I LIBRARY OF CONGRES S, \\ =SM. «fc- M ^f< JUNITED STATES OF AMERICA,! Livingstone in Africa: ■ft USl.lr Explorations and Missionary Labors. REV. S. A. W. JEWETT. With Illustrations. . CINCINNATI: HITCHCOCK & WA'LDEN NEW YORK: CARLTON & LANAHANr } 3> Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by HITCHCOCK & WALDEN, In (he Clerk's Office of the D" -trict Court of the United States for the Southern District of Ohio. Prefatory Note. r T , HE pretensions of this little volume are not -■- at all ambitious. Its aim is simply to re- cite the missionary travels of Rev. David Living- stone, LL. D., accomplished in South Africa, between the years 1840 and 1856, in smaller compass than the large narrative written by himself. The task was entered upon in the hope of bringing the noble work of that eminent Christian philanthropist to the attention of a class of readers who, for various reasons, may pass by the larger volume. All the material facts and incidents essential to a just idea of the country, the habits and character of the people, and the hardships and toil of the great traveler will be found here. In describing the same events and objects, similarity of language must 4 PREFA TOR Y NO TE. often occur. But where that may most appear, complete reconstruction of style has been found necessary in order to secure uniformity and brevity. S. A. W. J. Chicago, February 20, 1868. Contents. chapter I. Page. Boyhood of the Missionary Traveler — The Bakwains — A Fight with a Lion — Sechele, the Chief— The Rainmak- ers — The Hopo — Slavery in Africa, 9 CHAPTER II. A Glimpse of Missionary Life — Story of the Black Pot — Eating Frogs — Travel in the Desert — Water Suckers, . 39 CHAPTER III. Mirage in the Desert — Discovery of Lake Ngami — The Tsetse— Sebituane— Death of the Great Chieftain— Dis- covery of the Zambezi, 68 CHAPTER IV. A Long Journey Begun — Attack of the Bakwains by the Boers — Plundering of the Missionary's House — Se- chele — Hot Wind of the Desert — The Ostrich — Mowana 5 CONTENTS. Page. Trees — The Lion — Encounter between Three Lions and a Buffalo, ' q6 CHAPTER V. A Curious Bird's-Nest — Crossing the River Chobe — Re- ception at Linyanti — Journeying with a Chief— A Fleet of Canoes — The River Leeambye — Summary Punish- ment of Treason — Return to Linyanti, 121 CHAPTER VI. A Picho — Voyaging on the River — Alligators and their Eggs — A Female Chief— Grand Reception 1 — A Magic Lantern at Court, 145 CHAPTER VII. A Princely Gift — Manioc — Superstition of the Natives — Katema — Birds — Spiders — Ants — Swimming a River — Prospect of a Fight, 177 CHAPTER VIII. Livingstone at Cassange — A Colored Militia Corporal — On to Loanda — Incidents Here — Insect Distillers 205 CHAPTER IX. An Alligator with a Slave Boy — A Native Diviner — An African Wake — Beauty of Scenery and Climate — A CONTENTS. 7 Page. Blow on the Beard — The Kasendi — Hostile Natives — Encounter with a Buffalo — Return to Linyanti, . . . 235 CHAPTER X. A New Journey Begun — Falls of Victoria — Elephant Hunt- ing — Man Tossed by a Buffalo — Arrival at Killimane — Embarking for England — Insanity of Sekwebu, . . . 267 Illustrations. Spearing the Hippopotamus, Frontispiece. The Missionary's Escape from the Lion 20 Warrior and Wife, ........ 63 Native Houses, .88 African Girls, 125 Children's Games, 165 Njambi at Home, 195 Tattooing and Hair-Dressing, 228 Among the Monkeys, . 266 Livingstone in Africa. CHAPTER I. Boyhood of the Missionary Traveler — The Bakwains— A Fight with a Lion — Sechele, the Chief— The Rain- makers — The Hopo — Slavery in Africa. BEFORE entering directly upon our pleasant task, let us glance a moment at the boy- hood of that noble man whose footsteps we pro- pose to trace across the African continent. That glance, though it be a brief one, will no doubt inspire us with respect and love for him ; and perhaps awaken in our minds a deeper sympathy with his life, of unselfish toil. His early home was in a little manufacturing village near Glasgow, Scotland. His father was a small tea-dealer — a man of devoted and con- sistent piety. Though he never became rich, yet, "by his kindliness of manner and winning ways, he made the heart-strings of his children IO LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. twine around him as firmly as if he had pos- sessed, and could have bestowed upon them every worldly advantage." These words just quoted are from Dr. Livingstone himself, as the reader may have guessed. And in these which follow, he mentions his mother, and tells how his edu- cation began. "The earliest recollection of my mother re- calls a picture so often seen among the Scottish poor — that of the anxious housewife striving to make both ends meet. At the age of ten I was put into the factory as a 'piecer,' to aid by my earnings in lessening her anxiety. With a part of my first week's wages I purchased Ruddi- man's 'Rudiments of Latin,' and pursued the study of that language for many years afterward with unabated ardor, at an evening school which met between the hours of eight and ten. The dictionary part of my labors was followed up till twelve o'clock, or later, if my mother did not interfere by jumping up and snatching the books out of my hands. I had to be back in the fac- tory by six in the morning, and continue my work, with intervals for breakfast and dinner, till eight o'clock at night. I read in this way many of the classical authors, and knew VirgH and Horace better at sixteen than I do now." At the age of nineteen young Livingstone was BOYHOOD OF THE TRAVELER. II promoted to the work of cotton-spinning. So intense was his love of study that he kept it up in the factory amid the noise of the machinery. His book was placed on a part of the spinning- jenny, where he could catch a sentence at a time as he passed back and forth at his work. In this manner he acquired a discipline of mind which enabled him in after life to write with ease when surrounded by the songs, and dancing of sav- ages. And by this severe labor he gained a hardiness of body which fitted him to endure the excessive toil, and exposure of his long years of missionary travel. By work in the factory dur- ing the Summer months he provided means of self-support while in Winter time attending Divin- ity lectures, and Greek and medical classes in Glasgow. Does the life of this young man seem to any of my readers a hard and irksome lot ? Would you then like to know what he thought of it in his later years ? Was he ashamed of the hard and lowly work of his boyhood ? His own words shall answer. When his name had become fa- mous throughout the world, and the learned and great delighted to do him honor, he did not hide the fact that his education was earned by the labor of his own hands. He nobly said, " Look- ing back now on that life of toil, I can but feel 12 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. thankful that it formed such a material part of my early education, and were it possible I should like to begin life over again in the same lowly style, and to pass through the same hardy train- ing. .... Time and