On all old Portuguese maps, indeed on all Portuguese maps issued prior to Livingstone’s journeys, there was but scanty recognition of the Zambezi as a great river. It was usually referred to as the “rivers of Sena,” the general impression being that it consisted of a series of parallel streams. No doubt this idea arose from its large delta; on one or two maps, however, the course of the Zambezi is laid down pretty correctly from its confluence with the Kafue to the sea; but the fact cannot be denied that its importance as a waterway was quite unknown to the Portuguese, who usually reached it overland from Quelimane and travelled by land along its banks in preference to navigating its uncertain waters. The Shire was literally unknown, except at its junction with the Zambezi. The name of this river was usually spelt Cherim, but its etymology lies in the Mañanja word _chiri_, which means “a steep bank.” Admiral W. F. W. Owen, who conducted a most remarkable series of surveying cruises along the West and East coasts of Africa in the early part of the 19th century, was the first to make the fact clearly known that a ship of light draught might enter the mouth of the Zambezi from the sea and travel up as far as Sena. Livingstone’s great journey across the African continent in the earlier fifties attracted the attention of the British nation and Government to the possibilities of this region, so highly favoured by nature in its rich soil and valuable productions. Livingstone was appointed Consul at Quelimane, and placed at the head of a well-equipped expedition intended to explore the Zambezi river and its tributaries. Prior to this the Portuguese had abolished the slave trade by law, though slavery did not cease as a legal status till 1878, and had thrown open Portuguese East Africa to the commerce of all nations; and undoubtedly these two actions were an encouragement to the British Government to participate in the development of Southeast Africa, especially as Livingstone’s journeys had shown conclusively that the rule of the Portuguese did not extend very far inland, nor to any great distance from the banks of the lower Zambezi. The second Livingstone expedition may, therefore, be regarded as the first indirect step towards the foundation of the present Protectorate over British Central Africa (Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia), which dependencies follow to a great extent in their frontiers the delimitations suggested by Dr Livingstone at the close of his second expedition.