Nils Astrup’s 1889 Trek Translated

This book is the long-awaited, English translation and edition of Nils Astrup’s account of his 1889 trek from the British colony of Natal through Zululand and Swaziland to Portuguese East Africa. Based on a diary which Astrup kept while travelling, his book was published in Norwegian as En Missionsreise til Limpopo gjennem Zululand, Swaziland og Tongaland ind i Riget Umgaza in 1891. This three-month excursion was undertaken to explore possibilities for expanding the geographical scope of Norwegian Lutheran missionary endeavours among the various Nguni-speaking peoples of south-eastern Africa.

The excursion took place at a critical historical juncture when the British Empire, Portuguese East Africa, and the South African Republic were vying for economic influence in a rapidly changing region of Africa. The erudite Astrup recorded his observations about a broad spectrum of topics, among them the impact of colonialism on indigenous Africans, tensions between colonising powers, itinerant Indian traders, African migratory labour, the extension of railways, and interracial marriage.