Fragment of 1870 Field Diary (XXI-LXI)
David Livingstone

Date of composition: 3-15 November 1870
Place of composition: Bambarre
Repository: National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Shelfmark: MS.10703, ff. 3-23
Clendennen & Cunningham number(s): Field Diaries, 037
Digital edition and date: Livingstone Online, 2016
Publisher: University of Maryland Libraries, College Park, MD, USA
Project id: liv_000205
TEI encoding: Adrian S. Wisnicki, Megan Ward, Heather F. Ball, Ashanka Kumari, Alexander Munson

[liv_000205_0001]

XXI Laba means in the Manyema dialect medicine - 3
a charm - "boganga" This would make Lualaba mean the
river of medicine or charms - but we do not hear of
its being famed among them as the Ganges is in
5India - and possibly this is not the proper meaning
of the word - Muhamad and others found its banks
very healthy and it yields abundant food both
in its waters and on its banks. The sacred River
does not accord with the fact of Lualaba being
10applied to the Lufira when it becomes large
and also to the third Lualaba or Young's river
still further West dividing Rua from Lōnda -
Hassani thought that it meant great because
it seemed to mean flowing greatly or grandly -

15

Cazembe caught all the slaves that escaped
from Muhamad and placed them in charge of Funga
-funga so there is little hope for fugitive slaves so long as
Cazembe lives = This act is to the Arab's very good -
He is very sensible and upright besides - XXI

[liv_000205_0002]

XXII 3d Novr 1870 got a Kondo hondoas the large
double billed Hornbill The ^ Buceros cristata Kangomira of the Shire and
the Sassassa of Bambarre - It is good eating = The
fat of an orangetinge like that of the zebra I keep
5the hide to make a spoon of it - An Ambassador
at Stanboul or Constantinople was shewn a
hornbill spoon and asked if it were really the bill
of the Phoenix - He replied that he did not
know but he had a friend in London who knew
10all these sort of things - The Turkish Ambassador
in London brought the spoon to Professor Owen
He observed something in the divergence of the
fibres of the horn which he knew before and
went off into the Museum of the college of Surgeons
15and brought a preserved specimen of this very
bird - "God is great - God is great" said the Turk
This is the Phoenix of which we have heard so often =
I heard the professor tell this at a dinner of the
London Hunterian Society in 1857.

[liv_000205_0003]

XXIII There is no great chief in Manyema or Balegga 4
all are petty headmen each of whom considers himself a
chief - It is the Ethnic State with no cohesion between
the different portions of the tribe - Murder cannot
5be punished except by a war in which many
fall and the feud is made worse and trans-
mitted to their descendants. cor copied

+ The Soko is represented by some to be extremely
cunning stalking succesfully men & women
10while at their work - kidnapping children -
and running up trees with them - He seems
to be amused by the sight of the young native
in his arms - but comes down when tempted
by a bunch of bananas and as he lifts that
15drops the child - The young Soko in that case would
cling closely to the armpit of the older - One man
was cutting out honey from a tree and naked a
Soko suddenly appeared & caught by by the privates [liv_000205_0004]
XXIV then let him go Another man was hunting
and missed in his attempt to stab a Soko - Soko seized
the spear & broke it then grappled with the man who
called to his companions "#Soko has caught me" he bit off
5the ends of his fingers #and escaped unharmed -
both men are now alive at Bambarre Soko
is so cunning and has such sharp eyes that no
one can stalk him in front with^out being seen by
his small sharp eyes, hence when shot it is
10always in the back - When surrounded by men
and nets he is generally speared in the back too
otherwise he is not a very formidable beast -
He is nothing as compared in power of damaging
his assailant to a leopard or lion - He is
15more like a man unarmed - It does not occur
to him to use his canine teeth which are long
and formidable - Sokos come down in the
forest within a hundred yards of our camp & would be
unknown but for giving tongue Like fox hounds
20This is his nearest approach to speech -

[liv_000205_0005]

