The opening of Introduction
The travels of Dr. Barth in Northern and Central Africa rank among the foremost of the enterprises which have illuminated our ignorance about Central Africa. They have an especial value, too, as being almost the sole record of a state of things which has considerably changed since his time, and will no doubt rapidly change still further.
Henry Barth was born in Hamburg on February 16th, 1821. During his education at the Johanneum he showed a special taste for languages and history. In the autumn of 1839 he entered at the University of Berlin, studying philology under Böckh. While attending Carl Ritter’s geographical lectures, he displayed a predilection for the countries surrounding the Mediterranean, which he continued to manifest throughout his whole life. In August 1840 he went to Italy, travelling from Venice as far as Sicily. In 1841, after many fluctuations of mind, he fixed his attention definitely on the classical Mediterranean basin, and especially the history and influence of the Greek colonies. He took his degree in the summer of 1844 with an essay on the commercial history of the Corinthians, and in January 1845 started for three years’ travels in the Mediterranean.