News of Prince Constantin's voyage overseas, though not widely publicized, still spread among the German nobility.
A prince refusing to stay in Europe and insisting on suffering in Africa was truly baffling, so inquisitive nobles dug up records and documents about Africa.
The German territories had no seafaring tradition, so their materials and documents basically came from foreign sources and the novels of earlier explorers.
But because those records were rather old, some dating back several centuries, their image of Africa was still stuck in the era of "the white man's grave."
As for explorers' novels, many were written with exaggeration as their goal—giant snakes hundreds of meters long, horrifying venomous insects, cannibal tribes...
Good grief! Had Prince Constantin hit his head on a tree to decide to go to Africa?
There was certainly something wrong with the German nobility's records on Africa. Sailors and explorers mostly recorded thrilling and perilous experiences, especially the many explorers who, after returning to Europe and writing books, naturally had to add a little "hard-hitting material" for sales.
Prince Constantin's noble status meant that everything he did would draw the attention of interested parties, but their stereotyped impressions of Africa left them far from optimistic about his voyage.
Still, this made many nobles in the German territories study Africa's details for the first time, even if much of what they learned was wrong.
The Prussian Royal Family expressed concern over Prince Constantin's voyage, but his destination was not particularly important to them at the moment. Prussia was at a critical juncture, with a mountain of matters demanding attention.
Out of courtesy, the royal family sent a representative to have a brief exchange with Prince Constantin. In the end, they concluded that Constantin simply had too much time on his hands.
April 1869.
Becker