The Lands of Cazembe. Lacerda's Journey to Cazembe in 1798. Translated and Annotated by Captain R. F. Burton ... Also Journey of ... P. J. Baptista and A. José Across Africa from Angola to Tette on the Zambeze. Translated by B. A. Beadle, and a Resumé of the Journey of MM. Monteiro and Gamitto. By Dr. C. T. Beke. Published by the Royal Geographical Society

Published in 1873 by the Royal Geographical Society, this volume preserves the accounts of early Portuguese explorers in interior East-Central Africa. It features the 1798 expedition of Francisco José Maria de Lacerda, a Portuguese explorer who sought to establish an overland trade route between Mozambique and Angola. Lacerda died during the expedition, making these translated journals vital historical records of the region then known as Cazembe, or the Kazembe Kingdom.

The translation and annotation of Lacerda’s diaries were performed by the famed explorer and polymath Captain Richard Francis Burton. Burton, who had his own complex history with African exploration, utilized his linguistic expertise to render the Portuguese documents accessible to the English-speaking geographical community. The volume also includes accounts by the pombeiros Baptista and José, and a resumé by Dr. Charles Tilstone Beke, representing the Victorian-era fascination with mapping the African interior and documenting cross-continental routes prior to the height of the Scramble for Africa.