INTRODUCTION. 3 



to "be an elevated plateau, somewhat depressed in the 

 centre, and with fissures in the sides by which the rivers 

 escaped to the sea; and this great fact in physical geo- 

 graphy can never be referred to without calling to mind 

 the remarkable hypothesis by which the distinguished 

 President of the Koyal Geographical Society (Sir Eoderick 

 I. Murchison) clearly indicated this peculiarity, before it 

 was verified by actual observation of the altitudes of the 

 country and by the courses of the rivers. New light was 

 thrown on other portions of the continent by the famous 

 travels of Dr. Barth, by the researches of the Church of 

 England missionaries Krapf, Erkhardt, and Eebman, by 

 the persevering efforts of Dr. Baikie, the last martyr to 

 the climate and English enterprise, by the journey of 

 Francis Galton, and by the most interesting discoveries 

 of Lakes Tanganyika and Victoria Nyanza by Captain 

 Burton, and by Captain Speke, whose untimely end we all 

 so deeply deplore. Then followed the researches of Yan 

 der Decken, Thornton, and others ; and last of all the 

 grand discovery of the main source of the Nile, which 

 every Englishman must feel an honest pride in knowing 

 was accomplished by our gallant countrymen, Speke and 

 Grant. The fabulous torrid zone, of parched and burning 

 sand, was now proved to be a well-watered region resem- 

 bling North America in its fresh-water lakes, and India in 

 its hot humid lowlands, jungles, ghauts, and cool highland 

 plains. 



The main object of this Zambesi Expedition, as our 

 instructions from Her Majesty's Government explicitly 

 stated, was to extend the knowledge already attained of 

 the geography and mineral and agricultural resources of 

 Eastern and Central Africa — to improve our acquaintance 

 with the inhabitants, and to endeavour to engage them 

 to apply themselves to industrial pursuits and to the cul- 

 tivation of their lands, with a view to the production 



