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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, founded in London on June 9, 1788, was a British club dedicated to the exploration of West Africa, with the mission of discovering the origin and course of the Niger River and the location of Timbuktu, the "lost city" of gold. The formation of this group was effectively the "beginning of the age of African exploration". Organized by a dozen titled members of London?s upper-class establishment and led by Sir Joseph Banks, the African Association felt that it was the great failing of the Age of Enlightenment that, in a time when men could sail around the world, the geography of the Dark Continent remained almost entirely uncharted. The Ancient Greeks and Romans knew more about the interior of Africa than did the English of the 18th century. Motivated by sincere desires for scientific knowledge and the abolition of the slave trade, yet not averse to gaining opportunities for British commerce, the wealthy members each pledged to contribute five guineas per year to recruiting and funding expeditions from England to Africa. ... Read more

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Sahelian population spatial expansion over the last century is about to reach its end. Meanwhile, rural society managements of economic activities have evolved. But such evolutions occur along very different patterns in the Nigerien Sahel. Regional, village and individual level interviewing tools helped to build individual behavior rules in a model simulating the populations and their "terroirs" along two or three generations. Simulations show that once dominant patriarchal families have shifted towards mononuclear ones around the 70's and the famine crises. Villages specialize themselves: more a "terroir" is well endowed, more its population involves itself in local activities but more the population also subdivides itself into groups according to their wealths. Introducing a development project reinforce this social differentiation: only well-endowed sites and among them, only favored groups have the saving capacity to get involved.Such an approach is efficient in underlining the huge impact of micro level constraints on long-term population evolutions, which can be very useful in rural development project evaluations. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from The Geographical Journal, published by Blackwell Publishers Ltd. on March 1, 2009. The length of the article is 8055 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the author: KEY WORDS: Mali, farmer-herder conflicts, political ecology, rent seeking, corruption

Citation Details
Title: Farmer-herder conflicts, pastoral marginalisation and corruption: a case study from the inland Niger delta of Mali.(Case study)
Author: Tor A. Benjaminsen
Publication: The Geographical Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2009
Publisher: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Volume: 175Issue: 1Page: 71(11)

Article Type: Case study

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning ... Read more

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This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1856 edition by John Murray, London. ... Read more

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Contrairement à la vision que l'on a traditionnellement du Sahel oùle manque d'eau constitue une des contraintes majeures audéveloppement, à Gaya des conditions locales particulièrescontredisent ce cliché et transposent le débat de la question de l'eausur un autre plan. Il s'agit de la maîtrise de l'eau au niveau local àtravers l'élaboration d'une politique appropriée qui tienne comptenon seulement des spécificités locales de la ressource, mais aussides différents types d'usages. Cette étude sur les usages de l'eau à Gaya a été menée àtravers plusieurs axes centrés sur l'estimation et la répartitionspatiale des ressources en eau, le cadre juridique et institutionnelrégulant leur mise en valeur, les différents secteurs d'utilisation del'eau ainsi que les contraintes affectant cette utilisation. L'usage dela cartographie à travers les SIG dans le traitement et l'analyse desdonnées, couplée à une dizaine d'année de travaux dans la région, apermis de dresser des synthèses richement illustrées permettant demieux comprendre tous les enjeux liés à la problématique desusages de l'eau dans cette partie du Niger. ... Read more

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This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1833 edition by John Murray, London. ... Read more

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This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1833 edition by John Murray, London. ... Read more

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This is the first book to be published by the Urhobo Historical Society, which was formed in 1999 to preserve and promote the history and culture of the Urhobo people of the Niger Delta region. The society is focusing on documentation, chronicling historical records and the writings of diverse historical experiences amongst the Urhobo, and disseminating information. A higher-minded aim of the society, which has gained recognition in intellectual and academic circles in Nigeria and the United States, is to counterbalance or challenge the imperial historiography that has characterised study of the region, and present a more truthful version of the history of the Niger Delta. ... Read more

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In 1767, two "princes" of a ruling family in the port of Old Calabar, on the slave coast of Africa, were ambushed and captured by English slavers. The princes, Little Ephraim Robin John and Ancona Robin Robin John, were themselves slave traders who were betrayed by African competitors--and so began their own extraordinary odyssey of enslavement. Their story, written in their own hand, survives as a rare firsthand account of the Atlantic slave experience.

Randy Sparks made the remarkable discovery of the princes' correspondence and has managed to reconstruct their adventures from it. They were transported from the coast of Africa to Dominica, where they were sold to a French physician. By employing their considerable language and interpersonal skills, they cleverly negotiated several escapes that took them from the Caribbean to Virginia, and to England, but always ended in their being enslaved again. Finally, in England, they sued for, and remarkably won, their freedom. Eventually, they found their way back to Old Calabar and, evidence suggests, resumed their business of slave trading.

The Two Princes of Calabar offers a rare glimpse into the eighteenth-century Atlantic World and slave trade from an African perspective. It brings us into the trading communities along the coast of Africa and follows the regular movement of goods, people, and ideas across and around the Atlantic. It is an extraordinary tale of slaves' relentless quest for freedom and their important role in the creation of the modern Atlantic World.

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Land-surface processes are essential to the understanding of climate. They are also critical to a better assessment of the availability of water resources and further, central to the description of the interactions between the climate and the biosphere.

The HAPEX-Sahel programme was set up specifically inNiger to study these points.

