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SIR HENRY MORTON STANLEY (184o-1904)

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 781 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SIR See also:HENRY See also:MORTON See also:STANLEY (184o-1904)  , See also:British explorer of See also:Africa, discoverer of the course of the See also:Congo, was See also:born at See also:Denbigh, See also:Wales, on the loth of See also:June 1840.1 His parents were named See also:Rowlands or Rollant, and his See also:father, who died in 1843, was the son of a small See also:farmer . See also:John Rowlands, by which name See also:Stanley was baptized, was brought up first by his maternal grandfather, and after his See also:death was boarded out by his See also:mother's See also:brothers at See also:half a See also:crown a See also:week . In 1847 he was taken to the St See also:Asaph See also:Union workhouse, where he was noted for his activity and intelligence . The schoolmaster at the workhouse, See also:James See also:Francis (who eventually died in a madhouse), was a See also:tyrant of the Squeers type, and in May 1856, Rowlands, of ter giving Francis a See also:thrashing, ran away from school . He sought out his paternal grandfather—a well-to-do farmer—who refused to help him . A See also:cousin, however, who was See also:master of a See also:national school at Brynford, took him in as a See also:pupil teacher . But within a See also:year he was sent to See also:Liverpool, where he lived with an See also:uncle who was in straitened circumstances . The lad, after working at a See also:haberdasher's and then at a See also:butcher's See also:shop, engaged himself as a See also:cabin boy on a sailing See also:ship See also:bound for New See also:Orleans, in which See also:city he landed See also:early in 1859 . There he obtained a situation through the See also:good offices of a See also:merchant named See also:Henry See also:Morton Stanley, who subsequently adopted the lad as his son, designing for him a See also:mercantile career . To this end See also:young Stanley (as he was henceforth known) was sent to a See also:country See also:store in See also:Arkansas . The merchant shortly afterwards died, without having made further See also:provision for his protege . When the See also:Civil See also:War See also:broke out in 1861 Stanley enlisted in the Confederate See also:army; he was taken prisoner at the See also:battle of See also:Shiloh (See also:April 1862), and after two months' experience of the hardships of See also:Camp See also:Douglas, See also:Chicago (where the prisoners of war were confined), he obtained See also:release by enrolling in the Federal See also:artillery .

In less than a See also:

month he was discharged as unfit . In See also:November 1862 he returned to Liverpool " very poor, in See also:bad See also:health and in shabby clothes," and made his way to Denbigh, but was turned away from his mother's See also:door . This incident deeply affected him . Naturally of a sensitive, affectionate nature, henceforth he practised strong self-suppression and reserve . For a livelihood he took to the See also:sea—was wrecked off See also:Barcelona—and in See also:August 1864 enlisted in the See also:United States See also:navy . According to an apparently See also:authentic story2 he obtained promotion for See also:swimming 500 yds. and tying a rope to a captured steamer, while exposed to the shot and See also:shell of a See also:battery of ten guns . After the war he crossed the plains to See also:Salt See also:Lake City, See also:Denver, and other parts, acquiring a reputation as a vivid descriptive writer for the See also:press . 1 This is the usually accepted date, but from Stanley's Auto-See also:biography it would appear that the year of his See also:birth was 1842 . 2 See C . Rowlands, Henry M . Stanley, p . 1o2 .

there to determine See also:

