Travels in West Africa

With An Introduction By Anthony Brandy

by Mary Kingsley

National Geographic Society, 2002, paperback, ISBN 9780792266389

Very Good Condition, previous owners inscription blacked out on front flyleaf, front cover slightly curled, minor shelf and edge wear

'In 1893, defying every convention of Victorian womanhood, Mary Kingsley set off alone for West Africa to collect botanical specimens.  Unaccompanied except for native guides, she plunged boldly into forbidding jungle, often the first European - and almost always the first white woman - ever to arrive.  Undaunted by tales of ferocious cannibals, she made friends with the tribes she met and collected priceless samples of flora and fauna.  Along the way she fought off crocodiles with a paddle and hit a leopard over the head with a pot.  When she fell into a trap lined with sharp sticks, she was saved by her voluminous crinolines - for she always dressed like a lady.  Travels in West Africa is a book as vivid and unforgettable as the extraordinary woman herself.'