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MaryKingsley:DemystifyingAfrica

MaryKingsley:DemystifyingAfrica
JacquelineBanerjee,PhD,AssociateEditor,theVictorianWeb

[VictorianWebHome>PoliticalHistory>Victorianexplorers>VictorianWomenSocialHistory]

Mary Kingsley, seated, c.1893. Source: Keeling, Chapter X. [Click on this and the following
imagestoenlargethem.]

The AfricanexplorerMaryKingsley(18621900)deliberately cultivated a primand

properappearanceinphotographsandpublicappearances,asifshewantedtodenyin
her outward form that she had ever done anything more challenging than sit in a
parlour.Yet,eveninthestifflyposedphotographalongside,sheseemstohaveafar
away look in her eyes. In fact, she had paddled up swamps, braved predators and
cannibals, and performed a mountaineering "first": to the right person, someone she
knewwell,shecouldcallherselfa"bushman"(qtd.fromaletterinFrank207).One
of her legacies was the discovery of some new species of African fish, such as the
Ctenopoma Kingsleyae or Tailspot Ctenopoma. Her larger legacy was to help to
demystify the African continent and probably, for all her own fundamentally
imperialistic notions, in so doing to hasten the progress of its individual nations
towardsindependence.

FamilyBackground
Speaking at a Woman Writers' dinner soon after the news of Mary Kingsley's death, the novelist Mrs Humphry Ward
describedheras"theheirandsustainerofagreatname"("Mrs.HumphryWardandtheLateMissKingsley").Marywas
a niece of Charles Kingsley, whose fantastic underwater world in The Water Babies gives only a hint of his serious
interestinmarinebiology.AnotherunclewasthenovelistHenryKingsley,whohadspentseveralyearsontheAustralian
goldfields,failingtomakehisfortune.Mary'sownfatherGeorgealsofeltthelureofthestrangeandthewonderful.Asa
London doctor he regularly accompanied wealthy people on their tours abroad, providing medical support while
indulging his own "insatiable hunger for travel and experience" (Frank 18). In the process, he built up a huge stock of
travelbooks,andamassedtooanintriguingcollectionofcuriosities.
LikemanyotherVictoriangirlsatthistime,MaryKingsleyneverwenttoschool.Indeed,hernarrowdomesticlife
wasevenmorecircumscribedthanmost.Hermother,MaryBailey,wasaservantwhomGeorgehadmadepregnant,and
feltobligedtomarry.Leftalonewithtwosmallchildren,theolderMaryhadsoonfallenintoillhealthanddependency,
leavingtheyoungeronetorunthehousehold.Nevertheless,withsuchawellstockedandunusuallibraryatherdisposal,
thegirlfoundtimetocultivateherowninterestinthewiderworldwhichsoabsorbedherfather.Later,shehadachance
tocatchupwithnewideaswhenherfarlessgiftedbrotherCharley,whoofcoursewasexpensivelyeducated,wentupto
Cambridgetostudylaw.

TravelsinWestAfrica

Left to right: (a) Equatorial West Africa, from Kingsley, West African Studies, facing p. 35. (b) Fish species discovered by
Kingsley,withCtenopomaKingsleyaeinthemiddle,fromTravelsinWestAfrica,PlateIinAppendixIII.(c)Fans[orFangs],a
cannibaltribe,fromTravelsinWestAfrica,facingp.257.

Apart from a week in Paris in 1888 with an old family friend, Mary Kingsley had never been abroad. Neither of her
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parents lived to a good age, and after dutifully caring for them in their final years, and wrapping up their affairs
(probably, in dealing with the paperwork, discovering that they had married only four days before her birth), she was
freetosetoffatlast.Impellednotsimplybyaspiritofadventure,butalsoperhapsbyaneedtoescapetheconfinesand
liesofherpast,shefirstchosetheCanaryIslands,andthen,beyondthem,thepartoftheworldthatfascinatedhermost:
Africa. She went about it methodically, kitting herself out with the means to collect samples of unusual insects, fish,
plantsandsoon,andwritingtoEnglishmissionaries,tradersandgovernmentofficerstheretosaythatshewascoming.
InAugust1893,shesailedtoFreetowninSierraLeoneonherfirstgreatexpedition.Itwasanextraordinaryventurefor
a single unprotected woman at that time, especially as so many Europeans fell ill in West Africa and never came back.
But she returned safely in December only to set out again about a year later, in late December 1894. This time she
plannedtowriteabookaswellastocollectspecimens.
Onthesetwotrips,stilldressedheadtotoeintheblackshehadwornsinceherparentsdied(thoughshedoestwice
mentionaredsilktie),shebravedeverythingfromdiseaseandcannibalstofoamingrapids,inordertoobtainspecimens
and reach areas where no European had previously trod. She was probably the first woman, and certainly the first
Europeanwoman,toreachthesummitofWestAfrica'shighestpeak,MountCameroon.Onthatexpedition,onlytwoof
hersmallsupportteamagreedtoaccompanyheronthelastlap,andneitherprovedequaltothetask,oneofthemfailing
intheattemptforthethirdtime.Hersuccesswasindeed"thestuffofheroicachievement"(Birkett54).

