How I found Livingstone; travels, adventures, and discoveries in Central Africa; including four months' residence with Dr. Livingstone ... Illustrations and maps

Front matter

DR. LIVINGSTONE AT WOIUi 'Ji H_" •->*". v\i HOW I FOUND LIVINGSTONE. TRAVELS, ADVEHTtTRES, AND DISCOVERIES IN CENTRAL AFRICA INCLUDING FOUR MONTHS' RESIDENCE WITH DR. LIVINGSTONE. BY HENKY M. STANLEY, TRAVELLING CORRESPONDENT OF THE ' NEW YORK HERALD ;' GOLD MEDALLIST OF THE- ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, ETC. ETC. ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS. NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION, THOROUGHLY REVISED THROUGHOUT, WITH A MEMOIR OF DE. LIVINGSTONE. LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, LOW, AND SEARLE, CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET. 1874. [AU rights reserved.'] LONDON" : FKTNTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS. STAMFORD STREET AND CHARTNG CROSS ro JAMES GORDON BENNETT, ESQ., (PROPRIETOR OF THE 'NEW YORK HERALD,') THIS RECORD OF THE EXPEDITION SENT IN SEARCH OF DOCTOR LIVINGSTONE AND OF TRAVELS, ADVENTURES, AND DISCOVERIES IN CENTRAL AFRICA, |s gtspwt&tUg JQttntXbdt, AS A TRIBUTE THE (JENEROSITY AND THE LIBERALITY WHICH ORIGINATED, SUSTAINED AND CROWNED THE ENTERPRISE, BY HIS GRATEFUL SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, HENRY M. STANLEY, LATli COMMANDER 'NEW YORK HERALD' EXPEDITION. CONTENTS. PAGE MEMOIR OF LIVINGSTONE ...... IX

Appendix

........ 538 INDEX . . . . . . . . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE de. Livingstone at work on his journal . . . Frontispiece. CAMP AT BAGAMOYO ........ 39 PORTRAIT OE BOMBAY AND MABROKI ...... 62 WOMAN GRINDING CORN ........ 94 PORTRAIT OP SHAW AND FARQUHAR ...... 105 DISCOMFORTS OF AFRICAN TRAVEL. — THE MAKATA SWAMP . to face 114 OUB CAMP AT CHUNYO ........ 138 VIEW IN FRONT OF MY TEMBE ....... 187 GROUP OF WANYAMWEZI ........ 215 GIGANTIC SYCAMORE, AND CAMP BENEATH IT ... . 252 VIEW IN UVINZA ......... 284 VILLAGE IN UZAVIRA — NATIVE POTTERY . . . . 290 "DR. LIVINGSTONE, I PRESUME?" to face 331 VIEW ON LAKE TANGANIKA ....... 389 SUSI, THE SERVANT OF LIVINGSTONE , . .v . . . 413 OUR HOUSE LN UJIJI 430 MAKING THE MOST OF A HALT ....... 478 UNAMAPOKERA ........... 5Qg "LOOK OCT, YOU DROP THAT BOX — I'LL SHOOT YOU" . . toface The great African traveller, the search for, and relief of whom this book describes, was born near Glasgow, March 19th, 1813.

At the very early age of ten he was employed in a factory as a " piecer," by which he earned sufficient money to contribute his mite towards the support of his family. A portion of his wages he was per mitted to devote to the purchase of books, whereby he laid the foundation of a useful and sound knowledge. At sixteen he was pretty well acquainted with the writings of classic authors. Horace and Virgil were favourites, but his readings were not limited to this branch of education, they ranged over every field of literature save fiction. Books of travels were especially delightful to him ; scientific works, books on natural history, medicine, and theology served not only to lighten tedious hours at the spinning jenny, but to fit him for the career for which he was destined, and which he has since pursued with honour to himself and credit to the family from which he sprung.

At nineteen years of age he was promoted to a cotton b X spinner, in which capacity he obtained a higher wage, which enabled him to support himself while attending the Greek and Medical classes, as also Divinity lectures during the winter in Glasgow. After confining himself to the study of Medicine and Divinity, with a view to offer himself, by the advice of friends, as a Missionary Physician for service, under the auspices of the London Missionary Society, in China, at twenty-five years of age he was summoned to undergo the necessary exami nation, out of which test he emerged as a Licentiate of Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons. He was then sent as a Probationer to the establishment of the Rev. Mr. Cecil, at Chipping Ongar, in the county of Essex. About the time he became qualified for the vocation for which he had been preparing himself, the Chinese Opium War broke out, and it became inexpedient for him to pro ceed to China.

For such reason his services were diverted to South Africa, for which Mission-field he embarked, after a short course of theological training, in the year 1840. The Rev. David Livingstone, M.D., landed at the Cape of Good Hope, after a voyage of three months from Eng land, in his twenty-eighth year. He proceeded into the interior, vid Algoa Bay, and arrived, after a journey of 700 miles, at the Mission Station of Kuruman, which had been established thirty years before by Messrs. Hamilton and Moffat. After a nearly five years' residence at Kuruman, he be came united in marriage to the daughter of Robert Moffat — from whom, in course of time, were born Robert MEMOIR OF LIVINGSTONE. Moffat Livingstone, Thomas Steele Livingstone, Agnes Livingstone, and W. Oswell Livingstone. During his preparatory labours at the Kuruman Mission, which extended from 1840 to 1845, that spirit to explore which has since distinguished him, developed itself.

In the year 1845 he proceeded to Chonuane, and thence to Kolobeng, where he established a mission house, cultivated a vegetable garden, and a farm, besides ministering to the spiritual necessities of the Bechuana population which surrounded Kolobeng. This post was the most advanced in the missionary field, and David Livingstone was the vanguard of the soldiers of the Cross, who were marching northward into the African interior to attack the stronghold of barbarism. It was at Livingstone's house that enterprising travellers, lured to this far region by the report of multitudes of large game, while on their way to the game countries beyond, halted to refit. Here they stored their supplies, to this house they returned to rest from their sport ; and of the humble missionary's house, and the kindly hospitality they received, Gordon Cumming, Mr. Oswell, Mr. Webb of Newstead Abbey, Major Frank Vardon — all great hunters — speak and write in terms of enthusiastic praise.

Years roll by, the Christian congregations flourish under his careful supervision and constant labour, and he begins to move onward towards the North. He has heard of a lake situated beyond the desert of Kalahari : no white man has ever seen its shores; and seeking b MEMOIR OF LIVINGSTONE. a site whereon to build a new mission and sow the seed of the Gospel, he determines to go and search for it. The very name of a lake of fresh waters and numerous streams had a charm for him, dwelling as he was within a thirsty and dry region. Water was precious at Kolo beng. The Bechuana believed that if they had but plenty of water, the neighbourhood of Kolobeng could not be excelled for the salubrity of its climate and fertility of its soil. The Kalahari desert was crossed by Living stone, Oswell, and Murray, and the Lake Ngami was discovered by the three friends on the 1st of August, 1849.

From this discovery Livingstone returned to Kolobeng, where he arrived on the 10th of October, having been absent on his first expedition of exploration four months and ten days. Lake Ngami lies between south" latitudes 20° and 21°, and near the 20° longitude. It is from fifty to seventy miles in length, and is 2,825 feet above sea level. For this discovery Livingstone was awarded half of the usual premium placed at the disposal of the Royal Geographical Society by the Queen. In April, 1850, the second journey of exploration was undertaken by Livingstone, this time taking with him his wife and three children, Robert, Thomas, and Agnes. Taught by experience, derived from his first expedition, of the obstacles to be met, he selected a feasible route presenting but few difficulties as far as the Zouga River.

Crossing the river, the family proceeded up the northern bank, with the intention of going to Linyanti, where Sebituane, chief of the Makololo tribe, resided. But he was unable to proceed beyond the Zouga, and he was re luctantly compelled to forego his intention. Livingstone's uprightness of character, however, soon won the heart of the warrior Lechulathebe, who at once tendered his friendship, and assistance for the furtherance of his labours, in proselytising the heathen under him. He was not able to avail himself of the offer for any length of time, as the lives of his wife and children were threatened by the terrible fever of the country, and he was compelled to return in consequence to Kolobeng. Early in 1857 he began his third journey, accompanied by his wife, children, and Mr. Oswell the hunter.

