MUNGO PARK 
 
 BY : T : BAN KS 
 MACIACHLAN 
 
 -NRLF 
 
 B 3 1Mb 307 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FAMOUS 
 
 •SCOTS* 
 
 •SERIES* 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 IS s 
 
MUNGO 
 PARK 
 
FAMOUS SCOTS SERIES 
 
 The following Volumes are now ready : — 
 
 THOMAS CARLYLE. By Hector C. Macpherson. 
 
 ALLAN RAMSAY. By Oliphant Smeaton. 
 
 HUGH MILLER. By W. Keith Leask. 
 
 JOHN KNOX. By A. Taylor Innes. 
 
 ROBERT BURNS. By Gabriel Setoun. 
 
 THE BALLADISTS. By John Geddie. 
 
 RICHARD CAMERON. By Professor Herkless. 
 
 SIR JAMES Y. SIMPSON. By Eve Blantyre Simpson. 
 
 THOMAS CHALMERS. By Professor W. Garden 
 Blaikie. 
 
 JAMES BOSWELL. By W. Keith Leask. 
 
 TOBIAS SMOLLETT. By Oliphant Smeaton. 
 
 FLETCHER OF SALTOUN. By G. W. T. Omond. 
 
 THE BLACKWOOD GROUP. By Sir George Douglas. 
 
 NORMAN MACLEOD. By John Wellwood. 
 
 SIR WALTER SCOTT. By Professor Saintsbury. 
 
 KIRKCALDY OF GRANGE. By Louis A. Barb£. 
 
 ROBERT FERGUSSON. By A. B. Grosart. 
 
 JAMES THOMSON. By William Bayne. 
 
 MUNGO PARK. By T. Banks Maclachlan. 
 
MUNGO 
 PARK 
 
 BY 
 
 T : BANKS 
 MACUACHLAN 
 
 FAMOUS 
 
 •SCOTS- 
 •SERIES- 
 
 PUBLISHED BY W 
 OLIPHANT ANDERSON 
 tf FERRIEREDINBVRGH 
 AND LONDON <& <C3» 
 
 T i_ 
 

 % 
 
 
 
 *> 
 
 The designs and ornaments of this 
 volume are by Mr Joseph Brown, 
 and the printing from the press of 
 Messrs Turnbull & Spears, Edinburgh. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 This volume was at first intended to be merely a sketch 
 of the career of one of our noblest Scotsmen. But recent 
 momentous events in West Africa have made necessary 
 an enlargement of the original intention. The story of 
 the exploration of the Niger, which begins in earnest 
 with the moving adventures of Mungo Park, has been 
 carried down through many phases to the present day ; 
 and an attempt is made in these pages to set down 
 within small compass a clear account of the compli- 
 cated process which has issued in the Niger Question 
 as we now know it. In itself, the story of the Niger is 
 one of intense and romantic interest. Many travellers 
 — most of them Scotsmen — have contributed to the 
 tale. But incomparably the greatest of them all was 
 Mungo Park; and a knowledge of his achievements is 
 essential to the proper understanding of West African 
 affairs as they now stand. 
 
 T. B. M. 
 
 Edinburgh, March 1898. 
 
 
GO 
 JOHN GEDDIE. 
 
 , o „ T. B. M. 
 
 March 1898. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Mungo Park's Early Life .... 9 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 The Mystery of the Niger .... 15 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 Park's First Journey ..... 22 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 A Captive Among the Moors .... 34 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 Escape from Captivity ..... 45 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 Struggling Onward to the Niger . . 50 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 On the Niger . ..... 5 6 
 
8 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 The Return Journey ..... 64 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 Home with a Slave Caravan .... 75 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 Life as a Country Doctor .... 87 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 The Second Expedition — A Disastrous March . 101 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 Once More on the Niger . . . .114 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 The Fate of Mungo Park . . . .123 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 The Mystery of the Niger Solved . . .130 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 The Niger of To-day — A Neglected Heritage . 143 
 
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UNIVERSITY 
 
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 MUNGO PARK 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 MUNGO PARK'S EARLY LIFE 
 
 On the road that runs by Yarrow side there is a hamlet, 
 some four or five miles west of Selkirk, called Foulshiels. 
 One of the two or three cottages standing by the wayside 
 is a picturesque ruin ; four low, thick walls overgrown with 
 ivy of a very delicate and beautiful variety. Yarrow runs 
 murmuring through the leafy glen below, and on the 
 bank beyond, a couple of bowshots from the cottage door, 
 old Newark Castle stands on guard, like some grim, grey 
 sentinel. It is a spot of exceeding beauty, one of the 
 loveliest and most romantic in all Borderland. 
 
 In this rude little cottage there lived, during the second 
 half of last century, a small farmer named Mungo Park, 
 one of those hard-working, plain-living, strong-brained 
 men who have made the Scottish peasantry respected all 
 the world over. Thirteen children were born to him, and 
 eight of them were reared to maturity in a dwelling no 
 larger than the cot of a hill-shepherd of the present day. 
 Mungo Park, the African traveller, was the seventh child 
 of the family, and he was born on the ioth of September 
 177 1. In common with the Scottish yeoman farmers of 
 his time, Mungo Park the elder had an almost reverential 
 
 9 
 
io FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 appreciation of the value of education. Money, as we 
 may suppose, was not too plentiful at Foulshiels ; yet, not 
 content with himself superintending the instruction of his 
 numerous family, he engaged a private teacher to reside in 
 the house and look to the education of the boys and girls. 
 
 In due time Mungo was sent to the Grammar School 
 at Selkirk, and for a number of years he daily trudged the 
 four or five miles that lay between the hamlet and the 
 little county town. He was a reading boy, thoughtful, 
 and inclined to silence and solitude. And though we 
 have none of those anecdotes portentous of coming great- 
 ness, which biographers delight to cherish, his childhood 
 was not altogether devoid of indications of that love of 
 adventure which was the passion of later years. 
 
 The time has not long passed when it was the ambition 
 of almost every worthy Scottish parent to give at least one 
 of his sons a University education and make a minister of 
 him. Mungo, the serious and studious member of the 
 family, was selected for that honour. But the desires of 
 the young man himself were towards medicine, and not 
 without reluctance, we imagine, the father was induced to 
 allow him to follow his own bent. Accordingly Mungo, 
 who had now reached the age of fifteen, was bound appren- 
 tice to Dr Thomas Anderson, a surgeon in Selkirk. For 
 three years he resided with his master, pursuing his pro- 
 fessional and classical studies, and, we doubt not, learning 
 somewhat of the good qualities of his master's eldest 
 daughter, a young lady who twelve years later became 
 the explorer's wife. 
 
 When he was eighteen Mungo Park removed to Edin- 
 burgh, and passed three diligent but uneventful years at 
 
MUNGO PARK n 
 
 the University, completing his medical studies. He had 
 a reputation as an earnest and assiduous worker, especially 
 in his favourite study of botany, but further than that 
 there is nothing notable to record of his college days. But 
 his first move, after completing his medical course, showed 
 that ambition had already begun to stir w r ithin him. He 
 wasted no time in Edinburgh, where openings were scant 
 and prospects narrow, but started at once for London in 
 search of employment. There was one important circum- 
 stance — important in the light of subsequent events — that 
 prompted him to court fortune in the Metropolis. Mr 
 James Dickson, his brother-in-law, was there, and enjoyed 
 a position of considerable influence, which might, and 
 did, prove helpful to his young relation. Dickson had 
 had a remarkable career. The son of a Scottish peasant, 
 early in life he left Scotland for London, where he was 
 employed for some time in a Hammersmith nursery. 
 There his superior intelligence and skill drew upon him 
 the attention of Sir Joseph Banks, who, discovering the 
 passion of the young gardener for botany, gave him the 
 run of his library, and encouraged him in his scientific 
 studies. Step by step Dickson advanced. He established 
 himself in London as a seedsman, and giving his leisure 
 hours to the study of science, in course of time became a 
 botanist of European reputation. 
 
 It was to this man that Mungo Park owed his first 
 start in his profession. When the young man went to 
 London Dickson introduced him to Sir Joseph Banks, 
 and, on the recommendation of Sir Joseph, Park was 
 appointed assistant surgeon on one of the East India 
 Company's vessels. 
 
12 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 Mungo Park was now twenty-one, strong, hopeful, and 
 ambitious, ready to do anything or to go anywhere. ' I 
 have now got upon the first step of the stair of ambition,' 
 he wrote to Dr Anderson of Selkirk, his former master. 
 But his ambition had nothing of the taint of personal vanity 
 about it. It was a healthful longing for the work that satis- 
 fies — to achieve something that would make the world the 
 better for his having lived in it. But the bounding spirit 
 of youth was tempered by a gravity and thoughtfulness 
 that seldom comes to men while they are still on the 
 threshold. In the same letter he gave a glimpse of a 
 side of his character which he unveiled only on very rare 
 occasions : — ' The melancholy, who complain of the 
 shortness of human life, and the voluptuous, who think 
 the present only their own, strive to fill up every moment 
 with sensual enjoyment ; but the man whose soul has 
 been enlightened by his Creator, and enabled, though 
 dimly, to discern the wonders of salvation, will look upon 
 the joys and afflictions of this life as equally the tokens 
 of Divine love. He will walk through the world as one 
 travelling to a better country, looking forward with wonder 
 to the author and finisher of his faith.' 
 
 On the eve of setting sail for the East he wrote thus 
 again to his trusted master and friend : — ' I have now 
 reached the heights that I can behold the tumults of 
 nations with indifference, confident that the reins of 
 events are in our Father's hands. May you and I (not 
 like the stubborn mule, but like the weaning child) obey 
 His hand, that, after all the troubles of this dark world in 
 which we are truly strangers, we may, through the wonders 
 of atonement, reach a far greater and exceeding weight of 
 
MUNGO PARK 13 
 
 glory. I wish you may be able to look upon the day of 
 your departure with the same resignation that I do on 
 mine. My hope is now approaching to a certainty. If I be 
 deceived, may God alone put me right, for I would rather 
 die in the delusion than wake to all the joys of earth. 
 May the Holy Spirit dwell for ever in your heart, my dear 
 friend, and if I never see my native land again, may I 
 rather see the green sod on your grave than see you 
 anything but a Christian.' 
 
 Strange words those for a man so young. They seem 
 to be unnaturally serious in the mouth of a healthy, 
 buoyant-minded youth who had just put his foot on the 
 first rung of the ladder, and was standing with his face 
 upturned towards fame. They are the utterance, however, 
 of a conviction which remained with Park all his life, and 
 more than once preserved him from despair when every 
 other hope and solace had deserted him. 
 
 The voyage to Sumatra, which occupied a year, was in 
 no way noteworthy, save for the opportunity it gave to 
 the young surgeon of increasing his scientific knowledge. 
 He made many observations, collected specimens in 
 botany and natural history, and upon his return he 
 read a paper before the Linnaean Society on eight new 
 fishes he had discovered during his stay on the coasts of 
 Sumatra. 
 
 But during his absence in the East, forces had been at 
 work that were destined to completely alter the course of 
 his career, even at its very outset, and to send him forth 
 to accomplish the precise kind of work for which Nature 
 had fitted him. Mungo Park was happy in this, at least, 
 that he did not spend his best years groping for his life's 
 
i 4 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 work. He found satisfaction at an age when most young 
 men are still looking wistfully around them, and wonder- 
 ing if there is any one thing they have been sent into the 
 world to do. Park was not quite twenty-four when Africa 
 first cast her spell upon him. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE MYSTERY OF THE NIGER 
 
 Long before the Christian era dawned upon the world, 
 men's minds were vexed by the mystery of the Niger. 
 Even in the time of Herodotus, nearly 2500 years ago, 
 the mystery was an old one. In those distant days it 
 was known that beyond the great and terrible African 
 desert that barred the conquests of the restless nations 
 of the Mediterranean shores, lay a vast and fertile land, 
 teeming with human beings, and watered by a mighty 
 river. There is credible evidence of travellers having 
 crossed the Sahara and penetrated as far south as the 
 Upper Niger. But those were the exploits of fearless 
 explorers only, and did not result in the establishment of 
 any permanent communication between the peoples on 
 the northern and southern fringes of the desert. 
 
 Centuries rolled on, without adding one jot to the 
 world's knowledge of Negroland. Carthage, and after it, 
 Rome, held sway in the north of Africa. But the desert 
 set bounds to the spread of Empire, and the Sahara 
 and the unknown land beyond remained as they had 
 been — fit subjects for the speculation of the fanciful 
 geographer. 
 
 What neither Carthage nor Rome could do was re- 
 
 J 5 
 
1 6 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 served for the Arab to accomplish. Impelled by the 
 new and irresistible faith of Islam, the Arabs swept like 
 a devouring fire across the north of Africa, from east to 
 west, destroying alike Christianity and Paganism in their 
 course ; then turning south, they pressed onward through 
 the desert to the land of the Negroes. It was in the 
 fierce ardour of religious warfare that the Arabs first 
 penetrated to the Niger ; and what the spiritual impulse 
 began, the commercial instinct maintained and developed. 
 Timbuktu sprang into existence on the banks of the 
 Niger, and, in course of time, grew to be one of the 
 greatest of the trading cities of the north of Africa, a 
 mart of international importance, sharing the wealth and 
 commercial glory of Egypt, Tripoli, and Morocco. 
 
 Meanwhile, Europe had begun to throw off the lethargy 
 of the Middle Ages and to feel the stirrings of new and 
 strange impulses. The spirit of inquiry and adventure 
 had come to life again ; men were once more beginning 
 to speculate and to dare. Amongst the nations of Europe 
 the Portuguese were the first to be roused to enterprise, 
 and naturally, owing to their geographical position, it was 
 to the sea that they turned their eyes. They began to 
 creep round the coast of Africa, feeling their way bit by 
 bit to the Cape. Then, making a bold dash, they crossed 
 the ocean to India. It was they who first made known 
 to Europe the existence of the great rivers, the Senegal 
 and the Gambia. 
 
 Close upon the heels of the Portuguese came the 
 English sea-dogs of the days of Queen Elizabeth, mariners 
 unsurpassed in any age or country for skill and daring. 
 A curious medley of virtues and vices were those Eliza- 
 
MUNGO PARK 17 
 
 bethan seamen. Fierce, cruel, and crafty, yet brave and 
 generous ; hard-headed when their own interests were con- 
 cerned, yet almost quixotically patriotic, they would sail a 
 ship in the face of the devil for the glory of England or 
 the lust of gold. It was gain rather than glory that drew 
 them to the coast of Africa. The Senegal and the Gambia 
 were then believed to be the mouths of the mighty river 
 upon which stood the golden city of Timbuktu, the city of 
 their stories and their dreams ; and to the man who could 
 break through the deadly fever-belt of the western coast 
 and thread his way far into the interior, the reward of 
 1 wealth beyond the dreams of avarice ' was promised. 
 
 At the beginning of the seventeenth century several 
 well-organised and determined attempts were made to 
 ascend the Gambia. But they all ended in disaster. The 
 hostility of the Portuguese, fever, and mutiny brought 
 them to naught. Then came a pause of nearly a hundred 
 years, followed by another attempt to reach the interior 
 by way of the Gambia. Like those that preceded it, this 
 expedition failed of its purpose. But at least one all- 
 important fact was finally established — that the Gambia 
 and the Niger were separate and distinct rivers, and that, 
 if the great inland river and the golden cities upon its 
 banks were ever to be reached, it must be by some other 
 way than sailing up the Senegal or the Gambia. 
 
 This was about 1720. Many years again elapsed 
 before a fresh attempt was made to solve the mystery of 
 the Niger. But towards the close of the century a change 
 began to come over the spirit of African exploration. The 
 love of science had begun to quicken the motions of 
 men's minds, to direct their energies into new channels, 
 
 B 
 
1 8 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 and to inspire them with motives hitherto undreamt of. 
 In former times the problem of the Niger had been looked 
 at only from a commercial or a territorial standpoint. Now 
 the scientific impulse, which cannot long be stayed by 
 considerations of profit or loss, was bearing in upon the 
 problem. The African Association was formed for the 
 purpose of promoting discovery in the Dark Continent. 
 Under the direction of this band of eminent and learned 
 men, research was made into the history and condition of 
 the north of Africa, and much valuable information was 
 collected. Then they turned their attention to the 
 Niger. 
 
 One after another explorers were sent out by the Asso- 
 ciation with instructions to penetrate into the interior. 
 Ledyard, in 1788, made the first attempt, selecting Egypt 
 as a smarting point. But he died at Cairo at the very out- 
 set. The next volunteer was Lucas, who essayed to cross 
 the desert from Tripoli. After he had gone five days' 
 journey southward an outbreak of hostilities among the 
 Arabs of the district made further progress impossible, 
 and he returned to Tripoli. Next year Horneman suc- 
 ceeded in crossing the Great Desert, but was never heard 
 of again, save in vague rumours of violent death. 
 
 Three times foiled in their endeavours to reach the 
 Niger by way of the Sahara, the African Association 
 bethought themselves of approaching it by the Gambia on 
 the west, the old route of the pioneers of African explora- 
 tion. Major Houghton, a man in every respect qualified 
 for such an enterprise, was selected for this new venture. 
 At first all went well. Without serious difficulty or mishap 
 he traversed the basins of the Gambia and Senegal, and 
 
MUNGO PARK 19 
 
 continued his march eastwards, in high spirits at the 
 prospect of success. Before entering the country of the 
 Moors the intrepid traveller sent this cheerful message to 
 the British settlement on the Gambia : — l Major Hough- 
 ton's compliments to Dr Laidley j is in good health, on 
 his way to Timbuktu ; robbed of all his goods by Fenda 
 Bukar's son.' Then came a long silence, till months of 
 anxious, fruitless waiting brought the conviction that 
 another noble life had been sacrificed in the cause of 
 African exploration. Four years passed before the fate 
 of Major Houghton was definitely known. Then it was 
 discovered that he had been foully done to death by the 
 Moors. 
 
 At this period in the history of the elucidation of the 
 Niger mystery, several theories of the river were enter- 
 tained by geographers. As we have said, the long 
 popular notion that the Senegal and the Gambia were 
 the mouths of the Niger had been already exploded. 
 Some geographers believed that the Niger flowed east- 
 ward to the heart of the Continent, and fell into a great 
 inland lake or chain of lakes whose waters were evaporated 
 by the sun, or lost in the sand. Another, and a still 
 more startling theory, was that the Niger and the Nile 
 were one and the same ; one immense river taking its 
 rise on the west coast of Africa, and traversing the whole 
 breadth of the Continent. A third division of theorists 
 held to the opinion that the river flowed from east to 
 west, and emptied its waters into the Atlantic, but where, 
 no man could tell. And a fourth school just as firmly 
 maintained that there was no such river as the Niger, and 
 that the story of its existence was a fable of ancient times. 
 
2o FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 Such was the sum of our uncertain knowledge con- 
 cerning the Niger, when Mungo Park declared himself 
 ready to risk another attempt to solve the riddle. It 
 was to his ever-ready friend, Sir Joseph Banks, a leading 
 member of the Association, that Park was indebted for 
 the rare opportunity that was now unfolded before him. 
 Sir Joseph had had a watchful eye upon the young 
 Scotsman's career • he had taken the measure of his 
 capacity, and decided that he was a man to whom the 
 Society could entrust the difficult mission. Eagerly Park 
 offered himself, and just as eagerly was he accepted ; 
 for repeated disasters had almost made the Association 
 despair of finding a suitable man, willing to undertake 
 the perilous adventure. 
 
 There is no evidence that previous to this time Park 
 had thought of African exploration as a possible career. 
 He had no special or even very definite theories regarding 
 the Niger ; the study which preceded his departure for 
 Africa inclined him to the belief that it rose somewhere 
 far in the interior, and flowed westwards. It was his 
 innate love of travel and the promptings of an honour- 
 able ambition that determined his choice. 
 
 Here then we have a stripling of four and twenty, 
 setting out to solve a mystery that for more than two 
 centuries had baffled the ingenuity and daring of his 
 countrymen, and for ten times two centuries had at once 
 fascinated and defied the speculative geographers of 
 Europe. In reading the exploits of Mungo Park, it is 
 not easy to continuously bear in mind that they were 
 the achievements of a very young man. The resource- 
 fulness, the self-control, the patient endurance and 
 
MUNGO PARK 21 
 
 resolute adherence to one fixed purpose, suggest the 
 traveller of mature years and long experience, rather 
 than an untried youth, of an age when those qualities 
 are in most men only just beginning to influence the 
 actions. 
 
 The young explorer was tall and broad-chested, 
 muscular, firmly knit, and of excessively hardy con- 
 stitution. His face marked him out from among 
 ordinary men. It was a powerful face, with an expan- 
 sive brow, a prominent, clear-cut nose, and a strong 
 chin ; but the frank and mild expression of the eyes 
 redeemed it from severity. In manner and speech he 
 was simple and unaffected. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 park's first journey 
 
 Mungo Park sailed from Portsmouth on the 22 nd of 
 May 1795. A month later the ship entered the Gambia, 
 and continued the voyage up the river as far as Jonkakonda, 
 whence Park travelled on horseback to Pisania, a small 
 village on the banks of the Gambia where a British trading 
 factory had long been established. There he was hospit- 
 ably entertained by Dr John Laidley, the agent in charge, 
 till the rainy season had passed and it was possible to 
 continue his journey. During this time of waiting Park 
 studied with diligence the Mandingo tongue, the language 
 in common use in that part of Africa, and gathered what 
 information he could of the countries through which 
 he was to pass on his way to the Niger. On the latter 
 subject he got very little satisfaction. The black traders 
 from the interior whom he met at the factory, whether 
 from jealousy, suspicion, or the African's natural love of 
 lying, did their best to lead him astray and to dissuade 
 him from making the attempt to reach the Niger. But 
 instead of being discouraged, Park only became the more 
 determined to carry out his mission. 
 
 In this way passed the gloomy months of the wet 
 
 season, when the rain falls in torrents upon the sodden 
 22 
 
MUNGO PARK 23 
 
 woods and the tornado roars. Twice he was prostrated 
 by fever and confined to the house for weeks. But as 
 the waters began to subside and the atmosphere to grow 
 dry, he rapidly regained strength j and the return of the 
 dry season found him in high spirits and ready to take 
 his departure for the interior. It had been Park's inten- 
 tion to travel with a native caravan, but as the merchants 
 took no pains to conceal their dislike to his mission, he 
 decided to proceed alone. On the 2nd of December he 
 bade farewell to his friends at Pisania and turned his face 
 eastwards. He had only two companions, a negro servant 
 named Johnson, who spoke both English and Mandingo, 
 and a sprightly negro boy named Demba, who was also 
 skilled in the languages of the peoples of the Niger. Park 
 rode a small but hardy horse, his attendants bestrode 
 asses, and among them they carried the modest baggage 
 of the expedition. This consisted of provisions for two 
 days ; some beads, amber and tobacco with which to 
 purchase fresh supplies as they were required ; a few 
 changes of linen, an umbrella, a pocket sextant, a com- 
 pass, and a thermometer. Two fowling pieces and two 
 pairs of pistols were their only weapons. It happened 
 that a Mohammedan, two slave merchants, and a native 
 blacksmith were going for some distance in the same 
 direction as Park, and agreed to travel with him for 
 mutual protection. 
 
 Thus slenderly equipped the little cavalcade set out on 
 a journey of many hundreds of miles, through a country 
 utterly unknown to Europeans, and inhabited by people 
 of whom rumour had nothing to tell but deeds of craft, 
 treachery, and cruelty. Dr Laidley and two other white 
 
24 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 traders accompanied Park the two first days, and when 
 they had shaken hands with him and stood watching as 
 he disappeared into the forest, they believed that they 
 would never see his face again. Nor was the mind of 
 the young traveller free from uneasy forebodings. ' I 
 had now before me,' he wrote in his journal, ' a bound- 
 less forest, and a country the inhabitants of which were 
 strangers to civilised life, and to most of whom a white 
 man was the object of curiosity or plunder. I reflected 
 that I had parted from the last European I might probably 
 behold, and perhaps quitted for ever the comforts of 
 Christian society.' 
 
 Park, however, was not long to have leisure to nurse 
 those gloomy thoughts. He had scarcely ridden three 
 miles when a mob of natives rushed out upon him, 
 stopped the caravan, and demanded payment of customs. 
 As argument was useless and force out of the question, 
 Park allowed himself to be victimised, and went on his 
 way. This was only the first of countless experiences of 
 the same kind. The African is a shameless and irrepres- 
 sible beggar. The more he gets the more he asks ; he 
 will even beg the clothes from your back and the food 
 from your mouth ; and what he cannot get by asking he 
 will steal if he can do so with any degree of safety. 
 
 Without hindrance or notable incident Park passed 
 into the dominions of the King of Wuli, a venerable and 
 courteous old man, who not only gave Park permission 
 to traverse his territory to Bondou, but promised to offer 
 up prayers for his safety. At the same time he entreated 
 him to desist from his purpose, reminding him of the fate 
 of Major Houghton, and reiterating his belief that the 
 
MUNGO PARK 25 
 
 same miserable fate awaited him. But Park would not 
 be moved. He told the king that he had well considered 
 the matter, and was determined to proceed in the face of 
 any danger. 
 
 Provided by the king with a guide, Park resumed his 
 journey, striking off from the Gambia towards the north- 
 east and the basin of the Senegal. And here he had a 
 foretaste of the toils and perils that lay before him. 
 Forced marches had to be made through regions where 
 water was scarce or entirely absent. Water-carriers had 
 to be hired ; the dread of robbers made cowards of his 
 servants ; and the begging and pilfering propensities of 
 the natives put a severe strain upon Park's good nature. 
 At one village on the way it seemed as if the entire female 
 population had turned out to harass him. 'They were 
 rude and troublesome in the highest degree,' said Park. 
 1 They surrounded me in numbers, begging for amber, 
 beads, etc., and were so vehement in their solicitations 
 that I found it impossible to resist them. They tore my 
 cloak, cut the buttons from my boy's clothes, and were 
 proceeding to other outrages, when I mounted my 
 horse and rode off, followed for half a mile by a body 
 of these harpies.' 
 
 At a village further on he again heard of the death of 
 Major Houghton, and was warned of the fate that would 
 inevitably overtake him if he ventured into the land of the 
 Moors. The shade of the murdered traveller seemed ever 
 to flit before him, pointing the way to death. But though 
 Park, in his struggle to the Niger, was in this manner 
 many times reminded of the danger that hung over him, 
 and was frequently depressed and disheartened in conse- 
 
26 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 quence, he never for a moment harboured the idea of 
 retracing his steps. 
 
 About the end of December the wayfarers entered 
 Fatticonda, the capital of Bondou. Park had reason for 
 the uneasiness with which he sought the presence of 
 Almami the king, for that monarch had an evil reputa- 
 tion, and was commonly reported to have treated Major 
 Houghton with severity, and caused him to be plundered. 
 To protect himself in some measure against the rapacity 
 of the king, Park hid some of his valuables in the roof of 
 the hut in which he lodged, and donned his best blue 
 coat, thinking that the regal dignity would not bend to 
 beg the very clothes from his back. But he had yet 
 something to learn of African greed. 
 
 1 We found the monarch sitting upon a mat, and two 
 attendants with him. I repeated what I had before told 
 him concerning the object of my journey, and my reasons 
 for passing through his country. He seemed, however, 
 but half satisfied. The notion of travelling for curiosity 
 was quite new to him. He thought it impossible, he 
 said, that any man in his senses would undertake so 
 dangerous a journey merely to look at the country and 
 its inhabitants. However, when I offered to show him 
 the contents of my portmanteau, and everything belong- 
 ing to me, he was convinced, and it was evident that 
 his suspicion had arisen from a belief that every white 
 man must of necessity be a trader. When I had 
 delivered my presents, he seemed well pleased, and 
 was particularly delighted with the umbrella, which 
 he repeatedly furled and unfurled, to the great admira- 
 tion of himself and his two attendants, who could not 
 
MUNGO PARK 27 
 
 for some time comprehend the use of this wonderful 
 machine. 
 
