PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa
Livingstone, David, 1813-1873 · 302,627 words · 420 reading sections
Part 1
Produced by Alan. R. Light and David Widger…
8 wordsSECTION 2MISSIONARY TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES IN SOUTH AFRICA.
Also called, Travels and Researches in South Africa; or, Journeys and Researches in South Africa. By David Livingstone [British (Scot) Missionary and Explorer--1813-1873.] [NOTE by the Project Gutenberg Contributor of this file: This etext was prepared by Alan. R. Light To assure a high quality text, the original …
471 wordsSECTION 3MISSIONARY TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES IN SOUTH AFRICA;
Including a Sketch of Sixteen Years' Residence in the Interior of Africa, and a Journey from the Cape of Good Hope to Loanda on the West Coast; Thence Across the Continent, Down the River Zambesi, to the Eastern Ocean. By David Livingstone, LL.D., D.C.L., Fellow of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow; Corr…
88 wordsSECTION 4SIR RODERICK IMPEY MURCHISON,
President Royal Geographical Society, F.R.S., V.P.G.S., Corr. Inst. of France, and Member of the Academies of St. Petersburg, Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Brussels, Etc., This Work is affectionately offered as a Token of Gratitude for the kind interest he has always taken in the Author's pursuits and welfare; and…
106 wordsSECTION 5Preface.
When honored with a special meeting of welcome by the Royal Geographical Society a few days after my arrival in London in December last, Sir Roderick Murchison, the President, invited me to give the world a narrative of my travels; and at a similar meeting of the Directors of the London Missionary Society I publicly st…
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Introduction. Personal Sketch--Highland Ancestors--Family Traditions--Grandfather removes to the Lowlands--Parents-- Early Labors and Efforts--Evening School--Love of Reading-- Religious Impressions--Medical Education--Youthful Travels-- Geology--Mental Discipline--Study in Glasgow--London Missionary Society--Native Vi…
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Chapter 5. Start in June, 1852, on the last and longest Journey from Cape Town--Companions--Wagon-traveling--Physical Divisions of Africa--The Eastern, Central, and Western Zones-- The Kalahari Desert--Its Vegetation--Increasing Value of the Interior for Colonization--Our Route--Dutch Boers--Their Habits--Sterile Appea…
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Chapter 9. Reception at Linyanti--The court Herald--Sekeletu obtains the Chieftainship from his Sister--Mpepe's Plot-- Slave-trading Mambari--Their sudden Flight--Sekeletu narrowly escapes Assassination--Execution of Mpepe--The Courts of Law-- Mode of trying Offenses--Sekeletu's Reason for not learning to read the Bibl…
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Chapter 15. Message to Masiko, the Barotse Chief, regarding the Captives--Navigation of the Leeambye--Capabilities of this District--The Leeba--Flowers and Bees--Buffalo-hunt--Field for a Botanist--Young Alligators; their savage Nature--Suspicion of the Balonda--Sekelenke's Present--A Man and his two Wives-- Hunters--M…
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Chapter 19. Guides prepaid--Bark Canoes--Deserted by Guides-- Mistakes respecting the Coanza--Feelings of freed Slaves-- Gardens and Villages--Native Traders--A Grave--Valley of the Quango--Bamboo--White Larvae used as Food--Bashinje Insolence-- A posing Question--The Chief Sansawe--His Hostility--Pass him safely--The …
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Chapter 22. Leave Pungo Andongo--Extent of Portuguese Power-- Meet Traders and Carriers--Red Ants; their fierce Attack; Usefulness; Numbers--Descend the Heights of Tala Mungongo-- Fruit-trees in the Valley of Cassange--Edible Muscle--Birds-- Cassange Village--Quinine and Cathory--Sickness of Captain Neves' Infant--A Di…
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Chapter 25. Colony of Birds called Linkololo--The Village of Chitlane--Murder of Mpololo's Daughter--Execution of the Murderer and his Wife--My Companions find that their Wives have married other Husbands--Sunday--A Party from Masiko-- Freedom of Speech--Canoe struck by a Hippopotamus--Gonye-- Appearance of Trees at th…
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Chapter 28. Beautiful Valley--Buffalo--My young Men kill two Elephants--The Hunt--Mode of measuring Height of live Elephants--Wild Animals smaller here than in the South, though their Food is more abundant--The Elephant a dainty Feeder-- Semalembue--His Presents--Joy in prospect of living in Peace-- Trade--His People's…
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Chapter 31. Kind Reception from the Commandant--His Generosity to my Men--The Village of Tete--The Population--Distilled Spirits--The Fort--Cause of the Decadence of Portuguese Power-- Former Trade--Slaves employed in Gold-washing--Slave-trade drained the Country of Laborers--The Rebel Nyaude's Stockade-- He burns Tete…
399 wordsSECTION 15Introduction.
