THREE YEARS
IN SAVAGE AFRICA
PREFACE
TAEFORE proceeding with the description of my
-*-A journey, I want it to be understood that I do
not wish to pose as an “ explorer.” Although I have
often been described as such I really have no claim
to the title. To Livingstone, Stanley, Burton, Speke,
Grant, and a few other great pioneers we are indebted
for our present knowledge of Africa. Before them and
their work the great Continent was an unopened book,
and they have left nothing to be discovered. To place
myself in their category would be as preposterous as it
would be impertinent.
I have, it is true, performed the longest journey that has
yet been achieved at one stretch from the Atlantic to the
Indian Ocean ; but although I have covered a distance of
over 7000 miles, and have been the first to go from the
extreme south of Africa to above the equator, the whole
of my travel cannot be compared with the smallest journey
of Mr. H. M. Stanley, the greatest explorer that ever lived.
The real interest of my trip, for the public, arises from the
fact that I have been able to study and compare the chief