In the course of
thirty geographical miles, he crossed twenty-nine, and that, too, at the
end of the fourth month of the dry season. It was necessary for him to
strip the lower part of his person before fording them, and then the
leeches pounced on him, and in a moment had secured such a grip, that
even twisting them round the fingers failed to tear them off.
It was Dr. Livingstone's impression at this time that in discovering
Lake Bangweolo, with the sponges that fed it, he had made another
discovery--that these marshy places might be the real sources of the
three great rivers, the Nile, the Congo, and the Zambesi. A link,
however, was yet wanting to prove his theory. It had yet to be shown
that the waters that flowed from Lake Bangweolo into Lake Moero, and
thence northward by the river Lualaba, were connected with the Nile
system. Dr. Livingstone was strongly inclined to believe that this
connection existed; but toward the close of his life he had more doubts
of it, although it was left to others to establish conclusively that the
Lualaba was the Congo, and sent no branch to the Nile.
Pages:
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780