Johnston, Harry Hamilton (1858–1927)

British explorer and administrator. After exploring Tunisia and Angola he penetrated into the Congo district above Stanley Pool in 1883, and the following year led a scientific expedition to Kilimanjaro in east Africa. He held several consular posts in Africa, including one in Portuguese East Africa, where he suppressed the Arab slave trade in the region of Lake Nyasa, and established a large British protectorate north of Lake Tanganyika.

He was born at Kennington, South London. Prior to his appointment in Portuguese East Africa, he was British vice-consul in Cameroon and the Niger delta (1885–88). He was later consul-general in British Central Africa (1891–96), and for two years, 1899–1901, he was employed in the administration of Uganda. He learned numerous African languages.

Among his books are The Colonization of Africa (1899), A History of the British Empire in Africa (1910), and The Story of My Life (1923).