ABSTRACT
Mansfield Parkyns (1823-94) was born in Nottinghamshire to a father from the landed gentry and to a mother from a rising commercial class. In Abyssinia Parkyns pursued his interests in shooting and collecting wildlife and in gaining a knowledge of the people and some of the local languages. Parkyns, who says he was persuaded by friends to work up his journals for publication, told John Murray that he wished his narrative to remain in his own style as far as possible. It would be as useless for any man, even the most graphic describer, to attempt to convey a just idea of tropical elimate and scenery to a person who has never seen anything of the kind, as to describe music to a man bom deaf, or colour to one who has never known the light.
