her across a shallow bank. Before they reached her, the reptile snapped off her leg. They carried her on board, bandaged up her limb, bestowed Jack’s usual remedy for all complaints, a glass of grog, on her, and carried her to a hut in the village. Next morning they found the bandages torn off and the poor creature left to die, their opinion being that it had been done by her master, to whom, as she had lost a leg, she would be of no further use, and he did not wish the expense of keeping her.
Chapter Twenty Two.
Dr Livingstone’s expedition to explore the Zambesi, continued.
Sets out again—Christmas at Chimba Island—Senna—Down the river to Congo—The “Pioneer”—Arrival of Bishop Mackenzie—Reaches the Rovuma—Back again and up the Zambesi to the Shire—Liberation of a party of slaves—News of the Ajawa Starts for Nyassa—Enters the Lake—Described—A storm on the Nyassa—Slavery—Returns to the Rovuma—Sets out with Bishop Mackenzie for Ruo—Reaches the Zambesi, and afterwards proceeds to the Great Luabo—Arrival of Mrs Livingstone and the “Lady Nyassa”—Bishop Mackenzie’s death—Explores the Rovuma—An adventure with the natives—Visits Johanna in the “Pioneer”—Steams up the Shire—Effects of the slave trade—Meets Mr Thornton—Attacked by fever—More of the slave trade—Start for the upper cataracts—Despatches from England—Visit Chia Lakelet—An Arab slave-dhow—Leaves the Zambesi, and arrives at Bombay.
Once more, on the 3rd of December, the leaky “Asthmatic” was got under way, but every day fresh misfortunes happened to her, till Rae declared: “She cannot be worse than she is, sir.”
He and his mate, Hutchings, had done their best to patch her up, but her condition was past their skill. On the morning of the 21st she grounded on a sandbank and filled. The river rising, all that was visible the next day was about six feet of her two masts. The property on board was, however, saved, and the expedition spent their Christmas of 1860 encamped on the island of Chimba.
Canoes having been procured, they reached Senna on the 27th. They here saw a large party of slaves belonging to the commandant, who had been up to trade with Mozelekatse, carrying a thousand muskets and a large quantity of gunpowder, and bringing back ivory, ostrich feathers, a thousand sheep and goats, and thirty head of fine cattle, and in addition a splendid white bull, to show that he and the traders parted friends. The adventure, however, was a losing one to the poor commandant: a fire had broken out in the camp, and the ostrich feathers had been burned; the cattle had died from the bite of the tsetse, as had the white bull, and six hundred of the sheep had been eaten by the slaves, they thinking more of their own comfort than their master’s gain.
This is one of the many proofs of the clearness of slave labour.