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."