- That's quite an arsenal. - It is for hunting.
Won't hunt here. The coast is closed. Hostile tribes.
- On leave from the Indian Army, Sir. - Lieutenant Speke ...
- John Hanning Speke. - I know the name.
Your father was the High Sheriff of Somerset?
There is a party going inland as some kind of survey of the Royal Geographical Society. But it is out of my jurisdiction.
- Would you introduce me to its leader? - Wouldn't think of it.
Captain Richard Burton, travel writer. Man's a fool.
- I'm looking for Captain Burton. - He's in the mosque.
He can be anywhere among this bunch. Tends to mingle ...
Please, wait ... I was told Captain Burton might be here.
So lieutenant, you left home at 17 and never returned.
Why?
My oldest brother administers the family property..
If we find gold inland you will have property yourself.
- Is that why you go? - The captain is interested by tribal practices.
Take these lasses here.
For centuries, Somali women have been circumcised. The men believe it keeps their wives at home where they belong.
Burton has single-handedly disproved that theory.
And of course there's the Nile.
All have guessed: Ptolemy, Caesar, Napoleon.
The greatest river in the world.
- Will it dry up? - Where does it begin?
Every Westerner's curiosity has been met with torture, mutilation and death.
The river is shrouded in mystery.
Who will be the first to discover its source?
Which of our goals do you favour, Speke?
To march inland, you'll need help.
I brought many guns.
April 21st.
Native legend says that the Nile's source lies deep in the interior.
They call the place the Mountains of the Moon.
It is ironic that while I choose to explore the unknown
I must bear the personal responsibility for the exploitation that might follow.
For those who would control the river, and thus all the nations that depend upon its waters.
We move inland tomorrow. Our funds and provisions remain meagre.
But I have taken on a subordinate, an English Lieutenant Speke, who brings with him more guns and ammunition.
Look.
A tawny eagle. It's a fine specimen, don't you think?
This is not an expedition for sport.
More. Put on more wood.
What's the matter?
Some strange tribesmen followed me as I walked back to camp.
- What did they look like? - I couldn't see clearly.
Did they carry lances?
- Were their faces painted? - They kept their distance.
Understand, Lieutenant, that close observation is not only a part of your duty. In Africa it means survival.
I don't look particularly threatening.
You look what you are: A white and an intruder.
Enough.
Keep two more sentries tonight.
I've heard that the tribes in this area castrate their victims.
That's a pleasant thought.
- Lieutenant? - Yes?
May I come in? How are your feet?
Splendidly callused. I assure you I am quite ready.
I thought you might want this.
Acacia root. Good for hardening the skin.
- Good night, Dick. - Good night, Jack.
Wake up. Wake up.
- Stand! - More ammunition. - Stand, I said. Let's secure a treaty.
- Too many. Too many. - To the water.
Where's Speke?
Stop here. Exactly here.
Drive on.
I'll be along shortly.
Careful with that one, Tom.
I didn't want you to see me get out of the carriage this way. My wounds will heal quite soon.
You look splendid, John.
- As you can see, the wound is suppurating. I think there is a lot of pus. - Perhaps, we should lance it, sir.
You assured me, that this surgery would leave no scars.
Then, what you call this? A young butcher, that's what I call him.
- Should be prohibited from practicing. - Who was that?
When did you get back? Where did this happen?
Did the repair myself. You'd have been proud of your older brother.
This last journey, Edward ...
I bungled it.
Two friends killed and many bearers.
One young lieutenant horribly wounded.
- A good man. - There is good men in my profession too.
Africa is so vast. It won't be explored in our lifetimes.
The Nile's an obsession. I need to go back and I want you to come with me.
Medicine is my obsession. You know that.
If you returned with some bizarre fungus growing from your armpit, you would have to find another doctor. I can't come.
Sorry to press you like this.
- I'll sleep here. - Sleep in the bedroom.
- I'll be quite comfortable on the couch. - And if we have guests?
I'm a geographer. I'll navigate.
And Sir Gentlemen, we are most grateful to Captain Burton for his activities in Africa ...
where our distinguished colleague Dr. David Livingstone continues to work.
The resources of the Nile ..
its certain treasures ...
await discovery.
It gives me pleasure to introduce Captain Richard Burton.
So I thank the Royal Geographical Society for its support. If our small excursion ended abruptly...
