Another evidence of the place of his children in his thoughts is found in the following lines in his Journal:
"20th June, 1859.--I cannot and will not attribute any of the public attention which has been awakened to my own wisdom or ability. The great Power being my Helper, I shall always say that my success is all owing to his favor. I have been the channel of the Divine Power, and I pray that his gracious influence may penetrate me so that all may turn to the advancement of his gracious reign in this fallen world."Oh, may the mild influence of the Eternal Spirit enter the bosoms of my children, penetrate their souls, and diffuse through their whole natures the everlasting love of God in Jesus Christ! Holy, gracious, almighty Power, I hide myself in Thee through Thy almighty Son. Take my children under Thy care. Purify them and fit them for Thy service. Let the beams of the Sun of Righteousness produce spring, summer, and harvest in them for Thee."
The short trip from Kongone to Tette and back was marked by some changes in the composition of the party. The Kroomen being found to be useless, were shipped on board a man-of-war. The services of two members of the Expedition were also dispensed with, as they were not found to be promoting its ends. Livingstone would not pay the public money to men who, he believed, were not thoroughly earning it. To these troubles was added the constantly increasing mortification arising from the state of the ship.
It has sometimes been represented, in view of such facts as have just been recorded, that Livingstone was imperious and despotic in the management of other men, otherwise he and his comrades would have got on better together. The accusation, even at first sight, has an air of improbability, for Livingstone's nature was most kindly, and it was the aim of his life to increase enjoyment. In explanation of the friction on board his ship it must be remembered that his party were a sort of scratch crew brought together without previous acquaintance or knowledge of each other's ways; that the heat and the mosquitoes, the delays, the stoppages on sandbanks, the perpetual struggle for fuel[59], the monotony of existence, with so little to break it, and the irritating influence of the climate, did not tend to smooth their tempers or increase the amenities of life. The malarious climate had a most disturbing effect. No one, it is said, who has not experienced it, could imagine the sensation of misery connected with the feverish attacks so common in the low districts. And Livingstone had difficulties in managing his countrymen he had not in managing the natives. He was so conscientious, so deeply in earnest, so hard a worker himself, that he could endure nothing that seemed like playing or trifling with duty. Sometimes, too, things were harshly represented to him, on which a milder construction might have been put. One of those with whom he parted at this time afterward rejoined the Expedition, his pay being restored on Livingstone's intercession. Those who continued to enjoy his friendship were never weary of speaking of his delightful qualities as a companion in travel, and the warm sunshine which he had the knack of spreading around.
[59]This was incredible. Livingstone wrote to his friend José Nunes that it took all hands a day and a half to cut one day's fuel.
A third trip up the Shiré was made in August, and on the 16th of September Lake Nyassa was discovered. Livingstone had no doubt that he and his party were the discoverers; Dr. Roscher, on whose behalf a claim was subsequently made, was two months later, and his unfortunate murder by the natives made it doubtful at what point he reached the lake. The discovery of Lake Nyassa, as well as Lake Shirwa, was of immense importance, because they were both parallel to the ocean, and the whole traffic of the regions beyond must pass by this line. The configuration of the Shiré Valley, too, was favorable to colonization. The valley occupied three different levels. First there was a plain on the level of the river, like that of the Nile, close and hot. Rising above this to the east there was another plain, 2000 feet high, three or four miles broad, salubrious and pleasant. Lastly, there was a third plain 3000 feet above the second, positively cold. To find such varieties of climate within a few miles of each other was most interesting.
In other respects the region opened up was remarkable. There was a great amount of fertile land, and the products were almost endless. The people were industrious; in the Upper Shiré, notwithstanding a great love of beer, they lived usually to a great age. Cleanliness was not a universal virtue; the only way in which the Expedition could get rid of a troublesome follower was by threatening to wash him. The most disagreeable thing in the appearance of the women was their lip-ornament, consisting of a ring of ivory or tin, either hollow or made into a cup, inserted in the upper lip. Dr. Livingstone used to give full particulars of this fearful practice, having the idea that the taste of ladies at home in dress and ornament was not free from similar absurdity; or, as he wrote at this time to the Royal Geographical Society of Vienna, in acknowledging the honor of being made a corresponding member, "because our own ladies, who show so much virtuous perseverance with their waists, may wish to try lip-ornament too." In regard to the other sex, he informed the same Society: "I could see nothing encouraging for the gentlemen who are anxious to prove that we are all descended from a race that wore tails."
