A POPULAR ACCOUNT OF DR. LIVINGSTONE'S EXPEDITION TO THE ZAMBESI AND ITS TRIBUTARIES And of the Discovery of Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864

Sponsored by the British government, David Livingstone embarked on his second journey to the African continent in 1858 to explore the Zambezi river. For economic reasons, England wanted a navigable route to the continent’s interior. Livingstone describes wooing and bribing the natives, eating game like roasted elephant foot and hippopotamus intestines, and suffering from every indigenous disease on the river. Because the writing was done in the Victorian era, listeners can expect to find the language dated and written by a skilled scientific observer. Narrator Steven Crossley’s British accent and animated inflections help listeners adapt to the extensive and informative memoir. Never slowing for the most difficult words, he demonstrates a skill at the numerous native names and places that makes him sound like a linguistic expert. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2010]