health. The +parting with his father and mother, as they afterward told Mr. +Moore, was very affecting. It happened, however, that they met once +more. It was felt that the possession of a medical diploma would be +of service, and Livingstone returned to Scotland in November, 1840, +and passed at Glasgow as Licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians +and Surgeons. It was on this occasion he found it so inconvenient +to have opinions of his own and the knack of sticking to them. It +seemed as if he was going to be rejected for obstinately +maintaining his views in regard to the stethoscope; but he pulled +through. A single night was all that he could spend with his +family, and they had so much to speak of that David proposed they +should sit up all night. This, however, his mother would not hear +of. "I remember my father and him," writes his sister, "talking +over the prospects of Christian missions. They agreed that the time +would come when rich men and great men would think it an honor to +support whole stations of missionaries, instead of spending their +money on hounds and horses. On the morning of 17th November we got +up at five o'clock. My mother made coffee. David read the 121st and +135th Psalms, and prayed. My father and he walked to Glasgow to +catch the Liverpool steamer." On the Broomielaw, father and son +looked for the last time on earth on each other's faces. The old +man walked back slowly to Blantyre, with a lonely heart no doubt, +yet praising God. David's face was now set in earnest toward the +Dark Continent.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> +<h3>FIRST TWO YEARS IN AFRICA.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1841-1843.</center> +<p>His ordination--Voyage out--At Rio de Janeiro--At the Cape--He +proceeds to Kuruman--Letters--Journey of 700 miles to Bechuana +country--Selection of site for new station--Second excursion to +Bechuana country--Letter to his sister--Influence with +chiefs--Bubi--Construction of a water-dam--Sekomi--Woman seized by +a lion--The Bakaa--Sebehwe--Letter to Dr. Risdon Bennett--Detention +at Kuruman--He visits Sebehwe's village--Bakhatlas--Sechéle, +chief of Bakwains--Livingstone translates hymns--Travels 400 miles +on oxback--Returns to Kuruman--Is authorized to form new +station--Receives contributions for native missionary--Letters to +Directors on their Mission policy--He goes to new +station--Fellow-travelers--Purchase of site--Letter to Dr. +Bennett--Desiccation of South Africa--Death of a servant, +Sehamy--Letter to his parents.</p> +<br> +<p>On the 20th November, 1840, Livingstone was ordained a +missionary in Albion Street Chapel, along with the Rev. William +Ross, the service being conducted by the Rev. J.J. Freeman and the +Rev. R. Cecil. On the 8th of December he embarked on board the ship +"George," under Captain Donaldson, and proceeded to the Cape, and +thence to Algoa Bay. On the way the ship had to put in at Rio de +Janeiro, and he had a glance at Brazil, with which he was greatly +charmed. It was the only glimpse he ever got of any part of the +great continent of America. Writing to the Rev. G.D. Watt, with +whom he had become intimate in London, and who was preparing to go +as a missionary to India, he says:</p> +<blockquote>"It is certainly the finest place I ever saw; +everything delighted me except man.... We lived in the home of an +American Episcopal Methodist minister--the only Protestant +missionary in Brazil.... Tracts and Bibles are circulated, and some +effects might be expected, were a most injurious influence not +exerted by European visitors. These alike disgrace themselves and +the religion they profess by drunkenness. All other vices are +common in Rio. When will the rays of Divine light dispel the +darkness in this beautiful empire? The climate is delightful. I +wonder if disabled Indian missionaries could not make themselves +useful there."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>During the voyage his chief friend was the captain of the ship. +"He was very obliging to me," says Livingstone, "and gave me all +the information respecting the use of the quadrant in his power, +frequently sitting up till twelve o'clock at night for the purpose +of taking lunar observations with me." Thus another qualification +was acquired for his very peculiar life-work. Sundays were not +times of refreshing, at least not beyond his closet. "The captain +rigged out the church on Sundays, and we had service; but I being a +poor preacher, and the chaplain addressing them all as Christians +already, no moral influence was exerted, and even had there been on +Sabbath, it would have been neutralized by the week-day conduct. In +fact, no good was done." Neither at Rio, nor on board ship, nor +anywhere, could good be done without the element of personal +character. This was Livingstone's strong conviction to the end of +his life.</p> +<p>In his first letter to the Directors of the London Missionary +Society he tells them that he had spent most of his time at sea in +the study of theology, and that he was deeply grieved to say that +he knew of no spiritual good having been done in the case of any +one on board the ship. His characteristic honesty thus showed +itself in his very first dispatch.</p> +<p>Arriving at the Cape, where the ship was detained a month, he +spent some time with Dr. Philip, then acting as agent for the +Society, with informal powers as superintendent. Dr. Philip was +desirous of returning home for a time, and very anxious to find +some one to take his place as minister of the congregation of Cape +Town, in his absence. This office was offered to Livingstone, who +rejected it with no little emphasis--not for a moment would he +think of it, nor would he preach the gospel within any other man's +line. He had not been long at the Cape when he found to his +surprise and sorrow that the missionaries were not all at one, +either as to the general policy of the mission, or in the matter of +social intercourse and confidence. The shock was a severe one; it +was not lessened by what he came to know of the spirit and life of +a few--happily only a few--of his brethren afterward; and +undoubtedly it had an influence on his future life. It showed him +that there were missionaries whose profession was not supported by +a life of consistent well-doing, although it did not shake his +confidence in the character and the work of missionaries on the +whole. He saw that in the mission there was what might be called a +colonial side and a native side; some sympathizing with the +colonists and some with the natives. He had no difficulty in making +up his mind between them; he drew instinctively to the party that +were for protecting the natives against the unrighteous +encroachments of the settlers.</p> +<p>On leaving the ship at Algoa Bay, he proceeded by land to +Kuruman or Lattakoo, in the Bechuana country, the most northerly +station of the Society in South Africa, and the usual residence of +Mr. Moffat, who was still absent in England. In this his first +African journey the germ of the future traveler was apparent. +"Crossing the Orange River," he says, "I got my vehicle aground, +and my oxen got out of order, some with their heads where their +tails should be, and others with their heads twisted round in the +yoke so far that they appeared bent on committing suicide, or +overturning the wagon.... I like travelling very much indeed. There +is so much freedom connected with our African manners. We pitch our +tent, make our fire, etc., wherever we choose, walk, ride, or shoot +at abundance of all sorts of game as our inclination leads us; but +there is a great drawback: we can't study or read when we please. I +feel this very much. I have made but very little progress in the +language (can speak a little Dutch), but I long for the time when I +shall give my undivided attention to it, and then be furnished with +the means of making known the truth of the gospel." While at the +Cape, Livingstone had heard something of a fresh-water lake +('Ngami) which all the missionaries were eager to see. If only they +would give him a month or two to learn the colloquial language, he +said they might spare themselves the pains of being "the first in +at the death." It is interesting to remark further that, in this +first journey, science had begun to receive its share of attention. +He is already bent on making a collection for the use of Professor +Owen <a name="FNanchor19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19">[19]</a>, and +is enthusiastic in describing some agatized trees and other +curiosities which he met with.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_19"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor19">[19]</a> This collection never reached its +destination.</blockquote> +<p>Writing to his parents from Port Elizabeth, 19th May, 1841, he +gives his first impressions of Africa. He had been at a station +called Hankey:</p> +<blockquote>"The scenery was very fine. The white sand in some +places near the beach drifted up in large wreaths exactly like +snow. One might imagine himself in Scotland were there not a hot +sun overhead. The woods present an aspect of strangeness, for +everywhere the eye meets the foreign-looking tree from which the +bitter aloes is extracted, popping up its head among the mimosa +bushes and stunted acacias. Beautiful humming-birds fly about in +great numbers, sucking the nectar from the flowers, which are in +great abundance and very beautiful. I was much pleased with my +visit to Hankey.... The state of the people presents so many +features of interest, that one may talk about it and convey some +idea of what the Gospel has done. The full extent of the benefit +received can, however, be understood only by those who witness it +in contrast with other places that have not been so highly favored. +My expectations have been far exceeded. Everything I witnessed +surpassed my hopes, and if this one station is a fair sample of the +whole, the statements of the missionaries with regard to their +success are far within the mark. The Hottentots of Hankey appear to +be in a state similar to that of our forefathers in the days +immediately preceding the times of the Covenanters. They have a +prayer-meeting every morning at four o'clock, <i>and well +attended</i>. They began it during a visitation of measles among +them, and liked it so much that they still continue."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>He goes on to say that as the natives had no clocks or watches, +mistakes sometimes occurred about ringing the bell for this +meeting, and sometimes the people found themselves assembled at +twelve or one o'clock instead of four. The welcome to the +missionaries (their own missionary was returning from the Cape with +Livingstone) was wonderful. Muskets were fired at their approach, +then big guns; and then men, women, and children rushed at the top +of their speed to shake hands and welcome them. The missionary had +lost a little boy, and out of respect each of the people had +something black on his head. Both public worship and family worship +were very interesting, the singing of hymns being very beautiful. +The bearing of these Christianized Hottentots was in complete +contrast to that of a Dutch family whom he visited as a medical man +one Sunday. There was no Sunday; the man's wife and daughters were +dancing before the house, while a black played the fiddle.</p> +<p>His instructions from the Directors were to go to Kuruman, +remain there till Mr. Moffat should return from England, and turn +his attention to the formation of a new station farther north, +awaiting more specific instructions, He arrived at Kuruman on the +31st July, 1841, but no instructions had come from the Directors; +his sphere of work was quite undetermined, and he began to +entertain the idea of going to Abyssinia. There could be no doubt +that a Christian missionary was needed there, for the country had +none; but if he should go, he felt that probably he would never +return. In writing of this to his friend Watt, he used words almost +prophetic: "Whatever way my life may be spent so as but to promote +the glory of our gracious God, I feel anxious to do it.... <i>My +life, may be spent as profitably as a pioneer as in any other +way</i>."</p> +<p>In his next letter to the London Missionary Society, dated +Kuruman, 23d September, 1841, he gives his impressions of the +field, and unfolds an idea which took hold of him at the very +beginning, and never lost its grip. It was, that there was not +population enough about the South to justify a concentration of +missionary labor there, and that the policy of the Society ought to +be one of expansion, moving out far and wide wherever there was an +opening, and making the utmost possible use of native agency, in +order to cultivate so wide a field. In England he had thought that +Kuruman might be made a great missionary institute, whence the +beams of divine truth might diverge in every direction, through +native agents supplied from among the converts; but since he came +to the spot he had been obliged to abandon that notion; not that +the Kuruman mission had not been successful, or that the attendance +at public worship was small, but simply because the population was +meagre, and seemed more likely to become smaller than larger. The +field from which native agents might be drawn was thus too small. +Farther north there was a denser population. It was therefore his +purpose, along with a brother missionary, to make an early journey +to the interior, and bury himself among the natives, to learn their +language, and slip into their modes of thinking and feeling. He +purposed to take with him two of the best qualified native +Christians of Kuruman, to plant them as teachers in some promising +locality; and in case any difficulty should arise about their +maintenance, he offered, with characteristic generosity, to defray +the cost of one of them from his own resources.</p> +<p>Accordingly, in company with a brother missionary from Kuruman, +a journey of seven hundred miles was performed before the end of +the year, leading chiefly to two results: in the first place, a +strong confirmation of his views on the subject of native agency; +and in the second place, the selection of a station, two hundred +and fifty miles north of Kuruman, as the most suitable for +missionary operations. Seven hundred miles traveled over <i>more +Africano</i> seemed to indicate a vast territory; but on looking at +it on the map, it was a mere speck on the continent of heathenism. +How was that continent ever to be evangelized? He could think of no +method except an extensive method of native agency. And the +natives, when qualified, were admirably qualified. Their warm, +affectionate manner of dealing with their fellow-men, their ability +to present the truth to their minds freed from the strangeness of +which foreigners could not divest it, and the eminent success of +those employed by the brethren of Griqua Town, were greatly in +their favor. Two natives had likewise been employed recently by the +Kuruman Mission, and these had been highly efficient and +successful. If the Directors would allow him to employ more of +these, conversions would increase in a compound ratio, and regions +not yet explored by Europeans would soon be supplied with the bread +of life.</p> +<p>In regard to the spot selected for a mission, there were many +considerations in its favor. In the immediate neighborhood of +Kuruman the chiefs hated the gospel, because it deprived them of +their supernumerary wives. In the region farther north, this +feeling had not yet established itself; on the contrary, there was +an impression favorable to Europeans, and a desire for their +alliance. These Bechuana tribes had suffered much from the +marauding invasions of their neighbors; and recently, the most +terrible marauder of the country, Mosilikatse, after being driven +westward by the Dutch Boers, had taken up his abode on the banks of +a central lake, and resumed his raids, which were keeping the whole +country in alarm. The more peaceful tribes had heard of the value +of the white man, and of the weapons by which a mere handful of +whites had repulsed hordes of marauders. They were therefore +disposed to welcome the stranger, although this state of feeling +could not be relied on as sure to continue, for Griqua hunters and +individuals from tribes hostile to the gospel were moving +northward, and not only circulating rumors unfavorable to +missionaries, but by their wicked lives introducing diseases +previously unknown. If these regions, therefore, were to be taken +possession of by the gospel, no time was to be lost. For himself, +Livingstone had no hesitation in going to reside in the midst of +these savages, hundreds of miles away from civilization, not merely +for a visit, but, if necessary, for the whole of his life.</p> +<p>In writing to his sisters after this journey (8th December, +1841), he gives a graphic account of the country, and some +interesting notices of the people:</p> +<blockquote>"Janet, I suppose, will feel anxious to know what our +dinner was. We boiled a piece of the flesh of a rhinoceros which +was toughness itself, the night before. The meat was our supper, +and porridge made of Indian corn-meal and gravy of the meat made a +very good dinner next day. When about 150 miles from home we came +to a large village. The chief had sore eyes; I doctored them, and +he fed us pretty well with milk and beans, and sent a fine buck +after me as a present. When we had got about ten or twelve miles on +the way, a little girl about eleven or twelve years of age came up +and sat down under my wagon, having run away for the purpose of +coming with us to Kuruman. She had lived with a sister whom she had +lately lost by death. Another family took possession of her for the +purpose of selling her as soon as she was old enough for a wife. +But not liking this, she determined to run away from them and come +to some friends near Kuruman. With this intention she came, and +thought of walking all the way behind my wagon. I was pleased with +the determination of the little creature, and gave her some food. +But before we had remained long there, I heard her sobbing +violently, as if her heart would break. On looking round, I +observed the cause. A man with a gun had been sent after her, and +he had just arrived. I did not know well what to do now, but I was +not in perplexity long, for Pomare, a native convert who +accompanied us, started up and defended her cause. He being the son +of a chief, and possessed of some little authority, managed the +matter nicely. She had been loaded with beads to render her more +attractive, and fetch a higher price. These she stripped off and +gave to the man, and desired him to go away. I afterward took +measures for hiding her, and though fifty men had come for her, +they would not have got her."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The story reads like an allegory or a prophecy. In the person of +the little maid, oppressed and enslaved Africa comes to the good +Doctor for protection; instinctively she knows she may trust him; +his heart opens at once, his ingenuity contrives a way of +protection and deliverance, and he will never give her up. It is a +little picture of Livingstone's life.</p> +<p>In fulfillment of a promise made to the natives in the interior +that he would return to them, Livingstone set out on a second tour +into the interior of the Bechuana country on 10th February, 1842. +His objects were, first, to acquire the native language more +perfectly, and second, by suspending his medical practice, which +had become inconveniently large at Kuruman, to give his undivided +attention to the subject of native agents. He took with him two +native members of the Kuruman church, and two other natives for the +management of the wagon.</p> +<p>The first person that specially engaged his interest in this +journey was a chief of the name of Bubi, whose people were +Bakwains. With him he stationed one of the native agents as a +teacher, the chief himself collecting the children and supplying +them with food. The honesty of the people was shown in their +leaving untouched all the contents of his wagon, though crowds of +them visited it. Livingstone was already acquiring a powerful +influence, both with chiefs and people, the result of his +considerate and conciliatory treatment of both. He had already +observed the failure of some of his brethren to influence them, and +his sagacity had discerned the cause. His success in inducing +Bubi's people to dig a canal was contrasted in a characteristic +passage of a private letter, with the experience of others.</p> +<blockquote>"The doctor and the rainmaker among these people are +one and the same person. As I did not like to be behind my +professional brethren, I declared I could make rain too, not, +however, by enchantments like them, but by leading out their river +for irrigation. The idea pleased mightily, and to work we went +instanter. Even the chief's own doctor is at it, and works like a +good fellow, laughing heartily at the cunning of the 'foreigner' +who can make rain so. We have only one spade, and this is without a +handle; and yet by means of sticks sharpened to a point we have +performed all the digging of a pretty long canal. The earth was +lifted out in 'gowpens' and carried to the huge dam we have built +in karosses (skin cloaks), tortoise-shells, or wooden bowls. We +intended nothing of the ornamental in it, but when we came to a +huge stone, we were forced to search for a way round it. The +consequence is, it has assumed a beautifully serpentine appearance. +This is, I believe, the first instance in which Bechuanas have been +got to work without wages. It was with the utmost difficulty the +earlier missionaries got them to do anything. The missionaries +solicited their permission to do what they did, and this was the +very way to make them show off their airs, for they are so +disobliging; if they perceive any one in the least dependent upon +them, they immediately begin to tyrannize. A more mean and selfish +vice certainly does not exist in the world. I am trying a different +plan with them. I make my presence with any of them a favor, and +when they show any impudence, I threaten to leave them, and if they +don't amend, I put my threat into execution. By a bold, free course +among them I have had not the least difficulty in managing the most +fierce. They are in one sense fierce, and in another the greatest +cowards in the world. A kick would, I am persuaded, quell the +courage of the bravest of them. Add to this the report which many +of them verily believe, that I am a great wizard, and you will +understand how I can with ease visit any of them. Those who do not +love, fear me, and so truly in their eyes am I possessed of +supernatural power, some have not hesitated to affirm I am capable +of even raising the dead! The people of a village visited by a +French brother actually believed it. Their belief of my powers, I +suppose, accounts, too, for the fact that I have not missed a +single article either from the house or wagon since I came among +them, and this, although all my things lay scattered about the +room, while crammed with patients."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>It was unfortunate that the teacher whom Livingstone stationed +with Bubi's people was seized with a violent fever, so that he was +obliged to bring him away. As for Bubi himself, he was afterward +burned to death by an explosion of gunpowder, which one of his +sorcerers was trying, by means of burnt roots, to +<i>un</i>-bewitch.</p> +<p>In advancing, Livingstone had occasion to pass through a part of +the great Kalahari desert, and here he met with Sekomi, a chief of +the Bamangwato, from whom also he received a most friendly +reception. The ignorance of this tribe he found to be exceedingly +great:</p> +<blockquote>"Their conceptions of the Deity are of the most vague +and contradictory nature, and the name of God conveys no more to +their understanding than the idea of superiority. Hence they do not +hesitate to apply the name to their chiefs. I was every day shocked +by being addressed by that title, and though it as often furnished +me with a text from which to tell them of the only true God and +Jesus Christ, whom he has sent, yet it deeply pained me, and I +never felt so fully convinced of the lamentable detoriation of our +species. It is indeed a mournful truth that man has become like the +beasts that perish."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The place was greatly infested by lions, and during +Livingstone's visit an awful occurrence took place that made a +great impression on him:</p> +<blockquote>"A woman was actually devoured in her garden during my +visit, and that so near the town that I had frequently walked past +it. It was most affecting to hear the cries of the orphan children +of this woman. During the whole day after her death the surrounding +rocks and valleys rang and re-echoed with their bitter cries. I +frequently thought as I listened to the loud sobs, painfully +indicative of the sorrows of those who have no hope, that if some +of our churches could have heard their sad wailings, it would have +awakened the firm resolution to do more for the heathen than they +have done."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Poor Sekomi advanced a new theory of regeneration which +Livingstone was unable to work out:</p> +<blockquote>"On one occasion Sekomi, having sat by me in the hut +for some time in deep thought, at length addressing me by a pompous +title said, 'I wish you would change my heart. Give me medicine to +change it, for it is proud, proud and angry, angry always.' I +lifted up the Testament and was about to tell him of the only way +in which the heart can be changed, but he interrupted me by saying, +'Nay, I wish to have it changed by medicine, to drink and have it +changed at once, for it is always very proud and very uneasy, and +continually angry with some one.' He then rose and went +away."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>A third tribe visited at this time was the Bakaa, and here, too, +Livingstone was able to put in force his wonderful powers of +management. Shortly before, the Bakaa had murdered a trader and his +company. When Livingstone appeared their consciences smote them, +and, with the exception of the chief and two attendants, the whole +of the people fled from his presence. Nothing could allay their +terror, till, a dish of porridge having been prepared, they saw +Livingstone partake of it along with themselves without distrust. +When they saw him lie down and fall asleep they were quite at their +ease. Thereafter he began to speak to them:</p> +<blockquote>"I had more than ordinary pleasure in telling these +murderers of the precious blood which cleanseth from all sin. I +bless God that He has conferred on one so worthless the +distinguished privilege and honor of being the first messenger of +mercy that ever trod these regions. Its being also the first +occasion on which I had ventured to address a number of Bechuanas +in their own tongue without reading it, renders it to myself one of +peculiar interest. I felt more freedom than I had anticipated, but +I have an immense amount of labor still before me, ere I can call +myself a master of Sichuana. This journey discloses to me that when +I have acquired the Batlapi, there is another and perhaps more +arduous task to be accomplished in the other dialects, but by the +Divine assistance I hope I shall be enabled to conquer. When I left +the Bakaa, the chief sent his son with a number of his people to +see me safe part of the way to the Makalaka."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>On his way home, in passing through Bubi's country, he was +visited by sixteen of the people of Sebehwe, a chief who had +successfully withstood Mosilikatse, but whose cowardly neighbors, +under the influence of jealousy, had banded together to deprive him +of what they had not had the courage to defend. Consequently he had +been driven into the sandy desert, and his object in sending to +Livingstone was to solicit his advice and protection, as he wished +to come out, in order that his people might grow corn, etc. +Sebehwe, like many of the other people of the country, had the +notion that if he got a single white man to live with him, he would +be quite secure. It was no wonder that Livingstone early acquired +the strong conviction that if missions could only be scattered over +Africa, their immediate effect in promoting the tranquillity of the +continent could hardly be over-estimated.</p> +<p>We have given these details somewhat fully, because they show +that before he had been a year in the country Livingstone had +learned how to rule the Africans. From the very first, his genial +address, simple and fearless manner, and transparent kindliness +formed a spell which rarely failed. He had great faith in the power +of humor. He was never afraid of a man who had a hearty laugh. By a +playful way of dealing with the people, he made them feel at ease +with him, and afterward he could be solemn enough when the occasion +required. His medical knowledge helped him greatly; but for +permanent influence all would have been in vain if he had not +uniformly observed the rules of justice, good feeling, and good +manners. Often ha would say that the true road to influence was +patient continuance in well-doing. It is remarkable that, from the +very first, he should have seen the charm of that method which he +employed so successfully to the end.</p> +<p>In the course of this journey, Livingstone was within ten days +of Lake 'Ngami, the lake of which he had heard at the Cape, and +which he actually discovered in 1849; and he might have discovered +it now, had discovery alone been his object. Part of his journey +was performed on foot, in consequence of the draught oxen having +become sick:</p> +<blockquote>"Some of my companions," he says in his first book, +"who had recently joined us, and did not know that I understood a +little of their speech, were overheard by me discussing my +appearance and powers: 'He is not strong, he is quite slim, and +only appears stout because he puts himself in those bags +(trousers); he will soon knock up.' This caused my Highland blood +to rise, and made me despise the fatigue of keeping them all at the +top of their speed for days together, and until I heard them +expressing proper opinions of my pedestrian powers."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>We have seen how full Livingstone's heart was of the missionary +spirit; how intent he was on making friends of the natives, and how +he could already preach in one dialect, and was learning another. +But the activity of his mind enabled him to give attention at the +same time to other matters. He was already pondering the structure +of the great African Continent, and carefully investigating the +process of desiccation that had been going on for a long time, and +had left much uncomfortable evidence of its activity in many parts. +In the desert, he informs his friend Watt that no fewer than +thirty-two edible roots and forty-three fruits grew without +cultivation. He had the rare faculty of directing his mind at the +full stretch of its power to one great object, and yet, apparently +without effort, giving minute and most careful attention to many +other matters,--all bearing, however, on the same great end.</p> +<p>A very interesting letter to Dr. Risdon Bennett, dated Kuruman, +18th December, 1841, gives an account of his first year's work from +the medical and scientific point of view. First, he gives an +amusing picture of the Bechuana chiefs, and then some details of +his medical practice:</p> +<blockquote>The people are all under the feudal system of +government, the chieftainship is hereditary, and although the chief +is usually the greatest ass, and the most insignificant of the +tribe in appearance, the people pay a deference to him which is +truly astonishing.... I feel the benefit often of your +instructions, and of those I got through your kindness. Here I have +an immense practice. I have patients now under treatment who have +walked 130 miles for my advice; and when these go home, others will +come for the same purpose. This is the country for a medical man if +he wants a large practice, but he must leave fees out of the +question! The Bechuanas have a great deal more disease than I +expected to find among a savage nation; but little else can be +expected, for they are nearly naked, and endure the scorching heat +of the day and the chills of the night in that condition. Add to +this that they are absolutely omnivorous. Indigestion, rheumatism, +opthalmia are the prevailing diseases.... Many very bad cases were +brought to me, sometimes, when traveling, my wagon was quite +besieged by their blind and halt and lame. What a mighty effect +would be produced if one of the seventy disciples were among them +to heal them all by a word! The Bechuanas resort to the Bushmen and +the poor people that live in the desert for doctors. The fact of my +dealing in that line a little is so strange, and now my fame has +spread far and wide. But if one of Christ's apostles were here, I +should think he would be very soon known all over the continent to +Abyssinia. The great deal of work I have had to do in attending to +the sick has proved beneficial to me, for they make me speak the +language perpetually, and if I were inclined to be lazy in learning +it, they would prevent me indulging the propensity. And they are +excellent patients, too, besides. There is no wincing; everything +prescribed is done <i>instanter</i>. Their only failing is that +they become tired of a long course. But in any operation, even the +women sit unmoved. I have been quite astonished again and again at +their calmness. In cutting out a tumor, an inch in diameter, they +sit and talk as if they felt nothing. 'A man like me never cries,' +they say, 'they are children that cry.' And it is a fact that the +men never cry. But when the Spirit of God works on their minds they +cry most piteously. Sometimes in church they endeavor to screen +themselves from the eyes of the preacher by hiding under the forms +or covering their heads with their karosses as a remedy against +their convictions. And when they find that won't do, they rush out +of the church and run with all their might, crying as if the hand +of death were behind them. One would think, when they got away, +there they would remain; but no, there they are in their places at +the very next meeting. It is not to be wondered at that they should +exhibit agitations of body when the mind is affected, as they are +quite unaccustomed to restrain their feelings. But that the +hardened beings should be moved mentally at all is wonderful +indeed. If you saw them in their savage state you would feel the +force of this more.... <i>N.B.</i>--I have got for Professor Owen +specimens of the incubated ostrich in abundance, and am waiting for +an opportunity to transmit the box to the college. I tried to keep +for you some of the fine birds of the interior, but the weather was +so horribly hot they were putrid in a few hours.</blockquote> +<br> +<p>When he returned to Kuruman in June, 1842, he found that no +instructions had as yet come from the Directors as to his permanent +quarters. He was preparing for another journey when news arrived +that contrary to his advice, Sebehwe had left the desert where he +was encamped, had been treacherously attacked by the chief Mahura, +and that many of his people, including women and children, had been +savagely murdered. What aggravated the case was that several native +Christians from Kuruman had been at the time with Sebehwe, and that +these were accused of having acted treacherously by him. But now no +native would expose himself to the expected rage of Sebehwe, so +that for want of attendants Livingstone could not go to him. He was +obliged to remain for some months about Kuruman, itinerating to the +neighboring tribes, and taking part in the routine work of the +station: that is to say preaching, printing, building a chapel at +an out-station, prescribing for the sick, and many things else that +would have been intolerable, he said, to a man of "clerical +dignity."</p> +<p>He was able to give his father a very encouraging report of the +mission work (July 13, 1842): "The work of God goes on here +notwithstanding all our infirmities. Souls are gathered in +continually, and sometimes from among those you would never have +expected to see turning to the Lord. Twenty-four were added to the +Church last month, and there are several inquirers. At Motito, a +French station about thirty-three miles northeast of this, there +has been an awakening, and I hope much good will result. I have +good news, too, from Rio de Janeiro. The Bibles that have been +distributed are beginning to cause a stir."</p> +<p>The state of the country continued so disturbed that it was not +till February, 1843, that he was able to set out for the village +where Sebehwe had taken up his residence with the remains of his +tribe. This visit he undertook at great personal risk. Though +looking at first very ill-pleased, Sebehwe treated him in a short +time in a most friendly way, and on the Sunday after his arrival, +sent a herald to proclaim that on that day nothing should be done +but pray to God and listen to the words of the foreigner. He +himself listened with great attention while Livingstone told him of +Jesus and the resurrection, and the missionary was often +interrupted by the questions of the chief. Here, then, was another +chief pacified, and brought under the preaching of the gospel.</p> +<p>Livingstone then passed on to the country of the Bakhatla, where +he had purposed to erect his mission-station. The country was +fertile, and the people industrious, and among other industries was +an iron manufactory, to which as a bachelor he got admission, +whereas married men were wont to be excluded, through fear that +they would bewitch the iron! When he asked the chief if he would +like him to come and be his missionary, he held up his hands and +said, "Oh, I shall dance if you do; I shall collect all my people +to hoe for you a garden, and you will get more sweet reed and corn +than myself." The cautious Directors at home, however, had sent no +instructions as to Livingstone's station, and he could only say to +the chief that he would tell them of his desire for a +missionary.</p> +<p>At a distance of five days' journey beyond the Bakhatla was +situated the village of Sechéle, chief of the Bakwains, +afterward one of Livingstone's greatest friends. Sechéle had +been enraged at him for not visiting him the year before, and +threatened him with mischief. It happened that his only child was +ill when the missionary arrived, and also the child of one of his +principal men. Livingstone's treatment of both was successful, and +Sechéle had not an angry word. Some of his questions struck +the heart of the missionary:</p> +<blockquote>"'Since it is true that all who die unforgiven are lost +forever, why did your nation not come to tell us of it before now? +My ancestors are all gone, and none of them knew anything of what +you tell me. How is this?' I thought immediately," says +Livingstone, "of the guilt of the Church, but did not confess. I +told him multitudes in our own country were like himself, so much +in love with their sins. My ancestors had spent a great deal of +time in trying to persuade them, and yet after all many of them by +refusing were lost. We now wish to tell all the world about a +Saviour, and if men did not believe, the guilt would be entirely +theirs. Sechéle has been driven from another part of his +country from that in which he was located last year, and so has +Bubi, so that the prospects I had of benefiting them by native +teachers are for the present darkened."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Among other things that Livingstone found time for in these +wanderings among strange people, was translating hymns into the +Sichuana language. Writing to his father (Bakwain Country, 21st +March, 1843), he says:</p> +<blockquote>"Janet may be pleased to learn that I am become a poet, +or rather a poetaster, in Sichuana. Half a dozen of my hymns were +lately printed in a collection of the French brethren. One of them +is a translation of 'There is a fountain filled with blood;' +another, 'Jesus shall reign where'er the sun;' others are on 'The +earth being filled with the glory of the Lord,' 'Self-dedication,' +'Invitation to Sinners,' 'The soul that loves God finds him +everywhere.' Janet may try to make English ones on these latter +subjects if she can, and Agnes will doubtless set them to music on +the same condition. I do not boast of having done this, but only +mention it to let you know that I am getting a little better fitted +for the great work of a missionary, that your hearts may be drawn +out to more prayer for the success of the gospel proclaimed by my +feeble lips."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Livingstone was bent on advancing in the direction of the +country of the Matebele and their chief Mosilikatse, but the dread +of that terrible warrior prevented him from getting Bakwains to +accompany him, and being thus unable to rig out a wagon, he was +obliged to travel on oxback. In a letter to Dr. Risdon Bennett +(30th June, 1843), he gives a lively description of this mode of +traveling: "It is rough traveling, as you can conceive. The skin is +so loose there is no getting one's great-coat, which has to serve +both as saddle and blanket, to stick on; and then the long horns in +front, with which he can give one a punch in the abdomen if he +likes, make us sit as bolt upright as dragoons. In this manner I +traveled more than 400 miles." Visits to some of the villages of +the Bakalahari gave him much pleasure. He was listened to with +great attention, and while sitting by their fires and listening to +their traditionary tales, he intermingled the story of the Cross +with their conversation, and it was by far the happiest portion of +his journey. The people were a poor, degraded, enslaved race, who +hunted for other tribes to procure them skins; they were far from +wells, and had their gardens far from their houses, in order to +have their produce safe from the chiefs who visited them.</p> +<p>Coming on to his old friends the Bakaa, he found them out of +humor with him, accusing him of having given poison to a native who +had been seized with fever on occasion of his former visit. +Consequently he could get little or nothing to eat, and had to +content himself, as he wrote to his friends, with the sumptuous +feasts of his imagination. With his usual habit of discovering good +in all his troubles, however, he found cause for thankfulness at +their stinginess, for in coming down a steep pass, absorbed with +the questions which the people were putting to him, he forgot where +he was, lost his footing, and, striking his hand between a rock and +his Bible which he was carrying, he suffered a compound fracture of +his finger. His involuntary low diet saved him from taking fever, +and the finger was healing favorably, when a sudden visit in the +middle of the night from a lion, that threw them all into +consternation, made him, without thinking, discharge his revolver +at the visitor, and the recoil hurt him more than the shot did the +lion. It rebroke his finger, and the second fracture was worse than +the first. "The Bakwains," he says, "who were most attentive to my +wants during the whole journey of more than 400 miles, tried to +comfort me when they saw the blood again flowing, by saying, 'You +have hurt yourself, but you have redeemed us: henceforth we will +only swear by you.' Poor creatures," he writes to Dr. Bennett, "I +wished they had felt gratitude for the blood that was shed for +their precious souls."</p> +<p>Returning to Kuruman from this journey, in June, 1843, +Livingstone was delighted to find at length a letter from the +Directors of the Society authorizing the formation of a settlement +in the regions beyond. He found another letter that greatly cheered +him, from a Mrs. M'Robert, the wife of art Independent minister at +Cambuslang (near Blantyre), who had collected and now sent him +£12 for a native agent, and was willing, on the part of some +young friends, to send presents of clothing for the converts. In +acknowledging this letter, Livingstone poured out his very heart, +so full was he of gratitude and delight. He entreated the givers to +consider Mebalwe as their own agent, and to concentrate their +prayers upon him, for prayer, he thought, was always more +efficacious when it could be said, "One thing have I desired of the +Lord." As to the present of clothing, he simply entreated his +friends to send nothing of the kind; such things demoralized the +recipients, and bred endless jealousies. If he were allowed to +charge something for the clothes, he would be pleased to have them, +but on no other terms.</p> +<p>Writing to the Secretary of the Society, Rev. A. Tidman (24th +June, 1843), and referring to the past success of the Mission in +the nearer localities, he says: "If you could realize this fact as +fully as those on the spot can, you would be able to enter into the +feelings of irrepressible delight with which I hail the decision of +the Directors that we go forward to the dark interior. May the Lord +enable me to consecrate my whole being to the glorious work!"</p> +<p>In this communication to the Directors Livingstone modestly, but +frankly and firmly, gives them his mind on some points touched on +in their letter to him. In regard to his favorite measure--native +agency--he is glad that a friend has remitted money for the +employment of one agent, and that others have promised the means of +employing other two. On another subject he had a communication to +make to them which evidently cost him no ordinary effort. In his +more private letters to his friends, from an early period after +entering Africa, he had expressed himself very freely, almost +contemptuously, on the distribution of the laborers. There was far +too much clustering about the Cape Colony, and the district +immediately beyond it, and a woeful slowness to strike out with the +fearless chivalry that became missionaries of the Cross, and take +possession of the vast continent beyond. All his letters reveal the +chafing of his spirit with this confinement of evangelistic energy +in the face of so vast a field--this huddling together of laborers +in sparsely peopled districts, instead of sending them forth over +the whole of Africa, India, and China, to preach the gospel to +every creature. He felt deeply that both the Church at home, and +many of the missionaries on the spot, had a poor conception of +missionary duty, out of which came little faith, little effort, +little expectation, with a miserable tendency to exaggerate their +own evils and grievances, and fall into paltry squabbles which +would not have been possible if they had been fired with the +ambition to win the world for Christ.</p> +<p>But what it was a positive relief for him to whisper in the ear +of an intimate friend, it demanded the courage of a hero to +proclaim to the Directors of a great Society. It was like impugning +their whole policy and arraigning their wisdom. But Livingstone +could not say one thing in private and another in public. Frankly +and fearlessly he proclaimed his views:</p> +<blockquote>"The conviction to which I refer is that a much larger +share of the benevolence of the Church and of missionary exertion +is directed into this country than the amount of population, as +compared with other countries, and the success attending those +efforts, seem to call for. This conviction has been forced upon me, +both by a personal inspection, more extensive than that which has +fallen to the lot of any other, either missionary or trader, and by +the sentiments of other missionaries who have investigated the +subject according to their opportunities. In reference to the +population, I may mention that I was led in England to believe that +the population of the interior was dense, and now since I have come +to this country I have conversed with many, both of our Society and +of the French, and none of them would reckon up the number of +30,000 Bechuanas."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>He then proceeds to details in a most characteristic way, giving +the number of huts in every village, and being careful in every +case, as his argument proceeded on there being a small population, +rather to overstate than understate the number:</p> +<blockquote>"In view of these facts and the confirmation of them I +have received from both French and English brethren, computing the +population much below what I have stated, I confess I feel grieved +to hear of the arrival of new missionaries. Nor am I the only one +who deplores their appointment to this country. Again and again +have I been pained at heart to hear the question put, Where will +these new brethren find fields of labor in this country? Because I +know that in India or China there are fields large enough for all +their energies. I am very far from undervaluing the success which +has attended the labors of missionaries in this land. No! I +gratefully acknowledge the wonders God hath wrought, and I feel +that the salvation of one soul is of more value than all the effort +that has been expended; but we are to seek the field where there is +a possibility that most souls will be converted, and it is this +consideration which makes me earnestly call the attention of the +Directors to the subject of statistics. If these were actually +returned--and there would be very little difficulty in doing so--it +might, perhaps, be found that there is not a country better +supplied with missionaries in the world, and that in proportion to +the number of agents compared to the amount of population, the +success may be inferior to most other countries where efforts have +been made."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Finding that a brother missionary was willing to accompany him +to the station he had fixed on among the Bakhatlas, and enable him +to set to work with the necessary arrangements, Livingstone set out +with him in the beginning of August, 1843, and arrived at his +destination after a fortnight's journey. Writing to his family, "in +sight of the hills of Bakhatla," August 21st, 1843, he says: "We +are in company with a party of three hunters: one of them from the +West Indies, and two from India--Mr. Pringle from Tinnevelly, and +Captain Steel of the Coldstream Guards, aide-de-camp to the +Governor of Madras.... The Captain is the politest of the whole, +well versed in the classics, and possessed of much general +knowledge." Captain Steele, now General Sir Thomas Steele, proved +one of Livingstone's best and most constant friends. In one respect +the society of gentlemen who came to hunt would not have been +sought by Livingstone, their aims and pursuits being so different +from his; but he got on with them wonderfully. In some instances +these strangers were thoroughly sympathetic, but not in all. When +they were not sympathetic on religion, he had a strong conviction +that his first duty as a servant of Christ was to commend his +religion by his life and spirit--by integrity, civility, kindness, +and constant readiness to deny himself in obliging others; having +thus secured, their esteem and confidence, he would take such quiet +opportunities as presented themselves to get near their consciences +on his Master's behalf. He took care that there should be no moving +about on the day of rest, and that the outward demeanor of all +should be befitting a Christian company. For himself, while he +abhorred the indiscriminate slaughter of animals for mere +slaughter's sake, he thought well of the chase as a means of +developing courage, promptness of action in time of danger, +protracted endurance of hunger and thirst, determination in the +pursuit of an object, and other qualities befitting brave and +powerful men. The respect and affection with which he inspired the +gentlemen who were thus associated with him was very remarkable. +Doubtless, with his quick apprehension, he learned a good deal from +their society of the ways and feelings of a class with whom +hitherto he had hardly ever been in contact. The large resources +with which they were furnished, in contrast to his own, excited no +feeling of envy, nor even a desire to possess their ample means, +unless he could have used them to extend missionary operations; and +the gentlemen themselves would sometimes remark that the +missionaries were more comfortable than they. Though they might at +times spend thousands of pounds where Livingstone did not spend as +many pence, and would be provided with horses, servants, tents, and +stores, enough to secure comfort under almost any conditions, they +had not that key to the native heart and that power to command the +willing services of native attendants which belonged so remarkably +to the missionary. "When we arrive at a spot where we intend to +spend the night," writes Livingstone to his family, "all hands +immediately unyoke the oxen. Then one or two of the company collect +wood; one of us strikes up a fire, another gets out the +water-bucket and fills the kettle; a piece of meat is thrown on the +fire, and if we have biscuits, we are at our coffee in less than +half an hour after arriving. Our friends, perhaps, sit or stand +shivering at their fire for two or three hours before they get +their things ready, and are glad occasionally of a cup of coffee +from us."</p> +<p>The first act of the missionaries on arriving at their +destination was to have an interview with the chief, and ask +whether he desired a missionary. Having an eye to the beads, guns, +and other things, of which white men seemed always to have an ample +store, the chief and his men gave them a cordial welcome, and +Livingstone next proceeded to make a purchase of land. This, like +Abraham with the sons of Heth, he insisted should be done in legal +form, and for this purpose he drew up a written contract to which, +after it was fully explained to them, both parties attached their +signatures or marks. They then proceeded to the erection of a hut +fifty feet by eighteen, not getting much help from the Bakhatlas, +who devolved such labors on the women, but being greatly helped by +the native deacon, Mebalwe. All this Livingstone and his companion +had done on their own responsibility, and in the hope that the +Directors would approve of it. But if they did not, he told them +that he was at their disposal "to go anywhere--<i>provided it +be</i> FORWARD."</p> +<p>The progress of medical and scientific work during this period +is noted in a letter to Dr. Risdon Bennett, dated 30th June, 1843. +In addition to full details of the missionary work, this letter +enters largely into the state of disease in South Africa, and +records some interesting cases, medical and surgical. Still more +interesting, perhaps, is the evidence it affords of the place in +Livingstone's attention which began to be occupied by three great +subjects of which we shall hear much anon--Fever, Tsetse, and "the +Lake." Fever he considered the greatest barrier to the +evangelization of Africa. Tsetse, an insect like a common fly, +destroyed horses and oxen, so that many traders lost literally +every ox in their team. As for the Lake, it lay somewhat beyond the +outskirts of his new district, and was reported terrible for fever. +He heard that Mr. Moffat intended to visit it, but he was somewhat +alarmed lest his friend should suffer. It was not Moffat, but +Livingstone, however, that first braved the risks of that fever +swamp.</p> +<p>A subject of special scientific interest to the missionary +during this period was--the desiccation of Africa. On this topic he +addressed a long letter to Dr. Buckland in 1843, of which, +considerably to his regret, no public notice appears to have been +taken, and perhaps the letter never reached him. The substance of +this paper may, however, be gathered from a communication +subsequently made to the Royal Geographical Society <a name= +"FNanchor20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20">[20]</a> after his first +impression had been confirmed by enlarged observation and +discovery. Around, and north of Kuruman, he had found many +indications of a much larger supply of water in a former age. He +ascribed the desiccation to the gradual elevation of the western +part of the country. He found traces of a very large ancient river +which flowed nearly north and south to a large lake, including the +bed of the present Orange River; in fact, he believed that the +whole country south of Lake 'Ngami presented in ancient times very +much the same appearance as the basin north of that lake does now, +and that the southern lake disappeared when a fissure was made in +the ridge through which the Orange River now proceeds to the sea. +He could even indicate the spot where the river and the lake met, +for some hills there had caused an eddy in which was found a mound +of calcareous tufa and travertine, full of fossil bones. These +fossils he was most eager to examine, in order to determine the +time of the change; but on his first visit he had no time, and when +he returned, he was suddenly called away to visit a missionary's +child, a hundred miles off. It happened that he was never in the +same locality again, and had therefore no opportunity to complete +his investigation.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_20"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor20">[20]</a> See Journal, vol. xxvii. p. +356.</blockquote> +<p>Dr. Livingstone's mind had that wonderful power which belongs to +some men of the highest gifts, of passing with the utmost rapidity, +not only from subject to subject, but from one mood or key to +another entirely different. In a letter to his family, written +about this time, we have a characteristic instance. On one side of +the sheet is a prolonged outburst of tender Christian love and +lamentation over a young attendant who had died of fever suddenly; +on the other side, he gives a map of the Bakhatla country with its +rivers and mountains, and is quite at home in the geographical +details, crowning his description with some sentimental and +half-ludicrous lines of poetry. No reasonable man will fancy that +in the wailings of his heart there was any levity or want of +sincerity. What we are about to copy merits careful consideration: +first, as evincing the depth and tenderness of his love for these +black savages; next, as showing that it was pre-eminently Christian +love, intensified by his vivid view of the eternal world, and +belief in Christ as the only Saviour; and, lastly, as revealing the +secret of the affection which these poor fellows bore to him in +return. The intensity of the scrutiny which he directs on his +heart, and the severity of the judgment which he seems to pass on +himself, as if he had not done all he might have done for the +spiritual good of this young man, show with what intense +conscientiousness he tried to discharge his missionary duty:</p> +<blockquote>"Poor Sehamy, where art thou now? Where lodges thy soul +to-night? Didst thou think of what I told thee as thou turnedst +from side to side in distress? I could now do anything for thee. I +could weep for thy soul. But now nothing can be done. Thy fate is +fixed. Oh, am I guilty of the blood of thy soul, my poor dear +Sehamy? If so, how shall I look upon thee in the judgment? But I +told thee of a Saviour; didst thou think of Him, and did He lead +thee through the dark valley? Did He comfort as He only can? Help +me, O Lord Jesus, to be faithful to every one. Remember me, and let +me not be guilty of the blood of souls. This poor young man was the +leader of the party. He governed the others, and most attentive he +was to me. He anticipated my every want. He kept the water-calabash +at his head at night, and if I awoke, he was ready to give me a +draught immediately. When the meat was boiled he secured the best +portion for me, the best place for sleeping, the best of +everything. Oh, where is he now? He became ill after leaving a +certain tribe, and believed he had been poisoned. Another of the +party and he ate of a certain dish given them by a woman whom they +had displeased, and having met this man yesterday he said, 'Sehamy +is gone to heaven, and I am almost dead by the poison given us by +that woman.' I don't believe they took any poison, but they do, and +their imaginations are dreadfully excited when they entertain that +belief."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The same letter intimates that in case his family should have +arranged to emigrate to America, as he had formerly advised them to +do, he had sent home a bill of which £10 was to aid the +emigration, and £10 to be spent on clothes for himself. In +regard to the latter sum, he now wished them to add it to the +other, so that his help might be more substantial; and for himself +he would make his old clothes serve for another year. The +emigration scheme, which he thought would have added to the comfort +of his parents and sisters, was not, however, carried into effect. +The advice to his family to emigrate proceeded from deep +convictions. In a subsequent letter (4th December, 1850) he writes: +"If I could only be with you for a week, you would goon be pushing +on in the world. The world is ours. Our Father made it to be +inhabited, and many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be +increased. <i>It will be increased more by emigration than by +missionaries.</i>" He held it to be God's wish that the unoccupied +parts of the earth should be possessed, and he believed in +Christian colonization as a great means of spreading the gospel. We +shall see afterward that to plant English and Scotch colonies in +Africa became one of his master ideas and favorite schemes.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> +<h3>FIRST TWO STATIONS--MABOTSA AND CHONUANE.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1843-1847.</center> +<p>Description of Mabotsa--A favorite hymn--General +reading--Mabotsa infested with lions--Livingstone's encounter--The +native deacon who saved him--His Sunday-school--Marriage to Mary +Moffat--Work at Mabotsa--Proposed institution for training native +agents--Letter to his mother--Trouble at Mabotsa--Noble sacrifice +of Livingstone--Goes to Sechéle and the Bakwains--New +station at Chonuane--Interest shown by Sechéle--Journeys +eastward--The Boers and the Transvaal--Their occupation of the +country, and treatment of the natives--Work among the +Bakwains--Livingstone's desire to move on--Theological conflict at +home--His view of it--His scientific labors and miscellaneous +employments.</p> +<br> +<p>Describing what was to be his new home to his friend Watt from +Kuruman, 27th September, 1843, Livingstone says: "The Bakhatla have +cheerfully offered to remove to a more favorable position than they +at present occupy. We have fixed upon a most delightful valley, +which we hope to make the centre of our sphere of operations in the +interior. It is situated in what poetical gents like you would call +almost an amphitheatre of mountains. The mountain range immediately +in the rear of the spot where we have fixed our residence is called +Mabotsa, or a marriage-feast. May the Lord lift upon us the light +of his countenance, so that by our feeble instrumentality many may +thence be admitted to the marriage-feast of the Lamb. The people +are as raw as may well be imagined; they have not the least desire +but for the things of the earth, and it must be a long time ere we +can gain their attention to the things which are above."</p> +<p>Something led him in his letter to Mr. Watt to talk of the old +monks, and the spots they selected for their establishments. He +goes on to write lovingly of what was good in some of the old +fathers of the mediæval Church, despite the strong feeling of +many to the contrary; indicating thus early the working of that +catholic spirit which was constantly expanding in later years, +which could separate the good in any man from all its evil +surroundings, and think of it thankfully and admiringly. In the +following extract we get a glimpse of a range of reading much wider +than most would probably have supposed likely:</p> +<blockquote>"Who can read the sermons of St. Bernard, the +meditations of St. Augustine, etc., without saying, whatever other +faults they had: They thirsted, and now they are filled. That hymn: +of St. Bernard, on the name of Christ, although in what might he +termed dog-Latin, pleases me so; it rings in my ears as I wander +across the wide, wide wilderness, and makes me wish I was more like +them--<br> +<br> +<blockquote> +<table summary=""> +<tr> +<td>"Jesu, dulcis memoria,</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Jesu, spes poenitentibus,</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Dans cordi vera gaudia;</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Quam pius es petentibus!</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Sed super mel et omnia,</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Quam bonus es quærentibus!</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Ejus dulcis præsentia.</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Sed quid invenientibus!</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Nil canitur suavius,</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Jesu, dulcedo cordium,</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Nil auditur jucundius,</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Fons, rivus, lumen mentium,</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Nil cogitatur dulcius,</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Excedens omne gaudium,</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Quam Jesus Dei filius.</td> +<td> </td> +<td>Et omne desiderium."</td> +</tr> +</table> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +<p>Livingstone was in the habit of fastening inside the boards of +his journals, or writing on the fly-leaf, verses that interested +him specially. In one of these volumes this hymn is copied at full +length. In another we find a very yellow newspaper clipping of the +"Song of the Shirt." In the same volume a clipping containing "The +Bridge of Sighs," beginning</p> +<blockquote>"One more unfortunate,<br> + Weary of breath,<br> +Rashly importunate,<br> + Gone to her death."</blockquote> +<p>In another we have Coleridge's lines:</p> +<blockquote>"He prayeth well who loveth well<br> +Both man and bird and beast.<br> +He prayeth best who loveth best<br> +All things both great and small;<br> +For the dear God who loveth us,<br> +He made and loveth all."</blockquote> +<p>In another, hardly legible on the marble paper, we find:</p> +<blockquote>"So runs my dream: but what am I?<br> + An infant crying in the night;<br> + An infant crying for the light:<br> +And with no language but a cry."</blockquote> +<p>All Livingstone's personal friends testify that, considering the +state of banishment in which he lived, his acquaintance with +English literature was quite remarkable. When a controversy arose +in America as to the genuineness of his letters to the <i>New York +Herald</i>, the familiarity of the writer with the poems of +Whittier was made an argument against him. But Livingstone knew a +great part of the poetry of Longfellow, Whittier, and others by +heart.</p> +<p>There was one drawback to the new locality: it was infested with +lions. All the world knows the story of the encounter at Mabotsa, +which was so near ending Livingstone's career, when the lion seized +him by the shoulder, tore his flesh, and crushed his bone. Nothing +in all Livingstone's history took more hold of the popular +imagination, or was more frequently inquired about when he came +home <a name="FNanchor21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21">[21]</a>. By a +kind of miracle his life was saved, but the encounter left him lame +for life of the arm which the lion crunched <a name= +"FNanchor22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22">[22]</a>. But the world +generally does not know that Mebalwe, the native who was with him, +and who saved his life by diverting the lion when his paw was on +his head, was the teacher whom Mrs. M'Robert's twelve pounds had +enabled him to employ. Little did the good woman think that this +offering would indirectly be the means of preserving the life of +Livingstone for the wonderful work of the next thirty years! When, +on being attacked by Mebalwe, the lion left Livingstone, and sprang +upon him, he bit his thigh, then dashed toward another man, and +caught him by the shoulder, when in a moment, the previous shots +taking effect, he fell down dead. Sir Bartle Frere, in his obituary +notice of Livingstone read to the Royal Geographical Society, +remarked: "For thirty years afterward all his labors and +adventures, entailing such exertion and fatigue, were undertaken +with a limb so maimed that it was painful for him to raise a +fowling-piece, or in fact to place the left arm in any position +above the level of the shoulder."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_21"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor21">[21]</a> He did not speak of it spontaneously, and +sometimes he gave unexpected answers to questions put to him about +it. To one person who asked very earnestly what were his thoughts +when the lion was above him, he answered, "I was thinking what part +of me he would eat first"--a grotesque thought, which some persons +considered strange in so good a man, but which was quite in +accordance with human experience in similar +circumstances.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_22"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor22">[22]</a> The false joint in the crushed arm was the +mark by which the body of Livingstone was identified when brought +home by his followers in 1873.</blockquote> +<p>In his <i>Missionary Travels</i> Livingstone says that but for +the importunities of his friends, he meant to have kept this story +in store to tell his children in his dotage. How little he made of +it at the time will be seen from the following allusion to it in a +letter to his father, dated 27th July, 1844. After telling how the +attacks of the lions drew the people of Mabotsa away from the +irrigating operations he was engaged in, he says:</p> +<blockquote>"At last, one of the lions destroyed nine sheep in +broad daylight on a hill just opposite our house. All the people +immediately ran over to it, and, contrary to my custom, I +imprudently went with them, in order to see how they acted, and +encourage them to destroy him. They surrounded him several times, +but he managed to break through the circle. I then got tired. In +coming home I had to come near to the end of the hill. They were +then close upon the lion and had wounded him. He rushed out from +the bushes which concealed him from view, and bit me on the arm so +as to break the bone. It is now nearly well, however, feeling weak +only from having been confined in one position so long; and I ought +to praise Him who delivered me from so great a danger. I hope I +shall never forget his mercy. You need not be sorry for me, for +long before this reaches you it will be quite as strong as ever it +was. Gratitude is the only feeling we ought to have in remembering +the event. Do not mention this to any one. I do not like to be +talked about."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In a letter to the Directors, Livingstone briefly adverts to +Mebalwe's service on this occasion, but makes it a peg on which to +hang some strong remarks on that favorite topic--the employment of +native agency:</p> +<blockquote>"Our native assistant Mebalwe has been of considerable +value to the Mission. In endeavoring to save my life he nearly lost +his own, for he was caught and wounded severely, but both before +being laid aside, and since his recovery, he has shown great +willingness to be useful. The cheerful manner in which he engages +with us in manual labor in the station, and his affectionate +addresses to his countrymen, are truly gratifying. Mr. E. took him +to some of the neighboring villages lately, in order to introduce +him to his work; and I intend to depart to-morrow for the same +purpose to several of the villages situated northeast of this. In +all there may be a dozen considerable villages situated at +convenient distances around us, and we each purpose to visit them +statedly. It would be an <i>immense advantage</i> to the cause had +we many such agents."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Another proof that his pleas for native agency, published in +some of the Missionary Magazines, were telling at home, was the +receipt of a contribution for the employment of a native helper, +amounting to £15, from a Sunday-school in Southampton. +Touched with this proof of youthful sympathy, Livingstone addressed +a long letter of thanks to the Southampton teachers and children, +desiring to deepen their interest in the work, and concluding with +an account of his Sunday-school:</p> +<blockquote>"I yesterday commenced school for the first time at +Mabotsa, and the poor little naked things came with fear and +trembling. A native teacher assisted, and the chief collected as +many of them as he could, or I believe we should have had none. The +reason is, the women make us the hobgoblins of their children, +telling them 'these white men bite children, feed them with dead +men's brains, and all manner of nonsense. We are just commencing +our mission among them."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>A new star now appeared in Livingstone's horizon, destined to +give a brighter complexion to his life, and a new illustration to +the name Mabotsa. Till this year (1844) he had steadily repudiated +all thoughts of marriage, thinking it better to be independent. Nor +indeed had he met with any one to induce him to change his mind. +Writing in the end of 1843 to his friend Watt, he had said: +"There's no outlet for me when I begin to think of getting married +but that of sending home an advertisement to the <i>Evangelical +Magazine</i>, and if I get very old, it must be for some decent +sort of widow. In the meantime I am too busy to think of any thing +of the kind." But soon after the Moffats came back from England to +Kuruman, their eldest daughter Mary rapidly effected a revolution +in Livingstone's ideas of matrimony. They became engaged. In +announcing his approaching marriage to the Directors, he makes it +plain that he had carefully considered the bearing which this step +might have on his usefulness as a missionary. No doubt if he had +foreseen the very extraordinary work to which he was afterwards to +be called, he might have come to a different conclusion. But now, +apparently, he was fixed and settled. Mabotsa would become a centre +from which native missionary agents would radiate over a large +circumference. His own life-work would resemble Mr. Moffat's. For +influencing the women and children of such a place, a Christian +lady was indispensable, and who so likely to do it well as one born +in Africa, the daughter of an eminent and honored missionary, +herself familiar with missionary life, and gifted with the winning +manner and the ready helping hand that were so peculiarly adapted +for this work? The case was as clear as possible, and Livingstone +was very happy.</p> +<p>On his way home from Kuruman, after the engagement, he writes to +her cheerily from Motito, on 1st August, 1844, chiefly about the +household they were soon to get up; asking her to get her father to +order some necessary articles, and to write to Colesberg about the +marriage-license (and if he did not get it, they would license +themselves!), and concluding thus:</p> +<blockquote>"And now, my dearest, farewell. May God bless you! Let +your affection be towards Him much more than towards me; and, kept +by his mighty power and grace, I hope I shall never give you cause +to regret that you have given me a part. Whatever friendship we +feel towards each other, let us always look to Jesus as our common +friend and guide, and may He shield you with his everlasting arms +from every evil!"</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Next month he writes from Mabotsa with full accounts of the +progress of their house, of which he was both architect and +builder:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Mabotsa, 12th September</i>, 1844.--I must tell you +of the progress I have made in architecture. The walls are nearly +finished, although the dimensions are 52 feet by 20 outside, or +almost the same size as the house in which you now reside. I began +with stone, but when it was breast-high, I was obliged to desist +from my purpose to build it entirely of that material by an +accident, which, slight as it was, put a stop to my operations in +that line. A stone failing was stupidly, or rather instinctively, +caught by me in its fall by the left hand, and it nearly broke my +arm over again. It swelled up again, and I fevered so much I was +glad of a fire, although the weather was quite warm. I expected +bursting and discharge, but Baba bound it up nicely, and a few +days' rest put all to rights. I then commenced my architecture, and +six days have brought the walls up a little more than six feet.<br> +<br> +"The walls will be finished long before you receive this, and I +suppose the roof too, but I have still the wood of the roof to +seek. It is not, however, far off; and as Mr. E. and I, with the +Kurumanites, got on the roof of the school in a week, I hope this +will not be more than a fortnight or three weeks. Baba has been +most useful to me in making door and window frames; indeed, if he +had not turned out I should not have been advanced so far as I am. +Mr. E.'s finger is the cause in part of my having no aid from him, +but all will come right at last. It is pretty hard work, and almost +enough to drive love out of my head, but it is not situated there; +it is in my heart, and won't come out unless you behave so as to +quench it!...<br> +<br> +"You must try and get a maid of some sort to come with although it +is only old Moyimang; you can't go without some one, and a Makhatla +can't be had for either love or money....<br> +<br> +"You must excuse soiled paper, my hands won't wash clean after +dabbling mud all day. And although the above does not contain +evidence of it, you are as dear to me as ever, and will be as long +as our lives are spared.--I am still your most affectionate<br> +<br> +"D. LIVINGSTON."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>A few weeks later he writes:</p> +<blockquote>"As I am favored with another opportunity to Kuruman, I +gladly embrace it, and wish I could embrace you at the same time; +but as I cannot, I must do the next best to it, and while I give +you the good news that our work is making progress, and of course +the time of our separation becoming beautifully less, I am happy in +the hope that, by the messenger who now goes, I shall receive the +good news that you are well and happy, and remembering me with some +of that affection which we bear to each other.... All goes on +pretty well here; the school is sometimes well, sometimes ill +attended. I begin to like it, and I once believed I could never +have any pleasure in such employment. I had a great objection to +school-keeping, but I find in that as in almost everything else I +set myself to as a matter of duty, I soon became enamored of it. A +boy came three times last week, and on the third time could act as +monitor to the rest through a great portion of the alphabet. He is +a real Mokhatla, but I have lost sight of him again. If I get them +on a little, I shall translate some of your infant-school hymns +into Sichuana rhyme, and you may yet, if you have time, teach them +the tunes to them. I, poor mortal, am as mute as a fish in regard +to singing, and Mr. Englis says I have not a bit of imagination. +Mebalwe teaches them the alphabet in the 'auld lang syne' tune +sometimes, and I heard it sung by some youths in the gardens +yesterday--a great improvement over their old see-saw tunes indeed. +Sometimes we have twenty, sometimes two, sometimes none at all.<br> +<br> +"Give my love to A., and tell her to be sure to keep my lecture +warm. She must not be vexed with herself, that she was not more +frank to me. If she is now pleased, all is right. I have sisters, +and know all of you have your failings, but I won't love you less +for these. And to mother, too, give my kindest salutation. I +suppose I shall get a lecture from her, too, about the largeness of +the house. If there are too many windows, she can just let me know. +I could build them all up in two days, and let the light come down +the chimney, if that would please. I'll do anything for peace, +except fighting for it. And now I must again, my dear, dear Mary, +bid you good-bye. Accept my expressions as literally true when I +say, I am your most affectionate and still confiding lover,<br> +<br> +"D. LIVINGSTON."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In due time the marriage was solemnized, and Livingstone brought +his wife to Mabotsa. Here they went vigorously to work, Mrs. +Livingstone with her infant-school, and her husband with all the +varied agencies, medical, educational, and pastoral, which his +active spirit could bring to bear upon the people. They were a very +superstitious race, and, among other things, had great faith in +rain-making. Livingstone had a famous encounter with one of their +rain-makers, the effect of which, was that the pretender was wholly +nonplused; but instead of being convinced of the absurdity of their +belief, the people were rather disposed to think that the +missionaries did not want them to get rain. Some of them were +workers in iron, who carried their superstitious notions into that +department of life, too, believing that the iron could be smelted +only by the power of medicines, and that those who had not the +proper medicine need not attempt the work. In the hope of breaking +down these absurdities, Livingstone planned a course of popular +lectures on the works of God in creation and providence, to be +carried out in the following way:</p> +<blockquote>"I intend to commence with the goodness-of God in +giving iron ore, by giving, if I can, a general knowledge of the +simplicity of the substance, and endeavoring to disabuse their +minds of the idea which prevents them, in general, from reaping the +benefit of that mineral which abounds in their country. I intend, +also, to pay more attention to the children of the few believers we +have with us as a class, for whom, as baptized ones, we are bound +especially to care. May the Lord enable me to fulfill my +resolutions! I have now the happy prospect before me of real +missionary work. All that has preceded has been +preparatory."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>All this time Livingstone had been cherishing his plan of a +training seminary for native agents. He had written a paper and +brought the matter before the missionaries, but without success. +Some opposed the scheme fairly, as being premature, while some +insinuated that his object was to stand well with the Directors, +and get himself made Professor. This last objection induced him to +withdraw his proposal. He saw that in his mode of prosecuting the +matter he had not been very knowing; it would have been better to +get some of the older brethren to adopt it. He feared that his zeal +had injured the cause he desired to benefit, and in writing to his +friend Watt, he said that for months he felt bitter grief, and +could never think of the subject without a pang <a name= +"FNanchor23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23">[23]</a>.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_23"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor23">[23]</a> Dr. Moffat favored the scheme of a training +seminary, and when he came home afterward, helped to raise a large +sum of money for the purpose. He was strongly of opinion that the +institution should be built at Sechéle's; but, contrary to +his view, and that of Livingstone, it has been placed at +Kuruman.</blockquote> +<p>A second time he brought forward his proposal, but again without +success. Was he then to be beaten? Far from it. He would change his +tactics, however. He would first set himself to show what could be +done by native efforts; he would travel about, wherever he found a +road, and after inquiries, settle native agents far and wide. The +plan had only to be tried, under God's blessing, to succeed. Here +again we trace the Providence that shaped his career. Had his +wishes been carried into effect, he might have spent his life +training native agents, and doing undoubtedly a noble work: but he +would not have traversed Africa; he would not have given its +death-blow to African slavery; he would not have closed the open +sore of the world, nor rolled away the great obstacle to the +evangelization of the Continent.</p> +<p>Some glimpses of his Mabotsa life may be got from a letter to +his mother (14th May, 1845). Usually his letters for home were +meant for the whole family and addressed accordingly; but with a +delicacy of feeling, which many will appreciate, he wrote +separately to his mother after a little experience of married +life:</p> +<blockquote>"I often think of you, and perhaps more frequently +since I got married than before. Only yesterday I said to my wife, +when I thought of the nice clean bed I enjoy now, 'You put me in +mind of my mother; she was always particular about our beds and +linen. I had had rough times of it before.'...<br> +<br> +"I cannot perceive that the attentions paid to my father-in-law at +home have spoiled him. He is, of course, not the same man he +formerly must have been, for he now knows the standing he has among +the friends of Christ at home. But the plaudits he received have +had a bad effect, and tho' not on <i>his</i> mind, yet on that of +his fellow-laborers. You, perhaps, cannot understand this, but so +it is. If one man is praised, others think this is more than is +deserved, and that they, too ('others,' they say, while they mean +themselves), ought to have a share. Perhaps you were gratified to +see my letters quoted in the <i>Chronicle</i>. In some minds they +produced bitter envy, and if it were in my power, I should prevent +the publication of any in future. But all is in the Lord's hands; +on Him I cast my care. His testimony I receive as it stands--He +careth for us. Yes, He does; for He says it, who is every way +worthy of credit. He will give what is good for me. He will see to +it that all things work together for good. Do thou for me, O Lord +God Almighty! May his blessing rest on you, my dear mother....<br> +<br> +"I received the box from Mr. D. The clothes are all too wide by +four inches at least. Does he think that aldermen grow in Africa? +Mr. N., too, fell into the same fault, but he will be pleased to +know his boots will be worn by a much better man--Mr. Moffat. I am +not an atom thicker than when you saw me....<br> +<br> +"Respecting the mission here, we can say nothing. The people have +not the smallest love to the gospel of Jesus. They hate and fear +it, as a revolutionary spirit is disliked by the old Tories. It +appears to them as that which, if not carefully guarded against, +will seduce them, and destroy their much-loved domestic +institutions. No pro-slavery man in the Southern States dreads more +the abolition principles than do the Bakhatla the innovations of +the Word of God. Nothing but power Divine can work the mighty +change."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Unhappily Mr. and Mrs. Livingstone's residence at Mabotsa was +embittered by a painful collision with the missionary who had taken +part in rearing the station. Livingstone was accused of acting +unfairly by him, of assuming to himself more than his due, and +attempts were made to discredit him, both among the missionaries +and the Directors. It was a very painful ordeal, and Livingstone +felt it keenly. He held the accusation to be unjust, as most people +will hold it to have been who know that one of the charges against +him was that he was a "non-entity"! A tone of indignation pervades +his letters:--that after having borne the heat and burden of the +day, he should be accused of claiming for himself the credit due to +one who had done so little in comparison. But the noble spirit of +Livingstone rose to the occasion. Rather than have any scandal +before the heathen, he would give up his house and garden at +Mabotsa, with all the toil and money they had cost him, go with his +young bride to some other place, and begin anew the toil of house +and school building, and gathering the people around him. His +colleague was so struck with his generosity that he said had he +known his intention he never would have spoken a word against him. +Livingstone had spent all his money, and out of a salary of a +hundred pounds it was not easy to build a house every other year. +But he stuck to his resolution. Parting with his garden evidently +cost him a pang, especially when he thought of the tasteless hands +into which it was to fall. "I like a garden," he wrote, "but +paradise will make amends for all our privations and sorrows here." +Self-denial was a firmly established habit with him; and the +passion of "moving on" was warm in his blood. Mabotsa did not +thrive after Livingstone left it, but the brother with whom he had +the difference lived to manifest a very different spirit.</p> +<p>In some of his journeys, Livingstone had come into close contact +with the tribe of the Bakwains, which, on the murder of their +chief, some time before, had been divided into two, one part under +Bubi, already referred to, and the other under Sechéle, son +of the murdered chief, also already introduced. Both of these +chiefs had shown much regard for Livingstone, and on the death of +Bubi, Sechéle and his people indicated a strong wish that a +missionary should reside among them. On leaving Mabotsa, +Livingstone transferred his services to this tribe. The name of the +pew station was Chonuane; it was situated some forty miles from +Mabotsa, and in 1846 it became the centre of Livingstone's +operations among the Bakwains and their chief Sechéle.</p> +<p>Livingstone had been disappointed with the result of his work +among the Bakhatlas. No doubt much good had been done; he had +prevented several wars; but where were the conversions <a name= +"FNanchor24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24">[24]</a>? On leaving he +found that he had made more impressions on them than he had +supposed. They were most unwilling to lose him, offered to do +anything in their power for his comfort, and even when his oxen +were "inspanned" and he was on the point of moving, they offered to +build a new house without expense to him in some other place, if +only he would not leave them. In a financial point of view, the +removal to Chonuane was a serious undertaking. He had to apply to +the Directors at home for a building-grant--only thirty pounds, but +there were not wanting objectors even to that small sum. It was +only in self-vindication that he was constrained to tell of the +hardships which his family had borne;--</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_24"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor24">[24]</a> When some of Livingstone's "new light" +friends heard that there were so few conversions, they seem to have +thought that he was too much of an old Calvinist, and wrote to him +to preach that the remedy was as extensive as the disease--Christ +loved <i>you</i>, and gave himself for <i>you</i>. "You may think +me heretical," replied he, "but we don't need to make the extent of +the atonement the main topic of our preaching. We preach to men who +don't know but they are beasts, who have no idea of God as a +personal agent, or of sin as evil, otherwise than as an offense +against each other, which may or may not be punished by the party +offended.... Their consciences are seared, and moral perceptions +blunted. Their memories retain scarcely anything we teach them, and +so low have they sunk that the plainest text in the whole Bible +cannot be understood by them."</blockquote> +<br> +<blockquote>"We endured for a long while, using a wretched infusion +of native corn for coffee, but when our corn was done, we were +fairly obliged to go to Kuruman for supplies. I can bear what other +Europeans would consider hunger and thirst without any +inconvenience, but when we arrived, to hear the old woman who had +seen my wife depart about two years before, exclaiming before the +door, 'Bless me! how lean she is! Has he starved her? Is there no +food in the country to which she has been?' was more than I could +well bear."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>From the first, Sechéle showed an intelligent interest in +Livingstone's preaching. He became a great reader especially of the +Bible, and lamented very bitterly that he had got involved in +heathen customs, and now did not know what to do with his wives. At +one time he expressed himself quite willing to convert all his +people to Christianity by the litupa, <i>i.e.</i> whips of +rhinoceros hide; but when he came to understand better, he lamented +that while he could make his people do anything else he liked, he +could not get one of them to believe. He began family worship, and +Livingstone was surprised to hear how well he conducted prayer in +his own simple and beautiful style. When he was baptized, after a +profession of three years, he sent away his superfluous wives in a +kindly and generous way; but all their connections became active +and bitter enemies of the gospel, and the conversion of +Sechéle, instead of increasing the congregation, reduced it +so much that sometimes the chief and his family were almost the +only persons present. A bell-man of a somewhat peculiar order was +once employed to collect the people for service--a tall gaunt +fellow. "Up he jumped on a sort of platform, and shouted at the top +of his voice, 'Knock that woman down over there. Strike her, she is +putting on her pot! Do you see that one hiding herself? Give her a +good blow. There she is--see, see, knock her down!' All the women +ran to the place of meeting in no time, for each thought herself +meant. But, though a most efficient bell-man, we did not like to +employ him."</p> +<p>While residing at Chonuane, Livingstone performed two journeys +eastward, in order to attempt the removal of certain obstacles to +the establishment of at least one of his native teachers in that +direction. This brought him into connection with the Dutch Boers of +the Cashan mountains, otherwise called Magaliesberg. The Boers were +emigrants from the Cape, who had been dissatisfied with the British +rule, and especially with the emancipation of their Hottentot +slaves, and had created for themselves a republic in the north (the +Transvaal), in order that they might pursue, unmolested, the proper +treatment of the blacks. "It is almost needless to add," says +Livingstone, "that proper treatment has always contained in it the +essential element of slavery, viz., compulsory unpaid labor." The +Boers had effected the expulsion of Mosilikatse, a savage Zulu +warrior, and in return for this service they considered themselves +sole masters of the soil. While still engaged in the erection of +his dwelling-house at Chonuane, Livingstone received notes from the +Commandant and Council of the emigrants, requesting an explanation +of his intentions, and an intimation that they had resolved to come +and deprive Sechéle of his fire-arms. About the same time he +received several very friendly messages and presents from Mokhatla, +chief of a large section of the Bakhatla, who lived about four days +eastward of his station, and had once, while Livingstone was +absent, paid a visit to Chonuane, and expressed satisfaction with +the idea of obtaining Paul, a native convert, as his teacher. As +soon as his house was habitable, Livingstone proceeded to the +eastward, to visit Mokhatla, and to confer with the Boers.</p> +<p>On his way to Mokhatla he was surprised at the unusual density +of the population, giving him the opportunity of preaching the +gospel at least once every day. The chief, Mokhatla, whose people +were quiet and industrious, was eager to get a missionary, but said +that an arrangement must be made with the Dutch commandant. This +involved some delay.</p> +<p>Livingstone then returned to Chonuane, finished the erection of +a school there, and setting systematic instruction fairly in +operation under Paul and his son, Isaac, again went eastward, +accompanied this time by Mrs. Livingstone and their infant son, +Robert Moffat <a name="FNanchor25"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_25">[25]</a>--all the three being in indifferent health. +Mebalwe, the catechist, was also with them. Taking a different +route, they came on another Bakhatla tribe, whose country abounded +in metallic ores, and who, besides cultivating their fields, span +cotton, smelted iron, copper, and tin, made an alloy of tin and +copper, and manufactured ornaments. Livingstone had constantly an +eye to the industries and commercial capabilities of the countries +he passed through. Social reform was certainly much needed here; +for the chief, though not twenty years of age, had already +forty-eight wives and twenty children. They heard of another tribe, +said to excel all others in manufacturing skill, and having the +honorable distinction, "they had never been known to kill any one." +This lily among thorns they were unable to visit. Three tribes of +Bakhalaka whom they did visit were at continual war.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_25"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor25">[25]</a> He wrote to his father that he would have +called him Neil, if it had not been such an ugly name, and all the +people would have called him Ra-Neeley!</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Deriving his information from the Boers themselves, Livingstone +learned that they had taken possession of nearly all the fountains, +so that the natives lived in the country only by sufferance. The +chiefs were compelled to furnish the emigrants with as much free +labor as they required. This was in return for the privilege of +living in the country of the Boers! The absence of law left the +natives open to innumerable wrongs which the better-disposed of the +emigrants lamented, but could not prevent. Livingstone found that +the forcible seizure of cattle was a common occurrence, but another +custom was even worse. When at war, the Dutch forced natives to +assist them, and sent them before them into battle, to encounter +the battle-axes of their opponents, while the Dutch fired in safety +at their enemies over the heads of their native allies. Of course +all the disasters of the war fell on the natives; the Dutch had +only the glory and the spoil. Such treatment of the natives burned +into the very soul of Livingstone. He was specially distressed at +the purpose expressed to pick a quarrel with Sechéle, for +whatever the emigrants might say of other tribes, they could not +but admit that the Bechuanas had been always an honest and +peaceable people.</p> +<p>When Livingstone met the Dutch commandant he received favorably +his proposal of a native missionary, but another obstacle arose. +Near the proposed station lived a Dutch emigrant who had shown +himself the inveterate enemy of missions. He had not scrupled to +say that the proper way to treat any native missionary was to kill +him. Livingstone was unwilling to plant Mebalwe beside so +bloodthirsty a neighbor**(spelling?), and as he had not time to, go +to him, and try to bring him to a better mind, and there was plenty +of work to be done at the station, they all returned to +Chonuane.</p> +<p>"We have now," says Livingstone (March, 1847), "been a little +more than a year with the Bakwains. No conversions have taken +place, but real progress has been made." He adverts to the way in +which the Sabbath was observed, no work being done by the natives +in the gardens that day, and hunting being suspended. Their +superstitious belief in rain-maiking had got a blow. There was a +real desire for knowledge, though hindered by the prevailing famine +caused by the want of rain. There was also a general impression +among the people that the missionaries were their friends. But +civilization apart from conversion would be but a poor recompense +for their labor.</p> +<p>But, whatever success might attend their work among the +Bakwains, Livingstone's soul was soaring beyond them:</p> +<blockquote>"I am more and more convinced," he writes to the +Directors, "that in order to the permanent settlement of the gospel +in any part, the natives must be taught to relinquish their +reliance on Europe. An onward movement ought to be made whether men +will hear or whether they will forbear. I tell my Bakwains that if +spared ten years, I shall move on to regions beyond them. If our +missions would move onward now to those regions I have lately +visited, they would in all probability prevent the natives settling +into that state of determined hatred to all Europeans which I fear +now characterizes most of the Caffres near the Colony. If natives +are not elevated by contact with Europeans, they are sure to be +deteriorated. It is with pain I have observed that all the tribes I +have lately seen are undergoing the latter process. The country is +fine. It abounds in streams, and has many considerable rivers. The +Boers hate missionaries, but by a kind and prudent course of +conduct one can easily manage them. Medicines are eagerly received, +and I intend to procure a supply of Dutch tracts for distribution +among them. The natives who have been in subjection to Mosilikatse +place unbounded confidence in missionaries."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In his letters to friends at home, whatever topic Livingstone +may touch, we see evidence of one over-mastering idea--the vastness +of Africa, and the duty of beginning a new area of enterprise to +reach its people. Among his friends the Scotch Congregationalists, +there had been a keen controversy on some points of Calvinism. +Livingstone did not like it; he was not a high Calvinist +theoretically, yet he could not accept the new views, "from a +secret feeling of being absolutely at the divine disposal as a +sinner;" but these were theoretical questions, and with dark Africa +around him, he did not see why the brethren at home should split on +them. Missionary influence in South Africa was directed in a wrong +channel. There were three times too many missionaries in the +colony, and vast regions beyond lay untouched. He wrote to Mr. +Watt: "If you meet me down in the colony before eight years are +expired, you may shoot me."</p> +<p>Of his employments and studies he gives the following account: +"I get the <i>Evangelical, Scottish Congregational, Eclectic, +Lancet, British and Foreign Medical Review</i>. I can read in +journeying, but little at home. Building, gardening, cobbling, +doctoring, tinkering, carpentering, gun-mending, farriering, +wagon-mending, preaching, schooling, lecturing on physics according +to my means, beside a chair in divinity to a class of three, fill +up my time."</p> +<p>With all his other work, he was still enthusiastic in science. +"I have written Professor Buckland," he says to Mr. Watt (May, +1845), "and send him specimens too, but have not received any +answer. I have a great lot by me now. I don't know whether he +received my letter or not. Could you ascertain? I am trying to +procure specimens of the entire geology of this region, and will +try and make a sort of chart. I am taking double specimens now, so +that if one part is lost, I can send another. The great difficulty +is transmission. I sent a dissertation on the decrease of water in +Africa. Call on Professor Owen and ask if he wants anything in the +four jars I still possess, of either rhinoceros, camelopard, etc., +etc. If he wants these, or anything else these jars will hold, he +must send me more jars and spirits of wine."</p> +<p>He afterward heard of the fate of one of the boxes of specimens +he had sent home--that which contained the fossils of Bootchap. It +was lost on the railway after reaching England, in custody of a +friend. "The thief thought the box contained bullion, no doubt. You +may think of one of the faces in <i>Punch</i> as that of the +scoundrel, when he found in the box a lot of 'chuckystanes.'" He +had got many nocturnal-feeding, animals, but the heat made it very +difficult to preserve them. Many valuable seeds he had sent to +Calcutta, with the nuts of the desert, but had heard nothing of +them. He had lately got knowledge of a root to which the same +virtues were attached as to ergot of rye. He tells his friend about +the tsetse, the fever, the north wind, and other African notabilia. +These and many other interesting points of information are followed +up by the significant question--</p> +<blockquote>"Who will penetrate through Africa?"</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V."></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> +<h3>Third Station--Kolobeng.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1847-1852.</center> +<p>Want of rain at Chonuane--Removal to Kolobeng--House-building +and public works--Hopeful prospects--Letters to Mr. Watt, his +sister, and Dr. Bennett--The church at Kolobeng--Pure +communion--Conversion of Sechéle--Letter from his brother +Charles--His history--Livingstone's relations with the Boers--He +cannot get native teachers planted in the East--Resolves to explore +northwards--Extracts from Journal--Scarcity of water--Wild animals +and other risks--Custom-house robberies and annoyances--Visit from +Secretary of London Missionary Society--Manifold employments of +Livingstone--Studies in Sichuana--His reflection on this period of +his life while detained at Manyuema in 1870.</p> +<br> +<p>The residence of the Livingstones at Chonuane was of short +continuance. The want of rain was fatal to agriculture, and about +equally fatal to the mission. It was necessary to remove to a +neighborhood where water could be obtained. The new locality chosen +was on the banks of the river Kolobeng, about forty miles distant +from Chonuane. In a letter to the Royal Geographical Society, his +early and warm friend and fellow-traveler, Mr. Oswell, thus +describes Kolobeng: "The town stands in naked 'deformity on the +side of and under a ridge of red ironstone; the mission-house on a +little rocky eminence over the river Kolobeng." Livingstone had +pointed out to the chief that the only feasible way of watering the +gardens was to select some good never-failing river, make a canal, +and irrigate the adjacent lands. The wonderful influence which he +had acquired was apparent from the fact that the very morning after +he told them of his intention to move to the Kolobeng, the whole +tribe was in motion for the "flitting." Livingstone had to set to +work at his old business--building a house--the third which he had +reared with his own hands. It was a mere hut--for a permanent house +he had to wait a year. The natives, of course, had their huts to +rear and their gardens to prepare; but, besides this, Livingstone +set them to public works. For irrigating their gardens, a dam had +to be dug and a water-course scooped out; sixty-five of the younger +men dug the dam, and forty of the older made the water-course. The +erection of the school was undertaken by the chief Sechéle: +"I desire," he said, "to build a house for God, the defender of my +town, and that you be at no expense for it whatever." Two hundred +of his people were employed in this work.</p> +<p>Livingstone had hardly had time to forget his building troubles +at Mabotsa and Chonuane, when he began this new enterprise. But he +was in much better spirits, much more hopeful than he had been. +Writing to Mr. Watt on 13th February, 1848, he says:--</p> +<blockquote>"All our meetings are good compared to those we had at +Mabotsa, and some of them admit of no comparison whatever. Ever +since we moved, we have been incessantly engaged in manual labor. +We have endeavored, as far as possible, to carry on systematic +instruction at the same time, but have felt it very hard pressure +on our energies.... Our daily labors are in the following sort of +order:<br> +<br> +"We get up as soon as we can, generally with the sun in summer, +then have family worship, breakfast, and school; and as soon as +these are over we begin the manual operations needed, sowing, +ploughing, smithy work, and every other sort of work by turns as +required. My better-half is employed all the morning in culinary or +other work; and feeling pretty well tired by dinner-time, we take +about two hours' rest then; but more frequently, without the +respite I try to secure for myself, she goes off to hold +infant-school, and this, I am happy to say, is very popular with +the youngsters. She sometimes has eighty, but the average may be +sixty. My manual labors are continued till about five o'clock. I +then go into the town to give lessons and talk to any one who may +be disposed for it. As soon as the cows are milked we have a +meeting, and this is followed by a prayer-meeting in +Sechéles house, which brings me home about half-past eight, +and generally tired enough, too fatigued to think of any mental +exertion. I do not enumerate these duties by way of telling how +much we do, but to let you know a cause of sorrow I have that so +little of my time is devoted to real missionary work."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>First there was a temporary house to be built, then a permanent +one, and Livingstone was not exempted from the casualties of +mechanics. Once he found himself dangling from a beam by his weak +arm. Another time he had a fall from the roof. A third time he cut +himself severely with an axe. Working on the roof in the sun, his +lips got all scabbed and broken. If he mentions such things to Dr. +Bennett or other friend, it is either in the way of illustrating +some medical point or to explain how he had never found time to +take the latitude of his station till he was stopped working by one +of these accidents. At best it was weary work. "Two days ago," he +writes to his sister Janet (5th July, 1848), "we entered our new +house. What a mercy to be in a house again! A year in a little hut +through which the wind blew our candles into glorious icicles (as a +poet would say) by night, and in which crowds of flies continually +settled on the eyes of our poor little brats by day, makes us value +our present castle. Oh, Janet, know thou, if thou art given to +building castles in the air, that that is easy work to erecting +cottages on the ground." He could not quite forget that it was +unfair treatment that had driven him from Mabotsa, and involved him +in these labors. "I often think," he writes to Dr. Bennett, "I have +forgiven, as I hope to be forgiven; but the remembrance of slander +often comes boiling up, although I hate to think of it. You must +remember me in your prayers, that more of the spirit of Christ may +be imparted to me. All my plans of mental culture have been broken +through by manual labor. I shall soon, however, be obliged to give +my son and daughter a jog along the path to learning.... Your +family increases, very fast, and I fear we follow in your wake. I +cannot realize the idea of your sitting with four around you, and I +can scarcely believe myself to be so far advanced as to be the +father of two."</p> +<p>Livingstone never expected the work of real Christianity to +advance rapidly among the Bakwains. They were a slow people and +took long to move. But it was not his desire to have a large church +of nominal adherents. "Nothing," he writes, "will induce me to form +an impure church. Fifty added to the church sounds fine at home, +but if only five of these are genuine, what will it profit in the +Great Day? I have felt more than ever lately that the great object +of our exertions ought to be conversion." There was no subject on +which Livingstone had stronger feelings than on purity of +communion. For two whole years he allowed no dispensation of the +Lord's Supper, because he did not deem the professing Christians to +be living consistently. Here was a crowning proof of his hatred of +all sham and false pretense, and his intense love of solid, +thorough, finished work.</p> +<p>Hardly were things begun to be settled at Kolobeng, when, by way +of relaxation, Livingstone (January, 1848) again moved eastward. He +would have gone sooner, but "a mad sort of Scotchman <a name= +"FNanchor26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26">[26]</a>," having wandered +past them shooting elephants, and lost all his cattle by the bite +of the tsetse-fly, Livingstone had to go to his help; and moreover +the dam, having burst, required to be repaired. Sechéle set +out to accompany him, and intended to go with him the whole way; +but some friends having come to visit his tribe, he had to return, +or at least did return, leaving Livingstone four gallons of +porridge, and two servants to act in his stead. "He is about the +only individual," says Livingstone, "who possesses distinct, +consistent views on the subject of our mission. He is bound by his +wives: has a curious idea--would like to go to another country for +three or four years in order to study, with the hope that probably +his wives would have married others in the meantime. He would then +return, and be admitted to the Lord's Supper, and teach his people +the knowledge he has acquired, He seems incapable of putting them +away. He feels so attached to them, and indeed we, too, feel much +attached to most of them. They are our best scholars, our constant +friends. We earnestly pray that they, too, may be enlightened by +the Spirit of God."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_26"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor26">[26]</a> Mr. Gordon Cumming.</blockquote> +<p>The prayer regarding Sechéle was answered soon. Reviewing +the year 1844 in a letter to the Directors, Livingstone says: "An +event that excited more open enmity than any other was the +profession of faith and subsequent reception of the chief into the +church."</p> +<p>During the first years at Kolobeng he received a long letter +from his younger brother Charles, then in the United States, +requesting him to use his influence with the London Missionary +Society that he might be sent as a missionary to China. In writing +to the Directors about his brother, in reply to this request, +Livingstone disclaimed all idea of influencing them except in so +far as he might be able to tell them facts. His brother's history +was very interesting. In 1839, when David Livingstone was in +England, Charles became earnest about religion, influenced partly +by the thought that as his brother, to whom he was most warmly +attached, was going abroad, he might never see him again in this +world, and therefore he would prepare to meet him in the next. A +strong desire sprang up in his mind to obtain a liberal education. +Not having the means to get this at home, he was advised by David +to go to America, and endeavor to obtain admission to one of the +colleges there where the students support themselves by manual +labor. To help him in this, David sent him five pounds, which he +had just received from the Society, being the whole of his +quarter's allowance in London. On landing at New York, after +selling his box and bed, Charles found his whole stock of cash to +amount to £2, 13s. 6d. Purchasing a loaf and a piece of +cheese as <i>viaticum</i>, he started for a college at Oberlin, +seven hundred miles off, where Dr. Finney was President. He +contrived to get to the college without having ever begged. In the +third year he entered on a theological course, with the view of +becoming a missionary. He did not wish, and could never agree, as a +missionary, to hold an appointment from an American Society, on +account of the relation of the American Churches to slavery; +therefore he applied to the London Missionary Society. David had +suggested to his father that if Charles was to be a missionary, he +ought to direct his attention to China. Livingstone's first +missionary love had not become cold, and much though he might have +wished to have his brother in Africa, he acted consistently on his +old conviction that there were enough of English missionaries +there, and that China had much more need.</p> +<p>The Directors declined to appoint Charles Livingstone without a +personal visit, which he could not afford to make. This +circumstance led him to accept a pastorate in New England, where he +remained until 1857, when he came to this country and joined his +brother in the Zambesi Expedition. Afterward he was appointed H.M. +Consul at Fernando Po, but being always delicate, he succumbed to +the climate of the country, and died a few months after his +brother, on his way home, in October, 1873. Sir Bartle Frere, as +President of the Royal Geographical Society, paid a deserved +tribute to his affectionate and earnest nature, his consistent +Christian life, and his valuable help to Christian missions and the +African cause generally <a name="FNanchor27"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_27">[27]</a>.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_27"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor27">[27]</a> Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, +1874, p. cxxviii.</blockquote> +<p>Livingstone's relations with the Boers did not improve. He has +gone so fully into this subject in his <i>Missionary Travels</i> +that a very slight reference to it is all that is needed here. It +was at first very difficult for him to comprehend how the most +flagrant injustice and inhumanity to the black race could be +combined, as he found it to be, with kindness and general +respectability, and even with the profession of piety. He only came +to comprehend this when, after more experience, he understood the +demoralization which the slave-system produces. It was necessary +for the Boers to possess themselves of children for servants, and +believing or fancying that in some tribe an insurrection was +plotting, they would fall on that tribe and bring off a number of +the children. The most foul massacres were justified on the ground +that they were necessary to subdue the troublesome tendencies of +the people, and therefore essential to permanent peace. Livingstone +felt keenly that the Boers who came to live among the Bakwains made +no distinction between them and the Caffres, although the Bechuanas +were noted for honesty, and never attacked either Boers or English. +On the principle of elevating vague rumors into alarming facts, the +Boers of the Cashan Mountains, having heard that Sechéle was +possessed of fire-arms (the number of his muskets was five!) +multiplied the number by a hundred, and threatened him with an +invasion. Livingstone, who was accused of supplying these arms, +went to the commandant Krieger, and prevailed upon him to defer the +expedition, but refused point-blank to comply with Krieger's wish +that he should act as a spy on the Bakwains. Threatening messages +continued to be sent to Sechéle, ordering him to surrender +himself, and to prevent English traders from passing through his +country, or selling fire-arms to his people. On one occasion +Livingstone was told by Mr. Potgeiter, a leading Dutchman, that he +would attack any tribe that might receive a native teacher. +Livingstone was so thoroughly identified with the natives that it +became the desire of the colonists to get rid of him and all his +belongings, and complaints were made of him to the Colonial +Government as a dangerous person that ought not to be let +alone.</p> +<p>All this made it very clear to Livingstone that his favorite +plan of planting native teachers to the eastward could not be +carried into effect, at least for the present. His disappointment +in this was only another link in the chain of causes that gave to +the latter part of his life so unlooked-for but glorious a +destination. It set him to inquire whether in some other direction +he might not find a sphere for planting native teachers which the +jealousy of the Boers prevented in the east.</p> +<p>Before we set out with him on the northward journeys, to which +he was led partly by the hostility of the Boers in the east, and +partly by the very distressing failure of rain at Kolobeng, a few +extracts may be given from a record of the period entitled "A +portion of a Journal lost in the destruction of Kolobeng +(September, 1853) by the Boers of Pretorius." Livingstone appears +to have kept journals from an early period of his life with +characteristic care and neatness; but that ruthless and most +atrocious raid of the Boers, which we shall have to notice +hereafter, deprived him of all them up to that date. The treatment +of his books on that occasion was one of the most exasperating of +his trials. Had they been burned or carried off he would have +minded it less; but it was unspeakably provoking to hear of them +lying about with handfuls of leaves torn out of them, or otherwise +mutilated and destroyed. From the wreck of his journals the only +part saved was a few pages containing notes of some occurrences in +1848-49:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>May</i> 20, 1848.--Spoke to Sechéle of the +evil of trusting in medicines instead of God. He felt afraid to +dispute on the subject, and said he would give up all medicine if I +only told him to do so. I was gratified to see symptoms of tender +conscience. May God enlighten him!<br> +<br> +"<i>July 10th</i>.--Entered new house on 4th curt. A great mercy. +Hope it may be more a house of prayer than any we have yet +inhabited.<br> +<br> +"<i>Sunday, August</i> 6.--Sechéle remained as a spectator +at the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and when we retired he +asked me how he ought to act with reference to his superfluous +wives, as he greatly desired to conform to the will of Christ, be +baptized, and observe his ordinances. Advised him to do according +to what he saw written in God's Book, but to treat them gently, for +they had sinned in ignorance, and if driven away hastily might be +lost eternally.<br> +<br> +"<i>Sept</i>. 1.--Much opposition, but none manifested to us as +individuals. Some, however, say it was a pity the lion did not kill +me at Mabotsa. They curse the chief (Sechéle) with very +bitter curses, and these come from the mouths of those whom +Sechéle would formerly have destroyed for a single +disrespectful word. The truth will, by the aid of the Spirit of +God, ultimately prevail.<br> +<br> +"<i>Oct</i>. 1.--Sechéle baptized; also Setefano.<br> +<br> +"<i>Nov</i>.--Long for rains. Everything languishes during the +intense heat; and successive droughts having only occurred since +the Gospel came to the Bakwains, I fear the effect will be +detrimental. There is abundance of rain all around us. And yet we, +who have our chief at our head in attachment to the Gospel, receive +not a drop. Has Satan power over the course of the winds and +clouds? Feel afraid he will obtain an advantage over us, but must +be resigned entirely to the Divine will.<br> +<br> +"<i>Nov</i>. 27.--O Devil! Prince of the power of the air, art thou +hindering us? Greater is He who is for us than all who can be +against us. I intend to proceed with Paul to Mokhatla's. He feels +much pleased with the prospect of forming a new station. May God +Almighty bless the poor unworthy effort! Mebalwe's house finished. +Preparing woodwork for Paul's house.<br> +<br> +"<i>Dec.</i> 16.--Passed by invitation to Hendrick Potgeiter. +Opposed to building a school.... Told him if he hindered the Gospel +the blood of these people would be required at his hand. He became +much excited at this.<br> +<br> +"<i>Dec.</i> 17.--Met Dr. Robertson, of Swellendam. Very friendly. +Boers very violently opposed.... Went to Pilanies. Had large +attentive audiences at two villages when on the way home. Paul and +I looked for a ford in a dry river. Found we had got a she black +rhinoceros between us and the wagon, which was only twenty yards +off. She had calved during the night--a little red beast like a +dog. She charged the wagon, split a spoke and a felloe with her +horn, and then left. Paul and I jumped into a rut, as the guns were +in the wagon."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The black rhinoceros is one of the most dangerous of the wild +beasts of Africa, and travelers stand in great awe of it. The +courage of Dr. Livingstone in exposing himself to the risk of such +animals on this missionary tour was none the less that he himself +says not a word regarding it; but such courage was constantly shown +by him. The following instances are given on the authority of Dr. +Moffat as samples of what was habitual to Dr. Livingstone in the +performance of his duty.