Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley & Livingstone (49 page)

The Royal Geographical Society has long been scrupulous about documenting its activities. Their various internal publications — records, proceedings, etc. — provided a wealth of information.

As for the distances between Stanley and Livingstone, those approximations are based on latitude and longitude notations from personal journals and on specific towns and villages on maps.

As with all writing, there is no substitute for first-person experience. So while I couldn’t walk alongside Stanley or Livingstone, I could retrace their path and visit the places that were important to this story: London, New York, Paris, Denver, the East African coast, across Africa to Lake Tanganyika, Tabora and Ujiji.

The backbone of this book, then, is the compilation of journals, letters, newspapers and personal travels listed above. A more detailed reference to sources follows.

Prologue, Livingstone:
Alan Moorehead’s
The White Nile
(particularly for
baraka
), James Morris’s brilliant
Heaven’s Command
, Norman R. Bennett’s
Arab Versus European
and
Studies in East African History
,
General History of Africa
, Wilfred Noyce’s excellent and underrated
The Springs of Adventure
, Reginald Coupland’s
The Exploitation of East Africa
, Phyllis Martin and Patrick O’Meara’s
Africa
and Timothy Holmes’s
Journey to Livingstone
.

Stanley:
William Harlow Cook’s description of his journey with Stanley is on file with the Royal Geographical Society, and provides a vivid account of their journey down the Platte. Further information was gleaned from Stanley biographies, of which two excellent books tower above the rest. The first is
Stanley
:
The Making of an African Explorer (1841–1877)
. The second is
Dark Safari
:
The Life Behind the Legend of Henry Morton Stanley
. Both were used as references for this chapter. Also, Davies’s
Ten Days on the Plains
and Dee Brown’s
The American West
and
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
. Norman R. Bennett’s
Stanley’s Despatches to the New York Herald
.

Chapter One:
Because of the amount of erroneous published information on the Nile Duel, much of this chapter relies on
eyewitness accounts via newspaper stories and Royal Geographical Society records in an attempt to set the record straight. The works on Speke and Burton listed in the bibliography (in particular, Edward Rice’s thorough and readable
Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography and Alexander Maitland’s Speke
) were used extensively.
Heaven’s Command, Journey to Livingstone, The White Nile
, H. G. Adam’s
David Livingstone, Livingstone’s Last Journey
by Reginald Coupland, Isabel Burton’s
Life of Sir Richard Burton
and
To the Farthest Ends of the Earth
by Ian Cameron. Simpson’s
Dark Companions
provided information on Bombay’s life. As an aside, the 1989 Rob Rafelson film
Mountains of the Moon
is an entertaining, mostly accurate portrayal of Burton and Speke’s battles.

Chapter Two:
David Livingstone
by C. S. Nicholls. Also, Adams, Coupland, Holmes.

Chapter Three:
In addition to Stanley’s accounts of his time in Turkey, McLynn, Bierman and Norman R. Bennett’s
Stanley’s Despatches to the New York Herald
all offer thorough investigations of that boondoggle. For information on the American West, Brown’s
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
and
The American West
.

Chapter Four:
The RGS Archives, which hold Young’s original letters to Murchison and original Society orders, were invaluable. Of books, Young’s
In Search of Livingstone
is the definitive tome, and goes into much more detail than his report to the Royal Geographical Society. For information on the Zulu, Morris’s
Heaven’s Command
was thorough and entertaining. Also, Coupland, Adams. Phil Kennington, formerly of the Royal Marines, provided invaluable insights into life on Her Majesty’s yacht. Rawlinson’s comments on Murchison’s character are taken from his 1872 President’s Address.

Chapter Five:
McLynn, Bierman, Brown,
The New York Times
, Don Sietz’s
The James Gordon Bennetts
, Allen Oliver’s
New York
,
New York
, Mike Wallace and Edwin G. Burrows’s
Gotham
:
A History of New York to 1898
, Richard O’Connor’s
The Scandalous Mr Bennett
.

