The expedition reached Tete on 8 Sept., and Livingstone received an enthusiastic welcome from Makololo. From Tete three visits were paid to the Kebra-basa rapids, which were found to be an insuperable bar to the continuous navigation of the Zambesi at all seasons of the year. The Ma-Robert turned out a failure, and was nicknamed the 'Asthmatic,' and an application was made to the government for a more suitable vessel. Pending her arrival Livingstone determined to explore the Shire river, and search for the great lake reputed to be at its source. The first trip up the Shire was made early in 1859, and after two hundred miles of navigation Livingstone and Kirk found themselves effectually stopped by impassable rapids and cataracts and by hostile natives. Livingstone named the cataracts after his friend Sir Roderick Murchison, and returned to Tete. In March Livingstone and Kirk again started for the Shire and, leaving the steamer near Katunga, proceeded on foot. The journey resulted in the discovery of Lake Shirwa, a salt lake to the east of the Shire highlands. They returned in the Ma-Robert to Tete on 3 June. In the middle of August another start was made up the Shire river; they landed as before, and with thirty-six Makololo porters and two native guides ascended the Shire highlands, passed round by Mount Zomba and Lake Shirwa, and then rejoined the Shire river, the left bank of which they followed till they came to the small lake Pamalombwe, and arrived on 16 Sept. 1859 on the southern shores of Lake Nyasa, in that south-eastern gulf whence flows the river Shire. David and Charles Livingstone, John Kirk and Edward Rae, were the first white men to gaze on this magnificent water. They did not remain long, as they were anxious about the men left in the steamer, and, hurrying back, reached it on 6 Oct. Livingstone took the boat down to the Kongoni mouth, where it had again to be beached for repairs, and after sending Mr. Rae home to advise the admiralty in the construction of the new vessel, himself returned to Tete. On 15 May 1860 he started up the Zambesi to the Makololo country with his brother Charles and Dr. Kirk. Nothing of note occurred on this journey except that a more thorough examination was made of the Victoria Falls, and they arrived at Sesheke on 18 Aug. Here they found Sekeletu ill with leprosy, and Livingstone and Kirk were able to give him some relief. Livingstone left Sesheke on 17 Sept. on their return journey, which was made mainly by water in canoes bought from the Batoka. They passed the Kariba rapids with little difficulty. At the Karivua rapids they had considerable difficulty, but escaped with a wetting to their goods. At the Kebra-basa rapids, near the confluence of the Loangwa, Dr. Kirk was nearly drowned and valuable instruments and notes lost, and the party, landing there, walked to Tete, where they arrived on 23 Nov., having spent six months on the journey. Livingstone left in the Ma-Robert for the Kongoni on 3 Dec. After many difficulties with the steamer she grounded on 21 Dec. on a sandbank and filled. Most of the property of the expedition was saved, but Livingstone and his party had to spend Christmas encamped on the island of Tshimba, a little above Sena, until the Portuguese sent canoes and took them to the Kongoni mouth. They arrived there on 4 Jan. 1861, and lodged in the, newly built Portuguese station.
On 31 Jan. 1861 the long-expected new steamer for the Zambesi, the Pioneer, arrived from England, and at the same time two of H.M.'s cruisers brought Bishop Mackenzie and six missionaries sent by the Universities' Mission. By this time Livingstone knew the Shire river well, and he had learnt that, what ever personal hospitality had been shown to him by the Portuguese, a water-way under their jurisdiction was not the best on which to place a mission to reach Lake Nyasa. He had, moreover, received instructions from home to explore the Rovuma, and as the Pioneer drew too much water for the Shire at this season, it seemed desirable to take the mission up the Rovuma, and plant it at Lake Nyasn, or as near as a suitable place could be found. The mission party were accordingly conveyed to the island of Johanna, in the Comoro group, to wait then' while Livingstone and the bishop explored the Rovuma. They left the mouth of the Rovuma on 11 March, but were only able to ascend thirty miles, as the water was rapidly falling and the rainy season was over. On their return they rejoined the missionaries at Johanna, and with them re-entering the Zambesi through the Kongoni mouth, passed up to the Shire. The Pioneer still drew far too much water for the Shire. The toil and time spent in ascending was excessive and it was only after great difficulty that Tshibisa's, near Katunga, was reached in the middle of July. Here they heard of raids of the Wa-yao or A-jawa on the Mañanja to procure slaves for the Portuguese. Livingstone and the bishop, however, resolved tn explore the Shire highlands to select a site for a mission station, and on their way they encountered several slave parties and liberated the slaves, who attached themselves to the
