A WORLD of surprises, of captivating wonders,
opens before us as
we approach the Continent of Africa. Before relating
in detail
the great achievements of Stanley, particularly his world-re-
nowned achievement of finding Livingstone, it will be
interesting
to the reader to have some account of the life and travels
of the cele-
brated explorer whom Stanley sought and found. The journeys
of Liv-
ingstone have a thrilling interest and are here narrated.
David Livingstone was a sturdy Scotchman. There appeared
to be
somewhat of the granite in him which belongs to the highlands
of his
native country. His child-life was at Blantyre, by the
beautiful Clyde,
above Glasgow, in Scotland. He was born there in the
year 1813. The
humble home entertained some proud traditions, treasured
through eight
generations of the family. The young David listened with
bounding
lieart and glowing spirit while his grandfather told
the histories and
legends of the olden time. Culloden was in the story.
His great-grand-
father fell there, fighting for the old line of kings
; and " Ulva Dark," the
fainily home, had been there. Old Gaelic songs trembled
off the lips
of his grandmother, beguiling the social hours. There
Avas the spirit of
heroism in the home.
And among the traditions there were those of singular
virtue and in-
tegrity. He classed the dying precept of a hardy ancestor
the proudest
distinction of his family ; that precept was, " Be honest."
Honesty is a
matchless birthright; he claimed it; he was not proud
of anything else.
His father was a man of " unflinching honesty," and was
employed by
the proprietors of Blantyre Works, in conveying very
large sums of
money from Glasgow, and by the honorable kindness of
the firm his
integrity was so rewarded that his declining years were
spent where he
had lived, in ease and comfort. He was a man who kept
the hearts of
his children. His kindness and real love were sweeter
to them than all
that wealth sometimes bestows as its peculiar gift. He
brought his
children up religiously; it was in connection with the
Kirk of Scot-
land.
It is a beautiful tribute of his illustrious son : "My
father deserved my
lasting gratitude and homage for presenting me from my
infancy with a
continuously consistent pious example. I revere his memory."
The
mother of the man appears briefly, and passes from the
public view. She
was a quiet, loving, industrious, self-denying, praying
mother. God
knows how to choose mothers for the chosen men. This
mother was
the mother of a great and good man. She was a woman who,
by her
virtue and modesty, and fortitude and courage, could
bear a hero and
inspire him for his destiny. " An anxious house-wife,
striving to make
both ends meet," found time and place to exert a true
woman's singular
and mighty influence upon her little boy. We will not
presume to esti-
mate the magnitude of that influence. We will not say
how much his
home had to do with the singular thoughtfulness and distinguished
pre-
cocity of the child that toiled all day long in the mill
with the hundreds
who worked there, David Livingstone was only ten years
old when he
was put into the factory.
People ought not to despise little factory-boys. He worked
from six
in the morning until eight at night ; that makes fourteen
hours a day,
and a child just ten years of age. There were very good
schools at
Blantyre ; the teachers were paid one hundred and twenty-five
dollars a
year. The schools were free to the children of the working
people.
David had been in one of these schools. He rtiust have
been well
advanced for his age. The impulse that his mind received
in the com-
mon school was aided by the attractions of the great
University at
Glasgow.
A Lover of Heroic Deeds.
Boys in the neighborhood of great colleges have earlier
and loftier
aspirations perhaps. Anyhow we are informed that a part
of David
Livingstone's first week's wages went for " Ruddiman's
Rudiments of
Latin," and that he pressed the study of that language
with peculiar
ardor, in an evening school, from eight to ten o'clock,
during a number
of years. There are many grown men who mourn over their
ignorance
whose work does not fill fourteen hours a day. In those
evening hours,
with a little tired child-body, Livingstone mastered
the Latin language,
and accomplished much in general reading. When he was
sixteen years
old, he was quite in advance of his age. The diligence
and self-control
of the boy was the prophecy of the man. At this early
age, too, the
peculiar tastes and talents which rendered his subsequent
life singularly
successful and vested his work with singular interest
began to appear.
