Commander
Verney Lovett-Cameron
(Born
1st July, 1844 – Died 26th March, 1894)
One
of the Immortals of African Exploration
Article
contributed by Colin Cameron
Verney Lovett-Cameron was bo=
rn at
Radipole, near Weymouth,
on 1st July, 1844. His grandfather, Colonel Hector Cameron, had
fought with distinction in the Peninsular War under the Duke of Wellington
where he was severely wounded and mentioned in dispatches. Colonel Hector h=
ad a
romantic runaway marriage to Elizabeth Lovett in 1797.(The hyphenated
“Lovett-Cameron” was not introduced to the family name until
1855.) Hector was the grandso=
n of
Dr Archibald Cameron[i], bro=
ther
of Gentle Lochiel and third son of John Cameron of Lochiel, the 18th
Chief of Clan Cameron. Dr Archie was executed on Tower Hill on 7th
June, 1753, by a vindictive George II and his Government.=
Verney Cameron came, therefo=
re, from
a lineage we all know well and can be proud of. Many of his family had serv=
ed
in the army but he was the first to choose the Royal Navy as his vocation. =
He
joined it as a midshipman at the age of 13 years in 1857 - the year of the
Indian Mutiny - and was promoted Lieutenant ten years later. He served with
distinction in the West Indies including=
eight
months
active service in the Red Sea for which he was awarded a medal for braver=
y.
Thereafter, he was ordered with his ship, HMS Star, to the East African Sta=
tion
off Zanzibar, and for the next three years=
took
part in Britain’s
efforts to suppress the slave trade by intercepting Arab dhows, and freeing
their cargo of slaves. The revolting cruelties of the trade that he saw the=
re
changed the whole future course of his life. He became convinced, as did Da=
vid
Livingstone, that the slave trade could only be attacked effectively at its
source – that is in the centre of Africa
itself. It became a passion of his to travel into Africa, and to emulate the
great explorers such as Speke, Burton
and Livingstone. It was only by his dogged Cameron tenacity, surmounting
obstacle after obstacle that he eventually achieved his aim.
On his return to England=
after
his tour of duty he was paid off, and found difficulty in obtaining employm=
ent.
His obsession for travel and exploration in Africa
remained undiminished. He was competent in Swahili, the “lingua
franca” of East Africa and he continued to study surveying, mapping, =
etc
in preparation for the journey he had no doubt he would eventually undertak=
e.
At this time it was believed=
that Stanley, sponsore=
d by the
New York Herald, had failed to locate Livingstone. The Royal Geographic Soc=
iety
in London formed a second expedition to go=
to Zanzibar, to expl=
ore the
interior, search for Dr Livingstone and render him assistance. Verney Camer=
on
immediately offered himself, but to his great disappointment was not select=
ed
as a member, far less be appointed as leader – the post he coveted.
When the Livingstone Search
Expedition was about to set off into the interior, word came that Stanley had found
Livingstone at Ujiji. The leader, Lt Dawson, resigned as he thought the
expedition was no longer required. His successor also resigned as did Dr
Livingstone’s son, Oswell, who had then assumed leadership. This
situation gave Cameron his chance, and by dogged determination, he persuaded
the Royal Geographic Society to use surplus funds from the abortive Expedit=
ion,
to form his own expedition wi=
th a
remit to find Dr Livingstone and put himself under his orders and to assist=
him
wherever possible.
The Livingstone East Coast
Expedition thus began, and Cameron enlisted two colleagues, W E Dillon RN a=
nd a
Lt. Cecil Murphy from Aden.
After much trouble in obtaining stores and difficulties in hiring porters, =
the expedition
set off from the East
African Coast
in to the interior on 2nd February, 1873. Pilferage of stores and
desertion by porters dogged their journey till they reached Unyanyembe
(Tabora). Sadly, on 20th October a letter was received, written =
by
Jacob Wainwright, one of Livingstone’s African colleagues, that
Livingstone had died and his body was being taken to the coast. Wainwright =
had
thought that Livingstone’s son was the leader and initially the terms=
of
the letter were not understood. A few days later, however, the body arrived=
at
Unyanyembe and was received by Cameron with all the respect and honour he c=
ould
muster. It was Cameron who immediately sent word to Zanzibar of
Livingstone’s death for the world to know and that the body itself wo=
uld
arrive escorted by Livingstone’s followers – Susi and Chuma. At
that time, all three explorers were sick with fever, etc. Because of his
deteriorating health, Dillon decided to return to Zanzibar, and Murphy opted to accompany=
him.
Cameron, however, made the decision to continue with the expedition and to
explore Africa. Sadly, Dillon’s me=
ntal
health deteriorated and he took his own life a few days out on the return
journey.
Thus, began the epic journey=
by
Cameron - alone with his porters. For the next two years and more, he trekk=
ed
west through, Tanganyika,
the Belgian Congo, and Angola.
He kept detailed diaries of his exploits which were characterised by their
straight-forward accounts, without theatrical descriptions of incidents. He=
was
the first European to cross Africa from East to West and he discover=
ed
the source of the Co=
ngo
among numerous other achievements.
On 7th November, =
1875, he
reached Benguella on the Angola
coast. Long before, it had been assumed that Cameron had died in his trek
across the interior. He was feted by the authorities but before he sailed f=
or Britain, he arranged passage back to Zanzibar for his
surviving porters.
On April 2nd 1876=
, he
returned to England<=
/st1:place>
after three years and four months to the sort of acclaim that had greeted
Livingstone 20 years earlier. The Royal Geographic Society awarded him their
highest honour – the Gold Medal and Oxford University
conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law. He was specially promoted to the r=
ank of
Commander in the Royal Navy and numerous other international awards followe=
d.
He undertook extensive speaking engagements. Apart from writing and publish=
ing
his book “Across Africa” and his Diaries, he was appointed to
represent Britain as i=
ts
delegate to the Brussels Conference in 1876 from which date can be traced t=
he
renaissance of Africa.
He joined the Boards of nume=
rous
companies interested in developing Africa, particularly the Belgian Congo, =
but
of particular interest to us in Scotland
today he chaired a Compania de Zambesia in Lisbon
which was a forerunner in opening up the territory now known as Malawi with which Scotland has formed a special
relationship.
On March 26th, Ea=
ster Monday,
of 1894 he had been out riding with the intention of joining a hunt.
Tragically, Cameron who was =
of small
stature, was mounting his horse – a big chestnut mare of 16 hands, wh=
en
the mare was startled by a small boy playing his mouth organ. Cameron was
thrown to the ground and sustained a fatal head injury at the early age of =
49.
He was buried in Shoreham on 30th March 1894 attended by large
representation of mourners. He was survived by his wife. There were no chil=
dren
from the marriage.
Commander Cameron was one of=
Africa’s greatest explorers to rank with
Livingstone etc. His tenacity in overcoming adversity will always be a memo=
rial
to him and a hard act for all Camerons to follow as “a Cameron never =
can
yield”.