The Country of the Dwarfs by Chaillu, Paul Du - 1872

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1872. Hardcover. fair. Pictorial Blue Cloth, gilt decorations on front cover and spine, very worn, top and bottom edges of spine are torn, top edge has been repaired with tape, spine lean. EXlib no spine markings, pocket residue rear paste down. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. 313 pp

"Paul Belloni du Chaillu (du shay’ yu) was born in New Orleans, in 1835 into a French-American family. His father owned a trading depot off the coast of Gabon, and had friendly relations with most of the coastal tribes. After Paul’s mother died at age fifteen, he accompanied his father on his travels to Africa and received his education from missionaries on the western coast of Africa, and there he met and befriended dozens of African natives. It was there that du Chaillu heard many of the stories of wild animals, strange tribes and curious customs said to exist in the interior of Africa, which filled him with a tremendous curiosity about this mysterioius region. ...So in 1856, at the age of 20, he set out for an extended exploration of Africa, and set up a base village on the shore of the Fernand Vaz River (one of the outlets of the Ogoove). From there he traveled extensively over a region extending more than 300 miles inland from the coast. He studied plant and animal life, tribal customs, geography, and collected samples of dozens of unknown species. He made maps, went on hundreds of hunting expeditions, lived in native villages, learned several new inland languages, spoke with the natives about their beliefs and customs, and kept careful records of all his observations. He was the first white man to hunt gorillas, and many other unique species of fauna, and the first to have contact with any of the inland tribes. He continued his explorations for over three years, at which point all of his supplies were completely exhausted. He returned to the United States in 1860 and wrote his first book, Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa, (1861). His book was so full of astounding adventures and queer customs that it was met by disbelief by many people, until his findings were substantially confirmed by later explorers. ...Du Chaillu had even greater things planned however. At the end of 1863 he returned again to Africa, fully equipped for an even more ambitious expedition. This time he intended to cross the interior of equatorial Africa on foot, with a band of about a dozen native porters. This expedition however, was beset with difficulties, and he was obliged to return to the coast after only two years. This book deals exclusively with his ill-fated second expedition.