Eduard Vogel (7 March 1829February 1856) was a German

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

in Central

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Early career

Vogel was born in

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, i ...

. He studied

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

and

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, studying with

Encke Encke may refer to: *Johann Franz Encke (1791–1865), a nineteenth-century German astronomer ** Encke (crater), a lunar crater ** Encke Division, a dark gap in the rings of Saturn **Comet Encke, a short-period comet ***Encke (horse) (2009–2014) ...

at the latter institution. In 1851, he was engaged as assistant astronomer to director John Russel Hind at George Bishop's private observatory in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. That year

August Heinrich Petermann Augustus Heinrich Petermann (18 April 182225 September 1878) was a German cartographer. Early years Petermann was born in Bleicherode, Germany. When he was 14 years old he started grammar school in the nearby town of Nordhausen. His mother wa ...

introduced Vogel to the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

Africa commission

In 1853 Petermann arranged for Vogel to be chosen by the British government to join the

Richardson Richardson may refer to: People * Richardson (surname), an English and Scottish surname * Richardson Gang, a London crime gang in the 1960s * Richardson Dilworth, Mayor of Philadelphia (1956-1962) Places Australia * Richardson, Australian Cap ...

, Overweg and Barth expedition with supplies. That expedition had been sent to

in 1849 to find a trade route that bypassed the Arabs. Vogel was to be a replacement for Richardson who had died two years earlier and was tasked to make

geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

and meteorological observations and to collect botanical specimens. In 1853, the expedition was in the western

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. Vogel sailed from England on 20 February 1853. The day Vogel left London, news had arrived that Overweg had also died, leaving Barth on his own.

Meeting Barth

On 25 July, Vogel left

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

with a caravan to catch up with Barth. Vogel arrived at the end of the

Trans-Saharan trade route Trans-Saharan trade requires travel across the Sahara between sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa. While existing from prehistoric times, the peak of trade extended from the 8th century until the early 17th century. The Sahara once had a very d ...

Kuka KUKA is a German manufacturer of industrial robots and systems for factory automation. It has been predominantly owned by the Chinese company Midea Group since 2016. The KUKA Robotics Corporation has 25 subsidiaries, mostly sales and servi ...

, the capital of Bornu on 13 January 1854. Vogel's specimens, and the fact that both expedition engineers were soldiers, made the king there suspicious of his intentions, and Vogel's movements were severely restricted. Instead of waiting for Barth to return, on 19 July, Vogel joined a

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

expedition heading up the

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesBenue Rivers to the

Mandara Mountains The Mandara Mountains are a volcanic range extending about 190 km (about 120 mi) along the northern part of the Cameroon–Nigeria border, from the Benue River in the south () to the north-west of Maroua in the north (). The highest e ...

where he was imprisoned by the king of

Mora Mora may refer to: People * Mora (surname) Places Sweden * Mora, Säter, Sweden * Mora, Sweden, the seat of Mora Municipality * Mora Municipality, Sweden United States * Mora, Louisiana, an unincorporated community * Mora, Minnesota, a city * M ...

who had received a message about the suspicious stranger from Bornu. Vogel eventually escaped to Marghi in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

where he waited for news of Barth. Upon hearing of a change of king in Bornu, Vogel returned to wait for Barth, whom he met December 1854. By some accounts Vogel was disliked by the other members of the expedition due to his poor attitude, difficult personality and unwillingness to learn Arabic, the

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

of north Africa. The arrival of Barth helped defuse some of the conflict, although one of the two engineers refused to travel any further while Vogel was part of the expedition. Barth himself contemplated getting rid of Vogel and stealing his equipment.

Further exploration

Vogel left Barth, and taking one engineer and four servants headed for Bauchi where he ingratiated himself with the

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

by killing a man the Emir disliked. He then became the first European to cross the Muri mountains angering the

Tangale Tangale (Tangle) is a West Chadic languages, West Chadic language spoken in Northern region of Nigeria. The vast majority of the native speakers are found across Akko, Nigeria, Akko, Billiri, Kaltungo and Shongom Local Government Area of Gombe St ...

people in the process as he desecrated their shrines by sleeping in them during the journey. He penetrated south to the upper course of the Benue, returning to Kuka 1 December 1855. From this date, the notes of his expedition cease.

Death

Vogel left Kuka for the Nile Valley, leaving his engineer, MacGuire, with his notes and specimen collections. Vogel got as far as Wadai (also spelled Ouaddai) in southern Sudan. MacGuire may have known of Vogel's fate but was killed by brigands while returning to Tripoli. Several search expeditions were organized to ascertain Vogel's fate and to recover his papers, but it was not until 1873 that

Gustav Nachtigal Gustav Nachtigal (; born 23 February 1834 – 20 April 1885) was a German military surgeon and explorer of Central and West Africa. He is further known as the German Empire's consul-general for Tunisia and Commissioner for West Africa. His missio ...

, on reaching Wadai, learnt of the circumstances of Vogel's February 1856 death in Wara, the capital of Wadai. Nachtigal's account was that Vogel's odd habit of existing almost solely on eggs and writing with a

pencil A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage, and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail ...

rather than the expected ink was of concern to the

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

's advisors who had advised the Sultan to kill him "just in case". The sultan was hesitant but Vogel then climbed Mount Treya which was sacred and off limits to all but the highest officials. Vogel was beaten to death by ''Kubartu'' with iron tipped cudgels. According to Nachtigal, ''Kubartu'' were a Wadai clan consisting of musicians and executioners.

Family

His sister Elise Vogel Polko was a popular German novelist. She published his notes in her ''Erinnerungen an einen Verschollenen'' (1863). Another resource is Adolf Pahde's ''Der Afrikaforscher Eduard Vogel''. Hamburg, 1889 (first published Krefeld, 1886).

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vogel, Eduard 1829 births 1856 deaths German explorers of Africa People from Krefeld