Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England Great African Travellers, from Mungo Park to Livingstone and Stanley, by W.H.G. Kingston. ________________________________________________________________________ At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the coastal parts of Africa were of course well-known, and in any of the territories round the coasts there were European officials, such as consuls, and European traders. This becomes very apparent as you read this book, as many of the travels described involve sorties from an existing European base. On the other hand the very sources of the various major rivers were not on the map, and the object of many of the travellers was to find these sources, for instance that of the Nile, or rather, that of any one of its major components, such as the Red Nile and the Blue Nile. On the whole the various regions they passed through had already a settled African regime. In most cases this regime was friendly, but in some cases the opposite was the case. These explorations and travels could only take place if the native rulers could be brought to give assistance, and in most cases this was forthcoming. On the other hand some of the lesser-known early travellers were murdered, and the goods they travelled with, stolen. It is really only those travellers who were able to complete their self-imposed tasks, and return to Britain, that have become famous. Written in an easy style, this book is a good read, and very worth the while of even today's teenagers. There are too many names to make an audiobook very easily, so we have not done so, and have no comments on that. ________________________________________________________________________ GREAT AFRICAN TRAVELLERS, FROM MUNGO PARK TO LIVINGSTONE AND STANLEY, BY W.H.G. KINGSTON. FROM MUNGO PARK TO LIVINGSTONE AND STANLEY. CHAPTER ONE. INTRODUCTORY. INTRODUCTION--THE AFRICAN ASSOCIATION--LEDYARD--LUCAS--FIRST INFORMATION RESPECTING THE NIGER, OR QUORRA, AND THE GAMBIA--TIMBUCTOO HEARD OF-- THOMPSON AND JOBSON'S VOYAGE UP THE GAMBIA--MAJOR HAUGHTON'S EXPEDITION AND DEATH. When the fathers of the present generation were young men, and George the Third ruled the land, they imagined that the whole interior of Africa was one howling wilderness of burning sand, roamed over by brown tribes in the north and south, and by black tribes--if human beings there were--on either side of the equator, and along the west coast.