On the arrival of the party at Linyanti, the great chief Sebituane warmly received them, offered to replace the cattle slain by the tsetse fly, and in other ways manifested the interest he felt in them. During Dr. Livingstone's residence with the Makololo, Sebituane died. His nominee to the chieftainship was a daughter, but she disclaimed the supreme authority in favour of a younger brother called Sekeletu, then aged nineteen, who was at once recognised by the Makololo, as their chief. The chapters of 'Missionary Travels,' relating to his life and labours among the Makololo, are among the most interesting which Livingstone ever wrote. Alarmed by the weak health of Mrs. Livingstone and of his children, he returned once more to Kolobeng, and finally concluded to escort his family to the Cape of Good Hope, and see them embark for England.

From the Cape of Good Hope he started on his journey alone back to Linyanti, whence with the brave band of Makololo, that Sekeletu the chief supplied him, he proceeded to St. Paul de Loanda on the West Coast of Africa, where he arrived at the house of a Mr. Gabrielle, sick almost to death. But his strong constitution triumphed over the disease, and after a few months' stay at Loanda, he returned to the interior to Linyanti. From Linyanti he proceeded eastward, during which travels he discovered the great Victoria Falls of the Zambezi, and finally emerged on the East Coast of Africa near Kilimane in 1856. From 1840 to 1856 are sixteen years of hard labour, as a missionary and traveller. In what a brief, sentence can we sum up so much earnest, hearty work, so many fatigues from marches, privations consequent upon in salubrious climates ; fevers, the result of rain and marshes; dangers which at all times surround the explorer in Africa !

Livingstone left Kilimane on the 12th of August, 1856, and proceeded to Mauritius, where he was most hospitably received by Major-General C. M. Hay, who constrained him to remain with him until through the influence of a healthier climate, and abundant comfort, he could be freed from an enlarged spleen, which resulted from the frequent attacks of fever he had suffered on his journeys. Arriving in England after such a long sojourn in Southern Central Africa, on December 12th, 1856, he was received with open arms by every man in Great Britain who was interested in Africa, or was an admirer of physical endurance and matchless perseverance. He closed his admirable book ' Missionary Travels in South Africa,' wherein he records his numerous adven tures, the instruction he derived from his patient observa tions, with words which reveal his character more fully than anything the present author could write, as follows : — I have not mentioned half the favours bestowed, but I may just add that no one has cause for more abundant gratitude to his fellow-men, and to his Maker, than I have ; and may God grant that the effect on my mind be such that I may be more humbly devoted to the service of the Author of all our mercies !

The London ' Times ' of the 11th of December, 1856, contained the following interesting report of Dr. Living stone's arrival in Europe : — The Rev. Dr. Livingstone arrived at Marseilles from Tunis on the 6th inst., and was then in good health. His left arm is, however, broken, and partly useless, it haviDg been broken by a lion. When he was taken on board her Majesty's ship Frolic, on the Mozambique coast, he had great difficulty in speaking a sentence of English, having disused it so long while travelling in Africa. He bad with him a native from the interior of Africa. This man, when he got to the Mauritius, was so excited with the steamers and various wonders of civilisation, that he went mad, and jumped into the sea and was drowned. Dr. Livingstone has been absent from England seventeen years.

He crossed the great African continent almost in the centre, from west to east ; has been where no civilised being has ever been before, and has made many notable discoveries of great value. He travelled in the twofold character of missionary and physician, having obtained a medical diploma. He is rather a short man, with a pleasing and serious countenance, which betokens the most determined resolution. He continued to wear the cap which he wore while performing his wonderful travels. On board the Candia, in which he voyaged from Alexandria to Tunis, he was remarkable for his modesty and unassuming manners. He never spoke of his travels, except in answer to questions. The injury to his arm was sustained in the desert while travelling with a friendly tribe of Africans. A herd of lions broke into their camp at night, and carried off some of their cattle.

The natives, in their alarm, believed that a neighbouring tribe had bewitched them. Livingstone taunted them with suffering their losses through cowardice, and they then turned out to face and hunt down the enemy. The Doctor shot a lion, which dropped wounded. It afterwards sprang on him and caught him by the arm, and, after wounding two natives who drew it off him, it fell down dead. The wounded arm was not set properly, and Dr. Livingstone suffered ex cruciating agony in consequence. The following sketch of the traveller as he appeared then is so good that I transcribe it from the pages of the ' Nonconformist ' journal : — A foreign-looking person, plainly and rather carelessly dressed, of middle height, bony frame, and Gaelic countenance, with short-cropped hair and mustachios, and generally plain exterior, rises to address the meeting.