In the highland regions of the Shiré Valley, the party were distinctly conscious of an increase of energy, from the more bracing climate. Dr. Livingstone was thoroughly convinced that these highlands of the Shiré Valley were the proper locality for commercial and missionary stations. Thus one great object of the Expedition was accomplished. In another point of view, this locality would be highly serviceable for stations. It was the great pathway for conveying slaves from the north and northwest to Zanzibar. Of this he had only too clear evidence in the gangs of slaves whom he saw marched along from time to time, and whom he would have been most eager to release had he known of any way of preventing them from falling again into the hands of the slave-sellers. In this region Englishmen "might enjoy good health, and also be of signal benefit, by leading the multitude of industrious inhabitants to cultivate cotton, maize, sugar, and other valuable produce, to exchange for goods of European manufacture, at the same time teaching them, by precept and example, the great truths of our holy religion." Water-carriage existed all the way from England, with the exception of the Murchison Cataracts, along which a road of forty miles might easily be made. A small steamer on the lake would do more good in suppressing the slave-trade than half-a-dozen men-of-war in the ocean. If the Zambesi could be opened to commerce the bright vision of the last ten years would be realized, and the Shiré Valley and banks of the Nyassa transformed into the garden of the Lord.
From the very first Livingstone saw the importance of the Shiré Valley and Lake Nyassa as the key to Central Africa. Ever since, it has become more and more evident that his surmise was correct. To make the occupation thoroughly effective, he thought much of the desirableness of a British colony, and was prepared to expend a great part of the remainder of his private means to carry it into effect. On August 4th, he says in his Journal:
"I have a very strong desire to commence a system of colonization of the honest poor; I would give £2000 or £3000 for the purpose. Intend to write my friend Young about it, and authorize him to draw if the project seems feasible. The Lord remember my desire, sanctify my motives, and purify all my desires. Wrote him."Colonization from a country such as ours ought to be one of hope, and not of despair. It ought not to be looked upon as the last and worst shift that a family can come to, but the performance of an imperative duty to our blood, our country, our religion, and to humankind. As soon as children begin to be felt an incumbrance, and what was properly in ancient times Old Testament blessings are no longer welcomed, parents ought to provide for removal to parts of this wide world where every accession is an addition of strength, and every member of the household feels in his inmost heart, 'the more the merrier.' It is a monstrous evil that all our healthy, handy, blooming daughters of England have not a fair chance at least to become the centres of domestic affections. The state of society, which precludes so many of them from occupying the position which Englishwomen are so well calculated to adorn, gives rise to enormous evils in the opposite sex,--evils and wrongs which we dare not even name,--and national colonization is almost the only remedy. Englishwomen are, in general, the most beautiful in the world, and yet our national emigration has often, by selecting the female emigrants from workhouses, sent forth the ugliest huzzies in creation to be the mothers--the model mothers--of new empires. Here, as in other cases, State necessities have led to the ill-formed and ill-informed being preferred to the well-formed and well-inclined honest poor, as if the worst as well as better qualities of mankind did not often run in the blood."
The idea of the colony quite fascinated Livingstone, and we find him writing on it fully to three of his most confidential business friends--Mr. Maclear, Mr. Young, and Sir Roderick Murchison. In all Livingstone's correspondence we find the tone of his letters modified by the character of his correspondents. While to Mr. Young and Sir Roderick he is somewhat cautious on the subject of the colony, knowing the keen practical eye they would direct on the proposal, to Mr. Maclear he is more gushing. He writes to him:
"I feel such a gush of emotion on thinking of the great work before us that I must unburden my mind. I am becoming every day more decidedly convinced that English colonization is an essential ingredient for our large success.... In this new region of Highlands no end of good could be effected in developing the trade in cotton and in discouraging that in slaves.... You know how I have been led on from one step to another by the overruling Providence of the great Parent, as I believe, in order to a great good for Africa. 'Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass.' I have tried to do this, and now see the prospect in front spreading out grandly.... But how is the land so promising to be occupied?... How many of our home poor are fighting hard to keep body and soul together! My heart yearns over our own poor when I see so much of God's fair earth unoccupied. Here it is really so; for the people have only a few sheep and goats, and no cattle. I wonder why we cannot have the old monastery system without the celibacy. In no other part where I have been does the prospect of self-support seem so inviting, and promising so much influence. Most of what is done for the poor has especial reference to the blackguard poor."
In his letter to Mr. Young he expressed his conviction that a great desideratum in mission agency was missionary emigration by honest Christian poor to give living examples of Christian life that would insure permanency to the gospel once planted. He had always had a warm side to the English and Scottish poor--his own order, indeed. If twenty or thirty families would come out as an experiment, he was ready to give £2000 without saying from whom. He bids Mr. Young speak about the plan to Thorn of Chorley, Turner of Manchester, Lord Shaftesbury, and the Duke of Argyll. "Now, my friend," he adds, "do your best, and God's blessing be with you. Much is done for the blackguard poor. Let us remember our own class, and do good while we have opportunity. I hereby authorize you to act in my behalf, and do whatever is to be done without hesitancy."
