Chapter I: Front Matter

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The World’s Great Explorers and Explorations.

Edited by J. SCOTT KELTIE, Librarian, Royal Geographical Society;
H. J. MACKINDER, M.A., Reader in Geography at the University of
Oxford; and E. G. RAVENSTEIN, F.R.G.S.

MUNGO PARK AND THE NIGER.

MUNGO PARK AND THE NIGER.

BY
JOSEPH THOMSON,
AUTHOR OF “THROUGH MASAI LAND,” ETC.

NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD & COMPANY
PUBLISHERS

EDITORIAL PREFACE.

The story of the world’s exploration is always attractive. We naturally take a keen interest in the personality of the men who have dared to force their way into the unknown, and so unveiled to us the face of mother earth. The interest in the work of exploration has been particularly strong and widespread in recent years, and it is believed that a series of volumes dealing with the great explorers and explorations of the past is likely to prove welcome to a wide circle of readers. Without a knowledge of what has been accomplished, the results of the unprecedented exploring activity of the present cannot be understood. It is hoped, therefore, that the present series will supply a real want. With one or two exceptions, each volume will deal mainly with one leading explorer, bringing out prominently the man’s personality, telling the story of his life, and showing in full detail what he did for the exploration of the world. When it may be necessary to depart somewhat from the general plan, it will always be kept in view that the series is essentially a popular one. When complete the series will form a Biographical History of Geographical Discovery.

The Editors congratulate themselves on having been able to secure the co-operation of men well known as the highest authorities in their own departments; their names are too familiar to the public to require introduction. Each writer is of course entirely responsible for his own work.

THE EDITORS.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. PAGE

I. THE FIRST GLIMMERING OF LIGHT 1

II. MORE LIGHT: THE ARAB PERIOD 6

III. OPENING UP THE WAY TO THE NIGER 19

IV. PREPARING FOR PARK: THE AFRICAN ASSOCIATION 31

V. MUNGO PARK 36

VI. AT THE THRESHOLD 46

VII. FROM THE GAMBIA TO THE SENEGAL 53

VIII. ACROSS THE SENEGAL BASIN 65

IX. TO LUDAMAR 76

X. CAPTIVITY IN LUDAMAR 85

XI. TO THE NIGER 97

XII. DOWN THE RIVER TO SILLA 107

XIII. THE RETURN THROUGH BAMBARRA 120

XIV. REST AT KAMALIA 134

XV. THE SLAVE ROUTE 143

XVI. BACK TO THE GAMBIA AND HOME 154

XVII. MUNGO PARK AT HOME 164

XVIII. MUNGO PARK AT HOME--(_continued_) 175

XIX. PREPARING FOR A NEW EXPEDITION 186

XX. PARK’S SECOND RETURN TO THE GAMBIA 196

XXI. STILL STRUGGLING TOWARDS THE GREAT RIVER 208

XXII. TO THE NIGER 221

XXIII. THE LAST OF PARK 233

XXIV. THE FULAH REVOLUTION 246

XXV. NEW ENTERPRISES AND NEW THEORIES 254

XXVI. THE TERMINATION OF THE NIGER 264

XXVII. THE TERMINATION OF THE NIGER--(_continued_) 277

XXVIII. FILLING UP THE DETAILS 288

XXIX. THE FRENCH ADVANCE TO THE NIGER 301

XXX. THE ROYAL NIGER COMPANY 307

XXXI. THE ROYAL NIGER COMPANY--(_continued_) 319

INDEX 333

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS.

_FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS._

1. Portrait of Mungo Park _Frontispiece_

2. Facsimile Extract of Letter from Mungo Park to
Dr. Anderson _facing page_ 42

3. Bambarra Women Pounding Corn „ 112

4. Bammaku „ 128

5. Baobab Tree „ 144

6. Facsimile Extract of Mungo Park’s Letter to his
Wife „ 180

7. Rock Scenery of the Upper Senegal „ 212

8. Portrait of Captain Clapperton „ 265

9. View in Sokoto „ 275

10. Akassa „ 286

11. Timbuktu „ 292

12. Traders’ House, Abutshi „ 322

13. Haussa Village „ 330

_ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT._

Birthplace of Mungo Park _page_ 37

Mungo Park’s Encampment „ 207

Group of Fulahs „ 247

Portrait of Richard Lander „ 282

View on the Niger above Lokoja „ 294

Haussa Hut „ 326

Portrait of the Sultan of Sokoto’s Brother „ 328

_MAPS (Printed in Colours)._

I. Guinea _facing page_ 1

II. Mungo Park’s Travels „ 47

III. Libya Secundum Ptolomæum, A.C. 130 _at end_

IV. Edrisi’s Africa, 1154 „

V. Catalan, Map of the World, Western Half, 1375 „

VI. Guinea and the Sudan, according to D’Anville, 1749 „

VII. Guinea and the Sudan, according to J. Rennell, 1798 „

_MAPS IN TEXT._

O. Dapper, Nigritarum Regio, 1671 _page_ 24

O. Dapper, 1671 „ 25

Reduced Fac-simile of Mungo Park’s Autograph Map „ 185

The Bussa Rapids „ 241

[Map: GUINEA.]

MUNGO PARK AND THE NIGER.