Episode 55 – Somerville's 1802 description of the baThlaping and their grand capital at Dithakong

Welcome back to the History of South Africa podcast, with me your host Des Latham - this episode 55.

We’ll follow Doctor William Somerville on his way home from the expedition you heard about last episode and there’s a lot of action.

First we’ll spend time with the Scots doctor as he spent time at Dithakong, that Great Tswana city of the Tlhaping. They had entered Griqua country
By November 21st and made their way towards Dithakong cautiously. First they sent a guide ahead

“…the inform the Horde of the Briquas of our arrival and to invite them to come to our encampment… The whole fate of our expedition depending upon the impression that our messenger should make upon his countrymen…”

They waited anxiously. Remember this long and arduous trip was ostensibly to buy cattle from the Griqua and the Tswana and so far all they had found was drought.

Things were not looking very good. On the evening of the 21st November 1801 the messenger returned with information that the Chief would see them. But not before the people had fled as the messenger was wearing western clothes. That tells you something – the people who’d visited in European outfits were usually raiding or pillaging.
Eventually, on the 6th May 1802, Somerville and Truter’s six wagons made it back to Cape Town after seven months spent traveling slowly across the vast southern African semi-desert of the northern Cape.