valuable are all the communications they receive from him—­as sketches of the social condition of the people, and the material, fabrics, and produce Of these lands.  I most fervently pray that the kind Providence, which has hitherto carried him through so many perils and hardships, may guide him safely to his present journey’s end.”

The friendship of Mr. Gabriel was honorable both to himself and to Dr. Livingstone.  At a very early period he learned to appreciate Livingstone thoroughly, he saw how great as well as how good a man he was, and felt that to be the friend of such a man was one of the highest distinctions he could have.  After Livingstone left Loanda, and while he was detained within reach of letters, a brisk correspondence passed between them; Mr. Gabriel tells him about birds, helps him in his schemes for promoting lawful commerce, goes into ecstasies over a watch-chain which he had got from him, tells him the news of the battle of the Alma in the Crimea, in which his friend, Colonel Steele, had distinguished himself, and of the success of the Rae Expedition in finding the remains of the party under Sir John Franklin.  In an official communication to Lord Clarendon, after Livingstone had left, Mr. Gabriel says, 5th August, 1855:  “I am grieved to say that this excellent man’s health has suffered a good deal [on the return journey].  He nevertheless wrote in cheerful spirits, sanguine of success in doing his duty under the guidance and protection of that kind Providence who had always carried him through so many perils and hardships.  He assures me that since he knew the value of Christianity, he has ever wished to spend his life in propagating its blessings among men, and adds that the same desire remains still as strong as ever.”

While Livingstone was at Loanda, he made several acquaintances among the officers of Her Majesty’s navy, engaged in the suppression of the slave-trade.  For many of these gentlemen he was led to entertain a high regard.  Their humanity charmed him, and so did their attention to their duties.  In his early days, sharing the feeling then so prevalent in his class, he had been used to think of epauleted gentlemen as idlers, or worse—­“fruges consumere nati” Personal acquaintance, as in so many other cases, rubbed off the prejudice.  In many ways Livingstone’s mind was broadening.  His intensely sympathetic nature drew powerfully to all who were interested in what was rapidly becoming his own master-idea—­the suppression of the slave-trade.  We shall see proofs not a few, how this sympathetic affection modified some of his early opinions, and greatly widened the sphere of his charity.