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Missionary Cartography in Colonial Africa: Cases from South Africa

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History of Cartography

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography ((ICA))

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Abstract

Among the first agents of European cultural exchange in Africa before the 1880s were missionaries, who were especially active in the region of modern South Africa. These missionaries came from a wide variety of societies and nations, including French Protestants in Lesotho, the Berlin Missionaries in the Transvaal, the London Mission Society, Wesleyans, and others in the Cape Colony and Natal, to name only a few. These missionaries were not only interested in spreading the Gospel but also in disseminating information about their African surroundings, which included a variety of scientific and literary data. One of the most prominent forms of data collected was geographical, and it expressed through a variety of maps produced or used by missionaries. Mission stations enjoyed generally static locations, often beyond the writ of colonial law, and close relationships between missionaries and local informants. These qualities worked together to produce maps with interesting mixes of topographical, social, political, and cultural content. This essay explores a few examples of 19th-century South African missionary and mission-based cartography, in particular that of London and Wesleyan missionaries in the Transkei, the Berlin missionary Alexander Merensky in Mpumalanga, and the Swiss Berthouds (Paul and Henri) in Limpopo, to discuss the relationship between particular southern African missionaries, maps, and the history of the region’s colonization.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See also freestanding examples such as Heinrich Berghaus, “Map of South Africa Showing the Mission Stations of the Various Missionary Societies …” (1855), M1/1217, Cape Archives Depot, Cape Town (hereafter KAB). Etherington (2004) points to statements by early cartographers that the missionaries were key sources of early geographical information on the interior, but the exact materials they furnished and how cartographers used them remain uncertain.

  2. 2.

    Kokkonen (1993) suggests the use of this information to promote cartographic literacy or give instruction, but that suggests that symbolic cartography was more alien than was likely the case, as Stone (1995, 6–8) also suggests.

  3. 3.

    “Copy of sketch made by Mr. Thomas, Missionary Clarkbury, 1852,” DSGBK 56, KAB; “Copy of Map Drawn by Rev D Dodd 1868,” MP 1453, G. E. Cory Library, Rhodes University, Grahamstown (hereafter “Cory Library”).

  4. 4.

    Barrett’s copy of this map is “Outline Map of the Country Between the Kei and Bashee,” n.d. [1864], MP 1457, Cory Library. The only known manuscript version of the original survey plan was destroyed by the Surveyor General’s office in Cape Town in 1921 (owing to damage) after an identical copy (Plan 5614) had been made; that one matches Barrett’s.

  5. 5.

    Untitled compilation map from Barrett bequest, n.d. [1870], MP 1452, Cory Library.

  6. 6.

    For Merensky’s own account of this Untersuchungsreise, and his encounters during it, see Merensky (1996), 186–205.

  7. 7.

    See Staatscourant der Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek nos. 151 (29 May 1866) and 181 (26 Dec 1866).

  8. 8.

    This is underscored by the printing of the map’s stand-alone cover in English, even when sold by German firms. See the example at 912.682 MER, Map Collection, UNISA Library, South Africa.

  9. 9.

    Merensky to Osborne (Colonial Secretary), 24 Jun 1879, R2165/79, SS 348, Transvaal Archives Depot, Pretoria (hereafter TAB).

  10. 10.

    See “Chief of Staff’s Journal of the Military Operations in the Transvaal, 1879,” f. 86, CO 291/9, National Archives, Kew, UK (hereafter UK-NA).

  11. 11.

    See “Native Locations and Strongholds of the Transvaal” (1907), A.1198, 75, WO 33/2753, UK-NA.

  12. 12.

    See for example, “Diary of a Journey 1889,” Henri Berthoud Collection, A 1632, Cullen Library. The disposition of his earlier journals is not known.

  13. 13.

    St. V. Erskine, “Route Map of the Gasa Country … Prepared for the Council of the Mission Romande,” n.d. [1883-85?], Swiss Mission Collection, AC 1084/10/1/2.h, Cullen Library. This map is similar to Paul Berthoud’s in printing and stock, and so was probably also part of a mission bulletin. The publication range is conjecture based on the period between Paul Berthoud’s map and Henri Berthoud’s 1886 work which draws in part from it; no publisher is credited.

  14. 14.

    Jeppe to Berthoud, 27 Jan 1890, Berthoud-versameling, A 1529, Transvaal Archives Depot, Pretoria (hereafter TAB).

  15. 15.

    Jeppe to Berthoud, 13 Oct 1890, Berthoud-versameling, A 1529, 1–2, TAB. The two sent sketches back and forth, and ultimately Jeppe sent Berthoud an advance copy of his proposed boundary map for comment; see Jeppe to Berthoud, 17 Nov 1890, Berthoud-versameling, A 1529, 1, TAB. A photocopy of the printed map derived from that, with Berthoud’s writing, is extant; see copy of F. Jeppe, “Die Neue Grenze zwischen der Südafrikanischen Republik und den Portugiesischen Besitzungen,” Swiss Mission Collection, AC 1084/10/1/1, Cullen Library.

  16. 16.

    Jeppe to Berthoud, 19 Sep 1890, 4, Berthoud-versameling, A 1529, TAB. On Jeppe’s 1893 map, “Mt. Berthoud” is at 23° 37’ S, 30° 53’ E. The official Mining Department and draft versions of this map, also drawn by Jeppe, do not include the toponym.

  17. 17.

    C. Beuster to G. Y. Lagden (Minister for Native Affairs), 7 Sep 1901, N.A. Zout 6/01, SNA 2, TAB. The printer of the lithographed map is not indicated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of History, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA

    Lindsay Frederick Braun

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  1. Lindsay Frederick Braun
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Correspondence to Lindsay Frederick Braun .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. of Cartography, ICA Commission on the History, Menlo Park, Pretoria, 0102, South Africa

    Elri Liebenberg

  2. , Department of History, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, 76011, USA

    Imre Josef Demhardt

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Braun, L.F. (2012). Missionary Cartography in Colonial Africa: Cases from South Africa. In: Liebenberg, E., Demhardt, I. (eds) History of Cartography. Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19088-9_16

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