Banks collected many species of plants and animals during that journey, including many which were previously unknown or undescribed by Europeans.[5] In 1766 Banks met James Cook briefly in St John's, through their mutual friend Thomas Adams. This meeting would lead to Banks joining Cook on his first circumnavigation from 1769 to 1771.[6]
On 14 March, 1778, under command of Captain Robert Lambert, she captured schooner Sukey off Monti Christi, Spanish Santo Domingo.[9] On 18 March She pursued and captured sloop Dove after she ran aground 2 or 3 miles off Monti Christi. Dove was refloated and sent to Jamaica. On 19 March she captured French brig St. Joseph 4 or 5 leagues off Monti Christi.[10] On 1 April, 1778 she captured schooners Angelina and Adventure.[11]
Because Niger served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 8 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.[Note 2]
On 21 May 1806 Niger was in company with the bomb vesselThunder and the brig Dexterous when they detained Trende Damen (Three Ladies).[13]
Fate
The Navy converted Niger to a prison hospital ship in May 1809, and renamed her Negro in 1813. She was sold in 1814.
Notes
^Sir Thomas Adams was Niger's captain from March 1763 until 1767. His father, Sir Robert Adams, was a London solicitor, his mother's name was Diana. Sir Thomas was baptized in St Pancras Church, London on 17 February 1738.[3] He inherited a baronetcy on the death of his father, but died without issue in April 1770.[citation needed]
^A first-class share of the prize money awarded in April 1823 was worth £34 2s 4d; a fifth-class share, that of a seaman, was worth 3s 11½d. The amount was small as the total had to be shared between 79 vessels and the entire army contingent.[12]
Lysaght, A. M. (1971). Joseph Banks in Newfoundland and Labrador, 1766; his diary, manuscripts, and collections. Berkeley, University of California Press.
Winfield, Rif (2007). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. London: Seaforth. ISBN978-1-84415-700-6.