Travels in the interior districts of Africa: performed under the direction and patronage of the African association, in the years 1795, 1796, and 1797 http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.CH.DOCUMENT.sip100017 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org Travels in the interior districts of Africa: performed under the direction and patronage of the African association, in the years 1795, 1796, and 1797 Author/Creator Park, Mungo Date 1799 Resource type Books Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) Middle Niger, Mali, Timbucktu Source Smithsonian Institution Libraries, DT356 .P236 1799 Description LIST OF VOLUMES IN HERBERT STRANG'S LIBRARY. Alcotts's ood Wives. Alcott's Little Women. Ballantyne's Coral Island. Ballantyne's The Lighthouse. Blackmore's Lorna Doone. Buckland 's Curiosities of Natural History. Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Captain Cook's Voyages. Coolidge's What Katy Did. Coolidge's What Katy Did at School. Coolige's What Katy Did Next. Cummins's Lamplighter. Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Dickens's Barnaby Rudge. Eliot's Silas Marner. Grimm, Stories from. Han Andesen, Tales from. Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales. Hawthorne's Wonder Book. Howitt's Boy's Country Book. Hughes's Tom Brown's Schooldays. Irving's Life of Columbus. Kincaid's Adventures in the Rifle Brigade. Kingley's Heroes. Kingsley's Westward Ho. Kingston's Peter the Whaler. Kingston's True Blue. Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare. Marryat's Children of the New Forest. Marryat's Midshipman Easy. Maxwell's Life of Wellington. Napier's Battles of the Peninsular War. Mungo Park's Travels. Scott's Ivanhoe. Scott's quentin durward. Scott's Talisman. Southey's Life of Nelson. Swiss Family Robinson, The. Wetherell's Wide, Wide World. Wetherell's Queechy. Yonge's Book of Golden Deeds. The books in this Library are carefully edited for school and home reading. Format extent 262 pages (length/size) http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.CH.DOCUMENT.sip100017 http://www.aluka.org INlýSTITUTION NO!IfVIL-SNI N V; NOSC, S S3L 2: Z S 3 l Li 9A11 S SMITHSONIA INSTITUrION N - NSTV71UTION NQ11fk1ýNI NVINOSHIVAVS S3 I V 911 0 L 11AR iES SMITHSONIIAN INSToITUTION ~>~oCC z nlIS NI N-INOSHi ms S:isvnt, zz RARIES SMITHSONIAN _INSTITfUTION 1fl1IISNI NVINOSHfIS S3I1JV88I1 z cto RAR lES SMITHSONJAN INSTITUTION cn z 0 1411IISK tjV S 1 8v 8 1, L I B R AR I ES *y r LI BRARY MREDER ICK DOUGLASS is:ITUTE 0 NEGRO ARTS AND HISTORY The Museum of African Art 316 A St., N.., Washington, D.C "THE MOORS WRESTED THE MUSKET FROM HIM." [P tr,,e 96. MUNIGO PARK'S TRAVELS/ LIBRARY M/STflTM OF A731CiAN .TJýT WASHiC{i ... ,DC. 2OLu PRESS LONDON LIST OF VOLUMES IN HERBERT STRANG'S LIBRARY ALCOTT'S GOOD WIVES ,, LITTLE WOMEN BALLANTYNE'S CORAL ISLAND ,, THE LIGHTHOUSE BLACKMORE'S LORNA DOONE BUCKLAND'S CURIOSITIES OF NATURAL HISTORY CARROLL'S ALICE IN WONDERLAND CAPTAIN COOK'S VOYAGES COOLIDGE'S WHAT KATY DID WHAT KATY DID AT SCHOOL WHAT KATY DID NEXT CUMMINS'S LAMPLIGHTER DEFOE'S ROBINSON CRUSOE DICKENS'S BARNABY RUDGE ELIOT'S SILAS MARNER GRIMM, STORIES FROM HANS ANDERSEN, TALES FROM HAWTHORNE'S TAGLEWOOD TALES ,, WONDER BOOK HOWITT'S Boy's COUNTRY BOOK HUGHES'S Tom BROWN'S SCHOOLDAYS IRVING'S LIFE OF COLUMBUS KINCAID'S ADVENTURES IN THE RIFLE BRIGADE KINGSLEY'S HEROES o, WESTWARD HO! KINGSTON'S PETER THE WHALER to TRUE BLUE LAMB'S TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE MARRYAT'S CHILDREN OF THE NEW FOREST ,, MIDSHIPMAN EASY MAXWELL'S LIFE OF WELLINGTON NAPIER'S BATTLES OF THE PENINSULAR WAR MUNGO PARK'S TRAVELS SCOTT'S IVANHOE ,, QUENTIN DURWARD to TALISMAN SOUTHEY'S LIFE OF NELSON Swiss FAMILY ROBINSON, THE WETHERELL'S WIDE, WIDE WORLD QUEECHY YONGE'S Boox OF GOLDEN DEEDS The books in this Library are carefully edited for Adwol and home reading. INTRODUCTION IN !he Gulf of Guinea a dense mangrove swamp, shutting off from passing ships all view of the land, stretches for over a hundred miles along the coast. It is a dismal and forbidding prospect: the seemingly interminable belt of mangroves broken only by a succession of creeks and rivers, which in their turn are