Matabele land and the Victoria Falls by Frank Oates
"Matabele land and the Victoria Falls" by Frank Oates is a posthumous travel and natural history account written in the late 19th century. Compiled from a naturalist’s letters and journals and framed by his brother-editor’s memoir and scientific appendices, it traces Oates’s overland journey through the Transvaal and Matabeleland toward the Zambesi and the Victoria Falls, blending exploration with observations on landscapes, wildlife, and local societies. Expect maps, illustrations, and field notes
that anchor his adventure in careful scientific inquiry. The opening of the work presents the editor’s preface explaining that Oates died of fever soon after leaving the Zambesi, that the book is built from his notebooks and letters, and that delays allowed inclusion of expert reports on the collections; it also clarifies terms like “inspan,” “outspan,” and “spoor.” A substantial memoir sketches Oates’s lifelong passion for natural history, his Oxford years and illness from overwork, a restorative American journey, his character (courageous, gentle, exact), and his plan to reach the Zambesi via Natal. The narrative then begins: departure from England, brief stops at St. Helena and Cape Town, landing at Durban, and outfitting at Pietermaritzburg with wagons, oxen, ponies, and native staff. Trekking through Ladysmith and Newcastle to Pretoria, Oates contrasts the treeless, frosty high veldt with the warmer bush veldt, notes Boer farms and markets, and records abundant game and birds along the Crocodile River. Reaching Shoshong (Bamangwato), he meets King Sekomi amid drought and locust foraging, consults missionaries Mackenzie and Hepburn, and abandons Lake Ngami due to waterlessness, aiming instead for the Tati mines and Lobengula’s town. Early chapters close with hard marches across sandy riverbeds, encounters with Bushmen hunters, a lion’s attack on an ox near the Shashe, arrival at the small Tati settlement, and a fork in plans: Oates presses on toward Lobengula while his brother turns to hunt before returning. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Oates, Frank, 1840-1875 |
|---|---|
| Editor | Oates, C. G. (Charles George), 1844-1901 |
| Title | Matabele land and the Victoria Falls |
| Original Publication | London: C. Kegan Paul & Co., 1881. |
| Credits | Peter Becker, Karin Spence and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | DT: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Africa |
| Subject | Africa, Southern -- Description and travel |
| Subject | Natural history -- Africa, Southern |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 77803 |
| Release Date | Jan 28, 2026 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 1131 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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