Mungo Park's African Adventures

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Mungo Park's African Adventures

Overview

In 1795, a young Scottish surgeon, Mungo Park (1771-1806), was hired by the African Association, a British organization that sponsored African exploration, to locate and, if possible, map a large river thought to flow in the African interior, now known to be the Niger River. Park found the Niger and explored parts of it before his untimely death in 1806 at the age of 35. Following his expeditions, several more years were to pass before the Niger would be completely mapped into the Gulf of Guinea. However, by locating the Niger and following it for over 1,000 miles (1,609 km) through the African interior, then writing about his adventures, Mungo Park helped increase knowledge of African geography and fueled Europe's interest in this large continent.

Background

By the end of the eighteenth century, vigorous exploration of the interiors of major continents was well underway. In North America, the eastern part of the continent was well known, and major portions west of the Mississippi had been explored by the Spanish and the French. South America had been explored by the Spanish, and much of Asia had been visited or described as well. The Australian interior remained a mystery, nor was anything known of the African interior. Of these, Africa was of far greater interest because of its animals, great lakes and rivers, natives, and jungle. It simply seemed more exotic, dangerous, and interesting than Australia. It was also more accessible, lying just a few thousand miles from Europe.

There were also many tales of Africa: travelers' stories dating back to the times of the ancient Greeks and Romans, biblical stories, and legends with unknown origins. Africa was a continent about which just enough was known to excite the imagination, but not enough to satisfy it. In addition, European governments saw Africa as a possible source of raw materials, new colonies, and economic or political gain. Since both European nations and the American colonies were also engaged in the slave trade, they paid frequent visits to Africa to purchase human cargo. Finally, scientists simply wanted to learn about the continent, its animals and inhabitants, and its geology and geography. In short, there were many people interested in Africa.

To help satisfy this knowledge, expeditions were launched by both public and private organizations. One of these, the African Association, commissioned a group in 1795 to locate a major river rumored to lie in the African interior. They chose a surgeon named Mungo Park to lead the expedition; three years earlier he'd been a medical officer on a ship in the East Indies trade, and had spent some time studying the flora and fauna of Sumatra.

Park began his journey by sailing to Gambia, on the Atlantic coast of northern Africa. From there, he made his way overland through deserts and over mountains, traversing country inhabited primarily by Muslims, reaching the Niger River after several months of hard travel. Falling seriously ill was only one of his adventures; he was also imprisoned, robbed, and threatened. Upon reaching the Niger, Park realized it would be suicidal to try to press on to Timbuktu as he had originally planned, so he returned to Gambia, returning to England in 1797.

Back in England, Park married, wrote a book, and became licensed in surgery. In 1805 he set out again on another expedition sponsored by the African Association, accompanied by nearly 40 men, trying again to map the course of the Niger. This time, after reaching the river, they built boats and sailed along it for over 1,000 miles (1,609 km), mapping its course as it flowed to the east and turned south. Disease, however, killed all but 11 of his expedition members, and the weakened party was never to reach the mouth of the Niger. They were killed in a battle with natives near the present city of Bussa in 1806.

Impact

Upon returning from his first trip to Africa, Park wasted little time in compiling an account of his adventures, Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa (1797), in which he described the African landscape, the people he met, and the difficulties he encountered. His book 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 with huge rivers, untamed reaches of land, a variety of human cultures and societies, and a great abundance of potential that was, from the standpoint of eighteenth-century Europe, completely unexploited.

After Park's disappearance public and political interest in Africa began to increase. He had proved that Africa could be explored, showing that it was possible to journey through unknown territory to a major African river, with few supplies and little help—but that doing so was dangerous business. More than 15 years would pass before the next major expedition left for Africa. (This is surprising when you consider that Africa, is, after all, geographically closer to Europe than either of the Americas or Asia. Yet, trade was established with India and China, colonies were established in both North and South America, and a struggling colony was present in Australia before African exploration was well underway.) Hugh Clapperton, Dixon Denham, and Walter Oudney led a three-year expedition for the British government (1822-1825) through Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa—and returned to England to tell about it. They were followed by many others in subsequent decades, culminating in the epic journeys of David Livingstone (from 1852 until his death in 1873).

Perhaps the most lasting effect of Park's travels, though, was their influence on European governments, which were at that time intent on building their empires and quelling domestic troubles. Africa seemed a way to move their competition away from Europe while at the same time opening markets for the flood of goods produced by the Industrial Revolution then sweeping through Europe.

Over the next century, Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, and Belgium all established (or tried to establish) colonies, trading outposts, or both in Africa. Although warfare between competing European powers rarely erupted, the natives often resisted European incursions. The African tribes, however, could neither coordinate their efforts nor overcome the technological advantage of European weapons. In every instance but one (Ethiopia, who defeated the Italians in 1896), they failed to resist the onslaught of European colonizers.

Despite subduing the native populations, most European nations failed to extract the same economic or political advantage from Africa that they did elsewhere. Although parts of Africa are rich in gold, diamonds, and other mineral wealth, this was not immediately apparent in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Parts of Africa are suitable for agriculture, but not to the extent that North America is. Tropical woods fetched a high price in European markets, but tropical diseases and often-hostile tribes made harvesting them difficult and expensive. Big game hunting was popular, but was too expensive for all but the very wealthy. For these and other reasons Africa failed to live up to Europeans' initial hopes or expectations, and very few African colonies became economic boons to their mother nations.

At the time of Park's journeys, however, this was all in the future. Upon his arrival, Park found a continent full of mystery and promise, ripe with expectation. This is what he reported in his book, and helped entice future explorers to follow the path he started.

P. ANDREW KARAM