 In 1877, not long after one of Stanley's expeditions, Reverend J. P. Farler met with African porters who had been part of the expedition and wrote, "Stanley's followers give dreadful accounts to their friends of the killing of inoffensive natives, stealing their ivory and goods, selling their captives, and so on.I do think a commission ought to inquire into these charges, because if they are true, it will do untold harm to the great cause of emancipating Africa....