"Dr.Livingstone I presume?"

Who uttered those words?

David Livingstone was born in Scotland on 19th March 1813.His determination to succeed was overwhelming and he put himself through Anderson's College in Glasgow where he studied medicine and his plan was to become a missionary in China.However a South African came to the rescue again and Dr.Robert Moffat from Kuruman mission in S.A. convinced him to come to S.A. and in 1840 he set sail on the "George"for Cape Town which he claimed as the most spectacular landscape he had ever seen with Table Mountain in the background as he arrived in Table Bay by ship.

His early years were spent in Kuruman where he shacked up with Moffats daughter,Mary.He had a complex character and was often unable to appreciate the contributions of his co-workers and was quick to condemn their shortcomings.Sounds like the guy from Wolf Creek Builders!Mary had to birth her babies in the bush,while he was self reliant,self assured and because of his great faith could accomplish the seemingly impossible.

Livingstone spent 30 years of his life traveling the African continent and an encounter with a lion caused his left arm to wither.He travelled 29 000 miles,he discovered many famous lakes and the Zambezi,and during his 1852-1856 journey he was the first European to see "The Smoke that Thunders"and named it after his Queen Victoria as he stood there on 16th November 1855.

In 1869 he reached Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika desperately ill,he continued on to the Congo but then went back,his health broken and desperate with no supplies or mail awaited him,he was a broken man.Four days later a runner came to him with the news of an Englishman that the New York Herald had sponsored Henry Morton Stanley to search for Livingstone,and when Stanley saw Livingstone approaching,he greeted him with the now-famous words, "Dr.Livingstone,I presume?" The two men became close friends.

And now you know....the rest of the story.