The River Town

Upon finding the Porter party had set sail Tarzan and Paul D-Arnot rested at the Greystoke cabin by the sea for a month. First, it was for D'Arnot to regain his strength and stamina. Then the recovering French naval officer accidentally shot Tarzan thinking he was a wild animal breaking into the Greystoke cabin. After the ape-man recovered from his gunshot wound, the two were ready to set out in search of white men.

1893 Central African Republic

Their exit plan was very simple. To travel north out of Angola along the coastline until they discovered white men. After traveling at a slow pace for almost a month the pair came upon a French Mission. There they rested for a few days before continuing their northward journey. By the end of a month's march, the two came across a little group of buildings at the mouth of a wide river." ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes.

Zdenek Burian

The inhabitants of that small community headed them east inland along the riverbank towards a seaport town called Matadi. Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author from Chicago, does not provide the name of the seacoast village nor the seaport town of Matadi in Tarzan Of The Apes. After studying a map of 1893 central Africa, it is obvious the wide mouth river described is the Congo River, and the only town of any size where Tarzan and Paul D'Arnot could obtain sea passage to Lyons, France was Matadi.

Matadi

In 1879 Matadi was founded by Sir Henry Morton Stanley. Matadi became the chief seaport of the Central African Republic and is located ninety-one miles inland of the Atlantic Ocean. In 1890 a railroad was constructed from Matadi towards the interior town of Leopoldville which was completed in 1908.

Matadi

Tarzan and D'Arnot spend a month at the river town waiting for funds. "He had also cabled his bankers for funds, and the enforced wait of a month, under which both chafed, was due to their inability to charter a vessel for the return to Tarzan's jungle after the treasure." ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes.  "Gradually he became accustomed to the strange noises and the odd ways of civilization so that none might know that two short months before, this handsome Frenchman in immaculate white ducks, who laughed and chatted with the gayest of them, had been swinging naked through primeval forests to pounce upon some unwary victim, which, raw was to fill his savage belly." ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes.

Matadi

Tarzan and D'Arnot, upon receiving funds, rent a boat and return for the Porter treasure. "Shortly after the episode of the lion hunt, D'Arnot succeeded in chartering an ancient tub for the coastwise trip to Tarzan's land-locked harbor." ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes. The boat ride to the Greystoke cabin went uneventfully. "Shortly after the episode of the lion hunt, D'Arnot succeeded in chartering an ancient tub for the coastwise trip to Tarzan's land-locked harbor." ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes.

Matadi

The rented tub dropped anchor at the cabin's harbor. "The trip to the beach was uneventful, and the morning after they dropped anchor before the cabin," ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes. Late in the evening, Tarzan returns with the treasure. "Late the next day he returned, bearing the great chest upon his shoulder." ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes. The rented tub returns to the river town. "and at sunrise, the little vessel worked through the harbor's mouth and took up her northward journey." ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes.

Matadi

D'Arnot and Tarzan remain in the river town. for three weeks then set sail for Lyons, France. "Three weeks later Tarzan and D'Arnot were passengers on board a French steamer bound for Lyons." ERB-Tarzan Of The Apes.

Matadi

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James Michael Moody is a lifelong fan and collector of Edger Rice Burroughs. Moody has contributed over two hundred articles to various ERB-related fanzines over forty-five years. He also manages an unauthorized Tarzan blog titled, Greystoke Chronologist: James Michael Moody. There the researcher chronologies the Tarzan books starting in May 1872 (known as the pushback theory) instead of the more accepted date, May 1888.

James Michael Moody is also the author of the action-packed Sci-Fi fantasy adventure Unium series. Pioneers On Unium, published December 31, 2019, Exiled On Unium, published August 25, 2022, and Swordsman On Unium published on July 15, 2024.