I am convinced a larger fully armed expedition would bring us the success we so much desire.
Research is already underway to determine a safer route.
Since no white man has ever penetrated this area we are somewhat at the mercy of Arab information.
The source of the Nile and the mysteries of Central Africa remain to be found.
A major effort now, I am sure, would be to the glory of the Society and Her Majesty the Queen.
Well done, Richard.
Father, how well do you know the Speke family?
Couldn't hear you.
- Burton wants to finance another expedition. - Burton will bring the Society the biggest success. Mark my words.
- The way the man dresses! - Surely you are not resentful because his publisher is someone else?
- He's Irish. - And Livingstone is a Scott. - -Entirely different matter.
Dr. Livingstone is our most esteemed Christian missionary.
You haven't met Speke, have you?
Je suis la! La fête commence!
- One of your admirers. - Algernon Swinburne.
I always wondered, Captain Burton, why you didn't return to England after your exploit in Mecca.
- You could have been knighted. - I prefer to stay in Cairo. With the whores.
Better a night in Cairo than to be knighted in London.
- Lady Houghton... - Richard, may I introduce you to Isabel Arundell.
Isabel, our guest of honour, Captain Richard Burton.
I caution you, Richard ... She knows a good deal about you.
- I brought this volume along, in the hope that you would inscribe it. - Which volume?
- Instructions on the use of bayonet and sabre. - Strange choice.
- Why not one of my travel episodes? - It's the only book of yours my parents will permit me to keep.
- My book. - You don't want me to sign it?
I do want you to sign it. I do. Thank you.
- Done. - Thank you.
"To innocence and virtue".
- How presumptuous. - You were at the Royal Geographical Society.
Rules. I was ejected.
Not without a struggle, I recall.
Now, Burton, tell us about the real Africa.
- Did you kill many men? - My Lord, who is this dandy?
I always want wit, elegance and beauty at my table.
- And in this case ... - You've placed the beauty among us.
I was wondering if you enjoyed using your famous sword on the natives?
In Africa, sir, a sword or spear as blunt as your wit would be useless indeed.
Ladies and gentlemen ...
To our host, Lord Houghton. To his eccentric tastes.
- And average wine. - Thank you.
May I recommend you see my tailor.
You are indeed, lord, the most direct of all politicians.
Fashions have changed a trifle in the last decade.
- Am I that absurd? - In a word ... yes.
You know, my husband is very worldly. It can be difficult at times.
If I were a man ...
I would be Richard Burton.
- Where was this? Here? - I found it behind them, actually.
- Dance? - Thank you.
I've just learned a few things I didn't know about you.
Tell me.
Well, that you are, for example, an ungainly dancer.
The man who finds the Nile's source will become more famous, more honoured, than any career officer in the army.
It's the last great prize. John will become rich through the sale of books that my father and I will publish.
May I confide in you?
In all the years he's been away, I have received two, maybe three letters.
He has great difficulty writing. And this man, Burton ...
I know my way.
- Are you all right, John? - I have problem balancing the stone.
- Let me help you. - No.
You are amazing.
I want to ride tomorrow.
Of course. We'll go together.
Your brother carries with him that wonderful odour of fresh farm dung.
Tell me your impression of Burton.
Those who served him, loved him. But he often rebukes. Unnecessarily.
He was responsible for your wounds.
Perhaps.
But it was worth it.
I had never before such a sense of purpose.
You're in pain.
I'm fine, Larry.
Stop scratching. It's healing.
- I tried to enlist with the nursing corps. - For Crimea?
- Florence Nightingale, she says I am too inexperienced. - Well, the patients have been spared.
- You studied hypnotism, didn't you? - With a yogi in Rajasthan.
- Does it relieve pain? - And boredom.
Try it.
- Here, in the botanical gardens? - Yes, you can.
Concentrate.
You will relax. Your mind will empty.
Here, in the botanical gardens?
Please, father. If we make a contribution to the Royal Geographical Society ...
... they will have to accept Speke and we will have exclusive rights to publish his findings.
- But you've already suggested that he is semi illiterate. - Your son is a ...
Your son is a skilled editor.
John Hanning Speke is English. Burton is not.
Now surely, the public prefers its own hero from a good English family.
Is your primary interest in Speke ... business?
Sign.
- Where did you tell your parents you will be out tonight? - At the opera.
