trekkingn.adj.

1850 R. Gordon-Cumming Five Years Hunter's Life S. Afr. I. vi. 115 We..came upon an immense, compact herd of several thousand ‘trekking’ springboks.

1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Trekking, a colonial term in the Cape colony, for departing or leaving to settle in another country.

1901 Scotsman 7 Mar. Heavy rains made trekking almost impossible.

1942 S. Zuckerman & J. D. Bernal in S. Zuckerman From Apes to Warlords (1978) vii. 143 The situation in Hull has been somewhat obscured..by the occurrence of trekking, which was made possible by the availability of road transport.

1955 Times 22 July 9/6 About 35,000 came last year, and more are expected this summer... They come to fish and shoot or to trek in the mountains. ‘Only the English like trekking,’ one agent said.

1962 Times 21 Apr. 11/3 There is also a list of trekking and riding holiday centres which have been awarded a certificate of approval.

1968 Punch 14 Aug. 234/3 While some of the ponies probably would be kept in any case..the majority are now kept principally for the revenue from the trekking.

1972 ‘D. Craig’ Double Take i. 8 The trekking lesson always ended like this... The other members of the trek looked at Brian.

1976 Horse & Hound 3 Dec. 42/4 His book is well illustrated and there are some useful appendices, though that claiming to list a brief selection of trekking centres in fact is so brief as to be almost comic.

1984 Times 18 Feb. 14/1 Trekking has an aura which is irresistible to the romantic.