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John Kirk: a forgotten hero
John Kirk: a forgotten hero The Physician and the Slave Trade Daniel Liebowitz.Virginia:W H Freeman. 1999. Pp 375. $27.95. ISBN 0-7167-30-987.
o many magnificant human beings who achieved so much in the past are now almost totally forgotten; their contemporaries would have expressed astonishment at their present anonymity. Fortunately, there are scholars, some of whom are physicians, with deep curiosity, abundant energy and a desire to ungrave these departed heroes. Such a scholar is Daniel Liebowitz, Clinical Professor of Medicine Emeritus at Stanford University, who by chance, stumbled across this epic story of the 19th century Scottish physician, explorer, civil servant and abolitionist, John Kirk. Born in Scotland in 1832, Kirk received his MD from Edinburgh University, spent time in the Crimea, and then signed on as physician and botanist to the second Zambezi expedition of David Livingstone, a man zealous to bring Christianity, Civilization, and Commerce to Africa, and above all to abolish slavery. This agonising experience, lasting 5 years (1858–1863), was the defining event of Kirk’s life. A band of naive British men, with African porters and guides, plunged into the Heart of Darkness. Without exception they fell prey to diseases for which little could be done—malaria (falciparum), dengue fever, amoebic and other dysenteries, shigellosis, cholera, schistosomiasis, hepatitis, and leishmaniasis; they were tortured by mosquitoes and fire ants, broiled in the sun or soaked to the skin during the rainy season, and were constantly in peril. Many of these young men died. What especially horrified them were the
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THE LANCET • Vol 352 • December 12, 1998
caravans they encountered, processions of starving slaves, staggering in chains under a load of elephant tusks, brutally treated and killed on the slightest pretext, on their way to the East African coast for sale and shipment abroad. Livingstone proved to be a manicdepressive whose judgment was faulty and behaviour sometimes shameless, his crew bitterly resenting the needless hardship and danger to which they were subjected. In this trying situation, Kirk proved to be a source of strength and stability. He remained relatively healthy, ministering with kindness to the needs of his sickly colleagues. Loyal, wise, and a natural diplomat, as second in command he smoothed the roiling tensions between Livingstone and his men. A few years later Kirk was back in Africa, as physician, acting political agent and vice consul at Zanzibar, the heart of the East African slave trade. Impressing the Sultan of Zanzibar with his honesty and wisdom, he came to be a trusted advisor, and he gradually convinced the Sultan to outlaw slavery in his realm, an onerous task because the trade was so profitable, and because the Sultan’s friends, many dangerous troublemakers, lived by the slave trade. Fortunately, the abolishment of slavery and sagacious rule initiated a prosperity that permitted the Sultan to survive. In this heyday of Colonialism (late 19th century), every European power was interested in grabbing a slice of Africa, and some violated the sovereignty of the Sultan; agents of Bismark’s Germany were particularly aggressive. Kirk, serving both
British and the Sultan’s interests, protected the Sultan honourably until British policy shifted to one of appeasement of Germany. Kirk’s position became intolerable, and soon his diplomatic career abroad ended. The Sultan and European nations honoured him for his honesty, his fair and even-handed judgments. This very British agent, representing the country that insisted that slavery must end, played a pre-eminent part in the implementation of abolitionist policy, far greater than that of the much better known David Livingstone. Liebowitz skillfully makes clear how a man of Kirk’s integrity and endowments, his talent for negotiation and administration, was just the right person for the task at hand—dealing effectively and humanely with a temperamental, desperate Sultan, Arabs, black tribal chiefs, and representatives of European powers with Imperialist ambitions. Kirk returned home a celebrated man; many awards and honours came to him, including a knighthood. He spent the remainder of his life writing, botanising, and pursuing his photographic interests, and—with his vast experience in colonial matters—a frequent consultant, serving on Commissions and Boards. He died in 1922. Leibowitz’s admirable account of Kirk and his times, certainly unknown in the USA, reaffirms the notion that sometimes one man can make a genuine difference. His gripping narrative is illuminated by accounts of the East African slave trade, the operation of the British colonial service, and the raw politics of Imperialist European nations lusting after African lands for profit and prestige. Although Leibowitz’s language falters at times, and only the barest outline of Kirk’s life is provided in the biography, Leibowitz has written an informative, well-organised story that holds the reader’s interest to the very last page. Leonard Warren University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
