The Sun.
London, England, 1867-12-10 00:00:00

THE FATE OF DI?. LIVINGSTONE.

At the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society last
evening letters from Mrs. and Dr. Kirk were read,
relating to the fate of Dr. Livingstone. They wera
dated respectively October 11 and October 9, being four-
teen days later than the last published. Mrs. Kirk's
letter to Sir Roderick M re-dson contained the following
passage :—" The white traveller concerning whom Dr.
wrote to you on the 28th of last month, according
to further accounts stayed five days at the village where
the caravan was, and then went on to the next chief. The
white man was of moderate height, not stout, wore
white coat an trousers, and a black cloth cap, round
which lie rometifnes wrapped a white cloth. He gave the
chief a looking glass, eight yards of flannel, and a tin box.
He went on northwards. lie gave a letter to Bunduki,
the leader of another caravan, which is expected on the
coast in a month. He had a compass and other instru-
ments which he used at night. He could converse in
Suaheli, but did so imperfectly, and with the Nyassa
idiom, like Dr. Kirk ;' he had a beard. Three of his
party carried boxes ; four had bags of beads, the others
miscellaneous articles."

Dr. Kirk writes to Mr. Webb : " The interesting dis-
covery that a white man had been seen seven months ago
to the south of Lake Taganyika induced Mr. Churchill,
the consul, and myself to go to Bagamoyo, a place on the
coast, the point of arrival and departure of the Ujiji
caravans. The result of our visit has been to find
two other men who also saw this wanderer in the
country of Marungu, and to place his existence appa-
rently beyond a doubt. We have also learnt something
about his personal appearance, his escort, and the route he
was taking, and have been told that letters were given to
one of the head men of another caravan then at Marungu.
This man we have since found is no mythical personage,
but a well-known man, so that on his arrival from the
interior, expected in the course of a month, we may have
not only our curiosity satisfied, but I sincerely hope our
best wishes for -our dear friend Livingstone realised. I
hope we shall find he has been successful, and is pushing
his way to the Albert Nyanza, thence to emerge, rid the
Nile, on the Mediterranean. Ho will have been the
first man who has not only crossed the continent, but has
passed through its whole length from the Cape of Good
Hope to the mouth of the Nile. But the essential part of
his work will have been done before he reaches the Nile.
and he may safely return towards Zanzibar, if so minded,
with laurels sufficient to constitute him the greatest
of all explorers, and the African traveller par excellence.
You see I am very sanguine that our friend is still
alive. The manner in which we obtained the testimony
was very satisfactory. In the first place, I picked up
the news among some of the native traders; I then traced
it to the caravan people, and drew out their story while
they were unsuspicious of its interest ; so that neither
Hurdee trader; nor Suaheli men had an object to
tell lies, or an idea in which way to do so if they
wished to please merely. Besides, our conversations were
carried on without an interpreter, and, although making
no pretence to a full knowledge of the language, I know
quite sufficient to be able to express myself and dispense
with that fertile source of confusion, an interpreter. I
need not repeat all we heard ; most of what is important
will be published before this reaches England. With the
prospect of letters from Livingstone so near, we may well
refrain from all speculation' on the subject of his geo-
graphical discoveries. Mr. Brenner, the companion of
the late Baron von der Decken, has returned to Zanzibar
from the River Dana, which he has ascended for a distance
of between 100 and 200 miles from the sea. He describes
the river as deep and navigable for small craft, and it
flows through a rich country."

THE LATE GALE. —Up to Saturday no tidings had
been heard of the steamships Vienna and Ivanhoe, of
Leith, which sailed that day week. The Vienna, a very
fine vessel, built for the Leith and Hamburg trade in 1863,
left Hamburg on Saturday week, having several cabin
passengers, a crew of about twenty, mostly belonging to
Leith, and eight foreign sailors, coming to join a vessel at
Leith. Her commander, Captain Seater, was one of the
most experienced seamen in the service. The Ivanhoe
left Leith for Amsterdam on the 30th ult. She is an older
and smaller vessel, commanded by Captain Cairns.
INSURANCES ON HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE.---
Subjoined is a list of the insurances effected on Her
Majesty's Theatre, exclusive of the surrounding houses;
several of the offices, however, have lessened their risk by
reinsurances in other offices not named :—On the building
—Liverpool and London and Globe, £lO,OOO ; Northern,
£6,000 ; Lancashire, £5,000 ; sun, £4,000 ; Atlas,
£3,000 ; Manchester, £3,000 ; North British and
Mercantile, £2,000 ; and Commercial Union, £2,000.
On properties—North British and Mercantile, £6,000 ;
and Royal, Liverpool, £3,ooo—making a total on the
building and properties, of £44,000. The insurances by
Messrs. Graves and Co., the printsellers, are stated to be
—Alliance, £7,000 ; Northern, £5,000 ; County, £3,750 ;
Sun, £3,000 ; Westminster, £3,000 ; Hand-in-hand, £3,000 ;
Liverpool and London and Globe, £3,000 ; Lanca,sh:r.,
£3,000; and Western, £3,ooo—a total of £33,750.
THE MEN OF DECEMBER. —The month of De-
cember is remarkable for the events interesting to the
Napoleon family. Sixty-three years and four days have
just elapsed since the founder of the dynasty was crowned
in the Cathedral of Notre Dame by Pius VII. On the Ist
of December (1807) Jerome Bonaparte was proclaimed
King of Westphalia. On the 2nd of the same month
(180:')) was fought the Battle of Austerlitz. On the 4th
(1808) Napoleon entered Madrid. On the 10th (1848)
Citizen Louis Napoleon Bonaparte was elected
President of the French Republic. On the 12th
(1790) General Bonaparte was named First Consul. On
the 15th (1840) the remains of Napoleon arrived in Paris.
On the 16th (1809) took place the divorce of Napoleon
from Josephine. On the ISth (1812) Napoleon returned
to Paris after the disastrous Campaign of Russia. On the
23rd (180 G) Napoleon defeated the Russians at Garnovo.
On the evening of the 24th (1S00) the infernal machine
exploded as the First Consul was going to the opera. On
the 26th (1777) Marie Julie, the wife of Joseph Bonaparte,
was born. It was on the sth of December, 1792, that the
National Convention decreed the penalty of death against
ill who esported grain from the territory of the Be.
7-iublic.