He did not love novels : he loved facts. He was not charmed
with the
woven fancies of effeminacy. ' He delighted in stories
of adventure; he
was always glad to put his hand in the hand of the historian,
and be led
away from familiar scenes to the new and the strange
and the difficult.
The hero spirit was in him. This love of the new and eagerness
fpr
travel were tempered and sanctified by an appreciation
of the real and
the useful. He had delight in scientific books and experiments.
The
home of his childhood was admirably adapted for the development
of
noble character. There was a population of nearly three
thousand.
The people were "good specimens of the Scottish poor,"
as he tells us
himself, "in honesty, morality and intelligence." There
were all sorts of
people, of course; they were generally awake to all public
questions;
their interest was intelligent; there were some characters
of uncommon
worth; these persons felt peculiar interest in the thoughtful,
studious lad.
There were near at hand many spots hallowed in Scottish
history spots
with venerable associations. The Scottish people love
old associations;
they treasure the dear memorials of the past. The ancient
domains of
Bothwell stood with open door to these respected villagers.
David
Livingstone was one of the people, and loved these scenes;
he knew
their history, all their old traditions were in his heart.
Even the boy
$eemed to be more than a boy; the man stood in the background,
and
was outlined clearly in the character of the youth.
Departure for Africa.
At this early age David gave sign of rising above his
mates, gaining
distinction in some honorable calling, and becoming an
illustrious exam-
ple of self-reliance and energy. When promoted at the
age of nineteen
to cotton-spinning, he took his books to the factory,
and read by placing
one of them on a portioij of the spinning-jenny, so that
he could catch
sentence after sentence as he passed at his work. He
was well paid,
however, and having determined to prepare himself for
becoming a med-
ical missionary abroad, was enabled, by working with
his hands in
summer, to support himself while attending medical and
Greek classes in
Glasgow in winter, as also the divinity lectures of Dr.
Wardlow. He
was thus able to pass the required examinations, and
was at length ad-
mitted a licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and
Surgeons.
Having been charged by the Directors of the London Missionary
So-
ciety to carry on and extend the work of Moffat, Livingstone
arrived in
Cape Town in the summer of 1840, and, after a short rest,
started for the
interior by way of Algoa Bay. A journey of seven hundred
miles, of which,
so far as we have been able to ascertain, no record has
been published,
brought him to Lattaku, then the furthest missionary
station of South
Africa. Here he remained only long enough to recruit
his oxen before
he pressed on northwards to that part of the country
inhabited by the
section of the Bechuana tribe known as the Bakwains,
Having satisfied
himself of the existence of a promising field for missionary
effort, he re-
turned to the Kuruman station, rested there for three
months, and then
took up his quarters in the Bakwain countiy itself, at
the present Litu-
baruba, at that time known as Lepelole.
Determ.ined to neglect nothing which could in any way
promote his
success with the natives, Livingstone now cut himself
off from all inter-
course with Europeans for six months, devoting himself
to acquiring an
insight into the habits, ways of thinking, laws, and
language of the
Bechuanas, and in laying the foundations of a settlement
by making a
canal for irrigation purposes from a river near by.
A Man Stronger Than He looked.
These preliminaries being well advanced, our hero paid
a visit to the
Bakaa, Bamangwato, and the Makalaka. The greater part
of this trip
was performed on foot, the draught oxen being ill, and
some of the na-
tives forming the escort observed in Livingstone's hearing,
not knowing
that he understood them " He is not strong; he is quite
slim, and only
seems stout because he puts himself into those bags [trousers];
he will
break down." Stung by these derogatory remarks on his
appearance,
Livingstone revenged himself by keeping the whole party
at highest
speed for several days, and was rewarded later by hearing
them speak
more respectfully of his pedestrian powers.