 1 After this I was about to take my leave, when the 
 king, desiring me to stop awhile, began a long preamble 
 in favour of the whites, extolling their immense wealth 
 and good dispositions. He next proceeded to an eulogium 
 on my new blue coat, of which the yellow buttons seemed 
 particularly to catch his fancy ; and he concluded by 
 entreating me to present him with it, assuring me, for my 
 consolation under the loss of it, that he would wear it 
 on all public occasions, and inform everyone who saw it 
 of my great liberality towards him. The request of an 
 African prince, in his own dominions, particularly when 
 made to a stranger, comes little short of a command. It 
 is only a way of obtaining by gentle means what he can, 
 if he pleases, take by force ; and as it was against my 
 interest to offend him by a refusal, I very quietly 
 took off my coat, the only good one in my possession, 
 and laid it at his feet.' 
 
 Park's tact had its reward. Not only did he escape 
 being plundered j he was presented with a small quantity 
 of gold and allowed to go without molestation. And so 
 he passed into Kajaaga, a land of pleasant hills and valleys 
 in the basin of the Senegal. 
 
 When he reached the frontier town of Joag it was even- 
 ing. He lay down to sleep on the 'bentang,' a stage or 
 platform erected in every West African town, generally 
 under a large tree, and used as a place of public resort. 
 Early in the morning he was aroused by the arrival of a 
 band of horsemen, who dismounted and formed a circle 
 round him, and with muskets in hand sat watching him 
 
28 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 till daybreak. Then the leader of the party broke into a 
 long harangue, declaring that as the stranger had entered 
 the king's town without having first paid the duties or sent 
 a present to the king, his servants, horses, baggage, and 
 all his property were forfeited ; and they had come to 
 carry him, by force if necessary, before their master the 
 king. 
 
 Resistance, of course, was out of the question, and 
 Park, remembering that he was in the land where ' back- 
 sheesh ' was all-powerful, took refuge in diplomacy. He 
 said he had entered the king's dominions without knowing 
 that it was necessary to pay the duties beforehand, but 
 he was ready to do so now. He thereupon handed over 
 to them the gold which the King of Bondou had given 
 him, hoping that it would appease them and that he would 
 escape without having his baggage examined. But in 
 this he was disappointed. They insisted on opening his 
 bundles and helping themselves. All day they wrangled 
 and chaffered with the unfortunate traveller, and when 
 they left him at sunset they carried with them one half 
 of his goods. 
 
 A deep gloom now fell upon Park and his companions. 
 They spent the night by the side of a feeble fire, downcast 
 and sleepless. When morning came they were afraid to 
 buy provisions, lest the display of their beads and amber 
 might tempt the people to further robberies. All day 
 they struggled against the desire for food, and at nightfall 
 came the first of several very remarkable deliverances 
 which Park experienced at the hands of women during 
 his wanderings in Africa. 
 
 ' Towards evening,' said Park, ' as I was sitting upon 
 
MUNGO PARK 29 
 
 the bentang, chewing straws, an old female slave, passing 
 by with a basket upon her head, asked me if I had got 
 my dinner. As I thought she only laughed at me, I gave 
 her no answer ; but my boy, who was sitting close by, 
 answered for me, and told her that the king's people had 
 robbed me of all my money. On hearing this, the good 
 old woman, with a look of unaffected benevolence, imme- 
 diately took the basket from her head, and shewing me 
 that it contained ground nuts, asked me if I could eat 
 them. Being answered in the affirmative, she presented 
 me with a few handfuls and walked away before I had 
 time to thank her for this seasonable supply. This trifling 
 circumstance gave me peculiar satisfaction. I reflected 
 with pleasure on the conduct of this poor untutored slave, 
 who, without examining into my character or circumstances, 
 listened implicitly to the dictates of her own heart. Ex- 
 perience had taught her that hunger was painful, and her 
 own distresses made her commiserate those of others.' 
 
 One stroke of good fortune was closely followed by 
 another. It happened that Demba Sego, a nephew of 
 the King of Kasson, whose dominions lay in the line of 
 Park's march, was passing that day through Joag on his 
 return home from an embassy. He took the travellers 
 under his protection, and together they crossed the Sene- 
 gal and entered upon Kasson territory. No sooner was 
 Park thus completely in his power than Demba Sego 
 turned upon him and demanded a reward suitable to his 
 rank and the services rendered. Demba was aware of the 
 traveller's impoverished condition. But he was implac- 
 able ; remonstrance was fruitless ; and with a heavy heart 
 Park handed over another portion of his now scanty bag- 
 
lo FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 3 
 
 gage. This trouble, however, was a small one compared 
 with what followed. At the town of Tisi, Park was lodged 
 in the house of Tiggity Sego, the father of Demba, and 
 the latter, borrowing Park's horse, set off on a diplomatic 
 mission, saying he would return in three days. Day after 
 day passed, precious time that the explorer could ill afford 
 to lose, and yet Demba did not return. After nine days 
 had been wasted in waiting Demba returned, and Park 
 prepared for departure. Then came the usual demand 
 for a gift. Park selected an offering, but it was con- 
 temptuously rejected as unworthy the acceptance of a 
 man of Tiggity's consequence ; and in the end the bar- 
 barians, falling upon the bundles, helped themselves to 
 whatever pleased them. When they were satisfied there 
 remained barely half of what had been spared by the 
 thieves of Joag. 
 
 The quiet acquiescence in the decrees of fate with 
 which Park met every calamity bore him through this 
 fresh misfortune ; and he quitted Tisi thankful that he 
 had still some baggage left for him to carry. Then 
 came a pleasant interlude in this record of wrong and 
 robbery. The blacksmith from the Gambia, who had 
 been faithful to Park through all his trials, at last 
 arrived at his native village, and the inhabitants, who 
 had been warned of his coming, welcomed him with great 
 rejoicings. ' The meeting between him and his relations 
 was very tender,' Park wrote in his journal, 'for these 
 rude children of nature, free from restraint, display their 
 emotions in the strongest and most expressive manner. 
 Amidst these transports the blacksmith's aged mother 
 was led forth, leaning upon a staff. Everyone made way 
 
MUNGO PARK 31 
 
 for her, and she stretched out her hand to bid her son 
 welcome. Being totally blind, she stroked his hands, 
 arms, and face with great care, and seemed highly de- 
 lighted that her latter days were blessed by his return, 
 and that her ears once more heard the music of his voice. 
 From this interview I was fully convinced that, whatever 
 difference there is between Negro and European in the 
 conformation of the nose and the colour of the skin, 
 there is none in the genuine sympathies and characteristic 
 feelings of our common nature.' 
 
 Park, introduced by the blacksmith to the simple 
 •villagers as a friend and protector, was feasted and enter- 
 tained for the greater part of two days, and when he 
 resumed his journey he was accompanied by the black- 
 smith, who insisted on seeing him safely out of the 
 district. 
 
 On his arrival at the residence of the King of Kasson 
 at Kuniakary, he was ushered into the royal presence, 
 and was agreeably surprised to find that greed was not 
 always an attribute of rank. Demba Sego Jalla received 
 him courteously, and accepted the traveller's gift without 
 grumbling at its small value. However, when, a few days 
 later, Park obtained payment from a local trader of a 
 debt for which Dr Laidley had given him an order, the 
 king showed himself a true African by pouncing upon 
 him and extorting a liberal amount as his own share. 
 
 This part of the Continent Park described as enchant- 
 ing. The number of towns and villages, and the extensive 
 cultivation around them, surpassed anything he had yet 
 seen in Africa. Indeed, ever since leaving the dank and 
 gloomy forests that stretch from the coasts for many a 
 
32 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 mile inland, he had traversed a country of pleasing aspect 
 and teeming population, and had suffered more from acts 
 of individual rapacity than from the animosity of the 
 people as a whole. 
 
 So far fate had dealt leniently with Park. But now 
 the outlook was becoming darker ; new and graver dangers 
 began to threaten. It had been his intention to hold on 
 in an easterly direction, through the kingdoms of Kaarta 
 and Bambarra, till he reached the Niger. When he 
 entered Kaarta, however, he found that war had broken 
 out between these two States, and that it would be ex- 
 tremely dangerous to travel through a country overrun by 
 marauders, by whom he would infallibly be plundered or 
 murdered as a spy. He was advised by the King of Kaarta 
 to return to Kasson till the war was over. But Park was 
 anxious to push on ; he dreaded being overtaken by the 
 rainy season in the heart of Africa \ and still more he dis- 
 liked the thought of returning to the coast without having 
 attained the object of his mission. 
 
 There was one perilous alternative. He might make 
 a detour to the north, through the Moorish kingdom of 
 Ludamar, and so descend upon Bambarra and the Niger 
 without passing through the war-disturbed region. It was 
 an alternative that only a brave man, determined to do 
 his duty at any cost, would have thought of choosing. 
 Not only did it add considerably to the length of the 
 journey, but it led him into a land inhabited by one of 
 the most treacherous, cruel and fanatical peoples in the 
 world. It was by these Moors of Ludamar that Major 
 Houghton had been done to death — lured into the desert, 
 stripped of everything he possessed, and left to die of 
 
MUNGO PARK 33 
 
 hunger and thirst. Park knew the place and the 
 manner of Houghton's death. Yet he had no thought 
 of turning back. He bent his steps northward, to face 
 dangers and hardships rarely surpassed in the records of 
 travel. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 A CAPTIVE AMONG THE MOORS 
 
 As Mungo Park held on his way to Ludamar he 
 was daily confronted with abundant evidence of the evil 
 character of the people in whose power he was about to 
 place himself. Murder, theft, and cruelty in every form 
 seemed to be the sole employment of those wandering 
 tribes, and with this savagery was blended a subtlety 
 and treachery that made their wickedness doubly dan- 
 gerous. Park's terrified attendants entreated their master 
 to return, declaring that they would rather relinquish all 
 claim to reward than go another step towards the country 
 of the Moors. 
 
 In those circumstances — for the risk of his servants 
 being seized and sold into slavery was indeed very great — 
 Park took the precaution of applying to Ali, the chief of 
 Ludamar, for a safe conduct through his domains to 
 Bambarra. After a delay of fourteen days the petition 
 was granted, and one of Ali's slaves arrived to convoy 
 Park as far as Gumba, the nearest town in Bambarra. 
 The faithful boy Demba, when he saw that his master 
 was determined to proceed at all hazards, resolved to 
 accompany him, and a negro was hired to take the place 
 of the deserter Johnson. 
 
 34 
 
MUNGO PARK 35 
 
 On the third day of the journey, at a large town called 
 Dina, Park had his first personal experience of Moorish 
 insolence and rapacity. The fanatics surrounded the 
 hut in which he lodged, and hissed, shouted, and abused 
 him, and even spit in his face. But finding that all their 
 efforts to irritate the stranger to retaliate were unavailing, 
 they seized his baggage without any pretext, except that 
 he was a Christian, and despoiled him of everything that 
 took their fancy. Seeing their master thus contemptu- 
 ously treated, and knowing that he was powerless to pro- 
 tect them, Demba and the negro refused to accompany 
 him further. Expostulation was in vain ; they could not 
 be induced to face the risk of death or slavery. Fearing 
 that the fanaticism of the Moors would lead them to 
 greater outrage, Park decided to lose no time in quitting 
 Dina. Alone and by night he stole out of the city. 
 Seven days' perilous march lay between him and the 
 comparative safety of Bambarra. But on he must go ; 
 there was no turning back now. 
 
 He had not gone far when Demba came running 
 after him. Love for his master had overcome his 
 fears. And not only did the boy himself return to 
 his allegiance ; he succeeded in persuading the negro to 
 follow his example. For five days the three travellers 
 pressed onward without suffering molestation from the 
 Moors, yet hourly haunted by the dread of them. But, 
 as day after day passed, and still they got through un- 
 scathed, their terror diminished and gave place to hope. 
 In a gaiety of spirits to which they had long been strangers, 
 Park and his companions one evening entered a village 
 within two days' journey of Gumba. The simple negroes, 
 
36 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 delighted with the honour of entertaining a white man, 
 spread a feast and held high revel. Grateful for their 
 hearty kindness, Park consented to remain another day 
 with the villagers. The day was spent in rest and harmless 
 merriment. Park was elated. In fancy he pictured 
 himself on the banks of the Niger, his long foot journey 
 over, the first stage of his great undertaking accomplished. 
 
 He was sitting in his hut in the evening, surrounded 
 by his friends, indulging those pleasing fancies, when 
 suddenly a band of Moors entered, and announced that 
 they had come to carry him to the camp of Ali at 
 Benaun. Park was struck dumb with surprise and fear. 
 Seeing his perturbation, the Moors endeavoured to assure 
 him that he was required at Benaun only for the purpose 
 of satisfying the curiosity of Fatima, Ali's wife, who was 
 very anxious to see the Christian, and that he would 
 thereafter be allowed to proceed on his journey. But 
 he knew too much of Moorish dishonesty and treachery 
 to place any reliance on their word, and with many 
 forebodings of coming trouble he prepared to return with 
 Ali's messengers. 
 
 For five days Park and his boy Demba — the negro 
 had made his escape on seeing the Moors — were hurried 
 northward over a hot, sandy country, tormented by thirst 
 and weak from lack of food. At Dina, Park went to 
 pay his respects to one of Ali's sons. The Moor de- 
 manded some knives and scissors, and upon Demba 
 explaining that his master had none of these articles, he 
 snatched up a musket, and, presenting it to the boy's ear, 
 would have blown out his brains had not the young man's 
 companions wrested the gun from him and hurried the 
 
MUNGO PARK 37 
 
 captives out of the hut. During the night the boy 
 attempted to escape, but was prevented by the Moors, 
 who took the precaution of going to sleep stretched out 
 in front of the door of the hut. 
 
 On the evening of March 12 th, they reached the camp 
 at Benaun, a great array of dirty tents scattered in dis- 
 order over the plain, over which wandered large herds of 
 camels, cattle, and goats. When the company of horse- 
 men and their prisoners appeared in sight the whole 
 company turned out to meet them. A mob of men, 
 women, and children swarmed round the unfortunate 
 white man, pulling him hither and thither, plucking at his 
 clothes, insulting and threatening him, and demanding 
 that he should repeat the shibboleth of Islam, ' There is 
 but one God, and Mahomet is His prophet.' In this 
 fashion Park was dragged to the tent of Ali, an old man 
 with a long white beard and of a sullen and evil counte- 
 nance. Ali looked at him long and in ominous silence, 
 but nothing could restrain the curiosity of the women. 
 They pressed round the stranger, plying him with count- 
 less questions. They examined his clothes, searched his 
 pockets, made him open his waistcoat to show the white- 
 ness of his skin, and even counted his toes and fingers to 
 satisfy themselves that he was human. Then a wild hog 
 was brought in, and Park was directed to kill and eat it. 
 Though very hungry he wisely restrained himself; it would 
 not have been prudent to have partaken openly of the flesh 
 of an animal which the Moors detested. At length a 
 little boiled corn and water was given to him, and he 
 passed the night on a mat spread on the sand. Worn 
 out though he was with fatigue and excitement, sleep was 
 
38 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 denied him, for all night long he was surrounded by an 
 inquisitive, chattering mob. 
 
 Next day Park was lodged in a hut, inside of which the 
 wild hog was tethered in derision of the Christian. Not 
 only was the animal itself a very disagreeable inmate ; it 
 attracted to the spot a number of boys, who employed 
 themselves in irritating the hog almost to madness. * I 
 was no sooner seated in this my new habitation,' said 
 Park, ' than the Moors assembled in crowds to behold 
 me ; but I found it rather a troublesome levee, for I was 
 obliged to take off one of my stockings and show them 
 my foot, and even to take off my jacket and waistcoat to 
 show them how my clothes were put on and off: they 
 were much delighted with the curious contrivance of 
 buttons. All this was to be repeated to every succeeding 
 visitor; for such as had already seen these wonders in- 
 sisted on their friends seeing the same ; and in this 
 manner I was employed dressing and undressing, button- 
 ing and unbuttoning, from noon to night. About eight 
 o'clock Ali sent me for supper some kouskous and salt 
 and water, which was very acceptable, being the only 
 victuals I had tasted since morning.' 
 
 During the night the Moors kept strict watch over their 
 prisoner. At intervals they looked into the hut to make 
 sure that he was there, and in the hours of darkness 
 lighted wisps of grass when they made their visits. c With 
 the returning day commenced the same round of insult 
 and irritation, the boys assembled to beat the hog, and 
 the men and women to plague the Christian. It is 
 impossible for me to describe the behaviour of a people 
 who study mischief as a science, and exult in the miseries 
 
MUNGO PARK 39 
 
 and misfortunes of their fellow creatures. It is sufficient 
 to observe that the rudeness, ferocity, and fanaticism 
 which distinguish the Moors from the rest of mankind 
 found here a proper subject whereon to exercise their 
 propensities. I was a stranger, I was unprotected, and I 
 was a Christian ; each of these circumstances is sufficient 
 to drive every spark of humanity from the heart of a 
 Moor j but when all of them, as in my case, were com- 
 bined in the same person, and a suspicion prevailed 
 withal that I had come as a spy into the country, the 
 reader will easily imagine that, in such a situation, I had 
 everything to fear. Anxious, however, to conciliate favour, 
 and, if possible, to afford the Moors no pretence of ill- 
 treating me, I readily complied with every command, and 
 patiently bore every insult j but never did any period of 
 my life pass so heavily j from sunrise to sunset was I 
 obliged to suffer, with an unruffled countenance, the 
 insults of the rudest savages on earth.' 
 
 The captives were not allowed to remain in idleness. 
 Demba was employed to gather grass in the woods, and 
 Park, after various occupations had been suggested, was 
 installed in the office of barber to the royal family. But 
 his first essay on the head of one of the young princes 
 exposing his unfitness for the post, he was ignominiously 
 dismissed. At this Park was in no wise disconcerted, for 
 it was part of his design to be as useless and insignificant 
 as possible, so that the Moors might have the less reason 
 for denying him his liberty. His clothes, except those 
 he wore, and all his effects were removed to Ali's tent, so 
 that he was unable to have the comfort of a change of 
 linen, which the intolerable heat and dust made the more 
 
4 o FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 necessary. But he counted himself fortunate in having 
 hid his compass in the sand before his jailors searched 
 him. 
 
 About a week after Park's arrival at the camp a council 
 of the chief men was held to decide on the fate of the 
 captive. Of the result of the consultation he could get 
 no satisfactory account. Some said that he was to be put 
 to death ; some that his right hand was to be hacked off ; 
 others that his eyes were to be put out. He had the 
 melancholy certainty, however, that nothing would be 
 done to him till Fatima the queen had seen him, and she 
 was still in the north. Mental distress and bodily 
 privation soon brought on a sharp attack of fever. The 
 wretched captive, now in the lowest depths of depression, 
 wrapped himself in his cloak and lay down in the hope of 
 inducing perspiration. He had just fallen asleep, when a 
 party of Moors entered the tent and pulled the cloak from 
 him. The sick man implored them to leave him in peace. 
 But they began to mock and jeer, and to harass him with 
 their devilish sportiveness. 
 
 Driven to despair by the torture, and fearful lest pas- 
 sion might force him to some desperate act of resentment, 
 which would mean certain death to him, Park staggered 
 from the hut, and lay down under the shade of a clump 
 of trees a short distance from the camp. He had barely 
 time to compose himself when a company of Moors 
 galloped to the spot, and commanded him to rise and re- 
 turn to the camp. He begged hard to be allowed to rest 
 there for a little, but one of the ruffians, losing patience, 
 pulled out a pistol and twice snapped it at Park's head. 
 For a third time he cocked it, and was about to strike the 
 

 UN 
 
 MUNGO PARK 41 
 
 flint with steel, when Park prayed him to hold his hand, 
 and returned with the horsemen to the camp. There he 
 was taken before Ali, who told him, with ferocious menaces, 
 that if ever again he went outside the skirts of the camp 
 he would be shot by the first person who observed him. 
 
 A few days after this incident, Park received orders 
 to mount his horse and ride out with Ali, who desired to 
 show the white man to some of his lady friends. When 
 Park came forth from his hut, a sudden scruple seized the 
 Chief. The stranger's nankeen breeches struck him as 
 not only inelegant, but indecent j he would not be guilty 
 of the impropriety of introducing a man so attired into 
 the presence of ladies. Therefore Park, at the command 
 of the cut-throat, enveloped his person in the ample folds 
 of his cloak. Ali made a round of the tents in which his 
 friends resided, and the unhappy captive had to submit to 
 being handled and examined as if he were a strange sort 
 of animal. The ladies, being persons of distinction, were 
 enormously corpulent : with the Moors bulk and beauty 
 are synonymous terms. Park said that a woman of even 
 moderate pretensions to good looks must be one who 
 could not walk without a slave under each arm to support 
 her, and a perfect beauty was a load for a camel. Stout- 
 ness was carefully cultivated by the Moorish women, and 
 the higher the social position the greater were the pains 
 taken to acquire the requisite degree of plumpness. 
 
 The hot season had now set in, and the heat was ter- 
 rific. The sand, unsheltered by foliage of any kind, was 
 frequently heated to such a degree that the naked foot 
 could not be placed upon it ; and so fiery were the winds 
 from the desert that they scorched the hand if held in a 
 
42 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 current of air. Water became very scarce, and in the 
 general distress the wants of the prisoner were entirely 
 ignored. Moreover, as it was the time of the Mahomedan 
 Lent, the Christian was put upon the same famine rations 
 as the Faithful. A little kouskous, with salt and water, 
 once in the twenty-four hours, was his allowance. ' Time, 
 however,' Park philosophically observed, ' somewhat re- 
 conciled me to my situation. I found that I could bear 
 hunger and thirst better than I expected, and at length 
 I endeavoured to beguile the tedious hours by learning 
 to write Arabic. The people who came to see me soon 
 made me acquainted with the characters, and I discovered 
 that, by engaging their attention in this way, they were 
 not so troublesome as otherwise they would have been. 
 Indeed, when I observed any person whose countenance 
 I thought bore malice towards me, I made it a rule to ask 
 him either to write in the sand himself, or to decipher 
 what I had already written ; and the pride of showing his 
 superior attainments generally induced him to comply 
 with my request.' 
 
 All this time Park had never once allowed himself to 
 forget his first resolve — to endure all, to learn all, and 
 to neglect no circumstance, however trifling, that might 
 ultimately aid him to escape. He had been content to 
 wait till an opportunity presented itself. But now there 
 arose a new cause of alarm. The long-continued depriva- 
 tion of the necessaries of life began to tell upon his health. 
 A dimness of sight, sleeplessness, and a tendency to faint 
 when he attempted to sit up, were the principal symptoms. 
 His two attendants — Johnson, the runaway servant, had 
 been captured and brought to Benaun — were in a hope- 
 
MUNGO PARK 43 
 
 less plight. They lay in a stupor on the sand, and he 
 had difficulty in rousing them even when their scanty 
 rations arrived. 
 
 This dreary, killing monotony was suddenly disturbed 
 one day at the end of April by the news that the Bam- 
 barra army was approaching the frontiers of Ludamar. 
 Instantly orders were given to strike the tents and collect 
 the cattle, and next morning the whole camp were on the 
 move northward. On the fourth day the great caravan 
 reached Bubaker, another encampment of Ali's, and there 
 settled down in a thick wood, surrounded by a vast, un- 
 broken expanse of sand. At last Park had the honour of 
 being presented to Queen Fatima. Like the ladies of her 
 court, she was ponderously corpulent, and at first looked 
 upon the Christian with aversion. Gradually, however, 
 she regarded him with more favour, and Park began to 
 hope that he had found a friend. 
 
 The heat increased, and as water was even scarcer 
 than at Benaun, Park's sufferings grew wellnigh beyond 
 endurance. His meagre allowance being insufficient to 
 assuage his thirst, he sent the boy Demba to the wells to 
 fill the water-bottle. But the Moors drove him away with 
 blows and curses, indignant that the slave of a Christian 
 should dare to draw water from wells dug by followers of 
 the Prophet. In his agony Park begged water from the 
 slaves as they moved about the camp, but with little suc- 
 cess, and frequently he passed nights of intense suffering, 
 dreaming of water. 
 
 'No sooner had I shut my eyes, than fancy would 
 convey me to the streams and rivers of my native land. 
 There, as I wandered along the verdant brink, I surveyed 
 
44 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 the clear stream with transport, and hastened to swallow 
 the delightful draught. But alas ! disappointment awakened 
 me ; and I found myself a lonely captive, perishing of thirst 
 amidst the wilds of Africa ! 
 
 1 One night, having solicited in vain for water at the 
 camp, and being quite feverish, I resolved to try my 
 fortune at the wells, which were about half a mile distant 
 from the camp. Accordingly, I set out about midnight, 
 and being guided by the lowing of the cattle, soon arrived 
 at the place, where I found the Moors very busy drawing 
 water. I requested permission to drink, but was driven 
 away with outrageous abuse. Passing, however, from one 
 well to another, I came at last to one where there was 
 only an old man and two boys. I made the same request 
 to this man, and he immediately drew me up a bucket of 
 water. But as I was about to take hold of it he recollected 
 that I was a Christian, and fearing that his bucket might 
 be polluted by my lips, he dashed the water into the trough 
 and told me to drink from thence. Though this trough 
 was none of the largest, and three cows were already 
 drinking in it, I resolved to come in for my share ; and 
 kneeling down, thrust my head between two of the cows, 
 and drank with great pleasure, until the water was nearly 
 exhausted, and the cows began to contend with each other 
 for the last mouthful.' 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 ESCAPE FROM CAPTIVITY 
 
 In such wretched state the weary weeks dragged on, till 
 at length signs of the approaching rainy season warned 
 the captive that the crisis of his life was near. If he was 
 ever to regain his freedom, no time was to be lost, for 
 soon the Moors would break up their camp and move 
 northward to the skirts of the Great Desert, whence 
 escape would be impossible. Just at the right moment 
 circumstances came about which favoured the design Park 
 had been long meditating. Ali found it expedient to go 
 south to Jarra to settle various matters affected by the war 
 in Kaarta. Now the further south Park could get, the 
 further he would be away from the desert and its diffi- 
 culties, the less within the sphere of Moorish influence, 
 and the nearer to a place of safety from pursuit. Deter- 
 mined not to let slip the opportunity, Park begged the 
 Queen for permission to accompany Ali. Fatima took 
 compassion upon the captive ; she used her influence with 
 her husband, and to Park's great joy he was told to prepare 
 for the journey. His clothes were brought from Ali's tent 
 and some of them restored to him, after he had once more 
 satisfied the curiosity of the Queen by showing how they 
 were put on and taken off again. 
 
 45 
 
46 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 On the morning of the 26th May, Park, with his two 
 attendants, Demba and Johnson, joined the cavalcade of 
 Moors and started for Jarra. His joy at departure, 
 however, was soon turned to consternation. On the 
 morning of the third day, as the travellers were getting 
 ready for the saddle, the King's chief slave, taking 
 Demba by the shoulder, told him that Ali was to be 
 his master in future ; then turning to Park, he said, 
 1 The business is settled at last ; the boy and everything 
 but your horse goes back to Bubaker ; but you may take 
 the old fool (Johnson) with you to Jarra.' 
 
