William Balfour Baikie

He early attracted the notice of Sir Roderick Murchison, through whom he was appointed surgeon and naturalist to the Niger expedition sent out in 1854 by Macgregor Laird with government support.

The expedition had been instructed to endeavour to afford assistance to Heinrich Barth, who had in 1851 crossed the Benue in its upper course, but Baikie was unable to gain any trustworthy information concerning him.

Returning to the UK, Baikie gave an account of his work in his Narrative of an Exploring Voyage up the Rivers Kwora and Binue (1856).

The botanist, Charles Barter, who trained at Kew Gardens and was foreman of Regent's Park of the Royal Botanic Society, London from 1851 to 1857, caught dysentery and died at Rabba, Nigeria in 1859.

He first considered establishing a British Consular Agency at Kabba, but faced opposition from the local king - possibly because Baikie was against the slave trade, which still provided a generous income for some tribal leaders.

[1] After purchasing the site, and concluding a treaty with the Fula emir of Nupe, he proceeded to clear the ground, build houses, form enclosures and pave the way for a future city.

In less than five years he had opened up the navigation of the Niger, made roads, and established a market to which the native produce was brought for sale and barter.

The explorer of the Niger and Tchadda, the translator of the Bible into the languages of Central Africa, and the pioneer of education, commerce, and progress, among its many nations.

But the climate, from which his care, skill, and kindness, shielded so many, was fatal to himself, and when, relieved at last though too late, he sought to restore his failing health by rest and home, he found them both only in the grave.