The Press.
London, England, 1857-11-28 00:00:00

THE PRESS, NOVEMBER 28, 1857.

They started from Kolobeng on the Ist of
June, 1849, had crossed the Kalahari Desert
in safety, and, coming upon the Zouga river,
ascended it for some 150 miles, passed
through a country " full of rivers and large
trees," till they reached the north-east end of
the Lake Ngami, a magnificent sheet of
water, some seventy miles in circumference.
Dr. Livingstone pronounces the lake too
shallow, and of little value as a commercial
highway. Here the jealousy of the petty
chiefs in the neighbourhood prevented his
following up so favourable a beginning, and
he was compelled to return to Kolobeng, where
he remained till April, 1830, when he made a
second attempt to reach Sebituane, and again
failed, but only to make a third attempt, in
order to succeed. Unfortunately for him,
Sebituane, the great chief, died shortly after-
' wards, and Dr. Livingstone, passing some
time with the tribe, returned, in April,
1852, to Capo Town. Here be despatched
his wife and family to England, and, pro-
viding himself with an ample outfit, started
alone on his great journey to the north.
Twelve years' residence among, and inter
course with, the natives had fitted him for the
experiment. He had gone through all the
preliminary work, without which success must
have been impossible. He had schooled him-
self into endurance ; he was acclimatised ; he
had learned to turn his faculties to every use,
and, besides preaching and doctoring, could
make bricks and build a house, ride an ox,
and shoot a lion, fell trees, weld iron, churn
butter, make bread and candles, box the
compass, calculate elevations and longitude,
and, in point of fact, was a living refutation
of the division of labour theory. It was
as much to these physical qualities as
to his mental superiority that Dr. Living-
stone won his ascendancy over the na-
tives. "He is not strong, he is quite slim,
" and only appears stout because he puts him-
" self into those bags (trousers) ; he will soon
" knock up," were the remarks he overheard
some of the natives make, as to his powers in
a long journey on foot. He kept them all at
their top speed for days together, and they
respected him ever afterwards.
He started from the Cape towards the close
of '52, and, reaching Kuruman, learned that the
refugee Boers had attacked the Bakwains at
Kolobeng, destroyed his house, scattered his
papers, and plundered all his property, out of
revenge for his efforts to open up the country
to commerce and to spread Christianity
among the people. Without waiting to expos-
tulate against this cruel injury, Dr. Livingstone
pushed on by his previous route for the country
of the Makololo, and reached the capital, Lin-
yanti, about 1,200 miles above the Cape, in thy;
spring of 1853. Here he remained for several
months making preparations for his great effort
to penetrate to the north and west. Sekeletu,
the chief of the Makololo, who had succeeded
Sebituane, received him with great kindness,
nursed him through an attack of fever, and
provided him guides when he was prepared to
start. On the 11th November, 1853, Dr.
Livingstone started with as few " impedi-
ments " as possible, and twenty-seven men,
who were appointed by Sekeletu to accompany
him in spite of the warnings of a noted
croaker, an old diviner, who cried out at the
assembly held to consider the question—
" Where is ho taking you to ? The white man
"is throwing you away. Your garments
" already smell of blood." Sokeletu only
laughed at him, and Livingstone and his
party started with the good wishes of
Sekeletu and his people, ascenaing the
waters of the Leeambye, or Zatnbesi, until he
reached the confluence of the Leeba, and
passed on up this river for a short distance,
when, leavinghis canoes, he commenced a jour-
ney by land and to the westward ; and after
passing through a series of adventures, which
are most attractive in their telling, he arrived
safely, on the 3lat May, 1854, at the Portuguese
settlement of Loanda, on the western coast.
Upon the 20th September of the same year
the indefatigable traveller, whom no difficulties
could overcome, started on his return to
Linyanti. He spent some months in the
Portuguese settlement of Angola, with the
view of acquainting himself fully with its
capabilities, and finally left in January, 1855,