A Voice from the Congo: Comprising Stories, Anecdotes, and Descriptive Notes

by Herbert Ward

A Voice from the Congo is British adventurer Herbert Ward’s equally sensational follow-up to his earlier Five Years with the Congo Cannibals. It is a more complete account of his experiences in the Congo in the late nineteenth century, and was published in response to the success of his earlier work.After joining Sir Henry M. Stanley's expedition to the Congo in 1884, the author organized transport services, going far into the interior to set up stations and recruit carriers. There, deep in Africa’s interior where he was often the very first white men the locals had ever seen, Ward recorded in detail the culture he found, providing one of the first complete anthropological surveys of African life before the advent of colonialism.This work provides many fascinating insights into how Congo basin African society was ordered: the chieftain system, the lives of ordinary villagers, and the dreadful fate of slaves, women, the elderly, and the sick—all of whom were regarded as of little value and often disposed of in the most brutal fashion.Topics in this book include the African witchdoctor and his power over the natives; the involvement of Arabs in the African slave trade; the languages, culture, and weapons of the different tribes, and the rampant cannibalism which was a defining feature of many of the tribes he encountered.

Genres: Africa

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1910

About the author

Herbert Ward was a British sculptor, illustrator, writer, and explorer of Africa. In 1884, Ward met Henry Morton Stanley in London, when he was interviewed for a post as an officer in the independent Congo State, Stanley recommended Ward for a position, and he worked for the next two years along the upper and lower Congo River, where he first met Roger Casement. The latter was working on construction of a railroad to bypass the cataracts of the lower Congo river. After being replaced by a Belgian officer, Ward joined the Sanford Exploring Company, where he became a member of Henry Morton Stanley's Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. Ward later became a sculptor. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre, and became a member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Herbert Ward was an English explorer, once employed by the Congo Free State. He was a member of Henry M. Stanley's Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. Ward's attitudes and actions stand in stark contrast with those of Stanley, and he was (for me) by far the most sympathetic character in the infamous Pasha Relief Expedition. Ward's notes and observations from Africa are more enlightened than many of those of his contemporaries, and while he does tend to romanticize/exoticize native Africans, he at least seems to be cognizant of the fact that they have bona fide societies and are not mere "savages." (In this respect, he reminds me a bit of Mary Kingsley, another African explorer who was ahead of her time.)

Herbert Ward later became a sculptor, specializing in African subjects, and many of his bronzes and artifacts are now part of the African collection of the Smithsonian's Department of Anthropology. His adoring wife penned a biography of him, A Valiant Gentleman, which, though obviously biased, gives a good idea of his talents and character.