AFRICA. - Joseph THOMSON. To the Central African Lakes and Back: the Narrative of the Royal Geographical Society's East Central African Expedition, 1878-80. London: Sampson Low, Marston et al., 1881. 2 vols., first edition, 8vo (189 x 124mm.) Albumen portraits of Keith Johnston and Joseph Thomson mounted as frontispieces, 2 large folding colour maps. (Spotting to preliminaries of volume 2 and to fore-edges, pencil annotation to rear endpaper of volume 1, a wave to frontispiece of same volume, a 1-inch tear to one map, lacking publisher's catalogue.) Original brown cloth, gilt lettering to spines (burn mark to upper cover of volume 2). Note: Thomson accompanied Keith Johnston on the expedition from Dar es Salaam to the Lakes Nyasa and Tanganika, but when Johnston died on the expedition Thomson took over the leadership and became the first European to cross the 250-mile plateau between the two lakes.