The Personal Life Of David Livingstone
by
William Garden Blaikie
Part 9 out of 10
sent him had any personal interest in Livingstone. Mr. Bennett admitted
frankly that he was moved neither by friendship nor philanthropy, but by
regard to his business and interest as a journalist. The object of a
journal was to furnish its readers with the news which they desired to
know; the readers of the _New York Herald_ desired to know about
Livingstone; as a journalist, it was his business to find out and tell
them. Mr. Bennett determined that, cost what it might, he would find
out, and give the news to his readers. These were the very unromantic
notions, with an under-current probably of better quality, that were
passing through his mind at Paris, on the 16th October, 1869, when he
sent a telegram to Madrid, summoning Henry M. Stanley, one of the "own
correspondents" of his paper, to "come to Paris on important business."
On his arrival, Mr. Bennett asked him bluntly, "Where do you think
Livingstone is?" The correspondent could not tell--could not even tell
whether he was alive. "Well," said Mr. Bennett, "I think he is alive,
and that he may be found, and I am going to send you to find him." Mr.
Stanley was to have whatever money should be found necessary; only he
was to find Livingstone. It is very mysterious that he was not to go
straight to Africa--he was to visit Constantinople, Palestine, and Egypt
first. Then, from India, he was to go to Zanzibar; get into the
interior, and find him if alive; obtain all possible news of his
discoveries; and if he were dead, get the fact fully verified, find out
the place of his burial, and try to obtain possession of his bones, that
they might find a resting-place at home.
It was not till January, 1871, that Stanley reached Zanzibar. To
organize an expedition into the interior was no easy task for one who
had never before set foot in Africa. To lay all his plans without
divulging his object would, perhaps, have been more difficult if it had
ever entered into any man's head to connect the _New York Herald_ with a
search for Livingstone. But indomitable vigor and perseverance
succeeded, and by the end of February and beginning of March, one
hundred and ninety-two persons in all had started in five caravans at
short intervals from Bagamoio for Lake Tanganyika, two white men being
of the party besides Stanley, with horses, donkeys, bales, boats, boxes,
rifles, etc., to an amount that made the leader of the expedition ask
himself how such an enormous weight of material could ever be carried
into the heart of Africa.
The ordinary and extraordinary risks and troubles of travel in these
parts fell to Mr. Stanley's lot in unstinted abundance. But when
Unyanyembe was reached, the half-way station to Ujiji, troubles more
than extraordinary befell. First, a terrible attack of fever that
deprived him of his senses for a fortnight. Then came a worse trouble.
The Arabs were at war with a chief Mirambo, and Stanley and his men,
believing they would help to restore peace more speedily, sided with the
Arabs. At first they were apparently victorious, but immediately after,
part of the Arabs were attacked on their way home by Mirambo, who lay in
ambush for them, and were defeated. Great consternation prevailed. The
Arabs retreated in panic, leaving Stanley, who was ill, to the tender
mercies of the foe. Stanley, however, managed to escape. After this
experience of the Arabs in war, he resolved to discontinue his alliance
with them. As the usual way to Ujiji was blocked, he determined to try a
route more to the south. But his people had forsaken him. One of his two
English companions was dead, the other was sick and had to be sent back.
Mirambo was still threatening. It was not till the 20th September that
new men were engaged by Stanley, and his party were ready to move.
They marched slowly, with various adventures and difficulties, until, by
Mr. Stanley's reckoning, on the 10th November (but by Livingstone's
earlier), they were close on Ujiji. Their approach created an
extraordinary excitement. First one voice saluted them in English, then
another; these were the salutations of Livingstone's servants, Susi and
Chuma. By and by the Doctor himself appeared. "As I advanced slowly
toward him," says Mr. Stanley, "I noticed he was pale, looked wearied,
had a gray beard, wore a bluish cap with a faded gold band round it, had
on a red-sleeved waistcoat and a pair of gray tweed trousers. I would
have run to him, only I was a coward in the presence of such a
mob,--would have embraced him, only he, being an Englishman, I did not
know how he would receive me; so I did what cowardice and false pride
suggested was the best thing--walked deliberately to him, took off my
hat and said, 'Dr. Livingstone, I presume?' 'Yes,' said he, with a kind
smile, lifting his cap slightly. I replace my hat on my head, and he
puts on his cap, and we both grasp hands, and then I say aloud--'I thank
God, Doctor, I have been permitted to see you.' He answered, 'I feel
thankful that I am here to welcome you.'"
The conversation began--but Stanley could not remember what it was. "I
found myself gazing at him, conning the wonderful man at whose side I
now sat in Central Africa. Every hair of his head and beard, every
wrinkle of his face, the wanness of his features, and the slightly
wearied look he bore, were all imparting intelligence to me--the
knowledge I craved for so much ever since I heard the words, 'Take what
you want, but find Livingstone,' What I saw was deeply interesting
intelligence to me and unvarnished truth. I was listening and reading at
the same time. What did these dumb witnesses relate to me?
"Oh, reader, had you been at my side on this day in Ujiji, how
eloquently could be told the nature of this man's work? Had you been
there but to see and hear! His lips gave me the details; lips that never
lie. I cannot repeat what he said; I was too much engrossed to take my
notebook out, and begin to stenograph his story. He had so much to say
that he began at the end, seemingly oblivious of the fact that five or
six years had to be accounted for. But his account was oozing out; it
was growing fast into grand proportions--into a most marvelous history
of deeds."
And Stanley, too, had wonderful things to tell the Doctor. "The news,"
says Livingstone, "he had to tell one who had been two full years
without any tidings from Europe made my whole frame thrill. The
terrible fate that had befallen France, the telegraphic cables
successfully laid in the Atlantic, the election of General Grant, the
death of good Lord Clarendon, my constant friend; the proof that Her
Majesty's Government had not forgotten me in voting L1000 for supplies,
and many other points of interest, revived emotions that had lain
dormant in Manyuema." As Stanley went on, Livingstone kept saying, "You
have brought me new life--you have brought me new life."
There was one piece of news brought by Stanley to Livingstone that was
far from satisfactory. At Bagamoio, on the coast, Stanley had found a
caravan with supplies for Livingstone that had been despatched from
Zanzibar three or four months before, the men in charge of which had
been lying idle there all that time on the pretext that they were
waiting for carriers. A letter-bag was also lying at Bagamoio, although
several caravans for Ujiji had left in the meantime. On hearing that the
Consul at Zanzibar, Dr. Kirk, was coming to the neighborhood to hunt,
the party at last made off. Overtaking them at Unyanyembe, Stanley took
charge of Livingstone's stores, but was not able to bring them on; only
he compelled the letter-carrier to come on to Ujiji with his bag. At
what time, but for Stanley, Livingstone would have got his letters,
which after all were a year on the way, he could not have told. For his
stores, or such fragments of them as might remain, he had afterward to
trudge all the way to Unyanyembe. His letters conveyed the news that
Government had voted a thousand pounds for his relief, and were besides
to pay him a salary[74]. The unpleasant feeling he had had so long as to
his treatment by Government was thus at last somewhat relieved. But the
goods that had lain in neglect at Bagamoio, and were now out of reach at
Unyanyembe, represented one-half the Government grant, and would
probably be squandered, like his other goods, before he could
reach them.
[Footnote 74: The intimation of salary was premature. Livingstone got a
pension of L800 afterward, which lasted only for a year and a half.]
The impression made on Stanley by Livingstone was remarkably vivid; and
the portrait drawn by the American will be recognized as genuine by
every one who knows what manner of man Livingstone was:
"I defy any one to be in his society long without thoroughly
fathoming him, for in him there is no guile, and what is
apparent on the surface is the thing that is in him.... Dr.
Livingstone is about sixty years old, though after he was
restored to health he looked like a man who had not passed
his fiftieth year. His hair has a brownish color yet, but is
here and there streaked with gray lines over the temples; his
beard and moustaches are very gray. His eyes, which are
hazel, are remarkably bright; he has a sight keen as a
hawk's. His teeth alone indicate the weakness of age; the
hard fare of Lunda has made havoc in their lines. His form,
which soon assumed a stoutish appearance, is a little over
the ordinary height, with the slightest possible bow in the
shoulders. When walking he has a firm but heavy tread, like
that of an overworked or fatigued man. He is accustomed to
wear a naval cap with a semicircular peak, by which he has
been identified throughout Africa. His dress, when first I
saw him, exhibited traces of patching and repairing, but was
scrupulously clean.
"I was led to believe that Livingstone possessed a splenetic,
misanthropic temper; some have said that he is garrulous;
that he is demented; that he is utterly changed from the
David Livingstone whom people knew as the reverend
missionary; that he takes no notes or observations but such
as those which no other person could read but himself, and it
was reported, before I proceeded to Africa, that he was
married to an African princess.
"I respectfully beg to differ with all and each of the above
statements. I grant he is not an angel; but he approaches to
that being as near as the nature of a living man will allow.
I never saw any spleen or misanthropy in him: as for being
garrulous, Dr. Livingstone is quite the reverse; he is
reserved, if anything; and to the man who says Dr.
Livingstone is changed, all I can say is, that he never could
have known him, for it is notorious that the Doctor has a
fund of quiet humor, which he exhibits at all times when he
is among friends." [After repudiating the charge as to his
notes, and observations, Mr. Stanley continues:] "As to the
report of his African marriage, it is unnecessary to say more
than that it is untrue, and it is utterly beneath a gentleman
even to hint at such a thing in connection with the name of
Dr. Livingstone.
"You may take any point in Dr. Livingstone's character, and
analyze it carefully, and I would challenge any man to find a
fault in it.... His gentleness never forsakes him; his
hopefulness never deserts him. No harassing anxieties,
distraction of mind, long separation from home and kindred,
can make him complain. He thinks 'all will come out right at
last'; he has such faith in the goodness of Providence. The
sport of adverse circumstances, the plaything of the
miserable beings sent to him from Zanzibar--he has been
baffled and worried, even almost to the grave, yet he will
not desert the charge imposed upon him by his friend Sir
Roderick Murchison. To the stern dictates of duty, alone, has
he sacrificed his home and ease, the pleasures, refinements,
and luxuries of civilized life. His is the Spartan heroism,
the inflexibility of the Roman, the enduring resolution of
the Anglo-Saxon--never to relinquish his work, though his
heart yearns for home; never to surrender his obligations
until he can write FINIS to his work.
"There is a good-natured _abandon_ about Livingstone which
was not lost on me. Whenever he began to laugh, there was a
contagion about it that compelled me to imitate him. It was
such a laugh as Teufelsdroeckh's--a laugh of the whole man
from head to heel. If he told a story, he related it in such
a way as to convince one of its truthfulness; his face was so
lit up by the sly fun it contained, that I was sure the story
was worth relating, and worth listening to.
"Another thing that especially attracted my attention was his
wonderfully retentive memory. If we remember the many years
he has spent in Africa, deprived of books, we may well think
it an uncommon memory that can recite whole poems from Byron,
Burns, Tennyson, Longfellow, Whittier, and Lowell....
"His religion is not of the theoretical kind, but it is a
constant, earnest, sincere practice. It is neither
demonstrative nor loud, but manifests itself in a quiet,
practical way, and is always at work. It is not aggressive,
which sometimes is troublesome if not impertinent. In him
religion exhibits its loveliest features; it governs his
conduct not only toward his servants but toward the natives,
the bigoted Mohammedans, and all who come in contact with
him. Without it, Livingstone, with his ardent temperament,
his enthusiasm, his high spirit and courage, must have become
uncompanionable, and a hard master. Religion has tamed him
and made him a Christian gentleman; the crude and willful
have been refined and subdued; religion has made him the most
companionable of men and indulgent of masters--a man whose
society is pleasurable to a degree....
"From being thwarted and hated in every possible way by the
Arabs and half-castes upon his first arrival at Ujiji, he
has, through his uniform kindness and mild, pleasant temper,
won all hearts. I observed that universal respect was paid to
him. Even the Mohammedans never passed his house without
calling to pay their compliments, and to say, 'The blessing
of God rest on you!' Each Sunday morning he gathers his
little flock around him, and reads prayers and a chapter from
the Bible, in a natural, unaffected, and sincere tone; and
afterward delivers a short address in the Kisawahili
language, about the subject read to them, which is listened
to with evident interest and attention."
