The Personal Life of David Livingstone/CHAPTER XVIII
CHAPTER XVIII.
FROM ENGLAND TO BOMBAY AND ZANZIBAR.
A.D. 1865-1866.
Object of new journey--Double scheme--He goes to Paris with Agnes--Baron Hausmann--Anecdote at Marseilles--He reaches Bombay--Letter to Agnes--Reminiscences of Dr. Livingstone at Bombay by Rev. D.C. Boyd--by Alex. Brown, Esq.--Livingstone's dress--He visits the caves of Kenhari--Rumors of murder of Baron van der Decken--He delivers a lecture at Bombay--Great success--He sells the "Lady Nyassa"--Letter to Mr. Young--Letter to Anna Mary--Hears that Dr. Kirk has got an appointment--Sets out for Zanzibar in "Thule"--Letter to Mr. Young--His experience at sea--Letter to Agnes--He reaches Zanzibar--Calls on Sultan--Presents the "Thule" to him from Bombay Government--Monotony of Zanzibar life--Leaves in "Penguin" for the continent.
The object for which Dr. Livingstone set out on his third and last great
African journey is thus stated in the preface to _The Zambesi and its
Tributaries:_ "Our Government have supported the proposal of the Royal
Geographical Society made by my friend Sir Roderick Murchison, and have
united with that body to aid me in another attempt to open Africa to
civilizing influences, and a valued private friend has given a thousand
pounds for the same object. I propose to go inland, north of the
territory which the Portuguese in Europe claim, and endeavor to commence
that system on the East which has been so eminently successful on the
West Coast: a system combining the repressive efforts of Her Majesty's
cruisers with lawful trade and Christian missions--the moral and
material results of which have been so gratifying. I hope to ascend the
Rovuma, or some other river north of Cape Delgado, and, in addition to
my other work, shall strive, by passing along the northern end of Lake
Nyassa, and round the southern end of Lake Tanganyika, to ascertain the
watershed of that part of Africa."
The first part of the scheme was his own, the second he had been urged to undertake by the Geographical Society. The sums in aid contributed by Government and the Geographical society were only £500 each; but it was not thought that the work would occupy a long time. The Geographical Society coupled their contribution with some instructions as to observations and reports which seemed to Dr. Livingstone needlessly stringent, and which certainly ruffled his relation to the Society. The honorary position of Consul at large he was willing to accept for the sake of the influence which it gave him, though still retaining his opinion of the shabbiness which had so explicitly bargained that he was to have no salary and to expect no pension.
The truth is, if Livingstone had not been the most single-minded and trustful of men, he would never have returned to Africa on such terms. The whole sum placed at his disposal was utterly inadequate to defray the cost of the Expedition, and support his family at home. Had it not been for promises that were never fulfilled, he would not have left his family at this time as he did. But in nothing is the purity of his character seen more beautifully than in his bearing toward some of those who had gained not a little consideration by their connection with him, and had made him fair promises, but left him to work on as best he might. No trace of bitter feeling disturbed him or abated the strength of his love and confidence.
Dr Livingston went first to Paris with his daughter, and left her there for education. Passing on he reached Marseilles on the 19th August, and wrote her a few lines, in which he informed her that the man who was now transforming Paris [Baron Hausmann] was a Protestant, and had once taught a Sunday-school in the south of France; and that probably he had greater pleasure in the first than in the second work. The remark had a certain applicability to his own case, and probably let out a little of his own feeling; it showed at least his estimate of the relative place of temporal and spiritual philanthropy. The prayer that followed was expressive of his deepest feelings toward his best-beloved on earth: "May the Almighty qualify you to be a blessing to those around you, wherever your lot is cast. I know that you hate all that is mean and false. May God make you good, and to delight in doing good to others. If you ask He will give abundantly. The Lord bless you!"
From a Bombay gentleman who was his fellow-traveler to India a little anecdote has casually come to our knowledge illustrating the unobtrusiveness of Livingstone--his dislike to be made a lion of. At the _table-d'hôte_ of the hotel in Marseilles, where some Bombay merchants were sitting, the conversation turned on Africa in connection with ivory--an extensive article of trade in Bombay. One friend dropped the remark, "I wonder where that old chap Livingstone is now." To his surprise and discomfiture, a voice replied, "Here he is." They were fast friends all through the voyage that followed. Little of much interest happened during that voyage. Livingstone writes that Palgrave was in Cairo when he passed through, but he did not see him. Of Baker he could hear nothing. Miss Tinné, the Dutch lady, of whom he thought highly as a traveler, had not been very satisfactory to the religious part of the English community at Cairo. Miss Whately was going home for six weeks, but was to be back to her Egyptian Ragged School. He saw the end of the Lesseps Canal, about the partial opening of which they were making a great noise. Many thought it would succeed, though an Egyptian Commodore had said to him, "It is hombog." The Red Sea was fearfully hot and steamy. The "Lady Nyassa" hung like a millstone around his neck, and he was prepared to sell her for whatever she might bring. Bombay was reached on 11th September.