These letters, and their references to the honest poor, are characteristic. We have seen that among Dr. Livingstone's forefathers and connections were some very noble specimens of the honest poor. It touched him to think that, with all their worth, their life had been one protracted struggle. His sympathies were cordially with the class. He desired with all his heart to see them with a little less of the burden and more of the comfort of life. And he believed very thoroughly that, as Christian settlers in a heathen country, they might do more to promote Christianity among the natives than solitary missionaries could accomplish.
His parents and sisters were not forgotten. His letters to home are again somewhat in the apologetic vein. He feels that some explanation must be given of his own work, and some vindication of his coadjutors:
"We are working hard," he writes to his mother, "at what some can see at a glance the importance of, while to others we appear following after the glory of discovering lakes, mountains, jenny-nettles, and puddock-stools. In reference to these people I always remember a story told me by the late Dr. Philip with great glee. When a young minister in Aberdeen, he visited an old woman in affliction, and began to talk very fair to her on the duty of resignation, trusting, hoping, and all the rest of it, when the old woman looked up into his face, and said, 'Peer thing, ye ken naething aboot it.' This is what I say to those who set themselves up to judge another man's servant. We hope our good Master may permit us to do some good to our fellow-men."
His correspondence with Sir Roderick Murchison is likewise full of the idea of the colony. He is thoroughly persuaded that no good will ever be done by the Portuguese. They are a worn-out people--utterly worn out by disease--their stamina consumed. Fresh European blood must be poured into Africa. In consequence of recent discoveries, he now sees his way open, and all his hopes of benefit to England and Africa about to be realized. This must have been one of Livingstone's happiest times. Visions of Christian colonies, of the spread of arts and civilization, of the progress of Christianity and the Christian graces, of the cultivation of cotton and the disappearance of the slave-trade, floated before him. Already the wilderness seemed to be blossoming. But the bright consummation was not so near as it seemed. One source of mischief was yet unchecked, and from it disastrous storms were preparing to break on the enterprise.
On his way home, Dr. Livingstone's health was not satisfactory, but this did not keep him from duty. "14th October>.--Went on 17th part way up to Murchison's Cataracts, and yesterday reached it. Very ill with bleeding from the bowels and purging. Bled all night. Got up at one A.M. to take latitude."
At length, on 4th November, 1859, letters reached him from his family. "A letter from Mrs. L. says we were blessed with a little daughter on 16th November, 1858, at Kuruman. A fine healthy child. The Lord bless and make her his own child in heart and life!" She had been nearly a year in the world before he heard of her existence.
A.D. 1860.
A.D. 1860.
Down to Kongone--State of the ship--Further delay--Letter to Secretary of Universities Mission--Letter to Mr. Braithwaite--At Tette--Miss Whately's sugar-mill--With his brother and Kirk at Kebrabasa--Mode of traveling--Reappearence of old friends--African warfare and its effects--Desolation--A European colony desirable--Escape from rhinoceros--Rumors of Moffat--The Portuguese local Governors oppose Livingstone--He becomes unpopular with them--Letter to Mr. Young--Wants of the country--The Makololo--Approach home--Some are disappointed--News of the death of the London missionaries, the Helmores and others--Letter to Dr. Moffat--The Victoria Falls re-examined--Sekelétu ill of leprosy--Treatment and recovery--His disappointment at not seeing Mrs. Livingstone--Efforts for the spiritual good of the Makololo--Careful observations in Natural History--The last of the "Ma-Robert"--Cheering prospect of the Universities Mission--Letter to Mr. Moore--to Mr. Young--He wishes another ship--Letter to Sir Roderick Murchison on the rumored journey of Silva Porto.
It was necessary to go down to Kongone for the repair of the ship. Livingstone was greatly disappointed with it, and thought the greed of the vendor had supplied him with a very inferior article for the price of a good one. He thus pours forth his vexation in writing to a friend: "Very grievous it is to be standing here tinkering when we might be doing good service to the cause of African civilization, and that on account of insatiable greediness. Burton may thank L. and B. that we are not at the other lakes before him. The loss of time greediness has inflicted on us has been frightful. My plan in this Expedition was excellent, but it did not include provisions against hypocrisy and fraud, which have sorely crippled us, and, indeed, ruined us, as a scientific Expedition."
