ABSTRACT
Travelers and explorers had triangulated Mount Kilimanjaro, circumnavigated the large central African lakes, and charted the courses of the major rivers. Most in London saw this as a daunting undertaking, primarily because it required crossing Maasai country. Missionaries on the coast added their opinions on this side of the equation, as did explorers such as James Augustus Grant and Janet L. Stanley, who had never visited the Maasai. The Maasai were certainly a powerful force on the East African steppes and plateaus by the middle of the century. Fischer had made good progress through the initial stretches of the Maasai steppe. He visited the soda lake Magadi and was the first European to see the Rift Valley. Antoine Thomson had visited the snowy ranges of East Africa, had crossed Maasai land to Lake Victoria, and had even attempted to climb Kilimanjaro. Thomson also brought back exciting news about the great, mysterious lake to the north, which traders called Samburu.