 This was an act of tyranny that Park could not brook 
 in silence. He hastened to the tent of Ali, and in an 
 outburst of passionate words, gave vent to his indignation. 
 The Moor said not a word while Park vehemently 
 reproached him with cruelty, treachery, and injustice, but 
 listened with a contemptuous and malignant smile on 
 his lips. Then turning to the interpreter, he haughtily 
 commanded him to tell the white man that if he did 
 not immediately mount his horse, he would be served 
 in the same manner as Demba. ' There is something 
 in the frown of a tyrant,' wrote Park, ' which rouses the 
 most secret emotions of the heart. I could not suppress 
 my feelings j and for once entertained an indignant wish 
 to rid the world of such a monster. ... It was in vain 
 to expect anything favourable to humanity from people 
 who are strangers to its dictates. So having shaken 
 hands with this unfortunate boy, and blended my tears 
 with his, assuring him, however, that I would do my 
 utmost to redeem him, I saw him led off by three of 
 Ali's slaves, towards the camp at Bubaker.' Park was 
 
MUNGO PARK 47 
 
 true to his promise. As long as he was in Africa, and 
 as long as hope remained, he never lost an opportunity 
 of causing search or inquiry to be made ; but he never 
 saw his faithful boy again. 
 
 AH had not been many days in Jarra, when he found 
 it necessary to return to Bubaker again ; but as it was 
 only on a flying visit, he decided to let his prisoner 
 remain at Jarra. Park could hardly contain himself for 
 joy, when he learned that the Chief and his attendants 
 had actually departed. The difficulty of escape was now 
 greatly reduced, and immediately he began to lay his 
 plans and watch for a chance to put them into execution. 
 The uproar and confusion raised in the town by rumours 
 of the approach of an invading army were also conducive 
 to the success of his designs. He was still waiting and 
 on the alert, when with that suddenness which marked 
 all the movements of his captors, Ali's chief slave and 
 four Moors arrived to carry him back to camp. There- 
 upon Park resolved not to wait another day, but to make 
 a dash for liberty. 
 
 That very night he gathered his meagre wardrobe 
 together. About daybreak Johnson, who, though he had 
 flatly refused to go further with him, but had been aiding 
 him by playing the spy on the Moors, came to him and 
 whispered that they were asleep. Lifting his bundle, 
 Park stole cautiously from the hut, and stepping over the 
 negroes who were sleeping in the open air, made his way 
 to where his horse was tethered. A cold sweat stood on 
 his brow ; he trembled at the thought of discovery j for 
 this was his last chance of escape from hopeless captivity. 
 When he had mounted his horse, he gave his papers to 
 
48 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 Johnson to take to the Gambia, and bidding him farewell, 
 stealthily quitted the town. For about a mile he rode on 
 with great caution and with as much speed as his worn- 
 out horse could carry him. Every bush he approached 
 he examined with anxiety, fearful lest his enemies should 
 rush out upon him. A number of shepherds whom he 
 encountered followed him for some distance, hooting and 
 throwing stones. But Park endured the maltreatment 
 patiently, too fervently thankful that they did not carry 
 their obstruction further. At last his tormentors left him ; 
 hope began to revive within him ; his backward glances 
 became less frequent ; and he was steadily jogging his 
 horse forward, when he was startled by a loud halloo, and 
 looking back saw three Moors galloping after him at full 
 speed, whooping and brandishing their guns. As it was 
 useless to attempt to evade them, mounted as he was 
 upon a horse weakened by months of starvation and 
 neglect, he turned back to meet them. When the Moors 
 came up with him two of them seized his bridle, and the 
 third, presenting his musket, told him he must go back to 
 Ali. 
 
 This was the final blow. It seemed to numb the 
 faculties of the unhappy traveller. Misfortune had now 
 done its worst ; he would no longer strive against fate ; 
 no longer hope to elude his doom. In the silence of 
 utter despair he rode back with the Moors. But they 
 had not gone far, when they halted under cover of some 
 thick bushes and commanded him to untie his bundles 
 and show them his belongings. After all, they were not 
 emissaries of the King, but thieving vagabonds who had 
 followed Park to plunder him. It argued extreme 
 
MUNGO PARK 49 
 
 poverty to have nothing that a Moor would steal. Yet 
 so it was. They found nothing worth taking except his 
 cloak ; and one of the robbers, dragging it from Park's 
 shoulders, wrapped it around his own. Park begged hard 
 to have it returned, for it was invaluable to him — his only 
 protection against the rains and the mosquitoes. The 
 Moors, however, gave no heed to his entreaties, and when 
 he attempted to follow them, one of the thieves struck his 
 horse over the head, and threatened to shoot him if he 
 did not desist. So Park, once more turning his horse's 
 head toward the east, rode off into the woods, where he 
 might the more easily baffle pursuit j and rejoicing that he 
 had at last made good his escape from the clutches of 
 AH the Moor. ' It is impossible,' he said, ' to describe 
 the joy that arose in my mind when I looked around and 
 concluded that I was out of danger. I felt like one 
 recovered from sickness ; I breathed freer ; I found un- 
 usual lightness in my limbs ; even the Desert looked 
 pleasant.' 
 
 He had been a captive for nearly four months. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 STRUGGLING ONWARD TO THE NIGER 
 
 Once more Mungo Park was free to pursue his mission. 
 But in every other respect his condition was desperate. 
 His health had been impaired by months of hardship. 
 He was utterly destitute ; without food or money to buy 
 it. He had neither guide nor interpreter. His horse had 
 become so weak that it was scarcely able to carry him. 
 And finally, and worst of all, the rain season was about to 
 begin. If ever explorer had good reasons for relinquish- 
 ing his task and taking the nearest way home, Park was 
 that one. But notwithstanding all these impediments to 
 further advance, and the certainty that they would 
 further increase as he went on, his zeal for the mission 
 he had undertaken never slackened. He was deter- 
 mined to hold on his course till human endurance 
 could go no further. What most he dreaded was the 
 possibility of having to return home with the aim of 
 his journey unaccomplished. 
 
 Casting from him all thought of retreat, he pulled 
 himself together and struck off in a south-easterly direc- 
 tion towards Bambarra and the Niger. All day he 
 toiled through an arid waste of sand and stunted 
 
 shrubs, where there was neither water nor shade from 
 
 50 
 
MUNGO PARK 51 
 
 the sun. In the afternoon, when faint from hunger and 
 thirst, he came upon a herd of goats tended by two 
 Moorish boys. It was a herd of his old enemy, Ali, 
 and he did not dare to linger in the hope of obtaining 
 relief. On again he urged his trembling horse, in the 
 desperate hope of reaching water during the night. His 
 thirst was intolerable ; his mouth was parched and 
 inflamed ; and at times his eyes grew dim, and he 
 feared he would fall from his horse in a faint. 
 
 * A little before sunset, having reached the top of 
 a gentle rising, I climbed a high tree, from the top- 
 most branches of which I cast a melancholy look over 
 the barren wilderness, but without discovering the most 
 distant trace of a human dwelling. The same dismal 
 uniformity of shrubs and sand everywhere presented itself, 
 and the horizon was as level and uninterrupted as that 
 of the sea. 
 
 1 Descending from the tree, I found my horse de- 
 vouring the stubble and brushwood with great avidity ; 
 and as I was now too faint to attempt walking, and 
 my horse too much fatigued to carry me, I thought 
 it but an act of humanity, and perhaps the last I 
 should ever have it in my power to perform, to take 
 off his bridle and let him shift for himself; in doing 
 which I was suddenly affected with sickness and giddi- 
 ness ; and falling upon the sand, felt as if the hour of 
 death was fast approaching. 
 
 1 Here then,' thought I, ' after a short but ineffectual 
 struggle, terminate all my hopes of being useful in my day 
 and generation ; here must the short span of my life come 
 to an end? I cast, as I believed, a last look on the 
 
52 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 surrounding scene, and whilst I reflected on the awful 
 change that was about to take place, this world with its 
 enjoyments seemed to vanish from my recollection.' 
 
 He had fallen into a swoon. With his returning senses 
 came a renewed desire to live. He resolved to make 
 a last attempt. Staggering to his feet and driving his 
 horse before him, he set out anew on the search for 
 water. When darkness came on lightning began to 
 play, premonitory of a storm. Soon, to his great joy, 
 the wind began to whistle through the scrub. He opened 
 his cracking lips ; but instead of rain-drops got a mouth- 
 ful of hot sand. A sandstorm had burst upon him. So 
 thickly flew the sand, he was obliged to mount his horse 
 and shelter behind a bush to escape suffocation. Toward 
 midnight the sandstorm ceased, rain fell, and spreading 
 out his clean clothes, he quenched his thirst by wringing 
 and sucking them. 
 
 It was necessary, however, if he was not to perish of 
 hunger, to find some human habitation where he would be 
 supplied with food. Therefore all that night Park wandered 
 about in darkness so dense that he had sometimes to 
 grope his way through the bush with his hands. Once 
 he saw a light, and discovered that it came from a 
 watering-place frequented by Moorish herdsmen. But 
 so great was his terror of again falling into the hands 
 of those barbarians, that he plunged anew into the 
 wilderness, willing rather to risk death from hunger and 
 thirst. 
 
 Once more it was to a poor woman that the wanderer 
 owed the preservation of his life. In the morning he 
 reached a Negro village, and though afraid to venture in, 
 
MUNGO PARK 53 
 
 hunger compelled him to face the danger. The head 
 man turned his back upon him ; he would give the 
 stranger neither food nor shelter. As Park rode in deep 
 dejection out of the village he came upon a hut, at the 
 door of which an old motherly-looking woman was sitting 
 spinning cotton. He made signs to her that he was 
 hungry, and the woman, inviting him into her hut, gave 
 him food for himself and a little corn for his horse. And 
 Park made the good old woman happy by presenting her 
 with one of his handkerchiefs. 
 
 While he was resting and pleasantly ruminating on his 
 timely deliverance, the people of the village gathered 
 around. Their whispering and ominous looks alarmed 
 him. He listened, and though he knew little of their 
 language, he could make out that they were discussing 
 the expediency of taking him prisoner and carrying him 
 to Ali. So, without exhibiting any signs of fear or show- 
 ing undue haste, he got clear of the village as quickly as 
 possible, and again struck into the woods. 
 
 For three weeks Park held steadily on in the direction 
 in which he believed the Niger to be. Now that he had 
 left the country of the Moors far in the rear, he had little 
 to suffer from the enmity or insolence of the inhabitants ; 
 for the Negroes of this region were prone to regard him 
 with more of wonder than resentment. Yet had he many 
 a day of fasting. Sometimes a handful of corn or meal 
 and a little water had to suffice for an entire day and 
 night. On at least one occasion he had to be content 
 with the water without the corn or meal. To obtain this 
 meagre living, he had to part with everything he could 
 possibly do without — portions of his wardrobe, some of 
 
54 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 his coat buttons, even a lock or two of his hair. In some 
 parts of the country white men's hair was highly prized as 
 a charm. This valuable information was vouchsafed to 
 Park one morning as he was leaving the house of a Chief 
 where he had been well entertained. 
 
 c In the morning, when I was about to depart, my 
 landlord, with a great deal of diffidence, begged me to 
 give him a lock of my hair. He had been told, he said, 
 that white men's hair made a saphie that would give to 
 the possessor all the knowledge of white men. I had 
 never before heard of so simple a mode of education, but 
 instantly complied with the request; and my landlord's 
 thirst for learning was such, that, with cutting and pulling, 
 he cropped one side of my head pretty closely ; and would 
 have done the same with the other, had I not signified 
 my disapprobation by putting on my hat, and assuring 
 him that I wished to reserve some of this precious mer- 
 chandise for a future occasion.' 
 
 Park had the good fortune to fall in with a small party 
 of natives journeying to Bambarra, and attached himself 
 to their caravan. But the weakness of his horse made it 
 impossible to keep up with them without great effort. It 
 became so exhausted at times that he thought he would 
 be compelled to leave it to its fate, and he had to travel 
 most of the journey on foot, driving the animal before 
 him. To overtake his companions, who had ridden 
 ahead of him during the day, he had sometimes to travel 
 far into the night, and arrive at the encampment hungry, 
 footsore, and weary, long after they had supped and 
 settled to rest. So ragged and dirty had he become, 
 that the villagers laughed and jeered at him as he passed, 
 
MUNGO PARK 55 
 
 driving his gaunt, bony steed in front of him. ■ He has 
 been at Mecca ; you may see that by his clothes,' cried 
 one. Others mockingly offered to purchase his horse ; 
 and so beggarly a look had the poor white man that the 
 very slaves, he believed, were ashamed to be seen in his 
 company. 
 
 At last, on the twentieth of July, Park was told that he 
 would see the Niger early the next day. Excitement kept 
 him awake all night, and before daybreak he was up and 
 had saddled his horse, eager to be off on the last stage 
 of his eventful journey. It was evident that he was in 
 the neighbourhood of a populous and busy town. The 
 roads were crowded with people carrying goods to the 
 market-place of Sego. Large and thriving villages lay 
 along the route. By eight o'clock in the morning they 
 saw the smoke of Sego curling to the sky ; and the 
 traveller's heart beat strong within him as he reflected 
 that a few miles ahead rolled the mighty river upon whose 
 waters the eyes of a European had never yet looked, and 
 to reach which he had toiled and suffered so long. 
 
 1 We rode together through some marshy ground, where 
 as I was anxiously looking around for the river, one of 
 them called out ' Geo affilli ! ' (See the water !) j and, 
 looking forwards, I saw with infinite pleasure the great 
 object of my mission j the long sought for, majestic 
 Niger, glittering to the morning sun, as broad as the 
 Thames at Westminster, and flowing slowly to the east- 
 ward. I hastened to the brink, and, having drank of 
 the water, lifted up my fervent thanks in prayer to the 
 Great Ruler of all things, for having thus far crowned my 
 endeavours with success.' 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 ON THE NIGER 
 
 Park was astonished at the signs of civilisation and wealth 
 he saw around him. Sego, the capital of Bambarra, at 
 which he had now arrived, he found to be an extensive 
 city, substantially built, though of clay, and with a popula- 
 tion, he calculated, of thirty thousand persons. The river 
 swarmed with trading canoes, and the surrounding country 
 was highly cultivated. It was a scene he had not expected 
 to discover in the heart of Africa. 
 
 If Park was surprised, the natives were much more so 
 at the sudden appearance of the stranger amongst them. 
 They looked with silent wonder at the gaunt, rag-clad, 
 famine-worn man, with the long, unkempt hair and beard, 
 sitting on the river bank. The people stared at him as 
 they passed to and from the ferry, but no one spoke to 
 him. His heart sank within him as he saw many Moors 
 among the throng. For more than two hours he sat dis- 
 consolate by the river. Then, the news of his coming 
 having been carried to Mansong, the king, a chief was 
 sent to him to say that the king refused to see him, and 
 that he must not presume to cross the river until he had 
 declared his purpose in coming to that country. A village 
 
 was pointed out to him where he might pass the night. 
 56 
 
MUNGO PARK 57 
 
 Thither he went, but found he was regarded with so 
 much fear and suspicion that no one would give him food 
 or shelter, or indeed have anything whatever to do with 
 him. All day he sat, hungry and dejected, under a tree. 
 At nightfall the wind began to rise and the rain-clouds to 
 gather, and he looked with concern to the prospect of 
 passing a tempestuous night in the open air and exposed 
 to attack from wild animals, which were very numerous 
 in the neighbourhood. But here again Park experienced 
 another of those beautiful instances of the goodness of 
 woman, which he records so tenderly and gratefully. 
 
 ' About sunset, a woman, returning from the labours of 
 the field, stopped to observe me, and perceiving that I 
 was weary and dejected, inquired into my situation, which 
 I briefly explained to her ; whereupon, with looks of great 
 compassion, she took up my saddle and bridle, and told 
 me to follow her. Having conducted me into her hut, 
 she lighted up a lamp, spread a mat on the floor, and told 
 me I might remain there for the night. Finding that I 
 was very hungry, she said she would procure me some- 
 thing to eat. She accordingly went out, and returned in 
 a short time with a very fine fish, which, having caused 
 to be half-broiled upon some embers, she gave me for 
 supper. 
 
 1 The rites of hospitality being thus performed towards 
 a stranger in distress, my worthy benefactress (pointing to 
 the mat, and telling me I might sleep there without appre- 
 hension) called to the female part of her family, who had 
 stood gazing on me all the while in fixed astonishment, to 
 resume their task of spinning cotton ; in which they con- 
 tinued to employ themselves great part of the night. They 
 
58 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 lightened their labour by songs, one of which was com- 
 posed extempore, for I was myself the subject of it. It 
 was sung by one of the young women, the rest joining in 
 a sort of chorus. The air was sweet and plaintive, and 
 the words, literally translated, were these : — 
 
 1 "The winds roared, and the rains fell. 
 
 The poor white man, faint and weary, came and sat under our tree. 
 
 He has no mother to bring him milk ; no wife to grind his corn. 
 
 ( Chorus) 
 Let us pity the white man ; no mother has he." 
 
 1 Trifling as this recital may appear to the reader, to a 
 person in my situation the circumstance was affecting in 
 the highest degree. I was oppressed by such unexpected 
 kindness, and sleep fled from my eyes. In the morning 
 I presented my compassionate landlady with two of the 
 four brass buttons which remained on my waistcoat, the 
 only recompense I could make her.' 
 
 For three days Park remained at the village, waiting 
 to be granted an audience of the King. But each day 
 brought its tale of sinister rumours. The King and his 
 chief men, it was said, were very suspicious of the motives 
 of his journey, and were confirmed in their suspicions by 
 the evil stories of the Moors. Were there no rivers in the 
 white man's own country, they asked, that he had come so 
 far to see the Niger ? But, notwithstanding the malice of 
 his enemies, Park fared better than he had dared to ex- 
 pect. On the third day a messenger came from the King 
 and presented him with a bag containing five thousand 
 cowries — little shells which pass current as money in many 
 parts of Africa — and commanded him to leave the country 
 forthwith. Mansong did him the further courtesy of pro- 
 
MUNGO PARK 59 
 
 viding him with a guide who was to conduct him to 
 Sansanding, a neighbouring town lower down the Niger. 
 On his journey thither Park learned from the guide that 
 Mansong was not unfavourably disposed towards him, but 
 that he feared he might not be able to protect him from 
 the Moors. Therefore he considered it prudent not to 
 receive him at court. 
 
 At the village where Park put up for the night he was 
 again confronted with dismal discouragement. It was as 
 much as his life was worth, his host assured him, to go 
 further east j for the further he went the further would 
 he penetrate the sphere of Moorish influence. And as 
 for Timbuktu, the great object of his search, it was entirely 
 in possession of those merciless fanatics, and death would 
 be the certain doom of any Christian who might have the 
 hardihood to enter the city. But Park was not to be 
 deterred by rumours, however alarming ; and anew he 
 formed the resolution to push on till further progress was 
 absolutely barred. 
 
 The country through which he passed was thickly 
 populated, fruitful, and pleasant to look upon. The 
 scenery reminded him of some of the most beautiful 
 counties of England. He entered Sansanding as privily 
 as possible, and was relieved to find that the Negroes took 
 him for a Moor. But one of the Moors discovered the 
 error, and raising a great outcry, Park was quickly sur- 
 rounded by a crowd of his old enemies. They jostled 
 and blustered and threatened, vowing that they would 
 force him to repeat the Mahomedan prayers; and had 
 it not been for the interference of his host, they would 
 inevitably have done him violence. They ordered^ him 
 
60 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 to mount a high seat by the door of a mosque, where the 
 multitude might see him ; and there he sat till sunset, 
 surrounded by a swaying, excited, gesticulating mob. 
 Even when he retired to his hut for the night they would 
 not leave him in peace, but clambered over the walls of 
 the courtyard to see him eat and perform his devotions. 
 About midnight, when the Moors had at last taken them- 
 selves off, his host came to him and begged him to write 
 a ' saphie,' or charm. So with a reed for a pen and char- 
 coal and gum-water for ink Park wrote out the best charm 
 he could think of — a copy of the ■ Lord's Prayer.' 
 
 In fear of the Moors, Park rose very early next morning 
 and left the city before anyone was stirring. For five 
 days he followed the course of the Niger, riding part of 
 the way, and at other times driving his horse before him. 
 The state of his own health was fast becoming alarming, 
 but the condition of his horse was already hopeless. On 
 the morning of the fifth day the emaciated animal fell 
 while crossing some rough clayey ground, and could not 
 be raised upon its legs again. In mournful mood Park 
 sat for a while beside his panting, way-worn companion ; 
 but finding that its condition did not mend, he removed 
 the saddle and bridle, placed a quantity of grass within 
 reach, and sorrowfully left the horse to its fate. ' I could 
 not suppress the sad apprehension,' he said, ' that I should 
 myself, in a short time, lie down and perish, in the same 
 manner, of fatigue and hunger.' 
 
 At the next village the chief man peremptorily turned 
 the wanderer from the door, and Park, weary and down- 
 hearted, was looking about for some place to rest a while, 
 when a fisherman consented to carry him in his canoe to 
 
MUNGO PARK 61 
 
 the town of Silla. There again he experienced the in- 
 hospitality to which custom had rendered him almost 
 callous. Sick, hungry, and exhausted to the uttermost he 
 sat down under a tree until night came on. Hundreds of 
 people crowded round to stare at him, but no one offered 
 him food or shelter. After much entreaty he was allowed 
 to lie for the night in a damp, tumble-down hut. The 
 result of the exposure was an attack of fever, and as he 
 lay tossing wearily and longing for the return of daylight, 
 the hopelessness of his enterprise began to force itself 
 upon him. 
 
 1 Worn down by sickness, exhausted with hunger and 
 fatigue ; half-naked, and without any article of value by 
 which I might procure provisions, clothes, or lodging, I 
 began to reflect seriously on my situation. I was now 
 convinced by painful experience that the obstacles to my 
 further progress were insurmountable. The tropical rains 
 were already set in with all their violence ; the rice 
 grounds and swamps were everywhere overflowed, and in 
 a few days more travelling of every kind, unless by water, 
 would be completely obstructed. The cowries which 
 remained of the King of Bambarra's present were not 
 sufficient to enable me to hire a canoe for any great 
 distance ; and I had but little hopes of subsisting by 
 charity in a country where the Moors have such 
 influence. 
 
 1 But above all, I perceived that I was advancing more 
 and more within the power of those merciless fanatics, 
 and from my reception both at Sego and Sansanding, I 
 was apprehensive that, in attempting to reach even Jenne 
 (unless under the protection of some man of consequence 
 
62 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 amongst them, which I had no means of obtaining), 
 I should sacrifice my life to no purpose, for my discoveries 
 would perish with me. The prospect either way was 
 gloomy. In returning to the Gambia, a journey on foot 
 of many hundred miles presented itself to my contempla- 
 tion, through regions and countries unknown. Neverthe- 
 less, this seemed to be the only alternative ; for I saw 
 inevitable destruction in attempting to proceed to the 
 eastward. 
 
 1 With this conviction on my mind, I hope my readers 
 will acknowledge that I did right in going no farther. I 
 had made every effort to execute my mission in its fullest 
 extent which prudence could justify. Had there been 
 the most distant prospect of a successful termination, 
 neither the unavoidable hardships of the journey, nor the 
 dangers of a second captivity, should have forced me to 
 desist.' 
 
 If ever explorer was justified in relinquishing the task 
 that had been imposed upon him, it was Mungo Park at 
 this stage of his journey. He had already accomplished 
 more than any of his predecessors : he had reached the 
 Niger and solved the first part of the mystery — that it 
 flowed from west to east. And with our present know- 
 ledge of the Niger and the regions through which it takes 
 its course, we know now that nothing short of a miracle 
 could have saved Park from destruction if he had persisted 
 in going forward. All his labour would have been lost to 
 the world, and his name added to the long list of devoted 
 travellers who have disappeared into the interior of Africa 
 and never been heard of again. His instructions had been 
 to penetrate to the Niger, to ascertain the course of the 
 
MUNGO PARK 63 
 
 river, and if possible its rise and termination ; and to visit 
 the principal towns or cities in its neighbourhood, parti- 
 cularly Timbuktu and those of the Haussa country. But 
 those were general orders, delivered without entire appre- 
 ciation of the stupendous difficulties involved, and were 
 utterly beyond accomplishment by any one man or any 
 one mission. As a matter of fact, expedition after 
 expedition had to be sent out, many a noble man's life 
 had to be sacrificed, and more than thirty years of untiring 
 endeavour had to pass before those aims were fully 
 achieved. It was not till 1828 that a European entered 
 Timbuktu and got out of it alive ; and it was not till the 
 year 1830 that the mouth of the Niger was discovered — 
 after numberless disasters had taught men the secrets of 
 success in African travel. 
 
 With that promptness and thoroughness which marked 
 all his actions, Park had decided before dawn to return to 
 the Gambia that very day. But first he set about collect- 
 ing information concerning the Niger and its course from 
 Moorish and Negro traders who had either sailed down 
 the river for long distances or conversed with merchants 
 from remote regions. By this means he ascertained its 
 general course as far as Haussa ; but of its direction 
 beyond that his informants knew nothing ; they believed 
 the Niger ran 'to the world's end.' 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE RETURN JOURNEY 
 
 On the morning of the 30th of July 1796, eight months 
 from the day on which he had started from the Gambia, 
 Mungo Park set out on his return thither. Though there 
 was a certain satisfaction in having his face toward home, 
 the prospect before him was sufficient to appal the bravest. 
 A journey of nearly two thousand miles, through an un- 
 known country, had to be performed on foot. He was 
 sick, clothed in rags, destitute. The tropical winter, with 
 its terrible wind and rain, had now set in. The rivers 
 were overflowing their banks and inundating the land, 
 swamps were rising into inland seas, and the paths were 
 deep in mire and in many places totally impassable. But 
 there was no alternative. He had either to fight his way 
 back to the Gambia, or perish miserably among strangers 
 and enemies. 
 
 He began his journey by canoe. At the cost of a 
 handful of his scanty store of cowries he voyaged all 
 day up the Niger, and at night, for a like expenditure, 
 was allowed to share a hut with a slave, who compas- 
 sionately lent him a large cloth to cover him while he 
 slept. It was almost invariably from the poor and needy 
 
 that the lonely white man received spontaneous kindness. 
 64 
 
MUNGO PARK 65 
 
 
 When he reached the place where he had left his horse, 
 as he had thought, to die, he found that the animal had 
 been tended by the chief man and was somewhat improved 
 in condition. It was still, however, too weak to carry him, 
 and he had to resort to his former plan of driving it before 
 him. For the next three days the rain fell in torrents, 
 so heavily that walking was out of the question. When 
 he resumed his journey the country looked like a vast 
 sea. For miles he waded knee-deep, and in crossing 
 swamps was frequently up to the breast in water. 
 
 The difficulties of travel had now become so serious that 
 he determined to procure a guide ; but though he offered 
 two hundred cowries, no man could be induced to face 
 the perils of the road. As he neared Sansanding, he 
 discovered that calumny had been at work during his 
 absence. A rumour had gone abroad that he had come 
 into Bambarra as a spy, and he learned that the king had 
 sent men to Jenne to apprehend him. In those circum- 
 stances the people were naturally unwilling or afraid to 
 assist him, or to give him food and shelter. He was 
 shunned by everybody, and was even threatened with 
 violence when he grew more urgent in his entreaties for 
 assistance. The further he went the greater the ani- 
 mosity he encountered, until he realised that if he was 
 to escape a second captivity he must lose no time in 
 getting out of Bambarra. Indeed, the king's men were 
 out in search of him, to carry him off to Sego. Making 
 a detour to avoid the capital, he continued his journey 
 westward along the Niger, resolved to ascertain, on his 
 way home, how far the river was navigable in that direc- 
 tion. Whatever danger or difficulty he might be placed in, 
 
 E 
 
66 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 Park never forgot the object of his mission, or allowed 
 considerations of personal safety to turn him aside from 
 duty. As the rainy season advanced, provisions became 
 scarcer, until neither money nor entreaties could procure 
 a supply. For three successive days he could get nothing 
 to eat but a little raw corn. 
 
