The Last Journals of David Livingstone, in Central Africa, from 1865 to His Death, Volume II (of 2), 1869-1873: Continued By A Narrative Of His Last Moments And Sufferings, Obtained From His Faithful Servants Chuma And Susi

In Short

This volume captures the final, harrowing journeys of an intrepid missionary across Central Africa from 1869 through his death in 1873, completed by the account of his faithful attendants. It follows his grueling treks across Lake Tanganyika and the uncharted Manyuema territory as he seeks the elusive sources of the Nile while documenting severe illnesses, local customs, and the brutal devastation of the Arab slave trade. The work endures as an extraordinary testament to human endurance, geographic obsession, and the profound loyalty of African companions who preserved his final words.

The Story

The narrative opens in 1869 with a severely weakened traveller recovering at Lake Tanganyika before embarking west into the unexplored forests of Manyuema. Facing lost supplies, unreliable carriers, and persistent bouts of fever, he navigates treacherous waterways and suffocating vegetation where grass grows thicker than human limbs. The journey is fraught with physical misery; devastating foot ulcers confine him to a hut for eighty days, forcing him to apply ground malachite for relief while watching epidemic diseases sweep through his encampment. Despite these agonies, his sharp eye records the rich landscape, noting the refined ironwork of Manyuema smiths, local market dynamics, and ecological curiosities ranging from nesting Whydah birds to the mysterious clay-eating condition known as safura.

As he presses further along the Lualaba River, he witnesses the horrific impact of Arab slave traders, whose wanton cruelty turns peaceful villages into warzones. His journals expose how slave raiding decimates local populations and sparks violent retaliations. Even as his physical frame deteriorates, his geographical passion remains unquenched. Encouraged by letters from home and a meeting with Henry Stanley, he stubbornly turns down chances to return to England. He commits his remaining strength to a singular geographical quest: identifying four legendary river fountains south of Katanga that he believes feed the Nile.

By late 1872 and early 1873, the expedition transforms into a desperate struggle against environmental extremes. Rain falls relentlessly, turning the plains surrounding Lake Bangweolo into an endless, flooded morass. The traveller suffers severe internal hemorrhaging and grows so frail that he can no longer walk, relying entirely on his loyal servants to transport him across overflowing rivers in tiny canoes and carry him on an improvised litter, or kitanda. Even when reduced to asking local villagers for directions to the four hidden rivers while suffering total physical exhaustion, his determination never falters.

The narrative reaches its poignant climax in late April 1873 in the inundated territory of Ilala. Weakened beyond recovery, the explorer passes away inside a temporary shelter. Rather than abandoning his remains or his precious records, his African attendants—led by the steadfast Susi and Chuma—take command. They preserve his body, secure his journals, maps, and instruments, and undertake a perilous multi-month trek across hundreds of miles of hostile terrain back to the coast. Their extraordinary feat ensures that his final observations reach the world, transforming a fatal geographical quest into a timeless saga of fidelity and discovery.

How It Unfolds

• Crossing Tanganyika into uncharted Manyuema

In July 1869, the expedition sets out across Lake Tanganyika in heavy wooden canoes to explore the previously unknown Manyuema country. The journey immediately presents formidable natural obstacles, ranging from sudden violent winds and floating vegetable mats to debilitating bouts of fever that cripple the entire party.

• Confinement and acute physical trial

Severe foot ulcers render the traveler completely stationary for eighty long days in a rustic hut, testing his mental and physical endurance. Lacking standard pharmaceutical medicines, he experiments with native mineral remedies like ground malachite while documenting local agricultural trade, bird behaviors, and the prevalence of earth-eating afflictions.

• Witnessing the horrors of the slave trade

As Arab ivory and slave traders push deeper into the interior, peaceful indigenous villages are systematically plunged into chaos and blood feuds. The explorer scrupulously records the wanton insolence of armed bondmen and the devastating impact of slaving, contrasting the natural honesty of native inhabitants with the lawless violence of external plunderers.

• Refusing retreat for the ultimate quest

Re-establishing contact with outer supply lines and urged by friends to return home to restore his broken health, the traveler resolutely declines to abandon his post. Inspired by family support, he commits his remaining energy to locating four legendary river fountains south of Katanga that he believes form the true headwaters of the Nile.