It was agreed that the two travelers should make a short excursion to
the north end of Lake Tanganyika, to ascertain whether the lake had an
outlet there. This was done, but it was found that instead of flowing
out, the river Lugize flowed into the lake, so that the notion that the
lake discharged itself northward turned out to be an error. Meanwhile,
the future arrangements of Dr. Livingstone were matter of anxious
consideration. One thing was fixed and certain from the beginning:
Livingstone would not go home with Stanley. Much though his heart
yearned for home and family--all the more that he had just learned that
his son Thomas had had a dangerous accident,--and much though he needed
to recruit his strength and nurse his ailments, he would not think of it
while his work remained unfinished. To turn back to those dreary
sponges, sleep in those flooded plains, encounter anew that terrible
pneumonia which was "worse than ten fevers," or that distressing
haemorrhage which added extreme weakness to extreme agony--might have
turned any heart; Livingstone never flinched from it. What a reception
awaited him if he had gone home to England! What welcome from friends
and children, what triumphal cheers from all the great Societies and
_savants_, what honors from all who had honors to confer, what
opportunity of renewing efforts to establish missions and commerce, and
to suppress the slave traffic! Then he might return to Africa in a year,
and finish his work. If Livingstone had taken this course, no whisper
would have been heard against it. The nobility of his soul never rose
higher, his utter abandonment of self, his entire devotion to duty, his
right honorable determination to work while it was called to-day never
shone more brightly than when he declined all Stanley's entreaties to
return home, and set his face steadfastly to go back to the bogs of the
watershed. He writes in his journal: "My daughter Agnes says, 'Much as I
wish you to come home, I had rather that you finished your work to your
own satisfaction, than return merely to gratify me.' Rightly and nobly
said, my darling Nannie; vanity whispers pretty loudly, 'She is a chip
of the old block,' My blessing on her and all the rest."
After careful consideration of various plans, it was agreed that he
should go to Unyanyembe, accompanied by Stanley, who would supply him
there with abundance of goods, and who would then hurry down to the
coast, organize a new expedition composed of fifty or sixty faithful men
to be sent on to Unyanyembe, by whom Livingstone would be accompanied
back to Bangweolo and the sources, and then to Rua, until his work
should be completed, and he might go home in peace.
A few extracts from Livingstone's letters will show us how he felt at
this remarkable crisis. To Agnes:
"_Tanganyika_, 18_th November_, 1871--[After detailing his
troubles in Manyuema, the loss of all his goods at Ujiji, and
the generous offer of Syed bin Majid, he continues:] "Next I
heard of an Englishman being at Unyamyembe with boats, etc.,
but who he was, none could tell. At last, one of my people
came running out of breath and shouted, 'An Englishman
coming!' and off he darted back again to meet him. An
American flag at the head of a large caravan showed the
nationality of the stranger. Baths, tents, saddles, big
kettles, showed that he was not a poor Lazarus like me. He
turned out to be Henry M. Stanley, traveling correspondent of
the _New York Herald_, sent specially to find out if I were
really alive, and, if dead, to bring home my bones. He had
brought abundance of goods at great expense, but the fighting
referred to delayed him, and he had to leave a great part at
Unyamyembe. To all he had I was made free. [In a later
letter, Livingstone says; 'He laid all he had at my service,
divided his clothes into two heaps, and pressed one heap upon
me; then his medicine-chest; then his goods and everything he
had, and to coax my appetite, often cooked dainty dishes with
his own hand.'] He came with the true American characteristic
generosity. The tears often started into my eyes on every
fresh proof of kindness. My appetite returned, and I ate
three or four times a day, instead of scanty meals morning
and evening. I soon felt strong, and never wearied with the
strange news of Europe and America he told. The tumble down
of the French Empire was like a dream...."
A long letter to his friend Sir Thomas Maclear and Mr. Mann, of the same
date, goes over his travels in Manyuema, his many disasters, and then
his wonderful meeting with Mr. Stanley at Ujiji. Speaking of the
unwillingness of the natives to believe in the true purpose of his
journey, he says: "They all treat me with respect, and are very much
afraid of being written against; but they consider the sources of the
Nile to be a sham; the true object of my being sent is to see their
odious system of slaving, and _if indeed my disclosures should lead to
the suppression of the East Coast slave-trade, I would esteem that as a
far greater feat than the discovery of all the sources together_. It is
awful, but I cannot speak of the slaving for fear of appearing guilty of
exaggerating. It is not trading; it is murdering for captives to be made
into slaves." His account of himself in the journey from Nyangwe is
dreadful: "I was near a fourth lake on this central line, and only
eighty miles from Lake Lincoln on our west, in fact almost in sight of
the geographical end of my mission, when I was forced to return [through
the misconduct of his men] between 400 and 500 miles. A sore heart, made
still sorer by the sad scenes I had seen of man's inhumanity to man,
made this march a terrible tramp--the sun vertical, and the sore heat
reacting on the physical frame. I was in pain nearly every step of the
way, and arrived a mere ruckle of bones to find myself destitute." In
speaking of the impression made by Mr. Stanley's kindness: "I am as cold
and non-demonstrative as we islanders are reputed to be, but this
kindness was overwhelming. Here was the good Samaritan and no mistake.
Never was I more hard pressed; never was help more welcome."
During thirteen months Stanley received no fewer than ten parcels of
letters and papers sent up by Mr. Webb, American Consul at Zanzibar,
while Livingstone received but one. This was an additional ground for
faith in the efficiency of Stanley's arrangements.
The journey to Unyanyembe was somewhat delayed by an attack of fever
which Stanley had at Ujiji, and it was not till the 27th December that
the travelers set out. On the way Stanley heard of the death of his
English attendant Shaw, whom he had left unwell. On the 18th of
February, 1872, they reached Unyanyembe, where a new chapter of the old
history unfolded itself. The survivor of two head-men employed by Ludha
Damji had been plundering Livingstone's stores, and had broken open the
lock of Mr. Stanley's store-room and plundered him likewise.
Notwithstanding, Mr. Stanley was able to give Livingstone a large amount
of calico, beads, brass wire, copper sheets, a tent, boat, bath,
cooking-pots, medicine-chest, tools, books, paper, medicines,
cartridges, and shot. This, with four flannel shirts that had come from
Agnes, and two pairs of boots, gave him the feeling of being quite
set up.
On the 14th of March Mr. Stanley left Livingstone for Zanzibar, having
received from him a commission to send him up fifty trusty men, and some
additional stores. Mr. Stanley had authority to draw from Dr. Kirk the
remaining half of the Government grant, but lest it should have been
expended, he was furnished with a cheque for 5000 rupees on Dr.
Livingstone's agents at Bombay. He was likewise intrusted with a large
folio MS.* volume containing his journals from his arrival at Zanzibar,
28th January, 1866, to February 20, 1872, written out with all his
characteristic care and beauty. Another instruction had been laid upon
him. If he should find another set of slaves on the way to him, he was
to send them back, for Livingstone would on no account expose himself
anew to the misery, risk, and disappointment he had experienced from the
kind of men that had compelled him to turn back at Nyangwe.
Dr. Livingstone's last act before Mr. Stanley left him was to write his
letters--twenty for Great Britain, six for Bombay, two for New York, and
one for Zanzibar. The two for New York were for Mr. Bennett of the _New
York Herald_, by whom Stanley had been sent to Africa.
Mr. Stanley has freely unfolded to us the bitterness of his heart in
parting from Livingstone. "My days seem to have been spent in an Elysian
field; otherwise, why should I so keenly regret the near approach of the
parting hour? Have I not been battered by successive fevers, prostrate
with agony day after day lately? Have I not raved and stormed in
madness? Have I not clenched my fists in fury, and fought with the wild
strength of despair when in delirium? Yet, I regret to surrender the
pleasure I have felt in this man's society, though so dearly
purchased.... _March 14th._--We had a sad breakfast together. I could
not eat, my heart was too full; neither did my companion seem to have an
appetite. We found something to do which kept us longer together. At
eight o'clock I was not gone, and I had thought to have been off at five
A.M.... We walked side by side; the men lifted their voices in a song. I
took long looks at Livingstone, to impress his features thoroughly on my
memory.... 'Now, my dear Doctor, the best friends must part. You have
come far enough; let me beg of you to turn back.' 'Well,' Livingstone
replied, 'I will say this to you: You have done what few men could
do,--far better than some great travelers I know. And I am grateful to
you for what you have done for me. God guide you safe home, and bless
you, my friend,'--'And may God bring you safe back to us all, my dear
friend. Farewell!'--'Farewell!"... My friendly reader, I wrote the above
extracts in my Diary on the evening of each day. I look at them now
after six months have passed away; yet I am not ashamed of them; my eyes
feel somewhat dimmed at the recollection of the parting. I dared not
erase, nor modify what I had penned, while my feelings were strong. God
grant that if ever you take to traveling in Africa you will get as noble
and true a man for your companion as David Livingstone! For four months
and four days I lived with him in the same house, or in the same boat,
or in the same tent, and I never found a fault in him. I am a man of a
quick temper, and often without sufficient cause, I daresay, have broken
the ties of friendship; but with Livingstone I never had cause for
resentment, but each day's life with him added to my admiration
for him."
If Stanley's feeling for Livingstone was thus at the warmest
temperature, Livingstone's sense of the service done to him by Stanley
was equally unqualified. Whatever else he might be or might not be, he
had proved a true friend to him. He had risked his life in the attempt
to reach him, had been delighted to share with him every comfort he
possessed, and to leave with him ample stores of all that might be
useful to him in his effort to finish his work. Whoever may have been to
blame for it, it is certain that Livingstone had been afflicted for
years, and latterly worried almost to death, by the inefficency and
worthlessness of the men sent to serve him. In Stanley he found one whom
he could trust implicitly to do everything that zeal and energy could
contrive in order to find him efficient men and otherwise carry out his
plans. It was Stanley therefore whom he commissioned to send him up men
from Zanzibar. It was Stanley to whom he intrusted his Journal and other
documents. Stanley had been his confidental friend for four months--the
only white man to whom he talked for six years. It was matter of life
and death to Livingstone to be supplied for this concluding piece of
work far better than he had been for years back. What man in his senses
would have failed in these circumstances to avail himself to the utmost
of the services of one who had shown himself so efficient; would have
put him aside to fall back on others, albeit his own countrymen, who,
with all their good-will, had not been able to save him from robbery,
beggary, and a half-broken heart.
Stanley's journey from Unyanyembe to Bagamoio was a perpetual struggle
against hostile natives, flooded roads, slush, mire, and water, roaring
torrents, ants and mosquitos, or, as he described it, the ten plagues of
Egypt. On his reaching Bagamoio, on the 6th May, he found a new
surprise. A white man dressed in flannels and helmet appeared, and as he
met Stanley congratulated him on his splendid success. It was Lieutenant
Henn, R.N., a member of the Search Expedition which the Royal
Geographical Society and others had sent out to look for Livingstone.
The resolution to organize such an Expedition was taken after news had
come to England of the war between the Arabs and the natives at
Unyanyembe, stopping the communication with Ujiji, and rendering it
impossible, as it was thought, for Mr. Stanley to get to Livingstone's
relief. The Expedition had been placed under command of Lieutenant
Dawson, R.N., with Lieutenant Henn as second, and was joined by the Rev.
Charles New, a Missionary from Mombasa, and Mr. W. Oswell Livingstone,
youngest son of the Doctor. Stanley's arrival at Bagamoio had been
preceded by that of some of his men, who brought the news that
Livingstone had been found and relieved. On hearing this, Lieutenant
Dawson hurried to Zanzibar to see Dr. Kirk, and resigned his command.
Lieutenant Henn soon after followed his example by resigning too. They
thought that as Dr. Livingstone had been relieved there was no need for
their going on. Mr. New likewise declined, to proceed. Mr. W. Oswell
Livingstone was thus left alone, at first full of the determination to
go on to his father with the men whom Stanley was providing; but owing
to the state of his health, and under the advice of Dr. Kirk, he, too,
declined to accompany the Expedition, so that the men from Zanzibar
proceeded to Unyanyembe alone.
