Imagine you were left a fortune and overnight became a multi-millionaire. What would you do? Quit your job and live a life of self-indulgence? Most of us would be sorely tempted, but William Gill of the Royal Engineers did neither. He stayed in the army and used the fortune he inherited to finance the journeys of exploration that he loved, at the same time gathering intelligence for the British government. Consequently he died prematurely, murdered in the Sinai desert at the age of 39, whilst on his way to cut the telegraph lines between Constantinople and Alexandria. But by that time his missions had taken him to Persia, China, Tibet, India, the Balkans, Turkey and North Africa, and he had been awarded the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society.

All through his travels, in addition to his meticulous scientific observations and geographical surveys, William Gill kept travel diaries, which he posted home to his mother in instalments. These are fascinating accounts covering not only the exotic places he explored and the interesting people he met, but also the minutiae of public transport, hotels and catering, architecture, military uniform and even the behaviour of his fellow Brits. Much of the present book is taken from these travel diaries, which are kept in the archives of the Royal Geographical Society to whom they were bequeathed in 1932 by a Mrs Rea. In most cases, I have transcribed directly from William Gill’s handwritten copies. Occasionally, I have used transcriptions that appeared in either the Royal Engineers Journal in the early 1880s or in Gill’s book, The River of Golden Sand.

Spellings of place names where quoted by William Gill have been left in their original Victorian form but elsewhere have been modernised. Where there is a risk of confusion, an alternative spelling has been given in parenthesis.

The city views are from Round the World, published in 1895 by George Newnes Limited, London. They show the places much as William Gill would have seen them, having been taken not long after his death and before the impact of the internal combustion engine. These images have been digitally enhanced for greater clarity. Most other illustrations are from the condensed version of William Gill’s own book, The River of Golden Sand, published by John Murray in 1883.

I became interested in William Gill because he was my great-great-uncle. Our family knew that he wrote a book about China, that he died a heroic death at the hands of the Bedouin, was buried in St Paul’s cathedral and commemorated in Rochester cathedral. But we did not know much more than that. Following my research for this book, we know a lot more. So join me, if you will, for some glimpses of this extraordinary Victorian hero: glimpses of him through your eyes, and glimpses of his fascinating world through his own.

Portrait of William Gill from 'The River of Golden Sand'