“ The work he accomplished in West Africa constitutes his most enduring monument. At that time France possessed in Senegal little else than the town of St Louis and a strip of coast. Explorers had, however, made known the riches and possibilities of the Niger regions, and Faidherbe formed the design of adding those countries to the French dominions. He even dreamed of creating a French African empire stretching from Senegal to the Red Sea. ”

“ For his services he was decorated with the grand cross, and made chancellor of the order of the Legion of Honour. In 1872 he went on a scientific mission to Upper Egypt, where he studied the monuments and inscriptions. ”