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| Now in charge of his own expedition, Speke, with his faithful servant, Bombay (Seth Adagala), attends the Court of the ruthless King Mutesa, whose dominions stand between him and his objective - Lake Victoria. Speke hopes his dress and flag will be persuasive in convincing Mutesa to let him pass - but it ain't that easy! |
| Finally Speke manages to shake himself free of Mutesa's clutches; leaving his companion, James Grant behind in order, it has been said, to claim the honour of discovery for himself. Now he beholds a mighty river that exits Lake Victoria in a northerly direction. Speke rashly convinces himself, without further evidence, that this is surely the very source of the Nile. |
| Back in England, Isabel Arundel (Barbara Leigh-Hunt) takes Burton completely off-guard by naming the day for their marriage! |
| Willfrid Scawen Blunt described Burton as having "a countenance the most sinister I have ever seen, dark, cruel, treacherous with eyes like a wild beast's". Kenneth Haigh does rather well in this portrayal, wouldn't you say? |
| Speke returns to England with less than complete proof that he has found the source of the Nile. Burton, not unexpectedly, disputes this claim. A huge public debate ensues between these two implacable enemies, culminating in a "Great Debate" event, staged in Bath. However, this was destined never to happen. Prepared for battle, Burton now rises unsteadily to comment on Speke's apparently accidental death from a shooting accident that day. <BACK HOME NEXT> |
| Samuel Baker (Norman Rossington), a bluff Victorian businessman and amateur explorer, visits the Burtons, together with his wife Florence, to announce that they intend to travel up the Nile as far as they can go by boat and follow it to its source. Predictably, Burton is not too encouraging. Baker was much more successful as a popular author than the rather flamboyantly erudite Burton. |