TO AGNES LIVINGSTONE.
"_Bombay, 20th Sept_., 1865.--... By advice of the Governor,
I went up to Nassick to see if the Africans there under
Government instruction would suit my purpose as members of
the Expedition. I was present at the examination of a large
school under Mr. Price by the Bishop of Bombay. It is partly
supported by Government. The pupils (108) are not exclusively
African, but all showed very great proficiency. They excelled
in music. I found some of the Africans to have come from
parts I know--one from Ndonde on the Rovuma--and all had
learned some handicraft, besides reading, writing, etc., and
it is probable that some of them will go back to their own
country with me. Eight have since volunteered to go. Besides
these I am to get some men from the 'Marine Battalion,' who
have been accustomed to rough it in various ways, and their
pensions will be given to their widows if they should die.
The Governor (Sir Bartle Frere) is going to do what he can
for my success.
"After going back to Bombay I came up to near Poonah, and am
now at Government House, the guest of the Governor.
"Society here consists mainly of officers and their wives....
Miss Frere, in the absence of Lady Frere, does the honors of
the establishment, and very nicely she does it. She is very
clever, and quite unaffected--very like her father....
"Christianity is gradually diffusing itself, leavening as it
were in various ways the whole mass. When a man becomes a
professor of Christianity, he is at present cast out,
abandoned by all his relations, even by wife and children.
This state of things makes some who don't care about
Christian progress say that all Christian servants are
useless. They are degraded by their own countrymen, and
despised by others, but time will work changes. Mr. Maine,
who came out here with us, intends to introduce a law whereby
a convert deserted by his wife may marry again. It is in
accordance with the text in Corinthians--If an unbelieving
wife depart, let her depart. People will gradually show more
sympathy with the poor fellows who come out of heathenism,
and discriminate between the worthy and unworthy. You should
read Lady Buff Gordon's _Letters from, Egypt_. They show a
nice sympathizing heart, and are otherwise very interesting.
She saw the people as they are. Most people see only the
outsides of things.... Avoid all nasty French novels. They
are very injurious, and effect a lasting injury on the mind
and heart. I go up to Government House again three days
hence, and am to deliver two lectures,--one at Poonah and one
at Bombay."
Some slight reminiscences of Livingstone at Bombay, derived from admiring countrymen of his own, will not be out of place, considering that the three or four months spent there was the last period of his life passed in any part of the dominions of Great Britain.
The Rev. Dugald C. Boyd, of Bombay (now of Portsoy, Banffshire), an intimate friend of Dr. Stewart, of Lovedale, writing to a correspondent on 10th October, 1865, says:
"Yesterday evening I had the pleasure of meeting Livingstone
at dinner in a very quiet way.... It was an exceedingly
pleasant evening. Dr. Wilson was in great 'fig,' and
Livingstone was, though quiet, very communicative, and
greatly disposed to talk about Africa.... I had known Mrs.
Livingstone, and I had known Robert and Agnes, his son and
daughter, and I had known Stewart. He spoke very kindly of
Stewart, and seems to hope that he may yet join him in
Central Africa.... He is much stouter, better, and
healthier-looking than he was last year....
"12_th October_.--Livingstone was at the _tamasha_ yesterday.
He was dressed very unlike a minister--more like a
post-captain or admiral. He wore a blue dress-coat, trimmed
with lace, and bearing a Government gilt button. In his hand
he carried a cocked hat. At the Communion on Sunday (he sat
on Dr. Wilson's right hand, who sat on my right) he wore a
blue surtout, with Government gilt buttons, and
shepherd-tartan trousers; and he had a gold band round his
cap[67]. I spent two hours In his society last evening at
Dr. Wilson's. He was not very complimentary to Burton. He is
to lecture in public this evening."