On the 29th of May, Stanley, with Messrs. Henn, Livingstone, New, and
Morgan, departed in the "Africa" from Zanzibar, and in due time
reached Europe.
It was deeply to be regretted that an enterprise so beautiful and so
entirely successful as Mr. Stanley's should have been in some degree
marred by ebullitions of feeling little in harmony with the very joyous
event. The leaders of the English Search Expedition and their friends
felt, as they expressed it, that the wind had been taken out of their
sails. They could not but rejoice that Livingstone had been found and
relieved, but it was a bitter thought that they had had no hand in the
process. It was galling to their feelings as Englishmen that the
brilliant service had been done by a stranger, a newspaper
correspondent, a citizen of another country. On a small scale that
spirit of national jealousy showed itself, which on a wider arena has
sometimes endangered the relations of England and America.
When Stanley reached England, it was not to be overwhelmed with
gratitude. At first the Royal Geographical Society received him coldly.
Instead of his finding Livingstone, it was surmised that Livingstone had
found him. Strange things were said of him at the British Association at
Brighton. The daily press actually challenged his truthfulness; some of
the newspapers affected to treat his whole story as a myth. Stanley says
frankly that this reception gave a tone of bitterness to his book--_How
I Found Livingstone_--which it would not have had if he had understood
the real state of things. But the heart of the nation was sound; the
people believed in Stanley, and appreciated his service. At last the
mists cleared away, and England acknowledged its debt to the American.
The Geographical Society gave him the right hand of fellowship "with a
warmth and generosity never to be forgotten." The President apologized
for the words of suspicion he had previously used. Her Majesty the Queen
presented Stanley with a special token of her regard. Unhappily, in the
earlier stages of the affair, wounds had been inflicted which are not
likely ever to be wholly healed. Words were spoken on both sides which
cannot be recalled. But the great fact remains, and will be written on
the page of history, that Stanley did a noble service to Livingstone,
earning thereby the gratitude of England and of the civilized world.
CHAPTER XXII.
FROM UNYANYEMBE TO BANGWEOLO.
A.D. 1872-73.
Livingstone's long wait at Unyanyembe--His plan of operations--His
fifty-ninth, birthday--Renewal of self-dedication--Letters to Agnes--to
_New York Herald_--Hardness of the African battle--Waverings of
judgment, whether Lualaba was the Nile or the Congo--Extracts from
Journal--Gleams of humor--Natural history--His distress on hearing of
the death of Sir Roderick Murchison--Thoughts on mission-work--Arrival
of his escort--His happiness in his new men--He starts from
Unyanyembe--Illness--Great amount of rain--Near Bangweolo--Incessant
moisture--Flowers of the forest--Taking of observations regularly
prosecuted--Dreadful state of the country from rain--Hunger--Furious
attack of ants--Greatness of Livingstone's sufferings--Letters to Sir
Thomas Maclear, Mr. Young, his brother, and Agnes--His sixtieth
birthday--Great weakness in April--Sunday services and observations
continued--Increasing illness--The end approaching--Last written
words--Last day of his travels--He reaches Chitambo's village, in
Ilala--Is found on his knees dead, on morning of 1st May--Courage and
affection of his attendants--His body embalmed--Carried toward
shore--Dangers and sufferings during the march--The party meet
Lieutenant Cameron at Unyanyembe--Determine to go on--_Ruse_ at
Kasekera--Death of Dr. Dillon--The party reach Bagamoio, and the remains
are placed on board a cruiser--The Search Expeditions from England--to
East Coast under Cameron--to West Coast under Grandy--Explanation of
Expeditions by Sir Henry Rawlinson--Livingstone's remains brought to
England--Examined by Sir W. Fergusson and others--Buried in Westminster
Abbey--Inscription on slab--Livingstone's wish for a forest grave--Lines
from _Punch_--Tributes to his memory--Sir Bartle Frere--The
_Lancet_--Lord Polwarth--Florence Nightingale.
When Stanley left Livingstone at Unyanyembe there was nothing for the
latter but to wait there until the men should come to him who were to be
sent up from Zanzibar Stanley left on the 14th March; Livingstone
calculated that he would reach Zanzibar on the 1st May, that his men
would be ready to start about the 22d May, and that they ought to
arrive at Unyanyembe on the 10th or 15th July. In reality, Stanley did
not reach Bagamoio till the 6th May, the men were sent off about the
25th, and they reached Unyanyembe about the 9th August. A month more
than had been counted on had to be spent at Unyanyembe, and this delay
was all the more trying because it brought the traveler nearer to the
rainy season.
The intention of Dr. Livingstone, when the men should come, was to
strike south by Ufipa, go round Tanganyika, then cross the Chambeze, and
bear away along the southern shore of Bangweolo, straight west to the
ancient fountains; from them in eight days to Katanga copper mines; from
Katanga, in ten days, northeast to the great underground excavations,
and back again to Katanga; from which N.N.W. twelve days to the head of
Lake Lincoln. "There I hope devoutly," he writes to his daughter, "to
thank the Lord of all, and turn my face along Lake Kamolondo, and over
Lualaba, Tanganyika, Ujiji, and home."
His stay at Unyanyembe was a somewhat dreary one; there was little to do
and little to interest him. Five days after Stanley left him occurred
his fifty-ninth birthday. How his soul was exercised appears from the
renewal of his self-dedication recorded in his Journal:
"19_th March, Birthday_.--My Jesus, my King, my Life, my All;
I again dedicate my whole self to Thee. Accept me, and grant,
O gracious Father, that ere this year is gone I may finish my
task. In Jesus' name I ask it. Amen. So let it be. DAVID
LIVINGSTONE."
Frequent letters were written to his daughter from Unyanyembe, and they
dwelt a good deal upon his difficulties, the treacherous way in which he
had been treated, and the indescribable toil and suffering which had
been the result. He said that in complaining to Dr. Kirk of the men whom
he had employed, and the disgraceful use they had made of his (Kirk's)
name, he never meant to charge him with being the author of their
crimes, and it never occurred to him to say to Kirk, "I don't believe
you to be the traitor they imply;" but Kirk took his complaint in high
dudgeon as a covert attack upon himself, and did not act toward him as
he ought to have done, considering what he owed him. His cordial and
uniform testimony of Stanley was, "altogether he has behaved
right nobly."
On the 1st May he finished a letter for the _New York Herald_, and asked
God's blessing on it. It contained the memorable words afterward
inscribed on the stone to his memory in Westminster Abbey: "All I can
add in my loneliness is, may Heaven's rich blessing come down on every
one--American, English, or Turk--who will help to heal the open sore of
the world." It happened that the words were written precisely a year
before his death.
Amid the universal darkness around him, the universal ignorance of God
and of the grace and love of Jesus Christ, it was hard to believe that
Africa should ever be won. He had to strengthen his faith amid this
universal desolation. We read in his Journal:
"13_th May_.--He will keep his word--the gracious One, full
of grace and truth; no doubt of it. He said: 'Him that cometh
unto me, I will in no wise cast out;' and 'Whatsoever ye
shall ask in my name, I will give it.' He WILL keep his word:
then I can come and humbly present my petition, and it will
be all right. Doubt is here inadmissible, surely, D.L."
His mind ruminates on the river system of the country and the
probability of his being in error:
"2l_st May_.--I wish I had some of the assurance possessed by
others, but I am oppressed with the apprehension that, after
all, it may turn out that I have been following the Congo;
and who would risk being put into a cannibal pot, and
converted into black man for _it?_"
"31_st May_.--In reference to this Nile source, I have been
kept in perpetual doubt and perplexity. I know too much to be
positive. Great Lualaba, or Lualubba, as Manyuema say, may
turn out to be the Congo, and Nile a shorter river after
all[75]. The fountains flowing north and south seem in favor
of its being the Nile. Great westing is in favor of
the Congo."
[Footnote 75: From false punctuation, this passage is
unintelligible in the _Last Journals_, vol. ii. p. 193.]
"24_th June_.--The medical education has led me to a
continual tendency to suspend the judgment. What a state of
blessedness it would have been, had I possessed the dead
certainty of the homoeopathic persuasion, and as soon as I
found the Lakes Bangweolo, Moero, and Kamolondo, pouring out
their waters down the great central valley, bellowed out,
'Hurrah! Eureka!' and gone home in firm and honest belief
that I had settled it, and no mistake. Instead of that, I am
even now not at all 'cock-sure' that I have not been
following down what may after all be the Congo."
We now know that this was just what he had been doing. But we honor him
all the more for the diffidence that would not adopt a conclusion while
any part of the evidence was wanting, and that led him to encounter
unexampled risks and hardships before he would affirm his favorite view
as a fact. The moral lesson thus enforced is invaluable. We are almost
thankful that Livingstone never got his doubts solved, it would have
been such a disappointment; even had he known that in all time coming
the great stream which had cast on him such a resistless spell would be
known as the Livingstone River, and would perpetuate the memory of his
life and his efforts for the good of Africa.
Occasionally his Journal gives a gleam, of humor: "18_th June_.--The
Ptolemaic map defines people according to their food,--the
Elephantophagi, the Struthiophagi, the Ichthiophagi, and the
Anthropophagi, If we followed the same sort of classification, our
definition would be by the drink, thus: the tribe of stout-guzzlers, the
roaring potheen-fuddlers, the whisky-fishoid-drinkers, the vin-ordinaire
bibbers, the lager-beer-swillers, and an outlying tribe of the brandy
cocktail persuasion."
Natural History furnishes an unfailing interest: "19_th June_.--Whydahs,
though full-fledged, still gladly take a feed from their dam, putting
down the breast to the ground, and cocking up the bill and chirruping in
the most engaging manner and winning way they know. She still gives them
a little, but administers a friendly shove-off too. They all pick up
feathers or grass, and hop from side to side of their mates, as if
saying, 'Come, let us play at making little houses.' The wagtail has
shaken her young quite off, and has a new nest. She warbles prettily,
very much like a canary, and is extremely active in catching flies, but
eats crumbs of bread-and-milk too. Sun-birds visit the pomegranate
flowers, and eat insects therein too, as well as nectar. The young
whydah birds crouch closely together at night for heat. They look like a
woolly ball on a branch. By day they engage in pairing and coaxing each
other. They come to the same twig every night. Like children, they try
and lift heavy weights of feathers above their strength."
On 3d July a very sad entry occurs: "Received a note from Oswell,
written in April last, containing the sad intelligence of Sir Roderick's
departure from among us. Alas! alas! this is the only time in my life I
ever felt inclined to use the word, and it bespeaks a sore heart; the
best friend I ever had,--true, warm, and abiding,--he loved me more than
I deserved; he looks down on me still." This entry indicates
extraordinary depth of emotion. Sir Roderick exercised a kind of spell
on Livingstone. Respect for him was one of the subordinate motives that
induced him to undertake this journey. The hope of giving him
satisfaction was one of the subordinate rewards to which he looked
forward. His death was to Livingstone a kind of scientific widowhood,
and must have deprived him of a great spring to exertion in this last
wandering. On Sir Roderick's part the affection for him was very great.
"Looking back," says his biographer, Professor Geikie, "upon his
scientific career when not far from its close, Murchison found no part
of it which brought more pleasing recollections than the support he had
given to African explorers--Speke, Grant, notably Livingstone. 'I
rejoice,' he said, 'in the steadfast tenacity with which I have upheld
my confidence in the ultimate success of the last-named of these brave
men. In fact, it was the confidence I placed in the undying vigor of my
dear friend Livingstone which has sustained me in the hope that I might
live to enjoy the supreme delight of welcoming him back to his own
country.' But that consummation was not to be. He himself was gathered
to his rest just six days before Stanley brought news and relief to the
forlorn traveler on Lake Tanganyika. And Livingstone, while still in
pursuit of his quest, and within ten months of his death, learned in the
heart of Africa the tidings which he chronicled in his journal[76]."
[Footnote 76: _Life of Sir R. I. Murchison_, vol. ii. pp. 297-8.]
