however great,
constitutes but a small portion of the waste, and made us feel that
unless the slave-trade--that monster iniquity, which has so long brooded
over Africa--is put down, lawful commerce cannot be established.

We believed that, if it were possible to get a steamer upon the Lake, we
could by her means put a check on the slavers from the East Coast; and
aid more effectually still in the suppression of the slave-trade, by
introducing, by way of the Rovuma, a lawful traffic in ivory. We
therefore unscrewed the "Lady Nyassa" at a rivulet about five hundred
yards below the first cataract, and began to make a road over the thirty-
five or forty miles of land portage, by which to carry her up piecemeal.
After mature consideration, we could not imagine a more noble work of
benevolence, than thus to introduce light and liberty into a quarter of
this fair earth, which human lust has converted into the nearest possible
resemblance of what we conceive the infernal regions to be--and we
sacrificed much of our private resources as an offering for the promotion
of so good a cause.

The chief part of the labour of road-making consisted in cutting down
trees and removing stones. The country being covered with open forest, a
small tree had to be cut about every fifty or sixty yards. The land near
the river was so very much intersected by ravines, that search had to be
made, a mile from its banks, for more level ground. Experienced
Hottentot drivers would have taken Cape wagons without any other trouble
than that of occasionally cutting down a tree. No tsetse infested this
district, and the cattle brought from Johanna flourished on the abundant
pasture. The first half-mile of road led up, by a gradual slope, to an
altitude of two hundred feet above the ship, and a sensible difference of
climate was felt even there. For the remainder of the distance the
height increased,--till, at the uppermost cataract, we were more than
1200 feet above the sea. The country here, having recovered from the
effects of the drought, was bright with young green woodland, and
mountains of the same refreshing hue. But the absence of the crowds,
which had attended us as we carried up the boat, when the women followed
us for miles with fine meal, vegetables, and fat fowls for sale, and the
boys were ever ready for a little job--and the oppressive stillness bore
heavily on our spirits. The Portuguese of Tette had very effectually
removed our