Mungo Park’s Last Journey

After his first journey to Africa, Park maintained that the Niger River flowed into the Atlantic Ocean and was eager to test his hypothesis. His Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa based on his first African adventure was published. Park married his fiance, Allison Anderson, the eldest daughter of Dr. Thomas Anderson, the man to whom he was apprenticed and set up a medical practice in Peebles, Scotland. In October 1801, Park settled into the life of a Scottish country doctor but continued to explore the rugged countryside near his home, and do some botanizing. When Park received a letter from the Colonial Secretary State’s office in the autumn of 1803 asking him to come to London for a meeting “without delay,” he traveled to London where he had an interview with Lord Hobart, Secretary of State for the Colonial Department who informed him about a planned exploration to Africa and that Park would play a major role, i.e., to organize an expedition to penetrate Africa’s interior and navigate the Niger. On January 2, 1805, Park received his instructions and was commissioned as a captain. Park and his party arrived at Port Praya Bay, St. Jago, in Cape Verde Island (now called Santiago), on March 8th, passing by Fogo Island with its large volcanic formation dominating the entire landscape. With sufficient provisions and rest, they set sail for Goree arriving on March 25th at the port that served as a notorious slave center. Three days later they docked at Jillifree on the Gambia where Park had last been 10 years before. After a short visit, they sailed up the Gambia to the port of Kayee, a small town situated on the Gambia, toward the end of April. Park and his party departed from Kayee on April 27, 1805, to go to Pisonia. After arriving at Shrondo (in the kingdom of Dentila), there were many cases of dysentery and at the height of the rainy season. Although there was considerable loss of life in the party due to the illness, Park and the surviving members of his party continued on to Dindikoo. Travel became even more perilous; disease and the continual rain continued to plague Park and other survivors. Park spent most of the next 2 months at Sansanding, an area near Sego, primarily to construct a proper craft to continue navigation down the Niger. To do so, he constructed a flat-bottomed boat from two canoes that he was able to acquire in trading with the native population, spending weeks on construction of the boat with his own hands. He named this vessel, His Majesty’s Schooner, the Joliba. While in Sansanding, Park had little time for natural history. Only five in his party remained alive, including three soldiers, but Park was determined to discover the termination of the Niger or perish in the attempt on the tolerably good schooner he had constructed. They sailed down the river without stopping. They had adequate supplies on board but they failed to get permission from local chieftains whose territory they were traveling through. Park hoped to race toward the ocean but the Niger continued its flow south. Park and his party were slowed by rapids and set upon by natives. Their response was quite foolhardy because they returned fire, trying to shoot their way out of this precarious situation. Park and the soldiers died, possibly from drowning. Park’s death in 1806 ended the exploration of the Niger until the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. The British public and all Scotland mourned the loss as did his wife, three sons, and daughter, but the public’s imagination was fired by his daring and determination.