The Duminy diaries consist of the diary of Johanna Margareta Duminy (1797), the journal of François Duminy of his visit to the Caledon Baths and the Bok river (9 November 1810 to 4 March 1811), the journal of François Duminy's expedition to Walfish Bay in 1793 and Sebastian Valentyn van Reenen's journal of the same expedition. An English translation of the text of the diaries is provided but the lengthy introduction is in Afrikaans only.
These journals were published originally in Molsbergen's Reizen in Zuid Afrika. Wikar's report is an account of the daily life and adventures of the first European who is known to have journeyed along the Orange River, while that of Jansz records the first European crossing of the Orange River into South-West Africa [Namibia]. Van Reenen crossed the Orange River into Damaraland in a search for copper.
Hendrik Witbooi, who had been born at Pella, south of the Orange River, was trained as an evangelist. Subsequently he moved north to Gibeon in Namibia where he established himself as a powerful figure, conducting campaigns against the Herero, many of whom were subordinated to him. The diary, which he kept from 1884 to 1894 , is in Dutch, with an introduction, translated from the German into English, by Gustav Voigts, a member of the S.W.A. Scientific Society.
