The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-13 00:00:00

DR. LIVIAGSTONE'S EXPEDITION.

The following letter has been received by the
Rev. William Monk, of Cambridge, from Dr. Liv-
ingstone :
" Her Majesty's Ship Pioneer, River Shire, Jan. 2.

"My dear Mr. Monk,—l have very little inclination to
enter into details concerning the commencement of the
Oxford and Cambridge Mission, because I am sure that
accounts have been furnished by abler hands, and I am not
very partial to works of supererogation. I may say, how-
ever, that I am thankful in having contributed in some
degree to precautions against a fate similar to that at Lin-
yanti ; and I think if the missionaries follow the dictates of
common sense, they are likely to enjoy good health while
pursuing their noble enterprise.
" It was very annoying to find that the people of Tette
had come along the path followed by Dr. Kirk along the
Shire to that village, and set up an extended system of
slave hunting in the very country to which the mission had
come. A tribe called Ajawa had been employed to attack
the Manganj a villages, kill the men, and sell the women and
children to the Portuguese for a mere trifle in calico. Four
parties, with about 140 captives, fell into our hands, and
were handed over to the bishop as a beginning to his flock.
They were chiefly women and children ; many will probably
leave and settle in the country adjacent, but the remainder,
entirely free from parental control, may be trained accord-
ing to the will of the missionaries. In respect to these freed
captives, the mission is more highly favoured than any
modern one, except, perhaps, that of the Independents in
Madagascar, King Radama presented a number of youths
for instruction, but more for his own political ends than
from respect to Christianity. In that island, however, the
fruits have been unmistakeably good, for the converts have
stood the test of cruel persecutions after the missionaries
had left Madagascar. I earnestly hope and pray that simi-
lar or more abundant success may be awarded to this new
effort to spread our common faith. The good Lord bless the
work of their hands.

" You cannot well conceive the state of disunion among
the Manganja (in mercy call them Man-anja, not as we
sometimes hear it Mang-ga,oja) ; the destruction of village
after village produced no effort at union against the common
foe. A message only was sent down to Chibisa, as he is be-
lieved to possess medicine capable of ensuring victory. The
paramount chief,' instead of aiding his subjects, kindly
helped the slave hunters across the Shire. We found that
the whole nation NN. ere fleeing, and hoping to stop this and
the effusion of blood, went to hold a parley with the Ajawa.
Unfortunately, we came to them when in the act of burn-
ing three villages. The bishop then offered up a fervent
prayer, and with the accents of that prayer we could dis-
tinctly hear the wail of the dead, and the shrill scream for
victory. As we advanced to their villages our assurances
that we came peaceably were nullified by some Manganja
followers calling out " Chibisa has come ;" and very un-
fortunately, though I heard it distinctly, it did not strike
the mind till afterwards, that we were thereby deprived of
the protection of our English name. They attacked us on
all sides with poisoned arrows, and fonr muskets, and I feel
very sure that the latter were handled byPortuguese slaves.
They certainly had the dress common among slaves at Tette,
and there was a square house, such as slaves often build near
the Ajawa villages. We retired slowly from the village,but
this only made them bolder; they came within 50 yards of
us, and it was only by recourse to our firearms that we
avoided all becoming food for the vultures. lam sorry that
it was necessary,for it was the first hostile encounter I have
had in Africa, Had' I anticipated an attack I should have
used fair words and presents first. We are, however, in the
slave market. We were twice robbed in the sphere of an
Arab dhow's slaving operation, about half way up lake
Nyassa—the first loss by robbers I have sustained in the
continent. Slaving is the parent of every other vice. Life
is of no value in the trader's eye. A short time before we
caught the first slave .hurting party, they shot two women
on pretence that they were trying to loose the thongs with
which they were bound; and I suspect the Ajawa, seeing
us a very small body, and elated with continual success,
thought it would be a clever thing to make an example of
us. We had ammunition with us barely sufficient to drive
them off, their attack was so unexpected.
"Leaving the missionaries at a spot which to the eye
looks as if 15 miles south of Mount Zomba, and which will
serve till a better locality is selected, we returned to the
ship, and in the beginning of August carried a boat past
Murchison's Cataracts. When we launched her on the
upper Shire we were virtually on the lake, though still 60
miles distant, because the river is all smooth and deep, and
has a gentle current. On the 2d September we sailed into
that island sea. It is surrounded with mountains, and from
them rush down furious tempests with great suddenness.
Tremendous swells get up in 15 or 20 minutes, and had you
ever crossed the bar at Quillimane you would know what
I mean when I say that terrific rollers come across the lake
with wall-like sides and hairy heads, breaking in from
7to 14 fathoms. We ware once caught a mile from the
shore, and could neither advance nor recede for six weary
hours. The men all dreadfully sea sick did not care how
soon they went down, as they were dead already.' The
rollers broke either before they reached or after they had
passed our anchorage. The boat behaved admirably,
mounting up the steep billows like a sea-bird, but one
roller breaking on her would have ended our explora-
tion. After this we were less venturesome, and listened
to the utterance of our seaman, John Neil, as if he had
been an oracle. We sailed along the western shore
and found that side to be a succession of bays. The south-
ern end is shaped somewhat like Italy on the map. The
ankle of the boot is the narrowest part, 18 or 20 miles wide.
It expands towards the north to 35, then to 50 or 60 miles.
The length is over 200 miles, probably 225. The depth is
very great. A fishing line found b Atom in a bay at 100
fathoms or 600 feet ; but a mile outside none was felt at
116 fathoms, or 696 feet. There are several small rounded
rocky islands in this lake which are covered with forests,
uninhabited, and used only as fishing stations. Detached
rocks jut out adjacent to these islands, and to all the rocky
headlands, which will be dangerous to navigators. With
our present knowledge, a ship could find anchorage only
near the shore. Fish abound, and a prodigious population
inhabits the shores, and they catch fish by large nets, creels,
hooks, torches, or poison. Alligators, very 'a ell fed on fish,
seldom or never molest man, so we could bathe in the
delicious cool waters whenever we chose—a great luxury
not to be enjoyed in the Shire or the Zambesi,
. _

