The Nile Quest
A Record of the Exploration of the Nile and its Basin

A comprehensive history of Nile exploration, first published in 1903, written by a key figure in the British Empire's expansion.

Harry Johnston (Author)

9781108033008, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 17 November 2011

500 pages, 73 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 2.8 cm, 0.63 kg

Sir Harry Johnston (1858–1927), was a British artist, explorer and colonial administrator. He was a key figure in the so-called 'Scramble for Africa', the invasion and colonisation of Africa by major European powers in the late nineteenth century. This book, first published in 1903, is Johnston's wide-ranging history of Nile exploration, beginning with the Ancient Egyptians and the Greeks and continuing into the Victorian period. As well as charting the development of ancient civilisations in the Nile region, Johnston also discusses its wider role in world history and its appeal to powerful leaders from Alexander the Great to Napoleon. As a contemporary of many significant participants in nineteenth-century Nile exploration, Johnston was perfectly situated to provide detailed insights into the personalities and achievements of explorers such as Burton, Stanley and Speke. His absorbing and accessible account provides a fascinating late Victorian perspective on the subject.

Prefatory note
1. The dawn of Nile exploration
2. The Greeks interest Europe in the Nile question
3. Abyssinians and Jews
4. Islamites and Italians
5. A summary of the ancients' knowledge of the Nile
6. Portugal and Abyssinia
7. French inquiries and D'Anville's maps
8. Bruce and the Nile: Sonnini, Browne, and Bonaparte
9. Muhammad Ali opens up the White Nile
10. Missionaries and snow-mountains
11. Burton and Speke
12. Speke and the Nile quest
13. Speke in Uganda
14. From the Victoria Nyanza to Alexandria
15. Samuel Baker and the Albert Nyanza
16. Alexandrine Tinne and Theodor von Heuglin
17. Schweinfurth and the Basin of the Bahr-al-Ghazal
18. Schweinfurth's achievements and descriptions
19. Stanley confirms Speke
20. Gordon and his lieutenants. Junker and the Nile-Congo Water-parting
21. Joseph Thomson, Mt. Elgon, and Kavirondo Bay
22. Emin Pasha
23. Stanley discovers the Mountains of the Moon and Lake Albert Edward. The End of Emin
24. German explorers determine the southern limits of the Nile Basin
25. Geographical work in the Uganda Protectorate
26. The Eastern Basin of the Nile
27. Conclusion
28. The geography of the Nile Basin
Appendix
Index.

Subject Areas: African history [HBJH]