' Then all joined in
the chorus, which was the name of each vendor. It told not of fun, but
of the bitterness and tears of such as were oppressed; and on the side
of the oppressors there was power. There be higher than they!"
His discovery of Lake Bangweolo is recorded as quietly as if it had been
a mill-pond: "On the 18th July, I walked a little way out, and saw the
shores of the lake for the first time, thankful that I had come safely
hither." The lake had several inhabited islands, which Dr. Livingstone
visited, to the great wonder of the natives, who crowded around him in
multitudes, never having seen such a curiosity as a white man before. In
the middle of the lake the canoe-men whom he had hired to carry him
across refused to proceed further, under the influence of some fear,
real or pretended, and he was obliged to submit. But the most
interesting, though not the most pleasant, thing about the lake, was the
ooze or sponge which occurred frequently on its banks. The spongy places
were slightly depressed valleys, without trees or bushes, with grass a
foot or fifteen inches high; they were usually from two to ten miles
long, and from a quarter of a mile to a mile broad.
Pages:
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779