- Which one? - Mozart.
Don Giovanni.
You once wrote that you inspected a lover in Cairo with a candle.
Don't remember. You've made me forget all other women.
The memory will return, I'm sure. In the name of science.
What is it?
I want to meet your parents. You must prepare the way.
You have a small amount of preparation to do yourself, Richard.
- I suppose you hunt in Africa? - When I need food.
I am fond of hunting myself.
Yes, a fine sport indeed. Brings out a man's skill and daring under perilous circumstances.
Ever shot a lion?
No... just partridge.
Yours is a vagabond life. In dusty faraway places.
I often live in tents, yes. Better for observing intrinsic customs and ways of behaviour.
- Is that the English policy? - No, but it should be.
- How many languages do you speak? - 23.
And some Turkish dialects from Bermia.
And what of religion?
Religion? I've seen a man raised from the dead in India.
I have kissed the holy stone in Kaba and Mecca.
I have read the Confucius, the Koran and the Kabbalah in the original manuscripts.
As for my own spiritual progress ... I'm working on it.
Here, take this.
I'm maybe gone for ... who knows?
- It will keep you safe. - Bye, Isabel.
Goodbye, my love.
Sir, I am very much strong. Good legs for walking.
No, I said not you.
Wait here.
Sir, I know languages.
Swahili, the desert people and the Mountains of the Moon.
- You know the Mountains of the Moon? - Yes, and my father see big water.
What's Jemadar got against you?
Well, he is giving me orders but he is not my Sultan. So I make him to bite him.
- So you bit the Jemadar? - Yes, I am Sidi Bombay, the soldier.
You just give me a English uniform. I would very much go with you.
- Can you help me pick good honest men? - Very Much.
- All your maps have vast blank spaces. -To the South, Burton.
Follow the ancient slave routes. They may be safer.
- Jemadar should not be in charge of the caravan. - Then put yourself in charge, Jack.
Yes, very well.
I already have.
That young man is here because he wants to return to England to success.
But you, I think you enjoy the days of your life.
Make no mistake, I mean to have success as well.
In this wilderness, you will find only Allah's terrible whimsy.
Dear Isabel, we will be the first white men to approach the interior.
We're preceded by reputation as colonial slave traders.
Our bearers are fearful of attack.
We've been warned that fevers and madness await us.
Suitable pace should be a 1000 miles in 100 days.
Hopefully it won't take longer, since I neglected to bring more than one walking suit.
Love, Richard.
It's a Chronometer.
- Actually it is a highly accurate clock. - Yes, I can see that.
In a few days topography will change. We may lose sight of any trail.
- I'll teach you how to take your position. - Yes, of course.
Here, clumsy.
One does it this way.
My God. Human.
My first lion. Rifle.
Don't shoot those beauties, Jack. I'll see if I can drive them off.
Leave him. He is escaped slave.
I'll stay right here, Dick ... just in case you fail.
He fears to go back in the direction we travel.
But you saved him so he is very much your servant.
- Ask him about his two set of ears. - Oh, this is magic man.
Yes, He has very much ears. He can listen to the voices of the dead.
Nonsense.
He has not seen white man before.
- Sir, some people, they are stealing. Your servants. - What?
Come back here!
Stop! I know who you are!
Come back! That's mine!
It's a bit crude, but in conjunction with the chronometer it will tell us our longitude.
Last night 13 bearers deserted. We've lost most of our guns and most of our food supply seems gone.
I'll organize a hunting party.
What does he hear, I want to know.
Last night there were many voices. He say, they speak of you.
What did they say?
They tell this man, that you will take his heart away.
And what does he suppose that means?
He cannot say.
Dear Isabel...
Even though Mabruki has been a slave for so long, his mind has remained free.
He asked if we wanted to find the beginning of the river ...
why not start at its end, walk along its shores and see where it begins.
I explained many had tried that way and been swallowed up by the vast deserts of the Nile.
"Perhaps, your river", he told me, "is meant to be mystery."
"You should look for what it can give you: a bath and a good meal."
Wait.
Sidi, show them cloth.
They can give us some food but they want these clothes to have names.
Very well. This is calico.
This is paisley.
That's ... rum punch.
Sorry, Dick, you're wrong about that one.
That's not rum punch, good sir ...
that's malt whiskey.
And that's chocolate pudding.
