Mungo Park

Title illustration of Reisen in Central-Afrika - von Mungo Park bis auf Dr. Barth u. Dr. Vogel (1859)

Mungo Park (September 10, 1771 – 1806) was a Scottish explorer of the African continent. Download high resolution version (1002x1016, 405 KB) Portrait of explorer Mungo Park from the book Reisen in Central-Afrika - von Mungo Park bis auf Dr. Barth u. ... Download high resolution version (1002x1016, 405 KB) Portrait of explorer Mungo Park from the book Reisen in Central-Afrika - von Mungo Park bis auf Dr. Barth u. ... Download high resolution version (1393x2292, 1581 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1393x2292, 1581 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... September 10 is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years). ... 1771 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1806 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia. ...

He was born in Selkirkshire, Scotland, at Foulshiels on the Yarrow - the farm which his father rented from the Duke of Buccleuch. He was the seventh in a family of thirteen. Having received a good education, he was apprenticed to a surgeon named Thomas Anderson in Selkirk, and then attended the University of Edinburgh for three sessions (1789-1791), obtaining the surgical diploma. Notably, during his time at university, he spent a year in the natural history course of Prof John Walker. By his brother-in-law, James Dickson, a botanist, he was introduced to Sir Joseph Banks, then president of the Royal Society, and thus obtained the post of assistant-surgeon on board the "Worcester" East Indiaman. In this capacity he made the voyage in 1792 to Benkulen, in Sumatra, and on his return in 1793 he contributed a description of eight new Sumatran fishes to the Transactions of the Linnean Society. Selkirkshire (Siorrachd Shalcraig in Gaelic) is a traditional county of Scotland. ... The title of Duke of Buccleuch (IPA ) was created in the Peerage of Scotland on 20 April 1663 for the Duke of Monmouth, eldest illegitimate son of Charles II of England, who had married Anne Scott, 4th Countess of Buccleuch. ... A typical modern surgical operation For other uses, see Surgery (disambiguation). ... The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... John Walker, MD, DD Revd Dr John Walker (1730-1803) was Professor of Natural History at the University of Edinburgh from 1779 to 1803. ... Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, PRS (February 13, 1743 – June 19, 1820) was the English naturalist and botanist on Cooks first great voyage (1768–1771) and some 75 species bear Banks name. ... The premises of the Royal Society in London (first four properties only). ... Sumatra (also spelled Sumatara and Sumatera) is the sixth largest island of the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the 3rd largest island of Indonesia after Kalimantan and New Guinea. ... The Linnean Society of London is the worlds premier society for the study and dissemination about taxonomy. ...

Park in 1794 offered his services to the African Association, then looking out for a successor to Major Daniel Houghton, who had been sent out in 1790 to discover the course of the Niger and had died in the Sahara. Supported by Sir Joseph Banks, Park was selected. On June 21, 1795 he reached the Gambia and ascended the river 200 miles to a British trading station named Pisania. On December 2, accompanied by two local guides, he started for the unknown interior. He chose the route crossing the upper Senegal basin and through the semi-desert region of Kaarta. The journey was full of difficulties, and at Ludamar he was imprisoned by a Moorish chief for four months. He escaped, alone and with nothing save his horse and a pocket compass, on July 1, 1796, and on the 21st of the same month reached the long-sought Niger at Segu, being the first European to do so. He followed the river down stream 80 miles to Silla, where he was obliged to turn back, lacking the resources to go further. On his return journey, begun on July 30, he took a route more to the south than that originally followed, keeping close to the Niger as far as Bamako, thus tracing its course for some 300 miles. At Kamalia he fell ill, and owed his life to the kindness of a man in whose house he lived for seven months. Eventually he reached Pisania again on June 10, 1797, returning to Scotland by way of America on December 22. He had been thought dead, and his return home with the news of the discovery of the Niger evoked great public enthusiasm. An account of his journey was drawn up for the African Association by Bryan Edwards, and his own detailed narrative appeared in 1799 (Travels in the Interior of Africa). It was extremely popular, and still holds its place as an acknowledged classic in this department of literature. 1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 193 days remaining. ... 1795 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... December 2 is the 336th day (337th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the terrain type see Moor Moors is used in this article to describe the medieval Muslim inhabitants of al-Andalus and the Maghreb, whose culture is often called Moorish. For other meanings look at Moors (Meaning) or Blackamoors. ... July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 183 days remaining. ... 1796 was a leap year starting on Friday. ... July 30 is the 211th day (212th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 154 days remaining. ... Bamako, population about 1 500,000 (2004), is the capital of Mali. ... June 10 is the 161st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (162nd in leap years), with 204 days remaining. ... 1797 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... Motto: E pluribus unum (1789 to 1956) (Latin: Out of Many, One) In God We Trust (1956 to present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at federal level; English de facto Government • President • Vice President Federal Republic George... December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

