Description
By Herbert Ward. A vivid, dramatic, and often astonishing firsthand account of exploration in the heart of nineteenth-century Central Africa. Based upon the author’s years in the Congo Basin during the turbulent era of the Congo Free State, the book combines adventure narrative, ethnographic observation, and personal memoir into one of the most remarkable African travel accounts of its age.
Drawn to Central Africa during the great age of nineteenth-century exploration, Herbert Ward traveled to the Congo in the 1880s, where he worked throughout the Congo River system and journeyed deep into regions then largely unknown to European readers.
The striking title refers to practices that Ward reported encountering among certain communities living in remote regions of the Congo Basin. Journeying through regions then little known to European readers, Ward recounts perilous river expeditions, tropical disease, famine, warfare, jungle travel, and encounters with communities whose customs and beliefs were largely unknown outside their immediate area. He writes not as a distant observer, but as a man who endured the hardships of the Congo alongside African companions and guides, learning local languages and gaining firsthand knowledge of village life, hunting, trade, religion, and ceremony.
The result is both an engrossing adventure story and an important historical record. Ward’s descriptions preserve details of many Central African communities during a period of profound political and social change, while his observations on weapons, music, oral tradition, craftsmanship, and social organization provide valuable insight into the region’s cultures as they were encountered by a nineteenth-century traveler.
Written from the perspective of a nineteenth-century explorer, the book also reflects the attitudes and assumptions of its era while providing a valuable firsthand account of Central Africa during a period of profound historical change.
Filled with danger, discovery, and vivid scenes from the equatorial forests, this book remains one of the classic narratives of African exploration. More than a tale of adventure, it is a fascinating and complex portrait of the Congo during one of the most consequential periods in its history.
This edition includes a new introduction and an author biography.
About the author: Herbert Ward (1863–1919) was an English explorer, artist, sculptor, author, and soldier best known for his travels and work in Central Africa during the late nineteenth century. Born in London, Ward traveled to the Congo in the 1880s, where he worked in the Congo Free State and spent several years journeying through remote regions of the Congo Basin. His experiences provided the material for his celebrated travel writings, including Five Years with the Congo Cannibals. In addition to his literary career, Ward became an accomplished sculptor and exhibited widely in Europe and the United States. During the First World War, he also served with distinction in the British Army Medical Service.