geographical problems See also:left unsolved by the deaths of See also:Livingstone and See also:Speke, and the See also:discovery by See also:Sir See also:Samuel See also:Baker of See also:Albert See also:Nyanza, a lake then reputed to extend illimitably in a southerly direction . Finally, Sir See also:Edward See also:Lawson (afterwards See also:Lord Burnham), the editor and proprietor of the Daily See also:Telegraph, to whom Stanley had communicated his desires, and Sir See also:Edwin See also:Arnold of that See also:journal, induced Mr See also:Gordon See also:Bennett to join them in raising a fund for an Anglo-See also:American expedition under Stanley's command . This expedition lasted from See also:October 1874 to August 1877 and accomplished more than any other single exploring expedition in Africa . Politically, also, the See also:journey had momentous consequences; it led directly to the See also:foundation of the Congo See also:State and to the See also:partition of the hitherto unappropriated regions of Africa between the states of western See also:Europe . Stanley started from the See also:east See also:coast and reached the ocean again at the mouth of the Congo, having demonstrated the identity of that See also:river with Livingstone's Lualaba by navigating its course from Nyangwe—the point at which both Livingstone and Lovett See also:Cameron had turned aside . This wonderful achievement was accomplished in the See also:face of difficulties so See also:great that they could have been overcome only by such a See also:man as Stanley proved himself to be—a man of inflexible will, who having conceived a vast See also:design carried it to its conclusion regardless of any obstacles, sparing neither himself nor his associates and, if opposed, prepared to See also:shed See also:blood to attain his See also:object . Of the three See also:white men who accompanied him all died during the journey; Stanley himself was prematurely aged . The discovery of the course of the Congo, though the greatest, was but one of many geographical problems solved during this memorable expedition . The See also:part played by the See also:Kagera in the See also:Nile See also:system, the unity and approximate See also:area of See also:Victoria Nyanza, the true length and area of See also:Tanganyika and the whereabouts of its outlet, and the discovery of a new lake, Dweru, which at the See also:time Stanley believed to be a See also:branch of Albert Nyanza, are some of the other discoveries made by Stanley at this time . The See also:story of the expedition was given at length in Through the Dark See also:Continent (See also:London, 1878) . Stanley's letters from See also:Uganda and his See also:call for missionaries to go to the See also:court of Mtesa met with an immediate response and proved the first step in bringing the region of the Nile See also:sources under the See also:protection of Great See also:Britain . Important as was this result of his journey it was eclipsed by the events which followed his See also:revelation of the Congo as a magnificent waterway piercing the very See also:heart of Africa .

Of the commercial possibilities of the region he had made known Stanley was well aware . The one other man who at once grasped the situation was See also:

Leopold II., See also:king of the Belgians, who sent commissioners to intercept Stanley at See also:Marseilles, when he was on his way back to See also:England, with proposals to return to the Congo, proposals which Stanley, much needing See also:rest, put aside for the time . Approached again in the summer of 1878 Stanley See also:lent a more favour-able See also:ear to Leopold's suggestions . Efforts made by the explorer in the autumn to arouse British merchants to the importance of the Congo See also:basin were unavailing, and in November Stanley went to See also:Brussels and committed himself to the schemes of the king of the Belgians . A Comite d'etudes du Haut Congo was formed and Stanley was entrusted with the leadership of the new expedition, which was, in his own words, " to prove that the Congo natives were susceptible of See also:civilization and that the Congo basin was See also:rich enough to repay exploitation." Stanley reached the Congo in August 1879, and the See also:work he accomplished there in the ensuing five years enabled the Comite, which had meantime changed its name to that of Association internationale du Congo, to obtain the recognition of See also:America and Europe to its transformation into an See also:independent state (" The Congo See also:Free State ") under the See also:sovereignty of King Leopold . Stanley described his labours in The Congo and the See also:Founding of its Free State (London, 1885), a See also:book which throws valuable See also:light on the manner in which the promoters of that enterprise set to work, and the object at which, from the beginning, they aimed . For the See also:political aspects of this question see AFRICA (§ 5) and CONGO FREE STATE . Here it is only necessary to indicate what Stanley actually accomplished on the Congo . At the outset the area of his activities was restricted by the enterprise of the See also:French traveller de Brazza, who, reaching Stanley See also:Pool by a more See also:northern route, placed—See also:September and October 188o—the neighbouring districts on the See also:north See also:bank of the Congo under French protection . De Brazza's journey was directly inspired by Stanley's discoveries, and thus early had those discoveries led to See also:international rivalries . Not-withstanding this check Stanley, without much trouble with the natives, founded stations for his association along the See also:banks of the river as high up as Stanley Falls . A more difficult task was the making of a road through the See also:cataract region and the carrying over it in sections of four small steamers, all of which were launched on the See also:middle river .

