CENTRAL AFRICA

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21986, 9 January 1937, Page 15

CENTRAL AFRICA

Great Mother Forest, By Attillo Gatti. Hodder and Stoughton. 344 pp. (20/- net.) From W. S. Smart. Commander Gatti has been eight times into the central forests of Africa, and in this book he describes, with energy and humour, his latest expedition. His aim is partly to capture little-known animals for European zoos, and this leads him towards that part of the forest which ho native dares to enter; the home of fabulous creatures, where men feel the pressure of the unknown, and the intruding white man, immune, from tabus, is at least aware of a new and isolated world. But first he must pass through the country of the Watussi, a remarkable and kingly race who seem to be an offshoot of the old Egyptians, living within the borders of the Belgian Congo;, The men are all over seven feet in' height; their athletes can do feats far beyond anything seen at the Olympic Games, and their lives are dominated by strange and impressive traditions. This part of the book is important and interesting; but beyond it are stories of the pygmies, of giant apes and of the mysterious okwapi, lurking in a primeval forest. The narrative is full of incident, and Commander Gatti writes easy English, with just enough of the fluid quality, of his own tongue to add something diffeoent and attractive. Readers of travel books will find this an entertaining and at times an exciting journey.