Sidi Mubarak Bombay

Summary

Episode Summary: "Sidi Mubarak Bombay"

Release Date: May 14, 2025

Introduction

In this compelling episode of Stuff You Missed in History Class, hosts Holly Fry and Tracy B. Wilson delve into the extraordinary life of Sidi Mubarak Bombay, a pivotal yet often overlooked figure in the exploration of 19th-century Africa. Through meticulous research and engaging storytelling, Holly and Tracy illuminate Bombay's vital role in aiding renowned explorers like Richard Francis Burton and Henry Morton Stanley, while also addressing the broader historical context of European colonialism in Africa.

Early Life and Enslavement

Sidi Mubarak Bombay's journey began in the early 19th century, around 1820, in the country of Uiao, situated between the east coast and Lake Malawi (formerly Lake Nyasa) in eastern Africa.

Tracy B. Wilson [05:43]:
"Sidi Mubarak Bombay was born around 1820. He narrated the story of his early years to English explorer and army officer John Hanning Speke, who included it in his book What Led to the Discovery of the Source of the Nile."

Bombay's early years were marked by turmoil. At approximately age 12, his village was attacked by Waswaili merchants and their armed slaves, who demanded repayment of debts through immediate liquidation. Unable to resist with firearms, Bombay and many villagers were captured and sold into slavery.

Holly Fry [07:24]:
"He was sold into slavery. 'Sidi Mubarak Bombay was liberated on the death of his enslaver and he returned to Zanzibar off the eastern coast of Africa.'"

After enduring years of enslavement in India, Bombay was freed upon his master's death. His name, "Bombay," likely originates from his time in the Bombay Presidency or as a designation for Africans who had been enslaved in India.

Role in African Expeditions

Bombay became an indispensable asset to European explorers. His linguistic skills, cultural knowledge, and leadership abilities made him a vital member of several key expeditions across Africa.

Tracy B. Wilson [05:16]:
"He worked for people like Richard Francis Burton and Henry Morton Stanley, people who became really well known as explorers."

Expedition with Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke (1857-1858)

In February 1857, Bombay joined Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke on an expedition funded by the Royal Geographical Society aimed at discovering the source of the White Nile. Despite prior hardships, including attacks and illnesses, Bombay's expertise ensured the expedition's progress.

Holly Fry [20:17]:
"Burton wrote about the huge relief that he felt when he saw Sidi Bombay coming back with the donkey and some scones and hard-boiled eggs for him."

Bombay not only managed logistical aspects but also served as a mediator and caregiver, utilizing his knowledge of local plants and medicines to tend to the sick and injured members of the party.

Discovery of Lake Victoria

On July 28, 1858, the expedition reached what Samburu locals identified as Lake Victoria, named after Queen Victoria by Speke. Although initially believed to be the source of the Nile, it was later understood that the lake fed into, rather than originated, the White Nile.

Tracy B. Wilson [25:03]:
"That was on July 28th. Speke dubbed this lake Lake Victoria, after Queen Victoria. This is one of the largest lakes in the world."

The expedition's return led to heated debates between Burton and Speke regarding the true source of the Nile, with tensions exacerbated by differing opinions on Bombay's role and accuracy in translating local information.

Subsequent Expeditions and Legacy

Bombay's exemplary service earned him a silver medal from the Royal Geographical Society in 1876, recognizing his contributions to African exploration. He continued to work with various expeditions, including those led by Henry Morton Stanley, who hired Bombay as chief of caravan in his quest to locate the missing David Livingstone.

Henry Morton Stanley [40:26]:
"Sidi Mubarak, Bombay, commonly called Bombay, who though his head was woodeny and his hands clumsy, was considered to be the faithfulest of the faithfuls."

Despite facing challenges and diminishing authority in later years, Bombay's dedication and vast experience were crucial in navigating the treacherous terrains of Central Africa. His efforts culminated in the historic reunion with David Livingstone at Lake Tanganyika in November 1871.

Personal Life and Final Years

After decades of relentless travel and service, Bombay settled in Zanzibar, married multiple times, and had children, though tragically, both of his children born during expeditions did not survive. His later years were somewhat obscure, with some accounts suggesting involvement in missionary work, though details remain unclear.

Tracy B. Wilson [33:06]:
"Sidi Mubarak Bombay died in Zanzibar on October 12, 1885 at the age of about 65."

Death and Posthumous Recognition

Bombay passed away in 1885, leaving behind a legacy of unparalleled exploration and cross-cultural mediation. His contributions were later acknowledged by explorers like Henry Morton Stanley, who praised Bombay's virtues despite his perceived flaws.

Henry Morton Stanley [47:09]:
"'He was brave and manly, he was faithful and was incorruptible in a sense... Peace be to his old head. May his failings be forgotten and only his virtues remembered.'"

Conclusion

Sidi Mubarak Bombay's life exemplifies the intricate interplay between African agents and European explorers during a pivotal era in African history. His indispensable skills and unwavering loyalty facilitated significant geographical discoveries, yet his story also serves as a reminder of the broader implications of exploration that paved the way for colonial exploitation. Holly and Tracy's exploration of Bombay's life not only honors his contributions but also invites listeners to reflect on the complex narratives that shape our understanding of history.