XXV A man hoeing having his privates uncovered 5
behind was stalked by a Soko and seized thereby - He
roared out but Soko giggled & grinned & left him
as if he had done it in play - a child caught up
5by Soko is often abused by being pinched & scratched
and let fall He is said sometimes to use a
spear drawn out of his own body but this is denied
by some - Soko kills the Leopard occasionally by
seizing both paws & biting them so as to disable
10them - Soko goes up a tree groans over his
wounds & sometimes recovers - while Leopard
dies - At other times both Soko & Leopard die -
Lion kills him at once and sometimes tears his
limbs off but does not eat him - Soko eats
15no flesh - #small bananas #are his dainties but
not maize - his food consist of wild fruits
which abound - one Stafene or Manyema mamwa is
like large sweet sop but indifferent in taste & flesh
Soko brings forth at times twins - never catches women

[liv_000205_0006]

XXVI A very large Soko was seen by Muhamads
hunter sitting picking his nails - tried to stalk him but
he vanished - Some Manyema think that their buried
rise as Sokos - one was killed with holes in his ears
5as if he had been a man - # He is very strong - fears guns
but not spears -

The Heathen Philosophers were content with mere
guesses at the future of the Soul - The elder prophets
10were content with the Divine support in life and in
death - The later prophets advance further as
Isaiah - Thy dead men shall live together with my
dead body shall they arise - awake and sing ye that
dwell in the dust for thy dew is as the dew of herbs
15the earth also shall cast out her dead" This taken
with the sublime spectacle of Hades in the XIV chap
seems a forecast of the future but Jesus instructed
Mary and her sister and Lazarus & Martha without
hesitation spoke of the resurrection at the last
20day as a familiar doctrine far in advance of its
Mosaic law in which she h{she had} been reared

[liv_000205_0007]

XXVII 6

Ikwenu alumwa = Lualaba salutation
a ko sema iamwu Manyema Do to men
Doshanga kakaka Do to women

5

Monyungo chief was sent for five years among the
Watuta to learn their language and ways - He sent
his two sons and a daughter to Zanzibar to school
Kills many of his people says they are so bad if
not killed they would murder strangers - Unruly
10ordered some of them to give their huts to Muhamad
refusing he put fire to them & they soon called
out let them alone we will retire - He dresses
like Arabs has ten loaded guns at his sitting place
four pistols - two swords several spears and
15a two bundles of the Batuta spears - laments
that his # father filed his # teeth when # he was young

The names of his very numerous people is Bawungu
country Wungu = his other names are Iranga - Mohamu

[liv_000205_0008]

XXVIII The Basango on the other hand consider their chief
as a deity and fear to say aught wrong lest he should hear
them = They fear both before him & when out of sight = The
Father of #Merere never drank pombe or beer and
5assigned as a reason that a great man who had
charge of people's lives should never become
intoxicated so as to do evil = Bange he never
smoked but in council smelled at a bunch of it
in order to make his people believe it had
10great effect on him - - Merere drinks pombe
freely but never uses Bange - He alone kills
sheep - He is a lover of mutton - and beef
but neither goats nor fowls are touched by him

9 th Novr 1870 sent to Lohombo for dura
15and planted some Nyumbo - I long excessively
to be away and finish any work by the two Lacustr
Lacustrine rivers Lualaba of Young and Webb
but wait only for Syde & Dugumbe who may
have letters and as I do not intend to return [liv_000205_0009]
XXIX hither but go through Karagwe homewards 7
I should miss them altogether - I groan and am
in bitterness at the delay but thus it is - I pray
for help to do what is right but sorely am I
5perplexed and grieved and mourn - I
cannot give up making a complete work of
the exploration

10th November 1870 a party of Katombas men
10arrived on their way to Ujiji for carriers - they
report that a foray was met S W of Mamohela
to recover four guns which were captured
from Katomba and his people killed when
last here - Three were recovered and ten
15of the Arab party slain The people of Manyema
fought very fiercly with arrows and not till
many were killed and others mutilated would
they give up the guns - They probably expected
this foray and intended to fight to the last [liv_000205_0010]
XXX - They had not gone in search of ivory while
this was enacting consequently Muhamads men
have got the start of them completely by going along
Lualaba to Kasongo's and then along the western verge
5of the Metamba or forest to Loinde or Rindi R -
The last men sent took to fighting instead of trading
and returned empty - The experience gained
thus and at the South West will probably
lead them to conclude that the Manyema are
10not to be shot down without reasonable cause
They have sown rice and maize at Mamo-
hela but cannot trade now where they got
so much ivory before - Free men were
killed at Rindi or Loinde and one escaped
15The reason of this outbreak by men who have
been so peaceable is not divulged but anyone
seeing the wholesale plunder to which the houses
& gardens were subject can easily guess the rest