This road-making exploit earned for Stanley from the natives the name of Bula Matari, the See also:

rock-breaker, the all-powerful—a See also:fit description of the man who allowed no obstacles to turn him from the achievement of his purpose . Stanley returned to Europe in the middle of 1884 and attended the See also:Berlin See also:Conference of 1884-1885, which dealt with See also:African affairs, acting as technical adviser of the American plenipotentiaries . While in See also:Germany he lectured in various cities on the benefits which would result from the opening up of Central Africa, and found the Germans more alive than the British to the great interests at stake . The revelation of what the Association internationale had done intensified the struggle among the See also:powers for the See also:possession of African territory . Stanley did not return to the Congo on the recognition of the Free State but took up his See also:residence in London . With James F . See also:Hatton, a leading See also:Manchester merchant, he promoted the Royal Congo Railway See also:Company to connect Stanley Pool with the See also:lower river, but the See also:scheme at the time came to nought, partly owing to the indifference of See also:English capitalists and partly in consequence of a clause inimical to British interests in the See also:charter which King Leopold proposed to See also:grant the company . Though still an American See also:citizen Stanley's interests and ambitions were becoming distinctly British, his sympathies in that direction being joined to a See also:personal See also:loyalty to the king of the Belgians) . A See also:desire to serve both parties was one of the leading motives in his next African See also:adventure . Stanley had become deeply interested in the schemes of Mr (afterwards Sir) See also:William Mackinnon, chairman of the British See also:India See also:Steam See also:Navigation Company, for establishing a British See also:protectorate in East See also:Equatorial Africa, and it was believed that this object could be furthered at the same time that See also:relief was afforded to Emin See also:Pasha (q.v.), See also:governor of the Equatorial See also:Province of See also:Egypt, who had been isolated by the Mandist rising of 1881-1885 . Stanley agreed to conduct an expedition, nominally in the service of the See also:khedive of Egypt, for the relief of Emin . The See also:major part of the funds needed was supplied by a See also:committee, of which Mackinnon was chairman .

Phoenix-squares

Instead of choosing the See also:

direct route via See also:Zanzibar or See also:Mombasa, Stanley decided to go by way of the Congo, as thereby he would be able to render services to the See also:infant Congo State, then encountering great difficulties with the Zanzibar See also:Arabs established on the upper Congo . Stanley left Europe in See also:January 1887 and at Zanzibar entered into an agreement with Tippoo Tib, the See also:chief of the Congo Arabs, appointing him governor of Stanley Falls station on behalf of the Congo State, and making another arrangement with him to See also:supply See also:carriers for' the Emin relief expedition . Stanley and Tippoo Tib travelled together up the Congo as far as Bangala, reached on the 3oth of May . Thence Tippoo Tib went on to Stanley Falls and Stanley prepared for a journey to Albert Nyanza, where he expected to meet Emin . On the 15th of June Yambuya, on the lower Aruwimi, was reached, and here Stanley left his See also:rear-guard under command of Major E . M . Barttelot and Mr J . S . See also:Jameson . On the 28th Stanley and the advance-guard started for Albert Nyanza, " and until the 5th of See also:December, for 16o days, we marched through the See also:forest, See also:bush and See also:jungle, without ever having seen a See also:bit of greensward of the See also:size of a cottage chamber See also:floor . 1 Of the later policy pursued in the Congo State Stanley wrote, in 1896, that it was " erring and ignorant." To go back to the Congo " would be to disturb a moral See also:malaria injurious to the reorganizer " (Autobiography, p . 537) .

Nothing but See also:

miles and miles, endless miles of forest." See also:Starvation, See also:fever, the. hostility of the tribes, were daily incidents of this terrible See also:march, during which Stanley lost nearly 5o% of his men . On the 13th of December Albert Nyanza was reached, and after some delay communication was opened with Emin, who came down the lake from the Nile in a steamer, the two chiefs See also:meeting on the 29th of April 1888 . Disquieted by the non-arrival of his rearguard, Stanley retraced his steps, and on the 17th of August, a See also:short distance above Yambuya, found that Tippoo Tib had broken faith, that Barttelot had been murdered, that Jameson (who soon afterwards died of fever) was absent at Stanley Falls, and that only one See also:European, William Bonny, was left in the camp . See also:Collecting those who survived of the rearguard Stanley for the third time traversed the primeval forest, and in January 1888 all that was left of the expedition was assembled at Albert Nyanza . Of 646 men with whom he entered the Congo, but 246 remained . In April the return journey to Zanzibar by way of Uganda was begun, Emin reluctantly accompanying Stanley . On this homeward journey Stanley discovered See also:Ruwenzori (the Mountains of the See also:Moon), traced the course of the Semliki River, discovered Albert Edward Nyanza and the great See also:south-western gulf of Victoria Nyanza . During his stay in the Congo forests he had also obtained much See also:information concerning the See also:pygmy tribes . As to the political results of the expedition, Stanley's proposals to Emin to hold the Equatorial Province for the Congo State or to move nearer Victoria Nyanza and enter the service of Mackinnon's British East Africa Company had not been accepted, but he concluded agreements with various chiefs in the lake regions in favour of Great Britain, agreements which were handed over to the East Africa Company . Zanzibar was reached on the 6th of December 1889 and the expedition was at an end . Stanley's See also:account of it, In Darkest Africa, was published (in six See also:languages) in 189o . Returning to England, Stanley was received with much hondur, among the many distinctions conferred upon him 'being the degrees of D.C.L. from See also:Oxford and of LL.D. from See also:Cambridge and from See also:Edinburgh .

