Tempo:
PREFACE. 27
that he is unaware of the extent or of the limits of his own powers. He expressly re- pudiates any claim to be able to exercise his peculiar gift at any moment under any con- ditions. Often, when he wants them most, he can command them least. He is and always has been an investigator, feeling his way like a blind man with a stick through a crowded street. If he has arrived at certain conclusions which appear to him to fit the facts, he is, nevertheless, quite ready to abandon them to-morrow, if any one can suggest a better working hypothesis to account for what has happened. He makes no claim to be able to do anything for anybody. He has done, seen, and heard certain things, some of which are in this book faithfully recorded. But he does not pretend to be able to do similar things all over again, whenever he wants to, for any friend or stranger, who demands “ first-hand evidence.” Stanley found Livingstone once in the heart of Central Africa; but the demand that he should go and find him again, before any one credited his story, was generally scouted as unreasonable, At the same time, as railways now run and steamers ply in the, at one time, inaccessible regions which were the scene of Stanley's memorable exploit, so it is possible
that he is unaware of the extent or of the limits of his own powers. He expressly re- pudiates any claim to be able to exercise his peculiar gift at any moment under any con- ditions. Often, when he wants them most, he can command them least. He is and always has been an investigator, feeling his way like a blind man with a stick through a crowded street. If he has arrived at certain conclusions which appear to him to fit the facts, he is, nevertheless, quite ready to abandon them to-morrow, if any one can suggest a better working hypothesis to account for what has happened. He makes no claim to be able to do anything for anybody. He has done, seen, and heard certain things, some of which are in this book faithfully recorded. But he does not pretend to be able to do similar things all over again, whenever he wants to, for any friend or stranger, who demands “ first-hand evidence.” Stanley found Livingstone once in the heart of Central Africa; but the demand that he should go and find him again, before any one credited his story, was generally scouted as unreasonable, At the same time, as railways now run and steamers ply in the, at one time, inaccessible regions which were the scene of Stanley's memorable exploit, so it is possible
©
2026
Lehal.net