The New International Encyclopædia/Vogel, Eduard

VOGEL, fō'gel, (1829-56). A German explorer, born at Crefeld. He was educated at Leipzig and at Berlin, where he studied with Encke; and was attached for two years to Bishop's Observatory in London. In 1853 he was commissioned by the British Government to assist Overweg and Barth in their explorations of Central Africa. Passing through Tripoli, he reached Murzuk in August, 1853, Kuka in January of 1854, and in December met Barth near Bundi. Returning with the latter to Kuka, on Lake Chad, he then proceeded southward alone to Yakuba, and was the first white man ever seen in that region. The remainder of 1855 he spent in the vicinity of Yakuba and the Benue River. In November and December he went back to Bornu and Kuka. Early in 1856 he started eastward for the Nile, and penetrated as far as Wadai. But in Wara he was apprehended by the Sultan and killed, probably about February 8th. Several expeditions were undertaken in search of him, the most noteworthy of which was that of Heuglin in 1860. It was not until 1873, however, that his fate was finally ascertained by Nachtigal. His sister, Elise Polko, published his notes in her Erinnerungen an einen Verschollenen (1863). Consult Pahde, Der Afrikaforscher Eduard Vogel (Hamburg, 1889).