]
[Footnote 44: Afterward ascertained by him to be 1800 yards and 820 feet
respectively.]
A discovery as to the structure of the country, long believed in by him,
but now fully verified, was of much more practical importance. It had
been ascertained by him that skirting the central hollow there were two
longitudinal ridges extremely favorable for settlements, both for
missions and merchandise. We shall hear much of this soon.
Slowly but steadily the eastward tramp is continued, often over ground
which was far from favorable for walking exercise. "Pedestrianism," said
Livingstone, "may be all very well for those whose obesity requires much
exercise; but for one who was becoming as thin as a lath through the
constant perspiration caused by marching day after day in the hot sun,
the only good I saw in it was that it gave an honest sort of a man a
vivid idea of the tread-mill."
When Livingstone came to England, and was writing books, his tendency
was rather to get stout than thin; and the disgust with which he spoke
then of the "beastly fat" seemed to show that if for nothing else than
to get rid of it he would have been glad to be on the tread-mill again.
Pages:
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383