1943
o many magnificant human beings who achieved so much in the past are now almost totally forgotten; their contemporaries would have expressed astonishment at their present anonymity. Fortunately, there are scholars, some of whom are physicians, with deep curiosity, abundant energy and a desire to ungrave these departed heroes. Such a scholar is Daniel Liebowitz, Clinical Professor of Medicine Emeritus at Stanford University, who by chance, stumbled across this epic story of the 19th century Scottish physician, explorer, civil servant and abolitionist, John Kirk. Born in Scotland in 1832, Kirk received his MD from Edinburgh University, spent time in the Crimea, and then signed on as physician and botanist to the second Zambezi expedition of David Livingstone, a man zealous to bring Christianity, Civilization, and Commerce to Africa, and above all to abolish slavery. This agonising experience, lasting 5 years (1858–1863), was the defining event of Kirk’s life. A band of naive British men, with African porters and guides, plunged into the Heart of Darkness. Without exception they fell prey to diseases for which little could be done—malaria (falciparum), dengue fever, amoebic and other dysenteries, shigellosis, cholera, schistosomiasis, hepatitis, and leishmaniasis; they were tortured by mosquitoes and fire ants, broiled in the sun or soaked to the skin during the rainy season, and were constantly in peril. Many of these young men died. What especially horrified them were the
S
THE LANCET • Vol 352 • December 12, 1998
caravans they encountered, processions of starving slaves, staggering in chains under a load of elephant tusks, brutally treated and killed on the slightest pretext, on their way to the East African coast for sale and shipment abroad. Livingstone proved to be a manicdepressive whose judgment was faulty and behaviour sometimes shameless, his crew bitterly resenting the needless hardship and danger to which they were subjected. In this trying situation, Kirk proved to be a source of strength and stability. He remained relatively healthy, ministering with kindness to the needs of his sickly colleagues. Loyal, wise, and a natural diplomat, as second in command he smoothed the roiling tensions between Livingstone and his men. A few years later Kirk was back in Africa, as physician, acting political agent and vice consul at Zanzibar, the heart of the East African slave trade. Impressing the Sultan of Zanzibar with his honesty and wisdom, he came to be a trusted advisor, and he gradually convinced the Sultan to outlaw slavery in his realm, an onerous task because the trade was so profitable, and because the Sultan’s friends, many dangerous troublemakers, lived by the slave trade. Fortunately, the abolishment of slavery and sagacious rule initiated a prosperity that permitted the Sultan to survive. In this heyday of Colonialism (late 19th century), every European power was interested in grabbing a slice of Africa, and some violated the sovereignty of the Sultan; agents of Bismark’s Germany were particularly aggressive. Kirk, serving both
British and the Sultan’s interests, protected the Sultan honourably until British policy shifted to one of appeasement of Germany. Kirk’s position became intolerable, and soon his diplomatic career abroad ended. The Sultan and European nations honoured him for his honesty, his fair and even-handed judgments. This very British agent, representing the country that insisted that slavery must end, played a pre-eminent part in the implementation of abolitionist policy, far greater than that of the much better known David Livingstone. Liebowitz skillfully makes clear how a man of Kirk’s integrity and endowments, his talent for negotiation and administration, was just the right person for the task at hand—dealing effectively and humanely with a temperamental, desperate Sultan, Arabs, black tribal chiefs, and representatives of European powers with Imperialist ambitions. Kirk returned home a celebrated man; many awards and honours came to him, including a knighthood. He spent the remainder of his life writing, botanising, and pursuing his photographic interests, and—with his vast experience in colonial matters—a frequent consultant, serving on Commissions and Boards. He died in 1922. Leibowitz’s admirable account of Kirk and his times, certainly unknown in the USA, reaffirms the notion that sometimes one man can make a genuine difference. His gripping narrative is illuminated by accounts of the East African slave trade, the operation of the British colonial service, and the raw politics of Imperialist European nations lusting after African lands for profit and prestige. Although Leibowitz’s language falters at times, and only the barest outline of Kirk’s life is provided in the biography, Leibowitz has written an informative, well-organised story that holds the reader’s interest to the very last page. Leonard Warren University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
1943