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diff --git a/78151-h/78151-h.htm b/78151-h/78151-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f8d8d4a --- /dev/null +++ b/78151-h/78151-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3840 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> + +<head> + +<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> + +<link rel="icon" href="images/img-cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + +<meta charset="utf-8"> + +<title> +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Story of David Livingstone, +by Vautier Golding +</title> + +<style> +body { color: black; + background: white; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +p {text-indent: 1.5em } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.t1 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 200%; + text-align: center } + +p.t2 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 150%; + text-align: center } + +p.t2b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 150%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t3 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + text-align: center } + +p.t3b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t4 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + text-align: center } + +p.t4b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t5 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 60%; + text-align: center } + +h1 { text-align: center } +h2 { text-align: center } +h3 { text-align: center } +h4 { text-align: center } +h5 { text-align: center } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; } + +p.thought {text-indent: 0% ; + letter-spacing: 2em ; + text-align: center } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.footnote {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.quote {text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.capcenter { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + font-weight: normal; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-indent: 0%; + text-align: center } + +img.imgcenter { margin-left: auto; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: auto; } +</style> + +</head> + +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78151 ***</div> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-cover"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-cover.jpg" alt="Cover art"> +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-front"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-front.jpg" alt="DAVID LIVINGSTONE"> +<br> +DAVID LIVINGSTONE +</p> + +<h1> +<br><br> + THE STORY OF<br> + DAVID<br> + LIVINGSTONE<br> +</h1> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3b"> + BY<br> +</p> + +<p class="t2"> + VAUTIER GOLDING<br> +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> + LONDON: T. C. & E. C. JACK<br> + TORONTO: THE COPP, CLARK CO. LTD.<br> +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> + PROEM<br> +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + <i>To little Ardale and all his merry kind</i><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> + LIGHTS OF LIFE<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + The dew stands on the dormer panes,<br> + The cross November sun<br> + Has sent the daylight off to bed<br> + Before the night's begun;<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + The dull red embers, half aglow,<br> + Are sulking in the grate,<br> + And let the lonely shadows grow<br> + All dark and desolate;<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Shadows of things that go awry,<br> + Or waver to and fro;<br> + Shadows of playthings bought so dear<br> + And broken long ago;<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Shadows of friends who played till mirth<br> + Grew sad and went in pain:—<br> + Where is the merry light that makes<br> + Old shadows smile again?<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Hark! little sandals softly beat<br> + Upon the attic stair,<br> + And truant mischief breathless creeps<br> + With whispered, "Is he there?"<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + A story? 'Tis a fateful task<br> + To fill the open brow:<br> + Who knows what plans of God depend<br> + On all it garners now?<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Where shall we lead the clambering limbs,<br> + The big blue fearless eyes?<br> + Down to the gold mine's narrowing drift,<br> + Or to the widening skies<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Where, in the space around the stars,<br> + Are countless worlds astray,<br> + Whose peoples call for pioneers<br> + To find the safer way?<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Ay, let us tell the generous tale<br> + Of giants real and bold,<br> + Who grew so great they would not stoop<br> + To gather fame and gold;<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + But hurled the mountains from our path,<br> + And drained our quagmires dry,<br> + And held our foes at bay the while<br> + They bore our weaklings by;<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Giants by whose unselfish toil<br> + Our land was first begun,<br> + Where good and useful men and maids<br> + Make merry as they run.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Ah, may you miss the dismal tracks<br> + That aimless feet have trod,<br> + And follow where our pioneers<br> + Make open ways to God.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + VAUTIER GOLDING.<br> +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p class="t3b"> +CONTENTS +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Chapter +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +I. <a href="#chap01">Early Life</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +II. <a href="#chap02">First Years in Africa</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +III. <a href="#chap03">Beyond the Kalahari Desert</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +IV. <a href="#chap04">From Coast to Coast</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +V. <a href="#chap05">The Zambesi Expedition</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +VI. <a href="#chap06">The Upper Shiré and Lake Nyassa</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +VII. <a href="#chap07">Foiled by the Slavers</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +VIII. <a href="#chap08">In the Heart of Africa</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +IX. <a href="#chap09">A Death-blow to Slavery</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +X. <a href="#chap10">The Last Journey</a> +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p class="t3b"> +LIST OF PICTURES +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-front">Portrait of Livingstone</a> .... Frontispiece +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-020">The brute charged full tilt at his waggon</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-024">The lion began to crunch the bone of his arm</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-046">The Victoria Falls</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-064">A long file of slaves</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-076">They burnt the village</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-088">Often he had to wade through marshes up to the waist</a> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +<a href="#img-112">They saw him dead on his knees</a> +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-map"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-map.jpg" alt="(map of Central Africa and Cape Colony)"> +<br> +(map of Central Africa and Cape Colony) +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap01"></a></p> + +<p class="t2"> +THE STORY OF DAVID LIVINGSTONE +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<h2> +CHAPTER I +<br><br> +EARLY LIFE +</h2> + +<p> +The story of this brave and gentle hero, +and of his noble toil for the sake of +other men, is truly a tale of more than +ordinary wonder. +</p> + +<p> +Few men's lives can better show how +even the poorest and weakest can gain for +themselves the power to do great things, +and to make the harder paths of life more +easy for those who follow. For David +Livingstone began life in a workman's +cottage, without knowledge or skill, and +without money to obtain them. Yet, when +he died, the world was so full of praise +and wonder at his work that his body was +brought from Africa to rest in Westminster +Abbey among the graves of his country's +greatest men. He had grown to be a +great pioneer, an explorer, a scientist, a +doctor, a missioner, and a freer of slaves. +</p> + +<p> +In thirty years he travelled 29,000 miles, +through the wild and unknown parts of +Africa, exploring rivers, lakes, plains, +forests, and mountains. He found out +places where white settlers might make +farms and plantations in health and safety. +He sought for paths and waterways by +which they might bring their cotton, grain, +coffee, sugar, ivory, and skins to the +seaports for sale. Among the black tribes +he made many friends, doctored their sick, +and lost no chance of showing them how +to do their duty to God and make better +use of their lives. +</p> + +<p> +But his last and greatest work was to +follow up the slave-hunters, and make +known in England all the brutal and wicked +horrors of the slave-trade. This was the +work that wore him to death, but his noble +self-sacrifice roused his countrymen to take +possession of Central Africa and put an end +to slavery. And if we look into his life, we +shall find that the power to do all this +came little by little, and day by day, from +one simple source, namely, his earnest and +unselfish desire to show his love for God +by doing good to men. He was always +trying to help and befriend others, and this +made other men befriend him and give him +the means of carrying on his work. +</p> + +<p> +Livingstone's forefathers were Highlanders, +and lived in the wild and lonely +island of Ulva, till hard times drove the +family to settle in the village of Blantyre, +among the Lanarkshire cotton-mills, where +work was more plentiful. +</p> + +<p> +Here David was born in the year 1813. +His father, Neil Livingstone, an honest, +steady, and hard-working man, took a +great interest in all that was going on in +the world. He was a great reader in +many subjects, but was especially fond of +books on missionary work. From him +David inherited his Highland pluck and +hardihood, and also his thirst for every +kind of knowledge. +</p> + +<p> +His mother, Agnes Hunter, came of an +old family which, in the days of the +Covenanter persecution, had been driven from +home to the hills, and had risked torture +and death rather than do what they believed +to be wrong. She gave him her gentle +and kindly nature, and taught him to be +neat, orderly, and exact. From her tender +but firm upbringing also, he gained the +brave grip of truth, honour, and justice +that makes men do and dare all things +for duty's sake. +</p> + +<p> +This was his heritage from his parents, +and it proved of more value to him than all +the money on earth. +</p> + +<p> +At the village school of Blantyre David +soon learnt to read and write. So poor, +however, were his parents, that they had to +take him away from his lessons at the early +age of ten, and set him to work in a +cotton-mill. Summer and winter, wet or fine, he +had to appear at the factory at six in the +morning, and stay there till eight at night, +with short spaces allowed him for meals. +Fourteen hours a day at the mill might +well have broken his pluck and ruined his +health, as, indeed, happened to many poor +children, but David was made of harder +stuff. He was bent on getting knowledge +by some means or other. Very quickly he +learnt to work the machine called the +"spinning jenny," and was then raised to +be a spinner with a small wage. +</p> + +<p> +The first half-crown of his earning he +took home, and slipped it into his mother's +lap. To him it was a small fortune, and +would have bought him many coveted +things, but he thought of his mother's +wants before his own. Later on, as he +earned more wage, he bought himself books, +and these he used to fix on the "jenny," +snatching a few lines from them whenever +he could spare an eye from his work. His +hard and tiring day at the mill was long +enough for any one, but in spite of this he +joined night classes and sat up reading till +sometimes his mother took away his books +and drove him to bed. +</p> + +<p> +His holidays were spent in ranging over +the countryside with his brothers and sisters, +and here too nothing escaped his keen eye +and love of knowledge. Every animal, bird, +insect, and plant was an interest to him, +and he studied them closely, trying to find +out all he could about their forms and +habits. And while he thus began to learn +the wonderful science of nature, he never +dreamt that one day in the wilds of Africa +he would use his knowledge in digging +roots for his supper, or in avoiding vicious +beasts and poisonous snakes. +</p> + +<p> +As the years went on he grew restless, +and was sometimes not very happy, without +quite knowing why. In reality his mind +was growing very fast, and wanted bigger +and better work than watching the +mill-wheels. Spinning cotton was useful enough +in its way, but he wanted to do for +mankind something greater and more lasting +than that. +</p> + +<p> +His father had many books and papers +on mission work in China and India, and +as David read of the wonderful beauty +of these countries, and the ignorance and +cruelty of their peoples, he sometimes +thought he would like to be a missionary. +The idea returned to him again and again, +but he kept doubting whether he was the +right person for the work. One day, +however, when he was twenty years old, he +happened to read a booklet that told such +sad tales about the poor of China that his +mind was troubled and stirred. So heavily +did the story of human suffering and wrong +weigh upon him that he began to take his +country walks alone, in order to think the +matter over undisturbed. Every morning +he asked himself if he could do nothing +to help, and every night he went to bed +with the question still unanswered. +</p> + +<p> +But at last there came an evening when +he found an answer that made his way +quite clear. He watched the sunset lights +creep off the hills and clouds and die away +in the growing: starlight. He heard the +thrush, all grateful for the joy of life, sing +out its evensong till the calm hush of night +stole over the tired world. The peace and +beauty of it all seemed to make him sadder +than ever. In such a lovely world, where +there was room for all, food for all, and +joy enough for all, it seemed to him so +utterly strange that men could ever even +want to cheat, rob, bully, and kill each +other, and grab for themselves more than +they could possibly use. The depth of his +own sadness made him remember how once, +in the stillness of the sunset hour, Jesus +of Nazareth had wandered into an olive +grove, and there had wept in bitter grief +over the troubles of men. +</p> + +<p> +Then suddenly the