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1. Name: River of the Gods
2. Author: Candice Millard
3. Genre: Non Fiction/Exploration
4. Book Post No. : 77
The longest river in the world travels a distance of around 7000 km in north east Africa before it empties into the Mediterranean Sea. 95% of Egypt’s population lives within just a few kilometers of this river and its delta. The ancient Egyptians considered it divine, a gift from the gods. This is the Nile, River of the Gods. For the longest time nobody knew where this massive river originated from. This book traces the journeys of explorers who finally uncovered this mystery in the 1850s.
The book focusses on the expeditions and stories of two main characters, Sir Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke. A brief third character is Sidi Mubarak who was their main guide in both the expeditions. Burton was a British explorer, army officer and scholar. He was famous for his travels around the world and he could speak up to 29 different languages. He is also known for his translation of One Thousand and One Nights, more commonly known as The Arabian Nights. Speke, on the other hand, was from an aristocratic family and served in the British Indian Army. He was a highly skilled hunter and had a natural history collection. They met each other for the first time in 1854 and departed on their first expedition in 1856.
Unlike other stories of exploration I have read this one has lots of drama as Burton and Speke did not really get along well. Burton was the leader of the first expedition and though initially Speke was glad to have gotten a spot in the expedition, he slowly came to resent Burton and thought he should have been the leader of the expedition. They went through many hardships and near-death experiences together but Speke never really let go of his resentment and he was surrounded by bad influences which only deepened their divide.
The first expedition in 1856 was beset with problems right from the start and only got worse as the journey progressed. They suffered from tropical diseases, shortage of food and equipment, desertion by some porters and other challenges. In February 1858 they became the first Europeans to reach Lake Tanganyika. A few months later, while Burton was bedridden in base camp, Speke explored another huge body of water which he strongly suspected (correctly) to be the source of the Nile. This was Lake Victoria. Speke returned first to England and instead of waiting for Burton he went ahead and claimed sole credit for the discovery. Burton was not convinced about Speke’s claims of Lake Victoria being the source of the Nile so Speke went on another expedition, this time to prove it once and for all. Their friendship, though, was over and never to be mended again.
In this tussle between these two men, there was a third person, often forgotten by western history. I am glad the author, Candice, talks about him. This man, Sidi Mubarak Bombay, who was from the Yao people of the Bantu ethnic group, was a freed slave and became an extremely resourceful guide. He served as the head guide on both the expeditions and without him, neither man would have even come close to the source of the Nile. He later went on to be appointed chief of the caravan by Henry Morton Stanley when Stanley went in search of David Livingstone. He is considered to be one of the most accomplished guides in the history of African exploration.
River of the Gods takes its time in coming to the actual expedition itself, as the first few chapters talk about the issues and problems they face even before the expedition starts. But once it gets going it’s hard to put down. Initially I was put off by the animosity between the men but slowly realized that it forms a big part of the story and during the latter half of the book, it actually gets engrossing. Filled with many other interesting characters, deep insights into the nature of these two adventurers, and stories of bravery and perseverance, this book is part adventure novel, part survivor story, and part drama. I am a huge fan of exploration stories both fiction and non fiction, and this is one of those books which lay bare the brutal realities of being an explorer, in terms of the hardships of journeying to foreign lands and of the human drama involved. A very good read overall.
Other Exploration themed Books I have read and reviewed:
- Jungle of Stone : https://razzaqmohammed.com/jungle-of-stone-book-post/
- Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey: https://razzaqmohammed.com/book-post-5-shackleton-antarctic-odyssey-by-nick-bertozzi/
- How to be an Explorer of the World: https://razzaqmohammed.com/book-post-15-how-to-be-an-explorer-of-the-world-by-keri-smith/