The result was that Speke hugged the discovery “to himself with
the solicitude of a mother for its unborn babe”, suspecting that
Burton would rob him of the major credits. Meanwhile Burton’s
growing “scientific” scepticism was fuelled by a suppressed fear
that he had made a fatal mistake himself. True Tales of War,
Adventure and Exploration tells how Britain had been a land of
adventurers and explorers since the days of the first Elizabeth.
It was the daring in search of fresh horizons who created the
British Empire in the first place. The Empire itself provided
later generations, still thirsting for wilder shores and
lonelier uplands, with a world-wide obstacle course filled with
romantic, dangerous challenges. For some, the objectives were
practical in nature for example to find a precious mineral, a
new sea or overland route to some important objective. For many
the challenge itself was the goal. To penetrate an untrodden
jungle, cross an uncrossed desert, circumnavigate the globe or
conquer a mountain pea