Settling at Foulshiels, in August 1799 Park married a daughter of his old master, Thomas Anderson. Two offers made to him to go to New South Wales in some official capacity came to nothing, and in October 1801 Park moved to Peebles, where he practised as a doctor. In the autumn of 1803 he was invited by the government to lead another expedition to the Niger. Park, who chafed at the hardness and monotony of life at Peebles, accepted the offer, but the expedition was delayed. Part of the waiting time was occupied perfecting his Arabic - his teacher being Sidi Ambak Bubi, a native of Mogador, whose behaviour both amused and alarmed the people of Peebles. In May 1804 Park went back to Foulshiels, where he made the acquaintance of Sir Walter Scott, then living near by at Ashesteil, with whom he soon became friendly. In September he was summoned to London to leave on the new expedition; he left Scott with the hopeful proverb on his lips, "Freits (omens) follow those that look to them." Park had at that time adopted the theory that the Niger and the Congo were one, and in a memorandum drawn up before he left Britain he wrote: "My hopes of returning by the Congo are not altogether fanciful." 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Emblems: Floral - Waratah (Telopea Speciosissima); Bird - Kookaburra (Dacelo Gigas); Animal - Platypus (Ornithorhynchus Anatinus); Fish - Blue Groper (Achoerodus Viridis) Motto: Orta Recens Quam Pura Nites (Newly Risen, How Brightly You Shine) Slogan or Nickname: First State, Premier State Other Australian states and territories Capital Sydney Government Governor Premier Const. ... The Union Jack, flag of the newly formed United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ... Old Parish Church, Peebles Location within the British Isles Peebles is a burgh in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders, lying on the River Tweed. ... The Arabic language (Arabic: ‎ translit: ), or simply Arabic (Arabic: ‎ translit: ), is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... Portrait of Sir Walter Scott, by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (14 August 1771–21 September 1832) was a prolific Scottish historical novelist and poet popular throughout Europe during his time. ...

He sailed from Portsmouth for the Gambia on January 31, 1805, having been given a captain's commission as head of the government expedition. Alexander Anderson, his brother-in-law, was second in command, and on him was bestowed a lieutenancy. George Scott, a fellow Borderer, was draughtsman, and the party included four or five artificers. At Goree (then in British occupation) Park was joined by Lieutenant Martyn, R.A., thirty-five privates and two seamen. The expedition did not reach the Niger until the middle of August, when only eleven Europeans were left alive; the rest had succumbed to fever or dysentery. From Bamako the journey to Segu was made by canoe. Having received permission from the local ruler to proceed, at Sansandig, a little below Segu, Park made ready for his journey down the still unknown part of the river. Park, helped by one soldier, the only one left capable of work, converted two canoes into one tolerably good boat, 40 ft. long and 6 ft. broad. This he christened H.M. schooner "Joliba" (the native name for the Niger), and in it, with the surviving members of his party, he set sail down stream on November 19. At Sansandigr on October 28, Anderson died, and in him Park lost the only member of the party - except Scott, already dead - "who had been of real use". Those who embarked in the "Joliba" were Park, Martyn, three European soldiers (one mad), a guide and three slaves. Before his departure Park gave to Isaaco, a Mandingo guide who had been with him thus far, letters to take back to the Gambia for transmission to Britain. The spirit with which Park began the final stage of his enterprise is well illustrated by his letter to the head of the Colonial Office: "I shall," he wrote, "set sail for the east with the fixed resolution to discover the termination of the Niger or perish in the attempt 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 least die on the Niger." Portsmouth is a city of about 196,000 people located in the county of Hampshire on the southern coast of Great Britain. ... January 31 is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Dysentery is an illness involving severe diarrhea that is often associated with blood in the feces. ... Ségou or Segu is a city in Mali, lying northeast of Bamako on the River Niger, in the region of Ségou. ... November 19 is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... October 28 is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 64 days remaining. ...