Another delay was caused before they went inward, from their having to wait for a season suitable for hunting, as the party had to be kept in food. The mail from England had been lost, and they had the bitter disappointment of losing a year's correspondence from home. The following portions of a letter to the Secretary of the Committee for a Universities Mission gives a view of the situation at this time:
"RIVER ZAMBESI, 26th Jan., 1860."The defects we have unfortunately experienced in the 'Ma-Robert,' or rather the 'Asthmatic,' are so numerous that it would require a treatise as long as a lawyer's specification of any simple subject to give you any idea of them, and they have inflicted so much toil that a feeling of sickness comes over me when I advert to them."No one will ever believe the toil we have been put to in woodcutting. The quantity consumed is enormous, and we cannot get sufficient for speed into the furnace. It was only a dogged determination not to be beaten that carried me through.... But all will come out right at last. We are not alone, though truly we deserve not his presence. He encourages the trust that is granted by the word, 'I am with you, even unto the end of the world.'..."It is impossible for you to conceive how backward everything is here, and the Portuguese are not to be depended upon; their establishments are only small penal settlements, and as no women are sent out, the state of morals is frightful. The only chance of success is away from them; nothing would prosper in their vicinity. After all, I am convinced that were Christianity not divine, it would be trampled out by its professors. Dr. Kirk, Mr. C. Livingstone, and Mr. Rae, with two English seamen, do well. We are now on our way up the river to the Makololo country, but must go overland from Kebrabasa, or in a whaler. We should be better able to plan our course if our letters had not been lost. We have never been idle, and do not mean to be. We have been trying to get the Portuguese Government to acknowledge free-trade on this river, and but for long delay in our letters the negotiation might have been far advanced. I hope Lord John Russell will help in this matter, and then we must have a small colony or missionary and mercantile settlement. If this our desire is granted, it is probable we shall have no cause to lament our long toil and detention here. My wife's letters, too, were lost, so I don't know how or where she is. Our separation, and the work I have been engaged in, were not contemplated, but they have led to our opening a path into the fine cotton-field in the North. You will see that the discoveries of Burton and Speke confirm mine respecting the form of the continent and its fertility. It is an immense field. I crave the honor of establishing a focus of Christianity in it, but should it not be granted, I will submit as most unworthy. I have written Mr. Venn twice, and from yours I see something is contemplated in Cambridge.... If young men come to this country, they must lay their account with doing everything for themselves. They must not expect to find influence at once, and all the countries near to the Portuguese have been greatly depopulated. We are now ascending this river without vegetables, and living on salt beef and pork. The slave-trade has done its work, for formerly all kinds of provisions could be procured at every point, and at the cheapest rate. We cannot get anything for either love or money, in a country the fertility of which is truly astonishing.
A few more general topics are touched on in a letter to Mr. Braithwaite:
"I am sorry to hear of the death of Mr. Sturge. He wrote me a long letter on the 'Peace principle,' and before I could study it carefully, it was mislaid. I wrote him from Tette, as I did not wish him to suppose I neglected him, and mentioned the murder of the six Makololo and other things, as difficulties in the way of adopting his views, as they were perfectly unarmed, and there was no feud between the tribes. I fear that my letter may not have reached him alive. The departure of Sir Fowell Buxton and others is very unexpected. Sorry to see the loss of Dr. Bowen, of Sierra Leone--a good man and a true. But there is One who ever liveth to make intercession for us, and to carry on his own work. A terrible war that was in Italy, and the peace engenders more uneasy forebodings than any peace ever heard of. It is well that God and not the devil reigns, and will bring his own purposes to pass, right through the midst of the wars and passions of men. Have you any knowledge of a famous despatch written by Sir George Grey (late of the Cape), on the proper treatment of native tribes? I wish to study it."Tell your children that if I could get hold of a hippopotamus I would eat it rather than allow it to eat me. We see them often, but before we get near enough to get a shot they dive down, and remain hidden till we are past. As for lions, we never see them, sometimes hear a roar or two, but that is all, and I go on the plan put forth by a little girl in Scotland who saw a cow coming to her in a meadow, 'O boo! boo! you no hurt me, I no hurt you.'"
"Tell your children that if I could get hold of a hippopotamus I would eat it rather than allow it to eat me. We see them often, but before we get near enough to get a shot they dive down, and remain hidden till we are past. As for lions, we never see them, sometimes hear a roar or two, but that is all, and I go on the plan put forth by a little girl in Scotland who saw a cow coming to her in a meadow, 'O boo! boo! you no hurt me, I no hurt you.'"
At Tette one of his occupations was to fit up a sugar-mill, the gift of Miss Whately, of Dublin, and some friends. To that lady he writes a long letter of nineteen pages. He tells her he had just put up her beautiful sugar-mill, to show the natives what could be done by machinery. Then he adverts to the wonderful freedom from sickness that his party had enjoyed in the delta of the Zambesi, and proceeds to give an account of the Shiré Valley and its people. He finds ground for a favorable contrast between the Shiré natives and the Tette Portuguese:
"They (the natives) have fences made to guard the women from the alligators, all along the Shiré: at Tette they have none, and two women were taken past our vessel in the mouths of these horrid brutes. The number of women taken is so great as to make the Portuguese swear every time they speak of them, and yet, when I proposed to the priest to make a collection for a fence, and offered twenty dollars, he only smiled. You Protestants don't know all the good you do by keeping our friends of the only true and infallible Church up to their duty. Here, and in Angola, we see how it is, when they are not provoked--if not to love, to good works...."On telling the Makololo that the sugar-mill had been sent to Sekelétu by a lady, who collected a sum among other ladies to buy it, they replied, 'O na le pelu'--she has a heart. I was very proud of it, and so were they."... With reference to the future, I am trying to do what I did before--obey the injunction, 'Commit thy way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.' And I hope that He will make some use of me. My attention is now directed specially to the fact that there is no country better adapted for producing the raw materials of English manufactures than this...."See to what a length I have run. I have become palaverist. I beg you to present my respectful salutation to the Archbishop and Mrs. Whately, and should you meet any of the kind contributors, say how thankful I am to them all."
