1799 - Travels in the Interior of Africa

*The Scottish traveler Mungo Park published his Travels in the Interior of Africa, in 1795-97.

Mungo Park (11 September 1771 – 1806) was a Scottish explorer of the African continent. He was credited as being the first Westerner to encounter the central portion of the Niger River. 

In 1794 Park offered his services to the African Association, then looking for a successor to Major Daniel Houghton, who had been sent in 1790 to discover the course of the Niger River and had died in the Sahara. Supported by Joseph Banks, Park was selected.

On June 21, 1795, he reached the Gambia River and ascended it 200 miles to a British trading station named Pisania. On December 2, 1795, 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. On July 1, 1796, Park escaped, alone and with nothing but his horse and a pocket compass.  On the 21st of July, 1796, Park reached the long-sought Niger River at Segou, being the first European to do so. He followed the river downstream 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, Park 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, Park 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 10 June 1797, returning to Scotland by way of Antigua on December 22. Park had been thought dead, and his return home with news of the discovery of the Niger River 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). The book was extremely popular.

Travels in the Interior of Africa 

was a success because it detailed what he observed, what he survived, and the people he encountered. His honest descriptions set a standard for future travel writers to follow. This gave Europeans a glimpse of what Africa was really like. Park introduced them to a vast, unexplored continent. After Park's death, public and political interest in Africa began to increase. He had proved that Africa could be explored. Perhaps the most lasting effect of Park's travels, though, was their influence on European governments.