PARK

PARK (MUNGO), the most illustrious traveller of the present age, was born at Fowlshiel, near Sel-

kirk, upon the 10th of September 1771. His father occupied the farm of Fowlshiel, under the Duke of Buccleugh. He appears to have bestowed uncommon attention on the education of his children. He even employed a tutor to reside in his house, an expence which then especially was supposed to exceed the resources of an ordinary farmer. Young Park made a good figure at school. His general demeanour was reserved and thoughtful; yet occasional sparks of ambition broke forth, indicative of that adventurous spirit which lay concealed under a somewhat cold exterior. This thoughtful disposition led his friends to consider the church as the profession best suited to his character; but as he himself preferred the medical line, his wishes were acquiesced in; and he spent three years at the University of Edinburgh, in the studies necessary to that profession.

At Edinburgh, Park studied with ardour and success; and he in particular imbibed a fondness for botany, which served strongly to give the colour to his future life. It strengthened his natural connection with his brother-in-law, Mr James Dickson, who, notwithstanding many disadvantages, attained such skill in that science, that, on going as a gardener to Hammersmith, he obtained a large share of the patronage and favour of Sir Joseph Banks. This connection induced Mr Park to repair to London. He was introduced to Sir Joseph, who was so much pleased with him, that he obtained for him the appointment of assistant-surgeon to the Worcester East Indiaman. In this capacity Mr Park made a voyage to Bencoolen, where he made some collections and observations in botany and natural history, which were submitted to the Linnean Society, and an account of them printed in the third volume of their Transactions.

The African Association were now anxiously looking for a successor to Major Houghton, their unfortunate missionary, who had perished in the attempt to penetrate to the Niger and Tombuctoo. This opening, though foreign to any of Mr Park's former pursuits, except that of natural history, was immediately embraced by him with an ardour which showed how congenial it was to the character of his mind. Without hesitation, he offered himself for this arduous and perilous service, and being supported by the recommendation of Sir Joseph Banks, was at once accepted.

Park spent about two years in and near London, acquiring the qualifications necessary for his mission. In May 1795 he set sail, and on the 21st of June following arrived at Jullifree, near the mouth of the Gambia. After spending some months with Dr Laidley at Pisania, in acquiring the Mandingo language, he, on the 2d December 1795, departed on his grand expedition. It would be very superfluous to enter here into a detail of events so generally known, and which excited so deep an interest, as his captivity among the Moors—his almost miraculous escape—his discovery of the course of the Niger—of the African capital of Sego—his journey through Bambarra, and the train of peril and difficulty through which he effected his return. He arrived, after the length of his absence, and the

want of intelligence respecting him, had nearly extinguished all hopes of his safety. Reaching London early in the morning of Christmas 1797, he went to pass the time before breakfast in the gardens of the British Museum, where, by a singular chance, he met Mr Dickson, who embraced his friend as one returned from the grave. An extraordinary interest in his adventures was immediately excited among the African Institution, its friends, and the public in general. Major Rennell drew up an important Memoir, showing the new light thrown by his journey upon African geography, which, with an abstract of his Narrative, by Mr Bryan Edwards, was speedily offered to satisfy the curiosity of the public. In the spring of 1799 Mr Park presented the public with a full Narrative from his own pen. Major Rennell's Memoir was appended, and a considerable part of Mr Edwards's abstract was incorporated verbatim; upon which circumstance alone seems to have been built the rumour of that gentleman having been the actual writer of the volume. The work was read with an avidity proportioned to the novelty and importance of the information contained in it, and to the interesting and agreeable manner in which the events were narrated.

Having finished this task, Mr Park seems to have resolved to retire into domestic and professional life. In 1799, he married Miss Anderson of Selkirk, daughter of the gentleman with whom he had served his apprenticeship as a surgeon. In October 1801, he embraced an opportunity which offered of commencing a professional career at Peebles, and soon found himself in respectable practice. His situation seemed now sufficiently comfortable, being happy in domestic life, possessed of competence, and surrounded by a respectable society; but his active mind was not to be so satisfied, and was secretly panting after a higher sphere of exertion.

Important as were his discoveries, their effect had been, not to satisfy, but to excite still farther, the public curiosity. The course of the Niger through the unknown and central parts of the continent could not fail to excite peculiar interest. This was strongly felt, not only by the scientific world, but by some intelligent members of administration, who, on the conclusion of the peace in 1801, determined to fit out an expedition on a great scale to effect the discovery of the termination of this great river. In autumn 1803, Lord Hobart, now Earl of Buckinghamshire, who was then Colonial Secretary, offered the command of it to Mr Park, who, though he asked a short interval to consult his friends, seems never in his own mind to have hesitated as to its acceptance. To those who represented to him the dangers to be incurred, he urged, that the hardships attendant on the

obscure exercise of his profession, his journeys to distant patients, his long and solitary rides over "cold and lonely heaths," and over "gloomy hills, assailed by the wintry tempest," would tend as effectually to shorten life as the journey now in contemplation.

Mr Park, in this new undertaking, was amply supplied with every thing which could ensure success. Thirty soldiers, and nearly the same number of carpenters and artificers, were placed under his command; arms, beasts of burden, commodities to trade with, were amply supplied; and he was empowered to draw upon the Treasury to the extent of £5000. Every thing, therefore, seemed to augur a still more brilliant issue to his present than to his former journey. But a dark destiny impended over it, and rendered abortive all human means and efforts.

It would be superfluous to enter into a detail of that afflicting train of events, with which the public are already but too well acquainted. * That Park perished in his voyage down the Niger, may be now considered as fully established; and we need not swell our pages with the rumours that have been circulated respecting an event no longer doubtful.

Park has been pronounced by some the first of modern travellers, and he does not seem unworthy of that high appellation. The problem of the course of the Niger, which he had the fortune to solve, was one which had involved in error almost all former geographical systems on Africa. D'Anville, indeed, had stated it correctly; but as he had not communicated the grounds upon which his conclusion rested, the opposite opinion, which represented the Niger as flowing westward, and joining the ocean by the channel of the Senegal, continued still prevalent. This point, finally decided, fixed the geographical character of the continent. In Bambarra, also, a name as yet scarcely heard of by Europeans, Park found a kingdom much farther advanced in populousness and civilization than was yet supposed to exist in the heart of Africa.

Mr Park's literary, though not equal to his active qualifications, were yet respectable. Notwithstanding his knowledge of botany, he cannot be considered as a scientific traveller. We see not in him that varied and splendid science which, in Humboldt, illustrates and adorns, though it sometimes overlays the main subject. But with regard to the general aspect of nature, and the forms of human society, his observations are careful, accurate, and judicious. Nothing can be more lively than the idea which we receive from him of the African forests and deserts, the cities of Bambarra, the stream of the Niger, and the regions watered by it. The spirit, joined to the unpretending simplicity of his narrative, has rendered

his work one of the most popular of its kind in the English language.

Mr Park's bodily frame was well fitted for the arduous enterprises which he undertook. He was six feet high, his limbs well proportioned, and his whole frame active and robust. His countenance was prepossessing, and his manners retained always their native plainness and simplicity. This was combined with a natural coldness and reserve, which rendered his conversation less interesting than was expected by those who considered his general talents and extensive opportunities of observation. His conduct in all the relations of private life was highly exemplary. He left a widow, three sons, and a daughter. (u.)