From Tette he writes to Sir Roderick Murchison, 7th February, 1860, urging his plan for a steamer on Lake Nyassa: "If Government furnishes the means, all right; if not, I shall spend my book-money on it. I don't need to touch the children's fund, and mine could not be better spent. People who are born rich sometimes become miserable from a fear of becoming poor; but I have the advantage, you see, in not being afraid to die poor. If I live, I must succeed in what I have undertaken; death alone will put a stop to my efforts."
A month after he writes to the same friend, from Kongone, 10th March, 1860, that he is sending Rae home for a vessel:
"I tell Lord John Russell that he (Rae) may thereby do us more service than he can now do in a worn-out steamer, with 35 patches, covering at least 100 holes. I say to his Lordship, that after we have, by patient investigation and experiment, at the risk of life, rendered the fever not more formidable than a common cold; found access, from a good harbor on the coast, to the main stream; and discovered a pathway into the magnificent Highland lake region, which promises so fairly for our commerce in cotton, and for our policy in suppressing the trade in slaves, I earnestly hope that he will crown our efforts by securing our free passage through those parts of the Zambesi and Shiré of which the Portuguese make no use, and by enabling us to introduce civilization in a manner which will extend the honor and influence of the English name."
In his communications with the Government at home, Livingstone never failed to urge the importance of their securing the free navigation of the Zambesi. The Portuguese on the river were now beginning to get an inkling of his drift, and to feel indignant at any countenance he was receiving from their own Government.
Passing up the Zambesi with Charles Livingstone, Dr. Kirk, and such of the Makololo as were willing to go home, Dr. Livingstone took a new look at Kebrabasa, from a different point, still believing that in flood it would allow a steamer to pass. Of his mode of traveling we have some pleasant glimpses. He always tried to make progress more a pleasure than a toil, and found that kindly consideration for the feelings even of blacks, the pleasure of observing scenery and everything new, as one moves on at an ordinary pace, and the participation in the most delightful rest with his fellows, made traveling delightful. He was gratified to find that he was as able for the fatigue as the natives. Even the headman, who carried little more than he did himself, and never, like him, hunted in the afternoon, was not equal to him. The hunting was no small addition to the toil; the tired hunter was often tempted to give it up, after bringing what would have been only sufficient for the three whites, and leave the rest, thus sending "the idle, ungrateful poor" supperless to bed. But this was not his way. The blacks were thought of in hunting as well as the whites. "It is only by continuance in well-doing," he says, "even to the length of what the worldly-wise call weakness, that the conviction is produced anywhere, that our motives are high enough to secure sincere respect."
As they proceeded, some of his old acquaintances reappeared, notably Mpende, who had given him such a threatening reception, but had now learned that he belonged to a tribe "that loved the black man and did not make slaves." A chief named Pangola appeared, at first tipsy and talkative, demanding a rifle, and next morning, just as they were beginning divine service, reappeared sober to press his request. Among the Baenda-Pezi, or Go-Nakeds, whose only clothing is a coat of red ochre, a noble specimen of the race appeared in full dress, consisting of a long tobacco-pipe, and brought a handsome present.
The country bore the usual traces of the results of African warfare. At times a clever chief stands up, who brings large tracts under his dominion; at his death his empire dissolves, and a fresh series of desolating wars ensues. In one region which was once studded with villages, they walked a whole week without meeting any one. A European colony, he was sure, would be invaluable for constraining the tribes to live in peace. "Thousands of industrious natives would gladly settle round it, and engage in that peaceful pursuit of agriculture and trade of which they are so fond, and, undistracted by wars and rumors of wars, might listen to the purifying and ennobling truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ." At Zumbo, the most picturesque site in the country, they saw the ruins of Jesuit missions, reminding them that there men once met to utter the magnificent words, "Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ!" but without leaving one permanent trace of their labors in the belief and worship of the people.
Wherever they go, Dr. Livingstone has his eye on the trees and plants and fruits of the region, with a view to commerce; while he is no less interested to watch the treatment of fever, when cases occur, and greatly gratified that Dr. Kirk, who had been trying a variety of medicines on himself, made rapid recovery when he took Dr. Livingstone's pills. He used to say if he had followed Morison, and set up as pill-maker, he might have made his fortune. Passing through the Bazizulu he had an escape from a rhinoceros, as remarkable though not quite as romantic as his escape from the lion; the animal came dashing at him, and suddenly, for some unknown reason, stopped when close to him, and gave him time to escape, as if it had been struck by his color, and doubtful if hunting a white man would be good sport.
