Alexander Keith Johnston (24 November 184428 June 1879 in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

cartographer Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

and

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

. He was the son of published

Alexander Keith Johnston (1804–1871) and Mary Grey. From 1873 to 1875, he was geographer to a commission for the survey of

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. He led a

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

expedition to

Lake Nyasa Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, () is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the fourth largest ...

and

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika ( ; ) is an African Great Lakes, African Great Lake. It is the world's List of lakes by volume, second-largest freshwater lake by volume and the List of lakes by depth, second deepest, in both cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. ...

. After only six weeks of the expedition, Johnston died from malaria and

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...

in the village of Beho Beho in what is now the

Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania The Selous Game Reserve, now renamed as Nyerere National Park (in-part), is a protected nature reserve and wilderness area in southern Tanzania, East Africa. It covers a total area of , with additional buffer zones, as well. It was designated a U ...

. He was accompanied by the explorer, geologist and fellow Scot

Joseph Thomson Joseph or Joe Thomson is the name of: *J. J. Thomson (1856–1940), physicist *Joseph Thomson (cricketer) (1877-1953), Australian cricketer *Joseph Thomson (explorer) (1858–1895), African explorer * Joseph Angus Thomson (1856–1943), Australian ...

who successfully completed the expedition. Several expeditions were conducted by
Mike Shand
(University of Glasgow) to find th
grave of Keith Johnston
at Behobeho between 2001 and 2004. The grave searches have been documented in a chapter of the book

edited by Rolf Baldus and published by Rowland Ward in 2009. He is memorialised on his father's grave in

Grange Cemetery The Grange (originally St Giles' Grange) is an affluent suburb of Edinburgh, just south of the city centre, with Morningside and Greenhill to the west, Newington to the east, The Meadows park and Marchmont to the north, and Blackford Hi ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

References

* James McCarthy
''Journey into Africa: The Life and Death of Keith Johnston, Scottish Cartographer and Explorer (1844–79)''
(Caithness, Scotland: Whittles Publishers, 2004)

*To the Central African Lakes and Back by

Joseph Thomson (explorer) Joseph Thomson (14 February 1858 – 2 August 1895) was a British geologist and explorer who played an important part in the Scramble for Africa. Thomson's gazelle and Thomson's Falls, Nyahururu, are named after him. Excelling as an explorer r ...

(2 vols., 1881)
Search for the Grave of Keith Johnston

Keith Johnston (cartographer) Keith Johnston(e) may refer to: * Keith Johnstone (badminton), played in Australian National Badminton Championships * Keith Johnstone Donald Keith Johnstone (21 February 1933 – 11 March 2023) was a British-Canadian educator and theatre dir ...

1844 births 1879 deaths 19th-century British explorers 19th-century Scottish people British explorers of Africa Scottish explorers Scottish geographers {{geoscience-bio-stub