10 INTRODUCTION. 



hearts of the statesmen and of the people of England 

 generally. The Expedition owes great obligations to the 

 Lords of the Admiralty for their unvarying readiness to 

 render us every assistance in their power ; and to the warm- 

 hearted and ever-obliging hydrographer to the Admiralty, 

 the late Admiral Washington, as a subordinate, but most 

 effective agent, our heartfelt gratitude is also due ; and we 

 must ever thankfully acknowledge that our efficiency was 

 mainly due to the kind services of Admirals Sir Frederick 

 Grey, Sir Baldwin Walker, and all the naval officers serving 

 under them on the East Coast. Nor must I omit to record 

 our obligations to Mr. Skead, R.N. The Luawe was carefully 

 sounded and surveyed by this officer, whose skilful and 

 zealous labours, both on that river, and afterwards on the 

 Lower Zambesi, were deserving of all praise. 



In speaking of what has been done by the Expedition, it 

 should always be understood that Dr. Kirk, Mr. Charles 

 Livingstone, Mr. R. Thornton, and others composed it. In 

 using the plural number they are meant, and I wish to 

 bear testimony to the untiring zeal, energy, courage, and 

 perseverance with which my companions laboured ; undaunted 

 by difficulties, dangers, or hard fare. It is my firm belief 

 that, were their services required in any other capacity, they 

 might be implicitly relied on to perform their duty like 

 men. The reason why Dr. Kirk's name does not appear on 

 the title-page of this narrative is, because it is hoped that 

 he may give an account of the botany and natural history 

 of the Expedition in a separate work from his own pen. He 

 collected above four thousand species of plants, specimens of 

 most of the valuable woods, of the different native manufac- 

 tures, of the articles of food, and of the different kinds of 

 cotton from every spot we visited, and a great variety of birds 