 Arriving at nightfall at a village called Song, he was 
 met on every hand with surly looks, and was curtly 
 refused food or shelter. The inhabitants would not 
 even allow him to so much as enter the gates of the 
 village. This was not only an uncomfortable but a 
 very dangerous predicament ; for the vicinity was in- 
 fested with lions, and death would have been the almost 
 inevitable penalty of lying unprotected overnight in the 
 open. But his arguments and prayers were alike un- 
 heeded, and in despair the outcast, having collected some 
 grass for his horse, lay down on the wet ground under a 
 tree by the village gate, with no covering but his scanty 
 rags. He had not lain long when the roar of a lion 
 broke upon the stillness of the night. Park sprang to 
 the gate, and with desperate energy attempted to force 
 it open. But he could not, and the people within told 
 him that they dared not open the gate unless they had 
 the chief's permission. Park begged them to let the 
 chief know of his critical position ; but no attention was 
 paid to him, and for two hours he waited in terrible 
 anxiety, listening to the roaring of the lion, and expecting 
 every moment to be pounced upon. At one time the 
 animal came so near him as it prowled around, that he 
 heard it rustling among the grass ; and making a dash for 
 the tree, he climbed into it and remained there till the lion 
 
MUNGO PARK • 67 
 
 had gone off again. At last the chief and some of his 
 men came to the gate, and invited the stranger to 
 enter. ' They were convinced, they said, that I was 
 not a Moor ; for no Moor ever waited any time at the 
 gate of a village without cursing the inhabitants.' 
 
 Next day Park nearly lost his horse. When crossing 
 a swamp, where the water rose to the saddle girths, the 
 horse slipped into a hole and was all but drowned, before 
 it struggled out again. The state of the horse and its 
 ragged rider when they emerged from the swamp was de- 
 plorable. The villagers laughed at them as they passed, 
 and compared them to two dirty elephants. Frequently 
 the traveller found his path obstructed by large streams 
 flowing into the Niger, and those had to be crossed 
 despite the alligators and the swiftness of the current. 
 His usual mode was to secure his precious papers in 
 the crown of his hat, then lead his horse to the brink 
 of the stream, push it headlong into the water, and 
 seizing the bridle in his teeth, swim to the other side, 
 taking his chance of being pulled under by an alligator. 
 By a traveller endowed with less cheerfulness and patience 
 than Park those impediments would have been counted 
 as disagreeable as they were dangerous. But he seemed 
 to find compensations in every distress ; and of those 
 adventures he naively says : — ' The rain and heavy dew 
 kept my clothes continually wet ; and the roads being 
 very deep and full of mud, such a washing was sometimes 
 pleasant, and oftentimes necessary.' 
 
 One of those tributaries of the Niger was so deep and 
 rapid that Park hesitated before attempting to swim across. 
 After examination, however, he determined to face the 
 
68 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 risk. 'With this view I fastened my clothes upon the 
 saddle, and was standing up to the neck in water, pulling 
 my horse by the bridle to make him follow me, when a 
 man came accidentally to the place, and seeing me in the 
 water, called to me with great vehemence to come out. 
 The alligators, he said, would devour both me and my 
 horse if we attempted to swim over. When I got out, the 
 stranger, who had never before seen a European, seemed 
 wonderfully surprised. He twice put his hand to his 
 mouth, exclaiming in a low tone of voice, " God preserve 
 me ! who is this ? " But when he heard me speak the 
 Bambarra tongue, and found that I was going the same way 
 as himself, he promised to assist me in crossing the river.' 
 The outcome of this timely meeting was the unwonted 
 luxury of a canoe and a supper, which, though meagre, 
 was better than he had enjoyed for many a night. But 
 no one offered him shelter, and while all other men were 
 asleep in their huts, Park had to sit out all night under a 
 tree, exposed to the rain and wind of a tornado. 
 
 In the town at which he halted on the following night 
 he had the rare good fortune to procure a full meal and a 
 sound sleep under a roof, in return for writing charms for 
 the superstitious natives. Further on, in an obscure little 
 village hidden away in the recesses of a romantic valley, 
 he was treated with liberal hospitality. But on the morn- 
 ing of the day on which he parted with the innocent 
 Negroes a disaster overtook him which reduced his for- 
 tunes to the very lowest ebb. He had left the Niger at 
 Bammaku, where the river takes a more southerly trend, 
 and was pushing eastward towards Sibidulu, over a wild 
 and rocky tract, when he fell in with a band of men 
 
MUNGO PARK 69 
 
 armed with muskets, who said they had been sent to bring 
 him to the King of the Fulahs. As resistance would have 
 been useless, Park turned and went with them. They 
 had not ridden more than a quarter of a mile, when, pass- 
 ing through a dark place in the wood, the fellows suddenly 
 attacked him. One snatched off his hat, another with a 
 knife cut off the only button that remained on his waist- 
 coat ; then falling upon him in a body, they stripped him 
 stark naked and examined every article of clothing. Even 
 his boots, though so dilapidated that the sole of one of 
 them was tied to his foot with a broken bridle-rein, were 
 examined with a view to appropriation. Park begged 
 them to return at least his pocket-compass, without which 
 he could not hope to find his way through the wilderness ; 
 but one of the robbers, cocking his musket, vowed he 
 would kill him instantly if he laid a finger on it. The 
 thieves stood for a little considering whether or not they 
 would return their victim some of his rags. Then flinging 
 him a shirt, his trousers and his hat, they went off into 
 the wood, taking his horse with them. 
 
 1 After they were gone,' said Park, { I sat for some time 
 looking around me with amazement and terror. Which- 
 ever way I turned, nothing appeared but danger and diffi- 
 culty. I saw myself in the midst of a vast wilderness, in 
 the depth of the rainy season ; naked and alone ; sur- 
 rounded by savage animals and men still more savage. I 
 was five hundred miles from the nearest European settle- 
 ment. All these circumstances crowded at once on my 
 recollection, and I confess that my spirits began to fail 
 me. I considered my fate as certain, and that I had no 
 alternative but to lie down and perish. The influence of 
 
70 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 religion, however, aided and supported me. I reflected 
 that no human prudence or foresight could possibly have 
 averted my present sufferings. I was indeed a stranger in 
 a strange land, yet I was still under the protecting eye of 
 that Providence who has condescended to call himself the 
 stranger's friend. 
 
 1 At this moment, painful as my reflections were, the 
 extraordinary beauty of a small moss in fructification 
 irresistibly caught my eye. I mention this to shew from 
 what trifling circumstances the mind will sometimes derive 
 consolation ; for though the whole plant was not larger 
 than the top of one of my fingers, I could not contemplate 
 the delicate conformation of its roots, leaves, and capsula 
 without admiration. Can that Being (thought I), who 
 planted, watered, and brought to perfection in this 
 obscure part of the world a thing which appears of so 
 small importance, look with unconcern upon the situation 
 and sufferings of creatures formed after his own image? 
 Surely not ! Reflections like these would not allow me to 
 despair. I started up, and disregarding both hunger and 
 fatigue, travelled forwards, assured that relief was at 
 hand.' 
 
 Fired with this spirit he struggled on to Sibidulu, the 
 frontier town of the kingdom of Manding, and there he 
 had an experience of kindness and prompt justice surpass- 
 ing anything he had ever met with in Africa. 
 
 When he was admitted to the presence of the chief 
 man, Park told the story of the robbery. The chief 
 heard him out in silence, then, with an indignant wave 
 of his hand, he exclaimed, ' Sit down ; you shall have 
 everything restored to you ; I have sworn it.' Then, 
 
MUNGO PARK 71 
 
 turning to an attendant, ■ Give the white man a draught 
 of water, and with the first light of the morning go over 
 the hills and inform the Chief of Bammaku that a poor 
 white man, the King of Bambarra's stranger, has been 
 robbed by the King of Fulahdu's people.' For two days 
 Park waited for the return of his property, but, ever 
 anxious to push forward, he then went on his way, 
 hoping to have his horse and clothes sent after him. At 
 a place called Wonda he was sitting naked in the shade 
 waiting till his rag of a shirt, which he had washed, 
 should dry, when the fever from which he had suffered at 
 intervals for many days suddenly returned in a severe 
 paroxysm. For nine days he remained at Wonda pros- 
 trate with fever. Food was scarce in the land, even to 
 the point of famine, and Park was deeply oppressed by 
 the thought of being dependent for subsistence upon 
 people who were themselves reduced to such dreadful 
 straits that they had actually to sell their own children 
 to obtain the price of a little corn. So anxious was he to 
 conceal his sickly condition from his host that he used to 
 spend whole days lying hidden from sight in the wet corn- 
 fields, a very unselfish and thoughtful action, but one 
 that greatly aggravated the fever that was rapidly sapping 
 his strength. 
 
 At last the stolen horse and clothes were restored to 
 him, but he was very much concerned to find that the 
 precious compass had been smashed and rendered use- 
 less. The horse was reduced to a mere skeleton, and so 
 weak as to be quite unfit for travel. Park therefore pre- 
 sented him to his host as a parting gift, and on the morn- 
 ing of September 8 resumed his journey on foot westward 
 
72 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 to the Gambia, carrying in his hand a spear and over his 
 shoulder a leather bag containing his scanty wardrobe, two 
 presents from his poor but kindly landlord. 
 
 He was a strange figure, this tattered, long-haired man, 
 with the spear and wallet, and his boots cut down into 
 sandals. Never was traveller in a more melancholy 
 plight. Rain fell incessantly in torrents that only the 
 tropics know. The roads lay deep under mud and 
 water, and the lonely wanderer dragged his slow steps 
 along, toiling through the sodden land from sunrise to 
 sunset, and, when night came, thankful for even a hand- 
 ful of corn to eat and a corner of some damp, draughty 
 hut to lie down in. 
 
 Day after day Park moved painfully westward, with 
 the growing conviction that the end of the struggle was 
 not far distant. Escape from death seemed impossible. 
 Even if he were able to bear up for a time against sick- 
 ness, hunger and fatigue, and the awful depression that 
 the African fever brings in its train, the vast Jallonka 
 wilderness still lay ahead, as if gaping to swallow him up. 
 It took caravans five days of rapid travelling to cross this 
 waste ; five days, during which neither house nor human 
 being, nor any trace of habitation, could be seen. Even 
 to the hardy natives, who knew every mile of the way, 
 and went well prepared for the hardships of the march, 
 this wilderness was a place of terror, to be rushed over at 
 headlong speed. And how could he, scarce able to do 
 more than crawl, without a day's rations, ignorant of the 
 route, and without a compass to direct his steps, hope to 
 pass the barrier that lay between him and the Gambia? 
 It was impossible, and Park had almost resigned himself 
 
MUNGO PARK 73 
 
 to the thought that the depths of the Jallonka wilderness 
 would see the end of his toil and suffering. 
 
 But just when hope was at its last flicker came the 
 most notable of the many deliverances that were vouch- 
 safed to Park at critical junctures of his career. It might 
 be called the 'crowning mercy' of his first African expedi- 
 tion. It happened in this wise. 
 
 When Park arrived at the little town of Kamalia, he 
 was conducted to the house of one Karfa Taura, a negro 
 slave merchant, whom he found sitting in the company of 
 several other traders. So yellow was the traveller's skin 
 from the effects of fever, so wretched and poverty-stricken 
 his appearance, that the traders would not believe he 
 was a white man, but suspected he was an Arab in dis- 
 guise. Asked if he understood Arabic, Park answered in 
 the affirmative. Then Karfa caused a curious little book 
 to be brought, and Park's eyes glistened with delight and 
 emotion as they rested on the familiar English type of 
 The Book of Common Prayer. It was like the sight of 
 a familiar friendly face in a strange land. He read the 
 book, and Karfa, satisfied that his guest was a white man, 
 promised to assist him. He said it was impossible for 
 Park to proceed at that time, for the Jallonka wilderness 
 could not be traversed until the rainy season was over. 
 As soon as the rivers were fordable, he intended to go to 
 the Gambia with a slave caravan, and he advised Park to 
 remain at Kamalia till then. When Park replied that he 
 was totally without means of supporting himself, Karfa 
 looked at him thoughtfully for a space. He had never 
 before seen a white man, and was not sure if he could 
 subsist on the food that the country supplied. However, 
 
74 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 he was easily satisfied on that point, and a bargain was 
 concluded that for the price of one prime slave Park 
 should be fed and lodged till the end of the rainy season, 
 and then conducted in safety to the Gambia. So the 
 way-worn and fever-wasted traveller settled down to 
 recruit and wait for the return of the dry season, 
 
 For the time being Park's difficulties were at an end, 
 but the effects of the privations through which he had 
 passed were not so easily shaken off. For five weeks 
 he was tormented with fever, and when at last the rains 
 began to subside, and with them the rigours of his ill- 
 ness, he was so weak that he could scarcely stand erect. 
 Another cause of grievous annoyance was the malice of 
 some of the traders. They invented and circulated all 
 manner of evil stories concerning him, and the arrival of 
 a merchant from Sego with a fresh budget of tales about 
 the mysterious stranger increased the suspicion and ani- 
 mosity with which he was regarded. But through it 
 all Karfa Taura faithfully stood his friend, and from 
 first to last his kindness and attention did not abate one 
 jot. 
 
 During this time of waiting Park was by no means 
 idle. He was diligent in collecting information about the 
 country, its people, productions, climate, conditions, and 
 prospects, and the results of those researches he subse- 
 quently set forth in a singularly clear and interesting 
 fashion. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 HOME WITH A SLAVE CARAVAN 
 
 When the time drew near for the caravan to leave for the 
 coast, slaves were brought in from various parts of the 
 country round about and quartered at Kamalia. Those 
 poor wretches, who knew nothing more than that they 
 were to be dragged to the Gambia, sold to the white 
 man, and taken away across the sea, looked upon Park 
 with horror. They had a rooted conviction that the 
 whites either ate their slaves or sold them to others to 
 be eaten, and so great was their terror at the prospect 
 of the journey to the coast that they had to be ironed 
 and closely guarded to prevent escape. During the day 
 they were fettered two by two, and every four slaves were 
 tied together by means of a strong leathern thong passed 
 round their necks. At night, for additional security, 
 chains were put upon their wrists, and sometimes round 
 their necks. The feet of the more refractory were made 
 fast to a heavy billet of wood. 
 
 Park went freely among those unhappy beings, and 
 made friends with those who would be friendly. He 
 tried to cheer them by saying that their fate would not 
 be the terrible one they feared ; that on the other side of 
 the ocean they would be employed in cultivating the soil, 
 
 75 
 
76 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 and would not be hardly dealt with. But they would not 
 believe him. ' Have you really got such ground as this 
 to set your feet upon ? ' asked one simple fellow earnestly, 
 laying his hand on the earth as he spoke. 
 
 During this period of waiting at Kamalia the slaves 
 were not harshly treated. It was to the trader's profit 
 to have his human merchandise in good condition for 
 the toilsome march to the coast. Therefore they were 
 encouraged to gaiety. Every morning they were led 
 out in their chains to the shade of the trees, and prompted 
 to sing and play ; but, while some of the captives could 
 assume an appearance of light-heartedness, most of them 
 sat dumb and sullen, gazing at the ground all day. 
 
 Park had been buoyed up with the hope that the first 
 days of the year would see him well advanced in the 
 journey to the coast. Week after week, however, passed 
 away, and still the expedition was delayed on some trifling 
 pretext or other. The African gives no heed to the 
 passage of time ; he meanders through life as leisurely as 
 if the span of existence were still meted out on the liberal 
 scale of patriarchal times. To Park delay was not only 
 vexatious, it was dangerous. He had new and bitter 
 enemies in a company of Moorish merchants who were 
 stationed for the time at Kamalia. They never ceased to 
 conspire against him, and to endeavour to turn Karfa's 
 friendship to hostility. If they had succeeded, Park's 
 life would not have been worth a day's purchase, for 
 Karfa was the only man who stood between the white 
 man and his enemies. 
 
 At last the day of departure was fixed for April 19th, 
 and when the day came round there was no further 
 
MUNGO PARK 77 
 
 postponement. The slaves were gathered together, 
 their irons were knocked off, and burdens apportioned 
 to each. The caravan consisted of seventy-three persons, 
 of whom thirty-five were slaves. The slaves were fastened 
 together by a rope passed round the neck, four of them 
 to a rope, and a man with a spear walked between each 
 four. The order of march having been formed, some 
 superstitious rites were performed, and off the caravan 
 started at a rapid pace. As some of the slaves had been 
 in irons for years, and were unaccustomed to free or 
 rapid movement, they had not gone far when the sudden 
 exertion induced painful contraction of the muscles of 
 the legs. But this was only the beginning of their 
 miseries. 
 
 When the borders of the dreaded Jallonka wilderness 
 were reached, preparations were made for a series of 
 forced marches. Then the order was given to press 
 forward at the greatest possible speed. Everyone had to 
 look to himself; there was no mercy shown to either sex 
 or age or condition. If a slave, faint with hunger and 
 fatigue, lagged behind, or dropped to the ground under 
 the weight of his burden, the whip was plied till agony 
 compelled him to make another effort. Early in the day 
 two slaves, a woman and a girl, were so much exhausted 
 that even the lash could not stimulate them to further 
 exertion. They were dragged along with the caravan for 
 some hours, till they fell deadly sick, and then it was 
 discovered that they had eaten clay, probably with the 
 deliberate intention of putting an end to their sufferings 
 by destroying themselves. It was useless to attempt to 
 go on with them, and their infuriated master had to 
 
78 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 confess himself baffled, and returned home, to wait for 
 another opportunity to convey his living merchandise to 
 the coast. 
 
 Next day the wilderness was entered. The members 
 of the caravan were ordered to keep close together, and 
 the rate of march was still further accelerated. The heat 
 was intense, and Park suffered much from the inflamed 
 and blistered condition of his neck and arms. At times 
 he was alarmed lest he should not be able to keep up 
 with the caravan, but his apprehensions were lessened 
 when he observed that his fellow-travellers were as much 
 exhausted as himself. One woman in particular, a slave 
 named Neali, aroused his commiseration. In the morn- 
 ing she had been sulky and had refused the pittance of 
 meal and water served out as sustenance for the entire 
 day. The morning had not far advanced when she began 
 to complain of dreadful pains in her legs. Before noon a 
 remarkable accident happened. As the travellers were 
 resting by a rivulet, a hive of bees was discovered in a 
 hollow tree. Some of the people were about to plunder 
 it when an immense swarm of bees flew out, and attack- 
 ing the caravan, scattered it in all directions. When the 
 stampede was over and the fugitives returned, and had 
 picked out the stings from their bodies, Neali was missed. 
 After a search she was found lying by the stream, stung 
 all over the body, and writhing in agony. The stings 
 were extracted, her body was washed and rubbed with 
 bruised leaves, and she was commanded to rise and con- 
 tinue the journey. But this the wretched woman ob- 
 stinately refused to do. Misery had made her reckless of 
 consequences. Coaxing and threats being alike unavail- 
 
MUNGO PARK 79 
 
 ing, the whip was again brought out, and after enduring a 
 few strokes in dogged silence, she jumped up and struggled 
 on for four or five hours. Then she made a sudden bolt 
 for the woods, but was so weak that she stumbled and 
 fell. As she lay among the grass, unable to move, she 
 was once more savagely flogged. But the slave-drivers 
 expended their fury in vain ; their utmost brutality could 
 not goad exhausted nature to another effort, and she was 
 placed on a litter and carried upon the heads of two 
 slaves. Night at last brought an end to a day of horror. 
 
 The long march over a difficult country, and under a 
 burning sun, without anything to eat for twenty-four hours 
 but a handful of meal, had reduced many of the slaves to 
 the last extremity of exhaustion. Some of them, too weary 
 and miserable to care what came over them, snapped 
 their fingers, ' which, among the negroes, is a sure sign 
 of desperation.' Immediately those were all put in irons, 
 and some of the most dangerous-looking were set apart 
 and had their hands tied. The night's rest, however, 
 slackened their sufferings, and in the morning they were 
 ready to obey their masters. 
 
 But the dawn brought no relief for poor Neali. Stiff 
 and sore from the bruises and exertion of the previous 
 day, she could not so much as stand. She was accord- 
 ingly tied to the back of an ass, her hands secured under 
 the animal's neck and her feet under its belly ; and in 
 this painful position she lay as inert as a corpse. No 
 sooner had the caravan started than the ass began to 
 plunge and kick, and as Neali could make no effort to 
 save herself, she was quickly thrown and injured severely. 
 Time after time she was flung upon the ass's back j but it 
 
 G 
 
 
 UN1V 
 
80 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 was useless ; the animal could not be induced to go quietly. 
 Then the slavers lost patience. ' Cut her throat ! cut her 
 throat ! ' rose the cry. Sick at the thought of the impend- 
 ing butchery Park hurried on with the van-guard. In a 
 short time he was overtaken by one of Karfa's slaves 
 carrying Neali's garments on the end of his bow. From 
 him he learned that Neali had not been murdered, but 
 had been left to a more terrible fate — to be torn to pieces 
 by wild animals or to die a lingering death from hunger 
 and thirst under the fierce heat of an African sun. 
 
 The awful fate of Neali cast a deep gloom over the 
 minds of the travellers, and for the rest of the day 
 every one strained his strength to the utmost, fearful lest 
 he should be the next to share her doom. Park, dis- 
 tressed by the intense heat and the rapidity of the march, 
 shared the general fear. In his anxiety to keep up with 
 the caravan he threw away his spear and everything that 
 might impede his progress. When sunset came they 
 halted exhausted near a thicket where there was a con- 
 venient camping ground. But water could not be found, 
 and they had to drag themselves other four miles before 
 they discovered a stream. Next morning there were loud 
 complaints of pains in the legs and blistered and inflamed 
 feet. But there could be no resting. On went the 
 caravan, toiling in the blazing sun over steep and rocky 
 ground, which cruelly lacerated the feet. The marks 
 of many horsemen in the sand made them fear an attack 
 from robbers, and the slaves were spurred onward with 
 relentless severity, through high grass and bushes, up 
 steep hill sides, and down rocky gorges, till at nightfall 
 they sank prostrate by the watering-place. 
 
MUNGO PARK 81 
 
 For five days those forced marches were continued. 
 On the afternoon of the fifth day the travellers sighted the 
 first human habitation that they had seen since entering 
 the wilderness, and once more enjoyed the luxury of 
 sleeping with a roof over their heads. But their return 
 to inhabited regions was attended with risks of another 
 kind. As they passed through the villages on their 
 way they learned that two hundred Jallonkas were lying 
 in wait, bent on plundering the caravan. To escape the 
 marauders the travellers changed their course and marched 
 swiftly by night, without stopping for food or rest. The 
 rumours of impending attack from the Jallonkas thicken- 
 ing as they advanced, a halt was called, and men were 
 hired to protect them. Then the caravan set off again, 
 pushing on with the utmost speed to get clear of the 
 dangerous country. From early morning till sunset they 
 struggled on without tasting one morsel of food. Before 
 many hours had passed it became apparent that they 
 could go no further. Accordingly at the village where 
 they camped for the night, a stay of three days was made 
 to recruit and to prepare the toil-worn wretches for the 
 final stage of their journey to the sea. 
 
 When on the march again they were joined by another 
 gang of slaves likewise bound for the coast, and the two 
 parties continued the journey together. The heat was still 
 intense, and the path through the woods difficult and 
 exhausting. But the order was that on no account 
 should the pace be slackened. 
 
 About noon, one of the slaves, being faint with 
 fatigue, dropped the load from his head. For this 
 he was soundly flogged, and the burden was again 
 
82 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 placed upon his head. For another hour he struggled 
 on, panting with the exertion and quivering in every 
 limb. But not even the fear of the lash could stimu- 
 late where exhaustion was so complete. Again he 
 let slip the burden from his trembling hands, and again 
 the woods echoed to the curses of the slaver and the 
 crack of the whip. Once more the poor fellow staggered 
 to his feet, and almost frantic with pain and fear, did his 
 best to keep up with the caravan. Soon after, when a 
 halt was made at a pool of water, the slave was in such 
 desperate straits that he dropped upon the ground and 
 lay as if dead. The rope was removed from his neck, 
 and it being now obvious that no amount of torture could 
 rouse him, he was left behind with one of the traders who 
 undertook to bring him on in the cool of the evening. 
 But at night when the trader rejoined his companions, 
 he came alone. The unfortunate slave had either been 
 released from his misery by a knife thrust or left to perish 
 by the wayside as the woman Neali had been. 
 
 A few days later Park witnessed another equally pitiful 
 incident of the infamous trade. ' At Jallacotta,' said Park, 
 1 one of the slaves, who had travelled with great difficulty 
 for the last three days, was found unable to proceed any 
 further. His master proposed, therefore, to exchange him 
 for a young girl belonging to one of the townspeople. 
 The poor girl was ignorant of her fate until the bundles 
 were all tied up in the morning and the coffle ready to 
 depart. When coming with some other young women to 
 see the coffle set out, her master took her by the hand 
 and delivered her to the stranger. Never was a face 
 of serenity more suddenly changed into one of the 
 
MUNGO PARK 83 
 
 deepest distress ; the terror she manifested on having 
 the load put upon her head, and the rope fastened round 
 her neck, and the sorrow with which she bade adieu to 
 her companions were truly affecting.' 
 
 To his great joy, Park now found himself once more 
 upon the banks of the Gambia, and passing through 
 towns and villages he had visited while on his eastward 
 journey eighteen months before. At Jindeh, where Park 
 had said good-bye to Dr Laidley, the slaves were left 
 behind till a favourable opportunity for selling them 
 should arrive, and Park, and his faithful host and friend 
 Karfa, set out for Pisania. Deliverance from toil and 
 danger was now at hand ; another day would see him 
 safe among his own countrymen. But yet, even with 
 this delightful certainty before him, Park was oppressed 
 with thoughts of his unhappy companions. 
 
 ' 1 could not part for the last time with my unfortunate 
 fellow-travellers, doomed, as I knew most of them to be, 
 to a life of captivity and slavery in a foreign land, without 
 great emotion. During a wearisome peregrination of more 
 than five hundred British miles, exposed to the burning 
 rays of a tropical sun, these poor slaves, amidst their own 
 infinitely greater sufferings, would commiserate mine, and 
 frequently, of their own accord, bring water to quench my 
 thirst, and at night collect branches and leaves to prepare 
 me a bed in the wilderness. We parted with reciprocal 
 expressions of regret and benediction. My good wishes 
 and prayers were all I could bestow upon them, and it 
 afforded me some consolation to be told that they were 
 sensible I had no more to give.' 
 
 On the 10th of June Park reached Pisania, the head- 
 
84 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 quarters of the British settlement. He was hailed as one 
 risen from the dead. All hope of his return had long 
 been relinquished, it having been reported that he had 
 been murdered by the Moors in Ludamar in an early 
 stage of his travels. Neither of his attendants, Johnson 
 and Demba, had returned, nor ever been heard of. With 
 an eagerness and satisfaction that none could feel but he 
 who had long been exiled from civilisation, Park arrayed 
 himself in European garb, and made the first comfortable 
 toilet he had enjoyed for more than a year and a half. 
 His beard, which had grown to a prodigious length, was 
 ruthlessly shorn, much to the regret of Karfa, who vowed 
 that the operation had transformed Park from a man into 
 a boy. Karfa was made happy with the price of two 
 prime slaves, double the amount of guerdon promised by 
 Park. But the signs of the white man's greatness, which 
 he saw on every hand, filled the soul of the Negro with 
 a pensive melancholy. The trading schooner that lay 
 anchored in the river was to him an inexhaustible wonder. 
 Many an hour he stood looking at it in deep meditation j 
 then he would sigh gently, and say, ' Black men are 
 nothing.' And it puzzled him more and more to under- 
 stand why Park, who belonged to such a mighty and 
 wonder-working people, should care to explore a country 
 so poor and backward as Africa. 
 
