A History of the Colonization of Africa by Alien Races by Harry Johnston

The colonization of Africa in all its earlier stages is so closely akin to exploration, that in several of the preceding chapters I have seemed to deal rather with geographical discoveries than with political settlement. But as there is much exploring work which has not been directly connected with colonization (just as all missionary work has not resulted in the foundation of European states in Africa, nor have measures for the suppression of the slave trade invariably been followed by annexation) I think it better to devote a chapter to the enumeration of great explorers whose work has proved to be an indirect cause of the ultimate European control now established over nearly all Africa.

The first explorers known to history, though not, unfortunately, mentioned by name, were those Phoenicians despatched by the Egyptian Pharaoh, Niku II (son of Psammetik), about 600 (603-599) B. C. to circumnavigate Africa. We receive our knowledge of them through Herodotos, who derived his information from Egypt; but the account given of the voyage bears the stamp of veracity and probability, and seemed to be confirmed by some remarkable inscriptions on scarabs discovered by French explorers of Egyptian monuments. These, however, have been declared to be forgeries[163].