The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1863-08-28
DIR. LIVINGSTONE,S AFRICAN
EXPEDITION.

DIR. LIVINGSTONE,S AFRICAN q
EXPEDITION.
Effects Of the Slave-Trade-.AP Panic,
Drought and Famine-.ThOusands
of Lives Lost.
The London Times publishes the fol-
lowing extract of letter from DR.. L1v-
1NGsToNE, dated River Shire, February 20,
1868 giving the latest news of his expe-
dition: 10 z.
OF late, affairs have taken an entirely
new phase, or rather we have had our eyes
opened to see that the old system, which
has kept this region shut up from all good
influences, is still in operation, and quite
capable of rendering all our labor Of no
avail. The slave-hunting system has
come across our path, and has nearly quite
depopulated the valley of the Lower
Shire. You may have heard that certain
slave dealers came along DR.. Kinks path
from Tette to this liyer-instigated one
tribe against another, and were paid in
captives, some Of whom we liberated. The
captives who escaped US are separated at
Tette, the men retained and the women
and children sent up the Zambesi to buy
ivory. n panic seized the population
of large district above the Cataracts.
They fled to the Shire, leaving their
fine gardens and grain behind them
"a drought and famine followed
thousands persisted, and still. die off
daily. We counted thirty-two dead
bodies floating down as we steamed up,
and these are nothing to those who per-
ish in the villages and lie unburied, or
those that pass by at night or are devour-
ed by alligators. Well, further down the
river, in the country around Mount Clar-
endon, half-caste marauder, called Mar
ianno, has devastated and depOpulated
with, it is said, about thousand armed
slaves; and where last year we could pur-
chase any amount of fresh provisions and
cotton at the cheapest rate-Capt. Will
son, of her majety's steamer Gorgon,
thought that 100 tons of cotton could be
collected from that valley and the bills
adiacent-we saw not single village, on
" here and there few miserable wretch
es striving to keep body and soul together
by fishing and collecting the seeds OF
grasses. Our labor is very much increas-
ed by the depopulation, inasmuch as we
must go at least 800 miles for all the food
our native laborers require. ,tes'
Another man called BelshOre, made
slave forays west of the Shire, and so does
ano her named Mello, and another called
Jose St. Anna, higher up the Zembesi, and
several parties of slave hunters are out
south of SIENNA. Any one with few guns
and slaves may do the same. No notice
is taken of it by the authorities till the
culprit is rich enough to stand a squeeze.
He may then be imprisoned. 1t would be
uncharitable to say that there, is =, any
mulcting, but he is released and at liberty
after short confinement, to begin again
This Marianne was sentenced to three Z
years imprisonment for rebellion and at
least forty murders-came back, and was
received as a guest of the Governor of
Quillimane, till he "ran away" and his
Excellency ran after him, but Of course q
could not catch him. This system has
been going on tor long time, but we did
not become aware of it by actual observa-
ton till lately, because the Shaving which
went on under the name OF "French
Free Emigration, was supplied by forays
i'm the countries north and northwest of
Quillimane. r
You are probably not fully aware of
what Lord PalmerstoD has done by his
policy on the West Coast. Were he not
in power, l could say great deal more :
than, for fear of being set down as a,
"toady," dare do now. Mr.. Wilson, an
American missionary, who has written the
best book / have seen ON the West Coast,
says that, had it not been for his policy
Africa as yet had scarcely been access
ible to missionary labor. BY means of
the security which our squadron impaired,
over twenty missions have been establish
ed, twenty dialects reduced to writings,
and 12,OO6 communities have been re-
ceived by the different churches. Educa-
ton is impaired to thousands OF the young,
and good influences are spreading inland.
Lawful commerce has been increased from
ego, 900 annually to between $4,000, 900
and 5000, 900, and more tonnage is en-
ployed in carrying it than has ever been
engaged in the slave trade, even in its
palmiest days.