"Doctor Livingstone, I presume?"

Stanley and Livingstone: 1869-1872

The famous encounter between Livingstone (David Livingstone; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) and Stanley (Sir Henry Morton Stanley GCB (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) is not significant in the story of the European exploration of Africa (except in so far as it stirs Stanley's own ambitions in the field) but it is one of the most dramatic incidents of the period and is rightly famous - in the version of it published by Stanley in How I Found Livingstone (1872).

Finding Livingstone is a matter of public concern at the time because little has been heard of the famous explorer since the start of his latest expedition into the interior of Africa in 1866.

On this expedition (it transpires later) Livingstone reaches Lake Bangweulu, Lake Mweru and the southern end of Lake Tanganyika. But he also becomes a virtual prisoner in these regions, relying for subsistence on his avowed enemies, the local slave-traders, who have a vested interest in his not getting back to the coast with details of their atrocities. Hence the impression that he has vanished.

With growing international interest in the mystery of the famous explorer's whereabouts, the proprietor of the New York Herald decides to try and secure a scoop. In 1869 he summons a young journalist, Henry Morton Stanley, and gives him a succinct commission: 'Find Livingstone'.

By March 1871 Stanley is ready to embark on his journey inland from the east African coast. His target is Lake Tanganyika, and in particular the ivory and slave-trading town of Ujiji - to which supplies for Livingstone have in the past been directed.

Stanley found Livingstone in the town of Ujiji on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, in present-day Tanzania, on
10 November 1871, greeting him with the now famous words

"Dr Livingstone, I presume?" Livingstone responded, "Yes", and then "I feel thankful that I am here to welcome you."

These famous words may have been a fabrication, as Stanley later tore out the pages of this encounter in his diary. Even Livingstone's account of this encounter does not mention these words. However, the phrase appears in a New York Herald editorial dated 10 August 1872, and the Encyclopædia Britannica and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography both quote it without questioning its veracity. The words are famous because of their perceived humour, Livingstone being the only other white person for hundreds of miles. Stanley's book suggests that it was really because of embarrassment because he did not dare to embrace him.

Despite Stanley's urgings, Livingstone was determined not to leave Africa until his mission was complete. His illness made him confused and he had judgement difficulties at the end of his life. He explored the Lualaba and, failing to find connections to the Nile, returned to Lake Bangweulu and its swamps to explore possible rivers flowing out northwards.

Livingstone recovers, with Stanley's fresh supplies, and together the two men explore round Lake Tanganyika for four months before Stanley's return to the coast - and to the fame which his book on these events soon brings him.