Dr. Livingstone anxiously awaits the Recruits and Supplies sent by Mr. Stanley — On their Arrival sets out Southwestward on his Last Journey — Reaches Kisera, where Chronic Dysentery seizes him — He refuses to yield; but pushes on, till Increasing Debility compels him to stop and retrace his steps — He sinks rapidly, and on May 4th Breathes his Last — His attendants take Necessary Precautions to Insure the Return of the Corpse to England — Letter from Mr. Holmwood, Attaché of the British Consulate at Zanzibar.
INSECT NEST-BUILDING.
It will be recollected that Stanley bade Dr. Livingstone farewell on the 14th of March, 1872, at Kwihara, and that, on his arrival at Zanzibar, he sent back to Dr. Livingstone the men and means he had expressed a wish for.
From some unexplained cause, this party of recruits, with their stores, was exceedingly slow in reaching Dr. Livingstone. According to the account given Mr. Stanley by Dr. Livingstone’s body-servant, Jacob Wainwright, after the funeral, in London, “The Doctor expressed great joy, when he at last saw the caravan of freemen for which he had been anxiously waiting, before the resumption of his explorations.” After allowing them a few days’ rest at Unyanyembe, Dr. Livingstone and his party started on his last exploring journey. They traveled southwest by way of Kasagera and Kigandu to Kisera, a district ruled by King Simba. Here the Doctor had a relapse of his old malady, the Chronic Dysentery, which so weakened him that he was compelled to take to riding a donkey. He did not yet regard the attack as dangerous, and accordingly pursued his march, still southwestward, to Mpathwa, and thence into the valley of the Rungwa, where he found many boiling springs; thence he pressed on through Ufipa and Uemba (or Uremba), to Margunga. In the marshes of Uemba (or Uremba) one of their two donkeys died. Traveling along the Moungo, they reached the district called Kawendi, where a lion killed the remaining donkey. Thenceforward, the Doctor, getting daily weaker, had to be borne in a kitanda (a native bed resembling a hammock); he still refused to yield, but urged his party on till they came to the head-waters which empty themselves into Lake Bangweolo. Here they made use of Stanley’s boat, which they had carried a distance of eleven hundred miles. They crossed the Chambezi, and attempted to push their way along the southern shore to Lake Bangu, and toward the Fountains of Herodotus, reported to be at Katanga (Katanda?), where he hoped to pause and recruit his health. Perceiving, however, how rapidly he was growing weaker, he determined to hasten back to Unyanyembe, and accordingly at last turned his face northward; but on arriving at Kitumbo, he seemed suddenly to realize that his last hour was drawing near, and he tried to stop there, but the chief refused to permit it, and he was forced to proceed farther north toward Kibende. On their arrival at a small village in the district of Mullala, his tent was pitched, and he was placed therein. But, fearing the heat of the sun, he directed that a hut should be built for him “to die in.” This was done, and he was carefully removed to it. His last entry in his diary is dated April 27th, 1873, thirteen months and thirteen days after his parting from Mr. Stanley, and in that entry he records his extreme illness and his inability to proceed farther. After this, he seems to have resolutely prepared for the great journey of death.
THE LAST MILE OF DR. LIVINGSTONE’S TRAVELS.
The boy Majwara states that, during the intervals between the paroxysms of extreme pain, the doctor prayed constantly for his family, and frequently uttered the word “home!” After his being placed in his hut, Dr. Livingstone would permit no one to stay with him except Majwara, and occasionally Susi, though the rest each morning called and greeted him with the customary words “Yambo, bana!” (“Good-morning, master!”)
Majwara, on the last morning, made some tea for the Doctor and administered stimulants, which appeared to have no effect. At about midnight of May 1st, Dr. Livingstone quietly breathed his last.
The next morning, the faithful attendants held a consultation as to what was to be done with the remains. Their movements had to be kept very secret, because, if the fact of the death were discovered by the natives, there was reason to fear that their superstitions would lead them to prevent the removal of the corpse.