ts
for the journey down the Zambesi to the sea, for which he was now making
preparations.

On 3rd November he was ready to resume his long march across Africa.
He was much better equipped on this occasion; he rode a horse instead
of an ox, and his guide, Sekwebu, knew the river well. The first night
out they were unfortunately caught in a terrific thunderstorm
accompanied by sheet-lightning, which lit up the whole country and
flooded it with torrents of tropical rain.

A few days' travelling brought the party to the famous Zambesi Falls,
called by the natives "where smoke sounds," but renamed by Livingstone
after the Queen of England, Victoria. The first account of these now
famous Falls is very vivid. "Five columns of vapour, appropriately
named smoke, bending in the direction of the wind, appeared to mingle
with the clouds. The whole scene was extremely beautiful. It had never
been seen before by European eyes. When about half a mile from the
Falls, I left the canoe and embarked in a lighter one with men well
acquainted with the rapids, who brought me to an island in the middle
of the river and on the edge of the lip over which the water rolls.
Creeping with care to the verge, I peered down into a large rent which
had been made from bank to bank of the broad Zambesi. In looking down
into the fissure one sees nothing but a dense white cloud; from this
cloud rushed up a great jet of vapour exactly like steam, and it mounted
two or three hundred feet high."

[Illustration: THE "SMOKE" OF THE ZAMBESI (VICTORIA) FALLS. After a
drawing in Livingstone's _Missionary Travels_.]

Livingstone now continued his perilous journey with his hundred men
along the Zambesi, the country once densely populated, now desolate
and still. The Bakota tribes, "the colour of coffee and milk," were
friendly, and "great numbers came from all the surrounding villages
and expressed great joy at the appearance of a white man and harbinger
of peace." They brought in large supplies of food, and expressed great
delight when Livingstone doctored their children, who were suffering
from whooping-cough. As they neared the coast, they became aware of
hostile forces. This was explained when they were met by a Portuguese
half-caste "with jacket and hat on," who informed them that for the
last two years they had been fighting the natives. Plunging thus
unconsciously into the midst of a Kafir war rendered travelling
unpleasant and dangerous. In addition, th