viii PREFACE 



thing short of " Bradshaw." Yet the subject ought 

 to be highly interesting, and that I don't find it so I 

 set down to the want of style on the part of the 

 authors — most of whom take themselves so very 

 seriously, while the few who do not disgust one by 

 their flippancy. It is a very curious thing, and one 

 at which I have often wondered, for in a general 

 way most books of travel, whether by Englishmen 

 or foreigners, in other parts of the world, exercise a 

 charm upon me, and I feel sorry when I come to 

 the end of them. If you will write me some more 

 of your letters I may alter my opinion of the 

 " beast." ' 



Professor Newton died before he read many more 

 letters from Africa, but his suggestion germinated 

 slowly and bore fruit in the shape of the present 

 volume. Africa is a beast, it is true, but a beast of 

 many and varied moods, often disagreeable and 

 sometimes even dangerous to body and soul ; but 

 withal she has an attraction which can hardly be 

 resisted, and when once you have come under her 

 spell you feel it a duty to uphold her reputation. 

 So I have attempted, for the benefit of those who 

 have a misconception of the country, to convey 

 something of the ' feel ' and smell of Africa as it 

 appeared to me on hot and hilly roads, on winding 

 waterways, and on cloud-girt mountain-sides. The 

 book contains no tales of thrilling adventures and 