At a month's distance from Mosilikatse, they heard a report that the missionaries had been there, that they had told the chief that it was wrong to kill men, and that the chief had said he was born to kill people, but would drop the practice--an interesting testimony to the power of Mr. Moffat's words. Everywhere the Makololo proclaimed that they were the friends of peace, and their course was like a triumphal procession, the people of the villages loading them with presents.
But a new revelation came to Dr. Livingstone. Though the Portuguese Government had given public orders that he was to be aided in every possible way, it was evident that private instructions had come, which, unintentionally perhaps, certainly produced the opposite effects. The Portuguese who were engaged in the slave-trade were far too much devoted to it ever to encourage an enterprise that aimed at extirpating it. Indeed, it became painfully apparent to Dr. Livingstone that the effect of his opening up the Zambesi had been to afford the Portuguese traders new facilities for conducting their unhallowed traffic; and had it not been for his promise to bring back the Makololo, he would now have abandoned the Zambesi and tried the Rovuma, as a way of reaching Nyassa. His future endeavors in connection with the Rovuma receive their explanation from this unwelcome discovery. The significance of the discovery in other respects cannot fail to be seen. Hitherto Livingstone had been on friendly terms with the Portuguese Government; he could be so no longer. The remarkable kindness he had so often received from Portuguese officers and traders made it a most painful trial to break with the authorities. But there was no alternative. Livingstone's courage was equal to the occasion, though he could not but see that his new attitude to the Portuguese must give an altered aspect to his Expedition, and create difficulties that might bring it to an end.
A letter to Mr. James Young, dated 22d July, near Kalosi, gives a free and familiar account of "what he was about":
"This is July, 1860, and no letter from you except one written a few months after we sailed in the year of grace 1858. What you are doing I cannot divine. I am ready to believe any mortal thing except that Louis Napoleon has taken you away to make paraffin oil for the Tuileries. I don't believe that he is supreme ruler, or that he can go an inch beyond his tether. Well, as I cannot conceive what you are about, I must tell you what we are doing, and we are just trudging up the Zambesi as if there were no steam and no locomotive but shank's nag yet discovered...."We have heard of a mission for the Interior from the English Universities, and this is the best news we have got since we came to Africa. I have recommended up Shiré as a proper sphere, and hasten back so as to be in the way if any assistance can be rendered. I rejoice at the prospect with all my heart, and am glad, too, that it is to be a Church of England Mission, for that Church has never put forth its strength, and I trust this may draw it forth. I am tired of discovery when no fruit follows. It was refreshing to be able to sit down every evening with the Makololo again, and tell them of Him who came down from heaven to save sinners. The unmerciful toil of the steamer prevented me from following my bent as I should have done. Poor fellows! they have learnt no good from their contact with slavery; many have imbibed the slave spirit; many had married slave-women and got children. These I did not expect to return, as they were captives of Sekelétu, and were not his own proper people. All professed a strong desire to return. To test them I proposed to burn their village, but to this they would not assent. We then went out a few miles and told them that any one wishing to remain might do so without guilt. A few returned, but though this was stated to them repeatedly afterward they preferred running away like slaves. I never saw any of the interior people so devoid of honor. Some complained of sickness, and all these I sent back, intrusting them with their burdens. About twenty-five returned in all to live at Tette. Some were drawn away by promises made to them as elephant-hunters. I had no objection to their trying to better their condition, but was annoyed at finding that they would not tell their intentions, but ran away as if I were using compulsion. I have learned more of the degrading nature of slavery of late than I ever conceived before. Our 20 millions were well spent in ridding ourselves of the incubus, and I think we ought to assist our countrymen in the West Indies to import free labor from India.... I cannot tell you how glad I am at a prospect of a better system being introduced into Eastern Africa than that which has prevailed for ages, the evils of which have only been intensified by Portuguese colonization, as it is called. Here we are passing through a well-peopled, fruitful region--a prolonged valley, for we have the highlands far on our right. I did not observe before that all the banks of the Zambesi are cotton-fields. I never intended to write a book and take no note of cotton, which I now see everywhere. On the Chongwe we found a species which is cultivated south of the Zambesi, which resembles some kinds from South America."All that is needed is religious and mercantile establishments to begin a better system and promote peaceful intercourse. Here we are among a people who go stark naked with no more sense of shame than we have with our clothes on. The women have more sense and go decently. You see great he-animals all about your camp carrying their indispensable tobacco-pipes and iron tongs to lift fire with, but the idea of a fig-leaf has never entered the mind. They cultivate largely have had enormous crops of grain, work well in iron, and show taste in their dwellings, stools, baskets, and musical instruments. They are very hospitable, too, and appreciate our motives; but shame has been unaccountably left out of the question. They can give no reason for it except that all their ancestors went exactly as they do. Can you explain why Adam's first feeling has no trace of existence in his offspring?"
