PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Personal Life of David Livingstone
Blaikie, William Garden · 185,849 words · 259 reading sections
A.D. 1849-1852.
KOLOBENG _continued_--LAKE 'NGAMI. Kolobeng failing through drought--Sebituane's country and the Lake 'Ngami--Livingstone sets out with Messrs. Oswell and Murray--Rivers Zouga and Tamanak'le--Old ideas of the interior revolutionized--Enthusiasm of Livingstone--Discovers Lake 'Ngami--Obliged to return--Prize from Royal…
735 wordsSECTION 62A.D. 1849-1852.
Livingstone has given ample details of his progress in the _Missionary Travels_, dwelling especially on his joy when he reached the beautiful river Zouga, whose waters flowed from 'Ngami. Providence frustrated an attempt to rouse ill-feeling against him on the part of two men who had been sent by Sekomi, apparently to …
823 wordsSECTION 63A.D. 1849-1852.
The discovery of the lake and the river was communicated to the Royal Geographical Society in extracts from Livingstone's letters to the London Missionary Society, and to his friend and former fellow-traveler, Captain Steele. In 1849 the Society voted him a sum of twenty-five guineas "for his successful journey, in com…
713 wordsSECTION 64A.D. 1849-1852.
The journey was difficult, and on the northern branch of the Zouga many trees had to be cut down to allow the wagons to pass. The presence of a formidable enemy was reported on the banks of the Tamanak'le,--the tsetse-fly, whose bite is so fatal to oxen. To avoid it, another route had to be chosen. When they got near t…
720 wordsSECTION 65A.D. 1849-1852.
A week later (August 24, 1850) he writes to the Directors that no convenient access to the region can be obtained from the south, the lake being 870 miles from Kuruman: "We must have a passage to the sea on either the eastern or western coast. I have hitherto been afraid to broach the subject on which my perhaps dre…
660 wordsSECTION 66A.D. 1849-1852.
"Charles thinks we are not the descendants of the Puritans. I don't know what you are, but I am. And if you dispute it, I shall stick to the answer of a poor little boy before a magistrate. M.--'Who were your parents?' _Boy_ (rubbing his eyes with his jacket-sleeve)--'Never had none, sir.' Dr. Wardlaw says that th…
732 wordsSECTION 67A.D. 1849-1852.
"No one," he remarks in his Journal, "knows the value of water till be is deprived of it. We never need any spirits to qualify it, or prevent an immense draught of it from doing us harm. I have drunk water swarming with insects, thick with mud, putrid from other mixtures, and no stinted draughts of it either, yet …
897 wordsSECTION 68A.D. 1849-1852.
"Poor Sebituane, my heart bleeds for thee; and what would I not do for thee now? I will weep for thee till the day of my death. Little didst thou think when, in the visit of the white man, thou sawest the long cherished desires of years accomplished, that the sentence of death had gone forth! Thou thoughtest that …
658 wordsSECTION 69A.D. 1849-1852.
The travelers were still a good many days' distance from Ma-mochisane, without whose presence nothing could be settled; but besides, the reedy banks of the rivers were found to be unsuitable for a settlement, and the higher regions were too much exposed to the attacks of Mosilikatse. Livingstone saw no prospect of obta…
656 wordsSECTION 70A.D. 1849-1852.
There was a saying of the late Sir Herbert Edwardes which he highly valued: "He who has to act on his own responsibility is a slave if he does not act on his own judgment." Acting on this maxim, he must set aside the views of others as to his duty, provided his own judgment was clear regarding it. He must even set asid…
841 wordsSECTION 71A.D. 1849-1852.
[Footnote 33: In writing to his father, Livingstone mentions that the wine was a gift from Mrs. Bysshe Shelley, in acknowledgment of his aid in repairing a wheel of her wagon.] Writing at this time to his father-in-law, Mr. Moffat, he said, after announcing the birth of Oswell: "What you say about difference of opinio…
759 wordsSECTION 72A.D. 1849-1852.
