Books By Stanley's Men

The books by Stanley's men and fellow explorers give a whole different perspective on the Emin Pasha Relief and other African expeditions.

In addition to the men listed below, Robert Henry Nelson (1853 - 1892), William Bonny (1842 - 1899) and William Hoffman (1867 - c.1940) also went on the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. Nelson had served in the India Army cavalry, Bonney was a sergeant in the Army medical department, so became an assistant medic on the Expedition. Hoffman, a young German associate of Stanley's became his personal servant. None of these three men appear to have written or published works about their Expedition experiences.

Edmund Musgrave Barttelot

Edmund Musgrave Barttelot 1859 - 1888) was a British Army officer who volunteered for Henry Morton Stanley's Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. As Stanley's second in command he was leader of the Rear Column which was left in the jungle by the Aruwimi River to wait for more porters to be brought by the Arab slave trader Tippu Tib while Stanley marched on to reach Emin as soon as possible. During his absence, the Rear Column descended into confusion. Barttelot was unable to maintain discipline and was eventually killed by an African. Stanley blamed Barttelot and his fellow-officers for the failure of the Rear Column.

The Life Of Edmund Musgrave Barttelot, Captain And Brevet-Major Royal Fusiliers, Commander Of The Rear Column Of The Emin Pasha Relief Expedition: Being An Account Of His Services For The Relief Of Kandahar, Of Gordon, And Of Emin From His Letters And Diary by Edmund Musgrave Barttelot & edited Sir Walter George Barttelot (1890). Sir Walter George Barttelot edited the diaries of his brother in an effort to defend his reputation and added some biting comments on Stanley's behaviour. Free eBook

James S Jameson

James Sligo Jameson (1856 -1888) was a Scottish born big game hunter, naturalist and artist from Irish whiskey distillery family. He joined the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition as 'Expedition Naturalist' and in 1887 he was left as second in command of the rear-column under Barttelot. He died of a fever after arriving back in Bangala and is buried on an island in the Congo.

Story Of The Rear Column Of The Emin Pasha Relief Expedition by James S Jameson (1890) was edited from his letters and diaries by his wife, Ethel Jameson. The work includes an account of Jameson's supposed purchase of a ten year old girl so as to witness her death and subsequent consumption by cannibals. The story was corroborated by William Bonny, the rear column's medic, and believed by Stanley, who denounced Jameson in letters to the Times. Jameson recounts the event as a horrified bystander as opposed to an instigator. Free eBook

Arthur J M Jephson

Arthur Jeremy Mounteney Jephson (1859 - 1908) was a young adventurer and African explorer, who paid to accompany Henry Morton Stanley on the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition in 1887 to 1889.

Emin Pasha And The Rebellion At The Equator: A Story Of Nine Months' Experiences In The Last Of The Soudan Provinces by Arthur J M Jephson (1890). The author accompanied Stanley on his expedition to rescue Emin Pasha, the German-born Eduard Schnitzer, who had succeeded Gordon as governor of Equatoria in Southern Soudan but in 1885 had been caught up in the Mahdist uprising. Stanley revised and collaborated on the writing of this book. Free eBook

The Diary of A J Mounteney Jephson: Emin Pasha Relief Expedition 1887-1889 by Arthur J M Jephson (Edited by Dorothy Middleton) (1969) is a transcript of Jephson's diary from the expedition and was published half a century after his death. It provides a valuable and disturbing record of the late Victorian African expeditions, of which this expedition was to be the last.

Stories Told In An African Forest: By Grown-up Children Of Africa by Arthur J M Jephson (1893) are sketches mostly "taken from some of the common Zanzibar stories such as are told by the men in almost every African caravan". Free eBook

Captain McClure

With Stanley In Africa by Captain McClure (1891) 'an Account of the Travels and Adventures of the Famous Explorer Henry Stanley in the Dark Continent'. Free eBook

Thomas H Parke

Surgeon-Major Thomas Heazle Parke (1857 - 1893) was an Irish surgeon and author. He served in Africa in the Royal Army Medical Corps and went on the Nile expedition to rescue Gordon in 1884. In 1887 he became the Chief Medical Officer on the Stanley expedition to relieve Emin Pasha. He was actually proven to be the first European to see the Mountains of the Moon even though Stanley claimed the honour.

