William Balfour Baikie

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William Balfour Baikie

William Balfour Baikie (born August 21, 1824 in Kirkwall , Mainland (Orkney) ; † November 30, 1864 in Sierra Leone ) was a Scottish explorer of Africa .

Life

William Baikie was the son of Captain John Baikie and studied medicine in Edinburgh before joining the British Navy in 1848 . He was assigned as a naval doctor to the expedition of the steamship Pleiad , which was supposed to go up the Binue under Consul Beecroft to support the German African explorer Heinrich Barth , who had reached the Niger region as early as 1851. After Beecroft died on Fernando Póo , Baikie followed him in leading the expedition. The ship went up the Binue and returned after 118 days at its confluence with the Niger without losing a single man. During his stay, Baikie was unable to obtain any precise information about Heinrich Barth's whereabouts.

In March 1857, Baikie began a new expedition with the Pleiad with the rank of consul . After the ship was too badly damaged, all participants returned to Great Britain - except for Baikie, who was determined to reach the expedition's destination on his own. He had the farm rebuilt near Lokoja at the mouth of the Benue in the Niger, which had been built by the British in 1841, but had since fallen into disrepair due to the death of the whites. To this end, Baikie concluded a contract with the prince of the Fula von Nupe . From there he traveled to the Hausa states and collected news about Sudan . He also collected the vocabulary of nearly 50 African dialects and also translated parts of the Bible into Hausa . Under his guidance, orderly trade was established and he also enlarged the sphere of influence of Great Britain in the region.

William Baikie advocated the abolition of the slave trade . After a British ship had picked him up from his station to bring him back home, he died en route on November 30, 1864 in Sierra Leone.

Fonts

  • Narrative of an Exploring Voyage up the Rivers Kwora and Binue in 1854. 1856.
  • Observations on the Hausa and Fuifuide [d. i. Fula] Languages. Private print, 1861.
  • Correspondence with British Ministers and agents in foreign countries and with foreign ministers in England, relating to the slave trade, 1862 - Presented to Parliament. London 1863 (News on Sudan).

literature

personal data
SURNAME Baikie, William Balfour
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish Africa explorer
DATE OF BIRTH August 21, 1824
PLACE OF BIRTH Kirkwall
DATE OF DEATH November 30, 1864
Place of death Sierra Leone