Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa

D >> David Livingstone >> Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa


Sekwebu became a great favorite on shipboard, but he was bewildered
by the crowd of new ideas that rushed upon his mind. "What a strange
country this is," he said, "all water!" When they reached Mauritius,
he became insane, and tried to jump overboard. Livingstone's wife had,
during her visit to their country, become a great favorite with the
Makololo, who called her 'Ma Robert'--"Robert's Mother"--in honor of her
young son.

"Come, Sekwebu," said Livingstone, "we are going to Ma Robert." This
struck a chord in his bosom.

"Oh yes," said he; "where is she? Where is Robert?" And for the moment
he seemed to recover.

But in the evening a fresh accession of insanity occurred. He attempted
to spear one of the crew, and then leaped overboard, and, though he
could swim well, pulled himself down, hand over hand, by the cable. His
body was never recovered.

From Mauritius Livingstone sailed for England, which he reached on the
12th of December, 1856--four and a half years after he had parted from
his family at Cape Town.

He was received with unwonted honors. The President of the Royal
Geographical Society, at a special meeting held to welcome him, formally
invited him to give to the world a narrative of his travels. Some
knavish booksellers paid him the less acceptable compliment of putting
forth spurious accounts of his adventures, one at least of which has
been republished in this country. Livingstone, so long accustomed to a
life of action, found the preparation of his book a harder task than he
had imagined. "I think," he says, "that I would rather cross the African
continent again than undertake to write another book." We trust that
he will yet do both. He would indeed have set out on another African
journey nearly a year ago to conduct his faithful Makololo attendants
back to their own country, had not the King of Portugal relieved him
from all anxiety on their account, by sending out directions that they
should be supported at Tete until his return.

Our abstract does, at best, but scanty justice to the most interesting,
as well as most valuable, of modern works of travel. It has
revolutionized our ideas of African character as well as of African
geography. It shows that Central Africa is peopled by tribes barbarous,
indeed, but far from manifesting those savage and degrading traits which
we are wont to associate with the negro race. In all his long pilgrimage
Livingstone saw scarcely a trace of the brutal rites and bloody
superstitions of Dahomey and Ashanti. The natives every where long for
intercourse with the whites, and eagerly seek the products of civilized
labor. In regions where no white men had ever been seen the cottons
of Lowell and Manchester, passed from tribe to tribe, are even now the
standard currency. Civilized nations have an equal interest in opening
intercourse with these countries, for they are capable of supplying
those great tropical staples which the industrious temperate zones must
have, but can not produce. Livingstone found cotton growing wild all
along his route from Loanda to Kilimane; the sugar-cane flourishes
spontaneously in the valley of "The River"; coffee abounds on the west
coast; and indigo is a weed in the delta of the Zambesi. Barth also
finds these products abundant on the banks of the Benuwe and Shari, and
around Lake Tsad. The prevalent idea of the inherent laziness of the
Africans must be abandoned, for, scattered through the narratives
of both these intrepid explorers are abundant testimonies of the
industrious disposition of the natives.

Livingstone, as befits his profession, regards his discoveries from a
religious stand-point. "The end of the geographical feat," he says, "is
the beginning of the missionary enterprise." But he is a philosopher as
well as a preacher, recognizing as true missionaries the man of science
who searches after hidden truths, the soldier who fights against
tyranny, the sailor who puts down the slave-trade, and the merchant who
teaches practically the mutual dependence of the nations of the earth.
His idea of missionary labor looks to this world as well as the next.
Had the Bakwains possessed rifles as well as Bibles--had they raised
cotton as well as attended prayer-meetings--it would have been better
for them. He is clearly of the opinion that decent clothing is of more
immediate use to the heathen than doctrinal sermons. "We ought," he
says, "to encourage the Africans to cultivate for our markets, as the
most effectual means, next to the Gospel, of their elevation." His
practical turn of mind suffers him to present no fancy pictures of
barbarous nations longing for the Gospel. His Makololo friends, indeed,
listened respectfully when he discoursed of the Saviour, but were all
earnestness when he spoke of cotton cloths and muskets. Sekeletu favored
the missionary, not as the man who could give him Bibles and tracts,
but as the one by whose help he hoped to sell his ivory for a rifle, a
sugar-mill, and brass wire.