</p> +<p>In going through a wood, a party of hunters were startled by the +appearance of a black rhinoceros. The furious beast dashed at the +wagon, and drove his horn into the bowels of the driver, inflicting +a frightful wound. A messenger was despatched in the greatest haste +for Dr. Livingstone, whose house was eight or ten miles distant. +The messenger in his eagerness ran the whole way. Livingstone's +friends were horror-struck at the idea of his riding through the +wood at night, exposed to the rhinoceros and other deadly beasts. +"No, no; you must not think of it, Livingstone; it is certain +death." Livingstone believed it was a Christian duty to try to save +the poor fellow's life, and he resolved to go, happen what might. +Mounting his horse, he rode to the scene of the accident. The man +had died, and the wagon had left, so that there was nothing for +Livingstone but to return and run the risk of the forest anew, +without even the hope that he might be useful in saving life.</p> +<p>Another time, when he and a brother missionary were on a tour a +long way from home, a messenger came to tell his companion that one +of his children was alarmingly ill. It was but natural for him to +desire Livingstone to go back with him. The way lay over a road +infested by lions. Livingstone's life would be in danger; moreover, +as we have seen, he was intensely desirous to examine the fossil +bones at the place. But when his friend expressed the desire for +him to go, he went without hesitation. His firm belief in +Providence sustained him in these as in so many other dangers.</p> +<p>Medical practice was certainly not made easier by what happened +to some of his packages from England. Writing to his father-in-law, +Mr. Moffat (18th January, 1849), he says:</p> +<blockquote>"Most of our boxes which come to us from England are +opened, and usually lightened of their contents. You will perhaps +remember one in which Sechéle's cloak was. It contained, on +leaving Glasgow, besides the articles which came here, a parcel of +surgical instruments which I ordered, and of course paid for. One +of these was a valuable cupping apparatus. The value at which the +instruments were purchased for me was £4, 12s., their real +value much more.<br> +<br> +"The box which you kindly packed for us and despatched to Glasgow +has, we hear, been gutted by the Custom-House thieves, and only a +very few plain karosses left in it. When we see a box which has +been opened we have not half the pleasure which we otherwise should +in unpacking it.... Can you give me any information how these +annoyances may be prevented? Or must we submit to it as one of the +crooked things of this life, which Solomon says cannot be made +straight?"</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Not only in these scenes of active missionary labor, but +everywhere else, Livingstone was in the habit of preaching to the +natives, and conversing seriously with them on religion, his +favorite topics being the love of Christ, the Fatherhood of God, +the resurrection, and the last judgment. His preaching to them, in +Dr. Moffat's judgment, was highly effective. It was simple, +scriptural, conversational, went straight to the point, was well +fitted to arrest the attention, and remarkably adapted to the +capacity of the people. To his father he writes (5th July, 1848): +"For a long time I felt much depressed after preaching the +unsearchable riches of Christ to apparently insensible hearts; but +now I like to dwell on the love of the great Mediator, for it +always warms my own heart, and I know that the gospel is the power +of God--the great means which He employs for the regeneration of +our ruined world."</p> +<p>In the beginning of 1849 Livingstone made the first of a series +of journeys to the north, in the hope of planting native +missionaries among the people. Not to interrupt the continuous +account of these journeys, we may advert here to a visit paid to +him at Kolobeng, on his return from the first of them, in the end +of the year, by Mr. Freeman of the London Missionary Society, who +was at that time visiting the African stations. Mr. Freeman, to +Livingstone's regret, was in favor of keeping up all Colonial +stations, because the London Society alone paid attention to the +black population. He was not much in sympathy with Livingstone.</p> +<blockquote>"Mr. Freeman," he writes confidentially to Mr. Watt, +"gave us no hope to expect any new field to be taken up. +'Expenditure to be reduced in Africa' was the word, when I proposed +the new region beyond us, and there is nobody willing to go except +Mr. Moffat and myself. Six hundred miles additional land-carriage, +mosquitoes in myriads, sparrows by the million, an epidemic +frequently fatal, don't look well in a picture. I am 270 miles from +Kuruman; land-carriage for all that we use makes a fearful inroad +into the £100 of salary, and then 600 miles beyond this makes +one think unutterable things, for nobody likes to call for more +salary. I think the Indian salary ought to be given to those who go +into the tropics. I have a very strong desire to go and reduce the +new language to writing, but I cannot perform impossibilities. I +don't think it quite fair for the Churches to expect their +messenger to live, as if he were the Prodigal Son, on the husks +that the swine do eat, but I should be ashamed to say so to any one +but yourself."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>"I cannot perform impossibilities," said Livingstone; but few +men could come so near doing it. His activity of mind and body at +this outskirt of civilization was wonderful. A Jack-of-all-trades, +he is building houses and schools, cultivating gardens, scheming in +every manner of way how to get water, which in the remarkable +drought of the season becomes scarcer and scarcer; as a missionary +he is holding meetings every other night, preaching on Sundays, and +taking such other opportunities as he can find to gain the people +to Christ; as a medical man he is dealing with the more difficult +cases of disease, those which baffle the native doctors; as a man +of science he is taking observations, collecting specimens, +thinking out geographical, geological, meteorological, and other +problems bearing on the structure and condition of the continent; +as a missionary statesman he is planning how the actual force might +be disposed of to most advantage, and is looking round in this +direction and in that, over hundreds of miles, for openings for +native agents; and to promote these objects he is writing long +letters to the Directors, to the <i>Missionary Chronicle</i> to the +<i>British Banner</i>, to private friends, to any one likely to +take an interest in his plans.</p> +<p>But this does not exhaust his labors. He is deeply interested in +philological studies, and is writing on the Sichuana language:</p> +<blockquote>"I have been hatching a grammar of the Sichuana +language," he writes to Mr. Watt. "It is different in structure +from any other language, except the ancient Egyptian. Most of the +changes are effected by means of prefixes or affixes, the radical +remaining unchanged. Attempts have been made to form grammars, but +all have gone on the principle of establishing a resemblance +between Sichuana, Latin, and Greek; mine is on the principle of +analysing the language without reference to any others. Grammatical +terms are only used when I cannot express my meaning in any other +way. The analysis renders the whole language very simple, and I +believe the principle elicited extends to most of the languages +between this and Egypt. I wish to know whether I could get 20 or 30 +copies printed for private distribution at an expense not beyond my +means. It would be a mere tract, and about the size of this letter +when folded, 40 or 50 pages perhaps <a name= +"FNanchor28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28">[28]</a>. Will you +ascertain the cost, and tell me whether, in the event of my +continuing hot on the subject half a year hence, you would be the +corrector of the press?... Will you examine catalogues to find +whether there is any dictionary of ancient Egyptian within my +means, so that I might purchase and compare? I should not grudge +two or three pounds for it. Professor Vater has written on it, but +I do not know what dictionary he consulted. One Tattam has written +a Coptic grammar; perhaps that has a vocabulary, and might serve my +purpose. I see Tattam advertised by John Russell Smith, 4 Old +Compton Street, Soho, London,--'Tattam (H.), <i>Lexicon +Egyptiaco-Latinum e veteribus linguae Egyptiacae monumentis;</i> +thick 8vo, bds., 10s., Oxf., 1835.' Will you purchase the above for +me?"</blockquote> +<br> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_28"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor28">[28]</a> This gives a correct idea of the length of +many of his letters.</blockquote> +<p>At Mabotsa and Chonuane the Livingstones had spent but a little +time; Kolobeng may be said to have been the only permanent home +they ever had. During these years several of their children were +born, and it was the only considerable period of their lives when +both had their children about them. Looking back afterward on this +period, and its manifold occupations, whilst detained in Manyuema, +in the year 1870, Dr. Livingstone wrote the following striking +words:</p> +<p>#/ "I often ponder over my missionary career among the Bakwains +or Bakwaina, and though conscious of many imperfections, not a +single pang of regret arises in the view of my conduct, except that +I did not feel it to be my duty, while spending all my energy in +teaching the heathen, to devote a special portion of my time to +play with my children. But generally I was so much exhausted with +the mental and manual labor of the day, that in the evening there +was no fun left in me. I did not play with my little ones while I +had them, and they soon sprung up in my absences, and left me +conscious that I had none to play with." #/</p> +<p>The heart that felt this one regret in looking back to this busy +time must have been true indeed to the instincts of a parent. But +Livingstone's case was no exception to that mysterious law of our +life in this world, by which, in so many things, we learn how to +correct our errors only after the opportunity is gone. Of all the +crooks in his lot, that which gave him so short an opportunity of +securing the affections and moulding the character of his children +seems to have been the hardest to bear. His long detention at +Manyuema appears, as we shall see hereafter, to have been spent by +him in learning more completely the lesson of submission to the +will of God; and the hard trial of separation from his family, +entailing on them what seemed irreparable loss, was among the last +of his sorrows over which he was able to write the words with which +he closes the account of his wife's death in the <i>Zambesi and its +Tributaries</i>,--"FIAT, DOMINE, VOLUNTUS TUA!"</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI."></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> +<h3>KOLOBENG <i>continued</i>--LAKE 'NGAMI.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1849-1852.</center> +<p>Kolobeng failing through drought--Sebituane's country and the +Lake 'Ngami--Livingstone sets out with Messrs. Oswell and +Murray--Rivers Zouga and Tamanak'le--Old ideas of the interior +revolutionized--Enthusiasm of Livingstone--Discovers Lake +'Ngami--Obliged to return--Prize from Royal Geographical +Society--Second expedition to the lake, with wife and +children--Children attacked by fever--Again obliged to +return--Conviction as to healthier spot beyond--Idea of finding +passage to sea either west or east--Birth and death of a +child--Family visits Kuruman--Third expedition, again with +family--He hopes to find a new locality--Perils of the journey--He +reaches Sebituane--The chiefs illness and death--Distress of +Livingstone--Mr. Oswell and he go on the Linyanti--Discovery of the +Upper Zambesi--No locality found for settlement--More extended +journey necessary--He returns--Birth of Oswald Livingstone--Crisis +in Livingstone's life--His guiding principles--New plans--The +Makololo begin to practice slave-trade--New thoughts about +commerce--Letters to Directors--The Bakwains--<i>Pros</i> and +<i>cons</i> of his new plan--His unabated missionary zeal--He goes +with his family to the Cape--His literary activity.</p> +<br> +<p>When Sechéle turned back after going so far with +Livingstone eastward, it appeared that his courage had failed him. +"Will you go with me northward?" Livingstone once asked him, and it +turned out that he was desirous to do so. He wished to see +Sebituane, a great chief living to the north of Lake 'Ngami, who +had saved his life in his infancy, and otherwise done him much +service. Sebituane was a man of great ability, who had brought a +vast number of tribes into subjection, and now ruled over a very +extensive territory, being one of the greatest magnates of Africa. +Livingstone, too, had naturally a strong desire to become +acquainted with so influential a man. The fact of his living near +the lake revived the project that had slumbered for years in his +mind--to be the first of the missionaries who should look on its +waters. At Kolobeng, too, the settlement was in such straits, owing +to the excessive drought which dried up the very river, that the +people would be compelled to leave it and settle elsewhere. The +want of water, and consequently of food, in the gardens, obliged +the men to be absent collecting locusts, so that there was hardly +any one to come either to church or school. Even the observance of +the Sabbath broke down. If Kolobeng should have to be abandoned, +where would Livingstone go next? It was certainly worth his while +to look if a suitable locality could not be found in Sebituane's +territory. He had resolved that he would not stay with the Bakwains +always. If the new region were not suitable for himself, he might +find openings for native teachers; at all events, he would go +northward and see. Just before he started, messengers came to him +from Lechulatebe, chief of the people of the lake, asking him to +visit his country, and giving such an account of the quantity of +ivory that the cupidity of the Bakwain guides was roused, and they +became quite eager to be there.</p> +<p>On 1st June, 1849, Livingstone accordingly set out from +Kolobeng. Sechéle was not of the party, but two English +hunting friends accompanied him, Mr. Oswell and Mr. Murray--Mr. +Oswell generously defraying the cost of the guides. Sekomi, a +neighboring chief who secretly wished the expedition to fail, lest +his monopoly of the ivory should be broken up, remonstrated with +them for rushing on to certain death--they must be killed by the +sun and thirst, and if he did not stop them, people would blame him +for the issue. "No fear," said Livingstone, "people will only blame +our own stupidity."</p> +<p>The great Kalahari desert, of which Livingstone has given so +full an account, lay between them and the lake. They passed along +its northeast border, and had traversed about half of the distance, +when one day it seemed most unexpectedly that they had got to their +journey's end. Mr. Oswell was a little in advance, and having +cleared an intervening thick belt of trees, beheld in the soft +light of the setting sun what seemed a magnificent lake twenty +miles in circumference; and at the sight threw his hat in the air, +and raised a shout which made the Bakwains think him mad. He +fancied it was 'Ngami, and, indeed, it was a wonderful deception, +caused by a large salt-pan gleaming in the light of the sun; in +fact, the old, but ever new phenomenon of the mirage. The real +'Ngami was yet 300 miles farther on.</p> +<p>Livingstone has given ample details of his progress in the +<i>Missionary Travels</i>, dwelling especially on his joy when he +reached the beautiful river Zouga, whose waters flowed from 'Ngami. +Providence frustrated an attempt to rouse ill-feeling against him +on the part of two men who had been sent by Sekomi, apparently to +help him, but who now went before him and circulated a report that +the object of the travelers was to plunder all the tribes living on +the river and the lake. Half-way up, the principal man was attacked +by fever, and died; the natives thought it a judgment, and seeing +through Sekomi's reason for wishing the expedition not to succeed, +they by and by became quite friendly, under Livingstone's fair and +kind treatment.</p> +<p>A matter of great significance in his future history occurred at +the junction of the rivers Tamanak'le and Zouga:</p> +<blockquote>"I inquired," he says, "whence the Tamanak'le came. +'Oh! from a country full of rivers,--so many, no one can tell their +number, and full of large trees.' This was the first confirmation +of statements I had heard from the Bakwains who had been with +Sebituane, that the country beyond was not the 'large sandy +plateau' of the philosophers. The prospect of a highway, capable of +being traversed by boats to an entirely unexplored and very +populous region, grew from that time forward stronger and stronger +in my mind; so much so, that when we actually came to the lake, +this idea occupied such a large portion of my mental vision, that +the actual discovery seemed of but little importance. I find I +wrote, when the emotions caused by the magnificent prospects of the +new country were first awakened in my breast, that they might +subject me to the charge of enthusiasm, a charge which I deserved, +as nothing good or great had ever been accomplished in the world +without it <a name="FNanchor29"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_29">[29]</a>.'"</blockquote> +<br> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_29"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor29">[29]</a> <i>Missionary Travels</i>, p. +65.</blockquote> +<p>Twelve days after, the travelers came to the northeast end of +Lake 'Ngami, and it was on 1st August, 1849, that this fine sheet +of water was beheld for the first time by Europeans. It was of such +magnitude that they could not see the farther shore, and they could +only guess its size from the reports of the natives that it took +three days to go round it.</p> +<p>Lechulatebe, the chief who had sent him the invitation, was +quite a young man, and his reception by no means corresponded to +what the invitation implied. He had no idea of Livingstone going on +to Sebituane, who lived two hundred miles farther north, and +perhaps supplying him with fire-arms which would make him a more +dangerous neighbor. He therefore refused Livingstone guides to +Sebituane, and sent men to prevent him from crossing the river. +Livingstone was not to be baulked, and worked many hours in the +river trying to make a raft out of some rotten wood,--at the +imminent risk of his life, as he afterward found, for the Zouga +abounds with alligators. The season was now far advanced, and as +Mr. Oswell volunteered to go down to the Cape and bring up a boat +next year, the expedition was abandoned for the time.</p> +<p>Returning home by the Zouga, they had better opportunity to mark +the extraordinary richness of the country, and the abundance and +luxuriance of its products, both animal and vegetable. Elephants +existed in crowds, and ivory was so abundant that a trader was +purchasing it at the rate of ten tusks for a musket worth fifteen +shillings. Two years later, after effect had been given to +Livingstone's discovery, the price had risen very greatly.</p> +<p>Writing to his friend Watt, he dwells with delight on the river +Zouga:</p> +<blockquote>"It is a glorious river; you never saw anything so +grand. The banks are extremely beautiful, lined with gigantic +trees, many quite new. One bore a fruit a foot in length and three +inches in diameter. Another measured seventy feet in circumference. +Apart from the branches it looked like a mass of granite; and then +the Bakoba in their canoes--did I not enjoy sailing in them? +Remember how long I have been in a parched-up land, and answer. The +Bakoba are a fine frank race of men, and seem to understand the +message better than any people to whom I have spoken on Divine +subjects for the first time. What think you of a navigable highway +into a large section of the interior? yet that the Tamanak'le +is.... Who will go into that goodly land? Who? Is it not the Niger +of this part of Africa?... I greatly enjoyed sailing in their +canoes, rude enough things, hollowed out of the trunks of single +trees, and visiting the villages along the Zouga. I felt but little +when I looked on the lake; but the Zouga and Tamanak'le awakened +emotions not to be described. I hope to go up the latter next +year."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The discovery of the lake and the river was communicated to the +Royal Geographical Society in extracts from Livingstone's letters +to the London Missionary Society, and to his friend and former +fellow-traveler, Captain Steele. In 1849 the Society voted him a +sum of twenty-five guineas "for his successful journey, in company +with Messrs. Oswell and Murray, across the South African desert, +for the discovery of an interesting country, a fine river, and an +extensive inland lake." In addressing Dr. Tidman and Alderman +Challis, who represented the London Missionary Society, the +President (the late Captain, afterward Rear-Admiral, W. Smyth, +R.N., who distinguished himself in early life by his journey across +the Andes to Lima, and thence to the Atlantic) adverted to the +value of the discoveries in themselves, and in the influence they +would have on the regions beyond. He spoke also of the help which +Livingstone had derived as an explorer from his influence as a +missionary. The journey he had performed successfully had hitherto +baffled the best-furnished travelers. In 1834, an expedition under +Dr. Andrew Smith, the largest and best-appointed that ever left +Cape Town, had gone as far as 23° south latitude; but that +proved to be the utmost distance they could reach, and they were +compelled to return. Captain Sir James E. Alexander, the only +scientific traveler subsequently sent out from England by the +Geographical Society, in despair of the lake, and of discovery by +the oft-tried eastern route, explored the neighborhood of the +western coast instead <a name="FNanchor30"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_30">[30]</a>. The President frankly ascribed +Livingstone's success to the influence he had acquired as a +missionary among the natives, and Livingstone thoroughly believed +this. "The lake," he wrote to his friend Watt, "belongs to +missionary enterprise." "Only last year," he subsequently wrote to +the Geographical Society, "a party of engineers, in about thirty +wagons, made many and persevering efforts to cross the desert at +different points, but though inured to the climate, and stimulated +by the prospect of gain from the ivory they expected to procure, +they were compelled, for want of water, to give up the +undertaking." The year after Livingstone's first visit, Mr. Francis +Galton tried, but failed, to reach the lake, though he was so +successful in other directions as to obtain the Society's gold +medal in 1852.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_30"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor30">[30]</a> Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, +vol. xx. p. xxviii.</blockquote> +<p>Livingstone was evidently gratified at the honor paid him, and +the reception of the twenty-five guineas from the Queen. But the +gift had also a comical side. It carried him back to the days of +his Radical youth, when he and his friends used to criticise pretty +sharply the destination of the nation's money. "The Royal +Geographical Society," he writes to his parents (4th December, +1850), "have awarded twenty-five guineas for the discovery of the +lake. It is from the Queen. You must be very loyal, all of you. +Next time she comes your way, shout till you are hoarse. Oh, you +Radicals, don't be thinking it came out of your pockets! Long live +Victoria <a name="FNanchor31"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_31">[31]</a>!"</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_31"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor31">[31]</a> In a more serious vein he wrote in a +previous letter: "I wonder you do not go to see the Queen. I was as +disloyal as others when in England, for though I might have seen +her in London, I never went. Do you ever pray for her?" This letter +is dated 5th February, 1850, and must have been written before he +heard of the prize.</blockquote> +<p>Defeated in his endeavor to reach Sebituane in 1849, +Livingstone, the following season, put in practice his favorite +maxim, "Try again." He left Kolobeng in April, 1850, and this time +he was accompanied by Sechéle, Mebalwe, twenty Bakwains, +Mrs. Livingstone, and their whole troop of infantry, which now +amounted to three. Traveling in the charming climate of South +Africa in the roomy wagon, at the pace of two miles and a half an +hour, is not like traveling at home; but it was a proof of +Livingstone's great unwillingness to be separated from his family, +that he took them with him, notwithstanding the risk of mosquitoes, +fever, and want of water. The people of Kolobeng were so engrossed +at the time with their employments, that till harvest was over, +little missionary work could be done.</p> +<p>The journey was difficult, and on the northern branch of the +Zouga many trees had to be cut down to allow the wagons to pass. +The presence of a formidable enemy was reported on the banks of the +Tamanak'le,--the tsetse-fly, whose bite is so fatal to oxen. To +avoid it, another route had to be chosen. When they got near the +lake, it was found that fever had recently attacked a party of +Englishmen, one of whom had died, while the rest recovered under +the care of Dr. and Mrs. Livingstone. Livingstone took his family +to have a peep at the lake; "the children," he wrote, "took to +playing in it as ducklings do. Paidling in it was great fun." Great +fun to them, who had seen little enough water for a while; and in a +quiet way, great fun to their father too,--his own children +"paidling" in his own lake! He was beginning to find that in a +missionary point of view, the presence of his wife and children was +a considerable advantage; it inspired the natives with confidence, +and promoted tender feelings and kind relations. The chief, +Lechulatebe, was at last propitiated at a considerable sacrifice, +having taken a fancy to a valuable rifle of Livingstone's, the gift +of a friend, which could not be replaced. The chief vowed that if +he got it he would give Livingstone everything he wished, and +protect and feed his wife and children into the bargain, while he +went on to Sebituane. Livingstone at once handed him the gun. "It +is of great consequence," he said, "to gain the confidence of these +fellows at the beginning." It was his intention that Mrs. +Livingstone and the children should remain at Lechulatebe's until +he should have returned. But the scheme was upset by an outburst of +fever. Among others, two of the children were attacked. There was +no help but to go home. The gun was left behind in the hope that +ere long Livingstone would get back to claim the fulfillment of the +chiefs promise. It was plain that the neighborhood of the lake was +not habitable by Europeans. Hence a fresh confirmation of his views +as to the need of native agency, if intertropical Africa was ever +to be Christianized.</p> +<p>But Livingstone was convinced that there must be a healthier +spot to the north. Writing to Mr. Watt (18th August, 1850), he not +only expresses this conviction, but gives the ground on which it +rested. The extract which we subjoin gives a glimpse of the +sagacity that from apparently little things drew great conclusions; +but more than that, it indicates the birth of the great idea that +dominated the next period of Livingstone's life--the desire and +determination to find a passage to the sea, either on the east or +the west coast:</p> +<blockquote>"A more salubrious climate must exist farther up to the +north, and that the country is higher, seems evident from the fact +mentioned by the Bakoba, that the water of the Teoge, the river +that falls into the 'Ngami at the northwest point of it, flows with +great rapidity. Canoes ascending, punt all the way, and the men +must hold on by reeds in order to prevent their being carried down +by the current. Large trees, spring-bucks and other antelopes are +sometimes brought down by it. Do you wonder at my pressing on in +the way we have done? The Bechuana mission has been carried on in a +<i>cul-de-sac.</i> I tried to break through by going among the +Eastern tribes, but the Boers shut up that field. A French +missionary, Mr. Fredoux, of Motito, tried to follow on my trail to +the Bamangwato, but was turned back by a party of armed Boers. When +we burst through the barrier on the north, it appeared very plain +that no mission could be successful there, unless we could get a +well-watered country leaving a passage to the sea on either the +east or west coast. This project I am almost afraid to meet, but +nothing else will do. I intend (D.V.) to go in next year and remain +a twelvemonth. My wife, poor soul--I pity her!--proposed to let me +go for that time while she remained at Kolobeng. You will pray for +us both during that period."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>A week later (August 24, 1850) he writes to the Directors that +no convenient access to the region can be obtained from the south, +the lake being 870 miles from Kuruman:</p> +<blockquote>"We must have a passage to the sea on either the +eastern or western coast. I have hitherto been afraid to broach the +subject on which my perhaps dreamy imagination dwells. You at home +are accustomed to look on a project as half finished when you have +received the co-operation of the ladies. My better half has +promised me a twelvemonth's leave of absence for mine. Without +promising anything, I mean to follow a useful motto in many +circumstances, and <i>Try again</i>."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>On returning to Kolobeng, Mrs. Livingstone was delivered of a +daughter--her fourth child. An epidemic was raging at the time, and +the child was seized and cut off, at the age of six weeks. The +loss, or rather the removal, of the child affected Livingstone +greatly. "It was the first death in our family," he says in his +Journal, "but was just as likely to have happened had we remained +at home, and We have now one of our number in heaven."</p> +<p>To his parents he writes (4th December, 1850):</p> +<blockquote>"Our last child, a sweet little girl with blue eyes, +was taken from us to join the company of the redeemed, through the +merits of Him of whom she never heard. It is wonderful how soon the +affections twine round a little stranger. We felt her loss keenly. +She was attacked by the prevailing sickness, which attacked many +native children, and bore up under it for a fortnight. We could not +apply remedies to one so young, except the simplest. She uttered a +piercing cry previous to expiring, and then went away to see the +King in his beauty, and the land--the glorious land, and its +inhabitants. Hers is the first grave in all that country marked as +the resting-place of one of whom it is believed and confessed that +she shall live again."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Mrs. Livingstone had an attack of serious illness, accompanied +by paralysis of the right side of the face, and rest being +essential for her, the family went, for a time, to Kuruman. Dr. +Livingstone had a strong desire to go to the Cape for the excision +of his uvula, which had long been troublesome. But, with +characteristic self-denial, he put his own case out of view, +staying with his wife, that she might have the rest and attention +she needed. He tried to persuade his father-in-law to perform the +operation, and, under his direction, Dr. Moffat went so far as to +make a pair of scissors for the purpose; but his courage, so well +tried in other fields, was not equal to the performance of such a +surgical operation.</p> +<p>Some glimpses of Livingstone's musings at this time, showing, +among other things, how much more he thought of his spiritual than +his Highland ancestry, occur in a letter to his parents, written +immediately after his return from his second visit to the lake +(28th July, 1850). If they should carry out their project of +emigration to America, they would have an interesting family +gathering:</p> +<blockquote>"One, however, will be 'over the hills and far away' +from your happy meeting. The meeting which we hope will take place +in Heaven will be unlike a happy one, in so far as earthly +relationships are concerned. One will be so much taken up in +looking at Jesus, I don't know when we shall be disposed to sit +down and talk about the days of lang syne. And then there will be +so many notables whom we should like to notice and shake hands +with--Luke, for instance, the beloved physician, and Jeremiah, and +old Job, and Noah, and Enoch, that if you are wise, you will make +the most of your union while you are together, and not fail to +write me fully, while you have the opportunity here....<br> +<br> +"Charles thinks we are not the descendants of the Puritans. I don't +know what you are, but I am. And if you dispute it, I shall stick +to the answer of a poor little boy before a magistrate. M.--'Who +were your parents?' <i>Boy</i> (rubbing his eyes with his +jacket-sleeve)--'Never had none, sir.' Dr. Wardlaw says that the +Scotch Independents are the descendants of the Puritans, and I +suppose the pedigree is through Rowland Hill and Whitefield. But I +was a member of the very church in which John Howe, the chaplain of +Oliver Cromwell, preached, and exercised the pastorate. I was +ordained, too, by English Independents. Moreover, I am a Doctor +too. Agnes and Janet, get up this moment and curtsy to his +Reverence! John and Charles, remember the dream of the sheaves! +<i>I</i> descended from kilts and Donald Dhus? Na, na, I won't +believe it.<br> +<br> +"We have a difficult, difficult field to cultivate here. All I can +say is, that I think knowledge is increasing. But for the belief +that the Holy Spirit works, and will work for us, I should give up +in despair. Remember us in your prayers, that we grow not weary in +well-doing. It is hard to work for years with pure motives, and all +the time be looked on by most of those to whom our lives are +devoted, as having some sinister object in view. Disinterested +labor--benevolence--is so out of their line of thought, that many +look upon us as having some ulterior object in view. But He who +died for us, and whom we ought to copy, did more for us than we can +do for any one else. He endured the contradiction of sinners. May +we have grace to follow in his steps!'</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The third, and at last successful, effort to reach Sebituane was +made in April, 1851. Livingstone was again accompanied by his +family, and by Mr. Oswell. He left Kolobeng with the intention not +to return, at least not immediately, but to settle with his family +in such a spot as might be found advantageous, in the hilly region, +of whose existence he was assured. They found the desert drier than +ever, no rain having fallen throughout an immense extent of +territory. To the kindness of Mr. Oswell the party was indebted for +most valuable assistance in procuring water, wells having been dug +or cleared by his people beforehand at various places, and at one +place at the hazard of Mr. Oswell's life, under an attack from an +infuriated lioness. In his private Journal, and in his letters to +home, Livingstone again and again acknowledges with deepest +gratitude the numberless acts of kindness done by Mr. Oswell to him +and his family, and often adds the prayer that God would reward +him, and of His grace give him the highest of all blessings. +"Though I cannot repay, I may record with gratitude his kindness, +so that, if spared to look upon these, my private memoranda, in +future years, proper emotions may ascend to Him who inclined his +heart to show so much friendship."</p> +<p>The party followed the old route, around the bed of the Zouga, +then crossed a piece of the driest desert they had ever seen, with +not an insect or a bird to break the stillness. On the third day a +bird chirped in a bush, when the dog began to bark! Shobo, their +guide, a Bushman, lost his way, and for four days they were +absolutely without water. In his <i>Missionary Travels</i>, +Livingstone records quietly, as was his wont his terrible anxiety +about his children.</p> +<blockquote>"The supply of water in the wagons had been wasted by +one of our servants, and by the afternoon only a small portion +remained for the children. This was a bitterly anxious night; and +next morning, the less there was of water, the more thirsty the +little rogues became. The idea of their perishing before our eyes +was terrible; it would almost have been a relief to me to have been +reproached with being the entire cause of the catastrophe, but not +one syllable of upbraiding was uttered by their mother, though the +tearful eye told the agony within. In the afternoon of the fifth +day, to our inexpressible relief, some of the men returned with a +supply of that fluid of which we had never before felt the true +value."<br> +<br> +"No one," he remarks in his Journal, "knows the value of water till +be is deprived of it. We never need any spirits to qualify it, or +prevent an immense draught of it from doing us harm. I have drunk +water swarming with insects, thick with mud, putrid from other +mixtures, and no stinted draughts of it either, yet never felt any +inconvenience from it."<br> +<br> +"My opinion is," he said on another occasion, "that the most severe +labors and privations may be undergone without alcoholic stimulus, +because those who have endured the most had nothing else but water, +and not always enough of that."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>One of the great charms of Livingstone's character, and one of +the secrets of his power--his personal interest in each individual, +however humble--appeared in connection with Shobo, the Bushman +guide, who misled them and took the blunder so coolly. "What a +wonderful people," he says in his Journal, "the Bushmen are! always +merry and laughing, and never telling lies wantonly like the +Bechuana. They have more of the appearance of worship than any of +the Bechuana. When will these dwellers in the wilderness bow down +before their Lord? No man seems to care for the Bushman's soul. I +often wished I knew their language, but never more than when we +traveled with our Bushman guide, Shobo."</p> +<p>Livingstone had given a fair trial to the experiment of +traveling along with his family. In one of his letters at this time +he speaks of the extraordinary pain caused by the mosquitoes of +those parts, and of his children being so covered with their bites, +that not a square inch of whole skin was to be found on their +bodies. It is no wonder that he gave up the idea of carrying them +with him in the more extended journey he was now contemplating. He +could not leave them at Kolobeng, exposed to the raids of the +Boers; to Kuruman there were also invincible objections; the only +possible plan was to send them to England, though he hoped that +when he got settled in some suitable part of Sebituane's dominions, +with a free road to the sea, they would return to him, and help him +to bring the people to Christ.</p> +<p>In the <i>Missionary Travels</i> Livingstone has given a full +account of Sebituane, chief of the Makololo, "unquestionably the +greatest man in all that country"--his remarkable career, his +wonderful warlike exploits (for which he could always bring forward +justifying reasons), his interesting and attractive character, and +wide and powerful influence. In one thing Sebituane was very like +Livingstone himself; he had the art of gaining the affections both +of his own people and of strangers. When a party of poor men came +to his town to sell hoes or skins, he would sit down among them, +talk freely and pleasantly to them, and probably cause some lordly +dish to be brought, and give them a feast on it, perhaps the first +they had ever shared. Delighted beyond measure with his affability +and liberality, they felt their hearts warm toward him; and as he +never allowed a party of strangers to go away without giving every +one of them--servants and all--a present, his praises were sounded +far and wide. "He has a heart! he is wise!" were the usual +expressions Livingstone heard before he saw him.</p> +<p>Sebituane received Livingstone with great kindness, for it had +been one of the dreams of his life to have intercourse with the +white man. He placed full confidence in him from the beginning, and +was ready to give him everything he might need. On the first Sunday +when the usual service was held he was present, and Livingstone was +very thankful that he was there, for it turned out to be the only +proclamation of the gospel he ever heard. For just after realizing +what he had so long and ardently desired, he was seized with severe +inflammation of the lungs, and died after a fortnight's illness. +Livingstone, being a stranger, feared to prescribe, lest, in the +event of his death, he should be accused of having caused it. On +visiting him, and seeing that he was dying, he spoke a few words +respecting hope after death. But being checked by the attendants +for introducing the subject, he could only commend his soul to God. +The last words of Sebituane were words of kindness to Livingstone's +son: "Take him to Maunku (one of his wives) and tell her to give +him some milk." Livingstone was deeply affected by his death. A +deeper sense of brotherhood, a warmer glow of affection had been +kindled in his heart toward Sebituane than had seemed possible. +With his very tender conscience and deep sense of spiritual +realities, Livingstone was afraid, as in the case of Sehamy eight +years before, that he had not spoken to him so pointedly as he +might have done. It is awfully affecting to follow him into the +unseen world, of which he had heard for the first time just before +he was called away. In his Journal, Livingstone gives way to his +feelings as he very seldom allowed himself to do. His words bring +to mind David's lament for Jonathan or for Absalom, although he had +known Sebituane less than a month, and he was one of the race whom +many Boers and slave-stealers regarded as having no souls:</p> +<blockquote>"Poor Sebituane, my heart bleeds for thee; and what +would I not do for thee now? I will weep for thee till the day of +my death. Little didst thou think when, in the visit of the white +man, thou sawest the long cherished desires of years accomplished, +that the sentence of death had gone forth! Thou thoughtest that +thou shouldest procure a weapon from the white man which would be a +shield from the attacks of the fierce Matebele; but a more deadly +dart than theirs was aimed at thee; and though, thou couldest well +ward off a dart--none ever better--thou didst not see that of the +king of terrors. I will weep for thee, my brother, and I will cast +forth my sorrows in despair for thy condition! But I know that thou +wilt receive no injustice whither thou art gone; 'Shall not the +Judge of all the earth do right?' I leave thee to Him. Alas! alas! +Sebituane. I might have said more to him. God forgive me. Free me +from blood-guiltiness. If I had said more of death I might have +been suspected as having foreseen the event, and as guilty of +bewitching him. I might have recommended Jesus and his great +atonement more. It is, however, very difficult to break through the +thick crust of ignorance which envelops their minds."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The death of Sebituane was a great blow in another sense. The +region over which his influence extended was immense, and he had +promised to show it to Livingstone and to select a suitable +locality for his residence. This heathen chief would have given to +Christ's servant what the Boers refused him! Livingstone would have +had his wish--an entirely new country to work upon, where the name +of Christ had never yet been spoken. So at least he thought. +Sebituane's successor in the chiefdom was his daughter, +Ma-mochisane. From her he received liberty to visit any part of the +country he chose. While waiting for a reply (she was residing at a +distance), he one day fell into a great danger from an elephant +which had come on him unexpectedly. "We were startled by his coming +a little way in the direction in which we were standing, but he did +not give us chase. I have had many escapes. We seem immortal till +our work is done."</p> +<p>Mr. Oswell and he then proceeded in a northeasterly direction, +passing through the town of Linyanti, and on the 3d of August they +came on the beautiful river at Seshéke:</p> +<blockquote>"We thanked God for permitting us to see this glorious +river. All we said to each other was 'How glorious! how +magnificent! how beautiful!'... In crossing, the waves lifted up +the canoe and made it roll beautifully. The scenery of the Firths +of Forth and Clyde was brought vividly to my view, and had I been +fond of indulging in sentimental effusions, my lachrymal apparatus +seemed fully charged. But then the old man who was conducting us +across might have said, 'What on earth are you blubbering for? +Afraid of these crocodiles, eh?' The little sentimentality which +exceeded was forced to take its course down the inside of the nose. +We have other work in this world than indulging in sentimentality +of the 'Sonnet to the Moon' variety."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The river, which went here by the name of Seshéke, was +found to be the Zambesi, which had not previously been known to +exist in that region. In writing about it to his brother Charles, +he says, "It was the first <i>river</i> I ever saw." Its discovery +in this locality constituted one of the great geographical feats +with which the name of Livingstone is connected. He heard of rapids +above, and of great water-falls below; but it was reserved for him +on a future visit to behold the great Victoria Falls, which in the +popular imagination have filled a higher place than many of his +more useful discoveries.</p> +<p>The travelers were still a good many days' distance from +Ma-mochisane, without whose presence nothing could be settled; but +besides, the reedy banks of the rivers were found to be unsuitable +for a settlement, and the higher regions were too much exposed to +the attacks of Mosilikatse. Livingstone saw no prospect of +obtaining a suitable station, and with great reluctance he made up +his mind to retrace the weary road, and return to Kolobeng. The +people were very anxious for him to stay, and offered to make a +garden for him, and to fulfill Sebituane's promise to give him oxen +in return for those killed by the tsetse.</p> +<p>Setting out with the wagons on 13th August, 1851, the party +proceeded slowly homeward. On 15th September, 1851, Livingstone's +Journal has this unexpected and simple entry: "A son, William +Oswell Livingstone <a name="FNanchor32"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_32">[32]</a>, born at a place we always call Bellevue." +On the 18th: "Thomas attacked by fever; removed to a high part on +his account. Thomas was seized with fever three times at about an +interval of a fortnight." Not a word about Mrs. Livingstone, but +three pages of observations about medical treatment of fever, +thunderstorms, constitutions of Indian and African people, leanness +of the game, letter received from Directors approving generally of +his course, a gold watch sent by Captain Steele, and Gordon +Cumming's book, "a miserably poor thing." Amazed, we ask, Had +Livingstone any heart? But ere long we come upon a copy of a +letter, and some remarks connected with it, that give us an +impression of the depth and strength of his nature, unsurpassed by +anything that has yet occurred.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_32"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor32">[32]</a> He had intended to call him Charles, and +announced this to his father; but, finding that Mr. Oswell, to whom +he was so much indebted, would be pleased with the compliment, he +changed his purpose and the name accordingly.</blockquote> +<p>"The following extracts," he says, "show in what light our +efforts are regarded by those who, as much as we do, desire that +the 'gospel may be preached to all nations,'" Then follows a copy +of a letter which had been addressed to him before they set out by +Mrs. Moffat, his mother-in-law, remonstrating in the strongest +terms against his plan of taking his wife with him; reminding him +of the death of the child, and other sad occurrences of last year; +and in the name of everything that was just, kind, and even decent, +beseeching him to abandon an arrangement which all the world would +condemn. Another letter from the same writer informed him that much +prayer had been offered that, if the arrangements were not in +accordance with Christian propriety, he might in great mercy be +prevented by some dispensation of Providence from carrying them +out. Mrs. Moffat was a woman of the highest gifts and character, +and full of admiration for Livingstone. The insertion of these +letters in his Journal shows that, in carrying out his plan, the +objections to which it was liable were before his mind in the +strongest conceivable form. No man who knows what Livingstone was +will imagine for a moment that he had not the most tender regard +for the health, the comfort, and the feelings of his wife; in +matters of delicacy he had the most scrupulous regard to propriety; +his resolution to take her with him must, therefore, have sprung +from something far stronger than even his affection for her. What +was this stronger force?</p> +<p>It was his inviolable sense of duty, and his indefeasible +conviction that his Father in heaven would not forsake him whilst +pursuing a course in obedience to his will, and designed to advance +the welfare of his children. As this furnishes the key to +Livingstone's future life, and the answer to one of the most +serious objections ever brought against it, it is right to spend a +little time in elucidating the principles by which he was +guided.</p> +<p>There was a saying of the late Sir Herbert Edwardes which he +highly valued: "He who has to act on his own responsibility is a +slave if he does not act on his own judgment." Acting on this +maxim, he must set aside the views of others as to his duty, +provided his own judgment was clear regarding it. He must even set +aside the feelings and apparent interest of those dearest to him, +because duty was above everything else. His faith in God convinced +him that, in the long run, it could never be the worse for him and +his that he had firmly done his duty. All true faith has in it an +element of venture, and in Livingstone's faith this element was +strong. Trusting God, he could expose to venture even the health, +comfort, and welfare of his wife and children. He was convinced +that it was his duty to go forth with them and seek a new station +for the Gospel in Sebituane's country. If this was true, God would +take care of them, and it was "better to trust in the Lord than to +put confidence in man." People thoughtlessly accused him of making +light of the interests of his family. No man suffered keener pangs +from the course he had to follow concerning them, and no man +pondered more deeply what duty to them required.</p> +<p>But to do all this, Livingstone must have had a very clear +perception of the course of duty. This is true. But how did he get +this? First, his singleness of heart, so to speak, attracted the +light: "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of +light." Then, he was very clear and very minute in his prayers. +Further, he was most careful to scan all the providential +indications that might throw light on the Divine will. And when he +had been carried so far on in the line of duty, he had a strong +presumption that the line would be continued, and that he would not +be called to turn back. It was in front, not in rear, that he +expected to find the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. In +course of time, this hardened into a strong instinctive habit, +which almost dispensed with the process of reasoning.</p> +<p>In Dean Stanley's <i>Sinai and Palestine</i> allusion is made to +a kindred experience,--that which bore Abraham from Chaldea, Moses +from Egypt, and the greater part of the tribes from the comfortable +pastures of Gilead and Bashan to the rugged hill-country of Judah +and Ephraim. Notwithstanding all the attractions of the richer +countries, they were borne onward and forward, not knowing whither +they went; instinctively feeling that they were fulfilling the high +purposes to which they were called. In the later part of +Livingstone's life, the necessity of going forward to the close of +the career that had opened for him seemed to settle the whole +question of duty.</p> +<p>But at this earlier stage, he had been conscientiously +scrutinizing all that had any bearing on that question; and now +that he finds himself close to his home, and can thank God for the +safe confinement of his wife, and the health of the new-born child, +he gathers together all the providences that showed that in this +journey, which excited such horror even among his best friends, he +had after all been following the guidance of his Father. First, in +the matter of guides, he had been wonderfully helped, +notwithstanding a deep plot to deprive him of any. Then there was +the sickness of Sekómi, whose interest had been secured +through his going to see him, and prescribing for him; this had +propitiated one of the tribes. The services of Shobo, too, and the +selection of the northern route, proposed by Kamati, had been of +great use. Their going to Seshéke, and their detention for +two months, thus allowing them time to collect information +respecting the whole country; the river Chobe not rising at its +usual time; the saving of Livingstone's oxen from the tsetse, +notwithstanding their detention on the Zouga; his not going with +Mr. Oswell to a place where the tsetse destroyed many of the oxen; +the better health of Mrs. Livingstone during her confinement than +in any previous one; a very opportune present they had got, just +before her confinement, of two bottles of wine <a name= +"FNanchor33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33">[33]</a>; the approbation +of the Directors, the presentation of a gold watch by Captain +Steele, the kind attentions of Mr. Oswell, and the cookery of one +of their native servants named George; the recovery of Thomas, +whereas at Kuruman a child had been cut off; the commencement of +the rains, just as they were leaving the river, and the request of +Mr. Oswell that they should draw upon him for as much money as they +should need, were all among the indications that a faithful and +protecting Father in heaven had been ordering their path, and would +order it in like manner in all time to come.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_33"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor33">[33]</a> In writing to his father, Livingstone +mentions that the wine was a gift from Mrs. Bysshe Shelley, in +acknowledgment of his aid in repairing a wheel of her +wagon.</blockquote> +<p>Writing at this time to his father-in-law, Mr. Moffat, he said, +after announcing the birth of Oswell: "What you say about +difference of opinion is true. In my past life, I have always +managed to think for myself, and act accordingly. I have +occasionally met with people who took it on themselves to act for +me, and they have offered their thoughts with an emphatic 'I +think'; but I have excused them on the score of being a little +soft-headed in believing they could think both for me and +themselves."</p> +<p>While Kolobeng was Livingstone's headquarters, a new trouble +rose upon the mission horizon. The Makololo (as Sebituane's people +were called) began to practice the slave-trade. It arose simply +from their desire to possess guns. For eight old muskets they had +given to a neighboring tribe eight boys, that had been taken from +their enemies in war, being the only article for which the guns +could be got. Soon after, in a fray against another tribe, two +hundred captives were taken, and, on returning, the Makololo met +some Arab traders from Zanzibar, who for three muskets received +about thirty of their captives.</p> +<p>Another of the master ideas of his life now began to take hold +upon Livingstone. Africa was exposed to a terrible evil through the +desire of the natives to possess articles of European manufacture, +and their readiness for this purpose to engage in the slave-trade. +Though no African had ever been known to sell his own children into +captivity, the tribes were ready enough to sell other children that +had fallen into their hands by war or otherwise. But if a +legitimate traffic were established through which they might obtain +whatever European goods they desired in exchange for ivory and +other articles of native produce, would not this frightful +slave-trade be brought to an end? The idea was destined to receive +many a confirmation before Livingstone drew his last breath of +African air. It naturally gave a great impulse to the purpose which +had already struck its roots into his soul--to find a road to the +sea either on the eastern or western coast. Interests wider and +grander than even the planting of mission stations on the +territories of Sebituane now rose to his view. The welfare of the +whole continent, both spiritual and temporal, was concerned in the +success of this plan of opening new channels to the enterprise of +British and other merchants, always eager to hear of new markets +for their goods. By driving away the slave-trade, much would be +done to prepare the way for Christian missions which could not +thrive in an atmosphere of war and commotion. An idea involving +issues so vast was fitted to take a right powerful hold on +Livingstone's heart, and make him feel that no sacrifice could be +too great to be encountered, cheerfully and patiently, for such an +end.</p> +<p>Writing to the Directors (October, 1851), he says:</p> +<blockquote>"You will see by the accompanying sketch-map what an +immense region God in his grace has opened up. If we can enter in +and form a settlement, we shall be able in the course of a very few +years to put a stop to the slave-trade in that quarter. It is +probable that the mere supply of English manufacturers on +Sebituane's part will effect this, for they did not like the +slave-trade, and promised to abstain. I think it will be impossible +to make a fair commencement unless I can secure two years devoid of +family cares. I shall be obliged to go southward, perhaps to the +Cape, to have my uvula excised and my arm mended (the latter, if it +can be done, only). It has occurred to me that, as we must send our +children to England, it would be no great additional expense to +send them now along with their mother. This arrangement would +enable me to proceed, and devote about two or perhaps three years +to this new region; but I must beg your sanction, and if you please +let it be given or withheld as soon as you can conveniently, so +that it might meet me at the Cape. To orphanize my children will be +like tearing out my bowels, but when I can find time to write you +fully you will perceive it is the only way, except giving up that +region altogether.<br> +<br> +"Kuruman will not answer as a residence, nor yet the Colony. If I +were to follow my own inclinations, they would lead me to settle +down quietly with the Bakwains, or some other small tribe, and +devote some of my time to my children; but <i>Providence seems to +call me to the regions beyond</i>, and if I leave them anywhere in +this country, it will be to let them become heathens. If you think +it right to support them, I believe my parents in Scotland would +attend to them otherwise."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Continuing the subject in a more leisurely way a few weeks +later, he refers to the very great increase of traffic that had +taken place since the discovery of Lake 'Ngami two years before; +the fondness of the people for European articles; the numerous +kinds of native produce besides ivory, such as beeswax, ostrich +feathers, etc., of which the natives made little or no use, but +which they would take care of if regular trade were established +among them. He thought that if traders were to come up the Zambesi +and make purchases from the producers they would both benefit +themselves and drive the slave-dealer from the market. It might be +useful to establish a sanatorium, to which missionaries might come +from less healthy districts to recruit. This would diminish the +reluctance of missionaries to settle in the interior. For himself, +though he had reared three stations with much bodily labor and +fatigue, he would cheerfully undergo much more if a new station +would answer such objects. In referring to the countries drained by +the Zambesi, he believed he was speaking of a large section of the +slave-producing region of Africa. He then went on to say that to a +certain extent their hopes had been disappointed; Mr. Oswell had +not been able to find a passage to the sea, and he had not been +able to find a station for missionary work. They therefore returned +together. "He assisted me," adds Livingstone, "in every possible +way. May God reward him!"</p> +<p>In regard to mission work for the future an important question +arose, What should be done for the Bakwains? They could not remain +at Kolobeng--hunger and the Boers decided that point. Was it not, +then, his duty to find and found a new station for them? Dr. +Livingstone thought not. He had always told them that he would +remain with them only for a few years. One of his great ideas on +missions in Africa was that a fair trial should be given to as many +places as possible, and if the trial did not succeed the +missionaries should pass on to other tribes. He had a great +aversion to the common impression that the less success one had the +stronger was one's duty to remain. Missionaries were only too ready +to settle down and make themselves as comfortable as possible, +whereas the great need was for men to move on, to strike out into +the regions beyond, to go into all the world. He had far more +sympathy for tribes that had never heard the gospel than for those +who had had it for years. He used to refer to certain tribes near +Griqualand that had got a little instruction, but had no stated +missionaries; they used to send some of their people to the Griquas +to learn what they could, and afterward some others; and these +persons, returning, communicated what they knew, till a wonderful +measure of knowledge was acquired, and a numerous church was +formed. If the seed had once been sown in any place it would not +remain dormant, but would excite the desire for further knowledge; +and on the whole it would be better for the people to be thrown +somewhat on their own resources than to have everything done for +them by missionaries from Europe. In regard to the Bakwains, though +they had promised well at first, they had not been a very teachable +people. He was not inclined to blame them; they had been so pinched +by hunger and badgered by the Boers that they could not attend to +instruction; or rather, they had too good an excuse for not doing +so. "I have much affection for them," he says in his Journal, "and +though I pass from them I do not relinquish the hope that they will +yet turn to Him to whose mercy and love they have often been +invited. The seed of the living Word will not perish."</p> +<p>The finger of Providence clearly pointed to a region farther +north in the country of the Barotse or beyond it, He admitted that +there were <i>pros</i> and <i>cons</i> in the case. Against his +plan,--some of his brethren did not hesitate to charge him with +being actuated by worldly ambition. This was the more trying, for +sometimes he suspected his own motives. Others dwelt on what was +due to his family. Moreover, his own predilections were all for a +quiet life. And there was also the consideration, that as the +Directors could not well realize the distances he would have to +travel before he reached the field, he might appear more as an +explorer than a missionary. On the other hand:</p> +<blockquote>"I am conscious," he says, "that though there is much +impurity in my motives, they are in the main for the glory of Him +to whom I have devoted myself. I never anticipated fame from the +discovery of the Lake. I cared very little about it, but the sight +of the Tamanak'le, and the report of other large rivers beyond, all +densely populated, awakened many and enthusiastic feelings.... +Then, again, consider the multitude that in the Providence of God +have been brought to light in the country of Sebituane; the +probability that in our efforts to evangelize we shall put a stop +to the slave-trade in a large region, and by means of the highway +into the North which we have discovered bring unknown nations into +the sympathies of the Christian world. If I were to choose my work, +it would be to reduce this new language, translate the Bible into +it, and be the means of forming a small church. Let this be +accomplished, I think I could then lie down and die contented. Two +years' absence will be necessary.... Nothing but a strong +conviction that the step will lead to the glory of Christ would +make me orphanize my children. Even now my bowels yearn over them. +They Will forget me; but I hope when the day of trial comes, I +shall not be found a more sorry soldier than those who serve an +earthly sovereign. Should you not feel yourselves justified in +incurring the expense of their support in England, I shall feel +called upon to renounce the hope of carrying the gospel into that +country, and labor among those who live in a more healthy country, +viz., the Bakwains. But, stay, I am not sure; so powerfully +convinced am I that it is the will of the Lord I should, <i>I will +go, no matter who opposes</i>; but from you I expect nothing but +encouragement. I know you wish as ardently as I can that all the +world may be filled with the glory of the Lord. I feel relieved +when I lay the whole case before you."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>He proposed that a brother missionary, Mr. Ashton, should be +placed among the Bamangwato, a people who were in the habit of +spreading themselves through the Bakalahari, and should thus form a +link between himself and the brethren in the south.</p> +<p>In a postscript, dated Bamangwato, 14th November, he gratefully +acknowledges a letter from the Directors, in which his plans are +approved of generally. They had recommended him to complete a +dictionary of the Sichuana language. This he would have been +delighted to do when his mind was full of the subject, but with the +new projects now before him, and the probability of having to deal +with a new language for the Zambesi district, he could not +undertake such a work at present.</p> +<p>In a subsequent letter to the Directors (Cape Town, 17th March, +1852), Livingstone finds it necessary to go into full details with +regard to his finances. Though he writes with perfect calmness, it +is evident that his exchequer was sadly embarrassed. In fact, he +had already not only spent all the salary (£100) of 1852, but +fifty-seven pounds of 1853, and the balance would be absorbed by +expenses in Cape Town. He had been as economical as possible; in +personal expenditure most careful--he had been a teetotaler for +twenty years. He did not hesitate to express his conviction that +the salary was inadequate, and to urge the Directors to defray the +extra expenditure which was now inevitable; but with characteristic +generosity he urged Mr. Moffat's Claims much more warmly than his +own.</p> +<p>From expressions in Livingstone's letter to the Directors, it is +evident that he was fully aware of the risk he ran, in his new line +of work, of appearing to sink the missionary in the explorer. There +is no doubt that next to the charge of forgetting the claims of his +family, to which we have already adverted, this was the most +plausible of the objections taken to his subsequent career. But any +one who has candidly followed his course of thought and feeling +from the moment when the sense of unseen realities burst on him at +Blantyre, to the time at which we have now arrived, must see that +this view is altogether destitute of support. The impulse of divine +love that had urged him first to become a missionary had now become +with him the settled habit of his life. No new ambition had flitted +across his path, for though he had become known as a geographical +discoverer, he says he thought very little of the fact, and his +life shows this to have been true. Twelve years of missionary life +had given birth to no sense of weariness, no abatement of interest +in these poor black savages, no reluctance to make common cause +with them in the affairs of life, no despair of being able to do +them good. On the contrary, he was confirmed in his opinion of the +efficacy of his favorite plan of native agency, and if he could but +get a suitable base of operations, he was eager to set it going, +and on every side he was assured of native welcome. Shortly before +(5th February, 1850), when writing to his father with reference to +a proposal of his brother Charles that he should go and settle in +America, he had said: "I am a missionary, heart and soul. God had +an only Son, and He was a missionary and a physician. A poor, poor +imitation of Him I am, or wish to be. In this service I hope to +live, in it I wish to die." The spectre of the slave-trade had +enlarged his horizon, and shown him the necessity of a commercial +revolution for the whole of Africa, before effectual and permanent +good could be done in any part of it. The plan which he had now in +view multiplied the risks he ran, and compelled him to think anew +whether he was ready to sacrifice himself, and if so, for what. All +that Livingstone did was thus done with open eyes and +well-considered resolution. Adverting to the prevalence of fever in +some parts of the country, while other parts were comparatively +healthy, he says in his Journal: "I offer myself as a forlorn hope +in order to ascertain whether there is a place fit to be a +sanatorium for more unhealthy spots. May God accept my service, and +use me for his glory. A great honor it is to he a fellow-worker +with God." "It is a great venture," he writes to his sister (28th +April, 1851). "Fever may cut us all off. I feel much when I think +of the children dying. But who will go if we don't? Not one. I +would venture everything for Christ. Pity I have so little to give. +But He will accept us, for He is a good master. Never one like Him. +He can sympathize. May He forgive, and purify, and bless us."</p> +<p>If in his spirit of high consecration he was thus unchanged, +equally far was he from having a fanatical disregard of life, and +the rules of provident living.</p> +<blockquote>"Jesus," he says, "came not to judge,--[Greek: +kriuo],--condemn judicially, or execute vengeance on any one. His +was a message of peace and love. He shall not strive nor cry, +neither shall his voice he heard in the streets. Missionaries ought +to follow his example. Neither insist on our rights, nor appear as +if we could allow our goods to be destroyed without regret: for if +we are righteous overmuch, or stand up for our rights with too much +vehemence, we beget dislikes, and the people see no difference +between ourselves and them. And if we appear to care nothing for +the things of this world, they conclude we are rich, and when they +beg, our refusal is ascribed to niggardliness, and our property, +too, is wantonly destroyed. 'Ga ba tloke'=they are not in need, is +the phrase employed when our goods are allowed to go to destruction +by the neglect of servants.... In coming among savage people, we +ought to make them feel we are of them, 'we seek not yours, but +you'; but while very careful not to make a gain of them, we ought +to be as careful to appear thankful, and appreciate any effort they +may make for our comfort or subsistence."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>On reaching Kolobeng from 'Ngami they found the station +deserted. The Bakwains had removed to Limaüe. Sechéle +came down the day after, and presented them with an ox--a valuable +gift in his circumstances. Sechéle had much yet to bear from +the Boers; and after being, without provocation, attacked, +pillaged, and wasted, and robbed of his children, he was bent on +going to the Queen of England to state his wrongs. This, however, +he could not accomplish, though he went as far as the Cape. Coming +back afterward to his own people, he gathered large numbers about +him from other tribes, to whose improvement he devoted himself with +much success. He still survives, with the one wife whom he +retained; and, though not without some drawbacks (which Livingstone +ascribed to the bad example set him by some), he maintains his +Christian profession. His people are settled at some miles' +distance from Kolobeng, and have a missionary station, supported by +a Hanoverian Society. His regard for the memory of Livingstone is +very great, and he reads with eagerness all that he can find about +him. He has ever been a warm friend of missions has a wonderful +knowledge of the Bible, and can preach well. The influence of +Livingstone in his early days was doubtless a real power in +mission-work. Mebalwe, too, we are informed by Dr. Moffat, still +survives; a useful man, an able preacher, and one who has done much +to bring his people to Christ.</p> +<p>It was painful to Livingstone to say good-bye to the Bakwains, +and (as Mrs. Moffat afterward reminded him) his friends were not +all in favor of his doing so; but he regarded his departure as +inevitable. After a short stay at Kuruman, he and his family went +on to Cape Town, where they arrived on the 16th of March, 1852, and +had new proofs of Mr. Oswell's kindness. After eleven years' +absence, Livingstone's dress-coat had fallen a little out of +fashion, and the whole costume of the party was somewhat in the +style of Robinson Crusoe. The generosity of "the best friend we +have in Africa" made all comfortable, Mr. Oswell remarking that +Livingstone had as good a right as he to the money drawn from the +"preserves on his estate"--the elephants. Mentally, Livingstone +traces to its source the kindness of his friend, thinking of One to +whom he owed all--"O divine Love, I have not loved Thee strongly, +deeply, warmly enough." The retrospect of his eleven years of +African labor, unexampled though they had been, only awakened in +him the sense of unprofitable service.</p> +<p>Before closing the record of this period, we must take a glance +at the remarkable literary activity which it witnessed. We have had +occasion to refer to Livingstone's first letters to Captain Steele, +for the Geographical Society; additional letters were contributed +from time to time. His philological researches have also been +noticed. In addition to these, we find him writing two articles on +African Missions for the <i>British Quarterly Review</i>, only one +of which was published. He likewise wrote two papers for the +<i>British Banner</i> on the Boers. While crossing the desert, +after leaving the Cape on his first great journey, he wrote a +remarkable paper on "Missionary Sacrifices," and another of great +vigor on the Boers. Still another paper on Lake 'Ngami was written +for a Missionary Journal contemplated, but never started, under the +editorship of the late Mr. Isaac Taylor; and he had one in his mind +on the religion of the Bechuanas, presenting a view which differed +somewhat from that of Mr. Moffat. Writing to Mr. Watt from Linyanti +(3d October, 1853), on printing one of his papers, he says:</p> +<blockquote>"But the expense, my dear man. What a mess I am in, +writing papers which cannot pay their own way! Pauper papers, in +fact, which must go to the workhouse for support. Ugh! Has the +Caffre War paper shared the same fate? and the Language paper too? +Here I have two by me, which I will keep in their native obscurity. +One is on the South African Boers and slavery, in which I show that +their church is, and always has been, the great bulwark of slavery, +cattle-lifting, and Caffre-marauding; and I correct the mistaken +views of some writers who describe the Boers as all that is good, +and of others who describe as all that is bad, by showing who are +the good and who are the bad. The other, which I rather +admire,--what father doesn't his own progeny?--is on the missionary +work, and designed to aid young men of piety to form a more correct +idea of it than is to be had from much of the missionary biography +of 'sacrifices.' I magnify the enterprise, exult in the future, +etc., etc. It was written in coming across the desert, and if it +never does aught else, it imparted comfort and encouragement to +myself <a name="FNanchor34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34">[34]</a>.... +I feel almost inclined to send it.... If the Caffre War one is +rejected, then farewell to spouting in Reviews."</blockquote> +<br> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_34"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor34">[34]</a> For extracts from the paper on "Missionary +Sacrifices," see <a href="#No._I.">Appendix No. I.</a> For part of +the paper on the Boers, see <i>Catholic Presbyterian</i> December, +1879 (London, Nisbet and Co.).</blockquote> +<p>If he had met with more encouragement from editors he would have +written more. But the editorial cold shoulder was beyond even his +power of endurance. He laid aside his pen in a kind of disgust, and +this doubtless was one of the reasons that made him unwilling to +resume it on his return to England. Editors were wiser then; and +the offer from one London Magazine of £400 for four articles, +and from <i>Good Words</i> of £1000 for a number of papers to +be fixed afterward,--offers which, however, were not accepted +finally,--showed how the tide had turned.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII."></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> +<h3>FROM THE CAPE TO LINYANTI.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1852-1853.</center> +<p>Unfavorable feeling at Cape Town--Departure of Mrs. Livingstone +and children--Livingstone's detention and difficulties--Letter to +his wife--To Agnes--Occupations at Cape Town--The +Astronomer-Royal--Livingstone leaves the Cape and reaches +Kuruman--Destruction of Kolobeng by the Boers--Letters to his wife +and Rev. J. Moore--His resolution to open up Africa <i>or +perish</i>--Arrival at Linyanti--Unhealthiness of the +country--Thoughts on setting out for coast--Sekelétu's +kindness--Livingstone's missionary activity--Death of Mpepe, and of +his father--Meeting with Ma-mochisane--Barotse country--Determines +to go to Loanda--Heathenism unadulterated--Taste for the +beautiful--Letter to his children--to his father--Last Sunday at +Linyanti--Prospect of his falling.</p> +<br> +<p>When Livingstone arrived at the Cape, he found the authorities +in a state of excitement over the Caffre War, and very far from +friendly toward the London Missionary Society, some of whose +missionaries--himself among the number--were regarded as +"unpatriotic." He had a very poor opinion of the officials, and +their treatment of the natives scandalized him. He describes the +trial of an old soldier, Botha, as "the most horrid exhibition I +ever witnessed." The noble conduct of Botha in prison was a +beautiful contrast to the scene in court. This whole Caffre War had +exemplified the blundering of the British authorities, and was +teaching the natives developments, the issue of which could not be +foreseen. As for himself, he writes to Mr. Moffat, that he was +cordially hated, and perhaps he might be pulled up; but he knew +that some of his letters had been read by the Duke of Wellington +and Lord Brougham with pleasure, and, possibly, he might get +justice. He bids his father-in-law not to be surprised if he saw +him abused in the newspapers.</p> +<p>On the 23d April, 1852, Mrs. Livingstone and the four children +sailed from Cape Town for England. The sending of his children to +be brought up by others was a very great trial, and Dr. Livingstone +seized the opportunity to impress on the Directors that those by +whom missionaries were sent out had a great duty to the children +whom their parents were compelled to send away. Referring to the +filthy conversation and ways of the heathen, he says:</p> +<blockquote>"Missionaries expose their children to a contamination +which they have had no hand in producing. We expose them and +ourselves for a time in order to elevate those sad captives of sin +and Satan, who are the victims of the degradation of ages. None of +those who complain about missionaries sending their children home +ever descend to this. And again, as Mr. James in his <i>Young Man +from Home</i> forcibly shows, a greater misfortune cannot befall a +youth than to be cast into the world without a home. In regard to +even the vestige of a home, my children are absolutely vagabonds. +When shall we return to Kolobeng? When to Kuruman? <i>Never</i>. +The mark of Cain is on your foreheads, your father is a missionary. +Our children ought to have both the sympathies and prayers of those +at whose bidding we become strangers for life."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Was there ever a plea more powerful or more just? It is sad to +think that the coldness of Christians at home should have led a man +like Livingstone to fancy that, because his children were the +children of a missionary, they would bear the mark of Cain, and be +homeless vagabonds. Why are we at home so forgetful of the +privilege of refreshing the bowels of those who take their lives in +their hands for the love of Christ, by making a home for their +offspring? In a higher state of Christianity there will be hundreds +of the best families at home delighted, for the love of their +Master, to welcome and bring up the missionary's children. And when +the Great Day comes, none will more surely receive that best of all +forms of repayment, "Inasmuch as ye did it unto the least of these +my brethren, ye did it unto Me."</p> +<p>Livingstone, who had now got the troublesome uvula cut out, was +detained at the Cape nearly two months after his family left. He +was so distrusted by the authorities that they would hardly sell +powder and shot to him, and he had to fight a battle that demanded +all his courage and perseverance for a few boxes of +percussion-caps. At the last moment, a troublesome country +postmaster, to whom he had complained of an overcharge of postage, +threatened an action against him for defamation of character, and, +rather than be further detained, deep in debt though he was, +Livingstone had to pay him a considerable sum. His family were much +in his thoughts; he found some relief in writing by every mail. His +letters to his wife are too sacred to be spread before the public; +we confine ourselves to a single extract, to show over what a host +of suppressed emotions he had to march in this expedition:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Cape Town, 5th May</i>, 1852.--MY DEAREST +MARY,--How I miss you now, and the children! My heart yearns +incessantly over you. How many thoughts of the past crowd into my +mind! I feel as if I would treat you all much more tenderly and +lovingly than ever. You have been a great blessing to me. You +attended to my comfort in many, many ways. May God bless you for +all your kindnesses! I see no face now to be compared with that +sunburnt one which has so often greeted me with its kind looks. Let +us do our duty to our Saviour, and we shall meet again. I wish that +time were now. You may read the letters over again which I wrote at +Mabotsa, the sweet time you know. As I told you before, I tell you +again, they are true, true; there is not a bit of hypocrisy in +them. I never show all my feelings; but I can say truly, my +dearest, that I loved you when I married you, and the longer I +lived with you, I loved you the better.... Let us do our duty to +Christ, and He will bring us through the world with honor and +usefulness. He is our refuge and high tower; let us trust in Him at +all times, and in all circumstances. Love Him more and more, and +diffuse his love among the children. Take them all round you, and +kiss them for me. Tell them I have left them for the love of Jesus, +and they must love Him too, and avoid sin, for that displeases +Jesus. I shall be delighted to hear of you all safe in +England...."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>A few days later, he writes to his eldest daughter, then in her +fifth year:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Cape Town, 18th May</i>, 1852.--MY DEAR +AGNES,--This is your own little letter. Mamma will read it to you, +and you will hear her just as if I were speaking to you, for the +words which I write are those which she will read. I am still at +Cape Town. You know you left me there when you all went into the +big ship and sailed away. Well, I shall leave Cape Town soon. +Malatsi has gone for the oxen, and then I shall go away back to +Sebituane's country, and see Seipone and Meriye, who gave you the +beads and fed you with milk and honey. I shall not see you again +for a long time, and I am very sorry. I have no Nannie now. I have +given you back to Jesus, your Friend--your Papa who is in heaven. +He is above you, but He is always near you. When we ask things from +Him, that is praying to Him; and if you do or say a naughty thing +ask Him to pardon you, and bless you, and make you one of his +children. Love Jesus much, for He loves you, and He came and died +for you. Oh, how good Jesus is! I love Him, and I shall love Him as +long as I live. You must love Him too, and you must love your +brothers and mamma, and never tease them or be naughty, for Jesus +does not like to see naughtiness.--Good-bye, my dear Nannie,<br> +<br> +D. LIVINGSTON."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Among his other occupations at Cape Town, Livingstone put +himself under the instructions of the Astronomer-Royal, Mr. +(afterward Sir Thomas) Maclear, who became one of his best and most +esteemed friends. His object was to qualify himself more thoroughly +for taking observations that would give perfect accuracy to his +geographical explorations. He tried English preaching too, but his +throat was still tender, and he felt very nervous, as he had done +at Ongar. "What a little thing," he writes to Mr. Moffat, "is +sufficient to bring down to old-wifeishness such a rough tyke as I +consider myself! Poor, proud human nature is a great fool after +all." A second effort was more successful. "I preached," he writes +to his wife, "on the text, 'Why will ye die?' I had it written out +and only referred to it twice, which is an improvement in English. +I hope good was done. The people were very attentive indeed. I felt +less at a loss than in Union Chapel <a name= +"FNanchor35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35">[35]</a>." He arranged with +a mercantile friend, Mr. Rutherfoord, to direct the operations of a +native trader, George Fleming, whom that gentleman was to employ +for the purpose of introducing lawful traffic in order to supplant +the slave-trade.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_35"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor35">[35]</a> The manuscript of this sermon still exists. +The sermon is very simple, scriptural, and earnest, in the style of +Bishop Ryle, or of Mr. Moody.</blockquote> +<p>It was not till the 8th of June that he left the Cape. His wagon +was loaded to double the usual weight from his good nature in +taking everybody's packages. His oxen were lean, and he was too +poor to provide better. He reached Griqua Town on the 15th August, +and Kuruman a fortnight later. Many things had occasioned +unexpected delay, and the last crowning detention was caused by the +breaking down of a wheel. It turned out, however, that these delays +were probably the means of saving his life. Had they not occurred +he would have reached Kolobeng in August. But this was the very +time when the commando of the Boers, numbering 600 colonists and +many natives besides, were busy with the work of death and +destruction. Had he been at Kolobeng, Pretorius would probably have +executed his threat of killing him; at the least he would have been +deprived of all the property that he carried with him, and his +projected enterprise would have been brought to an end.</p> +<p>In a letter to his wife, Livingstone gives full details of the +horrible outrage perpetrated shortly before by the Boers at +Kolobeng:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Kuruman, 20th September</i>, 1852.--Along with this +I send you a long letter; this I write in order to give you the +latest news. The Boers gutted our house at Kolobeng; they brought +four wagons down and took away sofa, table, bed, all the crockery, +your desk (I hope it had nothing in it--Have you the letters?), +smashed the wooden chairs, took away the iron ones, tore out the +leaves of all the books, and scattered them in front of the house, +smashed the bottles containing medicines, windows, oven-door, took +away the smith-bellows, anvil, all the tools,--in fact everything +worth taking; three corn-mills, a bag of coffee, for which I paid +six pounds, and lots of coffee, tea, and sugar, which the gentlemen +who went to the north left; took all our cattle and Paul's and +Mebalwe's. They then went up to Limaüe, went to church morning +and afternoon, and heard Mebalwe preach! After the second service +they told Sechéle that they had come to fight, because he +allowed Englishmen to proceed to the North, though they had +repeatedly ordered him not to do so. He replied that he was a man +of peace, that he could not molest Englishmen, because they had +never done him any harm, and always treated him well. In the +morning they commenced firing on the town with swivels, and set +fire to it. The heat forced some of the women to flee, the men to +huddle together on the small hill in the middle of the town; the +smoke prevented them seeing the Boers, and the cannon killed many, +sixty (60) Bakwains. The Boers then came near to kill and destroy +them all, but the Bakwains killed thirty-five (35), and many +horses. They fought the whole day, but the Boers could not dislodge +them. They stopped firing in the evening, and then the Bakwains +retired on account of having no water. The above sixty are not all +men; women and children are among the slain. The Boers were 600, +and they had 700 natives with them. All the corn is burned. Parties +went out and burned Bangwaketse town, and swept off all the cattle. +Sebubi's cattle are all gone. All the Bakhatla cattle gone. Neither +Bangwaketse nor Bakhatla fired a shot. All the corn burned of the +whole three tribes. Everything edible is taken from them. How will +they live! They told Sechéle that the Queen had given off +the land to them, and henceforth they were the masters,--had +abolished chieftainship. Sir Harry Smith tried the same, and +England has paid two millions of money to catch one chief, and he +is still as free as the winds of heaven. How will it end? I don't +know, but I will tell you the beginning. There are two parties of +Boers gone to the Lake. These will to a dead certainty be cut off. +They amount to thirty-six men. Parties are sent now in pursuit of +them. The Bakwains will plunder and murder the Boers without mercy, +and by and by the Boers will ask the English Government to assist +them to put down rebellion, and of this rebellion I shall have, of +course, to bear the blame. They often expressed a wish to get hold +of me. I wait here a little in order to get information when the +path is clear. Kind Providence detained me from falling into the +very thick of it. God will preserve me still. He has work for me or +He would have allowed me to go in just when the Boers were there. +We shall remove more easily now that we are lightened of our +furniture. They have taken away our sofa. I never had a good rest +on it. We had only got it ready when we left. Well, they can't have +taken away all the stones. We shall have a seat in spite of them, +and that, too, with a merry heart which doeth good like a medicine. +I wonder what the Peace Society would do with these worthies. They +are Christians. The Dutch predicants baptise all their children, +and admit them to the Lord's Supper...."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Dr. Livingstone was not disposed to restrain his indignation and +grief over his losses. For one so patient and good, he had a very +large vial of indignation, and on occasion poured it out right +heartily over all injustice and cruelty. On no heads was it ever +discharged more freely than on these Transvaal Boers. He made a +formal representation of his losses both to the Cape and Home +authorities, but never received a farthing of compensation. The +subsequent history of the Transvaal Republic will convince many +that Livingstone was not far from the truth in his estimate of the +character of the free and independent Boers.</p> +<p>But while perfectly sincere in his indignation over the +treatment of the natives and his own losses, his playful fancy +could find a ludicrous side for what concerned himself, and grim +enjoyment in showing it to his friends. "Think," he writes to his +friend Watt, "think of a big fat Boeress drinking coffee out of my +kettle, and then throwing her tallowy corporeity on my sofa, or +keeping her needles in my wife's writing-desk! Ugh! and then think +of foolish John Bull paying so many thousands a year for the +suppression of the slave-trade, and allowing Commissioner Aven to +make treaties with Boers who carry on the slave-trade.... The Boers +are mad with rage against me because my people fought bravely. It +was I, they think, who taught them to shoot Boers. Fancy your +reverend friend teaching the young idea how to shoot Boers, and +praying for a blessing on the work of his hands!"</p> +<p>In the same spirit he writes to his friend Moore:</p> +<blockquote>"I never knew I was so rich until I recounted up the +different articles that were taken away. They cannot be replaced in +this country under £300. Many things brought to our +establishment by my better-half were of considerable value. Of all +I am now lightened, and they want to ease me of my head.... The +Boers kill the blacks without compunction, and without provocation, +because they believe they have no souls.... Viewing the +dispensation apart from the extreme wickedness of the Boers, it +seemed a judgment on the blacks for their rejection of the gospel. +They have verily done despite unto the Spirit of grace.... Their +enmity was not manifested to us, but to the gospel. I am grieved +for them, and still hope that the good seed will yet vegetate +<a name="FNanchor36"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_36">[36]</a>."</blockquote> +<br> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_36"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor36">[36]</a> This letter to Mr. Moore contains a trait of +Livingstone, very trifling in the occasion out of which it arose, +but showing vividly the nature of the man. He had promised to send +Mr. Moore's little son some curiosities, but had forgotten when his +family went to England. Being reminded of his promise in a +postscript the little fellow had added to a letter from his father, +Livingstone is "overwhelmed with shame and confusion of face." He +feels he has disappointed the boy and forgotten his promise. Again +and again Livingstone returns to the subject, and feels assured +that his young friend would forgive him if he knew how much he +suffered for his fault. That in the midst of his own overwhelming +troubles he should feel so much for the disappointment of a little +heart in England, shows how terrible a thing it was to him to cause +needless pain, and how profoundly it distressed him to seem +forgetful of a promise. Years afterward he wrote that he had +brought an elephant's tail for Henry, but one of the men stole all +the hairs and sold them. He had still a tusk of a hippopotamus for +him, and a tooth for his brother, but he had brought no +curiosities, for he could scarcely get along himself.</blockquote> +<br> +<p>But while he could relax playfully at the thought of the +desolation at Kolobeng, he knew how to make it the occasion +likewise of high resolves. The Boers, as he wrote the Directors, +were resolved to shut up the interior. He was determined, with +God's help, to open the country. Time would show which would be +most successful in resolution,--they or he. To his brother-in-law +he wrote that he would open a path through the country, <i>or +perish</i>.</p> +<p>As for the contest with the Boers, we may smile at their +impotent wrath. It is a singular fact, that while Sechéle +still retains the position of an independent chief, the republic of +the Boers has passed away. It is now part of the British +Empire.</p> +<p>The country was so unsettled that for a long time Dr. +Livingstone could not get guides at Kuruman to go with him to +Sebituane's. At length, however, he succeeded, and leaving Kuruman +finally about the end of December, 1852, in company with George +Fleming, Mr. Rutherfoord's trader, he set out in a new direction, +to the west of the old, in order to give a wide berth to the Boers. +Traveling rapidly he passed through Sebituane's country, and in +June, 1858, arrived at Linyanti, the capital of the Makololo. He +wrote to his wife that he had been very anxious to go to Kolobeng +and see with his own eyes the destruction wrought by the savages. +He had a great longing, too, to visit once more the grave of +Elizabeth, their infant daughter, but he heard that the Boers were +in the neighborhood, and were anxious to catch him, and he thought +it best not to go. Two years before, he had been at Linyanti with +Mr. Oswell. Many details of the new journey are given in the +<i>Missionary Travels</i>, which it is unnecessary to repeat, It +may be enough to state that he found the country flooded, and that +on the way it was no unusual thing for him to be wet all day, and +to walk through swamps, and water three or four feet deep. Trees, +thorns, and reeds offered tremendous resistance, and he and his +people must have presented a pitiable sight when forcing their way +through reeds with cutting edges. "With our own hands all raw and +bloody, and knees through our trousers, we at length emerged." It +was a happy thought to tear his pocket-handkerchief into two parts +and tie them over his knees. "I remember," he says in his Journal, +referring to last year's journey, "the toil which our friend Oswell +endured on our account. He never spared himself." It is not to be +supposed that his guides were happy in such a march; it required +his tact stretched to its very utmost to prevent them from turning +back. "At the Malopo," he writes to his wife, "there were other +dangers besides. When walking before the wagon in the morning +twilight, I observed a lioness about fifty yards from me, in the +squatting way they walk when going to spring. She was followed by a +very large lion, but seeing the wagon, she turned back." Though he +escaped fever at first, he had repeated attacks afterward, and had +to be constantly using remedies against it. The unhealthiness of +the region to Europeans forced itself painfully on his attention, +and made him wonder in what way God would bring the light of the +gospel to the poor inhabitants. As a physician his mind was much +occupied with the nature of the disease, and the way to cure it. If +only he could discover a remedy for that scourge of Africa, what an +invaluable boon would he confer on its much-afflicted people!</p> +<blockquote>"I would like," he says in his Journal, "to devote a +portion of my life to the discovery of a remedy for that terrible +disease, the African fever <a name="FNanchor37"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_37">[37]</a>. I would go into the parts where it +prevails most, and try to discover if the natives have a remedy for +it. I must make many inquiries of the river people in this quarter. +What an unspeakable mercy it is to be permitted to engage in this +most holy and honorable work! What an infinity of lots in the world +are poor, miserable, and degraded compared with mine! I might have +been a common soldier, a day-laborer, a factory operative, a +mechanic, instead of a missionary. If my faculties had been left to +run riot or to waste as those of so many young men, I should now +have been used up, a dotard, as many of my school-fellows are. I am +respected by the natives, their kind expressions often make me +ashamed, and they are sincere. So much deference and favor +manifested without any effort on my part to secure it comes from +the Author of every good gift. I acknowledge the mercies of the +great God with devout and reverential gratitude."</blockquote> +<br> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_37"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor37">[37]</a> Livingstone's Remedy for African fever. See +<a href="#No._II.">Appendix No. II.</a></blockquote> +<p>Dr. Livingstone had declined a considerate proposal that another +missionary should accompany him, and deliberately resolved to go +this great journey alone. He knew, in fact, that except Mr. Moffat, +who was busy with his translation of the Bible, no other missionary +would go with him <a name="FNanchor38"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_38">[38]</a>. But in the absence of all to whom he could +unburden his spirit, we find him more freely than usual pouring out +his feelings in his Journal, and it is but an act of justice to +himself that it should be made known how his thoughts were running, +with so bold and difficult an undertaking before him:</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_38"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor38">[38]</a> Dr. Moffat informs us that Livingstone's +desire for his company was most intense, and that he pressed him in +such a way as would have been irresistible, had his going been +possible. But for his employment in translating, Dr. Moffat would +have gone with all his heart.</blockquote> +<blockquote><i>28th September,</i> 1852.--Am I on my way to die in +Sebituane's country? Have I seen the end of my wife and children? +The breaking up of all my connections with earth, leaving this fair +and beautiful world, and knowing so little of it? I am only +learning the alphabet of it yet, and entering on an untried state +of existence. Following Him who has entered in before me into the +cloud, the veil, the Hades, is a serious prospect. Do we begin +again in our new existence to learn much by experience, or have we +full powers? My soul, whither wilt thou emigrate? Where wilt thou +lodge the first night after leaving this body? Will an angel soothe +thy fluttering, for sadly flurried wilt thou be in entering upon +eternity? Oh! if Jesus speak one word of peace, that will establish +in thy breast an everlasting calm! O Jesus, fill me with Thy love +now, and I beseech Thee, accept me, and use me a little for Thy +glory. I have done nothing for Thee yet, and I would like to do +something. O do, do, I beseech Thee, accept me and my service, and +take Thou all the glory...."<br> +<br> +"<i>23d January</i>, 1853,--I think much of my poor +children...."<br> +<br> +"<i>4th February</i>, 1853.--I am spared in health, while all the +company have been attacked by the fever. If God has accepted my +service, then my life is charmed till my work is done. And though I +pass through many dangers unscathed while working the work given me +to do, when that is finished, some simple thing will give me my +quietus. Death is a glorious event to one going to Jesus. Whither +does the soul wing its way? What does it see first? There is +something sublime in passing into the second stage of our immortal +lives if washed from our sins. But oh! to be consigned to ponder +over all our sins with memories excited, every scene of our lives +held up as in a mirror before our eyes, and we looking at them and +waiting for the day of judgment!"<br> +<br> +"<i>17th February</i>.--It is not the encountering of difficulties +and dangers in obedience to the promptings of the inward spiritual +life, which constitutes tempting of God and Providence; but the +acting without faith, proceeding on our own errands with no +previous convictions of duty, and no prayer for aid and +direction."<br> +<br> +"<i>22d May</i>.--I will place no value on anything I have or may +possess, except in relation to the kingdom of Christ. If anything +will advance the interests of that kingdom, it shall be given away +or kept, only as by giving or keeping of it I shall most promote +the glory of Him to whom I owe all my hopes in time and eternity. +May grace and strength sufficient to enable me to adhere faithfully +to this resolution be imparted to me, so that in truth, not in name +only, all my interests and those of my children may be identified +with his cause.... I will try and remember always to approach God +in secret with as much reverence in speech, posture, and behavior +as in public. Help me, Thou who knowest my frame and pitiest as a +father his children."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>When Livingstone reached the Makololo, a change had taken place +in the government of the tribe. Ma-mochisane, the daughter of +Sebituane, had not been happy in her chiefdom, and had found it +difficult to get along with the number of husbands whom her dignity +as chief required her to maintain. She had given over the +government to her brother Sekelétu, a youth of eighteen, who +was generally recognized, though not without some reluctance, by +his brother, Mpepe. Livingstone could not have foreseen how +Sekelétu would receive him, but to his great relief and +satisfaction he found him actuated by the most kindly feelings. He +found him, boy as he was, full of vague expectations of benefits, +marvelous and miraculous, which the missionaries were to bring. It +was Livingstone's first work to disabuse his mind of these +expectations, and let him understand that his supreme object was to +teach them the way of salvation through Jesus Christ. To a certain +extent Sekelétu was interested in this:</p> +<blockquote>"He asked many sensible questions about the system of +Christianity in connection with the putting away of wives. They are +always furnished with objections sooner than with the information. +I commended him for asking me, and will begin a course of +instruction to-morrow. He fears that learning to read will change +his heart, and make him put away his wives. Much depends on his +decision. May God influence his heart to decide +aright!"</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Two days after Livingstone says in his Journal:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>1st June</i>.--The chief presented eight large and +three small tusks this morning. I told him and his people I would +rather see them trading than giving them to me. They replied that +they would get trade with George Fleming, and that, too, as soon as +he was well; but these they gave to their father, and they were +just as any other present. They asked after the gun-medicine, +believing that now my heart would be warm enough to tell them +anything, but I could not tell them a lie. I offered to show +Sekelétu how to shoot, and that was all the medicine I knew. +I felt as if I should have been more pleased had George been +amassing ivory than I. Yet this may be an indispensable step in the +progress toward opening the west. I must have funds; and here they +come pouring in. It would be impossible to overlook his providence +who has touched their hearts. I have used no undue influence. +Indeed I have used none directly for the purpose Kindness shown has +been appreciated here, while much greater kindness shown to tribes +in the south has resulted in a belief we missionaries must be +fools. I do thank my God sincerely for his favor, and my hearty +prayer is that He may continue it, and make whatever use He pleases +of me, and may He have mercy on this people!"</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Dr. Livingstone was careful to guard against the supposition +that he allowed Sekelétu to enrich him without recompense, +and in his Journal he sets down a list of the various articles +presented by himself to the chief, including three goats, some +fowls, powder, wire, flints, percussion-caps, an umbrella and a +hat, the value of the whole being £31, 16s. When +Sekelétu knew Dr. Livingstone's plans, he undertook that he +should be provided with all requisites for his journey. But he was +most anxious to retain him, and for some time would not let him go. +Livingstone had fascinated him. Sekelétu said that he had +found a new father. And Livingstone pondered the possibility of +establishing a station here. But the fever, the fever! could he +bring his family? He must pass on and look for a healthier spot. +His desire was to proceed to the country of the Barotse. At length, +on the 16th June, Sekelétu gives his answer:</p> +<blockquote>"The chief has acceded to my request to proceed to +Barotse and see the country. I told him my heart was sore, because +having left my family to explore his land, and, if possible, find a +suitable location for a mission, I could not succeed, because +detained by him here. He says he will take me with him. He does not +like to part with me at all. He is obliged to consult with those +who gave their opinion against my leaving. But it is certain I am +permitted to go. Thanks be to God for influencing their +hearts!"</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Before we set out with the chief on this journey, it will be +well to give a few extracts from Livingstone's Journal, showing how +unwearied were his efforts to teach the people:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Banks of Chobe, Sunday, May 15th</i>.--Preached +twice to about sixty people. Very attentive. It is only divine +power which can enlighted dark minds as these.... The people seem +to receive ideas on divine subjects slowly. They listen, but never +suppose that the truths must become embodied in actual life. They +will wait until the chief becomes a Christian, and if he believes, +then they refuse to follow,--as was the case among the Bakwains. +Procrastination seems as powerful an instrument of deception here +as elsewhere."<br> +<br> +"<i>Sunday, 12th June</i>.--A good and very attentive audience. We +introduce entirely new motives, and were these not perfectly +adapted for the human mind and heart by their divine Author, we +should have no success."<br> +<br> +"<i>Sunday, 19th June</i>.--A good and attentive audience, but +immediately after the service I went to see a sick man, and when I +returned toward the Kotla, I found the chief had retired into a hut +to drink beer; and, as the custom is, about forty men were standing +singing to him, or, in other words, begging beer by that means. A +minister who had not seen so much pioneer service as I have done +would have been shocked to see so little effect produced by an +earnest discourse concerning the future judgment, but time must be +given to allow the truth to sink into the dark mind, and produce +its effect. The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the +glory of the Lord--that is enough. We can afford to work in faith, +for Omnipotence is pledged to fulfill the promise. The great +mountains become a plain before the Almighty arm. The poor Bushman, +the most degraded of all Adam's family, shall see his glory, and +the dwellers in the wilderness shall bow before Him. The obstacles +to the coming of the Kingdom are mighty, but come it will for all +that;<br> +<br> +<blockquote>"Then let us pray that come it may,<br> + As come, it will for a' that,<br> +That man to man the world o'er<br> + Shall brothers be for a' that.'</blockquote> +<br> +"The hard and cold unbelief which distinguished the last century, +and which is still aped by would-be philosophers in the present, +would sneer at our faith, and call it superstition, enthusiasm, +etc. But were we believers in human progress and no more, there +must be a glorious future for our world. Our dreams must come true, +even though they are no more than dreams. The world is rolling on +to the golden age.... Discoveries and Inventions are cumulative. +Another century must present a totally different aspect from the +present. And when we view the state of the world and its advancing +energies, in the light afforded by childlike, or call it childish, +faith, we see the earth filling with the knowledge of the glory of +God,--ay, all nations seeing his glory and bowing before Him whose +right it is to reign. Our work and its fruits are cumulative. We +work toward another state of things. Future missionaries will be +rewarded by conversions for every sermon. We are their pioneers and +helpers. Let them not forget the watchmen of the night--us, who +worked when all was gloom, and no evidence of success in the way of +conversion cheered our paths. They will doubtless have more light +than we, but we served our Master earnestly, and proclaimed the +same gospel as they will do."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Of the services which Livingstone held with the people, we have +the following picture;</p> +<blockquote>"When I stand up, all the women and children draw near, +and, having ordered silence, I explain the plan of salvation, the +goodness of God in sending his Son to die, the confirmation of his +mission by miracles, the last judgment or future state, the evil of +sin, God's commands respecting it, etc.; always choosing one +subject only for an address, and taking care to make it short and +plain, and applicable to them. This address is listened to with +great attention by most of the audience. A short prayer concludes +the service, all kneeling down, and remaining so till told to rise. +At first we have to enjoin on the women who have children to remain +sitting, for when they kneel, they squeeze their children, and a +simultaneous skirl is set up by the whole troop of youngsters, who +make the prayer inaudible."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>When Livingstone and Sekelétu had gone about sixty miles +on the way to the Barotse, they encountered Mpepe, +Sekelétu's half-brother and secret rival. It turned out that +Mpepe had a secret plan for killing Sekelétu, and that three +times on the day of their meeting that plan was frustrated by +apparently accidental causes. On one of these occasions, +Livingstone, by covering Sekelétu, prevented him from being +speared. Mpepe's treachery becoming known, he was arrested by +Sekelétu's people, and promptly put to death. The episode +was not agreeable, but it illustrated savage life. It turned out +that Mpepe favored the slave-trade, and was closely engaged with +certain Portuguese traders in intrigues for establishing and +extending it. Had Sekelétu been killed, Livingstone's +enterprise would certainly have been put an end to, and very +probably likewise Livingstone himself.</p> +<p>The party, numbering about one hundred and sixty, proceeded up +the beautiful river which on his former visit Livingstone had first +known as the Seshéke, but which was called by the Barotse +the Liambai or Leeambye. The term means "the large river," and +Luambeji, Luambesi, Ambezi, Yimbezi, and Zambezi are names applied +to it at different parts of its course. In the progress of their +journey they came to the town of the father of Mpepe, where, most +unexpectedly, Livingstone encountered a horrible scene. Mpepe's +father and another headman were known to have favored the plan for +the murder of Sekelétu, and were therefore objects of fear +to the latter. When all were met, and Mpepe's father was questioned +why he did not stop his son's proceedings, Sekelétu suddenly +sprang to his feet and gave the two men into custody. All had been +planned beforehand. Forthwith they were led away, surrounded by +Sekelétu's warriors, all dream of opposition on their part +being as useless as interference would have been on Livingstone's. +Before his eyes he saw them hewn to; pieces with axes, and cast +into the river to be devoured by the alligators. Within two hours +of their arrival the whole party had left the scene of this +shocking tragedy, Livingstone being so horrified that he could not +remain. He did his best to show the sin of blood-guiltiness, and +bring before the people the scene of the Last Judgment, which was +the only thing that seemed to make any impression.</p> +<p>Farther on his way he had an interview with Ma-mochisane, the +daughter of Sebituane who had resigned in favor of Sekelétu. +He was the first white man she had ever seen. The interview was +pleasing and not without touches of womanly character; the poor +woman had felt an <i>embarras de richesses</i> in the matter of +husbands, and was very uncomfortable when married women complained +of her taking their spouses from them. Her soul recoiled from the +business; she wished to have a husband of her own and to be like +other women.</p> +<p>So anxious was Livingstone to find a healthy locality, that, +leaving Sekelétu, he proceeded to the farthest limit of the +Barotse country, but no healthy place could be found. It is plain, +however, that in spite of all risk, and much as he suffered from +the fever, he was planning, if no better place could be found, to +return himself to Linyanti and be the Makololo missionary. Not just +immediately, however. Having failed in the first object of his +journey--to find a healthy locality--he was resolved to follow out +the second, and endeavor to discover a highway to the sea. First he +would try the west coast, and the point for which he would make was +St. Paul de Loanda. He might have found a nearer way, but a +Portuguese trader whom he had met, and from whom he had received +kindness, was going by that route to St. Philip de Benguela. The +trader was implicated in the slave-trade, and Livingstone knew what +a disadvantage it would be either to accompany or to follow him. He +therefore returned to Linyanti; and there began preparations for +the journey to Loanda on the coast.</p> +<p>During the time thus spent in the Barotse country, Livingstone +saw heathenism in its most unadulterated form. It was a painful, +loathsome, and horrible spectacle. His views of the Fall and of the +corruption of human nature were certainly not lightened by the +sight. In his Journal he is constantly letting fall expressions of +weariness at the noise, the excitement, the wild savage dancing, +the heartless cruelty, the utter disregard of feelings, the +destruction of children, the drudgery of the old people, the +atrocious murders with which he was in contact. Occasionally he +would think of other scenes of travel; if a friend, for example, +were going to Palestine, he would say how gladly he would kiss the +dust that had been trod by the Man of Sorrows. One day a poor girl +comes hungry and naked to the wagons, and is relieved from time to +time; then disappears to die in the woods of starvation or be torn +in pieces by the hyenas. Another day, as he is preaching, a boy, +walking along with his mother, is suddenly seized by a man, utters +a shriek as if his heart had burst, and becomes, as Livingstone +finds, a hopeless slave. Another time, the sickening sight is a +line of slaves attached by a chain. That chain haunts and harrows +him.</p> +<p>Amid all his difficulties he patiently pursued his work as +missionary. Twice every Sunday he preached, usually to good +audiences, the number rising on occasions so high as a thousand. It +was a great work to sow the good seed so widely, where no Christian +man had ever been, proclaiming every Lord's Day to fresh ears the +message of Divine love. Sometimes he was in great hopes that a true +impression had been made. But usually, whenever the service was +over, the wild savage dance with all its demon noises succeeded, +and the missionary could but look on and sigh. So ready was he for +labor that when he could get any willing to learn, he commenced +teaching them the alphabet. But he was continually met by the +notion that his religion was a religion of medicines, and that all +the good it could do was by charms. Intellectual culture seemed +indispensable to dissipate this inveterate superstition regarding +Christian influence.</p> +<p>A few extracts from his Journal in the Barotse country will more +vividly exhibit his state of mind:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>27th August</i>, 1853.--The more intimately I +become acquainted with barbarians, the more disgusting does +heathenism become. It is inconceivably vile. They are always +boasting of their fierceness, yet dare not visit another tribe for +fear of being killed. They never visit anywhere but for the purpose +of plunder and oppression. They never go anywhere but with a club +or spear in hand. It is lamentable to see those who might be +children of God, dwelling in peace and love, so utterly the +children of the devil, dwelling in fear and continual irritation. +They bestow honors and flattering titles on me in confusing +profusion. All from the least to the greatest call me Father, Lord, +etc., and bestow food without recompense, out of pure kindness. +They need a healer. May God enable me to be such to them....<br> +<br> +"<i>31st August</i>.--The slave-trade seems pushed into the very +centre of the continent from both sides. It must be +profitable....<br> +<br> +"<i>September 25, Sunday</i>.--A quiet audience to-day. The seed +being sown, the least of all seeds now, but it will grow a mighty +tree. It is as it were a small stone cut out of a mountain, but it +will fill the whole earth. He that believeth shall not make haste. +Surely if God can bear with hardened impenitent sinners for thirty, +forty, or fifty years, waiting to be gracious, we may take it for +granted that his is the best way. He could destroy his enemies, but +He waits to be gracious. To become irritated with their +stubbornness and hardness of heart is ungodlike....<br> +<br> +"<i>13th October</i>.--Missionaries ought to cultivate a taste for +the beautiful. We are necessarily compelled to contemplate much +moral impurity and degradation. We are so often doomed to +disappointment. We are apt to become either callous or melancholy, +or, if preserved from these, the constant strain on the +sensibilities is likely to injure the bodily health. On this +account it seems necessary to cultivate that faculty for the +gratification of which God has made such universal provision. See +the green earth and blue sky, the lofty mountain and the verdant +valley, the glorious orbs of day and night, and the starry canopy +with all their celestial splendor, the graceful flowers so chaste +in form and perfect in coloring. The various forms of animated life +present to him whose heart is at peace with God through the blood +of his Son an indescribable charm. He sees in the calm beauties of +nature such abundant provision for the welfare of humanity and +animate existence. There appears on the quiet repose of earth's +scenery the benignant smile of a Father's love. The sciences +exhibit such wonderful intelligence and design in all their various +ramifications, some time ought to be devoted to them before +engaging in missionary work. The heart may often be cheered by +observing the operation of an ever-present intelligence, and we may +feel that we are leaning on his bosom while living in a world +clothed in beauty, and robed with the glorious perfections of its +maker and preserver. We must feel that there is a Governor among +the nations who will bring all his plans with respect to our human +family to a glorious consummation. He who stays his mind on his +ever-present, ever-energetic God, will not fret himself because of +evil-doers. He that believeth shall not make haste."<br> +<br> +"<i>26th October</i>.--I have not yet met with a beautiful woman +among the black people, and I have seen many thousands in a great +variety of tribes. I have seen a few who might be called passable, +but none at all to be compared to what one may meet among English +servant-girls. Some beauties are said to be found among the +Caffres, but among the people I have seen I cannot conceive of any +European being captivated with them. The whole of my experience +goes toward proving that civilization alone produces beauty, and +exposure to the weather and other vicissitudes tend to the +production of deformation and ugliness....<br> +<br> +"<i>28th October</i>.