- The Last Explorers
- 1. Livingstone - really amazing story too diff to summarize ..religious zeal to end slavery, forced in to telling lie after lie due to a streak of bad luck
- turns up in Capetown with his wife with a mission to clean Africa by ending slavery, and end badness by spreading christianity
- Somehow he travelled alone up & was the first white man to see Victoria falls, which he names after the Queen.
- Since he was on the Zambesi he decides to follow it to the sea.
- It being wet season he travels overland around some rapids.
- By the time he gets to the Portugues controlled Mozambique he's sent a letter to London with his story that the Zambesi was navigable to the sea, and with a grand plan to comeback with a taskforce sail up the river and go up to the highlands and found a city free from malaria .. Spread the 3Cs : Christianity, Commerce & Civilization .
- but he's almost dying of malaria for 4 months, he returns to UK a hero, meets his wife & children who he hasn't seen for 5 years & has been outside UK for 15.
The hero returns to found a colony to liberate Africa, but circumstances drive him to lie after lie
- So he returns sails up the Zambesi & find the rapids which he's never seen before are much bigger than he thought, will never be passable & therefore the Zambesi is not navigable like he told the world.
- So he lies & tells everyone else "these rapids won't be passable for a while, it's a sign from God that we should try the side river north, that we passed 3 weeks ago.
- that river turned out to have rapids on so they walked 50Km around ... Eventually he gets to Lake Malawi..
- So lies again saying "I've found this great lakes with perfect highlands", he hasn't found it as Arab slavers were already in the area.
Beginning of the Mission that nevr got off the Ground
- He got the bishop to come out, but the mission never gets off the ground due to the local tribe war and malaria. They help the oppressed tribe, but they just turn around & enslave the other tribe and bishop dies ... Livinstones wife comes out she dies...
5 years later His reputation is completely destroyed
- he's spent all the governments money & achieved nothing. He returns to UK in disgrace. Writes some memoirs which is enough to support his family.
The Mad Hunt For The Source of The Nile
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And then leaves with a plan go back to Malawi & use the clues in the bible to find the source of the Nile. So he's been doing that for a few years when Stanley turns up. He writes up the story in such a romantic way that Livingstone is restored to hero status ... Livingstone does a few more months of wondering around having not achieved anything new. However he dies a hero buried in Westminster Abbey
- His Legacy Survives all others
- Colonialisation comes and it's not until independence emerges and Livingstone legacy emerges all colonial things are renamed except those connected with Livingstone cos he was the one who started all the freedom, with his mission to end fighting between all the Africans & bring better ways.
- The next prog was about how William Speirs Bruce was the first person to reach Antarctica and start scienctific research, but he wasn't a member of the "Boy's own club" so went largely unrecognised at the time. Interesting blog on Scottish History
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