1-633-012 - Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images

'A Sand Wind on the Desert', 1821. In 1818 George Francis Lyon and Joseph Ritchie undertook an expedition to try to map the course of the River Niger and locate the city of Timbuktu. The expedition lacked funding and support and the selection of Tripoli as the point of departure meant that a crossing of the vast Sahara Desert would be required. The expedition failed to achieve its objectives and Ritchie died from illness. From Narrative of Travels in Northern Africa in the years 1818-19 and 1920 by Captain George Francis Lyon (1795-1832), 1821.