DangerousEncounters
Kingsley encountered other challenges besides the terrain and the elements. There were the predators, for example
someverysmallbutsomanyinnumberastomakelifealmostunbearable."NeverhaveIseemsandfliesandmosquitoes
insuchappallingquantities,"shecomplainedonce,notquerulouslybutwithherusualacceptinghumour(TravelsinWest
Africa, 13132). As well as being infuriating, both of these carry diseases that can be fatal without treatment
(leishmaniasis, for example, and malaria). But she had to face larger, more immediately lifethreatening predators: on
one celebrated occasion, a huge crocodile began heaving itself into her canoe. Giving it "a clip on the snout with a
paddle"(TravelsinWestAfrica,89)shepaddledquicklyaway.Oneofthemostfearedpredatorsinspiredasmuchaweas
fear.Clamberingoutofaforeststreaminatornado,shealmoststumbledintoaleopard:
Thegreattreescreakedandgroanedandstrainedandtheirbushropecablesgroanedandsmacked
likewhips,andeverandanonathunderingcrashwithsnapslikepistolshotstoldthattheyandtheirmighty
treehadstrainedandstruggledinvain.Thefierceraincameinaroar,tearingtoshredstheleavesand
blossomsanddelugingeverything.Iwasmakingbadweatherofit,andclimbingupoveralotofrocksout
ofagullybottomwhereIhadbeenhalfdrownedinastream,andongettingmyheadtothelevelofablock
of rock I observed right in front of my eyes, broadside on, maybe a yard off, certainly not more, a big
leopard.Hewascrouchingontheground,withhismagnificentheadthrownbackandhiseyesshut.His
forepawswerespreadoutinfrontofhimandhelashedthegroundwithhistailnosoonerdidIseehim
than I ducked under the rocks, and remembered thankfully that leopards are said to have no power of
smell.ButIheardhisobservationontheweather,andtheflipflapofhistailontheground.Everynowand
thenIcautiouslytookalookathimwithoneeyeroundarockedge,andheremainedinthesameposition.
Myfeelingstellmeheremainedtheretwelvemonths,butmycalmerjudgmentputsthetimedownattwenty
minutesandatlast,ontakinganothercautiouspeep,Isawhewasgone.Itwasanimmensepleasureto
haveseenthegreatcreaturelikethat.Hewassoevidentlyenragedandbaffledbytheuproaranddazzled
bythefloodsoflightningthatsweptdownintothedeepestrecessesoftheforest,showingatonesecond
everydetailoftwig,leaf,branch,andstoneroundyou,andthenleavingyouinasortofswirlingdarkuntil
thenextflashcamethis,andthegreatconglomerateroarofthewind,rainandthunder,wasenoughto
bewilderanylivingthing.

Having recorded her "pleasure" in seeing such a majestic creature at close quarters, and shown her ability to empathise
withitsterror,sheadds,"IhaveneverhurtaleopardintentionallyIamhabituallykindtoanimals,"andthen(apparently
stillrememberingherdrawingroomaudience,andmakingitcleartothesereadersthatshemaintainedfemininecodesof
behaviour even in the bush) "besides I do not think it is ladylike to go shooting things with a gun" (Travels in West
Africa,54445).

TradingRoles
Photograph of Mary Kingsley, c.1897,looking equally selfconsciously posed but more feminine than she did in the earlier
photograph.Frontispiecetohersecondbook,WestAfricanStudies(2nded.).

