History books are full of stories about colonial explorers. These stories are often about brave actions, but also about very questionable ones. One of these stories is about the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. This trip was big, but it also became famous for terrible claims made against it. At the centre of one such controversy is James Sligo Jameson. He was from the famous Jameson whiskey family. But his name is now tied to a horrible event that happened by the Congo River. This story shows a dark time. It makes us ask questions about who was responsible, how colonies were run, and the harsh truth of how empires grew.
In 1886, James Sligo Jameson, whose grandfather founded the famous Jameson whiskey, started a journey that would ruin his name. He was the only Irish officer on the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. This trip was led by the well-known Henry Morton Stanley. They said the trip was to help Emin Pasha. He was a governor stuck in Sudan because of a rebellion. But the real reason was darker. The trip was also about claiming land for Britain. Building an empire often hid bad actions. The trip up the Congo River would soon show how terrible things could get.
During this hard and cruel journey, Jameson’s name became tied to a truly horrible event. The story says Jameson talked to a local chief about cannibalism in Ribakiba (now Lokandu). He then supposedly “bought a young girl for six handkerchiefs and drew pictures as locals stabbed, cut up, and ate her.” This shows Jameson not just watching, but helping and drawing a very violent and inhuman act. Buying the girl and then drawing it shows a shocking lack of feeling, almost like he was a monster.
The accusations against Jameson did not stay secret in the Congo. They reached European cities and caused a big scandal. Jameson defended himself with a very different story. He told his wife it was all a “misunderstanding.” He said he gave the handkerchiefs “as a joke.” But this explanation is hard to believe, given how serious the accusation is. Saying something like buying a human life for cannibalism was a “joke” shows he was either out of touch or just trying to hide what he did.
To make things more confusing, Jameson told the New York Times (His wife, who defended him, sent the letter) that he “didn’t have anything to sketch with” when the act happened. He claimed he drew everything later, back in his tent. This excuse tries to say he didn’t draw it right away. But it doesn’t deny that he helped make it happen. If anything, drawing it later from memory might show he thought about it a lot, which is even more unsettling.
Jameson’s actions became a key example when people criticized colonial trips. It showed how much power European explorers had. They could do almost anything in far-off lands with no one watching them. This event shows how native people were treated as less than human during colonial times. They were seen as things to study or buy, not as people with rights. Buying a person, no matter the reason, shows a total lack of respect for human life.
It’s important to look at the whole Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. Stanley’s trip was famous for being brutal. It involved violence, sickness, and using people unfairly. The “darkness” people talked about in Africa was often the cruelty brought by the colonizers. Jameson’s supposed actions were extremely bad. But they were part of a bigger picture of empires trying to get power, often by any means necessary.
What exactly happened in this event is still argued about. People who defend Jameson, both then and now, try to lessen his blame. They often say he was a victim or misunderstood. But many stories agree on a disturbing event that clearly involves him. These stories are powerful because they make us face the hard truths of history and the difficult results of colonialism.
The story of James Sligo Jameson and the cannibalism claim reminds us that history is rarely simple or clean. It makes us look past the good stories of exploration and empire. It makes us deal with the terrible acts and moral wrongs that often happened in those times. The grandson of the whiskey boss is not just a small detail in history. He shows the harsh truth of colonial rule. His name will always be stained by the story of a bought life and the disturbing drawings he made in Africa. His story makes us think about not just his own guilt, but also how people were treated as less than human during a time of cruel global expansion.
Reference: The True Crime File – Kim Daly