[Footnote 67: Dr, Livingstone's habit of dressing as a layman, and accepting the designation of David Livingstone, Esquire, as readily as that of the Rev. Dr. Livingstone, probably helped to propagate the idea that he had sunk the missionary in the explorer. The truth, however, is, that from the first he wished to be a lay missionary, not under any Society, and it was only at the instigation of his friends that he accepted ordination. He had an intense dislike of what was merely professional and conventional, and he thought that as a free-lance he would have more influence. Whether in this he sufficiently appreciated the position and office of one set aside by the Church for the service of the gospel may be a question: but there can be no question that he had the same view of the matter from first to last. He would have worn a blue dress and gilt buttons, if it had been suitable, as readily as any other, at the most ardent period of his missionary life. His heart was as truly that of a missionary under the Consul's dress as it had ever been when he wore black, or whatever else he could get, in the wilds of Africa. At the time of his encounter with the lion he wore a coat of tartan, and he thought that that material might have had some effect in preventing the usual irritating results of a lion's bite.]
Another friend, Mr. Alexander Brown, now of Liverpool, sends a brief note of a very delightful excursion given by him, in honor of Livingstone, to the caves of Kennery or Kenhari, in the island of Salsette. There was a pretty large party. After leaving the railway station, they rode on ponies to the caves.
"We spent a most charming day in the caves, and the wild
jungle around them. Dr. Wilson, you may believe, was in his
element, pouring forth volumes of Oriental lore in connection
with the Buddhist faith and the Kenhari caves, which are
among the most striking and interesting monuments of it in
India. They are of great extent, and the main temple is in
good preservation. Doctor Livingstone's almost boyish
enjoyment of the whole thing impressed me greatly. The stern,
almost impassive, man seemed to unbend, and enter most
thoroughly into the spirit of a day in which pleasure and
instruction, under circumstances of no little interest, were
so delightfully combined."
At Bombay he heard disquieting tidings of the Hanoverian traveler, Baron van der Decken. In his Journal he says:
"29_th December_, 1865.--The expedition of the Baron van der
Decken has met with a disaster up the Juba. He had gone up
300 miles, and met only with the loss of his steam launch. He
then ran his steamer on two rocks and made two large holes in
her bottom. The Baron and Dr. Link got out in order to go to
the chief to conciliate him. He had been led to suspect war.
Then a large party came and attacked them, killing the artist
Trenn and the chief engineer. They were beaten off, and
Lieutenant von Schift with four survivors left in the boat,
and in four days came down the stream. Thence they came in a
dhow to Zanzibar. It is feared that the Baron may be
murdered, but possibly not. It looks ill that the attack was
made after he landed.
"My times are in thy hand, O Lord! Go Thou with me and I am
safe. And above all, make me useful in promoting Thy cause of
peace and good-will among men."
The rumor of the Baron's death was subsequently confirmed. His mode of treating the natives was the very opposite of Livingstone's, who regarded the manner of his death as another proof that it was not safe to disregard the manhood of the African people.
The Bombay lecture was a great success. Dr. Wilson, Free Church Missionary, was in the chair, and after the lecture tried to rouse the Bombay merchants, and especially the Scotch ones, to help the enterprise. Referring to the driblets that had been contributed by Government and the Geographical Society, he proposed that in Bombay they should raise as much as both. In his next letter to his daughter, Livingstone tells of the success of the lecture, of the subscription, which promised to amount to £1000 (it did not quite do so), and of his wish that the Bombay merchants should use the money for setting up a trading establishment in Africa. "I must first of all find a suitable spot; then send back here to let it be known. I shall then be off in my work for the Geographical Society, and when that is done, if I am well, I shall come back to the first station." He goes on to speak of the facilities he had received for transporting Indian buffaloes and other animals to Africa, and of the extraordinary kindness and interest of Sir Bartle Frere, and the pains he had taken to commend him to the good graces of the Sultan of Zanzibar, then in Bombay. He speaks pleasantly of his sojourn with Dr. Wilson and other friends. He is particularly pleased with the management and _menu_ of a house kept by four bachelors--and then he adds: "Your mamma was an excellent manager of the house, and made everything comfortable. I suppose it is the habit of attending to little things that makes such a difference in different houses. As I am to be away from all luxuries soon, I may as well live comfortably with the bachelors while I can."
To Mr. James Young he writes about the "Lady Nyassa," which he had sold, after several advertisements, but only for £2300: "The whole of the money given for her I dedicated to the great object for which she was built. I am satisfied at having made the effort; would of course have preferred to have succeeded, but we are not responsible for results." In reference to the investment of the money, it was intended ultimately to be sunk in Government or railway securities; but meanwhile he had been recommended to invest it in shares of an Indian bank. Most unfortunately, the bank failed a year or two afterward; and thus the whole of the £6000, which the vessel had cost Livingstone, vanished into air.
