The Personal Life of David Livingstone Part 23

Writing to Mr. Waller at this time he said: "I don't know whether I am to go on the shelf or not. If I do, I make Africa the shelf. If the 'Lady Nya.s.sa' is well sold, I shall manage. There is a Ruler above, and his providence guides all things. He is our Friend, and has plenty of work for all his people to do. Don't fear of being left idle, if willing to work for Him. I am glad to her of Alington. If the work is of G.o.d it will came out all right at last. To Him shall be given of the gold of Sheba, and daily shall He be praised. I always think it was such a blessing and privilege to be led into his work instead of into the service of the hard taskmasters--the Devil and Sin."

The reason a.s.signed by Earl Russell for the recall of the Expedition were, that, not through any fault of Dr. Livingstone's, it had not accomplished the objects for which it had been designed, and that it had proved much more costly than was originally expected. Probably the Government felt likewise that their remonstrances with the Portuguese Government were unavailing, and that their relations were becoming too uncomfortable. Even among those most friendly to Dr. Livingstone's great aim, and most opposed to the slave-trade, and to the Portuguese policy in Africa, there were some who doubted whether his proposed methods of procedure were quite consistent with the rights of the Portuguese Government. His Royal Highness the Prince-Consort indicated some feeling of this kind in his interview with Livingstone in 1857. He expressed the feeling more strongly when he declined the request, made to him through Professor Sedgwick of Cambridge, that he would allow himself to be Patron of the Universities Mission. Dr. Livingstone knew well that from that exalted quarter his plans would receive no active support. That he should have obtained the support he did from successive Governments and successive Foreign Secretaries, Liberal and Conservative, was a great gratification, if not something of a surprise. Hence the calmness with which he received the intelligence of the recall. Toward the Portuguese Government his feelings were not very sweet. On them lay the guilt of arresting a work that would have conferred untold blessing on Africa. He determined to make this known very clearly when he should return to England. At a future period of his life, he purposed, if spared, to go more fully into the reasons of his recall. Meanwhile, his course was simply to acquiesce in the resolution of the British Government.

It was unfortunate that the recall took place before he had been able to carry into effect his favorite scheme of placing a steamer on Lake Nya.s.sa; nor could he do this now, although the vessel on which he had spent half his fortune lay at the Murchison Cataracts. He had always cherished the hope that the Government would repay him at least a part of the outlay, which, instead of 3000, as he had intended, had mounted up to 6000. He had very generously told Dr. Stewart that if this should be done, and if he should be willing to return from Scotland to labor on the sh.o.r.es of Nya.s.sa, he would pay him his expenses out, and 150 yearly, so anxious was he that he should begin the work. On the recall of the Expedition, without any allowance for the s.h.i.+p, or even mention of it, all these expectations and intentions came abruptly to an end.

At no previous time had Dr. Livingstone been under greater discouragements than now. The Expedition had been recalled; his heart had not recovered from the desolation caused by the death of the Bishop and his brethren, as well as the Helmores in the Makololo country, and still more by the removal of Mrs. Livingstone, and the thought of his motherless children; the most heart-rending scenes had been witnessed everywhere in regions that a short time ago had been so bright; all his efforts to do good had been turned to evil, every new path he had opened having been seized as it were by the devil and turned to the most diabolical ends; his countrymen were nearly all away from him; the most depressing of diseases had produced its natural effect; he had had worries, delays, and disappointments about s.h.i.+ps and boats of the most harra.s.sing kind; and now the "Lady Nya.s.sa" could not be floated in the waters of which he had fondly hoped to see her the angel and the queen.

It is hardly possible to exaggerate the n.o.ble quality of the heart that, undeterred by all these troubles, resolved to take this last chance of exploring the banks of Nya.s.sa, although it could only be by the weary process of trudge, trudge, trudging; although hunger, if not starvation, blocked the path, and fever and dysentery flitted around it like imps of darkness; although tribes, demoralized by the slave-trade, might at any moment put an end to him and his enterprise;--not to speak of the ordinary risks of travel, the difficulty of finding guides, the liability to bodily hurt, the scarcity of food, the perils from wild beasts by night Und by day,--risks which no ordinary traveler could think of lightly, but which in Livingstone's journeys drop out of sight, because they are so overtopped and dwarfed by risks that ordinary travelers never know.