Personal Sketch--Highland Ancestors--Family Traditions--Grandfather removes to the Lowlands--Parents--Early Labors and Efforts --Evening School--Love of Reading--Religious Impressions--Medical Education--Youthful Travels--Geology--Mental Discipline--Study in Glasgow--London Missionary Society--Native Village--Medical D…
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Our uncles all entered his majesty's service during the last French war, either as soldiers or sailors; but my father remained at home, and, though too conscientious ever to become rich as a small tea-dealer, by his kindliness of manner and winning ways he made the heart-strings of his children twine around him as firm…
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In the glow of love which Christianity inspires, I soon resolved to devote my life to the alleviation of human misery. Turning this idea over in my mind, I felt that to be a pioneer of Christianity in China might lead to the material benefit of some portions of that immense empire; and therefore set myself to obtain a …
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Time and travel have not effaced the feelings of respect I imbibed for the humble inhabitants of my native village. For morality, honesty, and intelligence, they were, in general, good specimens of the Scottish poor. In a population of more than two thousand souls, we had, of course, a variety of character. In addition…
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As to those literary qualifications which are acquired by habits of writing, and which are so important to an author, my African life has not only not been favorable to the growth of such accomplishments, but quite the reverse; it has made composition irksome and laborious. I think I would rather cross the African cont…
221 wordsSECTION 20Chapter 1.
The Bakwain Country--Study of the Language--Native Ideas regarding Comets--Mabotsa Station--A Lion Encounter--Virus of the Teeth of Lions--Names of the Bechuana Tribes--Sechele--His Ancestors--Obtains the Chieftainship--His Marriage and Government--The Kotla--First public Religious Services--Sechele's Questions--He Lea…
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In going north again, a comet blazed on our sight, exciting the wonder of every tribe we visited. That of 1816 had been followed by an irruption of the Matebele, the most cruel enemies the Bechuanas ever knew, and this they thought might portend something as bad, or it might only foreshadow the death of some great chie…
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It is well known that if one of a troop of lions is killed, the others take the hint and leave that part of the country. So, the next time the herds were attacked, I went with the people, in order to encourage them to rid themselves of the annoyance by destroying one of the marauders. We found the lions on a small hill…
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The different Bechuana tribes are named after certain animals, showing probably that in former times they were addicted to animal-worship like the ancient Egyptians. The term Bakatla means "they of the monkey"; Bakuena, "they of the alligator"; Batlapi, "they of the fish": each tribe having a superstitious dread of the…
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Sechele married the daughters of three of his under-chiefs, who had, on account of their blood relationship, stood by him in his adversity. This is one of the modes adopted for cementing the allegiance of a tribe. The government is patriarchal, each man being, by virtue of paternity, chief of his own children. They bui…
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Seeing me anxious that his people should believe the words of Christ, he once said, "Do you imagine these people will ever believe by your merely talking to them? I can make them do nothing except by thrashing them; and if you like, I shall call my head men, and with our litupa (whips of rhinoceros hide) we will soon m…
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Leaving this sketch of the chief, I proceed to give an equally rapid one of our dealing with his people, the Bakena, or Bakwains. A small piece of land, sufficient for a garden, was purchased when we first went to live with them, though that was scarcely necessary in a country where the idea of buying land was quite ne…
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The belief in the gift or power of RAIN-MAKING is one of the most deeply-rooted articles of faith in this country. The chief Sechele was himself a noted rain-doctor, and believed in it implicitly. He has often assured me that he found it more difficult to give up his faith in that than in any thing else which Christian…
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Rain, however, would not fall. The Bakwains believed that I had bound Sechele with some magic spell, and I received deputations, in the evenings, of the old counselors, entreating me to allow him to make only a few showers: "The corn will die if you refuse, and we shall become scattered. Only let him make rain this onc…
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R. D. Truly! but God told us differently. He made black men first, and did not love us as he did the white men. He made you beautiful, and gave you clothing, and guns, and gunpowder, and horses, and wagons, and many other things about which we know nothing. But toward us he had no heart. He gave us nothing except the a…
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The conduct of the people during this long-continued drought was remarkably good. The women parted with most of their ornaments to purchase corn from more fortunate tribes. The children scoured the country in search of the numerous bulbs and roots which can sustain life, and the men engaged in hunting. Very great numbe…
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Sending the Gospel to the heathen must, if this view be correct, include much more than is implied in the usual picture of a missionary, namely, a man going about with a Bible under his arm. The promotion of commerce ought to be specially attended to, as this, more speedily than any thing else, demolishes that sense of…
277 wordsSECTION 32Chapter 2.
