La France Equinoxiale (French, Paperback)

Henri Coudreau (1859-1899) was one of the greatest explorers of the nineteenth century. He was highly regarded in his own time as a thoroughly modern expedition leader, and his reports on the anthropological and geographical features of the region were of great value in the expansion of French colonial power. In this magisterial two-volume work, Coudreau describes the history of French settlement and rule in Guyana, and its people, flora and fauna, drawing particular attention to the natural resources ready to be exploited in the region. Volume 2 is an account of Coudreau's travels, mapping and describing remote areas on behalf of the colonial administration. It records the impact of colonialism in South America on native communities now irrevocably altered, and is also important for its early account of the newly declared republic of Counani, a short-lived French-run nation state now part of Brazil.