James Richardson (explorer of the Sahara)
Encyclopedia
Richardson made an expedition in 1845 from Tunis and Tripoli in Libya to Ghadames and Ghat in the middle of the Sahara. Here he collected information about the Tuareg and arrived after nine months back again in Tripoli. After he had published "Travels into the great desert of Sahara" (2 Books. London 1849), he succeeded to convince the British government to equip an expedition into Sudan and to lake Chad. In March 1850 Richardson went for the second time to Ghat accompanied by Heinrich Barth
Heinrich Barth
Heinrich Barth was a German explorer of Africa and scholar.Barth is one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, not necessarily because of the length of his travels or the time he spent alone without European company in Africa, but because of his singular character.-Biography:Barth...
and Adolf Overweg
Adolf Overweg
Adolf Overweg was a German geologist, astronomer, and traveler from Hamburg. As a member of a mission to fix trade routes in Central Africa he became the first person of European origin to circumnavigate Lake Chad...
. He was the first European to cross the stony elevated plain of the Hammada. James Richardson died on this journey on 4 March 1851 in Ngurutua, a six day journey away from Kuka. His travel notes and diaries were published by Bayle Saint John: "Narrative of a mission to Central Africa". 2 Books. London (1853) and "Travels in Morocco". 2 Books. London (1859).