travel have not ef- faced the feelings of respect I imbibed for the humble inhabitants of my native village." In all this earnest work young Livingstone had an ardent desire to fit himself for future use- fulness. Having become a Christian by yielding his heart to Christ, the glowing love to God and man which this new experience kindled, led him to form the purpose of giving his life to the work of planting Christianity in China. He hoped to gain access to the people of that vast empire by means of the healing art ; and with that object in view he set himself to the task of acquiring a medical education. But when he had finished his studies and received his diploma constituting him a member of the "Faculty of physicians and Surgeons," a new obstacle to the execution of his original plan arose. The opium war between England and China was raging, and this made it inexpedient to begin his fondly cherished enterprise. Just at this time a new and inviting field of labor was opened up in South Africa, by the labors of Rev. Robert Moffat, his father-in-law. There being no pros- SAILS FOR AFRICA. 1 3 pect of an early peace in China, he with some reluctance yielded to the advice of friends, and offered himself to the London Missionary Society for their work in Africa ; and after pursuing a more extensive course of theological study, he sailed, in 1840, for the African continent, under the auspices of that society. A voyage of three months brought him to Cape Town. Here he spent but a short time, and then sailing along the coast to Algoa Bay, he started at once for the interior. A look at the map of South Africa will refresh the mind of the reader as to the locality of these places, and help him to form a better and more vivid conception of that vast field of labor where our missionary traveler and his family spent sixteen years of toil and exposure among savage men — that he might teach them the "glorious Gospel of Christ," and prepare the way for the introduction of a Christian civilization to all that immense country. The journey from Algoa Bay northward to Kuruman or Lattakoo — a distance of seven hundred miles — was made in wagons drawn by oxen. This place is a central mission station for the surrounding country. Resting here only long enough to recruit the tired oxen, Livingstone proceeded still farther north, in com- pany with another missionary, to the country of 14 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. the Bakwains. Their chief was found, with his people, at Shokuane. The town, or village, was composed of numerous circles of huts gathered around a large one in the center, which was that of the principal chief, Sechele. The government and constitution of these native tribes is patri- archal. Each man is the chief of his own chil- dren ; and the more numerous his family, the greater will be his importance in the tribe. Hence, children are always treated kindly, and are thought the greatest of blessings. As they grow up the children build their huts in a circle around that of their father. Near the center of the circle there is a fireplace ; and this, with a little space close around it, is called a " Kotla." Here the families eat and work, and at the even- ing hour sit together around the fireplace and talk over the news of the clay. Sometimes a poor man joins the Kotla of a rich one, and so becomes his child. The huts in the circle imme- diately around the Kotla of the chief are occu- pied by his wives and blood relations. Around those of each Under chief there are a number of Kotlas with their circles. And the whole collec- tion of circles gathered around the Kotla of the principal chief constitutes the town. There are several Bechuana tribes. Each one of them is named for some animal. And each AFRICAN TRIBES. 1 5 tribe has a superstitious fear of the animal for which it is named ; and the flesh of that animal they never eat. The name Bechuana, or Bak- wain, means " They of the alligator ;" Bakatla, " They of the monkey ;" Batlapi, " They of the fish." This custom of using the personal pro- noun in the names of tribes prevails very exten- sively in Africa. They use the word "bina" in connection with this manner of naming them- selves. Thus, if you want to know what tribe one belongs to, you ask, " What do you dance ?" He replies, " The alligator," " The monkey," or, " The fish." These singular customs have been thought an indication that in earlier times they practiced the worship of animals, like the ancient Egyptians, and that dancing formed a part of that old worship. Livingstone attached himself to the tribe of the Bakwains ; and after a few months spent in journeys and preparation — during which time he returned once to Kuruman — he began a settle- ment at Lepelole, about fifteen miles south of Shokuane. He dug a canal to conduct water to the gardens from a full and flowing river, which afterward became dry. While here he excluded himself from all society, except that of the natives, for the purpose of acquiring more per- fect knowledge of their habits of thinking, their 1 6 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. customs, laws, and language. This proved of very great advantage to him in his subsequent intercourse with them. After getting the arrangements for the settle- ment well advanced, he made a journey north- ward to the Bakao Mountains, accompanied by several natives. These mountains had been vis- ited before, by a trader, who perished with his whole party. In passing around the northern part of these basaltic hills, near Letloche, Living- stone was within ten days' journey of the Zonga, which flows into Lake Ngami — pronounced In- gami, the initial I soft as possible. Had discovery been his chief object, he might have discovered the lake at this time — 1842. The oxen being sick, much of this journey had to be performed on foot. The natives did not know that Livingstone understood their language, and he one day overheard them talking of his appear- ance and power of enduring fatigue. " He is not strong," they said. " He is quite slim, and only seems stout because he puts himself into those bags" — meaning his pantaloons — "he will soon give out." This stirred the Highland blood of our traveler so that he kept them at the top of their speed for several days, till he heard them express better opinions of his power as a pedes- trian. JOURNEYS. 