The age of innocent adventure

Between antiquity and the 18th century, aside from a couple of Portuguese priests in Abyssinia, we have no record of Europeans venturing into the heart of Africa; incredible but true. Following in the priests’ footsteps came James Bruce, the Scottish laird who returned home to be ridiculed by Dr Johnson for his tales of Ethiopians hacking steaks from living cattle. Anthony Sattin picks up his narrative after that in 1788, when at last Sir Joseph Banks, veteran of Cook’s voyages and a beacon of Enlightenment science, brought together a circle of learned friends in a London tavern to found the African Association.

Their challenge was daunting, yet simple. The Association would fill the empty spaces on Africa’s maps with towns, rivers and mountains. West Africa swiftly became the focus, and above all else Timbuktu on the Niger River. Members wanted to know if the Niger flowed west or eastwards, joined the Nile or the Congo or dissipated into the Sahara.