The Gates of Africa: Death, Discovery and the Search for TimbuktuThe history of the African Association, the worlds first geographical society, dedicated to the exploration of the interior of a continent known only through legend and vague report. Africa was once seen as an El Dorado a gold encrusted continent of hope and prosperity, where the ancient civilisations of the Phoenicians and the Egyptians might have survived intact. The African Association, the worlds first geographical society, set itself the task of