cise pretty sharply the
destination of the nation's money. "The Royal Geographical Society," he
writes to his parents (4th December, 1850), "have awarded twenty-five
guineas for the discovery of the lake. It is from the Queen. You must
be very loyal, all of you. Next time she comes your way, shout till you
are hoarse. Oh, you Radicals, don't be thinking it came out of your
pockets! Long live Victoria[31]!"

[Footnote 31: In a more serious vein he wrote in a previous letter: "I
wonder you do not go to see the Queen. I was as disloyal as others when
in England, for though I might have seen her in London, I never went. Do
you ever pray for her?" This letter is dated 5th February, 1850, and
must have been written before he heard of the prize.]

Defeated in his endeavor to reach Sebituane in 1849, Livingstone, the
following season, put in practice his favorite maxim, "Try again." He
left Kolobeng in April, 1850, and this time he was accompanied by
Sechele, Mebalwe, twenty Bakwains, Mrs. Livingstone, and their whole
troop of infantry, which now amounted to three. Traveling in the
charming climate of South Africa in the roomy wagon, at the pace of two
miles and a half an hour, is not like traveling at home; but it was a
proof of Livingstone's great unwillingness to be separated from his
family, that he took them with him, notwithstanding the risk of
mosquitoes, fever, and want of water. The people of Kolobeng were so
engrossed at the time with their employments, that till harvest was
over, little missionary work could be done.

The journey was difficult, and on the northern branch of the Zouga many
trees had to be cut down to allow the wagons to pass. The presence of a
formidable enemy was reported on the banks of the Tamanak'le,--the
tsetse-fly, whose bite is so fatal to oxen. To avoid it, another route
had to be chosen. When they got near the lake, it was found that fever
had recently attacked a party of Englishmen, one of whom had died, while
the rest recovered under the care of Dr. and Mrs. Livingstone.
Livingstone took his family to have a peep at the lake; "the children,"
he wrote, "took to playing in it as ducklings do. Paidling in it was
great fun." Great fun to them, who had seen little enough water for a
while; and in a quiet way, great fun to their father too,--his own
children "paidling" in his own lake! He was beginning to find that in a
missionary point of view, the presence of his wife and children was a
cons