At other times he is ruminating on mission-work:
"10_th July_.--No great difficulty would be encountered in
establishing a Christian mission a hundred miles or so from
the East Coast.... To the natives the chief attention of the
mission should be directed. It would not be desirable or
advisable to refuse explanation to others; but I have avoided
giving offense to intelligent Arabs, who, having pressed me,
asking if I believed in Mohamed, by saying, 'No, I do not; I
am a child of Jesus bin Miriam,' avoiding anything offensive
in my tone, and often adding that Mohamed found their
forefathers bowing down to trees and stones, and did good to
them by forbidding idolatry, and teaching the worship of the
only One God. This they all know, and it pleases them to have
it recognized. It might be good policy to hire a respectable
Arab to engage free porters, and conduct the mission to the
country chosen, and obtain permission from the chief to build
temporary houses.... A couple of Europeans beginning and
carrying on a mission without a staff of foreign attendants,
implies coarse country fare, it is true; but this would be
nothing to those who at home amuse themselves with vigils,
fasting, etc. A great deal of power is thus lost in the
Church. Fastings and vigils, without a special object in
view, are time run to waste. They are made to minister to a
sort of self-gratification, instead of being turned to
account for the good of others. They are like groaning in
sickness: some people amuse themselves when ill with
continuous moaning. The forty days of Lent might be annually
spent in visiting adjacent tribes, and bearing unavoidable
hunger and thirst with a good grace. Considering the
greatness of the object to be attained, men might go without
sugar, coffee, tea, as I went from September, 1866, to
December, 1868, without either."
On the subject of Missions he says, at a later period, 8th November:
"The spirit of missions is the spirit of our Master; the very genius of
his religion. A diffusive philanthropy is Christianity itself. It
requires perpetual propagation to attest its genuineness."
Thanks to Mr. Stanley and the American Consul, who made arrangements in
a way that drew Livingstone's warmest gratitude, his escort arrived at
last, consisting of fifty-seven men and boys. Several of these had gone
with Mr. Stanley from Unyanyembe to Zanzibar; among the new men were
some Nassick pupils who had been sent from Bombay to join Lieutenant
Dawson. John and Jacob Wainwright were among these. To Jacob Wainwright,
who was well-educated, we owe the earliest narrative that appeared of
the last eight months of Livingstone's career. How happy he was with the
men now sent to him appears from a letter to Mr. Stanley, written very
near his death: "I am perpetually reminded that I owe a great deal to
you for the men, you sent. With one exception, the party is working like
a machine. I give my orders to Manwa Sera, and never have to repeat
them." Would that he had had such a company before!
On the 25th August the party started. On the 8th October they reached
Tanganyika, and rested, for they were tired, and several were sick,
including Livingstone, who had been ill with his bowel disorder. The
march went on slowly, and with few incidents. As the season advanced,
rain, mist, swollen streams, and swampy ground became familiar. At the
end of the year they were approaching the river Chambeze. Christmas had
its thanksgiving: "I thank the good Lord for the good gift of his Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord."
In the second week of January they came near Bangweolo, and the reign
of Neptune became incessant. We are told of cold rainy weather;
sometimes a drizzle, sometimes an incessant pour; swollen streams and
increasing sponges,--making progress a continual struggle. Yet, as he
passes through a forest, he has an eye to its flowers, which are
numerous and beautiful:
"There are many flowers in the forest; marigolds, a white
jonquil-looking flower without smell, many orchids, white,
yellow, and pink asclepias, with bunches of French-white
flowers, clematis--_Methonica gloriosa_, gladiolus, and blue
and deep purple polygalas, grasses with white starry
seed-vessels, and spikelets of brownish red and yellow.
Besides these, there are beautiful blue flowering bulbs, and
new flowers of pretty, delicate form and but little scent. To
this list may be added balsams, composite of blood-red color
and of purple; other flowers of liver color, bright canary
yellow, pink orchids on spikes thickly covered all round, and
of three inches in length; spiderworts of fine blue or yellow
or even pink. Different colored asclepiadeae; beautiful yellow
and red umbelliferous flowering plants; dill and wild
parsnips; pretty flowering aloes, yellow and red, in one
whorl of blossoms; peas and many other flowering plants which
I do not know."
Observations were taken with unremitting diligence, except when, as was
now common, nothing could be seen in the heavens. As they advanced, the
weather became worse. It rained as if nothing but rain were ever known
in the watershed. The path lay across flooded rivers, which were
distinguished by their currents only from the flooded country along
their banks. Dr. Livingstone had to be carried over the rivers on the
back of one of his men, in the fashion so graphically depicted on the
cover of the _Last Journals_. The stretches of sponge that came before
and after the rivers, with their long grass and elephant-holes, were
scarcely less trying. The inhabitants were, commonly, most unfriendly to
the party; they refused them food, and, whenever they could, deceived
them as to the way. Hunger bore down on the party with its bitter
gnawing. Once a mass of furious ants attacked the Doctor by night,
driving him in despair from hut to hut. Any frame but one of Iron must
have succumbed to a single month of such a life, and before a week was
out, any body of men, not held together by a power of discipline and a
charm of affection unexampled in the history of difficult expeditions,
would have been scattered to the four winds. Livingstone's own
sufferings were beyond all previous example.
About this time he began an undated letter--his last--to his old friends
Sir Thomas Maclear and Mr. Mann. It was never finished, and never
despatched; but as one of the latest things he ever wrote, it is deeply
interesting, as showing how clear, vigorous, and independent his mind
was to the very last:
"LAKE BANGWEOLO, SOUTH CENTRAL AFRICA.
"MY DEAR FRIENDS MACLEAR AND MANN,--... My work at present is
mainly retracing my steps to take up the thread of my
exploration. It counts in my lost time, but I try to make the
most of it by going round outside this lake and all the
sources, so that no one may come afterward and cut me out. I
have a party of good men, selected by H. M. Stanley, who, at
the instance of James Gordon Bennett, of the _New York
Herald_, acted the part of a good Samaritan truly, and
relieved my sore necessities. A dutiful son could not have
done more than he generously did. I bless him. The men,
fifty-six in number, have behaved as well as Makololo. I
cannot award them higher praise, though they have not the
courage of that brave kind-hearted people. From Unyanyembe we
went due south to avoid an Arab war which had been going on
for eighteen months. It is like one of our Caffre wars, with
this difference--no one is enriched thereby, for all trade is
stopped, and the Home Government pays nothing. We then went
westward to Tanganyika, and along its eastern excessively
mountainous bank to the end. The heat was really broiling
among the rocks. No rain had fallen, and the grass being
generally burned off, the heat rose off the black ashes as if
out of an oven, yet the flowers persisted in coming out of
the burning soil, and generally without leaves, as if it had
been a custom that they must observe by a law of the Medes
and Persians. This part detained us long; the men's limbs
were affected with a sort of subcutaneous
inflammation,--black rose or erysipelas,--and when I proposed
mildly and medically to relieve the tension it was too
horrible to be thought of, but they willingly carried the
helpless. Then we mounted up at once into the high, cold
region Urungu, south of Tanganyika, and into the middle of
the rainy season, with well-grown grass and everything
oppressively green; rain so often that no observations could
be made, except at wide intervals. I could form no opinion as
to our longitude, and but little of our latitudes. Three of
the Baurungu chiefs, one a great friend of mine, Nasonso, had
died, and the population all turned topsy-turvy, so I could
make no use of previous observations. They elect sisters' or
brothers' sons to the chieftainship, instead of the
heir-apparent. Food was not to be had for either love
or money.
"I was at the mercy of guides who did not know their own
country, and when I insisted on following the compass, they
threatened, 'no food for five or ten days in that line.' They
brought us down to the back or north side of Bangweolo, while
I wanted to cross the Chambeze and go round its southern
side. So back again southeastward we had to bend. The
Portuguese crossed this Chambeze a long time ago, and are
therefore the first European discoverers. We were not black
men with Portuguese names like those for whom the feat of
crossing the continent was eagerly claimed by Lisbon
statesmen. Dr. Lacerda was a man of scientific attainments,
and Governor of Tette, but finding Cazembe at the rivulet
called Chungu, he unfortunately succumbed to fever ten days
after his arrival. He seemed anxious to make his way across
to Angola. Misled by the similarity of Chambeze to Zambesi,
they all thought it to be a branch of the river that flows
past Tette, Senna, and Shupanga, by Luabo and Kongone to
the sea.
"I rather stupidly took up the same idea from a map saying
'Zambesi' (eastern branch), believing that the map printer
had some authority for his assertion. My first crossing was
thus as fruitless as theirs, and I was less excusable, for I
ought to have remembered that while Chambeze is the true
native name of the northern river, Zambesi is not the name of
the southern river at all. It is a Portugese corruption of
Dombazi, which we adopted rather than introduce confusion by
new names, in the same way that we adopted Nyassa instead of
Nyanza ia Nyinyesi == Lake of the Stars, which the
Portuguese, from hearsay, corrupted into Nyassa. The English
have been worse propagators of nonsense than Portuguese.
'Geography of Nyassa' was thought to be a learned way of
writing the name, though 'Nyassi' means long grass and
nothing else. It took me twenty-two months to eliminate the
error into which I was led, and then it was not by my own
acuteness, but by the chief Cazembe, who was lately routed
and slain by a party of Banyamwezi. He gave me the first hint
of the truth, and that rather in a bantering strain: 'One
piece of water is just like another; Bangweolo water is just
like Moero water, Chambeze water like Luapula water; they are
all the same; but your chief ordered you to go to the
Bangweolo, therefore by all means go, but wait a few days,
till I have looked out for good men as guides, and good food
for you to eat,' etc. etc.
"I was not sure but that it was all royal chaff, till I made
my way back south to the head-waters again, and had the
natives of the islet Mpabala slowly moving the hands all
around the great expanse, with 183 deg. of sea horizon, and
saying that is Chambeze, forming the great Bangweolo, and
disappearing behind that western headland to change its name
to Luapula, and run down past Cazembe to Moero. That was the
moment of discovery, and not my passage or the Portuguese
passage of the river. If, however, any one chooses to claim
for them the discovery of Chambeze as one line of drainage of
the Nile Valley, I shall not fight with him; Culpepper's
astrology was in the same way the forerunner of the
Herschels' and the other astronomers that followed."
To another old friend, Mr. James Young, he wrote about the same time:
"_Opere peracto ludemus_--the work being finished, we will play--you
remember in your Latin Rudiments lang syne. It is true for you, and I
rejoice to think it is now your portion, after working nobly, to play.
May you have a long spell of it! I am differently situated; I shall
never be able to play.... To me it seems to be said, 'If thou forbear to
deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that be ready to be
slain; if thou sayest, Behold we knew it not, doth not He that pondereth
the heart consider, and He that keepeth thy soul doth He not know, and
shall He not give to every one according to his works?' I have been led,
unwittingly, into the slaving field of the Banians and Arabs in Central
Africa. I have seen the woes inflicted, and I must still work and do all
I can to expose and mitigate the evils. Though hard work is still to be
my lot, I look genially on others more favored in their lot. I would not
be a member of the 'International,' for I love to see and think of
others enjoying life.
"During a large part of this journey I had a strong presentiment that I
should never live to finish it. It is weakened now, as I seem to see the
end toward which I have been striving looming in the distance. This
presentiment did not interfere with the performance of any duty; it
only made me think a great deal more of the future state of being."
In his latest letters there is abundant evidence that the great desire
of his heart was to expose the slave-trade, rouse public feeling, and
get that great hindrance to all good for ever swept away.
"Spare no pains," he wrote to Dr. Kirk in 1871, "in attempting to
persuade your superior to this end, and the Divine blessing will descend
on you and yours."
To his daughter Agnes he wrote (15th August, 1872): "No one can estimate
the amount of God-pleasing good that will be done, if, by Divine favor,
this awful slave-trade, into the midst of which I have come, be
abolished. This will be something to have lived for, and the conviction
has grown in my mind that it was _for this end_ I have been detained
so long."
To his brother in Canada he says (December, 1872): "If the good Lord
permits me to put a stop to the enormous evils of the inland
slave-trade, I shall not grudge my hunger and toils. I shall bless his
name with all my heart. The Nile sources are valuable to me only as a
means of enabling me to open my mouth with power among men. It is this
power I hope to apply to remedy an enormous evil, and join my poor
little helping hand in the enormous revolution that in his all-embracing
Providence He has been carrying on for ages, and is now actually helping
forward. Men may think I covet fame, but I make it a rule never to read
aught written in my praise."
