a few lines to his eldest son:

"MY DEAR ROBERT,--We have been going at the rate of 200 miles
a day ever since we left Liverpool, and have been much
favored by a kind Providence in the weather. Poor Oswell was
sorely sick while rolling through the Bay of Biscay, and ate
nothing for about three days; but we soon got away from the
ice and snow to beautiful summer weather, and we are getting
nicely thawed. We sleep with all our port-holes open, and are
glad of the awning by day. At night we see the Southern
Cross; and the Pole Star, which stands so high over you, is
here so low we cannot see it for the haze. We shall not see
it again, but the same almighty gracious Father is over all,
and is near to all who love Him. You are now alone in the
world, and must seek his friendship and guidance, for if you
do not lean on Him, you will go astray, and find that the way
of transgressors is hard. The Lord be gracious to you, and
accept you, though unworthy of his favor."

Sierra Leone was reached in a fortnight. Dr. Livingstone was gratified
to learn that, during the last ten years, the health of the town had
improved greatly--consequent on the abatement of the "whisky fever," and
the draining and paving of the streets through the activity of Governor
Hill. He found the Sunday as well kept as in Scotland, and was sure that
posterity would acknowledge the great blessing which the operations of
the English Squadron on the one hand and the various Christian missions
on the other had effected. He was more than ever convinced,
notwithstanding all that had been said against it, that the English
Squadron had been a great blessing on the West Coast. The Christian
missions, too, that had been planted under the protection of the
Squadron, were an evidence of its beneficial influence. He used
constantly to refer with intense gratitude to the work of Lord
Palmerston in this cause, and to the very end of his life his Lordship
was among the men whose memory he most highly honored. Often, when he
wished to describe his aim briefly, in regard to slavery, commerce, and
missions, he would say it was to do on the East Coast what had been done
on the West. At Sierra Leone a crew of twelve Kroomen was engaged and
taken on board for the navigation of the "Ma-Robert," after it should
reach the Zambesi. On their leaving Sierra Leone, the weather became
very rough, and from