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Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa, with accounts of the manners and customs of the people, and of the chace of the gorilla, the crocodile, leopard, elephant, hippopotamus
Paul Belloni Du Chaillu ( 1831 – 1903) was a French-American traveler, zoologist, and anthropologist. He became famous in the 1860s as the first modern European outsider to confirm the existence of gorillas, and later the Pygmy people of central Africa.
He was sent in 1855 by the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia on an African expedition. Until 1859, he explored the regions of West Africa in the neighborhood of the equator, gaining considerable knowledge of the delta of the Ogooué River and the estuary of the Gabon. During his travels from 1856 to 1859, he observed numerous gorillas, known to non-locals in prior centuries only from an unreliable and ambiguous report credited to Hanno the Navigator of Carthage in the 5th century BC and known to scientists in the preceding years only by a few skeletons. He brought back dead specimens and presented himself as the first white European person to have seen them.
He writes:
"My long residence in Africa gave me superior facilities for intercourse with the natives, and as my curiosity was greatly excited by their reports of this unknown monster, I determined to penetrate to its haunts and see with my own eyes. It has
been my fortune to be the first white man who can speak of the gorilla from personal knowledge ; and while my experience and observation prove that many of the actions reported of it are false and vain imaginings of the ignorant or the credulous travellers, I can also vouch that no description can exceed the
horror of its appearance, the ferocity of its attack, or the impish malignity of its nature."
One of the author's men was killed by a male gorilla and he himself narrowly survived an attack which he describes:
"When the animal became aware of our approach he at once came toward us, uttering a succession of the short bark-like yells which denote his rage, and which have a peculiarly horrible effect. They remind one only of the inarticulate ravings of a maniac. Balancing his huge heavy body with his arms, the animal came toward us, every few moments stopping to beat his breast, and throwing his head back to utter his tremendous roar. His fierce gloomy eyes glared upon us; the short hair was rapidly agitated, and the wrinkled face seemed contorted with rage. It was like a very devil, and I do not wonder at the superstitious terror with which the natives regard it."
M. du Chaillu is an American, of French parentage. His father had been a trader near the mouth of the Gaboon River, where a large part of the son's childhood had been passed. His familiarity with the seacoast tribes and with their language, and his qualifications in other respects, have enabled him to prepare a volume which rivals in interest the late works of Livingstone, and Barth, and Burton, and Speke. Of the eight years which he passed in Africa, the volume gives an account only of his explorations in 1856, 7, 8 and 9. His first expedition began on the 18th of August, 1856, when ho started up the River Muni, with the intention of penetrating to the heart of the Sierra del Crystal. Another expedition was the exploration of the country around Cape Lopez. A third was in the Camma country, south of Cape Lopez; when he took up his head-quarters at Biagano, explored the river Ogobay, resided among the Bakalai, and hunted the gorilla and other great apes of the interior of Equatorial Africa. A fourth time he visited the interior. He says, that while in Africa he travelled—always on foot and without white company—eight thousand miles; shot, stuffed, and brought home over two thousand birds, of which more than sixty are new species, and killed upwards of one thousand quadrupeds, of which two hundred were stuffed and brought home.
He was sent in 1855 by the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia on an African expedition. Until 1859, he explored the regions of West Africa in the neighborhood of the equator, gaining considerable knowledge of the delta of the Ogooué River and the estuary of the Gabon. During his travels from 1856 to 1859, he observed numerous gorillas, known to non-locals in prior centuries only from an unreliable and ambiguous report credited to Hanno the Navigator of Carthage in the 5th century BC and known to scientists in the preceding years only by a few skeletons. He brought back dead specimens and presented himself as the first white European person to have seen them.
He writes:
"My long residence in Africa gave me superior facilities for intercourse with the natives, and as my curiosity was greatly excited by their reports of this unknown monster, I determined to penetrate to its haunts and see with my own eyes. It has
been my fortune to be the first white man who can speak of the gorilla from personal knowledge ; and while my experience and observation prove that many of the actions reported of it are false and vain imaginings of the ignorant or the credulous travellers, I can also vouch that no description can exceed the
horror of its appearance, the ferocity of its attack, or the impish malignity of its nature."
One of the author's men was killed by a male gorilla and he himself narrowly survived an attack which he describes:
"When the animal became aware of our approach he at once came toward us, uttering a succession of the short bark-like yells which denote his rage, and which have a peculiarly horrible effect. They remind one only of the inarticulate ravings of a maniac. Balancing his huge heavy body with his arms, the animal came toward us, every few moments stopping to beat his breast, and throwing his head back to utter his tremendous roar. His fierce gloomy eyes glared upon us; the short hair was rapidly agitated, and the wrinkled face seemed contorted with rage. It was like a very devil, and I do not wonder at the superstitious terror with which the natives regard it."
M. du Chaillu is an American, of French parentage. His father had been a trader near the mouth of the Gaboon River, where a large part of the son's childhood had been passed. His familiarity with the seacoast tribes and with their language, and his qualifications in other respects, have enabled him to prepare a volume which rivals in interest the late works of Livingstone, and Barth, and Burton, and Speke. Of the eight years which he passed in Africa, the volume gives an account only of his explorations in 1856, 7, 8 and 9. His first expedition began on the 18th of August, 1856, when ho started up the River Muni, with the intention of penetrating to the heart of the Sierra del Crystal. Another expedition was the exploration of the country around Cape Lopez. A third was in the Camma country, south of Cape Lopez; when he took up his head-quarters at Biagano, explored the river Ogobay, resided among the Bakalai, and hunted the gorilla and other great apes of the interior of Equatorial Africa. A fourth time he visited the interior. He says, that while in Africa he travelled—always on foot and without white company—eight thousand miles; shot, stuffed, and brought home over two thousand birds, of which more than sixty are new species, and killed upwards of one thousand quadrupeds, of which two hundred were stuffed and brought home.
- GenresNonfictionAfrica
456 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1861
12 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
About the author
Paul du Chaillu
166 books5 followersPaul Belloni Du Chaillu (July 31, 1831 (disputed) – April 29, 1903) was a French-American traveler, zoologist, and anthropologist. He became famous in the 1860s as the first modern European outsider to confirm the existence of gorillas, and later the Pygmy people of central Africa. He later researched the prehistory of Scandinavia.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 16, 2019
An extremely rare book and a very interesting one, too. This is the first report from internal Africa in 1851. Du Chaillu is an anthropologist, but make no mistake, his mindset is that of a colonialist. Indeed, he was born and raised in Africa, and he was very accustomed to think about and treat Africans as an inferior race. Although there is racism in this book, it's still interesting to read, to view how we white viewed Africa, and to see a report of it in a distant past. My advice is to always keep in mind the colonialist's point of view and its prejudices.
There is a lot of adventure, Du Chaillu is renowned as the first white man to see a gorilla.
He sees cannibal tribes (still very friendly to him) and risks his life many times.
He has many difficulties going inside Africa as the tribes think that he wants to bypass them in the ivory business(the coastal tribes were exploiting the internal ones paying next to nothing, according to De Chaillu).
I've found particularly interesting the fact that Africans were part of the slave trade often kidnapping and selling Africans from other tribes. Tribal wars often ended with the victorious tribe selling people from the losing tribe. There is a cultural amnesia about this, so let's repeat this: Africans were an active part of slavery.
A real adventure from a time when it was still possible to have one.
I highly recommend this book.
There is a lot of adventure, Du Chaillu is renowned as the first white man to see a gorilla.
He sees cannibal tribes (still very friendly to him) and risks his life many times.
He has many difficulties going inside Africa as the tribes think that he wants to bypass them in the ivory business(the coastal tribes were exploiting the internal ones paying next to nothing, according to De Chaillu).
I've found particularly interesting the fact that Africans were part of the slave trade often kidnapping and selling Africans from other tribes. Tribal wars often ended with the victorious tribe selling people from the losing tribe. There is a cultural amnesia about this, so let's repeat this: Africans were an active part of slavery.
A real adventure from a time when it was still possible to have one.
I highly recommend this book.
May 15, 2019
This book was well written in such a way as to NOT be boring in nor overly descriptive of details but covered pertinent information. The author was thorough in his description of never before known species of flora and fauna of which he found many during his years of exploration of Africa. This included incidents worthy of note during his many expeditions over the years.
The author provided a knowledgeable description of the slave trade as he learned of how it operated and expressed his outrage of the practice of gathering and later shipping slaves via sea vessels and land caravans to any countries including Cuba, South America, the United States, Europe and Asia.
