Speke
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Speke. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
JOHN HANNING, an African explorer; born near Bideford, England, in May, 1827. He entered the Indian army at the age of 17, served in Sir Colin Campbell's division through the campaign in the Punjab, and during his annual leave of absence made exploring expeditions in the Himalayas and in Tibet, especially studying the botany, geology, and natural history of the region, and collecting specimens. He subsequently accompanied Captain Burton in his ex exploration of Eastern Africa, and in 1858 reached the head of the great lake Nyanza, under the Mountains of the Moon, and since called Victoria Nyanza. Desirous of ascertaining whether the Nile has its source in that lake, he set out from Zanzibar in 1860, accompanied by Captain Grant, to find the S. end of the lake; and after heroic struggles against extraordinary difficulties succeeded in his object, spent some time on the shores of the Nyanza, and striking the Nile at Urondogoni retraced its course to the lake. His "Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile" appeared in 1863, and a pamphlet, entitled "What Led to the Discovery of the Source of the Nile," in 1864. He died Sept. 15, 1864.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
speek, John Hanning (1827-1864), an African explorer. He was a native of Somersetshire, England. In 1844 he obtained a commission in the British army in India. He acquired a reputation not only as an officer, but as a huntsman and naturalist. As often as he could obtain a furlough, he spent it in making expeditions into the Himalayas and across the frontier into Egypt. In 1854 he was a member of an exploring expedition in Somaliland, south of Abyssinia. Three years later he undertook a second exploration in the course of which he discovered Lake Victoria Nyanza . In 1863 he revisited this lake and, starting from its outlet, traced the Nile northward. Captain Speke is known among geographers as having first given to the world a trustworthy knowledge of the sources of the Nile. After enduring no end of hardship in Africa and encountering danger in every form from natives and wild animals, he was killed at home in England by the accidental discharge of a fowlingpiece while crossing a fence. His principal book is a Journal of the Discovery of the Nile, published in 1863 in two volumes. See Nyanza; Nile