The Last Journals of David Livingstone, in Central Africa, from 1865 to His Death, Volume I (of 2), 1866-1868Livingstone, David
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The Last Journals of David Livingstone, in Central Africa, from 1865 to His Death, Volume I (of 2), 1866-1868
Livingstone, David
Africa, Central -- Description and travel
On leaving Lobemba we entered Ulungu, and, as we proceeded
northwards, perceived by the barometers and the courses of
numerous rivulets, that a decided slope lay in that direction. A
friendly old Ulungu chief, named Kasonso, on hearing that I
wished to visit Lake Liemba, which lies in his country, gave his
son with a large escort to guide me thither; and on the 2nd
April last we reached the brim of the deep cup-like cavity in
which the Lake reposes. The descent is 2000 feet, and still the
surface of the water is upwards of 2500 feet above the level of
the sea. The sides of the hollow are very steep, and sometimes
the rocks run the whole 2000 feet sheer down to the water.
Nowhere is there three miles of level land from the foot of the
cliffs to the shore, but top, sides, and bottom are covered with
well-grown wood and grass, except where the bare rocks protrude.
The scenery is extremely beautiful. The "Aeasy," a stream of 15
yards broad and thigh deep, came down alongside our precipitous
path, and formed cascades by leaping 300 feet at a time. These,
with the bright red of the clay schists among the
greenwood-trees, made the dullest of my attendants pause and
remark with wonder. Antelopes, buffaloes, and elephants abound
on the steep slopes; and hippopotami, crocodiles, and fish
swarm in the water. Gnus are here unknown, and these animals may
live to old age if not beguiled into pitfalls. The elephants
sometimes eat the crops of the natives, and flap their big ears
just outside the village stockades. One got out of our way on to
a comparatively level spot, and then stood and roared at us.
Elsewhere they make clear off at sight of man.
The first village we came to on the banks of the Lake had a
grove of palm-oil and other trees around it. This palm tree was
not the dwarf species seen on Lake Nyassa. A cluster of the
fruit passed the door of my hut which required two men to carry
it. The fruit seemed quite as large as those on the West Coast.
Most of the natives live on two islands, where they cultivate
the soil, rear goats, and catch fish. The Lake is not large,
from 15 to 20 miles broad, and from 30 to 40 long. It is the
receptacle of four considerable streams, and sends out an arm
two miles broad to the N.N.W., it is said to Tanganyika, and it
may be a branch of that Lake. One of the streams, the Lonzua,
drives a smooth body of water into the Lake fifty yards broad
and ten fathoms deep, bearing on its surface duckweed and grassy
islands. I could see the mouths of other streams, but got near
enough to measure the Lofu only; and at a ford fifty miles from
the confluence it was 100 yards wide and waist deep in the dry
season.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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