When the party reached the outskirts of Sekelétu's territory the news they heard was not encouraging. Some of the men heard that in their absence some of their wives had been variously disposed of. One had been killed for witchcraft, another had married again, while Masakasa was told that two years ago a kind of wild Irish wake had been celebrated in honor of his memory; the news made him resolve, when he presented himself among them, to declare himself an inhabitant from another world! One poor fellow's wail of anguish for his wife was most distressing to hear.
But far more tragical was the news of the missionaries who had gone from the London Missionary Society to Linyanti, to labor among Sekelétu's people. Mr. and Mrs. Helmore and several of his party had succumbed to fever, and the survivors had retired. Dr. Livingstone was greatly distressed, and not a little hurt, because he had not heard a word about the mission, nor been asked advice about any of the arrangements. If only the Helmores and their comrades had followed the treatment practiced by him so often, and in this very valley at this time by his brother Charles, they would probably have recovered. All spoke kindly of Mr. Helmore, who had quite won the hearts of the people. Knowing their language, he had at once begun to preach, and some of the young men at Seshéke were singing the hymns he had taught them. Rumors had gone abroad that some of the missionaries had been poisoned. In some quarters blame was cast on Livingstone for having misled the Society as to the character of Sekelétu and his disposition toward missionaries; but Livingstone satisfied himself that, though the missionaries had been neglected no foul play had taken place; fever alone had caused the deaths, and want of skill in managing the people had brought the remainder of the troubles. One piece of good news which he heard at Linyanti was that his old friend Sechéle was doing well. He had a Hanoverian missionary, nine tribes were under him, and the schools were numerously attended.
Writing to Dr. Moffat, 10th August, 1860, from Zambesi Falls, he says:
"With great sorrow we learned the death of our much-esteemed friends, Mr. and Mrs. Helmore, two days ago. We were too late to be of any service, for the younger missionaries had retired, probably dispirited by the loss of their leader. It is evident that the fever when untreated is as fatal now as it proved in the case of Commodore Owen's officers in this river, or in the great Niger Expedition. And yet what poor drivel was poured forth when I adopted energetic measures for speedily removing any Europeans out of the Delta. We were not then aware that the remedy which was first found efficacious in our own little Thomas on Lake 'Ngami, in 1850, and that cured myself and attendants during my solitary journeyings, was a certain cure for the disease, without loss of strength in Europeans generally. This we now know by ample experience to be the case. Warburg's drops, which have a great reputation in India, here cause profuse perspiration only, and the fever remains uncured. With our remedy, of which we make no secret, a man utterly prostrated is roused to resume his march next day. I have sent the prescription to John, as I doubt being able to go so far South as Mosilikatse's.
Again the grand Victoria Falls are reached, and Charles Livingstone, who has seen Niagara, gives the preference to Mosi-oa-tunya. By the route which they took, they would have passed the Falls at twenty miles' distance, but Dr. Livingstone could not resist the temptation to show them to his companions. All his former computations as to their size were found to be considerably within the mark; instead of a thousand yards broad they were more than eighteen hundred, and whereas he had said that the height of fall was about 100 feet, it turned out to be 310. His habit of keeping within the mark in all his statements of remarkable things was thus exemplified.
On coming among his old friends the Makololo, he found them in low spirits owing to protracted drought, and Sekelétu was ill of leprosy. He was in the hands of a native doctress, who was persuaded to suspend her treatment, and the lunar caustic applied by Drs. Livingstone and Kirk had excellent effects[60]. On going to Linyanti, Dr. Livingstone found the wagon and other articles which he had left there in 1853, safe and sound, except from the effects of weather and the white ants. The expressions of kindness and confidence toward him on the part of the natives greatly touched him. The people were much disappointed at not seeing Mrs. Livingstone and the children. But this confidence was the result of his way of dealing with them. "It ought never to be forgotten that influence among the heathen can be acquired only by patient continuance in well-doing, and that good manners are as necessary among barbarians as among the civilized." The Makololo were the most interesting tribe that Dr. Livingstone had ever seen. While now with them he was unwearied in his efforts for their spiritual good. In his Journal we find these entries:
[60]In 1864, while residing at Newstead Abbey, and writing his book,The Zambesi and its Tributaries, Dr. Livingstone heard of the death of Sekelétu.
"September2, 1860.--On Sunday evening went over to the people, giving a general summary of Christian faith by the life of Christ. Asked them to speak about it afterward. Replied that these things were above them--they could not answer me. I said if I spoke of camels and buffaloes tamed, they understood, though they had never seen them; why not perceive the story of Christ, the witnesses to which refused to deny it, though killed for maintaining it? Went on to speak of the resurrection. All were listening eagerly to the statements about this, especially when they heard that they, too, must rise and be judged. Lerimo said, 'This I won't believe.' 'Well, the guilt lies between you and Jesus,' This always arrests attention. Spoke of blood shed by them; the conversation continued till they said, 'It was time for me to cross, for the river was dangerous at night.'""September9.--Spoke to the people on the north side of the river--wind prevented evening service on the south."
