[6] Through a recommendation by Joseph Banks he obtained the post of surgeon's mate on board the East India Company's ship Worcester.

Before departing, Park wrote to his friend Alexander Anderson in terms that reflect his Calvinist upbringing: My hope is now approaching to a certainty.

May the Holy Spirit dwell in your heart, my dear friend, and if I ever see my native land again, may I rather see the green sod on your grave than see you anything but a Christian.

On 26 September 1794, Mungo 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.

[9] On 22 May 1795, Park left Portsmouth, England, on the brig Endeavour, a vessel travelling to Gambia to trade for beeswax and ivory.

[10] On 21 June 1795, he reached the Gambia River and ascended it 200 miles (300 km) to a British trading station named Pisania.

[14] On his return journey, begun on 29 July, he took a route more to the south than that originally followed, keeping close to the Niger River as far as Bamako, thus tracing its course for some 300 miles (500 km).

He had been thought dead, and his return home with news of his exploration 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).

[9] Park was convinced that: whatever difference there is between the 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 encountered a group of slaves when travelling through Mandinka country Mali: They were all very inquisitive, but they viewed me at first with looks of horror, and repeatedly asked if my countrymen were cannibals.

[17] His dispassionate — if not scientific or objective — descriptions set a standard for future travel writers to follow and gave Europeans a glimpse of Africa's humanity and complexity.

[19] Settling at Foulshiels, in August 1799 Park married Allison, daughter of his apprenticeship master, Thomas Anderson.

[20] A project to go to New South Wales in some official capacity came to nothing, and in October 1801 Park moved to Peebles, where he practiced as a physician.

Part of the waiting time was occupied perfecting his Arabic; his teacher, Sidi Ambak Bubi, was a native of Mogador (now Essaouira in Morocco) whose behavior both amused and alarmed the people of Peebles.

In September, Park was summoned to London to leave on the new expedition; he left Scott with the hopeful proverb on his lips,[9] "Freits (omens) follow those that look to them.

[9] The expedition got a late start into the rainy season and did not reach the Niger until mid-August, when only eleven Europeans were left alive; the rest had succumbed to fever or dysentery.

Having received permission from the local ruler, Mansong Diarra, to proceed, at Sansanding, a little below Ségou, Park made ready for his journey down the still unknown part of the river.

This he christened H.M. schooner Joliba (the native name for the Niger River), and in it, with the surviving members of his party, he set sail downstream on 19 November.

Before his departure, Park gave to Isaaco, a Mandingo guide who had been with him thus far, letters to take back to Gambia for transmission to Britain.

[23] In the process he also avoided paying tolls/bribes to pass through each kingdom, earning the rage of local rulers, Moorish or not, who would send messengers ahead to the next tribe downriver that a dangerous interloper was coming their way.

Furthermore, Park's policy of shoot first and not engaging with locals, in some cases slaughtering significant numbers of natives using superior firepower, made the Europeans something of a pariah.

[23] To his wife, Park wrote of his intention not to stop nor land anywhere until he reached the coast, where he expected to arrive about the end of January 1806.

They passed the army "being all Moors" and entered Haoussa, finally arriving at Yauri (which Amadi calls Yaour),[27] where he (Fatouma) landed.

The boat also escaped the many perils attendant on navigating an unknown stream strewn with many rapids;[9] Park had built Joliba so that she drew only 1 foot (30 cm) of water.

Amadi reports that Park gave him five silver rings, some powder and flints to give as a gift to the chief of the village.

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 a little distance inland he died of fever.

In 1821, James McQueen published a book, the result of 25 years of research, in which he correctly (it would later be seen) laid out the entire course of the Niger; however, like Reichard, his theories did not receive much notice.

Mungo Park is mentioned in Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick (Chapter 5: Breakfast), and several times, parodically, in Ernest Hemingway's short story "A Natural History of the Dead."