THE FIRST EUROPEANS IN THE KRUGER NATIONAL PARK 1725 - signed & inscribed

Publisher's illustrated hardcover binding.

101pp. Illustrated. Text in English and Afrikaans.

Bookplate of Judge Victor Gustav Hiemstra (1914-2006) on front paste down. Inscribed by the author to Judge Hiemstra and his wife on front endpaper, "To Victor and Hazel, with my compliments and gratitude for the cordial reception and open hospitality enjoyed at your home. Willem, 25.1.1979." 

Judge Hiemstra was Chief Justice of Bophuthatswana from 1977 to 1984. Afterwards he chaired the Constitutional Council of Namibia and was tasked with drafting a constitution for an independent Namibia. He was the chancellor of UNISA (University of South Africa) for two terms (1977-1987) and was the author of numerous legal books including the seminal work on the Criminal Procedure Act.

Between the years 1721 and 1730 the Dutch East India Company exercised control over the area in and around Delagoa Bay (Maputo, Mozambique). They managed this area from the Castle of Good Hope - present-day Cape Town. And it was from the Castle of Good Hope where Jan van de Capelle, commander of the fort at Delagoa Bay, received his orders to explore the interior of the country, in the hope that they would discover the rich gold fields on Monomotapa. Captain Frans de Cuiper, leader of the expedition, kept a detailed diary of everything he saw in the area that, 200 years later, would become the Kruger National Park. 

This work contains a transcript of De Cuiper's original diary as well as an English translation.