Steam Ship Candia 25th Novr

        In Mediterranean 1856

To the Editor of the Athenaeneum

    Easy chair,geography - versus Field geography

                In coming up the Red Sea about
a week ago in the P. & O. Coy steamer Nubia
I was favoured by Mr Latouche the Admiralty
agent on board with a sight of a late number
10of your widely circulated journal containing
a paper by Mr Cooley the author of a pamphlet
called "Inner Africa laid open", in which he
rather lugubriously complains because I
have not thrown a "flood of light" on what
15if his pamphlet is what its name implies,
surely needed not any glimmerings I could
give. He asserts that when I went to 0002
Loanda I got my head "stuffed full" of
antiquated Portuguese notions respecting
" Inner Africa" which (observe) I not they nor he
had visited, and then he modestly
5makes mouths at Sir Roderick
Murchison for not inflicting the whole
of these "notions" in one dose upon the
members of the British Association
at Cheltenham. Excuse a stupid story.
10It was formerly the custom at what are
called sacramental occasions in Scotland
for the assembled ministers to have a feast
on the mondays when the entire services
were over. A worthy grazier & butcher Tom
15Trumel by name having, on account of
his influential position in the parish, been
invited to share in the conviviality, sat
most of the time dumb, But one of the
ministers observing him several times
20"making his mouth" as if to edge in an 0003
observation, interrupted the others by saying
Mr T. wishes to make some remark, when
Tom burst forth with "My brown bull
is the best that ever came out of the isle
5of Mull". the explosion that followed
may be imagined. Now Mr Cooley
evidently considers Sir Roderick ^ Murchison and
myself as a pair of "Tom Trummels".
I could not, he modestly avers, open my
10mouth in Loanda, except about the Zambesi Interior
and he is disappointed because Sir Roderick
did not sustain fully the Trummel
character - bore the members to death
with what he proceeds to shew is my
15"nonsense" and enable the erudite
author of "Inner Africa laid open"
an opportunity of snuffing out my
pretensions before I should reach my
native shores or utter one squeak for 0004
for mercy. For some time I thought
it unnecessary to notice such an ebullition
of killing modesty on the part of a
gentleman who never left his easy
5chair in London to settle one single
point in geography or in anything else.
One must make some allowance for
the crochets of our elders, and we can
readily excuse Mr Cooley in feeling the
10necessity of keeping up the eclat he
formerly gained by his exposé of
Douville's bungling attempt to appear
as an actual traveller in Angola, by
running a muck against every one
15else traveller or no traveller. We can
even feel kindly to him though he used
exactly the same means of getting some
idea of "Inner Africa" as Douville did,
and then boldly publishing "Inner Africa laid open" 0005
2d Sheet
without even pretending to have visited the scenes
which the title seems to promise, for, does not
Carlyle declare that the whole world is a
5"huge sham" but I must crave leave to
enter a gentle protest against putting Easychair
geography on a level with that of actual
observation. Field geography need not
rank lower than Field geology, and if
10the progress of the former in Africa should
like all improvements bring the unavoidable
evil with it of addling some ingenious
speculations and theories, our comfortable
friends need not despair. they may
15indulge their cacoethes scribendi by "Inner
Australia laid open". Inner ^ AntArctic circle
laid open" and if they wish to avoid
being twitted about not having seen the
countries they patronize they may give us
20"Inner Lunar lands laid open" as well.

In excuse for wasting time in answering 0006
the geographical twaddle contained in the
paper referred to I have several things to plead,
such as, a dislike to being represented as
having discovered marvels I never saw
5and being quoted as authority for things I
never said. My easychair friends are so
fond of garbling matters on the plea of "right
interpretation". (a favourite phrase with such)
that I fear I must soon make out a
10list of things I did not see. One of
them who is excessively fond of the
parenthesis, "unknown to themselves", actually
got up in a meeting of the Geographical
Society in which the discovery of Lake
15Ngami by Mr Oswel and myself in 1849
was communicated, and declared that
it had been discovered by me alone many
years before. I was obliged to deny the
assertion. then here comes another and
20asserts that a large river discovered 0007
by the same parties in 1851 runs not on the
surface but underground. Now I cannot
afford to deal largely in travellers' wonders
I intend to return, and even supposing
5there were no other considerations, it
would be rather inconvenient to be
asked by a companion who may
favour me with his company "Where
did you meet the men with tails?
10Where was the Phoenix's nest? Where the
river running underground? Or where
did you drink the milk of she unicorns
in your coffee?" the return difficulties
are all avoided by those who neither go
15nor come again.