--The conduct of the people whom we have +brought from Kuruman shows that no amount of preaching or +instruction will insure real piety.... The old superstitions cannot +be driven out of their minds by faith implanted by preaching. They +have not vanished in either England or Scotland yet, after the +lapse of centuries of preaching. Kuruman, the entire population of +which amounted in 1853 to 638 souls, enjoys and has enjoyed the +labors of at least two missionaries,--four sermons, two +prayer-meetings, infant schools, adult schools, sewing schools, +classes, books, etc., and the amount of visible success is very +gratifying, a remarkable change indeed from the former state of +these people. Yet the dregs of heathenism still cleave fast to the +minds of the majority. They have settled deep down into their +souls, and one century will not be sufficient to elevate them to +the rank of Christians in Britain. The double influence of the +spirit of commerce and the gospel of Christ has given an impulse to +the civilization of men. The circulation of ideas and commodities +over the face of the earth, and the discovery of the gold regions, +have given enhanced rapidity to commerce in other countries, and +the diffusion of knowledge. But what for Africa? God will do +something else for it; something just as wonderful and unexpected +as the discovery of gold."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>It needs not to be said that his thoughts were very often with +his wife and children. A tender letter to the four little ones +shows that though some of them might be beginning to forget him, +their names were written imperishably on his heart:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Sekelétu's Town, Linyanti, 2d +October</i>.--MY DEAR ROBERT, AGNES, AND THOMAS AND OSWELL,--Here +is another little letter for you all. I should like to see you much +more than write to you, and speak with my tongue rather than with +my pen; but we are far from each other--very, very far. Here are +Seipone, and Meriye and others who saw you as the first white +children they ever looked at. Meriye came the other day and brought +a round basket for Nannie. She made it of the leaves of the +palmyra. Others put me in mind of you all by calling me Rananee, +and Rarobert, and there is a little Thomas in the town, and when I +think of you I remember, though I am far off, Jesus, our good and +gracious Jesus, is ever near both you and me, and then I pray to +Him to bless you and make you good.<br> +<br> +"He is ever near. Remember this if you feel angry or naughty. Jesus +is near you, and sees you, and He is so good and kind. When He was +among men, those who heard Him speak said, 'Never man spake like +this man,' and we now say, 'Never did man love like Him.' You see +little Zouga is carried on mamma's bosom. You are taken care of by +Jesus with as much care as mamma takes of Zouga. He is always +watching you and keeping you in safety. It is very bad to sin, to +do any naughty things, or speak angry or naughty words before +Him.<br> +<br> +"My dear children, take Him as your Guide, your Helper, your +Friend, and Saviour through life. Whatever you are troubled about +ask Him to keep you. Our God is good. We thank Him that we have +such a Saviour and Friend as He is. Now you are little, but you +will not always be so, hence you must learn to read and write and +work. All clever men can both read and write, and Jesus needs +clever men to do his work. Would you not like to work for Him among +men? Jesus is wishing to send his gospel to all nations, and He +needs clever men to do this. Would you like to serve Him? Well, you +must learn now, and not get tired learning. After some time you +will like learning better than playing, but you must play, too, in +order to make your bodies strong and be able to serve Jesus.<br> +<br> +"I am glad to hear that you go to the academy. I hope you are +learning fast. Don't speak Scotch. It is not so pretty as English. +Is the Tau learning to read with mamma? I hope you are all kind to +mamma. I saw a poor woman in a chain with many others, up at the +Barotse. She had a little child, and both she and her child were +very thin. See how kind Jesus was to you. No one can put you in +chains unless you become bad. If, however, you learn bad ways, +beginning only by saying bad words or doing little bad things, +Satan will have you in the chains of sin, and you will be hurried +on in his bad ways till you are put into the dreadful place which +God hath prepared for him and all who are like him. Pray to Jesus +to deliver you from sin, give you new hearts, and make you his +children. Kiss Zouga, mamma, and each other for me.--Your ever +affectionate father,<br> +<br> +"D. LIVINGSTON."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>A letter to his father and other relations at Hamilton, 30th +September, 1853, is of a somewhat apologetic and explanatory cast. +Some of the friends had the notion that he should have settled +somewhere, "preaching the simple gospel," and converting people by +every sermon:</p> +<blockquote>"You see what they make of the gospel, and my +conversation on it, in which my inmost Heart yearned for their +conversion. Many now think Jesus and Sebituane very much the same +sort of person. I was prevented by fever and other matters from at +once following up the glorious object of this journey: viz., while +preaching the gospel beyond every other man's line of things made +ready to our hands, to discover a healthy location for a mission, +and I determined to improve the time by teaching to read. This +produced profound deliberation and lengthened palavers, and at +length the chief told me that he feared learning to read would +change his heart and make him content with one wife like +Sechéle. He has four. It was in vain I urged that the change +contemplated made the affair as voluntary as if he would now change +his mind from four to thirty, as his father had. He could not +realize the change that would give relish to any other system than +the present. He felt as the man who is mentioned by Serles as +saying he would not like to go to heaven to be employed for ever +singing and praising on a bare cloud without anything to eat or +drink....<br> +<br> +"The conversion of a few, however valuable their souls may be, +cannot be put into the scale against the knowledge of the truth +spread over the whole country. In this I do and will exult. As in +India, we are doomed to perpetual disappointment; but the knowledge +of Christ spreads over the masses. We are like voices crying in the +wilderness. We prepare the way for a glorious future in which +missionaries telling the same tale of love will convert by every +sermon. I am trying now to establish the Lord's kingdom in a region +wider by far than Scotland. Fever seems to forbid; but I shall work +for the glory of Christ's kingdom--fever or no fever. All the +intelligent men who direct our society and understand the nature of +my movements support me warmly. A few, I understand, in Africa, in +writing home, have styled my efforts as 'wanderings.' The very word +contains a lie coiled like a serpent in its bosom. It means +traveling without an object, or uselessly. I am now performing the +duty of writing you. If this were termed 'dawdling,' it would be as +true as the other.... I have actually seen letters to the Directors +in which I am gravely charged with holding the views of the +Plymouth Brethren, So very sure am I that I am in the path which +God's Providence has pointed out, as that by which Christ's kingdom +is to be promoted, that if the Society should object, I would +consider it my duty to withdraw from it....<br> +<br> +<i>"P.S.</i>--My throat became well during the long silence of +traveling across the desert. It plagues again now that I am +preaching in a moist climate."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Dr. Livingstone now began his preparations for the journey from +Linyanti to Loanda. Sekelétu was kind and generous. The road +was impracticable for wagons, and the native trader, George +Fleming, returned to Kuruman, The Kuruman guides had not done well, +so that Livingstone resolved to send them back, and to get Makololo +men instead. Here is the record of his last Sunday at Linyanti:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>6th Nov., 1853</i>.--Large audience. Kuruman people +don't attend. If it is a fashion to be church-going, many are drawn +into its observance. But placed in other circumstances, the true +character comes out. This is the case with many Scotchmen. May God +so imbue my mind with the spirit of Christianity that in all +circumstances I may show my Christian character! Had a long +conversation with Motlube, chiefly on a charm for defending the +town or for gun medicine. They think I know it but will not impart +the secret to them. I used every form of expression to undeceive +him, but to little purpose. Their belief in medicine which will +enable them to shoot well is very strong, and simple trust in an +unseen Saviour to defend them against such enemies as the Matebele +is too simple for them. I asked if a little charcoal sewed up in a +bag were a more feasible protector than He who made all things, and +told them that one day they would laugh heartily at their own +follies in bothering me so much for gun medicine. A man who has +never had to do with a raw heathen tribe has yet to learn the +Missionary A B C."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>On the 8th he writes:</p> +<blockquote>"Our intentions are to go up the Leeba till we reach +the falls, then send back the canoe and proceed in the country +beyond as best we can. Matiamvo is far beyond, but the Cassantse +(probably Cassange) live on the west of the river. May God in mercy +permit me to do something for the cause of Christ in these dark +places of the earth! May He accept my children for his service, and +sanctify them for it! My blessing on my wife. May God comfort her! +If my watch comes back after I am cut off, it belongs to Agnes. If +my sextant, it is Robert's. The Paris medal to Thomas. +Double-barreled gun to Zouga. Be a Father to the fatherless, and a +Husband to the widow, for Jesus' sake."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The probability of his falling was full in his view. But the +thought was ever in his mind, and ever finding expression in +letters both to the Missionary and the Geographical Societies, and +to all his friends,--"Can the love of Christ not carry the +missionary where the slave-trade carries the trader?" His wagon and +goods were left with Sekelétu, and also the Journal from +which these extracts are taken <a name="FNanchor39"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_39">[39]</a>. It was well for him that his conviction of +duty was clear as noonday. A year after, he wrote to his +father-in-law:</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_39"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor39">[39]</a> This Journal is mentioned in the +<i>Missionary Travels</i> as having been lost (p. 229). It was +afterward recovered. It contains, among other things, some +important notes on Natural History.</blockquote> +<blockquote>I had fully made up my mind as to the path of duty +before starting. I wrote to my brother-in-law, Robert Moffat: 'I +shall open up a path into the interior, or perish.' I never have +had the shadow of a shade of doubt as to the propriety of my +course, and wish only that my exertions may be honored so far that +the gospel may be preached and believed in all this dark +region."</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII."></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> +<h3>FROM LINYANTI TO LOANDA.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1853-1854.</center> +<p>Difficulties and hardships of journey--His traveling kit--Four +books--His Journal--Mode of traveling--Beauty of +country--Repulsiveness of the people--Their religious belief--The +negro--Preaching--The magic-lantern--Loneliness of +feeling--Slave-trade--Management of the natives--Danger from +Chiboque--from another chief--Livingstone ill of fever--At the +Quango--Attachment of followers--"The good time coming"--Portuguese +settlements--Great kindness of the Portuguese--Arrives at +Loanda--Received by Mr. Gabriel--His great friendship--No +letters--News through Mr. Gabriel--Livingstone becomes aquainted +with naval officers--Resolves to go back to Linyanti and make for +East Coast--Letter to his wife--Correspondence with Mr. +Maclear--Accuracy of his observations--Sir John +Herschel--Geographical Society award their gold metal--Remarks of +Lord Ellesmere.</p> +<br> +<p>The journey from Linyanti to Loanda occupied from the 11th +November, 1853, to 31st May, 1854. It was in many ways the most +difficult and dangerous that Livingstone had yet performed, and it +drew out in a very wonderful manner the rare combination of +qualities that fitted him for his work. The route had never been +traversed, so far as any trustworthy tradition went, by any +European. With the exception of a few of Sekelétu's tusks, +the oxen needed for carrying, and a trifling amount of coffee, +cloth, beads, etc., Livingstone had neither stores of food for his +party, nor presents with which to propitiate the countless tribes +of rapacious and suspicious savages that lined his path. The +Barotse men who accompanied him, usually called the "Makololo," +though on the whole faithful and patient, "the best that ever +accompanied me," were a burden in one sense, as much as a help in +another; chicken-hearted, ready to succumb to every trouble, and to +be cowed by any chief that wore a threatening face. Worse if +possible, Livingstone himself was in wretched health. During this +part of the journey he had constant attacks of intermittent fever +<a name="FNanchor40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40">[40]</a>, +accompanied in the latter stages of the road with dysentery of the +most distressing kind. In the intervals of fever he was often +depressed alike in body and in mind. Often the party were destitute +of food of any sort, and never had they food suitable for a +fever-stricken invalid. The vexations he encountered were of no +common kind: at starting, the greater part of his medicines was +stolen, much though he needed them; in the course of the journey, +his pontoon was left behind; at one time, while he was under the +influence of fever, his riding-ox threw him, and he fell heavily on +his head; at another, while crossing a river, the ox tossed him +into the water; the heavy rains, and the necessity of wading +through streams three or four times a day, kept him almost +constantly wet; and occasionally, to vary the annoyance, mosquitos +would assail him as fiercely as if they had been waging a war of +extermination. The most critical moments of peril, demanding the +utmost coolness and most dauntless courage, would sometimes occur +during the stage of depression after fever; it was then he had to +extricate himself from savage warriors, who vowed that he must go +back, unless he gave them an ox, a gun, or a man. The ox he could +ill spare, the gun not at all, and as for giving the last--a +man--to make a slave of, he would sooner die. At the best, he was a +poor ragged skeleton when he reached those who had hearts to feel +for him and hands to help him. Had he not been a prodigy of +patience, faith, and courage, had he not known where to find help +in all time of his tribulation, he would never have reached the +haunts of civilized men.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_40"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor40">[40]</a> The number of attacks was +thirty-one.</blockquote> +<p>His traveling-kit was reduced to the smallest possible ilk; that +he minded little, but he was vexed to be able to take so few books. +A few days after setting out, he writes in his private Journal;</p> +<blockquote>"I feel the want of books in this journey more than +anything else. A Sichuana Pentateuch, a lined journal, Thomson's +Tables, a Nautical Almanac, and a Bible, constitute my stock. The +last constitutes my chief resource; but the want of other mental +pabulum is felt severely. There is little to interest in the +conversation of the people. Loud disputes often about the women, +and angry altercations in which the same string of abuse is used, +are more frequent than anything else."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The "lined journal," of which mention is made here, was probably +the most wonderful thing of the kind ever taken on such a journey. +It is a strongly bound quarto volume of more then 800 pages, with a +lock and key. The writing is so neat and clear that it might almost +be taken for lithograph. Occasionally there is a page with letters +beginning to sprawl, as if one of those times had come when he +tells us that he-could neither think nor speak, nor tell any one's +name--possibly not even his own, if he had been asked it. He used +to jot his observations on little note-books, and extend them when +detained by rain or other causes.</p> +<p>The journal differs in some material respects from the printed +record of this journey. It is much more explicit in setting forth +the bad treatment he often received. When he spoke of these things +to the public, he made constant use of the mantle of charity, and +the record of many a bad deed and many a bad character is toned +down. Naturally, too, the journal is more explicit on the subject +of his own troubles, and more free in recording the play of his +feelings. It does not hide the communings of his heart with his +heavenly Father. It is built up in a random-rubble style; here a +solemn prayer, in the next line a note of lunar observations; then +a dissertation on the habits of the hippopotamus. Notes bearing on +the character, the superstitions, and the feelings of the natives +are of frequent occurrence. The explanation is, that Livingstone +put down everything as it came, reserving the arranging and +digesting of the whole to a future time. The extremely hurried +manner in which he was obliged to write his <i>Missionary +Travels</i> prevented him from fulfilling all his plan, and +compelled him to content himself with giving to the public then +what could be put most readily together. There are indications that +he contemplated in the end a much more thorough use of his +materials. It is not to be supposed that his published volumes +contained all that he deemed worthy of publication, or that a +censure is due to those who reproduce some portions which he passed +over. As to the neat and finished form in which the Journal exists, +it was one of the many fruits of a strong habit of orderliness and +self-respect which he had begun to learn at the hand of his mother, +and which he practiced all his life. Even in the matter of personal +cleanliness and dress he was uniformly most attentive in his +wanderings among savages. "I feel certain," he said, "that the +lessons of cleanliness rigidly instilled by my mother in childhood +helped to maintain that respect which these people entertain for +European ways."</p> +<p>The course of the journey was first along the river Zambesi, as +he had gone before with Sekelétu, to its junction with the +Leeba, then along the Leeba to the country of Lobale on the left +and Londa on the right. Then, leaving the canoes, he traveled on +oxback first N.N.W. and then W. till he reached St. Paul de Loanda +on the coast. His Journal, like the published volume, is full of +observations on the beauty and wonderful capacity and +productiveness of the country through which he passed after leaving +the river. Instinctively he would compare it with Scotland. A +beautiful valley reminds him of his native vale of Clyde, seen from +the spot where Mary Queen of Scots saw the battle of Langside; only +the Scottish scene is but a miniature of the much greater and +richer landscape before him. At the sight of the mountains he would +feel his Highland blood rushing through him, banishing all thoughts +of fever and fatigue. If only the blessings of the gospel could be +spread among the people, what a glorious land it would become! But +alas for the people! In most cases they were outwardly very +repulsive. Never seen without a spear or a club in their hands, the +men seemed only to delight in plunder and slaughter, and yet they +were utter cowards. Their mouths were full of cursing and +bitterness. The execrations they poured on each other were +incredible. In very wantonness, when they met they would pelt each +other with curses, and then perhaps burst into a fit of laughter. +The women, like the men, went about in almost total nudity, and +seemed to know no shame. So reckless were the chiefs of human life, +that a man might be put to death for a single distasteful word; yet +sometimes there were exhibitions of very tender feeling. The +headman of a village once showed him, with much apparent feeling, +the burnt house of a child of his, adding,--"She perished in it, +and we have all removed from our own huts and built here round her, +in order to weep over her grave." From some of the people he +received great kindness; others were quite different. Their +character, in short, was a riddle, and would need to be studied +more. But the prevalent aspect of things was both distressing and +depressing. If he had thought of it continually, he would have +become the victim of melancholy. It was a characteristic of his +large and buoyant nature, that, besides having the resource of +spiritual thought, he was able to make use of another divine +corrective to such a tendency, to find delightful recreation in +science, and especially in natural history, and by this means turn +the mind away for a time from the dark scenes of man's +depravity.</p> +<p>The people all seemed to recognize a Supreme Being; but it was +only occasionally, in times of distress, that they paid Him homage. +They had no love for Him like that of Christians for Jesus--only +terror. Some of them, who were true negroes, had images, simple but +grotesque. Their strongest belief was in the power of medicines +acting as charms. They fully recognized the existence of the soul +after death. Some of them believed in the metamorphosis of certain +persons into alligators or hippopotamuses, or into lions. This +belief could not be shaken by any arguments--at least on the part +of man. The negroes proper interested him greatly; they were +numerous, prolific, and could not be extirpated. He almost +regretted that Mr. Moffat had translated the Bible into Sichuana. +That language might die out; but the negro might sing, "Men may +come and men may go, but I go on for ever."</p> +<p>The incessant attacks of fever from which Livingstone suffered +in this journey, the continual rain occurring at that season of the +year, the return of the affection of the throat for which he had +got his uvula excised, and the difficulty of speaking to tribes +using different dialects, prevented him from, holding his Sunday +services as regularly as before. Such entries in his Journal as the +following are but too frequent:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Sunday, 19th</i>.--Sick all Sunday and unable to +move. Several of the people were ill too, so that I could do +nothing but roll from side to side in my miserable little tent, in +which, with all the shade we could give it, the thermometer stood +upward of 90°."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>But though little able to preach, Livingstone made the most of +an apparatus which in some degree compensated his lack of speech--a +magic-lantern which his friend, a former fellow-traveler, Mr. +Murray, had given him. The pictures of Abraham offering up Isaac, +and other Bible scenes, enabled him to convey important truths in a +way that attracted the people. It was, he says, the only service he +was ever asked to repeat. The only uncomfortable feeling it raised +was on the part of those who stood on the side where the slides +were drawn out. They were terrified lest the figures, as they +passed along, should take possession of them, entering like spirits +into their bodies!</p> +<p>The loneliness of feeling engendered by the absence of all human +sympathy was trying. "Amidst all the beauty and loveliness with +which I am surrounded, there is still a feeling of want in the +soul,--as if something more were needed to bathe the soul in bliss +than the sight of the perfection in working and goodness in +planning of the great Father of our spirits. I need to be +purified--fitted for the eternal, to which my soul stretches away, +in ever returning longings. I need to be made more like my blessed +Saviour, to serve my God with all my powers. Look upon me, Spirit +of the living God, and supply all Thou seest lacking."</p> +<p>It was Livingstone's great joy to begin this long journey with a +blessed act of humanity, boldly summoning a trader to release a +body of captives, so that no fewer than eighteen souls were +restored to freedom. As he proceeded he obtained but too plain +evidence of the extent to which the slave traffic prevailed, +uniformly finding that wherever slavers had been, the natives were +more difficult to deal with and more exorbitant in their demands. +Slaves in chains were sometimes met with--a sight which some of his +men had never beheld before.</p> +<p>Livingstone's successful management of the natives constituted +the crowning wonder of this journey. Usually the hearts of the +chiefs were wonderfully turned to him, so that they not only +allowed him to pass on, but supplied him with provisions. But there +were some memorable occasions on which he and his company appeared +to be doomed. When he passed through the Chiboque country, the +provisions were absolutely spent; there was no resource but to kill +a riding-ox, a part of which, according to custom, was sent to the +chief. Next day was Sunday. After service the chief sent an +impudent message demanding much more valuable presents. His people +collected round Livingstone, brandishing their weapons, and one +young man all but brought down his sword on his head. It seemed +impossible to avoid a fight; yet Livingstone's management +prevailed--the threatened storm passed away.</p> +<p>Some days after, in passing through a forest in the dominions of +another chief, he and his people were in momentary expectation of +an attack. They went to the chiefs village and spoke to the man +himself; and here, on a Sunday, while ill of fever, Livingstone was +able to effect a temporary settlement. The chief sent them some +food; then yams, a goat, fowl, and meat. Livingstone gave him a +shawl, and two bunches of beads, and he seemed pleased. During +these exciting scenes he felt no fever; but when they were over the +constant wettings made him experience a sore sense of sinking, and +this Sunday was a day "of perfect uselessness." Monday came, and +while Livingstone was as low as possible, the inexorable chief +renewed his demands. "It was," he says, "a day of torture."</p> +<blockquote>"After talking nearly the whole day we gave the old +chief an ox, but he would not take it, but another. I was grieved +exceedingly to find that our people had become quite disheartened, +and all resolved to return home. All I can say has no effect. I can +only look up to God to influence their minds, that the enterprise +fail not, now that we have reached the very threshold of the +Portuguese settlements. I am greatly distressed at this change, for +what else can be done for this miserable land I do not see. It is +shut. O Almighty God, help, help! and leave not this wretched +people to the slave-dealer and Satan. The people have done well +hitherto, I see God's good influence in it. Hope He has left only +for a little season. No land needs the gospel more than this +miserable portion. I hope I am not to be left to fail in +introducing it."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>On Wednesday morning, however, final arrangements were made, and +the party passed on in peace. Ten days later, again on a Sunday, +they were once more pestered by a great man demanding dues. +Livingstone replied by simply defying him. He might kill him, but +God would judge. And on the Monday they left peaceably, thankful +for their deliverance, some of the men remarking, in view of it, +that they were "children of Jesus," and Livingstone thanking God +devoutly for his great mercy. Next day they were again stopped at +the river Quango. The poor Makololo had parted in vain with their +copper ornaments, and Livingstone with his razors, shirts, etc.; +yet he had made up his mind (as he wrote to the Geographical +Society afterward) to part with his blanket and coat to get a +passage, when a young Portuguese sergeant, Cypriano de Abrao, made +his appearance, and the party were allowed to pass.</p> +<p>There were many proofs that, though a poor set of fellows, +Livingstone's own followers were animated with extraordinary regard +for him. No wonder! They had seen how sincere he was in saying that +he would die rather than give any of them up to captivity. And all +his intercourse with them had been marked by similar proofs of his +generosity and kindness. When the ox flung him into the river, +about twenty of them made a simultaneous rush for his rescue, and +their joy at his safety was very great.</p> +<p>Amid all that was discouraging in the present aspect of things, +Livingstone could always look forward and rejoice in the good time +coming:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Sunday 22d</i>.--This age presents one great fact +in the Providence of God; missions are sent forth to all quarters +of the world,--missions not of one section of the Church, but of +all sections, and from nearly all Christian nations. It seems very +unfair to judge of the success of these by the number of +conversions which have followed. These are rather proofs of the +missions being of the right sort. They show the direction of the +stream which is set in motion by Him who rules the nations, and Is +destined to overflow the world. The fact which ought to stimulate +us above all others is, not that we have contributed to the +conversion of a few souls, however valuable these may be, but that +we are diffusing a knowledge of Christianity throughout the world. +The number of conversions in India is but a poor criterion of the +success which has followed the missionaries there. The general +knowledge is the criterion; and there, as well as in other lands +where missionaries in the midst of masses of heathenism seem like +voices crying in the wilderness--Reformers before the Reformation, +future missionaries will see conversions follow every sermon. We +prepare the way for them. May they not forget the pioneers who +worked in the thick gloom with few rays to cheer, except such as +flow from faith in God's promises! We work for a glorious future +which we are not destined to see--the golden age which has not +been, but will yet be. We are only morning-stars shining in the +dark, but the glorious morn will break, the good time coming yet. +The present mission-stations will all be broken up. No matter how +great the outcry against the instrumentality which God employs for +his purposes, whether by French soldiery as in Tahiti, or tawny +Boers as in South Africa, our duty is onward, onward, proclaiming +God's Word whether men will hear or whether they will forbear. A +few conversions show whether God's Spirit is in a mission or not. +No mission which has his approbation is entirely unsuccessful. His +purposes have been fulfilled, if we have been faithful. 'The nation +or kingdom that will not serve Thee shall utterly be +destroyed'--this has often been preceded by free offers of +friendship and mercy, and many missions which He has sent in the +olden time seemed bad failures. Noah's preaching was a failure, +Isaiah thought his so too. Poor Jeremiah is sitting weeping tears +over his people, everybody cursing the honest man, and he +ill-pleased with his mother for having borne him among such a set. +And Ezekiel's stiff-necked, rebellious crew were no better. Paul +said, 'All seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ,' and he +knew that after his departure grievous wolves would enter in, not +sparing the flock. Yet the cause of God is still carried on to more +enlightened developments of his will and character, and the +dominion is being given by the power of commerce and population +unto the people of the saints of the Most High. And this is an +everlasting kingdom, a little stone cut out of a mountain without +hands which shall cover the whole earth. For this time we work; may +God accept our imperfect service!"</blockquote> +<br> +<p>At length Livingstone began to get near the coast, reaching the +outlying Portuguese stations. He was received by the Portuguese +gentlemen with great kindness, and his wants were generously +provided for. One of them gave him the first glass of wine he had +taken in Africa. Another provided him with a suit of clothing. +Livingstone invoked the blessing of Him who said, "I was naked and +ye clothed me." His Journal is profuse in its admiration of some of +the Portuguese traders, who did not like the slave-trade--not they, +but had most enlightened views for the welfare of Africa. But +opposite some of these eulogistical passages of the Journal there +were afterward added an expressive series of marks of +interrogation.</p> +<p>At a later date he saw reason to doubt the sincerity of some of +the professions of these gentlemen. Ingenuous and trustful, he +could at first think nothing but good of those who had shown him +such marked attention. Afterward, the inexorable logic of facts +proved too strong, even for his unsuspecting soul. But the kindness +of the Portuguese was most genuine, and Livingstone never ceased to +be grateful for a single kind act. It is important to note that +whatever he came to think of their policy afterward, he was always +ready to make this acknowledgment.</p> +<p>Arrived at Loanda, 31st May, 1854, with his twenty-seven +followers, he was most kindly received by Mr. Edmund Gabriel, the +British Commissioner for the suppression of the slave-trade there, +and everything was done by him for his comfort. The sensation of +lying on an English bed, after six months lying on the ground, was +indescribably delightful. Mr. Gabriel was equally attentive to him +during a long and distressing attack of fever and dysentery that +prostrated him soon after his arrival at Loanda. In his Journal the +warmest benedictions are poured on Mr. Gabriel, and blessings +everlasting besought for his soul. One great disappointment he +suffered at Loanda--not a single letter was awaiting him. His +friends must have thought he could never reach it. This want of +letters was a very frequent trial, especially to one who wrote so +many, and of such length. The cordial friendship of Mr. Gabriel, +however, was a great solace. He gave him much information, not only +on all that concerned the slave-trade--now more than ever +attracting his attention--but also on the natural history of the +district, and he entered <i>con amore</i> into the highest objects +of his mission. Afterward, in acknowledging to the Directors of the +London Missionary Society receipt of a letter for Dr. Livingstone, +intrusted to his care, Mr. Gabriel wrote as follows (20th March, +1856):</p> +<blockquote>"Dr. Livingstone, after the noble objects he has +achieved, most assuredly wants no testimony from me. I consult, +therefore, the impulse of my own mind alone, when I declare that in +no respect was my intercourse more gratifying to me than in the +opportunities afforded to me of observing his <i>earnest, active, +and unwearied solicitude for the advancement of Christianity.</i> +Few, perhaps, have had better opportunities than myself of +estimating <i>the benefit the Christian cause in this country has +derived from Dr. Livingstone's exertions</i>. It is indeed +fortunate for that sacred cause, and highly honorable to the London +Missionary Society, <i>when qualities and dispositions like his are +employed in propagating its blessings among men.</i> Irrespective, +moreover, of his <i>laudable and single-minded conduct as a +minister of the Gospel,</i> and his attainments in making +observations which have determined the true geography of the +interior, the Directors, I am sure, will not have failed to +perceive how interesting and valuable are all the communications +they receive from him--as sketches of the social condition of the +people, and the material, fabrics, and produce Of these lands. I +most fervently pray that the kind Providence, which has hitherto +carried him through so many perils and hardships, may guide him +safely to his present journey's end."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The friendship of Mr. Gabriel was honorable both to himself and +to Dr. Livingstone. At a very early period he learned to appreciate +Livingstone thoroughly, he saw how great as well as how good a man +he was, and felt that to be the friend of such a man was one of the +highest distinctions he could have. After Livingstone left Loanda, +and while he was detained within reach of letters, a brisk +correspondence passed between them; Mr. Gabriel tells him about +birds, helps him in his schemes for promoting lawful commerce, goes +into ecstasies over a watch-chain which he had got from him, tells +him the news of the battle of the Alma in the Crimea, in which his +friend, Colonel Steele, had distinguished himself, and of the +success of the Rae Expedition in finding the remains of the party +under Sir John Franklin. In an official communication to Lord +Clarendon, after Livingstone had left, Mr. Gabriel says, 5th +August, 1855: "I am grieved to say that this excellent man's health +has suffered a good deal [on the return journey]. He nevertheless +wrote in cheerful spirits, sanguine of success in doing his duty +under the guidance and protection of that kind Providence who had +always carried him through so many perils and hardships. He assures +me that since he knew the value of Christianity, he has ever wished +to spend his life in propagating its blessings among men, and adds +that the same desire remains still as strong as ever."</p> +<p>While Livingstone was at Loanda, he made several acquaintances +among the officers of Her Majesty's navy, engaged in the +suppression of the slave-trade. For many of these gentlemen he was +led to entertain a high regard. Their humanity charmed him, and so +did their attention to their duties. In his early days, sharing the +feeling then so prevalent in his class, he had been used to think +of epauleted gentlemen as idlers, or worse--"<i>fruges consumere +nati</i>" Personal acquaintance, as in so many other cases, rubbed +off the prejudice. In many ways Livingstone's mind was broadening. +His intensely sympathetic nature drew powerfully to all who were +interested in what was rapidly becoming his own master-idea--the +suppression of the slave-trade. We shall see proofs not a few, how +this sympathetic affection modified some of his early opinions, and +greatly widened the sphere of his charity.</p> +<p>After all the illness and dangers he had encountered, +Livingstone might quite honorably have accepted a berth in one of +Her Majesty's cruisers, and returned to England. But the men who +had come with him from the Barotse country to Loanda had to return, +and Livingstone knew that they were quite unable to perform the +journey without him. That consideration determined his course. All +the risks and dangers of that terrible road--the attacks of fever +and dysentery, the protracted absence of those for whom he pined, +were not to be thought of when he had a duty to these poor men. +Besides, he had hot yet accomplished his object. He had, indeed, +discovered a way by his friend Sekelétu might sell his tusks +to far greater advantage, and which would thus help to introduce a +legitimate traffic among the Makololo, and expel the slave-trade; +but he had discovered no healthy locality for a mission, nor any +unexceptional highway to the sea for the purpose of general +traffic. The east coast seemed to promise better than the west. +That great river, the Zambesi, might be found to be a navigable +highway to the sea. He would return to Linyanti, and set out from +it to find a way to the eastern shore. Loaded with kindness from +many quarters, and furnished with presents for Sekelétu, and +for the chiefs along the way, Livingstone bade farewell to Loanda +on 20th September, 1854.</p> +<p>The following letter to Mrs. Livingstone, written a month +afterward, gives his impressions of Loanda and the +neighborhood;</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Golungo Alto, 25th October</i>, 1854.--It occurs to +me, my dearest Mary, that if I send you a note from different parts +on the way through this colony, some of them will surely reach you; +and If they carry any of the affection I bear to you in their +composition, they will not fail to comfort you. I got everything in +Loanda I could desire; and were there only a wagon-path for us, +this would be as good an opening into the interior as we could +wish. I remained rather a long time in the city in consequence of a +very severe attack of fever and dysentery which reduced me very +much; and I remained a short time longer than that actually +required to set me on my legs, in longing expectation of a letter +from you. None came, but should any come up to the beginning of +November, it will come after me by post to Cassangé.<br> +<br> +"The [Roman Catholic] Bishop, who was then acting-governor, gave a +horse, saddle, and bridle, a colonel's suit of clothes, etc., for +Sekelétu, and a dress of blue and red cloth, with a white +cotton blanket and cap to each of my companions, who are the best +set of men I ever traveled with except Malatzi and Mebalwe. The +merchants of Loanda gave Sekelétu a large present of cloth, +beads, etc., and one of them, a Dutch-man, gave me an order for ten +oxen as provisions on the way home to the Zambesi. This is all to +encourage the natives to trade freely with the coast, and will have +a good effect in increasing our influence for that which excels +everything earthly. Everything has, by God's gracious blessing, +proved more auspicious than I anticipated. We have a most +warm-hearted friend in Mr. Gabriel. He acted a brother's part, and +now writes me in the moat affectionate manner. I thank God for his +goodness in influencing the hearts of so many to show kindness, to +whom I was a total stranger. The Portuguese have all been extremely +kind. In coming through the coffee plantations I was offered more +coffee than I could take or needed, and the best in the world. One +spoonful makes it stronger than three did of that we used. It is +found wild on the mountains.<br> +<br> +"Mr. Gabriel came about 30 miles with me, and ever since, though I +spoke freely about the slave-trade, the very gentlemen who have +been engaged in it, and have been prevented by our ships from +following it, and often lost much, treated me most kindly in their +houses, and often accompanied me to the next place beyond them, +bringing food for all in the way. The common people are extremely +civil, and a very large proportion of the inhabitants in one +district called Ambaca can read and write well. They were first +taught by the Roman Catholic missionaries, and now teach each other +so well, it is considered a shame in an Ambacista not to be able to +write his own name at least. But they have no Bibles. They are +building a church at Ambaca, and another is in course of erection +here, though they cannot get any priests. May God grant that we may +be useful in some degree in this field also.... Give my love to all +the children, they will reap the advantage of your remaining longer +at home than we anticipated. I hope Robert, Agnes, and Tom are each +learning as fast as they can. When will they be able to write a +letter to me? How happy I shall be to meet them and you again! I +hope a letter from you may be waiting for me at Zambesi. Love to +all the children. How tall is Zouga? Accept the assurance of +unabated love.<br> +<br> +"DAVID LIVINGSTON."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>It must not be forgotten that all this time Dr. Livingstone was +making very careful astronomical observations, in order to +determine his exact positions, and transmitting elaborate letters +to the Geographical Society. His astronomical observations were +regularly forwarded to his friend the Astronomer-Royal at the Cape, +Mr. Maclear, for verification and correction.</p> +<p>Writing to Livingstone on 27th March, 1854, with reference to +some of his earlier observations, after noticing a few trifling +mistakes, Mr. Maclear says: "It is both interesting and amusing to +trace your improvement as an observer. Some of your early +observations, as you remark, are rough, and the angles ascribed to +objects misplaced in transcribing. But upon the whole I do not +hesitate to assert that no explorer on record has determined his +path with the precision you have accomplished." A year afterward, +11th August, 1855, but with reference to papers received from +Sekelétu's place, Mr. Maclear details what he had done in +reducing his observations, preparing abstracts of them, sending +them to the authorities, and publishing them in the Cape papers. He +informs him that Sir John Herschel placed them before the +Geographical Society, and that a warm eulogium on his labors and +discoveries, and particularly on the excellent series of +observations which fixed his track so exactly, appeared in the +President's Address.</p> +<p>Then, referring to his wonderful journey to Loanda, and +remarkable escapes, he says: "Nor is your escape with life from so +many attacks of fever other than miraculous. Perhaps there is +nothing on record of the kind, and it can only be explained by +Divine interference for a good purpose. O may life be continued to +you, my dear friend! You have accomplished more for the happiness +of mankind than has been done by all the African travelers hitherto +put together."</p> +<p>Mr. Maclear's reference to Livingstone's work, in writing to Sir +John Herschel, was in these terms: "Such a man deserves every +encouragement in the power of his country to give. He has done that +which few other travelers in Africa can boast of--he has fixed his +geographical points with very great accuracy, and yet he is only a +poor missionary."</p> +<p>Nor did Dr. Livingstone pass unrewarded in other quarters. In +the Geographical Society, his journey to Loanda, of which he sent +them an account, excited the liveliest interest. In May, 1855, on +the motion of Sir Roderick Murchison, the Society testified its +appreciation by awarding him their gold medal--the highest honor +they had to bestow. The occasion was one of great interest. From +the chair, Lord Ellesmere spoke of Livingstone's work in science as +but subordinate to those higher ends which he had ever prosecuted +in the true spirit of a missionary. The simplicity of his +arrangements gave additional wonder to the results. There had just +appeared an account of a Portuguese expedition of African +exploration from the East Coast:</p> +<blockquote>"I advert to it," said his Lordship, "to point out the +contrast between the two. Colonel Monteiro was the leader of a +small army--some twenty Portuguese soldiers, and a hundred and +twenty Caffres. The contrast is as great between such military +array and the solitary grandeur of the missionary's progress, as it +is between the actual achievements of the two--between the rough +knowledge obtained by the Portuguese of some three hundred leagues +of new country, and the scientific precision with which the unarmed +and unassisted Englishman has left his mark on so many important +stations of regions hitherto a blank."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>About the time when these words were spoken, Dr. Livingstone was +at Cabango on his return journey, recovering from a very severe +attack of rheumatic fever which had left him nearly deaf; besides, +he was almost blind in consequence of a blow received on the eye +from a branch of a tree in riding through the forest. +Notwithstanding, he was engaged in writing a despatch to the +Geographical Society, through Sir Roderick Murchison, of which more +anon, reporting progress, and explaining his views of the structure +of Africa. But we must return to Loanda, and set out with him and +his Makololo in proper on their homeward tour.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX."></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> +<h3>FROM LOANDA TO QUILIMANE.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1854-1856.</center> +<p>Livingstone sets out from Loanda--Journey back--Effects of +slavery--Letter to his wife--Severe attack of fever--He reaches the +Barotse country--Day of thanksgiving--His efforts for the good of +his men--Anxieties of the Moffats--Mr. Moffat's journey to +Mosilikatse--Box at Linyanti--Letter from Mrs. Moffat--Letters to +Mrs. Livingstone, Mr. Moffat, and Mrs. Moffat--Kindness of +Sekelétu--New escort--He sets out for the East +Coast--Discovers the Victoria Falls--The healthy longitudinal +ridges--Pedestrianism--Great dangers--Narrow escapes--Triumph of +the spirit of trust in God--Favorite texts--Reference to Captain +Maclure's experience--Chief subjects of thought--Structure of the +continent--Sir Roderick Murchison anticipates his +discovery--Letters to Geographical Society--First letter from Sir +Roderick Murchison--Missionary labor--Monasteries--Protestant +mission-stations wanting in self-support--Letter to +Directors--Fever not so serious an obstruction as it seemed--His +own hardships--Theories of mission-work--Expansion <i>v</i>. +Concentration--Views of a missionary statesman--He reaches +Tette--Letter to King of Portugal--To Sir Roderick +Murchison--Reaches Senna--Quilimane--Retrospect--Letter from +Directors--Goes to Mauritius--Voyage home--Narrow escape from +shipwreck in Bay of Tunis--He reaches England, Dec., 1856--News of +his father's death.</p> +<br> +<p>Dr. Livingstone left St. Paul de Loanda on 24th September, 1854, +arrived at his old quarters at Linyanti on 11th September, 1855, +set out eastward on 3d November, 1855, and reached Quilimane on the +eastern coast on 20th May, 1856. His journey thus occupied a year +and eight months, and the whole time from his leaving the Cape on +8th June, 1852, was within a few days of four years. The return +journey from Loanda to Linyanti took longer than the journey +outward. This arose from detention of various kinds <a name= +"FNanchor41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41">[41]</a>: the sicknesses of +Livingstone and his men, the heavy rains, and in one case, at Pungo +Andongo, the necessity of reproducing a large packet of letters, +journals, maps, and despatches, which he had sent off from Loanda. +These were despatched by the mail-packet "Forerunner," which +unhappily went down off Madeira, all the passengers but one being +lost. But for his promise to the Makololo to return with them to +their country, Dr. Livingstone would have been himself a passenger +in the ship. Hearing of the disaster while paying a visit to a very +kind and hospitable Portuguese gentleman at Pungo Andongo, on his +way back, Livingstone remained there some time to reproduce his +lost papers. The labor thus entailed must have been very great, for +his ordinary letters covered sheets almost as large as a newspaper, +and his maps and despatches were produced with extraordinary +care.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_41"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor41">[41]</a> Dr. Livingstone observed that traders +generally traveled ten days in the month, and rested twenty, making +seven geographical miles a day, or seventy per month. In his case +in this journey the proportion was generally reversed--twenty days +of traveling and ten of rest, and his rate per day was about ten +geographical miles, or two hundred per month. As he often +zigzagged, the geographical mile represented considerably, more. +See letter to Royal Geographical Society, October 16, +1855.</blockquote> +<p>He found renewed occasion to acknowledge in the warmest terms +the kindness he received from the Portuguese; and his prayers that +God would reward and bless them were not the less sincere that in +many important matters he could not approve of their ways.</p> +<p>In traversing the road backward along which he had already come, +not many things happened that demand special notice in this brief +sketch. We find him both in his published book and still more in +his private Journal repeating his admiration of the country and its +glorious scenery. This revelation of the marvelous beauty of a +country hitherto deemed a sandy desert was one of the most +astounding effects of Livingstone's travels on the public mind. But +the more he sees of the people the more profound does their +degradation appear, although the many instances of remarkable +kindness to himself, and occasional cases of genuine feeling one +toward another, convinced him that there was a something in them +not quite barbarised. On one point he was very clear--the +Portuguese settlements among them had not improved them. Not that +he undervalued the influences which the Portuguese had brought to +bear on them; he had a much more favorable opinion of the Jesuit +missions than Protestants have usually allowed themselves to +entertain, and felt both kindly and respectfully toward the padres, +who in the earlier days of these settlements had done, he believed, +a useful work. But the great bane of the Portuguese settlements was +slavery. Slavery prevented a good example, it hindered justice, it +kept down improvement. If a settler took a fancy to a good-looking +girl, he had only to buy her, and make her his concubine. Instead +of correcting the polygamous habits of the chiefs and others, the +Portuguese adopted like habits themselves. In one thing indeed they +were far superior to the Boers--in their treatment of the children +born to them by native mothers. But the whole system of slavery +gendered a blight which nothing could counteract; to make Africa a +prosperous land, liberty must be proclaimed to the captive, and the +slave system, with all its accursed surroundings, brought +conclusively to an end. Writing to Mrs. Livingstone from Bashinge, +20th March, 1855, he gives, some painful particulars of the +slave-trade. Referring to a slave-agent with whom he had been, he +says:</p> +<blockquote>"This agent is about the same in appearance as Mebalwe, +and speaks Portuguese as the Griquas do Dutch. He has two chainsful +of women going to be sold for the ivory. Formerly the trade went +from the interior into the Portuguese territory; now it goes the +opposite way. This is the effect of the Portuguese love of the +trade: they cannot send them abroad on account of our ships of war +on the coast, yet will sell them to the best advantage. These women +are decent-looking, as much so as the general run of Kuruman +ladies, and' were caught lately in a skirmish the Portuguese had +with their tribe; and they will be sold for about three tusks each. +Each has an iron ring round the wrist, and that is attached to the +chain, which she carries in the hand to prevent it jerking and +hurting the wrist. How would Nannie like to be thus treated? and +yet it is only by the goodness of God in appointing our lot in +different circumstances that we are not similarly degraded, for we +have the same evil nature, which is so degraded in them as to allow +of men treating them as beasts.<br> +<br> +"I long for the time when I shall see you again. I hope in God's +mercy for that pleasure. How are my dear ones? I have not seen any +equal to them since I put them on board ship. My brave little +dears! I only hope God will show us mercy, and make them good +too....<br> +<br> +"I work at the interior languages when I have a little time, and +also at Portuguese, which I like from being so much like Latin. +Indeed, when I came I understood much that was said from its +similarity to that tongue, and when I interlarded my attempts at +Portuguese with Latin, or spoke it entirely, they understood me +very well. The Negro language is not so easy, but I take a spell at +it every day I can. It is of the same family of languages as the +Sichuana....<br> +<br> +"We have passed two chiefs who plagued us much when going down, but +now were quite friendly. At that time one of them ordered his +people not to sell us anything, and we had at last to force our way +past him. Now he came running to meet us, saluting us, etc., with +great urbanity. He informed us that he would come in the evening to +receive a present, but I said unless he brought one he should +receive nothing. He came in the usual way. The Balonda show the +exalted position they occupy among men, viz., riding on the +shoulders of a spokesman in the way little boys do in England. The +chief brought two cocks and some eggs. I then gave a little present +too. The alteration in this gentleman's conduct--the Peace Society +would not credit-it--is attributable solely to my people possessing +guns. When we passed before, we were defenseless. May every needed +blessing be granted to you and the dear children, is the earnest +prayer of your ever most affectionate<br> +<br> +"D. LIVINGSTON."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>It was soon after the date of this letter that Livingstone was +struck down by that severe attack of rheumatic fever, accompanied +by great loss of blood, to which reference has already been made. +"I got it," he writes to Mr. Maclear, "by sleeping in the wet. +There was no help for it. Every part of a plain was flooded +ankle-deep. We got soaked by going on, and sodden if we stood +still." In his former journey he had been very desirous to visit +Matiamvo, paramount chief of the native tribes of Londa, whose +friendship would have helped him greatly in his journey; but at +that time he found himself too poor to attempt the enterprise. The +loss of time and consumption of goods caused by his illness on the +way back prevented him from accomplishing his purpose now.</p> +<p>Not only was the party now better armed than before, but the +good name of Livingstone had also become better known along the +line, and during his return journey he did not encounter so much +opposition. We cannot fail to be struck with his extraordinary care +for his men. It was his earnest desire to bring them all back to +their homes, and in point of fact the whole twenty-seven returned +in good health. How carefully he must have nursed them in their +attacks of fever, and kept them from unnecessary exposure, it is +hardly possible for strangers adequately to understand.</p> +<p>On reaching the country of the Barotse, the home of most of +them, a day of thanksgiving was observed (23d July, 1855). The men +had made little fortunes in Loanda, earning sixpence a day for +weeks together by helping to discharge a cargo of coals or, as they +called them, "stones that burned." But, like Livingstone, they had +to part with everything on the way home, and now they were in rags; +yet they were quite as cheerful and as fond of their leader as +ever, and felt that they had not traveled in vain. They quite +understood the benefit the new route would bring in the shape of +higher prices for tusks and the other merchandise of home. On the +thanksgiving day--</p> +<blockquote>"The men decked themselves out in their best, for all +had managed to preserve their suits of European clothing, which, +with their white and red caps, gave them a rather dashing +appearance. They tried to walk like soldiers, and called themselves +'my braves.' Having been again saluted with salvos from the women, +we met the whole population, and having given an address on divine +things, I told them we had come that day to thank God before them +all for his mercy in preserving us from dangers, from strange +tribes and sicknesses. We had another service in the afternoon. +They gave us two fine oxen to slaughter, and the women have +supplied us abundantly with milk and meal. This is all gratuitous, +and I feel ashamed that I can make no return. My men explain the +whole expenditure on the way hither, and they remark gratefully: +'It does not matter, you have opened a path for us, and we shall +have sleep.' Strangers from a distance come flocking to see me, and +seldom come empty-handed. I distribute all presents among my +men."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Several of the poor fellows on reaching home found domestic +trouble--a wife had proved inconstant and married another man. As +the men had generally more wives than one, Livingstone comforted +them by saying that they still had as many as he.</p> +<p>Amid the anxieties and sicknesses of the journey, and multiplied +subjects of thought and inquiry, Livingstone was as earnest as ever +for the spiritual benefit of the people. Some extracts from his +Journal will illustrate his efforts in this cause, and the +flickerings of hope that would spring out of them, dimmed, however, +by many fears:</p> +<blockquote><i>August 5, 1855</i>.--A large audience listened +attentively to my address this morning, but it is impossible to +indulge any hopes of such feeble efforts. God is merciful, and will +deal with them in justice and kindness. This constitutes a ground +of hope. Poor degraded Africa! A permanent station among them might +effect something in time, but a Considerable time is necessary. +Surely some will pray to their merciful Father in their extremity, +who never would have thought of Him but for our visit."<br> +<br> +"<i>August 12</i>.--A very good and attentive audience. Surely all +will not be forgotten. How small their opportunity compared to ours +who have been carefully instructed in the knowledge of divine truth +from our earliest infancy! The Judge is just and merciful. He will +deal fairly and kindly with all."<br> +<br> +"<i>October 15</i>.--We had a good and very attentive audience +yesterday, and I expatiated with great freedom on the love of +Christ in dying, from his parting address in John xvi. It cannot be +these precious truths will fall to the ground; but it is perplexing +to observe no effects. They assent to the truth, but 'we don't +know,' or 'you speak truly,' is all the response. In reading +accounts of South Sea missions it is hard to believe the quickness +of the vegetation of the good seed, but I know several of the men" +[the South Sea missionaries], "and am sure they are of +unimpeachable veracity. In trying to convey knowledge, and use the +magic lantern, which is everywhere extremely popular, though they +listen with apparent delight to what is said, questioning them on +the following night reveals almost entire ignorance of the previous +lesson. O that the Holy Ghost might enlighten them! To his +soul-renewing influence my longing soul is directed. It is his +word, and cannot die."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The long absence of Livingstone and the want of letters had +caused great anxiety to his friends. The Moffats had been +particularly concerned about him, and, in 1854, partly in the hope +of hearing of him, Mr. Moffat undertook a visit to Mosilikatse, +while a box of goods and comforts was sent to Linyanti to await his +return, should that ever take place. A letter from Mrs. Moffat +accompanied the box. It is amusing to read her motherly +explanations about the white shirts, and the blue waistcoat, the +woolen socks, lemon juice, quince jam, and tea and coffee, some of +which had come all the way from Hamilton; but there are passages in +that little note that make one's heart go with rapid beat:</p> +<blockquote>"MY DEAR SON LIVINGSTON,--Your present position is +almost too much for my weak nerves to suffer me to contemplate. +Hitherto I have kept up my spirits, and been enabled to believe +that our great Master may yet bring you out in safety, for though +his ways are often inscrutable, I should have clung to the many +precious promises made in his word as to temporal preservation, +such as the 91st and 121st Psalms--but have been taught that we may +not presume confidently to expect them to be fulfilled, and that +every petition, however fervent, must be with devout submission to +his will. My poor sister-in-law clung tenaciously to the 91st +Psalm, and firmly believed that her dear husband would thus be +preserved, and never indulged the idea that they should never meet +on earth. But I apprehend submission was wanting. 'If it be Thy +will,' I fancy she could not say--and, therefore, she was utterly +confounded when the news came <a name="FNanchor42"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_42">[42]</a>. She had exercised strong faith, and was +disappointed. Bear Livingstone, I have always endeavored to keep +this in mind with regard to you. Since George [Fleming] came out it +seemed almost hope against hope. Your having got so, thoroughly +feverised chills my expectations; still prayer, unceasing prayer, +is made for you. When I think of you my heart will go upward. 'Keep +him as the apple of Thine eye,' 'Hold him in the hollow of Thy +hand,' are the ejaculations of my heart."</blockquote> +<br> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_42"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor42">[42]</a> Rev. John Smith, missionary at Madras, had +gone to Vizagapatam to the ordination of two native pastors, and +when returning in a small vessel, a storm arose, when he and all on +board perished.</blockquote> +<p>In writing from Linyanti to his wife, Livingstone makes the best +he can of his long detention. She seems to have put the matter +playfully, wondering what the "source of attraction" had been. He +says:</p> +<blockquote>"Don't know what apology to make you for a delay I +could not shorten. But as you are a mercifully kind-hearted dame, I +expect you will write out an apology in proper form, and I shall +read it before you with as long a face as I can exhibit. Disease +was the chief obstacle. The repair of the wagon was the 'source of +attraction' in Cape Town, and the settlement of a case of libel +another 'source of attraction.' They tried to engulf me in a +law-suit for simply asking the postmaster why some letters were +charged double. They were so marked in my account. I had to pay +£13 to quash it. They longed to hook me in, from mere hatred +to London missionaries. I did not remain an hour after I could +move. But I do not wonder at your anxiety for my speedy return. I +am sorry you have been disappointed, but you know no mortal can +control disease. The Makololo are wonderfully well pleased with the +path we have already made, and if I am successful in going down to +Quilimane, that will be still better. I have written you by every +opportunity, and am very sorry your letters have been +miscarried."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>To his father-in-law he expresses his warm gratitude for the +stores. It was feared by the natives that the goods were bewitched, +so they were placed on an island, a hut was built over them, and +there Livingstone found them on his arrival, a year after! A letter +of twelve quarto pages to Mr. Moffat gives his impressions of his +journey, while another of sixteen pages to Mrs. Moffat explains his +"plans," about which she had asked more full information. He quiets +her fears by his favorite texts for the present--"Commit thy way to +the Lord," and "Lo, I am with you alway"; and his favorite vision +of the future--the earth full of the knowledge of the Lord. He is +somewhat cutting at the expense of so-called "missionaries to the +heathen, who never march into real heathen territory, and quiet +their consciences by opposing their do-nothingism to my blundering +do-somethingism!" He is indignant at the charge made by some of his +enemies that no good was done among the Bakwains. They were, in +many respects, a different people from before. Any one who should +be among the Makololo as he had been, would be thankful for the +state of the Bakwains. The seed would always bear fruit, but the +husbandman had need of great patience, and the end was sure.</p> +<p>Sekelétu had not been behaving well in Livingstone's +absence. He had been conducting marauding parties against his +neighbors, which even Livingstone's men, when they heard of it, +pronounced to be "bad, bad." Livingstone was obliged to reprove +him. A new uniform had been sent to the chief from Loanda, with +which he appeared at church, "attracting more attention than the +sermon." He continued, however, to 'show the same friendship for +Livingstone, and did all he could for him when he set out eastward. +A new escort of men was provided, above a hundred and twenty +strong, with ten slaughter cattle, and three of his best riding +oxen; stores of food were given, and a right to levy tribute over +the tribes that were subject to Sekelétu as he passed +through their borders. If Livingstone had performed these journeys +with some long-pursed society or individual at his back, his feat +even then would have been wonderful; but it becomes quite amazing +when we think that he went without stores, and owed everything to +the influence he acquired with men like Sekelétu and the +natives generally. His heart was much touched on one occasion by +the disinterested kindness of Sekelétu. Having lost their +way on a dark night in the forest, in a storm of rain and +lightning, and the luggage having been carried on, they had to pass +the night under a tree. The chief's blanket had not been carried +on, and Sekelétu placed Livingstone under it, and lay down +himself on the wet ground. "If such men must perish before the +white by an immutable law of heaven," he wrote to the Geographical +Society (25th January, 1856), "we must seem to be under the same +sort of terrible necessity in our Caffre wars as the American +Professor of Chemistry said he was under, when he dismembered the +man whom he had murdered."</p> +<p>Again Livingstone sets out on his weary way, untrodden by white +man's foot, to pass through unknown tribes, whose savage temper +might give him his quietus at any turn of the road. There were +various routes to the sea open to him. He chose the route along the +Zambesi--though the the most difficult, and through hostile +tribes--because it seemed the most likely to answer his desire to +find a commercial highway to the coast. Not far to the east of +Linyanti, he beheld for the first time those wonderful falls of +which he had only heard before, giving an English name to +them,--the first he had ever given in all his African +journeys,--the Victoria Falls. We have seen how genuine his respect +was for his Sovereign, and it was doubtless a real though quiet +pleasure to connect her name with the grandest natural phenomenon +in Africa, This is one of the discoveries <a name= +"FNanchor43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43">[43]</a> that have taken +most hold on the popular imagination, for the Victoria Falls are +like a second Niagara, but grander and more astonishing; but except +as illustrating his views of the structure of Africa, and the +distribution of its waters, it had not much influence, and led to +no very remarkable results. Right across the channel of the river +was a deep fissure only eighty feet wide, into which the whole +volume of the river, a thousand yards broad, tumbled to the depth +of a hundred feet <a name="FNanchor44"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_44">[44]</a>, the fissure being continued in zigzag form +for thirty miles, so that the stream had to change its course from +right to left and left to right, and went through the hills boiling +and roaring, sending up columns of steam, formed by the compression +of the water falling into its narrow wedge-shaped receptacle.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_43"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor43">[43]</a> Virtually a discovery, though marked in an +old map.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_44"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor44">[44]</a> Afterward ascertained by him to be 1800 +yards and 820 feet respectively.</blockquote> +<p>A discovery as to the structure of the country, long believed in +by him, but now fully verified, was of much more practical +importance. It had been ascertained by him that skirting the +central hollow there were two longitudinal ridges extremely +favorable for settlements, both for missions and merchandise. We +shall hear much of this soon.</p> +<p>Slowly but steadily the eastward tramp is continued, often over +ground which was far from favorable for walking exercise. +"Pedestrianism," said Livingstone, "may be all very well for those +whose obesity requires much exercise; but for one who was becoming +as thin as a lath through the constant perspiration caused by +marching day after day in the hot sun, the only good I saw in it +was that it gave an honest sort of a man a vivid idea of the +tread-mill."</p> +<p>When Livingstone came to England, and was writing books, his +tendency was rather to get stout than thin; and the disgust with +which he spoke then of the "beastly fat" seemed to show that if for +nothing else than to get rid of it he would have been glad to be on +the tread-mill again. In one of his letters to Mr. Maclear he thus +speaks of a part of this journey: "It was not likely that I should +know our course well, for the country there is covered with shingle +and gravel, bushes, trees, and grass, and we were without path. +Skulking out of the way of villages where we were expected to pay +after the purse was empty, it was excessively hot and steamy; the +eyes had to be always fixed on the ground to avoid being +tripped."</p> +<p>In the course of this journey he had even more exciting +escapades among hostile tribes than those which he had encountered +on the way to Loanda. His serious anxieties began when he passed +beyond the tribes that owned the sovereignty of Sekelétu. At +the union of the rivers Loangwa and Zambesi, the suspicious feeling +regarding him reached a climax, and he could only avoid the +threatened doom of the Bazimka (<i>i.e.</i> Bastard Portuguese) who +had formerly incurred the wrath of the chief, by showing his bosom, +arms, and hair, and asking if the Bazimka were like that. +Livingstone felt that there was danger in the air. In fact, he +never seemed in more imminent peril:</p> +<blockquote><i>14th January</i>, 1856.--At the confluence of the +Loangwa and Zambesi. Thank God for his great mercies thus far. How +soon I may be called to stand before Him, my righteous Judge, I +know not. All hearts are in his hands, and merciful and gracious is +the Lord our God. O Jesus, grant me resignation to Thy will, and +entire reliance on Thy powerful hand. On Thy Word alone I lean. But +wilt Thou permit me to plead for Africa? The cause is Thine. What +an impulse will be given to the idea that Africa is not open if I +perish now! See, O Lord, how the heathen rise up against me, as +they did to Thy Son. I commit my way unto Thee. I trust also in +Thee that Thou wilt direct my steps. Thou givest wisdom liberally +to all who ask Thee--give it to me, my Father. My family is Thine. +They are in the best hands. Oh! be gracious, and all our sins do +Thou blot out.<br> +<br> +<blockquote>'A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,<br> + On Thy kind arms I fall.'</blockquote> +<br> +Leave me not, forsake me not. I cast myself and all my cares down +at Thy feet. Thou knowest all I need, for time and for +eternity.<br> +<br> +"It seems a pity that the important facts about the two healthy +longitudinal ridges should not become known in Christendom. Thy +will be done!... They will not furnish us with more canoes than +two. I leave my cause and all my concerns in the hands of God, my +gracious Saviour, the Friend of sinners.<br> +<br> +"<i>Evening</i>.--Felt much turmoil of spirit in view of having all +my plans for the welfare of this great region and teeming +population knocked on the head by savages to-morrow. But I read +that Jesus came and said, 'All power is given unto me in heaven and +in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations--and lo, <i>I am +with you alway, even unto the end of the world</i>' It is the word +of a gentleman of the most sacred and strictest honor, and there is +an end on't. I will not cross furtively by night as I intended. It +would appear as flight, and should such a man as I flee? Nay, +verily, I shall take observations for latitude and longitude +to-night, though they may be the last. I feel quite calm now, thank +God.<br> +<br> +"15th <i>January</i>, 1856.--Left bank of Loangwa. The natives of +the surrounding country collected round us this morning all armed. +Children and women were sent away, and Mburuma's wife who lives +here was not allowed to approach, though she came some way from her +village in order to pay me a visit. Only one canoe was lent, though +we saw two tied to the bank. And the part of the river we crossed +at, about a mile from the confluence, is a good mile broad. We +passed all our goods first, to an island in the middle, then the +cattle and men, I occupying the post of honor, being the last to +enter the canoe. We had, by this means, an opportunity of helping +each other in case of attack. They stood armed at my back for some +time. I then showed them my watch, burning-glass, etc., etc., and +kept them amused till all were over, except those who could go into +the canoe with me. I thanked them all for their kindness and wished +them peace."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Nine days later they were again threatened by Mpende:</p> +<blockquote><i>"23d January</i>, 1856.--At Mpende's this morning at +sunrise, a party of his people came close to our encampment, using +strange cries, and waving some red substance toward us. They then +lighted a fire with charms in it, and departed uttering the same +hideous screams as before. This is intended to render us powerless, +and probably also to frighten us. No message has yet come from him, +though several parties have arrived, and profess to have come +simply to see the white man. Parties of his people have been +collecting from all quarters long before daybreak. It would be +considered a challenge--for us to move down the river, and an +indication of fear and invitation to attack if we went back. So we +must wait in patience, and trust in Him who has the hearts of all +men in his hands. To Thee, O God, we look. And, oh! Thou who wast +the man of sorrows for the sake of poor vile sinners, and didst not +disdain the thief's petition, remember me and Thy cause in Africa. +Soul and body, my family, and Thy cause, I commit all to Thee. +Hear, Lord, for Jesus' sake."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In the entire records of Christian heroism, there are few more +remarkable occasions of the triumph of the spirit of holy trust +than those which are recorded here so quietly and modestly. We are +carried back to the days of the Psalmist: "I will not be afraid of +ten thousand of the people that have set themselves against me +round about." In the case of David Livingstone as of the other +David, the triumph of confidence was not the less wonderful that it +was preceded by no small inward tumult. Both were human creatures. +But in both the flutter lasted only till the soul had time to rally +its trust--to think of God as a living friend, sure to help in time +of need. And how real is the sense of God's presence! The mention +of the two longitudinal ridges, and of the refusal of the people to +give more than two canoes, side by side with the most solemn +appeals, would have been incongruous, or even irreverent, if +Livingstone had not felt that he was dealing with the living God, +by whom every step of his own career and every movement of his +enemies were absolutely controlled.</p> +<p>A single text often gave him all the help he needed:</p> +<blockquote>"It is singular," he says, "that the very same text +which recurred to my mind at every turn of my course in life in +this country and even in England, should be the same as Captain +Maclure, the discoverer of the Northwest Passage, mentions in a +letter to his sister as familiar in his experience: 'Trust in the +Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding. +In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy steps. +Commit thy way unto thy Lord; trust also in Him and He shall bring +it to pass.' Many more, I have no doubt, of our gallant seamen feel +that it is graceful to acknowledge the gracious Lord in whom we +live and move and have our being. It is an advance surely in +humanity from that devilry which gloried in fearing neither God, +nor man, nor Devil, and made our wooden walls floating +hells."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>His being enabled to reach the sanctuary of perfect peace in the +presence of his enemies was all the more striking if we +consider--what he felt keenly--that to live among the heathen is in +itself very far from favorable to the vigor or the prosperity of +the spiritual life. "Traveling from day to day among barbarians," +he says in his Journal, "exerts a most benumbing effect on the +religious feelings of the soul."</p> +<p>Among the subjects that occupied a large share of his thoughts +in these long and laborious journeys, two appear to have been +especially prominent: first, the configuration of the country; and +second, the best way of conducting missions, and bringing the +people of Africa to Christ.</p> +<p>The configuration of intertropical South Africa had long been +with him a subject of earnest study, and now he had come clearly to +the conclusion that the middle part was a table-land, depressed, +however, in the centre, and flanked by longitudinal ridges on the +east and west; that originally the depressed centre had contained a +vast accumulation of water, which had found ways of escape through +fissures in the encircling fringe of mountains, the result of +volcanic action or of earthquakes. The Victoria Falls presented the +most remarkable of these fissures, and thus served to verify and +complete his theory. The great lakes in the great heart of South +Africa were the remains of the earlier accumulation before the +fissures were formed. Lake 'Ngami, large though it was, was but a +little fraction of the vast lake that had once spread itself over +the south. This view of the structure of South Africa he now found, +from a communication which reached him at Linyanti, had been +anticipated by Sir Roderick Murchison, who in 1852 had propounded +it to the Geographical Society. Livingstone was only amused at thus +losing the credit of his discovery; he contented himself with a +playful remark on his being "cut out" by Sir Roderick. But the +coincidence of views was very remarkable, and it lay at the +foundation of that brotherlike intimacy and friendship which ever +marked his relation with Murchison. One important bearing of the +geographical fact was this; it was evident that while the low +districts were unhealthy, the longitudinal ridges by which they +were fringed were salubrious. Another of its bearings was, that it +would help them to find the course and perhaps the sources of the +great rivers, and thus facilitate commercial and missionary +operations. The discovery of the two healthy ridges, which made him +so unwilling to die at the mouth of the Loangwa, gave him new hopes +for missions and commerce.</p> +<p>These and other matters connected with the state of the country +formed the subject of regular communications to the Geographical +Society. Between Loanda and Quilimane, six despatches were written +at different points <a name="FNanchor45"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_45">[45]</a>. Formerly, as we have seen, he had written +through a Fellow of the Society, his friend and former +fellow-traveler, Captain, now Colonel Steele; but as the Colonel +had been called on duty to the Crimea, he now addressed his letters +to his countryman, Sir Roderick Murchison. Sir Roderick was charmed +with the compliment, and was not slow to turn it to account, as +appears from the following letter, the first of very many +communications which he addressed to Livingstone:</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_45"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor45">[45]</a> The dates were Pungo Andongo, 24th December, +1864; Cabango, 17th May, 1855; Linyanti, October 16, 1855; +Chanyuni, 25th January, 1856; Tette, 4th March, 1856; Quilimane, +23d May, 1856.</blockquote> +<blockquote>"16 BELGRAVE SQUARE, <i>October 2</i>, 1855.<br> +<br> +"MY DEAR SIR,--Your most welcome letter reached me after I had made +a tour in the Highlands, and just as the meeting of the British +Association for the Advancement of Science commenced.<br> +<br> +"I naturally communicated your despatch to the Geographical section +of that body, and the reading of it called forth an unanimous +expression of admiration of your labors and researches.<br> +<br> +"In truth, you will long ago, I trust, have received the cordial +thanks of all British geographers for your unparalleled exertions, +and your successful accomplishment of the greatest triumph in +geographical research which has been effected in our times.<br> +<br> +"I rejoice that I was the individual in the Council of the British +Geographical Society who proposed that you should receive our first +gold medal of the past session, and I need not say that the award +was made by an unanimous and cordial vote.<br> +<br> +"Permit me to thank you sincerely for having selected me as your +correspondent in the absence of Colonel Steele, and to assure you +that I shall consider myself as much honored, as I shall certainly +be gratified, by every fresh line which you may have leisure to +write to me.<br> +<br> +"Anxiously hoping that I may make your personal acquaintance, and +that you may return to us in health to receive the homage of all +geographers,--I remain, my dear Sir, yours most faithfully,<br> +<br> +"RODCK I. MURCHISON,"</blockquote> +<p>The other subject that chiefly occupied Livingstone's mind at +this time was missionary labor. This, like all other labor, +required to be organized, on the principle of making the very best +use of all the force that was or could be contributed for +missionary effort. With his fair, open mind, he weighed the old +method of monastic establishments, and, <i>mutatis mutandis</i>, he +thought something of the kind might be very useful. He thought it +unfair to judge of what these monasteries were in their periods of +youth and vigor, from the rottenness of their decay. Modern +missionary stations, indeed, with their churches, schools, and +hospitals, were like Protestant monasteries, conducted on the more +wholesome principle of family life; but they wanted stability; they +had not farms like monasteries, and hence they required to depend +on the mother country. From infancy to decay they were pauper +institutions. In Livingstone's judgment they needed to have more of +the self-supporting element:</p> +<blockquote>"It would be heresy to mention the idea of purchasing +lands, like religious endowments, among the stiff +Congregationalists; but an endowment conferred on a man who will +risk his life in an unhealthy climate, in order, thereby, to spread +Christ's gospel among the heathen, is rather different, I ween, +from the same given to a man to act as pastor to a number of +professed Christians.... Some may think it creditable to our +principles that we have not a single acre of land, the gift of the +Colonial Government, in our possession. But it does not argue much +for our foresight that we have not farms of our own, equal to those +of any colonial farmer."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Dr. Livingstone acknowledged the services of the Jesuit +missionaries in the cause of education and literature, and even of +commerce. But while conceding to them this meed of praise, he did +not praise their worship. He was slow, indeed, to disparage any +form of worship--any form in which men, however unenlightened, gave +expression to their religious feelings; but he could not away with +the sight of men of intelligence kissing the toe of an image of the +Virgin, as he saw them doing in a Portuguese church, and taking +part in services in which they did not, and could not, believe. If +the missions of the Church of Rome had left good effects on some +parts of Africa, how much greater blessing might not come from +Protestant missions, with the Bible instead of the Syllabus as +their basis, and animated with the spirit of freedom instead of +despotism!</p> +<p>With regard to that part of Africa which he had been exploring, +he gives his views at great length in a letter to the Directors, +dated Linyanti, 12th October, 1855. After fully describing the +physical features of the country, he fastens on the one element +which, more than any other, was likely to hinder missions--fever. +He does not deny that it is a serious obstacle. But he argues at +great length that it is not insurmountable. Fever yields to proper +treatment. His own experience was no rule to indicate what might be +reckoned on by others. His journeys had been made under the worst +possible conditions. Bad food, poor nursing, insufficient +medicines, continual drenchings, exhausting heat and toil, and +wearing anxiety had caused much of his illness. He gives a touching +detail of the hardships incident to his peculiar case, from which +other missionaries would be exempted, but with characteristic +manliness he charges the Directors not to publish that part of his +letter, lest he should appear to be making too much of his trials. +"Sacrifices" he could never call them, because nothing could be +worthy of that name in the service of Him who, though he was rich, +for our sakes became poor. Two or three times every day he had been +wet up to the waist in crossing streams and marshy ground. The rain +was so drenching that he had often to put his watch under his +arm-pit to keep it dry. His good ox Sindbad would never let him +hold an umbrella. His bed was on grass, with only a horse-cloth +between. His food often consisted of bird-seed, manioc-roots, and +meal. No wonder if he suffered much. Others would not have all that +to bear. Moreover, if the fever of the district was severe, it was +almost the only disease. Consumption, scrofula, madness, cholera, +cancer, delirium tremens, and certain contagious diseases of which +much was heard in civilized countries, were hardly known. The +beauty of some parts of the country could not be surpassed. Much of +it was densely peopled, but in other parts the population was +scattered. Many of the tribes were friendly, and, for reasons of +their own, would welcome missionaries. The Makololo, for example, +furnished an inviting field. The dangers he had encountered arose +from the irritating treatment the tribes had received from +half-cast traders and slave-dealers, in consequence of which they +had imposed certain taxes on travelers, which, sometimes, he and +his brother-chartists had refused to pay. They were mistaken for +slave-dealers. But character was a powerful educator. A body of +missionaries, maintaining everywhere the character of honest, +truthful, kind-hearted Christian gentlemen, would scatter such +prejudices to the winds.</p> +<p>In instituting a comparison between the direct and indirect +results of missions, between conversion-work and the diffusion of +better principles, he emphatically assigns the preference to the +latter. Not that he undervalued the conversion of the most abject +creature that breathed. To the man individually his conversion was +of over whelming consequence, but with relation to the final +harvest, it was more important to sow the seed broadcast over a +wide field than to reap a few heads of grain on a single spot. +Concentration was not the true principle of missions. The Society +itself had felt this, in sending Morrison and Milne to be lost +among the three hundred millions of China; and the Church of +England, in looking to the Antipodes, to Patagonia, to East Africa, +with the full knowledge that charity began at home. Time was more +essential than concentration. Ultimately there would be more +conversions, if only the seed were now more widely spread.</p> +<p>He concludes by pointing out the difference between mere worldly +enterprises and missionary undertakings for the good of the world. +The world thought their mission schemes fanatical; the friends of +missions, on the other hand, could welcome the commercial +enterprises of the world as fitted to be useful. The Africans were +all deeply imbued with the spirit of trade. Commerce was so far +good that it taught the people their mutual dependence; but +Christianity alone reached the centre of African wants. +"Theoretically," he concludes, "I would pronounce the country about +the junction of the Leeba and Leeambye or Kabompo, and river of the +Bashukulompo, as a most desirable centre-point for the spread of +civilization and Christianity; but unfortunately I must mar my +report by saying I feel a difficulty as to taking my children there +without their intelligent self-dedication. I can speak for my wife +and myself only. WE WILL GO, WHOEVER REMAINS BEHIND."</p> +<p>Resuming the subject some months later, after he had got to the +sea-shore, he dwells on the belt of elevated land eastward from the +country of the Makololo, two degrees of longitude broad, and of +unknown length, as remarkably suitable for the residence of +European missionaries. It was formerly occupied by the Makololo, +and they had a great desire to resume the occupation. One great +advantage of such a locality was that it was on the border of the +regions occupied by the true negroes, the real nucleus of the +African population, to whom they owed a great debt, and who had +shown themselves friendly and disposed to learn. It was his earnest +hope that the Directors would plant a mission here, and his belief +that they would thereby confer unlimited blessing on the regions +beyond.</p> +<p>Some of the remarks in these passages, and also in the extracts +which we have given from his Journals, are of profound interest, as +indicating air important transition from the ideas of a mere +missionary laborer to those of a missionary general or statesman. +In the early part of his life he deemed it his joy and his honor to +aim at the conversion of individual souls, and earnestly did he +labor and pray for that, although his visible success was but +small. But as he gets better acquainted with Africa, and reaches a +more commanding point of view, he sees the necessity for other +work. The continent must be surveyed, healthy localities for +mission-stations must be found, the temptations to a cursed traffic +in human flesh must be removed, the products of the country must be +turned to account; its whole social economy must be changed. "The +accomplishment of such objects, even in a limited degree, would be +an immense service to the missionary; it would be such a preparing +of his way that a hundred years hence the spiritual results would +be far greater than if all the effort now were concentrated on +single souls. To many persons it appeared as if dealing with +individual souls were the only proper work of a missionary, and as +if one who had been doing such work would be lowering himself if he +accepted any other. Livingstone never stopped to reason as to which +was the higher or the more desirable work; he felt that Providence +was calling him to be less of a missionary journeyman and more of a +missionary statesman; but the great end was ever the same--</p> +<blockquote>"THE END OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL FEAT is ONLY<br> +THE BEGINNING OF THE ENTERPRISE."</blockquote> +<p>Livingstone reached the Portuguese settlement of Tette on the 3d +March, 1856, and the "civilized breakfast" which the commandant, +Major Sicard, sent forward to him, on his way, was a luxury like +Mr. Gabriel's bed at Loanda, and made him walk the last eight miles +without the least sensation of fatigue, although the road was so +rough that, as a Portuguese soldier remarked, it was like "to tear +a man's life out of him." At Loanda he had heard of the battle of +the Alma; after being in Tette a short time he heard of the fall of +Sebastopol and the end of the Crimean War. He remained in Tette +till the 23d April, detained by an attack of fever, receiving +extraordinary kindness from the Governor, and, among other tokens +of affection, a gold chain for his daughter Agnes, the work of an +inhabitant of the town. These gifts were duly acknowledged. It was +at this place that Dr. Livingstone left his Makololo followers, +with instructions to wait for him till he should return from +England. Well entitled though he was to a long rest, he +deliberately gave up the possibility of it, by engaging to return +for his black companions.</p> +<p>In the case of Dr. Livingstone, rest meant merely change of +employment, and while resting and recovering from fever, he wrote a +large budget of long and interesting letters. One of these was +addressed to the King of Portugal: it affords clear evidence that, +however much Livingstone felt called to reprobate the deeds of some +of his subordinates, he had a respectful feeling for the King +himself, a grateful sense of the kindness received from his African +subjects, and an honest desire to aid the wholesome development of +the Portuguese colonies. It refutes, by anticipation, calumnies +afterward circulated to the effect that Livingstone's real design +was to wrest the Portuguese settlements in Africa from Portugal, +and to annex them to the British Crown. He refers most gratefully +to the great kindness and substantial aid he had received from His +Majesty's subjects, and is emboldened thereby to address him on +behalf of Africa. He suggests certain agricultural +products--especially wheat and a species of wax--that might be +cultivated with enormous profit. A great stimulus might be given to +the cultivation of other products--coffee, cotton, sugar, and oil. +Much had been done for Angola, but with little result, because the +colonists' leant on Government instead of trusting to themselves. +Illegitimate traffic (the slave-trade) was not at present +remunerative, and now was the time to make a great effort to revive +wholesome enterprise. A good road into the interior would be a +great boon. Efforts to provide roads and canals had failed for want +of superintendents. Dr. Livingstone named a Portuguese engineer who +would superintend admirably. The fruits of the Portuguese missions +were still apparent, but there was a great want of literature, of +books.</p> +<blockquote>"It will not be denied," concludes the letter, "that +those who, like your Majesty, have been placed over so many human +souls, have a serious responsibility resting upon them in reference +to their future welfare. The absence also of Portuguese women In +the colony is a circumstance which seems to merit the attention of +Government for obvious reasons. And if any of these suggestions +should lead to the formation of a middle class of free laborers, I +feel sure that Angola would have cause to bless your Majesty to the +remotest time."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Dr. Livingstone has often been accused of claiming for himself +the credit of discoveries made by others, of writing as if he had +been the first to traverse routes in which he had really been +preceded by the Portuguese. Even were it true that now and then an +obscure Portuguese trader or traveler reached spots that lay in Dr. +Livingstone's subsequent route, the fact would detract nothing from +his merit, because he derived not a tittle of benefit from their +experience, and what he was concerned about was, not the mere honor +of being first at a place, as if he had been running a race, but to +make it known to the world, to bring it into the circuit of +commerce and Christianity, and thus place it under the influence of +the greatest blessings. But even as to being first, Livingstone was +careful not to claim anything that was really due to others. +Writing from Tette to Sir Roderick in March, 1856, he says: "It +seems proper to mention what has been done in former times in the +way of traversing the continent, and the result of my inquiries +leads to the belief that the honor belongs to our country." He +refers to the brave attempt of Captain José da Roga, in +1678, to penetrate from Benguela to the Rio da Senna, in which +attempt, however, so much opposition was encountered that he was +compelled to return. In 1800, Lacerda revived the project by +proposing a chain of forts along the banks of the Coanza. In 1815, +two black traders showed the possibility of communication from east +to west, by bringing to Loanda communications from the Governor of +Mozambique. Some Arabs and Moors went from the East Coast to +Benguela, and with a view to improve the event, "a million of Reis +(£142) and an honorary captaincy in the Portuguese army was +offered to any one who would accompany them back--but none went." +The journey had several times been performed by Arabs.</p> +<blockquote>"I do not feel so much elated," continued Dr. +Livingstone, "by the prospect of accomplishing this feat. I feel +most thankful to God for preserving my life, where so many, who by +superior intelligence would have done more good, have been cut off. +But it does not look as if I had reached the goal. Viewed in +relation to my calling, the end of the geographical feat is only +the beginning of the enterprise. Apart from family longings, I have +a most intense longing to hear how it has fared with our brave men +at Sebastopol. My last scrap of intelligence was the <i>Times</i>, +17th November, 1855, after the terrible affair of the Light +Cavalry. The news was not certain about a most determined attack to +force the way to Balaclava, and Sebastopol expected every day to +fall, and I have had to repress all my longings since, except in a +poor prayer to prosper the cause of justice and right, and cover +the heads of our soldiers in the day of battle." [A few days later +he heard the news.] "We are all engaged in very much the same +cause. Geographers, astronomers, and mechanicians, laboring to make +men better acquainted with each other; sanitary reformers, prison +reformers, promoters of ragged schools and Niger Expeditions; +soldiers fighting for right against oppression, and sailors +rescuing captives in deadly climes, as well as missionaries, are +all aiding in hastening on a glorious consummation to all God's +dealings with our race. In the hope that I may yet be honored to do +some good to this poor long downtrodden Africa, the gentlemen over +whom you have the honor to preside will, I believe, cordially +join."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>From Tette he went on to Senna. Again he is treated with +extraordinary kindness by Lieutenant Miranda, and others, and again +he is prostrated by an attack of fever. Provided with a comfortable +boat, he at last reaches Quilimane on the 20th May, and is most +kindly received by Colonel Nunes, "one of the best men in the +country." Dr. Livingstone has told us in his book how his joy in +reaching Quilimane was embittered on his learning that Captain +Maclure, Lieutenant Woodruffe, and five men of H.M.S. "Dart," had +been drowned off the bar in coming to Quilimane to pick him up, and +how he felt as if he would rather have died for them <a name= +"FNanchor46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46">[46]</a>.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_46"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor46">[46]</a> Among Livingstone's papers we have found +draft letter to the Admiralty, earnestly commending to their +Lordship's favorable consideration a petition from the widow of one +of the men. He had never seen her, he said, but he had been the +unconscious cause of her husband's death, and all the joy he felt +in crossing the continent was embittered when the news of the sad +catastrophe reached him.</blockquote> +<p>News from across the Atlantic likewise informed him that his +nephew and namesake, David Livingston, a fine lad eleven years of +age, had been drowned in Canada. All the deeper was his gratitude +for the goodness and mercy that had followed him and preserved him, +as he says in his private Journal, from "many dangers not recorded +in this book."</p> +<p>The retrospect in his <i>Missionary Travels</i> of the manner in +which his life had been ordered up to this point, is so striking +that our narrative would be deficient if it did not contain it:</p> +<blockquote>"If the reader remembers the way in which I was led, +while teaching the Bakwains, to commence exploration, he will, I +think, recognize the hand of Providence. Anterior to that, when Mr. +Moffat began to give the Bible--the Magna Charta of all the rights +and privileges of modern civilization--to the Bechuanas, Sebituane +went north, and spread the language into which he was translating +the sacred oracles, in a new region larger than France. Sebituane, +at the same time, rooted out hordes of bloody savages, among whom +no white man could have gone without leaving his skull to ornament +some village. He opened up the way for me--let us hope also for the +Bible. Then, again, while I was laboring at Kolobeng, seeing only a +small arc of the cycle of Providence, I could not understand it, +and felt inclined to ascribe our successive and prolonged droughts +to the wicked one. But when forced by these, and the Boers, to +become explorer, and open a new country in the north rather than +set my face southward, where missionaries are not needed, the +gracious Spirit of God influenced the minds of the heathen to +regard me with favor, the Divine hand is again perceived. Then I +turned away westward, rather than in the opposite direction, +chiefly from observing that some native Portuguese, though +influenced by the hope of a reward from their Government to cross +the continent, had been obliged to return from the east without +accomplishing their object. Had I gone at first in the eastern +direction, which the course of the great Leeambye seemed to invite, +I should have come among the belligerents near Tette when the war +was raging at its height, instead of, as it happened, when all was +over. And again, when enabled to reach Loanda, the resolution to do +my duty by going back to Linyanti probably saved me from the fate +of my papers in the 'Forerunner.' And then, last of all, this new +country is partially opened to the sympathies of Christendom, and I +find that Sechéle himself has, though unbidden by man, been +teaching his own people. In fact, he has been doing all that I was +prevented from doing, and I have been employed in exploring--a work +I had no previous intention of performing. I think that I see the +operation of the Unseen Hand in all this, and I humbly hope that it +will still guide me to do good in my day and generation in +Africa."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In looking forward to the work to which Providence seemed to be +calling him, a communication received at Quilimane disturbed him +not a little. It was from the London Missionary Society. It +informed him that the Directors were restricted in their power of +aiding plans connected only remotely with the spread of the gospel, +and that even though certain obstacles (from tsetse, etc.) should +prove surmountable, "the financial circumstances of the Society are +not such as to afford any ground of hope that it would be in a +position within any definite period to undertake untried any remote +and difficult fields of labor." Dr. Livingstone very naturally +understood this as a declinature of his proposals. Writing on the +subject to Rev. William Thompson, the Society's agent at Cape Town, +he said:</p> +<blockquote>"I had imagined in my simplicity that both my +preaching, conversation, and travel were as nearly connected with +the spread of the gospel as the Boers would allow them to be. A +plan of opening up a path from either the East or West Coast for +the teeming population of the interior was submitted to the +judgment of the Directors, and received their formal +approbation.<br> +<br> +"I have been seven times in peril of my life from savage men while +laboriously and without swerving pursuing that plan, and never +doubting that I was in the path of duty.<br> +<br> +"Indeed, so clearly did I perceive that I was performing good +service to the cause of Christy that I wrote to my brother that I +would perish rather than fail in my enterprise. I shall not boast +of what I have done, but the wonderful mercy I have received will +constrain me to follow out the work in spite of the veto of the +Board.<br> +<br> +"If it is according to the will of God, means will be provided from +other quarters."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>A long letter to the Secretary gives a fuller statement of his +views. It is so important as throwing light on his missionary +consistency, that we give it in full in the Appendix <a name= +"FNanchor47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47">[47]</a>.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_47"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor47">[47]</a> <a href="#No._III.">Appendix No. +III.</a></blockquote> +<p>The Directors showed a much more sympathetic spirit when +Livingstone came among them, but meanwhile, as he tells us in his +book, his old feeling of independence had returned, and it did not +seem probable that he would remain in the same relation to the +Society.</p> +<p>After Livingstone had been six weeks at Quilimane, H.M. brig +"Frolic" arrived, with ample supplies for all his need, and took +him to the Mauritius, where he arrived on 12th August, 1856. It was +during this voyage that the lamentable insanity and suicide of his +native attendant Sekwebu occurred, of which we have an account in +the <i>Missionary Travels</i>. At the Mauritius he was the guest of +General Hay, from whom he received the greatest kindness, and so +rapid was his recovery from an affection of the spleen which his +numerous fevers had bequeathed, that before he left the island he +wrote to Commodore Trotter and other friends that he was perfectly +well, and "quite ready to go back to Africa again." This, however, +was not to be just yet. In November he sailed through the Red Sea, +on the homeward route. He had expected to land at Southampton, and +there Mrs. Livingstone and other friends had gone to welcome him. +But the perils of travel were not yet over. A serious accident +befell the ship, which might have been followed by fatal results +but for that good Providence that held the life of Livingstone so +carefully. Writing to Mrs. Livingstone from the Bay of Tunis (27th +November, 1856), he says:</p> +<blockquote>"We had very rough weather after leaving Malta, and +yesterday at midday the shaft of the engine--an enormous mass of +malleable iron--broke with a sort of oblique fracture, evidently +from the terrific strains which the tremendous seas inflicted as +they thumped and tossed this gigantic vessel like a plaything. We +were near the island called Zembra, which is in sight of the Bay of +Tunis. The wind, which had been a full gale ahead when we did not +require it, now fell to a dead calm, and a current was drifting our +gallant ship, with her sails flapping all helplessly, against the +rocks; the boats were provisioned, watered, and armed, the number +each was to carry arranged (the women and children to go in first, +of course), when most providentially a wind sprung up and carried +us out of danger into the Bay of Tunis, where I now write. The +whole affair was managed by Captain Powell most admirably. He was +assisted by two gentlemen whom we all admire--Captain Tregear of +the same Company, and Lieutenant Chimnis of the Royal Navy, and +though they and the sailors knew that the vessel was so near +destruction as to render it certain that we should scarcely clear +her in the boats before the swell would have overwhelmed her, all +was managed so quietly that none of us passengers knew much about +it. Though we saw the preparation, no alarm spread among us. The +Company will do everything in their power to forward us quickly and +safely. I'm only sorry for your sake, but patience is a great +virtue, you know. Captain Tregear has been six years away from his +family, I only four and a half."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The passengers were sent on <i>viâ</i> Marseilles, and +Livingstone proceeded homeward by Paris and Dover.</p> +<p>At last he reached "dear old England" on the 9th of December, +1856. Tidings of a great sorrow had reached him on the way. At +Cairo he heard of the death of his father. He had been ill a +fortnight, and died full of faith and peace. "You wished so much to +see David," said his daughter to him as his life was ebbing away. +"Ay, very much, very much; but the will of the Lord be done." Then +after a pause he said, "But I think I'll know whatever is worth +knowing about him. When you see him, tell him I think so." David +had not less eagerly desired to sit once more at the fireside and +tell his father of all that had befallen him on the way. On both +sides the desire had to be classed among hopes unfulfilled. But on +both sides there was a vivid impression that the joy so narrowly +missed on earth would be found in a purer form in the next stage of +being.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X."></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> +<h3>FIRST VISIT HOME.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1856-1857.</center> +<p>Mrs. Livingstone--Her intense anxieties--Her poetical +welcome--Congratulatory letters from Mrs. and Dr, Moffat--Meeting +of welcome of Royal Geographical Society--of London Missionary +Society--Meeting in Mansion House--Enthusiastic public meeting at +Cape Town--Livingstone visits Hamilton--Returns to London to write +his book--Letter to Mr. Maclear--Dr. Risdon Bennett's reminiscences +of this period--Mr. Frederick Fitch's--Interview with Prince +Consort--Honors--Publication and great success of <i>Missionary +Travels</i>--Character and design of the book--Why it was not more +of a missionary record--Handsome conduct of publisher--Generous use +of the profits--Letter to a lady in Carlisle vindicating the +character of his speeches.</p> +<br> +<p>The years that had elapsed since Dr. Livingstone bade his wife +farewell at Cape Town had been to her years of deep and often +terrible anxiety. Letters, as we have seen, were often lost, and +none seem more frequently to have gone missing than those between +him and her. A stranger in England, without a home, broken in +health, with a family of four to care for, often without tidings of +her husband for great stretches of time, and harassed with +anxieties and apprehensions that sometimes proved too much for her +faith, the strain on her was very great. Those who knew her in +Africa, when, "queen of the wagon," and full of life, she directed +the arrangements and sustained the spirits of a whole party, would +hardly have thought her the same person in England. When +Livingstone had been longest unheard of, her heart sank altogether; +but through prayer, tranquillity of mind returned, even before the +arrival of any letter announcing his safety. She had been waiting +for him at Southampton, and, owing to the casualty in the Bay of +Tunis, he arrived at Dover, but as soon as possible he was with +her, reading the poetical welcome which she had prepared in the +hope that they would never part again:</p> +<blockquote>"A hundred thousand welcomes, and it's time for you to +come<br> +From the far land of the foreigner, to your country and your +home.<br> +O long as we were parted, ever since you went away,<br> +I never passed a dreamless night, or knew an easy day.<br> +<br> +So you think I would reproach you with the sorrows that I bore?<br> +Since the sorrow is all over, now I have you here once more,<br> +And there's nothing but the gladness, and the love within my +heart,<br> +And the hope so sweet and certain that again we'll never part.<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<br> +<br> +A hundred thousand welcomes! how my heart is gushing o'er<br> +With the love and joy and wonder thus to see your face once +more.<br> +How did I live without you these long long years of woe?<br> +It seems as if 'twould kill me to be parted from you now.<br> +<br> +You'll never part me, darling, there's a promise in your eye;<br> +I may tend you while I'm living, you may watch me when I die;<br> +And if death but kindly lead me to the blessed home on high,<br> +What a hundred thousand welcomes will await you in the sky!<br> +<br> +<blockquote> + +"MARY."</blockquote> +</blockquote> +<p>Having for once lifted the domestic veil, we cannot resist the +temptation to look into another corner of the home circle. Among +the letters of congratulation that poured in at this time, none was +more sincere or touching than that which Mrs. Livingstone received +from her mother, Mrs. Moffat <a name="FNanchor48"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_48">[48]</a>. In the fullnes of her congratulations she +does not forget the dark shadow that falls on the missionary's wife +when the time comes for her to go back with her husband to their +foreign home, and requires her to part with her children; tears and +smiles mingle in Mrs. Moffat's letter as she reminds her daughter +that they that rejoice need to be as though they rejoiced not:</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_48"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor48">[48]</a> We have been greatly impressed by Mrs. +Moffat's letters. She was evidently a woman of remarkable power. If +her life had been published, we are convinced that it would have +been a notable one in missionary biography. Heart and head were +evidently of no common calibre. Perhaps it is not yet too late for +some friend to think of this.</blockquote> +<blockquote>"<i>Kuruman, December</i> 4, 1856.--MY DEAREST +MARY,--In proportion to the anxiety I have experienced about you +and your dear husband for some years past, so now is my joy and +satisfaction; even though we have not yet heard the glad tidings of +your having really met, but this for the present we take for +granted. Having from the first been in a subdued and chastened +state of mind on the subject, I endeavor still to be moderate in my +joy. With regard to you both ofttimes has the sentence of death +been passed in my mind, and at such seasons I dared not, desired +not, to rebel, submissively leaving all to the Divine disposal; but +I now feel that this has been a suitable preparation for what is +before me, having to contemplate a complete separation from you +till that day when we meet with the spirits of just men made +perfect in the kingdom of our Father. Yes, I do feel solemn at +death, but there is no melancholy about it, for what is our life, +so short and so transient? And seeing it is so, we should be happy +to do or to suffer as much as we can for him who bought us with his +blood. Should you go to those wilds which God has enabled your +husband, through numerous dangers and deaths, to penetrate, there +to spend the remainder of your life, and as a consequence there to +suffer manifold privations, in addition to those trials through +which you have already passed--and they have not been few (for you +had a hard life in this interior)--you will not think all <i>too +much</i>, when you stand with that multitude who have washed their +robes in the blood of the Lamb!<br> +<br> +"Yet, my dear Mary, while we are yet in the flesh my heart will +yearn over you. You are my own dear child, my first-born, and +recent circumstances have had a tendency to make me feel still more +tenderly toward you, and deeply as I have sympathized with you for +the last few years, I shall not cease to do so for the future. +Already is my imagination busy picturing the various scenes through +which you must pass, from the first transport of joy on meeting +till that painful anxious hour when you must bid adieu to your +darlings, with faint hopes of ever seeing them again in this life; +and then, what you may both have to pass through in those +inhospitable regions....<br> +<br> +"From what I saw in Mr. Livingston's letter to Robert, I was +shocked to think that that poor head, in the prime of manhood, was +so like my own, who am literally worn out. The symptoms he +describes are so like my own. Now, with a little rest and +relaxation, having youth on his side, he might regain all, but I +cannot help fearing for him if he dashes at once into hardships +again. He is certainly the wonder of his age, and with a little +prudence as regards his health, the stores of information he now +possesses might be turned to a mighty account for poor wretched +Africa.... We do not yet see how Mr. L. will get on--the case seems +so complex. I feel, as I have often done, that as regards ourselves +it is a subject more for prayer than for deliberation, separated as +we are by such distances, and such a tardy and eccentric post. I +used to imagine that when he was once got out safely from this dark +continent we should only have to praise God for all his mercies to +him and to us all, and for what He had effected by him; but now I +see we must go on seeking the guidance and direction of his +providential hand, and sustaining and preventing mercy. We cannot +cease to remember you daily, and thus our sympathy will be kept +alive with you...."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Dr. Moffatt's congratulation to his son-in-law was calm and +hearty:</p> +<blockquote>"Your explorations have created immense interest, and +especially in England, and that man must be made of bend-leather +who can remain unmoved at the rehearsal even of a tithe of your +daring enterprises. The honors awaiting you at home would be enough +to make a score of light heads dizzy, but I have no fear of their +affecting your upper story, beyond showing you that your labors to +lay open the recesses of the fast interior have been appreciated. +It will be almost too much for dear Mary to hear that you are +verily unscathed. She has had many to sympathize with her, and I +daresay many have called you a very naughty man for thus having +exposed your life a thousand times. Be that as it may, you have +succeeded beyond the most sanguine expectations in laying open a +world of immortal beings, all needing the gospel, and at a time, +now that war is over, when people may exert their exergies on an +object compared with which that which has occupied the master minds +of Europe, and expended so much money, and shed so much blood, is +but a phantom."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>On the 9th of December, as we have seen, Livingstone arrived at +London. He went first to Southampton, where his wife was waiting +for him, and on his return to London was quickly in communication +with Sir Roderick Murchison. On the 15th December the Royal +Geographic Society held a special meeting to welcome him. Sir +Roderick was in the chair; the attendance was numerous and +distinguished, and included some of Livingstone's previous +fellow-travelers, Colonel Steele, Captain Vardon, and Mr. Oswell. +The President referred to the meeting of May, 1855, when the +Victoria or Patron's medal had been awarded to Livingstone for his +journey from the Cape to Linyanti and Loanda. Now Livingstone had +added to that feat the journey from the Atlantic Ocean at Loanda to +the Indian Ocean at Quilimane, and during his several journeys had +traveled over not less than eleven thousand miles of African +ground. Surpassing the French missionary travelers, Hue and Gabet, +he had determined, by astronomical observations, the site of +numerous places, hills, rivers, and lakes, previously unknown. He +had seized every opportunity of describing the physical structure, +geology, and climatology of the countries traversed, and making +known their natural products and capabilities. He had ascertained +by experience, what had been only conjectured previously, that the +interior of Africa was a plateau intersected by various lakes and +rivers, the waters of which escaped to the Eastern and Western +oceans by deep rents in the flanking hills. Great though these +achievements were, the most honorable' of all Livingstone's acts +had yet to be mentioned--the fidelity that kept his promise to the +natives, who, having accompanied him to St. Paul de Loanda, were +reconducted by him from that city to their homes.</p> +<blockquote>"Bare fortitude and virtue must our medalist have +possessed, when, having struggled at the imminent risk of his life +through such obstacles, and when, escaping from the interior, he +had been received with true kindness by our old allies, the +Portuguese at Angola, he nobly resolved to redeem his promise and +retrace his steps to the interior of the vast continent! How much +indeed must the influence of the British name be enhanced +throughout Africa, when it has been promulgated that our missionary +has thus kept his plighted word to the poor natives who faithfully +stood by him!"