Livingston traveler that discovered. Africa - personalities - David Livingston. Discoveries and achievements of the great explorer of Africa

David Livingston (1813-1873), illustrious missionary to Africa, explorer from Britain. David spent his childhood in the village of Blantyre, his family was not wealthy, David's father was a street tea merchant, and the boy had to work at a textile factory from the age of 10. Curious David, being busy at work, knew how to find free time to study theology at the evening factory school. The boy was also passionate about learning Latin. From the age of nineteen, he dreamed of becoming a researcher and later successfully completed his education.

After some time, David meets Robert Moffet, a missionary engaged in scientific activities in Africa. He told the young man fascinating stories and exciting stories about incredible travels on the African continent, and carried away by what he heard, David decides in 1840 to enter the Cape Colony. On the ship, while sailing, Livingston is trained to determine the location of the coordinates of points on the Earth. Subsequently, according to the filming of David Livingston, best cards South Africa.

Further, in 1841, David reached south coast rivers in the Kalahari Desert. The missionary lived for about seven years in the Bechuan country, where he continued to travel and study the area. Later, David decides to explore all the existing rivers.

David Livingstone in Africa

Later, in 1849, David Livingstone crosses the Kalahari. During the study of the territory of the desert, the research decided that the shape of the Kalahari is bowl-shaped. In the same year, in August, David discovered a temporary lake, fed during times of rain by water from the Okavango River.

Further, Livingston's path led him to the now famous Zambezi River. Given the aridity of the continent, the height of the river was about 300-600 meters wide, while its depth was also impressive. During heavy rains, the water level could reach a height of six meters and had a detrimental effect on a space of twenty miles.

In 1853, in November, the explorer begins his journey up the Zambezi River. IN last days May 1854 David's group reaches Atlantic Ocean. David Livingston in Africa decides to go to East Coast and his plan was approved by the clergy and authorities of Portugal, since they, too, were interested in obtaining information about the territories between Mozambique and Angola.

The implementation of the expedition, which involved the study of the flow of the Zambezi River to indian ocean, became real thanks to the support of Sekeletu, the ruler of an African tribe. He paid for the crossing of Africa by David Livingston and himself accompanied the expedition to a 120-meter-high waterfall on the Zambezi, which the Africans called "Roaring Smoke". The missionary was the first European to see this waterfall. Today, this waterfall, which was named after Queen Victoria of England, is considered one of the largest and most famous.

In March 1856, Livingston reaches the territory of Tete - the first settlement of European civilization. Further exploration along the Zambezi River was canceled by the expedition of David Livingston. On May 20, 1856, David and his team ended their journey in the town of Quelimane. As a result, a journey of this kind was the first in the history of European man.

After returning to his homeland, David publishes his first book, Travels and Researches of a Missionary in South Africa in 1867. She undoubtedly made Livingston famous. The book brought Livingston a small income, which he spent on the education of his children and gave part to his mother. The missionary invested the bulk of his earnings in further travels across the continent.

A little later, the Royal Geographical Society rewarded the missionary with a gold medal. The government instructs David to explore Africa in more depth, establish relations with African rulers and agree with them on the cultivation of cotton on the continent. In May 1858, the missionary went to the Zambezi, already being British consul in Mozambique. With the help of the British government, Livingston made the journey from 1858-1864.

The significance of the expedition was colossal in the history of Africa. The missionary, traveling through unexplored sections of the Zambezi River, determined that it was known as Liambier. Thanks to his research, geographic Maps more accurate data were plotted on the lakes Shirve and on the Shire and Ruvuma rivers.

In the winter of 1866, David Livingston begins new travels across the African continent. On April 1, 1867, the explorer reaches the coast of Tanganyika, which today is called Liemba. On November 8, 1867, the missionary discovered Lake Mweru, many islands in it, and later in 1868, he discovered Lake Bangweolo. On the maps, David Livingston depicted the lake in size much larger than in reality, since he could not explore it completely.

In March 1871, David Livingston went to the village of Nyangwe. There he discovered a huge number of reservoirs, the so-called "hydrographic artery".

In 1871, the missionary falls ill, but continues his explorations of the north and concluded that the lake does not belong to the source of the Nile, as previously assumed. He decides not to return to his homeland due to illness, as he had the goal of completing the study of Lualaba. He sent his diaries and notes to Europe by ship.

