Until the answer should come to this
application, Dr. Livingstone could not return with his Makololo to their
own country.
While making this application, he was preparing another string for his
bow. He wrote to his friend Mr. James Young that if Government refused
he would get a vessel at his own expense, and in a succession of letters
authorized him to spend L2000 of his own money in the purchase of a
suitable ship. Eventually, both suggestions were carried into effect.
The Government gave the "Pioneer" for the navigation of the Zambesi and
lower Shire; Livingstone procured the "Lady Nyassa" for the Lake (where,
however, she never floated), but the cost was more than L6000--the
greater part, indeed, of the profits of his book.
The "Ma-Robert," which had promised so well at first, now turned out a
great disappointment. Her consumption of fuel was enormous; her furnace
had to be lighted hours before the steam was serviceable; she snorted so
horribly that they called her "The Asthmatic," and after all she made
so little progress that canoes could easily pass her.
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