Livingstone, Dr. David

Livingstone, Dr. David (1813-73) missionary, African explorer, b. Low Blantyre, Scotland.

Livingstone worked in a cotton factory from the age of ten to twenty-four.

Then he trained as a doctor, joined the London Missionary Society in 1840, and went to work in Bechuanaland (now Republic of Botswana).

In 1849, he crossed the Kalahari Desert and discovered Lake Ngami.

He made up his mind to stamp out the slave trade in Africa by opening up the center of the continent. He said, 'I will open up a path to the interior or perish.'

He explored the River Zambesi and discovered the Victoria Falls. In 1857, he returned to Britain.

He was famous and his book, Missionary Travels became a bestseller.

From 1858-63, Livingstone explored the Shire and Rovuma rivers and discovered Lake Nyasa.

In 1866, he set out to find the source of the River Nile. Three years later there had been no news from Livingstone. H. M. Stanley set out to find him. Livingstone refused to go home with Stanley and he died in present-day Zimbabwe in April 1873. His servants carried his body to the coast, and he is buried in Westminster Abbey.

See David Livingstone A Popular Account of Dr. Livingstone's Expedition to the Zambesi and its Tributaries: And of the Discovery of the Lakes Shirwa and Nyass