ROHLFS, FRIEDRICH GERHARD (18311896)

This article appears in Volume V23, Page 461 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: RHY-RON

ROHLFS, FRIEDRICH GERHARD (18311896) , German explorer of the Sahara, son of a physician, was born at Vegesack, near Bremen, on the 14th of April 1831. After the

ordinary

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

course at the gymnasium of Osnabruck he entered the Bremen corps in 1848, and took part as a volunteer in the Schleswig-Holstein campaign, being made an officer after the battle of Idstedt (July 185o). He became a medical student at the universities of Heidelberg, Wurzburg and then GSttingen; but his natural inclination was for travelling, and in 1855 he went to Algeria and enlisted in the Foreign Legion.
He took part in the conquest of Kabylia, and was decorated for bravery as Chevalier of the Legion of Honour. Having made himself master of Arabic and gained a thorough knowledge of native customs, Rohlfs went to Morocco in 1861; presenting himself as a Mussulman, he gained the favour of the enlightened sherif of Wazzan, and was thus enabled to travel over the length and breadth of the country. He then entered the Sahara and traversed the entire extent of the Wad Draa, being the second European (the first being Rene Caillie) to visit Tafilet. On leaving Tafilet he was robbed by his guides and left for dead; but two marabouts charitably succoured him and he was able to reach Algeria. When scarcely re-covered from his wounds he started once more for the Sahara (August 1862) by way of Algeria. Compelled by tribal disturbances to turn back, he went to Tangier and thence in March 1864 made a fresh start. Crossing the Atlas by an eastern route he again visited Tafilet, and thence made his way across the desert to the oasis of Tuat, which he was the first European to describe. Returning by Ghadarries and

Tripoli

he spent three months in Germany, and then (March 1865) went back to

Tripoli

, intending to explore the highlands of the Ahaggar; being prevented, however, by a war among the Tuareg, he went from Ghadames to Murzuk, where he spent five months, and thence across the Sahara to Bornu, mapping en route the oasis of Kawar. Rohlfs passed through Mandara and its ancient

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

Mora, and struck out for the coast of the Gulf of

Guinea

GUINEA

. He reached the Benue by way of the Bauchi highlands, and descended that river to its confluence with the Niger, which he ascended to Rabba. Thence he made his way on horseback to Lagos, reaching Liverpool on tae' 2nd of July 1867. In the following year he accompanied the British expedition against Theodore of Abyssinia, and on his return went once more to Tripoli; whence he traversed the Cyrenaica, reaching Egypt by way of the oasis of Siwa (1869). Returning home, he married and settled down in

Weimar

WEIMAR

. He did not rest long, however, for in 187374 he took command of an expedition sent by the Khedive Ismail into the Libyan Desert, which made investigations of great value to science. In 1878 Rohlfs and Dr Stecker were commissioned by the German African Society to go to Wadai. They succeeded in reaching the oasis of Kufra, one of the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

centres of the Senussites, but being attacked by the Arabs, they were obliged to

retreat

RETREAT (O. Fr. retrete, mod. retraite, from Lat. retrahere, to draw back)

, making their way to the coast at Benghazi, reached in October 1879. In 188o Rohlfs accompanied Dr Stecker in an exploring expedition to Abyssinia; but after delivering a

letter

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

from the German emperor to the Negus, he returned to Europe. In 1885, when the rivalry between the British and Germans in East Africa was very. keen, Prince Bismarck appointed Rohlfs

consul

at Zanzibar, which island Bismarck desired to secure for, Germany. Rohlfs, untrained in diplomacy, was no match for Sir John Kirk, the British Agent, and he wa? soon recalled, and did not again visit Africa. He died at Riingsdorf, near Bonn, on the 2nd of June 1896. Rohlfs visited many regions not before traversed by Europeans, and the value of his work was recognized in 1868 by the Royal Geographical Society, which bestowed on him the Patron's Medal.
Accounts of each of his expeditions, and other works on Africa were published by Rohlfs, including Mein Erster Aufenthalt in Marokko (Bremen, 1873; English edition, Travels in Morocco, London, 1874) ; Reise durch Marokko (Bremen, 1868) ; Over durch Afrika (

Leipzig

LEIPZIG

, 187475); Von Tripolis nach Alexandrien (Bremen, 1871); Expedition zur Erforschung der Libyschen .Wiiste (Cassel, 187576) ; Kufra: Reise von Tripolis nach der Oase Kufra (

Leipzig

LEIPZIG

, 1881) ; Land and Volk in Afrika (Bremen, 187o) ; Quid novi ex Africa? (Cassel, 1886). See also a biographical notice by Dr W. Wolkenhauer in the Deutsche geo. Bldtter for 1896.

End of Article: ROHLFS, FRIEDRICH GERHARD (18311896)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/RHY_RON/ROHLFS_FRIEDRICH_GERHARD_18311.html">
ROHLFS, FRIEDRICH GERHARD (18311896)
</a>

(Previous)
ROHILLA (a Pushtu word for " mountaineer ")

(Next)
ROHTAK

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email