Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1872-09-04
Whole No. 2916
DIR DAVID LIVINGSTONE.

IT is intereS ting to consider hcw
much is accomplished in this world
by inuirection, one thing being aim
Ell at and another thing attained,
Mans wisdom is often at fault, but,
though he work under the inspiration
/ Of error, if he work earnestly and
bravely good is certain to come
Men studied the stars at first with
superstitious aims. but astrology led
to astronomy. They sought for cen
turies with burning enthusiasm the
univertal solvent, the elixir of life,
and the marvellous stone which would
transform the common metals Into
gold the delusiOn drove them to ex-
pertinent, and chemistry was the
result. Columbus was fired with
ambition to aggrandize the church
and started over the ocean to the
| Indies to get the wealth for his devout
| purpose; in this he failed, but other
results were attained of the greatest
moment to humanity. DR.. Living
stone is different from these. yet not
altogether unlike them; for the i'm
pulse that has moved him to his hero
| ie career in Africa is not merely the
revelation of the secrets OfacOntinent
or the extension of geographical dis
covery, but the securing of other great
objects of his life-''the extinction of
the slave trade and permanent i'm
provement in the condition of the
negro race" To do this il was nee
essaTy 10 know more of the great
negro country, and he has sought
this knowledge with invineible reso-
luton and at the constant risk of his
life.
1t is now some six years since DR..
Living, tone disappeared from eivili-
Zation and entered upon his researches
in the wilds of Africa. Then came
the Tumor that he was murdered, and
his old and steadfast friend, Sir Rod
erick Murchison, sent out an expedi-
tiOn to Lake Nyassa, which brought
back the report that he was still alive.
"All this while the great traveller
was tOiliIg steadily at his appointed
task, and had completed the solution
of one great geographical question,
namely, that of the northern limits of
the basin of the Zambesi river. An
other long period elapsed, and once
more letter was received from Ujiji,
on the banks of Lake Tanganyika,
announcing the progress of the work.
Having cleared up the problems re-
lating TO Lake Nyassa, Livingstone
has assembled highlands which form
the water-paTting between the Zam-
besi and another great system of riv-
ers and lakes to the north. He had
been in a land where the vegetation
was saturated with mOisture-a land
unlike all preyiOusly-eone ideas
Of 1rfE ~ Of A frfn orfr NO
beginning to tell upon him. He de-
scribed himself as a mere bag of
bones But he gave no sign Of falter-
ing in his purpose. His great discov-
cry was not half achieved, and the
time for rest was still distant. His
will was unsubdued; his life-wOrk
must be completed before he could
turn aside to be refreshed; and thus
he disappeared again."
The discovery of Dr. Livingstone
after his long disappearance is an ex-
plot of the New York Herald,n
whose proprietor dispatched Mr..
Stanley to find him, This he succeed
ed in doing, and DIR. Livingstone
makes his acknowledgements in the
interesting letters to Mr.. J. G. Ben
nett. These letters disclose to the
world a state of things disgraceful
even to savagery-a slave trade of the
most ferociOus and murderous kind.
Well may he say: ''I come back to
the slavery question, and il am per-
mitted in any way to promote its
suppression, I shall not grudge the |
toll and time have spent. IT tCoWLd !
be better to lessen human IUOe than to |
discover the sources Of the Nile"
There were repeated rumoFs of his |
death, which were easily credited, as |
nothing certainly seemed more prob
able; ; and expeditions had been sent !
out again and again to relieve public |
anxiety and bring back the great trav-
eller il he could be found. Intelli- |
gence came to Zanzibar last May that /
Livingstone was still alive, but he /
refused to return until his work was
completed. DR.. LivingstOne's first |
discovery was the northeastern water
parting of the Zambesi; his second, !
which is more important still, was
the limits of the great basin of Lake
Tanganyika, and that a vast and sep
aTate system ntervened between the \
basins of the Nile and Zambesi. We
are thus q step nearer to the old mys-
and difficulties of his work
will be appreciated when 1t is under
stood that the basin ofthe Tanganyika
is not less than 700 miles long by about
450 in breadth.
1t would appear, from the latest
that the great explorer
traced the chain of lakes and the
which flow from them, until
he discovered that all the waters found
their outlet in the Tanganyika. He
then, it would appear, visited the
end of the lake, and found
that the rivers still flowed into it.
The waters of the lake are fresh and
it is, therefore, to be inferred that the
lake has an outlet. Living, tone now
knows the southern, western, north
ern, and and northeastern sides of the
lake. The southeastern side alone
to be explored, and there, if
the great outlet of its wa
ters must be. That outlet must be /!
and examined before Liv-
great achievement is end
ed and thither, therefore, he will
now proceed
L