Why did not Livingstone go home? A single sentence in a letter to Mr.

Waller, while the recall was only in contemplation, explains: "In my case, duty would not lead me home, and home therefore I would not go."

Away then goes Livingstone, accompanied by the steward of the "Pioneer"

and a handful of native servants (Mr. Young being left in charge of the vessel), to get to the northern end of the lake, and ascertain whether any large river flowed into it from the west, and if possible to visit Lake Moero, of which he had heard, lying a considerable way to the west.

For the first time in his travels he carried some bottles of wine,--a present from the missionaries Waller and Alington; for water had hitherto been his only drink, with a little hot coffee in the mornings to warm the stomach and ward off the feeling of sinking. At one time the two white men are lost three days in the woods, without food or the means of purchasing it; but some poor natives out of their poverty show them kindness. At another they can procure no guides, though the country is difficult and the way intersected by deep gullies that can only be scaled at certain known parts; anon they are taken for slave-dealers, and make a narrow escape of a night attack. Another time, the cries of children remind Livingstone of his own home and family, where the very same tones of sorrow had often been heard; the thought brought its own pang, only he could feel thankful that in the case of his children the woes of the slave-trade would never be added to the ordinary sorrows of childhood. Then he would enjoy the joyous laugh of some Manganja women, and think of the good influence of a merry heart, and remember that whenever he had observed a chief with a joyous twinkle of the eye accompanying his laugh, he had always set him down as a good fellow, and had never been disappointed in him afterward. Then he would cheer his monotony by making some researches into the origin of civilization, coming to the clear conclusion that born savages must die out, because they could devise no means of living through disease. By and by he would examine the Arab character, and find Mahometanism as it now is in Africa worse than African heathenism, and remark on the callousness of the Mahometans to the welfare of one another, and on the especial glory of Christianity, the only religion that seeks to propagate itself, and through the influence of love share its blessings with others. Anon he would dwell on the primitive African faith; its recognition of one Almighty Creator, its moral code, so like our own, save in the one article of polygamy; its pious recognition of a future life, though the element of punishment is not very conspicuous; its mild character generally, notwithstanding the bloodthirstiness sometimes ascribed to it, which, however, Livingstone held to be, at Dahomey for example, purely exceptional.

Another subject that occupied him was the natural history of the country. He would account for desert tracts like Kalahari by the fact that the east and southeast winds, laden with moisture from the Indian Ocean, get cooled over the coast ranges of mountains, and having discharged their vapor there had no spare moisture to deposit over the regions that for want of it became deserts. The geology of Southern Africa was peculiar; the geographical series described in books was not to be found here, for, as Sir Roderick Murchison had shown, the great submarine depressions and elevations that had so greatly affected the other continents during the secondary, tertiary, and more recent periods, had not affected Africa. It had preserved its terrestrial conditions during a long period, unaffected by any changes save those dependent on atmospheric influences. There was also a peculiarity in prehistoric Africa--it had no stone period; at least no flint weapons had been found, and the familiarity and skill of the natives with the manufacture of iron seemed to indicate that they had used iron weapons from the first.

The travelers had got as far as the river Loangwa (of Nya.s.sa), when a halt had to be called. Some of the natives had been ill, and indeed one had died in the comparatively cold climate of the highlands. But nothing would have hindered Livingstone from working his way round the head of the lake if only time had been on his side. But time was inexorably against him; the orders from Government were strict. He must get the "Pioneer" down to the sea while the river was in flood. A month or six weeks would have enabled him to finish his researches, but he could not run the risk. It would have been otherwise had he foreseen that when he got to the s.h.i.+p he would be detained two months waiting for the rising of the river. On their way back, they took a nearer cut, but found the villages all deserted. The reeds along the banks of the lake were crowded with fugitives. "In pa.s.sing mile after mile, marked with the sad proofs that 'man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn,' one experiences an overpowering sense of helplessness to alleviate human woe, and breathes a silent prayer to the Almighty to hasten the good time coming when 'man to man, the world o'er, shall brothers be for all that.'" Near a village called Bangwe they were pursued by a body of Mazitu, who retired when they came within ear-shot.

This little adventure seemed to give rise to the report that Dr.

Livingstone had been murdered by the Makololo, which reached England, and created no small alarm. Referring to the report in his jocular way, in a letter to his friend Mr. Fitch, he says, "A report of my having been murdered at the lake has been very industriously circulated by the Portuguese. Don't become so pale on getting a letter from a dead man."

Reaching the stockade of Chinsamba in Mosapo, they were much pleased with that chief's kindness. Dr. Livingstone followed his usual method, and gained his usual influence. "When a chief has made any inquiries of us, we have found that we gave most satisfaction in our answers when we tried to fancy ourselves in the position of the interrogator, and him that of a poor uneducated fellow-countryman in England. The polite, respectful way of speaking, and behavior of what we call 'a thorough gentleman,' almost always secures the friends.h.i.+p and good-will of the Africans."

On 1st November, 1863, the party reached the s.h.i.+p, and found all well.

Here, as has been said, two months had to be spent waiting for the flood, to Dr. Livingstone's intense chagrin.

While waiting here he received a letter from Bishop Tozer, the successor of Bishop Mackenzie, informing him that he had resolved to abandon the Mission on the continent and transfer operations to Zanzibar. Dr.

Livingstone had very sincerely welcomed the new Bishop, and at first liked him, and thought that his caution would lead to good results.

Indeed, when he saw that his own scheme was destroyed by the Portuguese, he had great hopes that what he had been defeated in, the Mission would accomplish. Some time before, his hopes had begun to wane, and now the news conveyed in Bishop Tozer's letter was their death-blow. In his reply he implored the Bishop to reconsider the matter. After urging strongly some considerations bearing on the duty of missionaries, the reputation of Englishmen, and the impression likely to be made on the native mind, he concluded thus: "I hope, dear Bishop, you will not deem me guilty of impertinence in thus writing to you with a sore heart. I see that if you go, the last ray of hope for this wretched, trodden-down people disappears, and I again from the bottom of my heart entreat you to reconsider the matter, and may the All-wise One guide to that decision which will be most for his glory."

And thus, for Livingstone's life-time, ended the Universities Mission to Central Africa, with all the hopes which its bright dawn had inspired, that the great Church of England would bend its strength against the curse of Africa, and sweep it from the face of the earth. Writing to Sir Thomas Maclear, he said that he felt this much more than his own recall.

He could hardly write of it; he was more inclined "to sit down and cry."

No mission had ever had such bright prospects; notwithstanding all that had been said against it, he stood by the climate as firmly as ever, and if he were only young, he would go himself and plant the gospel there.

It would be done one day without fail, though he might not live to see it.

As usual, Livingstone found himself blamed for the removal of the Mission. The Makololo had behaved badly, and they were Livingstone's people. "Isn't it interesting," he writes to Mr. Moore, "to get blamed for everything? But I must be thankful in feeling that I would rather perish than blame another for my misdeeds and deficiencies."

We have lost sight of Dr. Stewart and the projected mission of the Free Church of Scotland. As Dr. Livingstone's arrangements did not admit of his accompanying Dr. Stewart up the s.h.i.+re, he set out alone, falling in afterward with the Rev. Mr. Scudamore, a member, and as we have already said ultimately a martyr, of the Universities Mission. The report which Dr. Stewart made of the prospects of a mission was that, owing to the disturbed state of the country, no immediate action could be taken.