" The people were civil—no dues were levied or fines
demanded ; but slaving is the only trade. Colonel Rigby,
our Consul at Zanzibar, says, in a letter to Sir George Grey,
that 19,000 slaves pass through the Custom-house there
annually—all, or nearly all, from Nyassa or Shire • and he
adds, If it should ever be possible to place a steamer on
Lake Nyassa it will cut off the chief supply of slaves to the
east coast. Without knowing that gentleman's opinion,
we have ordered a steamer from Glasgow in 24 parts, which
we hope to carry past the Cataracts as our next work. We
expect her soon, and I shall not pen a syllable to you or
anyone else till it is accomplished. I pray to Rim in whose
hand are our times' to permit me to accomplish this great
service. Then a path to the sea by lZ ovuma, or some river
in the dominions of the Sultan of Zanzibar, for we must
have an outlet to the sea uncontrolled by the Portuguese.
Fancy the folly of our allies ; the Government builds a
post at the mouth of the Shire, to be enriched by cotton
dues, while the people of Tette do all in their power to de-
populate the country from which the cotton is to come. If
we have our own outlet, the cotton field, now 400 miles
long, will be prolonged far to the north and west, and our
own English honest poor may live on the islands and be-
come blessings to Africa, our own sweet home, and to
themselves. These are iv hopes, and it ought to be borne
in mind that my expedition should be dated only from the
possession of the Pioneer. We were forced to return by
want of food, when, as we have reason to believe, we were
in sight of the dark mountain masses in which Lake Nyassa
ends.
" A tribe of Zulus originally from the south, had made
terrible havoc among the Lake people. We don't know
why, as we received only one-sided statements, and never
form an opinion on that sort of evidence ; but human skele-
tons and putrid bodies of the shun strewed the shores—
, man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands
mourn.' I met seven of these Manta or Zulus ; they be-
haved much as we may suppose old women of either sex
would do if they fancied they had
this tribe wandering up so far it strikes me that the more
work Christian people attempt the more their Master gives
them to perform. The bishop at the Cape,
with his Kaffir
College,
is probably fitting missionaries to labour much
nearer the equator than he ever contemplated, I always
rejoice
to hear of efforts to spread our blessed religion, no
matter by whom, for I am sure that lie who is head over
all things to His Church condescends
houst often feeble, offering of His peo_le,
to accept the hear.ty,
t' and will guide
a glorious consummation. This college seems an ad-
mirable institution.
Frequent storms rendered it unadvisable for us to at-
tempt crossing to find out all about the matter for 05-
selves. It was the first time I ever was forced back with-
out accomplishing what I had to do, but had I time to tell