ON TREK IN THE TRANSVAAL

An account of a waggon journey from Pietermaritzburg through the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, 1875-6. There is a good description of the domestic life of the Boers at this period, with some account of the natives. The narrative is pleasantly written, with 'a vivacity and good humour which impart interest even to trivial details'. Miss Harriet Mills married Alfred R. Roche in 1858. He had served as an officer of the Spanish Legion. He became the first honorary secretary of the Royal Colonial Institute, (later the Royal Commonwealth Society), founded in 1868. When Mr. Roche went to the Transvaal in 1875, Harriet accompanied him to South Africa. Both became ill, Mr. Roche severely so. They tried to return home in early 1876, but he died at sea December 4, 1876, on the journey. (Mendelssohn South African Bibliography volume 2 page 239)

This copy has probably never been read before, as every second page still attached to the next, not cut in the printing process. 367 pages. Plus 32 pages of publisher's catalogue. Sunning / fading on red cloth on spine lower section. Original pictorial red cloth gilt on the upper cover and spine. A small hole on title page repaired.