Notable Quotes

• Tracy B. Wilson [05:16]:
  "These expeditions were purportedly about exploration and discovery, but they also lay some of the groundwork for the scramble for Africa and the atrocities that followed."

• Holly Fry [06:58]:
  "'I am Miao. My father lived in a village in the country of Uiao...'" (Bombay's narrative)

• Tracy B. Wilson [32:46]:
  "'I have been chiefly indebted for opening this large section of Africa. Would that I had listened to Bombay when at Zanzibar and had engaged double the number of his free men...'" (Speke praising Bombay)

• Henry Morton Stanley [47:09]:
  "'He was brave and manly, he was faithful and was incorruptible in a sense... Peace be to his old head.'"

Reflection

Through this detailed account, Stuff You Missed in History Class sheds light on Sidi Mubarak Bombay's crucial yet underappreciated role in African exploration. His story is a testament to the often-overlooked contributions of African individuals in shaping historical narratives dominated by European figures. Holly and Tracy successfully bring to the forefront Bombay's legacy, inviting a deeper appreciation of his life's work and the broader historical forces at play during his time.

Transcript

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[Tracy B. Wilson]

Welcome to Stuff youf Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio.

[Holly Fry]

Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

And I'm Holly Fry.

[Holly Fry]

A couple of weeks ago we had a Saturday classic about Hatshepsut and the voyage to Punt. I always re listen to our Perspective Saturday classics before I put them on the calendar, just so I make sure we haven't messed anything up. And I was pre listening to this one while taking a walk through the middle of Boston. And at the beginning of that original episode, I mentioned that it had been a bit since we had talked about any African history. And as I was on this little walk I was like, oh, that's true again right now. So today we are going to talk about Sidi Mubarak Bombay, who was sort of a combined guide, translator and nurse, and often the supervisor of the African porters and other laborers who were part of expeditions through eastern and equatorial Africa in the 19th century. He worked for people like Richard Francis Burton and Henry Morton Stanley, people who became really well known as explorers. And over about 20 years, he traveled more than 9,000 miles around the interior of Africa. In a lot of ways, these explorers really would not have made it without him. One thing that I do want to note at the beginning is that these expeditions were purportedly about exploration and discovery, but they also lay some of the groundwork for the scramble for Africa and the atrocities that followed that this largely happened after Sidi Mubarak Bombay's lifetime. When he returned from his last expedition in 1876, only about 10% of the African continent had been claimed by European colonial powers. But by 1914, that had jumped to about 90%. This is not something he necessarily could have foreseen at all, but some of the people that he worked with on these expeditions, like Henry Morton Stanley, were directly involved with it. Uh, we talked more about this in our episode on George Washington Williams from February of 2024. And this episode really isn't about that, but I did want to acknowledge it before we got started.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Sidi Mubarak Bombay was born around 1820. He narrated the story of his early years to English explorer and army officer John Hanning Speke, who included it in his book what Led to the Discovery of the Source of the Nile that was published in 1864. And at the time there was lot of discourse around the role the knowledge of Africans should play in European geographical writing.

[Holly Fry]

So periodical writers who covered these expeditions for a general audience in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, they usually dismissed the knowledge of local people and of African guides entirely. They would characterize them as just ignorant or lying. Explorers themselves, a lot of the time were more likely to acknowledge the local people's contributions as essential to their work and even to their survival. But at the same time their writing was often full of really insulting language and slurs. All of these books you can read on the Internet and there is a lot of the N word in them. There's also a lot of stereotypes. These accounts sometimes minimized or glossed over the contributions of African people when writing for the European general public. When presenting Bombay's account of his own life, Speek sort of countered this by vouching for it as, quote a good characteristic account of the manner in which slave hunts are planned and carried into execution. It must be truthful, for I have witnessed tragedies of a similar nature.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Here is how Bombay started this narrative, including a bit of geographical context from Speak. Quote I am Miao. My father lived in a village in the country of Uiao, a large district situated between the east coast and the Nyasa lake in latitude 11 degrees south. Of my mother. I have but the faintest recollection. She died whilst I was in my infancy.

[Holly Fry]

This lake is also called Lake Malawi and it's along the borders of what's now the nations of Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique in eastern Africa, south of the equator. The Yao people, of which he was a part, are a predominantly Muslim Bantu ethnic group whose homeland is around the southern end of this lake, as documented.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

By Speke, Bombay's account continues. Quote Our village was living in happy contentment until the fated year when I was about the of 12. At that period a large body of Waswaili merchants and their slaves, all equipped with sword and gun, came suddenly and surrounding our village demanded of the inhabitants instant liquidation of their debts. Cloths and beads advanced in former times of pinching dearth or else to stand the consequences of refusal, as all the residents had at different times contracted debts to different members of the body present. There was no appeal against the equity of this sud, but no one had the means of payment. They knew fighting against firearms would be hopeless, so after a few stratagems, looking for a good opportunity to bolt, the whole village took to precipitate flight. Most of the villagers were captured like myself, but of my father or any other relatives I never more gained any intelligence. He was either shot in endeavoring to defend himself or still more probably gave leg bail and so escaped.

