# Livingstone reaches Lake Mweru (8 November 1867)

URL: https://allhistories.com/drcongo/timeline/1867-livingstone-reaches-lake-mweru
Location: Lake Mweru (present DR Congo-Zambia border)
Themes: main-event

On 8 November 1867 the Scottish missionary-explorer David Livingstone reached Lake Mweru, on today's DR Congo-Zambia border, travelling with Swahili-Arab traders and their porters. He then went on to the court of Mwata Kazembe on the Luapula and, in July 1868, reached Lake Bangweulu. His journey passed through areas where traders from the coast, including those later led by Tippu Tip, were already active. Livingstone was trying to find the source of the Nile and was shocked by the slave-raiding he witnessed. His letters and later publications described the trade and the African societies he met, and they helped build British public pressure to end the East African slave trade. He relied on Arab hosts in the region for food, shelter and guides, and was often dependent on them for survival. At the date of this event the principal authority over the largest part of present-day DR Congo, by the convention of this dataset, lay with Nawej II Ditend, mwata Yamvo of the Lunda Empire (c. 1850–1873). His journey drew European attention to the Congo-Zambezi watershed and to the eastern slave trade. The journey also brought Livingstone into the Lualaba region, which led to his later stay in Nyangwe, and ultimately to the Stanley expedition that traced the river's course to the sea.

## Why it matters
Livingstone's journey brought the interior of the Congo basin to European attention.

Ruler at the Time: [Nawej II Ditend](https://allhistories.com/drcongo/rulers/nawej-ii-ditend)

## Sources
- [David Livingstone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Livingstone)
- [David-Livingstone](https://www.britannica.com/biography/David-Livingstone)
- [Lake Mweru](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Mweru)