28 LATEST ACCOUNTS FROM DR. LIVINGSTONE [Nov. 28, 1859. 



Besides a heavy load of sugar manufacturing machinery, the vessel with such a 

 thin skin had a ton of gunpowder on board. 



We have seen the difficulties and dangers of the navigation of the river from 

 the cataract above Tete. From Zumbo'to the sea, a distance of 480 miles, the 

 decline according to Dr. Livingstone is 1440 feet, or about 3 feet to the mile. 

 But what must the difficulties and dangers be from Zumbo to the mouth of 

 the Chobe,a distance of 360 miles, where the ascent of the river is 2101 feet, or 

 equal to 6 feet per mile ? It is well known that the rapids and cataracts in 

 that space are numerous and great. 



I am, I must confess, surprised at the noise made about sugar and cotton 

 cultivation in Africa as being something new. Why, these agricultural pro- 

 ductions grow in the greatest abundance all over Tropical Africa, and in many 

 places to a greater extent than round the banks of the Lower Zambesi. In some 

 places cotton cloth forms the currency of nations, and in almost all places the 

 natives manufacture their own clothes from the wool. It was from Africa that 

 the sugar cane was first carried to the Brazils and thence to the West Indies. 

 Jabboo cotton cloth has for more than 200 years formed a large article of export 

 from the Bight of Benin to the Brazils. It is much stronger than European 

 cloth, from the staple of the cotton being longer and finer than that which is 

 elsewhere obtained. The absurdity of sending American cotton seed to Africa 

 to raise cotton is just upon a par with our knowledge of other African afi"airs. 

 Coffee, all know, is most abundant in Africa. Enarea and Kaffa are, it may be 

 said, its native country, and most of the coffee that comes from Mocha and 

 that is called Mocha coffee comes from the quarter of Africa mentioned, while 

 the whole Eastern Horn of Africa is and has been known for more than thirty 

 centuries to be literally covered with frankincense. 



Africa is a splendid field for European enterprise, but to make that enter- 

 prise successful we must begin on commanding positions near the sea coast. 

 To attempt to raise bulky articles in the interior, 700 miles from the sea, 

 without any roads or easy navigation to reach the spot, is the wildest delusion 

 that ever entered the human brain, even were the lands ours — which they 

 are not — while it must be by African hands, not European, that cultivation in 

 Africa must be carried on. Attempts made in any other way must prove, 

 as these have hitherto done, complete failures. 



It is both ungenerous and unjust to reproach the Portuguese with idleness 

 and the decay of their African colonies. The decline of the colonies of Portugal 

 sprang from the effects of the terrible struggle in which she was engaged side 

 by side with ourselves against the fearful military tyranny and despotism of 

 France, led on by Napoleon the First, and which compelled her patriotic sove- 

 reign to seek refuge from his grasp in a distant portion of his colonial empire. 

 But Portugal, though weak, has not lost her rights in Africa. Those rights we 

 acknowledge, and also her authority to place custom houses at her different 

 stations, when this country appoints, as it has done, a consul (Dr. Livingstone) 

 for several of these places, which at once changes his character and acts from 

 those of the Christian missionary to that of a political official agent. Moreover 

 the colonies of Portugal will shortly teach other nations their productive value 

 and importance. 



In what I have stated, do not let it be for one moment supposed that I wish 

 to detract from Dr. Livingstone's great labours, merits, and perseverance — 

 perseverance which from my knowledge of tropical climates and countries in my 

 opinion amounts at times to rashness ; but to state that the previous labours 

 undertaken and information given by others cannot justly be construed to 

 lessen the value of his, while his opinions on commercial, agricultural, and 

 political subjects may on some points be considered wrong by those practically 

 acquainted as I am with tropical places and cultivation, and the nature and in- 

 clination and pursuits of their population. 



