African Travel

Abstract

THESE are extremely different kinds of books, though both are valuable. The first is almost unreadable except by geographical students; the second is thoroughly popular and amusing. The pending explorations of Livingstone have given a special interest to the various journeys of Portuguese explorers, and the Royal Geographical Society have done well in making the records of these journeys accessible to English readers. The earliest and most important is that of Dr. Dc Lacerda, who went on a Government mission to the capital of Cazembé, situated at the southern extremity of Lake Moero, about 500 miles north-west of Lake Nyassa. He died on the way, but the journey was concluded under the second in command. The Journal is given at length, and is very dull reading, except for the insight it gives into the character of the numerous Portuguese and half-castes who accompanied the expedition, and who were in a continual state of squabble from the first day to the last. Dr. Dc Lacerda was evidently an amiable and intelligent man, and his notes are comparatively pleasant reading, and give some little notion of the country and the people. The Journal of his successor, an ecclesiastic (Fr. Pinto), is, however, so exclusively occupied with a record of the disputes among the members of the expedition, that it was hardly worth printing. Capt. Burton's translation is very free, and no doubt very accurate, but he is so idiomatic as almost to require translating himself; and such terms as “loot,” “dash,” “notions,” and “magotty heads,” which are repeatedly used, are hardly characteristic of the serious and matter-of-fact diary of the Portuguese explorers. His notes are very copious, often considerably exceeding the text, and some of them are instructive; but we find in them too many onslaughts on Mr. Cooley, and endless minute criticisms on African orthography. The free statement of Capt. Burton's peculiar views on civilisation, religion, polygamy, and other matters, is also rather out of place. We are told for instance that, to Capt. Burton, “Alexander is the first person of the triad which humanity has as yet produced; the other two being Julius Cæsar and Napoleon Bonaparte,” and that “Blakeley guns and railways” are the indices of true progress.

The Lands of Cazembe.

Lacerda's Journey to Cazembé in 1798. Translated and annotated by Captain R. F. Burton.; also, Journey of the Pombeiros, P. J. Baptista and Amaro José across Africa from Angola to Tette on the Zambize. Translated by B. A. Beadle; and a Résumé of the Journey of MM. Monteiro and Gamitto. By Dr. C. T. Beke. (Published by the Royal Geographical Society; John Murray, 1873.)

The African Sketch Book.

By Winwood Reade, with maps and illustrations, in two volumes. (Smith, Elder and Co., 1873.)