He appears to be about forty years of age. His face is deeply furrowed and pretty well tanned. It indicates a man of quick and keen discernment, strong impulses, inflexible resolution, and habitual self-command. Unanimated, its most characteristic expres sion is that of severity ; when excited, a varied expression of earnest and benevolent feeling, and remarkable enjoyment of the ludicrous in circumstances and character passes over it. The meeting rises to wel come him with deafening cheers. "When he speaks, you think him at first to be a Frenchman ; but as he tells you a Scotch anecdote in true Glasgowwegian dialect, you make up your mind that he must be, as his face indicates, a countryman from the north. His command of his mother-tongue being imperfect, he apologises for his broken, hesitating speech, by informing you that he has not spoken your language for nearly sixteen years ; and then he tells you, as best a modest' yet earnest man can, concerning his travels.

In doing this he leaves out all about his personal sufferings, just remarking that he intends to save those anecdotes for his " garrulous dotage." Much of what he says he has already, of course, written in his journals, and of some circum tances he has before told at other places ; but he is one from whom you could hear the same thing more than three times. His narrative is not very connected, and his manner is awkward, excepting once, when he justifies his enthusiasm, and once when he graphically describes the Mosiatunya— the great cataract of Central Africa. He ends a speech of natural eloquence and witty simplicity by saying that he has be-nm his work, and will carry it on. His broken thanks are drowned by the applause of the audience. The ' Daily News ' of a later date sums up a glowing eulogy on Livingstone's character as follows : — Dr. Livingstone is one of the few men whose words are realities.

There is a quiet, curt energy about his statements which irresistibly impresses the hearer with a conviction that he has done what he says, and that be will do it again when occasion offers. There is a trans parency in the simplicity of his diction which lets us see the workings of his mind, as if by some process of intuition. . . . There is true sublimity in Dr. Livingstone's allusion to the immediate resumption of the arduous task which he has been prosecuting for sixteen years, and is about to return to after an interval of only a few months. " He Saw it to be his duty to go, and he was determined to do his duty, whatever others might say about the matter.". . . It was impossible to look round upon those assemblies without feeling a thrill of exultation at the thought that, literally, the whole earth is full of our labours — that there is no region in which our industrial enterprise, our skill in arms, our benevolent eagerness to diffuse the blessings of civilisation and pure and true religion, have not been displayed.

The ' Leader ' also in a similar enthusiastic strain con cludes thus : — For seventeen years, smitten by more than thirty attacks of fever, endangered by seven attempts upon his life, continually exposed to fatigue, hunger, and the chance of perishing miserably in a wilderness shut out from the knowledge of civilised men, the missionary pursued his way, an apostle and a pioneer, without fear, without egotism, with out desire of reward. Such a work, accomplished by such a man, de serves all the eulogy that can be bestowed upon it, for nothing is more rare than brilliant and unsullied success. On December 15th, 1856, the Royal Geographical So ciety, then under the able and graceful presidentship of Sir Roderick Murchison, testified their regard and admiration for the perseverance with which he had accomplished the extraordinary series of geographical explorations, with the presentation of the Patron's Gold Medal.

On the 5th of January, 1857, at an enthusiastic meet ing at the Mansion House of London, a "Livingstone Testimonial Fund " was begun, and before the meeting had terminated, the sum of £450 was subscribed. This purse was subsequently increased, until it reached the sum of one thousand guineas. Scotsmen, proud of their countryman, formed another fund, and in Glasgow and Edinburgh another purse of one thousand guineas was raised. But to repeat all the encomiums lavished on the great traveller subsequent to his return, or to enumerate the many friendships he formed with the most loving and generous, the noblest and best of his countrymen, would be to extend this memoir beyond proper limits. After a rest of nearly two years in England, he under took a governmental expedition in 1858, to explore the Zambezi, to extend his previous explorations into the interior, with the view of pioneering the advent of commerce into that part of Africa whence he had returned in 1856.