</blockquote> +<br> +<p>On receiving the medal, Livingstone apologized for his rustiness +in the use of his native tongue; said that he had only done his +duty as a Christian missionary in opening up a part of Africa to +the sympathy of Christendom: that Steele, Vardon, or Oswell might +have done all that he had done; that as yet he was only buckling on +his armor, and therefore in no condition to speak boastfully; and +that the enterprise would never be complete till the slave-trade +was abolished, and the whole country opened up to commerce and +Christianity.</p> +<p>Among the distinguished men who took part in the conversation +that followed was Professor Owen. He bore testimony to the value of +Livingstone's contributions to zoology and palæontology, not +less cordial than Sir Roderick Murchison had borne to his service +to geography. He had listened with very intense interest to the +sketches of these magnificent scenes of animal life that his old +and most esteemed friend had given them. He cordially hoped that +many more such contributions would follow, and expressed his +admiration of the moral qualities of the man who had taken such +pains to keep his word.</p> +<p>In the recognition by other gentlemen of Dr. Livingstone's +labors, much stress was laid on the scientific accuracy with which +he had laid down every point over which he had traveled. Thanks +were given to the Portuguese authorities in Africa for the +remarkable kindness which they had invariably shown him. Mr. Consul +Brand reported tidings from Mr. Gabriel at Loanda, to the effect +that a company of Sekelétu's people had arrived at Loanda, +with a cargo of ivory, and though they had not been very successful +in business, they had shown the practicability of the route. He +added, that Dr. Livingstone, at Loanda, had written some letters to +a newspaper, which had given such an impetus to literary taste +there, that a new journal had been started--the <i>Loanda +Aurora</i>.</p> +<p>On one other point there was a most cordial expression of +feeling, especially by those who had themselves been in South +Africa,--gratitude for the unbounded kindness and hospitality that +Dr. and Mrs. Livingstone had shown to South African travelers in +the neighborhood of their home. Happily Mrs. Livingstone was +present, and heard this acknowledgment of her kindness.</p> +<p>Next day, 16th December, Dr. Livingstone had his reception from +the London Missionary Society in Freemason's Hall. Lord Shaftesbury +was in the chair:</p> +<blockquote>"What better thing can we do," asked the noble Earl, +"than to welcome such a man to the shores of our country? What +better than to receive him with thanksgiving and rejoicings that he +is spared to refresh us with his presence, and give his strength to +future exertions? What season more appropriate than this, when at +every hearth, and in every congregation of worshipers, the name of +Christ will be honored with more than ordinary devotion, to receive +a man whose life and labors have been in humble, hearty, and +willing obedience to the angels' song, 'Glory to God in the +highest, on earth peace, good-will toward men.'"</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In reply, Livingstone acknowledged the kindness of the +Directors, with whom, for sixteen years, he had never had a word of +difference. He referred to the slowness of the African tribes, in +explanation of the comparatively small progress of the gospel among +them. He cordially acknowledged the great services of the British +squadron on the West Coast in the repressing of the slave-trade. He +had been told that to make such explorations as he was engaged in +was only a tempting of Providence, but such ridiculous assertions +were only the utterances of the weaker brethren.</p> +<p>Lord Shaftesbury's words at the close of this meeting, in honor +of Mrs. Livingstone, deserve to be perpetuated:</p> +<blockquote>"That lady," he said, "was born with one distinguished +name, which she had changed for another. She was born a Moffat, and +she became a Livingstone. She cheered the early part of our +friend's earner by her spirit, her counsel, and her society. +Afterward, when she reached this country, she passed many years +with her children in solitude and anxiety, suffering the greatest +fears for the welfare of her husband, and yet enduring all with +patience and resignation, and even joy, because she had surrendered +her best feelings, and sacrificed her own private interests, to the +advancement of civilization and the great interests of +Christianity."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>A more general meeting was held in the Mansion House on the 5th +of January, to consider the propriety of presenting a testimonial +to Dr. Livingstone. It was addressed by the Bishop of London, Mr. +Raikes Currie, and others.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, a sensible impulse was given to the <i>scientific</i> +enthusiasm for Livingstone by the arrival of the report of a great +meeting held in Africa itself in honor of the missionary explorer. +At Cape Town, on 12th November, 1856, His Excellency the Governor, +Sir George Grey, the Colonial Secretary, the Astronomer-Royal, the +Attorney-General, Mr. Rutherfoord, the Bishop, the Rev. Mr. +Thompson, and others, vied with each other in expressing their +sense of Livingstone's character and work. The testimony of the +Astronomer-Royal to Livingstone's eminence as an astronomical +observer was even more emphatic than Murchison's and Owen's to his +attainments in geography and natural history. Going over his whole +career, Mr. Maclear showed his unexampled achievements in accurate +lunar observation. "I never knew a man," he said, "who, knowing +scarcely anything of the method of making geographical +observations, or laying down positions, became so soon an adept, +that he could take the complete lunar observation, and altitudes +for time, within fifteen minutes." His observations of the course +of the Zambesi, from Seshéke to its confluence with the +Lonta, were considered by the Astronomer-Royal to be "the finest +specimens of sound geographical observation he ever met with."</p> +<blockquote>"To give an idea of the laboriousness of this branch of +his work," he adds, "on an average each lunar distance consists of +five partial observations, and there are 148 sets of distances, +being 740 contacts,--and there are two altitudes of each object +before, and two after, which, together with altitudes for time, +amount to 2812 partial observations. But that is not the whole of +his observations. Some of them intrusted to an Arab have not been +received, and in reference to those transmitted he says, 'I have +taken others which I do not think it necessary to send.' How +completely all this stamps the impress of Livingstone on the +interior of South Africa!... I say, what that man has done is +unprecedented.... You could go to any point across the entire +continent, along Livingstone's track, and feel certain of your +position <a name="FNanchor49"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_49">[49]</a>."</blockquote> +<br> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_49"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor49">[49]</a> It seems unaccountable that in the face of +such unrivaled testimonies, reflections should continue to be cast +on Livingstone's scientific accuracy, even so late as the meeting +of the British Association at Sheffield in 1879. The family of the +late Sir Thomas Maclear have sent home his collection of +Livingstone's papers. They fill a box which one man could with +difficulty carry. And their mass is far from their most striking +quality. The evidence of laborious, painstaking care to be accurate +is almost unprecedented. Folio volumes of pages covered with +figures show how much time and labor must have been spent in these +computations. Explanatory remarks often indicate the particulars of +the observation.</blockquote> +<p>Following this unrivaled eulogium on the scientific powers of +Livingstone came the testimony of Mr. Thompson to his missionary +ardor:</p> +<blockquote>'I am in a position to express my earnest conviction, +formed in long, intimate, unreserved communications with him, +personally and by letter, that in the privations, sufferings, and +dangers he has passed through, during the last eight years, he has +not been actuated by mere curiosity; or the love of adventure, or +the thirst for applause, or by any other object, however laudable +in itself, less than his avowed one as a messenger of Christian +love from the Churches. If ever there was a man who, by realizing +the obligations of his sacred calling as a Christian missionary, +and intelligently comprehending its object, sought to pursue it to +a successful issue, such a man is Dr. Livingstone. The spirit in +which he engages in his work may be seen in the following extract +from one of his letters: 'You kindly say you fear for the result of +my going in alone. I hope I am in the way of duty; my own +conviction that such is the case has never wavered. I am doing +something for God. I have preached the gospel in many a spot where +the name of Christ has never been heard, and I would wish to do +still more in the way of reducing the Barotse language, if I had +not suffered so severely from fever. Exhaustion produced vertigo, +causing me, if I looked suddenly up, almost to lose consciousness; +this made me give up sedentary work; but I hope God will accept of +what I can do.'</blockquote> +<br> +<p>A third gentleman at this meeting, Mr. Rutherfoord, who had +known Livingstone for many years, besides describing him as "one of +the most honorable, benevolent, conscientious men I ever met with," +bore testimony to his capacity in mercantile affairs; not exercised +in his own interest, but in that of others. It was Mr. Rutherfoord +who, when Livingstone was at the Cape in 1852, entered into his +plans for supplanting the slave-trade by lawful traffic, and at his +suggestion engaged George Fleming to go north with him as a trader, +and try the experiment. The project was not very successful, owing +to innumerable unforeseen worries, and especially the rascality of +Fleming's men. Livingstone found it impossible to take Fleming to +the coast, and had therefore to send him back, but he did his +utmost to prevent loss to his friend; and thus, as Mr. Rutherfoord +said, "at the very time that he was engaged in such important +duties, and exposed to such difficulties, he found time to fulfill +his promise to do what he could to save me from loss, to attend to +a matter quite foreign to his usual avocations, and in which he had +no personal interest; and by his energy and good sense, and +self-denying exertions, to render the plan, if not perfectly +successful, yet by no means a failure."</p> +<p>Traveler, geographer, zoologist, astronomer, missionary, +physician, and mercantile director, did ever man sustain so many +characters at once? Or did ever man perform the duties of each with +such painstaking accuracy and so great success?</p> +<p>As soon as he could tear himself from his first engagements, he +ran down to Hamilton to see his mother, children, and other +relatives. His father's empty chair deeply affected him. "The first +evening," writes one of his sisters, "he asked all about his +illness and death. One of us remarking that after he knew he was +dying his spirits seemed to rise, David burst into tears. At family +worship that evening he said with deep feeling--'We bless thee, O +Lord, for our parents; we give thee thanks for the dead who has +died in the Lord.'"</p> +<p>At first Livingstone thought that his stay in this country could +be only for three or four months, as he was eager to be at +Quilimane before the unhealthy season set in, and thus fulfill his +promise to return to his Makololo at Tette. But on receiving an +assurance from the Portuguese Government (which, however, was never +fulfilled <i>by them</i>) that his men would be looked after, he +made up his mind for a somewhat longer stay. But it could not be +called rest. As soon as he could settle down he had to set to work +with a book. So long before as May, 1856, Sir Roderick Murchison +had written to him that "Mr. John Murray, the great publisher, is +most anxious to induce you to put together all your data, and to +make a good book," adding his own strong advice to comply with the +request. If he ever doubted the propriety of writing the book, the +doubt must have vanished, not only in view of the unequaled +interest excited by the subject, but also of the readiness of +unprincipled adventurers, and even some respectable publishers, to +circulate narratives often mythical and quite unauthorized.</p> +<p>The early part of the year 1857 was mainly occupied with the +labor of writing. For this he had materials in the Journals which +he had kept so carefully; but the business of selection and +supplementing was laborious, and the task of arrangement and +transcription very irksome. In fact, this task tried the patience +of Livingstone more than any which he had yet undertaken, and he +used to say that he would rather cross Africa than write another +book. His experience of book-making increased his respect for +authors and authoresses a hundred-fold!</p> +<p>We are not, however, inclined to think that this trial was due +to the cause which Livingstone assigned,--his want of experience, +and want of command over the English tongue. He was by no means an +inexperienced writer. He had written large volumes of Journals, +memoirs for the Geographical Society, articles on African Missions, +letters for the Missionary Society, and private letters without +end, each usually as long as a pamphlet. He was master of a clear, +simple, idiomatic style, well fitted to record the incidents of a +journey--sometimes poetical in its vivid pictures, often +brightening into humor, and sometimes deepening into pathos. +Viewing it page by page, the style of the <i>Missionary Travels</i> +is admirable, the chief defect being want of perspective; the book +is more a collection of pieces than an organized whole: a fault +inevitable, perhaps, in some measure, from its nature, but +aggravated, as we believe, by the haste and pressure under which it +had to be written. In his earlier private letters, Livingstone, in +his single-hearted desire to rouse the world on the subject of +Africa, used to regret that he could not write in such a way as to +command general attention: had he been master of the flowing +periods of the <i>Edinburgh Review,</i> he thought he could have +done much more good. In point of fact, if he had had the pen of +Samuel Johnson, or the tongue of Edmund Burke, he would not have +made the impression he did. His simple style and plain speech were +eminently in harmony with his truthful, unexaggerating nature, and +showed that he neither wrote nor spoke for effect, but simply to +utter truth. What made his work of composition irksome was, on the +one hand, the fear that he was not doing it well, and on the other, +the necessity of doing it quickly. He had always a dread that his +English was not up to the critical mark, and yet he was obliged to +hurry on, and leave the English as it dropped from his pen. He had +no time to plan, to shape, to organize; the architectural talent +could not be brought into play. Add to this that he had been so +accustomed to open-air life and physical exercise, that the close +air and sedentary attitude of the study must have been exceedingly +irksome; so that it is hardly less wonderful that his health stood +the confinement of book-making in England, than that it survived +the tear and wear, labor and sorrow, of all his journeys in +Africa.</p> +<p>An extract from a letter to Mr. Maclear, on the eve of his +beginning his book (21st January, 1857), will show how his thoughts +were running:</p> +<blockquote>"I begin to-morrow to write my book, and as I have a +large party of men (110) waiting for me at Tette, and I promised to +join them in April next, you will see I shall have enough to do to +get over my work here before the end of the month.... Many thanks +for all the kind things you said at the Cape Town meeting. Here +they laud me till I shut my eyes, for only trying to do my duty. +They ought to vote thanks to the Boers who set me free to discover +the fine new country. They were determined to shut the country, and +I was determined to open it. They boasted to the Portuguese that +they had expelled two missionaries, and outwitted themselves +rather. I got the gold medal, as you predicted, and the freedom of +the town of Hamilton, which insures me protection from the payment +of jail fees if put in prison!"</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In writing his book, he sometimes worked in the house of a +friend, but generally in a London or suburban lodging, often with +his children about him, and all their noise; for, as in the +Blantyre mill, he could abstract his attention from sounds of +whatever kind, and go on calmly with his work. Busy though he was, +this must have been one of the happiest times in his life. Some of +his children still remember his walks and romps with them in the +Barnet woods, near which they lived part of the time--how he would +suddenly plunge into the ferny thicket, and set them looking for +him, as people looked for him afterward when he disappeared in +Africa, coming out all at once at some unexpected corner of the +thicket. One of his greatest troubles was the penny post. People +used to ask him the most frivolous questions. At first he struggled +to answer them, but in a few weeks he had to give this up in +despair. The simplicity of his heart is seen in the childlike joy +with which he welcomes the early products of the spring. He writes +to Mr. Maclear that, one day at Professor Owen's, they had "seen +daisies, primroses, hawthorns, and robin-redbreasts. Does not Mrs. +Maclear envy us? It was so pleasant."</p> +<p>But a better idea of his mode of life at home will be conveyed +by the notes of some of the friends with whom he stayed. For that +purpose, we resume the recollections of Dr. Risdon Bennett:</p> +<blockquote>"On returning to England, after his first great journey +of discovery, he and Mrs. Livingstone stayed in my house for some +time, and I had frequent conversations with him on subjects +connected with his African life, especially on such as related to +natural history and medicine, on which he had gathered a fund of +information. His observation of malarious diseases, and the methods +of treatment adopted by both the natives and Europeans, had led him +to form very definite and decided views, especially in reference to +the use of purgatives, preliminary to, and in conjunction with, +quinine and other acknowledged febrifuge medicines. He had, while +staying with me, one of those febrile attacks to which persons who +have once suffered from malarious disease are so liable, and I +could not fail to remark his sensible observations thereon, and his +judicious management of his sickness. He had a great natural +predilection for medical science, and always took great interest in +all that related to the profession. I endeavored to persuade him to +commit to writing the results of his medical observations and +experience among the natives of Africa, but he was too much +occupied with the preparation of his Journal for the press to +enable him to do this. Moreover, as he often said, writing was a +great drudgery to him. He, however, attended with me the meetings +of some of the medical societies, and gave some verbal accounts of +his medical experience which greatly interested his audience. His +remarks on climates, food, and customs of the natives, in reference +to the origin and spread of disease, evinced the same acuteness of +observation which characterized all the records of his life. He +specially commented on the absence of consumption and all forms of +tubercular disease among the natives, and connected this with their +constant exposure and out-of-door life.<br> +<br> +"After leaving my house he had lodgings in Chelsea, and used +frequently to come and spend the Sunday afternoon with my family, +often bringing his sister, who was staying with him, and his two +elder children. It was beautiful to observe how thoroughly he +enjoyed domestic life and the society of children, how strong was +his attachment to his own family after his long and frequent +separations from them, and how entirely he had retained his +simplicity of character.<br> +<br> +"Like so many of his countrymen, he had a keen sense of humor, +which frequently came into play when relating his many adventures +and hardships. On the latter he never dilated in the way of +complaint, and he had little sympathy with, or respect for, those +travelers who did so. Nor was he apt to say much on direct +religious topics, or on the results of his missionary efforts as a +Christian teacher. He had unbounded confidence in the influence of +Christian character and principles, and gave many illustrations of +the effect produced on the minds and conduct of the benighted and +savage tribes with whom he was brought into contact by his own +unvarying uprightness of conduct and self-denying labor. The +fatherly character of God, his never-failing goodness and mercy, +and the infinite love of the Lord Jesus Christ, and efficacy of his +atoning sacrifice, appeared to be the topics on which he loved +chiefly to dwell. The all-pervading deadly evils of slavery, and +the atrocities of the slave-trade, never failed to excite his +righteous indignation. If ever he was betrayed into unmeasured +language, it was when referring to these topics, or when speaking +of the injurious influence exerted on the native mind by the cruel +and unprincipled conduct of wicked and selfish traders. His love +for Africa, and confidence in the steady dawn of brighter days for +its oppressed races, were unbounded."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>From a member of another family, that of Mr. Frederick Fitch, of +Highbury New Park, with whom also the Livingstones spent part of +their time, we have some homely but graphic reminiscences:</p> +<blockquote>"Dr. Livingstone was very simple and unpretending, and +used to be annoyed when he was made a lion of. Once a well-known +gentleman, who was advertised to deliver a lecture next day, called +on him to pump him for material. The Doctor sat rather quiet, and, +without being rude, treated the gentleman to monosyllabic answers. +He could do that--could keep people at a distance when they wanted +to make capital out of him. When the stranger had left, turning to +my mother, he would say, 'I'll tell <i>you</i> anything you like to +ask.'<br> +<br> +"He never liked to walk in the streets for fear of being mobbed. +Once he was mobbed in Regent street, and did not know how he was to +escape, till he saw a cab, and took refuge in it. For the same +reason it was painful for him to go to church. Once, being anxious +to go with us, my father persuaded him that, as the seat at the top +of our pew was under the gallery, he would not be seen. As soon as +he entered, he held down his head, and kept it covered with his +hands all the time, but the preacher somehow caught sight of him, +and rather unwisely, in his last prayer, adverted to him. This gave +the people the knowledge that he was in the chapel, and after the +service they came trooping toward him, even over the pews, in their +anxiety to see him and shake hands <a name= +"FNanchor50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50">[50]</a>.<br> +<br> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_50"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor50">[50]</a> A similar occurrence took place in a church +at Bath during the meetings of the British Association in +1864</blockquote> +<br> +"Dr. Livingstone usually conducted our family worship. On Sunday +morning he always gave us a text for the day. His prayers were very +direct and simple, just like a child asking his Father for what he +needed.<br> +<br> +"He was always careful as to dress and appearance. This was his +habit in Africa, too, and with Mrs. Livingstone it was the same. +They thought that this was fitted to secure respect for themselves, +and that it was for the good of the natives too, as it was so +difficult to impress them with proper ideas on the subject of +dress.<br> +<br> +"Dr. and Mrs. Livingstone were much attached, and thoroughly +understood each other. The doctor was sportive and fond of a joke, +and Mrs. Livingstone entered into his humor. Mrs. Livingstone was +terribly anxious about her husband when he was in Africa, but +before others she concealed her emotion. In society both were +reserved and quiet. Neither of them cared for grandeur; it was a +great trial to Dr. Livingstone to go to a grand dinner. Yet in his +quiet way he would exercise an influence at the dinner-table. He +told us that once at a dinner at Lord ----'s, every one was running +down London tradesmen. Dr. Livingstone quietly remarked that though +he was a stranger in London, he knew one tradesman of whose honesty +he was thoroughly assured; and if there was one such in his little +circle, surely there must be many more.<br> +<br> +"He used to rise early: about seven he had a cup of tea or coffee, +and then he set to work with his Writing. He had not the appearance +of a very strong man."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In spite of his literary work, the stream of public honors and +public engagements began to flow very strongly. The Prince Consort +granted him an interview, soon after his arrival, in presence of +some of the younger members of the Royal Family. In March it was +agreed to present him with the freedom of the City of London, in a +box of the value of fifty guineas, and in May the presentation took +place. Most of his public honors, however, were reserved till the +autumn.</p> +<p>The <i>Missionary Travels</i> was published in November, 1857, +and the success of the book was quite remarkable. Writing to Mr. +Maclear, 10th November, 1857, he says, after an apology for +delay:</p> +<blockquote>"You must ascribe my culpable silence to 'aberration.' +I am out of my orbit, rather, and you must have patience till I +come in again. The book is out to-day, and I am going to Captain +Washington to see about copies to yourself, the Governor, the +Bishop, Fairbairn, Thompson, Rutherfoord, and Saul Solomon <a name= +"FNanchor51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51">[51]</a>. Ten thousand were +taken by the London trade alone. Thirteen thousand eight hundred +have been ordered from an edition of twelve thousand, so the +printers are again at work to supply the demand. Sir Roderick gave +it a glowing character last night at the Royal Geographical +Society, and the <i>Athenæum</i> has come out strongly on the +same side. This is considered a successful launch for a guinea +book."</blockquote> +<br> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_51"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor51">[51]</a> Livingstone was quite lavish with +presentation copies; every friend on earth seemed to be included in +his list. He tried to remember every one who had shown kindness to +himself and particularly to his wife and children.</blockquote> +<p>It has sometimes been a complaint that so much of the book is +occupied with matters of science, geographical inquiries, +descriptions of plants and animals, accounts of rivers and +mountains, and so little with what directly concerns the work of +the missionary. In reply to this, it may be stated, in the first +place, that if the information given and the views expressed on +missionary topics were all put together, they would constitute no +insignificant contribution to missionary literature. But there was +another consideration. Livingstone regarded himself as but a +pioneer in missionary enterprise. During sixteen years he had done +much to bring the knowledge of Christ to tribes that had never +heard of Him--probably no missionary in Africa had ever preached to +so many blacks. In some instances he had been successful in the +highest sense--he had been the instrument of turning men from +darkness to light; but he did not think it right to dwell on these +cases, because the converts were often inconsistent, and did not +exemplify a high moral tone. In most cases, however, he had been a +sower of seed, and not a reaper of harvests. He had no triumphs to +record, like those which had gladdened the hearts of some of his +missionary brethren in the South Sea Islands. He wished his book to +be a record of facts, not a mere register of hopes. The missionary +work was yet to be done. It belonged to the future, not to the +past. By showing what vast fields there were in Africa ripe for the +harvest, he sought to stimulate the Christian enterprise of the +Churches, and lead them to take possession of Africa for Christ. He +would diligently record facts which he had ascertained about +Africa, facts that he saw had some bearing on its future welfare, +but whose full significance in that connection no one might yet be +able to perceive. In a sense, the book was a work of faith. He +wished to interest men of science, men of commerce, men of +philanthropy, ministers of the Crown, men of all sorts, in the +welfare of Africa. Where he had so varied a constituency to deal +with, and where the precise method by which Africa would be +civilized was yet so indefinite, he would faithfully record what he +had come to know, and let others build as they might with his +materials. Certainly, in all that Livingstone has written, he has +left us in no doubt as to the consummation to which he ever looked. +His whole writings and his whole life are a commentary on his own +words--"The end of the geographical feat is only the beginning of +the enterprise."</p> +<p>Through the great success of the volume and the handsome conduct +of the publishers, the book yielded him a little fortune. We shall +see what generous use he made of it--how large a portion of the +profits went to forward directly the great object to which his +heart and his life were so cordially given. More than half went to +a single object connected with the Zambesi Expedition, and of the +remainder he was ready to devote a half to another favorite +project. All that he thought it his duty to reserve for his +children was enough to educate them, and prepare them for their +part in life. Nothing would have seemed less desirable or less for +their good than to found a rich family to live in idleness. It was +and is a common impression that Livingstone received large sums +from friends to aid him in his work. For the most part these +impressions were unfounded; but his own hard-earned money was +bestowed freely and cheerfully wherever it seemed likely to do +good.</p> +<p>The complaint that he was not sufficiently a missionary was +sometimes made of his speeches as well as his book. At Carlisle, a +lady wrote to him in this strain. A copy of his reply is before us. +After explaining that reporters were more ready to report his +geography than his missionary views, he says:</p> +<blockquote>"Nowhere have I ever appeared as anything else but a +servant of God, who has simply followed the leadings of his hand. +My views of what is <i>missionary</i> duty are not so contracted as +those whose ideal is a dumpy sort of man with a Bible under his +arm. I have labored in bricks and mortar, at the forge and +carpenter's bench, as well as in preaching and medical practice. I +feel that I am 'not my own.' I am serving Christ when shooting a +buffalo for my men, or taking an astronomical observation, or +writing to one of his children who forget, during the little moment +of penning a note, that charity which is eulogized as 'thinking no +evil'; and after having by his help got information, which I hope +will lead to more abundant blessing being bestowed on Africa than +heretofore, am I to hide the light under a bushel, merely because +some will consider it not sufficiently, or even at all, +<i>missionary</i>? Knowing that some persons do believe that +opening up a new country to the sympathies of Christendom was not a +proper work for an agent of a missionary society to engage in, I +now refrain from taking any salary from the Society with which I +was connected; so no pecuniary loss is sustained by any +one."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Subsequently, when detained in Manyuema, and when his immediate +object was to determine the water-shed, Dr. Livingstone wrote: "I +never felt a single pang at having left the Missionary Society. I +acted for my Master, and believe that all ought to devote their +special faculties to Him. I regretted that unconscientious men took +occasion to prevent many from sympathizing with me."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI."></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> +<h3>FIRST VISIT HOME--<i>continued</i>.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1857-1858.</center> +<p>Livingstone at Dublin, at British Association--Letter to his +wife--He meets the Chamber of Commerce at Manchester--At Glasgow, +receives honors from Corporation, University, Faculty of Physicians +and Surgeons, United Presbyterians, Cotton-spinners--His speeches +in reply--His brother Charles joins him--Interesting meeting and +speech at Hamilton--Reception from "Literary and Scientific +Institute of Blantyre"--Sympathy with operatives--Quick +apprehension of all public questions--His social views in advance +of the age--He plans a People's Café--Visit to +Edinburgh--More honors--Letter to Mr. Maclear--Interesting visit to +Cambridge--Lectures there--Professor Sedgwick's remarks on his +visit--Livingstone's great satisfaction--Relations to London +Missionary Society--He severs his connection--Proposal of +Government expedition--He accepts consulship and command of +expedition--Kindness of Lords Palmerston and Clarendon--The +Portuguese Ambassador--Livingstone proposes to go to Portugal--Is +dissuaded--Lord Clarendon's letter to Sekelétu--Results of +Livingstone's visit to England--Farewell banquet, Feb., +1858--Interview with the Queen--Valedictory letters--Professor +Sedgwick and Sir Roderick Murchison--Arrangements for +expedition--Dr., Mrs., and Oswell Livingstone set sail from +Liverpool--Letters to children.</p> +<br> +<p>Finding himself, in the autumn, free of the toil of book-making, +Dr. Livingstone moved more freely through the country, attended +meetings, and gave addresses. In August he went to Dublin, to the +meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, +and gave an interesting lecture. Mrs. Livingstone did not accompany +him. In a letter to her we have some pleasant notes of his Dublin +visit:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Dublin, 29th August</i>, 1857.--I am very sorry now +that I did not bring you with me, for all inquired after you, and +father's book is better known here than anywhere else I have been. +But it could scarcely have been otherwise. I think the visit to +Dublin will be beneficial to our cause, which, I think, is the +cause of Christ in Africa. Lord Radstock is much interested in it, +and seems willing and anxious to promote it. He was converted out +at the Crimea, whither he had gone as an amateur. His lady is a +beautiful woman, and I think, what is far better, a good, pious +one. The Archbishop's daughters asked me if they could be of any +use in sending out needles, thread, etc., to your school. I, of +course, said Yes. His daughters are devotedly missionary, and work +hard in ragged schools, etc. One of them nearly remained in +Jerusalem as a missionary, and is the same in spirit here. It is +well to be servants of Christ everywhere, at home or abroad, +wherever He may send us or take us.... I hope I may be enabled to +say a word for Him on Monday. There is to be a grand dinner and +soiree at the Lord-Lieutenant's on Monday, and I have got an +invitation in my pocket, but will have to meet Admiral Trotter on +Tuesday. I go off as soon as my lecture is over.... Sir Duncan +Macgregor is the author of <i>The Burning of the Kent East +Indiaman</i>. His son, the only infant saved, is now a devoted +Christian, a barrister <a name="FNanchor52"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_52">[52]</a>."</blockquote> +<br> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_52"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor52">[52]</a> Dr. Livingstone always liked that style of +earnest Christianity which he notices in this letter. In November +of the same year, after he had resigned his connection with the +London Missionary Society, and was preparing to return to Africa as +H.M. Consul and head of the Zambesi Expedition, he writes thus to +his friend Mr. James Young: "I read the life of Hedley Vicars for +the first time through, when down at Rugby. It is really excellent, +and makes me ashamed of the coldness of my services in comparison. +That was his sister you saw me walking with in Dublin at the +Gardens (Lady Rayleigh). If you have not read it, the sooner you +dip into it the better. You will thank me for it."</blockquote> +<p>In September we find him in Manchester, where the Chamber of +Commerce gave him a hearty welcome, and entered cordially into his +schemes for the commercial development of Africa. He was subjected +to a close cross-examination regarding the products of the country, +and the materials it contained for commerce; but here, too, the +missionary was equal to the occasion. He had brought home five or +six and twenty different kinds of fruit; he told them of oils they +had never heard of--dyes that were kept secret by the +natives--fibres that might be used for the manufacture of +paper--sheep that had hair instead of wool--honey, sugar-cane, +wheat, millet, cotton, and iron, all abounding in the country. That +all these should abound in what used to be deemed a sandy desert +appeared very strange. A very cordial resolution was unanimously +agreed to, and a strong desire expressed that Her Majesty's +Government would unite with that of Portugal in giving Dr. +Livingstone facilities for further exploration in the interior of +Africa, and especially in the district around the river Zambesi and +its tributaries, which promised to be the most suitable as a basis +both for commercial and missionary settlements.</p> +<p>In the course of the same month his foot was again on his native +soil, and there his reception was remarkably cordial. In Glasgow, +the University, the Corporation, the Faculty of Physicians and +Surgeons, the United Presbyterians, and the Associated Operative +Cotton-spinners of Scotland came forward to pay him honor. A +testimonial of £2000 had been raised by public subscription. +The Corporation presented him with the freedom of the city in a +gold box, in acknowledging which he naturally dwelt on some of the +topics that were interesting to a commercial community. He gave a +somewhat new view of "Protection" when he called it a remnant of +heathenism. The heathen would be dependent on no one; they would +depress all other communities. Christianity taught us to be friends +and brothers, and he was glad that all restrictions on the freedom +of trade were now done away with. He dwelt largely on the capacity +of Africa to furnish us with useful articles of trade, and +especially cotton.</p> +<p>His reception by the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons had a +special interest in relation to his medical labors. For nearly +twenty years he had been a licentiate of this Faculty, one of the +oldest medical institutions of the country, which for two centuries +and a half had exerted a great influence in the west of Scotland. +He was now admitted an honorary Fellow--an honor rarely conferred, +and only on pre-eminently distinguished men. The President referred +to the benefit which he had found from his scientific as well as +his more strictly medical studies, pursued under their auspices, +and Livingstone cordially echoed the remark, saying he often hoped +that his sons might follow the same course of study and devote +themselves to the same noble profession:</p> +<blockquote>"In the country to which I went," he continued, "I +endeavored to follow the footsteps of my Lord and Master." Our +Saviour was a physician; but it is not to be expected that his +followers should perform miracles. The nearest approach which they +could expect to make was to become acquainted with medical science, +and endeavor to heal the diseases of man.... One patient expressed +his opinion of my religion to the following effect: "We like you +very much; you are the only white man we have got acquainted with. +We like you because you aid us whilst we are sick, but we don't +like your everlasting preaching and praying. We can't get +accustomed to that!"</blockquote> +<br> +<p>To the United Presbyterians of Glasgow he spoke of mission work +in Africa. At one time he had been somewhat disappointed with the +Bechuana Christians, and thought the results of the mission had +been exaggerated, but when he went into the interior and saw +heathenism in all its unmitigated ferocity, he changed his opinion, +and had a higher opinion than ever of what the mission had done. +Such gatherings as the present were very encouraging; but in Africa +mission work was hard work without excitement; and they had just to +resolve to do their duty without expecting to receive gratitude +from those whom they labored to serve. When gratitude came, they +were thankful to have it; but when it did not come they must go on +doing their duty, as unto the Lord.</p> +<p>His reply to the cotton-spinners is interesting as showing how +fresh his sympathy still was with the sons of toil, and what +respect he had for their position. He congratulated himself on the +Spartan training he had got at the Blantyre mill, which had really +been the foundation of all the work he had done. Poverty and hard +work were often looked down on,--he did not know why,--for +wickedness was the only thing that ought to be a reproach to any +man. Those that looked down on cotton-spinners with contempt were +men who, had they been cotton-spinners at the beginning, would have +been cotton-spinners to the end. The life of toil was what belonged +to the great majority of the race, and to be poor was no reproach. +The Saviour occupied the humble position that they had been born +in, and he looked back on his own past life as having been spent in +the same position in which the Saviour lived.</p> +<blockquote>"My great object," he said, "was to be like Him--to +imitate Him as far as He could be imitated. We have not the power +of working miracles, but we can do a little in the way of healing +the sick, and I sought a medical education in order that I might be +like Him. In Africa I have had hard work. I don't know that any one +in Africa despises a man who works hard. I find that all eminent +men work hard. Eminent geologists, mineralogists, men of science in +every department, if they attain eminence, work hard, and that both +early and late. That is just what we did. Some of us have left the +cotton-spinning, but I think that all of us who have been engaged +in that occupation look back on it with feelings of complacency, +and feel an interest in the course of our companions. There is one +thing in cotton-spinning that I always felt to be a privilege. We +were confined through the whole day, but when we got out to the +green fields, and could wander through the shady woods, and rove +about the whole country, we enjoyed it immensely. We were delighted +to see the flowers and the beautiful scenery. We were prepared to +admire. We were taught by our confinement to rejoice in the +beauties of nature, and when we got out we enjoyed ourselves to the +fullest extent."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>At Hamilton an interesting meeting took place in the +Congregational Chapel where he had been a worshiper in his youth. +Here he was emphatically at home; and he took the opportunity (as +he often did) to say how little he liked the lionizing he was +undergoing, and how unexpected all the honors were that had been +showered upon him. He had hoped to spend a short and quiet visit, +and then return to his African work. It was his sense of the +kindness shown him, and the desire not to be disobliging, that made +him accept the public invitations he was receiving. But he did not +wish to take the honor to himself, as if he had achieved anything +by his own might or wisdom. He thanked God sincerely for employing +him as an instrument in his work. One of the greatest honors was to +be employed in winning souls to Christ, and proclaiming to the +captives of Satan the liberty with which he had come to make them +free. He was thankful that to him, "the least of all saints," this +honor had been given. He then proceeded to notice the presence of +members of various Churches, and to advert to the broadening +process that had been going on in his own mind while in Africa, +which made him feel himself more than ever the brother of all:</p> +<blockquote>"In going about we learn something, and it would be a +shame to us if we did not; and we look back to our own country and +view it as a whole, and many of the little feelings we had when +immersed in our own denominations we lose, and we look to the whole +body of Christians with affection. We rejoice to see them +advancing. I believe that every Scotch Christian abroad rejoiced in +his heart when he saw the Free Church come boldly out on principle, +and I may say we shall rejoice very much when we see the Free +Church and the United Presbyterian Church one, as they ought to +be.... I am sure I look on all the different denominations in +Hamilton and in Britain with feelings of affection. I cannot say +which I love most. I am quite certain I ought not to dislike any of +them. Really, perhaps I may be considered a little heterodox, if I +were living in this part of the country, I could not pass one +Evangelical Church in order to go to my own denomination beyond it +<a name="FNanchor53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53">[53]</a>. I still +think that the different denominational peculiarities have, to a +certain degree, a good effect in this country, but I think we ought +to be much more careful lest we should appear to our +fellow-Christians unchristian, than to appear inconsistent with the +denominational principles we profess.... Let this meeting be the +ratification of the ¸bond of union between my brother +<a name="FNanchor54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54">[54]</a> and me, +and all the denominations of Hamilton. Remember us in your prayers. +Bear us on your spirits when we are far away, for when abroad we +often feel as if we were forgot by every one. My entreaty to all +the Christians of Hamilton is to pray that grace may be given to us +to be faithful to our Saviour even unto death."</blockquote> +<br> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_53"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor53">[53]</a> Dr. Livingstone gave practical evidence of +his sincerity in these remarks in the case of his elder daughter, +saying, in reply to one of her guardians with whom she was +residing, that he had no objections to her joining the Church of +Scotland. This, however, she did not do; but afterward, when at +Newstead Abbey, she was confirmed by the Bishop of Lincoln, and +received the Communion along with her father, who helped to prepare +her.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_54"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor54">[54]</a> Dr. Livingstone had been joined by his +brother Charles, who was present on this occasion.</blockquote> +<p>At Blantyre, his native village, the Literary and Scientific +Institute gave him a reception, Mr. Hannan, one of the proprietors +of the works, a magistrate of Glasgow, and an old acquaintance of +Livingstone's, being in the chair. The Doctor was laboring under a +cold, the first he had had for sixteen years. He talked to them of +his travels, and by particular request gave an account of his +encounter with the Mabotsa lion. He ridiculed Mrs. Beecher Stowe's +notion that factory-workers were slaves. He counseled them strongly +to put more confidence than workmen generally did in the honest +good intentions of their employers, reminding them that some time +ago, when the Blantyre proprietors had wished to let every workman +have a garden, it was said by some that they only wished to bring +the ground into good order, and then they would take the garden +away. That was nasty and suspicious. If masters were more trusted, +they would do more good. Finally, he exhorted them cordially to +accept God's offers of mercy to them in Christ, and give themselves +wholly to Him. To bow down before God was not mean; it was manly. +His one wish for them all was that they might have peace with God, +and rejoice in the hope of the eternal inheritance.</p> +<p>His remarks to the operatives show how sound and sagacious his +views were on social problems; in this sphere, indeed, he was in +advance of the age. The quickness and correctness with which he +took up matters of public interest in Britain, mastered facts, and +came to clear, intelligent conclusions on them, was often the +astonishment of his friends. It was as if, instead of being buried +in Africa, he had been attending the club and reading the daily +newspapers for years,--this, too, while he was at work writing his +book, and delivering speeches almost without end. We find him at +this time anticipating the temperance coffee-house movement, now so +popular and successful. On 11th July, 1857, he wrote on this +subject to a friend, in reference to a proposal to deliver a +lecture in Glasgow. It should be noticed that he never lectured for +money, though he might have done so with great pecuniary +benefit:</p> +<blockquote>"I am thinking of giving, or trying to give, a lecture +by invitation at the Athenæum. I am offered thirty guineas, +and as my old friends the cotton-spinners have invited me to meet +them, I think of handing the sum, whatever it may be, to them, or +rather letting them take it and fit up a room as a coffee-room on +the plan of the French cafés, where men, women, and children +may go, instead of to whisky-shops. There are coffee-houses +already, but I don't think there are any where they can laugh and +talk and read papers just as they please. The sort I contemplate +would suit poor young fellows who cannot have a comfortable fire at +home. I have seen men dragged into drinking ways from having no +comfort at home, and women also drawn to the dram-shop from the +same cause. Don't you think something could be done by setting the +persons I mention to do something for themselves?"</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Edinburgh conferred on Livingstone the freedom of the city, +besides entertaining him at a public breakfast and hearing him at +another meeting. We are not surprised to find him writing to Sir +Roderick Murchison from Rossie Priory, on the 27th September, that +he was about to proceed to Leeds, Liverpool, and Birmingham, "and +then farewell to public spouting for ever. I am dead tired of it. +The third meeting at Edinburgh quite knocked me up." It was +generally believed that his appearances at Edinburgh were not equal +to some others; and probably there was truth in the impression, for +he must have come to it exhausted; and besides, at a public +breakfast, he was put out by a proposal of the chairman, that they +should try to get him a pension. Yet some who heard him in +Edinburgh received impressions that were never effaced, and it is +probable that seed was silently sown which led afterward to the +Scotch Livingstonia Mission--one of the most hopeful schemes for +carrying out Livingstone's plans that have yet been organized.</p> +<p>Among the other honors conferred on him during this visit to +Britain was the degree of D.C.L. from the University of Oxford. +Some time before, Glasgow had given him the honorary degree of +LL.D. In the beginning of 1858, when he was proposed as a Fellow of +the Royal Society, the certificate on his behalf was signed, among +others, by the Earl of Carlisle, then Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, +who after his signature added P.R. (<i>pro Regina</i>), a thing +that had never been done before <a name="FNanchor55"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_55">[55]</a>.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_55"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor55">[55]</a> For list of Dr. Livingstone's honors, see +<a href="#No._V">Appendix No. V.</a></blockquote> +<p>The life he was now leading was rather trying. He writes to his +friend Mr. Maclear on the 10th November:</p> +<blockquote>"I finish my public spouting next week at Oxford. It is +really very time-killing, this lionizing, and I am sure you pity me +in it. I hope to leave in January. Wonder if the Portuguese have +fulfilled the intention of their Government in supporting my +men.... I shall rejoice when I see you again in the quiet of the +Observatory. It is more satisfactory to serve God in peace. May He +give his grace and blessing to us all! I am rather anxious to say +something that will benefit the young men at Oxford. They made me a +D.C.L. There!! Wonder if they would do so to the Editor of the +<i>Grahamstown Journal?</i>"</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Livingstone was not yet done with "public spouting," even after +his trip to Oxford. Among the visits paid by him toward the end of +1857, none was more interesting or led to more important results +than that to Cambridge. It was on 3d December he arrived there, +becoming the guest of the Rev. Wm. Monk, of St. John's. Next +morning, in the senate-house, he addressed a very large audience, +consisting of graduates and undergraduates and many visitors from +the town and neighborhood. The Vice-Chancellor presided and +introduced the stranger. Dr. Livingstone's lecture consisted of +facts relating to the country and its people, their habits and +religious belief, with some notices of his travels, and an emphatic +statement of his great object--to promote commerce and Christianity +in the country which he had opened. The last part of his lecture +was an earnest appeal for missionaries.</p> +<blockquote>"It is deplorable to think that one of the noblest of +our missionary societies, the Church Missionary Society, is +compelled to send to Germany for missionaries, whilst other +Societies are amply supplied. Let this stain be wiped off. The sort +of men who are wanted for missionaries are such as I see before me; +men of education, standing, enterprise, zeal, and piety.... I hope +that many whom I now address will embrace that honorable career. +Education has been given us from above for the purpose of bringing +to the benighted the knowledge of a Saviour. If you knew the +satisfaction of performing such a duty, as well as the gratitude to +God which the missionary must always feel, in being chosen for so +noble, so sacred a calling, you would have no hesitation in +embracing it.<br> +<br> +"For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has +appointed me to such an office. People talk of the sacrifice I have +made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a +sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt +owing to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice +which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the +consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a +glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word in such a view, and +with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it +is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and +then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of +this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and +the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are +nothing when compared with the glory which shall hereafter be +revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice. Of this we ought +not to talk when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who +left his father's throne on high to give himself for us; 'who being +the brightness of that Father's glory, and the express image of his +person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he +had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the +Majesty on high.'...<br> +<br> +"I beg to direct your attention to Africa: I know that in a few +years I shall be cut off in that country, which is now open; do not +let it be shut again! I go back to Africa to try to make an open +path for commerce and Christianity; do you carry out the work which +I have begun, I LEAVE IT WITH YOU!"</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In a prefatory letter prefixed to the volume entitled <i>Dr. +Livingstone's Cambridge Lectures</i>, the late Professor Sedgwick +remarked, in connection with this event, that in the course of a +long academic life he had often been present in the senate-house on +exciting occasions; in the days of Napoleon he had heard the +greetings given to our great military heroes; he had been present +at four installation services, the last of which was graced by the +presence of the Queen, when her youthful husband was installed as +Chancellor, amid the most fervent gratulations that subjects are +permitted to exhibit in the presence of their Sovereign. But on +none of these occasions "were the gratulations of the University +more honest and true-hearted than those which were offered to Dr. +Livingstone. He came among us without any long notes of +preparation, without any pageant or eloquence to charm and +captivate our senses. He stood before us, a plain, single-minded +man, somewhat attenuated by years of toil, and with a face tinged +by the sun of Africa.... While we listened to the tale he had to +tell, there arose in the hearts of all the listeners a fervent hope +that the hand of God which had so long upheld him would uphold him +still, and help him to carry out the great work of Christian love +that was still before him."</p> +<p>Next day, December 5th, Dr. Livingstone addressed a very crowded +audience in the Town Hall, the Mayor presiding. Referring to his +own plans, he said:</p> +<blockquote>"I contend that we ought not to be ashamed of our +religion, and had we not kept this so much out of sight in India, +we should not now be in such straits in that country" [referring to +the Indian Mutiny]. "Let us appear just what we are. For my own +part, I intend to go out as a missionary, and hope boldly, but with +civility, to state the truth of Christianity, and my belief that +those who do not possess it are in error. My object in Africa is +not only the elevation of man, but that the country might be so +opened that man might see the need of his soul's salvation. I +propose in my next expedition to visit the Zambesi, and propitiate +the different chiefs along its banks, endeavoring to induce them to +cultivate cotton, and to abolish the slave-trade: already they +trade in ivory and gold-dust, and are anxious to extend their +commercial operations. There is thus a probability of their +interests being linked with ours, and thus the elevation of the +African would be the result,<br> +<br> +"I believe England is alive to her duty of civilizing and +Christianizing the heathen. We cannot all go out as missionaries, +it is true; but we may all do something toward providing a +substitute. Moreover, all may especially do that which every +missionary highly prizes, viz.--COMMEND THE WORK IN THEIR PRAYERS. +I HOPE THAT THOSE WHOM I NOW ADDRESS WILL BOTH PRAY FOR AND HELP +THOSE WHO ARE THEIR SUBSTITUTES."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Dr. Livingstone was thoroughly delighted with his reception at +Cambridge. Writing to a friend, on 6th December 1857, he says: +"Cambridge, as Playfair would say, was grand. It beat Oxford +hollow. To make up my library again they subscribed at least forty +volumes at once. I shall have reason soon to bless the Boers."</p> +<p>Referring to his Cambridge visit a few weeks afterward, in a +letter to Rev. W. Monk, Dr. Livingstone said: "I look back to my +visit to Cambridge as one of the most pleasant episodes of my life. +I shall always revert with feelings of delight to the short +intercourse I enjoyed with such noble Christian men as Sedgwick, +Whewell, Selwyn, etc. etc., as not the least important privilege +conferred on me by my visit to England. It is something inspiriting +to remember that the eyes of such men are upon one's course. May +blessings rest upon them all, and on the seat of learning which +they adorn!"</p> +<p>Among the subjects that had occupied Dr. Livingstone's attention +most intensely during the early part of the year 1857 was that of +his relation to the London Missionary Society. The impression +caused by Dr. Tidman's letter received at Quilimane had been quite +removed by personal intercourse with the Directors, who would have +been delighted to let Livingstone work in their service in his own +way. But with the very peculiar work of exploration and inquiry +which he felt that his Master had now placed in his hands, Dr. +Livingstone was afraid that his freedom would be restricted by his +continuing in the service of the Society, while the Society itself +would be liable to suffer from the handle that might be given to +contributors to say that it was departing from the proper objects +of a missionary body. That in resigning his official connection he +acted with a full knowledge of the effect which this might have +upon his own character, and his reputation before the Church and +the world, is evident from his correspondence with one of his most +intimate friends and trusted counselors, Mr. J.B. Braithwaite, of +Lincoln's Inn. Though himself a member of the Society of Friends, +Mr. Braithwaite was desirous that Dr. Livingstone should continue +to appear before the public as a Christian minister:</p> +<blockquote>"To dissolve thy connection with the Missionary Society +would at once place thee before the public in an aspect wholly +distinct from that in which thou art at present, and, what is yet +more important, would in a greater or less degree, and, perhaps, +very gradually and almost insensibly to thyself, turn the current +of thy own thoughts and feelings away from those channels of +usefulness and service, as a minister of the gospel, with which I +cannot doubt thy deepest interest and highest aspirations are +inseparably associated."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>On Dr. Livingstone explaining that, while he fully appreciated +these views, it did not appear to him consistent with duty to be +receiving the pay of a working missionary while engaged to a +considerable extent in scientific exploration, Mr. Braithwaite +expressed anew his sympathy for his feelings, and respect for his +decision, but not as one quite convinced:</p> +<blockquote>"Thy heart is bound, as I truly believe, in its inmost +depths to the service of Christ. This is the 'one thing' which, +through all, it is thy desire to keep in view. And my fear has been +lest the severing of thy connection with a recognized religious +body should lead any to suppose that thy Christian interests were +in the least weakened; or that thou wast now going forth with any +lower aim than the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom. Such a +circumstance would be deeply to be regretted, for thy character is +now, if I may so speak, not thy own, but the common property, in a +certain sense, of British Christianity, and anything which tended +to lower thy high standing would cast a reflection on the general +cause."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The result showed that Mr. Braithwaite was right as to the +impression likely to be made on the public; but the contents of +this volume amply prove that the impression was wrong.</p> +<p>Dr. Livingstone had said at Quilimane that if it were the will +of God that he should do the work of exploration and settlement of +stations which was indispensable to the opening up of Africa, but +which the Directors did not then seem to wish him to undertake, the +means would be provided from some other quarter. At the meeting of +the British Association in Dublin, a movement was begun for getting +the Government to aid him. The proposal was entertained favorably +by the Government, and practically settled before the end of the +year. In February, 1858, Dr. Livingstone received a formal +commission, signed by Lord Clarendon, Foreign Secretary, appointing +him Her Majesty's Consul at Quilimane for the Eastern Coast and the +independent districts in the interior, and commander of an +expedition for exploring Eastern and Central Africa. Dr. +Livingstone accepted the appointment, and during the last part of +his stay in England was much engaged in arranging for the +expedition. A paddle steamer of light draught was procured for the +navigation of the Zambesi, and the various members of the +expedition received their appointments. These were--Commander +Bedingfield, R.N., Naval Officer; John Kirk, M.D., Botanist and +Physician; Mr. Charles Livingstone, brother of Dr. Livingstone, +General Assistant and Secretary; Mr. Richard Thornton, Practical +Mining Geologist; Mr. Thomas Baines, Artist and Storekeeper; and +Mr. George Rae, Ship Engineer; and whoever afterward might join the +expedition were required to obey Dr. Livingstone's directions as +leader.</p> +<p>"We managed your affair very nicely," Lord Palmerston said to +Livingstone at a reception at Lady Palmerston's on the 12th +December. "Had we waited till the usual time when Parliament should +be asked, it would have been too late." Lord Shaftesbury, at the +reception, assured him that the country would do everything for +him, and congratulated him on going out in the way now settled. So +did the Lord Chancellor (Cranworth), Sir Culling Eardley, and Mr. +Calcraft, M.P.</p> +<p>Dr. Livingstone was on the most friendly terms with the +Portuguese Ambassador, the Count de Lavradio, who ever avowed the +highest respect for himself, and a strong desire to help him in his +work. To get this assurance turned into substantial assistance +appeared to Livingstone to be of the very highest importance. +Unless strong influence were brought to bear on the local +Portuguese Governors in Africa, his scheme would be wrecked. The +Portuguese Ambassador was then at Lisbon, and Livingstone had +resolved to go there, to secure the influence from headquarters +which was so necessary. The Prince Consort had promised to +introduce him to his cousin, the King of Portugal. There were, +however, some obstacles to his going. Yellow fever was raging at +Lisbon, and moreover, time was precious, and a little delay might +lead to the loss of a season on the Zambesi. At Lady Palmerston's +reception, Lord Palmerston had said to him that Lord Clarendon +might manage the Portuguese affair without his going to Lisbon. A +day or two after, Livingstone saw Lord Clarendon, who confirmed +Lord Palmerston's opinion, and assured him that when Lavradio +returned, the affair would be settled. The Lisbon journey was +accordingly given up. The Count returned to London before +Livingstone left, and expressed a wish to send a number of +Portuguese agents along with him. But to this both Lord Clarendon +and he had the strongest objections, as complicating the +expedition. Livingstone was furnished with letters from the +Portuguese Government to the local Governors, instructing them to +give him all needful help. But when he returned to the Zambesi he +found that these public instructions were strangely neutralized and +reversed by some unseen process. He himself believed to the last in +the honest purpose of the King of Portugal, but he had not the same +confidence in the Government. From some of the notes written to him +at this time by friends who understood more of diplomacy than he +did, we can see that little actual help was expected from the local +Governors in the Portuguese settlements, one of these friends +expressing the conviction that "the sooner those Portuguese +dogs-in-the-manger are eaten, up, body and bones, by the Zulu +Caffres, the better."</p> +<p>The co-operation of Lord Clarendon was very cordial. "He told me +to go to Washington (of the Admiralty) as if all had been arranged, +and do everything necessary, and come to him for everything I +needed. He repeated, 'Just come here and tell me what you want, and +I will give it you.' He was wonderfully kind. I thank God who gives +the influence." Among other things, Lord Clarendon wrote an +official letter to the chief Sekelétu, thanking him, in the +name of the Queen, for his kindness and help to her servant, Dr. +Livingstone, explaining the desire of the British nation, as a +commercial and Christian people, to live at peace with all and to +benefit all; telling him, too, what they thought of the +slave-trade; hoping that Sekelétu would help to keep "God's +highway," the river Zambesi, as a free pathway for all nations; +assuring him of friendship and good-will; and respectfully hinting +that, "as we have derived all our greatness from the divine +religion we received from heaven, it will be well if you consider +it carefully when any of our people talk to you about it <a name= +"FNanchor56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56">[56]</a>."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_56"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor56">[56]</a> See <a href="#No._IV.">Appendix No. +IV.</a></blockquote> +<p>Most men, after receiving such <i>carte blanche</i> as Lord +Clarendon had given to Livingstone, would have been drawing out +plans on a large scale, regardless of expense. Livingstone's ideas +were quite in the opposite direction. Instead of having to press +Captain Washington, he had to restrain him. The expedition as +planned by Washington, with commander and assistant, and a large +staff of officers, was too expensive. All that Livingstone wished +was a steam launch, with an economic botanist, a practical mining +geologist, and an assistant. All was to be plain and practical; +nothing was wished for ornament or show.</p> +<p>Before we come to the last adieus, it is well to glance at the +remarkable effect of Dr. Livingstone's short visit, in connection +with his previous labors, on the public opinion of the country in +regard to Africa. In the first place, as we have already remarked, +there was quite a revolution of ideas as to the interior of the +country. It astonished men to find that, instead of a vast sandy +desert, it was so rich and productive a land, and merchants came to +see that if only a safe and wholesome traffic could be introduced, +the result would be hardly less beneficial to them than to the +people of Africa. In the second place, a new idea was given of the +African people. Caffre wars and other mismanaged enterprises had +brought out the wildest aspects of the native character, and had +led to the impression that the blacks were just as brutish and +ferocious as the tigers and crocodiles among which they lived. But +Livingstone showed, as Moffat had showed before him, that, rightly +dealt with, they were teachable and companionable, full of respect +for the white man, affectionate toward him when he treated them +well, and eager to have him dwelling among them. On the slave-trade +of the interior he had thrown a ghastly light, although it was +reserved to him in his future journeys to make a full exposure of +the devil's work in that infamous traffic. He had thrown light, +too, on the structure of Africa, shown where healthy localities +were to be found, copiously illustrated its fauna and flora, +discovered great rivers and lakes, and laid them down on its map +with the greatest accuracy; and he had shown how its most virulent +disease might be reduced to the category of an ordinary cold. In +conjunction with other great African travelers, he had contributed +not a little to the great increase of popularity which had been +acquired by the Geographical Society. He had shown abundance of +openings for Christian missions from Kuruman to the Zambesi, and +from Loanda to Quilimane. He had excited no little compassion for +the negro, by vivid pictures of his dark and repulsive life, with +so much misery in it and so little joy. In the cause of missions he +did not appeal in vain. At the English Universities, young men of +ability and promise got new light on the purposes of life, and +wondered that they had not thought sooner of offering themselves +for such noble work. In Scotland, men like James Stewart, now of +Lovedale, were set thinking whether they should not give themselves +to Africa, and older men, like Mr. R.A. Macfie and the late Mr. +James Cunningham, of Edinburgh, were pondering in what manner the +work could be begun. The London Missionary Society, catching up +Livingstone's watchword "Onward," were planning a mission at +Linyanti, on the banks of the Zambesi. Mr. Moffat was about to pay +a visit to the great Mosilikatse, with a view to the commencement +of a mission to the Matebele. As for Livingstone himself, his heart +was yearning after his friends the Makololo. He had been quite +willing to go and be their missionary, but in the meantime other +duty called him. Not being aware of any purpose to plant a mission +among them, he made an arrangement with his brother-in-law, Mr. +John Moffat, to become their missionary. Out of his private +resources he promised him £500, for outfit, etc., and +£150 a year for five years as salary, besides other sums, +amounting in all to £1400. Nearly three years of his own +salary as Consul (£500) were thus pledged and paid. In one +word, Africa, which had long been a symbol of all that is dry and +uninviting, suddenly became the most interesting part of the +globe.</p> +<p>As the time of Dr. Livingstone's departure for Africa drew near, +a strong desire arose among many of his friends, chiefly the +geographers, to take leave of him in a way that should emphatically +mark the strength of their admiration and the cordiality of their +good wishes. It was accordingly resolved that he should be invited +to a public dinner on the 13th February, 1858, and that Sir +Roderick Murchison should occupy the chair. On the morning of that +day he had the honor of an interview with Her Majesty the Queen. A +Scottish correspondent of an American journal, whose letter at +other points shows that he had good information <a name= +"FNanchor57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57">[57]</a>, after referring +to the fact that Livingstone was not presented in the usual way, +says:</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_57"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor57">[57]</a> We have ascertained that the correspondent +was the late Mr. Keddie, of the Glasgow Free Church College, who +got his information from Mr. James Young.</blockquote> +<blockquote>"He was honored by the Queen with a private +interview.... She sent for Livingstone, who attended Her Majesty at +the palace, without ceremony, in his black coat and blue trousers, +and his cap surrounded with a stripe of gold lace. This was his +usual attire, and the cap had now become the appropriate +distinction of one of Her Majesty's consuls, an official position +to which the traveler attaches great importance, as giving him +consequence in the eyes of the natives, and authority over the +members of the expedition.. The Queen conversed with him affably +for half an hour on the subject of his travels. Dr. Livingstone +told Her Majesty that he would now be able to say to the natives +that he had seen his chief, his not having done so before having +been a constant subject of surprise to the children of the African +wilderness. He mentioned to Her Majesty also that the people were +in the habit of inquiring whether his chief were wealthy; and that +when he assured them she was very wealthy, they would ask how many +cows she had got, a question at which the Queen laughed +heartily."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In the only notice of this interview which we have found in +Livingstone's own writing, he simply says that Her Majesty assured +him of her good wishes in his journeys. It was the only interview +with his Sovereign he ever had. When he returned in 1864 he said +that he would have been pleased to have another, but only if it +came naturally, and without his seeking it. The Queen manifested +the greatest interest in him, and showed great kindness to his +family, when the rumor came of his death.</p> +<p>The banquet in Freemason's Tavern, which it had been intended to +limit to 250 guests, overflowed the allotted bounds, and was +attended by upward of 350, including the Ministers of Sweden and +Norway, and of Denmark; Dukes of Argyll and Wellington; Earl of +Shaftesbury and Earl Grey; Bishops of Oxford and St. David's; and +hosts of other celebrities in almost every department of public +life. The feeling was singularly cordial. Sir Roderick rehearsed +the services of Livingstone, crowning them, as was his wont, with +that memorable act--his keeping his promise to his black servants +by returning with them from Loanda to the heart of Africa, in spite +of all the perils of the way, and all the attractions of England, +thereby "leaving for himself in that country a glorious name, and +proving to the people of Africa what an English Christian is." +Still more, perhaps, did Sir Roderick touch the heart of the +audience when he said of Livingstone "that notwithstanding eighteen +months of laudation, so justly bestowed on him by all classes of +his countrymen, and after receiving all the honors which the +Universities and cities of our country could shower upon him, he is +still the same honest, true-hearted David Livingstone as when he +issued from the wilds of Africa." It was natural for the Duke of +Argyll to recall the fact that Livingstone's family was an +Argyllshire one, and it was a happy thought that as Ulva was close +to Iona--"that illustrious island," as Dr. Samuel Johnson called +it, "whence roving tribes and rude barbarians derived the benefits +of knowledge and the blessings of religion,"--so might the son of +Ulva carry the same blessings to Africa, and be remembered, +perhaps, by millions of the human race as the first pioneer of +civilization, and the first harbinger of the gospel. It was +graceful in the Bishop of Oxford (Samuel Wilberforce) to advert to +the debt of unparalleled magnitude which England, founder of the +accursed slave-trade, owed to Africa, and to urge the immediate +prosecution of Livingstone's plans, inasmuch as the spots in +Africa, where the so-called Christian trader had come, were marked, +more than any other, by crime and distrust, and insecurity of life +and property. It was a good opportunity for Professor Owen to tell +the story of the spiral tusk, to rehearse some remarkable instances +of Livingstone's accurate observations and happy conjectures on the +habits of animals, to rate him for destroying the moral character +of the lion, and to claim credit for having discovered, in the bone +caves of England, the remains of an animal of greater bulk than any +living species, that may have possessed all the qualities which the +most ardent admirer of the British lion could desire <a name= +"FNanchor58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58">[58]</a>!</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_58"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor58">[58]</a> Livingstone purposed to bequeath to +Professor Owen a somewhat extraordinary legacy. Writing afterward +to his friend Mr. Young, he said: "If I die at home I would lie +beside you. My left arm goes to Professor Owen, mind. That is the +will of David Livingstone."</blockquote> +<p>On no topic was the applause of the company more enthusiastic +than when mention was made of Mrs. Livingstone, who was then +preparing to accompany her husband on his journey. Livingstone's +own words to the company were simple and hearty, but they were the +words of truth and soberness. He was overwhelmed with the kindness +he had experienced. He did not expect any speedy result from the +Expedition, but he was sanguine as to its ultimate benefit. He +thought they would get in the thin end of the wedge, and that it +would be driven home by English energy and spirit. For himself, +with all eyes resting upon him, he felt under an obligation to do +better than he had ever done. And as to Mrs. Livingstone:</p> +<blockquote>"It is scarcely fair to ask a man to praise his own +wife, but I can only say that when I parted from her at the Cape, +telling her that I ¸should return in two years, and when it +happened that I was absent four years and a half, I supposed that I +should appear before her with a damaged character. I was, however, +forgiven. My wife, who has always been the main spoke in my wheel, +will accompany me in this expedition, and will be most useful to +me. She is familiar with the languages of South Africa. She is able +to work. She is willing to endure, and she well knows that in that +country one must put one's hand to everything. In the country to +which I am about to proceed she knows that at the missionary's +station the wife must be the maid-of-all-work within, while the +husband must be the jack-of-all-trades without, and glad am I +indeed that I am to be accompanied by my guardian +angel."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Of the many letters of adieu he received before setting out we +have space for only two. The first came from the venerable +Professor Sedgwick, of Cambridge, in the form of an apology for +inability to attend the farewell banquet. It is a beautiful +unfolding of the head and heart of the Christian philosopher, and +must have been singularly welcome to Livingstone, whose views on +some of the greatest subjects of thought were in thorough harmony +with those of his friend:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Cambridge, February</i> 10, 1858.--MY DEAR +SIR,--Your kind and very welcome letter came to me yesterday; and I +take the first moment of leisure to thank you for it, and to send +you a few more words of good-will, along with my prayers that God +may, for many years, prolong your life and the lives of those who +are most near and dear to you, and that he may support you in all +coming trials, and crown with a success, far transcending your own +hopes, your endeavors for the good of our poor humble +fellow-creatures in Africa,<br> +<br> +"There is but one God, the God who created all worlds and the +natural laws whereby they are governed; and the God of revealed +truth, who tells us of our destinies in an eternal world to come. +All truth of whatever kind has therefore its creator in the will +and essence of that great God who created all things, moral and +natural. Great and good men have long upheld this grand conclusion. +But, alas! such is too often our bigotry, or ignorance, or +selfishness, that we try to divorce religious and moral from +natural truth, as if they were inconsistent and in positive +antagonism one to the other,--a true catholic spirit (oh that the +word 'catholic' had not been so horribly abused by the foul deeds +of men!) teaching us that all truths are linked together, and that +all art and science, and all material discoveries (each held in its +proper place and subordination), may be used to minister to the +diffusion of Christian truth among men, with all its blessed fruits +of peace and good-will. This is, I believe, your faith, as I see it +shining out in your deeds, and set forth in the pages of your work +on Southern Africa, which I have studied through from beginning to +end with sentiments of reverence and honor for the past and good +hopes for the future.<br> +<br> +"What a glorious prospect is before you! the commencement of the +civilization of Africa, the extension of our knowledge of all the +kingdoms of nature, the production of great material benefits to +the Old World, the gradual healing of that foul and fetid ulcer, +the slave-trade, the one grand disgrace and weakness of +Christendom, and that has defiled the hands of all those who have +had any dealings with it; and last, but not least--nay, the +greatest of all, and the true end of all--the lifting up of the +poor African from the earth, the turning his face heavenward, and +the glory of at length (after all his sufferings and all our sins) +calling him a Christian brother. May our Lord and Saviour bless +your labors, and may his Holy Spirit be with you to the end of your +life upon this troubled world!<br> +<br> +"I am an old man, and I shall (so far as I am permitted to look at +the future) never see your face again. If I live till the 22d of +March I shall have ended my 73d year, and not only from what we all +know from the ordinary course of nature, but from what I myself +know and feel from the experience of the two past years, I am +assured that I have not long to live. How long, God only knows. It +grieves me not to have seen you again in London, and I did hope +that you might yourself introduce me to your wife and children. I +hear that a farewell dinner is to be given you on Saturday, and +greatly should I rejoice to be present on that occasion, and along +with many other true-hearted friends wish you 'God-speed.' But it +must not be. I am not a close prisoner to my room, as I was some +weeks past, but I am still on the sick list, and dare not expose +myself to any sudden change of temperature, or to the excitement of +a public meeting. This is one of the frailties of old age and +infirm health. I have gone on writing and writing more than I +intended. Once for all, God bless you! and pray (though I do not +personally know them) give my best and Christian love to your dear +wife (Ma-Robert she was called, I think, in Africa) and children. +Ever gratefully and affectionately yours,<br> +<br> +"A. SEDGWICK."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Sir Roderick, too, had a kind parting word for his friend: +"Accept my warmest acknowledgments for your last farewell note. +Believe me, my dear friend, that no transaction in my somewhat long +and very active life has so truly rewarded me as my intercourse +with you, for, from the beginning to the end, it has been one +continued bright gleam."</p> +<p>To this note Livingstone, as was his wont, made a hearty and +Christian response: "Many blessings be on you and yours, and if we +never meet again on earth, may we through infinite mercy meet in +heaven!"</p> +<p>The last days in England were spent in arrangements for the +expedition, settling family plans, and bidding farewell. Mrs. +Livingstone accompanied her husband, along with Oswell, their +youngest child. Dr. Livingstone's heart was deeply affected in +parting with his other children. Amid all the hurry and bustle of +leaving he snatches a few minutes almost daily for a note to one or +more of them:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>London, 2d February</i>, 1858.--MY DEAR TOM,--I am +soon going off from this country, and will leave you to the care of +Him who neither slumbers nor sleeps, and never disappointed any one +who put his trust in Him. If you make him your friend He will be +better to you than any companion can be. He is a friend that +sticketh closer than a brother. May He grant you grace to seek Him +and to serve Him. I have nothing better to say to you than to take +God for your Father, Jesus for your Saviour, and the Holy Spirit +for your sanctifier. Do this and you are safe for ever. No evil can +then befall you. Hope you will learn quickly and well, so as to be +fitted for God's service in the world."<br> +<br> +"'<i>Pearl,' in the Mersey, 10th March</i>, 1858.--MY DEAR TOM,--We +are off again, and we trust that He who rules the waves will watch +over us and remain with you, to bless us and make us blessings to +our fellow-men. The Lord be with you, and be very gracious to you! +Avoid and hate sin, and cleave to Jesus as your Saviour from guilt. +Tell grandma we are off again, and Janet will tell all about +us."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In his letters to his children from first to last, the counsel +most constantly and most earnestly pressed is to take Jesus for +their friend. The personal Saviour is continually present to his +heart, as the one inestimable treasure which he longs for them to +secure. That treasure had been a source of unspeakable peace and +joy to himself amid all the trials and troubles of his checkered +life; if his children were only in friendship with Him, he could +breathe freely in leaving them, and feel that they would indeed +FARE WELL.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII."></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> +<h3>THE ZAMBESI, AND FIRST EXPLORATION OF THE SHIRÉ.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1858-1859.</center> +<p>Dr. and Mrs. Livingstone sail in the "Pearl"--Characteristic +instructions to members of Expedition--Dr. Livingstone conscious of +difficult position--Letter to Robert--Sierra Leone--Effects of +British Squadron and of Christian Missions--Dr. and Mrs. Moffat at +Cape Town--Splendid reception there--Illness of Mrs. +Livingstone--She remains behind--The five years of the +Expedition--Letter to Mr. James Young--to Dr. Moffat--Kongone +entrance to Zambesi--Collision with Naval Officer--Disturbed state +of the country--Trip to Kebrabasa Rapids--Dr. Livingstone applies +for new steamer--Willing to pay for one himself--Exploration of the +Shiré--Murchison Cataracts--Extracts from private +Journal--Discovery of Lake Shirwa--Correspondence--Letters to Agnes +Livingstone--Trip to Tette--Kroomen and two members of Expedition +dismissed--Livingstone's vindication--Discovery of Lake +Nyassa--Bright hopes for the future--Idea of a colony--Generosity +of Livingstone--Letters to Mr. Maclear, Mr. Young, and Sir Roderick +Murchison--His sympathy with the "honest poor"--He hears of the +birth of his youngest daughter.</p> +<br> +<p>On the 10th March 1858, Dr. Livingstone, accompanied by Mrs. +Livingstone, their youngest son, Oswell, and the members of his +Expedition, sailed from Liverpool on board Her Majesty's colonial +steamer, the "Pearl," which carried the sections of the +"Ma-Robert," the steam launch with Mrs. Livingstone's African name, +which was to be permanently used in the exploration of the Zambesi +and its tributaries. At starting, the "Pearl" had fine weather and +a favorable wind, and quickly ran down the Channel and across the +Bay of Biscay. With that business-like precision which +characterized him, Livingstone, as soon as sea-sickness was over, +had the instructions of the Foreign Office read in presence of all +the members of the Expedition, and he afterward wrote out and +delivered to each person a specific statement of the duties +expected of him.</p> +<p>In these very characteristic papers, it is interesting to +observe that his first business was to lay down to each man his +specific work, this being done for the purpose of avoiding +confusion and collision, acknowledging each man's gifts, and making +him independent in his own sphere. While no pains were to be spared +to make the Expedition successful in its scientific and commercial +aims, and while, for this purpose, great stress was laid on the +subsidiary instructions prepared by Professor Owen, Sir W. Hooker, +and Sir R. Murchison, Dr. Livingstone showed still more earnestness +in urging duties of a higher class, giving to all the same wise and +most Christian counsel to maintain the <i>moral</i> of the +Expedition at the highest point, especially in dealing with the +natives:</p> +<blockquote>"You will understand that Her Majesty's Government +attach more importance to the moral influence which may be exerted +on the minds of the natives by a well-regulated and orderly +household of Europeans, setting an example of consistent moral +conduct to all who may congregate around the settlement; treating +the people with kindness, and relieving their wants; teaching them +to make experiments in agriculture, explaining to them the more +simple arts, imparting to them religious instruction, as far as +they are capable of receiving it, and inculcating peace and +good-will to each other.<br> +<br> +"The expedition is well supplied with arms and ammunition, and it +will be necessary to use these in order to obtain supplies of food, +as well as to procure specimens for the purposes of Natural +History. In many parts of the country which we hope to traverse, +the larger animals exist in great numbers, and, being comparatively +tame, may be easily shot. I would earnestly press on every member +of the expedition a sacred regard to life, and never to destroy it +unless some good end is to be answered by its extinction; the +wanton waste of animal life which I have witnessed from +night-hunting, and from the ferocious, but childlike, abuse of the +instruments of destruction in the hands of Europeans, makes me +anxious that this expedition should not be guilty of similar +abominations.<br> +<br> +"It is hoped that we may never have occasion to use our arms for +protection from the natives, but the best security from attack +consists in upright conduct, and the natives seeing that we are +prepared to meet it. At the same time, you are strictly enjoined to +exercise the greatest forbearance toward the people; and, while +retaining proper firmness in the event of any misunderstanding, to +conciliate, as far as possibly can be done with safety to our +party.<br> +<br> +"It is unnecessary for me to enjoin the strictest justice in +dealing with the natives. This your own principles will lead you +invariably to follow, but while doing so yourself, it is decidedly +necessary to be careful not <i>to appear</i> to overreach or insult +any one by the conduct of those under your command....<br> +<br> +"The chiefs of tribes and leading men of villages ought always to +be treated with respect, and nothing should be done to weaken their +authority. Any present of food should be accepted frankly, as it is +impolitic to allow the ancient custom of feeding strangers to go +into disuse. We come among them as members of a superior race, and +servants of a Government that desires to elevate the more degraded +portions of the human family. We are adherents of a benign, holy +religion, and may, by consistent conduct, and wise, patient +efforts, become the harbingers of peace to a hitherto distracted +and trodden-down race. No great result is ever attained without +patient, long-continued effort. In the enterprise in which we have +the honor to be engaged, deeds of sympathy, consideration, and +kindness, which, when viewed in detail, may seem thrown away, if +steadily persisted in, are sure, ultimately, to exercise a +commanding influence. Depend upon it, a kind word or deed is never +lost."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Evidently, Dr. Livingstone felt himself in a difficult position +at the head of this enterprise. He was aware of the trouble that +had usually attended civil as contrasted with naval and military +expeditions, from the absence of that habit of discipline and +obedience which is so firmly established in the latter services. He +had never served under Her Majesty's Government himself, nor had he +been accustomed to command such men as were now under him, and +there were some things in his antecedents that made the duty +peculiarly difficult. On one thing only he was resolved: to do his +own duty to the utmost, and to spare no pains to induce every +member of the Expedition to do his. It was impossible for him not +to be anxious as to how the team would pull together, especially as +he knew well the influence of a malarious atmosphere in causing +intense irritability of temper. In some respects, though not the +most obvious, this was the most trying period of his life. His +letters and other written papers show one little but not +uninstructive effect of the pressure and distraction that now came +on him--in the great change which his handwriting underwent--the +neat, regular writing of his youth giving place to a large and +heavyish hand, as if he had never had time to mend his pen, and his +only thought had been how to get on most quickly. Yet we see also, +very clearly, how nobly he strove after self-control and +conciliatory ways. The tone of courtesy, the recognition of each +man's independence in his own sphere, and the appeal to his good +sense and good feeling, apparent in the instructions, show a +studious desire, while he took and intended to keep his place as +Commander, to conceal the symbols of authority, and bind the +members of the party together as a band of brothers. And though in +his published book, <i>The Zambesi and its Tributaries</i>, which +was mainly a report of his doings to the Government and the nation, +he confined himself to the matters with which he had been intrusted +by them, there are many little proofs of his seeking wisdom and +strength from above with undiminished earnestness, and of his +striving, as much as ever, to do all to the glory of God.</p> +<p>As the swift motion of the ship bears him farther and farther +from home, he cannot but think of his orphan children. As they near +Sierra Leone, on the 25th March, he sends a few lines to his eldest +son:</p> +<blockquote>"MY DEAR ROBERT,--We have been going at the rate of 200 +miles a day ever since we left Liverpool, and have been much +favored by a kind Providence in the weather. Poor Oswell was sorely +sick while rolling through the Bay of Biscay, and ate nothing for +about three days; but we soon got away from the ice and snow to +beautiful summer weather, and we are getting nicely thawed. We +sleep with all our port-holes open, and are glad of the awning by +day. At night we see the Southern Cross; and the Pole Star, which +stands so high over you, is here so low we cannot see it for the +haze. We shall not see it again, but the same almighty gracious +Father is over all, and is near to all who love Him. You are now +alone in the world, and must seek his friendship and guidance, for +if you do not lean on Him, you will go astray, and find that the +way of transgressors is hard. The Lord be gracious to you, and +accept you, though unworthy of his favor."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Sierra Leone was reached in a fortnight. Dr. Livingstone was +gratified to learn that, during the last ten years, the health of +the town had improved greatly--consequent on the abatement of the +"whisky fever," and the draining and paving of the streets through +the activity of Governor Hill. He found the Sunday as well kept as +in Scotland, and was sure that posterity would acknowledge the +great blessing which the operations of the English Squadron on the +one hand and the various Christian missions on the other had +effected. He was more than ever convinced, notwithstanding all that +had been said against it, that the English Squadron had been a +great blessing on the West Coast. The Christian missions, too, that +had been planted under the protection of the Squadron, were an +evidence of its beneficial influence. He used constantly to refer +with intense gratitude to the work of Lord Palmerston in this +cause, and to the very end of his life his Lordship was among the +men whose memory he most highly honored. Often, when he wished to +describe his aim briefly, in regard to slavery, commerce, and +missions, he would say it was to do on the East Coast what had been +done on the West. At Sierra Leone a crew of twelve Kroomen was +engaged and taken on board for the navigation of the "Ma-Robert," +after it should reach the Zambesi. On their leaving Sierra Leone, +the weather became very rough, and from the state of Mrs. +Livingstone's health, inclining very much to fever, it was deemed +necessary that she, with Oswell, should be left at the Cape, go to +Kuruman for a time, and after her coming confinement, join her +husband on the Zambesi in 1860. "This," says Livingstone in his +Journal, "is a great trial to me, for had she come on with us, she +might have proved of essential service to the Expedition in case of +sickness or otherwise; but it may all turn out for the best." It +was the first disappointment, and it was but partially balanced by +his learning from Dr. Moffat, who, with his wife, met them at the +Cape, that he had made out his visit to Mosilikatse, and had +learned that the men whom Livingstone had left at Tette had not +returned home, so that they would still be waiting for him there. +He knew of what value they would be to him in explaining his +intentions to the natives. From Sir George Grey, the excellent +Governor of the Cape, and the inhabitants of Cape Town generally, +the Expedition met with an unusually cordial reception. At a great +meeting at the Exchange, a silver box containing a testimonial of +eight hundred guineas was presented to Livingstone by the Governor; +and two days after, a grand dinner was given to the members of the +Expedition, the Attorney-General being in the chair. Mr. Maclear +was most enthusiastic in the reception of his friend, and at the +public meeting had so much to say about him that he could hardly be +brought to a close. It must have been highly amusing to Livingstone +to contrast Cape Town in 1852 with Cape Town in 1858. In 1852 he +was so suspected that he could hardly get a pound of gunpowder or a +box of caps while preparing for his unprecedented journey, and he +had to pay a heavy fine to get rid of a cantankerous post-master. +Now he returns with the Queen's gold band round his cap, and with +brighter decorations round his name than Sovereigns can give; and +all Cape Town hastens to honor him. It was a great victory, as it +was also a striking illustration of the world's ways.</p> +<p>It is not our object to follow Dr. Livingstone into all the +details of his Expedition, but merely to note a few of the more +salient points, in connection with the opportunities it afforded +for the achievement of his object and the development of his +character. It may he well to note here generally how the years were +occupied. The remainder of 1858 was employed in exploring the +mouths of the Zambesi, and the river itself up to Tette and the +Kebrabasa Rapids, a few miles beyond. Next year--1859--was devoted +mainly to three successive trips on the river Shiré, the +third being signalized by the discovery of Lake Nyassa. In 1860 +Livingstone went back with his Makololo up the Zambesi to the +territories of Sekelétu. In 1861, after exploring the river +Rovuma, and assisting Bishop Mackenzie to begin the Universities' +Mission, he started for Lake Nyassa, returning to the ship toward +the end of the year. In 1862 occurred the death of the Bishop and +other missionaries, and also, during a detention at Shupanga, the +death of Mrs. Livingstone: in the latter part of the year +Livingstone again explored the Rovuma. In 1863 he was again +exploring the Shiré Valley and Lake Nyassa, when an order +came from Her Majesty's Government, recalling the Expedition. In +1864 he started in the "Lady Nyassa" for Bombay, and thence +returned to England.</p> +<p>On the 1st May, 1858, the "Pearl" sailed from Simon's Bay, and +on the 14th stood in for the entrance to the Zambesi, called the +West Luabo, or Hoskins's Branch. Of their progress Dr. Livingstone +gives his impressions in the following letter to his friend Mr. +James Young:</p> +<blockquote>"'PEARL,'10<i>th May</i>, 1858.<br> +<br> +"Here we are, off Cape Corrientes ('Whaur's that, I wonner?'), and +hope to be off the Luabo four days hence. We have been most +remarkably favored in the weather, and it is well, for had our ship +been in a gale with all this weight on her deck, it would have been +perilous. Mrs. Livingstone was sea-sick all the way from Sierra +Leone, and got as thin as a lath. As this was accompanied by fever, +I was forced to run into Table Bay, and when I got ashore I found +her father and mother down all the way from Kuruman to see us and +help the young missionaries, whom the London Missionary Society has +not yet sent. Glad, of course, to see the old couple again. We had +a grand to-do at the Cape. Eight hundred guineas were presented in +a silver box by the hand of the Governor, Sir George Grey, a fine +fellow. Sure, no one might be more thankful to the Giver of all +than myself. The Lord grant me grace to serve Him with heart and +soul--the only return I can make!... It was a bitter parting with +my wife, like tearing the heart out of one. It was so unexpected; +and now we are screwing away up the coast.... We are all agreeable +yet, and all looking forward with ardor to our enterprise. It is +likely that I shall come down with the 'Pearl' through the Delta to +doctor them if they become ill, and send them on to Ceylon with a +blessing. All have behaved well, and I am really thankful to see +it, and hope that God will graciously make some better use of us in +promoting his glory. I met a Dr. King in Simon's Bay, of the +'Cambrian' frigate, one of our class-mates in the Andersonian. This +frigate, by the way, saluted us handsomely when we sailed out. We +have a man-of-war to help us (the 'Hermes'), but the lazy muff is +far behind. He is, however, to carry our despatches to +Quilimane...."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>A letter to Dr. Moffat lets us know in what manner he was +preparing to teach the twelve Kroomen who were to navigate the +"Ma-Robert," and his old Makololo men:</p> +<blockquote>"First of all, supposing Mr. Skead should take this +back by the 'Hermes' in time to catch you at the Cape, would you be +kind enough to get a form of prayer printed for me? We have twelve +Kroomen, who seem docile and willing to be taught; when we are +parted from the 'Pearl' we shall have prayers with them every +morning.... I think it will be an advantage to have the prayers in +Sichuana when my men join us, and if we have a selection from the +English Litany, with the Lord's Prayer in Sichuana, all may join. +Will you translate it, beginning at 'Remember not, Lord, our +offenses,' up to 'the right way'? Thence, petition for chiefs, and +on to the end.... The Litany need not be literal. I suppose you are +not a rabid nonconformist, or else I would not venture to ask +this...."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>By the time they reached the mouth of the Zambesi, Livingstone +was suffering from a severe attack of diarrhoea. On the 16th of +May, being Sunday, while still suffering, he deemed it a work of +necessity, in order to get as soon as possible out of the +fever-breeding region of mangrove swamps where they had anchored, +that they should at remove the sections of the "Ma-Robert" from the +"Pearl"; accordingly, with the exception of the time occupied in +the usual prayers, that day was spent in labor. His constant regard +for the day of rest and great unwillingness to engage in labor +then, is the best proof that on this occasion the necessity for +working was to his mind absolutely irresistible. He had found that +active exercise every day was one of the best preventives of fever; +certainly it is very remarkable how thoroughly the men of the +Expedition escaped it at this time. In his Journal he says: "After +the experience gained by Dr. M'William, and communicated to the +world in his admirable <i>Medical History of the Niger +Expedition</i>, I should have considered myself personally guilty +had any of the crew of the 'Pearl' or of the Expedition been cut +off through delay in the mangrove swamps." Afterward, when Mrs. +Livingstone died during a long but unavoidable delay at Shupanga, a +little farther up, he was more than ever convinced that he had +acted rightly. But some of his friends were troubled, and many +reflections were thrown on him, especially by those who bore him no +good-will.</p> +<p>The first important fact in the history of the Expedition was +the discovery of the advantage of the Kongone entrance of the +Zambesi, the best of all the mouths of the river for navigation. +Soon after a site was fixed on as a depôt, and while the +luggage and stores were being landed at it, there occurred an +unfortunate collision with the naval officer, who tendered his +resignation. At first Livingstone declined to accept of it, but on +its being tendered a second time he allowed the officer to go. It +vexed him to the last degree to have this difference so early, nor +did he part with the officer without much forbearance and anxiety +to ward off the breach. In his despatches to Government the whole +circumstances were fully detailed. Letters to Mr. Maclear and other +private friends give a still more detailed narrative. In a few +quarters blame was cast upon him, and in the Cape newspapers the +affair was much commented on. In due time there came a reply from +Lord Malmesbury, then Foreign Secretary, dated 26th April, 1859, to +the effect that after full inquiry by himself, and after consulting +with the Admiralty, his opinion was that the officer had failed to +clear himself, and that Dr. Livingstone's proceedings were fully +approved. Livingstone had received authority to stop the pay of any +member of the Expedition that should prove unsatisfactory; this, of +course, subjected his conduct to the severer criticism.</p> +<p>When the officer left, Livingstone calmly took his place, adding +the charge of the ship to his other duties. This step would appear +alike rash and presumptuous, did we not know that he never +undertook any work without full deliberation, and did we not +remember that in the course of three sea-voyages which he had +performed he had had opportunities of seeing how a ship was +managed--opportunities of which, no doubt, with his great activity +of mind, he had availed himself most thoroughly. The facility with +which he could assume a new function, and do its duties as if he +had been accustomed to it all his life, was one of the most +remarkable things about him. His chief regret in taking the new +burden was, that it would limit his intercourse with the natives, +and prevent him from doing as much missionary work as he desired. +Writing soon after to Miss Whately, of Dublin, he says: "It was +imagined we could not help ourselves, but I took the task of +navigating on myself, and have conducted the steamer over 1600 +miles, though as far as my likings go, I would as soon drive a cab +in November fogs in London as be 'skipper' in this hot sun; but I +shall go through with it as a duty." To his friend Mr. Young he +makes humorous reference to his awkwardness in nautical language: +"My great difficulty is calling out 'starboard' when I mean 'port,' +and feeling crusty when I see the helmsman putting the helm the +wrong way."</p> +<p>Another difficulty arose from the state of the country north of +the Zambesi, in consequence of the natives having rebelled against +the Portuguese and being in a state of war. Livingstone was +cautioned that he would be attacked if he ventured to penetrate +into the country. He resolved to keep out of the quarrel, but to +push on in spite of it. At one time his party, being mistaken for +Portuguese, were on the point of being fired on, but on Livingstone +shouting out that they were English the natives let them alone. On +reaching Tette he found his old followers in ecstasies at seeing +him; the Portuguese Government had done nothing for them, but Major +Sicard, the excellent Governor of Tette, had helped them to find +employment and maintain themselves. Thirty had died of small-pox; +six had been killed by an unfriendly chief. When the survivors saw +Dr. Livingstone, they said: "The Tette people often taunted us by +saying, 'Your Englishman will never return;' but we trusted you, +and now we shall sleep." It gave Livingstone a new hold on them and +on the natives generally, that he had proved true to his promise, +and had come back as he had said. As the men had found ways of +living at Tette, Livingstone was not obliged to take them to their +home immediately.</p> +<p>One of his first endeavors after reaching Tette was to ascertain +how far the navigation of the Zambesi was impeded by the rapids at +Kebrabasa, between twenty and thirty miles above Tette, which he +had heard of but not seen on his journey from Linyanti to +Quilimane. The distance was short and the enterprise apparently +easy, but in reality it presented such difficulties as only his +dogged perseverance could have overcome. After he had been twice at +the rapids, and when he believed he had seen the whole, he +accidentally learned, after a day's march on the way home, that +there was another rapid which he had not yet seen. Determined to +see all, he returned, with Dr. Kirk and four Makololo, and it was +on this occasion that his followers, showing the blisters on their +feet burst by the hot rocks, told him, when he urged them to make +another effort, that hitherto they had always believed he had a +heart, but now they saw he had none, and wondered if he were mad. +Leaving them, he and Dr. Kirk pushed on alone; but their boots and +clothes were destroyed; in three hours they made but a mile. Next +day, however, they gained their point and saw the rapid. It was +plain to Dr. Livingstone that had he taken this route in 1856, +instead of through the level Shidina country, he must have +perished. The party were of opinion that when the river was in full +flood the rapids might be navigated, and this opinion was confirmed +on a subsequent visit paid by Mr. Charles Livingstone and Mr. +Baines during the rainy season. But the "Ma-Robert" with its single +engine had not power to make way. It was resolved to apply to Her +Majesty's Government for a more suitable vessel to carry them up +the country, stores and all. Until the answer should come to this +application, Dr. Livingstone could not return with his Makololo to +their own country.</p> +<p>While making this application, he was preparing another string +for his bow. He wrote to his friend Mr. James Young that if +Government refused he would get a vessel at his own expense, and in +a succession of letters authorized him to spend £2000 of his +own money in the purchase of a suitable ship. Eventually, both +suggestions were carried into effect. The Government gave the +"Pioneer" for the navigation of the Zambesi and lower Shiré; +Livingstone procured the "Lady Nyassa" for the Lake (where, +however, she never floated), but the cost was more than +£6000--the greater part, indeed, of the profits of his +book.</p> +<p>The "Ma-Robert," which had promised so well at first, now turned +out a great disappointment. Her consumption of fuel was enormous; +her furnace had to be lighted hours before the steam was +serviceable; she snorted so horribly that they called her "The +Asthmatic," and after all she made so little progress that canoes +could easily pass her. Having taken much interest in the purchase +of the vessel, and thought he was getting a great bargain because +its owner professed to do so much through "love of the cause," +Livingstone was greatly mortified when he found he had got an +inferior and unworthy article; and many a joke he made, as well as +remarks of a more serious kind, in connection with the manner which +the "eminent shipbuilder" had taken to show his love.</p> +<p>Early in 1859 the exploration of the Shiré was begun--a +river hitherto absolutely unknown. The country around was rich and +fertile, the natives not unfriendly, but suspicious. They had +probably never been visited before but by man-stealers, and had +never seen Europeans. The Shiré Valley was inhabited by the +Manganja, a very warlike race. Some days' journey above the +junction with the Zambesi, where the Shiré issues from the +mountains, the progress of the party was stopped by rapids, to +which they gave the name of the "Murchison Cataracts." It seemed in +vain to penetrate among the people at that time without supplies, +considering how suspicious they were. Crowds went along the banks +watching them by day; they had guards over them all night, and +these were always ready with their bows and poisoned arrows. +Nevertheless, some progress was made in civilizing them, and at a +future time it was hoped that further exploration might take +place.</p> +<p>Some passages in Livingstone's private Journal give us a glimpse +of the more serious thoughts that were passing through his mind at +this time:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>March</i> 3, 1859.--If we dedicate ourselves to God +unreservedly He will make use of whatever peculiarities of +constitution He has imparted for his own glory, and He will in +answer to prayer give wisdom to guide. He will so guide as to make +useful. O how far am I from that hearty devotion to God I read of +in others! The Lord have mercy on me a sinner!"<br> +<br> +"<i>March 5th</i>.--A woman left Tette yesterday with a cargo of +slaves (20 men and 40 women) in irons to sell to St. Cruz [a +trader], for exportation at Bourbon. Francisco at Shupanga is the +great receiver for Cruz. This is carnival, and it is observed +chiefly as a drinking feast."<br> +<br> +"<i>March 6th</i>.--Teaching Makololo Lord's Prayer and Creed. +Prayers as usual at 9-1/2 A.M. When employed in active travel, my +mind becomes inactive, and the heart cold and dead, but after +remaining some time quiet, the heart revives and I become more +spiritually-minded. This is a mercy which I have experienced +before, and when I see a matter to be duty I go on regardless of my +feelings. I do trust that the Lord is with me, though the mind is +engaged in other matters than the spiritual. I want my whole life +to be out and out for the Divine glory, and my earnest prayer is +that God may accept what his own Spirit must have implanted--the +desire to glorify Him. I have been more than usually drawn out in +earnest prayer of late--for the Expedition--for my family--the fear +lest ----'s misrepresentation may injure the cause of Christ--the +hope that I may be permitted to open this dark land to the blessed +gospel. I have cast all before my God. Good Lord, have mercy upon +me. Leave me not, nor forsake me. He has guided well in time past. +I commit my way to Him for the future. All I have received has come +from Him. Will He be pleased in mercy to use me for his glory? I +have prayed for this, and Jesus himself said, 'Ask, and ye shall +receive, and a host of statements to the same effect. There is a +great deal of trifling frivolousness in not trusting in God. Not +trusting in Him who is truth itself, faithfulness, the same +yesterday, to-day, and for ever! It is presumption not to trust in +Him implicitly, and yet this heart is sometimes fearfully guilty of +distrust. I am ashamed to think of it. Ay; but He must put the +trusting, loving, childlike spirit in by his grace. O Lord, I am +Thine, truly I am Thine--take me--do what seemeth good in Thy sight +with me, and give me complete resignation to Thy will in all +things."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Two months later (May, 1859), a second ascent of the +Shiré was performed, and friendly relations were established +with a clever chief named Chibisa, "a jolly person, who laughs +easily--which is always a good sign." Chibisa believed firmly in +two things--the divine right of kings, and the impossibility that +Chibisa should ever be in the wrong. He told them that his father +had imparted an influence to him, which had come in by his head, +whereby every person that had heard him speak respected him +greatly. Livingstone evidently made a great impression on Chibisa; +like other chiefs, he began to fall under the spell of his +influence.</p> +<p>Making a détour to the east, the travelers now discovered +Lake Shirwa, "a magnificent inland lake." This lake was absolutely +unknown to the Portuguese, who, indeed, were never allowed by the +natives to enter the Shiré. Livingstone had often to explain +that he and his party were not Portuguese but British. After +discovering this lake, the party returned to the ship, and then +sailed to the Kongone harbor, in hopes of meeting a man-of-war and +obtaining provisions. In this, however, they were disappointed.</p> +<p>Some idea of the voluminous correspondence carried on by Dr. +Livingstone may be formed from the following enumeration of the +friends to whom he addressed letters in May of this year: Lords +Clarendon and Palmerston, Bishop of Oxford, Miss Burdett Coutts, +Mr. Venn, Lord Kinnaird, Mr. James Wilson, Mr. Oswell, Colonel +Steele, Dr. Newton of Philadelphia, his brother John in Canada, +J.B. and C. Braithwaite, Dr. Andrew Smith, Admiral F. Grey, Sir R. +Murchison, Captain Washington, Mr. Maclear, Professor Owen, Major +Vardon, Mrs. Livingstone, Viscount Goderich.</p> +<p>Here is the account he gave of his proceedings to his little +daughter Agnes:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>River Shiré, 1st June</i> 1859.--We have +been down to the mouth of the river Zambesi in expectation of +meeting a man-of-war with salt provisions, but, none appearing on +the day appointed, we conclude that the Admiral has not received my +letters in time to send her. We have no post-office here, so we +buried a bottle containing a letter on an island in the entrance to +Kongone harbor. This we told the Admiral we should do in case of +not meeting the cruiser, and whoever comes will search for our +bottle and see another appointment for 30th of July. This goes with +despatches by way of Quilimane, and I hope some day to get from you +a letter by the same route. We have got no news from home since we +left Liverpool, and we long now to hear how all goes on in Europe +and in India. I am now on my way to Tette, but we ran up the +Shiré some forty miles to buy rice for our company. Uncle +Charles is there, He has had some fever, but is better. We left him +there about two months ago, and Dr. Kirk and I, with some fifteen +Makololo, ascended this river one hundred miles in the 'Ma-Robert,' +then left the vessel and proceeded beyond that on foot till we had +discovered a magnificent lake called Shirwa (pronounced Shurwah). +It was very grand, for we could not see the end of it, though some +way up a mountain; and all around it are mountains much higher than +any you see in Scotland. One mountain stands in the lake, and +people live on it. Another, called Zomba, is more than six thousand +feet high, and people live on it too, for we could see their +gardens on its top, which is larger than from Glasgow to Hamilton, +or about from fifteen to eighteen miles. The country is quite a +Highland region, and many people live in it. Most of them were +afraid of us. The women ran into their huts and shut the doors. The +children screamed in terror, and even the hens would fly away and +leave their chickens. I suppose you would be frightened, too, if +you saw strange creatures, say a lot of Trundlemen, like those on +the Isle of Man pennies, come whirling up the street. No one was +impudent to us except some slave-traders, but they became civil as +soon as they learned we were English and not Portuguese. We saw the +sticks they employ for training any one whom they have just bought. +One is is about eight feet long, the head, or neck rather, is put +into the space between the dotted lines and shaft, and another +slave carries the end. When they are considered tame they are +allowed to go in chains.<br> +<br> +<p class="lft"><img src="images/image-274.png" width="45%" alt= +""></p> +<br> +<br> +"I am working in the hope that in the course of time this horrid +system may cease. All the country we traveled through is capable of +growing cotton and sugar, and the people now cultivate a good deal. +They would grow much more if they could only sell it. At present we +in England are the mainstay of slavery in America and elsewhere by +buying slave-grown produce. Here there are hundreds of miles of +land lying waste, and so rich that the grass towers far over one's +head in walking. You cannot see where the narrow paths end, the +grass is so tall and overhangs them so. If our countrymen were here +they would soon render slave-buying unprofitable. Perhaps God may +honor us to open up the way for this. My heart is sore when I think +of so many of our countrymen in poverty and misery, while they +might be doing so much good to themselves and others where our +Heavenly Father has so abundantly provided fruitful hills and +fertile valleys. If our people were out here they would not need to +cultivate little snatches by the side of railways as they do. But +all is in the hands of the all-wise Father We must trust that He +will bring all out right at last.<br> +<br> +"My dear Agnes, you must take Him to be your Father and Guide. Tell +Him all that is in your heart, and make Him your confidant. His ear +is ever open, and He despiseth not the humblest sigh. He is your +best friend and loves at all times. It is not enough to be a +servant, you must be a friend of Jesus. Love Him and surrender your +entire being to Him. The more you trust Him, casting all your care +upon Him, the more He is pleased, and He will so guide you that +your life will be for his own glory. The Lord be with you. My kind +love to Grandma and to all your friends. I hope your eyes are +better, and that you are able to read books for yourself. Tell Tom +that we caught a young elephant in coming down the Shiré, +about the size of the largest dog he ever saw, but one of the +Makololo, in a state of excitement, cut its trunk, so that it bled +very much, and died in two days. Had it lived we should have sent +it to the Queen, as no African elephant was ever seen in England. +No news from mamma and Oswell.