The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-24 00:00:00

The Fate of Dr. Livingstone.

Sir Roderick Murchison, in a letter to the 7 lines,
says :—" By a letter received yesterday from Dr.
Kirk, dated Zanzibar, Feb. 8 (eleven days later
than the previous dates), I learn that a despatch
reached his Highness the Sultan on the previous
day from the Governor of Quiloa, containing an im-
portant statement with regard to Dr. Livingstone.
The despatch stated that traders had arrived at
Quiloa from the far interior, beyond lake Nyassa,
and that at the end of Nov. last (i.e., two months
after the time of the reported catastrophe) when
they were at Maksura (within ten miles of the sup-
pix=ed place of the tnass,ere), nothing was known of
any mishap having befallen Livingstone. They
said, on the contrary, that the traveller had con-
tinued on ward towards the visa or Babisa country,
after having met with a hospitable reception on the
western shore of the north end of Lake Nyassa. 1)1..
Kiik adds, however, that as Maksura is short of the
place of attack described by the Johanna men, I e
almost fe ►rs to communicate this intelligence, lest
it should buoy up hopes which may too soon be
broken.

At the same time, as I have all along questioned
the veracity of these cowardly runaways, the
Johanna men, founding mydistrust on the testimony
of those who know them well, this latest information
from very near the scene of the reported disaster
gives me further grounds for the hope that the great
traveller may still be alive, a hope which I ex-
pressed when this painful subject was first brought
before the public.
At all events, it is now more than ever obvious
that the course which I suggested, and which is sanc-
tioned by the council of the Royal Geographical
Society—namely, to have an expedition sent otit
to clear up the mystery—is the proper one to pur-
sue. It is proposed to intrust the command of the
search party, with the permission of the Board of
Admiralty, to Mr. E. D, Young, who managed
the Pioneer, steam-vessel; on the Zambesi for
two years under Livingstone, and who has
now a post on board her Majesty's yacht
Victoria and Albert. Provided with an iron boat,
to be sent out with him, it is hoped that her Ma-
jesty's Government will instruct the naval autho-
rities at the Cape to forward Mr. Young and his
companions to the Zambesi. Once arrived there,
the leader is so well known to the natives
that, after selecting a negro crew, his boat will
be carried, in pieces, past the cataracts of
the Shire, and afterwards launched on that
river, thence to navigate the Lake Nyassa to its
northern end, near which the disaster is said to
have occurred. If the sad story be true, and Living-
stone has really been killed, the news will doubtless
have spread along the shores of the Lake, or great
line of traffi;" of the country. Again, his instru-
ments, note-books, guns, &c.—the relics of his ex-
pedition—will have found their way as articles of
barter among the natives. In the, absence of such
signs, and in the event of the exploring party find-
ing no proofs whatever of his death, why, then, I
shall firmly believe that the man who was appointed
her Majesty's Consul to all the chiefs in the interior
of South Africa is still carrying out his great mis-
sion.