The expedition in question was the Mission to Borno in 1822
to 1825, the fourth attempt sponsored by the British government to
investigate the lower course of the River Niger and to explore the interior
of Africa between the Mediterranean’s desert hinterland and the swamps and
forests of the Guinea Coast. They were accompanied by Dr Walter Oudney, the
leader of the mission’s work of scientific enquiry who died in the interior,
and a naval carpenter William Hillman but two other participating officers
succumbed to tropical fevers.
The explorers’ was the first account of a complete crossing
of the Sahara desert on the skeleton trail frequented by caravans bringing
slaves from the Sudan (Arabic, bilad as-Sudan, land of the blacks) to
North African ports and the first description of Wadi Kawar and its salt
industry in the heart of the desert. Clapperton and Oudney also left us the
first record of contact with Ajjer Tuaregs in their remote homeland.
They encountered among the elite classes a high level of
intellectual curiosity, learning and liberal instincts, and when naval
lieutenant Hugh Clapperton was negotiating with Sultan Mohamed Bello
arrangements for a follow up mission, the issue of abolition of slave trade
in the Sultan’s dominions was on the agenda.
The narrative of
the Borno Mission is valuable for providing unique insights into
pre-colonial Africa and its observations are as fresh to day as they were
when publication of the Narrative of Travels and Discoveries caused
such an éclat in London. They were not written to flatter public opinion or
pander to prejudice at the time, and they have a vividness and spontaneity
that has outlived the generations that came after them.
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