His little daughter Anna Mary had a good share of his attention at Bombay:
"24_th December_, 1865.--I went last night to take tea in the
house of a Hindoo gentleman who is not a professed Christian.
It was a great matter for such to eat with men not of his
caste. Most Hindoos would shrink with horror from contact
with us. Seven little girls were present, belonging to two
Hindoo families. They were from four or five to eight years
old. They were very pleasant-looking, of olive complexions.
Their hair was tied in a knot behind, with a wreath of
flowers round the knot; they had large gold ear-rings and
European dresses. One played very nicely on the piano, while
the rest sang very nicely a funny song, which shows the
native way of thinking about some of our customs. They sang
some nice hymns, and repeated some pieces, as the 'Wreck of
the Hesperus,' which was given at the examination of Oswell's
school. Then all sung, 'There is a happy land, far, far
away,' and it, with some of the Christian hymns, was
beautiful. They speak English perfectly, but with a little
foreign twang. All joined in a metrical prayer before
retiring. They have been taught all by their father, and it
was very pleasant to see that this teaching had brought out
their natural cheerfulness. Native children don't look
lively, but these were brimful of fun. One not quite as tall
as yourself brought a child's book to me, and with great glee
pointed out myself under the lion. She can read fluently, as
I suppose you can by this time now. I said that I would like
a little girl like her to go with me to Africa to sing these
pretty hymns to me there. She said she would like to go, but
should not like to have a black husband. This is Christmas
season, and to-morrow is held as the day in which our Lord
was born, an event which angels made known to men, and it
brought great joy, and proclaimed peace on earth and
good-will to men. That Saviour must be your friend, and He
will be if you ask Him so to be. He will forgive and save
you, and take you into his family."
On New Year's Day, 1860, he writes in his Journal: "The Governor told me that he had much pleasure in giving Dr. Kirk an appointment; he would telegraph to him to-day. It is to be at Zanzibar, where he will be of great use in promoting all good works."
It had been arranged that Dr. Livingstone was to cross to Zanzibar in the "Thule," a steamer that had formed part of the squadron of Captain Sherard Osborn in China, and which Livingstone had now the honor of being commissioned to present to the Sultan of Zanzibar, as a present from Sir Bartle Frere and the Bombay Government.
We give a few extracts from his journal at sea:
"17_th January_.--Issued flannel to all the boys from
Nassick; the marines have theirs from Government. The boys
sing a couple of hymns every evening, and repeat the Lord's
Prayer. I mean to keep up this, and make this a Christian
Expedition, telling a little about Christ wherever we go. His
love in coming down to save men will be our theme. I dislike
very much to make my religion distasteful to others. This,
with ----'s hypocritical ostentation, made me have fewer
religious services on the Zambesi than would have been
desirable, perhaps. He made religion itself distasteful by
excessive ostentation.... Good works gain the approbation of
the world, and though there is antipathy in the human heart
to the gospel of Christ, yet when Christians make their good
works shine all admire them. It is when great disparity
exists between profession and practice that we secure the
scorn of mankind. The Lord help me to act in all cases in
this Expedition as a Christian ought!"
"23_d January_.--My second book has been reviewed very
favorably by the _Athenæum_ and the _Saturday Review_, and by
many newspapers. Old John Crawford gives a snarl in the
_Examiner_, but I can afford that it should be so. 4800
copies were sold on first night of Mr. Murray's sale. It is
rather a handsome volume. I hope it may do some good."
In a letter to Mr. James Young he writes of his voyage, and discharges a characteristic spurt of humor at a mutual Edinburgh acquaintance who had mistaken an order about a magic lantern:
"_At sea_, 300 _miles from Zanzibar_, 26_th January_,
1866.--We have enjoyed fair weather in coming across the
weary waste of waters. We started on the 5th. The 'Thule,'
to be a pleasure yacht, is the most incorrigible roller ever
known. The whole 2000 miles has been an everlasting see-saw,
shuggy-shoo, and enough to tire the patience of even a
chemist, who is the most patient of all animals. I am pretty
well gifted in that respect myself, though I say it that
shouldn't say it, but that Sandy B----! The world will never
get on till we have a few of those instrument-makers hung. I
was particular in asking him to get me Scripture slides
colored, and put in with the magic lantern, and he has not
put in one! The very object for which I wanted it is thus
frustrated, and I did not open it till we were at sea. O
Sandy! Pity Burk and Hare have no successors in Auld
Reekie!...