On the 12th of See also:

July 1890 he married a See also:lady whose graceful work as an artist was well known, See also:Miss Dorothy See also:Tennant, second daughter of Mr See also:Charles Tennant, sometime M.P. for St Albans . Later in the year he visited the United States, where he made a See also:pilgrimage to the places where his youth had been spent, and in 1891–1892 went to See also:Australia and New See also:Zealand on lecturing See also:tours . On his return he was renaturalized as a British subject, and—at the solicitation of his wife—he stood at the See also:general See also:election in the summer of 1892 as See also:candidate for North See also:Lambeth in the Liberal Unionist See also:interest, being defeated by a small See also:majority . In 1895 he again stood for the same See also:constituency and was elected, but he had no liking for See also:parliamentary See also:life, and (being also in See also:ill-health) he did not seek re-election in 1900 . In 1895 Stanley published My Early Travels and Adventures in America and See also:Asia, in which he retold the story of his experiences with the Red See also:Indians and of his eastern journey of 1869–187o . In 1897 Stanley paid his last visit to Africa . He went to the Cape as the See also:guest of the British South Africa Company, spoke at the opening of the railway from the Cape to See also:Bulawayo, visited the Victoria Falls of the See also:Zambezi and had an interview with See also:President See also:Kruger, of whom he gives a characteristic See also:pen-picture . One result of this journey was Through South Africa (1898), the last of his published See also:works . In 1899 in recognition of his services in Africa he was made a See also:Knight See also:Grand See also:Cross of the See also:Bath . The last few years of his life were spent mainly in retirement on a small See also:estate he had See also:purchased, See also:Furze See also:Hill, near Pirbright . He died at his London residence in See also:Richmond See also:Terrace, See also:Whitehall, on the loth of May 1904 . After a service in See also:Westminster See also:Abbey he was buried at Pirbright on the 17th of May .

His widow, Lady Stanley, afterwards married, in 1907, Mr Henry See also:

Curtis, F.R.C.S . By Sir Henry Stanley she had a son, Denzil, born 1896 . In geographical discoveries Stanley accomplished more than any other explorer of Africa, with which continent his name is indissolubly connected . Notwithstanding his frequent conflicts with Arabs and negroes, he possessed in extraordinary degreethe See also:power of managing native races; he was absolutely fearless and ever ready to See also:sacrifice either himself or others to achieve his object . His books differ widely from the See also:ordinary books of travel . Stanley had a See also:gift of dramatic narrative, and his power of See also:portraiture was remarkable . Curiously, the least successful of his works was the only one which he See also:cast in the See also:form of fiction, My Kalulu, See also:Prince, King and $lave . Another See also:volume from his pen, My Dark Companions and their See also:Strange Stories (1893), is a valuable contribution to See also:folklore . The Autobiography of Sir Henry Morton Stanley, ed. by his wife, Dorothy Stanley, appeared in 1909 . Henry M . Stanley, the Story of his Life . . (London, n.d .

[1872]), by C . Rowlands, contains, notwithstanding many inaccuracies, valuable information concerning his See also:

family and early career . The following books may also be consulted: Mrs J . S . Jameson, Story of the Rear See also:Column of the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition (189o) ; W . G . Barttelot, The Life of See also: