[1] On 15 August 1882 Parfonry left for Africa in the company of Camille Coquilhat, Henri Avaert, the accountant Émile Brunfaut and Guillaume Vandevelde.
Brunfaur remained at Vivi, and on 30 September 1883 Coquilhat, Avaert, Parfonry and Vandevelde, along with Édouard Destrain, Louis-Gustave Amelot and the sailor Martin set off for Isangila.
[1] Parfonry remained in Isangila to replace Anthony Bannister Swinburne, the head of the station, who was returning to Europe at the end of his term of service.
[1] In March 1883 there were rumors of a revolt in Isangila, and Amelot accompanied Théodore Nilis and Joseph Vandevelde to come to the aid of Parfonry.
He had only 40 Zanzibari workers, who were not trained in road construction, but were capable of the hard work of clearing and levelling the route.