Dixon Denham (January 1, 1786-May 8, 1828) was an English explorer in West Central Africa. January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1786 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ... 1828 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... This list of explorers is sorted by surname. ... A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. ...

Denham was born in London. He was educated at Merchant Taylors School, and was articled to a solicitor, but joined the army in 1811. First in the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and afterwards in the 54th foot, he served in the campaigns in Portugal, Spain, France and Belgium, and received the Waterloo medal. In 1821 he volunteered to join Walter Oudney and Hugh Clapperton, who had been sent by the British government via Tripoli to the central Sudan. He joined the expedition at Murzuk in Fezzan. The Houses of Parliament and the clock tower containing Big Ben Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London (see Wiktionary:London for the name in other languages) is the capital of the United Kingdom and England. ... Merchant Taylors School is a British public school, located in Northwood, in London. ... A solicitor is a type of lawyer in many common law jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, Canada and some States of Australia but not the United States. ... Hugh Clapperton (May 18, 1788 - April 13, 1827), Scottish traveller and explorer of West and Central Africa. ... This page refers to Tripoli, the capital of Libya. ... Murzuk or Murzuq is a town in south west Libya. ... Fezzan is a desert region in south-western Libya. ...

Finding the promised escort not forthcoming, Denham, whose energy was boundless, started for England to complain of the duplicity of the pasha of Tripoli. The pasha, alarmed, sent messengers after him with promises to meet his demands. Denham, who had reached Marseilles, consented to return, the escort was forthcoming, and Murzuk was regained in November 1822. Thence the expedition made its way across the Sahara to Bornu, reached in February 1823. Here Denham, against the wish of Oudney and Clapperton, accompanied a slave-raiding expedition into the Mandara highlands south of Bornu. The raiders were defeated, and Denham barely escaped with his life. Marseilles redirects here. ... Bornu may mean: Kanem-Bornu Empire, a historical state of West Africa Borno State, Nigeria This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

When Oudney and Clapperton set out, December 1823, for the Hausa states, Denham remained behind. He explored the western, south and south-eastern shores of Lake Chad, and the lower courses of the rivers Waube, Logone and Shari. In August 1824, Clapperton having returned and Oudney being dead, Bornu was left on the return journey to Tripoli and England. // Introduction The Hausa are a people chiefly located in northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger. ... Lake Chad (in French: Lac Tchad) is a large, shallow lake in Africa. ... The Chari or Shari River is a 949-kilometer-long river of central Africa, flowing from the Central African Republic through Chad into Lake Chad. ...

In December 1826 Denham, promoted lieutenant-colonel, sailed for Sierra Leone as superintendent of liberated Africans. In 1828 he was appointed governor of Sierra Leone, but after administering the colony for five weeks died of fever at Freetown. Freetown, population 1,070,200 (2004), is the largest city and capital of Sierra Leone, lying on the Freetown Peninsula on the Atlantic coast. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication in the public domain.