visited the warzone in Crimea where Mrs Maclean, along with Florence Nightingale, was one of the few women at Balaclava. In 1875, by now the sole survivor of the Port Natal white community on the 1820s (Isaacs having died in 1872), he wrote a celebrated letter to The Times in support of Langalibalele who had been sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island for insurrection. This letter not only showed his insight of the Zulu culture, but was also his account of his walk to Delagoa Bay. Death, burial and memorials In 1879 his health failed and the following year he travelled to England on the RMS Larne "in search of health". She called at Le Havre on 11 March 1880. Maclean died aboard ship on 13 March 1880 in the Solent and was buried in a pauper's grave in the Old Cemetery in Southampton. On 2 May 2009 the grave was rededicated and a headstone erected. During the re-dedication, the grave was draped with the new flag of South Africa and the headstone with the Scottish saltire. Maclean is commemorated in the city of Durban by a statue (created by Mary Stainbank) on the Victoria Embankment, outside John Ross House, and also by a plaque at the Old Fort, Durban. The road bridge on the old N2 route over the Tugela River, from its mouth, was named the John Ross Bridge in his honour. The original bridge was washed away in a storm on 26 September 1987, but has since been rebuilt. The P496 road, which links Richards Bay to Empangeni and the N2 highway is named the John Ross Highway. He also gave his name to a salvage tug named S.A. John Ross, which was built at the Durban shipyards of James Brown & Hamer in 1976. At the time the tug was built, it was one of a pair of the most powerful tugs in the world. References Notes Citations Sources 1815 births 1880 deaths 19th-century explorers 19th-century Scottish people Explorers of Africa History of KwaZulu-Natal Maritime history of South Africa People from Fraserburgh Scottish abolitionists Scottish explorers Scottish sailors Sea captains Burials at Southampton Old Cemetery