Livingstone seemed to think him hasty in this conclusion. The scheme continued to be ardently cherished, and some ten or twelve years after--in 1874--in the formation of the "Livingstonia" mission and colony, a most promising and practical step was taken toward the fulfillment of Dr. Livingstone's views. Dr. Stewart has proved one of the best friends and n.o.blest workers for African regeneration both at Lovedale and Livingstonia--a strong man on whom other men may lean, with his whole heart in the cause of Africa.

In the breaking up of the Universities Mission, it was necessary that some arrangement should be made on behalf of about thirty boys and a few helpless old persons and others, a portion of the rescued slaves, who had been taken under the charge of the Mission, and could not be abandoned. The fear of the Portuguese seemed likely to lead to their being left behind. But Livingstone could not bear the idea. He thought it would be highly discreditable to the good name of England, and an affront to the memory of Bishop Mackenzie, to "repudiate" his act in taking them under his protection. Therefore, when Bishop Tozer would not accept the charge, he himself took them in hand, giving orders to Mr.

E.D. Young (as he says in his Journal), "in the event of any Portuguese interfering with them in his absence, to pitch him over-board!" Through his influence arrangements were made, as we shall see, for conveying them to the Cape. Mr. R.M. Ballantyne, in his _Six Months at the Cape_, tells us that he found, some years afterward, among the most efficient teachers in St. George's Orphanage, Cape Town, one of these black girls, named Dauma, whom Bishop Mackenzie had personally rescued and carried on his shoulders, and whom Livingstone now rescued a second time.

Livingstone's plan for himself was to sail to Bombay in the "Lady Nya.s.sa," and endeavor to sell her there, before returning home. The Portuguese would have liked to get her, to employ her as a slaver--"But," he wrote to his daughter (10th August, 1863), "I would rather see her go down to the depths of the Indian Ocean than that. We have not been able to do all that we intended for this country, owing to the jealousy and slave-hunting of the Portuguese. They have hindered us effectually by sweeping away the population into slavery. Thousands have perished, and wherever we go human skeletons appear. I suppose that our Government could not prevail on the Portuguese to put a stop to this; so we are recalled. I am only sorry that we ever began near these slavers, but the great men of Portugal professed so loudly their eager desire to help us (and in the case of the late King I think there was sincerity), that I believed them, and now find out that it was all for show in Europe.... If missions were established as we hoped, I should still hope for good being done to this land, but the new Bishop had to pay fourpence for every pound weight of calico he bought, and calico is as much currency here as money is in Glasgow. It looks as if they wished to prohibit any one else coming, and, unfortunately, Bishop Tozer, a good man enough, lacks courage.... What a mission it would be if there were no difficulties--nothing but walking about in slippers made by admiring young ladies! Hey! that would not suit me. It would give me the doldrums; but there are many tastes in the world."

Looking back on the work of the last six years, while deeply grieved that the great object of the Expedition had not been achieved, Dr.

Livingstone was able to point to some important results:

1. The discovery of the Kongone harbor, and the ascertaining of the condition of the Zambesi River, and its fitness for navigation.

2. The ascertaining of the capacity of the soil. It was found to be admirably adapted for indigo and cotton, as well as tobacco, castor-oil, and sugar. Its great fertility was shown by its gigantic gra.s.ses, and abundant crops of corn and maize. The highlands were free from tsetse and mosquitoes. The drawback to all this was the occurrence of periodical droughts, once every few years.

But every fine feature of the country was bathed in gloom by the slave-trade. The image left in Dr. Livingstone's mind was not that of the rich, sunny, luxuriant country, but that of the woe and wretchedness of the people. The real service of the Expedition was, that it had exposed slavery at its fountain-head, and in all its phases. First, there was the internal slave-trade between hostile native tribes. Then, there were the slave-traders from the coast, Arabs, or half-caste Portuguese, for whom natives were encouraged to collect slaves by all the horrible means of marauding and murder. And further, there were the parties sent out from Portuguese and Arab coast towns, with cloth and beads, muskets and ammunition. The destructive and murderous effects of the last were the climax of the system.

