Samuel Baker

Sir Samuel White Baker KCB FRS FRGS (8 June 1821 – 30 December 1893) was an English explorer, army officer, naturalist, big game hunter, engineer, writer and abolitionist. He is mostly remembered as the first European to visit Lake Albert, as an explorer of the Nile and the interior of central Africa, and for his exploits as a big game hunter in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.

Quotes

During our march the simoom was fearful, and the heat so intense that it was impossible to draw the guncases out of their leather covers, which it was necessary to cut open. All woodwork was warped; ivory knife-handles were split; paper broke when crunched in the hand, and the very marrow seemed to be dried out of the bones. The extreme dryness of the air induced an extraordinary amount of electricity in the hair and in all woollen materials. A Scotch plaid laid upon a blanket for a few hours adhered to it, and upon being withdrawn at night a sheet of flame was produced, accompanied by tolerably loud reports.
- In the Heart of Africa (1886), ch. 1. Condensed By E. J. W from The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia (1867) and The Albert N'yanza Great Basin of the Nile (1866)