Jan. 10, 1859.] BAINES ON THE ZAMBESI EXPEDITION. 103 



The President, after returning thanks to Dr. Livingstone, and to MM. Baines 

 and Thornton, and expressing the gratification which all must feel to hear 

 that their valued friend, Dr. Livingstone, had been so well supported, invited 

 remarks upon the subject before the meeting, and suggested that Mr. M'Gregor 

 Laird, the ingenious designer of the little steamer, the Ma Bobert, might wish 

 to say something upon the statements made regarding the performances of that 

 vessel. 



Mr. Laird, f.r.g.s., said that the steamer had been overloaded. It was 

 designed to draw only 16 inches of water, and not 2 feet 6 inches. It 

 was never intended to carry more than one or two days' coals. When she 

 was first tried Dr. Livingstone had written to his (Mr. Laird's) brother in 

 very congratulatory terms of her success* In the account given of the 

 Zambesi it was interesting to observe the difference between it and the 

 great river of Western Africa. The great width of the channels of the 

 Leambiye, in the Delta, was* very remarkable. The difficulty of navigating 

 where it is- broad and smooth was easy to ■ understand, because the same 

 body of water in a small narrow channel would be^much deeper. What had 

 particularly struck him in Dr. Livingstone's letter. and in the journaLof Mr^ 

 Baines was, that whereas in the Niger, up to the bead of the delta, the whole 

 width of the river,' and the channels by which it is approached, does not 

 exceed four hundred yards within a hundred miles of the sea, this other great 

 river seemed -to have a breadth of three miles. That was a characteristic of 

 the Zambesi, and he thought would prove to be a serious disadvantage. He 

 was afraid from that, and from the fact of the rapids occurring at such a shoit 

 distance from the sea, that they could not with much confidence look forward 

 to the time when the Zambesi would become a great channel of commercial 

 enterprise. He hoped he might be mistaken in his judgment, but should be 

 sorry to encourage expectations which he thought there were many reasons 

 for believing would not be realized. However, it was very satisfactory to- 

 learn that Dr. Livingstone, whom they all so much admired and so deservedly 

 esteemed, and his party continued, by the help of Providence, to^ enjoy suchi 

 excellent health. 



Mr. Lyons M'Leod, late Consul at Mozambique, said that- he differed in 

 opinion from Mr. M'Gregor Laird with regard to. the navigableness of the 

 river Zambesi, and its importance for- commercial' purposes. From informa- 

 tion he had received from the Governor- of Tete, and from a Portuguese who 

 had been up and down it a number of times, he eoncluded the Zambesi to be 

 navigable for at least eight .months out of ■ the twelve, for vessels drawing 

 from four to six feet of water. It was well known that many of the rivers in 

 America had steamers upc«i them with not half that, draught of water. And it 

 was a most important fact, and full of promise, that the banks of the Zambesi, 

 from the Luavo mouths up to Senna, and even nearly up to Tete, were covered 

 with very valuable timber fit for ship-building — a fact specially interesting 

 to think of at a time when we were looking to every part of the world for 

 timber fiDr ship-building. A quantity of the timber of the Zambesi was from 

 forty to sixty feet in length, and from three to six feet in the square. Some of 

 these trees, from growing forked, would be peculiarly fitted for the futtocks and 

 knees in ship-building. There were some beautiful woods also for furniture 

 purposes ; the roots as well as the trunks could be manufactured into hand- 

 some and useful articles. There were also dye woods used by the natives for 

 colouring cotton, silk, and tyool ; andithere was one tree which afforded a bark 

 called in commerce cinchmia bark; andj from the tree, as well as from the 

 bark, quinine could be extracted, and the timber was adapted for the masts of 

 ships. He had- brought home with him from Mozambique some twenty-six 

 specimens of the woods, which were now in the rooms of the Society at White- 

 hall-place, and might be seen by all who took au interest in the subject. He 