17 Returning to Kuruman for the purpose of re- moving his luggage to the proposed settlement, Livingstone was followed with the discouraging news that his friends the Bakwains had been driven from that part of the country by the Baro- longs. One of those outbreaks of war for the possession of cattle, which occur from time to time among these tribes, had burst forth, and de- stroyed all prospect of establishing a mission sta- tion at Lepelole, or Litubaruba, for the present. This made it necessary to look up some new locality. But another matter first demanded attention. Some of the Bamangwato people having accom- panied our missionary on his late return from the North, he was obliged to make a journey to the residence of their chief, Sekomi, to restore them and their goods to him. On this journey he for the first time mounted an ox, and rode several hundred miles in that manner. Upon his return the beautiful valley of Mabotsa was selected for the missionary station. And to this place he re- moved in 1843. While living here he had an encounter with a lion, in which he was handled rather roughly, although he came off the conqueror at last. The people of the village — the Bakatla — were greatly troubled by the lions, which leaped into their 1 8 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. cattle pens and destroyed their cows. The herds were, too, sometimes attacked in open day. This being quite unusual, the people believed them- selves bewitched. They were given, they said, "into the power of the lions by a neighboring tribe." Such are the habits of this animal, that if one from a troop of lions is killed his com- rades profit by the hint, and quit, for a time, that part of the country. The people of the village went out once to attack the animals, but being cowardly, they came back without killing one. So when the herds were next attacked Living- stone went out with the men to inspire them with courage, and aid them in getting rid of the annoyance. The rest of the story he shall give you in his own words. "We found the lions on a small hill, about a quarter of a mile in length, and covered with trees. A circle of men was formed round it, and they gradually closed up, ascending pretty near tt> each other. Being down below, on the plain, with a native schoolmaster named Mebalwe, a most excellent man, I saw one of the lions sitting on a piece of rock within the now closed circle of men. Mebalwe fired at him before I could, and the ball struck the rock on which the ani- mal was sitting. He bit at the spot struck, as a dog does at a stick or stone thrown at him ; LION HUNTING. 19 then leaping away, broke through the opening circle and escaped unhurt. The men were afraid to attack him, perhaps on account of their belief in witchcraft. When the circle was re-formed, we saw two other lions in it, but we were afraid to fire, lest we should strike the men, and they allowed the beasts to burst through also. If the Bakatla had acted according to the custom of the country, they would have speared the lions in their attempt to get out. Seeing we could not get them to kill one of the lions, we bent our footsteps toward the village. In going round the end of the hill, however, I saw one of the beasts sitting on a piece of rock as before, but„this time he had a little bush .in front. " Being about thirty yards off, I took a good aim at his body through the bush, and fired both barrels into it. The men then called out, ' He is shot, he is shot' Others cried, ' He has been shot by another man, too ; let us go to him !' I did not see any one else shoot at him, but I saw the lion's tail erected in anger behind the bush, and turning to the people, said, ' Stop a little till I load again.' When in the act of ram- ming down the bullets I heard a shout. Starting and looking half round, I saw the lion just in the act of springing upon me. I was upon a little hight. He caught my shoulder as he sprang, 20 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. / and we both came to the ground below together. Growling horribly close to my ear, he shook me as a terrier dog does a rat. The shock produced a stupor similar to that which seems to be felt by a mouse after the first shake of the cat. It caused a sort of dreaminess, in which there was no sense of pain, nor feeling of terror, though quite conscious of all that was happening. It was like what patients partially under the influ- ence of chloroform describe, who see all the op- eration, but feel not the knife. " This singular condition was not the result of any mental process. The shake annihilated fear, and allowed no sense of horror in looking round at the beast. This peculiar state is probably produced in all animals killed by the carnivora ; and if so, is a merciful provision by our benevo- lent Creator for lessening the pain of death. Turning round to relieve myself of the weight, as he had one paw on the back of my head, I saw his eyes directed to Mebalwe, who was trying to shoot him at a distance of ten or fifteen yards. His gun, a flint one, missed fire in both barrels. The lion immediately left me, and attacking Me- balwe, bit his thigh. Another man, whose life I had saved before, after he had been tossed by a buffalo, attempted to spear the lion while he was biting Mebalwe. He left Mebalwe and caught FIGHT WITH A LION. 2 1 this man by the shoulder, but at that moment the bullets he had received took effect, and he fell down dead. The whole was the work of a few moments, and must have been his paroxysms of dying rage." Livingstone's victory over the king of beasts was rather dearly bought. He came out of the fight with the bone of his arm crushed to splin- ters by the jaws of the lion, and eleven flesh wounds from his teeth in the upper part of it. The Bakatla declared him the largest lion they had ever seen ; and the next day they built a huge bonfire over the carcass to take the charm of witchcraft out of him. 'The wound inflicted by the lion's tooth is much like that caused by a gunshot. It is usually followed by much discharge, and slough- ing off of the flesh ; and it is a curious fact that ever afterward pains are felt in the wounded part on the return of the same period of the year. Mebalwe suffered in this way from the bite in his thigh ; and the wound of the man who was bitten in the shoulder actually burst forth afresh on the same month of the following year. But fortunately our hero-missionary fared better than his comrades. He wore in the affray a tartan jacket ; and the woolen through which the teeth passed in piercing his flesh seems to have wiped 22 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. the virus from them. And thus he escaped with only the inconvenience of a false joint in his limb. Before going any further in our travels, let me give my readers a brief sketch of the history and character of Sechele, the chief of the Bakwains, with whom our missionary lived for several years. By Doctor Livingstone's account of him he was a remarkable man, and very intelligent. His great-grandfather, Mochoasele, was a great traveler, and was the first who told the Bakwains of the existence of white men. In the lifetime of Sechele's father two white travelers passed through the country of this tribe, and descend- ing the river Limpopo, they, with all their party, died of fever. These travelers are supposed to have been Doctor Cowan and Captain Donovan, who were in Africa in 1808, and were reported to have been killed by the Bangwaketse. This statement was given to Livingstone by a son of the chief at whose village they died. He said he remembered when a boy having eaten part of one of their horses, which tasted like the flesh of a zebra. When Sechele was only a boy, his father, who was also named Mochoasele, was killed by his own people, in punishment for taking to himself the wives of some of his rich under chiefs. The THE BAKWAIN CHIEF. 