"To give an idea of the laboriousness of this branch of his work," he adds, "on an average each lunar distance consists of five partial observations, and there are 148 sets of distances, being 740 contacts,--and there are two altitudes of each object before, and two after, which, together with altitudes for time, amount to 2812 partial observations. But that is not the whole of his observations. Some of them intrusted to an Arab have not been received, and in reference to those transmitted he says, 'I have taken others which I do not think it necessary to send.' How completely all this stamps the impress of Livingstone on the interior of South Africa!... I say, what that man has done is unprecedented.... You could go to any point across the entire continent, along Livingstone's track, and feel certain of your position[49]." [Footnote 49: It seems unaccountable that in the face of such unrivaled testimonies, reflections should continue to be cast on Livingstone's scientific accuracy, even so late as the meeting of the British Association at Sheffield in 1879. The family of the late Sir Thomas Maclear have sent home his collection of Livingstone's papers. They fill a box which one man could with difficulty carry. And their mass is far from their most striking quality. The evidence of laborious, painstaking care to be accurate is almost unprecedented. Folio volumes of pages covered with figures show how much time and labor must have been spent in these computations. Explanatory remarks often indicate the particulars of the observation.] Following this unrivaled eulogium on the scientific powers of Livingstone came the testimony of Mr. Thompson to his missionary ardor: