David Livingstone

David Livingstone (March 19, 1813 – May 1, 1873) was a Scottish missionary and explorer of the Victorian era, now best remembered because of his meeting with Henry Morton Stanley which gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume."

Zambesi Expedition

Livingstone returned to Africa as head of the Zambesi Expedition. While Livingstone was exploring the Zambesi river, the missions sent to central and east Africa at his urgings ended in disaster, with nearly every missionary dying of malaria or other ailments. The Zambesi river turned out to be completely unnavigable past the Kabrabasa rapids, a series of cataracts and rapids that Livingstone had failed to explore on his earlier travels.

Related Topics:
Zambesi Expedition - Kabrabasa rapids

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The other Westerners, including Livingstone's brother Charles (the one exception being George Rae, an engineer) either died, resigned, or were fired by Livingstone. His wife Mary died on April 29, 1863 of dysentery, but Livingstone continued to explore, eventually returning home in 1864. The Zambesi Expedition was castigated as a failure in many British newspapers of the time, and Livingstone experienced great difficulty in raising funds to further explore Africa.

Related Topics:
George Rae - April 29 - 1863 - 1864 - Africa

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