Sketches Representing the Native Tribes, Animals, and Scenery of Southern Africa: From Drawings Made by the Late Mr. Samuel Daniell.

Samuel Daniell (1775--1811) was an English painter and draughtsman who arrived in South Africa in December 1799. He was appointed secretary and artist for the expedition of 1801--2 from the Cape of Good Hope to Bechuanaland led by P.J. Truter and William Somerville. On his return to England, Daniell published, with the assistance of his uncle, the painter Thomas Daniell, and his brother, the painter and engraver William Daniell, African Scenery and Animals (1804--5). He later moved to Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), where he made sketches of scenery and people and eventually died of tropical fever. Following his brother's death, William published Sketches Representing the Native Tribes, Animals, and Scenery of Southern Africa, a collection of 48 engravings based on drawings Samuel had made in Africa. The texts accompanying each illustration are by Somerville and Sir John Barrow, a British geographer and explorer who also participated in early British expeditions in southern Africa. Samuel Daniell sketched animals from life in their natural habitats, and his work was praised for its accuracy and attention to detail. The book also includes sketches of people encountered on the expedition and several vivid landscapes.