[Holly Fry]

After being captured by Swahili people, Bombay was sold into slavery. Again quoting from his account in Speke's work quote, as soon as this foray was over, all the captives were grouped together and tethered with chains or ropes and marched off to Kilwa on the east coast. Arrived there, the whole party embarked in dhows which setting sail soon arrived in Zanzibar. We were then driven to the slave market where I was bought by an Arab merchant and taken off to India. I served with this master for several years till by his death I obtained my liberation. My next destination was Zanzibar where I took service in the late Ummam's army and passed my days in half starved inactivity.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Although this isn't spelled out in his account to John Hanning, Speak Sidi Mubarak Bombay's name, or at least the name he is known by today, comes from this experience of abduction and enslavement. Siddhi was a term coined in India for Africans and people of African descent. Today the Siddhi or Shidi, are an ethnic group in both India and Pakistan, descended from Bantu peoples who were enslaved and taken to India, as well as from Africans who made their way to the Indian subcontinent as migrants or traders. Mubarak is most likely a name given to him by his Arab enslaver. It's an Arabic name meaning blessed or fortunate.

[Holly Fry]

There are a couple of different ideas around where the name Bombay came from. In his book City, island and Coast, Sir Richard Burton describes this as a name Mubarak took for himself. According to historian Sarah Longair in a chapter she contributed to the book Being a Histories and Legacies of European Slavery in the Indian Ocean, the name Bombay indicates that after his emancipation he was educated in the Bombay Presidency. That's the western portion of the Indian subcontinent that had come under British control in 1843.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Another possibility is that after slavery was abolished in India, people who had been trafficked there from Africa and their descendants became known as Bombay Africans. This name was also used for people the British Navy liberated after capturing slave ships that were operating in the waters between eastern Africa and Western India. After the abolition of slavery in India, many of these people returned to Africa aboard British ships, and a number of British explorers intentionally recruited Bombay Africans for their expeditions. Because of their time in parts of India that were under British control, they often spoke English, Hindi or both, and some had been educated by British missionaries while still having language and cultural connections to parts of Africa. Africa over the mid to late 19th century, hundreds of Bombay Africans were part of expeditions led by explorers from the uk. So it's also possible that this Bombay moniker was a reference to his having been enslaved in India. This is just conjecture though, since he was by no means the only person on these expeditions that this moniker could have been applied to.

[Holly Fry]

There doesn't seem to be a record of Sidi Mubarak Bombay's name from before all of this, but he's mentioned repeatedly in the accounts of all the explorers that we're talking about today, and they generally all call him some version of that name, like Sidi Bombay or Mubarak Bombay or just Bombay. Henry Morton Stanley calls him Sidi Mbarak Mambay, spelling Sidi with a Y, like seeds in the ground, Mubarak without the U and Mambay with an m. But then he says that he's known as Bombay. Vernie Lovett Cameron included the name Mbarak Bombay in parentheses in his book Across Africa, but it does seem like the name Bombay was what he chose to use during his lifetime. So that is what we will go with today and we'll get to his.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Time doing expeditions after we pause for a sponsor break.

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[Holly Fry]

As he mentioned in the passage that we read from before the break, after about 20 years of enslavement in India, Siddhi Mubarak Bombay was liberated on the death of his enslaver and he returned to Zanzibar off the eastern coast of Africa. That is where he met Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke in February of 1857. They were on an expedition funded by the Royal Geographical Society and Burton was trying to find the source of the White Nile.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

The source of the Nile was a huge source of fascination in Europe at this point. The Nile is the longest river in the world and its two main tributaries are the White and Blue Nile. Europeans already knew the source of the Blue Nile, but not the White. The search for the source of the Nile was interconnected with a fascination for the ancient Egyptian cultures that lived along the northern portion of the river and the perception of the interior of Africa where the source had to be located as a nearly impenetrable mystery.

[Holly Fry]

Burton and Speke were returning to Africa after a failed attempt at an Expedition in 1855. On this earlier expedition, they'd been attacked in Somaliland and seriously injured and one of the British officers with them had been killed. After they had recovered from their injuries and then served in the Crimean War, they had regrouped to try again once again, with Burton leading the expedition and Speke his second in command. Burton had already undertaken numerous expeditions, including disguising himself to enter Mecca during the Hajj and and he had published several books. Speke had not published any books yet, but he was an avid hunter and had also traveled, including into the Himalayan mountains and Tibet.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Burton and Speke both described Sidi Mubarak Bombay as someone they immediately recognized as necessary to have on their expedition. Burton called him, quote, the gem of the party and his description of him went on to say, quote, he works on principle and he works like a horse. He candidly declaring that not love of us, but his duty to his belly made him work with a sprained ankle and a load quite disproportioned to his Shatif body. He insists upon carrying two guns and after a 30 miles walk he is as fresh as before it began. He attends us everywhere, manages our purchases, carries all our messages, and when not employed by us he is at every man's beck and call.

