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
Mokalaose thinks that the Arabs are afraid that I may take their dhows
from them and go up to the north. He and the other headmen think that
the best way will be to go to Mukate's in the south. All the Arabs
flee from me, the English name being in their minds inseparably
connected with recapturing slavers: they cannot conceive that I have
any other object in view; they cannot read Seyed Majid's letter.
_21st August, 1866._--Started for the Loangwa, on the east side of the
Lake; hilly all the way, about seven miles. This river may be twenty
yards wide near its confluence; the Misinje is double that: each has
accumulated a promontory of deposit and enters the Lake near its apex.
We got a house from a Waiyau man on a bank about forty feet above the
level of Nyassa, but I could not sleep for the manoeuvres of a crowd
of the minute ants which infested it. They chirrup distinctly; they
would not allow the men to sleep either, though all were pretty tired
by the rough road up.
_22nd August, 1866._--We removed to the south side of the Loangwa,
where there are none of these little pests.
_23rd August, 1866._--Proposed to the Waiyau headman to send a canoe
over to call Jumbe, as I did not believe in the assertions of the
half-caste Arab here that he had sent for his. All the Waiyau had
helped me, and why not he? He was pleased with this, but advised
waiting till a man sent to Losewa should return.
_24th August, 1866._--A leopard took a dog out of a house next to
ours; he had bitten a man before, but not mortally. _29th August,
1866._--News come that the two dhows have come over to Losewa
(Losefa). The Mazitu had chased Jumbe up the hills: had they said, on
to an island, I might have believed them.
_30th August,1866._--The fear which the English have inspired in the
Arab slave-traders is rather inconvenient. All flee from me as if I
had the plague, and I cannot in consequence transmit letters to the
coast, or get across the Lake. They seem to think that if I get into a
dhow I will be sure to burn it. As the two dhows on the Lake are used
for nothing else but the slave-trade, their owners have no hope of my
allowing them to escape, so after we have listened to various lies as
excuses, we resolve to go southwards, and cross at the point of
departure of the Shire from the Lake. I took lunars several times on
both sides of the moon, and have written a despatch for Lord
Clarendon, besides a number of private letters.
_3rd September, 1866._--Went down to confluence of the Misinje and
came to many of the eatable insect "kungu,"--they are caught by a
quick motion of the hand holding a basket. We got a cake of these same
insects further down; they make a buzz like a swarm of bees, and are
probably the perfect state of some Lake insect.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account