In 1818, Ritchie was directed by Sir
John Barrow to find the course of the
River Niger and the location of
Timbuktu. Ritchie chose subordinate
George Francis Lyon to accompany him. Instead of stocking food and trade goods before departing Tripoli, Richie squandered the limited expedition funds on profligate items. After Ritchie died, George Lyon opened the crates they hauled through the desert and found things like 600 pounds of lead, a camel-load of cork for preserving insects, and two camel-loads of brown paper for pressing plants. ==References==