 Mungo Park had now reached the Gambia safely, but 
 the delays and dangers of his enterprise were by no means 
 ended. In all his adventures misfortune seemed to hang 
 on to his heels to the very last step. 
 
 For many months the river had not been visited by a 
 European vessel, and as the rainy season was now setting 
 
MUNGO PARK 85 
 
 in once more, there was little probability of a ship arriving 
 till near the end of the year. Accordingly, Park settled 
 down, with what patience he might muster, to wait the 
 day of his final deliverance. By a fortunate chance, how- 
 ever, before two ' or three days had passed, an American 
 slave-ship came up the river, and though a passage by the 
 vessel entailed a double voyage across the Atlantic — first 
 to America, and then back to England — Park was too 
 eager to return home to let the opportunity slip. He 
 embarked on June 17th. 
 
 On the way down the river, where the sun sucked 
 malaria from the mud, and the fever mists hung like a 
 pall on the fringes of the forest, crew and slaves were 
 stricken with sickness. Before the river mouth was 
 reached, the surgeon, four of the seamen, and three of the 
 slaves had died, and six or eight more slaves succumbed 
 before the deadly coast had been left behind. With 
 more than a hundred slaves huddled under hatches, 
 the ship set sail for North Carolina. The sickness 
 continued, and eleven more slaves were dragged lifeless 
 from the noisome hold, and thrown into the sea. Then 
 the vessel sprang a leak. The crew worked at the pumps 
 till they could hold out no longer, and still the water 
 gained on them. In this extremity those of the Negroes 
 whom fever, sea-sickness, and the horrors of the foetid 
 den in which they were confined had not entirely pros- 
 trated, were taken out of their irons and put to the pumps, 
 at which they were forced to labour till they could scarce 
 raise their arms for weakness. When sickness and weari- 
 ness and misery had reduced everybody almost to despair, 
 the sailors compelled the captain to run for the West 
 
86 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 Indies as the only chance of saving their lives. Even 
 at the very entrance to the harbour of St John's their 
 ill-luck did not desert them. They narrowly escaped 
 being cast away on the rocks, and got into port with 
 extreme difficulty. 
 
 From St John's Park took passage in a British mail 
 boat, and, after a tempestuous voyage, arrived at Fal- 
 mouth on December 22, 1797. He had been absent 
 from England two years and seven months. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 LIFE AS A COUNTRY DOCTOR 
 
 Nothing could have been more characteristic of Mungo 
 Park than the manner of his return to London. When 
 he landed at Falmouth he revealed himself to no one. 
 He sent no messenger before him to startle men with 
 the tidings that the traveller who had long since been 
 given up as dead was alive and on his way to the Metro- 
 polis, and to prepare an ovation for the first white man 
 who had ever trod the banks of the Niger. 
 
 Travelling with all haste, he arrived in London before 
 daybreak on Christmas morning. As he did not care to 
 disturb the household of Mr Dickson, his brother-in-law, 
 at so early an hour, he passed the time by walking about 
 the streets in the neighbourhood of the house. By and 
 bye, seeing one of the gates of the British Museum Gardens 
 open, he went in and strolled about the grounds. It 
 chanced that morning that Mr Dickson, who had charge 
 of the gardens, went there earlier than was his habit to 
 look to some small matter of business. As he entered 
 he saw, in the grey light of the dawn, the figure of a 
 man, and drawing nearer, was thunderstruck to recognise 
 the lineaments of his brother-in-law. For a moment he 
 
 hesitated between fear and joy : he doubted whether 
 
 87 
 
88 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 what he looked upon was a spirit or a living man. But 
 a second glance set his doubts at rest, and he rushed to 
 the embrace of his long-lost friend. 
 
 The return of Park spread a sensation throughout the 
 country. His long absence, his sudden reappearance 
 after he had been given up as lost, and rumours of the 
 strangeness of his adventures, combined to raise the 
 interest of the public to an intense pitch. To gratify 
 this curiosity an abstract of the travels was prepared by 
 Mr Bryan Edwards, the secretary of the African Associa- 
 tion, and printed ; and then Park set himself to write 
 a complete narrative of his journey. An offer by the 
 Government to employ Park to make a survey of New 
 South Wales was made, and rejected ; subsequently it 
 was again made, and again rejected. After having settled 
 his business affairs in London, he escaped from the 
 Metropolis and its hero-worshippers, and went home to 
 Foulshiels to see his mother and to write his book in the 
 peaceful solitudes of his native valley. The material he 
 composed from was the precious notes, written on many 
 separate pieces of paper, under so many strange and 
 difficult circumstances, and preserved with so much care 
 during his wanderings. The details he filled in from 
 memory. His habit was to write in the early part of 
 the day, and in the evening to take a solitary stroll on 
 the banks of the Yarrow, when he mentally shaped the 
 course of his work and mused on the mystery of the 
 Niger. At times, in a fit of restlessness, he would cast 
 his papers aside, and wandering far from home, bury 
 himself in the wild recesses of the Borderland. We can 
 discover also that there were frequent traversings of the 
 
MUNGO PARK 89 
 
 road to Selkirk, where his old master, Dr Anderson, still 
 resided ; and the wooing of his first love, and last, made 
 triumphant progress. 
 
 In the untried and uncongenial labour of bookmaking 
 Park was assisted by Mr Bryan Edwards, to whom, doubt- 
 less, the Travels owe something of their literary grace. 
 Park was a man of action ; he was not skilled with the 
 pen ; and he frankly admitted that, ' not being in the 
 habit of literary composition, he was obliged to employ 
 some one to put his manuscript into a form fit for the 
 public eye; but that every sheet of the publication had 
 undergone his strict revision, and that not only every fact 
 but every sentiment was his own.' Of this collaboration 
 much has been made by a few of those near-sighted people 
 who are addicted to prying into the nooks and crannies of 
 a great man's character, but are incapable of forming an 
 estimate of the worth of the whole man, or of arriving at 
 a clear conception of his real personality. Those critics 
 have exhausted themselves, without injury to Park ; and 
 the severe things they said have long been forgotten. In 
 all his career we have not found one instance in which 
 Park placed personal aggrandisement before the public 
 benefit or the strict discharge of his duty. In this case 
 he had carried through the mission entrusted to him with 
 unflinching devotion ; and having valuable information to 
 give to the world, he made sure that it was presented in a 
 form that did justice to the subject. 
 
 Towards the close of the year Park returned to 
 London, taking with him the manuscript upon which he 
 had spent the labour of the summer and autumn months. 
 But there was still much revising to be done, and the 
 
9 o FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 spring of 1799 was well advanced before the book was 
 published. At once it leapt into popular favour. The 
 subject had the fascination of the mysterious ; for Africa 
 in those days was in truth the ■ Dark Continent,' and Park 
 was one of the first to raise the veil that enshrouded it. 
 The story of his adventures was one of the most romantic 
 in the history of travel ; it was told with candour and 
 modesty, entirely without embellishment or pretension j 
 and it was evident to every reader, that however marvellous 
 might be the tale, it was absolutely free from the taint of 
 exaggeration. 
 
 The proceeds of the sale of the book and the liberal 
 remuneration given by the African Association amounted 
 to a considerable but not a large sum. It was large 
 enough, however, to put a man of Park's simple tastes in 
 easy circumstances for a time, and to justify the next step 
 that he took. He hastened home to Scotland and was 
 united in marriage with the lady who had held his fancy 
 in youth and manhood. ' Of the personality of this lady,' 
 said Joseph Thomson, the African traveller, 'we know 
 little beyond the simple facts that she was tall and hand- 
 some, amiable in disposition, with no special mental 
 endowments, and if anything, somewhat frivolous and 
 pleasure-loving — characteristics very unlike what we should 
 have expected in the wife of such a man as Park.' 
 But great men, like ordinary men, marry, not for ■ mental 
 endowments,' but for love's sake. ' The proof o' the 
 puddin' is the preein' o't,' and there is no criterion of the 
 success or failure of marriage but the happiness or misery 
 that issues therefrom. Viewed from this standpoint, 
 Park's marriage was all that we could have desired for 
 
MUNGO PARK 91 
 
 him. It began in love, and in love continued to the 
 end. Mrs Park may have been a very commonplace 
 woman, but she truly loved her husband ; she had the 
 sense to admire him and believe in him, which all great 
 men's wives do not have ; and, as events proved, she was 
 ready to sacrifice everything for his sake when the call of 
 duty came. 
 
 Of the depth of Park's own feelings we have ample 
 evidence. When in London on business two years after 
 his marriage — time enough for disillusionment — he writes 
 to his ■ lovely Ailie,' his ■ sweet wife,' and vows that she 
 is everything he could desire ; and wherever they go, she 
 may be sure of one thing, that he will always love her. 
 1 My lovely Ailie, you are constantly in my thoughts. I 
 am tired of this place, but cannot lose the present oppor- 
 tunity of doing something for our advantage. When that 
 is accomplished I shall not lose one moment. My 
 darling, when we meet I shall be the happiest man on 
 earth. Write soon, for I count the days till I hear from 
 you, my lovely Ailie.' And all through their married life 
 to the end his letters breathe the same deep affection. 
 ' Kiss all my dear children for me, and let them know 
 that their father loves them,' he wrote from the banks of 
 the Gambia several years later ; and in every message that 
 he sent to his wife when beset by perils and difficulties, he 
 revealed that gentle considerateness which means more 
 than a multitude of sentimental words. 
 
 It is pleasant, therefore, to reflect that Mungo Park was 
 not one of our unhappily mated geniuses, and that the 
 toils and perplexities of the latter part of his life were not 
 intensified by domestic infelicity. 
 
92 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 After Park married he continued to reside at Foulshiels, 
 where the farm was still carried on by his mother and 
 one of his brothers. We have no means of ascertaining 
 precisely what was his plan of life for the future. It has 
 been suggested, and justly, that he had no conscious 
 intention of returning to Africa, but hoped that his past 
 services and the influence of powerful friends would 
 procure him some congenial employment. But he waited 
 in vain. Time passed on, until the responsibilities of 
 fatherhood pressed him towards a decision. At one time 
 there seemed to be a probability of his going out to New 
 South Wales to fill a Government post ; but the negotia- 
 tions came to nothing. Then he had some thoughts of 
 taking to farming ; and finally he reluctantly resolved to 
 resume the practice of his profession, for which he had 
 never had any strong liking. 
 
 This was not a very happy period of Park's life ; nor, 
 indeed, did he find much satisfaction in any part of the 
 six years that elapsed before he made his second expedi- 
 tion to the Niger. For a long time after his return home 
 from Africa, his health caused him uneasiness. The 
 hardships that would inevitably have killed any man of 
 ordinary physique, had left their mark upon his constitu- 
 tion. Dyspepsia, and its attendant imp, despondency, 
 held him fast, making day miserable with gloomy fore- 
 bodings, and night hideous with dreams of the horrors of 
 captivity among the Moors. His unsettled worldly con- 
 dition, the lack of employment, and indifferent health, 
 combined to make him restless and unsatisfied. 
 
 But there was something that lay deeper than all those. 
 The truth is, the spell of Africa was upon him — that name- 
 
MUNGO PARK 93 
 
 less charm of which no man can thoroughly purge his blood 
 once he has been inoculated. Almost before he was 
 aware of the sensation, Park was longing to be back in 
 the wilderness. Less than a year after his marriage, upon 
 the capture of Goree from the French, we find him writing 
 to Sir Joseph Banks expatiating on the increased facilities 
 thereby afforded for communicating with the interior of 
 Africa. 
 
 1 If such are the views of Government,' he writes, ' I 
 hope that my exertions in some station or other may be 
 of use to my country. I have not as yet found any 
 situation in which I could practise to advantage as a 
 surgeon ; and unless some of my friends interest them- 
 selves in my behalf, I must wait patiently until the cloud 
 which hangs over my future prospects is dispelled.' 
 
 But patient waiting and the influence of friends alike 
 availed him nothing. The time had not yet come, and 
 Park had to bend to the inevitable. All hope of indulging 
 his passion for travel had to be abandoned, and Park 
 forced himself into the narrow sphere of a country doctor. 
 He selected the little town of Peebles, and there estab- 
 lished himself in October 1801. He was then thirty 
 years of age. 
 
 Even in the present day, with the locomotive thunder- 
 ing past its doors, with its profusion of summer villas, and 
 its streams of tourists, Peebles has not had the reproach 
 of dulness lifted from its name. ■ As silent as the grave 
 — or Peebles ' is a saying out of which the truth has not 
 yet altogether departed ; and if true of these days, how 
 intensely applicable to the Peebles of a hundred years 
 ago! 
 
94 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 1 In the earlier years of the century,' says William 
 Chambers in his History of Peeblesshire, ' domestic 
 accommodation was still on a very imperfect scale. The 
 apartments were small and few in number ; many houses 
 being of a good kind, but consisting only of a kitchen, 
 parlour, and bed-closet. In perhaps not more than two 
 dozen dwellings were there any carpets ; horn spoons were 
 giving way to pewter ; and silver forks were of course 
 unheard of. There was no reading-room, and the two or 
 three newspapers which arrived daily or semi-weekly were 
 handed about in clubs. The transit of goods from Edin- 
 burgh was conducted by a few carriers' carts, which were 
 sometimes obstructed for days by heavy snowstorms in 
 winter. On one occasion of this kind there was a dearth 
 of salt in the town for a fortnight' Some idea of the 
 poverty of Peebles may be formed from the fact that 
 about the beginning of the century there were only fifteen 
 clocks and nineteen silver and two gold watches in all 
 the town. 
 
 The house in which Mungo Park lived still stands. It 
 is situated in the Northgate, at the head of the Briggate, 
 and is distinguished from other buildings by two sub- 
 stantial pillars at the door. In Park's time the dwelling 
 must have been one of the best in the town. When his 
 practice increased — and it did so rapidly — he opened a 
 surgery in the High Street, on a spot now occupied by a 
 temperance hotel. A photograph of the house, taken 
 immediately before demolition, shows the surgery to have 
 been a mean little building, rudely put together ; a mere 
 box. 'In this miserable den,' says Chambers, 'did Park 
 experience some of the difficulties incidental to the life of 
 
MUNGO PARK 
 
 
 
 a country surgeon, and pine for that kind of employment 
 as a traveller which he felt to be his destiny. Who, in 
 looking at the place now, can wonder at his resolution to 
 prosecute his career in a more fitting field of enterprise ? ' 
 
 There was one bright aspect in Mungo Park's life in 
 Peebles — his friendship with Sir Walter Scott, who then 
 resided at Ashesteil, and the venerable Dr Adam Ferguson, 
 at Hallyards. Cold and restrained in manner to the 
 casual stranger, and absolutely impervious to the inquisi- 
 tiveness of the lion-hunter, Park was ever frank and 
 communicative with men of kindred mind. The 
 anecdotes of Park that Scott has sent down to us are 
 luminous with character. 
 
 ' On one occasion,' he says, ■ the traveller communicated 
 some very remarkable adventures which had befallen him 
 in Africa, but which he had not recorded in his book. 
 On Scott asking the cause of this silence Park answered, 
 "That in all cases where he had information to com- 
 municate which he thought of importance to the public, 
 he had stated the facts boldly, leaving it to his readers to 
 give such credit to his statements as they might appear 
 justly to deserve; but that he would not shock their faith, 
 or render his travels more marvellous, by introducing 
 circumstances, which, however true, were of little or no 
 moment, as they related solely to his own personal 
 adventures and escapes."' 
 
 It is to Scott also that we are indebted for the record 
 of an incident which plainly shows in what direction Park's 
 thoughts and desires had now begun to flow. Scott came 
 upon him one day standing by the banks of the Yarrow, 
 throwing stones into the stream, and watching the bubbles 
 
9 6 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 as they rose to the surface. ' This,' said Scott, ' appears 
 but an idle amusement for one who has seen so much 
 stirring adventure.' 'Not so idle, perhaps, as you sup- 
 pose,' answered Park. ' This was the manner in which I 
 used to ascertain the depth of a river in Africa before I 
 ventured to cross it — judging whether the attempt would 
 be safe by the time the bubbles of air took to ascend.' 
 
 Scott instantly concluded that Park was meditating a 
 second expedition to Africa. And he was right. 
 
 In justice to Park, and in answer to the very hard 
 things that have been said of his dissatisfaction with his 
 lot, it must be noted that even if he had had the inclina- 
 tion, he never had the chance of settling down to the 
 practice of his profession. On the very month he 
 established himself in Peebles, his intentions were 
 disturbed by a letter from Sir Joseph Banks, stating 
 that, peace with France having been concluded, the 
 African Association would certainly revive their project 
 of sending a mission to the Niger, and that Park would 
 be recommended as the proper person to command the 
 expedition. The immediate effect of this announcement 
 was to intensify Park's longing to return once more to 
 Africa, and to increase the irksomeness of his daily 
 duties. In one of his confidential talks with Sir Walter 
 Scott, he told him that ' whenever he awoke suddenly 
 in the night, owing to a nervous disorder with which he 
 was troubled, he fancied himself still a prisoner in the 
 tent of Ali ; but when the poet expressed some surprise 
 that he should design again to revisit those scenes, he 
 answered that he would rather brave Africa and all its 
 horrors, than wear out his life in long and toilsome rides 
 
MUNGO PARK 97 
 
 over the hills of Scotland, for which the remuneration was 
 hardly enough to keep soul and body together.' 
 
 Two years wore on in this state of ' divine discontent.' 
 He worked hard, his practice grew, and he performed 
 the hard duties of a country doctor with unwearying 
 fidelity. But still he dreamed of Africa and what might 
 yet be done there. Suddenly, in the autumn of 1803, 
 came a message from the Colonial Secretary, desiring 
 his presence in London. Park was ready. He left 
 all and hurried to the Metropolis. The Secretary told 
 him of the Government's intention to send an expedi- 
 tion to the Niger, and offered him the command. Park, 
 though burning with eagerness to be off to Africa, 
 prudently asked time for deliberation and consultation 
 with friends. He returned to Scotland for this purpose. 
 But it was little more than a formality. His mind was 
 already made up. This was the opportunity for which 
 he had been waiting for years, and there was no thought 
 of drawing back, now that the dream had become a 
 reality. 
 
 In a few days he accepted the offer of the Colonial 
 Secretary, and before the end of the year he was back 
 again in London, expecting to set sail in a short time for 
 the coast of Africa. But delay followed delay, and finally 
 in February, when everything was ready for the departure 
 from Portsmouth, and some of the troops were actually 
 on board the ship, a governmental change occurred, the 
 expedition was countermanded, and the question whether 
 it would be sent or not was left for the decision of the 
 new Secretary. 
 
 Park returned to Scotland in deep disappointment. 
 
98 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 He had been kept so long in suspense, and so often 
 had had his hopes beaten down, that he began to fear 
 he would never attain his desire. However, acting on 
 a recommendation by the Colonial Office, that he should 
 meantime practise astronomical observation, and extend 
 his knowledge of eastern languages, he took with him 
 to Peebles a Moor named Sidi Ambak Bubi, whom he 
 had engaged as a teacher of Arabic. The advent of the 
 Moor in the quiet town of Peebles, where a man of 
 colour was a prodigious novelty, threw the community 
 into an excitement that had scarcely subsided, when, 
 at the end of about three months, Park and his family 
 quitted Peebles for Foulshiels. 
 
 For other three months he remained at his mother's 
 farm at Foulshiels, with his wife and four little ones, 
 anxiously waiting for the summons to London, yet, for 
 their sakes, dreading the day of its coming. So much 
 did he shrink from the pain of leave-taking, that he had 
 thoughts of going to Edinburgh, as if on business for a 
 day or two, and sending his farewell to his wife and 
 family from there. 'Ailie, say the word, and I'll stay,' 
 he exclaimed in the agony of parting. Even on the 
 threshold of achievement, he was willing to sacrifice the 
 dearest ambition of his life for love of her. 
 
 One of the last friends to whom Park paid a farewell 
 visit was Sir Walter Scott. He rode over to Ashesteil, 
 and spent the night there. Next morning Scott mounted 
 his horse, and accompanied his friend part of the way to 
 Foulshiels. It was a day to inspire gloomy forebodings. 
 The air was still, and a mist enshrouded hill and dale. 
 As the two horsemen rode side by side over the wild 
 
MUNGO PARK 99 
 
 region that lies between Tweed and Yarrow, Scott spoke 
 of the dangers and uncertainties of the journey to Africa, 
 and endeavoured to persuade his companion from again 
 tempting fate. When they had surmounted the last hill, 
 and from Williamhope Ridge saw the heavy mist roll- 
 ing slowly down the valley of the Yarrow, Scott, in his 
 romantic, imaginative way, looked upon the scene as 
 1 a striking emblem of the troubled and uncertain pros- 
 pect which his undertaking afforded.' 
 
 But Park was not to be moved. They cantered down 
 the slope to the place of parting. By the ditch which 
 separates the moor from the road they halted and bade 
 each other farewell. Then Park turned his horse to the 
 highway. In crossing the ditch the animal stumbled and 
 nearly fell. ' I am afraid, Mungo,' said Sir Walter, ' that 
 is a bad omen.' ' Freits * follow those who look to them,' 
 answered Park, and putting spurs to his horse he plunged 
 into the mist. Scott never saw him again. 
 
 Park arrived in London at the end of September, and 
 promptly submitted to the Colonial Secretary a written 
 statement of his plans. Therein he gave expression to a 
 very interesting theory he had formed regarding the ter- 
 mination of the Niger — namely, that the Niger and the 
 Congo were one and the same river. To this conviction 
 he had been led by his own experience, and the reason- 
 ings of an African trader named George Maxwell, a 
 Scotsman — the Niger seems to have been the particular 
 preserve of Scotsmen — who had intimate knowledge of 
 the Congo region of West Africa. By this theory the 
 course of the river was stretched out to an almost incon- 
 
 * Omens. 
 
ioo FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 ceivable length ; but, as we have said, in those days 
 Africa was a land of wonders, and men naturally expected 
 remarkable phenomena. This was Park's belief; he 
 knew the tremendous difficulties of the overland journey 
 to the Niger ; he could imagine the perils to be encoun- 
 tered in a canoe voyage of thousands of miles upon an 
 unknown river through an unknown country; he found 
 few people who thought that success was possible. Yet 
 he never flinched. He had resolved to clear up the 
 mystery of the Niger or die in the attempt. 
 
 Park had gone to London with the expectation that 
 no time would be lost in sending off the expedition. In 
 this he was bitterly disappointed. There were weeks 
 of waiting, of departmental parleying and procrastination. 
 Officials trifled with his orders, or calmly set them aside 
 till a more convenient season. Friends worried him with 
 well-intentioned warnings of disaster. In a fever of 
 anxiety, Park was constant in his endeavours to push 
 forward the preparations, for further delay meant that 
 the travellers would be caught in the dreaded rainy 
 season long before they had reached the Niger. But 
 plead and pester as he might, he could not hasten the 
 pace of officialdom, and four months elapsed before he 
 set sail for the coast of Africa. 
 
 The expedition left Portsmouth on the 30th January 
 1805. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE SECOND EXPEDITION A DISASTROUS MARCH 
 
 The young leader — Park was now thirty-four — was accom- 
 panied by two old school-fellows, Alexander Anderson, his 
 brother-in-law, a surgeon of several years' experience, and 
 George Scott, an artist, who was to act as draughtsman. 
 To give Park the necessary authority over the soldiers, 
 a captain's commission was bestowed upon him, and 
 Anderson was made a lieutenant. Park took out with 
 him four carpenters, to build a boat when the Niger 
 was reached. The soldiers were to be drawn from the 
 garrison at Goree, near the mouth of the Gambia, and 
 Park had been empowered to offer such bounties, or 
 other encouragement, as would induce them to cheer- 
 fully join the expedition. 
 
 When the expedition set sail from Portsmouth it was 
 already several months behind the time originally fixed 
 upon by its leader. More precious time was lost through 
 storms and contrary winds and the manoeuvres of French 
 privateers. When he arrived at Goree and declared his 
 purpose, offering double pay and a discharge on return, 
 almost every soldier in the place was eager to go with 
 him. Doubtless they were tired of the dulness and in- 
 activity of garrison life on an unhealthy coast, and were 
 
 101 
 
io2 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 ready for any adventure to break the monotony. Thirty- 
 five soldiers were selected and put under the command 
 of Lieutenant Martyn, who had agreed to accompany the 
 explorers. Two seamen were also added to the number. 
 Not a single negro, however, could be induced to enlist. 
 
 In high spirits and with loud huzzas, the soldiers bade 
 farewell to their comrades who remained behind, and 
 sailed for the Gambia, hoping to be back again before the 
 year was out. Poor fellows, little they knew what was 
 before them. 
 
 The middle of April saw the expedition on the banks 
 of the Gambia, and on the 27 th the march was begun. 
 It was a large, well-armed and thoroughly equipped 
 cavalcade that filed out of Kayi under the salute of 
 the vessels lying at anchor in the river. It consisted of 
 Park and his two friends, Anderson and Scott, thirty-five 
 soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Martyn, two 
 seamen, and four carpenters — in all, forty-five Europeans. 
 There were about two score of donkeys to bear the 
 baggage, and Isaacs, a Mandingo priest and merchant, 
 who was accompanied by several servants, acted as guide 
 and interpreter. Park was cheerful and confident. ' I 
 have great hopes to bring this expedition to a happy 
 conclusion,' he wrote on the eve of the march. ' If all 
 things go well, this day six weeks I expect to drink all 
 your healths in the water of the Niger. The soldiers are 
 in good health and spirits. They are the most dashing 
 men I ever saw, and if they preserve their health, we 
 may keep ourselves perfectly secure from any hostile 
 attempt on the part of the natives. I have little doubt 
 but that I shall be able, with presents and fair words, to 
 
MUNGO PARK io* 
 
 o 
 
 pass through the country to the Niger ; and if once we 
 are fairly afloat, the day is won I ' 
 
 With this fair promise before them, the band of adven- 
 turers passed into the wilderness. 
 
 Trouble came upon them at the very outset. The day 
 was remarkably hot, with that moist, enervating heat that 
 comes before the setting in of the rainy season ; and the 
 vagaries of the donkeys at once began to strain the 
 patience of the soldiers. Three of the animals stuck fast 
 in the mud, and while the drivers were struggling to free 
 them, they were left behind without a guide. Others of 
 the soldiers dropped far into the rear, a new guide had 
 to be procured, the heat increased ; and when, late in 
 the afternoon, the stragglers came together again at their 
 first halting place, they were all thoroughly worn out 
 with the exertions and vexations of the day. Day after 
 day brought wearisome repetitions of those irritating and 
 depressing difficulties. Some of the asses, being over- 
 loaded, persisted in lying down on the road. Others 
 kicked off their burdens, and, with their plunging and 
 capering, threw the caravan into disorder, and made 
 almost intolerable the already exacting duties of their 
 drivers. 
 
 In less than a fortnight from the start disease began to 
 show itself: two of the soldiers were stricken with dysen- 
 tery. A few days later another soldier, at the end of the 
 day's march, fell down in an epileptic fit and expired. 
 Days of exhausting labour were frequently followed by 
 nights of watchfulness and anxiety, for the natives had 
 begun to show hostility to the travellers, and to cast 
 envious eyes upon the rich merchandise they carried. 
 
io 4 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 At night double sentries were posted, and each man slept 
 with a loaded musket beside him. 
 
