DR. LIVINGSTONE.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 542, 8 July 1869, Page 4

DR. LIVINGSTONE.

The following letter from Sir Roderick J. Murchison, appears in the Times of April 20 : — The intelligence from the Cape of Good Hope which has appeared in the Times and other newspapers, that Dr. Livingstone had arrived at Zanzibar in January, and had proceeded homewards, is, I regret to state, entirely contradicted by information which I possess. I have a letter from Dr. Kirk, at Zanzibar, dated the sth of March last, and at that time no news whatever respecting the great traveller had been received for a long time. Judging from his own letters of December 14, 1867, and also from the intelligence derived from Arab traders, I was led last year to believe that he was proceeding along the eastern shore of the Lake Tanganyika, and that at the place called Ujiji he would meet with provisions, medicine, and letters, which were sent thither from Zanibar. But this view can no longer be entertained, for Dr. Kirk informs me that ivory traders have recently arrived from the very region in question and heard nothing of him. In this dilemma I may suggest the following hypothetical explanation: — If Livingstone when at the southern end of the Lake Tanganyika satisfied himself that its waters were about 1800 feet above the sea, as stated by Burton and Speke, he would necessarily infer that they could not flow northwards into the much higher equatorial lakes. In this case he would abandon the northern route, in which it was supposed he might find the waters of the Tanganyika flowing into the Albert Nyanza of Baker. Having also ascertained that the Tanganyika was fed by rivers flowing from the south and the east, it would be evident under these circumstances that the vast body of fresh water (300 miles in length) must find. its way to the west,, and he would then follow the river or rivers which issue on the west coast of Africa. Under this supposition he maybe first heard of from one. of the Western Portuguese settlements, or even from those on the Congo. If this view be entertained, we cannot be expected to hear of Livingstone for some time to come, as the distance he would have to traverse is vast and the region Unknown. Again, the hypothesis explains why no intelligence whatever respecting him has been received at Zanibar, inasmuch as he has been travelling through a vast country, the inhabitants of which have no communication with the eastern coast. While ,

however, 1 correct the erroneous intelligence which has just arrived, I beg your readers to understand that I still entertain a well-founded hope that my distinguished friend — thanks to his iron frame and undying energy — will issue from Africa on the same shore at which, after a very long absence, he reappeared after his first great traverse of Southern Africa.