Mpande kaSenzangakhona (1798-1872) was monarch of the Zulu Kingdom from 1840 to 1872, making him the longest reigning Zulu king. The Zulu Reed Dance is an opportunity for young girls to get noticed by the king, who is also looking for a wife. In this dance, the girls get reeds by the river and bring them to the king. In 1846 George French Angas (English explorer and painter) went to South Africa, where he spent two years in Natal and the Cape, working on a series of drawings and watercolors which were published in 1849 as The Kafirs Illustrated.