1578525 Stanley\'s canoes starting from Vinya Njara, 1874; (add.info.: Stanley\'s canoes starting from Vinya Njara. Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904) was the first European explorer of one of the most inhospitable regions of equatorial Africa - the region surrounding the Congo river. Sir Henry Morton Stanley GCB, born John Rowlands (28 January 1841 ? 10 May 1904), was a Welsh journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of central Africa and his search for missionary and explorer David Livingstone); Universal History Archive/UIG; out of copyright.