Here, As I Had Often Experienced Before,
I Found The News Was Very Old, And Had Lost Much Of Its
Interest
by keeping, but there were some good eatables from Mrs. Moffat.
Among other things, I discovered that my friend,
Sir Roderick Murchison,
while in his study in London, had arrived at the same conclusion
respecting the form of the African continent as I had lately come to
on the spot (see note p. 512 [footnote to Chapter 24 Paragraph 7]);
and that, from the attentive study of the geological map of Mr. Bain
and other materials, some of which were furnished by the discoveries
of Mr. Oswell and myself, he had not only clearly enunciated
the peculiar configuration as an hypothesis in his discourse
before the Geographical Society in 1852, but had even the assurance
to send me out a copy for my information! There was not much use
in nursing my chagrin at being thus fairly "cut out" by the man
who had foretold the existence of the Australian gold before its discovery,
for here it was in black and white. In his easy-chair he had forestalled me
by three years, though I had been working hard through jungle,
marsh, and fever, and, since the light dawned on my mind at Dilolo,
had been cherishing the pleasing delusion that I should be the first
to suggest the idea that the interior of Africa was a watery plateau
of less elevation than flanking hilly ranges.
Having waited a few days at Sesheke till the horses which we had left
at Linyanti should arrive, we proceeded to that town, and found the wagon,
and every thing we had left in November, 1853, perfectly safe.
A grand meeting of all the people was called to receive our report,
and the articles which had been sent by the governor and merchants of Loanda.
I explained that none of these were my property, but that they were sent
to show the friendly feelings of the white men, and their eagerness
to enter into commercial relations with the Makololo. I then requested
my companions to give a true account of what they had seen.
The wonderful things lost nothing in the telling, the climax always being
that they had finished the whole world, and had turned only
when there was no more land. One glib old gentleman asked,
"Then you reached Ma Robert (Mrs. L.)?" They were obliged to confess
that she lived a little beyond the world. The presents were received
with expressions of great satisfaction and delight; and on Sunday,
when Sekeletu made his appearance at church in his uniform,
it attracted more attention than the sermon; and the kind expressions
they made use of respecting myself were so very flattering
that I felt inclined to shut my eyes. Their private opinion must have tallied
with their public report, for I very soon received offers from volunteers
to accompany me to the east coast. They said they wished to be able
to return and relate strange things like my recent companions;
and Sekeletu immediately made arrangements with the Arab Ben Habib
to conduct a fresh party with a load of ivory to Loanda.
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