23 children of the murdered chief were spared ; and their friends soon sought the aid of Sebituane, the chief of the Makalolo, to restore them to their rights in the chieftainship. Sebituane, with his people, surrounded the town of the Bakwains by night ; and when the day began to dawn his herald proclaimed in a loud voice that he had come to revenge the death of Mochoasele. This was followed by a terrific noise, caused by Sebit- uane's men beating loudly upon their shields all around the town. The panic-stricken Bakwains rushed from their huts like a crowd from a burn- ing theater, while their enemies used their jave- lins upon them with great dexterity and effect. ' Orders had been given the men by Sebituane to spare the sons of the chief; -but Sechele being met by one of them, received a blow from a club on the head, which made him insensible. The attack ended in the death of the usurper, and the establishment of Sechele in the chieftainship ; and he became warmly attached to Sebituane, who had so befriended him in his adversity. It is the custom with these African tribes for the chief to bind his under chiefs to himself and his government by marrying their daughters. So Sechele married the daughters of three of his under chiefs. They are all very fond of being known as relatives of some great man. If, when 24 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. traveling, you meet a party of strangers, and the relationship of the head man is not at once pro- claimed by his attendants, you hear him whisper, " Tell him who I am ;" and after counting a part of his genealogical tree on their fingers, the per- formance closes with - the important statement that the head man of the party is half-cousin to some noted chief. On the occasion when Livingstone made his first attempt to hold a public religious service among the Bakwains, Sechele remarked that it was the custom of his nation when any new sub- ject was brought before them to ask questions upon it, and he begged permission to do so in this case. Our missionary having expressed his readiness to answer questions, Sechele asked him if his forefathers knew of a future judgment. He was answered in the affirmative, and a de- scription given him, from the Bible, of the " great white throne, and Him who shall sit on it, from whose face the heaven and earth shall flee away," wflen he said, " You startle me ; these words make all my bones to shake — I have no strength in me. But my forefathers were living at the same time yours were, and how is it that they did not send them word about these terrible things sooner ? They all passed away into dark- ness without knowing whither they were going." MISSIONARY LABORS. 2$ This difficulty was met by explaining the gradual spread of knowledge from the South, by the means of ships, and the want of access from the North in former times. Soon as the opportunity was given him, Sechele applied himself with great diligence to the task of learning to read. He learned the alphabet on the first day, and gave up his hunting, of which he was very fond, that he might give more time to study. Having acquired the art of reading, he was fond of showing his accomplishment, and pressed Doctor Livingstone, whenever he came into the town, to hear him read from the Bible. Among the writers of the inspired Volume Isaiah was his particular favorite. He used to say, " He was a fine man, that Isaiah ; he knew how to speak." One day, upon seeing the anxiety of our mis- sionary that his people should believe the words of Jesus, he said, " Do you imagine these people will ever believe by your merely talking to them ? I can make them do nothing except by thrashing them ; and if you like I shall call my head men, and with our litupa — whips of rhinoceros hide — we will soon make them all believe together." He would not condescend to ask the opinion of his subjects on any other matter, and he was sur- prised that the missionary should be content 26 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. with merely persuading them to become Chris- tians. Having himself embraced Christianity, and hoping to induce others to do so, he asked Livingstone to begin family worship with him in his house. He then conducted it himself, and being a master of his own language, it was a pleasant surprise to the missionary to hear in how simple and beautiful a style he offered prayer. He felt keenly the difficulties in which his heathen practices involved him. By his study of the Bible he found that Christianity forbids polygamy ; and he could not get rid of his super- fluous wives without seeming to be ungrateful to their parents and families, who had stood by him and helped him in the adversity of his early life. He often said to our missionary, " O, I wish you nad come to this country before I became en- tangled in the meshes of our customs." Seeing the difficulty of the case, and feeling- compassion for the women, Livingstone did not wish him to be in haste to make a full and public profession of Christianity by baptism, and by putting away all but one of his wives. Some of them, too, were among the best scholars in the mission school, and his principal wife seemed less likely than almost any other person in the tribe to become any thing else than a greasy disciple of heathenism. Again and again was Sechele A HEATHEN CONVERT. 2J compelled to send her out of Church to put on her gown ; and out she would go, with her pouting lips and whole manner expressing her deep dis- gust at his new-fangled notions. She did, how- ever, very greatly improve afterward. When, after a consistent profession of about three years, he applied for baptism, Livingstone asked him how, having the Bible in his hand, and able to read it, he himself thought he ought to act. He at once went home, gave each of his extra wives new clothing, and the goods they had been keeping for him in their huts, and sent them to their par- ents with the statement that he found no fault with them, but parted with them that he might obey God. Large numbers came to witness the ceremony when he and his children were baptized. A stu- pid story had been told by the enemies of Chris- tianity that the converts were required to drink an infusion of "dead men's brains." Some be- lieved it, and were surprised that only water was used in the baptismal service. Some of the old men wept to see their father — as they called the chief — so bewitched by the white man. And now our missionary had to meet a new opposi- tion. Though himself and family were still treated with respectful kindness, yet all the friends of the divorced wives became enemies of 28 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. religion. They talked to Sechele in a manner which, before his conversion, would have cost them their lives. The Church and school were forsaken by nearly all except the chief and his family. The protracted and distressing droughts which they suffered about this time had something to do with this opposition ; for the Bakwains thought the destitution of rain was in some way con- nected with the presence among them of " God's word," and the Christian teacher. They had been visited the first year that' Livingstone set- tled among them, at Chonuane, with one of those severe droughts which occasionally occur in the most favored districts of Africa. By his advice the tribe removed forty miles distant, to the river Kolobeng. Here our missionary erected the third house, which he built with his own hands. In exchange for his labor in aiding them to build a square house for their chief, the men of the tribe built a dam across the river, and made a canal to water the fields and gardens. The plan worked finely the first year ; but in the two following years not ten inches of rain fell, and the river ran dry. All the hyenas of the country, far and near, were unable to devour the multitude of fish which were killed. A huge old alligator, who had proved a harmless neighbor, was left high and LONG DROUGHT. 