Proceeding down the river in boats, the expedition reached Congo on the 4th of January, 1861. Here a flagstaff and a custom-house (a floorless hut of mangrove stakes roofed with stakes) had been erected.
The garrison of the place being almost starved, the provisions of the expedition also ran short, though they obtained game in abundance.
On the 31st the “Pioneer,” the steamer which had been sent to replace the “Asthmatic,” appeared off the bar, but the bad weather prevented her entering. At the same time two men-of-war arrived, bringing Bishop Mackenzie at the head of the Oxford and Cambridge mission to the tribes of the Shire and Lake Nyassa. It consisted of six Englishmen and five coloured men from the Cape. The bishop wished at once to proceed up to Chibisa; but the “Pioneer” was under orders to explore the Rovuma, and it was ultimately arranged that the members of the mission should be carried over to Johanna in the “Lyra” man-of-war, while the bishop himself accompanied the expedition in the “Pioneer.”
They reached the mouth of the Rovuma on the 25th of February. The rainy season was already half over, and the river had fallen considerably.
The scenery was superior to that on the Zambesi.
Eight miles from the mouth the mangrove disappeared, and a beautiful range of well-wooded hills rose on either side.
Unhappily fever broke out, and the navigation of the “Pioneer” fell to the charge of Dr Livingstone and his companions.
The water falling rapidly, it was considered dangerous to run the risk of detention in the river for a year, and the ship returned down to the sea.
On their voyage back they touched at Mohilla, one of the Comoro Islands, and from thence went on to Johanna, where they received the Bishop’s followers, and proceeded back to the Kongone. Thence they at once directed their course up the Zambesi to the Shire. The “Pioneer,” it was found, drew too much water for the navigation of the river, and she in consequence frequently grounded.
Among his many duties, Charles Livingstone was engaged in collecting specimens of cotton, and upwards of three hundred pounds were thus obtained, at a price of less than a penny a pound, which showed that cotton of a superior quality could be raised by native labour alone, and that but for the slave trade a large amount might be raised in the country.