Very becoming, actually.
What's this?
Don't be offended. It's a blessing. It's all right.
The bargain has been made.
Try some?
What is it, sir? What's wrong, sir?
- What's wrong? - There's a beetle in my ear! - Sidi, get a candle.
Sidi, hold his wrists, steady.
I'll get you Warburg drops for the pain.
Do not let go.
It isn't working!
That damn thing is eating my eardrum.
I killed it.
I know I've killed it, I can't hear it anymore.
It is alright, Jack. You never listen anyway.
On that Monday, I rowed.
Faraway you did row.
Calm and peaceful, the sea was
in the dawn's glow.
I did not know
that cold death hovered low.
That sad day
still haunts me
wherever I go.
For a month after John's face healed, every time he sneezed a strange squeaky sound emerged from his ear.
This delighted our bearers. They kept asking him to hold his nose and make that whistle sound.
John was not amused.
- Sidi, tell them to stay away. Don't let them drink. - This water is infected. You'll kill yourselves
- If I get smallpox, you must leave me behind. - Yes, yes, I will.
You needn't be so quick to agree.
The men are hungry and sick.
We have travelled 178 days hearing nothing of the lake we seek.
Speke only seems happy when he is hunting. Game is scarce and rarely edible.
The men argue but rarely remember why.
So far we have seen only a series of poor villages.
Drought and famine are all around.
Half our bearers have deserted. Most of our supplies are gone.
At night the men smoke cannabis and tell stories, which may be the last curious statements they ever uttered.
At times we seem to move in a dream.
Memories of England seem far away.
My father's caravan came across the desert. When they reached these valleys they took slaves.
They proceeded to the coast, sold their captives, sailed home in ships ...
... and again began the cycle.
Now we stay in the valley with the Chief Fundikira's tribe.
- Have you heard of a lake? - They say that to the west there is water.
You must not hurry to your deaths. You should stay.
Conversation is the soul of life in this place.
The chief believes in talking lists.
- He believes to make conversation very much important this way. - I understand.
The things that haunt men. A talkative woman, a mosquito, diarrhoea ...
- ... and death in a place far from home. - Yes, my king.
The parts of a man a lion eats.
The buttocks, thighs ...
the flesh of the upper arm and then sometimes the face and tongue.
All life devours a man too.
It eats his muscles and strength. His brain and then his restless heart.
- When are we leaving? - In time. All in good time.
We don't have any time.
- What about living, Jack? - We came to find the Nile.
I am thinking to break this thing, so I can mend it again.
Without proper instruments we are not geographers.
What do you think you're discovering here, Dick?
They are praying for our journey, Jack.
I don't need it.
- Will you do me a favour? Pass these to the next caravan to the coast. - Of course.
My boots ... get them off.
My legs are swollen.
Mabruki say he has seen this before.
A man will die in three days unless his legs are cut.
Cut the legs, Jack. Cut them!
- Cut them. - I can't.
- Sir, you must let the blood out. You must. - Give it to me.
Sir, it's water.
- It's just a small mountain lake. - No sir, it's very much water.
Lift me up. Lift me up!
John Hanning Speke! It's the lake!
We've done it!
They call the Lake Tanganyika. 'The Meeting Place of Waters'.
With long boats we set out to explore the shores.
Large as this lake is, we couldn't determine it as the definite source.
We went ashore following streams but they ended dry on an impenetrable marsh.
Some of the men drank fetid water. They were afflicted with dysentery, malaria and despair.
It's not here, John. We'll have to go ashore.
Say what you mean. You want to give up and go back, don't you?
For God's sake, John, these men are dying!
Row, you bastards, Row! Come on, row, damn you!
I decided we would continue overland, in search of a connecting waterway.
Stay here. I'll go and talk to them.
These men say there is a great kingdom to the north. They have heard of a lake.
I'm tired of rumours. If there's another lake, we'll find it ourselves.
We need supplies, food.
At times I wonder why we continue, but I have no answer.
I ask myself, why the only echo is: 'Damned fool, the devil tries you'.
- He wants to leave. - Tell him if he stays, I will see no harm comes to him.
- He will stay, but he is very much afraid. - Tell him I need him. Make him understand. He has my word on this.
He understands, but he believes only a little.
Convince him. And tell him to stop following me. John, I need your help.
