With Captain Stairs to Katanga Joseph Moloney



the expedition took year round trip base in zanzibar msiri s capital @ bunkeya, stayed 2 months. suffered disease, starvation while, , numerous hardships. quarter of africans , 2 out of 5 europeans died, including captain stairs, moloney spared severe illness. in bunkeya, msiri refused sign treaty accepting leopold s sovereignty , cfs flag, , killed second officer omer bodson had recklessly confronted msiri in situation he, bodson, not control. msiri s people , successor chief, seeing expedition s greater firepower, bowed inevitable , signed treaty. katanga became part of leopold s congo free state, achieved later notoriety colonial slave state.


moloney s book has significant omission. evidence of msiri s barbarity , notes placed heads , skulls of executed enemies , miscreants on poles , palisades of boma. article in french published in paris around same time moloney s book in moloney s colleague on expedition, marquis christian de bonchamps, revealed after killing him, cut off msiri s head , hoisted on pole in plain view barbaric lesson people.








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