Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile

"Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile" by John Hanning Speke. 1864 1st American edition; Harper & Brothers; New York. The book is richly illustrated with 552 full-page engravings and in-text illustrations; also included is a large fold-out "Map of Eastern Equatorial Africa" in color, and a color map of "The Course of the River Cali or Great Krishna." There are Appendices and six pages of advertisements at the back. Speke was an English explorer and officer in the British Indian Army who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa. He is most associated with the search for the source of the Nile and was the first European to reach Lake Victoria.

Here are a few examples of the contents: The Zulu Kafirs; Turtle Turning; Capture of a Slaver; Sultan Lion's Claw and Sultan Monkey's Tail; The Murderer of M. Maizan; The Slave-Hunters; The Ivory Merchants; A Hunt; A Frightened Village; Tracking a Mule; Rhinoceros Stalking; Buffalo Shooting; Getting Plundered; Wilderness March; Famine; The Arabs and Local Wars; Pillage; The Pig's Trick; Terrors and Defections in the Camp; The Scenery and Geology; Measurement of a Fattened Queen; Political Polygamy; Escape from Protectors; Driving away the Devil; Crime in Uganda; Feats with the Rifle; Cruelty and Wastefulness of Life; Negro Chaffing; Adjutant and Heron Shooting at Court; Another Day with the Queen; Royal Sport; A Musical Party; The Canoes of Uganda; Interference of a Magician; Rifle Practice; Negotiations for the Opening of the Road along the Nile; Quarrels with the Natives; Reach the Nile; General Account of the Source of the Nile; First Voyage on the Nile; Description of the River and the Country; Meet a Hostile Vessel; Elephant Stalking; The Ceremonies of the New Moon; An African Sorcerer and His Incantations; Burial Customs; Ethiopian Legends; The Navigable Nile; Fishing and Sporting Population; The Scenery on the River; Karuma Falls; Native Superstitions; Thieveries; Junction of the Two Hemispheres; The Mysterious Mahamed; The Plundering and Tyranny of the Turks; The Rascalities of the Ivory Trade; Feeling for the Nile; Buffalo, Eland, and Rhinoceros Stalking...and much more.

Condition:
Fading to the cloth on the spine; the top and bottom edges of the spine are worn; the top edge of the spine has a 1" horizontal cloth tear. Cloth tears at the cover corners. Three pages at the front (blank end paper, frontispiece, and title page) are attached at the spine at the top 3 strings, but have pulled from the bottom 3 strings. Consistent mild foxing to the pages. There is an old bookplate affixed to the front pastedown. There is a partially erased name/date (1865) in pencil on the front end paper. The large fold-out map at the back is securely attached, but in fair condition only with numerous tears and creases from being improperly folded. Tight binding. Overall the book is in Good- condition.