314 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNALS. [Chap. XIT. 



I walked a little way out and saw the shores of the Lake 

 for the first time, thankful that I had come safely hither. 



I told the chief that my goods were all expended, and 

 gave him a fathom of calico as all I could spare : I told 

 him that as soon as I had seen and measured the Lake 

 I would return north; he replied, that seeing our goods 

 were done he could say nothing, he would give me guides, 

 and what else he should do was known to himself. He 

 gave a public reception at once. I asked if he had ever 

 seen anyone like me, and he said, " Never." A Babisa 

 traveller asked me why I had come so far ; I said I wished 

 to make the country and people better known to the rest 

 of the world, that we were all children of one Father, and 

 I was anxious that we should know each other better, 

 and that friendly visits should be made in safety. I told 

 him what the Queen had done to encourage the growth 

 of cotton on the Zambezi, and how we had been thwarted 

 by slave-traders and their abettors : they were pleased with 

 this. "When asked I showed them my note-book, watch, 

 compass, burning-glass, and was loudly drummed home. 



I showed them the Bible, and told them a little of its 

 contents. I shall require a few days more at Bangweolo 

 than I at first intended. The moon being in its last stage 

 of waning I cannot observe till it is of some size. 



19th July. — Went down to Masantu's village, which 

 is on the shore of the Lake, and by a spring called 

 Chipoka, which comes out of a mass of disintegrated 

 granite. It is seldom that we see a spring welling out 

 beneath a rock : they are covered by oozing sponges, if 

 indeed they exist. Here we had as a spectator a man 

 walking on stilts tied to his ankles and knees. There are 

 a great many Babisa among the people. The women have 

 their hair ornamented with strings of cowries, and well oiled 

 with the oil and fat from the seeds of the Mosikisi trees. 

 I sent the chief a fathom of calico, and got an audience at 