idea flashed into his +mind that at least he could try and imitate +the life of Christ as far as lay in his power. +In a moment his mind was made up. He +walked home with a brisk step and light +heart, and told his parents that he was +going to college at Glasgow to learn to be +a doctor; and then he would go out to +the far East to help the sick, and to tell +men how they could make the world better +and happier by imitating the life of Christ. +</p> + +<p> +David lost no time in carrying out his +plan, and at once began to put by all he +could from his earnings at the cotton-mill. +Want of money was his chief difficulty. +Indeed, when at last he went up to Glasgow, +he and his father walked all the way, +and then had to trudge the streets till +they found a lodging for David that cost +no more than two shillings a week. +</p> + +<p> +It was a hard struggle for young Livingstone, +but still, by spending his savings very +carefully, he managed to keep at his studies +for a whole winter. Then he was forced +to go back to the cotton-mills in order to +save more money to pay for another winter's +training. He was a quick and thorough +learner, and at once it became quite clear +to those who taught him that he would +soon be fit for the life he had chosen. +</p> + +<p> +Livingstone did not want to be ordained +a regular missionary and take the title of +"Reverend" before his name, for he did +not wish to teach the special creed and +services of any one particular set of +Christians. His own idea was to go among +the natives as a plain and simple man, +trying every hour and minute of his daily +life to do as Christ had done; and in this +way he hoped to win their love and +respect, and to lead them towards a nobler +life of duty to God and man. But his +family and friends so strongly advised him +to be made a missionary in the usual way +that he yielded to their wishes, and offered +himself to the London Missionary Society. +His offer was accepted, and after a short +examination in London before the governors +of the Society, he was sent to Ongar, +in Essex, for a three months' training +among the other missionary students. +</p> + +<p> +Here, with his usual care and thoroughness, +he quickly learnt all that was set +before him, but there was one thing he +never could master: do what he would, he +never could learn to preach. Once he was +sent to a neighbouring parish with a most +carefully prepared sermon; but he could +get no further than the text, and so with +a hasty apology he fled from the pulpit. +Probably that was the only time in his life +that he ran away from anything, but the +event nearly ended his career. +</p> + +<p> +His failure in preaching vexed the soul of +his pastor so much, that Livingstone was +sent back to the governors at the end of +the three months with a bad report of his +powers as a missionary. On the strength of +this report he was nearly sent away as +useless. One of the governors, however, who +was wiser than his fellows, saw that +Livingstone could both think well and do well, +although he could not talk well. He +accordingly took the young student's part, +and insisted that he should have a further +trial at Ongar. The result of this timely +aid was that, after three more months of +study, no one doubted Livingstone's +fitness, and so in the year 1840 he was +formally ordained a missionary. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, war had broken out in +China, and no one could go there in +safety. This was a disappointment to +Livingstone, but while waiting for peace +he would not be idle, so he went on with +his medical studies at London, and also +took his degree as a physician and +surgeon at Glasgow. But the war still +dragged on, and rather than waste any +time, he decided to go to Africa; and +accordingly, on 8th December 1840, he set +sail for that vast and unknown continent, +into which he was one day to bring new +light, new hope, and new freedom. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap02"></a></p> + +<h2> +CHAPTER II +<br><br> +FIRST YEARS IN AFRICA +</h2> + +<p> +The sea voyage out to the Cape was +a new life to Livingstone, and he +made the most of it. With his usual +determination to know all about everything, +he made friends with the ship's +captain, and soon began to learn how to +manage the ship. +</p> + +<p> +The captain taught him how to use a sextant +and chronometer, two most important +instruments, by whose help voyagers can tell +exactly how far they are to the north or +south, to the east or west. To "take an +observation," as it is called, is no easy +matter; but by hard and steady practice +Livingstone in time became able to find out +the ship's exact position and to mark it down +neatly on the chart. And often in after life +the captain's kindly teaching came to his +aid when he lost his way in the wilds, or +when he marked some new discovery on +the map. +</p> + +<p> +In his spare half-hours Livingstone +would enjoy the many delights and wonders +of the southern sea. He watched +the dazzling little flying-fish dart like tiny +rainbows from beneath the bows, glimmer +over the water, and flash into the white +comb of a wave. The dolphins, too, like +clowns of the sea, amused him with their +antics as they leapt and turned somersaults +over the waves or sportively raced, two +or three abreast, close ahead of the +cut-water. Occasionally a monster +sperm-whale would rise to the surface like a +floating islet, spout his double fountain +into the air, and plunge down again into +his home. Sometimes, also, a grim and +wicked-looking shark would prowl about +the ship's wake in the greedy hope of +human prey. +</p> + +<p> +When at last the long voyage was over +and Livingstone landed at Cape Town, he +found more sights and wonders awaiting +him; but he had not been very long +ashore before he also found a very great +disappointment. He had quite supposed +that all missionaries were of course doing +their best to help forward the work +among the natives, and it was an +unpleasant surprise to him when he saw +that, in spite of the noble efforts of many +good men, mission work in South Africa +was almost at a standstill. +</p> + +<p> +From want of more careful planning, +the mission stations were mostly clustered +around the Cape instead of being dotted +about far into the continent, where black +men were much more numerous. This +was a great waste of strength and time, +for hard-working missionaries had not +enough to do, while the idlers could so +easily neglect their duty for the +pleasures and amusements of white society. +</p> + +<p> +Amongst the missionaries there was much +disagreement and petty jealousy over their +work, and many were full of complaint +about trifling matters, while a few, but +only a few, led such unworthy and +contemptible lives that they often brought +the good fame of mission work into bad +report. +</p> + +<p> +Livingstone soon made up his mind that +the only remedy lay in two new plans: first, +to make mission stations far up in the +thickly-peopled native districts and win +over the most powerful chiefs; next, to +make a training college whence native +teachers could afterwards be sent to +educate the many tribes. It was the first of +these plans that decided the course of his +after life, for he now saw that he might do +better service to his cause by pioneering +Central Africa than by settling down in +comfort to preach. +</p> + +<p> +After a short stay at the Cape, Livingstone +was sent into Bechuanaland to Kuruman, +the most northern of all the mission +settlements in South Africa. This station +was worked by a good and capable missionary, +Dr. Moffat, who was then away in +England, and Livingstone had been ordered +to await his return. Livingstone, however, +did not mean to be idle, so he decided to +spend the time in exploring the almost +unknown country to the north of the station. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly he made a number of journeys +in many directions, travelling about from +tribe to tribe until he had thoroughly learnt +the nature and resources of the country, +and also the language and character of the +natives. +</p> + +<p> +On the first of these journeys Livingstone +had an object-lesson in slavery that set his +noble heart aching for the freedom of Africa. +One day when he had outspanned his oxen +for rest and food, he suddenly noticed that +a young native girl had crept into camp, +and was hiding under his waggon. He +gave her some food, and in answer to his +questions she told him her story. She and +her sister had been left orphans, and they +had lived happily together till the latter +died. Then she was taken by another +family, who kept her, not out of kindness, +but with the cruel intention of selling her +to some chief as a slave wife. On learning +what was in store for her she ran away, +meaning to trudge behind the waggon all +the way to Kuruman, where she had friends. +</p> + +<p> +While thus telling her tale, her face +suddenly fell with fear, and she burst into tears. +Livingstone looked up and saw that a +native, armed with a rifle, had come to +claim the poor child and take her back to +slavery. +</p> + +<p> +Livingstone could not bear the thought +of giving her up, but he was at his wits' +end to know the best way of saving her, +till one of his native teachers, named +Pomari, came to the rescue. The girl was +attractive enough, with her bright eyes, +white teeth, and soft, healthy skin, and her +captors had loaded her in savage fashion +with strings of beads. Pomari stripped the +beads off the girl, and gave them to the +man, who, after a little persuasion, took +the bribe and went his way. Livingstone +took care to keep the girl out of sight till +they were safe out of the district. +</p> + +<p> +Many other adventures befell the +missionary on his travels; for wild animals, +drought, fever, cattle-sickness, and the +deadly tsetse-fly, whose bite kills oxen and +horses in a few hours, always bring risk +and excitement to an African journey. Once, +when he was "trekking" several hundred +miles through Bechuanaland in an ox-waggon, +the fatal cattle-sickness fell like a +plague upon his oxen and killed them all. +</p> + +<p> +There was nothing to be done but to +desert the waggon and tramp home. +Livingstone's native servants were afraid that +their master would never be able to do it. +One of them pointed to his trousers and +said, half in anxiety, half in scorn, that he +was not really strong enough, and only put +his legs into those bags to make them look +stout. Livingstone, however, proved their +fears groundless, and won their respect by +walking them nearly to a standstill. +</p> + +<p> +Once, too, he travelled 400 miles on +ox-back, and found it awkward and uneasy +work to keep his seat and avoid the sweep +of the poor beast's horns as it shook off +the flies that clustered round its eyes and +nostrils. During this journey he fell down +and broke his finger, and set the bone with +his other hand. Not long after, a lion sprang +out of the bush and raided their camp. +Livingstone frightened the animal away by +firing his revolver, but the kick of the weapon +broke his finger anew. +</p> + +<p> +Another time he had to fly for his life +and hide from an angry rhinoceros which +he had disturbed while she was feeding her +calf. Upon missing him, the vicious brute +charged full tilt at his waggon, and with +the deadly upward stroke of her horn (a +stroke which has been known to kill an +elephant), splintered the wheel like matchwood. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-020"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-020.jpg" alt="The brute charged full tilt at his waggon"> +<br> +The brute charged full tilt at his waggon +</p> + +<p> +All this while Livingstone was making +friends of the tribes along his track. His +manly fearlessness, his good humour and +keen sympathy, his kindly eyes full of +honesty and truth, soon showed the natives +that there was nothing to fear from him. +His medical skill got him the fame of a +wizard, and black patients from far and near +thronged his waggon to be cured of their +ills, while some spread the report that he +had brought dead men back to life. +</p> + +<p> +Apart from this, he had a most wonderful +gift of finding his way into the hearts +of men; and though the natives could not +understand the reason of his coming, yet +they soon saw that he had not come, like +some of the Transvaal Boers, to shoot +them down, plunder their cattle, and carry +off their children to a life of unpaid labour. +</p> + +<p> +One chief, Bubé, was in difficulty for +want of water for his crops. Every tribe +had a sorcerer, who was supposed to have +the power of bringing down rain when +required; but Bubé's rainmaker had failed +to supply him. Livingstone, however, taught +them a surer way than sorcery, for he +induced the whole tribe to turn out and dig +a ditch from the river to their village, and +by thus saving them from famine he won +their love and respect. Bubé's faith in +witchcraft afterwards cost him his life. His +sorcerer vowed he could take the devil out +of some gunpowder by the use of certain +burning roots. Poor Bubé innocently went +to watch the performance, and both were +blown out of existence. +</p> + +<p> +At last, after long waiting, Livingstone +got leave from the governors to start a +new mission-station, and this he did with +the help of a brother missionary at +Mabotsa, a place 250 miles north of Kuruman. +Here Livingstone had to build a house for +himself at his own expense, and as his +income was only £100 a year, he built it +with his own hands. +</p> + +<p> +His work, however, was delayed by a +misadventure that left him with a weak +arm for all his days. A lion one day fell +upon a flock of sheep near the village and +began to kill them right and left. +Livingstone went out for a little while to +encourage the natives to surround it. The +lion, however, broke away from its +pursuers, and suddenly sprang out of the bush +upon Livingstone: then, pinning him down +with a paw on his head, it began to crunch +the bone of his arm. A faithful follower, +Mebalwé, diverted the beast from his +master, and was himself attacked, but was +saved by the lion falling dead of its +wounds. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-024"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-024.jpg" alt="The lion began to crunch the bone of his arm"> +<br> +The lion began to crunch the bone of his arm +</p> + +<p> +As soon as his arm was well enough, +Livingstone finished his house, and then he +brought home Mary Moffat from Kuruman +to be his wife. The two were together so +successful in their work that the jealousy +of some of their fellow-missionaries was +aroused, and Livingstone was accused of +taking more than his share of credit so +as to gain the favour of the governors in +London. +</p> + +<p> +Rather than live as a source of envy to +a fellow-worker, Livingstone left Mabotsa, +and went to all the labour and expense of +building a new mission-house at Chonuane, +40 miles farther north, in the country of a +chief called Sechélé. Water, however, was +so scarce at Chonuane that Livingstone +persuaded Sechélé's people to move with him +still farther north, to Kolobeng. Here, for +the third time, he built himself a house, +but he did not dwell there for many years. +His great mind ran continually upon the +welfare of Africa, and he was losing faith +in the missionary methods that were then +practised. +</p> + +<p> +He now believed the best plan would be +for Christian emigrants to come and teach +the natives useful arts and industries, and +to show them by example how to lead +better lives. +</p> + +<p> +But where was he to make his first little +colony? East of Kolobeng lay the +Transvaal, and the Boers, who hated him for +his efforts against slavery, kept sending +him threatening messages. North and west +of him was the dry and trackless Kalahari +Desert. He had heard native rumours +about a large lake beyond the desert. +There he might find a place suitable for +his purpose; but he could not afford to pay +for the waggons, cattle, native servants, and +stores necessary for the journey across the +desert. House-building had already cost +him beyond his means. What was he to do? +</p> + +<p> +The matter was settled for him by +the generosity of an English gentleman, +William Cotton Oswell, who had made +several hunting trips in South Africa after +big game, and had often been helped by +Livingstone's knowledge of the country and +language. Noble, fearless, and unselfish +himself, Oswell had been from the first +drawn into fast friendship with +Livingstone; and now he offered to pay the +cost of the expedition. Livingstone was +overjoyed at his goodness, and on May +27, 1849, the expedition left Kolobeng. +They had with them eighty oxen, twenty +horses, and about twenty-five natives, and +the fact that a waggon and span of oxen +costs about £125 will give some idea of +Oswell's generosity. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap03"></a></p> + +<h2> +CHAPTER III +<br><br> +BEYOND THE KALAHARI DESERT +</h2> + +<p> +A glance at the maps of Africa +published before the year 1850 will show +how little was known about the middle of +the continent. All round the coast and a +few hundred miles up the rivers there +were plenty of names, but the centre was +left almost blank. Most people supposed +that the Great Sahara Desert in the north +stretched down to the Kalahari Desert in +the south. Cleverer men, however, thought +of the enormous flow of water in the Nile, +Congo, and Zambesi, and felt sure that +somewhere there must be a land of streams, +forests, and hills, vast enough to feed such +mighty rivers. +</p> + +<p> +In the exciting hope of pioneering this +new land, and in the noble desire of +bringing a better way of life to its peoples, +Oswell and Livingstone dared the hardship +and danger of the Kalahari. Oswell was to +manage the trek, and the hard and tiring +task of shooting enough game for the +camp pot depended upon his quick eye, +cool head, and steady hand. Livingstone +was to be interpreter and scientific +observer, while the party relied upon his +wonderful power of gaining the goodwill of +the natives. +</p> + +<p> +They started from Kolobeng in a +north-easterly direction, and for the first 120 +miles their track lay through country they +had passed before. Then they struck north +towards the desert, and from this point +they knew nothing of the country before +them. One of the natives with them had +crossed many years ago, and <i>thought</i> he +could remember his route, but his memory +proved very hazy. +</p> + +<p> +With this man as guide, they came to +the wells of Serotli, on the edge of the +desert, and found that the place was just +a dip in the sand, surrounded by low scrub +and a few stunted trees. In the dip, however, +were several little hollows, as though +a rhinoceros had been rolling in the +sand; and in one of these hollows lay +about a quart of water. +</p> + +<p> +Oswell at once set the party to work +with spades and land turtle-shells to +deepen the holes, but hard toil till nightfall +only brought enough water to give the +horses a mouthful or two each. Their +guide told them that this was their last +chance of water for 70 miles, so Oswell sent +the oxen back to their last watering-place. +Bellowing and moaning with disappointment +and distress, the poor beasts crawled +back 25 miles, and at last found relief from +the terrible thirst they had suffered for +ninety-six hours. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile four of the Serotli pits were +dug out to the depth of 8 feet, and water +trickled into them so plentifully that +Oswell sent for the oxen. On their +arrival they were at once watered, +inspanned, and headed across the desert. +The heat was very great, and the wheels +sank so deep into the loose sand that +their utmost efforts only dragged the +waggons 6 miles before sundown. On the +following day they covered 19 miles +without water. On the third day again these +gallant beasts struggled 19 miles through +the heavy sand in the smiting heat +without a drop to drink. +</p> + +<p> +That night was a bad one for the +leaders of the expedition. They had now +come 44 miles from Serotli at a rate of +only 2 miles an hour, and the guide told +them they were still 30 miles from the next +water, which was at a place called +Mokokonyani by the bushmen of the desert. +</p> + +<p> +The oxen were spent with toil and +thirst, and all night lay moaning out to +their masters a piteous appeal for drink. +No one knew for certain what lay before +them, or whether they were in the right +direction. Failure seemed more than likely, +but Oswell and Livingstone were not the +men to know despair. At the first sign of +daybreak they sent the horses forward with +the guide to try and find Mokokonyani. +With the horses safe, the men could cover +the ground in safety, and hunt for food on +the way. +</p> + +<p> +Oswell and Livingstone intended to +follow with the waggons as long as the +oxen could hold out; then they would +loose the oxen on the trail of the horses +in the hope that, without their burdens, +they would mostly reach water alive. Half +an hour after starting, the waggons passed +through a belt of scrub, and came suddenly +upon the horses at a dead halt. "Is it +water?" was on every lip. No such luck +was in store for them: the guide had lost +his way. +</p> + +<p> +Soon the weary oxen staggered in distress, +and were outspanned to rest while +the leaders took counsel for the future. +Meanwhile the natives scattered through +the scrub in a forlorn hope of finding +water. Presently one of them heard the +harsh croaking of a frog. No sweet +music could fall softer on his ear, for +where there is a frog there is always +water close by. He ran back, and reported +the discovery of a patch of marsh. Once +more the jaded oxen were inspanned. The +sense of water in the air seemed to revive +them, and in two brisk miles they reached +relief. +</p> + +<p> +For the present, at all events, the +expedition was saved. And it was well for +them that they came upon the marsh, +for it took them four more days to reach +Mokokonyani, though on the first and +third days they were luckily able to find +water by digging. It turned out that they +were in the bed of a "sand river" called +the Mokokoong by the bushmen. Deep +down below their feet a constant flow of +water crept at a snail's pace through the +sand. The course of the stream could be +roughly traced like the long-dried bed of +an ancient river. Sometimes it lay +tween ridges of naked limestone or banks +of sand; sometimes it was lost in the +level plain. In a very few places there +were sand-holes deep enough to reach +the stream, and here patches of marsh +formed, or water showed in plenty, as at +Mokokonyani. Otherwise there was no +sign of water, though the bushmen get +enough to quench their thirst by sucking +through a long reed thrust down into the +sand. +</p> + +<p> +The party now tried to follow the sand +river, but soon lost it for two waterless +days. Then they found and followed it +once more, until the underground stream +disappeared in a marsh. At this point +their guide again failed them, and they +went many miles out of their course +without water for three days. Here again +fortune favoured them, for Oswell's eagle +eye spied a bushwoman lurking in the +thick scrub. He gave chase and captured +her, and for a few beads she led them to +a water-hole. +</p> + +<p> +And now from a hillock they could see +new and fertile country in the distance, +with thick smoke rising beyond. It must +be reeds burning on the shore of the great +lake, they thought, and so pushed onward. +</p> + +<p> +In a few more days they suddenly burst +through the thick bush upon a wide and +deep river, and from the natives on its +banks they learnt that this was the Zouga, +flowing from the great Lake Ngami, 250 +miles up stream. It was now 4th July and +late in the season, but for twelve more +days they forced and jolted their waggons +along the river bank until the oxen were +nearly spent. Then Oswell and Livingstone +picked out a span of the fittest, and +pressed forward with a light waggon. As +they neared the lake the bush grew denser, +and in the space of 5 miles they cut down +more than one hundred small trees to let +the waggon pass. At last, on 28th July, +they reached Lake Ngami, having taken +nine weeks to cover the 600 miles between +them and Kolobeng. +</p> + +<p> +Beyond the Zouga lay a fertile land of +forest and plains, but the failure to reach +it took away half the joy of their +discovery. They could not get the waggons +across, though Livingstone, at the risk of +his life from alligators, spent many hours +in the water vainly trying to make a raft. +They were forced to return—Livingstone +to Kolobeng, and Oswell to England; but +they made plans to come again the next +year, and Oswell promised to bring up a +boat. +</p> + +<p> +Next year, however, their plans failed, +for Oswell was delayed, and Livingstone +started without him. He took with him +his wife and children, and, in spite of the +hardships of the desert, they reached the +Zouga and Lake Ngami in safety. Here +fever fell upon the children, and he was +forced to return. On the way back he +met Oswell, who had followed only a few +weeks' march behind. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing could be done that year, but in +1851 these two great men again crossed +the Kalahari Desert, taking with them +Mrs. Livingstone and the children. This +time Oswell, with his usual unselfish care +for others, went a day in advance and dug +out the wells, and thus the rest of the +party were saved from delay and thirst. +</p> + +<p> +They passed the Zouga in safety, and +then, in a lovely land of fruits, flowers, and +herds, they crossed stream after stream +until they came to a point on the River +Chobi 400 miles from Linyanté. Linyanté +was the headquarters of the Makololo +tribe, and their wise and powerful chief +hurried to meet the travellers. He was +quite overcome by his first sight of white +men, but Livingstone's genial kindness +soon set him at his ease, and then no +one could have done more to help them. +Sebituani told them all he knew about +the country in and around his borders. +Far to the north-west, he said, there lived +a tribe who once sent back to him his +present of an ox, and asked for a man to +eat instead. From the east there came +black messengers from the Portuguese +with calico and beads and guns in +exchange for slaves. +</p> + +<p> +He promised to take his white friends +ten days north of Linyanté to the mighty +River Seshéké, which fell, men said, over +a cliff into a chasm with a smoke and +thunder that sounded many miles. +Unfortunately this noble chief, whom Oswell +described as a "gentleman in thought and +manner," died of pneumonia a few days +after; but his tribe kept all his promises +to the explorers. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving Mrs. Livingstone with the +waggons in camp at the Chobi, the two +friends went by canoe to Linyanté, and +thence on horseback to the Seshéké. +Here they indeed saw a mighty river, +which proved to be the great Zambesi; +but the waterfall was said to be far off, +and the season was so late that once +more they turned homewards. +</p> + +<p> +On the way back many new plans +were made. They had just been on the +southern border of a country whence vile +and brutal white men were getting slaves +at the rate of eighteenpence apiece. If +only they could find a good road into this +country, honest trade might put an end +to this wicked robbery of human lives. +The road they had already found was +too long and difficult, so Livingstone +determined to revisit Linyanté the next year, +and then seek a possible path to the +sea-coast. It would be impossible for his +family to go with him, and the thought +of leaving them to the risks and dangers +of Kolobeng was a great trouble to his +mind. +</p> + +<p> +Once more the goodness of his companion +came to his aid. For Oswell persuaded +Livingstone to send his wife and +children to England, and also gave him +the money for their outfit and expenses. +He sold the ivory that had fallen to his +rifle, and handed the price of it to his +friend as a share of the game on their +new preserves. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap04"></a></p> + +<h2> +CHAPTER IV +<br><br> +FROM COAST TO COAST +</h2> + +<p> +Livingstone took his family to Capetown, +and saw them safely on board a +ship bound for England. War was going +on at the time with the Kaffirs, and he +soon found that the white folk at the Cape +looked on him with mistrust and dislike. +They accused him and other missionaries +of stirring up and helping the natives to +rebel, and they even tried to prevent him +from buying gunpowder for use on his +journeys. +</p> + +<p> +There were many, however, who believed +in him, and amongst these was Maclear, +the Astronomer-Royal. From him +Livingstone had more lessons on "taking his +bearings," and also learnt the use of an +instrument for telling exactly how many feet +any place stood above the level of the sea. +</p> + +<p> +On his return northwards Livingstone +was delayed by feeble oxen and a broken +wheel, and thus he reached Kuruman only +in time to learn that his home, the last +he ever had, was in hopeless ruin. +</p> + +<p> +Six hundred Boers under Pretorius came +to Kolobeng, carried off everything of value +in his house, and wrecked the rest. Even +the leaves of his precious diaries and +notebooks were torn and scattered to the winds. +Moving onward to the native village, the +Boers went morning and afternoon to the +mission service and heard Mebalwé preach. +After service they told Sechélé, the chief, +that they had come to fight because he +let Englishmen pass through his country. +Surrounding the village, they fired the huts, +and with long-range swivel-guns shot down +sixty of the men, women, and children, who +were huddled together on a hillock in the +blinding smoke. +</p> + +<p> +When the flames were spent the Boers +closed in to finish their brutal work; but +Sechélé held them at bay till nightfall, and +sent them back to count their dead. Thirty-five +Boers paid the price of this needless +cruelty, while Sechélé and his remnant +escaped under cover of the night. +</p> + +<p> +To avoid the Boers, Livingstone passed +well to the west of Kolobeng, and reached +Linyanté after much hardship. The rainy +season had flooded the land between the +rivers, and his hands and knees were cut +and torn from wading through reeds and +pushing his way through the thorny bush. +Sekelétu, the son of Sebituani, was now +chief of the Makololo, and he soon grew +fond enough of Livingstone to say "he had +found a new father." With an escort and +supplies from his "new son," the missionary +made a tour through the Barotsi country, +but could find no place fit for a settlement. +The whole district was too unhealthy for +white men, and the natives were unpromising. +</p> + +<p> +Plunder and tyranny seemed the custom +of the country. Here, for the first time in +his life, Livingstone saw a string of slaves +trudging along in hopeless misery beneath +their chains. Once a mother was leading +her little boy by the hand along the track, +when suddenly a man pounced upon the +child, and dragged him away shrieking to +lifelong slavery. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly, in November 1853, Livingstone +left Linyanté to carry out his plan +of finding a way to the west coast. He +set out with an escort of twenty-seven +Makololo, and went by canoe up the +Zambesi and Leeba, till some falls in the +latter stopped him. From this point he +went forward on ox-back, and, steering by +compass as best he could, reached Loanda, +in Portuguese country, in May 1854. +</p> + +<p> +The troubles and difficulties of the +journey were great. His medicine-chest was +plundered, and his portable boat was lost. +He was twice thrown from his ox, once on +his head upon the hard ground, and once +in the middle of a ford. He had thirty-one +attacks of fever, and had to be his own +doctor and nurse. His Makololo were +cowards, and often wanted to go back, but +Livingstone's patient courage turned them +into men. Many of the tribes were very +troublesome when he asked leave to pass +their borders. One chief refused to let him +go by unless he gave up a riding-ox, a gun, +or a male slave; but Livingstone's wonderful +force of character overcame his demand. +At Chiboqué the natives refused to sell him +food, and threatened to kill him if he did +not give them an ox. They crowded round +him, yelling and waving their spears and +clubs over his head. Livingstone stood his +ground with unflinching eye, and his +fearless spirit utterly quelled them. +</p> + +<p> +Another chief demanded his riding-ox or +his life, and got the reply that he might +kill him if he liked, but God would judge. +The savage felt that he was in the presence +of a greater chief than himself, and quailed +before him. So great, indeed, was the power +of Livingstone's presence that he once +released a string of slaves by merely ordering +their captors to let them go. A magic-lantern, +with pictures from the Bible, helped +him much in the management of the natives. +They flocked to see it, though many were +in terror lest the figures moving off the +screen should enter into them as evil +spirits. Livingstone humorously said that +this was the only service they ever asked +him to repeat. +</p> + +<p> +When almost at his journey's end a party +of natives stopped him at a ford on the +Quango, in Portuguese country. Livingstone +had little left to give away, so he +handed over his razors and then his shirts, +while the Makololo parted with their +copper ornaments. This, however, was not +enough; and Livingstone was just giving +up his blanket and coat when a +Portuguese sergeant came up and drove the +natives away. +</p> + +<p> +On his reaching Loanda, the Portuguese +treated him with the utmost kindness, and +gave him all he could possibly want, but +he afterwards found to his cost that some +of this kindness was humbug. Here he +had the chance of returning to England; +but, knowing that the Makololo could +never reach home alone, he sent off his +letters and scientific notes in the +<i>Forerunner</i>, and then started for Linyanté. +The Portuguese gave him supplies for his +party, and presents for the chiefs on his +track. His Makololo bearers were given +suits of red and blue cloth, while the +Bishop of Loanda sent a colonel's +uniform for Sekelétu. +</p> + +<p> +He had not gone very far when he was +overtaken by the news that all his letters +and scientific notes had been lost in the +wreck of the <i>Forerunner</i>. There was +nothing to be done but write them all over +again; and this delay, together with an +attack of rheumatic fever, kept him from +reaching Linyanté till September 1855. On +their arrival, Sekelétu and his whole tribe +turned out to meet them, and the party +entered the town in triumphal procession, +with the red and blue uniforms of the +Makololo bearers in the van. Livingstone +then held a service of thanksgiving, but +the attention of his congregation was +hopelessly upset by the glory of Sekelétu +in the dress of a Portuguese colonel. +</p> + +<p> +Livingstone did not remain long at +Linyanté. The route to Loanda was too +difficult and unhealthy for general trade, so +he decided to follow the Zambesi down to +the east coast, in the hope of finding a +better. Sekelétu gave him a new escort +of one hundred and twenty Makololo, and +also supplied him with three riding-oxen, +and ten more to be used for food. +</p> + +<p> +In November 1855 he found the waterfall +that Oswell and he had marked on +their charts from hearsay, but had never +seen. Here the great Zambesi, more than +a mile wide, plunged "like a downward +smoke" 300 sheer feet into a chasm, and +then went seething and swirling away +through a narrow zigzag rift. Twice as +large as the Canadian Niagara, its spray +darkened the sun above it, and its thunder +boomed for miles. And, as in reverent +silence he watched this mighty force flow +on, Livingstone felt— +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + "These are Thy wondrous works, Parent of good,"<br> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +and he longed more than ever to see this +lovely land in freedom and at peace. +</p> + +<p> +Before leaving the "Mosi-oa-tunya," or the +"Sounding Smoke," Livingstone changed +its name to the Victoria Falls; but he little +thought that in less than fifty years a +railway bridge would span the gorge down +which its waters swept. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-046"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-046.jpg" alt="The Victoria Falls"> +<br> +The Victoria Falls +</p> + +<p> +Keeping mainly to the north bank of +the Zambesi, he made his way to Teté, +with much the same experience as +usual. While his men and stores were +crossing the Loangwé he kept some +unfriendly natives quiet by amusing them +with his watch and burning-glass till all +were safe. Once he was mistaken for +a half-caste Portuguese slaver, and only +saved his life by showing the colour of +his breast and arms. His riding-ox took +a determined dislike to his umbrella, and +would not permit him to use it; so he +suffered much from the rain, and even +had to carry his watch in his arm-pit to +keep it dry. At Teté he left his Makololo +bearers, and, promising to return to them +some day, made his way on to Quilimane. +</p> + +<p> +In one respect his great journey was a +failure: he had not found a really good +route to the sea. Nevertheless he had +found out two facts unknown to the +world before. First, Central Africa was +not a desert, but could produce metals, +coffee, cotton, oil, sugar, corn, and many +other things needed for the world's use. +Second, the natives were capable of being +taught by gentleness and justice to make +good use of their lives. +</p> + +<p> +These facts he wrote to the King of +Portugal, telling him also that canals and +roads could be easily made by the natives +under good white leaders: then he set out +for England to publish his knowledge in +a book which he called "Missionary +Travels." +</p> + +<p> +He reached London in December 1856, +and was at once lionised all over the +kingdom. People were so full of +encouragement that he felt it his duty to go +on with the career he had begun. Even +Queen Victoria, the Prince Consort, and +Lord Palmerston sent for him to praise +his work, while the Royal Geographical +Society and other public bodies held +meetings in his honour. +</p> + +<p> +But every great-minded man has to +suffer from little-minded critics; and +Livingstone was accused by a few of not +being enough of a missionary. Moreover, +at Quilimane he had received a letter +from the London Missionary Society, +saying that they could not "aid plans only +remotely connected with the spread of the +Gospel." Livingstone took this to mean +that they thought he had not preached +enough for his pay. His own way was +quite clear to him. He believed that his +first duty to God was to help in their need +the men, women, and children whom God +had caused to live. So, for the sake of +the black millions of Africa, Livingstone +gently and courteously withdrew himself +from the Society, and started for Quilimane +as Her Majesty's Consul, and as +the leader of a British expedition to +explore the valley of the Zambesi. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap05"></a></p> + +<h2> +CHAPTER V +<br><br> +THE ZAMBESI EXPEDITION +</h2> + +<p> +In 1858 Livingstone once more set sail for +the Cape, taking his wife with him, but +leaving his children behind. At Cape Town +the people were anxious to make amends for +their former unkindness to him, and now did +all they could to give him a happy welcome. +</p> + +<p> +Continuing his voyage in the <i>Pearl</i>, up the +east coast of Africa, he reached the mouth +of the Zambesi, which enters the sea through +many channels between low and swampy +islands covered with thick jungle. The +first thing to be done was to find out the +deepest and safest of these channels, and +many days were spent in sounding the +depths of the water by sinking a lump of +lead on the end of a line. An outlet called +the Kongoné proved to be the best, and up +this channel they took the <i>Pearl</i>. +</p> + +<p> +Left and right the banks lay dark under +the dense mangrove thicket, or shone bright +with shrubs and flowers beneath tall palms +and fern-trees, and forest timber laden +and twined with creepers. Strange birds +wheeled in bright flocks above them, or +flashed in single brilliance across the stream. +Here and there were open stretches where +startled buffalo and zebra made off into +the long grass, or a lazy rhinoceros could +be heard wallowing and grunting out of +sight among the giant reeds. +</p> + +<p> +To those who had not seen this country +before, it was indeed a new fairyland of +wonders. The native huts were built high +in the air upon long stakes, with ladders +reaching from their doorways to the ground. +Down these the natives came scrambling in +eager haste to see the <i>Pearl</i>. Some of +them took her for a floating village, and +others asked if she was hollowed out of a +single tree-trunk like their own canoes. +</p> + +<p> +When the river became too shallow for +so large a ship, Livingstone landed his +stores on an island, and then went forward +in a small steamer sent out by the Government +for use on the Zambesi. The steamer +proved to be a failure. She had been built +to burn wood instead of coal; but it took +all her crew three days to cut enough fuel +to drive her for two days. She was so slow +that native canoes easily outstripped her; +and she snorted, and creaked, and wheezed +to such an extent that she was nicknamed +the <i>Asthmatic</i>. +</p> + +<p> +This was a most grievous drawback to +the expedition, but Livingstone, as usual, +made the best of it. He took his stores to +Shupanga, a Portuguese village near the +point where the Zambesi is joined by another +fine river called the Shiré. Then by slow +degrees he made his way up stream to Teté, +where he had left his Makololo bearers on +his former visit. They were overjoyed to +see him again: some of them rushed to +embrace him, but others cried out, "Don't +touch him,—you'll spoil his new +clothes." People had told them that Livingstone +would never return, but the Makololo knew +he would never break his word. "We +trusted you," they told him, "and now we +shall sleep." +</p> + +<p> +Twenty miles above Teté the river broke +through a chain of hills, and at this point +the <i>Asthmatic</i> was stopped by the Kebrabasa +Rapids. The river ran swiftly down a +narrow valley, with the current broken here +and there by jagged rocks or smooth water-worn +boulders. At this season the river +was at its lowest, and Livingstone decided +to explore the rapids on foot; for he thought +it might yet be possible for small steamers +to pass them when the river was full. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly, he and his fellow-explorer, +Dr. Kirk, set out with a native guide and +some of the Makololo to make the matter +sure. They followed up the bed of the river +as best they could, taking measurements +and notes as they went. Sometimes their +way was over smooth terraces of rock, +sometimes they scrambled over boulders, +and once they had to wade up to their +waists in spite of the risk of crocodiles. At +night they slept under trees, and were +lucky enough to be left alone by wild beasts, +though a native across the river was killed +one evening by a leopard. +</p> + +<p> +When at last they reached the head of +the rapids, their guide declared that now +there was nothing but smooth water before +them. Thinking their difficult task was at +an end, they began to return, but that night +two natives came into camp, and said there +was another rapid a few miles up stream. +</p> + +<p> +Taking three of the Makololo with them, +Livingstone and Kirk went back again to +settle the question. They found a narrow +gorge, whose sides rose steeper than a +gable roof from the river to the skyline, 2000 +feet above them. Up this they scrambled, +cutting their way through the prickly scrub, +and crawling over the face of the sloping +cliff. The sun struck into the gorge with +such force, that the rocks reeked like heated +steel; and the climbers' hands could hardly +bear their grip long enough to gain firm +foothold. Even the Makololo, whose naked +soles were hard and tough as shoe-leather, +limped with the pain of their burnt and +blistered feet. They turned to Kirk, and +said that Livingstone no longer had a heart, +and must be stark mad to try and climb +where no wild animal would go. Losing +all heart, they wanted to lie down and sleep +in the hollows, but Livingstone's pluck and +spirit carried them through. +</p> + +<p> +At last, after a scramble so steep and +dangerous that they took three hours to +climb one mile, the party reached a spot +overhanging the rapid. Here the cliff +dropped a hundred feet sheer into the +stream, and rose like a wall just a short +stone's-throw across it. Into this narrow +pass the whole wide river was crowded, +and the current sped swiftly down, broken +here and there into a white fleece by a ridge +of jutting rock. They saw the flood-mark +eighty feet up the opposite cliff. But +Livingstone turned away in keen disappointment; +for though a powerful steamer might stem +the