[liv_000205_0011]

XXXI Mamohela camp had several times been [8]
set on fire at night by the tribes which suffered assault
but did not effect all that was intended - The Arabs
say that the Manyema now understand that
5every gunshot does not kill - The next thing they
will learn will be to grapple in close quarters
in the forest where their spears will outmatch
the guns in the hands of slaves - It will follow
too that no one will be able to pass through this
10country - this is the usual course of Suaheli
trading - It is murder and plunder and each
slave as he rises in his owners favour is
eager to shew himself a mighty man of valour
by cold blooded killing of their country men
15If they can kill a fellow nigger their pride boils up
The conscience is not enlightened enough to cause un-
-easiness and Moslemism gives less than the light of
nature - I am grievously tired of living here. [liv_000205_0012]
XXXII Muhamad is as kind as he can be but to
sit idle or give up before I finish my work are
both intolerable I cannot bear either yet am forced
to remain by want of people - Merciful Father Help me

5

11th Novr Wrote to Muhamad bin Saleh at Ujiji
for letters and medicines to be sent in a box of
china tea which is half empty - If he cannot
get carriers for the long box itself - then he is
10to send these the articles of which I stand in
greatest need -

Friends of a boy captured at Monanyembe
brought three goats to redeem him - He is sick
and emaciated - one goat was rejected - The boy
15cried tears when he saw his grandmother
and the father too when his goat was rejected
"So I returned and considered all the oppressions
that are done under the Sun - and behold the tears
of such as were were oppressed and they had

[liv_000205_0013]

XXXIII no comforter, and on the side of their oppression 9
there was power but they had no comforter" Ecc IV-I
the relations were told either to bring the goat or let the
boy die - This was hard hearted - at Mamohela
5ten goats are demanded for a captive & given too
Here three are demanded "He that is higher than the
"highest regardeth, and there be higher than they"
"marvel not at the matter"

I did not write to the coast for I suspect that the
10Lewale Syde bin Salem Buraschad destroys my
letters in order to quash the affair of robbery by his
man Saloom he kept the other thief Kamaals by
him for the same purpose - Muhamad writes
to Bin Saleh to say that I am here & well - that I
15sent a large packet of letters in June/69 - with money
received no answer - nor my box from Unyembe
and this is to be communicated to the consul by a friend
at Zanzibar - If I wrote it would only be to be burned
This is as far as I can see at present

[liv_000205_0014]

XXXIV. The friend who will communicate with
the consul is Muhamad bin Abdullah the Wuzeer
Seyd Suleiman is the lewale of Governor of Zanzibar
Suleiman bin Ali or Sheikh Suleiman the Secretary

5

The Mamohela horde is becoming terrified
Every party going to trade has lost three or four
men and the last foray lost ten and saw
that the Manyema can fight - They will soon
10refuse to go among those whom they have forced
to be enemies - one of the Bazula invited a
man to with him to buy ivory - when well
in among Zulas he asked if his gun
killed men and how - He was shewn a bale
15 and powder and stabbed his informant dead
no one knows the reason of this but the
man probably lost some of his relations else
where - This is called murder without cause

[liv_000205_0015]

XXXV. When Syde and Dugumbe come I hope to 10
get men and a canoe to finish my work among
those who have not been abused by Ujijians
and still retain their natural kindliness of
5disposition None of the people are ferocious
without cause, and the sore experience which
they gain from slaves with guns in their hands
usually ends in sullen hatred of all strangers
the education of the world is a terrible one
10and it has come down with relentless rigour
on Africa from the most remote times - What
the African will become after the awfully hard
lesson is learned is among the future devel
opments of Providence - When He who is
15higher than the highest accomplishes his purposes
This will be a wonderful country and again
something like what it was of old - When Zerah
and Tirhaka flourished & were great

