Presbyterian Pioneers in Congo

by William Henry Sheppard

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Excerpt from Presbyterian Pioneers in Congo My First Impression on the Subject of Being a Missionary. - While still a barefoot boy a beautiful Christian lady, Mrs. Ann Bruce, said to me one day, William, I pray for you, and hope some day you may go to Africa as a missionary. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses show more state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. show less

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Stbalbach 1,456 reviews

Presbyterian Pioneers in Congo is a little known but fantastic book by an American missionary who traversed unexplored areas of the Congo in the 1890's. He wasn't a typical 19th century African explorer, for one thing he was black. I first learned about William Sheppard while reading King Leopold's Ghost, Sheppard is one of the heroes of that story for his work in exposing the autocracies committed by the Belgians. He was a Presbyterian missionary from Virginia who had a passionate desire to go to Africa and help out, in a sense to return "home". His infectious joy of being in Africa, open to experience and desiring to help is in sharp contrast to other white travelers of the era, such as Henry Morton Stanley, who saw Africa as a dark show more place to be conquered, animals and people to be subdued in the name of civilization.

Sheppard was smart, daring and a natural leader. His adventures include traveling the Congo River and tributaries by canoe and paddle-wheel steam-ship, running rapids, fighting whirlpools and angry hippos, exploring unknown territory, pacifying hostile tribes and living amongst the Kuba, one of the great African civilizations. Placing his life at great risk, he was the first non-African to enter the Kuba capital city and meet the great Kuba king, a colorful character who sat on a throne of elephant tusks. Sheppard took the trail of death around Stanley Falls and saw human skeletons, he even crossed paths with author Joseph Conrad along the way, whose experiences would later lead him to write Heart of Darkness (1902). I followed Sheppard's route using Google Maps and could see the villages he visited, the trails he surely walked on, it's a region that has changed little (from the air). I recommend this short and easy book for anyone who has read King Leopold's Ghost or Heart of Darkness, it's an authentic (and entertaining) first-hand view of the Congo from a different perspective, by someone who saw African civilization in a more positive light.

Read via Internet Archive.

--Review by Stephen Balbach, via CoolReading (c) 2011 cc-by-nd show less

Oct 13, 2011 (Edited)

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