The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-11-24

Drought to o standstill by the superabundance of
water in the country in front. native party
came through and described the country as in
undated, so as often to be high and waist deep,
with sleeping places difficult 10 lind. This food
lasts till May or June. At last became so tired
OF inactivity that doubled back on my course to
CaZembe.
TO give an idea Of the inundation which, in
small way, enacts the part Of the Nile lower
down. / had to cross two rivuets which flow into
the north end Of the MserO; one was thirty, the
other forty yards broad, crossed by bridges. One
had a quarter, the other half mile OF flood on
each side. Moreover, one, the Luo, had covered
plain abreast OF Moero, so that the water on q
great part reached from the knees to the upper
part OF the chest The plain was OF black mud,
with grass higher than our heads. We had to fol-
low the path which, in places, the ieet OF passeli-
gers had worn into deep ruts. Into these We
every now and then plunged and fell over the
anccs in soft mud while hundreds OF bubbles
rushed up and, bursting, emitted frlgntful odOr.
We had four hours OF this wadlng and plunglng-
the last mile was the worst; and right glad we
were to get out Of 1t and battle in the clear tepld
waters and sandy beach OF Moero. In going up
the bank OF the lake, we first of all forded 1our
torrents, thigh deep; then river eighty yards
wide and 800 yards OF Hood on it's west bank so
deep we had to keep to the canoes till within
fifty yards of the higher ground; then four
brooks, from five to fifteen yards broad. One
OF these, the Chungu, possesses somewhat mel.
anchOly interest rs that on which poor DR..
Lacerda died. lie was the only Portuguese
visitor who had any scientific education, and his
fifty miles wrong, probably reveals that his mind
was clOuded with fever when he last observed.
and any one who knows what that implies will
look on his error with compassion. The Chungu
went high on the chest and one had to walk on
tptOe to avoid swimming. As crossed all these
brooks at high and low water observed the dii.
ference to be from fifteen TO eighteen inches, and
from all the perennial streams The Hood Is q clear
water. The state of the rivers and country made
me go in the very lightest marching order-took
nothing but the most necessary instruments and
no paper except couple OF note books and the
Bible. On unexpectedly flnding party going 10
the coast, borrowed o piece of paper from an
Arab ami the defccts-unavoldaol in the clrcum-
stances-you will kindly excuse. Only one OIL my
attendants would come here; the others, on varl-
GUS pretenccs, abScOnded. The TACT Is, tney are
all tired Of this everlasting tramping, and SO
verify am l. Were it not for an inveterate dis
like to give in to difficulties, without doing my
utmost to overcome them, would abscond TOO.
comfort myself with the hope that by making the
country and people better known l am doing
good; and by imparting little knowledge oc-
casionally ! may be working IN accordance
with the plans OF an all-embracng Providence.
was in the habit Uf sending my observations
| to the Cape Observatory, where Sir I. Maclean,
the Astronomer Royal and the Assistant Astrono-
mer Mr.. Mann, bestowed great deal CT gratui-
tous attention on them in addition to the regular
duties of the observatory. They tested their ac-
curacy In variety OF ways, which those only
who are versed in the higher mathematics can
understand or appreciate. The late Earl or Eles-
mere publicly said of single sheet OF these most
carefully tested geographical positions, that they
contained more geography than many large
volumes. While the mass Of true observations
which went to the Royal Observatory at the Cape
required much time for calculation, worked 0us
| number In q rough way, leaving out many
minute corrections, such as for the height OF the
! thermometer and barometer, tile horizontal
paraaX and semidamcter OF planets, using but
one moons semi-diameter and horizontal!
paraaX for a set OF distances, though OF
| several hours duration; corrections for the
differences OF proportional lOgarthlsing, &c,
and with these confcssedy Imperfect longi-
tudcs made and sent some sketch maps TO give
| general ideas OF the countries cNp'ored. Incy
| were imperfect, as calculated and made In the
| confusion Of the multitude Of matters that crowd
on the mind Of an explorer, but infinitely Detter
than many OF the published maps. SrT. Maclean
| for instance, says that short OF trigonomctrlc
survey no river has been laid down so accurately
! rs the ZanbeZi: and Mr. Mann, after most care
ful examination Of the series oil chr0n0metrlc oo-
| servatiOns which more than once ran from the
Sea of Zette up 20 Lake NyaSsa, any error IN the
longitude caniiOt possibly amount to four min
utes. Well, after all my care and risk OF health,
and even of life, 1t IS not very inspiring 10 nnd
! 200 miles OF lake tackled on to thc northwest cnd
| of Nyassa--and these 200 miles perched up on the
! upland region and passed over some 3OoO Ieet
| higher than the rest of the lakes.
| we shall probably hear that the author OF this
| feat in lancography claim thcrclrom to be con !.
sidered theoretical discOverer Of the sources OF
the Nile MY imperfect longitudes and sketches
| led some to dcsccrate the perfect ones from the
observatory. This croung alto III algela was iiX-
| ed by seven sets Of lunar distances that Is, at
| least siXty-threc distances between the moon
and stars and probably one hundred attitudes
of sun or stars, all made in risk OF ana
| sometimes actually suffering from African
fever Six sets showed from one to three
minutes on each side OF longitude Ii degrees
east, but the seventh showed few minutes
to tile west. The six were thrown aside anu tnc
seventh adopted, because Portuguese salu
/ bn al MIGHT
about midway between Ambaca ana the
sea- Ambaca he had never seen, and the
folly OF intermeddng is apparent from the change
not making the spot pcrceptibly nearer tue iha9l-
nary midway, anu no one had ever observed them
before, nor In our day will observe again. OtNcr
| freaks, and one specially immoral were perform
| ed, and to my gentle remonstrances | received
only giggle. The desecration my positions nave
| suffered Is probably unknown to the council, but
| there is all the more reason why should adhere
| to nv resolution to be the guardian OF my own
observations till publication. l regret TINS, Dc'
cause the upsettlng OF the canoe, or anytnlhg
happening 10 me, might Ieau 10 Tic enIlIc iosS vi
| the discoveries. ~
given summary OF the streams which, n0wing
| into Chambezc Luapula, LualaDa ana tne iakes,
| may be called sewers. Thirteen, all larger than
| tile Isis at oxford, or Avon at Hamilton, run lto
! one line OF drainage, five into another anu lOur
| into third reccptaclc-twenty-three IN all MOI
| having seen the Nile in the north, IorDear any
| comparison of volume / trust. that my labors
| though much longer than intended, may meet
with your lordship's appreciation. have &c,
DAVID LIVINGSTONE.
P.S-Always something new from Africa;
| large tribe lives in underground houses IN ltua
| Some excavations are said to be thirty miles long,
! and have running rills in them. A whole district
can stand siege in them. The writings"
therein | have been told by some OF the people
are on wings OF animals, and not letters. VI
| course | should have gone to see them. very
| dark, we'll made and eyes santingwards.
The reading OF the dispatch was several times
interrupted with loud applause. Extracts from
several private letters from DR.. Livingstone, the
chief point OF geographical interest in which was
the statement that the sources OF the Nile are to
be found in the lakes and rivers that drain the
great valley in which CaZembe is situated, and
lying to the south Of Tanganyika, between ten
and twelve degrees of south latitude.
The president said that the great problem had
now been sovcd-thc road was open to his Illus
trious friend They might expect him within a
few months and they would accord him wei
come such az few Englishmcn had ever expert
enced. [I4oud applause.l
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