To his wife he wrote stating his intention not to stop nor land anywhere till he reached the coast, where he expected to arrive about the end of January 1806. These were the last communications received from Park, and nothing more was heard of the party until reports of disaster reached the settlements on the Gambia. At length the British government engaged Isaaco to go to the Niger to ascertain the fate of the explorer. At Sansandig Isaaco found the guide who had gone down stream with Park, and the substantial accuracy of the story he told was later confirmed by the investigations of Hugh Clapperton and Richard Lander. This guide (Amadi) stated that Park's canoe descended the river to Yauri, where he (the guide) landed. In this long journey of about 1000 miles Park, who had plenty of provisions, stuck to his resolution of keeping aloof from the natives. Below Jenné, came Timbuktu, and at various other places the natives came out in canoes and attacked his boat. These attacks were all repulsed, Park and his party having plenty of firearms and ammunition and the natives having none. The boat also escaped the many perils attendant on the navigation of an unknown stream strewn with many rapids - Park had built the "Joliba" so that it drew only a foot of water. But at the Bussa rapids, not far below Yauri, the boat struck on a rock and remained fast. On the bank were gathered hostile natives, who attacked the party with bow and arrow and throwing spears. Their position being untenable, Park, Martyn, and the two soldiers who still survived, sprang into the river and were drowned. The sole survivor was one of the slaves, from whom was obtained the story of the final scene. Isaaco, and later Lander, obtained some of Park's effects, but his journal was never recovered. In 1827 his second son, Thomas, landed on the Guinea coast, intending to make his way to Bussa, where he thought his father might be detained a prisoner, but after penetrating some little distance inland he died of fever. Park's widow died in 1840. Hugh Clapperton (May 18, 1788 - April 13, 1827), Scottish traveller and explorer of West and Central Africa. ... Richard Lemon Lander Richard Lemon Lander (February 8, 1804 - February 6, 1834), English explorer of the African continent. ... Timbuktu, Timbuctu or Timbuctoo (Koyra Chiini: Tumbutu, French: Tombouctou) is a city populated by the Songhay, Tuareg, Fulani, and Moorish people in the West African country of Mali. ...

J Thomson's Mungo Park and the Niger (London, 1890) contains the best critical estimate of the explorer and his work. See also the Life (by Wishaw) prefixed to Journal of a Mission into the Interior of Africa in 1805 (London, 1815); H. B., Life of Mungo Park (Edinburgh, 1835); and an interesting passage in Lockhart's Life of Sir Walter Scott, vol. ii. John Gibson Lockhart (July 14, 1794 - November 25, 1854), Scottish writer and editor, was born in the manse of Cambusnethan in Lanarkshire, where his father, Dr John Lockhart, transferred in 1796 to Glasgow, was minister. ...

Descendants

Australian author Ruth Park, who originally emigrated from New Zealand, claims descent from Mungo Park, though it is widely believed that Mungo Park's last descendent died in Selkirk, Scotland, in 1999. Ruth Park is an author born in New Zealand who spent most of her life in Australia. ... The Royal Burgh of Selkirk is a town in the Scottish Borders. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

Fiction

Mungo Park is a character in T. Coraghessan Boyle's historical novel Water Music (1982). T. Coraghessan Boyle (T.C. Boyle, born Thomas John Boyle on December 2, 1948) is a U.S. novelist and short story writer. ... A historical novel is a novel in which the story is set among historical events, or more generally, in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the author. ... See also: 1981 in literature, other events of 1982, 1983 in literature, list of years in literature. ...

Works

Park, Mungo. Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa: Performed in the Years 1795, 1796, and 1797. London: John Murray. 1816.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Mungo Park

• Works by Mungo Park at Project Gutenberg

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ... Project Gutenberg (often abbreviated as PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ... Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...