Author, explorer, and special correspondent for the New York Herald (1841-1904), most famous for his inquiry, ‘Dr. Livingstone, I presume?,’ upon finding David Livingstone, a fellow explorer who had become lost in the wilds of Africa. ALS, four pages on two adjoining sheets, 4.5 x 7, January 28, 1878. Handwritten letter to "Capt. Prideaux," in part: "I received your congratulating telegram & though I see the title of Colonel at the head of it, I thought it would be safer to address you by your old & well known title. However if it is a fact that you are Colonel I assure you I shall be delighted to hear it confirmed…Your hospitality has always been remembered by me in Africa. When compelled to recall the last time I dined well, your dinners came fresh to my recollection. Do you know that Livingstone's people grumble very much at the scant pay they received from you. They think they ought to have been paid $5 per mth instead of $2.50 per mth. The story they tell is very straightforward & I made it out in a letter to Dr. Kirk & he has promised to send it to Lord Derby. I wish I could get your aid too, for the whole sum they claim is only about $450—a small sum to satisfy what I think are just claims under the circumstances. I hear Mrs. Prideaux is lost. Is it true? I heard also you were in a terrible state. I heard bad news too of Laing! What vicissitudes of life!" In fine condition, with a rusty paperclip impression to the top.
W. F. Prideaux was acting consul of Zanzibar at the time of David Livingstone's death in 1873, and organized the recovery of the explorer's body. At the time of his death Livingstone was accompanied by sixty African crew members, all of whom had been with him for approximately a year or more. When they returned the body, Prideaux reportedly paid what he thought were their due wages—out of his own pocket—but several of the crew should have been paid at a higher rate. Many of these crew members would then join Stanley on his 1874-77 trans-Africa expedition through the Great Lakes and Congo River, hence his intercession here on their behalf. Though it is unclear as to whether they were ever paid properly, the Royal Geographical Society minted commemorative silver medals to be distributed to the crew in recognition of their service.
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