Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1860-01-19
MISCELLANEOUS
A Letter from DR.. Livingstone.

At a meeting of the Geographical and
Statistical Society last night, letter was
read from Dr. Livingstone, the distinguish
ed traveller, under the date Of Tette, Zam-
besi, 22d February, 1885, from which we
extract the following interesting account of
his latest discoveries =
We are all quite sure now that, during
at least eight months of each year, a steam
er of four or five feet could trade without
embarrassment The reason why so little
has been known about the Zambesi may
have been the branching in the stormy
promontory, by which it was hidden from
navigators. And these easy chair geograph-
ers, dreaming over the Geography of Ptol-
emy, actually put down the Zambesi as
flowing into the sea at Quillimane, which
in his day it probably did, though not
drop of Zambesi water in ordinary circum-
stances reaches that port. Had some branch
of the Anglo Americans planted their foot
steps on its banks-we are such babbling,
newspaper set-the world would have
known all about it long ago; and no one
would have ventured to play with this riv-
er as has been done, making it lose itself
and flow under the Calahari desert
DIR. Livingstone and his party assembled
a branch of this river, the Shire and he
gives some account of the people and things
along its banks. He says:
So far as we can ascertain, this river
has never been explored by Europeans be-
fore. One part of the luxuriant valley of
the Shire is marshy and abounding in la
goons, in which grow great quantities of
the lotus plant The people were busy col
lecting the tubers, which, when boiled or
roasted, resembled chestnuts. They are
thus real Lotophagi, such as are mentioned
by Herodotus. Another part of the val
ley abounded in elephants. My companion
estimated the number at over 500 Herd
upon herd appeared as far as the eye could
reach and noble animals they were. We
sometimes chased them in our little steam
err; for the Shire branches off occasionally
and forms islands
The upper part of the valley is we'll
peopled, and many of the hills are cultiva-
ted high up. But never having seen Euro
peans before, they looked on us with sus-
picion. They watched US constantly, well
armed with bows and poisoned arrows,
ready to repel any attack but no inciv-
ihty was offered when we landed, nor were
our wooding parties molested. x
The greatest coward fires first; so think
ing we had as much pluck as they, we did
not lift a gun, though we saw them ever
ready to fire, or rather shoot. We did
nothing to make us ashamed to return, and :,
if we have their confidence, we may 60
further. They had abundant of provisions,
and sold them at cheap rate also, cotton
of two kinds-one indigenous, short in the
staple, but very strong and woolly to the
feeling-the other from imported, very fine
and long in the staple.
I'VE bought number of specimens of
their spindles and yarn, and, as it was
quite equal to American uplands, we did
not offer them any American seed. The
cotton plant is met with everywhere, and,
though burned down annually, it springs
up again as fresh and strong as ever.
They grow sugar cane, too, bananas, mani
oc, &c, The men are said by the Portu-
gese to be very intelligent, but very wild.
The women wear the lip ornament, (Which
the doctor describes by diagram. 1t is
ring about four inches in circumference
and nearly quarter of an inch thick,