Heroines of Travel

Long before women were supposed to stay at home, a handful of Victorian adventurers packed their bags and went everywhere: the African interior, the frozen Arctic, the mountains of Asia. They crossed deserts on horseback, sailed through hurricanes, and walked into territories where no Englishwoman had ever set foot. Some traveled with husbands and brothers; many went alone, or with small bands of equally intrepid women. What they found and endured would have been remarkable for anyone. For women who had been told the world was not theirs to discover, it was revolutionary. Frank Mundell collected their stories not as mere adventure tales, but as proof that courage has no gender. Published for Victorian Sunday Schools, these accounts were slipped into the hands of girls who were meant to dream small. They dreamed anyway.