the affairs at Unyanyembe.  Sayd bin Majid was the father of the gallant young man whom I saw at Masangi, and who fought with me at Zimbizo, and who soon afterwards was killed by Mirambo’s Ruga-Ruga in the forest of Wilyankuru; and, knowing that I had been there, he earnestly desired to hear the tale of the fight; but they had all friends at Unyanyembe, and it was but natural that they should be anxious to hear of what concerned them.

After giving orders to Bombay and Asmani for the provisioning of the men of the Expedition, I called “Kaif-Halek,” or “How-do-ye-do,” and introduced him to Dr. Livingstone as one of the soldiers in charge of certain goods left at Unyanyembe, whom I had compelled to accompany me to Ujiji, that he might deliver in person to his master the letter-bag with which he had been entrusted.  This was that famous letter-bag marked “Nov. 1st, 1870,” which was now delivered into the Doctor’s hands 365 days after it left Zanzibar!  How long, I wonder, had it remained at Unyanyembe had I not been despatched into Central Africa in search of the great traveller?

 The Doctor kept the letter-bag on his knee, then, presently, opened
 it, looked at the letters contained there, and read one or two of
 his children’s letters, his face in the meanwhile lighting up.

 He asked me to tell him the news.  “No, Doctor,” said I, “read your
 letters first, which I am sure you must be impatient to read.”

 “Ah,” said he, “I have waited years for letters, and I have been
 taught patience.  I can surely afford to wait a few hours longer. 
 No, tell me the general news:  how is the world getting along?

 “You probably know much already.  Do you know that the Suez Canal
 is a fact—­is opened, and a regular trade carried on between Europe
 and India through it?”

 “I did not hear about the opening of it.  Well, that is grand news! 
 What else?”

Shortly I found myself enacting the part of an annual periodical to him.  There was no need of exaggeration of any penny-a-line news, or of any sensationalism.  The world had witnessed and experienced much the last few years.  The Pacific Railroad had been completed 1869; Grant had been elected President of the United States; Egypt had been flooded with savans:  the Cretan rebellion had terminated 1866-1868; a Spanish revolution had driven Isabella from the throne of Spain, and a Regent had been appointed:  General Prim was assassinated; a Castelar had electrified Europe with his advanced ideas upon the liberty of worship; Prussia had humbled Denmark, and annexed Schleswig-Holstein 1864, and her armies were now around Paris; the “Man of Destiny” was a prisoner at Wilhelmshohe; the Queen of Fashion and the Empress of the French was a fugitive; and the child born in the purple had lost for ever the Imperial crown intended for his head; the Napoleon