Later, in 1873, the missionary decided to go to Lualaba. On the way, he stayed for the night in the town of Chitambo, near Lake Bangweulu. The next morning, the great explorer was found dead. The missionary's heart was buried by his servants near Lake Bangweulu. The body of David Livingstone was treated with salt and dried in the sun. After walking 1500 kilometers, after 9 months, Livingston's servants transferred his body to the town of Bagamoyo.

The missionary's diaries, which they called "The Last Journey of David Livingstone," were printed in London in 1874.

During his famous explorations of Africa, David Livingston located at least 1,000 points; the researcher was the first to point out the unexplored terrain of Africa, explored the system major river Zambezi, was the founder of scientific research large lakes Tanganyika and Nyasa.

In memory of the famous missionary, the mountains of East Africa were named, as well as waterfalls on the Congo River (Zaire). David Livingston was a highly ideological humanist, hated the slave trade and fought against it. Near the city of Glasgow, in Scotland, is located memorial museum Livingston.

The early years of David Livingstone

Africa has attracted many explorers and travelers. A lot of mysteries of history and human civilization are connected with it. Since the time of the Egyptian pharaohs, mankind has sought to penetrate deep into the mysterious continent.

Remark 1

One of the brightest representatives of the cohort of explorers of the mainland is the Scottish traveler and scientist David Livingston. David Livingston was born $19$ March $1813$ in the family of a street vendor. After graduating from a rural school, young David worked at a weaving factory in Glasgow from the age of ten. In his spare time, he attended night school and studied Latin on his own.

In the twentieth year of his life, Livingston decided to devote himself to the service of God, to become a missionary. He begins attending lectures in medicine and theology, receives a scholarship from the London Missionary Society, and dreams of going to China. But because of the "opium war" between Great Britain and China, Livingston was sent to South Africa - to the Cape Colony.

Exploring Africa

In $1840$, David Livingston sets off. While sailing on a ship, he is trained by the captain of the ship to determine the astronomical coordinates of various points on the Earth. In July $1841, Livingston arrives at his destination, the southern edge of the Kalahari Desert. This extreme point where the missionaries reached. It is here that he begins his missionary work. But local residents interested not in religious teachings, but in Livingston's medical knowledge.

Livingston spent seven years in a harsh semi-desert region - the country of the Bechuans. During this time, under the pretext of missionary activity, he makes a number of trips. He was the first to cross the Kalahari from south to north, establishing the nature of the landscapes of this area. Livingston proved that the Kalahari is not a desert, as Europeans previously believed, but a semi-desert with savannah elements. He studied Livingston and the peculiarities of the peoples inhabiting this region.

Having reached the territories north of the Kalahari, David Livingston begins to study the rivers of Africa, as natural routes of penetration deep into the continent. The locals nicknamed the explorer "Seeker of the Rivers". In $1849$, the traveler discovers and explores Lake Ngami. During $1850-1851, Livingston made several attempts to re-penetrate north from the Kalahari. It reaches the right tributary of the Zambezi River and then the Zambezi itself. Prior to this, the Europeans did not know about the existence of this river in Central Africa.

In November $1853, David Livingston, with a detachment of $160$ of local hunters from the Makololo tribe, sailed up the Zambezi in $33$ boats. By February $1854$ it reaches the watershed between the Zambezi and Congo basins. In May, $1854, the detachment descended the Zambezi to the Atlantic coast near Luanda.

Livingston undertakes the next journey in October $1855$. He opens the Victoria Falls. In May $1856$ the expedition goes to the shores of the Indian Ocean.

In $1857 the traveler returns to Britain. Here he gives lectures, prepares his book for publication. "The Travels and Explorations of a Missionary in South Africa".

In May $1858, Livingston returned to the Zambezi as British Consul in Mozambique. He studies the deep regions of the continent. In September 1859, the expedition went to Lake Nyasa. Livingston conducts hydrological surveys of the lake and adjacent rivers. In $1865$, the scientist publishes a book "An account of an expedition to the Zambezi and its tributaries".

