Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
1853
British explorer and writer Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-90) makes his famous pilgrim-
age to the Islamic holy city of Mecca disguised as a Muslim. Had his identity been revealed, he
would have been killed. His exploits make him one of the the most famous men in England just as
his subsequent translations of the
Kama Sutra
and
Arabian Nights
make him one of the most notori-
ous characters of the day.
Geographic Voices
From
Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El-Madinah and Meccah
by Sir Richard
Burton
The oval pavement round the Ka'abah was crowded with men, women and children, mostly di-
vided into parties . . . some walking staidly, and others running, whilst many stood in groups to
prayer. What a scene of contrasts! Here stalked the Badawi woman, in her long black robe like a
nun's serge, and poppy-colored face-veil, pierced to show two fiercely flashing orbs. There an In-
dian woman, with her semi-Tartar features, nakedly hideous, and her thin legs, encased in wrinkled
tights. . . . Every now and then a corpse, borne upon its wooden shell, circuited the shrine by means
of four bearers, whom other Moslems, as is the custom, occasionally relieved. A few fair-skinned
Turks lounged about, looking cold and repulsive, as their wont is. In one place a fast Calcutta
Khit-
mugar
stood, with turban awry and arms akimbo, contemplating the view jauntily, as those “gentle-
men's gentlemen” will do. In another, some poor wretch, with arms thrown on high, so that every
part of his person might touch the Ka'abah, was clinging to the curtain and sobbing as though his
heart would break.
1854
After one failed attempt, American commodore Matthew C. Perry (1794-1858) sails into
Tokyo Bay and completes a trade treaty that opens Japan to Westerners, ending two hundred fifty
years of Japanese isolation.
1855
Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone (1813-73), who went to Africa in 1841
as a missionary, reaches the waterfall he names Victoria Falls, located on the Zambezi River in Cen-
tral Africa on the Zambia-Zimbabwe frontier. A sworn enemy of slavery, Livingstone became the
greatest explorer of Africa. He discovered the Zambezi River in 1851 and explored its course dur-
ing three separate expeditions. Upon his death in 1873, two loyal African followers carried his body
fifteen hundred miles so it could be returned for burial in England.
1856
Peak XV in the Himalayas is declared the highest mountain in the world, and is later named
Mount Everest.
1858
British explorer Sir Richard Francis Burton (see above, 1853), now internationally renowned,
attempts to solve one of geography's oldest mysteries, the source of the Nile. Traveling with fellow
explorer John Speke (1827-64), Burton reaches Lake Tanganyika, but it proves to be too low to be
the Nile's source. The men are told of another lake higher in the mountains, and Burton, too ill to
travel, sends Speke on alone. Speke discovers Lake Victoria and, without adequate exploration or
scientific measurements, assumes it is the source of the Nile. The pair become rivals and Speke re-
turns in 1862 to find Ripon Falls, but still fails to verify the lake as the river's source. On the day
the two men are supposed to debate the question in London, Speke kills himself.
