Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley & Livingstone, Dugard - B+

           Between 1841 and 1863, David Livingstone, British physician, missionary and explorer,  had traveled extensively throughout Africa, filling in the vast blanks on the maps that the Europeans were trying to create. He had walked across the continent from east to west over four years. His left arm was damaged by a lion bite and his body was filled with hookworm. In 1866, at the age of 53, he returned to Africa to find the source of the Nile. Although John Speke had assured the Royal Geographic Society that Lake Victoria was the source, his colleague and rival, Richard Burton, insisted it was Lake Tanganyika. Thus, the matter remained unresolved, and Livingstone's trip was sponsored by the RGS. Livingstone's progress was slow. It took four months to  reach Lake Nyassa, 300 miles long and 60 wide, the southernmost of the three great lakes that make up the African Rift Lakes. He began to circle the lake clockwise.

         Later that year, rumors reached London that Livingstone was dead. The stories being told were not consistent, but by early 1867, Livingstone's obituary was published. However many, including the leadership of the RGS, were not convinced. The society and the government funded a search expedition. Within months, E. D. Young was leading a small troop on a steel boat up the Zambezi River to the Nyassa. He confirmed that the tales about Livingstone's death were false, and returned to London.

        By the time Livingstone headed northwest from Lake Nyassa, his entourage was reduced to a handful of loyal porters. As reports of Livingstone's disappearance circulated, the New York Herald decided to dispatch Henry Morton Stanley, a Civil War veteran and peripatetic traveler, to Africa to find the great explorer. In March, 1869, Livingstone reached Ujiji on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. From there, he headed west with Arab slavers to find the Lualaba River. In the African interior, he stopped and stayed at a town called Bambarre, as he was now a very sick, old man who could barely travel. He suffered from every conceivable dreaded disease and parasite that Africa could impose upon a European. He had lost almost all of his teeth and could barely eat. By the end of 1869, the legendary Livingstone needed to be rescued. Both the British Foreign Office, inspired by the the RGS, and the NY Herald, desperate for a story, were on the case. 

      Stanley sailed from Zanzibar for the African coast in early 1871. He began the long journey into the interior. The trek through the jungles, swamps and plains took its usual toll on the caravan, decimating porters, pack animals and one of the two Europeans who accompanied Stanley. Simultaneously, a British expedition under Sir Samuel Baker ascended the Nile and reached Gondokoro, just four degrees south of the equator. Unbeknownst to each other, Stanley and Baker were equidistant from Livingstone, who was resting hundreds of miles from them in the interior. Livingstone finally roused himself, set out and reached the western shore of Lake Tanganyika in September of 1871. A month later, he crossed over to Ujiji and prayed to be saved. On the 27th of October, after 975 miles and eight months, Stanley reached Ujiji, shook hands with a toothless, old, white-haired Englishman and said, "Dr. Livingstone I presume."

     The two men spent weeks getting to know each other. After recovering with four meals per day provided by Stanley's ample supplies, Livingstone suggested they seek the source together. They traveled around the northern end of Lake Tanganyika  and confirmed that there was no river flowing north. They then traveled to Tabora, a third of the way to the coast. They bid farewell and Stanley began the return to civilization on his own, carrying years of Livingstone's notes, journals and letters. Stanley reached the coast on May 7th and sailed to London a few weeks afterward. He was received by the Queen and offered $10,000 for a book about his trip. Livingstone returned to the interior to pursue his belief that the source was further south than Lake Victoria. "In addition to blood loss, anemia, malaria, dysentery, and hookworm, a blood clot the size of an apple had formed in his abdomen." He died on May 1, 1873 at the age of 60. His men buried his heart in Africa, and sent his mummified remains home to England. He lay in state in the RGS Map Room and was interred at Westminster Abbey. His funeral was the largest ever in the capital. Stanley was a pallbearer and honored his promise to Livingstone. He returned to Africa to find the source.

    "Livingstone's death opened the floodgates to European exploration of Africa." Stanley circumnavigated Lakes Victoria and Tanganyika, confirming Speke's theory that Lake Victoria was the source of the Nile. He died in 1904. A hundred years later, a satellite would confirm that the Nile bubbled up in the mountains of Burundi, halfway between Lakes Tanganyika and Victoria. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read.