Dr. Livingstone had seen nothing to make him regard the African as of a different species from the rest of the human family. Nor was he the lowest of the species. He had a strong frame and a wonderfully persistent vitality, was free from many European diseases, and could withstand privations with wonderful light-heartedness.

He did not deem it necessary formally to answer a question sometimes put, whether the African had enough of intellect to receive Christianity. The reception of Christianity did not depend on intellect.

It depended, as Sir James Stephen had remarked, on a spiritual intuition, which was not the fruit of intellectual culture. But, in fact, the success of missions on the West Coast showed that not only could the African be converted to Christianity, but that Christianity might take root and be cordially supported by the African race.

It was the accursed slave-trade, promoted by the Portuguese, that had frustrated everything. For some time to come his efforts and his prayers must be directed to getting influential men to see to this, so that one way or other the trade might be abolished forever. The hope of obtaining access to the heart of Africa by another route than that through the Portuguese settlements was still in Livingstone's heart. He would go home, but only for a few months; at the earliest possible moment he would return to look for a new route to the interior.

CHAPTER XVI.

QUILIMANE TO BOMBAY AND ENGLAND.

A.D. 1864.

Livingstone returns the "Pioneer" to the Navy, and is to sail in the "Nya.s.sa" to Bombay--Terrific circular storm--Imminent peril of the "Nya.s.sa"--He reaches Mozambique--Letter to his daughter--Proceeds to Zanzibar--His engineer leaves him--Scanty crew of "Nya.s.sa"--Livingstone captain and engineer--Peril of the voyage of 2500 miles--Risk of the monsoons--The "Nya.s.sa" becalmed--Illness of the men--Remarks on African travel--Flying-fish--Dolphins--Curiosities of his Journal--Idea of a colony--Furious squall--Two sea-serpents seen--More squalls--The "Nya.s.sa" enters Bombay harbor--Is unnoticed--First visit from officers with Custom-house schedules--How filled up--Attention of Sir Bartle Frere and others--Livingstone goes with the Governor to Dapuri--His feelings on landing in India--Letter to Sir Thomas Maclear--He visits mission-schools, etc., at Poonah--Slaving in Persian Gulf--Returns to Bombay--Leaves two boys with Dr. Wilson--Borrows pa.s.sage-money and sails for England--At Aden--At Alexandria--Reaches Charing Cross--Encouragement derived from his Bombay visit--Two projects contemplated on his way home.

On reaching the mouth of the Zambesi, Dr. Livingstone was fortunate in falling in, on the 13th February, with H.M.S. "Orestes," which was joined on the 14th by the "Ariel." The "Orestes" took the "Pioneer" in tow, and the "Ariel" the "Lady Nya.s.sa," and brought them to Mozambique.

The day after they set out, a circular storm pa.s.sed over them, raging with the utmost fury, and creating the greatest danger. Often as Dr.

Livingstone had been near the gates of death, he was never nearer than now. He had been offered a pa.s.sage on board the "Ariel," but while there was danger he would not leave the "Lady Nya.s.sa." Had the latter not been an excellent sea-s.h.i.+p she could not have survived the tempest; all the greater was Dr. Livingstone's grief that she had never reached the lake for which she was adapted so well.

Writing to his daughter Agnes from Mozambique, he gives a very graphic account of the storm, after telling her the manner of their leaving the Zambesi:

"_Mozambique_, 24_th Feb._, 1864.--When our patience had been well nigh exhausted the river rose and we steamed gladly down the s.h.i.+re on the 19th of last month. An accident detained us some time, but on the 1st February we were close by Morumbala, where the Bishop [Tozer] pa.s.sed a short time before bolting out of the country. I took two members of the Mission away in the 'Pioneer,' and thirteen women and children, whom having liberated we did not like to leave to become the certain prey of slavers again. The Bishop left twenty-five boys, too, and these also I took with me, hoping to get them conveyed to the Cape, where I trust they may become acquainted with our holy religion. We had thus quite a swarm on board, all very glad to get away from a land of slaves. There were many more liberated, but we took only the helpless and those very anxious to be free and with English people. Those who could cultivate the soil we encouraged to do so, and left up the river. Only one boy was unwilling to go, and he was taken by the Bishop. It is a great pity that the Bishop withdrew the Mission, for he had a n.o.ble chance of doing great things. The captives would have formed a fine school, and as they had no parents he could have educated them as he liked.

