Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
LIVINGSTONE - THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE
LEGEND
David Livingstone is one of a few European explorers who is still revered by modern-day Africans. His legendary
exploits on the continent border the realm of fiction, though his life's mission to end the slave trade was very real
(and ultimately very successful).
Born into rural poverty in the south of Scotland on 19 March 1813, Livingstone worked in London for several
years before being ordained as a missionary in 1840. The following year he arrived in Bechuanaland (now Bot-
swana) and began travelling inland, looking for converts and seeking to end the slave trade.
As early as 1842 Livingstone had already become the first European to penetrate the northern reaches of the
Kalahari. For the next several years he explored the African interior with the purpose of opening up trade routes
and establishing missions. In 1854 Livingstone discovered a route to the Atlantic coast, and arrived in present-day
Luanda. However, his most famous discovery occurred in 1855 when he first set eyes on Victoria Falls during his
epic boat journey down the Zambezi River. Livingstone returned to Britain a national hero, and recounted his
travels in the 1857 publication
Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa
.
In 1858 Livingstone returned to Africa as the head of the 'Zambezi Expedition', a government-funded venture
that aimed to identify natural resource reserves in the region. Unfortunately, the expedition ended when a previ-
ously unexplored section of the Zambezi turned out to be unnavigable.
In 1869 Livingstone reached Lake Tanganyika despite failing health, though several of his followers abandoned
the expedition en route. These desertions were headline news in Britain, sparking rumours regarding Living-
stone's health and sanity. In response to the growing mystery surrounding Livingstone's whereabouts, the
New
York Herald
arranged a publicity stunt by sending journalist Henry Morton Stanley to find Livingstone.
After arriving in Zanzibar and setting out with nearly 200 porters, Stanley finally found Livingstone on 10
November 1871 in Ujiji near Lake Tanganyika and famously greeted him with the line 'Dr Livingstone, I pre-
sume?'.
Although Stanley urged him to leave the continent, Livingstone was determined to find the source of the Nile,
and penetrated deeper into the continent than any European prior. On 1 May 1873 Livingstone died from malaria
and dysentery near Lake Bangweula in present-day Zambia. His body was carried for thousands of kilometres by
his attendants, and now lies in the ground at Westminster Abbey in London.
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