by Tim Jeal
zz AP to S 13.10.1874.
23 AP to S z8 Oct, 4, 5, 13 Nov, 4 Dec.
24 AP to S 2.12.18'74
z5 TDC i 811-z.
26 Ibid.
27 TDC i 8z, TDC ii 193, pic facing ii 480, ii 5113 list.
z8 TDC ii 510 lists 33 deaths since start of Exped to 31.01.1875. On 16 Jan he would claim to have only 230 people left out of an original 347 - a horrifying loss of 117 in the three months since starting. However, a close reading of the diary suggests he had by then suffered only z6 men lost through death, disease or desertion (S & N z5). Between 16 Jan and the end of the month, S lists a further 27 deaths and desertions in his diary, yet on 31 Jan he suggests, also in his diary, that he only has 173 men left, implying a loss of 57 men since 16 Jan. So what is going on? I believe that on 31 Jan he really did have between 1'70 and 18o men in his party. This true figure can be arrived at by assuming that he started with zz8 (as stated in his diary), then lost about 5o, principally through death, but also through desertion, by 31 Jan (TDC ii 510 lists 33 deaths since start of exped to 31 Jan) and so S had 178 with him on that day (1174 if not counting the Europeans). Given his usual skill at keeping men alive and preventing desertions - for S to have lost even 5o men (about zo per cent of his zz8 starters in two and a half months) shows what a hellish journey this was from the beginning. The hugely exaggerated loss of 117 had been entered in his diary simply in order to make the inflated 356 (his published starting figure) seem credible. Once again S had been pushed into lies by Bennett's desire to appear an unstinting Maecenas, and by his own workhouse boy's desire to seem the best equipped and most glorious of all explorers.
z9 TDC i ioo-i.
30 Ibid. 108.
311 SD 112.011.75.
3z TDC i 112.
33 Norman R. Bennett ed Stanley's Despatches to the New York Herald 1871-2, 1874-7, 1970, 458 (Bennett 458).
34 SD 16.01.75; S to H. J. Pocock 4.03.75 Bennett zo8.
35 Auto 301; Bennett 1197-
36 SD 2.3.01.1875.
37 S to E. King 19.05.75, Bennett 456.
38 SD 2.3.01.75•
39 SD 24-5.01.1875; Bennett zoz.
4o Bennett 458.
41 S&N55•
42 TDC i 136-42.
43 Ibid. 14z-
44 S&N63.
45 166 given as figure in SD z8 Feb S & N 6o; but to oarsmen taken from this.
46 Ibid.
47 TDC i 136-7.
48 S&N63.
49 S to J. R. Robinson 11.11.1874 BL RP11oo.
5o S to AP 4.03.1875.
THIRTEEN: The Island of Death
1 Which S would assume, at first, to be a major feeder of the lake - until he found the more important Kagera River (Bennett zo6 note 17).
z Bennett 2.14.
3 Ibid. 117; TDC i p 18o.
4 NYH 29.07.1875, Bennett 248.
5 Opening pages of `Uganda Diary' 1875-6.
6 S & N 70; Bennett zzo.
7 Bierman 176.
6 Bennett 46-7; ibid. zz5ff S to NYH 14.04.1875; S & N 71-z.
9 Drafts of DT and NYH letters 1.06.1876.
Io Preface to `Uganda Diary' 1875-6.
11 S&N7o.
iz Ibid.
13 TDC 1 198.
14 McLynn i 158 quoting: Chaille-Long Central Africa, 1876, 310; Alan Moorehead The White Nile, 1964 ed, 140.
15 TDC i 202-3 re 10.04.1875; TDC i 202, 405.
1[6 NYH i4.o4.11875.
17 TDC i 3zz, 448; TDC ii 166.
18 Quoted Bierman 178; Bellefonds journal 13.04.1875, Bennett 233.
i9 Bennett Z42.
20 Ibid. 243.
2.1 Ibid. 243-4.
zz SD 28.04.1875•
2.3 TDC i 2.30-I.
z4 Small Australian notebook 1891-z.
2.5 SD 2.8.04.1875.
z6 Bennett 2.46.
27 Ibid. z4zff.
z8 S to AP z5.o5.z875; S to King z9.o5.z875, Bennett z58.
z9 Auto 3116; in SD 22.07.11875 (S & N 88) he mentions that it was rumoured on the neighbouring island of Iroba that he had killed 14 men on Bumbireh; but he also quoted an island rumour that he had been killed on Bumbireh.
z9 Bennett 248.
30 StoNYH29.1111.11875•
31 PRGS 3.06.1878, 387ff.
3z Bennett zz8-9.
33 Ibid. 240; S & N 78.
34 Bennett 157 and note 6.
35 E Pocock to parents 115.05.11875 Bennett 469.
36 TDC i 246; Bennett 253-
37 S & N 8z; Bennett z55.
38 S & N 83-5.
39 TDC i 277-8.
4o TDC ii 274-
41 S dam' N 9i-z.
42 Ibid. 92.
43 Bennett z57-
44 TDC i z85.
45 S dam' N 9z-3.
46 E Pocock Diaries A and D Aug 3 (error for 4) 11877 Rhodes House, Oxford.
47 Pocock Diary A 3-4 Aug; confirms 33 were thought killed; S & N 95•
48 Bennett 260.
49 S & N 96-7-
5o Gordon to S 20-04-1875-
51 S to Edward Levy 15.08.1875•
5z S&N99.
53 Bennett 274-
54 S to AP 2.06.11876.
55 S & N 117-18.
56 S to AP 2.06.11876.
57 Ibid.
58 S dam' N izo.
59 TDCii9-,o.
6o S to AP 2.06.11876.
61 PRGS 3.o6.z878, 39iff.
6z S & N sz3-4.
63 S to AP 114.08.11876.
64 S to E Levy-Lawson 13.o8.i876 Bennett 463ff.
65 41 in TDC ii 65 is exaggeration for desertions alone; see S & N 1130-11; Bennett 3115-116.
66 TDC ii p 6zff.
67 S&N113o.
68 TDC ii 78.
69 TDC ii 79-83.
7o TDCii 85.
71 Bennett 323.
7z TDCii 9z.
73 Auto 3I9.
74 N. R. Bennett Mirambo of Tanzania, 1971, 146.
75 Ruth Slade King Leopold's Congo, 1962, 88.
76 TDC ii p 95-6.
77 S& N i 3 z-3 .
78 Clements Markham Private History of the RGS n.d. 401-2 RGS.
79 TDC ii 96-7-
8o TDCii 117, 96.
811 Jeal z98.
8z Kirk to Rawlinson 15.01.1872 PRGS xvi 227-
83 TDCii tzo.
84 TDCii 118; Bennett 322.
85 Bennett 324-7.
86 Ibid. 335-
87 S & N 14 6. Report on Livingstone Congo Expedition z8 Jan 75 by W. J. Grandy RN, PRGS Vol xix io4ff. In December 1874, in London, Lieutenant W. J. Grandy, RN, having failed to progress up the Congo far beyond Boma, told the members of the RGS that his expedition had been destroyed by his inability to hire reliable porters. In his opinion, a caravan of 50o men with guns would be essential for a successful journey up the Congo.
88 S made out that Tippu Tip brought 400 TDCii 13o; but his diary figure (S & N 139 zo Nov) giving a total of 458 for both parties is probably right - the count being made at a river crossing. Subtract S's 146 and one gets 312. for TT. In Bennett 3zz he lists the male contingent as zio (140 with guns and 70 with spears).
