Into the thick of it
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21504/4vqxjm18Keywords:
1820 Settlers, Albany District, Frontier ecology, British colonial settlement, Thicket biome, Settler narratives, Bathurst (South Africa) -- HistoryAbstract
Serena Gess’s “Into the Thick of It” vividly reconstructs the experiences of the 1820 British Settlers as they encountered the dense Albany thicket on South Africa’s eastern frontier. Through historical sources, settler journals, and ecological observation, the article traces how expectations of an idyllic “parkland” quickly gave way to the harsh realities of survival in a spiny, semi-arid landscape. It examines settler adaptation—agricultural struggles, resource use, and cultural encounters with the Xhosa and environment—and reflects on how the natural resilience of the thicket mirrored the endurance required of those who stayed. The work combines environmental history with social narrative to reveal how landscape and identity are intertwined in the making of the frontier.
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