Zanzibar: City, Island, and Coast

First published in 1872, this two-volume memoir by explorer, ethnographer and diplomat Sir Richard Burton (1821-90) was written while Burton and John Hanning Speke were making preparations for their expedition to solve one of the major geographical mysteries of the nineteenth century - the location of the source of the Nile. Volume 2 concerns the two journeys to the interior of West Africa, a 'tentative expedition' in early 1857, and the nineteen-month exploration, which began in June 1857, into the East African highlands. Burton was in poor health, and Speke travelled further north without him; he discovered Lake Victoria, and (rightly) concluded that it was the source of the Nile. This led to the notorious dispute between the two explorers, and in his final chapter, written after Speke's tragic death, Burton gives the history of the argument, and vehemently denies any jealousy or personal enmity on his part.