The Personal Life of David Livingstone Part 20

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 att.i.tude 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 Shire as a proper sphere, and hasten back so as to be in the way if any a.s.sistance 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 Sekeletu, 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 a.s.sent. 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 a.s.sist 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 pa.s.sing 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 Sekeletu'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 Sekeletu's people. Mr. and Mrs. Helmore and several of his party had succ.u.mbed 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 Sesheke 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 Sekeletu 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 Sechele 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 pa.s.sed 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 Sekeletu 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:

[Footnote 60: In 1864, while residing at Newstead Abbey, and writing his book, _The Zambesi and its Tributaries_, Dr. Livingstone heard of the death of Sekeletu.]

"_September_ 2, 1860.--On Sunday evening went over to the people, giving a general summary of Christian faith by the life of Christ. Asked them to speak about it afterward.

Replied that these things were above them--they could not answer me. I said if I spoke of camels and buffaloes tamed, they understood, though they had never seen them; why not perceive the story of Christ, the witnesses to which refused to deny it, though killed for maintaining it? Went on to speak of the resurrection. All were listening eagerly to the statements about this, especially when they heard that they, too, must rise and be judged. Lerimo said, 'This I won't believe.' 'Well, the guilt lies between you and Jesus,' This always arrests attention. Spoke of blood shed by them; the conversation continued till they said, 'It was time for me to cross, for the river was dangerous at night.'"

"_September_ 9.--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 ill.u.s.tration, 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 ill.u.s.tration!

In _The Zambesi and its Tributaries_ this journey to the Makololo country and back occupies one-third of the volume, though it did not lead to any very special results. But it enabled Dr. Livingstone to make great additions to his knowledge both of the people and the country. His observations are recorded with the utmost care, for though he might not be able to turn them to immediate use, it was likely, and even certain, that they would be useful some day. Indeed, the spirit of faith is apparent in the whole narrative, as if he could not pa.s.s 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, pa.s.s 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 Sesheke 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 a.s.sure 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 p.r.o.nounced 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 ash.o.r.e 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."

In a letter to Mr. James Young, Dr. Livingstone gives good reasons for not wishing to push the colonization scheme at present, as he had recommended to the Universities Mission to add a similar enterprise to their undertaking:

"If you read all I have written you by this mail, you will deserve to be called a literary character. I find that I did not touch on the colonization scheme. I have not changed in respect to it, but the Oxford and Cambridge mission have taken the matter up, and as I shall do all I can to aid them, a little delay will, perhaps, be advisable.

"We are waiting for our steamer, and expect her every day; our first trip is a secret, and you will keep it so. We go to the Rovuma, a river exterior to the Portuguese claims, as soon as the vessel arrives. Captain Oldfield of the 'Lyra' is sent already, to explore, as far as he can, in that ship. The entrance is fine, and forty-five miles are known, but we keep our movements secret from the Portuguese--and so must you; they seize everything they see in the newspapers. Who are my imprudent friends that publish everything? I suspect Mr.

----, of ----, but no one gives me a name or a clue. Some expected me to feel sweet at being jewed by a false philanthropist, and bamboozled by a silly R. N. I did not, and could not, seem so; but I shall be more careful in future.

"Again back to the colony. It is not to sleep, but preparation must be made by collecting information, and maturing our plans. I shall be able to give definite instructions as soon as I see how the other mission works--at its beginning--and when we see if the new route we may discover has a better path to Nya.s.sa than by Shire--we shall choose the best, of course, and let you know as soon as possible. I think the Government will not hold back if we have a feasible plan to offer. I have recommended to the Universities Mission a little delay till we explore,--and for a working staff, two gardeners acquainted with farming; two country carpenters, capable of erecting sheds and any rough work; two traders to purchase and prepare cotton for exportation; one general steward of mission goods, his wife to be a good plain cook; one medical man, having knowledge of chemistry enough to regulate _indigo_ and sugar-making. All the attendants to be married, and their wives to be employed in sewing, washing, attending the sick, etc., as need requires. The missionaries not to think themselves deserving a good English wife till they have erected a comfortable abode for her."

In the Royal Geographical Society this year (1860), certain communications were read which tended to call in question Livingstone's right to some of the discoveries he had claimed as his own. Mr.

Macqueen, through whom these communications came, must have had peculiar notions of discovery, for some time before, there had appeared in the Cape papers a statement of his, that Lake 'Ngami of 1859 was no new discovery, as Dr. Livingstone had visited it seven years before; and Livingstone had to write to the papers in favor of the claims of Murray, Oswell, and Livingstone, against himself! It had been a.s.serted to the Society by Mr. Macqueen, that Silva Porto, a Portuguese trader, had shown him a journal describing a journey of his from Benguela on the west to Ibo and Mozambique on the east, beginning November 26, 1852, and terminating August, 1854. Of that journal Mr. Macqueen read a copious abstract to the Society (June 27, 1859), which is published in the Journal for 1860.

In a letter to Sir Roderick Murchison (20th February, 1861), Livingstone, while exonerating Mr. Macqueen of all intention of misleading, gives his reasons for doubting whether the journey to the East Coast ever took place. He had met Porto at Linyanti in 1853, and subsequently at Naliele, the Barotse capital, and had been told by him that he had tried to go eastward, but had been obliged to turn, and was then going westward, and wished him to accompany him, which he declined, as he was a slave-trader; he had read his journal as it appeared in the Loanda "Boletim," but there was not a word in it of a journey to the East Coast; when the Portuguese minister had wished to find a rival to Dr. Livingstone, he had brought forward, not Porto, as he would naturally have done if this had been a genuine journey, but two black men who came to Tette in 1815; in the Boletim of Mozambique there was no word of the arrival of Porto there; in short, the part of the journal founded on could not have been authentic. Livingstone felt keenly on the subject of these rumors, not on his own account, but on account of the Geographical Society and of Sir Roderick who had introduced him to it; for nothing could have given him more pain than that either of these should have had any slur thrown on them through him, or even been placed for a time in an uncomfortable position.

