"Mr. Park is of opinion, that when your Lordship shall have duly weighed the above reasons, you will be induced to conclude that his hopes of returning by the Congo are not altogether fanciful; and that his expedition, though attended with extreme danger, promises to be productive of the utmost advantage to Great Britain.

"Considered in a commercial point of view, it is second only to the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope; and in a geographical point of view, it is certainly the greatest discovery that remains to be made in this world.

"(Signed) MUNGO PARK."

The circumstance most deserving of attention in this Memoir, is the opinion expressed respecting the course and termination of the Niger; a geographical question of great difficulty and importance. In a treatise written by Major Rennell expressly on the discoveries of Park, that distinguished geographer, on comparing the various accounts of the progress of the Niger beyond Houssa, had given a distinct opinion that its waters had no communication either with the river Nile or the Sea; but were spread out into a great lake in Wangara and Ghana, and were evaporated by the heat of the sun. [Footnote: Proceedings of African Association, vol. i. p. 533.] Park's attention had of course been much directed to the same subject; and he had omitted no opportunity of collecting information which might throw light on this obscure and difficult question. During his residence in Scotland he had become acquainted with a Mr. George Maxwell, formerly an African trader, who had a great knowledge of the whole western coast of Africa, especially south of the equator, and had published a chart of the river Congo. Before Mr. Maxwell had heard any particulars of the Niger, many circumstances had induced him to conjecture that the source of the Congo lay considerably inland, and very far to the north. The publication of Park's Travels confirmed him in his opinion, and led him to conclude that the Congo and the Niger were one and the same stream. Mr. Maxwell's reasonings appear to have produced a great impression upon Park, who adopted his sentiments relative to the termination of the Niger in their utmost extent, and persevered in that opinion to the end of his life.

The sources of great rivers have often been the object of popular and even of scientific curiosity; but it is peculiar to the Niger to be interesting on account of its termination. Those who recollect the emotions which Park describes himself to have experienced during his former journey, on the first view of that mighty river, [Footnote: "While we were riding together, and I was anxiously looking around for the river, one of the Negroes called out, Geo affilli (see the water); and looking forwards, I saw with infinite pleasure, the great object of my mission, the long sought for, majestic Niger, glittering to the morning sun, as broad as the Thames at Westminster, and flowing slowly to the eastward. I hastened to the brink and having drank of the water, lifted up my fervent thanks in prayer to the great Ruler of all things for having thus far crowned my endeavours with success." Park's Travels, p. 194.] will be enabled to form some idea of the enthusiasm on this subject which he intimates at the close of the foregoing Memoir, and which was now become his ruling passion. Nor can we be surprised that the question, respecting the termination of the Niger, associated as it was, with so many personal feelings, had such entire possession of Park's mind; since the subject itself, considered as a matter of geographical enquiry, is one of the most interesting that can easily be conceived. The idea of a great river, rising in the western mountains of Africa and flowing towards the centre of that vast continent; whose course in that direction is ascertained for a considerable distance, beyond which information is silent, and speculation is left at large to indulge in the wildest conjectures—has something of the unbounded and mysterious, which powerfully attracts curiosity and takes a strong hold of the imagination. [Footnote: See Appendix, No. IV.]

* * * * *

A short time after Park had delivered his Memoir at the Colonial Office, he had an audience of Lord Camden, who expressed his general approbation of its contents and acquainted him with the plan of the expedition, so far as it was then determined upon. The amount of the compensation which he was to receive for this service, was likewise agreed upon and settled about the same time, with a commendable liberality on the part of Government, and entirely to Park's satisfaction; and it was also very properly stipulated that, in the event either of his dying before the completion of the service, or of his not being heard of within a given period after his setting out on the journey, a certain sum should be paid by Government as a provision for his wife and family.

But before all the details of the plan were finally determined upon, Park was desired by Lord Camden, to consult Major Rennell, and obtain his opinion both with regard to the scheme and objects of the expedition, and Park's own sentiments relative to the Niger, as stated in his Memoir. For this purpose he went to Brighthelmston, where Major Rennell then was, and remained with him several days; during which time, the subjects proposed by Lord Camden were repeatedly discussed between them. With respect to the supposition relative to the termination of the Niger, Major Rennell was unconvinced by Park's reasonings, and declared his adherence to the opinion he had formerly expressed with regard to the course of that river. As to the plan of the intended expedition, he was so much struck with the difficulties and dangers likely to attend its execution, that he earnestly dissuaded Park from engaging in so hazardous an enterprize. His arguments, urged with all the warmth and sincerity of friendship, appear to have made a great impression upon Park; and he took leave of Major Rennell with an apparent determination to relinquish the undertaking. But this conviction was little more than momentary, and ceased almost as soon as the influence and authority from which it proceeded were withdrawn. On Park's return to London, his enthusiasm revived; and all doubts and difficulties were at an end.

The doubts expressed by Major Rennell were of course, communicated by Park to the Secretary of State; but, as he accompanied the communication with his own answers and remarks, the objections were not deemed of sufficient weight to produce any material change in the intended arrangements.

It must be observed however with regard to the opinions both of Major Rennell and other intelligent persons among Park's friends, who disapproved of the expedition, that their objections appear for the most part to have been too general and indiscriminate; proceeding perhaps too much upon vague and indefinite ideas of the dangers which experience had shewn to be incidental to such a journey, and being therefore equally conclusive against any new attempt to explore the interior of Africa. To these objections it may be sufficient to oppose the authority of Sir Joseph Banks, who was of course much consulted by Park, and also by the Secretary of State; and whose opinion on this subject appears to have been equally temperate and judicious. Without in the least extenuating the dangers of the intended expedition, which he regarded as one of the most hazardous ever undertaken, he still thought that the dangers were not greater than might reasonably be encountered for the sake of very important objects; justly observing that it was only from similar risks of human life that great geographical discoveries were in general to be expected. The correctness of his opinion was sufficiently shewn by the event; since it will hereafter appear that the failure of the undertaking was owing rather to accidental circumstances than to any defect in the original plan of the expedition itself.