Remark 2

In $1867, Livingston reached south coast Lake Tanganyika, described the nature of the Central African tectonic fault, explored the rivers of the Tanganyika basin. Research in the lake area lasted until $1872$. David Livingston died $1$ May $1873$ during another expedition. His diaries were published in London in $1874 under the title "The Last Journey of David Livingstone" .

Significance of David Livingstone's research

It is difficult to overestimate the contribution of David Livingston to the development of geographical science. He was the first to discover for Europeans the deep regions of South and Central Africa. It is he who is credited with compiling detailed maps interior regions of Africa and the location of rivers. Thanks to his tireless efforts, science received detailed descriptions features of the geological structure of the south of the African platform, flora and fauna of this region. Thanks to his diplomatic skills, Livingston collected the richest ethnographic material. His scientific works were translated into many languages ​​of the world and for a long time remained the only source of information about the most mysterious part of Africa.

(1813-1873) English traveler, explorer of Africa

David Livingston was born into an impoverished farming family in the town of Blantyre in the Scottish county of Lanark, near the city of Glasgow. The boy's childhood was very difficult, because, as a ten-year-old teenager, he worked at a cotton factory from early morning until late at night, and after work he also studied at night school. At night, the young man read a lot, especially everything related to scientific issues and travel. On Sundays, he went on long walks, during which he collected collections of minerals, compiled herbariums, and looked for fossils. These walks strengthened his love for nature and his desire for scientific research.

Through hard work, David Livingston prepared himself for admission to the medical faculty of Glasgow College. He managed to get a medical education, and in 1840 he received a medical degree. However, it was difficult for a doctor who left the working environment to find work in England. Livingston decided to leave the country for some distant colony in search of work. Desiring to devote himself to activities that benefit society, he joined the missionary society of London and was sent to South Africa, where he lived with short breaks for almost 30 years.

The missionaries, in fact, turned out to be the first detachments of the colonialists, since the conversion of the natives to the Christian faith actually led to their enslavement. But what history knows about Livingston's activities as a missionary characterizes him as a humanist. That's why indigenous people mainland treated him with confidence and loved him.

In October 1840, Livingston arrived in South Africa in Algoa Bay, from where he entered the country of the Bechuans. There was a missionary station in the steppe village of Kuruman. It was from here that he began his long journey through Africa.

The first years of Livingston's work on the mainland made him understand that Africans were little interested in religious sermons, but they adequately appreciated his medical knowledge. They learned from him literacy and farming techniques. Livingston willingly studied the language local population, its rituals and customs, carried out natural scientific observations, collected rocks, compiled collections of local plants and representatives of the animal world, conducted ethnographic observations.

Missionary activity sharpened his love of travel, and on June 1, 1849, he set off on his first trip to Lake Ngami, previously unknown to European science. In 1851, accompanied by two English hunters, he moved northeast of this lake to the headwaters of the Zambezi River. Here the traveler first saw how the slave traders hunt for blacks, and hated slavery for the rest of his life.

In 1853, in 33 boats with a large number of guides and porters, Livingston headed up the Zambezi. He opened the watershed between the basins of the Congo and Zambezi rivers, moving westward along it to the Kwanza River, which flowed into the ocean. By the end of May 1854, travelers reached the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. This whole journey was very difficult: many members of the expedition fell ill with dengue fever. Also, the road passed through the possessions of several warlike African tribes, and their leaders demanded a ransom for the passage, so Livingston had to give away all his property. Nevertheless, he was overwhelmed with a sense of pride: he was the first to unravel the complex interweaving of the river network of South Africa, the first to go west along the southern part of the mainland.

In November 1855, Livingston, accompanied by large group black satellites headed east of the mainland along the Zambezi. After a two-week journey, a majestic waterfall opened before them, which Livingston named after the Queen of England - Victoria Falls. Even earlier, he knew from the natives that something unusual was located on the Zambezi River, which in the language of the locals was called “Mozi oa tunya” - “Rattlesmoke”. Only after much questioning did it become clear that this meant a gigantic waterfall, over which a column of water spray constantly stands. In his notes, Livingston noted that this was the most wonderful sight he had ever seen in Africa.

Having opened the waterfall and passed along the Zambezi River to its mouth, the traveler completed the first crossing of the mainland from west to east. Observations he made during his travels led him to realize that the topography of all of South Africa resembled a flat dish with raised edges plunging towards the oceans.