Undoubtedly, when this intrepid and strongminded adventurer was out in Africa, she benefited from the sense of
authorityattendantoncolonial(male)power,makingithardtoholdontoherfemininepersona.Sheherselfchosetoact
asa"whiteman"notonlybymountaineering,butalsobytrading.Thelatterhelpedherbothtosupportherself,andto
gaintheacceptanceoftribalpeoples.Once,shereports:"Iboughtsomeelephanthairnecklacesfromoneofthechiefs'
wives,byexchangingmyredsilktiewithherforthem,andoneortwootherthings"(TravelsinWestAfrica, 272). She
doesnotseemtohaveassociatedherselfwithtradersbecauseofhermixedclassbackground,ashasbeensuggested(see
Kearns455)shewasclearlyproudoftheseexchanges.Talkingoftraders,shewrotelater,"suchmenareamerehandful
whomasocalledImperialismcanneglectwithimpunity,andevenifithasforthemomenttoexcuseitselfforsodoing,
itneedonlycallus'traders.'Isay'us,'becauseIamvainofhavingbeen,sincemyreturn,classedamongtheLiverpool
tradersbyadistinguishedofficer"(WestAfricanStudies,2nded.,47).
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Onewayofretrievingherwomanlyimagewasthroughherdemure
apparel (apart from those daring crimson ties!), another through
straightforward reference to her gender (as in words like "ladylike"), and
another through a sort of selfdeprecating humour, amounting, as Alison
Blunthaspointedout,toselfparody(73).Wasshenotsimply"acolossal
ass" for "fooling about in mangrove swamps" (Travels in West Africa,
89)? She undercuts her canoeing skills, for example: "My reputation as a
navigatorwasgreatbeforeIleftGaboon,"shesays,onlytoexplainthatit
wasanoutstandinglybadone:
I had a record of having once driven my bowsprit through a
conservatory, and once taken all the paint off one side of a
smallpox hospital, to say nothing of repeatedly having made
attempts to climb trees in boats I commanded but when I
returned,Ihadsurpassedthesethingsbyhavingsuccessfullygot
mymainmastjammedupatap,andIhaddonesufficientworkin
discoveringnewsandbanks,rockshoals,&c.,inCoriscoBay,and
roundCapeEsterias,tonecessitate,orcallfor,aneweditionof
TheWestAfricanPilot(WestAfricanStudies,2nded.,76).

So much for her competence. As for bravery, that too must be played
down. Recounting another close encounter with a leopard, for instance, she describes how she hurled a couple of stools
andawatercooleratit,butaddsquicklyandsurelydisingenuously,"Donotmistakethisforasportingadventure.Ino
morethoughtitwasaleopardthanthatitwasalotuswhenIjoinedthefight(TravelsinWestAfrica,546).
Yet she was not disadvantaged by her femininity. On the contrary, it was an asset, and she used it as one. The
differentwayinwhichpresentedherselfallowedhertogetclosertothetribalpeoples.Thisincludedofferingthenursing
skillthatshehadacquiredasthedaughteroftwoailingparents,makinghertheveryepitomeofnurturingwomanhood.
Even the fierce tribe of the Fangs, who lived in the rainforest, came to trust her. As another modern critic suggests, it
wasfirsthandexperienceoftriballifelikethis,ratherthanimperialisticrepresentationsofit,thatinfluencedherthinking
(Marin 754). As in the case of her encounter with the leopard in the typhoon, her willingness to observe, and to put
herselfinthepositionofothers,stoodheringoodstead,temperingfear,distrust,andaboveallprejudice,andenabling
hertoformherownopinions.
Thiswasimportant,forKingsley'sstoriesaboutcrocodiles,leopardsandsofortharegenerallytoldinthecontext
ofdescribingtheirplaceintribalculture,andaspartofherexplorationofthenumerousand(toEuropeaneyes)strange
fetishes associated with them. The critic Gerry Kearns therefore introduces her first as an anthropologist (450), within
whichgeneralareashewasanethnographerofsomeskillandvalue.Inthis,shewascarryingontheworkofherfather,
whohadonceinvolvedherinresearchforaprojected,butnevercompleted,bookonsacrificialrites.Herworkwasthe
more valuable because it really was fieldwork, carried out in direct contact with, and through clearsighted and
sympathetic observation of, the people she traded with and stayed among fieldwork, moreover, written up in detail,
andanalysedanddiscussedatlength,later.

WritingsandTalks

Left to right: (a) Sirimba Players, Congo, from Kingsley's West African Studies (2nd ed.), facing p. 56. (b) Oil River Natives,
from Kingsley, West African Studies, (2nd ed.), facing p. 206. (c) Making a charm in the Upper Ogow Region, from the
chapteronFetishinTravelsinWestAfrica,p.446.

