African exploits: the diaries of William Stairs, 1887-1892

Abstract

Born in Nova Scotia, William Stairs (1863-1892) was commissioned in the British Army. Weary of peacetime soldiering, he volunteered in 1887 to take part in Henry Stanley's final trans-African expedition to rescue Emin Pasha, the last survivor of Chinese Gordon's lieutenants in the Sudan. The expedition emerged three years later in Zanzibar, a reluctant Pasha in tow, having left a trail of havoc and suffering behind it. Stairs promptly volunteered for a second expedition in Africa to secure Katanga for King Leopold II of the Belgians as part of his controversial Congo Free State. The expedition succeeded, but at the price of suffering, destruction, and Stairs's own life: he died of malaria at the end of the expedition at the age of 28. These diaries are his record of the two expeditions, and the devastating clash of cultures that occurred during the imperial scramble for the dark continent. They convey the nature and course of imperial expeditions in Africa during the 19th century, and the psychological and moral corruption caused by absolute power. The editor's introduction and conclusion set Stairs's adventures in the colonial context of the era, and analyze the psychological effects of his experiences.