"When we reached the sea-coast at Luabo we met a man-of-war, H.M.S. 'Orestes.' I went to her with 'Pioneer,' and sent 'Lady Nya.s.sa' round by inland ca.n.a.l to Kongone. Next day I went into Kongone in 'Pioneer'; took our things out of her, and handed her over to the officers of the 'Orestes.' Then H.M.S 'Ariel' came and took 'Nya.s.sa' in tow, 'Orestes' having 'Pioneer.' Captain Chapman of 'Ariel' very kindly invited me on board to save me from the knocking about of the 'Lady Nya.s.sa,' but I did not like to leave so long as there was any danger, and accepted his invitation for Mr. Waller, who was dreadfully sea-sick. On 15th we were caught by a hurricane which whirled the 'Ariel' right round. Her sails, quickly put to rights, were again backed so that the s.h.i.+p was driven backward and a hawser wound itself round her screw, so as to stop the engines. By this time she was turned so as to be looking right across 'Lady Nya.s.sa,' and the wind alone propelling her as if to go over the little vessel. I saw no hope of escape except by catching a rope's-end of the big s.h.i.+p as she pa.s.sed over us, but by G.o.d's goodness she glided past, and we felt free to breathe. That night it blew a furious gale. The captain offered to lower a boat if I would come to the 'Ariel,' but it would have endangered all in the boat: the waves dashed so hard against the sides of the vessel, it might have been swamped, and my going away would have taken heart out of those that remained. We then pa.s.sed a terrible night, but the 'Lady Nya.s.sa' did wonderfully well, rising like a little duck over the foaming billows. She took in spray alone, and no green water. The man-of-war's people expected that she would go down, and it was wonderful to see how well she did when the big man-of-war, only about 200 feet off, plunged so as to show a large portion of copper oh her bottom, then down behind so as to have the sea level with the top of her bulwarks. A boat hung at that level was smashed.

If we had gone down we could not have been helped in the least--pitch dark, and wind whistling above; the black folks, 'ane bocking here, another there,' and wanting us to go to the 'bank.' On 18th the weather moderated, and, the captain repeating his very kind offer, I went on board with a good conscience, and even then the boat got damaged. I was hoisted up in it, and got rested in what was quite a steady s.h.i.+p as compared with the 'Lady Nya.s.sa.' The 'Ariel' was three days cutting off the hawser, though nine feet under water, the men diving and cutting it with immensely long chisels. On the 19th we spoke to a Liverpool s.h.i.+p, requesting the captain to report me alive, a silly report having been circulated by the Portuguese that I had been killed at Lake Nya.s.sa, and on the 24th we entered Mozambique harbor, very thankful for our kind and merciful preservation. The 'Orestes' has not arrived with the 'Pioneer,' though she is a much more powerful vessel than the 'Ariel.' Here we have a fort, built in 1500, and said to be of stones brought from Lisbon. It is a square ma.s.sive-looking structure. The town adjacent is Arab in appearance. The houses flat-roofed and colored white, pink, and yellow; streets narrow, with plenty of slaves on them. It is on an island, the mainland on the north being about a mile off."

The "Pioneer" was delivered over to the Navy, being Her Majesty's property, and proceeded to the Cape with the "Valorous," Mr. Waller being on board with a portion of the mission flock. Of Mr. Waller (subsequently editor of the _Last Journals_) Dr. Livingstone remarked that "he continued his generous services to all connected with the Mission, whether white or black, till they were no longer needed; his conduct to them throughout was truly n.o.ble, and worthy of the highest praise."

