VARIOUS ADVENTURERS 147 



quality " of regarding all men as his equals which accom- 

 panies the man of supreme intellectual and physical 

 energy." Banks received him very cordially, and told 

 him about the proposals for opening up Africa. The 

 very man that was wanted : he would be ready " to- 

 morrow morning." 



Ledyard left London June 30, 1788 barely a month 

 having elapsed since the formation of the African Associa- 

 tion. He was at Cairo in August, and spent some time 

 there preparing for a route across to the river Niger. His 

 first and only dispatch to the Association confirmed the 

 Committee in the soundness of their choice. But their 

 hopes were blasted by next having news that Ledyard 

 had fallen victim to a bilious fever. He died at Cairo 

 in January, 1789. 



Meanwhile, another promising candidate appeared in 

 Simon Lucas, sometime Oriental Interpreter to the 

 British Court. He was sent to attack the unknown land 

 from a north-easterly direction. He sailed for Tripoli in 

 October, 1788, with a view to visiting Fezzan, passing 

 the desert, and returning by way of Gambia. But a few 

 days' forward journey compelled Lucas to abandon his 

 plans. The hostility of the Arabs (he reported) was fatal 

 to his hopes of making any progress. He remained at 

 Tripoli as H.M. Consul for Morocco, sending to Banks 

 and the other gentlemen occasional letters with informa- 

 tion about the country 



Major Daniel Houghton, 6gth Regiment, was the third 

 who volunteered to face the dangers of African explora- 

 tion. With the experience of long service on the West 

 Coast he had dreamed of the possibility of opening up 

 the Niger country. Houghton reached the mouth of the 

 Gambia river in November, ^000* The King of Barra 

 recollected him and his kindly dealings, and gave him 

 protection and assistance. All went well until he was 

 at Medina, about nine hundred miles from the sea. Then 