Livingstone's missionary scheme is accommodated to the actual state of
things. It rests quite as much upon traders as preachers. He would open
a communication by the Zambesi to the heart of the continent. Upon the
healthy, elevated region overlooking the low, fertile basin he would
establish trading posts, supplied with European wares. We can not wonder
that the directors of the Missionary Society looked coldly upon this
scheme, and wrote to him that they were "restricted in their power of
aiding plans connected only remotely with the spread of the Gospel;"
nor can we regret that Livingstone, feeling his old love of independence
revive, withdrew from his connection with the Society, for the purpose
of carrying out his own plans. With all respect for the worthy persons
who manage missionary societies, we can not but believe that the man who
led so large a party across the African continent will accomplish more
for the good cause when working out his own plans than he would do by
following out their ideas.




Appendix.--Notes to etext.



Words:


The names Loanda and Zambesi are given in most modern texts as Luanda
and Zambezi.

In three cases, the spelling used in the original was distracting enough
that it has been changed: musquito > mosquito, hachshish > hashish, and
nomade > nomad.

In three other cases, two variant spellings of a word were used in the
text. These were made uniform in accordance with the modern standard.
They were: water-buck > waterbuck, Mosambique > Mozambique, and imbody >
embody.

Other notes on terms: Livingstone often refers to ground-nuts--this is
the British term for a peanut. Mutokwane ('Cannabis sativa') must be
some variety of marijuana.



Symbols:


As the symbols for the British Pound (a crossed L), Degrees (small
circle, in the upper half of the line of text), and fractions cannot be
represented in ASCII, the following standards have been used:

Pounds: written out, and capitalized, AFTER the number of pounds, rather
than before it. Hence "L20" becomes 20 Pounds. (where L represents the
Pound symbol.)

Degrees, Minutes, Seconds: "Degrees", when used alone, is either spelled
out or abbreviated "Deg."--but is always capitalized where it replaces
the symbol. When a location is given with a combination of degrees and
minutes, or degrees, minutes, and seconds, [d] is used to denote
the symbol for degrees, ['] represents minutes, and ["] represents
seconds--these latter two are the common symbols, or at least as similar
as ASCII can represent. For an example, lat. 9d 37' 30" S. would be
latitude 9 degrees 37 minutes 30 seconds south. All temperatures given
are in Fahrenheit.

Fractions: Where whole numbers and fractions are combined, the whole
number is separated from the fraction with a dash. For example, in
Chapter 21: 16 ounces and 2-19/20 drams would translate as 16 ounces
and two-and-nineteen-twentieths drams. Incidentally, Livingstone uses
British measurements, which sometimes differ from the American.



Corrected Errors:

Errors in the original text were corrected when the context presented
compelling evidence that there was in fact an error. When possible,
proper names were checked against the index for extra surety.


Chapter 2, "All around Scroti the country is perfectly flat" changed to
"All around Serotli".

Chapter 2, "one species of plants" changed to "one species of plant".

Chapter 3, "a fire specimen of arboreal beauty" changed to "a fine
specimen".

Chapter 12, "till a stranger, happening to come to visit Santaru"
changed to "to visit Santuru".

Chapter 14, "the orders of Sekeletu as as to our companions" changed to
"the orders of Sekeletu as to our companions".

Chapter 14, "while Mashuana plants the poles" changed to "while
Mashauana".

Chapter 15, "In other cases I have known them turn back" changed to "In
other cases I have known them to turn back".

Chapter 20, p. 438, "to make a canal from Calumbo to Loando" changed
to "from Calumbo to Loanda". (Loando, while correct, is otherwise only
given in the full Portuguese name.)

Chapter 26, "we saw the Batoko" changed to "we saw the Batoka".

Chapter 28, "with whom Lekwebu had lived" changed to "with whom
Sekwebu".



Accented Characters in Words:


To maintain an easily searchable text, accented or special characters
have been discarded. The following is a pretty complete list of the
words in the text which were originally accented. They appear more or
less in the order in which they first appeared with the accent--often
the accents were dropped in the original. In each case, the accent
follows the appropriate letter, the "ae" and "oe" combinations are
represented as (ae) and (oe), [\], [/], [~], [^] and [-] represent
the accent that looks like them which would appear above the preceding
letter. [=] represents an accent that looks like the bottom half of
a circle, also appearing above the letter, ["] is an umlaut, and [,]
represents a cedilla.


