Sidney James Mark Low

“ News of a white man on the lake shore encouraged him to go forward, and on 10 Nov. 1871 he arrived at Ujiji. Livingstone had reached this place only ten days earlier on his return from his long journey west of the lake to trace the course of the Lualaba and ascertain whether it flowed into the Nile. The missionary was 'reduced to the lowest ebb in fortune,' in very bad health, 'a mere ruckle of bones,' almost without followers and provisions. He was, however, still determined to pursue his discoveries, and declined Stanley's offer to escort him back to Zanzibar. ”

“ The journey from the lakes to the coast, with his own weak and exhausted column escorting Emin's mob of a thousand men, women, and children, a worn, diseased multitude, ill-supplied with food, in itself called for the highest qualities of leadership. Sir George Grey, the veteran pro-consul, wrote from Auckland to congratulate Stanley on his exploit. 'I have thought over all history, but I cannot call to mind a greater task than you have performed. It is not an exploration alone you have accomplished ”

“ Among those selected were Major E. M. Barttelot and three other officers of the British army, and Mr. Jameson, a wealthy sportsman and naturalist. These young gentlemen, though brave and adventurous, had no specific knowledge of African exploration, and they did not always carry out their leader's instructions with the unquestioning obedience he expected from those under his command.
He recruited his native followers as usual in Zanzibar, and early in 1887 took them by sea to the mouth of the Congo. The expedition arrived at Stanley Pool on 21 March 1887. ”

“ A month before Stanley's arrival the Manyuema broke out into mutiny and Barttelot was shot through the heart. Jameson, who had been sent up the Congo to collect fresh carriers, soon afterwards died of fever, two other officers had gone down to the coast, and only one European was left ; three-quarters of the native followers were dead or dying. ”

“ The remnants Stanley re-organised with his own column, and once more made a march through the Aruwimi forest. Many perished during this toilsome and painful journey ; but by the first month of 1889 the whole force (reduced, however, to a third of its original number) was collected on the shores of Lake Albert. Emin, whose troops had revolted during Stanley's absence, was at length induced to join the party, with several hundred of his people, Egyptian officers, clerks, native servants, women, and children. The march to the coast occupied the summer and autumn of 1889 ”

“ They were attacked by a body of Turkoman brigands, robbed of their money, insulted, beaten, and threatened with death. Escaping with some difficulty, they made their way to Constantinople, where the American minister took up their cause, and obtained compensation for them from the Turkish government. Later in this year, on his way back to America, Stanley revisited his Welsh birthplace, where some of his relatives were now by no means unwilling to recognise the clever and rising young man of the world. ”

“ He attended the Berlin Conference, in which he gave his services to the American delegation as an expert adviser on geographical and technical questions. He lectured in Germany on the commercial possibilities of the newly discovered region, and did much to rouse German interest in Central African trade and exploitation. In England, by lectures and by personal communication with influential groups of financiers and merchants, he endeavoured to promote enterprise in the equatorial regions, and he tried hard to get his scheme for a Congo railway carried out by Engfish capitalists. ”

“ But the route was changed almost at the last moment, and it was decided to work from the east coast and march across the whole extent of the Congo state to the Nile. The north-eastern portion of the state would thus be explored, and it was hoped that Stanley would be able to make suitable arrangements with the local chiefs and Arab slave-traders who had not yet acknowledged the authority of the new government. The decision, as it turned out, led to difficulties and misfortunes of many kinds. There were other adverse circumstances. Stanley was not a man who worked easily with others ”

“ In the late autumn of 1862 he shipped on board a vessel bound for Liverpool and made his way to his mother's house at Denbigh, very poor, in bad health, and shabbily dressed. He was told that he had disgraced his family and was 'desired to leave as speedily as possible.' He returned to America and the life of the sea. During 1863 and the earlier part of 1864 he made various voyages, sailing to the West Indies, Italy, and Spain. ”

“ The expedition he commanded was probably the best equipped which had ever accompanied a white traveller into the interior of Africa, and it did more to open up the heart of the continent and to elucidate its geography than any other before or since. Stanley with two white companions, Francis and Edward Pocock, a white servant, and 356 native followers, left Zanzibar on 11 Nov. ”

“ Stanley on a prolonged lecturing tour in Australasia, and returned to settle down in England. The king of the Belgians offered him another mission to the Congo ; but his health was no longer equal to the strain of any journey more arduous than a holiday trip. Other activities, however, still lay before him. He abandoned his American citizenship and was re-naturalised as a British subject ”

“ He was a man essentially of a kindly and humane disposition, with strong religious convictions ; and there was never any warrant for the allegation that he treated the African natives with brutality or callousness, though no doubt in his earlier expeditions he was sometimes hasty and violent in his methods. His views on the subject are expressed in a letter he sent to 'The Times' in December 1890, during the discussion over the Emin relief expedition. ”

“ On graduating B.A. in 1878 (M.A. 1881) he was elected to a fellowship at Hertford, which he held till 1886. He became classical lecturer at Corpus also in 1878, and for the next twenty-seven years was constantly engaged in teaching at that and other colleges. ”

“ Haigh took little part in university business or society, living a tranquil family life and cherishing a few intimate friendships. He died somewhat suddenly at his residence in the Parks at Oxford on 20 Dec. ”