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Lost and Found.
277
his native shores before Christmas. But we were
doomed to disappointment: Christmas passed away
and nothing further was heard. Then came a letter
from Dr. Kirk, dated the 5th March, 1868, sadly
telling the president of the Geographical Society that
no news of Livingstone had reached Zanzibar for a
long period. Ivory traders who had lately arrived
from Ujiji could give no intelligence of the great
traveller, and it seemed difficult to conjecture what
had become of him. At length, however, our anx¬
ieties were relieved; Dr. Kirk communicated the
welcome news that letters from Livingstone, dated
July, 1868, had reached the coast, and added that he
had learned from a newly-arrived caravan, that the
doctor had entered Ujiji where his stores were
awaiting him. One of the letters referred to, soon
after reached England; it was addressed to the Earl of
Clarendon, and dated from “ Near Lake Bangweolo.”
In the early portion of it Livingstone thus modestly
announces a great discovery. “ I think that I may
safely assert that the chief sources of the Nile arise
between 10 deg. and 12 deg. south latitude. Aware
that others have been mistaken, and laying no claim
to infallibility, I do not yet speak very positively.”
Further on he tells, how, on the 2nd August, 1867, he
discovered Lake Liemba. “ It lies,” he says, l' in a
hollow with precipitous sides 2,000 feet down, and
is extremely beautiful; sides, top, and bottom being
covered with trees and other vegetation. Elephants,
buffaloes, and antelopes feed on the steep slopes,
while hippopotami, crocodiles, and fish swarm in the