2 9 dry in the mud. The drought continued the fourth year — very little rain falling. Needles lying for months out of doors did not rust. The leaves of native trees were shriveled. To keep the fruit trees alive they dug wells in the bed of the river, going deeper and deeper as the water receded. But all in vain. So intense was the heat that a thermometer, placed with its bulb three inches below the surface of the ground, showed the mercury standing at 132 . A certain kind of beetles, placed on the surface of the ground, ran about only a few minutes, and died from the burning heat. But the long-legged black ants were as lively and active as ever. Speaking of their tireless activity, Livingstone says : " Their organs of motion seem endowed with the same power which is ascribed by physi- ologists to the muscles of the human heart, by which that part of the frame never becomes fatigued, and which may be imparted to all our bodily organs in that higher sphere to which we fondly hope to rise." These tiny creatures seem' to have some mysterious power of gathering moisture. In the midst of all this drought and heat, their little chambers were always moist. This was found to be the case even in the house which was built upon a rock, many hund- red feet above the bed of the river, where alone 30 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. a drop of water could be found. When there was no dew they were able to moisten the burnt and dusty soil so as to make mortar for building the little galleries with which they hide their paths from the sight of birds. The Bakwains, like the neighboring tribes, be- lieve in the power of rain-making. It is, they think, a gift with which their rain-doctors are endowed. In procuring rain they use medicines which they think act by some mysterious charm. All medicines, they suppose, act in this way in curing diseases of the human body. Their word for cure, alalia, means charm. The medicines of the rain-doctor are lions' and baboons' hearts, jackals' livers, with various other parts of differ- ent animals, plants, bulbs, and roots. When the rain-doctor would charm the clouds to bring rain, he selects some particular bulbous-root, pounds it, and steeps a part, making a liquid which, when cold, he administers to a sheep. The patient dies in five minutes afterward. The remaining part of the root is burned, and the smoke ascends toward the sky. In a day or two rain comes, and all the people praise the skill of the rain- doctor and the power of his medicines. Sechele had been a famous rain-doctor, and during this long drought of which we have been speaking, the natives believed that Livingstone had bound THE RAIN-DOCTOR. 31 him by some magic spell ; and deputations of the old men came to him and besought him just to allow Sechele to make a few showers, saying, "The corn will die if you refuse, and we shall be scattered. Only let him make rain this once, and we shall all, men, women, and children, come to the school and sing and pray as long as you please." An uncle of Sechele, a very sensible man, and one of influence in the tribe, said to our mission- ary at one time : " We like you as well as if you had been born among us ; you are the only white man we can become familiar with, but we wish you to give up that everlasting preaching and praying, we can not become familiar with that at all. You see we never get rain, while those tribes who never pray as we do obtain abund- ance." And Livingstone says, " This was a fact ; we often saw it raining on the hills ten miles off, while it would not look at us 'even with one eye.' If the Prince of the power of the air had no hand in scorching us up, I fear I often gave him credit for doing so." Still the conduct of the people was exceedingly good during this most trying time of drought, so long continued. The men engaged in hunting, the women sold their ornaments to buy corn from their more fortunate neighbors, and the 32 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. children scoured the country to gather the nu- merous bulbs and roots which sustain life. A great number of buffaloes, zebras, giraffes, ramas, rhinoceroses, and other kinds of game gathered about some fountains near Kolobeng. Sixty or seventy head of this large game were sometimes caught in a single week in the trap called "hopo? This trap is made by constructing two hedges, so placed as to form a letter V. But instead of coming together at the angle, the hedges are made to form a narrow lane of about one hundred and fifty feet in length. At the end of this lane a pit is dug, six or eight feet deep, and twelve or fifteen feet square. Trees are placed along the sides of the pit, so as to hang over the edge and prevent escape. These bord- ers are decked with short green rushes, so as to conceal the pitfall. The hedges are often a mile long, and as far apart at the open end of the hopo. By making a circle of three or four miles Ground the country adjoining the opening, a tribe can hardly fail to inclose large numbers of game. And by closing up gradually, they are driven into the trap. As they reach the narrow part of it, men hidden in ambush throw javelins into the frightened animals ; and the whole herd rush madly forward through the lane into the pit. Some escape by running over the backs SUPPL Y OF FOOD. 3 3 of others, but the greater number are entrapped. Those which are not killed by the fall or smoth- ered by the living mass piled above them, are dispatched with the spear. The scene is fright- ful. The men are wild with excitement, and spear the lovely creatures without mercy. Every now and then the whole mass is made to heave with the dying agonies of those at the bottom of the pit. All, both rich and poor, share the game. Meat thus obtained cured the bad effects of an exclusive vegetable diet. Salt was found a rem- edy for the same difficulty. The native doctors mixed it with their medicines when treating cases of that kind. But Livingstone cured the disease with salt alone. The uncertainty of food among these people made frequent absence