DOUBTS AS TO LIVINGSTONE'S DEATH. 367 



opinion Dr. Kirk entertained with regard to the fate of Livingstone he must 

 entertain." 



Captain Sherard Osborne said that — 



" The fate of Livingstone at this moment was remarkably analagous to 

 that of Franklin in 1848. Franklin was missing, and there were plenty of 

 people ready to come forward and produce indubitable proofs that Franklin 

 had perished close to the threshold of his work. He and others doubted it 

 strongly ; but so fiercely was the question agitated that some of the best and 

 soundest authorities in this country were disposed to relinquish the idea of 

 Franklin's pushing forward then, as he believed poor Livingstone might be 

 pushing forward now. He held that they, as members of the Geographical 

 Society, should act upon the broad principle that, until they had positive 

 proof of the death of Livingstone, or any other explorer, it was their duty 

 not to cease their efforts to rescue them. If it were easy for the slave-trader 

 and the missionary to traverse Africa, he maintained that other men could 

 penetrate to Luenda and see if Livingstone had left that place in safety, and 

 bring back any papers he might have left there. If Livingstone had fallen, 

 he believed the efforts made to solve the mystery of his death would lead, in 

 all probability, to the clearing up of the mystery of the African lake regions, 

 just as the problem of the northern polar regions had been solved in the 

 search for Franklin." 



Mr. Baines said, " as one who had been with Livingstone eighteen months 

 in Africa, he wished to bear testimony to his perseverance and ability as an 

 explorer. With regard to his reported death, he himself had been reported 

 dead, and in 1860 or 1861 it was stated that Dr. Livingstone had been 

 killed; but the editor of the Cape paper added very sensibly, that Dr. Miller, 

 who brought down the letters, had previously been reported dead, and had 

 come out alive." Mr. Baines said he did not give up hope ; at the same time 

 he had very great fear, founded on the conclusions Dr. Kirk had come to, 

 who would not be easily deceived by the natives." 



The President, Sir Roderick Murchison, in concluding the discussion, 

 said he was glad to find that gentlemen well acquainted with parts of the 

 region recently explored, had, as well as himself, a hope that Livingstone 

 might be still alive. Although it was a ray of hope only, they would, he 

 was sure, agree with him that an expedition should be sent out to clear up 

 this painful question. Until that was done he should remain in doubt as to 

 the death of the great explorer. 



Mr. E. D. Young, afterwards the leader of the Livingstone Search 

 Expedition, gave an equally indifferent account of the truth and honesty of 

 Moosa. He says : — 



" I had previously a good experience of the salient points in the 

 character of the Mohammedans. It had fallen to my bad lot on a former 



