Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-03-26
AFRICAN EXPLORERS
BY FREDERIC j. HAsKIN.

4 and salt He was also in search of
Prester John, a tabled monarch of untold
wealth, who Like Paul, became a Chris
tan in an instant. Hitherto, rumor had
placed his monarchy in India. That coun.
| try being pretty well explored in the
fifteenth century and Prester John still
missing, rumor simply transferred his
kingdom to Africa, somewhere in the re-
gion of Abyssina. 1t all resulted in DE
Cana rounding the Cape of Good Hope
but the interior was still great I'M
known.
Towards the end of the eighteenth GEN.
fury. James Bruce, a cannie Scotchman.
traced the source of the Blue Nile under
the impression that he was following the
course of the great river itself. At one
time he kept himself in favor with the
natives by shooting a tallow candle
through a wooden table. Returning, he
was censured for giving the information
that one savage tribe ate raw meat cut
from the living animal. An account of
Bruce says: He is the tallest man you
ever saw gratis"
| Finally Mungo Park, also a Scotchman,
was chosen to discover the course of the
Niger. After an absence of a year and
half, he returned. Through untold suf-
fering, he learned much of the geography
and natural history of Africa. Seven
years later, he was induced to try again.
This expedition ended disastrously. One
! by one the members of the party died,
and at last Park himself was drowned
having jumped into the river from his
canoe to escape an attack from the shore.
The next important expedition was led
by Major Denham and Captain Chapper-'
ton. This resulted in the discovery of
Lake Chad, believed to be the source of
the Niger. The Geographical society of
Paris had offered the grand prix of ten
thousand francs to the first visitor from
Timbuctoo. Hence It became the Mecca
of all explorers. Many died on the jour
ney. Rene Caillie, a Frenchman, was the
/ first to enter and return. Thus in 1928, a
great human desire had been accomplish
ed. Timbuctoo, the Great, the Mysteri-
Gus, had been reached. But Ichabod was
written on its gate posts-its glory had
departed. Gone the ivory palace, the uni
versity of Sankoro and the priceless man.
uscripts. Timbuctoo was built of straw
and mud.
Captain Spoke next Joined forces with
the famous Sir Richard Burton. Together
! they discovered Lake Tanganyika- With
| Buttons consent, Spoke pushed on far
Their and came upon the largest lake in
Africa. He named 1t Victoria Nyanza, or
Lake Victoria, believing 1t to be the
source of the Nile. Burton ridiculed the
idea, and GOODNESS resulted. On account
of Burton's illness, Spoke arrived in Eng
land first. So great was his enthusiasm,
that he experienced little difficulty in
raising funds to go back. When Burton
returned, he found the expedition all
ready and himself left out. The second
! journey proved conclusively that the great
problem was solved. Spoke had found the
source of the Nile. On his way back he
met Samuel Baker and his wife with
party. Spoke gladly gave all the infor-
nation he possessed, and later, Baker
achieved his triumph-Lake Albert was
the source of the Blue Nile.
| In the popular mind, perhaps the high
I est achievement of David Livingstone was
the discovery of Victoria Falls on the
Zambesi river. Besides his own simple,
straightforward journals, volumes have
been written of those wonderful thirty
years in Africa. On the sixteenth of No
vember, 1861, there occurred an immortal
scene. All efforts to find him proved I'M
availing. Henry Morton Stanley, sent out
by James Gordon Bennett, of New York,
finally reached Ujiji on Lake Tangan-
yixa. Hearing the English language, he
knew that he had found the great explor-
er. No meeting of kings on a field of
clotn or gold could exceed tnaC one IN
simple majesty. Stanley took off his hat.
| 'Dr. Livingstone, presume" YES" an
swered Livingstone, with his wonderful
wan smile. For some months the two
men Travelled together. Then Stanley re-
turned to England. There was some feel
ing of jealousy because an American had
succeeded where other failed, but in the
end the Geographical society awarded him
a medal, and Queen Victoria presented the
usual snuff box set with diamonds.
Since Stanley's time, there have been
many African explorers; Joseph Thomson
who discovered Lake Albert Edward, the
last of the chain; the duke of the Abruzzi
who scaled the Ruwenzori mountains; A.
Henry Savage Lander who crossed the
continent from ocean to ocean; Sir Henry
johnson, who sent home the first okapi
skin; and many others.
| Perhaps one of the most interesting of
the recent expeditions was the Alexander
Costing party. Three young officers OF
the British army, with Lake Chad as
their objective point, entered Africa at the
Gulf of Guinea in 1904 and emerged at the
Red Sea in 1907, after a journey of more
than 5000 miles, chiefly by water. Among
it's contributions to science were $500 bird
skins, a large collection of fishes from
Lake Chad, and the skins of many mann
mals.-(Copyright. 1909, by Frederic j,
Haskin.)