The Boers--Their Treatment of the Natives--Seizure of native Children for Slaves--English Traders--Alarm of the Boers--Native Espionage--The Tale of the Cannon--The Boers threaten Sechele--In violation of Treaty, they stop English Traders and expel Missionaries--They attack the Bakwains--Their Mode of Fighting--The Nat…
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This new species of slavery which they have adopted serves to supply the lack of field-labor only. The demand for domestic servants must be met by forays on tribes which have good supplies of cattle. The Portuguese can quote instances in which blacks become so degraded by the love of strong drink as actually to sell th…
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The Bakwains at Kolobeng had the spectacle of various tribes enslaved before their eyes--the Bakatla, the Batlokua, the Bahukeng, the Bamosetla, and two other tribes of Bakwains were all groaning under the oppression of unrequited labor. This would not have been felt as so great an evil but that the young men of those …
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Wherever a missionary lives, traders are sure to come; they are mutually dependent, and each aids in the work of the other; but experience shows that the two employments can not very well be combined in the same person. Such a combination would not be morally wrong, for nothing would be more fair, and apostolical too, …
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I explained the impossibility of my complying with his wish, even though my principles as an Englishman had not stood in the way, by referring to an instance in which Sechele had gone with his whole force to punish an under-chief without my knowledge. This man, whose name was Kake, rebelled, and was led on in his rebel…
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In the present case, Sechele, knowing every question put to his people, asked me how they ought to answer. My reply was, "Tell the truth." Every one then declared that no cannon existed there; and our friends, judging the answer by what they themselves would in the circumstances have said, were confirmed in the opinion…
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The Boers, encouraged by the accession of Mr. Pretorius, determined at last to put a stop to English traders going past Kolobeng, by dispersing the tribe of Bakwains, and expelling all the missionaries. Sir George Cathcart proclaimed the independence of the Boers, the best thing that could have been done had they been …
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We made our own butter, a jar serving as a churn; and our own candles by means of moulds; and soap was procured from the ashes of the plant salsola, or from wood-ashes, which in Africa contain so little alkaline matter that the boiling of successive leys has to be continued for a month or six weeks before the fat is sa…
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Another article of which our children partook with eagerness was a very large frog, called "Matlametlo".* * The Pyxicephalus adspersus of Dr. Smith. Length of head and body, 5-1/2 inches; fore legs, 3 inches; hind legs, 6 inches. Width of head posteriorly, 3 inches; of body, 4-1/2 inches. These enormous frogs, which,…
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In trying to benefit the tribes living under the Boers of the Cashan Mountains, I twice performed a journey of about three hundred miles to the eastward of Kolobeng. Sechele had become so obnoxious to the Boers that, though anxious to accompany me in my journey, he dared not trust himself among them. This did not arise…
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The exact position of the Lake Ngami had, for half a century at least, been correctly pointed out by the natives, who had visited it when rains were more copious in the Desert than in more recent times, and many attempts had been made to reach it by passing through the Desert in the direction indicated; but it was foun…
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The quantity of grass which grows on this remarkable region is astonishing, even to those who are familiar with India. It usually rises in tufts with bare spaces between, or the intervals are occupied by creeping plants, which, having their roots buried far beneath the soil, feel little the effects of the scorching sun…
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The human inhabitants of this tract of country consist of Bushmen and Bakalahari. The former are probably the aborigines of the southern portion of the continent, the latter the remnants of the first emigration of Bechuanas. The Bushmen live in the Desert from choice, the Bakalahari from compulsion, and both possess an…
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The dread of visits from Bechuanas of strange tribes causes the Bakalahari to choose their residences far from water; and they not unfrequently hide their supplies by filling the pits with sand and making a fire over the spot. When they wish to draw water for use, the women come with twenty or thirty of their water-ves…
602 wordsSECTION 46Chapter 3.
