Christian History Home > Issue 56 > The Other Livingstone
The Other Livingstone
The same traits that led the explorer to greatness, led him into the Zambezi disaster.
Ted Olsen | posted 10/01/1997 12:00AM
By 1858 seven years had passed since Livingstone first saw the great Zambezi River, and for seven years, Livingstone had eagerly anticipated a second exploration of its vast waters. As in all his travels, his immediate goal was to open a route to Africa's interior.
"If Christian missionaries and Christian merchants can remain throughout the year in the interior of the continent," he wrote, "the slave trader will be driven out of the market."
This was the legacy Livingstone craved, and this river—500 yards wide, 1,000 miles from the sea—would be the greatest tool imaginable.
Instead the expedition turned into his greatest disaster. Livingstone was considered a national hero when he left on his Zambezi Expedition; when he returned, he was thought a madman and a failure. "We were promised cotton, sugar, and indigo, and of course we get none," lamented the Times. "We were promised converts to the gospel, and not a one has been made."
What happened on this infamous expedition reveals a recurring ... To view this item, you must be a member of ChristianHistory.net.
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