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June 20, 2005

The History & Romance of Exploration

I've been reading History and Romance of Exploration, Told With Pictures by Seymour Gates Pond. Old, yellowed, and a bit smelly, this library book, published in 1966, gives short accounts of a variety of world travellers throughout the ages. Each story is accompanied with a set of ink sketches as illustrations. Two accounts I found particularly interesting were:

• Vasgo Da Gama & Portguese Trade in the Indian Ocean (1497-1500)
• Dr. David Livingstone & Henry M. Stanley's Journeys In Darkest Africa (1841-1877)

Da Gama was commissioned by the king of Portugal to complete the first maritime (as opposed to overland) route to India. Indian goods like gold, jewels, silks, ivory, and spices were very popular in Europe, but the overland routes were slow and expensive with lots of middle-men. De Gama and his men made it around the Cape and into the Indian Ocean, and stopped at Zanzibar. However, the Moslems were not happy to see Infidels breaking into their monopoly on sea trade in the Indian Ocean. But when Da Gama and his men offered olive oil, honey, cotton and such for trade, the Indians laughed at them and called them cheap tradesmen, for the Moslems traded in much more expensive goods (gold, jewels, etc.) Da Gama made it all the way to India, where he and his men received a somewhat less-than-stellar welcome. He returned to Portugal a hero, with plans to return to India with a lot more guns next time, in order to protect Portuguese interests there. Meanwhile, during the preparations for this mission, the Portuguese king sent Pedro Cabral ahead to prepare for the fleet's arrival in India, but he was swept off-course and ended up discovering Brazil instead! Whoops!

Dr. David Livingstone was one of those do-gooder missionary types. He tramped around Africa, looking for the source of the Nile, while he treated the sick and hurt out of the goodness of his heart. He named Victoria Falls, among other things, but eventually his funds were cut off from England and he disappeared into Africa. Joseph Pulitzer, owner of the New York Herald, sent the rugged American adventurer Henry Stanley on a search for Dr. Livingstone. Stanley enjoyed exploring, but he felt he'd gotten a bum project - he was convinced that Livingstone must be dead. Everywhere he went, he asked after the good doctor, only to be told that the people knew him of course, but hadn't seen him in a long time. Finally, in October of 1871, Stanley found the man, a bit worse for wear, living in a little grass hut near Lake Tanganyika. He was so amazed to see the doctor, he had to tamp down the urge to embrace the man, and said instead,

"Doctor Livingstone, I presume?"

"Yes," came the reply, and the doctor touched his cap in response.

Stanley's doctor and supplies helped Livingstone recover some of his health, but he refused to leave Africa. Instead, they divided their supplies. Livingstone later mounted a new expedition to discover the source of the Nile, which he would not complete. Livingstone was found in his hut, having passed away while praying beside his bed. A monument was erected on that spot, and his heart was buried there. This body was brought back to England, where he was buried in Westminster Abbey with pomp and glory. I like that - his country got his body, but Africa got his heart. Very romantic!

Stanley, saddened by the death of Livingstone, determined to continue with his old friend's work. Eventually he discovered the source of the Nile, among other Africa mysteries. He published numerous works on Africa and became a prominent scholar on all matters related to exploration.

The images above are from the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Catalog (PPOC). The ship is a watercolor painting painted in 1880 by Ernesto Casanova, part of the Library of Congress Hispanic Reading Room. The explorer is actually part of a political cartoon of Henry Stanley from 1872.

Posted by sorsha at June 20, 2005 10:50 AM