Mary Kingsley - Journeys To Africa

Journeys To Africa

After a preliminary visit to the Canary Islands, Kingsley made preparations to travel to the west coast of Africa. The only non-African women who regularly embarked on (often dangerous) journeys to Africa were usually the wives of missionaries, government officials, or explorers. Exploration and adventure were not seen as fitting roles for a Victorian woman. Even African women were surprised that a woman of Mary's age was travelling without a man, as she was frequently asked why her husband was not accompanying her.

Mary landed in Sierra Leone on 17 August 1893 and pressed on into Luanda in Angola . She lived with local people who taught her necessary skills for surviving in the African jungles, and often went into dangerous areas alone. Her training as a nurse at the Kaiserworth Medical Institute prepared her for slight injuries and jungle maladies that she would later encounter. Mary returned to England in December 1893.

Upon her return, Mary secured support and aid from Dr.Albert Günther, a prominent zoologist at the British Museum, as well as a writing agreement with publisher George Macmillan, for she wished to publish her travel accounts.

She returned to Africa yet again in December 1894 with more support and supplies, as well as increased self-assurance in her work. She longed to study 'cannibal' peoples and their traditional religious practices, commonly referred to as 'fetish' during the Victorian Era. In April, she became acquainted with Scottish missionary Mary Slessor, another female living among native populations with little company and no husband. It was during her meeting with Slessor that Kingsley first became painfully aware of the custom of twin killing, a custom Slessor was determined to stop. The native people believed that one of the twins was the offspring of the devil who had secretly mated with the mother and since the innocent child was impossible to distinguish, both were killed and the mother was often killed as well for attracting the devil to impregnate her. Kingsley arrived at Slessor's residence shortly after she had taken in a recent mother of twins and her surviving child.

Later while in Gabon, Mary Kingsley travelled by canoe up the Ogooué River where she collected specimens of previously unknown fish, three of which were later named after her. After meeting the Fang people and travelling through uncharted Fang territory, she climbed the daring 13,760 ft Mount Cameroon by a route not previously attempted by any other European. She is known to have moored her boat at Donguila.