The last subject on which he preached before leaving them on this occasion was the great resurrection. They told him they could not believe a reunion of the particles of the body possible. Dr. Livingstone gave them in reply a chemical illustration, and then referred to the authority of the Book that taught them the doctrine. And the poor people were more willing to give in to the authority of the Book than to the chemical illustration!
InThe Zambesi and its Tributariesthis journey to the Makololo country and back occupies one-third of the volume, though it did not lead to any very special results. But it enabled Dr. Livingstone to make great additions to his knowledge both of the people and the country. His observations are recorded with the utmost care, for though he might not be able to turn them to immediate use, it was likely, and even certain, that they would be useful some day. Indeed, the spirit of faith is apparent in the whole narrative, as if he could not pass over even the most insignificant details. The fish in the rivers, the wild animals in the woods, the fissures in the rocks, the course of the streams, the composition of the minerals and gravels, and a thousand other phenomena, are carefully observed and chronicled. The crowned cranes beginning to pair, the flocks of spurwinged geese, the habits of the ostrich, the nests of bee-eaters, pass under review in rapid succession. His sphere of observation ranges from the structure of the great continent itself to the serrated bone of the konokono, or the mandible of the ant.
Leaving Seshéke on the 17th September, they reached Tette on the 23d November, 1860, whence they started for Kongone with the unfortunate "Ma-Robert." But the days of that asthmatic old lady were numbered. On the 21st December she grounded on a sand-bank, and could not get off. A few days before this catastrophe Livingstone writes to Mr. Young:
"Lupata, 4th Dec., 1860.--Many thanks for all you have been doing about the steamer and everything else. You seem to have gone about matters in a most business-like manner, and once for all I assure you I am deeply grateful."We are now on our way down to the sea, in hopes of meeting the new steamer for which you and other friends exerted yourselves so zealously. We are in the old 'Asthmatic,' though we gave her up before leaving in May last. Our engineer has been doctoring her bottom with fat and patches, and pronounced it safe to go down the river by dropping slowly. Every day a new leak bursts out, and he is in plastering and scoring, the pump going constantly. I would not have ventured again, but our whaler is as bad,--all eaten by the teredo,--so I thought it as well to take both, and stick to that which swims longest. You can put your thumb through either of them; they never can move again; I never expected to find either afloat, but the engineer had nothing else to do, and it saves us from buying dear canoes from the Portuguese."20th Dec.--One day, above Senna, the 'Ma-Robert' stuck on a sand-bank and filled, so we had to go ashore and leave her."
The correspondence of this year indicates a growing delight at the prospect of the Universities Mission. It was this, indeed, mainly that kept up his spirits under the depression caused by the failure of the "Ma-Robert," and other mishaps of the Expedition, the endless delays and worries that had resulted from that cause, and the manner in which both the Portuguese and the French were counter-working him by encouraging the slave-trade. While professedly encouraging emigration, the French were really extending slavery.
Here is his lively account of himself to his friend Mr. Moore:
"TETTE,28th November, 1860."MY DEAR MOORE,--And why didn't you begin when you were so often on the point of writing, but didn't? This that you have accomplished is so far good, but very short. Hope you are not too old to learn. You have heard of our hindrances and annoyances, and, possibly, that we have done some work notwithstanding. Thanks to Providence, we have made some progress, and it is likely our operations will yet have a decided effect on slave-trading in Eastern Africa. I am greatly delighted with the prospect of a Church of England mission to Central Africa. That is a good omen for those who are sitting in darkness, and I trust that in process of time great benefits will be conferred on our own overcrowded population at home. There is room enough and to spare in the fair world our Father has prepared for all his progeny. I pray to be made a harbinger of good to many, both white and black."I like to hear that some abuse me now, and say that I am *no Christian. Many good things were said of me which I did not deserve, and I feared to read them. I shall read every word I can on the other side, and that will prove a sedative to what I was forced to hear of an opposite tendency. I pray that He who has lifted me up and guided me thus far, will not desert me now, but make me useful in my day and generation. 'I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.' So let it be."I saw poor Helmore's grave lately. Had my book been searched for excellencies, they might have seen a certain cure for African fever. We were curing it at a lower and worse part of the river at the very time that they were helplessly perishing, and so quickly, that more than a day was never lost after the operation of the remedy, though we were marching on foot. Our tramp was over 600 miles. We dropped down stream again in canoes from Sinamanero to Chicova--thence to this on shank's nag. We go down to the sea immediately, to meet our new steamer. Our punt was a sham and a snare."My love to Mary and all the children, with all our friends at Congleton."