5 32 Major Alfred St. Hill Gibbons [March 15, 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, March 15, 1901. 



Sib William Crookes, F.E.S., Honorary Secretary and Vice- 

 President, in the Chair. 



Major Alfred St. Hill Gibbons, F.R.G.S. 



Through the Heart of Africa from South to North. 



It was not without some misgivings that I accepted the invitation of 

 this Institution to read a paper on my recent experiences in Africa. 

 I had already referred to the organisation and route of the expedi- 

 tion ; described its prospective objects and their realisation ; gone 

 with some detail into the hydrography of the Zambesi and Nile dis- 

 tricts with a view to impressing on those whose duty it is to direct 

 and develop the more primitive dependencies of the Empire, what 

 an effective and economical developing force these great river systems 

 supply ; and related some of those lighter incidents which serve 

 the twofold purpose of illustrating native method and character, 

 and of making it less difficult for the audience to keep awake. 



It is true that 13,000 miles of route offers a considerable field, 

 but it is none the less true that the records of the vast majority of 

 days are scarcely worth the paper and ink expended on them by 

 virtue of their incidental sameness or unimportant character. 



When I first decided to take up African exploration I considered 

 it advisable to select a single district and work it thoroughly. I 

 was quite aware that long straight lines through the continent look 

 much more imposing than twice their distance within a limited area, 

 also that it is on such lines that the relative merits of explorers are 

 determined, but I had no wish to waste my time in comparatively 

 useless labour. In such journeys the traveller, passing rapidly as 

 he does from one district to another, bases his views on his first and 

 only impression, whereas the second or later impressions are not in- 

 frequently more in accordance with fact. It is thus — so it seems 

 to me — that many of the apparent discrepancies which sometimes 

 puzzle the reader of two books on the same country, are to be 

 accounted for. 



Marotseland was little known seven years ago, and excepting part 

 of the Zambesi or Kabompo rivers, and the West Coast trade routes, 

 was untrodden by explorers, so I selected this as my field of action. 

 Besides this, Marotseland was recognised as falling within the British 

 sphere, a further condition which, to me, supplied a sine qua non. 



First, I propose giving a general description of the character of 

 the countries along my routes from the Cape to Egypt, so far as it 



