THE GRAVE OF LASTOURS

The French explorer, François Rigail de Lastours, is buried in the Mitchaca district. A friend of Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, he was entrusted with several expeditions to the interior of Gabon and became head of the post of Madiville, the former name of the town that now bears his name. He was posthumously made a knight of the Legion of Honour in 1885. The tomb, which is of little interest, except for the history of the creation of the first French post, is situated high up at the end of an avenue of banana trees.