where he ingratiated himself with the Emir by killing a man the Emir disliked. He then became the first European to cross the Muri mountains angering the Tangale people in the process as he desecrated their shrines by sleeping in them during the journey. He penetrated south to the upper course of the Benue, returning to Kuka 1 December 1855. From this date, the notes of his expedition cease. Death Vogel left Kuka for the Nile Valley, leaving his engineer, MacGuire, with his notes and specimen collections. Vogel got as far as Wadai (also spelled Ouaddai) in southern Sudan. MacGuire may have known of Vogel's fate but was killed by brigands while returning to Tripoli. Several search expeditions were organized to ascertain Vogel's fate and to recover his papers, but it was not until 1873 that Gustav Nachtigal, on reaching Wadai, learnt of the circumstances of Vogel's February 1856 death in Wara, the capital of Wadai. Nachtigal's account was that Vogel's odd habit of existing almost solely on eggs and writing with a pencil rather than the expected ink was of concern to the Sultan's advisors who had advised the Sultan to kill him "just in case". The sultan was hesitant but Vogel then climbed Mount Treya which was sacred and off limits to all but the highest officials. Vogel was beaten to death by Kubartu with iron tipped cudgels. According to Nachtigal, Kubartu were a Wadai clan consisting of musicians and executioners. Family His sister Elise Vogel Polko was a popular German novelist. She published his notes in her Erinnerungen an einen Verschollenen (1863). Another resource is Adolf Pahde's Der Afrikaforscher Eduard Vogel. Hamburg, 1889 (first published Krefeld, 1886). Notes References 1829 births 1856 deaths German explorers of Africa People from Krefeld