Livingstone's last birthday (19th March, 1873) found him in much the
same circumstances as before. "Thanks to the Almighty Preserver of men
for sparing me thus far on the journey of life. Can I hope for ultimate
success? So many obstacles have arisen. Let not Satan prevail over me, O
my good Lord Jesus." A few days after (24th March): "Nothing earthly
will make me give up my work in despair. I encourage myself in the Lord
my God, and go forward."
In the beginning of April, the bleeding from the bowels, from which he
had been suffering, became more copious, and his weakness was pitiful;
still he longed for strength to finish his work. Even yet the old
passion for natural history was strong; the aqueous plants that abounded
everywhere, the caterpillars that after eating the plants ate one
another, and were such clumsy swimmers; the fish with the hook-shaped
lower jaw that enabled them to feed as they skimmed past the plants; the
morning summons of the cocks and turtle-doves; the weird scream of the
fish eagle--all engaged his interest. Observations continued to be
taken, and the Sunday services were always held.
But on the 21st April a change occurred. In a shaky hand he wrote:
"Tried to ride, but was forced to lie down, and they carried me back to
vil. exhausted." A kitanda or palanquin had to be made for carrying him.
It was sorry work, for his pains were excruciating and his weakness
excessive. On the 27th April[77] he was apparently at the lowest ebb,
and wrote in his Journal the last words he ever penned--"Knocked up
quite, and remain == recover sent to buy milch goats. We are on the
banks of R. Molilamo."
[Footnote 77: This was the eleventh anniversary of his wife's death.]
The word "recover" seems to show that he had no presentiment of death,
but cherished the hope of recovery; and Mr. Waller has pointed out, from
his own sad observation of numerous cases in connection with the
Universities Mission, that malarial poisoning is usually unattended with
the apprehension of death, and that in none of these instances, any more
than in the case of Livingstone, were there any such messages, or
instructions, or expressions of trust and hope as are usual on the part
of Christian men when death is near.
The 29th of April was the last day of his travels. In the morning he
directed Susi to take down the side of the hut that the kitanda might be
brought along, as the door would not admit it, and he was quite unable
to walk to it. Then came the crossing of a river; then progress through
swamps and plashes; and when they got to anything like a dry plain, he
would ever and anon beg of them to lay him down. At last they got him to
Chitambo's village, in Ilala, where they had to put him under the eaves
of a house during a drizzling rain, until the hut they were building
should be got ready.
Then they laid him on a rough bed in the hut, where he spent the night.
Next day he lay undisturbed. He asked a few wandering questions about
the country--especially about the Luapula. His people knew that the end
could not be far off. Nothing occurred to attract notice during the
early part of the night, but at four in the morning, the boy who lay at
his door called in alarm for Susi, fearing that their master was dead.
By the candle still burning they saw him, not in bed, but kneeling at
the bedside with his head buried in his hands upon the pillow. The sad
yet not unexpected truth soon became evident: he had passed away on the
furthest of all his journeys, and without a single attendant. But he had
died in the act of prayer--prayer offered in that reverential attitude
about which he was always so particular; commending his own spirit, with
all his dear ones, as was his wont, into the hands of his Saviour; and
commending AFRICA--his own dear Africa--with all her woes and sins and
wrongs, to the Avenger of the oppressed and the Redeemer of the lost.
If anything were needed to commend the African race, and prove them
possessed of qualities fitted to make a noble nation, the courage,
affection, and persevering loyalty shown by his attendants after his
death might well have this effect. When the sad event became known among
the men, it was cordially resolved that every effort should be made to
carry their master's remains to Zanzibar. Such an undertaking was
extremely perilous, for there were not merely the ordinary risks of
travel to a small body of natives, but there was also the superstitious
horror everywhere prevalent connected with the dead. Chitambo must be
kept in ignorance of what had happened, otherwise a ruinous fine would
be sure to be inflicted on them. The secret, however, oozed out, but
happily the chief was reasonable. Susi and Chuma, the old attendants of
Livingstone, became now the leaders of the company, and they fulfilled
their task right nobly. The interesting narrative of Mr. Waller at the
end of the _Last Journals_ tells us how calmly yet efficiently they set
to work. Arrangements were made for drying and embalming the body, after
removing and burying the heart and other viscera. For fourteen days the
body was dried in the sun. After being wrapped in calico, and the legs
bent inward at the knees, it was enclosed in a large piece of bark from
a Myonga-tree in the form of a cylinder; over this a piece of sail-cloth
was sewed; and the package was lashed to a pole, so as to be carried by
two men. Jacob Wainwright carved an inscription on the Mvula tree under
which the body had rested, and where the heart was buried, and Chitambo
was charged to keep the grass cleared away, and to protect two posts and
a cross-piece which they erected to mark the spot.
They then set out on their homeward march. It was a serious journey, for
the terrible exposure had affected the health of most of them, and many
had to lie down through sickness. The tribes through which they passed
were generally friendly, but not always. At one place they had a regular
fight. On the whole, their progress was wonderfully quiet and regular.
Everywhere they found that the news of the Doctor's death had got before
them. At one place they heard that a party of Englishmen, headed by Dr.
Livingstone's son, on their way to relieve his father, had been seen at
Bagamoio some months previously. As they approached Unyanyembe, they
learned that the party was there, but when Chuma ran on before, he was
disappointed to find that Oswell Livingstone was not among them.
Lieutenant Cameron, Dr. Dillon, and Lieutenant Murphy were there, and
heard the tidings of the men with deep emotion. Cameron wished them to
bury the remains where they were, and not run the risk of conveying them
through the Ugogo country; but the men were inflexible, determined to
carry out their first intention. This was not the only interference with
these devoted and faithful men. Considering how carefully they had
gathered all Livingstone's property, and how conscientiously, at the
risk of their lives, they were carrying it to the coast, to transfer it
to the British Consul there, it was not warrantable in the new-comers to
take the boxes from them, examine their contents, and carry off a part
of them. Nor do we think Lieutenant Cameron was entitled to take away
the instruments with which all Livingstone's observations had been made
for a series of seven years, and use them, though only temporarily, for
the purpose of his Expedition, inasmuch as he thereby made it impossible
so to reduce Livingstone's observations as that correct results should
be obtained from them. Sir Henry Rawlinson seems not to have adverted to
this result of Mr. Cameron's act, in his reference to the matter from
the chair of the Geographical Society.
On leaving Unyanyembe the party were joined by Lieutenant Murphy, not
much to the promotion of unity of action or harmonious feeling. At
Kasekera a spirit of opposition was shown by the inhabitants, and a
_ruse_ was resorted to so as to throw them off their guard. It was
resolved to pack the remains in such form that when wrapped in calico
they should appear like an ordinary bale of merchandise. A fagot of
mapira stalks, cut into lengths of about six feet, was then swathed in
cloth, to imitate a dead body about to be buried. This was sent back
along the way to Unyanyembe, as if the party had changed their minds and
resolved to bury the remains there. The bearers, at nightfall, began to
throw away the mapira rods, and then the wrappings, and when they had
thus disposed of them they returned to their companions. The villagers
of Kasekera had now no suspicion, and allowed the party to pass
unmolested. But though one tragedy was averted, another was enacted at
Kasekera--the dreadful suicide of Dr. Dillon while suffering from
dysentery and fever.
The cortege now passed on without further incident, and arrived at
Bagamoio in February, 1874. Soon after they reached Bagamoio a cruiser
arrived from Zanzibar, with the acting Consul, Captain Prideaux, on
board, and the remains were conveyed to that island previous to their
being sent to England.
The men that for nine long months remained steadfast to their purpose to
pay honor to the remains of their master, in the midst of innumerable
trials and dangers and without hope of reward, have established a strong
claim to the gratitude and admiration of the world. Would that the debt
were promptly repaid in efforts to free Africa from her oppressors, and
send throughout all her borders the Divine proclamation, "Glory to God
in the highest, on earth peace, good-will to men."
In regard to the Search party to which reference has been made, it may
be stated that when Livingstone's purpose to go back to the barbarous
regions where he had suffered so much before became known in England it
excited a feeling of profound concern. Two Expeditions were arranged.
That to the East Coast, organized by the Royal Geographical Society, was
placed under Lieutenant Cameron, and included in its ranks Robert
Moffat, a grandson of Dr. Moffat's, who (as has been already stated)
fell early a sacrifice to fever. The members of the Expedition suffered
much from sickness; it was broken up at Unyanyembe, when the party
bearing the remains of Dr. Livingstone was met. The other party, under
command of Lieutenant Grandy, was to go to the West Coast, start from
Loanda, strike the Congo, and move on to Lake Lincoln. This Expedition
was fitted out solely at the cost of Mr. Young. He was deeply concerned
for the safety of his friend, knowing how he was hated by the
slave-traders whose iniquities he had exposed, and thinking it likely
that if he once reached Lake Lincoln he would make for the west coast
along the Congo. The purpose of these Expeditions is carefully explained
in a letter addressed to Dr. Livingstone by Sir Henry Rawlinson, then
President of the Royal Geographical Society:
"LONDON, _November_ 20, 1872.
"DEAR DR. LIVINGSTONE,--You will no doubt have heard of Sir
Bartle Frere's deputation to Zanzibar long before you receive
this, and you will have learnt with heartfelt satisfaction
that there is now a definite prospect of the infamous East
African slave-trade being suppressed. For this great end, if
it be achieved, we shall be mainly indebted to your recent
letters, which have had a powerful effect on the public mind
in England, and have thus stimulated the action of the
Government. Sir Bartle will keep you informed of his
arrangements, if there are any means of communicating with
the interior, and I am sure you will assist him to the utmost
of your power in carrying out the good work in which he
is engaged.
"It was a great disappointment to us that Lieutenant Dawson's
Expedition, which we fitted out in the beginning of the year
with such completeness, did not join you at Unyanyembe, for
it could not have failed to be of service to you in many
ways. We are now trying to aid you with a second Expedition
under Lieutenant Cameron, whom we have sent out under Sir
Bartle's orders, to join you if possible in the vicinity of
Lake Tanganyika, and attend to your wishes in respect to his
further movements. We leave it entirely to your discretion
whether you like to keep Mr. Cameron with you or to send him
on to the Victoria Nyanza, or any other points that you are
unable to visit yourself. Of course the great point of
interest connected with your present exploration is the
determination of the lower course of the Lualaba. Mr. Stanley
still adheres to the view, which you formerly held, that it
drains into the Nile; but if the levels which you give are
correct, this is impossible. At any rate, the opinion of the
identity of the Congo and Lualaba is now becoming so
universal that Mr. Young has come forward with a donation of
L2000 to enable us to send another Expedition to your
assistance up that river, and Lieutenant Grandy, with a crew
of twenty Kroomen, will accordingly be pulling up the Congo
before many months are over. Whether he will really be able
to penetrate to your unvisited lake, or beyond it to Lake
Lincoln, is, of course, a matter of great doubt; but it will
at any rate be gratifying to you to know that support is
approaching you both from the west and east. We all highly
admire and appreciate your indomitable energy and
perseverance, and the Geographical Society will do everything
in its power to support you, so as to compensate in some
measure for the loss you have sustained in the death of your
old friend Sir Roderick Murchison. My own tenure of office
expires in May, and it is not yet decided who is to succeed
me, but whoever may be our President, our interest in your
proceedings will not slacken. Mr. Waller will, I daresay,
have told you that we have just sent a memorial to Mr.
Gladstone, praying that a pension may be at once conferred
upon your daughters, and I have every hope that our prayer
may be successful. You will see by the papers, now sent to
you, that there has been much acrimonious discussion of late
on African affairs. I have tried myself in every possible way
to throw oil on the troubled waters, and begin to hope now
for something like peace. I shall be very glad to hear from
you if you can spare time to send me a line, and will always
keep a watchful eye over your interests.--I remain, yours
very truly, "H.C. RAWLINSON."
The remains were brought to Aden on board the "Calcutta," and thereafter
transferred to the P. and O. steamer "Malwa," which arrived at
Southampton on the 15th of April. Mr. Thomas Livingstone, eldest
surviving son of the Doctor, being then in Egypt on account of his
health[78], had gone on board at Alexandria. The body was conveyed to
London by special train and deposited in the rooms of the Geographical
Society in Saville Row.