[liv_000205_0016]

The soil of Manyema is clayey and XXXVI remarkably
fertile - The maize sown for it rushes up to seed
and everything is in rank profusion if only it
be kept clear of weeds - Bambarre people
5are indifferent cultivators planting maize
Bananas & plantains and groundnuts only
No dura a little cassava - no perisetum
or meleda - pumpkins melons Nyumbo
though they all flourish in other districts
10a few sweet potatoes appear but elsewhere
all these nature grains and roots are abundant
and cheap - No one would choose this as a
residence except for the sake of Moenekuss &
The people are honest never steal though
15stolen from by our people as Simon and
Amoda of my party and others of Muhamad's

[liv_000205_0017]

XXXVII Oil is very dear while at Lualaba a 11
gallon may be got for a single string of beads and beans
ground nuts - cassava maize plantains in rank
profusion The Balegga like the Bambarre people
5trust chiefly to Plantains and ground nuts -
To play with parrots is their great amusement -

13th Novr 1870 - The men sent over to Lohombo
about 30 miles off got two and a half loads of
dura for a small goat - but the people were
10unwilling to trade - "If we encourage Arabs
to trade they will come and kill us with their guns"
so they said and it is true - The slaves are overbearing
and when this is resented then slaughter ensues.
Got some sweet plaintains and a little oil
15which is useful in cooking and with salt as butter
on bread - but all were unwilling to trade -

Monangoi was over near Lohombo and heard of a
large trading party coming and not far off, This may be
Syde & Dugumbe but reports are often false

[liv_000205_0018]

XXXVIII When Katomba's men were on the late foray
they were completely overpowered & compelled by the Man
-yema to lay down their guns and powder horns on
pain of being instantly despatched by bowshot - they were
5mostly slaves who could only draw the trigger & make
a noise Katomba had to rouse and all the Arabs
who could shoot and when they came they killed many
and gained the lost day - The Manyema did not
kill anyone who laid down his gun & powder horn
10This is the beginning of an end which was easily
percieved when it became not a trading but a
murdering horde of savages and when wherever
invited by old feuds in order to get goats
and then sell the captives back for ten goats each
15Buceros cristata - screams & picks at his
tail till he discharges the contents of his bowel Then
leaves him - It is called "play" by the natives and
in the Suaheli "Utane" or [liv_000205_0019]
XXXIX Msaha - fun or wit. He follows other birds in the same 12
merciless way - screaming & pecking to produce purging
Manyema call it "Mambambwa" - The Buffalo bird
warns its big friend of danger - calling Chāchāchā
5Rhinocers birds calls out Tyetyetye tye for
same purpose - Manyema call Buffalo bird
"Mojela" Suahel "Chassa"

a climbing plant is known in Africa as ntulung--ope
which mixed with flour of dura kills mice -
10They swarm in our camp and destroy everything
but Ntulungope is not near this

The foray above mentioned was undertaken by
Katomba for twenty goats from Kassessa!
15Ten men lost for twenty goats but they will think
twice before they try another foray

one dollar a day is ample for provisions for a
large family at Zanzibar - What nice flesh of
20goats or ox fowls - bananas milk butter - sugar eggs
bazarre mangoes - potatoes

[liv_000205_0020]

XL. Ambergris is boiled in milk and sugar
and used by the Hindoos as a means of increasing
blood in their systems - a small quantity is a dose
Ambergris is found along the shore of the sea at
5Barawa or Brava and at Madagascar
as if the sperm whate Changoi got rid of it
while alive - Lamos or Amu is wealthy
and well supplied with everything as grapes
peaches wheat cattle camels &c - The trade
10is chiefly with Madagascar - The houses are
richly furnished with furniture dishes from
India - At Garaganza there are hundreds of
Arab traders there too all fruits abound
and the climate is healthy - from its elevation
15Why cannot we missionaries imitate these
Arabs in living on heights?

