The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1860-03-29
Exploration Of Africa ..The Livingstone
Explorations. Discovery ola New Cotton

| Ora(ioE.. Discovery Of Il New Cotton
Region.
From the Zambesi expedition intelli
gence has been received at London b,
her Majcsty's steamer Lynx, to a LAT,
date in December. DIR. Livingstone ant
his party were then at kongonc harbo
on the Zambesi delta, and with the al,
of the ensir GERS Of the Lynx, were en-
gagged in repairing their steamer launch
the Ma Robert, the iron Iates of whicl
have now been worn to the thinness of
wafer. They had returned from see
ond expedition up the Shire, in which
they penetrated far up beyond Lake Shir
wa to Lake Nyassa. The former they
asccrtained to be a sheet of water nine
ty miles in length while the latter is o
still larger magnitude, aud one Of tn,
chain of lakes of which the discovcric.
of Captains Burton and Spoke are tn,
continuation northward
DR.. Livingstone speaks in glowing
terms Of the country which he travcsed
and he has applied to the Church Miss,
ionary Society in London to exert them
selves for occupying it as Il most invl:-
ing mission field. Mr.. Baincs, the art
ist Of the expedition has been compelled
from failing health to come down in the
Lynx to the cape, but he purposes re-.
turning again to the Zambcsi before long
Mr.. Thornton, the geocgist, had pro.
ceeded in July last to the interior, GU au
Independent expedition Of his own, in
| Il
And wien tho Lynx left the kongoue,
DR.. Livingstone with his brother, DR..
Kirk, and Mr. Rae, were to return to
Tete with the Ma Robert, and thence
overland by foot on visit to the Nakao-
olo country. This journey was expect.
ed to extend over Il period of at least
eight mouths.
DISCOVERY OF A NEW COTTON REGION.
To the Editor the Manchester Guardian:
SIR you are at liberty to publish the
enclosed letter from the brother of DR..
Livingstone. He sends me six samples
OF cotton, which value as follows: No.
|, IA. to 1id Mo-, Cad to I'd No.
3, ga. to I'd barely; MOI, cd. to Cad.
Ma. 8, G3 d. to Cd, No. 6, AID. to sad;
all exceedingly useful qualities, particu-
larly the first four The last two will be
substitutes, till improved, for East Indi
an cotton. The cotton may be seen
here. Yours truly,
THos CLEGu.
Noun, Street. Manchester, February 20, 1860.
"R.VEK SHIRE, Nov. /, 1889.
:" My DEAR Mr.. CLEGG We have
just returned from visiting the Lake
Nya,sa, the source Of the river Shire, and
what is of greater Importance, have dis
covered a great cotton growing and cot
ton manufacturing country. The cotton
is ol two kinds, native and foreign
rae nntf'c IS shuse :" .l.o a.-rla anl
feels more like wool than cotton The
orei=n appears to be Of good quality,
with a staple from three .fourths of an
inch TO an inch in length. 1t is p2ren-
NAL, and requires planting only once in
three years, while the native has to be
planted annually, in the highlands, yet
the people prefer the latter, because, they
say, it makes the stronger cloth. We
remarked to number of intelligent
looking men in one village, " GU should
plant plenty of cotton, and perhaps the
English will come soon and buy it,
" Truly the country is full OF cotton"
replied one elderly man, who was trad
CT, and had Travelled much aud our own
observation confirmed the truth of this
Everywhere We saw it while passing
through two and IA half degrees Of latit-
ude, and it probably extends much fur
ther. Every family appears to have IA
piece OF cotton groun |, aud it was graft
flying to see how clear of weeds and grass
they kept them. Drs Livingstone and
Kirk, while passing though part of the
same region last April, saw cotton patch
es of from two to three acres each though
this time on a different route we did not
observe any containing more than one
third of an acre. They were in general
about quarter Of an acre each. In ev-
cry village we saw men busy cleaning,
SHINING and weaving cotton. The looms
are Of the simplest possible construction,
and all the processes are exceedingly
slow.
The vast cotton region is easily ac-
ccsslble. The Shire joins the Zambesi
about one hundred miles from the sea,
below the difficult parts of the latter riv-
er, aud for Que hundred and twelve miles
the Shire has deep channel, the river
being from one hundred and fifty to two
hundred yards wide. One hundred and
twelve miles from its mouth the catar-
acts commcnceOa lat. 150 50 s. and for
thirty miles the river is not ..ab|"
goods would have to be carried overland
here)abovc the cataracts to Lake Nyassa;
sixty miles the river is again navigable,
and how far to the north the great nav
yablc lake extends we do not know
The natives said that it would take
months to get to the head of the lake
THE Shire valley is about twelve
miles wide at the foot of the lake. but
soon expands to twenty or thirty, being
bounded on both sides all the way by
ranges of hills, the range on the east or
left bank being very lofty. There is an
exceedingly fertile plain on both sides of
the river eve Travelled on the east of the
river, and pretty well cultivated OF the
Upper Shire, where it is about twelve
hundred feet above the level of the sea.
Ascending the eastern range of hills by
Il steep path, we soon reached plateau,
five hundred or six hundred feet higher;
Il second ascent Of one thousand feet, and
we find another plateau, three or four
,,ilac ~ do and in , hart t.na W, ,,,;