[Footnote 78: Thomas never regained robust health. He died at
Alexandria, 15th March, 1876.]
In the course of the evening the remains were examined by Sir William
Fergusson and several other medical gentleman, including Dr. Loudon, of
Hamilton, whose professional skill and great kindness to his family had
gained for him a high place in the esteem and love of Livingstone. To
many persons it had appeared so incredible that the remains should have
been brought from the heart of Africa to London, that some conclusive
identification of the body seemed to be necessary to set all doubt at
rest. The state of the arm, the one that had been broken by the lion,
supplied the crucial evidence. "Exactly in the region of the attachment
of the deltoid to the humerus" (said Sir William Fergusson in a
contribution to the _Lancet_, April 18, 1874), "there were the
indications of an oblique fracture. On moving the arm there were the
indications of an ununited fracture. A closer identification and
dissection displayed the false joint that had so long ago been so well
recognized by those who had examined the arm in former days.... The
first glance set my mind at rest, and that, with the further
examination, made me as positive as to the identification of these
remains as that there has been among us in modern times one of the
greatest men of the human race--David Livingstone."
On Saturday, April 18, 1874, the remains of the great traveler were
committed to their resting-place near the centre of the nave of
Westminster Abbey. Many old friends of Livingstone came to be present,
and many of his admirers, who could not but avail themselves of the
opportunity to pay a last tribute of respect to his memory. The Abbey
was crowded in every part from which the spectacle might be seen. The
pall-bearers were Mr. H.M. Stanley, Jacob Wainwright, Sir T. Steele, Dr.
Kirk, Mr. W.F. Webb, Rev. Horace Waller, Mr. Oswell, and Mr. E.D. Young.
Two of these, Mr. Waller and Dr. Kirk, along with Dr. Stewart, who was
also present, had assisted twelve years before at the funeral of Mrs.
Livingstone at Shupanga. Dr. Moffat, too, was there, full of sorrowful
admiration. Amid a service which was emphatically impressive
throughout, the simple words of the hymn, sung to the tune of Tallis,
were peculiarly touching:
"O God of Bethel! by whose hand
Thy people still are fed,
Who through this weary pilgrimage
Hast all our fathers led."
The black slab that now marks the resting-place of Livingstone bears
this inscription:
BROUGHT BY FAITHFUL HANDS
OVER LAND AND SEA,
HERE RESTS
DAVID LIVINGSTONE,
MISSIONARY, TRAVELER, PHILANTHROPIST,
BORN MARCH 19, 1813,
AT BLANTYRE, LANARKSHIRE.
DIED MAY 4,[79] 1873,
AT CHITAMBO'S VILLAGE, ILALA.
[Footnote 79: In the _Last Journals_ the date is 1st May; on
the stone, 4th May. The attendants could not quite
determine the day.]
For thirty years his life was spent in an unwearied effort to evangelize
the native races, to explore the undiscovered secrets,
and abolish the desolating slave-trade of Central Africa,
and where, with his last words he wrote:
"All I can say in my solitude is, may Heaven's rich blessing
come down on every one--American, English, Turk--
who will help to heal this open sore of the world."
Along the right border of the stone are the words:
TANTUS AMOR VERI, NIHIL EST QUOD NOSCERE MALIM
QUAM FLUVII CAUSAS PER SAECULA TANTA LATEHTES.
And along the left border:
OTHER SHEEP I HAVE WHICH ARE NOT OF THIS FOLD,
THEM ALSO I MUST BRING, AND THEY SHALL HEAR MY VOICE.
On the 25th June, 1868, not far from the northern border of that lake
Bangweolo on whose southern shore he passed away, Dr. Livingstone came
on a grave in a forest. He says of it:
"It was a little rounded mound, as if the occupant sat in it in the
usual native way; it was strewed over with flour, and a number of the
large blue beads put on it; a little path showed that it had visitors.
This is the sort of grave I should prefer: to be in the still, still
forest, and no hand ever disturb my bones. The graves at home always
seemed to me to be miserable, especially those in the cold, damp clay,
and without elbow-room; but I have nothing to do but wait till He who is
over all decides where I have to lay me down and die. Poor Mary lies on
Shupanga brae, 'and beeks fornent the sun.'"
"He who is over all" decreed that while his heart should lie in a leafy
forest, in such a spot as he loved, his bones should repose in a great
Christian temple, where many, day by day, as they read his name, would
recall his noble Christian life, and feel how like he was to Him of whom
it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord
hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek: He hath sent me to
bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the
opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all
that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for
the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord; that He might be glorified."
"Droop half-mast colors, bow, bareheaded crowds,
As this plain coffin o'er the side is slung,
To pass by woods of masts and ratlined shrouds,
As erst by Afric's trunks, liana-hung.
'Tis the last mile of many thousands trod
With failing strength but never-failing will,
By the worn frame, now at its rest with God,
That never rested from its fight with ill.
Or if the ache of travel and of toil
Would sometimes wring a short, sharp cry of pain
From agony of fever, blain, and boil,
'Twas but to crush it down and on again!
He knew not that the trumpet he had blown
Out of the darkness of that dismal land,
Had reached and roused an army of its own
To strike the chains from the slave's fettered hand.
Now we believe, he knows, sees all is well;
How God had stayed his will and shaped his way,
To bring the light to those that darkling dwell
With gains that life's devotion well repay.
Open the Abbey doors and bear him in
To sleep with king and statesman, chief and sage,
The missionary come of weaver-kin,
But great by work that brooks no lower wage.
He needs no epitaph to guard a name
Which men shall prize while worthy work is known;
He lived and died for good--be that his fame:
Let marble crumble: this is Living--stone."--_Punch_.
Eulogiums on the dead are often attempts, sometimes sufficiently clumsy,
to conceal one-half of the truth and fill the eye with the other. In the
case of Livingstone there is really nothing to conceal. In tracing his
life in these pages we have found no need for the brilliant colors of
the rhetorician, the ingenuity of the partisan, or the enthusiasm of the
hero-worshiper. We have felt, from first to last, that a plain, honest
statement of the truth regarding him would be a higher panegyric than
any ideal picture that could be drawn. The best tributes paid to his
memory by distinguished countrymen were the most literal--we might
almost say the most prosaic. It is but a few leaves we can reproduce of
the many wreaths that were laid on his tomb.
Sir Bartle Frere, as President of the Royal Geographical Society, after
a copious notice of his life, summed it up in these words: "As a whole,
the work of his life will surely be held up in ages to come as one of
singular nobleness of design, and of unflinching energy and
self-sacrifice in execution. It will be long ere any one man will be
able to open so large an extent of unknown land to civilized mankind.
Yet longer, perhaps, ere we find a brighter example of a life of such
continued and useful self-devotion to a noble cause."
In a recent letter to Dr. Livingstone's eldest daughter, Sir Bartle
Frere (after saying that he was first introduced to Dr. Livingstone by
Mr. Phillip, the painter, as "one of the noblest men he had ever met,"
and rehearsing the history of his early acquaintance) remarks:
"I could hardly venture to describe my estimate of his character as a
Christian further than by saying that I never met a man who fulfilled
more completely my idea of a perfect Christian gentleman,--actuated in
what he thought and said and did by the highest and most chivalrous
spirit, modeled on the precepts of his great Master and Exemplar.
"As a man of science, I am less competent to judge, for my knowledge of
his work is to a great extent second-hand; but derived, as it is, from
observers like Sir Thomas Maclear, and geographers like Arrowsmith, I
believe him to be quite unequaled as a scientific traveler, in the care
and accuracy with which he observed. In other branches of science I had
more opportunities of satisfying myself, and of knowing how keen and
accurate was his observation, and how extensive his knowledge of
everything connected with natural science; but every page of his
journals, to the last week of his life, testified to his wonderful
natural powers and accurate observation. Thirdly, as a missionary and
explorer I have always put him in the very first rank. He seemed to me
to possess in the most wonderful degree that union of opposite qualities
which were required for such a work as opening out heathen Africa to
Christianity and civilization. No man had a keener sympathy with even
the most barbarous and unenlightened; none had a more ardent desire to
benefit and improve the most abject. In his aims, no man attempted, on a
grander or more thorough scale, to benefit and improve those of his race
who most needed improvement and light. In the execution of what he
undertook, I never met his equal for energy and sagacity, and I feel
sure that future ages will place him among the very first of those
missionaries, who, following the apostles, have continued to carry the
light of the gospel to the darkest regions of the world, throughout the
last 1800 years. As regards the value of the work he accomplished, it
might be premature to speak,--not that I think it possible I can
over-estimate it, but because I feel sure that every year will add fresh
evidence to show how well-considered were the plans he took in hand, and
how vast have been the results of the movements he set in motion."
The generous and hearty appreciation of Livingstone by the medical
profession was well expressed in the words of the _Lancet_: "Few men
have disappeared from our ranks more universally deplored, as few have
served in them with a higher purpose, or shed upon them the lustre of a
purer devotion."
Lord Polwarth, in acknowledging a letter from Dr. Livingstone's
daughter, thanking him for some words on her father, wrote thus: "I have
long cherished the memory of his example, and feel that the truest
beauty was his essentially Christian spirit. Many admire in him the
great explorer and the noble-hearted philanthropist; but I like to think
of him, not only thus, but as a man who was a servant of God, loved his
Word intensely, and while he spoke to men of God, spoke more to God
of men,
"His memory will never perish, though the first freshness, and the
impulse it gives just now, may fade; but his prayers will be had in
everlasting remembrance, and unspeakable blessings will yet flow to that
vast continent he opened up at the expense of his life. God called and
qualified him for a noble work, which, by grace, he nobly fulfilled, and
we can love the honored servant, and adore the gracious Master."
Lastly, we give the beautiful wreath of Florence Nightingale, also in
the form of a letter to Dr. Livingstone's daughter:
"LONDON, _Feb._ 18_th_,1874.
"DEAR MISS LIVINGSTONE,--I am only one of all England which
is feeling with you and for you at this moment.
"But Sir Bartle Frere encourages me to write to you.
"We cannot help still yearning to hear of some hope that your
great father may be still alive.
"God knows; and in knowing that He knows who is all wisdom,
goodness, and power, we must find our rest.
"He has taken away, if at last it be as we fear, the greatest
man of his generation, for Dr. Livingstone stood alone.
"There are few enough, but a few statesmen. There are few
enough, but a few great in medicine, or in art, or in poetry.
There are a few great travelers. But Dr. Livingstone stood
alone as the great Missionary Traveler, the bringer-in of
civilization; or rather the pioneer of civilization--he that
cometh before--to races lying in darkness.
"I always think of him as what John the Baptist, had he been
living in the nineteenth century, would have been.
"Dr. Livingstone's fame was so world-wide that there were
other nations who understood him even better than we did.
"Learned philologists from Germany, not at all orthodox in
their opinions, have yet told me that Dr. Livingstone was the
only man who understood races, and how to deal with them for
good; that he was the one true missionary. We cannot console
ourselves for our loss. He is irreplaceable.
"It is not sad that he should have died out there. Perhaps it
was the thing, much as he yearned for home, that was the
fitting end for him. He may have felt it so himself.
"But would that he could have completed that which he offered
his life to God to do!
"If God took him, however, it was that his life was completed
in God's sight; his work finished, the most glorious work of
our generation.
"He has opened those countries for God to enter in. He struck
the first blow to abolish a hideous slave-trade.
"He, like Stephen, was the first martyr.
"'He climbed the steep ascent of heaven,
Through peril, toil, and pain;
O God! to us may grace be given
To follow in his train!'
"To us it is very dreary, not to have seen him again, that he
should have had none of us by him at the last; no last word
or message.
"I feel this with regard to my dear father and one who was
more than mother to me, Mrs. Bracebridge, who went with me to
the Crimean war, both of whom were taken from me last month.
"How much more must we feel it, with regard to out great
discoverer and hero, dying so far off!
"But does he regret it? How much he must know now! how much
he must have enjoyed!
"Though how much we would give to know _his_ thoughts,
_alone with God_, during the latter days of his life.