from home necessary, in order to hunt game or gather fruits and roots. And this irregularity of life was found to be a serious obstacle in the way of their progress in knowledge. The experiment of missionary labor among them was such as to show the correctness of that growing sentiment among modern Chris- tians, which pictures the true missionary, not as a man going about with only a Bible in his hand, but as one having that sacred book in one hand and a loaf of bread in the other. We must feed healthy feelings into the starving, in order to 3 34 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. prepare them to listen to the Gospel which we preach to them. And this is true both of the poor at home and the heathen abroad. Upon this subject Livingstone says: "My observations on this subject make me extremely desirous to pro- mote the preparation of the raw materials of Euro- pean manufactures in Africa, for by that means we may not only put a stop to the slave-trade, but introduce the negro family into the body-corpo- rate of nations, no one member of which can suffer without the others suffering with it. Suc- cess in this, in both Eastern and Western Africa, would lead, in the course of time, to a much larger diffusion of the blessings of civilization than efforts exclusively spiritual and educational, confined to one small tribe. These, however, it would, of course, be extremely desirable to carry on at the same time at large central and healthy stations, for neither civilization nor Christianity can be promoted alone. In fact, they are insep- arable." Another influence adverse to the missionary work among the Bakwains was the nearness of the " Magaliesberg," or Boers of the Cashan Mountains. The word Boer means farmer. The Cape Colonists pass, sometimes, by that name. The Boers, generally, are a sober, industrious, and hospitable body of peasantry. Those here AFRICAN BOERS. ' 35 spoken of are a class of men who have broken away from English law, mainly because it makes no distinction between the white and black man. English law emancipated their Hottentot slaves, and they felt themselves greatly aggrieved ; and to escape the authority of the British Govern- ment they fled toward the interior, and formed themselves into a republic, where, without inter- ference from others, they can pursue " the proper treatment of the blacks." This means with them involuntary, unpaid labor, which is the essential element of slavery. A part of these Boers, com- manded by the late Hendrick Potgeiter, pene- trated the interior as far as the Cashan Mount- ains, whence the well-known CafFre Dingaan had just driven out a Zulu or Caffre chief, named Mosilikatze. The Bechuana tribes of this part of the country, glad to escape the cruel sway of this chieftain, gave the Boers a hearty wel- come. They came with the prestige of white men and deliverers. But the poor natives soon found they had made a sad exchange of masters, for, as they said, " Mosilikatze was cruel to his enemies, and kind to those he conquered ; but the Boers destroyed their enemies, and made slaves of their friends." The native tribes are permitted to retain a semblance of freedom, but are forced to perform all the labor of their mas- 36 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. ters' fields, and at the same time support them- selves. They build dams and canals, manure the land, do the weeding, reaping, and building ; and for it all they do not receive a farthing of wages. Livingstone was himself an eye-witness of the Boers coming to a village and demanding twenty or thirty women to weed their gardens ; and their demand was met by the women going to their unpaid toil, carrying their implements of labor on their shoulders, their own food on their heads, and their children on their backs. And from Mr. Potgeiter and Mr. Krieger, who are the governors, down to the lowest among the Boers, they make no attempt to conceal the meanness of using unpaid toil, but justify it, and praise their own humanity by saying, " We make the people work for us, in consideration of allow- ing them to live in our country." My readers will remember that these "people" are the na- tives of the country, and had it in possession long before the Boers saw it. But this kind of slavery only supplies the labor of the field ; and in order to provide themselves with domestic servants, they frequently make forays on tribes having plenty of cattle, to capture their children and steal the cattle. The method adopted is this : The expedition is planned in Winter time, when horses can be used without danger of SLAVE EXPEDITIONS. 37 losing them by disease. A company of Boers, mounted on horseback, and well armed, compel some of the natives friendly to the tribe which is to be attacked, to go along with them. When they reach the village these friendly natives are arranged in front, to form a breastwork, or " shield," as they call it. The Boers then coolly fire over their heads, upon the doomed tribe ; and they, being generally without fire-arms, soon fly, leaving their wives, children, and cattle a prey to their enemies. Livingstone testifies that during his residence in the interior nine such forays as this were made, and in no instance did the Boers lose a drop of blood. The only means by which a young man in these tribes can rise to importance and respecta- bility is to obtain cattle ; hence, many of them leave home to procure work in Cape Colony. Here they build dikes and dams for the Dutch farmers, and are content if by working three or four years they can return with as many cows. On presenting one to the chief, they take rank as respectable men in the tribe. To prevent these laborers from going to the Colony, the Boers passed a law to deprive them of the cattle their hard toil had earned, giving in justification this momentous reason : " If they want to work, let them work for us, their mas- 38 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. ters ;" and at the same time they boasted that in their case the work would not be paid for. I wonder if the fire of indignation does not kindle in the heart of my readers at the thought of such injustice and outrage. I think it did, a little, in the noble-minded Livingstone. He says, directly in this connection, " I can never cease to be most unfeignedly thankful that I was not born in a land of slaves. No one can understand the effect of the unutterable meanness of the slave-system on the minds of those who, but for the strange obliquity which prevents them from feeling the degradation, of not being gentlemen enough to pay for services rendered, would be equal in virtue to ourselves. Fraud becomes as natural to them as 'paying one's way' is to the rest of mankind." How heartily we, as Americans, ought to thank God that a system involving such "unut- terable meanness" and "degradation" has at last bten swept from our noble land ! But ought not our cheeks to tingle with indignant shame that the spirit of this vile system of injustice still lingers in some hearts and some localities MISSION LIFE. 39 CHAPTER II. A Glimpse