[Holly Fry]

Speak's account of him was pretty similar. At one point, Speke also described a misunderstanding between the two of them in which Bombay asked for some Cloth which was part of his pay. But he had already been given cloth. Speak originally thought this was Bombay's quote, seedy nature coming through. But in Speke's words, quote, had Bombay only opened his heart, this matter would have been settled at once, for his motives were of a superior order. He had bought to be his adopted brother, a slave of the Waha tribe, a tall, athletic, fine looking man whose figure was of such excellent proportions that he would have been remarkable in any society. And it was for this youth, and not himself, that he had made such a fuss and used so many devices to obtain the cloths. Indeed, he is a very singular character, not caring one bit about himself, how he dressed or what he ate, ever contented and doing everybody's work in preference to his own. And of such exemplary honesty, he stands a solitary marvel in the land. He would do no wrong to benefit himself, to please anybody else. There is nothing he would stick at.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Over time, Bombay became a servant and interpreter to John Hanning's speak. Both of them spoke Hindi and that was the language they conversed in. Burton spoke Hindi as well, but he also spoke a number of other languages and he was prone to having conversations in languages that speak did not know. Later on, David Livingstone described Bombay as having, quote, lifted Speke out of the disagreeable position of being a silent onlooker. In all of Burton's conversations over time, Bombay also learned to speak English, Arabic and Kishwahili.

[Holly Fry]

I'm not sure if Burton was doing this on purpose to exclude Speke. They had some personality conflicts and other conflicts. This expedition was arduous and many of the people who were part of it became injured and ill along the way. Bombay, Burton and Speke all developed malaria, although not all at the same time. At one point, Bombay was well, but Burton and Speke were both almost too sick to walk. The party only had one donkey to spare, so Speke would ride it and Burton would just kind of struggle along until he had to stop and then eventually Bombay would loop back with the donkey to pick him up. Burton wrote about the huge relief that he felt when he saw Sidi Bombay coming back with the donkey and some scones and hard boiled eggs for him.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Bombay was knowledgeable about local plants and medicines and he helped care for the sick and injured during these expeditions. He also became a messenger and negotiator, the person who would be sent ahead to arrange passage with the chieftains and kings whose territory they were trying to pass through. On top of all of that, he increasingly managed the large crews of African porters, rowers, and other laborers that the exped and relied on to get where they were going.

[Holly Fry]

This party eventually arrived at Kaze, in the Tabora region of what's now Tanzania, on November 7, 1857, and they stayed there for more than a month while Burton and Speak and some of the others in their party recovered. They left on December 15, looking for a large lake that had been described in the accounts of local people and missionaries. This turned out to be Lake Tanganyika, which they first sighted on February 13, 1858. They thought this lake might be the source of the Nile, but it turned out that there was a large river that was flowing into it, not out of it also. It wasn't completely clear until later, but that large river was not connected to the White Nile. It was a different river.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

After the expedition returned to Kazay, Burton stayed behind because he was ill, so sick that he had become partially paralyzed. But Bombay and Speke went out again, hoping to press on while Burton recovered. To be clear, Speke was also sick. Among other things, he had an eye inflammation that had seriously impacted his vision. Speke also had another mishap on this leg of the journey in which he was swarmed by beetles in the night, and. And one of them crawled into his ear, and he permanently injured himself while trying to kill it. This gave me both the heebies and the jeebies.

[Holly Fry]

That's way more graphic in the accounts of the trip than what I put in here.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Somehow, though, his blindness largely resolved after this speak.

[Holly Fry]

Bombay and company eventually reached a lake known in Swahili as Lake Ukurewe. That was on July 28th. Speke dubbed this lake Lake Victoria, after Queen Victoria. This is one of the largest lakes in the world. And they arrived at the southern part of it, where they could not possibly see the other end or any other waterway that was connected to it. Based on what they had heard from local people, though, Speke concluded that the White Nile emerged from the northern end of this lake.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

When Speke and Bombay reconnected with Burton and told him what they'd found, he was not happy about it at all. He concluded that Speak just had to be mistaken and that Bombay was part of that mistake. He wrote, quote, bombay, after misunderstanding his master's ill, expressed Hindustani, probably mistranslated the words into kishwaili to some traveled African, who in turn passed on the question in a wilder dialect to the barbarian or barbarians under examination. During such a journey to and fro, words must be liable to severe accidents.

[Holly Fry]

It was Pretty dismissive and insulting with the words barbarian, but it. It didn't come completely out of nowhere when first approaching Lake Tanganyika and talking to the locals about it. Bombay apparently really had flipped some things around in his translations of what an Arab trader told him about river that was connected to the lake. But beyond that, Burton was furious that Speak was claiming credit for this discovery and that Speak had gotten to this immense lake without him. This added to some lingering discomfort between the two of them that traced all the way back to that very first failed expedition when Speak thought Burton was calling him a coward for how he behaved when they were attacked. There was just an increasing sense of resentment between these two men. After this point, the party returned to.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Zanzibar, and from there, Burton and Speke returned to England, where their dispute over the source of the Nile became public and quite ugly. Among other things, Speke got back to London before Burton did, and he told the Royal Geographic Society all about the expedition and his conclusions about the source of the Nile before Burton had a chance to tell them that he thought Speke was wrong. Burton was also less complimentary of Bombay than he had been in some of his earlier descriptions. In his book the Lake Regions of Central Africa, for example, he describes Bombay this way, quote, though he did nothing well, rarely did anything very badly.

