Explorations in Africa

Book excerpt: David Livingstone (1813-73) was a Scottish missionary and medical doctor who explored much of the interior of Africa. In a remarkable journey in 1853-56, he became the first European to cross the African continent. Starting on the Zambezi River, he traveled north and west across Angola to reach the Atlantic at Luanda. On his return journey he followed the Zambezi to its mouth on the Indian Ocean in present-day Mozambique. Livingstone's most famous expedition was in 1866-73, when he explored central Africa in an attempt to find the source of the Nile. Not heard from for years, he was believed lost. Both the Royal Geographical Society and the sensationalist New York Herald organized expeditions to find him. Henry M. Stanley (1841-1904), a British-born reporter who was to become a noted explorer in his own right, led the Herald's expedition. On November 10, 1871, Stanley found Livingstone in the town of Ujiji, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, in present-day Tanzania. News of the discovery caused a worldwide sensation. This book, which appeared in Chicago in 1872, was part of the effort by publishers to capitalize on the demand from the public for information about Livingstone and Stanley and about Africa in general.