Travels in West Africa

Inscribed on title: A. G. Fowler Esq. / with kindest remembrances / From Mary Kingsley.

'Arguably the best-known of all books by Victorian and Edwardian women travellers' (Theakstone).

Mary Kingsley (1862-1900) made the first ascent of Mount Cameroon via the north-east face. This book was an instant success due to its serious scientific content and ... exuberant raciness (Robinson p.138).
She travelled in the forests of Africa much as she would have done at home. ' She set off through the forest guided by reputed cannibals. She escaped a fall into a game pit , landing in a heap on a lot of spikes at its bottom. It was at those times, she wrote, that one realised the blessings of a good thick skirt' (Theakstone).