Having, without knowing it, approached to within ten days'
journey
of Lake N'gami, afterwards discovered by him, our hero
went back to
Kuruman to bring his luggage to the site of his proposed
settlement, but
before he could do so, came the disappointing news that
the Bakwains,
with whom he had become friendly, had been driven from
Lepelole by
the Baralongs, rendering it impossible for him to carry
out his original
plan. With the courage and energy which distinguished
him from the
first, Livingstone at once set about looking for some
other site, and after
a journey to Bamangwato, to restore to chief Sekomi several
of his peo-
ple who had come down with him to the Kuruman, and for
whose safety
he felt responsible, he selected the beautiful valley
of Mabotsa, the home
of the Makatla branch of the Bechuana tribe, where he
removed in 1843.
Here the chief difficulty to contend with at first was
the number and
ferocity of the lions, which not only leaped into the
cattle pens of the
village of Mabotsa at night, but sometimes attacked the
herds in broad
daylight. Expeditions sent out against the marauders
returned without
having achieved any success, and knowing that if but
one of the troop of
lions were killed the others would take alarm and leave
the country,
Livingstone determined himself to join a sortie against
them.
Great was the consternation of the natives, who firmly
believed that a
neighboring tribe had given them into the power of these
merciless
animals. Their attacks upon them were feeble and half-hearted,
so
that hitherto the lions had come off victors. Livingstone
now came to
their aid, and the cry was
"Mount! mount for the hunting ! the lion is near !
The cattle and herdsmen are quaking with fear.
Call the dogs ! light the torches ! away to the glen
!
If needs be, we'll beard the fierce brute in his den."
They discovered their game on a small tree-covered hill.
The circle
of hunters, at first loosely formed around the spot,
gradually closed up,
and became compact as they advanced towards it. Mebalwe,
a native
schoolmaster, who was with Livingstone, seeing one of
the lions sitting
on a piece of rock within the ring, fired but missed
him, the ball striking
the rock by the feet of the animal, which, biting first
at the spot struck,
bounded away, broke through the circle, and escaped,
the natives not
having the courage to stand close and spear him in the
attempt, as they
should have done. The circle re-formed, having yet within
it two other
lions, at which the pieces could not be fired, lest some
of the men
on the opposite side should be hit. Again there was a
bound and a
roar, and yet again ; and the natives scattered and fled,
while the lions
went forth free to continue their devastations.
"He is Shot! He is Shot!"
But they did not seem to have retreated far, for as the
party was
going round the end of* a hill on their way home to the
village, there
was one of the lordly brutes sitting quietly, as though
he had purposely
planted himself there to enjoy their defeat, and wish
them " Good-day."
It was but a little distance from Livingstone, who, raising
his gun, fired
both barrels. " He is shot ! He is shot ! " is the joyful
cry, and the
people are about to rush in ; but their friend warns
them, for he sees the
tail raised in anger. He is just in the act of ramming
down his bullets
for another fire, when he hears a shout of terror, and
sees the lion in
the act of springing on him. He is conscious only of
a blow that makes
him reel and fall to the ground ; of two glaring eyes,
and hot breath
upon his face; a momentary anguish, as he is seized by
the shoulder and
shaken as a rat by a terrier ; then comes a stupor, which
was afterwards
described as a sort of drowsiness, in which there was
no sense of pain
nor feeling of terror, although there was a perfect consciousness
of all
that was happening.
Being thus conscious, as one in a trance might be, Livingstone
knew
that the lion had one paw on the back of his head, and,
turning round to
reheve himself of the pressure, he saw the creature's
eyes directed to
Mebalwe, who, at a distance of ten or fifteen yards,
was aiming his gun
at him. It missed fire in both barrels, and immediately
the native
teacher was attacked by the brute and bitten in the thigh.
Another
man also, who attempted to spear the lion, was seized
by the shoulder ;
but then the bullets which he had received took effect,
and, with a quiver
through all his huge frame, the cattle-lifter rolled
over on his side dead.
Escape.
All this occurred in a few moments ; the death-blow had
been inflicted
by Livingstone before the Lion sprang upon him in the
blind fury of his
dying efforts. No less than eleven of his teeth had penetrated
the flesh
of his assailant's arm, and crushed the bone ; it was
long ere the wound
was healed, and all through life the intrepid missionary
bore the marks
of this deadly encounter, and felt its effects in the
injured limb. The
tartan jacket which he had on, wiped, as he believed,
the virus from the
lion's teeth, and so preserved him from much after-suffering,
such as was
experienced by the others who were bitten and had not
this protection.
