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Travels in West Africa

by Mary H. KINGSLEY (1862 - 1900)

LIVERPOOL TO SIERRA LEONE AND THE GOLD COAST

Mary Henrietta Kingsley (13 October 1862 – 3 June 1900) was an British explorer and writer who greatly influenced European ideas about Africa and its people. Kingsley was an outspoken critic of European colonialism, a champion for indigenous customs, and a dedicated campaigner for a revised British policy which supported traders and merchants over the needs of settlers and missionaries.Her adventures were extraordinary and fascinating. Among other things she fought with crocodiles, fell into native spear traps and was caught in a tornado on the slopes of Mount Cameroon. She traveled in West Africa wearing the same clothes she always wore in England: long, black, trailing skirts, tight waists, high collars and a small fur cap. These same clothes saved her life when she fell into a game pit, the many petticoats protecting her from being impaled on the stakes below.This is her story in her own words of her adventures and the people and culture of West Africa. (Summary by Kehinde)

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Listen next episodes of Travels in West Africa:
ON THE WAY FROM KANGWE TO LAKE NCOVI, Part 2 , FETISH - (Continued) , FETISH - (Continued) , THE GREAT PEAK OF CAMEROONS - (Continued) , APPENDIX. THE INVENTION OF THE CLOTH LOOM , ASCENT OF THE GREAT PEAK OF CAMEROONS , BUSH TRADE AND FAN CUSTOMS , DISEASE IN WEST AFRICA , DOWN THE REMBWÉ , FERNANDO PO AND THE BUBIS , FETISH , FETISH - (Concluded) , FETISH - (Continued) , FROM ESOON TO AGONJO , FROM NCOVI TO ESOON, Part 1 , FROM NCOVI TO ESOON, Part 2 , LEMBARENE, Part 1 , LEMBARENE, Part 2 , ON THE WAY FROM KANGWE TO LAKE NCOVI, Part 1 , THE GREAT PEAK OF CAMEROONS - (Concluded) , THE GREAT PEAK OF CAMEROONS - (Continued) , THE OGOWÉ , THE RAPIDS OF THE OGOWÉ , TRADE AND LABOUR IN WEST AFRICA, Part 1 , TRADE AND LABOUR IN WEST AFRICA, Part 2 , TRADE AND LABOUR IN WEST AFRICA, Part 3 , VOYAGE DOWN COAST