''The Adventures of Three Russians and Three Englishmen in South Africa'' (french: Aventures de trois Russes et de trois Anglais dans l'Afrique australe) is a novel by Jules Verne published in

1872 Events January–March * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. * February 2 – The government of the United Kingdom buys a number of forts on ...

Plot introduction

Three Russian and three English scientists depart to South Africa to measure the

24th meridian east The meridian 24° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. The 24th meridian ...

. As their mission is proceeding, the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

breaks out, and the members of the expedition find themselves citizens of enemy countries. This novel can be found under alternate titles such as ''Adventures in the Land of the Behemoth'', ''Measuring a Meridian'', and ''Meridiana or Adventures in South Africa''. Interestingly, the travellers, on their homeward journey, reach

Victoria Falls Victoria Falls ( Lozi: ''Mosi-oa-Tunya'', "The Smoke That Thunders"; Tonga: ''Shungu Namutitima'', "Boiling Water") is a waterfall on the Zambezi River in southern Africa, which provides habitat for several unique species of plants and anim ...

on 25 May, 1855, thus anticipating the discovery by

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...

by nearly six months.

External links

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by Jules Férat 1872 French novels Novels by Jules Verne South Africa in fiction Novels set in South Africa {{1870s-adventure-novel-stub