Volume 1

The heart of Africa : three years' travels and adventures in the unexplored regions of Central Africa from 1868 to 1871 / by Georg Schweinfurth ; translated by Ellen E. Frewer ; with an introduction by Winwood Reade.

Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The heart of Africa : three years' travels and adventures in the unexplored regions of Central Africa from 1868 to 1871 / by Georg Schweinfurth ; translated by Ellen E. Frewer ; with an introduction by Winwood Reade. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    10/618
    The Frenc-h expedition has always been stigmatised as a fruitless crime. But by the French the power of the Mame- lukes was broken; by the French was displayed on Egyptian soil the superior genius of Europe, and thence may be derived a movement similar to that which in the days of . the Pharaohs was produced by the Phil-Hellenes, or kings who were lovers of the Greeks. Mehemet Ali organised an army in the European manner, and crossing the Nubian Desert, conquered the lowlands of Ethiopia or Soudan. At the same time he commenced the civilisation of Cairo. These two great projects, culture in the capital, and con- quest in Soudan, have been carried out of late years with marvellous intelligence and energy by the reigning Khedive. To understand what has been accomplished, let us compare the Egypt and Ethiopia of the present with the past. In the past, a European traveller who visited Egypt incurred contumely and considerable risk. He was not allowed to ride on a horse; he was called dog by the pious who passed him in the streets, and pelted by the playful gamin; the dogs barked at him; the women turned their eyes away as if they had seen an unclean thing. But now Cairo, like Rome and Florence, lives upon tourists, who, if they are not beloved, are welcome; the city is lighted by <Tas: it has public gardens in which a native military band performs every afternoon; an excellent theatre, for which Verdi composed Aida; new houses in the Parisian style are springing up by streets, and are let out at high rents as soon as they are finished. No gentleman wears a turban; and few any longer affect to despise the blessings of a good education. Let us now pass on to the south. In the olden time the Nubian Desert was infested by roving bandit-tribes. Since the davs of Mehemet Ali tliey have earned an honest
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3