| During the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), British people traveled around the whole world. |
| They charted the seas, mapped out distant countries and studied plants, animals and people. |
| They also claimed many lands for England. |
| This kind of international travel was made easier by improved transportation and communication. |
| New inventions such as steamships, trains, |
| telegraphs and telephones made long distances seem smaller. |
| Of course, people had different reasons for going to distant lands. |
| Some were businessmen who saw economic opportunities overseas. |
| Soldiers wanted fame and a chance to enlarge the British Empire. |
| Big-game hunters wanted to be the first to shoot strange animals and bring back trophies to England. |
| Scientists intended to study unknown animals and plants. |
| Missionaries planned to be the first to introduce Christianity to faraway people. |
| In 1836 a young Scotsman called David Livingstone began to study medicine in Glasgow. |
| Livingstone intended to become a medical missionary. |
| This means that he would be a doctor, as well as a preacher and teacher. |
| Livingstone (1813-1873) came from a poor family. |
| From an early age, he had worked 14 hours a day in a clothing factory for very little pay. |
| But he was determined to learn. |
| He took his books with him to the factory and read as he worked. |
| Then, after work, he would go to his teacher to learn more. |
| Livingstone’s goal was to teach faraway people about Jesus. |
| However, unlike some missionaries, he was also interested in science, geography and exploring. |
| He had planned to go to China in 1839, |
| but because of the Opium Wars no missionaries were being sent there. |
| Instead, he asked to go to South Africa. |
| Europeans had traveled around the coasts of Africa for hundreds of years. |
| But very few white people had traveled inland. |
| A missionary named Robert Moffatt who had begun a mission at Kuruman in the interior inspired Livingstone. |
| Livingstone arrived in Kuruman in 1841. |
| This was the farthest outpost of white settlement, and no one seemed to want to go further inland. |
| Livingstone felt that the missionaries should go to the Africans, |
| rather than waiting for the Africans to come to them. |
| With a fellow missionary he set out. |
| When they came to an African tribe, they would talk to the chief and ask permission to preach to his people. |
| Livingstone would also set up a tent and treat the people who had diseases. |
| After a while, he would move on to the next tribe. |
| Once Livingstone learned the Bantu language he would talk to many Africans. |
| But sometimes he needed interpreters. |
| There were many diseases, including malaria and sleeping sickness. |
| Livingstone suffered much of his life from river fever. |
| He was also so weak that he rode on the back of an ox. |
| Livingstone wanted to stop the slave trade. |
| At this time, the slave trade was the most profitable business in Africa. |
| Livingstone hoped that if other kinds of trade were developed, |
| then slavery could be abolished. |
| In order to open up trade, he wanted to find an easy route into the center of Africa. |
| Livingstone kept going further into the interior. |
| He was probably the first European to cross the Kalahari Desert before reaching Lake Ngami in present-day Botswana. |
| Not long after, he traveled further inland. |
| He explored the sources of the Zambezi |
| and Kasai rivers and eventually reached the west coast of Africa at Luanda, Angola. |
| Livingstone was being criticized for neglecting missionary work in order to explore. |
| Livingstone replied that he was opening up the continent for missionaries. |
| Meanwhile, he was becoming famous as a great explorer. |
| The British government commissioned him to explore the Zambezi River. |
| They hoped that ships could sail up the river into the interior. |
| Unfortunately, the Zambezi had too many rapids. |
| However, Livingstone did find a route up the Shire River to Lake Nyassa. |
| He continued to struggle against the slave trade, which was now being taken over by Arabs. |
| Livingstone died in Africa in 1873. |
| He was the first white man to explore Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and surrounding areas. |
| He was not only a great explorer, but also a fine doctor and a good missionary. |
| Nowadays, the countries that Livingstone visited are nearly all Christian, just as he had hoped they would be. |