CHAPTER XIV.

ROVUMA AND NYa.s.sA--UNIVERSITIES MISSION.

A.D. 1861-1862.

Beginning of 1861--Arrival of the "Pioneer"--and of the agents of Universities Mission--Cordial welcome--Livingstone's catholic feelings--Ordered to explore the Rovuma--Bishop Mackenzie goes with him--Returns to the Shire--Turning-point of prosperity past--Difficult navigation--The slave-sticks--Bishop settles at Magomero--Hostilities between Manganja and Ajawa--Attack of Mission party by Ajawa--Livingstone's advice to Bishop regarding them--Letter to his son Robert--Livingstone, Kirk, and Charles start for Lake Nya.s.sa--Party robbed at north of Lake--Dismal activity of the slave-trade--Awful mortality in the process--Livingstone's fondness for _Punch_--Letter to Mr. Young--Joy at departure of new steamer "Lady Nya.s.sa"--Colonization project--Letter against it from Sir R. Murchison--Hears of Dr. Stewart coming out from Free Church of Scotland--Visit at the ship from Bishop Mackenzie--News of defeat of Ajawa by missionaries--Anxiety of Livingstone--Arrangements for "Pioneer" to go to Kongone for new steamer and friends from home, then go to Ruo to meet Bishop--"Pioneer"

detained--Dr. Livingstone's anxieties and depressions at New Year--"Pioneer" misses man-of-war "Gorgon"--At length "Gorgon" appears with brig from England and "Lady Nya.s.sa"--Mrs. Livingstone and other ladies on board--Livingstone's meeting with his wife, and with Dr.

Stewart--Stewart's recollections--Difficulties of navigation--Captain Wilson of "Gorgon" goes up river and hears of death of Bishop Mackenzie and Mr. Burrup--Great distress--Misrepresentations about Universities Mission--Miss Mackenzie and Mr. Burrup taken to "Gorgon"--Dr. and Mrs.

Livingstone return to Shupanga--Illness and death of Mrs.

Livingstone--Extracts from Livingstone's Journal and letters to the Moffats, Agnes, and the Murchisons.

The beginning of 1861 brought some new features on the scene. The new steamer, the "Pioneer," at last arrived, and was a great improvement on the "Ma-Robert," though unfortunately she had too great draught of water. The agents of the Universities Missions also arrived, the first, detachment consisting of Bishop Mackenzie and five other Englishmen, and five colored men from the Cape. Writing familiarly to his friend Moore, _apropos_ of his new comrades of the Church Mission, Livingstone says: "I have never felt anyway inclined to turn Churchman or dissenter either since I came out here. The feelings which we have toward different sects alter out here quite insensibly, till one looks upon all G.o.dly men as good and true brethren. I rejoiced when I heard that so many good and great men in the Universities had turned their thoughts toward Africa, and feeling sure that He who had touched their hearts would lead them to promote his own glory, I welcomed the men they sent with a hearty, unfeigned welcome."

To his friend Mr. Maclear he wrote that he was very glad the Mission was to be under a bishop. He had seen so much idleness and folly result from missionaries being left to themselves, that it was a very great satisfaction to find that the new mission was to be superintended by one authorized and qualified to take the charge. Afterward when he came to know Bishop Mackenzie, he wrote of him to Mr. Maclear in the highest terms: "The Bishop is A 1, and in his readiness to put his hand to anything resembles much my good father-in-law Moffat."

It is not often that missions are over-manned, but in the first stage of such an undertaking as this, so large a body of men was an inc.u.mbrance, none of them knowing a word of the language or a bit of the way. It was Bishop Mackenzie's desire that Dr. Livingstone should accompany him at once to the scene of his future labors and help him to settle. But besides other reasons, the "Pioneer," as already stated, was under orders to explore the Rovuma, and, as the Portuguese put so many obstacles in the way on the Zambesi, to ascertain whether that river might not afford access to the Nya.s.sa district. It was at last arranged that the Bishop should first go with the Doctor to the Rovuma, and thereafter they should all go together to the Shire. In waiting for Bishop Mackenzie to accompany him, Dr. Livingstone lost the most favorable part of the season, and found that he could not get with the "Pioneer" to the top of the Rovuma. He might have left the ship and pushed forward on foot; but, not to delay Bishop Mackenzie, he left the Rovuma in the meantime, intending, after making arrangements with the Bishop, to go to Nya.s.sa, to find the point where the Rovuma left the lake, if there were such a point, or, if not, get into its headwaters and explore it downward.

Dr. Livingstone, as we have seen, welcomed the Mission right cordially, for indeed it was what he had been most eagerly praying for, and he believed that it would be the beginning of all blessing to Eastern and Central Africa, and help to a.s.similate the condition of the East Coast to that of the West The field for the cultivation of cotton which he had discovered along the Shire and Lake Nya.s.sa was immense, above 400 miles in length, and now it seemed as if commerce and Christianity were going to take possession of it. But it was found that the turning-point of prosperity had been reached, and it was his lot to encounter dark reverses. The navigation of the Shire was difficult, for the "Pioneer"

being deep in the water would often run aground. On these occasions the Bishop, Mr. Scudamore, and Mr. Waller, the best and the bravest of the missionary party, were ever ready with their help in hauling.

Livingstone was sometimes scandalized to see the Bishop toiling in the hot sun, while some of his subordinates were reading or writing in the cabin. As they proceeded up the Shire it was seen that the promises of a.s.sistance from the Portuguese Government were worse than fruitless.