After
a scandal, he left the army and risked his life to become one of the first Europeans
to enter Mecca, the place where Muslims go to pray. Soon
after that, he tried to find out where the River Nile started. The
first time, his group was attacked by Africans and most of his men were killed. The
second time, he got near the source of the Nile, but nearly died through illness
and had to turn back. When he was 43, he got married
and, later in his life, he spent most of his time writing and translating. He
was the first westerner to translate "A Thousand and One Nights" and
other Arabic and Indian books. Unfortunately his wife
was very religious and after he died in 1890 she burned a lot of his books and
papers. Not long ago a film was made about his life
in Africa. It was called, "The Mountains of the
Moon." |