[Holly Fry]

In 1860, the Royal Geographic Society sent Speke back to Africa to confirm that he really had found the source of the White Nile. He and Scottish explorer James Augustus Grant arrived in Zanzibar that August. Speke and Grant already knew each other. They were friends from their military service in India. Bombay was waiting for them at the dock, and once again they hired him.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Grant's account of this expedition is called A Walk Across Africa or Domestic Scenes From My Nile Journal, and in it he describes Bombay as their factotum and interpreter. When they set out, it was with a party of British officers and soldiers, local interpreters and guides, 64 Sidi Boys or Bombay Africans, 115 locally hired porters, 11 mules, and perhaps not wanting a repeat of that situation where Bombay was having to ferry one available donkey between two sick men, five donkeys to carry the sick.

[Holly Fry]

On July 21, 1862, Speke reached the place where the Nile river actually exits the lake that he had named Lake Victoria. He named this Ripon Falls after George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon, who had served as president of the Royal Geographic Society. Grant was not with Speker when this happened. Grant had a leg injury and had stayed behind along with most of their company. There's Also some speculation that maybe he stayed behind because Speak was kind of arrogant and did not want anybody else claiming credit for this. Bombay, though, was with Speak. When he was there. He had led about a dozen Bombay Africans who supported Speak on this part of the journey. To Speke, this was conclusive confirmation that this lake was the source of the Nile.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

By this point, Bombay had been promoted to command the expedition's African porters, and he had been entrusted with a series of independent missions to do things like hire more porters when an expected group of reinforcements didn't arrive. He had also served as the expedition's envoy to two different Bantu kingdoms. They needed to pass through Karagwe and Buganda.

[Holly Fry]

After they were finished at Lake Victoria, Speke and Grant wanted to continue westward, which would take them through the kingdom of Bunyoro. King Kuramasi of Bunyoro refused their passage, though Mbambay was the one who negotiated a different route that took them northward through Sudan. Instead, they ultimately ended this expedition in.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Cairo that was thousands of miles away from where they had started. Speke talked about what happened to the Africans he had hired after this in his book the Discovery of the Source of the Nile. He described them as his, quote, faithful children, and they became known as speaks Faithfuls. Quote, I next appointed Bombay captain of the faithfuls and gave him three photographs of all the 18 men and three more of the four women to give one of each to our consuls at Suez, Aden and Zanzibar by which they might be recognized. I also gave them increased wages equal to three years pay each by orders on Zanzibar, which was one in addition to their time of service and an order for a grand freeman's garden to be purchased for them at Zanzibar and an order that each one should receive $10 dowry money as soon as he could find a wife. With these letters in their hands, I made arrangements with our consul, Mr. Drummond Hay, to frank them through Suez, Aiden and the Seychelles to Zanzibar.

[Holly Fry]

John Hanning Speke described Bombay as, quote, the life and success of the expedition. In a letter to Christopher Palmer Rigby, British consul in Zanzibar, he praised both Bombay and the African porters who had made the trip possible. Quote it is to these singular negroes acting as hired servants that I have been chiefly indebted for opening this large section of Africa. Would that I had listened to Bombay when at Zanzibar and had engaged double the number of his free men, for they do all the work and do it as an enlightened and disciplined people.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

After Returning to Zanzibar, Bombay settled on the island of Pemba. He was married by this point. He had multiple wives, some of whom traveled with the expedition and worked as cooks or laundresses. At least two of his children had been born during this expedition, although both of them had died.

[Holly Fry]

Speke and Grant returned to England in 1893, and sadly, Speke did not live for very long after that. Richard Burton had continued to challenge his findings about the source of the Nile, and the two men were supposed to have a public debate about it. But on September 15, 1864, the day before that debate was supposed to happen, Speke was killed by a shot from his own gun while out hunting. The coroner ruled this death to be accidental, but some people, including Burton, believed that it was suicide. And there were also people who put the blame on Burton for purportedly driving Speke to it. Bombay was really heartbroken when he learned about Speke's death, and he talked about wanting to go to England to visit his grave.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

We're gonna get to more expeditions after we pause for a sponsor break.

[Kelly Wienersmith]

Hey, everyone, we want to tell you about our podcast.

[Daniel]

Hi, I'm Daniel. I'm a particle physicist and I think our universe is absolutely extraordinary.

[Kelly Wienersmith]

Hello, I'm Kelly Wienersman. I study parasites along with nature's other creepy crawlies. And there's just endless things about this universe that I find fascinating.

[Daniel]

All right, well, basically, we're both nerds. We love learning about this extraordinary universe and we love sharing what we've learned. So that's what we're gonna do.

[Kelly Wienersmith]

And on our podcast, Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe is all about the mind blowing discoveries we've made about this crazy beautiful cosmos.

[Daniel]

From the tiniest particles to the biggest blue whales.

