A manuscript containing a 'Translation of Dr Hahn's Damara-German Dictionary Presented to his Excellency Sir Bartle Frere... by the Translator Major Erskine... 19th January 1880'. Karl Hugo Hahn was a Baltic German missionary and linguist who worked in South Africa and South-West Africa for most of his life. This translation was undertaken whilst Erskine was Resident Magistrate in Walvis Bay, Damaraland (Namibia). Damara is one of the Khoisan languages of Southern Africa.

The manuscript is handwritten with many alterations. It is bound in a card and leather cover which shows considerable wear. One section of the manuscript has become detached from the spine.