For the discoveries of Livingston, the English Royal Geographical Society awards him a gold medal. But the missionary society in England was dissatisfied with his work. His leaders believed that he was carried away by travel and actually stepped back from his obligations.

In December 1856, after a sixteen-year absence, Livingston returned to England. Here he processes the results of his journey and summarizes them in the book Travels and Researches of a Missionary in South Africa, which was published in London in 1857. In England, he gives a report and develops plans new expedition. In his reports, Livingston carried out active propaganda against the slave trade, which flourished in England at that time, promoted the idea of ​​equality of blacks and Europeans, proving with examples the mental abilities of the mainland population.

March 10, 1858 David Livingston returns to East Africa. Among his assistants were his wife, son and brother, who took over the duties of secretary, John Kirk (botanist), Richard Thornton (geologist) and others. This time, the expedition along the tributary of the Zambezi River sailed north and discovered several lakes, including Lake Nyasa, one of the largest in Africa, and she also searched for the sources of the Nile.

Returning to London, Livingston, together with his brother, is preparing for the publication new book"Journey through the Zambezi and its tributaries and the discovery of the lakes Shirva and Nyasa in the years 1858-1864", published in 1865.

In 1866, David Livingston went to his last trip and sets itself the task of determining the watershed between Lakes Nyasa and Tanganyika, as well as clarifying the alleged connection between Lake Tanganyika and the Nile River. During this journey from 1866 to 1873, together with the traveler Henry Stanley, he examined northern shores Tanganyiki, but the source of the Nile River was not here, he discovered the Lualaba River and Lake Bangweulu.

David Livingston suffered from chronic fever and stomach trouble for many years. IN last years he did not stop his studies, although sometimes he could not walk on his own and his Negro friends carried him on a stretcher. On May 1, 1873, Livingston died. His companions kept all his diaries and expedition materials. They buried under big tree in the Zambian village of Chitambo, the heart of a traveler, and his body was embalmed and placed in a wooden coffin. Livingston's black friends carried his body on their shoulders for about 1200 km for nine months to the east, where it was handed over to the British authorities. In April 1874, the remains of the traveler were brought to England and buried with honors in London, in Westminster Abbey, in the tomb of the great people of England.

David Livingston(David Livingstone; English David Livingstone; March 19, 1813, Blantyre - May 1, 1873, current Zambia) - Scottish missionary, explorer of Africa.

Biography

Youth

David Livingston was born in the village of Blantyre (Eng. Blantyre, South Lanarkshire) into a poor Scottish family and at the age of 10 began working in a weaving factory. He taught himself Latin and Greek, as well as mathematics. This allowed him to enter the university, and for two years he studied theology and medicine there, while continuing to work in a factory, after which Livingston received a doctorate.

First African expeditions

On November 20, 1840, Livingston was granted missionary status; at the end of that year he sailed for Africa and arrived in Cape Town on March 14, 1841.

Livingston spent the next fifteen years in uninterrupted travel through the hinterland of South and Central Africa. He had numerous skirmishes with the local Boers and the Portuguese because of their harsh treatment of the native Africans, which caused him acute opposition, and created a reputation for himself as a staunch Christian, a courageous explorer and an ardent fighter against slavery and the slave trade. Livingston quickly learned the languages ​​of the local population and won their respect.

On July 31, 1841, Livingston arrived at Moffett's mission at Kuruman on northern border Cape Colony, and in 1843 he founded his own mission in Kolobeng in the Bechuan Country (Tswana) (the future protectorate of Bechuanaland, now Botswana). Almost immediately after his arrival, he began to carry out expeditions to the north, to unknown Europeans and, as it was believed, densely populated areas, still untouched by the preaching activities of Christian missionaries. His goal was to propagate the faith through "local agents" - converted Africans. By the summer of 1842, Livingston had already made his way north into the inhospitable Kalahari Desert, further than any European before him, becoming familiar with local languages ​​and customs.

In 1843, he visited the settlement of the Kwena (Bakwena) tribe of the Tswana people and became friends with its leader, Sechele, who eventually became the first of the leaders of the Tswana tribes to convert to Christianity. Sechele gave Livingston comprehensive information about the "land of great thirst" in the north - the Kalahari - and Lake Ngami.

