Grave of Alexander Keith Johnston, Grange Cemetery

Alexander Keith Johnston (184428 June 1879 in

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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 ...

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...

and

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

. He was the son of published

Alexander Keith Johnston (1804–1871) and Mary Grey. From 1873 to 1875 he was geographer to a commission for the survey of

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

. He led a

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 ...

expedition to

Lake Nyasa Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the fifth largest fres ...

and

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. T ...

. After only six weeks of the expedition Johnston died from malaria and

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complication ...

in the village of Beho Beho in what is now the Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania . He was accompanied by fellow Scot

Joseph Thomson (explorer) Joseph Thomson (14 February 1858 – 2 August 1895) was a British geologist and explorer who played an important part in the Scramble for Africa. Thomson's gazelle and Thomson's Falls, Nyahururu are named after him. Excelling as an explorer ra ...

who successfully completed the expedition. Several expeditions were conducted by
Mike Shand
(University of Glasgow) to find th
grave of Keith Johnston
at Behobeho between 2001 and 2004. The grave searches have been documented in a chapter of the book

edited by Rolf Baldus and published by Rowland Ward in 2009. He is memorialised on his father's grave in

Grange Cemetery The Grange (originally St Giles' Grange) is an affluent suburb of Edinburgh, just south of the city centre, with Morningside, Edinburgh, Morningside and Greenhill, Edinburgh, Greenhill to the west, Newington, Edinburgh, Newington to the east, ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

References

* James McCarthy
''Journey into Africa: The Life and Death of Keith Johnston, Scottish Cartographer and Explorer (1844–79)''
(Caithness, Scotland: Whittles Publishers, 2004)

*To the Central African Lakes and Back by

(2 vols., 1881)
Search for the Grave of Keith Johnston

Keith Johnston (cartographer) Keith Johnston(e) may refer to: * Keith Johnstone (badminton), played in Australian National Badminton Championships * Keith Johnstone Keith Johnstone (born February 21, 1933) is a British and Canadian pioneer of improvisational theatre, best kno ...

1844 births 1879 deaths 19th-century explorers 19th-century Scottish people British explorers of Africa Scottish explorers Scottish geographers {{geoscience-bio-stub