Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-08-20
DR. LIVINGSTONE.
ais Brother receives q Letter.

4OhONIO, Oub&Ffo, aug. INA DfOtiiOt
Of DR.. Livingstone residing at Listowell,
Ontario, Canada, has received letter from
the doctor, dated last November at Ujiji,
Africa. The following is the text Of The
letter: aa Sarss + Ia6
UJJI, Nov. is, 1871. Dear Brother:
/ received your welcome letter in February
last, written when the cable news made
you put of your suit of mourning. This
was the first intimatien had that cable
had been successfully laid in the deep At
lantic.
Very few letters have reached me for
years. In consequence, my friends are
Specializing where / should come out, on
the west coast, down the Nile or elsewhere.
The watershed is broad upland, be-
tween 1900 and 5000 feet above the level
Of the sea, and some seventy miles long.
The springs of the Nile that rise thereon
are almost innumerable. It would take
the best part of mans lifetime to count
them. One part of sixty-four miles of lsti-
tude gave thirty-two springs from calf TO
waist deep, or one spring for every two
miles. A birds eye-vlew of them would
be like Vegetation Of frost work on win
dow pane. To ascertain that all of these
fountains united with the four great rivers
in the upper part of the Nile valley was the
work Of time and much travel. Many a
weary foot / trod ere light dawned on the
ancient problem. If had have left at the
end Of two years, for which my bare ex-
penses were paid, / could have thrown very
little more light on the country than the
Portuguese, who, in their three slavery visits
to Cazemba, asked for ivory and slaves and
heard of nothing else.
l asked about the waters, questioned and
cross-questioned till 1 was really ashamed
and almost afraid of being set down as af-
flcted with hydrochephalus. / went for
ward, backwards and sideways, feeling my
way, and every step Of the way was gen.
orally cropping in the dark, for who cared
where the rivers ran. OF these four rivers
into which the springs of the Nile converge,
the Genital one called Lualaba, is the largest.
It begins at the river Chambezi, which flows
into the great lake Bangwolo. On leaving
it its name is changed from Chambeze to
Lualaba, aud that enters lake Moero; COM
ing out of it the name Lualaba Is resumed,
and it flows into a. third lake, Kamolondo,
which receives one of four large drains,
mentioned above. 1t then makes two
enormous bends to the west which made
me often fear that was following the Con-
go instead Of the Nile. 1t is from one to
three miles broad, and never can be waded
at any part or at any time of the year.
Far down the valley it receives another
of the four large rivers above mentioned, the
Locke or Lomame, which flows through
what have named lake Lincoln, and then
joins Central Lualaba. We have then only
two lines of drainage in the lower part of
the great valley, and that is Tanganyika
and Albert lake, which are but one lake or
river, or say, if you want to be pedantic, Lo-
crustine river. hesetwo form the eastern
line of The Lualaba, which call Webb's.
Lualaba is then the western line, as nearly
as depicted by Ptolemy in the second CEN
fury of our era. After the Lomame enters
the Lualaba the fourth great lake in the
central line of drainage is found, but this
have not yet seen, nor yet the lake between
the eastern and western mountains at the
top of Ptolemy. At the top the great CEN
trsl line goes down into large reedy lakes.
Possibly those reported to Nero's Centurian
and these form western or Petherick's arm,
which Spoke and Grant and Baker believed
to be the river of E yypt, neither can it be
called the Nile until they unite; the lakes
mentioned, 10 the central line drain
age are by no means small. Lake Bang
wolo at the lowest estimate is loo miles
long, and tried to cross it and measure its
breadth exactly. The first stage was to an
inhabited island 2,470, and the second stage
could be seeen from its HIGHEST point or
rather the tops of the trees upon 1t evident
ly Lifted up BY mirrege. The third stage
the mainland was said 10 be as far beyond
but my canoe-men had stolen the canoe,
and they got hint that the real owners
were in pursuit and got into furry to get
home.
Oh, that they would. But had only my
coverlet left to hire another craft, and the
lake being 400 feet above the sea, it was
very cold, SO gave In and went back, but
believe the breadth to be between sixty
and seventy miles. Bongwato, Moero and
are looked on as one great
river and lake, and one is Potelings; the
other is Tanyanyika, which found steadi-
" flowing tosthe North. My predecessors
must have CLEANED bis geography from
men who visited this very region. The
reason why bis genuine geography was re-
ected was the extreme modesty of modern
map makers. One idle person in London
published pamphlet which, with killing
modesty, he entitled, sinner Africa Laid |
OPEN" And in newspapers, even the |
Times rails at any one who travels and |
1ares to find country different from that
1rawn in his twaddle.
am great sinner in this poor fellows |
opinion, and the Times published bis ra-
rings even when was most unwisely be-
ieved to be dead. Nobody but Lord |
Drougham and l know what the people will |
say after we are gone. The work of trying
o follow central lines of drainage down,
las taken me away from mails or postage.
The Manyema are undoubtedly canibals,
'ut it was long before could get conclu-
i've evidence thereon. l was sorely let
md hindered by having halle caste Costem
attendants and unmitigated towards, and
alse as their prophet of whose religion they
AVE only imbibed the fulsome pride. They
orced me back when almost in sight of the
md of my exploration, distance between
EOO and 500 miles under the blazing verti-
al sun. l came here q mere ruckle of
zones, terribly jaded in body and mind.
The head man of my worthless Moslems
emRined here, and as be had done from
he coast, ran riot with goods sent to me.
Drunk for month at time, he then ar
ived at Ankoran, and found 1 was dead,
old off all goods that remained for slaves
md ivory for himself, and arrived 10 find
myself destitute of everything except few
,oods left iD case of need. Goods are cur
ency here, and have to wait now till 9th
II goods and other men come from Zanzi-
'ar. When placed in charge of my supply
Il soap, brandy, opium and gunpowder
rom certain BaRians, British subjects) he
vas fourteen months returning, all ex-
enses being paid out of my stocks, dhree
months were ample) and sold off ali. You
all this smart, do you? Some do if you
ono. think 1t moral idiotcy.
(Signed,) DAVID LIVINGSTONE.