"Kuruman will not answer as a residence, nor yet the Colony. If I were to follow my own inclinations, they would lead me to settle down quietly with the Bakwains, or some other small tribe, and devote some of my time to my children; but _Providence seems to call me to the regions beyond_, and if I leave them anywh…
748 wordsSECTION 73A.D. 1849-1852.
The finger of Providence clearly pointed to a region farther north in the country of the Barotse or beyond it, He admitted that there were _pros_ and _cons_ in the case. Against his plan,--some of his brethren did not hesitate to charge him with being actuated by worldly ambition. This was the more trying, for sometime…
729 wordsSECTION 74A.D. 1849-1852.
From expressions in Livingstone's letter to the Directors, it is evident that he was fully aware of the risk he ran, in his new line of work, of appearing to sink the missionary in the explorer. There is no doubt that next to the charge of forgetting the claims of his family, to which we have already adverted, this was…
807 wordsSECTION 75A.D. 1849-1852.
On reaching Kolobeng from 'Ngami they found the station deserted. The Bakwains had removed to Limaüe. Sechéle came down the day after, and presented them with an ox--a valuable gift in his circumstances. Sechéle had much yet to bear from the Boers; and after being, without provocation, attacked, pillaged, and wasted, a…
844 wordsSECTION 76A.D. 1852-1853.
[Footnote 34: For extracts from the paper on "Missionary Sacrifices," see Appendix No. I. For part of the paper on the Boers, see _Catholic Presbyterian_ December, 1879 (London, Nisbet and Co.).] If he had met with more encouragement from editors he would have written more. But the editorial cold shoulder was beyond e…
773 wordsSECTION 77A.D. 1852-1853.
Livingstone, who had now got the troublesome uvula cut out, was detained at the Cape nearly two months after his family left. He was so distrusted by the authorities that they would hardly sell powder and shot to him, and he had to fight a battle that demanded all his courage and perseverance for a few boxes of percuss…
707 wordsSECTION 78D. Livingston."
Among his other occupations at Cape Town, Livingstone put himself under the instructions of the Astronomer-Royal, Mr. (afterward Sir Thomas) Maclear, who became one of his best and most esteemed friends. His object was to qualify himself more thoroughly for taking observations that would give perfect accuracy to his ge…
1,116 wordsSECTION 79D. Livingston."
Dr. Livingstone was not disposed to restrain his indignation and grief over his losses. For one so patient and good, he had a very large vial of indignation, and on occasion poured it out right heartily over all injustice and cruelty. On no heads was it ever discharged more freely than on these Transvaal Boers. He made…
703 wordsSECTION 80D. Livingston."
As for the contest with the Boers, we may smile at their impotent wrath. It is a singular fact, that while Sechéle still retains the position of an independent chief, the republic of the Boers has passed away. It is now part of the British Empire. The country was so unsettled that for a long time Dr. Livingstone could…
744 wordsSECTION 81D. Livingston."
[Footnote 37: Livingstone's Remedy for African fever. See Appendix No. II.] Dr. Livingstone had declined a considerate proposal that another missionary should accompany him, and deliberately resolved to go this great journey alone. He knew, in fact, that except Mr. Moffat, who was busy with his translation of the Bibl…
712 wordsSECTION 82D. Livingston."
When Livingstone reached the Makololo, a change had taken place in the government of the tribe. Ma-mochisane, the daughter of Sebituane, had not been happy in her chiefdom, and had found it difficult to get along with the number of husbands whom her dignity as chief required her to maintain. She had given over the gove…
740 wordsSECTION 83D. Livingston."
Before we set out with the chief on this journey, it will be well to give a few extracts from Livingstone's Journal, showing how unwearied were his efforts to teach the people: "_Banks of Chobe, Sunday, May 15th_.--Preached twice to about sixty people. Very attentive. It is only divine power which can enlighted dark…
756 wordsSECTION 84D. Livingston."
