Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), 6th December 1880, Edition 1 of 1, Page 1223

SEVEN YEARS IN SOUTH AFRICA ( Continued ) . * collector and explorer , there are animated accounts of lion-hunts , elephanthunts , antelope and giraffe-hunts , whilst the narrative likewise contains descriptions of ceremonious receptions by the negro princes , and various ep isodes in the author ' s intercourse with the natives . Upon landing in Port Elizabeth , the largest and most important mercantile town in Cape Colony , we are taken by Dr . Holub on various excursions in the immediate neighbourhood , and are at once introduced to some of the characteristics of African life ; we are then carried onwards to the South African highlands , and to the diamond-districts on the Vaal River . Here there is unfolded to us a scene of ceaseless human activity ; a babel of tongues mov / nds m our ears ; a panorama of the representatives of every nation fosses before our eyes , one and all engrossed in the all-absorbing thirst for gold and precious stones . After practising for some time as a medical man in Dutoitspan , one of the principal settlements in the district , the author proceeds northwards through the southern Betchuana countries and the western Transvaal on to the much calumniated Kalahari , which , instead of being a barren desert , as generally supposed , is luxuriantly clothed with hsh and grass , and abounds with game . During the tour we are made acquainted with the life , both public and private , of the various tribes resident in these parts . After making another stay in the diamond-fields , Dr . Holub storied on his second expedition , in the course of which he visited all the native states west of the Transvaal , with the exception of that of the western Bamangwatos . But the chief interest of the book is centred in the third journey . Beyond Shoshong , which he visited on his second journey , Dr . Holub enters upon new territory , a / nd after traversing the interesting region of the salt-lakes , and successfully conveying his team of bullocks across the tracts infested by the venomous tsetse-fly , he brings before us the beauty and magnificence of the Victoria Falls on the Zambesi , and finally leads us to the Marutse-Mambunda empire , which is under the sovereignty of the powerful and dreaded Sepopo . There our surprise is awakened by the comparatively high standard of culture of the population , which , in manners and customs , social relations , and mode ° f dress , ranks high above all other South African tribes . Not only are we ftiade acquainted with various scenes in the life of the people , their fantastic Prices , and their manner of administering justice , but we obtain a comprehensive knowledge of the sumptuous ceremonial observed at Kvng Sepopo ' s Court . Dr . Holub started on a boating-excursion up the- Zambesi , but at the MutshilaflK Atnsvnga his provisions rapids he and was medi stricken cines with in the fever stream , and he in was consequence compelled of to the renounce loss of his intention of penetrating further into Central Africa , and compelled to wend his way homewards . I •** This Prospectus may be had separately by the Trade on application to the Publishers . I London : SAMPSON LOW , MARSTON , SEAELB , & RIVINGTON , l 188 Fleet Street , E . G . ( 668 ) ^^^

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