Mansfield Harry Isham Parkyns (16 February 1823 – 12 January 1894) was an English traveller, known for his travel book Life in Abyssinia: being notes collected during three years' residence and travels in that country (1853). In this book he described his experiences and observations during three years (1843–1846) of travelling in Abyssinia, the modern territories of Eritrea and Ethiopia. Youth Parkyns was born at Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, to Thomas Boultbee Parkyns (a younger son of Sir Thomas Parkyns, 3rd Baronet, of Bunny Hall- In 1850, Mansfield's older brother Thomas inherited the Parkyns baronetcy from their first cousin, the childless 2nd Baron Rancliffe.) and Charlotte Mary, daughter of George Smith, of Foelalt, Cardiganshire, Wales, and Edwalton, Nottinghamshire who was from the rising commercial class. As a young boy Parkyns loved wildlife. His formal education helped the development of his drawing and painting skills. In 1833, his father died whilst in Italy. Six months later he left Ruddington to attend Uppingham School (at the time a grammar school) in Rutland; after a short time, his mother remarried, and Parkyns was sent to be educated at Woolwich, then admitted a pensioner (a student without a scholarship, who pays for his tuition and meals) at Trinity College, Cambridge. At college Parkyns was very interested in mathematics and he also enjoyed learning Latin. In 1838, Parkyns's mother died. He did not take a degree, and in 1842, aged nineteen, he decided to leave England and start travelling, going firstly to Constantinople. Parkyns did not tell anyone about his plans, hence for a long time people did not have any information about his whereabouts or status, and he was given up for lost. First travels Parkyns spent nine years travelling. From England, he visited Switzerland and Italy; in Greece, he decided to go to the Levant. On Syra, the main island of the Cyclades, he met Richard Monckton Milnes, and they went on together to Istanbul, then to Egypt where they arrived in December 1842. On 5 March 1843 Parkyns left Cairo alone, bound for Abyssinia. He stayed for over three years, adopting local dress and customs. He abandoned plans to follow the White Nile, and instead travelled in parts of Nubia, Kordofa, and Egypt. He kept a journal which later became the basis of his book. Life in Abyssinia (1843–1846) Parkyns spent over three years in Abyssinia, which he described in his travel book Life