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Why did some of David Livingstoneās followers falsely report that he had been killed by the Ngoni?
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David Livingstone
Portrait of Scottish missionary. physician, and explorer David Livingstone, albumen silver print by John Jabez Edwin Mayall, c. 1857; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
In September 1866, during David Livingstoneās expedition to explore the central African watershed, some of his followers deserted him. To avoid facing punishment upon their return to Zanzibar, these individuals fabricated the story that Livingstone had been killed by the Ngoni people. Although it was confirmed the following year that the explorer was still alive, the false report had already begun to circulate abroad.1