In order however that your readers
may understand the assertions contained
in Mr Cooley's paper respecting the
Leeambye or Zambesi I may explain
20that there are two main chains in the great
interior valley neither of which nor 0008
valley itself were ever dreamed of by the author
of "Inner Africa laid open". these drains are
the Congo on the North and the Zambesi on the
South. The rivers generally flow from the
5sides of the country into the centre to form
the mains referred to, and these run the one
North the other South till they find an
exit to the sea the one on the West the
other on the East coast. the Zambesi
10with which we have at present to do flows
from North to South from 14° to 18° South
Latitude before it turns Eastwards, recieving
in that space, if my eyesight did not decieve
me, no fewer than ten large perennial
15rivers, And if the native testimony may
be recieved, there is ^ in "Inner Africa" a net work of waters
with "anastomoses" unequalled in the
world beside. The Zambesi however
is the main artery of the system. And
20affords the best test of the utter worthlessness
of easychair geography that could have
been selected. the great river in the 0009
3rd Sheet
centre of the Continent is essentially an English
discovery. the Portuguese all imagined
and a jumble of the same in "Inner Africa laid open")
5that it rose in the South (vide all old maps)
They discovered a branch of it at Cazembes
town but supposed it went to Angola!
from seeing it flowing westwards. It is
named Luamegi (soft g) Luambeji
10Luambesi, Iambeji, Zjambeji, Leeambye
Zambesei - OjimbesiZambesi at
different parts of its course, the name
varying according to the dialect of the
people who live on its banks, But these words
15all express one and the same idea
viz. the River par excellence, and it is
most appropriately so called for it truly is
Malinoka cotle = "mother of all rivers" to
to the inhabitants. When we discovered the
20southern portion we found it at its lowest
^ [state] yet there were from 300 to 500 yards
of deep flowing water, and during its
annual inundation there is a perpendicular 0010
rise of between twenty and thirty feetMr Oswel
had never seen such a magnificent river
even in India. And the Nile at the spot
where the railway from Cairo to Alexandria
5crosses it, lately seemed to me small in
comparison. It forms the southern line
of defence of the Makololo (from Sesheke
to near the Portuguese possessions) against
the Matibele of Mosilikatze. And they have
10men stationed at different points
of its banks to prevent the original
inhabitants of the country from ferrying
their enemies over. But Mr Cooley
tells your readers that this gigantic stream
15is only an "undeveloped river" And as
his ideas of rivers all evidently formed
from the sight familiar in his travels of
little ragged boys letting crooked pins down
through grating into Cockney streams to
20catch four legged fish, he declares that the
Leeambye or Luamegi or the river runs
beneath a grating somewhat larger 0011
than the whole French Empire. I only wish
this were true. I should then have a
travellers tale worth telling. But having
traced it by travelling sometimes by travelling
5on one bank sometimes on the other
or sailed hundreds of miles on its
broad bosom, I am compelled to believe
that a geographer on an easy chair with
a bowl of Punch before him may see
10greater marvels than any traveller in
the field. If we fancy the scene in
England we have a clearer idea of the assertion
that the glorious river referred to "runs
underground and supports the vegetation
15of the Kalahari desert." The Thames
at London bridge to the best of my recollection
is considerably smaller than the
Leeambye at Sesheke, but let us
take it for illustration, and concieve
20of another river (the Chobe) having
120 yards of deep flowing water *

* 40 yards at the waggon stand of 1851 but 120 yards lower down
when all its branches are joined into one stream
running parallel to its right bank 0012
and intending to join it at Gravesend. then
listen to Mr Cooley declaring to the thousands
who peruse the Athenaeum that the "Thames"
and the "Pool" are not the same river. That
5the Thames doubles down beneath the soil
and flows underneath the other river
and at right angles to it to support the
vegetation of England Scotland and the
Orkney islands. then winding up the
10assertion with another one about
"sincerity"!