Chapter Six:
Holmes, Nicholls, James Currey’s
General History of Africa
, Robert Stock’s
Africa South of the Sahara
, Coupland’s
East Africa and Its Invaders
, John Spencer Trimingham’s
Islam in East Africa
, Abdul Sheriff’s
Slaves
,
Spices and Ivory in Zanzibar
, Stanley Engerman’s
Slavery
, Martin and O’Meara’s
Africa
and Robert A. Stafford’s brilliant
Scientists of Empire
:
Sir Roderick Murchison
,
Scientific Exploration and Victorian Imperialism
.

Chapter Seven:
McLynn, Bierman, Byron Farwell’s
The Man Who Presumed
, Bennett’s
Stanley’s Despatches to the New York Herald
, Herman Melville’s
Battle Pieces
, Bennett’s
Studies in East African History
and Morris.

Chapter Eight:
Holmes, Adams.

Chapter Nine:
Stafford, Stephen Linwood’s
A History of London
, Sally Mitchell’s
Daily Life in Victorian England
, Patrick O’Brian’s
Joseph Banks
: A
Life
, Tom Hiney’s
On The Missionary Trail
, Morris, Cameron, Holmes, Moorehead. Also, Hugh Robert Mill’s
The Record of the Royal Geographical Society
,
1830–1930
, for Rawlinson’s obituary remarks on Murchison’s character.

Chapter Ten:
In addition to Livingstone’s journals, Cameron’s
Across Africa
was vital in providing physical descriptions of the land west of Lake Tanganyika: the Great Congo Forest, the rites of cannibalism in the Manyuema region and the odd body odour produced by those eating human flesh and animal carrion. Also, Holmes, Nicholls, Stafford, Adams, Daniel Liebowitz’s
The Physician and the Slave Trade
.

Chapter Eleven:
The primary source of all dialogue in the Stanley-Bennett encounter comes directly from Stanley’s
How I Found Livingstone
. McLynn, Farwell, Moorehead, Coupland, Seitz, O’Connor. The staff at the Grand Hotel in Paris, which is still very much in business, were most helpful in confirming the exact location of Bennett’s suite.

Chapter Twelve:
The Gladstone Diaries
:
With Cabinet Minutes and Prime Ministerial Correspondence
provides details of the
extension of monies to Livingstone. Also, Stafford, David Babbington’s
William Ewart Gladstone
:
Faith and Politics in Victorian England
and David Kynaston’s
The Chancellor of the Exchequer
.

Chapter Thirteen:
Stanley’s original journals and
How I Found Livingstone
combine to portray Stanley’s worries and fears. His original desire to follow the Rufiji instead of the caravan routes is seen in his journals. Also, Bennett’s
Studies in East African History
, Liebowitz, Holmes, Bierman, McLynn.

Chapter Fourteen:
Bennett’s
Stanley’s Despatches to the New York Herald
, McLynn, Bierman, Bennett’s
Studies in East African History
, Liebowitz.

Chapter Fifteen:
Oswell, Coupland, Holmes, Nicholls, Cameron. Livingstone’s letter to Seward, dated November 1871, was purchased by the Brenthurst Library through Chas J. Sawyer at an auction at Christie’s on 16 December 1991. At their request, it is cited thus: David Livingstone, Letter, MS.240/1f. The Brenthurst Library, Johannesburg.

Chapter Sixteen:
Details of caravan life are best seen in Cameron, Bennett’s
Despatches
, Rice. The Center for Disease Control provided the details about sleeping sickness and tse-tse. Dr Matthew Dugard and Dr Steven Cullen provided further insight.

Chapter Seventeen:
It bears repeating that Stanley’s thoughts and actions are all catalogued in his journals and
How I Found Livingstone
. Also, McLynn, Bierman. The CDC, Dugard and Cullen provided commentary on dysentery.

Chapter Eighteen:
Granville’s comments can be found in
Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates
. The excellent
Encarta Encyclopedia
provided background on the war between France and Germany.

Chapter Nineteen:
McLynn, Bierman, Brown, Holmes, Bennett’s
Despatches
. The CDC provided information on elephantiasis. Stafford.

Chapter Twenty:
Baker’s
Ismaelia
provides a vivid re-creation of life in Gondokoro, including records of conversations with passing travellers about Livingstone’s possible location, and Florence Baker’s tables listing the daily temperature and humidity. Also, Moorehead, Stafford, Holmes.

Chapter Twenty-one:
Cameron, Holmes, Nicholls.

