The presence of a
formidable enemy was reported on the banks of the Tamanak'le,--the
tsetse-fly, whose bite is so fatal to oxen. To avoid it, another route
had to be chosen. When they got near the lake, it was found that fever
had recently attacked a party of Englishmen, one of whom had died, while
the rest recovered under the care of Dr. and Mrs. Livingstone.
Livingstone took his family to have a peep at the lake; "the children,"
he wrote, "took to playing in it as ducklings do. Paidling in it was
great fun." Great fun to them, who had seen little enough water for a
while; and in a quiet way, great fun to their father too,--his own
children "paidling" in his own lake! He was beginning to find that in a
missionary point of view, the presence of his wife and children was a
considerable advantage; it inspired the natives with confidence, and
promoted tender feelings and kind relations. The chief, Lechulatebe, was
at last propitiated at a considerable sacrifice, having taken a fancy to
a valuable rifle of Livingstone's, the gift of a friend, which could not
be replaced.
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