1876 cover with 2d pl14 and 6d pl15 addressed to Zanzibar from Nairn, Scotland.
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1876 an envelope bearing an 1869 2d blue plate 14 (corner fault) together with an 1876 6d grey plate 15 issue paying the 8d rate to Zanzibar via Brindisi and Aden both being tied by the "264" duplex of Nairn dated for OC 26 76. A rare and most attractive destination cover. The envelope is signed by Col J.A. Grant and addressed to the East African explorer Louis Arthur Lucas. Lucas left London on 2nd Sept 1875 for Khartoum and in April 1876 he ascended the White Nile to Lado where he joined General Gordon. When Gordon would not permit Lucas to try the Nile route into Uganda, he decided to return via Khartoum to Suez in order to essay the route to Zanzibar. He fell ill with fever and though he reached Suakim and embarked, he died at sea and was buried at Jeddah. He was never to receive this envelope. Bov#191