fringed by mangroves as far as the eye can reach. Some of these waterways are of considerable volume; in countries where nature works on a less gigantic scale, the Benin, the Bonny, the Nun, the Brass, the Forcados, would all rank as great rivers. For thousands of years this huge swamp kept jealous guard over a secret that had puzzled geographers since the time of Herodotus. The district had a bad reputation; not only was the climate almost fatal to Europeans, but the inhabitants within a short distance of the coast were among the most savage and bloodthirsty of negro races. In the old days the creeks and rivers had been the head-quarters of the slave trade; in later times, of the oil industry; and the negroes on the coast, wishing to keep the traffic in their own hands, had imbued the remoter tribes with a deep hatred of the white man. Within a few miles of the coast the whole country was practically closed to Europeans. 5 Introduction It was known that the Niger, one of the great rivers of the world, skirted the Sahara nearly a thousand miles to the north. But none knew for certain in what direction it flowed, east or west; whether it joined the Nile in the far east of Africa, or became lost in huge swamps in the desert; or again, whether it curved southward and reached the sea as the mighty Congo. Nobody seems to have guessed that the Niger was in fact the parent stream of the innumerable creeks and rivers that found an outlet through the mangrove swamps of the Guinea coast; the large volume of its waters becoming dissipated over some 14,000 square miles of deltaic swamp. It was to solve the puzzle of the Niger that Mungo Park, one of the first of the great African explorers, undertook his two great journeys into the interior of Africa. At that time almost the whole of the continent beyond a few score miles from the coast was unknown to Europeans,. Only here and there had white explorers ventured up the great rivers; the geography of the interior was mainly based on the accounts of native traders, inaccurate and untrustworthy. Mungo Park (named no doubt after St. Mungo, the patron saint of Glasgow) was born in 1771 at a farm on the banks of the Yarrow near Selkirk. His father intended him for the Church, but as a boy he showed a preference for medicine, and when the time came to decide he was allowed to make his own choice. At fifteen Mungo was accordingly apprenticed to a surgeon 6 Introduction in Selkirk, and three years later he went to Edinburgh to finish his medical studies and take his degree. Having qualified as a doctor, he bent his steps southward, and in London his brother-in-law, Mr. James Dickson, introduced him to the famous botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, who was destined to exercise a great influence upon his future career. Sir Joseph was instrumental in procuring for Park his first opportunity of foreign travel; for through his influence the young doctor was appointed Assistant Surgeon on an East Indiaman, and made the voyage to Sumatra. He used his time ashore to such good purpose, studying the botany and natural history of the country, that he was able on his return to contribute a valuable paper to the transactions of the Linnaean Society. At this time the African Association, a society formed for the exploration of the interior of the dark Continent, was looking for a successor to Major Houghton, who had lost his life while attempting to trace the course of the Niger and penetrate if possible to the city of Timbuctoo., Park's love of travel had no doubt been stimulated by his voyage to the East; through Sir Joseph Banks, an active member of the Association, he volunteered for the arduous and perilous mission, and his general record and attainments were such that, although he had no special geographical qualifications, his offer was promptly accepted. He sailed from Portsmouth in May 1795, and arrived at the Gambia a month later. A severe attack of fever delayed his departure for the interior until the following December, when he 7 Introduction left Pisania, a British settlement on the Gambia, and plunged into the wilds. It was not until eighteen months later that he reappeared, having in the meanwhile been given up for lost.