William Balfour Baikie was a surgeon, naturalist, linguist, writer,
explorer, and government consul who played a key role in opening Africa
to the Europeans. As an explorer he mapped and charted large sections of
the Niger River system as well as the overland routes from Lagos and
Lokoja to the major trading centres of Kano, Timbuctu and Sokoto. As a
naturalist, major beneficiaries of his work included Kew Gardens and the
British Museum for the rare and undiscovered plant and animal species
and yet today he remains largely unknown. On 10th December, 1864 Baikie
was on his way back to London and was living in his temporary quarters
in Sierra Leone. There he worked to regain his health and to complete
the various reports and publications expected by the Colonial and
Foreign Offices. He had been away from England for seven years and
living conditions in West Africa had caused his health to suffer. While
his wife and children waited for his return 600 miles away in Lokoja,
the city in Nigeria he had founded, his father waited for his return to
Kirkwall, Orkney. Baikie would never return to his wife, nor ever see
his father again. In two days, he would be dead and buried at Sierra
Leone before his fortieth birthday. In his short life Baikie became such
a hero among the Nigerian people 150 years ago that white visitors to
the region today are still greeted warmly as 'Baikie'. After studying at
University of Edinburgh he was assigned to the Royal Hospital Haslar
where he worked with the noted explorers Sir John Richardson and Sir
Edward Perry. Baikie's reputation as a naturalist, and the sphere of
influence provided by Richardson and Perry, allowed him to enter the
elite British scientific community where he also worked alongside the
most famous naturalist of the time, Charles Darwin. During his time at
Haslar, Baikie made two voyages exploring the Niger and Benue Rivers to
establish trading centres for the Liverpool merchant Macgregor Laird.
The first was a resounding success. He conducted the first clinical
trial using quinine as a preventative for malaria. For the first time in
history, his initial exploration of these rivers was conducted without
the loss of a single life to fever. Returning to London to a hero's
welcome, he was nominated for one of the Royal Geographic Society's
prestigious awards. His second voyage was a pure disaster. His ship was
wrecked; members of the expedition died and he was stranded for over a
year in the vast remote territory known as the Sokoto Caliphate.
Following his rescue, he elected to remain alone in Africa for what
would be his final years in order to complete his personal mission.
Although he was born 4,000 miles away in Orkney, Baikie was designated
the King of Lokoja by the ruler of the Sokoto Caliphate. This book
defines the man and his accomplishments and reveals how he is so fondly
remembered by the Nigerians and yet apparently so totally forgotten by
the rest of the world.
