Simon Lucas ( fl.c.1766–1799) was an English diplomat and explorer for the

African Association The Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa (commonly known as the African Association), founded in London on 9 June 1788, was a British club dedicated to the exploration of West Africa, with the mission of discove ...

Life

The son of a vintner in

Greyfriars, London In London, the Greyfriars was a Conventual Franciscan friary that existed from 1225 to 1538 on a site at the North-West of the City of London by Newgate in the parish of St Nicholas in the Shambles. It was the second Franciscan religious ho ...

, who was admitted to St. Paul's School, he was sent to Cadiz while still young, to be trained in commerce. He was captured on his return voyage by a Sallee rover, and enslaved in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. After three years' captivity Lucas went to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

Edward Cornwallis Edward Cornwallis ( – 14 January 1776) was a British career military officer and was a member of the aristocratic Cornwallis family, who reached the rank of Lieutenant General. After Cornwallis fought in Scotland, putting down the Jacobi ...

, Gibraltar's governor, sent him back to Morocco as a vice-consul. He spent 16 years there. In 1785 Lucas returned to England, and was appointed oriental interpreter at court. He undertook a journey in Africa for the Association for Promoting African Exploration, set up in 1788. He left England in August 1788 with the intention of crossing the desert from

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

Fezzan Fezzan ( , ; ber, ⴼⵣⵣⴰⵏ, Fezzan; ar, فزان, Fizzān; la, Phazania) is the southwestern region of modern Libya. It is largely desert, but broken by mountains, uplands, and dry river valleys (wadis) in the north, where oases enable ...

, in what is now

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

. The plan was to collect information in Fezzan, and from traders, on the interior, and to return home by way of

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

or the Guinea coast. At the end of October 1788, Lucas landed at Tripoli, and was received by Ali I Pasha. A revolt on the intended route delayed his journey, but two

sharif Sharīf ( ar, شريف, 'noble', 'highborn'), also spelled shareef or sherif, feminine sharīfa (), plural ashrāf (), shurafāʾ (), or (in the Maghreb) shurfāʾ, is a title used to designate a person descended, or claiming to be descended, fr ...

s offered him safe conduct. Lucas started off on a mule, in an armed company with 18 others persons, in February 1789. They reached the ruins of Lebida, and then within a week "Menrata" (apparently Mesurata, i.e.

Misrata Misrata ( ; also spelled Misurata or Misratah; ar, مصراتة, Miṣrāta ) is a city in the Misrata District in northwestern Libya, situated to the east of Tripoli and west of Benghazi on the Mediterranean coast near Cape Misrata. With ...

). Adverse conditions meant the journey planned by Lucas had to be scaled back. He obtained information from one of the sharifs, who had travelled as factor in the slave-trade for the king of Fezzan, by trading a copy of a map of Africa for accounts of Fezzan, the Bornou empire, and

Nigritia Negroland, or Nigritia, is an archaic term in European mapping, referring to Europeans’ descriptions of West Africa as an area populated with negroes. This area comprised at least the western part of the region called Sudan (not to be c ...

. Lucas turned back ar Memoon on 20 March 1789, reaching Tripoli on 6 April, and England on 26 July. He was succeeded in his African Association position by Daniel Houghton, and became consul in Tripoli in 1793.

Works

Lucas's account of Africa was published in the ''Reports'' of the African Association.

Notes

External links

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Simon British diplomats English explorers Moroccan slaves 18th-century English people Explorers of Africa 18th-century slaves