Film Lesson: Mountains of the Moon

Mountains of the Moon is a film based on the discovery of the source of the Nile River - a lake now known as Lake Victoria. In the film, John Speke and Richard Burton face many hardships as they travel up the river in search of the source of the great river. On their first voyage, they must stop and return halfway through because they are unprepared. Burton takes a spear through the face at one point, an example of how they were treated by the native African people, who saw them as unwelcome intruders, which technically, they were.

Upon Speke and Burton's 'discovery' of the source of the Nile, it was named Lake Victoria, a tribute to the Queen that ruled England at the time. It's strange that the lake, the third largest in the world, would still be name after an English queen after all this time, especially since it is located in the middle of Africa.

The English conquerors were able to invade and take over so much of Africa so easily because of their technological advances, primarily guns and compasses, as well as other essential tools. The African natives fought only with their primitive weapons, such as bows and arrows and spears, which were obviously no match against machine guns.