Tracks of a Dinosaur Seen by Missionaries in Africa in as Early as the 1700's

The missionaries have observed in passing along a forest, the track of an animal which they have never seen; but it must be monstrous, the prints of its claws are seen on the earth, and formed an impression on it of about three feet in circumference. In observing the posture and disposition of the footsteps, they concluded that it did not run in this part of its way, and that it carried its claws at the distance of seven or eight feet one from the other.

Proyart, Lievain Bonaventure, History of Loango, Kakongo, and Other Kingdoms in Africa in John Pinkerton, trans., A General Collection of Voyages and Travels, 17 vols., London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1808-1814, v. 16, p. 557.

Les Missionnaires ont observé, en passant le long d'une forêt, la piste d'un animal qu'ils n'ont pas vu; mais qui doit être monstrueux: les traces de ses griffes s'appercevoient sur la terre, & y formoient une empreinte d'environ trois pieds de circonférence. En observant la disposition de ses pas, on a reconnu qu'il ne couroit pas dans cet endroit de son passage, & qu'il portoit ses pattes à la distance de sept à huit pieds les unes des autres.

Proyart, Lievain Bonaventure, Histoire de Loango, Kakongo, et Autres Royaumes d’Afrique, 1776, pp. 38-39.