Whenever he comes
among Arab traders he finds himself suspected and hated because he is
known to condemn their evil deeds.
The difficulties by the way were terrible. Fallen trees and flooded
rivers made marching a perpetual struggle. For the first time,
Livingstone's feet failed him. Instead of healing as hitherto, when torn
by hard travel, irritating sores fastened upon them, and as he had but
three attendants, he had to limp back to Bambarre, which he reached in
the middle of July.
And here he remained in his hut for eighty days, till 10th October,
exercising patience, harrowed by the wickedness he could not stop,
extracting information from the natives, thinking about the fountains of
the Nile, trying to do some good among the people, listening to accounts
of soko-hunting, and last, not least, reading his Bible. He did not
leave Bambarre till 16th February, 1871. From what he had seen and what
he had heard he was more and more persuaded that he was among the true
fountains of the Nile. His reverence for the Bible gave that river a
sacred character, and to throw light on its origin seemed a kind of
religious act.
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