Laing, Alexander Gordon

Laing, Alexander Gordon

▪ Scottish explorer
born Dec. 27, 1793, Edinburgh, Scot.
died Sept. 26, 1826, near Tombouctou, Fulani empire [now Timbuktu, Mali]
 Scottish explorer of western Africa and the first European known to have reached the ancient city of Tombouctou (Timbuktu).

      Serving with the British army in Sierra Leone (1822), Laing was sent among the Mande people of the region by the governor, Charles (later Sir Charles) M'Carthy, to attempt to develop trade in goods and to abolish that in slaves. He also visited the capital of the Susu people, Falaba, now in Sierra Leone. In 1823–24 Laing fought in the war between the British and the Asante empire and returned to England with the news of M'Carthy's death in action.

      His next mission was to visit Tombouctou and to explore the Niger River basin. In July 1825 he left the North African coast at Tripoli, Libya, on his journey across the Sahara. He reached Ghudāmis (Ghadames) in northern Fezzan, now in Libya, by September and then entered the vast country of the Tuareg. Before reaching Tombouctou on August 18, 1826, he had to fight for his life and was severely wounded. He left Tombouctou on September 24 and was murdered two days later. The journal of his earlier explorations, Travels in the Timannee, Kooranko, and Soolima Countries in Western Africa, was published in 1825.

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  • Alexander Gordon Laing — Major Alexander Gordon Laing (27 December 1793 ndash;26 September 1826) was a Scottish explorer and the first European to reach Timbuktu.Laing was born at Edinburgh. He was educated by his father, William Laing, a private teacher of classics, and …   Wikipedia

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  • Laing — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Alexander Gordon Laing (1793–1826), schottischer Afrikaforscher Gordon Jennings Laing (1869–1945), US amerikanischer klassischer Philologe Hector Laing, Baron Laing of Dunphail (1923–2010), britischer… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Laing — est un terme pouvant désigner: Patronyme Alexander Gordon Laing (1793 1826), explorateur britannique Leslie Laing (né en 1925), athlète jamaïcain Malcolm Laing (1762 1818), historien écossais Martin Laing, chef décorateur anglais Quintin Laing… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Gordon — puede referirse a: Contenido 1 Nombre 2 Apellido 2.1 Botánicos 3 Desambiguación de nombre y apellido …   Wikipedia Español

  • Laing — (spr. Lehna), Alexander Gordon, geb. 1794[32] in Edinburg, wurde 1810 Fähndrich im Corps der Edinburger Freiwilligen; ging 1811 nach Barbados, diente auf mehreren Antillen u. kehrte als Major 1820 in sein Vaterland zurück. 1822 wurde er im… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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