Western News

A bold expedition celebrating the bicentenary of a great Cornish explorer is retracing his epic trip in a canoe. Lindsey Kennedy reports.

A diminutive Cornishman with a big appetite for adventure set out on an epic journey more than 170 years ago into the uncharted territory of deepest Africa. Now an audacious 700km canoe expedition down the River Niger will celebrate the bicentenary of Richard Lander's birth and his extraordinary feats as a great but unsung explorer.
A team, which includes two descendants of Lander, will follow the explorer's historic journey to raise the profile of man whose exploits are largely forgotten outside his home town of Truro.

Sea trials of the 24ft African-style canoe began off Falmouth on Saturday. But the expedition will begin in November at New Bussa in Nigeria, where Richard and his brother John Lander began their epic trip in 1930.

He solved one of the world's greatest geographical mysteries by discovering the course and termination of the River Niger. Hundreds had perished in the centuries-long quest to chart the heart of West Africa and the Lander brothers suffered horrendous hardships on their journey.

Megan and Emily Lander, the great-great-great granddaughters of John Lander, said his exploits were relatively unknown.
Megan said: "No one in Britain really knows about Richard Lander but in Nigeria everyone has heard of him. He is quite a hero out there. As soon as we learned of the trip, we knew we had to take part."

Gifts from schools across Cornwall will be passed to children in the many Nigerian villages waiting to officially welcome them.
"The climate is going to be challenging but we are ready for it," said Truro businessman Simon Hendra, who has long tried to raise the profile of Richard Lander.

However challenging the trip, it is unlikely to compare to the ordeal Lander suffered.
Known by Africans as "Nasarah Currameaee" - meaning "Little Christian" - Lander was born in Truro in 1804, the son of a pub landlord. He was the sole survivor of his first expedition to West Africa in 1825, walking alone for seven months across Nigeria before publishing an account of his travels.
With an eye on trade opportunities, the British Government sent Richard and John to explore more of the Niger in 1830, when they made their great discovery about the source of the river. Richard died aged 30, when he was ambushed and shot by tribesmen while leading a trade expedition up the Niger.

Falmouth College has constructed the canoe based on a design similar to one Lander would have used. But the team, under the auspices of the Police Expedition Society, will have the benefit of a supply boat and outboard engine.
Sgt Steve Dunstone, whose brainwave four years ago has made the trip a reality, said: "It is such a moving story. I felt that if I let the opportunity pass me by, I'd regret it."

lkennedy@westernmorningnews.co.uk
An important geographical discovery
Richard and John Lander's epic voyage was regarded by their peers as "perhaps the most important geographical discovery of the present age".
There was much at stake, as unlocking the River Niger meant opening up vast new trading areas.
During the trip the Lander brothers were held prisoner, had close encounters with hippos and crocodiles and were captured by river pirates. They eventually escaped after paying a ransom and fleeing.
Upon returning to London their journals were bought for one thousand guineas and translated into six languages.
Lander - who is honoured with a memorial column at the top of Lemon Street in Truro - was the first person to be awarded the Royal Geographical Society's Gold Medal.

Those who had refused to believe the Niger joined the Nile had to admit they were wrong. An 1832 review of the Landers' journals said: "The long-sought-for termination of the Niger has now been discovered and by a very humble yet intelligent individual who... accomplished an undertaking in which all former travellers had failed."