MY SECOND EXPEDITION TO EASTERN INTERTROPICAL AFRICA (Pre-publication pamphlet)

19 pages, without wrappers as issued and sewn, some light foxing, a good copy.

South African Bibliography, Volume 5, The Supplement, page 306, (2 copies listed).

This pamphlet is a slightly edited version of pages 155 -199 of Speke's WHAT LED TO THE DISCOVERY OF THE SOURCE OF THE NILE (1864). At the start of his third expedition (the second journey to the Lakes 1860 - 3,) Speke travelled to Cape Town on the same ship as Sir George Grey, Governor of Cape Colony. Upon arrival Sir George obtained a donation of £300 from the Cape Parliament towards the cost of Speke's expedition together with the services of ten Hottentot volunteers.

In his biography of Speke, Alexander Maitland asserts that Speke had this pamphlet printed in Cape Town so that it could be sent back to his publisher Blackwood, in Scotland. However, it seems equally likely that upon Grey's suggestion, it may have been printed for circulation at the Cape, perhaps to members of the Cape Parliament, to encourage financial support for Speke's expedition.