Kingsley brought back from her African trips some rare specimens, like the fish that were named after her, and a live
reptile that she took to London Zoo. More importantly, she brought back her ethnographical findings, which she wrote
up in two informative and entertaining books about her experiences. Travels in West Africa (1897) and West African
Studies (1899). These not only contained groundbreaking accounts of "that intricate system which we find among the
Africans and agree to call Witchcraft, Fetish, or Juju" (West African Studies, 2nd ed., 396), including initiation
ceremonies,bodydecorationandsoon,butalsoexpressedarangeofchallenginganddaringlythoughtprovokingviews
abouttheimperialistprojectinWestAfrica.Whilethiscatapultedherintoterritoryasdangerousandswampyasanyshe
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had encountered on her travels, it also made her an important voice for Africa and for women in the political
scene.
Shewasopenlycriticalbothofthemissionaryendeavour,andthecolonialadministration.Both,shefelt,meddled
intraditionalwaysoflifethathadevolvedtosuittheAfricancontext.Sheunderstood,forexample,thatpolygamyand
domestic slavery answered specific needs. As for the former (to give only one reason), "it is totally impossible for one
womantodothewholeworkofahouselookafterthechildren,prepareandcookthefood,preparetherubber,carry
the same to the markets, fetch the daily supply of water from the stream, cultivate the plantation, &c, &c." (Travels in
WestAfrica,211).Andasforthelatter,evenseveralwiveswerenotenoughtocultivatethoseplantations:"Amongthe
true Negroes of the West Coast of Africa, a socalled system of slavery is the essential basis of society" (West African
Studies, 2nd ed., 397). She threw herself into two further debates. One concerned liquor duties, which she insisted had
more to do with raking in profits than removing temptation: "I have no hesitation in saying that in the whole of West
Africa,inoneweek,thereisnotonequartertheamount[ofinebriation]youcanseeanySaturdaynightyouchooseina
coupleofhoursintheVauxhallRoad"(TravelsinWestAfrica,663).Theotherconcernedtheunpopular"huttax"which
was to be levied on Sierra Leone, as a more overt way of raising revenue for the colonial administration. Here, she
arguedthatsucharegularpaymentwassimplyunjust,for,inAfricanlaw,itcontravenedtherightofpossession.
TheseviewswereexpressednotonlyinKingsley'stwoprincipalbooks,butalsointalksalloverthecountry.The
firsttwoweretotheScottishandLiverpoolGeographicalSocieties,ateachofwhichshesatontheplatformwhileoneof
themalemembersreadoutherlecture.Butlatershe(literally)cameintoherown,becomingthefirstwomantoaddress
both the Liverpool and Manchester Chambers of Commerce. At Newcastle she lectured to 2,000 people, at Dundee to
1,800, and so on (see Frank 275). Again, she had to walk a tightrope. On the one hand she dressed in her customary
"maiden aunt" fashion on the other, she spoke her mind with the assurance that came from her unparalleled firsthand
knowledge. As Christopher Lane says, "She succeeded very well in being heard" (103) with, in addition to her first
twobooksandthesecountrywidetalkingengagements,ashorterbook,The Story of West Africa for "The Story of the
Empire"series(1900)acollectionofherfather'swritingswithherownmemoirofhim(NotesonSportandTravel, by
GeorgeHenryKingsley,also1900)andastreamofarticlesinimportantjournalsliketheCornhillandtheSpectator.

Legacy

Smiling children of Cape Coast, Ghana. Left to right: (a) Kosi Appiah, the son of a garage mechanic. (b) Boys on Biriwa
beach. (c) A girl carrying her baby brother in Cape Coast market. Kingsley describes Cape Coast in Chapter II of Travels in
West Africa, noting that it had "the largest and most influential Protestant mission on the West Coast of Africa" (28). She
couldnothaveenvisagedthatGhanawoulddeclareitsindependencein1957,andbecomethefirstAfricancountrytofree
itselffromcolonialrule.[Photographstakenbytheauthorinc.1971,whenteachingattheUniversityofCapeCoast.]

