In March 1893, an unpublished letter from Livingstone made the news headlines.
Dr Livingstone, in a previously unpublished letter addressed to his old friend, the late Rev. Dr James Hamilton (as reported by the Daily News), cautioned him against too readily believing stories of cannibalism among African tribes. Referring specifically to the Manyuema people, among whom he had been living for many months, Livingstone notes they were reputed to be cannibals. However, he describes them as a laughter-loving people who seemed to enjoy playing practical jokes on European visitors—particularly by perpetuating the myth of cannibalism.
He recounts one instance in which a local showed him what was claimed to be the head of a recently killed human victim. Upon examination, it proved to be the skull of a gorilla.
Despite his persistent efforts, Livingstone was never able to witness any of the so-called cannibalistic rituals that traders often spoke of. He even offered goods worth £1 sterling to anyone who could show him cooked or eaten human flesh—but to no avail.
Livingstone contrasts this lack of evidence to the terrible tales of slavetraders he had previously heard in Ujiji and the information given to him by neighbouring tribes. Reflecting on how close he came to believing such accounts, he remarked:
“If I had believed,” he says, “a tenth part of what I heard I should never have ventured hither.”
