Zanzibar
City, Island, and Coast

This two-volume memoir of 1872 chronicles Burton and Speke's 1857–9 expedition to find the source of the Nile.

Richard Francis Burton (Author)

9781108031479, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 June 2011

546 pages, 7 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 3.1 cm, 0.69 kg

First published in 1872, this two-volume memoir by explorer, ethnographer and diplomat Sir Richard Burton (1821–90) was written while Burton and John Hanning Speke were making preparations for their expedition to solve one of the major geographical mysteries of the nineteenth century - the location of the source of the Nile. Volume 2 concerns the two journeys to the interior of West Africa, a 'tentative expedition' in early 1857, and the nineteen-month exploration, which began in June 1857, into the East African highlands. Burton was in poor health, and Speke travelled further north without him; he discovered Lake Victoria, and (rightly) concluded that it was the source of the Nile. This led to the notorious dispute between the two explorers, and in his final chapter, written after Speke's tragic death, Burton gives the history of the argument, and vehemently denies any jealousy or personal enmity on his part.

1. From Zanzibar to Mombasah
2. Mombasah or Mvíta
3. Visit to the Kisulodi-ni mission house
4. The people of Mombasah. The Wanyike tribe
5. From Mombasah to the Panga-ni River
6. From Panga-ni Town to Tongwe outpost. The Baloch guard
7. The march to Fuga. Ascent of the highlands of East Africa. Presentation to King Kimwere
8. The march back. The hippopotamus hunt. The return to Zanzibar
9. Visit to Sa'adani, the copal field
10. The East African Expedition of 1857–9
11. To Kilwa, the end of the East African Expedition (1857–9)
12. Captain Speke
Appendices.

Subject Areas: African history [HBJH]