</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Another evidence of the place of his children in his thoughts is +found in the following lines in his Journal:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>20th June</i>, 1859.--I cannot and will not +attribute any of the public attention which has been awakened to my +own wisdom or ability. The great Power being my Helper, I shall +always say that my success is all owing to his favor. I have been +the channel of the Divine Power, and I pray that his gracious +influence may penetrate me so that all may turn to the advancement +of his gracious reign in this fallen world.<br> +<br> +"Oh, may the mild influence of the Eternal Spirit enter the bosoms +of my children, penetrate their souls, and diffuse through their +whole natures the everlasting love of God in Jesus Christ! Holy, +gracious, almighty Power, I hide myself in Thee through Thy +almighty Son. Take my children under Thy care. Purify them and fit +them for Thy service. Let the beams of the Sun of Righteousness +produce spring, summer, and harvest in them for Thee."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The short trip from Kongone to Tette and back was marked by some +changes in the composition of the party. The Kroomen being found to +be useless, were shipped on board a man-of-war. The services of two +members of the Expedition were also dispensed with, as they were +not found to be promoting its ends. Livingstone would not pay the +public money to men who, he believed, were not thoroughly earning +it. To these troubles was added the constantly increasing +mortification arising from the state of the ship.</p> +<p>It has sometimes been represented, in view of such facts as have +just been recorded, that Livingstone was imperious and despotic in +the management of other men, otherwise he and his comrades would +have got on better together. The accusation, even at first sight, +has an air of improbability, for Livingstone's nature was most +kindly, and it was the aim of his life to increase enjoyment. In +explanation of the friction on board his ship it must be remembered +that his party were a sort of scratch crew brought together without +previous acquaintance or knowledge of each other's ways; that the +heat and the mosquitoes, the delays, the stoppages on sandbanks, +the perpetual struggle for fuel <a name="FNanchor59"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_59">[59]</a>, the monotony of existence, with so little +to break it, and the irritating influence of the climate, did not +tend to smooth their tempers or increase the amenities of life. The +malarious climate had a most disturbing effect. No one, it is said, +who has not experienced it, could imagine the sensation of misery +connected with the feverish attacks so common in the low districts. +And Livingstone had difficulties in managing his countrymen he had +not in managing the natives. He was so conscientious, so deeply in +earnest, so hard a worker himself, that he could endure nothing +that seemed like playing or trifling with duty. Sometimes, too, +things were harshly represented to him, on which a milder +construction might have been put. One of those with whom he parted +at this time afterward rejoined the Expedition, his pay being +restored on Livingstone's intercession. Those who continued to +enjoy his friendship were never weary of speaking of his delightful +qualities as a companion in travel, and the warm sunshine which he +had the knack of spreading around.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_59"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor59">[59]</a> This was incredible. Livingstone wrote to +his friend José Nunes that it took all hands a day and a +half to cut one day's fuel.</blockquote> +<p>A third trip up the Shiré was made in August, and on the +16th of September Lake Nyassa was discovered. Livingstone had no +doubt that he and his party were the discoverers; Dr. Roscher, on +whose behalf a claim was subsequently made, was two months later, +and his unfortunate murder by the natives made it doubtful at what +point he reached the lake. The discovery of Lake Nyassa, as well as +Lake Shirwa, was of immense importance, because they were both +parallel to the ocean, and the whole traffic of the regions beyond +must pass by this line. The configuration of the Shiré +Valley, too, was favorable to colonization. The valley occupied +three different levels. First there was a plain on the level of the +river, like that of the Nile, close and hot. Rising above this to +the east there was another plain, 2000 feet high, three or four +miles broad, salubrious and pleasant. Lastly, there was a third +plain 3000 feet above the second, positively cold. To find such +varieties of climate within a few miles of each other was most +interesting.</p> +<p>In other respects the region opened up was remarkable. There was +a great amount of fertile land, and the products were almost +endless. The people were industrious; in the Upper Shiré, +notwithstanding a great love of beer, they lived usually to a great +age. Cleanliness was not a universal virtue; the only way in which +the Expedition could get rid of a troublesome follower was by +threatening to wash him. The most disagreeable thing in the +appearance of the women was their lip-ornament, consisting of a +ring of ivory or tin, either hollow or made into a cup, inserted in +the upper lip. Dr. Livingstone used to give full particulars of +this fearful practice, having the idea that the taste of ladies at +home in dress and ornament was not free from similar absurdity; or, +as he wrote at this time to the Royal Geographical Society of +Vienna, in acknowledging the honor of being made a corresponding +member, "because our own ladies, who show so much virtuous +perseverance with their waists, may wish to try lip-ornament too." +In regard to the other sex, he informed the same Society: "I could +see nothing encouraging for the gentlemen who are anxious to prove +that we are all descended from a race that wore tails."</p> +<p>In the highland regions of the Shiré Valley, the party +were distinctly conscious of an increase of energy, from the more +bracing climate. Dr. Livingstone was thoroughly convinced that +these highlands of the Shiré Valley were the proper locality +for commercial and missionary stations. Thus one great object of +the Expedition was accomplished. In another point of view, this +locality would be highly serviceable for stations. It was the great +pathway for conveying slaves from the north and northwest to +Zanzibar. Of this he had only too clear evidence in the gangs of +slaves whom he saw marched along from time to time, and whom he +would have been most eager to release had he known of any way of +preventing them from falling again into the hands of the +slave-sellers. In this region Englishmen "might enjoy good health, +and also be of signal benefit, by leading the multitude of +industrious inhabitants to cultivate cotton, maize, sugar, and +other valuable produce, to exchange for goods of European +manufacture, at the same time teaching them, by precept and +example, the great truths of our holy religion." Water-carriage +existed all the way from England, with the exception of the +Murchison Cataracts, along which a road of forty miles might easily +be made. A small steamer on the lake would do more good in +suppressing the slave-trade than half-a-dozen men-of-war in the +ocean. If the Zambesi could be opened to commerce the bright vision +of the last ten years would be realized, and the Shiré +Valley and banks of the Nyassa transformed into the garden of the +Lord.</p> +<p>From the very first Livingstone saw the importance of the +Shiré Valley and Lake Nyassa as the key to Central Africa. +Ever since, it has become more and more evident that his surmise +was correct. To make the occupation thoroughly effective, he +thought much of the desirableness of a British colony, and was +prepared to expend a great part of the remainder of his private +means to carry it into effect. On August 4th, he says in his +Journal:</p> +<blockquote>"I have a very strong desire to commence a system of +colonization of the honest poor; I would give £2000 or +£3000 for the purpose. Intend to write my friend Young about +it, and authorize him to draw if the project seems feasible. The +Lord remember my desire, sanctify my motives, and purify all my +desires. Wrote him.<br> +<br> +"Colonization from a country such as ours ought to be one of hope, +and not of despair. It ought not to be looked upon as the last and +worst shift that a family can come to, but the performance of an +imperative duty to our blood, our country, our religion, and to +humankind. As soon as children begin to be felt an incumbrance, and +what was properly in ancient times Old Testament blessings are no +longer welcomed, parents ought to provide for removal to parts of +this wide world where every accession is an addition of strength, +and every member of the household feels in his inmost heart, 'the +more the merrier.' It is a monstrous evil that all our healthy, +handy, blooming daughters of England have not a fair chance at +least to become the centres of domestic affections. The state of +society, which precludes so many of them from occupying the +position which Englishwomen are so well calculated to adorn, gives +rise to enormous evils in the opposite sex,--evils and wrongs which +we dare not even name,--and national colonization is almost the +only remedy. Englishwomen are, in general, the most beautiful in +the world, and yet our national emigration has often, by selecting +the female emigrants from workhouses, sent forth the ugliest +huzzies in creation to be the mothers--the model mothers--of new +empires. Here, as in other cases, State necessities have led to the +ill-formed and ill-informed being preferred to the well-formed and +well-inclined honest poor, as if the worst as well as better +qualities of mankind did not often run in the blood."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The idea of the colony quite fascinated Livingstone, and we find +him writing on it fully to three of his most confidential business +friends--Mr. Maclear, Mr. Young, and Sir Roderick Murchison. In all +Livingstone's correspondence we find the tone of his letters +modified by the character of his correspondents. While to Mr. Young +and Sir Roderick he is somewhat cautious on the subject of the +colony, knowing the keen practical eye they would direct on the +proposal, to Mr. Maclear he is more gushing. He writes to him:</p> +<blockquote>"I feel such a gush of emotion on thinking of the great +work before us that I must unburden my mind. I am becoming every +day more decidedly convinced that English colonization is an +essential ingredient for our large success.... In this new region +of Highlands no end of good could be effected in developing the +trade in cotton and in discouraging that in slaves.... You know how +I have been led on from one step to another by the overruling +Providence of the great Parent, as I believe, in order to a great +good for Africa. 'Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him, +and He will bring it to pass.' I have tried to do this, and now see +the prospect in front spreading out grandly.... But how is the land +so promising to be occupied?... How many of our home poor are +fighting hard to keep body and soul together! My heart yearns over +our own poor when I see so much of God's fair earth unoccupied. +Here it is really so; for the people have only a few sheep and +goats, and no cattle. I wonder why we cannot have the old monastery +system without the celibacy. In no other part where I have been +does the prospect of self-support seem so inviting, and promising +so much influence. Most of what is done for the poor has especial +reference to the blackguard poor."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In his letter to Mr. Young he expressed his conviction that a +great desideratum in mission agency was missionary emigration by +honest Christian poor to give living examples of Christian life +that would insure permanency to the gospel once planted. He had +always had a warm side to the English and Scottish poor--his own +order, indeed. If twenty or thirty families would come out as an +experiment, he was ready to give £2000 without saying from +whom. He bids Mr. Young speak about the plan to Thorn of Chorley, +Turner of Manchester, Lord Shaftesbury, and the Duke of Argyll. +"Now, my friend," he adds, "do your best, and God's blessing be +with you. Much is done for the blackguard poor. Let us remember our +own class, and do good while we have opportunity. I hereby +authorize you to act in my behalf, and do whatever is to be done +without hesitancy."</p> +<p>These letters, and their references to the honest poor, are +characteristic. We have seen that among Dr. Livingstone's +forefathers and connections were some very noble specimens of the +honest poor. It touched him to think that, with all their worth, +their life had been one protracted struggle. His sympathies were +cordially with the class. He desired with all his heart to see them +with a little less of the burden and more of the comfort of life. +And he believed very thoroughly that, as Christian settlers in a +heathen country, they might do more to promote Christianity among +the natives than solitary missionaries could accomplish.</p> +<p>His parents and sisters were not forgotten. His letters to home +are again somewhat in the apologetic vein. He feels that some +explanation must be given of his own work, and some vindication of +his coadjutors:</p> +<blockquote>"We are working hard," he writes to his mother, "at +what some can see at a glance the importance of, while to others we +appear following after the glory of discovering lakes, mountains, +jenny-nettles, and puddock-stools. In reference to these people I +always remember a story told me by the late Dr. Philip with great +glee. When a young minister in Aberdeen, he visited an old woman in +affliction, and began to talk very fair to her on the duty of +resignation, trusting, hoping, and all the rest of it, when the old +woman looked up into his face, and said, 'Peer thing, ye ken +naething aboot it.' This is what I say to those who set themselves +up to judge another man's servant. We hope our good Master may +permit us to do some good to our fellow-men."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>His correspondence with Sir Roderick Murchison is likewise full +of the idea of the colony. He is thoroughly persuaded that no good +will ever be done by the Portuguese. They are a worn-out +people--utterly worn out by disease--their stamina consumed. Fresh +European blood must be poured into Africa. In consequence of recent +discoveries, he now sees his way open, and all his hopes of benefit +to England and Africa about to be realized. This must have been one +of Livingstone's happiest times. Visions of Christian colonies, of +the spread of arts and civilization, of the progress of +Christianity and the Christian graces, of the cultivation of cotton +and the disappearance of the slave-trade, floated before him. +Already the wilderness seemed to be blossoming. But the bright +consummation was not so near as it seemed. One source of mischief +was yet unchecked, and from it disastrous storms were preparing to +break on the enterprise.</p> +<p>On his way home, Dr. Livingstone's health was not satisfactory, +but this did not keep him from duty. "14<i>th +October></i>.--Went on 17th part way up to Murchison's +Cataracts, and yesterday reached it. Very ill with bleeding from +the bowels and purging. Bled all night. Got up at one A.M. to take +latitude."</p> +<p>At length, on 4th November, 1859, letters reached him from his +family. "A letter from Mrs. L. says we were blessed with a little +daughter on 16th November, 1858, at Kuruman. A fine healthy child. +The Lord bless and make her his own child in heart and life!" She +had been nearly a year in the world before he heard of her +existence.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII."></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> +<h3>GOING HOME WITH THE MAKOLOLO.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1860.</center> +<p>Down to Kongone--State of the ship--Further delay--Letter to +Secretary of Universities Mission--Letter to Mr. Braithwaite--At +Tette--Miss Whately's sugar-mill--With his brother and Kirk at +Kebrabasa--Mode of traveling--Reappearence of old friends--African +warfare and its effects--Desolation--A European colony +desirable--Escape from rhinoceros--Rumors of Moffat--The Portuguese +local Governors oppose Livingstone--He becomes unpopular with +them--Letter to Mr. Young--Wants of the country--The +Makololo--Approach home--Some are disappointed--News of the death +of the London missionaries, the Helmores and others--Letter to Dr. +Moffat--The Victoria Falls re-examined--Sekelétu ill of +leprosy--Treatment and recovery--His disappointment at not seeing +Mrs. Livingstone--Efforts for the spiritual good of the +Makololo--Careful observations in Natural History--The last of the +"Ma-Robert"--Cheering prospect of the Universities Mission--Letter +to Mr. Moore--to Mr. Young--He wishes another ship--Letter to Sir +Roderick Murchison on the rumored journey of Silva Porto.</p> +<br> +<p>It was necessary to go down to Kongone for the repair of the +ship. Livingstone was greatly disappointed with it, and thought the +greed of the vendor had supplied him with a very inferior article +for the price of a good one. He thus pours forth his vexation in +writing to a friend: "Very grievous it is to be standing here +tinkering when we might be doing good service to the cause of +African civilization, and that on account of insatiable greediness. +Burton may thank L. and B. that we are not at the other lakes +before him. The loss of time greediness has inflicted on us has +been frightful. My plan in this Expedition was excellent, but it +did not include provisions against hypocrisy and fraud, which have +sorely crippled us, and, indeed, ruined us, as a scientific +Expedition."</p> +<p>Another delay was caused before they went inward, from their +having to wait for a season suitable for hunting, as the party had +to be kept in food. The mail from England had been lost, and they +had the bitter disappointment of losing a year's correspondence +from home. The following portions of a letter to the Secretary of +the Committee for a Universities Mission gives a view of the +situation at this time:</p> +<blockquote>"RIVER ZAMBESI, 26<i>th Jan.</i>, 1860.<br> +<br> +"The defects we have unfortunately experienced in the 'Ma-Robert,' +or rather the 'Asthmatic,' are so numerous that it would require a +treatise as long as a lawyer's specification of any simple subject +to give you any idea of them, and they have inflicted so much toil +that a feeling of sickness comes over me when I advert to them.<br> +<br> +"No one will ever believe the toil we have been put to in +woodcutting. The quantity consumed is enormous, and we cannot get +sufficient for speed into the furnace. It was only a dogged +determination not to be beaten that carried me through.... But all +will come out right at last. We are not alone, though truly we +deserve not his presence. He encourages the trust that is granted +by the word, 'I am with you, even unto the end of the +world.'...<br> +<br> +"It is impossible for you to conceive how backward everything is +here, and the Portuguese are not to be depended upon; their +establishments are only small penal settlements, and as no women +are sent out, the state of morals is frightful. The only chance of +success is away from them; nothing would prosper in their vicinity. +After all, I am convinced that were Christianity not divine, it +would be trampled out by its professors. Dr. Kirk, Mr. C. +Livingstone, and Mr. Rae, with two English seamen, do well. We are +now on our way up the river to the Makololo country, but must go +overland from Kebrabasa, or in a whaler. We should be better able +to plan our course if our letters had not been lost. We have never +been idle, and do not mean to be. We have been trying to get the +Portuguese Government to acknowledge free-trade on this river, and +but for long delay in our letters the negotiation might have been +far advanced. I hope Lord John Russell will help in this matter, +and then we must have a small colony or missionary and mercantile +settlement. If this our desire is granted, it is probable we shall +have no cause to lament our long toil and detention here. My wife's +letters, too, were lost, so I don't know how or where she is. Our +separation, and the work I have been engaged in, were not +contemplated, but they have led to our opening a path into the fine +cotton-field in the North. You will see that the discoveries of +Burton and Speke confirm mine respecting the form of the continent +and its fertility. It is an immense field. I crave the honor of +establishing a focus of Christianity in it, but should it not be +granted, I will submit as most unworthy. I have written Mr. Venn +twice, and from yours I see something is contemplated in +Cambridge.... If young men come to this country, they must lay +their account with doing everything for themselves. They must not +expect to find influence at once, and all the countries near to the +Portuguese have been greatly depopulated. We are now ascending this +river without vegetables, and living on salt beef and pork. The +slave-trade has done its work, for formerly all kinds of provisions +could be procured at every point, and at the cheapest rate. We +cannot get anything for either love or money, in a country the +fertility of which is truly astonishing.</blockquote> +<br> +<p>A few more general topics are touched on in a letter to Mr. +Braithwaite:</p> +<blockquote>"I am sorry to hear of the death of Mr. Sturge. He +wrote me a long letter on the 'Peace principle,' and before I could +study it carefully, it was mislaid. I wrote him from Tette, as I +did not wish him to suppose I neglected him, and mentioned the +murder of the six Makololo and other things, as difficulties in the +way of adopting his views, as they were perfectly unarmed, and +there was no feud between the tribes. I fear that my letter may not +have reached him alive. The departure of Sir Fowell Buxton and +others is very unexpected. Sorry to see the loss of Dr. Bowen, of +Sierra Leone--a good man and a true. But there is One who ever +liveth to make intercession for us, and to carry on his own work. A +terrible war that was in Italy, and the peace engenders more uneasy +forebodings than any peace ever heard of. It is well that God and +not the devil reigns, and will bring his own purposes to pass, +right through the midst of the wars and passions of men. Have you +any knowledge of a famous despatch written by Sir George Grey (late +of the Cape), on the proper treatment of native tribes? I wish to +study it.<br> +<br> +<p>"Tell your children that if I could get hold of a hippopotamus I +would eat it rather than allow it to eat me. We see them often, but +before we get near enough to get a shot they dive down, and remain +hidden till we are past. As for lions, we never see them, sometimes +hear a roar or two, but that is all, and I go on the plan put forth +by a little girl in Scotland who saw a cow coming to her in a +meadow, 'O boo! boo! you no hurt me, I no hurt you.'"</p> +</blockquote> +<br> +<p>At Tette one of his occupations was to fit up a sugar-mill, the +gift of Miss Whately, of Dublin, and some friends. To that lady he +writes a long letter of nineteen pages. He tells her he had just +put up her beautiful sugar-mill, to show the natives what could be +done by machinery. Then he adverts to the wonderful freedom from +sickness that his party had enjoyed in the delta of the Zambesi, +and proceeds to give an account of the Shiré Valley and its +people. He finds ground for a favorable contrast between the +Shiré natives and the Tette Portuguese:</p> +<blockquote>"They (the natives) have fences made to guard the women +from the alligators, all along the Shiré: at Tette they have +none, and two women were taken past our vessel in the mouths of +these horrid brutes. The number of women taken is so great as to +make the Portuguese swear every time they speak of them, and yet, +when I proposed to the priest to make a collection for a fence, and +offered twenty dollars, he only smiled. You Protestants don't know +all the good you do by keeping our friends of the only true and +infallible Church up to their duty. Here, and in Angola, we see how +it is, when they are not provoked--if not to love, to good +works....<br> +<br> +"On telling the Makololo that the sugar-mill had been sent to +Sekelétu by a lady, who collected a sum among other ladies +to buy it, they replied, 'O na le pelu'--she has a heart. I was +very proud of it, and so were they.<br> +<br> +"... With reference to the future, I am trying to do what I did +before--obey the injunction, 'Commit thy way to the Lord, trust +also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.' And I hope that He +will make some use of me. My attention is now directed specially to +the fact that there is no country better adapted for producing the +raw materials of English manufactures than this....<br> +<br> +"See to what a length I have run. I have become palaverist. I beg +you to present my respectful salutation to the Archbishop and Mrs. +Whately, and should you meet any of the kind contributors, say how +thankful I am to them all."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>From Tette he writes to Sir Roderick Murchison, 7th February, +1860, urging his plan for a steamer on Lake Nyassa: "If Government +furnishes the means, all right; if not, I shall spend my book-money +on it. I don't need to touch the children's fund, and mine could +not be better spent. People who are born rich sometimes become +miserable from a fear of becoming poor; but I have the advantage, +you see, in not being afraid to die poor. If I live, I must succeed +in what I have undertaken; death alone will put a stop to my +efforts."</p> +<p>A month after he writes to the same friend, from Kongone, 10th +March, 1860, that he is sending Rae home for a vessel:</p> +<blockquote>"I tell Lord John Russell that he (Rae) may thereby do +us more service than he can now do in a worn-out steamer, with 35 +patches, covering at least 100 holes. I say to his Lordship, that +after we have, by patient investigation and experiment, at the risk +of life, rendered the fever not more formidable than a common cold; +found access, from a good harbor on the coast, to the main stream; +and discovered a pathway into the magnificent Highland lake region, +which promises so fairly for our commerce in cotton, and for our +policy in suppressing the trade in slaves, I earnestly hope that he +will crown our efforts by securing our free passage through those +parts of the Zambesi and Shiré of which the Portuguese make +no use, and by enabling us to introduce civilization in a manner +which will extend the honor and influence of the English +name."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In his communications with the Government at home, Livingstone +never failed to urge the importance of their securing the free +navigation of the Zambesi. The Portuguese on the river were now +beginning to get an inkling of his drift, and to feel indignant at +any countenance he was receiving from their own Government.</p> +<p>Passing up the Zambesi with Charles Livingstone, Dr. Kirk, and +such of the Makololo as were willing to go home, Dr. Livingstone +took a new look at Kebrabasa, from a different point, still +believing that in flood it would allow a steamer to pass. Of his +mode of traveling we have some pleasant glimpses. He always tried +to make progress more a pleasure than a toil, and found that kindly +consideration for the feelings even of blacks, the pleasure of +observing scenery and everything new, as one moves on at an +ordinary pace, and the participation in the most delightful rest +with his fellows, made traveling delightful. He was gratified to +find that he was as able for the fatigue as the natives. Even the +headman, who carried little more than he did himself, and never, +like him, hunted in the afternoon, was not equal to him. The +hunting was no small addition to the toil; the tired hunter was +often tempted to give it up, after bringing what would have been +only sufficient for the three whites, and leave the rest, thus +sending "the idle, ungrateful poor" supperless to bed. But this was +not his way. The blacks were thought of in hunting as well as the +whites. "It is only by continuance in well-doing," he says, "even +to the length of what the worldly-wise call weakness, that the +conviction is produced anywhere, that our motives are high enough +to secure sincere respect."</p> +<p>As they proceeded, some of his old acquaintances reappeared, +notably Mpende, who had given him such a threatening reception, but +had now learned that he belonged to a tribe "that loved the black +man and did not make slaves." A chief named Pangola appeared, at +first tipsy and talkative, demanding a rifle, and next morning, +just as they were beginning divine service, reappeared sober to +press his request. Among the Baenda-Pezi, or Go-Nakeds, whose only +clothing is a coat of red ochre, a noble specimen of the race +appeared in full dress, consisting of a long tobacco-pipe, and +brought a handsome present.</p> +<p>The country bore the usual traces of the results of African +warfare. At times a clever chief stands up, who brings large tracts +under his dominion; at his death his empire dissolves, and a fresh +series of desolating wars ensues. In one region which was once +studded with villages, they walked a whole week without meeting any +one. A European colony, he was sure, would be invaluable for +constraining the tribes to live in peace. "Thousands of industrious +natives would gladly settle round it, and engage in that peaceful +pursuit of agriculture and trade of which they are so fond, and, +undistracted by wars and rumors of wars, might listen to the +purifying and ennobling truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ." At +Zumbo, the most picturesque site in the country, they saw the ruins +of Jesuit missions, reminding them that there men once met to utter +the magnificent words, "Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ!" but +without leaving one permanent trace of their labors in the belief +and worship of the people.</p> +<p>Wherever they go, Dr. Livingstone has his eye on the trees and +plants and fruits of the region, with a view to commerce; while he +is no less interested to watch the treatment of fever, when cases +occur, and greatly gratified that Dr. Kirk, who had been trying a +variety of medicines on himself, made rapid recovery when he took +Dr. Livingstone's pills. He used to say if he had followed Morison, +and set up as pill-maker, he might have made his fortune. Passing +through the Bazizulu he had an escape from a rhinoceros, as +remarkable though not quite as romantic as his escape from the +lion; the animal came dashing at him, and suddenly, for some +unknown reason, stopped when close to him, and gave him time to +escape, as if it had been struck by his color, and doubtful if +hunting a white man would be good sport.</p> +<p>At a month's distance from Mosilikatse, they heard a report that +the missionaries had been there, that they had told the chief that +it was wrong to kill men, and that the chief had said he was born +to kill people, but would drop the practice--an interesting +testimony to the power of Mr. Moffat's words. Everywhere the +Makololo proclaimed that they were the friends of peace, and their +course was like a triumphal procession, the people of the villages +loading them with presents.</p> +<p>But a new revelation came to Dr. Livingstone. Though the +Portuguese Government had given public orders that he was to be +aided in every possible way, it was evident that private +instructions had come, which, unintentionally perhaps, certainly +produced the opposite effects. The Portuguese who were engaged in +the slave-trade were far too much devoted to it ever to encourage +an enterprise that aimed at extirpating it. Indeed, it became +painfully apparent to Dr. Livingstone that the effect of his +opening up the Zambesi had been to afford the Portuguese traders +new facilities for conducting their unhallowed traffic; and had it +not been for his promise to bring back the Makololo, he would now +have abandoned the Zambesi and tried the Rovuma, as a way of +reaching Nyassa. His future endeavors in connection with the Rovuma +receive their explanation from this unwelcome discovery. The +significance of the discovery in other respects cannot fail to be +seen. Hitherto Livingstone had been on friendly terms with the +Portuguese Government; he could be so no longer. The remarkable +kindness he had so often received from Portuguese officers and +traders made it a most painful trial to break with the authorities. +But there was no alternative. Livingstone's courage was equal to +the occasion, though he could not but see that his new attitude to +the Portuguese must give an altered aspect to his Expedition, and +create difficulties that might bring it to an end.</p> +<p>A letter to Mr. James Young, dated 22d July, near Kalosi, gives +a free and familiar account of "what he was about":</p> +<blockquote>"This is July, 1860, and no letter from you except one +written a few months after we sailed in the year of grace 1858. +What you are doing I cannot divine. I am ready to believe any +mortal thing except that Louis Napoleon has taken you away to make +paraffin oil for the Tuileries. I don't believe that he is supreme +ruler, or that he can go an inch beyond his tether. Well, as I +cannot conceive what you are about, I must tell you what we are +doing, and we are just trudging up the Zambesi as if there were no +steam and no locomotive but shank's nag yet discovered....<br> +<br> +"We have heard of a mission for the Interior from the English +Universities, and this is the best news we have got since we came +to Africa. I have recommended up Shiré as a proper sphere, +and hasten back so as to be in the way if any assistance can be +rendered. I rejoice at the prospect with all my heart, and am glad, +too, that it is to be a Church of England Mission, for that Church +has never put forth its strength, and I trust this may draw it +forth. I am tired of discovery when no fruit follows. It was +refreshing to be able to sit down every evening with the Makololo +again, and tell them of Him who came down from heaven to save +sinners. The unmerciful toil of the steamer prevented me from +following my bent as I should have done. Poor fellows! they have +learnt no good from their contact with slavery; many have imbibed +the slave spirit; many had married slave-women and got children. +These I did not expect to return, as they were captives of +Sekelétu, and were not his own proper people. All professed +a strong desire to return. To test them I proposed to burn their +village, but to this they would not assent. We then went out a few +miles and told them that any one wishing to remain might do so +without guilt. A few returned, but though this was stated to them +repeatedly afterward they preferred running away like slaves. I +never saw any of the interior people so devoid of honor. Some +complained of sickness, and all these I sent back, intrusting them +with their burdens. About twenty-five returned in all to live at +Tette. Some were drawn away by promises made to them as +elephant-hunters. I had no objection to their trying to better +their condition, but was annoyed at finding that they would not +tell their intentions, but ran away as if I were using compulsion. +I have learned more of the degrading nature of slavery of late than +I ever conceived before. Our 20 millions were well spent in ridding +ourselves of the incubus, and I think we ought to assist our +countrymen in the West Indies to import free labor from India.... I +cannot tell you how glad I am at a prospect of a better system +being introduced into Eastern Africa than that which has prevailed +for ages, the evils of which have only been intensified by +Portuguese colonization, as it is called. Here we are passing +through a well-peopled, fruitful region--a prolonged valley, for we +have the highlands far on our right. I did not observe before that +all the banks of the Zambesi are cotton-fields. I never intended to +write a book and take no note of cotton, which I now see +everywhere. On the Chongwe we found a species which is cultivated +south of the Zambesi, which resembles some kinds from South +America.<br> +<br> +"All that is needed is religious and mercantile establishments to +begin a better system and promote peaceful intercourse. Here we are +among a people who go stark naked with no more sense of shame than +we have with our clothes on. The women have more sense and go +decently. You see great he-animals all about your camp carrying +their indispensable tobacco-pipes and iron tongs to lift fire with, +but the idea of a fig-leaf has never entered the mind. They +cultivate largely have had enormous crops of grain, work well in +iron, and show taste in their dwellings, stools, baskets, and +musical instruments. They are very hospitable, too, and appreciate +our motives; but shame has been unaccountably left out of the +question. They can give no reason for it except that all their +ancestors went exactly as they do. Can you explain why Adam's first +feeling has no trace of existence in his offspring?"</blockquote> +<br> +<p>When the party reached the outskirts of Sekelétu's +territory the news they heard was not encouraging. Some of the men +heard that in their absence some of their wives had been variously +disposed of. One had been killed for witchcraft, another had +married again, while Masakasa was told that two years ago a kind of +wild Irish wake had been celebrated in honor of his memory; the +news made him resolve, when he presented himself among them, to +declare himself an inhabitant from another world! One poor fellow's +wail of anguish for his wife was most distressing to hear.</p> +<p>But far more tragical was the news of the missionaries who had +gone from the London Missionary Society to Linyanti, to labor among +Sekelétu's people. Mr. and Mrs. Helmore and several of his +party had succumbed to fever, and the survivors had retired. Dr. +Livingstone was greatly distressed, and not a little hurt, because +he had not heard a word about the mission, nor been asked advice +about any of the arrangements. If only the Helmores and their +comrades had followed the treatment practiced by him so often, and +in this very valley at this time by his brother Charles, they would +probably have recovered. All spoke kindly of Mr. Helmore, who had +quite won the hearts of the people. Knowing their language, he had +at once begun to preach, and some of the young men at +Seshéke were singing the hymns he had taught them. Rumors +had gone abroad that some of the missionaries had been poisoned. In +some quarters blame was cast on Livingstone for having misled the +Society as to the character of Sekelétu and his disposition +toward missionaries; but Livingstone satisfied himself that, though +the missionaries had been neglected no foul play had taken place; +fever alone had caused the deaths, and want of skill in managing +the people had brought the remainder of the troubles. One piece of +good news which he heard at Linyanti was that his old friend +Sechéle was doing well. He had a Hanoverian missionary, nine +tribes were under him, and the schools were numerously +attended.</p> +<p>Writing to Dr. Moffat, 10th August, 1860, from Zambesi Falls, he +says:</p> +<blockquote>"With great sorrow we learned the death of our +much-esteemed friends, Mr. and Mrs. Helmore, two days ago. We were +too late to be of any service, for the younger missionaries had +retired, probably dispirited by the loss of their leader. It is +evident that the fever when untreated is as fatal now as it proved +in the case of Commodore Owen's officers in this river, or in the +great Niger Expedition. And yet what poor drivel was poured forth +when I adopted energetic measures for speedily removing any +Europeans out of the Delta. We were not then aware that the remedy +which was first found efficacious in our own little Thomas on Lake +'Ngami, in 1850, and that cured myself and attendants during my +solitary journeyings, was a certain cure for the disease, without +loss of strength in Europeans generally. This we now know by ample +experience to be the case. Warburg's drops, which have a great +reputation in India, here cause profuse perspiration only, and the +fever remains uncured. With our remedy, of which we make no secret, +a man utterly prostrated is roused to resume his march next day. I +have sent the prescription to John, as I doubt being able to go so +far South as Mosilikatse's.</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Again the grand Victoria Falls are reached, and Charles +Livingstone, who has seen Niagara, gives the preference to +Mosi-oa-tunya. By the route which they took, they would have passed +the Falls at twenty miles' distance, but Dr. Livingstone could not +resist the temptation to show them to his companions. All his +former computations as to their size were found to be considerably +within the mark; instead of a thousand yards broad they were more +than eighteen hundred, and whereas he had said that the height of +fall was about 100 feet, it turned out to be 310. His habit of +keeping within the mark in all his statements of remarkable things +was thus exemplified.</p> +<p>On coming among his old friends the Makololo, he found them in +low spirits owing to protracted drought, and Sekelétu was +ill of leprosy. He was in the hands of a native doctress, who was +persuaded to suspend her treatment, and the lunar caustic applied +by Drs. Livingstone and Kirk had excellent effects <a name= +"FNanchor60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60">[60]</a>. On going to +Linyanti, Dr. Livingstone found the wagon and other articles which +he had left there in 1853, safe and sound, except from the effects +of weather and the white ants. The expressions of kindness and +confidence toward him on the part of the natives greatly touched +him. The people were much disappointed at not seeing Mrs. +Livingstone and the children. But this confidence was the result of +his way of dealing with them. "It ought never to be forgotten that +influence among the heathen can be acquired only by patient +continuance in well-doing, and that good manners are as necessary +among barbarians as among the civilized." The Makololo were the +most interesting tribe that Dr. Livingstone had ever seen. While +now with them he was unwearied in his efforts for their spiritual +good. In his Journal we find these entries:</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_60"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor60">[60]</a> In 1864, while residing at Newstead Abbey, +and writing his book, <i>The Zambesi and its Tributaries</i>, Dr. +Livingstone heard of the death of Sekelétu.</blockquote> +<blockquote>"<i>September</i> 2, 1860.--On Sunday evening went over +to the people, giving a general summary of Christian faith by the +life of Christ. Asked them to speak about it afterward. Replied +that these things were above them--they could not answer me. I said +if I spoke of camels and buffaloes tamed, they understood, though +they had never seen them; why not perceive the story of Christ, the +witnesses to which refused to deny it, though killed for +maintaining it? Went on to speak of the resurrection. All were +listening eagerly to the statements about this, especially when +they heard that they, too, must rise and be judged. Lerimo said, +'This I won't believe.' 'Well, the guilt lies between you and +Jesus,' This always arrests attention. Spoke of blood shed by them; +the conversation continued till they said, 'It was time for me to +cross, for the river was dangerous at night.'"<br> +<br> +"<i>September</i> 9.--Spoke to the people on the north side of the +river--wind prevented evening service on the south."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The last subject on which he preached before leaving them on +this occasion was the great resurrection. They told him they could +not believe a reunion of the particles of the body possible. Dr. +Livingstone gave them in reply a chemical illustration, and then +referred to the authority of the Book that taught them the +doctrine. And the poor people were more willing to give in to the +authority of the Book than to the chemical illustration!</p> +<p>In <i>The Zambesi and its Tributaries</i> this journey to the +Makololo country and back occupies one-third of the volume, though +it did not lead to any very special results. But it enabled Dr. +Livingstone to make great additions to his knowledge both of the +people and the country. His observations are recorded with the +utmost care, for though he might not be able to turn them to +immediate use, it was likely, and even certain, that they would be +useful some day. Indeed, the spirit of faith is apparent in the +whole narrative, as if he could not pass over even the most +insignificant details. The fish in the rivers, the wild animals in +the woods, the fissures in the rocks, the course of the streams, +the composition of the minerals and gravels, and a thousand other +phenomena, are carefully observed and chronicled. The crowned +cranes beginning to pair, the flocks of spurwinged geese, the +habits of the ostrich, the nests of bee-eaters, pass under review +in rapid succession. His sphere of observation ranges from the +structure of the great continent itself to the serrated bone of the +konokono, or the mandible of the ant.</p> +<p>Leaving Seshéke on the 17th September, they reached Tette +on the 23d November, 1860, whence they started for Kongone with the +unfortunate "Ma-Robert." But the days of that asthmatic old lady +were numbered. On the 21st December she grounded on a sand-bank, +and could not get off. A few days before this catastrophe +Livingstone writes to Mr. Young:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Lupata, 4th Dec</i>., 1860.--Many thanks for all +you have been doing about the steamer and everything else. You seem +to have gone about matters in a most business-like manner, and once +for all I assure you I am deeply grateful.<br> +<br> +"We are now on our way down to the sea, in hopes of meeting the new +steamer for which you and other friends exerted yourselves so +zealously. We are in the old 'Asthmatic,' though we gave her up +before leaving in May last. Our engineer has been doctoring her +bottom with fat and patches, and pronounced it safe to go down the +river by dropping slowly. Every day a new leak bursts out, and he +is in plastering and scoring, the pump going constantly. I would +not have ventured again, but our whaler is as bad,--all eaten by +the teredo,--so I thought it as well to take both, and stick to +that which swims longest. You can put your thumb through either of +them; they never can move again; I never expected to find either +afloat, but the engineer had nothing else to do, and it saves us +from buying dear canoes from the Portuguese.<br> +<br> +"<i>20th Dec.</i>--One day, above Senna, the 'Ma-Robert' stuck on a +sand-bank and filled, so we had to go ashore and leave +her."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The correspondence of this year indicates a growing delight at +the prospect of the Universities Mission. It was this, indeed, +mainly that kept up his spirits under the depression caused by the +failure of the "Ma-Robert," and other mishaps of the Expedition, +the endless delays and worries that had resulted from that cause, +and the manner in which both the Portuguese and the French were +counter-working him by encouraging the slave-trade. While +professedly encouraging emigration, the French were really +extending slavery.</p> +<p>Here is his lively account of himself to his friend Mr. +Moore:</p> +<blockquote>"TETTE, <i>28th November</i>, 1860.<br> +<br> +"MY DEAR MOORE,--And why didn't you begin when you were so often on +the point of writing, but didn't? This that you have accomplished +is so far good, but very short. Hope you are not too old to learn. +You have heard of our hindrances and annoyances, and, possibly, +that we have done some work notwithstanding. Thanks to Providence, +we have made some progress, and it is likely our operations will +yet have a decided effect on slave-trading in Eastern Africa. I am +greatly delighted with the prospect of a Church of England mission +to Central Africa. That is a good omen for those who are sitting in +darkness, and I trust that in process of time great benefits will +be conferred on our own overcrowded population at home. There is +room enough and to spare in the fair world our Father has prepared +for all his progeny. I pray to be made a harbinger of good to many, +both white and black.<br> +<br> +"I like to hear that some abuse me now, and say that I am *no +Christian. Many good things were said of me which I did not +deserve, and I feared to read them. I shall read every word I can +on the other side, and that will prove a sedative to what I was +forced to hear of an opposite tendency. I pray that He who has +lifted me up and guided me thus far, will not desert me now, but +make me useful in my day and generation. 'I will never leave thee +nor forsake thee.' So let it be.<br> +<br> +"I saw poor Helmore's grave lately. Had my book been searched for +excellencies, they might have seen a certain cure for African +fever. We were curing it at a lower and worse part of the river at +the very time that they were helplessly perishing, and so quickly, +that more than a day was never lost after the operation of the +remedy, though we were marching on foot. Our tramp was over 600 +miles. We dropped down stream again in canoes from Sinamanero to +Chicova--thence to this on shank's nag. We go down to the sea +immediately, to meet our new steamer. Our punt was a sham and a +snare.<br> +<br> +"My love to Mary and all the children, with all our friends at +Congleton."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In a letter to Mr. James Young, Dr. Livingstone gives good +reasons for not wishing to push the colonization scheme at present, +as he had recommended to the Universities Mission to add a similar +enterprise to their undertaking:</p> +<blockquote>"If you read all I have written you by this mail, you +will deserve to be called a literary character. I find that I did +not touch on the colonization scheme. I have not changed in respect +to it, but the Oxford and Cambridge mission have taken the matter +up, and as I shall do all I can to aid them, a little delay will, +perhaps, be advisable.<br> +<br> +"We are waiting for our steamer, and expect her every day; our +first trip is a secret, and you will keep it so. We go to the +Rovuma, a river exterior to the Portuguese claims, as soon as the +vessel arrives. Captain Oldfield of the 'Lyra' is sent already, to +explore, as far as he can, in that ship. The entrance is fine, and +forty-five miles are known, but we keep our movements secret from +the Portuguese--and so must you; they seize everything they see in +the newspapers. Who are my imprudent friends that publish +everything? I suspect Mr. ----, of ----, but no one gives me a name +or a clue. Some expected me to feel sweet at being jewed by a false +philanthropist, and bamboozled by a silly R. N. I did not, and +could not, seem so; but I shall be more careful in future.<br> +<br> +"Again back to the colony. It is not to sleep, but preparation must +be made by collecting information, and maturing our plans. I shall +be able to give definite instructions as soon as I see how the +other mission works--at its beginning--and when we see if the new +route we may discover has a better path to Nyassa than by +Shiré--we shall choose the best, of course, and let you know +as soon as possible. I think the Government will not hold back if +we have a feasible plan to offer. I have recommended to the +Universities Mission a little delay till we explore,--and for a +working staff, two gardeners acquainted with farming; two country +carpenters, capable of erecting sheds and any rough work; two +traders to purchase and prepare cotton for exportation; one general +steward of mission goods, his wife to be a good plain cook; one +medical man, having knowledge of chemistry enough to regulate +<i>indigo</i> and sugar-making. All the attendants to be married, +and their wives to be employed in sewing, washing, attending the +sick, etc., as need requires. The missionaries not to think +themselves deserving a good English wife till they have erected a +comfortable abode for her."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In the Royal Geographical Society this year (1860), certain +communications were read which tended to call in question +Livingstone's right to some of the discoveries he had claimed as +his own. Mr. Macqueen, through whom these communications came, must +have had peculiar notions of discovery, for some time before, there +had appeared in the Cape papers a statement of his, that Lake +'Ngami of 1859 was no new discovery, as Dr. Livingstone had visited +it seven years before; and Livingstone had to write to the papers +in favor of the claims of Murray, Oswell, and Livingstone, against +himself! It had been asserted to the Society by Mr. Macqueen, that +Silva Porto, a Portuguese trader, had shown him a journal +describing a journey of his from Benguela on the west to Ibo and +Mozambique on the east, beginning November 26, 1852, and +terminating August, 1854. Of that journal Mr. Macqueen read a +copious abstract to the Society (June 27, 1859), which is published +in the Journal for 1860.</p> +<p>In a letter to Sir Roderick Murchison (20th February, 1861), +Livingstone, while exonerating Mr. Macqueen of all intention of +misleading, gives his reasons for doubting whether the journey to +the East Coast ever took place. He had met Porto at Linyanti in +1853, and subsequently at Naliele, the Barotse capital, and had +been told by him that he had tried to go eastward, but had been +obliged to turn, and was then going westward, and wished him to +accompany him, which he declined, as he was a slave-trader; he had +read his journal as it appeared in the Loanda "Boletim," but there +was not a word in it of a journey to the East Coast; when the +Portuguese minister had wished to find a rival to Dr. Livingstone, +he had brought forward, not Porto, as he would naturally have done +if this had been a genuine journey, but two black men who came to +Tette in 1815; in the Boletim of Mozambique there was no word of +the arrival of Porto there; in short, the part of the journal +founded on could not have been authentic. Livingstone felt keenly +on the subject of these rumors, not on his own account, but on +account of the Geographical Society and of Sir Roderick who had +introduced him to it; for nothing could have given him more pain +than that either of these should have had any slur thrown on them +through him, or even been placed for a time in an uncomfortable +position.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV."></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> +<h3>ROVUMA AND NYASSA--UNIVERSITIES MISSION.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1861-1862.</center> +<p>Beginning of 1861--Arrival of the "Pioneer"--and of the agents +of Universities Mission--Cordial welcome--Livingstone's catholic +feelings--Ordered to explore the Rovuma--Bishop Mackenzie goes with +him--Returns to the Shiré--Turning-point of prosperity +past--Difficult navigation--The slave-sticks--Bishop settles at +Magomero--Hostilities between Manganja and Ajawa--Attack of Mission +party by Ajawa--Livingstone's advice to Bishop regarding +them--Letter to his son Robert--Livingstone, Kirk, and Charles +start for Lake Nyassa--Party robbed at north of Lake--Dismal +activity of the slave-trade--Awful mortality in the +process--Livingstone's fondness for <i>Punch</i>--Letter to Mr. +Young--Joy at departure of new steamer "Lady Nyassa"--Colonization +project--Letter against it from Sir R. Murchison--Hears of Dr. +Stewart coming out from Free Church of Scotland--Visit at the ship +from Bishop Mackenzie--News of defeat of Ajawa by +missionaries--Anxiety of Livingstone--Arrangements for "Pioneer" to +go to Kongone for new steamer and friends from home, then go to Ruo +to meet Bishop--"Pioneer" detained--Dr. Livingstone's anxieties and +depressions at New Year--"Pioneer" misses man-of-war "Gorgon"--At +length "Gorgon" appears with brig from England and "Lady +Nyassa"--Mrs. Livingstone and other ladies on board--Livingstone's +meeting with his wife, and with Dr. Stewart--Stewart's +recollections--Difficulties of navigation--Captain Wilson of +"Gorgon" goes up river and hears of death of Bishop Mackenzie and +Mr. Burrup--Great distress--Misrepresentations about Universities +Mission--Miss Mackenzie and Mr. Burrup taken to "Gorgon"--Dr. and +Mrs. Livingstone return to Shupanga--Illness and death of Mrs. +Livingstone--Extracts from Livingstone's Journal and letters to the +Moffats, Agnes, and the Murchisons.</p> +<br> +<p>The beginning of 1861 brought some new features on the scene. +The new steamer, the "Pioneer," at last arrived, and was a great +improvement on the "Ma-Robert," though unfortunately she had too +great draught of water. The agents of the Universities Missions +also arrived, the first, detachment consisting of Bishop Mackenzie +and five other Englishmen, and five colored men from the Cape. +Writing familiarly to his friend Moore, <i>àpropos</i> of +his new comrades of the Church Mission, Livingstone says: "I have +never felt anyway inclined to turn Churchman or dissenter either +since I came out here. The feelings which we have toward different +sects alter out here quite insensibly, till one looks upon all +godly men as good and true brethren. I rejoiced when I heard that +so many good and great men in the Universities had turned their +thoughts toward Africa, and feeling sure that He who had touched +their hearts would lead them to promote his own glory, I welcomed +the men they sent with a hearty, unfeigned welcome."</p> +<p>To his friend Mr. Maclear he wrote that he was very glad the +Mission was to be under a bishop. He had seen so much idleness and +folly result from missionaries being left to themselves, that it +was a very great satisfaction to find that the new mission was to +be superintended by one authorized and qualified to take the +charge. Afterward when he came to know Bishop Mackenzie, he wrote +of him to Mr. Maclear in the highest terms: "The Bishop is A 1, and +in his readiness to put his hand to anything resembles much my good +father-in-law Moffat."</p> +<p>It is not often that missions are over-manned, but in the first +stage of such an undertaking as this, so large a body of men was an +incumbrance, none of them knowing a word of the language or a bit +of the way. It was Bishop Mackenzie's desire that Dr. Livingstone +should accompany him at once to the scene of his future labors and +help him to settle. But besides other reasons, the "Pioneer," as +already stated, was under orders to explore the Rovuma, and, as the +Portuguese put so many obstacles in the way on the Zambesi, to +ascertain whether that river might not afford access to the Nyassa +district. It was at last arranged that the Bishop should first go +with the Doctor to the Rovuma, and thereafter they should all go +together to the Shiré. In waiting for Bishop Mackenzie to +accompany him, Dr. Livingstone lost the most favorable part of the +season, and found that he could not get with the "Pioneer" to the +top of the Rovuma. He might have left the ship and pushed forward +on foot; but, not to delay Bishop Mackenzie, he left the Rovuma in +the meantime, intending, after making arrangements with the Bishop, +to go to Nyassa, to find the point where the Rovuma left the lake, +if there were such a point, or, if not, get into its headwaters and +explore it downward.</p> +<p>Dr. Livingstone, as we have seen, welcomed the Mission right +cordially, for indeed it was what he had been most eagerly praying +for, and he believed that it would be the beginning of all blessing +to Eastern and Central Africa, and help to assimilate the condition +of the East Coast to that of the West The field for the cultivation +of cotton which he had discovered along the Shiré and Lake +Nyassa was immense, above 400 miles in length, and now it seemed as +if commerce and Christianity were going to take possession of it. +But it was found that the turning-point of prosperity had been +reached, and it was his lot to encounter dark reverses. The +navigation of the Shiré was difficult, for the "Pioneer" +being deep in the water would often run aground. On these occasions +the Bishop, Mr. Scudamore, and Mr. Waller, the best and the bravest +of the missionary party, were ever ready with their help in +hauling. Livingstone was sometimes scandalized to see the Bishop +toiling in the hot sun, while some of his subordinates were reading +or writing in the cabin. As they proceeded up the Shiré it +was seen that the promises of assistance from the Portuguese +Government were worse than fruitless. Evidently the Portuguese +traders were pushing the slave-trade with greater eagerness than +ever. Slave-hunting chiefs were marauding the country, driving +peaceful inhabitants before them, destroying their crops, seizing +on all the people they could lay hands on, and selling them as +slaves. The contrast to what Livingstone had seen on his last +journey was lamentable. All their prospects were overcast. How +could commerce or Christianity flourish in countries desolated by +war?</p> +<p>Every reader of <i>The Zambesi and its Tributaries</i> remembers +the frightful picture of the slave-sticks, and the row of men, +women, and children whom Livingstone and his companions set free. +Nothing helped more than this picture to rouse in English bosoms an +intense horror of the trade, and a burning sympathy with +Livingstone and his friends. Livingstone and the Bishop, with his +party, had gone up the Shiré to Chibisa's, and were halting +at the village of Mbame, when a slave party came along. The flight +of the drivers, the liberation of eighty-four men and women, and +their reception by the good Bishop under his charge, speedily +followed. The aggressors were the neighboring warlike tribe of +Ajawa, and their victims were the Manganja, the inhabitants of the +Shiré Valley. The Bishop accepted the invitation of +Chigunda, a Manganja chief, to settle at Magomero. It was thought, +however, desirable for the Bishop and Livingstone first to visit +the Ajawa chief, and try to turn him from his murderous ways. The +road was frightful--through burning villages resounding with the +wailings of women and the shouts of the warriors. The Ajawa +received the offered visit in a hostile spirit, and the shout being +raised that Chibisa had come--powerful chief with the reputation of +being a sorcerer--they fired on the Bishop's party and compelled +them, in self-defense, to fire in return. It was the first time +that Livingstone had ever been so attacked by natives, often though +they had threatened him. It was the first time he had had to repel +an attack with violence; so little was he thinking of such a thing +that he had not his rifle with him, and was obliged to borrow a +revolver. The encounter was hot and serious, but it ended in the +Ajawa being driven off without loss on the other side.</p> +<p>It now became a question for the Bishop in what relation he and +his party were to stand to these murderous and marauding +Ajawa--whether they should quietly witness their onslaughts or +drive them from the country and rescue the captive Manganja. +Livingstone's advice to them was to be patient, and to avoid taking +part in the quarrels of the natives. He then left them at Magomero, +and returned to his companions on the Shiré. For a time the +Bishop's party followed Livingstone's advice, but circumstances +afterward occurred which constrained them to take a different +course, and led to very serious results in the history of the +Mission.</p> +<p>Writing to his son Robert, Livingstone thus describes the attack +made by the Ajawa on him, the Bishop, and the missionaries:</p> +<blockquote>"The slave-hunters had induced a number of another +tribe to capture people for them. We came to this tribe while +burning three villages, and though we told them that we came +peaceably, and to talk with them, they saw that we were a small +party, and might easily be overcome, rushed at us and shot their +poisoned arrows. One fell between the Bishop and me, and another +whizzed between another man and me. We had to drive them off, and +they left that part of the country. Before going near them the +Bishop engaged in prayer, and during the prayer we could hear the +wail for the dead by some Manganja probably thought not worth +killing, and the shouts of welcome home to these bloody murderers. +It turned out that they were only some sixty or seventy robbers, +and not the Ajawa tribe; so we had a narrow escape from being +murdered.<br> +<br> +"How are you doing? I fear from what I have observed of your +temperament that you will have to strive against fickleness. Every +one has his besetting fault--that is no disgrace to him, but it is +a disgrace if he do not find it out, and by God's grace overcome +it. I am not near to advise you what to do, but whatever line of +life you choose, resolve to stick to it, and serve God therein to +the last. Whatever failings you are conscious of, tell them to your +heavenly Father; strive daily to master them and confess all to Him +when conscious of having gone astray. And may the good Lord of all +impart all the strength you need. Commit your way unto the Lord; +trust also in Him. Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will +bless you."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Leaving the "Pioneer" at Chibisa's, on 6th August, 1861, +Livingstone, accompanied by his brother and Dr. Kirk, started for +Nyassa with a four-oared boat, which was carried by porters past +the Murchison Cataracts. On 23d September they sailed into Lake +Nyassa, naming the grand mountainous promontory at the end Cape +Maclear, after Livingstone's great friend the Astronomer-Royal at +the Cape.</p> +<p>All about the lake was now examined with earnest eyes. The +population was denser than he had seen anywhere else. The people +were civil, and even friendly, but undoubtedly they were not +handsome. At the north of the lake they were lawless, and at one +point the party were robbed in the night--the first time such a +thing had occurred in Livingstone's African life <a name= +"FNanchor61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61">[61]</a>. Of elephants +there was a great abundance,--indeed of all animal and vegetable +life.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_61"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor61">[61]</a> In <i>The Zambesi and its Tributaries</i>, +Livingstone gives a grave account of the robbery. In his letters to +his friends he makes fun of it, as he did of the raid of the Boers. +To Mr. F. Fitch he writes: "You think I cannot get into a +scrape.... For the first time in Africa we were robbed. Expert +thieves crept into our sleeping-places, about four o'clock in the +morning, and made off with what they could lay their hands on. +Sheer over-modesty ruined me. It was Sunday, and such a black mass +swarmed around our sail, which we used as a hut, that we could not +hear prayers. I had before slipped away a quarter of a mile to +dress for church, but seeing a crowd of women watching me through +the reeds, I did not change my old 'unmentionables,'--they were so +old, I had serious thoughts of converting them into--charity! Next +morning nearly all our spare clothing was walked off with, and +there I was left by my modesty nearly through at the knees, and no +change of shirt, flannel, or stockings. After that, don't say that +I can't get into a scrape!" The same letter thanks Mr. Fitch for +sending him <i>Punch</i>, whom he deemed a sound divine! On the +same subject he wrote at another time, regretting that <i>Punch</i> +did not reach him, especially a number in which notice was taken of +himself. "It never came. Who the miscreants are that steal them I +cannot divine, I would not grudge them a reading if they would only +send them on afterward. Perhaps binding the whole year's +<i>Punches</i> would be the best plan; and then we need not label +it 'Sermons in Lent,' or 'Tracts on Homoeopathy,' but you may write +inside, as Dr. Buckland did on his umbrella, 'Stolen from Dr. +Livingstone.' We really enjoy them very much. They are good against +fever. The 'Essence of Parliament,' for instance, is capital. One +has to wade through an ocean of paper to get the same information, +without any of the fun. And by the time the newspapers have reached +us, most of the interest in public matters has +evaporated."</blockquote> +<p>But the lake slave-trade was going on at a dismal rate. An Arab +dhow was seen on the lake, but it kept well out of the way. Dr. +Livingstone was informed by Colonel Rigdy, late British Consul at +Zanzibar, that 19,000 slaves from this Nyassa region alone passed +annually through the custom-house there. This was besides those +landed at Portuguese slave ports. In addition to those captured, +thousands were killed or died of their wounds or of famine, or +perished in other ways, so that not one-fifth of the victims became +slaves--in the Nyassa district probably not one-tenth. A small +armed steamer on the lake might stop nearly the whole of this +wholesale robbery and murder.</p> +<p>Their stock of goods being exhausted, and no provisions being +procurable, the party had to return at the end of October. They had +to abandon the project of getting from the lake to the Rovuma, and +exploring eastward. They reached the ship on 8th November, 1861, +having suffered more from hunger than on any previous trip.</p> +<p>In writing to his friend Young, 28th November, 1861, Livingstone +expresses his joy at the news of the departure of the "Lady +Nyassa;" gives him an account of the lake, and of a terrific storm +in which they were nearly lost; describes the inhabitants, and the +terrible slave-trade--the only trade that was carried on in the +district. It will take them the best part of a year to put the ship +on the lake, but it will be such a blessing! He hopes the +Government will pay for it, once it is there.</p> +<p>The colonization project had not commended itself to Sir R. +Murchison. He had written of it sometime before: "Your colonization +scheme does not meet with supporters, it being thought that you +must have much more hold on the country before you attract Scotch +families to emigrate and settle there, and then die off, or become +a burden to you and all concerned, like the settlers of old at +Darien." It was with much satisfaction that Livingstone now wrote +to his friend (25th November, 1861): "A Dr. Stewart is sent out by +the Free Church of Scotland to confer with me about a Scotch +Colony. You will guess my answer. Dr. Kirk is with me in opinion, +and if I could only get you out to take a trip up to the plateau of +Zomba, and over the uplands which surround Lake Nyassa, you would +give in too."</p> +<p>When the party returned to the ship they had a visit from Bishop +Mackenzie, who was in good spirits and had excellent hopes of the +Mission. The Ajawa had been defeated, and had professed a desire to +be at peace with the English. But Dr. Livingstone was not without +misgivings on this point. The details of the defeat of the Ajawa, +in which the missionaries had taken an active part, troubled him, +as we find from his private Journal. "The Bishop," he says (14th of +November), "takes a totally different view of the affair from what +I do." There were other points on which the utter inexperience of +the missionaries, and want of skill in dealing with the natives, +gave him serious anxiety. It is impossible not to see that even +thus early, the Mission, in Livingstone's eyes, had lost something +of its bloom.</p> +<p>It was arranged that the "Pioneer" should go down to the mouth +of the Zambesi, to meet a man-of-war with provisions, and bring up +the pieces of the new lake vessel, the "Lady Nyassa," which was +eagerly expected, along with Mrs. Livingstone, Miss Mackenzie, the +Bishop's sister, and other members of the Mission party. An +appointment was made for January at the mouth of the river Ruo, a +tributary of the Shiré, where the Bishop was to meet them. +He and Mr. Burrup, who had just arrived, were meanwhile to explore +the neighboring country.</p> +<p>The "Pioneer" was detained for five weeks on a shoal twenty +miles below Chibisa's, and here the first death occurred--the +carpenter's mate succumbed to fever. It was extremely irksome to +suffer this long detention, to think of fuel and provisions +wasting, and salaries running on, without one particle of progress. +Livingstone was sensitive and anxious. He speaks in his Journal of +the difficulty of feeling resigned to the Divine will in all +things, and of believing that all things work together for good to +those that love God, He seems to have been troubled at what had +been said in some quarters of his treatment of members of the +Expedition. In private letters, in the Cape papers, in the home +papers, unfavorable representations of his conduct had been made. +In one case, a prosecution at law had been threatened. On New +Year's Day, 1862, he entered in his Journal an elaborate minute, as +if for future use, bearing on the conduct of the Expedition. He +refers to the difficulty to which civil expeditions are exposed, as +compared with naval and military, in the matter of discipline, +owing to the inferior authority and power of the chief. In the +countries visited there is no enlightened public opinion to support +the commander, and newspapers at home are but too ready to believe +in his tyranny, and make themselves the champions of any dawdling +fellow who would fain be counted a victim of his despotism. He +enumerates the chief troubles to which his Expedition had been +exposed from such causes. Then he explains how, at the beginning, +to prevent collision, he had made every man independent in his own +department, wishing only, for himself, to be the means of making +known to the world what each man had done. His conclusion is a sad +one, but it explains why in his last journeys he went alone: he is +convinced that if he had been by himself he would have accomplished +more, and undoubtedly he would have received more of the +approbation of his countrymen <a name="FNanchor62"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_62">[62]</a>.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_62"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor62">[62]</a> Notwithstanding this expression of feeling, +Dr. Livingstone was very sincere in his handsome acknowledgments, +in the Introduction to <i>The Zambesi and its Tributaries</i>, of +valuable services, especially from the members of the Expedition +there named.</blockquote> +<p>At length the "Pioneer" was got off the bank, and on the 11th +January, 1862, they entered the Zambesi. They prided to the great +Luabo mouth, as being more advantageous than the Kongone for a +supply of wood. They were a month behind their appointment, and no +ship was to be seen. The ship had been there, it turned out, on the +8th January, had looked eagerly for the "Pioneer," had fancied it +saw the black funnel and its smoke in the river, and being +disappointed had made for Mozambique, been caught in a gale, and +was unable to return for three weeks. Livingstone's letters show +him a little out of sorts at the manifold obstructions that had +always been making him "too late"--"too late for Rovuma below, too +late for Rovuma above, and now too late for our own appointment," +but in greater trouble because the "Lady Nyassa" had not been sent +by sea, as he had strongly urged, and as it afterward appeared +might have been done quite well. To take out the pieces and fit +them up would involve heavy expense and long delay, and perhaps the +season would be lost again. But Livingstone had always a saving +clause, in all his lamentations, and here it is: "I know that all +was done for the best."</p> +<p>At length, on the last day of January, H.M.S. "Gorgon," with a +brig in tow, hove in sight. When the "Pioneer" was seen, up went +the signal from the "Gorgon"--"I have steamboat in the brig"; to +which Livingstone replied--"Welcome news." Then "Wife aboard" was +signaled from the ship. "Accept my best thanks" concluded what +Livingstone called "the most interesting conversation he had +engaged in for many a day." Next morning the "Pioneer" steamed out, +and Dr. Livingstone found his wife "all right." In the same ship +with Mrs. Livingstone, besides Miss Mackenzie and Mrs. Burrup, the +Rev. E. Hawkins and others of the Universities Mission, had come +the Rev. James Stewart, of the Free Church of Scotland (now Dr. +Stewart, of Lovedale, South Africa), who had been sent out by a +committee of that Church, "to meet with Dr. Livingstone, and +obtain, by personal observation and otherwise, the information that +might be necessary to enable a committee at home to form a correct +judgment as to the possibility of founding a mission in that part +of Africa." It happened that some time before Mr. Stewart had been +tutor to Thomas Livingstone, while studying in Glasgow; this drew +his sympathies to Livingstone and Africa, and was another link in +that wonderful chain which Providence was making for the good of +Africa. From Dr. Stewart's "Recollections of Dr. Livingstone and +the Zambesi" in the <i>Sunday Magazine</i> (November, 1874), we get +the picture from the other side. First, the sad disappointment of +Mrs. Livingstone on the 8th January, when no "Pioneer" was to be +found, with the anxious speculations raised in its absence as to +the cause. Then a frightful tornado on the way to Mozambique, and +the all but miraculous escape of the brig. Then the return to the +Zambesi in company with H.M.S. "Gorgon," and on the 1st of +February, in a lovely morning, the little cloud of smoke rising +close to land, and afterward the white hull of a small paddle +steamer making straight for the two ships outside.</p> +<blockquote>"As the vessel approached," says Dr. Stewart, "I could +make out with a glass a firmly built man of about the middle +height, standing on the port paddle-box, and directing the ship's +course. He was not exactly dressed as a naval officer, but he wore +that gold-laced cap which has since become so well known both at +home and in Africa. This was Dr. Livingstone, and I said to his +wife, 'There he is at last.' She looked brighter at this +announcement than I had seen her do any day for seven months +before."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Through the help of the men of the "Gorgon," the sections of the +"Lady Nyassa" were speedily put on board the "Pioneer," and on the +10th February the vessel steamed off for the mouth of the Ruo, to +meet the Bishop. But its progress through the river was miserable. +Says Dr. Stewart:</p> +<blockquote>"For ten days we were chiefly occupied in sailing or +hauling the ship through sand-banks. The steamer was drawing +between five and six feet of water, and though there were long +reaches in the river with depth sufficient for a ship of larger +draught, yet every now and then we found ourselves in shoal water +of about three feet. No sooner was the boat got off one bank by +might and main, and steady hauling on capstan and anchor laid out +ahead, almost never astern, and we got a few miles of fair +steering, than again we heard that sound, abhorred by all of us--a +slight bump of the bow, and rush of sand along the ship's side, and +we were again fast for a few hours, or a day or two, as the case +might be."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The "Pioneer" was overladen, and the plan had to be changed. It +was resolved to put the "Lady Nyassa" together at Shupanga, and tow +her up to the Rapids.</p> +<blockquote>"The detention," says Dr. Stewart, "was very trying to +Dr. Livingstone, as it meant not a few weeks, but the loss of a +year, inasmuch as by the time the ship was ready to be launched the +river would be nearly at its lowest, and there would be no resource +but to wait for the next rainy season. Yet, in the face of +discouragement, he maintained his cheerfulness, and, after sunset, +still enjoyed many an hour of prolonged talk about current events +at home, about his old College days in Glasgow, and about many of +those who were unknown men then, but have since made their mark in +life in the different paths they have taken. Amongst others his old +friend Mr. Young, of Kelly, or Sir Paraffin, as he used +subsequently to call him, came in for a large share of the +conversation."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Meanwhile Captain Wilson (of the "Gorgon"), accompanied by Dr. +Kirk and others, had gone on in boats with Miss Mackenzie and Mrs. +Burrup, and learned the sad fate of the Bishop and Mr. Burrup. It +appeared that the Bishop, accompanied by the Makololo, had gone +forth on an expedition to rescue the captive husbands of some of +the Manganja women, and had been successful. But as the Bishop was +trying to get to the mouth of the Ruo, his canoe was upset, his +medicines and cordials were lost, and, being seized with fever, +after languishing for some time, he died in distressing +circumstances, on the 31st January, Mr. Burrup, who was with him, +and who was also stricken, was carried back to Magomero, and died +in a few days.</p> +<p>Captain Wilson, who had himself been prostrated by fever, and +made a narrow escape, returned with this sad news, three weeks +after he had left Shupanga, bringing the two broken-hearted ladies, +who had expected to be welcomed, the one by her brother, the other +by her husband. It was a great blow to Livingstone.</p> +<blockquote>"It was difficult to say," writes Dr. Stewart, "whether +he or the unhappy ladies, on whom the blow fell with the most +personal weight, were most to be pitied. He felt the +responsibility, and saw the wide-spread dismay which the news would +occasion when it reached England, and at the very time when the +Mission most needed support. 'This will hurt us all,' he said, as +he sat resting his head on his hand, on the table of the +dimly-lighted little cabin of the 'Pioneer,' His esteem for Bishop +Mackenzie was afterward expressed in this way: 'For unselfish +goodness of heart and earnest devotion to the work he had +undertaken, it can safely be said that none of the commendations of +his friends can exceed the reality,' He did what he could, I +believe, to comfort those who were so unexpectedly bereaved; but +the night he spent must have been an uneasy one."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Livingstone says in his book that the unfavorable judgment which +he had formed of the Bishop's conduct in fighting with the Ajawa +was somewhat modified by a natural instinct, when he saw how keenly +the Bishop was run down for it in England, and reflected more on +the circumstances, and thought how excellent a man he was. +Sometimes he even said that, had he been there, he would probably +have done what the Bishop did <a name="FNanchor63"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_63">[63]</a>. Why, then, it may be asked, was +Livingstone so ill-pleased when it was said that all that the +Bishop had done was done by his advice? No one will ask this +question who reads the terms of a letter by Mr. Rowley, one of the +Mission party, first published in the Cape papers, and copied into +the <i>Times</i> in November, 1862. It was said there that "from +the moment when Livingstone commenced the release of slaves, his +course was one of aggression. He hunted for slaving parties in +every direction, and when he heard of the Ajawa making slaves in +order to sell to the slavers, he went designedly in search of them, +and intended to take their captives from them by force if needful. +It is true that when he came upon them he found them to be a more +powerful body than he expected, and had they not fired first, he +might have withdrawn.... His parting words to the chiefs just +before he left ... were to this effect: 'You have hitherto seen us +only as fighting men but it is not in such a character we wish you +to know us <a name="FNanchor64"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_64">[64]</a>.'" How could Livingstone be otherwise than +indignant to be spoken of as if the use of force had been his +habit, while the whole tenor of his life had gone most wonderfully +to show the efficacy of gentle and brotherly treatment? How could +he but be vexed at having the odium of the whole proceedings thrown +on him, when his last advice to the missionaries had been +disregarded by them? Or how could he fail to be concerned at the +discredit which the course ascribed to him must bring upon the +Expedition under his command, which was entirely separate from the +Mission? It was the unhandsome treatment of himself and reckless +periling of the character and interests of his Expedition in order +to shield others, that raised his indignation. "Good Bishop +Mackenzie," he wrote to his friend Mr. Fitch, "would never have +tried to screen himself by accusing me." In point of fact, a few +years afterward the Portuguese Government, through Mr. Lacerda, +when complaining bitterly of the statements of Livingstone in a +speech at Bath, in 1865, referred to Mr. Rowley's letter as bearing +out their complaint. It served admirably to give an unfavorable +view of his aims and methods, <i>as from one of his own allies</i>. +Dr. Livingstone never allowed himself to cherish any other feeling +but that of high regard for the self-denial and Christian heroism +of the Bishop, and many of his coadjutors; but he did feel that +most of them were ill-adapted for their work and had a great deal +to learn, and that the manner in which he had been turned aside +from the direct objects of his own enterprise by having to look +after so many inexperienced men, and then blamed for what he +deprecated, and what was done in his absence, was rather more than +it was reasonable for him to bear <a name="FNanchor65"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_65">[65]</a>.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_63"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor63">[63]</a> Writing to Mr. Waller, 12th February, 1863, +Dr. Livingstone said: "I thought you wrong in attacking the Ajawa, +till I looked on it as defense of your orphans. I thought that you +had shut yourselves up to one tribe, and that, the Manganja; but I +think differently now, and only wish they would send out Dr. Pusey +here. He would learn a little sense, of which I suppose I have need +myself."</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_64"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor64">[64]</a> Mr. Rowley afterward (February 22, 1865) +expressed his regret that this letter was ever written, as it had +produced an ill-effect. See <i>The Zambesi and its Tributaries</i>, +p. 475 <i>note</i>.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_65"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor65">[65]</a> It must not be supposed that the letter of +Mr. Rowley expressed the mind of his brethren. Some of them were +greatly annoyed at it, and used their influence to induce its +author to write to the Cape papers that he had conveyed a wrong +impression. In writing to Sir Thomas Maclear (20th November, 1862), +after seeing Rowley's letter in the Cape papers, Dr. Livingstone +said: "It is untrue that I ever on anyone occasion adopted an +aggressive policy against the Ajawa, or took slaves from them. +Slaves were taken from Portuguese alone. I never hunted the Ajawa, +or took the part of Manganja against Ajawa. In this I believe every +member of the Mission will support my assertion." Livingstone +declined to write a contradiction <i>to the public prints</i>, +because he knew the harm that would be done by a charge against a +clergyman. In this he showed the same magnanimity and high +Christian self-denial which he had shown when he left Mabotsa. It +was only when the Portuguese claimed the benefit of Rowley's +testimony that he let the public see what its value +was.</blockquote> +<p>Writing of the terrible loss of Mackenzie and Burrup to the +Bishop of Cape Town, Livingstone says: "The blow is quite +bewildering; the two strongest men so quickly cut down, and one of +them, humanly speaking, indispensable to the success of the +enterprise. We must bow to the will of Him who doeth all things +well; but I cannot help feeling sadly disturbed in view of the +effect the news may have at home. <i>I shall not swerve a +hairbreadth from my work while life is spared</i>, and I trust the +supporters of the Mission may not shrink back from all that they +have set their hearts to."</p> +<p>The next few weeks were employed in taking Miss Mackenzie and +Mrs. Burrup to the "Gorgon" on their way home. It was a painful +voyage to all--to Dr. and Mrs. Livingstone, to Miss Mackenzie and +Mrs. Burrup, and last, not least, to Captain Wilson, who had been +separated so long from his ship, and had risked life, position, and +everything, to do service to a cause which in spite of all he left +at a much lower ebb.</p> +<p>When the "Pioneer" arrived at the bar, it found that owing to +the weather the ship had been forced to leave the coast, and she +did not return for a fortnight. There was thus another long waiting +from 17th March to 2d April. Dr. and Mrs. Livingstone then returned +to Shupanga. The long detention in the most unhealthy season of the +year, and when fever was at its height, was a sad, sad +calamity.</p> +<p>We are now arrived at the last illness and the death of Mrs. +Livingstone. After she had parted from her husband at the Cape in +the spring of 1858, she returned with her parents to Kuruman, and +in November gave birth there to her youngest child, Anna Mary. +Thereafter she returned to Scotland to be near her other children. +Some of them were at school. No comfortable home for them all could +be formed, and though many friends were kind, the time was not a +happy one. Mrs. Livingstone's desire to be with her husband was +intense; not only the longings of an affectionate heart, and the +necessity of taking counsel with him about the family, but the +feeling that when over-shadowed by one whose faith was so strong +her fluttering heart would regain, its steady tone, and she would +be better able to help both him and the children, gave vehemence to +this desire. Her letters to her husband tell of much spiritual +darkness; his replies were the very soul of tenderness and +Christian earnestness. Providence seemed to favor her wish; the +vessel in which she sailed was preserved from imminent destruction, +and she had the great happiness of finding her husband alive and +well.</p> +<p>On the 21st of April Mrs. Livingstone became ill. On the 25th +the symptoms were alarming--vomitings every quarter of an hour, +which prevented any medicine from remaining on her stomach. On the +26th she was worse and delirious. On the evening of Sunday the 27th +Dr. Stewart got a message from her husband that the end was drawing +near. "He was sitting by the side of a rude bed formed of boxes, +but covered with a soft mattress, on which lay his dying wife. All +consciousness had now departed, as she was in a state of deep coma, +from which all efforts to rouse her had been unavailing. The +strongest medical remedies and her husband's voice were both alike +powerless to reach the spirit which was still there, but was now so +rapidly sinking into the depths of slumber, and darkness and death. +The fixedness of feature and the oppressed and heavy breathing only +made it too plain that the end was near. And the man who had faced +so many deaths, and braved so many dangers, was now utterly broken +down and weeping like a child."</p> +<p>Dr. Livingstone asked Dr. Stewart to commend her spirit to God, +and along with Dr. Kirk they kneeled in prayer beside her. In less +than an hour, her spirit had returned to God. Half an hour after, +Dr. Stewart was struck with her likeness to her father, Dr. Moffat. +He was afraid to utter what struck him so much, but at last he said +to Livingstone, "Do you notice any change?" "Yes," he replied, +without raising his eyes from her face,--"the very features and +expression of her father."</p> +<p>Every one is struck with the calmness of Dr. Livingstone's +notice of his wife's death in <i>The Zambesi and its +Tributaries</i>. Its matter-of-fact tone only shows that he +regarded that book as a sort of official report to the nation, in +which it would not be becoming for him to introduce personal +feelings. A few extracts from his Journal and letters will show +better the state of his heart.</p> +<p>"It is the first heavy stroke I have suffered, and quite takes +away my strength. I wept over her who well deserved many tears. I +loved her when I married her, and the longer I lived with her I +loved her the more. God pity the poor children, who were all +tenderly attached to her, and I am left alone in the world by one +whom I felt to be a part of myself. I hope it may, by divine grace, +lead me to realize heaven as my home, and that she has but preceded +me in the journey. Oh my Mary, my Mary! how often we have longed +for a quiet home, since you and I were cast adrift at Kolobeng; +surely the removal by a kind Father who knoweth our frame means +that He rewarded you by taking you to the best home, the eternal +one in the heavens. The prayer was found in her papers--'Accept me, +Lord, as I am, and make me such as Thou wouldst have me to be.' He +who taught her to value this prayer would not leave his own work +unfinished. On a letter she had written, 'Let others plead for +pensions, I wrote to a friend I can be rich without money; I would +give my services in the world from uninterested motives; I have +motives for my own conduct I would not exchange for a hundred +pensions.'</p> +<p>"She rests by the large baobab-tree at Shupanga, which is sixty +feet in circumference, and is mentioned in the work of Commodore +Owen. The men asked to be <i>allowed</i> to mount guard till we had +got the grave built up, and we had it built with bricks dug from an +old house.</p> +<p>"From her boxes we find evidence that she intended to make us +all comfortable at Nyassa, though she seemed to have a presentiment +of an early death,--she purposed to do more for me than ever.</p> +<p>"11<i>th May, Kongone</i>.--My dear, dear Mary has been this +evening a fortnight in heaven,--absent from the body, present with +the Lord. To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise. Angels carried +her to Abraham's bosom--to be with Christ is far better. Enoch, the +seventh from Adam, prophesied, 'Behold, the Lord cometh with ten +thousand of his saints'; ye also shall appear with Him in glory. He +comes with them; then they are now with Him. I go to prepare a +place for you; that where I am there ye may be also, to behold his +glory. Moses and Elias talked of the decease He should accomplish +at Jerusalem; then they know what is going on here on certain +occasions. They had bodily organs to hear and speak. For the first +time in my life I feel willing to die.--D.L."</p> +<p>"<i>May</i> 19, 1862.--Vividly do I remember my first passage +down in 1856, passing Shupanga house without landing, and looking +at its red hills and white vales with the impression that it was a +beautiful spot. No suspicion glanced across my mind that there my +loving wife would be called to give up the ghost six years +afterward. In some other spot I may have looked at, my own +resting-place may be allotted. I have often wished that it might be +in some far-off still deep forest, where I may sleep sweetly till +the resurrection morn, when the trump of God will make all start up +into the glorious and active second existence.</p> +<p>"25<i>th May</i>.--Some of the histories of pious people in the +last century and previously tell of clouds of religious gloom, or +of paroxysms of opposition and fierce rebellion against God, which +found vent in terrible expressions. These were followed by great +elevations of faith, and reactions of confiding love, the results +of divine influence which carried the soul far above the region of +the intellect into that of direct spiritual intuition. This seems +to have been the experience of my dear Mary. She had a strong +presentiment of death being near. She said that she would never +have a house in this country. Taking it to be despondency alone, I +only joked, and now my heart smites me that I did not talk +seriously on that and many things besides.</p> +<p>"31<i>st May</i>, 1862.--The loss of my ever dear Mary lies like +a heavy weight on my heart. In our intercourse in private there was +more than what would be thought by some a decorous amount of +merriment and play. I said to her a few days before her fatal +illness: 'We old bodies ought now to be more sober, and not play so +much.' 'Oh, no,' said she,' you must always be as playful as you +have always been; I would not like you to be as grave as some folks +I have seen.' This, when I know her prayer was that she might be +spared to be a help and comfort to me in my great work, led me to +feel what I have always believed to be the true way, to let the +head grow wise, but keep the heart always young and playful. She +was ready and anxious to work, but has been called away to serve +God in a higher sphere."</p> +<p>Livingstone could not be idle, even when his heart was broken; +he occupied the days after the death in writing to her father and +mother, to his children, and to many of the friends who would be +interested in the sad news. Among these letters, that to Mrs. +Moffat and her reply from Kuruman have a special interest. His +letters went round by Europe, and the first news reached Kuruman by +traders and newspapers. For a full month after her daughters death, +Mrs. Moffat was giving thanks for the mercy that had spared her to +meet with her husband, and had made her lot so different from that +of Miss Mackenzie and Mrs. Burrup. In a letter, dated 26th May, she +writes to Mary a graphic account of the electrical thrill that +passed through her when she saw David's handwriting--of the beating +heart with which she tried to get the essence of his letter before +she read the lines--of the overwhelming joy and gratitude with +which she learned that they had met--and then the horror of great +darkness that came over her when she read of the tragic death of +the Bishop, to whom she had learned to feel as to a friend and +brother. Then she pours out her tears over the "poor dear ladies, +Miss Mackenzie and Mrs. Burrup," and remembers the similar fate of +the Helmores, who, like the Bishop and his friends, had had it in +their hearts to build a temple to the Lord in Africa, but had not +been permitted. Then comes some family news, especially about her +son Robert, whose sudden death occurred a few days after, and was +another bitter drop in the family cup. And then some motherly +forecastings of her daughter's future, kindly counsel where she +could offer any, and affectionate prayers for the guidance of God +where the future was too dark for her to penetrate.</p> +<p>For a whole month before this letter was written, poor Mary had +been sleeping under the baobab-tree at Shupanga!</p> +<p>In Livingstone's letter to Mrs. Moffat he gives the details of +her illness, and pours his heart out in the same affectionate terms +as in his Journal. He dwells on the many unhappy causes of delay +which had detained them near the mouth of the river, contrary to +all his wishes and arrangements. He is concerned that her deafness +(through quinine) and comatose condition before her death prevented +her from giving him the indications he would have desired +respecting her state of mind in the view of eternity.</p> +<p>"I look," he says, "to her previous experience and life for +comfort, and thank God for his mercy that we have it.... A good +wife and mother was she. God have pity on the children--she was so +much beloved by them.... She was much respected by all the officers +of the 'Gorgon,'--they would do anything for her. When they met +this vessel at Mozambique, Captain Wilson offered his cabin in that +fine large vessel, but she insisted rather that Miss Mackenzie and +Mrs. Burrup should go.... I enjoyed her society during the three +months we were together. It was the Lord who gave and He has taken +away. I wish to say--Blessed be his name. I regret, as there always +are regrets after our loved ones are gone, that the slander which, +unfortunately, reached her ears from missionary gossips and others +had an influence on me in allowing her to come, before we were +fairly on Lake Nyassa. A doctor of divinity said, when her devotion +to her family was praised: 'Oh, she is no good, she is here because +her husband cannot live with her,' The last day will tell another +tale."</p> +<p>To his daughter Agnes he writes, after the account of her death: +"... Dear Nannie, she often thought of you, and when once, from the +violence of the disease, she was delirious, she called out, 'See! +Agnes is falling down a precipice,' May our Heavenly Saviour, who +must be your Father and Guide, preserve you from falling into the +gulf of sin over the precipice of temptation.... Dear Agnes, I feel +alone in the world now, and what will the poor dear baby do without +her mamma? She often spoke of her, and sometimes burst into a flood +of tears, just as I now do in taking up and arranging the things +left by my beloved partner of eighteen years.... I bow to the +Divine hand that chastens me. God grant that I may learn the lesson +He means to teach! All she told you to do she now enforces, as if +beckoning from heaven. Nannie, dear, meet her there. Don't lose the +crown of joy she now wears, and the Lord be gracious to you in all +things. You will now need to act more and more from a feeling of +responsibility to Jesus, seeing He has taken away one of your +guardians. A right straightforward woman was she. No crooked way +ever hers, and she could act with decision and energy when +required. I pity you on receiving this, but it is the Lord.--Your +sorrowing and lonely father."</p> +<p>Letters of the like tenor were written to every intimate friend. +It was a relief to his heart to pour itself out in praise of her +who was gone, and in some cases, when he had told all about the +death, he returns to speak of her life. A letter to Sir Roderick +Murchison gives all the particulars of the illness and its +termination. Then he thinks of the good and gentle Lady +Murchison,--"la spirituelle Lady Murchison," as Humboldt called +her,--and writes to her: "It will somewhat ease my aching heart to +tell you about my dear departed Mary Moffat, the faithful companion +of eighteen years." He tells of her birth at Griqua Town in 1821, +her education in England, their marriage and their love. "At +Kolobeng, she managed all the household affairs by native servants +of her own training, made bread, butter, and all the clothes of the +family; taught her children most carefully; kept also an infant and +sewing school--by far the most popular and best attended we had. It +was a fine sight to see her day by day walking a quarter of a mile +to the town, no matter how broiling hot the sun, to impart +instruction to the heathen Bakwains. Ma-Robert's name is known +through all that country, and 1800 miles beyond.... A brave, good +woman was she. All my hopes of giving her one day a quiet home, for +which we both had many a sore longing, are now dashed to the +ground. She is, I trust, through divine mercy, in peace in the home +of the blest.... She spoke feelingly of your kindness to her, and +also of the kind reception she received from Miss Burdett Coutts. +Please give that lady and Mrs. Brown the sad intelligence of her +death."</p> +<p>The reply of Mrs. Moffat to her son-in-law's letter was touching +and beautiful. "I do thank you for the detail you have given us of +the circumstances of the last days and hours of our lamented and +beloved Mary, our first-born, over whom our fond hearts first beat +with parental affection!" She recounts the mercies that were +mingled with the trial--though Mary could not be called +<i>eminently</i> pious, she had the root of the matter in her, and +though the voyage of her life had been a trying and stormy one, she +had not become a wreck. God had remembered her; had given her +during her last year the counsels of faithful men--referring to her +kind friend and valued counselor, the Rev. Professor Kirk, of +Edinburgh, and the Rev. Dr. Stewart, of Lovedale--and, at last, the +great privilege of dying in the arms of her husband. "As for the +cruel scandal that seems to have hurt you both so much, those who +said it did not know you <i>as a couple</i>. In all <i>our</i> +intercourse with you, we never had a doubt as to your being +comfortable together. I know there are some maudlin ladies who +insinuate, when a man leaves his family frequently, no matter how +noble is his object, that he is not <i>comfortable</i> at home. But +we can afford to smile at this, and say, 'The Day will declare +it.'...</p> +<p>"Now my dear Livingstone, I must conclude by assuring you of the +tender interest we shall ever feel in your operations. It is not +only as the husband of our departed Mary and the father of her +children, but as one who has laid himself out for the emancipation +of this poor wretched continent, and for opening new doors of +entrance for the heralds of salvation (not that I would not have +preferred your remaining in your former capacity). I nevertheless +rejoice in what you are allowed to accomplish. We look anxiously +for more news of you, and my heart bounded when I saw your letters +the other day, thinking they were new. May our gracious God and +Father comfort your sorrowful heart.--Believe me ever your +affectionate mother, "MARY MOFFAT."</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV."></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> +<h3>LAST TWO YEARS OF THE EXPEDITION.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1862-1863.</center> +<p>Livingstone again buckles on his armor--Letter to Waller--Launch +of "Lady Nyassa"--Too late for season--He explores the +Rovuma--Fresh activity of the slave-trade--Letter to Governor of +Mozambique about his discoveries--Letter to Sir Thomas +Maclear--Generous offer of a party of Scotchmen--The Expedition +proceeds up Zambesi with "Lady Nyassa" in tow--Appalling +desolations of Marianne--Tidings of the Mission--Death of +Scudamore--of Dickenson--of Thornton--Illness of Livingstone--Dr. +Kirk and Charles Livingstone go home--He proceeds northward with +Mr. Rae and Mr. E.D. Young of the "Gorgon"--Attempt to carry a boat +over the rapids--Defeated--Recall of the Expedition--Livingstone's +views--Letter to Mr. James Young--to Mr. Waller--Feeling of the +Portuguese Government--Offer to the Rev. Dr. Stewart--Great +discouragements--Why did he not go home?--Proceeds to explore +Nyassa--Risks and sufferings--Occupation of his mind--Natural +History--Obliged to turn back--More desolation--Report of his +murder--Kindness of Chinsamba--Reaches the ship--Letter from Bishop +Tozer, abandoning the Mission--Distress of Livingstone--Letter to +Sir Thomas Maclear--Progress of Dr. +Stewart--Livingstonia--Livingstone takes charge of the children of +the Universities Mission--Letter to his daughter--Retrospect--The +work of the Expedition--Livingstone's plans for the future.</p> +<br> +<p>It could not have been easy for Livingstone to buckle on his +armor anew. How he was able to do it at all may be inferred from +some words of cheer written by him at the time to his friend Mr. +Waller: "Thanks for your kind sympathy. In return, I say, Cherish +exalted thoughts of the great work you have undertaken. It is a +work which, if faithful, you will look back on with satisfaction +while the eternal ages roll on their everlasting course. The devil +will do all he can to hinder you by efforts from without and from +within; but remember Him who is with you, and will be with you +alway."</p> +<p>As soon as he was able to brace himself, he was again at his +post, helping to put the "Lady Nyassa" together and launch her. +This was achieved by the end of June, greatly to the wonder of the +natives, who could not understand how iron should swim. The +"Nyassa" was an excellent steamboat, and could she have been got to +the lake would have done well. But, alas! the rainy season had +passed, and until December this could not be done. Here was another +great disappointment. Meanwhile, Dr. Livingstone resolved to renew +the exploration of the Rovuma, in the hope of finding a way to +Nyassa beyond the dominion of the Portuguese. This was the work in +which he had been engaged at the time when he went with Bishop +Mackenzie to help him to settle.</p> +<p>The voyage up the Rovuma did not lead to much. On one occasion +they were attacked, fiercely and treacherously, by the natives. +Cataracts occurred about 156 miles from the mouth, and the report +was that farther up they were worse. The explorers did not venture +beyond the banks of the rivers, but so far as they saw, the people +were industrious, and the country fertile, and a steamer of light +draft might carry on a very profitable trade among them. But there +was no water-way to Nyassa. The Rovuma came from mountains to the +west, having only a very minute connection with Nyassa. It seemed +that it would be better in the meantime to reach the lake by the +Zambesi and the Shiré, so the party returned. It was not +till the beginning of 1863 that they were able to renew the ascent +of these rivers. Livingstone writes touchingly to Sir Roderick, in +reference to his returning to the Zambesi: "It may seem to some +persons weak to feel a chord vibrating to the dust of her who rests +on the banks of the Zambesi, and think that the path by that river +is consecrated by her remains."</p> +<p>Meanwhile, Dr. Livingstone was busy with his pen. A new energy +had been imparted to him by the appalling facts now fully apparent, +that his discoveries had only stimulated the activity of the +slave-traders, that the Portuguese local authorities really +promoted slave-trading, with its inevitable concomitant +slave-hunting, and that the horror and desolation to which the +country bore such frightful testimony was the result. It seemed as +if the duel he had fought with the Boers when they determined to +close Africa, and he determined to open it, had now to be repeated +with the Portuguese. The attention of Dr. Livingstone is more and +more concentrated on this terrible topic. Dr. Kirk writes to him +that when at Tette he had heard that the Portuguese +Governor-General at Mozambique had instructed his brother, the +Governor of that town, to act on the principle that the +slave-trade, though prohibited on the ocean, was still lawful on +the land, and that any persons interfering with slave-traders, by +liberating their slaves, would be counted robbers. An energetic +despatch to Earl Russell, then Foreign Secretary, calls attention +to this outrage.</p> +<p>A few days after, a strong but polite letter is sent to the +Governor of Tette, calling attention to the forays of a man named +Belshore, in the Chibisa country, and entreating him to stop them. +About the same time he writes to the Governor-General of Mozambique +in reply to a paper by the Viscount de Sa da Bandeira, published in +the Almanac by the Government press, in which the common charge was +made against him of arrogating to himself the glory of discoveries +which belonged to Senhor Candido and other Portuguese. He affirms +that before publishing his book he examined all Portuguese books of +travels he could find; that he had actually shown Senhor Candido to +have been a discoverer before any Portuguese hinted that he was +such; that the lake which Candido spoke of as northwest of Tette +could not be Nyassa, which was northeast of it; that he did full +justice to all the Portuguese explorers, and that what he claimed +as own discoveries were certainly not the discoveries of the +Portuguese. A few days after, he writes to Mr. Layard, then our +Portuguese Minister, and comments on the map published by the +Viscount as representing Portuguese geography,--pointing out such +blunders as that which made the Zambesi enter the sea at Quilimane, +proving that by their map the Portuguese claimed territory that was +certainly not theirs; adverting to their utter ignorance of the +Victoria Falls, the most remarkable phenomenon in Africa; affirming +that many so-called discoveries were mere vague rumors, heard by +travelers; and showing the use that had been made of his own maps, +the names being changed to suit the Portuguese orthography.</p> +<p>Livingstone had the satisfaction of knowing that his account of +the trip to Lake Nyassa had excited much interest in the Cabinet at +home, and that a strong remonstrance had been addressed to the +Portuguese Government against slave-hunting. But it does not appear +that this led to any improvement at the time.</p> +<p>While stung into more than ordinary energy by the atrocious +deeds he witnessed around him, Livingstone was living near the +borders of the unseen world. He writes to Sir Thomas Maclear on the +27th October, 1862:</p> +<blockquote>"I suppose that I shall die in these uplands, and +somebody will carry, out the plan I have longed to put into +practice. I have been thinking a great deal since the departure of +my beloved one about the regions whither she has gone, and imagine +from the manner the Bible describes it we have got too much monkery +in our ideas. There will be work there as well as here, and +possibly not such a vast difference in our being as is expected. +But a short time there will give more insight than a thousand +musings. We shall see Him by whose inexpressible love and mercy we +get there, and all whom we loved, and all the lovable. I can +sympathize with you now more fully than I did before. I work with +as much vigor as I can; and mean to do so till the change comes; +but his prospect of a home is all dispelled."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In one of his despatches to Lord Russell, Livingstone reports an +offer that had been made by a party consisting of an Englishman and +five Scotch working men at the Cape, which must have been extremely +gratifying to him, and served to deepen his conviction that sooner +or later his plan of colonization would certainly be carried into +effect. The leader of the party, John Jehan, formerly of the London +City Mission, in reading Dr. Livingstone's book, became convinced +that if a few mechanics could be induced to take a journey of +exploration it would prove very useful. His views being +communicated to five other young men (two masons, two carpenters, +one smith), they formed themselves into a company in July, 1861, +and had been working together, throwing their earnings into a +common fund, and now they had arms, two wagons, two spans of oxen, +and means of procuring outfits. In September, 1862, they were ready +to start from Aliwal in South Africa <a name= +"FNanchor66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66">[66]</a>.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_66"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor66">[66]</a> The recall of Livingstone's Expedition and +the removal of the Universities Mission seem to have knocked this +most promising scheme on the head. Writing of it to Sir Roderick +Murchison on the 14th December, 1862, he says: "I like the +Scotchmen, and think them much better adapted for our plans than +those on whom the Universities Mission has lighted. If employed as +I shall wish them to be in trade, and setting an example of +industry in cotton or coffee planting, I think they are just the +men I need brought to my band. Don't you think this +sensible?"</blockquote> +<p>After going to Johanna for provisions, and to discharge the crew +of Johanna men whose term of service had expired, the Expedition +returned to Tette. On the 10th January, 1863, they steamed off with +the "Lady Nyassa" in tow. The desolation that had been caused by +Marianno, the Portuguese slave-agent, was heart-breaking. Corpses +floated past them. In the morning the paddles had to be cleared of +corpses caught by the floats during the night. Livingstone summed +up his impressions in one terrible sentence:</p> +<p>"Wherever we took a walk, human skeletons were seen in every +direction, and it was painfully interesting to observe the +different postures in which the poor wretches had breathed their +last. A whole heap had been thrown down a slope behind a village, +where the fugitives often crossed the river from the east; and in +one hut of the same village no fewer than twenty drums had been +collected, probably the ferryman's fees. Many had ended their +misery under shady trees, others under projecting crags in the +hills, while others lay in their huts with closed doors, which when +opened disclosed the mouldering corpse with the poor rags round the +loins, the skull fallen off the pillow, the little skeleton of the +child, that had perished first, rolled up in a mat between two +large skeletons. The sight of this desert, but eighteen months ago +a well-peopled valley, now literally strewn with human bones, +forced the conviction upon us that the destruction of human life in +the middle passage, however great, constitutes but a small portion +of the waste, and made us feel that unless the slave-trade--that +monster iniquity which has so long brooded over Africa--is put +down, lawful commerce cannot be established."</p> +<p>In passing up, Livingstone's heart was saddened as he visited +the Bishop's grave, and still more by the tidings which he got of +the Mission, which had now removed from Magomero to the low lands +of Chibisa. Some time before, Mr. Scudamore, a man greatly beloved, +had succumbed, and now Mr. Dickenson was added to the number of +victims. Mr. Thornton, too, who left the Expedition in 1859, but +returned to it, died under an attack of fever, consequent on too +violent exertion undertaken in order to be of service to the +Mission party. Dr. Kirk and Mr. C. Livingstone were so much reduced +by illness that it was deemed necessary for them to return to +England. Livingstone himself had a most serious attack of fever, +which lasted all the month of May, Dr. Kirk remaining with him till +he got over it. When his brother and Dr. Kirk left, the only +Europeans remaining with him were Mr. Rae, the ship's engineer, and +Mr. Edward D. Young, formerly of the "Gorgon," who had volunteered +to join the Expedition, and whose after services, both in the +search for Livingstone and in establishing the mission of +Livingstonia, were so valuable. On the noble spirit shown by +Livingstone in remaining in the country after all his early +companions had left, and amid such appalling scenes as everywhere +met him, we do not need to dwell.</p> +<p>Here are glimpses of the inner heart of Livingstone about this +time:</p> +<blockquote>"1<i>st March</i>, 1863.--I feel very often that I have +not long to live, and say, 'My dear children, I leave you. Be manly +Christians, and never do a mean thing. Be honest to men, and to the +Almighty One.'"<br> +<br> +"10<i>th April</i>.--Reached the Cataracts. Very thankful indeed +after our three months' toil from Shupanga."<br> +<br> +"27<i>th April</i>.--On this day twelvemonths my beloved Mary +Moffat was removed from me by death.<br> +<br> +<blockquote>'If I can, I'll come again, mother, from out my +resting-place;<br> +Though you'll not see me, mother, I shall look upon your face;<br> +Though I cannot speak a word, I shall hearken what you say,<br> +And be often, often with you when you think I'm far away.'<br> +<br> +"TENNYSON."</blockquote> +</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The "Lady Nyassa" being taken to pieces, the party began to +construct a road over the thirty-five or forty miles of the rapids, +in order to convey the steamer to the lake. After a few miles of +the road had been completed, it was thought desirable to ascertain +whether the boat left near the lake two years before was fit for +service, so as to avoid the necessity of carrying another boat past +the rapids. On reaching it the boat was found to have been burnt. +The party therefore returned to carry up another. They had got to +the very last rapid, and had placed the boat for a short space in +the water, when, through the carelessness of five Zambesi men, she +was overturned, and away she went like an arrow down the rapids. To +keep calm under such a crowning disappointment must have I taxed +Livingstone's self-control to the very utmost.</p> +<p>It was now that he received a despatch from Earl Russell +intimating that the Expedition was recalled. This, though a great +disappointment, was not altogether a surprise. On the 24th April he +had written to Mr. Waller "I should not wonder in the least to be +recalled, for should the Portuguese persist in keeping the rivers +shut, there would be no use in trying to develop trade," He states +his views on the recall calmly in a letter to Mr. James Young:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Murchison Cataracts</i>, 3<i>d July</i>, 1863.--... +Got instructions for our recall yesterday, at which I do not +wonder. The Government has behaved well to us throughout, and I +feel abundantly thankful to H.M.'s ministers for enabling me so far +to carry on the experiment of turning the industrial and trading +propensities of the natives to good account, with a view of thereby +eradicating the trade in slaves. But the Portuguese dogged our +footsteps, and, as is generally understood, with the approbation of +their Home Government, neutralized our labors. Not that the +Portuguese statesmen approved of slaving, but being enormously +jealous lest their pretended dominion from sea to sea and elsewhere +should in the least degree, now or any future time, become aught +else than a slave 'preserve,' the Governors have been instructed, +and have carried out their instructions further than their +employers intended. Major Sicard was removed from Tette as too +friendly, and his successor had emmissaries in the Ajawa camp. +Well, he saw their policy, and regretted that they should be +allowed to follow us into perfectly new regions. The regret was the +more poignant, inasmuch as but for our entering in by gentleness, +they durst not have gone. No Portuguese dared, for instance, to +come up this Shiré Valley; but after our dispelling the fear +of the natives by fair treatment, they came in calling themselves +our 'children.' The whole thing culminated when this quarter was +inundated with Tette slavers, whose operations, with a marauding +tribe of Ajawas, and a drought, completely depopulated the country. +The sight of this made me conclude that unless something could be +done to prevent these raids, and take off their foolish +obstructions on the rivers, which they never use, our work in this +region was at an end.... Please the Supreme, I shall work some +other point yet. In leaving, it is bitter to see some 900 miles of +coast abandoned to those who were the first to begin the +slave-trade, and seem determined to be the last to abandon +it."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Writing to Mr. Waller at this time he said: "I don't know +whether I am to go on the shelf or not. If I do, I make Africa the +shelf. If the 'Lady Nyassa' is well sold, I shall manage. There is +a Ruler above, and his providence guides all things. He is our +Friend, and has plenty of work for all his people to do. Don't fear +of being left idle, if willing to work for Him. I am glad to her of +Alington. If the work is of God it will came out all right at last. +To Him shall be given of the gold of Sheba, and daily shall He be +praised. I always think it was such a blessing and privilege to be +led into his work instead of into the service of the hard +taskmasters--the Devil and Sin."</p> +<p>The reason assigned by Earl Russell for the recall of the +Expedition were, that, not through any fault of Dr. Livingstone's, +it had not accomplished the objects for which it had been designed, +and that it had proved much more costly than was originally +expected. Probably the Government felt likewise that their +remonstrances with the Portuguese Government were unavailing, and +that their relations were becoming too uncomfortable. Even among +those most friendly to Dr. Livingstone's great aim, and most +opposed to the slave-trade, and to the Portuguese policy in Africa, +there were some who doubted whether his proposed methods of +procedure were quite consistent with the rights of the Portuguese +Government. His Royal Highness the Prince-Consort indicated some +feeling of this kind in his interview with Livingstone in 1857. He +expressed the feeling more strongly when he declined the request, +made to him through Professor Sedgwick of Cambridge, that he would +allow himself to be Patron of the Universities Mission. Dr. +Livingstone knew well that from that exalted quarter his plans +would receive no active support. That he should have obtained the +support he did from successive Governments and successive Foreign +Secretaries, Liberal and Conservative, was a great gratification, +if not something of a surprise. Hence the calmness with which he +received the intelligence of the recall. Toward the Portuguese +Government his feelings were not very sweet. On them lay the guilt +of arresting a work that would have conferred untold blessing on +Africa. He determined to make this known very clearly when he +should return to England. At a future period of his life, he +purposed, if spared, to go more fully into the reasons of his +recall. Meanwhile, his course was simply to acquiesce in the +resolution of the British Government.