"May we not say, with old Baxter (something altered from that
verse)?
"'My knowledge of that life is small,
The eye of faith is dim;
But 'tis enough that _Christ knows all_,
And he will be with _Him_.'
"Let us think only of him and of his present happiness, his
eternal happiness, and may God say to us: 'Let not your heart
be troubled,' Let us exchange a 'God bless you,' and fetch a
real blessing from God in saying so.
"Florence Nightingale"
CHAPTER XXIII.
POSTHUMOUS INFLUENCE.
History of his life not completed at his death--Thrilling effect of the
tragedy of Ilala--Livingstone's influence on the slave-trade--His
letters from Manyuema--Sir Bartle Frere's mission to
Zanzibar--Successful efforts of Dr. Kirk with Sultan of Zanzibar--The
land route--The sea route--Slave-trade declared illegal--Egypt--The
Soudan--Colonel Gordon--Conventions with Turkey--King Mtesa of
Uganda--Nyassa district--Introduction of lawful commerce--Various
commercial enterprises in progress--Influence of Livingstone on
exploration--Enterprise of newspapers--Exploring undertakings of various
nations--Livingstone's personal service to science--His hard work in
science the cause of respect--His influence on missionary
enterprise--Livingstonia--Dr. Stewart.--Mr. E.D. Young--Blantyre--The
Universities Mission under Bishop Steere--Its return to the mainland and
to Nyassa district--Church Missionary Society at Nyanza--London
Missionary Society at Tanganyika--French, Inland, Baptist, and American
missions--Medical missions--The Fisk Livingstone hall--Livingstone's
great legacy to Africa, a spotless Christian name and character--Honors
of the future.
The heart of David Livingstone was laid under the mvula-tree in Ilala,
and his bones in Westminster Abbey; but his spirit marched on. The
history of his life is not completed with the record of his death. The
continual cry of his heart to be permitted to finish his work was
answered, answered thoroughly, though not in the way he thought of. The
thrill that went through the civilized world when his death and all its
touching circumstances became known, did more for Africa than he could
have done had he completed his task and spent years in this country
following it up. From the worn-out figure kneeling at the bedside in the
hut in Ilala an electric spark seemed to fly, quickening hearts on every
side. The statesman felt it; it put new vigor into the despatches he
wrote and the measures he devised with regard to the slave-trade. The
merchant felt it, and began to plan in earnest how to traverse the
continent with roads and railways, and open it to commerce from shore to
centre. The explorer felt it, and started with high purpose on new
scenes of unknown danger. The missionary felt it,--felt it a reproof of
past languor and unbelief, and found himself lifted up to a higher level
of faith and devotion. No parliament of philanthropy was held; but the
verdict was as unanimous and as hearty as if the Christian world had met
and passed the resolution--"Livingstone's work shall not die: AFRICA
SHALL LIVE."
A rapid glance at the progress of events during the seven years that
have elapsed since the death of Livingstone will show best what
influence he wielded after his death. Whether we consider the steps that
have been taken to suppress the slave-trade, the progress of commercial
undertakings, the successful journeys of explorers stimulated by his
example who have gone from shore to shore, or the new enterprises of the
various missionary bodies, carried out by agents with somewhat of
Livingstone's spirit, we shall see what a wonderful revolution he
effected,--how entirely he changed the prospects of Africa.
Livingstone himself had the impression that his long and weary detention
in Manyuema was designed by Providence to enable him to know and
proclaim to the world the awful horrors of the slave-trade. When his
despatches and letters from that region were published in this country,
the matter was taken up in the highest quarters. After the Queen's
Speech had drawn the attention of Parliament to it, a Royal Commission,
and then a Select Committee of the House of Commons, prepared the way
for further action. Sir Bartle Frere was to Zanzibar, with the view of
negotiating a treaty with the Sultan, to render illegal all traffic in
slaves by sea. Sir Bartle was unable to persuade the Sultan, but left
the matter in the hands of Dr. Kirk, who succeeded in 1873 in
negotiating the treaty, and got the shipment of slaves prohibited over a
sea-board of nearly a thousand miles. But the slave-dealer was too
clever to yield; for the route by sea he simply substituted a route by
land, which, instead of diminishing the horrors of the traffic, actually
made them greater. Dr. Kirk's energies had to be employed in getting the
land traffic placed in the same category as that by sea, and here, too,
he was successful, so that within the dominions of the Sultan of
Zanzibar, the slave-trade, as a legal enterprise, came to an end.
But Zanzibar was but a fragment of Africa. In no other part of the
continent was it of more importance that the traffic should be arrested
than in Egypt, and in parts of the Empire of Turkey in Africa under the
control of the Sultan. The late Khedive of Egypt was hearty in the
cause, less, perhaps, from dislike of the slave-trade, than from his
desire to hold good rank among the Western powers, and to enjoy the
favorable opinion of England. By far the most important contribution of
the Khedive to the cause lay in his committing the vast region of the
Soudan to the hands of our countryman, Colonel Gordon, whose recent
resignation of the office has awakened so general regret. Hating the
slave-trade, Colonel Gordon employed his remarkable influence over
native chiefs and tribes in discouraging it, and with great effect. To
use his own words, recently spoken to a friend, he cut off the
slave-dealers in their strongholds, and he made all his people love him.
Few men, indeed, have shown more of Livingstone's spirit in managing the
natives than Gordon Pasha, or furnished better proof that for really
doing away with the slave-trade more is needed than a good treaty--there
must be a hearty and influential Executive to carry out its provisions.
Our conventions with Turkey have come to little or nothing. They have
shared the usual fate of Turkish promises. Even the convention announced
with considerable confidence in the Queen's speech on 5th February,
1880, if the tenor of it be as it has been reported in the _Temps_
newspaper, leaves far too much in the hands of the Turks, and unless it
be energetically and constantly enforced by this country, will fail in
its object. To this end, however, we trust that the attention of our
Government will be earnestly directed. The Turkish traffic is
particularly hateful, for it is carried on mainly for purposes of
sensuality and show.
The abolition of the slave-trade by King Mtesa, chief of Waganda, near
Lake Victoria Nyanza, is one of the most recent fruits of the agitation.
The services of Mr. Mackay, a countryman of Livingstone's, and an agent
of the Church Missionary Society, contributed mainly to this
remarkable result.
Such facts show that not only has the slave-trade become illegal in some
of the separate states of Africa, but that an active spirit has been
roused against it, which, if duly directed, may yet achieve much more.
The trade, however, breeds a reckless spirit, which cares little for
treaties or enactments, and is ready to continue the traffic as a
smuggling business after it has been declared illegal. In the Nyassa
district, from which to a large extent it has disappeared, it is by no
means suppressed. It is quite conceivable that it may revive after the
temporary alarm of the dealers has subsided. The remissness, and even
the connivance, of the Portuguese authorities has been a great hindrance
to its abolition. All who desire to carry out the noble object of
Livingstone's life will therefore do well to urge her Majesty's
Ministers, members of Parliament, and all who have influence, to renewed
and unremitting efforts toward the complete and final abolition of the
traffic throughout the whole of Africa. To this consummation the honor
of Great Britain is conspicuously pledged, and it is one to which
statesmen of all parties have usually been proud to contribute.
If we pass from the slave-trade to the promotion of lawful commerce, we
find the influence of Livingstone hardly less apparent in not a few
undertakings recently begun. Animated by the memory of his four months'
fellowship with Livingstone, Mr. Stanley has undertaken the exploration
of the Congo or Livingstone River, because it was a work that
Livingstone desired to be done. With a body of Kroomen and others he is
now at work making a road from near Banza Noki to Stanley Pool. He takes
a steamer in sections to be put together above the Falls, and with it he
intends to explore and to open to commerce the numerous great navigable
tributaries of the Livingstone River. Mr. Stanley has already
established steam communication between the French station near the
mouth of the Congo and his own station near Banza Noki or Embomma. The
"Livingstone Central African Company, Limited," with Mr. James
Stevenson, of Glasgow, as chairman, has constructed a road along the
Murchison Rapids, thus making the original route of Livingstone
available between Quilimane and the Nyassa district, and is doing much
more to advance Christian civilization. France, Belgium, Germany, and
Italy have all been active in promoting commercial schemes. A
magnificent proposal has been made, under French auspices, for a railway
across the Soudan. There is a proposal from Manchester to connect the
great lakes with the sea by a railway from the coast opposite Zanzibar.
Another scheme is for a railway from the Zambesi to Lake Nyassa. A
telegraph through Egypt has been projected to the South African colonies
of Britain, passing by Nyassa and Shire. An Italian colony on a large
scale has been projected in the dominions of Menelek, king of Shoa, near
the Somali land. Any statement of the various commercial schemes begun
or contemplated would probably be defective, because new enterprises are
so often appearing. But all this shows what a new light has burst on the
commercial world as to the capabilities of Africa in a trading point of
view. There seems, indeed, no reason why Africa should not furnish most
of the products which at present we derive from India. As a market for
our manufactures, it is capable, even with a moderate amount of
civilization, of becoming one of our most extensive customers. The voice
that proclaimed these things in 1857 was the voice of one crying in the
wilderness; but it is now repeated in a thousand echoes.
In stimulating African exploration the influence of Livingstone was very
decided. He was the first of the galaxy of modern African travelers, for
both in the Geographical Society and in the world at large his name
became famous before those of Baker, Grant, Speke, Burton, Stanley, and
Cameron. Stanley, inspired first by the desire of finding him, became
himself a remarkable and successful traveler. The same remark is
applicable to Cameron. Not only did Livingstone stimulate professed
geographers, but, what was truly a novelty in the annals of exploration,
he set newspaper companies to open up Africa. The _New York Herald_,
having found Livingstone, became hungry for new discoveries, and
enlisting a brother-in-arms, Mr. Edwin Arnold and the _Daily Telegraph_,
the two papers united to send Mr. Stanley "to fresh woods and pastures
new." Under the auspices of the African Exploration Society, and the
directions of the Royal Geographical, Mr. Keith Johnston and Mr. Joseph
Thomson undertook the exploration of the country between Dar es Salaam
and Lake Nyassa, the former falling a victim to illness, the latter
penetrating through unexplored regions to Nyassa, and subsequently
extending his journey to Tanganyika. We can but name the international
enterprise resulting from Brussels Conference; the French researches of
Lieutenant de Semelle and of de Brazza; the various German Expeditions
of Dr. Lenz, Dr. Pogge, Dr. Fischer, and Herr Denhardts; and the
Portuguese exploration on the west, from Benguela to the head-waters of
the Zambesi. Africa does not want for explorers, and generally they are
men bent on advancing legitimate commerce and the improvement of the
people. It would be a comfort if we could think of all as having this
for their object; but tares, we fear, will always be mingled with the
good seed; and if there have been travelers who have led immoral lives
and sought their own amusement only, and traders who by trafficking in
rum and such things have demoralized the natives, they have only shown
that in some natures selfishness is too deeply imbedded to be affected
by the noblest examples.
Livingstone himself traveled twenty-nine thousand miles in Africa, and
added to the known part of the globe about a million square miles. He
discovered Lakes 'Ngami, Shirwa, Nyassa, Moero, and Bangweolo; the upper
Zambesi, and many other rivers; made known the wonderful Victoria Falls;
also the high ridges flanking the depressed basin of the central
plateau; he was the first European to traverse the whole length of Lake
Tanganyika, and to give it its true orientation; he traversed in much
pain and sorrow the vast watershed near Lake Bangweolo, and, through no
fault of his own, just missed the information that would have set at
rest all his surmises about the sources of the Nile. His discoveries
were never mere happy guesses or vague descriptions from the accounts of
natives; each spot was determined with the utmost precision, though at
the time his head might be giddy from fever or his body tormented with
pain. He strove after an accurate notion of the form and structure of
the continent; Investigated its geology, hydrography, botany, and
zooelogy; and grappled with the two great enemies of man and beast that
prey on it--fever and tsetse. Yet all these were matters apart from the
great business of his life. In science he was neither amateur nor
dilettante, but a careful, patient, laborious worker. And hence his high
position, and the respect he inspired in the scientific world. Small men
might peck and nibble at him, but the true kings of science,--the Owens,
Murchisons, Herschels, Sedgwicks, and Fergussons--honored him the more
the longer they knew him. We miss an important fact in his life if we do
not take note of the impression which he made on such men.
