Description

Cameron (1844-94) was an English traveller in Central Africa who in 1875 became the first European to traverse equitorial Africa from sea to sea. He joined the Royal Navy in 1857 and was employed in the suppression of the East African slave trade. This experience led to him being chosen to command an expedition sent by the Royal Geographical Society in 1873 to assist Dr Livngstone and to make independent explorations based on Livingstone's advice. Soon after departing from Zanzibar the expedition met Chuma and Susi bearing the dead body of Livingstone and whilst two of his fellow Europeans were tasked with returning the body to the coast, Cameron continued on. When he reached Ujiji on Lake Tanganyila he found Livingstone's papers and sent them back to England. After tracing the Congo-Zambezi watershed for hundreds of miles he eventually reached the coast in November 1875 and was awarded the RGS's Founder's Gold Medal in 1876. The following year he published Across Africa which detailed his travels. He made further exploratory journies to Egypt and West Africa and in the 1880s wrote a number of adventure stories for boys based on his experiences. This title was published in 1887 and includes 32 illustrations.