332 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. [chap. xvi. 



seem to hear him pacing his little deck, and thinking 

 aloud : — 



" The idea of a colony in Africa, as the term colony is usually 

 understood, cannot be entertained. English races cannot compete in 

 manual labour of any kind with the natives, but they can take a 

 leading part in managing the land, improving the quality, in creat- 

 ing the quantity and extending the varieties of the productions of 

 the soil ; and by taking a lead too in trade, and in all public matters, 

 the Englishman would be an unmixed advantage to every one below 

 and around bim, for he would fill a place which is now practically vacant. 



" It is difficult to convey an idea of the country ; it is so different 

 from all preconceived notions. The country in many parts rises up to 

 plateaus, slopes up to which are diversified by valleys lined with trees; 

 or here and there rocky bluffs jut out ; the plateaus themselves are 

 open prairies covered with grass dotted over with trees, and watered 

 by numerous streams. Nor are they absolutely flat, their surface is 

 varied by picturesque undulations. Deep gorges and ravines leading 

 down to the lower levels offer special beauties, and landscapes from 

 the edges of the higher plateaus are in their way unequalled. Thence 

 the winding of the Shire may be followed like a silver thread or broad 

 lake with its dark mountain mass behind. 



" I think that the Oxford and Cambridge missionaries have treated 

 me badly in trying to make me the scapegoat for their own blunders 

 and inefficiency. . . . But I shall try equitably and gently to make 

 allowances for human weakness, though that weakness has caused me 

 much suffering." 



On 28th May they had something like a foretaste 

 of the breaking of the monsoon, though happily that 

 event did not yet take place. " At noon a dense cloud 

 came down on us from e. and n.e., and blew a furious 

 gale ; tore sails ; the ship, as is her wont, rolled broadside 

 into it, and nearly rolled quite over. Everything was 

 hurled hither and thither. It lasted half an hour, then 

 passed with a little ram. It was terrible while it lasted. 

 We had calm after it, and sky brightened up. Thank 

 God for His goodness." 



In June there was more wind, but a peculiarity in 

 the construction of the ship impeded her progress 

 through the water. It was still very tedious and trying. 

 Livingstone seems to have been reading books that 

 would take his attention off the very trying weather. 