89 S to King 31.10.1876 Bennett 459 ff .
FOURTEEN: `The Great Struggle with this Mystery'
i TDCii 130-1-
2 Ibid. 132-3, 138.
3 Ibid. 138-9.
4 S&N136-7.
5 S & N 139-
6 TDCii 145 and footnote; S &N1138-9; Pocock in Hall 69.
7 S& N 139.
8 S&N141.
9 S&N139-40•
1o See Bennett 377, 385-6 for large exaggerations - all S's self-proclaimed 32 battles on the Congo (except one bloodless brush on 9 Mar) took place between 24 Nov 1876 and 14 Feb 1877 S & N 140-164. The `fight of fights' and penultimate `battle' (no 31) was on 14 Feb and Stanley massively exaggerated the number of combatants in TDC and in S & N 164 - for actual numbers see this book pp zo1-z and note 37 P• 515 quoting Frank Pocock's figures. See this book 1192 for Stanley's small numb
er of competent marksmen. There is no supporting evidence in his original diaries to support his claim (made in a single throwaway note S&N 1199) to have captured $50,000 worth of ivory or to have destroyed z8 towns. These assertions are fantasy like the 3z battles. After being attacked, he set fire to some huts in three villages during this period of constant danger. On many occasions he tried to make peace, see S & N 118 Dec, 11-z Jan and 7 Feb, Mar 11-z. On z6 Nov he wrote: `I gave strictest orders that no native should be molested unless he was near camp at night.'S&N11411.
It S & N 142-4.
112 S & N 1143; TDC ii 170, 176-7; S & N 1137.
13 J. S. Jameson The Story of the Rear Column of the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, 1890, 300; McLynn i 304 quoting The Autobiography of Tippu Tip; TDC ii 189.
14 Bennett 380.
15 TDC ii 197-8.
116 S & N 31 Dec 146 (= 1109 men out of 143); TDC ii 1124, 1188, 3111-
17 S&N146.
A Ibid. 147.
119 Cannibalism; evidence of Livingstone, Jeal 327, J. H. Weeks, the missionary (see books in bibliog); McLynn i note 3 388. Also see notes 29 and 38 below; also see p. 194 of this book.
20 S & N 148 1.01.1877.
zz Auto 327-
22 McLynn i 3115; S to NYH 24-11.1877-
23 H. M. Stanley The Congo and the Founding of Its Free State, 1885, ii 120.
24 S&N13o.
z5 Bennett 387-
z6 TDC ii 247-8; S & N 15o-1.
27 S&N1157.
28 TDC ii 241-
z9 Ibid. 274-
30 S&N163.
31 TDC ii 226; S & N 116o, i56 and TDC ii 254•
32 S&N159-6o.
3 3 S & N 116o-11.
34 TDC ii 288.
35 Ibid. 2911; S & N 1163.
36 Ibid. 163.
37 D. E Pocock Diary 14-15 Feb Rhodes House; TDC ii 298-301; S & N 164-5; Original SD 114.02.11877 has 54 but this is written over 27, itself a large exaggeration.
38 W. Holman Bentley Pioneering on the Congo, 1900, 64, quoted by McLynn i 319-
39 S&N1166.
40 CFFS i 5-7. This had been achieved in 1816 by the Englishman Captain James K. Tuckey, RN, when he led a party of 56 men, 118 of whom died of fever during their upriver push from Banana on the sea to the Nsongo Yellala falls, 172 miles up the Congo. Ahead of Tuckey had lain 115 5 miles of cataracts, which had forced him to travel on overland. Of his land party of 30, 14 died in this phase, including Tuckey himself, after whose death the whole expedition was withdrawn.
41 Bennett 387-8.
42 Boma letter mentions 11115 souls; p 99 S &N, 17 Jul, gives deaths on the river at 13; 143 people had been alive at Nyangwe so 14 had died between there and the Pool; p 1174 S & N, z9 Mar, gives canoe numbers.
