nfortunate vessel.

Rain and sickness often delayed him, but on the whole his return journey
was easier. He took with him from Loanda a large stock of presents for
the chiefs, and they were no longer strangers. And when he came among
the villages of the Makololo, the whole tribe turned out to welcome him,
and the good missionary held a thanksgiving service in the presence of
all the people. Oxen were killed round the fires at night, drums were
beaten, and with dance and song the people filled the air far above the
crowns of the bread-fruit trees with sounds of gladness. Sekeletu was
still friendly, and was given a discarded colonel's uniform from Loanda.
In this he appeared at church on Sunday, and attracted more attention
than the preacher and the service. His gratitude was so great that when
Livingstone set out to the east coast he presented his white friend with
ten slaughter oxen, three of his best riding oxen, and provisions for
the way. And more than that, he ordered a hundred and twenty warriors to
escort him, and gave directions that, as far as his power extended over
the forests and fields, all hunters and tillers of the ground should
provide the white man and his retinue with everything they wanted. Not
the least remarkable circumstance connected with Livingstone's travels
was that he was able to carry them out without any material help from
home. He was the friend of the natives, and travelled for long distances
as their guest.

Now his route ran along the bank of the Zambesi, an unknown road. During
his earlier visit to Linyanti he had heard of a mighty waterfall on the
river, and now he discovered this African Niagara, which he named the
Victoria Falls. Above the falls the river is 1800 yards broad, and the
huge volumes of water dash down foaming and roaring over a barrier of
basalt 390 feet high to the depth beneath. The water boils and bubbles
as in a kettle, and is confined in a rocky chasm in some places barely
50 yards broad. Clouds of spray and vapour hover constantly above the
fall, and the natives call it "the smoking water." Among the general
public in Europe, Livingstone's description of the Victoria Falls made a
deeper impression than any of his other discoveries, so thoroughly
unexpected was the discovery in Africa of a waterfall which could match,
nay in many respects surpass, Niagara in wild beauty and imposing power.
Now a railway passes over the Falls, and a place has grown up which
bears t