Livingstone's reputation had been damaged by reports of failure, but he still saw himself as a missionary using exploration to spread Christianity and commerce, and thus end slavery. He still had a lot of public support, and in Britain took up the suggestion from
Roderick Murchison of the
Royal Geographical Society of exploring water systems, hoping to establish the source of the Nile. Government support was minimal, but he was given significant funding by his friend since university,
James "Paraffin" Young. He returned on 11 September 1865 to Bombay, where he recruited four of his previous crew members; "two Shupanga men" (Susi and Amoda), and the "two Wayaus, Wakatani and Chuma". From the
Nassick African Asylum for freed slaves, he engaged nine lads recommended by
Sir Bartle Frere, Governor of Bombay. Frere also provided 12
sepoys of the
Bombay Marine Battalion under a
havildar (corporal), and use of a ship to Zanzibar. Helped by the British Consul at
Johanna, Livingstone hired ten
Comoro Islanders he referred to as "Johanna men".
Mikindani to Ujiji He had 36 men; expeditions at this time usually exceeded 100. A Royal Navy ship landed them at
Mikindani near the
Ruvuma River on 24 March 1866, and he hired more porters there. As previously, Livingstone focussed on his own interests and neglected organisation. "Mazitu" (
Ngoni) raids left food scarce, and corpses marked the route of Zanzibar slavers. On 11 June the Mikandam porters refused to go further, the increasingly undisciplined sepoys were paid off in July. Wakatani and Chuma translated for Livingstone at a Wayau village, where all had "heard of our wish to stop the slave-trade, and [were] rather taken aback when told that by selling they are part and part guilty" of the deaths – "If they did not sell, the Arabs would not come to buy." A Zanzibari slave trader whose large caravan stopped at the next village gave Livingstone and his men food, and asked about English efforts to end the trade. He helpfully took correspondence on to the consul. Livingstone came to be on good terms with several of these traders, while openly trying to end slavery. Livingstone wrote to Waller "Chuma and Wikatani are very good boys but still boys utterly". Around 16 years old, they were showing "excessive levity", as when laughing so hard at jokes that they did not notice the villagers telling the jokes stealing "fork, kettle, pot, and shot-pouch", most of which were recovered for the expedition by their chief. Livingstone's attempts to train them as domestic servants met "an inveterate tendency to lose my things & preserve their own", and they had to be shouted at to prepare breakfast on time. Wakotani, if not giggling or smoking
bange and screaming, "was sure to be singing Dididey dididey or Weeweewee". Their caravan passed to the south of
Lake Nyassa in late September. At M'Ponda's village, Wakotani said he had met a brother, his father who sold him into slavery was dead, and he wanted to stay with his relatives. Livingstone had told the Waiyau chiefs that slaves he liberated "never became our slaves, and were at liberty to go back to their relatives if they liked; and now it was impossible to object to Wikatani going without stultifying my own statements." Apparently Wakotani tried to persuade Chuma to join him, but Livingstone advised Chuma that this could be a trick to enslave him. A few days later, after passing
Cape Maclear, a woman questioned Chuma about his family, then persuaded him that she was his aunt. "He wanted to give her at once a fathom of calico and beads, and wished me to cut his pay down for the purpose. I persuaded him to be content with a few beads for her", and he gave her some other valuables. "It shows a most forgiving disposition on the part of these boys to make presents to those who, if genuine relations, actually sold them." Near
Cape Maclear the Johanna men left them, on a rumour of Mazitu threatening the way ahead. Only Susi, Chuma, Amoda and eight Nassik men continued with Livingstone, who repeatedly hired local porters for a few weeks at a time. They struggled on in torrential rain, at times had difficulty getting food, and were joined by two Yao who had been sold as slaves, "but the Mazitu killed all their Manganja masters & now they are free so we engage them". Disastrously, these men ran away on 20 January 1867, stealing baggage including the quinine supply. Livingstone felt he "had now received the sentence of death, like poor Bishop MacKenzie". After Livingstone and Stanley met, they sat talking. Halima "was in a state of the greatest excitement. She had been protruding her head out of the cookhouse to make sure that there were really two white men sitting down in the veranda, when there used to be only one, who would not, because he could not, eat anything", to her great concern. Now, she gossiped to a crowd outside her kitchen, explaining the news.
Bangweulu Wetlands, death of Livingstone Feeling better, Livingstone explored the area with Stanley, then rejected his urging to return home. Determined to find the Nile's sources, Livingstone waited at
Tabora after Stanley left on 14 March 1872, having asked him to "send men, not slaves, from the coast". At least three women chose to continue with him rather than go to the coast: Amoda's wife Halima, Susi's wife Mochosi, and Ntaoéka. Livingstone reassured Halima after a quarrel, and noted that "She is always very attentive and clever, and never stole, nor would she allow her husband to steal", adding "I shall free her, and buy her a house and garden at Zanzibar, when we get there." He "did not like to have a fine-looking woman among us unattached", so arranged for Ntaoéka to marry Chuma. The expedition was down to just five of those recruited at its start: Susi, Chuma, Amoda, and the Nassick lads Mabruki and Gardner. On 14 August 57 more arrived, mostly porters engaged by Stanley, as well as some Nassick boys, including
Jacob Wainwright, who had been recruited for the "Livingstone Search and Relief Expedition" which had decided not to go further when it met Stanley at the coast. Livingstone attempted to go round Lake Bangweulu which he thought had a defined coast, but increasingly he struggled with illness and difficulty navigating across the spongy marshes of the
Bangweulu Wetlands. In January 1873, men including Susi and Chuma carried Livingstone across rivers. His tent failed, and the men built huts for him. From 22 April, he was carried in a kitanda. At the end of April they reached
Chitambo's village and built a hut for Livingstone, who was too ill to speak to Chitambo the next morning. Livingstone was attended by Majwara and Susi, who gave him his medication shortly before midnight, but he died during the night. Susi and Chuma gathered the men together to witness Livingstone's boxes being opened for listing and were given unanimous agreement that they were to act as chiefs and captains of the caravan. Knowing the customs around death, they agreed to set up an isolated hut for Livingstone, then Chitambo said "Why did you not tell me the truth? I know that your master died last night. You were afraid to let me know, but do not fear any longer". Members of the party carried out an autopsy, and in a Christian ceremony Livingstone's heart was buried in tin box under a mvula tree. The body was crudely embalmed and dried for a fortnight before being cased in a bark cylinder for the long journey to the coast to return it to Britain. ==Visit to Britain==