34 LIFE OF DA VID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D. 



this enclosure voluntarily, and at other times they are driven into it, when in 

 pressing to get out at the narrow end, they fall into the pits in great numbers, 

 and are speedily despatched with lances. 



The breeding of cattle, and the cultivation of the soil, have made rapid strides 

 of late years among the Kaffres and Bechuanas. Following the example set 

 by the missionaries and settlers, large tracts of ground are made fruitful by a 

 simple system of irrigation in the neighbourhood of streams and springs of 

 water. In this way a plentiful crop of grain, potatoes, and other vegetables, 

 and various kinds of fruit are grown in considerable quantities ; but an unusally 

 dry season, which turns the springs and streams into hollows of burning sand, 

 puts an end, for the time, to all resources, natural and artificial, and a season 

 of great suffering ensues, in which many of their cattle die, or are slain for 

 food ; and many of the natives, especially the young and old of both sexes, die for 

 want of the necessaries of life. In time they will no doubt learn to provide for 

 these seasons of scarcity, but their careless and improvident habits are difficult to 

 eradicate. 



In the foregoing sketch of the three leading races of mankind, native to 

 South Africa, we have been anxious to present them as they were when Dr. 

 Livingstone began his labours amongst them. The people he visited and 

 lived amongst for the first ten years of his life in Africa were all, with the 

 exception of the Bushmen and Hottentots, more or less of the same kindred as 

 the Kaffres, and speaking a language of the same character, if not always 

 identical. The manners and customs of tribes distinct from these will fall to 

 be treated off as we proceed in our narative. Since 1840 the relations of 

 the white population to the natives who five amongst them, and who occupy the 

 country bordering on the territory, have greatly changed for the better. Slowly 

 but surely civilization is improving the black man, and increasing the number 

 of his resources, and consequently the comforts of his life. Wise legislation, 

 missionary enterprise, and the frequent visits paid to the country by European 

 sportsmen, have all borne their share in this elevating process. But of all 

 the agencies which have been at work for the improvement of the savage 

 people of Africa, none have had so powerful and so immediate an effect for 

 good as the single-handed labours of David Livingstone. 



