Stanley, Henry Morton
Henry Morton (1841-1904), a noted explorer and newspaper correspondent. His original name was John Rowlands. He was born near Denbigh, Wales, and died in London. He was brought up in a poorhouse. In 1857 he came to New Orleans as a cabin boy. He was adopted by a wealthy merchant who gave him his name. At the beginning of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Confederate Army. He was taken prisoner and was discharged with the understanding, afterwards carried out, that he enter the United States Navy. In 1867-8 he became a special correspondent for the New York Herald on Lord Napier's Abyssinian expedition. He also represented the Herald in Spain during the Carlist uprising of 1868-9.
About this time, the civilized world became worried because Livingstone had not been heard from. The Herald commissioned Stanley to organize an expedition in search of the great African explorer. Stanley proceeded by way of the Suez Canal to Bombay, whence he set sail for the coast of Zanzibar. In January of 1871 he set out with a force of ninety-two men for the interior of Africa. He found Livingstone on Lake Tanganyika, November 10, 1871. Stanley remained with the explorer four months. Finding it impossible to prevail upon Livingstone to give up his plans, Stanley furnished him with supplies and returned to England. An account of the trip was published under the title of How I Found Livingstone.
In 1874 Stanley undertook, this time in the employ of the New York Herald and the London Daily Telegraph, a second expedition. He set out as before from Zanzibar. He explored what is known as the "Equatorial Lake Region," navigating Victoria Nyanza and Albert Nyanza. He traced the Congo River from its source to its mouth. He was the first white man to travel the length of the Congo. This expedition led to the publication in 1878 of Through the Dark Continent. He was instrumental in founding the Congo Independent State under the protection of the king of Belgium. He declined to become its first governor. He made a third and a fourth trip, publishing In Darkest Africa in 1890 and Through Southern Africa in 1898.
Stanley lectured in England, America, and Australia. He was granted the freedom of the city of London, and was knighted by Queen Victoria. In 1890 he married a young artist, through whose ambition he was elected to a seat in the British Parliament. His last years were spent in comfort and retirement. His funeral exercises were held in Westminster Abbey. Among those present were representatives of the royal family, ambassadors, ministers, and public officials. A grandson of Livingstone was one of the pallbearers. The funeral procession was led by Lady Stanley and a daughter of Livingstone. As the coffin was borne past the tomb of Livingstone, the company halted, and for a moment there was a pathetic pause. Everyone present was thinking of that lonely meeting between the two great explorers in a mud hut in far-off Africa. Stanley was buried in the little churchyard of Pirbright, in Surrey, a beautiful spot which he himself had selected. A huge granite stone twelve feet high, four feet wide, and two feet thick has been set up to mark his last resting place. It weighs six tons. The face of the rock bears the deep cut words
HENRY MORTON STANLEY
and beneath them is his African name
BULA NATARI,
meaning the Rock Breaker. His epitaph is the single word "Africa."
See Livingstone; David; Congo Independent State