</p> +<p>It was unfortunate that the recall took place before he had been +able to carry into effect his favorite scheme of placing a steamer +on Lake Nyassa; nor could he do this now, although the vessel on +which he had spent half his fortune lay at the Murchison Cataracts. +He had always cherished the hope that the Government would repay +him at least a part of the outlay, which, instead of £3000, +as he had intended, had mounted up to £6000. He had very +generously told Dr. Stewart that if this should be done, and if he +should be willing to return from Scotland to labor on the shores of +Nyassa, he would pay him his expenses out, and £150 yearly, +so anxious was he that he should begin the work. On the recall of +the Expedition, without any allowance for the ship, or even mention +of it, all these expectations and intentions came abruptly to an +end.</p> +<p>At no previous time had Dr. Livingstone been under greater +discouragements than now. The Expedition had been recalled; his +heart had not recovered from the desolation caused by the death of +the Bishop and his brethren, as well as the Helmores in the +Makololo country, and still more by the removal of Mrs. +Livingstone, and the thought of his motherless children; the most +heart-rending scenes had been witnessed everywhere in regions that +a short time ago had been so bright; all his efforts to do good had +been turned to evil, every new path he had opened having been +seized as it were by the devil and turned to the most diabolical +ends; his countrymen were nearly all away from him; the most +depressing of diseases had produced its natural effect; he had had +worries, delays, and disappointments about ships and boats of the +most harrassing kind; and now the "Lady Nyassa" could not be +floated in the waters of which he had fondly hoped to see her the +angel and the queen. It is hardly possible to exaggerate the noble +quality of the heart that, undeterred by all these troubles, +resolved to take this last chance of exploring the banks of Nyassa, +although it could only be by the weary process of trudge, trudge, +trudging; although hunger, if not starvation, blocked the path, and +fever and dysentery flitted around it like imps of darkness; +although tribes, demoralized by the slave-trade, might at any +moment put an end to him and his enterprise;--not to speak of the +ordinary risks of travel, the difficulty of finding guides, the +liability to bodily hurt, the scarcity of food, the perils from +wild beasts by night Und by day,--risks which no ordinary traveler +could think of lightly, but which in Livingstone's journeys drop +out of sight, because they are so overtopped and dwarfed by risks +that ordinary travelers never know.</p> +<p>Why did not Livingstone go home? A single sentence in a letter +to Mr. Waller, while the recall was only in contemplation, +explains: "In my case, duty would not lead me home, and home +therefore I would not go." Away then goes Livingstone, accompanied +by the steward of the "Pioneer" and a handful of native servants +(Mr. Young being left in charge of the vessel), to get to the +northern end of the lake, and ascertain whether any large river +flowed into it from the west, and if possible to visit Lake Moero, +of which he had heard, lying a considerable way to the west. For +the first time in his travels he carried some bottles of wine,--a +present from the missionaries Waller and Alington; for water had +hitherto been his only drink, with a little hot coffee in the +mornings to warm the stomach and ward off the feeling of sinking. +At one time the two white men are lost three days in the woods, +without food or the means of purchasing it; but some poor natives +out of their poverty show them kindness. At another they can +procure no guides, though the country is difficult and the way +intersected by deep gullies that can only be scaled at certain +known parts; anon they are taken for slave-dealers, and make a +narrow escape of a night attack. Another time, the cries of +children remind Livingstone of his own home and family, where the +very same tones of sorrow had often been heard; the thought brought +its own pang, only he could feel thankful that in the case of his +children the woes of the slave-trade would never be added to the +ordinary sorrows of childhood. Then he would enjoy the joyous laugh +of some Manganja women, and think of the good influence of a merry +heart, and remember that whenever he had observed a chief with a +joyous twinkle of the eye accompanying his laugh, he had always set +him down as a good fellow, and had never been disappointed in him +afterward. Then he would cheer his monotony by making some +researches into the origin of civilization, coming to the clear +conclusion that born savages must die out, because they could +devise no means of living through disease. By and by he would +examine the Arab character, and find Mahometanism as it now is in +Africa worse than African heathenism, and remark on the callousness +of the Mahometans to the welfare of one another, and on the +especial glory of Christianity, the only religion that seeks to +propagate itself, and through the influence of love share its +blessings with others. Anon he would dwell on the primitive African +faith; its recognition of one Almighty Creator, its moral code, so +like our own, save in the one article of polygamy; its pious +recognition of a future life, though the element of punishment is +not very conspicuous; its mild character generally, notwithstanding +the bloodthirstiness sometimes ascribed to it, which, however, +Livingstone held to be, at Dahomey for example, purely +exceptional.</p> +<p>Another subject that occupied him was the natural history of the +country. He would account for desert tracts like Kalahari by the +fact that the east and southeast winds, laden with moisture from +the Indian Ocean, get cooled over the coast ranges of mountains, +and having discharged their vapor there had no spare moisture to +deposit over the regions that for want of it became deserts. The +geology of Southern Africa was peculiar; the geographical series +described in books was not to be found here, for, as Sir Roderick +Murchison had shown, the great submarine depressions and elevations +that had so greatly affected the other continents during the +secondary, tertiary, and more recent periods, had not affected +Africa. It had preserved its terrestrial conditions during a long +period, unaffected by any changes save those dependent on +atmospheric influences. There was also a peculiarity in prehistoric +Africa--it had no stone period; at least no flint weapons had been +found, and the familiarity and skill of the natives with the +manufacture of iron seemed to indicate that they had used iron +weapons from the first.</p> +<p>The travelers had got as far as the river Loangwa (of Nyassa), +when a halt had to be called. Some of the natives had been ill, and +indeed one had died in the comparatively cold climate of the +highlands. But nothing would have hindered Livingstone from working +his way round the head of the lake if only time had been on his +side. But time was inexorably against him; the orders from +Government were strict. He must get the "Pioneer" down to the sea +while the river was in flood. A month or six weeks would have +enabled him to finish his researches, but he could not run the +risk. It would have been otherwise had he foreseen that when he got +to the ship he would be detained two months waiting for the rising +of the river. On their way back, they took a nearer cut, but found +the villages all deserted. The reeds along the banks of the lake +were crowded with fugitives. "In passing mile after mile, marked +with the sad proofs that 'man's inhumanity to man makes countless +thousands mourn,' one experiences an overpowering sense of +helplessness to alleviate human woe, and breathes a silent prayer +to the Almighty to hasten the good time coming when 'man to man, +the world o'er, shall brothers be for all that.'" Near a village +called Bangwé they were pursued by a body of Mazitu, who +retired when they came within ear-shot. This little adventure +seemed to give rise to the report that Dr. Livingstone had been +murdered by the Makololo, which reached England, and created no +small alarm. Referring to the report in his jocular way, in a +letter to his friend Mr. Fitch, he says, "A report of my having +been murdered at the lake has been very industriously circulated by +the Portuguese. Don't become so pale on getting a letter from a +dead man."</p> +<p>Reaching the stockade of Chinsamba in Mosapo, they were much +pleased with that chief's kindness. Dr. Livingstone followed his +usual method, and gained his usual influence. "When a chief has +made any inquiries of us, we have found that we gave most +satisfaction in our answers when we tried to fancy ourselves in the +position of the interrogator, and him that of a poor uneducated +fellow-countryman in England. The polite, respectful way of +speaking, and behavior of what we call 'a thorough gentleman,' +almost always secures the friendship and good-will of the +Africans."</p> +<p>On 1st November, 1863, the party reached the ship, and found all +well. Here, as has been said, two months had to be spent waiting +for the flood, to Dr. Livingstone's intense chagrin.</p> +<p>While waiting here he received a letter from Bishop Tozer, the +successor of Bishop Mackenzie, informing him that he had resolved +to abandon the Mission on the continent and transfer operations to +Zanzibar. Dr. Livingstone had very sincerely welcomed the new +Bishop, and at first liked him, and thought that his caution would +lead to good results. Indeed, when he saw that his own scheme was +destroyed by the Portuguese, he had great hopes that what he had +been defeated in, the Mission would accomplish. Some time before, +his hopes had begun to wane, and now the news conveyed in Bishop +Tozer's letter was their death-blow. In his reply he implored the +Bishop to reconsider the matter. After urging strongly some +considerations bearing on the duty of missionaries, the reputation +of Englishmen, and the impression likely to be made on the native +mind, he concluded thus: "I hope, dear Bishop, you will not deem me +guilty of impertinence in thus writing to you with a sore heart. I +see that if you go, the last ray of hope for this wretched, +trodden-down people disappears, and I again from the bottom of my +heart entreat you to reconsider the matter, and may the All-wise +One guide to that decision which will be most for his glory."</p> +<p>And thus, for Livingstone's life-time, ended the Universities +Mission to Central Africa, with all the hopes which its bright dawn +had inspired, that the great Church of England would bend its +strength against the curse of Africa, and sweep it from the face of +the earth. Writing to Sir Thomas Maclear, he said that he felt this +much more than his own recall. He could hardly write of it; he was +more inclined "to sit down and cry." No mission had ever had such +bright prospects; notwithstanding all that had been said against +it, he stood by the climate as firmly as ever, and if he were only +young, he would go himself and plant the gospel there. It would be +done one day without fail, though he might not live to see it.</p> +<p>As usual, Livingstone found himself blamed for the removal of +the Mission. The Makololo had behaved badly, and they were +Livingstone's people. "Isn't it interesting," he writes to Mr. +Moore, "to get blamed for everything? But I must be thankful in +feeling that I would rather perish than blame another for my +misdeeds and deficiencies."</p> +<p>We have lost sight of Dr. Stewart and the projected mission of +the Free Church of Scotland. As Dr. Livingstone's arrangements did +not admit of his accompanying Dr. Stewart up the Shiré, he +set out alone, falling in afterward with the Rev. Mr. Scudamore, a +member, and as we have already said ultimately a martyr, of the +Universities Mission. The report which Dr. Stewart made of the +prospects of a mission was that, owing to the disturbed state of +the country, no immediate action could be taken. Livingstone seemed +to think him hasty in this conclusion. The scheme continued to be +ardently cherished, and some ten or twelve years after--in 1874--in +the formation of the "Livingstonia" mission and colony, a most +promising and practical step was taken toward the fulfillment of +Dr. Livingstone's views. Dr. Stewart has proved one of the best +friends and noblest workers for African regeneration both at +Lovedale and Livingstonia--a strong man on whom other men may lean, +with his whole heart in the cause of Africa.</p> +<p>In the breaking up of the Universities Mission, it was necessary +that some arrangement should be made on behalf of about thirty boys +and a few helpless old persons and others, a portion of the rescued +slaves, who had been taken under the charge of the Mission, and +could not be abandoned. The fear of the Portuguese seemed likely to +lead to their being left behind. But Livingstone could not bear the +idea. He thought it would be highly discreditable to the good name +of England, and an affront to the memory of Bishop Mackenzie, to +"repudiate" his act in taking them under his protection. Therefore, +when Bishop Tozer would not accept the charge, he himself took them +in hand, giving orders to Mr. E.D. Young (as he says in his +Journal), "in the event of any Portuguese interfering with them in +his absence, to pitch him over-board!" Through his influence +arrangements were made, as we shall see, for conveying them to the +Cape. Mr. R.M. Ballantyne, in his <i>Six Months at the Cape</i>, +tells us that he found, some years afterward, among the most +efficient teachers in St. George's Orphanage, Cape Town, one of +these black girls, named Dauma, whom Bishop Mackenzie had +personally rescued and carried on his shoulders, and whom +Livingstone now rescued a second time.</p> +<p>Livingstone's plan for himself was to sail to Bombay in the +"Lady Nyassa," and endeavor to sell her there, before returning +home. The Portuguese would have liked to get her, to employ her as +a slaver--"But," he wrote to his daughter (10th August, 1863), "I +would rather see her go down to the depths of the Indian Ocean than +that. We have not been able to do all that we intended for this +country, owing to the jealousy and slave-hunting of the Portuguese. +They have hindered us effectually by sweeping away the population +into slavery. Thousands have perished, and wherever we go human +skeletons appear. I suppose that our Government could not prevail +on the Portuguese to put a stop to this; so we are recalled. I am +only sorry that we ever began near these slavers, but the great men +of Portugal professed so loudly their eager desire to help us (and +in the case of the late King I think there was sincerity), that I +believed them, and now find out that it was all for show in +Europe.... If missions were established as we hoped, I should still +hope for good being done to this land, but the new Bishop had to +pay fourpence for every pound weight of calico he bought, and +calico is as much currency here as money is in Glasgow. It looks as +if they wished to prohibit any one else coming, and, unfortunately, +Bishop Tozer, a good man enough, lacks courage.... What a mission +it would be if there were no difficulties--nothing but walking +about in slippers made by admiring young ladies! Hey! that would +not suit me. It would give me the doldrums; but there are many +tastes in the world."</p> +<p>Looking back on the work of the last six years, while deeply +grieved that the great object of the Expedition had not been +achieved, Dr. Livingstone was able to point to some important +results:</p> +<p>1. The discovery of the Kongone harbor, and the ascertaining of +the condition of the Zambesi River, and its fitness for +navigation.</p> +<p>2. The ascertaining of the capacity of the soil. It was found to +be admirably adapted for indigo and cotton, as well as tobacco, +castor-oil, and sugar. Its great fertility was shown by its +gigantic grasses, and abundant crops of corn and maize. The +highlands were free from tsetse and mosquitoes. The drawback to all +this was the occurrence of periodical droughts, once every few +years.</p> +<p>But every fine feature of the country was bathed in gloom by the +slave-trade. The image left in Dr. Livingstone's mind was not that +of the rich, sunny, luxuriant country, but that of the woe and +wretchedness of the people. The real service of the Expedition was, +that it had exposed slavery at its fountain-head, and in all its +phases. First, there was the internal slave-trade between hostile +native tribes. Then, there were the slave-traders from the coast, +Arabs, or half-caste Portuguese, for whom natives were encouraged +to collect slaves by all the horrible means of marauding and +murder. And further, there were the parties sent out from +Portuguese and Arab coast towns, with cloth and beads, muskets and +ammunition. The destructive and murderous effects of the last were +the climax of the system.</p> +<p>Dr. Livingstone had seen nothing to make him regard the African +as of a different species from the rest of the human family. Nor +was he the lowest of the species. He had a strong frame and a +wonderfully persistent vitality, was free from many European +diseases, and could withstand privations with wonderful +light-heartedness.</p> +<p>He did not deem it necessary formally to answer a question +sometimes put, whether the African had enough of intellect to +receive Christianity. The reception of Christianity did not depend +on intellect. It depended, as Sir James Stephen had remarked, on a +spiritual intuition, which was not the fruit of intellectual +culture. But, in fact, the success of missions on the West Coast +showed that not only could the African be converted to +Christianity, but that Christianity might take root and be +cordially supported by the African race.</p> +<p>It was the accursed slave-trade, promoted by the Portuguese, +that had frustrated everything. For some time to come his efforts +and his prayers must be directed to getting influential men to see +to this, so that one way or other the trade might be abolished +forever. The hope of obtaining access to the heart of Africa by +another route than that through the Portuguese settlements was +still in Livingstone's heart. He would go home, but only for a few +months; at the earliest possible moment he would return to look for +a new route to the interior.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI."></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> +<h3>QUILIMANE TO BOMBAY AND ENGLAND.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1864.</center> +<p>Livingstone returns the "Pioneer" to the Navy, and is to sail in +the "Nyassa" to Bombay--Terrific circular storm--Imminent peril of +the "Nyassa"--He reaches Mozambique--Letter to his +daughter--Proceeds to Zanzibar--His engineer leaves him--Scanty +crew of "Nyassa"--Livingstone captain and engineer--Peril of the +voyage of 2500 miles--Risk of the monsoons--The "Nyassa" +becalmed--Illness of the men--Remarks on African +travel--Flying-fish--Dolphins--Curiosities of his Journal--Idea of +a colony--Furious squall--Two sea-serpents seen--More squalls--The +"Nyassa" enters Bombay harbor--Is unnoticed--First visit from +officers with Custom-house schedules--How filled up--Attention of +Sir Bartle Frere and others--Livingstone goes with the Governor to +Dapuri--His feelings on landing in India--Letter to Sir Thomas +Maclear--He visits mission-schools, etc., at Poonah--Slaving in +Persian Gulf--Returns to Bombay--Leaves two boys with Dr. +Wilson--Borrows passage-money and sails for England--At Aden--At +Alexandria--Reaches Charing Cross--Encouragement derived from his +Bombay visit--Two projects contemplated on his way home.</p> +<br> +<p>On reaching the mouth of the Zambesi, Dr. Livingstone was +fortunate in falling in, on the 13th February, with H.M.S. +"Orestes," which was joined on the 14th by the "Ariel." The +"Orestes" took the "Pioneer" in tow, and the "Ariel" the "Lady +Nyassa," and brought them to Mozambique. The day after they set +out, a circular storm passed over them, raging with the utmost +fury, and creating the greatest danger. Often as Dr. Livingstone +had been near the gates of death, he was never nearer than now. He +had been offered a passage on board the "Ariel," but while there +was danger he would not leave the "Lady Nyassa." Had the latter not +been an excellent sea-ship she could not have survived the tempest; +all the greater was Dr. Livingstone's grief that she had never +reached the lake for which she was adapted so well.</p> +<p>Writing to his daughter Agnes from Mozambique, he gives a very +graphic account of the storm, after telling her the manner of their +leaving the Zambesi:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Mozambique</i>, 24<i>th Feb.</i>, 1864.--When our +patience had been well nigh exhausted the river rose and we steamed +gladly down the Shiré on the 19th of last month. An accident +detained us some time, but on the 1st February we were close by +Morumbala, where the Bishop [Tozer] passed a short time before +bolting out of the country. I took two members of the Mission away +in the 'Pioneer,' and thirteen women and children, whom having +liberated we did not like to leave to become the certain prey of +slavers again. The Bishop left twenty-five boys, too, and these +also I took with me, hoping to get them conveyed to the Cape, where +I trust they may become acquainted with our holy religion. We had +thus quite a swarm on board, all very glad to get away from a land +of slaves. There were many more liberated, but we took only the +helpless and those very anxious to be free and with English people. +Those who could cultivate the soil we encouraged to do so, and left +up the river. Only one boy was unwilling to go, and he was taken by +the Bishop. It is a great pity that the Bishop withdrew the +Mission, for he had a noble chance of doing great things. The +captives would have formed a fine school, and as they had no +parents he could have educated them as he liked.<br> +<br> +"When we reached the sea-coast at Luabo we met a man-of-war, H.M.S. +'Orestes.' I went to her with 'Pioneer,' and sent 'Lady Nyassa' +round by inland canal to Kongone. Next day I went into Kongone in +'Pioneer'; took our things out of her, and handed her over to the +officers of the 'Orestes.' Then H.M.S 'Ariel' came and took +'Nyassa' in tow, 'Orestes' having 'Pioneer.' Captain Chapman of +'Ariel' very kindly invited me on board to save me from the +knocking about of the 'Lady Nyassa,' but I did not like to leave so +long as there was any danger, and accepted his invitation for Mr. +Waller, who was dreadfully sea-sick. On 15th we were caught by a +hurricane which whirled the 'Ariel' right round. Her sails, quickly +put to rights, were again backed so that the ship was driven +backward and a hawser wound itself round her screw, so as to stop +the engines. By this time she was turned so as to be looking right +across 'Lady Nyassa,' and the wind alone propelling her as if to go +over the little vessel. I saw no hope of escape except by catching +a rope's-end of the big ship as she passed over us, but by God's +goodness she glided past, and we felt free to breathe. That night +it blew a furious gale. The captain offered to lower a boat if I +would come to the 'Ariel,' but it would have endangered all in the +boat: the waves dashed so hard against the sides of the vessel, it +might have been swamped, and my going away would have taken heart +out of those that remained. We then passed a terrible night, but +the 'Lady Nyassa' did wonderfully well, rising like a little duck +over the foaming billows. She took in spray alone, and no green +water. The man-of-war's people expected that she would go down, and +it was wonderful to see how well she did when the big man-of-war, +only about 200 feet off, plunged so as to show a large portion of +copper oh her bottom, then down behind so as to have the sea level +with the top of her bulwarks. A boat hung at that level was +smashed. If we had gone down we could not have been helped in the +least--pitch dark, and wind whistling above; the black folks, 'ane +bocking here, another there,' and wanting us to go to the 'bank.' +On 18th the weather moderated, and, the captain repeating his very +kind offer, I went on board with a good conscience, and even then +the boat got damaged. I was hoisted up in it, and got rested in +what was quite a steady ship as compared with the 'Lady Nyassa.' +The 'Ariel' was three days cutting off the hawser, though nine feet +under water, the men diving and cutting it with immensely long +chisels. On the 19th we spoke to a Liverpool ship, requesting the +captain to report me alive, a silly report having been circulated +by the Portuguese that I had been killed at Lake Nyassa, and on the +24th we entered Mozambique harbor, very thankful for our kind and +merciful preservation. The 'Orestes' has not arrived with the +'Pioneer,' though she is a much more powerful vessel than the +'Ariel.' Here we have a fort, built in 1500, and said to be of +stones brought from Lisbon. It is a square massive-looking +structure. The town adjacent is Arab in appearance. The houses +flat-roofed and colored white, pink, and yellow; streets narrow, +with plenty of slaves on them. It is on an island, the mainland on +the north being about a mile off."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The "Pioneer" was delivered over to the Navy, being Her +Majesty's property, and proceeded to the Cape with the "Valorous," +Mr. Waller being on board with a portion of the mission flock. Of +Mr. Waller (subsequently editor of the <i>Last Journals</i>) Dr. +Livingstone remarked that "he continued his generous services to +all connected with the Mission, whether white or black, till they +were no longer needed; his conduct to them throughout was truly +noble, and worthy of the highest praise."</p> +<p>After remaining some weeks at Mozambique for thorough repairs, +the "Lady Nyassa" left on 16th April for Johanna and Zanzibar. She +was unable to touch at the former place, and reached Zanzibar on +the 24th. Offers were made for her there, which might have led to +her being sold, but her owner did not think them sufficient, and in +point of fact, he could not make up his mind to part with her. He +clung to the hope that she might yet be useful, and to sell her +seemed equivalent to abandon all hope of carrying out his +philanthropic schemes. At all events, till he should consult Mr. +Young he would not sell her at such a sacrifice. At Zanzibar he +found that a naval gentleman, who had been lately there, had not +spoken of him in the most complimentary terms. But it had not hurt +him with his best friends. "Indeed, I find that evil-speaking +against me has, by the good providence of my God, turned rather to +my benefit. I got two of my best friends by being spoken ill of, +for they found me so different from what they had been led to +expect that they befriended me more than they otherwise would have +done. It is the good hand of Him who has all in his power that +influences other hearts to show me kindness."</p> +<p>The only available plan now was to cross the Indian Ocean for +Bombay, or possibly Aden, in the "Nyassa" and leave the ship there +till he should make a run home, consult with his friends as to the +future, and find means for the prosecution of his work. At Zanzibar +a new difficulty arose. Mr. Rae, the engineer, who had now been +with him for many years, and with whom, despite his peculiarities, +he got on very well, signified his intention of leaving him. He had +the offer of a good situation, and wished to accept of it. He was +not without compunctions at leaving his friend in the lurch, and +told Livingstone that if he had had no offer for the ship he would +have gone with him, but as he had declined the offer made to him, +he did not feel under obligation to do so. Livingstone was too +generous to press him to remain. It was impossible to supply Mr. +Rae's place, and if anything should go wrong with the engines, what +was to be done? The entire crew of the vessel consisted of four +Europeans; namely, Dr. Livingstone--"skipper," one stoker, one +carpenter, and one sailor; seven native Zambesians, who, till they +volunteered, had never seen the sea, and two boys, one of whom was +Chuma, afterward his attendant on the last journey. With this +somewhat sorry complement, and fourteen tons of coal, Dr. +Livingstone set out on 30th April, on a voyage of 2500 miles, over +an ocean which he had never crossed.</p> +<p>It was a very perilous enterprise, for he was informed that the +breaking of the monsoon occurred at the end of May or the beginning +of June. This, as he came to think, was too early; but in any case, +he would come very near the dangerous time. As he wrote to one of +his friends, he felt jammed into a corner, and what could he do? He +believed from the best information he could get that he would reach +Bombay in eighteen days. Had any one told him that he would be +forty-five days at sea, and that for twenty-five of these his ship +would be becalmed, and even when she had a favorable wind would not +sail fast, even he would have looked pale at the thought of what +was before him. The voyage was certainly a memorable one, and has +only escaped fame by the still greater wonders performed by +Livingstone on land.</p> +<p>On the first day of the voyage, he made considerable way, but +Collyer, one of his white men, was prostrated by a bilious attack. +However, one of the black men speedily learned to steer, and took +Dr. Livingstone's place at the wheel. Hardly was Collyer better +when Pennell, another of his men, was seized. The chief foes of the +ship were currents and calms. Owing to the illness of the men they +could not steam, and the sails were almost useless. Even steam, +when they got it up, enabled them only to creep. On 20th May, +Livingstone, after recording but sixteen knots in the last +twenty-four hours, says in his Journal: "This very unusual weather +has a very depressing influence on my mind. I often feel as if I am +to die on this voyage, and wish I had sent the accounts to the +Government, as also my chart to the Zambesi. I often wish that I +may be permitted to do something for the benighted of Africa. I +shall have nothing to do at home; by the failure of the +Universities Mission my work seems vain. No fruit likely to come +from J. Moffat's mission either. Have I not labored in vain? Am I +to be cut off before I do anything to effect permanent improvement +in Africa? I have been unprofitable enough, but may do something +yet, in giving information. If spared, God grant that I may be more +faithful than I have been, and may He open up the way for me!"</p> +<p>Next day the weather was as still as ever; the sea a glassy +calm, with a hot glaring sun, and sharks stalking about. "All +ill-natured," says honest Livingstone, "and in this I am sorry to +feel compelled to join."</p> +<p>There is no sign of ill-nature, however, in the following +remarks on African travel, in his Journal for 23d May:</p> +<blockquote>"In traveling in Africa, with the specific object in +view of ameliorating the benighted condition of the country, every +act is ennobled. In obtaining shelter for the night, and exchanging +the customary civilities, purchasing food for one's party and +asking the news of the country, and answering in their own polite +way any inquiries made respecting the object of the journey, we +begin to spread information respecting that people by whose agency +their land will yet be made free from the evils that now oppress +it. The mere animal pleasure of traveling is very great. The +elastic muscles have been exercised. Fresh and healthy blood +circulates in the veins, the eye is clear, the step firm, but the +day's exertion has been enough to make rest thoroughly enjoyable. +There is always the influence of the remote chances of danger on +the mind, either from men or wild beasts, and there is the +fellow-feeling drawn out to one's humble, hardy companions, with +whom a community of interests and perils renders one friends +indeed. The effect of travel on my mind has been to make it more +self-reliant, confident of resources and presence of mind. On the +body the limbs become wall-knit, the muscles after ¸six +months' tramping are as hard as a board, the countenance bronzed as +was Adam's, and no dyspepsia.<br> +<br> +"In remaining at any spot, it is to work. The sweat of the brow is +no longer a curse when one works for God; it is converted into a +blessing. It is a tonic to the system. The charms of repose cannot +be known without the excitement of exertion. Most travelers seem +taken up with the difficulties of the way, the pleasures of roaming +free in the most picturesque localities seem +forgotten."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Toward the end of May a breeze at last springs up; many +flying-fish come on board, and Livingstone is as usual intent on +observation. He observes them fly with great ease a hundred yards, +the dolphin pursuing them swiftly, but not so swiftly as they can +fly. He notices that the dolphin's bright colors afford a warning +to his enemies, and give them a chance of escape. Incessant +activity is a law in obtaining food. If the prey could be caught +with ease, and no warning were given, the balance would be turned +against the feebler animals, and carnivora alone would prevail. The +cat shows her shortened tail, and the rattlesnake shakes his tail, +to give warning to the prey. The flying-fish has large eyes in +proportion to other fish, yet leaps on board very often at night, +and kills himself by the concussion.</p> +<p>Livingstone is in great perplexity what to do. At the rate at +which his ship is going it would take him fifteen days to reach +Bombay, being one day before the breaking of the monsoon, which +would be running it too close to danger. He thinks of going to +Aden, but that would require him to go first to Maculla for water +and provisions. When he tries Aden the wind is against him; so he +turns the ship's head to Bombay, though he has water enough for but +ten or twelve days on short allowance. "May the Almighty be +gracious to us all and help us!"</p> +<p>His Journal is a curious combination of nautical observations +and reflections on Africa and his work. We seem to hear him pacing +his little deck, and thinking aloud:</p> +<blockquote>"The idea of a colony in Africa, as the term colony is +usually understood cannot be entertained. English races cannot +compete in manual labor of any kind with the natives, but they can +take a leading part in managing the land, improving the quality, in +creating the quantity and extending the varieties of the +productions of the soil; and by taking a lead, too, in trade, and +in all public matters, the Englishman would be an unmixed advantage +to every one below and around him, for he would fill a place which +is now practically vacant.<br> +<br> +"It is difficult to convey an idea of the country; it is so +different from all preconceived notions. The country in many parts +rises up to plateaus, slopes up to which are diversified by valleys +lined with trees; or here and there rocky bluffs jut out; the +plateaus themselves are open prairies covered with grass dotted +over with trees, and watered by numerous streams. Nor are they +absolutely flat, their surface is varied by picturesque +undulations. Deep gorges and ravines leading down to the lower +levels offer special beauties, and landscapes from the edges of the +higher plateaus are in their way unequaled. Thence the winding of +the Shiré may be followed like a silver thread or broad lake +with its dark mountain mass behind.<br> +<br> +"I think that the Oxford and Cambridge missionaries have treated me +badly in trying to make me the scapegoat of their own blunders and +inefficiency.... But I shall try equitably and gently to make +allowances for human weakness, though that weakness has caused me +much suffering."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>On 28th May they had something like a foretaste of the breaking +of the monsoon, though happily that event did not yet take place. +"At noon a dense cloud came down on us from E. and N.E., and blew a +furious gale; tore sails; the ship, as is her wont, rolled +broadside into it, and nearly rolled quite over. Everything was +hurled hither and thither. It lasted half an hour, then passed with +a little rain. It was terrible while it lasted. We had calm after +it, and sky brightened up. Thank God for his goodness."</p> +<p>In June there was more wind, but a peculiarity in the +construction of the ship impeded her progress through the water. It +was still very tedious and trying. Livingstone seems to have been +reading books that would take his attention off the very trying +weather.</p> +<p>"Lord Ravensworth has been trying for twenty years to reader the +lines in Horace--</p> +<blockquote>'Dulce ridentem Lalagen amabo<br> +Dulce loquentem.'</blockquote> +<p>And after every conceivable variety of form this is the +best:</p> +<blockquote>'The softly speaking Lalage,<br> +The softly smiling still for me.'</blockquote> +<p>Pity he had nothing better to engage his powers, for instance +the translating of the Bible into one of the languages of the +world."</p> +<p>The 10th of June was introduced by a furious squall which tore +the fore square-sail to ribbons. A curious sight is seen at sea: +"two serpents--said to be often seen on the coast. One dark olive, +with light yellow rings round it, and flattened tail; the other +lighter in color. They seem to be salt-water animals."</p> +<p>Next day, a wet scowling morning. Frequent rains, and thunder in +the distance. "A poor weak creature. Permit me to lean on an +all-powerful arm."</p> +<p>"The squalls usually come up right against the wind, and cast +all our sails aback. This makes them so dangerous, active men are +required to trim them to the other side. We sighted land a little +before 12, the high land of Rutnagerry. I thought of going in, but +finding that we have twenty-eight hours' steam, I changed my mind, +and pushed on for Bombay, 115 miles distant. We are nearer the land +down here than we like, but our N.W. wind has prevented us from +making northing. We hope for a little change, and possibly may get +in nicely. The good Lord of all help us!</p> +<p>"At 3 P.M. wind and sea high; very hazy. Raining, with a strong +head wind; at 8 P.M. a heavy squall came off the land on our east. +Wind whistled through the rigging loudly, and we made but little +progress steaming. At 11 P.M. a nice breeze sprang up from east and +helped us. About 12 a white patch reported seemed a shoal, but none +is marked on the chart. Steered a point more out from land; another +white patch marked in middle watch. Sea and wind lower at 3 A.M. At +daylight we found ourselves abreast high land at least 500 feet +above sea-level. Wind light, and from east, which enables us to use +fore and aft try-sails. A groundswell on, but we are getting along, +and feel very thankful to Him who has favored us. Hills not so +beautifully colored as those in Africa....</p> +<p>"At 7 P.M. a furious squall came off the land; could scarcely +keep the bonnets on our heads. Pitchy dark, except the white curl +on the waves, which was phosphorescent. Seeing that we could not +enter the harbor, though we had been near, I stopped the steaming +and got up the try-sails, and let Pennell, who has been up thirty +hours, get a sleep.</p> +<p>"13<i>th June</i>, 1864.--We found that we had come north only +about ten miles. We had calms after the squall, and this morning +the sea is as smooth as glass, and a thick haze over the land. A +scum as of dust on face of water. We are, as near as I can guess by +the chart, about twenty-five miles from the port of Bombay. Came to +Choul Rock at mid-day, and, latitude agreeing thereto, pushed on N. +by W. till we came to light-ship. It was so hazy inland we could +see nothing whatever, then took the direction by chart, and steered +right into Bombay most thankfully. I mention God's good providence +over me, and beg that He may accept my spared life for his +service."</p> +<p>Between the fog and the small size of the Nyassa, her entrance +into the harbor was not observed. Among Livingstone's first acts on +anchoring was to give handsome gratuities to those who had shared +his danger and helped him in his straits. Going ashore, he called +on the Governor and the police magistrate, but the one was absent +and the other busy, and so he returned to the ship unrecognized. +The schedules of the custom-house sent to be filled up his first +recognition by the authorities of Bombay. He replied that except a +few bales of calico and a box of beads he had no merchandise; he +was consigned to no one; the seamen had only their clothes, and he +did not know a single soul in Bombay. As soon as his arrival was +known every attention was showered on him by Sir Bartle Frere, the +Governor, and others. They had been looking out for him, but he had +eluded their notice. The Governor was residing at Dapuri, and on +his invitation Livingstone went there. Stopping at Poona, he called +on the missionaries, and riding on an elephant he saw some of the +"lions" of the place. Colonel Stewart, who accompanied him, threw +some light on the sea-serpent. "He told us that the yellow +sea-serpent which we had seen before reaching Bombay is poisonous; +there are two kinds--one dark olive, the other pale lemon color; +both have rings of brighter yellow on their tails."</p> +<p>Landing in India was a strange experience, as he tells Sir +Thomas Maclear. "To walk among the teeming thousands of all classes +of population, and see so many things that reading and pictures had +made familiar to the mind, was very interesting. The herds of the +buffaloes, kept I believe for their milk, invariably made the +question glance across the mind, 'Where's your rifle?' Nor could I +look at the elephants either without something of the same feeling. +Hundreds of bales of cotton were lying on the wharves.".</p> +<p>"20<i>th June</i>, 1864--Went with Captain Leith to Poona to +visit the Free Church Mission Schools there, under the Rev. Mr. +Mitchell, Gardner, etc. A very fine school of 500 boys and young +men answered questions very well.... All collected together, and a +few ladies and gentlemen for whom I answered questions about +Africa. We then went to a girls' school; the girls sang very +nicely, then acted a little play. There were different castes in +all the schools, and quite mixed. After this we went to College, +where young men are preparing for degrees of the University under +Dr. Haug and Mr. Wordsworth; then to the Roman Catholic Orphanage, +where 200 girls are assembled, clothed, and fed under a French Lady +Superior--dormitory clean and well aired, but many had +scrofulous-looking sore eyes; then home to see some friends whom +Lady Frere had invited, to save me the trouble of calling on them. +Saw Mr. Cowan's daughter."</p> +<p>"21<i>st June</i>, 1864.--... Had a conversation with the +Governor after breakfast about the slaving going on toward the +Persian Gulf. His idea is that they are now only beginning to put a +stop to slavery--they did not know of it previously.... The +merchants of Bombay have got the whole of the trade of East Africa +thrown on their hands, and would, it is thought, engage in an +effort to establish commerce on the coast. The present Sultan is, +for an Arab, likely to do a good deal. He asked if I would +undertake to be consul at a settlement, but I think I have not +experience enough for a position of that kind among Europeans."</p> +<p>On returning to Bombay, he saw the missionary institutions of +the Scotch Established and Free Churches, and arranged with Dr. +Wilson of the latter mission to take his two boys, Chuma and +Wikatani. He arranged also that the "Lady Nyassa," which he had not +yet sold, should be taken care of, and borrowing £133, 10s. +for the passage-money of himself and John Reid, one of his men, +embarked for old England.</p> +<p>At Aden considerable rain had fallen lately; he observed that +there was much more vegetation than when he was there before, and +it occurred to him that at the time of the Exodus the same effects +probably followed the storms of rain, lightning, and hail in Egypt. +Egypt was very far from green, so that Dr. Stanley must have +visited it at another part of the year. At Alexandria, when he went +on board the "Ripon," he found the Maharaja Dhuleep Singh and his +young Princess--the girl he had fancied and married from an English +Egyptian school. Paris is reached on the 21st July; a day is spent +in resting; and on the evening of the 23d he reaches Charing Cross, +and is regaled with what, after nearly eight years' absence, must +have been true music--the roar of the mighty Babylon.</p> +<p>The desponding views of his work which we find in such entries +in his Journal as that of 20th May must not be held to express his +deliberate mind. It must not be thought that he had thrown aside +the motto which had helped him as much as it had helped his royal +countryman, Robert Bruce--"Try again." He had still some arrows in +his quiver. And his short visit to Bombay was a source of +considerable encouragement. The merchants there, who had the East +African trade in their hands, encouraged him to hope that a +settlement for honest traffic might be established to the north of +the region over which the Portuguese claimed authority. As +Livingstone moved homeward he was revolving two projects. The first +was to expose the atrocious slave-trading of the Portuguese, which +had not only made all his labor fruitless, but had used his very +discoveries as channels for spreading fresh misery over Africa. The +thought warmed his blood, and he felt like a Highlander with his +hand on his claymore. The second project was to find means for a +new settlement at the head of the Rovuma, or somewhere else beyond +the Portuguese lines, which he would return in the end of the year +to establish. Writing a short book might help to accomplish both +these projects. As yet, the idea of finding the sources of the Nile +was not in his mind. It was at the earnest request of others that +he undertook the work that cost him so many years of suffering, and +at last his life.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII."></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> +<h3>SECOND VISIT HOME.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1864-65.</center> +<p>Dr. Livingstone and Sir R. Murchison--At Lady Palmerston's +reception--at other places in London--Sad news of his son +Robert--His early death--Dr. Livingstone goes to Scotland--Pays +visits--Consultation with Professor Syme as to operation--Visit to +Duke of Argyll--to Ulva--He meets Dr. Duff--At launch of a Turkish +frigate--At Hamilton--Goes to Bath to British Association--Delivers +an Address--Dr. Colenso--At funeral of Captain Speke--Bath speech +offends the Portuguese--Charges of Lacerda--He visits Mr. and Mrs. +Webb-at Newstead--Their great hospitality--The Livingstone room--He +spends eight months there writing his book--He regains elasticity +and playfulness--His book--Charles Livingstone's share--He uses his +influence for Dr. Kirk--Delivers a lecture At Mansfield--Proposal +made to him by Sir R. Murchison to return to Africa--Letter from +Sir Roderick--His reply--He will not cease to be a +missionary--Letter to Mr. James Young--Overtures from Foreign +Office--Livingstone displeased--At dinner of Royal Academy--His +speech not reported--President Lincoln's assassination--Examination +by Committee of House of Commons--His opinion on the capacity of +the negro--He goes down to Scotland--<i>Tom Brown's School +Days</i>--His mother very ill--She rallies--He goes to +Oxford--Hears of his mother's death--Returns--He attends +examination of Oswell's school--His speech--Goes to London, +preparing to leave--Parts from Mr. and Mrs. Webb--Stays with Dr. +and Mrs. Hamilton--Last days in England.</p> +<br> +<p>On reaching London, Dr. Livingstone took tip his quarters at the +Tavistock Hotel; but he had hardly swallowed dinner, when he was +off to call on Sir Roderick and Lady Murchison.</p> +<p>"Sir Roderick took me off with him, just as I was, to Lady +Palmerston's reception. My lady very gracious--gave me tea herself. +Lord Palmerston looking well. Had two conversations with him about +slave-trade. Sir Roderick says that he is more intent on +maintaining his policy on that than on any other thing. And so is +she--wonderfully fine, matronly lady. Her daughters are grown up. +Lady Shaftesbury like her mother in beauty and grace. Saw and spoke +to Sir Charles Wood about India, 'his Eastern Empire,' as he +laughingly called it. Spoke to Duke and Duchess of Somerset. All +say very polite things, and all wonderfully considerate."</p> +<p>An invitation to dine with Lord Palmerston on the 29th detained +him for a few days from going down to Scotland.</p> +<p>"<i>Monday,</i> 25<i>th July</i>.--Went to Foreign Office.... +Got a dress suit at Nicol & Co.'s, and dined with Lord and Lady +Dunmore. Very clever and intelligent man, and lady very sprightly. +Thence to Duchess of Wellington's reception. A grand +company--magnificent rooms. Met Lord and Lady Colchester, Mrs. F. +Peel, Lady Emily Peel, Lady de Redcliffe, Lord Broughton, Lord +Houghton, and many more whose names escaped me. Ladies wonderfully +beautiful--rich and rare were the gems they wore.</p> +<p>"26<i>th July.--Go</i> to Wimbledon with Mr. Murray, and see Sir +Bartle Frere's children.... See Lord Russell--his manner is very +cold, as all the Russells are. Saw Mr. Layard too; he is warm and +frank. Received an invitation from the Lord Mayor to dine with Her +Majesty's Ministers.</p> +<p>"27<i>th July</i>.--Hear the sad news that Robert is In the +American army.... Went to Lord Mayor Lawrence's to dinner...."</p> +<p>With reference to the "sad news" of Robert, which made his +father very heavy-hearted during the first part of his visit home, +it is right to state a few particulars, as the painful subject +found its way into print, and was not always recorded accurately. +Robert had some promising qualities, and those who knew and +understood him had good hopes of his turning out well. But he was +extremely restless, as if, to use Livingstone's phrase, he had got +"a deal of the vagabond nature from his father;" and school-life +was very irksome to him. With the view of joining his father, he +was sent to Natal, but he found no opportunity of getting thence to +the Zambesi. Leaving Natal, he found his way to America, and at +Boston he enlisted in the Federal army. The service was as hot as +could be. In one battle, two men were killed close to him by +shrapnel shell, a rifle bullet passed close to his head, and killed +a man behind him; other two were wounded close by him. His letters +to his sister expressed his regret at the course of his life, and +confessed that his troubles were due to his disobedience. So far +was he from desiring to trade on his father's name, that in +enlisting he assumed another, nor did any one in the army know +whose son it was that was fighting for the freedom of the slave. +Meeting the risks of battle with dauntless courage, he purposely +abstained, even in the heat of a charge, from destroying life. Not +long after, Dr. Livingstone learned that in one of his battles he +was wounded and taken prisoner; then came a letter from a hospital, +in which he again expressed his intense desire to travel. But his +career had come to its close. He died in his nineteenth year. His +body lies in the great national cemetery of Gettysburg, in +Pennsylvania, in opening which Lincoln uttered one of those +speeches that made his name dear to Livingstone. Whatever degree of +comfort or hope his father might derive from Robert's last letters, +he felt saddened by his unsatisfactory career. Writing to his +friend Moore (5th August) he says: "I hope your eldest son will do +well in the distant land to which he has gone. My son is in the +Federal army in America, and no comfort. The secret ballast is +often applied by a kind hand above, when to outsiders we appear to +be sailing gloriously with the wind."</p> +<blockquote>"29<i>th July</i>.--Called on Mr. Gladstone; he was +very affable--spoke about the Mission, and asked if I had told Lord +Russell about it.... Visited Lady Franklin and Miss Cracroft, her +niece.... Dined with Lord and Lady Palmerston, Lady Shaftesbury, +and Lady Victoria Ashley, the Portuguese Minister, Count d'Azeglio +(Sardinian Minister), Mr. Calcraft--a very agreeable party. Mr. +Calcraft and I walked home after retiring. He is cousin to Colonel +Steele; the colonel has gone abroad with his daughter, who is +delicate."<br> +<br> +"<i>Saturday, 31st July</i>, 1864.--Came down by the morning train +to Harburn, and met my old friend Mr. Young, who took me to +Limefield, and introduced me to a nice family."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Dr. Livingstone's relation to Mr. Young's family was very close +and cordial. Hardly one of the many notes and letters he wrote to +his friend fails to send greetings to "Ma-James," as he liked to +call Mrs. Young, after the African fashion. It is not only the +playful ease of his letters that shows how much he felt at home +with Mr. Young,--the same thing appears from the frequency with +which he sought his counsel in matters of business, and the value +which he set upon it.</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Sunday, 1st August</i>.--Went-to the U.P. church, +and heard excellent sermons. Was colder this time than on my former +visit to Scotland.<br> +<br> +"<i>2d August</i>.--Reached Hamilton. Mother did not know me at +first. Anna Mary, a nice sprightly child, told me that she +preferred Garibaldi buttons on her dress, as I walked down to Dr. +Loudon to thank him for his kindness to my mother.<br> +<br> +"<i>3d August</i>.--Agnes, Oswell, and Thomas came. I did not +recognize Tom, he has grown so much. Has been poorly a long while; +congestion of the kidney, it is said. Agnes quite tall, and Anna +Mary a nice little girl."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The next few days were spent with his family, and in visits to +the neighborhood. He had a consultation with Professor Syme as to a +surgical operation recommended for an ailment that had troubled him +ever since his first great journey; he was strongly urged to have +the operation performed, and probably it would have been better if +he had; but he finally declined, partly because an old medical +friend was against it, but chiefly, as he told Sir* Roderick, +because the matter would get into the newspapers, and he did not +like the public to be speaking of his infirmities. On the 17th he +went to Inveraray to visit the Duke of Argyll. He was greatly +pleased with his reception, and his Journal records the most +trifling details. What especially charmed him was the considerate +forethought in making him feel at his ease. "On Monday morning I +had the honor of planting two trees beside those planted by Sir +John Lawrence and the Marquis of Lansdowne, and by the Princess of +Prussia and the Crown Prince. The coach came at twelve o'clock, and +I finished the most delightful visit I ever made."</p> +<p>Next day he went to Oban, and the day after by steamer to Iona +and Staffa, and thereafter to Aros, in Mull. Next day Captain +Greenhill took him in his yacht to Ulva.</p> +<p>"In 1848 the kelp and potatoes failed, and the proprietor, a +writer from Stirling, reduced the population from six hundred to +one hundred. None of my family remain. The minister, Mr. Fraser, +had made inquiries some years ago, and found an old woman who +remembered my grandfather living at Uamh, or the Cave. It is a +sheltered spot, with basaltic rocks jutting out of the ground below +the cave; the walls of the house remain, and the corn and potato +patches are green, but no one lives there...."</p> +<p>Returning to Oban on the 24th August, "... I then came to the +Crinan Canal, and at Glasgow end thereof met that famous +missionary, Dr. Duff, from India A fine, tall, noble-looking man, +with a white beard and a twitch in his muscles which shows that the +Indian climate has done its work on him.... Home to Hamilton."</p> +<p>The Highlanders everywhere claimed him; "they cheered me," he +writes to Sir Roderick, "as a man and a brother."</p> +<p>The British Association was to meet at Bath this autumn, and +Livingstone was to give a lecture on Africa. It was a dreadful +thought. "Worked at my Bath speech. A cold shiver comes over me +when I think of it. Ugh!" Then he went with his daughter Agnes to +see a beautiful sight, the launching of a Turkish frigate from Mr. +Napier's yard--"8000 tons weight plunged into the Clyde, and sent a +wave of its dirty water over to the other side." The Turkish +Ambassador, Musurus Pasha, was one of the party at Shandon, and he +and Livingstone traveled in the same carriage At one of the +stations they were greatly cheered by the Volunteers. "The cheers +are for you," Livingstone said to the Ambassador, with a smile. +"No," said the Turk "I am only what my master made me; you are what +you made yourself." When the party reached the Queen's Hotel, a +working man rushed across the road, seized Livingstone's hand, +saying, "I must shake your hand," clapped him on the back, and +rushed back again. "You'll not deny now," said the Ambassador, +"that that's for you."</p> +<p>Returning to Hamilton, he notes, on 4th September: "Church in +the forenoon to hear a stranger, in the afternoon to hear Mr. +Buchan give an excellent sermon." On 5th, 6th, 7th, he is at the +speech. On 8th he receives a most kind invitation from Mr. and Mrs. +Webb of Newstead Abbey, to make their house his home. Mr. Webb was +a very old friend, a great hunter, who had seen Livingstone at +Kolobeng, and formed an attachment to him which continued as warm +as ever to the last day of Livingstone's life. Livingstone and his +daughter Agnes reach Bath on the 15th, and become the guests of Dr. +and Miss Watson, of both of whom he writes in the highest +terms.</p> +<p>"On Sunday, heard a good sermon from Mr. Fleming Bishop Colenso +called on me. He was very much cheered by many people; it is +evident that they admire his pluck, and consider him a persecuted +man. Went to the theatre on Monday, 19th, to deliver my address. +When in the green-room, a loud cheering was made for Bishop +Colenso, and some hisses. It was a pity that he came to the British +Association, as it looks like taking sides. Sir Charles Lyell +cheered and clapped his hands in a most vigorous way. Got over the +address nicely. People very kind and indulgent--2500 persons +present, but it is a place easily spoken in."</p> +<p>When Bishop Colenso moved the vote of thanks to Dr. Livingstone +for his address, occasion was taken by some narrow and not very +scrupulous journals to raise a prejudice against him. He was +represented as sharing the Bishop's theological views. For this +charge there was no foundation, and the preceding extract from his +Journal will show that he felt the Bishop's presence to be somewhat +embarrassing. Dr. Livingstone was eminently capable of appreciating +Dr. Colenso's chivalrous backing of native races in Africa, while +he differed <i>toto coelo</i> from his theological views. In an +entry in his Journal a few days later he refers to an African +traveler who had got a high reputation without deserving it, for +"he sank to the low estate of the natives, and rather admired +<i>Essays and Reviews</i>"</p> +<p>The next passage we give from his Journal refers to the +melancholy end of another brother-traveler, of whom he always spoke +with respect:</p> +<p>"23d <i>Sept</i>.--Went to the funeral of poor Captain Speke, +who, when out shooting on the 15th, the day I arrived at Bath, was +killed by the accidental discharge of his gun. It was a sad shock +to me, for, having corresponded with him, I anticipated the +pleasure of meeting him, and the first news Dr. Watson gave me was +that of his death. He was buried at Dowlish, a village where his +family have a vault. Captain Grant, a fine fellow, put a wreath or +immortelle upon the coffin as it passed us in church. It was +composed of mignonette and wild violets."</p> +<p>The Bath speech gave desperate offense to the Portuguese. +Livingstone thought it a good sign, wrote playfully to Mr. Webb +that they were "cussin' and swearin' dreadful," and wondered if +they would keep their senses when the book came out. In a +postscript to the preface to <i>The Zambesi and its +Tributaries</i>, he says, "Senhor Lacerda has endeavored to +extinguish the facts adduced by me at Bath by a series of papers in +the Portuguese official journal; and their Minister for Foreign +Affairs has since devoted some of the funds of his Government to +the translation and circulation of Senhor Lacerda's articles in the +form of an English tract." He replies to the allegations of the +pamphlet on the main points. But he was too magnanimous to make +allusion to the shameless indecency of the personal charges against +himself. "It is manifest," said Lacerda, "without the least reason +to doubt, that Dr. Livingstone, under the pretext of propagating +the Word of God (this being the least in which he employed himself) +and the advancement of geographical and natural science, made all +his steps and exertions subservient to the idea of ... eventually +causing the loss to Portugal of the advantages of the rich commerce +of the interior, and in the end, when a favorable occasion arose +that of the very territory itself." Lacerda then quoted the bitter +letter of Mr. Rowley in illustration of Livingstone's plans and +methods, and urged remonstrance as a duty of the Portuguese +Government. "Nor," he continued, "ought the Government o£ +Portugal to stop here. It ought, as we have said, to go further; +because from what his countrymen say of Livingstone--and to which +he only answers by a mere vain negation,--from what he +unhesitatingly declares of himself and his intentions, and from +what must be known to the Government by private information from, +their delegates, it is obvious that such men as Livingstone may +become extremely prejudicial to the interests of Portugal, +especially when resident in a public capacity in our African +possessions, if not efficiently watched, if their audacious and +mischievous actions are not restrained. If steps are not taken in a +proper and effective manner, so that they may be permitted only to +do good, if indeed good can come from such," etc.</p> +<blockquote>"26<i>th Sept</i>.--Agnes and I go to-day to Newstead +Abbey, Notts. Reach it about 9 P.M., and find Mr. and Mrs. Webb all +I anticipated and more. A splendid old mansion with a wonderful +number of curiosities in it, and magnificent scenery around. It was +the residence of Lord Byron, and his furniture is kept" [in his +private rooms] "just as he left it. His character does not shine. +It appears to have been horrid.... He made a drinking cup of a +monk's skull found under the high altar, with profane verses on the +silver setting, and kept his wine in the stone coffin. These Mrs. +Webb buried, and all the bones she could find that had been +desecrated by the poet."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In a letter to Sir Thomas Maclear he speaks of the poet as one +of those who, like many others--some of them travelers who abused +missionaries,--considered it a fine thing to be thought awfully bad +fellows.</p> +<blockquote>"27<i>th</i>.--Went through the whole house with our +kind hosts, and saw all the wonders, which would require many days +properly to examine....<br> +<br> +"2<i>d October</i>.--Took Communion in the chapel of the Abbey. God +grant me to be and always to act as a true Christian.<br> +<br> +"3<i>d.</i>--Mr. and Mrs. Webb kindness itself personified. A +blessing be on them and their children from the +Almighty!"</blockquote> +<br> +<p>When first invited to reside at Newstead Abbey, Dr. Livingstone +declined, on the ground that he was to be busy writing a book, and +that he wished to have some of his children with him, and in the +case of Agnes, to let her have music lessons. His kind friends, +however, were resolved that these reasons should not stand in the +way, and arrangements were made by them accordingly. Dr. +Livingstone continued to be their guest for eight months, and +received from them all manner of assistance. Sometimes Mr. and Mrs. +Webb, Mrs. Goodlake (Mrs. Webb's mother), and his daughter Agnes +would all be busy copying his journals. The "Livingstone room," as +it is called, in the Sussex tower, is likely to be associated with +his name while the building lasts. It was his habit to rise early +and work at his book, to return to his task after breakfast and +continue till luncheon and in the afternoon have a long walk with +Mr. Webb. It is only when the book is approaching its close that we +find him working "till two in the morning." One of his chief +recreations was in the field of natural history, watching +experiments with the spawning of trout. He endeared himself to all, +high and low; was a special favorite with the children, and did not +lose opportunities to commend, in the way he thought best, those +high views of life and duty which had been so signally exemplified +in his own career. The playfulness of his nature found full and +constant scope at Newstead; he regained an almost boyish flow of +animal spirits, reveled in fun and frolic in his short notes to +friends like Mr. Young, or Mr. Webb when he happened to be absent; +wrote in the style of Mr. Punch, and called his opponents by +ludicrous names; yet never forgot the stern duty that loomed before +him, or allowed the enjoyment and <i>abandon</i> of the moment to +divert him from the death-struggle on behalf of Africa in which he +had yet to engage.</p> +<p>The book was at first to be a little one,--a blast of the +trumpet against the monstrous slave-trade of the Portuguese; but it +swelled to a goodly octavo, and embraced the history of the Zambesi +Expedition. Charles Livingstone had written a full diary, and in +order that his name might be on the title-page, and he might have +the profits of the American edition, his journal was made use of in +the writing of the book; but the arrangement was awkward; sometimes +Livingstone forgot the understanding of joint-authorship, and he +found that he could more easily have written the whole from the +foundation, At first it was designed that the book should appear +early in the summer of 1865, but when the printing was finished the +map was not ready; and the publication had to be delayed till the +usual season in autumn.</p> +<p>The entries in his Journal are brief, and of little general +interest during the time the book was getting ready. Most of them +have reference to the affairs of other people. As he finds that Dr. +Kirk is unable to undertake a work on the botany and natural +history of the Expedition, unless he should hold some permanent +situation, he exerts himself to procure a Government appointment +for him, recommending him strongly to Sir R. Murchison and others, +and is particularly gratified by a reply to his application from +the Earl of Dalhousie, who wrote that he regarded his request as a +command. He is pleased to learn that, through the kind efforts of +Sir Roderick, his brother Charles has been appointed Consul at +Fernando Po. He sees the American Minister, who promises to do all +he can for Robert, but almost immediately after, the report comes +that poor Robert has died in a hospital in Salisbury, North +Carolina. He delivers a lecture at the Mechanics' Institute at +Mansfield, but the very idea of a speech always makes him ill, and +in this case it brings on an attack of Hæmorrhoids, with +which he had not been troubled for long. He goes to London to a +meeting of the Geographical Society, and hears a paper of +Burton's--a gentleman from whose geographical views he dissents, as +he does from his views on subjects more important. In regard to his +book he says very little; four days, he tells us, were spent in +writing the description of the Victoria Falls; and on the 15th +April, 1865, he summons his daughter Agnes to take his pen and +write FINIS at the end of his manuscript. On leaving Newstead on +the 25th, he writes, "Parted with our good friends the Webbs. And +may God Almighty bless and reward them and their family!"</p> +<p>Some time before this, a proposal was made to him by Sir +Roderick Murchison which in the end gave a new direction to the +remaining part of his life. It was brought before him in the +following letter:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Jan.</i> 5, 1865.<br> +<br> +"MY DEAR LIVINGSTONE:--As to <i>your future</i>, I am anxious to +know what <i>your own wish is</i> as respects a renewal of African +exploration.<br> +<br> +"Quite irrespective of missionaries or political affairs, there is +at this moment a question of intense geographical interest to be +settled: namely, the watershed, or watersheds, of South Africa.<br> +<br> +"How, if you would really like to be the person to finish off your +remarkable career by completing such a survey, unshackled by other +avocations than those of the geographical explorer, I should be +delighted to consult my friends of the Society, and take the best +steps to promote such an enterprise.<br> +<br> +"For example, you might take your little steamer to the Rovuma, +and, getting up by water as far as possible in the rainy season, +then try to reach the south end of the Tanganyika. Thither you +might transport a light boat, or build one there, and so get to the +end of that sheet of water.<br> +<br> +"Various questions might be decided by the way, and if you could +get to the west, and come out on that coast, or should be able to +reach the White Nile (!), you would bring back an unrivaled +reputation, and would have settled all the great disputes now +pending.<br> +<br> +"If you do not like to undertake <i>the purely geographical +work</i>, I am of opinion that no one, after yourself, is so fitted +to carry it out as Dr. Kirk. I know that he thinks of settling down +now at home. But if he could delay this home-settlement for a +couple of years, he would not only make a large sum of money by his +book of travels, but would have a renown that would give him an +excellent introduction as a medical man.<br> +<br> +"I have heard you so often talk of the enjoyment you feel when in +Africa, that I cannot believe you now think of anchoring for the +rest of your life on the mud and sand-banks of England.<br> +<br> +"Let me know your mind on the subject. When is the book to appear? +Kind love to your daughter.--Yours sincerely,<br> +<br> +"ROD'CK I. MURCHISON."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Livingstone begins his answer by assuring Sir Roderick that he +never contemplated settling down quietly in England; it would be +time enough for that when he was in his dotage. "I should like the +exploration you propose very much, and had already made up my mind +to go up the Rovuma, pass by the head of Lake Nyassa, and away west +or northwest as might be found practicable." He would have been at +this ere now, but his book chained him, and he feared that he could +not take back the "Lady Nyassa" to Africa, with the monsoon against +him, so that be must get a boat to explore the Rovuma.</p> +<blockquote>"What my inclination leads me to prefer is to have +intercourse with the people, and do what I can by talking, to +enlighten them on the slave-trade, and give them some idea of our +religion. It may not be much that I can do, but I feel when doing +that I am not living in vain. You remember that when, to prevent +our coming to a standstill, I had to turn skipper myself, the task +was endurable only because I was determined that no fellow should +prove himself indispensable to our further progress. To be debarred +from spending most of my time in traveling, in exploration, and +continual intercourse with the natives, I always felt to be a +severe privation, and if I can get a few hearty native companions, +I shall enjoy myself, and feel that I am doing my duty. As soon as +my book is out, I shall start."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In Livingstone's Journal, 7th January, 1865, we find this entry: +"Answered Sir Roderick about going out. Said I could only feel in +the way of duty by working as a missionary." The answer is very +noteworthy in the view of what has so often been said against +Livingstone--that he dropped the missionary to become an explorer. +To understand the precise bearing of the proposal, and of +Livingstone's reply, it is necessary to say that Sir Roderick had a +conviction, which he never concealed, that the missionary +enterprise encumbered and impeded the geographical. He had a +special objection to an Episcopal mission, holding that the +planting of a Bishop and staff on territory dominated by the +Portuguese was an additional irritant, rousing ecclesiastical +jealousy, and bringing it to the aid of commercial and political +apprehensions as to the tendency of the English enterprise. Neither +mission nor colony could succeed in the present state of the +country; they could only be a trouble to the geographical explorer. +On this point Livingstone held his own views. He could only feel in +the line of duty as a missionary. Whatever he might or might not be +able to do in that capacity, he would never abandon it, and, in +particular, he would never come under an obligation to the +Geographical Society that he would serve them "unshackled by other +avocations than those of the geographical explorer."</p> +<p>A letter to Mr. James Young throws light on the feelings with +which he regarded Sir Roderick's proposal:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>20th January, 1865</i>--I am not sure but I told +you already that Sir Roderick and I have been writing about going +out, and my fears that I must sell 'Lady Nyassa,' because the +monsoon will be blowing from Africa to India before I get out, and +it won't do for me to keep her idle. I must go down to the +Seychelles Islands (tak' yer speks and keek at the map or +gougrafy), then run my chance to get over by a dhow or man-of-war +to the Rovuma, going up that river in a boat, till we get to the +cataracts, and the tramp. I must take Belochees from India, and may +go down the lake to get Makololo, if the Indians don't answer. I +would not consent to go simply as a geographer, but as a +missionary, and do geography by the way, because I feel I am in the +way of duty when trying either to enlighten these poor people, or +open their land to lawful commerce."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>It was at this time that Mr. Hayward, Q.C., while on a visit to +Newstead, brought an informal message from Lord Palmerston, who +wished to know what he could do for Livingstone. Had Livingstone +been a vain man, wishing a handle to his name, or had he even been +bent on getting what would be reasonable in the way of salary for +himself, or of allowance for his children, now was his chance of +accomplishing his object. But so single-hearted was he in his +philanthropy that such thoughts did not so much as enter his mind; +there was one thing, and one only, which he wished Lord Palmerston +to secure--free access to the highlands, by the Zambesi and +Shiré, to be made good by a treaty with Portugal. It is +satisfactory to record that the Foreign Office has at last made +arrangements to this effect.</p> +<p>While the proposal on the part of the President of the +Geographical Society was undergoing consideration, certain +overtures were made to Dr. Livingstone by the Foreign Office. On +the 11th of March he called at the office, at the request of Mr. +Layard, who propounded a scheme that he should have a commission +giving him authority over the chiefs, from the Portuguese boundary +to Abyssinia and Egypt; the office to carry no salary. When a +formal proposal to this effect was submitted to him, with the +additional proviso that he was to be entitled to no pension, he +could not conceal his irritation. For himself he was just as +willing as ever to work as before, without hope of earthly +recompense, and to depend on the petition, "Give us this day our +daily bread;" but he thought it ungenerous to take advantage of his +well-known interest in Africa to deprive him of the honorarium +which the most insignificant servant of Her Majesty enjoyed. He did +not like to be treated like a charwoman. As for the pension, he had +never asked it, and counted it offensive to be treated as if he had +shown a greed which required to be repressed. It came out, +subsequently, that the letter had been written by an underling, but +when Earl Russell was appealed to, he would only promise a salary +when Dr. Livingstone should have settled somewhere! The whole +transaction had a very ungracious aspect.</p> +<p>Before publishing his book, Dr. Livingstone had asked Sir +Roderick Murchison's advice as to the wisdom of speaking his mind +on two somewhat delicate points. In reply, Sir Roderick wrote: "If +you think you have been too hard as to the Bishop or the +Portuguese, you can modify the phrases. But I think that the truth +ought to be known, if only in vindication of your own conduct, and +to account for the little success attending your last mission."</p> +<p>We continue our extracts from his Journal:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>26th April</i>, 1865.--In London. Horrified by news +of President Lincoln's assassination, and the attempt to murder +Seward."<br> +<br> +"<i>29th April</i>.--Went down to Crystal Palace, with Agnes, to a +Saturday Concert. The music very fine. Met Waller, and lost a +train. Came up in hot haste to the dinner of the Royal Academy.... +Sir Charles Eastlake, President; Archbishops of Canterbury and York +on each side of the chair; all the Ministers present, except Lord +Palmerston, who is ill of gout in the hand. Lord Russell, Lord +Granville, and Duke of Somerset sat on other side of table from Sir +Henry Holland, Sir Roderick, and myself. Lord Clarendon was close +enough to lean back and clap me on the shoulder, and ask me when I +was going out. Duke of Argyll, Bishops of Oxford and London, were +within earshot; Sir J. Romilly, the Master of the Rolls, was +directly in front, on the other side of our table. He said that he +watched all my movements with great interest.... Lord Derby made a +good speech. The speeches were much above the average. I was not +told that I was expected to speak till I got in, and this prevented +my eating. When Lord John Manners complimented me after my speech, +I mentioned the effect the anticipation had on me. To comfort me he +said that the late Sir Robert Peel never enjoyed a dinner in these +circumstances, but sat crumbling up his bread till it became quite +a heap on the table.... My speech was not reported."<br> +<br> +"<i>2d May</i>.--Met Mr. Elwin, formerly editor of the +<i>Quarterly</i>. He said that Forster, one of our first-class +writers, had told him that the most characteristic speech was not +reported, and mentioned the heads--as, the slave-trade being of the +same nature as thuggee, garrotting; the tribute I paid to our +statesmen; and the way that Africans have been drawn, pointing to a +picture of a woman spinning. This non-reporting was much commented +on, which might, if I needed it, prove a solace to my wounded +vanity. But I did not feel offended. Everything good for me will be +given, and I take all as a little child from its father.<br> +<br> +"Heard a capital sermon from Dr. Hamilton [Regent Square Church], +on President Lincoln's assassination. 'It is impossible but that +offenses will come,' etc. He read part of the President's address +at second inauguration. In the light of subsequent events it is +grand. If every drop of blood shed by the lash must be atoned for +by an equal number of white men's vital fluid,--righteous, O Lord, +are Thy judgments! The assassination has awakened universal +sympathy and indignation, and will lead to more cordiality between +the countries. The Queen has written an autograph letter to Mrs. +Lincoln, and Lords and Commons have presented addresses to Her +Majesty, praying her to convey their sentiments of horror at the +fearful crime."<br> +<br> +"<i>18th May,</i> 1865.--Was examined by the Committee [of the +House of Commons] on the West Coast; was rather nervous and +confused, but let them know pretty plainly that I did not agree +with the aspersions cast on missions."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In a letter to Mr. Webb, he writes <i>à propos</i> of +this examination:</p> +<blockquote>"The monstrous mistake of the Burton school is this: +they ignore the point-blank fact that the men that do the most for +the mean whites are the same that do the most for the mean blacks, +and you never hear one mother's son of them say, You do wrong to +give to the whites. I told the Committee I had heard people say +that Christianity made the blacks worse, but did not agree with +them. I might have said it was 'rot,' and truly. I can stand a good +deal of bosh, but to tell me that Christianity makes people +worse--ugh! Tell that to the young trouts. You know on what side I +am, and I shall stand to my side, Old Pam fashion, through thick +and thin. I don't agree with all my side say and do. I won't +justify many things, but for the great cause of human progress I am +heart and soul, <i>and so are you</i>."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Dr. Livingstone was asked at this time to attend a public +meeting on behalf of American freedom. It was not in his power to +go, but, in apologizing, he was at pains to express his opinion on +the capacity of the negro, in connection with what was going on in +the United States:</p> +<blockquote>"Our kinsmen across the Atlantic deserve our warmest +sympathy. They have passed, and are passing, through trials, and +are encompassed with difficulties which completely dwarf those of +our Irish famine, and not the least of them is the question, what +to do with those freedmen for whose existence as slaves in America +our own forefathers have so much to answer. The introduction of a +degraded race from a barbarous country was a gigantic evil, and if +the race cannot be elevated, an evil beyond remedy. Millions can +neither be amalgamated nor transported, and the presence of +degradation is a contagion which propagates itself among the more +civilized. But I have no fears as to the mental and moral capacity +of the Africans for civilization and upward progress. We who +suppose ourselves to have vaulted at one bound to the extreme of +civilization, and smack our lips so loudly over our high elevation, +may find it difficult to realize the debasement to which slavery +has sunk those men, or to appreciate what, in the discipline of the +sad school of bondage, is in a state of freedom real and +substantial progress. But I, who have been intimate with Africans +who have never been defiled by the slave-trade, believe them to be +capable of holding an honorable rank in the family of +man."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Wherever slavery prevailed, or the effects of slavery were +found, Dr. Livingstone's testimony against it was clear and +emphatic. Neither personal friendship nor any other consideration +under the sun could repress it. When his friends Sir Roderick and +Mr. Webb afterward expressed their sympathy with Governor Eyre, of +Jamaica, he did not scruple to tell them how different an estimate +he had formed of the Governor's conduct.</p> +<p>We continue our extracts from his Journal and letters:</p> +<blockquote><i>24th May.</i>--Came down to Scotland by last night's +train; found mother very poorly; and, being now eighty-two, I fear +she may not have long to live among us."<br> +<br> +<i>27th May</i> (to Mr. Webb)--"I have been reading <i>Tom Brown's +School Days</i>--a capital book. Dr. Arnold was a man worth his +weight in something better than gold. You know Oswell" [his early +friend] "was one of his Rugby boys. One could see his training in +always doing what was brave and true and right."<br> +<br> +"<i>2d June.</i>--Tom better, but kept back in his education by his +complaint. Oswell getting on well at school at Hamilton. Anna Mary +well. Mother gradually becoming weaker. Robert we shall never hear +of again in this world, I fear; but the Lord is merciful and just +and right in all his ways. He would hear the cry for mercy in the +hospital at Salisbury. I have lost my part in that gigantic +struggle which the Highest guided to a consummation never +contemplated by the Southerners when they began; and many other +have borne more numerous losses."<br> +<br> +"<i>5th June</i>.--Went about a tombstone for my dear Mary. Got a +good one of cast-iron to be sent out to the Cape.<br> +<br> +"Mother very low.... Has been a good affectionate mother to us all. +The Lord be with her.... Whatever is good for me and mine the Lord +will give.<br> +<br> +"To-morrow, Communion in kirk. The Lord strip off all +imperfections, wash away all guilt, breathe love and goodness +through all my nature, and make his image shine out from my +soul.<br> +<br> +"Mother continued very low, and her mind ran on poor Robert. +Thought I was his brother, and asked me frequently, 'Where is your +brother? where is that puir laddie?'... Sisters most attentive.... +Contrary to expectation she revived, and I went to Oxford. The +Vice-Chancellor offered me the theatre to lecture in, but I +expected a telegram if any change took place on mother. Gave an +address to a number of friends in Dr. Daubeny's chemical +class-room."<br> +<br> +"<i>Monday, 19th June</i>.--A telegram came, saying that mother had +died the day before. I started at once for Scotland. No change was +observed till within an hour and a half of her departure.... Seeing +the end was near, sister Agnes said, 'The Saviour has come for you, +mother. You can "lippen" yourself to him?' She replied, 'Oh yes.' +Little Anna Mary was help up to her. She gave her the last look, +and said 'Bonnie wee lassie,' gave a few long inspirations, and all +was still, with a look of reverence on her countenance. She had +wished William Logan, a good Christian man, to lay her head in the +grave, if I were not there. When going away in 1858, she said to me +that she would have liked one of her laddies to lay her head in the +grave. It so happened that I was there to pay the last tribute to a +dear good mother."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The last thing we find him doing in Scotland is attending the +examination of Oswell's school, with Anna Mary, and seeing him +receive prizes. Dr. London, of Hamilton, the medical attendant and +much-valued friend of the Livingstones, furnishes us with a +reminiscence of this occasion. He had great difficulty in +persuading Livingstone to go. The awful bugbear was that he would +be asked to make a speech. Being assured that it would be thought +strange if, in a gathering of the children's parents, he were +absent, he agreed to go. And of course he had to speak. What he +said was pointed and practical, and in winding up, he said he had +just two things to say to them--"FEAR GOD, AND WORK HARD." These +appear to have been Livingstone's last public words in his native +Scotland.</p> +<p>His Journal is continued in London:</p> +<blockquote>"8<i>th August</i>.--Went to Zoological Gardens with +Mr. Webb and Dr. Kirk; then to lunch with Miss Coutts" [Baroness +Burdett Coutts]. "Queen Emma of Honolulu is to be there. It is not +fair for High Church people to ignore the labors of the Americans, +for [the present state of Christianity] is the fruit of their +labors, and not of the present Bishop. Dined at Lady Franklin's +with Queen Emma; a nice, sensible person the Queen seems to be.<br> +<br> +"9<i>th August</i>.--Parted with my friends Mr. and Mrs. Webb at +King's Cross station to-day. He gracefully said that he wished I +had been coming rather than going away, and she shook me very +cordially with both hands, and said, 'You will come back again to +us, won't you?' and shed a womanly tear. The good Lord bless and +save them both, and have mercy on their whole household!"<br> +<br> +"11<i>th August</i>.--Went down to say good-bye to the +Duchess-Dowager of Sutherland, at Maidenhead. Garibaldi's rooms are +shown; a good man he was, but followed by a crowd of harpies who +tried to use him for their own purposes.... He was so utterly worn +out by shaking hands, that a detective policeman who was with him +in the carriage, put his hand under his cloak, and did the ceremony +for him.<br> +<br> +"Took leave at Foreign Office. Mr. Layard very kind in his +expressions at parting, and so was Mr. Wylde.<br> +<br> +"12<i>th August</i>.--"Went down to Wimbledon to dine with Mr. +Murray, and take leave. Mr. and Mrs. Oswell came up to say +farewell. He offers to go over to Paris at any time to bring Agnes" +[who was going to school there] "home, or do anything that a father +would. ["I love him," Livingstone writes to Mr. Webb, "with true +affection, and I believe he does the same to me; and yet we never +show it."]<br> +<br> +"We have been with Dr. and Mrs. Hamilton for some time--good, +gracious people. The Lord bless them and their household! Dr. Kirk +and Mr. Waller go down to Folkestone to-morrow, and take leave of +us there. This is very kind. The Lord puts it into their hearts to +show kindness, and blessed be his name."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Dr. Livingstone's last weeks in England were passed under the +roof of the late Rev. Dr. Hamilton, author of <i>Life in +Earnest</i>, and could hardly have been passed in a more congenial +home. Natives of the same part of Scotland, nearly of an age, and +resembling each other much in taste and character, the two men drew +greatly to each other. The same Puritan faith lay at the basis of +their religious character, with all its stability and firmness. But +above all, they had put on charity, which is the bond of +perfectness. In Natural History, too, they had an equal enthusiasm. +In Dr. Hamilton, Livingstone found what he missed in many orthodox +men. On the evening of his last Sunday, he was prevailed on to give +an address in Dr. Hamilton's church, after having in the morning +received the Communion with the congregation. In his address he +vindicated his character as a missionary, and declared that it was +as much as ever his great object to proclaim the love of Christ, +which they had been commemorating that day. His prayers made a deep +impression; they were like the communings of a child with his +father. At the railway station, the last Scotch hands grasped by +him were those of Dr. and Mrs. Hamilton. The news of Dr. Hamilton's +death was received by Livingstone a few years after, in the heart +of Africa, with no small emotion. Their next meeting was in the +better land.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII."></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> +<h3>FROM ENGLAND TO BOMBAY AND ZANZIBAR.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1865-1866.</center> +<p>Object of new journey--Double scheme--He goes to Paris with +Agnes--Baron Hausmann--Anecdote at Marseilles--He reaches +Bombay--Letter to Agnes--Reminiscences of Dr. Livingstone at Bombay +by Rev. D.C. Boyd--by Alex. Brown, Esq.--Livingstone's dress--He +visits the caves of Kenhari--Rumors of murder of Baron van der +Decken--He delivers a lecture at Bombay--Great success--He sells +the "Lady Nyassa"--Letter to Mr. Young--Letter to Anna Mary--Hears +that Dr. Kirk has got an appointment--Sets out for Zanzibar in +"Thule"--Letter to Mr. Young--His experience at sea--Letter to +Agnes--He reaches Zanzibar--Calls on Sultan--Presents the "Thule" +to him from Bombay Government--Monotony of Zanzibar life--Leaves in +"Penguin" for the continent.</p> +<br> +<p>The object for which Dr. Livingstone set out on his third and +last great African journey is thus stated in the preface to <i>The +Zambesi and its Tributaries:</i> "Our Government have supported the +proposal of the Royal Geographical Society made by my friend Sir +Roderick Murchison, and have united with that body to aid me in +another attempt to open Africa to civilizing influences, and a +valued private friend has given a thousand pounds for the same +object. I propose to go inland, north of the territory which the +Portuguese in Europe claim, and endeavor to commence that system on +the East which has been so eminently successful on the West Coast: +a system combining the repressive efforts of Her Majesty's cruisers +with lawful trade and Christian missions--the moral and material +results of which have been so gratifying. I hope to ascend the +Rovuma, or some other river north of Cape Delgado, and, in addition +to my other work, shall strive, by passing along the northern end +of Lake Nyassa, and round the southern end of Lake Tanganyika, to +ascertain the watershed of that part of Africa."</p> +<p>The first part of the scheme was his own, the second he had been +urged to undertake by the Geographical Society. The sums in aid +contributed by Government and the Geographical society were only +£500 each; but it was not thought that the work would occupy +a long time. The Geographical Society coupled their contribution +with some instructions as to observations and reports which seemed +to Dr. Livingstone needlessly stringent, and which certainly +ruffled his relation to the Society. The honorary position of +Consul at large he was willing to accept for the sake of the +influence which it gave him, though still retaining his opinion of +the shabbiness which had so explicitly bargained that he was to +have no salary and to expect no pension.</p> +<p>The truth is, if Livingstone had not been the most single-minded +and trustful of men, he would never have returned to Africa on such +terms. The whole sum placed at his disposal was utterly inadequate +to defray the cost of the Expedition, and support his family at +home. Had it not been for promises that were never fulfilled, he +would not have left his family at this time as he did. But in +nothing is the purity of his character seen more beautifully than +in his bearing toward some of those who had gained not a little +consideration by their connection with him, and had made him fair +promises, but left him to work on as best he might. No trace of +bitter feeling disturbed him or abated the strength of his love and +confidence.</p> +<p>Dr Livingston went first to Paris with his daughter, and left +her there for education. Passing on he reached Marseilles on the +19th August, and wrote her a few lines, in which he informed her +that the man who was now transforming Paris [Baron Hausmann] was a +Protestant, and had once taught a Sunday-school in the south of +France; and that probably he had greater pleasure in the first than +in the second work. The remark had a certain applicability to his +own case, and probably let out a little of his own feeling; it +showed at least his estimate of the relative place of temporal and +spiritual philanthropy. The prayer that followed was expressive of +his deepest feelings toward his best-beloved on earth: "May the +Almighty qualify you to be a blessing to those around you, wherever +your lot is cast. I know that you hate all that is mean and false. +May God make you good, and to delight in doing good to others. If +you ask He will give abundantly. The Lord bless you!"</p> +<p>From a Bombay gentleman who was his fellow-traveler to India a +little anecdote has casually come to our knowledge illustrating the +unobtrusiveness of Livingstone--his dislike to be made a lion of. +At the <i>table-d'hôte</i> of the hotel in Marseilles, where +some Bombay merchants were sitting, the conversation turned on +Africa in connection with ivory--an extensive article of trade in +Bombay. One friend dropped the remark, "I wonder where that old +chap Livingstone is now." To his surprise and discomfiture, a voice +replied, "Here he is." They were fast friends all through the +voyage that followed. Little of much interest happened during that +voyage. Livingstone writes that Palgrave was in Cairo when he +passed through, but he did not see him. Of Baker he could hear +nothing. Miss Tinné, the Dutch lady, of whom he thought +highly as a traveler, had not been very satisfactory to the +religious part of the English community at Cairo. Miss Whately was +going home for six weeks, but was to be back to her Egyptian Ragged +School. He saw the end of the Lesseps Canal, about the partial +opening of which they were making a great noise. Many thought it +would succeed, though an Egyptian Commodore had said to him, "It is +hombog." The Red Sea was fearfully hot and steamy. The "Lady +Nyassa" hung like a millstone around his neck, and he was prepared +to sell her for whatever she might bring. Bombay was reached on +11th September.</p> +<blockquote>TO AGNES LIVINGSTONE.<br> +<br> +"<i>Bombay, 20th Sept</i>., 1865.--... By advice of the Governor, I +went up to Nassick to see if the Africans there under Government +instruction would suit my purpose as members of the Expedition. I +was present at the examination of a large school under Mr. Price by +the Bishop of Bombay. It is partly supported by Government. The +pupils (108) are not exclusively African, but all showed very great +proficiency. They excelled in music. I found some of the Africans +to have come from parts I know--one from Ndonde on the Rovuma--and +all had learned some handicraft, besides reading, writing, etc., +and it is probable that some of them will go back to their own +country with me. Eight have since volunteered to go. Besides these +I am to get some men from the 'Marine Battalion,' who have been +accustomed to rough it in various ways, and their pensions will be +given to their widows if they should die. The Governor (Sir Bartle +Frere) is going to do what he can for my success.<br> +<br> +"After going back to Bombay I came up to near Poonah, and am now at +Government House, the guest of the Governor.<br> +<br> +"Society here consists mainly of officers and their wives.... Miss +Frere, in the absence of Lady Frere, does the honors of the +establishment, and very nicely she does it. She is very clever, and +quite unaffected--very like her father....<br> +<br> +"Christianity is gradually diffusing itself, leavening as it were +in various ways the whole mass. When a man becomes a professor of +Christianity, he is at present cast out, abandoned by all his +relations, even by wife and children. This state of things makes +some who don't care about Christian progress say that all Christian +servants are useless. They are degraded by their own countrymen, +and despised by others, but time will work changes. Mr. Maine, who +came out here with us, intends to introduce a law whereby a convert +deserted by his wife may marry again. It is in accordance with the +text in Corinthians--If an unbelieving wife depart, let her depart. +People will gradually show more sympathy with the poor fellows who +come out of heathenism, and discriminate between the worthy and +unworthy. You should read Lady Buff Gordon's <i>Letters from, +Egypt</i>. They show a nice sympathizing heart, and are otherwise +very interesting. She saw the people as they are. Most people see +only the outsides of things.... Avoid all nasty French novels. They +are very injurious, and effect a lasting injury on the mind and +heart. I go up to Government House again three days hence, and am +to deliver two lectures,--one at Poonah and one at +Bombay."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Some slight reminiscences of Livingstone at Bombay, derived from +admiring countrymen of his own, will not be out of place, +considering that the three or four months spent there was the last +period of his life passed in any part of the dominions of Great +Britain.</p> +<p>The Rev. Dugald C. Boyd, of Bombay (now of Portsoy, Banffshire), +an intimate friend of Dr. Stewart, of Lovedale, writing to a +correspondent on 10th October, 1865, says:</p> +<blockquote>"Yesterday evening I had the pleasure of meeting +Livingstone at dinner in a very quiet way.... It was an exceedingly +pleasant evening. Dr. Wilson was in great 'fig,' and Livingstone +was, though quiet, very communicative, and greatly disposed to talk +about Africa.... I had known Mrs. Livingstone, and I had known +Robert and Agnes, his son and daughter, and I had known Stewart. He +spoke very kindly of Stewart, and seems to hope that he may yet +join him in Central Africa.... He is much stouter, better, and +healthier-looking than he was last year....<br> +<br> +"12<i>th October</i>.--Livingstone was at the <i>tamasha</i> +yesterday. He was dressed very unlike a minister--more like a +post-captain or admiral. He wore a blue dress-coat, trimmed with +lace, and bearing a Government gilt button. In his hand he carried +a cocked hat. At the Communion on Sunday (he sat on Dr. Wilson's +right hand, who sat on my right) he wore a blue surtout, with +Government gilt buttons, and shepherd-tartan trousers; and he had a +gold band round his cap <a name="FNanchor67"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_67">[67]</a>. I spent two hours In his society last +evening at Dr. Wilson's. He was not very complimentary to Burton. +He is to lecture in public this evening."</blockquote> +<br> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_67"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor67">[67]</a> Dr, Livingstone's habit of dressing as a +layman, and accepting the designation of David Livingstone, +Esquire, as readily as that of the Rev. Dr. Livingstone, probably +helped to propagate the idea that he had sunk the missionary in the +explorer. The truth, however, is, that from the first he wished to +be a lay missionary, not under any Society, and it was only at the +instigation of his friends that he accepted ordination. He had an +intense dislike of what was merely professional and conventional, +and he thought that as a free-lance he would have more influence. +Whether in this he sufficiently appreciated the position and office +of one set aside by the Church for the service of the gospel may be +a question: but there can be no question that he had the same view +of the matter from first to last. He would have worn a blue dress +and gilt buttons, if it had been suitable, as readily as any other, +at the most ardent period of his missionary life. His heart was as +truly that of a missionary under the Consul's dress as it had ever +been when he wore black, or whatever else he could get, in the +wilds of Africa. At the time of his encounter with the lion he wore +a coat of tartan, and he thought that that material might have had +some effect in preventing the usual irritating results of a lion's +bite.</blockquote> +<p>Another friend, Mr. Alexander Brown, now of Liverpool, sends a +brief note of a very delightful excursion given by him, in honor of +Livingstone, to the caves of Kennery or Kenhari, in the island of +Salsette. There was a pretty large party. After leaving the railway +station, they rode on ponies to the caves.</p> +<blockquote>"We spent a most charming day in the caves, and the +wild jungle around them. Dr. Wilson, you may believe, was in his +element, pouring forth volumes of Oriental lore in connection with +the Buddhist faith and the Kenhari caves, which are among the most +striking and interesting monuments of it in India. They are of +great extent, and the main temple is in good preservation. Doctor +Livingstone's almost boyish enjoyment of the whole thing impressed +me greatly. The stern, almost impassive, man seemed to unbend, and +enter most thoroughly into the spirit of a day in which pleasure +and instruction, under circumstances of no little interest, were so +delightfully combined."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>At Bombay he heard disquieting tidings of the Hanoverian +traveler, Baron van der Decken. In his Journal he says:</p> +<blockquote>"29<i>th December</i>, 1865.--The expedition of the +Baron van der Decken has met with a disaster up the Juba. He had +gone up 300 miles, and met only with the loss of his steam launch. +He then ran his steamer on two rocks and made two large holes in +her bottom. The Baron and Dr. Link got out in order to go to the +chief to conciliate him. He had been led to suspect war. Then a +large party came and attacked them, killing the artist Trenn and +the chief engineer. They were beaten off, and Lieutenant von Schift +with four survivors left in the boat, and in four days came down +the stream. Thence they came in a dhow to Zanzibar. It is feared +that the Baron may be murdered, but possibly not. It looks ill that +the attack was made after he landed.<br> +<br> +"My times are in thy hand, O Lord! Go Thou with me and I am safe. +And above all, make me useful in promoting Thy cause of peace and +good-will among men."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The rumor of the Baron's death was subsequently confirmed. His +mode of treating the natives was the very opposite of +Livingstone's, who regarded the manner of his death as another +proof that it was not safe to disregard the manhood of the African +people.</p> +<p>The Bombay lecture was a great success. Dr. Wilson, Free Church +Missionary, was in the chair, and after the lecture tried to rouse +the Bombay merchants, and especially the Scotch ones, to help the +enterprise. Referring to the driblets that had been contributed by +Government and the Geographical Society, he proposed that in Bombay +they should raise as much as both. In his next letter to his +daughter, Livingstone tells of the success of the lecture, of the +subscription, which promised to amount to £1000 (it did not +quite do so), and of his wish that the Bombay merchants should use +the money for setting up a trading establishment in Africa. "I must +first of all find a suitable spot; then send back here to let it be +known. I shall then be off in my work for the Geographical Society, +and when that is done, if I am well, I shall come back to the first +station." He goes on to speak of the facilities he had received for +transporting Indian buffaloes and other animals to Africa, and of +the extraordinary kindness and interest of Sir Bartle Frere, and +the pains he had taken to commend him to the good graces of the +Sultan of Zanzibar, then in Bombay. He speaks pleasantly of his +sojourn with Dr. Wilson and other friends. He is particularly +pleased with the management and <i>menu</i> of a house kept by four +bachelors--and then he adds: "Your mamma was an excellent manager +of the house, and made everything comfortable. I suppose it is the +habit of attending to little things that makes such a difference in +different houses. As I am to be away from all luxuries soon, I may +as well live comfortably with the bachelors while I can."</p> +<p>To Mr. James Young he writes about the "Lady Nyassa," which he +had sold, after several advertisements, but only for £2300: +"The whole of the money given for her I dedicated to the great +object for which she was built. I am satisfied at having made the +effort; would of course have preferred to have succeeded, but we +are not responsible for results." In reference to the investment of +the money, it was intended ultimately to be sunk in Government or +railway securities; but meanwhile he had been recommended to invest +it in shares of an Indian bank. Most unfortunately, the bank failed +a year or two afterward; and thus the whole of the £6000, +which the vessel had cost Livingstone, vanished into air.</p> +<p>His little daughter Anna Mary had a good share of his attention +at Bombay:</p> +<blockquote>"24<i>th December</i>, 1865.--I went last night to take +tea in the house of a Hindoo gentleman who is not a professed +Christian. It was a great matter for such to eat with men not of +his caste. Most Hindoos would shrink with horror from contact with +us. Seven little girls were present, belonging to two Hindoo +families. They were from four or five to eight years old. They were +very pleasant-looking, of olive complexions. Their hair was tied in +a knot behind, with a wreath of flowers round the knot; they had +large gold ear-rings and European dresses. One played very nicely +on the piano, while the rest sang very nicely a funny song, which +shows the native way of thinking about some of our customs. They +sang some nice hymns, and repeated some pieces, as the 'Wreck of +the Hesperus,' which was given at the examination of Oswell's +school. Then all sung, 'There is a happy land, far, far away,' and +it, with some of the Christian hymns, was beautiful. They speak +English perfectly, but with a little foreign twang. All joined in a +metrical prayer before retiring. They have been taught all by their +father, and it was very pleasant to see that this teaching had +brought out their natural cheerfulness. Native children don't look +lively, but these were brimful of fun. One not quite as tall as +yourself brought a child's book to me, and with great glee pointed +out myself under the lion. She can read fluently, as I suppose you +can by this time now. I said that I would like a little girl like +her to go with me to Africa to sing these pretty hymns to me there. +She said she would like to go, but should not like to have a black +husband. This is Christmas season, and to-morrow is held as the day +in which our Lord was born, an event which angels made known to +men, and it brought great joy, and proclaimed peace on earth and +good-will to men. That Saviour must be your friend, and He will be +if you ask Him so to be. He will forgive and save you, and take you +into his family."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>On New Year's Day, 1860, he writes in his Journal: "The Governor +told me that he had much pleasure in giving Dr. Kirk an +appointment; he would telegraph to him to-day. It is to be at +Zanzibar, where he will be of great use in promoting all good +works."</p> +<p>It had been arranged that Dr. Livingstone was to cross to +Zanzibar in the "Thule," a steamer that had formed part of the +squadron of Captain Sherard Osborn in China, and which Livingstone +had now the honor of being commissioned to present to the Sultan of +Zanzibar, as a present from Sir Bartle Frere and the Bombay +Government.</p> +<p>We give a few extracts from his journal at sea:</p> +<blockquote>"17<i>th January</i>.--Issued flannel to all the boys +from Nassick; the marines have theirs from Government. The boys +sing a couple of hymns every evening, and repeat the Lord's Prayer. +I mean to keep up this, and make this a Christian Expedition, +telling a little about Christ wherever we go. His love in coming +down to save men will be our theme. I dislike very much to make my +religion distasteful to others. This, with ----'s hypocritical +ostentation, made me have fewer religious services on the Zambesi +than would have been desirable, perhaps. He made religion itself +distasteful by excessive ostentation.... Good works gain the +approbation of the world, and though there is antipathy in the +human heart to the gospel of Christ, yet when Christians make their +good works shine all admire them. It is when great disparity exists +between profession and practice that we secure the scorn of +mankind. The Lord help me to act in all cases in this Expedition as +a Christian ought!"<br> +<br> +"23<i>d January</i>.--My second book has been reviewed very +favorably by the <i>Athenæum</i> and the <i>Saturday +Review</i>, and by many newspapers. Old John Crawford gives a snarl +in the <i>Examiner</i>, but I can afford that it should be so. 4800 +copies were sold on first night of Mr. Murray's sale. It is rather +a handsome volume. I hope it may do some good."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In a letter to Mr. James Young he writes of his voyage, and +discharges a characteristic spurt of humor at a mutual Edinburgh +acquaintance who had mistaken an order about a magic lantern:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>At sea</i>, 300 <i>miles from Zanzibar</i>, 26<i>th +January</i>, 1866.--We have enjoyed fair weather in coming across +the weary waste of waters. We started on the 5th. The 'Thule,' to +be a pleasure yacht, is the most incorrigible roller ever known. +The whole 2000 miles has been an everlasting see-saw, shuggy-shoo, +and enough to tire the patience of even a chemist, who is the most +patient of all animals. I am pretty well gifted in that respect +myself, though I say it that shouldn't say it, but that Sandy +B----! The world will never get on till we have a few of those +instrument-makers hung. I was particular in asking him to get me +Scripture slides colored, and put in with the magic lantern, and he +has not put in one! The very object for which I wanted it is thus +frustrated, and I did not open it till we were at sea. O Sandy! +Pity Burk and Hare have no successors in Auld Reekie!...<br> +<br> +"You will hear that I have the prospect of Kirk being out here. I +am very glad of it, as I am sure his services will be found +invaluable on the East Coast."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>To his daughter Agnes he writes, <i>à propos</i> of the +rolling of the ship:</p> +<blockquote>"Most of the marine Sepoys were sick. You would have +been a victim unless you had tried the new remedy of a bag of +pounded ice along the spine, which sounds as hopeful as the old +cure for toothache: take a mouthful of cold water, and sit on the +fire till it boils, you will suffer no more from toothache.... A +shark took a bite at the revolving vane of the patent log to-day. +He left some pieces of the enamel of his teeth in the brass, and +probably has the toothache. You will sympathize with him.... If you +ask Mr. Murray to send, by Mr. Conyngham, Buckland's <i>Curiosities +of Natural History</i>, and Mr. Gladstone's <i>Address to the +Edinburgh Students</i>, it will save me writing to him. When you +return home you will be scrutinized to see if you are spoiled. You +have only to act naturally and kindly to all your old friends to +disarm them of their prejudices. I think you will find the Youngs +true friends. Mrs. Williamson, of Widdieombe Hill, near Bath, +writes to me that she would like to show you her plans for the +benefit of poor orphans. If you thought of going to Bath it might +be well to get all the insight you could into that and every other +good work. It is well to be able to take a comprehensive view of +all benevolent enterprises, and resolve to do our duty in life in +some way or other, for we cannot live for ourselves alone. A life +of selfishness is one of misery, and it is unlike that of our +blessed Saviour, who pleased not Himself. He followed not his own +will even, but the will of his Father in heaven. I have read with +much pleasure a book called <i>Rose Douglas</i>. It is the life of +a minister's daughter--with fictitious names, but all true. She was +near Lanark, and came through Hamilton. You had better read it if +you come in contact with it."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Referring to an alarm, arising from the next house having taken +fire, of which she had written him, he adds playfully:</p> +<blockquote>"You did not mention what you considered most precious +on the night of the fire; so I dreamed that I saw one young lady +hugging a German grammar to her bosom; another with a pair of +curling tongs, a tooth-pick, and a pinafore; another with a bunch +of used-up postage stamps and autographs in a crinoline turned +upside down, and a fourth lifted up Madame Hocédé and +insisted on carrying her as her most precious baggage. Her name, +which I did not catch, will go down to posterity alongside of the +ladies who each carried out her husband from the besieged city, and +took care never to let him hear the last on't afterward. I am so +penetrated with admiration of her that I enclose the wing of a +flying-fish for her. It lighted among us last night, while we were +at dinner, coming right through the skylight. You will make use of +this fact in the <i>high-flying</i> speech which you will deliver +to her in French."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Zanzibar is at length reached on the 28th January, after a +voyage of twenty-three days, tedious enough, though but half the +length of the cruise in the "Nyassa" two years before. To +Agnes:</p> +<blockquote>"29<i>th Jan</i>.--We went to call to-day on the +Sultan. His Highness met us at the bottom of the stair, and as he +shook hands a brass band, which he got at Bombay, blared forth 'God +save the Queen'! This was excessively ridiculous, but I maintained +sufficient official gravity. After coffee and sherbet we came away, +and the wretched band now struck up 'The British Grenadier,' as if +the fact of my being only 5 feet 8, and Brebner about 2 inches +lower, ought not to have suggested 'Wee Willie Winkie' as more +appropriate. I was ready to explode, but got out of sight before +giving way."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Dr. Livingstone brought a very cordial recommendation to the +Sultan from Sir Bartle Frere, and experienced much kindness at his +hand. Being ill with toothache, the Sultan could not receive the +gift of the "Thule" in person, and it was presented through his +commodore.</p> +<p>Livingstone was detained in Zanzibar nearly two months waiting +for H.M.S. "Penguin," which was to convey him to the mouth of the +Rovuma. Zanzibar life was very monotonous--"It is the old, old way +of living--eating, drinking, sleeping; sleeping, drinking, eating. +Getting fat; slaving-dhows coming and slaving-dhows going away; bad +smells; and kindly looks from English folks to each other." The +sight of slaves in the Zanzibar market, and the recognition of some +who had been brought from Nyassa, did not enliven his visit, though +it undoubtedly confirmed his purpose and quickened his efforts to +aim another blow at the accursed trade. Always thinking of what +would benefit Africa, he writes to Sir Thomas Maclear urging very +strongly the starting of a line of steamers between the Cape, +Zanzibar, and Bombay: "It would be a most profitable one, and would +do great good, besides, in eating out the trade in slaves."</p> +<p>At last the "Penguin" came for him, and once more, and for the +last time, Livingstone left for the Dark Continent.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX."></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> +<h3>FROM ZANZIBAR TO UJIJI.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1866-1869.</center> +<p>Dr. Livingstone goes to mouth of Rovuma--His prayer--His +company--His herd of animals--Loss of his buffaloes--Good spirits +when setting out--Difficulties at Rovuma--Bad conduct of Johanna +men--Dismissal of his Sepoys--Fresh horrors of +slave-trade--Uninhabited tract--He reaches Lake Nyassa--Letter to +his son Thomas--Disappointed hopes--His double aim, to teach +natives and rouse horror of slave-trade--Tenor of religious +addresses--Wikatami remains behind--Livingstone finds no altogether +satisfactory station for commerce and missions--Question of the +watershed--Was it worth the trouble?--Overruled for good to +Africa--Opinion of Sir Bartle Frere--At Marenga's--The Johanna men +leave in a body--Circulate rumor of his murder--Sir Roderick +disbelieves it--Mr. E.D. Young sent out with Search +Expedition--Finds proof against rumor--Livingstone +half-starved--Loss of his goats--Review of 1866--Reflections on +Divine Providence--Letter to Thomas--His dog drowned--Loss of his +medicine-chest--He feels sentence of death passed on him--First +sight of Lake Tanganyika--Detained at Chitimba's--Discovery of Lake +Moero--Occupations during detention of 1867--Great privations and +difficulties--Illness--Rebellion among his men--Discovery of Lake +Bangweolo--Its oozy banks--Detention--Sufferings--He makes for +Ujiji--Very severe illness in beginning of 1869--Reaches +Ujiji--Finds his goods have been wasted and stolen--Most bitter +disappointment--His medicines, etc., at Unyanyembe--Letter to +Sultan of Zanzibar--Letters to Dr. Moffat and his daughter.</p> +<br> +<p>On the 19th of March, fortified by a firman from the Sultan to +all his people, and praying the Most High to prosper him, "by +granting him Influence in the eyes of the heathen, and blessing his +intercourse with them," Livingstone left Zanzibar in H.M.S. +"Penguin" for the mouth of the Rovuma. His company consisted of +thirteen Sepoys, ten Johanna men, nine Nassick boys, two Shupanga +men, and two Waiyau. Musa, one of the Johanna men, had been a +sailor in the "Lady Nyassa"; Susi and Amoda, the Shupanga men, had +been woodcutters for the "Pioneer"; and the two Waiyau lads, +Wikatani and Chuma, had been among the slaves rescued in 1861, and +had lived for some time at the mission station at Chibisa's. +Besides these, he carried with him a sort of menagerie in a +dhow--six camels, three buffaloes and a calf, two mules, and four +donkeys. What man but Dr. Livingstone would have encumbered himself +with such baggage, and for what conceivable purpose except the +benefit of Africa? The tame buffaloes of India were taken that he +might try whether, like the wild buffaloes of Africa, they would +resist the bite of the tsetse-fly; the other animals for the same +purpose. There were two words of which Livingstone might have said, +as Queen Mary said of Calais, that at his death they would be found +engraven on his heart--fever and tsetse; the one the great scourge +of man, the other of beast, in South Africa. To help to counteract +two such foes to African civilization no trouble or expense would +have been judged too great. Already he had lost nine of his +buffaloes at Zanzibar. It was a sad pity that owing to the +ill-treatment of the remaining animals by his people, who turned +out a poor lot, it could never be known conclusively whether the +tsetse-bite was fatal to them or not.</p> +<p>In spite of all he had suffered in Africa, and though he was +without the company of a single European, he had, in setting out, +something of the exhilarating feeling of a young traveler starting +on his first tour in Switzerland, deepened by the sense of nobility +which there is in every endeavor to do good to others. "The mere +animal pleasure of traveling in a wild unexplored country is very +great.... The sweat of one's brow is no longer a curse when one +works for God; it proves a tonic to the system, and is actually a +blessing." The Rovuma was found to have changed greatly since his +last visit, so that he had to land his goods twenty-five miles to +the north at Mikindany harbor, and find his way down to the river +farther up. The toil was fitted to wear out the strongest of his +men. Nothing could have been more grateful than the Sunday rest. +Through his Nassick boys, he tried to teach the Makondé--a +tribe that bore a very bad character, but failed; however, the +people were wonderfully civil, and, contrary to all previous usage, +neither inflicted fines nor made complaints, though the animals had +done some damage to their corn. He set this down as an answer to +his prayers for influence among the heathen.</p> +<p>His vexations, however, were not long of beginning. Both the +Sepoy marines and the Nassick boys were extremely troublesome, and +treated the animals abominably. The Johanna men were thieves. The +Sepoys became so intolerable that after four months' trial he sent +most of them back to the coast. It required an effort to resist the +effect of such, things, owing to the tendency of the mind to brood +over the ills of travel. The natives were not unkindly, but food +was very scarce. As they advanced, the horrors of the slave-trade +presented themselves in all their hideous aspects. Women were found +dead, tied to trees, or lying in the path shot and stabbed, their +fault having been inability to keep up with the party, while their +amiable owners, to prevent them from becoming the property of any +one else, put an end to their lives. In some instances the +captives, yet in the slave-sticks, were found not quite dead. +Brutality was sometimes seen in another form, as when some natives +laughed at a poor boy suffering from a very awkward form of hernia, +whose mother was trying to bind up the part. The slave-trade +utterly demoralized the people; the Arabs bought whoever was +brought to them, and the great extent of forest in the country +favored kidnapping; otherwise the people were honest.