[liv_000205_0021]

XLI Copy

Manyuema country 180 miles say 13
West of Ujiji 15 Nov
1870

5

The Right Honourable Lord Stanley

My Lord As soon as I recovered suffi
-ciently to be able to march from Ujiji I went
up Tanganyika about 60 miles and thence
struck away N W into the country of the Manyuema
10or Manyema - the reputed cannibals - My object
was to follow down the central line of drainage
of the great Nile valley which I had seen passing
through the great Lake Bangweolo and changing
its name from Chambeze to Luapula - then on
15passing through Lake Moero assuming the name
Lualaba and becoming itself a great Riverein
Lake at first eight to ten miles broad with several
inhabited islands in it, and then holding a breadth
of from two to six miles as far as it is known
20I soon found myself in the large bend which this
great Lacustrine River makes by going West and [liv_000205_0022]
XLII then turning away to the North - Two hours were the
utmost I could accomplish in a day, but by persever
ing I gained strength and came up with the trading party
of Muhamad Bogharib who by native medicines and
5carrying me saved my life in my late severe illness
in Marungu Two days before we arrived at
Bambarre the residence of the most influential
Manyema chief called Moenekuss we met a
band of Ujijian traders carrying 18000 lbs
10weight of ivory bought in this new field for a
mere trifle in t{h}hick copper bracelets and beads
The traders had been obliged to employ their slaves
to collect the ivory and slaves with guns in their
hands are often no better than Demons - We
15heard but one side of the story - The slave version
and such as would have appeared in the Newspaper
if they had one - "The Manyema were bad
- they were always in the wrong - wanted to eat the
slaves and always gave them just occasion to capture
20people goats sheep fowls and grain -

[liv_000205_0023]

XLIII The masters did not quite approve of this but the 14
deeds were done and then masters and men joined in
one chorus "The Manyema are bad bad bad very
bad" - In going West of Bambarre I followed the
5Luamo a river of from 100 to 250 yards broad
which rises in the mountains opposite Ujiji and
flows across the great bend when near its
confluence I was among people who had been
maltreated by the slaves and they naturally looked
10on one as if of the same tribe with their persecutors
Africans are not unreasonable though though
smarting under wrongs if you can fairly make
them understand your claim to innocence and
do not appear as having your "back up" The
15women here were particularly outspoken in asserting
our identity with the cr{ue}uel strangers - on calling to
one vociferous lady who gave me the head traders
name, just to look if he and I were of the same
colour she refused with a bitter little laugh "Then you
20must be his brother" The worst the men did [liv_000205_0024]
to XLIV to us was to turn out in force armed
with their large spears & wooden shields and shew
us out of their districts - Glad that no collision
took place we {returned}returned to Bambarre and then
5with our {friend}friend Muhamad struck away due
North he to buy ivory and I to reach
another part of the Lualaba and buy a canoe -

