I give my orders to Manwa Sera, and never have to repeat
them." Would that he had had such a company before!
On the 25th August the party started. On the 8th October they reached
Tanganyika, and rested, for they were tired, and several were sick,
including Livingstone, who had been ill with his bowel disorder. The
march went on slowly, and with few incidents. As the season advanced,
rain, mist, swollen streams, and swampy ground became familiar. At the
end of the year they were approaching the river Chambeze. Christmas had
its thanksgiving: "I thank the good Lord for the good gift of his Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord."
In the second week of January they came near Bangweolo, and the reign
of Neptune became incessant. We are told of cold rainy weather;
sometimes a drizzle, sometimes an incessant pour; swollen streams and
increasing sponges,--making progress a continual struggle. Yet, as he
passes through a forest, he has an eye to its flowers, which are
numerous and beautiful:
"There are many flowers in the forest; marigolds, a white
jonquil-looking flower without smell, many orchids, white,
yellow, and pink asclepias, with bunches of French-white
flowers, clematis--_Methonica gloriosa_, gladiolus, and blue
and deep purple polygalas, grasses with white starry
seed-vessels, and spikelets of brownish red and yellow.
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