ALONE AMONG THE ZULUS

Catherine Barter's lively and entertaining narrative of her journey to the Zulu country holds a two-fold interest. As far as is known, it is the first such account wirtten by a woman; and it describes the Zulu kingdom at a time when it was still politically and economically independent.

In 1855 Catherine and her brother, Charles, set out from Pietermaritzburg for the Zulu country - he to hunt elephants, she to wait for him at a mission station and to engage in a little cattle trading on his behalf.

Then word came that the hunters had been struck down by fever and were dangerously ill and starving on the Pongolo River. Catherine and her enterprising African driver went to the rescue, boldly heading northwards into lion country. Her education and upbrining had hardly prepared her for such independent action and adventure, but when this crisis turned a straightforward trading trip into high drama she showed courage and resourcefulness enough to avert disaster.

Patricia Merrett's Introduction describes the religious and social setting in which Catherine grew up, and examines her attitudes to class, race and the role of women in Victorian society