page_title: Henry Morton Stanley
section_title: Researching the Congo River
hierarchical_section_title: Henry Morton Stanley / Researching the Congo River
caption_attribution_description: English: Henry Morton Stanley with the officers of the Advance Column of the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, taken in Cairo 1890 after the expedition. From the left&#160;: Dr. Thomas Heazle Parke, Robert H. Nelson, Henry M. Stanley, William G. Stairs, and Arthur J. M. Jephson
context_page_description: Sir Henry Morton Stanley GCB was a Welsh journalist and explorer. He was famous for his exploration of central Africa, and his search for missionary and explorer David Livingstone.
  When he found Livingstone, Stanley reportedly asked, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Stanley is also known for his search for the source of the Nile, his work in the Congo Basin, and for commanding the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition.
  Stanley's expeditions are known for the cruelty and murders of Africans. He has the highest kill rate among Africa's explorers. Despite this, he was highly admired and supported by British and Belgian monarchies and knighted in 1899.
  Stanley was MP for Lambeth North from 1895-1900.
context_section_description: In 1874, the New York Herald, in partnership with Britain's Daily Telegraph, financed Stanley on another expedition to the African continent. One of his missions was to solve a last great mystery of Africa by tracing the course of the Congo River to the sea. The difficulty of this expedition is hard to overstate. Stanley used sectional boats to pass the great cataracts that separated the Congo into distinct tracts. The boats had to be taken apart and transported around the rapids before being rebuilt to travel on the next section of river. After 999 days, on 9 August 1877, Stanley reached the Portuguese outpost of Boma, around 100 km from the mouth of the Congo River. Starting with 356 people, he reached Boma with 114 survivors, and he was the only European left. He wrote about his trials in his book Through the Dark Continent.
caption: Henry Stanley with the officers of the Advance Column, Cairo, 1890. From the left: Dr. Thomas Heazle Parke, Robert H. Nelson, Henry Stanley, William G. Stairs, and Arthur Jephson
exif: {}