Baines on the Zambezi, 1858 to 1859 by Edward C. Tabler
In 1858 the famed missionary-explorer Dr David Livingstone led an expedition, sponsored by the British government, to investigate the navigablility of the Zambezi River. Artist and storekeeper to the venture was Thomas Baines whose diary of 1858 is published here for the first time together with related correspondence. The text Is illustrated with over a hundred of Baines’s pencil and water-colour sketches, many of which have not been reproduced before.
It was hoped that the Zambezi River would prove to be a major waterway, thus providing access through Portuguese-occupied territory to the uncolonized interior of south-central Africa. There, by the introduction of christianity and trade, Livingstone dreamt that the illicit slave trade could be brought to an end.
Part of the expedition’s equipment was a steam-launch --named the MaRobert — which was transported in three sections from Britain for assembly at the mouth of the Zambezi. Despite this and other examples of ingenuity and planning, members of the group were ill prepared for the debilitating climate and unfamiliar terrain, the effects of fevers on them, the difficulties of coping . with the river’s navigational hazards, and the poor inter-personal relations of the senior members of the party.
While the journey did result in Livingstone’s ‘discovery’ of Lake Malawi and the opportunity to further British influence and trade in south-central Africa, it nevertheless proved a failure in that the Cahora Bassa Rapids were found to block the route to the interior. The steam-launch too did not live up to expectations and gradually became known as the ‘Asthmatic’ as she sluggishly inched her way up the river.
Baines, one of the victims of personality clashes, was dismissed by Livingstone with accusations of dishonesty levelled against him. While evidence seems to indicate Baines’s innocence, he was never to receive a fair trial or hearing.
Branthurst Press 1982
ISBN: 0-909079-17-X
Condition: Very Good, dustcover worn
MB
In 1858 the famed missionary-explorer Dr David Livingstone led an expedition, sponsored by the British government, to investigate the navigablility of the Zambezi River. Artist and storekeeper to the venture was Thomas Baines whose diary of 1858 is published here for the first time together with related correspondence. The text Is illustrated with over a hundred of Baines’s pencil and water-colour sketches, many of which have not been reproduced before.
It was hoped that the Zambezi River would prove to be a major waterway, thus providing access through Portuguese-occupied territory to the uncolonized interior of south-central Africa. There, by the introduction of christianity and trade, Livingstone dreamt that the illicit slave trade could be brought to an end.
Part of the expedition’s equipment was a steam-launch --named the MaRobert — which was transported in three sections from Britain for assembly at the mouth of the Zambezi. Despite this and other examples of ingenuity and planning, members of the group were ill prepared for the debilitating climate and unfamiliar terrain, the effects of fevers on them, the difficulties of coping . with the river’s navigational hazards, and the poor inter-personal relations of the senior members of the party.
While the journey did result in Livingstone’s ‘discovery’ of Lake Malawi and the opportunity to further British influence and trade in south-central Africa, it nevertheless proved a failure in that the Cahora Bassa Rapids were found to block the route to the interior. The steam-launch too did not live up to expectations and gradually became known as the ‘Asthmatic’ as she sluggishly inched her way up the river.
Baines, one of the victims of personality clashes, was dismissed by Livingstone with accusations of dishonesty levelled against him. While evidence seems to indicate Baines’s innocence, he was never to receive a fair trial or hearing.
Branthurst Press 1982
ISBN: 0-909079-17-X
Condition: Very Good, dustcover worn
MB
In 1858 the famed missionary-explorer Dr David Livingstone led an expedition, sponsored by the British government, to investigate the navigablility of the Zambezi River. Artist and storekeeper to the venture was Thomas Baines whose diary of 1858 is published here for the first time together with related correspondence. The text Is illustrated with over a hundred of Baines’s pencil and water-colour sketches, many of which have not been reproduced before.
It was hoped that the Zambezi River would prove to be a major waterway, thus providing access through Portuguese-occupied territory to the uncolonized interior of south-central Africa. There, by the introduction of christianity and trade, Livingstone dreamt that the illicit slave trade could be brought to an end.
Part of the expedition’s equipment was a steam-launch --named the MaRobert — which was transported in three sections from Britain for assembly at the mouth of the Zambezi. Despite this and other examples of ingenuity and planning, members of the group were ill prepared for the debilitating climate and unfamiliar terrain, the effects of fevers on them, the difficulties of coping . with the river’s navigational hazards, and the poor inter-personal relations of the senior members of the party.
While the journey did result in Livingstone’s ‘discovery’ of Lake Malawi and the opportunity to further British influence and trade in south-central Africa, it nevertheless proved a failure in that the Cahora Bassa Rapids were found to block the route to the interior. The steam-launch too did not live up to expectations and gradually became known as the ‘Asthmatic’ as she sluggishly inched her way up the river.
Baines, one of the victims of personality clashes, was dismissed by Livingstone with accusations of dishonesty levelled against him. While evidence seems to indicate Baines’s innocence, he was never to receive a fair trial or hearing.
Branthurst Press 1982
ISBN: 0-909079-17-X
Condition: Very Good, dustcover worn
MB