Last, but not least, we note the marvelous expansion of missionary
enterprise in Africa since Livingstone's death. Though he used no
sensational methods of appeal, he had a wonderful power to draw men to
the mission field. In his own quiet way, he not only enlisted recruits,
but inspired them with the enthusiasm of their calling. Not even Charles
Simeon, during his long residence at Cambridge, sent more men to India
than Livingstone drew to Africa in his brief visit to the Universities.
It seemed as if he suddenly awakened the minds of young men to a new
view of the grand purposes of life. Mr. Monk wrote to him truly, "That
Cambridge visit of yours. lighted a candle which will NEVER, NEVER
go out."
At the time of his death there was no missionary at work in the great
region of Shire and Nyassa on which his heart was so much set. The first
to take possession were his countrymen of Scotland. The Livingstonia
mission and settlement of the Free Church, planned by Dr. Stewart, of
Lovedale, who had gone out to reconnoitre in 1863, and begun in 1875,
has now three stations on the lake, and has won the highest commendation
of such travelers as the late Consul Elton[80]. Much of the success of
this enterprise is due to Livingstone's old comrade, Mr. E.D. Young,
R.N., who led the party, and by his great experience and wonderful way
of managing the natives, laid not only the founders of Livingstonia,
but the friends of Africa, under obligations that have never been
sufficiently acknowledged[81]. In concert with the "Livingstone Central
African Company," considerable progress has been made in exploring the
neighboring regions, and the recent exploit of Mr. James Stewart, C.E.,
one of the lay helpers of the Mission, in traversing the country between
Nyassa and Tanganyika, is an important contribution to geography[82]. It
would have gratified Livingstone to think that in conducting this
settlement several of the Scotch Churches were practically at one--Free,
Reformed, and United Presbyterian; while at Blantyre, on the Shire, the
Established Church of Scotland, with a mission and a colony of
mechanics, has taken its share in the work.
[Footnote 80: _Lakes and Mountains of Africa_, pp. 277, 280.]
[Footnote 81: See his work. _Nyassa_: London, 1877.]
[Footnote 82: See _Transactions of Royal Geographical Society_, 1880.]
Under Bishop Steere, the successor of Bishop Tozer, the Universities
Mission has re-occupied part of the mainland, and the freed-slave
village of Masasi, situated between the sea and Nyassa, to the north of
the Rovuma, enjoys a measure of prosperity which has never been
interrupted during the three or four years of its existence. Other
stations have been formed, or are projected, one of them on the eastern
margin of the lake. The Church Missionary Society has occupied the
shores of Victoria Nyanza, achieving great results amid many trials and
sacrifices, at first wonderfully aided and encouraged by King Mtesa,
though, as we write, we hear accounts of a change of policy which is
grievously disappointing. Lake Tanganyika has been occupied by the
London Missionary Society.
The "Societe des Missions Evangeliques," of Paris, has made preparations
for occupying the Barotse Valley, near the head-waters of the Zambesi.
The Livingstone Inland Mission has some missionaries on the Atlantic
Coast at the mouth of the Congo, and others who are working inward,
while a monthly journal is edited by Mrs. Grattan Guinness, entitled
_The Regions Beyond_. The Baptist Missionary Society has a mission in
the same district, toward the elucidation of which the Rev. J. T.
Comber's _Explorations Inland from Mount Cameroons and through Congo to
Mkouta_ have thrown considerable light.
More recently still, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions, having resolved to devote to Africa Mr. Otis's munificent
bequest of a million dollars, appointed the Rev. Dr. Means to collect
information as to the most suitable openings for missions in Central
Africa; and on his recommendation, after considering the claims of seven
other localities, have decided to adopt as their field the region of
Bihe and the Coanza, an upland tract to the east of Benguela, healthy
and suitable for European colonization, and as yet not occupied by any
missionary body. Thus the Old World and the New are joining their forces
for the evangelization of Africa. And they are not only occupying
regions which Livingstone recommended, but are trying to work his
principle of combining colonization with missions, so as to give their
people an actual picture of Christianity as it is exemplified in the
ordinary affairs of life.
Besides missions on the old principle, Medical Missions have received a
great impulse through Livingstone. When mission work in Central Africa
began to be seriously entertained, men like Dr. Laws, the late Dr.
Black, and the late Dr. Smith, all medical missionaries, were among the
first to offer their services. The Edinburgh Medical Mission made quite
a new start when it gave the name of Livingstone to its buildings.
Another institution that has adopted the name for a hall in which to
train colored people for African work is the Fisk University, Tennessee,
made famous by the Jubilee Singers.
In glancing at these results of Livingstone's influence in the mission
field, we must not forget that of all his legacies to Africa by far the
highest was the spotless name and bright Christian character which have
become associated every where with its great missionary explorer. From
the first day of his sojourn in Africa to the last, "patient continuance
in well-doing" was the great charm through which he sought, with God's
blessing, to win the confidence of Africa. Before the poorest African he
maintained self-restraint and self-respect as carefully as in the best
society at home. No prevailing relaxation of the moral code in those
wild, dark regions ever lowered his tone or lessened his regard for the
proprieties of Christian or civilized life. Scandal is so rampant among
the natives of Africa that even men of high character have sometimes
suffered from its lying tongue; but in the case of Livingstone there was
such an enamel of purity upon his character that no filth could stick to
it, and none was thrown. What Livingstone did in order to keep his word
to his poor attendants was a wonder in Africa, as it was the admiration
of the world. His way of trusting them, too, was singularly winning. He
would go up to a fierce chief, surrounded by his grinning warriors, with
the same easy gait and kindly smile with which he would have approached
his friends at Kuruman or Hamilton. It was the highest tribute that the
slave-traders in the Zambesi district paid to his character when for
their own vile ends they told the people that they were the children of
Livingstone. It was the charm of his name that enabled Mr. E.D. Young,
while engaged in founding the Livingstonia settlement, to obtain six
hundred carriers to transport the pieces of the Ilala steamer past the
Murchison Cataracts, carrying loads of great weight for forty miles, at
six yards of calico each, without a single piece of the vessel being
lost or thrown away. The noble conduct of the band that for eight months
carried his remains toward the coast was a crowning proof of the love
he inspired.
Nearly every day some new token comes to light of the affection and
honor with which he was regarded all over Central Africa. On 12th April,
1880, the Rev. Chauncy Maples, of the Universities Mission, in a paper
read to the Geographical Society, describing a journey to the Rovuma and
the Makonde country, told of a man he found there, with the relic of an
old coat over his right shoulder, evidently of English manufacture. It
turned out, from the man's statement, that ten years ago a white man,
the donor of the coat, had traveled with him to Mataka's, whom to have
once seen and talked with was to remember for life; a white man who
treated black men as his brothers, and whose memory would be cherished
all along the Rovuma Valley after they were all dead and gone; a short
man with a bushy moustache, and a keen piercing eye, whose words were
always gentle, and whose manners were always kind; whom, as a leader, it
was a privilege to follow, and who knew the way to the hearts of
all men.
That early and life-long prayer of Livingstone's--that he might resemble
Christ--was fulfilled in no ordinary degree. It will be an immense
benefit to all future missionaries in Africa that, in explaining to the
people what practical Christianity means, they will have but to point to
the life and character of the man whose name will stand first among
African benefactors in centuries to come. A foreigner has remarked that,
"in the nineteenth century, the white has made a man out of the black;
in the twentieth century, Europe will make a world out of Africa." When
that world is made, and generation after generation of intelligent
Africans look back on its beginnings, as England looks back on the days
of King Alfred, Ireland of St. Patrick, Scotland of St. Columba, or the
United States of George Washington, the name that will be encircled by
them with brightest honor is that of DAVID LIVINGSTONE. Mabotsa,
Chonuane, and Kolobeng will be visited with thrilling interest by many a
pilgrim, and some grand memorial pile in Ilala will mark the spot where
his heart reposes. And when preachers and teachers speak of this man,
when fathers tell their children what Africa owes to him, and when the
question is asked what made him so great and so good, the answer will
be, that he lived by the faith of the Son of God, and that the love of
Christ constrained him to live and die for Africa.
APPENDIX.
No. I.
EXTRACTS FROM PAPER ON "MISSIONARY SACRIFICES."
It is something to be a missionary. The morning stars sang together and
all the sons of God shouted for joy, when they first saw the field which
the first missionary was to fill. The great and terrible God, before
whom angels veil their faces, had an Only Son, and He was sent to the
habitable parts of the earth as a missionary physician. It is something
to be a follower, however feeble, in the wake of the Great Teacher and
only Model Missionary that ever appeared among men; and now that He is
Head over all things, King of kings and Lord of lords, what commission
is equal to that which the missionary holds from Him? May we venture to
invite young men of education, when laying down the plan of their lives,
to take a glance at that of missionary? We will magnify the office.
The missionary is sent forth as a messenger of the Churches, after
undergoing the scrutiny and securing the approbation of a host of
Christian ministers, who, by their own talent and worth, have risen to
the pastorate over the most intelligent and influential churches in the
land, and who, moreover, can have no motive to influence their selection
but the desire to secure the most efficient instrumentality for the
missionary work. So much care and independent investigation are bestowed
on the selection as to make it plain that extraneous influences can have
but small power. No pastor can imagine that any candidate has been
accepted through his recommendations, however warm these may have been;
and the missionary may go forth to the heathen, satisfied that in the
confidence of the directors he has a testimonial infinitely superior to
letters-apostolic from the Archbishop of Canterbury, or from the Vatican
at Borne. A missionary, surely, cannot undervalue his commission, as
soon as it is put into his hands.
But what means the lugubrious wail that too often bursts from the circle
of his friends? The tears shed might be excused if he were going to
Norfolk Island at the Government expense. But sometimes the missionary
note is pitched on the same key. The white cliffs of Dover become
immensely dear to those who never cared for masses of chalk before.
Pathetic plaints are penned about laying their bones on a foreign shore,
by those who never thought of making aught of their bones at home.
(Bone-dust is dear nowhere, we think.) And then there is the
never-ending talk and wringing of hands over missionary "sacrifices."
The man is surely going to be hanged, instead of going to serve in
Christ's holy Gospel! Is this such service as He deserves who, though
rich, for our sakes became poor? There is so much in the _manner_ of
giving; some bestow their favors so gracefully, their value to the
recipient is doubled. From others, a gift is as good as a blow in the
face. Are we not guilty of treating our Lord somewhat more scurvily than
we would treat our indigent fellow-men? We stereotype the word "charity"
in our language, as applicable to a contribution to his cause. "So many
charities,--we cannot afford them." Is not the word ungraciously applied
to the Lord Jesus, as if He were a poor beggar, and an unworthy one too?
His are the cattle on a thousand hills, the silver and the gold; and
worthy is the Lamb that was slain. We treat Him ill. Bipeds of the
masculine gender assume the piping phraseology of poor old women in
presence of Him before whom the Eastern Magi fell down and
worshiped,--ay, and opened their treasures, and presented unto Him
gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They will give their "mites" as if
what they do give were their "all." It is utterly unfair to magnify the
little we do for Him by calling it a sacrifice, or pretend we are doing
all we can by assuming the tones of poor widows. He asks a willing mind,
cheerful obedience; and can we not give that to Him who made his
Father's will in our salvation as his meat and his drink, till He bowed
his head and gave up the ghost?
Hundreds of young men annually leave our shores as cadets. All their
friends rejoice when they think of them bearing the commissions of our
Queen. When any dangerous expedition is planned by Government, more
volunteers apply than are necessary to man it. On the proposal to send a
band of brave men in search of Sir John Franklin, a full complement for
the ships could have been procured of officers alone, without any common
sailors. And what thousands rushed to California, from different parts
of America, on the discovery of the gold! How many husbands left their
wives and families! How many Christian men tore themselves away from all
home endearments to suffer, and toil, and perish by cold and starvation
on the overland route! How many sank from fever and exhaustion on the
banks of Sacramento! Yet no word of sacrifices there. And why should we
so regard all we give and do for the Well-beloved of our souls? Our talk
of sacrifices is ungenerous and heathenish....
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