of Missionary Life — Story of the Black Pot — Eating Frogs — Travel in the Desert- -Water Suckers. IN the previous chapter we have been intro- duced to the native Africans, with whom Livingstone lived for several years. Let us now inquire a little after his mode of living in that wild country, so far from all the conveniences of civilization. There are no shops and stores ready to supply every thing you want ; there are no mechanics awaiting your command. So every thing you need for housekeeping you must man- ufacture yourself, from the raw material. When our missionary wanted bricks with which to build a house, he had to go to the field, chop down a tree, and saw out the planks for brick-molds. Lumber for the doors and windows he made in the same way. The three large houses which he built among the Bakwains must have cost him a vast amount of hard work. Every brick and. stick had to be placed by his own right hand ; for though the natives are willing to work for 40 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. wages, yet it is a curious fact that they are utterly unable to place any thing square. Every thing they build is round. If you want to be re- spected by them you must have a large house. Livingstone, as you will remember, helped them to build a square house for their chief, at Kolo- beng. So you see, besides being a doctor and preacher, he was a carpenter and builder. In order to raise food for his family, he had also to be a gardener. A native smith taught him how to weld iron, and he was indeed a jack-of-all- trades. His wife, too, was of necessity maid-of- all-work in the house. The method of housekeeping differed some- what from that with which we are familiar. The bread was often baked in an extempore oven, made by digging out a large hole in an ant-hill, with a slab of stone for a door. Another method sometimes employed is to build a fire on a level piece of ground, and when the soil is thoroughly heated place the dough on the hot ashes, or in a small frying-pan ; then cover it with an inverted iron kettle, draw the ashes around, and build a little fire on the top. By mixing a little leaven from a former baking with the dough, and allow- ing it to stand an hour or two in the sun, excel- lent bread is made in this way. Our missionary's family made their own butter, DOMESTIC LIFE. 4 1 candles, and soap. The independence and ro- mance of this mode of living very much relieves its hardship. Domestic comforts are the sweeter because springing so directly from one's own skill and toil, and that of the thrifty housewife. Take a single day as a sample of missionary life. The family rise early, because the morning is refreshing, however hot the day may be. The same is true of the evening. You may sit out- doors till midnight without fear of coughs or rheumatism. After family worship breakfast is had, between six and seven. Then the mission- ary opens school for all who will come — men, women, and children. School being over, at eleven he goes to his work as a gardener, smith, or carpenter. Sometimes he exchanges skilled labor with the people for unskilled work in the garden or elsewhere. Meanwhile the patient, toiling wife is employed in domestic duties. After dinner and an hour of rest she goes to her infant school, of which the young Bakwains are very fond, and to which they muster a hundred strong. Occasionally the time is given to a sew- ing school for girls, who like it equally well. Every operation in house or garden must be carefully superintended, and thus both the mis- sionary and his wife are kept constantly busy, from early morning till the sun sinks in the 42 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. west. After sunset the missionary goes into the town, to talk with any willing to listen, upon general subjects or religion. On three nights each week, after the milking of the cows is over, and it has become dark, a public religious service is held ; and one evening a week is devoted to instruction on secular subjects, illustrated by pic- tures and specimens. These services were sometimes varied a little by attending the sick and prescribing for them, or by giving food and assistance to the poor and wretched. Following the example of their Di- vine Master, these benevolent disciples of Christ sought to gain the affections of the people by ministering to the wants of their bodies. They regarded the smallest act of kindness — even a friendly word or look — as no unworthy part of the missionary armor. They thought the good opinion of the most abject was worth caring for, when it could be secured by politeness ; since that opinion helps to form a reputation that may be used for extending the influence of the Gospel. " Show kind attention to the reckless opponents of Christianity on the bed of sickness and pain, and they never can become your personal ene- mies. Here, if any where, love begets love." Guided by such sentiments in his intercourse with the Bakwains, Livingstone acquired great RELIGIO US INFL UENCES. 43 influence among them ; yet he depended entirely upon persuasion. He taught them both publicly and in private conversation that he wished them to follow their own sense of right and wrong, and not to be governed by any desire to please him. Such was the respect paid to his opinion, that in five instances it was positively known that his influence prevented war. All the natives of Africa are slow in coming to a decision upon religious subjects. In mat- ters which have not come within the range of their observation they are somewhat stupid, but in their own worldly affairs they are very shrewd and intelligent. Their knowledge of cattle, sheep, and goats, of the pasture suited to each, and of the varieties of soil best suited to the different kinds of grain, is very accurate. The English traders, who are sure to come wherever a missionary lives, sold guns and am- munition to the Bakwains ; and this excited so much alarm among the neighboring Boers that when the number of guns amounted to five they planned an expedition of several hundred men to capture them. Knowing that the Bakwains would rather fly to the desert than give up their fire-arms and become slaves, Livingstone went to the commandant, Mr. Gert Krieger, and by rep- resenting the evils of such an expedition, per- 44 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. suaded him to defer it ; but in return he desired the missionary to act as a spy over the Bak- wains. He explained the impossibility of doing so by referring to an instance which occurred soon after he came to live with them, in which Sechele had gone with his whole force to punish an under chief, without his knowledge. A man whose name was Kake rebelled against the chief, and maltreated some natives who remained faith- ful to him. Sechele consulted Livingstone, and he advised mild measures ; but the messengers sent to Kake were taunted with the words, " He only pretends to wish to follow the advice of the teacher. Sechele is a coward — let him come and fight, if he dare." The next time the offense was repeated Sech- ele told Livingstone he was going to hunt ele- phants, and asked the loan of a black metal pot for cooking, as theirs of pottery are very brittle. He gave it, and a handful of salt, with the re- quest for two titbits — the proboscis and forefoot of the elephant. Nothing more was heard, till he saw the Bakwains carrying home the wounded, and heard some of the women uttering the loud wail of sorrow for the dead, while others pealed forth the shout of victory. Then it came out that Sechele had attacked and driven away the rebel. THE CHIEFTAIN SECHELE. 