The country is extremely beautiful but difficult
to travel over The mountains of light grey
10granite stand like islands in Now Red
sandstone and mountain and valley are all
clad in a mantle of different shades of green
The vegetation is indescribably rank through
the grass if grass it can be called which is over
15half an inch in diameter in the stalk and from
ten to twelve feet high nothing but elephants
can walk The leaves of this Megatherium
grass are armed with minute spikes which as
we worm our way along elephants walks rub
20disagreably on the side of the face where the [liv_000205_0025]
XLV the gun is held and the hand is made sore by 15
fending it off for hours the other side for hours - The Rains
were fairly set in by November and in the morning
or after a shower these leaves were loaded with
5moisture which wet us {to}to {the}the bone - The valleys are
deeply undulating and in each innumerable
dells have to be crossed There may be only a
thread of water on the bottom but the mud mire
or Scotticé "glaur" is grievous - thirty or
10forty yards of the path on each side of the
stream are worked by the feet of passengers
into an adhesive {compound}compound - By placing
a foot on each side of the narrow footway one
may waddle a little way along but the rank
15crop of grass gingers & bushes cannot spare
the few inches required for the side of the foot and
{down}down he comes into the mire - The path often runs
along the {bed}bed of the rivulet for 60 or more yards [liv_000205_0026]
XLVI as if he who first cut it out went that distance
seek{ing}ing a part of the {forest}forest less dense than the rest
for his axe In other cases the "Muale palm"
from which here as in Madagascar grass cloth is
5woven and called by the same name "Lamba"
has taken possession of a valley - the leaf stalks
as thick as a {s}strong mans arm fall off
and block up all passage save by a path
made and mixed up by the feet of elephants
10and buffaloes The slough therein is groan
compelling and deep Every now & then the
traders with rueful {faces}faces stand panting
The sweat trickles down my face, and I
suppose I look as grim as they though I
15express a hope that good prices will reward
them for as the coast for ivory obtained with
so much toil - In some cases the subsoil
has given way beneath the elephants enormous
weight - The hole is filled with mud and one
20taking it all to be about calf deep [liv_000205_0027]
XLVII steps in to the top of the thigh and {flaps}flaps on to a 16
seat, soft enough, but not luxurious - a merry laugh
relaxes the facial muscles and I conjecture that this
gruesome fun is all I shall ever get for the explorations
5Some of the {numerous}numerous {rivers}rivers which in this
region flow into Lualaba are covered with
living vegetable bridges - a species of dark
{glossy}glossy grass with its roots and leaves is
the chief agent in felting into a mat that covers
10the {whole}whole stream When stepped upon it yields
twelve or fifteen inches and that amount of
water {rises}rises on the leg - At every step the foot
has to be lifted high enough to place it on the
unbent mass in front and this fatigues
15like walking on deep snow - Here & there
holes appear which we could not sound with
a stick six feet long - They gave the impression
that any where one might plump through
and finish the chapter - Where the water is [liv_000205_0028]
XVLVIII is {sha}shallow The Lotus or sacred Lilly
sends it roots to the bottom and spreads it broad
leaves over the floating bridge so as to make believe
that the mat is its crown but the grass referred to
5is the real supporting agent -

Between each district of Manyema broad
belts of the primeval forest still stand - Into
these the sun though vertical cannot pene-
trate except by sending down ^ at Midday thin pencils
10of rays into the gloom - The rain water
stands for months in stagnant pools
made by elephants feet and the dead leaves
decay on the damp soil and make the
water of the numerous rills & rivulets of the
15colour of strong tea - The climbing plants
from the size of {whip}whipcord to that of a man
of wars haw{sers}sers are so many the ancient
path is the only passage When one of the giant
trees falls across the road it {makes}makes a {wall}wall [liv_000205_0029]
XLIX breast high to be climbed over - and the mass 17
of tangled climbers brought down makes cutting a
path round it a work of time which travellers never
undertake The shelter from the sun of the Forest
5makes it pleasant but the roots of trees high out
of the soil across the path keep the eyes constantly
looking down and a good shot gun does no
harm to parrots or quince fowls on their
tops - I have heard gorillahs here called Sokos
10prowling within fifty yards without getting a
glimpse of them - Their call to each other resem
bles that of a Tom cat not so loud or far
reaching as that of the peacocks - When in flight
they give tongue not unlike fox hounds - His
15nest is a poor contrivance resembling that
of our cushat dove Here he sits in pelting rain
with his hands on his head - The natives call it
his house and laugh at him for being such a
fool as after building it not to go beneath it
20for shelter - Bad water and frequent wettings [liv_000205_0030]
L. told on us all by choleraic symptoms & loss
of flesh - Meanwhile the news of cheap ivory
caused a sort Californian gold fever at Ujiji
It prevented me from getting any carriers save
5the worthless liberated slaves who by thieving
lying and fornicationcowardice have been a perpetual
annoyance during all this Journey - The
traders eager to secure all the Pagazi or
carriers spread the report that I would go
10away to my own country and leave them as
Speke did his as Suez - We were now
overtaken by a horde ^ from Ujiji numbering 600 muskets
all eager for ivory The elephant tusks had
been left to rot with the other bones in the
15interminable forests where the animals were
killed - The natives knew where they had been
left and if treated civilly readily brought the
precious teeth many half rotten or gnawed [liv_000205_0031]
LI by the teeth of a rodent animal to sharpen his 18
teeth as London rats do on leaden pipes - I had already
in this Journey two severe lessons that travelling
in an unhealthy climate in the rainy season
5was killing work and besides being unwilling
to bear company with the new comers I feared
that any present weakness ^ by further exposure might result in
something worse went back seven days
and on the 7th February last went into winter
10quarters at a camp formed by the heads of
men as civil and kind as I could wish - a
letter obtained from the Sultan of Zanzibar
through the kind offices of Sir Bartle Frere
has been of immense service to me with most
15of his subjects - I had no medicine - some though
sent for twice had been unaccountably detained
at Unyembe by the Arab Lewale or governor

