William Garden Blaikie

“ 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 ”

“ Many had ended their misery under shady trees, others under projecting crags in the hills, while others lay in their huts with closed doors, which when opened disclosed the mouldering corpse with the poor rags round the loins, the skull fallen off the pillow, the little skeleton of the child, that had perished first, rolled up in a mat between two large skeletons. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Livingstone followed his usual method, and gained his usual influence. "When a chief has made any inquiries of us, we have found that we gave most satisfaction in our answers when we tried to fancy ourselves in the position of the interrogator, and him that of a poor uneducated fellow-countryman in England. The polite, respectful way of speaking, and behavior of what we call 'a thorough gentleman,' almost always secures the friendship and good-will of the Africans." ”

“ Livingstone's plan for himself was to sail to Bombay in the "Lady Nyassa," and endeavor to sell her there, before returning home. The Portuguese would have liked to get her, to employ her as a slaver--"But," he wrote to his daughter (10th August, 1863) , "I would rather see her go down to the depths of the Indian Ocean than that. We have not been able to do all that we intended for this country, owing to the jealousy and slave-hunting of the Portuguese. They have hindered us effectually by sweeping away the population into slavery. ”

“ In leaving, it is bitter to see some 900 miles of coast abandoned to those who were the first to begin the slave-trade, and seem determined to be the last to abandon it." Writing to Mr. Waller at this time he said: "I don't know whether I am to go on the shelf or not. If I do, I make Africa the shelf. If the 'Lady Nyassa' is well sold, I shall manage. There is a Ruler above, and his providence guides all things. He is our Friend, and has plenty of work for all his people to do. Don't fear of being left idle, if willing to work for Him. ”

“ In return, I say, Cherish exalted thoughts of the great work you have undertaken. It is a work which, if faithful, you will look back on with satisfaction while the eternal ages roll on their everlasting course. ”

“ On the 10th January, 1863, they steamed off with the "Lady Nyassa" in tow. The desolation that had been caused by Marianno, the Portuguese slave-agent, was heart-breaking. Corpses floated past them. In the morning the paddles had to be cleared of corpses caught by the floats during the night. Livingstone summed up his impressions in one terrible sentence:
"Wherever we took a walk, human skeletons were seen in every direction, and it was painfully interesting to observe the different postures in which the poor wretches had breathed their last. ”

“ 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 ”

“ Livingstone's views. Dr. Stewart has proved one of the best friends and noblest workers for African regeneration both at Lovedale and Livingstonia--a strong man on whom other men may lean, with his whole heart in the cause of Africa.
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. ”

“ The travelers had got as far as the river Loangwa (of Nyassa) , when a halt had to be called. Some of the natives had been ill, and indeed one had died in the comparatively cold climate of the highlands. But nothing would have hindered Livingstone from working his way round the head of the lake if only time had been on his side. But time was inexorably against him; the orders from Government were strict. He must get the "Pioneer" down to the sea while the river was in flood. ”

“ Got instructions for our recall yesterday, at which I do not wonder. The Government has behaved well to us throughout, and I feel abundantly thankful to H.M.'s ministers for enabling me so far to carry on the experiment of turning the industrial and trading propensities of the natives to good account, with a view of thereby eradicating the trade in slaves. But the Portuguese dogged our footsteps, and, as is generally understood, with the approbation of their Home Government, neutralized our labors. ”

“ 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.... ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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 ”

“ Layard, then our Portuguese Minister, and comments on the map published by the Viscount as representing Portuguese geography,--pointing out such blunders as that which made the Zambesi enter the sea at Quilimane, proving that by their map the Portuguese claimed territory that was certainly not theirs; adverting to their utter ignorance of the Victoria Falls, the most remarkable phenomenon in Africa; affirming that many so-called discoveries were mere vague rumors, heard by travelers ”