laim, and endeavour to commence that system on
the East which has been so eminently successful on the West Coast; a
system combining the repressive efforts of H.M. cruisers with lawful
trade and Christian Missions--the moral and material results of which
have been so gratifying. I hope to ascend the Rovuma, or some other
river North of Cape Delgado, and, in addition to my other work, shall
strive, by passing along the Northern end of Lake Nyassa and round the
Southern end of Lake Tanganyika, to ascertain the watershed of that part
of Africa. In so doing, I have no wish to unsettle what with so much
toil and danger was accomplished by Speke and Grant, but rather to
confirm their illustrious discoveries.
I have to acknowledge the obliging readiness of Lord Russell in lending
me the drawings taken by the artist who was in the first instance
attached to the Expedition. These sketches, with photographs by Charles
Livingstone and Dr. Kirk, have materially assisted in the illustrations.
I would also very sincerely thank my friends Professor Owen and Mr.
Oswell for many valuable hints and other aid in the preparation of this
volume.
Newstead Abbey,
April 16, 1865.
THE ZAMBESI AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
INTRODUCTION.
Objects of the Expedition--Personal Interest shown by Naval
Authorities--Members of the Zambesi Expedition.
When first I determined on publishing the narrative of my "Missionary
Travels," I had a great misgiving as to whether the criticism my
endeavours might provoke would be friendly or the reverse, more
particularly as I felt that I had then been so long a sojourner in the
wilderness, as to be quite a stranger to the British public. But I am
now in this, my second essay at authorship, cheered by the conviction
that very many readers, who are personally unknown to me, will receive
this narrative with the kindly consideration and allowances of friends;
and that many more, under the genial influences of an innate love of
liberty, and of a desire to see the same social and religious blessings
they themselves enjoy, disseminated throughout the world, will sympathize
with me in the efforts by which I have striven, however imperfectly, to
elevate the position and character of our fellow-men in Africa. This
knowledge makes me doubly anxious to render my narrative acceptable to
all my readers; but, in the absence of any excellence in literary
composition, the natural consequence of my pursuits, I h
|