Читать книгу (101 things to know when you go) ON SAFARI IN AFRICA - Patrick Brakspear - Страница 17

Little was known about Africa, then described as the Dark Continent, prior to the 18th century. By the late 1700s Europeans had become familiar with the coasts of Africa, although the interior of the continent remained a mystery to them. They limited themselves to trading along the coast, first in gold, ivory, and spices, and later in slaves. Penetration of the interior was difficult because of the harsh terrain and the presence of deadly diseases, such as malaria and dysentery. Despite these obstacles, Europeans explored much of Africa south of the Sahara during the late 1700s and the 1800s.

In 1788 Joseph Banks, the botanist who had sailed across the Pacific Ocean with Cook, founded the African Association to promote the exploration of the interior of the continent, specifically “with the aim of finding Timbuktu and the origin of the Niger”.

What follows is a brief account of each of the early African explorers whose names went down in history:

James Bruce (1730 - 94) was a Scottish explorer who set off from Cairo in 1768 to find the source of the River Nile. He arrived at Lake Tana (Ethiopia) in 1770, confirming that this lake was the origin of the Blue Nile, one of the tributaries of the Nile.

Mungo Park (1771- 1806) was hired by the African Association in 1795 to explore the River Niger. When the Scotsman returned to Britain, having reached the Niger, he was disappointed by the lack of public recognition of his achievement, and by not being acknowledged as a great explorer. So in 1805 he set out to follow the Niger to its source. His canoe was ambushed by tribesmen at the Bussa Falls and he drowned.

Rene Caillie (1799 -1838), a Frenchman, was the first European to visit Timbuktu and survive to tell the tale. He had disguised himself as an Arab to make the trip. Imagine his disappointment when he discovered that the city wasn't made of gold, as legend said, but of mud. His journey started in West Africa in March 1827, headed towards Timbuktu where he stayed for two weeks. He then crossed the Sahara (the first European to do so) in a caravan of 1,200 animals, after which he crossed the Atlas Mountains to reach Tangier in 1828, from where he sailed home to France.

Heinrich Barth (1821- 1865) was a German working for the British government. His first expedition (1844 - 1845) was from Rabat in Morocco across the coast of North Africa to Alexandria in Egypt. His second expedition (1850 - 1855) took him from Tripoli in Tunisia across the Sahara to Lake Chad, the River Benue, Timbuktu, and back again across the Sahara.

Samuel Baker (1821- 1893) was the first European to see the Murchison Falls and Lake Albert, which he did in 1864. He was actually hunting for the source of the Nile but was beaten to the prize by Speke (see below).

Richard Burton (1821-1890) was not only a great explorer but also a great scholar (he produced the first unabridged translation of The Thousand Nights and a Night, from its original Arabic. This is a collection of stories compiled over thousands of years by various authors, translators and scholars. Well known stories from The Nights include "Aladdin," "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” and "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor"). Burton’s most famous exploit was probably in 1853 when, dressed as an Arab, he visited the holy city of Mecca into which non-Muslims were forbidden to enter. In 1857 he and Speke set off from the east coast of Africa (modern day Tanzania) to find the source of the Nile. At Lake Tanganyika Burton fell seriously ill, leaving Speke to travel on alone.

John Hanning Speke (1827- 1864) spent 10 years with the Indian Army before starting his travels with Burton in Africa. Speke discovered Lake Victoria in August 1858. He initially believed it to be the source of the Nile but Burton didn't believe him and in 1860 Speke set out again, this time with James Grant. In July 1862 he did find what became accepted as the source of the Nile - the Ripon Falls north of Lake Victoria *.

David Livingstone (1813- 1873) arrived in Southern Africa as a missionary with the aim of improving the life of Africans through religion, European knowledge and trade. A qualified doctor and minister, he had worked in a cotton mill near Glasgow, Scotland, as a boy. Between 1853 and 1856 he crossed Africa from west to east, from Luanda in Angola to Quelimane in Mozambique, following the Zambezi River to the sea. On 16th November 1855 he became the first European to view what he named the Victoria Falls. Between 1858 and 1864 he explored the Shire and Ruvuma river valleys and Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi). In 1865, not accepting Speke’s claim he set off to find the source of the River Nile.

Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904) was a journalist sent in 1869 by the New York Herald to find Livingstone, who had been presumed dead for four years because no-one in Europe had heard from him in that time. Stanley found him at Uiji on the edge of Lake Tanganyika in Central Africa on 13 November 1871. Stanley's words "Dr Livingstone, I presume?" have gone down in history as one of the greatest understatements ever made. Dr Livingstone is said to have replied, "You have brought me new life." Livingstone had missed the Franco-Prussian War, the opening of the Suez Canal, and the inauguration of the transatlantic telegraph. He refused to return to Europe with Stanley and continued with his quest to find the source of the Nile. Livingstone died in May 1873 in the swamps around Lake Bangweulu. His heart and viscera were buried, and his body was carried to Zanzibar, from where it was shipped to Britain. He was buried at Westminster Abbey in London.

Unlike Livingstone, Stanley was motivated by fame and fortune. He travelled in large, well-armed expeditions. He had 200 porters on his expedition to find Livingstone, and often travelled with only a few bearers. Stanley's second expedition set off from Zanzibar towards Lake Victoria, which he sailed around in his boat, the Lady Alice, and then headed into Central Africa towards Nyangwe and the Congo (Zaire) River. He followed this for some 3,220 kilometres from its tributaries to the sea, reaching Boma in August 1877. He then returned to Central Africa to find Emin Pasha, a German explorer believed to be in danger from warring cannibals.

Mary Kingsley (1862 - 1900) was educated at home where she learned the rudiments of natural history from her adventurous and well-travelled father and his extensive library. He had spent most of his life accompanying noblemen around the world, keeping diaries and notes which he hoped to later publish. He employed a tutor to teach his daughter German so that she could help him translate scientific papers. His comparative study of sacrificial rites around the world was his major passion and it was Mary's desire to complete this work after her parents' deaths in 1892, within six weeks of each other. This task took her to West Africa. Her two journeys there were not remarkable for their geological exploration, but were remarkable for being undertaken, by her, a sheltered, middle-class, Victorian spinster in her thirties with no knowledge of African languages or French, with very little money (she arrived in West Africa with only £300) and alone. Kingsley did however collect specimens for science, including a new fish which was named after her. She died nursing prisoners of war in Simon's Town (Cape Town) during the Anglo-Boer War. (Source: BBC World Service)

* It is now generally accepted that the true source of the Nile is in fact the Rukarara River in Nyungwe Forest, Rwanda.