"Andersson...was the most important African explorer after Livingstone...fascinating books on travel...in 1853 he was the first white man to make his way to the great newly discovered Lake Ngami...through barren tribe-infested wastes of Damaraland." -Daily Telegraph, Oct. 6, 1936
"Lake Ngami...is a book of great interest...containing narratives of exciting adventures with wild animals and of hair-breadth escapes experienced by the author while in the pursuit of such noble game as the lion, the elephant, the rhinoceros, and other denizens of the African wild and desert." -The Era (London), June 1, 1856
"Andersson was easily the most important explorer of south-western Africa. Beginning with Lake Ngami, he wrote several narratives which were popular...instigated a war between Herero and Nama forces." -Anthropology and Bushmen (2020)
"A more inviting volume than 'Lake Ngami' has not fallen into our hands...to all sportsmen Andersson's book will be charming...abounds with excitement in the way of wild-beast hunting." -Globe, 1856
Impaled by a rhinoceros, attacked by elephants and lions, robbed by tribesmen, and abandoned by his fellow explorer, why did Charles John Andersson feel compelled to attempt an expedition through unexplored hostile wastelands to distant Lake Ngami?
In 1856, Charles John Andersson (1827-1867) published a narrative of his adventurous expedition to Lake Ngami far in the unexplored regions of Africa. It is this book of 500 pages, titled, "Lake Ngami," that has been republished here for the convenience of the interested reader.
In introducing his book, Andersson writes:
"The following Narrative of Explorations and Discoveries during four years in the wilds of the southwestern parts of Africa contains the account of two expeditions in that continent between the years 1850 and 1854. In the first of these journeys, the countries of the Damaras (previously all but unknown in Europe) and of the Ovambo (till now a terra incognita) were explored; in the second, the newly-discovered Lake Ngami was reached by a route that had always been deemed impracticable.
"...Owing to the severe hardships [the author] has undergone, his constitution is undermined, and the foundation of a malady has been laid that it is feared he will carry with him to the day of his death; yet such is the perverseness of human nature that, did circumstances permit, he would return to this life of trial and privation."
About the author:
Charles John Andersson (1827-1867) was a British-Swedish explorer, hunter and trader as well as an amateur naturalist and ornithologist. He is most famous for the many books he published about his travels, and for being one of the most notable explorers of southern Africa, mostly in present-day Namibia.
Other books by the author include:
· Explorations in South Africa
· The Okavango River, a Narrative of Travel, Exploration and Adventure
· The Lion and The Elephant
· Notes of Travel in South-Western Africa
