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This series focuses on Africa during the period of European colonial expansion. It includes anthropological studies, travel accounts from missionaries and explorers (including those searching for the sources of the Nile and the Congo) and works that shed light on colonial concerns such as gold mining, big game hunting, trade, education and political rivalries.

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103 results in Cambridge Library Collection - African Studies

Page 4 of 6

Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile
  • John Hanning Speke
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    19 May 2011
    First published in:
    1863
  • John Hanning Speke (1827–1864) was a British army officer and explorer, remembered for his expeditions in search of the source of the Nile and his disputes with Richard Burton on that subject. On an expedition begun in 1856 Burton and Speke reached Lake Tanganyika together, but Speke travelled on alone to Lake Victoria. He controversially gave lectures about the lakes in London in 1859, without awaiting Burton's return. Speke returned to Africa later that year, leading an expedition organised by the Royal Geographical Society, to explore Lake Victoria and investigate whether it really was the source of the Nile. This book, published in 1863, describes the 1859 expedition's challenging and eventful journey through present-day Zanzibar, Tanzania and Uganda, and the indigenous peoples the explorers encountered. Speke made invaluable surveys of the area, but it was only after his death that his views about the Nile were finally proved correct.

Abeokuta and the Camaroons Mountains
  • An Exploration
  • Volume 2
  • Richard Francis Burton
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    19 April 2011
    First published in:
    1863
  • Sir Richard Burton (1821–1890) the famous Victorian explorer, began his career in the Indian army in 1842. While in India he developed his linguistic talent, mastering more than forty different languages and dialects. He turned to writing books in the 1850s and, over the remaining forty years of his life, published dozens of works and more than one hundred articles. Burton wrote this two-volume work, published in 1863, while working as the British consul in Fernando Po (modern-day Equatorial Guinea), West Africa. In Volume 2 Burton discusses his expedition to the mountains on the coast of Cameroon, where he climbed to the peak of Mount Cameroon, an active volcano. This volume also has extensive appendices that include lists of plants collected on his expeditions, notes about the wildlife living in the mountains, and observations about the climate and temperature of the region.

Wanderings in West Africa from Liverpool to Fernando Po
  • By a F.R.G.S.
  • Volume 1
  • Richard Francis Burton
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    17 April 2011
    First published in:
    1863
  • Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890) was a British explorer, writer and ethnologist best known for his travels in Asia and Africa in the nineteenth century. This is his account, originally published in 1863, of his mission to investigate mortality in West Africa. In Volume 1 he describes his departure from England, with accounts of the landscapes, buildings, cultures and cuisines that characterized his journey from Liverpool through Madeira and Tenerife, before recalling his first impressions of Africa on arriving in Bathurst on the Eastern Cape. In the final two chapters he recounts his findings in Sierra Leone and Cape Palmas, revealing how the positioning of settlements exposed their inhabitants to disease, adverse weather conditions, poverty and malnourishment. Set within a fascinating historical, political and cultural context, and written in vivid detail, Burton's memoirs remain of great interest and relevance to anthropologists, historians and geographers today.

Life in the Niger, or, The Journal of an African Trader
  • William Cole
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    02 June 2011
    First published in:
    1862
  • First published in 1862, William Cole's journal records his experiences in the highly challenging circumstances of a trading expedition to Africa. Cole outlines in graphic detail the dangers he had to endure, and describes how he 'surmounted the most glaring difficulties'. Often displaying a wry humour, Cole's memoir speaks directly to the reader, with a tone of immediacy. In an anecdotal style, he describes the customs and costumes of the natives, and their often hostile reactions to him, and recounts how he was regularly without food, arms or assistance. The journal tells of the barbarity and cruelty he witnessed, alongside occasional acts of kindness or amusing situations. Cole's thoughts frequently revert to England, displaying his homesickness and his longing to return. Describing his life in Africa as 'a mixture of smiles and tears', Cole paints a vivid picture of a European in Africa during the mid-nineteenth century.

The Lake Regions of Central Africa
  • A Picture of Exploration
  • Volume 2
  • Richard Francis Burton
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    19 May 2011
    First published in:
    1860
  • Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821–90) was an explorer who began his career in the Bombay army in 1842. While in India he developed his linguistic talent, mastering more than forty different languages and dialects. He turned to writing books in the 1850s and over the remaining forty years of his life published dozens of works and more than 100 articles. In this two-volume work, published in 1860, Burton discusses geographical and ethnological matters, while also giving space to the 'picturesque points of view which the subject offers' in recounting his journey to Zanzibar and around the lakes in present-day Tanzania. Volume 2 sees Burton arrive at Lake Tanganyika, and much of this volume is dedicated to his exploration of this freshwater lake and investigation of the way of life of the inhabitants of its shores. He also includes an appendix of commerce in the region.