Chapter Twenty-two:
McLynn, Bierman, Farwell. Stanley’s early comments about Livingstone can be found in Bennett’s
Despatches
. Stanley’s sexual ambivalence is thoroughly catalogued in the various biographies.

Chapter Twenty-three:
Stanley thoroughly documented his time in Ugogo, but Cameron’s journals read like an anthropological odyssey, complete with drawings, vivid descriptions and various tales of the Wagogo. The CDC, for information on malaria.

Chapter Twenty-four:
The Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society
, Cameron’s
To the Ends of the Earth and Mill’s Record
.

Chapter Twenty-five:
Bennett’s
East African History
and
Despatches
, McLynn, Bierman.

Chapter Twenty-six:
McLynn, Bierman, Bennett’s
Despatches
.

Chapter Twenty-seven:
Livingstone’s journal description of the massacre is vivid and horrific. He also wrote of the tragedy in a letter to Lord Granville, dated 14 November 1871. Also, Coupland, Holmes, Nicholls. Cameron, for his discussion of cannibalism.

Chapter Twenty-eight:
McLynn, Bierman, Bennett’s
Despatches
.

Chapter Twenty-nine:
Bennett’s
Despatches
,
Studies in East African History
, and
Arab Versus European
. McLynn, Bierman.

Chapter Thirty:
I. F. Lockevon’s original letter to Stanley is on file with the Royal Geographical Society. Davies’s
Ten Days on the Plains
, Brown’s
American West
and
Bury My Heart
, McLynn,
O’Connor, Seitz. Weybright and Sell, Goodman and Leonard, for Buffalo Bill information. Bennett’s
Despatches
.

Chapter Thirty-one:
McLynn, Bierman, Snell-Blasford, Bennett’s
Despatches
. The CDC website, for information on smallpox.

Chapter Thirty-two:
Kirk’s letter to Murchison, dated 25 September 1871. Kirk’s letter to Lord Granville dated 22 September 1871. Bennett’s
Despatches
. Bierman, McLynn.

Chapter Thirty-three:
McLynn, Bierman, Farwell.

Chapter Thirty-four:
Nicholls, Coupland, Holmes’s
Letters and Documents
and
Journey to Livingstone
. Livingstone’s letters to Granville.

Chapter Thirty-five:
Bierman, McLynn, Bennett’s
Despatches
, Oswell.

Chapter Thirty-six:
Gladstone’s
Diaries
are the most celebrated reference in this chapter. It’s also worth noting, however, the attention Murchison’s death received. Though largely overlooked in modern histories of the Victorian era, Murchison’s accomplishments warranted an exhaustive obituary and his funeral a lengthy, detailed write-up in
The Times
. Burton’s status in life can be found in his letter to
The Times
, as well as Rice. As for the revised date for Stanley’s meeting with Livingstone, the source is François Bontinick’s ‘La date de la rencontre Stanley-Livingstone’ from
Africa, Rivista trimestale di studi e documentazione dell’Istituto Italo-African 24, as noted in McLynn.

Chapter Thirty-seven:
Stanley and Livingstone’s journals provide a thorough and insightful look at their time together. Further information can be found in Bierman, McLynn, Farwell. Bennett’s
Despatches
is especially vital to this period, as are Seitz and O’Connor.

Chapter Thirty-eight:
Bennett’s
Despatches
, McLynn, Bierman, Liebowitz. The comments of Tom Livingstone, Granville, Queen
Victoria and Rawlinson are included in the appendix of Stanley’s
How I Found Livingstone
, in which he laid out his defence against his detractors.

Chapter Thirty-nine:
The interviews of Chitambo and Mumana were conducted in October 1936. Their signed affidavits are on file with the Royal Geographical Society. Kirk’s comments are taken from
David Livingstone: His Life and Letters. Daily Life in Victorian England
provided insights into parenthood. The general naughtiness of London society during that era can be found in Carey’s
Eyewitness to History
. Dr Isaac Baker Brown’s theories on clitoridectomies can be found in his
On the Curability of Certain Forms of Insanity, Epilepsy, Catalepsy and Hysteria in Females
(1866). It’s worth noting that Brown’s repulsive theories later fell into disrepute. Brown himself went insane.

Chapter Forty:
Cameron, Waller, Stanley, Coupland and
The Times
of London.