 At this juncture Park experienced for the second time 
 a mishap which is not uncommon in Africa, and which, 
 though it has an element of the ludicrous in it, was on 
 this occasion followed by serious consequences. The 
 camp had been pitched for the night, and the evening 
 meal was being prepared, when an immense swarm of 
 bees, disturbed by the foragers, swooped down upon men 
 and beasts, and scattered them in all directions. In the 
 wild stampede no one gave thought to the fire which had 
 just been kindled. The flames spread to the underwood 
 and bamboos, and in a few minutes, when the fugitives, 
 having escaped from their tormentors, began cautiously to 
 return, they saw that the camp was in a blaze. Every 
 man rushed to the rescue. The destruction of the 
 baggage meant irretrievable ruin to the expedition, and 
 for half an hour this new and terrible danger threatened 
 them. But after a fatiguing battle with the flames the 
 men triumphed. When the asses were gathered together 
 again they were found to have suffered severely from the 
 onslaught of the bees. Three asses and one horse were 
 never seen again, and three other asses were so much 
 stung that two died before morning, and the third had 
 to be abandoned. Many of the soldiers also were 
 seriously injured on the face and hands. 
 
 Meanwhile, the enemy that Park dreaded more than all 
 others combined had been drawing nearer and nearer. 
 The rainy season was closing in upon them. Already 
 distant thunder had been heard, and ominous puffs of 
 wind from the south-east bespoke the coming tornado. 
 
MUNGO PARK 105 
 
 At the first rain squall one of the carpenters, who suf- 
 fered from dysentery, became greatly worse. In a day or 
 two he was unable to sit upright on his ass. Two soldiers 
 were appointed to hold him on, and for a while the dying 
 man was carried along, begging, in his misery, to be left 
 behind to die, and frequently casting himself from the ass 
 and resisting all attempts to reseat him. Before long 
 death came to his relief; for a second time a grave was 
 dug in the wilderness ; and the band moved on again, 
 their hearts heavy with anticipations of evil. 
 
 Up till this time never a doubting word had Park set 
 down in his journal. Whatever may have been his 
 thoughts, he never permitted himself to give expression 
 to his uneasiness. Danger, difficulty, privation, and labour 
 were quietly accepted as inevitable. But when his men 
 began to drop around him, the steady cheerfulness which 
 no excess of personal hardship could abate, became over- 
 clouded. It was on June 10th — by which time he had 
 hoped to drink the health of his friends in the water of 
 the Niger — that he began to record his misgivings. On 
 that day he wrote : — 
 
 1 The front of the cofne reached Shrondo at sunset j 
 but being in the rear I had to mount one of the sick men 
 on my horse, and assist in driving the fatigued asses, so 
 that I did not reach the halting place till eight o'clock, 
 and was forced to leave four asses in the woods. Shrondo 
 is but a small town. We halted as usual under a tree at 
 a little distance, and before we could pitch one of the 
 tents, we were overtaken by a very heavy tornado, which 
 wet us all completely. In attempting to fasten up one of 
 the tents to a branch of the tree, I had my hat blown away 
 
106 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 and lost. The ground all round was covered with water 
 about three inches deep. We had another tornado about 
 two o'clock in the morning. 
 
 1 The tornado which took place on our arrival had an 
 instant effect on the health of the soldiers, and proved to 
 us to be the beginning of sorrow. I had proudly flattered 
 myself that we should reach the Niger with a very mod- 
 erate loss. We had had two men sick of the dysentery. 
 One of them recovered completely on the march, and the 
 other would doubtless have recovered had he not been 
 wet by the rain at Baniserile. But now the rain had set 
 in, and I trembled to think that we were only half way 
 through our journey. The rain had not commenced three 
 minutes before many of the soldiers were affected with 
 vomiting j others fell asleep, and seemed as if half intoxi- 
 cated. I felt a strong inclination to sleep during the 
 storm, and as soon as it was over I feel asleep on the wet 
 ground, although I used every exertion to keep myself 
 awake. The soldiers likewise fell asleep on the wet 
 bundles.' 
 
 When day dawned it was found that twelve of the 
 soldiers were sick, and everybody was wet and sore and 
 wretched. But even in those depressing circumstances 
 the dauntless leader did not overlook the minutest portion 
 of the work he had pledged himself to perform. Hearing 
 that there were rich gold mines in the vicinity, he visited 
 them, and made careful note of the method of production, 
 which he embodied with explanatory sketches in his diary. 
 Every day, and frequently throughout the greater part of 
 the night, Park did the work of any ten men. Did a 
 worn-out beast of burden sink down on the sodden, slip- 
 
MUNGO PARK 107 
 
 pery path, it was invariably Park who was left behind to 
 struggle with the obstinate brute, and to bring it up to the 
 rest of the cavalcade. Did a sick soldier, reckless in his 
 misery, lie down by the wayside, Park was there to en- 
 courage him and to help him on, many a time dismounting, 
 placing him upon his own horse, and holding him there, 
 while he threaded his way through the darkening forest. 
 Then there were interminable palavers with the chiefs to 
 be held, food supplies to be procured, observations to be 
 made, thieves to be watched or tracked, stolen goods to 
 be recovered ; and amidst it all Park had his own share of 
 sickness and fever. 
 
 Before many days of the rainy season were over half 
 the men were either sick or unable to exert themselves to 
 much effect. They were barely able to walk or to drive 
 the asses, and the natives, who were for ever hovering 
 around, harassed and plundered without ceasing. Scarcely 
 a day passed now but a sick soldier gave up the struggle 
 in despair. Those were left behind in friendly villages, 
 and the natives were liberally paid to attend to the sufferers 
 till the return of the expedition. The sick men died, and 
 the expedition never returned. Many of the men lay 
 down by the wayside and refused to go further, choosing 
 rather to take their chance with the natives and the wild 
 beasts than to drag themselves even for another day 
 through mud and marsh and dripping forest. 
 
 The inhabitants of one village, hearing of the helpless con- 
 dition of the travellers and of the riches they carried, turned 
 out in battle array to annihilate them. But at sight of a 
 danger with which they knew how to cope, the soldiers 
 roused themselves. Something of their old spirit came 
 
108 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 back to them, and they made such a brave show in the 
 presence of their enemies, that the latter discreetly 
 slackened in their warlike menacings. Park, adroitly 
 seizing the opportunity, by a great deal of apparent con- 
 fidence and a little diplomacy so impressed the Negroes, 
 that they not only allowed him to pass unmolested, but 
 even accepted his proffered friendship. 
 
 The leaders of the expedition were now in as grievous 
 a state as the rank and file. Anderson and Scott, then 
 Martyn, and finally Park, were prostrated by fever. For 
 a time Park was so weak that he could not stand erect 
 without feeling a tendency to faint. But he was merciless 
 to himself. Others might fall out and remain behind to 
 rest, but for him there could be no respite. From morn- 
 ing till night he toiled, watching and helping the caravan 
 from van to rear-guard. Everything depended upon him. 
 While others sank under the burden of despair and physi- 
 cal suffering, he was sustained, not by superior bodily 
 strength, but by his indomitable spirit and the enthusiasm 
 of the explorer. To the others the labour of the expedition 
 was nothing but a daily round of suffering and heart-sick- 
 ness, with a miserable death for an ending. To Park it 
 was a means of fulfilling a glorious mission, and of bring- 
 ing to fruition an idea that had for years absorbed all 
 his energies and desires. This is the secret why leaders 
 of great enterprises outlive all hardships while their fol- 
 lowers fall thick around them, and we have no better 
 example of the saving power of a great idea than the 
 achievements of Mungo Park. 
 
 From the middle of June till the end of the rainy 
 season the journal is little else but a record of trouble and 
 
MUNGO PARK 109 
 
 disaster. In course of time all the asses that had been 
 brought from the coast had either died or had been lost 
 or abandoned on the march. Fresh ones were procured 
 when possible ; but frequently the number of animals was 
 not sufficient to carry the sick and the baggage. Negroes 
 had to be hired to carry the burdens, and even to help 
 the soldiers to load and unload, to such a state of weak- 
 ness had they been reduced. Day by day the rains 
 became heavier, the tornadoes more terrible, the country 
 more difficult to traverse, and the thieving of the natives 
 more persistent and outrageous. So bold did they become, 
 that one fellow snatched the musket from Park's hand and 
 made off with it. Thereupon Park gave orders to shoot 
 the first man caught stealing. Several rascally negroes 
 had narrow escapes from death j but nothing could deter 
 them, and hardly a day passed but there was a chase after 
 a thief, or a wearisome and generally fruitless search for 
 stolen goods. 
 
 In all his dealings with offending natives, even when 
 provoked almost beyond the limits of human endurance, 
 Park never forgot to be merciful. It was only when 
 driven by absolute necessity, when the very existence of 
 the expeditionary force was endangered, that he permitted 
 his men to resort to violence. Diplomacy and forbear- 
 ance were stretched to cracking point before he would 
 suffer a shot to be fired, and even then he endeavoured 
 only to disable, not to kill. This consideration for 
 the barbarians among whom he travelled was one 
 of the most admirable traits of Park's character, 
 and gives him an honourable distinction among 
 African explorers. Too often has the advance of the 
 
no FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 pioneer into the Dark Continent been traced in blood 
 and fire. 
 
 On July 27th there came one ray of comfort and 
 encouragement to the way-worn leader. As he was 
 staggering on, very sick and faint, and driving a horse 
 and an ass before him, the neglected charges of other 
 men, he came to an eminence from which he had a view of 
 mountains far away in the east. * The certainty that the 
 Niger washes the southern base of these mountains,' he 
 wrote, ' made me forget my fever ; and I thought of 
 nothing all the way but how to climb over their blue 
 summits.' Three days later there is an entry of infinite 
 pathos. One of the men, named William Allen, became 
 so ill that he could not be carried further. Park left him 
 in the care of the chief of a village, and in his diary he 
 wrote : — ' I regretted much leaving this man. He had 
 naturally a cheerful disposition, and he used often to 
 beguile the watches of the night with the songs of our 
 dear native land.' 
 
 It had now become plain that Anderson's constitution 
 could not much longer withstand the strain that was being 
 put upon it. On August 10, Park, while encouraging 
 and assisting stragglers in the rear, came upon his friend 
 lying under a bush by a stream apparently dying, and 
 scattered around were many of the soldiers, themselves 
 too ill to render any aid. The heat was intense, the 
 stream was deep, and Park was extremely fatigued ; but 
 by a supreme effort he not only succeeded in carrying 
 Anderson over on his back, but likewise transported the 
 load of his own ass, and dragged across the horse that 
 Anderson had been riding. Sixteen times did he cross 
 
MUNGO PARK in 
 
 the stream, and only utter exhaustion prevented him from 
 assisting some of the soldiers. 
 
 From that day Park kept an unceasing watch over his 
 friend. Mounting a sick soldier on his own horse, he 
 went on foot, driving before him a loaded ass and the 
 horse upon which Anderson was seated. But before a 
 couple of days had passed it seemed as if his tender care 
 would go for naught. 
 
 ' Rained all the morning. About eleven o'clock, the 
 sky being clear, loaded the asses. None of the Euro- 
 peans being able to lift a load, Isaaco made the negroes 
 load the whole. Saddled Mr Anderson's horse, and 
 having put a sick soldier on mine, took Mr Anderson's 
 horse by the bridle, that he might have no trouble but 
 sitting upright on the saddle. We had not gone far before 
 I found one of the asses with a load of gunpowder, the 
 driver being unable to proceed (I never heard of him 
 afterwards), and shortly after the sick man dismounted 
 from my horse and laid down by a small pool of water, 
 refusing to rise. Drove the ass and horse on before me. 
 Passed a number of sick. At half-past twelve o'clock Mr 
 Anderson declared he could ride no farther. Took him 
 down and laid him in the shade of a bush, and sat down 
 beside him. At half-past two he made another attempt 
 to proceed, but had not rode above an hundred yards 
 before I had to take him down from the saddle and lay 
 him again in the shade. I now gave up all thoughts of 
 being able to carry him forwards till the cool of the 
 evening j and having turned the horses and ass to feed, 
 I sat down to watch the pulsations of my dying friend.' 
 
 When evening came, and with it a refreshing breeze, 
 
ii2 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 Anderson made another attempt to ride. But they lost 
 their way in the dark, and had to pass the night un- 
 sheltered on the summit of a rugged hill, exposed to 
 attack from lions, which abounded there. When day 
 dawned they came upon Scott and three more of the 
 sick, who had spent the night in the same wretched 
 plight. A hammock having been improvised out of a 
 cloak slung on a pole, Anderson was placed therein and 
 carried by two men. On the same day Scott was again 
 stricken with fever. He was placed on Anderson's horse, 
 but at night, when the camp was formed, he was nowhere 
 to be seen. Men were sent back to search for him, but 
 returned without any tidings of the missing draughtsman. 
 Next day the search was renewed, again without success ; 
 and Park, concluding that Scott had remained behind at a 
 certain village to recruit, made ample arrangements for his 
 guidance in following up the caravan, and continued the 
 march. 
 
 On entering the town of Dumbila Park was overjoyed 
 to meet his old friend Karfa Taura, who had rescued him 
 from destruction on his former travels. Karfa had heard 
 of Park's arrival, and had travelled several days' journey 
 to meet him and assist him to the Niger. ' He instantly 
 recognised me,' said Park, * and you may judge of the 
 pleasure I felt on seeing my old benefactor.' 
 
 Park was now only two or three days' march from the 
 Niger. And it was well that the journey was short, for 
 the roads were very bad ; rain still fell in torrents, and 
 only one of the few remaining soldiers was able to drive 
 an ass. On the 19th August, nearly four months after 
 the departure from the Gambia, this handful of ragged, 
 
MUNGO PARK 113 
 
 emaciated men began slowly to ascend the ridge which 
 separates the upper tributaries of the Senegal from the 
 river of their quest. Park, in his eagerness, pushed on in 
 advance of the caravan, and, coming to the brow of the 
 hill, ' once more saw the Niger rolling its immense stream 
 along the plain ! ' 
 
 H 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 ONCE MORE ON THE NIGER 
 
 The first stage of the journey had now been accom- 
 plished. But at what tremendous cost ! Park was 
 fast breaking down under the ravages of dysentery. 
 Anderson was dying ; Scott had been lost ; and of the 
 band of hardy fellows who had left the Gambia in 
 gleeful hope of stirring adventure and a speedy return, 
 only seven, and some of those worn to the very point 
 of death, had lived to see the Niger. This miserable 
 remnant of the once splendid expedition was now nearly 
 a thousand miles — taking the deviations of the path 
 into account — from a European settlement, and sur- 
 rounded by treacherous and suspicious barbarians, who 
 on the slightest pretext might overwhelm it at any 
 moment. Even Park admitted that the prospect was 
 gloomy. 
 
 Yet he cheered himself with the reflection that he had 
 proved the object of the expedition to be practicable — 
 namely, that merchandise could be carried safely to the 
 banks of the Niger, and that if the journey was accom- 
 plished in the dry season, the trader might calculate on a 
 very small loss of life. The cause of the appalling loss that 
 
 the expedition had suffered was, of course, the hardships of 
 ii 4 
 
MUNGO PARK 115 
 
 the rainy season, which would not have been incurred 
 but for the delay of officials in London. It is somewhat 
 remarkable, however, that Park never alludes to the most 
 terrible mistake of all — that of taking so many Europeans 
 with him. 
 
 Joseph Thomson, the African traveller, commenting on 
 this omission, says : — ' We would naturally have expected 
 him to add as a third conclusion, that under no circum- 
 stances should Europeans be employed in such a caravan 
 except as conductors, or it might be as guards. That 
 conclusion, however, he apparently did not reach — 
 indeed, we look in vain throughout his journal for any 
 indication that he was at all aware of the frightful nature 
 of his blunder in starting only with Europeans. And 
 yet before him was the tangible fact, that of thirty-five 
 soldiers and four carpenters who left the Gambia with 
 him, only seven entered Bammaku, while Isaaco and his 
 attendants were all alive and hearty, though much of the 
 white men's work had fallen upon them in addition to 
 their own.' 
 
 It is easy to lay the finger on the mistakes of pioneers 
 after ninety years of experience has reduced African travel 
 to almost an exact science. In Mungo Park's time it was 
 the belief of geographers that it was impossible to pene- 
 trate into the interior of Africa without strong military 
 escort. And, in truth, they had good reason for their 
 belief. The sufferings of Horneman, Houghton, and 
 Park were of themselves sufficient to justify the con- 
 viction. Though Park did not in his journal specifically 
 allude to this mistake, the events recorded there speak 
 for themselves ; and we find their effects in the geo- 
 
n6 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 graphical works published soon after the receipt of 
 Park's journal in London. It is therein suggested that 
 in the next expedition to the Niger the black troops 
 of Sierra Leone should be employed. 
 
 Park and his men had reached the Niger at Bammaku 
 in Bambarra. After a short halt to enjoy a sorely-needed 
 rest, a canoe was obtained to carry the baggage down to 
 Sego, where Mansong, the king, resided. As the canoe 
 was not large enough to carry all the party, the soldiers 
 were sent down by land, and Park and Anderson sailed 
 in the canoe to watch the baggage. They found the 
 Niger at this point to be an immense river, more than 
 a mile broad, and sweeping majestically along at the rate 
 of six or seven miles an hour. 
 
 The heat had now become terrific, and the health of 
 the travellers did not benefit much by the escape from 
 the toils of the march. The dysentery was reducing 
 Park so seriously that he determined to be rid of it at all 
 costs. He dosed himself so thoroughly with mercury that 
 for six days he could neither speak nor sleep. But this 
 heroic treatment put an end to the dysentery. In a few 
 days another of the men succumbed to the extreme heat. 
 To add to their anxiety, reports reached them that Isaaco, 
 who had been sent forward to Sego with presents for the 
 king, had been slain, and that the king had vowed he 
 would kill every white man who showed face in his 
 dominions. Nevertheless, Park held resolutely on his 
 way, and in a day or two was gladdened by the arrival 
 of an emissary from the king with canoes to convey him 
 and his companions to Sego. 
 
 The journey down the river was resumed, and in more 
 
MUNGO PARK 117 
 
 encouraging circumstances. But still the climate played 
 sad havoc with the men. The heat grew more and 
 more intense, till, on September 26, it reached a climax. 
 ' The canoes were not covered with mats,' wrote Park in 
 his journal, ' and there being no wind, the sun became 
 insufferably hot. I felt myself affected with a violent 
 headache, which increased to such a degree as to make 
 me almost delirious. I never felt so hot a day ; there was 
 sensible heat sufficient to have roasted a sirloin, but the 
 thermometer w r as in a bundle in the other canoe, so that 
 I could not ascertain the actual heat.' Soon another 
 halt had to be called to bury the dead ; and when the 
 voyagers pushed out into mid-stream again, they had 
 laid to rest two more of their number on the banks of 
 the Niger. 
 
 But the depression that followed this fresh disaster was 
 relieved by the arrival of messengers from the king, 
 assuring Park of his protection, and giving him liberty to 
 go to any part of his dominions. He seemed, however, to 
 have some superstitious fear of the strangers, and did not 
 invite them to visit Sego. Accordingly, Park fixed upon 
 Sansanding as a suitable place to build the boat that was 
 to carry him, he hoped, to the Atlantic Ocean. When 
 the travellers landed at Sansanding, the people came in 
 such crowds to gaze at them that the baggage could not be 
 brought ashore until the sight-seers had been beaten back 
 with sticks. Two large huts were set apart for the use of 
 the white men — one for the baggage, and the other, opening 
 into it, for living quarters ; and having stored his goods 
 and made his men as comfortable as possible, Park began 
 to lay his plans for the next stage of the great adventure. 
 
n8 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 But death, which never left them for long, returned 
 within a week of their landing and dealt them another 
 blow. Yet another couple of men died of dysentery and 
 fever, and during the night hyenas entered the hut and 
 carried off one of the bodies. This rapid dwindling of 
 his force filled Park with alarm. It seemed as if the 
 expedition would be annihilated long before the voyage 
 to the ocean could be begun. Mansong the king had 
 promised to send canoes to Park to be converted into a 
 boat, and their arrival was waited for with daily increasing 
 impatience and anxiety. But nothing avails with African 
 dilatoriness and procrastination, and Park at last bethought 
 himself of opening a shop so as to obtain money with 
 which to purchase canoes. He therefore 'opened shop 
 in great style, and exhibited a choice assortment of 
 European articles to be sold in wholesale or retail.' The 
 venture was a great success. Sansanding being a populous 
 and busy town, to which people flocked in large numbers 
 from the surrounding country, he did an extensive busi- 
 ness. Indeed, so great was his prosperity that it drew 
 upon him the envy of the native merchants, who conspired 
 to procure his expulsion or death. But the king resisted 
 the popular clamour, and day after day Park found his 
 shop more and more crowded with customers. ' Such 
 was my run of business,' he said, ' that I was sometimes 
 forced to employ three tellers at once to count my cash. 
 I turned one market day twenty-five thousand seven 
 hundred and fifty-six pieces of money (cowries).' 
 
 During all this time there had been no tidings of Scott. 
 Park had never let slip an opportunity to make inquiries 
 concerning his friend ; he had halted several times in the 
 
MUNGO PARK 119 
 
 hope that Scott would overtake his companions ; and in 
 the end he had sent a messenger back the route they 
 had travelled to bring up the missing man or discover 
 what had happened to him. This messenger now 
 returned with the melancholy news that Scott was dead. 
 More than this bare fact Park could not ascertain. 
 
 The promise of the gift of canoes, which had been 
 again renewed, but as yet remained unfulfilled, was at 
 last made good. A canoe was brought down stream and 
 moored at Sansanding. On hearing the welcome news 
 Park hurried down to the river, but to his intense 
 chagrin he found a worthless old craft, one half of which 
 was rotten. Another half canoe was brought, but it would 
 not fit the half of the one already sent. In despair, Park 
 sent Isaaco to the king, fortified with another substantial 
 present, to beg him either to send a proper canoe or 
 permit him to purchase one. The king accepted the 
 gifts ; there was the usual irritating delay ; and in the end 
 another canoe was sent down to Sansanding, as rotten and 
 patched a vessel as the other two. As nothing better 
 could be made of the matter, Park and one of the soldiers 
 set about joining the least decayed portions of the two 
 canoes. All the rotten pieces were cut out ; the holes 
 were filled up, and the whole structure repaired and 
 strengthened ; and after eighteen days of hard labour 
 the old Bambarra canoes were fashioned into an odd- 
 looking, but withal serviceable, vessel, forty feet long, six 
 feet broad, and flat-bottomed, and was christened ' His 
 Majesty's schooner Joliba! Joliba is the native name for 
 the Niger. 
 
 This great difficulty overcome, Park's spirits began to 
 
120 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 rise at the prospect of a speedy departure on the final 
 stage of the journey. But while he had been labouring, 
 and sustained by the hopefulness that ever issues from 
 activity, the life of his one remaining friend and com- 
 panion had been slowly ebbing away. The bitterest sorrow 
 of all fell on the 28th October, when Anderson's four 
 months' illness was closed by death. ' No event which 
 took place during the journey,' Park wrote, ■ ever threw 
 the smallest gloom over my mind till I laid Mr Anderson 
 in the grave. I then felt myself as if left a second time 
 lonely and friendless amidst the wilds of Africa.' Park 
 was indeed little better than alone. Of his men only 
 three remained, all feeble and emaciated, and one of them 
 deranged in his mind. Lieutenant Martyn, who should 
 have been a valuable assistant to Park, seems to have 
 been a careless, dissipated fellow, in no wise fitted to 
 fill the difficult and responsible position in which he had 
 been placed. He was not a man who could give counsel 
 on the higher interests of the mission. 
 
 By the middle of November all was ready. A guide 
 and interpreter named Amadi Fatuma was engaged. 
 Isaaco was paid off and started for the Gambia, carrying 
 with him Park's journal and letters for transmission to 
 London and Foulshiels. To his wife Park wrote with 
 that tender reserve and cheerfulness which he had ever 
 shown to her when in the direst straits, and always in 
 the highest degree when the danger was greatest : — 
 
 ' I am afraid that, impressed with a woman's fears and 
 the anxieties of a wife, you may be led to consider my 
 situation as a great deal worse than it really is. It is 
 true my dear friends, Mr Anderson and George Scott, 
 
MUNGO PARK 121 
 
 have both bid adieu to the things of this world, and the 
 greater part of the soldiers have died on the march 
 during the rainy season, but you may believe me, I am 
 in good health. The rains are completely over, and the 
 healthy season has commenced, so that there is no danger 
 of sickness ; and I have still a sufficient force to protect 
 me from any insult in sailing down the river to the 
 sea. ... 
 
 ' I think it not unlikely but I shall be in England before 
 you receive this. You may be sure that I feel happy at 
 turning my face towards home. We this morning have 
 done with all intercourse with the natives ; and the sails 
 are now hoisting for our departure for the coast.' 
 
 To the Colonial Secretary Park sent his journal and a 
 message, which, for pathetic simplicity and strength and 
 quiet bravery, will find few equals in the annals of travel. 
 Once and for all, before vanishing for ever from human 
 ken, Park stamped deep and indelible the impress of his 
 own character. This noble letter is an epitome of all the 
 good qualities of the man. 
 
 'On board of H.M. Schooner Joliba, 
 'at anchor off Sansanding, 
 1 November 17, 1805. 
 
 ' My Lord, — I have herewith sent you an account of 
 each day's proceedings since we left Kayee. Many of 
 the incidents related are in themselves extremely trifling, 
 but are intended to recall to my recollection (if it pleases 
 God to restore me again to my dear native land) other 
 particulars illustrative of the manners and customs of the 
 natives, which would have swelled this bulky communica- 
 tion to a most unreasonable size. 
 
122 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 'Your Lordship will recollect that I always spoke of 
 the rainy season with horror, as being extremely fatal to 
 Europeans ; and our journey from the Gambia to the 
 Niger will furnish a melancholy proof of it. 
 
 'We had no contest whatever with the natives, nor 
 was any one of us killed by wild animals or any other 
 accidents ; and yet I am sorry to say that of forty-four 
 Europeans who left the Gambia in perfect health, five 
 only are at present alive — viz., three soldiers (one deranged 
 in his mind), Lieutenant Martyn, and myself. 
 
 1 From this account I am afraid that your Lordship will 
 be apt to consider matters as in a very hopeless state ; 
 but I assure you I am far from desponding. With the 
 assistance of one of the soldiers I have changed a large 
 canoe into a tolerably good schooner, on board of which I 
 this day hoisted the British flag, and shall set sail to the 
 east with the fixed resolution to discover the termination 
 of the Niger or perish in the attempt. I have heard 
 nothing that I can depend on respecting the remote 
 course of this mighty stream, but I am more and more 
 inclined to think that it can end nowhere but in the sea. 
 
 1 My dear friend Mr Anderson, and likewise Mr Scott, are 
 both dead ; but though all the Europeans who are with 
 me should die, and though I were myself half dead, I 
 would still persevere ; and if I could not succeed in the 
 object of my journey, I would at last die on the Niger.' 
 
 Never was noble vow more faithfully redeemed. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE FATE OF MUNGO PARK 
 
 On the 19th of November 1805, Park and his little band 
 launched out into the current of the great river. Though 
 Park, in his cheerful, reassuring way, had written to his 
 wife that once they were afloat they would consider them- 
 selves embarked for England, the adventure was, at its 
 best, a desperate one. They were but five men, travel- 
 worn, fever-wasted, adrift in a crazy canoe on a stream 
 that abounded with rocks and rapids, on a voyage of un- 
 known length through an undiscovered country, peopled, 
 for all they knew, by barbarians of the most ferocious 
 type. If the river issued in the Congo, as Park believed, 
 then the voyage would be one of many months. If it 
 ended, as there was also reason for supposing, in some 
 fiery desert in the heart of the continent, then their doom 
 was sealed. Return by water would be impossible, and 
 an attempt by land, in their condition, quite as hopeless. 
 It must have been, then, with a dread sense of the irrevoc- 
 able that the voyagers let slip their moorings, and com- 
 mitted themselves to the current of the Niger. 
 
 In due time Isaaco reached the Gambia, and Park's 
 papers were transmitted to England. 
 
