Campaigning in Kaffirland, or, Scenes and Adventures in the Kaffir War of 1851-2

First published in 1853, this book chronicles the personal experience of the ‘Kaffir’ war of 1851-2 (now known as the eighth Xhosa or frontier war), between the European settlers and the native inhabitants of the Eastern Cape in South Africa. Serving as a lieutenant, William Ross King (1822-90) sailed to South Africa from Cork with the 74th Highlanders in March 1851 and remained there until late 1852. His memoir was not intended as a detailed history of military operations in the Kaffir war and in fact encompasses all of King’s experiences in South Africa rather than focusing solely on the conflict. The book is especially notable for its extremely one-sided account of events: King exhibits a particularly scathing attitude towards the Xhosa people, who were ‘committing the most deliberate outrages and murders’ and displaying ‘cowardly treachery’ towards the European settlers.