Riassunto
Trama e riassunto di Viaggi missionari e ricerche nell’Africa meridionale
Go deeper: the whole of Viaggi missionari e ricerche nell’Africa meridionale
About 20 h 10 min to read.A chi è rivolto
This book is for readers who love real journeys, river maps, wild animals and field notes from the nineteenth century. It suits anyone curious about Africa's interior or about how one stubborn person keeps going.
Che cos’è questo libro
What would make a man cross a continent and then sit down to write a book about it? David Livingstone answers in Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, published in 1857. He is a Scottish cotton-mill boy who becomes a doctor and a missionary. He spends sixteen years in Africa, is mauled by a lion and struck down by fever twenty-seven times, and keeps walking.
The book follows him from the Kalahari Desert to the Zambesi, west to Loanda and east to the Indian Ocean. He measures rivers, counts elephants and fixes his position by the stars. He wants readers to know the land as it is, and to know its people are sharp, proud and worth knowing.
In questo riassunto
- 1A mill boy teaches himself to healFree
- 2A lion's jaws and a chief's questions
- 3Drought at Kolobeng and the rainmaker
- 4The Boers, a cooking pot and a raid
- 5Across the Kalahari to the Zambesi
- 6West to Loanda and the coast
- 7Mosioatunya and the road to the sea
Punto chiave 1 di 7
A mill boy teaches himself to heal
Livingstone opens with his family. His great-grandfather fell at Culloden. His grandfather farmed on the island of Ulva, then moved to the cotton mills at Blantyre on the Clyde. A dying ancestor, the family says, left one rule to his children. Be honest. Livingstone hopes any errors in his pages will be read as honest mistakes.
At ten years old, he goes to work in the mill. He buys a Latin grammar with part of his first week's wages. The day starts at six in the morning and ends at eight at night. He props a book on the spinning machine so he can catch a sentence each time he passes. Then he studies at evening school until ten. The roar of the machines teaches him to shut out noise, a gift he uses later in Africa.
He reads everything except novels. His father fears that science is hostile to religion, but Livingstone finds in the works of Dr. Thomas Dick that the two are allies. His faith turns personal, and he resolves to spend his life easing human suffering.
He means to be a medical missionary in China. Spinning pays for medical and Greek classes in Glasgow each winter, and he never takes a penny of help. When the Opium War closes China, Robert Moffat's work at Kuruman points him to Africa. He sails in 1840.
Early labor can become the schooling for a life of endurance.
That’s 1 of 7 key points.
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Go deeper: the whole of Viaggi missionari e ricerche nell’Africa meridionale
About 20 h 10 min to read.Paperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
Who’s who
- David Livingstone
- A Scottish doctor and missionary, he travels among African communities and describes their lands, customs, and hardships.
- Makololo
- The people who host Livingstone in the Zambezi country also provide companions for his journey to the Atlantic.
- Tswana
- The communities Livingstone calls the Bechuana are his neighbours during his early missionary work in the interior.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 308,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 20 h 30 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 11 other languages
Questions about Viaggi missionari e ricerche nell’Africa meridionale
What is Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa about?
It is Livingstone's account of sixteen years in Africa, covering his mission work, his crossing of the Kalahari, his discovery of the Zambesi in the center of the continent, and his journeys to the west and east coasts.
Who are Sechele, Sebituane and Sekeletu?
Sechele was the Bakwain chief who learned to read and became Livingstone's friend. Sebituane was the Makololo chief who welcomed him and died soon after. Sekeletu was Sebituane's son, who supplied the men and ivory for the journey.
What does Mosioatunya mean?
It is the local name for the great waterfall on the Zambesi, and it means the smoke that sounds. Livingstone describes a river a thousand yards wide dropping into a narrow crack and sending up columns of spray.
Is Missionary Travels a true story, and when was it written?
Yes, it is a firsthand travel narrative. Livingstone wrote it from his own journals and published it in 1857, soon after returning to London from his crossing of the continent.
What is the main message of Livingstone's book?
Livingstone argues that honest trade, Christian teaching and the end of the slave trade belong together. He believes that opening a river route to the interior would help both Africa and England.
Cite this edition
Livingstone, David. Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/missionary-travels-and-researches-in-south-africa.
Livingstone, D. (2026). Missionary travels and researches in South Africa. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/missionary-travels-and-researches-in-south-africa (Original work published 1857)
Livingstone, David. Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/missionary-travels-and-researches-in-south-africa.
@book{livingstone2026missionary,
author = {Livingstone, David},
title = {Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/missionary-travels-and-researches-in-south-africa},
note = {First published 1857}
}
