The notes which form the ground-work of these volumes have long

been kept in the obscurity of manuscript: my studies of South

America, of Syria and Palestine, of Iceland, and of Istria, left

me scant time for the labour of preparation. Leisure and

opportunity have now offered themselves, and I avail myself of

them in the hope that the publication will be found useful to

more than one class of readers. The many who take an interest in

the life of barbarous peoples may not be displeased to hear more

about the Fán; and the few who would try a fall with Mister

Gorilla can learn from me how to equip themselves, whence to set

out and whither to go for the best chance. Travelling with M.

Paul B. du Chaillu's "First Expedition" in my hand, I jealously

looked into every statement, and his numerous friends will be

pleased to see how many of his assertions are confirmed by my

experience.

The second part is devoted to the Nzadi or lower Congo River,

from the mouth to the Yellala or main rapids, the gate by which

the mighty stream, emerging from the plateau of Inner Africa,

goes to its long home, the Atlantic. Some time must elapse before

the second expedition, which left Ambriz early in 1873, under

Lieutenant Grandy, R. N., can submit its labours to the public:

meanwhile these pages will, I trust, form a suitable introduction

to the gallant explorer's travel in the interior. It would be

preposterous to publish descriptions of any European country from

information gathered ten years ago. But Africa moves slowly, and

thus we see that the results of an Abyssinian journey (M. Antoine

d'Abbadie's "Géodésic d'Ethiopie," which took place about 1845,

are not considered obsolete in 1873.