The Life and Labours of George Washington Walker: of Hobart Town, Tasmania

The Life And Labours Of George Washington Walker: Of Hobart Town, Tasmania by James Backhouse and George Washington Walker is a biographical, devotional travelogue recounting the 1839–1840 South African missionary journeys. The work documents extensive circuits through Bechuana and Basutu domains—Bechuanaland, Basutuland, Mantatee country—and chronicles the aims of Christian instruction, education, temperance, and peaceful settlement among indigenous communities and colonial settlers. It presents a close observational account of travel across wagons, fords, and mountain passes, with portraits of Bechuana chiefs like Moshesh and other leaders, and a network of mission stations (Kuruman, Imparani, Motito, Bethulia, Bethany, and beyond). The narrative blends eyewitness reportage with spiritual reflection, detailing church formation, revival movements among Basutu and Mantatee peoples, and dialogues with chiefs about reform, including abstinence from alcohol and non-violence. It also covers the dramatic interment event of a chief’s wife as a turning point for Christian burial customs, the Daniel-led Mantatee revival, and the role of Allison and other missionaries in sustaining peace. The tone is devotional yet ethnographic, conveying a conviction that Gospel witness and education can transform frontier life when allied with humane intercultural relations and cooperation with colonial authorities.