</p> +<p>Farther on they passed through an immense uninhabited tract, +that had once evidently had a vast population. Then, in the Waiyau +country, west of Mataka's, came a splendid district 3400 feet above +the sea, as well adapted for a settlement as Magomero, but it had +taken them four months to get at it, while Magomero was reached in +three weeks. The abandonment of that mission he would never cease +to regret. As they neared Lake Nyassa, slave parties became more +common. On the 8th August, 1866, they reached the lake, which +seemed to Livingstone like an old familiar friend which he never +expected to see again. He thanked God, bathed again in the +delicious water, and felt quite exhilarated.</p> +<p>Writing to his son Thomas, 28th August, he says:</p> +<blockquote>"The Sepoys were morally unfit for travel, and then we +had hard lines, all of us. Food was not to be had for love or +money. Our finest cloths only brought miserable morsels of the +common grain. I trudged it the whole way, and having no animal food +save what turtle-doves and guinea-fowls we occasionally shot, I +became like one of Pharaoh's lean kine. The last tramp [to Nyassa] +brought us to a land of plenty. It was over a very fine country, +but quite depopulated.... The principal chief, named Mataka, lives +on the watershed overhanging this, but fifty miles or more distant +from this; his town contained a thousand houses--many of them +square, in imitation of the Arabs. Large patches of English peas in +full bearing grew in the moist hollows, or were irrigated. Cattle +showed that no tsetse existed. When we arrived, Mataka was just +sending back a number of cattle and captives to their own homes. +They had been taken by his people without his knowledge from +Nyassa. I saw them by accident: there were fifty-four women and +children, about a dozen young men and boys, and about twenty-five +or thirty head of cattle. As the act was spontaneous, it was the +more gratifying to witness....<br> +<br> +"I sometimes remember you with some anxiety, as not knowing what +opening may be made for you in life.... Whatever you feel yourself +best fitted for, 'commit thy way to the Lord, trust also in Him, +and He will bring it to pass.' One ought to endeavor to devote the +peculiarities of his nature to his Redeemer's service, whatever +these may be."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Resting at the lake, and working up journal, lunars, and +altitudes, he hears of the arrival of an Englishman at Mataka's, +with cattle for him, "who had two eyes behind as well as two in +front--news enough for awhile." Zoology, botany, and geology engage +his attention as usual. He tries to get across the lake, but +cannot, as the slavers own all the dhows, and will neither lend nor +sell to him; he has therefore to creep on foot round its southern +end. Marks of destruction and desolation again shock the +eye--skulls and bones everywhere. At the point where the +Shiré leaves Nyassa, he could not but think of disappointed +hopes--the death of his dear wife, and of the Bishop, the +increasing vigor of the slave-trade, and the abandonment of the +Universities Mission. But faith assured him of good times coming, +though he might not live to see them. Would only he had seen +through the vista of the next ten years! Bishop Tozer done with +Africa, and Bishop Steere returning to the old neighborhood, and +resuming the old work of the Universities Mission; and his own +countrymen planted his name on the promontory on which he gazed so +sorrowfully, training the poor natives in the arts of civilization, +rearing Christian households among them, and proclaiming the +blessed Gospel of the God of love!</p> +<p>Invariably as he goes along, Dr. Livingstone aims at two things: +at teaching some of the great truths of Christianity, and rousing +consciences on the atrocious guilt of the slave-trade. In +connection with the former he discovers that his usual way of +conducting divine service--by the reading of prayers--does not give +ignorant persons any idea of an unseen Being; kneeling and praying +with the eyes shut is better. At the foot of the lake he goes out +of his way to remonstrate with Mukaté, one of the chief +marauders of the district. The tenor of his addresses is in some +degree shaped by the practices he finds so prevalent:</p> +<p>"We mention our relationship to our Father, the guilt of selling +any of his children, the consequences:--<i>e.g.</i> it begets war, +for as they don't like to sell their own, they steal from other +villagers, who retaliate. Arabs and Waiyau, invited into the +country by their selling, foster feuds,--wars and depopulation +ensue. We mention the Bible--future state--prayer; advise union, +that they would unite as one family to expel enemies, who came +first as slave-traders, and ended by leaving the country a +wilderness."</p> +<p>It was about this time that Wikatani, one of the two Waiyau boys +who had been rescued from slavery, finding, as he believed or said, +some brothers and sisters on the western shore of the lake, left +Livingstone and remained with them. There had been an impression in +some quarters, that, according to his wont, Livingstone had made +him his slave; to show the contrary, he gave him his choice of +remaining or going, and, when the boy chose to remain, he +acquiesced.</p> +<p>Dr. Livingstone had ere now passed over the ground where, if +anywhere, he might have hoped to find a station for a commercial +and missionary settlement, independent of the Portuguese. In this +hope he was rather disappointed. The only spot he refers to is the +district west of Mataka's, which, however, was so difficult of +access. Nearer the coast a mission might be established, and to +this project his mind turned afterward; but it would not command +the Nyassa district. On the whole he preferred the Zambesi and +Shiré valley, with all their difficulties. But the Rovuma +was not hopeless, and indeed, within the last few years, the +Universities Mission has occupied the district successfully.</p> +<p>The geographical question of the watershed had now to be +grappled with. It is natural to ask whether this question was of +sufficient importance to engage his main energies, and justify the +incalculable sacrifices undergone by him during the remaining six +years of his life. First of all, we must remember, it was not his +own scheme--it was pressed on him by Sir Roderick Murchison and the +Geographical Society; and it may perhaps be doubted whether, had he +foreseen the cost of the enterprise, he would have deemed the +object worthy of the price. But ever and anon, he seemed to be +close on what he was searching for, and certain to secure it by +just a little further effort; while as often, like the cup of +Tantalus, it was snatched from his grasp. Moreover, during a +life-time of splendid self-discipline, he had been training himself +to keep his promises, and to complete his tasks; nor could he in +any way see it his duty to break the one or leave the other +unfinished. He had undertaken to the Geographical Society to solve +that problem, and he would do it if it could be done. Wherever he +went he had always some opportunity to make known the father-hood +of God and his love in Christ, although the seed he sowed seemed +seldom to take root. Then he was gathering fresh information on the +state of the country and the habits of the people. He was +especially gathering information on the accursed slave-trade.</p> +<p>This question of the watershed, too, had fascinated his mind, +for he had a strong impression that the real sources of the Nile +were far higher than any previous traveler had supposed--far higher +than Lake Victoria Nyanza, and that it would be a service to +religion as well as science to discover the fountains of the stream +on whose bosom, in the dawn of Hebrew history, Moses had floated in +his ark of bulrushes. A strong impression lurked in his mind that +if he should only solve that old problem he would acquire such +influence that new weight would be given to his pleadings for +Africa; just as, at the beginning of his career, he had wished for +a commanding style of composition, to be able to rouse the +attention of the world to that ill-treated continent.</p> +<p>He was strongly disposed to think that in the account of the +sources given to Herodotus by the Registrar of Minerva in the +temple of Saïs, that individual was not joking, as the father +of history supposed. He thought that in the watershed the two +conical hills, Crophi and Mophi might be found, and the fountains +between them which it was impossible to fathom; and that it might +be seen that from that region there was a river flowing north to +Egypt, and another flowing south to a country that might have been +called Ethiopia. But whatever might be his views or aims, it was +ordained that in the wanderings of his last years he should bring +within the sympathies of the Christian world many a poor tribe +otherwise unknown; that he should witness sights, surpassing all he +had ever seen before of the inhumanity and horrors of the +slave-traffic--sights that harrowed his inmost soul; and that when +his final appeal to his countrymen on behalf of its victims came, +not from, his living voice but from his tomb, it should gather from +a thousand touching associations a thrilling power that would rouse +the world, and finally root out the accursed thing.</p> +<p>A very valuable testimony was borne by Sir Bartle Frere to the +real aims of Livingstone, and the value of his work, especially in +this last journey, in a speech delivered in the Glasgow Chamber of +Commerce, 10th November, 1876:</p> +<blockquote>"The object," he said, "of Dr. Livingstone's +geographical and scientific explorations was to lead his countrymen +to the great work of Christianizing and civilizing the millions of +Central Africa. You will recollect how, when first he came back +from his wonderful journey, though we were all greatly startled by +his achievements and by what he told us, people really did not lay +what he said much to heart. They were stimulated to take up the +cause of African discovery again, and other travelers went out and +did excellent service; but the great fact which was from the very +first upon Livingstone's mind, and which he used to impress upon +you, did not make the impression he wished, and although a good +many people took more and more interest in the Civilization of +Africa and in the abolition of the slave-trade, which he pointed +out was the great obstacle to all progress, still it did not come +home to the people generally. It was not until his third and last +journey, when he was no more to return among us, that the +descriptions which he gave of the horrors of the slave-trade in the +interior really took hold upon the mind of the people of this +country, and made them determine that what used to be considered +the crotchet of a few religious minds and humanitarian sort of +persons, should be a phase of the great work which this country had +undertaken, to free the African races, and to abolish, in the first +place, the slave-trade by sea, and then, as we hope, the slaving by +land."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>In September an Arab slaver was met at Marenga's, who told Musa, +one of the Johanna men, that all the country in front was full of +Mazitu, a warlike tribe; that forty-four Arabs and their followers +had been killed by them at Kasunga, and that he only had escaped. +Musa's heart was filled with consternation. It was in vain that +Marenga assured him that there were no Mazitu in the direction in +which he was going, and that Livingstone protested to him that he +would give them a wide berth. The Johanna men wanted an excuse for +going back, but in such a way that, when they reached Zanzibar, +they should get their pay. They left him in a body, and when they +got to Zanzibar, circulated a circumstantial report that he had +been murdered. In December, 1866, Musa appeared at Zanzibar, and +told how Livingstone had crossed Lake Nyassa to its western or +northwestern shore, and was pushing on west or northwest, when, +between Marenga and Maklisoora, a band of savages stopped their +way, and rushed on him and his small band of followers, now reduced +to twenty. Livingstone fired twice, and killed two; but, in the act +of reloading, three Mafite leaped upon him through the smoke, one +of them felled him with an axe-cut from behind, and the blow nearly +severed his head from his body. The Johanna men fled into the thick +jungle, and miraculously escaped. Returning to the scene of the +tragedy, they found the body of their master, and in a shallow +grave dug with some stakes, they committed his remains to the +ground, Many details were given regarding the Sepoys, and regarding +the after fortunes of Musa and his companions. Under +cross-examination Musa stood firmly to his story, which was +believed both by Dr. Seward and Dr. Kirk, of Zanzibar. But when the +tidings reached England, doubt was thrown on them by some of those +best qualified to judge. Mr. Edward D. Young, who had had dealings +with Musa, and knew him to be a liar, was suspicious of the story; +so was Mr. Horace Waller. Sir Roderick Murchison, too, proclaimed +himself an unbeliever, notwithstanding all the circumstantiality +and apparent conclusiveness of the tale. The country was resounding +with lamentations, the newspapers were full of obituary notices, +but the strong-minded disbelievers were not to be moved.</p> +<p>Sir Roderick and his friends of the Geographical Society +determined to organize a search expedition, and Mr. E. D. Young was +requested to undertake the task. In May, 1867, all was ready for +the departure of the Expedition; and on the 25th July, Mr. E. D. +Young, who was accompanied by Mr. Faulkner, John Reid, and Patrick +Buckley, cast anchor at the mouth of the Zambesi. A steel boat +named "The Search," and some smaller boats, were speedily launched, +and the party were moving up the river. We have no space for an +account of Mr. Young's most interesting journey, not even for the +detail of that wonderful achievement, the carrying of the pieces of +the "Search" past the Murchison Cataracts, and their reconstruction +at the top, without a single piece missing. The sum and substance +of Mr. Young's story was, that first, quite unexpectedly, he came +upon a man near the south end of Lake Nyassa, who had seen +Livingstone there, and who described him well, showing that he had +not crossed at the north end, as Musa had said, but, for some +reason, had come round by the south; then, the chief Marenga not +only told him of Livingstone's stay there, but also of the return +of Musa, after leaving him, without any story of his murder; also, +at Mapunda, they came on traces of the boy Wikatani, and learned +his story, though they did not see himself. The most ample proof of +the falsehood of Musa's story was thus obtained, and by the end of +1867, Mr. Young, after a most active, gallant, and successful +campaign, was approaching the shores of England <a name= +"FNanchor68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68">[68]</a>. No enterprise +could have brought more satisfactory results, and all in the +incredibly short period of eight months.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_68"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor68">[68]</a> See <i>The Search for Livingstone</i>, by +E.D. Young: London, 1868.</blockquote> +<p>Meanwhile, Livingstone, little thinking of all the commotion +that the knave Musa had created, was pushing on in the direction of +Lake Tanganyika. Though it was not true that he had been murdered, +it was true that he was half-starved. The want of other food +compelled him to subsist to a large extent on African maize, the +most tasteless and unsatisfying of food. It never produced the +feeling of sufficiency, and it would set him to dream of dinners he +had once eaten, though dreaming was not his habit, except when he +was ill. Against his will, the thought of delicious feasts would +come upon him, making it all the more difficult to be cheerful, +with, probably, the poorest fare on which life could be in any way +maintained, To complete his misery, his four goats were lost, so +that the one comfort of his table--a little milk along with his +maize--was taken from him when most eagerly sought and valued.</p> +<p>In reviewing the year 1866, he finds it less productive of +results than he had hoped for: "We now end 1866. It has not been so +fruitful or useful as I intended. Will try to do better in 1867, +and be better--more gentle and loving; and may the Almighty, to +whom I commit my way, bring my desires to pass, and prosper me! Let +all the sins of '66 be blotted out, for Jesus' sake. May He who was +full of grace and truth impress his character on mine: +grace--eagerness to show favor; truth--truthfulness, sincerity, +honor--for his mercy's sake."</p> +<p>Habitually brave and fearless though Livingstone was, it was not +without frequent self-stimulation, and acts of faith in unseen +truth, that the peace of his mind was maintained. In the midst of +his notes of progress, such private thoughts as the following occur +from time to time: "It seems to have been a mistake to imagine that +the Divine Majesty on high was too exalted to take any notice of +our mean affairs. The great minds among men are remarkable for the +attention they bestow on minutiæ. An astronomer cannot be +great unless his mind can grasp an infinity of very small things, +each of which, if unattended to, would throw his work out. A great +general attends to the smallest details of his army. The Duke of +Wellington's letters show his constant attention to minute details. +And so with the Supreme Mind, of the universe, as He is revealed to +us in his Son. 'The very hairs of your head are all numbered,' 'A +sparrow cannot fall to the ground without your Father,' 'He who +dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto' condescends +to provide for the minutest of our wants, directing, guarding, and +assisting in each hour and moment, with an infinitely more vigilant +and excellent care than our own utmost self-love can ever attain +to. With the ever-watchful, loving eye constantly upon me, I may +surely follow my bent, and go among the heathen in front, bearing +the message of peace and good-will. All appreciate the statement +that it is offensive to our common Father to sell and kill his +children. I will therefore go, and may the Almighty help me to be +faithful!"</p> +<p>Writing to his son Thomas, 1st February, 1867, he complains +again of his terrible hunger:</p> +<blockquote>The people have nothing to sell but a little +millet-porridge and mushrooms. "Woe is me! good enough to produce +fine dreams of the roast beef of old England, but nothing else. I +have become very thin, though I was so before; but now, if you +weighed me, you might calculate very easily how much you might get +for the bones. But--we got a cow yesterday, and I am to get milk +to-morrow.... I grieve to write it, poor poodle 'Chitane' was +drowned" [15th January, in the Chimbwé]; "he had to cross a +marsh a mile wide, and waist-deep.... I went over first, and forgot +to give directions about the dog--all were too much engaged in +keeping their balance to notice that he swam among them till he +died. He had more spunk than a hundred country dogs--took charge of +the whole line of march, ran to see the first in the line, then +back to the last, and barked to haul him up; then, when he knew +what hut I occupied, would not let a country cur come in sight of +it, and never stole himself. We have not had any difficulties with +the people, made many friends, imparted a little knowledge +sometimes, and raised a protest against slavery very +widely."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The year 1867 was signalized by a great calamity, and by two +important geographical feats. The calamity was the loss of his +medicine-chest. It had been intrusted to one of his most careful +people; but, without authority, a carrier hired for the day took it +and some other things to carry for the proper bearer, then bolted, +and neither carrier nor box could be found. "I felt," says +Livingstone, "as if I had now received the sentence of death, like +poor Bishop Mackenzie." With the medicine-chest was lost the power +of treating himself in fever with the medicine that had proved so +effectual. We find him not long after in a state of insensibility, +trying to raise himself from the ground, falling back with all his +weight, and knocking his head upon a box. The loss of the +medicine-box was probably the beginning of the end; his system lost +the wonderful power of recovery which it had hitherto shown; and +other ailments--in the lungs, the feet, and the bowels, that might +have been kept under in a more vigorous state of general health, +began hereafter to prevail against him.</p> +<p>The two geographical feats were--his first sight of Lake +Tanganyika, and his discovery of Lake Moero. In April he reached +Lake Liemba, as the lower part of Tanganyika was called. The +scenery was wonderfully beautiful, and the air of the whole region +remarkably peaceful. The want of medicine made an illness here very +severe; on recovering, he would have gone down the lake, but was +dissuaded, in consequence of his hearing that a chief was killing +all that came that way. He therefore returns to Chitimba's, and +resolves to explore Lake Moero, believing that there the question +of the watershed would be decided, At Chitimba's, he is detained +upward of three months, in consequence of the disturbed state of +the country. At last he gets the escort of some Arab traders, who +show him much kindness, but again he is prostrated by illness, and +at length he reaches Lake Moero, 8th November, 1867. He hears of +another lake, called Bembo or Bangweolo, and to hear of it is to +resolve to see it. But he is terribly wearied with two years' +traveling without having heard from home, and he thinks he must +first go to Ujiji, for letters and stores. Meanwhile, as the +traders are going to Casembe's, he accompanies them thither. +Casembe he finds to be a fierce chief, who rules his people with +great tyranny, cutting off their ears, and even their hands, for +the most trivial offenses. Persons so mutilated, seen in his +village, excite a feeling of horror. This chief was not one easily +got at, but Livingstone believed that he gained an influence with +him, only he could not quite overcome his prejudice against him. +The year 1867 ended with another severe attack of illness.</p> +<blockquote>"The chief interest in Lake Moero," says Livingstone, +"is that it forms one of a chain of lakes, connected by a river +some 500 miles in length. First of all, the Chambezé rises +in the country of Mambwé, N.E. of Molemba; it then flows +southwest and west, till it reaches lat. 11° S., and long. +29° E., where it forms Lake Bemba or Bangweolo; emerging +thence, it assumes the name of Luapula, and comes down here to fall +into Moero. On going out of this lake it is known by the name of +Lualaba, as it flows N.W. in Rua to form another lake with many +islands, called Urengé or Ulengé. Beyond this, +information is not positive as to whether it enters Lake +Tanganyika, or another lake beyond that.... Since coming to +Casembe's, the testimony of natives and Arabs has been so united +and consistent, that I am but ten days from Lake Bemba or +Bangweolo, that I cannot doubt its accuracy."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The detentions experienced in 1867 were long and wearisome, and +Livingstone disliked them because he was never well when doing +nothing. His light reading must have been pretty well exhausted; +even <i>Smith's Dictionary of the Bible</i>, which accompanied him +in these wanderings, and which we have no doubt he read throughout, +must have got wearisome sometimes. He occupied himself in writing +letters, in the hope that somehow or sometime he might find an +opportunity of despatching them. He took the rainfall carefully +during the year, and lunars and other observations, when the sky +permitted. He had intended to make his observations more perfect on +this journey than on any previous one, but alas for his +difficulties and disappointments! A letter to Sir Thomas Maclear +and Mr. Mann, his assistant, gives a pitiful account of these: "I +came this journey with a determination to observe very carefully +all your hints as to occupations and observations, east and west, +north and south, but I have been so worried by lazy, deceitful +Sepoys, and thievish Johanna men, and indifferent instruments, that +I fear the results are very poor." He goes on to say that some of +his instruments were defective, and others went out of order, and +that his time-taker, one of his people, had no conscience, and +could not be trusted. The records of his observations, +notwithstanding, indicate much care and pains. In April, he had +been very unwell, taking fits of total insensibility, but as he had +not said anything of this to his people at home, it was to be kept +a secret.</p> +<p>His Journal for 1867 ends with a statement of the poverty of his +food, and the weakness to which he was reduced. He had hardly +anything to eat but the coarsest grain of the country, and no tea, +coffee, or sugar. An Arab trader, Mohamad Bogharib, who arrived at +Casembe's about the same time, presented him with a meal of +vermicelli, oil, and honey, and had some coffee and sugar; +Livingstone had had none since he left Nyassa.</p> +<p>The Journal for 1868 begins with a prayer that if he should die +that year, he might be prepared for it. The year was spent in the +same region, and was signalized by the discovery of Lake Bemba, or, +as it may more properly be called, Lake Bangweolo, Early in the +year he heard accounts of what interested him greatly--certain +underground houses in Rua, ranging along a mountain side for twenty +miles. In some cases the doorways were level with the country +adjacent; in others, ladders were used to climb up to them; inside +they were said to be very large, and not the work of men, but of +God. He became eagerly desirous to visit these mysterious +dwellings.</p> +<p>Circumstances turning out more favorable to his going to Lake +Bangweolo, Dr. Livingstone put off his journey to Ujiji, on which +his men had been counting, and much against the advice of Mohamad, +his trader friend and companion, determined first to see the lake +of which he had heard so much. The consequence was a rebellion +among his men. With the exception of five, they refused to go with +him. They had been considerably demoralized by contact with the +Arab trader and his slave-gang. Dr. Livingstone took this rebellion +with wonderful placidity, for in his own mind he could not greatly +blame them. It was no wonder they were tired of the everlasting +tramping, for he was sick of it himself. He reaped the fruit of his +mildness by the men coming back to him, on his return from the +lake, and offering their services. It cannot be said of him that he +was not disposed to make any allowance for human weakness. When +recording a fault, and how he dealt with it, he often adds, +"consciousness of my own defects makes me lenient." "I also have my +weaknesses."</p> +<p>The way to the lake was marked by fresh and lamentable tokens of +the sufferings of slaves. "<i>24th June</i>.--Six men-slaves were +singing as if they did not feel the weight and degradation of the +slave-sticks. I asked the cause of their mirth, and was told that +they rejoiced at the idea of 'coming back after death, and haunting +and killing those who had sold them,' Some of the words I had to +inquire about; for instance, the meaning of the words, 'to haunt +and kill by spirit power,' then it was, 'Oh, you sent me off to +Manga (sea-coast), but the yoke is off when I die, and back I shall +come to haunt and to kill you.' Then all joined in the chorus, +which was the name of each vendor. It told not of fun, but of the +bitterness and tears of such as were oppressed; and on the side of +the oppressors there was power. There be higher than they!"</p> +<p>His discovery of Lake Bangweolo is recorded as quietly as if it +had been a mill-pond: "On the 18th July, I walked a little way out, +and saw the shores of the lake for the first time, thankful that I +had come safely hither." The lake had several inhabited islands, +which Dr. Livingstone visited, to the great wonder of the natives, +who crowded around him in multitudes, never having seen such a +curiosity as a white man before. In the middle of the lake the +canoe-men whom he had hired to carry him across refused to proceed +further, under the influence of some fear, real or pretended, and +he was obliged to submit. But the most interesting, though not the +most pleasant, thing about the lake, was the ooze or sponge which +occurred frequently on its banks. The spongy places were slightly +depressed valleys, without trees or bushes, with grass a foot or +fifteen inches high; they were usually from two to ten miles long, +and from a quarter of a mile to a mile broad. In the course of +thirty geographical miles, he crossed twenty-nine, and that, too, +at the end of the fourth month of the dry season. It was necessary +for him to strip the lower part of his person before fording them, +and then the leeches pounced on him, and in a moment had secured +such a grip, that even twisting them round the fingers failed to +tear them off.</p> +<p>It was Dr. Livingstone's impression at this time that in +discovering Lake Bangweolo, with the sponges that fed it, he had +made another discovery--that these marshy places might be the real +sources of the three great rivers, the Nile, the Congo, and the +Zambesi. A link, however, was yet wanting to prove his theory. It +had yet to be shown that the waters that flowed from Lake Bangweolo +into Lake Moero, and thence northward by the river Lualaba, were +connected with the Nile system. Dr. Livingstone was strongly +inclined to believe that this connection existed; but toward the +close of his life he had more doubts of it, although it was left to +others to establish conclusively that the Lualaba was the Congo, +and sent no branch to the Nile.</p> +<p>On leaving Lake Bangweolo, detention occurred again as it had +occurred before. The country was very disturbed and very miserable, +and Dr. Livingstone was in great straits and want. Yet with a grim +humor he tells how, when lying in an open shed, with all his men +around him, he dreamed of having apartments at Mivart's Hotel. It +was after much delay that he found himself at last, under the +escort of a slave-party, on the way to Ujiji. Mr. Waller has +graphically described the situation. "At last he makes a start on +the 11th of December, 1868, with the Arabs, who are bound eastward +for Ujiji. It is a motley group, composed of Mohamad and his +friends, a gang of Unyamwezi hangers-on, and strings of wretched +slaves yoked together in their heavy slave-sticks. Some carry +ivory, others copper, or food for the march, while hope and fear, +misery and villainy, may be read off on the various faces that pass +in line out of this country, like a serpent dragging its accursed +folds away from the victim it has paralyzed with its fangs."</p> +<p>New Year's Day, 1869, found Livingstone laboring under a worse +attack of illness than any he had ever had before. For ten weeks to +come his situation was as painful as can be conceived. A continual +cough, night and day, the most distressing weakness, inability to +walk, yet the necessity of moving on, or rather of being moved on, +in a kind of litter arranged by Mohamad Bogharib,--where, with his +face poorly protected from the sun, he was jolted up and down and +sideways, without medicine or food for an invalid,--made the +situation sufficiently trying. His prayer was that he might hold +out to Ujiji, where he expected to find medicines and stores, with +the rest and shelter so necessary in his circumstances. So ill was +he, that he lost count of the days of the week and the month. "I +saw myself lying dead in the way to Ujiji, and all the letters I +expected there--useless. When I think of my children, the lines +ring through my head perpetually:</p> +<blockquote>"'I shall look into your faces,<br> + And listen to what you say;<br> +And be often very near you<br> + When you think I'm far away.'"</blockquote> +<p>On the 26th February, 1869, he embarked in a canoe on +Tanganyika, and on the 14th March he reached the longed-for Ujiji, +on the eastern shore of the lake. To complete his trial, he found +that the goods he expected had been made away with in every +direction. A few fragments were about all he could find. Medicines, +wine, and cheese had been left at Unyanyembe, thirteen days +distant. A war was raging on the way, so that they could not be +sent for till the communications were restored.</p> +<p>To obviate as far as possible the recurrence of such a disaster +to a new store of goods which he was now asking Dr. Kirk to send +him, Livingstone wrote a letter to the Sultan of Zanzibar, 20th +April, 1869, in which he frankly and cordially acknowledged the +benefit he had derived from the letter of recommendation his +Highness had given him, and the great kindness of the Arabs, +especially Mohamad Bogharib, who had certainly saved his life. Then +he complains of the robbery of his goods, chiefly by one Musa bin +Salim, one of the people of the Governor of Unyanyembe, who had +bought ivory with the price, and another man who had bought a wife. +Livingstone does not expect his cloth and beads to be brought back, +or the price of the wife and ivory returned, but he says:</p> +<p>"I beg the assistance of your authority to prevent a fresh stock +of goods, for which I now send to Zanzibar, being plundered in the +same way. Had it been the loss of ten or twelve pieces of cloth +only, I should not have presumed to trouble your Highness about the +loss; but 62 pieces or gorahs out of 80, besides beads, is like +cutting a man's throat. If one or two guards of good character +could be sent by you, no one would plunder the pagasi next +time.</p> +<p>"I wish also to hire twelve or fifteen good freemen to act as +canoe-men or porters, or in any other capacity that may be +required. I shall be greatly obliged if you appoint one of your +gentlemen who knows the country to select that number, and give +them and their headman a charge as to their behavior. If they know +that you wish them to behave well it will have great effect. I wish +to go down Tanganyika, through Luanda and Chowambe, and pass the +river Karagwe, which falls into Lake Chowambe. Then come back to +Ujiji, visit Manyuema and Rua, and then return to Zanzibar, when I +hope to see your Highness in the enjoyment of health and +happiness."</p> +<p>Livingstone showed only his usual foresight in taking these +precautions for the protection of his next cargo of goods. In +stating so plainly his intended route, his purpose was doubtless to +prevent carelessness in executing his orders, such as might have +arisen had it been deemed uncertain where he was going, and whether +or not he meant to return by Zanzibar.</p> +<p>Of letters during the latter part of this period very few seem +to have reached their destination. A short letter to Dr. Moffat, +bearing date "Near Lake Moero, March, 1868," dwells dolefully on +his inability to reach Lake Bemba in consequence of the flooded +state of the country, and then his detention through the strifes of +the Arabs and the natives. The letter, however, is more occupied +with reviewing the past than narrating the present. In writing to +Dr. Moffat, he enters more minutely than he would have done with a +less intimate and sympathetic friend into the difficulties of his +lot--difficulties that had been increased by some from whom he +might have expected other things. He had once seen a map displayed +in the rooms of the Geographical Society, substantially his own, +but with another name in conspicuous letters. On the Zambesi he had +had difficulties, little suspected, of which in the meantime he +would say nothing to the public. A letter to his daughter Agnes, +after he had gone to Bangweolo, dwells also much on his past +difficulties--as if he felt that the slow progress he was making at +the moment needed explanation or apology. Amid such topics, almost +involuntary touches of the old humor occur: "I broke my teeth +tearing at maize and other hard food, and they are coming out. One +front tooth is out, and I have such an awful mouth. If you expect a +kiss from me, you must take it through a speaking-trumpet." In one +respect, amid all his trials, his heart seems to become more tender +than ever--in affection for his children, and wise and considerate +advice for their guidance. In his letter to Agnes, he adverts with +some regret to a chance he lost of saying a word for his family +when Lord Palmerston sent Mr. Hayward, Q.C., to ask him what he +could do to serve him. "It never occurred to me that he meant +anything for me or my children till I was out here. I thought only +of my work in Africa, and answered accordingly." It was only the +fear that his family would be in want that occasioned this +momentary regret at his disinterested answer to Lord +Palmerston.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX."></a>CHAPTER XX.</h2> +<h3>MANYUEMA.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1869-1871.</center> +<p>He sets out to explore Manyuema and the river Lualaba--Loss of +forty-two letters--His feebleness through illness--He arrives at +Bambarré--Becomes acquainted with the soko or +gorilla--Reaches the Luama River--Magnificence of the +country--Repulsiveness of the people--Cannot get a canoe to explore +the Lualaba--Has to return to Bambarré--Letter to Thomas, +and retrospect of his life--Letter to Sir Thomas Maclear and Mr. +Mann--Miss Tinné--He is worse in health than ever, yet +resolves to add to his programme and go round Lake +Bangweolo--Letter to Agnes--Review of the past--He sets out anew in +a more northerly direction--Overpowered by constant wet--Reaches +Nyangwe--Long detention--Letter to his brother John--Sense of +difficulties and troubles--Nobility of his spirit--He sets off with +only three attendants for the Lualaba--Suspicions of the +natives--Influence of Arab traders--Frightful difficulties of the +way--Lamed by foot-sores--Has to return to Bambarré--Long +and wearisome detention--Occupations--Meditations and +reveries--Death no terror--Unparalleled position and trials--He +reads his Bible from beginning to end four times--Letter to Sir +Thomas Maclear--To Agnes--His delight at her sentiments about his +coming home--Account of the soko--Grief to hear of death of Lady +Murchison--Wretched character of men sent from Zanzibar--At last +sets out with Mohamad--Difficulties--Slave-trade most +horrible--Cannot get canoes for Lualaba--Long waiting--New +plan--Frustrated by horrible massacre on banks of +Lualaba--Frightful scene--He must return to Ujiji--New +illness--Perils of journey to Ujiji--Life three times endangered in +one day--Reaches Ujiji--Shereef has sold off his goods--He is +almost in despair--Meets Henry M. Stanley and is relieved--His +contributions to Natural Science during last journeys--Professor +Owen in the <i>Quarterly Review</i>.</p> +<p>After resting for a few weeks at Ujiji, Dr. Livingstone set out, +12th July, 1869, to explore the Manyuema country. Ujiji was not a +place favorable for making arrangements; it was the resort of the +worst scum of Arab traders. Even to send his letters to the coast +was a difficult undertaking, for the bearers were afraid he would +expose their doings. On one day he despatched no fewer than +forty-two--enough, no doubt, to form a large volume; none of these +even arrived at Zanzibar, so that they must have been purposely +destroyed. The slave-traders of Urungu and Itawa, where he had +been, were gentlemen compared with those of Ujiji, who resembled +the Kilwa and Portuguese, and with whom trading was simply a system +of murder. Here lay the cause of Livingstone's unexampled +difficulties at this period of his life; he was dependent on men +who were not only knaves of the first magnitude, but who had a +special animosity against him, and a special motive to deceive, +rob, and obstruct him in every possible way.</p> +<p>After considerable deliberation he decided to go to Manyuema, in +order to examine the river Lualaba, and determine the direction of +its flow. This would settle the question of the watershed, and in +four or five months, if he should get guides and canoes, his work +would be done. On setting out from Ujiji he first crossed the lake, +and then proceeded inland on foot. He was still weak from illness, +and his lungs were so feeble that to walk up-hill made him pant. He +became stronger, however, as he went on, refreshed doubtless by the +interesting country through which he passed, and the aspect of the +people, who were very different from the tribes on the coast.</p> +<p>On the 21st September he arrived at Bambarré, in +Manyuema, the village of the Chief Moenékuss. He found the +people in a state of great isolation from the rest of the world, +with nothing to trust to but charms and idols,--both being bits of +wood. He made the acquaintance of the soko or gorilla, not a very +social animal, for it always tries to bite off the ends of its +captor's fingers and toes. Neither is it particularly intellectual, +for its nest shows no more contrivance than that of a cushat dove. +The curiosity of the people was very great, and sometimes it took +an interesting direction. "Do people die with you?" asked two +intelligent young men. "Have you no charm against death? Where do +people go after death?" Livingstone spoke to them of the great +Father, and of their prayers to Him who hears the cry of his +children; and they thought this to be natural.</p> +<p>He rested at Bambarré till the 1st of November, and then +went westward till he reached the Luamo River, and was within ten +miles of its confluence with the Lualaba. He found the country +surpassingly beautiful: "Palms crown the highest heights of the +mountains, and their gracefully-bent fronds wave beautifully in the +wind. Climbers of cable size in great numbers are hung among the +gigantic trees; many unknown wild fruits abound, some the size of a +child's head, and strange birds and monkeys are everywhere. The +soil is excessively rich, and the people, though isolated by old +feuds that are never settled, cultivate largely."</p> +<p>The country was very populous, and Livingstone so excited the +curiosity of the people that he could hardly get quit of the +crowds. It was not so uninteresting to be stared at by the women, +but he was wearied with the ugliness of the men. Palm-toddy did not +inspire them with any social qualities, but made them low and +disagreeable. They had no friendly feeling for him, and could not +be inspired with any. They thought that he and his people were like +the Arab traders, and they would not do anything for them. It was +impossible to procure a canoe for navigating the Lualaba, so that +there was nothing for it but to return to Bambarré, which +was reached on the 19th December, 1869.</p> +<p>A long letter to his son Thomas (Town of Moenékuss, +Manyuema Country, 24th September, 1869) gives a retrospect of this +period, and indeed, in a sense, of his life:</p> +<blockquote>"My dear Tom,--I begin a letter, though I have no +prospect of being able to send it off for many months to come. It +is to have something in readiness when the hurry usual in preparing +a mail does arrive. I am in the Manyuema Country, about 150 miles +west of Ujiji, and at the town of Moenekoos or Moenékuss, a +principal chief among the reputed cannibals. His name means 'Lord +of the light-gray parrot with a red tail,' which abounds here, and +he points away still further west to the country of the real +cannibals. His people laugh, and say, 'Yes, we eat the flesh of +men,' and should they see the inquirer to be credulous, enter into +particulars. A black stuff smeared on the cheeks is the sign of +mourning, and they told one of my people who believes all they say +that it is animal charcoal made of the bones of the relatives they +have eaten. They showed him the skull of one recently devoured, and +he pointed it out to me in triumph. It was the skull of a gorilla, +here called 'soko,' and this they do eat. They put a bunch of +bananas in his way, and hide till he comes to take them, and spear +him. Many of the Arabs believe firmly in the cannibal propensity of +the Manyuema. Others who have lived long among them, and are +themselves three-fourths African blood, deny it. I suspect that +this idea must go into oblivion with those of people who have no +knowledge of fire, of the Supreme Being, or of language. The +country abounds in food,--goats, sheep, fowls, buffaloes, and +elephants: maize, holcuserghum, cassaba, sweet potatoes, and other +farinaceous eatables, and with ground-nuts, palm-oil, palms, and +other fat-yielding nuts, bananas, plantains, sugar-cane in great +plenty. So there is little inducement to eat men, but I wait for +further evidence.<br> +<br> +"Not knowing how your head has fared, I sometimes feel greatly +distressed about you, and if I could be of any use I would leave my +work unfinished to aid you. But you will have every medical +assistance that can be rendered, and I cease not to beg the Lord +who healeth his people to be gracious to your infirmity.<br> +<br> +"The object of my Expedition is the discovery of the sources of the +Nile. Had I known all the hardships, toil, and time involved, I +would of been of the mind of St. Mungo, of Glasgow, of whom the +song says that he let the Molendinar Burn 'rin by,' when he could +get something stronger. I would have let the sources 'rin by' to +Egypt, and never been made 'drumly' by my plashing through them. +But I shall make this country and people better known. 'This,' +Professor Owen said to me, 'is the first step; the rest will in due +time follow.' By different agencies the Great Ruler is bringing all +things into a focus. Jesus is gathering all things unto Himself, +and He is daily becoming more and more the centre of the world's +hopes and of the world's fears. War brought freedom to 4,000,000 of +the most hopeless and helpless slaves. The world never saw such +fiendishness as that with which the Southern slaveocracy clung to +slavery. No power in this world or the next would ever make them +relax their iron grasp. The lie had entered into their soul. Their +cotton was King. With it they would force England and France to +make them independent, because without it the English and French +must starve. Instead of being made a nation, they made a nation of +the North. War has elevated and purified the Yankees, and now they +have the gigantic task laid at their doors to elevate and purify +4,000,000 of slaves. I earnestly hope that the Northerners may not +be found wanting in their portion of the superhuman work. The day +for Africa is yet to come. Possibly the freed men may be an agency +in elevating their fatherland.<br> +<br> +"England is in the rear. This affair in Jamaica brought out the +fact of a large infusion of bogiephobia in the English. Frightened +in early years by their mothers with 'Bogie Blackman,' they were +terrified out of their wits by a riot, and the sensation writers, +who act the part of the 'dreadful boys' who frightened aunts, +yelled out that emancipation was a mistake. 'The Jamaica negroes +were as savage as when they left Africa.' They might have put it +much stronger by saying, as the rabble that attended Tom Sayers's +funeral, or that collects at every execution at Newgate. But our +golden age is not in the past. It is in the future--in the good +time coming yet for Africa and for the world.<br> +<br> +"The task I undertook was to examine the watershed of South Central +Africa. This was the way Sir Roderick put it, and though he +mentioned it as the wish of the Geographical Council, I suspect it +was his own idea; for two members of the Society wrote out +'instructions' for me, and the watershed was not mentioned. But +scientific words were used which the writers evidently did not +understand.<br> +<br> +"The examination of the watershed contained the true scientific +mode of procedure, and Sir Roderick said to me: 'You will be the +discoverer of the sources of the Nile,' I shaped my course for a +path across the north end of Lake Nyassa, but to avoid the +certainty of seeing all my attendants bolting at the first sight +of, the wild tribes there, the Nindi, I changed off to go round the +south end, and if not, cross the middle. What I feared for the +north took place in the south when the Johanna men heard of the +Mazitu, though we were 150 miles from the marauders, and I offered +to go due west till past their beat. They were terrified, and ran +away as soon as they saw my face turned west. I got carriers from +village to village, and got on nicely with people who had never +engaged in the slave-trade; but it was slow work. I came very near +to the Mazitu three times, but obtained information in time to +avoid them. Once we were taken for Mazitu ourselves, and surrounded +by a crowd of excited savages. They produced a state of confusion +and terror, and men fled hither and thither with the fear of death +on them. Casembe would not let me go into his southern district +till he had sent men to see that the Mazitu, or, as they are called +in Lunda, the Watuta, had left. Where they had been all the food +was swept off, and we suffered cruel hunger. We had goods to buy +with, but the people had nothing to sell, and were living on herbs +and mushrooms. I had to feel every step of the way, and generally +was groping in the dark. No one knew anything beyond his own +district, and who cared where the rivers ran? Casembe said, when I +was going to Lake Bangweolo: 'One piece of water was just like +another (it is the Bangweolo water), but as your chief desired you +to visit that one, go to it. If you see a traveling party going +north, join it. If not, come back to me and I will send you safely +along my path by Moero;' and gave me a man's load of a fish like +whitebait. I gradually gained more light on the country, and slowly +and surely saw the problem of the fountains of the Nile developing +before my eyes. The vast volume of water draining away to the north +made me conjecture that I had been working at the sources of the +Congo too. My present trip to Manyuema proves that all goes to the +river of Egypt. In fact, the head-waters of the Nile are gathered +into two or three arms, very much as was depicted by Ptolemy in the +second century of our era. What we moderns can claim is rediscovery +of what had fallen into oblivion, like the circumnavigation of +Africa by the Phoenican admiral of one of the Pharaohs, B.C. 600. +He was not believed, because 'he had the sun on his right hand in +going round from east to west.' Though to us this stamps his tale +as genuine, Ptolemy was not believed, because his sources were +between 10 and 12 north latitude, and collected into two or three +great head branches. In my opinion, his informant must have visited +them.<br> +<br> +"I cared nothing for money, and contemplated spending my life as a +hard-working, poor missionary. By going into the country beyond +Kuruman we pleased the Directors, but the praises they bestowed +excited envy. Mamma and you all had hard times. The missionaries at +Kuruman, and south of it, had comfortable houses and gardens. They +could raise wheat, pumpkins, maize, at very small expense, and +their gardens yielded besides apples, pears, apricots, peaches, +quinces, oranges, grapes, almonds, walnuts, and all vegetables, for +little more than the trouble of watering. A series or droughts +compelled us to send for nearly all our food 270 miles off. Instead +of help we had to pay the uttermost farthing for everything, and +got bitter envy besides. Many have thought that I was inflated by +the praises I had lavished upon me, but I made it a rule never to +read anything of praise. I am thankful that a kind Providence has +enabled me to do what will reflect honor on my children, and show +myself a stout-hearted servant of Him from whom comes every gift. +None of you must become mean, craven-hearted, untruthful, or +dishonest, for if you do, you don't inherit it from me. I hope that +you have selected a profession that suits your taste. It will make +you hold up your head among men, and is your most serious duty. I +shall not live long, And it would not be well to rely on my +influence. I could help you a little while living, but have little +else but what people call a great name to bequeath afterward. I am +nearly toothless, and in my second childhood. The green maize was +in one part the only food we could get with any taste. I ate the +hard fare, and was once horrified by finding most of my teeth +loose. They never fastened again, and generally became so loose as +to cause pain. I had to extract them, and did so by putting on a +strong thread with what sailors call a clove-hitch, tie the other +end to a stump above or below, as the tooth was upper or lower, +strike the thread with a heavy pistol or stick, and the tooth +dangled at the stump, and no pain was felt. Two upper front teeth +are thus out, and so many more, I shall need a whole set of +artificials. I may here add that the Manyuema stole the bodies of +slaves which were buried, till a threat was used. They said the +hyenas had exhumed the dead, but a slave was cast out by +Banyamwezi, and neither hyenas nor men touched it for seven days. +The threat was effectual. I think that they are cannibals, but not +ostentatiously so. The disgust expressed by native traders has made +them ashamed. Women never partook of human flesh. Eating sokos or +gorillas must have been a step in the process of teaching them to +eat men. The sight of a soko nauseates me. He is so hideously ugly, +I can conceive no other use for him than sitting for a portrait of +Satan. I have lost many months by rains, refusal of my attendants +to go into a canoe, and irritable eating ulcers on my feet from +wading in mud instead of sailing. They are frightfully common, and +often kill slaves. I am recovering, and hope to go down Lualaba, +which I would call Webb River or Lake; touch then another Lualaba, +which I will name Young's River or Lake; and then by the good hand +of our Father above turn homeward through Karagwe. As ivory-trading +is here like gold-digging, I felt constrained to offer a handsome +sum of money and goods to my friend Mohamad Bogharib for men. It +was better to do this than go back to Ujiji, and then come over the +whole 260 miles. I would have waited there for men from Zanzibar, +but the authority at Ujiji behaved so oddly about my letters, I +fear they never went to the coast. The worthless slaves I have saw +that I was at their mercy, for no Manyuema will go into the next +district, and they behaved as low savages who have been made free +alone can. Their eagerness to enslave and kill their own countrymen +is distressing....<br> +<br> +"Give my love to Oswell and Anna Mary and the Aunties. I have +received no letter from any of you since I left home. The good Lord +bless you all, and be gracious to you.--Affectionately yours,<br> +<br> +"DAVID LIVINGSTONE."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Another letter is addressed to Sir Thomas Maclear and Mr. Mann, +September, 1869. He enters at considerable length into his reasons +for the supposition that he had discovered, on the watershed, the +true sources of the Nile. He refers in a generous spirit to the +discoveries of other travelers, mistaken though he regarded their +views on the sources, and is particularly complimentary to Miss +Tinné:</p> +<blockquote>"A Dutch lady whom I never saw, and of whom I know +nothing save from scraps in the newspapers, moves my sympathy more +than any other. By her wise foresight in providing a steamer, and +pushing on up the river after the severest domestic affliction--the +loss by fever of her two aunts--till after she was assured by Speke +and Grant that they had already discovered in Victoria Nyanza the +sources she sought, she proved herself a genuine explorer, and then +by trying to go S.W. on land. Had they not, honestly enough of +course, given her their mistaken views, she must inevitably, by +boat or on land, have reached the head-waters of the Nile. I cannot +conceive of her stopping short of Bangweolo. She showed such +indomitable pluck she must be a descendant of Van Tromp, who swept +the English Channel till killed by our Blake, and whose tomb every +Englishman who goes to Holland is sure to visit.<br> +<br> +"We great he-beasts say, 'Exploration was not becoming her sex.' +Well, considering that at least 1600 years have elapsed since +Ptolemy's informants reached this region, and kings, emperors, and +all the great men of antiquity longed in vain to know the +fountains, exploration does not seem to have become the other sex +either. She came much further up than the two centurions sent by +Nero Caesar.<br> +<br> +"I have to go down and see where the two arms unite,--the lost city +Meroe ought to be there,--then get back to Ujiji to get a supply of +goods which I have ordered from Zanzibar, turn bankrupt after I +secure them, and let my creditors catch me if they can, as I finish +up by going round outside and south of all the sources, so that I +may be sure no one will cut me out and say he found other sources +south of mine. This is one reason for my concluding trip; another +is to visit the underground houses in stone, and the copper mines +of Katanga which have been worked for ages (Malachite). I have +still a seriously long task before me. My letters have been delayed +inexplicably, so I don't know my affairs. If I have a salary I +don't know it, though the <i>Daily Telegraph</i> abused me for +receiving it when I had none. Of this alone I am sure--my friends +will all wish me to make a complete work of it before I leave, and +in their wish I join. And it is better to go in now than to do it +in vain afterward."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>"I have still a seriously long task before me." Yet he had +lately been worse in health and weaker than he had ever been; he +was much poorer than he expected to be, and the difficulties had +proved far beyond any he had hitherto experienced. But so far from +thinking of taking things more easily than before, he actually +enlarges his programme, and resolves to "finish up by going round +outside and south of all the sources." His spirit seems only to +rise as difficulties are multiplied.</p> +<p>He writes to his daughter Agnes at the same time: "You remark +that you think you could have traveled as well as Mrs. Baker, and I +think so too. Your mamma was famous for roughing it in the bush, +and was never a trouble." The allusion carries him to old +days--their travels to Lake 'Ngami, Mrs. Livingstone's death, the +Helmores, the Bishop, Thornton. Then he speaks of recent troubles +and difficulties, his attack of pneumonia, from which he had not +expected to recover, his annoyances with his men, so unlike the old +Makololo, the loss of his letters and boxes, with the exception of +two from an unknown donor that contained the <i>Saturday Review</i> +and his old friend <i>Punch</i> for 1868. Then he goes over African +travelers and their achievements, real and supposed. He returns +again to the achievements of ladies, and praises Miss Tinné +and other women. "The death-knell of American slavery was rung by a +woman's hand. We great he-beasts say Mrs. Stowe exaggerated. From +what I have seen of slavery I say exaggeration is a simple +impossibility. I go with the sailor who, on seeing slave-traders, +said: 'If the devil don't catch these fellows, we might as well +have no devil at all.'"</p> +<p>The year 1870 was begun with the prayer that in the course of it +he might be able to complete his enterprise, and retire through the +Basango before the end of it. In February he hears with gratitude +of Mr. E.D. Young's Search Expedition up the Shiré and +Nyassa. In setting out anew he takes a more northerly course, +proceeding through paths blocked with very rank vegetation, and +suffering from choleraic illness caused by constant wettings. In +the course of a month the effects of the wet became overpowering, +and on 7th February Dr. Livingstone had to go into winter quarters. +He remained quiet till 26th June.</p> +<p>In April, 1870, from "Manyuema or Cannibal Country, say 150 +miles N.W. of Ujiji," he began a letter to Sir Roderick Murchison, +but changed its destination to his brother John in Canada. He +notices his Immediate object--to ascertain where the Lualaba joined +the eastern branch of the Nile, and contrasts the lucid reasonable +problem set him by Sir Roderick with the absurd instructions he had +received from some members of the Geographical Society. "I was to +furnish 'a survey on successive pages of my journal,' 'latitudes +every night,' 'hydrography of Central Africa,' and because they +voted one-fifth or perhaps one-sixth part of my expenses, give them +'all my notes, copies if not the originals!' For mere board and no +lodgings I was to work for years and hand over the results to +them." Contrasted with such absurdities, Sir Roderick's proposal +had quite fascinated him. He had ascertained that the watershed +extended 800 miles from west to east, and had traversed it in every +direction, but at a cost which had been wearing out both to mind +and body. He drops a tear over the Universities Mission, but +becomes merry over Bishop Tozer strutting about with his crosier at +Zanzibar, and in a fine clear day getting a distant view of the +continent of which he claimed to be Bishop. He denounces the vile +policy of the Portuguese, and laments the indecision of some +influential persons who virtually upheld it. He is tickled with the +generous offer of a small salary, when he should settle somewhere, +that had been made to him by the Government, while men who had +risked nothing were getting handsome salaries of far greater +amount; but rather than sacrifice the good of Africa, HE WOULD +SPEND EVERY PENNY OF HIS PRIVATE MEANS. He seems surrounded by a +whole sea of difficulties, but through all, the nobility of his +spirit shines undimmed. To persevere in the line of duty is his +only conceivable course. He holds as firmly as ever by the old +anchor--"All will turn out right at last."</p> +<p>When ready, they set out on 26th June. Most of his people failed +him; but nothing daunted, he set off then with only three +attendants, Susi, Chuma, and Gardner, to the northwest for the +Lualaba. Whenever he comes among Arab traders he finds himself +suspected and hated because he is known to condemn their evil +deeds.</p> +<p>The difficulties by the way were terrible. Fallen trees and +flooded rivers made marching a perpetual struggle. For the first +time, Livingstone's feet failed him. Instead of healing as +hitherto, when torn by hard travel, irritating sores fastened upon +them, and as he had but three attendants, he had to limp back to +Bambarré, which he reached in the middle of July.</p> +<p>And here he remained in his hut for eighty days, till 10th +October, exercising patience, harrowed by the wickedness he could +not stop, extracting information from the natives, thinking about +the fountains of the Nile, trying to do some good among the people, +listening to accounts of soko-hunting, and last, not least, reading +his Bible. He did not leave Bambarré till 16th February, +1871. From what he had seen and what he had heard he was more and +more persuaded that he was among the true fountains of the Nile. +His reverence for the Bible gave that river a sacred character, and +to throw light on its origin seemed a kind of religious act. He +admits, however, that he is not quite certain about it, though he +does not see how he can be mistaken. He dreams that in his early +life Moses may have been in these parts, and if he should only +discover any confirmation of sacred history or sacred chronology he +would not grudge all the toil and hardship, the pain and hunger, he +had undergone. The very spot where the fountains are to be found +becomes defined in his mind. He even drafts a despatch which he +hopes to write, saying that the fountains are within a quarter of a +mile of each other!</p> +<p>Then he bethinks him of his friends who have done noble battle +with slavery, and half in fancy, half in earnest, attaches their +names to the various waters. The fountain of the Liambai or Upper +Zambesi he names Palmerston Fountain, in fond remembrance of that +good man's long and unwearied labor for the abolition of the +slave-trade. The lake formed by the Lufira is to be Lincoln Lake, +in gratitude to him who gave freedom to four millions of slaves. +The fountain of Lufira is associated with Sir Bartle Frere, who +accomplished the grand work of abolishing slavery in Sindia, in +Upper India. The central Lualaba is called the River Webb, after +the warm-hearted friend under whose roof he wrote <i>The Zambesi +and its Tributaries;</i> while the western branch is named the +Young River, to commemorate his early instructor in chemistry and +life-long friend, James Young. "He has shed pure white light in +many lowly cottages and in some rich palaces. I, too, have shed +light of another kind, and am fain to believe that I have performed +a small part in the grand revolution which our Maker has been for +ages carrying on, by multitudes of conscious and many unconscious +agents, all over the world <a name="FNanchor69"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_69">[69]</a>."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_69"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor69">[69]</a> See <i>Last Journals</i>. vol. ii. pp 65, +66.</blockquote> +<p>He is by no means unaware that death may be in the cup. But, +fortified as he was by an unalterable conviction that he was in the +line of duty, the thought of death had no influence to turn him +either to the right hand or to the left. For the first three years +he had a strong presentiment that he would fall. But it had passed +away as he came near the end, and now he prayed God that when he +retired it might be to his native home.</p> +<p>Probably no human being was ever in circumstances parallel to +those in which Livingstone now stood. Years had passed since he had +heard from home. The sound of his mother-tongue came to him only in +the broken sentences of Chuma or Susi or his other attendants, or +in the echoes of his own voice as he poured it out in prayer, or in +some cry of home-sickness that could not be kept in. In long pain +and sickness there had been neither wife nor child nor brother to +cheer him with sympathy, or lighten his dull hut with a smile. He +had been baffled and tantalized beyond description in his efforts +to complete the little bit of exploration which was yet necessary +to finish his task. His soul was vexed for the frightful +exhibitions of wickedness around him, where "man to man," instead +of brothers, were worse than wolves and tigers to each other. +During all his past life he had been sowing his seed weeping, but +so far was he from bringing back his sheaves rejoicing, that the +longer he lived the more cause there seemed for his tears. He had +not yet seen of the travail of his soul. In opening Africa he had +seemed to open it for brutal slave-traders, and in the only +instance in which he had yet brought to it the feet of men +"beautiful upon the mountains, publishing peace," disaster had +befallen, and an incompetent leader had broken up the enterprise. +Yet, apart from his sense of duty, there was no necessity for his +remaining there. He was offering himself a freewill-offering, a +living sacrifice. What could have sustained his heart and kept him +firm to his purpose in such a wilderness of desolation?</p> +<p>"I read the whole Bible through four times whilst I was in +Manyuema."</p> +<p>So he wrote in his Diary, not at the time, but the year after, +on the 3d October, 1871 <a name="FNanchor70"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_70">[70]</a>. The Bible gathers wonderful interest from +the circumstances in which it is read. In Livingstone's +circumstances it was more the Bible to him than ever. All his +loneliness and sorrow, the sickness of hope deferred, the yearnings +for home that could neither be repressed nor gratified, threw a new +light on the Word. How clearly it was intended for such as him, and +how sweetly it came home to him! How faithful, too, were its +pictures of human sin and sorrow! How true its testimony against +man, who will not retain God in his knowledge, but, leaving Him, +becomes vain in his imaginations and hard in his heart, till the +bloom of Eden is gone, and a waste, howling wilderness spreads +around! How glorious the out-beaming of Divine Love, drawing near +to this guilty race, winning and cherishing them with every +endearing act, and at last dying on the cross to redeem them! And +how bright the closing scene of Revelation--the new heaven and the +new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness--yes, he can appreciate +<i>that</i> attribute--the curse gone, death abolished, and all +tears wiped from the mourner's eye!</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_70"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor70">[70]</a> See <i>Last Journals</i>, vol. ii. p. +154.</blockquote> +<p>So the lonely man in his dull hut is riveted to the well-worn +book; ever finding it a greater treasure as he goes along; and +fain, when he has reached its last page, to turn back to the +beginning, and gather up more of the riches which he has left upon +the road.</p> +<p>To Sir Thomas Maclear and Mr. Mann he writes during his +detention (September, 1870) on a leaf of his cheque-book, his paper +being done. He gives his theory of the rivers, enlarges on the +fertility of the country, bewails his difficulty in getting men, as +the Manyuema never go beyond their own country, and the traders, +who have only begun to come there, are too busy collecting ivory to +be able to spare men. "The tusks were left in the terrible forests, +where the animals were killed; the people, if treated civilly, +readily go and bring the precious teeth, some half rotten, or +gnawed by the teeth of a rodent called dezi. I think that mad +naturalists name it Aulocaudatus Swindermanus, or some equally wise +agglutination of syllables.... My chronometers are all dead; I hope +my old watch was sent to Zanzibar; but I have got no letters for +years, save some, three years old, at Ujiji. I have an intense and +sore longing to finish and retire, and trust that the Almighty may +permit me to go home."</p> +<p>In one of his letters to Agnes from Manyuema he quotes some +words from a letter of hers that he ever after cherished as a most +refreshing cordial:</p> +<p>"I commit myself to the Almighty Disposer of events, and if I +fall, will do so doing my duty, like one of his stout-hearted +servants. I am delighted to hear you say that, much as you wish me +home, you would rather hear of my finishing my work to my own +satisfaction than come merely to gratify you. That is a noble +sentence, and I felt all along sure that all my friends would wish +me to make a complete work of it, and in that wish, in spite of +every difficulty, I cordially joined. I hope to present to my young +countrymen an example of manly perseverance. I shall not hide from +you that I am made by it very old and shaky, my cheeks fallen in, +space round the eyes ditto; mouth almost toothless,--a few teeth +that remain, out of their line, so that a smile is that of a +he-hippopotamus,--a dreadful old fogie, and you must tell Sir +Roderick that it is an utter impossibility for me to appear in +public till I get new teeth, and even then the less I am seen the +better."</p> +<p>Another letter to Agnes from Manyuema gives a curious account of +the young soko or gorilla a chief had lately presented to him:</p> +<blockquote>"She sits crouching eighteen inches high, and is the +most intelligent and least mischievous of all the monkeys I have +seen. She holds out her hand to be lifted and carried, and if +refused makes her face as in a bitter human weeping, and wrings her +hands quite humanly, sometimes adding a foot or third hand to make +the appeal more touching.... She knew me at once as a friend, and +when plagued by any one always placed her back to me for safety, +came and sat down on my mat, decently made a nest of grass and +leaves, and covered herself with the mat to sleep. I cannot take +her with me, though I fear that she will die before I return, from +people plaguing her. Her fine long black hair was beautiful when +tended by her mother, who was killed. I am mobbed enough alone; two +sokos--she and I--would not have got breath.<br> +<br> +"I have to submit to be a gazing-stock. I don't altogether relish +it, here or elsewhere, but try to get over it good-naturedly, get +into the most shady spot of the village, and leisurely look at all +my admirers. When the first crowd begins to go away, I go into my +lodgings to take what food may be prepared, as coffee, when I have +it, or roasted maize infusion when I have none. The door is shut, +all save a space to admit light. It is made of the inner bark of a +gigantic tree, not a quarter of an inch thick, and slides in a +groove behind a post on each side of the doorway. When partially +open it is supported by only one of the posts. Eager heads +sometimes crowd the open space, and crash goes the thin door, +landing a Manyuema beauty on the floor. 'It was not I,' she gasps +out, 'it was Bessie Bell and Jeanie Gray that shoved me in, and--' +as she scrambles out of the lion's den, 'see they're laughing'; +and; fairly out, she joins in the merry giggle too. To avoid +darkness or being half-smothered, I often eat in public, draw a +line on the ground, then 'toe the line,' and keep them out of the +circle. To see me eating with knife, fork, and spoon is wonderful. +'See!--they don't touch their food!--what oddities, to be +sure.'...<br> +<br> +"Many of the Manyuema women are very pretty; their hands, feet, +limbs, and form are perfect. The men are handsome. Compared with +them the Zanzibar slaves are like London door-knockers, which some +atrocious iron-founder thought were like lions' faces. The way in +which these same Zanzibar Mohammedans murder the men and seize the +women and children makes me sick at heart. It is not slave-trade. +It is murdering free people to make slaves. It is perfectly +indescribable. Kirk has been working hard to get this murdersome +system put a stop to. Heaven prosper his noble efforts! He says in +one of his letters to me, 'It is monstrous injustice to compare the +free people in the interior, living under their own chiefs and +laws, with what slaves at Zanzibar afterward become by the +abominable system which robs them of their manhood. I think it is +like comparing the anthropologists with their ancestral +sokos.'...<br> +<br> +"I am grieved to hear of the departure of good Lady Murchison. Had +I known that she kindly remembered me in her prayers, it would have +been great encouragement....<br> +<br> +"The men sent by Dr. Kirk are Mohammedans, that is, unmitigated +liars. Musa and his companions are fair specimens of the lower +class of Moslems. The two head-men remained at Ujiji, to feast on +my goods, and get pay without work. Seven came to Bambarré, +and in true Moslem style swore that they were sent by Dr. Kirk to +bring me back, not to go with me, if the country were bad or +dangerous. Forward they would not go. I read Dr. Kirk's words to +them to follow wheresoever I led. 'No, by the old liar Mohamed, +they were to force me back to Zanzibar.' After a superabundance of +falsehood, it turned out that it all meant only an advance of pay, +though they had double the Zanzibar wages. I gave it, but had to +threaten on the word of an Englishman to shoot the ringleaders +before I got them to go. They all speak of English as men who do +not lie.... I have traveled more than most people, and with all +sorts of followers. The Christians of Kuruman and Kolobeng were out +of sight the best I ever had. The Makololo, who were very partially +Christianized, were next best--honest, truthful, and brave. Heathen +Africans are much superior to the Mohammedans, who are the most +worthless one can have."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Toward the end of 1870, before the date of this letter, he had +so far recovered that, though feeling the want of medicine as much +as of men, he thought of setting out, in order to reach and explore +the Lualaba, having made a bargain with Mohamad, for £270, to +bring him to his destination. But now he heard that Syde bin Habib, +Dugumbé, and others were on the way from Ujiji, perhaps +bringing letters and medicines for him. He cannot move till they +arrive; another weary time. "Sorely am I perplexed, and grieve and +mourn."</p> +<p>The New Year 1871 passes while he is at Bambarré, with +its prayer that he might be permitted to finish his task. At last, +on 4th February, ten of the men despatched to him from the coast +arrive, but only to bring a fresh disappointment. They were slaves, +the property of Banians, who were British subjects! and they +brought only one letter! Forty had been lost. There had been +cholera at Zanzibar, and many of the porters sent by Dr. Kirk had +died of it. The ten men came with a lie in their mouth; they would +not help him, swearing that the Consul told them not to go forward, +but to force Livingstone back. On the 10th they mutinied, and had +to receive an advance of pay. It was apparent that they had been +instructed by their Banian masters to baffle him in every way, so +that their slave-trading should not be injured by his disclosures. +Their two head-men, Shereef and Awathe, had refused to come farther +than Ujiji, and were reveling in his goods there. Dr. Livingstone +never ceased to lament and deplore that the men who had been sent +to him were so utterly unsuitable. One of them actually formed a +plot for his destruction, which was only frustrated through his +being overheard by one whom Livingstone could trust. Livingstone +wrote to his friends that owing to the inefficiency of the men, he +lost two years of time, about a thousand pounds in money, had some +2000 miles of useless traveling, and was four several times +subjected to the risk of a violent death.</p> +<p>At length, having arranged with the men, he sets out on 16th +February over a most beautiful country, but woefully difficult to +pass through. Perhaps it was hardly a less bitter disappointment to +be told, on the 25th, that the Lualaba flowed west-southwest, so +that after all it might be the Congo.</p> +<p>On the 29th March Livingstone arrived at Nyangwe, on the banks +of the Lualaba. This was the farthest point westward that he +reached in his last Expedition.</p> +<p>The slave-trade here he finds to be as horrible as in any other +part of Africa. He is heart-sore for human blood He is threatened, +bullied, and almost attacked. In some places, however, the rumor +spreads that he makes no slaves, and he is called "the good one." +His men are a ceaseless trouble, and for ever mutinying, or +otherwise harassing him. And yet he perseveres in his old kind way, +hoping by kindness to gain influence with them. Mohamad's people, +he finds, have passed him on the west, and thus he loses a number +of serviceable articles he was to get from them, and all the notes +made for him of the rivers they had passed. The difficulties and +discouragements are so great that he wonders whether, after all, +God is smiling on his work.</p> +<p>His own men circulate such calumnious reports against him that +he is unable to get canoes for the navigation of the Lualaba. This +leads to weeks and months of weary waiting, and yet all in vain; +but afterward he finds some consolation on discovering that the +navigation was perilous, that a canoe had been lost from the +inexperience of her crew in the rapids, so that had he been there, +he should very likely have perished, as his canoe would probably +have been foremost.</p> +<p>A change of plan was necessary. On 5th July he offered to +Dugumbé £400, with all the goods he had at Ujiji +besides, for men to replace the Banian slaves, and for the other +means of going up the Lomamé to Katanga, then returning and +going up Tanganyika to Ujiji. Dugumbé took a little time to +consult his friends before replying to the offer.</p> +<p>Meanwhile an event occurred of unprecedented horror, that showed +Livingstone that he could not go to Lomamé in the company of +Dugumbé. Between Dugumbé's people and another chief a +frightful system of pillage, murder, and burning of villages was +going on with horrible activity. One bright summer morning, 15th +July, when fifteen hundred people, chiefly women, were engaged +peacefully in marketing in a village on the banks of the Lualaba, +and while Dr. Livingstone was sauntering about, a murderous fire +was opened on the people, and a massacre ensued of such measureless +atrocity that he could describe it only by saying that it gave him +the impression of being in hell. The event was so superlatively +horrible, and had such an overwhelming influence on Livingstone, +that we copy at full length the description of it given in the +<i>Last Journals:</i></p> +<blockquote>"Before I had got thirty yards out, the discharge of +two guns in the middle of the crowd told me that slaughter had +begun; crowds dashed off from the place, and threw down their wares +in confusion, and ran. At the same time that the three opened fire +on the mass of people near the upper end of the market-place, +volleys were discharged from a party down near the creek on the +panic-stricken women, who dashed at the canoes. These, some fifty +or more, were jammed in the creek, and the men forgot their paddles +in the terror that seized all. The canoes were not to be got out, +for the creek was too small for so many; men and women, wounded by +the balls, poured into them, and leaped and scrambled into the +water, shrieking A long line of heads in the river showed that +great numbers struck out for an island a full mile off; in going +toward it they had to put the left shoulder to a current of about +two miles an hour; if they had struck away diagonally to the +opposite bank, the current would have aided them, and, though +nearly three miles off, some would have gained land; as it was, the +heads above water showed the long line of those that would +inevitably perish.<br> +<br> +"Shot after shot continued to be fired on the helpless and +perishing. Some of the long line of heads disappeared quietly; +whilst other poor creatures threw their arms high, as if appealing +to the great Father above, and sank. One canoe took in as many as +it could hold, and all paddled with hands and arms; three canoes, +got out in haste, picked up sinking friends, till all went down +together, and disappeared. One man in a long canoe, which could +have held forty or fifty, had clearly lost his head; he had been +out in the stream before the massacre began, and now paddled up the +river nowhere, and never looked to the drowning. By and by all the +heads disappeared; some had turned down stream toward the bank, and +escaped. Dugumbé put people into one of the deserted vessls +to save those in the water, and saved twenty-one; but one woman +refused to be taken on board, from thinking that she was to be made +a slave of; she preferred the chance of life by swimming to the lot +of a slave. The Bagenya women are expert in the water, as they are +accustomed to dive for oysters, and those who went down stream may +have escaped, but the Arabs themselves estimated the loss of life +at between 330 and 400 souls. The shooting-party near the canoes +were so reckless, they killed two of their own people; and a +Banyamwezi follower, who got into a deserted canoe to plunder, fell +into the water, went down, then came up again, and down to rise no +more.<br> +<br> +"After the terrible affair in the water, the party of Tagamoio, who +was the chief perpetrator, continued to fire on the people there, +and fire their villages. As I write I hear the loud wails on the +left bank over those who are there slain, ignorant of their many +friends now in the depths of Lualaba. Oh, let Thy kingdom come! No +one will ever know the exact loss on this bright sultry summer +morning; it gave me the impression of being in Hell. All the slaves +in the camp rushed at the fugitives on land, and plundered them; +women were for hours collecting and carrying loads of what had been +thrown down in terror."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The remembrance of this awful scene was never effaced from +Livingstone's heart. The accounts of it published in the newspapers +at home sent a thrill of horror through the country. It was +recorded at great length in a despatch to the Foreign Secretary, +and indeed, it became one of the chief causes of the appointment of +a Royal Commission to investigate the subject of the African +slave-trade, and of the mission of Sir Bartle Frere to Africa to +concert measures for bringing it to an end.</p> +<p>Dugumbé had not been the active perpetrator of the +massacre, but, he was mixed up with the atrocities that had been +committed, and Livingstone could have nothing to do with him. It +was a great trial, for, as the Banian men were impracticable, there +was nothing for it now but to go back to Ujiji, and try to get +other men there with whom he would repeat the attempt to explore +the river. For twenty-one months, counting from the period of their +engagement, he had fed and clothed these men, all in vain, and now +he had to trudge back forty-five days, a journey equal, with all +its turnings and windings, to six hundred miles. Livingstone was +ill, and after such an exciting time he would probably have had an +attack of fever, but for another ailment to which he had become +more especially subject. The intestinal canal had given way, and he +was subject to attacks of severe internal hæmorrhage, one of +which came on him now <a name="FNanchor71"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_71">[71]</a>. It appeared afterward that had he gone +with Dugumbé, he would have been exposed to an assault in +force by the Bakuss, as they made an attack on the party and routed +them, killing two hundred. If Livingstone had been among them, he +might have fallen in this engagement. So again, he saw how present +disappointments work for good.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_71"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor71">[71]</a> His friends say that for a considerable time +before he had been subject to the most grievous pain from +hæmorrhoids. His sufferings were often +excruciating.</blockquote> +<p>The journey back to Ujiji, begun 20th July, 1871, was a very +wretched one. Amid the universal desolation caused by the very +wantonness of the marauders, it was impossible for Livingstone to +persuade the natives that he did not belong to the same-set. +Ambushes were set for him and his company in the forest. On the 8th +August they came to an ambushment all prepared, but it had been +abandoned for some unknown reason. By and by, on the same day, a +large spear flew past Livingstone, grazing his neck; the native who +flung it was but ten yards off; the hand of God alone saved his +life <a name="FNanchor72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72">[72]</a>. +Farther on, another spear was thrown, which missed him by a foot. +On the same day a large tree, to which fire had been applied to +fell it, came down within a yard of him. Thus on one day he was +delivered three times from impending death. He went on through the +forest, expecting every minute to be attacked, having no fear, but +perfectly indifferent whether he should be killed or not. He lost +all his remaining calico that day, a telescope, umbrella, and five +spears. By and Thy he was prostrated with grievous illness. As soon +as he could move he went onward, but he felt as if dying on his +feet. And he was ill-rigged for the road, for the light French +shoes to which he was reduced, and which had been cut to ease his +feet till they would hardly hang together, failed to protect him +from the sharp fragments of quartz with which the road was strewed. +He was getting near to Ujiji, however, where abundant of goods and +comforts were no doubt safely stowed away for him, and the hope of +relief sustained him under all his trials.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_72"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor72">[72]</a> The head of this spear is among the +Livingstone relics at Newstead Abbey.</blockquote> +<p>At last, on the 23d October, reduced to a living skeleton, he +reached Ujiji. What was his misery, instead of finding the +abundance of goods he had expected, to learn that the wretch +Shereef, to whom they had been consigned, had sold off the whole, +not leaving one yard of calico out of 3000, or one string of beads +out of 700 pounds! The scoundrel had divined on the Koran, found +that Livingstone was dead, and would need the goods no more. +Livingstone had intended, if he could not get men at Ujiji to go +with him to the Lualaba, to wait there till suitable men should be +sent up from the coast; but he had never thought of having to wait +in beggary. If anything could have aggravated the annoyance, it was +to see Shereef come, without shame, to salute him, and tell him on +leaving, that he was going to pray; or to see his slaves passing +from the market with all the good things his property had bought! +Livingstone applied a term to him which he reserved for men--black +or white--whose wickedness made them alike shameless and stupid--he +was a "moral idiot."</p> +<p>It was the old story of the traveler who fell among thieves that +robbed him of all he had; but where was the good Samaritan? The +Government and the Geographical Society appeared to have passed by +on the other side. But the good Samaritan was not as far off as +might have been thought. One morning Syed bin Majid, an Arab +trader, came to him with a generous offer to sell some ivory and +get goods for him; but Livingstone had the old feeling of +independence, and having still a few barter goods left, which he +had deposited with Mohamad bin Saleh before going to Manyuema, he +declined for the present Syed's generous offer. But the kindness of +Syed was not the only proof that he was not forsaken. Five days +after he reached Ujiji the good Samaritan appeared from another +quarter. As Livingstone had been approaching Ujiji from the +southwest, another white man had been approaching it from the east. +On 28th October, 1871, Henry Moreland Stanley, who had been sent to +look for him by Mr. James Gordon Bennett, Jr., of the <i>New York +Herald</i> newspaper, grasped the hand of David Livingstone. An +angel from heaven could hardly have been more welcome. In a moment +the sky brightened. Stanley was provided with ample stores, and was +delighted to supply the wants of the traveler. The sense of +sympathy, the feeling of brotherhood, the blessing of fellowship, +acted like a charm. Four good meals a day, instead of the spare and +tasteless food of the country, made a wonderful change on the outer +man; and in a few days Livingstone was himself again--hearty and +happy and hopeful as before.</p> +<p>Before closing this chapter and entering on the last two years +of Livingstone's life, which have so lively an interest of their +own, it will be convenient to glance at the contributions to +natural science which he continued to make to the very end. In +doing this, we avail ourselves of a very tender and Christian +tribute to the memory of his early friend, which Professor Owen +contributed to the <i>Quarterly Review,</i> April, 1875, after the +publication of Livingstone's <i>Last Journals</i>.</p> +<p>Mr. Owen appears to have been convinced by Livingstone's +reasoning and observations, that the Nile sources were in the +Bangweolo watershed--a supposition now ascertained to have been +erroneous. But what chiefly attracted and delighted the great +naturalist was the many interesting notices of plants and animals +scattered over the <i>Last Journals</i>. These Journals contain +important contributions both to economic and physiological botany. +In the former department, Livingstone makes valuable observations +on plants useful in the arts, such as gum-copal, papyrus, cotton, +india-rubber, and the palm-oil tree; while in the latter, his +notices of "carnivorous plants," which catch insects that probably +yield nourishment to the plant, of silicified wood and the like, +show how carefully he watched all that throws light on the life and +changes of plants. In zoölogy he was never weary of observing, +especially when he found a strange-looking animal with strange +habits. Spiders, ants, and bees of unknown varieties were brought +to light, but the strangest of his new acquaintances were among the +fishy tribes. He found fish that made long excursions on land, +thanks to the wet grass through which they would wander for miles, +thus proving that "a fish out of water" is not always the best +symbol for a man out of his element. There were fish, too, that +burrowed in the earth; but most remarkable at first sight were the +fish that appeared to bring forth their young by ejecting them from +their mouths. If Bruce or Du Chaillu had made such a statement, +remarks Professor Owen, what ridicule would they not have +encountered! But Livingstone was not the man to make a statement of +what he had not ascertained, or to be content until he had found a +scientific explanation of it. He found that in the branchial +openings of the fish, there occur bags or pouches, on the same +principle as the pouch of the opossum, where the young may be +lodged for a time for protection or nourishment, and that when the +creatures are discharged through the mouth into the water, it is +only from a temporary cradle where they were probably enjoying +repose, beyond the reach of enemies.</p> +<p>Perhaps the greatest of Livingstone's scientific discoveries +during this journey was that "of a physical condition of the +earth's surface in elevated tracts of the great continent, unknown +before." The bogs or earth-sponges, that from his first +acquaintance with them gave him so much trouble, and at last proved +the occasion of his death, were not only remarkable in themselves, +but-interesting as probably explaining the annual inundations of +most of the rivers. Wherever there was a plain sloping toward a +narrow opening in hills or higher ground, there were the conditions +for an African sponge. The vegetation falls down and rots, and +forms a rich black loam, resting often, two or three feet thick, on +a bed of pure river sand. The early rains turn the vegetation into +slush, and fill the, pools. The later rains, finding the pools +already full, run off to the rivers, and form the inundation. The +first rains occur south of the equator when the sun goes vertically +over any spot, and the second or greater rains happen in his course +north again. This, certainly, was the case as observed on the +Zambesi and Shiré, and taking the different times for the +sun's passage north of the equator, it explained the inundations of +the Nile.</p> +<p>Such notices show that in his love of nature, and in his careful +observation of all her agencies and processes, Livingstone, in his +last journeys, was the same as ever. He looked reverently on all +plants and animals, and on the solid earth in all its aspects and +forms, as the creatures of that same God whose love in Christ it +was his heart's delight to proclaim. His whole life, so varied in +its outward employments, yet so simple and transparent in its one +great object, was ruled by the conviction that the God of nature +and the God of revelation were one. While thoroughly enjoying his +work as a naturalist, Professor Owen frankly admits that it was but +a secondary object of his life. "Of his primary work the record is +on high, and its imperishable fruits remain on earth. The seeds of +the Word of Life implanted lovingly, with pains and labor, and +above-all with faith; the out-door scenes of the simple Sabbath +service; the testimony of Him to whom the worship was paid, given +in terms of such simplicity as were fitted to the comprehension of +the dark-skinned listeners,--these seeds will not have been +scattered by him in vain. Nor have they been sown in words alone, +but in deeds, of which some part of the honor will redound to his +successors. The teaching by forgiveness of injuries,--by trust, +however unworthy the trusted,--by that confidence which imputed his +own noble nature to those whom he would win,--by the practical +enforcement of the fact that a man might promise and perform--might +say the thing he meant,--of this teaching by good deeds, as well as +by the words of truth and love, the successor who treads in the +steps of LIVINGSTONE, and accomplishes the discovery he aimed at, +and pointed the way to, will assuredly the benefit <a name= +"FNanchor73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73">[73]</a>."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_73"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor73">[73]</a> <i>Quarterly Review</i>, April, 1875, pp. +498, 499.</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI."></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> +<h3>LIVINGSTONE AND STANLEY.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1871-1872.</center> +<p>Mr. Gordon Bennett sends Stanley in search of +Livingstone--Stanley at Zanzibar--Starts for Ujiji--Reaches +Unyanyembe--Dangerous illness--War between Arabs and +natives--Narrow escape of Stanley--Approach to Ujiji--Meeting with +Livingstone--Livingstone's story--Stanley's news--Livingstone's +goods and men at Bagamoio--Stanley's accounts of +Livingstone--Refutation of foolish and calumnious charges--They go +to the north of the lake--Livingstone resolves not to go home, but +to get fresh men and return to the sources--Letter to Agnes--to Sir +Thomas Maclear--The travelers go to Unyanyembe--More plundering of +stores--Stanley leaves for Zanzibar--Stanley's bitterness of heart +at parting--Livingstone's intense gratitude to Stanley--He intrusts +his Journal to him, and commissions him to send servants and stores +from Zanzibar--Stanley's journey to the coast--Finds Search +Expedition at Bagamoio--Proceeds to England--Stanley's +reception--Unpleasant feelings--Éclaircissement--England +grateful to Stanley.</p> +<br> +<p>The meeting of Stanley and Livingstone at Ujiji was as unlikely +an occurrence as could have happened, and, along with many of the +earlier events in Livingstone's life, serves to show how +wonderfully an Unseen Hand shaped and guarded his path. Neither +Stanley nor the gentleman who sent him had any personal interest in +Livingstone. Mr. Bennett admitted frankly that he was moved neither +by friendship nor philanthropy, but by regard to his business and +interest as a journalist. The object of a journal was to furnish +its readers with the news which they desired to know; the readers +of the <i>New York Herald</i> desired to know about Livingstone; as +a journalist, it was his business to find out and tell them. Mr. +Bennett determined that, cost what it might, he would find out, and +give the news to his readers. These were the very unromantic +notions, with an under-current probably of better quality, that +were passing through his mind at Paris, on the 16th October, 1869, +when he sent a telegram to Madrid, summoning Henry M. Stanley, one +of the "own correspondents" of his paper, to "come to Paris on +important business." On his arrival, Mr. Bennett asked him bluntly, +"Where do you think Livingstone is?" The correspondent could not +tell--could not even tell whether he was alive. "Well," said Mr. +Bennett, "I think he is alive, and that he may be found, and I am +going to send you to find him." Mr. Stanley was to have whatever +money should be found necessary; only he was to find Livingstone. +It is very mysterious that he was not to go straight to Africa--he +was to visit Constantinople, Palestine, and Egypt first. Then, from +India, he was to go to Zanzibar; get into the interior, and find +him if alive; obtain all possible news of his discoveries; and if +he were dead, get the fact fully verified, find out the place of +his burial, and try to obtain possession of his bones, that they +might find a resting-place at home.</p> +<p>It was not till January, 1871, that Stanley reached Zanzibar. To +organize an expedition into the interior was no easy task for one +who had never before set foot in Africa. To lay all his plans +without divulging his object would, perhaps, have been more +difficult if it had ever entered into any man's head to connect the +<i>New York Herald</i> with a search for Livingstone. But +indomitable vigor and perseverance succeeded, and by the end of +February and beginning of March, one hundred and ninety-two persons +in all had started in five caravans at short intervals from +Bagamoio for Lake Tanganyika, two white men being of the party +besides Stanley, with horses, donkeys, bales, boats, boxes, rifles, +etc., to an amount that made the leader of the expedition ask +himself how such an enormous weight of material could ever be +carried into the heart of Africa.</p> +<p>The ordinary and extraordinary risks and troubles of travel in +these parts fell to Mr. Stanley's lot in unstinted abundance. But +when Unyanyembe was reached, the half-way station to Ujiji, +troubles more than extraordinary befell. First, a terrible attack +of fever that deprived him of his senses for a fortnight. Then came +a worse trouble. The Arabs were at war with a chief Mirambo, and +Stanley and his men, believing they would help to restore peace +more speedily, sided with the Arabs. At first they were apparently +victorious, but immediately after, part of the Arabs were attacked +on their way home by Mirambo, who lay in ambush for them, and were +defeated. Great consternation prevailed. The Arabs retreated in +panic, leaving Stanley, who was ill, to the tender mercies of the +foe. Stanley, however, managed to escape. After this experience of +the Arabs in war, he resolved to discontinue his alliance with +them. As the usual way to Ujiji was blocked, he determined to try a +route more to the south. But his people had forsaken him. One of +his two English companions was dead, the other was sick and had to +be sent back. Mirambo was still threatening. It was not till the +20th September that new men were engaged by Stanley, and his party +were ready to move.</p> +<p>They marched slowly, with various adventures and difficulties, +until, by Mr. Stanley's reckoning, on the 10th November (but by +Livingstone's earlier), they were close on Ujiji. Their approach +created an extraordinary excitement. First one voice saluted them +in English, then another; these were the salutations of +Livingstone's servants, Susi and Chuma. By and by the Doctor +himself appeared. "As I advanced slowly toward him," says Mr. +Stanley, "I noticed he was pale, looked wearied, had a gray beard, +wore a bluish cap with a faded gold band round it, had on a +red-sleeved waistcoat and a pair of gray tweed trousers. I would +have run to him, only I was a coward in the presence of such a +mob,--would have embraced him, only he, being an Englishman, I did +not know how he would receive me; so I did what cowardice and false +pride suggested was the best thing--walked deliberately to him, +took off my hat and said, 'Dr. Livingstone, I presume?' 'Yes,' said +he, with a kind smile, lifting his cap slightly. I replace my hat +on my head, and he puts on his cap, and we both grasp hands, and +then I say aloud--'I thank God, Doctor, I have been permitted to +see you.' He answered, 'I feel thankful that I am here to welcome +you.'"</p> +<p>The conversation began--but Stanley could not remember what it +was. "I found myself gazing at him, conning the wonderful man at +whose side I now sat in Central Africa. Every hair of his head and +beard, every wrinkle of his face, the wanness of his features, and +the slightly wearied look he bore, were all imparting intelligence +to me--the knowledge I craved for so much ever since I heard the +words, 'Take what you want, but find Livingstone,' What I saw was +deeply interesting intelligence to me and unvarnished truth. I was +listening and reading at the same time. What did these dumb +witnesses relate to me?</p> +<p>"Oh, reader, had you been at my side on this day in Ujiji, how +eloquently could be told the nature of this man's work? Had you +been there but to see and hear! His lips gave me the details; lips +that never lie. I cannot repeat what he said; I was too much +engrossed to take my notebook out, and begin to stenograph his +story. He had so much to say that he began at the end, seemingly +oblivious of the fact that five or six years had to be accounted +for. But his account was oozing out; it was growing fast into grand +proportions--into a most marvelous history of deeds."</p> +<p>And Stanley, too, had wonderful things to tell the Doctor. "The +news," says Livingstone, "he had to tell one who had been two full +years without any tidings from Europe made my whole frame thrill. +The terrible fate that had befallen France, the telegraphic cables +successfully laid in the Atlantic, the election of General Grant, +the death of good Lord Clarendon, my constant friend; the proof +that Her Majesty's Government had not forgotten me in voting +£1000 for supplies, and many other points of interest, +revived emotions that had lain dormant in Manyuema." As Stanley +went on, Livingstone kept saying, "You have brought me new +life--you have brought me new life."</p> +<p>There was one piece of news brought by Stanley to Livingstone +that was far from satisfactory. At Bagamoio, on the coast, Stanley +had found a caravan with supplies for Livingstone that had been +despatched from Zanzibar three or four months before, the men in +charge of which had been lying idle there all that time on the +pretext that they were waiting for carriers. A letter-bag was also +lying at Bagamoio, although several caravans for Ujiji had left in +the meantime. On hearing that the Consul at Zanzibar, Dr. Kirk, was +coming to the neighborhood to hunt, the party at last made off. +Overtaking them at Unyanyembe, Stanley took charge of Livingstone's +stores, but was not able to bring them on; only he compelled the +letter-carrier to come on to Ujiji with his bag. At what time, but +for Stanley, Livingstone would have got his letters, which after +all were a year on the way, he could not have told. For his stores, +or such fragments of them as might remain, he had afterward to +trudge all the way to Unyanyembe. His letters conveyed the news +that Government had voted a thousand pounds for his relief, and +were besides to pay him a salary <a name="FNanchor74"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_74">[74]</a>. The unpleasant feeling he had had so long +as to his treatment by Government was thus at last somewhat +relieved. But the goods that had lain in neglect at Bagamoio, and +were now out of reach at Unyanyembe, represented one-half the +Government grant, and would probably be squandered, like his other +goods, before he could reach them.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_74"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor74">[74]</a> The intimation of salary was premature. +Livingstone got a pension of £800 afterward, which lasted +only for a year and a half.</blockquote> +<p>The impression made on Stanley by Livingstone was remarkably +vivid; and the portrait drawn by the American will be recognized as +genuine by every one who knows what manner of man Livingstone +was:</p> +<blockquote>"I defy any one to be in his society long without +thoroughly fathoming him, for in him there is no guile, and what is +apparent on the surface is the thing that is in him.... Dr. +Livingstone is about sixty years old, though after he was restored +to health he looked like a man who had not passed his fiftieth +year. His hair has a brownish color yet, but is here and there +streaked with gray lines over the temples; his beard and moustaches +are very gray. His eyes, which are hazel, are remarkably bright; he +has a sight keen as a hawk's. His teeth alone indicate the weakness +of age; the hard fare of Lunda has made havoc in their lines. His +form, which soon assumed a stoutish appearance, is a little over +the ordinary height, with the slightest possible bow in the +shoulders. When walking he has a firm but heavy tread, like that of +an overworked or fatigued man. He is accustomed to wear a naval cap +with a semicircular peak, by which he has been identified +throughout Africa. His dress, when first I saw him, exhibited +traces of patching and repairing, but was scrupulously clean.<br> +<br> +"I was led to believe that Livingstone possessed a splenetic, +misanthropic temper; some have said that he is garrulous; that he +is demented; that he is utterly changed from the David Livingstone +whom people knew as the reverend missionary; that he takes no notes +or observations but such as those which no other person could read +but himself, and it was reported, before I proceeded to Africa, +that he was married to an African princess.<br> +<br> +"I respectfully beg to differ with all and each of the above +statements. I grant he is not an angel; but he approaches to that +being as near as the nature of a living man will allow. I never saw +any spleen or misanthropy in him: as for being garrulous, Dr. +Livingstone is quite the reverse; he is reserved, if anything; and +to the man who says Dr. Livingstone is changed, all I can say is, +that he never could have known him, for it is notorious that the +Doctor has a fund of quiet humor, which he exhibits at all times +when he is among friends." [After repudiating the charge as to his +notes, and observations, Mr. Stanley continues:] "As to the report +of his African marriage, it is unnecessary to say more than that it +is untrue, and it is utterly beneath a gentleman even to hint at +such a thing in connection with the name of Dr. Livingstone.<br> +<br> +"You may take any point in Dr. Livingstone's character, and analyze +it carefully, and I would challenge any man to find a fault in +it.... His gentleness never forsakes him; his hopefulness never +deserts him. No harassing anxieties, distraction of mind, long +separation from home and kindred, can make him complain. He thinks +'all will come out right at last'; he has such faith in the +goodness of Providence. The sport of adverse circumstances, the +plaything of the miserable beings sent to him from Zanzibar--he has +been baffled and worried, even almost to the grave, yet he will not +desert the charge imposed upon him by his friend Sir Roderick +Murchison. To the stern dictates of duty, alone, has he sacrificed +his home and ease, the pleasures, refinements, and luxuries of +civilized life. His is the Spartan heroism, the inflexibility of +the Roman, the enduring resolution of the Anglo-Saxon--never to +relinquish his work, though his heart yearns for home; never to +surrender his obligations until he can write FINIS to his work.<br> +<br> +"There is a good-natured <i>abandon</i> about Livingstone which was +not lost on me. Whenever he began to laugh, there was a contagion +about it that compelled me to imitate him. It was such a laugh as +Teufelsdröckh's--a laugh of the whole man from head to heel. +If he told a story, he related it in such a way as to convince one +of its truthfulness; his face was so lit up by the sly fun it +contained, that I was sure the story was worth relating, and worth +listening to.<br> +<br> +"Another thing that especially attracted my attention was his +wonderfully retentive memory. If we remember the many years he has +spent in Africa, deprived of books, we may well think it an +uncommon memory that can recite whole poems from Byron, Burns, +Tennyson, Longfellow, Whittier, and Lowell....<br> +<br> +"His religion is not of the theoretical kind, but it is a constant, +earnest, sincere practice. It is neither demonstrative nor loud, +but manifests itself in a quiet, practical way, and is always at +work. It is not aggressive, which sometimes is troublesome if not +impertinent. In him religion exhibits its loveliest features; it +governs his conduct not only toward his servants but toward the +natives, the bigoted Mohammedans, and all who come in contact with +him. Without it, Livingstone, with his ardent temperament, his +enthusiasm, his high spirit and courage, must have become +uncompanionable, and a hard master. Religion has tamed him and made +him a Christian gentleman; the crude and willful have been refined +and subdued; religion has made him the most companionable of men +and indulgent of masters--a man whose society is pleasurable to a +degree....<br> +<br> +"From being thwarted and hated in every possible way by the Arabs +and half-castes upon his first arrival at Ujiji, he has, through +his uniform kindness and mild, pleasant temper, won all hearts. I +observed that universal respect was paid to him. Even the +Mohammedans never passed his house without calling to pay their +compliments, and to say, 'The blessing of God rest on you!' Each +Sunday morning he gathers his little flock around him, and reads +prayers and a chapter from the Bible, in a natural, unaffected, and +sincere tone; and afterward delivers a short address in the +Kisawahili language, about the subject read to them, which is +listened to with evident interest and attention."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>It was agreed that the two travelers should make a short +excursion to the north end of Lake Tanganyika, to ascertain whether +the lake had an outlet there. This was done, but it was found that +instead of flowing out, the river Lugizé flowed into the +lake, so that the notion that the lake discharged itself northward +turned out to be an error. Meanwhile, the future arrangements of +Dr. Livingstone were matter of anxious consideration. One thing was +fixed and certain from the beginning: Livingstone would not go home +with Stanley. Much though his heart yearned for home and +family--all the more that he had just learned that his son Thomas +had had a dangerous accident,--and much though he needed to recruit +his strength and nurse his ailments, he would not think of it while +his work remained unfinished. To turn back to those dreary sponges, +sleep in those flooded plains, encounter anew that terrible +pneumonia which was "worse than ten fevers," or that distressing +hæmorrhage which added extreme weakness to extreme +agony--might have turned any heart; Livingstone never flinched from +it. What a reception awaited him if he had gone home to England! +What welcome from friends and children, what triumphal cheers from +all the great Societies and <i>savants</i>, what honors from all +who had honors to confer, what opportunity of renewing efforts to +establish missions and commerce, and to suppress the slave traffic! +Then he might return to Africa in a year, and finish his work. If +Livingstone had taken this course, no whisper would have been heard +against it. The nobility of his soul never rose higher, his utter +abandonment of self, his entire devotion to duty, his right +honorable determination to work while it was called to-day never +shone more brightly than when he declined all Stanley's entreaties +to return home, and set his face steadfastly to go back to the bogs +of the watershed. He writes in his journal: "My daughter Agnes +says, 'Much as I wish you to come home, I had rather that you +finished your work to your own satisfaction, than return merely to +gratify me.' Rightly and nobly said, my darling Nannie; vanity +whispers pretty loudly, 'She is a chip of the old block,' My +blessing on her and all the rest."</p> +<p>After careful consideration of various plans, it was agreed that +he should go to Unyanyembe, accompanied by Stanley, who would +supply him there with abundance of goods, and who would then hurry +down to the coast, organize a new expedition composed of fifty or +sixty faithful men to be sent on to Unyanyembe, by whom Livingstone +would be accompanied back to Bangweolo and the sources, and then to +Rua, until his work should be completed, and he might go home in +peace.</p> +<p>A few extracts from Livingstone's letters will show us how he +felt at this remarkable crisis. To Agnes:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>Tanganyika</i>, 18<i>th November</i>, 1871--[After +detailing his troubles in Manyuema, the loss of all his goods at +Ujiji, and the generous offer of Syed bin Majid, he continues:] +"Next I heard of an Englishman being at Unyamyembe with boats, +etc., but who he was, none could tell. At last, one of my people +came running out of breath and shouted, 'An Englishman coming!' and +off he darted back again to meet him. An American flag at the head +of a large caravan showed the nationality of the stranger. Baths, +tents, saddles, big kettles, showed that he was not a poor Lazarus +like me. He turned out to be Henry M. Stanley, traveling +correspondent of the <i>New York Herald</i>, sent specially to find +out if I were really alive, and, if dead, to bring home my bones. +He had brought abundance of goods at great expense, but the +fighting referred to delayed him, and he had to leave a great part +at Unyamyembe. To all he had I was made free. [In a later letter, +Livingstone says; 'He laid all he had at my service, divided his +clothes into two heaps, and pressed one heap upon me; then his +medicine-chest; then his goods and everything he had, and to coax +my appetite, often cooked dainty dishes with his own hand.'] He +came with the true American characteristic generosity. The tears +often started into my eyes on every fresh proof of kindness. My +appetite returned, and I ate three or four times a day, instead of +scanty meals morning and evening. I soon felt strong, and never +wearied with the strange news of Europe and America he told. The +tumble down of the French Empire was like a dream...."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>A long letter to his friend Sir Thomas Maclear and Mr. Mann, of +the same date, goes over his travels in Manyuema, his many +disasters, and then his wonderful meeting with Mr. Stanley at +Ujiji. Speaking of the unwillingness of the natives to believe in +the true purpose of his journey, he says: "They all treat me with +respect, and are very much afraid of being written against; but +they consider the sources of the Nile to be a sham; the true object +of my being sent is to see their odious system of slaving, and +<i>if indeed my disclosures should lead to the suppression of the +East Coast slave-trade, I would esteem that as a far greater feat +than the discovery of all the sources together</i>. It is awful, +but I cannot speak of the slaving for fear of appearing guilty of +exaggerating. It is not trading; it is murdering for captives to be +made into slaves." His account of himself in the journey from +Nyangwe is dreadful: "I was near a fourth lake on this central +line, and only eighty miles from Lake Lincoln on our west, in fact +almost in sight of the geographical end of my mission, when I was +forced to return [through the misconduct of his men] between 400 +and 500 miles. A sore heart, made still sorer by the sad scenes I +had seen of man's inhumanity to man, made this march a terrible +tramp--the sun vertical, and the sore heat reacting on the physical +frame. I was in pain nearly every step of the way, and arrived a +mere ruckle of bones to find myself destitute." In speaking of the +impression made by Mr. Stanley's kindness: "I am as cold and +non-demonstrative as we islanders are reputed to be, but this +kindness was overwhelming. Here was the good Samaritan and no +mistake. Never was I more hard pressed; never was help more +welcome."</p> +<p>During thirteen months Stanley received no fewer than ten +parcels of letters and papers sent up by Mr. Webb, American Consul +at Zanzibar, while Livingstone received but one. This was an +additional ground for faith in the efficiency of Stanley's +arrangements.</p> +<p>The journey to Unyanyembe was somewhat delayed by an attack of +fever which Stanley had at Ujiji, and it was not till the 27th +December that the travelers set out. On the way Stanley heard of +the death of his English attendant Shaw, whom he had left unwell. +On the 18th of February, 1872, they reached Unyanyembe, where a new +chapter of the old history unfolded itself. The survivor of two +head-men employed by Ludha Damji had been plundering Livingstone's +stores, and had broken open the lock of Mr. Stanley's store-room +and plundered him likewise. Notwithstanding, Mr. Stanley was able +to give Livingstone a large amount of calico, beads, brass wire, +copper sheets, a tent, boat, bath, cooking-pots, medicine-chest, +tools, books, paper, medicines, cartridges, and shot. This, with +four flannel shirts that had come from Agnes, and two pairs of +boots, gave him the feeling of being quite set up.</p> +<p>On the 14th of March Mr. Stanley left Livingstone for Zanzibar, +having received from him a commission to send him up fifty trusty +men, and some additional stores. Mr. Stanley had authority to draw +from Dr. Kirk the remaining half of the Government grant, but lest +it should have been expended, he was furnished with a cheque for +5000 rupees on Dr. Livingstone's agents at Bombay. He was likewise +intrusted with a large folio MS.* volume containing his journals +from his arrival at Zanzibar, 28th January, 1866, to February 20, +1872, written out with all his characteristic care and beauty. +Another instruction had been laid upon him. If he should find +another set of slaves on the way to him, he was to send them back, +for Livingstone would on no account expose himself anew to the +misery, risk, and disappointment he had experienced from the kind +of men that had compelled him to turn back at Nyangwe.</p> +<p>Dr. Livingstone's last act before Mr. Stanley left him was to +write his letters--twenty for Great Britain, six for Bombay, two +for New York, and one for Zanzibar. The two for New York were for +Mr. Bennett of the <i>New York Herald</i>, by whom Stanley had been +sent to Africa.</p> +<p>Mr. Stanley has freely unfolded to us the bitterness of his +heart in parting from Livingstone. "My days seem to have been spent +in an Elysian field; otherwise, why should I so keenly regret the +near approach of the parting hour? Have I not been battered by +successive fevers, prostrate with agony day after day lately? Have +I not raved and stormed in madness? Have I not clenched my fists in +fury, and fought with the wild strength of despair when in +delirium? Yet, I regret to surrender the pleasure I have felt in +this man's society, though so dearly purchased.... <i>March +14th.</i>--We had a sad breakfast together. I could not eat, my +heart was too full; neither did my companion seem to have an +appetite. We found something to do which kept us longer together. +At eight o'clock I was not gone, and I had thought to have been off +at five A.M.... We walked side by side; the men lifted their voices +in a song. I took long looks at Livingstone, to impress his +features thoroughly on my memory.... 'Now, my dear Doctor, the best +friends must part. You have come far enough; let me beg of you to +turn back.' 'Well,' Livingstone replied, 'I will say this to you: +You have done what few men could do,--far better than some great +travelers I know. And I am grateful to you for what you have done +for me. God guide you safe home, and bless you, my friend,'--'And +may God bring you safe back to us all, my dear friend. +Farewell!'--'Farewell!"... My friendly reader, I wrote the above +extracts in my Diary on the evening of each day. I look at them now +after six months have passed away; yet I am not ashamed of them; my +eyes feel somewhat dimmed at the recollection of the parting. I +dared not erase, nor modify what I had penned, while my feelings +were strong. God grant that if ever you take to traveling in Africa +you will get as noble and true a man for your companion as David +Livingstone! For four months and four days I lived with him in the +same house, or in the same boat, or in the same tent, and I never +found a fault in him. I am a man of a quick temper, and often +without sufficient cause, I daresay, have broken the ties of +friendship; but with Livingstone I never had cause for resentment, +but each day's life with him added to my admiration for him."