down the geographical positions, haying failed to answer
the expectations formed of him, these duties fell chiefly to
my share. They inyolved 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
Eoyal 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
occupations of stars by the moon, and from eclipses and
reappearances of Jupiter’s satellites, by Mr, Mann, the able
Assistant to the Cape Astronomer Eoyal; the lunars are still
m the hands of Mr. G. W. H. Maclear of the same Observatory.
In addition to these, the altitudes, variation 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 hands. 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 salaiy, 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. I t 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 he 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 by the little acts and
words of every-day life that character is truly and best
known. And doubtless many will prefer to draw their
own conclusions from them rather than to be schooled
by us.