xx LIFE OF BR LIVINGSTONE. 



been cut off in the war then raging between some hostile 

 native tribes and the Portuguese, which was over when he 

 got there, after having gone to the West. Once more. 

 "When at Loanda, he falls in with several of Her Majesty's 

 cruisers 1 . In these he has an opportunity of returning to 

 England : his ill health seemed imperatively to demand this. 

 Moreover, the entreaties of officers and men, desire of visit- 

 ing home, and especially of meeting those whom nature and 

 affection drew nearest to him, all powerfully impel him to 

 embark. But no ; with him, as with all noble-minded men, 

 duty and honour stand first. He is bound to return to Sekeletu ; 

 and also to provide for the safety of the faithful companions 

 of his perilous pilgrimage. This is not all. The great work 

 of opening up Africa is. not accomplished. He may be 

 sick in body, and more sick at heart, as he turns his back 

 upon the ocean, but is inflexible, and sends his journal, 

 letters, &c. on board the Forerunner, and apparently goes 

 from comparative safety to certain destruction. Not so : that 

 ship, with nearly every person on board, was lost. That man 

 accomplished his journey and his object, and has just left 

 his native country nerved and prepared for encountering new 

 dangers, and we may reasonably hope destined to achieve new 

 and more splendid successes. 



There is something so striking in these occurrences, that 

 their being thus brought together is of more consequence than 

 a strict adherence to chronological order. The object of sending 

 a book into the world should be not alone to amuse, or even 

 instruct, after one stereotyped fashion, but to cause the reader 

 to rise from its perusal a better man. 



1 P- 39^ &c - 



