Wolf75k

I may be thinking of somebody else but wasn't Mungo Park a crazy psychopath who enjoyed firing into crowds of natives while sailing down the Niger? :S

Bismarck

I guess there are a number of incidents in Park's travels that could be construed this way - I'm thinking in particular of the times when the river was his only safe passage - but I think in general Park had more to fear from the natives than they had from him. As for being a 'crazy psychopath', his journal is far too empathetic, humourous and perceptive to be the product of a deranged mind.

jehosafats

- From Darwin's The Descent of Man, vol II, pg 346

GLADIATOR

i vote to Richard and John Lander - discovered the Niger River flowed into the Bight of Biafra 1825-8
From my point of view of the most important choices because it reflects the discovery of something new we did not know

THANKS

GALDIATOR.

Bismarck

The brothers sailed from Portsmouth in January 1830 and their discoveries gave Britain access to the Niger delta - important as a counterweight to French influence further west.

An interesting fact about the Landers is how cheap they were. Richard asked for $100* for his wife and $100* upon his return, and to be be able to take his brother, John. Otherwise, it cost the Colonial Office nothing.

pounds sterling.

okamido

Good pick. From the list though, I will go with Park and Bath.