From the end of January 1863 until mid-December 1864, the Dutch traveller Alexine Tinne and the German zoologist Theodor von Heuglin (hereafter: Heuglin) carried out an expedition to the vast region of the Gazelle-river, a western tributary of the White Nile also known as the Bahr el-Ghazal (the Arabian name). Their private fortune enabled Alexine and her mother, Henriette Tinne-van Capellen, to prepare and maintain an expedition of immense proportions. No expense was spared. A steamboat was engaged together with transport vessels for the accompanying people, beasts of burden, and provisions. Guides, attendants, crew, servants and soldiers were hired, together forming a ‘train’ of more than 150 people, which after three months had increased to more than 550.

The enterprise initially seemed to offer much promise. However, as a journey it was far from successful. The expedition ended in disillusion after only four months. Its members were almost incessantly struck by fevers and dysentery due to the marshy area, and this gave the journey a most disastrous turn. Heuglin recounted later about their return to Khartoum:

Henriette van Capellen, two European maids, and a companion of Heuglin had fallen victim to the fatal diseases that perpetually hovered over these swampy African regions. And soon after Alexine's arrival back in Khartoum in May 1864, Adriana van Capellen, Henriette's sister, who had not accompanied the expedition, died.

The story of the Bahr el-Ghazal expedition revolves around two more or less contrapositive themes: wealth, which was the main factor enabling the Tinnes to accomplish their enterprise, and death, which ultimately caused the abortion of the expedition. This book will delve into these themes extensively as we follow Alexine Tinne and Theodor von Heuglin through to the aftermath of the expedition.