The Last Journals of David Livingstone, in Central Africa, from 1865 to His Death, Volume I (of 2), 1866-1868Livingstone, David
History
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
In passing along westwards after leaving the end of the range, we came
first of all on sandstone hardened by fire; then masses of granite, as
if in that had been contained the igneous agency of partial
metamorphosis; it had also lifted up the sandstone, so as to cause a
dip to the east. Then the syenite or granite seemed as if it had been
melted, for it was all in striae, which striae, as they do elsewhere,
run east and west. With the change in geological structure we get a
different vegetation. Instead of the laurel-leaved trees of various
kinds, we have African ebonies, acacias, and mimosae: the grass is
shorter and more sparse, and we can move along without wood-cutting.
We were now opposite a hill on the south called Simba, a lion, from
its supposed resemblance to that animal. A large Mabiha population
live there, and make raids occasionally over to this side for slaves.
_6th May, 1866._--Tsetse again. The animals look drowsy. The cow's eye
is dimmed; when punctured, the skin emits a stream of scarlet blood.
The people hereabouts seem intelligent and respectful. At service a
man began to talk, but when I said, "Ku soma Mlungu,"--"we wish to
pray to God," he desisted. It would be interesting to know what the
ideas of these men are, and to ascertain what they have gained in
their communings with nature during the ages past. They do not give
the idea of that boisterous wickedness and disregard of life which we
read of in our own dark ages, but I have no one to translate, although
I can understand much of what is said on common topics chiefly from
knowing other dialects.
_7th May, 1866._--A camel died during the night, and the grey buffalo
is in convulsions this morning. The cruelty of these sepoys vitiates
my experiment, and I quite expect many camels, one buffalo, and one
mule to die yet; they sit down and smoke and eat, leaving the animals
loaded in the sun. If I am not with them, it is a constant dawdling;
they are evidently unwilling to exert themselves, they cannot carry
their belts and bags, and their powers of eating and vomiting are
astounding. The Makonde villages are remarkably clean, but no sooner
do we pass a night in one than the fellows make it filthy. The climate
does give a sharp appetite, but these sepoys indulge it till relieved
by vomiting and purging. First of all they breakfast, then an hour
afterwards they are sitting eating the pocketfuls of corn maize they
have stolen and brought for the purpose, whilst I have to go ahead,
otherwise we may be misled into a zigzag course to see Ali's friends;
and if I remain behind to keep the sepoys on the move, it deprives me
of all the pleasure of travelling. We have not averaged four miles a
day in a straight line, yet the animals have often been kept in the
sun for eight hours at a stretch. When we get up at 4 A.M. we cannot
get under weigh before 8 o'clock. Sepoys are a mistake.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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