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Sumatra, and on his return in 1793 he contributed a description of eight new Sumatran fishes to the Transactions of the Linnean Society. Park in 1794 offered his services to the See also:

AFRICAN

African Association, then looking out for a successor to See also:

Major See also:

Daniel See also:

HOUGHTON, RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES, 1ST BARON (1809—1885)

Houghton, who had been sent out in 1790 to discover the course of the Niger and had perished in the See also:

SAHARA

Sahara. Supported by the See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of Sir Joseph Banks, Park was successful in his application. On the 21st of See also:

JUNE

June 1795 he reached the See also:

GAMBIA

Gambia and ascended that See also:

RIVER

river 200 See also:

MILES, NELSON APPLETON (1839— )

miles to a See also:

BRITISH

British trading station named Pisania. On the 2nd of See also:

DECEMBER (Lat. decent, ten)

December, accompanied by two See also:

NEGRO (from Lat. eager, black)

negro servants, he started for the unknown interior. He See also:

CHOSE (Fr. for " thing ")

chose the route See also:

CROSSING

crossing the upper See also:

SENEGAL

Senegal See also:

basin and through the semi-See also:

DESERT

desert region of Kaarta. The See also:

JOURNEY (through O. Fr. jornee or journee, mod. Fr. journee, from med. Lat. diurnata, Lat. diurnus, of or belonging to dies, day)

journey was full of difficulties, and at Ludamar he was imprisoned by a Moorish See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief for four months. He escaped, alone and with nothing See also:

SAVE, or SAVA (Ger. Sau; Hungarian Szdva; Lat. Savus)

save his See also:

HORSE (a word common to Teutonic languages in such forms as hors, hros, ros; cf. the Ger. ross)

horse and a See also:

POCKET

pocket See also:

COMPASS (Fr. corn pas, ultimately from Lat. cum, with, and passus, step)

compass, on the 1st of See also:

JULY

July 1796, and on the 21st of the same See also:

month reached the See also:

long-sought Niger at Segu, being the first See also:

EUROPEAN

European to gaze on its See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters.

He followed the river down stream 8o m. to Silla, where he was obliged to turn back, being without means and utterly exhausted. On his return journey, begun on the 3oth of July, he took a route more to the See also:

south than that originally followed, keeping See also:

close to the Niger as far as Bamako, thus tracing the course of that stream in all for some 300 miles. At Kamalia he See also:

fell See also:

ill, and owed his See also:

LIFE

life to the kindness of a negro in whose See also:

house he lived for seven months. Eventually he reached Pisania again on the loth of June 1797, returning to See also:

England by way of See also:

AMERICA

America on the 22nd of December. He had been thought to be dead, and his return See also:

home with the See also:

NEWS

news of the See also:

DISCOVERY

discovery of the Niger evoked See also:

GREAT

great public See also:

ENTHUSIASM

enthusiasm. An See also:

account of his journey was at once See also:

DRAWN

drawn up for the African Association by See also:

BRYAN, WILLIAM JENNINGS (186o– )

Bryan See also:

Edwards, and a detailed narrative from his own See also:

PEN (Lat. penna, a feather, pen)

pen appeared in 1799 (Travels in the Interior of See also:

Africa). Abundance of incident and an unaffected See also:

style rendered the See also:

WORK

work extremely popular, and it still holds its See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place as an acknowledged classic in this See also:

DEPARTMENT (Fr. departement, from departir, to separate into parts)

department of literature. Settling at Foulshiels, Park in See also:

AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August 1799 married a daughter of his old See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master, Thomas Anderson. Two offers made to him to go to New South See also:

WALES (Cymru, Gwalia, Cambria)

Wales in some See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official capacity came to nothing, and in See also:

OCTOBER

October 18o1 Park removed to See also:

PEEBLES

Peebles, where he practised as a See also:

DOCTOR (Lat. for " teacher ")

doctor. In the autumn of 1803 he was invited by the See also:

government to See also:

lead another expedition to the Niger. Park, who chafed at the hardness and monotony of life at Peebles, accepted the offer, but the starting of the expedition was delayed. See also:

PART

Part of the waiting See also:

time was occupied in the perfecting of his Arabic—his teacher being Sidi Ambak Bubi, a native of See also:

MOGADOR (Es-Sueira)

Mogador; whose vagaries both amused and alarmed the See also:

PEOPLE

people of Peebles.

In May 1804 Park went back to Foulshiels, where he made the acquaintance of Sir See also:

Walter See also:

Scott,then living near by at Ashesteil, with whom he soon became on terms of warm friendship. In September he was summoned to See also:

LONDON

London to leave on the new expedition; he parted from Sir Walter with the hopeful See also:

PROVERB (Lat. proverbium, from pro, forth, publicly, verbum, word; the Greek equivalent is irapolµia, from 7rapa, alongside, and oiµos, way, road, i.e. a wayside saying; Ger. Sprichwort)

proverb on his lips, " Freits (omens) follow those that look to them." Park had at that time adopted the theory that the Niger and the See also:

CONGO

Congo were one, and in a memorandum drawn up before he See also:

LEFT

left England he wrote: " My hopes of returning by the Congo are not altogether fanciful." He sailed from See also:

Portsmouth for the Gambia on the 3ist of See also:

JANUARY

January 1805i having been given a See also:

CAPTAIN (derived from Lat. ca put, head, through the Low Lat. capitanus)

captain's See also:

COMMISSION (from Lat. commissio, committere)

commission as See also:

head of the government expedition. See also:

Alexander' Anderson, his brother-in-law, was second in command, and on him was ,bestowed a lieutenancy. See also:

George Scott, a See also:

FELLOW

fellow Borderer, was draughtsman, and the party included four or five artificers. At See also:

