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BARTH, HEINRICH (1821–1865)

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 447 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BARTH, HEINRICH (1821–1865) , See also:German explorer, was See also:born at See also:Hamburg on the 16th of See also:February 1821, and educated at See also:Berlin University, where he graduated in 1844. He had already visited See also:Italy and See also:Sicily and had formed a See also:plan to See also:journey throughthe Mediterranean countries. After studying Arabic in See also:London he set out on his travels in 1845. From See also:Tangier he made his way overland throughout the length of See also:North See also:Africa, visiting the sites of the See also:ancient cities of See also:Barbary and See also:Cyrenaica. He also travelled through See also:Egypt, ascending the See also:Nile to See also:Wadi See also:Haifa and See also:crossing the See also:desert to See also:Berenice. While in Egypt he was attacked and wounded by robbers. Crossing the See also:Sinai ' See also:peninsula he traversed See also:Palestine, See also:Syria, See also:Asia See also:Minor, See also:Turkey and See also:Greece, everywhere examining the remains cf antiquity; and returned to Berlin in 1847. For a See also:time he was engaged there as Privatdocent, and in preparing for publication the narrative of his Wanderungen durch See also:die Kiistenlander See also:des Mitlelmeeres, which appeared in 1849. At the instance of See also:Bunsen and other scientists, Barth and Adolf Overweg, a Prussian astronomer, were appointed colleagues of See also:James See also:Richardson, an explorer of the See also:Sahara who had been selected by the See also:British See also:government to open up commercial relations with the states of the central and western See also:Sudan. The party See also:left See also:Tripoli "See also:early in 185o, but the deaths of Richardson (See also:March 1851) and Overweg (See also:September 1852) left Barth to carry on the See also:mission alone. He returned to See also:Europe in September 18,55, after one' of the most fruitful expeditions ever undertaken in inner Africa. In addition to journeys across the Sahara, Barth traversed the See also:country from See also:Lake See also:Chad and See also:Bagirmi on the See also:east to See also:Timbuktu on the See also:west and Cameroon on the See also:south, making prolonged sojourns in the ancient sultanates or emirates of See also:Borne, See also:Kano, See also:Nupe, See also:Sokoto and See also:Gando and at Timbuktu.

He studied minutely the See also:

topography, See also:history, civilizations and resources of the countries he visited. The See also:story of his travels was published simultaneously in See also:English and' German, under the See also:title Travels and Discoveries in North and Central, Africa (1857-1858, 5 vols.). For accuracy, See also:interest, variety and extent of See also:information Barth's Travels have few rivals among See also:works of the See also:kind. It is a See also:book that will always See also:rank as a See also:standard authority on the regions in question, of which a See also:great See also:part, under the name of See also:Nigeria, has since come under British See also:rule. Except a C.B., Barth himself received no recognition of his services from the British government. He returned to See also:Germany, where he prepared a collection of Central See also:African vocabularies (See also:Gotha, 1862-1866). In 1858 he' undertook another journey in Asia Minor, and in 1862 visited Turkey in Europe. In the following See also:year he was appointed See also:professor of See also:geography at Berlin University and See also:president of the See also:Geographical Society. He died at Berlin on the 25th of See also:November 1865. See See also:Schubert's Heinrich Barth, der Bahnbrecher der deutschen Afrikaforschung (Berlin, 1897). An edition of the Travels in two volumes was published in London in 1890 (See also:Minerva Library of Famous Books).

End of Article: BARTH, HEINRICH (1821–1865)

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