in an era long past, the preliminary stages of exploration in africa were guided by the principle to eschew any direct conflict, a principle that navigators and explorers strictly adhered to within the established parameters of their voyages. yet, this caution was often cast aside in their relentless pursuit of wealth and territory. ironically, historians now start over again in their research, piecing together the fragments of a less told story, urging the quiet revelations of the illicit trade and the dark secrets held on the qt, which many entities would prefer remained obscured, an unwelcome truth that lays bare the exploitation and suffering concealed beneath the veneer of exploration.