When Livingstone and Sekelétu had gone about sixty miles on the way to the Barotse, they encountered Mpepe, Sekelétu's half-brother and secret rival. It turned out that Mpepe had a secret plan for killing Sekelétu, and that three times on the day of their meeting that plan was frustrated by apparently accidental causes…
670 wordsSECTION 85D. Livingston."
During the time thus spent in the Barotse country, Livingstone saw heathenism in its most unadulterated form. It was a painful, loathsome, and horrible spectacle. His views of the Fall and of the corruption of human nature were certainly not lightened by the sight. In his Journal he is constantly letting fall expressio…
661 wordsSECTION 86D. Livingston."
"_13th October_.--Missionaries ought to cultivate a taste for the beautiful. We are necessarily compelled to contemplate much moral impurity and degradation. We are so often doomed to disappointment. We are apt to become either callous or melancholy, or, if preserved from these, the constant strain on the sensibil…
681 wordsSECTION 87D. Livingston."
"_Sekelétu's Town, Linyanti, 2d October_.--MY DEAR ROBERT, AGNES, AND THOMAS AND OSWELL,--Here is another little letter for you all. I should like to see you much more than write to you, and speak with my tongue rather than with my pen; but we are far from each other--very, very far. Here are Seipone, and Meriye a…
590 wordsSECTION 88"D. Livingston."
A letter to his father and other relations at Hamilton, 30th September, 1853, is of a somewhat apologetic and explanatory cast. Some of the friends had the notion that he should have settled somewhere, "preaching the simple gospel," and converting people by every sermon: "You see what they make of the gospel, and my c…
812 wordsSECTION 89"D. Livingston."
On the 8th he writes: "Our intentions are to go up the Leeba till we reach the falls, then send back the canoe and proceed in the country beyond as best we can. Matiamvo is far beyond, but the Cassantse (probably Cassange) live on the west of the river. May God in mercy permit me to do something for the cause of …
335 wordsSECTION 90A.D. 1853-1854.
Difficulties and hardships of journey--His traveling kit--Four books--His Journal--Mode of traveling--Beauty of country--Repulsiveness of the people--Their religious belief--The negro--Preaching--The magic-lantern--Loneliness of feeling--Slave-trade--Management of the natives--Danger from Chiboque--from another chief--…
714 wordsSECTION 91A.D. 1853-1854.
The "lined journal," of which mention is made here, was probably the most wonderful thing of the kind ever taken on such a journey. It is a strongly bound quarto volume of more then 800 pages, with a lock and key. The writing is so neat and clear that it might almost be taken for lithograph. Occasionally there is a pag…
944 wordsSECTION 92A.D. 1853-1854.
The people all seemed to recognize a Supreme Being; but it was only occasionally, in times of distress, that they paid Him homage. They had no love for Him like that of Christians for Jesus--only terror. Some of them, who were true negroes, had images, simple but grotesque. Their strongest belief was in the power of me…
737 wordsSECTION 93A.D. 1853-1854.
Some days after, in passing through a forest in the dominions of another chief, he and his people were in momentary expectation of an attack. They went to the chiefs village and spoke to the man himself; and here, on a Sunday, while ill of fever, Livingstone was able to effect a temporary settlement. The chief sent the…
1,109 wordsSECTION 94A.D. 1853-1854.
At length Livingstone began to get near the coast, reaching the outlying Portuguese stations. He was received by the Portuguese gentlemen with great kindness, and his wants were generously provided for. One of them gave him the first glass of wine he had taken in Africa. Another provided him with a suit of clothing. Li…
654 wordsSECTION 95A.D. 1853-1854.
The friendship of Mr. Gabriel was honorable both to himself and to Dr. Livingstone. At a very early period he learned to appreciate Livingstone thoroughly, he saw how great as well as how good a man he was, and felt that to be the friend of such a man was one of the highest distinctions he could have. After Livingstone…
652 wordsSECTION 96A.D. 1853-1854.
