infested with leopards and lions,
is always preferable, for one is free from vermin, and free from
curiosity gazers, who in the village think they have a right to stare,
but in the forest feel that they are not on an equality with
strangers.

[It was on the 18th of July, 1868, we see that Dr. Livingstone
discovered one of the largest of the Central African Lakes. It is
extraordinary to notice the total absence of all pride and enthusiasm,
as--almost parenthetically--he records the fact.]

_17th and 18th July, 1868._--Reached the chief village of Mapuni, near
the north bank of Bangweolo. On the 18th I walked a little way out
and saw the shores of the Lake for the first time, thankful that I had
come safely hither.

I told the chief that my goods were all expended, and gave him a
fathom of calico as all I could spare: I told him that as soon as I
had seen and measured the Lake I would return north; he replied, that
seeing our goods were done he could say nothing, he would give me
guides, and what else he should do was known to himself. He gave a
public reception at once. I asked if he had ever seen anyone like me,
and he said, "Never." A Babisa traveller asked me why I had come so
far; I said I wished to make the country and people better known to
the rest of the world, that we were all children of one Father, and I
was anxious that we should know each other better, and that friendly
visits should be made in safety. I told him what the Queen had done to
encourage the growth of cotton on the Zambezi, and how we had been
thwarted by slave-traders and their abettors: they were pleased with
this. When asked I showed them my note-book, watch, compass,
burning-glass, and was loudly drummed home.

I showed them the Bible, and told them a little of its contents. I
shall require a few days more at Bangweolo than I at first intended.
The moon being in its last stage of waning I cannot observe till it is
of some size.

_19th July, 1868._--Went down to Masantu's village, which is on the
shore of the Lake, and by a spring called Chipoka, which comes out of
a mass of disintegrated granite. It is seldom that we see a spring
welling out beneath a rock: they are covered by oozing sponges, if
indeed they exist. Here we had as a spectator a man walking on stilts
tied to his ankles and knees. There are a great many Babisa among the
people. The women have their hair ornamented with strings of cowries,
and well oiled with the oil and f