Abstract
The article explores the British Expedition in the Niger and Benue rivers in 1854, through the transformation of political and economic relations of Great Britain and the interior of West Africa. The highlight of this enterprise is the absence of deaths by tropical fevers. Several records, including travel writings and the correspondence between the expedition's agents, the Foreign Office and the Colonial Office, are among the compilation of sources. This article draws attention to the terms and forms of trade held with the Africans throughout the route, and to the conditions in which these relationships were established. On the one hand, it aims to understand the expedition as part of a process that enlarged the European presence in the interior of West Africa. On the other hand, it reflects on African strategies that dialogue with the economic transformations around the Atlantic basin in the mid-nineteenth century.
Keywords
West African History; travel writings; 'legitimate' commerce