He was at this period in his forty sixth year. He was accompanied on this expedition by his brother Charles Livingstone (since H.B.M. Consul at Fernando Po, who died in the latter part of October, 1873, while on his way to England, of yellow fever). Dr. John Kirk was the botanist of this expedition, Mr. Francis Skead, R.N., was the surveyor, and Mr. Richard Thornton was the geologist. This expedition, the account of which is given in Livingstone's book, ' The Zambezi and its 'Tributaries,' lasted five years. In the fourth year of his second period of exploration, Mrs. Livingstone, who had followed her husband, died, and was buried on the bank of the Zambezi, at a place called Shupanga. Of this brave lady and faithful wife Charles Living stone writes : — Those who are not aware how this brave, good, English wife made a delightful home at Kolobeng, a thousand miles inland from the Cape, and as the daughter of Moffat, and a Christian lady exercised most beneficial influence over the rude tribes of the interior, may wonder that she should have braved the dangers and toils of this down-trodden land.

She knew them all, and in the disinterested and dutiful attempt to renew her labours, was called to her rest instead. Fiat, Domine, voluntas tua. After journeying through Southern Africa in company with her illustrious husband over upwards of five thousand miles, the remains of this heroic lady lie in serene solitude by the waters of the Zambezi. Around the grave are palm forests and luxuriant tropical vegetation, with the colossal crown of Morambala towering amid clouds and blue ether, as it stands the guardian mount, over those melancholy shades. This East African or Zambezi Expedition was not so fruitful in discoveries as the journey Livingstone made while travelling alone. But there were many most important results obtained by it. A port was discovered which might easily be made available for commerce, when it would direct itself to the Zambezi region.

The noble River Zambezi was proved to be navigable for light draught river steamers, as far as the Kebrabassa Rapids. The River Shire was explored and Lakes Shirwa and XX Nyassa were discovered. The Shire is capable of floating paddle-wheeled steamers, drawing three feet of water at all seasons, and Nyassa Lake, whence the Shire flows, is a capacious inland sea with many hundred miles of coast. Livingstone's experiences on this journey are recorded in his book, published by John Murray, of Albemarle Street, London. It is replete with facts, gathered after patient investigation with African history and geography and much scientific instruction, and is an invaluable guide, for that region bordering on the Mozambique. In 1863, a despatch was received by Dr. Livingstone from the Home Government, recalling the Expedition, and accordingly the great explorer started down the Zambezi for home.

Upon arriving at the mouth of the Zambezi, Living stone sailed in the Lady Nyassa for Zanzibar ; thence he left for Bombay on the 16th of April, 1864, navigating the vessel himself. This was no small feat, of crossing 2,500 miles of ocean in a small steamer, for an African explorer ! The vessel was so small that no one noticed his arrival in the harbour, and it was not known that he had arrived until the next day, when he went to ask the harbour-master where his little steamer should lie in port. It remains for the author of this memoir, as the latest friend of Livingstone, to whom were told certain facts by the traveller himself, when subsequently we met in Central Africa, to disabuse the impression, which I know to exist with many men — that Livingstone was rich. The money which the explorer made on the sale of his first book, ' Missionary Travels,' was sufficient to sustain him for life with a modest competence, had it been wisely put out at good interest ; but the instincts and spirit of the explorer prevailed against more worldly wisdom.

When he departed on his second period of exploration, under the auspices and in the pay of Government — it is true that the Government equipped a steam launch which Livingstone called the Ma Robert — a Makololo term for Mrs. Livingstone — and subsequently despatched another steamer, called the Pioneer, to him. But the Ma Bobert was so defective in her construction, that after a very brief period of negative usefulness, she sank in the Shire river, and the Pioneer drew too much water for active work. The waters of the Rovuma and the Shire were too shallow for such a vessel as the Pioneer, and accord ingly Livingstone, who had the success of the expedition nearer to his heart than his own pecuniary interests, ordered the construction of the Lady Nyassa, which cost him, personally, the sum of £6,000.

Before she was able to prove of much service to him, the expedition was recalled. The Lady Nyassa, on arriving at Bombay, was sold for what she would fetch, which was only £2,000. The entire proceeds of the sale of his steamer were deposited in a banker's hands for safe keeping, but within a short time afterwards the banker became a bankrupt ! Reflective readers may see much in the above to account for the peculiar spirit with which he was accredited in England at that period. The sum Livingstone derived from the sale of 'The Zambezi and its Tributaries ' — the fruits of five years' MEMOIR OF LIVINGSTONE. labour, did not approach to one-half the sum of £6,000, expended in the purchase of the Lady Nyassa. On the 20th of July, 1864, he reached London, and again he was received with enthusiasm in his native country.

