Page 4, 1 of 8

Page 4, 1 of 8

Correspondence

23 September 1877

1.William Coates Palgrave was a civil servant appointed by the Cape government's Ministerial Department of Native Affairs in 1874 as Special Commissioner to the Bechuana and the tribes north of the Orange River. 2. Sir James Alexander was a British army officer who conducted an expedition in 1836-1837 to Namaqualand and Damaraland on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society. 3. Coates Palgrave conducted a commission to Damaraland and Great Namaqualand in 1876, the first of five trips he undertook on behalf of the Colony government between 1876 and 1884, to assess these lands for their possible annexation into the Cape Colony. 4. The Commission photographer was F Hodgson. 5. See "Report of W. Coates Palgrave, Esq., special commissioner to the tribes north of the Orange River, of his mission to Damaraland and Great Namaqualand in 1876. Cape Town: Saul Solomon & Co.; Ministerial Dept. of Native Affairs, Government House, Cape of Good Hope (Cape parliamentary papers, 1877)".