Athen(ae)um > Athenaeum
Bakwa/in > Bakwain
Mabo/tsa > Mabotsa
Bechua/na > Bechuana
Seche/le > Sechele
Chonua/ne > Chonuane
Bakalaha/ri > Bakalahari
hy(ae)na > hyaena
tse/tse > tsetse
Banajo/a > Banajoa
man(oe)uvre > manoeuvre
Bato-ka > Batoka
Loye/lo > Loyelo
Mamba/ri > Mambari
mopane/ > mopane
Balo=nda > Balonda
Sekele/nke > Sekelenke
Mane/nko > Manenko
Sheako/ndo > Sheakondo
Nyamoa/na > Nyamoana
Kolimbo/ta > Kolimbota
Samba/nza > Sambanza
N~uana Loke/ > Nyuana Loke
larv(ae) > larvae
de/tour > detour
cicad(ae) > cicadae
Korwe/ > Korwe
Moni/na > Monina
Bonya/i > Bonyai
Conge/ > Conge
Bua/ze > Buaze
Leche/ > Leche
Bakue/na > Bakuena
Shokua/ne > Shokuane
Lepelo/le > Lepelole
Litubaru/ba > Litubaruba
Baka/a > Bakaa
Bamangwa/to > Bamangwato
Makala/ka > Makalaka
Letlo/che > Letloche
n~ami > nyami
n~aka > nyaka
Matebe/le > Matebele
Seko/mi > Sekomi
Baka/tla > Bakatla
Meba/lwe > Mebalwe
Batla/pi > Batlapi
Bata/u > Batau
Bano/ga > Banoga
Mokwa/in > Mokwain
Leko/a > Lekoa
Mako/a > Makoa
Mochoase/le > Mochoasele
Limpo/po > Limpopo
Bangwake/tse > Bangwaketse
Sebitua/ne > Sebituane
Makolo/lo > Makololo
Kalaha/ri > Kalahari
mimos(ae) > mimosae
vertebr(ae) > vertebrae
thoae/la > thoaela
tsesse/be > tsessebe
Mosilika/tze > Mosilikatze
Batlo/kua > Batlokua
Bahu/keng > Bahukeng
Bamose/tla > Bamosetla
Manta/tees > Mantatees
Ka-ke > Kake
Matlame/tlo > Matlametlo
(Ae)sop > Aesop
cucurbitace(ae) > cucurbitaceae
Leroshu/a > Leroshua
Ke-me > Keme
simi(ae) > simiae
du"iker > duiker
Mona/to > Monato
Boatlana/ma > Boatlanama
Lope/pe > Lopepe
Mashu"e > Mashue
Lobota/ni > Lobotani
leguminos(ae) > leguminosae
Ramoto/bi > Ramotobi
Mohotlua/ni > Mohotluani
"Kia itume/la" > "Kia itumela"
"Kia time/la" > "Kia timela"
"Ki time/tse" > "Ki timetse"
Moko/ko > Mokoko
Mathulua/ni > Mathuluani
Mokokonya/ni > Mokokonyani
Lotlaka/ni > Lotlakani
Ngabisa/ne > Ngabisane
Bako/ba > Bakoba
Tzo- > Tzo
Bataua/na > Batauana
Lechulate/be > Lechulatebe
More/mi > Moremi
moheto/lo > mohetolo
kuabao-ba > kuabaoba
tumo-go > tumogo
ife/ > ife
Bakuru/tse > Bakurutse
Ntwe/twe > Ntwetwe
Matlomagan-ya/na > Matlomagan-yana
Sichua/na > Sichuana
Maha/be > Mahabe
aroid(oe)a > aroidoea
Maja/ne > Majane
Moro/a > Moroa
Baro/tse > Barotse
Nalie/le > Naliele
Seshe/ke > Sesheke
e- e- e- > ee ee ee
(ae) (ae) (ae) > ae ae ae
Maha/le > Mahale
Namaga/ri > Namagari
Basu/tu > Basutu
Sikonye/le > Sikonyele
Maka/be > Makabe
Damara/s > Damaras
Bashubi/a > Bashubia
C(ae)sar > Caesar
Kafu/e > Kafue
Tlapa/ne > Tlapane
Ramosi/nii/ > Ramosinii
Baloia/na > Baloiana
Bihe/ > Bihe
tse/pe > tsepe
acme/ > acme