rapid at high flood, the river was +useless as a waterway for most of the year. +</p> + +<p> +In 1859 Livingstone turned his attention +to a branch of the Zambesi, called the +Shiré. This river came slowly winding +down a broad and fertile valley of forest +and of plains, which stretched on either +hand towards wooded hills with bare +mountain-peaks beyond. Its banks were thick +with leaf and blossom, and the air was +filled with the scent of flowers, the song of +birds, and the endless murmur of bees. +Yet, as they passed up stream in the midst +of all this beauty, the explorers could see +the savage Manganja natives lurking behind +trees, with bent bows, ready to shoot +them down with barbed and poisoned arrows. +Nothing happened, however, till the steamer +came opposite the village of a chief named +Tingané, who was a terror to the +Portuguese, and had never yet allowed any man +to pass his borders. +</p> + +<p> +Here a crowd of five hundred Manganja +lined the bank and ordered them to stop. +Some of the savages even began to take +aim with their fatal arrows, and it looked +as though a terrible death would fall upon +the explorers whether they obeyed or not. +Livingstone at once went fearlessly on +shore. He knew that he came for love of +God, and he believed that he would not +die till God no longer needed him to work +on earth. +</p> + +<p> +Calm and smiling, as if in a playground +full of children, he walked through the +bloodthirsty mob to their chief, and told +him that the steamer was English and not +Portuguese. Then he explained that the +English wished to put down the cruel slave +trade, and make it easier for black men +to sell their cotton and ivory for cloth and +beads. +</p> + +<p> +Tingané liked the idea of this, and wished +to hear more. Livingstone told him how +the white man's book said that all men +and women were sons and daughters of +God, and therefore must not be treated +with cruelty and unkindness. Thus Tingané +was completely won over to friendship. +He called his people together, and +told them that the great white chief and +healer of men had come with a good +message, and might pass his borders in +peace. +</p> + +<p> +After this there was no more trouble with +the Manganja, and the leaky <i>Asthmatic</i> +puffed and panted safely up the river, +scaring out of their wits the wild animals upon +its banks. Now and then a clumsy hippopotamus, +startled out of its sleep, would +splash out of the water and tear into the +jungle. Antelopes and zebras fled over the +plains, and once the explorers disturbed a +herd of more than eight hundred elephants. +Wicked-looking crocodiles would +sometimes dash for the steamer with open +jaws; but, on finding that it was not +good to eat, they would dive to the bottom +like stones. The river was deep and free +from sandbanks for 200 miles, but here the +steamer was once more stopped by a chain +of rapids stretching over 40 miles. These +Livingstone named the Murchison Cataracts, +and from this point he made two +journeys on foot. +</p> + +<p> +On the first trip he climbed over the +mountains to the eastward, and found +Lake Shirwa, whose waters were stagnant +and bitter. His native guide told him there +was a much larger lake to the northward; +so Livingstone, after returning for supplies, +once more started from the Murchison +Cataracts in search of it. +</p> + +<p> +The way led over the highlands of the +Manganja country towards the head of the +Shiré valley. The natives were warlike, +but Livingstone had no trouble with them, +and easily bought all the food he wanted +with a few yards of calico or a handful of +beads. The women wore their hair quite +short, and disfigured themselves with a +large ring of ivory or tin through the +upper lip. The men kept their hair long, +and did it in as many fashions as white +women. Sometimes they stiffened it with +strips of bark into the likeness of a +buffalo's horn or tail; sometimes they +shaved off patches in the shape of some +wild animal, and then thought themselves +very beautiful. +</p> + +<p> +At last, on September 16, 1859, +Livingstone came upon the magnificent Lake +Nyassa, stretching away to the skyline +like an inland sea. Out of its waters the +River Shiré ran smooth and deep all down +the long valley to the Murchison +Cataracts. Forty miles of road could easily be +made past these falls, and then the great +Nyassa would be open to the sea. The +uplands of the Shiré valley were healthy +and fertile, and here at last was the place +where a colony of Christian emigrants +might teach and show the Africans a life +of righteousness and industry. Moreover, +Livingstone saw that, as all the slave traffic +had to cross the river or the lake, a single +small steamer could soon put an end to +the trade. +</p> + +<p> +He therefore wrote home, and promised +£2000 from the price of his book to be +spent in sending out suitable emigrants. +At the same time he asked the Government +for a new vessel to replace the dying +<i>Asthmatic</i>, and he also offered £4000 +towards a little steamer for Lake Nyassa. +In the meantime, while waiting their +arrival, he kept his promise to the +Makololo, and started up the Zambesi to take +them home to Linyanté. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap06"></a></p> + +<h2> +CHAPTER VI +<br><br> +THE UPPER SHIRÉ AND LAKE NYASSA +</h2> + +<p> +On his return from Linyanté to Teté, +Livingstone once more went on board +the <i>Asthmatic</i>, and started to meet his new +steamer at the mouth of the Zambesi. Some +of the Makololo had refused to go back to +their native country, and Livingstone was +thus able to have a few of these faithful +men with him still. +</p> + +<p> +The poor <i>Asthmatic</i>, however, did not +reach her journey's end. Her steel plates +were rotten with rust, and she leaked in +all directions. Her cabin floor was flooded, +her bridge was broken down, and her +engines groaned aloud. In this +water-logged and rickety state she touched a +sandbank, turned on her side, and sank, +after giving her crew just enough time to +save themselves and their stores in canoes. +A few weeks later, in June 1861, the new +steamer, called the <i>Pioneer</i>, reached the +mouth of the Zambesi. At the same time, +there came a party of missionaries under +the brave Bishop Mackenzie, who had been +sent out by the Universities of Oxford and +Cambridge to settle in the Shiré valley. +Livingstone would have taken the mission +party up the Shiré at once, but he was +ordered by the Government to look for +another way to Lake Nyassa, along the +River Rovuma. +</p> + +<p> +Taking the Bishop with him, he started +immediately to carry out his orders, but +the new steamer upset all his plans. +The <i>Pioneer</i> was a splendid little vessel, +but she lay two feet deeper in the water +than she ought, and so kept running +aground on the sandbanks. After +struggling a short distance up the Rovuma, +Livingstone gave up the attempt, and +returned with the <i>Pioneer</i> to take the mission +party up the Shiré. Landing at the Murchison +Cataracts, they made their way towards +the Manganja highlands on foot. +</p> + +<p> +The party had not gone very far before +they learnt from the natives that gangs of +slavers had been seen passing through the +country with their captives. This was +distressing news, and Livingstone now found +out how false some of his Portuguese friends +had been. The Portuguese had helped and +encouraged Livingstone to make friends of +the natives; then, as soon as he had gone, +they had sent their servants on his tracks +to make slaves. These brutal ruffians said +they were "Livingstone's children," and so +the natives let them pass into the heart +of the country in peace. Then the slavers +bribed a strong tribe to attack a weak tribe, +and after the fight they made slaves of the +captives. Livingstone's unexpected return +caught some of these villains in the very +act. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-064"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-064.jpg" alt="A long file of slaves"> +<br> +A long file of slaves +</p> + +<p> +He had halted his party in a village for +rest and food, when suddenly a long file of +eighty-four slaves came round the hillside +towards them. The captives, mostly women +and children, were roped together with +thongs of raw hide, but some of the men +had their necks fixed in a "goree," or forked +slave-stick. The back of the neck was +thrust into the fork, and the two prongs +were joined by a bar of iron under the chin, +while a slaver walked behind, holding the +shaft of the stick, ready to wring the poor +slave's neck at the first sign of escape. +Worn out with pain, misery, and fatigue, +the hapless slaves limped and staggered +beneath their loads. The slavers, decked +out with red caps and gaudy finery, marched +jauntily along, blowing tin horns and +shouting as though they had just won a noble +victory. +</p> + +<p> +At the first sight of the little English +party, these braggarts fled headlong into +the bush; but one of the Makololo was too +quick for their leader, and caught him by +the wrist. Dragging him by the arm, and +driving him with the terror of a spear-point, +the Makololo brought the chief of the slave +gang to Livingstone, who at once recognised +him as a servant of the Portuguese +chief officer at Teté. +</p> + +<p> +The inhuman wretch said he had bought +the slaves, but his prisoners told a different +tale. They had been captured in war by +the slavers, who had burnt their village, +murdered their tribesmen, and marched +them off in bonds towards Teté. On the +way two of the women had tried to loosen +the thongs that cut their flesh, and were +instantly shot by their captors. One of the +men sank down with fatigue, and was killed +with an axe as a warning to the others. +Another woman became too exhausted to +carry her load as well as her baby. The +heartless slavers tore the child from her +arms and killed it with terrible cruelty. +</p> + +<p> +Livingstone and his friends quickly set +themselves to the work of cutting the thongs +and sawing the slave-sticks off the captives, +and while they were thus busy, the chief of +the slavers escaped. +</p> + +<p> +Continuing the journey, the Englishmen +set free several parties of slaves in the +next few days before reaching the village +of Magomero. Here Chigunda, the chief, +invited Bishop Mackenzie to settle; and, +as the spot seemed a good one, Magomero +was thus made the station for the +Universities' Mission. All the freed slaves +were joined to the mission, and the work +of building was going on quickly, when +word came that a tribe from the neighbouring +Ajawa country were raiding slaves +from a village close by. Livingstone and +the Bishop thought that a friendly talk +might win the Ajawa over to better ways, +and a small party at once left the mission +station to make the attempt. It was not +long before they saw the smoke of a burning +village, and then, hurrying forward over +a hillside, they came upon the raiders making +off with plunder and captives. +</p> + +<p> +The Ajawa leader sprang on an ant-hill +to count the missionary band, and +Livingstone at once shouted that he had +come in peace for a friendly talk. +Unluckily, some Manganja followers called +out the name of their great warrior, +Chibisa, foolishly hoping to frighten the +raiders away. +</p> + +<p> +At once the Ajawa leaders raised the cry +of "Nkondo! Nkondo!—War! War!" and +all the raiders dashed to the attack. +Keeping at a distance of about a hundred yards, +they began to surround the little band. +Some of the Ajawa danced like madmen, +with hideous grimaces meant to strike +terror into the white men's hearts. Others +played clownish antics with their weapons +to show how they would treat their foes. +Others shot poisoned arrows from shelter +behind trunks and stones, and wounded one +man in the arm. +</p> + +<p> +Still Livingstone tried bravely and nobly +for peace, but in vain: the savages were +like wild beasts thirsting for prey. Then +some more of the raiders came up and +began to fire with muskets. Livingstone +was unarmed, but some of the party had +rifles, and fired a few shots in reply. As +soon as the Ajawa heard the sing of the +rifle-bullets, they fled in a panic. Some of +them shouted back that they would track +the white men down, and kill them where +they slept, but they never dared to return. +</p> + +<p> +This was the first time that Livingstone +had failed to make peace, and it was through +no fault of his own. But for the foolish +cry of the Manganja, he would most probably +have succeeded. +</p> + +<p> +He stayed at Magomero till he was obliged +to return to the <i>Pioneer</i>; and his +parting advice to the Bishop was never to +interfere with the quarrels of the natives, +and also to keep on the highlands, so as to +escape the fever near the river. +</p> + +<p> +Livingstone and Kirk now started to +explore Lake Nyassa. A four-oared boat, +fitted with a sail, was slung on poles, and +carried to the head of the Murchison Cataracts +by native bearers. Here they launched +her, and with oar and sail passed along the +smooth waters of the Upper Shiré, till they +reached the lake. Keeping to the eastern +coast, they passed bay after bay on a +beautiful and fertile shore, backed by a +grand range of purple hills. Cotton and +corn grew well, and the explorers often saw +men spinning, weaving, and sewing in the +huts, while the women hoed the corn. The +natives were great fishermen, and caught +all kinds of fish with fine woven nets and +ivory hooks of their own making. +</p> + +<p> +The lake was subject to heavy storms, +and once the explorers were caught a mile +from shore by a furious squall. They could +not land, for in a few minutes the billows +ran so high, and broke upon the beach with +such force, their little boat would have been +dashed to splinters on the stones. All they +could do was to hold her bows to the wind +with their oars and try to outride the fury +of the storm. Up on the crest, down in +the trough, they fought it wave by wave +for many hours, while every moment a +chance of death went speeding by. As the +white lip of each roller curled over, they +held their breath, in doubt lest the threatening +mass should break over the little boat +and swamp her. Yet breaker after breaker +went hissing and gurgling past on either +hand, but not a single one struck her. At +last, when the storm sank down, they were +able to land with stiff and aching muscles, +but with thankful minds. +</p> + +<p> +After following the shore for nearly two +hundred miles, the explorers were almost +at the head of the lake when they had to +turn back. Livingstone had arranged to +go down the Zambesi to meet a ship from +England which was bringing his wife to +join his labours once more, and on board +the same vessel were supplies for the +<i>Pioneer</i>, and also the little steamer he had +bought for use in putting down the slave +trade on Lake Nyassa. +</p> + +<p> +On their way down the Shiré, the <i>Pioneer</i> +struck on a shoal, and there she had to +stay for five weeks, till the river rose +enough to float her again. At length +Livingstone reached the sea, and found his +wife on board the cruiser <i>Gorgon</i>, but the +joy of their meeting was not to last long. +A few weeks after her arrival, she was +seized by fever at Shupanga. Day and +night Livingstone nursed and tended her +with his utmost skill and care, but all in +vain. In April 1862 she died, and this was +a sorrow that lasted all his days. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap07"></a></p> + +<h2> +CHAPTER VII +<br><br> +FOILED BY THE SLAVERS +</h2> + +<p> +Livingstone now made a second +attempt to reach Lake Nyassa by +the River Rovuma. The explorers started +in rowing-boats with a party from the +cruiser <i>Gorgon</i>, and made their way up +stream for many days without much +adventure, though twice their right of way +was disputed. +</p> + +<p> +Once a tribe of natives crowded both +banks, and, while fitting poisoned arrows +to their bows, began the hideous antics of +their war dance. Their chief hailed the +boats, and ordered the explorers to stop +and pay toll. After a parley, Livingstone +gave him thirty yards of calico, and he +promised in return that his tribe would be +their friends. No sooner, however, had +the first boat rounded the next bend of the +river, than a cloud of poisoned arrows and +a few musket-balls came whizzing and +singing over the heads of her crew. The +sail was cut and torn, but luckily no one +was wounded, and a few rifle-shots from +the second boat sent the natives flying +through the bush. +</p> + +<p> +Another time a surly hippopotamus tried +to stop their way. He seemed to think +they had no right to cross his favourite +bathing-pool, and wake him out of his +mid-day sleep. Diving under the water, he came +up just under the boat, and rocked her to +and fro as he tried to lay hold of her with +his clumsy jaws. After grinding away at +her planks for a while with his teeth, he +at last made up his mind that she was too +big and too tough for him to swallow, and +then he plunged off in a fit of the sulks. +</p> + +<p> +When Livingstone had taken the boats +as far up the Rovuma as possible, he found +that the river was divided into two branches, +and the natives told him that neither of +them came from the Lake Nyassa. Accordingly +he returned to Shupanga, and then +for the last time started up the Shiré in +the <i>Pioneer</i> with his own little steamer, +the <i>Lady Nyassa</i>, in tow. +</p> + +<p> +It was not long before he began to see +that, even in the short time he had been +away, the deadly slave trade had come like +a blight on the land. A half-bred +Portuguese, named Mariano, and his brutal +gang had deceived Tingané by calling +themselves "Livingstone's children," and so were +treated as friends. Thus, taking him by +treachery, they killed him and many of his +tribe, and dragged off all they could to +slavery. Not content with this, they burnt +the village and the stores of corn, destroyed +the crops, and drove away the flocks. No +more corn would grow for many months, +and those who escaped were thus left to +starve. Many of them clung to life by +hunting game and digging up roots, but far the +greater number of them died of famine. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-076"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-076.jpg" alt="They burnt the village"> +<br> +They burnt the village +</p> + +<p> +When once Tingané was overcome, the +work of the slavers was easier; for his +tribe was the strongest, and had been the +frontier guard. Village by village this foul +and ruthless piracy spread up the river, till +now Livingstone saw the whole face of the +country changed. +</p> + +<p> +The smiling valley he had found four +years ago was now a land of death, strewn +with black ruins and whitened skeletons. +Even the song-birds were silent around +the wasted homes, as though they could +not bear to sing in the midst of such misery +and desolation. Yet the inhuman Portuguese +were paying Mariano for his slaves, +and Livingstone had not the power to stop +them. All he could do was to push on +with his work, and publish all he saw, in +the hope that the British Government +would interfere. +</p> + +<p> +But fortune was against him completely. +On reaching the Murchison Cataracts the +explorers unscrewed the <i>Lady Nyassa</i> to +pieces, and then began to make a road +over which they could take her, bit by bit, +to the head of the rapids. Before the first +mile of this road was finished, both Kirk +and Livingstone fell dangerously ill, and +Kirk had to return to England. +</p> + +<p> +At the same time a despatch came from +the British Government to recall the +expedition. The Portuguese Government had +forbidden all ships but their own to enter +the Zambesi, and the British did not think +it worth while to interfere. A bitter +disappointment like this might well have +broken his spirit, but Livingstone was too +brave and too faithful to his cause for that. +The <i>Pioneer</i> must wait several months for +the floods before she could go down the +river, and meanwhile he would row round +Nyassa in search of a way to the sea +outside Portuguese country. +</p> + +<p> +Once more his bearers started to carry a +boat past the cataracts, and all went well +till they came to a stretch of smooth but +swift water below the uppermost rapid. +Here, to save labour, the boat was launched +and towed up stream with a rope from the +bank. All their stores were put inside her, +and also some of the Makololo, who kept +her off the rocks with poles. After two +miles the Makololo, who were splendid +canoe-men, said the current was too swift +and dangerous, and they brought the boat +to the bank. +</p> + +<p> +Then some conceited Zambesi canoe-men +took hold of the poles and tow-rope, saying +they would teach the Makololo how to +take her up the rapid. Livingstone had +moved on, away from the bank, and knew +nothing of their intention till he heard loud +shouts of distress. He rushed to the bank +just in time to see his stores and the +Zambesi men in the water, and his boat +shooting keel uppermost down the river +like a dart. +</p> + +<p> +Some of the party gave chase, but the +bank was too difficult for speed, and they +never saw the boat again. The Zambesi +men swam to shore and knelt down, with +their foreheads touching the earth, at +Livingstone's feet. He sent them down to +the <i>Pioneer</i> for more stores, and, nothing +daunted by this new disappointment, started +off to go round Nyassa on foot. But in +spite of all his efforts he did not reach the +end of the lake before it was time to return +to the <i>Pioneer</i> and make his last voyage +down the Shiré. +</p> + +<p> +The Universities' Mission also had come +to an end for a while. The brave Bishop +Mackenzie had lost his life from fever on +a journey down the Shiré. The rest of the +missionaries thought it best to move down +from the highlands to the river bank, and +one by one they died of fever. Livingstone +now took the remnant of the mission away +with him on board the <i>Pioneer</i>, lest they +should again fall into the hands of the +slavers. +</p> + +<p> +In February 1864 he handed the <i>Pioneer</i> +over to H.M.S. <i>Orestes</i>, at the mouth of the +Zambesi, while his own little steamer was +taken in tow to Zanzibar by the cruiser +<i>Ariel</i>. Here he learnt that many people in +England and at the Cape were blaming +him for the failure of the Zambesi expedition, +and also for the fate of the Universities' +Mission. Livingstone felt this very +keenly, for he knew that the chief blame +lay with the slave trade. If the British +Government had forced the Portuguese to +put an end to slavery, there would have +been no failure at all. +</p> + +<p> +Defeated and disappointed as he was, +Livingstone would not give in, for he knew +that he was working in God's cause. He +also firmly believed that, if he could only +make his countrymen really understand the +wicked cruelty and waste in Africa, they +would come to the rescue. Clearly it was +his duty to awaken their understanding +and show them the way when they came. +He determined to visit England, and publish +all he knew about Africa and the slave +trade; then he would return to his +pioneering, and find out more. +</p> + +<p> +To get money for the voyage he now +tried to sell the <i>Lady Nyassa</i>, but, on +hearing that the Portuguese wanted her for +a slave-boat, he decided to take her to +Bombay. +</p> + +<p> +This was one of the boldest feats he +ever carried out. Taking with him a crew +of three white men and nine natives, he +started in the tiny little steamer to cross +2500 miles of the Indian Ocean with fourteen +tons of coal. Two of his white sailors fell +ill, and so for many days he and the third +man shared the watch in spells of four +hours. Then they lost the wind, and lay +becalmed for twenty-five days, not daring +to waste their coal. At last a breeze sprang +up, and they were able to use their sails +again; but they had to pass through two +furious storms before their journey's end. +</p> + +<p> +The good little <i>Lady Nyassa</i>, however, +came safely through everything, till strands +of seaweed and green and yellow +sea-serpents told them they were near the +coast of India. They had then only enough +coal to last twenty-eight hours, and their +supplies were nearly done; but still they +managed to hold out and reach Bombay +after a voyage of forty-five days. The <i>Lady +Nyassa</i> was so small that no one noticed +her arrival till Livingstone went on shore +and made himself known. +</p> + +<p> +In due time Livingstone reached England, +and wrote an account of the expedition in a +book called "The Zambesi and its +Tributaries." He was sought out everywhere +for speeches, lectures, and entertainments; +but as soon as his work in England was +finished he returned to Zanzibar to carry +out the purpose of his life. +</p> + +<p> +Before leaving England the Prime Minister +sent to ask him if there was anything +he wanted. Many men would have asked +for money or a title, but Livingstone +thought of nothing but his work. His only +request was that the Government would +make a treaty with Portugal to put down +slavery and open the Zambesi to honest +trade. He was then called before a +committee of the House of Commons, who +heard all his opinions about Africa and the +slave trade. Yet all the Government did at +the time was to give him £500 towards his +expenses, and to make him Consul of Central +Africa, but without a salary and without +a pension. His friends in the Royal +Geographical Society gave £1500 towards the +new expedition, and Livingstone promised +them to try and discover the true sources +of the Congo and the Nile. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap08"></a></p> + +<h2> +CHAPTER VIII +<br><br> +IN THE HEART OF AFRICA +</h2> + +<p> +In March 1866 Livingstone landed near +the mouth of the Rovuma, and, at the +age of fifty-three, began the seven long +years of hardship, misery, and pain that +wore him to his death. Thirty-six bearers +came with him, of whom thirteen were +Sepoys from Bombay, and ten were natives +of Johanna. Livingstone was very anxious +to find some beast of burden which could +stand the poison of the tsetse-fly; and for +this experiment he brought with him some +camels, Indian buffaloes, mules, donkeys, +and a calf. Carrying stores was the great +difficulty in his travels, and a few hardy +beasts of burden, instead of a number of +unruly knaves, would have saved him from +the terrible want he afterwards had to +suffer. +</p> + +<p> +It was not long before his troubles +began. The Sepoys had charge of the +animals, and neglected them so shamefully +that one by one the poor creatures died. +Livingstone found he could not trust one +of the thirteen out of his sight, and at +last they grew so troublesome that he +sent them back to the sea. His next +discovery was that the ten natives from +Johanna were rascals and thieves; and +one of them, Musa, who had worked in +the <i>Lady Nyassa</i>, turned out the worst of +the lot. Moreover, the country had been +ravaged by slavers, and food grew scarcer +and scarcer, till at length they lived mainly +on maize and the few pigeons and guinea-fowl +shot by the way. +</p> + +<p> +The signs of the slave trade were terrible. +Here, as in the valley of the Shiré, +nothing seemed too brutal to be done. +Even women were tied to trees and left +to starve, because they were too worn out +to trudge any longer. +</p> + +<p> +Most of the slavers in this district were +Arabs, and they did all they could to make +trouble for Livingstone. He reached Nyassa +in August, at a point half-way up its +eastern shore, and here he wanted to +cross; but all the boats were in the hands +of the slavers, and Livingstone could get +nothing to take him over. +</p> + +<p> +Determined not to be beaten, he walked +round the south end of the lake, and, on +crossing the Shiré, he came upon ground +that he had passed before. Old times and +old friends came into his mind, and he +wondered sadly if all their labour had been +wasted. He thought also of his faithful +Makololo, and longed to have them in the +place of his present bearers. +</p> + +<p> +After passing round the south end of +Lake Nyassa, he took a north-westerly +direction, and came to the village of a +chief named Marenga. Here they met an +Arab slaver, who cunningly invented a +story in the hope of frightening +Livingstone's bearers from going any farther. +He told Musa that a savage Mazitu chief +was in front of them, killing all who +passed his borders, with great cruelty. +Musa believed this story, and refused to +go onward. Livingstone tried to convince +the coward that there were no Mazitu in +the district, but all his efforts were +useless. Musa and the other nine Johanna +natives deserted in a body; but the rest +of the bearers, much to the Arab's +disappointment, remained faithful. +</p> + +<p> +From Marenga's Livingstone pushed on +towards Lake Tanganyika, and his hardships +daily grew greater. Owing to the +slave trade, food was scarce, and the +natives had little to sell. For many +days the explorer lived on African maize, +helped down with milk from some goats +he had brought for the purpose. The +next misfortune was the loss of his +goats, and this left him to break and +loosen his teeth on the tough, hard maize, +while he dreamed of delicious and savoury +dinners. +</p> + +<p> +This want of food made him very weak, +and, moreover, the toils of the march were +great. Often he had to wade through +marshes up to the waist; and after the +burning day, with its clouds of flies, there +came the damp heat of night, with clouds +of mosquitoes bringing fever in their poisonous +bite. All this was trouble enough, but +worse still happened. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-088"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-088.jpg" alt="Often he had to wade through marshes up to the waist."> +<br> +Often he had to wade through marshes up to the waist. +</p> + +<p> +One day a native bearer, possibly bribed +by a slaver, disappeared with Livingstone's +medicine-chest, and he was now left +defenceless against fever. Soon he became +so ill that he sometimes lay insensible on +the ground; but still his pluck carried him +through, and at last, in April 1867, he +reached Chitembé's village, on Lake +Tanganyika, where he found rest and better +food. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, Musa and the other Johanna +natives had gone back to Zanzibar. They +knew they would get no pay if their bad +conduct was found out, so they swore that +Livingstone was dead, and therefore they +were obliged to return. Musa made up a +clever story describing how Livingstone +had been attacked by natives, and had +died fighting bravely, while the faithful +Johanna men, after escaping from the fight, +had returned at nightfall to bury their +beloved master. Musa repeated this lie +so skilfully that every one believed him; +and even Dr. Kirk, who was now at +Zanzibar, was taken in completely. The tale +was told at home in the papers, and all +his countrymen were grieving for his loss, +when an Englishman, Edward Young, began +to doubt the story. Young had been on +the <i>Lady Nyassa</i> with Musa, and knew +that the rascal's word could never be +trusted. He laughed at the idea of a +coward like Musa returning after a fight +to bury any one, and he found other faults +in his story. +</p> + +<p> +At last the Royal Geographical Society +sent Young to Africa to find out the truth. +He went up the Shiré in a steel boat +called the <i>Search</i>, and his bearers carried +her in pieces past the Murchison +Cataracts. Then, launching her again on the +Upper Shiré, he made his way by Lake +Nyassa to Marenga's country. Here he +found out the utter falsehood of Musa's +story, and learnt that Livingstone had been +seen alive on his way to Tanganyika. +</p> + +<p> +Young now returned to England; and, +though his news was mainly good, yet +many people were still very anxious about +the explorer's safety. In one way Musa +had done his master a good turn without +the least intention. For so much had +been said in the papers about Livingstone, +that people began to see how great was +his work and how noble his life. +</p> + +<p> +All this time Livingstone knew nothing +either of Musa's lies or of Young's gallant +search. While at Chitembé's village he +heard of a chain of lakes joined by a big +river, and he started westward to find +them. Slave-raiding was going on all over +the country that lay before him; but in +spite of this Livingstone discovered Lake +Moero, in November 1867, after suffering +terribly from illness and want of food. A +beautiful river, called the Luapula, ran into +the lake at the south, and out again to +the north. Down stream, to the northward, +the natives said the Luapula reached a +long lake of many islands; while up +stream, to the southward, they said it came +from a large lake, called Bangweolo. +</p> + +<p> +Livingstone decided to look for Bangweolo +first. Setting out from Moero in a +southerly course, he came to the village of +Kazembé, a chief who punished his people +by cutting off their hands and ears. At +Kazembé's he fell in with an Arab trader, +Mohammed Bogharib, who at once took a +great liking to the explorer. Mohammed +asked him to dine, and Livingstone sat +down on a mat to a feast of vermicelli and +oil, meal cakes and honey; and then, the +first time for many months, he warmed his +heart with a bowl of good coffee and sugar. +</p> + +<p> +From the accounts of the natives, +Bangweolo was only ten days' march from +Kazembé's, but now Livingstone's bearers +refused to go onward. Five only remained +faithful to the kindest master they ever +had, and with these the journey was begun. +It was the same tale of hardship and toil, +want and suffering; and, since the theft +of his medicine-chest, there was nothing +to soothe the fever or ease the pain. Yet +through all this his patient faith and quiet +valour carried him on, and, in July 1868, +he came upon the beautiful Lake Bangweolo. +There were islands dotted about in +it, and Livingstone visited some of them +in a native canoe; but, when he wanted +to paddle across the lake, his canoe-men +refused. They were afraid of being made +slaves. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, the curse of slavery seemed +everywhere in the land. On his way to +Bangweolo, Livingstone had passed some slaves +trudging along in their slave-sticks, yet +singing as they went. Their only hope was +death; and they were looking forward with +revengeful joy, because they ignorantly +believed their spirits could return and kill +their captors. The meaning of their chant +was, "Oh, you send me to the sea-coast, +but my yoke is off in death; back I'll come +to haunt and kill you." Then, as a chorus, +they hissed between their teeth in bitter +hatred the names of those who had robbed +them of their freedom. +</p> + +<p> +Livingstone now struggled back to Kazembé's, +utterly worn out with toil, hunger, +and fever. Here he found Mohammed +Bogharib on the point of returning to Ujiji, +and he gladly accepted the Arab's kind +offer of an escort thither. Ujiji stood upon +the eastern shore of Tanganyika, and also +was on the main slave-route to Zanzibar. +Before leaving Zanzibar, in the February +of 1866, Livingstone had arranged with +Dr. Kirk to send stores, medicine, letters, and +newspapers to await him at Ujiji, and now +he looked forward to news of his children, +and relief from sickness and pain. +</p> + +<p> +The journey was a terrible one; for +Livingstone grew worse and worse, till at +last he grew dazed with fever and pain, +and lost count of the days. Mohammed +saved his life by having him carried in a +hammock till they reached the west shore +of Tanganyika, and took canoe to Ujiji. +The voyage of eighteen days, and the hope +of his letters and medicine, revived him +greatly, and he landed at Ujiji with joy. +But the two men in charge of his stores +had sold nearly all of them for ivory and +slaves, and his medicines and mails had +been left at Unyanyembé, thirteen days +distant, while the road there was blocked +by a slave war. +</p> + +<p> +It was now March 1869, and he had not +seen a white man's face, or heard of his +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap09"></a></p> + +<h2> +CHAPTER IX +<br><br> +A DEATHBLOW TO SLAVERY +</h2> + +<p> +Livingstone at once wrote to Kirk +at Zanzibar for more stores to be sent +to Ujiji. At the same time he sent a letter +to the Sultan of Zanzibar, asking him for +fifteen trustworthy bearers to carry the +new supplies. Then, as soon as could be, +he collected the remnant of his plundered +things, and wrote his letters and accounts +of his doings. One or two letters reached +him here, but these were nearly three years +old; and very many of his own to his friends +never got even as far as the sea-coast. At +a single time he sent off a budget of forty-two +letters and scientific records, but none +were heard of again. +</p> + +<p> +The reason of this was only too plain. +Ujiji was like a den of villains and thieves. +All the worst of the slave-trading Arabs +gathered there on their way to and from +the coast. They knew that Livingstone +was against their trade, and they hated +him accordingly. Some, like Mohammed +Bogharib, had sense enough to see his +greatness, and to help him; but others, +though they dared nothing to his face, did +all they could behind his back to ruin his +work and thwart his plans. Wherever they +met him on his journeys, they would frighten, +bully, or bribe his bearers to make them +rebel. By telling the natives that +Livingstone was really a slaver and a spy, they +tried to make them refuse him food, guides, +and canoes. There can be little doubt that +they got hold of his messengers and +destroyed his letters. +</p> + +<p> +After a three months' rest at Ujiji, +Livingstone felt well enough to set out again. +Leaving orders for the new bearers from +Zanzibar to come after him, he started with +his old followers, and with the few stores +he had been able to get together. In July +1869 he crossed Lake Tanganyika by canoe; +then, striking to the north-west, he made +his way on foot to Kabambaré, in the +Manyema country. Here the River Luapula, +flowing from Lakes Bangweolo and Moero, +was known by the name of the Lualaba, +and Livingstone hoped to explore it. Would +the Lualaba prove to be the Nile or the +Congo? That was the question he wanted +to settle. +</p> + +<p> +At Kabambaré the chief was called Moenékoos, +a name meaning "Lord of the light-grey, +red-tailed parrot": and he proved so +friendly, that Livingstone rested in his village +for ten days. Then, starting again in +November, the explorer went westward, through +Manyema, till he reached the River Luama, +at a point ten miles from its junction with +the great Lualaba. +</p> + +<p> +The country through which they passed +was wonderful in its beauty. Tall palms +and forest timber crowded the valleys and +clothed the hillsides to the skyline. Giant +creepers, as thick as cables, were twisted +round the massive trunks, or hung from +limb to limb, and tree to tree, like the +rigging of a ship. Lilies, orchids, clematis, +and marigolds opened their rich colours to +the light and poured their scent into the +air; while all kinds of fruit clustered among +the leaves. Gaudy parrots and other +gay-feathered birds flashed about in the brilliant +heat, while tribes of monkeys ran up the +trunks, scampered along the branches, or +swung themselves on the rope-like creepers. +Sometimes a group of these would get +together in a tree-top, and there they would +chatter and grin about the news of the +day, and the latest fashions of the monkey +world. Sometimes they would jabber and +grimace more earnestly, as though about +monkey politics; and at times they lost +their tempers and pelted each other +with nuts and husks. Now and then +one of them, either from annoyance or +for sheer mischief, would take a shot at +the travellers. +</p> + +<p> +Villages were very frequent; and many of +the natives kept goats, sheep, and fowls, +and also had gardens of maize, bananas, +and sugar-cane. Others were helpless and +ignorant, even not knowing how to light a +fire by twirling a pointed stick round and +round inside a hole in a slab of wood. +</p> + +<p> +The natives were not very friendly, for +they believed that Livingstone was a slaver. +Some of them said they were cannibals, and +in order to frighten his bearers, showed +them the skull of a "soko" or gorilla, which +they had eaten. Livingstone found, however, +that they never ate men; but often +enticed a soko with a clump of bananas, +and then speared him for food. +</p> + +<p> +At the Luama, nothing could induce the +natives to let Livingstone have a canoe with +which to explore the Lualaba. He found +out afterwards that even his own bearers +tried to set the natives against him; for +this, they thought, would force him to give +up his journey and take them home. Indeed, +the ceaseless worry of these worthless +rascals did more to wear him out than all +the toils of the journey. +</p> + +<p> +Disappointed, but not beaten, Livingstone +returned to Kabambaré, and stayed there +for many months till the rainy season was +over. Then, in June 1870, he started with +only his three faithful followers, Susi, Chuma, +and Gardner, and again made the attempt +to explore the great river. But the natives, +made unfriendly by the Arabs, refused to +sell them food, and they soon grew ill and +exhausted. Tramping through thorns on +land, wading among sharp reeds and biting +leeches in the swamps, their feet were cut +and torn, and their wounds refused to heal. +There was nothing to be done but to return +to Kabambaré: and this they did, reaching +it so worn out and lamed, that they took +three months to recover. +</p> + +<p> +Livingstone was on the point of setting +out a third time for the Lualaba, when he +heard that his new bearers from Zanzibar +were on their way towards him. He waited +for them a long while, in the hope of letters, +medicines, and stores, but his time and his +hope were wasted. On 4th February 1871, +ten worthless slaves came up with only one +letter. Dozens of Livingstone's letters had +been lost or destroyed, and their headman, +Shereef, had stayed behind at Ujiji, spending +all Livingstone's stores. +</p> + +<p> +In less than a week the new bearers +rebelled, and it took all Livingstone's powers +to make them go forward. But in the end +patience and extra wages persuaded them +to go on, and at last Livingstone reached +Nyangwé, on the Lualaba, on 29th March +1871. Here again the Arab slavers prevented +him from getting canoes, so he could go no +farther down the stream. But he heard +that the Lualaba bore round so much to +the westward, that he now thought it might +prove to be the Congo. +</p> + +<p> +While Livingstone was thinking what +next he should do, there happened before +his eyes a thing so utterly cruel, that it +swept all else from his mind. He was +walking in the native market, on the river +bank at Nyangwé, watching the people +exchanging their wares. The natives from +the other shore came over in canoes every +day to join in the marketing, and that +morning about 1500 of them, mostly women, +were present. +</p> + +<p> +As Livingstone was moving away to his +hut, he noticed that many of the Arabs +were about with their rifles; and presently +he heard shots in the market behind him. +Turning sharply round, he saw that the +Arabs were firing into the middle of the +helpless crowd, who fled shrieking to their +canoes. These were all jammed together +in a small creek, and the natives struggled +and fell over each other in the effort to +get them out. +</p> + +<p> +Then a large party of Arabs, concealed +near the creek, shot into the huddled +mass, and the slaughter became terrible. +Hundreds plunged into the river, and +struck out for the other bank, while the +murderers fired at them in the water. +Some of the canoes were launched, and +their crews escaped; others were +overloaded and upset. Many of the swimmers +were picked up by their friends, but a +large number were overcome by the strong +current and sank. In all, about three or +four hundred perished. One Arab took +a canoe, and picked up some of the +survivors, but the sight of Livingstone made +him ashamed, and he gave them up to his +care. Livingstone managed to save more +than thirty, and he kept them safe till he +was able to return them to their people. +While the massacre was going on, the +slaves from the Arab camp carried off all +that had been left by the natives in the +terror and tumult of their flight. +</p> + +<p> +Livingstone at once made up his mind to +return to Ujiji, and to send a report of this +wicked outrage to England. He felt sure +that his countrymen would now come to +the rescue of this unhappy land, and he +was right. His report of the massacre on +the Lualaba was the deathblow to slavery +in Central Africa, for it roused the whole +English people. The British Government +at once set to work, and, with the help of +other nations, the slave trade was slowly +but surely ended. +</p> + +<p> +The tramp to Ujiji was full of hardship +and danger. Livingstone was very ill, and +in pain every step of the way, but the love +of his duty carried him on. The cowardly +Arab slavers knew his intention; and, though +they dared not touch him themselves, they +tried to persuade the tribes on his path to +murder him. But most of the natives had +now seen for themselves that Livingstone +was not a slaver, and they answered that +he was "the good one," and they would not +kill him. Some of them, however, laid in +ambush, and threw spears at him as he +passed. He had several narrow escapes, +and in one day a spear grazed his neck and +another missed him by only a few inches. +</p> + +<p> +At last, after trudging more than 500 +miles in three months of daily suffering and +risk, he crossed Tanganyika, and reached +Ujiji at the end of October. He was worn +out and at death's door, and now he found +he was beggared. Shereef had made away +with all his stores, and not an atom was left. +</p> + +<p> +In this terrible need a friend came to him +as suddenly as though dropped from the +clouds. One day his followers heard that +a white man was coming into Ujiji, and +they rushed at once to tell their master. +Livingstone went out to meet the stranger, +and found, to his surprise, that a young +journalist, H. M. Stanley, was coming to +his relief, with a large caravan of stores. +</p> + +<p> +Livingstone's work against the slave trade +had made him so much liked in America, +that an American, J. Gordon Bennet, had +sent Stanley to find the great explorer, +whom everybody thought to be lost. +</p> + +<p> +This kind and generous act from another +nation than his own, touched Livingstone +very much, and he and Stanley became fast +friends. Livingstone in return told all he +knew about Africa, and Stanley was always +grateful for this help when it became his +turn to be a great explorer. