The Personal Life of David Livingstone: Chiefly from his Unpublished Journals and Correspondence in the Possession of His FamilyBlaikie, William Garden
Religion
The Personal Life of David Livingstone: Chiefly from his Unpublished Journals and Correspondence in the Possession of His Family
Blaikie, William Garden
Livingstone, David, 1813-1873
"This agent is about the same in appearance as Mebalwe, and
speaks Portuguese as the Griquas do Dutch. He has two
chainsful of women going to be sold for the ivory. Formerly
the trade went from the interior into the Portuguese
territory; now it goes the opposite way. This is the effect
of the Portuguese love of the trade: they cannot send them
abroad on account of our ships of war on the coast, yet will
sell them to the best advantage. These women are
decent-looking, as much so as the general run of Kuruman
ladies, and' were caught lately in a skirmish the Portuguese
had with their tribe; and they will be sold for about three
tusks each. Each has an iron ring round the wrist, and that
is attached to the chain, which she carries in the hand to
prevent it jerking and hurting the wrist. How would Nannie
like to be thus treated? and yet it is only by the goodness
of God in appointing our lot in different circumstances that
we are not similarly degraded, for we have the same evil
nature, which is so degraded in them as to allow of men
treating them as beasts.
"I long for the time when I shall see you again. I hope in
God's mercy for that pleasure. How are my dear ones? I have
not seen any equal to them since I put them on board ship. My
brave little dears! I only hope God will show us mercy, and
make them good too....
"I work at the interior languages when I have a little time,
and also at Portuguese, which I like from being so much like
Latin. Indeed, when I came I understood much that was said
from its similarity to that tongue, and when I interlarded my
attempts at Portuguese with Latin, or spoke it entirely, they
understood me very well. The Negro language is not so easy,
but I take a spell at it every day I can. It is of the same
family of languages as the Sichuana....
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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