Departure from Kolobeng, 1st June, 1849--Companions--Our Route-- Abundance of Grass--Serotli, a Fountain in the Desert--Mode of digging Wells--The Eland--Animals of the Desert--The Hyaena--The Chief Sekomi--Dangers--The wandering Guide--Cross Purposes--Slow Progress--Want of Water--Capture of a Bushwoman--The Salt-pan …
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At Mashue--where we found a never-failing supply of pure water in a sandstone rocky hollow--we left the road to the Bamangwato hills, and struck away to the north into the Desert. Having watered the cattle at a well called Lobotani, about N.W. of Bamangwato, we next proceeded to a real Kalahari fountain, called Serotli…
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I examined carefully the whole alimentary canal, in order to see if there were any peculiarity which might account for the fact that this animal can subsist for months together without drinking, but found nothing. Other animals, such as the duiker ('Cephalopus mergens') or puti (of the Bechuanas), the steinbuck ('Tragu…
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All around Serotli the country is perfectly flat, and composed of soft white sand. There is a peculiar glare of bright sunlight from a cloudless sky over the whole scene; and one clump of trees and bushes, with open spaces between, looks so exactly like another, that if you leave the wells, and walk a quarter of a mile…
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Ramotobi was angry at the slowness of our progress, and told us that, as the next water was three days in front, if we traveled so slowly we should never get there at all. The utmost endeavors of the servants, cracking their whips, screaming and beating, got only nineteen miles out of the poor beasts. We had thus proce…
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When we left the Mokoko, Ramotobi seemed, for the first time, to be at a loss as to which direction to take. He had passed only once away to the west of the Mokoko, the scenes of his boyhood. Mr. Oswell, while riding in front of the wagons, happened to spy a Bushwoman running away in a bent position, in order to escape…
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Next day, when we were quite disposed to be friendly with every one, two of the Bamangwato, who had been sent on before us by Sekomi to drive away all the Bushmen and Bakalahari from our path, so that they should not assist or guide us, came and sat down by our fire. We had seen their footsteps fresh in the way, and th…
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While ascending in this way the beautifully-wooded river, we came to a large stream flowing into it. This was the River Tamunak'le. I inquired whence it came. "Oh, from a country full of rivers--so many no one can tell their number--and full of large trees." This was the first confirmation of statements I had heard fro…
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The Teoughe and Tamunak'le, being essentially the same river, and receiving their supplies from the same source (the Embarrah or Varra), can never outrun each other. If either could, or if the Teoughe could fill the lake--a thing which has never happened in modern times--then this little arm would prove a convenient es…
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On the day after our arrival at the lake, I applied to Lechulatebe for guides to Sebituane. As he was much afraid of that chief, he objected, fearing lest other white men should go thither also, and give Sebituane guns; whereas, if the traders came to him alone, the possession of fire-arms would give him such a superio…
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We found the elephants in prodigious numbers on the southern bank. They come to drink by night, and after having slaked their thirst--in doing which they throw large quantities of water over themselves, and are heard, while enjoying the refreshment, screaming with delight--they evince their horror of pitfalls by settin…
863 wordsSECTION 57Chapter 4.
Leave Kolobeng again for the Country of Sebituane--Reach the Zouga-- The Tsetse--A Party of Englishmen--Death of Mr. Rider--Obtain Guides--Children fall sick with Fever--Relinquish the Attempt to reach Sebituane--Mr. Oswell's Elephant-hunting--Return to Kolobeng--Make a third Start thence--Reach Nchokotsa--Salt-pans--"…
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Sechele used all his powers of eloquence with Lechulatebe to induce him to furnish guides that I might be able to visit Sebituane on ox-back, while Mrs. Livingstone and the children remained at Lake Ngami. He yielded at last. I had a very superior London-made gun, the gift of Lieutenant Arkwright, on which I placed the…
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Although these curious spots seem perfectly level, all those in this direction have a gentle slope to the northeast: thither the rain-water, which sometimes covers them, gently gravitates. This, it may be recollected, is the direction of the Zouga. The salt dissolved in the water has by this means all been transferred …
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The cattle, in rushing along to the water in the Mahabe, probably crossed a small patch of trees containing tsetse, an insect which was shortly to become a perfect pest to us. Shobo had found his way to the Bayeiye, and appeared, when we came up to the river, at the head of a party; and, as he wished to show his import…
654 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.