I am sure you have all heard about Doctor Livingstone and his exploration of the continent of Africa. After he started one of his last trips he was not heard from for over two years. He appeared to be lost in the jungle in the heart of the continent. Henry Stanley was selected to go to Africa to find Livingstone.

After an arduous journey through the jungle, Stanley got to Ujiji in the Congo where he finally met Livingstone and uttered that famous line, "Doctor Livingstone, I presume?"

The news was immediately sent back to England. First by jungle tom-tom up the Congo River, and from there the news was transmitted by word of mouth from one tribe to the next until it reached the Mediterranean. There it was transcribed in Arabic by an Arab trader, and sent by boat to England.

When the news reached London town there was great jubilation that Livingstone had been found and that he was alive.

Recently I have been doing a great deal of research on the meeting between Stanley and Livingstone. I logged on to the Internet and located the original transcript of the meeting. It is housed in the library at the University of Tanzania.

It appears that the last part of the sentence was lost in transmission. What Stanley actually said was, "Doctor Livingstone, I presume you have not heard that the House of Lords passed a law that stipulates that everyone must retire when they reach their 65th birthday. The Queen was very concerned that you might unknowingly break the law, so I was dispatched to bring you the news. She also asked me to deliver this envelope to you."

Livingstone took the envelope and broke open the embossed wax seal. He removed the sheet of parchment that had the following message written in the Queen's own hand. Dear Doctor Livingstone,

We have followed the reports of your adventures and explorations with great interest and immense pride. It is because of brave and loyal subjects such as you who are prepared to risk their lives to explore unknown territory and claim the land in the name of the crown that England is the greatest nation on earth. We can all proudly say, The sun never sets on the British Empire.

Now that you are retired, we urge you to return to England and attend to us at the Royal Court where we will be pleased to bestow a Knighthood upon you. Henceforth, you will be known as
Sir Lostandfound
Yours truly,
Victoria Regina

Livingstone was devastated. He slumped down on a nearby log where he sat with his head in his hands. After a long pause and in a barely audible voice, he said to Stanley, "I was just about to set out on my most important expedition to discover the source of the Nile. Many have attempted to find the source, but without success. I am positive that I would have been successful."

"Doctor Livingstone, you have had an amazing career as an explorer. Even though you have been attacked by a lion that made your left arm useless, even though you have almost been crushed to death by a falling tree, even though you have been grazed by a spear thrown by hostile savages, you have persevered. You are the first one to explore the complete width of Africa from the west coast to the east coast. You have discovered the source of the Zambezi River. You have discovered Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa. You discovered the largest waterfall in the world and named it Victoria Falls after our beloved Monarch. It is now time to retire and return to England. Someone else will have to find the source of the Nile. Besides, even if we don't know the source of the Nile, the Nile knows!"