Photograph of Mount Excelsior and Pilgrim's Rest in the eastern part of the Transvaal Colony (now Province of South Africa). In the foreground there is a wooden channel across a dry ditch. There is a man standing on the left bank and a small group of tents and a fallen tree trunk on the bank to the right. There is a larger camp on the plain behind and there are hills in the distance.

The discovery of gold in the Transvaal Colony led to vast gold fields and the mass immigration of workers. The town of Pilgrim's Rest was established in this period.