Our First Object Was To Explore The Zambesi, Its Mouths And
Tributaries, With A View To Their Being Used As Highways For Commerce
And Christianity To Pass Into The Vast Interior Of Africa.
When we
came within five or six miles of the land, the yellowish-green tinge
of the sea in soundings was suddenly succeeded by muddy water with
wrack, as of a river in flood.
The two colours did not intermingle,
but the line of contact was as sharply defined as when the ocean
meets the land. It was observed that under the wrack - consisting of
reeds, sticks, and leaves. - and even under floating cuttlefish bones
and Portuguese "men-of-war" (Physalia), numbers of small fish screen
themselves from the eyes of birds of prey, and from the rays of the
torrid sun.
We entered the river Luawe first, because its entrance is so smooth
and deep, that the "Pearl," drawing 9 feet 7 inches, went in without
a boat sounding ahead. A small steam launch having been brought out
from England in three sections on the deck of the "Pearl" was hoisted
out and screwed together at the anchorage, and with her aid the
exploration was commenced. She was called the "Ma Robert," after
Mrs. Livingstone, to whom the natives, according to their custom,
gave the name Ma (mother) of her eldest son. The harbour is deep,
but shut in by mangrove swamps; and though the water a few miles up
is fresh, it is only a tidal river; for, after ascending some seventy
miles, it was found to end in marshes blocked up with reeds and
succulent aquatic plants.
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