author
Joachim John Monteiro
1833–1878
Best known for Angola and the River Congo, this 19th-century traveler wrote from firsthand experience in west-central Africa, blending practical observation with a naturalist’s curiosity. His work offers a vivid window into Angola during the colonial era.
2 Audiobooks
Angola and the River Congo, vol. 1
by Joachim John Monteiro
Angola and the River Congo, vol. 2
by Joachim John Monteiro
About the author
Born in London in 1833, Joachim John Monteiro trained as a mining engineer at the Royal College of Mines and also studied chemistry. In 1858 he went to Angola to work on copper and malachite mining ventures, but his interests reached far beyond engineering.
Over the years he became known as a naturalist, explorer, and observer of everyday life in the region. He traveled widely in Angola, collected plant and animal specimens, and wrote in detail about local landscapes, trade, and customs. His best-known book, Angola and the River Congo (1875), drew on those experiences and remains the work for which many readers know him today.
Monteiro died in 1878 in Lourenço Marques, in present-day Maputo, Mozambique. His writing reflects the outlook of a European traveler in the 19th century, but it is still valued as a firsthand record of places, people, and natural history that he encountered.