The book most recently occupying my bedside table and my attention before dropping off to sleep is titled Africa Explored: Europeans in the Dark Continent 1769-1889, published about 40 years ago. We've got tons of books in our personal library, books amassed over the years and meant, eventually to be read. This is one of them and it's a fascinating account of African exploration in the 18th and 19th Century. 

Irving once read primarily detective novels, but he's more or less abandoned the genre. Now he reads history, both ancient and modern, books on psychology, on Greek legends, Arctic and Antarctic exploration, and often passes what he's read on to me. I have my own 'interest list' of books to be read, but invariably when he describes his impression of what he's read, it's intriguing and I end up reading what he's finished, often.

We're both interested in how people react to their circumstances, and what those circumstances are. In this book some familiar names crop up, like Mungo Park, James Bruce, Richard Burton and John Speke. French and British explorers, German and Dutch explorers. Curiosity in the general public about Africa was large, and Europe's expeditionary nations were anxious to establish new trade routes and new trading partners.

The book's author, Christopher Hibbert, a historian and biographer, chronicled events of the past quite interestingly. And with liberal use of archived letters, diaries and memoirs quoted throughout the book there is a clear sense of authenticity. Most of the explorers developed a fascination with and love of the continent even though they fell desperately ill frequently on their travels and many, along with their companions, died of the effects of viruses known and unknown.

Impressions are of huge interest; when travelling through the African interior and coming across tribes that had never before seen a white man, the indigenous people felt pity for these white people, that nature had been so unkind to them. Many of the women and children were terrified at the sight of a white man, fearing he bore a strange new illness that might be infectious.

The Islamic ('Moorish') influence on much of Africa was noted. And it was revelatory reading of the hundreds of different African tribespeople who were active slavers. In almost every village there were slaves, used as servants. There were descriptions of hostile tribes, but most were anything but; gracious and helpful instead. From the memoirs expressions of gratitude and friendship exuded between the white explorers and the black tribespeople. Conflict, however, was constant, with one tribe hunting another, burning down villages, killing conquered inhabitants, and taking slaves.

There were so many slaves that the explorers with their retinues were often urged to buy slaves for themselves. Not necessarily what the explorers had in mind, though they took on accomplished slaves to serve with them in their exploratory endeavours. Chiefs of large villages had numerous concubines, often slaves, in their harems. And it was more usual for men to have more than one wife, than not.

So these intriguing thoughts and revelations put me to sleep at night, lately. And when I awake in the morning, it's to another beautiful spring day. Like this morning, beautiful but icily cold. The temperature was -1C, and the wind blasted cold and piercing. But the sun was out and despite the cold everything in the gardens is coming along nicely.

Cleaning day, as usual for a Monday. But when that was done, we went out, all of us, for our afternoon circuit through the ravine. We no longer see the ducks, they've departed. And although one of our friends saw a Great Blue Heron, we haven't. Holding ponds upstream of the creek have been opened the last few days and the result has been a huge presence of water streaming through, roiling up the clay bottom and creating a muddy look to the creek. Little wonder the Mallards left.

We noticed that raspberry canes weeks ago were putting out their foliage, and today we realized that the thimbleberries are doing the same. So it may be a good year for soft berries in the ravine; time will most certainly tell. We're seeing more little clumps of woodland violets beginning to bloom this time the pale mauve coloured flowers.

Jackie is feeling a tad under the weather today, so he lingered close behind us as we negotiated the trails today, while Jillie as usual ploughed straight ahead and we had to keep calling for her return. Still, when we arrived back home afterward, Jackie was moderately agreeable to having a small bowl of cut-up cauliflower and halved grape tomatoes. He wasn't interested in his breakfast, but he may be hungry enough at dinner time to let me know all about it.