True first edition of the French translation by J.-J. Cabanis.
Gay 197 and Bourquelot VI, 232 mention an 1832 edition from the same publisher under a different title: "Esquisses africaines." Given the identical collation, it is most likely the same 1831 edition issued under a new title.
Ink annotations at the head of the front cover, a few minor spots of foxing, and a faint waterstain along the fore-edge margin of the half-title, gradually fading on the following leaves.
Bound in modern half petrol-blue calf, smooth spine gilt-ruled in double fillets, red morocco title label, marbled paper boards, original covers preserved and mounted; binding signed by Laurenchet.
The author, an officer in the Royal Corps of Engineers, had published the work in English two years earlier, providing a highly relevant account of life in the Cape Colony and among the Kaffirs in the first quarter of the 19th century.
"There is some information respecting the lives of the Boers of the interior at this period, with a description of the Hottentots and Kaffirs, and of the slave system of the country, together with some sporting tales." Cf. Mendelssohn II, pp. 248–249.
Description of the Cape, society life, slave dances, masquerade ball, Cape wines, tiger hunting, the Hottentots, Grahamstown, the Kaffirs, plants and flowers, Great Fish River, the Bushmen, mountains and rivers, wild animals, birds, elephant hunting, Wesleyville, crossing the Kei River, Hinza's kraal, a stopover at St. Helena, Napoleon’s house and tomb, etc.
Several chapters are devoted to hunting (not in Thiébaud).