River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile, Millard - B

          Our story starts in 1801 with the British removing the Rosetta Stone from Alexandria, transporting it to London, and fueling "a decades-long obsession with Egypt..." Europe focused on learning all it could about a society that pre-dated Greece and Rome, and one of the objects of their curiosity was the source of the Nile. Indeed, speculation about the source of the river had been going on for two thousand years. A Roman expedition had been blocked in what is now South Sudan by a massive swamp or bog that extended for hundreds of miles and was unnavigable. The Sudd was not penetrated until 1842, when the Turks proceeded further south. Many believed that the best chance of success was to seek the source from the south, not by ascending the river from the north. At the mid-point of the century, the Royal Geographic Society decided to mount an expedition. The man they chose to lead it was Richard Burton, a thirty-two year old adventurer and East India Company lieutenant, who amongst other accomplishments, had just become the first westerner to complete a Hajj to Mecca. The RGS and the East India Company directed Burton to head west from Aden on the Gulf of Suez. Burton put together a team, organized his supplies and was ready to head into the interior. They were attacked by Somalis at their base camp on the coast.  Burton and a comrade were seriously wounded; a third member died. The expedition was off.

       A few years later, the RGS decided to try again, and once more appointed Burton as the leader. He picked John Speke, who had been wounded with him at Aden, as his second in command. Unbeknownst to Burton, Speke harbored resentments and was filled with hatred toward him. This time, they waited out the rainy season in Zanzibar. They sailed to the coast, and the East African Expedition headed toward Lake Tanganyika on June 27, 1857. Progress was slow, as men deserted, and many fell ill, particularly Burton. Their objective was approximately a thousand miles inland, and after 134 days, they were about three-fourths of the way there. They stopped at Kazeh for over a month. Burton had to be carried, had become completely paralyzed, and would remain so for a year. He turned command over to Speke. Speke had recovered from a near fatal fever and was temporarily blind. Eventually, they reached Tanganyika, "the longest and second deepest freshwater lake in the world..." They settled into Ujiji, an Arab trading town, from which they would explore the lake. Their desire to search the lake was inhibited by their inability to obtain anything larger than a long canoe. Reluctantly, Burton set out to return to the coast. Local travelers had told them that there was a larger lake north of the Tanganyika, and Speke convinced Burton to let him seek it out. Speke was accompanied by Sidi Bombay, an African who had been raised as a slave in India. As he had been for the previous year in service to the expedition, Bombay proved to be a valuable, guide, interpreter and colleague. A month after leaving Kazeh, Speke reached the lake the natives called Nyanza. He was the first European to see it, and called it Lake Victoria. 

     On February 2, 1859, the expedition reached the coast. Speke returned to London two weeks before Burton, who was delayed because of poor health. Speke had already been assured that he would lead the next expedition to Lake Victoria by the time Burton arrived home. He had convinced the RGS and all of London that whatever success they had had, was because of him. Speke was instructed to proceed to Lake Victoria, find the headwaters of the Nile and proceed north into South Sudan and descend the Nile. His second in command was James Grant, and once again, the ever-reliable Sidi Bombay would also be with them. From Zanzibar, they headed to the coast and inland, once again racked by fever and desertion. They proceeded to the lake and found what they believed to be the source of the Nile. It flowed over a falls from the lake and began its 4,000 mile march to the Mediterranean. Speke, Grant and Bombay headed down the river. They had achieved the ultimate, something wondered about for thousands of years. When they reached Alexandria, Speke telegraphed the RGS that the "Nile is settled." But because Speke brought back no proof, the issue was still considered unresolved. 

    Speke returned to London in June, 1863 and was rewarded with the Founder's medal by the RGS. However, the explorer's insecurities and argumentative nature soon caused dismay in polite society. The RGS disavowed him, and the following summer, he died in a hunting accident that likely was suicide. A decade later, American Henry Stanley explored Lake Victoria and confirmed Speke's theory about the source of the Nile. As for Burton, his travels had left him very unhealthy, and he lived out his life in a number of minor consular postings. Ironically, he became financially comfortable by translating the 'Kama Sutra' and 'Arabian Nights'. He was knighted and died in Trieste years later.