John Hanning Speke to Lake Victoria by travelling south. They eventually, after tremendous hardships, such as being racked by fevers and held up by rulers for months on end, found Lake Albert and the Murchison Falls. Speke and Grant now returned to England where they arrived in June 1863 and were welcomed as genuine heroes. This did not last long in Speke’s case however; disputes with Burton, who was relentless in his criticisms and a very compelling public speaker and gifted writer, left Speke’s discoveries in less than an ideal light. Speke had also committed to write a book for John Blackwood which
John Hanning Speke and 18 out of the entourage of the Queen Mother. Speke took a serious liking to the elder, Meri, whom he fell in love with, according to his diaries (which were redacted when they were published as books later). While Meri proved loyal to Speke and fulfilled her task at being a "wife" as commanded by the Queen Mother, she showed no emotional attachment to Speke, and this left Speke heart-broken because he sought a relationship of mutual emotional feelings. Speke spent several months at the court of Mutesa and when he had given up winning Mere's heart, tried to