most fortunate in securing the cooperation of Lieutenant
von Hohnel. What he accomplished for geography
will be seen from an inspection of the maps
accompanying this volume.
But one other white man accompanied us; this was
my servant, George Galvin, an American boy nineteen
B o r a s s u s P a l m
years of age. He had accompanied me upon my first
expedition to Africa, at which time he was but sixteen
years of age, and had not only proved himself capable,
in an astonishing degree, of withstanding the hardships
incident to African travel, but had also developed
marked capability in the work connected with the
caravan, Throughout the narrative, I shall speak of
him as George ; and as the story progresses, the reader
will be able to judge of his behaviour.
The expedition of Count Teleki and Lieutenant von
Hohnel determined the northern limit of the Masai
race, and penetrated almost to the regions inhabited
by the Galla. Between Lakes Rudolph and Stephanie
and the Indian Ocean there lies a large area of country,
which until our journey had resisted attempts at exploration.
The natives inhabiting that portion of the
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O u t s k i r t s o f L a m u
coast are Somali, and they proved in every way hostile
to Europeans. Baron Vanderdecken had met his
death at Bardera, a few miles from the coast, in the
year 1867. Since that time few efforts had been
made, and they were attended with anything but
success.
Both Lieutenant von Hohnel and I had had some
experience in African travel, and we decided that an
exploration of this part of the country was feasible,
provided entrance was made south of the region over
which the Somali held sway. The River Tana, which
flows from Mount Kenya to the Indian Ocean, had
been proved by the journeys of Denhardt, Peters, and