8vo. viii, 135, [1], 32pp. With half-title, an engraved frontispiece and a terminal publisher's catalogue. Original publisher's blue cloth boards, lettered in gilt. Rubbing to spine, joints, and edges, a trifle marked. Armorial bookplate of 'Mervyn Lloyd Peel' to FEP, lightly foxed.

The first edition of the travelogue by naval officer Sir William Peel (1824-1858), third son of Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), recounting his 1851 journey through the African interior. Having foreseen the opportunity afforded by a period on half pay, Peel entered into meticulous preparations for his expedition, including intense study of the Arabic language under the tutelage of Maronite Joseph Churi, with whom he would travel. The pair departed in August, tracing a path north up the Nile, crossing the desert of Khartoum into al-Ubayd. Their progress was fraught with peril and beset by severe fever. Safely returning to England in January 1852, Peel immediately set about composing this memoir. His distinguished career in the Royal Navy would see Peel serve during the Crimean War at Sevastopol and the battle of Inkerman, later participating in the military reaction to the Indian Mutiny. His bravery, being renowned in the services, would see him become one of the first recipients of the Victoria Cross.