450 MOUNTAINS AND STREAMS. 



more legitimate duties of a Christian teacher, but as an explorer 

 he was animated by the same desire to glorify God and do good 

 to men which had animated him when he left his native land in 

 the first love of his consecration. And to the last he seemed 

 always animated by the desire to solve the mysteries of the land 

 only that he might the more successfully carry out his great 

 scheme of establishing a strong central mission in the heart of 

 the country, whence the influences of Christianity might more 

 readily penetrate the whole land. 



So much trouble had been experienced with the Sepoys that 

 Livingstone was at last obliged to decide against attempting to 

 carry them farther. They had sought by every means to pro- 

 duce disaffection among his followers and even to excite the 

 natives against him. So having arranged for them to return to 

 the coast with a respectable trade, he parted company with them 

 at Moembe, leaving them a few days in the care of Mataka. 



On the 28th of July Mataka came with a good lot of flour 

 and men to guide the party to the lake ; he had before presented 

 an ox, and his guests were thus prepared to set out in good 

 spirits. There are two roads from his town to the lake — one to 

 Losewa, which is west of this, and opposite Kotakota; the 

 other, to Makatu, is farther south : the first is five days through 

 deserted country chiefly ; but the other, seven, among people and 

 plenty of provisions all the way. Mataka told Livingstone 

 that he would not send him to Losewa, as that place had been 

 recently burned, but by the more southern route, which, though 

 a little longer road, was safer and better. The whole country 

 was a mass of mountains, and on leaving Moembe the party 

 ascended considerably, and toward evening of the first day's 

 march the barometer showed the greatest altitude about thirty- 

 four hundred feet above the level of the sea. Everywhere in 

 these mountains there were villages; generally these villages 

 boasted about one hundred houses. Numerous springs — about 

 which unmistakable indications of iron appeared — afforded 

 abundance of water. Beautiful green grass was waving every- 

 where, and flowers of various bright hues. 



The temperature on these mountains was much lower than 

 some may dream of in such a latitude ; on the 29th of July, 

 about the summit of the range, it was in the morning 55° only. 