43 TDC i 51-z.
44 S to King 2.110.11877 .
45 When S addressed the Wangwana, he did so paternalistically, speaking of himself as their father. In one sense, he had reconstituted in Africa a sort of workhouse family. Replacing Kalulu, he now had new young favourites, such as the teenager Billali, who was a brilliant hunter. There was Majwara, the boy who had been with DL when he died, and who now acted as S's and Pocock's tent boy, and in addition spied for his master, reporting on thefts of supplies. And lastly there was Kadu, one of Mutesa's pages, who would be with S in Britain for several years. TDC ii i59; S & N 30; TDC ii 379; TDC ii 166.
46 Bennett 36z.
47 TDC ii 36o, 369.
48 Bennett 479, 482.
49 TDC ii 336.
5o S dam' N 1173; TDC ii 338.
51 SD 3.04.1877; S dam' N 174.
5z S & N 1174-5.
5 3 Ibid. 176-7-
54 Ibid. 179-
55 Ibid. 18o; TDC ii 348-9.
56 S&N18i-z.
57 Ibid. 1183-4; TDC ii 3611 .
58 TDC ii 368; S dam' N 185 .
59 TDC ii 375.
6o Ibid. 378-83-
611 Ibid.
62 S&N189.
63 Ibid. 1189; TDC ii 397-
64 S dam' N 19z.
65 Ibid. 1192, 195.
66 TDC ii 405.
67 S & N 1193-5•
68 Ibid. 196-7.
69 Ibid.
70 SD after 10.05.1877 unpublished.
71 S&N1199.
72 Ibid. zoo; TDC ii 43 1-z.
73 Sdam'Nzoi;TDCii433.
74 Bennett 388-9.
75 Ibid. 39o.
76 S dam' N zoz.
77 I have quoted from the version bought in the 197os by Quentin Keynes (whose executors sold it at Christie's on 7.04.2004), which strikes me, from crossings-out and hesitancies, as being the first written. The date is 4 Aug - changed later to 6th, possibly not by Stanley. There is another English version at the Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa, which is different in many minor details and starts Banza N'Sanga, is dated 5 Aug and does not include the phrase `To any gentleman who speaks English at Emboma'. A version slightly different from both was printed in TDC ii 447-9, so it would seem that at some stage Stanley had kept a copy for himself - though none exists in his archive at the present date.
78 TDC ii 461; Bennett 340-11.
79 TDC ii 46z.
8o SD 9.08.1877; Hall zi.
811 TDC ii 470-11. SD on 27 Sept has 1114 men women and two infants.
8z Bennett 346.
83 S to Edward Levy-Lawson 17.08.1877 Russell Train Coll.
84 Papers of C. R. Blandy record £11,533.113.6 despatched from Madeira, first tranche z6 Oct 77 to S at Cape, Russell Train Coll.
85 Jeal 23o; these members of the Kololo tribe (one fewer than the 115 people S had brought to Kabinda) were abandoned by DL without resources at Tete on the Zambesi in April 18 It would be four years (the summer of 186o, two years after DL had returned to the Zambesi) before he would finally find time to take the Kololo back to central Africa.
86 S to Levy-Lawson 116.09.11877; Geographical Magazine, and PMG 28.112.11875.
87 TDC ii 470; Auto 536.
88 S to Levy-Lawson 116.09.118 77 Russell Train Coll.
89 SDi3.o8.i877.
9o Bulletin Missouri Historical Society, April 1962, z65-6 `On The Trail of a New H. M. Stanley Letter' by Douglas Wheeler; SD 20-26.08.1877•
91 S to Levy-Lawson 116.09.11877 Russell Train Coll.
92 S to King 2.10.1877•
93 Eight AP letters are at Tervuren.
94 AP to S 4.zz.1874•
95 Marston to S 25 Sep, ii Oct 1877; V. Ambella to S 10.10.1877•
96 S & N z5; TDC ii 5114-115; in S's My Dark Companions and their Strange Stories, 1893, in Bunyoro five Ugandans had been with S, but none were included in TDC lists of dead or returned. Details about Baruti, Kassim, Katembo and Kadu in this book; TDC ii 124; TDC ii 5115.
