82 RETURN TO THE CAPE. 



sums for these inglorious affairs wish to know how our 

 little unprotected party could quietly travel through 

 the heart of the colony to the capital, with as little sense 

 or sign of danger as if we had been in Bngland, they must 

 engage a " Times Special Correspondent " for the next 

 outbreak to explain where the money goes, and who have 

 been benefited by the blood and treasure expended. 



Having placed my family on board a homeward-bound 

 ship and promised to rejoin them in two years, we parted, 

 for, as it subsequently proved, nearly five years. The 

 Directors of the London Missionary Society signified 

 their cordial approval of my project, by leaving the matter 

 entirely to my own discretion ; and I have much pleasure 

 in acknowledging my obligations to the gentlemen com- 

 posing that body for always acting in an enlightened 

 spirit, and with as much liberality as their constitution 

 would allow. 



I have the like pleasure in confessing my thankfulness 

 to the Astronomer Royal at the Cape, Thomas Maclear, 

 Ksq., for enabling me to recall the little astronomical 

 knowledge which constant manual labour and the en- 

 grossing nature of missionary duties had effaced from 

 my memory, and in adding much that I did not know 

 before. The promise he made on parting, that he would 

 examine and correct all my observations, had more effect 

 in making me persevere in overcoming the difficulties 

 of an unassisted solitary observer, than anything else ; 

 so whatever credit may be attached to the geographical 

 positions laid down in my route, must be attributed to 

 the voluntary aid of the excellent and laborious astronomer 

 of the Cape observatory. 



Having given the reader as rapid a sketch as possible 

 of events which attracted notice between 1840 and 1852, 

 I now proceed to narrate the incidents of the last and 

 longest journey of all, performed in 1852-6. 



