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Burrows, Edmund H : Overberg Odyssey. People, Roads and Early Days

(Swellendam: the author, in co-operation with the Swellendam Trust, 1994) 0620187808

ISBN 0620187808

8vo; pictorial boards; endpaper maps; pp. xii + 212, incl. index; plates; maps, line drawings, lineage diagrams, facsimiles and reproductions of period artwork in text. Spine sunned, and boards partially so; some foxing to top edge, occasional fox spot elsewhere. Very good condition. "A land awaiting discovery - the country east of the Hottentot Holland Mountains throughout the 19th century was known as the Overberg. In his original book, Overberg Outspan, Ted Burrows described historic Swellendam and the families and farms on the eastern side of the Overberg. Overberg Odyssey takes this story westwards. This fascinating book tells of: the path forged to the Hessequa kraals by barter-parties from the Castle which became the Caepse wagen-weg; the first colony of Europeans to settle along this road in the upper Zonder End valley; Genadendal, the first Christian mission in South Africa and a pioneering place; the village of Caledon which was built beside the hot spring renowned for its healing properties 'over de berg'; the successes of the merino sheep, whose fleece brought wealth, and of the racehorses who brought fame to the families who bred them - Cloete, Van der Byl, Van Breda and Bayley; the Colonial highway via Caledon which replaced the old 'wagen-weg', and the roads to the sea across Shaws Mountain, Akkedisberg and along the Kars River; and 500 years ago, the discovery of the coastline by the Portuguese, as well as details of 137 ships wrecked, including Arniston and Birkenhead."

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