Tarzan of the Apes is the first in a series of novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs about the fictional character Tarzan. This story was first published in the pulp magazine All Story Magazine in October 1912 and published as a book for the first time in 1914. The story begins in 1888, with the mission that the British Crown entrusts to John Clayton, Lord Greystoke: visit the African village of Freetown in Sierra Leone and solve the problems with the native inhabitants. Clayton decides to travel with his pregnant wife, Alice Rutherford, so that he can see the birth of his child. From there, they board the Fuwalda to complete the journey.