In November 1810, a 29-year-old English botanist and skilled horticulturalist named William John Burchell landed in Cape Town on his first visit to southern Africa. Despite never having traveled in an ox wagon, he commenced a four-year, 7,000 kilometer journey over rough and inhospitable terrain in a custom-built oxen-drawn wagon in June 1811. By the time he returned to Cape Town in 1815, he had amassed a collection of 63,000 specimens of plants, bulbs, insects, reptiles, and mammals – many not previously documented for science – as well as a significant portfolio of paintings and illustrations.

Biographical History/Journey