Societies, deputations, and cities tendered the traveller the honours he deserved for his indomitable labours in the cause of geographical science. Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Webb, of Newstead Abbey, prevailed upon him to accept their hospitalities. The Doctor had become acquainted with Mr. Webb in 1862, while the latter pursued with youthful ardour and a hunter's intincts the large game inhabiting South Central Africa. Both men from that period, mutually respecting each other's good qualities and virtues, became warm friends, and the friendship began in 1852 among the Bakwains of Africa, lasted until Livingstone's death in 1873. The Doctor always remembered his friends ; he never ceased to speak of those who befriended him when he returned to England from his long explorations, and among the manifold kindnesses and attentions he received none made a greater impression on his memory than those which he received from the master and mistress of Newstead Abbey.

From the month of August, 1864, to April, 1865, Livingstone resided at Newstead. It was here he wrote the second record of his travels, since which time the room he occupied has gone under the name of " Living stone's room." The outlook from it is that of a soft velvety lawn, where the young laughing grass ever wears its spring-time colouring, of a silvery lake, whose tiny wavelets sing eternal music to the whispering breeze ; of expanses of pasture land, invested by most lovely groupings of trees and groves. Often he must have thought as he gazed upon the scene, wearied with the strange toil of literary composition, what a wide contrast existed between that happy and healthy English paradise and the primeval solitudes and fatal atmosphere of Central Africa. That room, which saw the good man's labours as he penned the sad litany of woes which the children of Africa suffer under, will have an attraction for many generations yet unborn.

In his Preface to his second work, Dr. Livingstone hints at undertaking a third Expedition. He says : — The Government have supported the proposal of the Royal Geo graphical Society, made by my friend Sir Roderick Murchison, and have united with that body to aid me in another attempt to open Africa to civilising influences, and a valued private friend has given a thousand pounds for the same object. I propose to go inland north of the territory which the Portuguese in Europe claim, and endeavour to commence that system on the East which has been so imminently successful on the West Coast, a system combining the repressive efforts of H.M. cruisers with lawful trade and Christian missions, the moral and material results of which have been so gratifying. I hope to ascend the Rovuma or some other river north of Cape Delgado, and in addition to my other work shall strive, bypassing along the northern end of Lake Nyassa, and round the southern end of Lake Tanganika, to ascertain the watershed of that part of Africa.

In so doing, I have no wish to unsettle what, with so much toil and danger, was accomplished by Speke and Grant, but rather to confirm their illustrious discoveries. The above is what Livingstone has written, but with his own lips he supplied to me, among many other things, the details of how it came about that when nearly fifty three years old, he should undertake a third Expedition to Central Africa, which was to eclipse everything he had accomplished before. "One morning," said Livingstone, "Sir Roderick Murchison visited me while I was stopping a day or two in London and said to me, as well as I can remember, ' My dear Livingstone, your disclosures respecting the interior of Africa have created a profound excitement in the geographical world. We (the Society) are of opinion that we ought to send another Expedition into the heart of Africa to resolve the problem of the watershed between the Nyassa and the Tanganika Lakes ; for when that is settled, all questions about Central Africa will be de finitely resolved.

Whom could you recommend to take charge of it as a proper man ?' " Livingstone, after reflecting a short time, gave him the name of * . Sir Roderick, when he heard of the name, was delighted ; he had also thought that should Living stone himself refuse to go, no better man could be ob tained. The President of the Royal Geographical Society departed to sound the gentleman whom his friend Living stone had recommended so strongly. When questioned as to his willingness to undertake the command of this new Expedition, this gentleman at once politely refused upon the grounds that unless he could be guaranteed a sufficient rumuneration for his services, he could not think, at his time of life, to undertake anything of the sort unless it was remunerated. Regarding this gentleman's answer to Sir Roderick's proposition from a practical point of view, all sane men will at once recognise the wisdom which guided him in his reply, as it is scarcely fair to expect a man of advanced years to undertake a mission of this nature without ample compensation for exchanging the conveniences of civilized life for the dangers and privations that constantly menace and surround an explorer in Central Africa.