- What is it? - I can't get my trousers down, I need to shit.
We come as friends, from the great island that rules the Northern Sea. We are friends.
This man is Veldu, minister of Lord Ngola. From over there to here, all this is their kingdom.
Veldu recites their laws.
No one may enter without splendid dress.
No one may sit above this Lord Ngola.
No one may come without gifts.
- Does the white man see Lord Ngola? - Yes, we see him.
- Does he truly see him? - We see the king of Paradise and Mountains and Wind.
We were told to bring gifts and we brought them. These are the things he has stolen. Your minister is a thief.
He says, "kill these men and take their possessions and sell them to caravan as slaves".
Let it be known, we are kings too. From the great island in the far sea.
He says you are no king.
- It's a special gift for the king. - He says, sit down.
Stand back.
Sidi, tell him it's a weapon. A dangerous weapon.
Don't!
What do you make of this?
It's not bad, is it?
We are not his guests, Jack. We are his prisoners.
The king's sister, Lema, she is very much sick.
She says she needs a beautiful white doctor man.
She say her husband died.
She have very much strong desire and very much lonely heart.
Yes, I am sure.
They tell he is escaped prisoner. Once he had power here.
He offended Veldu. They made him slave.
They won't free him or sell him to us at any price?
He says you are no king. He wants to shame you.
He wants you to beg.
Your touch make her feel much better. So you come every day.
Tell her yes. but I want permission to leave and I want permission to look for the lake.
When she better, she say yes. The beautiful white doctor, he can go.
Tell her that I care for her with all my heart.
Speke has permission to leave with a handful of bearers for a short expedition.
To assure his return, they are keeping me here.
I fear for Mabruki. I swore no harm would come to him.
Can I ever believe in myself again if I fail to keep that promise?
They've confiscated everything, but this last thermometer.
Keep it safe.
- Remember: the lower the boiling point, the higher the altitude. - Yes, I know.
I better be off.
Heal your legs.
Find it, Jack.
You know, Dick?
I'm still quite deaf in this ear.
I want Mabruki freed! I want him freed!
- Sidi, you're hurt. - No sir, I am able to go.
I can travel faster without you. I think you should camp down here.
- But sir, I've come so far for this. - My mind is made up.
I'll return in a few days. Ali, Juma. Stay here.
The rest of you come with me.
Rest.
Who are you?
You look drugged.
And this man says he is a king. Look at him.
They've drugged me.
The Royal Geographical Society.
- This man is free. I freed him. - A king does not care about slaves.
Look.
Take this sword. Use it.
For God's sake.
He's my friend.
Lord, he is crying. Is crying fit for a king?
Yours is a cruel and sadistic kingdom. This is a vicious place, you hear me?
You are a little people. You will pass away.
You deserve to be forgotten.
A good king treats his people kindly.
Slavery must end.
God help me.
Now he is free.
Kill him. Make slaves of his friends.
Yes, I'll say your name in my country.
I found it. I found the source.
Are you all right?
Listen to me, Dick. Please. We have our goal.
- We have permission to leave here. - Permission to leave?
- What did you do? - Ngola is rewarding me for having great powers.
Oh, good. Then come with me. I'll show you the lake.
Mabruki is dead.
Richard, but we have the Nile. I know I found it.
The monsoon is coming. We must go back to the coast immediately.
- Hear me. I know it's the Nile's source. - You saw the river flowing out of the lake?
- No, I didn't see an actual effluent but I know such a river is there. - How do you know, Jack?
I took two accurate readings. It's a much higher lake than Tanganyika.
- Did you go around it? - No, it's too vast.
So you didn't circle the lake, you speak none of the languages there, you saw no river and yet you know?
- This is the Nile. you can see for yourself. Come with me. You can estimate the altitude. - Estimate?
- I'm afraid I broke our last thermometer. - Then we have no instruments. None.
What should we do? Guess?
- If you'd seen it, you'd know I'm right. - Jack, we won't talk about it now.
You saw a body of water you know nothing about.
I've thought to name it Lake Victoria.
Dear Isabel,
The last thing I saw was an African city, proceeding as if our ordeal never occurred.
The Chief Minister, now dead, was suspended in dishonour.
This ancient culture, with its elegant architecture, complex language and ornate ritual ...
would now return to its enterprise, including the taking of slaves.
Everything is prepared.
