The book "Explorers of the Nile: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Great Victorian Adventure" by Tim Jeal contradicts with every other books I read, including "River of the Gods" by Candice Millard, "A Biography of Sir Richard Francis Burton" by Byron Farwell, "Devil Drives A Life of Sir Richard Burton" by Fawn M. Brodie and it didn't convince me its version is the "right" version. On the contrary, I found the author's reasoning and logic was quite flaw.
The latest book about the dispute between Richard Burton and John Speke is "River of the Gods" published in 2022 by Candice Millard. Before reading this one I have already read the books Byron Farwell and Fawn M. Brodie (both published in 60s) so I was rather familia with the story. But when re-read the story with "River of the Gods" I still can't help to wonder what a jerk Speke was!
His "crimes" according to "River of the Gods" included, but not limited,
-
Betraying his leader Burton by going to RGS first announcing he had found the Nile source while Burton was on his way home. And Speke boasted shamlessly several times “I am sure everybody at Zanzibar knows it that I was the leader and Burton the second of the Expedition.”
-
Leaving James Grant behind, "who had shared in the difficulties, expenses, and dangers of the expedition, would be deprived of both the thrill of the moment—seeing the Nile as it rushed from the Nyanza—and the glory that was to come."
-
Accusing John Petherick taking part in the slave trade and totally ruined Petherick's reputaion just becasue Petherick was late for their meeting. "Spreading the rumor that he(Speke) had heard in Gondokoro from Petherick’s trading rivals, men whom Petherick had arrested for selling enslaved people, Speke suggested that the consul himself had taken part in the slave trade. ... For Petherick, the repercussions were immediate and devastating."
-
Betraying the then president of RGS, Sir Roderick Murchison, who championed his trip and was fond of him at the beginning of the trip by giving the full account of his expedition not to the Royal Geographical Society (as a tradition ), but to Blackwood. "The idea that he would treat the Society and the men who had supported and encouraged him with such casual disregard and disrespect astonished Murchison... Finally, after months of urging, complaining, and demanding, the Royal Geographical Society did receive a short article from Speke. The article, however, was so disappointing that Murchison dictated a terse letter to the man he had once enthusiastically championed, complaining of its “very brief and imperfect character.”
But Tim Jeal's version defened all Speke's actions, tried to portait Speke as a quite noble and decent man while accused of Burton despicable. Make no mistake, Burton was not a saint, when talking about their dispute we are truly talking about the lesser of two evils here. But Jeal's defend is quite flaw, for example when talking his Betrayal to Burton that most people famalir with, he spend a whole chapter, Chapter 6 "Promises and Lies" he came up with this theory that Burton "To this [Speke’s map] I would respectfully draw the attention of the committee as there are grave reasons for believing it to be the source of the principal feeder of the White Nile. he compounded the dishonesty of keeping his true beliefs to himself by embarking on a long and increasingly vindictive campaign to discredit Speke." So Burton told Speke he would return home via Jerusalem.
"By pretending it would be many months before he would return to England, he could have hoped to lull Speke into imagining that he had plenty of time in hand, and need not hurry to the RGS the moment he landed. Then, if Burton caught the very next homeward-bound steamship, and Speke in the meantime had gone to the country to relax with his family, Burton might even arrive first at the RGS and grab command of the next expedition!
BTW, if you would like know what Tim Jeal's book is about, you can refer to this article https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/sep/11/burton-speke-african-exploration-nile