These ferocious beasts are a constant menace to travellers
in some
parts of Afiica. Of course, if one goes out for the purpose
of indulging
in sport and shooting game, he is not disconcerted when
he meets the
king of the forest in his native lairs. Cumming's account
of his en-
counters with lions is so graphic and interesting that
it is here inserted
in connection with the thrilling story, already related,
of Livingstone
and the lion.
Mr. Gumming first describes the appearance and habits
of the noble
beast. This is the account of one of the world's most
famous hunters,
whose journeys in the Tropics in pursuit of adventure,
have attracted
universal attention, and have awakened the most eager
interest. The
dignified and truly monarchical appearance of the lion,
says Mr. Gum-
ming, has long rendered him famous among his fellow quadrupeds.
There is something so noble and imposing in the presence
of the lion,
when seen walking with dignified self-possession, free
and undaunted, on
his native soil, that no description can convey an adequate
idea of his
striking appearance. The lion is exquisitely formed by
nature for the
predatory habits which he is destined to pursue. Gombining
in compara-
tively small compass the qualities of power and agility,
he is enabled, by
means of the tremendous machinery with which nature has
gifted him,
easily to overcome and destroy almost every beast of
the forest, however
superior to him in weight and stature.
Though considerably under four feet in height, he has
little difficulty
in dashing to the ground and overcoming the lofty and
apparently pow-
erful giraffe, whose head towers above the trees of the
forest, and whose
skin is nearly an inch in thickness. The lion is the
constant attendant of
the vast herds of buffaloes which frequent the interminable
forests of the
interior; and a full-grown one, so long as his teeth
are unbroken, gener-
ally proves a match for an old bull buffalo, which in
size and strength
greatly surpasses the most powerful breed of American
cattle ; the lion
also preys on all the larger varieties of the antelopes,
and on both varie-
ties of the gnoo. The zebra, which is met with in large
herds through-
out the interior, is also a favorite object of his pursuit.
Lions do not refuse, as has been asserted, to feed upon
the venison that
they have not killed themselves. I have repeatedly discovered
lions of
all ages which had taken possession of, and were feasting
upon, the car-
cases of various game quadrupeds which had fallen before
my rifle.
The lion is very generally diffused throughout the secluded
parts of
Southern Africa. He is, however, nowhere met with in
great abund-
ance, it being very rare to find more than three, or
even two families of
lions frequenting the same district and drinking at the
same fountain.
When a greater number were met with, I remarked that
it was owing to
long-protracted droughts, which, by drying nearly all
the fountains, had
compelled the game of various districts to crowd the
remaining, springs,
and the lions, according to their custom, followed in
the wake.
Beauty of the Lion.
It is a common thing to come upon a full-grown lion and
lioness asso-
ciating with three or four large ones nearly full grown
; at other times,
full-grown males will be found associating and hunting
together in a
happy state of friendship ; two, three, and four full-grown
male lions may
thus be discovered consorting together.
The male lion is adorned with a long, rank, shaggy mane,
v/hich in
some instances almost sweeps the ground. The color of
these manes
varies, some being dark, and others of a golden yellow.
This appear-
ance has given rise to a prevailing opinion among the
Boers that there
are two distinct varieties of lions, which they distinguish
by the respec-
tive names of " Schwart fore life " and " Chiel fore
life ; " this idea, how-
ever, is erroneous. The color of the lion's mane is generally
influenced
by his age. He attains his mane in the third year of
his existence. I
have remarked that at first it is of a yellowish color
; in the prime of life
it is blackest, and when he has numbered many years,
but still is in the
full enjoyment of his power, it assumes a yellowish-gray,
pepper-and-salt
sort of color.
These old fellows are cunning and dangerous, and most
to be dreaded.