Richard, you must tell me what happened here.
Sidi, himself an ex-slave, asked if such evil practices existed in my country.
"In my country", I replied, "men had beheaded their fathers and sons for power."
"And as for slavery, the white man in fact introduced to it the additional horror of commerce."
I have asked Jack to carry this letter back.
The return journey took over seven months. Through long stretches of rain and sickness.
My legs are badly swollen again.
I'll wait and recover at the coast.
It would be nice to be standing well and strong when we next embrace.
Love, Richard.
Larry?
My God. John?
- Damn speechless. - Impossible.
- When did you get back? - I have only just arrived.
I brought you my journals. I have some great news.
Murchison thinks you should address the Royal Geographical immediately.
- It is called for a assembly tomorrow. - Tomorrow?
- Without Burton? - Please, it's the President's wish.
What's the matter?
It's just that all this is so unexpected.
And Richard will be back soon, I'm sure.
Well if you'll excuse me, there is much to do for you.
Let me ask you, Jack.
- When you first met Burton and the two of you were attacked and wounded ... - Yes?
- Did you ever read his official report to the army afterwards? - His report? No, I never saw it.
It happens that I've read it. He makes no mention of you.
Except to say you were an inexperienced officer who acted in a somewhat cowardly manner while under attack.
- He couldn't have written that. - But did.
You won't see that report, neither will anyone else. I've had it destroyed.
- I saved his life. - Of course you did.
If he slandered you once, he surely will again. Especially now that the stakes are so high.
I haven't seen my family yet.
They're expecting me.
Receive tomorrow, what you so well deserve.
You'll come to my house and rest. There's still time to prepare a rebuttal.
You know me better than that, I won't go about arguing for my career.
I'm not talking about the minor politics of one's career. Two weeks ago, Speke committed an act of treachery.
- Have you sent for Isabel? - They're sending him back!
A fully funded expedition and he's in charge.
- He is ambitious and weak. - Weak? You don't know him.
He allows Oliphant and Murchison to ridicule you. He's deadly in his weakness.
- He saved my life. Many times. - Then go to him.
- I can't. He must come to me. - I would not be sure of that.
He leaves for Africa in two weeks.
Isabel.
- Father. A delightful ceremony, father. - Thank you.
- Isabel, allow me to present my good friend, Lord Russell of the foreign office. - How do you do?
The most charming chapel your house has, my dear.
- I didn't realize Lord Russell knew my son-in-law. - Oh, yes, indeed.
Undoubtedly, you were aware that Richard is an expert in Arab affairs.
I thought I knew everything about your husband. Until your wedding. I had no idea about the depths of his good sense.
Should he not be thought of for a major consulate?
I am convinced the Nile's source flows from many lakes, not just one.
I have repudiated Speke's findings in my own book.
The Royal Geographical Society favours his account, unscientific as it is.
Of course they sent him back to Africa. Fame, power, conquest, the expansion of the empire ...
All these objectives suited them perfectly.
My interest in what we can learn from ancient cultures insults them.
But John's betrayal ... who could have predicted it?
He has been used. I know his capacity for true friendship.
I will not turn on him, nor beg the Royal Geographical Society to go back.
This would validate their authority. My despisal.
Speke's new reports from Africa will again prove inadequate.
Will I ever return to that continent I so love?
Now, ladies and gentlemen, thank you.
Witless but wonderful.
Oh! London just seemed buoyant. I don't know when I've enjoyed it so much.
Ladies and gentlemen, would you please welcome ...
a surprise guest.
The real conqueror of the River Nile, Mr. John Hanning Speke.
- Did you arrange this, Larry? - Go ahead, John. Take the stage.
An interview later.
I don't know what to say.
You all seem so barbaric compared to the Africans.
I am not very talented at this.
I do not know how exactly to thank you. Expect to say thank you.
- Tell us about the lake, sir. - No, don't speak, Speke. Sing!
There was a time we were in a stretch of desert.
Several of the bearers had already died of thirst.
My second in command had cuts and wounds all over his body.
Asked if he looked bad.
How bad?
I knew he was hurt, but I was blind, you see ...
and so I couldn't answer him.
So... I sang.
And even then, in the hot desert sun ...
in that bleak and hopeless landscape ...
All I could think of, was: 'My God, I might have tuned'.
So, if you will help me ...
Newspapers.