lamell(ae) > lamellae
ngotuane/ > ngotuane
diarrh(oe)a > diarrhoea
natur(ae) > naturae
herni(ae) > herniae
Serina/ne > Serinane
Lesho/nya > Leshonya
ka/ma > kama
ta-ri > tari
formul(ae) > formulae
prote/ge/es > protegees
prim(ae)val > primaeval
lamin(ae) > laminae
lopane/ > lopane
Kandeha/i > Kandehai
Mamochisa/ne > Mamochisane
Mpe/pe > Mpepe
Nokua/ne > Nokuane
"Nsepi/sa" > "Nsepisa"
Banye/ti > Banyeti
boya/loa > boyaloa
o-a/lo > o-alo
bu/za > buza
minuti(ae) > minutiae
Moti/be > Motibe
hypog(oe)a > hypogoea
Bapa/lleng > Bapalleng
Cho- > Cho
Tso- > Tso
"Ho-o-!" > "Ho-o!"
Mako-a > Makoa
Seko-a > Sekoa
Makolo/kue > Makolokue
Bape-ri > Baperi
Bapo- > Bapo
Narie/le > Nariele
giraff(ae) > giraffae
lechwe/s > lechwes
Luambe/ji > Luambeji
Luambe/si > Luambesi
Ambe/zi > Ambezi
Ojimbe/si > Ojimbesi
Zambe/si > Zambesi
Tianya/ne > Tianyane
Lebeo/le > Lebeole
Sisinya/ne > Sisinyane
Molo=iana > Moloiana
"tau e to=na" > "tau e tona"
"Sau e to=na" > "Sau e tona"
Lo=nda > Londa
Ambo=nda > Ambonda
n~ake > nyake
"Kua-!" > "Kua!"
moshe/ba > mosheba
Name/ta > Nameta
Masi/ko > Masiko
Pitsa/ne > Pitsane
Sekobinya/ne > Sekobinyane
Mashaua/na > Mashauana
mogame/tsa > mogametsa
mamo/sho > mamosho
moshomo/sho > moshomosho
Babi/mpe > Babimpe
Mosa/ntu > Mosantu
Mosioatu/nya > Mosioatunya
Sima/h > Simah
Bo=nda > Bonda
Lonko/nye > Lonkonye
leko/to > lekoto
Shinte/ > Shinte
Kabo/mpo > Kabompo
Samoa/na > Samoana
Baloba/le > Balobale
hakite/nwe > hakitenwe
polu/ma > poluma
Matia/mvo > Matiamvo
Monaka/dzi > Monakadzi
Inteme/se > Intemese
Saloi/sho > Saloisho
Scottice\ > Scottice
Mokwa/nkwa > Mokwankwa
"Moka/la a Ma/ma" > "Mokala a Mama"
n~uana Kalueje > nyuana Kalueje
typhoi"deum > typhoideum
loke/sh > lokesh
Soa/na Molo/po > Soana Molopo
Mozi/nkwa > Mozinkwa
Livo/a > Livoa
Chifuma/dze > Chifumadze
Shakatwa/la > Shakatwala
Quende/nde > Quendende
Muata ya/nvo > Muata yanvo
mua/ta > muata
Kange/nke > Kangenke
Moe/ne > Moene
Lo=lo= > Lolo
Lishi/sh > Lishish
Li/ss > Liss
Kalile/me > Kalileme
Ishidi/sh > Ishidish
Molo/ng > Molong
sela/li > selali
Mone/nga > Monenga
Moso/go > Mosogo
Monenga-wo-o- > Monenga-wo-o
Kasimaka/te > Kasimakate
ilo/lo > ilolo
Kate/nde > Katende
Loke/ > Loke
Kalo/mba > Kalomba
Tote/lo > Totelo
Averie/ > Averie
Loze/ze > Lozeze
Kasa/bi > Kasabi
Kalu/ze > Kaluze
Chihune/ > Chihune
Chiho/mbo > Chihombo
Banga/la > Bangala
Chika/pa > Chikapa
Loya/nke > Loyanke
Sakanda/la > Sakandala
Bashinje/ > Bashinje
Babinde/le > Babindele
Kamboe/la > Kamboela
Caba/ngo > Cabango
Qua/ngo > Quango
Sansa/we/ > Sansawe
cyclop(ae)dia > cyclopaedia