45 This story told the commandant, soon grew to very formidable proportions among the Boers. The five guns of the Bakwains became five hund- red, and the black pot was magnified to a can- non, the loan of which the missionary had con- fessed ; and on this ground a letter was sent to the other missionaries in the South, demanding his immediate recall. The same story was told the Colonial Government, with grave assurance of its truth. These Boers, it would seem, though less enlightened, are not altogether unlike the people of our own country. Right around us there are people who have the faculty of magnify- ing a story much like that — the smallest matter in their hands rapidly gathers huge proportions, like the rolling snow-ball of the school-boys, which we often see; but it vanishes in the light of truth as that snow-ball melts away beneath a vernal sun. The Boers often sent letters to Sechele, order- ing him to come and surrender himself as their vassal, and put a stop to the English traders going into the country with fire-arms for sale. But he replied, " I was made an independent chief, and placed here by God, and not by you. I was never conquered by Mosilikatze, as those tribes whom you rule over, and the English are my friends. I get every thing I wish from them. 46 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. I can not hinder them from going where they like." A little further on we shall speak of the discovery of Lake Ngami — pronounced Ingami, with the first I as soft and short as possible. This discovery opened up a rich country for trade, and the traders came in fivefold greater numbers than ever. The myth of the black pot had some good ef- fect, for the Boers were for several years pre- vented from making any foray in the direction of Kolobeng, by the supposition that the Bak- wains had artillery. Every man in these tribes feels bound to tell his chief every thing which comes to his knowl- edge; and when questioned by a stranger he makes such answer as will please the chief, or such as shows the utmost stupidity. It was owing to this custom, probably, that the story arose representing the Bechuanas as so stupid they could not count ten ; and this was about the very time when Sechele's father counted out one thousand head of cattle as a beginning of stock for his son. As the Boers were constantly questioning his people about the guns and the cannon, Sechele asked Livingstone how they ought to answer. He replied, "Tell the truth." Then every one, whenever questioned, declared there was no can- SUPPLIES OF FOOD. 47 non among them ; and the Boers, judging this answer by what they would themselves have said in the same circumstances, were confirmed in the opinion that the Bakwains had artillery. At last, however, they determined to disperse the Bakwains, and drive out the missionaries, in order to prevent the traders going past Kolobeng to the country beyond. Their independence hav- ing been proclaimed by Sir George Cathcart, a treaty was entered into with them, which pro- vided that no slavery should be allowed in the independent territory, and which secured the free passage of Englishmen through the country. " But what about the missionaries ?" inquired the Boers ; when the " Commissioner " is said to have replied — perhaps in a joke — "You may do as you please with them" This remark, circu- lated by designing men, and generally believed to express the real sentiment of the Colonial authorities, doubtless led to the destruction of three mission stations soon after. During the long droughts at Kolobeng Living- stone was dependent on Kuruman for supplies of corn ; and at one time the family were re- duced to living on bran. This they ground three times over, to make fine meal from it. Animal food was found there a greater necessary of life than vegetarians would imagine. By right of 48 LIVINGSTONE IN AFRICA. chieftainship Sechele had the breast of every animal slaughtered by any member of the tribe, at home or abroad, and he very kindly sent a liberal share to the missionary family, during the whole of their stay. But these supplies were irregular, so that they sometimes were glad to accept a dish of locusts. They have a strong vegetable taste, the flavor varying with the plants on which they chance to feed. Roasted and pounded into meal, with a little salt, they are palatable. Thus prepared, they keep for months. Our friend the missionary says of them : " Boiled, they are disagreeable ; but when they are roasted, I should much prefer locusts to shrimps, though I would avoid both, if possible." When suffering from want of meat, the chil- dren of our missionary ate, and seemed to relish, a large kind of caterpillar which the natives gave them. These insects could not be unwholesome, for the natives devoured them in large quantities. These young Britons often turned Frenchmen, and ate with eagerness a very large frog, called "Matlametlo,"* which, when cooked, looks like a chicken. The natives suppose them to fall from *Tb.e Pyxicephahis adspersus of Doctor Smith. Length of head and body, five and a half inches ; fore legs, three inches ; hind legs, six inches. Width of head posteriorly, three inches ; of body, four and a half inches. JOURNEYS. 49 the thunder-clouds, because immediately after a thunder-shower the pools which are filled and re- tain water a few days are alive with the noisy croakers. This occurs, too, in the dryest part of the desert, where an ordinary observer would find no sign of life. This enormous frog digs a hole at the root of certain bushes, and there ensconces himself during the months of drought. As he seldom comes out, a large spider takes advantage of the hole to weave his web across, and thus furnishes the owner of the dwelling with a screen and window gratis ; and during the thunder- shower, which fills the hollows,. while the Bechu- anas are cowering under their skin garments, these matlametlo rush out from their hiding- places, and their sudden chorus, struck up at once on all sides, gives the impression of their descent from the clouds. In trying to benefit the tribes living under the Boers of the Cashan Mountains, Livingstone twice made a journey of about three hundred miles to the east of Kolobeng. Sechele's inde- pendence and love of the English had made him very obnoxious to the Boers ; and hence, he dare not trust himself among them, though anxious to accompany our missionary on these journeys. In the last journey, when they parted at the river Marikwe, Sechele expressed his regret that he 4 5