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Journal of an Expedition up the Niger and Tshadda Rivers
Our edition · 1855 · 270 pages
Journal of an Expedition up the Niger and Tshadda Rivers
by Samuel Ajayi Crowther
Crowther's day-by-day record of the 1854 expedition led by MacGregor Laird up the Niger and its tributary the Tshadda (Benue), aboard the steamer Pleiad, published by the Church Missionary House in 1855. Frankly a survey journal — geography, peoples, trade, and the siting of future missions — written by an African clergyman moving up the rivers of his homeland.
The changed life
Born about 1809 in Yorubaland, Crowther was seized by slave raiders as a boy near twelve, sold toward a Portuguese slave ship, and freed by a Royal Navy patrol that landed him in Sierra Leone. He was baptised in 1825, took the name Samuel Crowther, and in 1864 was consecrated the first African bishop of the Anglican Church.
Summary
Journal of an Expedition up the Niger and Tshadda Rivers (1855) is Samuel Ajayi Crowther's own day-by-day record of the 1854 voyage up the Niger and its great tributary the Tshadda (today the Benue), aboard the steamer Pleiad. It was published by the Church Missionary House in London, and it is frankly a survey journal rather than a spiritual memoir: Crowther sets down geography, the peoples and rulers he meets, languages, trade, and his judgments about where Christian missions might one day be planted.
The expedition itself was a landmark. Organized by the Liverpool merchant MacGregor Laird, it pressed further up the rivers than earlier attempts and — with the systematic use of quinine against malaria — returned without the devastating loss of life that had wrecked previous Niger expeditions, helping open the interior to commerce and mission. Crowther's account fed directly into the work he would later lead on the Niger.
What gives the journal its weight is partly the hand that holds the pen. The observer charting these rivers for the gospel is himself an African and a former captive — a man surveying the waterways of his own continent as an ordained clergyman of the Church of England.
Who was Samuel Ajayi Crowther?
Samuel Ajayi Crowther (c. 1809–1891) was born in Osogun in Yorubaland. Around the age of twelve he was seized by slave raiders, sold, and put aboard a Portuguese slave ship; the ship was intercepted by a British Royal Navy anti-slavery patrol, and he was set ashore at Freetown, Sierra Leone. There he was taken in and educated by the Church Missionary Society, and he was baptised in 1825, taking the name Samuel Crowther after an English clergyman.
His conversion led to a remarkable life of service and scholarship. A pioneering linguist, he produced Yoruba grammar and vocabulary and led the translation of Scripture into Yoruba; he was ordained in England in 1843, and in 1864 was consecrated the first African bishop of the Anglican Church, overseeing the mission on the Niger. The journal is a window onto that arc — from an enslaved boy to a bishop charting the rivers of his homeland for the faith.
Common questions
- Was Samuel Crowther the first African Anglican bishop?
- Yes. After being ordained in England in 1843, Crowther was consecrated in 1864 as the first African bishop of the Anglican Church, leading the mission on the Niger.
- Was Samuel Crowther a former slave?
- Yes. He was captured by slave raiders as a boy of about twelve in Yorubaland and put aboard a slave ship, which was intercepted by a Royal Navy patrol; he was freed and settled in Sierra Leone, where he was baptised in 1825.
- Did Crowther write the journal himself?
- Yes. It is his own firsthand, day-by-day record of the 1854 expedition up the Niger and Tshadda (Benue) rivers, published in 1855.
Preach this story
Samuel Ajayi Crowther's story is featured in our free sermon illustrations on:
Study guide
Grades 8–12Themes
- Providence — meant for evil, used for good
- Missions and the Niger expedition
- A primary source of African exploration
- Language and Bible translation
Discussion questions
- How does Crowther's own history as a freed slave shape the significance of his journal?
- What does the journal record about the peoples, geography, and trade of the Niger region?
- Why was Crowther's work as a linguist and Bible translator so important?
- What does it mean that an African churchman charted his own homeland for the gospel?
Key terms
- Niger / Tshadda.
- The West African river and its tributary (today the Benue) the expedition explored.
- Church Missionary Society.
- The Anglican mission body that educated and sent Crowther.
- Bible translation.
- Rendering Scripture into a people's language — Crowther's pioneering work in Yoruba.
A note on the text. Journal of an Expedition up the Niger and Tshadda Riversis in the public domain. What you're buying is our edition — the careful typesetting and design. The original text is also available free here.