Following the conclusion of the Smithsonian-Roosevelt Expedition, Paul J. Rainey offered to take a Smithsonian naturalist on his trip to British East Africa. At
that time, Edmund Heller was working on the mammal collection which had come in from the Roosevelt Expedition. He was temporarily removed from that work and accompanied Rainey
to Africa, leaving New York on February 18, 1911, joining Rainey in Naples and arriving in Mombasa on March 22.
The expedition's route covered territory north and east of that covered by the Roosevelt expedition and included the country between northern British East Africa and southern
Abyssinia. Important localities visited included the Mombasa region, the Loiti Plains, Nairobi and vicinity, Fort Hall, Mount Kenia and vicinity, Mount Uaragess and vicinity
and the Kavirando Bay region of Lake Victoria. Heller also made a trip independent of the expedition to Mount Lololokwi. He left from Mombasa on February 25, 1912 for the
trip home.
This series includes photographs of the expedition, apparently taken by Heller, arranged alphabetically by subject. Where negatives are available, it is noted on the finding
aid. The series also includes a typewritten copy of Heller's journal for the expedition, covering the period March 22, 1911 to March 16, 1912. There is also a manuscript and
typescript of an account of the Mount Lololokwi trip by Heller.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7179, Edmund Heller Papers
Folder 49 Negatives of expedition on the Loita Plains, British East Africa including camps, Africans, vegetation and expedition activities. For prints, see Folder 23. [removed]