My Personal Experiences In Equatorial Africa As Medical Officer For The Emin Pasha Relief Expedition by Thomas H Parke (1891). Stanley asserted that without Parke the expedition would have been a failure. He ministered to the needs of the Zanzibari porters and locally recruited Africans, as well as to the eleven Europeans who accompanied the expedition. He attended Stanley in two bouts of severe illness, almost certainly saving his life in April 1889. Free eBook

Books About Thomas H Parke

J B Lyons

Surgeon-Major Parke's African Journey 1887-89 by J B Lyons (1994) is an account of the nightmarish three-year journey took them from Banana Point to Zanzibar, crossing the Congo, up-river to Yambuya and through the unknown Ituri rainforests to Lake Albert in Equatoria, where Emin Pasha was found, distantly menaced by dervishes. J B Lyons suspects that Thomas H Parke's book was ghost-written.

William G Stairs

William Grant Stairs (1863 - 1892) was a Canadian-British explorer, soldier and adventurer who had a leading role in the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition and his own 'Stairs Katanga Expedition' which seized Katanga in Central Africa for the Belgian King Leopold II, killing its ruler, Msiri, in the process. Stairs was frequently sick on the Katanga Expedition but on a steamer travelling down the lower Zambezi, he had another attack of malaria which killed him. He was buried in the European Cemetery in Chinde, Mozambique at the mouth of the Zambezi River.

Lieutenant Stair's Account Of His Ascent Of Ruwenzori, To A Height of 10,677 Feet Above Sea-Level by William G Stairs (1889)is an interesting letter sent from William Grant Stairs during his Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, delineating his attempt to reach the snow-capped peaks of Ruwenzori. Also included here is a list of plants collected by Lt Stairs and given to Emin Pasha. From Bakokoro camp, Stairs ascends one of the valleys to the north-west of the range for two days, aiming towards two characteristic rocky peaks. Ill-equipped for a long stay at high altitude, he only advances to altitudes of 10,677 ft, becoming the first known non-African ever to climb in the range.

Books About William G Stairs

Roy Maclaren

African Exploits: The Diaries Of William Stairs 1887-1892 edited by Roy Maclaren (1997)

Joseph Augustus Moloney

Joseph Augustus Moloney (1857 - 1896) was the Irish-born British medical officer on the 1891-92 Stairs Expedition which seized Katanga in Central Africa for the Belgian King Leopold II, killing its ruler, Msiri, in the process. Dr Moloney took charge of the expedition for a few weeks when its military officers were dead or incapacitated by illness and wrote a popular account of it.

With Captain Stairs To Katanga: Slavery And Subjugation In The Congo 1891-92 by Joseph Augustus Moloney (1893) is the story of the Stairs Katanga Expedition, related by the group's medical officer. Moloney's fascinating narrative covers cannibals, missionaries and slave traders; a provocative military invasion and its bloody climax; and the mercenaries' nightmarish return march.

John Rose Troup

John Rose Troup (155 - 1912) was the British born son of an Indian Army general. He had served in the Congo Free State, spoke fluent Swahili, so was appointed as Transport Officer for the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition.

With Stanley's Rear Column by John Rose Troup (1890) Free eBook

Herbert Ward

Herbert Ward (1863 - 1919) was one of Henry Morton Stanley's aides and a member of the Emin Pasha expedition. He went to the Congo in 1884 to organise a transport service from the interior. When he heard about Stanley's relief of Emin Pasha expedition, he volunteered his services and those of his 400 native carriers and was enrolled as a voluntary officer on the expedition. He was killed in France at the end of WWI.

A Voice From The Congo: Comprising Stories, Anecdotes And Descriptive Notes by Herbert Ward (1910) contains some elephant hunting. Free eBook

Five Years With The Congo Cannibals by Herbert Ward (1890). During his time in the Congo, Ward learnt the native language so could personally converse with the people, thereby obtaining accurate imformation of the region. Free eBook

My Life With Stanley's Rear-Guard by Herbert Ward (1891) is the story of his life as an officer in the rear-guard party of the expedition mounted by Stanley to rescue Emin Pasha from thje Mahdi. This venture, together with the associated rear-guard, was something of a fiasco, with considerable bloodshed as well as much bungling. As a consequence, Ward and others, felt they had been maligned for their part in the episode. In his introduction to his book Ward said, "Much against my will I have been dragged into the dispute" and had decided to publish what he knew about the rear-guard, so that "fair and impartial judgement can be made". Here then is a book written with the aim of "putting the other side of the story" while adding to the history of European intervention in 'Darkest Africa'. Free eBook