1217
alongside Thomas Baines an accomplished artist. Bain’s
and Charles Livingstone soon argued, and following a
contrived story of the theft of a bag of sugar Baines was
expelled from the expedition.
The animosity between these two visual professional
is refl ected in Baines’s painting of the rapids on the
Zambezi River in 1859. Baines is pictured centrally,
striding purposefully across the scene sketch book in
hand. However, the expedition’s photographer is de-
picted as a diminuative, shrouded fi gure isolated and
seemingly of little consequence.
Records of Hidden Histories
The photographic archive of exploration also reveals
the hidden histories of individuals whose lives may
have so easily been lost to history. For example,
many may be familiar with the story of how after
Livingstone’s death the African members of his expe-
dition carried his body, alongside his equipment and
papers, back to the coast for where it was returned to
England, However, what do we know of these Africa
individuals?
Much is revealed in the following photograph show-
ing James Chuma and Abdullah Susi (centre left and
right) both members of Livingstone’s expedition. As
Dr Caroline Bressey notes, in a rereading of this image,
it illustrates an uncommon scene of a white Victorian
man—Rev Horace Waller (the editor of Livingstone’s
papers) looking up at two Black African individuals
who are centre stage in the scene’s composition. It was
Waller who, when the RGS presented Chuma and Susi
with medals recognising their contribution said; “These
faithful companions of Livingstone were able to give an
intelligible account of every river and mountain and
village in the regions they had passed through; and
such aid as they could give was of the fi rst importance
to Mr. Livingstone in preparing the work on which he
was engaged.”
It was only with some trepidation that the Society
embraced the new technologies of lenses, blackout tents,
chemicals and glass plates. For example, Hugh Mill
wrote, in commenting of the use of images projected
by lantern slides in the 1880’s, that “the proposal to il-
lustrate papers read at the evening meetings by lantern
slides was scoffed at by some who said it would lower
the Society’s discussion to the level of a Sunday School
treat with a magic lantern.” However, the Society’s
growing enthusiasm for this new technology resulted in
its purchase—albeit under the guise of how the images
enhanced the ‘scientifi c’ value of lectures—of its own
lantern in 1890.
In addition, a chapter on photography appeared in
the second edition of the Society’s Hints to Travellers
(1865)—alongside sections on ‘Outfi ts for an Explorer,’
and ‘Latitude and Longitude.’ Professor Pole the author
wrote that, “any traveller or tourist, gentleman or lady
may, by about a quarter of an hour’s learning, and
with the amount of apparatus that would go into the
gentleman’s pocket or lady’s reticule, put him or herself
into the position (to take a picture).”
148/9 “the Society by degree added instruction in
photography, geology, natural history and other subjects
so that the traveller who took the whole course andROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY
R. Allen & Sons. A group
consisting of T. S. and Miss
Livingstone, James Chumah
and Susi and the compiler of
MSS discussing the journals,
maps and plans of the late Dr.
Livingstone.
R. Allen & Sons (Nottingham)- Royal Geographical
Society.