<P> John Hanning Speke ( 4 May 1827 -- 15 September 1864 ) was an officer in the British Indian Army who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa . He is most associated with the search for the source of the Nile and was the first European to reach Lake Victoria . He is also known for propounding the Hamitic hypothesis in 1863 , in which he supposed that the Tutsi ethnic group were descendants of the biblical figure Ham , and had lighter skin and more `` European '' features than the Bantu - featured Hutu over whom they ruled . </P>
<P> John Hanning Speke ( 4 May 1827 -- 15 September 1864 ) was an officer in the British Indian Army who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa . He is most associated with the search for the source of the Nile and was the first European to reach Lake Victoria . He is also known for propounding the Hamitic hypothesis in 1863 , in which he supposed that the Tutsi ethnic group were descendants of the biblical figure Ham , and had lighter skin and more `` European '' features than the Bantu - featured Hutu over whom they ruled . </P>
british indian army officer who reached lake victoria
british indian army officer who reached lake victoria
John Hanning Speke
John Hanning Speke