This essay introduces prominent figures who undertook a journey in a South African bush in 1923, and presents an extract from the unpublished trek journal of Margaret Gillett, nee Clark, daughter of a well-known Somerset family. She and her husband were liberal-minded activists. Jan Christian Smuts, an international statesman and Prime Minister of South Africa accompanied them on this journey, as well as Illtyd Buller PoleEvans, a botanist and an ecologist. In this extract, the diarist describes the landscape, flora and fauna, as well as encounters with Chief Malabok and the native inhabitants, including a gift exchange ceremony. Introduction