After remaining some weeks at Mozambique for thorough repairs, the "Lady Nya.s.sa" left on 16th April for Johanna and Zanzibar. She was unable to touch at the former place, and reached Zanzibar on the 24th.

Offers were made for her there, which might have led to her being sold, but her owner did not think them sufficient, and in point of fact, he could not make up his mind to part with her. He clung to the hope that she might yet be useful, and to sell her seemed equivalent to abandon all hope of carrying out his philanthropic schemes. At all events, till he should consult Mr. Young he would not sell her at such a sacrifice.

At Zanzibar he found that a naval gentleman, who had been lately there, had not spoken of him in the most complimentary terms. But it had not hurt him with his best friends. "Indeed, I find that evil-speaking against me has, by the good providence of my G.o.d, turned rather to my benefit. I got two of my best friends by being spoken ill of, for they found me so different from what they had been led to expect that they befriended me more than they otherwise would have done. It is the good hand of Him who has all in his power that influences other hearts to show me kindness."

The only available plan now was to cross the Indian Ocean for Bombay, or possibly Aden, in the "Nya.s.sa" and leave the s.h.i.+p there till he should make a run home, consult with his friends as to the future, and find means for the prosecution of his work. At Zanzibar a new difficulty arose. Mr. Rae, the engineer, who had now been with him for many years, and with whom, despite his peculiarities, he got on very well, signified his intention of leaving him. He had the offer of a good situation, and wished to accept of it. He was not without compunctions at leaving his friend in the lurch, and told Livingstone that if he had had no offer for the s.h.i.+p he would have gone with him, but as he had declined the offer made to him, he did not feel under obligation to do so.

Livingstone was too generous to press him to remain. It was impossible to supply Mr. Rae's place, and if anything should go wrong with the engines, what was to be done? The entire crew of the vessel consisted of four Europeans; namely, Dr. Livingstone--"skipper," one stoker, one carpenter, and one sailor; seven native Zambesians, who, till they volunteered, had never seen the sea, and two boys, one of whom was Chuma, afterward his attendant on the last journey. With this somewhat sorry complement, and fourteen tons of coal, Dr. Livingstone set out on 30th April, on a voyage of 2500 miles, over an ocean which he had never crossed.

It was a very perilous enterprise, for he was informed that the breaking of the monsoon occurred at the end of May or the beginning of June.

This, as he came to think, was too early; but in any case, he would come very near the dangerous time. As he wrote to one of his friends, he felt jammed into a corner, and what could he do? He believed from the best information he could get that he would reach Bombay in eighteen days.

Had any one told him that he would be forty-five days at sea, and that for twenty-five of these his s.h.i.+p would be becalmed, and even when she had a favorable wind would not sail fast, even he would have looked pale at the thought of what was before him. The voyage was certainly a memorable one, and has only escaped fame by the still greater wonders performed by Livingstone on land.

On the first day of the voyage, he made considerable way, but Collyer, one of his white men, was prostrated by a bilious attack. However, one of the black men speedily learned to steer, and took Dr. Livingstone's place at the wheel. Hardly was Collyer better when Pennell, another of his men, was seized. The chief foes of the s.h.i.+p were currents and calms.

Owing to the illness of the men they could not steam, and the sails were almost useless. Even steam, when they got it up, enabled them only to creep. On 20th May, Livingstone, after recording but sixteen knots in the last twenty-four hours, says in his Journal: "This very unusual weather has a very depressing influence on my mind. I often feel as if I am to die on this voyage, and wish I had sent the accounts to the Government, as also my chart to the Zambesi. I often wish that I may be permitted to do something for the benighted of Africa. I shall have nothing to do at home; by the failure of the Universities Mission my work seems vain. No fruit likely to come from J. Moffat's mission either. Have I not labored in vain? Am I to be cut off before I do anything to effect permanent improvement in Africa? I have been unprofitable enough, but may do something yet, in giving information. If spared, G.o.d grant that I may be more faithful than I have been, and may He open up the way for me!"