Particular seat, which I saw his age and
experience in Africa had suggested, namely, a straw mat, with a
goatskin over it, and another skin nailed against the wall to
protect his back from contact with the cold mud. I protested
against taking this seat, which so much more befitted him than I,
but the Doctor would not yield: I must take it.
We were seated - the Doctor and I - with our backs to the wall.
The Arabs took seats on our left. More than a thousand natives
were in our front, filling the whole square densely, indulging
their curiosity, and discussing the fact of two white men meeting
at Ujiji - one just come from Manyuema, in the west, the other from
Unyanyembe, in the east.
Conversation began. What about? I declare I have forgotten.
Oh! we mutually asked questions of one another, such as
"How did you come here?" and "Where have you been all this long
time? - the world has believed you to be dead. "Yes, that was the
way it began: but whatever the Doctor informed me, and that which
I communicated to him, I cannot correctly report, for I found myself
gazing at him, conning the wonderful figure and face of the man at
whose side I now sat in Central Africa. Every hair of his head
and beard, every wrinkle of his face, the wanness of his features,
and the slightly wearied look he wore, were all imparting
intelligence to me - the knowledge I craved for so much ever since
I heard the words, "Take what you want, but find Livingstone."
What I saw was deeply interesting intelligence to me, and unvarnished
truth. I was listening and reading at the same time. What did these
dumb witnesses relate to me?
Oh, reader, had you been at my side on this day in Ujiji, how
eloquently could be told the nature of this man's work! Had you
been there but to see and hear! His lips gave me the details; lips
that never lie. I cannot repeat what he said; I was too much
engrossed to take my note-book out, and begin to stenograph his story.
He had so much to say that he began at the end, seemingly oblivious
of the fact that five or six years had to be accounted for. But his
account was oozing out; it was growing fast into grand proportions -
into a most marvellous history of deeds.
The Arabs rose up, with a delicacy I approved, as if they intuitively
knew that we ought to be left to ourselves. I sent Bombay with them
to give them the news they also wanted so much to know about the
affairs at Unyanyembe. Sayd bin Majid was the father of the gallant
young man whom I saw at Masangi, and who fought with me at Zimbizo,
and who soon afterwards was killed by Mirambo's Ruga-Ruga in the
forest of Wilyankuru; and, knowing that I had been there, he
earnestly desired to hear the tale of the fight; but they had all
friends at Unyanyembe, and it was but natural that they should be
anxious to hear of what concerned them.
After giving orders to Bombay and Asmani for the provisioning of
the men of the Expedition, I called "Kaif-Halek," or "How-do-ye-do,"
and introduced him to Dr. Livingstone as one of the soldiers in
charge of certain goods left at Unyanyembe, whom I had compelled
to accompany me to Ujiji, that he might deliver in person to his
master the letter-bag with which he had been entrusted. This was
that famous letter-bag marked "Nov. 1st, 1870," which was now
delivered into the Doctor's hands 365 days after it left Zanzibar!
How long, I wonder, had it remained at Unyanyembe had I not been
despatched into Central Africa in search of the great traveller?
The Doctor kept the letter-bag on his knee, then, presently, opened
it, looked at the letters contained there, and read one or two of
his children's letters, his face in the meanwhile lighting up.
He asked me to tell him the news. "No, Doctor," said I, "read your
letters first, which I am sure you must be impatient to read."
"Ah," said he, "I have waited years for letters, and I have been
taught patience. I can surely afford to wait a few hours longer.
No, tell me the general news: how is the world getting along?
"You probably know much already. Do you know that the Suez Canal
is a fact - is opened, and a regular trade carried on between Europe
and India through it?"
"I did not hear about the opening of it. Well, that is grand news!
What else?"
Shortly I found myself enacting the part of an annual periodical
to him. There was no need of exaggeration of any penny-a-line
news, or of any sensationalism. The world had witnessed and
experienced much the last few years. The Pacific Railroad had been
completed <1869>; Grant had been elected President of the United States;
Egypt had been flooded with savans: the Cretan rebellion had
terminated <1866-1868>; a Spanish revolution had driven Isabella
from the throne of Spain, and a Regent had been appointed: General
Prim was assassinated; a Castelar had electrified Europe with his
advanced ideas upon the liberty of worship; Prussia had humbled Denmark,
and annexed Schleswig-Holstein <1864>, and her armies were now around
Paris; the "Man of Destiny" was a prisoner at Wilhelmshohe;
the Queen of Fashion and the Empress of the French was a fugitive;
and the child born in the purple had lost for ever the Imperial
crown intended for his head; the Napoleon dynasty was extinguished
by the Prussians, Bismarck and Von Moltke; and France, the proud
empire, was humbled to the dust.