I have also to plead a desire to disabuse
the minds of your readers of the idea put
forth by this gentleman that actual
15travellers gain have no knowledge of
the country adjacent to their line of march
and must rely on "conjecture alone" Grant
him this and the Easychair geographer
feels he has as good a right to put forth
20conjectures as any man who ever
travelled. the Field geologist glories in
his hammer but say that he is 0013
4th ignorant of everything but the hammer
and all the rest is conjecture, and you
bring back philosophy to the dignified
system which Bacon exploded, As your
5readers must percieve by Mr C.'s confession
for such I regard it that conjecture holds
a prominent place in Easychair philosophy
I may give one instance of the value
of the actual travellers plan of gaining
10information, and another of the folly
of trusting to "conjecture". We travel in
the company of men who are well
acquainted with parts of the country
by personal observation. I had one man
15for instance who had ^ formerly travelled both
banks of the Zambesi to near Tete
and another who had been present
at an attack on Senna. they soon see
that we are interested in the courses
20of rivers, names of hills, tribes &c &c
and make enquiries among the 0014
villagers to whom we come. Drawings are
made on the ground and parts pointed
out that bearings may be taken and
comparisons drawn from the views
5of different individuals. We thus gain
a general idea of the whole country. We
confess our obligations to native
information, We admit our liability to
mistake. It is discovery not a survey.
10 [But] the self satisfied assurance of the Easychair
and pair of compasses, is not one
of our besetting sins. the first time I
ventured on ^ giving a large extent of country
on native information was in the case
15of this same Zambesi or Leeambye. And
so accurate has it been proved by my
own personal inspection of it from
Lat. 14° South to the Sea I have little to add
to the native map of 1851. this shews
20the value of the plan usually followed.

In that same year I was guilty of
"conjecturing" that certain wells south 0015
of the river system was probably supplied
by percolation through soft calcareous
tufa from the North. this was seized upon
and amplified in "Inner Africa laid open"
5into the whole Zambesi going underground
If a little water percolates a hundred
miles a great river will percolate
seven hundred, and if it flows
beneath the soil it cannot run on
10the surface, therefore the Thames & the
Pool are two distinct rivers. You
think I am trifling. do you? No one would
either argue in that way or if he should
could find an individual to believe him.
15When Mr Oswel and I discovered Lake
Ngami in 1849 we believed that short
letters to the Royal Geographical Society
were all that need be published about
it. Mr Anderson who succeeded in
20reaching it from the west adopted another
course and published a book, wishing
to see what his predecessors thought 0016
of it he seems to have turned to "Inner
Africa laid open" and not suspecting
that the statements had been garbled by
"right interpretation" made several
5ludicrous blunders. He thinks ^ for instance we estimate
the extent of the Lake too highly and then
puts his own estimate at a higher
figure, 70 geographical miles being
greater that 75 statute miles. He verifies
10our observation of Lake Ngami being
only 2000 ft above the level of the
sea and though he was present when
Mr Galton ascertained the country west
of Libebe & the Lake to be about 6000 ft
15high he has no hesitation in "inserting
on the authority of Mr Cooley the river
Itchybumbum" which to flow at all
westwards must run uphill four
thousand feet. I quote from memory
20and with not the smallest intention
to depreciate the merits of such an
intelligent & enterprising traveller as 0017
5th Mr Anderson, Indeed I feel a little sorry that
I must refer to him at all as some may
construe my reference into that. But we find
him fairly decieved by this same curious logic
5and then quoted triumphantly by Mr Cooley in
exactly the same style as a boy who had been
duped on all fools day might be quoted to
increase the number of dupes. Mr Anderson
certainly would never have said that "Mr Cooley
10clearly proves that the Leeambye runs south."
if he had known that I and about half a
dozen Europeans had travelled North on
dry land in what is said to be its bed and
Mr Moffat had been prevented by want of
15water ^ in the same quarter from reaching me
because that would imply the
indorsement of the doctrine that the goodly
river was all the while gurgling beneath
Mr M's feet. I sailed along the noble
20river right to the cleft by which it bursts
through the Eastern ridge. And as Mr Cooley
has scraped together all the little the Portuguese
had of Interior geography his meanderings 0018
most thoroughly demonstrate that the fact
of a great Interior valley & the Zambesi
flowing in it is a genuine English discovery
and the point which proves the connection
5between the new and the old ought to have
the name of our Queen in the way of
commemoration.

