SIMON: Why was it important to the Royal Geographic Society to fund their ventures to try and find the source of the Nile? But he burned with this sort of quiet, unspoken ambition that led to incredibly deep envy and resentment for Burton, his commander, that in the end really destroyed them both. So Speke was what Britons expected their heroes to be. SIMON: And tell us about John Hanning Speke, an aristocrat who seemed to care more for animals than people, but he cared for animals 'cause he wanted to shoot them. And really, in many ways, he did more to map East Africa than any explorer ever to enter the continent of his birth. And he did that again and again for expedition after expedition. He was always keeping their spirits up, keeping them going. MILLARD: Yes, he very quickly became the heart and really the hero of the story and of that expedition. How did he become a part of the story in this trek? Into slavery in western India, and then he made his way back to Africa. SIMON: And Sidi Mubarak Bombay - he was kidnapped from his village in East Africa, sold for cloth. He was in many ways sort of an equal opportunity offender - obviously very deeply flawed in many ways, but absolutely fascinating. But he studied every religion and every culture but respected none. He was the first Englishman to enter Mecca, disguised as a Muslim, because his Arabic was so good. You know, he was one of these once-in-a-century characters. First, Richard Burton - brilliant, self-taught, much to admire, but kind of hard to like, wasn't he?
SIMON: I want to get you to tell us about each of these three distinctive personalities. Thank you so much for being with us.ĬANDICE MILLARD: Thanks so much for having me. Candice Millard, author of previous bestsellers, including "River Of Doubt," joins us now from Kansas City. Candice Millard's book, "River Of The Gods: Genius, Courage And Betrayal In The Search For The Source Of The Nile," tells the true life tales of men who trekked into uncharted places, contending with the forbidding terrain of heat, drought, fever, typhoid, smallpox and beetles that burrowed into ears. The quest to find the headwaters of the Nile River was the space race of the middle of the 19th century.
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