[Kelly Wienersmith]

Each Tuesday and Thursday, we take an hour long dive into some science topic, during which time I try to suppress my biologist training and keep the poop jokes to a minimum.

[Daniel]

Learn all about our amazing and beautiful universe on Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe every Tuesday and Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Holly Fry]

Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Fry and Maria Tremarki, hosts of Criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the highwayman suggests men dominated the field, but tell that to Lady Catherine Ferrers, Known as the wicked lady who terrorized England in the mid-1600s, her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death. Hear the story of the gentleman robber, the romantic darling of the ladies. And a tale about a wager over a sack of potatoes, but you'll have to tune in to learn who won that one. Some highwaymen were well mannered or faked it. People were concerned about the romanticism of robbers, but most were just thugs. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Call them robbers or bandits, some are legendary figures. Listen to stories about historical crimes on Criminalia now, plus the cocktails and mocktails inspired by each Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dan Flores]

The American west with Dan Flores is the latest show from the Meat Eater Podcast Network. Hosted by me, writer and historian Dan Flores and brought to you by Velvet Buck, this podcast looks at a West available nowhere else. Each episode I'll be diving into some of the lesser known histories of the West. I'll then be joined in conversation by guests such as Western historian Dr. Randall Williams and best selling author and meat eater founder Stephen Rinella.

[Holly Fry]

I'll correct my kids now and then where they'll say when cave people were here. And I'll say it seems like the.

[Dan Flores]

Ice Age people that were here didn't.

[Holly Fry]

Have a real affinity for caves.

[Dan Flores]

So join me starting Tuesday, May 6th where we'll delve into stories of the west and come to understand how it helps inform the ways in which we experience the region today.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Listen to the American west with Dan Flores on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Rod]

In 1978, Roger Couron's first book was published and he was unlike any first time author Canada had ever seen.

[Holly Fry]

Roger Caron was 16 when first convicted.

[Daniel]

Has spent 24 of those years in.

[Hannah Smith]

Jail, 12 years in solitary.

[Rod]

He went from an ex con to a literary darling almost overnight.

[Holly Fry]

He was instantly a celebrity, he was.

[Dan Flores]

An adrenaline junkie and he was the.

[Hannah Smith]

Star of the show.

[Rod]

Go Boy is the gritty true story of how one man fought his way out of some of the darkest places imaginable.

[Dan Flores]

I had a knife go in my.

[Holly Fry]

Stomach, puncture my spleen, break my ribbon. I had my guts all in my.

[Rod]

Hands only to find himself back where he started.

[Hannah Smith]

Roger's saying is, I've never hurt anybody but myself. And I said, oh, you're so wrong. You're so wrong on that one.

[Rod]

Rod from Campside Media and iHeart Podcasts. Listen to GoBoy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Holly Fry]

Although John Hanning Speke believed that he had found the source of the White Nile after his death, the matter was still not considered fully settled among British geographers. Today it's considered to be kind of a little more complicated than that. The White Nile does flow out of that lake and the lake gets a lot of its water from rainfall, but it is also fed by some other waterways. Burton felt like he had never been able to publicly lay out his arguments against Speke's findings the way that he wanted to. But then after Speke's death, he mostly moved on to other things. One of the people who embarked on an expedition to try to conclusively determine the source of the Nile was Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone, who was also an abolitionist whose work was connected to both spreading Christianity and trying to abolish slavery in Africa.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Livingstone had already undertaken several expeditions when he set off in search of the source of the Nile in 1866. He eventually reached Lake Tanganyika, but he became seriously ill. People back in the UK didn't know where he was or what had happened to him. And by 1871 multiple search parties had been sent to look for him.

[Holly Fry]

One of these was led by Henry Morton Stanley, who arrived in Zanzibar on January 6, 1871, and he hired C.D. mubarak, Bombay as his chief of caravan. Stanley wanted to hire some of the so called speaks faithfuls and specifically to hire Bombay. He wrote, quote, the idea had struck me before that if I could obtain the services of a few men acquainted with the ways of white men and who could induce other good men to join the expedition I was organizing, I might consider myself fortunate. More especially I had thought of Sidi Mubarak, Bombay, commonly called Bombay, who though his head was woodeny and his hands clumsy, was considered to be the faithfulest of the faithfuls.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

They followed a similar route to the one that Bombay had followed with Burton and Speke. And just like on that expedition, Stanley's convoy had its share of challenges, including all kinds of illnesses and injuries and delays. Initially, Stanley described Bombay as honest and trustworthy, but sometimes slow to act. But over the course of the expedition, Stanley became frustrated with him. At one point they stopped at a village for almost a month because Stanley was ill and Bombay met a woman while they were there and didn't want to leave, so Stanley flogged him with his cane. Later on, Stanley had Bombay put in chains for failing to keep discipline among the porters after a mutiny.

[Holly Fry]

But in spite of all of this, on November 10, 1871, the party reached Lake Tanganyika and they met up with David Livingstone. There is an episode on this reunion from Previous hosts of the show, which we ran as a Saturday Classic on September 23, 2017.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

The expedition returned to Zanzibar on May 7, 1872, and had some issues on this leg of the route as well, including one in which Bombay and one of the rowers got drunk and fell asleep. And while they were out cold, someone stole the gear from a canoe that they were supposed to be guarding.

