PREFATORY LETTER. xlix 



spite of its horrors, to have been a great gain to central 

 Africa. The conquering Chief was a rough and classical 

 reformer: for he called it peace when he had made the land 

 a solitude. The country they passed along was delight- 

 ful. They had not now (as in their western journey) to 

 make their weary way through tall reeds reaching above 

 their heads, and through swamps and tangled forests; but 

 they trod on soft green pastures, decorated here and there 

 by gorgeous tropical trees and partial woodlands; and con- 

 stantly, as they crossed the higher elevations, they had 

 panoramic views of great extent and admirable beauty. 

 The whole region was broken into a succession of ridges — 

 running north and south, or north-east and south-west — 

 and, almost without being conscious of it, they gradually 

 rose to the height of 5,000 feet above the level of the sea — 

 among bosses of granite which pierced through the gneiss 

 and mica-slate, and tilted up the beds at a high angle, so as to 

 make them dip from the protruding rock. 



The temperature was high, for they were travelling 

 under a tropical sun, and during the summer of the southern 

 hemisphere : and in an unknown land — among wild beasts 

 and savages — they could not make their way by night. But 

 the air of the uplands was fresh and invigorating ; and they 

 were all in high health and spirits, well fed, and without 

 fever, headache, or sense of fatigue. In short, says Dr 

 Livingstone, "the climate is as healthy as that most healthy 

 of all healthy climates," which extends for several hundred 

 miles on the eastern skirt of the great Kalahari desert. The 

 country improved in beauty as they approached the Kafue — 

 one of the larger tributaries of the Zambesi. After they had 

 passed that river their labour increased. The climate be- 

 came more oppressive; and they had to work their way 

 through valleys and dense woods, sometimes following the 

 tracks made by the wild beasts. Lastly, they became aware 

 of their approach to the broad waters of the great river by 



6 



