Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo

Sir Richard Burton (1821-90) is well known for his colourful career, recorded in numerous books and articles, as a diplomat, explorer and ethnographer. In 1861 he was appointed consul to Fernando Po (now Bioko) in Equatorial Guinea, remaining there for four years until he was transferred to Brazil. These volumes collate the expeditions and ethnographic observations made during his time there. In his preface, Burton writes that the ‘plain truth’ about the African has not been told in Britain, declaring that English occupation of West Africa has proved ‘a remarkable failure’. First published in 1876, the second volume recounts a journey made from Fernando Po to Loango Bay and up the Congo River. Of particular interest is the penultimate chapter, ‘The slaver and the missionary in the Congo River’, in which Burton expresses his ambivalence towards a European presence in Africa. Volume 2 also includes appendices containing geographical observations.