River of the Gods: Genius, Courage and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 2022

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1, Chapter 3

Part 1, Chapters 4-5

Part 2, Chapters 6-8

Part 2, Chapters 9-11

Part 2, Chapters 12-13

Part 3, Chapters 14-15

Part 3, Chapters 16-17

Part 4, Chapters 18-19

Part 4, Chapter 20-Epilogue

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Part 1, Chapters 4-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “Some Galant Heart”

Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary: “The Abban”

Burton grew restless and bored while waiting for the Berbera Fair to conclude. He once again donned his Arab merchant disguise and tried to enter the Ethiopian city of Harar, which was a holy city like Mecca. Burton’s trip was successful. Unfortunately, upon his return to Aden several months later, he learned that his mother had passed away from heart disease.

While on his adventure, Burton tasked Herne and Stroyan with gathering information about the region and buying pack animals they could use for the expedition. Burton did not initially assign Speke any tasks, which Speke found intolerable. Burton relented and gave Speke what he considered an easy task: to travel to Wady Nogal, a trade route through northeastern Somaliland. The people in this region were known to be peaceful. Burton wanted Speke to take copious notes on the region’s watershed and weather patterns, gather dirt samples, purchase pack animals, and map the route. Burton hired two men to travel with Speke. The first was an interpreter named Ahmed and the second was an abban, or protector, named Sumunter. Both men were from the same clan.

Despite traveling for several months, Speke never reached Wady Nogal—a fact that he blamed on his abban Sumunter. Burton was outraged by Sumunter’s supposed treatment of Speke and determined to seek justice for the young man. The men held a trial for Sumunter, where he was found guilty and given a harsh punishment, which included a fine, prison sentence, and banishment of his family from Aden. Despite its harshness, Burton found this punishment insufficient and criticized the abbanship system. This criticism put the expedition in grave danger.

The expedition finally set out for Berbera. Burton grows increasingly uneasy about Speke because of his temperament.

Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary: “The Enemy is Upon Us”

Burton and his expedition team landed in Berbera in 1855. The fair was in its final days. The men set up camp close to the town and sea. They believed they were safe staying by the harbor. Sentry guards kept watch over their pack animals and when the men slept. The four officers (Burton, Speke, Stroyan, and Herne) took turns patrolling the camp at night. They agreed that if there was a threat, they would meet in Burton and Herne’s tent, located in the center of the camp.

Initially, the expedition was supposed to travel with the Ogaden caravan into the interior for protection. However, the caravan departed without them at the behest of Burton. Several days after the Ogaden caravan departed, a ship entered the now empty harbor carrying Yusuf, an Arab captain, his crew, and a dozen Somalis, including women. The Somalis were trying to get home but recognized the dangers of doing so in such a small group. They asked the officers for help. The officers refused to help the men out of fear that their food supply would dwindle too quickly. They did help the women, hiring them to do odd jobs for the expedition.

Later that evening, the men’s camp was attacked by 350 Somalis. Burton wrote, “The enemy swarmed like hornets […] with shouts and screams intending to terrify, and proving that overwhelming odds were against them” (53).

Speke, Burton, and Herne tried to guard the tents, but the assault was brutal. The Somalis beat the tents. Fearing that the tents would collapse around the men, Burton ordered them to move outside. Stroyan went missing from the beginning of the attack. Once outside, the men were separated due to the ferocity of the attack. Burton saw a body on the ground and attempted to reach it, fearing it was one of his men, but he was unable to do so.

During the attack, Burton and Speke were both seriously injured. Speke, Burton, and Herne were all able to make it to the Arab ship for safety. Yusuf and his crew returned to the camp to survey the damage. The Somalis had torn tents to the ground, stolen or killed the pack animals, and ravaged the supplies, including stealing the valuable food, cloth, beads, and cooking supplies. They did leave the books and scientific instruments behind. Yusuf and his crew also told the men heartbreaking news: Stroyan died in the attack. The body Burton tried to reach belonged to Stroyan.

Millard writes that “Burton knew that his expedition was over before it had even begun” (60). The expedition began their journey back to Aden on Yusuf’s ship.

Part 1, Chapters 4-5 Analysis

These two chapters represent a key turning point in the story: the deterioration of Burton and Speke’s relationship. During the Somalis’ attack, Speke stepped outside the tent to better see the fighting. He stepped back inside the tent when he realized how violent the attack really was. Burton rebuked Speke. Rather than recognizing that Burton said these words during an intense moment between the two men, Speke felt that Burton was accusing him of cowardice. Speke did not raise his feelings with Burton until years later (Chapter 14). Instead, Speke allowed his frustrations and embarrassment to fester. This event marks when Speke’s feelings toward Burton turn to resentment. In this section, Millard also provides evidence from Burton that Speke was depressed. Burton wrote that Speke confessed to him that “being tired of life he had come to be killed in Africa” (48). Speke’s confession deeply concerned and troubled Burton.

Millard also continues to explore The Dangers of Obsession, Arrogance, and Ignorance with two important examples from these chapters. The first is Burton’s criticism of the abbanship system. Burton argued that “Englishman should be able to travel through Somaliland without paying an abban” (46). Here, he is displaying arrogance by suggesting that Europeans should be able to travel in any land without permission. The Somalis vowed revenge, shocked by Sumunter’s punishment and Burton’s criticism of abbans. They were proud of the abbanship system and took deep offence. Speke, who was deeply embarrassed by the trial since it highlighted his inability to control his own men, was also concerned that Burton’s opinions on the abbanship system could jeopardize their expedition. This belief proved prophetic: Burton’s criticism is one of the reasons the group of Somalis attacked the camp.

The second example is Burton and the other men’s assumption that they were safe in Berbera. Speke’s writings support this assumption. He wrote, “the Somalis would never be so imprudent as to attack us in such a vital place to them as Berbera […] where their whole interests of life were centered, and where, by the simple process of blockading, we could so easily take retribution in any way we liked” (52). Due to the men’s arrogance, they did not have guards watching over their tents the night of the attack. The attack and subsequent death of Stroyan might have been prevented if the British explorers took the necessary precautions to ensure their safety.