[Holly Fry]

So they had gone out there to try to find Livingstone. But Livingstone did not come back with them. He wanted to stay in Africa and continue his work. So a couple of years later, Vernie Lovett Cameron embarked on an expedition to try to bring Livingstone back. Like all the other people we've been talking about, Cameron thought Sidi Mubarak Bombay would be necessary to the expedition's success because of his previous experience and his status as chief among Speke's faithfuls.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

But Cameron did not retain that opinion over the course of the expedition. Bombay was about 53 years old when they left, and Cameron wrote in his book Across Africa, he rather presumed on our ignorance. And we soon learned that however useful he might have been in days gone by, he was not the best man to consult in fitting out an expedition. Not having sufficient readiness and knowledge to advise us as to the most serviceable things with which to supply ourselves. He had besides lost much of the energy he displayed in his journeys with our predecessors in African travel, and was much inclined to trade upon his previous reputation. But the high opinion we had formed of him at first blinded us to his many failings.

[Holly Fry]

Bombay was once again the person who recruited and hired all of the expedition's porters, servants and drivers, and this group Cameron later described as a motley crew. Cameron's account of their expedition describes a range of frustrations with Bombay, including his guiding them through a swamp where they had to stay overnight when a different path would have gotten them back to the camp they'd already established and opening loads of goods in front of a chieftain who then wanted some expensive cloth from those goods that Cameron did not want to trade with him.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Sometimes this seems more like a difference of opinion than Bombay actually doing anything wrong. Cameron had issues with his legs and feet during a lot of this expedition, including boils, abscesses and swelling. At one point, he was really having trouble walking and Bombay convinced him to stay where they were another day. Cameron wrote, quote, I could not understand the economy of remaining an extra day in a place doing nothing simply to save about one sixth of our ordinary daily expenses. It seems like Bombay might have thought access to cheaper Food might make it a good time for Cameron to try to recover a little before they moved on.

[Holly Fry]

Also, while they were on the way to Lake Tanganyika to try to find Livingstone, they learned that he had died. In spite of that, Cameron decided to press on and to explore the lake. This then turned into a trek all the way across Equatorial Africa, all the way from Zanzibar to Angola. This took two years and it made them the first party known to have ever done that. While Cameron seemed annoyed by the, quote, motley crew that Bombay had assembled for this, 49 of the 54 people who got to the Atlantic Ocean with them were people he had recruited and managed that whole way.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

On February 8, 1876, Bombay and the rest of the retinue were sent back to Zanzibar aboard a schooner. A few months later, Bombay received a visit from the Reverend W. Salter Price, who approached him about an expedition to Uganda to establish a Christian mission for the Church Missionary Society. They embarked on a preliminary trip, but in 1876, Bombay was awarded a silver medal by the Royal Geographic Society. A number of the porters and other laborers who were part of these expeditions were also awarded bronze medals.

[Holly Fry]

Although Bombay was not invited to London to receive this medal, it did come along with a pension. And at this point it seems like he essentially retired as a guide. It does seem like he continued to travel and work with the Church Missionary Society, but he kind of did it on his own terms. I found the writing about the later years of his life to be kind of vague. Some of the accounts of him describe him as Muslim. It's not clear if he converted to Christianity and was doing Christian missionary work. At this point I tried to get more clarity on exactly what was happening here and was not successful.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Sidi Mubarak Bombay died in Zanzibar on October 12, 1885 at the age of about 65. Over the course of all these expeditions, he had traveled more than 9,000 miles, most of it on foot. He was probably the most widely traveled person of his era by the time he returned from crossing the continent with Verney Lovett Cameron. And while these more well known explorers expressed a range of frustrations and foibles, it's pretty clear that they could not have done what they did without him and without the porters, rowers and soldiers who he hired and managed.

[Holly Fry]

After learning of his death, Henry Morton Stanley wrote a letter to James Augustus Grant in which he said of Bombay, quote, he had his fail, but he had also virtues. He was brave and manly, he was faithful and was incorruptible in a sense, he was a fine old gossip, delighted to talk of past days and old times. Seen at such a time, Bombay was a dear and even lovable man, and as I recall them, romance leads a charm to them and softens many asperities of my journey. Peace be to his old head. May his failings be forgotten and only his virtues remembered. And that is Siti Mubarak, Bombay do.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

You have listener mail?

