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was an incredible
explorer in the late nineteenth century. In the
spirit of Exploration, Courage, Adventure,
Grace, Humility, All that is Africa, Pride, Curiosity,
Beauty and Generosity - we have proudly
adopted Mary Kingsley as the namesake of Tintswalo
Safari Lodge.
Mary Kingsley, the daughter of George Kingsley
and Mary Bailey, and the niece of Charles Kingsley,
was born in Islington in 1862. Her father qualified
as a doctor and worked for the Earl of Pembroke.
Both men had a love of travelling and together
they produced a book of their foreign journeys,
South Sea Bubbles. Her mother was an invalid and
Mary was expected to stay at home and look after
her. Mary had little formal schooling but she
did have access to her father's large library
of travel books.
George Kingsley died in February 1892. Five weeks
later her mother also passed away. Freed from
her family responsibilities, and with a income
of £500 a year, Mary was now able to travel.
Mary decided to visit Africa to collect the material
needed that would enable her to finish off the
book that her father had started on the culture
of the people of Africa. Mary also offered to
collect tropical fish for the British Museum while
she was touring the continent.
Mary arrived at Sao Paulo de Luanda in Angola
in August 1893. She lived with local people who
taught her how to fish using nets made of pineapple
fibre. After learning the necessary skills, she
went off alone to search the mangrove swamps in
search of rare specimens. Her adventures included
a crocodile attacking her canoe and being caught
in a tornado.
Kingsley returned in 1895 in order to study cannibal
tribes. She travelled by canoe up the Ogowe River
where she collected specimens of formerly unknown
fish. Several times her canoe capsized in the
river's dangerous rapids. Mary also journeyed
through dense forests infested with poisonous
snakes and scorpions and wading through swamps
trying to avoid the attentions of crocodiles.
After meeting the cannibal Fang tribes she climbed
the 13,760 feet Mount Cameroon by a route unconquered
by any other European.
News of Mary Kingsley's adventures reached England
and when she landed at Liverpool she was greeted
by journalists who wanted to interview her about
her experiences. Kingsley was now famous and over
the next three years she toured the country giving
lectures on life in Africa. In her talks she challenged
the views of the "stay at home statesmen,
who think the Africans are awful savages or silly
children - people who can only be dealt with on
a reformatory penitentiary line."
Mary Kingsley upset the Church of England when
she criticised missionaries for trying to change
the people of Africa. She defended polygamy and
other aspects of African life that had shocked
people living in Britain. Mary argued that a "black
man is no more an undeveloped white man than a
rabbit is an undeveloped hare."
On the outbreak of the Boer War, Kingsley volunteered
to work as a nurse. When the editor of the Morning
Post heard she was going, he asked her to report
on the war. However, her work as a nurse in Simonstown
kept her fully occupied. In a letter to a friend
in England, Kingsley explained how typhoid fever
was daily killing four of five of her patients.
She also described fellow nurses dying of the
disease and added that she thought it was unlikely
that she would survive. Her prediction was unfortunately
accurate and she died on 3rd June, 1900. As requested
just before her death, Mary Kingsley was buried
at sea.
Information courtesy of
Spartacus Educational (www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk)
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