Speke again.
I don't care.
That is more than apparent.
Richard, you must get out of here. You must get out of England.
Expeditions require money.
Excuses.
You are paralyzed in self-pity .
- All right, let's borrow money from your family. - You know that's impossible.
Then ask your blessed church. Tell them I will be a humble missionary.
Don't speak against my church and I won't speak against your brandy.
For hundreds, maybe thousands of years, Africans fished this lake. They have washed their clothes.
They've pissed in it. How dare a white man claim to have discovered, Africans have discovered it.
- I won't argue about a patch of land and whereabouts of a river. - You can take a consular position.
- They haven't asked me. - I went to see Lord Russell.
I specifically told you not to speak to anyone at the foreign office.
- There is a consulate open. - You disobeyed me. - In Brazil. - What, in South America?
- My qualifications are for Africa, Arabic countries. - But you speak Portuguese, you are qualified for anywhere in the world.
You grovel before politicians. It's despicable.
Well then, fight! Fight for it! Fight for your name, fight for your honour. If you don't, then I must.
Careful with that thing. You don't know how to use it.
Then teach me.
If I am given some grubby little consulate on the wrong side of the world ...
... you think I'll take you with me?
You take me.
You would die without me. I'd die without you.
Dr. Livingstone, may I present my good friend, Richard Francis Burton.
I've just finished your book.
I wonder if you gentlemen would leave us alone for a few minutes?
There is much to discuss. We will wait in the conference room.
Got that in Africa, did you?
Tribesmen. They lanced at my face.
Split my palate, knocked out some teeth, came out over here.
- Risky profession. - Indeed.
You know, of course, that I was mauled by a lion? If he hadn't just fed, he would have eaten all of me.
As it was, he only chewed my shoulder.
Bullet hole. Single bore.
What about this?
Sat on a scorpion.
Squashed him dead...
... but... his sting put this hole in my arse. Nearly killed me.
Cellulitis. Swells the leg.
Had to lance it myself. Drank some brandy that night.
Rat bite.
And that one?
Nice and nasty.
Yes, but you know? I can't think for the life of me.
- Do you miss Africa? - I do.
Must say, Burton's look very well.
- And there are some interesting points in his account. - Burton's evidence is hardly conclusive.
You should have sent him back. Instead, you sent Speke. And once again he didn't travel around the lake.
- What's keeping them? - Look at this.
At one stretch Speke has the Nile flowing uphill for 90 miles.
John tells me all inconsistencies will be cleared up in his published account.
An account published for profit by the Oliphants.
Good chap, Burton. I like his mettle.
But who is the most reliable? Surely, Speke.
- Debate. - Very appealing, two heroes on one platform.
Now a debate will assure that every major scientist will be at our next meeting.
We could invite the newspapers. The public.
- Will Burton accept? - I don't know. He's suffered grave insult in your hands.
Perhaps, it would all be too technical.
- Who would judge it? - I will.
These are the maps you wanted. And I managed to locate some material from yours and Burton's original expedition.
- Is this Burton's report to the army? - Yes, the one he wrote after you were both wounded.
I thought this was destroyed. Why wasn't I given this before?
- I didn't think it was relevant. - Burton is capable of using this!
I asked to see everything so I could be prepared.
- Is there any difficulty here? - Burton's old report. Have you read this?
Yes, I remember very clearly reading it. It deals mainly with finances.
Did it discuss the battle?
Only in so far as... Burton took responsibility for not being adequately prepared.
Nothing about me?
As I recall, he gave you credit for saving his life.
But surely you knew all about this?
Yes. I am simply trying to be thorough.
John, the turnout for tomorrow is amazing. Journalists coming from all over the country.
You lied to me, Larry.
I always lie my way to the truth.
Today is really a formality.
The actual debate is tomorrow.
Shall we?
Hello, Jack.
Burton.
Sir! Master Speke! Am I to come inside with all these top hats?
No, It's a lovely day. Wait in the carriage.
We'll go hunting.
I would like to welcome the many learned and esteemed scientists I see in our audience today.
We are privileged indeed, to have you as our guests.
I am sure you will all agree that the discovery of the source of the Nile ...
is the most exciting event for Geographers since Columbus discovered America.
Later today Captain Richard Burton will address the society on matters not directly related to the forthcoming debate.
And tomorrow we will commence with Captain Burton's formal paper ...