Livingston's missionary tenacity was dramatically tested in 1844 when, while traveling to Mabotsa to set up a mission there, he was attacked and seriously injured by a lion. The damage to her left arm was then aggravated by another accident, leaving her crippled for life. Livingston could no longer hold the barrel of his gun with his left hand, and was forced to learn to shoot from his left shoulder and aim with his left eye.

On January 2, 1845, Livingston married Robert Moffet's daughter Mary. For seven years, despite her pregnancies and her father's protests, she accompanied Livingston on his travels and bore him four children. The Livingstones first settled in a mission in Mabotsa, then briefly moved to Tchonwane, and from 1847 they lived in Kolobeng. main reason the transfer of the mission to Kolobeng was the presence there drinking water from the river of the same name, necessary for irrigating crops. It was in Kolobeng that Sechele was baptized on the condition that he refuse to take part in any pagan ceremonies like making rain, and divorce all his wives, leaving one. These conditions aroused dissatisfaction among some of the Tswana tribes, who considered Livingston guilty of a terrible drought and drying up of the Kolobeng River, which happened in 1848 and claimed lives. a large number people and livestock. In addition, the Sechele ex-wives, who suddenly found themselves without a husband, faced significant difficulties in the patriarchal Tswana society.

In June 1849, Livingston (as a topographer and researcher), accompanied by African guides, was the first European to cross the Kalahari Desert and explore Lake Ngami on the southern edge of the Okavango swamps, discovered on August 1. For this discovery he was awarded the British Royal geographical society Gold medal and cash prize. From this event begins the European fame of Livingston and his collaboration with the Geographical Society, which continued throughout his life. The society represented his interests in England and promoted his activities in Europe. In the desert, Livingston met the Stone Age Bushmen and Bakalahari tribes and introduced them to the outside world for the first time.

Romance is essential in human life. It is she who gives a person divine powers to travel beyond the ordinary. This is a powerful spring in the human soul, pushing him to great accomplishments.

Fridtjof Nansen

Among the researchers of modern Africa, foreign and domestic, absolutely special place occupies David Livingston - a truly extraordinary personality. I thought about this a long time ago, more than half a century ago, when I first came to the banks of the Zambezi River near the Zambian city that bears the name of Livingston.

It was the 60s. 20th century, the liberation of African countries was completed. And the young independent states almost everywhere destroyed the symbols of the colonial past - they demolished the statues of European monarchs, generals, governors, renamed the cities, squares, streets named after them. But the city, which arose at the beginning of the 20th century. near one of the largest waterfalls in the world and called Livingston, kept it even after the British colony of Northern Rhodesia became the Republic of Zambia in 1964.

The waterfall is formed by the Zambezi River, which rushes here in its entire almost two-kilometer expanse along a basalt ledge more than a hundred meters high and rushes into a narrow gorge. The noise from falling water can be heard many kilometers before you approach the waterfall. And near it, myriads of spray sometimes form such a foggy curtain that even the sun's rays can hardly break through it. The indigenous people called the waterfall Mosi-oa-Tunya - “Thundering Smoke”.

In 1855, David Livingston came out to this waterfall with his companions and named it in honor of his queen - Victoria. And so it still sounds in English - Victoria Falls. "Victoria Falls" became the name of the reserve adjacent to the waterfall area, in which, almost like in Livingston's time, you can see herds of elephants, hippos, buffaloes, many other mammals, hundreds of species of tropical birds.

The name of Livingston himself is carried in Africa by waterfalls in downstream the Congo River, where it serves as the boundary between the former French colony, and now the Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of Zaire, a former Belgian colony. Prior to the construction of the giant Zaire power plant Inga in 1968, the Livingston Falls were a cascade of more than thirty low rapids and waterfalls that followed each other for more than three hundred kilometers. The Inga hydroelectric power station has greatly changed the landscape of a large African territory, compared not only with the distant era of Livingston, but even with the time when the writer of these lines worked on these thresholds today.

It is very important that the name of David Livingstone is not forgotten even here, that he is respected in Africa even beyond the borders of those lands along which the main routes of his missionary and research travels passed a century and a half ago. The reason for this lies in the peculiarities of Livingston's personality, in his behavior and activities, which are reflected in the published works of the traveler, in numerous books in different languages ​​about this remarkable person.

Everyone who comes to London for the first time will definitely try to visit one of the main attractions of the United Kingdom - Westminster Abbey. It is not only a monument of medieval gothic architecture, but also the embodiment national history- the place of the coronation and burial of the English kings, the tomb of the most famous people England - statesmen, military heroes, writers and poets, scientists and travelers. A few steps from the entrance to the abbey, under its majestic vaults, the ashes of David Livingston are also kept. On a black marble plaque is the inscription:

In 1874, the remains of David Livingston were solemnly lowered here, into the honorary tomb. But it doesn't have his heart. It was buried immediately after the death of the traveler in the small African village of Chitambo in the depths of the Black Continent. Livingston's heart remained forever in Africa, where he gained worldwide fame as a missionary explorer, where he met his last hour and where, as we have seen, his name is not forgotten and respected.

Before we talk in more detail about what David Livingston has gained worldwide recognition as a researcher and humanist, let's dwell at least briefly on the main milestones of his biography.

David Livingston was born in Blantyre, Scotland on March 19, 1813 to a poor, devout Scottish family. He knew early on poverty and hard work. From the age of ten, David began to work in a cotton factory for twelve, and sometimes fourteen hours a day. And yet he finds the strength to study in his spare hours. He is engaged in self-education a lot, and in 1836 he even begins his studies at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery in Glasgow.

For material support to continue his studies, David turns to the London Missionary Society, and since then his life has always been connected with him in one way or another. While in practice at the London Charing Cross Hospital, David almost accidentally met Robert Moffat, who began to conduct missionary work in South Africa as early as 1816. This meeting was fateful for Livingston: she brought him to Africa and brought him to his future wife, daughter Moffat - Mary.

In 1840, 27-year-old David Livingston received a medical diploma and the official title of a missionary and set off at the very end of the year (as it turned out forever!) To Africa. The voyage from Liverpool to the Cape Colony was a long one. On the way, the captain of the ship teaches the young missionary astronomy, navigation, determination geographical location by the stars. Only in July 1841 did Livingston reach the Moffat-Kuruman missionary station. Livingston tries to master faster local languages In order to make his sermons more intelligible, he works in the printing house, which was arranged by Moffat, who created the grammar of the Aboriginal language.

Livingston repeatedly leaves Kurumana for long periods of time to study its near and far surroundings. In February 1843, he makes a particularly long journey alone, on horseback, wishing to find a place for his own missionary station. Here, in Mabotse, at the end of the same year, he moves with his young wife Mary, builds a house, a school, a chapel. But different circumstances forced Livingston to leave Mabotse. He and his wife move another hundred kilometers to the north, to Chonguan. Here is the "residence" of the local leader, who patronizes Livingston. The missionary starts building again, he burns the bricks for his house himself, is engaged in blacksmithing, cultivates a garden and a vegetable garden.

But the area is controlled by the Boers, who are opposed to the missionaries from England. They prevent Livingston from settling here as well. A new move begins. In Kolobeng, the missionary is building his third home in South Africa. For the time being, he and his wife and first child, Robert, live in a simple hut. In July, the construction of a large stone house was completed. In addition, Livingston is building a school in Kolobeng and a solid home for the local leader, who soon converts to Christianity.

It was a great success for the missionary, but at the same time, “the passion for research that had been dormant from his youthful years woke up in him,” as his German biographer Herbert Votte wrote about Livingston. In the spring of 1849, Livingston decides to go on a long journey with a purely research purposes. He has long wanted to see mysterious lake north of Kolobeng, which no European has yet seen. This is how the first happened geographical discovery Livingston - Lake Ngami.

Livingston reached southern edge the largest "white spot" in the center of the African continent. Somewhere here, in the expanses still unknown to Europeans, the great rivers of Africa were born - the Nile, the Congo and the Zambezi. The mystery of the location of their sources has long worried the minds of geographers. Once near this area, Livingston could not refuse to try to unravel it. Less and less he was now attracted to a settled missionary life. And when, two years after his acquaintance with Lake Ngami, he reached abounding river Liambier, which turned out to be in fact the middle course of the Zambezi, Livingston finally devote himself to the exploration of unexplored lands. He remained true to this until his last hour.