Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1865-12-26
Life in Africa.
WHAT DR.. LIVINGSTONE SAW AND uEARp.
From The London Afhsanun.

from me LSona0H AiisHdun,
We viii rather uole some Of the lnuumerabie
incidents which may help us. psEuaps, TO more
correc, Conclusions on the character OF these East
.rn and Central Africans (who are not So much
negroes IS hlndsIn- brown plpu a'ion) l1an
We hays hitherto formed. Wuga the good Bishop
M4keuze arrived 20 ula country which lIivigg-
stone wts ,r4yersrg uo,tug slrfrStd him more
than The fac. that tue rlt.y-s Al ieas, knew more
Of agriculture than he could each them They
l.. ked With contempt 90 our English iron imple-
meuts, metal which they pronounced rotten
when compared win their own and, by reply
ing to one question with another, oflen intimated
the folly that lay in the original query. " Is
this country gooa for cail.e9" said one Of the
explorers to a Mak OH h4rdsman. ID YOU not
see, relojned the I.stc sa e, Nith acouic breyy
abu dance Of the grasses which the cattle love
and get fat upon?" The villages are generally well
situated and well watered, but beneath the roofs of
the nuts there Is a little indiscreeI beer tripping
and some over crowdIng OF household, yet not so
much probably as may be found in Dorsetshire
laborers cottage Where the slsve.trade has
not empited village, or war filed it with skte-
tons and silence there is generally as much hap.
pines Gs can exist in place where those Two evils
are always imiusnt where there is no stimulant to
secure progress and where the people have to be
told that their coal would burl and their oil pro.
vide them vita light,
Their polilenes, is exeesslse, and leads u as
much meudici,y ass the same quality does in civil.
ized countries. When they say the small pot,
which has been so deadly visitation came to
them from England, they mean it "a compH-
meut to Enghnds greatness. Dr.. Livingstone
found that they respected many of the command
ment., without knowing anything OF the Deci-
logue, and that they had attentive ears for all d.
vine commando, but with comment Of their ogn,
after listening. One old chief told US that the
customs Of himself and tribe were sinful, and that
guilt rested on him and them. He did not deny
the snluness, bu. he d,mu'rtd in responsible
guilt. With bold innocence, he described the
fault as lying betseen the white mat aud Jesus.
The blacks had not been so favored as the whites
they had not had the book sent TO them how
should they know better? We are rot surprised
that Dt. Livingstone says OF such shrevd and tract
able Africans, that though their knowledge is
scanty, thsr reasoning is close.
Among themselves, to their method Of argu.
ment might suggust something profitable to angry
dsputanls at home. When Two men ore in hot
and eager sdebste, and neither wrathful speaker
can oonv nee the other, one challenges the other
10 races the victor in that is satisded with hi,
triumph, and both are too breathless aud exhaus-
ted to eater on further controversy that dy.
These men are, OF couut, tn fr,s Africans, man.
iy, intelligent, and industrious, easily frightened
but Jet no. To be imposed upon. When they first
heard DR.. Ly.ngstone's donkeys bray, they were
nuts with terror; but when they found that no
furious action followed such lhun .r OF ALARM
their mir,hfu contempt found abundant express
ion Il is only among the natives degraded by
slavery and It's results that DR.. Livingstone mis-
sed the hope, courage, manlness, aud intelligence
that distinguished their brethren Of brighter des.
tiny.
Although il is impossible to avoid the suspicion
that Dr. Livingstone 80 loves the African that he
uneonSeiously throws little too much pink light,
comeW de rose, over HIM and bis fellows, yet we
cannot doub, OF the simple truth which lies at the
bottom Of oil his statements II there be some