He was overwhelmed with the kindness he had experienced. He
did not expect any speedy result from the Expedition, but he was
sanguine as to its ultimate benefit. He thought they would get in the
thin end of the wedge, and that it would be driven home by English
energy and spirit. For himself, with all eyes resting upon him, he felt
under an obligation to do better than he had ever done. And as to Mrs.
Livingstone:
"It is scarcely fair to ask a man to praise his own wife, but
I can only say that when I parted from her at the Cape,
telling her that I should return in two years, and when it
happened that I was absent four years and a half, I supposed
that I should appear before her with a damaged character. I
was, however, forgiven. My wife, who has always been the main
spoke in my wheel, will accompany me in this expedition, and
will be most useful to me. She is familiar with the languages
of South Africa. She is able to work. She is willing to
endure, and she well knows that in that country one must put
one's hand to everything.
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