... to be followed after a short break by one from John Hanning Speke.
- I've put in my appearance. My family excepts me. - Of course, see you tomorrow.
One note of apology, it is warm in here. Perhaps by next year one of you scientists ...
will have focussed your researches on the neglected study of ventilation.
John?
- I feel I can call you John. - Of course.
I know who you are.
- Surprising, isn't it, that we have never met? - Yes.
Excuse me, Madam, my carriage is just outside.
- Did you really want this debate? - Why not? - It is the last thing Richard wants. - Yes.
I suppose he dreads the outcome.
No. He knows ...
that you are incapable of assembling the proofs of your argument and that you'll lose.
I'm sorry, I can't discuss this.
No one, not even myself knows what you went through together.
Those people in there, they don't no know and they don't care. They need you as adversaries. But Richard doesn't.
- Then why is he here? - He will cancel tomorrow.
He knows no truth will emerge and in the absence of truth, he respects only one thing.
He respects loyalty.
John, he respects you.
Trouble with the dogs is, they got no manners no more.
Comes from being idle.
Glad you've come to straighten him out, sir.
I've heard an Englishman say this:
"The black man is indolent, lazy by nature."
"He drinks his beer at sunrise and sleeps all day." Well, perhaps.
It can be 120 degrees at the Equator.
That man is consumed with the same daily tasks.
Let's say gathering food, gathering wood.
He does it with primitive tools till sundown.
And then he dances ...
he tells stories.
"What does he accomplish?" asks the Englishman.
What does the Englishman accomplish if he mines coal all day ...
sips his beer at night and then succumbs to fatigue?
Failing to make love and then forgets how ...
If my travels, if my books have meaning ...
If Geography itself has significance ...
It is that we are made to lift our eyes from our own small provincial selves ...
... to the whole complex and magnificent world.
Excellent.
The question today is a serious question. I maintain that question remained unanswered.
Science demands articulate readings. Exhaustive enquiry.
Which of these lakes is the true source of the Nile? I maintain that the evidence we have is still incomplete.
My opponent's maps are at best vague, sometimes insufficient.
It's even possible that the lakes interconnect. This should be evaluated after the monsoon.
John Hanning Speke ...
was killed yesterday afternoon in a hunting accident.
I would like to suggest. I would ask ...
... that Mr. Burton continue his lecture.
Which lake is the source?
Or is it a basin of lakes?
My conclusions draw me to the latter.
The evidence of which is gathered by myself ...
and John Hanning Speke ...
on our initial expedition.
John went back.
Jack...
returned.
What do you think sir? Was it an accident or suicide?
Please make a statement, sir. He's very distressed.
Mr. Oliphant, you are his personal friend. Would you like to make a statement?
What will you do now?
You've killed him, Burton. You're a fool. Your life is over. You'll never go back to Africa.
You're a bureaucrat now. They'll write 'murder'. I'll see to that.
It's not what they write, Oliphant.
It's never what they write.
He's dead, too.
- Might I speak to your husband? - I am sorry, he's packing, We're leaving for Brazil.
- On holiday? - No, he is to assume the Consulate there. - It is alright, Isabel.
Edgar Papworth. I am a sculptor. I've been commissioned to ...
- I've seen your work. - Oh, really?
As you see, a bust would be impossible. I haven't got the time.
It isn't that. I have been commissioned by the Speke family.
I wasn't even asked my price, but it happens sometimes.
I just made a copy of his death mask.
I never saw the man in life. And what happens in death is, well, some distortion.
The eyes were closed, of course.
You knew him intimately. I was wondering, could you make any suggestions? The clay is soft ...
Excuse me, my husband and Mr. Speke had not seen each other for many years ...
... until recently, and then only for a moment.
No, it isn't right.
There's too much here.
I see. It wasn't strong enough.
The cheekbones, mouth ...
Yes, there.
Is that what he looked like?
Yes, that's it. That's Speke.
Thank you.
I... wouldn't have intruded.
I understood they weren't that close. Newspapers.
They were friends.
Richard, are you ready?
Of course, I am.
Isabel and Burton was married for 30 years. One never saw them apart in public.
David Livingstone died during an expedition, while searching for the Nile's source.
John Hanning Speke was right. Lake Victoria was indeed the source of the Nile, which was established 12 years after his death.