486 



NA TURE 



[April 2^, 1874 



Oxalis corniailata L.,wilh its yellow flowers, was likewise 

 seen, but not in any quantity. 



An interesting plant — Clienopodinin tonicntosuin Th. — 

 grows abundantly on Tristan as well as on Inacessible 

 Island ; it is known as the tea plant, and the leaves, which 

 are strongly scented, are used for making a decoction 

 which is drunk with milk and sugar. 



In the gully above the settlement, shrubs of Phylica 

 arborea commence at an elevation of about 400ft. No 

 trees are found in this locality, having all been cut down 

 at different times for fire-wood, but on other parts of the 

 island there is abundance of wood. The diameter of the 

 trunks of the trees on the upper plateau, it is said, reach to 

 iS in. On some fresh- water ponds close to the sea was 

 a quantity of conferva?, but no chara was seen, a species 

 of Isolepis also grew on the edges of these ponds which 

 was not seen on the other two islands. A few willow 

 bushes grew in a sheltered situation in a ditch near the 

 cottages, and seemed to be thriving. Growing round the 

 island is a belt of Macrocysiis fyrifira Ag., a gigantic 

 sea-weed, abounding in the southern temperate zone, and 

 stretching up from thence along the Pacific to the Arctic 

 regions. It occurs in immense lengths, single plants of 

 from ICO to 200 ft. being common, and it is said that 

 they are sometimes seen from 700 to 1,000 ft. in length, 

 forming cable-like masses nearly as thick as a man's body, 

 and having the appearance of huge buoys. 



The surf on the rocky coast of Tristan is so heavy 

 that the more delicate sea-weeds stand no chance, but 

 are dashed and torn into numerous pieces. 



The temperature of the fresh-water ponds at the sea- 

 level gave a result of 54-' F. while the water of the streams 

 running down the cliffs stood at 50", the difference being 

 due evidently to the influence of the snow-water from 

 above. 



FUNERAL OF THE LATE DR. LIVINGSTONE 



ON Saturday last the remains of David Livingstone 

 which left Central Africa now nearly a year ago, 

 were interred in Westminster Abbey, in presence of a 

 multitude such as was probably never collecied therein 

 on any sianilar occasion. The funeral procession, which 

 started from the Geographical Society's Rooms, Savile 

 Row, was of great length, though of the plainest descrip- 

 tion possible under the circumstances ; we have not 

 learned whether this was in accordance with the wishes 

 of the late traveller's relatives, or whether it arose from 

 scarcity of funds. Every mark of respect was shown to 

 the procession along its route, and at several advantageous 

 points considerable crowds had collected to witness the 

 last journey of the great explorer. 



Men of all ranks and of all pursuits in life formed part 

 of the procession, and stood around the grave during the 

 service in the Abbey. The patriarchal Dr. Moffat, 

 Livingstone's father-in-law, and the traveller's two sons, 

 Thomas and Oswell Livingstone, Mr. James Vavasseur, 

 Sir F. Steele, Dr. Kirk, Mr. W. F. Webb, the Rev. Horace 

 Waller, Mr. H. M. Stanley, Mr. E. Young, Sir W. 

 Fergusson, the Duke of Sutherland, Sir Bartle Frcre 

 (President of the Royal Geographical -Society), Sir H. C. 

 Rawlinson, Vice-Admiral Baron de la Ronciere le Noury 

 (President of the French Geographical Society), Dr. 

 Hooker (President of the Royal Society), Mr. C. R. 

 Markham, Mr. R. H. Major, Mr. H. W. Bates, Dr. 

 Houghton, Mr. J. Young of Kelly, are the names of 

 some of those who followed the body to the grave ; 

 there were besides, deputations from Edinburgh, 

 Glasgow, and other places, and the carriages of Her 

 Majesty the Queen, the Prince of Wales, and of many other 

 noble and distinguished persons formed part of the pro- 

 cession. Among those who were waiting inside the Abbey 

 were men of every shade of thought, political and religious, 

 men distinguished in every walk of life, deputations from 



many religious bodies, from the establishment out- 

 wards, and representatives of various scientific Societies. 

