18 



Gogga Brown 



story. There is not even any record that he ever 

 took up the post which was the stated object of 

 his journey to the Cape. Nor do I believe that he 

 left England solely in search of worldly wealth, 

 although he certainly was in dire straits as regards 

 money for his immediate needs. In later years 

 there were Diamond and Golden will-o'-the-wisps 

 in plenty beckoning him with their dazzling and 

 shimmering rays, yet he took no notice of them. 

 Not that these precious things had no interest for 

 him, for, as a geologist, he wrote much about 

 them later on with typical serene detachment. 



His whole life shows clearly that it was not 

 primarily for material gain that he sought these 

 shores, but rather that he came in order to fulfil 

 some ill-defined spiritual mission and get such 

 attendant rewards as were his due. At any rate, 

 whatever the motive, it was a lucky day for South 

 African science when he was led southward on 

 his voyage of discovery. It is equally clear that 

 he himself, in spite of his many trials and 

 disappointments, lived to reap the richest of all 

 recompense, the joy of inward satisfaction. 



The first entry in Brown s self-mutilated 

 Journal gives a faint clue as to something else 

 that was in Brown's mind before he left England. 

 Therein he recounts his righteous indignation at 