"You will hear that I have the prospect of Kirk being out
here. I am very glad of it, as I am sure his services will be
found invaluable on the East Coast."
To his daughter Agnes he writes, _à propos_ of the rolling of the ship:
"Most of the marine Sepoys were sick. You would have been a
victim unless you had tried the new remedy of a bag of
pounded ice along the spine, which sounds as hopeful as the
old cure for toothache: take a mouthful of cold water, and
sit on the fire till it boils, you will suffer no more from
toothache.... A shark took a bite at the revolving vane of
the patent log to-day. He left some pieces of the enamel of
his teeth in the brass, and probably has the toothache. You
will sympathize with him.... If you ask Mr. Murray to send,
by Mr. Conyngham, Buckland's _Curiosities of Natural
History_, and Mr. Gladstone's _Address to the Edinburgh
Students_, it will save me writing to him. When you return
home you will be scrutinized to see if you are spoiled. You
have only to act naturally and kindly to all your old friends
to disarm them of their prejudices. I think you will find the
Youngs true friends. Mrs. Williamson, of Widdieombe Hill,
near Bath, writes to me that she would like to show you her
plans for the benefit of poor orphans. If you thought of
going to Bath it might be well to get all the insight you
could into that and every other good work. It is well to be
able to take a comprehensive view of all benevolent
enterprises, and resolve to do our duty in life in some way
or other, for we cannot live for ourselves alone. A life of
selfishness is one of misery, and it is unlike that of our
blessed Saviour, who pleased not Himself. He followed not his
own will even, but the will of his Father in heaven. I have
read with much pleasure a book called _Rose Douglas_. It is
the life of a minister's daughter--with fictitious names, but
all true. She was near Lanark, and came through Hamilton. You
had better read it if you come in contact with it."
Referring to an alarm, arising from the next house having taken fire, of which she had written him, he adds playfully:
"You did not mention what you considered most precious on the
night of the fire; so I dreamed that I saw one young lady
hugging a German grammar to her bosom; another with a pair of
curling tongs, a tooth-pick, and a pinafore; another with a
bunch of used-up postage stamps and autographs in a crinoline
turned upside down, and a fourth lifted up Madame Hocédé and
insisted on carrying her as her most precious baggage. Her
name, which I did not catch, will go down to posterity
alongside of the ladies who each carried out her husband from
the besieged city, and took care never to let him hear the
last on't afterward. I am so penetrated with admiration of
her that I enclose the wing of a flying-fish for her. It
lighted among us last night, while we were at dinner, coming
right through the skylight. You will make use of this fact in
the _high-flying_ speech which you will deliver to her in
French."
Zanzibar is at length reached on the 28th January, after a voyage of twenty-three days, tedious enough, though but half the length of the cruise in the "Nyassa" two years before. To Agnes:
"29_th Jan_.--We went to call to-day on the Sultan. His
Highness met us at the bottom of the stair, and as he shook
hands a brass band, which he got at Bombay, blared forth 'God
save the Queen'! This was excessively ridiculous, but I
maintained sufficient official gravity. After coffee and
sherbet we came away, and the wretched band now struck up
'The British Grenadier,' as if the fact of my being only 5
feet 8, and Brebner about 2 inches lower, ought not to have
suggested 'Wee Willie Winkie' as more appropriate. I was
ready to explode, but got out of sight before giving way."
Dr. Livingstone brought a very cordial recommendation to the Sultan from Sir Bartle Frere, and experienced much kindness at his hand. Being ill with toothache, the Sultan could not receive the gift of the "Thule" in person, and it was presented through his commodore.
Livingstone was detained in Zanzibar nearly two months waiting for H.M.S. "Penguin," which was to convey him to the mouth of the Rovuma. Zanzibar life was very monotonous--"It is the old, old way of living--eating, drinking, sleeping; sleeping, drinking, eating. Getting fat; slaving-dhows coming and slaving-dhows going away; bad smells; and kindly looks from English folks to each other." The sight of slaves in the Zanzibar market, and the recognition of some who had been brought from Nyassa, did not enliven his visit, though it undoubtedly confirmed his purpose and quickened his efforts to aim another blow at the accursed trade. Always thinking of what would benefit Africa, he writes to Sir Thomas Maclear urging very strongly the starting of a line of steamers between the Cape, Zanzibar, and Bombay: "It would be a most profitable one, and would do great good, besides, in eating out the trade in slaves."
At last the "Penguin" came for him, and once more, and for the last time, Livingstone left for the Dark Continent.