The schooner was ready by the 14th November, and Park only delayed setting sail till Isaaco should return from Sego; when he came he advised Park to set off instantly, lest the vigilance of the Moors should be roused. Before departing he wrote letters to Mr. Anderson's father, Sir Joseph Banks, Lord Camden, and Mrs. Park. As the two latter are peculiarly interesting, we shall quote them.
"To the Earl Camden, one of his Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, &c. &c. &c.
"On board of H.M. Schooner, Joliba, at anchor off Sansanding, 17th November 1805.
"MY LORD—I have herewith sent you an account of each day's proceedings since we left Kayee. Many of the incidents related are in themselves extremely trifling; but are intended to recall to my recollection (if it pleases God to restore me again to my dear native land) other particulars, illustrative of the manners and customs of the natives, which would have swelled this bulky communication to a most unreasonable size.
"Your Lordship will recollect that I always spoke of the rainy season with horror, as being extremely fatal to Europeans; and our journey from the Gambia to the Niger will furnish a melancholy proof of it.
"We had no contest whatever with the natives, nor was any one of us killed by wild animals, or any other accidents; and yet I am sorry to say, that of forty-four Europeans who left the Gambia in perfect health, five only are at present alive, viz. three soldiers (one deranged in mind), Lieutenant Martyn, and myself.
"From this account I am afraid that your Lordship will be apt to consider matters as in a very hopeless state; but I assure you I am far from desponding. With the assistance of one of the soldiers, I have changed a large canoe into a tolerably good schooner; on board of which I this day hoisted the British flag, and shall set sail to the east, with the fixed resolution to discover the termination of the Niger, or perish in the attempt. I have heard nothing that I can depend on respecting the remote course of this mighty stream; but I am more and more inclined to think, that it can end nowhere but in the sea.
"My dear friend Mr. Anderson, and likewise Mr. Scott are both dead. But though all the Europeans who were with me should die, and though I were myself half dead, I would still persevere; and if I could not succeed in this object of my journey, I would at last die on the Niger.
"If I succeed in the object of my journey, I expect to be in England in the month of May or June, by way of the West Indies.
"I request that your Lordship will have the goodness to permit my friend, Sir Joseph Banks, to peruse the abridged account of my proceedings, and that it may be preserved in case I should loose my papers.—I have the honour to be," &c.