He had been quite willing to go and be their missionary, but in the meantime other duty called him.  Not being aware of any purpose to plant a mission among them, he made an arrangement with his brother-in-law, Mr. John Moffat, to become their missionary.  Out of his private resources he promised him L500, for outfit, etc., and L150 a year for five years as salary, besides other sums, amounting in all to L1400.  Nearly three years of his own salary as Consul (L500) were thus pledged and paid.  In one word, Africa, which had long been a symbol of all that is dry and uninviting, suddenly became the most interesting part of the globe.

As the time of Dr. Livingstone’s departure for Africa drew near, a strong desire arose among many of his friends, chiefly the geographers, to take leave of him in a way that should emphatically mark the strength of their admiration and the cordiality of their good wishes.  It was accordingly resolved that he should be invited to a public dinner on the 13th February, 1858, and that Sir Roderick Murchison should occupy the chair.  On the morning of that day he had the honor of an interview with Her Majesty the Queen.  A Scottish correspondent of an American journal, whose letter at other points shows that he had good information[57], after referring to the fact that Livingstone was not presented in the usual way, says: 

[Footnote 57:  We have ascertained that the correspondent was the late Mr. Keddie, of the Glasgow Free Church College, who got his information from Mr. James Young.]

“He was honored by the Queen with a private interview....  She sent for Livingstone, who attended Her Majesty at the palace, without ceremony, in his black coat and blue trousers, and his cap surrounded with a stripe of gold lace.  This was his usual attire, and the cap had now become the appropriate distinction of one of Her Majesty’s consuls, an official position to which the traveler attaches great importance, as giving him consequence in the eyes of the natives, and authority over the members of the expedition..  The Queen conversed with him affably for half an hour on the subject of his travels.  Dr. Livingstone told Her Majesty that he would now be able to say to the natives that he had seen his chief, his not having done so before having been a constant subject of surprise to the children of the African wilderness.  He mentioned to Her Majesty also that the people were in the habit of inquiring whether his chief were wealthy; and that when he assured them she was very wealthy, they would ask how many cows she had got, a question at which the Queen laughed heartily.”

In the only notice of this interview which we have found in Livingstone’s own writing, he simply says that Her Majesty assured him of her good wishes in his journeys.  It was the only interview with his Sovereign he ever had.  When he returned in 1864 he said that he would have been pleased to have another, but only if it came naturally, and without his seeking it.  The Queen manifested the greatest interest in him, and showed great kindness to his family, when the rumor came of his death.