Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile - Historical Exploration Book - Perfect for Adventure Enthusiasts & History Buffs

"With great apparent politeness Kamrasi sent in the morning to inquire how we slept. ...for the present, he wanted two rounds of ball cartridge---one to fire before his women, and the other before his officers and a large number of Kidi men who were there to visit." (p.458) And that was how it often went, for village after village after village, as John Hanning Speke walked across half of Equatorial Africa in 1859. Negotiation after negotiation with the village lords of creation for how much in presents of respect and honga (taxes) to safely cross the 20 or so miles of their terrain, negotiation after negotiation with porters, and delay after delay as Speke headed for Lake Victoria to try to establish the source of the Nile.The stories are told in 20 chapters, each depicting a significant village. Cumulatively these griping chapters describe the dangerous charged tensions among Arabs, British explorers, and the African tribes. As seen by Speke, the Arabs were slavers who destroyed villages to capture the people and neutralize the area. Along the way the Arabs took or more rarely bought bought tons of ivory: so much it seems amazing there is an elephant left if Speke's reports of the ivory trade are accurate. The British wanted to establish river navigability with a view of establishing trade monopolies and India-style power. The Africans wanted to get as much as possible for themselves in the way of goods and guns.Small wonder, that with one exception (Chief Rumanika), the Africa through which Speke traveled as a solo Brit or with one other British man (Grant) reads like a long nightmare of illness, danger,and negotiation with lions, tigers, rhinoceros, buffalo and snakes the least of the dangers. Hundreds of Africans did the heavy carrying and endured much suffering, some of whom appear extensively in the stories.Speke writes well, in the style of the mid 1800s but vividly. Being excerpts from his journals, he conveys very much a first hand sense of frustration, uncertainties, and of needing to give the Royal Geographic Society who were paying for Speke's third expedition, a detailed sense of accountability and value for their investment.Reader Alerts: If you like first-hand stories of travel from the 1860s, this may be your cup of tea with crumpets added. I wolfed through it. For readers who may find the condescension of the Arabs and Brits to the African people coupled with the misery the African chiefs created (they were enthusiastic slavers themselves) upsetting, this may not be the book.There are about 600 small type pages with an excellent map and several detailed appendixes on such matters as river heights by month and cost per village in hongo. I found a copy for 25 cents in a book sale but facsimile copies are available from Amazon.Historical footnote: Explorer Richard Burton, who argued for Laka Tanganyika as the Nile source,was locked in battle with Speke (Lake Victoria). Speke has turned out to be correct: the Nile's source is Lake Victoria, as he had determined in 1860.