Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A rare Royal Geographical Society Bronze Medal for the East African Expedition of 1878-80 to Lake Nyasa and Lake Tanganyika

Royal Geographical Society East African Expedition Medal 1878-80, 39mm, bronze, the obverse featuring Minerva standing facing left, a scroll in her left hand, a laurel wreath held in her outstretched right hand, a globe and sextant at her feet, circumscribed with the R.G.S. motto “Ob Terras Reclusas”, the reverse featuring a wreath of palm and laurel leaves, enclosing the inscription ‘Royal Geographical Society’, with the circumscription, ‘East African Expedition 1878-1880’, the edge plain, pierced at 12 o'clock with ring suspension, good very fine, rare £600-£800

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals from the Collection of Peter Duckers.

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In 1878, the famous Scottish explorer and cartographer, Alexander Keith Johnston (1844-79) was appointed to lead a Royal Geographical Society Expedition to establish a route from Dar es Salaam to Lake Nyasa and Lake Tanganyika and carry out new exploration of the area. Just six weeks into the journey he died from malaria and dysentery, some 120 miles from Dar es Salaam, and was buried in the village of Beho Beho in what is now the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania. Joseph Thomson (1858-1895), the geologist and naturalist of the expedition, took his place as leader. Although not completing all of the expedition's objectives, Thomson successfully led the expedition over 3000 miles in 14 months collecting many specimens and recording many observations. He led the party over unknown territory to the northern end of Lake Nyasa and then reached Lake Tanganyika in November 1879; he was thus able to confirm Henry Stanley's theory as to the Lukuga outlet of the lake. An attempt to reach the Congo was thwarted by hostile Buye tribesmen, and he returned to the East African coast by way of Tabora, in present-day Tanzania, discovering Lake Rukwa en route. His account of the journey was published by the R.G.S. in “To the central African Lakes and back: the narrative of the Royal Geographical Society’s East Central African Expedition, 1878-1880”. For his efforts as leader, Joseph Thomson received the R.G.S. Gold Founders Medal in 1885. The R.G.S. East African Expedition Medal 1878-80 in bronze would have been presented to members of the expedition (largely to African porters and bearers) many of whose colleagues had died of disease or exhaustion during the journey. Very few were awarded or reached their recipients and this is thought to be only the second such medal known to have appeared on the market.