author
John Davidson
1797–1836
Drawn by restless curiosity, this nineteenth-century traveler crossed North Africa and the Middle East in search of places few Britons had seen firsthand. His journals capture both the danger of exploration and the sharp eye of someone determined to record the world as he found it.
1 Audiobook
Notes taken during travels in Africa
by John Davidson
About the author
Born in 1797, he was an English traveler best known for journeys in North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. Accounts of his life say he first trained in pharmacy and also studied medicine, but poor health changed his path and pushed him toward travel instead.
Over the 1820s and 1830s, he traveled widely through Egypt, Arabia, Palestine, Syria, Greece, Constantinople, and parts of Europe. He later turned his attention to Morocco and the Sahara, gathering geographical observations that were considered important enough for him to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1835.
His last expedition ended tragically in 1836, when he was killed while traveling from Morocco toward the Sahara. After his death, his journals were published as Notes Taken During Travels in Africa, preserving a vivid record of an adventurous life cut short.