Customer Reviews

Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa

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Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa by David Livingstone 1857 (32 chapters) is his first work about his travels in Africa as a missionary. the introduction is about Livingstone ancestry and life and then his ministry at Kuruman under Moffat followed by his own mission stations and incidents connected with his life.

The book is very detailed in the places he stayed at what he ate, incidents, the people his met, word meaning, crossing of river, hut and canoe designs and the general exploration of the area with comments and documentation on animals,. insects, fauna, flowers, tress, foods, the geology, culture, tribes of those whom he met. The animals attacks, hunting, fellow travellers, etiquette, interesting items about 3 different types of ants, and his first major journey from Cape Town to Kuruman to the West Coast and then traversing to the East Coast - a first for a European which took 4 years.

I have the 1899 edition with notes by fredrick Stanley Arnot - also an explorer missionary (431 pages plus appendixes plus index) which give some very interesting additional insights on word meanings, future discoveries since Livingstone's and what happened to some of the people and tribes who he met - 30-40 years on from Livingston emeeting them.

The book is generous in its pictures, some of which came from Livingstone's day, but with the addition of a good number of photos. Livingstone describes his work, ministry as a missionary (though not in that much detail) and focuses on his exploration as a map for those who would follow in his footsteps - what trades well, what could be grown, how long the distance was, temperature, elevation, weather, seasons, problems, fevers, tstse fly etc.

A truly great book on African Travel by a Christian Pioneer - for modern missions see How to Plan, Prepare and Successfully Complete Your Short-Term Mission - For Volunteers, Churches, Independent STM Teams and Mission Organisations

This is a cheap, poorly constructed book that is certainly not worth the money. The CONTENT is not bad - it is the cheap quality of the book, like it was made on a copy machine. You also cannot read the very pale type. I would try to get my money back but for ten bucks it's not worth the effort.