Kioga of the Unknown Land
Series: Kioga 4
Reviewed date: 2026 Mar 28
Rating: 3
220 pages
This is a fantastic story. Kioga winds up in a hidden kingdom of mammoth people. He and his friends must survive in a kingdom built on mass slavery. Kioga ends up a slave while the rest of the party gets caught up in the political machinations of the ruling class. Kioga escapes and falls in with a band of professional thieves and pickpockets. There is a princess, Loalla, and there are various love interests.
Characters
Kioga
Beth La Salle
Dan La Salle
John Ford La Salle
James Munro
Stanley Kirk
Captain Scott
Tim Sullivan
Pete Silver
Tom Codd
Sven Svenson
Macgregors
Otto Stumpf
Washington Madison Grant
Places
Nato'wa
Hopeka
Fort Teskatuna
Things
Narwhal
Bearcat
Pirate
Shoni, a native tribe of Nato'wa
Hiwasi, a major river
Acopi, a tributary of Hiwasi
Bearcat II
Amazon
People of the Tusk
Mammoths
Chapter I
Our narrator, Stanley Kirk, recounts how James Munro, Beth La Salle, and Dan La Salle sailed on the Narwhal to the arctic continent of Nato'wa. The three were marooned there when the crew of Narwhal abandoned them. From Narwhal Kirk recovered Munro's photographs, journal, and papers—including a "map of Nato'wa's eastern forest-land" and a "chart of perilous reef-filled waters on its coast." Armed with this map and chart, Kirk engages Captain Scott and his whaling ship Bearcat to sail to Nato'wa to find and rescue Munro. Before the expedition can depart, a thief steals the map and chart.
Chapter II
Despite missing the precious chart that would guide them safely to Nato'wa, the crew of Bearcat agrees to undertake the expedition. The party consists of Stanley Kirk (our narrator), John Ford La Salle (father of Dan and Beth), Captain Scott, and his crew: Tim Sullivan, engineer Pete Silver, cook Tom Codd, Sven Svenson, Mcgregors, Otto Stumpf, and Washington Madison Grant. Bearcat departs Seattle and sails into the Arctic Sea.
Chapter III
As Bearcat navigates the ice floes, they spot another ship, a schooner larger than Bearcat, crewed with ruffians, and well-armed. Kirk recognizes one of the men on the ship as the thief who stole the map and chart. The ruffians are after gold in Nato'wa.
A storm dashes Bearcat upon a reef. Tim Sullivan and Pete Silver die. The rest take to the ship's boat and reach the shore of Nato'wa. The schooner weathers the storm far better, and as it sails into shore Kirk reads the name off the bow: Pirate. Kirk and the others take to the woods to escape the pirates. They find their way to the banks of the River Hiwasi and make their camp there.
Kirk leaves the camp to search downriver for Munro, Beth, and Dan. He finds the remains of Fort Teskatuna, where Munro and the others made their last stand. It is deserted. Kirk explores the fort, encounters a talking crow, and is attacked by a tiger. Kioga shows up and kills the tiger, rescuing Kirk.
Kioga is disappointed to hear that Kirk's party lost all their weapons when Bearcat sank. The Shoni tribes are "at each other's throats." As Kioga and Kirk leave the fort, Shoni warriors attack them, wounding Kirk. Kioga carries him to safety. Kirk asks about Munro and the La Salles. Kioga says Munro and Beth are safe, but Dan has recently gone missing after a hunting trip.
Chapter IV
Kioga steals a dugout canoe from the Shoni, and he and Kirk make their way back to Kirk's camp. On the way, Kioga stops at a cave to retrieve a cache of rifles, pistols, and gunpowder, as well as bags of clothing and equipment. At camp, Kioga distributes weapons, buckskin clothing, and mocassins to everyone. Kioga leaves, and returns the next day with four canoes of loyal Shoni warriors. With them are Beth La Salle, Flashpan (Narwhal's former cook), Flashpan's monkey, Tokala (the Indian boy that Kioga brought to Nato'wa in a previous book), and James Munro.
Kioga leaves them once again to search for Dan La Salle, who has still not returned from his hunting trip. The rest stay at camp, where the Shoni warriors complete construction of a river-boat, which they name Amazon.
And this is where I got tired of writing a detailed, chapter-by-chapter summary. My apologies. It's a decent book, and the sequence in the land of the mammoth people is the best of the entire Kioga series. I recommend it.