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...