"Susi and Chuma buried David Livingstone's heart and internal organs under a mvula tree. They preserved his body with salt and sun-dried it for two weeks. They wrapped it in calico, then tree bark, then sail cloth. They lashed that bundle to a pole and tarred it air tight. They and other natives then carried the bundle for eight months-all the way to Zanzibar-over one thousand miles. On the way, a stranger encouraged them to abandon the bundle. Chuma explained, "No. This is very very big man!"
The HMS Vulture was sent to carry his body to England. On April 18, 1874, Livingstone was buried in Westminster Abbey among the other legends of Britain. Over a period of thirty-two years in Africa he had walked, crawled, climbed, waded, canoed, boated, ridden, and been carried over 40,000 miles of the "white man's grave." He took notes and made maps every step of the way. He told every African he saw the good news about Jesus Christ.
His father-in-law Robert Moffat said, "He sacrificed everything-home, Christian intercourse, lucrative prospects, and earthly honors-for one grand object, to carry the gospel of the Son of God to the heart of Africa."
("David Livingstone, From Africa to Eternity", Sam Wellman, pg 203,204 Barbour Publishing 1995)
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