[Holly Fry]

I do. I have listener mail that I hope I didn't read already. I almost picked one that I definitely did read. I confirmed that I had read it already and went to get a different one. This is from Kathleen. Kathleen wrote to say thank you for the Dorothy Arsener episode and this email says hi there. Like many listeners, I've thought about writing to you in response to an episode I love but would never actually commit. However, this time I am sending this from my phone so I don't chicken out. I just want to say thank you for the Dorothy Arsner episode. I'm always learning about fascinating people that I've never heard of from this podcast, but I wanted to send an email about this episode specifically because I work in the film industry. I grew up learning what I could about film history and I went to school for film but never heard of Dorothy Arsner, which is a travesty. After learning about all of her contributions filmmaking, directing and teaching, even though she never received an award, and to learn that she taught Francis Ford Coppola and was such an influence is amazing. I guess my very minuscule connection is that a friend of mine was able to work on his film Megalopolis that came out last year. So thank you Dorothy Osner, for teaching Coppola so my friend could work on his films. I don't want to make this email too long, so I'll go ahead and wrap it up by paying the pet tax with some pictures of my cats. I have a black and white tuxedo cat named Dinah and a mixed Siamese cat named Olive. If you can believe it. Dinah is Olive's mom. I don't know enough about genetics to tell you how a black and white cat popped out of a Siamese cat. One day I'll do a genetics test. Again, thank you for all you do. I was able to see you live last year at the Indiana Historical Society and it was such a fun treat for me and my mom. I've been listening for years since college, and you've helped me get through work, chores and the monotonousness of a long drive Cheers, Katie. I might have said Kathleen when I kicked off the email, but Katie signed it Katie at the bottom. So thank you so much, Katie. Let's look at. Oh, my goodness, there's a kitty cat.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Cat genetics are super fascinating.

[Holly Fry]

They are. They are very, very fascinating. My cats, who are almost entirely all black, they've got a couple of little white toes, little patches of white on their bodies. Had one sibling in their litter who was an orange tabby. It was all black cats in an orange tabby.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

There are so many fascinating things about colors that cats turn out with and how they relate to their behavior in later life. You know how people say, like, oh, torties have attitude and, you know, blah, blah, blah, which sometimes hold true and sometimes don't. But, like, there are also interesting things that happen in terms of their position in the womb and how that impacts the receptors that do all of that. I'm talking kind of from memory, so hopefully I don't screw anything up. But, you know, we have the example. We just adopted three sisters from the same litter. They don't look alike.

[Holly Fry]

They don't look anything alike.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

One is a very puffy black cat. One is a giant tabby who is very, very big and has kind of like. I would have thought she was a male cat if I hadn't been told otherwise. Cause she has kind of the features you associate with male cats. Like her head has kind of that fist shape and she's very big muscles. And then they have a teeny, tiny baby sister who is shaped the same way as Marva, the black cat, but like in shrinkulated version. And she's more petite than the other two. And she's kind of got torty color, like the same colorways as the big tabby, but in a more of a torty thing with one white toe on each foot. They may all have different dads, so that's part of it. Possible the father as a contributor of the genetics is often why litters look real different.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, yeah.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Because a litter can have all different dads, all kinds.

[Holly Fry]

So Katie has sent a number of pictures of these adorable cats, and there are two different ones in which they are curled up together. And I super would not have guessed these cats were related to each other. Not knowing this ahead of time. Incredibly cute. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Katie. I am glad that you liked the episode. Folks can email us anytime to say just hello. That is also totally fine. But I love the idea of sending the email on your phone so that you don't check it out. I have done similar things to make sure that I do a thing immediately. So if you would like to send us a note about this or any other podcast, we're at history [e-mail] and you can subscribe to our show on the iheartradio app and anywhere else you like to get your podcasts. Stuff youf Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Fry and Maria Tremarchi, hosts of Criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the Highwayman suggests men dominated the field, but tell that to Lady Catherine Ferrers. Known as the wicked lady who terrorized England in the mid century 1600s, her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Find more crime and cocktails on Criminalia. Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Hannah Smith]

A crime makes headlines. People talk about it for a few days, then it disappears. But for the people left behind, their story is just. But at night we hear the garage opening and my son hears it. We freak out. Honestly, I didn't tell my son this, but I felt that was it from the exactly right network. This is the Knife. Real stories of crime's ripple effects told by those who lived them. New episodes every Thursday. Listen to the knife on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Kelly Wienersmith]

We love learning about this extraordinary universe.

[Daniel]

And we love sharing what we've learned.

[Kelly Wienersmith]

And on our podcast, Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary, Extraordinary Universe. That's what we're gonna do.

[Daniel]

I'm Daniel. I'm a particle physicist and I think our universe is absolutely extraordinary.

[Kelly Wienersmith]

I'm Kelly Wienersmith. I study parasites and there's just endless things about this universe that I find fascinating.

[Daniel]

Basically, we're both nerds.

[Kelly Wienersmith]

Each Tuesday and Thursday we take an hour long dive into some science topic.

[Daniel]

Learn all about our amazing and beautiful universe on Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe. Every Tuesday and Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get.

[Hannah Smith]

Your podcasts, the number one hit podcast, the Girlfriends, is back with something new, the Girlfriend Spotlight. Each week you'll hear women triumph over adversity.

[Holly Fry]

You'll meet Tracy, who survived a terrifying attack.

[Hannah Smith]

I remember that feeling of okay, this.

[Holly Fry]

Is how I die.

[Hannah Smith]

And turn that darkness into light. I want to take over the world and just leave this place better than I found it.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

It.

[Hannah Smith]

So come and join our girl gang. Listen to the girlfriend Spotlight on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Daniel]

You're listening to an iHeart podcast.