THE CAPE AND THE KAFIRS

First Edition: 319 pages, tinted lithographic frontispiece of Chief Macomo, half brown leather with a red leather title label gilt decoration on the spine, marbled paper sides, withdrawn stamp at the top the title page which has been remargined, light browning of the text, a good copy. 

Dictionary of South African Biography, volume 2, page 136, 'Cole arrived in Table Bay in 1841 aboard the Prince Rupert but this vessel sank in the bay and Cole was left penniless and without possessions. Having soon made good friends he embarked on travels throughout the Cape Colony over the following five years before returning to England. As he had been friends with Charles Dickens and Thackeray during his university days he supplemented his income whilst training as a barrister by contributing to Dickens' Household Words and other publications. It was during this period that he wrote The Cape and the Kafirs in which he is severely critical of the Cape Government and the treatment of Boer farmers and of Sir Harry Smith. He later returned to South Africa where he practiced law, eventually becoming a judge. He continued his literary pursuits, publishing several novels.