CHAPTER IV. 



Livingstone 's Letters to the London Missionary Society, from Kuruman, Mabotsa, 



Chonuane, Kololeng, fyc, Sfc. 



rpH K reader cannot fail to be interested in what Livingstone had to say to the 

 -L directors of the London Missionary Society as to his mission work, and 

 the remarks made on his reports by the officials of the society. It is a matter 

 of regret that they reproduced his letters so sparingly. One cannot help 

 feeling, in going over the society's reports, that the boldness and enterprise 

 of Livingstone were viewed with a kind of puzzled wonderment by these 

 worthy people. In their doubts and misgivings as to the results of his daring 

 raid into the unknown heart of the country they could only hope that if it was 

 God's will good might come out of the explorations of their servant, who 

 seemed bent on bringing the whole of Central Africa within the sphere of 

 their operations. 



At a very early stage of his career, Livingstone had discovered that he 

 could serve the people of Africa best by opening up the country and securing 

 the interest of people of all ranks and classes in their condition and circum- 

 stances. As a mere missionary accredited to a certain specified district, his 

 labours, however successful, could only be known to a limited number of 

 people. As a missionary explorer his discoveries and adventures would 

 attract the attention of the entire intelligent community, not only in his own 

 country, but throughout the civilized world, and result in a service rendered 

 to the savage people of Africa which the united labours of half a hundred 

 missionaries could not accomplish. In a letter to his brother John, written 

 in December, 1873, from the neighbourhood of Lake Bangweolo, he says : — 



" If the good Lord above gives me strength and influence to complete the 

 task, I shall not grudge my hunger and toil, above all, if He permits me to 

 put a stop to the enormous evils of this inland slave trade I shall bless His 

 name with all my heart. The Nile sources are valuable to me only as a 

 means of enabling me to open my mouth among men. It is this power I 

 hope to apply to remedy an enormous evil, and join my little helping hand 

 in the great revolution, that in His all embracing providence, He has been 

 carrying on for ages." 



Fortunately for the public, and also for a good many of the readers of the 

 London Society's Missionary reports, Livingstone's accounts of his discoveries in 

 I 