 Then came a long silence. Spring returned, when it 
 
 123 
 
i2 4 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 was hoped that news might come of the successful naviga- 
 tion of the Niger ; but still the silence remained unbroken. 
 Months went by j misgivings grew into fears ; then sinister 
 rumours of the fate of the expedition began to reach the 
 British settlements on the coast, brought down by traders 
 from remote regions in the interior. But four years passed 
 before the Government resolved to make themselves master 
 of the facts. In January 1810, Isaaco, who had accom- 
 panied the expedition as guide in 1805, left the Senegal 
 with instructions from the British Government to return 
 to the Niger and ascertain the truth. Isaaco carried out 
 his mission in a thorough and satisfactory manner ; and 
 on his return to the coast, eight months later, he handed 
 over to the authorities a minute record of his journey, and 
 of the information he had gathered. It is wholly upon 
 this, corroborated by subsequent investigation, that we 
 depend for the story of the close of Park's adventurous 
 career. 
 
 When he reached the Niger, Isaaco had the good 
 fortune to fall in with Amadi Fatuma, the guide who 
 had sailed with Park down the river. Upon seeing Isaaco, 
 Amadi burst into tears, and cried, ' They are all dead ! ' 
 Then he told the story of the disaster. 
 
 The expedition, when it set sail on the Niger, consisted 
 of nine men — Park and Martyn, three soldiers, three slaves, 
 and Amadi, as guide and interpreter. They pushed out 
 into mid-stream, to avoid the danger of attack from the 
 banks, and as a very large stock of provisions had been 
 taken on board, it was unnecessary to make frequent stop- 
 pages. But they had scarcely got two days on their way 
 when the danger of the enterprise became apparent. 
 
MUNGO PARK 125 
 
 During the long delay at Sansanding, the news of the 
 coming of the white men, of their intended passage down 
 the river, and of the great wealth they carried, had spread 
 far and near, and aroused the cupidity of the tribes in- 
 habiting the banks of the Niger. And now bands of 
 natives were lying in wait along the stream, ready to 
 sally forth and plunder the strangers. 
 
 The first attack was made by three canoes loaded with 
 men who were armed with pikes, lances, and bows and 
 arrows. Park tried persuasion, but failing, he opened 
 fire, and repulsed them without difficulty. Further down 
 the river three separate attempts to intercept the little 
 schooner were met in the same fashion. About this time 
 the death of another of the soldiers reduced the number of 
 white men to four, and the total number of the voyagers to 
 eight ; but as they had each fifteen muskets always lying 
 ready for action, they were still a formidable party to 
 attack. It seemed, indeed, as if they were more than 
 a match in fair fight for the strongest force their enemies 
 might bring against them, for when assailed by a great 
 fleet of sixty canoes, they beat them back with heavy loss. 
 
 Lieutenant Martyn, who had never been of much 
 service to the expedition when thoughtfulness or self- 
 sacrifice or hard work was needed, now found congenial 
 occupation. He took to fighting as to a bloody sport. 
 When the blacks had been thoroughly beaten, and further 
 firing became wanton cruelty, Amadi, moved at the sight 
 of so much bloodshed, seized Martyn's hand, and begged 
 him to cease firing. In a frenzy of rage, Martyn turned 
 upon the guide, and would have killed him on the spot 
 had not Park interposed. 
 
i26 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 Undismayed by repeated defeats, the natives swarmed 
 to the banks in greater numbers than before. At one 
 point the travellers encountered a great army posted on 
 the river side ; but they avoided a conflict by crossing to 
 the other bank, and slipping swiftly by. At another place, 
 where the stream divided into three dangerous passages, 
 a hostile band took up a position on the rocks which 
 commanded the water-way, and so seriously threatened 
 the safety of the vessel, that it was thought prudent to 
 return up stream and descend by another channel. 
 
 At length the voyagers reached the Haussa country, 
 where Amadi's engagement as guide terminated. The 
 anchor was dropped, and two days were spent in making 
 preparations for continuing the journey. Park, as he 
 would thenceforth have to depend upon his own know- 
 ledge of the native tongues, wrote down from his inter- 
 preter's dictation the names of the necessaries of life in 
 the languages of the countries through which he was 
 about to pass. The day before setting sail again, Amadi 
 was sent ashore at Yauri to buy provisions and to convey 
 gifts to the king and the chief of the neighbouring village. 
 The chief, in taking delivery of the present for the king, 
 asked Amadi if his master would ever return to the land 
 of the Haussas; and Park, on being informed of the 
 question, sent back the reply that he would return no 
 more. 
 
 As the sequel shows, Park, when he uttered those 
 simple words, pronounced doom upon himself and his 
 companions. 
 
 Next day, after he had bidden farewell to the wanderers, 
 and the Joliba was again on her way down the Niger, 
 
MUNGO PARK 127 
 
 Amadi went to pay his respects to the King of Yauri. 
 In the presence of the king he was confronted by two 
 men sent by the chief, who swore that the white man, 
 notwithstanding his great wealth, had gone away without 
 sending any gifts either to the king or the chief — an 
 unpardonable offence in the eyes of an African potentate. 
 1 And this Amadi Fatuma, now before you,' they added, 
 1 is a bad man, and has likewise made a fool of you both.' 
 Amadi's protests were of no avail. He was seized and 
 thrust into irons, and the incensed king dispatched his 
 warriors in hot haste down the river to a town called 
 Bussa, to rouse the people and intercept the white men. 
 
 Now it happened that in all the course of the Niger 
 there was no part of it better suited for an attack from the 
 land than Bussa. A short distance above the town the 
 river leaves the broad, low valley behind it, and rushes 
 swiftly through a deep narrow gorge which is strewn with 
 islands and dangerous rocks. Almost opposite the town 
 a great wall of rock, pierced by narrow channels, lies 
 across the stream, and through those openings the water 
 rushes with irresistible force. ■ The subtending sandstone 
 hills,' says Joseph Thomson, in describing this fateful spot 
 on the Niger, ' pass into abrupt and precipitous masses of 
 hard metamorphic rock, and break up the channel of the 
 river by dangerous rocks and islands occupied by villages. 
 Thus narrowed and divided, the waters of the river sweep 
 onward in three branches — one of them easy to navigate, 
 the others difficult at flood time, and almost impossible 
 when the river is low.' Upon those rocks and along the 
 precipitous banks the dusky enemy clambered, and awaited 
 the coming of the strangers. 
 
i 2 8 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 When Park and his men came within sight of the 
 hostile array it was too late to turn back. They were 
 in the grip of the current; it seized them and dragged 
 them into the thick of their enemies, who received them 
 with furious volleys of lances, pikes, arrows, and stones. 
 The white men replied with a vigorous discharge of 
 musketry, and then the battle became general. The 
 slaves at the paddles strained till their sinews cracked 
 to move the canoe up against the current, or, at least, 
 to keep out of reach of the weapons of the howling, 
 frantic mob that blackened the river side and swarmed 
 wherever there was foothold. The boat moved slowly 
 down the stream, Park and his three companions firing 
 as they went. Then two of the slaves at the paddles 
 were killed, and the boat began to drift more swiftly to 
 destruction. Everything on board was thrown into the 
 water to lighten the vessel. Still the rapids dragged it 
 downwards, and with yells of delight the savages bent 
 themselves with renewed energy to the assault. 
 
 There could be but one end to it all. A few minutes 
 more, and the gallant little band would be speared, or 
 prisoners in the hands of their infuriated enemies. Park 
 and his men fought to the last moment, till they were 
 exhausted with paddling, and the hopelessness of the 
 conflict became plain. Then came the climax, dramatic 
 and tragical. The four white men tossed their muskets 
 into the water. Park took hold of one soldier, Martyn 
 seized the other, and together they jumped into the 
 rushing waters. They disappeared in an instant, and 
 no man saw them rise again, neither was any trace of 
 their bodies ever found. The last remnant of this un- 
 
MUNGO PARK 129 
 
 happy expedition disappeared as completely as if it had 
 vanished into space. 
 
 Whether Park and his companions jumped overboard 
 in the hope of escaping to land lower down the stream, 
 or with the deliberate intention of ending their lives 
 rather than fall into the hands of their enemies, we shall 
 never know. But the probabilities are strongly in favour 
 of the first supposition. Park was a man who never gave 
 in ; his resource and hopefulness were boundless ; and 
 we may be almost certain that in his last act there was 
 some daring plan of escape. Without further know- 
 ledge, it were unreasonable and unjust to suppose that 
 the faith and courage which had sustained him through 
 perils and sufferings so manifold, in the end forsook him 
 utterly. 
 
 The slave who remained alive in the boat was taken 
 prisoner. Amadi, the guide, was kept in irons for three 
 months. When he was released he sought out the sur- 
 viving slave, and from him got the story of the manner of 
 Mungo Park's death. It will thus be seen that for the 
 circumstances of Park's death we depend upon the word 
 of an unknown slave. His narrative, however, is plain 
 and credible ; and all subsequent investigations have 
 strengthened the belief that the slave had told the truth. 
 When ' His Majesty's schooner Joliba ' was seized by 
 the natives, nothing was found in it but a sword-belt. 
 With infinite pains, Isaaco succeeded in obtaining posses- 
 sion of the belt, and brought it back with him to the 
 coast — the only relic of the great expedition of nearly a 
 hundred men and beasts, that had left the Gambia loaded 
 with arms and merchandise. 
 
 1 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE MYSTERY OF THE NIGER SOLVED 
 
 The death of Mungo Park left the mystery of the Niger 
 still unsolved, and five and twenty years of conjecture and 
 adventurous and disastrous search were to pass before the 
 complete solution was found. The theory bequeathed by 
 the dead explorer — that the Niger and the Congo were 
 one and the same river — became the general opinion; 
 and it was on this basis that the explorations immediately 
 following were planned. 
 
 But meanwhile, even when the fate of Park was still 
 an uncertainty, a German arm-chair geographer named 
 Reichard, by study and research, discovered the great 
 secret which actual exploration could not unfold. By a 
 careful examination of maps and an exhaustive study of 
 the whole problem, he concluded that the river, after 
 making a great bend to the south and south-west, and 
 being joined by other large streams, discharged itself by 
 many different channels into the Gulf of Guinea. In 
 other words, Reichard's guess was perfectly correct. But, 
 after all, it was only one theory among many, and con- 
 temporary opinion dismissed it as ' hazardous and un- 
 certain,' and the painful quest went on. 
 
 In 1 8 1 6, four years after the news of the final disaster 
 130 
 
MUNGO PARK 131 
 
 to Park's expedition had been brought home, the Govern- 
 ment fitted out another force for West Africa. It was 
 divided into two sections — one to penetrate to the Niger 
 from the Gambia as Park had done, and to descend the 
 river j the other to ascend the Congo from its mouth. It 
 was hoped that either one section or the other would gain 
 its end j and in the event of both succeeding, they would 
 meet and coalesce upon the stream in the interior of the 
 continent. 
 
 The plan was doomed to miserable failure. The over- 
 land company, consisting of a hundred men commanded 
 by Major Peddie, in crossing the malarial belt between 
 the coast and the uplands, were decimated by disease. It 
 was the old story over again. First the commander was 
 laid low, then the best of his officers, and the men dropped 
 by the wayside as they dragged themselves along. Plun- 
 dered and harassed by the natives, all their transport 
 donkeys dead or stolen, and threatened by starvation, 
 the survivors gave up the struggle in despair, and 
 returned to the place whence they had started without 
 having accomplished anything. Captain Gray, one of 
 the survivors, made a gallant attempt to retrieve the 
 disaster. Starting out afresh, he followed Mungo Park's 
 track as far as Bondou. But there he found the sus- 
 picions of the people an impenetrable barrier. For 
 nearly a year he was detained, virtually a prisoner, till 
 an opportunity to return presented itself, and he made 
 his way back to the coast. 
 
 The other section of the expedition, led by Captain 
 Tuckey, was equally unfortunate. It reached the coast of 
 Africa in safety and sailed up the Congo to the first 
 
132 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 cataract without mishap. Unable to go further by water, 
 the men hewed their way through the forest till they 
 reached the broad navigable water above the falls. Then 
 the inevitable fevers and dysentery seized them. Their 
 state became hopeless ; advance meant certain death. 
 They retraced their steps, dropping one by one as they 
 went, and Captain Tuckey himself reached the ship only 
 to die. 
 
 Failure in this attempt was complete. But failures 
 were regarded merely as stepping-stones to ultimate 
 triumph, and it was not long before new explorers came 
 forward as full as ever of faith and eagerness. 
 
 But before the despatch of another expedition, a second 
 theoretical geographer had correctly solved the problem of 
 the Niger. This was James M 'Queen, a very remarkable 
 man, also a Scotsman. When the story of Park's first 
 adventures in Africa was given to the world, a copy of the 
 book found its way into the hands of M 'Queen, who was then 
 in the Island of Grenada, West Indies, with many negroes 
 under his charge. The mystery of the Niger took a strong 
 hold upon his imagination, and having among the number of 
 his slaves several negroes who in the days of their freedom 
 had lived on the banks of the Niger, he naturally began 
 to question them on the subject. The information that 
 he gathered encouraged him to pursue the inquiry further. 
 For years — for more than twenty years — he went on col- 
 lecting facts and opinions from every possible source. In 
 the course of his studies he published a pamphlet setting 
 forth his views, but it was passed by almost unheeded. 
 In nowise discouraged, M'Queen persisted in his theories 
 and his inquiries. In 1821 he brought out a book con- 
 
MUNGO PARK 133 
 
 taining the results of twenty-five years of labour. Viewed 
 in the light of subsequent discoveries, and developments 
 of even recent years, it was a truly marvellous book. Not 
 only was the author right in his contention that only in 
 the Bight of Benin should they look for the termination 
 of the Niger ; he was, in general, correct in laying down 
 the details of the course of the river, and in his descrip- 
 tion of the salient features of the countries through which 
 it passed. He was a man of extraordinary insight. He 
 made statements and prophecies about the future of West 
 Africa and the advance of the French from the Senegal, 
 which have been fulfilled to the letter. But of those 
 matters something will be said in the next chapter. 
 
 There is no reason for believing that M'Queen's book 
 attracted much more attention than his earlier pamphlet. 
 Men preferred to hug their fanciful theories, and to ascribe 
 strange powers to the rivers of the Dark Continent. As 
 M'Queen himself at that time said: — 'The rivers of 
 interior Africa were believed to be like no other rivers. 
 By one they were stated to run, first increasing and then 
 diminishing, till the current disappeared altogether. By 
 another, after flowing in opposite directions, they at last 
 met and stood still ; and by a third, that one of the great 
 rivers in the world, with all its tributary streams, was 
 swallowed up in a lake or absorbed by sands.' 
 
 Defeated so often and so disastrously in their attempts 
 to explore the Niger from the west coast, men turned their 
 eyes again to the northern route, from Tripoli through 
 the Great Desert. Thrice, thirty years before, had the 
 explorers of the African Association essayed the northern 
 road, and thrice had they signally failed. But as the 
 
134 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 difficulties of the Gambia seemed to be almost insuper- 
 able, it was decided to attempt the desert once more. 
 For this purpose the British Government selected three 
 men — Captain Clapperton of the Royal Navy, Dr Oudney, 
 and Major Denham. Hugh Clapperton had many things 
 in common with Mungo Park. He too was a Scottish 
 Borderer — Annan, in Dumfriesshire, being his native place. 
 He was tall, stalwart and athletic ; patient, cheerful, and 
 prudent. He had the heart of a lion and the simplicity 
 of a child ; and travel was his master passion. But unlike 
 his great forerunner, he was a man of slender education. 
 He had gone to sea when he was a boy of thirteen, and 
 twenty years of adventure in many climes had fitted him 
 to take the lead in any enterprise where daring and en- 
 durance were indispensable. 
 
 In November 182 1 — the year in which M 'Queen pub- 
 lished his wonderful book — the expedition landed at 
 Tripoli. After many vexing delays, such as only Oriental 
 ingenuity is capable of effecting, a caravan was organised. 
 It consisted of four Europeans and ten servants, an Arab 
 escort of 210 men, and merchants and freed slaves brought 
 up the total to about 300 persons. On November 29th 
 the caravan struck out into the desert. In a few days 
 they had left every sign of living thing behind them. 
 Then the oases and watering-places became fewer, until 
 they almost altogether disappeared. From sky-line to sky- 
 line stretched a trackless waste of rock and sand, shelterless 
 from the burning sun, where the fiery breezes were as the 
 breath of a furnace. Hundreds of sun-bleached human 
 skeletons strewed the way ; to the travellers reminders of 
 their own probable fate. One evening, when they dragged 
 
MUNGO PARK 135 
 
 themselves parched and panting to the brink of a desert 
 well, they found the ground around it white with the bones 
 of full five score skeletons. On another day, in the course 
 of a single march, they counted more than a hundred 
 skeletons by the wayside, victims of heat, thirst, and 
 fatigue. In some of the long and rapid forced marches 
 across utterly waterless regions as many as twenty camels 
 would sink down under the terrible ordeal in one day. 
 
 After two months of unceasing toil and hardship, the 
 wayfarers began to notice that they were drawing near to 
 the confines of this Land of Death. There were some 
 indications of fertility in the soil. The sight of occa- 
 sional patches of scanty grass and an occasional tree 
 gladdened their hearts and put new vigour into their 
 wearied limbs. Day by day the aspect of the country 
 improved, till at last the travellers found themselves in 
 a land of trees and flowers and pleasant valleys, on the 
 borders of the great Lake Chad, away in the very heart 
 of Africa. 
 
 More than a year was spent in diligent and adventurous 
 exploration of the Chad region, then Clapperton and his 
 companions pressed westward to Kano and Sokoto, two 
 populous and busy cities. Dr Oudney died on the way ; 
 but, undeterred by misfortune and increasing difficulties, 
 Clapperton turned his face southward toward Yauri, 
 borne up with the hope of reaching the Niger and 
 solving the great mystery. On all hands he was warned 
 of the dangers that lay before him. But he would not be 
 intimidated, and was about to continue the march when 
 the Sultan of Sokoto, either suspicious of the white man's 
 intentions, or really alarmed for his safety, withdrew his 
 
i 3 6 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 promise of protection. For weeks Clapperton remained 
 at Sokoto, hoping that the prohibition would be removed. 
 His expectation, however, was not fulfilled, and, sorely 
 disappointed, he retraced his steps to Lake Chad, and 
 thence struck out northwards on his homeward journey. 
 Before five months were over the Sahara had been re- 
 crossed, and the wanderers were once more in Tripoli, 
 after an absence of nearly three years. 
 
 This expedition proved conclusively that the Niger did 
 not flow far to the east, or fall into an inland lake or 
 swamp, as theorists had so long maintained, but that its 
 outlet must be looked for in the south. In fact, men 
 now began to look with certainty to the Gulf of Benin for 
 the mouth of the great river. 
 
 The mission was accounted so satisfactory that the 
 Government decided to send out Clapperton again to 
 search for the mouth of the Niger. Accordingly, before 
 the end of the same year, Captain Clapperton, with 
 Captain Pearce and Surgeon Morrison as companions, 
 landed at Badagry, near Lagos, on the Slave Coast. His 
 design was to march up country in a north-easterly direc- 
 tion till he reached the Niger, and, after pushing on to 
 Sokoto and establishing trade relations there, to sail down 
 the river till he came out at its mouth. But first the 
 deadly fever zone had to be traversed. Scarcely had the 
 travellers started when disease came upon them. Morri- 
 son was the first to succumb. When he felt himself sink- 
 ing under the fever, he turned coastwards, but died before 
 he reached Badagry. Pearce struggled on till he could 
 not drag one leg after another, then he lay down and died 
 by the wayside. 
 
MUNGO PARK 137 
 
 Clapperton was now left alone with his servant, Richard 
 Lander, a Cornishman ; but in this one companion, as the 
 story will show, he had a man after his own heart and a 
 friend whom he could trust to the uttermost. After many 
 weeks of hard travel they came out upon the Niger at 
 Bussa, the very spot where, twenty years before, the career 
 of Mungo Park had been brought to a tragic close. One 
 object of Clapperton's mission being to elucidate the 
 mystery of Park's disappearance, he searched in every 
 likely quarter for information of the lost explorer. 
 Though unsatisfying in some details, the general result 
 of his inquiries confirmed the account given by Amadi 
 Fatuma, Park's guide and interpreter. When questioned, 
 the natives hesitated and equivocated, and all were anxious 
 to prove that they had had no hand in the tragedy. But 
 evasion and lying were what the travellers expected. 
 1 Almost every African,' said Lander in after years, 
 speaking out of the fulness of a bitter knowledge, ' is 
 guilty of gross exaggeration in his statements, and too 
 many are confirmed liars.' 
 
 From Bussa Clapperton crossed to Kano, and thence 
 journeyed to Sokoto, where he hoped to find the Sultan 
 as favourably disposed towards him as on his former visit. 
 But the country was in the turmoil of civil war, and the 
 Sultan was in no mood for entertaining strangers, espe- 
 cially strangers of whose motives he was suspicious. 
 Clapperton was subjected to the numberless vexations 
 and disheartening obstructions which an African potentate 
 knows so well how to inflict. Already reduced in 
 strength by dysentery and fever, he sank under the 
 strain. For thirty-six days he lay in grievous illness 
 
138 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 nursed by the faithful Lander, and died on 13th April 
 1827. In a village near Sokoto the remains of the 
 intrepid traveller were laid to rest by his sorrowing and 
 now solitary attendant. 
 
 Then came the test of Richard Lander's mettle. He 
 was alone and unprotected among a half-savage and 
 unfriendly people. He was beset with all manner of 
 dangers. He was entirely destitute of the scientific 
 knowledge that smooths the path of the explorer. Above 
 all, he was not in duty bound to concern himself with the 
 course of the Niger. Most men, in those circumstances, 
 would have at once taken the nearest way home. But 
 Richard Lander was one of Nature's travellers. What he 
 lacked in knowledge and training was more than made up 
 for by extraordinary shrewdness, daring, and power of 
 endurance. His master had imbued him with the 
 exploring spirit, and, fired with the enthusiasm which 
 is the first and the last requisite for success, he set himself 
 to finish the work that Clapperton had so well begun. 
 
 Lander returned to Kano, and then struck to the south, 
 believing the great river which was reported to run through 
 that region to be the Niger. As a matter of fact it was 
 the Benue, a tributary of the Niger, for which he was 
 making. But when he had covered little more than 
 half the distance he was stopped by order of the Sultan. 
 There was nothing for it but to go back the way he had 
 come. He returned to Kano, and realising the futility of 
 further effort, he set out to find his way to the coast. 
 After months of travel through one of the most dangerous 
 regions in all Africa he arrived at Badagry in November 
 1827, two years from the time of starting with Clapperton, 
 
RS • 
 MUNGO PARK 139 
 
 Pearce and Morrison. Four months later he reached 
 England, bringing with him Clapperton's papers and a 
 record of his own wanderings. 
 
 If any further evidence of the death of Mungo Park 
 had been needed, it was supplied by the investigations of 
 Captain Clapperton at Bussa. The public were now per- 
 fectly satisfied that the great traveller had lost his life in 
 the manner described. But there were two persons who 
 during all those years had clung to the belief that Park 
 was still alive, a captive somewhere in the interior of 
 Africa. Those persons were Park's wife and his second 
 son, Thomas. From his boyhood young Park had nursed 
 the idea that his father was alive, until it had overshadowed 
 all others ; and the one ambition of his life was to clear 
 up the mystery that overhung his parent's fate. The 
 years went by, but they brought no opportunity of 
 realising his dream. Yet still he waited and watched 
 and planned. 
 
 At last, in 1827, at the very time when Richard Lander 
 was wearily dragging himself homeward with proof of his 
 father's death, young Park plunged into the desperate 
 enterprise. Without letting his mother know of his inten- 
 tion lest she should forbid the project, he embarked on a 
 ship bound for the South Seas. He left the ship on the 
 voyage and contrived to reach the Gold Coast. From 
 Accra he wrote a letter to his mother disclosing his plan. 
 It was full of the confidence of ingenuous youth. ■ De- 
 pend upon it, my dearest mother, I shall return safe. . . . 
 It was my duty — my filial duty — to go, and I shall yet 
 raise the name of Park. You ought rather to rejoice that 
 I took it into my head. ... I shall be back in three 
 
140 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 years at the most — perhaps in one. God bless you, my 
 dearest mother.' 
 
 This was his first and last message. He disappeared 
 into that dark and mysterious region, which holds the 
 secret of many an unrecorded tragedy, and no white man 
 ever saw him again. 
 
 When, in the spring of 1828, Richard Lander arrived 
 in England from West Africa, the desire to return to the 
 Niger was strong within him. He offered himself to the 
 Government for another expedition without stipulating for 
 fee or reward. The offer was accepted, though not with- 
 out hesitation, for repeated disasters made it appear as if 
 the Niger problem would never be solved. In March 
 1830, Richard Lander and his brother John, whom he 
 had persuaded to join him, landed once more at Badagry. 
 In three months they reached Bussa. There they made 
 fresh investigation into the circumstances of the death of 
 Mungo Park, and the meagre details they gathered again 
 all went to confirm the narrative of Amadi Fatuma. Two 
 books and some loose papers of no value that had be- 
 longed to Park and Anderson were recovered. Fruitless 
 also were Lander's questionings of the natives regarding 
 the course and termination of the great river whose banks 
 they inhabited. The people neither knew nor cared to 
 know whither the river went after it flowed past their 
 doors. ' Theories respecting the Niger,' said Lander, 
 ' are even more various and contrary in this country than 
 the hypotheses of the learned of Europe on the subject. 
 Scarcely two people are to be found that agree in the 
 same opinion.' 
 
 After the usual difficulties and delays two canoes were 
 
MUNGO PARK 141 
 
 procured, and about the end of September the Landers, 
 having solemnly commended themselves to the protection 
 of the Almighty, set sail down the Niger. For many 
 days they were carried along by the current through scenes 
 of infinite variety. At first the river wound swiftly out 
 and in through a picturesque hilly region, where the 
 voyagers were in constant danger from sunken rocks. 
 Then it would slacken speed as it overflowed into an 
 extensive valley, or spread its waters out into an immense 
 inland lake. Gradually the mountain region was left 
 behind. The river flowed majestically through a bound- 
 less plain, where vegetable life became more and more 
 profuse, till it expanded into a vast and gloomy primeval 
 forest. Hitherto the travellers had had little to fear from 
 the natives ; everywhere they had found them mild-man- 
 nered and not unfriendly. But the denizens of the forest 
 region were Pagans and cannibals, fierce and treacherous ; 
 and more than once it seemed as if the expedition were 
 doomed to a bloody close. 
 
 But the Landers were cheered in their danger and 
 depression by unmistakable signs that the sea was not 
 far distant. They fell in with black traders who spoke 
 of the ocean, and with others who had sailed up stream 
 from it. Soon the river broke up into countless branches, 
 on whose sombre shores the deadly fever vapours hung 
 like a shroud over the mud and the mangroves. In some 
 places the channel was so narrow and the mangroves so 
 thick and close, that they formed a complete arch above 
 them, through which the light of day could not penetrate. 
 And in those dark and dismal passages, where never a 
 breath of sweetening outer air could come, a strong and 
 
142 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 loathsome odour arose from the ooze and mud and filth 
 that clung to the roots and branches of the mangroves. 
 
 Now they began to pass little specks of foam on the 
 water, which they thought might have been carried up 
 from the mouth of the river by flood tides. On November 
 1 4th they noticed, with intense satisfaction, that the current 
 was being influenced by the tides, and next day they were 
 overjoyed to see the face of a white man among a crowd 
 of savages gathered on the shore. He was the master of 
 a Spanish schooner lying in the river waiting for a cargo 
 of slaves. On the 23rd they felt the first whiff of salt air 
 mingling with the noisome exhalations of the swamps. 
 With rapture and gratitude they drew in the cool, bracing 
 breezes, and strained their longing eyes for the first glimpse 
 of the ocean. 
 
