312 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



ST. PAUL DE LOANDA. 



THE objective point of the expedition was the Portuguese set- 

 tlement of St. Paul de Loanda, on the southwestern coast of 

 Africa, and as they drew near the sea, Livingstone observed 

 that his men became very uneasy. On ascending some hills near 

 the town they caught a glimpse of the ocean, which the men re- 

 garded with the utmost awe. On describing their feelings after- 

 ward, they remarked that "we marched along with our father, 

 believing that what the ancients had always told us was true, 

 that the world has no end ; but all at once the world said to us, 

 ' I am finished : there is no more of me ! ' They had always 

 imagined that the world was one extended plain without limit. 



Livingstone arrived at Loanda on the 31st of May, 1854, 

 almost worn out with fatigue and severe dysentery. 



Loanda, with a population of twelve thousand souls, con 

 tained but a single Englishman, who was a commissioner for 

 the suppression of the slave trade. This man looked upon Liv- 

 ingstone as a brother, and took him at once to his house, giving 

 him. his own bed and making him comfortable in every way. 



A JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT. 



LIVINGSTONE remained at Loanda nearly four months, much 

 of which time he was bedridden by fever, although under excel- 

 lent medical care all the while. There was an English man-of- 

 war anchored in Loanda or Bengo bay, the surgeon of which 

 devoted most assidious attention to the traveler, but he was so 

 emaciated and debilitated and the malaria had such firm hold that 

 his system was almost incapable of rallying, and thus, despite 

 his anxiety to return to the interior and open up a route across 

 the continent by way of the Zambesi river, he was forced to 

 either keep to his bed or act with great prudence during a long 

 convalesence. 



During his stay in Loanda, when able to sit up, he wrote sev- 

 eral letters which were published in the town paper, elaborating 

 his plan for opening up an interior and transcontinental trade, 

 which so commended itself to the Portuguese residents that they 

 proffered him such aid as he might require to complete his pur- 



