Before Dillon's time

BEFORE  DILLON'S  TIME  IN  AFRICA

Three  Early  Explorers

There were a number of early Explorers travelling in Africa.  The glamorous goal for some was to be the one, the first, to discover the source of the Nile.  These men knew each other and often journeyed together, though traditionally Explorers travelled alone.  What reminded us of them as we, in turn, travelled around, were plaques like the one below:

Notice the date is 1857,  sixteen years before Dillon arrived in Tabora.

And who were Burton and Speke?

 

BURTON:  1821 - 1890. 

 

 

 

 

He was an English geographer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, cartographer, diplomat, spy, poet, fencer, linguist.  He could speak 29 languages, and he liked nothing better than to disguise himself and travel incognito, dressed like everyone around him.



He wrote books about his experiences, as well as on many other topics - on human behaviour, on fencing and on falconry.  He blasted colonial policies of the British Empire, comments which were not well received by those in power.  But he travelled westward from the Indian Ocean and was the first European to find Lake Tanganyika, guided along the way by local inhabitants.  Burton was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and was also knighted.  His official title was Captain Sir Richard Burton.

And there was romance.   

Isabel Arundell's family were disapproving of their daughter's beau at first - wrong religion, away too much - the usual reasons!  But the romance persisted and she became Lady Burton.

The above-ground mausoleum of Sir Richard Francis Burton and Lady Burton, shown below, is a representation of a desert tent, its sandstone walls sculpted to resemble cloth rippling in a breeze. It would be an unusual design to find anywhere, but it is a particularly striking monument to find in a quiet English churchyard.

This tomb holds the two coffins of the Burtons.

For further interesting information go to:  The Sir Richard Francis Burton Project

 

SPEKE:  1827 - 1864

Travelling with Explorer Burton on one trip to Lake Tanganyika, John Hanning Speke temporarily went on a solo trip and became the first European to discover Lake Victoria, and to find the outlet which some have claimed is the beginning of the River Nile.

Burton was excessively jealous of his partner's discoveries and tried his best to downgrade Speke.

Speke died in his thirties while climbing a wall in Britain. He reached for his shotgun, it somehow fired and the bullet found his heart.  Burton used this untimely death to claim Speke had intentionally shot himself, committing suicide.  For many years Speke was put down and was denied acknowledgement, while Burton was praised and received a knighthood. 

A tragedy, but Speke's value is now being restored.

There is a monument to Speke in Kensington Gardens, in London

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GRANT:  1827 - 1892

 



James Augustus Grant's name appears on plaques occasionally, too.  He travelled with Speke.  The combined journeys of Burton, Speke and Grant may be seen in this map:

  





 

Can you spot Speke's solo march to the great Lake Victoria, represented by a line of little blue dots? 



Grant suffered an ulcer in a leg early on, and he spent much of his time being nursed back to health.  He could not walk, so was carried on a stretcher.  But he was a tough Scot, having been born in the Highlands, and he made it back home.  He married in 1865, and he soon settled down at Nairn, where he died in 1892.  He was buried in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral, in London.

All Safari travellers will recognize the gazelle named after Grant, the Grant Gazelle, one of the largest of its family:

 

All three Explorers were Officers in various armies first, and each then selected to undertake their exploring journeys.  It was exhilarating for them to travel, and then to return home, receive a grand welcome and finally move around their own homeland giving talks and describing their experiences.

Imagine being present at one of these talks - the only other source of information at that time would have been dusty encyclopaedias.  These speakers were the real thing, very thrilling.

But jealousies abounded out there in the isolated bush.

Dillon's expedition suffered from these distractions, too.  All in the book!

 

AND, FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS, TODAY I SEE THE BOOK IS LISTED AS

 

"Coming Soon"

in the following link:

 

FriesenPress Bookstore

 

Our travels together through these pages are not yet over.  Next time let's pay a visit to the Royal Geographical Society in London, where artefacts and records from Dillon's time can be found, and where Dillon signed up for his Expedition in 1872 and where I studied for many hours in 2006.

 

Thank you for reading this post.  Welcome all new readers this week - especially those

from Belgium and from Romania.