If The Reader Has Accompanied Me Thus Far, He May, Perhaps,
Be Disposed To Take An Interest In The Objects
I propose to myself,
should God mercifully grant me the honor of doing something more for Africa.
As the highlands
On the borders of the central basin
are comparatively healthy, the first object seems to be
to secure a permanent path thither, in order that Europeans may pass
as quickly as possible through the unhealthy region near the coast.
The river has not been surveyed, but at the time I came down
there was abundance of water for a large vessel, and this continues
to be the case during four or five months of each year.
The months of low water still admit of navigation by launches,
and would permit small vessels equal to the Thames steamers
to ply with ease in the deep channel. If a steamer were sent
to examine the Zambesi, I would recommend one of the lightest draught,
and the months of May, June, and July for passing through the delta;
and this not so much for fear of want of water as the danger of being grounded
on a sand or mud bank, and the health of the crew being endangered
by the delay.
In the months referred to no obstruction would be incurred
in the channel below Tete. Twenty or thirty miles above that point
we have a small rapid, of which I regret my inability to speak,
as (mentioned already) I did not visit it. But, taking the distance
below this point, we have, in round numbers, 300 miles of navigable river.
Above this rapid we have another reach of 300 miles, with sand,
but no mud banks in it, which brings us to the foot of the eastern ridge.
Let it not, however, be thought that a vessel by going thither
would return laden with ivory and gold-dust. The Portuguese of Tete pick up
all the merchandise of the tribes in their vicinity, and, though I came out
by traversing the people with whom the Portuguese have been at war,
it does not follow that it will be perfectly safe for others to go in
whose goods may be a stronger temptation to cupidity than any thing
I possessed. When we get beyond the hostile population mentioned,
we reach a very different race. On the latter my chief hopes at present rest.
All of them, however, are willing and anxious to engage in trade,
and, while eager for this, none have ever been encouraged to cultivate
the raw materials of commerce. Their country is well adapted for cotton;
and I venture to entertain the hope that by distributing seeds of better kinds
than that which is found indigenous, and stimulating the natives
to cultivate it by affording them the certainty of a market
for all they may produce, we may engender a feeling of mutual dependence
between them and ourselves. I have a twofold object in view,
and believe that, by guiding our missionary labors so as to benefit
our own country, we shall thereby more effectually and permanently
benefit the heathen.
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