A RARE peice of Africana, Mohr's To the Victoria Falls deals with the pre-Pioneer scene in Zambesia (now Zimbabwe) and, chronologically, is second in the Reprint Series to Thomas Morgan Thomas's Eleven Years in Central South Africa (Vol. 10). It is a classic on Victorian travel in southern Africa, and makes a valuable contribution on the subject of the development of the northward routes. Eduard Mohr of Bremen was the first German explorer to visit the Victoria Falls, which he reached on 20th June, 1870, fifteen years after their discovery by David Livingstone. He had been prompted by Mauch's announcement of the discovery ot gold near Hartley and, in company with the mining engineer, Hubner, he had sailed for Durban in 1869 to investigate Matabeleland and Mashonaland. Already a seasoned traveller (in North and South America and the Far East), he was also a competent botanist, entomologist and zoologist and a map-maker, which led to his friendship with Thomas Baines. Mohr refers to his meetings with Dames and Mauch en route to the Falls and to his sojourn at Sir John Swinburne's mining camp at Tati. He describes his many meetings with pre-Pioneers at Mangwe, Inyati and elsewhere, and his Relationship with the Boers and natives in South Africa. It was a happy relationship, and he recounts many amusing incidents.

Return to BOOK SALES