But his honors in England did not stop below the recognition of his fine success by royalty itself. Early in September he was invited to an interview with Queen Victoria, and afterwards dined with her and the members of the royal family present at Balmoral. Upon this occasion the Queen is reported to have expressed to him in the most warm and friendly terms her congratulations on the successful result of the American enterprise in furnishing intelligence of the English traveller in Africa, his condition of health, his discoveries, and his hopes for the future previous to his return to Great Britain.
The Great Explorer Still in Search of the Sources of the Nile -- His Letters to the English Government on His Explorations -- Correspondence with Lord Stanley, Lord Clarendon, Earl Granville, Dr. Kirk and James Gordon Bennett, Jr. -- His Own Descriptions of Central Africa and the Supposed Sources of the Nile -- The Country and People -- A Nation of Cannibals -- Beautiful Women -- Gorillas -- The Explorer’s Plans for the Future.
When Mr. Stanley bade good-bye to Dr. Livingstone in Unyanyembe, the explorer entrusted to the care of the correspondent despatches to the government, his journal, addressed to his daughter, and copies of letters of which former messengers had been robbed. The letters, old and new, to the representative of the British government at Zanzibar, Dr. Kirk, and to different members of the British cabinet, were allowed to be published. They give a full account of Dr. Livingstone’s explorations among the supposed true sources of the Nile, and abundantly establish the complete success of the “Herald” search expedition. The letters to the British authorities thus sent to the press, August 1, 1872, through the courtesy of Earl Granville, were: 1. A letter from Dr. Livingstone to Lord Stanley, under date of November 15, 1870; 2. Two letters of November 1, 1871, to Lord Clarendon; 3. A letter of November 14, 1871, to Earl Granville; 4. Letter of October 30, 1871, to Dr. Kirk, British Consul at Zanzibar; 5. Letter of December 18, 1871 to Earl Granville; 6. Letter of February 20, 1872, to Earl Granville.
The first of these despatches to his government is from “Bambarre, Manyema country, say about one hundred and fifty miles west of Ujiji, Nov. 15, 1870,” addressed to Lord Stanley, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. In this dispatch, much is contained which Dr. Livingstone orally related to Mr. Stanley, of the “Herald,” and which has already appeared in this work. The country of the Manyema, reputed cannibals, is described generally thus: