showed that in this journey, which excited such horror
even among his best friends, he had after all been following the
guidance of his Father. First, in the matter of guides, he had been
wonderfully helped, notwithstanding a deep plot to deprive him of any.
Then there was the sickness of Sekomi, whose interest had been secured
through his going to see him, and prescribing for him; this had
propitiated one of the tribes. The services of Shobo, too, and the
selection of the northern route, proposed by Kamati, had been of great
use. Their going to Sesheke, and their detention for two months, thus
allowing them time to collect information respecting the whole country;
the river Chobe not rising at its usual time; the saving of
Livingstone's oxen from the tsetse, notwithstanding their detention on
the Zouga; his not going with Mr. Oswell to a place where the tsetse
destroyed many of the oxen; the better health of Mrs. Livingstone during
her confinement than in any previous one; a very opportune present they
had got, just before her confinement, of two bottles of wine[33]; the
approbation of the Directors, the presentation of a gold watch by
Captain Steele, the kind attentions of Mr. Oswell, and the cookery of
one of their native servants named George; the recovery of Thomas,
whereas at Kuruman a child had been cut off; the commencement of the
rains, just as they were leaving the river, and the request of Mr.
Oswell that they should draw upon him for as much money as they should
need, were all among the indications that a faithful and protecting
Father in heaven had been ordering their path, and would order it in
like manner in all time to come.

[Footnote 33: In writing to his father, Livingstone mentions that the
wine was a gift from Mrs. Bysshe Shelley, in acknowledgment of his aid
in repairing a wheel of her wagon.]

Writing at this time to his father-in-law, Mr. Moffat, he said, after
announcing the birth of Oswell: "What you say about difference of
opinion is true. In my past life, I have always managed to think for
myself, and act accordingly. I have occasionally met with people who
took it on themselves to act for me, and they have offered their
thoughts with an emphatic 'I think'; but I have excused them on the
score of being a little soft-headed in believing they could think both
for me and themselves."

While Kolobeng was Livingstone's headquarters, a new trouble rose upon
the mission horizon. The Makololo (as