"Travels in West Africa" is a book as vivid and unforgettable as the extraordinary author herself, Mary Kingsley.

In 1893, defying every convention of Victorian womanhood, Mary Kingsley set off alone for West Africa to collect botanical specimens. Unaccompanied except for native guides, she plunged boldly into forbidding jungles, often the first European--and almost always the first white woman--ever to arrive. Undaunted by tales of ferocious cannibals, she made friends with the tribes she met and collected priceless samples of flora and fauna. Along the way she fought off crocodiles with a paddle and hit a leopard over the head with a pot. When she fell into a trap lined with sharp sticks, she was saved by her voluminous crinolines - for she always dressed like a lady.

In her own words, "Travels in West Africa" is the story of her adventures and the people and culture of West Africa.