Overall a very good book though admittedly I began the book expecting it to be quite boring in overly describing events including a typically dry and somewhat boring scientific and geographic narrative. But what I found was NOT boring but a book well worthy of the time it took to read all 565 pages.
The author provided a knowledgeable description of the slave trade as he learned of how it operated and expressed his outrage of the practice of gathering and later shipping slaves via sea vessels and land caravans to any countries including Cuba, South America, the United States, Europe and Asia.
Overall a very good book though admittedly I began the book expecting it to be quite boring in overly describing events including a typically dry and somewhat boring scientific and geographic narrative. But what I found was NOT boring but a book well worthy of the time it took to read all 565 pages.
April 6, 2021
A great reference book !
Can you imagine a lone white man walking 80,000 miles in 4 years across uncharted jungles, swamps, among cannibals, in places where he was the lone White man, in places where the natives had never seen a White man ? Then you must read this book for the sheer courage ! It’s a complete reference book dealing with different African tribes, their customs, fetishes, beliefs, food habits, wearables etc. The Author was among the first to find Gorillas, many species of plants & animals.
Particularly fascinating is the way in which he tries to save lives, many times unsuccessfully, from witch doctors. The 2 systems of slavery then prevalent are mentioned in some depth too. This is rarely known fact. The slave factory is described first hand & in great detail.
Overall a remarkable reference book which gives a first-hand feel of the ear.... 1850s !
Can you imagine a lone white man walking 80,000 miles in 4 years across uncharted jungles, swamps, among cannibals, in places where he was the lone White man, in places where the natives had never seen a White man ? Then you must read this book for the sheer courage ! It’s a complete reference book dealing with different African tribes, their customs, fetishes, beliefs, food habits, wearables etc. The Author was among the first to find Gorillas, many species of plants & animals.
Particularly fascinating is the way in which he tries to save lives, many times unsuccessfully, from witch doctors. The 2 systems of slavery then prevalent are mentioned in some depth too. This is rarely known fact. The slave factory is described first hand & in great detail.
Overall a remarkable reference book which gives a first-hand feel of the ear.... 1850s !
Want to read
February 13, 2025The book that inspired Merian C. Cooper (King Kong) and Jack London.
March 26, 2025
They must love this book in Gabon. I should think there are quite a number of people who can identify ancestors by name. Statistically, they’re probably descended from King Bango. Paralysed down one side but still perfectly capable for siring 600 children. You really don’t need any connection to the country to enjoy it though. The only reason I knew where Gabon was is because I know where the equator is. There’s something interesting, though not necessarily pleasant, on every page.
His travels were funded by the Academy of Natural Sciences so he takes a great interest in seeing the local fauna… and killing it. He kills a number of gorillas, including nursing mothers. It seems to have upset him (‘I felt like a murderer’) almost as much as it upset me reading about it. Didn’t stop him doing it though.
His other interests are the locals, the lay of the land, its produce, and whether it would be good for agriculture. I suppose this would be of interest to people in the West who wanted to enslave the population in situ. Luckily the West never piled in and took over Africa. Phew! That was a close one.
There are a number of clues that Du Chaillu is not altogether on board with these plans. He’s actually rather subversive. He sometimes gives the party line, only to immediately undermine it, as in this description of the Fan:
‘Their foreheads do not seem so compressed; but it is curious that in many the head runs up into a kind of point or sugar-loaf. This indicates a low scale of intelligence; but it must be said, to these people’s credit, that they are in some things much more ingenious than their neighbours. They extract iron from the ore, and show great ingenuity, with such poor implements as they have, in making their weapons’.
There’s also one passage of very fine writing which I can’t find now and is too long to quote anyway where he’s sitting contemplating this unblemished Eden and it’s possible destruction by agriculture when a snake drops on him.
Some of the tribes in the hinterland think that Du Chaillu can create the cloth and beads that he uses as currency by an act of will.
‘Whereupon, to my astonishment, a slave was handed over to me bound, and Remandji said, “Kill him for your evening meal; he is tender and fat, and you must be hungry.”