The Lake Regions of Central Africa
  • A Picture of Exploration
  • Volume 1
  • Richard Francis Burton
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    19 May 2011
    First published in:
    1860
  • Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821–90) was an explorer who began his career in the Bombay army in 1842. While in India he developed his linguistic talent, mastering more than forty different languages and dialects. He turned to writing books in the 1850s and over the remaining forty years of his life published dozens of works and more than 100 articles. In this two-volume work, published in 1860, Burton discusses geographical and ethnological matters, while also giving space to the 'picturesque points of view which the subject offers' in recounting his journey to Zanzibar and around the lakes in present-day Tanzania. In Volume 1 Burton begins his expedition on the island of Zanzibar before moving inland to explore the Kingani and Mgeta Rivers. He crosses the Usagara mountains and ends the volume in Unyamwezi, 'the far-famed land over the moon'.

The Great Sahara
  • Wanderings South of the Atlas Mountains
  • Henry Baker Tristram
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    07 June 2012
    First published in:
    1860
  • After sailing on a crowded steamer from Marseilles, Henry Baker Tristram (1822–1906) arrived in Algiers in the winter of 1856, and began preparations for an expedition into the Sahara. Although the northern areas had been well documented by the occupying French forces, the south was little travelled by Europeans. A keen naturalist and later a Fellow of the Linnaean Society, Tristram made meticulous preparations for collecting specimens, and kept a thorough journal as he travelled. This book, one of the first English reports of the South Sahara, published in 1860, is an almost exact transcription of that journal. Travelling with a tin of chocolate and a collection of fine silk handkerchiefs to trade, Tristram made notes on a host of topics, from the flight of flamingos to the government and customs of the native Touareg. His account is still a valuable resource for students of the history of science.

Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa
  • Being a Journal of an Expedition Undertaken under the Auspices of H.B.M.'s Government, in the Years 1849–1855
  • Volume 4
  • Heinrich Barth
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    23 June 2011
    First published in:
    1858
  • Born in Hamburg, Henry (Heinrich) Barth (1821–1865) studied history, archaeology, geography and Arabic. He joined James Richardson's 1849 expedition to Africa, which aimed to open the interior to trade and to study slavery. Following the deaths of Richardson (1851) and his colleague Overweg (1852), Barth led the expedition alone. His travels extended to Lake Chad in the east, Cameroon in the south and Timbuktu in the west. He was the first European to use the oral traditions of the local tribes for historical research, learning several African languages, and studying the history, resources and civilisations of the people he encountered. Barth's five-volume account includes plates, engravings and detailed annotated maps. Published in both English and German in 1857–1858, it is still regarded as a major source on African culture. Volume 4 follows Barth's challenging journey along the Niger to Timbuktu, and describes the city and its inhabitants.

Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa
  • Being a Journal of an Expedition Undertaken under the Auspices of H.B.M.'s Government, in the Years 1849–1855
  • Volume 5
  • Heinrich Barth
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    23 June 2011
    First published in:
    1858
  • Born in Hamburg, Henry (Heinrich) Barth (1821–1865) studied history, archaeology, geography and Arabic. He joined James Richardson's 1849 expedition to Africa, which aimed to open the interior to trade and to study slavery. Following the deaths of Richardson (1851) and his colleague Overweg (1852), Barth led the expedition alone. His travels extended to Lake Chad in the east, Cameroon in the south and Timbuktu in the west. He was the first European to use the oral traditions of the local tribes for historical research, learning several African languages, and studying the history, resources and civilisations of the people he encountered. Barth's five-volume account includes plates, engravings and detailed annotated maps. Published in both English and German in 1857–1858, it is still regarded as a major source on African culture. Volume 5 describes Barth's demanding trek homewards, retracing his route along the Niger and via Kano to Tripoli.

Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa
  • Being a Journal of an Expedition Undertaken under the Auspices of H.B.M.'s Government, in the Years 1849–1855
  • Volume 2
  • Heinrich Barth
  • Published online:
    05 November 2015
    Print publication:
    23 June 2011
    First published in:
    1857
  • Born in Hamburg, Henry (Heinrich) Barth (1821–1865) studied history, archaeology, geography and Arabic. He joined James Richardson's 1849 expedition to Africa, which aimed to open the interior to trade and to study slavery. Following the deaths of Richardson (1851) and his colleague Overweg (1852), Barth led the expedition alone. His travels extended to Lake Chad in the east, Cameroon in the south and Timbuktu in the west. He was the first European to use the oral traditions of the local tribes for historical research, learning several African languages, and studying the history, resources and civilisations of the people he encountered. Barth's five-volume account includes plates, engravings and detailed annotated maps. Published in both English and German in 1857–1858, it is still regarded as a major source on African culture. Volume 2 describes the settlements and peoples found on the journey from Kano to the shore of Lake Chad.

Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa
  • Being a Journal of an Expedition Undertaken under the Auspices of H.B.M.'s Government, in the Years 1849–1855
  • Volume 1
  • Heinrich Barth
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    23 June 2011
    First published in:
    1857
  • Born in Hamburg, Henry (Heinrich) Barth (1821–1865) studied history, archaeology, geography and Arabic. He joined James Richardson's 1849 expedition to Africa, which aimed to open the interior to trade and to study slavery. Following the deaths of Richardson (1851) and his colleague Overweg (1852), Barth led the expedition alone. His travels extended to Lake Chad in the east, Cameroon in the south and Timbuktu in the west. He was the first European to use the oral traditions of the local tribes for historical research, learning several African languages, and studying the history, resources and civilisations of the people he encountered. Barth's five-volume account includes plates, engravings and detailed annotated maps. Published in both English and German in 1857–1858, it is still regarded as a major source on African culture. Volume 1 covers the expedition's journey from Tunis to present-day Niger, and includes descriptions of Roman ruins in Libya.

Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa
  • Being a Journal of an Expedition Undertaken under the Auspices of H.B.M.'s Government, in the Years 1849–1855
  • Volume 3
  • Heinrich Barth
  • Published online:
    05 February 2012
    Print publication:
    23 June 2011
    First published in:
    1857
  • Born in Hamburg, Henry (Heinrich) Barth (1821–1865) studied history, archaeology, geography and Arabic. He joined James Richardson's 1849 expedition to Africa, which aimed to open the interior to trade and to study slavery. Following the deaths of Richardson (1851) and his colleague Overweg (1852), Barth led the expedition alone. His travels extended to Lake Chad in the east, Cameroon in the south and Timbuktu in the west. He was the first European to use the oral traditions of the local tribes for historical research, learning several African languages, and studying the history, resources and civilisations of the people he encountered. Barth's five-volume account includes plates, engravings and detailed annotated maps. Published in both English and German in 1857–1858, it is still regarded as a major source on African culture. Volume 3 describes the peoples and terrain around Lake Chad, and experiences including the party's arrest and Overweg's death.

First Footsteps in East Africa
  • Or, An Exploration of Harar
  • Richard Burton
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    07 July 2011
    First published in:
    1856
  • Sir Richard Burton (1821–1890), the famous Victorian explorer, began his career in the Indian army in 1842. While in India he developed his linguistic talent, mastering more than forty different languages and dialects. He turned to writing books in the 1850s and, over the remaining forty years of his life, published dozens of works and more than one hundred articles. In this book, first published in 1856, Burton recounts his travels to Harar, a city in East Africa notorious for its slave trade activity. His plan was a challenging one, as it was believed that no European had been there before; upon arrival he claimed to be an agent of the British government and presented himself to the ruler of Harar. Burton was allowed to spend ten days there, and his account give a fascinating glimpse into a then unknown city and culture.

An Auto-Biographical Memoir of Sir John Barrow, Bart, Late of the Admiralty
  • Including Reflections, Observations, and Reminiscences at Home and Abroad, from Early Life to Advanced Age
  • John Barrow
  • Published online:
    29 August 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1847
  • Sir John Barrow (1764–1848) was a distinguished British government servant whose diplomatic career took him to China and Africa, and who in forty years as Secretary to the Admiralty was responsible for promoting Arctic and Antarctic exploration, including the voyages of Sir John Ross, Sir William Parry, Sir James Clark Ross and Sir John Franklin (the last of which famously ended in disaster). Barrow's autobiography, written when he was eighty-three, depicts a life extraordinary for its range of experience and activity, from a small farm in the Furness peninsula to the court of the Emperor of China, and from an apparently settled life as a civil servant at Cape Town to the centre of affairs at a time when the British Navy's reach and influence reached their highest point. This fascinating account will be of interest to anyone interested in exploration and the history of the British Navy.

A Narrative of a Visit to the Mauritius and South Africa
  • James Backhouse
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    25 September 2014
    First published in:
    1844
  • James Backhouse (1794–1869) came from a family of accomplished naturalists and horticulturalists. As a Quaker, he spent several years in Australia engaged in missionary and humanitarian work, after which he returned to England via Mauritius and South Africa. The present work, first published in 1844, is adapted from his journals of that journey, providing a rich and personal account. It contains vivid descriptions of the people he encountered, particularly the indigenous communities and those involved in the slave trade, which he found revolting and unchristian. Backhouse's horticultural interests are evident in the detailed botanical observations he made, the value of which led to a genus of shrub being named after him: Backhousia. This work contains illustrations based on original sketches made by Backhouse during the trip, and appendices which include letters and texts relating to the mission, as well as a map of South Africa.

A Geographical Survey of Africa
  • Its Rivers, Lakes, Mountains, Productions, States, Population, etc.
  • James MacQueen
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    19 May 2011
    First published in:
    1840
  • James MacQueen (1778–1870) was a British geographer and also one of the most outspoken critics of the methods of the British anti-slavery campaign in the 1820s and 1830s. Although he never visited Africa, he became an acknowledged expert on the continent, through reading all available accounts, ancient and modern, as well as interviewing slave merchants while managing a sugar plantation in the West Indies. This work was published in 1840, and was aimed at assisting the expansion of colonial trading interests. In the preface he is critical of the efficacy of British attempts to eradicate the slave trade, and also of the ill-preparedness and often fatal ignorance of many explorers. He believed that with better information and planning, European involvement in Africa could be much more effective, and that the slave trade could be better reduced by the work of missionaries and by increased trade than by military intervention.

The Record
  • Or, a Series of Official Papers Relative to the Condition and Treatment of the Native Tribes of South Africa
  • Edited by Donald Moodie
  • Published online:
    05 November 2015
    Print publication:
    22 December 2011
    First published in:
    1838
  • Originally published in 1838, this text draws upon official documents such as council resolutions and official journals, as well as statistics and local people's oral accounts, in order to explore the history of the treatment of the indigenous population of South Africa between 1649 and 1819. It was compiled, edited and translated by Scottish colonial official Donald Moodie (1794–1861), a 'liberal-minded British Colonist', who had emigrated to South Africa in 1820, originally as a farmer, and rose to the position of magistrate, and later 'Protector of the Slaves'. He was often critical of colonists' behaviour towards the indigenous tribes; he conducted interviews with the local populace during his investigations, earning himself the title of 'South Africa's pioneer oral historian'. This reissue includes only Parts 1, 3 and 5 of Moodie's investigation, as Parts 2 and 4 were never published.

The Life and Correspondence of Henry Salt, Esq.
  • His Britannic Majesty's Late Consul General in Egypt
  • Volume 1
  • John James Halls
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    08 May 2014
    First published in:
    1834
  • The traveller and antiquary Henry Salt (1780–1827) hoped to become a portrait painter, but recognised his own limitations, and instead entered the employment of Viscount Valentia, embarking with him on an eastern tour in 1802. In 1805, Valentia sent him on a mission to improve relations with the rulers of Abyssinia. After a second expedition, this time on behalf of the British government, in which he made observations and collections of the local flora and fauna, he was appointed consul-general to Egypt, and in his spare time carried out excavations at Thebes and Abu Simbel. This two-volume work was published in 1834 by Salt's close friend, the painter J. J. Halls (1776–1853). Volume 1 tells the story of Salt's early life and his career up to the famous removal of the colossal statue of Ramesses II ('Ozymandias') from Thebes to the British Museum in 1816.

The Life and Correspondence of Henry Salt, Esq.
  • His Britannic Majesty's Late Consul General in Egypt
  • Volume 2
  • John James Halls
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    08 May 2014
    First published in:
    1834
  • The traveller and antiquary Henry Salt (1780–1827) hoped to become a portrait painter, but recognised his own limitations, and instead entered the employment of Viscount Valentia, embarking with him on an eastern tour in 1802. In 1805, Valentia sent him on a mission to improve relations with the rulers of Abyssinia. After a second expedition, this time on behalf of the British government, in which he made observations and collections of the local flora and fauna, he was appointed consul-general to Egypt, and in his spare time carried out excavations at Thebes and Abu Simbel. This two-volume work was published in 1834 by Salt's close friend, the painter J. J. Halls (1776–1853). Volume 2 describes Salt's later career in Egypt, as a diplomat and especially as a pioneering archaeologist, as well as his negotiations over the future of his own spectacular collection of Egyptian artefacts.

Narrative of Voyages to Explore the Shores of Africa, Arabia, and Madagascar
  • Performed in HM Ships Leven and Barracouta
  • Volume 2
  • William Fitzwilliam Owen
  • Edited by Heaton Bowstead Robinson
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    19 July 2012
    First published in:
    1833
  • William Fitzwilliam Owen (1774–1857) was a British naval officer. Between 1821 and 1826 he commanded an expedition to Africa, Arabia and Madagascar with the Royal Navy ships Leven and Barracouta, during which he mapped some 30,000 miles of coastline. His memoirs of the voyage are presented in this two-volume account, first published in 1833. Volume 2 continues to describe the rituals of the native peoples whom Owen's crew encountered - and who were at times hostile - and the tragic deaths on board the ships from tropical diseases, which with better planning might have been avoided. The volume also covers the lives of colonists and missionaries, the slave trade, and the spread of European influence across Africa and its neighbouring lands. Providing a vivid account of African exploration in the nineteenth century, Owen's writings remain of great interest to geographers, historians and anthropologists.

Page 4 of 6