ABSTRACT
Herbert Ward was born in London and had travelled in New Zealand, Australia and Borneo before working in Africa from 1884 onwards for the Congo Free State and then for the Sanford Exploring Company. He claimed to have joined Stanley's Emin Pasha Relief Expedition for sport and adventure. From 1889 to 1893 Ward lectured in Britain and the US about his experiences in Africa and published articles and books about the continent. Five Years with the Congo Cannibals was published in 1890, My Life with Stanley's Rear Guard in 1891 and A Voice from the Congo in 1910. Ward's writing (like his career) contains contradictory discourses on Africa, in particular in its contrasting views of the Congolese as artists and savages. Cannibalism is as common in the Oupoto villages as it ever was at Bangala; slaves and prisoners of war being frequently sacrificed to appease this unnatural appetite.
