With a map and appendices.
Published with the sanction of Her Majesty's Government
First edition: 456 pages, title page vignette, frontispiece –which has a mark on the top edge, folding map, plan of the ship – the Pleiad, contemporary half calf with marbled paper boards, matching marbled edges, brown title label gilt with decorative gilt on the spine, which is now faded, the edges and corners are rubbed, a good copy.
The author of the narrative, William Balfour Baikie, was the Surgeon on this expedition to sail up the Niger River and explore the interior. As was often the case at the time, he also took on the role of Naturalist and describes the geography and natural history of the territories visited. One of his other duties was to monitor the use of quinine which it was determined, quite rightly as it turned out, to be a protection for Europeans in the climate.
The vessel built specially for the trip was the ‘Pleiad’, a one hundred foot iron screw schooner and the expedition was to have been lead by Mr. J Beecroft, who at that time was the British Consul at Fernando Po. Arriving there however, Beecroft was found to have deceased and so Baikie took command of the trip and his encounters up to his return to England are extensively laid out. He also gives a spirited attack on the slave trade and its causes and proffers the solution.
This was a very successful trip and Baikie takes the opportunity to lay out the reasons why England should seize the opportunities available in a land rapidly being opened up by the activities of his countrymen. https://www.naval-military-press.com/product/narrative-of-an-exploring-voyage-up-the-rivers-kwora-and-binue-commonly-known-as-the-niger-and-tsadda-in-1854/
- Overall Condition: A Good Copy
- Size: 8vo (220 x 140 mm)
- Sold By: Clarke's Africana & Rare Books
- Contact Person: Paul Mills
- Country: South Africa
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