320 LIVINGSTONE'S JOURNEY ACROSS AFRICA 



another time it would be a buffalo. Upon one occasion several buffa- 

 loes suddenly charged at full gallop into their midst, one of them toss- 

 ing a Makololo high into the air. Wonderful to relate, he fell upon 

 the ground uninjured! He had been carried some distance on the 

 horns of the buffalo, and then tossed ; yet not only was no bone broken, 

 but even the skin was uninjured. The man was carefully "sham- 

 pooed" — or, to use a phrase more in vogue just now, massaged — and 

 in a few days was actively engaged in hunting buffaloes for food. 



In March Livingstone arrived at Tete, the furthest outpost of the 

 Portuguese, and was most kindly received by the governor. Fever 

 again prostrated him, and it was not till the end of April that he could 

 set out once more for Ouilimane. He left his Makololo men at Tete. 

 Nearly three years elapsed before he rejoined them, but he ha(f prom- 

 ised' to return and take them home, and, believing in him implicitly, 

 they had remained. 



Livingstone went from Tete to Sena, and, though suffering 

 greatly from fever, he pushed on as soon as he could move, and passing 

 the important affluence of the Shire River, finally reached Quilimane, 

 and gazed on the gleaming waters of the Indian Ocean on the 20th of 

 May, 1856. 



Though the welcome which awaited the great traveler on his 

 return to England is of high interest, we must pass it by with a few 

 words, as having no immediate relation to our main topic. He reached 

 home on December 9, 1856, to meet his wife and children, from whom 

 he had parted more than five years before. The fame of his exploits 

 had preceded him and his welcome to England was as warm as wel- 

 come could be. The Royal Geographical and the London Missionary 

 Societies called special meetings to greet him, and on all sides he was 

 sought and honored in every suitable way, the Queen being among 

 those who asked for the honor of an interview. His work, "Missionary 

 Travels," proved of intense interest, and the first edition of twelve 

 thousand copies, published at a guinea each, was immediately ex- 

 hausted. That he should' return and continue his work was every- 

 where desired, and in February, 1858, he was appointed British Consul 

 for East Africa and offered the leadership of an expedition to explore 

 Central and Eastern Africa. With this object in view he set sail again 

 for his chosen field of labor. 