Two English guns in the box are surely not [liv_000205_0032]
LII. not too much for his virtue - Rest - boiling
all the water {figure} I used and a new species of potato
famed among the natives as a restorative soon
put me to rights again The rains continued
5into July and 58 inches fell The mud from
the clayey soil was awful and laid up some
of the strongest in spite of their intense eagerness
for ivory I lost no time after it was feasible
to travel in preparing to go North but my
10attendants were fed and lodged by the slave
women whose husbands were away from
the camp on trade and pretended to fear going
into a canoe I consented to refrain from
buying one - They then feared the people though
15the inhabitants were reported by the slaves
to be remarkably frienvly elsewhere I could
get the country people to carry from village
to village and was comparatively independent [liv_000205_0033]
LIII. when as happened with some they deserted 19
into the arms of prostitutes six times over - But in
Manyema no one can be induced to go into the
next district for fear they say of being killed &
5eaten - I was at their mercy and entreaty was
answered by calling when out of sight "who
will carry his things" and a loud laugh to make
me hear - The head Arabs remonstrated
and they literally trembled and consented to go
10anywhere but on find that no compulsion
was to be used refused again - When I had
gone with my only three attendants I could not
regret the absence of the rest for three of them
had previously gone unknown to me to
15a slave war and came back boasting that
they had killed four of the people whose kindness
to us had touched my heart and nothing could
exceed the eagerness with which uninvited
they ran off to help to enslave their countrymen [liv_000205_0034]
LIV nothing but danger would have
deterred them from slavehunting and
here there is none for the report of gun makes
the Manyema flee in terror On no account
5would I have brought them here but I suspected
that my letters to the coast for other men
had been destroyed and I had a sore longing
to finish my work and retire - The country
to the North is even more difficult than that
10I have described for except a broad belt of
Buga or Prairies along the right bank of
the Lualaba it is all forest saving the clearing
round each village - and these are ten miles
apart - The rivers and rivulets are innumer
15able I crossed fourteen in one day from
knee to thigh deep - Muhamads party was
five hours in crossing one in flood - a man
in a small canoe went sounding among [liv_000205_0035]
LV. 20 the trees to find where it was breast
deep In another case they were two hours in a river
from breast to neck deep and they saw
nothing but gloomy forest - though they went
5near to what the Balegga call uerere or lower
Tanganyika named by its discoverer Albert
Nyanza For the first time in my life my
feet failed - When torn by rough travel
instead of healing kindly as heretofore an
10irritable eating ulcer fastened on each foot
and laid me up for five months - these are
common here and slaves whose wailing
may be heard the whol[ ] night long are
often killed by them - I have been minute
15even to triviality that your Lordship may have
some idea of the obstacles to progress in this
region exploration is only possible by canoes
and as soon as I get men who have been
taught to work four or five months will [liv_000205_0036]
[LV] finish all I have to do - What remains
to be accomplished may be understood
by the following -

[ ]
[liv_000205_0037]

