As you enter the cemetery of St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church in Mortlake, you cannot miss the mausoleum in the style of a Bedouin tent. This is the final resting place of Richard Burton; not the famous actor, but a Richard Burton who was just as famous and infamous in his own time. 
 
Following his service in the Crimean War, he gained sponsorship by the Royal Geographical Society to set out with fellow explorer John Hanning Speke to trace the source of the Nile, something he had dreamed of doing for many years. Burton and Speke were known to each other as they had taken part in a disastrous expedition to Somalia a few years before. The 2 men were very different, Speke being a quiet, well-mannered man, whilst Burton was an impulsive daredevil explorer. 
 
Meeting on the island of Zanzibar, they sailed to the East coast of Africa to start their journey inland. The going was exceptionally harsh, and the exploration party were constantly beset with difficulties. They travelled over 600 miles on foot and by donkey before reaching Kazeh (Tabora). Both men had fallen ill at different times, trackers and natives deserted, and supplies were stolen. At one time, both Speke and Burton had to be carried in hammocks because of bouts of malaria and heat difficulties. Indeed, when they eventually discovered a vast expanse of water, which was to become known as Lake Tanganyika, Speke was unable to see it as he was temporarily blinded by heat stroke. 
 
Making a partial recovery, Speke decided to explore the lake but could only get small canoes from the natives. Stranded on an island at one point, he became temporarily deaf when he attempted to remove a bug from his ear with the point of his knife. 
 
Both men decided to go their separate ways after Burton became dispirited when told water flowed into the lake and not out of it, and it could not be the Nile source. He decided to return to Zanzibar, fully recover, and try again. Speke in the meantime decided to push on to the North East. To his delight, he discovered the vast Sea of Ukerewe, the largest lake in Africa. Confident he had found the source of the Nile, he named it Lake Victoria. It was the lake that would prove to be the source of the Nile. 
 
Speke returned home to announce his discovery, but in the absence of material proof, Burton in particular dismissed Speke’s claims. The two men who had not been particularly close now became sworn enemies. Things deteriorated further when Speke was chosen to lead another expedition to Lake Victoria, this time with his friend, James Augustus Grant. 
 
Burton, in his anger, published his denunciation of Speke’s claims in his book ‘Lake Regions of Central Africa’ 
 
Speke and Grant departed from Portsmouth, arriving in Zanzibar 6 months later. It was Grant's turn to fall ill this time, and he could not accompany Speke on his inland journey to what was the South West of the Lake. Unfortunately for Speke, the local natives and most tribes either fled or fought with the Englishmen. Finally, by bartering with the tribes and offering many supplies and trinkets, the expedition managed to make it to Lake Victoria with the Nile flowing out from Ripon Falls at its head. 
 
Reuniting with Grant, they returned to London, where they were received like true heroes. This, however, did not last long due to Burton’s relentless attack on Speke’s purported findings. Speke was a poor orator and wordsmith, and Burton took full advantage of this by constantly attacking Speke, both verbally and in print. 
 
The Geographical Society set up a debate between Speke and Burton to settle the matter, but the afternoon before, Speke suffered a shooting accident from which he died. His death left in doubt the true source of the White Nile. However, 4 years later, Henry Morgan Stanley mapped the entirety of Lake Victoria and the course of the upper Nile. 

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