Lake Ngami: Or Explorations And Discoveries During Four Years' Wanderings In The Wilds Of South Western Africa

by Charles John Andersson

Lake Or Explorations And Discoveries During Four Years' Wanderings In The Wilds Of South Western Africa — Charles John Andersson. This travelogue records a mid-19th-century expedition into the interior of southwestern Africa led by Andersson, with Francis Galton as a co-explorer on the first journey and a cast of guides, hunters, and missionaries. The narrative blends exploration, ethnography, and natural-history observation as it traces preparations for inland travel, a voyage from London to Cape Town, and the pivot to routes via Walfisch Bay, with base stations at Scheppmansdorf and Richterfeldt. It surveys the Damara and Namaqua country, details ox-breaking, caravan logistics, and the arduous trek northward toward the interior. Dramatic episodes—lions, rhinoceroses, elephants; perilous crossings; and the reliance on porters and servants—illuminate the risks and practical skills of overland exploration. The work also records Bechuana, Ovambo, and missionary life, flora and fauna, and the hydrology of rivers feeding Lake Ngami. Overall, it is a rich geographical, ethnographic, and natural-history portrait of southern Africa on the eve of deeper European penetration.

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1856

About the author

Karl Johan (Charles John) Andersson (4 March 1827 in Värmland, Sweden – 9 July 1867 in Angola) was a Swedish explorer, hunter and trader as well as an amateur naturalist and ornithologist.

He is most famous for the many books he published about his travels, and for being one of the most notable explorers of southern Africa, mostly in present-day Namibia.