‘Letters of Major Alexander Gordon Laing 1824-1826’ in Missions to the Niger, Vol. I

1962

Journals G161 H2 Ser.2 no.123

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press for the Hakluyt Society

Who has not wanted to pen the words: ‘I am on the road to Tombuctoo’? So wrote explorer Alexander Gordon Laing (1794-1826) to Hanmer Warrington, his father-in-law, on 3rd November 1825. Supported by Sir Joseph Banks and others, Laing set off to confirm the location of Timbuktu, and position clearly the Niger River. In mid-July 1825, he left Tripoli and started across the Sahara. By August 1826 he was in Timbuktu, after being robbed, stabbed numerous times, and losing his right hand. On preparing to leave the city, he was killed by Tuareg raiders. This publication is a compilation of his writings such as ‘Cursory Remarks’ on the Niger and a few surviving letters. Laing ‘re-discovered’ Timbuktu. It is regarded as one of the great journeys in the history of African exploration.