4 i4 DAVID LIVINGSTONE. [chap. xx. 



of the spare and tasteless food of the country, made a 

 wonderful change on the outer man ; and in a few days 

 Livingstone was himself again — hearty, and happy, and 

 hopeful as before. 



Before closing this chapter and entering on the last 

 two years of Livingstone's life, which have so lively an 

 interest of their own, it will be convenient to glance at the 

 contributions to natural science which he continued to 

 make to the very end. In doing this, we avail ourselves 

 of a very tender and Christian tribute to the memory of 

 his early friend, which Professor Owen contributed to the 

 Quarterly Review, April 1875, after the publication of 

 Livingstone's Last Journals. 



Mr. Owen appears to have been convinced by Living- 

 stone's reasoning and observations, that the Nile sources 

 were in the Bangweolo watershed — a supposition now 

 ascertained to have been erroneous. But what chiefly 

 attracted and delighted the great naturalist was the 

 many interesting notices of plants and animals scattered 

 over the Last Journals. These Journals contain im- 

 portant contributions both to economic and physiological 

 botany. In the former department, Livingstone makes 

 valuable observations on plants useful in the arts, such 

 as gum-copal, papyrus, cotton, india-rubber, and the palm- 

 oil tree ; while in the latter, his notices of " carnivorous 

 plants," which catch insects that probably yield nourish- 

 ment to the plant, of silicified wood and the like, show 

 how carefully he watched all that throws light on the 

 life and changes of plants. In zoology he was never 

 weary of observing, especially when he found a strange- 

 looking animal with strange habits. Spiders, ants, and 

 bees of unknown varieties were brought to light, but the 

 strangest of his new acquaintances were among the fishy 

 tribes. He found fish that made long excursions on land, 

 thanks to the wet grass through which they would 

 wander for miles, thus proving that " a fish out of water" 