GOREE

Goree (then in British occupation) Park was joined by See also:

LIEUTENANT

Lieutenant See also:

Martyn, R.A., See also:

THIRTY

thirty-five privates and two See also:

SEAMEN, LAWS RELATING TO

seamen. The expedition did not reach the Niger until the See also:

MIDDLE

middle of August, when only eleven Europeans were left alive; the See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest had succumbed to See also:

FEVER (Lat. febris, connected with fervere, to burn)

fever or See also:

DYSENTERY (from the Gr. prefix Ova-, in the sense of " bad," and Evmpov, the intestine)

dysentery. From Bamako the journey o Segu was made by See also:

CANOE (from Carib. candoa, the West Indian name found in use by Columbus; the Fr. canot, boat, and Ger. Kahn, are derived from the Lat. canna, reed, vessel)

canoe. Having received per-See also:

MISSION

mission from the ruler of that See also:

TOWN

town to proceed, at Sansandig, a little below Segu, Park made ready for his journey down the still unknown part of the river. Park, helped by one soldier, the only one left capable of work, converted two canoes into one tolerably good See also:

BOAT (0. Eng. bdt; the true etymological connexion with Dutch and Ger. boot, Fr. bateau, Ital. battello presents great difficulties; Celtic forms are from O. Eng.)

boat, 40 ft. long and 6 ft. broad. This he christened H.M. See also:

SCHOONER

schooner "Joliba" (the native name for the Niger), and in it, with the surviving members of his party, ha set See also:

SAIL

sail down stream on the 19th of See also:

NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November. At Sansandigr on the 28th of October, Anderson had died, and in him Park lost the only member of the party-except Scott, already dead—who had been of real use. Those who embarked in the " Joliba " were Park, Martyn, three European soldiers (one mad), a See also:

GUIDE (in Mid. Eng. gyde, from the Fr. guide; the earlier French form was guie, English " guy," the d was due to the Italian form guida; the ultimate origin is probably Teutonic, the word being connected with the base seen in O. Eng. witan, to know)

guide and three slaves.

Before his departure Park gave to Isaaco, a See also:

MANDINGO

Mandingo guide who had been with him thus far, letters to take back to the Gambia for transmission to England. The spirit with which Park began the final See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage of his enterprise is well illustrated by his See also:

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the alphabet; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

letter to the head of the Colonial See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

Office: " shall," he wrote, " set sail for the east with the fixed See also:

RESOLUTION

resolution to discover the termination of the Niger or perish in the See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt though all the Europeans who are with me should See also:

die, and though I were myself See also:

HALF

half dead, I would still persevere, and if I could not succeed in the See also:

OBJECT

object of my journey, I would at least die on the Niger." To his wife he wrote stating his intention not to stop nor See also:

LAND

land anywhere fill he reached the See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast, where he expected to arrive about the end of January 18o6. These were the last communications received from Park, and nothing more was heard of the party until reports of disaster reached the settlements on the Gambia. At length the British government engaged Isaaco to go to the Niger to ascertain the See also:

FATE

fate of the explorer. At Sansandig Isaaco found the guide who had gone down stream with Park, and the substantial accuracy of the See also:

story he told was later confirmed by the investigations of See also:

Hugh See also:

CLAPPERTON, HUGH (1788-1827)

Clapperton and See also:

Richard See also:

LANDER, RICHARD LEMON (1804–1834)

Lander. This guide (Amadi) stated that Park's canoe descended the river to Yauri, where he (the guide) landed. In this long journey of about loon miles Park, who had plenty of provisions, See also:

STUCK, FRANZ (1863— )

stuck to his resolution of keeping aloof from the natives. Below See also:

JENNE

Jenne, came See also:

TIMBUKTU (French spelling Tombouctou)

Timbuktu, and at various other places the natives came out in canoes and attacked his boat. These attacks were all repulsed, Park and his party having plenty of firearms and See also:

AMMUNITION

ammunition and the natives having none. The boat also escaped the many perils attendant on the See also:

NAVIGATION (from Lat. navis, ship, and agere, to move)

navigation of an unknown stream strewn with many rapids—Park had built the " Joliba. " so that it See also:

drew only a See also:

FOOT

foot of See also:

WATER

water. But at the See also:

BUSSA

Bussa rapids, not far below Yauri, the boat struck on a See also:

rock and remained fast.

On the See also:

BANK

bank were gathered hostile natives, who attacked the party with See also:

BOW (pronounced " bo ")

bow and arrow and throwing spears. Their position being untenable, Park, Martyn, and the two soldiers who still survived, sprang into the river and were drowned. The See also:

SOLE (Solea)

sole survivor was one of the slaves, from whom was obtained the story of the final See also:

SCENE (Fr. scene, Lat. scaena, Gr. oflvil, a tent or booth, a stage or scene)

scene. Isaaco, and later Lander, obtained some of Park's effects, but his See also:

journal was never recovered. In 1827 his second son, Thomas, landed on the See also:

GUINEA

Guinea coast, intending to make his way to Bussa, where he thought his father might be detained a prisoner, but after penetrating some little distance inland he died of fever. Park's widow died in 184o. J. See also:

Thomson's Mungo Park and the Niger (London, 189o) contains the best See also:

CRITICAL (in alphabetical order of authors)

critical estimate of the explorer and his work. See also the Life (by See also:

WISHAW

Wishaw) prefixed to Journal of a Mission into the Interior of Africa in 1805 (London, 1815) ; H. B., Life of Mungo Park (Edinburgh, 1835) ; and an interesting passage in See also:

Lockhart's Lift of Sir Walter Scott, vol. ii.

End of Article: PARK, MUNGO (1771-1806?)

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