author
Sir William Cornwallis Harris
1807–1848
A British army officer, artist, and travel writer, he is best remembered for vivid accounts of southern Africa that introduced many readers to the region’s wildlife and landscapes. His books combine first-hand adventure with careful observation, giving them the feel of both travel narrative and natural history.
1 Audiobook
The Highlands of Ethiopia
by Sir William Cornwallis Harris
About the author
Born in 1807, he served in the British army and became known for journeys in southern Africa during the 1830s and 1840s. He wrote about hunting, exploration, and local life, and he also produced illustrations that helped make his travel books distinctive and popular.
His best-known work is The Wild Sports of Southern Africa, a lively record of expedition travel and game hunting. He later published The Highlands of Aethiopia, based on a diplomatic mission to Ethiopia, showing that his interests ranged beyond sport to geography, politics, and close description of the places he visited.
He died in 1848, leaving behind books that remain valuable as windows into 19th-century travel writing and European views of Africa. Today he is remembered as a soldier-author whose writing mixed adventure, natural history, and illustration in a way that still captures historical curiosity.