by Terrie Schultz

Created on: October 17, 2008

The Discovery of Lake Tanganyika

The Stuff of Legend

Struggling through dense, uncharted jungle; fording chest-deep rivers and slogging through malaria-infested swamps It may sound like something out of an Indiana Jones movie, but it is the true story of the discovery Lake Tanganyika in 1858 by the British explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) and fellow adventurer John Hanning Speke (1827-1864).

Burton the Iconoclast

Sir Richard Francis Burton was a prolific writer and gifted linguist who spoke more than 25 languages. He authored dozens of books and articles describing his explorations in Asia, Africa, and South America. After being expelled from Trinity College, Oxford, Burton enlisted in the army and served in India, where he became familiar with the culture and quickly became fluent in several languages, including Hindustani, Persian and Arabic. Upon leaving the army, he convincingly disguised himself as a Moslem and succeeded in traveling as a pilgrim to Medina and Mecca. Burton's insatiable curiosity and appetite for adventure, coupled with a hearty disdain for convention, resulted in a reputation bordering on legendary.

Speke the Conformist

John Hanning Speke's personality was the opposite of Burton's. The arrogant son of a squire, Speke was conventional and prudish, an exemplar of the prevailing Victorian attitude. He learned no languages apart from a minimal amount of Hindustani, and regarded Burton's embracing of "savage" cultures with contempt. An avid big-game hunter, he had accompanied Burton on an earlier, ill-fated expedition to Somalia, where they were attacked by tribesmen. Captured and stabbed repeatedly by spears, Speke barely escaped with his life. After his recovery, Speke served in the Crimean War, and then signed on to accompany Burton on his expedition to East Africa. Not surprisingly, the two men did not get along and ultimately became enemies.

The East African Expedition Departs

The Royal Geographic Society funded the expedition to East Africa with the objective of locating the "inland sea," as well as assessing possible products for export and studying the tribal people. The unofficial goal was to discover the source of the Nile River.

In June, 1857, the expedition set off from Zanzibar. They hired porters and assembled a vast quantity of supplies, in addition to abundant cloth, wire and beads for trading. Warned to keep away from the Masai Plains as too dangerous, the explorers chose a longer, southern route. They marched in a noisy

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