The Great Sahara

The Rev. Henry Baker Tristram (1822-1906), divine and naturalist, was among the most celebrated of Victorian clergyman-travellers. His journeys took him as far afield as China, Japan and North America, but his writings mostly concern the natural history of the Middle East, particularly Palestine and Egypt. However, the present volume, first published in 1860, resulted from a two-year convalescence in Algeria after ill-health bade the author to leave England for warmer climes. Unable to suppress his wandering spirit, Tristram ventures deep into the desert regions south of the Atlas Mountains, there to observe and record details of his travels. The book is a transcription of his daily journal, containing a fascinating account of his eventful journeys, the inhabitants of the country and its immense variety of flora and fauna. Few travellers have left such a keenly observed description of the region. Here, republished in facsimile from the first edition, complete with maps and exquisite engravings, the work remains as one of the most engaging of all nineteenth-century travel narratives.