Sources of the River: Tracking David Thompson Across Western North America by Jack Nisbet
David Thompson explored the land of the Columbia River and the Pacific Northwest for the British business interests. However, he is not well known in history. This book intersperses the author's visits to the modern northwest, with the exploration stories of the Thompson. It seemed like it should have been interesting than it was.
River of Gods recounts the exploration of the source of the Nile by Richard Burton and John Speke. Burton was had an ability to pick up languages and adopt other cultures. He was able to appear as a Muslim Pilgrim to enter Mecca and get details of sites there. He was perhaps too good at learning languages and would get in trouble at school. He knew the value of local guides and employed them in his quest to find the source of the Nile. Speke had gone with Burton on an expedition. Both had health problems on the trip.
Speke later led a group to find the source. He is portrayed in a much more negative light in the book. He came across as much more "British", not caring to learn details of local language and culture like Burton. He was also a very poor writer. He did manage to lead his own expedition to set eyes on lake Victoria. The two had some conflicting ideas about what the source of the Nile was. They were set to debate them. However, shortly before, Speke died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. (It was ruled accidental, though it may have been a suicide.)
Burton lived for many years later, getting married and obtaining a diplomatic appointment. He had respect for other cultures and religions, from Mormons to Muslims. He didn't like slavery. He was willing to explore controversial topics such as slavery. He had translated different "sex manuals" from other cultures. He is now best known for translating the Arabian Nights stories.
The epilogue mentions Stanley and Livingstone, two of the well known British African explorers. There experiences are briefly mentioned, but the focus is primarily on the Burton and Speke.
Columbus is a complicated figure. At one time he was venerated. Now he is often demonized. Regardless of he his is viewed, he played an important role in history. The primary sources available are remarkably abundant, yet influenced by the passing of time. After all, his voyages were over 500 years ago. The American Revolution is much closer to our days than it is to the time of Columbus.
Some of the mythology gets in the way of understanding Columbus. He, like many educated people of the day knew that the earth was round. However, he miscalculated the size of the earth. America happened to be right where he thought Asia would be. He was a great navigator and went through great efforts to launch his voyage. He had to spend time wooing monarchs in order to get funds to sail into the unknown.
Religion was an important part of his reasoning for sailing - and one of his political talking points. He thought of the expedition as a great chance to help convert the Great Khan and his subjects to Christianity. He also saw it has a chance to accumulate gold to finance a crusade to retake Jerusalem. He also saw his discoveries as part of the steps needed for the oncoming of Christ's millennial reign, which was to come in about 150 years. Towards the end of his life he published a work that detailed many of his religious views.
Crews were initially reluctant to join him. However, after he succeeded on the first voyage, he had many more people willing to join him. This was perhaps a bigger challenge. Now in addition to navigating and exploring, he had to manage people. The "elites" didn't want to do the hard work of colony building. Men were also eager to abuse the natives and found the unclothed women especially tempting. Columbus's first settlement of La Navidad was totally destroyed by the natives after the settlers had behaved poorly with the natives.
Many of the Spaniards saw the natives as inferior and felt no qualms of abusing them. Columbus was often at odds with his fellow Europeans. They preferred to live in their "European" style and treat the natives as slaves. These Europeans were often high ranking. They would use their position to report vitriol against Columbus, even sending him back to Spain in chains at the end of one voyage. Columbus even had concerns with the religious leaders. He wanted to make sure that the natives could be instructed in the teachings of Christ before they would be baptized.
The "Indians" that were encountered were not a single entity. There were different groups. Some shared common customs and got along well with each others. Others were not so friendly. Some of the Carib Indians had customs that were seen as especially barbaric, such as cannibalism and sodomy. It became a question of how best to punish them. Some were brought back as slaves. (Slavery of non Christians was commonly accepted at the time.) Other friendly Indians were also brought back to Europe.
Columbus died still thinking he found Asia, not a new continent. He had a special love for Santo Domingo, yet was upset with the poor behavior of those sent to rule there. Each generation has tried to make Columbus in their own image. As scientific rationality took hold, the "science" of this voyage took the forefront, with the religious point of view brushed aside. In today's anti-racist climate, the poor behavior of his crews and later followers have led people to accuse Columbus of genocide, mass murder and slavery. Alas, this all tries to simplify a complex man and put him in mold of the current day. Even the primary sources we can find can be somewhat misleading. (Columbus had plenty of enemies who loved to exaggerate or make up horrible claims.) The irony of those spewing negativity is that Columbus was one of the more liberal, peaceful men of his days. He had much greater respect for the "Indians" and their land than did the typical European sailor.
