Scarse account of a shipwreck and successful attempt to discover the sources of the Gambia and Senegal rivers Mollien, G. Travels in Africa, to the Sources of the Senegal and Gambia in 1818 London: Sir Richard Phillips, and Co., 1825 8vo (22.5x14.5 cm); ix + 128 pp. Illustrated with 4 plates and folding map. Bound in half leather over marbled boards. Rebacked, leather spine label with gilt lettering. Good condition: Edges scuffed, bald spots colored. Endpapers brittle with small tears and edge loss. Occasional light foxing, smudging and offsetting to text. Original map with some very small fold tears and foxing.   An account of a shipwreck at Cape Blanco on the African coast and a successful 1818 attempt to discover the sources of the rivers Gambia and Senegal, by one of the earliest explorers of the West African interior. Mollien succeeded in locating the sources of the the Corubal and the Gambia rivers, as well as two tributaries of the Senegal, the Bifang and the Félémé. However, the rainy season and dysentery forced him to end his travels there. This account of his journey "marked him as a gifted writer and shrewd observer, equally interested in geology, ethnology and native traditions”. [Howgego] Published in French, English and German editions in 1820, it gives much geographical and anthropological information in diary-style entries. At the end are an itinerary, an English-Iolof-Poule and an English-Serrere vocabulary, and a short list of African terms commonly used by Europeans in Africa.