=] Mary Kingsley!!!! =] By: Sarah Arshad |
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Have you ever heard of the famous explorer and writer, Mary Kingsley? You're most likely to have not. Well, if you haven't, I will speak to you about her life and acheivements. She had done ample things that NO OTHER person did before and her scientific studies added much to European knowledge of African wild-life. She was very interested in exotic animals, religion, culture, and many other subjects of that matter. This curiosity of hers lead to numerous trips around the world, studying topics that her father had not finished exploring [due to his death in 1892]. But it all began from her childhood!
Mary Henrietta Kingsley was born on the 13th of October, 1862 in Islington, London to George Kingsley {traveler, writer, and doctor} and Mary Bailey {niece of novelists Charles Kingsley and Henry Kingsley}. She was born just 4 days after her parents' wedding and was the oldest out of all siblings. Unfortunately, she never received a proper education or religious instruction, but did have access to her father's library. This contained many fascinating topics on literature, travel narratives, etc. She was also very intrigued by books on math, science, and memoirs of explorers which pretty much began her interest in exploration. But unfortunately, in her later years, her mother became very ill and ended up having to take care of her. Because of this, Mary couldn't leave her mother's side for more than a few hours and had limited travel opportunities. Within time, her father also became sick with rheumatic fever and both of Mary's parents had died in 1892, when she was only 30. But this certainly did not stop her passion and desire for exploring! She first took a trip to the Canary Islands, off the coast of Spain. She met ships' captains and traders who did business with the tribes of the West African coast. They filled her fascination with stories of cannibals, mangrove swamps, and strange fish and animals. This gave her a specific purpose to be in West Africa: to explore this region and to study tribal religion and law [as well as write about her adventures and complete the studies that her father had began before his death]. So in 1893, it was official that Mary Kingsley would set off out for Africa, despite all the warnings from people at home and her lack of information about the area. Because at that time, Africa was largely unknown to Europeans [Hense, the name, "White Man's Grave"]. In her lifetime, she made three trips to Africa. Two of these trips were in West Africa [1893 and the other trip was about 2 years later]. On her first trip to West Africa, she had collected many scientific specimens such as insects and fishes for the British Museum and making ethnological observations on the people she met. In 1894, on her second trip, she traveled and explored many areas such as rivers and the tallest mountain in West Africa. She also met the Fang tribe, who had a reputation for fierceness and cannibalism. On her return to Britain, people were quite impressed and fascinated with her experiences. Following that, she wrote a book in 1895 called "Travels in West Africa". It was published in 1897 and sold pretty quickly. She then returned to her last and final trip to Africa [South]. It was in 1899, during the Boer War. She worked as a journalist and nurse in Simon Town, South Africa. She was kind enough to look after the Boer prisoners in war and then wrote a book "West African studies" in 1899. Unfortunately, she died at the age of 38 from typhoid fever on June 3, 1900. She was buried in the sea, which had been her long time wish. She was truly an amazing historical figure. And just to think she had lost her both of her parents at a such young age and having such little scientific background. Yet she has done so much and gained a lot of knowledge...and increased ours too. R.I.P Mary Kingsley. ~Bibliography~: 1) 2004-2006. Wen. Apr 29. 2010. <http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/p/133.html. > 2) Mary Kingsley:West African Explorer. Wen. Apr 29. 2010.<http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/k/kingsley.shtml.> 3) "Mary Kingsley." <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kingsley>. 4) "Mary Kingsley." <http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404707613.html>. 2004. |
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