“This is an extremely important and timely book for scholars of west African history and enthusiasts of the ‘Golden Age’ of exploration alike.”

Nick Smith, Times Higher Education Supplement

On a blisteringly hot day in June 1845, a tall Scot on a tiny horse rode into Abomey, capital of the infamous West African slave-trading nation of Dahomey. In bizarre defiance of the equatorial heat, he was dressed in the ceremonial uniform of Her Britannic Majesty’s Life Guards, with glistening cuirass, helmet, gauntlets and high boots. The Victorian trooper’s name was John Duncan, a common soldier of most uncommon initiative who travelled three times in West Africa in the 1840s, a time when this vast fever-ridden territory was grimly known as “The White Man’s Grave”.

Duncan first sailed to West Africa in 1841, as master-at-arms aboard HMS Albert, flagship of the Niger steamship expedition. Ravaged by disease, this anti-slavery mission soon turned into a debacle that nearly cost Duncan his life.

Undeterred, Duncan returned to West Africa again in 1844, supported by the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), on a solo expedition to find the legendary Kong Mountains. Soon running out of funds, he turned to a notorious slave-dealer to sponsor his venture into the interior. Duncan’s chosen route took him into the militaristic state of Dahomey where, once more attired in his magnificent uniform, he struck up an unlikely friendship with the charismatic warrior King Gezo, a man whose very name was a byword for unbridled cruelty. Gezo honoured his new friend with the protective title of King’s Stranger and together they drank toasts to Queen Victoria from goblets carved out of human skulls.

Although Duncan never found the Kongs, he did become the first European to explore a vast tract of uncharted West Africa, marching through swamps and savannah while hostile tribesmen dogged his footsteps. After incredible hardships and adventures he came perilously close to death yet again.

Duncan’s last visit to West Africa was in 1849. Appointed British vice consul (unpaid) to Dahomey, tasked with securing Gezo’s assent to an anti-slavery treaty, the indomitable but ailing Scot made two further gruelling journeys into the interior before death finally claimed him. For all his courage, physical strength and amazing exploits, John Duncan was ultimately a tragic figure. Forgotten by history, disdained by the RGS and the British Government, his achievements were quickly overshadowed by the titans of African exploration who followed him, notably his fellow-Scot Dr. David Livingstone, Richard Burton and Henry Morton Stanley.