[1] He regularly lectured in Great Britain about African topics, and in 1857 left with William Balfour Baikie for an expedition of the Niger River.
[5][6] The new owners taught Selim basic English, took him on a tour of the Cataracts of the Nile, and then prepared for the journey to Britain via Malta, Messina, Naples and the land route to Dover Strait.
Selim was placed in the custody of consul Thurburn's brother John in Peterculter near Aberdeen, baptised,[7] educated at home and in a local school.
British explorer Richard Francis Burton came to his former steward's defence, confirming that Selim was, in fact, an African educated in Scotland, and capable of "... briefly anything... he took all the trouble of life off my hands.
Selim's living descendants from this affair have been traced in Scotland and the United States, one of his descendants has been traced with the name Ben Ferry (16 years old)[6] After leaving the Peterculter home in 1846 Selim resurfaced as a lecturer on the Panorama of the Nile at the Great Exhibition of 1851; he petitioned Lord Palmerston for Amelioration of Africa, promoted an idea of a trans-African east-west railroad to facilitate commerce, and was given an audience at the Foreign Office.
[8] In 1857 Selim Aga sailed with William Balfour Baikie on an expedition up the Niger River; he was placed under command of lieutenant John Hawley Glover and accompanied the latter on a dangerous journey to Lagos to help the survivors of a shipwreck.