"_Golungo Alto, 25th October_, 1854.--It occurs to me, my dearest Mary, that if I send you a note from different parts on the way through this colony, some of them will surely reach you; and If they carry any of the affection I bear to you in their composition, they will not fail to comfort you. I got everything i…
636 wordsSECTION 97"David Livingston."
It must not be forgotten that all this time Dr. Livingstone was making very careful astronomical observations, in order to determine his exact positions, and transmitting elaborate letters to the Geographical Society. His astronomical observations were regularly forwarded to his friend the Astronomer-Royal at the Cape,…
686 wordsSECTION 98A.D. 1854-1856.
Livingstone sets out from Loanda--Journey back--Effects of slavery--Letter to his wife--Severe attack of fever--He reaches the Barotse country--Day of thanksgiving--His efforts for the good of his men--Anxieties of the Moffats--Mr. Moffat's journey to Mosilikatse--Box at Linyanti--Letter from Mrs. Moffat--Letters to Mr…
854 wordsSECTION 99A.D. 1854-1856.
"This agent is about the same in appearance as Mebalwe, and speaks Portuguese as the Griquas do Dutch. He has two chainsful of women going to be sold for the ivory. Formerly the trade went from the interior into the Portuguese territory; now it goes the opposite way. This is the effect of the Portuguese love of th…
519 wordsSECTION 100"D. Livingston."
It was soon after the date of this letter that Livingstone was struck down by that severe attack of rheumatic fever, accompanied by great loss of blood, to which reference has already been made. "I got it," he writes to Mr. Maclear, "by sleeping in the wet. There was no help for it. Every part of a plain was flooded an…
726 wordsSECTION 101"D. Livingston."
"_August 12_.--A very good and attentive audience. Surely all will not be forgotten. How small their opportunity compared to ours who have been carefully instructed in the knowledge of divine truth from our earliest infancy! The Judge is just and merciful. He will deal fairly and kindly with all." "_October 15_.--…
660 wordsSECTION 102"D. Livingston."
"Don't know what apology to make you for a delay I could not shorten. But as you are a mercifully kind-hearted dame, I expect you will write out an apology in proper form, and I shall read it before you with as long a face as I can exhibit. Disease was the chief obstacle. The repair of the wagon was the 'source of…
739 wordsSECTION 103"D. Livingston."
Again Livingstone sets out on his weary way, untrodden by white man's foot, to pass through unknown tribes, whose savage temper might give him his quietus at any turn of the road. There were various routes to the sea open to him. He chose the route along the Zambesi--though the the most difficult, and through hostile t…
716 wordsSECTION 104"D. Livingston."
_14th January_, 1856.--At the confluence of the Loangwa and Zambesi. Thank God for his great mercies thus far. How soon I may be called to stand before Him, my righteous Judge, I know not. All hearts are in his hands, and merciful and gracious is the Lord our God. O Jesus, grant me resignation to Thy will, and ent…
781 wordsSECTION 105"D. Livingston."
In the entire records of Christian heroism, there are few more remarkable occasions of the triumph of the spirit of holy trust than those which are recorded here so quietly and modestly. We are carried back to the days of the Psalmist: "I will not be afraid of ten thousand of the people that have set themselves against…
805 wordsSECTION 106"D. Livingston."
