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First edition, 8vo, pp. xx, 192; 5 chromolithographs, 6 etchings, 6 wood-engraved plates, 2 maps printed in color (1 folding), other wood-engravings in the text; original blue pictorial cloth stamped in gilt on upper cover and spine, a very good, sound copy. Bateman's account of his ascent up the Kasai River in south central Africa, the first journey of its kind. "Bateman and the expedition leader, Dr. Wolf, were tasked with ascending the Kasai in order to return the Bashilange-Baluba people (who had acted as guides for the descent) to their homeland at the headwaters of the river. Once there they had a second objective to fulfil: to establish a station at the confluence of the Lulua with Luebo, as a port for the station of Luluaburg. Aboard the steam-wheel steamer Stanley and the steam-launch En Avant, they departed Leopoldville on the 30th of September 1885 and arrived at their destination on the 7th of November in the same year. Bateman then served as an administrator for the Luebo District: performing a number of difficult functions, such as attempting to prevent slave raiding. He was eventually picked up by Stanley on the 18th of December 1886, when he, for the last time, looked upon the dark woods and swirling waters of that territory (p.170). "In addition to his primary duties as second-in-command to Wolf, Bateman found time to create a remarkable visual record of the expedition, that passed through the territories of the Chiplumba, Basongo-Meno, Bakuba and Bakete tribes. His drawings, watercolours and etchings of the native peoples, flora and fauna and river scenes, recorded things never before depicted (and in some cases seen) by Europeans. They subsequently provided the basis for the excellent plates in his book, which illustrate, inter alia, Hippopotami on the southern shore of Stanley Pool, Bakuba cups and knives, Lulua fish and Bakete hunters" (geni.com).
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