A POLE UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS, Antoni Rehman's journey through South Africa, 1875-1877, translated and co-edited by Weronika Muller

204pp., colour illus.., hardback, d.w., HipSA, Third Series no. 7, Cape Town, 2025

ISBN: 9781990981418

An account of the travels and scientific observations of Antoni Rehman, a Polish botanist and geographer who travelled through South Africa during the 1870s. His memoir, originally published in Polish and presented here in an abridged English translation, records both his scientific pursuits and his reflections on the colonial societies he encountered.

Antoni Rehman became a professor at Lvov University in 1882, specialising in botany and geography. On his first journey (1875-1877) he travelled through the Cape Colony, passing through Mossel Bay, Knysna and the Montagu’s Pass on his way to Beaufort West, then northward to Kimberley, across the interior to Bloemfontein, and over the Drakensberg into Natal. On his second journey (1879-1880) he travelled from Port Shepstone, through Pietermaritzburg and Durban before heading inland to Pretoria the Orange Free State and Lesotho, then across Giant’s Castle, and again through the Drakensberg region. During both journeys he collected hundreds of plant specimens, documented landscapes through sketches and photographs, and recorded the everyday lives of the settlers, traders, indigenous communities and colonial officials he encountered.

Michał Leśniewski is Professor of History in the Faculty of History at the University of Warsaw. He has published many articles on British Imperial and South African History, and several books, among them two in English: Klip River Affair of 1847 (2018) and The Zulu-Boer War 1837–1840 (2021).

Weronika Muller specializes in 20th century South African History and has published academic articles in both Poland and South Africa.