RACHAEL GILMOUR is Lecturer in Postcolonial Studies in the School of English and Drama, Queen Mary, University of London, UK.

• Introduction Language in the Land of the 'Hottentots' and 'Caffres': European Travellers in the Eastern Cape, 1652-1806 Of Translation and Transformations: The Beginnings of Missionary Linguistics in South Africa Studying Language in the 'Moral Wilderness': Methodist Missionaries on the Eastern Cape Frontier Language, Culture, and 'The Native Mind': Missionary Language Study in Natal and the Zulu Kingdom From Languages to Language: The Comparative Philologist in South Africa Conclusion Index

'G[ilmour] has a good command of the source material; her style is lucid and readable; and she deftly weaves linguistic and sociopolitical threads together, from the critical perspective of postcolonial studies.' - Paul T. Roberge, Historiographia Linguistica 'Gilmour knows how languages work and she has provided an excellent foundation for the study of their history.' - Patrick Harries, Journal of Southern African Studies