PREFATORY LETTER. xli 



meter would range from 80° to 96°, and sink in the night 

 to 58° or 60°; and he mentions a case when it sank to 42°. 

 Before they gained the water-shed, they were once more 

 among the slave-dealers ; and at Kawawa they met with a 

 treacherous Chief who called out his people to attack them. 

 With his usual presence of mind, and by a new exposure 

 of his person at the point of danger, Dr Livingstone held 

 the savages at bay; and not without difficulty prevented 

 his own men from opening fire upon them. 



After crossing the Casai they again entered the great plain 

 (about 4000 feet above the level of the sea) which is the 

 water-shed between the Congo and the Zambesi. They no 

 longer had any fear of interruption from the slave-dealer: 

 but two days afterwards (June 5th) their leader was struck 

 down (though but for one day) by his twenty- seventh 

 attack of fever. Next day they moved forward, and on the 

 8th of June regained their old track near the Lake Dilolo. 

 They had still a long and weary way to travel ; but they 

 were among friends, and wholesome animal food soon 

 became abundant. Once more they met with a hearty wel- 

 come from Katema and Shinte, and were this time able to 

 gratify those Chiefs with ample presents. 



I need not dwell upon their journey down the Leeba, and 

 down the Barotse valley. As their return was little ex- 

 pected, their canoes had been removed; but they easily 

 had them replaced. One of the party afterwards deserted 

 them to join his father; but this was done when all 

 danger was over. Down the Barotse valley their progress 

 was a continued ovation ; yet they had little now to offer 

 in return for most ample kindness. " The many delays," 

 says Dr Livingstone, "caused by sickness, made me ex- 

 pend all my stock, and all the goods my men procured 

 by their own labour at Loanda; and we returned to the 

 Makololo as poor as when we set out." " I felt, he adds, 

 and still feel most deeply grateful, and tried to benefit 



