d much against the advice of Mohamad, his trader friend and
companion, determined first to see the lake of which he had heard so
much. The consequence was a rebellion among his men. With the exception
of five, they refused to go with him. They had been considerably
demoralized by contact with the Arab trader and his slave-gang. Dr.
Livingstone took this rebellion with wonderful placidity, for in his own
mind he could not greatly blame them. It was no wonder they were tired
of the everlasting tramping, for he was sick of it himself. He reaped
the fruit of his mildness by the men coming back to him, on his return
from the lake, and offering their services. It cannot be said of him
that he was not disposed to make any allowance for human weakness. When
recording a fault, and how he dealt with it, he often adds,
"consciousness of my own defects makes me lenient." "I also have my
weaknesses."

The way to the lake was marked by fresh and lamentable tokens of the
sufferings of slaves. "_24th June_.--Six men-slaves were singing as if
they did not feel the weight and degradation of the slave-sticks. I
asked the cause of their mirth, and was told that they rejoiced at the
idea of 'coming back after death, and haunting and killing those who had
sold them,' Some of the words I had to inquire about; for instance, the
meaning of the words, 'to haunt and kill by spirit power,' then it was,
'Oh, you sent me off to Manga (sea-coast), but the yoke is off when I
die, and back I shall come to haunt and to kill you.' Then all joined in
the chorus, which was the name of each vendor. It told not of fun, but
of the bitterness and tears of such as were oppressed; and on the side
of the oppressors there was power. There be higher than they!"

His discovery of Lake Bangweolo is recorded as quietly as if it had been
a mill-pond: "On the 18th July, I walked a little way out, and saw the
shores of the lake for the first time, thankful that I had come safely
hither." The lake had several inhabited islands, which Dr. Livingstone
visited, to the great wonder of the natives, who crowded around him in
multitudes, never having seen such a curiosity as a white man before. In
the middle of the lake the canoe-men whom he had hired to carry him
across refused to proceed further, under the influence of some fear,
real or pretended, and he was obliged to submit. But the most
interesting, though not the most pleasant, thing about the lake, was the
ooze or spong