Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo, Volume 2

The narrative opens with an exhausted traveller fleeing a deadly fever on Fernando Po, boarding the steamship Torch for a reluctant escape down the Congo coast. The voyage begins under a damp sky, the ship groaning with leaks yet offering a glimpse of sunrise, distant caps of Mayumba and the red hills of Loango. As the vessel glides past familiar bights, the author notes the stark contrast between the oppressive low‑land jungle and the rising, rugged cliffs that line the shoreline.

Reaching Loango, the explorer finds a natural harbour ringed by weather‑worn red cliffs and a shimmering lagoon that folds into a sandy spit known as Indian Bar. He describes the terrain in vivid detail—towering, broad‑topped trees, bright terraces of grass, and occasional “holes” that scar the ground—while hinting at the looming, drier lands farther south. The tone balances awe at the uncharted beauty with the practical worries of disease, reefs and the ever‑present threat of storms.