The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-10 00:00:00

the report was true. The only answer he could give
was that if the Times bad said it the 10001. was
certain if they could only get the proper fibre. He
then advised them to got some of the fibres they
had in abundance, which might be used in the ma-
nufacture of paper. They brought a kind of aloe,
and another soft fibrous sub Stance found round the
roots of the wild date Arm Neither of these would
be good for the purpose; but they likewise brought
another termed " buaze," which he had known
simply, as used fox making threads to string beads
upon. In other parts the sinews of animals were
used for that purpose ; but this root was quite
as strong, and when one attempted to break it it
felt as ifs it would 'cut the finger. He brought home
some of it, and presented it to Pye Brothers,
in Lombard-street, who put it through their new
process fur treating such fibres, and they gave it as
their opiuiou, after consulting one of the first manu-
facturers in Leeds, that the fibre was finer and
stronger than flax, and it was worth between 501.
and 601. a ton. This plant was probably not known
to botanists at all. It was said to grow abundantly
on the north bank of the Zambesi, but was never
cultivated. The north bank was mu3h more fer-
tile than the south bank.

Mr. CHEETIII3r.—YOII have alluded to cotton on
the west coast ; is any grown on the east ?
Dr. LIVINGSTON said it grew abundantly on the
west, and that was far -the best field for cotton.
On the - east it was cultivated a little, but it was
not so good. It clung to the seed, and an iron'
roller had to be-used to separate it. The quantity.
grown on the east side was very much smaller-
than that on the west side, but the natives had..
never been induced to cultivate cotton ; they had'
tever been offered anything for it, and they only
cultivated a little to make clothes for them- 1
selves. He believed if they had a market they
would cultivate largely, for wherever they had the
opportunity of selling anything they immediately
began to collect it. There was a trade between
Loando and Brazil in wax, which was necessary for
the churches in Brazil. This trade had been deve-
loped in Angola and in the central country of
Lunde as they passed through the dense forests,
he and: his party observed that the natives had
placed hives every few hundred yards between the
trees, and seemed to collect every ounce of wax.
The Portuguese gave a very good price for it in
Aegela. The country abounded in honey, and the
travellers were called by the honey bird three or
four times a day. It invited persons to follow it
and take the honey ; and his (Dr. Livingston's)
mon got a good deal of it. This had never been
made an article of export. Some of his men en-
deavoured, without success, to sell their wax at '
Tete. If they had a market he believed the na-
tives would cultivate articles of produce with
eagernes. (Hear.) When he travelled in that cen-
tral country, endeavouring to find a path to the
sea, he found the natives wore equally anxious t o get
to the SIA, to have traffic with the white men. It
was a Fong way from Tete, and by the time he got
there all his goods were expended, but the chief
fitted him. oir, with 15 oxen and canoes, and 27
men, and soot presents of butt?r and fat to the
chiefs in Leando. The men went all the way to
Loando without hope or wages, though he after-
wards
paid them. While there they worked and
collected all they could to take back to their own
country of articles from the white mon's country,
where everything beautiful came from ; and though,
owing continual detentions, sometimes by his
. own fever and sometimes that of his Men, they re-
turned as poor as they set out, they were received
with the greatest kindness, becans) they had
opened up the path. The people had no idea that
sugar could be got from the sugar-cane, although
the sugar-cane abounded in their country, and
when he told them of it the chief asked him to
make seine. He (Dr. Livingston) explained
that it could only be done by a machine. Then,
asked the chief, would he Urine, him a machine from
his own country 1 He explained that he was
a poor man, and it required something con-
siderable to purchase one. The chief replied,
" Why the whole of the ivory of the country is
yours, and if you leave any of it it is your fault."
(Laughter.) The chief (rive him a commission to
the east coast, and fitted him out well a second
time, all in the hope of having intercourse with the
white men. (Hear.)
Mr. CIIEETHA3I—Can you give us any informa-
tion as to the cereals ?

