David Livingstone

The Scottish missionary and explorer Doctor David Livingstone (1813-1873) first went to Africa in 1841; he spent the rest of his life charting the ‘Dark Continent'. He reached Lake Ngami (1849), followed the Zambezi to its mouth, saw Victoria Falls (1855), and went to East and Central Africa (1858-64), reaching Lakes Shirwa and Malawi. From 1866 he tried to find the source of the Nile, and reached Ujiji in October 1871.

Henry Stanley famously joined Livingstone at Ujiji and the two explored Africa together. Livingstone not only mapped a great deal of the continent, but also helped to end the Arab slave trade.

Livingstone died in Old Chitambo (in modern Zambia) in 1873. His body was taken back to England and buried in Westminster Abbey.

Photographed by the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company.