Chapter 5 Gregory's 1893 Lake Baringo & Mount Kenya Expedition: ‘The Great Rift Valley’

Abstract

Except where noted otherwise, the following is taken from Gregory's 1896 book (422 pages), mostly Part II. It is not intended to give a detailed resume of that gripping account, but to outline what Gregory achieved and some of the difficulties he faced, the first of which had been surviving the unnecessary stay in the notorious malarial inland zone during the previous expedition. In this zone, the annual death rate among Europeans was 23%. In Mombasa, an island good for health, Gregory confirmed his plan to mount his own expedition to the Rift Valley. He telegraphed home to his family for ‘a small sum of money’ (Flower in Gregory 1894, p. 515; Nicholson 1932), almost certainly much less than £50, for his annual salary was less than £200. He was determined not to burden the Museum with unexpected expenses, but he did obtain carte blanche from the NHM trustees to act in whatever way he thought best, consistent with his own safety, as his enthusiasm was well known in the NHM and there were concerns that he might become reckless (Flower, op. cit.). Many years later, J. R. Norman (1896–1944) revealed that Charles Davies Sherborn (1861–1942), an old and intimate colleague of Gregory's at the NHM, had had a considerable tussle with Whitehall on Gregory's behalf in order to allow Gregory to mount his own expedition, although neither Flower nor Gregory made any reference to this (Norman 1944). The probable reason is given below. Despite his meagre finances (his salary and some small savings) he was helped by having the pick of the unused stores and equipment from the abandoned expedition. Without these he would not have been able to proceed. No other European would accompany him. He had learnt a great deal from the difficulties of the Villiers …