2011/04/19 by Richard Lander · 2 citations
Social Sciences · #Colonialism, slavery, and trade #Global Maritime and Colonial Histories
paper · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139004473
openalex publication_date 2011/04/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Hugh Clapperton (1788–1827) was a former naval officer who was determined to explore the course of the River Niger. In 1822 he set out on an expedition to trace the river by approaching it through North Africa, though this proved unsuccessful. Three years later, Clapperton tried again, with plans to start in West Africa, and the young explorer Richard Lander (1804–1834) joined his party. They arrived in Badagry (in present-day Nigeria) and eventually crossed the Niger at Bussa, before reaching Sokoto (in north-west Nigeria), where Clapperton died from an attack of dysentery. Lander returned to England and published this two-volume account of the journey in 1830. Volume 1 recounts the voyage out, travel inland through Africa, and arrival at the river, while describing the people encountered in a part of Africa that was barely known to Europeans during this period.