探险家斯皮克将非洲描绘成一个倒扣的汤盘:海岸附近有一圈平坦的陆地,随后地势陡然升高,内陆则几乎是水平的。欧洲探险家在非洲旅行不必翻越很多高山,但仍面临许多困难,尤其是疾病、饥荒、干旱、抢劫以及叛乱。他们不畏艰辛,决心探察通往非洲内陆地区的大河。十九世纪前往探察非洲河流的欧洲人中,以大卫·利文斯敦和亨利·莫顿·斯坦利最有名。 Explorers Spike portrayed Africa as a back-up soup plate: a flat loop of land near the coast, followed by a sudden rise in terrain, the inland is almost level. European explorers traveling in Africa do not have to cross a lot of high mountains but still face many difficulties, especially diseases, famine, drought, robbery and rebellion. They are determined to explore the great rivers leading to the interior of Africa, without fear of hardship. Of the nineteenth century Europeans who visited Africa’s rivers, David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley were best known.