Zambesi Expedition | Page 6

wish to bear testimony to the untiring zeal, energy, courage, and
perseverance with which my companions laboured; undaunted by

difficulties, dangers, or hard fare. It is my firm belief that, were their
services required in any other capacity, they might be implicitly relied
on to perform their duty like men. The reason why Dr. Kirk's name
does not appear on the title-page of this narrative is, because it is hoped
that he may give an account of the botany and natural history of the
Expedition in a separate work from his own pen. He collected above
four thousand species of plants, specimens of most of the valuable
woods, of the different native manufactures, of the articles of food, and
of the different kinds of cotton from every spot we visited, and a great
variety of birds and insects; besides making meteorological
observations, and affording, as our instructions required, medical
assistance to the natives in every case where he could be of any use.
Charles Livingstone was also fully occupied in his duties in following
out the general objects of our mission, in encouraging the culture of
cotton, in making many magnetic and meteorological observations, in
photographing so long as the materials would serve, and in collecting a
large number of birds, insects, and other objects of interest. The
collections, being Government property, have been forwarded to the
British Museum, and to the Royal Botanic, Gardens at Kew; and should
Dr. Kirk undertake their description, three or four years will be required
for the purpose.
Though collections were made, it was always distinctly understood that,
however desirable these and our explorations might be, "Her Majesty's
Government attached more importance to the moral influence that
might be exerted on the minds of the natives by a well-regulated and
orderly household of Europeans setting an example of consistent moral
conduct to all who might witness it; treating the people with kindness,
and relieving their wants, teaching them to make experiments in
agriculture, explaining to them the more simple arts, imparting to them
religious instruction as far as they are capable of receiving it, and
inculcating peace and good will to each other."
It would be tiresome to enumerate in detail all the little acts which were
performed by us while following out our instructions. As a rule,
whenever the steamer stopped to take in wood, or for any other purpose,

Dr. Kirk and Charles Livingstone went ashore to their duties: one of
our party, who it was intended should navigate the vessel and lay down
the geographical positions, having failed to answer the expectations
formed of him, these duties fell chiefly to my share. They involved a
considerable amount of night work, in which I was always cheerfully
aided by my companions, and the results were regularly communicated
to our warm and ever-ready friend, Sir Thomas Maclear of the Royal
Observatory, Cape of Good Hope. While this work was going through
the press, we were favoured with the longitudes of several stations
determined from observed occultations of stars by the moon, and from
eclipses and reappearances of Jupiter's satellites, by Mr. Mann, the able
Assistant to the Cape Astronomer Royal; the lunars are still in the
hands of Mr. G. W. H. Maclear of the same Observatory. In addition to
these, the altitudes, variations of the compass, latitudes and longitudes,
as calculated on the spot, appear in the map by Mr. Arrowsmith, and it
is hoped may not differ much from the results of the same data in abler
bands. The office of "skipper," which, rather than let the Expedition
come to a stand, I undertook, required no great ability in one "not too
old to learn:" it saved a salary, and, what was much more valuable than
gold, saved the Expedition from the drawback of any one thinking that
he was indispensable to its further progress. The office required
attention to the vessel both at rest and in motion. It also involved
considerable exposure to the sun; and to my regret kept me from much
anticipated intercourse with the natives, and the formation of full
vocabularies of their dialects.
I may add that all wearisome repetitions are as much as possible
avoided in the narrative; and, our movements and operations having
previously been given in a series of despatches, the attempt is now
made to give as fairly as possible just what would most strike any
person of ordinary intelligence in passing through the country. For the
sake of the freshness which usually attaches to first impressions, the
Journal of Charles Livingstone has been incorporated in the narrative;
and many remarks made by the natives, which ho put down at the
moment of translation, will convey to others the same ideas as they did
to ourselves. Some are no doubt trivial; but it is