A Book of Discovery: The History of the World's Exploration, From the Earliest Times to the Finding of the South PoleSynge, M. B. (Margaret Bertha)
History
A Book of Discovery: The History of the World's Exploration, From the Earliest Times to the Finding of the South Pole
Synge, M. B. (Margaret Bertha)
Discoveries in geography
It was Henry Morton Stanley, the travelling correspondent of the _New
York Herald_, sent at an expense of more than 4000 pounds to obtain
accurate information about Dr. Livingstone if living, and if dead to
bring home his bones.
[Illustration: LIVINGSTONE AT WORK ON HIS JOURNAL. From a sketch by
H. M. Stanley.]
And now Stanley takes up the story. He has entered Ujiji and heard
from the faithful Susi that the explorer yet lives. Pushing back the
crowds of natives, Stanley advanced down "a living avenue of people"
till he came to where "the white man with the long grey beard was
standing."
"As I advanced slowly towards him," says Stanley, "I noticed he was
pale, looked worried, wore a bluish cap with a faded gold band round
it, had on a red-sleeved waistcoat and a pair of grey tweed trousers.
I walked deliberately to him, took off my hat, and said, 'Dr.
Livingstone, I presume?'
"'Yes,' said he, with a kind smile, lifting his cap slightly.
"Then we both grasp hands and I say aloud, 'I thank God, Doctor, I
have been permitted to see you.'
"'You have brought me new life--new life,' murmured the tired
explorer," and for the next few days it was enough for the two
Englishmen to sit on the mud verandah of Livingstone's house, talking.
Livingstone soon grew better, and November found the two explorers
surveying the river flowing from the north of Tanganyika and deciding
that it was not the Nile.
Stanley now did his best to persuade Livingstone to return home with
him to recruit his shattered health before finishing his work of
exploration. But the explorer, tired and out of health though he was,
utterly refused. He must complete the exploration of the sources of
the Nile before he sought that peace and comfort at home for which
he must have yearned.
So the two men parted--Stanley to carry Livingstone's news of the
discovery of the Congo back to Europe, Livingstone to end his days
on the lonely shores of Lake Bangweolo, leaving the long-sought
mystery of the Nile sources yet unsolved.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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