Map of Basutoland 1904 (includes book of Routes)

Large, linen-backed folding map in case, 107 x 104 cm in size, with ownership of P H Kitson (presumed later Major P H Kitson of the Army Service Corps) on label.

Drawn by Capt. M C Dobson RFA, 1904.

Small tears on two folds, otherwise very good condition.

An uncommonly encountered map - which comes from the same source as South Africa: Military Report on Basutoland Vol II - Routes. 240 pp with map 50 x 40 cm, in pocket at rear.

Covers in very worn condition with backstrip partially missing, back cover and last few pages almost adrift but holding; map in very good condition. Bookseller (?) stamp: S M Yates, Box 3 Maseru, in prelims.

South Africa, General Staff 1910. 'Since the end of the South African War in 1902, the Basotho were becoming increasingly anxious about their future in the face of the planned administrative changes in South Africa that culminated in the unification of the colonies. This is evidenced by the rumors of an uprising in 1903 that circulated in Lesotho as Natal's map surveyors were secretly collecting information in the territory.'(R. O. Mekenye, The African Role in the Failure of South African Colonialism, 1902-1910: the Case of Lesotho). This led to a number of rumours that the Basotho might be indulging in escalating stock-theft to foment rebellion, which so worried the colonial authorities that they drew a plan of how to deploy the imperial troops in the territory should that become necessary. Book No: 2500269