LVI continuation of a Despatch to Lord Stanley 21

This great Lacustrine river which I call
Webb's Lualaba is only one of {three}three each of
which {having}having th{e}e {same}same native {name}name {requires}requires
5 [#] an {English}English {epithet}epithet to dis{ting}tinguish it The
{river}river Lufira {rises}rises in a fount{ain}ain South
West of this which {I}I would fain {call}call Bartle
Frere's fountain and {th}th[ ] When it becomes
very large it is called Lualaba West of this one
10{again}again another great {river}river beg{ins}ins {in}in {a}a fountain
and from {its}its {source}source down {its}its {only}only native
name is Lualaba - I wish to add Young's
Youngs Lualaba and Bartle Frere's Lualaba
unite and form a Lake the native name of
15which is Chibungo but I am fain to call it
Lake Lincoln - Looking back from this to the
full {grown}grown gushing fountains not more [liv_000205_0038]
LVII {more}more than {ten}ten miles apart The
largest of these fountains at which a man
cannot be seen on the other side is the source
of the Liambai or upper Zambesi this
5I name after good Lord Palmerston
Near it rises the Lunga which further
down is called Luenge and still further
off Kafue or Kafuge - I would name it
Oswell Fountain These four fountains
10gushing forth so near to each other
and forming great rivers are probably the
unfathomable springs of the Nile men
-tioned to Herodotus by the secretaryretary of
Minerva in the citycity of SaisSais fromfrom which [liv_000205_0039]
LVIII [ ] half the water flowed" = from Youngs and 22
Bartle Frere's fountains = "Northward into
Egypt" - and the other half = "from Palmerstons
and Oswell fountains = "into Inner Ethiopia"
5I heard of this remarkable mound & fountains
some 200 miles distant on the South West - again
on the South East 150 miles off - again on
the North East 180 miles distant and
now on the N.N.E. many intelligent
10Arabs who have visited the spot give the
very same information as having excited
their admiration as much as it that of
the natives - I have ventured to give name by
anticipation - I shall write no [ ]{other} letter
15till I have either succeeded or fallen - The
names of Palmerston Lincoln & Frere I wish
to honour as of men who have done more [liv_000205_0040]
LIX for the abolition of the slave trade & slavery
than any of their cotemporaries - The great and
good man Palmerston and Lincoln are no
longer among us, and I desire to place, as it were
5my poor little garland of love on their tombs.

By degrees the conviction has crept across
my mind that all we moderns can fairly do in
in common modesty claim is is the rediscovery
of the sources of the Nile which had sunk into
10oblivion somewhat like the circumnavigation
of Africa by the Phoenician Admiral of one
of the Pharoahs about B C 600 He
was not believed because he reported
having the sun on his right hand in
15passing round Libya This stamps the tale
of the Admiral to us as genuine By placing
the fountains of the river of Egypt between
10°-12° South Lat. Ptolemy [ ] genuine [liv_000205_0041]
LX geography from men who had visited this very 23
region By making the water collect into two or
three large Lacustrine rivers - Extant speci-
-mens of those which in prehistoric times
5abounded in Africa and in the south are still
called "melapo" - in the North Wady's both
words meaning the same thing = river beds
where no water ever now flows, he did
what no mere theorist would dream of doing
10Ptolemys predecessors were probably the real
collectors of the facts he made use of and the
former explorers must have travelled extensively
Had I left at the end of two years I could have
given little more light on the country than the
15Portuguese who in their three slaving visits
to Cazembe asked for slaves & ivory alone
and heard of nothing else - I enquired about the
waters till ashamed and almost afraid of being
put down as affected with Hydrocephalus - I had
20to feel my way and every step of the way, and [liv_000205_0042]
LXI was generally groping in the dark for who cared
were the rivers ran - Many a wary foot I trod ere
I gained a clear idea of the drainage which flows
from the watershed in 10°12° South on which stand
5Ptolemys mountains of the moon - The length of
this watershed is between 700 & 800 miles from
West to East - Here the fountains of the Nile do
unquestionably arise - The mountains on it
are between 600 & 700 feet above the sea
10The idea of melting snow is if I remember
rightly is not Ptolemy's Kenia & Kilimanjaro
are said to be snow capped but no one
ever reached the snow - They send no water to
any part of the Nile and never could have
15been meant by the correct ancient explorers

I would fain crave your Lordships approboation
of my labours but the supernumerary undersecretary
Murrays impertinent letter forbids any Govt
from allowing me any claim no matter what
20services I may render David Livingstone