Kassanje/ > Kassanje
Catende/ > Catende
via^ > via
Laurence Jose/ Marquis > Laurence Jose Marquis
El(ae)is > Elaeis
Salvador Correa de Sa/ Benevides > Salvador Correa de Sa Benevides
Algoda~o Americana > Algodao Americana
Cercopid(ae) > Cercopidae
graminace(ae) > graminaceae
Pedro Joa~o Baptista > Pedro Joao Baptista
Antonio Jose/ > Antonio Jose
Senhor Grac,a > Senhor Graca
al(ae) > alae
Kama/ue > Kamaue
Sylviad(ae) > Sylviadae
Muanza/nza > Muanzanza
Zaire/ > Zaire
Zere/zere/ > Zerezere
alg(ae) > algae
Tanganye/nka > Tanganyenka
ae"rial > aerial
arac,a > araca
Limbo-a > Limboa
Lofuje/ > Lofuje
Boie/ > Boie
hygie\ne > hygiene
Sekwe/bu > Sekwebu
Ntlarie/ > Ntlarie
Nkwatle/le > Nkwatlele
Moriantsa/ne > Moriantsane
Nampe/ne > Nampene
Leko/ne > Lekone
Seko/te > Sekote
Kala/i > Kalai
"motse/ oa barimo" > "motse oa barimo"
Loye/la > Loyela
Mokwine/ > Mokwine
mane/ko > maneko
motsintse/la > motsintsela
pup(ae) > pupae
Pelop(ae)us > Pelopaeus
Mburu/ma > Mburuma
Nyungwe/ > Nyungwe
Sindese Oale/a > Sindese Oalea
ae"rolites > aerolites
Chowe/ > Chowe
Banya/i > Banyai
Moho/hu > Mohohu
Cho/be > Chobe
Boro/ma > Boroma
Nyampu/ngo > Nyampungo
Katolo/sa > Katolosa
Monomota/pa > Monomotapa
Su/sa > Susa
Nyate/we > Nyatewe
More/na > Morena
Monomoi/zes > Monomoizes
Monemui/ges > Monemuiges
Monomui/zes > Monomuizes
Monomota/pistas > Monomotapistas
Mota/pe > Motape
Babi/sa > Babisa
Bazizu/lu > Bazizulu
Masho/na > Mashona
Moruru/rus > Morururus
Boro/mo > Boromo
Nyako/ba > Nyakoba
moku/ri > mokuri
shekabaka/dzi > shekabakadzi
Loko/le > Lokole
Mazo/e > Mazoe
Te/te > Tete
Te/tte > Tette
hom(oe)opathic > homoeopathic
chrysomelid(ae) > chrysomelidae
Lofu/bu > Lofubu
Revu/bu > Revubu
Morongo/zi > Morongozi
Nyamboro/nda > Nyamboronda
brac,a > braca
Mashi/nga > Mashinga
Shindu/ndo > Shindundo
Missa/la > Missala
Kapa/ta > Kapata
Ma/no > Mano
Ja/wa > Jawa
Panya/me > Panyame
Dambara/ri > Dambarari
Abu/tua > Abutua
Mani/ca > Manica
hypog(ae)a > hypogaea
Kansa/la > Kansala
Luapu/ra > Luapura
Luame/ji > Luameji
Muro/mbo > Murombo
shitakote/ko > shitakoteko
Mpa/mbe > Mpambe
Nya/mpi > Nyampi
Za/mbi > Zambi
e/clat > eclat
pharmacop(oe)ia > pharmacopoeia
Goo- > Go-o
amenorrh(oe)a > amenorrhoea
Inya/kanya/nya > Inyakanyanya
Morumba/la > Morumbala
Nyamo/nga > Nyamonga
Gorongo/zo > Gorongozo
Sofa/la > Sofala
Sabi/a > Sabia
Senhor Ferra~o > Senhor Ferrao
Nje/fu > Njefu
Maza/ro > Mazaro
Baro/ro > Baroro
Lu/abo > Luabo
Muse/lo > Muselo
Nyangu/e > Nyangue
Sen~or > Senor
Aseve/do > Asevedo
Mu/tu > Mutu
Panga/zi > Pangazi
Lua/re > Luare
Likua/re > Likuare
Maiu"do > Maiudo