Did you know the term 'roughing it' comes from the tent city at Algoa Bay? Or that the settlers carried grain rations from Grahamstown on their backs for kilometres? One even called her new home 'the most miserable country in the world'. 1820 descendant Ralph Goldswain retells the tale of the settlers' dramatic first three years in South Africa in lively first-person accounts. Their letters, journals and diaries tell of the dangerous sea voyage, their dismal introduction to their new country, and establishing farms in a difficult environment plagued by drought, floods and locusts. In this engaging read with a delightful narrative touch, we journey with this resilient group of people as they battle nature, an increasingly hostile Xhosa nation and an exploitative colonial government.