Through the Belgian Congo by Diana Strickland

Hardcover. Condition: Good+. ~1925 (No date). Hurst & Blackett. Illustrated. 1st Edition?

The book chronicles Strickland’s journey leading an expedition through the region. While she explicitly writes about the unique, "uplifting experience to find oneself in command of an expedition," historical sources differ on her companions. Her hunting party included three English men referred to as Briggs, Payn, and Douglas, with some accounts presuming Douglas was her husband.

Strickland presents herself as a highly practical, hands-on hunter who participated in the arduous physical labor of tracking, skinning animals, and even making soap from hippopotamus fat. She details several dramatic hunting encounters, including taking down a charging buffalo when Douglas's rifle jammed.

Beyond hunting accounts, the narrative serves as a historical record of the era, as Strickland observed and sharply commented on the brutality of the Belgian colonial administration in the Congo.

Bound in red cloth, with notable edge-wear and fraying most notable along top of spine. Corners bumped, spine slightly cocked. Interior slightly shaken, but still bound well together, wth some exposure of mull along rear boards. Clean and unmarked interior.