His words were offered forth as proof
At least not seen as a complete pack of lies
Yet they were also far away from the truth
Leading good men towards their demise
Could those mountains be moved by faith?
Will these altruistic passions endure?
A Primitive paradise, perfectly safe?
The natural harvest of wealth would allure
A buffet of game that may freely roam
All of this awaits the white man to garner
Let the ladies-in-waiting tend to the home
Away from the business of the slaving farmer
Left unsaid the dangers of wild rivers
The seas and mountains of slog beyond
This idyll taken from its caregivers
As famine and war broke their bond
The altruistic found adventure not so easy
Their convictions soon without power
The hero’s book thrown to the Zambezi
Its once fragrant words turned sour
This write is inspired and slightly paraphrased from ‘The accursed lies of David Livingstone’, by Owen Chadwick, which I found in the book ‘The Penguin Book of Lies’.
The phrase “Doctor Livingstone, I presume?” is one of the most famous quotes in exploration history. It was uttered by journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley upon finding Dr. David Livingstone in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika, in present-day Tanzania, on November 10, 1871.
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