240 LIFE OF DA VID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D. 



ill become me to intrude long upon your time ; but I would wish to call your 

 attention to the really great obligations which science is generally under to 

 the Portuguese, especially with regard to the geography of Africa. We are 

 too apt to forget the debt of gratitude which we owe to them for our know- 

 ledge of the interior of Africa, almost up to the present time, when Dr. 

 Livingstone has completed the chain of their discoveries. We must remember 

 that it was Vasco de Grama, a Portuguese, in the first instance, who doubled 

 the Cape of Good Hope. The Portuguese have established settlements 

 throughout Southern Africa from the earliest times down to the present, 

 and until Dr. Livingstone has laid down all his discoveries upon the map, 

 the old Portuguese maps of the interior of Africa, especially the southern 

 portion, are the best available. It is singularly interesting and gratifying to 

 find, that it should be to the Portuguese Governors, that we are indebted for 

 the hospitable reception, which they gave to our distinguished traveller, Dr. 

 Livingstone, and which has enabled him to return home in safety, and 

 acquaint us with the results of all his discoveries. As you are about to hear 

 from Dr. Livingstone some brief account of his travels, I will not longer 

 trespass on your time, but merely second the resolution which has been 

 submitted to your notice. 



The resolution having been put from the chair, was carried unanimously. 



The Count de Lavradio then rose, and after a brief apology in English 

 for his want of fluency in our language, thus spoke in French : — 



" Mr. President, — As I did not expect to have the honour of speaking 

 before you, it is with great hesitation and timidity that I rise to address a 

 few words to you, in order to express my gratitude for the resolution you 

 have just adopted. My first duty is to return my sincere and hearty thanks 

 to the Right Hon. Mr. Labouchere, in the name of the Sovereign, whom I 

 have the honour to represent, and in that of the Portuguese nation, to which 

 I belong, not only for the resolution which he has proposed — that the Royal 

 Geographical Society should adopt — but also for the sentiments of admiration 

 and esteem which he has so well expressed for the memory of the intrepid 

 and learned Portuguese navigators, who, in discovering seas and lands, till 

 then unknown, carried everywhere the germs of civilization, and rendered 

 very great services to science. I also beg Sir H. Rawlinson to accept my 

 best thanks for the kindness with which he has supported the proposition of 

 Mr. Labouchere, in recalling to the remembrance of the society the important 

 discoveries made by the Portuguese. My warmest thanks are also due to 

 you, Mr. President, for the good-will with which you have submitted the 

 proposition of Mr. Labouchere to the society ; and to you, gentlemen, the 

 members of the Royal Geographical Society, for the unanimity of your 

 approbation. I assure you, I shall hasten to transmit to my Government the 

 resolution just adopted, and I feel sure it will be much flattered by it. When 



