Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Alexander Gordon Laing

LAING, Alexander Gordon (1793–1826), an African explorer, was born at Edinburgh 27th December 1793. At first it seemed that he would follow his father’s profession, that of a teacher of the classics; but, his fancy being fired with the military ardour of the time, he set out for Barbados, where his maternal uncle Colonel Gordon was then stationed. Here he met with Sir George Beckwith, who procured him a commission in the York light infantry. His career as a traveller began in 1822, when he was sent on a mission to the country of the Sulimas and advanced as far as the sources of the Rokelle. By ascertaining that the source of the Quorra or Niger was not more than 1600 feet above the sea, he dispelled the idea that it was connected with the Nile. The further elucidation of the other questions that were then connected with this great river formed the principal object of his next journey, undertaken in 1825 under the auspices of Lord Bathurst. From a letter sent May 10, 1826, from Blad Sidi Mohammed to Consul Warrington at Tripoli we know that he had barely escaped with his life from an attack in which he had received twenty-four wounds. He managed to reach Timbuctoo by August 18th, but shortly afterwards fell a victim to the treachery of his servant. The history of the vain attempt to recover the traveller’s journals will be found in the Quarterly Review, vol. xlii. (1830). The narrative of his first journey was published in 1825.