Dr. LIVINGSTON said wheat had never been tried
in the central country. The Portuguese came to
Angola to make a little money, and to go back
to Portugal, and they devoted themselves entirely
to the trade in ivory and beeswax. The country
produced beautiful wheat, and he saw it growing
on the high lands with ears the length of his hand.
The high land produced it without irrigation, and
it might be grown there to almost any extent.
It was quite remarkable that the Portuguese
(Vd not cultivate it, because they paid the Americans
handsomely for all the flour and biscuits they con-
sumed, and he found they had Irish butter from
Cork. The east side of the country also produced
wheat. The Zambesi overflowed large tracts of
country annually, like the Nile. The Portuguese
had bee=n in the habit of cultivating the wheat on
that side of the country ; all it required was that a
slave woman with a little hoe should make a hole
in the ground, drop a few seeds in, and push back
the soil with her foot. In four months there was a
crop of beautiful wheat. This simple operation
answered all the purposes of our subsoiling, plough-
inc,, draining, liming, and manuring. The higher
theyb went up the better the wheat was. At Zumbo
the grain was twice the size it was at Tete, where
it was rather small. it had never been tried in the
high lands in the interior. The country ascended
eastward from the west coast to a height of 5,000
feet above the sea ; then it descended into the-
central valley, where the rivers on both sides con-
tributed to the Zambesi in the middle, and this
river flowed from north to south, leaving the
valley by a fissure or creek in the ridge of
thirty miles long, which formed the most beauti-
ful sight he bad seen in Africa. There were two
ridges on th it side of the valley, one of 5,000
feet. The bottom of the valley and the coasts wore
very unhealthy, but the high lands were very
healthy. The central hollow. contained herbage
excessively rank. The healthy ridges were remark-
ably well adapted for the production of grain. The
natives cultivated a kind of millet, often called
Caffre corn ; another kind of millet, somewhat
larger, and likewise our own millet.

Mr: CHEETHANI.—Did you find any sheep or
goats' wool ?

- Dr. LIVINGSTON thought the only wool he had
seen was on the heads of the people. (Laughter.)
The sheep there had hair instead of wool, and the
men's heads had wool instead of hair. (Applause
mad laughter.) However, inland from Benguela,
there was a long stretch of cold elevated country,
where the sheep actually had wool, and cattle
flourished remarkably well.
Mr. CHEETIIAM—What did you see of metallic)
produce ?
Dr. LIVINGSTON said, throughout the country
there appeared to be plenty of knives, axes, and
hoes, and no it the sea there were igneous rocks
shot up, with fine iron ore. Tho Portuguese
Government employed the natives in working iron.
At Kasembi a good deal of malachite was found.
lie had "not seen copper ore in its proper place. A
number of the native hoes had le2en made into an
Enfield rifle for him (Dr. Livingston) at Birming-
ham, the maker pronouncing the metal very good,
resembling, but not equal to, Swedish or Russian
iron. It abounded along the Zambesi.
Iu reply to subsequent inquiries, Dr. LIVING-
STON said there were extensive tracts of forest land.
There were nine seams of coal. lle examined one
near Tete, which was about 68 inches iu diameter ;
the coal having been tilted to the surface by vol-
canic action. Lieut. Hoskins, who had command
real
China, t
h had
of
of one of the gunboats now
given his opinion that the bar
the Zambesi was no impediment to commercial pur-
gaotntehe
to
poses, as there were 22 feet of water upon it ; and
though the river was rather tortuous he would not
hesitate to take up a steamer of the same capacity
as his gunb)at. The river was at the flood during
four or live months of the year.
Mr. CHEETIIA3I.—What article, as a medium of
commerce, could the natives best cultivate at the
present moment ?
Dr. LIVINGSTON believed cotton would be the
beat end that they would
cultivate
were assured
ured of a market. Now
t for
theytct beginm, w
that they had abundance of land they did *not feel
the necessity of improved cultivation. He de-
scribed the feeling of the natives as strongly in
favour of the English, whom they contrasted fa-
vourably with Borg and Portuouese. In the west
the population was very much Milder in character
than in the east ; the possession of a single cannon
was quite to )ugh to overawe a whole district. As
to the effect of the climate on the English constitu-
ion, the nioA important point he had ascertained
was that there were two healthy ridges in the
country. The Portuguese authorities had treated
him with the greatest kindness, and appeared to
regard his label-lA.B.as favourable to the extension of
their commerce. In Angola skilled labour was t
be had for 4d. a-day, field labour for 2d., and he