LETTER FROM LIVINGSTONE TO A BROTHER IN CANADA.

Waikato Times, Volume I, Issue 61, 19 September 1872, Page 2

LETTER FROM LIVINGSTONE TO A BROTHER IN CANADA.

TIIE NILE SOURCES. Touonto, Canada, August 19. A hrotiiku of Dr. Livingstone, residing at Liatowel), Ontario, has received a letter from tin} doctor in hv«t November, from Afneiv. Tho following is fho doctor's letter: — Ujiii, November 16, To my dear Brother.---I received your wehA>mo letter in February last, writ ton wlten tho cab It' news made you put oil'your suits of mouVning. Thin wua the tirst iutimation which I hn l thrvt t lie cable had been successfully faiti iti the deep Atlantic. Very few letters have reached me in consequence of my friends speculating where I should eome out oil tho West Const, down the Nile or elsewhere. The watershed ij a broad upland, bet ween 1000 and !>IK)0 feet above the .sea and some 20 miles long. The springs of the iS' ile that rise thereon are almost innumerable. It would take the best part of a man's lifetime lo count them. One part of (U mile* of latitude gave 32 springs, from the calf to waist deep, or onespring for every two miles. A bird's-eye view of them would be like frost on a win low pane. To ascertain that all these fountains united with four great rivers in the upper part of the Nile Valley was the work of time anil much travel. Many weary footsteps 1 trod ere the light dawned on this ancient problem. If T had left at the end of the two years, for which my expenses were paid, I should have thrown very little more on the country than the Portuguese, whe, in their three slavery visits to Cazcmbe, asked for ivory and slaves and heard nothing else. I asked about the water; questioned and cross-ques-tioned till 1 was really ashamed, and almo.-t, a'Vaid of being set. down as alllieted with lunacy. [ went forwards, backwards, and sideways, feeling my way every .step. The way was generally groping in the dark, for who eared for where tho rivers ran or if these were the rivers into which the springs of the Nile converged? The central one is called Lualabe. It is the largest , and it begins as the river Cliambeze, which flows into the great Lake Bangwolo. On leaving it its name is changed from Chambeze to Limunia, and it enters Lake Moeiv. Coming out of it by the name Lualabe, its course is resinned and it Hows into the third lake, Kamalondo. which reseives one of the four large drains mentioned above. It then flows on and makes two cnonnou i bends to the west, which made me often fear that I was following the Congo instead of the Nile. It. is from one to three miles broad, and never can be waded at any part or at any I ime of the year. Far down the valley it receives another of the four larger rivers mentioned above- -the Lockie or Lomame— which flows through what I have named Lake Lincoln, and then joins the central Lualabe. We have then onlv two lines of drainage on the lower part of tho great valley. That is Tanganyika and Albert Lake, whie'i are but one lake or river, or say if you want U> be pedantic, lacustrine river, Those two form tho eastern line of the Lualaba —which I call Webb's Luulaba —the western line nearly, as depicted by l'iolemy in the second century of our era. After the Lammee enters the Lualaba, the fourth great lake in the central line of drainage is found; but this i have not yet seen, nor the link between the eastern and western mines. At the top of Ptolemy's loop the great-central line goes down into large reedy lakes, possibly those reported to Nero's centurion, and the; o form the western or Petherick's arm, which Spei; , Grant, and Baker believed 1o lje the river of Egypt. Neither can be called the Nile until they unite in the lakes mentioned in the central line of drainage. They are by no means small. The Lake Rangwoid at the lowest estimate is 150 miles long. 1 tried lo cross and measure its breadth exactly. The first stage was to an inhabited island, twenty-four miles ; the second stage could be seen from its highest point, or rather the tops of the trees upon it, evidently lift ed up by mirage. The third stage to the mainland was said to bo as far beyond, but, the canoe-men having stolen a canoe, they got a hint that the real owners were in pursuit, and got into a flurry to return home. I had only iny coverlet left to hire another craft with, and the lake being 400 (?) feet above the level of the sea, it was very cold, so I gavo in and went back; bnt I believe the breadth to be between 00 miles and 70 miles. Bangwolo, Mpcr>, and Kamolombo are looked on as one great riveri) «• lake, and is the one of Ptolemy's ; the other is Tar ganyika, which I found steadily flowing north. The geographers' predecessors must have gleaned their geography from men who visifed this very region. The reason why his 'genuine geography was rejected was the extreme modesty of modern map makers. One idle person in London published a pamphlet which, with killing modesty, he entitled Inner Africa Laid Open, and the newspapers—even the Timm—■ rail at any one who travels and dares find the country different from that drawn in his twaddle. I am a great sinner in the poor fellow's opinion, and the Times published his ravings even when I was most unwisely believed to be dead. Nobody but Lord Brougham and I know what people will say after we are gone. The work of trying to follow tho central lines of drainage down has taken me away from mails or postage. The Manyema are undoubtedly cannibals, but 'twas long before I could get conclusive evidence thereon. I was sorely let and hindered by having half-caste Moslem attendants, unmitigated cowards, and as their Prophet, of whose religion they embodied fulsome pride. They forced me back, ■when almost in Bight of my exploration's end, a distance between 400 and 500 miles, under a blazing vertical sun. I came hero a mere ruckle of bones, terribly jaded in body xnd mind. The headsman, ! my worthless Moslem, remained here, and as he had done from the coast, ran riot -with the goods Bent me. He was drunk for a month at a time; he then divined off the Koran, found I was dead, sold all the goods that remained for slaves and ivory for himself, and I arrived to find myself destitute of everything except a few goods I left for case of need. Goods are currency here, and I have to wait now till other goods and other men come fr ,m Zanibar. When placed in charge of my supply of soap, opium, and gunpowder; purchased from certain caravans (British subjects),, he was 14 months returning, his expenses being paid 1 out of my stock. Three months would have been ample. Andthen he remained here and sold off everything. You call this smart, do you ? Some do, if youd/> not. I think it moral idiocy. —Your? affectionately,. " (Signed) David Livingstone.." l HONOUR TO STANLEY. London, August 19.—The St. Petersburgh and Florence Geographical Societies have each sent their gold medal to Stanley. At a banquet given in Brighton yesterday, Mr Stanley, while responding to a toast thought he heard expressions of incredulity from some of the guests, as to his meeting Livingstone. He vehemently retorted, and retired with indignation from the table, and- subsequently left Brighton. It is understood that he will probably return before the close of the meeting of the British Association.