ALLEN (Capt. William, R.N.) & & THOMSON (T.R.H., Surgeon, R.N.)

A Narrative of the Expedition Sent by Her Majesty's Government to the River Niger, in 1841 under the command of Captain H.D.Trotter.

First edition. 2 vols. Portrait, 2 folding maps & 15 engraved (1 folding)plates and including 1 further map., with illustrations in the text. 8vo. A very good copy in original but remainder (?) blue cloth, gilt very slight wear to headcaps. a prize binding as attested by an inscrription on the front free endpaper ( Ealing School fourth Mathematics 1858) , a.e.g xviii, 509; viii, 511pp. London, Bentley, 1848.

£1,250.00

Sent to the Niger with orders to penetrate as far as possible and make treaties with the local rulers to outlaw the Slave Trade, the expedition met with considerable hardship from first entering the river. For the most part they remained healthy for the first month until reaching Iddah after which many of here crew were struck down with fever until matters were so grave that even the determined Capt. Trotter was forced to order Capt Allen retreat to the coast while he pushed on in the hopes of reaching a healthier climate upstream. But fever continued too ravage the crew and by the 8th August any further progress was clearly impossible. The expedition was considered a disastrous failure though Commander Allen cites the three treaties signed with the most influential potentates on the river to have constituted partial success.

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226359