"pliments to Dr Laidley, is in good health, on "his way to Tombuctoo, robbed of all his goods

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by Fenda Bucar's son." At Jarra, for a musket and some tobacco, he engaged certain Moorish merchants, who were going to purchase salt in the desert, to convey him to Tisheet, which lies near the salt-pits, ten days journey to the north of Jarra. Whether he had been deceived concerning his route, or insidiously decoyed into the desert, it is impossible to determine; but, at the end of two days, suspecting the perfidy of his companions, he resolved to return to Jarra, and, upon refusing to advance, was deserted and plundered by the Moors. Major Houghton returned on foot through the desert, solitary, and perishing with hunger. He had wanted food for some days when he reached Jarra, a watering-place belonging to the Moors, where he was either murdered or suffered to perish, as the Moors refused to supply him with meat. His body was dragged into the wilderness, and left to waste under a tree, in a spot which was pointed out to Mr Park at Jarra. The traders on the Gambia reported that he had been murdered at the instigation of the king of Bambara; but this was afterwards contradicted, and he was asserted to have died of a dysentery. Dr Laidley attempted to recover his books or papers, by offering rewards to the native traders, but without success. Thus was the Association

a second time deprived of the exertions of a man, whose courage and abilities afforded the fairest presages of success, while the shocking circumstances of his death could not fail to mingle the emotions of regret with the feelings of disappoint

ment.

CHAPTER VI.

MR PARK'S FIRST JOURNEY.

Arrival of Mr Park.-Pisania-Yani-Medina- BondouKajaaga-Kasson Kaarta.- Account of the Lotus. - War between Kaarta and Bambara. Travels and detention in

Ludamar.-Escape through the Wilderness to Bambara. Travels in Bambara to Silla, and return along the Niger. -Travels in Manding, and hospitable reception at Kamaliah.-Travels in Jallonkadoo.-Konkodoo, Satadoo, and Dentila.- Account of Foota-Torra,-Return to Pisania.

THOUGH the circumstances attendant on the fate of Major Houghton remained in obscurity, the intelligence of his death was soon fully confirmed. The Association, however, were not discouraged, but sought immediately for another to supply his place. They were so fortunate as to engage a gentleman of the most peculiar and splendid qualifications. Mr Mungo Park, a native of Scotland, born near Selkirk, who had received a medical education at Edinburgh, and was lately returned from a voyage to the East Indies, inflamed with an ardent desire of exploring these unknown regions, was proposed, at his own desire, to the Association, by the President of the Royal Society,

and, after satisfying the committee with respect to his skill in astronomy, geography, and natural history, sailed from Portsmouth on May 22. 1795, and on the 21st of June arrived at Jillifree, on the northern bank of the Gambia. Jillifree, in N. lat. 13° 16', and W. long. 16° 7′, is situated in the fertile kingdom of Barra, the inhabitants of which trade up. the Gambia in canoes, as high as Barraconda, with salt, which they exchange for maize, cotton-cloth, ivory, and gold dust. The number of persons employed in this trade renders the king of Barra the most powerful chief on the Gambia, and enables him to impose exorbitant duties on European traders, who visit the river. After touching at Vintain, they sailed up the Gambia to Jonkakonda, a trading town within sixteen miles of Pisania, where Mr Park was expected by Dr Laidley, who invited him to reside at his own house, till an opportunity occurred of prosecuting his journey to the interior. During his residence at Pisania, the exertions of Mr Park were directed to the acquisition of the Mandingo language, the examination of the natural productions of the country, and the procuring information concerning the interior regions from the free black traders, who all appeared averse to his proposed journey; but these occupations were, for some time, interrupted by the country fever, or seasoning, which he caught by exposing him

self to the night dew. Yani, and the adjacent Mandingo districts, present an immense level surface, where the absence of picturesque beauty is compensated by the fertility of the soil. Besides rice, millet, maize, and esculent vegetables, the natives cultivate indigo and cotton in the vicinity of their towns and villages. Their domestic animals are almost the same as in Europe; the ass is employed in carrying burdens; but the plough is unknown, and the substitution of animal for human labour unpractised in agriculture, The most common wild animals are the elephant, panther, hyæna, and jackal. The negroes of the Gambia have no idea of taming the elephant, and, when the practice is mentioned, term it a white man's lie. The shrill bark of the jackal, and the deep howl of the hyæna, mingling with the incessant croaking of frogs, and the tremendous peals of midnight thunder,-form no pleasant symphony. The Gambia is deep and muddy, and its banks are covered with impenetrable thickets of mangroves. The stream contains sharks, crocodiles, and river-horses, (an animal which may be more properly denominated the river-elephant,) in immense numbers, with various kinds of excellent fish. The negroes live chiefly on vegetable food; they reduce their corn to meal in a mortar, and most commonly use it in the form of kouskous, a species of pudding