The females are utterly destitute of a mane, being covered
with a short,
thick, glossy coat of tawny hair. The manes and coats
of lions frequent-
ing open-lying districts utterly destitute of trees,
such as the borders of
the great Kalahari desert, are more rank and handsome
than those inhab-
iting fertile districts.
The Roar of the Forest King.
One of the most striking things connected with the lion
is his voice,
which is extremely grand and peculiarly striking. It
consists at times of
a low, deep moaning, repeated five or six times, ending
in faintly audible
sighs ; at other times he startles the forest with loud,
deep-toned, solemn
roars, repeated five or six times in quick succession,
each increasing in
loudness to the third or fourth, when his voice dies
away in five or six
low, muffled sounds, very much resembling distant thunder.
At times, and not unfrequently, a troop may be heard roaring
in con-
cert, one assuming the lead, and two, three, or four
more regularly taking
up their parts, like persons singing a catch. Like Scottish
stags, they
roar loudest in cold, frosty nights ; but on no occasions
are their voices to
be heard in such perfection, or so intensely powerful,
as when two or three
strange troops of lions approach a fountain to drink
at the same time.
When this occurs, every member of each troop sounds a
bold roar of de-
fiance at the opposite parties ; and when one roars,
all roar together, and
each seems to vie with his comrades in the intensity
and power of his voice.
The power and grandeur of these nocturnal forest concerts
is inconceiv-
ably striking and pleasing to the hunter's ear. The effect,
I may remark,
is greatly enhanced when the hearer happens to be situated
in the depths
of the forest, at the dead hour of midnight, unaccompanied
by any attend-
ant, and ensconced within twenty yards of the fountain
which the sur-
rounding troops of lions are approaching. Such has been
my situation
many scores of times ; and though I am allowed to have
a tolerably good
taste for music, I consider the catches with which I
was then regaled as
the sweetest and most natural I ever heard.
As a general rule, lions roar during the night ; their
sighing moans
commencing as the shades of evening envelop the forest,
and continuing
at intervals throughout the night. In distant and secluded
regions, how-
ever, I have constantly heard them roaring loudly as
late as nine and ten
o'clock on a bright sunny morning. In hazy and rainy
weather they are
to be heard at every hour in the day, but their roar
is subdued.
Frightful Ferocity.
It often happens that when two strange male lions meet
at a fountain a
terrific combat ensues, which not unfrequently ends in
the death of one of
them. The habits of the lion are strictly nocturnal;
during the day he
lies concealed beneath the shade of some low bushy tree
or wide-spread-
ing bush, either in the level forest or on the mountain
side. He is also
partial to lofty reeds, or fields of long, rank yellow
grass, such as occur
in low-lying vales. From these haunts he sallies forth
when the sun goes
down, and comitiences his nightly prowl. When he is successful
in his
beat and has secured his prey, he does not roar much
that night, only
uttering occasionally a few low moans ; that is, provided
no intruders
approach him, otherwise the case would be very different.
Lions are ever most active, daring and presuming in dark
and stormy
nights, and consequentlv, on such occasions, the traveler
ought more par-
ticularly to be on his guard. I remarked a fact connected
with the lions'
hour of drinking peculiar to themselves : they seemed
unwilling to visit
the fountains with good moonlight. Thus, when the moon
rose early,
the lions deferred their hour of watering until late
in the morning; and
when the moon rose late, they drank at a very early hour
in the night.
By this acute system many a grisly Hon saved his bacon,
and is now lux-
uriating in the forest of South Africa, which had otherwise
fallen by the
barrels of my gun.
The Lion's Fearlessness.
Owing to the tawny color of the coat with which nature
has robed him,,
he is perfectly invisible in the dark; and although I
have often heard
them loudly lapping the water under my very nose, not
twenty yards from
me, I could not possibly make out so much as the outlinesof
their forms.
When a thirsty lion comes to water he stretches out his
massive arms,
lies down on his breast to drink, and makes a loud lapping
noise in drink-
ing not to be mistaken. He continues lapping up the water
for a long
while, and four or five times during the proceeding he
pauses for half a
minute as if to take breath.
