Among nineteenth- and early twentieth-century European ¿discoverers¿ of the ¿Dark Continent,¿ women are rarely mentioned. This anthology of Victorian women¿s writings on Africa provides a fascinating overview of these women¿s roles as scholars, missionaries, adventurers, spies, and journalists, and gathers outstanding examples of their ground-breaking scholarly treatises, popular accounts, letters, articles, and thrilling adventure stories ¿ all of them firsthand documents of women¿s and African history. The writers include Mary Kingsley, famous for her ethnographic studies and travel writings; the intrepid journalists Katherine Fannin and Joan Rosita Torr Forbes; Princess Marie Louise, reporting on her diplomatic mission; Jocelyn Murray, witness of the ¿Mau Maü insurrection; and numerous missionaries.