97 TDC ii 513, 477, 48o.
98 Ibid. 482-3.
99 Bennett 457; also see My Dark Companions.
11ooPreface to Uganda Diary 1875-6.
FIFTEEN: `I Hate Evil and Love Good'
i AP to S17-II-77-
z Daily News 14.12.1877.
3 Quoted Bierman 213 from Edward Marston After Work, 1904, zz6.
q Saturday Review 16.oz.i877; Pall Mall Gazette 11.oz.1877•
Marston to S 11.10.1877. Indeed the perception that he was an American was all but universal. Edwin Arnold shared it, as did Serpa Pinto, the Portuguese explorer, from whom Stanley had begged that personal favour of mailing a letter to his `pequena' in New York. Pinto had pronounced Stanley a 'true Yankee', and had written to friends quoting `his many Americanisms' (Douglas L. Wheeler Bulletin Missouri Historical Society, April 1962, z65). On this particular return to Britain, S made no clandestine visits to north Wales, unwilling to risk a repeat of the controversy about his nationality that had distressed him in 1872.
6 Arnold to S z9.I. 1877; Marston to S 11.10.1877.
7 H. Yule to ed of Anti -Slavery Reporter 14.oz.1878.
8 RGSP xxi 1876-7, 62-3.
9 CD i5.io.i88o .
io Bennett 458.
&nbs
p; 1i Quoted in Times 17-11.1877-
Iz Gordon to Burton 19.10.1877, quoted McLynn ii 14.
13 Baker to Edwin Arnold zo.ol.1878.
14 Anti-Slavery Reporter 1.04.1873; Dorothy Middleton Baker of the Nile, 11949, 1191-
15 Middleton, Baker ... 163; Cairns zo6.
16 Margery Perham Lugard: The Years of Adventure 1858-1898, i, 1956, 198, 238, 303, 350•
17 Ibid. 197.
18 CD 15.10.1880; Rotberg 270, 274.
19 CD ibid.
zo S to Strauch 8.08.1883.
zi Saturday Review 16.oz.1878.
zz Geographical Magazine March 1878, 53.
23 Saturday Review 16.oz.1878.
24 Edinburgh Review Francis Galton `Stanley's Discoveries and the Future of Africa' cxly ii 1878, 167, 171-
25 CDasn9.
z6 Sir Rutherford Alcock to S 31.01.1878; Standard 9 Feb; Yule to PMG 25-01--1878-
27 Saturday Review 16.oz.1878.
z8 `My First Fight with Savages' Home Journal Jan 1898.
z9 Ibid.
30 J. Farler to A. Buzacott 28.12.1877 Rhodes House Mss Brit Emp; S & N 199 has ref to 133 tusks and 3z battles, and destroying z8 large towns, quoted later by detractors, but this was a typical Stanley exaggeration verging on downright lying.
31 Hall 245-
3z Kirk to MacKinnon 13.12.1877 FO 84/1514; S to Kirk 1.12.1877 copy Ter.
33 Quoted McLynn ii 4-
34 Hall 245-6; Bierman 223-
35 Scorn for Shaw throughout HIFL; S to H.H. Johnston 115.04.11883 Academie Royale des Sciences Coloniale iii-1957-2 349-
36 Bennett 317 ff; S to NYH Nyangwe 28.10.1876; Pocock to brother 20.07.1876 Bennett 477ff.
37 J. Kirk to Derby i May 1878 FO 84/15'4)-
38 Elizabeth Longford Victoria RI 527 quoting the Queen's diary 26.06.1878.
39 Jeal zz etc; Cairns 193-
40 Quoted Jeal 186, also 1105.
41 SD 13.o8.1877, Bennett 341-6.
42 Bennett 371-z; also Times 17-11.1877-
43 SD 1877 notebook, end pages z6 Jun 1878.
44 Neal Ascherson The King Incorporated, 1963, 46.
45 Times 11.01.1876.
46 Ascherson go.
47 Quoted Pakenham 21.
48 Emerson 77.
49 Ascherson 95.