Born 1841,
Portugal
Died 1917,
Lisbon, Portugal

Roberto lvens

Born 1850,
Portugal
Died January 28, 1898,
Off the coast of Africa

The European powers long held trading posts along the coasts of Africa, but only in the second half of the nineteenth century did they begin to move inland, conquering African tribes and dividing the continent into separate colonies. Portugal had been an early participant in what came to be called the “Scramble for Africa,” having already claimed Angola on the western coast and Mozambique on the eastern coast. The Portuguese plan was to unite these two colonies and thus control a broad band of territory across the middle of Africa.

In 1884 two Portuguese naval officers, Hermenegildo de Brito Capelo and Roberto Ivens, left on a hazardous journey across Africa to find an overland passage between the two colonies. The arduous trip took more than...