Mungo Park

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Mungo Park

(born Sept. 10, 1771, Fowlshiels, Selkirk, Scot. — died c. January 1806, near Bussa on the Niger River) Scottish explorer of the Niger River. A trained surgeon, Park had traveled to the East Indies before being chosen by the African Association to head an expedition to find the source of the Niger River (1795 – 97). He lost most of his crew and supplies, was imprisoned and tortured for four months by hostile Arabs, and suffered severe illness, reaching Ségou (now in Mali) but not the river's source. His Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa (1797) became a great popular success. On a second expedition (1805 – 06) he reached Bamako, but he was killed on the return trip.

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British History: Mungo Park

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Park, Mungo (1771-1806). A child of the Scottish Enlightenment, Park's Edinburgh medical and botanical training and Sumatran experience led Banks to choose him to explore the interior of west Africa for the African Association in 1795. From the Gambian coast he reached the Niger near Segu, ending long controversy by proving that the river flowed eastwards. A more ambitious expedition for the British government ended in disaster in 1806 when Park was killed at Bussa much further down the Niger.

Columbia Encyclopedia: Mungo Park

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Park, Mungo, 1771-1806, British explorer in Africa, b. Selkirk, Scotland. After serving as a surgeon with the East India Company, he was employed by the African Association to explore the course of the Niger River. Traveling NE from the Gambia River, he reached the Niger at Segu and proceeded 300 mi (483 km) upstream to Bamako. On his return to England he published Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa (1799). He was sent (1805) by the government to trace the Niger to its mouth, but at Bussa he and his party were attacked in their canoes and Park was drowned.

Bibliography

See J. Thomson, Mungo Park and the River Niger (1890, repr. 1970).

Dictionary: Park (pärk)

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1771-1806.

Scottish explorer in Africa known for his expeditions on the Niger River (1795-1796 and 1805).

Wikipedia: Mungo Park

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Mungo Park may refer to:

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		Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		British History. A Dictionary of British History. Copyright © 2001, 2004 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more
		Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more
		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
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