FIVE YEARS IN KAFFIRLAND (1848)

Original first edition of two volumes bound into one. The plain modern tan cloth binding is neat. Marbled edges.

Vol.I: xi + 306pp. Frontispiece + sketch map of the seat of the war.

Vol.II: vii + 352pp. Frontispiece.

'An account of the "war of the axe " written by the wife of an officer in the 91st regiment, who resided on the frontier during the period of the hostilities. Theal remarks in his "History of South Africa, 1834-1854," "The leading events of that war are faithfully described, and a correct view is given of the occurrences that led to it . . . Much sympathy is displayed for the suffering colonists, though as to the ill-feeling between the Burghers and soldiers the part of the latter is decidedly taken." Mrs. Ward observes that much mischief had resulted from the misrepresentation of affairs in Kaffir-land by interested persons, and says, "At such a distance . . . how are people to distinguish truth from fiction? A Governor at the Cape of Good Hope should be empowered to act . . . according to immediate circumstances, and not have his hands tied till long-expected ships come in with despatches when the mischief is done. Wherever you go, from Cape Town to the neutral territory, every one concurs in saying that, had Sir Benjamin D'Urban's measures been carried out, all would have gone well. He would have completed such arrangements as would have made the Boers our friends instead of our enemies . . ." In the appendix to Volume II. will be found a manifesto published by Sir Harry Smith in reference to his proclamations, declaring the "Sovereignty of Her Majesty" over the territory beyond the Orange River. - Mendelssohn Vol.II, pages 582 - 583