By The Boy Behind the Name “Kalulu”
The Lost Legacy of Ndugu Mhali: The Boy Behind the Name “Kalulu”
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History often remembers the “Great Explorers” of the Victorian era, but the names of those who carried their burdens are frequently left in the shadows. One such figure was Ndugu Mhali, a young African boy whose life became a footnote in the journals of Sir Henry Morton Stanley. Though the world knew him by the name “Kalulu,” his journey from an enslaved child to a global traveler and eventually a tragic casualty of exploration reveals the human cost of colonial discovery.
​From Zanzibar to the Global Stage
​In 1871, Ndugu Mhali was an enslaved child in Zanzibar. He was purchased from an Arab merchant by the British explorer Henry Morton Stanley. In a move that stripped the boy of his heritage, Stanley discarded his birth name and christened him Kalulu, which translates to “young antelope” in a local dialect.
​Despite the power imbalance of their relationship, Stanley was captivated by the boy’s intelligence. Between 1872 and 1873, Stanley took Kalulu on a whirlwind tour of Europe and the United States. The young boy became a sensation; he even sat for a wax model at the prestigious Madame Tussaud’s in London, serving as a living exhibit of Stanley’s African adventures.
​A Brief Glimpse of Education
​For a short period, it seemed Kalulu’s life might take a different turn. Stanley enrolled him in a school in Wandsworth, South West London. Historical records from the headmaster describe Kalulu as “exceptionally clever” and “progressing rapidly in English.” However, the promise of a formal education was short-lived. Following the death of Dr. David Livingstone in 1874, Stanley felt a divine urge to continue Livingstone’s work. He withdrew the boy from school, and the two returned to the African continent.
​Tragedy at the Congo River
​In 1877, during an ambitious expedition to map the Congo River and find the source of the Nile, the journey met a catastrophic end. While navigating the treacherous waters of the Congo, Kalulu’s canoe was caught in a powerful current. The vessel plunged hundreds of feet down a massive waterfall, claiming the lives of the boy and several other porters.
​In a gesture of grief or perhaps a desire to mark his own legacy, Stanley named the site Kalulu Falls. While the falls served as a monument, they also stood as a stark reminder of a young life cut short in the service of an empire’s curiosity. Ndugu Mhali was just 12 years old when he died a boy who had seen the wonders of London and New York, only to perish in the river of his home continent.
