by the German Empire, after they had acquired huge properties in West Africa. Nachtigal’s task was to establish a claim for Germany, before the British could advance their own interests — and Togoland and Kamerun became Germany’s first colonial possessions. On his return, he died at sea aboard the gunboat off Cape Palmas on 20 April 1885 and was initially interred at Grand Bassam. In 1888 Nachtigal’s remains were exhumed and reburied in a ceremonial grave in Duala in front of the Kamerun colonial government building. Legacy Along with Heinrich Barth, Nachtigal has been regarded as the other important German explorer of Africa. Like Barth, Nachtigal was primarily interested in ethnography, and additionally in tropical medicine. His works stand out because of their wealth of details and because of his unbiased views of Africans. In contrast to most contemporary explorers, Nachtigal did not regard Africans as inferior to Europeans, as is reflected in his descriptions and choice of words. He had witnessed slave hunts performed by African rulers and the cruelties inflicted by them upon other Africans. The horror that he felt about these atrocities made him enter colonial endeavours, because he believed that European domination of the African continent might stop slave-hunting and slave ownership. Works Original Publication Saharâ und Sûdân. 2 volumes, Berlin 1879-81, volume 3 published by E. Groddeck, Leipzig 1889. English Translation Sahara and Sudan. volume I: Fezzan and Tibesti; volume II: Kawar, Bornu, Kanem, Borku, Ennedi; volume III: The Chad Basin and Bagirmi; volume IV: Wadai and Darfur. Translated from the original German with an Introduction and Notes by Allan G. B. Fisher and H. J. Fisher. London — New York — Berkeley - 1971-1987. See also Mimi of Nachtigal, an extinct language of Chad References Footnotes Sources Gustav Nachtigal — ein deutscher Forscher und Afrika (Manuscript of speech held at the Togo Exhibition at Düsseldorf 1986. Peter Kremer. Die Forschungsreisenden, Cornelius Trebbin & Peter Kremer, Die Tuareg. Düsseldorf 1985. External links Sahara and Sudan By Gustav Nachtigal, Allan George Barnard Fisher, Humphrey J. Fisher 1834 births 1885 deaths People from Stendal (district) People from the Province of Saxony German explorers of Africa Explorers of Africa German West Africa People of former German colonies German colonial people in Kamerun Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg alumni University of Würzburg alumni University of Greifswald alumni German expatriates in Algeria German expatriates in Tunisia People who died at