One of the most famous early white explorers of central West Africa, the American Paul du Chaillu won fame for confirming the existence of the gorilla—and for his accurate and breathtaking descriptions of the life, customs and behavior of Africans in the pre-colonial era.
This book was written after the author’s last expedition into the African interior when Du Chaillu set out with the intention of reaching the Nile River. After over a year of travel, the expedition failed and he was forced back after being wounded by a poison arrow during an attack by a hostile interior tribe.
The high adventure of Du Chaillu’s expedition—and brutally frank descriptions of his encounters with the natives—are just part of what makes this work a compelling read. It also contains vivid and uncensored descriptions of native African culture, cannibalism, tribal warfare, witchdoctors, superstition, and technology. His astute observations were used by Oxford University professor John R. Baker in a section on African cognitive ability in his classic work Race.
His description of African slavery in particular, is highly relevant, as it shows that the biggest traders in slaves were the Africans themselves, despite all efforts by the British Royal Navy to halt the practice.
This new edition has been completely reset and contains all 23 illustrations and maps which accompanied the original work.