 The bearing of the crowds both outside and inside the 

 Abbey showed that they were brought together from 

 genuine admiration and sincere respect for the memory of 

 the simple-minded hero. 



We think the character of the assemblage which gathered 

 to do honour to Livingstone's remains is one jjroof that he 

 has done a work calculated to call forth the admiration and 

 gratitude of those whose suffrages constitute fame of the 

 highest and most enduring kind. If to conceive a great 

 and noble purpose and to carry it out even unto death, with 

 indomitable energy, determination, and the greatest skill, 

 in the face of every possible discouragement, discomfort, 

 and obstacle, be a mark of greatness, his contemporaries 

 have certainly made no mistake in raising David Living- 

 stone to the lofty pedestal which he at present occupies. 

 He has probably added more largely to the sum of exact 

 geographical knowledge than any other explorer has hither- 

 to done. As Dean Stanley eloquently said in his funeral 

 sermon on Sunday afternoon : — " By his indomitable reso- 

 lution we have now revealed to us, for the first time, that 

 vast tract of Central Africa which, to the contemplation 

 of the geographer, has been literally transformed from a 

 howling wilderness into the glory of Lebanon. The 

 blank of unexplored regions which in every earlier map 

 formed the heart of Africa is now disclosed to us adorned 

 with those magnificent forests, that chain of lakes 

 'glittering' — to use the native expression — 'like stars in the 

 desert ; " those falls more splendid, we are told, even than 

 Niagara, which no eye of civilised man had ever before 

 beheld. And to his untiring exertions, continued down 

 to the very last efforts of exhausted nature, we owe the 

 gradual limitation of the basin within which must at last 

 be found those hidden fountains that have lured on 

 traveller after traveller, and have hitherto baffled them all." 



A deputation of gentlemen interested in the family of 

 the late Dr. Livingstone waited on Monday upon the 

 Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State 

 for Foreign Affairs, for the pjrpose of representing to Her 

 Majesty's Government the very general anxiety that was 

 felt throughout the United Kingdom that some substantial 

 recognition, in the shape of an adequate provision for 

 his family, should be made of the services of the great 

 traveller. A requisition to ihe Prime Minister, asking him 

 to confer a pension on the family of Dr. Livingstone, was 

 on Monday night circulated among members of Parliament 

 at the House of Commons. A large num'oer of signatures 

 has already been attached by gentlemen on both sides. 



About three years ago. Her Majesty, at the re- 

 commendation of Mr. Gladstone, conferred a pension 

 of 300/. a year upon Dr. Livingstone, who, how- 

 ever, it is sad to think, never knew that his services 

 had been so recognised by the Government. Upon 

 the death of Livingstone the pension ceased, but it 

 was deemed by Mr. Gladstone a matter of sheer merit, 

 due to the great explorer, to confer some pecuniary benefit 

 upon his children, and the figures on the civil list were 

 thereupon reduced from 300/. to 200/., which is actually 

 the amount that will henceforth be paid by the Govern- 

 ment to those he has left behind him. Though Dr. Living- 

 stone made a large sum of money out of the first book he 

 published, still he disbursed more than half that amount 

 m his promotion of the exploration of the Zambesi. 



Livingstone's devotion to the cause of science aad of 

 philanthropy has thus been the means of leaving his 

 family very inadequately provided for ; but as he has 

 added so greatly to the glory of his native land, and as 

 he spent his life in the service of civilisation, we 

 feel confident that those for whom he was therefore 

 una'^le to provide will be well cared for. 



From a letter in yesterday's Times we see that the 

 Diary kept by Jacob Wainwright for nine months after 

 Livingstone's death will shortly be published. 