• The final march through flooded wastes

Throughout late 1872 and early 1873, the expedition battles endless torrential rains and waist-deep swamps surrounding Lake Bangweolo. As internal hemorrhaging destroys the leader's physical strength, his devoted companions construct a handmade litter to carry him across inundated terrain while he continues recording weather and geographical data.

• Death at Ilala and the heroic return

In late April 1873, the exhausted explorer succumbs to his illnesses inside a solitary hut, leaving his final journal entry incomplete. Refusing to abandon his life's work, his African attendants—led by Susi and Chuma—embalm his body and trek for months over hundreds of miles to deliver his remains and precious papers to coastal authorities.

The People

David Livingstone seeks to unlock the geographical secrets of Central Africa and identify the ultimate sources of the Nile, driven by intense spiritual conviction and geographical ambition. Severe disease, lost supplies, and failing physical strength constantly block his progress; though reduced to complete bodily helplessness, his observational clarity and moral resolve remain unshaken until his quiet death in the African wilderness.

Susi and James Chuma, alongside dedicated comrades like Amoda, want to protect their leader and navigate the caravan safely through uncharted, hazardous regions. They face constant peril from waist-deep swamps, deceitful guides, rampant sickness, and local conflicts. Over years of grueling service, they evolve from humble attendants into master tacticians and commanders whose extraordinary devotion and organizational courage orchestrate a heroic multi-month march to deliver Livingstone’s body and papers to coastal authorities.

Arab merchants like Dugumbé and Hassani seek vast fortunes in ivory and enslaved captives to supply lucrative coastal networks. Their predatory ambitions are continually complicated by native resistance and Livingstone’s presence, which documents their atrocities. They operate with calculated duplicity, offering occasional provisions and medicine to the vulnerable traveler while actively inciting mutinies, plundering villages, and leaving a trail of devastation across the Manyuema landscape.

In Its Own Voice

Describing the suffocating environment of Manyuema, the explorer details how dense vegetation impedes their daily progress:

The stalks are from half an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, reeds clog the feet, and the leaves rub sorely on the face and eyes: the view is generally shut in by this megatherium grass, except when we come to a slope down to a valley or the bed of a rill.

Reflecting on the moral outrage inspired by the brutal slave trade, he recalls a sailor's candid judgment:

Shiver my timbers, mate, if the devil don't catch these fellows, we might as well have no devil at all.

Amidst severe physical suffering and isolation, the author pauses to appreciate delicate moments in the natural world:

The first smile of an infant with its toothless gums is one of the pleasantest sights in nature.

What It's Really About

Beneath its daily logging of weather, coordinates, and botanical curiosities, the book is a poignant study of human resilience and moral witness. It contrasts the quiet dignity of indigenous societies with the destructive, predatory forces of external commerce and slaving. The narrative questions whether scientific exploration can remain pure when entangled with economic exploitation, exposing how global networks of capital and trade erode isolated cultures. At its core, the text examines the nature of duty: how an unyielding commitment to truth and discovery sustains a person through total bodily collapse. Ultimately, it demonstrates that true cross-cultural connection rests not on imperial dominance, but on mutual respect, shared humanity, and the quiet loyalty forged between companions in the face of mortality.

Why Read It Today

Modern readers interested in African history, field exploration, and narrative non-fiction will find this record deeply compelling. Reading it feels like stepping directly into an unvarnished daily diary; the prose alternates between sharp scientific observations of wildlife and stark, harrowing accounts of physical breakdown. It is not an easy read. The text presents undeniable period difficulties, including archaic nineteenth-century spellings, detailed geographical logs of obscure rivulets, and occasional Eurocentric cultural framing. It also contains unflinching descriptions of horrific diseases, foot ulcers, and the brutal realities of the slave trade.

Yet what lingers long after closing the book is the absolute authenticity of the voice and the extraordinary human story at its end. The narrative moves past typical imperial travelogues by honoring the essential leadership of Susi, Chuma, and their comrades, whose incredible journey to preserve their master's work forms one of history's great sagas of loyalty. It offers a rare, unfiltered window into a vanished landscape, proving that real exploration is defined as much by quiet endurance and profound human companionship as it is by geographic discovery.