… I shook my head …
“We always heard you white men eat men. Why do you buy our people? Why do you come from nobody knows where, and carry off our men, and women, and children? …”
It was a difficult matter to explain to the king that he was much mistaken, and that we do not eat our slaves. The whole matter, from his point of view, was absurd. “If we did not eat them, what did we want them for?” was his incessant question; nor could his majesty be, by any skill of mine, inducted into the mysteries of our labour system, and of its rules of demand and supply.”
There’s such a brutal irony in this, that those slaves have been worked to death producing the very cloth that Du Chaillu is using to secure passage from one village to the next.
When he got back to the States he was accused of lies and incompetence. The introduction in my copy suggests there may have been a religious motive. The Origin of Species was published the year he returned with the first complete specimen of a gorilla ever seen in the West and it may have disturbed people. His Wikipedia page suggests that there may have been racist motives. He was mixed race and passing, and his secret may have been discovered in some quarters.
Either way, there’s no way anyone could know whether or not his mapping was accurate. Following his route on a modern map is difficult as these are trackless jungles, but he does seem to have got himself turned about on his southern journey. Still, all he had was a compass and sometimes a sight-line of no more than a few feet. He’s done a better job than I could do mapping my home town.
All-in-all a remarkable achievement. The physical endurance of it. He didn’t even have a pith helmet and his only medicines were quinine, arsenic, and alcohol. Quite apart from that, the social dexterity he must have displayed. Mungo Park got himself killed.
His travels were funded by the Academy of Natural Sciences so he takes a great interest in seeing the local fauna… and killing it. He kills a number of gorillas, including nursing mothers. It seems to have upset him (‘I felt like a murderer’) almost as much as it upset me reading about it. Didn’t stop him doing it though.
His other interests are the locals, the lay of the land, its produce, and whether it would be good for agriculture. I suppose this would be of interest to people in the West who wanted to enslave the population in situ. Luckily the West never piled in and took over Africa. Phew! That was a close one.
There are a number of clues that Du Chaillu is not altogether on board with these plans. He’s actually rather subversive. He sometimes gives the party line, only to immediately undermine it, as in this description of the Fan:
‘Their foreheads do not seem so compressed; but it is curious that in many the head runs up into a kind of point or sugar-loaf. This indicates a low scale of intelligence; but it must be said, to these people’s credit, that they are in some things much more ingenious than their neighbours. They extract iron from the ore, and show great ingenuity, with such poor implements as they have, in making their weapons’.
There’s also one passage of very fine writing which I can’t find now and is too long to quote anyway where he’s sitting contemplating this unblemished Eden and it’s possible destruction by agriculture when a snake drops on him.
Some of the tribes in the hinterland think that Du Chaillu can create the cloth and beads that he uses as currency by an act of will.
‘Whereupon, to my astonishment, a slave was handed over to me bound, and Remandji said, “Kill him for your evening meal; he is tender and fat, and you must be hungry.”
… I shook my head …
“We always heard you white men eat men. Why do you buy our people? Why do you come from nobody knows where, and carry off our men, and women, and children? …”
It was a difficult matter to explain to the king that he was much mistaken, and that we do not eat our slaves. The whole matter, from his point of view, was absurd. “If we did not eat them, what did we want them for?” was his incessant question; nor could his majesty be, by any skill of mine, inducted into the mysteries of our labour system, and of its rules of demand and supply.”
There’s such a brutal irony in this, that those slaves have been worked to death producing the very cloth that Du Chaillu is using to secure passage from one village to the next.
When he got back to the States he was accused of lies and incompetence. The introduction in my copy suggests there may have been a religious motive. The Origin of Species was published the year he returned with the first complete specimen of a gorilla ever seen in the West and it may have disturbed people. His Wikipedia page suggests that there may have been racist motives. He was mixed race and passing, and his secret may have been discovered in some quarters.
Either way, there’s no way anyone could know whether or not his mapping was accurate. Following his route on a modern map is difficult as these are trackless jungles, but he does seem to have got himself turned about on his southern journey. Still, all he had was a compass and sometimes a sight-line of no more than a few feet. He’s done a better job than I could do mapping my home town.
All-in-all a remarkable achievement. The physical endurance of it. He didn’t even have a pith helmet and his only medicines were quinine, arsenic, and alcohol. Quite apart from that, the social dexterity he must have displayed. Mungo Park got himself killed.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews