Gaston Méry (explorer)

Gaston Méry
Méry making astronomical observation in 1893
Born	1844 Dély Ibrahim, Algeria
Died	18 October 1896 Kayes, Mali
Nationality	French
Occupation	Explorer

Gaston Méry (1844 – 18 October 1896) was a French explorer. He was born in Algeria, son of one of the early settlers. After serving as a sailor and in the army, he assisted in surveys in Tunisia, then undertook three major expeditions into the Sahara in southern Algeria. He established friendly contact with the Tuareg people of the Kel Ajjer confederation, at the time considered unfriendly to the French, and mapped part of the route for a projected trans-Sahara railway to link Algeria to the Sudan. In the last years of his life he became a prosperous trader and real estate developer in Timbuktu.

Gaston Méry was born in 1843 in Dély Ibrahim, Algiers, Algeria. His family originated in Toulouse. He left home at the age of 16, went to sea and travelled to many parts of the world. When aged 21 he joined the Algerian tirailleurs. He advanced quickly through the lower ranks, and distinguished himself in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. When he left the army his colonel said "we are losing the worst head and the best heart in the regiment." Méry was tall, active and intelligent, with gray eyes, a high forehead, aquiline nose and wide moustache. He was known for his generosity and improvidence, and was often destitute. He was independent, adventurous and somewhat fatalistic. Like the local people, he was very sober and had great resistance to fatigue.

Méry first journeyed in the Sahara with Henri Duveyrier in 1876. In 1884 he assisted Commandant François Élie Roudaire in his hydrographical and topographical work on the chotts in the Gabès region. He then became an employee of the topographical services of Tunisia under M. Piat. In Tunisia he recaptured some of the Arabic that he had already spoken while serving in Algeria. He married for a second time in 1889. In 1890 he was part of the topographical brigade charged with triangulating Tunisia. During his work he became fully familiar with Islam.

In Tunis Méry conceived the project of exploring the Tuareg country beyond the Tunisian border. In 1891 he toured Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Tripolitania, preoccupied with organizing commercial links with the Sudan. His chief gave him a letter of recommendation to Georges Rolland, who at once saw his abilities. Rolland was an engineer of the Corps des mines and a strong supporter of the Trans-Saharan railway. Rolland attached Méry permanently to his staff and had him become a member of the Syndicat de Ouargla au Sudan (Oargla to Sudan Company). In 1891 Méry made his first exploration into the Sahara accompanied by some Chaambas, who abandoned him in Tuareg territory without otherwise harming him. He met Tuaregs with whom he established cordial relations.