EXPEDITION TO RESCUE DR. LIVINGSTONE.

Southland Times, Issue 1553, 19 March 1872, Page 3

EXPEDITION TO RESCUE DR. LIVINGSTONE.

At the usual fortnightly meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, Sir Henry liawlinson (chairman), in the course of the proceedings said: — " Before I invite Mr Keith Johnston and Captain Burton to read the papers which they have prepared for this occasion, I would ask to be allowed to say a few words on another subject in which the society takes an equally warm interest. I allude to Dr Livingstone- At the last meeting 1 reid some letters which had been addressed by Dr Kirk to the Government of Bombay, and in which he described the accidental outbreak of troubles in Africa which had cut off the communication between the sea coast and the lake of Tanganyika. I may now be allowed to mention the measures which the council of this society have proposed to undertake, in consequence of the receipt of these letters. It appears to us now that the hope which we had of communicating with Dr Livingstone through Mr Stanley, the American traveller, must be for the present abandoned, and we consequently have felt it to be our duty to cast about for some other means of communication. It is now oup intention to address the Foreign Office, with a view of arranging either directly from the Foreign Office, or through co-operatiou between the Foreign Office and our society, some means of communicating with the interior. Whether this may be done by sending messengers into the interior and offering a reward, as is proposed, of 100 guineas, to any African who will bring back a letter in Dr Livingstone's handwriting to the sea-coast, or whether, as some of our African travellers are of opinion, it would be better to organise a direct expedition, headed by 'some experienced and well, j qualified European, who should himself penetrate to the point where Dr Livingstone is supposed to be — which of those two arrangements it may be most advisable to pursue will depend upon the issue of our proposed communication with the Foreign Office, but the society may rest assured that we shall leave no means untried of establishing the fact that Dr Livingstone is at present living at Mannema, where he has been reported to be, in connection with the great Arab traveller, Mohammed Bin Gharib. Mr Eassam said his experience in Abyssinia convinced him that the best plan would be to send native messengers, but Captain Rigby, who for years officially resided at Zanzibar, said it would be impossible to get a messenger into the interior and back. He thought the only means of communicating with the great traveller was by a small armed expedition under an experienced European. The president said that the council, feeling that the loss of 50 or 100 guineas would be nothing compared with the object to be gained, had thought it desirable that the plan of messengers should be tried first, and if it failed, then the more serious expedition might be resorted to."