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap10"></a></p> + +<h2> +CHAPTER X +<br><br> +THE LAST JOURNEY +</h2> + +<p> +While Livingstone and Stanley were +together, they made a short journey +to the north end of Tanganyika. They +wanted to see if any river ran out of +the lake towards the Nile; they found +that a river, the Rusizi, flowed into the +lake instead. Had they now crossed the +Rusizi, and gone northwards, they would +probably have settled the question of the +Nile in a few months. But Stanley had +to return, and Livingstone went with +him. +</p> + +<p> +Four months with Livingstone made +Stanley as keen an explorer as his new +friend. On their way back they talked +much about the sources of the great rivers, +and they both thought that the Lualaba +might still run into the Nile. Had they +only known it, Livingstone had already +discovered enough to prove this quite +impossible. At Nyangwé he had measured the +height of the Lualaba above the sea-level, +and had sent the measurements to +England. Other people had sent measurements +of the Nile as far as its course was +known. Geographers at once saw from +these that the Lualaba could never reach +the Nile without running uphill. The +Royal Geographical Society at once wrote +this to Livingstone, and told him the +Lualaba must be the Congo. But he never +received the letter. +</p> + +<p> +Stanley now tried to persuade his companion +to go with him to England, but in +vain. Livingstone had promised his friends +at home to find the sources of the Nile, +and he would not give up his promise. +However, he returned with Stanley as far +as Unyanyembé; for here he expected to +find some stores from the British +Government, who now also promised him a salary +and a pension. +</p> + +<p> +On their arrival they found that, as usual, +the stores had been plundered and sold. +Then Stanley, like a true comrade, shared +all his supplies and spare clothes with +Livingstone; and he also promised to try +and find him fifty honest bearers in +Zanzibar. On 14th March 1872 they parted +in much sorrow, for they had grown to +like each other greatly. +</p> + +<p> +Livingstone waited at Unyanyembé till +the end of August, when fifty-seven new +bearers, chosen by Stanley, came up with +supplies from Zanzibar. They were honest +and faithful men; and, with them to help +him, Livingstone started in good spirits +for his last journey. He hoped to pass +round the south of Lake Bangweolo, then +westward of Lake Moero to the Lualaba; +and then he would try and reach the +Nile. +</p> + +<p> +In six weeks they were at the south end +of Tanganyika; and before January 1873 +they had crossed the valley of the +Chambezé, a river which runs into Bangweolo. +They then worked round the south of that +lake; but the rainy season broke early that +year, and brought with it the usual floods +and fever. +</p> + +<p> +Livingstone was sixty years old, and the +toil and suffering of the last seven years +now told upon him terribly. He again fell +very ill, and daily grew weaker. His faithful +bearers, who loved him like a father, did all +they could to take care of him, and carried +him through mile after mile of marsh +and flood. If these fine fellows had been +with him six years ago, his work would +long have been done. At times he began +to think that he would not finish his task. +"I shall never be able to play," he wrote +to a friend who was resting after a life of +hard work. +</p> + +<p> +Day after day, in the pitiless rain, they +toiled over the swamp-land, splashed +through the flood, and forded swollen +streams, sometimes up to the neck, with +their burdens on their heads. A stretch of +hard ground was a rarity, while food grew +scarcer and scarcer, and fever got worse +and worse. The bearers made a kitanda, +or stretcher slung on a pole, for they +saw that their Bwana (their master) was +no longer able to sit up. There was no +proper food for a sick man—for milk, the +one thing most needed, was not to be +had. +</p> + +<p> +For four days Livingstone was too weak +to write in his diary anything but the date. +Then, on April 27th, he feebly scrawled, +"Knocked up quite, and remain +... recover..... Sent to buy milch goats." He +still had pluck and hope of recovery, +but his men had only grief. They scoured +the country for miles around, but they +could not get a single goat. +</p> + +<p> +They saw the end must now come, and +they pushed onward to higher ground, +reaching the village of a chief called +Chitambo on April 29th. Here their +quick and skilful hands in a few hours +built him a hut, and they laid him, in +great pain, on a bed made of boughs +and dried grass, covered with blankets. +Susi tended him all next day, and at +nightfall Majwara kept watch outside his +master's door. In the dead of night +Majwara came calling, "Come to Bwana, Susi, +I am afraid." +</p> + +<p> +Susi and some others crept reverently +into the hut; and, by the flickering light +of a candle, they saw the saviour of +Central Africa dead on his knees at the +bedside, with his hands to his face on the +pillow. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-112"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-112.jpg" alt="They saw him dead on his knees"> +<br> +They saw him dead on his knees +</p> + +<p> +It is a brave thing to die for one's +fellow-men; it is also brave, and often far +harder, to live for them. Livingstone did +both. Indeed, the humble Blantyre +mill-boy had done the noblest and highest +thing that man can do; he had given his +whole life to help God's less happy creatures. +And this he had done, not for money nor +for fame, but out of love for God and +man. +</p> + +<p> +In the grey dawn of May 1st, his faithful +followers clustered round the camp fire +to take counsel. They talked of their +beloved Bwana, the master who never struck +his bearers, and who nursed them like his +own children when they fell sick. Had he +not come from the far land of the great +Queen, not to make slaves, like the +Portuguese, but to set men free? Yes, he was +a great white chief, and he must go home +to the tombs of his fathers: that was +certain, and they would see to it, or die. +He had given some of his wisdom to +Susi and Chuma, and they would be head-men. +</p> + +<p> +Then Susi and Chuma made their plans. +With reverent care they counted and +packed all their master's things, and +carried his body to an open spot near +the village. Here some of them built a +new hut, open to the sun, and began to +embalm the body; while others made a +stout wooden stockade around it. Outside +all they built a circle of huts for +themselves, and, night and day, they kept watch +till the embalming was done. +</p> + +<p> +They buried his heart beneath a large +mvula-tree, and put up two posts and a +cross-bar to mark the spot. A day of +mourning was held, and all Chitambo's +people, as is their custom, came with bows +and spears; while the bearers fired volleys +with their rifles. At last the body was +wrapped, like a mummy, in bark and +sailcloth, and lashed to a pole; and so +the return journey was begun. +</p> + +<p> +No praise is too high for the pluck and +hardihood of this little band of faithful +men. Once more they faced all the old +risks and hardships of floods, fever, and +want of food. They crossed the Luapula, +and made for the south end of Tanganyika. +Their great fear was about the +ignorant fancies of the natives, who dislike +a dead body passing through their villages. +Often they had to pay toll, and once they +were forced to fight. They came to a tribe +of natives who had a large stockade, and +also two villages close at hand. The +people in the stockade had been drinking +palm-wine, and the son of their chief was +drunk. The chief might have proved +friendly, but his son refused to let the +travellers pass. He quickly forced on a +quarrel, and his men began to shoot +arrows. +</p> + +<p> +Then Susi's party cleared the stockade +of natives, and put their precious +burden in one of the huts inside. Then, +rifles in hand, they stormed the two +villages, burning the huts and driving the +people to their canoes. After this they lived +on their spoil for a week in the stockade, +till its owners came to make peace. +</p> + +<p> +When they reached Unyanyembé, they +met an expedition sent from England to +search for Livingstone; and they learnt +that another relief party had started up +the Congo from the west coast. The +officer at Unyanyembé wanted to bury the +body at once. Susi and his men, however, +stoutly refused to give up their purpose. +</p> + +<p> +So the faithful band went on their work +of love; and, after nine months on foot, +reached the sea-coast at Bagamoyo, in +February 1874. Here these black men +of honour and ability handed over their +master's body to the British Consul. All +his property, too, was there, down to the +last button. +</p> + +<p> +Their task was done, and, with sad +faces and heavy hearts, they were sent +away. +</p> + +<p> +Livingstone's body was carried to its +grave in Westminster Abbey on 18th April +1874, by Oswell, Kirk, Young, Stanley, and +others of his old friends. But the work of +his noble spirit was not ended. All men +hastened to do him honour, and many now +began to do his bidding. He had once +said that, if he could only bring about the +end of the slave trade, he would count it +"a far greater feat than the discovery of +all the sources together." +</p> + +<p> +The dirge over his grave acted on his +country like a bugle-call to Africa. Other +brave men pressed forward to carry on the +work that the unselfish Scotch peasant lad +had begun; and now slavery in Africa is +all but ended. Livingstone sawed through +the first slave-stick in the Shiré Valley: +Gordon, Kitchener, Macdonald, and Wingate +broke up the last strongholds of +slavery on the Nile. +</p> + +<p> +Livingstone just missed the Nile, but he +found the source of the Congo, the third +great river of the world. Stanley finished +most of the pioneering that was left. +</p> + +<p> +There is now a good road past the +Murchison Cataracts, while Lake Nyassa +floats two British gunboats and a fleet of +trading steamers. The Universities' +Mission, too, have their own steamer on the +lake; and others missions also are hard +at work on Livingstone's plans. Lake +Tanganyika is joined by a road to Nyassa, +and will soon be reached by railway from +the Victoria Falls. +</p> + +<p> +Besides this, the nations of Europe have +divided Africa amongst themselves. We +English have taken the land of about +thirty million blacks into our charge, and +we are trying to govern them justly. +Livingstone also wanted us to teach them +how to make the best use of their lives; +and he proved that gentleness and justice +could make noble men, like Susi and his +faithful band. If we do this duty to the +Africans, they will stand by us when we +need them; and children who want to +have a British Empire in their old age +will do well to think about this. +</p> + +<p> +There are black men still in Africa +whose faces light up with joy at +Livingstone's name. They will answer and ask +questions, in their quaint way, about the +great man whom they called the Wise +Heart and Healer of Men. "Yes, we +loved him, and we served him too. Was +he not our Bwana, who never struck his +bearers? Of course we sent him back to +the great White Queen. Did she not send +him to Africa, not to get ivory and gold +and slaves, like the Arabs and +Portuguese, but to give a good message of +wisdom, and to set men free? Have you +many like him in your land? Ah, but his +heart is still in Africa, under the +mvula-tree at Chitambo's." +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> +THE END +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="t4"> + Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & Co.<br> + Edinburgh & London<br> +</p> + +<p><br><br><br><br></p> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78151 ***</div> +</body> + +</html> + diff --git a/78151-h/images/img-020.jpg b/78151-h/images/img-020.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9954795 --- /dev/null +++ b/78151-h/images/img-020.jpg diff --git a/78151-h/images/img-024.jpg b/78151-h/images/img-024.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..36f6765 --- /dev/null +++ b/78151-h/images/img-024.jpg diff --git a/78151-h/images/img-046.jpg b/78151-h/images/img-046.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3bb6018 --- /dev/null +++ b/78151-h/images/img-046.jpg diff --git a/78151-h/images/img-064.jpg b/78151-h/images/img-064.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9fd9585 --- /dev/null +++ b/78151-h/images/img-064.jpg diff --git a/78151-h/images/img-076.jpg b/78151-h/images/img-076.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..774c894 --- /dev/null +++ b/78151-h/images/img-076.jpg diff --git a/78151-h/images/img-088.jpg b/78151-h/images/img-088.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3fcce49 --- /dev/null +++ b/78151-h/images/img-088.jpg diff --git a/78151-h/images/img-112.jpg b/78151-h/images/img-112.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..61373e3 --- /dev/null +++ b/78151-h/images/img-112.jpg diff --git a/78151-h/images/img-cover.jpg b/78151-h/images/img-cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7451fee --- /dev/null +++ b/78151-h/images/img-cover.jpg diff --git a/78151-h/images/img-front.jpg b/78151-h/images/img-front.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d1ecf7f --- /dev/null +++ b/78151-h/images/img-front.jpg diff --git a/78151-h/images/img-map.jpg b/78151-h/images/img-map.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cde4f58 --- /dev/null +++ b/78151-h/images/img-map.jpg |
