William Balfour Baikie

William Balfour Baikie ( born August 21, 1824 in Kirkwall on 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 Royal Navy in 1848. He was assigned as a naval surgeon of the expedition of the steamship Pleiad, which should go up the Binue under Consul Beecroft to support the German explorer Heinrich Barth, who had reached the areas of the Niger in 1851. After Beecroft died on Fernando Poo, Baikie succeeded him in the leadership of the expedition. The ship went up the Binue and returned after 118 days back at the mouth of the Niger, without having lost a single man. Baikie was unable to get accurate information about the persistence of Heinrich Barth during his stay.

In March 1857 Baikie began with the rank of consul a new expedition to the Pleiad. After the ship but was too badly damaged, all the participants went back to the UK - up to Baikie, who was determined to achieve the goal of the expedition on their own. He left the farm at Lokoja built at the mouth of the Niger Benue again, which was created in 1841 by the British, but was now falling back because of the death of whites. These closed Baikie a contract with the princes of the Fula of Nupe. From there he traveled to the states of the Hausa and gathered news about Sudan. He also collected the vocabulary of approximately 50 African dialects and also translated parts of the Bible into Hausa. Under his guidance, a minor 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 he had picked up a British ship of his station, to bring him back into the home, he died on the road on November 30, 1864 in Sierra Leone.

Writings

• Narrative of an Exploring Voyage up the Rivers Kwora and Binue in 1854. 1856.
• Observations on the Hausa and Fuifuide [ i.e., Fula ] Languages ​​. Privately printed, 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 Sudan ).