One thing conspicuous about them is their eyes, which,
in a dark night,
glow like two balls of fire. The female is more fierce
and active than the
male, as a general rule. Lionesses which have never had
young are-
much more dangerous than those which have. At no time
is the lion so
much to be dreaded as when his partner has got small
young ones. At
that season he knows no fear, and, in the coolest and
most intrepid man-
ner, he will face a thousand men. A remarkable instance
of this kind
came under my own observation, which confirmed the reports
I had
before heard from the natives.
One day, when out elephant-hunting in the territory of
the Baseleka,
accompanied by two hundred and fifty men, I was astonished
suddenly to
behold a majestic lion slowly and steadily advancing
towards us with a
dignified step and undaunted bearing, the most noble
and imposing that
can be conceived. Lashing his tail from side to side,
and growling
haughtily, his terribly expressive eye resolutely fixed
upon us, and dis-
playing a show of ivory well calculated to inspire terror
among the timid
Bechuanas, he approached.
A Lion Puts to Fligrht 250 Men.
A headlong flight of the two hundred and fifty men was
the immediate
result ; and, in the confusion of the moment, four couples
of my dogs,
which they had been leading, were allowed to escape in
their couples.
These instantly faced the lion, who, finding that by
his bold bearing he
had succeeded in putting his enemies to flight, now became
solicitous for
the safety of his little family, with which the lioness
was retreating in the
back-ground. Facing about, he followed after them with
a haughty and
independent step, growling fiercely at the dogs which
trotted along on
each side of him. Three, troops of elephants having been
discovered
a few minutes previous to this, upon which I was marching
for the
attack, I, with the most heartfelt reluctance, reserved
my fire. On run-
ning down the hill side to endeavor to recall my dogs,
I observed, for
the first time, the retreating lioness with four cubs.
About twenty
minutes afterward two noble elephants repaid my forbearance.
Among Indian Nimrods, a certain class of royal tigers
is dignified with
the appellation of "man-eaters." These are tigers
which, having once
tasted human flesh, show a predilection for the same,
and such charac-
ters are very naturally famed and dreaded among the natives.
Elderly
gentlemen of similar tastes and habits are occasionally
met with among
the lions in the interior of South Africa, and the danger
of such neigh-
bors may be easily imagined. I account for lions first
acquiring this
taste in the following manner: some tribes of the far
interior do
not bury their dead, but unceremoniously carry them forth,
and leave
them lying exposed in the forest or on the plain, a prey
to the lion and
hyaena, or the jackal and vulture; and I can readily
imagine that a lion,
having thus once tasted human flesh, would have little
hesitation, when
opportunity presented itself, of springing upon and carrying
off the
unwary traveler or native inhabiting his country.
The Man-Eater at Work.
Be this as it may, man-eating occurs; and on my fourth
hunting expe-
dition, a horrible tragedy was acted one dark night in
my little lonely
; camp by one of these formidable characters, which deprived
me, in the far
wilderness, of my most valuable servant. In winding up
these observations
on the lion, I may remark that lion-hunting, under any
circumstances, is
decidedly a dangerous pursuit. It may nevertheless be
followed, to a
certain extent, with comparative safety by those who
have naturally a
: turn for that sort of thing. A recklessness of death,
perfect coolness
and self-possession, an acquaintance with the disposition
and manners
of lions, and a tolerable knowledge of the use of the
rifle, are indis-
pensable to him who would shine in the overpoweringly
exciting
pastime of hunting this justly celebrated king of beasts.
Livingstone himself narrates minutely his dreadful encounter
with a
lion. He always regarded it as one of his most thrilling
experiences in
I Africa, and he had occasion to remember it from the
fact that he was
. so severely injured. The wonder is that when the ferocious
beast had
the great explorer in his power and might easily have
taken his life, he
should have been prevented from doing it. A few moments
more and
the life of one of the world's greatest heroes would
have been terminated.
CHAPTER III.
LIVINGSTONE AMONG SAVAGES.
Continued
at ERBzine 6099_03
