A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries: And of the Discovery of Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864Livingstone, David
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A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries: And of the Discovery of Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864
Livingstone, David
Africa, Central -- Description and travel; Africa, Central -- Discovery and exploration
It is rather a minute thing to mention, and it will only be understood by
those who have children of their own, but the cries of the little ones,
in their infant sorrows, are the same in tone, at different ages, here as
all over the world. We have been perpetually reminded of home and family
by the wailings which were once familiar to parental ears and heart, and
felt thankful that to the sorrows of childhood our children would never
have superadded the heartrending woes of the slave-trade.
Taking Chinsamba's advice to avoid the Mazitu in their marauding, we
started on the 5th September away to the N.E., and passed mile after mile
of native cornfields, with an occasional cotton-patch.
After a long march, we passed over a waterless plain about N.N.W. of the
hills of Tsenga to a village on the Lake, and thence up its shores to
Chitanda. The banks of the Lake were now crowded with fugitives, who had
collected there for the poor protection which the reeds afforded. For
miles along the water's edge was one continuous village of temporary
huts. The people had brought a little corn with them; but they said,
"What shall we eat when that is done? When we plant corn, the wild
beasts (Zinyama, as they call the Mazitu) come and take it. When we
plant cassava, they do the same. How are we to live?" A poor blind
woman, thinking we were Mazitu, rushed off in front of us with outspread
arms, lifting the feet high, in the manner peculiar to those who have
lost their sight, and jumped into the reeds of a stream for safety.
In our way along the shores we crossed several running rivulets of clear
cold water, which, from having reeds at their confluences, had not been
noticed in our previous exploration in the boat. One of these was called
Mokola, and another had a strong odour of sulphuretted hydrogen. We
reached Molamba on the 8th September, and found our old acquaintance,
Nkomo, there still. One of the advantages of travelling along the shores
of the Lake was, that we could bathe anywhere in its clear fresh water.
To us, who had been obliged so often to restrain our inclination in the
Zambesi and Shire for fear of crocodiles, this was pleasant beyond
measure. The water now was of the same temperature as it was on our
former visit, or 72 degrees Fahr. The immense depth of the Lake prevents
the rays of the sun from raising the temperature as high as that of the
Shire and Zambesi; and the crocodiles, having always clear water in the
Lake, and abundance of fish, rarely attack man; many of these reptiles
could be seen basking on the rocks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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