 At nine o'clock in the evening of November 23rd, 1830, 
 the glorious vision burst upon them. ' We could perceive 
 in the distance,' said Lander, 'the long-wished-for Atlantic, 
 with the moonbeams reposing in peaceful beauty upon its 
 surface, and also hear the sea breaking and roaring over 
 the sandy bar which stretches across the mouth of the 
 river. The solemn voice of ocean never sounded more 
 melodiously in my ear than it did at that moment : O ! 
 it was enchanting as the harp of David.' 
 
 Their task was accomplished. Their labour was ended. 
 The Mystery of the Niger was solved at last ! 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE NIGER OF TO-DAY A NEGLECTED HERITAGE 
 
 While the Niger mouth was still undiscovered, another 
 famous Scottish traveller had been making diligent search 
 for its source. This was Major Laing, a native of Edin- 
 burgh, a man whose character and achievements entitle 
 him to a place of honour among African explorers. 
 Laing's first discovery was that the fountain of the 
 Niger lay only 150 miles from the west coast, on the 
 frontier of Sierra Leone. In a second expedition, 
 taking the northern route, he crossed the Sahara, and 
 in August 1826 entered Timbuktu, earning the dis- 
 tinction of being the first European to set foot in that 
 enchanted city. But he never returned to tell the story 
 of his adventures. The people of Timbuktu became 
 suspicious of the inquisitive, note-taking white man who 
 had suddenly appeared in the city. It was bruited about 
 that he was a spy. A plot was laid against his life by the 
 notable men of the town, and he was murdered in the 
 desert by his guides on the third day after leaving 
 Timbuktu. 
 
 The year 1828 is a memorable date in the history 
 of West African exploration. It was in that year that 
 
 a Frenchman first trod the banks of the Niger. This 
 
 143 
 
144 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 was Rene Caille, a young man of lowly birth and meagre 
 education, but of boundless daring and perseverance. 
 Disguised as a Moorish merchant, he set out from the 
 coast in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone and reached 
 Timbuktu in April 1828. There he remained undetected 
 for fourteen days, then joining a caravan bound for 
 Morocco, he crossed the desert in safety, and finally 
 arrived in Europe. He was the first European to return 
 alive from the city of Timbuktu. His was an expedition of \ 
 evil omen for British ascendancy in the Western Soudan. 
 
 Of the French, however, enough will be said before 
 this narrative is ended. In the meantime it is necessary 
 to return to the lower reaches of the Niger and follow the 
 new development which Lander's discovery had made 
 possible. 
 
 Years before, that sagacious and far-seeing man, James 
 M 'Queen, had urged his countrymen to plant the British 
 flag at Bussa, and from there command the entire basin of 
 the Niger. ' A city built there,' he said, ' under the pro- 
 tecting wings of Great Britain, and extended, enriched, 
 and embellished by the industry, skill, and spirit of her 
 sons, would ere long become the capital of Africa. Fifty 
 millions of people, yea, even a greater number, would be 
 dependent on it.' 
 
 It was with some such splendid vision as this before 
 their eyes that the pioneers of civilisation and commerce 
 in the Lower Niger entered upon their great enterprise. 
 And here, again, a Scotsman took the lead. Macgregor 
 Laird was born in Greenock ; but he had settled in Liver- 
 pool, and then, as now, the name was associated with all 
 that is admirable in business life. Two steamers were 
 
MUNGO PARK 145 
 
 made ready, specially adapted for river navigation, and in 
 August 1832 Laird and Lander led an expedition up the 
 Niger. Scarcely had they entered the network of foetid 
 creeks and rotting mangroves, when disease laid hold 
 upon them. Eighteen men were lost before the region 
 of fevers was left behind and the open and healthy 
 country reached, and the total results of the mission 
 fell far short of expectations. 
 
 Next season two attempts were made. The explorers 
 got as far north as Rabba, but on the way back Lander 
 was mortally wounded in a treacherous attack by the 
 natives, and died on the island of Fernando Po, off the 
 mouth of the river. In those three expeditions forty 
 Europeans died of fever. Disheartened by disaster and 
 the meagreness of the reward of his labour and sacrifices, 
 Macgregor Laird gave up the attempt to turn the Niger 
 to account. But he was still convinced that a great com- 
 mercial future lay before West Africa. 
 
 In 1 841 the British Government took up the task that 
 private enterprise had failed to accomplish. Their scheme 
 was an elaborate one ; it was partly philanthropic, partly 
 commercial. Three steamers were to sail up the Niger 
 and establish a settlement on the river at the point where 
 it is joined by its mighty tributary the Benue. Treaties 
 were to be made with the chiefs for the suppression of 
 the slave traffic and the conduct of trade, a model farm 
 was to be planted, and the natives were to be instructed 
 in agriculture. In fine, an experiment in empire building 
 was to be made in Nigeria. The expedition was thoroughly 
 well planned, and probably would have succeeded but for 
 the old implacable enemy, West African fever. In two 
 
 K 
 
1 46 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 months forty-eight men were swept off by that terrible 
 scourge, and the survivors returned home in dismay, with 
 the conviction that the Niger would for ever be to the 
 white man a river of death. 
 
 Eight years passed. The remembrance of former dis- 
 asters grew dim, and then our countrymen again returned 
 to the assault. Once more the Government determined to 
 obtain a footing upon the Niger. As at other times when 
 baffled in attempts to reach the interior from west or 
 south, the explorers made a descent from Tripoli, across 
 the Great Desert to Lake Chad. James Richardson, a 
 Lincolnshire man, whose ambition it was to suppress the 
 African slave trade, was in command. Richardson had 
 endeavoured to make the expedition an international one. 
 He had tried France and failed. Eventually he obtained 
 the co - operation of two Germans, Dr Barth and Dr 
 Overweg; but the British Government assumed all re- 
 sponsibility for the cost of the expedition. The caravan 
 made the journey across the desert without accident, 
 but the real work of the expedition had scarcely been 
 begun when Richardson and Overweg died. Though left 
 to continue his travels alone, Barth determined to carry 
 out the project to its utmost limit. Travelling far to 
 the south, he reached the Benue river more than four 
 hundred miles from where it joins the Niger. Even there 
 it was a great, majestic waterway, half a mile in breadth. 
 Then turning to the north-west, Barth traversed the valley 
 of the Niger, and arrived in Timbuktu in August 1853. 
 He remained in the city for a month, and in the capacity 
 of British Ambassador made overtures for opening up 
 trade with Great Britain by way of the Niger. His life 
 
MUNGO PARK 147 
 
 was in extreme danger from the fanaticism of the people, 
 but he succeeded in extricating himself, and returned 
 to Europe after having accomplished one of the most 
 extensive and fruitful missions in the history of West 
 African travel. 
 
 The news of Barth's success instantly aroused the 
 slumbering spirit of enterprise. An expedition was 
 fitted out by the Government, and Macgregor Laird, 
 who had never lost faith in the future of Niger Land, 
 eagerly entered into the new venture. This time fortune 
 was kind. The expedition, sailing up the Niger, entered 
 the Benue, and explored its course for more than 300 
 miles, returning home again without having suffered those 
 disastrous losses which had wrecked the hopes of former 
 discoverers. 
 
 But at this point, just at the time when it appeared as 
 if the struggles and sacrifices of sixty years were about to 
 be rewarded, the interest of the British Government in 
 West Africa began to wane. There is evidence — if 
 official letters said to have been discovered by the French 
 in the archives of Timbuktu may be accepted as genuine 
 — that as late as 1859 the Government still cherished in- 
 tentions of bringing the trade of the Upper Niger within 
 the sweep of British activity. But nothing decisive was 
 done j the matter was allowed to gradually drift into the 
 background, until at length the Western Soudan was to 
 all intents and purposes abandoned to whomsoever might 
 think it worth their while to pick it up. The sordid doc- 
 trine that colonies were burdensome poor relations, to be 
 discouraged and snubbed and got rid of as quickly as 
 possible, had become fashionable in politics ; and, as was 
 
i 4 8 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 to be expected in the circumstances, West Africa was 
 treated with the contumely which was the proper portion 
 of one whose prospects were hopelessly bad. 
 
 Happily, however, the British merchant could not easily 
 be turned aside. In West Africa, as in many other parts 
 of the world where British rule has taken root, we owe 
 our ascendancy, not to governmental wisdom, but to the 
 courage, vigour, and tenacity of our traders. If Mac- 
 gregor Laird and the men associated with him more than 
 forty years ago had not taken up the work when Govern- 
 ment relinquished it, in all human probability the British 
 possessions in West Africa would now have been a mere 
 fraction of what they are, and the largest and richest of 
 them all would never have been ours. As has been said, 
 Laird, in common with almost every intelligent man who 
 had practical knowledge of Nigeria, had a steady faith in 
 the future of the country. In earlier years, when British 
 statesmen were inspired by the same conviction, his plans 
 for development had been on a colossal scale. He had 
 hoped to see trading and military posts dotted along the 
 entire course of the Niger and thence to the Gambia, and 
 the whole of West Africa and its hundred million in- 
 habitants thus enclosed in the sphere of British influence. 
 The withdrawal of Government support rendered impos- 
 sible a scheme of such magnitude ; but Laird was none 
 the less determined to go as far towards its realisation as 
 unassisted private endeavour could carry him. Trading 
 stations in the form of floating hulks were established at 
 various points on the Niger, and European agents and 
 educated natives from the coast were placed in charge. 
 
 The venture soon began to realise good returns j it 
 
MUNGO PARK 749 
 
 became evident that the right vein had been struck at 
 last. The success of the pioneers attracted other traders 
 to the river ; stations were multiplied ; with competition 
 came unscrupulousness ; till it seemed as if the new enter- 
 prise, that had promised so fairly, was to be a curse to the 
 natives and ruin to the traders. It was the genius of Sir 
 George Taubman Goldie that saved Nigeria. Under his 
 guidance the competing firms were in 1879 amalgamated 
 under the name of the United African Company, and 
 what had previously been a danger became a source of 
 strength. The company prospered. Its power and 
 vitality were enormously increased when the company 
 was soon afterwards opened to the public, and with a 
 capital increased to one million sterling, it was raised to 
 a position unassailable by foreign competitors. Finally, 
 in 1886, a Royal Charter was granted, and the company 
 assumed its present title of the Royal Niger Company. 
 
 Joseph Thomson, who himself played an important part 
 in bringing about this happy consummation, lived long 
 enough to see the first fruits of the new order of things. 
 'Already,' he wrote in 1890, 'good results are flowing 
 from the new administration. The gin traffic has been 
 taken in hand, suppressed where possible, and restricted 
 elsewhere by enormous duties. Arms and gunpowder are 
 also no longer sold wholesale to the savage natives. The 
 resources of the country are being tested and developed 
 as they never were before, and with the most gratifying 
 results.' 
 
 But those operations of the Niger Company were almost 
 wholly confined to the east bank of the river, from its 
 mouth to the Benue — an immense tract of land, yet still 
 
iSo FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 a mere corner of the great basin of the Niger. Of the 
 other parts of the vast region which the courage and 
 perseverance of British explorers had thrown open to 
 their countrymen, there is another and a very different 
 tale to tell 
 
 When Mungo Park first landed in West Africa the 
 French possessions in that part of the world were com- 
 paratively insignificant. The French had a settlement on 
 the Senegal, and seemed perfectly content to confine them- 
 selves to that locality. But there was one man even in 
 the days of Mungo Park who foresaw the rivalry of the 
 distant future. That man was James M' Queen. It is 
 now nearly eighty years since he warned the British 
 Government of the danger of a French advance from the 
 Senegal to the Niger. ' France,' he said, ' is already 
 established on the Senegal, and commands that river, and 
 if the supineness and carelessness of Great Britain allow 
 that powerful, enterprising, and ambitious rival to step 
 before us and fix herself securely on the Niger, then it is 
 evident that with such a settlement in addition to her 
 command of the Senegal, France will command all 
 Northern Africa.' Doubtless a wise appreciation of this 
 danger had its share in inducing successive Governments 
 to send expeditions to the Niger. 
 
 For nearly seventy years after Mungo Park's first 
 journey, in fact, so long as British explorative activity 
 held out, the French confined themselves to the Senegal. 
 But coincidently with our withdrawal from the Upper 
 Niger, the French began to give rein to imperial ambitions. 
 Their first care was to extend and strengthen their hold 
 upon the Senegal, their base of operations. Then they 
 
MUNGO PARK 151 
 
 made deliberate plans for the next move — to the Upper 
 Niger, hitherto considered a British preserve. There had 
 been ample time and opportunity for the British Govern- 
 ment to prevent the threatened invasion, for seventeen 
 years elapsed between the first prospecting by French 
 explorers and the actual advance to the Niger, and the 
 traders on the coast had never ceased to warn the home 
 authorities of the danger ahead. But the Government 
 steadily ignored the warning. ' More than that,' says 
 Thomson, ' the coast authorities were told to let the 
 French go where they liked, and not to throw any 
 obstacles in their way.' 
 
 With the Western Soudan thus thrown invitingly open 
 to them, the French crossed the watershed, and in 1880 
 planted the tricolour on the Niger at Bammaku, where, 
 seventy-five years before, Mungo Park had unfurled the 
 Union Jack. Treaties were made with the Niger 
 potentates, a railway to connect the Senegal and the 
 Niger was forthwith commenced, and a gunboat was 
 launched on the newly-acquired waterway. Now firmly 
 established on the Upper Niger, and finding the British 
 Government still blandly acquiescent, the new comers 
 cast their eyes over the vast region encircled by the river, 
 and dreamed of conquest on the same easy terms. Just 
 at this time, however, the peoples of Europe suddenly 
 woke up and became alive to the possibilities of Africa. 
 From neglect they rushed to the opposite extreme. The 
 despised Continent became the desire of the nations ; 
 ' the scramble for Africa ' began. 
 
 Quickened by this new-born spirit of acquisitiveness, 
 Great Britain at last opened her ears to the prayers of 
 
152 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 the National African Company, and proclaimed a pro- 
 tectorate over the territory lying between the mouth of the 
 Niger and the Benue, where the Company carried on 
 their trading operations. North of the Benue, to Tim- 
 buktu, though theoretically under British administration, 
 was in reality a No-man's land. Upon this the Germans 
 fixed their attention. They had already taken possession 
 of the Cameroons — another neglected British patrimony 
 — and now they thought to round the head waters of the 
 Benue and overrun the country beyond the British sphere. 
 The African Company met this new danger promptly and 
 boldly. Time was not wasted in parleying with the 
 Government. They decided what must be done, and 
 did it secretly and swiftly. 
 
 Joseph Thomson, who had recently returned from 
 Masai-land, and was seeking health on the Mediterranean 
 shores, was chosen for the difficult mission. On March 
 1 6, 1885, he set sail up the Niger. Steaming up the 
 river as far as Rabba, he disembarked, made a dash up 
 country to Gandu and Sokoto, and by the end of May 
 was on his way home again carrying with him treaties 
 sealed by the two Sultans, ' practically placing their two 
 empires under a British Protectorate, and giving all 
 commercial privileges to the National African Company.' 
 On his way down the Niger Thomson had the grim 
 satisfaction of seeing the German expedition toiling up 
 stream, ' all unconscious of the fact that not a yard of 
 ground from Timbuktu to Akassa, or from Bornu to 
 Yoruba, had been left on which to plant the flag of the 
 Fatherland.' 
 
 Thomson died in the belief that he had secured for 
 
MUNGO PARK 153 
 
 his countrymen to all time coming the Niger basin 
 from Timbuktu to its mouth — 1500 miles of a noble 
 river, draining a rich and populous region capable of in- 
 calculable development. But even he had not correctly 
 gauged the measure of British apathy or French ag- 
 gressiveness. The exploitation by France of territories 
 that were British by virtue of treaties and priority of ex- 
 ploration went on more openly than before. Pushing 
 their way gradually down the Niger, in January 1895 
 they occupied Timbuktu. The ' Queen of the Soudan,' 
 ' Timbuktu the Mysterious, 5 the inaccessible goal of cen- 
 turies of adventure, was in the end captured by a band 
 of only nineteen men — seven French marines and a dozen 
 Senegalese negroes. Its ancient splendour had long ago 
 vanished. It was deserted and tumble-down, a mere 
 wreck of a city. Many a year of strife within and with- 
 out, and the wild misrule of nomadic chiefs, had destroyed 
 its trade and drained it of its people. 
 
 Still holding east, the French prospectors turned the 
 great bend of the Niger and made their way southwards, 
 planting military posts and making treaties in the very 
 regions that Thomson had but recently brought within 
 the sphere of British influence. And while this wholesale 
 land-filching was being carried on upon the Niger, other 
 equally energetic and undiscriminating parties of French- 
 men were ' touring with the tricolour ' in the great terri- 
 tories lying between the river and the ocean. From 
 Senegambia, from the Ivory Coast, from Dahomey, this 
 process of expansion went rapidly on, till in less than ten 
 years the French have mapped out as their own the 
 whole of the Western Soudan, except the old British and 
 
i 5 4 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 Portuguese settlements, a narrow strip belonging to Ger- 
 many, and the native Republic of Liberia. They have 
 established themselves on the west bank of the Niger as 
 far south as Bussa, leaving only 500 miles of the 2000 
 miles course of the river under British control. The 
 British Colony of Gambia has been whittled down to a 
 mere slip of land, hemmed in by French territory and 
 completely debarred from expansion or development. 
 Sierra Leone has also suffered compression, though not 
 so seriously. The French have helped themselves to a 
 huge slice of what was lately considered to be the natural 
 hinterland of the colony. By shutting off Gambia and 
 Sierra Leone in this manner from free communication 
 with the interior, and at the same time widening their 
 own seaboard, our rivals may at their leisure tap the 
 wealth of the Western Soudan, and leave the British 
 colonies to a slow process of starvation. And if statistics 
 may be trusted, we may take it that this process is now 
 in rapid operation. 
 
 Happily for the Gold Coast and Lagos, and the terri- 
 tories of the Royal Niger Company, the advance of the 
 French has at last been challenged in earnest. It is felt 
 that the time for a final settlement has come. This 
 matter of the hinterland of Lagos and the Gold Coast is 
 no new dispute. The Anglo-French Commission at pre- 
 sent debating the question in Paris met for the first time 
 in 1892. It met again in 1894 and yet again in 1896, 
 and at every successive session the French pretensions 
 were found to have swelled prodigiously since the previous 
 meeting. 
 
 However, Great Britain was inclined to be indulgent ; 
 
MUNGO PARK 155 
 
 the people were indifferent ; they did not object to 
 letting France have what was supposed to be of no 
 particular value. Thus the French have gradually 
 wormed their way southward and eastward, till now, 
 if their claims be again admitted, the Gold Coast and 
 Lagos will be served as Gambia and Sierra Leone have 
 been — hemmed in, isolated, shut off from trade with the 
 interior, and gradually starved out of existence. 
 
 The French would also gain another very important 
 point upon which they have apparently been determined for 
 some years, that is, to secure a port on the river below 
 Bussa. The Niger is navigable by steamers from the 
 mouth to Bussa, about 500 miles. From Bussa to near 
 the Great Bend, 500 or 700 miles more, the river is broken 
 by rapids and is not navigable by large vessels. Thence 
 to Bammaku there is a clear waterway for craft of con- 
 siderable size. From Bammaku to Kayes on the Senegal 
 a railway is being constructed — it may even now be com- 
 plete — and from Kayes steamers ply to St Louis at the 
 mouth of the Senegal. It will thus be seen that the French 
 have at present a direct steamer and railway route to the 
 very heart of the Western Soudan, which will drain off the 
 trade of the country towards the Senegal. If, in addition 
 to this, they obtain a footing on the Lower Niger, below 
 Bussa, they will become formidable competitors with our 
 countrymen on British territory. And this rivalry will be 
 under conditions that will press grievously upon the British 
 merchant ; for while British Free Trade throws open every 
 portal to the merchandise of the Frenchman, Protection 
 jealously shuts out British goods from all the vast territories 
 in West Africa over which France now holds sway. 
 
156 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 To avoid confusion in following future developments of 
 the West African question, it should be remembered that 
 there are six distinct British colonies or possessions in 
 that region. Those are the colonies of Gambia, Sierra 
 Leone, the Gold Coast, Lagos, the territories of the Royal 
 Niger Company, and the Niger Coast Protectorate. Of 
 the first two, Gambia and Sierra Leone, there is nothing 
 more to be said. They have been completely shut in by 
 the French, the boundaries have long been formally settled, 
 and the future can hold little for them. The Niger Com- 
 pany's territories east of the river, we may now reasonably 
 regard as safe against violation. Though the northern 
 boundary, from Say on the Niger to Barrua on Lake 
 Chad, had been mutually agreed on by Great Britain 
 and France, there was no reason for supposing that it 
 was any more secure against the irresponsible French 
 prospector than the frontiers of our other colonies in 
 West Africa. But about a month ago — in February 
 1898 — a fortunate accident drew from the French 
 Government an acknowledgment of great value and 
 importance. A rumour from West Africa that a French 
 expedition had crossed the Niger south of the Say- 
 Barrua line and was on its way to Sokoto, raised such 
 a commotion in this country that the French Government 
 denied the truth of the report and solemnly disavowed any 
 desire or intention of entering the dominions of the Sultan 
 of Sokoto. It is almost impossible now to conceive that, 
 after this pledge, the French will be permitted to come 
 south of the Say-Barrua line under any pretext whatsoever. 
 
 It is therefore mainly with the delimitation of the 
 frontiers of the Gold Coast and Lagos that the West 
 
MUNGO PARK 157 
 
 Africa Commission is occupied. Whatever form the 
 decision may take, the hinterlands of those two colonies 
 will be much smaller than they might have been. We 
 cannot choose but pay for the neglect of the past forty 
 years ; we have paid for it dearly already. But the era of 
 indifference is now at an end. The British Government 
 have now been thoroughly aroused, and, what is very much 
 more important, the British people, for many years unin- 
 formed and uninterested in the matter, are forming an 
 opinion that will have to be reckoned with. In fact, the 
 1 game of grab ' in West Africa is at an end. We shall no 
 longer depend only upon any agreement that the Commis- 
 sion may arrive at. Treaties have been made before this, 
 and then cynically ignored by the French land-snatchers. 
 For example: In 1890, an Anglo-French Agreement 
 was concluded by which the sphere of action of the 
 Royal Niger Company was declared to be bounded on 
 the north by a line drawn from Say on the Niger to 
 Barrua on Lake Chad, and to include the kingdom of 
 Sokoto. Instantly a Frenchman was sent out to explore 
 this frontier line, and when he arrived at Sokoto he 
 actually made, or attempted to make, a treaty with the 
 Sultan affecting the very territory which his Government 
 had declared to be within the British Protectorate. 
 
 The occupation of Bussa Town by the French is an- 
 other illustration of this mode of empire-making. Long 
 before the French showed face in the extensive territory 
 known as Bussa, Sir George Goldie had established two 
 British military posts there. Twice the Royal Niger 
 Company had concluded treaties with the King, and an 
 official intimation of the British Protectorate had been 
 
158 FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 sent to Paris by Her Majesty's Government, and received 
 without protest. In January and February 1897 the Niger 
 Company, having become involved in a serious struggle 
 with the natives of Nupe and Ilorin, found it necessary 
 to concentrate their forces upon that issue. Previously 
 to entering upon the campaign, Sir George Goldie had 
 pledged himself to the British Government not to carry 
 warlike operations further north than Jebba, that negotia- 
 tions between Britain and France might not be prejudiced. 
 Taking a mean advantage of this pledge, the French 
 seized upon Bussa Town. And there they remain. Even 
 at the last moment Sir George Goldie might have prevented 
 the outrage had he chosen to break his word to the 
 British Government, for he had ample forces at his com- 
 mand, and was within easy reach of Bussa Town. 
 
 As it is now apparent that the French will keep advanc- 
 ing till they are stopped by British bayonets, something 
 is being done more potent than treaty-making. What 
 James M'Queen urged eighty years ago is at last being 
 done. He recommended that Bussa should be the head- 
 quarters of British dominion on the Niger. Bussa — for 
 the present, at all events — is not ours to occupy. Lokoja 
 has been chosen as the head-centre of Nigeria. It is a 
 town of at least a hundred thousand inhabitants, situated 
 on the west bank of the Niger, opposite the mouth of the 
 Benue River. A permanent Imperial Camp has been 
 erected, military officers have been sent out, strong native 
 regiments have been formed, and British authority is now 
 a force that will soon make itself felt even to the utmost 
 borders of the half million of square miles which con- 
 stitute Nigeria. The frontiers of Lagos and the Gold 
 
MUNGO PARK 159 
 
 Coast will be guarded by a native force raised specially 
 for that purpose. A survey has been made for a railway 
 to the gold fields of Ashanti. Another railway is now 
 being laid down from Lagos to Abeokuta. Some day 
 this line will be carried across the Niger and far to the 
 north-east to tap the abundant trade of Nigeria. And 
 Nigeria is no plague-stricken wilderness inhabited by wild 
 and naked Fetishists, as has been too commonly sup- 
 posed. Fetishism is practically confined to the Western 
 Soudan. Nigeria — the Central Soudan — is peopled for 
 the most part by Mohammedans, who are comparatively 
 in a high state of civilisation. It has a fertile soil, great 
 and populous cities, and an immense trade. 
 
 This rich and wide inheritance from the explorers of 
 the first half of the century the Royal Niger Company 
 have preserved and handed down to the British people. 
 It is the only part of the British sphere in West Africa 
 that has escaped severe curtailment at the hands of the 
 foreigner. When we look over the map of the Western 
 Soudan we see tens of thousands of square miles that 
 might have been ours for the asking, now under French 
 domination — lost beyond recall. The river Niger, for 
 which Great Britain sacrificed so much, flows for fifteen 
 hundred miles through French territory. The tricolour 
 now floats over the land where Mungo Park toiled and 
 triumphed and died ; over boundless tracts that are strewn 
 with the bones of British explorers. Houghton and Park, 
 Clapperton, Lander and Laing have laboured for the profit 
 of the stranger. But the names of those men are still 
 remembered with honour on the banks of the Niger. 
 The French, generally grudging in their praise of our 
 
i6o FAMOUS SCOTS 
 
 West African travellers, have been just to the memory 
 of Mungo Park. 
 
 Felix Dubois, the last Frenchman to visit the Upper 
 Niger and publish a record of his journey, speaks in gener- 
 ous admiration of the great Scotsman. He tells us that 
 the passage of ' the man with the great beard,' as Park 
 was called by the natives, has become a legend on the 
 shores of the Eastern Niger, and that the people of San- 
 sanding of those days had a sincere liking and respect for 
 the white stranger. In November 1888, a French gun- 
 boat having dropped anchor at Samba-Marcalla, a pic- 
 turesque little town near Sego, the natives pointed out to 
 the officers the grave of one of the men in the ill-fated 
 expedition of 1805. Thereupon the gunners forged an 
 iron cross and placed it over the grave of the unknown. 
 Upon it were inscribed these words : — " To the Memory 
 of one of the companions of Mungo Park, who was buried 
 here. The Niger Fleet, November 1888." 
 
 The ivy-covered ruin of the little cottage on the banks 
 of the murmuring Yarrow at Foulshiels has been enclosed 
 and preserved as a memorial of Mungo Park. In Peebles 
 the houses where he lived and worked have been marked 
 so that the passer-by may note them. At Selkirk a statue 
 has been raised in his honour. But the most precious 
 tribute of all to the name of the great traveller is the one 
 raised by strange hands in a land of strangers — the little 
 iron cross that casts its shadow on the sands of the 
 majestic Niger. 
 
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