It may now be seen whether Mr Cooley's
positive assertion that I did not travel from
10the River to Loanda means more than whether
six is less or more than half a dozen but
he adds a mistake was made about the
Chikapa. "there is a difference of forty miles
between going and returning, this is very
15unsatisfactory." Now I did make a mistake
but when on my return I crossed this
stream forty miles further down I found out
my mistake and hastened to correct it. Could
mortal man do more? I was determined
20to succeed in opening "Inner Africa" and
as there ^ were some very formidable probabilities
against living through the enterprise - some
forms of death which an easychair geographer 0019
would of course gladly dare. I sent home
succinct accounts by every opportunity of
every important point. these were
necessarily fragmentary, and without
5remarking on Mr C's good taste in eagerly
pronouncing a mistake corrected not by him
but myself as "very unsatisfactory" I shall
just notice the logic and then favour
Mr Cooley with a proposition. the
10corrected mistake is declared to be unsatisfactory
evidently to prepare the mind of the reader
for believing his own mistake about
the Zambesi flowing underground
He could not mean if a mistake was made
15I ought to stick to it, like the man who
always eat his asparagus hard end
foremost, but simply this if he made
a mistake in the Chikapa he has also
made one with Leeambye, and if he
20is wrong I am right. It would scarcely
do to add and if Dr L. corrected his error
in one case he would do the same
in the other? O dear No, that would be
Nigger logic 0020

When Mr Gordon Cumming was forming
his well known collection around and beyond
my house at Kolobeng I had somewhat to
5do in the way of furnishing guides, and being
considered by them as a sort of father they
furnished me with a minute account
of the movements and adventures which
have since been published by the "Lionslayer"
10himself. Sometimes the narrators were
sent forward with presents of game. At
other times they came for assistance to
extricate their master out of difficulties,
so it generally happened that I had to listen
15to the stories from unsophisticated witnesses
a considerable time before we had the
pleasure of listening to the same from Mr
Cumming's lips at our own fireside.
Now I have two reasons for referring
20to this. One is I have frequently been
asked if Mr Cumming's book were true
and wish ^ to give a general answer to those
who may wish to put the question again
that without approving everything 0021
6th in it the book is essentially a truthful one
the statements with respect to the abundance
of game at the time he was in the country
far from exaggerated, and it gives a
5good idea of African hunting, The other
reason may be seen in the following
supposing as I had it in my power
I had collected these hunting adventures
garbled and "rightly interpreted" and
10published them in the manner of "Inner
Africa laid open". Could I honestly have
called myself a "lion slayer"? My antecedents
would seem to say if I had made such
a mistake so far from pronouncing it
15"very unsatisfactory" and trying to write
Mr Cumming down before he could
publish a connected statement, I
would instantly have confessed my
mistake by transferring the profits
20of my work to the true "Lion slayer".
And as my hopes are excited by the
flourish about "sincerity" if Mr 0022
Cooley will take the hint I hereby
engage to give a good account of the
profits of "Inner Africa laid open"

David Livingston

[1856
5Rev.d Dr Livingston]