Final answer:
The Niger Expedition faced environmental challenges and unknown dangers that resulted in physical hardships and serious illness, yet they still managed to establish peaceful relationships with Native American tribes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The 1841 Niger Expedition faced considerable challenges, primarily due to environmental obstacles and lack of knowledge about the region. The expedition, inspired by explorers like Lewis and Clark, encountered fierce storms that left them freezing and drenched, debilitating swarms of gnats and mosquitos, and potentially lethal wildlife such as grizzly bears and rattlesnakes. Additionally, the explorers, who followed the practices of sampling and documenting flora and fauna, sometimes fell ill due to this very curiosity; for instance, when Lewis became seriously sick after tasting minerals.
The consequences of these hardships were significant. Not only did they physically and mentally tax the expedition members, but they also highlighted the sheer unpredictability of such explorations. Despite these difficulties, they established peaceful relationships with Native American tribes, a crucial step in paving the way for future settlement.
These causes and effects exemplify the human endeavor to explore uncharted territories and how such expeditions are often fraught with unforeseen tribulations, leading to both personal sufferings for the explorers as well as broader implications for indigenous populations and future settlers.