Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
and oppressive'. At the time of writing this letter Livingstone was leader of the Zambezi Ex-
pedition (1858-1864). This was funded by the Foreign Office, which had appointed him as
honorary Consul for Quelimane, a port on the east coast shown diagonally across the lower
edge of the map. David states that the sketch map, was drawn by 'Mr C. Livingstone' - his
younger brother Charles, who was also on the expedition - although in fact it also bears an-
notations by David, who commended it for its 'accuracy and freshness'.
The aim of the map was to give an impression of the party's route from the coast,
showing the rivers, lakes and terrain encountered, and especially to point out what Living-
stone claimed as an 'English discovery' (i.e. by his party), shown by the blue line running
from the four mouths of the Zambezi River at its delta, northwards to the shores of Lake Ny-
asa (Lake Malawi). This is not simply a route map. It also gives information about features
and people encountered: the countries of the Zulu, Maravi and Manganja peoples, caravan
routes, and a trade route to the coast along the Zambezi used by the Portuguese, who had
been in east Africa for centuries.
Livingstone, in his enthusiasm to present his discoveries in a good light, made little of the
natural obstacles he found on the way. A pointer to the place where 'navigation stopped', to
the south-west of Lake Shirwa (or Chilwa), alludes to the fact that the party had to abandon
boats as they encountered 'only 33 miles of cataracts' on their way up the River Shire, a
northern tributary of the Zambezi. Indeed it was from Murchison's Cataracts that Livingstone
addressed his letter to the Foreign Office on 15 October 1859. The letter travelled with the
map out of Africa on the gunship HMS
Lynx
to reach London four and a half months later,
on the 28 February 1860.
'Discovery of Lake Nyassa' was written on the back of the letter on receipt in London, but
Livingstone, aware of his official position and funding, also wrote about other subjects he
knew were of interest to the Foreign Secretary, Lord John Russell. The development of trade
in commodities was seen as a way to supplant the local slave trade then still much in eviden-
ce. There is an optimistic tone in Livingstone's portrayal of the area when he states that 'We
have opened a cotton and sugar producing country … that really seems to afford reasonable
prospects of great commercial benefits to our country'. At the end of his letter Livingstone
says 'We had no difficulties with the natives though ... no white man had traversed the coun-
try before'.