Mary Kingsley was very much of her time in many ways. She took no issue with imperialism as such. In fact, she was
proud of Britain as an imperial power, and included herself not only among traders but also among "oldfashioned
Imperialists"(West African Studies, 2nd ed., 418). What troubled her was the way colonial power was exercised. From
herethnographicalfindings,shesawtheAfricansshemetasinhabitingaworldofspiritratherthanmatter,andlacking
in"mechanicalaptitude"(TravelsinWestAfrica,670).Shecouldnotimaginethekindofchangesthatwouldbringthem
into the modern world. All this makes uncomfortable reading today. Nevertheless, she wanted a British approach based
onjusticeandrespectfornativeinstitutions,ratherthantheimpositionofanaliensystemonebasedoncooperation
for mutual benefit rather than exploitation. Proposing what would, in effect, be indirect rule by a trading partner, she
talked of "the government of Africa by Africans" (Travels in West Africa, 358). Above all, her work did much to
demystify life on the African continent. She does not always hit the right note. She sounds facetious in her defence of
cannibalism,whichononeoccasionshereducestoamenuchoice:"TheFanisnotacannibalfromsacrificialmotives.
He does it in his common sense way. Man's flesh, he says, is good to eat, very good, and he wishes you would try it
(TravelsinWestAfrica,330).ButhumourisjustoneofhertacticsfordemystifyingAfrica,aprocesswhichwouldmake
iteasierforAfricannationstogainindependencelateron.
Similarly, as will be clear from her careful cultivation of a feminine persona, Kingsley accepted and did not
question the place of women in Victorian society. Indeed, like Mrs Ward and a number of other highprofile Victorian
women,shecompletelyrejectedSuffragettism,despiteherownincursionsintothemalepreservesofexploration,trading,
andpoliticaldebate.Women,itseemed,werelikeAfricansdifferent.Theydidnotneedtobeadmittedasmembersof
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theRoyalGeographicalSociety.Thatwouldonly"inhibitscientificdiscussion"(qtd.inBlunt149).Atbest,theymight
have their own group instead, under its auspices. As time went by, she "began to make explicit connections and
comparisonsbetweentheAfricanandthefemalecondition"(Birkett150).Wasitindeed"afundamentalanddebilitating
failureofnerve"onherpart(Frank209)?Perhaps.But,again,ithardlymatteredwhatshesupportedordidnotsupport,
because of what she actually did. Her individuality, independence, courage, endurance and conviction all proved how
strongawomancouldbe.Aboveall,sheshowedthroughhertalksandwritingthatawoman'svoicecouldbeheard,and
have an impact. From her idea for an African Society came the Royal African Society, founded by her friend Alice
Stopford Green in 1900, which is still promoting African interests today. From her call for "Fair Commerce" with the
African workers came the term "Kingsleyism," which usefully united critics of colonial policies. In such ways, her
influence "spread out like ripples for decades after her death" (Birkett 170). Ironically, her life and achievements have
now become a focus for feminist critics, who may try to avoid celebrating her, but cannot help but treat her as a "key
figureofinterestinthehistoriographyofgeography"(Morin753).
Kingsley went out to Africa for the last time in March 1900. Before she could travel to the western part that she
loved,shediedinSimonstowninSouthAfrica.Asiftomakeupforherimperialisticstance,shewasnursingprisoners
takenbytheBritishintheBoerWar.Anotherwayofputtingitisthat,feeling"worriedandbored"bytheconflictinher
between "bushman" and "drawing roomer" (qtd. in Frank 207), she was following her heart but giving of it first. The
menshevolunteeredtocareforweredyingindrovesfromthetyphoidthathadswepttheirtrenches,andbeforelongshe
contractedthefeverherself.Shewasonly37,andsuchwasherfamethatherdeathprovokedanationalsenseofshock
and dismay. She seemed to have walked her tightrope successfully. The Graphic's tribute ran: "With all the go and
independenceoftheNewWomansheembodiedthesterlingqualitiesoftheOldWomanhumilityloveofhomeand
family,andasimplicityofnaturewhichwastrulyrefreshing"("TheLateMaryKingsley").Warmtributeswerepaidto
her womanliness: "such a womanly woman in every sense of the word," wrote Edmund Morel, another West African
expert,admiringtheskillwithwhichshewasableto"drawforth,bythemagicofherearnestpersonality,thebestina
man"(xiv).Substitute"humannature"for"aman,"andthetributecanbeusefullybroadenedandupdated.

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Blunt,Alison.Travel,Gender,andImperialism:MaryKingsleyandWestAfrica.NewYork:GuilfordPress,1994.Print.
Frank,Katherine.AVoyagerOutTheLifeofMaryKingsley.London:HamishHamilton,1987.Print.
Kearns,Gerry."TheImperialSubject:GeographyandTravelintheWorkofMaryKingsleyandHalfordMackinder."
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Jstor.Web.18September2013.
Keeling,Anne.GreatBritainandHerQueen(2nded.1897),inProjectGutenberg.Web.18September2013.
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_____.WestAfricanStudies.2nded.London:Macmillan,1901.InternetArchive.Web.18September2013.
Lane,Christopher."Fantasiesof'LadyPioneers,'betweenNarrativeandTheory."ImperialDesire:DissidentSexualities
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"RoyalAfricanSociety:PromotingAfrica."Web.18September2013.
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