The story of David Livingstone by Vautier Golding
"The story of David Livingstone" by Vautier Golding is a historical biography written in the early 20th century. It recounts the life and African explorations of missionary‑explorer David Livingstone, highlighting his perseverance, discoveries, and moral crusade against the slave trade. The narrative follows his rise from a Scottish mill boy to a leading pioneer who mapped rivers and lakes, befriended chiefs, and confronted slavery across Central and Southern Africa. The opening of
the book begins with a brief poetic proem that invites young readers to admire true pioneers, then swiftly traces Livingstone’s early years in Blantyre, his self‑education, medical and missionary training, and decision to serve abroad. It covers his first African postings and travels, his rescue of a captive girl, encounters with wild animals (including the lion attack that injured his arm), his marriage to Mary Moffat, and his growing resolve to pioneer inland mission routes with the help of his friend and patron William Cotton Oswell. The narrative then follows the arduous crossings of the Kalahari and the discovery of Lake Ngami, the journey to the Chobe and Zambesi, the friendship with chief Sebituani, the Boers’ attack on Kolobeng, and the epic traverse from the interior to both coasts, including naming the Victoria Falls. It outlines the Zambesi Expedition—its balky steamers, the exploration of the Shiré and Lake Nyassa, tense encounters (notably with Tingané), the freeing of slave caravans, the loss of Mrs. Livingstone, and the growing devastation wrought by slavers that crippled missions and forced the expedition’s recall. The account then shifts to Livingstone’s lone return to Africa to seek the sources of the Nile/Congo, detailing treacherous porters, loss of medicines, severe illness, and the discoveries of Lakes Moero and Bangweolo amid constant slave‑raiding and famine. It closes this opening portion with his reach to Ujiji to find his stores stolen, his harrowing trek into Manyema and the Lualaba, his eyewitness report of a mass slaughter by Arab slavers that galvanized anti‑slavery action, his collapse back at Ujiji, and the unexpected arrival of H. M. Stanley with relief. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Read or download for free
For an overview of the different reading options, see our Reading Guide
| Reading Options | Url | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read now! | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78151.html.images | 143 kB | |||
| EPUB3 (E-readers incl. Send-to-Kindle) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78151.epub3.images | 1.8 MB | |||
| EPUB (older E-readers) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78151.epub.images | 1.8 MB | |||
| EPUB (no images, older E-readers) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78151.epub.noimages | 120 kB | |||
| Kindle | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78151.kf8.images | 1.8 MB | |||
| older Kindles | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78151.kindle.images | 1.8 MB | |||
| Plain Text UTF-8 | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78151.txt.utf-8 | 127 kB | |||
| Download HTML (zip) | https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/78151/pg78151-h.zip | 2.4 MB | |||
| There may be more files related to this item. | |||||
Similar Books
About this eBook
| Author | Golding, Vautier |
|---|---|
| Title | The story of David Livingstone |
| Original Publication | London: T.C. & E.C. Jack, 1924. |
| Series Title | The children's heroes |
| Credits | Al Haines |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | DT: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Africa |
| Subject | Natural history -- Juvenile literature |
| Subject | Adventure and adventurers -- Juvenile literature |
| Subject | Africa -- Juvenile literature |
| Subject | Abolitionists -- Great Britain -- Biography -- Juvenile literature |
| Subject | Explorers -- Africa -- Biography -- Juvenile literature |
| Subject | Slavery -- Juvenile literature |
| Subject | Livingstone, David, 1813-1873 -- Juvenile literature |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 78151 |
| Release Date | Mar 9, 2026 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 194 downloads in the last 30 days. |
| Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free! | |