These and other matters connected with the state of the country formed the subject of regular communications to the Geographical Society. Between Loanda and Quilimane, six despatches were written at different points[45]. Formerly, as we have seen, he had written through a Fellow of the Society, his friend and former fe…
377 wordsSECTION 107"Rodck* I. Murchison,"
The other subject that chiefly occupied Livingstone's mind at this time was missionary labor. This, like all other labor, required to be organized, on the principle of making the very best use of all the force that was or could be contributed for missionary effort. With his fair, open mind, he weighed the old method of…
868 wordsSECTION 108"Rodck* I. Murchison,"
In instituting a comparison between the direct and indirect results of missions, between conversion-work and the diffusion of better principles, he emphatically assigns the preference to the latter. Not that he undervalued the conversion of the most abject creature that breathed. To the man individually his conversion …
727 wordsSECTION 109"Rodck* I. Murchison,"
"THE END OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL FEAT is ONLY THE BEGINNING OF THE ENTERPRISE." Livingstone reached the Portuguese settlement of Tette on the 3d March, 1856, and the "civilized breakfast" which the commandant, Major Sicard, sent forward to him, on his way, was a luxury like Mr. Gabriel's bed at Loanda, and made him walk …
920 wordsSECTION 110"Rodck* I. Murchison,"
"I do not feel so much elated," continued Dr. Livingstone, "by the prospect of accomplishing this feat. I feel most thankful to God for preserving my life, where so many, who by superior intelligence would have done more good, have been cut off. But it does not look as if I had reached the goal. Viewed in relation…
981 wordsSECTION 111"Rodck* I. Murchison,"
In looking forward to the work to which Providence seemed to be calling him, a communication received at Quilimane disturbed him not a little. It was from the London Missionary Society. It informed him that the Directors were restricted in their power of aiding plans connected only remotely with the spread of the gospe…
890 wordsSECTION 112A.D. 1856-1857.
The passengers were sent on _viâ_ Marseilles, and Livingstone proceeded homeward by Paris and Dover. At last he reached "dear old England" on the 9th of December, 1856. Tidings of a great sorrow had reached him on the way. At Cairo he heard of the death of his father. He had been ill a fortnight, and died full of fait…
681 wordsSECTION 113"Mary."
Having for once lifted the domestic veil, we cannot resist the temptation to look into another corner of the home circle. Among the letters of congratulation that poured in at this time, none was more sincere or touching than that which Mrs. Livingstone received from her mother, Mrs. Moffat[48]. In the fullnes of her c…
838 wordsSECTION 114"Mary."
Dr. Moffatt's congratulation to his son-in-law was calm and hearty: "Your explorations have created immense interest, and especially in England, and that man must be made of bend-leather who can remain unmoved at the rehearsal even of a tithe of your daring enterprises. The honors awaiting you at home would be eno…
679 wordsSECTION 115"Mary."
Among the distinguished men who took part in the conversation that followed was Professor Owen. He bore testimony to the value of Livingstone's contributions to zoology and palæontology, not less cordial than Sir Roderick Murchison had borne to his service to geography. He had listened with very intense interest to the…
675 wordsSECTION 116"Mary."
Meanwhile, a sensible impulse was given to the _scientific_ enthusiasm for Livingstone by the arrival of the report of a great meeting held in Africa itself in honor of the missionary explorer. At Cape Town, on 12th November, 1856, His Excellency the Governor, Sir George Grey, the Colonial Secretary, the Astronomer-Roy…
726 wordsSECTION 117"Mary."
A third gentleman at this meeting, Mr. Rutherfoord, who had known Livingstone for many years, besides describing him as "one of the most honorable, benevolent, conscientious men I ever met with," bore testimony to his capacity in mercantile affairs; not exercised in his own interest, but in that of others. It was Mr. R…
1,067 wordsSECTION 118"Mary."
An extract from a letter to Mr. Maclear, on the eve of his beginning his book (21st January, 1857), will show how his thoughts were running: "I begin to-morrow to write my book, and as I have a large party of men (110) waiting for me at Tette, and I promised to join them in April next, you will see I shall have enou…
748 wordsSECTION 119"Mary."
"After leaving my house he had lodgings in Chelsea, and used frequently to come and spend the Sunday afternoon with my family, often bringing his sister, who was staying with him, and his two elder children. It was beautiful to observe how thoroughly he enjoyed domestic life and the society of children, how strong…
651 wordsSECTION 120"Mary."
"He was always careful as to dress and appearance. This was his habit in Africa, too, and with Mrs. Livingstone it was the same. They thought that this was fitted to secure respect for themselves, and that it was for the good of the natives too, as it was so difficult to impress them with proper ideas on the subje…
967 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.