112 WAR AVERTED BY LIVINGSTONE. 



which was painful indeed. It was the town where the father 

 of a man lived who had conspired to deprive Sekeletu of the 

 chieftainship after the death of Sebituane. This man and an- 

 other who had counselled the conspiracy were taken on the 

 arrival of Sekeletu and tossed into the river. The remon- 

 strances of the doctor were of no avail; Sekeletu only calmly 

 answered him : " You see we are still Boers ; we are not taught." 



But Livingstone was more successful in averting a war upon 

 the Mambari, to whose fortified town they came. The feeling 

 of the Makololo was very bitter against them. They had been 

 intimately associated with the conspirator against Sekeletu, and 

 had received of him the privilege of marauding on their neigh- 

 bors. Their city was full of these poor slave-gangs. The plan 

 of the chief was to starve the fortress out. Livingstone, show- 

 ins: them that the first and greatest sufferers in that case would 

 be the helpless slaves, finally led them away and averted a cruel 

 revenge. It was a part of the constant aim and eifort of Liv- 

 ingstone to bring the natives of the country through which he 

 passed to love peace and embrace a creed of kindness. And it 

 was a blessed service. The horrors of war may not be appreci- 

 ated by the poor savage, but they are real and awful still. To 

 inculcate a spirit of peace in men is their highest service ; it is 

 Christlike. 



Careful inquiry at Naliele convinced Dr. Livingstone that 

 there had never been a white man in that region before he and 

 Mr. Oswell were at Sebituane's, in 1851. Though he met some 

 half-cast Portuguese at this time, they had come into the coun- 

 try two years after the visit of himself and Oswell in 1851. It 

 is probable that no white man had ever been so far into the 

 heart of the African continent before. His eyes were looking 

 upon these strange, wonderful things for the world, and it was 

 the world's first glimpse of them. 



The kindness of Sekeletu provided attendants, and the mis- 

 sionary continued his journey some distance beyond Naliele 

 without the chief. The herald of Sekeletu, though, made the 

 entrance to every village an affair of princely dignity by run- 

 ning in advance of the party, vociferating, " Here comes the 

 lord." " Here comes the great lion." The attentions were in 

 keeping with the introduction; the party fared on the fat 



