Dr. Livingstone's last weeks in England were passed under the roof of the late Rev. Dr. Hamilton, author of _Life in Earnest_, and could hardly have been passed in a more congenial home. Natives of the same part of Scotland, nearly of an age, and resembling each other much in taste and character, the two men drew greatly to each other. The same Puritan faith lay at the basis of their religious character, with all its stability and firmness. But above all, they had put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. In Natural History, too, they had an equal enthusiasm. In Dr. Hamilton, Livingstone found what he missed in many orthodox men. On the evening of his last Sunday, he was prevailed on to give an address in Dr. Hamilton's church, after having in the morning received the Communion with the congregation. In his address he vindicated his character as a missionary, and declared that it was as much as ever his great object to proclaim the love of Christ, which they had been commemorating that day. His prayers made a deep impression; they were like the communings of a child with his father. At the railway station, the last Scotch hands grasped by him were those of Dr. and Mrs. Hamilton. The news of Dr. Hamilton's death was received by Livingstone a few years after, in the heart of Africa, with no small emotion. Their next meeting was in the better land.
Object of new journey--Double scheme--He goes to Paris with Agnes--Baron Hausmann--Anecdote at Marseilles--He reaches Bombay--Letter to Agnes--Reminiscences of Dr. Livingstone at Bombay by Rev. D.C. Boyd--by Alex. Brown, Esq.--Livingstone's dress--He visits the caves of Kenhari--Rumors of murder of Baron van der Decken--He delivers a lecture at Bombay--Great success--He sells the "Lady Nyassa"--Letter to Mr. Young--Letter to Anna Mary--Hears that Dr. Kirk has got an appointment--Sets out for Zanzibar in "Thule"--Letter to Mr. Young--His experience at sea--Letter to Agnes--He reaches Zanzibar--Calls on Sultan--Presents the "Thule" to him from Bombay Government--Monotony of Zanzibar life--Leaves in "Penguin" for the continent.
The object for which Dr. Livingstone set out on his third and last great African journey is thus stated in the preface to _The Zambesi and its Tributaries:_ "Our Government have supported the proposal of the Royal Geographical Society made by my friend Sir Roderick Murchison, and have united with that body to aid me in another attempt to open Africa to civilizing influences, and a valued private friend has given a thousand pounds for the same object. I propose to go inland, north of the territory which the Portuguese in Europe claim, and endeavor to commence that system on the East which has been so eminently successful on the West Coast: a system combining the repressive efforts of Her Majesty's cruisers with lawful trade and Christian missions--the moral and material results of which have been so gratifying. I hope to ascend the Rovuma, or some other river north of Cape Delgado, and, in addition to my other work, shall strive, by passing along the northern end of Lake Nyassa, and round the southern end of Lake Tanganyika, to ascertain the watershed of that part of Africa."
The first part of the scheme was his own, the second he had been urged to undertake by the Geographical Society. The sums in aid contributed by Government and the Geographical society were only £500 each; but it was not thought that the work would occupy a long time. The Geographical Society coupled their contribution with some instructions as to observations and reports which seemed to Dr. Livingstone needlessly stringent, and which certainly ruffled his relation to the Society. The honorary position of Consul at large he was willing to accept for the sake of the influence which it gave him, though still retaining his opinion of the shabbiness which had so explicitly bargained that he was to have no salary and to expect no pension.