Denham, F.R.S.

Denham, F.R.S.

Description

Major Denham, F.R.S., Captain Clapperton, ad the late Doctor Oudney. Narrative of travels and discoveries in Nothern and Central Africa, in the years 1822, 1823, and 1824. Vol.1. 1826

In two volumes

n 1821, Dixon Denham joined the British expedition to central Africa organised to gain access to the lucrative trans-Saharan trade between Tripoli (in modern Libya), the Bornu Empire (now part of Nigeria) and the Hausa states in the region. Assigned to accompany Walter Oudney and Hugh Clapperton, who were already in Africa, Denham brought instructions that the expedition was also to try and find the source of the River Niger. While partly successful in its goals, the expedition is notable for the animosity between Denham, Oudney and Clapperton.

Immediately unpopular with his fellow travellers due to his lacking any of the necessary skills to undertake an expedition, Denham was left in Tripoli while the rest of the party headed to the desert city of Murzuk in early 1822. As well as attempting to persuade local rulers to provide an escort across the Sahara, Denham also tried to return to London, sending letters in advance of his arrival that accused Oudney of incompetence, in the hopes of gaining a promotion so that he could return to Africa as the head of the expedition. He was rebuked for his lack of diplomacy and when the news reached the party in Murzuk, Oudney and Clapperton were shocked by his actions.

Denham arrived in Murzuk in late 1822 and in November the party set out for Bornu, but relations did not improve. In February 1823, the party reached Lake Chad, becoming the first Europeans to view the lake, and shortly after they reached Kuka, the capital of Bornu. While in Kuka, Denham accompanied a slave-raiding expedition against the wishes of the rest of the party. Barely escaping with his life, Denham then turned against Clapperton and made unfounded accusations of homosexual behaviour, sending a series of reports back to London. He later retracted the claims, but never told Clapperton of the fact.

In December, the party split up, with Oudney and Clapperton visiting Hausa lands nearby, while Denham set off to explore Lake Chad. Despite his supposed lack of skills, Denham was able to prove that the lake was not the source of the Niger as had been believed. Denham and Clapperton returned to Kuka in January 1824, the latter without Oudney, who had died on their journey. The two men returned to London in June 1825 and set about writing this account of the expedition. Clapperton was soon sent back to Nigeria on a mission to the sultan of Sokoto, so Denham took the opportunity to publish the account, greatly skewed in his own favour, without fear of being contradicted.
The book was well received, and Denham was soon elected Fellow of the Royal Society and in 1828 was appointed lieutenant-governor of Sierra Leone. He died within a month of arriving in Freetown.

This beautifully bound volume was presented to the Royal Library by Denham’s widow in 1836.

Provenance

Presented to William IV by Harriet Denham, 1836.

Publication Date

1826

Publisher

John Murray

City

London

Denham, F.R.S.

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