Product Details
AN INTERESTING AND HISTORIC .75 FLINTLOCK PATTERN 1843 BROWN BESS MUSKET FROM THE WEST AFRICA EXPEDITION STEAM YACHT PLEIAD, RACK No. 8,
with 39in. barrel stamped with G.R. ordnance proofs at breech, the lock with rounded tail and stamped to centre 'E & W. BOND / LONDON' and fitted with a ring neck cock, regulation brass mounted New Land style full walnut stock, the butt cap tang engraved 'PLEIAD /16', complete with sling swivels, rod and socket bayonet from the same ship with the rack no. 22
Provenance: This rare and historic musket is of the little-known British military Pattern 1843 Enrolled Pensioners musket. They were produced from India Pattern parts in store, the locks modified by rounding the tail (See British Ordnance Muskets of the 1830's and 1840', by Adrian Roads). In 1854 an expedition sponsored by the British Government was organised to explore and chart the Niger and its tributaries. The steam yacht Pleiad was built and fitted out especially for this expedition, and under the command of William Balfour Baikie (1825-1864). Its armament consisting of one 12 Pdr., four swivel guns and a selection of Minie rifles, flintlock pistols and flintlock muskets, of which this is one. Baikie managed to navigate and record scientific data along 700 miles of rivers, including constant latitude and longitude readings. The Pleiad had gone 250 miles further along the Benue than other explorers had dared to venture before. The ship reached the mouth of the Niger exactly 16 weeks after they had set out and due to careful administration of quinine, not a single crew member succumbed to malaria (unlike a previous expedition attempt in 1841 which saw forty out of fourty-five Europeans dying of the disease). At least two books were written on the expedition, one by William B. Baikie entitled 'Narrative of an Exploring Voyage Up The Kwora and Binue (Commonly Known As The Niger And Tshadda) In 1854'. The second book was by the remarkable Reverend Samuel Crowther, (invited to join the expedition as a Missionary) and entitled 'Journal of an expedition up the Niger And Tshadda rivers undertaken by Macgregor Laird in connection with the British Government in 1854'.
Accompanying the musket is a memory stick with copies of these books
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Estimate £1,200-1,400