6 o 
BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA 
of Angola to the Ivazembe’s country, near Lake Mweru, and thence to Tete 
on the Zambezi. In 1831 Major Monteiro and Captain Gamitto conducted 
a mission from Tete to the Kazembe, and some years subsequently Silva Porto, 
a Portuguese colonist, of Bihe, in the interior of Benguela, is also said to have 
rambled over much of South Central Africa ; further, a certain Candido de 
Costa Cardoso claimed that he sighted the south-west corner of Lake Nyasa 
in 1846; but none of these explorers, with the exception of Dr. Lacerda, 
possessed any scientific qualifications, and their journeys led to little or no 
geographical information or political ascendancy. Indeed, what is remarkable 
about Dr. Lacerda, to say nothing of the other explorers, was the extraordinary 
bad luck which prevented him from sighting any important river or lake. He 
reached a point within a few miles of the large Lake Mweru, and yet either 
never saw it, or thought it not worth mention. He heard vague rumours of 
Tanganyika and of Nyasa, but did not direct his steps in either direction ; 
and, stranger still, he missed the recognition of the remarkable Luapula, which 
we now know to be the Upper Congo, though he must have actually been 
within sight of it. 
The real history of British Central Africa begins with the advent of 
Livingstone. This intrepid missionary had gradually pushed his- explorations 
northwards from the Cape of Good Hope until he reached the Central Zambezi 
in 1851, accompanied by the celebrated sportsman Mr. Oswell. Impressed 
with the importance of his discovery Livingstone returned to Cape Town, 
and with the generous assistance of Mr. Oswell, was*enabled not only to send 
his wife and children out of harm’s way, but to equip himself for the tremendous 
exploration of South Central Africa, which he had determined to accomplish. 
Having perfected himself in astronomical observations, under the tuition of the 
Astronomer-Royal of Cape Town, Livingstone started for the North and once 
more reached the Zambezi, near its confluence with the Chobe. Thence he 
travelled up the Zambezi to its source, and across to Angola and again back 
from Angola and down the Zambezi to its mouth, or more correctly speaking 
to Quelimane, on the Indian Ocean. This epoch-making journey had important 
and far-reaching results. Livingstone was sent back by the British Government 
at the head of a well-equipped expedition, and was accompanied amongst 
others by Dr., now Sir John, Kirk, who, besides being medical officer, was 
the naturalist of the expedition. 
After a journey to Tete and visits to the “ Quebraba^o ” RajDids for the 
purpose of determining the navigability of the Zambezi above Tete, Livingstone 
determined to search for and find the reported great lake out of which the Shire 1 
flowed to join the Zambezi. At this date the Portuguese knew scarcely anything 
of the Shire beyond its confluence with the Zambezi. They seem to have 
lost all remembrance of the one or two earlier journeys in that direction of 
Portuguese explorers. Consequently, before Livingstone and his party had 
ascended the Shire very far they found themselves in a country absolutely 
new to the white man. After several futile attempts to reach Lake Nyasa, 
in the course of one of which they discovered the brackish Lake Chilwa, 
which lies to the south-east of the greater lake, and Lake Malombe, which 
1 The name of the “Shire” river was formerly written by the Portuguese “Cherim” (pronounce. 
“Sherlng”); this was later still written “Chire,” which if the “ch” be pronounced as in “church” 
fairly represents the native pronunciation. But the Portuguese pronounce “ch” like “sh,” therefore 
Livingstone heard them speak of this river as the “ Shire,” and thus transcribed it in English. The 
correct native pronunciation is “ Chiri ” (Cheeree), and the word means in Chinyanja “ a steep bank ”— 
Nyanja ya chiri, “ the river with the steep banks.” 
