Forgotten Books: Travels in West Africa from 1818 to 1821 by Major William Grey

Bokari the Kartan Guide, 1825 - Drawing from the book of Major William Grey.

This is a book with a long title: Travels in Western Africa, in the years 1818, 19, 20, and 21, from the river Gambia, through Woolli, Bondoo, Galam, Kasson, Kaarta, and Foolidoo, to the river Niger. 

(This is the map with the routes of the expedition.)

The text was published in 1825 and the authors were Mayor William Gray and Staff Surgeon Dochard - Dochard died before the publication. The book covers the failed expedition to reach the Niger River and explore its course. 

After the death of the expedition commander - Major John Peddie -, Captain William Grey and Staff Surgeon Dochard were appointed in charge. About this, Major Gray wrote in the Preface of the book:

Warmed with those feelings, I felt an honourable pride in being entrusted with a command to explore the uncultivated regions of Western Africa. It was a task of peril, but the measure of danger was the measure of honour; and with a strong distrust of my own capacity I accepted the office of conducting the expedition. 

The journey was plagued by illnesses and lack of collaboration from natives. Many towns tried to extort the British asking gifts and payments to cross their territories. 

Another problem was that the region was in unrest because of constant intertribal warfare - some caused by the slave trade. 

...many of its inhabitants were either killed or made prisoners (slaves), a fate but too common in this country, where the strongest party always finds an excuse for making war on the weaker, not unfrequently carrying off whole towns of miserable inoffensive beings, without either any previous intimation of their hostile intentions, or indeed any cause given by those wretched objects of their avaricious encroachment.

They also encountered dangerous animals in the route. 

...we were surprised by three lions, which, in despite of the strength of our fence, and of the centinels, who fired several shots at them, forced their way into the camp, and succeeded in mangling one of our horses, which was tied to a stake within fifteen yards of our huts, in such a dreadful manner, that I thought it best, by means of a pistol ball, to put an end to the poor animal’s sufferings.

William Grey wrote about his encounter with Muslim groups. 

...those people are taught by their priests to regard the murder of an infidel, or the destruction of his property, as a meritorious act in the eyes of their prophet.

He summarized the failure of the expedition in reaching the objectives in this short paragraph. 

The principal difficulties which impeded my progress may be reduced to a few heads. The cupidity and duplicity of the chiefs, the existence of slavery as connected with our endeavours to abolish it, the idle fears and apprehensions growing out of recent hostile transactions in the Senegal, and, mainly, the rapid spread and dreadful influence of the Mahomedan faith.

This book is available in Amazon - the link is affiliate.