In the sub-sahelian region the rainy season is short, 3 months long, during which time the conditions vary from extreme dryness to a full bloom of natural and agricultural vegetation, followed by a rapid senescence. In other words the location of Niger for this research made it possible to document over a period of 3 months, processes that would have taken one full year to observe in a region of less extreme conditions.

Now, after 9 years research, the variety of results collected during the HAPEX-Sahel programme are published in this book. The reader can discover, for example,:

• how spatial integra ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (5)

Good to see this available, be aware of quality issues with books from the Publisher (General Books LLC)
The version of "Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa (Volume 1); Performed in the Years 1795, 1796, and 1797: Travels in 1795, 1796, and 1797" published by General Books LLC is an el cheapo version, created using OCR scanning and an automated scanning device which can miss complete pages. Typos are frequent due to the OCR software and there's no table of contents, also, there was absolutely no editing of the book nor any illustrations. This is all stated on the publishers web site (google them and read - you'll be as interested as I was when you see all the disclaimers).

That said, it's good to see some of these old books in print - just make sure you're aware of the possible quality issues. These books are also available in many cases from Project Gutenberg for free download if all you want is the text version.

If you have bought a paper version from General Books LLC by mistake (rather than an actual real edited version), you can return to Amazon within 30 days(but make sure you check Amazon's Return Policy for the details)

Fascinating journey to old Africa
I have just finished reading the Kindle version of this book, and found it fascinating reading.Mr. Park is an amazing explorer. The story of his initial adventures is amazing and humbling.He really was a persistent guy!

Worth reading for the insights to slavery as it existed in those days, as well as traveling both as a priveleged white man and later as a fugitive.

The Kindle version works well and was cheap.I doubt I could have found this book readable or affordable in its initial form.

The Intrepid Mungo Park
Kate Ferguson Marsters' edition of Mungo Park's TRAVELS is an excellent example of the travel narrative - easily comparable with the Journals of Lewis & Clark or Francis Parkman's OREGON TRAIL.The book is broken into three parts: Park's travel narrative , Marsters' Introduction & Major Rennell's Geographical Illustrations Of Mr. Park's Journey (which is rather dry and dated).

The main work is a narrative of Park's travels from Barra, on the West African coast, to the town of Silla, just west of Jenne and his return to the western coast. Park provides many interesting details and asides, including that of Mumbo Jumbo (also mentioned by Francis Moore) for disciplining wayward wives.Park also spends a fair amount of time explaining local governments and social norms. Throughout, the account attempts some degree of neutrality while noting acts of kindness and avarice by various individuals and rulers; although, not surprisingly, he explicitly criticizes the Moors who continually interfered with his progress and those who robbed and stripped him.Perhaps his most disturbing account is of the female slave who becomes too sick to continue traveling with the coffle.The entire work puts black slaves and their families in a very sympathetic light and shows the slave trade at its worst; although, due to the continuing conditions of slavery and internal conquest pre-dating major European involvement in the trade, Park stated that the termination of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade would not provide as great a benefit to the populace in Africa as many hoped.

The Introduction is important in providing the history of Park's early years, the important role of the African Association and its leader, Sir Joseph Banks.More importantly the Introduction deals with the Bryan Edwards controversy. Richard Burton and Orlando Patterson's criticisms have held that internal African slavery and slave trading was not nearly so prevalent as suggested by Park.In light of this, Marsters' statement that Joseph Banks, a critic of slavery, had to approve every piece of Edward's editing becomes extremely important.In addition, it is made clear that the reason for the stylistic differences is that the original TRAVELS was a book derived from Park's notes whereas the published work of his second, ill-fated journey was merely a compilation of those notes retrieved from the dead man's party!

All-in-all, an excellent and informative read!

SAYING THAT MUNGO PARK DISCOVERED RIVER NIGER IS RIDICULOUS
This book is not too bad, but it would have been better if its author and editor were frank with their "facts".
Mungo Park, an inquisitive Scottish doctor and explorer, displayed a lot of courage in his adventures. He was steadfast and result-oriented. However, it is wrong for anybody to assume that he discovered the 'Nile of the Negroes', (as the River Niger was then called). The indigenous Africans who lived by the river banks knew its course long before Mungo Park's forefathers were born. They showed the Scot the way!
Thus, claiming that Dr. Park discovered River Niger is absurd. It is as ridiculous as claiming that the first African who sailed across River Thames discovered the English river.

Mungo Park is one of the overlooked adventurers.
Mungo Park (1771-1806?) was the first European to visit the Niger River basin in 1796.He resolved, once and for all, a debate that had European cartographers and geographers confused for centuries.

His initial journey (1795-1797) was a tale of tremendous personal hardship and suffering, but triumph in the end.After returning to Scotland in 1798, he became acquainted with Sir Walter Scott.They became close friends, and it was Sir Walter Scott who convinced him to return to Africa to encover the secret of the mouth of the Niger River.

In 1805 he convinced the British government, in the middlle of a war against Napoleon, to send another expedition to seek out the mouth of the Niger.With 100 officers and men he set out, retracing his earlier steps.The journey was filled with personal tragedy and heroism.After arriving on the Niger, he built a boat, named the Joliba, and travelled down the river.During the course of his journey he met and traded with the many kingdoms that lined the river.However, he also incurred the wrath of many local kings and chiefs who believed that he was cheating them.

Near the town of Bussa (now covered by a huge dam), Mungo Park met his unexpected end.For many years it has been assumed that he was attacked by hostile natives seeking to rob him.In fact it may have been due to the fact that he just failed to navigate the river ... Read more