</p> +<p>If Stanley's feeling for Livingstone was thus at the warmest +temperature, Livingstone's sense of the service done to him by +Stanley was equally unqualified. Whatever else he might be or might +not be, he had proved a true friend to him. He had risked his life +in the attempt to reach him, had been delighted to share with him +every comfort he possessed, and to leave with him ample stores of +all that might be useful to him in his effort to finish his work. +Whoever may have been to blame for it, it is certain that +Livingstone had been afflicted for years, and latterly worried +almost to death, by the inefficency and worthlessness of the men +sent to serve him. In Stanley he found one whom he could trust +implicitly to do everything that zeal and energy could contrive in +order to find him efficient men and otherwise carry out his plans. +It was Stanley therefore whom he commissioned to send him up men +from Zanzibar. It was Stanley to whom he intrusted his Journal and +other documents. Stanley had been his confidental friend for four +months--the only white man to whom he talked for six years. It was +matter of life and death to Livingstone to be supplied for this +concluding piece of work far better than he had been for years +back. What man in his senses would have failed in these +circumstances to avail himself to the utmost of the services of one +who had shown himself so efficient; would have put him aside to +fall back on others, albeit his own countrymen, who, with all their +good-will, had not been able to save him from robbery, beggary, and +a half-broken heart.</p> +<p>Stanley's journey from Unyanyembe to Bagamoio was a perpetual +struggle against hostile natives, flooded roads, slush, mire, and +water, roaring torrents, ants and mosquitos, or, as he described +it, the ten plagues of Egypt. On his reaching Bagamoio, on the 6th +May, he found a new surprise. A white man dressed in flannels and +helmet appeared, and as he met Stanley congratulated him on his +splendid success. It was Lieutenant Henn, R.N., a member of the +Search Expedition which the Royal Geographical Society and others +had sent out to look for Livingstone. The resolution to organize +such an Expedition was taken after news had come to England of the +war between the Arabs and the natives at Unyanyembe, stopping the +communication with Ujiji, and rendering it impossible, as it was +thought, for Mr. Stanley to get to Livingstone's relief. The +Expedition had been placed under command of Lieutenant Dawson, +R.N., with Lieutenant Henn as second, and was joined by the Rev. +Charles New, a Missionary from Mombasa, and Mr. W. Oswell +Livingstone, youngest son of the Doctor. Stanley's arrival at +Bagamoio had been preceded by that of some of his men, who brought +the news that Livingstone had been found and relieved. On hearing +this, Lieutenant Dawson hurried to Zanzibar to see Dr. Kirk, and +resigned his command. Lieutenant Henn soon after followed his +example by resigning too. They thought that as Dr. Livingstone had +been relieved there was no need for their going on. Mr. New +likewise declined, to proceed. Mr. W. Oswell Livingstone was thus +left alone, at first full of the determination to go on to his +father with the men whom Stanley was providing; but owing to the +state of his health, and under the advice of Dr. Kirk, he, too, +declined to accompany the Expedition, so that the men from Zanzibar +proceeded to Unyanyembe alone.</p> +<p>On the 29th of May, Stanley, with Messrs. Henn, Livingstone, +New, and Morgan, departed in the "Africa" from Zanzibar, and in due +time reached Europe.</p> +<p>It was deeply to be regretted that an enterprise so beautiful +and so entirely successful as Mr. Stanley's should have been in +some degree marred by ebullitions of feeling little in harmony with +the very joyous event. The leaders of the English Search Expedition +and their friends felt, as they expressed it, that the wind had +been taken out of their sails. They could not but rejoice that +Livingstone had been found and relieved, but it was a bitter +thought that they had had no hand in the process. It was galling to +their feelings as Englishmen that the brilliant service had been +done by a stranger, a newspaper correspondent, a citizen of another +country. On a small scale that spirit of national jealousy showed +itself, which on a wider arena has sometimes endangered the +relations of England and America.</p> +<p>When Stanley reached England, it was not to be overwhelmed with +gratitude. At first the Royal Geographical Society received him +coldly. Instead of his finding Livingstone, it was surmised that +Livingstone had found him. Strange things were said of him at the +British Association at Brighton. The daily press actually +challenged his truthfulness; some of the newspapers affected to +treat his whole story as a myth. Stanley says frankly that this +reception gave a tone of bitterness to his book--<i>How I Found +Livingstone</i>--which it would not have had if he had understood +the real state of things. But the heart of the nation was sound; +the people believed in Stanley, and appreciated his service. At +last the mists cleared away, and England acknowledged its debt to +the American. The Geographical Society gave him the right hand of +fellowship "with a warmth and generosity never to be forgotten." +The President apologized for the words of suspicion he had +previously used. Her Majesty the Queen presented Stanley with a +special token of her regard. Unhappily, in the earlier stages of +the affair, wounds had been inflicted which are not likely ever to +be wholly healed. Words were spoken on both sides which cannot be +recalled. But the great fact remains, and will be written on the +page of history, that Stanley did a noble service to Livingstone, +earning thereby the gratitude of England and of the civilized +world.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII."></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> +<h3>FROM UNYANYEMBE TO BANGWEOLO.</h3> +<center>A.D. 1872-73.</center> +<p>Livingstone's long wait at Unyanyembe--His plan of +operations--His fifty-ninth, birthday--Renewal of +self-dedication--Letters to Agnes--to <i>New York +Herald</i>--Hardness of the African battle--Waverings of judgment, +whether Lualaba was the Nile or the Congo--Extracts from +Journal--Gleams of humor--Natural history--His distress on hearing +of the death of Sir Roderick Murchison--Thoughts on +mission-work--Arrival of his escort--His happiness in his new +men--He starts from Unyanyembe--Illness--Great amount of rain--Near +Bangweolo--Incessant moisture--Flowers of the forest--Taking of +observations regularly prosecuted--Dreadful state of the country +from rain--Hunger--Furious attack of ants--Greatness of +Livingstone's sufferings--Letters to Sir Thomas Maclear, Mr. Young, +his brother, and Agnes--His sixtieth birthday--Great weakness in +April--Sunday services and observations continued--Increasing +illness--The end approaching--Last written words--Last day of his +travels--He reaches Chitambo's village, in Ilala--Is found on his +knees dead, on morning of 1st May--Courage and affection of his +attendants--His body embalmed--Carried toward shore--Dangers and +sufferings during the march--The party meet Lieutenant Cameron at +Unyanyembe--Determine to go on--<i>Ruse</i> at +Kasekéra--Death of Dr. Dillon--The party reach Bagamoio, and +the remains are placed on board a cruiser--The Search Expeditions +from England--to East Coast under Cameron--to West Coast under +Grandy--Explanation of Expeditions by Sir Henry +Rawlinson--Livingstone's remains brought to England--Examined by +Sir W. Fergusson and others--Buried in Westminster +Abbey--Inscription on slab--Livingstone's wish for a forest +grave--Lines from <i>Punch</i>--Tributes to his memory--Sir Bartle +Frere--The <i>Lancet</i>--Lord Polwarth--Florence Nightingale.</p> +<br> +<p>When Stanley left Livingstone at Unyanyembe there was nothing +for the latter but to wait there until the men should come to him +who were to be sent up from Zanzibar Stanley left on the 14th +March; Livingstone calculated that he would reach Zanzibar on the +1st May, that his men would be ready to start about the 22d May, +and that they ought to arrive at Unyanyembe on the 10th or 15th +July. In reality, Stanley did not reach Bagamoio till the 6th May, +the men were sent off about the 25th, and they reached Unyanyembe +about the 9th August. A month more than had been counted on had to +be spent at Unyanyembe, and this delay was all the more trying +because it brought the traveler nearer to the rainy season.</p> +<p>The intention of Dr. Livingstone, when the men should come, was +to strike south by Ufipa, go round Tanganyika, then cross the +Chambeze, and bear away along the southern shore of Bangweolo, +straight west to the ancient fountains; from them in eight days to +Katanga copper mines; from Katanga, in ten days, northeast to the +great underground excavations, and back again to Katanga; from +which N.N.W. twelve days to the head of Lake Lincoln. "There I hope +devoutly," he writes to his daughter, "to thank the Lord of all, +and turn my face along Lake Kamolondo, and over Lualaba, +Tanganyika, Ujiji, and home."</p> +<p>His stay at Unyanyembe was a somewhat dreary one; there was +little to do and little to interest him. Five days after Stanley +left him occurred his fifty-ninth birthday. How his soul was +exercised appears from the renewal of his self-dedication recorded +in his Journal:</p> +<blockquote>"<i>19th March, Birthday</i>.--My Jesus, my King, my +Life, my All; I again dedicate my whole self to Thee. Accept me, +and grant, O gracious Father, that ere this year is gone I may +finish my task. In Jesus' name I ask it. Amen. So let it be. DAVID +LIVINGSTONE."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Frequent letters were written to his daughter from Unyanyembe, +and they dwelt a good deal upon his difficulties, the treacherous +way in which he had been treated, and the indescribable toil and +suffering which had been the result. He said that in complaining to +Dr. Kirk of the men whom he had employed, and the disgraceful use +they had made of his (Kirk's) name, he never meant to charge him +with being the author of their crimes, and it never occurred to him +to say to Kirk, "I don't believe you to be the traitor they imply;" +but Kirk took his complaint in high dudgeon as a covert attack upon +himself, and did not act toward him as he ought to have done, +considering what he owed him. His cordial and uniform testimony of +Stanley was, "altogether he has behaved right nobly."</p> +<p>On the 1st May he finished a letter for the <i>New York +Herald</i>, and asked God's blessing on it. It contained the +memorable words afterward inscribed on the stone to his memory in +Westminster Abbey: "All I can add in my loneliness is, may Heaven's +rich blessing come down on every one--American, English, or +Turk--who will help to heal the open sore of the world." It +happened that the words were written precisely a year before his +death.</p> +<p>Amid the universal darkness around him, the universal ignorance +of God and of the grace and love of Jesus Christ, it was hard to +believe that Africa should ever be won. He had to strengthen his +faith amid this universal desolation. We read in his Journal:</p> +<blockquote>"13<i>th May</i>.--He will keep his word--the gracious +One, full of grace and truth; no doubt of it. He said: 'Him that +cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out;' and 'Whatsoever ye +shall ask in my name, I will give it.' He WILL keep his word: then +I can come and humbly present my petition, and it will be all +right. Doubt is here inadmissible, surely, D.L."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>His mind ruminates on the river system of the country and the +probability of his being in error:</p> +<blockquote>"2l<i>st May</i>.--I wish I had some of the assurance +possessed by others, but I am oppressed with the apprehension that, +after all, it may turn out that I have been following the Congo; +and who would risk being put into a cannibal pot, and converted +into black man for <i>it?</i>"<br> +<br> +"31<i>st May</i>.--In reference to this Nile source, I have been +kept in perpetual doubt and perplexity. I know too much to be +positive. Great Lualaba, or Lualubba, as Manyuema say, may turn out +to be the Congo, and Nile a shorter river after all <a name= +"FNanchor75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75">[75]</a>. The fountains +flowing north and south seem in favor of its being the Nile. Great +westing is in favor of the Congo."<br> +<br> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_75"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor75">[75]</a> From false punctuation, this passage is +unintelligible in the <i>Last Journals</i>, vol. ii. p. +193.</blockquote> +<br> +"24<i>th June</i>.--The medical education has led me to a continual +tendency to suspend the judgment. What a state of blessedness it +would have been, had I possessed the dead certainty of the +homoeopathic persuasion, and as soon as I found the Lakes +Bangweolo, Moero, and Kamolondo, pouring out their waters down the +great central valley, bellowed out, 'Hurrah! Eureka!' and gone home +in firm and honest belief that I had settled it, and no mistake. +Instead of that, I am even now not at all 'cock-sure' that I have +not been following down what may after all be the +Congo."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>We now know that this was just what he had been doing. But we +honor him all the more for the diffidence that would not adopt a +conclusion while any part of the evidence was wanting, and that led +him to encounter unexampled risks and hardships before he would +affirm his favorite view as a fact. The moral lesson thus enforced +is invaluable. We are almost thankful that Livingstone never got +his doubts solved, it would have been such a disappointment; even +had he known that in all time coming the great stream which had +cast on him such a resistless spell would be known as the +Livingstone River, and would perpetuate the memory of his life and +his efforts for the good of Africa.</p> +<p>Occasionally his Journal gives a gleam, of humor: "18<i>th +June</i>.--The Ptolemaic map defines people according to their +food,--the Elephantophagi, the Struthiophagi, the Ichthiophagi, and +the Anthropophagi, If we followed the same sort of classification, +our definition would be by the drink, thus: the tribe of +stout-guzzlers, the roaring potheen-fuddlers, the +whisky-fishoid-drinkers, the vin-ordinaire bibbers, the +lager-beer-swillers, and an outlying tribe of the brandy cocktail +persuasion."</p> +<p>Natural History furnishes an unfailing interest: "19<i>th +June</i>.--Whydahs, though full-fledged, still gladly take a feed +from their dam, putting down the breast to the ground, and cocking +up the bill and chirruping in the most engaging manner and winning +way they know. She still gives them a little, but administers a +friendly shove-off too. They all pick up feathers or grass, and hop +from side to side of their mates, as if saying, 'Come, let us play +at making little houses.' The wagtail has shaken her young quite +off, and has a new nest. She warbles prettily, very much like a +canary, and is extremely active in catching flies, but eats crumbs +of bread-and-milk too. Sun-birds visit the pomegranate flowers, and +eat insects therein too, as well as nectar. The young whydah birds +crouch closely together at night for heat. They look like a woolly +ball on a branch. By day they engage in pairing and coaxing each +other. They come to the same twig every night. Like children, they +try and lift heavy weights of feathers above their strength."</p> +<p>On 3d July a very sad entry occurs: "Received a note from +Oswell, written in April last, containing the sad intelligence of +Sir Roderick's departure from among us. Alas! alas! this is the +only time in my life I ever felt inclined to use the word, and it +bespeaks a sore heart; the best friend I ever had,--true, warm, and +abiding,--he loved me more than I deserved; he looks down on me +still." This entry indicates extraordinary depth of emotion. Sir +Roderick exercised a kind of spell on Livingstone. Respect for him +was one of the subordinate motives that induced him to undertake +this journey. The hope of giving him satisfaction was one of the +subordinate rewards to which he looked forward. His death was to +Livingstone a kind of scientific widowhood, and must have deprived +him of a great spring to exertion in this last wandering. On Sir +Roderick's part the affection for him was very great. "Looking +back," says his biographer, Professor Geikie, "upon his scientific +career when not far from its close, Murchison found no part of it +which brought more pleasing recollections than the support he had +given to African explorers--Speke, Grant, notably Livingstone. 'I +rejoice,' he said, 'in the steadfast tenacity with which I have +upheld my confidence in the ultimate success of the last-named of +these brave men. In fact, it was the confidence I placed in the +undying vigor of my dear friend Livingstone which has sustained me +in the hope that I might live to enjoy the supreme delight of +welcoming him back to his own country.' But that consummation was +not to be. He himself was gathered to his rest just six days before +Stanley brought news and relief to the forlorn traveler on Lake +Tanganyika. And Livingstone, while still in pursuit of his quest, +and within ten months of his death, learned in the heart of Africa +the tidings which he chronicled in his journal <a name= +"FNanchor76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76">[76]</a>."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_76"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor76">[76]</a> <i>Life of Sir R. I. Murchison</i>, vol. ii. +pp. 297-8.</blockquote> +<p>At other times he is ruminating on mission-work:</p> +<blockquote>"10<i>th July</i>.--No great difficulty would be +encountered in establishing a Christian mission a hundred miles or +so from the East Coast.... To the natives the chief attention of +the mission should be directed. It would not be desirable or +advisable to refuse explanation to others; but I have avoided +giving offense to intelligent Arabs, who, having pressed me, asking +if I believed in Mohamed, by saying, 'No, I do not; I am a child of +Jesus bin Miriam,' avoiding anything offensive in my tone, and +often adding that Mohamed found their forefathers bowing down to +trees and stones, and did good to them by forbidding idolatry, and +teaching the worship of the only One God. This they all know, and +it pleases them to have it recognized. It might be good policy to +hire a respectable Arab to engage free porters, and conduct the +mission to the country chosen, and obtain permission from the chief +to build temporary houses.... A couple of Europeans beginning and +carrying on a mission without a staff of foreign attendants, +implies coarse country fare, it is true; but this would be nothing +to those who at home amuse themselves with vigils, fasting, etc. A +great deal of power is thus lost in the Church. Fastings and +vigils, without a special object in view, are time run to waste. +They are made to minister to a sort of self-gratification, instead +of being turned to account for the good of others. They are like +groaning in sickness: some people amuse themselves when ill with +continuous moaning. The forty days of Lent might be annually spent +in visiting adjacent tribes, and bearing unavoidable hunger and +thirst with a good grace. Considering the greatness of the object +to be attained, men might go without sugar, coffee, tea, as I went +from September, 1866, to December, 1868, without +either."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>On the subject of Missions he says, at a later period, 8th +November: "The spirit of missions is the spirit of our Master; the +very genius of his religion. A diffusive philanthropy is +Christianity itself. It requires perpetual propagation to attest +its genuineness."</p> +<p>Thanks to Mr. Stanley and the American Consul, who made +arrangements in a way that drew Livingstone's warmest gratitude, +his escort arrived at last, consisting of fifty-seven men and boys. +Several of these had gone with Mr. Stanley from Unyanyembe to +Zanzibar; among the new men were some Nassick pupils who had been +sent from Bombay to join Lieutenant Dawson. John and Jacob +Wainwright were among these. To Jacob Wainwright, who was +well-educated, we owe the earliest narrative that appeared of the +last eight months of Livingstone's career. How happy he was with +the men now sent to him appears from a letter to Mr. Stanley, +written very near his death: "I am perpetually reminded that I owe +a great deal to you for the men, you sent. With one exception, the +party is working like a machine. I give my orders to Manwa Sera, +and never have to repeat them." Would that he had had such a +company before!</p> +<p>On the 25th August the party started. On the 8th October they +reached Tanganyika, and rested, for they were tired, and several +were sick, including Livingstone, who had been ill with his bowel +disorder. The march went on slowly, and with few incidents. As the +season advanced, rain, mist, swollen streams, and swampy ground +became familiar. At the end of the year they were approaching the +river Chambeze. Christmas had its thanksgiving: "I thank the good +Lord for the good gift of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."</p> +<p>In the second week of January they came near Bangweolo, and the +reign of Neptune became incessant. We are told of cold rainy +weather; sometimes a drizzle, sometimes an incessant pour; swollen +streams and increasing sponges,--making progress a continual +struggle. Yet, as he passes through a forest, he has an eye to its +flowers, which are numerous and beautiful:</p> +<blockquote>"There are many flowers in the forest; marigolds, a +white jonquil-looking flower without smell, many orchids, white, +yellow, and pink asclepias, with bunches of French-white flowers, +clematis--<i>Methonica gloriosa</i>, gladiolus, and blue and deep +purple polygalas, grasses with white starry seed-vessels, and +spikelets of brownish red and yellow. Besides these, there are +beautiful blue flowering bulbs, and new flowers of pretty, delicate +form and but little scent. To this list may be added balsams, +composite of blood-red color and of purple; other flowers of liver +color, bright canary yellow, pink orchids on spikes thickly covered +all round, and of three inches in length; spiderworts of fine blue +or yellow or even pink. Different colored asclepiadeæ; +beautiful yellow and red umbelliferous flowering plants; dill and +wild parsnips; pretty flowering aloes, yellow and red, in one whorl +of blossoms; peas and many other flowering plants which I do not +know."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>Observations were taken with unremitting diligence, except when, +as was now common, nothing could be seen in the heavens. As they +advanced, the weather became worse. It rained as if nothing but +rain were ever known in the watershed. The path lay across flooded +rivers, which were distinguished by their currents only from the +flooded country along their banks. Dr. Livingstone had to be +carried over the rivers on the back of one of his men, in the +fashion so graphically depicted on the cover of the <i>Last +Journals</i>. The stretches of sponge that came before and after +the rivers, with their long grass and elephant-holes, were scarcely +less trying. The inhabitants were, commonly, most unfriendly to the +party; they refused them food, and, whenever they could, deceived +them as to the way. Hunger bore down on the party with its bitter +gnawing. Once a mass of furious ants attacked the Doctor by night, +driving him in despair from hut to hut. Any frame but one of Iron +must have succumbed to a single month of such a life, and before a +week was out, any body of men, not held together by a power of +discipline and a charm of affection unexampled in the history of +difficult expeditions, would have been scattered to the four winds. +Livingstone's own sufferings were beyond all previous example.</p> +<p>About this time he began an undated letter--his last--to his old +friends Sir Thomas Maclear and Mr. Mann. It was never finished, and +never despatched; but as one of the latest things he ever wrote, it +is deeply interesting, as showing how clear, vigorous, and +independent his mind was to the very last:</p> +<blockquote>"LAKE BANGWEOLO, SOUTH CENTRAL AFRICA.<br> +<br> +"MY DEAR FRIENDS MACLEAR AND MANN,--... My work at present is +mainly retracing my steps to take up the thread of my exploration. +It counts in my lost time, but I try to make the most of it by +going round outside this lake and all the sources, so that no one +may come afterward and cut me out. I have a party of good men, +selected by H. M. Stanley, who, at the instance of James Gordon +Bennett, of the <i>New York Herald</i>, acted the part of a good +Samaritan truly, and relieved my sore necessities. A dutiful son +could not have done more than he generously did. I bless him. The +men, fifty-six in number, have behaved as well as Makololo. I +cannot award them higher praise, though they have not the courage +of that brave kind-hearted people. From Unyanyembe we went due +south to avoid an Arab war which had been going on for eighteen +months. It is like one of our Caffre wars, with this difference--no +one is enriched thereby, for all trade is stopped, and the Home +Government pays nothing. We then went westward to Tanganyika, and +along its eastern excessively mountainous bank to the end. The heat +was really broiling among the rocks. No rain had fallen, and the +grass being generally burned off, the heat rose off the black ashes +as if out of an oven, yet the flowers persisted in coming out of +the burning soil, and generally without leaves, as if it had been a +custom that they must observe by a law of the Medes and Persians. +This part detained us long; the men's limbs were affected with a +sort of subcutaneous inflammation,--black rose or erysipelas,--and +when I proposed mildly and medically to relieve the tension it was +too horrible to be thought of, but they willingly carried the +helpless. Then we mounted up at once into the high, cold region +Urungu, south of Tanganyika, and into the middle of the rainy +season, with well-grown grass and everything oppressively green; +rain so often that no observations could be made, except at wide +intervals. I could form no opinion as to our longitude, and but +little of our latitudes. Three of the Baurungu chiefs, one a great +friend of mine, Nasonso, had died, and the population all turned +topsy-turvy, so I could make no use of previous observations. They +elect sisters' or brothers' sons to the chieftainship, instead of +the heir-apparent. Food was not to be had for either love or +money.<br> +<br> +"I was at the mercy of guides who did not know their own country, +and when I insisted on following the compass, they threatened, 'no +food for five or ten days in that line.' They brought us down to +the back or north side of Bangweolo, while I wanted to cross the +Chambeze and go round its southern side. So back again +southeastward we had to bend. The Portuguese crossed this Chambeze +a long time ago, and are therefore the first European discoverers. +We were not black men with Portuguese names like those for whom the +feat of crossing the continent was eagerly claimed by Lisbon +statesmen. Dr. Lacerda was a man of scientific attainments, and +Governor of Tette, but finding Cazembe at the rivulet called +Chungu, he unfortunately succumbed to fever ten days after his +arrival. He seemed anxious to make his way across to Angola. Misled +by the similarity of Chambeze to Zambesi, they all thought it to be +a branch of the river that flows past Tette, Senna, and Shupanga, +by Luabo and Kongoné to the sea.<br> +<br> +"I rather stupidly took up the same idea from a map saying +'Zambesi' (eastern branch), believing that the map printer had some +authority for his assertion. My first crossing was thus as +fruitless as theirs, and I was less excusable, for I ought to have +remembered that while Chambeze is the true native name of the +northern river, Zambesi is not the name of the southern river at +all. It is a Portugese corruption of Dombazi, which we adopted +rather than introduce confusion by new names, in the same way that +we adopted Nyassa instead of Nyanza ia Nyinyesi == Lake of the +Stars, which the Portuguese, from hearsay, corrupted into Nyassa. +The English have been worse propagators of nonsense than +Portuguese. 'Geography of Nyassa' was thought to be a learned way +of writing the name, though 'Nyassi' means long grass and nothing +else. It took me twenty-two months to eliminate the error into +which I was led, and then it was not by my own acuteness, but by +the chief Cazembe, who was lately routed and slain by a party of +Banyamwezi. He gave me the first hint of the truth, and that rather +in a bantering strain: 'One piece of water is just like another; +Bangweolo water is just like Moero water, Chambeze water like +Luapula water; they are all the same; but your chief ordered you to +go to the Bangweolo, therefore by all means go, but wait a few +days, till I have looked out for good men as guides, and good food +for you to eat,' etc. etc.<br> +<br> +"I was not sure but that it was all royal chaff, till I made my way +back south to the head-waters again, and had the natives of the +islet Mpabala slowly moving the hands all around the great expanse, +with 183° of sea horizon, and saying that is Chambeze, forming +the great Bangweolo, and disappearing behind that western headland +to change its name to Luapula, and run down past Cazembe to Moero. +That was the moment of discovery, and not my passage or the +Portuguese passage of the river. If, however, any one chooses to +claim for them the discovery of Chambeze as one line of drainage of +the Nile Valley, I shall not fight with him; Culpepper's astrology +was in the same way the forerunner of the Herschels' and the other +astronomers that followed."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>To another old friend, Mr. James Young, he wrote about the same +time: "<i>Opere peracto ludemus</i>--the work being finished, we +will play--you remember in your Latin Rudiments lang syne. It is +true for you, and I rejoice to think it is now your portion, after +working nobly, to play. May you have a long spell of it! I am +differently situated; I shall never be able to play.... To me it +seems to be said, 'If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn +unto death, and those that be ready to be slain; if thou sayest, +Behold we knew it not, doth not He that pondereth the heart +consider, and He that keepeth thy soul doth He not know, and shall +He not give to every one according to his works?' I have been led, +unwittingly, into the slaving field of the Banians and Arabs in +Central Africa. I have seen the woes inflicted, and I must still +work and do all I can to expose and mitigate the evils. Though hard +work is still to be my lot, I look genially on others more favored +in their lot. I would not be a member of the 'International,' for I +love to see and think of others enjoying life.</p> +<p>"During a large part of this journey I had a strong presentiment +that I should never live to finish it. It is weakened now, as I +seem to see the end toward which I have been striving looming in +the distance. This presentiment did not interfere with the +performance of any duty; it only made me think a great deal more of +the future state of being."</p> +<p>In his latest letters there is abundant evidence that the great +desire of his heart was to expose the slave-trade, rouse public +feeling, and get that great hindrance to all good for ever swept +away.</p> +<p>"Spare no pains," he wrote to Dr. Kirk in 1871, "in attempting +to persuade your superior to this end, and the Divine blessing will +descend on you and yours."</p> +<p>To his daughter Agnes he wrote (15th August, 1872): "No one can +estimate the amount of God-pleasing good that will be done, if, by +Divine favor, this awful slave-trade, into the midst of which I +have come, be abolished. This will be something to have lived for, +and the conviction has grown in my mind that it was <i>for this +end</i> I have been detained so long."</p> +<p>To his brother in Canada he says (December, 1872): "If the good +Lord permits me to put a stop to the enormous evils of the inland +slave-trade, I shall not grudge my hunger and toils. I shall bless +his name with all my heart. The Nile sources are valuable to me +only as a means of enabling me to open my mouth with power among +men. It is this power I hope to apply to remedy an enormous evil, +and join my poor little helping hand in the enormous revolution +that in his all-embracing Providence He has been carrying on for +ages, and is now actually helping forward. Men may think I covet +fame, but I make it a rule never to read aught written in my +praise."</p> +<p>Livingstone's last birthday (19th March, 1873) found him in much +the same circumstances as before. "Thanks to the Almighty Preserver +of men for sparing me thus far on the journey of life. Can I hope +for ultimate success? So many obstacles have arisen. Let not Satan +prevail over me, O my good Lord Jesus." A few days after (24th +March): "Nothing earthly will make me give up my work in despair. I +encourage myself in the Lord my God, and go forward."</p> +<p>In the beginning of April, the bleeding from the bowels, from +which he had been suffering, became more copious, and his weakness +was pitiful; still he longed for strength to finish his work. Even +yet the old passion for natural history was strong; the aqueous +plants that abounded everywhere, the caterpillars that after eating +the plants ate one another, and were such clumsy swimmers; the fish +with the hook-shaped lower jaw that enabled them to feed as they +skimmed past the plants; the morning summons of the cocks and +turtle-doves; the weird scream of the fish eagle--all engaged his +interest. Observations continued to be taken, and the Sunday +services were always held.</p> +<p>But on the 21st April a change occurred. In a shaky hand he +wrote: "Tried to ride, but was forced to lie down, and they carried +me back to vil. exhausted." A kitanda or palanquin had to be made +for carrying him. It was sorry work, for his pains were +excruciating and his weakness excessive. On the 27th April <a name= +"FNanchor77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77">[77]</a> he was apparently +at the lowest ebb, and wrote in his Journal the last words he ever +penned--"Knocked up quite, and remain == recover sent to buy milch +goats. We are on the banks of R. Molilamo."</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_77"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor77">[77]</a> This was the eleventh anniversary of his +wife's death.</blockquote> +<p>The word "recover" seems to show that he had no presentiment of +death, but cherished the hope of recovery; and Mr. Waller has +pointed out, from his own sad observation of numerous cases in +connection with the Universities Mission, that malarial poisoning +is usually unattended with the apprehension of death, and that in +none of these instances, any more than in the case of Livingstone, +were there any such messages, or instructions, or expressions of +trust and hope as are usual on the part of Christian men when death +is near.</p> +<p>The 29th of April was the last day of his travels. In the +morning he directed Susi to take down the side of the hut that the +kitanda might be brought along, as the door would not admit it, and +he was quite unable to walk to it. Then came the crossing of a +river; then progress through swamps and plashes; and when they got +to anything like a dry plain, he would ever and anon beg of them to +lay him down. At last they got him to Chitambo's village, in Ilala, +where they had to put him under the eaves of a house during a +drizzling rain, until the hut they were building should be got +ready.</p> +<p>Then they laid him on a rough bed in the hut, where he spent the +night. Next day he lay undisturbed. He asked a few wandering +questions about the country--especially about the Luapula. His +people knew that the end could not be far off. Nothing occurred to +attract notice during the early part of the night, but at four in +the morning, the boy who lay at his door called in alarm for Susi, +fearing that their master was dead. By the candle still burning +they saw him, not in bed, but kneeling at the bedside with his head +buried in his hands upon the pillow. The sad yet not unexpected +truth soon became evident: he had passed away on the furthest of +all his journeys, and without a single attendant. But he had died +in the act of prayer--prayer offered in that reverential attitude +about which he was always so particular; commending his own spirit, +with all his dear ones, as was his wont, into the hands of his +Saviour; and commending AFRICA--his own dear Africa--with all her +woes and sins and wrongs, to the Avenger of the oppressed and the +Redeemer of the lost.</p> +<p>If anything were needed to commend the African race, and prove +them possessed of qualities fitted to make a noble nation, the +courage, affection, and persevering loyalty shown by his attendants +after his death might well have this effect. When the sad event +became known among the men, it was cordially resolved that every +effort should be made to carry their master's remains to Zanzibar. +Such an undertaking was extremely perilous, for there were not +merely the ordinary risks of travel to a small body of natives, but +there was also the superstitious horror everywhere prevalent +connected with the dead. Chitambo must be kept in ignorance of what +had happened, otherwise a ruinous fine would be sure to be +inflicted on them. The secret, however, oozed out, but happily the +chief was reasonable. Susi and Chuma, the old attendants of +Livingstone, became now the leaders of the company, and they +fulfilled their task right nobly. The interesting narrative of Mr. +Waller at the end of the <i>Last Journals</i> tells us how calmly +yet efficiently they set to work. Arrangements were made for drying +and embalming the body, after removing and burying the heart and +other viscera. For fourteen days the body was dried in the sun. +After being wrapped in calico, and the legs bent inward at the +knees, it was enclosed in a large piece of bark from a Myonga-tree +in the form of a cylinder; over this a piece of sail-cloth was +sewed; and the package was lashed to a pole, so as to be carried by +two men. Jacob Wainwright carved an inscription on the Mvula tree +under which the body had rested, and where the heart was buried, +and Chitambo was charged to keep the grass cleared away, and to +protect two posts and a cross-piece which they erected to mark the +spot.</p> +<p>They then set out on their homeward march. It was a serious +journey, for the terrible exposure had affected the health of most +of them, and many had to lie down through sickness. The tribes +through which they passed were generally friendly, but not always. +At one place they had a regular fight. On the whole, their progress +was wonderfully quiet and regular. Everywhere they found that the +news of the Doctor's death had got before them. At one place they +heard that a party of Englishmen, headed by Dr. Livingstone's son, +on their way to relieve his father, had been seen at Bagamoio some +months previously. As they approached Unyanyembe, they learned that +the party was there, but when Chuma ran on before, he was +disappointed to find that Oswell Livingstone was not among them. +Lieutenant Cameron, Dr. Dillon, and Lieutenant Murphy were there, +and heard the tidings of the men with deep emotion. Cameron wished +them to bury the remains where they were, and not run the risk of +conveying them through the Ugogo country; but the men were +inflexible, determined to carry out their first intention. This was +not the only interference with these devoted and faithful men. +Considering how carefully they had gathered all Livingstone's +property, and how conscientiously, at the risk of their lives, they +were carrying it to the coast, to transfer it to the British Consul +there, it was not warrantable in the new-comers to take the boxes +from them, examine their contents, and carry off a part of them. +Nor do we think Lieutenant Cameron was entitled to take away the +instruments with which all Livingstone's observations had been made +for a series of seven years, and use them, though only temporarily, +for the purpose of his Expedition, inasmuch as he thereby made it +impossible so to reduce Livingstone's observations as that correct +results should be obtained from them. Sir Henry Rawlinson seems not +to have adverted to this result of Mr. Cameron's act, in his +reference to the matter from the chair of the Geographical +Society.</p> +<p>On leaving Unyanyembe the party were joined by Lieutenant +Murphy, not much to the promotion of unity of action or harmonious +feeling. At Kasekéra a spirit of opposition was shown by the +inhabitants, and a <i>ruse</i> was resorted to so as to throw them +off their guard. It was resolved to pack the remains in such form +that when wrapped in calico they should appear like an ordinary +bale of merchandise. A fagot of mapira stalks, cut into lengths of +about six feet, was then swathed in cloth, to imitate a dead body +about to be buried. This was sent back along the way to Unyanyembe, +as if the party had changed their minds and resolved to bury the +remains there. The bearers, at nightfall, began to throw away the +mapira rods, and then the wrappings, and when they had thus +disposed of them they returned to their companions. The villagers +of Kasekéra had now no suspicion, and allowed the party to +pass unmolested. But though one tragedy was averted, another was +enacted at Kasekéra--the dreadful suicide of Dr. Dillon +while suffering from dysentery and fever.</p> +<p>The cortége now passed on without further incident, and +arrived at Bagamoio in February, 1874. Soon after they reached +Bagamoio a cruiser arrived from Zanzibar, with the acting Consul, +Captain Prideaux, on board, and the remains were conveyed to that +island previous to their being sent to England.</p> +<p>The men that for nine long months remained steadfast to their +purpose to pay honor to the remains of their master, in the midst +of innumerable trials and dangers and without hope of reward, have +established a strong claim to the gratitude and admiration of the +world. Would that the debt were promptly repaid in efforts to free +Africa from her oppressors, and send throughout all her borders the +Divine proclamation, "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, +good-will to men."</p> +<p>In regard to the Search party to which reference has been made, +it may be stated that when Livingstone's purpose to go back to the +barbarous regions where he had suffered so much before became known +in England it excited a feeling of profound concern. Two +Expeditions were arranged. That to the East Coast, organized by the +Royal Geographical Society, was placed under Lieutenant Cameron, +and included in its ranks Robert Moffat, a grandson of Dr. +Moffat's, who (as has been already stated) fell early a sacrifice +to fever. The members of the Expedition suffered much from +sickness; it was broken up at Unyanyembe, when the party bearing +the remains of Dr. Livingstone was met. The other party, under +command of Lieutenant Grandy, was to go to the West Coast, start +from Loanda, strike the Congo, and move on to Lake Lincoln. This +Expedition was fitted out solely at the cost of Mr. Young. He was +deeply concerned for the safety of his friend, knowing how he was +hated by the slave-traders whose iniquities he had exposed, and +thinking it likely that if he once reached Lake Lincoln he would +make for the west coast along the Congo. The purpose of these +Expeditions is carefully explained in a letter addressed to Dr. +Livingstone by Sir Henry Rawlinson, then President of the Royal +Geographical Society:</p> +<blockquote>"LONDON, <i>November</i> 20, 1872.<br> +<br> +"DEAR DR. LIVINGSTONE,--You will no doubt have heard of Sir Bartle +Frere's deputation to Zanzibar long before you receive this, and +you will have learnt with heartfelt satisfaction that there is now +a definite prospect of the infamous East African slave-trade being +suppressed. For this great end, if it be achieved, we shall be +mainly indebted to your recent letters, which have had a powerful +effect on the public mind in England, and have thus stimulated the +action of the Government. Sir Bartle will keep you informed of his +arrangements, if there are any means of communicating with the +interior, and I am sure you will assist him to the utmost of your +power in carrying out the good work in which he is engaged.<br> +<br> +"It was a great disappointment to us that Lieutenant Dawson's +Expedition, which we fitted out in the beginning of the year with +such completeness, did not join you at Unyanyembe, for it could not +have failed to be of service to you in many ways. We are now trying +to aid you with a second Expedition under Lieutenant Cameron, whom +we have sent out under Sir Bartle's orders, to join you if possible +in the vicinity of Lake Tanganyika, and attend to your wishes in +respect to his further movements. We leave it entirely to your +discretion whether you like to keep Mr. Cameron with you or to send +him on to the Victoria Nyanza, or any other points that you are +unable to visit yourself. Of course the great point of interest +connected with your present exploration is the determination of the +lower course of the Lualaba. Mr. Stanley still adheres to the view, +which you formerly held, that it drains into the Nile; but if the +levels which you give are correct, this is impossible. At any rate, +the opinion of the identity of the Congo and Lualaba is now +becoming so universal that Mr. Young has come forward with a +donation of £2000 to enable us to send another Expedition to +your assistance up that river, and Lieutenant Grandy, with a crew +of twenty Kroomen, will accordingly be pulling up the Congo before +many months are over. Whether he will really be able to penetrate +to your unvisited lake, or beyond it to Lake Lincoln, is, of +course, a matter of great doubt; but it will at any rate be +gratifying to you to know that support is approaching you both from +the west and east. We all highly admire and appreciate your +indomitable energy and perseverance, and the Geographical Society +will do everything in its power to support you, so as to compensate +in some measure for the loss you have sustained in the death of +your old friend Sir Roderick Murchison. My own tenure of office +expires in May, and it is not yet decided who is to succeed me, but +whoever may be our President, our interest in your proceedings will +not slacken. Mr. Waller will, I daresay, have told you that we have +just sent a memorial to Mr. Gladstone, praying that a pension may +be at once conferred upon your daughters, and I have every hope +that our prayer may be successful. You will see by the papers, now +sent to you, that there has been much acrimonious discussion of +late on African affairs. I have tried myself in every possible way +to throw oil on the troubled waters, and begin to hope now for +something like peace. I shall be very glad to hear from you if you +can spare time to send me a line, and will always keep a watchful +eye over your interests.--I remain, yours very truly,<br> +<br> +"H.C. RAWLINSON."</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The remains were brought to Aden on board the "Calcutta," and +thereafter transferred to the P. and O. steamer "Malwa," which +arrived at Southampton on the 15th of April. Mr. Thomas +Livingstone, eldest surviving son of the Doctor, being then in +Egypt on account of his health <a name="FNanchor78"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_78">[78]</a>, had gone on board at Alexandria. The body +was conveyed to London by special train and deposited in the rooms +of the Geographical Society in Saville Row.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_78"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor78">[78]</a> Thomas never regained robust health. He died +at Alexandria, 15th March, 1876.</blockquote> +<p>In the course of the evening the remains were examined by Sir +William Fergusson and several other medical gentleman, including +Dr. Loudon, of Hamilton, whose professional skill and great +kindness to his family had gained for him a high place in the +esteem and love of Livingstone. To many persons it had appeared so +incredible that the remains should have been brought from the heart +of Africa to London, that some conclusive identification of the +body seemed to be necessary to set all doubt at rest. The state of +the arm, the one that had been broken by the lion, supplied the +crucial evidence. "Exactly in the region of the attachment of the +deltoid to the humerus" (said Sir William Fergusson in a +contribution to the <i>Lancet</i>, April 18, 1874), "there were the +indications of an oblique fracture. On moving the arm there were +the indications of an ununited fracture. A closer identification +and dissection displayed the false joint that had so long ago been +so well recognized by those who had examined the arm in former +days.... The first glance set my mind at rest, and that, with the +further examination, made me as positive as to the identification +of these remains as that there has been among us in modern times +one of the greatest men of the human race--David Livingstone."</p> +<p>On Saturday, April 18, 1874, the remains of the great traveler +were committed to their resting-place near the centre of the nave +of Westminster Abbey. Many old friends of Livingstone came to be +present, and many of his admirers, who could not but avail +themselves of the opportunity to pay a last tribute of respect to +his memory. The Abbey was crowded in every part from which the +spectacle might be seen. The pall-bearers were Mr. H.M. Stanley, +Jacob Wainwright, Sir T. Steele, Dr. Kirk, Mr. W.F. Webb, Rev. +Horace Waller, Mr. Oswell, and Mr. E.D. Young. Two of these, Mr. +Waller and Dr. Kirk, along with Dr. Stewart, who was also present, +had assisted twelve years before at the funeral of Mrs. Livingstone +at Shupanga. Dr. Moffat, too, was there, full of sorrowful +admiration. Amid a service which was emphatically impressive +throughout, the simple words of the hymn, sung to the tune of +Tallis, were peculiarly touching:</p> +<blockquote>"O God of Bethel! by whose hand<br> + Thy people still are fed,<br> +Who through this weary pilgrimage<br> + Hast all our fathers led."</blockquote> +<p>The black slab that now marks the resting-place of Livingstone +bears this inscription:</p> +<center>BROUGHT BY FAITHFUL HANDS<br> +OVER LAND AND SEA,<br> +<br> +HERE RESTS<br> +<br> +<b>DAVID LIVINGSTONE,</b><br> +<br> +MISSIONARY, TRAVELER, PHILANTHROPIST,<br> +<br> +BORN MARCH 19, 1813,<br> +AT BLANTYRE, LANARKSHIRE.<br> +<br> +DIED MAY 4, <a name="FNanchor79"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_79">[79]</a> 1873,<br> +AT CHITAMBO'S VILLAGE, ILALA.</center> +<br> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_79"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor79">[79]</a> In the <i>Last Journals</i> the date is 1st +May; on<br> +the stone, 4th May. The attendants could not quite<br> +determine the day.</blockquote> +<br> +<blockquote>For thirty years his life was spent in an unwearied +effort to evangelize<br> +the native races, to explore the undiscovered secrets,<br> +and abolish the desolating slave-trade of Central Africa,<br> +and where, with his last words he wrote:<br> +"All I can say in my solitude is, may Heaven's rich blessing<br> +come down on every one--American, English, Turk--<br> +who will help to heal this open sore of the world."</blockquote> +<p>Along the right border of the stone are the words:</p> +<blockquote>TANTUS AMOR VERI, NIHIL EST QUOD NOSCERE MALIM<br> +QUAM FLUVII CAUSAS PER SÆCULA TANTA LATEHTES.</blockquote> +<p>And along the left border:</p> +<blockquote>OTHER SHEEP I HAVE WHICH ARE NOT OF THIS FOLD,<br> +THEM ALSO I MUST BRING, AND THEY SHALL HEAR MY VOICE.</blockquote> +<p>On the 25th June, 1868, not far from the northern border of that +lake Bangweolo on whose southern shore he passed away, Dr. +Livingstone came on a grave in a forest. He says of it:</p> +<p>"It was a little rounded mound, as if the occupant sat in it in +the usual native way; it was strewed over with flour, and a number +of the large blue beads put on it; a little path showed that it had +visitors. This is the sort of grave I should prefer: to be in the +still, still forest, and no hand ever disturb my bones. The graves +at home always seemed to me to be miserable, especially those in +the cold, damp clay, and without elbow-room; but I have nothing to +do but wait till He who is over all decides where I have to lay me +down and die. Poor Mary lies on Shupanga brae, 'and beeks fornent +the sun.'"</p> +<p>"He who is over all" decreed that while his heart should lie in +a leafy forest, in such a spot as he loved, his bones should repose +in a great Christian temple, where many, day by day, as they read +his name, would recall his noble Christian life, and feel how like +he was to Him of whom it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord God is +upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings +to the meek: He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to +proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to +them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, +and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to +appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for +ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the +spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of +righteousness, the planting of the Lord; that He might be +glorified."</p> +<blockquote>"Droop half-mast colors, bow, bareheaded crowds,<br> +As this plain coffin o'er the side is slung,<br> +To pass by woods of masts and ratlined shrouds,<br> +As erst by Afric's trunks, liana-hung.<br> +<br> +'Tis the last mile of many thousands trod<br> + With failing strength but never-failing will,<br> +By the worn frame, now at its rest with God,<br> + That never rested from its fight with ill.<br> +<br> +Or if the ache of travel and of toil<br> + Would sometimes wring a short, sharp cry of pain<br> +From agony of fever, blain, and boil,<br> + 'Twas but to crush it down and on again!<br> +<br> +He knew not that the trumpet he had blown<br> + Out of the darkness of that dismal land,<br> +Had reached and roused an army of its own<br> + To strike the chains from the slave's fettered +hand.<br> +<br> +Now we believe, he knows, sees all is well;<br> + How God had stayed his will and shaped his way,<br> +To bring the light to those that darkling dwell<br> + With gains that life's devotion well repay.<br> +<br> +Open the Abbey doors and bear him in<br> + To sleep with king and statesman, chief and sage,<br> +The missionary come of weaver-kin,<br> + But great by work that brooks no lower wage.<br> +<br> +He needs no epitaph to guard a name<br> + Which men shall prize while worthy work is known;<br> +He lived and died for good--be that his fame:<br> + Let marble crumble: this is +Living--stone."--<i>Punch</i>.</blockquote> +<p>Eulogiums on the dead are often attempts, sometimes sufficiently +clumsy, to conceal one-half of the truth and fill the eye with the +other. In the case of Livingstone there is really nothing to +conceal. In tracing his life in these pages we have found no need +for the brilliant colors of the rhetorician, the ingenuity of the +partisan, or the enthusiasm of the hero-worshiper. We have felt, +from first to last, that a plain, honest statement of the truth +regarding him would be a higher panegyric than any ideal picture +that could be drawn. The best tributes paid to his memory by +distinguished countrymen were the most literal--we might almost say +the most prosaic. It is but a few leaves we can reproduce of the +many wreaths that were laid on his tomb.</p> +<p>Sir Bartle Frere, as President of the Royal Geographical +Society, after a copious notice of his life, summed it up in these +words: "As a whole, the work of his life will surely be held up in +ages to come as one of singular nobleness of design, and of +unflinching energy and self-sacrifice in execution. It will be long +ere any one man will be able to open so large an extent of unknown +land to civilized mankind. Yet longer, perhaps, ere we find a +brighter example of a life of such continued and useful +self-devotion to a noble cause."</p> +<p>In a recent letter to Dr. Livingstone's eldest daughter, Sir +Bartle Frere (after saying that he was first introduced to Dr. +Livingstone by Mr. Phillip, the painter, as "one of the noblest men +he had ever met," and rehearsing the history of his early +acquaintance) remarks:</p> +<p>"I could hardly venture to describe my estimate of his character +as a Christian further than by saying that I never met a man who +fulfilled more completely my idea of a perfect Christian +gentleman,--actuated in what he thought and said and did by the +highest and most chivalrous spirit, modeled on the precepts of his +great Master and Exemplar.</p> +<p>"As a man of science, I am less competent to judge, for my +knowledge of his work is to a great extent second-hand; but +derived, as it is, from observers like Sir Thomas Maclear, and +geographers like Arrowsmith, I believe him to be quite unequaled as +a scientific traveler, in the care and accuracy with which he +observed. In other branches of science I had more opportunities of +satisfying myself, and of knowing how keen and accurate was his +observation, and how extensive his knowledge of everything +connected with natural science; but every page of his journals, to +the last week of his life, testified to his wonderful natural +powers and accurate observation. Thirdly, as a missionary and +explorer I have always put him in the very first rank. He seemed to +me to possess in the most wonderful degree that union of opposite +qualities which were required for such a work as opening out +heathen Africa to Christianity and civilization. No man had a +keener sympathy with even the most barbarous and unenlightened; +none had a more ardent desire to benefit and improve the most +abject. In his aims, no man attempted, on a grander or more +thorough scale, to benefit and improve those of his race who most +needed improvement and light. In the execution of what he +undertook, I never met his equal for energy and sagacity, and I +feel sure that future ages will place him among the very first of +those missionaries, who, following the apostles, have continued to +carry the light of the gospel to the darkest regions of the world, +throughout the last 1800 years. As regards the value of the work he +accomplished, it might be premature to speak,--not that I think it +possible I can over-estimate it, but because I feel sure that every +year will add fresh evidence to show how well-considered were the +plans he took in hand, and how vast have been the results of the +movements he set in motion."</p> +<p>The generous and hearty appreciation of Livingstone by the +medical profession was well expressed in the words of the +<i>Lancet</i>: "Few men have disappeared from our ranks more +universally deplored, as few have served in them with a higher +purpose, or shed upon them the lustre of a purer devotion."</p> +<p>Lord Polwarth, in acknowledging a letter from Dr. Livingstone's +daughter, thanking him for some words on her father, wrote thus: "I +have long cherished the memory of his example, and feel that the +truest beauty was his essentially Christian spirit. Many admire in +him the great explorer and the noble-hearted philanthropist; but I +like to think of him, not only thus, but as a man who was a servant +of God, loved his Word intensely, and while he spoke to men of God, +spoke more to God of men,</p> +<p>"His memory will never perish, though the first freshness, and +the impulse it gives just now, may fade; but his prayers will be +had in everlasting remembrance, and unspeakable blessings will yet +flow to that vast continent he opened up at the expense of his +life. God called and qualified him for a noble work, which, by +grace, he nobly fulfilled, and we can love the honored servant, and +adore the gracious Master."</p> +<p>Lastly, we give the beautiful wreath of Florence Nightingale, +also in the form of a letter to Dr. Livingstone's daughter:</p> +<blockquote>"LONDON, <i>Feb.</i> 18<i>th</i>,1874.<br> +<br> +"DEAR MISS LIVINGSTONE,--I am only one of all England which is +feeling with you and for you at this moment.<br> +<br> +"But Sir Bartle Frere encourages me to write to you.<br> +<br> +"We cannot help still yearning to hear of some hope that your great +father may be still alive.<br> +<br> +"God knows; and in knowing that He knows who is all wisdom, +goodness, and power, we must find our rest.<br> +<br> +"He has taken away, if at last it be as we fear, the greatest man +of his generation, for Dr. Livingstone stood alone.<br> +<br> +"There are few enough, but a few statesmen. There are few enough, +but a few great in medicine, or in art, or in poetry. There are a +few great travelers. But Dr. Livingstone stood alone as the great +Missionary Traveler, the bringer-in of civilization; or rather the +pioneer of civilization--he that cometh before--to races lying in +darkness.<br> +<br> +"I always think of him as what John the Baptist, had he been living +in the nineteenth century, would have been.<br> +<br> +"Dr. Livingstone's fame was so world-wide that there were other +nations who understood him even better than we did.<br> +<br> +"Learned philologists from Germany, not at all orthodox in their +opinions, have yet told me that Dr. Livingstone was the only man +who understood races, and how to deal with them for good; that he +was the one true missionary. We cannot console ourselves for our +loss. He is irreplaceable.<br> +<br> +"It is not sad that he should have died out there. Perhaps it was +the thing, much as he yearned for home, that was the fitting end +for him. He may have felt it so himself.<br> +<br> +"But would that he could have completed that which he offered his +life to God to do!<br> +<br> +"If God took him, however, it was that his life was completed in +God's sight; his work finished, the most glorious work of our +generation.<br> +<br> +"He has opened those countries for God to enter in. He struck the +first blow to abolish a hideous slave-trade.<br> +<br> +"He, like Stephen, was the first martyr.<br> +<br> +<blockquote>"'He climbed the steep ascent of heaven,<br> + Through peril, toil, and pain;<br> +O God! to us may grace be given<br> + To follow in his train!'</blockquote> +<br> +"To us it is very dreary, not to have seen him again, that he +should have had none of us by him at the last; no last word or +message.<br> +<br> +"I feel this with regard to my dear father and one who was more +than mother to me, Mrs. Bracebridge, who went with me to the +Crimean war, both of whom were taken from me last month.<br> +<br> +"How much more must we feel it, with regard to out great discoverer +and hero, dying so far off!<br> +<br> +"But does he regret it? How much he must know now! how much he must +have enjoyed!<br> +<br> +"Though how much we would give to know <i>his</i> thoughts, +<i>alone with God</i>, during the latter days of his life.<br> +<br> +"May we not say, with old Baxter (something altered from that +verse)?<br> +<br> +<blockquote>"'My knowledge of that life is small,<br> +The eye of faith is dim;<br> +But 'tis enough that <i>Christ knows all</i>,<br> +And he will be with <i>Him</i>.'</blockquote> +<br> +"Let us think only of him and of his present happiness, his eternal +happiness, and may God say to us: 'Let not your heart be troubled,' +Let us exchange a 'God bless you,' and fetch a real blessing from +God in saying so.<br> +<br> +"Florence Nightingale"</blockquote> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII."></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> +<h3>POSTHUMOUS INFLUENCE.</h3> +<p>History of his life not completed at his death--Thrilling effect +of the tragedy of Ilala--Livingstone's influence on the +slave-trade--His letters from Manyuema--Sir Bartle Frere's mission +to Zanzibar--Successful efforts of Dr. Kirk with Sultan of +Zanzibar--The land route--The sea route--Slave-trade declared +illegal--Egypt--The Soudan--Colonel Gordon--Conventions with +Turkey--King Mtesa of Uganda--Nyassa district--Introduction of +lawful commerce--Various commercial enterprises in +progress--Influence of Livingstone on exploration--Enterprise of +newspapers--Exploring undertakings of various +nations--Livingstone's personal service to science--His hard work +in science the cause of respect--His influence on missionary +enterprise--Livingstonia--Dr. Stewart.--Mr. E.D. +Young--Blantyre--The Universities Mission under Bishop Steere--Its +return to the mainland and to Nyassa district--Church Missionary +Society at Nyanza--London Missionary Society at Tanganyika--French, +Inland, Baptist, and American missions--Medical missions--The Fisk +Livingstone hall--Livingstone's great legacy to Africa, a spotless +Christian name and character--Honors of the future.</p> +<br> +<p>The heart of David Livingstone was laid under the mvula-tree in +Ilala, and his bones in Westminster Abbey; but his spirit marched +on. The history of his life is not completed with the record of his +death. The continual cry of his heart to be permitted to finish his +work was answered, answered thoroughly, though not in the way he +thought of. The thrill that went through the civilized world when +his death and all its touching circumstances became known, did more +for Africa than he could have done had he completed his task and +spent years in this country following it up. From the worn-out +figure kneeling at the bedside in the hut in Ilala an electric +spark seemed to fly, quickening hearts on every side. The statesman +felt it; it put new vigor into the despatches he wrote and the +measures he devised with regard to the slave-trade. The merchant +felt it, and began to plan in earnest how to traverse the continent +with roads and railways, and open it to commerce from shore to +centre. The explorer felt it, and started with high purpose on new +scenes of unknown danger. The missionary felt it,--felt it a +reproof of past languor and unbelief, and found himself lifted up +to a higher level of faith and devotion. No parliament of +philanthropy was held; but the verdict was as unanimous and as +hearty as if the Christian world had met and passed the +resolution--"Livingstone's work shall not die: AFRICA SHALL +LIVE."</p> +<p>A rapid glance at the progress of events during the seven years +that have elapsed since the death of Livingstone will show best +what influence he wielded after his death. Whether we consider the +steps that have been taken to suppress the slave-trade, the +progress of commercial undertakings, the successful journeys of +explorers stimulated by his example who have gone from shore to +shore, or the new enterprises of the various missionary bodies, +carried out by agents with somewhat of Livingstone's spirit, we +shall see what a wonderful revolution he effected,--how entirely he +changed the prospects of Africa.</p> +<p>Livingstone himself had the impression that his long and weary +detention in Manyuema was designed by Providence to enable him to +know and proclaim to the world the awful horrors of the +slave-trade. When his despatches and letters from that region were +published in this country, the matter was taken up in the highest +quarters. After the Queen's Speech had drawn the attention of +Parliament to it, a Royal Commission, and then a Select Committee +of the House of Commons, prepared the way for further action. Sir +Bartle Frere was to Zanzibar, with the view of negotiating a treaty +with the Sultan, to render illegal all traffic in slaves by sea. +Sir Bartle was unable to persuade the Sultan, but left the matter +in the hands of Dr. Kirk, who succeeded in 1873 in negotiating the +treaty, and got the shipment of slaves prohibited over a sea-board +of nearly a thousand miles. But the slave-dealer was too clever to +yield; for the route by sea he simply substituted a route by land, +which, instead of diminishing the horrors of the traffic, actually +made them greater. Dr. Kirk's energies had to be employed in +getting the land traffic placed in the same category as that by +sea, and here, too, he was successful, so that within the dominions +of the Sultan of Zanzibar, the slave-trade, as a legal enterprise, +came to an end.</p> +<p>But Zanzibar was but a fragment of Africa. In no other part of +the continent was it of more importance that the traffic should be +arrested than in Egypt, and in parts of the Empire of Turkey in +Africa under the control of the Sultan. The late Khedive of Egypt +was hearty in the cause, less, perhaps, from dislike of the +slave-trade, than from his desire to hold good rank among the +Western powers, and to enjoy the favorable opinion of England. By +far the most important contribution of the Khedive to the cause lay +in his committing the vast region of the Soudan to the hands of our +countryman, Colonel Gordon, whose recent resignation of the office +has awakened so general regret. Hating the slave-trade, Colonel +Gordon employed his remarkable influence over native chiefs and +tribes in discouraging it, and with great effect. To use his own +words, recently spoken to a friend, he cut off the slave-dealers in +their strongholds, and he made all his people love him. Few men, +indeed, have shown more of Livingstone's spirit in managing the +natives than Gordon Pasha, or furnished better proof that for +really doing away with the slave-trade more is needed than a good +treaty--there must be a hearty and influential Executive to carry +out its provisions. Our conventions with Turkey have come to little +or nothing. They have shared the usual fate of Turkish promises. +Even the convention announced with considerable confidence in the +Queen's speech on 5th February, 1880, if the tenor of it be as it +has been reported in the <i>Temps</i> newspaper, leaves far too +much in the hands of the Turks, and unless it be energetically and +constantly enforced by this country, will fail in its object. To +this end, however, we trust that the attention of our Government +will be earnestly directed. The Turkish traffic is particularly +hateful, for it is carried on mainly for purposes of sensuality and +show.</p> +<p>The abolition of the slave-trade by King Mtesa, chief of +Waganda, near Lake Victoria Nyanza, is one of the most recent +fruits of the agitation. The services of Mr. Mackay, a countryman +of Livingstone's, and an agent of the Church Missionary Society, +contributed mainly to this remarkable result.</p> +<p>Such facts show that not only has the slave-trade become illegal +in some of the separate states of Africa, but that an active spirit +has been roused against it, which, if duly directed, may yet +achieve much more. The trade, however, breeds a reckless spirit, +which cares little for treaties or enactments, and is ready to +continue the traffic as a smuggling business after it has been +declared illegal. In the Nyassa district, from which to a large +extent it has disappeared, it is by no means suppressed. It is +quite conceivable that it may revive after the temporary alarm of +the dealers has subsided. The remissness, and even the connivance, +of the Portuguese authorities has been a great hindrance to its +abolition. All who desire to carry out the noble object of +Livingstone's life will therefore do well to urge her Majesty's +Ministers, members of Parliament, and all who have influence, to +renewed and unremitting efforts toward the complete and final +abolition of the traffic throughout the whole of Africa. To this +consummation the honor of Great Britain is conspicuously pledged, +and it is one to which statesmen of all parties have usually been +proud to contribute.</p> +<p>If we pass from the slave-trade to the promotion of lawful +commerce, we find the influence of Livingstone hardly less apparent +in not a few undertakings recently begun. Animated by the memory of +his four months' fellowship with Livingstone, Mr. Stanley has +undertaken the exploration of the Congo or Livingstone River, +because it was a work that Livingstone desired to be done. With a +body of Kroomen and others he is now at work making a road from +near Banza Noki to Stanley Pool. He takes a steamer in sections to +be put together above the Falls, and with it he intends to explore +and to open to commerce the numerous great navigable tributaries of +the Livingstone River. Mr. Stanley has already established steam +communication between the French station near the mouth of the +Congo and his own station near Banza Noki or Embomma. The +"Livingstone Central African Company, Limited," with Mr. James +Stevenson, of Glasgow, as chairman, has constructed a road along +the Murchison Rapids, thus making the original route of Livingstone +available between Quilimane and the Nyassa district, and is doing +much more to advance Christian civilization. France, Belgium, +Germany, and Italy have all been active in promoting commercial +schemes. A magnificent proposal has been made, under French +auspices, for a railway across the Soudan. There is a proposal from +Manchester to connect the great lakes with the sea by a railway +from the coast opposite Zanzibar. Another scheme is for a railway +from the Zambesi to Lake Nyassa. A telegraph through Egypt has been +projected to the South African colonies of Britain, passing by +Nyassa and Shiré. An Italian colony on a large scale has +been projected in the dominions of Menelek, king of Shoa, near the +Somali land. Any statement of the various commercial schemes begun +or contemplated would probably be defective, because new +enterprises are so often appearing. But all this shows what a new +light has burst on the commercial world as to the capabilities of +Africa in a trading point of view. There seems, indeed, no reason +why Africa should not furnish most of the products which at present +we derive from India. As a market for our manufactures, it is +capable, even with a moderate amount of civilization, of becoming +one of our most extensive customers. The voice that proclaimed +these things in 1857 was the voice of one crying in the wilderness; +but it is now repeated in a thousand echoes.</p> +<p>In stimulating African exploration the influence of Livingstone +was very decided. He was the first of the galaxy of modern African +travelers, for both in the Geographical Society and in the world at +large his name became famous before those of Baker, Grant, Speke, +Burton, Stanley, and Cameron. Stanley, inspired first by the desire +of finding him, became himself a remarkable and successful +traveler. The same remark is applicable to Cameron. Not only did +Livingstone stimulate professed geographers, but, what was truly a +novelty in the annals of exploration, he set newspaper companies to +open up Africa. The <i>New York Herald</i>, having found +Livingstone, became hungry for new discoveries, and enlisting a +brother-in-arms, Mr. Edwin Arnold and the <i>Daily Telegraph</i>, +the two papers united to send Mr. Stanley "to fresh woods and +pastures new." Under the auspices of the African Exploration +Society, and the directions of the Royal Geographical, Mr. Keith +Johnston and Mr. Joseph Thomson undertook the exploration of the +country between Dar es Salaam and Lake Nyassa, the former falling a +victim to illness, the latter penetrating through unexplored +regions to Nyassa, and subsequently extending his journey to +Tanganyika. We can but name the international enterprise resulting +from Brussels Conference; the French researches of Lieutenant de +Semellé and of de Brazza; the various German Expeditions of +Dr. Lenz, Dr. Pogge, Dr. Fischer, and Herr Denhardts; and the +Portuguese exploration on the west, from Benguela to the +head-waters of the Zambesi. Africa does not want for explorers, and +generally they are men bent on advancing legitimate commerce and +the improvement of the people. It would be a comfort if we could +think of all as having this for their object; but tares, we fear, +will always be mingled with the good seed; and if there have been +travelers who have led immoral lives and sought their own amusement +only, and traders who by trafficking in rum and such things have +demoralized the natives, they have only shown that in some natures +selfishness is too deeply imbedded to be affected by the noblest +examples.</p> +<p>Livingstone himself traveled twenty-nine thousand miles in +Africa, and added to the known part of the globe about a million +square miles. He discovered Lakes 'Ngami, Shirwa, Nyassa, Moero, +and Bangweolo; the upper Zambesi, and many other rivers; made known +the wonderful Victoria Falls; also the high ridges flanking the +depressed basin of the central plateau; he was the first European +to traverse the whole length of Lake Tanganyika, and to give it its +true orientation; he traversed in much pain and sorrow the vast +watershed near Lake Bangweolo, and, through no fault of his own, +just missed the information that would have set at rest all his +surmises about the sources of the Nile. His discoveries were never +mere happy guesses or vague descriptions from the accounts of +natives; each spot was determined with the utmost precision, though +at the time his head might be giddy from fever or his body +tormented with pain. He strove after an accurate notion of the form +and structure of the continent; Investigated its geology, +hydrography, botany, and zoölogy; and grappled with the two +great enemies of man and beast that prey on it--fever and tsetse. +Yet all these were matters apart from the great business of his +life. In science he was neither amateur nor dilettante, but a +careful, patient, laborious worker. And hence his high position, +and the respect he inspired in the scientific world. Small men +might peck and nibble at him, but the true kings of science,--the +Owens, Murchisons, Herschels, Sedgwicks, and Fergussons--honored +him the more the longer they knew him. We miss an important fact in +his life if we do not take note of the impression which he made on +such men.</p> +<p>Last, but not least, we note the marvelous expansion of +missionary enterprise in Africa since Livingstone's death. Though +he used no sensational methods of appeal, he had a wonderful power +to draw men to the mission field. In his own quiet way, he not only +enlisted recruits, but inspired them with the enthusiasm of their +calling. Not even Charles Simeon, during his long residence at +Cambridge, sent more men to India than Livingstone drew to Africa +in his brief visit to the Universities. It seemed as if he suddenly +awakened the minds of young men to a new view of the grand purposes +of life. Mr. Monk wrote to him truly, "That Cambridge visit of +yours. lighted a candle which will NEVER, NEVER go out."</p> +<p>At the time of his death there was no missionary at work in the +great region of Shiré and Nyassa on which his heart was so +much set. The first to take possession were his countrymen of +Scotland. The Livingstonia mission and settlement of the Free +Church, planned by Dr. Stewart, of Lovedale, who had gone out to +reconnoitre in 1863, and begun in 1875, has now three stations on +the lake, and has won the highest commendation of such travelers as +the late Consul Elton <a name="FNanchor80"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_80">[80]</a>. Much of the success of this enterprise is +due to Livingstone's old comrade, Mr. E.D. Young, R.N., who led the +party, and by his great experience and wonderful way of managing +the natives, laid not only the founders of Livingstonia, but the +friends of Africa, under obligations that have never been +sufficiently acknowledged <a name="FNanchor81"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_81">[81]</a>. In concert with the "Livingstone Central +African Company," considerable progress has been made in exploring +the neighboring regions, and the recent exploit of Mr. James +Stewart, C.E., one of the lay helpers of the Mission, in traversing +the country between Nyassa and Tanganyika, is an important +contribution to geography <a name="FNanchor82"></a><a href= +"#Footnote_82">[82]</a>. It would have gratified Livingstone to +think that in conducting this settlement several of the Scotch +Churches were practically at one--Free, Reformed, and United +Presbyterian; while at Blantyre, on the Shiré, the +Established Church of Scotland, with a mission and a colony of +mechanics, has taken its share in the work.</p> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_80"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor80">[80]</a> <i>Lakes and Mountains of Africa</i>, pp. +277, 280.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_81"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor81">[81]</a> See his work. <i>Nyassa</i>: London, +1877.</blockquote> +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_82"></a><a href= +"#FNanchor82">[82]</a> See <i>Transactions of Royal Geographical +Society</i>, 1880.</blockquote> +<p>Under Bishop Steere, the successor of Bishop Tozer, the +Universities Mission has re-occupied part of the mainland, and the +freed-slave village of Masasi, situated between the sea and Nyassa, +to the north of the Rovuma, enjoys a measure of prosperity which +has never been interrupted during the three or four years of its +existence. Other stations have been formed, or are projected, one +of them on the eastern margin of the lake. The Church Missionary +Society has occupied the shores of Victoria Nyanza, achieving great +results amid many trials and sacrifices, at first wonderfully aided +and encouraged by King Mtesa, though, as we write, we hear accounts +of a change of policy which is grievously disappointing. Lake +Tanganyika has been occupied by the London Missionary Society.</p> +<p>The "Société des Missions +Évangéliques," of Paris, has made preparations for +occupying the Barotse Valley, near the head-waters of the Zambesi. +The Livingstone Inland Mission has some missionaries on the +Atlantic Coast at the mouth of the Congo, and others who are +working inward, while a monthly journal is edited by Mrs. Grattan +Guinness, entitled <i>The Regions Beyond</i>. The Baptist +Missionary Society has a mission in the same district, toward the +elucidation of which the Rev. J. T. Comber's <i>Explorations Inland +from Mount Cameroons and through Congo to Mkouta</i> have thrown +considerable light.</p> +<p>More recently still, the American Board of Commissioners for +Foreign Missions, having resolved to devote to Africa Mr. Otis's +munificent bequest of a million dollars, appointed the Rev. Dr. +Means to collect information as to the most suitable openings for +missions in Central Africa; and on his recommendation, after +considering the claims of seven other localities, have decided to +adopt as their field the region of Bihé and the Coanza, an +upland tract to the east of Benguela, healthy and suitable for +European colonization, and as yet not occupied by any missionary +body. Thus the Old World and the New are joining their forces for +the evangelization of Africa. And they are not only occupying +regions which Livingstone recommended, but are trying to work his +principle of combining colonization with missions, so as to give +their people an actual picture of Christianity as it is exemplified +in the ordinary affairs of life.</p> +<p>Besides missions on the old principle, Medical Missions have +received a great impulse through Livingstone. When mission work in +Central Africa began to be seriously entertained, men like Dr. +Laws, the late Dr. Black, and the late Dr. Smith, all medical +missionaries, were among the first to offer their services. The +Edinburgh Medical Mission made quite a new start when it gave the +name of Livingstone to its buildings. Another institution that has +adopted the name for a hall in which to train colored people for +African work is the Fisk University, Tennessee, made famous by the +Jubilee Singers.</p> +<p>In glancing at these results of Livingstone's influence in the +mission field, we must not forget that of all his legacies to +Africa by far the highest was the spotless name and bright +Christian character which have become associated every where with +its great missionary explorer. From the first day of his sojourn in +Africa to the last, "patient continuance in well-doing" was the +great charm through which he sought, with God's blessing, to win +the confidence of Africa. Before the poorest African he maintained +self-restraint and self-respect as carefully as in the best society +at home. No prevailing relaxation of the moral code in those wild, +dark regions ever lowered his tone or lessened his regard for the +proprieties of Christian or civilized life. Scandal is so rampant +among the natives of Africa that even men of high character have +sometimes suffered from its lying tongue; but in the case of +Livingstone there was such an enamel of purity upon his character +that no filth could stick to it, and none was thrown. What +Livingstone did in order to keep his word to his poor attendants +was a wonder in Africa, as it was the admiration of the world. His +way of trusting them, too, was singularly winning. He would go up +to a fierce chief, surrounded by his grinning warriors, with the +same easy gait and kindly smile with which he would have approached +his friends at Kuruman or Hamilton. It was the highest tribute that +the slave-traders in the Zambesi district paid to his character +when for their own vile ends they told the people that they were +the children of Livingstone. It was the charm of his name that +enabled Mr. E.D. Young, while engaged in founding the Livingstonia +settlement, to obtain six hundred carriers to transport the pieces +of the Ilala steamer past the Murchison Cataracts, carrying loads +of great weight for forty miles, at six yards of calico each, +without a single piece of the vessel being lost or thrown away. The +noble conduct of the band that for eight months carried his remains +toward the coast was a crowning proof of the love he inspired.</p> +<p>Nearly every day some new token comes to light of the affection +and honor with which he was regarded all over Central Africa. On +12th April, 1880, the Rev. Chauncy Maples, of the Universities +Mission, in a paper read to the Geographical Society, describing a +journey to the Rovuma and the Makonde country, told of a man he +found there, with the relic of an old coat over his right shoulder, +evidently of English manufacture. It turned out, from the man's +statement, that ten years ago a white man, the donor of the coat, +had traveled with him to Mataka's, whom to have once seen and +talked with was to remember for life; a white man who treated black +men as his brothers, and whose memory would be cherished all along +the Rovuma Valley after they were all dead and gone; a short man +with a bushy moustache, and a keen piercing eye, whose words were +always gentle, and whose manners were always kind; whom, as a +leader, it was a privilege to follow, and who knew the way to the +hearts of all men.</p> +<p>That early and life-long prayer of Livingstone's--that he might +resemble Christ--was fulfilled in no ordinary degree. It will be an +immense benefit to all future missionaries in Africa that, in +explaining to the people what practical Christianity means, they +will have but to point to the life and character of the man whose +name will stand first among African benefactors in centuries to +come. A foreigner has remarked that, "in the nineteenth century, +the white has made a man out of the black; in the twentieth +century, Europe will make a world out of Africa." When that world +is made, and generation after generation of intelligent Africans +look back on its beginnings, as England looks back on the days of +King Alfred, Ireland of St. Patrick, Scotland of St. Columba, or +the United States of George Washington, the name that will be +encircled by them with brightest honor is that of DAVID +LIVINGSTONE. Mabotsa, Chonuane, and Kolobeng will be visited with +thrilling interest by many a pilgrim, and some grand memorial pile +in Ilala will mark the spot where his heart reposes. And when +preachers and teachers speak of this man, when fathers tell their +children what Africa owes to him, and when the question is asked +what made him so great and so good, the answer will be, that he +lived by the faith of the Son of God, and that the love of Christ +constrained him to live and die for Africa.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="APPENDIX."></a>APPENDIX.</h2> +<br> +<h2><a name="No._I."></a>No. I.</h2> +<h3>EXTRACTS FROM PAPER ON "MISSIONARY SACRIFICES."</h3> +<p>It is something to be a missionary. The morning stars sang +together and all the sons of God shouted for joy, when they first +saw the field which the first missionary was to fill. The great and +terrible God, before whom angels veil their faces, had an Only Son, +and He was sent to the habitable parts of the earth as a missionary +physician. It is something to be a follower, however feeble, in the +wake of the Great Teacher and only Model Missionary that ever +appeared among men; and now that He is Head over all things, King +of kings and Lord of lords, what commission is equal to that which +the missionary holds from Him? May we venture to invite young men +of education, when laying down the plan of their lives, to take a +glance at that of missionary? We will magnify the office.</p> +<p>The missionary is sent forth as a messenger of the Churches, +after undergoing the scrutiny and securing the approbation of a +host of Christian ministers, who, by their own talent and worth, +have risen to the pastorate over the most intelligent and +influential churches in the land, and who, moreover, can have no +motive to influence their selection but the desire to secure the +most efficient instrumentality for the missionary work. So much +care and independent investigation are bestowed on the selection as +to make it plain that extraneous influences can have but small +power. No pastor can imagine that any candidate has been accepted +through his recommendations, however warm these may have been; and +the missionary may go forth to the heathen, satisfied that in the +confidence of the directors he has a testimonial infinitely +superior to letters-apostolic from the Archbishop of Canterbury, or +from the Vatican at Borne. A missionary, surely, cannot undervalue +his commission, as soon as it is put into his hands.</p> +<p>But what means the lugubrious wail that too often bursts from +the circle of his friends? The tears shed might be excused if he +were going to Norfolk Island at the Government expense. But +sometimes the missionary note is pitched on the same key. The white +cliffs of Dover become immensely dear to those who never cared for +masses of chalk before. Pathetic plaints are penned about laying +their bones on a foreign shore, by those who never thought of +making aught of their bones at home. (Bone-dust is dear nowhere, we +think.) And then there is the never-ending talk and wringing of +hands over missionary "sacrifices." The man is surely going to be +hanged, instead of going to serve in Christ's holy Gospel! Is this +such service as He deserves who, though rich, for our sakes became +poor? There is so much in the <i>manner</i> of giving; some bestow +their favors so gracefully, their value to the recipient is +doubled. From others, a gift is as good as a blow in the face. Are +we not guilty of treating our Lord somewhat more scurvily than we +would treat our indigent fellow-men? We stereotype the word +"charity" in our language, as applicable to a contribution to his +cause. "So many charities,--we cannot afford them." Is not the word +ungraciously applied to the Lord Jesus, as if He were a poor +beggar, and an unworthy one too? His are the cattle on a thousand +hills, the silver and the gold; and worthy is the Lamb that was +slain. We treat Him ill. Bipeds of the masculine gender assume the +piping phraseology of poor old women in presence of Him before whom +the Eastern Magi fell down and worshiped,--ay, and opened their +treasures, and presented unto Him gifts: gold, frankincense, and +myrrh. They will give their "mites" as if what they do give were +their "all." It is utterly unfair to magnify the little we do for +Him by calling it a sacrifice, or pretend we are doing all we can +by assuming the tones of poor widows. He asks a willing mind, +cheerful obedience; and can we not give that to Him who made his +Father's will in our salvation as his meat and his drink, till He +bowed his head and gave up the ghost?</p> +<p>Hundreds of young men annually leave our shores as cadets. All +their friends rejoice when they think of them bearing the +commissions of our Queen. When any dangerous expedition is planned +by Government, more volunteers apply than are necessary to man it. +On the proposal to send a band of brave men in search of Sir John +Franklin, a full complement for the ships could have been procured +of officers alone, without any common sailors. And what thousands +rushed to California, from different parts of America, on the +discovery of the gold! How many husbands left their wives and +families! How many Christian men tore themselves away from all home +endearments to suffer, and toil, and perish by cold and starvation +on the overland route! How many sank from fever and exhaustion on +the banks of Sacramento! Yet no word of sacrifices there. And why +should we so regard all we give and do for the Well-beloved of our +souls? Our talk of sacrifices is ungenerous and heathenish....</p> +<p>It is something to be a missionary. He is sometimes inclined, in +seasons of despondency and trouble, to feel as if forgotten. But +for whom do more prayers ascend?--prayers from the secret place, +and from those only who are known to God. Mr. Moffat met those in +England who had made his mission the subject of special prayer for +more than twenty years, though they had no personal knowledge of +the missionary. Through the long fifteen years of no success, of +toil and sorrow, these secret ones were holding up his hands. And +who can tell how often his soul may have been refreshed through +their intercessions?...</p> +<p>It is something to be a missionary. The heart is expanded and +filled with generous sympathies; sectarian bigotry is eroded, and +the spirit of reclusion which makes it doubtful if some +denominations have yet made up their minds to meet those who differ +with them in heaven loses much of its fire....</p> +<p>There are many puzzles and entanglements, temptations, trials, +and perplexities, which tend to inure the missionary's virtue. The +difficulties encountered prevent his faith from growing languid. He +must walk by faith, and though the horizon be all dark and +lowering, he must lean on Him whom, having not seen, he loves. The +future--a glorious future--is that for which he labors. It lies +before him as we have seen the lofty coast of Brazil. No chink in +the tree-covered rocks appears to the seaman; but he glides right +on. He works toward the coast, and when he enters the gateway by +the sugar-loaf hill, there opens to the view in the Bay of Rio a +scene of luxuriance and beauty unequaled in the world beside.</p> +<p>The missionary's head will lie low, and others will have entered +into his labors, before his ideal is realized. The Future for which +he works is one which, though sure, has never yet been seen. The +earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. +The missionary is a harbinger of the good time coming. When he +preaches the Gospel to a tribe which has long sat in darkness, the +signs of the coming of the Son of Man are displayed, The glorious +Sun of Righteousness is near the horizon. He is the herald of the +dawn, for come He will whose right it is to reign; and what a +prospect appears, when we think of the golden age which has not +been, but must yet come! Messiah has sat on the Hill of Zion for +1800 years. He has been long expecting that his enemies shall be +made his footstool; and may we not expect, too, and lift up our +heads, seeing the redemption of the world draweth nigh? The bow in +the cloud once spread its majestic arch over the smoke of the fat +of lambs ascending as a sweet-smelling savor before God--a sign of +the covenant of peace--and the flickering light of the Shechinah +often intimated the good-will of Jehovah. But these did not more +certainly show the presence of the Angel of the Covenant than does +the shaking among the nations the presence and energy of God's Holy +Spirit; and to be permitted to rank as a fellow-worker with Him is +a mercy of mercies. O Love Divine! how cold is our love to Thee! +True, the missionary of the present day is only a stepping-stone to +the future; but what a privilege he possesses! He is known to "God +manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, +preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up +into Glory." Is that not enough?</p> +<p>Who would not be a missionary? His noble enterprise is in exact +accordance with the spirit of the age, and what is called the +spirit of the age is simply the movement of multitudes of minds in +the same direction. They move according to the eternal and +all-embracing decrees of God. The spirit of the age is one of +benevolence, and it manifests itself in numberless ways--ragged +schools, baths and wash-houses, sanitary reform, etc. Hence +missionaries do not live before their time. Their great idea of +converting the world to Christ is no chimera: it is Divine. +Christianity will triumph. It is equal to all it has to perform. It +is not mere enthusiasm to imagine a handful of missionaries capable +of converting the millions of India. How often they are cut off +just after they have acquired the language! How often they retire +with broken-down constitutions before effecting anything! How often +they drop burning tears over their own feebleness amid the +defections of those they believed to be converts! Yes! but that +small band has the decree of God on its side. Who has not admired +the band of Leonidas at the pass of Thermopylæ? Three hundred +against three million. Japhet, with the decree of God on his side, +only 300 strong, contending for enlargement with Shem and his +3,000,000. Consider what has been effected during the last fifty +years. There is no vaunting of scouts now. No Indian gentlemen +making themselves merry about the folly of thinking to convert the +natives of India; magnifying the difficulties of caste; and setting +our ministers into brown studies and speech-making in defense of +missions. No mission has yet been an entire failure. We who see +such small segments of the mighty cycles of God's providence often +imagine some to be failures which God does not. Eden was such a +failure, The Old World was a failure under Noah's preaching. Elijah +thought it was all up with Israel. Isaiah said: "Who hath believed +our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" And +Jeremiah wished his head were waters, his eyes a fountain of tears, +to weep over one of God's plans for diffusing his knowledge among +the heathen. If we could see a larger arc of the great providential +cycle, we might sometimes rejoice when we weep; but God giveth not +account of any of his matters. We must just trust to his wisdom. +Let us do our duty. He will work out a glorious consummation. Fifty +years ago missions could not lift up their heads. But missions now +are admitted by all to be one of the great facts of the age, and +the sneers about "Exeter Hall" are seen by every one to embody a +<i>risus sardonicus</i>. The present posture of affairs is, that +benevolence is popular. God is working out in the human heart his +great idea, and all nations shall see his glory.</p> +<p>Let us think highly of the weapons we have received for the +accomplishment of our work. The weapons of our warfare are not +carnal but spiritual, and mighty through God to the casting down of +strongholds. They are--Faith in our Leader, and in the presence of +his Holy Spirit; a full, free, unfettered Gospel; the doctrine of +the cross of Christ,--an old story, but containing the mightiest +truths ever uttered--mighty for pulling down the strongholds of +sin, and giving liberty to the captives. The story of Redemption, +of which Paul said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ," is +old, yet in its vigor, eternally young.</p> +<p>This work requires zeal for God and love for souls. It needs +prayer from the senders and the sent, and firm reliance on Him who +alone is the Author of conversion. Souls cannot be converted or +manufactured to order. Great deeds are wrought in unconsciousness, +from constraining love to Christ; in humbly asking, Lord, what wilt +thou have me to do? in the simple feeling, we have done that which +was our duty to do. They effect works, the greatness of which it +will remain for posterity to discern. The greatest works of God in +the kingdom of grace, like his majestic movements in nature, are +marked by stillness in the doing of them, and reveal themselves by +their effects. They come up like the sun, and show themselves by +their own light. The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. +Luther simply followed the leadings of the Holy Spirit in the +struggles of his own soul. He wrought out what the inward impulses +of his own breast prompted him to work, and behold, before he was +aware, he was in the midst of the Reformation. So, too, it was with +the Plymouth pilgrims, with their sermons three times a day on +board the <i>Mayflower.</i> Without thinking of founding an empire, +they obeyed the sublime teachings of the Spirit, the promptings of +duty and the spiritual life. God working mightily in the human +heart is the spring of all abiding spiritual power; and it is only +as men follow out the sublime promptings of the inward spiritual +life, that they do great things for God.</p> +<p>The movement of not one mind only, but the consentaneous +movement of a multitude of minds in the same direction, constitutes +what is called the spirit of the age. This spirit is neither the +law of progress nor blind development, but God's all-eternal, +all-embracing purpose, the doctrine which recognizes the hand of +God in all events, yet leaves all human action free. When God +prepared an age for a new thought, the thought is thrust into the +age as an instrument into a chemical solution--the crystals cluster +round it immediately. If God prepares not, the man has lived before +his time. Huss and Wycliffe were like voices crying in the +wilderness, preparing the way for a brighter future; the time had +not yet come.</p> +<p>Who would not be a missionary? "They that be wise shall shine as +the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to +righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." Is God not preparing +the world for missions which will embrace the whole of Adam's +family? The gallant steamships circumnavigate the globe. Emigration +is going on at a rate to which the most renowned crusades of +antiquity bear no proportion. Many men go to and fro, and knowledge +is increased. No great emigration ever took place in our world +without accomplishing one of God's great designs. The tide of the +modern emigration flows toward the West. The wonderful amalgamation +of races will result in something grand. We believe this, because +the world is becoming better, and because God is working mightily +in the human mind. We believe it, because God has been preparing +the world for something glorious. And that something, we +conjecture, will be a fuller development of the missionary idea and +work.</p> +<p>There will yet be a glorious consummation of Christianity. The +last fifty years have accomplished wonders. On the American +Continent, what a wonderful amalgamation of races we have +witnessed, how wonderfully they have been fused into that one +American people--type and earnest of a larger fusion which +Christianity will yet accomplish, when, by its blessed power, all +tribes and tongues and races shall become one holy family. The +present popularity of beneficence promises well for the missionary +cause in the future. Men's hearts are undergoing a process of +enlargement, Their sympathies are taking a wider scope. The world +is getting closer, smaller--quite a compact affair. The world for +Christ will yet be realized. "The earth shall be filled with the +knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<h2><a name="No._II."></a>No. II.</h2> +<h3>TREATMENT OF AFRICAN FEVER.</h3> +<p>In July, 1859, when the Expedition to the Zambesi had been there +about a year. Dr. Livingstone drew up and forwarded to Sir James +Clark, Bart., M.D., a very full report on the treatment of African +fever. The report details at length a large number of cases, the +circumstances under which the attack was experienced, the remedies +administered, and their effects. In order to ward off the disease +in the mangrove swamps, which were justly described as hotbeds of +fever, a dose of quinine was administered daily to each European, +amounting to two grains, and taken in sherry wine. When an attack +of the disease occurred, and the stomach did not refuse the +remedies, Dr. Livingstone administered a dose of calomel with resin +of jalap, followed by quinine. These remedies were in almost all +cases successful, and the convalescence of the patient was +wonderfully rapid. The "pills" which Dr. Livingstone often referred +to were composed of resin of jalap, calomel, rhubarb, and quinine. +It was usually observed that active employment kept off fever, and +that on high lands its attacks were much less violent. Where the +stomach refused the remedies a blister was usually the most +effectual means of stopping the sickness.</p> +<p>Experience did not confirm the prophylactic action of quinine; +exemption from attack in unfavorable situations was rather ascribed +to active exercise, good diet, and to absence of damp, exposure to +sun, and excessive exertion. Even while navigating an unhealthy +part of the Shiré, and while, owing to the state of the +vessel, the beds were constantly damp, good health was enjoyed, +owing to the regular exercise and good fare.</p> +<p>In the upper regions of the Shiré, Dr. Livingstone says +he and his companions were exposed in the early hours of the +morning to the dew from the long grass, marching during the day +over rough country under the tropical sun, and then sleeping in the +open air; but though they had discontinued the daily use of quinine +they Were perfectly well, as were also their native attendants. +This was one of the considerations that gave him such confidence in +the healthiness of the Shiré highlands.</p> +<p>Two or three years later, in writing to a friend, Dr. +Livingstone thanked him for having sent him a missionary journal, +which he greatly enjoyed--<i>The News of the Churches and Journal +of Missions</i>. To show the very unusual pleasure which this +Journal gave him, he proposed to send a communication to the +editor, but said he was somewhat afraid to do so, lest it should +meet the fate of many a paper forwarded to editors at an earlier +period of his life. Mustering courage, he did send a letter, and we +find it in the number of the journal for August, 1862. It is +entitled, "A Note that may be useful to Missionaries in Africa," +and consists of a statement of the remedy for fever, and an account +of its operation. He had been led to think of this from seeing in +the <i>News of the Churches</i> for February, 1861, a reference to +his remedy in an account of the death of the Helmores. The +proportions of the several ingredients are given--"for a full-grown +man six or eight grains of resin of jalap, and the same amount of +rhubarb, with four grains of calomel, and four of quinine, made +into pills with spirit of cardamoms. On taking effect, quinine (not +the unbleached kind), in four grains or larger doses is given every +two hours or so, till the ears ring, or deafness ensues; this last +is an essential part of the cure."</p> +<p>The last part of the letter is a description of Lake Nyassa, and +a statement of its importance for purposes of civilization and +Christianity.</p> +<p>The <i>News of the Churches</i> was projected in 1854 by the +late Rev. Andrew Cameron, D.D., and the present writer, and +conducted by them for a time; in 1862 it was in the hands of the +Rev. Gavin Carlyle, now of Ealing.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<h2><a name="No._III."></a>No. III.</h2> +<h3>LETTER TO DR. TIDMAN, AS TO FUTURE OPERATIONS.</h3> +<p>QUILIMANE, 23<i>d May</i>, 1856.</p> +<br> +<p>THE REV. DR. TIDMAN.</p> +<p>DEAR SIR,--Having by the good providence of our Heavenly Father +reached this village on the 20th curt., I was pleased to find a +silence of more than four years broken by your letter of the 24th +August, 1855. I found, also, that H.M.'s brigatine "Dart" had +called at this port several times in order to offer me a passage +homeward, but on the last occason in which this most friendly act +was performed, her commander, with an officer of marines and five +seamen, were unfortunately lost on the very dangerous bar at the +mouth of the Quilimane River. This sad event threw a cold shade +over all the joy I might otherwise have experienced on reaching the +Eastern Coast. I felt as if it would have been easier for me to +have died for them than to bear the thought of so many being cut +off from all the joys of life in generously attempting to render me +a service. As there is no regular means of proceeding from this to +the Cape, I remain here in the hope of meeting another cruiser, +which the kindness of Commodore Trotter has led me to expect, in +preference to going by a small Arab or Portuguese trading vessel to +some point on the "overland route to India." And though I may +possibly reach you as soon as a letter, it appears advisable to +state in writing my thoughts respecting one or two very important +points in your communication.</p> +<p>Accompanied by many kind expressions of approbation, which I +highly value on account of having emanated from a body of men whose +sole object in undertaking the responsibility and labor of the +Direction must have been a sincere desire to promote the interests +of the kingdom of our Lord among the heathen, I find the intimation +that the Directors are restricted in their power of aiding plans +connected only remotely with the spread of the gospel. And it is +added, also, that even though certain very formidable obstacles +should prove surmountable, the "financial circumstances of the +Society are not such as to afford any ground of hope that it would +be, within any definite period, in a position to enter upon +untried, remote, and difficult fields of labor."</p> +<p>If I am not mistaken, these statements imply a resolution on the +part of the gentlemen now in the Direction, to devote the +decreasing income of the Society committed to their charge to parts +of the world of easy access, and in which the missionaries may +devote their entire time and energies to the dissemination of the +truths of the gospel with reasonable hopes of speedy success. This, +there can be no doubt, evinces a sincere desire to perform their +duty faithfully to their constituents, to the heathen, and to our +Lord and Master, yet while still retaining that full conviction of +the purity of their motives, which no measure adopted during the +sixteen years of my connection with the Society has for a moment +disturbed, I feel constrained to view "the untried, remote, and +difficult fields," to which I humbly yet firmly believe God has +directed my steps, with a resolution widely different from that +which their words imply. As our aims and purposes will now appear +in some degree divergent--on their part from a sort of paralysis +caused by financial decay, and on mine from the simple continuance +of an old determination to devote my life and my all to the service +of Christ, in whatever way He may lead me in inter-tropical +Africa--it seems natural, while yet without the remotest idea of +support from another source, to give some of the reasons for +differing with those with whom I have hitherto been so happily +connected.</p> +<p>It remains vividly on my memory that some twenty years ago, +while musing how I might spend my life so as best to promote the +glory of the Lord Jesus, I came to the conclusion that from the +cumulative nature of gospel influence the outskirts even of the +Empire of China presented the most inviting field for evangelical +effort in the world. I was also much averse to being connected with +any Society, having a strong desire to serve Christ in +circumstances which would free my services from all professional +aspect. But the solicitations of friends in whose judgment I had +confidence led to my offers of service to the London Missionary +Society. The "Opium War" was then adduced as a reason why that +remote, difficult, and untried field of labor should stand in +abeyance before the interior of Africa, to which, in opposition to +my own judgment, I was advised to proceed. I did not, however, go +with any sort of reluctance, for I had great respect for the +honored men by whom the advice was given, and unbounded confidence +in the special providence of Him who has said, "Commit thy way unto +the Lord, etc. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct +thy steps." I was contented with the way in which I had been led, +and happy in the prospect of being made instrumental in winning +some souls to Christ.</p> +<p>The Directors wished me to endeavor to carry the gospel to the +tribes north of the Kuruman. Having remained at that station +sufficient time only to recruit my oxen, I proceeded in the +direction indicated, and while learning the language I visited the +Bakhatla, Bakwains, Bangwaketse, and Bamangwato tribes, in order to +select a suitable locality for a mission, in the hope of succeeding +in making a second Kuruman or central station, which would, by +God's blessing, influence a large circumference. I chose Mabotsa, +no one who has seen that country since has said the choice was +injudicious. The late Rev. Dr. Philip alone was opposed to this +plan on account of solicitude for my safety, "because Mosilikatse +was behind the Cashan mountains thirsting for the blood of the +first white man who should fall into his hands. And no man would in +his sober senses build his house on the crater of a volcano." +Having removed to the Bakwains of Sechéle, I spent some of +the happiest years of my life in missionary labor, and was favored +in witnessing a gratifying measure of success in the spread of the +knowledge of the gospel. The good seed was widely sown, and is not +lost. It will yet bear fruit, though I may not live to see it. In +the pursuit of my plan I tried to plant among the tribes around by +means of native teachers and itineracies. We have heard again and +again of a "preparatory work going on" in India, but who ever heard +of such in Africa? A village of 600 or 800 may have one, or even +two missionaries, with school-masters and schoolmistresses, and the +nearest population, fifty or one hundred miles off, cannot feel +their influence. Believers will not, in many cases, go beyond the +circle of their own friends and acquaintances.</p> +<p>I was happy in having two worthy men of color, to aid me in +diffusing a knowledge of Christ among the Eastern tribes, but the +Boers forbade us to preach unto the Gentiles that they might be +saved. My attention was turned to Sebituane by Sechéle at +the very time this happened, but I had no intention of leaving the +Bakwains. Droughts succeeded, and these, with perpetual threats and +annoyances from the Boers, so completely distracted the mind of the +tribe that our operations were almost suspended. It is well known +that food for the mind has but little savor for starving stomachs. +The famine, and the unmistakable determination of the Boers to +enslave my people, at last made me look to the north seriously. +There was no precipitancy. Letters went to and from India +respecting my project before resolving to leave, and I went at +last, after being obliged to send my family to Kuruman in order to +be out of the way of a threatened attack of the Boers. When we +reached Lake 'Ngami, about which so much has been said, I +immediately asked for guides to take me to Sebituane, because to +form a settlement in which the gospel might be planted was the +great object for which I had come. Guides were refused, and the +Bayeiye were prevented from ferrying me across the Zouga. I made a +raft, but after working in the water for hours it would not carry +me. (I have always been thankful, since I knew how alligators +abound there, that I was not then killed by one.) Next year affairs +were not improved at Kolobeng, and while attempting the north again +fever drove us back. In both that and the following year I took my +family with me in order to obviate the loss of time which returning +for them would occasion. The Boers subsequently, by relieving me of +all my goods, freed me from the labor of returning to Kolobeng at +all.</p> +<p>Of the circumstances attending our arrival at Sebituane's, and +the project of opening up a path to the coast, you are already so +fully aware, from having examined and awarded your approbation, I +need scarcely allude to it. Double the time has been expended to +that which I anticipated, but as it chiefly arose from sickness, +the loss of time was unavoidable. The same cause produced +interruptions in preaching the gospel--as would have been the case +had I been indisposed anywhere else.</p> +<p>The foregoing short notices of all the plans which I can bring +to my recollection since my arrival in Africa lead me to the +question, which of the plans it is that the Directors particularize +when they say they are restricted in their power of aiding plans +only remotely connected with the spread of the gospel. It cannot be +the last surely, for I had their express approval before leaving +Cape Town, and they yield to none in admiration of the zeal with +which it has been executed. Then which is it?</p> +<p>As it cannot be meant to apply in the way of want of funds +deciding the suspension of operations which would make the +connection remote enough with the spread of the gospel by us, I am +at a loss to understand the phraseology, and therefore trust that +the difficulty may be explained. The difficulties are mentioned in +no captious spirit, though, from being at a loss as to the precise +meaning of the terms, I may appear to be querulous. I am not +conscious of any diminution of the respect and affection with which +I have always addressed you. I am, yours affectionately, DAVID +LIVINGSTON.</p> +<h2><a name="No._IV."></a>No. IV.</h2> +<h3>LORD CLARENDON'S LETTER TO SEKELETU.</h3> +<blockquote><i>From</i> THE EARL OF CLARENDON, <i>Principal +Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Her Majesty, the Queen of +Great Britain, to our esteemed Friend</i> SEKELETU, <i>Chief of the +Makololo, in South Central Africa</i>.</blockquote> +<br> +<p>The Queen our Sovereign and the British Government have learned +with much pleasure from her Majesty's servant, Dr. Livingstone, the +kind manner in which you co-operated with him in his endeavors to +find a path from your country to the sea on the West Coast, and +again, when he was following the course of the river Zambesi from +your town to the Eastern Coast, by furnishing him on each occasion +with canoes, provisions, oxen, and men, free of expense; and we +were pleased to hear that you, your elders and people, are all +anxious to have direct intercourse with the English nation, and to +have your country open to commerce and civilization.</p> +<p>Ours is a great commercial and Christian nation, and we desire +to live in peace with all men. We wish others to sleep soundly as +well as ourselves; and we hate the trade in slaves. We are all the +children of one common Father; and the slave-trade being hateful to +Him, we give you a proof of our desire to promote your prosperity +by joining you in the attempt to open up your country to peaceful +commerce. With this view the Queen sends a small steam-vessel to +sail along the river Zambesi, which you know and agreed to be the +best pathway for conveying merchandise, and for the purpose of +exploring which Dr. Livingstone left you the last time. This is, as +all men know, "God's pathway;" and you will, we trust, do all that +you can to keep it a free pathway for all nations, and let no one +be molested when traveling on the river.</p> +<p>We are a manufacturing people, and make all the articles which +you see and hear of as coming from the white men. We purchase +cotton and make it into cloth; and if you will cultivate cotton and +other articles, we are willing to buy them. No matter how much you +may produce, our people will purchase it all. Let it be known among +all your people, and among all the surrounding tribes, that the +English are the friends and promoters of all lawful commerce, but +that they are the enemies of the slave-trade and slave-hunting.</p> +<p>We assure you, your elders and people, of our friendship, and we +hope that the kindly feelings which you entertain toward the +English may be continued between our children's children; and, as +we have derived all our greatness from the Divine religion we +received from Heaven, it will be well if you consider it carefully +when any of our people talk to you about it.</p> +<p>We hope that Her Majesty's servants and people will be able to +visit you from time to time in order to cement our friendship, and +to promote mutual welfare; and, in the meantime, we recommend you +to the protection of the Almighty.</p> +<p>Written at London, the nineteenth day of February, 1858. Your +affectionate friend, CLARENDON.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<p>Letters similar to the above were sent to many of the other +chiefs known to Livingstone.</p> +<hr style="width: 25%;"> +<h2><a name="No._V"></a>No. V.</h2> +<h3>PUBLIC HONORS AWARDED TO DR. LIVINGSTONE.</h3> +<p>A complete list of these honors is not easy to construct; the +following may be regarded as embracing the chief, but it does not +embrace mere addresses presented to him, of which there were +many:</p> +<p>1850. Royal Geographical Society of London award him the Royal +Donation of 25 guineas, placed by her Majesty at the disposal of +the Council (Silver Chronometer).</p> +<p>1854. French Geographical Society award a Silver Medal.</p> +<p>1854. University of Glasgow confer degree of LL.D.</p> +<p>1855. Royal Geographical Society of London award Patron's Gold +Medal.</p> +<p>1857. French Geographical Society award annual prize for the +most important geographical discovery.</p> +<p>1857. Freedom of city of London, in box of value of fifty +guineas, As a testimonial in recognition of his zealous and +persevering exertions in the important discoveries he has made in +Africa, by which geographical, geological, and their kindred +sciences have been advanced; facts ascertained that may extend the +trade and commerce of this country, and hereafter secure to the +native tribes of the vast African continent the blessings of +knowledge and civilization.</p> +<p>1857. Freedom of city of Glasgow, presented in testimony of +admiration of his undaunted intrepidity and fortitude: amid +difficulties, privations, and dangers, during a period of many +years, while traversing an extensive region in the interior of +Africa, hitherto unexplored by Europeans, and of appreciation of +the importance of his services, extending to the fostering of +commerce, the advancement of civilization, and the diffusion of +Christianity among heathen nations.</p> +<p>1857. Freedom of city of Edinburgh, of Dundee, and many other +towns.</p> +<p>1857. Corresponding Member of American Geographical and +Statistical Society, New York.</p> +<p>1857. Corresponding Member of Royal Geographical Society of +London.</p> +<p>1857. Corresponding Member of Geographical Society of Paris.</p> +<p>1857. Corresponding Member of the K.K. Geographical Society of +Vienna.</p> +<p>1857. The Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow "elect +that worthy, eminent, and learned Surgeon and Naturalist, David +Livingstone, LL.D., to be an Honorary Fellow,"</p> +<p>1857. Medal awarded by the Universal Society for the +Encouragement of Arts and Industry.</p> +<p>1857. University of Oxford confer degree of D.C.L.</p> +<p>1857. Elected F.R.S.</p> +<p>1858. Appointed Commander of Zambesi Expedition and her +Majesty's Consul at Tette, Quilimane, and Senna.</p> +<p>1872. Gold Medal awarded by Italian Geographical Society.</p> +<p>1874. A memoir of Livingstone having been read by the Secretary +at a meeting of the Russian Geographical Society cordially +recognizing his merit, the whole assembly--a very large one--by +rising, paid a last tribute of respect to his +memory.--<i>Lancet</i>, 7th March, 1874.</p> +<p>Any omissions in this list notified to the author will be +supplied in future editions.</p> +<p>Printed in the United States of America</p> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13262 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/13262-h/images/image-274.png b/13262-h/images/image-274.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..65783d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/13262-h/images/image-274.png |
