LIVINGSTONE'S EXPEDITION TO THE
ZAMBESI AND ITS TRIBUTARIES AND THE DISCOVERY OF LAKES
SHIRWA AND NYASSA 1858-1864
By David Livingston
TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD PALMERSTON,
K.G., G.C.B.
My Lord,
I beg leave to dedicate this Volume to your Lordship, as a tribute
justly due to the great Statesman who has ever had at heart the
amelioration of the African race; and as a token of admiration of the
beneficial effects of that policy which he has so long laboured to
establish on the West Coast of Africa; and which, in improving that
region, has most forcibly shown the need of some similar system on
the opposite side of the Continent.
DAVID LIVINGSTONE.
NOTICE TO THIS WORK.
The name of the late Mr. Charles Livingstone takes a prominent place
amongst those who acted under the leadership of Dr. Livingstone
during the adventurous sojourn of the "Zambesi Expedition" in East
Africa. In laying the result of their discoveries before the public,
it was arranged that Mr. Charles Livingstone should place his
voluminous notes at the disposal of his brother: they are
incorporated in the present work, but in a necessarily abridged form.
PREFACE.
It has been my object in this work to give as clear an account as I
was able of tracts of country previously unexplored, with their river
systems, natural productions, and capabilities; and to bring before
my countrymen, and all others interested in the cause of humanity,
the misery entailed by the slave-trade in its inland phases; a
subject on which I and my companions are the first who have had any
opportunities of forming a judgment. The eight years spent in
Africa, since my last work was published, have not, I fear, improved
my power of writing English; but I hope that, whatever my
descriptions want in clearness, or literary skill, may in a measure
be compensated by the novelty of the scenes described, and the
additional information afforded on that curse of Africa, and that
shame, even now, in the 19th century, of an European nation, - the
slave-trade.
I took the "Lady Nyassa" to Bombay for the express purpose of selling
her, and might without any difficulty have done so; but with the
thought of parting with her arose, more strongly than ever, the
feeling of disinclination to abandon the East Coast of Africa to the
Portuguese and slave-trading, and I determined to run home and
consult my friends before I allowed the little vessel to pass from my
hands. After, therefore, having put two Ajawa lads, Chuma and
Wakatani, to school under the eminent missionary the Rev. Dr. Wilson,
and having provided satisfactorily for the native crew, I started
homewards with the three white sailors, and reached London July 20th,
1864. Mr. and Mrs. Webb, my much-loved friends, wrote to Bombay
inviting me, in the event of my coming to England, to make Newstead
Abbey my headquarters, and on my arrival renewed their invitation:
and though, when I accepted it, I had no intention of remaining so
long with my kind-hearted generous friends, I stayed with them until
April, 1865, and under their roof transcribed from my own and my
brother's journal the whole of this present book. It is with
heartfelt gratitude I would record their unwearied kindness. My
acquaintance with Mr. Webb began in Africa, where he was a daring and
successful hunter, and his continued friendship is most valuable
because he has seen missionary work, and he would not accord his
respect and esteem to me had he not believed that I, and my brethren
also, were to be looked on as honest men earnestly trying to do our
duty.
The Government have supported the proposal of the Royal Geographical
Society made by my friend Sir Roderick Murchison, and have united
with that body to aid me in another attempt to open Africa to
civilizing influences, and a valued private friend has given a
thousand pounds for the same object. I propose to go inland, north
of the territory which the Portuguese in Europe claim, and endeavour
to commence that system on the East which has been so eminently
successful on the West Coast; a system combining the repressive
efforts of H.M. cruisers with lawful trade and Christian Missions -
the moral and material results of which have been so gratifying. I
hope to ascend the Rovuma, or some other river North of Cape Delgado,
and, in addition to my other work, shall strive, by passing along the
Northern end of Lake Nyassa and round the Southern end of Lake
Tanganyika, to ascertain the watershed of that part of Africa. In so
doing, I have no wish to unsettle what with so much toil and danger
was accomplished by Speke and Grant, but rather to confirm their
illustrious discoveries.
I have to acknowledge the obliging readiness of Lord Russell in
lending me the drawings taken by the artist who was in the first
instance attached to the Expedition. These sketches, with
photographs by Charles Livingstone and Dr. Kirk, have materially
assisted in the illustrations. I would also very sincerely thank my
friends Professor Owen and Mr. Oswell for many valuable hints and
other aid in the preparation of this volume.
Newstead Abbey,
April 16, 1865.
THE ZAMBESI AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
INTRODUCTION.
Objects of the Expedition - Personal Interest shown by Naval
Authorities - Members of the Zambesi Expedition.
When first I determined on publishing the narrative of my "Missionary
Travels," I had a great misgiving as to whether the criticism my
endeavours might provoke would be friendly or the reverse, more
particularly as I felt that I had then been so long a sojourner in
the wilderness, as to be quite a stranger to the British public. But
I am now in this, my second essay at authorship, cheered by the
conviction that very many readers, who are personally unknown to me,
will receive this narrative with the kindly consideration and
allowances of friends; and that many more, under the genial
influences of an innate love of liberty, and of a desire to see the
same social and religious blessings they themselves enjoy,
disseminated throughout the world, will sympathize with me in the
efforts by which I have striven, however imperfectly, to elevate the
position and character of our fellow-men in Africa.
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