After sharing in the bombardment of Beirut and in the early operations of the Syrian War, he became attached, towards the close of 1840, to an expedition fitting for the exploration of the Niger, whither he sailed in 1841, as Mate, on board the "Albert" steamer under Captain Henry Dundas Trotter, one of the three small steamers sent to explore the Niger. Having ascended that river as far as Egga, a distance of 350 miles from the sea, he returned to Cape Coast Castle in September 1841.