in 1873-1874 he accompanied friedrich gerhard rohlfs in his expedition into the libyan desert. settling at cairo in 1875, he founded a geographical society, under the auspices of the khedive ismail, and devoted himself almost exclusively to african studies, historical and ethnographical. in 1876, he travelled into the arabian desert with paul güssfeldt, and continued his explorations therein at intervals until 1888, and during the same period made geological and botanical investigations in the fayum, in the valley of the nile. in 1889 he returned to berlin; but he visited the italian colony of eritrea in 1891, 1892 and 1894. schweinfurth died in berlin.