i860.] GOING HOME WITH THE MAKOIOLO. 277 



of the body possible. Dr. Livingstone gave them in 

 reply a chemical illustration, and then referred to the 

 authority of the Book that taught them the doctrine. 

 And the poor people were more willing to give in to the 

 authority of the Book than to the chemical illustration ! 



In The Zambesi and its Tributaries this journey to 

 the Makololo country and back occupies one-thud of the 

 volume, though it did not lead to any very special results. 

 But it enabled Dr. Livingstone to make great additions 

 to his knowledge both of the people and the country. 

 His observations are recorded with the utmost care, for 

 though he might not be able to turn them to immediate 

 use, it was likely, and even certain, that they would be 

 useful some day. Indeed the spirit of faith is apparent 

 in the whole narrative, as if he could not pass over even 

 the most insignificant details. The fish in the rivers, the 

 wild animals in the woods, the fissures in the rocks, the 

 course of the streams, the composition of the minerals and 

 gravels, and a thousand other phenomena, are carefully 

 observed and chronicled. The crowned cranes beginning 

 to pair, the flocks of spurwinged geese, the habits of the 

 ostrich, the nests of bee-eaters, pass under review in rapid 

 succession. His sphere of observation ranges from the 

 structure of the great continent itself to the serrated 

 bone of the konokono, or the mandible of the ant. 



Leaving Sesheke on the 17th September, they reached 

 Tette on the 23d November 1860, whence they started 

 for Kongone with the unfortunate " Ma-Bobert." But 

 the days of that asthmatic old lady were numbered. On 

 the 21st December she grounded on a sandbank, and 

 could not get off. A few days before this catastrophe 

 Livingstone writes to Mr. Young : — 



" Lupata, 4th Bee. 1860. — Many thanks for all you have been 

 doing about the steamer and everything else. You seem to have 

 gone about matters in a most business-like manner, and once for all I 

 assure you I am deeply grateful. 



