The German writer Arthur Gaye worked in a bookstore until he was fourteen years old and early became addicted to descriptions of fascinating travels to distant countries. In the evenings, falling asleep in the house of his despotic stepfather, he often imagined himself either as a sailor, or as a leader of Indian tribes, or as a fearless discoverer of unknown lands. And one day he ran away from home and soon got a job as a cabin boy on a whaling ship sailing into the Atlantic Ocean. From that moment on, Arthur Gaye entered a new period of life, full of hard work, severe trials and extraordinary adventures in different parts of the globe. The writer spoke about everything he saw and experienced in his most fascinating books, translated into many languages of Europe and America. The most interesting of them are published in this collection, taking the reader into the world of risky, dizzying adventures, into the world of people of heroic courage, amazing enterprise, strength and courage. The collection also includes the story “In the Country of Dwarfs, Gorillas and Hippos”, unknown to the modern reader. , introducing the young reader to the secrets of the virgin forests of South Africa.