1864. Mr. and Mrs. Webb, my much-loved friends, wrote
to Bombay ipviting me, in the event of my coming to England,
to make Newstead Abbey my headquarters, and on
my arrival renewed their invitation: and though, when
I accepted it, I had no intention of remaining so long
with my kind-hearted generous friends, I stayed with them
until April, 1865, and under their roof transcribed from my
own and my brother’s journal the whole of this present book.
I t is with heartfelt gratitude I would record their unwearied
kindness. My acquaintance with Mr. Webb began in Africa,
where he was a daring and successful hunter, and his continued
friendship is most valuable, because he has seen
missionary work, and ho would not accord his respect and
esteem to me had he not believed that I, and my brethren
also, were to be looked on. as honest men earnestly trying
to do our duty.
The Government have supported the proposal of the Eoval
Geographical Society made by my friend Sir Roderick Murchison,
and have united with that body to aid me in another
attempt to open Africa to civilizing influences, and a valued
private friend has given a thousand pounds for the same object.
I propose to go inland, north of the territory which the Portuguese
in Europe claim, and endeavour to commence that
system on the East which has been so eminently successful
on the West Coast; a system combining the repressive efforts
of H.M. cruisers with lawful trade and Christian Missions—
the moral and material results of which have been so gratifying.
I hope to ascend the Rovuma, or some other river
North of Cape Delgado, and, in addition to my other work,
shall strive, by passing along the Northern end of Lake
Nyassa and round the Southern end of Lake Tanganyika, to
ascertain the watershed of that part of Africa. In so doing,
I have no wish to unsettle what with so much toil and danger
was accomplished by Speke and Grant, but rather to confirm
their illustrious discoveries.
I have to acknowledge the obliging readiness of Lord
Russell in lending me the drawings taken by the artist who
was in the first instance attached to the Expedition. These
sketches, with photographs by Charles Livingstone and Dr.
Kirk, have materially assisted in the illustrations. I would
also very sincerely thank my friends Professor Owen and
Mr. Oswell for many valuable hints and other aid in the
preparation of this volume,
Newstead Abbey,
April 16, 1865.
POSTSCRIPT TO PREFACE.
The credit which I was fain to award to the Lisbon
statesmen for a sincere desire to put an end to the slave-
trade, is, I regret to find, totally undeserved. They have
employed one Mons. Lacerda, to try to extinguish the facts
adduced by me before the meeting of the “ British Association
for the Advancement of Science,” at Bath, by a series
of papers in the Portuguese Official Journal; and their
Minister for Foreign Affairs has since devoted some of
the funds of his Government to the translation and circulation
of Mons. Lacerda’s articles in the form of an English
tract. Nothing is more conspicuous in this official document
than the extreme ignorance displayed of the geography
of the country of which they pretend that they possess
not only the knowledge, but also the dominion. A vague
rumour, cited by some old author, about two marshes below
Murchison’s Cataracts, is considered conclusive evidence
b y