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Résumé en kirundi Abazungu ba mbere bagendeye Afirika sibo bahateye isemo ya mbere nk’uko abantu benshi bavyibaza. Dufatiye nko ku ibihugu vyo hagati y’ibiyaga, izo ngenzi zaherekezwa n’abikorezi, ababereka inzira hamwe n’ababafasha gutahura ibivuzwe muzindi ndimi. Abo bantu ntibavugwa cane mu nkuru zivuga ivyo abo Bazungu babonye. Ariko wihweje neza ibivugwa muri izo nkuru, baravuga rimwe rimwe aba nya Afirika baharekeje abo Bazungu babasigurira ivyerekeye ibihugu baciye mwo, kandi uwo murimo bakawukora nk’abawumenyereye. Ivyanditswe mur’iki gikorwa birerekana kandi n’imirwi y’abadandaza hamwe n’abandi ba nya Afirika, n’aba nya Aziya, bakoreshwa muri urwo rudandazwa, abo nabo akaba aribo bateguriye Abanyaburaya inzira zo kwinjira mu Burundi no mu Rwanda.

European “explorers” were not the glorious pioneers one may imagine. In the Great Lakes Region of East Africa, as everywhere, they were accompanied by porters, guides, and interpreters, whose help as well as the information they provided are seldom acknowledged in European narratives of discovery. New attention to the scattered mentions concerning these travels points towards a cosmopolite universe of professional African informants and travel companions who found employment with these varied expeditions. This essay also discloses the extent of the networks used by African and Asian traders and middlemen who paved the road to European penetration in Burundi and Rwanda.