Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa

A bestselling 1799 account of the first western expedition to the River Niger and the interior of West Africa.

Mungo Park (1771–1806) was a Scottish surgeon and explorer. He made two expeditions to the interior of Africa in 1795–7 and 1805–6. This illustrated account of his first journey was an immediate best-seller in 1799, and includes descriptions of the geography, peoples and languages he encountered.Mungo Park (1771–1806) was a Scottish surgeon and explorer. Encouraged by Sir Joseph Banks, he was sent by the African Association, in 1795, to explore the interior of Africa, forbidden to western traders. He is believed to have been the first European to reach the River Niger. His return was delayed by imprisonment and illness, and he did not arrive back in Scotland until December 1797, having been thought dead. He later went on a second expedition to Africa, and died there in 1806. This account of his earlier travels, published in 1799, was an immediate best-seller, with three editions in the first year. Park presents a straightforward account of his journey, together with observations about daily life in West Africa, with none of the arrogant superiority so often expressed by European travellers. The book includes a vocabulary of Mandinka words, plates and maps, and a geographical appendix.