Journal Of The Discovery Of The Source Of The Nile.

Edinburgh & London: William Blackwood And Sons, 1863. First Edition. Speke had accompanied Richard Francis Burton in 1857 on an expedition sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society to the lake regions of equatorial Africa in search of the source of the Nile. Following their discovery of Lake Tanganyika, Burton despatched Speke to verify reports of another lake to the northward. On August 3, 1858, Speke beheld from a distance the large lake, (nyanza), which he rightly considered to be the head reservoir of the White Nile, and which, in honour of the queen, he named ‘Victoria Nyanza’. Burton was extremely critical of Speke’s lack of scientific method and disputed his discovery, but Speke was quickly given command of a follow-up expedition in 1860, which was again organized by the RGS and funded by the government. He and his companion, James Augustus Grant, were to explore the Victoria Nyanza and to verify its being the source of the Nile. “In spite of great difficulties Speke made his way to Uganda, on the north-west coast of Victoria Nyanza and (without exploring the lake), succeeded in reaching its outlet. On the 28th of July 1862 Speke stood by the Ripon Falls – the birthplace of the Nile.” (Encyc. Brit., 11th Edn.) The present account of the journey includes much geographical, ethnological, and zoological information and is profusely illustrated after sketches made by Speke and Grant. Speke’s discovery, although still disputed by Burton and others mainly because he was not able to follow the Nile all the way from the Victoria Nyanza to Gondokoro, earned him international recognition and numerous honours, including the founders’ medal of the Royal Geographical Society. Speke unfortunately died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound while hunting just the day before he was to publicly debate his findings with Burton. “The importance of Speke’s discoveries can hardly be overestimated. In discovering the ‘source reservoir’ of the Nile he succeeded in solving the ‘problem of all ages’…He and Grant were the first Europeans to cross Equatorial Africa, and thereby gained for the world of knowledge of rather more than eight degrees of latitude, or about five hundred geographical miles, in a portion of Eastern Africa previously totally unknown.” (Sir Samuel Baker, quoted in DNB) Hosken p. 188. cfGay 2735. 8vo. pp. xxxi, 658. steel-engraved frontis. portrait of Speke, steel-engraved portrait of Grant, 2 maps with partial colour (incl. very large double-page folding map at end), 24 wood-engraved plates, & numerous text illus. contemporary calf, gilt back: Glasgow University prize binding (short tear in large map centre fold, some foxing to outer leaves). elala5861